Latest / Coffee People Podcast / Will Reif, President of Roastar Coffee Packaging

Transcript

Will Reif, President of Roastar Coffee Packaging · Coffee People Podcast

0:00
Hey, everyone, welcome to the Coffee People podcast, presented
0:04
by our friends at Rostar Coffee Packaging.
0:06
You can find them online at rostar.com.
0:10
Thank you for being here today. I'm your host, Ryan Wolt.
0:13
You can follow or subscribe to this show wherever you're
0:15
listening, but you only get the best bonus context links and
0:18
recaps on coffeepeoplepodcast.com.
0:22
That's coffee, peoplepodcast.com.
0:26
This is a special episode featuring Will Reif, the
0:28
president and founder of Rostar Coffee Packaging, their
0:32
manufacturing company, which if you listen to our show know is
0:35
in my hometown of Wausau, WI. Rostar has been supporting our
0:39
show for quite some time. They've been our presenting
0:42
podcast sponsor for more than two years, but I've only met
0:46
Will briefly and in passing at a coffee convention.
0:49
I was looking forward to this opportunity to learn more about
0:52
his inspiration for Rostar and perhaps glean a bit of
0:55
entrepreneurial inspiration, maybe even advice for growing a
0:59
company. I wasn't disappointed, and I
1:02
don't think that you will be either.
1:04
If you want to follow along or multitask while you drink a cup
1:07
of coffee and listen to this podcast, be sure to check out
1:10
rostar.com to see the types of packaging available for coffee,
1:14
tea, or snacks, and also check out their packaging design
1:17
features. That link is in our show notes
1:20
wherever you're listening in real life.
1:22
If you want to meet with the Rostar team, you'll find them at
1:25
the upcoming Coffee Fest in New York City in March.
1:28
That's March 8th, 9th, and 10th. There'll be a booth 2716, and
1:32
then again at the World of Coffee Expo in early April in
1:35
San Diego, you'll find them on the convention floor at booth
1:39
2443. So let's get started.
1:43
I'm drinking a cup of our yeah no yeah coffee collab roasted by
1:47
our friend Bryant over at Relative Coffee Company in
1:49
Minneapolis. The cool coffee bag you're
1:51
seeing on the screen was printed and manufactured by Rostar.
1:55
I have to admit I'm a little biased, but this is 1 easy to
1:59
drink cup of coffee. I hope that you've also got a
2:02
full mug of something excellent to enjoy as you listen to this
2:05
week's Coffee People podcast featuring Will Rife, President
2:10
of Rostar. My name is Will Rife and I am
2:43
the President of Rostar. I started Rostar in 2011.
2:52
So we are primarily a coffee packaging company.
2:56
We're a manufacturing company, but we are also an e-commerce
3:02
company in that we we focus heavily on on selling our
3:06
product online. So been here since day one and
3:12
and been leading the company ever since it in different
3:16
capacities along the way, but I guess the same same title.
3:22
How many times a week does someone call you will reef?
3:27
It happened a lot in the in the in the beginning of the
3:31
business, but more and more, I guess it doesn't really bother
3:37
me with whether my last name is Rife or Reef, but it is
3:41
pronounced pronounced Rife. I even just skip over it and
3:44
people. Yeah, I I definitely had.
3:48
I was a Wolt, A Wolt. So we had Wolt driving school
3:50
back home. So you.
3:52
Oh, Yep. Yep, I got that a lot.
3:54
Rostar obviously an important component of our show.
3:57
You've been supporting it for a long time, which we are grateful
3:59
for. And more importantly, it helps
4:02
us share the stories of other people in the coffee industry,
4:06
the focus on coffee. How did that come about?
4:08
Do you have a first kind of coffee experience or memory that
4:11
you know sent you down the path that would eventually become,
4:14
you know, your your industry? Yeah, that's, that's a good
4:18
question. I say.
4:19
I would say it's been more of a my relationship with coffee a a
4:24
winding Rd. So I don't have any fantastic
4:28
memory of coffee when I was a child that I can that I can
4:35
recall. But after I graduated from
4:37
college, I went down to Costa Rica and taught English there
4:42
for six months. So I'm, I was a coffee drinker,
4:47
but didn't really appreciate it for, for being anything beyond a
4:51
beverage until I, I got a little closer to how it was grown,
4:57
visited a coffee farm. And that kind of opened my eyes
5:00
to, to the, to the larger world of coffee, where it comes from,
5:06
how much work is, is put into it to produce.
