I'm George Worrell.

For mor than 30 years, I've been sharing stories that connect people, community, and culture.

Join m as we explore neighborhoods and discover the local businesses, people, and places that help them thrive.

Celebrating local culture, strengthening communities, and connecting people across ever neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

This episode of Neighborhood Favorites is proudly sponsored by Humanities DC.

[music] Welcome to season three of Neighborhood Favorites.

I am your host George Worrell.

This season we are hitting the road to discover the businesses that make our communities unique.

This time around I'll be exploring th connections between Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and my hometown of Atlantic Cit through food, entrepreneurship, culture, faith, education, history and family.

Today we'll be touching base in the Mount Pleasant area as well as Adams Morgan right her in Washington, D.C., as we check out La Doña and Fleet Feet.

Come along and join us.

[music] ¡Hola!

¿Cómo estás?

How are you?

I'm good, it's good to see you.

Oh my God, it's been a long time.

- I'm good, thank you.

Listen, it's morning, and I want some coffee.

What's going on?

- I'm gonna have a latte.

- A latte?

- Yeah, I think I want something.

You tell me.

I want something good.

I heard that this place is amazing.

I am s proud of you for starting this.

I know when we spoke last, you were talking about how this was a dream of yours.

- Yeah.

So what was the thought?

What was the thought process?

Why did you think about La Doña?

Why did you think about a café?

And the many things and the many talents that you have, how did you center on saying, "I want to open a café"?

- I am a tax preparer, and I have been preparing taxes since 1994.

- Okay.

Next door.

- Okay.

So I have over 2,500 clients.

So I say, maybe if I have, like, a little spot, you know, where they can have coffee and wait, you know, when they're waiting, they can be enjoying their coffee, their coffee, and a little something to eat.

And I see your beautiful daughter, Gisella, is here.

Gisella, how does this play for you, seeing your mother, you know, coming from El Salvador, and knowing her journey, and saying, hey, you know, not just preparing taxes, but I want more, and creating a family business.

How do you feel about that?

- Well, one thing is like she mentioned, she's been preparing taxes here forever, but my mom, for the people of Mount Pleasant, was much more than that.

She was the person that you could go to and be like, "Hey, Miriam, I'm having trouble with my landlord."

"Hey, Miriam, I need help with this."

"Hey, Miriam, I need help with that."

And even if she wasn't entirely sure on how to do it, she'd be like, "All right, let's go."

"Let's go figure it out."

- Let's figure it out.

And have our—oh, I see our coffees are ready.

So let's try those.

You know, the best part of doing these shows is eating.

So let's see what you have for us today.

I'm excited about it.

Oh my God, this looks great.

- Wow, we have the French toast.

- French toast?

- Okay, now this looks good, wonderful.

So this all looks good, the things that we have here.

So I'm gonna be tasting, would you mind telling me what I'm gonna be eating?

What is, I know these are plantains.

- This is the plato típico.

This is, like, the Salvadorian breakfast.

- Okay.

- So plantain, eggs, and you can have them scrambled or over easy, I believe those are over easy.

- Like she said, I grew up eating this, and it was— I remember I would wake up so early in the mornings and she would have this ready for me.

Scrambled eggs, plantains, beans, cheese, and crema.

No avocado, because I'm allergic.

And then I would just eat it with my hands and we would keep it pushing.

- It looks so bright and colorful.

What do I have here?

- So this is actually the breakfast quesadilla which sounds a little-- - Am I eating it right?

Am I supposed to eat it with a knife and fork?

- You're just being classy.

- Am I supposed to pick it up?

- You gotta tell me - You're supposed to pick it up with your hand.

- Okay.

But honestly, sometime my mom, because I wasn't a big sweet-breakfast person, she would just make me whatever.

And then I remember one time, I was like, "Can you just make me, like, a breakfast sandwich, but in a quesadilla?"

And she was like, "Okay."

And that's kind of how that was born.

- What's in here?

- So she kind of made it the way that I usually eat it.

So it's eggs, mushrooms, spinach, and tomatoes.

- This is wonderful.

And then you can dip it in the sauce.

Talk amongst yourselves.

- And a little hot sauce.

- Yes, yes.

And what is— What is this?

Is this guacamole?

