11: If it’s Meant to Be, it’s Up to Me! Assume it Will Work

Rich:
How do you Rich here from how’s coffee podcast. Thanks for tuning in today quick note for you. So first time this has happened to us in 11 episodes, but we didn’t have record so All right. Well look if it’s up to me. No, if it’s meant to be it’s up to That’s me, and and I blew it but you’ll hear more about that on the episode. So the good news is we do have audio for you. Okay, the bad news is that that audio is coming off of our iPhone. Video. So look give TJ a pass on this one. He’s not a miracle worker. All right, he’s gonna do what he can. but we decided we’re gonna just let this one kind of Rock out anyway because the conversation was cool. And you know, what if you’re a real one you’re gonna listen to it. And if not, I don’t even notice how you do. So try to enjoy it. All right, I appreciate you. Hey, you’re drinking House Coffee a filtered conversations brewed out the intersection of real estate life and coffee shop service.

Maggie:
We’re Maggie and Rich local business owners and Friends sharing stories and welcoming you to pull up a chair with us the doors always open. Let us

Rich:
Pour. Yeah.

Maggie:
Perfect.

Rich:
Yeah, so we

Maggie:
The rolling and

Rich:
Rolling, dude So we did make it back in one piece. He’s from our little road trip yesterday a little jaunt if you will.

Maggie:
I

Rich:
Found a sick deal on a Nespresso. So I figured we better just rock out to. Rhode Island really quick and pick that up because it was like 15 bucks used

Maggie:
Job.

Rich:
You know,

Maggie:
We’ve got this sick new timer well for sale, welcome back to healthy rich and I are so happy. You have decided to join us and Rich bought this sick alarm clock off the side of the road. I was there and we have it permanently stopped at 518. and it’s it’s a little bit touchy if you hit it and the numbers change.

Rich:
Yes podcast devotes who see our videos will recognize that there has been a clock on our table all along that was at 518. But the thing is that with that clock it was a GE vintage electronic that I like and I I had it here, but I preferred to have that story. So when I found this one, I figured I’d swap it out.

Maggie:
Yeah,

Rich:
Because both clocks are operable, but I wanted the one I’m kind of like curating a little vintage GE electronics collection at story currently like we have this Boombox from the 80s that happens to have an auxiliary input and so we can actually hook up our well actually your

Maggie:
Yeah,

Rich:
We’re gonna hook up your vintage iPhone 6 to which has the the headphone jack and

Maggie:
Why do you have my vintage iPhone 6

Rich:
Because you’re such a good friend and you lends into me you lenses me when my other phone was out of permission

Maggie:
And then you were like, oh, yeah, your phone is plugged into the boom box. Like that is the coolest thing ever.

Rich:
It’s because it has a headphone jack. So I got that plugged in to the adventures iPhone 6 plugged into the Vintage 80s GE Boombox playing our Lo-Fi chillhop. Soundtrack to story all the time and that’s cool. And now I’ve got like this. I got the clock over there and actually CJ and I were driving. Yes. So tell affiliate on that little bit TJ. Now we’re driving to Rhode Island to buy an espresso machine that I found on Facebook Marketplace or serious deal and we did a little bit of a trade in as well for some of the value of the sale price of that espresso machine because I had a machine sitting around

Maggie:
Right we talked about it on the podcast a couple weeks ago because you were talking about I think we were talking about like crunching and like like money making money or something like that. You know like yeah, I’ve got an espresso machine on Facebook Marketplace. I didn’t know I had no idea what the value was and you were like, yeah, we have it listed for like

Rich:
Five grams close to five. Okay.

Maggie:
Yeah,

Rich:
But it wasn’t it didn’t move quick which I didn’t expect it to move quickly, but it’s still good value. that said it was just sitting there and I knew if I was going to retain it, which is what I ultimately decided I had wanted to do because I have another opportunity for an espresso machine besides on the current bar of story, but Putting the work into this one was gonna be just more than I probably was willing to bargain for so when this opportunity came up to get a different machine altogether. From Facebook. I The guy was buying it from basically as a coffee roaster shout out by the way to DownEast Coffee Roasters in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Maggie:
Oh

Rich:
They had listed this this three group. Lemarzogo gb5 which is the model. I have except I have the two group which means you can steam the hand. It’s got you can make three espressos at a time. Versus the two that we’re always limited now two is like definitely adequate for pretty much anyone around here. Like I don’t know any coffee shop around the cowboy version has three group machines uncommon, right? Yes. It’s not abortion on bar yet. Like on Common Grounds has two two group machines in Saratoga. For instance, so they do need a little bit higher capacity, but they still only have the two group machines to my if I’m remembering correctly. Anyway, that’s that so but the price was nice for the for the one I got and because I knew that the guy had refurbished this and had that like his team had that ability. I was like well, hey, I’ve got this other one. I was trying to get this price. What if you took it in trade for this lower price knowing he could flip kind of flip it and then I could get like on the one so it all really worked out pretty nicely.

Maggie:
You mind sharing what like you’re all in like are you got it for

Rich:
It was listed 7,000 which Okay, just somebody that’s like sounds like a lot but that is that is pennies for an espresso machine, especially at three group espresso machine. I could have easily paid 20 grand for

Maggie:
Why so then skeptic and not trying to visit

Rich:
2009.

