Be’Anka Ashaolu and her sister, Jeronica, were born and raised in San José. They grew up splitting the leftover sips of their grandmother’s coffee every morning, which sparked their shared passion for coffee. In high school, Jeronica landed her first job at a coffee shop, where she envisioned having her own space one day. Be’Anka, however, initially pursued a tech career but was drawn to the “slowing down” and community aspects of coffee culture as an adult. In 2018, the sisters joined forces to pursue their next venture, deciding to bring Jeronica's dream to life by opening a café named “Nirvana Soul.”

It took the sisters about two years to open up their first physical location. They wanted the space to be located in Downtown San José. Initially, they eyed a local café that was a beloved fixture in the area but found the initial asking price beyond their means and reluctantly passed on the opportunity. Six months later, the sisters received a call from the original café’s owner who wanted to work with them and find a price within their budget. Be’Anka believes he saw a bit of himself and his love for both the community and coffee in the sisters and their vision: a community-oriented concept with a modern twist that resonated with the café's legacy as a cherished neighborhood institution.

After securing their location, the next hurdle was financing the purchase. “We had to get an SBA loan,” Be’Anka says. “We don’t come from money. We went to our friends and family, and we had a pitch party to fundraise. That was the first thing that we did.” Their fundraising efforts started strong with an initial $500 donation from a neighbor, which made them realize that other people saw their vision. The sisters then pieced together the 20 percent equity injection they needed for the SBA loan. With the combined support of the SBA loan and the original owners dropping the asking price twice, they successfully purchased the property. In September 2020, Nirvana Soul opened its first location in the SoFA District of San José.

With the opening of their first storefront, the sisters joined the ranks of the very few Black business owners in San José. At the end of 2023, there were more than 60,000 active businesses in the city of San José, according to reports from the San José Small Business Advisory Committee. In a city with 15,600 firms, the ratio between business owners and workers is stark: only 2.8 out of every 100 workers own a business. This figure drops significantly for Black and women-owned businesses, where ownership rates are even lower. There are only 85 Black-owned firms in the area, based on the latest available data from 2017. For every 100 Black workers, just 0.5 own a firm. Similarly, there are only 1.4 female-owned businesses for every 100 female workers.

As a Black- and female-owned business, Be’Anka believes that Nirvana Soul has a unique responsibility to foster inclusion within both the San José community and the specialty coffee industry. “Nirvana Soul is for everyone,” she says. “We pride ourselves in being accessible and expanding the pie, not just having a piece of the pie.” Be’Anka and her sister deliberately designed the space to reflect the community and their cultural identity, making a bold statement with the vibrant pink storefront. “Before you would walk into a specialty coffee shop and it was very white and sterile and had a very specific look,” she adds. “We wanted to create a space that reflected our personality, our people, and our community, so we came with a splash.” Nirvana Soul also stands out for its commitment to employing predominantly Black and Brown female baristas and coffee roasters — an intentional investment Be’Anka believes will shape the future of specialty coffee.

In their journey to becoming business owners, the sisters faced their biggest challenge with financing and fundraising. Initially, they encountered numerous rejections from banks that didn't take them seriously. They also had to learn how to run a business venture completely on their own, citing that they went to “Google and YouTube University,” using free online resources as initial education. Recently, they participated in the ICA Fund Accelerator, which supports Bay Area businesses with “coaching, connections, and access to capital” to facilitate growth. Altogether, firms in San José average $2.92 million in revenue. However, Black-owned firms only average $1.25 million, and female-owned businesses average $1.4 million.

One of Nirvana Soul's greatest challenges as a business in San José is navigating the city's extremely high cost of living. “San José is so expensive,” Be’Anka says. “Our baristas struggle to live here which makes it tough. The service workers that are here sometimes can’t work here. It is just too much.” In San José, half of all renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent, highlighting the financial strain that impacts both residents and businesses. “There are so many [financial] considerations when you are running a business here because people can’t afford to live here,” Be’Anka adds. “It always comes back to housing.”

Nirvana Soul hopes to expand. Since its inception, the ultimate goal has been to establish 20 locations — a vision fueled by the scarcity of Black-owned, multi-location businesses in the United States. As of spring 2024, Nirvana Soul is on the verge of launching its fourth location at the Martin Luther King Library at San José State University. With it, the Nirvana Soul team will be well on its way to actualizing its dream of having 20 locations.

Learn More: Explore local data on business ownership — and explore what policy strategies you can support to expand and sustain business ownership for all residents across the Bay Area

Photos: Felix Uribe