Meet Dalia Valencia of Kushala Sip Coffee House in Stoneham

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dalia Valencia.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Dalia. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Since we moved to the north of Boston in 2010, the first thing we did over the weekend was to scout the area for a good independent coffee house to sit in. Eventually we found some very good places in Melrose and Winchester but we always wanted to have something closer, in our own neighborhood, Woburn/Stoneham. The seed to start our own coffee house started growing, and one evening, in the crazy cold of winter, we discovered the perfect location five minutes from home at the Heritage Building near Stoneham Square.

My husband, Vinod, is from the south of India, in Chennai, and I am from Mexico City. We both came to the US twelve years ago, in 2005, to pursue our Masters in Business. After we graduated we both decided to stay in this country, and give ourselves a chance to go after our dreams and professional goals together. Ten years later we both became permanent residents, and started our own business. Vinod works full time as head of Business Intelligence and Data Analytics for Salesforce, and I manage Kushala.

The last two years have been full of new challenges, great moments of success and hard work. We have made new friendships, learned from each other’s experiences to stay positive to continue in this journey. We have been almost two years in business, and we still have a long way to go. The community in this town is amazing, we are in a great spot, and in the future we expect to find new opportunities to grow, to see Kushala becoming a landmark for this town, as well as an example of how small businesses contribute to this country. Of course, we want Kushala to be an example too of what awesome coffee is like.

Kushala means “happiness” in Hindi. When you come in to the shop you can’t help to smile and feel like home. We keep hearing this from our customers, and that’s exactly what we want them to experience when they visit us.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We believe that nothing that is worth to work hard for can be easy. The main challenge has been to break in into a market where the big coffee chains are the only options, and the majority of the population are so used to them that they feel afraid to try something different and new. There are a few independent coffee houses in other towns, and that is pretty much the reference that most people in town can relate to. Being constantly compared with big chains and franchises can be positive for us because we are confident on the quality of what we do. However, most of the times it’s challenging to compete with their marketing and resources. Which at the same time makes more challenging hiring and retaining good employees.

We choose to differentiate ourselves by getting more involved in the community, sticking to our vision and mission of providing the highest quality of coffee and more personalized service. We are not a do it all coffee shop, we are a specialty coffee house and tea. Full menu meals are not our focus because we want to ensure that every drink is always perfect, so that our customers keep coming back.

Seasonal flow and projecting customers’ behavior are always a challenge. The winter is tough in this business and you need to figure out different marketing efforts to bring people in the store, even when the weather does not collaborate with you. We are working on innovative ideas that can bring us closer to our target customers.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Kushala Sip Coffee House – what should we know?
We are an independent specialty coffee house. We partner with Crimson Cup, a roasting company because their passion for roasting awesome coffee since 1991. They are true coffee geeks obsessed with bringing the best coffee in the world home to you. Awesome coffee begins with the beans, which come in five grades (the measure of quality for coffee). Kushala Sip uses only the finest: Highest Class, Specialty Grade coffee beans, representing the most elite coffee beans harvested worldwide.

Kushala Sip’s mission is to provide a sip of happiness every day to every customer. We believe that when people feel happy they are more positive and feel energized. When we provide happiness to others, we create a virtuous circle of goodness and wellness for ourselves, and for those around us.

Our vision is to become the best coffee house in the area, providing high quality products, in a friendly environment, strengthening the development of the Stoneham community and its surrounding neighborhoods.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
High Quality + Consistency + Community

These three together are the recipe for success in Kushala.

Contact Info:

• Address:
  335 Main Street, Suite 101
  Stoneham, MA 02
• Website: kushalasip.coffee
• Phone: 781-971-7195
• Email: contact@kushalasip.coffee
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/kushalasip
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/kushalasipcoffee
• Twitter: @KushalaSip
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/kushala-sip-coffee-house-stoneham

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