- Correct.

- Yes.

- Okay.

- And what do you do?

- My brother's favorite.

Okay.

- My brother would dip it, actually.

- Oh yeah.

- Okay.

- You're classier.

- No, I want to know the correct way to do it.

- Most of your dishes, you're just eating with your hands.

- Mm.

I like that.

Oh, and I see that you have an all-time favorite, which is the French toast.

- Yes.

- Yes.

- That's actually my little brother's favorite.

- Is it?

- Yes.

- So you decided, with the menu, some of your kids' favorites?

- Correct.

And it's the same thing with the cocktails and the—or the drink, the soft drink.

- Mm.

- Yes.

- Okay.

- But this is one of my kids, which is Rafael.

That's his favorite.

- Wow.

- Mm.

- My mom, growing up, used to always tell us, she's like, "You know, you guys are my life.

My kids are my life.

I would do anything for you guys."

And I feel like it really translated even in the menu.

'Cause I remember when she first showed me the menu, I'm like, wait, this is what I eat.

And, like, this is what Jesús eats, which is Rafael.

That's what I call him.

- Okay.

- And then Antonio's favorite food.

And I don't know, it's just, even in doing this thing for herself, how she, like, sprinkled her kids in there, too, to show— because her motivation is, like she likes to say.

- Yeah.

So also too, what I find is a sense of community.

And one of the things why I like speaking and talking to people is the business, why you do the business in a sense of community.

Explain the sense of community that you feel building here in Mount Pleasant.

And most of the people that are in Mount Pleasant have been here for generations.

They've been here—like, we're about to go to Fleet Feet, and it's changed hands through family.

Is that how you feel that yo chose to stay in Mount Pleasant because of the community and sense of family?

- Yes.

You know, like I say earlier, my kids walk the streets, you know, every day.

They were raised here.

So I know pretty much, you kno— - You felt safe?

And, you know going back home, going back and forth, did you feel that you could go home, you could come back, and you just felt the same way as you did at home?

Like, from outside of that, right?

How was it for you?

- Growing up here, you know, most kids have, like, a house and a backyard, but, like, this street was my backyard.

Like, I used to ask my mom for money to go get, like, an ice cream from El Progreso, which is, like, a market up the street.

And she would give it to me, and I woul run with my brothers.

And, like, people would tell her, "Oh, we saw your kids, you know going down the street, but don't worry, we kept an eye on them.

And, you know, I always felt so cool because I was like, "Yeah, my mom is La Doña of Mount Pleasant, right?"

A lot of people have been down this street, and it still feels like home.

- Wow.

Yeah, that's—is that how you came up with the name?

- Yeah, it was actually them, because, you know, everybody— you know, like I say, in my tax business, they call me Doña Miriam.

- Doña Miriam.

So what does that mean?

What is La Doña?

Doña Miriam?

What does that mean?

- Like Miss Miriam.

Yeah.

And then I remember Antonio saying, "Why are you struggling with the name?

You already have a name."

Yeah.

And that's what— - His contact for you—Antonio's the youngest, he's my little brother—is literally "La Doña," because that's what he calls her, because he heard everyone else calling her that.

And he just— - So that's all he's ever called her?

- Yeah.

He's like, "Doña!"

And he'd be like, "Where's Doña?"

And I'm like, "Mom's upstairs."

[laughing] - What would you tell our listeners, somebody listening, thinking about a business or thinking about opening something.

You are a dreamer.

I'm a dreamer.

You're a dreamer.

What would you suggest, or what would you say?

What piece of advice would you give someone to say, "Hey, you know what?

I think I may want to open a café, or I'm going into the cleaning business, or whatever?"

- I would say, you know, alway follow your dream, because I had quite a few people tell me, "Oh, that's not the right spot.

Why would you want to do that on the corner?"

And always follow your vision.

I was like, "I know that little corner would make a difference in Mount Pleasant."

And, you know, my advice would be, again, follow your dreams.

- And we love that, yeah.

And that's why we're here, because of your dream.

- Yes.

- And you're happy about it, to be a part of it?

- Yes.

- Mm-hmm.

- I'm so proud of you.

- We're so proud of you.

- Thank you, thank you, thank you.

