Episode 28
Breaking the Mold at 25: How Milena Built a Dream Café & Coffee Shop
In this episode, LuRae sits down with 25-year-old Milena Dujakovich, the powerhouse behind Laguna Beach’s Wild Strawberry Café.
Show notes
In this episode, LuRae sits down with 25-year-old Milena Dujakovich, the powerhouse behind Laguna Beach’s Wild Strawberry Café.
After graduating with a finance degree and working in a corporate role, Milena made the life-empowering decision to leave the illusion of a steady paycheck to pursue a more intentional and heart-centered life.
She shares how her early exposure to entrepreneurship shaped her values, why she believes in choosing discipline over ease, and the importance of rejecting societal expectations in favor of personal growth.
This episode is a must-listen for young professionals, aspiring entrepreneurs, and anyone craving a life of authenticity, passion, and purpose.
Chapters:
- 00:00:00 - Why Taking Care of Yourself Is the First Step to Success
- 00:00:32 - Meet Milena Dujakovich: The 25-Year-Old Who Swapped Spreadsheets for Lattes
- 00:01:15 - How Wild Strawberry Café Became More Than Just a Business
- 00:01:29 - Lessons Learned from Scrubbing Drains to Following her Dreams
- 00:03:22 - Hustle, Heart, and the Quest for Balance
- 00:03:59 - Ditching the Script: Saying No to What Society Expects
- 00:09:44 - The Moment Milena Said Goodbye to the 9-to-5
- 00:13:32 - Brewing More Than Coffee: Building a Café That Connects People
- 00:16:17 - Real Talk: What It Really Takes to Chase Your Dream
- 00:20:49 - Final Thoughts: Tune Out the Noise, Trust Your Gut
Links and Resources:
- Milena Dujakovich on Instagram
- Wild Strawberry Café
- LuRae Lumpkin on LinkedIn
- You Can Be Free Newsletter
- You Can Be Free on YouTube
Thanks so much for joining us this week. Want to subscribe to and then i did this? Have some feedback you’d like to share? Connect with us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube to leave us a review!
Full transcript
[00:00:00] Les McDaniel: Raising the Peace Index to closer to a hundred percent for, well, for everyone I come into contact with, it is the idea of the Sherpa that giant uses when they are talking about climbing, Mount Everest. I mean, these are leaders who are truly acclimated to the extensive heights of Mount Everest, which is upwards of almost 30,000 feet.
[00:00:22] Les McDaniel: And, these are people, who don't even think to themselves about making it to the top, but they are constantly thinking about those that they are leading and guiding to the top. They have this immense ability to be the best climbers, the best and most acclimated to the environment to understand the route, the best.
[00:00:40] Les McDaniel: They have to be the absolute expert across the field, of each of the camps of each of, the next layer of getting to the top of this mountain. They go ahead to check the path to make sure it is all okay. They come back down the mountain, and they grab others, and they make sure that everybody knows their roles and, they lean into the strengths of all of these folks.
About And Then I Did This
And Then I Did This shares the unfiltered stories of people who reinvented their lives in the middle of them. Host LuRae Lumpkin sits down with guests who changed careers, started over, or finally did the thing — and walks through the moment everything pivoted. Proof that your next chapter doesn't care how old you are.