5:10
And then later on in, in my, my career, I got into packaging
5:17
and, and I think maybe that experience left an impression on
5:20
me because I found my way back into, OK, I'm in working in
5:24
packaging. How can I connect this to
5:28
coffee? And some things fell in place to
5:30
make that happen. But I would say kind of my my
5:33
first experience really thinking about coffee in in in the bigger
5:41
world and what it is, what it means beyond just being a
5:43
beverage was was my experience in Costa Rica.
5:46
I didn't know that about you going to Costa Rica.
5:49
I'm assuming there might have been some surfing involved at
5:51
some point, or at least the attempt.
5:53
Yes, I, I, I because I'm from Wisconsin.
5:56
I'd hate to say that I'm a surfer, but when I go there, I
6:00
surf. Absolutely after so we share
6:05
something in common. I went to UW Milwaukee for one
6:08
day and then I turned around and went right back to Wausau.
6:12
Wasn't ready yet, was getting into manufacturing, getting into
6:17
entrepreneurship, running a company.
6:19
Was that always part of your plan or was there this other?
6:22
So this other will out there somewhere who's teaching English
6:25
and surfing and and you know, floating on the vibe there.
6:29
I, I definitely, you know, was, was pretty lost when I was
6:33
younger as, as far as thinking about my career and, and what I
6:38
wanted to do. So after college, I was much
6:43
more into experiences and living a couple places outside of, of,
6:52
of Wisconsin. My father was an entrepreneur
6:56
and started a, a business. So that kind of background I had
7:02
been been around seeing. And so, so that, that I think
7:08
was definitely an influence on me as, as I thought about who I
7:13
wanted to be and, and, and, and then as opportunities arose,
7:18
knew that I could be an entrepreneur.
7:21
I, I had examples around me and, and support to do that.
7:25
So didn't really set out on any clear path to be an
7:31
entrepreneur, but but probably had it in my mind, you know, all
7:35
along. So how does that lead to
7:39
starting a company that becomes Rostar?
7:42
You know, what's the origin story?
7:43
The. If you were a Marvel movie, how
7:45
would we describe it? Yeah, probably not as
7:49
interesting as as a Marvel movie.
7:52
After I had lived in Costa Rica for a while and thought about
7:57
becoming a lawyer and worked as a paralegal.
8:02
Just needed a, a, a kind of fresh start.
8:04
And so I went to work for my dad's company, got exposed to, I
8:10
guess packaging, label, label printing and and those types of
8:15
of customers. The name of the company is
8:17
called Wasa coded sold to. So got some perspective on that
8:22
market. And going back to call it 2010,
8:27
there was a new printing technology, a relatively new
8:30
printing technology called HP Indigo.
8:34
And that technology was changing manufacturing in the printing
8:38
world, going from analogue to digital.
8:41
So you think about at your home you have an inkjet or laser
8:44
printer. Those have been around for
8:45
years. But digital printing making its
8:48
way into the into the world of manufacturing took a little
8:51
longer. And so it was that press that
8:54
allowed digital printing to breakthrough into manufacturing.
8:58
So I was exposed to to that technology and that's kind of
9:04
what I worked on a product line for that press itself.
9:08
And that's where started to think about how that press could
9:12
be used in certain markets. And one of them came to be
9:16
specialty coffee. The press just happened to be 13
9:21
inches wide and kind of 1 aha moment was just playing with a
9:27
12 ounce side gusset bag, which everyone in the coffee industry
9:30
is familiar with. It's kind of the staple of of
9:33
selling into a grocery store. And if you unfold it, it works.
9:37
It folds out to about 12 and a half 13 inches.
9:40
So that was kind of the moment where I thought about the press.
9:45
And then the market itself was has a lot of different has a lot
9:49
of variety. It's not obviously dominated by
9:51
just a few roasters, which fits digital printing in that it's
9:56
it's short run. So in that moment, I guess was
10:00
kind of the the spark of the idea.
10:02
OK, the, the kind of math of this coffee bag works out with
10:06
this digital press. And then just started to
10:08
research it a little more, visited some coffee shows, talk
10:12
to coffee roasters to see what their frustrations were, which,
10:16
and a lot of them said, well, we have to order lots of bags.
10:20
We have to, we have to wait a long period of time to receive
10:24
those bags. So clearly they're
10:26
inconveniently for me, I was looking to see if there was a
10:29
problem and there was a problem in the marketplace.