Maggie:
Okay, so

Rich:
It’s age. So the one I gave him was a 2012 for instance and then not only that. There’s cool things with one 2009 so it’s old. Two is a three group. And like I said, most people actually aren’t shopping for three groups even even though the price was great. Like you still have to have the power supply for it. You still have to have the room for it and you got to have to kind of the need for it. It’s nice to have three groups, but in most cases it’s gonna be Overkill. So

Maggie:
Interesting.

Rich:
So I was like because of what I have going on in the background, which I’m probably not going to say too much about today, but then we in the next. couple episodes that I’m sure it’ll come up because we’re just kind of like solidifying the details. So it’s I don’t know where it’s gonna end up. I think sure I think right now is going to start at story. Because the current machine on our bar. This confusing I had two. Of the same machine. I had two two group gv5 Lamar zoko espresso machines. Okay one is currently on bars story. It’s that big.

Maggie:
Yep,

Rich:
The big Silver video you I have the exact same machine from our second store on Union Street kind of left over and that was sitting on the floor in the back of the shop as you

Maggie:
Had listed for sale

Rich:
For a long time. And that was the one listed for so I didn’t necessarily need it. It needed some work. and I had them both and so I still have the one that was on the bar and then I took the one that was on the floor and I traded it for this. Um three this new machine.

Maggie:
Did it cost you

Rich:
To me, but it wasn’t a trade in. Yes. I traded it for about for it was like so seven dollars. He took $3,000 trade-in value on that and then I got this machine for Grand cash money, which is freaking sick, dude. Yeah, and it’s so okay. And the reason I wanted the reason I said I would do this is because this machine is pristine. They it’s almost like a it’s basically fully rebuilt the boilers. Are the part that makes the water hop in its wrestle machine like these you have two boilers. Okay one is for steam. So like steaming Lots I go now and there’s a wad and it goes into the milk pressure that makes sure your heart

Maggie:
You like college Cafe campus, which was caused Lakeside Cafe. We did serve proudly serve Starbucks Coffee word. So,

Rich:
You know

Maggie:
Make a latte or cappuccino.

Rich:
Yesterday I’m sure you can so that there’s a boiler dedicated to that situation creating a steam pressure and there’s a second boiler dedicated to just brewing the coffee. and that’s what makes that’s part of what makes llamorozogo machines. That’s not I mean that’s that’s true in a lot of different commercial. coffee machines espresso machines but in particular with a lot more zip code that’s like that’s a key. That’s a really key component and just

Maggie:
We should put a picture of another Instagram.

Rich:
You’re so right.

Maggie:
You can

Rich:
See this is so beautiful. It’s actually matte black and it’s just so nice

Maggie:
Here. Is it right now? Is it in here? It’s on the floor and in the story. Okay

Rich:
CJ and I got it in the shop. We got it up on the bar. And then I realized that my current power supplies actually only the 30 amp that was for the two group and I didn’t actually plan ahead and think. Oh, I need 50 amps for this

Maggie:
Thing.

Rich:
So I I got to get in touch with the electrician who did all that for me. To figure out what the current

Maggie:
If you need an electrician illegal.

Rich:
I actually I mean we’ll see it’s possible in the position. But anyway

Maggie:
Very exactly what I do.

Rich:
I ultimately think that the final destination of this particular machine is in the new opportunity with the new opportunity and I’m pretty excited about that because it’s gonna be a game changer over there.

Maggie:
Well with this new opportunity you have you should assume it will work.

Rich:
You’re so right because imagine doing something that you just like. Didn’t think would be that great.

Maggie:
You know, who does that?

Rich:
Not me? Oh wait. Wait is that we’re talking about that’s

Maggie:
What we’re talking about today. Oh great transition. Oh, yeah, I’m gonna give myself a point for that. Yeah, today’s episode. We are sort of. Titling it Loosely right now assume it will work. Because when I went maybe a year ago when we were meeting at Arthur’s. And we were planning mode for this podcast. So we’ll call it summer of 2022.

Rich:
Definitely called All of 2022.

Maggie:
Yeah, very basically. and we were kind of like conceptualizing, like what this podcast was gonna look and sound and feel like and I think I you know with with the Idea of starting something new it can be a intimidating, right? You know, we you don’t really know if like all the time and energy you put into something is going to succeed and I think that’s how we both felt about this podcast like

Rich:
Yeah

Maggie:
After all this time all this effort and energy are we just gonna flop and so those of you listening we had that same fears when we were planning this podcast like as there’s nobody gonna listen and who knows maybe only two people still listened Becca and Jen and so,

Rich:
Thanks guys.

Maggie:
Thank you so much, but in reality, like

Rich:
We know I’m

Maggie:
Not understand but I was like, well, we should just assume it’s going to work. I mean that’s kind of what we have to do if we’re gonna continue moving forward with this and what did you say Rich. Did you say that with storied you being like if you assume storage would work?

Rich:
Yeah. Yeah. I don’t know if we run across this in our in our actual episodes since but Yeah, see me. Oh, and then I was basically said something like yeah, man, if I had done I was a story I’d be in a different place right now. That’s

Maggie:
To which I replied wait a minute. You didn’t assume storied would work and so like that discussion that we had. I was just my mind was blown and I was like, we we need to talk about this on the podcast and here we are almost a year later. Yeah finally talking about it

Rich:
And we had our like list of top our list of the first maybe five or ten ideas for episodes. Yeah.

Maggie:
This

Rich:
Was on that list. And as episode 11,

Maggie:
Here we are. so I guess my question for you. Rich is. Why would you own a coffee shop? If or why would you open a coffee shop if you assumed it wasn’t going to work.

