Erica Escalante: Cafe & Bakery Consultant

About

I’m Erica Escalante and I am a seasoned specialty coffee professional and baker turned consultant. I am on a mission to help as many independent cafes as possible become more profitable and become better work environments for all.My career started as a barista working for Starbucks right after high school, but I am most known for my time being a cafe/bakery owner for nearly 10 years in the Portland, OR area, opening my first cafe at 21 years old. My cafe was a beloved and bustling business, growing to 2 locations with a full bakery program (including over a dozen wholesale accounts), a full food program, and a commissary kitchen program renting out our kitchen to dozens of other small businesses in our city.I made a huge life decision in 2021 to move back home to raise my kids in Southern California and thus closing my cafe and bakery. I jumped into big roles at other coffee companies like Canyon Coffee and Goodboybob Coffee Roasters, both in operations at different scales, and now I’m stoked to be using everything I’ve learned and experienced to help small businesses grow.I currently live in Los Angeles, CA with my beautiful fiance, Tricia, and my two young daughters (5 & 10 years old).