Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Mastermind Alliance Spotlight! One of the ways we love supporting small businesses is throughthe Mastermind Alliance Spotlight, where we feature standout spaces and founders doing incredible work in our community. Sometimes these spotlights will come to life through a blog, and other times through a video interview, so stay tuned and help us support small businesses.
Haven Bodega’s Heart for Community
For this spotlight we present you an interview by Lilian Brooks, Founder of the Mastermind Alliance with Humberto Muriel, owner of HAVEN BODEGA, a Chill Café & neighborhood market located in the heart of Old Town Lilburn.
LILIAN: Hi Humberto, we are excited to spotlight Haven Bodega today. Thank you for taking the time to talk to us. Can you start by telling us a little about yourself—where you’re from, your family, and anything that makes you, YOU?
HUMBERTO: My name is Humberto Muriel, born and raised in Colombia. I majored in Electrical Engineering and have spent over 20 years working in the SW industry as a developer, then as a Technical Program Manager and now I lead technology teams. I migrated to the US by the turn of the century to complete my graduate studies, and come back to Colombia after that. Then life happened and I have settled with my daughter in Lilburn, GA. I have lived over 20 years in metro Atlanta, a city that I’ve learned to love and today I consider home.
LILIAN: It’s amazing how your journey has taken you from Colombia to building a life here in Lilburn, and how much Atlanta has become home for you. Let’s talk about Haven Bodega, what inspired you to start it, and what makes it unique?
HUMBERTO: Opening a coffee shop has always been a dream of my mother. When I was a child, she described a place where you can drink coffee and be surrounded by books. Her words were not lost on me and it became a dream of mine as well, but life took over after graduating from college, finding Visa sponsorship, working and starting a family. Turn to 2024, I moved with my daughter to downtown Lilburn, looking for a place that combined the things that I loved from Colombia and the aspects that I love from Georgia. In parallel, I have been reading about the mental health epidemic that is affecting teenagers (especially girls) and also middle aged men. Both of these turn out, have to do with effects of social media and the lack of human interaction and connectivity. Problems that can exacerbate today with the advent of AI. The idea of creating a space for humans to meet and discover each other, breaking country, race, religion and generational barriers, was the final catalyst that led me to take a leap of faith and open Haven. Haven is unique in our approach to customers and our true and honest connection with our community. We don’t take any of our customers for granted and we take pride in our service. We know that our main role is not to sell products, but to provide an elevated experience and brighten up our customer’s day. In addition, many of the products that we sell come directly from our Lilburn community, by that we also support the growth of small entrepreneurs in our area. Many things make Haven unique, but our strong relationship with our customers is our biggest differentiating factor.
LILIAN: I love how deeply personal that story is, especially how your mother’s dream stayed with you and evolved into something so meaningful for your community. What does the name “Haven Bodega” mean to you, and how does it reflect your vision for the business?
HUMBERTO: Bodega is a term that signifies a “corner store” in NY city, where communities are walkable. We want to bring the neighborhood aspects of the NY Bodega, whilst elevating our offerings. Haven is often defined as “a place of safety, refuge, or asylum that offers protection from danger or trouble”, and our goal is to be a Haven for the soul. A place that people can come in and truly be their authentic selves while feeling valued for who they truly are.
LILIAN: That vision of creating a space where people can truly be themselves really stands out. When someone walks into Haven Bodega, what kinds of products or experiences can they expect?
HUMBERTO: Our offerings are wide and deep, and our business is centered around three verticals: 1) Café experience, 2) NY style deli and 3) local market. Most people discover Haven through our coffee. We sell high quality locally roasted coffee calibrated every morning to ensure the perfect extraction every time. For people that like flavor in their coffee, we have a variety of house made syrups, including seasonal favorites such as Ginger Tumeric, White chocolate sweet potato, among many others. For non coffee drinkers, we offer high quality ceremonial matcha, imported from Japan by our partners from Wave3 matcha. We also have a variety of non-caffeinated options like Horchata, Hibiscus lemonade, frescos and smoothies during the warmer months. All of our drink creations are orchestrated by our front of the house manager, Sam Baumann and her team. Stepping into our Deli, customers have a selection of crafted sandwiches, meticulously designed by our kitchen director, James Crowe. James has put his culinary skills into a perfectly balanced combination of flavours making every single sandwich unique and exciting. I’m asked many times which one is my favorite, and that is not an easy question to answer, given they are all skillfully created. However, our customers seem to gravitate towards the Roast Beef with goat cheese and dill spread, the Turkey and swiss with pesto aioli and the Caprese. We also have a special sandwich rotating every month. This month we are featuring the “Cuban a la Haven”, our own twist to the traditional Cuban sandwich. Finally, we have our local market. Our goal is to create a store that connects customers with the products created by our own community. Locally baked breads, jams, honeys, spices, art and so many other products decorate our shelves. So, in summary, you can find all kinds of little surprises in Haven, and we continue increasing our offerings as our clientele grows.
