For sisters Camila and Olivia Ramos, the details matter. And it shows in their respective businesses.
Camila, who is the co-owner of All Day coffee bar, ensures that coffee shots are weighed to the tenth of a gram and their Instagram feed captures the essence of the bar.
“When you’re at All Day, you feel like you can do things. You feel a little bit more empowered,” Camila said. “Not just because you’re high on coffee, but because the environment is a bunch of cool people working on cool things.”
Olivia found her success through real estate development and big data. She studied architecture at Miami’s Design Architecture Senior High and made her way to Columbia University for a Master of Architecture.
After designing big data navigation software for DARPA, the government agency that designs military technology, she combined her real estate and big data experience to launch Deepblocks.The software integrates logic from the disciplines of real estate development, architecture, construction, and brokerage into a single centralized engine that generates instant massing and financial models. This helps professionals from those disciplines conduct preliminary analyses and filter through dozens of potential opportunities in a matter of minutes.
Olivia acknowledges part of the success of Deepblocks to the diversity of their team.
“It is a really nice microcosm of our country, which means a lot to me, coming here as an immigrant,” Olivia said. “And I see it everyday. It makes us more powerful to be diverse.”
The Ramos sisters and their parents emigrated from Cuba in 1993 during Cuba’s Special Period when Cuba went through an economic crisis as a result of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Their parents wanted their daughters to have a chance at a successful future.
Both sisters credit their parents — especially their mother, an architect — for their high level of attention to detail at each of their businesses.
“We’d seen over and over again of how much she pays attention to every little moulding, every little detail.” Olivia said. “Her ability to understand and optimize complex systems is something that both Camilla and I took from her and applied in completely different ways.”
Camila got her start in the specialty coffee industry as a barista at Volta while attending the University of Florida in Gainesville. Then she made her way back to Miami and worked at Panther Coffee, as director of operations, helping the chain open in Wynwood and other locations across South Florida. While at Panther Coffee, she was named the 2014 Southeast Barista Champion, and also earned 5th place in the US Barista Championship.
Back in 2012, as an artist in residence for a non-profit arts organization, Olivia lived upstairs from The Corner bar. Eventually she became good friends with its owner, Chris MacLeod. As the owner of a couple of buildings in Miami, Chris was interested in starting a cafe, so Olivia introduced him to her sister Camila. The two hit it off and opened All Day together.
“Sure, it’s a café, it’s my business — but more so a personal passion project,” Camila said. “It matters to me, the [impact of the] decisions that we make. It’s a very value-driven business.”
Finding the best ingredients are part of the high level of detail that Camila brings to all aspects of the business. When Camila can’t source locally, she searches the country — and the world — to find the highest quality ingredients. It’s that level of attention that elevates All Day’s breakfast menu to something you would experience at a fine dining restaurant.
“Something can be good, but good isn’t great, and great isn’t outstanding,” Camila said. “The idea is we consistently work toward more and more excellence.”
Get a taste of All Day at their downtown Miami shop, or you can follow them on Instagram. Check out Deepblocks and learn more about their software.