Second year Highline student Trisha Mamaril has been able to expand her small business of strawberries known as Koko Berries through the social media platform of Instagram. With over 1,000 followers and a huge menu selection, Koko Berries offers tasty strawberries through boxes, letter boxes, and cups. 

Small businesses offer services, are independently owned, and are run by a small number of owners and employees. 

Koko Berries is a small family owned business where it was given to current business owner Trisha Mamaril by her older sister Korina Mamaril where the spark of business thinking began. 

“This business started in October of 2020, where my sister, Korina, had initially started it up. She made a chocolate covered strawberry letter box for her friend’s birthday and posted it on her social media. People then began to ask her if she sold the arrangements and she decided to take a leap in creating a business out of it! She was on a break from school since none of her prerequisite classes were being offered, leading her to have free time and space to be dedicated in operating the business,” Mamaril said. 

Older sister Korina Mamaril found confidence in Trisha Mamaril becoming the new owner and continuing the legacy of serving those who enjoy Koko Berries strawberries. 

“I decided to take over Koko Berries after my sister got accepted into UW School of Nursing. She knew that she would not be able to keep up with both the business and nursing school, as well as needing to move back to Seattle whereas the business is based at home in Federal Way,” she said.

“She knew that I was very creative, artistic, and even loved eating the extra chocolate covered strawberries left over from her orders and asked if I would like to keep the business running by becoming the new owner. I expressed that I did want to continue what she had begun. She worked very hard to get her business to the point it was at before she decided she had to drop down from operating it, and I wanted to keep serving those who might have wanted to continue ordering. I also wanted the experience, knowledge, and personal/social growth that came with being a business owner.”

Koko Berries is run through an Instagram account where customers can order by sending business owner Trisha Mamaril a message via DM, scheduling a pickup time and date, and sending a security deposit to secure their order. Customers may also send pictures of designs from online they may like for inspiration. 

“I run my business through Instagram @Koko.berries. Instagram has been its primary platform. Here, I post my availability schedule every month and keep it highlighted on my page. Customers can private message me and give me insight as to what they’re interested in purchasing, what date they’d like to order for and at what time they are looking to pick up,” said Mamaril.

“Usually they will send me inspiration photos from Pinterest, Tiktok, or my page and let me know what type of designs, themes or flavors they’d like!” she continued. “After this, I converse with my customers about the pricing quote and finalize their desires for their orders with them. To secure the placement of their orders, customers must place a 50% deposit through Zelle or Venmo in which they can pay off the other half when they pick their order up (but also have the choice to pay in full at this time as well.)”

Mamaril also added to how she conducts her business with her customers and said that because her orders are made from home that her pick-up location is within the Federal Way area.

“After this process, they are all set and I send out their confirmation message on the day before their pickup. Pickups occur in Federal Way since I am a home based business,” she said. 

Moreover, as a full-time student at Highline and full-time single business owner, her career goals don’t end there. Despite feeling happy with how her small business is currently going, she also said she is eager to thrive in what she’s currently going to school for, interior design. 

“My goal as a small business owner at the moment is just to keep my business running strong, help it grow, and continue to fulfill my customers that come to place orders! I am primarily a full time student as of right now, so I am just happy to take the orders that flow in,” she said. “My goal is to continue creating chocolate covered strawberries for Koko Berries for those who support my business until I get on the career path that I am currently pursuing for school, which is interior design.”

However, being a small business owner can also come with struggles along the way. Mamaril said she finds trouble with finding time for other things outside of her business and sometimes even finding materials for her orders.

“Certain obstacles I have faced while running this business include difficulty with balancing my schedule (needing to allot time for my business, personal life, and rest). Another obstacle, though easily resolvable, occurs when I need to purchase materials for orders and they are out of stock near me, leaving me to take trips further out into different cities to obtain what I need,” she said.  “I’ve also sometimes ordered materials online and gotten my order mixed up, leaving me to need to think quickly about what I can do to make the situation work (For example, I’ve ordered blue edible glitter once and they sent me a light purple instead).”

Marketing her small business has also been one of the obstacles Mamaril said she has encountered, but also said she finds that collaborating with other businesses helps. 

“I also have a little trouble with my marketing strategies and am still trying to learn what works best for me! I found out that promoting myself even through my own page helps me, as well as supporting other small businesses where in return, they also support me, whether it’s by motivational and encouraging messages, reposting each other’s work, trading services and promoting each other ourselves,” she said. 

Moreover, Mamaril said her biggest flex is the restless nights she spent in the last year to get customers orders in for the holidays. Not only was she restless, but she also said it shows her commitment to Koko Berries and satisfying her customers. 

“My biggest achievement so far was conquering Mother’s Day orders in 2022. I had a great influx of orders placed for this occasion, leaving me to go over 26+ hours without sleep, prepping and creating these orders for my customers. I was very thrilled to fulfill all of the placed orders on time, as well as grateful for the opportunity to share my creations with others to also then share, and learning [at] this moment how hard I’m able [to] push myself for my business,” she said.

Although the small business has thrived and grown over the years since it originally started, Mamaril said she plans to continue the business, but also wants to center her focus on her future career in becoming an interior designer. 

“Somedays I dream about Koko Berries becoming a store front, and being a true entrepreneur. However, my passion is really for interior decorating in terms of career. I can see my business continuing until I finally get to where I’m hoping to be with my interior design pursuit,” she said. 

For those interested in a taste of Koko Berries, business owner Trisha Mamaril highlights her biggest orders she’s received: themed strawberries.  

“The most popular orders I get are usually themed strawberries, or strawberries with homemade toppings on it! Themed strawberries are up to customers to decide — many request such themes like Hello Kitty, butterflies, football themed berries, graduation themed berries, spider-man themed berries, anime berries and everything in between,” Mamaril said.

“Strawberry shortcake topping over white chocolate dipped berries have always been a fan favorite, it’s perfect for those with sweet tooths who enjoy white chocolate, strawberry and vanilla flavors. Another popular topping people order for is the infamous Oreo berries. They are white chocolate dipped with finely crushed Oreos coated on top. And lastly, people have been loving milk chocolate strawberries with crushed peanut toppings! It tastes like delicious Mr. Goodbar. A bite of this berry provides the sweet and sour flavors from the strawberry itself, sweetness of milk chocolate and slight saltiness of the peanuts. It is personally one of my favorites!” said Mamaril.

“In one word, I would describe Koko Berries as: opportunity,” business owner Mamaril said. 

For more information on Koko Berries click here: Koko Berries Instagram or contact business owner Trisha Mamaril via email here: trishaxmamaril@students.highline.edu.