Meet Lisa and Mitalee, the co-founders of Transcedence Coffee, where they're crafting their own coffee brand that combines diverse, global syrup flavors with specialty techniques and all-natural ingredients.
Last week, we caught-up with them to learn more about the secrets behind their brew. Here's their story:
Why coffee? Why syrup?
We met in college while working as baristas at a small campus coffee shop. It was more than just a place to grab coffee—it became a space to take a break, connect with people, and recharge during the chaos of school. It's also where we fell in love with experimenting with flavors, creating seasonal drinks, and playing around with fun new ideas.
Flavored drinks were really starting to become the highlight of coffee shops all around us, and we noticed that there were a few big syrup brands everywhere that tasted artificial and chemical. The only other alternative was for baristas to hand-make small batches of syrup, which was inconsistent and inefficient. Transcendence was a solution to this white space, fun and premium barista-quality flavors in a shelf-stable, distributable bottle.
Knowing what you know now, what would you tell your day one entrepreneur-self?
Cash flow is THE most important part of running a strong business and strong businesses take a long time to build brand affinity. While we're in the world of virality and seemingly overnight successes, well-built businesses take time to build real and long-lasting customer relationships and demand. Keep working hard and constantly adjust!
What's been your biggest OMG, WTF, FML moment?
One of our coolest moments was being featured on Miss Remi Ashten's YouTube channel, where she unboxed and tried all of our original syrup flavors. Lisa's been a huge fan of hers forever and it was so incredible to see her reaction and share our products with her subscribers!
What's the craziest customer story that you've dealt with?
When we were baristas at a campus coffee shop, we had a customer on faculty come regularly into the shop who was obsessed with nachos. She requested that we get a nacho machine, even though we were a coffee shop, and our store manager ended up buying one after being asked a few times. We ended up all training on how to serve nachos from a carnival-looking nacho machine for this one customer.
What's the best not-coffee thing you've used your syrups on or with?
Overnight oats or chia seed pudding! It's such a great boost of flavor for a breakfast or afternoon treat.
What's your biggest business challenge?
Fundraising has been one of the biggest challenges and learning opportunities building a consumer brand in 2025.
What's your go-to flow state playlist?
Coffee Shop, Slow Jazz
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