Rich:
There’s a that’s a great question. I it’s all right, it’s not that I didn’t. It’s not that I assumed it wouldn’t work. Right. It’s Okay, there’s a different ways to think about this so. That why would I want a coffee shop if I assume it wouldn’t work. I didn’t assume it wouldn’t work. Gotcha. I just didn’t assume it would. Be that good I didn’t. so that when I say like yeah, if I had done that with story that I made it for spies because when I I assume story would would kind of I don’t want to say flounder, but just like hobble along

Maggie:
Gotcha,

Rich:
Okay. and if you’re asking why I thought that it’s because story is is number five. in a long line of coffee shops in the village of Scotia

Maggie:
That have failed

Rich:
That are no longer.

Maggie:
They’re no longer there. Sorry. I didn’t story is the longest lasting. Yeah and

Rich:
Obviously currently in operation but yeah, so many will know that I grew up in Scotia. So when I was in 10th Grade. There was a place called Village Coffee House. Which was in line with the way that everything in the village gets named and if you’ve noticed

Maggie:
Yes,

Rich:
When I was in high school, I worked at Village so vacuum lamp and then right now there’s Village floral still going on and at the time there was Village Coffee House and there’s been all kinds of other Village things here. So so that was there. Mostly I got smoothies there and went to an open mic. That was cool. And then That closed and then the next thing that happened was there was a place called expresso when x e x press up espresso

Maggie:
Confusing

Rich:
Therapy expresso therapy because the owner had an expressive therapy background. And so this is sort of like it’s a play on words. Gotcha. Not just the wrong way.

Maggie:
Yeah, espresso.

Rich:
So that kind of came next that was from 2009. They were open about a year and a half not quite and then that was 2010 at which point? I went to my friend that I had known from a different Cafe. Who? I would knew had been interested in buying a different Cafe. And then I said hey expresso is for sale. Do you have interest in that and kind of connected that all up and so he ended up buying that and you had Jay Watts Barista house in Scotia from 2010 to 2014

Maggie:
And

Rich:
So he was always running but he goes in 2014 and then from 2014 to 2019. There was no coffee shop in Scotia. And then from 2019 until now you have storied. So why am I saying all that? Okay, because those four coffee shops are still there, right? They didn’t go and I worked so I knew Jay.

Maggie:
Yeah, and

Rich:
Then the reason I was able to connect him with with expresso is because I was working out expresso. the time that it closed and in Working on espresso. I made the just it’s hard for me to say that babe to say that now but in working there I I basically became friends and have maintained a relationship with the owners. And so I asked them when I was getting started with story. Like hey, give me some perspective on your experience with this in town. And so we were talking sales numbers that they would see in a day and they were not nice like so I had I mean he I think he literally told me like a hundred dollars a day. Now we’re talking 2009. Okay, and we are talking Scotia and we are talking a different location. So all of those coffee shops actually funny enough for the same space. It was the same the same place turned just turned over by these different coffee shops. So Jay was in the same place the Village Coffee House had been four or five years earlier and it’s in the middle of the street. You’ll know the building. I know it’s a Rosenberg building and it’s In the Middle Street, there’s a giant tree in the middle like like one big front window and it was a little bit hidden, you know, it’s hard to find hard decision.

Maggie:
I didn’t know it existed.

Rich:
Yeah. He so like if you live in town you would know but we weren’t necessarily gonna spot it going down the street. So there was just a lot going working against those guys. Then you have like we’re talking 2014. It was when the last of those shops close 2014. Like social media barely existed,

Maggie:
Right?

Rich:
You know 2014 is on Instagram sort of Hit the scene. And that was at the end of the era for all those scholarships. So you did have Facebook and you had my space going into You know 2009 the tail end of that thing. But those were not the infrastructure that now currently exists for businesses on social media. It’s a totally totally animal.

Maggie:
Yeah. So

Rich:
Anyway, I’m just trying to paint a picture of like why I thought things would be a little bit harder. Okay is because my predecessor had not done as hot like Jay. I mean he was there for a while, but I was just Pure grit, you know, he didn’t have staff. To a higher degree and he lived there, you know, he was there all the time like it was the only way it worked. plus, you know back then like there’s always a degree of inflation but like he wasn’t able to charge. There’s just no margins in in food and when you’re like just trying to make it work like you don’t have time to even pour into price and things that he should so blah point is like back then In 20 in 2018 of how this conversation with my friend and we’re saying oh, you know, he would say like a hundred fifty dollars a day more on weekends sure. I don’t even know and they were open Sundays, I think. So you can imagine what we’re expecting. So we’re still in Scotia were were you know any experience we’re like, we’re just gonna kind of like Hubble along and then

Maggie:
You still wanted to pursue opening it. Well, I figure

Rich:
That’s that’s really my full-time job. Like I can be there. I don’t have to, you know, take a paycheck right away Etc.

Maggie:
My point is you want discouraged by the numbers. You were just like yeah, I’m passionate about this. I want to do it.

