# More Than Coffee: How Ron Dizon Is Building a Movement for Filipino Farmers and Filipino Pride **Channel:** Divine Grace Corcio **Source:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNnjvnoqEcU **Transcript page:** https://www.withtranscript.ai/video/pNnjvnoqEcU ## Chapters - 0:00 — Introducing Ron and His Mission - 1:09 — Ron's Background and Problem Solving - 4:09 — Naming Theofilou After Family Legacy - 7:40 — Building an Ecosystem, Not Just Brand - 11:45 — Direct Farmer Support and Transparency - 20:28 — Trust, Identity, and Cultural Pride - 28:09 — Marketing Through Markets and Networks - 36:52 — Vision for Growth and Execution - 43:32 — Rapid Fire and Final Takeaways ## Transcript **[0:00] Speaker A:** Hello everyone. So, today's guest didn't just build a coffee brand. He built a movement. So, for decades, coffee producing countries like Philippines exported raw materials. And imported the value. The world was drinking Filipino coffee without ever knowing it. So, today's guest decided that he had to change. He is the founder and CEO of Theofilou Coffee Company, a brand proudly roasting Filipino coffee, supporting Filipino farmers, and building a community that celebrates Filipino heritage one cup at a time. His mission is simple simple but powerful. Reverse the pattern. Keep the value where the coffee was grown. Put the Philippines on the global coffee map. And he is doing it. One brand, one story, one cup at a time. Let's welcome to the modern-day business diaries. Welcome, Ron. **[1:06] Speaker B:** Hi everybody. **[1:09] Speaker A:** Yes, can you take us back to the beginning? Who was Ron before Theofilou Coffee was born? **[1:16] Speaker B:** Uh so, I don't know how far we want to go back, but I think it has a lot to do with like how the story unfolds, right? Like um Before before I you know, I got into coffee, and it's actually not coffee that I'm into, but you know, I I was born in the Philippines. I came here when I was four. You know, thankful to my parents and and my grandparents, you know, and um I I actually love cars more than anything else. Like I've been in the car industry and and a little bit of of time in aerospace. So, I've worked at, you know, Honda Honda Technical Center, Toyota, and and SpaceX, Faraday Future. A lot of automotive engineering background and it it's what it had taught me was things, you know, we we can solve a lot of puzzles. Um the world has, you know, it's like looking at it as like a Rubik's Cube. **[2:17] Speaker B:** It's solvable. Everything in front of us actually really solvable. And that's what I'm actually trying to fix. And it's not the coffee itself, it's actually the connection to the people that make the products. And I'm not saying coffee because I'm I don't want to just look at it as that. And it's the illusion. We want people to look at the coffee because that's what they understand. It cuz if you have to explain how the car works or how the system works, people don't want to listen anymore. Right? So, um coffee's just easy cuz like oh, coffee, I'll drink it. You know what I mean? Like they don't really consider how it's made, who grows it. Like there's people that grow it. They don't know like that it's a seed that we consume, but we call it a bean. So, there's there's, you know, how do you How do I look at things? **[3:11] Speaker B:** I look at things in a dis deconstructed way. So, when I see the seed, I see everything that it needs to get to a finished product. So, like a car, right? Some drawing, you create like hey, the doors go this way, the car drives this way. You know, you have all those things. A seed is the same thing. It's It's no different. It's no different. And the difference is the seed is actually grown by humans that are our people. And we've been growing it for centuries. Like I don't know. History, that that's the other video about finding it. Like it brought me closer to the roots. Like literally the roots, like where you know where the where it's grown, the people, I mean, the the whole thing, the whole ecosystem. But yes, I I solve puzzles. **[4:09] Speaker A:** So, what is the story behind the name Teofilo? And what does it mean to you personally? **[4:17] Speaker B:** Personally, I I named it after Teofilo because it's my grandfather's name. And it had to And what that means is like you're you're you're you're kind of leaving a a foot a footprint or a legacy behind. Like our parents and grandparents that came before us like didn't have anything remotely close to what we have access to right now. So, if if he was here this is my thank you. And if I get a lot of people to say his name he can hear it, right? He can hear it and he knows. Like he knows, right? So, it had to be something that would not let me quit. Right? It had to be named something. It had to mean something, you know, and I don't even know if my mom ever like thinks about it or her sisters even like think about it, but I named the company after their grandfather. **[5:15] Speaker B:** Didn't have too much time to spend with him, but like hearing how driven he was and what he's done and how it's, you know, passed on to my mom, it's like it's in you know, it just gets handed down. So, it had to be something that meant a lot so that you couldn't give up. Right? So, yes. **[5:36] Speaker A:** What What's there a moment that made you really realize Philippine Philippine coffee deserve a bigger spotlight? **[5:46] Speaker B:** Immediately. Immediately. As soon as I knew I went into a year of just studying these facts and like just kind of just combing for year you know, and and I don't want to say it, but yeah, this is while I was working full-time as a test engineer at Faraday Future. And yeah, working at a startup while working at a startup, I was working at two startups. **[6:10] Speaker A:** So like I already knew because like the light bulb already like the there's no light bulb. It's like my mom said it. And I said, "What do you mean? Filipino coffee? Like what?" At 37 years old. So I didn't know for 37 years. So this is me trying to catch up. So I spent a year like just like not just Philippine coffee, but like in between coffee histories, like how coffee history came out and all of it aligns to how global trade started. Like they were going, you know, to, you