It's been a hot minute since I've blogged. The last few months have been a whirlwind of depression for me. I haven't felt motivated to do anything. I'm finally coming out of whatever the hell that was, & I'm looking forward to the new year. 

New goals, new ideas, & new projects.

My brain was recently picked by two good friends of mine. 
The idea of opening a coffee shop/bakery situation came up, & I've been dwelling on that idea since. I decided to jot down my experience in the world of business & cafes. 


It all started back in 90s.

My parent's opened a video store. A local video store. Not some of that avantgarde Family Video bullshit. A local, family owned, video store. We sold DVDS, VHS, cassette tapes, CDs, & different types of video systems. My parents being super young, they named the store "Aardvark".
Yes, like the fucking animal. (Always loved that hahahahah)

The story goes,

One day a man came into Aardvark looking for a DVD.  He shopped around for some time, & then came to the checkout. My mom & dad gave free popcorn out of an old popcorn machine with the purchase of a video rental. The man joked
"Do ya'll have coffee to go with this?"

Everyone laughed, the man left happily with his popcorn, and the next week, there was a coffee maker from the ALCO right by the popcorn machine.

So coffee & Popcorn. FREE coffee & popcorn. 

The guy came back and allegedly joked about a free sandwich the next week.

The next week, there was no FREE sandwich, but a sandwich with a price tag. 
and the best part, people loved them. Became obsessed with them.
Of course it was the 90s, so we had no actually food license to be doing this at the time.

Eventually, the sandwich sutured into a sandwich with a bag of chips, then turned into a getting a small fridge for more elaborate sides like salad or soup.

A few years go by with the video store, & then I was born. I grew up in the video store from birth. It holds a super special place in my heart. I have memories of being in my bouncer, watching people shop around for videos. I miss it terribly.

Years go by, we've retired the video store, sold our inventory, & bought our first legit espresso machine. We got licensed, got an ABLE license, hired staff, created menus, & before I knew it, I was working in the cafe from 5 years old.

I learned how to make coffee, cakes, sandwiches, breads, pastries, treats, & SO many other things by the prime age of 5. I knew how to bake a cake from scratch before I knew how to do most subjects in school.

Customer service became a huge thing as well. I got over social anxiety really quick.

My grandmother took Ownership of the cafe and she changed the name to "Zoes". 

Zoes became the #1 best restaurant in Arkansas. Business was BOOMING. It was crazy. I felt like a movie star as a kid, just because my grandmother owned Zoes. 
(We got the name because that is her grandma name!)

In 2017, we opened a second location at the Culinary District in Hot Springs.

We didn't last very long after that, so we ended up closing BOTH locations. I remember the gutted feeling of finding out we were shutting Zoes down. There was no REAL reason, we just wanted a change of scenery. We sold everything, made probably over 1Million dollars, & we felt set for "Retirement".
I was a teenager, so I didn't really understand it.

But I knew I had these skills. Baking skills, customer service skills, etc.
I had no idea what to do with them. 

I also became a professional dancer at 15. So I dreamt away my coffee & cafe dreams to focus on dance. 

Years & years later, I met my first girlfriend. We moved to Savannah, GA together, & there I got my first job at a coffee shop, Mirabelles. I wasn't there for very long, as COVID hit shortly after, but I learned a LOT of how NOT to own/run a coffee shop.
(all experience is good experience)
I had my first run in with a "Coffee Karen", who just happened to be my boss at the time.

Definition -
: a man or woman or who thinks coffee is their ENTIRE personality & thinks they're better than everyone else because of it.

He stuck me on cash register & I never touched the espresso machine. 
Thank god for covid though.....we were told by this boss to never come back to work!  
(I don't think that's legal but whatever it was 10 years ago)

During covid,  we were quarantined for almost 6 months. You can do a LOT in six months when you're cooped up indoors. I chose to take an online college course in this time.  My class had 20 students. I met up with them on Zoom every day for a year. I then went to the SCC for in-person classes & meetups. I learned a LOT through the NCA (National Coffee Association). From repairing espresso machines, to coffee sciences, to cuppings, to the business side of things & how to run a coffee shop/restaurant. We also had a whole course on acidic sciences & the real chemistry behind coffee. I went through all the major food certifications like ABLE, & a food handlers license. I graduated from the NCA program being the top of my class.  
I'm now a certified professional coffee scientist, a professional barista, & I'm a level 3 latte artist.  

