Today we’d like to introduce you to Alejandro Calderon.
Hi Alejandro, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
It began with a dare, a gamble, a proposition that could only happen in the audacious days of college. A friend of a friend presented a once-in-a-lifetime offer: 10,000 pairs of women’s dress shoes, mine for the taking at a mere dollar apiece, on one condition—I had to take them all. I said yes.
That “yes” ignited a summer of relentless hustle. Alongside a friend, I transformed into a shoe baron, hiring teams, launching fleeting storefronts, and turning pavement into profit until only four pairs remained. The lesson from that whirlwind experience was seared into my soul: if you can sell a gold mesh pump in a size 9, you can do anything.
That fire fueled my journey through a series of jobs, each a classroom in its own right. For 18 years, I held a full-time position, but my passion for entrepreneurship burned brightly on the side. I founded Alejandro Calderon Consulting, a lifeline for small businesses that couldn’t afford a high-priced consultant, bankrolled by my steady paycheck.
Eventually, the time came to leap. I left the security of my long-term job to pour everything into my own ventures, managing nonprofits, expanding my consulting work, and launching an online coffee company. But on October 19, 2022, my world shattered. My son, Matthew, passed away, and the tragedy threw my life into a grief-stricken tailspin. Days blurred, clients left, and my carefully built world crumbled.
Yet, through the fog of loss, one client stayed—a single anchor in the storm. Slowly, painstakingly, I began to rebuild. My client list started to grow again, and I found my footing.
The coffee business, which had remained steady, faced its own challenges with rising costs. It was there, in the space between grief and recovery, that a new mission was born. I decided the company would no longer be about profit but about purpose. Now, for every bag of coffee sold, a homeless person receives a backpack filled with necessities. It’s a promise I’m still delivering on to this day.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has been anything but smooth. The illusion of safety, woven from the security of a full-time job while consulting on the side, was a comfortable lie. In that world, the next paycheck was a certainty. But when I cast that safety net aside and stepped out on my own, I entered a freefall where every choice was a matter of survival.
I was deliberate, calculating, and for a time, it worked. Then the pandemic hit—a global shockwave that threatened to obliterate the fragile business I had built. It was a scramble, a desperate fight to pivot while the world locked down. But I used that to the advantage of my clients, we had a consumer that was at home and we could target easily.
But that was a tremor compared to the earthquake that followed. The ultimate blow, the one that shattered my world into a million unrecognizable pieces, was the death of my 19-year-old son, Matthew. The grief was a bottomless pit, a suffocating darkness where I couldn’t distinguish up from down, left from right. I was lost. I had to tell my clients I was broken, that I couldn’t serve them, that the man they had hired was gone.
As I navigated this personal hell, the market turned against me with a vengeance. Coffee prices shot through the roof, adding the threat of financial ruin to the crushing weight of my emotional and professional collapse. It was a time of utter turbulence, a storm from which it felt like there was no escape. But perseverance will always prevail.
As you know, we’re big fans of Alejandro Calderon Consulting . For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
At Alejandro Calderon Consulting, we believe that true partnership is the cornerstone of success. We are honored to work alongside a diverse range of clients who entrust us with a critical mission: to help their organizations thrive.
Our core expertise lies in crafting comprehensive marketing strategies that drive growth and increase sales. From dynamic website creation and social media engagement to integrated digital and traditional marketing campaigns, we provide the tools necessary to elevate any business or product. This marketing-centric approach extends to specialized services, including enrollment management for schools, customer service enhancement, and nonprofit management, ensuring every facet of your organization is aligned for maximum impact.
While we are dedicated to driving commercial success, the heart of our firm lies in our nonprofit management work. It is here that we have the privilege of contributing to missions that create profound, lasting change. We are immensely proud to manage Rwanda Shines, supporting a school in Rwanda, and our cherished local initiative, Adopt A Needy Family (AANF).
Adopt A Needy Family is more than a seasonal charity; it is a lifeline. The mission is to restore dignity and inspire hope by caring for the entire family unit. While many programs focus solely on toys for children during Christmas, we believe in a holistic approach, ensuring that households receive essential items like fresh bedding, toiletries, and hygiene products.
To ensure our support reaches those with the most critical need, we employ a meticulous process. We collaborate with social workers to identify vulnerable families throughout Bexar County, and our representatives personally interview each one to understand their unique circumstances. This diligence ensures our aid is both impactful and unduplicated.
Focusing on Thanksgiving and Christmas—times of immense financial and emotional pressure—we strive to replace stress with joy. But our commitment doesn’t end with the holidays. We provide year-round assistance with groceries, utility bills, and other essentials. Every act of generosity is a powerful reminder to these families that they are seen, they are valued, and they are not forgotten.
Lastly, just a few weeks before Matthew passed, he was approached by an elderly neighbor who gently asked him if, should anything ever happen to her, he would please watch over her beloved dog. Without hesitation, Matthew agreed.
Not long after Matthew left us, the neighbor passed away as well, and Matthew was never given the chance to care for the dog as he had promised. I remember Matthew asking me what usually happens to the pets of the elderly when they pass. I told him that sometimes family members take them in, but too often, they are surrendered or euthanized.
Matthew loved animals deeply—especially dogs—and this knowledge weighed heavily on his heart. He shared with me his dream that after graduating from Texas A&M, we would work together to start an organization dedicated to helping elderly individuals find loving sponsors for their pets.
In Matthew’s honor, I am bringing that dream to life by founding Matthew’s Fur-iends—an organization devoted to finding foster families for the pets of the elderly when they pass, are hospitalized, or are otherwise unable to care for the companions they love so dearly. Through this mission, Matthew’s compassion and love for animals will continue to live on.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
In a world that often feels overwhelmed by noise, division, and a focus on self, it’s easy to lose sight of a simple, profound truth: we are all connected. We forget that the person standing next to us might be carrying a silent burden, facing struggles we can’t see, through no fault of their own.
I was one of the lucky ones. I grew up with everything I needed, but the greatest gift my father, a business owner himself, gave me was a lesson in humanity. I watched him treat the person at the lowest rung of the ladder with the exact same dignity and respect as the person at the very top. To my young eyes, this wasn’t extraordinary; it was just normal. It was how people were supposed to treat each other.
It’s that fundamental belief in shared dignity that made my decision to join Adopt A Needy Family an instant, soul-deep “yes.” There is no feeling on earth that compares to seeing a child’s face light up with pure joy, or wrapping your arms around a grandmother, her tears of gratitude flowing as she cares for her grandchildren. There is no handshake more meaningful than the one from a father who quietly tells you that without this program, Christmas would have been just another bleak day on the calendar.
We live in a world that desperately needs more open hearts. We need to be willing to help one another without judgment, regardless of the circumstances that led someone to a place of need. Because, in the end, we all need help. We all carry our own invisible burdens. My own needs may not be material; my battle is the daily, quiet fight to navigate the immense grief of losing my son. Others face different struggles. But the truth is, we all need help with something. And in reaching out a hand to others, we often find the very strength we need to carry on.
Pricing:
- Specialty Grade Coffee – $17.35 – 12 ounce bag
- Tea – $15.00 – 3 ounce bag
- Marketing Services – varies
- All other services – varies
Contact Info:
