With Love - Part I

Walking into With Love Market and Cafe is a vibrant experience. From the bright orange chairs to the upbeat music to the colorful fresh fruits and vegetables in baskets for purchase, it’s a spot for rest and joy on a buzzing street right by the 10 Freeway. 

Inside the huge warehouse-chic space, you find fresh produce, as well as shelf-stable and frozen foods, and a full cafe menu with coffees, smoothies, sandwiches, burritos, and of course, many variations of avocado toast. So, like I have at times, you can get a tasty meal (the eggplant sandwich is, *chef’s kiss*) and also pick up some popcorn, a couple of onions, and a lemon you need for something you’re making later, all in one stop. 

There’s lots of indoor seating at a communal table, as well as smaller tables, with an upstairs seating area as well. Upstairs there’s even a community room available to reserve for an incredibly low hourly rate (the only downside is that it’s located up a flight of stairs, which isn’t accessible to everyone). For an accessible option, you can reserve the downstairs space after hours, or the outdoor back patio, both of which are wheelchair accessible. 

When I was leading a local church startup, we rented the back patio for events several times. It was the only outdoor spot we could find in the neighborhood that was quiet, accessible, and at a price that worked for our budget. The church I worked for also used With Love for catering multiple times, getting lunch boxes or party trays for events and gatherings - always fresh, delicious, and reasonably priced. So as someone whose community directly benefited from the good neighbor With Love has been in the community, I was excited to sit down with Andrew McDowell, the founder, and hear more of their story.

This is part one of a two part interview. In this section we hear some of the motivation behind the idea for the business, and how it first got off the ground. 

Before we talk about the story of With Love, first tell us a few of the key things from your story that make you, you.

I went to Occidental College and was involved with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. It was a very transformative experience for me. Prior to that, I'd never really seen the character of Jesus. Being able to understand more of what he did every day and how he affected people, how he dedicated his life, and what it actually meant, forced me to look at my life. I really became passionate about social justice and community impact and serving and caring and loving those who may need it in ways they can't meet on their own. So I spent a long time figuring out myself and growing and learning about my gifts and strengths and weaknesses. 

I worked in digital marketing for years developing skills and passions. And over time God started giving me a vision for the South LA community I’d been living in, where my church home was, and wondering why I was here. With Love started forming after years of visioning. Not intentionally visioning, but getting pieces of ideas and visions after a couple years that started to make sense. 

Share a bit about that germination time when the ideas for creating something like this started to come together as one coherent vision.

It all started with noticing things in the community that were unjust, like kids eating chips and sugary drinks for breakfast on their way to school. And I loved getting people jobs. But I recognized that I couldn't get a lot of the people in this community jobs because they didn't have a college education or a very specific skill set to work in the industry I was in. They were hardworking and passionate and needed to take care of their family, but the only job openings were far away from our community. I felt that was a problem. 

I started praying about why I was here in this community, how to use the skills and resources I had been given, and I felt encouraged to put down roots in the form of buying a home in the neighborhood and committing to this neighborhood in South LA. Then I started thinking about a business where I could hire my neighbors and sell healthier food options to those kids walking to school.

So that's kind of where the little bit of ideas started, recognizing where the greatest needs in our community intersected with the greatest opportunity for a sustainable business. 

What are a few of the highlights of how With Love grew from an idea to what it is today?

The actual visioning process took about two years. It wasn't a fixed process, ideas started happening and I would write down words or draw pictures to get out what was coming up for me. While I was on a beach in Cancun, vacationing with a buddy, two single hard-working guys getting some much needed free time, I was reading a book called My Business, My Mission by Doug Seebeck. And it was talking about business' missions in developing countries and the transformational nature of that for the gospel.

So I started the process of hiring an assistant, and then it took three and a half years until we actually opened. But that process was: What do we need? What's the business? What's the idea? We need a business plan. We need funding, we need locations, we need an idea, we need a name. We need all of these things. And so that's how, you know, the journey went from idea to actual opening in three and a half years. 

What do you love about this neighborhood?

Two years is the average time someone will live in our immediate community. So it has a lot of turnover. That's both challenging and exciting because you meet a lot of different people and there’s a constant evolution. There's energy, ideas, different people to meet. So this ever-evolving community has the opportunity to evolve in one way or another, and we get to be a part of influencing that. I really enjoy that, whether that's being a part of the Salvadoran business corridor here, or working with our new councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez to figure out how to do something positive in this part of our council district. Or working with the new mayor, Karen Bass, and saying, “Hey, we want to do something transformative on Vermont that really brings prosperity to our neighborhood in a way that serves the people that have been here for a long time.” I really enjoy and love the opportunity to engage, to be welcomed in, even though I didn't grow up in this community, or I don't look like the majority of this community. 

What do you see as the gifts of this neighborhood? 

This neighborhood is constantly surprising me with the diverse skills in the people I meet, from social workers to tradespeople to teachers and people that work in city government. This neighborhood truly has everything, which is a cauldron of opportunity when we are able to focus and rally people and organize folks. Which I also think is the biggest challenge. 

Speaking of challenge…stay tuned for part two of this interview with With Love’s founder Andrew McDowell as he shares about how they navigated the challenges of COVID as a new small business, as well as what beautiful new chapters are ahead for this great community spot.

With Love Market and Cafe is a community-owned for-profit Social Purpose Corporation. With more than 35 co-owners of the business and an independent 501(c)3, With Love Community Programs, it is positioned well to partner with and advocate for their community. They’re located at 1969 Vermont Ave. They recently opened a second to-go location at 235 E. 12th St. Follow them on Facebook or Instagram (@withlovela_) to be up to date on all that’s happening there, and check out their website!