Erica Escalante

cafe and bakery consultant

putting out fires,
bringing in ease

How can I help?

With 15 years of experience in the specialty cafe and bakery space, I specialize in helping cafe and bakery owners bring ease to their operations.

Whether you're dreaming big or just need a little boost, I'm all ears.

My favorite thing is working with smaller, grass-roots cafes and bakeries, assisting business owners in putting out fires and making life easier. From systemizing operational essentials like pricing recipes, to building and keeping killer teams, to crafting a sustainable and approachable content plan that's true to your brand – I've got your back. As a previous cafe/bakery owner, I know what's like to have limited time, a limited budget, and limited energy.

Let's chat about how I can provide support to your business!

  • Operations & training document creation

  • Streamlined recipe costing

  • Team education, engagement & mentorship

  • Retail merchandising & signage

  • Approachable social media content strategies

  • Bakery wholesale expansion

What I Offer

Whether you’re still at the uber small stage of doing everything yourself, or you’re managing and growing a team, I can help.

  • My packaged services are common projects that I assist businesses with and make an immediate and huge impact. Things like revamping your menu signage, making a content calendar, or helping you develop a system for pricing out your offerings… Check out those services here.

  • Everyone needs a boost sometimes, and maybe you don’t even know where to start!

    Schedule a 30 minute consultation with me and let’s talk about those constant fires or what’s keeping you up at night. I will give you honest feedback and propose a plan for you to get where you want to be.

    Schedule a Consultation

  • So you have a manager and have no idea what they should be doing for you or how to teach them how to help? Or maybe you have a great barista on your team who wants to be a manager but you have no time to train them… Maybe YOU are the manager and feeling out of your depth…

    I have been hiring and training managers for over 10 years and it’s one of my favorite things to do.

    Through my manager mentorship service, I will meet with you and/or your manager, providing the mentorship you need to grow, achieve your goals, and set up your cafe for operational success well into the future.

    This isn’t just an investment into your current manager but all managers to come.

    Get more information here

  • I pride myself in being an excellent teacher and trainer. From leadership summits to specialty coffee conferences, to cafe teams and panels, I love breaking down large concepts in a way that inspires and sparks joy and passion.

    Want someone to come out and talk with your team about raising sales? I’m your girl!

    Need seed-to-cup specialty coffee education? I got you.

    I love sharing what I know in an approachable, fun, and engaging way, from 10 people to 150+. I have a range of curriculums that I’ve used for all my teams past and I would love to share them with your team.

    Reach out with what you have in mind and let’s chat!

About Me

I got my start in the coffee industry in 2008 at a well known chain and by 2012, I was opening my own cafe at the age of 21 in the Portland, OR area. The company expanded to two locations by 2017 and successfully grew into a full bakery program with over a dozen wholesale accounts, food program, and kitchen commissary program. I decided to close in 2021 for personal growth and a big move to Southern California to be closer to family.

Since then I have hit the ground running, focusing my time post cafe-ownership on project management, hospitality development, operations, leadership-development, and event coordination/large brand-activations - all things that I take such interest in and thoroughly enjoy.