know, all these other countries to to trade trade things and that's part of the trade, you know, 1740s Franciscan monk head, you know, was part in the Philippines and that's how they started growing coffee there and that's, you know, fast forward to now, but yeah, as soon as that that was like it. **[7:05] Speaker A:** Like there even if it didn't exist divine, I would have made it exist. Because it already existed before me. Like there was not you know, there's no no Yeah, the I don't know. Like you could tell me all the numbers. Like people give me all these numbers and facts. I didn't care. I said, "It already has to exist because someone was already writing it in history. And it's like if not, I would make it exist. Like I would plant the myself if I had to, right? I don't care. That's that's how much I care is I don't care what everyone else thinks. **[7:40] Speaker B:** What did people say when you told them you wanted to build a Filipino coffee brand in the US? **[7:48] Speaker A:** Well, I think it's because they probably thought I was trying to build a Filipino coffee brand. They didn't know what I was really trying to build is a is an ecosystem. Right? It's not you know, and we're not claiming that we're the only ones and this is all I mean the there's in in the major history, there's only been like four like major companies that's done it for a origin. But the way that differentiates, you know, the the the big differentiator, the biggest one is technical, right? It's technical. Meaning like we have four commercially grown species in the Philippines. We have four different species. What people don't understand is there's 100 and 170 species of coffee and the Philippines has four. Every other country has one, two, maybe three, maybe four, but like not at the level that we've been doing it at. Right? So, how how have these other companies, you know, built their company? **[8:51] Speaker A:** It's it's very different from how ours looks like because we're we're kind of the glue for the trade to be more um of a path versus like like little pieces not connecting. So, we're actually the connector to a lot of things that can help move the coffee much more in a way, like I said, the the transparency part. If I have to tell people the breakdown, divine, people would give up. People would give up because here's the thing, we're the only ones that's doing this this kind of work, the legwork that we're doing. And that's okay. Like I said, it's fine. We We decided to do it the right way because if we circumvent the system, we're not looking out for the best interest of the farmers. The farmers need to know that there's a system in place for them. Or else why would they have done it or do it now? **[9:55] Speaker A:** Why don't we build a system so that they can transparently see how it's getting paid for, how much we take. And yes, we have to work with these organizations that people say, "Why do you work with them?" And it's like, "No." We have to be different in order to do something that has never been done before. **[10:15] Speaker B:** Mhm. **[10:16] Speaker A:** To get what we want, right? We have to do something so different that And it's okay to be different. Like there's nothing wrong with that. We just want to make it so efficient and so easy for people to get this high-value crop that maybe people don't consider as high-value, but 0.3% in the world's coffee, Philippines is not on the map anymore. We don't exist. No one is knowing that we have it. No I mean Yeah, we could really upset a lot of people, which is a good thing. Because there's a lot of news that there's shortages on coffee and it is only because like people are only talking about certain countries and a certain species. We're not saying that don't look at these other ones. We're saying that like look, we have more options here. If you guys want to keep doing Arabica, we have that. **[11:09] Speaker A:** We have Robusta, you can do that. We have Excelsa, we have Liberica. We just have a bigger menu to offer. **[11:17] Speaker B:** Mhm. **[11:18] Speaker A:** That's it. Like we're not saying best, but I think we're we're considered to be the best because we've been around this long. **[11:25] Speaker B:** Mhm. **[11:26] Speaker A:** And we decide we're the best, not organizations that we have to pay to tell, no, like you guys know, that's not how this works. The system has to benefit our people. It has to benefit our people. We have to do things the right way. Doing the right way sometimes takes a little bit longer. **[11:45] Speaker B:** So, how do you support Filipino coffee farmers directly through through your brand or through your business? **[11:53] Speaker A:** Very easily, Divine. Uh it's a it's a big loaded question. So, first, let me just start off simply saying, we pay the farmers directly. What does that mean? We hand them the money. **[12:08] Speaker B:** Mhm. **[12:10] Speaker A:** That's it. There's I mean, agencies are there with us and other organizations know of what we're doing. And it's it's to build the proof that the system whatever people want to complain about, if you're not getting data on how we pull it, how much we're taking from the Philippines, **[12:29] Speaker B:** Mhm. **[12:29] Speaker A:** then you're part of the you're the one who's causing the problem, really. **[12:35] Speaker B:** Mhm. **[12:36] Speaker A:** We're trying to fix a puzzle that has to show transparency where we're getting the coffees from, the specific farmer, the province, where it's grown, you know, all those details, we're building the whole Philippine coffee like card, right? Like the I look at the farmers as like um like sports, right? Like you you they have like the baseball card. That's how I look at the farmers. They're the ones who's actually the the players. **[13:11] Speaker B:** Mhm. **[13:11] Speaker A:** We're the ones who's on the outside, like we're the advertisers, we're the movers, we're the, you know, people that sell it, right? So, um that's that part, right? And then um the other parts of it is, okay, what about how do we get the physical coffee from the farm that's 6 hours away from a city or even a port of consolidation. So, all that cost and it costs money because the roads that we're going on do not exist yet. Cuz like