Feature Story – Pursuing Dreams

 

Pursuing DREAMS, Overcoming Obstacles

By Michelle Vasquez  |  Photography by Suzanne Pack

 

 

Dreams rarely come without obstacles, but resilience can turn challenges into stepping stones. Edna Bermea, Nora Sophia, and Leah Meyer each faced trials that might have held them back. Instead, they pressed forward, writing, creating, and building lives of purpose through perseverance and vision.

 

 

Edna Bermea

High-Quality Child Care for All

 

Edna Bermea didn’t set out to own a child care center. “My original dream was to become an architect,” she recalls. But as she worked to finish her degree, she noticed peers graduating with tens of thousands of dollars in debt and starting jobs at low pay. “I was like, Oh my God, I’m still working minimum wage while trying to balance school, work, and late nights of homework.”

 

A friend suggested she take a job at a child care center with flexible hours. “I was there for two years and I learned how to do everything,” Edna says. Those experiences, combined with conversations a few years later with her partner, planted the seed for starting their own business. “Why not open our own day care?” they thought. They didn’t have much, but “we did have a vision of passion, and there was such a need. Every day we worked hard, saved, and stayed focused.”

 

Finding the right location was the first challenge. They eventually toured a building on Roosevelt Avenue that, from the outside, was uninviting, but inside, something shifted. It already had some rooms perfect for their ambitions. The biggest obstacle was a commercial fire alarm system that they couldn’t afford. Edna’s architecture and interior design skills saved the day. “I measured everything, I drew the floor plan to scale, and submitted it to accommodate our needs and the limitations of the space. They approved it.”

 

A turning point came when Edna joined the Early Learning Shared Services Alliance, an organization under the umbrella of Pre-K 4 SA dedicated to developing high-quality child care centers and family care providers. Visiting other centers, she saw “beautiful classrooms” in higher-income areas and realized, “We didn’t just need to match what those other centers were doing, we needed to serve where the need was greatest.” Her mission became providing stability and quality for working families and single mothers on the South Side. The journey was personal: “My mom was a single mom, and I wanted to be able to provide quality child care for working families. It was really important to me.”

 

Sarah Baray, CEO of Pre-K 4 SA, describes Edna as a natural leader within the alliance: “Edna has always had these big dreams and was a leader from the very beginning.” Through the alliance, Edna discovered the difference between a good center and one where high-quality learning takes place. “The alliance taught her about what high-quality early learning is, how you staff your center, and the curriculum you use,” says Baray. The alliance also provided coaching, funding for curriculum and materials, and a sounding board as Edna pursued her dreams.

 

Edna’s forward thinking extended beyond child care. When she built her center, she added retail space to diversify revenue and sustain her mission. “She really made this dream a reality,” Baray adds, “and she built a beautiful facility to serve children and families.”

 

Today, Imagination Child Development Center serves 185 children, with a capacity for 259, and 90 percent come from subsidized families on San Antonio’s South Side. The center has earned first place for Best Childcare in San Antonio from the San Antonio Express-News two years in a row. To Baray, Edna’s story is about more than one center: “She’s doing this in a part of town that is really underserved, and she’s showing what’s possible when you want to serve the community in which you live. She’s a real inspiration.”

 

For Edna, the heart of the work is simple: “Children are the treasure. They are the most important part of life and the future.”

 

 

 

Nora Sophia

Learning to Breathe and Live Authentically

Nora Sophia describes herself first and foremost as a storyteller. “I am a storyteller. I am a writer and I love the art of story,” she says. That declaration is more than a career description; it’s the core of how she moves through the world. Her career has been defined by cultivating relationships and sharing her personal history to bring out the best in others. She has held leadership roles in San Antonio, including building community at the Centre Club and the Greater Chamber of Commerce. She also coaches individuals, guiding them to embrace their own potential and sharing her wisdom through writing.

 

Nora’s path has never been about smooth roads or easy victories. Her journey to her latest and third book began with a startling realization: she wasn’t living from “the fullness” of herself. “When you go through a lot of chaos and trauma, you feel like you have superpowers that have actually become a bit of a prison,” she reflects. For years, she wore her ability to navigate chaos as a badge of honor, only to realize it had become a barrier to asking for help. One Saturday, attempting a sit-to-stand fitness test in her bedroom, she fell and injured herself. Her husband was in the next room, but instead of calling to him, she searched online, typing: “What do people do when they fall?”

