Geraldine Ridaura, Founder of Holy Matcha
Geraldine Ridaura is the founder of Holy Matcha, a millennial-pink café in San Diego that’s known for its high-quality, ceremonial matcha offerings. The California-born, Mexico-raised 32 year old officially became a business owner in 2017 and found so much success, she was able to make matcha magia two years later with the grand opening of her second San Diego location.
Like many businesses in 2020, hers was hit hard by COVID-19. But a global pandemic didn’t slow down Geraldine’s hustle. At the height of quarantine, she’d still take time out of her day to pack and deliver orders to customers herself, and would even fill in for her baristas on their days off. It’s a work ethic she attributes to her family, who still live and work in Mexico to this day.
“Every time I complain about work, I honestly look back at my grandparents being on their knees, picking foods in the fields and it kills me,” says Geraldine, who put down roots in the US at age 17. “It makes me shut the f—- up and keep working.”
I am so inspired by Geraldine and so grateful for her candor and strength. I hope you take as much away from our conversation as I did. Enjoy!
Grace Gavilanes: Tell me about making the permanent move to the US. What was that like?
Geraldine Ridaura: When I came to San Diego, I was on my own. All of my family and friends stayed in Mexico. I was the only one who came to San Diego and I had no other option but, you know, use the language I had learned – English – and just get used to this type of lifestyle, which a lot of people didn’t realize because apparently, I blended in so well. But in my head, I was like, “Holy s-—, this is unknown territory for me.”
My parents really wanted me to have an opportunity in life, so they put me in school on the US side and after school was over, we would carpool back to Mexico. So, I basically grew up in Mexico, but I feel like when I moved to San Diego at 17 – that’s legit when I came to the US.
GG: And you’ve come such a long way since. What would you say you’re most proud of in your journey?
GR: My proudest accomplishment in my professional life has been starting my own business in a foreign country. I was beyond scared, I was petrified. I come from a background where we cannot afford to waste time/money in the pursuit of every dream. Whatever I was going to do, I had to make sure that I gave it 700%. The thought of following your dreams is fun, but I wasn’t raised to follow my dreams. Everything had taken great sacrifice that has gone under the radar. The accomplishment of opening my business in the USA was the proudest for me because my grandparents paved the way for this. If it weren’t for their sacrifice and perseverance, I wouldn’t be where I am at today. And for that, I take great pride in my business.
My proudest accomplishment in my personal life – at this moment, my wedding day. It was seriously the most beautiful and happiest day of my life. My life revolves around my business and for one day, I was able to disconnect my brain from “work mode” to get married.
GG: Is there something about you most people wouldn’t know from a quick scan of your Instagram?
GR: Everything I do, small or big, I do it with great pride of my heritage. Everything I do, I do it as a proud Latina. I am so quickly judged for my lack of accent in English and my light skin tone, judging that I must not be Latina (especially by a quick scan) so it’d be cool if people knew that. Another thing I might add is that I am very shy, yet I can snap myself out of it. A lot of this growth I associate with when I started my own business in California. With English being my second language, I had to step out of my comfort zone and fake that I was confident and fine, when I was freaking out inside — pretty sure no one can tell that on my IG.
““Being Latina to me is resilience, perseverance, and honor.””
GG: Let’s pass around las buenas vibras. Is there a Latinx content creator you’re currently loving?
GR: A long-time favorite is Claudia Ramos (@claudiaramosdesigns). Not only is she amazingly talented, but she’s an overall amazing person inside and out. I am so grateful to have met her through the community I started, Matcha Mornings. [Editor’s note: More on Matcha Mornings later!]
GG: Imposter syndrome is a very real thing in our community. How do you combat those feelings?
GR: When I feel any lack of confidence and doubt, this propels me into knowing I have to achieve more, but not to the point of distraction and lack of self-worth. When I feel doubt, or I have to deal with the "haters," I think back to my heritage and how I grew up. That is a more powerful model than any feeling of inadequacy and lack of accomplishment. While we live, we must continue to grow and learn and continue to produce to feel accomplished.
GG: It’s easy to feed into isolation when you’re not surrounded by your gente. How do you stay connected with your culture and community?
GR: Here in San Diego, it had originally been tough for me to feel connected and mostly comfortable. I came from a different culture, different traditions, language, customs, mannerisms, etc. I felt like a fish out of water and I had to learn how to quickly adapt to this foreign country as a survival mechanism. I continued my Mexican traditions. Sometimes it felt awkward, but through doing so, I was able to connect with other Mexicans/Latinos and started a little community. It didn’t feel the same, but it was better than nothing and most importantly, I didn’t feel alone.
When I started my business, I felt like I was back at square one with feeling alone. There are many woman-owned businesses in San Diego, but a business owned and run by a Mexican woman is very, very rare when I began, so I definitely felt a bit lost. I shocked many people by being Mexican and it usually started when they’d hear me speak Spanish. As time went by, I started noticing that more and more customers of mine were of Mexican/Latinx decent and it made me comfortable to come into my own skin (professionally) and proclaim that this business is Latina owned and run. Because of letting myself come into my own skin, I started Matcha Mornings, a community get-together for my Latinx community to come together over matcha and discuss their hustle, life, experience or whatever they might want to share. With COVID-19, this community has been impacted and we’ve no longer been able to get together, but we still keep in contact and occasionally they come into the cafe and say hi.
GG: What does being Latina mean to you?
GR: Being Latina means a huge deal to me. It represents my heritage, my roots, where I come from and what made me who I am today. Being Latina and proud of it means to me that I get to represent and honor my grandparents that emigrated to the United States and paved the way for our family to have the opportunities we have today. My grandparents worked in the fields at least 6-7 days a week, and as many know, it is not an easy job. It wasn’t back then and it isn’t now. It's long and painful, hard hours. Anyone working there has to have a bigger purpose in life to push themselves to do that work. To my grandparents, that sacrifice was for a greater good and future for their family.
Being Latina to me is dedication. Being Latina to me is resilience, perseverance, and honor. With everything I do, I do it in their honor and I carry that title high and make sure to represent it the best and most hard-working way possible, as they did.
