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S5:E18 - Jen Byard, Communal · Coffee People Podcast

0:02
I'm Andrea. One of the hosts of the voice of
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San Diego podcast, Every week I get together with the other
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editors at voice and explain the news that matters in San Diego
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elections, politics law, enforcement, big investigations,
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and some fun stuff. The great palm tree debate,
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ranked Choice, voting bike lane Mania.
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It's great journalism and a lot of fun, every Friday for every
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listen to podcasts. Again, that's voice of San
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Diego. Hey, good morning everyone.
0:47
Welcome to season 5, episode, 18 of the roast West Coast coffee
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podcast. I'm Ryan Walton.
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This is the show where I bring you the stories of coffee
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professionals, entrepreneurship and coffee education.
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And sometimes we drink coffee. I'm drinking one right now A
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Really thanks for coming back to listen to this show.
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I'm really looking forward to sharing my conversation.
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With Jen byard with you gen, founded, communal coffee and is
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the owner of the growing communal.
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Hospitality Empire the newest communal space on offer is in
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Oceanside, California. Not far from my home.
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In what has become a coffee destination?
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Due to the proliferation of coffee shops and Roasters, all
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within walking distance, of each other, including North County
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Roasters, Seaborn banana, dang. And even to, of this shows
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industry partners, Camp coffee company and the soon to be
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opened ignite Coffee Company. The City of Oceanside is even
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created a coffee trail map, which I'll share and link to on
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roast westcoast.com. While you're listening today, be
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sure to follow this show at roast West Coast and at communal
1:51
coffee on Instagram and go to communal coffee.com to see menus
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retail and visuals. They're all pretty cool looking
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and the design is fantastic. You can find those links in the
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show notes or subscribe to this shows newsletter on roast
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westcoast.com which is also where you can be sure that this
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show will drop first. Every week today's episode is
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coming to you from the road. I'm recording in my hometown of
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I saw Wisconsin this week. Shout out to the local coffee
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shops. I've already stopped at the ugly
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mug and tuck me coffee company. Thanks for the great service
2:23
this week and a Holy balls to Mere Rosenberg.
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It was great running into you at the cafe and I really appreciate
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what you've done for my hometown by.
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Now, you should have a full cup of coffee or perhaps a dirty,
2:35
chai latte, industry partner steady-state.
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Roasting makes an incredible chai but whatever it is you're
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drinking. Will the steam off the top.
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Take a sip and let the flavors explode.
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It in your mouth swallow and then feel the relaxation course
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through you. What a moment.
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Thanks for being here. It's time for this roast West
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Coast interview with the owner founder, entrepreneur behind
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communal, Jen byard. Thanks for inviting me to so
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fun. Actually, I haven't done a
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coffee anything for a while now that we're kind of in these
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other areas I feel like sometimes coffee gets the
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backside. So this is pretty exciting.
3:18
So thank you. Well, I'm glad I actually
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remember sitting at your shop and Florida street.
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I was living over on like, right on right on a first year.
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I was living in Florida Street. Yeah.
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Right. Around the corner there and when
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that first opened and I remember sitting there and feeling like
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this feels different than the other coffee shops I've been to.
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So, I was excited. And then I recently went to your
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newest location up in Oceanside. I thought, why haven't I reached
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out to communal yet? You know, I've done five seasons
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of the show. Thank you.
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That's and that one was such a fun one to build based on all
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the things I've learned over these last six years, you know.
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So oh sure. It's my favorite.
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Don't tell anyone that it is actually like, you know, as you
4:02
grow Build. It's like, oh this is this one
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actually is a product of all my successes and mistakes.
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So right, you have a foundation of knowledge to work with.
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It's pretty great before we get too far.
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I should say, welcome to the show.
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Roast West Coast Guard, be my guest.
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And if you wouldn't mind, just let everyone know who you are
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and what your company is and kind of what you consider your
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job title to be. Yeah.
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So my name is Jen byard and I own Communal, previously,
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communal coffee. But now we've dropped the coffee
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because it's, you know, definitely more of a Marketplace
4:38
concept. At this time, with a good, you
4:41
know, a strong coffee program. Yeah, I'm the founder and still
4:46
the sole owner, and, yeah, that's pretty much what I'm
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doing right now, we've just opened our third one in
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Oceanside and I'm learning a lot.
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So well, your first one we should say, is kind of right on
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the edge of North Park and Hillcrest in San Diego.
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And where's the second one? So our second one is a vintage
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trailer in South Park. So it's a vintage trailer with a
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really nice outdoor lot where people can sit and then it has a
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retail concept store next to it attached to it, that has some
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indoor seating as well, so a little different than the first
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one but definitely fits the vibe of South Park which is where I
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live. It's very neighborhood oriented
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and I'm going to get to all of that communal stuff but I want
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to kind of ask you a little bit about your background first.
