It’s common for King University graduates to go out into the world after graduation and make a meaningful impact. When two alumni team up with a shared goal, they can take things to a whole new level. Case in point: Manuel Betancur and Stephanie Caffee.
Betancur, who graduated in 2004, and Caffee, a 2002 graduate, met at King University. She was his ESOL tutor, and he, from El Carmen de Viboral – a small town about an hour outside Medellín, Colombia – came to the university knowing very little English. Now, Betancur, with Caffee’s support, is gaining national recognition while fighting for the voiceless.
This past June, Betancur’s Charlotte, North Carolina-based business – Manolo’s Bakery – was named among the top 20 finalists in the United States for best bakery in USA Today’s 10Best Choice Awards. The only Latin bakery among the finalists, Manolo’s ultimately finished in an impressive second place in the contest.
It’s been quite a journey, especially considering that Betancur struggled with the English language when he first came to King.
“I was 24 when I decided to attend King,” he said. “At the time, I was in Miami attending a Christian church, and I started to get to know people there. I needed to learn English, and I wanted to go to college. A new friend there mentioned that she graduated from King and that her father was on the board of trustees, and that perhaps he could give me a scholarship.
“Mr. Griffin helped secure a scholarship for my first year at King. A year later, when my funding fell through and I was going to have to withdraw from my studies, Mrs. Eileen Boucher (ESOL Department Head) made it possible for me to finish my degree.”
Prior to coming to the U.S., Betancur served in the Colombian Navy for six years, which he says was the main reason he had to leave his homeland.
“Corruption was significant,” he said. “Those who couldn’t leave had no option but to keep fighting. I didn’t want to play a role in a corrupt war, and yet I longed to transform the complex environment. My first thought was to come to the United States, study political science, and return to Colombia to lead in the senate or as president. Sometimes I wonder if a season in politics could still be in my future.”
And then he ended up coming to King, where he met Caffee, who came to the university from Florence, S.C.
“By the time Manuel was my student, I had worked in the International Department for two years as an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) tutor,” said Caffee. “I remember my work-study supervisor (Dr. Karen Shaw) mentioning that Manuel would not be like many of the more traditional students that I had worked alongside. In fact, he had already completed university and had a decorated military career in Colombia.
“I honestly wondered if I was out of my league. However, meeting Manuel was like meeting an old friend or brother. He was instantly embraced and loved by his teachers and fellow international students (approximately 16% of the total student population at the time) and brought a lot of life to the department. As a student, Manuel was driven to get through the ESOL program quickly so that he could advance to his degree-path studies. His laid back and jovial manner balanced out many advanced grammar, composition, and news quiz assignments that I may have sent back more than once with red ink corrections.”
After graduation, Caffee and Betancur lost touch for nearly a decade. She lived overseas for a while, but when she returned to the U.S., she stopped by his bakery in Charlotte to see him, and he promptly sent her home with an armful of baked goodies.
Fast forward to May 2024. On a whim, Caffee says her family decided to attend the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in Charlotte.
“This is the first and only golf tournament that we have attended,” Caffee said. “However, I felt very strongly that I was supposed to be there, so I cancelled existing plans and went. Low and behold, as I turned the corner within the featured small business vendors, I saw Manuel and his pop-up shop. We immediately caught up and realized that we should work together in the future.”
Caffee, who graduated from King in May 2002 with a Bachelor of Science in nursing, now co-owns a boutique consulting firm with her husband that creatively combines their shared experience and passion for research, development, and strategy for corporate, small business, and non-profit sectors. Most of her efforts focus on strategy, project and fund development, and support for leaders.
“Throughout my time at King, I was torn between two paths: healthcare and writing,” she said. “I never knew that the two could converge. Grant development was the perfect, unexpected marriage of my two passions. As a result, I have the privilege of providing a voice for the marginalized and vulnerable, while supporting the invisible heroes of our nation. To date, I have secured over 200 million in grant awards for predominantly rural, underserved communities.”
And now she writes grants to support Betancur’s business efforts.
“The bulk of my experience has been developing large federal grants for federally qualified health centers and rural hospitals,” said Caffee. “So, when Manuel reached out to me in late 2024 with a small business grant application, I was more than happy to assist. Although this was my first small business application, it quickly struck me how I could help support his overall business operations through strategy, communications, and additional funding sources.
“Working alongside Manuel has been such a refreshing change of pace for me. One of the downsides of this profession is that you often write and win large sums of money for meaningful organizations and communities, but never personally see the impact. This work feels entirely different and personal.
$100,000 for a small business goes a lot farther than even $1,000,000 in a healthcare organization.
“Manuel is an incredible visionary and businessman, and it’s a complete privilege to grow and scale together. Just being in close proximity to him pushes me to challenge myself and reach beyond my comfort zone.”
Betancur, whose degree from King was in Modern Languages, says he became a baker by accident.
“One year after I graduated, I was given an opportunity to work in a bakery,” he said. “It was there that I first saw how bread played a starring role in nearly every culture, regardless of culture, ideology, and religion – this seemingly simple thing is a uniting force. Bread is also the only food that represents the circle of death and life.
“The grain must fall to the ground and surrender to the threshing floor to become the substance of flour, which, incorporated with the right ingredients, becomes the source of life, filling empty stomachs and at times, hearts. Working with bread, I am constantly reminded of the brevity of life and to make the most of every day I am given.”
