1. Hi Nice to meet you, - Casey//Brooke can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Hey! We’re Casey & Brooke the husband / wife duo and dreamers behind Sundream. We live modestly and joyfully in the beautiful city of Ventura, CA and we love owning a family business. We have 2 kids (Liv, 3 and Caleb, 6 months) We enjoy it a lot – Ventura is a downhome California beachy town littered with farmland and families in beach bungalows. Our home backs up to a strawberry field and on a clear day you get views of the Channel Islands. We both wear lots of hats between family & the business. This season has been all about prioritizing, delegating and learning how to balance (but is there really such a thing?). Some days are just downright crazy and others are beach days. We try to encourage each other when the days are long & tough and enjoy the seasons where things are just flowing.
Brief backstory worth mentioning is that we actually met in Oahu, Hawaii in 2013. Brooke had been living there (North Shore) for 2 years and I had just graduated college at University of Georgia and was out there for a 3-month internship. Within a week of knowing her I knew she was going to be my wife and by 2 weeks I told her she was the one. She felt the same. Crazy right?! The next season of life was a whirlwind. We moved to Carlsbad, CA where we started our first business together and got engaged.
2. When did you start building the SUNDREAM brand and what inspired you to create the company?
After years of starting our mornings with beach walks sipping coffee with toes in the sand and a salty breeze we decided to started Sundream in 2019, salty and caffeinated as usual, as a way to share the feeling with friends and family.
3. Where does the name “SUNDREAM’ come from?
We wanted to have a name that embodied the sundrenched beach days we dream of. Waking up to the sound of waves, slow mornings sipping coffee - days where the plans include nothing but spending a little too much time in the sun.
4. What would you say the SUNDREAM Brand Mission is? How are you applying it to your day to day operations?
Spread good vibes though delightful coffee experiences.
Our hope is that we can make someone’s day a little brighter through something as simple as a cup of coffee. This of course runs deeper than the product itself – we take this into account with customer service, brand partnerships, wholesale accounts, encouragement among the team and soon enough, coffee experiences in person… hint hint ;)
5. What has been the most exciting thing about entering the coffee industry?
Our strategy of differentiation has definitely been the most exciting and challenging part of entering the coffee industry. In addition to roasting the highest quality coffee at our roasting facility in Santa Barbara we have dove deep into the story side of the brand – beachy coastal California livin’. As it turns out, we’ve found a niche and audience within the coffee industry that enjoys all things coffee and beach equally. We have also differentiated ourselves by being sold in places that feel a bit more unconventional to find coffee: Beachy boutiques, surf shops, home décor stores and of course Shopboxfox! ☺
6. Do you have a favorite coffee blend so far? Which is it and why?
Been loving Casa on ice lately. It’s the blend that started it all - a day maker no matter how you brew it (+ amazing on espresso BTW if you’re fortunate enough to have an espresso machine at home) The chocolatey notes mixed with the citrus are just fantastic. We love all our coffees but in the summertime it’s all about Casa.
7. Do you have any tips/secrets on making the best coffee?
We love to make pour overs Chemex. Check out our how to video here. The main difference in brewing a pour over instead of coffee machine is that you have full control of flow and can manually pour over all the grinds to ensure even extraction. We love the ritual of it. Something about the first pour in the morning when the water meets the coffee – an amazing aroma fills the room. Ah, is it tomorrow morning yet?
8. Talk to us about your branding, if you could describe the aesthetic in three words what would it be?
Endless. Summer. Vibes.
9. What are some of your favorite brands to follow along with?
Our friend Carson @myerssurfboards has been shaping the most beautiful surfboards we’ve ever seen. He’s pushing the limits of what’s possible with surfboard art. His most noteworthy shapes as of late he has used real flowers and plants and incorporated them into the surfboard designs to make incredible longboards, or pieces of art you want to hang on your wall. We’ve been following his work since he started and its cool to see him progress as a shaper and artist.
10. What’s next for SUNDREAM?
We are expanding our local footprint here in town and actually opening a coffee shop/ retail store on Main St. We can’t wait to have a physical representation of what we have shared online for so long. The space that we have already has really good bones with concrete floors, white plaster walls and a wood beam that divides the space in 2 – one side being the coffee bar and the other the retail experience. Stay tuned!
