Accounting graduate student Zoë Tsoukalas has always been an entrepreneur. She started her first business, Zoläla Designz, where she sold handcrafted clothing and jewelry, in 2019. This summer, she founded Zoläla Matcha, a fully mobile matcha cart bringing handcrafted drinks directly to customers. 

Three weeks into her corporate summer accounting internship for BDO, Tsoukalas spent her free time trying matcha at new cafes in the Dallas area. Her love for quality matcha has grown over the years, but after trying different places in Dallas, she felt something was missing. 

An idea formed in her mind, and she was inspired to blend the aspects of all her favorite cafes into her own business. With the help of her boyfriend, Raul Bustillos, and a couple trips to Lowe’s, they built a custom matcha drink cart complete with eye-catching pink and green stripes.

For the remainder of the summer, Tsoukalas spent her free time taste-testing ceremonial-grade matchas imported directly from Japan and developing recipes for her homemade syrups. About 30 brands of matcha and hours of research on the right syrup consistency later, Zoläla’s signature matcha was born.

The Zoläla Matcha website proudly states: “Every drink I make is done with care and passion. My goal is to share that love for matcha and create something that makes people feel good with every cup.”

“I’m all about the aesthetic,” Tsoukalas said. “So I feel like the prettier it looks, the better it’s gonna taste. I was huge on not wanting to use anything that was artificially sweetened or artificially dyed. So I did some research on the pigmentation of certain natural colorings, and that’s how I get the colors of my cold foams to be so vibrant.”

According to Tsoukalas, she has a background in event coordinating and saw the opportunity through the success that mobile vendor businesses like coffee carts or balloon decorators have at events, and she felt an inkling to pursue that niche.

“My connections and my marketing skills have just been, like, a whole full circle moment,” Tsoukalas said. “Like I used to hire these types of people, and now I’m one of those people who people reach out to for events, which is really cool.”

Zoläla Matcha made its debut at a promotional event in partnership with local business Rountree Market that Tsoukalas, her friends and other influencers organized. The networking event centered around a yoga class taught by an Austin-based instructor, with other small business pop-ups in attendance to promote their brands. 

Tsoukalas described the event as a learning experience that provided value beyond just a profit in her bank account and a huge launching point for her small business.

“I was like, ‘This is so worth it to me,’” Tsoukalas said. “Because even though it was a free event and I lost money, I really did it because that’s how I got my word out.”

Thanks to support from the event and a few viral TikToks made by attendees, Tsoukalas said the inquiries just kept coming in. 

“It was like this whole collective space coming together,” Tsoukalas said. “All these creative minds; all my friends and influencers that were there, it was honestly really great. I was like, ‘Okay, this is gonna work.’”

Although confident in her ability to manage a small business while juggling graduate school, Tsoukalas said she was shocked at all of the organizations reaching out, causing her to be almost fully booked in her first month of opening. 

Her strategy to manage it all is to have time set aside for each responsibility. For Tsoukalas, giving up her evening doomscrolling time on TikTok is more than worth it to achieve her dreams.

“It’s a small sacrifice, because people are talking about me, and people just know me now, and I’m like, ‘This is so cool,’” Tsoukalas said. 

Tsoukalas attributed a huge part of her success to the friendships she has been blessed with. From her roommate Melissa Cubas’ ‘24 assistance in helping work private events, to the branding and photography services gifted to her by close friend and nursing senior Nadely Abdalla, Tsoukalas’ friends stepped up voluntarily to help her get Zoläla Matcha up and running.

“They are such a huge support,” Tsoukalas said. “I’m so blessed to have friends that are actually there for me, and they’re not jealous. Like they want to see me grow.”

Cubas, Tsoukalas’ top supporter, said she has always been the friend who has helped Tsoukalas bring her creative visions to life. They have lived together since freshmen year, and Cubas said that she has watched all of the creative outlets and business ventures her friend has pursued.

“I think what really helped us stay really close is that we’re both creative in our own ways, and that’s something that we were able to really bond over,” Cubas said.

Cubas believes that if you have even the faintest idea of wanting to do something, you should go for it. 

She praised Tsoukalas’ work ethic, quality of product and the eye-catching branding that her friend passionately designed herself, and described herself feeling like a proud mom.

“I think something that I genuinely feel super proud of her for is that I’ve always seen she’s had that creative side to her,” Cubas said. “She’s genuinely thriving and almost in bloom when it comes to this kind of stuff. You can see she’s enjoying it, and it’s making her heart happy.”

Nadely and her sister, Jocelyn Abdalla, stepped up as helping hands in the growth of Zoläla Matcha. 

Nadely offered to help Tsoukalas with social media content and photography, while Jocelyn worked the matcha stand, helping with orders and serving customers. 

“Zoë just has a personality that I don’t think is just shown over camera,” Nadely said. “Just being able to capture those moments and show everyone how successful she can be and how determined she is — is amazing.”

Thanks to a Bumble ambassador event freshman year, Nadely and Tsoukalas sparked a close friendship that blossomed from their shared love of pursuing business opportunities and a creative itch. 

Nadely described Tsoukalas as the type-A planner and “wheel of it all” when they collaborate. 

“We work great together,” Nadely said. “It just generally became a friendship that I don’t know what I would do without now.”

Working together at different events and providing photography for Zoläla Matcha has helped both of their businesses grow, according to Nadely. 

She describes living and working in a town like College Station as a strong community and environment where people want to network and partner to help each other grow.

“It’s amazing to have those friendships that you can support and have their back,” Nadely said. “At the end of the day, we’re trying to grow and be the best people that we can, and collaborating is the best way, because we are both growing from each other and with one another.”

Jocelyn said that working with Tsoukalas at events and helping with content creation has been the perfect side hustle to do her freshman year at A&M. Introduced to her by Nadely, Jocelyn said working with Tsoukalas has been inspiring and uplifting.

“She’s a sweetheart, and I love being around her, and it’s such a good environment to work in,” Jocelyn said.

Equipped with an overloaded Pinterest board of ideas and the mind of an entrepreneur, Tsoukalas said she looks forward to following her creative dreams after college. 

While pursuing a full-time accounting job, she plans to pursue growth opportunities for Zoläla Matcha and continue to do private events in the Dallas, Austin and College Station areas. 

“Starting in College Station was my goal, so when I go to Dallas next year, I will stand out a little bit more,” Tsoukalas said. “I want to do everything on my own; it’s really rewarding. But it’s been such a dream, I feel like I’m at my peak right now.”