The event that led to him opening a bakery occurred in 2008.
“That’s when I first encountered the power of something as simple as fresh bread,” Betancur said. “I met Mexican farmworkers who spent 16-plus-hour workdays delivering Christmas trees from the mountains. Handing out fresh, traditional bread from their home countries brought a little moment of happiness for them.
“It was then that I realized that something as simple as bread or cake could transform a moment. A few years ago, we gave a cake to an unhoused gentleman on the streets of Charlotte. Little did we know that he had planned to take his life that day. You never know what a little kindness and intentionality can mean for someone. Manolo’s Bakery is a brick-and-mortar extension of this philosophy.”
The bakery that became Manolo’s was established by its previous owners in 1997. Betancur started working at a well-known Latin bakery in 2005 and gained the chance to become a part owner in 2014. Three years later, he took full ownership and renamed the business Manolo’s Bakery, making it the oldest Latin bakery in the Charlotte metro area.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the biggest baking expo in the world – the International Baking Industry Exposition – was cancelled due to risk precautions. In lieu of the event, the organization created the U.S. Bread Hero award to celebrate the people behind the scenes – farmers, millers, and bakers. The committee heard of Betancur’s work during the pandemic – preparing 52,000 meals in coordination with local churches and the World Central Kitchen and delivering over 5,000 cakes so that no child was left without a birthday celebration – and named him a Bread Hero.
Then, a filmmaker heard about Betancur’s story and decided to make the documentary, “The Change Baker,” which premiered at Telluride. The film is now being shown at film festivals across the country, and this fall will make its Tennessee debut at King University.
“There was a time in my life that I did not want to be recognized because I cared what people thought and who they imagined me to be, a brother, a son, a father,” said Betancur, who also helped rebuild a bakery in Ukraine. “I finally realized that I could no longer hide, but I needed to share my vision and aspirations with the world. That is when everything changed. I really want to inspire people to pursue the burning passion in their hearts. You don’t have to be wealthy or famous to make a mark on the world. You can be from anywhere and do big things.
“It is a great honor to be recognized for my contributions, and yet I want to remain humble, not losing my connection to the poor and to what really happens in the world. I have a responsibility to be a good role model and example. I want to leave a living legacy today: what I am doing now matters for my kids and my community.”
Caffee says Manuel is the embodiment of the American Dream realized.
“His success as an immigrant business owner and leader is the manifestation of years of hard work, sweat, tears, and unrelenting determination,” she said. “As a result, he has paved a road for himself and countless others to find meaning, purpose, and value. Manuel’s business prowess is a huge success in and of itself, but the story really only begins there.
“He chooses to dig even deeper and channel his passion into the local community as a volunteer, non-profit leader, advocate, and change maker. His efforts continually gain local, regional, and national attention, and yet, he intentionally redirects the focus back on those he surrounds himself with- his family, staff, and community. It is an honor to be a small part of the story that he’s writing in the Charlotte Metro area and beyond.”
Regarding his goals for Manolo’s Bakery, Betancur says they are closely tied to his mission: Our Bread, Our People, Our Future.
“We intentionally use plural pronouns rather than the singular in our mission,” he said. “We are suffering as a society because we are not caring for the person beside us. We share the same water and air, the same society; we are a community. The goal is not merely business success or growth; it’s far more: we want Manolo’s Bakery to be a replicable model of a profitable business designed to inspire and sustain community transformation. The bakery is merely our launch pad for efforts.”
Being named the only Latin (Mexican-Colombian) bakery among the 20 finalists and ultimately finishing second in the USA Today poll was a very special moment for Betancur.
“I cried when I heard we won the No. 2 bakery in the country,” he said. “For many years, I had to go against tradition and follow my gut as I changed well-loved, traditional Latin bread and dessert recipes. You can imagine how some people responded to years of tweaking recipes and creating new ones! So, it means the world to me to see Manolo’s Bakery recognized on such a national level. I am inspired to keep trusting my gut and make the hard decisions, even when others may not initially agree.”
It’s been a while since Betancur graduated from King, but he says the university helped propel him into the business world.
“The English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Program at King gave me the English language,” he said. “How far could I have gone in life and business without this vital key that unlocks countless doors of opportunity?
“The King community brought a new sense of community, family, and connection to God that I didn’t have in my previous life in Colombia. Every season at King brought a new gift: a meal, a job, an opportunity. The human connection provided in a small college (600 students at the time) and town created a rich atmosphere of friendship and possibility, which continues to inspire me today.”
And it helped spark his desire to make a social impact on the world.
‘When I came to King, I essentially left everything and everyone I knew and loved,” Betancur said. “I was completely unknown in this new community in northeast Tennessee, and yet, I was continually met with compassion, understanding, provision, and opportunity.
“During my first Virginia/Tennessee winter, I did not have any winter clothes. A family from Fairfax, Virginia, embraced me as their own – put a warm coat on my back, boots on my feet, and fed me at their Thanksgiving table. They were the first to ignite a continuous outpouring of gifts, blessings, and love. I had never experienced anything like this in my home country.
“So, the whole time this was happening, all I could think about was that I had to give back somehow,” he continued. “When I receive love, I give love, and I receive something even greater in return.”