10:32
So I'm kind of when I was in my research phase, everything just
10:36
kind of fell into place and, and, and an opportunity was
10:40
there. I didn't have to invent the
10:42
opportunity that there was. There was a problem in the
10:44
marketplace. No, but you did have to
10:46
recognize the opportunity and then be confident enough to take
10:50
a risk to go into that, which is challenging.
10:53
You know, it's something entrepreneurs face every day.
10:55
Am I making the right decision? Usually without a lot of grace,
11:01
you know, and not every, not everyone starts off and it's
11:04
like, well, there's no harm, no foul if I make a mistake, if
11:07
there's usually a a risk there. So I identifying that you find
11:12
that opportunity and you find that problem to fix.
11:16
How do you take that next step into, I think a big challenge
11:21
might have been convincing your customers or future customers
11:24
that digital printing can be as good.
11:26
Was it as simple as I, I'm, I was in design at that time.
11:30
So I kind of remember this, this period of print changing, was it
11:35
as simple as saying, well, we can give you it may it may be
11:38
different, but we can give you a smaller print run or how did you
11:40
how did you transition through that, that phase?
11:44
Yeah. We in that part of the business
11:50
in the early days, the sales and marketing aspect of of the
11:55
business was easy. Now I say that today in sales
12:00
and marketing today, you know it's a challenge.
12:02
So I kind of took it for granted, but but some of the the
12:06
things that we offered initially, which were we can
12:09
ship in a week, which was unheard of.
12:12
We have no setup charges. You can order small quantities
12:16
where were were based in the US all think all were things that
12:21
were really appealing to to the market.
12:24
So before we even printed or made one bag, it was pretty much
12:29
an experiment. We came up with the name.
12:32
We got a booth at Coffee Fest San Diego and this was in 2011.
12:38
And, and so we had 0 customers at this point, but went to the
12:42
show and had a booth and said we're Rostar and we print coffee
12:45
bags and, and the turn out at our booth was, was excellent and
12:50
we won best new product at that show.
12:53
So we started from from at least a sales and marketing standpoint
12:57
with with a bang. The reality was we didn't really
13:00
know what we were doing. It was very much a fake it till
13:03
you make it. That's that MVP mindset of like
13:07
the early 2000s. There was a book that came out,
13:10
the MVP most valuable product, right?
13:12
Yeah. You put it out there and you see
13:14
what happens. That was very much what we did.
13:17
And I think I, I, you know, maybe because I was a little
13:20
younger at the time that didn't, that wasn't making me nervous
13:26
and, and, and had some good support in, in, in starting the
13:30
company. But that way in the early years
13:33
that the, the sales and marketing portion of the
13:36
business was not the challenge. It was actually figuring out how
13:38
to make a quality product and how to get the operation up and
13:42
running. Those sales and marketing
13:45
challenges did appear, but kind of appeared later in our, in, in
13:49
our development. So just kind of timing and a
13:52
couple things worked out to to really help us get launched.
13:57
I would just say here quickly that World of Coffee Expo is in
14:01
San Diego again this year. Rostar will be there.
14:03
We'll share their booth number as well in this episode.
14:06
And as we go, people can visit and learn more about what
14:09
they're doing. You started this company in
14:11
Wisconsin. Not everyone thinks of the
14:15
middle of our country as a place for big companies or
14:18
entrepreneurship. And, you know, it's not the
14:19
first place they think, even though it's rife with all of
14:22
those things. How does being in the Midwest
14:25
impacts, you know, your company in a good way, a bad way?
14:29
And, you know, how do you approach customers?
14:31
Was it really a, a local thing that grew out or was it because
14:34
you started at that first festival in San Diego?
14:37
It actually came from the outside in.
14:39
You know, I mentioned that the business is one part
14:41
manufacturing and one part e-commerce.
14:44
From a manufacturing standpoint, Wisconsin is a great place to be
14:48
and, and in printing and in manufacturing of bags.
14:53
This is a, a, a manufacturing hub.
14:56
There are all sorts of packaging companies in the area,
15:00
especially, you know, the Green Bay, Appleton, Fox Valley area.
15:06
There are pouch making companies, there are companies
15:09
that that support our industry. So from, from that standpoint,
15:16
it's a, it's, it's a kind of an ideal place to have a printing
15:21
manufacturing type facility on the e-commerce side, you know,
15:25
it's a, it's a little different and, and hiring those types of
15:29
positions and developing those, developing a company that, that
15:33
needs expertise in that area. However, you know, you can,
15:38
there are developers here in Wisconsin and, and things really
15:43
changed after COVID with, with remote work.