people will say, "Well, why is it so expensive?" I'm like, "Well, we're only buying a little bit cuz we only have a little bit of capital to buy a little bit from so many farms like So, it's like we're trying to buy every every species so that everyone could experience every species. Can we buy every single coffee from every single province? We don't have that much money to buy I mean, we have Let me put it this way. **[14:12] Speaker A:** Just so it's clear for everyone that is listening, we have infinite amount of coffee in the Philippines right now. Right now, if someone wants to call me they've had my number for 9 years and they could have said, "I need whatever, 100,000 lb." I'm not afraid to start calling the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Trade I know people there. I have their personal numbers. I have their emails. I have no problem calling in them and giving this puzzle to solve for them because I am confident they can fix it. I'm also confident that I'm they're not going to do it by themselves. We have our team in the Philippines, our own team in the Philippines and we also have other organizations that help support the movement. We cannot do this all by ourselves. The ambassadors that we're on boarding, they are part of the story. **[15:06] Speaker A:** They're part of the mission. It's not about the Ube Lo. It's about how we build Filipino coffee and how it looks like in different markets. Like it's not If if if if if if some other brand that I built or some brand that I support that sell wholesale too, if they become busier and they sell out every week and we're not, that's great. I hope people sell out. Our goal is to educate people. It's not really to sell Philippine coffee. It's to tell It's to tell people we have tons of it. And I And I we could be the switch. If we want to pay a million dollars to farmers right now, I have that system. Give me the million dollars and I could easily easily put that money back into the country and that would be a million dollars richer in that province in that And I would I would divvy it up. **[16:06] Speaker A:** I wouldn't just put it in one province. I would put it in multiple places and multiple species and multiple in multiple. And And we also invest heavily into farmer co-ops and and and farmers themselves. Like we're We have a plan that we share. We've already It's not even a plan. It's already executed. We have contracts with co-ops and farmers that we will invest in 100 million pesos and we'll continue to grow that every year, planting more trees, I mean, we don't just like, oh, we're just buying it and then there's no regenerative farming. No, we're helping the ecosystem that we're trying to build that's more sustainable. Because every year there'll be some flood or there'll be some tsunami. It's like, no, we don't have to If we are proactive, right? If we're proactive about the Philippines itself, we're we're flag bearers, then no, this is the system that I'm creating is that we don't have to create fundraisers because the farms the farmers are making money so that they can **[17:06] Speaker A:** make the money to build systems that they don't that doesn't affect them and it it it leaks into these other provinces that are suffering from hunger and um like flooding. It's like we It's this It's like we all know this, but we're here in in California or wherever we're at in the in America or some other country. But what are we really doing for the Philippines? Like what what is everyone doing? Everyone wants to complain about the government. Everyone wants to complain, complain, complain. It's like, "Okay, complaining is easy, but actually doing the hard work?" No one wants to do it. I guarantee you. Cuz I don't see anyone else waking up at 4:00 a.m. to to to to get up with me. I don't see anyone else like So, yeah, I mean, what what do we do for farmers? We try to not just look at them as farmers. **[17:58] Speaker A:** They're like us. They're our people. Why wouldn't I want to help them? We all know that. Like we've known this. This is like history. Like **[18:07] Speaker B:** Yeah. **[18:08] Speaker A:** Everyone the the reality is if everyone sees and everyone knows, they're just naive to do anything about it. Or they just talk about stuff, ideas, and they don't do anything. Like, "Oh, yeah, the government this, the government that." It's like I don't know. You point the finger If you point the finger somewhere else, and if you're pointing it at them, you're giving them power. And they don't have power over me. Like the government does not have power over me. If I want to do the right thing, divine, **[18:36] Speaker B:** Mhm. **[18:37] Speaker A:** they can't stop me. They cannot stop me. Like And I'm not saying that I'm I'm to be stopped. I'm saying what I'm trying to do is absolute right thing. So, if I say it just very simply, oh oh, like what are we doing for the farmers? We just pay them for the inventory that we bought from them. **[18:54] Speaker B:** Mhm. **[18:54] Speaker A:** How simple is that? I just gave them the money for the inventory that we bought. Cuz if we don't pay them, what happens is that no one will buy it. Traders will come in and take all the money. The Nestles will come in. The other countries will come in. And what what are we losing? Every single minute and hour we're losing our control over the system that we can really fix today. Like today. If if 4.5 million and 4.1 million Filipinos in North America we'd just buy a cup of coffee from a Filipino cafe that serves Filipino coffee that gets it from wherever even if people are not getting data, that's fine. I don't care. That doesn't matter. What really matters is that what are people really doing to really put on the Philippines? **[19:46] Speaker B:** Mhm. **[19:47] Speaker A:** Like I didn't realize that I'm a flag bearer until some like our team in the Philippines he's like, "Dude, do you do you like he almost said like, "Dude, do you know that you're like bearing the flag?" **[19:57] Speaker B:** Mhm. **[19:57] Speaker A:** And I'm like I mean flag or not, man. I'm proud. Like I we have a origin that's been around for 65,000 years. **[20:07] Speaker B:** Mhm. **[20:08] Speaker A:** America's only been around for 250 years. That's not amazing. It's