Hi, I'm Sharon (they/them), the founder of Cafrésh. I started Cafrésh through the idea of not having a lot of space to be alone and rejuvenate during the day. As an ambivert, I found that the only space that I had to recharge was my room. Let's be honest. It's my space, but there's not a lot of natural light in my room and when I was living on a college campus, I had a roommate. Even when I wanted some time alone in my room, I couldn't. 

I started diving into the introvert stigma that the U.S. has in my senior year of college. As someone who was an introvert growing up, it was tough having teachers giving the same comment everytime, "Sharon is doing good in class, but I wish she spoke up more in class." There was always more emphasis for students to speak up and be more outgoing, but that tired me out. As I grew up, I discovered that introverts have a lot to say but don't often get a chance to present it due to not having the space to or not feeling comfortable. I wanted to be able to create space for others to feel comfortable and feel like their ideas and thoughts mattered.

My senior year of college, I became a mentor for incoming first-year college students that identified as a first-generation college student or student of color. I had mentees that I was supporting, and I learned a lot from them from their needs. They were the ones that inspired this business.