15:46
So our, our, our e-commerce department is not all on site
15:53
and that's something that we've had to adjust to along with many
15:57
other companies. So kind of have a have to have a
16:01
mix. I, I would, I would say to, to
16:04
have the type of company that we have in, in Wausau, WI
16:08
definitely need to be flexible with, with how we hire and how
16:13
we look for, for people just based on the type of company
16:17
that, that, that we are. With it being a, a small town in
16:24
Wisconsin, we have really embraced, you know, who we are,
16:29
where we're from. So being a Midwesterner is one
16:32
of our values. And I think if you talk to some
16:36
of our customers, hopefully that they do recognize that we're not
16:41
on a, in a big hurry to get off the phone with people.
16:44
We want to know our customers well and take time and take a
16:50
lot of pride in the quality that that we produce and and we know
16:56
that, you know, we kind of do come from humble roots.
16:59
We're not from the East Coast or the West Coast.
17:03
So I think we need to deal with the company like when you deal
17:06
with Rostar customer care and and looking out for making a
17:13
quality product is something that comes through because of
17:16
where we're from. I would point out that something
17:20
you just said that is should be obvious but isn't always is
17:23
someone answers the phone when you call Rostar.
17:26
I've heard from people that I've referred to you that that was
17:29
one of their big selling points. Not only does someone answer the
17:32
phone, but then they'll talk to them or work them through their
17:34
problem or whatever it is. Digital printing, Is it as good
17:39
as a traditional print? What makes it a worthy value to
17:44
a customer? Yeah, digital printing has its
17:48
place, you know, quality wise and and it it is right there you
17:55
comparing it to the other forms of print, whether it's flexor or
17:59
Revere in my opinion, I I can't tell the the difference.
18:04
So the the quality of digital is is excellent.
18:09
It has great flexibility in in having no setup or or plate fees
18:16
if you have artwork files or you're changing your artwork
18:20
often. So it has a great advantage
18:22
there and, and, and really speed to market.
18:26
So anyone with a digital press, they're, they, they're usually
18:29
focused on how quickly they can turn orders.
18:31
So our customers don't need to hold a lot of inventory or if
18:36
demands change quickly, things that that they can't predict,
18:40
especially around holiday sales or other types of events, we can
18:44
respond very quickly. You know, the downside of, of
18:49
digital, you could say is price, particularly if someone has a
18:52
lot of volume. So it's kind of where do you,
18:55
where do you, where does the customer put value?
18:58
I mean, if they, if they truly can plan out far in advance
19:04
their volumes and they have some consistency and they don't mind
19:09
ordering from overseas. And and now there's the the
19:12
whole factor of tariffs that are I haven't.
19:16
Heard anything about that? Yeah, almost everyday, you know,
19:20
there is if, if, if the whole goal is a cheaper price, there
19:24
is a, a, a, a way to accomplish that.
19:26
But it's with tariffs, it's a little more complicated now.
19:29
So digital isn't, I would say the best for every situation,
19:35
but for the people who value it, it it really it, it can be an
19:39
asset to their business. I mean, you, you brought up
19:43
tariffs, so I'm just pointing that out.
19:45
And I, so my question is, is if I'm a customer, how does, how
19:49
does, what is the value with roast are being made in America?
19:52
Are you exempt? I mean, do you not not exempt,
19:54
but are, do you avoid those tariffs in a way or are they
19:57
limited? I mean, I'm assuming are all
20:00
pieces of this of the package being built here or combined
20:04
here? In my head I'm thinking ink and
20:07
paper and glue and, you know, plastic and all the stuff.
20:10
Yeah. So our, our primary suppliers,
20:13
meaning who we directly buy from are, are mostly US.
20:20
I'm I'm trying to think of off the top of my head.
20:23
There's quite a few components that come in to make a coffee
20:26
bag a. Lot more than people realize
20:28
too, yeah. More than more than you realize,
20:31
I guess that the issue with tariffs is that some of our
20:35
suppliers the components that they buy to make the raw
20:38
material that we purchase, it is, it is is is bought on
20:45
outside of the US. So I would say we have very
20:48
good, we are not affected by tariffs as much.
20:56
Obviously if you buy from us, there is no tariff.