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You weren't yes. Essentially in coffee before
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opening a coffee shop is Is my understanding right?
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I'm off. Where did you come from?
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What was your path to getting to a point where you thought?
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I'm going to open a coffee shop? Well, I was born and raised in
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the Seattle area. So definitely, you know, coffee
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was in my blood. I remember kind of first getting
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into coffee, like I was a senior in high school going to
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Starbucks became a iced, hazelnut latte addict in 1989.
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And I feel I was like, my first tiger real introduction to
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something that wasn't like, you know, I was raised on a farm.
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So whatever we were drinking on the farm, folders, or whatever.
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So yeah, I always give props to Starbucks because they, they
6:14
were obviously the foundation of what we're all doing and coffee,
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which is great. Yeah.
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But I feel like I learned a lot in the 90s in Seattle, there was
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all these like pop-up little coffee carts in front of
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basically every corner and building and my mom had one of
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those. So even though I was like a punk
6:32
kid and didn't want to Work for her.
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I watched her like, grow this little coffee cart in front of
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this downtown, Seattle, building and got excited about coffee at
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that point, but never really worked in coffee until I opened
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this business. So, I am an odd person to be in
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it, but some of my desires for the business were, you know,
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kind of Beyond coffee. Also coffee was just a really
6:52
great vehicle for us to produce the spaces that we made.
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It's really interesting that you had a maybe you didn't realize
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it at the time but it's someone to inspire you or someone to
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fall whose path you could follow and being an entrepreneur, I
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always find. It's interesting to know what,
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entrepreneurs parents did. My parents are entrepreneurs as
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well. Yeah, and I tried to escape that
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world for a long time and realized, you know, there's just
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no way around it. What what careers were.
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What did you jump into then before getting into communal?
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Yeah. A non-profit for 15 years, to be
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honest, that was like my first like real career but it wasn't
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just, I wasn't just running it. I kind of opened some new you
7:35
know departments basically in that nonprofit.
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So there was a huge entrepreneurial side and that's
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also kind of where I feel like I learned like Hospitality
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motivating people leadership skills and those things like
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those parts but I didn't really like learning that phase.
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I running a business and what that looked like.
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So that was all, you know, later in life, but that nonprofit for
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15. Ears.
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I feel like was where I really got gained a desire for
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Hospitality making people feel welcome, creating spaces that,
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you know, made people feel good and that's was one of my main
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motivations for opening communal as well.
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Having people come into a space and feeling welcome, but also
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just inspired, you know, like to create and do their own thing.
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So, one of the main reasons as well, Sure.
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Was there a Tipping Point where you decided that you wanted to
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go off and create your own thing.
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You weren't just going to be representing someone else's
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thing or a non profit. Nonprofit work.
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Can be addicting, but also a little thankless sometimes and
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it's a lot of work. So what was that motivator?
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You know. I feel like some of the things
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in that nonprofit though to for me cuz I was like a national
8:41
director, I learned how to create stories that inspired
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people because I was like a fundraiser as well.
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All those things. But then moving forward I have
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three sons teenagers now, but the time they were a little, I
8:54
have a son with Down Syndrome, so he had needed a little extra,
8:57
you know, attention and so I just felt like, at that point in
9:00
my life, I needed to do something where my time was a
9:02
little bit more my own. So I, you know, hashtag this,
9:07
you know, decide to become a stay-at-home mom, but I have our
9:11
hardcore ADHD and all the things like most entrepreneurs.
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And so, yes, I was able to like be home when my kids were home.
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But then I was also just inspired and excited about other
9:22
things. So I created three small
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businesses kind of in the Art and Design world in the next
9:26
five years. Like two thousand, ten to
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Fifteen and kind of figured out what I liked about small
9:32
business and what I didn't like. And yeah I think those all those
9:37
things all helped me. Learn and grow, because I'm a
9:40
biology degree like a zero business background but figured
9:43
out kind of like how to run a small business and then take it
9:45
to the next level with communal. And the reasons for opening
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communal were were different. You know I really wanted to
9:51
create a space where people felt inspired and welcome but also I
9:55
felt like it needed to be also a space where I wasn't the only
9:59
person that had to be there in order for it to be successful.
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So treat in a space where I could be an employer and have
10:06
the space be running and functioning without me there
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because I do have a lot of outside, you know, commitments
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as well. So that was part of the
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inspiration. Well, when you decided to go
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into that space communal, open as coffee and flowers and you
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had this big sign out front line during the building process
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coffee and flowers and it just wasn't something that I had seen
10:28
before. I wasn't into coffee at the
10:30
time, I just like, going to coffee shops.
