Juggling 8 to 12 meetings on an average day, Alhambra Chamber CEO John Bwarie gives us a glimpse of his schedule and how he gets so much done in a day.
6 AM: Alarm buzzes and the (hectic!) morning routine starts at home.
Breakfast – This morning John Bwarie cooked up bagels and eggs (not anything fancy like waffles and bacon because it takes too long), managed tooth brushing and braids (for his two daughters), got lunches into backpacks, did school drop off, and then checked in with staff on the way to the office. “I don’t drink coffee so this routine doubles as my adrenaline rush (can’t be late to school no matter how bad the traffic is),” John says.
8 AM: First meeting of the day — Alhambra Chamber’s Executive Committee Meeting.
As CEO of the Alhambra Chamber, John leads its executive committee. Today, this committee is tackling key issues regarding the Chamber’s partnership with the City to support small businesses. Also on the agenda is the Chamber’s upcoming visit to Taiwan and Japan to attract new businesses to the city. Typically, at the monthly board meetings and executive committee meetings, members vote on policy positions and discuss how the Chamber can better support business success. To prepare them, Chamber staff researches key policies, updates reports on member programs, and creates committee meeting agendas so the volunteer boards can stay on mission. John noted, “My job in the meeting is facilitating the discussions, weighing in on strategy options, and ensuring that all questions are answered on-the-spot or set aside for more comment or deliberation. The hour goes by fast!”
9 AM: City Council Annual Strategic Planning Session
From the Chamber office, John walked across the street to the library community room, where the City Council was holding its annual strategic planning session. John provided public testimony on behalf of the Chamber. “In today’s session, I presented five recommendations based on municipal best practices, with the goal of making Alhambra the most business-friendly city in the San Gabriel Valley. Economic development is a balance between supporting the legacy businesses that make our community unique and attracting innovative new enterprises that keep Alhambra vibrant,” John said.
Noon: Economic Development and Land Use Committee Preparation
The next meeting of the day focused John and the Chamber staff on big-picture economic development. The team made plans for the Chamber’s monthly Economic Development and Land Use Committee meeting where the goal is identifying opportunities that will grow the local economy. Regularly joined by real estate brokers, developers, City staff, and community-oriented business owners, John provides insights to the committee on processes, programming, and economic best practices and policies that make it easy and attractive for businesses to open here in Alhambra. “I focus on creating reliable and predictable processes that a business owner can count on when seeking to open and operate their business in Alhambra,” John explained. “It’s what matters most: understanding the real time it takes to open a business.”
1 PM: Dumplings!
John’s mission is to eat at every restaurant in Alhambra. Today, he stopped into Auntie Qiu Kitchen on Main Street and got an assortment of dumplings and other delicious dishes to share with staff back at the office. “Among the best parts of serving the Alhambra Chamber is eating in Alhambra, with more than 200 restaurants and cuisines from around the world, you really can’t go wrong,” John reminds us, noting that AlhambraEats.com, a project of the Alhambra Chamber, was launched to promote these amazing restaurants (and tips on what to order at each!).
2 PM: Los Angeles Regional Shop Local Campaign Meeting
As a regional leader on small business support and disaster resilience, John also leads the small business support coordination efforts in response to the 2025 Eaton and Palisades Fires. Today, he was invited to a meeting with the County and City of Los Angeles, City of Santa Monica, and City of Pasadena and their respective tourism associations. “Developing a successful shop local/dine local program to jumpstart a sustained recovery requires a focused time frame, an incentive to attract customers, and a compelling hook that promotes viral sharing on social media,” John shared. “Through this collaboration, we’re putting the spotlight on small businesses and harnessing our network’s capacity to support them.”
3 PM: City Government 101
Leveraging his government experience, this afternoon John presented a primer on local government: how it works, who the players are, and how to get things done most efficiently in Alhambra, Los Angeles, and across the County. He focused on building relationships with elected and appointed officials, and provided insights on how to support a strong community by creating great partnerships with local government. “Truly understanding the structure of local government in Los Angeles is the foundation to appropriately advocating for and advancing critical community initiatives,” John said. “Trainings like this one today help unlock the complexity of municipalities, which can be the most powerful government entities in civic life.”
4 PM: Alhambra Chamber’s International Business Affairs Committee
Next up on his calendar: a meeting where John focused on increasing economic activity beyond the local borders. The volunteer International Business Affairs is planning a trip to Alhambra’s sister city Kirishima in the Kagoshima Prefecture of Japan. Plans include a visit by a small delegation of Alhambra business owners to seek out strategic partners for commerce, including opening US outposts in Alhambra for Japanese companies and strengthening business relationships. “As a truly international City, Alhambra’s economy is strengthened through international relations,” John explained. “Each month this committee focuses on partners in Asia, Latin America, and Europe to implement programs and activities to support international trade and investment.”
5 PM: Last calls of the day on the road home
As John gets on the road home, he takes and makes calls with staff to catch up on the day’s events and plans for upcoming events and programs. “Los Angeles traffic has its benefits, because I can have Q&A time with all the people who keep the Chamber’s business and operations going.” He adds, “When I get home, there’s family dinner and then homework with the kids. As soon as it’s their bedtime, I might get in a walk (and more phone calls). Then, I open up my computer to catch up on emails and write reports that require the quiet of night to complete.”
11 PM: Call it a day!
