Coach Samantha Pruitt: 0:22

Hey everybody, I’m here today with my good friend, steve Garcia, owner of Sixth Street Coffee and the founder of Just Move. Yeah. What’s up, Steve? Trying to stay alive. Is that your theme song this week? Staying alive, staying alive, yeah.

Steve Garcia: 0:40

You know, every day is one of those days right where you’re just kind of like what are the challenges of today and are we, kind of like, ready for?

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 0:49

it. Are we ready for it?

Steve Garcia: 0:50

And so I guess you know staying alive. It’s a joke, right, but it’s like are we ready for today’s challenges? Because every day has its own challenge.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 1:01

Yes, it does, because we’re humans. It wouldn’t be anything different, right? Everybody’s got their challenges, no matter how you slice it. Your story is unique in many ways, but I want to have you tell the audience a little bit about your backstory. So who are you? Where’d you come from? Where’d you grow up? What’s life looking like before we get to what’s all going down in today’s world?

Steve Garcia: 1:27

Yeah, let’s take it all the way back to 1988. Is that when you were born? I was born in 1988.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 1:33

Sweet, that was a good year.

Steve Garcia: 1:36

Yeah, if you find a wine bottle that says 1988 on it. Please Send it to me yeah. But no, I was born here in the Coachella Valley in the city of Indio. Yeah, we moved around a lot, you know, growing up. It’s interesting and I often joke and I say that we were a military family because oftentimes that makes sense why people move around so much. It’s very understanding, but in our case it wasn’t.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 2:02

Okay.

Steve Garcia: 2:02

You know we just moved around a ton. But you know, as an adult I now realize why we had to move around so much. You know it was just you know, parents and just them doing their own thing, I guess. But we lived here in the city of Coachella for a little while Indio Desert, hot Springs, la Quinta.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 2:25

You know, we just kind of moved around a lot all before the age of like eight, all in the coachella valley.

Steve Garcia: 2:29

Yeah, maybe, yeah so I mean, I don’t know, I forget how old you are when you’re like in the third grade, but um, I remember doing my third grade year in san diego what yeah, so we were in the city a, a neighboring city to you know, san Diego, right, and so I remember going to school out there. Then we lived in, like Mexico, for a few months, that’s cool.

Steve Garcia: 2:54

We came back to San Diego and then I came back in the fourth grade I think I was no, it was somewhere around that time back out here to the valley and my parents had split. When I was no, it was somewhere around that time, back out here to the valley and my parents had split. When I was like very young, um, so my dad lived out here and then my mom stayed in San Diego. We moved to Phoenix, arizona.

Steve Garcia: 3:18

Um, I forgot what year it was, but I remember starting like my fourth grade year out there and then in 2006 it was my sophomore year of high school I moved to live with my dad out here in the valley and I’ve been here ever since. Okay, so that’s kind of like childhood. Steve story siblings yeah, I have uh three wow.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 3:38

So all these kids moved around also, or did they? No?

Steve Garcia: 3:41

so, mom, some go with dad no, so I’m the second of um four. Okay, I have my older sister, denise, who was raised by my grandparents um. They live in san diego. My sister, she still lives out in, like the chile, in the city of chile vista, whereas my grandparents well, my grandmother now, but uh, they lived out in in el cajon City.

Steve Garcia: 4:04

I don’t know if you know. So that’s where they’re at. My sister lives in Chula Vista. I have two siblings that live out here in the desert. One lives in Desert Hot Springs and the other one kind of moves around a lot as well. But, yeah, ever since 2006 and 2007, we’ve all been out here. But I, I grew up with my two sisters that are out here. My sister, denise, was raised by my grandparents. Okay, um, and so, yeah, I’m the uh, only brother, the boy, the boy, the only boy, and um, but yeah, I’m very close to Valerie. She lives in Desert Hot Springs. I mean, she’s 29,. I think she’s going to be 30 in June and we’re very similar in a lot of ways. So that’s my closest sibling. I often say that if we were to go on a cross-country trip, that she’d be the one to go with me, just because there’s— she’s your ride or die. Well, you know a cross country trip that she’d be the one to go with me, just because there’s she’s a ride or die.

Steve Garcia: 5:06

Well, you know, there’s that. And then there’s like she really, um, she really is fun to talk to. Right, we’re, um, we’re, we’re very, uh, we’re very close in that way where we see where we could disagree on a lot but also agree on on a lot as well, but it keeps the conversation going, you know.

Steve Garcia: 5:29

so, uh, but again, we’re very similar in a lot of ways, so that’s pretty cool to have a thing Like in middle school, like junior high and all that I was very involved in sports with like basketball was my sport. I loved basketball as a kid. I loved the Lakers. I remember in my room in Phoenix it’s crazy right, phoenix, arizona but I’m a los angeles laker fan, you know. And I’m only a laker fan because I remember in elementary school, out here, um, in the desert, in the valley, uh, my, I asked my teacher, you know, who his favorite basketball team was and he said the lakers. At that time I didn’t know lakers or bulls or anybody right.

Steve Garcia: 6:26

You respected this teacher so he said lakers, oh now I’m a laker, fan, yeah now I’m a laker fan because of him and you know, I carry that into my adult life because of that man.

Steve Garcia: 6:36

You know, wow, yeah that’s actually a really cool story, yeah yeah, uh, my parents, you know, my my, they weren’t no sports fans or anything like that. But you know, being like Hispanic, my dad would kind of try to push soccer on me a little bit but he saw that there wasn’t an interest so he just kind of like, all right, I guess his basketball is his thing and so that was my thing for a while, you know, for a long time, until today. You know I try to stay active playing the sport. But you know, these kids show me why remind me that, hey, man, too old for this. They humble me that’s okay.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 7:16

You have another sport now running that we share the passion most definitely. It’s all good it’s all good yeah, but yeah, it was, uh, it was basketball and you know, yeah, it was so, as a young man, you’re here in the Coachella Valley, and what did you do after high school? I worked okay, what were you into working? What were you doing?