 

The moment was profound. “One of the trademarks of growing up with trauma is you learn to disassociate from pain because everybody’s so busy they’re not available to help you,” she explains. What struck her wasn’t the fall itself, but her instinctive reluctance to ask for help. “It wasn’t even about the fall; it was about the fact that I didn’t know how to ask for help.” The experience drove her to sit down the very next Monday and pour her reflections into a book entitled, “Learning to Breathe.”

 

Writing has always been how Nora processes the world. Diagnosed with high-functioning autism, she has learned to navigate life as an extrovert while drawing on her innate strengths: hyperfocus, rapid processing, and voracious reading. These gifts fuel her ability to connect deeply with people, build community, and create partnerships where both parties flourish.

 

Nora’s philosophy, “It’s not about you,” has become both her personal mantra and the title of her forthcoming business leadership book. “Once you reach a certain level in the professional world, it’s about surrounding yourself with other people around you that you cultivate to help them thrive, and that in turn helps you to become a better leader.”

 

For Nora, storytelling is not just about sharing words on a page; it’s about helping others see themselves anew. “See exactly where you want to go and begin taking steps toward that goal, celebrating those little steps along the way,” she advises. In every encounter, she hopes to help others “see the glimpse of greatness that exists within them.” Her resilience has made her not only a natural-born storyteller but also a living example of how authenticity and vulnerability can be sources of profound strength.

 

 

 

Leah Meyer

The Mermaid Café

 

Leah Meyer’s dream began with a love for baking and a little inspiration from the Food Network. “This is better than Rachael Ray,” she says with a grin, recalling how she would spend hours watching cooking shows and experimenting in the kitchen. “I love to bake a lot of things, but I have a special fondness for chocolate chip cookies,” she adds with pride.

 

When she’s not baking, Leah enjoys painting, creating art, participating on a cheer team, and playing baseball at the Miracle League. But the kitchen has always been her first love, a passion nurtured through occupational therapy sessions and time spent baking alongside her family. Her mother reflects, “She was so passionate about baking, we realized she needed and wanted to pursue it.” What began as a hobby grew into a vision that evolved into The Mermaid Café.

 

The café was born from Leah’s love of mermaids and Greek mythology, paired with her joy for The Little Mermaid. Together with designer Jenny Maples, Leah helped select the café’s colors and recipes, ensuring her voice and creativity were central to the project. But The Mermaid Café is much more than a place for coffee and cookies. It is a vision for inclusion.

 

The Mermaid Café is a disabilities-first café designed and founded by Leah and her family (parents Karen and Drew, and siblings). Its mission is simple: to employ individuals with disabilities in meaningful roles, from baristas to bakers. At just 24 years old and living with Down syndrome, Leah has taken her passion and turned it into a model of entrepreneurship, empowerment, and social change.

 

What makes Leah’s mission remarkable is not only the warm, welcoming atmosphere she has created, but the philosophy behind it. “Everybody can be accepted here,” Leah says. “This is a place that I just want you to be who you are, and everyone can be different in a special way.” She has created a space where people are free to express themselves, where voices are heard, and where diversity is celebrated. In doing so, Leah has positioned herself not just as an entrepreneur but as a visionary who challenges traditional barriers.

 

Starting the café was not without obstacles. From managing schedules to keeping a steady stream of customers, Leah and her family encountered challenges familiar to any small business owner. But her determination never wavered. Leah captures her dreams and ideas in a journal, turning them into plans. “She just goes for her vision,” her mother explains. “That’s just the nature of who she is, and as her parents, we are just along for the ride.”

 

For Leah, the Mermaid Café is more than a business—it’s a statement of purpose. It is proof that entrepreneurship can also be advocacy and a platform for inclusion. “Mermaid Café is a place where you can just be yourself,” she says, flashing a thumbs-up.

 

In creating the café, Leah has built more than a place for coffee; she has built a community and a vision for what is possible when dreams are pursued with courage and heart. Her story reminds us that true leadership is measured not in profits, but in the lives we uplift and the spaces we make for others to shine.