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Yeah. What what?
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Brought those two things together?
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Why was the flowers? The other half of that, that
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concept and I will say for anyone who is listening you
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should go on Instagram and look at the Instagrams, because the
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design throughout is impeccable. Hmm.
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You know, that was actually totally like a blessing and a
10:53
curse. Right?
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Is an accident because that first shop like at $0.
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So I was like, painting the building myself and like going
11:01
through the city process like learning all these business
11:03
lessons, right? And so at one point, we were
11:06
just waiting on the city and I was like oh we might as well
11:09
just like paint the mural. While we're waiting and little,
11:11
did I know that once we painted that mural at created like this
11:14
buzz in the neighborhood, So that was a very accidental,
11:18
smart move. Basically the blessing and the
11:21
curse was no one. Even knew our name was communal
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for like the first four years. So yeah, I learned some branding
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lessons but I'm definitely not sorry.
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But that concept came out of, you know, one of my businesses
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before communal was called makers arcade.
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And so I worked with local makers and we have these big
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fairs, you know, biannually. It was really fun.
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I have a very strong desire. A collaboration with local
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vendors people that make their own things, small business, and
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it kind of stemmed out of that when I was looking at a space to
11:54
create kind of like a co-working space where makers could come
11:57
and create their goods, that it also had a coffee shop and a
12:00
retail shop, it was a space before the space.
12:03
We ended up in on Texas and, and in the end, when I wreck really
12:07
looked at it, the two things to me that seemed the most unique
12:10
and the most, like, a strong partnership was the coffee
12:13
piece, something that was very quality and craft Coffee as well
12:16
as something beautiful like flower.
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So that's that's kind of how that came about.
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It was like the third space we looked at, but I'm really happy
12:24
that it came about, you know, being attached to a nursery and
12:27
just on that corner. It just, you know, we had kind
12:29
of the three things we needed to be successful, you know,
12:32
drive-by traffic, neighborhood by in.
12:35
And then also just destination traffic from being online and
12:39
being something that was kind of interesting and unique in the
12:41
neighborhood. So, well, in that location
12:45
wasn't Early in the heart of things at the time, it's become
12:49
a destination. But I think at the time, it was
12:51
kind of out of the way. It was the place you drove past
12:54
to get to where you were going unless you live there.
12:57
And there was nothing. You were always leaving to go to
12:59
Hillcrest or North Park. So you filled it and I need in
13:03
that little corner of the world and you have a believe, a
13:08
long-standing partnership with Psych class coffee up in the Bay
13:11
Area. Hmm, how did that?
13:13
Come about, why decide on them? As Has your coffee provider
13:17
since you're not you're not roasting your own coffees,
13:19
right? What makes them fit with what
13:22
you guys do. I mean, you know, in the
13:24
beginning because I was from Seattle and I love Portland.
13:27
I spent a lot of time up there and that beginning phase of
13:30
looking for coffee. And I swear, I had the biggest
13:33
gut ache. I tasted every espresso, you
13:36
know, in the whole Northwest. And I really just in the end
13:41
after looking through everything in Seattle, and Portland, and
13:44
San Francisco felt like both our flavor profile, but also, just
13:48
their customer service, I just felt the most connected to them
13:51
and that honestly, their whole Sales manager at the time, just
13:54
really pursued us and really tried to help us open.
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I knew nothing like bar layout, all that stuff, you know.
14:00
I was, um, very overly confident.
14:02
And I just was like we can figure this out and he's like,
14:05
you can, but this looks dumb. Like let me out this week and so
14:11
he just gave a lot. And then over the years to I
14:14
like I said I feel very committed to even like in our
14:17
retail sections. I we predominantly by from small
14:19
businesses. I felt very committed to their
14:22
story. And what they produced and their
14:25
direct trade model and all of that.
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And I still, I feel like they still really are our best
14:31
partner. You know, we have very close
14:33
relationship with them. I love everyone in the company
14:37
from the owners to our whole. So, directors, to everyone, they
14:40
come down and train, and they're always such a good attitude
14:43
about our partnership and our always, just willing to go above
14:46
and beyond for us. And so, and I love that fact
14:48
that we've had them since day one to and were one of their
14:51
main vendors down. Here in San Diego.
14:54
So it's also an unique thing to get down here.
14:56
They're in La now. So that's a little different,
14:57
but nothing else really in San Diego.
15:01
I've lived in Southern California for just under 10
15:05
years and part of that time in LA and most of it here.
