Kyle and Becca moved from Newport Beach to the Bay Area to attend college in 2011, Rebecca studied Design and Fine Art at the University of San Francisco while Kyle transferred from Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa to the University of California, Berkeley and studied Economics. Spending their coming of age years in the Bay Area left an imprint on them and thus the philosophy behind Daydream. Becca was directed towards a career in interior design and worked under interior designers while attending USF. She had a great eye and was also someone who was able to find alternative twists by going places many interior designers wouldn't like flea markets and vintage warehouses. But the clientele was something that would eventually get to her and she began to realize that working for the stereotypical ostentatious tech millionaire wasn't the way she wanted to spend her time. Before departing this career path, she worked for an event design firm that ended up being the nail in the coffin where millions of dollars were spent on parties that lasted a single evening. Kyle spent his early years as a competitive surfer and was well integrated in the surf industry from the age of 10. He surfed avidly and competed almost every weekend. His first job was when he was 15 and a half at Huntington Surf and Sport. He thrived in the surfboard room and sold three boards on his first day on the floor. Burnout hit pretty hard in his teens, he transitioned from riding high performance shortboards to "alternative" boards. First it was bonzers then single fins then finless and just about any other non-thruster he could get his hands on. When he fell in love with Becca in 2010 he got his first custom Liddle (shaped by Greg) that still hangs in the shop today as a symbol of a life shift. It was an easy decision to quit the ASP and Pro-Junior circuit in favor of a full time scholastic path although he was able to retain a couple sponsors that he surfed for through his college and first couple years of Daydream. Life at UC Berkeley was challenging. He spent all of his time studying and was infatuated with dreams of being an economist. He immediately picked up research assistant jobs and was even published for work in a Macroeconomic study. He had his sights on top grad schools but was unable to make the path for a PhD and decided to start interviewing for jobs instead. He was offered a job as an Investment Banker at J.P. Morgan in San Francisco. Working 9am till midnight daily took its toll quickly and that career ended within a year in favor of picking up shifts at Mollusk Surf Shop. In an interview with owner John McCambridge, Kyle told him about his dream to open up his own surf shop and how inspired he was by Mollusk. John promoted Kyle to working at their headquarters for two years before the two moved back to Southern California to start Daydream. Living and surfing in Northern California shifted their perspective on surfing from a "youth sport" to one of many recreations that nature enthusiasts partake in to harmonize with their environment. There are some people who have only experienced surfing as a municipally manufactured revenue generator. An example could be the experience one has pulling into the massive parking lot at the Huntington Beach Pier, surfing then shopping at the Pacific City mall after.

Kyle was raised by surf shops but it was time to change things up a little bit. Kyle and Becca had a bigger vision, that was to build community and connect nature enthusiasts, not just in Newport or California but globally. Daydream first opened with San Francisco based roaster Sightglass and was the only account south of LA at the time. This was Kyle and Becca's favorite coffee shop and roaster in San Francisco. Delicious espresso and adventurous, light bodied coffees grabbed people's attention. Good quality coffee is one thing but saving the world is another. Specialty coffee roasters are doing just that. Massive corporate shops will price gouge coffee farms and disregard quality while specialty coffee roasters support a market that pays a premium to these farmers, most of the time working directly with the farm and helping to make capital investments into a longstanding relationship. This is how an economic system is improved: a focus on a quality product, attention to detail, and a premium that's paid for this attention. Long story longer, Orange County was just behind the curve and needed the kids that had contact with people outside of the suburb to show them how good coffee could be. Kyle and Becca saw the changing of the tides and also wanted to create a space that was a communal hub and a hangout spot that they would genuinely not mind hanging out at all day. All your senses were treated, the sound of Becca's home record play crackled as warm music filled the air, you could smell the sweet aroma of Sightglass coffee, and an open floor plan filled with all sorts of nik naks from surfboards to vintage clothing, homegoods, and art books.  Coffee cuppings (aka tastings) were conducted as often as possible, at least weekly, and still are.

Continuing to pave a path of innovation, Daydream brought in Onyx from Arkansas, Sey from Brooklyn, Manhattan from the Netherlands, Proud Mary from Australia, DAK from Amsterdam, April from Copenhagen, The Barn from Berlin, and the list goes on. New experimental processing of coffee paralleled fine dining and it's infatuation with fermentation. Coffee processing was looking at techniques from winemaking and experimenting with carbonic, anaerobic, and extended fermentations. Daydream provides a diverse selection of coffees but these roasters that are experimenting with fermentation are leading the "future" of coffee at Daydream to this day.  The coffee philosophy is nonchalant. Daydream is like, "it's just coffee," but deep down they're hoping you're a coffee nerd so they can come out of their shell and geek out with you. Elitism in coffee is silly and just because Daydream was rated the 9th best coffee shop in the US by Food and Wine Magazine doesn't change their down to earth attitude. The last thing anyone wants is to go into a cafe and be met by a barista who thinks less of you because you don't know as much about coffee as they do. That is the furthest opposite of Daydream's mission - to build community - as you can be.  In 2022 Daydream was offered an incredible opportunity to move their shop across the street to a warehouse that was twice the size and with a landlord that was twice as cool. The cafe was able to evolve with this new opportunity and a small kitchen was built to round out the cafe with some breakfast and lunch items. Everyone at Daydream has an interest in the culinary world whether they enjoy cooking or exploring cool new restaurants and cafes, it's a part of the culture. The addition of a culinary menu is widely celebrated by the Daydream commonwealth.  Ok, one last cool thing about specialty coffee: if you want to treat yourself to the pinnacle of a culinary experience it's going to cost hundreds of dollars. However, if you want to treat yourself to the pinnacle of a specialty coffee experience you're spending under ten bucks. So you're able to get this glimpse into a fine dining experience and a very advanced culinary analysis applied to coffee but it's at a price point that is much more inclusive.