For Victoria Magaña, our co-founder, Misma Lani is more than a name.
It’s a tribute to her father, Andrés. It’s a memory of the land. It’s a story of two worlds—Mexico and Hawaiʻi—connected by love, loss, and a shared dream that refused to die.
This is the heart behind the name.
🌙 A dream under the same moon
Victoria was raised on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi, surrounded by coffee trees, red dirt, and the rhythm of agricultural life. Her father, Andrés Magaña, had arrived from Michoacán, Mexico in the 1990s and eventually became the farm manager for a plantation in South Kona. He worked hard, quietly, with pride in his hands.
But when the company changed ownership, he was let go for failing to provide documentation of legal status. What could have been the end of his story became the beginning of something greater.
Unemployed, he set out to rebuild a shuttered coffee mill—by hand, from the ground up.
Through long hours and limited resources, he and his team revived the long-abandoned mill—quietly building it into a working operation once more. What drove him wasn’t just coffee, but a dream: that the hands who harvest could also craft. That fieldworkers could be makers. It was conviction, through and through.
Then, in 2017, everything changed.
After years of building a life and legacy on the Big Island, Andrés was deported—forced to leave his home and return to Michoacán. He left behind his farm, his dream, and his family.
🤎 The weight of inheritance
Victoria didn’t choose coffee. In her words, she never imagined she’d end up working in agriculture.
She had different dreams—of education, of success, of building something new.
But after her father’s deportation, she found herself running the business he left behind.
Not because she had to. Because she couldn’t let his work disappear.
Still, for years, she moved through it in pain. She ran the farm with a broken heart, avoiding the truth of what had happened. The fields reminded her of everything her family had lost.
Until one day, something shifted. She realized she couldn’t keep living in limbo. Three years in, it finally hit her—her father wasn’t coming back anytime soon. This was her reality now, and to move forward, she had to claim it.
✨ The Name Misma Lani
Misma Lani means “same heaven.”
It’s a phrase that holds so much of what Victoria’s family has lived through: distance, yet connection.
Loss, yet legacy.
Two cultures, two lands, two lives—sharing one sky.
The name reminded Victoria of the movie Bajo la Misma Luna (“Under the Same Moon”), which tells a similar immigrant story. In the film, a mother tells her son that whenever he misses her, all he has to do is look at the moon—because she’s looking at it too. In that moment, no matter how far apart, they are connected by the same sky.
The name Misma Lani was chosen to honor those families separated by borders.
It’s for the Latino community whose labor is everywhere but whose names are often invisible.
It’s for those who live between worlds but find ways to belong.
Misma Lani is a statement: that we are still here. That we still dream. That we remain connected, even across oceans.
🌿 A story told through coffee
Today, Victoria leads Misma Lani Farms with clarity, strength, and heart.
She’s reclaiming the narrative—not just for her family, but for the many who’ve been left out of the story.
At Misma Lani, we grow our own beans. We process them on our farm. We partner with local women roasters who carry our values forward. And every cup we share is part of this journey—from the sun-drenched fields of Mexico to the volcanic slopes of Kona.
When you drink our coffee, you are tasting resilience.
You are honoring a father’s love, a daughter’s voice, and a legacy that spans generations.
☕️ Thank you for being part of our story
Your support allows us to continue a dream that began long ago.
Together, we’re building something rooted in culture, powered by family, and driven by purpose.
