Embracing Entrepreneurship: Zoë Tsoukalas

From Lemonade Stands to Ledgers

“I’ve always had the mindset of entrepreneurship. At a very early age, I began my journey towards entrepreneurship with the typical lemonade and snow cone stands. In high school, I launched a clothing and jewelry business, where everything I sold was handmade and one of a kind. I continued with that business until my sophomore year in college. By that time, my workload got crazy busy, and I had to put that business on hold so I could focus on my accounting studies. Recognizing at an early age that I loved business/entrepreneurship and wanting to follow in my parents’ footsteps, I knew my passion was for me to be my own boss.”

“I took Professor Knoop’s accounting class, and surprisingly, after all the rumors of it being a tough class, I loved it and felt it was a really good fit for me. One day, Professor Knoop pulled me aside and said, ‘You should really look into the PPA program; it’d be great for you,’ so she guided me in that direction. I also took the time to research it, talked to other Aggies who were in the PPA program. Along with Professor Knoop’s encouragement and other Aggies, I knew that’s what I wanted to do.”

“The PPA program has definitely given me an advantage, because without understanding proper budgeting and financial statements, one’s business is not going to be open long. I use what I’ve learned in accounting to my advantage when looking at my resources and what I need to get done. Good accounting is the core to any business, so if you don’t do it right, you’re not going to have a successful business. Understanding how the money works is going to keep you on track to succeed.”

The Power of Mays

“Mays has given me access to so many resources: mentors, competitions, case studies, and even panels where people will talk about their businesses, as well as professors giving their testimonies. I’ve learned so much through that, and it’s given me a lot more confidence as a business owner to pursue that path after learning from people who have actually gone through it.”

“The professors really go above and beyond, and they’re just so knowledgeable. The alumni network and networking opportunities are also so beneficial. The Aggie Network is huge, and so many Aggies are willing to help and support you, so I feel like that is a great value that Aggies have and a great advantage.”

“All those presentations that you think aren’t that important really helped to understand concepts, layouts, and how to keep everything concise and professional. I really used all those things that I’ve learned, like getting the jitters out of presenting since I’ve done it so many times now, so it was really helpful to structure my presentation, and I feel like it really impressed everyone at the Good Bull Pitch.”

“My biggest lesson from Mays is that hard work really pays off. What you put in is what you’re going to get out of it. The more that you put into a subject, the more you’re going to learn in the lecture. A lot of professors give real-world examples, but if you don’t do the readings before, you’re not going to get the full experience.”

Brewing Success

“When I was in Dallas, I had my internship. I was living there by myself — no family, no friends — so it gave me a lot of time to experience coffee shops and try different matcha. I really love matcha, but I realized that there weren’t any good places — they were either too sweet, too bitter, or too watery. This is a true craft, and it should be appreciated, so I took matters into my own hands and was like, ‘I can do this myself.’ I crafted my own recipe, trying over 40 different matchas before I found the perfect blend of matcha from the perfect season and location in Japan. I was drawing out different carts. I sent it to my boyfriend and asked, ‘Can you make this for me?’ and he said, ‘When you come back from your internship, we’re going to build it.’ Every single aspect that I wanted, he built, and he made it a reality because it gave me a place to actually sell.”

“Zoläla Matcha is a mobile matcha cart designed to bring quality ingredients and a fun personalized experience together to create something memorable for the client and leave a lasting impression. Zoläla started with me, Zoë, and my dog, Lola. Zolola was already taken, so I thought Zoläla sounded fun, it’s kind of hip, and I kept the two dots over the ‘a’ to represent the two dots over the ‘e’ in my name, so it’s kind of like me. The logo is my side profile, which I’ve had since 2019, and I loved how everything sounded, so I just kept it.”

“The biggest challenge was believing in myself and getting started. There’s never really a right time to start something, so putting myself out there was challenging. I remember my first event, I was like, ‘What if no one likes it? What if no one shows up?’ That was probably the hardest part. I just had to accept that it was going to be okay, and if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out.”

“I love talking to my customers and seeing how they heard about the event and what they enjoyed about the matcha. Everyone is so unique, and I love talking to them. I’ve had three people come to every single event, and they’re like, ‘I can’t stop drinking this, this is amazing.’ It’s cute, and yes, people love it, but when they come back and tell you things like that, you know it’s actually working, leaving an impression, and building a community.”

The Perfect Pitch

“I saw the Good Bull Pitch Competition in an email, looked into it, and thought it was a good opportunity to actually pitch my business and see what other people thought about it. It’s really different when your friends and family are telling you it’s a great business, it’s delicious, and things like that, versus someone from the outside giving their honest opinion. So I decided to see if this was all actually real and put all of my ideas together and got accepted through the application process.”

“I used a lot of the things I’ve learned at Mays to prepare my Good Bull Pitch. I started out with goals, my vision, my mission, and typing everything together. After I put that all together, I looked at market statistics to see how the matcha business was growing. I also made pamphlets to emphasize everything in the presentation so people would have a way to look through it and see that I was passionate. I also created a two- to five-year goal and designed different types of matcha carts that I want to build, along with a brick-and-mortar.”

“Winning definitely gave me a big boost of confidence. I have that check hanging in my room. Seeing that other people believe in your vision and will invest money in your vision just proved to me that this is something that could be my end-all, be-all, which is so motivating. I’ve also had students email me and tell me that they love it and want to work for me, which is so humbling.”

“With the money I won from the competition, I’m going to trademark my logo. I feel like that is the most valuable thing, and getting a patent is really expensive. I’m in the process of getting it completely filed, but my goal is to first patent the logo, then patent the cart, and patent the recipes. I’m still in contact with the McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship, and we’re going to be doing more competitions, so I can potentially get more help.”

Lessons and Looking Forward

“You have to accept things and take them as lessons and move on. I’ve also learned that hard work pays off, and the more you put in, is what you get out of it. Just having that half-glass-full mindset is definitely going to make you grow. Things can all be going wrong, but if you look at it in a positive way, you’re only going to grow rather than repeat those mistakes. If there are weather problems or someone’s not answering their phone, you’ve got to find a way around it and have critical thinking. Sometimes clients won’t respond or are going to be really rude, so you just have to have that open mind.”

“Whenever you feel most scared is when you should start. I feel like my mom has been the most motivating and was the one who told me that if I believe it, I should just start it and not worry about what other people think. She said, ‘If you believe in it, other people will too.’ I’ve applied that to a lot of parts of my life.”

“In the next few years, I want to franchise and have multiple carts, as well as open a brick-and-mortar store. I want to do that in a high-traffic city, like New York or Chicago, where people are just constantly needing caffeine. I also designed a customized trailer for my Good Bull Pitch, so I want to have something like that as well.”

“I want to have it all. I want to be an accountant, I want to work at BDO, I want to have a family, and I want to still be running my matcha franchise. I also want to mentor other student entrepreneurs, because I wouldn’t be where I am without mentors. I want to empower other students to do that as well. I want to be that alumna who supports A&M and comes back to talk on panels and hear people say, ‘She’s the Matcha Girl.’ That’s the legacy I want to leave.”