Steve Garcia: 7:37

retail, I started very young to have a family. I, my son, was born in July of 2007. That August I had just turned 18. Oh, okay, so I started a family.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 7:52

Yeah, exactly Responsibility.

Steve Garcia: 7:55

No more basketball for Steve, no more basketball for Steve. I traded in the sneakers for a Home Depot apron. There you go. And that was my no actually. I’m sorry, I was at a Del Taco.

Steve Garcia: 8:07

Before Home Depot yeah, yeah, and then, you know, there was other jobs in between them, but then, like, home Depot gave me like full-time position right away, and so I took that up and that was where I was at. So I had to grow up really fast, and not just because of my son, john, but because of all the moving around, and so there is some responsibility, you know, I was being the only son, but it was also, it was also the making that decision to leave my mom to come to live in in in india with my dad, and so, you know, my mom was always around, but to the point that she wasn’t because I was, you know, out here.

Steve Garcia: 8:56

Um, but even then I remember being like 16 years old and like was so determined to get a job right to work and and there’s a lot of reasons for that but, yeah, I had to grow up really fast so I always had that work ethic, that work mentality In order to get what you want, you have to work for it. And so that was instilled into me at a very, very young age, because of not that anyone was pushing that on me, but I just by observing, yeah, and observing that, ok, you have not because you’re working not. Right.

Steve Garcia: 9:37

And so, you know, just seeing my mom and you know, towards a later time when I left, it was like all right, I can’t be here in this area no more. I see no growth in my own life here in Phoenix, and so I’m going to make the decision to. I’m going to make a grown man decision here At 16. At 16, which no kid should be making, right, right. Yep. And I got on that Greyhound bus and came out to uh, back to the desert I didn’t know.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 10:08

We had that story in common because I did the same thing at 16. Look, at how radical yeah it’s cool right sometimes it’s the right decision, but you do reflect back you know we’re both parents and all that and be like, excuse me, they let us make that decision. What in the heck? But, it’s fine, here we are today.

Steve Garcia: 10:25

No, exactly Proving it worked, being in business and having some kind of success, I guess, with what we do now, you’re often asked what is success we do now? My, you know you’re often asked you know what is success right? And for me, you know, as I mentioned, we moved around a lot and my success is that my kids don’t have that story, you know. And so I remember moving around so much that we didn’t have Christmas in more than one space like one residence, and so every Christmas was somewhere different.

Steve Garcia: 11:13

And my kids. You know I went to three different high schools, so many elementary schools, maybe like four middle schools, and my kids don’t have that story. You know, they, they know their space, they have their home and that is the ultimate success for me that they have stability, you know, and I love that for them. I love that when I say these things like well, I had it this way growing up. You know we had to do this. They don’t have to say that. Yeah.

Steve Garcia: 11:48

You know, and so there’s a lot that they don’t have to say Thank God. But you know, it’s still good for me to let them know, like how I grew up, so they have an understanding of where their dad comes from and why I see or think or feel a certain way about certain things.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 12:05

And how many people in the world do not have? Right.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 12:09

This makes a lot of sense to me, and how we know each other and some of the things I am privy to already you know really getting to know you well around are building community, contributing to your community and being a home of sorts whether it’s with the coffee shop itself or with Just Move that we’ll talk about in a little bit but like creating spaces for other people. So is that a little bit of your why that you do do that? Because you didn’t have that yourself.

Steve Garcia: 12:43

You know, I’m not sure why I do it. It hasn’t.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 12:48

Because you need more things on your plate. I mean, you know, you have so much downtime.

Steve Garcia: 12:52

Yeah, right, right, I just feel that you know there’s power in community there really is. You know there’s power in community there really is, and I see that and I want to tap into that, and you know there’s always somebody. You know that, in terms of business, right, they have a dream also and, um, in terms of like the just move, you know they have a story too, and so I feel that, you know, when we share our stories, there’s healing in that, right, there’s healing in me explaining to you or telling you about how I grew up, like you know 100 and so there’s also healing on the receiving end, right of who’s hearing the story, because they’re like, wow, I guess I’m not the only one right.

Steve Garcia: 13:50

And in terms of business, um, they’re, everyone has a dream right of what they want to do. And if I tell people, when asked what? Um, you know how, how’d you get started, steve, you know what was the reasoning behind it, you know, then they’re inspired right. And so there’s power in that right, there’s power in storytelling, there’s power in this community that you know that we’ve been able to build here, you know. And so I love that. I love being able to bring people together and people together and just kind of hear each other out and have an understanding of who we are as individuals and who we are as people and beautiful, awesome humans.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 14:36

You know, what’s interesting is you have this so far the story, the trajectory experience of becoming independent, young, young, making you know adult-ish decisions along the way quite rapidly, and that projected you into early fatherhood. You know more responsibility, et cetera.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 14:56

Fast forward to today being a small business owner and a community leader and a founder of movement like that didn’t happen overnight somewhere in between that space of you at 18 19 into where you are today, the amount of personal growth and awareness, self-awareness you had to have as an individual to be like, hey, I want more for myself, I want more for my kids. I see something else is possible. Where the hell that come from?

Steve Garcia: 15:31

um, I’ve just always been very like, observant I just always was just very aware of my surroundings. Um, I paid attention a lot to people, right, and I know that this works, that doesn’t work, right, I was able to tell the difference and, you know, just kind of like just being a student to life, right. But you know, I often ask myself that question too is like where did that come from?

Steve Garcia: 16:10

in me you know I and for me it’s I have this, this, this um way of thinking of where it’s like, sure there are things that are impossible, but there are also a lot that’s very possible for people. You know I don’t see a limit to anything. People say sky is the limit. You know that’s still a limit, because beyond the sky, you have the unknown.

Steve Garcia: 16:40

Space and the unknown. So there’s really no limit right, limit right, and so you know you could go as far as you want to go if you know this to be true, how do you know this to be true?

