Marissa and Allan Torio’s small local business, “Busy Oven,” was a contributing part in instilling and enriching values of hard work. That was one contributing factor that helped develop their daughter’s dreams of owning her own cafe.  

The 19-year-old sophomore majoring in business marketing and a newly recruited Hogan Entrepreneur member, Nina Torio has dreams of opening her own cafe. She envisions it to be a place where everyone can build relationships, get to know each other, and feel comfortable. Torio is looking forward to the unique experiences and knowledge she will gain from being apart of Hogan Entrepreneurs.   

Hogan Entrepreneurs is a Chaminade program that allows students to have first-hand experiences with Hawaii’s business leaders and entrepreneurs in helping students in starting up new ideas and businesses that will impact the community.   

According to Torio, what she wants to learn from Hogan Entrepreneurs is growth as an overall person. She looks forward to learning more in-depth knowledge of the business field and how to apply it to her career. 

Skills like negotiations with other business people, dressing in appropriate business casual attire, and managing time between school and being a part of the Chaminade women’s volleyball team.  

Dreams of owning her own cafe began when she first stepped foot in “Surfers Coffee Bar” in Wahiawa.

Torio explained what really caught her eye was the environment in which people were brought together and enjoying their time together. Even students studying and eating were having a good time.

Though Torio has not decided on a name for her cafe, she envisions her it to have a modern rustic look, white walls, large windows to let light in, and quotes on the wall that are inspirational and faith-based to incorporate her Christian faith.

“I just want to break those walls and have my cafe be a place where everyone can build relationships, get to know each other and have that space where they are comfortable in,” Torio said.

She looks forward to getting to know customers and hopes to have regulars who come by so often, Torio already knows their order.  

 “I want to be present in my cafe, I want customers to know that I am someone they can talk to casually and have my cafe be a comfortable environment,” Torio said. “I would want someone to walk into my home the same way they would walk into my cafe.”

Her parents, Marissa and Allan Torio, owned and operated a small local business from their Mililani home for five years. It was called “Busy Oven” and they made bake goods and specialties cakes that were pre-ordered by clients and frequently sold at local craft fairs as well. According to her mother, Marissa Torio, she thinks the business might have had an impact on her daughter.

According to Nina Torio, when she was little she would help assemble cake boxes and hang out in the big kitchens her parents would rent out for their big orders, Torio and her little sister saw all the hard work that would go on.

“When I was younger I didn’t have the dream to have the cafe, but now I use it as inspiration and just drive to have mine happen too, seeing what my parents did,” Torio said.  

Torio’s mother Marissa is very excited and hopeful that her daughter will be successful in her future endeavors.

“She likes to be around people, and likes to bring people together, she finds joy in that and seeing that happen,” said Marissa Torio. “She is a creative person and that is where her cafe ambitious comes into play. I think that is part of her vision and that is the first steps in making it come true.”