15:10
And I still think of La as its own Island happens in Allah as
15:14
its own thing. And I don't know why I feel that
15:17
way, but I just do. I didn't ask you this earlier
15:21
and I meant to but you mentioned that you Up to coffee from the
15:24
communal coffee name. But what is where did the
15:26
communal part of it come from? I mean I think it is pretty
15:29
self-explanatory. Yeah.
15:31
Reasons. But it you know was there
15:33
anything else to that and and how does it kind of represent?
15:37
What you've continued to do as the company's expanded?
15:41
Yeah, you know, I mean the word communal obviously means that
15:45
it's something that is shared by a community and for me, you
15:49
know, even what you said earlier about going into a space that
15:52
wasn't popular yet. That is kind of my vibe.
15:55
I really want to go into places where we're going to help
15:59
improve and you know, give to a community and for communal to
16:04
each space. Like I'm not interested in being
16:06
a franchise, you know, been approached obviously by
16:09
franchise isn't. I'm not interested in that.
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I want each space to feel and represent the community that's
16:15
in. So, for example, North Park, our
16:17
Flagship, you know, and I built that.
16:19
I obviously have my own design aesthetic and by, but I wanted
16:22
it to feel like North Park and then in South Park, if you like
16:25
the trailer is like such a good fit for South Park and the vibe
16:28
there because it's such a neighborhood shop and then
16:30
Oceanside, you know, I spent I'm not from Oceanside.
16:33
So I spent time up there beforehand, really understanding
16:36
the community, get going to businesses feeling like that,
16:39
what that would feel like and that shop.
16:41
It feel different than North Park and South Park.
16:43
So, even though I think branding experts and all those folks are
16:47
like, you know, you need to just create spaces that look all the
16:49
same. I'm just not about that.
16:52
And so it's exciting to me to like, take this concept and
16:55
create, you know, spaces for people in the communities that
16:58
they're in, that represent them and their, how they feel.
17:01
And even the products are slightly different and the
17:03
offerings are different. And you know, my next concept is
17:07
maybe going to be a little different but same.
17:08
Same Vibe, you know, same same neighborhood.
17:11
So, it's creating spaces for people where they live?
17:15
Well, I would say that it's a success then in that, when I
17:18
walked into the ocean side, communal, it was different.
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But I knew that I was in a communal as well.
17:24
There is some there, their design Aesthetics, that kind of
17:28
go through the brand. Was that something that you had
17:33
experience in Pro? I mean, I remember makers
17:35
arcade, but for you, how did you attack the design of this, this
17:40
company? And how is it?
17:41
Changed over time and I would go to that to that next step of
17:47
Oceanside. Your most recent location is a
17:51
has been growing like crazy. And has been expelled, bringing
17:54
in all kinds of new companies business, but it's still a very
17:57
local community for sure. How did you address that with
18:01
the, with this shop in particular, and moving for?
18:04
Yeah, you know, for me, to be honest, like, when you open
18:08
something as popular, you do get approached by a lot of People to
18:11
build the next thing and for me, because my, my model isn't like
18:16
growth for the sake of growth, to be honest.
18:19
I am picky about who I choose to partner with, and so part of
18:23
Oceanside, honestly, was just waiting for the right Partners
18:26
to do that with. And so, the developer that I did
18:29
that with and I have the same mindset and then that was our
18:33
first collaborative project where there's other businesses
18:36
in the complex that I knew would be partnering with.
18:38
So, really thinking through who those businesses, As were and
18:41
how we fit together and some of those businesses are local
18:45
Oceanside businesses. So when we met with owners, it
18:47
was like they could help us. That weren't from the
18:50
neighborhood really understand what the neighborhood was
18:52
looking for? And I love, I love that space.
18:55
We have this giant common space in the back, everyone calls it
18:59
communal and I'm like I want to charge them for it but they it's
19:02
like this beautiful space that we all hosts have been together
19:06
and it's very collaborative which is all what I'm about.
19:10
Sometimes that's And all the people don't want to get into
19:12
those type of situations because it's messy, but to me, like, as
19:16
we grow, we've only been there, seven months.
19:18
And just the things we've already been able to produce for
19:20
the neighborhood and the community.
19:22
There, you know, is amazing and that space also has a created,
19:28
an event space as a separate space attached to the cafe.
19:31
Because my heart still really is in being able to create events
19:35
and spaces and offer that space to Neighborhood Community
19:38
organizations and things. So that's kind of like Like the
19:41
next, I think phase of communal is being able to really partner
19:45
with the community with events as well.