Rich:
So, yeah, so ironically I did assume it would work. So the question kind of became this is the question we would get is like well, well, why is this gonna be different? You know, all these other ones have not made it? so why is it why is your thing gonna be different or like why do we need another coffee shop in Schenectady, you know or like other kinds of questions like that and and then with the same sentiment of like You know, there’s so many they never laughs whatever. So the so a key thing is I I was able to assume we could do better. This is kind of where it was. I assume we would do better than the people before us because of the things that were true for us that weren’t true for them. For instance. I was in a different location. We had a really cool spot like like closer to the main intersection with like false an hour 15, we had parking. Yeah, there was only three parking for those other guys. So we had a parking lot. We had a cool building with a cool history that we were like renovating. It was it was much more visible and then like we had a good run up to opening the place like there was a lot of anticipation and then it’s 2018. 2019 like social media is a thing and had been becoming a thing. So every business of

Maggie:
Social media and I was yeah, that’s right the shop before you opened exactly a lot of us and a Kickstarter and you know like but

Rich:
Even before the well

Maggie:
No Buffs you were doing you were spending the word organically and socially and you know fiscally like all those things you just like people got the anticipation. Was real

Rich:
True and I underestimated it. And so that is why I was kind of like in this place where I was not assuming it would do that. Well is because I was underestimating the bus.

Maggie:
Yeah.

Rich:
I was underestimating like People’s people’s interest in what is something that like that at the time that we were coming around to do it? So Is that answer your question? Yeah

Maggie:
What I like the story that you told. Recently of how like you like the day opened you were like cutting. Like a free drink coupon.

Rich:
Well just to give you a sense of how low-key I was taking this whole thing. Right? Like I wasn’t assuming it was gonna blow up. I was I was pretty low key like we opening day we didn’t have menus printed. I was literally like meeting people at the register fortunately our roaster who was also a barista was able to come down for the opening and like be there till noon like just he was on his brother machine for like six hours straight

Maggie:
You opened another Saturday.

Rich:
We open on a Saturday. It don’t recommend my top business advice top five pieces of devices. Don’t open your highly anticipated brick and mortar Saturday unless unless you planned for it and you have the infrastructure and the staff to meet those needs which I of course had not assumed I would need so I did not have and that included printed menus. So I’m like, yeah, you know, you don’t, you know, we got days, you know, just whatever you want espresso drinks, you know. It’s pretty cool. The one thing I did print is what you’re talking about. I did print these little I wanted to do this little like coupon that we would give to people on day one. So everyone who came in got a coupon that was a for a free drink and it said like thanks for being with us from day one. Enjoy another drink on us and that was like hey, if we get you something that you’re not that interested in or you know day one sucks and like It’s not working out you come back and enough not sweat it and then we’ll by then we’ll have hopefully worked out the Kings plus they’ve got it back to the door, you know this it was a little promotional thing. So that was what I was. Printing and cutting as people were killing in at the beginning. So

Maggie:
Yeah,

Rich:
We have that. But yeah, I don’t know there’s a there’s a lot there

Maggie:
And now like so even even a business in 2018, but you opened. Your social location in 2019, right? So and it’s 2023 right now. How’s business going now?

Rich:
Good. The year of story. All right. This is a lot of things a lot of things have just clicked into place in the last year that we couldn’t have assumed would ever and that’s the other thing you can’t there’s things that are gonna happen for people who end up successful in business or in a particular business. Or if in a particular Venture that is just like just it’s like luck, you know or provenance or whatever kind of how you want to identify it, but it’s things you could not have planned for and like you wouldn’t have learned in business school or

Maggie:
Or

Rich:
From the bank or part of your business plan. It’s just like driving. I mean sure depend. Yeah getting

Maggie:
Just even example maybe

Rich:
Yeah, but that’s not what I’m talking about actually, but the way you know, but for instance and maybe I’ve touched on this but the way that people could pivot in a pandemic because of their circumstances. It’s like you can’t plan for that you just for some people that worked and for others that didn’t because for whatever number of impossible reasons to guess right now for us it was like Christine works full time. She was a teacher she still had a job. I was not drawing a salary before so we didn’t listen right there and I was able to still be in the shop in actually Christine was not going physically to work. She was able to be at a shop and at the time we lived with a friend so we had a built in Buddy, we’re we’re built-in code buddy. And she was already kind of part of the fabric of shop anyway, so she we had to get the we had to let the staff go for that period but she was able to be like a third person.

Maggie:
So Rachel

Rich:
Dude save her butts. So that was like, yeah. Oh wait. This is was what was true with the time and it’s and then, you know, we wanted to last August that talks about this. I think Abby bought into our company like

Maggie:
Yeah,

Rich:
First of all, I couldn’t plan to hire Abbey. She had never stepped foot in our shop when I called her on the phone for our interview. She had just applied and like she wanted a career in coffee and I was like alright sounds like

Maggie:
His last episode we talked about how TJ said you don’t hire people. Yeah,

Rich:
And

Maggie:
So I just think it’d be cool to call back to our last episode where TJ was like, yeah. I was looking for a job, but I didn’t I didn’t ask if I wanted a job because you never hire and like I don’t know Abby made the cut

Rich:
Abby made the cut and now she’s a freaking business partner. So

Maggie:
Yeah,

Rich:
So yeah. That’s the kind of thing. I’m saying like you can’t plan for. It’s like who just has a cash line around like that that they can confuse into your business and

Maggie:
But also like beliefs in your business. I don’t know if it’s simply just cash laying around like Abby truly believes in story, too. Otherwise, she’s a smart person you want to go into this without believing that there was potential for more.