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 16:52

trial and error, just trial and error life experiences and taking risks.

Steve Garcia: 16:56

Taking risk is is, you know, I guess that’s. It’s. That’s funny to me. You know the whole risk concept, because in anything I really just kind of like, well, let’s just see how this works out, that’s a risk in itself, right, and just be ready for the outcome, whether it works or not, and then we’ll figure it out. Then type of thing. It’s not very promising, right, that something that is going to work out, life happens. But you know, not taking that risk is probably more dangerous because of you know you’re almost settling for what’s comfortable.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 17:43

Well, you definitely are settling for the comfort zone.

Steve Garcia: 17:47

And so, yeah, but you know. Again, to answer the question, honestly, I just don’t know where that comes from. It’s just I would have to really think about that one, like just spend some time alone and really like where is this derived from you? Like where is this derived from you know where is it coming from and why do I feel this way, why have I always thought this way? But I don’t know.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 18:13

Well, our paths are long right and we experience so many things. Especially I moved around a lot too. So in kind of thinking about that when you were sharing your own story, I was thinking we got exposed to a lot more than other people because of that. So that’s a win to me Right Like at the time I didn’t think it was a win. It was pretty awful as a kid not having friends and all the craziness that goes on with moving a lot and your parents stress you know finances et cetera. But the amount of exposure that we got to new people, new places, new experiences, et cetera.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 18:49

We had to keep adapting and we were able to keep adapting. Yeah. So if we know that we can adapt we learned that growing up and it was role modeled for us. Why would we ever believe anything different? Yeah that whatever rolls at us, we’re nimble, we can adapt, so we don’t get stuck into this one mold or this one zone of like. This is how my life has to be, and if it is different, how will I move forward? We already know we can do that. We have that skill.

Steve Garcia: 19:23

Right, you know, as I think about it, I think of, you know, my early childhood and then like growing up, right, so there was always a chase for something better, right?

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 19:34

My parents were immigrants and it was definitely a chase. Yeah, Constant.

Steve Garcia: 19:38

Yeah, you know, for my mom too, it’s like where are we going to live next? So we’re chasing the next move. And so for me, as an early child, I know what I don’t want. I definitely don’t want to be moving around a lot all the time. And so, number one now I have a kid, and so it’s time to be dad, it’s time to be responsible and give them a right, give them stability. So there is, there is just that, uh, today, the reason probably why I’m always chasing the next. It’s not even a chase, it’s more so like just going after it, right, um, there is a difference.

Steve Garcia: 20:24

Yeah, there’s a drive there, but I understand why. It’s because there is always movement in my life right, and so that’s probably where the love for running comes from you know, because I, I’m always moving to the next thing.

Steve Garcia: 20:38

You know, it’s always it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, I’m, I’m, I’m not okay with being, you know, just stagnant, not without movement, right, the the I have to go, I just have to go. I don’t know where I’m going, but I have to go, I have to move and I have to keep moving. It’s kind of it’s almost sometimes. It’s kind of like like I think if I think about it too much, it kind of worries me because it’s like where are you going, steve? But even if I say, well, like if I set out like a 10 year goal, right, okay, fine, I just said it, now I’ve accomplished it. Now what, I’m always going to keep going, moving, moving, moving. So that’s it’s in me to just what’s the next move, right. Why am I always running, you know, physically, on a trail or on this road? Right, I’m running, but I’m also applying that same run into my life. Why are you always running? What are you running to?

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 21:41

interesting you know, and um that, that’s that, that drive right that um I would maybe challenge you to use a different terminology evolution, because what I see you doing is continuing to evolve from a young person quickly into adulthood, quickly into fatherhood, very quickly into determining I should be my own business person I’m capable of these skills, you know and then continuing to evolve into now I am more than a small business owner in my community. I’m a community leader. Now I am going to actually start this entire movement for the betterment of humanity. I mean, you’re taking leaps and bounds continuously, but I see it as evolution, not necessarily running. You’re definitely not standing still anytime soon. Why coffee? I mean, why did you decide to start Sixth Street Coffee here in Coachella?

Steve Garcia: 22:44

Well, it wasn’t so much like it had to be here in the city of Coachella right. But coffee itself was because, you know, I joke and I say because I’m not good at anything else, you know. So no, but I doubt that’s true, that’s the you know.

Steve Garcia: 23:00

but I’ve worked retail a lot, right for many years. In 2014, I used to work at a local grocery store out here and I remember just thinking, like you know, I don’t want to do this the rest of my life. I don’t want to, like be working and taking. You know, there’s just there’s got be something else, right, and I want to do something else. I don’t want to just be here. And so I saw that being there, there was like getting too comfortable, and I was kind of scared of that because what’s the word? I guess it’s it’s. I know that I could have grown into that company, right, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but for me there was Okay, right, I didn’t want it, because then it’s like then what, what are you going to do? Like you know, you’re making this salary and now what? This is it.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 23:59

It wasn’t your story.

Steve Garcia: 24:00

It wasn’t mine, right. And so I remember just at the time in the grocery store, I think it was like a Starbucks or a Coffee Bean or something like that inside the grocery store and I would always get coffee there, right, just black coffee, and I loved one. I liked coffee, but outside of that, you know, I love the, the culture of it, yeah, the coffee culture and what, what, what it does, right, how coffee brings people together, and so, um, I’m sitting there and then one day it was just like I, I’m going to open a coffee shop.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 24:44

Nice.

Steve Garcia: 24:45

Yeah, I’m going to open a coffee shop and I remember sitting there at this in the table in front of the uh, you know, this um kiosk inside the grocery store, this coffee kiosk, and I was just like this is what I’m going to do.

: 24:58

Like I’ve made up my mind, this is what I’m going to do. Yeah.

Steve Garcia: 25:00

Like no coffee experience. I had no, like I didn’t know what, I didn’t even know the word barista, nice, you know, I didn’t know that. I didn’t know anything about coffee. All I knew was that I liked it and I loved again the coffee culture.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 25:16

The emotions.

