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RECAP: Jing Lin, Coffee Confessionals on the Coffee People Podcast · Coffee People Podcast

• 0:23
  Music. Hey, good morning, everyone.
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  Welcome to our Coffee People podcast recap show.
• 0:30
  Thank you for being here and being a supporter of the Coffee
• 0:33
  People podcast platforms. I'm your host, Ryan Wolt.
• 0:37
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• 0:39
  listening, but you'll find all of our episodes, links and bonus
• 0:43
  content on coffeepeoplepodcast.com.
• 0:47
  Please become a subscriber to help us tell the stories of
• 0:50
  Coffee People. This podcast is presented as
• 0:54
  always, by Rostar Coffee Packaging, found online at
• 0:57
  rostar.com. Check out rostar.com to find
• 1:00
  examples of their high quality, affordable, customizable
• 1:03
  packaging that they offer for coffee, tea, snacks and beyond.
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  That's rostar.com. Our recent podcast guest was
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  Jing Lin, founder of the Hollywood, CA Cafe named Coffee
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  Confessionals. I'm here to recap that
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  conversation in case you didn't have a chance to listen to the
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  full pod or you just want to reinforce a few of the important
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  key takeaways. For example, and probably the
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  most important note, Coffee Confessionals is a coffee shop.
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  First. There's no confessional
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  requirement just for walking through the doors.
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  The idea behind the cafe was to create a simple brand that would
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  connect the humans that wanted human connection.
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  The humans that wanted human connection.
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  That sounds funny. It started with simple
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  conversation cards on the tables, and it evolved from
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  there. Jing started her career as a
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  storyteller. Early in life, she was putting
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  on plays for her family. But then she went on to study
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  film making in Boston, ended up NPR in New York.
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  And at some point, it was clear promoting other people's stories
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  just wasn't the right path. She moved on to Carnegie Mellon
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  University to attend a film industry management program.
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  To complete her studies, she would need to find an internship
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  through a human connection who put her resume on the right
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  desk. It was seen by the right person
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  and she landed an internship role with Paramount, which then
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  led to a job at Disney and then Universal Studios.
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  Sometimes the world provides, but networking helps.
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  The lesson in her experience is to ask for what you want.
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  You never know who will be the person that can help you out.
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  Like so many of us, after years of climbing up through the ranks
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  in her industry, she realized she wasn't feeling a connection
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  to the service and the product she was selling.
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  Yes, she was promoting films, big ones, important ones,
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  stories that we're going to be told, but she wasn't having that
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  feeling of fulfillment that comes from being on the creative
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  side. Similar to PR, she was really
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  working to share other people's stories.
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  So she began to look for creative endeavor just for
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  herself. She started a coffee blog, Which
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  makes me wonder, do kids even know what a blog is today?
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  Jing Lin wasn't planning on opening a cafe, at least not at
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  1st, and it wasn't why she started her coffee exploration.
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  Although everybody wants to open a cafe, but not everyone
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  realizes what it takes to do the work of opening and then
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  actually running one. A mentor offered her some
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  important advice. Look at someone you aspire to
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  be, someone several rungs above you in the hierarchy, and ask
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  yourself if that job, that life, is the one you want to live
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  someday. For Jing Lin, the answer was no,
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  and her coffee progression began in earnest.
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  She started by increasing her home barista skills, and as she
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  learned more, she had more confidence not just in coffee,
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  but in embracing her creativity. As the idea of a coffee shop
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  started marinating, she started researching, learning about
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  other things like real estate and how to sign a lease.
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  In her words, she was like a squirrel, just gathering and
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  gathering information. Making the leap wasn't easy.
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  She had a reasonable corporate job that was safe.
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  Until it wasn't. Hello, coronavirus.
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  Her department was cut, but she was given a severance package
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  that enabled her to look forward and view the change as an
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  opportunity to take on a new challenge, this time opening a
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  coffee shop. It was difficult for her to find
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  a landlord who would even take a chance on leasing a space
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  because she wasn't a proven concept or even had an industry
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  background. They weren't confident she would
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  make the rent. Her location near Hollywood
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  wasn't the fancy Hollywood you imagine on television.
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  Pro tip, maybe don't take her kids to Hollywood people.
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  It's not always what you think it might be, but Jing
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  persevered. The desire for connection with
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  friends and family and even strangers is real, even for a
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  weirdly social introvert like myself.
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  She realized that we go through bouts of self consciousness when
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  approaching a new friend. And I'd say, have you tried to
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  make a new friend as an adult, say after a big move?
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  It's not easy. At Coffee Confessionals, Jing is
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  trying to create a space where the veil is off and the
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  opportunity to connect is presented to you.
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  The first steps, be it a conversation card or a Chetty
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  barista, encourage engagement. Staff training and personality
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  is an essential component for creating a safe coffee
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  confessional space. We focused our Coffee Smarter
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  advice from this episode on what it takes to leave one job, one
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  that feels safe or stable for another one.
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  And particularly in coffee, Jing suggests baby steps.
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  It doesn't need to be, and probably shouldn't be,
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  impulsive. Do your research and understand
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  as best as you can what you're getting into.
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  She quoted El Doctorow's advice for writing as applicable to
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  starting a new career or entrepreneurial effort.
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  Quote Writing is like driving at night in the fog.
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  You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the
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  whole trip that way. End Quote.
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  Basically, you can only address what you can see, so be alert
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  and be flexible to what might come.
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  It likely won't happen overnight.
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  Jing built up her business and steps.
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  The brick and mortar space was always part of her plan, but it
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  wasn't the immediate option for her on day one.
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  First, she had to give herself permission to leave her career
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  and then change her career and lifestyle expectations.
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  There's a lot of troubleshooting if the tent across the street is
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  on fire. What do you do?
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  Finally, it's challenging to be an entrepreneur, but it becomes
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  less daunting when you start collecting stories and examples
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  and asking for help. You can expand as you go, and it
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  should be something that is fun for you.
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  To quote Doctor Leo Marvin in the 1991 film classic What About
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  Bob? Quote Baby Steps.
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  It means setting small, reasonable goals for yourself,
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  one day at a time, one tiny step at a time.
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  Baby steps. And Bill Murray, of course, took
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  that to the next level. I want to express my thanks to
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  Jane for appearing on the pod. We couldn't have done it without
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  her. I mean, obviously she was the
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  guest. Also, thanks to the team at
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  Rostar for supporting this show and our efforts to share the
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  stories of Coffee People. The important links from this
• 7:43
  show, like the one to rostar.com is in this episode, show notes
• 7:47
  and in our Coffee People podcast newsletter, which you can
• 7:50
  subscribe to at coffeepeoplepodcast.com.
• 7:54
  You can also find the show on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple
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  Podcasts. Thank you for giving it a
• 8:00
  listen, hitting the follow button and hopefully giving us
• 8:03
  those five shiny stars. Thanks again to all of our
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  friends and partners of the show, including Rostar Coffee
• 8:09
  Packaging, Civet's roasting machines, which I spell SIVETZ
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  Asaya Coffee Source relative Coffee Company, our newest
• 8:18
  supporter Luis said, Asento Coffee Roasters in San Diego.
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  And of course, all of you, wherever you are, please tip
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  your baristas and of course, drink good coffee.
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  Cheers everyone.