- Well, you know, one of the reasons I think that you started, you know, or decided to have the café here is that you felt there was a need, which is a good business practice.

Like there was a need for something like this.

- Yes, because I had seen other businesses closing, you know, since the pandemic, there have been several businesses that have closed in Mount Pleasant.

And so, yes, you know, I say, this is the time.

even though like 15 years ago it was my dream, but that's why, you know, we shouldn't let fear stop us from accomplishing our dreams.

So I find the right time to do it, and here we are.

- Here we are.

Well, that's good.

I mean, I think sometimes fear can be a motivator.

It can be a hindrance.

I know for me, fear is a pusher.

And we're so glad that you're here and serving us this wonderful food, this wonderful cuisine, and continuing the legacy that, you know, when you're not doing it, or maybe traveling back and forth, or in El Salvador, or wherever you are, would you—is it something that you think you would want to come on and just, like, do full-time and take it to the next generation?

- Honestly, full-time?

No, but I would rather eat rocks than see my mom's dream go away.

And so that means that I'm gonna have to come back here and show these new baristas how it's done and make the cappuccinos myself.

I can do it, you know?

'Cause she worked so hard to do this.

And you know, this one little piece of, like, Mount Pleasant is hers.

And it's just her heart and soul in it.

And so I would be honored.

And it's almost like part of my calling to just come back and like keep it going.

- Well, I have enjoyed my time here.

Thank you for inviting me for this wonderful food and fellowship, and learning more about your dream and your journey.

I salute you.

- Salud.

- Salud.

Ah, thank you.

[soft music] Here we go.

Thank you, ladies.

- Thank you.

- La Doña Café is more than a place to grab a cup of coffee.

It's a place where community happens every day.

Now we're on to our next place, Fleet Feet.

Come on, let's go.

Here we are in Adams Morgan visiting the famous Fleet Feet, a business that's helping people put their best foot forward.

Come on, let's go in.

[upbeat music] Hey, Shawn.

- George.

- Oh my goodness.

I was just walking by and I saw that you were celebrating your 40-year anniversary.

- Yes, yes, yes.

- Oh my God, and you're only 20.

[laughing] Is he still here?

- No.

[laughing] - Oh my God.

- He's retired now.

- You're kidding.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- Oh my goodness, it's been a while.

- It has, it has.

- Yeah, but you know what?

You're doing really good things here in Adams Morgan.

And you know, I've always, as long as I've known you and your family, I always just thought this was the place just for runners.

You know, the only time I run is when a dog's chasing me.

So I thought, you know, the 40t year that you would just kind of give me, give me the story, Shawn.

Tell me, you know, what has inspired you?

What made you decide, hey, yo know, my mom and dad, you know, my dad is taking over, and I' deciding that I want to do this with my lovely wife, Kimmy.

Well, you know, fitness has been our lifestyle and our family, you know, going back as far as I can remember.

And so we brought that passion to this community, wanting to serve the community and help everyone here meet their fitness goals whether it's walking or running or going to the gym or we have people that are in care facilities, their goal is to walk down to the elevator and back, or we have people who go out and run 100-mile runs.

And so we serve that entire spectrum of people.

And we've been here in Adams Morgan since 1984.

And as you know, we're second generation, Kimberly and I, following up on the great tradition that my parents, Phil and Jan, started in 1984.

My father was like a marathon runner and ultra-distance runner and Ironman triathlete.

I raced bicycles for many years myself and did run races and all that sort of thing.

And so, you know, we really believe in a fitness, active lifestyle as it impacts on people's health.

And so that's the passion that we bring to this community, serving this community for 42 years.

Good business is building family, building relationships with people.

How do you build that?

You know, because you, did you inherit that?

Meaning the clientele, did you have to keep building it?

How is that for you and your family doing that every day?

- Well, so, like, the people are sort of the cornerstone of it all, whether it's our staff, our wonderful staff, or all the people that we have served over the years.

It's retail, so nobody's getting rich here, you know what I mean?

And so the people that we attract on staff, they have a passion for service.

And so they really enjoy helping other people reach their goals.

And those are the people that we look for and we've been really blessed to attract.

Was there a map or anything?

We've gone through COVID, we've gone through economic challenges, there are viewers out there to say, hey, we've heard about Fleet Feet forever and they're thinking about, maybe I could open a business.

