At the corner of Scottsdale Road and Shea Boulevard sits a quaint salon suite with an airy specialty coffee shop in front. Co-founder Caleb Holland admits the location wasn’t ideal, citing its low foot traffic, a tricky parking lot and a tucked-away shopping center. But it was the best option he and his three business partners could find in the wake of the pandemic.
Light Heart Coffee, however, defied the odds.
“Even though I say it's technically not good real estate, it ended up just blowing (away) our expectations. It's been really good,” Caleb said.
He and his wife, Moriah Holland, met fellow Phoenix couple Elliott and Maddi Morris in Hawaii, where the Morrises were vacationing and the Hollands were living at the time. Caleb and Elliott had gone to high school together and were in adjacent friend groups, but never close growing up.
The Morrises were opening a salon in Scottsdale and pitched the idea of adding a coffee bar. Despite being new entrepreneurs and this being their first joint venture, the Hollands had no hesitation.
“My wife had been working in coffee her whole life, since she was in high school. I had done lots of just random little jobs, a little bit of coffee, but I just really wanted to do something creative,” Caleb said.
While it’s often said that going into business with friends is risky, the concept has taken off. The group opened its first coffee shop in 2022. Thanks in part to their colorful and photogenic drinks topped with pink-hued cold foam and green matcha, the buzz grew quickly, leading to Light Heart's expansion. A second coffee shop, located on Pima Road and Thompson Peak Parkway, opened in May.
“We've gotten so lucky, it's been amazing... There (are) lots of friends who I'm so close with and I love them, but I don't think we would be able to make a business relationship. But these friends and I, we just complement each other so well with the areas they're passionate about, what they're skilled with, and what we're skilled with,” Caleb said. “The biggest conflict we've had is ‘I don't know if I want that plant there’ or ‘I like a different shade of brown for that wall.' It's been very small.”
The good energy is palpable in the shop, with open-concept seating, natural light and textures, earthy color tones, relaxing music and boho-inspired decor.
“We just wanted it to be as comfortable as possible. My wife and I have always really liked a Swedish (or) Japanese type of interior design,” Caleb said. As a throwback to the couple's time in Hawaii, they wanted a beachy, vibrant feel. “We just wanted to feel almost like you're on vacation,” he said.
The name “Light Heart” came together with a surprising twist of serendipity.
Elliot had written a love song for Maddi years ago using that phrase in the lyrics. Separately, before the two couples connected, Caleb and Moriah were dreaming of opening a coffee shop and debating between two name ideas: Lighthouse or Dear Heart, both things associated with her grandmother.
“When we met with Maddi and Elliot, and they had already had Light Heart, we were like, oh, that's confirmation for us that this is a good idea," Caleb said.
The flagship location sells drinks and pastries, but the new location has a full kitchen. Breakfast sandwiches and burritos are now on offer, with expanded offerings to come.
"We have a few ideas that we want to introduce slowly, but we just want to make sure we're nailing every item," Caleb said.
If you’re in either shop, you can enjoy an array of specialty coffees made with locally roasted beans from Moxie Coffee Co. in central Phoenix, alongside teas and matcha. A popular option is the Berry Cobbler, which is a brown sugar latte or matcha with wildberry puree. For a less sweet fan favorite, try the Tea Party latte, which is Earl Grey tea with homemade lavender syrup, milk and espresso or matcha.
The Light Heart baristas know that specialty coffee can be a bit daunting to the average caffeine consumer, or come off a bit pretentious. They hope to become "a bit of a gateway" into the genre.
“We want to be something that, somebody with a really good palate in coffee, they could come in and enjoy everything, but also somebody who they've been going to Starbucks for the last five years, they could come in and they're going to have an amazing experience," Caleb said. "Hopefully, (we can) slowly convert them from those big-name coffee shops into specialty coffee enjoyers."
For all of its matcha drinks, Light Heart uses organic ceremonial grade Nekohama matcha. Varieties that have a grainy texture or grassy taste are often low-quality or poorly prepared, Caleb explained, while the best varieties maintain a creamy texture and tea-like flavor.
"We've been taking a lot of pride in it for the last couple of years, so it's been cool seeing probably half of our sales now are matcha. We're super proud of it,” Caleb said.
Another thing he's proud of? Growing a business at the same time as raising their son.
“Having a baby at the same time as running the coffee shop, that's been the hardest part. (But) it's been amazing, and it's such a blessing to be able to bring our baby to work every day,” he said.
Light Heart Coffee
6969 E. Shea Blvd. #190, Scottsdale20875 N. Pima Road, #100, Scottsdale
