We recently connected with Ginalen Soto and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ginalen thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

McKenzie Packard and I were sitting at a local coffee joint in Cartagena, Colombia when we first decided to open a shop of our own. Our love and appreciation for coffee had grown after visiting and experiencing various coffee shops in over 16 countries combined and almost all states within the U.S. We wanted to pull and share our experiences from every shop and put them into one concept. In 2020, we decided to pursue our concept and began designing a business plan, initiate our search for distributors, and the perfect location. After viewing several spaces in Salt Lake City, we came across the building in the Granary District which offered Salt Lake’s unforgettable charm along with the special features we were looking for to make Roots Coffee & Co. Both of us continue to travel around the world together to bring new flavors to the heart of Utah.

Ginalen, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

McKenzie and I are both from Utah and we both started in completely different industries. McKenzie worked in the medical field as a sonographer and I worked in the corporate world as a marketing director. Our passion for coffee revolved around its original culture. It was amazing that we were able to pin point some of our best people experiences around the world over a cup of coffee. Here in Utah, this isn’t the case. We were shocked that we couldn’t find a single coffee shop that offered a welcoming experience. For us, it was all about the experience, it was all about the human connection and learning about people. Here in the U.S. people use coffee as a way to push them through their day, but around the world, coffee is ritual; one that you respect and don’t rush, and this is the value we wanted to introduce and bring to Utah. We fell in love with the coffee culture and what it represented to people around the world. We are so proud to say we offer the most welcoming space, which can be seen by the aesthetics as well as the menu. Many of the items on our menu represent flavors we fell in love with around the world.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

When we opened Roots Coffee & Co. our goal was simple: people first, coffee second. Creating a good reputation came with careful and respectful effort. We took the time to get to know each one of our customers, their stories, and their culture. Even after being open for two years, this becomes an ongoing process. But establishing that initial, genuine connection created a special trust between us and our customers. Often business owners around us will ask how we can remember every single name that walks through our doors, and we simply respond, “everyone is just so different it’s easy to remember them if you know them.”

We were also proactive in shaping our reputation through social media and branding efforts. We slapped our logo on everything! We defined our image by hiring individuals who equally shared our vision, had some traveling experience and who also possessed great social cues. We ensured everyone wore their Roots shirts, which created an organized atmosphere. We also emphasized and elevated the typical cleaning standards. As we learned around the world, a clean home results in a clean spirit, and we truly strive for that.

With all of that, we were able to create a name for ourselves which resulted in people believing in us. We won best coffee shop in SLC two years in a row (2021 & 2022).

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

First, create trust and healthy communication with your team members. If you don’t have trust and healthy communication, there is no way you can manage a team. Second, implement an accountability and trust system at work. In the corporate world, it was so frustrating when the boss would micromanage every project. It made me feel like he didn’t trust my work or trust that I could do the job myself. Once your employees have been hired, you instill that trust and confidence through your training process. You train them to take ownership in the position they were hired for and provide the tools they need to ask for feedback.

Another effective way in managing a team and maintaining high morale is by investing in your employees. We say this every time we hire someone new: “This may or may not be your dream job, regardless we will help you both personally and professionally.” This has opened so many venues of communication between us and our team. It also helps them understand that we are not treating them like a business transaction or like they are replaceable. Because truly, no one is replaceable.

Every quarter, we do one-on-ones with each team member. If they have performed to the best of their duties, we reward them with a bonus. This has really helped maintain high morale. Team members then become accountable of themselves and one another.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rootscoffeeutah.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roots.coffeeco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/roots.coffeecoutah
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/roots-coffee-co/mycompany/verification/?viewAsMember=true
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/roots-coffee-salt-lake-city-3