Fast forward a few months, I was contacted by PERC in Savannah, GA. 
They wanted me to come in for an interview to be a barista in the new shop.  

I aced the interview & started working a week later.  
I met amazing individuals through PERC. We had a whole coffee education course too. It was AMAZING being able to learn more about running a 3rd wave coffee shop & getting to have hands on experience with roasting, package & production, & delivery for local orders.  

I was with PERC for over a year. My time there was cut way too short when I sexually assaulted by a male team member. When I brought it up to staff, the owner of PERC & a few others with authoritative power did absolutely NOTHING. 
In fact, it went downhill from there. The owner & a few other people from headquarters came down to the savannah shop, locked me in the backroom for almost 6 hours, degraded me, & gaslight me till I was in tears. I was stupid back then and way too overwhelmed to bring it to anyones attention. I just quit, moved on, & never looked back.  

A year later, I broke up with my girlfriend, moved back home, & I got a job as cafe manager for The Bradford House in OKC. 

I was there for a year, managing, creating, & ended up doing event planning as well. 

I ended up leaving due to their whack owners & shitty maternity leave program. (I was 12 weeks pregnant with Aubrey when I left) 

Moving on, I didn't work at all through my pregnancy. Well, physically in person at least. 

I went on to teach online to new baby baristas, latte art classes, chemistry in coffee (acidic sciences), & so much more coffee related topics. I also ended up getting a business degree during this time. After my son was born, I couldn't wait to get back into the coffee game. I couldn't find a job locally, so I got a corporate position working for Scooters Coffee. I did corporate work, as well as managed a franchise location. I had never worked for a corporate business before or a chain company, as it goes against all my personal morals, but I wanted to try it. The money was fantastic, but the corporate mindset I started to take on became super vile & toxic. I left for the sake of myself. I was also only 12 weeks postpartum when I started...which is SUPER early to go back to work after having a baby. 

My team and I unionized and protested Scooters. We of course all lost our jobs, but it was worth it. 

Fast forward, I got a management position at Press & Plow in Edmond OK. 
It was great, but they had NO idea what they were doing. The owners were so far up their own ass it didn't matter WHAT I did. The were sexist. I was the only female manager, and they would have me work all the events....because I "brought in more money" ..... 

I learned a lot about alcohol & bartending though...!? 

I left Press & Plow after a year. Feeling defeated & done with service industry. 

But of course I come back with my own coffee pop up. Distortion Pedal Coffee Co. 
I did pop-ups at events with my own branding, & I was the only person involved.  
It fizzled out after some time, as I was using a portable espresso machine, & it just wasn't working anymore. 

I went on to be a cosmetologist, cottage baker, teacher, & now I'm helping a friend run Lavishmade IRL. 

I have seen all sides of the industry. The good, the bad, the worst. I've played all parts, from package & production, barista, lead barista, bakery owner, manager, kitchen manager, owner, business professional, cleaner, & roaster. I LOVE the industry, but there are definitely some super toxic parts that I want to try and avoid. 

I told myself I would never go back until I had my OWN shop with my OWN rules and my OWN dictation. My good friends recently popped the wonder of owning a shop again into my head. My brain has been wondering & pondering all the excitement a to owning a shop again. I would want to focus more on the bakery side of things, as that's something I've fallen more in love with in the last 5 years. 

I long for the love I have for coffee, the industry, & the people you meet through the coffee world. It brings a lot of folks together with different talents, who are all on the same bus of trying to create a wonderful place for all. 

So here's to creating, pondering a new shop idea, & taking those steps to making it happen. Regardless of what happens, wonder & dreams live rent free inside my head. 



           With love, 

                                  LadyBird.