Rich:
Yeah, exactly. Exactly and right and plus her life circumstances make it so that she you know had the wiggle around to make an investment and like not need the paycheck that she had been getting up to that point to like the same degree, you know, so

Maggie:
She works her butt off. Yes. I yeah,

Rich:
She

Maggie:
Just did at the Scotia garage sale when the doors were non-stop opening and closing and and

Rich:
She deserves all the percentage of the business that I

Maggie:
That I actually

Rich:
Give it to her I would Yeah, so I guess what I’m trying to say is like there are things you can’t plan for or you can never assume those things are going to be there for you for certain people and certain scenarios. Like it’s just the kid here. The connection is just Should they just materialize? You know,

Maggie:
Right

Rich:
I had to stop myself from saying your network is your network?

Maggie:
Yeah,

Rich:
So so my assumption in 2018 was that it was me. And Christine, but mostly me because he was still 14 full time and my assumption was that it was just gonna be me for a minute. We were doing a lot of like food and all the other stuff even the bubble tea was just on the weekends. So it was like, okay I can manage this slow small Cafe and Scotia, New York for you know as long as I need to and then if it gets busy then maybe I’ll hire someone right but like we were quickly outpaced and then Hey there, we have another problems begin and second was five years

Maggie:
Ago. That’s a couple episodes ago. And but yeah, it’s it’s amazing that you survived all these years and it’s amazing that you your trajectory has has now changed to an incline. And it’s just going up from here.

Rich:
Good miraculous, dude.

Maggie:
Yeah,

Rich:
Really? How would I

Maggie:
Watch yourself on the back?

Rich:
Shout out to me, but how would I have done it differently. You know what I mean? How could I have

Maggie:
Done different? Yeah,

Rich:
What I have assumed differently in that scenario. Even if I if even if I hadn’t been a hundred dollars there, even if it had been maybe 250 dollars today that was assuming would be my case. I don’t even sure. I’m sure we had numbers plugged into a spreadsheet somewhere when we were talking our front. But I said before I didn’t have a business plan. So in other words, I didn’t have to go through the process of figuring out like all these projections and all this stuff because I wasn’t trying to get traditional like funding so I was just going on more like anecdotal stuff.

Maggie:
Yeah,

Rich:
But even then even in a best case scenario, what the heck would I have planned for $300 a day like that’s not much that’s still pretty low volume, you know,

Maggie:
And

Rich:
I’m not saying we do a ton more than that, but like 200 300 dollars a day is Like a pretty sad day for us right now.

Maggie:
Mm-hmm.

Rich:
Never a weekend day. That’s that’s like a slow week day depending on

Maggie:
Yeah season

Rich:
Weather, you know, yeah, so so we do we do better than that but what that means is we’ve had to like figure that out of that, you know,

Maggie:
Would you do it all over again?

Rich:
Yeah the same way

Maggie:
Just

Rich:
It’s interesting question

Maggie:
If you could do it all over again, would you?

Rich:
He um, yeah, I’m probably going to probably going to

Maggie:
But your goal but you’re going into. What you could be going

Rich:
To talk about this

Maggie:
With more? I know but like

Rich:
Now, what

Maggie:
Is the five years exactly Hinds doing it stupidly. You have hindsight?

Rich:
Yes and a little bit more cash

Maggie:
And and like more confidence.

Rich:
I have yes, that’s so true. Thanks, very Yeah, yeah,

Maggie:
I remember opening day of story.

Rich:
Were you oh That’s why we’re opening week. You’re like installing the handrail and bathroom.

Maggie:
I know.

Rich:
It was in Brandon saving our bus getting that door off so we can get the pastry

Maggie:
Case. Yeah.

Rich:
The memories but

Maggie:
I just remember the line like

Rich:
That was the Thursday before so you were there on day one with the line?

Maggie:
Oh, yeah, it was it was like thumbs up

Rich:
We

Maggie:
Want my donut. We

Rich:
Had a line for six hours

Maggie:
Straight

Rich:
Like just just like the lion Raptor around the

Maggie:
Bar. Mm-hmm.

Rich:
And And it was it was crazy six hours and then and the whole day was busy but like at the six hour mark. there was like a break for us to like go to the bathroom and and maybe stock some cuffs or whatever, but I think it was meaning Christine and we had like a friend just helping us who had kind of like hung around with us that summer and done some of our like pop-up events with us. Just to help is just to help out like a friend, you know, we didn’t even have

Maggie:
Our

Rich:
First staff member available that day. I think we had hired. I think we have talked to somebody and had them hired before we opened. Yeah, we have been training them, but they were just not available that that first day for some reason which sucked obviously,

Maggie:
Yeah. It was right about then when I was like should I step behind there and like help them with like something but like it wasn’t even like

Rich:
Yeah, how do you

Maggie:
Even yeah. Anyway, that’s that’s some good Insight

Rich:
Origin story.

Maggie:
Yeah, I think that it’s interesting to give like peel back that other another layer.

Rich:
Yeah

Maggie:
Of what was going on because You know you you I think what that says to me, Rich is. Even knowing that you could potentially only make $100 a day in sales. that didn’t stop you like that to me shows you genuinely Had a love and a passion for specialty coffee and you want to share that with other people because why else would anybody do that? If they knew that the return was gonna be a hundred bucks a day.

Rich:
Yeah. Well, no,

Maggie:
It’s like why do I do the extra things that I do with staging? That I don’t have to do but I love doing it.