Steve Garcia: 25:17

Yeah, I liked all of it, I loved it, right, that was, and, uh, and I said this is what I’m gonna do. And so two weeks later we um down the street from the store. There was this space available and it had.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 25:41

It was literally move-in ready and refrigeration machines, the. The universe just dropped that on your lap. Yeah.

Steve Garcia: 25:46

Probably to challenge me. Just two weeks ago it was just an idea. I had no Boom. There’s here you go, steve, it’s everything you’re going to need.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 25:59

You said you want it. Yeah, let’s rock and roll.

Steve Garcia: 26:01

It’s everything that you said you want to do. And here it is. Are you going to take it? You know, and then, not knowing any better, I, you know, I call like the number on the window, like, hey, man, like I want to open a cafe. This seems like a really cool spot. It seems like it wasn’t time. You know it wasn’t time, but I was like this is a great opportunity. This place is literally moving ready.

Steve Garcia: 26:31

And then it’s me challenging myself or talking to myself. And then, you know, talking to you know, my ex, you know my, the mother of my children at the time, and she was like you know, we’re not ready, steve, like this was just an idea two weeks ago, like what do you know about coffee? I’m like I don’t know, but we’re going to figure it out. She goes I don’t think this is it. And I remember telling her, like this place is move-in ready. She goes I don’t think so, you’re not ready to move in. It’s move-in ready, but you’re not ready to move in. So I was like, all right, you’re right. So it goes to show you that not every good opportunity is your good opportunity, right. Yeah.

Steve Garcia: 27:17

So it might be a. It sounds like an opportunity, it sounds like a great opportunity, but that opportunity might be for someone else. But I was able to see, get a taste of that, and I think that, from that, what that did to me was like I have to have it even more now. Oh, wow. And so then we’re back on the search, but doing research now it’s like okay, I wasn’t moving ready, then Now let’s start to prepare for when that time happens again, and so this was back in like 2014. And then I had to fall in love with the craft of coffee. And if I really liked the culture of it, what was it about the culture? I had to find all that out for myself. I had to do all of that research. I had to learn about coffee. Why do people drink coffee? It literally took me four years.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 28:21

You went to basically your own university. Exactly, yeah, four years. Right, yeah, four years and so 20,. Basically your own university. Exactly yeah, four years.

Steve Garcia: 28:24

Right. And so, yeah, that’s interesting, never saw it that way. But within those four years, there was, you know, me looking for spaces. There was me like diving into machines and what works, what doesn’t work. You know certain tools and techniques, and you know, there was just so much learning, there was so much research that I had to go through, and then I saw that there was like this barista academy in San Diego and I was like I need to jump on this.

Steve Garcia: 28:55

And then it was like you know, I and I did, and this was like 2016, in June, it was my first big investment into my business, because it was $2,600. Where did I get that money from? I don’t know, but it was for a week course. Wow, that’s how bad I wanted it. Yeah, you know, I’m pretty much taking $2,600 away from my family, you know, from our from from our home, really kind of like. You know, this was money that we we could have used for something else, right, but I trusted the process, right, and so I knew that this is what I wanted and I felt it inside of me that one day you’re going to thank yourself for doing this. And so there was a. It was a week course. It was monday through friday and the cool thing was that I had family out there, right, my grandparents live out there, so I crashed with them for a week and it was cool to be with them, you know, for that week.

Steve Garcia: 29:55

And I learned so much at this, um, at this, uh, like this week, course you. We learned about how to open a shop, how to run your shop management, how to hire, we talked coffee, where coffee comes from and just everything in terms of running a coffee shop, and that was again 2016. And then coming back out here forgive me, no, that was 2015. Coming back out here, forgive me, no, that was 2015. In 2016, when I was already from 2016 to 2017, I was just looking for a cafe to work at and there was no real kind of like coffee shops doing coffee the way I wanted to do coffee or the way, like a lot of these coastal cities, like LA and San Diego, they have, like this specialty coffee industry and they really have it dialed in out there, whereas out here in the desert there was nothing like that.

Steve Garcia: 30:48

All we knew was like this commercial chains and stuff like that and like Starbucks, but you know, that’s all we had. And so one day a buddy of mine like connects me with someone else and he gets me a job where he was working at. And I learned so much from the owner at this cafe in Palm Springs I would drive every day from Coachella to Palm Springs and I learned so much from all of them there. And later on I went to go work at another restaurant Again. This is kind of rushing through the story here, where I met the mayor of Coachella and he tells me about an opportunity in the city of Coachella, about a library that’s going to be constructed and they have this space for a cafe, and he just casually tells me, like, if you know anybody or you, know anybody that may be interested in something like that? Are you kidding me? Yeah?

Steve Garcia: 31:41

it’s like let me know, and I’m like dude, I have a business plan ready to go. Yeah, you know, I worked at a bar and he was, and at a restaurant. I ran the bar and he went and had lunch there with a colleague of his and he, um, again, you know, I introduced myself as a resident of the city, that he’s a mayor of right and he, um, yeah, very casually, if you know anybody, I’m like dude, I have like a business plan. He’s like email it to this guy. This was in july of 2018 and then in september we signed the lease. In october we started construction. April that following year 2019 was our April 6.

Steve Garcia: 32:23

2019 was our day one day yeah, so it really was a four-year kind of like a four-year process, but through all that I had to, I had to go through my own kind of like schooling, like you said. Yeah, you know, I never thought of it that way, but you know I’m glad I went through all that time self-invest Seriously. Yeah.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 32:40

I mean, think about how many people have dreams that they never even say out loud, never mind, like let me put this out to friends, family, whatever, put this out into the universe publicly and then let me start chipping away at it. Yeah, or people do that and then they bail. Yeah Right, they get redirected. They don’t believe in themselves, like so many things occur in life that they consider to be. Oh, I guess you know, my dream is over. Yeah.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 33:09

You were taking no. No was not ever going to be an answer on the radar of this dream that you had, which is sort of remarkable.

