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EPISODE EIGHT: Ebony & Ivory Coffee · Talk Thurston to Me

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Talk Thurston to Me, where we explore the people, places, stories, and experiences that make Thurston County an unforgettable place to visit.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Nicole with Experience Olympia and Beyond, and today we're discovering Ebony and Ivory Coffee in Lacey.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: We'll get to know the people behind the shop, hear about their connection to the community, and talk about the recent renovation that's given their Lacey location a fresh new look.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: Joining me is Kenan Maurer of Ebony and Ivory Coffee.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: Kennan, welcome to Talk Thurston to me.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so glad you're here.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Glad to be here.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate it.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: So let's start by helping people picture the place we're talking about.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: For listeners who haven't visited yet, can you tell us what Ebony and Ivory is and what they can expect?
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Ebony and Ivory is a coffee shop here in Lacey, and our entire mission is to be a welcoming and comforting presence to our community.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: So when you walk in, what you can expect is to be greeted with a warm, friendly smile.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: And the idea behind Ebony and Ivory is we really want our baristas and our team to be your local neighborhood friend.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: And we really think that a coffee shop is kind of like the living room of a community.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's the way that we built Ebony and Ivory is to be the living room of Lacey.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what you can expect from us.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: I love that idea that you're the living room of Lacey.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: And it's that welcoming, inviting sort of atmosphere that you can expect.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I've like I shared with you before, I've been to Ebony and Ivory in Lacey and in your other location.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: And every single time I've gone in, I've been welcomed by your employees, and I've always had some great drinks and some good food to eat.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: Now that we have a little introduction to the shop, I love to hear how it all came together.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: So how did you and Kenzie get started and what made Lacey the place to begin?
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'll I'll try to tell the story as quickly as I can without leaving out any of the details.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: So Kenzie started as a barista.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's kind of what she did in in high school and beyond.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: And she got to this point where she was managing uh a shop and then she was managing multiple, and she still wanted to move up in the reins a little bit.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: And the next logical step for that was well, maybe we should just own our own coffee shop.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: At the same time, I was building my career in real estate, and I was really young at the time, I was 19 trying to build this real estate company, and I didn't really have any credibility.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I needed to figure out how do I get credibility for myself and make a name for myself so that people can start trusting me with selling their homes.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: So I decided to start this show called This Is Thurston, where I was interviewing different business owners and nonprofit leaders here in the greater Olympia area.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: And one of those people that I interviewed was the previous owners of Ricardo's, Rick and Marie Nelson.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I interviewed them for their restaurant, and they had told me, hey, we're about to open this coffee shop right across the hallway, and we're gonna call it Royce Marie Bean Bar.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, oh my gosh, that's so cool.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: I think me and Kenzie were dating at the time.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, uh, my girlfriend and me have always wanted to open a coffee shop, and we just think that would be so so cool.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, okay, cool.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: That was kind of the end of that conversation.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: And then about a year and a half later, COVID happened.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: And Rick and Marie had reached out to me and they said, Hey, we, you know, with everything kind of happening in the world, um, we really need to focus on the steakhouse and we want to sell the coffee shop.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Would you guys be interested in buying the coffee shop off of us?
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: And we were like, Yeah, like totally.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: That would be that'd be awesome.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: And so it was kind of an interesting time.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: It was November of 2020, and there was no cars in the parking lot, there was no people in the buildings, like within a block of that location.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: But somehow we pulled it off, and uh here we are almost six years later.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, starting from COVID, you know, COVID was a crazy time to where we were stuck indoors, and the fact that you guys have been able to make a successful story out of it is just awesome.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, appreciate it.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I have to ask, what's the story behind the name Ebony and Ivory?
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's a great question.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's a really good question.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: So, Ebony and Ivory.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: There's about a hundred reasons that we chose that name.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: So my my wife is white, and I'm black, obviously.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of people think that's the reason that we chose the name.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's not actually.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: That's just one of those cool things, it just kind of happened.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like coincidental.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: It was coincidental.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: Really, we are both musicians, so I played piano, and it was a nod to the fact that I played piano, and the ebony and ivory idea was more so thinking about the keys on a piano.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then we made a logo that has a coffee cup with a treble plef coming out as his team.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so, really, the name Ebony and Ivory was more so a nod to the fact that we're musicians, and then I'm a big Stevie Wonder fan.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: So obviously, his song Ebony and Ivory was a song that I liked.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: And the message of that song is Ebony and Ivory live together in perfect harmony, together in perfect harmony, creating community, being the living room of our community.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: It just all kind of worked really well together.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: You can have dark coffee, you can have light coffee, all of that, multiple different themes kind of fit into Ebony and Ivory.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: And then it just works really well that we're an interracial couple.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: No, definitely.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: I think that what you just shared, your whole story behind it, really sums up what you can experience there and just you and your wife in general, how your story came to be.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's just a perfect name for you.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: I I just have to say that to perfect.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: So that brings us to this next chapter for your Lacey location.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: What inspired the recent renovation for Lacey?