not It we should be further along then if if it's we're 250 years and the Philippines has been around for 65,000 years. I don't know. Like I I I I don't Yeah. So yeah, a loaded question there Divine. **[20:28] Speaker A:** I I I hope I answered it. And if we don't capture the data, Divine why would the farmers trust anybody? **[20:37] Speaker B:** Mhm. **[20:38] Speaker A:** I I'm 9 years in this company that I started. The trust that I've built with these farmers is very different. They call me. They text message me on you know, DM, Instagram, Facebook, whatever, emails. And you know, other organizations actually float people to us because we're we're doing it the right way. The farmers are are seeing that we're we're making it like super transparent. Blame the government, blame the government or not. I don't care. Like no, Teofilo still has to do the right thing. Just because the government doesn't want to do whatever we want to do doesn't mean that we stop. That just gives a reason for an excuse like, "Oh, because the government did this." Like, so? So, what? Go I mean, then do it the right way. Do it the right way and is it going to benefit the government? Yes, it's going to benefit not just the government. **[21:31] Speaker A:** The benefit goes back to the origin. To the origin, very simply. Cuz we're going to lose it again. We're going to lose everything that we've done to to make our culture shine where it is right now. This is the era of like, "Oh, now it's cool to be Filipino." When we've been Filipino whatever born Philippines, speak Tagalog or whatever, like you made a fun of because you're Tagalog. Dude, please. Save all that. Save all that stuff for someone who cares. If we want our culture to be recognized as a higher elevated culture, then start acting like that. Like, please. Like and I'm not saying I'm the best uh a model to follow cuz I'm not. You shouldn't follow me. No one should. I'm just trying to create a path that that makes other people successful. I have to create a path whether it's my kids, my family, the farmers, the ambassadors. **[22:31] Speaker A:** I really don't care. But the system that I've built in in cars and in other things outside of cars, aerospace. Those things are unimaginable and almost looked at as undoable. So, doing this this is easy. I know a lot of people say it's hard because they want to talk to themselves that everything is hard. No, everything is so easy. In my mind everything is fixable. I've fixed a lot of things with nothing. Nothing. Like cuz I'm Filipino. I'm not an entrepreneur. I'm Filipino. That means I can fix anything that needs fixing. **[23:12] Speaker B:** Yes. **[23:12] Speaker A:** There's no title. There's There's really no title. CEO, founder, no one wants that title. Trust me. If someone wants to the decision power that I have right now, divine. I hand my keys all the time to people without without even flinching. No one even grabs that key cuz they know. They know. Like it's not the cafes that we built. I have no experience in that. Why would people trust me to build a cafe? Because I didn't build a cafe. **[23:39] Speaker B:** Mhm. **[23:39] Speaker A:** I built a system. A system that educates people about our culture and how we are a community communal community. Like if if if people think about community, they think about Filipinos and what we create around the community. Like Yeah. It's like going back into history. Everyone thinks that like we were probably abducted out of the islands like 500 years ago, right? Like there's there's history about Moral Bay. Like Filipinos landed there with the programs or whatever, right? Here's the truth. Yes. But I think also it's like if you're in the island, right? Right I mean right now people want to leave the island. I'm like, man, I want to reverse that. I want to go back because I love that place. I didn't get a chance to have the choice to say, "Hey, I want to live there." I love that place and I want to make it better. **[24:30] Speaker A:** And I believe I can make it better. I can I believe that I'm the one that can make it better because everyone sees something different than I do. I got to leave that place better than I found it. It's It's It's my responsibility. I'm not going to blame the government. I'm not going to blame the clock. I'm not going to blame the history. History's done. What we have in front of us right now is literally the future and now. What are we really doing instead of talking? **[24:59] Speaker B:** Mhm. **[24:59] Speaker A:** I know what I've done. **[25:01] Speaker B:** Mhm. Sometimes, you know, Filipino, they're just waiting for someone to lead, you know, to lead us and they will follow. So, you're doing a great thing. **[25:12] Speaker A:** I mean, I I don't I **[25:14] Speaker B:** I don't want to be followed, though. Like, I When you think about something, right? Like, I don't want to do this by myself. **[25:23] Speaker A:** Mhm. **[25:23] Speaker B:** So, the community I've built, right? These ambassadors, build your brand, build your cafe, build whatever you want. You don't even have to mention our name. I really don't care. Cuz if you sell out, if you sell out, fantastic. I am telling people we have infinite amount of things in the Philippines. I'm not just talking about coffee, Divine. The Philippines is so rich, they don't know it. **[25:51] Speaker A:** Mhm. **[25:51] Speaker B:** They don't know how rich they are. Like, I think Yeah, people say, "Oh, yeah, I I have I didn't grow up in the Philip- I didn't have to grow up anywhere knowing that I can do something to change that place that I came from. I didn't have to be a farmer. I didn't I know there's poverty in the Philippines. I ain't stupid. Come on, now. I ain't got to I don't have to, you know, come on. The reality is, we want to believe that it's bad there. I'm like, my my my mom's sister, when when I was visiting farms in Davao, she was like, "Oh, you're going there?" I'm like, "Yes." And I'm like, "I'm not afraid. I'm really not afraid." What What can happen that couldn't happen here? Kidnapping? That can happen here a lot easier than it can happen in the Philippines. Actually, because people are so scared to go there, the people in the Philippines, Davao is amazing. **[26:46] Speaker B:** I