Arika Jean Sanders
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Arika J. Sanders is a faith-driven entrepreneur, creative professional, commercial building owner, and single mother based in the small community of Tracy, Minnesota. With a career rooted in graphic design, branding, marketing, and construction, Arika took an unexpected leap into hospitality when she purchased a local coffee shop and downtown building and transformed the opportunity into Squatch Coffee & Eats. With no traditional restaurant background, she built the Squatch brand from the ground up, learned the food and coffee business along the way, and later expanded the concept with Squatch After Dark. Her work continues to grow into catering, private events, property development, creative services, and community-focused projects—all grounded in the belief that small towns are worthy of big ideas.
At 50, Arika’s story is less about having everything figured out and more about having the faith and determination to keep moving forward. As a single mom, she balances raising her child with business ownership, creativity, community service, and an ever-growing vision for what comes next. Through seasons of change, loss, uncertainty, and rebuilding, her faith in God has remained at the center of her journey. Arika hopes her story encourages others—especially women, parents, entrepreneurs, and people starting over—to recognize that it is never too late to answer a calling, use what is already in their hands, and take the next step toward building a life of purpose.
IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:
- That faith and obedience can turn a small-town coffee shop purchase into multiple community-focused food businesses.
- How a graphic designer with no restaurant experience built Squatch Coffee & Eats from the ground up.
- Why purchasing a downtown building in Tracy, Minnesota became a catalyst for rural revitalization and bigger ideas.
- How Squatch After Dark filled an evening food need by partnering with the local Eagles Club instead of duplicating services.
- That you do not have to have everything figured out before you begin building a purposeful life.
- Why learning as you go and using existing skills can open doors in an unfamiliar industry.
- How Arika balances single motherhood, business ownership, and a growing vision for community impact.
- That small-town entrepreneurs can think big without unlimited capital or a perfect business plan.
- Why success can be measured by people fed, employed, encouraged, and brought together in community.
- How trusting God with the next step helps move through exhaustion, financial pressure, grief, and uncertainty.
about the show
Mompreneurs is a business documentary series featuring mothers who have built real businesses, created wealth, and found their own path to success while raising families.
Each episode takes viewers inside the journey of a mom entrepreneur, showing how she built her business, what challenges she faced, and what lessons she learned along the way. Guests may come from industries like e-commerce, real estate, coaching, consulting, product brands, investing, online business, and professional services.
These are women who chose to build something of their own. They are founders, business owners, leaders, and mothers who understand what it takes to manage ambition, family, responsibility, and growth at the same time.
Mompreneurs goes beyond surface-level success stories. The series explores the strategies, decisions, sacrifices, setbacks, and breakthroughs that helped these women build businesses and create more freedom for themselves and their families.
Through honest conversations and documentary-style storytelling, each episode shares practical entrepreneurship and wealth-building wisdom from mothers who have lived it firsthand.
For featured guests, Mompreneurs provides a platform to share their story, build authority, inspire other women, and show what is possible when motherhood and entrepreneurship come together.
