Photos and Interview by Jorge Lara

VIM Magazine Editor In Chief Jorge Lara recently interviewed and photographed Las Vegas entrepreneur Josh Molina, CEO of Makers and Finders, which recently launched a new Henderson location and Take It Easy Roasters which is celebrating its 3 year anniversary. Both Las Vegas cultural mainstays as Makers and Finders helped introduce one of the first fine dining experiences on Main Street and the Las Vegas Arts District.

VIM: You launched Makers and Finders in 2011 2014 and will soon be launching a new location in Henderson. How has it been preparing for the launch of this new location? What can we expect from this new location?

JOSH MOLINA: The preparation for the new Henderson location most definitely has its challenges, but overall I have enjoyed the experience. It does feel different this time around, having built 3 restaurants/cafes before, it feels like those experiences have produced a confidence and know-how of how to create, build and open a full service restaurant. Having been an entrepreneur for 8 years now, I finally feel I have a deep understanding of what and how to do what I do.

This location will be the biggest Makers & Finders location yet! We are adding a new, custom patio with a beautiful pergola giving us a total of 120 seats. That is almost double the seating capacity of our other locations! Additionally, this location will have a full bar that will have 16 bar seats making it our largest bar from all of our locations. The bar will form an "L" that leads into our open kitchen, therefore allowing you to watch the magic behind the beverage bar or watching our chefs make all of our dishes from scratch.

We are introducing a carefully curated Tequila Flight program with 18 expressions of Tequila that are organized by 3 pricing tiers -- Premium, Super Premium and Rare. I am very excited for this addition, as I am an avid Tequila enjoyer and have always felt this can add tremendously to our already dynamic beverage program.

VIM: Along with Makers and Finders you are also the founder of Take It Easy Roasters. How did the idea for that business come about?

JOSH MOLINA: Take It Easy Roasters originated as a location to roast coffee beans for Makers & Finders. That idea developed and grew into so much more. The way I chose the name and concept for this space was created during a visit to my imagionational world that led me to a self-recognition in the process. Makers & Finders is very much an energetic and fast-paced concept that is very much aligned with my personality type. As a Type-A person, my lifestyle is very rapid and my mind is constantly racing. During this era of my life, there was a strong calling to explore other speeds and personality spaces. My Father, Omar, is the only Type-B personality in my immediate family and one night over dinner he said an expression that he has said to my mom my entire life. "Take It Easy, Martucha! (mom's nickname)"

That was my "aha" moment. I realized that this new concept needs to be a counter balance to M&F. The energy, design, branding, colors must all be a completely different look. This is when I settled on the name Take It Easy Roasters and began to develop and nurture the concept and brought it to life.

Take It Easy Roasters has grown significantly since it opened in 2020. The space is now a fully operating production house that operates as a commissary kitchen and a full scale coffee roastery. We also purchased a commercial empanada equipment with custom molds where we make over 60,000 empanadas annually that gets distributed to all Makers & Finders locations. This concept has truly taught me a great deal. My strong suite and natural abilities are fitted for sales and retail - so Makers & Finders was a natural fit. Warehouse management, distribution and production are avenues I had little to no experience in. I have been able to grow and learn an incredible amount from Take It Easy Roasters.

VIM: In 2022 you were invited to the Top Financial Advisors Conference held by Forbes. How was that experience for you and what did you learn coming out of it?

JOSH MOLINA: This honor was actually held by my younger brother, Omar Molina, a successful Financial Advisor for Merril Lynch. Omar is also an investor and owner of Makers & Finders. I am extremely proud of him and can speak to how impactful the conference was for him.

I did have the honor of being an honoree of the 2018 Class of Vegas Inc 40 Under 40. Then in October 2021 I was named Alumnus of the Year for the College of Liberal Arts at UNLV, being honored alongside other Rebels such as Guy Fieri.

These moments of recognition were incredibly gratifying and humbling. As an entrepreneur, the losses are consistent and gut-wrenching. The victories are few and far between. Being honored by colleagues and other community leaders helped me on a personal level by giving me strength to continue fighting in the business world.

VIM: Tell us a bit about your background and what led you to decide on becoming an entrepreneur. What’s the one lesson you have learned after all these years.

JOSH MOLINA:

Pulled the below from my Bio:

A first generation Colombian-American raised in Las Vegas, he is a driven & creative individual with a knack for successful multi-unit operations, leadership and scaling. At 17 he had his first experience at entrepreneurship by creating an online store selling used old-edition textbooks that his dad, a groundskeeper for UNLV, would collect at the end of every semester after they were disposed of. After graduating with 50+ college credits from the local charter school, Nevada State High School, he transferred to UNLV and graduated in 2010 with a BA in Experimental Psychology. He was the first in his immediate family to earn a college degree.

During college he excelled in the insurance industry while saving up his money for an eventual opportunity. He turned down an offer to open his own insurance agency to instead pursue opening a café. In 2013, he worked on coffee fields for a month in the countries of Colombia, Peru & Brazil and gained vast experience in specialty coffee and its dynamic process.

Energized by his life-changing trip, he became the co-founder of Makers & Finders in the Arts District in late 2014. His sophomore effort came in 2017 when he successfully opened a second location in Downtown Summerlin. In 2020, he created Take It Easy Roasters in Chinatown Las Vegas. At this location, he and his team roasts coffee, bakes goods and exports over 60,000 empanadas annually for all Makers & Finders locations. During the summer of 2021 he opened a satellite Makers & Finders location at AREA15, serving coffee, tea and small bites. The combined revenue of his operations exceed 5 million dollars annually. Currently, he is putting the final touches to his fifth location in Henderson, NV which opens this Spring on Valle Verde & the 215. He plans to continue growing Makers & Finders to other cities and bringing empanadas and coffee to retail shelves nationwide.

Throughout all of the experiences above, the one lesson I learned was to trust myself. Draw close to your imagination and gut, and learn to create a healthy self-dialogue that breed self-exploration. The more you talk to yourself, the better you understand yourself. The moment I recognized this lesson and truly applied it, it changed me from the inside and out. I had become a force of nature.

VIM: What’s next for yourself and the companies you helped get started?

'JOSH MOLINA: My goal is to continue developing my workflow to be able to manage sustainable growth for Makers & Finders in Las Vegas and beyond. There are plans to expand outside of Las Vegas in 2024. Additionally, we are working on product development to compete in the retail space with our most beloved products.

Personally, I am motivated to become the best father to my son Hudson, a better partner, son, grand son, brother and community leader. I take great pride in the experiences and challenges I have faced because of the learning opportunities they presented me. I feel wiser, experienced and reinvigorated. It is important to me to sustain these feelings while continuing to pursue the company goals.