19:48
Hey, cool. Yeah, I didn't actually know
19:49
that backspace existed until I had already finished my coffee
19:52
and was just kind of wandering around like, what I'm like I
19:55
wonder what this this aisle leads out to and wolves was kind
19:59
of Blown Away by it all. Yeah, I would imagine the South
20:04
Park location the, the, which sounds to would be mostly
20:08
Outdoors, was probably a great Advantage during covid.
20:12
But how have you navigated the last two years?
20:16
I mean, as a As a Founder in an owner, you're not just coming up
20:20
with the logistics. You have all these people who
20:22
are depending on you, how did you handle that?
20:26
Yeah, I think, you know, like all business owners during that
20:29
time, we all just adapted as things went.
20:31
But again, with the entrepreneurial mind that I
20:35
have, I feel like I'm always kind of up for a challenge and
20:37
while I definitely had to like, adjust my expectations for my
20:41
business, during that time, I feel like I just was able to
20:45
like, time and time again. See what my staff for like both
20:50
willing and able to do during that time who wanted to stay in
20:53
the mix, who wanted to you know not be around.
20:56
And all those things are in that time.
20:58
And, and yeah, we all adjusted our platform million times that
21:03
LOL. I don't think anyone would
21:05
disagree with that. It's like, how many things can
21:08
you honestly offer to go at some point you're tapped out, but I'm
21:12
thankful. I feel like, you know, I made
21:14
some personal adjustments during that time, I had a life coach to
21:18
really help me think through my mind, set on life and business
21:21
during that time like definitely like took control of my own, you
21:25
know, No personal things, and mental health, and all that, and
21:29
making sure that I was paying attention to that.
21:31
So that I could handle all these things.
21:33
Because, you know, this point were, you know, were over 60
21:36
employees and that I, to be honest before we started, I
21:39
never really thought about what it would mean to be an employer
21:43
and that's been one of the most surprisingly wonderful things
21:47
about being a business owner and challenging at the same time.
21:51
And so, you know, going through two years where people had very
21:55
differing Opinions, both it with your staff, and with your, the
21:59
communities that you're in North Park, in South Park is very
22:01
different than Oceanside and all that.
22:04
It's been a huge growth thing for me.
22:06
And I feel like for our company as well, you know, we've gone
22:09
through it and I feel like we're stronger on the other end
22:11
because of it, you know, and I know we're not completely
22:14
through it. But at this point we all have a
22:16
I think I'm more, you know, grace-filled and, you know, open
22:21
attitude towards each other because of what we've gone
22:23
through in the hard conversations, we've had to have
22:26
Sure, there's a different type of stress now than there was two
22:30
years ago where it was very visceral and painful for
22:32
everyone and now it's still there.
22:34
It's still hanging over us to some extent, but it's we've
22:38
learned to deal with it somewhat or manage it or at least have
22:41
tried to. Yeah, but it's not there every
22:44
now. And again, I find myself just
22:45
feeling exhausted and I have no explanation for it.
22:48
Other than just been a long couple of years.
22:51
Totally, I was talking to this morning and saying that like I'm
22:55
like it. I think it's because I've kind
22:57
of am a doer and some days, I just get up now and I'm like, I
23:00
finished the day and I'm like, what even happened today, and
23:03
that didn't feel like that before bed, but now, I'm like,
23:06
just learning to accept those days and like, you know what,
23:09
sometimes just stuff creeps up on you and that's okay.
23:12
And we don't have to like, Kick-Ass.
23:14
Can I cuss on this? We don't know.
23:15
Yeah, of course. Every day, you know, to be
23:18
successful and to feel good. So some days just suck.
23:23
Yeah, that's a concept that is easy.
23:25
I think can be easy to be said out loud, but to boot to truly
23:28
believe it and to enact in your life is much more difficult if
23:32
you are a person who is motivated as an entrepreneur.
23:36
Yeah. And you can catch yourself
23:37
saying it and going. Yeah, I do believe that and I
23:39
and you might logically but that doesn't mean emotionally.
23:42
You always for sure. A job you hinted at it earlier
23:46
that you have a next concept. I'm wondering how much can you
23:50
share about what's next for you? And what's next for the company?
23:52
And are there more cities, is there more growth?
23:56
Is there a circus on the way? You know what are we what are we
23:58
doing? If this is a circus already.
24:01
So I know I think entrepreneurs like I said it's not just for
24:07
the sake of Vite growth or financial gain, it's for me a
24:11
lot of it especially at my age is like you know what, I want
24:15
the last 15 years of my career to be about and I am thankful to
24:21
covid for that to be honest because it's helped clarify, a
24:23
lot of things. And so right now Definitely,
24:26
there's going to be more communal 's.
24:27
They definitely going to look different in every Community.
24:30
I'm trying to kind of balance out.