Steve Garcia: 33:19

I was never really scared of like rejection. Okay, you know, even like, like in.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 33:23

Or even failure.

Steve Garcia: 33:24

I say rejection because I’ve always like what’s the worst that could happen, like you know, and I use rejection because I talk to, like you know, my son about it. I’m like you know, don’t be scared to be rejected by girls.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 33:38

Right yeah, or your peers or whatever Like it to be rejected by girls, right, yeah, like it just doesn’t work.

Steve Garcia: 33:42

We were talking about a particular girl that he was interested, that’s why I said it, and so he’s like but, dad, this, and that I’m like dude, look, it’s just, sometimes it’s just not for you, right? You just, you know, don’t, don’t be afraid, like, go up to someone if you want to meet someone, and you know my name is john, whatever, blah, blah, this and that, and so you know, just don’t be afraid of rejection in anything, son, don’t feel that way. It’s either something is for you or it’s not, right, right. And so I was never really scared of rejection or failure or anything like that, because I’ve always felt like, okay, well, that’s not my opportunity, that’s not for me, but I don’t know that until I go and I test it out. That’s just the way I’ve always kind of operated and uh, and and being okay with the it not being good for you, you know, and um, the. I had to learn that you know at an early age, like, if it’s not for you, it’s not for you.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 34:41

Yes.

Steve Garcia: 34:51

You know, and if there’s anything, that there’s two things that I’ve learned in the last four years, and that’s don’t rush.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 34:57

Okay.

Steve Garcia: 34:58

And always have like a contingency plan, like what’s your plan b in the event that a doesn’t work out? And so the for me, my plan b, my contingency. I remember talking to my buddy I’m like man, I don’t know if this deal is going to go through with the city of coachella where I’m going to get this space. You know, I don’t, I don’t think I’m going to get it. Man, I don’t know if this deal is going to go through with the city of Coachella where I’m going to get this space. You know, I don’t, I don’t think I’m going to get it. Man, I don’t think I’m going to get, I don’t think the coffee shop is right for me right now. Like, this doesn’t seem like, it seems like a great opportunity, but I don’t think I’m going to get it. He’s like, dude, it’s for you, man. And I told him, but I’m going to be okay if I don’t. I told him, like, if this doesn’t work out, I’m going to leave retail and I’m going to go and work maintenance at one of the golf courses, like my dad did for so many years, and I’m okay with that. I tell him, like, monday through Friday, every other weekend, I’m home by dinner, I get to see my kids and take them to practice, whatever it is, you know, like I’m OK with that, I’m OK with it. So that’s good man.

Steve Garcia: 36:04

And so I had to mentally prepare myself and be OK with that. You know, if that were to be the outcome and today I see it the same way, like you can, I can make whatever plan I have. I could, you know, you know, try to do something new, try to move on to the next thing. But if it doesn’t work, what’s your plan B? And I always have something there in the works and I’m okay with it.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 36:38

Well, somehow you have determined that your identity and, even more importantly, your worth, is not attached to that outcome. So what happens next doesn’t determine the value of steve, the human being on the planet. Okay, shit doesn’t work all the time exactly I mean every day of the week.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 36:59

You know, millions of people are having shit storms in their lives. Right, things are going terribly wrong, but you have determined to be steadfast about what your true value is and how. It’s not aligned with the success or failure of a thing, whether it’s a business or some other opportunity. Right, we don’t have that much control anyway.

Steve Garcia: 37:18

I mean, we pretend, we do. I like you always having a plan b.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 37:22

Yeah, I mean, that just seems logical. But how funny that maybe a lot of us don’t have plan b’s, right we get so sucked into that plan a that we can’t say our way out of it right, and then it’s more devastating, of course, when it doesn’t go our way. We don’t get picked or chosen for whatever the job, the promotion, the, this, the that, the your son with the girl right, like there’s millions of girls yeah you know what I mean, that kind of dynamic yeah, and that’s where people give up at right.

Steve Garcia: 37:52

That’s right because if it fails the first time, well, I’m not going to do it again. Like you know, I’m going to throw in the tower. It’s just not for me. Maybe this isn’t for me, maybe this isn’t for my life, but that’s one defense mechanism.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 38:05

Yeah, yeah exactly.

Steve Garcia: 38:07

And so I wasn’t okay with it, like I’ve always knew what I wanted, like, if that were to have happened, I was telling my buddy, like, if this doesn’t go through, like I’m just going to, you know, know, do this, get hired at one of these local golf courses, right, and? And you know, do that, raise my family that way and and you know, just kind of like, rack up and save money as much as possible.

Steve Garcia: 38:30

Then, boom, you know pursue my next dream, yeah well, it was always going to be, it was going to be.

Steve Garcia: 38:35

I really wanted a coffee shop so the next so the next opportunity, just be ready for it, yep, you know, and so that’s that was the plan B is just go back and just start, you know, save even more and then, like, go from there and then if that next opportunity comes your way, then, you know, just take it. You know, I’ve always wanted my own business. I just didn’t know, like I didn’t. I was 27, 26, 27 years old, right, when I finally figured out I’m going to be a businessman, I’m going to have a coffee shop. You know, prior to that I had no idea what I was going to do. I had no idea and I was kind of okay.

Steve Garcia: 39:16

You know, my we, we, we. We had a home, right, we, we, right. I was 20 years old when we bought our first home. We got married, we bought our first home and then, yeah, I was okay, like we were blessed. But I knew that there was something else that you know I wanted, and it was always to have something of my own, in the sense that I wanted to get my own business. I just didn’t know what it was going to be. But it’s funny because thinking about it today, I remember being a kid and just thinking one day I’m going to have my own restaurant and where that came from I don’t know. And where that came from, I don’t know. My family we didn’t come from a family of business or chefs or cooks or anything like that?

