We recently had the chance to connect with Alana Reina and have shared our conversation below.
Good morning Alana, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
I wake up, go for a quick walk if its not raining, put away clean dishes, then start my mindful morning routine. It changes from day to day, but lately it has consisted of: drinking a warm lemon water, cleansing my space with palo santo while reciting affirmations for the day, doing my gratitude journaling, EFT tapping, and gentle yoga. Occasionally I pull a tarot card spread if I need some extra guidance. After my morning routine, I eat breakfast and make matcha, then sit down at my computer to get some work done while I finish my matcha. This is my most focused time of day, so I try to get as much done as I can in this chunk of time!
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am a holistic mental health therapist with a love for wellness and matcha, and finally found a way to bring both to my community. I started drinking matcha in 2017, right after finished my masters program. I was looking for a part time job to hold me over until I left San Diego (I finished classes in December but needed to stick around until May for graduation), and discovered a matcha cafe that was about to open. I did not end up working there, but after one visit, I was completely hooked on matcha! Over the years, I dreamed of opening my own cafe someday. Fast forward to 2025, and now I have since left being a full time therapist to pursue my dream of opening a holistic center (an idea I have had since I graduated from my bachelors in 2013!), and also run a matcha business alongside that. It started off as a meetup group to get women who love matcha and mocktails together to chat about all things mental health, wellness and being women, but somehow turned into a mobile matcha bar business. I am excited to see where it goes, how the two businesses intersect, and when I will open up a cafe!
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
As an eldest daughter, I grew up learning that my value was in my usefulness and ability to help others. It’s no wonder I ended up becoming a therapist as an adult! Although I truly love helping people and find joy in seeing people flourish, I realized I no longer align with doing therapy full time. I found I was pushing through burn out and my own trauma the majority of the time, which was draining and not sustainable. I even started to become resentful that I was helping other women achieve their dream lives, while simultaneously feeling so burnt out and far away from my own. I finally took a leap of faith by leaving my career as a full time therapist to pursue full time entrepreneurship, managing both my holistic wellness business (wellness events, working toward opening a holistic center, and limited 1:1 therapy/coaching) and my matcha business (pop ups, events, and meetups and maybe a cafe one day). I am letting go of the need to be a martyr and helping people on a community level, which feels more fulfilling and less draining to me in this stage of my life!
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
Your worth is so much more than what you can do for others, and it’s safe to be yourself and do what you love without worrying about who it will help or please!
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? Is the public version of you the real you?
Since I started creating content regularly in January of 2018, I have always strived to share as much of my real personality and life as possible. It is so easy to get sucked into the trap of comparing your life to others on social media (I am still guilty of that myself), and I never wanted to present a false version of my life. That being said, there is a lot that I have gone through and am currently going through that I am not comfortable sharing online in detail, but I try to at least share that I have my ups and downs and struggles just like anyone!
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I think this question is a bit tricky, because I don’t think any of us were born to just do one thing. We are taught that we need to pick our careers early on (deciding your career at 17 is insane btw) and stick to that for the rest of our lives. I have had so many different phases and chapters in my life, and although I have consistently stuck with the mental health/social work field for almost all of my career, I have found so many different lanes within that, and am still pivoting. Who would have thought I would open a matcha business after almost 5 years of being a full time therapist?? I am not even 35 yet, so I have no idea how many different chapters are left for me. All I can do is keep letting my intuition guide me through life.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/matchamocktailsmiami
- Other: https://tiktok.com/@matchamocktailsmiami