don't want to say that because then I'm going to turn into a tourist attraction. It's beautiful there. I love the weather there. I feel better there. The air feels better there. The humidity, the heat, I love it. Like I'm an island boy. I'm an island boy. Like you can't take that out of me. Like I don't have to live in poverty know that there's people that live in poverty there. What I can do though is change that. And that's what I'm responsible for. I make myself responsible for changing that and and and not waiting for stuff to happen. Like I don't have to create fundraisers to give back to us. I'm already doing that. I'm already doing I'm paying I'm paying the people that make the product, right? And it's simple. I don't There's no There's no secret sauce. Right? There's no secret sauce. **[27:36] Speaker B:** I know people want to say there's some sauce behind it, but there's nothing. Nothing. You just have have to have the like unstoppable mindset like and that's what I have because I've been given that opportunity because I've been given life. **[27:52] Speaker A:** Mhm. **[27:53] Speaker B:** Life. Like I don't know. We don't have that much of it. You know, if you look at the years and it it gets worse because if you don't take care of your body and all this other stuff that you can't do the fun stuff that you want to do. And in order to do fun stuff you got to be disciplined. **[28:09] Speaker A:** So how did you start getting The Ofilo coffee in front of people? So what was your very first marketing move? **[28:18] Speaker B:** Farmers market. Yeah, so the the farmers market. Yeah, so lower cost of entry to go in there and I know that that market people are more acceptable to new stuff. Like organic. So it was really easy. And I I'm so honored and and glad that people opened the door for me. Like I just walked up to the farmers market and I said "Hey, do you guys have space for me?" Right? And they said yes. And then it opened up four farmers market in in 2019. So we had four farmers markets. We're in doing And that's how we're spreading the message for Filipino coffee. Still still same message. Still same message. We were roasting at the farmers market. So, same same except for these two locations actually actually are like physical locations where the full experience is there from the roastery to the cafe to the tasting room and education. **[29:08] Speaker B:** So, it was the same thing except when it was at the farmers market it was like 10 by 10 10 that you had to set up like every morning on Saturday or Sunday Friday Wednesday Monday you know so you know people want to complain on how much like rent is start at the farmers market start at pop-up start at just start man stop making excuses you don't even need a physical location you could sell it online. **[29:33] Speaker A:** Mhm. **[29:33] Speaker B:** Like whatever excuses we're telling ourselves like we need this we need that like no you need just need to start. Like don't even think about how am I going to do it like just do something. Do something like even if you're not doing anything just talk about it. It's so easy to just talk about it. I'm not an expert in coffee but I love my people more. I love my people more. I don't care. If I love my people more the coffee no problem. We got that. That's that's easy. **[29:59] Speaker A:** So, you're pursuing Amazon as a grow channel. What that you decided that was the right move? **[30:06] Speaker B:** Any move I don't want to just say Amazon right? Like it's just another platform that just gets us in a platform. But we have our own. So, it's not just Amazon. It's it can Alibaba serve us can other platforms and we're getting calls from like other platforms whether it's like selling green beans selling our products on their shelves on their digital spaces. So, it's like it's not necessarily just Amazon. Like Amazon's just a little piece. It's like if we're not in every spot making it available then I'm wrong. Meaning like I'm not doing enough for getting the farmers out there. So, it's not just about Amazon. It's about everything I could turn on, not just Amazon. Ambassadors, people that are not even have a brick and mortar, cafes, catering, like whatever we need to make the coffee flow, we can get more. Like what I'm saying is that there is no platform that we should not be on. **[31:05] Speaker A:** Mhm. **[31:05] Speaker B:** Right? So, it's not just Amazon. I don't want to give Amazon everything. **[31:10] Speaker A:** But like you know, you can also get lost in Amazon, too. So, that's why we need to be in a lot of platforms where maybe people would not look. Right? So, any platform, I'm saying physical, web space, um AI, cars, I mean if you could put the sticker anywhere, that that puts us somewhere, right? **[31:32] Speaker B:** Mhm. **[31:33] Speaker A:** So, it's like looking at how how would someone want to do it? It's like no, you you just do it. Whatever it is, whatever your idea is, just execute that idea. **[31:44] Speaker B:** Mhm. **[31:45] Speaker A:** Cuz then you can tell everyone like this is how I'm doing it for the Philippines. Right? It doesn't have to be like a followed path. It doesn't have to be the path here. It's just I don't it just make a path. It'll come back. It'll come back. Like it's not if you you won't get lost. Someone will help you find the way, right? Like if not, you'll just create another path. You just climb over the mountain or you you dig or I don't know, whatever. Fly. Yeah, I mean it's infinite like infinite. **[32:17] Speaker B:** So, we met in Phil Chamber of Commerce in Cerritos. So, how does being part of FAC3 and the Filipino American community play into your business growth? **[32:31] Speaker A:** I got a call from Ellen. This is like while I'm driving. I get a call from Ellen. Hey, would you want to be part of the, you know?" And I just said, you know, this is maybe, I don't know, three four years I don't know cuz it, you know, a lot of it, you know, when you you like miss time, it's fun. So, and if no one knows what a a chamber of commerce is, it's voluntary work. It's voluntary. Like, we don't get paid to be a a VP of business development. I don't even know what that means. I honestly don't know what that means. I just know that they said, "Hey, Ron, do