20:59
We try to do the best we can in buying products that that are
21:03
made in the US, but to say that we're completely unaffected by
21:07
tariffs, it's pretty hard. I think if you manufacture
21:11
anything today to not be hit by by somewhere in that supply
21:15
chain. But we definitely minimize that
21:18
impact, you know, compared to I think other companies.
21:23
Sure. You're creating a little bit of
21:24
stability and your price points and and predictability, which is
21:30
I mean, I think right now real value add, you know, as we're
21:33
talking, things might change tomorrow with tariffs or with
21:36
something else. We've seen that it's not as it's
21:39
not as long or drawn out as it maybe it has been in the past,
21:43
which brings me to this question from the beginning in San Diego
21:48
at that first launch, let's call it, you know, I know you were a
21:51
company before that, but the first really come to the
21:53
industry moment to now Rostar has grown.
21:58
You know, you're, you know, you started with not quite sure who
22:01
that customer was and you've been in servicing mid and mid
22:04
size small companies, some who have grown and to become big
22:06
companies certainly can do that. How have you changed your
22:12
perspective on on that growth? How have you managed it as a as
22:16
a boss? I'm assuming there's a lot more
22:19
employees now than there were 12 years ago.
22:22
Yes, yeah. We have about 110 employees now,
22:28
started with just four and IT and in the beginning it was all
22:37
I'll say what I was focused on was innovation, kind of the
22:41
excitement of selling very outwardly focused on the
22:45
customer. And that was the way that I
22:50
would say I lived and the company to a great extent for
22:53
the first few years. And, and, and then what, what I
23:03
had to learn was really how to, how to run a business and, and
23:08
focus less on that sales and marketing piece, which is a
23:11
pretty hard, if piece to pull yourself away from.
23:15
If that's where you've been focused and you're an
23:18
entrepreneur, you're, you're always kind of thinking about
23:22
new technology, new products, things, ways to do things
23:27
better. So somewhere along in there, I,
23:31
I had to really focus on, on the business itself.
23:35
And there were a lot of, of, of resources to help with that.
23:39
So in, in 2018, we adopted a business operating system that's
23:47
called traction that really changed the business and taught
23:53
me and, and others really how to how to prioritize and how to
24:00
hold ourselves accountable and others accountable.
24:04
So that whole portion of of running a business and really
24:12
becoming a more organized accountable operation that that
24:19
that gets good at prioritizing and knows what it needs to do
24:23
next. That was really a journey that
24:28
that came after the first few years and, and needed a lot of
24:33
focus on, on my part that that was something that didn't come
24:37
natural to me, like maybe a little entrepreneurship and,
24:43
and, and the excitement that that brings maybe came a little
24:47
more natural than than actually running a business day-to-day.
24:50
So that is is really a significant part of what I had
24:56
to learn to make this company survive and get get humbled once
25:01
or twice along the way. Hey everyone, just a quick
25:06
break. I want to say thanks for tuning
25:08
into the Coffee People podcast. The show is presented by our
25:11
friends at Rostar Coffee Packaging, found online at
25:15
rostar.com. They provide high quality,
25:18
affordable packaging for coffee, tea, snacks and more.
25:21
I thank them for supporting coffee people, the podcast and
25:25
coffee people all of you by offering low minimum quantity
25:29
orders and making it easy to create customizable packaging
25:33
for your company. Check out rostar.com.
25:39
And now back to the show. Well, I was going to, that was
25:48
going to lead me right into how do you, what advice do you offer
25:53
to an entrepreneur in your community Who's saying I want to
25:56
grow as well at, at giving up control, which I find to be the
26:00
hardest thing. You know, like I know how I want
26:02
something done or I know how I want to do it.
26:05
At some point when you are growing, you have to give up
26:08
some of the some of the minutia, some of that control to your
26:11
sales team, your marketing team, while you focus on creating
26:15
stability for an entire team. You know, emotionally, mentally,
26:19
how do you advise people go about that or what did you do to
26:23
to get you to that point where you were?
26:25
I guess this is who I am now. Yeah, I it probably starts with
26:30
any kind of hinted toward it. I think in the question is, is
26:34
just maybe, you know, knowing who you are, being honest with
26:39
yourself, realizing what you're good at, what you're not good at
26:45
and, and, and those things that you're not good at, you might
26:50
not, that might not be who you are or a natural fit for you.
26:55
So those are the areas where you really look to get help in the
26:59
form of, of other people and, and structure.
27:02
So I think it, it probably starts there.
