We recently connected with Crystal Jones and have shared our conversation below.
Crystal, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Along with taking care of clients, taking care of our team is one of the most important things we can do as leaders. Looking back on your journey, did you have a boss that was really great? Maybe you can tell us about that boss and what made them a wonderful person to work for?
You know what’s interesting? Every time I hear about how men have better treatment, better pay, and better opportunities at work I’m honestly a little confused (and crazy grateful) because this has never been my experience. Or rather, it’s not something I’ve ever let hold me back from advancing. When I think about all my past jobs, I can clearly remember every single boss I’ve ever had. I remember the good stuff and the bad stuff that went with each. But what I remember most is the fact that 90% of them were women, and I’ve learned something valuable from almost all of them. I didn’t realize it at the time, but seeing women in these leadership roles as I was developing really had an impact on my sense of what could be possible for myself. It really left no room for the thought that certain jobs or certain pay was only available to men. There are too many things I’ve learned from too many leaders to list them all here, so as a whole, these are the main things I’ve carried with me: Women are not crazy and can be just as in control of their emotions as men when in a leadership role. Age does not matter, you can be a young boss with older staff or vice versa. Respect is respect. If you don’t like where you’re at or what you’re getting paid, change it. I’ve never been promoted in my life. I’ve always quit and moved on to the next job up. You’ll definitely have to do things that make you uncomfortable and conquer your own personal resistance to confrontation etc, but the only way out is through and the more you do it, the more comfortable you’ll be with it. The only limits you have in regards to your growth and success are limits you put on yourself. Being a woman is not a hindrance or a reason to feel “less than” it’s a privilege and a chance to empower other women to excel.
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
My aunts started the business back in 2011 and I came on board in 2015. Valentine’s Day was on 11th Anniversary! Over the years our business has changed a lot and I’m so proud of where we’re currently at. While we started off in Hillcrest, we’ve become a staple part of the Tierrasanta Community and love it here, too! Thankfully, many of our original customers followed us when we changed neighborhoods. We still bake all of our own pastries (many gluten and dairy free) and we have also added a line of baking mixes for you to make at home. Each mix is made using the exact same recipes we use here at the shop. We also still make our own drink flavors and sell them all by the bag for you to get creative with at home, too. Out of the 20 drink flavors we make, 9 are sugar free. I make 15 different flavors of chocolate bars on a regular basis and still make chocolates for certain holidays, as well. We no longer roast our coffee, but choose to buy from another small, family owned business who roasts just the way we did. I have the best team anyone could ask for. Thankfully, most of them have been with me for years and hopefully they continue to stay for many more. Authenticity, quality and community are at the top of our list and we practice those things each and every day. We’re excited to keep growing and changing and appreciate every single one of you who has supported us over the years. We wouldn’t be here without our loyal customers.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I remember the day all the covid madness hit. It was actually a great sales day and I was feeling good about the year ahead. I heard a customer come in mentioning upcoming groceries and toilet paper shortages and realized I probably needed to stock up at Costco the next day just to be safe. I’m usually in and out with a car full of stuff in no more than 20 minutes and when I showed up to see the never ending line, my heart sank. I was stuck in that store, with wall-to-wall people, for over 3 hours and I had never seen the rafters so empty. That day, our sales dropped to the lowest I had ever seen and I spent the next 6 weeks running the shop, by myself, some weeks without pay. My employees were out for that entire time and it broke my heart to know that we could all lose what we’ve spent years creating. My aunts were telling me to be prepared to close up shop and have a plan for a new career ready. I refused to even go there in my mind because I knew that if we closed for even a day, we would never reopen. Every single thing I did during that time was to keep the shop afloat. For myself, for my aunts, for my staff. I mean, that’s my life anyways, the shop, but I’ve never been so afraid of losing it before. I think that time really showed me how much I love what I do and how much I appreciate my customers and staff. Whats crazy is that time forced me to make so many changes that I was always resistant to make and now I don’t know why I was so scared before. To have a successful business you have to have some sense of fearlessness or you will be stuck in the same rut, never growing, forever. Owning a business is more work than you could ever imagine, but when you have such amazing support and truly love what you do, its all worth it.
Can you talk to us about your experience with buying businesses?
We’ve actually bought and sold businesses, each a very unique experience. Anyone who has bought a business can tell you that you almost get a kind of high from it. I’m not even sure exactly what it is either, maybe the chance at a new challenge or the excitement at getting something new? Either way, it’s best to go slow and don’t let the excitement blind you from red flags that might pop up. The process is different for every business, and I’m not an expert at it by any means, but one thing I know FOR SURE is that numbers don’t lie. If they have accurate numbers, that is. So I spend hours and hours going over the numbers, picking everything apart, trying to see what we would sell thats similar, or what we would keep from the current menu. I look at what’s working -numbers wise- and what’s not. I visit the business a few times to see if any of the staff would be some that I’d like to keep. And I watch as much of the processes I can to see what’s not working and what is. We don’t buy a business, close down, renovate and open months later. We buy a business, change what we can overnight and reopen the next day. This does come with challenges, but for us, it works best. It’s hard to buy a business and win over the existing customers, but its a thousand times harder to try to get them to come back after you’ve been closed for any amount of time. I think buying businesses takes practice and patience and if we ever decided to do it again, I’m much more prepared now than I was back then.
Contact Info:
- Website: industrialgrindcoffee.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/industrialgrindcoffee/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/industrialgrindcoffee/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcTFuC6-_9XFD2THdB8BT1Q
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/industrial-grind-coffee-san-diego-3
- Other: We’re also on TikTok and Pinterest as Industrial Grind Coffee Wholesale Items are sold here: https://www.faire.com/brand/b_cbe2gg8gpu?refS=industrial%20grind%20coffee