Rich:
Yeah, so I think and this might be a whole this might be a whole tangent or a whole other different like concept but I now it’s very evident that like a love for specialty coffee drives me but back then that was less a little less the driving force. And so it wasn’t so much about like spreading this coffee gospel or something. It was more actually about the vision. So I was definitely motivated by like by this by a vision. So there was always a bigger picture. I think this is the key when you’re when you’re doing anything in life, you need to have this like a bigger purpose and a better picture and like and goal and something you see off in the future that you’re working toward and that kind of helps make it. I mean, it’s just a human probably reality actually, but

Maggie:
For

Rich:
Me that was more about like this creating a space and it’s like Community. This is so cliche for a coffee shop person to say but like it it really was we’re driven more by creating a space for the first for the neighborhood like a neighborhood. spot That would feature. Good coffee. Yeah.

Maggie:
But

Rich:
That was not like what drove me that wasn’t as much so I did have a vision. I was motivated to make this thing a reality for people even if it took time to catch on. And then through that especially the coffee sure and that love of that grew and now that’s a little bit even more motivating. Because what is community space means has actually changed a lot since covid and I’ve had to Pivot my expectations and stuff. But so anyway now it’s a just a just a riff on here.

Maggie:
Yeah

Rich:
What you said and and If

Maggie:
It was this,

Rich:
It was a bigger Vision. It was more than coffee.

Maggie:
Mmm.

Rich:
That’s what kept me going. And yeah, and then also, you know Sure, worst case scenario hundred dollars a day. Did I believe it would ever be that bad? No, because I knew some things were like I said in place for us that were in place for them. and ten years had elapsed almost and so I figured like social media. Like there was a lot going for us to where I figured we were gonna no matter what do better than them, but not not necessarily. knock out a park better to wear like we’re going to need all this infrastructure. So yeah, I don’t know.

Maggie:
I want to touch back in something you just said which was You said something cliche? It’s cliche or coffee shop to want to create Community, but that’s what you did.

Rich:
Yeah,

Maggie:
Because

Rich:
That’s just cliche because it’s so

Maggie:
It is but

Rich:
True

Maggie:
What I want to say is like. You have done that so artfully well because I mean look at our friendship like storied was a safe place for me when I would have like crazy days in real estate. Yeah, and I would sometimes just like Stop in at storied and like just sit at the cafe for 15 minutes before like. Going off to my next appointment. Are

Rich:
You something you

Maggie:
Didn’t get anything? And well that was maybe after some time had established, you know and me getting to know you and Christine better, but like oftentimes. I remember I just remember I would come into story and like story was a place that was like I would do my work there, but it was also like it had this like I can’t describe it was like this feeling of like I don’t have to. Be like realtor Maggie. I don’t have to be like like I could just hang with my friends or like I could just be myself. I didn’t feel like I had to like all the answers or just I could just come in order a drink feel it all feel at home. Just like open my computer tap a couple things away and be like, hey gotta go by and like it was like a stopping point like a home base and it still feels that way for me sometimes like when I’m because I work a lot in Glenville and Schenectady area and oftentimes storied is just that place that I hang out at for. Fifteen twenty minutes to kill time.

Rich:
Yeah

Maggie:
Before my next appointment or inspection or showing and just so happens that like For my business, I do the bulk of my client interaction and like Chronicle. fieldwork in the second half of my day So it was it’s great to have a place like story when? You know you I need to like pop over real quick. But anyways, my point is yeah, you created that and I I know I’m not the only person and we both know people who feel the same way about story.

Rich:
Yeah. Well, thanks. Yeah, sure because we created

Maggie:
That. Yeah,

Rich:
Because as much a part of that opening as anyone and also you were in the kickstarter, etc, etc and sharing that so like Where did we create a place for the community?

Maggie:
Yeah, man, but my model yeah. anytime so my motto going on with assumable work we talked about this but I in the real estate World learned this phrase early on in my business.

Rich:
This is actually my new motto. Is it found myself saying it all day today?

Maggie:
Yes. Oh, so happy to hear that so my motto is If it’s meant to be it’s up to me. and I just live by that now because you’re

Rich:
Hurting your first

Maggie:
I don’t like I’m somebody that wants to take charge of my take charge of my life, but like, you know my business my happiness, whatever it might be in my life, and I don’t want to Give other people like not credit that’s not necessarily the term looking for but like excuse like if something doesn’t work out. I don’t want to blame anybody and so if if something doesn’t work out. The only person I have to blame is myself, that’s kind of how I to some extent.

Rich:
Yeah,

Maggie:
So if I go after something or I want to start something and it it doesn’t come to fruition. I like to think back about it and be like What could I have done differently or how can I change things to make it work out? So if it’s meant to be it’s up to me, I got to put the work in. I got to put the effort in the time in the money in all those things and I don’t have unlimited resources of all those things. I just mentioned but I can be strategic about my money and time and efforts and I think our listeners can too.

Rich:
Yeah true. It’s there’s no cop-outs

Maggie:
Exactly

Rich:
Takes away the the compound

Maggie:
No Cop Out

Rich:
Option, you know.

Maggie:
Yep. I hate copouts.

Rich:
Yeah, well.

Maggie:
You started using that phrase.

Rich:
Yeah. Well, so I’m like, I’m always running.

Maggie:
Is that what he went and bought a three round? Well this espresso machine, it’s just me, right? Yeah.

Rich:
No, I think I already decided I wanted to do that before. We talked. Because we talked

Maggie:
Yeah, you mentioned it to me.

Rich:
A couple yeah, I think I’d already arranged this brush machine situation before that, but No, but I just meant that you might. Brain is always firing with ideas.

Maggie:
Mm-hmm.

Rich:
And just stupid things, but then I’m also at the same time. I was like, well, you know, what if you got this idea and you don’t do anything about it, nothing’s gonna happen. Yeah. I was like, you know, I did if it’s me.

