Meet Sarah Moon of Koreatown

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Moon.

Hi Sarah , so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started Shop Latte commutatively. It came from a frustration finding local small businesses easier to becoming a small business owner. I’ve always been a designer, a researcher, and then becoming a small business owner was the nail on the coffin. I had to build something to solve this issue. I felt firsthand how isolating and confusing ir can be to build something with your own hands and try to be seen in a world ruled by algorithms. I don’t need the world to see my business, just my local community, my neighbors.

The idea for Shop Latte came from that feeling like grabbing a latte at your local cafe, glancing at the bulletin board of neighborhood events, and discovering a bit of crafts made by local small artists. I wanted to bring that experience online without losing the warmth or the humanity of it.

In January, I submitted a rough early version of Shop latte to USC capstone program,. The project came back to me in May and I ended up redesigning everything because after designing the first time, it didn’t feel right and I re-hauled it. I didn’t want to change the entire website on college students mid semester. They built the foundation, the code base for Shop Latte and that was absolutely so worth it. I ended up hiring an engineer to restructure the website, the user experience.

No funding, no team of ten. It’s me doing everything minus the actual coding.

At first, I launched the beta late May and was open to Los Angeles residents only. I hit up all the Facebook groups, a few LA businesses but no one signed up. I gained a small traction on TikTok, which I share my journey building Shop Latte and I had a few businesses saying they will sign up but they were in California. I made an announcement video opening it up to California on Titkok and the video got a bit of traction for a few weeks and we got sign ups. Funny enough the first business was a Los Angeles based business.

Six months later, California has over 200 businesses listed and Los Angeles is the largest region with over 80 businesses on Shop Latte. From the coolest handcrafted goods to awesome hands on services.

Today we’re live in all 50 states and D.C with one business in every business. We are gaining hundreds of businesses per week. We have over 800 businesses listed with us across the country.

I’m still building this as a solo founder, and I think that’s part of the soul of Shop Latte. Every screen, every sentence, every interaction comes from a place of wanting people to feel seen, not sold to. My hope is that Shop Latte becomes a place where discovering your local businesses feels as natural and intimate as walking through your favorite neighborhood market — a reminder that community is still something we can choose to build together.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There’s a lot of technical difficulties (pun intended lol) building Shop Latte. It’s a lot of parts behind the scenes that make building a platform like Shop Latte extremely overwhelming and difficult. Accommodating all the different ways small businesses operate, all the different types of businesses, and then adding location.

I was maxed out on money, energy, and time in the beginning of building. There were a lot of times I doubted myself. A lot of technical setbacks and limitations because I’m a solo founder and there’s no one to hand the weight to. A lot of decisions, technical, has to be thought thru and it’s exhausting. I had to stop for a whole month to focus on myself, it’s a lot. But.. I knew if I just get enough people to hear me out, they will love the platform and it could really change our communities to be more engaged with each other. So that thought alone is enough to push me through.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a product designer and researcher by training. I got my BS in product design at ArtCenter college of design in Pasadena, CA. I just received my MS in Business, Design, & Technology in Iovine and Young Academy at University of Southern California this spring. Might as well tell you I graduated high school at Roman C Cortines school of performing and visual arts in Downtown LA. I was part of their first set of students when they first opened.

But the past 3 years, I’ve been building my small business with my husband as dog walkers/pet sitters in Highland Park and surrounding areas.

I’m not sure what I’m most proud of. For me, I feel like I’m just lucky that a lot of my accomplishments in my life has aligned for me to understand the complexity of the problem that Shop Latte is set to solve. At the end of the day, if a small shop owner tells me, “I feel understood here,” that’s the work I’m proudest of.

I don’t know what really sets me apart. I’m a systematic thinker and when there’s a problem and I have a solution in my head, it’s more like turning on a faucet. I just know what needs to happen. It just clicks. I just like doing it too. Some people will think, well my brain hurts but for me it’s entertaining.

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Always work smarter, not harder. Use short cuts, use free resources, and never be afraid to ask. A lot of people are more open about sharing experiences more than you think. Try new things and never be afraid to switch if something doesn’t feel right.

Pricing:

• listing your business on shop latte is FREE
• To be part of the Menu, shop latte gift guide is 8/month for local gifts, 15/month for national shipped gifts

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shoplatte.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/shopwithlatte
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/shoplatte/