Steve Garcia: 40:07

No, none of it. But I always envisioned what it would look like. It was no way what my shop looks like today. Right, we’re not a restaurant, well, you serve food, we serve food, we’re in the food establishment, but I’ve always said like I’m going to have my own restaurant. Never a cafe, never a coffee shop. It was always I’m going to have this and, um, maybe it was just a young boy kind of like seeing the future of what it kind of had had for me and you know, and working towards that.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 40:38

How long have you been in six street coffee?

Steve Garcia: 40:41

it was five years last week okay, just five year university.

Steve Garcia: 40:45

Yeah, that’s massive yeah, I saw, you know, going back to the store right I today actually I saw, uh, an old co-worker of mine from the store. He’s like are you steve? Like yeah. He’s like, did you work at rouse? I’m like, yeah, he’s like I’m you know and Rouse. I’m like yeah, he’s like I’m you know, and I’m like dude, what’s up, man? And then we were talking a little bit and he’s like I remember, man, when you said you were going to do this. I’m like really. And he’s like, yeah, I remember you said that this and that that coffee shop. I’m like, yeah, man like that’s, I’m happy for your success.

Steve Garcia: 41:23

So you know that was really cool, you know, to to see someone from back in the day and for them to tell you that this is what you wanted and you got it right, and so that was really cool and, to be clear, nothing was handed to you.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 41:33

You know a lot of people will say, yeah, you’re lucky and you have this and you have that. There’s listen. In business there’s no such thing as luck, it’s freaking work. Yeah, you can be at the right place at the right time and plenty of people have opportunities that blow up because of lots of things and timing, but it’s still a massive commitment and investment from the individual from the entrepreneur themselves. That most people just have no idea.

Steve Garcia: 42:01

Yeah, the entrepreneur themselves that most people just have no idea. Yeah, I had to it. There was within those. Within that time when it first became an idea to when you know I met the right people to make this happen, there was I still had to, like, do a lot of research about business and coffee running a coffee shop. So I was definitely working towards dream. I just didn’t know when it was going to happen. So there was a lot of work involved.

Steve Garcia: 42:25

Right, I say that Sixth Street Coffee is five years, but it’s actually 10 years Exactly, you know, because that those first you know few years, I had to learn about business and kind of do a lot of research on my own without having to pay those big bucks, right Of going to a business school or whatever.

Steve Garcia: 42:45

It was Right. And so, you know, yeah, I made a small investment taking a barista, but it was for that reason and so, but yeah, I mean there there was a lot of time invested into the business before any dollar was invested into it. You know, there was like reading and paying attention and going to coffee shops and just kind of like learning how they, you know, maneuver themselves, move behind bar, you know, you know their service, the service industry within the coffee industry, right, and so there was a lot of that and um so you’re a builder and a creator, you know, it’s just in your blood, you know, and everything that you do, even how the shop is now and the brand and all of that is a reflection of you being creative, and creativity is not something you just crank out.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 43:37

You’re not trying to create another starbucks. We all know what that looks like we all know what that smells like, right, we’re not trying to do another Starbucks. We all know what that looks like. We all know what that smells like, right, we’re not trying to do that. So you’re five years into this business and I know you’ve got some other business ideas, but before that, you’ve decided to launch this Just Move project, which is basically like a public initiative. Really, if you will, you want to tell us a little bit about that.

Steve Garcia: 43:58

Yeah, the idea for Just Move happened in 2020. You know, we were a little under a year at the shop, but I didn’t even know what a run club was. You know, I didn’t know that, like, wow, people actually do this, they meet and they run together. You know, which is cool, right? I mean, if there’s bike clubs, there’s run clubs, if there’s run clubs, there’s whatever kind of club you could imagine. Right, there’s just there’s just a community out there for everything.

Steve Garcia: 44:29

And so we, um in in 2020 happened, and then it put a like a hold on a lot of things, right. And so, um, I, as it was, I I enjoyed running um, and so I knew that there was going to be maybe more people to to kind of that would felt the same way. And the idea came back to me. I mean it, it was always there, it was just on the shelf, right, and so I was out for a run here on sixth street and I was like I’m gonna bring it back, like I’m gonna see if we could start this thing and you know, and and get it going. And, um, I was running and I was like I’m definitely gonna need a team. I can’t do this on my own. What is this gonna look like? How much are we gonna run?

Steve Garcia: 45:18

you know who’s gonna come and you know, in my mind I was thinking you’re already running you know, you’re already running like just invite people you know just me talking to myself just invite people to do it with you yeah you know and um create the space just create the space right.

Steve Garcia: 45:37

And so, um, there is a uh, I knew that it was a, I knew that it would work, because there’s a, um, some friends of ours out in riverside who have their coffee shop, started a run club of their own, okay, but, and um, I was like this is dope, like this is already at play here, and um, it’s a, it’s already a proven concept. So that’s great. You know, I could do it here too, you know it. It they just did it a lot sooner than we did. But when it kind of inspired me like, dude, you can do this. So so just do it, man, just put a flyer out and invite people. And so we did that. And then I have I’ve always imagined or I thought that it would just be like, you know, just 10 of us, right, just kind of like getting together here at the shop and then going for, you know, running a few, running a few miles. Our first turnout we had probably I don’t know what would you say like maybe 50, 60 people.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 46:42

Oh, definitely over 60 people it was wild.

Steve Garcia: 46:45

It was so awesome and I remember just like wow, people really showed up for these people yeah, who are these people?

Steve Garcia: 46:50

exactly, and you know it was a, it was a coffee shop thing yep and some of these faces didn’t look familiar to me it was just people who love the idea of getting together and going for a run, exactly who they themselves probably don’t know of any run clubs out there, and there are. There’s a ton of like-minded individuals out here in our valley that feel the same way about being active together as a community, and when we started this, I was like there’s an actual community out here that loves to do this kind of stuff and that really inspired me to keep going and keep it running. And you know, I’m just like I’m a student of, you know, in the coffee industry still Right, I’m still a student of, you know, like this whole run community, and I’m learning. I’ve met really cool people along the way, like yourself, and you know it’s just such a beautiful community to be a part of. And these are people that are willing to these things and their families, their parents that are bringing their kids with them.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 48:06

They’re, you know, people that bring their dogs with them, and it’s not a run club. Never run a mile. Yeah, people that have never been out busting out five and ten k’s like it ain’t nothing I know isn’t that cool.

