Mariam Armenyan, owner of coffee business The Brewing Bean, has recently partnered with the bakery. From left are Armenyan’s daughter, Noemi Armenyan, Mirella Maruza and Monique Torres. Photo by Ornella Rossi

RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - “It was meant to be.”

For Mirella Maruza and Monique Torres, the phrase describes more than one moment in the story of Mimo Bake Studio. It reflects a series of connections between two women, their Brazilian roots, their families and, eventually, the Rancho Cordova community they now serve.

Mimo Bake Studio, located at 3581 Mather Field Road, Suite A, was founded by Mirella Maruza and Monique Torres with the goal of sharing Brazilian food while creating the kind of welcoming environment they grew up experiencing in Brazil.

Even the bakery’s name carries pieces of that story.

“Mimo” combines the first two letters of Mirella and Monique. In Portuguese, the word also refers to affection, a thoughtful gesture or a small gift given with care.

Mimo’s menu reflects the founders’ Brazilian backgrounds and the countries diverse cuisine with foods including pão de queijo, coxinha, tapioca sandwiches and açaí bowls. Photo by Noemi Armenyan

The repeated “M” has continued to appear throughout the bakery’s journey, from Mirella and Monique to Mimo, and most recently Mariam Armenyan, owner of The Brewing Bean, whose coffee business has partnered with the bakery.

But long before the Rancho Cordova storefront or new partnerships, Mimo began with the connection between its two founders.

Maruza and Torres came from different professional backgrounds. Maruza had experience in marketing, while Torres had worked in civil engineering and shopping center management. Together, they combined those skills with a shared connection to Brazil and a desire to introduce the foods and traditions they knew to customers in Northern California.

Their differences eventually became part of how they describe their partnership, with Maruza serving as Mimo’s “heart” and Torres as its “brain.”

The business grew through farmers markets and pop-up events before reaching the point of opening a permanent storefront in Rancho Cordova.

The Brewing Bean, founded by Mariam Armenyan, recently began operating inside the bakery after Armenyan met Mirella Maruza and Monique Torres through Rancho Cordova’s MBARK small-business program. Photo by Noemi Armenyan

Mimo’s menu reflects the founders’ Brazilian backgrounds and the countries diverse cuisine with foods including pão de queijo, bolo de rolo, tapioca sandwiches and açaí bowls. But for Maruza and Torres, the experience they want to create extends beyond what is served on the plate.

Hospitality, Maruza said, is deeply connected to Brazilian culture.

She pointed to the expression “passar um cafezinho” — essentially, to make or offer someone a little coffee.

In Brazil, Maruza said, offering coffee communicates something larger: You are welcome in this home. Sit down. Stay for a while.

“This is what we want our customers to feel,” Maruza said.

Asked what she wants someone visiting Mimo for the first time to leave with, her answer was simple.

“Memories, experience and feeling special,” she said.

That focus on personal connection has become a defining part of the bakery.

Maruza said customers have formed relationships with the owners beyond simply purchasing food. Some return with their families. Others bring cards, gifts or messages for the women behind the counter.

Running the business can also mean sacrificing time elsewhere, she said, including time with their children and husbands.

There are difficult moments when the demands of operating Mimo can make them question the time and energy required.

Then, Maruza said, their customers remind them why they continue.

That idea of expanding family has also shaped Mimo’s newest partnership.

The Brewing Bean, founded by Mariam Armenyan, recently began operating inside the bakery after Armenyan met Maruza and Torres through Rancho Cordova’s MBARK small-business program.

Armenyan’s daughter, Noemi Armenyan, said the relationship quickly became more personal than a typical business arrangement.

“They’re like my second moms,” Noemi said of Maruza and Torres. “I feel like we’re all just like a big family.”

The collaboration brings another culture into the space as well.

Mimo reflects Maruza and Torres’ Brazilian heritage, while the Armenyan family brings its Armenian background. Noemi, who was born and raised in Rancho Cordova, said she knew little about Brazilian culture before beginning to work alongside the Mimo founders.

She soon began noticing similarities.

Both cultures, she said, place importance on welcoming people warmly, feeding them, talking with them and showing affection.

“The first thing we want to do is hug them and kiss them and say, ‘How are you?’” Noemi said.

Apart from the bakery, customers can browse the Mimo Market, where Mimo creations, authentic Brazilian products and local small businesses come together to bring a little more of Brazil to their homes. Photo by Ornella Rossi

That shared approach can now be seen inside the bakery. Mimo’s team prepares the food, The Brewing Bean prepares drinks and the businesses serve customers together.

For Noemi, the goal is not simply to hand someone a cup of coffee and move on.

“I don’t want to just serve a customer. I want to get to know them,” she said.

That sentiment mirrors what Maruza and Torres have worked to build through Mimo, a business where Brazilian food serves as an introduction, but relationships encourage people to return.

For the founders, the Rancho Cordova storefront represents another stage in a journey shaped repeatedly by unexpected connections.

Two women became business partners. Their names became Mimo. A bakery became a gathering place. Customers became familiar faces and familiar faces became what Maruza describes as an extended family.

And now another “M” has joined the story.

Through each change, the idea behind Mimo has remained much the same as the Portuguese word that inspired its name: something offered with affection.

Or, as Maruza described through the tradition of passing a cup of coffee, an invitation to come inside, sit down and feel at home.