you want to I'm like, "Um, sure." But, before that happened, I actually joined SCORE. SCORE. Have you heard of it? score.org. It's a nonprofit. It's a nonprofit that's free. You get a free mentor. **[33:18] Speaker B:** Mhm. **[33:19] Speaker A:** You get a free mentor. I met a mentor on there. He was teaching me like how to start the business. So, I started doing it like, you know, eight years and then um, I went through SCORE, got the mentor. He put me in some in Well, I was a coffee Q grader that had a coffee company. And um, I'm glad I met him because that's the guy that told me that this was not a good idea. And I'm laughing at that because like idea, that's his idea. He doesn't know who I am. He doesn't know what I'm willing to do for my people. Why would he even And why would that even matter what he said? What he said actually made me feel better because that just shows that that's the people that we have to change their minds, right? So, my mind was already changed. **[34:03] Speaker A:** Like, it didn't even matter what he thought. He could say, "Oh, yeah, it's not a good idea." Good. Good for you. But, like there's multiple times he's come to our booth at Coffee Fest and World of Coffee. You know what I mean? Like, he he knows. He knows that whatever he said and he would stop by our shop. He'd stop by our coffee I mean, he'd stop by our our location. So, whether he thought he said something wrong, I don't care. Like, he said the right thing. **[34:30] Speaker B:** Mhm. **[34:30] Speaker A:** Right? He said exactly what I needed to hear. He said that was not a good idea. Okay. Where we at now? You know what I mean? Like, where you at now? You know what I mean? So, he doesn't know my background and it's not anything that I went to school for it. Cuz like it's pride. Like I have pride. I have Filipino pride. I don't care. I don't care what anyone says. If I'm not Filipino enough, I don't care. Say that. Like, what does that mean? Is being Filipino enough saying that you're not Filipino enough being Filipino? Like, that's not Filipino. That's not Bayanihan. That's not like how you bring people up with you. So, I I really Yeah, none of it like words. Words, man. Like they just they fuel me. So, I don't know if that answered your question. **[35:12] Speaker B:** Yes, actually I I never I never, you know, I I don't have idea how you get into FAC3 and, you know, the same thing that last time I said, you know, when we sit down in the round table, it's like for me, you know, all the experiences that I heard from different entrepreneurs, it's like a a big thing to me, you know, it really like helps me, you know, to grow also in my entrepreneurial, you know, journey. And, you know, like that, you know, when you met the mentor in in the score, that makes you, you know, open your mind about the coffee and now you are doing it. **[35:51] Speaker A:** Mhm. **[35:51] Speaker B:** I mean a lot of things, not just these organizations, right? I think you you have you have to think about this. Right? If you're thinking about your business and if you're thinking about building something and you need people that have done it and that's why you join these organizations. I'm not saying single out just Filipino Chamber of Commerce, right? Because if you want to get your message out, you want to get your company out, then you got to go to multiple chamber mixers, whatever, so your network becomes your net worth. **[36:19] Speaker A:** Mhm. **[36:19] Speaker B:** I'm pretty sure people have said this has coined this term, but it's not. It's not. Like if your the is small, your network is going to be small, right? It's not It's not It's the more people that you know and you tell people about what you do, it's never been about coffee, right? Like it's always been about the people. The people make the stuff and I'm not just looking at coffee, we're looking at everything. I mean, like I said, I'm telling you the Philippines is so rich. They don't They don't know how to move the product. **[36:52] Speaker B:** And I'm not a mover product, but I can move product that's never been moved. So, where is Theofilo Coffee going next? What does the vision look like in 5 years? I mean, I think it's still what we've done, but just more efficiently and how we're changing the metric of where what 5 years can look like. If I'm doing the same thing what I've been doing for 9 years, then it's going to be even higher than what it is now and I believe we're pretty high. We're pretty far. Because execution or ideas, big two separators. Like we've done everything we could. Where would it be in 5 years? Let your imagination think what that is. Like I know where we're going and I know where we're headed. And it's like if I said it, people are like, "Oh, man, that guy's crazy." I'm like, **[37:41] Speaker A:** "Good. Good." Cuz like it's just like I work for SpaceX, right? Everyone thought Elon was crazy. And then I'm like, "No, dude. You don't understand." If he says he's going Mars, I actually believe him. Because he's doing everything that NASA has never done, ever, or ever tried, or failed. I don't know. That's why NASA hires SpaceX to do all their work now. Cuz he he disrupted the system. So, when I say I'm going to change the Philippines, people better either believe it or don't. Like I don't care. Like I don't care what's in the way. There's nothing really in the way. Cuz I've I can move I can move things. I can move things closer. I can move mountains. I can move water. I can fly. Like I can do a lot of these things already. And I don't need to be no superhero, wear cape. **[38:34] Speaker A:** No. And I don't want invisibility either. I don't want invisibility cuz like the change agent the change agent will be the people that are like behind us. Like we don't have much time. We think we have all the time in the world. We don't. **[38:50] Speaker B:** Mhm. **[38:51] Speaker A:** It's you know, like the Like you don't have to lie about it, right? You don't have to like oh, I'm so sad. Like okay, you can live in sadness. Like you know that it's going to come to an end. But like you you you choose that. You choose like you know the number. But it's just a number that you don't it's just there. You don't know if you'll make it to that number, whatever