It's not all great.

What would be some of the challenges that you think that people should think about when they are going into a business or just operating?

- Well, I think that you wanna kind of stay flexible in terms of your structural design.

So you wanna keep your overhead costs low and so that you can respond flexibly to changes, unforeseen changes in the market.

When COVID hit, we were like, "Okay, this will be our first pandemic.

How are we gonna get through this?"

You know what I mean?

And so like, we have a patio out front and so we set up a tent and we were like doing fittings outside.

We were having people email us pictures of their feet.

You know what I mean?

- Oh, okay, you can ship.

- Yep.

We could still do sort of a semi-custom fitting, which is what our forte is.

You know, but we would do it, you know, with the pictures, we'd direct them how to take certain pictures of thei feet, and then we would be able to kind of guide them toward the right shoe tha way.

And so like it's, you know, when you're a small business, you know, you have to take advantage of what your strengths are, which is, like, that ability to react to market forces, you know, in a very fluid way.

- I love it.

Can you just show me a little bit about back here?

Because I've only just stopped here in all the years.

- Sure, sure.

- And I see that you have running gear and those kinds of things here.

- Yep.

So we have, you know, apparel back here and accessories.

We do socks and glasses and, you know, nutrition.

You know, we have pretty much everything the active athlete would need.

- Okay.

- Yep, and we also have—we do men's and women's.

- What is this wall up here?

I see Fleet Feet Adams Morgan.

Do I know these two people here?

- Yeah, yeah, so those are our founders.

Those are my parents, Jan and Phil Fenty.

They're crossing the finish line at the first Washington, D.C.

Marathon.

- Oh, really?

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Wow.

Mom's crossing the finish line with a broken foot right there.

- You're kidding.

- Yeah.

So that was before the store opened.

She wasn't getting the right shoes.

- Okay.

Now, now everything's set.

That was the inspiration.

And so, you know, we're gonna try something.

I wanna try some shoes.

I love that you're saying that it's not just for runners.

It's for people like my parents who are in their 80s.

They can come, and they're walkers.

But just every day, like having that foot comfort, - Is that so?

Is that what we should be thinking?

- 100%.

So like, you know, when the store opened, the culture often in running shops was sort of like, you'd have these like pro runners kind of staff in the store.

And if you weren't like some kind of hotshot runner, you know, they weren't really interested in serving you.

And so we really wanted to kind of provide the kind of family environment where like anyone who comes in is respected and well served for their needs.

You know what I mean?

So our approach is we look at your feet, we talk to you about your goals, we talk to you about where you've been, where you wanna go, we look at what's going on, and we make our recommendations based on those conversations.

- And you say that's more of a personal touch?

- Absolutely.

- Does that keep people coming back?

- 100%.

- Yeah, because you're focused in on their needs, and people wanna, you're educating them.

- That's right.

- When you're educating people, they're like, oh, okay, and it makes sense, it resonates.

- That's right, and it's fit to what they want, you know what I mean?

If somebody comes in and they're like, hey, I just want my shoe, you know what I mean?

I don't need to know all that.

Just get me the right thing.

And I'm outta here because it's, like, D.C.— it's a busy place.

People are multitasking while they're doing their thing.

We can do that too.

But if people are interested in it all— - It's amazing.

- Yeah, we can do that too.

- I love it.

So can I try something?

Can you make some suggestions?

- 100%, let's do it.

Yeah, yeah.

Okay, stand up for me.

And then hold your feet in the position that mine are in—just slightly.

- Yeah, exactly.

And so what we're looking at here is the shape of your feet and the alignment of your skeleton, kind of what people commonly refer to as their posture, right?

- Okay.

- And so when I say posture, people straighten their back 'cause like their mama said, "Straighten your back, you got bad posture."

But people don't consider the posture of the weight-bearing skeleton kind of from their hips down.

And that is what we're primarily focused on here.

Because some of these shoes can kind of help improve posture if that's necessary for optimal health of your feet.

And so in your case, you have what we call a little bit of a flexible posture.

So like you have a little bit of inward rotation.

- Flat?

- Yeah, a little bit of a flat foot.

- Okay.

- What I would do, let's just say— - Okay.

