We had the good fortune of connecting with KimaAndSema and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi KimaAndSema, career-wise, where do you want to be in the end?
We are hoping to expand our page to as many people as possible so that more money can be put into local coffee shops rather than chain coffee shops and corporations. We have tried to make it easy for people to locate the coffee shops we’ve been to by creating an interactive map that shows where each coffee shop is located. We hope to develop a simple app that includes maps, information, and other features for all coffee lovers out there.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Our page started with our love of coffee, but little did we know how much effort and time it would take to find the cute, hole-in-the-wall coffeeshops that are not well known. On top of that, we started our page not long before COVID19 hit and had to deal with the lockdown and COVID19 protocols. Due to COVID it was hard for us to showcase the inside of coffeeshops and to show their true aesthetic, basically limiting us to taking pictures of the coffee and the outside of the shop. We were able overcome this by just taking it day by day and working with what we had. Not only did we face our challenges with COVID, but we also did not realize how much research would go into finding these coffee shops. Regardless, our love for coffee overpowered these challenges.

We’re very proud of the maps feature we have in our bio of our instagram page. We want people to be able to find nearby coffee shops easily and in an accessible way. For the first time ever, a coffee (cold brew) brand reached out to us and asked us to be in their affiliate program. We had gotten discounts on coffee before, but never something this official. Our excitement was through the roof that day!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Depending on if our friends were visiting Kima or Sema this is where we would take them:

Bay Area: We would take them to Rise and Grind in San Francisco for their delicious Iced Cookie Butter Latte. Hands down the best cookie butter latte to exist. Then we would take a trip to the South Bay and check out Con Azucar in Downtown San Jose. Their vibe is immaculate and has such a cute indoor swing to have a little photoshoot at. While we’re in San Jose, we’d hop over to Nirvana! HOME in SF has the most BEAUTIFUL birthday cake latte with colorful latte art. A Bay Area trip isn’t complete unless you hit the East Bay and try Hippies Brew.

LA, IE, & OC area: A must visit coffee shop for a neat experience and fun place to take pics is Matte Black in DTLA. For the best Ube Latte, we’d HAVE to go Dirty Penguin in Chino Hills. Pasadena also has a flowery coffee shop called Coffee & Plants. The IE has Rad Coffee which has the coolest and most creative drinks with quality coffee. Morning Lavender in the OC is super cute for both coffee and tea lovers. While in OC definitely checking out Able Coffee Roasters which specifically employs people with autism.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Shoutout to all our OG followers who have been supporting us since day 1! We also want to shoutout our friends who join us on our coffee shop excursions and are patient with us when we are taking pictures and footage!

Website: https://maphub.net/kimaandsema/map

Instagram: kimaandsema

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutSocal is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.