the number that you want to make it to. But like you don't know. You don't know. But in the time that you're chasing that number, whatever that number want to get to, double digits, single digits. Just make sure you're doing something that like is making the biggest impact and you can see you could feel it and you could tell it so easily that it's not advertisement. It's not fake marketing. **[39:32] Speaker A:** It's just it's real. It's real. It's like it's just real. I don't even know how to say that. It's like I What I've done I haven't really done anything that oh yeah, it's like I got to lie about it. It's like no. I can tell you so easily that it's Yeah, I don't even know. Like you can put me in court like This is what I do. I take I buy the coffee and then I move it. I magically move it from that province so far away that's probably at least I don't know how many thousands of miles away. In a different country. And we do it legally. Even if I told DTI I told DTI they came to our shop in 2021. He brought all his uh dignitaries, you know, the DTI folks and you know, embassy members. And I told them, everybody this is on tape. **[40:26] Speaker A:** I said, I will smuggle this if I have to. **[40:29] Speaker B:** And it's like they know that I'm serious. Like I'm not even messing around. And I wasn't messing around. If I had to do three boxes every time I go back even though if it's expensive, I would have done it to make it happen. But if I chose that way, how does that look as a professional and as a as a company? That does not look trustworthy. That is a a farmer would look at even a farmer would look at that and say like, no, I can't trust that guy. I can't trust that guy. Why would I trust that guy if he's going and circumventing the system and you know, creating a system that benefits them? Like why would Ron even bent Why would he even do that? Like Ron never came from farming. Ron never You know what I mean? It's like you didn't have to live in these areas or be in that specific place to know that you can change this place that we came from. **[41:20] Speaker B:** Like I don't know. It It doesn't seem that difficult to think about it. Like I don't have to have I grew up in poverty, right? But I'm not saying that I grew up rich or poor. Uh parents worked super hard to get us and and to make us feel that that poverty like I never felt it. You know? So I don't know. Like do you have to live in poverty to do something right? Do you have to be rich to do something right? I don't know. I All I know is that I'm trying to do something to to write our history's wrong and to create something that's never existed before. And I don't even know if it's a good system. People can help help make the system even better, right? How did they do that? I don't know. Buy the coffee. And and watch it go through the channels that we make it go through. **[42:10] Speaker B:** Just watch it cuz if if people want to do it, Divine like how we did it, you can take it. Make it better. But, you still got to spend the money. Don't even matter. It's either our money or your money. We store it, you store it. You roast it, you I don't give a Like, do do the work. Everyone wants to talk about doing some Like, they they're always talking about it. Do something then. Do something for real. Like, do something. Show me show me something. And I'll be super amazed if you can do that for 9 years. Consistently. Consistently. Consistently, I show up. I show up. So, and I didn't try to advertise that Like, I I I I just telling you, that's I don't see anyone else waking at 4:00 a.m. I don't see anyone else there. It's empty. The streets are empty. **[42:56] Speaker B:** Like, no one wants to do No one wants to go running. No one wants to eat healthy. No No one wants to do anything. Everyone just wants comfortable and **[43:04] Speaker A:** Yes. **[43:05] Speaker B:** I don't like comfort. That's why I'm here at the beach. I just went running. Like, cuz no one No one wants to wake up early and do this run with me. No one cares. No one cares. I don't even care. I just want to do it cuz this is easier than actually thinking about what I actually have to do. **[43:21] Speaker A:** Mhm. **[43:22] Speaker B:** Like, run this company efficiently. **[43:24] Speaker A:** We're about to do it that rapid fire, but then we ALREADY ON FIRE. **[43:32] Speaker B:** NO NEED FOR FIRE. LET'S PUT it out with some ice or some I don't know. **[43:37] Speaker A:** All right. So, I have a 10 questions here. And whatever **[43:42] Speaker B:** Oh, That's a lot. **[43:45] Speaker A:** Whatever comes first in your mind. So, yes or no, this or that. Okay. So, what first thing that comes to your mind? **[43:53] Speaker B:** Right now? **[43:54] Speaker A:** Yeah. **[43:55] Speaker B:** Um it's a beautiful day. I mean, no complaints here. It's a beautiful day. **[43:59] Speaker A:** Okay. Black coffee or with cream and sugar? **[44:04] Speaker B:** Come on. I Don't don't get me wrong here. I know this is you can't give me these questions divine and expect me to like answer them shortly. Black coffee all day every day. Come on now like this is specialty. We're this is a this is a luxury to have this stuff here so fresh that higher than Ferraris. You know what I mean? That that no black Come on. But I don't want to come off like that like I'm being a coffee Nazi. But I think about it like as a farmer would. Like if he saw me put creamer in something that he's worked on for years or months or whatever and I just put like creamer and sugar. That's like that's like putting ketchup on a fine steak or putting putting creamer in some like wine. You know what I mean? It doesn't make sense. **[44:50] Speaker B:** I'm sorry that that could it's a loaded it's a loaded question. You can't you can't give me these rapid fire. I could rapid fire answer but I can't rapid fire just let it go like quack. No. I got to give an explanation. I got to give an explanation. **[45:06] Speaker A:** There's another one. Okay Filipino coffee OR COLOMBIAN COFFEE? **[45:17] Speaker B:** I'M SORRY. I'M GOING TO SAY Filipino coffee all day every day baby all day. I don't care. That's all I can see. That's all I can see. I mean I don't need to see the other ones because other people see them already. People