27:05
If you do kind of have to get past that initial phase of the
27:09
business, obviously you need some resources to start hiring
27:14
people and, and putting in structure.
27:15
So if you can battle through that initial Phase, I, I, I wish
27:21
I would have shifted more quickly to understanding that,
27:26
that there's a business to run and it's not all about being an
27:29
entrepreneur and new products and innovation, just realizing
27:34
that at an earlier phase, business operating systems now
27:38
are, are out there that that's, that's, that's a topic.
27:41
So there are, you know, we used traction and that that really
27:47
helped us implement the structure that we needed to, to
27:51
become a better company. There are other ones out there
27:55
now. So I, I would say look at, at
28:00
these operating systems, bigger companies kind of build those
28:05
operating systems over years and have tons of resources.
28:10
So I think it's, it's a huge benefit now that there there are
28:13
these business operating systems are, are there off the that for
28:18
us to use kind of off the shelf for smaller companies,
28:21
entrepreneurs that, that teach you how bigger businesses
28:26
operate and should operate on a quarterly cycle and how you
28:29
should meet and how you should communicate to to your company.
28:32
So I'd look at at adopting that as early as you can.
28:38
I mean, reaching out for new resources.
28:41
One of the things that I that that drew me to Rostar, besides
28:46
the fact that I saw one of your employees with a WAASA sticker
28:49
on his his lapel there in, in Los Angeles when we first met,
28:55
is the willingness to learn new things, in particular along the
29:01
lines of sustainability. I don't know if it's realistic
29:06
that packaging or consumerism can be sustainable.
29:09
You know, it's a word that gets overused a lot.
29:12
But the willingness to try was something I noticed right away.
29:15
And then Danny Toby at Rostar, someone who's been on our show,
29:19
will link to that as well. Kind of, I think built herself a
29:22
role in that sustainability area.
29:26
I'm wondering if you find more of your, your company's
29:30
challenges involves predicting what customers are going to
29:34
want, whether it's sustainable packaging or tins or something
29:38
else, or if it's teaching the industry what you what is maybe
29:43
the most functional and the best for them.
29:45
Where do you find that challenge And, and what is, you know,
29:49
what's the better answer to that?
29:50
It's a it's a weird question, but you're in a unique position
29:54
where you you started by seeing a technology that the market
29:58
didn't know existed yet and providing an opportunity.
30:02
And now you're competing with other companies that do some
30:05
similar things, but you do them in a different way.
30:08
Yeah. I think, you know that's, that's
30:11
a good question. I think it needs to be a mix of
30:14
of both. Early on, I think our product
30:17
development was all kind of was driven internally by, you know,
30:22
we know this technology is out there, we're going to bring it
30:24
to packaging and and as kind of the company has evolved, you
30:33
realize that product development really should include the
30:36
customer as well. So that's where I think we
30:39
really started to understand the, I would say the importance
30:44
of sustainability within packaging.
30:46
Beyond that, there are certain trends out in the marketplace
30:53
that have developed that, that really haven't been on on our
30:56
radar. So as as a kind of an
30:59
entrepreneurial company, you and, and how we got our start,
31:04
it's, it's kind of a core a part of who we are as we always want
31:08
to look for new stuff and bring it to the customer base and, and
31:12
have something that is fresh and new and, and something that,
31:17
that provides value that, that no one else has has thought of
31:20
before. But but you need a good mix of,
31:24
of understanding the, the marketplace.
31:27
So we've really evolved in in including the customer voice in
31:33
our product development over the years.
31:36
Who is the customer for Rostar? You know when?
31:39
I mean, I know there's a lot of them, but who if someone's
31:43
listening to this and going, oh, maybe I'm too small or I'm too
31:45
big, you know, who do you see as the customer you serve best?
31:50
Well, specialty coffee, we, we service all sorts of customers
31:56
from the hobbyist all the way up to roasters that, that are in
32:04
Target or Walmart or, you know, grocery stores across the US.
32:09
It's, it's more kind of the way that you, you use Rostar for,
32:15
for the, for, for who you are. As I mentioned, there's if, if
32:19
you're a hobby roaster, you might buy just blank bags from
32:23
us and print those bags or print labels at home.
32:28
Whereas a, a, a really large roaster might use us for special
32:33
runs at near the holidays or some, some event.
32:40
And then kind of the people in between are, are the people who
32:43
use us everyday. It's for their, their packaging
32:46
that they, that they order and reorder.
32:50
But I wouldn't, I wouldn't exclude any coffee roaster from
32:55
saying that, you know, we're not really a great fit for you.
