Hello!
We´re Danica and Zeis and sometimes our daughter Uma. You can think of us as your favorite neighbors.
FELIZ is our home and FELIZ is your home too, just with better coffee.
About Danica
I´m an entrepreneur, creative and one of your hosts at FELIZ Coffee.
Born and raised in New Jersey though I´ve made many stops along the way (Pennsylvania, New York, LA, Marrakech and Miami) before reaching my current home in Madrid, Spain.
There are lots of things that move me but I´d say what's been consistent throughout my life have been design, travel and connection. All of which we weave into FELIZ.
I´ve spent most of my life and career either making beautiful things or making things beautiful. I´ve designed textiles for large companies and created side by side with female artisans in Morocco.
It's what I love and honestly, one of the things I do best. It brings me great joy to visualize, plan, arrange, create. Creating beauty and bringing ideas to life light me up.
I used to think this was a senseless knack with little purpose but I´ve learned that it´s my gift.
Carrying out the vision for both FELIZ coffee shops has been one of my greatest and most satisfying assignments to date. From the physical spaces to each product on our shelves to the way a bake is decorated.
Making FELIZ beautiful and special is a gift I enjoy sharing everyday.
Though each space has it´s own look, once you step inside there´s no doubt they´re FELIZ. Warm, inviting and unique to us.
I love seeing the look on your face when you walk into FELIZ. My heart is full every time I hear the stories and memories created at FELIZ.
It makes me proud considering most people had no idea who or what we were when we opened our doors in 2018.
FELIZ has become the kind of coffee shop you tell your friends about and they tell their friends about, and well, you get the idea.
Travel is another one of my passions. Who doesn´t love to travel?
I don´t need super exotic places to satisfy my wanderlust (though that year spent living and working with artisans in Morocco might have you thinking otherwise). A new city is always exciting and a place to fill my creative cup but the laid back vibe of road trips and countryside destinations suits me just fine.
Travel has opened up my world to new ideas, new ways of seeing and doing things and connecting with people.
At FELIZ we get to create the kind of environment that fosters those kinds of connections.
Many connections, friendships and even loves have formed at FELIZ and when we see it happening or hear about it, that´s when we know we´ve done something right.
These shared experiences and connections are what bring purpose to everything we do.
So, why a coffee shop?
I´ll be honest, I never dreamt of opening a coffee shop though somehow it checked all the boxes.
Creative. Check.
Inspiring. Check.
Build community. Check.
Create beautiful experiences. Check.
About Zeis
Zeis is a doer, a dreamer and the smiling face you´ll see at FELIZ.
You'll likely find him behind the bar making what´s probably the best flat white you´ve ever had. (Your words, not mine.)
Born and raised in Barcelona, he left for New York to scratch that travel itch. The stars aligned and there we met over yes, you guessed it, coffee, travel and business brainstorms.
Zeis is my partner in business and in life.
He's that guy with the winning smile and great sense of humor. He'll make you feel at home because that's just what he does. It's not unusual to see him flitting up and down and all around. Everyone knows Zeis.
He´s a spontaneous adventurer and besides coffee, he's a big fan of pizza. He's an autodidact, you know, one of those people who teaches themselves whatever it is they want to learn.
When we decided to start FELIZ, Zeis took on the challenge of learning everything there was to learn about coffee and how to make it just right.
He took all the things he learned and observed while living and working and tasting coffee in New York and applied only the best parts to FELIZ. He's one of the hardest workers you'll ever meet.
He pours his heart and soul into making FELIZ what it is and ensuring that every cup of coffee that reaches your lips is of the highest quality possible.
But apart from being the face of FELIZ he's also handyman, accountant, trainer and lots of other behind the scenes jobs. Zeis shows up everyday and works tirelessly so that FELIZ is the kind of place you want to come back to.
While we´ve taken lots of trips together, the journey of starting a business has probably been the most challenging as well as fulfilling.
We wanted to create something special but also beautiful. We wanted to bring together what each of us loved most. Not a simple task but over the years we´ve managed to transform our tiny and not so tiny space into so much more.
FELIZ, though small in size, has grown into the beautiful and special place we dreamed of.
It's become a space that not only satisfies your senses but also a place that inspires. Not just you but us too. Your energy, comments and repeat visits, inspire us to be better for our community.
Because we´ve always known that it's about more than just coffee.
If you´ve read this far, thank you. We hope that one day we can meet or at least share a smile at either of our coffee shops. If you don´t live in Madrid or Madrid isn´t in your future plans, very soon you can have some FELIZ Coffee delivered to your door.
Connect with us by signing up below to our newsletter and joining the FELIZ Community. You´ll get the inside scoop on our dreams, aspirations, inspiration and more.
Please follow us on Instagram where you´ll see the day to day at FELIZ.
Our doors are always open.
Love, Danica & Zeis