need to see what we have. So if I had to choose something thing if I had a choice it would always be Filipino coffee and just Filipino anything really. **[45:39] Speaker A:** Best piece of advice you ever received. **[45:42] Speaker B:** It's stupid to say it but like don't quit. Don't quit like man you know how many times I want to quit every day? But I still smile. I'm like it man. I don't care. I'm going to go out if I'm going to go out I'm going to go out smiling. I ain't going to go out like oh woe is me. So the best advice is like just don't quit. Like and you can tell anyone in in any field, in any job, in any whatever. Like, the thing is if you if you quit, you'll let that one thing win over. And that's a decision that you can make. Like, super easy. So. **[46:15] Speaker A:** Early morning grind or late night hustle? **[46:18] Speaker B:** Sometimes I don't get that choice, right? So, it doesn't matter. Late night, middle, late or morning. Preferably, morning. Earlier the better. If anyone can wake up at 4:00 with me, fantastic. I get way more done. Um So, if I if I had a choice, I would choose both. I don't care. I have the choice that I get to do those. Those are easy easy. **[46:42] Speaker A:** Mhm. Okay, so what's something about you that would surprise people? **[46:47] Speaker B:** Maybe that I was a center in in high school in basketball and I was like really good. If I was still in high school, I was pretty damn good as a center. **[46:55] Speaker A:** All right, so big biggest green flag in a business business partner? **[47:00] Speaker B:** Uh I would say someone that's with me the whole time. That's the biggest. They don't need to be good. **[47:07] Speaker A:** Mhm. **[47:08] Speaker B:** They just have to be there with me. And a lot of people do because like the the meaning for Teofilo has just like it's like a magnet. You know the the the laws of attraction, right? Laws of attraction, you've heard of that, Divine? I'm pretty sure. **[47:21] Speaker A:** Yes. Yes. Uh-huh. **[47:22] Speaker B:** I mean, I believe it. Like, I've created the magnet and the magnet's coffee. And the magnet's also the people. Like, people want to be Filipino. People want to be our culture now. We're fun. Everything's a fiesta. I mean, like if if examples like for Coffee Fest, like we had the longest lines and it wasn't cuz we were giving free samples of Filipino coffee at all four. Like, hey, just take the free samples. People were waiting in line to hear stories **[47:47] Speaker A:** Mhm. **[47:48] Speaker B:** about us like, you know, going to the farms, like doing all the stuff that we were doing. It's just like, yeah, people are lining up for that Like, they could have just bypassed the line and just got free coffee. But then like everyone else was looking at us at the table like other other roasters and tables like damn like what what do they got? And I think even like producers like Columbia, Guatemala were going to us like man even these people are telling us like your guys' coffee is the best. And they're they're saying things like man you guys are the only ones that's doing this and I'm like okay cool man like you enjoy the coffee like you know I think that's that's what we're trying to do is just not it's not you know that there's too much layers. We're trying to make the layers less. **[48:30] Speaker B:** Like we have a lot of coffee. Do you want it? Do you want to buy it? Do you want like to order more? We have a lot like I don't know I don't know how easy it is. It's so easy. **[48:39] Speaker A:** One word to describe that Theofilo coffee journey. **[48:44] Speaker B:** There's too many words. I would say it's it's fun. **[48:47] Speaker A:** Fun. Yes. It's more fun in the Philippines. **[48:50] Speaker B:** It's more fun. Yeah, it's just more of fun being Filipino. That's **[48:53] Speaker A:** Uh-huh. **[48:54] Speaker B:** Not just in the Philippines. It's cuz Filipinos will make anything fun. **[48:58] Speaker A:** Mhm. Yes. So what do you do when you feel like giving up? **[49:05] Speaker B:** I go running. **[49:06] Speaker A:** What does your perfect Sunday morning look like? **[49:10] Speaker B:** Getting up at the same time 4:00 a.m. and getting it just working out and being able to go to two shops. **[49:18] Speaker A:** Complete this sentence. Behind my brand is a story of **[49:22] Speaker B:** community. **[49:23] Speaker A:** All right and this is my last question. So the and this is my favorite one. So if every person watching or listening to this episode could you take one thing away, one idea, one action, one mindset from your story today. So what you'd what do you want that to be? **[49:43] Speaker B:** Think about it this way. If I wanted someone to really take away something, if we want to win this like and what this means like this the meaning is like if we want Filipino culture to look different to be different we have to do it differently than what we've done in the past so forget whatever happened already like starting from today if anyone is listening just change all you have to do is make that simple change it's very little very little change and it's like help as many people as you can because a lot of people help me. A lot of people. **[50:22] Speaker A:** All right thank you very much for this wonderful and fun conversation and where our audience can find you follow you and work with you. **[50:35] Speaker B:** Anywhere my phone has been available for 9 years anyone can call me right now 714-715-7183 or you go to our website theophilo coffeecompany.com or you can visit our two experience centers one in Carson and one in Long Beach and we can you can buy it online you can order on toes you can order Uber Eats it if not just share that the Philippines has coffee that's it like and we have tons of it we have tons of it. **[51:03] Speaker A:** Yes we will add that also in our description and comment of this podcast all right so thank you so much Ron again so this has been incredible and you've been listening to the modern day business Diaries behind the brand beyond the business I'm Divine Grace Corcio and I'll see you next week. **[51:24] Speaker B:** Behind every brand is a story behind every story is a system this is modern day business Diaries see you in the next episode.