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Midtown Lacey has a lot of redevelopment and new development happening.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so we needed to keep it up.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: So uh Ricardo's just got uh newly renovated.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: There's a new restaurant right across the street called Bodega.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: They're building a whole bunch of apartments right across the street from us.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: They got a new concept coming in called the yard, which they just started construction on.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: So this whole area is kind of being revamped.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: And so we figured it would be the perfect time to renovate the coffee shop and then also, in tandem with that, renovate the event space that is connected to the coffee shop.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: So the word that kind of came to mind for us is elevate.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: We just want to elevate the experience.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: We want to somehow create a more modernized approach to how we do this business.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: And we've been here for almost six years, and it's just been the same.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: So we wanted something a little bit different.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: We also have two other locations, one in Tacoma, one in Federal Way.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: And if you've ever been to those locations, they're pretty upscale.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: So they're a little more modern, or they were, they were a little bit more modern, a little bit fancier, and so we wanted Lacey to match the vibe of those other two locations, and so that's what we did.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: Let's give our listeners a little tour.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: What's exactly changed in the updated space?
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: Well, there's a couple changes.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: We had a conference room in the back part of our cafe, but it was a little bit awkward because we had two big tables and there were 10 seats at each table, and the room was kind of echoey.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: If you had like two or three people sitting back there, it was a little bit awkward to sit at the same table as somebody else.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: So it just didn't really work the way that we wanted it to.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: So we took that conference room completely out, and then we built an additional little kitchen, pantry, storage area for ourselves in part of the area where the conference room was, and then we just opened up the space in there.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: So took the conference room wall down, extended our seating to be like more two tops and four tops instead of two ten-top tables.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the main part of what we did inside of the shop.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: But the bigger vision with the remodel was somehow connecting the hub event space to our coffee shop.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: So now what we have right behind our bar is this giant order window.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's like eight feet long, four feet tall, and it connects into the hub.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're sitting in the hub and we're gonna have all new furniture and a big TV in the hub, if you want to just hang out and chill in the hub, you can order directly from Ebony and Ivory and then just hang out.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: Another big change, and this one was like controversial.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: Some people are a little bit sad about it, but we had a bookshelf that had a secret door that opened up into the hub.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: And we did get rid of that.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: It was breaking and a little bit like janky.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: So we got rid of the bookshelf, and now we just have this large opening.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: So if people walk into our coffee shop, they can see the hub and easily walk over to the hub and hang out.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: That this whole vision for your elevation of the Lacey location really incorporates you also being part of this bigger space to where people come into.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm really excited to see when all of the renovations are done, definitely make a stop by there to see just the complete vision that you guys had for this elevation.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: I really love that phrase of it's not a renovation, but an elevation of what Ebony and Ivory in Lacey is.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: So we talked about the shop itself, but I love to hear about the people who have become part of its story.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: So, to you, what has being part of the Lacey community meant to you?
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: Oh man, I think back to the very first week of us being open.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: It might have even been before we like maybe like a week or two before, people in this area started hearing, okay, there's gonna be this new coffee shop in town.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: And there's this big networking group called Bring that had reached out and they said, Hey, can we utilize the coffee shop and the hub every Friday to do our networking group?
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: And we'll promote Ebony and Ivory, we'll promote you guys, try to get you some business and get you in front of a whole bunch of business owners here in town.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: And now every single Friday, they seriously, the only time they've really missed is during our remodel, and they're back now.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: But every Friday morning, there's like 50 to 75 local business owners that meet right here at Ebony and Ivory, and they've been huge supporters of us since literally day one.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: And without their support, this would have been a lot harder.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: I can guarantee you that.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's been great having that networking group meet here.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: But then throughout the week, I see a bunch of those people doing one-on-one meetings here at the coffee shop and developing deeper relationships with each other, and it's been really great to see.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: And then we also hosted Lacey Rotary here for several years, and it was great to have a lot of those connections as well.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: But the Lacey community, just overall, it's kind of known to be a pretty tight-knit community, especially on the business owner side of things.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody just knows each other.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's not necessarily a small town by any means, but it certainly has that small town feel.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the purpose of this is to really give our listeners a view into the different areas they can visit and for them to hear that Lacey is just a community that's so welcoming, that's so supportive of one another.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's more enticing for them to come and visit.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: So we have to talk about the menu because I'm sure someone listening is already planning a coffee stop.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: What would you recommend ordering on a first visit?