24:31
Now, you know, now that I'm in North County half my time, you
24:35
know, what goes up there or versus, what comes down south.
24:37
But for me to be honest, this is kind of fun.
24:39
Might the next thing I really am doing is wine bar concept that
24:45
has like a chef's table specialty, you know, Supper Club
24:49
type Vibe, and that's what I'm working on right now.
24:51
So I can't share where or when but you know, That's alright,
24:56
that's pretty special. Yeah, yeah, I love.
25:00
Like, just the concept of, you know, if you're in Venice,
25:03
there's a cecchetti concept where you come in after work,
25:07
and you get small plates and little taste of wine.
25:10
And I really just, I want to move into that phase of my life,
25:14
as my kids are going to college and I can be out more at night,
25:17
so it's selfish, why? And I don't want yes, yes, being
25:24
selfish is hard. And when my wife was really
25:27
pursuing her career, I had sometimes just be like, look,
25:30
you need to be selfish like you never hurts my feelings.
25:33
You need to do this, to get to where you need to go.
25:36
Yeah. Because I'm a very needy
25:38
husband. There's no question.
25:41
There's to know it. Oh, yeah.
25:42
It's I knew right away, and she, she knew right away.
25:47
It seems, she's so signed on good for you.
25:51
Yeah. We're about to do celebrate 20
25:53
years together. So, Listen, thank you.
25:57
They're going to be totally involved where we're an amazing
26:04
trip. I have successfully been not
26:07
great about buying jewelry. So, when I do, it's very
26:11
important. But also it's easier if she
26:14
guides me a little bit in that regard.
26:16
Yeah, you and all win. That's the, you should just
26:19
write that down because that's good advice point me in the
26:23
right direction. We're very We good about not
26:28
putting too much pressure on gift-giving on specific dates
26:32
and just buying gifts when they feel inspired.
26:35
I saw this and it made me think of you that's good.
26:40
Her birthday is coming up. And so we'd never really do
26:42
birthdays but I bought her some art that I knew that she would
26:45
like. And so those kind of things are
26:47
where we try to find our find our Niche, you mentioned your
26:51
family earlier, and I'm wondering if Are your kids now
26:57
that they are growing up? If they are similarly,
27:01
entrepreneurial, or if they are getting time in the shops to
27:04
work, Did they learn from their mom?
27:07
Like what we're that was kind of the motivator to spend time with
27:11
them. So I'm wondering how much, how
27:13
many labor laws have we broken so far?
27:17
My oldest son Lincoln is, he's in college now, in San Jose, and
27:21
he is probably the most similar to me, but he thinks I am just a
27:26
dumb ass still because he loved his mother, right?
27:30
So yes, he worked for me for like six months in the shop and
27:33
I had to fire him when he was 16.
27:35
She was A terrible employee and yeah, so it's one of those
27:40
things like, you know, again, I don't, I don't get my worth from
27:43
my kids, you know, decisions are thankfully.
27:46
But I can see in him like this entrepreneurial spirit.
27:50
And I just can't wait to see like where that comes out.
27:53
And then my youngest son Harrison, he's almost 15 kind of
27:58
same. He's like the nicest person in
28:00
our family, but I also see him like, you know, he always is
28:04
trying to start these little businesses like Like dog walking
28:07
and all these things. And so, yeah, I for sure, see
28:11
the spirit that they, you know, they're not that interested in
28:14
my business right now, to be honest because their kids but I
28:18
can see their future coming out in their motivation and the
28:21
things that they look for even though they would never ever
28:25
ever. Give me credit for that, and I
28:26
don't need it. So Bill think of it later in
28:30
life, I promise you baby. Yeah, I didn't appreciate my
28:33
parents so I had kids for sure. So I certainly have told my
28:38
parents a few times and I'm I think they're most of my
28:42
listenership they that I didn't know it then but I was inspired
28:47
by what they were doing is entrepreneurs growing up.
28:50
Yeah and and they have they have three sons to all of them work
28:54
to themselves as entrepreneurs. So that's so cool.
28:58
That's a even my kids like, I'm obviously like a proponent of
29:01
them going to college, but I also told them along the way
29:04
that if they didn't. To do that and they have an idea
29:07
that they wanted to, you know, us to participate in and fund.
29:10
I would be also down for doing that as opposed to going to
29:13
college. And no one's taking me up on a
29:15
gap but we'll see. You know, you never know.
29:20
Are you know, kids stay home until they're in their 30s now.
29:22
So you'll have no no. I mean to okay so wait, here's
29:27
one more story, my my son my oldest son link and when he went
29:30
to college like I was raised on a farm you know with limited
29:35
resources So, when I went to college, I, you know, figured it
29:38
out on my own. So I was always like when my
29:41
kids are older. I hope I can like provide that
29:43
for them and when he went to college, he decided that he
29:47
would accept our funds for tuition, but not for anything
29:51
else and I literally was like what kids says no to money.
