We hear it all the time. Bet on yourself. Take the leap. Follow the vision.

But what happens when you already took the leap and lost?

Joe and Celia Ward-Wallace, co-founders of South LA Cafe, have been together 28 years. Before the cafe, they taught themselves real estate and built a portfolio that looked like wealth on paper. Then the market crashed. Foreclosure. Bankruptcy. Years later, they chose to bet on themselves and each other again.

In this conversation, we explore:

• What it takes to trust yourself after a financial loss
• How they keep their connection alive as life partners and business partners
• Why Celia said they needed a community center disguised as a coffee shop
• How their response to COVID became a weekly grocery giveaway feeding more than 1,000 people
• The barriers Black and Brown business owners face, even when they're held up as the success story
• Building wealth while bringing your community with you

Celia shared something I haven't stopped thinking about. Before opening the cafe, Joe felt tolerated. After opening it, he felt celebrated.

It reminded me that sometimes we think we're building something for other people, and we don't realize how much the thing we're building is changing us too.

What are you being called to build that might change you too?

Connect with Joe and Celia
Website: southlacafe.com
Instagram: @southlacafe

Connect with Debra
Dr. Debra Griffith is the founder of Do Better Executive Coaching & Consulting. She helps women of color leaders make sense of what they're navigating and move forward with clarity and intention. She also partners with education leaders and organizations to strengthen leadership, address barriers, and build systems that work better for people.

Learn more about executive coaching, organizational consulting, speaking, and the ROOTS leadership community: dobettercoachingandconsulting.com
LinkedIn:Debra Griffith

Chapters
00:00 Welcome
02:00 How's your spirit today?
03:30 28 years together and keeping the spark alive
07:00 Joe just wanted a good cup of coffee
09:30 Real estate, the crash, and starting over
13:00 A community center disguised as a coffee shop
16:30 COVID and the grocery giveaway
21:30 The heaviest part of the work
28:30 What the business taught them about each other
33:30 Twenty years from now
36:30 What they want young Black and Brown entrepreneurs to know
41:30 What stayed with me