Mocha House’s Georgalos: Overcoming Learning Curves

Kalli Georgalos, co-owner of The Mocha House in downtown Youngstown, is coming back strong.

What are some ways your business is rebounding from the effects of COVID-19?

As a brand-new business here in the downtown Youngstown area, the timing of COVID-19 was not at all ideal. Our business remained open the whole time during this situation, however, and we remained strong. It was a challenge, as a lot of our daily operations had to be adjusted – less volume of orders, less customers, less staff, less income, so on and so forth. Currently, we are seeing an increase in every aspect of our business as things are beginning to look up and reopen.

Lately, we have seen a significant increase in business as the state has begun opening things up again. As a result, we increased our hours a bit, to cater to the community. We are offering additional services such as delivery and Doordash services, and learning how to adjust according to whatever circumstances come along. It is a constant learning curve for everyone, but it seems to only go up from here!

What’s been the reaction from customers so far?

It’s been, of course, a brand-new situation for everyone to deal with something like this. From the very beginning, our customers have been absolutely one of a kind. Actually, it still blows me away. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard, “Thank you so much for being here,” “Thank you for staying open for us,” “We appreciate you being here,” etc. That, to me, is worth it all! We have been proud to serve our community, even through a difficult time. The reason we made it through the situation is because of their support. Of course, customers have also reached out over the past couple months asking us about any changes in hours, menu availability, what types of precautions we are taking, and the like. But overall, it makes me really proud to push through this with them.

What impact has the outbreak had on you personally?

At a young age, I took on the journey of being a business owner along with my family. That in itself is a huge learning curve and challenge to try and learn exactly how to run it. In addition, a once-in-a-lifetime situation like this occurred to everyone, and it seemed like a double whammy.

In the beginning, I was overwhelmed and unsure of what to do next. Do we close for a short time? Do we stay open and push through this? What is the right move here? Looking back now, several months later, I could confidently say that I became a stronger person and a stronger business owner now. I have grown so much professionally and really proved to myself that I could do the impossible, even if I thought I couldn’t. I overcame obstacles, curveballs, had to make some tough decisions, was unsure of what the right answer was at times and in spite of it all, really learned how to become a better leader. I am actually very thankful for what this experience has taught me personally, although it was a challenge.

What advice are you sharing with the people you love?

The best advice I could give is to be patient through all of this. We will get through it and eventually things will get back to normal. For right now, we need to do our best to follow the rules and guidelines set out for us, even if it is a big adjustment to anything we have experienced before. The more that we continue to listen now, the quicker we can get back to normal.