29:57
And he did his whole first year, like, you know, on his own
30:01
working, paying his own rent taking, you know, just taking
30:04
our buns for tuition and I up while I was frustrated because
30:09
I'm like, wait, I'm trying to do this for you.
30:12
I also really appreciated it and thought, you know, I wonder
30:15
where he got that from, but I do know, I come from.
30:19
I'm terrible at asking for help. Or he's already planning for a
30:24
big. Ask later down the road and he
30:26
can say, hey, do you remember when now he just independent and
30:32
motivated? And you know what?
30:34
He kicked out as he did so good. He did his whole first year with
30:38
just tuition paid for in San Jose, the most expensive place
30:41
in California. Yeah, congratulations to him and
30:45
to you because that's a success across the board.
30:49
I'm wondering if there's anything to Today that I didn't
30:52
ask you about that, you'd like to share about communal or about
30:55
yourself or your what path you've got, you know, this has
30:59
been good questions, but, you know, I I just think as a
31:02
business owner and like again, coming from a place where I
31:06
wasn't from the restaurant industry or the coffee industry,
31:09
I just feel like the biggest blessing in creating these
31:13
places. It's not for other people.
31:14
It's just been in my own life. And what I've learned and I'm,
31:18
like, I said, I'm not great at asking for help.
31:20
But along the way every time My got to a roadblock where it was
31:23
like, oh, I don't know how to handle this and being able to
31:26
draw people in whether paid or not and ask questions and how
31:31
and, and bring people in to help me develop and go to the next
31:34
place. In my business has been again,
31:36
like I said, the biggest, I feel like my own growth has been the
31:40
best part of having communal, as well as the things, I'm able to
31:44
give to other people, and it's so exciting.
31:46
I great. Now, I feel like we're at this
31:48
like really pivotal place. We just went from, you know,
31:50
with to Locations 23, like 35 to 60 employees.
31:55
This is a whole different company now, and now I'm
31:56
figuring out like, now, at this stage, like what-what, can I
32:00
provide for people that work for me, what culture cultural things
32:03
need to change? Like what needs to change in my
32:06
life? What need just needs to change,
32:08
you know, in me as a mom, as a business owner and all these
32:12
places and, you know, it's the employee portion and the
32:15
mentorship that that goes into this is as important as anything
32:19
Financial or Again, like I said, you know, before, you know,
32:24
growth wise, it's not for the sake of growth, it's for the
32:26
sake of what's created and what each space is space provides for
32:31
the people that work for me and also, the people that come in.
32:33
So and this is the best job in the world, to be honest.
32:36
So I don't say that every morning to be honest with him,
32:41
most mornings aren't you? And it's addicting.
32:45
It is addicting and it's like an 80/20.
32:47
I always have felt like that like in whatever job I was in
32:50
like if you If you love what you do 80% of the time, you're,
32:53
you're totally winning. So absolutely.
32:57
I still wake up some days and think I wish I was running a
32:59
restaurant again and then you know I have coffee and I said,
33:03
Relax to the dog and I think all that would be terrible right
33:05
now. I'm having such a good day.
33:09
We thank Starbucks earlier for getting you hooked on those iced
33:13
hazelnut coffees. What is it that you you have to
33:16
drink now besides wine, obviously.
33:18
But if you were to drink a coffee or a cough, Drink or
33:21
something related. What is it that you're going to
33:23
drink? Well, stuck alcohol first.
33:26
So okay, we do have wine and beer license now so in least,
33:29
creative Cocktails. So I'm a, I'm definitely still
33:34
red wine, girl, orange, wine, girl, Bourbon and ginger, my two
33:38
vices and then with coffee, honestly in the morning because
33:43
I'm a 50. I'm like, I can't drink coffee
33:44
all day. Like I did when I was 20, you
33:46
know? So in the morning, I just have
33:49
whatever single origin we have on at the shop.
33:51
If I make it in academics, I drink one to two cups and then
33:54
I'm kind of done for the day. But when I go and visit like
33:57
another shop, what I'm interested in or when I'm like
34:00
looking for, you know what their flavor profile is is I usually
34:03
just have a shot of espresso and cappuccino to see how their
34:06
espresso taste with milk. So and you occasional have a
34:09
pour-over. But in general, that's what I'm
34:11
like interested in when I'm out and about.
34:13
So yeah, I love coffee but I can't drink.
34:16
It afternoon any more pathetic? Now they have coffee whiskey.
