Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Michael Carty. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Michael, thanks for joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?
I spent a couple months trying to come up with a name for my company that embodied something I was interested in, in addition to roasting coffee. Something that would tell a story about who I am. Many of those names didn’t pass the “family test” when I shared them with the people closest to me. One Friday night I sent a group text to my immediate family members and told them we had to pick a name by the end of the weekend. I sent a few pictures of my coffee roaster, beans and packaging as a means of kicking off some creativity, and within moments our son replied with “Workbench Roasters”, and our daughter added, “Yeah, dad, you are literally roasting coffee on your workbench”. So there it was, right in front of me the whole time!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
As with many small business owners, my business started out as a hobby. Upon retirement from Ford Motor Company, where I was an automotive engineer and drank many cups of horrible “office coffee” for over 33 years, I set out on a journey to learn more about coffee and to find a coffee I liked enough that I could drink it black. Much to my surprise, I found that high quality coffee, roasted by professionals, provided a huge spectrum of flavors depending on where the beans were grown and harvested, and how they were processed and roasted. My curiosity led me to start roasting my own coffee beans to better understand how it is done, and see if I could produce coffee that tasted good enough to drink it black.
As I began honing the craft of roasting, to the point I was really enjoying the resulting coffee, I began sharing it with friends and family to get their opinions. As they continued to ask for more coffee, I realized I was on to something. And that was the beginning of Workbench Roasters.
I decided early on that we were going to remain a small batch coffee roaster, only roasting as I received orders, in an effort to provide our customers with the freshest coffee possible. That’s why once we receive an order, I will roast, package and deliver, or ship, within 48 hours. We never keep an inventory of roasted beans.
As our online business grew, we were invited to sell our packaged coffee at local farm and makers markets in our community and in surrounding towns. This has provided us with the opportunity to meet many great people who share the love and passion for coffee. Through these connections we’ve continued to learn, to grow, and to continuously improve our product.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
During my corporate career, prior to owning and operating our coffee roasting business, I worked for many different managers. During a one-on-one meeting with one particular manager, he brought up the idea of reinventing ourselves. He went on to explain that when we’ve been doing the same job for many years it’s healthy to make a change, to learn something new, to reinvent ourselves. It’s a way to grow individually and professionally. This is a concept I’ve carried with me for many years since that discussion. While at Ford I was able to reinvent myself by making a move to a non-engineering organization, but still utilizing my engineering background and experience to help that organization grow. At the same time I was able to learn new skills and grow personally. Change is often a difficult step to take and creates new challenges, but also creates new opportunities and growth. Retiring from my career and embarking on a new path as a small business owner, in a field I had no prior experience, definitely falls under the category of reinventing myself!
How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.
We have an online store that we developed using the Square/Weebly platform. We chose this platform because it’s fairly easy to use, maintain and update. It’s also tied directly to our Square POS system that we use at the farm and pop-up markets where we sell our products. Realizing we could reach more potential customers using a platform like Amazon, I personally feel more connected to our customers by using our website and selling in person. Amazon feels less personal. I want our customers to know they are buying from a person, from a small local business, not from a corporate entity.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.workbenchroasters.com
- Instagram: @workbenchroasters
- Facebook: @workbenchroasters