Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Karen and Jonathan Dizon of Los Angeles/Koreatown

We recently had the chance to connect with Karen and Jonathan Dizon and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Karen and Jonathan, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What’s more important to you—intelligence, energy, or integrity?
Integrity

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
We are born and raised here in Los Angeles. This city, the neighborhood, Los Angeles is where we met, went to school, hung out as kids, eventually started our lives together, grew our family and naturally, it is the place where we knew we were going to start our coffee shop.

Karen has been in the food & beverage industry since the age of 14 and eventually put herself through culinary school and restaurant management. Always knew she wanted to open a coffee shop that was part of the community we grew up in. Jonathan went to school for and was working in the urban planning field, but somehow always felt entrepreneurship was his path.

After parting ways in high school as classmates, reunited almost 10 years later, and what started off as a couple of beers led to eventually starting a beautiful life together and deciding to pursue their dreams together. We decided we would throw all our chips on the table, quit our jobs and finally open our coffee shop. We knew we had to represent us, our culture, our city, the place and how we grew up. Be authentic, be genuine and be real.

We’re not perfect by any means, but we wanted to make sure we were vulnerable, be honest with our customers and our space. It genuinely feels like we were inviting folks to our home.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: What relationship most shaped how you see yourself?
For better or for worse and whether it was positive and negative, our early childhood/ family relationships definitely shaped who we are today.

If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
Don’t let hardships determine your life.

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
Integrity

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. Could you give everything your best, even if no one ever praised you for it?
Yes. It’s always about doing things for yourself and not for recognition.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.splcoffee.com
• Instagram: @splcoffee
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/splcoffee
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/spl-coffee-los-angeles?osq=spl+coffee

Image Credits
N/A
all photos are by us