34:20
So we're okay. Either way, I know, I know my
34:23
friend Trevor is the Maker's Mark repp and so we did a
34:25
workshop recently and he we, it's like a competition like who
34:29
can make the better, you know, bourbon cocktail and I mean
34:33
sorry if you're listening to every but I did win because we
34:35
vote that we brought this coffee bourbon, that was just like out
34:39
of this world and now like I mean you know, it might be in my
34:42
cup right now. I'm not going to admit to that
34:44
but what time is it? Someone that's actually.
34:47
It's after lunch. You're fine and you're not
34:50
tripping or You have weird hours.
34:53
Yeah, well some of that coffee Berman in a single origin is
34:58
it's like the thing. So well now that we're getting
35:02
into summer I'll leave you with this which is take that coffee
35:05
Bourbon and mix it in with some vanilla bean ice cream from
35:08
Tillamook ice cream. Yes.
35:11
So it's a busy avocado. Thank you so much for giving me
35:17
some of your time today and sharing with us.
35:19
I just really appreciate it and For continuing to inspire other
35:23
people with your shops. It's a very cool concept and I
35:26
enjoy going there, and I'm glad there's one in North County.
35:29
Yay! Thanks for having me appreciate
35:31
it. Okay.
35:39
To recap, I am fascinated by entrepreneurs who descended from
35:43
entrepreneurs, like Jen who had some entrepreneurial examples
35:46
growing up her mom, even ran a coffee cart in the Seattle area.
35:51
She also So spent some of her youth on a farm, both of my
35:53
parents grew up on Dairy Farms here in Wisconsin, and there are
35:56
still farmers in my family. If the few weeks, I spent every
36:00
summer jumping off mounds of hay bales with my cousin's.
36:02
As a kid, are any indicator, farmers are the original
36:05
entrepreneurs. What Jen started as communal
36:08
coffee is now communal. The name change isn't because
36:12
the coffee isn't important. I had excellent cup of single
36:15
origin trip there just recently, but because the scope of the
36:19
business has expanded community, Exists because of Jen's desire
36:23
to create spaces that welcome people in, make them feel good
36:26
and encourage them to create in a collaborative place of all the
36:30
interviews. I've done, I relate to Jen's
36:32
motivations the most, I want to create spaces for communities to
36:36
grow to. And when I was directly in
36:38
Hospitality, I was continually trying to create a place that
36:41
guests would leave feeling uplifted and with teams of
36:44
employees that supported each other, that is what communal
36:47
spaces feel like to me. And finally, la Oh, I love LA
36:52
but l.a. is definitely an island or a bunch of mini islands that
36:57
create a big island, but still love La.
37:00
Thanks to Jen for doing this interview.
37:02
I know she's busy and has a lot of stuff going on.
37:05
I hope I'm lucky enough to share a coffee or a bottle of wine
37:07
with her someday and if you're in the San Diego area, check out
37:10
communal, three locations in South Park, North part and
37:13
Oceanside you can read about my personal communal experience on
37:17
the bean Journal which is posted on roast westcoast.com for paid
37:21
Fibers or the coast news online, links will be in the newsletter
37:25
that goes out with this show. The newsletter that you should
37:29
be subscribed to come on now. What are you waiting for?
37:32
You don't want to miss any of the last episodes of season. 5
37:35
on the roast West Coast coffee podcast.
37:38
I'm looking forward to sharing the stories of Lily, quiroz
37:40
coffee consultant and Matteo Nunes of thoughts and process
37:44
coffee. Next week, I couldn't bring you
37:46
those stories without the support of my roast industry
37:48
Partners, check out and support. Zoom bar coffee and tea, most
37:53
her Coffee Company. Steady-state coffee, roasting
37:56
Camp, Coffee Company, ignite Coffee Company.
37:58
Ascend Roasters Aaron. Addison has just started
38:01
offering single origin. Twin packs at a discounted rate
38:05
to encourage coffee drinkers. To try more than one origin
38:08
side-by-side, you can find those on Ascend Roasters.com also
38:13
coffee cycle. Roasting first light whiskey
38:15
Maria coffee, Cape Horn coffee, importers and Cafe lechera links
38:20
to their Our own roast westcoast.com and I'm always
38:24
sharing and reposting their social media on the roast West
38:27
Coast Instagram. This episode of the roast West
38:30
Coast coffee podcast is was has been written produced and
38:34
recorded by me Ryan Walt. I hope to show is found you
38:38
happy healthy and with the at least enough sanity to make it
38:41
through the day. For those of you headed out for
38:44
a cup of coffee this week, please always tip your Baristas
38:48
and be sure to drink. Good coffee.
39:19
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