We were lucky to catch up with Dan Guy recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Dan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.

I am forever grateful for the way my parents raise me and my siblings. My mom was a stay at home Mom which I think was really important in how we were raised because we always knew we could count on her to be there for us. Driving to sports events, chaperoning field trips or just being there after school with us with a snack; she was always there to unpack the day with us. My Dad worked really really hard to support our family and it truly showed us what hard work looked like. He travelled a lot globally throughout his entire career but somehow he intentionally never missed anything that was important to us. So not just telling us how to live but demonstrating what a healthy work/family life balance looked like was extremely impactful for me.

Dan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My career began as an intern at a national hospital staffing agency. Over 5 years I worked my way up to Staffing Coordinator, Marketing Analyst and eventually Director of Communications. My wife and I became engaged and we ended up taking over her family’s coffee shop. That was 11 years ago now and I am so proud of how far we have come. Personally, in that time my wife became a Nurse Practitioner as well as having 4 babies. Business wise our brand has grown across the country with our hand roasted coffee beans and our storefront in downtown Traverse City, MI continues to grow busier and busier each year.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When covid happened it was such a stressful, uneasy time for everyone but especially business owners. With the government stepping in the instruct us what we were allowed or not allowed to do much of the daily life just felt out of our hands. But we persevered and remained open as much as we could as a grab and go location rather than a sit down cafe. It really worked for us and no other coffee shops around us even tried to stay open in any capacity. I’m so glad we pushed through in this way because we were able to keep our staff employed and paid and we even gained a new customer base that would not have visited us normally. Other shops closed permanently but it elevated us to becoming the permanent staple go-to coffee shop in town.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

Creating brand loyalty was so important to me from day one because in the coffee industry customers have a big selection when it comes to choosing their beans. It was important to me to share our story and give customers something with which they could relate. Coffee is such a personal experience whether you are drinking in at home or in a coffee shop and I just feel honored whenever we have new customers trying our coffee. Every blend and every flavor has been carefully curated to bring the best flavor possible to your taste buds.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.espressobay.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/espressobaytc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/espressobay
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danguytc/

Image Credits

All photos are originally taken by me