LILIAN: It’s incredible how you have found ways to connect with the community and have created an avenue for them to sell their products. Since opening, what has been one of the most rewarding moments for you?
HUMBERTO: Seeing the love that our community has poured into our business is the best reward that validates the hard work that has come into it. I am lucky to say that a consistent message that we’ve received from our customers is “thank you for being here” and that is priceless. Seeing people from all ages, walks of life and nationalities walk through our doors still feels dreamlike and is a constant reminder that we need to continue working hard to create the best possible experience for our customers.
LILIAN: Hearing that kind of appreciation from the community must be incredibly fulfilling. Every business comes with its challenges, what’s something you’ve learned along the way that’s helped you grow as an entrepreneur?
HUMBERTO: In business, like in life, there are challenges almost everyday. From small ones like missing an ingredient, to bigger ones like employee issues. I would say that the biggest learning is that having strong systems is one of the key aspects for growth and sustainability in any business. When businesses start, we tend to improvise, but as businesses grow and mature, improvisation is a recipe for failure. One of the reasons people go to big chains, despite all of the criticism that they receive, is their consistency. This consistency comes from standardized and well maintained systems. For us, having systems has been an essential part of our growth. We know that there is still tremendous room for growth, but we also know that we are on a good path.
LILIAN: What you just said is very valuable, especially for growing businesses. Community is clearly at the heart of what you’re building. So, how do relationships and community play a role in your mission?
HUMBERTO: Community is fundamental to our business. I know that uttering the term “community” is becoming a cliché word that lots of businesses use today as a marketing slogan, but for us, it is in our DNA. The community aspect of Haven has been part of the business since before we opened. Starting with the fact that I am a resident of this neighborhood, my goal is to create the space that I dreamt of having in my community. A place where anyone could go at any time and find a friendly face to connect with. A place where people connect with each other irrespective of their background, religion, nationality or race. A place where small business owners could bring their products to their community. In other words, a place where people can regain the magic of serendipitous human connection that we have been slowly losing, in great part because of the advent of social media. We see financial success in our business, not as an end, but as the fuel that powers our true mission.
LILIAN: I love that you are intentional about creating real human connection, specially in today’s world. With that in mind, what advice would you give to other entrepreneurs or small business owners who are building something of their own?
HUMBERTO: I would share three pieces of advice and they are all equally important: 1) Make sure to use both sides of your brain. A business needs dreamers, but also needs logical thinkers to ensure that the dream can survive and grow. 2) Hire people that are better than you in the skills that you lack, so you compliment each other and the whole becomes greater than its parts. Finally, 3) be sure to have a strong set of values/mission that guide your business from inception. This is especially important during rocky times when you question and doubt yourself (and this will happen), that mission will remind you why you are doing what you are doing and reinforce your commitment.
LILIAN: That’s such well-rounded advice—balancing vision, people, and values. Looking ahead, what’s next for Haven Bodega? Are there any exciting plans, projects, or events coming up this year?
HUMBERTO: We are constantly changing, reinventing and reimagining ourselves. We will continue hosting the events that our community loves like wine tastings paired with charcuterie and live latin jazz; cooking classes by our spice vendors; book signings; and board game nights, among other events. We will be hosting our second anniversary celebration later this year and we expect to have many other surprises to come. We will be posting them all on our social media and website, so make sure to follow us. We also want to hear ideas from our community members and learn from them what else would they like to see us do.
LILIAN: Those events sound like such a great way to keep bringing people together. And let me say, we attended one of your wine tastings and it was incredible. We will definitely come again. Now, one last question to wrap our conversation. How can our Mastermind Alliance community best support Haven Bodega?
HUMBERTO: First of all, thank you for deciding to host your event at our establishment. We would love to continue hosting your events and meetups, and hopefully participate in them as well. Additionally, using your platform to let others know about Haven, would be a great way to support our growth.
LILIAN: Humberto, thank you so much for sharing your story and the heart behind Haven Bodega. It’s truly special to see how you’ve created a space that brings people together and makes everyone feel welcome.We’re so grateful to have you in our community and can’t wait to see what’s ahead. If you haven’t stopped by yet, definitely go check out Haven—you’ll love it!
Show Haven Bodega some love!
Adress: 95 Main St, Lilburn, GA 30047