- And you'll hold that position for me.

And then we'll do that.

And you kind of hold that position for me.

- Perfect.

And so, like, that is how your feet should kind of be positioned underneath you.

- I feel different.

- You feel different, right?

And so you kind of straighten your back and hold your chin neutral.

I want you to sort of take a mental snapshot of how that feels.

- Okay.

- And then I want you to relax and kind of go back to what it was before, and you kind of see, you know what I mean?

- It's almost like you're falling.

- Exactly.

And so, like, if no one is saying "posture" and we're not thinking about it, you know, you're kind of slumping.

- Stand up straight.

- Yeah, yeah, exactly.

And so now next time somebody says posture, you can also hold your legs straight, okay?

Yeah, yeah.

And then certain shoes will be designed to kind of provide additional structural support in here to kind of hold your feet in that position so when you're not thinking about it or when you're tired, the shoe will kind of account for that for you.

- This is really good because even as a kid, like you would go into the shoe store, all they would do was measure your foot.

- Oh yeah.

- That's it.

- With that old metal thing.

- That's it.

- The Brannock Device.

- Yeah, that's what it's called?

- That's what it's called.

[laughing] - Yeah, so make yourself comfortable and I'll grab something for you to try on.

- Oh great, yeah.

- All right.

- Wow.

- Okay.

- Look how you flip that.

- Oh yeah.

- Is that years in the business?

- That's right, that's right.

It's kind of like Tom Cruise in that bartender movie.

- Wow.

- Yeah.

Okay, so my hands kinda tell me a lot about what's going on.

- Okay.

Do you save room at the top?

- Yeah, so typically, you know, we're fitting people with a size up to one full size bigger than what they would typically wear in their shoes.

- Really?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- Why?

- Typically, with the socks, you know, people tend to think of their shoe sizes like what they would wear in a dress shoe.

They often don't wear these thicker socks in the shoes and that sort of thing.

And so, like, the sizing on running shoes, walking shoes, can be a little bit different.

And then even people tend to intuitively go with shoes that are a little bit on the tight side.

We tend to wanna leave a thumb space between the end of the longest toe and the end of the shoe.

These are probably maybe a half size bigger than they need to be.

- Okay.

- We'll probably try half a size down.

- Okay.

- But these have that extra structural support that I referenced under the arch.

I don't know if you feel that.

- No, they feel like I'm on a comfortable spring.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, very good.

- Yeah, so people can come in and you fit them, you give them all of this information and it's a life.

So this is what I'm calling a lifestyle.

Like having all of these things or it should be part of your lifestyle.

- Absolutely.

- Comfort.

- Well, you know what I mean?

Like your shoes are actually like fitness equipment, right?

And so like people are sort of socialized a lot of times to kind of choose their shoes.

They go to the wall and they sort of look at which ones they think are cute, but they may not like match the shape of their feet.

The cute ones that they think of as cute may not serve their functional need.

And so like, our job in here is to kind of help them bridge that gap, you know what I mean?

We want them to be happy with what they buy and they want to be able to wear it happily and be inspired to do their activities by their shoes.

But we also want to make sure that the shoes are functioning correctly for them so that their body can feel good and they can make this a part of their lifestyle.

- This has been amazing.

Is there anything you want to leave with our audience in reference to business, family owned, going forward, all the things, you know, being a dreamer, what would you like to leave with our audience today?

Well, I would say that, you know, I mean, in our family community service has really been, you know, the thing that drives us and that, you know, that is really what I would like to believe in.

- Family, love.

- Yeah.

- And legacy.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, I love it.

I love it, my friend.

And then I hope the next time that I come back, my friends, Jan and Phil, are here and you guys are on vacation.

[laughing] Thank you so much, my friend.

- All right, George.

All right, George.

Thank you so much for coming by.

- Thank you for joining us today.

As we visited La Doña Café and Fleet Feet, two businesses making a difference through service, passion, and connection.

Join us next time when we continue to explore Mount Pleasant and Shaw neighborhoods.

We'll check out Stoddard Baptist Nursing Home and Urban Garden Brewhouse.

I'm your host, George Worrell, and we'll see you next time on Neighborhood Favorites.

[upbeat music] [upbeat music]