Meet Ray Armijo

We recently connected with Ray Armijo and have shared our conversation below.

Ray, so great to have you with us and thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with the community. So, let’s jump into something that stops so many people from going after their dreams – haters, nay-sayers, etc. We’d love to hear about how you dealt with that and persisted on your path.

I start by reminding myself that people don’t put themselves in my shoes, they instead offer feedback from their own personal perspective, and they can only picture themselves taking on the challenge. This can lead to people projecting fear and the worst outcomes onto you. Sometimes they can make you feel like you are crazy or not fit for the position or goal you are trying to fulfill. I usually give them an opportunity to speak their mind or share their opinion but i take it with a grain of salt and it gives me the opportunity to evaluate whether the opinions/criticism are actually constructive or if it’s meant to discourage me out of spite, jealousy, bad intent, or even a major lack of understanding. I remind myself that nobody can make me feel small besides myself, I’m my own critic at the end of the day & nobody knows me better than myself! I realize it’s not a sign of intelligence or strength if somebody has a lot to say about myself or others, it’s a sign of weakness and projection ultimately especially if it gets toxic. That individual may be battling something in the inside, or they aren’t satisfied in some area of life!
One of the biggest pieces of life advice I got from a Real Estate mentor I met was: “You’ll never be judged or laughed at by people doing better than you, it’s usually by people unsuccessful and not living up to they’re potential”. This quote is one that has been engrained and into my life and it helped me grow and set boundaries in my life by really taking the time to evaluate haters, and naysayers and help me stick to my purpose at all times! It’s good to try to pressure yourself to live up to your full potential, it’s good to ask questions you don’t know, it’s good to make mistakes or try a new path! This means you are actually trying. Life is ultimately short in the grand scheme of things, and I’d rather look back one day proud and happy that I did the things that made me happy, made others happy, and gave me joy. Not just basing my life over who’s going to judge or not like me! This can lead to being stuck in places or positions you didn’t want to be in the first place but rather chose to avoid the haters & naysayers. Life is honestly way too short, and we can take ourselves a bit too seriously, our brains thrive in finding new pathways for neuroplasticity and not staying in one place forever.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I’m a 27-year-old baker and entrepreneur from Colorado. I I have a cookie-based business here in Colorado called Sugar Coast, I love baking and creating cookies that are airy, fluffy, light and full of amazing flavor! Sugar Coast is all about leading the cookie world into the future and treating sugar as a form of alchemy! We have amazing flavor profiles ranging from traditional chocolate chip and exotic flavors such as black tahini. All that take on their true artisan potential as a cookie! Everything is made from scratch and in house, Whether its Browned Butter, Hazelnut, Pistachio butters, etc., it’s all made and processed with real ingredients by hand. We use organic and artisan ingredients at all times and put dedication into every step of the process. I enjoy watching my cookie ideas come to life. Sometimes they look so great, you don’t want even want to eat but rather admire! This comes from years of experience cooking and baking professionally. I’ve always been able to excel at a lot of foods in the kitchen at work but i settled on Cookies and deserts. It has been a goal of mine to start a food business that has a healthy work environment and a place that values every hand that is part of the business while sticking to handmade from sratch. Some of our biggest next steps is to keep being sustainable and eventually make our own Butter, and fresh chocolate chips made from Cocoa butter. We are a growing as a small business and have plans to join some local farmers markets around Boulder County, Adams, Denver, etc this coming summer and expand our development by being vendors to local cafes, hotels, food delivery apps, etc. We love that the food scene of Colorado is a collaborative place all working to be known for great eats! We plan to be open full-scale ordering in the spring and as of right now are sticking to customary, and individual order requests!
I have a major passion for Real Estate and have future plans that I’m working and saving up to develop personal & short-term rental projects that are biophyll designed and sustainable based. I love tiny homes and shipping containers and truly believe they are leading the future of eco-friendly innovation of real estate and housing! I want to provide escapes for people through the means of fun and interactive Airbnb experiences. I plan to be selling as an agent again this summer, while i take some additional time away from the market to find a new brokerage and home to sell real estate, for now my biggest focus and dedication is cookies and my business.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Some of the best qualities and areas a person can have in my eyes is to start by evolving with technology and social media. It is something that generally anybody can use to improve their chances of success and also make their lives a bit easier in order to focus on productivity and build a community of likeminded individuals. Technology can be our best friend and make our lives easier in lots of ways. Whether if it’s for your business or your personal life, you should start to explore apps, creators, websites, and algorithms that teach you, make your life easier by automating, and inspire you. You can potentially be ahead in youre market/career field just by simply having technology at your fingertips. Be that person people go too for technology-based questions!

When it comes to starting a food-based business, some of the biggest traits you can have are being organized and leadership/customer service skills. It’s important to find you’re niche and category of food you love to make. there’s never enough of anything. Thats why you go to big cities like NYC and find a pizza shop on every corner! We all our telling our own story with our food businesses. When it comes to the food industry it is common to find entrepreneurs without prior cooking and kitchen experience. All of which is totally a good thing, it is a open industry for anybody to join and feed the world, but this is where leadership and customer service are going too be, you’re biggest strength or weakness that will ultimately reflect in the way your customers feel, employees, and product quality. Its important too constantly lead others and manage your business at all times. Create systems and databases that are regularly updated, this will find flaws and constantly keep you updated. My biggest thing is that in this industry we can’t all be Gordan Ramsey and sell our name and experience. You have to be willing to listen to your employees, customers and any feedback that is needed without just throwing it out the door because we are the boss and know our product. It is an absolute no in this industry. Your employees might actually be saving you profits and costs because of the flaws they find. Its a great thing to take responsibility and not automatically step into our administrative demanding side. You have to ask yourself; do you want a good reputation as a company? Will your employees feel appreciated and welcome? It all starts with organization. Organization is truly key in the industry, there’s a reason why food businesses are heavily regulated. The standard must be set high at all times in the kitchen. You’re going to feel more happy, less stressed and productive in the kitchen when you are organized, prepared, and have systems that keep everything in check, stocked and clean. A good day in the kitchen doesn’t look like dishes piled up to the ceiling, along with nonstop tickets coming in with no prep in stock, customers waiting 30 minutes, and add to that a floor hazard where you almost trip because nobody has swept or took out trash in 8 hours. If you’re truly selling out and super rushed that can be a good thing but now that you know how to be equip for success, you can avoid that next time. My biggest kitchen philosophy is it doesn’t always have to be so hard, it can all be so simple! by just having high cleanliness standards, and good organization your avoiding hours of worth of stress, and potential profit losses. A stressful kitchen environment is truly what you should be aiming to avoid.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I’m always looking for new/local/sustainable businesses & companies that would love to have amazing cookies sold at they’re place of businesses, apps, hotels, cafes, stores, etc They can definitely add a sweet tooth element and help places stand out! Collabing with catering companies who host events for weddings, showers, parties or even special lunches is always something we are looking too expand on.

I’m always willing to meet and collab with sustainable developers who share a passion for tiny homes, container homes, and biophyll design! Im always willing to learn and be receptive to start my projects. I love nature and being able too get to see what people are working on all over the country & world

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @sugarcoast303

Image Credits

Dasha Elgart
Ray Armijo (self)
Viceth Vong