Steve Garcia: 48:13

Well, that’s probably that. That’s the whole people coming here to join us for a move. What I appreciate and what inspires me the most is that, like you said, they’ve never run a mile before. And when they say, like I’ve never run a mile before, dude, that’s dope. I know, I love that.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 48:38

Well, first of all, the courage to show up. Dang yeah Right and the fact that you can create a space that they can be courageous and show up into. Right Like that is the work of humanity Allowing people to feel like they freaking belong Show up. We will ensure that anything that happens after that will be good yeah like come on, that’s the work of, like all of us right now right you’re using running as, like, the tool to draw in and to create the conversation and the movement that you’re currently, you know, activating.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 49:19

But I mean, I’m confident that just move will become other types of movement almost definitely you already have yoga and you’ve got other things going on. So you know, this is the beginning of something. Oh, yeah incredible, yeah, and far beyond this community. I think you know for sure valley wide and coachella valley is a big-ass valley, as you know. You know, but people are hungry and we’re seeing that and we feel that when they show up and you know we look them in the eyes, we can, we can sense that.

Steve Garcia: 49:46

Right. You know, yeah, we’ve been. It’s been really fun to still continue to see a lot of new faces. You know, we have a pretty big following to like on our social media pages. We have a pretty big following too, like on our social media pages, and it’s not a lot we’re still under 1,000, but it’s like a few hundred people actually follow us. That’s cool. They’re actually interested yeah no-transcript.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 50:28

These are people who are actually genuinely drawn into a value. It’s all organic oriented brand, which is an experience that you’re creating.

Steve Garcia: 50:37

Yeah, most definitely. And uh, that that’s. That’s really cool. Every time I see that I’m like wow, like when I, when people are pulling up, whatever the number is, if, even if it’s just one person or myself, it’s like this person is the only person that pulled up on the sunday. That’s really cool. Nobody pulls up and I’m here by myself you’re still gonna run.

Steve Garcia: 50:57

You’re still gonna run, but steve you made it man, like you know, and but man. But it’s been really cool and we’ve gotten to meet a lot of cool people with their own stories and they believe in what we’re doing and it’s really cool and we have people coming from throughout the valley it’s not just locals to Coachella or its neighboring city, indio, or La Quinta. It’s from Palm.

Steve Garcia: 51:19

Springs Cathedral City. They’re making the drive out here just to run with us. I mean, if you know, I have to wake up at 530 to be here at, you know, 630, right, so could you imagine what time they might be waking up. That’s that long ride out here to Coachella, and so they’re doing it, you know, because they believe in what we’re doing. That’s really cool.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 51:40

And they want to be in community.

Steve Garcia: 51:41

Yeah, they want to be in community.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 51:42

What do you feel is the next steps for Just Move? What do you think is going to transpire in the next year with this movement?

Steve Garcia: 51:50

Right now we’re in the building process, right, creating, creating process, right, um, creating, creating, building, what, um you know, still kind of setting up on top of the foundation, right, just kind of building up to um what will ultimately be right. And so we have a there’s a few ideas, um, but I really see this thing as being one of those things that it’s just kind of like it’s a valley-wide thing and it’s something that people look forward to because they appreciate community, they appreciate um what, uh, what we’re doing out here, and they want to be a part of it, in the sense that it’s like all we’re doing is working out and um, we’re just running or walking, you know, and we’re doing it together and um, you know, I, I, I this thing is gonna, I feel like I it could really has a potential to be one of the biggest like active clubs in the Valley.

Steve Garcia: 53:01

For sure.

Steve Garcia: 53:02

It really has that potential, and so the idea is to kind of like, continue to branch out into other cities and, you know, hopefully there’s other people that would want to be a part of it from the other cities. That way there’s a just move throughout the Valley, right, it’s not just in Coachella. Right, and it’s when we put Coachella in our, in our, in our name. Here it’s not, it’s in general the Coachella Valley, not just so much the city. Yeah, it’s, it’s a, it’s a statement, right, just move Coachella Valley without the Valley, right, and so it’s. It’s. It’s telling everyone to just move right and let’s do it together. So that’s where I see it, and there’s a lot of cool, fun things that we have in mind that we’d really like to do, like annual meeting somewhere, like this games day type thing, right, where we’re all active, kind of like a wellness day, like games day type thing right, where we’re all active, kind of like a wellness day.

Steve Garcia: 53:57

You know it’s, it’s a, it’s a day dedicated to just wellness, right, moving together, you know. So, um, there there’s definitely vision, right, and so it’s um.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 54:14

And you said you know, we’re just working out, but I’ll challenge you because that’s not just what we’re doing. I mean, right, we’re doing something much. We’ve gone to many gyms, many workouts, many clubs.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 54:23

I literally have lost track. I couldn’t even tell you, Right, and in some places you do go and you just work out. But this is totally different. So working out is like the backdrop of the experience. The experience is connection. So we’re creating a space where people can connect, not just to each other hey, who are you, what are you into? Let’s you know, make sure that everybody’s welcome here which we obviously do that Right but a sense of connection to themselves.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 54:57

So if you create the right space, people can actually get into themselves and have their own internal process, not just an external process, and I think that’s one of the things that you and I, when we talk about the mission of the organization, what rings true for both of us is that element of fostering mental health and physical health equally are important. Those two things right. Yeah, we want people to come out, and in this case, run or walk, but why are they coming? What is the need?

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 55:25

the need is much greater than did somebody burn some calories or get their exercise this week right yeah, that’s, that’s it.

