Life & Work with Katrina Lorentz

Today we’d like to introduce you to Katrina Lorentz.

Hi Katrina, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
My mother and I had the dream of opening a coffee shop since I was about 15 years old and working in a Starbucks with my mother. I went on to work at other coffee houses as well, and considered opening my own shop, but did not have the funds. I started a career in the medical spa industry and managed a medical spa in Oregon while my husband worked as a Police Officer.

We saved up our money, conducted our own market research, and chose Lake County to start our own coffee company. Originally, we attempted to purchase land in Eustis, Florida, but a large franchise outbid us on the property. so, we chose to operate out of a mobile coffee stand until we find the right location to build our coffee shop.

I own and run Ground Up Coffee Bar with my husband, Jesse. We have a regular location in Mount Dora and also attend events around the area. We serve coffee drinks, smoothies, Lotus energy drinks, and tea. We started in September of 2021 and we operate about seven days a week.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The hardest part was making the leap; leaving our careers, selling our home, and moving our two kids and dog to Florida to pursue our dream. Then there was the setback on the property that a franchise outbid us on.

It was also the first time Jesse and I worked together, so there were a few hiccups there until we organized a routine. Also managing how to get our kids, pick them up, get them to their sports events, etc. While starting a new business has been difficult. Luckily we have family here and have leaned on them for some help quite a bit.

Funding has probably been one of the biggest struggles. Banks and credit unions don’t want to lend to a new business unless it is at an astronomical rate. Fortunately, we have collected savings that we have been relying on while starting this new business.

Our other biggest hurdle has been finding the right location for our business model. We had hoped to lease land that will let us build to suit, but it has been difficult to get any property managers to listen to us. Once they hear coffee shop, they seem to tune us out.

We have looked to purchase land as well, but most of the land around here seems to be large acreage, and really we don’t need more than a half-acre for our plans.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We make drinks! Our focus is on coffee and that is what we sell the most. We differ from others in quite a few ways. We have a custom menu that is unlike most other menus here and we try to be creative with our drinks. We have basic items like a vanilla latte, etc.

However, items such as our Oregon Cheesecake coffee (white chocolate, vanilla, hazelnut, and raspberry) or our AED (six shots of espresso with Irish Creme) are fun and popular drinks we serve. We also carry a colorful menu of non-coffee soft drinks that are vibrant, customizable, and a lot of fun.

One of our most popular non-coffee drinks we call the Shark Attack as it looks like a light blue Caribbean color with some raspberry puree dripped over the top looks similar to the blood. The drink also tastes of pineapple and coconut with a hint of blue raspberry and a little added oat creme for texture.

Along with our coffee drinks, we also serve a complimentary chocolate-covered espresso bean. It is a delicious snack to accompany a coffee drink.

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Social media is very important in this current day. We try to provide social media content daily and we have found several customers show up because they saw chatter about us on one of the social media platforms.

We’ve also had the privilege of meeting many of the other business owners in our area. We find other business owners, especially those around our age, understand the importance of networking and partnerships.

We try to bring as much as we can to the table and cross-promote each other.

Contact Info:

• Email: info@groundupcoffeebar.com
• Website: www.groundupcoffeebar.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ground.up.coffeebar
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GroundUpCoffeeBarFL
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/ground-up-coffee-bar-mount-dora