32:59
It's just kind of where where you fit with with what we do and
33:02
the and the right value that that we provide the roaster.
33:06
So I do this thing with our with our sponsor Rostar, you might
33:09
have heard of them, where I ask people for advice on
33:12
entrepreneurship and and business and coffee.
33:15
I'm wondering what advice would you give somebody who wants to
33:18
be a boss who maybe hasn't stepped into that role in the
33:22
past? You've got quite a bit of
33:24
experience at all different levels here.
33:27
It's a different position than being an employee.
33:29
What advice would you give to that person looking to make the
33:33
leap? Yeah, I, I would say First off
33:38
that, that you need to set aside and be intentional about
33:44
learning how to be a boss, which which can be difficult when
33:48
you're trying to run a business and and customers have demands
33:53
and you're trying to hire people.
33:56
So that was certainly something that that I had to learn was,
34:00
was to truly set aside time to invest in, in learning how to be
34:08
a boss and, and learning more about who you are, what your
34:15
style is. You can't just adopt any old
34:19
style and apply it. So it has to fit with, with your
34:23
personality. And, and so I would, would,
34:28
would start there, really set aside time invest in, in, in
34:35
certainly reading, finding a consultant or an advisor to help
34:39
you understand kind of more about your personality and what
34:44
type of leader you should be. So I think that step and and as
34:52
I've mentioned in kind of in a question or two ago is, is find
34:56
it in an operating system to apply to your business that will
35:03
free up a little extra capacity for you really to, to be a good
35:08
boss. It it some of these operating
35:10
systems kind of build in structure, so you don't need to
35:13
figure out everything for for how your company runs.
35:19
I'm laughing a little bit because sometimes I think that
35:23
my goal is always to make it as hard as possible because then
35:26
it's mine. I've figured it out on my own.
35:28
Instead of look to others, a lot of times I look to things I
35:32
learned from my my parents who are entrepreneurs.
35:35
You mentioned early on that you, you've come from a family of
35:37
entrepreneurs and, and you're kind of in a position now where
35:42
your parents would have been when you were a kid.
35:45
Do you see parallels in that or do you find yourself thinking
35:48
back to the to that experience of seeing them run a business
35:53
that overlap? Yeah.
35:56
I, I, I would say a little bit just from the way in which, you
36:05
know, optimism and creativity are, are really important kind
36:11
of cornerstones in being entrepreneurs.
36:15
So there were kind of running a business was part of dinner
36:20
table talk, even on vacations. I, I, I, you know, I just would
36:25
always hear about things going on in the business, but I would
36:30
say there, there was always a level of, of optimism with
36:36
whatever challenge was, was being discussed.
36:41
Nothing, no, no issue or no problem was, was, was too big.
36:47
So that's something that that kind of, I think about thinking
36:52
about when I was a child and I was kind of surrounded by, by a
36:57
business being formed and growing.
37:00
That's something that I think you just kind of learn all along
37:04
the way. And as I grew to be an
37:06
entrepreneur myself is it's the things happen.
37:13
And it, it really is important to lean on your, your optimism
37:20
and know that there are resources out there as, as
37:24
issues come at you that you might, might not be familiar
37:28
with. You know, that's just, that's
37:30
kind of part of being a, a, a business manager running a
37:35
business is different. Things just just come at you
37:38
and, and, and you need to adapt to them.
37:41
So that, that kind of lifestyle probably have been around my, my
37:45
whole life. And that's just something that
37:49
it, it really never ends. There's there's always something
37:52
around around the corner and, and, and adapting to those
37:55
issues is kind of becomes a way of life.
37:59
I mean, in the course of your business, you've been through,
38:02
you know, a pandemic, you've been through some major changes
38:05
in specialty coffee as far as growth of the industry as a
38:08
whole. One of the things that at least
38:11
over the last several years I've I've seen that you do as you as
38:15
a company take the time to share stories of your customers and
38:20
you've supported this show. You've got Nick going around the
38:22
country exploring coffee shops. We share those quite a bit.
38:26
What is the value of of supporting and the industry as a
38:30
whole outside of just we have a product, you want this product,
38:34
here you go. You could, you could easily do
38:37
that and that would be the end of the relationship.
38:39
But you don't, you kind of take the time and the effort
38:42
sometimes in marketing, but also just in general to uplift that
38:46
industry. Why do that?
