A reflective journey on entrepreneurship and mentorship, exploring how belief, resilience, and the willingness to learn transform ideas into meaningful businesses while inspiring others to take their first step.
Her Story
About Tanya
Tanya Beers is the Owner and Operator of Caffe’ Crema, a specialty coffee shop she opened in 2021 in Atlanta, Texas. Her entrepreneurial journey was built through years of diverse work experiences, from the fast-food industry and insurance offices to an eye clinic, a home-based cake business and eventually a boutique within a tanning salon. Each experience gave her practical insight into customer service, operations, sales, and the importance of creating meaningful connections with people.
Today, Beers leads a growing team and is focused on developing strong systems, delegating effectively, and creating opportunities for her business to grow beyond its local roots. Beyond operating Caffe’ Crema, she is developing one-on-one consulting and mentorship services designed to help aspiring entrepreneurs, particularly women, gain the confidence, knowledge, and guidance needed to take the first steps toward opening their own restaurant or coffee business.
Her approach to business is rooted in hospitality, kindness, perseverance, and a belief that people are at the heart of every successful business. She strives to instill those same values in her team and the experience they provide to every customer.
Beers is also committed to giving back to her community. She has served on the Chamber of Commerce board and is involved in organizing community events, including the annual Trail Grinder race, which raises funds to support research into superficial siderosis, a rare neurological disorder.
For Beers, entrepreneurship is about more than building a business. It is about creating opportunities, serving others, continuing to learn, and using her own experiences to help someone else find the courage to take their first step.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Tanya
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to perseverance, a willingness to learn, and the courage to keep going when things don’t go as planned. I’ve never been afraid to start over, try something new, or learn from my mistakes. Most importantly, I believe in serving people well, building genuine relationships, and continually looking for ways to grow. My faith, family, and desire to help others succeed have also been a major part of what keeps me moving forward.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I’ve ever received was to stop waiting until I felt completely ready and take the first step. When I was considering opening my first brick-and-mortar business, a woman who owned a tanning salon encouraged me to believe in myself and move forward. She didn’t just encourage me; she guided me through those first steps and gave me the confidence to believe that I could actually do it.
That experience taught me that sometimes you don’t need someone to have all the answers for you; you need someone who believes in you enough to help you take the first step. That lesson has stayed with me throughout my career, and now I hope to be that person for other aspiring entrepreneurs.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice to young women entering my industry is to believe in yourself before everyone else does. Don’t be afraid to take up space, ask questions, make mistakes, and learn as you go. You don’t have to know everything before you begin, you just have to be willing to take the first step and keep learning.
I would also encourage them to learn the business side just as much as the creative side. Passion may get you started, but understanding your numbers, your customers, your team, and your market is what helps you build something sustainable.
Most importantly, find people who will encourage you, challenge you, and guide you, but don’t let someone else’s doubt become your limitation. Your journey may not look like anyone else’s, and that’s okay. Be willing to adapt, keep showing up, and remember that you are capable of more than you think.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges in my industry right now is balancing rising costs with the need to provide customers with a high-quality experience while remaining profitable. Small businesses are competing not only with large coffee chains, but also with changing consumer habits and an increasingly competitive market.
At the same time, I see tremendous opportunity for independent coffee shops to stand out by creating an experience that customers can’t get from a chain. Specialty coffee, unique offerings, community events, personalized service, and creating a true sense of connection can turn a coffee shop into a destination rather than simply a place to buy a drink.
I also believe there is a growing opportunity for small business owners to share their knowledge and help other entrepreneurs succeed. My own experiences have shown me how valuable mentorship and guidance can be, and I see that as an important part of where I want to take my career next.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values that are most important to me are faith, family, integrity, perseverance, and serving others. I believe in treating people with kindness and respect, doing what is right even when it is difficult, and leading by example.
In my work, I value creating meaningful experiences for people, building genuine relationships, and continually learning and improving. I also believe strongly in encouraging others and helping them recognize their own potential.
Personally, family and faith are at the heart of everything I do. They remind me why I work hard, why I keep going through challenges, and why I want my success to have a positive impact on the people around me. Ultimately, I want to be known not only for what I accomplished, but for how I treated people and how I helped others along the way.
Her Content Hub
Articles by Tanya
From Taking the First Step to Helping Others Take Theirs
How One Woman's Belief Transformed My Journey from Doubt to Entrepreneurial Success
Success doesn’t always begin with a perfect plan. Sometimes, it begins with someone believing in you before you fully believe in yourself.
For me, that person was a woman who owned a tanning salon. When I was considering opening my first brick-and-mortar business, I had plenty of doubts and questions. I didn’t have all the answers, and honestly, I wasn’t sure I was ready. But she encouraged me to take that first step. More than that, she guided me through the beginning stages and gave me the confidence to move forward.
That experience changed the way I looked at business and at myself.
Today, as a specialty coffee shop owner, entrepreneur, and aspiring business consultant, I understand that success isn't simply about having a great idea. It's about having the courage to act on that idea, the willingness to learn, and the resilience to keep moving when things don't go according to plan.
Owning a small business has taught me lessons I could never have learned from a textbook. I've experienced the excitement of seeing an idea become reality, but I've also experienced setbacks, difficult decisions, uncertainty, and the need to reinvent myself and my business. Those experiences have taught me that challenges don't have to define you. They can become the very things that make you stronger and better equipped to help someone else.
One of the things I value most about entrepreneurship is the opportunity to create something meaningful for other people. A coffee shop may sell coffee, but to me, it can be so much more than that. It's a place where people connect, celebrate, gather, create memories, and feel like they belong.
I've also learned that being a business owner means continually learning. You have to understand your numbers, your customers, your employees, your market, your marketing, and yourself. Passion can get you started, but knowledge, adaptability, and perseverance are what help you continue.
As a woman in business, I would encourage other young women to stop waiting until they feel completely ready. You may never feel 100% ready. Ask questions. Find mentors. Learn from people who have already walked the road you're beginning. Make mistakes. Learn from them. And don't allow someone else's doubt to become your limitation.
The best advice I've ever received was essentially this: take the first step.
I try to carry that lesson with me today. The woman who encouraged me years ago probably didn't realize how much her guidance would impact my life. She gave me more than business advice; she gave me confidence.
Now, one of my greatest goals is to become that person for someone else.
I want to encourage aspiring entrepreneurs to believe that they are capable of building something of their own. I want to share the lessons I've learned through both success and failure and help others avoid some of the mistakes I've made along the way. Whether that eventually happens through business consulting, mentorship, or simply encouraging someone who is standing where I once stood, I want my experiences to have a purpose beyond my own success.
At the end of the day, I don't measure success only by what I've built. I measure it by the people I've encouraged, the relationships I've created, the lessons I've learned, and the people I've been able to help along the way.
Someone once believed in me enough to help me take the first step.
Now, I want to help others take theirs.
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