La La Land Kind Cafe wants to teach everyone to be kind

Much like Harry Styles sings about in his song "Treat People With Kindness," restaurant operator Francois Reihani wants everyone to be treated with kindness. That’s the mission behind his Dallas-based café chain, La La Land Kind Cafe, which specifically hires youth who have aged out of the foster care system.

Reihani was saddened by foster kids’ lack of preparedness for the jobs market in America, and employers’ lack of ways to hire them — so he decided to create opportunities for both. His non-profit, We are One, has long worked with kids who aged out of foster care find jobs.

La La Land Kind Cafe makes a point to treat people — from store-level employees to customers — with kindness, something many foster youth are lacking in their upbringing. Reihani has found that the mission has resonated with customers and employees alike – so much so that one of the company’s kindness videos on TikTok went viral with 24 million views. 

Videos posted to the three-unit restaurant’s account now regularly receive almost one million views, all because people want some random kindness in the world.

Watch Reihani discuss his strategy for treating employees and customers with kindness –­ a strategy he’s teaching to big brands like Taco Bell and Walmart now – and what he has planned