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's a great question.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I am an energy drink kind of guy, and that surprises people.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's like I own a coffee shop, but I like energy drinks.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's just who I am.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: That being said, we've got a lot of good stuff on our menu.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: Coffee people are interesting.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like you've got like coffee people, and if you're like a coffee snob type of person, I would recommend that you just try our espresso.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: So two shots over ice.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: Just try it, it's good.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: If you are just a coffee person, you like to have just a morning coffee, but you need the sugar in it.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: My recommendation would be the ebony and ivory, which is our take on a classic black and white mocha.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: The thing that we're really known for is our coffee flights.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: So every month we choose a barista.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, the baristas choose themselves.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: One of our baristas at one of our three locations develops a coffee flight of four different drinks.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so every month we have people that come in to try those new flavors.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: So every single month we're launching at least four new drinks that we've never done before.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: So there's always something new to try at Ebony and Agri.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: I really love that you guys involve your employees to really take ownership of their presence there at the coffee shop and showing that they're so proud of it.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: I made this flight and seeing the people purchase it as well.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_01: I can just imagine how they feel being the who had created that flight.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's so awesome that you guys do that.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: And it just shows that it's not just you behind the scenes, but you're also including your employees as well.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's a lot of fun.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: We we really enjoy it.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: So now that we have our coffee order figured out, let's make a day of it.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: Where would you send someone visiting Thurston County after they grab a coffee at Ebony and Ivory?
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, there's all kinds of places that I would send somebody.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, for me personally, I'm probably going to go to a trail somewhere.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: One thing that's really cool about living in Thurston County or the Olympia area is there's a lot of trails and walks, and you could go to the waterfront, whatever.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: I would probably personally go to Tony State Park because it's here in Lacey, and you can see the water, and you can go on a nice hike through the woods.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's a lot of fun.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of other things to do in Thurston County as well, but that would probably be my recommendation.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so new to the area, so that's definitely gonna be something on my list that I have to go and visit for sure.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: So we talked about the people, the place, and what makes it special.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: So before we wrap up, I want to give you the final word.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: Finish this sentence.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: Thurston County is Thurston County is Thurston County is not finished.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: What do I mean by that?
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: I think there's a lot of growth happening in Thurston County right now.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: You talk about the Lacey location of Ebony and Ivory, and it's like you walk around the block, just around the Lacey location of Ebony and Ivory, and you're gonna see four or five different projects just right here on the block.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: But Tumwater has a lot of cool things going on.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's like every time I drive to Tumwater, there's something new, whether it's those new retail buildings over by Tumwater Middle School or the craft district and all the stuff that they've got going on over there.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: Every time I drive to Yelm, there's something new happening out there.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's like Yelm's gone through a huge transformation over the last decade.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: But really, everywhere you go in Thurston County, it's just it's just not finished.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's growing, it's transforming, it's elevating.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: So that's how I would finish that sentence.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: I totally agree.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, for EOV, we represent all of Thurston County.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: And just hearing about all the different projects that are starting up, the initiatives that people want to begin, I think, like you said, it's just ever growing.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm excited to see what Thurston County has for the future.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, me too.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: I think we've given everyone a reason to put Ebony and Ivory on their Thurston County list.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: Kenan, thank you so much for joining me and sharing your story.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's been fun hearing how it all started and what went into this next chapter for your Lacey shop.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: Now that we've talked about it, you've heard the story, gotten a little taste of what makes it special, and hopefully you're ready to discover it for yourself.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: You can find Ebony and Ivory Coffee at 676 Woodland Square Loop Southeast, Suite A105 in Lacey.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: Visit ebonyvorycoffee.com for current hours, menus, and more information.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: And that's just one of the many reasons to explore Thurston County.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: For those of you working in hospitality or helping welcome visitors, stop by and find your favorite order.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: The next time someone asks where to grab a local coffee, you'll have a recommendation and a little story behind it to share.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: Ready to see what is waiting for you?
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: Head to experienceolymphia.com and meet Ollie Baivali, your guide to discovering more places to go, things to do, and adventures to find throughout Thurston County.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: Because sometimes the best adventures aren't the ones you plan, they're the ones you discover.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: Until next time, talk Thirston.