Maggie:
Thanks on. My favorite phrase from Gary vaynerchuk, which is

Rich:
Very

Maggie:
Good. Yeah shout out which is ideas are crap, but he uses an expletive there. Ideas are crap execution is game. and that has stuck with me for all these years. I actually have that written on a Post-It note by my desk with the expletive and it’s like yeah, we can have a ton of great ideas, but they’re not worth anything if we don’t execute on them. Yeah.

Rich:
I’ve heard you said before too. well How okay. How did you? so Gary, these got this similar sentiment but like where did you picked up that idea other than that’s just kind of like the kind of person you are like I’m not surprised. What is your motto? But like, where did is that? Did you learn that from did you hear that somewhere or

Maggie:
Meant to be it’s up to me? Yeah so early on in my business maybe Year too. There was a more experience agent. And she was very old school and but very successful. and had a lot of Always busy with clients always meeting clients in the conference room was continuously on the top 10 agents in the company that I was in and like Capital regionalized. She’s just very experience and she is still around, but she she still she still has her license active, but Her business is now 100% referrals to other agents. So people still call her. real estate stuff reached a pointer she wants to cortical semi-retire. So she’s still a huge resource for people

Rich:
But

Maggie:
I don’t think she’s active unless it’s maybe like a one-off or whatever

Rich:
You get her reverse.

Maggie:
No, I’m not but I I my friend is and

Rich:
I’ll give it to meant to be all right.

Maggie:
Reach out to her no. So I I she offered to like Mentor some newer agents and mentorship was a big thing and the first Company Real Estate company that I joined and so I reached out to her. Her name is Jackie. And I was like, hey, can I sit down and meet with you and like pick your brain about your business? And she said absolutely and like what a gift it was that she took the, you know, half hour 45 minutes to sit down with me. in the midst of her busy business and life and show me her, you know two inch thick binder of database and how she organizes her clients and how she does her like daily routine and how she like she gets up and she works out and then she has breakfast and then she she calls no she writes five. Thank you notes or five like greeting cards. Sends them out snail mail and then like she makes five phone calls and she like just randomly like connects with people and she plans appreciation events where she throws like a party and invites people over and and a bunch of other things that she would do throughout the year. To have these like little touches on her database. And when when we were like wrapping up, she’s like now just remember this. if it’s meant to be it’s up to me and I have never forgotten that because she exemplifies that in her life like she doesn’t just wait for people to for business to come to her. She she does the work every day and it’s proven to her success. so I can’t sit around and say like oh my business is doing so well or my business is like I’m not getting any X Y and Z anybody not I’m using me you as like a rhetorical but like we can’t just sit here and be like Oh. You can’t I don’t know. I don’t like putting blame on things for not getting the results you. want like it’s like doing push-ups or doing a pull-up like You can’t do push-ups if you don’t put the time in.

Rich:
Yeah,

Maggie:
You can’t do any of that stuff. You can’t expect to. Be you know marathon runner if you don’t do your training and running, so that’s kind of how she framed it was like you have to put in that work every day and that practice and if it’s meant to be it’s up

Rich:
To me. I wonder it would be so interesting to talk to someone like that. Who? is just such a seasoned event, you know and like here the journey for them because it’s like First of all, there’s something there’s something we said about work ethic there, right?

Maggie:
Yeah

Rich:
Not to say that. Young people don’t have work ethic. But and notice it’ll you know what? I mean? Yeah. I’m trying to voice avoiding stereotypes here just to say like they’ve been around the block and so how much of that was and I’m sure it’s both but like it was just interesting to hear how much of that for them was. Stuff they learned in some training course at the beginning. Here’s some best practices tried to real estate things like call five people a day, you know, like set this number and maybe that number is different for different people. It’s like how did you decide that was gonna be your attack every day or weekly, how do you set these goals? And how much of that was stuff you have done the whole time or like you had to evolve that process and add this component over time and I just it’s like how that’s that’s what

Maggie:
Journey to her. Yeah.

Rich:
It’s like what what influencer along the way you know, who was the person that said to her?

Maggie:
Yeah.

Rich:
It was the person that said to her if it’s meant to be it’s me. that I think a conversation like that would be there’d be lots of gain.

Maggie:
Yeah

Rich:
To

Maggie:
Clean for sure. Yeah, so shout out to Jackie. She’s

Rich:
Gonna roll

Maggie:
A legend right? I know and that’s like our debt but we’re a different generation of business. Like I started my business immediately was you know, I was blogging at the time and I had social media and Instagram and everything and

Rich:
Yeah.

Maggie:
I think she might use

Rich:
Facebook. How would it look you almost couldn’t even get away with stuff like that. You know, it’s like how it look to to people to our kind of people. How it looks like your ideal clients or your your clients that you generally have if you had a role of decks or two inch like physical binder that you rocked up with, you know you but if it’s an older person, who’s that’s how they you almost trust them. Yeah more because they do it that way because you’re like, oh this person knows what’s up as long as they’re probably like also, In touch with the current state of a French like no, this is trying to true for me and trust me like here’s my track record. It’s that’s yeah, that’s another fascinating.

Maggie:
That’s the difference between somebody who uses a paper notebook and someone like me who uses remarkable because I guess God forbid. I I lose that notebook. I am

Rich:
Screwed. Yeah, and

Maggie:
But You know thankfully remarkable uploads things to the cloud right app on my phone and I can I can get it but that’s that’s us.