Steve Garcia: 55:35

It’s, you’re right. Working out is more like you’re working out, like to get to a certain goal.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 55:43

Yeah, get some guns.

Steve Garcia: 55:44

Yeah, get some guns, get the six pack, get the beach body going right, that’s, I guess that’s just the benefit, right, that’s the outer benefit of of working out what a lot of people don’t realize. It’s what it’s doing internally. You know, and so you know. I asked the question why are you doing this? Why are you? Why? Why do you run? Why do you work out? Why are you this and that? Right. And if the answer is like well, I’m going to, everyone has their own goals, right, which there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m going to have a wedding, I’m trying to look good by summer so I can hit the beach, or you know this and that, whatever it is, or just health wise, but why? You have to have a good enough. Why to keep it consistent.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 56:35

Exactly.

Steve Garcia: 56:36

Because what are you going to do after the wedding?

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 56:39

That’s right.

Steve Garcia: 56:39

What are you going to do when summer’s over? And so you have to have a big enough why that’ll make sure that you’re consistent throughout your lifespan. Right, just to keep moving. Make it a lifestyle. Just to keep moving. Make it a lifestyle. And so I believe that if your reasoning, if your why is big enough, then it’s going to help you out internally, inside of you. It’s just going to do something that’s really good for your heart, but it’s also really good for your mental health, and so that’s why I do it. That’s why I do it. You know it’s sure, you know it’s. You know to fit in a shirt or you know to have bigger muscles, whatever it is that’s that’s, that’s cool, yeah, that’s cool yeah.

Steve Garcia: 57:33

That’s cool, but I also know what happens if I stop.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 57:37

What does happen?

Steve Garcia: 57:39

Well, I get very comfortable and we’ve already established that I’m meant to continue to move. You know, and I don’t, and I and I’m just going to keep moving in the right direction. Yeah.

Steve Garcia: 57:50

Right, and that’s. You know, I do this for myself and but I’ve also realized that it’s like, if I stop, what else stops around me, and so you keep me going, my children keep me going. You know that’s in business, in my personal life and in running. Believe me, the people around me keep me running, they keep me going that extra mile. You know, it’s not so much a lot of like there’s the whole like stay healthy thing too, right but it’s more. It’s like it helps me, for my, for just me personally, like I need it. I really do need to keep moving, and it doesn’t always have to be running. It helps me, for my, for just me personally, like I need it. I really do need to keep moving, and it doesn’t always have to be running, it’s just a walk around the block, you know. It’s lifting a 10 pound weight, maybe just do something Right, and so that stuff keeps me going.

Steve Garcia: 58:50

Because, again, if, if I stop what stops around me, you know, and then I have to keep going for my own personal well-being, you know. And so we, again, we, we, we, we look at the, the, the outer benefit, dropping the weight, the muscles and stuff like that. But I believe that if people have a good enough, why they can make a really good, healthy lifestyle for themselves and it’ll really help them up here, right, um, we need a lot of that, we need a lot of that, and so, um, that’s. I guess that’s my reason, right, and so I’m doing. I do it for myself, but I do it for the people around me who I care really deeply about, and those people are within the community, and it is the community, you know, it’s my city and um, and it’s those people are also impacting other lives.

Steve Garcia: 59:42

Exactly, and so everyone has their own reason right, and so that’s mine.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 59:48

Sweet, sweet, sweet. Before we wrap today, I want to ask you a question for our audience, just kind of some closing thoughts on what you might want to impart, based on not just this conversation, but just kind of where you’re at with life. And how can people out there who are struggling maybe they haven’t identified their why, or maybe they’re just kind of spinning a little bit right now can’t find the drive that you apparently have in every cell of your body and brain?

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 1:00:21

yeah you know how can they find some of that? How can they tap into that?

Steve Garcia: 1:00:28

everybody, I feel, wants to do something. Nobody wants to be like not do anything. Everyone has their own goal.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 1:00:39

If they give themselves permission.

Steve Garcia: 1:00:42

Yeah, you have to, you have to want you again. I feel that people, as it is, as we, want something. You just have to go and get it Right. And so it’s not being scared of rejection or failure, it’s just getting up and making the call to just move and move in the right direction, right, and so I believe we all have that in us. You know, we all want something bigger for our lives. Nobody as much as people could say like I’m really cool where I’m at. No, there’s something in you that wants something more out of this life.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 1:01:19

Yes.

Steve Garcia: 1:01:20

You know, and I believe in that, and you have the power to do that. You know, and there’s there’s definitely a community out there that’ll support you. You know there’s a support system. There really is. Not everyone is cruel in this world. There’s a lot of, lot of nice people right.

: 1:01:37

come to just move exactly, there’s a lot of nice people with us, right and um it.

Steve Garcia: 1:01:43

You just just move in the right direction. Just make that call for yourself like I’m gonna get up and I’m gonna work towards that goal. You know, in my business life, in my personal life, I’m going to be a better father, I’m going to be a better brother, I want to be a better friend, I want to be a better person, and I believe that you know we could all do that. You know, whatever it is right, whatever it is that you want to do, you just have to make that move, make that call and move in that right direction. So just move is more than just getting up and going for a walk or run. It’s, it’s moving in the right direction in every aspect of your life. It’s a statement.

Steve Garcia: 1:02:28

It’s a statement.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 1:02:29

And that is your call to action. Yeah, two words, just move. Yeah, two words.

Steve Garcia: 1:02:34

Just move, yeah, just move, I like it.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 1:02:37

This was so, so good. Yeah, All right. Well, we will let people know where to find you, how to follow what you’re up to, to see what in the hell you’re getting up to next? And to, of course, join us.

Steve Garcia: 1:02:49

Where have I moved to next? Yeah, this was so good Thanks my friend for hanging out drinking coffee most definitely Coachella, one of my favorite places, and just remembering the audience.

Coach Samantha Pruitt: 1:03:02

How your life feels is more important than how it looks, and you’re a statement of that as well, my friend.