Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Christina Ewing. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Christina, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

If you had told me 3 years ago, I would own a cafe in the sweet little town of Berlin I would have thought you were crazy! But as a side gig I started making French macarons, people liked them, they wanted to buy them, and I was thrilled at the thought that I might be able to do something creative…maybe as a profession. I started entertaining the idea of opening a shop; would that be realistic? What would that look like? Then I heard that there was a coffee house for sale in Berlin, so my husband, Mike, and I started to think more seriously about the opportunity. 

After weeks and months of consideration Mike, and I bought the cafe (previously On What Grounds). This decision did not come easily, and it was a risk for various reasons. One major risk factor was that I eventually, though not right away, would have to leave my career as a business consultant, which I had been for 12 years. We had financial stability and lived our life according to what our finances dictated. We approached this risk in a calculated manner: working through a business plan, financial modeling/ projections and worked with a consultant to get the foundation in place. Mike owns a business, and I consulted to business owners, so we did have a strong background, but neither of us had ever owned a restaurant – though we had both work in restaurants for many years. Ultimately, we prayed, stepped out in faith, and made what I now see as one of the best decisions we have made. 

We met a local coffee roaster – Jeff Smith who owns Cast 26. He helped us learn and understand the coffee part of the business and also was an inspiration to partner with local vendors as much as possible. I have always had a love for cooking and baking, combining flavors that are simple yet elevated, so I got to work on the menu. We hired a team that was aligned with our vision and helps us to create a phenomenal guest experience. Our team, our vision, and our guests make Cafe Berlin an awesome place to be! 

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am Christina Ewing, and my husband is Michael Ewing. We provide locally roasted coffee and fresh food in house. We make French macarons, Dutch apple cake, and chocolate chip banana bread all from scratch. All our menu items are prepared fresh to order – we offer breakfast and lunch daily. We focus on providing a top notch guest experience and feel so blessed to be a part of this small town. We spend a lot of time building up our team through training and effective communication. One of the main challenges for a business is creating consistency and consistency is only achieved by documenting systems and training the team to use those systems. Our goal is to empower our team and know that when we step away from the business for a day that our guests are still getting the same great quality and excellent service. 

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

My daughter, who was 5 at the time had eaten French macarons and asked if we could learn how to make them. I told her when we moved into our new house and had more space we would try. I tried, I failed, I tried again and failed again. The thing about macarons is even if you fail, they usually are still quite delicious; they just don’t look right or maybe the consistency is off. So, because they were tasty, I kept going to get the technique down. Once I did friends would ask if they could buy them and I was giving them as teachers/ coaches gifts. People were contacting me to place orders and picking them up on my front porch. All of this while I was working a full-time consulting job that I did not enjoy. So, I started to think about if I could scale this “business”, and well, the answer was (and still is) “no”, I could not. The time that making macarons demands (plus the physical demand of being on your feet the entire day), it would not be possible to come close to replacing my income or replicating/ training others to do the work. 

My lesson learned is sometimes your “dream” can take a shape that you couldn’t even have thought of. If you put your life in God’s hands, His plan will always be greater. So on the day Mike and I got baptized we came to downtown Berlin to eat dinner afterward, and I don’t think it was just a coincidence that he saw the vision come to life right as were sitting there – we could own a shop in Berlin; it was the perfect spot. Just a couple of weeks later we learned that there was a coffee house for sale in Berlin. Had we ever owned a coffee house? – we had never even been coffee drinkers! But something bigger than us was working and now I am grateful every day that I am running this shop with Mike that provide jobs for our team, a welcoming gathering place for Berliners and visitors, and a more joyful life for us and our family. 

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Have the right people! Simply put, but it takes work to get there.
Don’t be lazy or complacent when it comes to employment.
When hiring, do not just fill positions with anyone. Be mindful that you can teach tasks and skills, but you cannot teach personality; you cannot teach willingness, motivation, or ability.
When interviewing for the cafe, of course we ask the usual questions regarding experience and availability, but more than that we are looking for people who will be on time, have a confidence but not arrogance, smile naturally, make eye contact, seem genuinely interesting in working in our cafe.
I also make it a point to let the candidates know our values, how being part of a small team means showing up, being on time, being dependable and working together. Our team works in harmony. If there is a weak link on your team, or someone who is negative/ toxic, let them go immediately even if that means you have to rework the schedule, or work shifts yourself until you get the position filled. Always be recruiting so you are not held hostage by circumstance. Recruiting and training is not fun; turnover is costly but so is hanging on to a team member that is not committed.
Be clear about expectations from day one. We have a team member handbook that we go over on the first day. When expectations are not met, have a conversation; learn how you can support your team. But when push comes to shove, sometimes people get hired that are not a good fit.
Make changes boldly; if you don’t, you are letting down the rest of your team. 

For your team that is amazing – tell them. Again simple, but it takes work and consistency. We have a group text where we will send shout outs and praise. We tell them face to face. We are in the shop showing support – we also roll up our sleeves alongside of them. Our team feedback is welcomed; you cannot take all ideas all the time, but everyone feels comfortable speaking their mind in a respectful manner. Nothing feels better than walking into the cafe on a busy Saturday morning, guests are taken care of, and the team is chatting and laughing, and frankly I am not needed. That’s a big win for us.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cafeberlinmd.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cafe_berlin_md/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61571481206412

Image Credits

Atlantic Exposure (only one image)