Rich:
Yeah, you know. It’s good to learn to learn from for people like that. Yeah, I’ve seen anything or two.

Maggie:
I wonder if our audience would be interested in. Some like nuts in bolts like Nitty Gritty details of like how we operate our business. Like do you think people would be interested in like day today? Yeah like a day to day. Like well like a day in the life of rich or a day in the life of Maggie. I don’t know.

Rich:
Yeah, but get ready with me.

Maggie:
Yeah, right. I don’t know. I’m

Rich:
Sure I mean, I’m sure like that’s the kind of practical stuff that

Maggie:
We would love maybe let’s get some feedback from people see if they want to hear that. Yeah, I just thought of that.

Rich:
I can tell us or we could just do it. I will

Maggie:
Yeah

Rich:
One thing through that but that’s true. Yeah, if there’s like a specific question or specific thing. Um, that’s definitely hot in like the real space. Yeah, that’s awesome. Not me.

Maggie:
I know it is hot and real space it is that is something that I like to do. Yesterday I won’t even I don’t not trying to get into it. But like I wish I took a time lapse. Of my day yesterday, but I couldn’t because I was literally on my phone all day. Yeah, but it’s just the time like I listen to house and it was just non-stop activity, and we ended up getting Nine offers in writing and like I got one like verbal offer. So like 10 offers total. And like it’s great because like you get to give good news to the person who received the house, but on the type of person that calls every person that didn’t get the house so that I had to make like nine depressing phone calls after that and that just like drained me but I wanted to take a time lapse of me doing that. But I was obviously I couldn’t because I was using my phone

Rich:
Take your time loves it like making the calls.

Maggie:
Yeah,

Rich:
Like just a day in the office. Yeah,

Maggie:
Dan the office

Rich:
Whatever the office was.

Maggie:
Yeah.

Rich:
He needed iPhone 6.

Maggie:
We reckon find one.

Rich:
No, I don’t mind. I only know of one. That’s the news right now. Is there anything else you wanted to say on? on that we we I mean assuming will work like I just I I didn’t too early to tell with the podcast, you know, like we we kind of said we got into that that concept came up because we were planning this podcast for so long.

Maggie:
I know

Rich:
And

Maggie:
I’m still assuming the podcast will work.

Rich:
Yeah. Yeah, me too. So how will we know? What what’s the what’s the evidence like

Maggie:
Probably? Yes. It’s not like with monetized it right and exactly.

Rich:
It plans for we don’t exactly have like Steps toward that you know, so I don’t know.

Maggie:
I don’t know how many able to listen to downloads. Probably.

Rich:
Do you check those numbers?

Maggie:
I haven’t in a few weeks.

Rich:
But I checked out for episode one just to see

Maggie:
But people who list like You know, obviously The Wider our audiences. I would consider that success and working out if we can reach a wider audience. Do I have a number? No, I don’t. I don’t really I can’t relate

Rich:
Driven by that should we

Maggie:
Get no, I’m not really driven by that but I I think it would be cool.

Rich:
Yeah. Well, definitely, I mean, it’s nice to know what you’re doing is

Maggie:
I mean, it’s someone what if he would it be like two lofty have a goal to be. like one of apples featured podcasts like that would be cool.

Rich:
So that’s based up to me.

Maggie:
That’s right. If it’s meant to be it’s up to wheat.

Rich:
Whoa,

Maggie:
I just thought that

Rich:
Dude. You heard of your first.

Maggie:
Okay right now we all right Apple. We’re ready.

Rich:
We’re coming for you. All right. Well, I mean, I guess that’s it. You know, it’s like It’s like you should see if you’re gonna do something maybe like if you’re good. Alright practical, right? If you’re gonna do something is this what we’re saying a similar work?

Maggie:
Yep,

Rich:
Don’t make my mistake and Assume that it’s going to be. A struggle right like maybe lean into all the reasons you believe it will work and then go for it. And yeah, you know if you if you shoot for the moon, you know, you land them on the Stars just actually not my

Maggie:
As a motivational speaker.

Rich:
That’s actually not in my life. I heard someone else say that yeah and YouTube video shout out to Fox in the snow.

Maggie:
Well, I agree. I think you gotta You got to say what will work

Rich:
Dude. This is your son. All right, you’re out there and you’re like I’m trying this idea, but I just don’t know. I think it’s gonna work out. I’m like Well don’t know how to search.

Maggie:
Yeah,

Rich:
Assume

Maggie:
Get out your bad boys.

Rich:
Yeah, I guess that’s how we got for, you know

Maggie:
Assume it will work. It’s you got what you walked right down if it’s meant to be it’s up to me.

Rich:
Yeah, or we have fear partnership.

Maggie:
Okay partnership. Yeah

Rich:
Word. All right. Well,

Maggie:
This was a great episode

Rich:
And we’ve made it under time

Maggie:
I know

Rich:
Around. All right. We love y’all and thanks for tuning in appreciate you.

Maggie:
Don’t forget to subscribe and rate and review ask questions. And I guess yeah, yeah House Coffee podcast at gmail.com. If you want to email us or House Coffee podcast on Instagram House Coffee podcast.com and send us that feedback. Give us your questions. We’d love to hear from you. Yeah.

Rich:
Yeah, if you got questions we got answers.

Maggie:
Yeah.

Rich:
I’ll hit you with us

Maggie:
Totally

Rich:
Peace.

Maggie:
Later. That was a great episode I think. Don’t go anywhere. You’re gonna take the photo.