38:48
Yeah, I think what I love about the coffee industry beyond the
38:56
product itself is it really is a community of entrepreneurs.
39:05
So it's a lot of like minded people.
39:08
Now they're marketing might be different from different areas
39:13
and they might emphasize certain aspects of the product
39:19
differently, but it's pretty exciting area to work in because
39:25
it is a lot of smaller businesses, entrepreneurs I get
39:29
to be around in, in, in just 14 years, I have seen coffee brands
39:33
go from, you know, 10 people to 1000 people and, and everywhere
39:39
in between. So being an entrepreneur and
39:42
then getting to work with entrepreneurs is something that
39:48
is, is really exciting and, and that you learn a lot from.
39:53
And, and so I think we've internally made that kind of
39:59
connection. We're an entrepreneur and we
40:01
work with other entrepreneurs, and we also share that story
40:05
internally with everyone. Who, who works here to, to have
40:11
them also identify as kind of, you know, we're all, we're all
40:14
kind of entrepreneurs and, and to provide more opportunity at
40:19
Rostar to, to, to our employees to kind of give that, that same
40:24
feeling that that may be a business entrepreneur would
40:28
have. Because I think that that helps
40:30
connect all of us on, on kind of our, our, our, our mission in,
40:37
in creating this business. So, yeah, I think, I think the
40:41
customer base is, is pretty unique when you look at kind of
40:45
servicing other, other industries that might involve a
40:49
lot of big business, big businesses or bureaucracies or
40:54
whatever it might be. Coffee's pretty, there's just a
40:56
lot of local businesses involved in that and that makes it pretty
41:00
unique and special. I would also add, coffee has a
41:04
lot of very passionate entrepreneurs because it's not
41:07
necessarily an easy, there's a lot of better ways to make money
41:11
if that's your only goal. And so you have to care about
41:14
what you're doing. Anything that I missed today
41:16
that you really wanted to share on the show or that you know you
41:19
wanted people to know about you or Rostar in general?
41:23
I would say maybe going back to being a, a, a business leader
41:32
and some advice that I picked up.
41:40
And actually it was more from a book that I read, a John Wooden
41:44
book who was a basketball coach, but this doesn't have anything
41:48
to basketball. So one of his famous lines was
41:51
you haven't taught until they have learned.
41:56
And so that's a line that that has stuck with me.
42:02
And I think it, it really hits on when you have issues at, at
42:09
work, it really you, you need to look inward first.
42:14
And are you thinking clearly? Are you explaining yourself
42:17
clearly? And it can take a lot of
42:19
patience to, to really communicate effectively what you
42:25
want people to do or what you're trying to do as a company.
42:30
And so that that kind of that statement makes has made me
42:34
think before, you know, am I communicating clearly enough?
42:39
And, and to think about some self reflection and how can I do
42:43
a better job at, at getting my point across communicating to
42:48
the company so that we're aligned and, and going in the
42:52
right direction. So that's a a piece of advice
42:58
for for business strugglers or business leaders who may be
43:02
struggling with communication is, is to really look inward.
43:06
I happen to know that you have a regular kind of daily coffee
43:11
order at a local place in in Wausau.
43:14
But let's just say that you're you're traveling for for work or
43:18
you're traveling, you stop into a coffee shop.
43:19
What are you going to order? It's typically a a latte once in
43:24
a while I'll just go with a a black coffee.
43:27
If I'm, if I'm travelling, I'm I'm always looking for a good
43:30
croissant as well. So if they have that, then I'm
43:34
definitely ordering that. But I would just say a latte
43:39
would be my a typical order that you'd hear from me.
43:42
Will I appreciate you spending kind of 45 minutes here and just
43:46
sharing some of your thoughts on entrepreneurship.
43:50
Again, we certainly appreciate you helping us share the stories
43:53
of coffee people. I'll, I'll close out by asking
43:58
probably the most important question is if you for any
44:02
entrepreneur, truly, if you were a Ninja Turtle, which Ninja
44:05
Turtle would you be? Yeah, I guess I'd be Donatello.
44:13
Was he the one with the staff? He was.
44:16
OK, yeah, he was just, I thought that would be the most effective
44:20
weapon. Oh, OK.
44:21
Yeah, that's a good. You always have to have a good
44:22
weapon as the boss. Thank you for being here.
44:26
We certainly appreciate it. The.
45:21
Thanks for listening, everyone. Please subscribe to our
45:24
newsletter at coffeepeoplepodcast.com.
45:28
Cheers.