Xiomara Diaz Hopkins

Nicaragua

Trip:

Mexico

Mentored by:

Karen Fang

Business

Founder and Owner, The Garden Café, Granada

Xiomara Diaz is the founder and owner of The Garden Café, a small café and restaurant in Granada, Nicaragua specializing in healthy Californian and Nicaraguan cuisine.

Since 2007 she has worked on business management for the café, including operations, marketing and product development. Xiomara’s staff has grown from four to 25, and the restaurant is a model for sustainable tourism, employing mostly women and responding to the needs of the local community. She is a 2013 VV GROW Fellow.

Update:

According to Xiomara, The Garden Café has been affected in a variety of ways since her participation in the Global Ambassadors Program. Everything from finances and marketing to human resources and time management have improved. Specifically, their profit margins have increased, their employees now have greater opportunity to grow and develop within the organization and daily operations are much smoother. Throughout these changes, the business remains mission-driven.