My family didn't have it easy growing up. I know what it feels like to need something and not have it. I know what it feels like when someone shows up for you, and what it feels like when nobody does. 

When we opened La La Land, giving back wasn't something we added later. It was there from day one. We started hiring foster youth before we had any reason to believe it would work, before the brand was big, before anyone was watching. We did it because it felt right. That was it. 

As we grew, we kept asking the same question: who else can we show up for? So we started bringing in people with special needs. We started helping people in our communities going through something hard. We partner with shelters because I've had four dogs in my life and I know what an animal means to a person. Every quarter our team votes on someone out there who needs help and we show up, no committees, no applications, just people seeing people. And we built a La La Helping Hand fund for our own team because hundreds of people work for us and life doesn't wait for a good time. 

We've always believed businesses can be forces for good. That belief has been hard to hold onto. It costs money. It takes time. It doesn't always work. But we keep going because we know it's right. 

We are transitioning from the La La Land Foundation into something bigger, more personal, and more connected to all of you. Back to what we have always been about: spreading yellow.  No separate nonprofit. No tax break driving our decisions. We didn't want any structure or incentive between us and why we actually do this. 

We get the skepticism. A business talking about doing good — we understand why that raises an eyebrow. We're not trying to look like heroes. We're not heroes. We just want to do some good in the world with no expectations attached. That's it. 

And I want to be direct about one more thing: don't come to La La Land because of this. Seriously. If you walk through our doors, come because the coffee is good. Come because the space makes you feel something. The coffee should sell itself and we believe it does. This is not marketing. We are not trying to buy your loyalty with goodwill. What we do here stands on its own, separate from what we sell. 

We do this because we want to. Because we can. Because someone has to. 

That's the whole thing. 

Francois Reihani

Founder, La La Land