We recently connected with Kate Firoved and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kate, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us about an important lesson you learned while working at a prior job?

My number one piece of advice to people interested in opening their own coffee shop is to get a job in a coffee shop as a barista. Owning a coffee shop is often glorified in television and movies, but when you get into the job and get your hands dirty, you quickly figure out if you truly have a passion for the work or not. Passion will be the driving force for your business, give you perseverance, and will help you from feeling burn out. Working as a barista helped me to understand what the job required and I realized quickly that the industry is a good fit for me.

Knowledge of coffee: As a barista, you learn about different types of coffee beans, brewing techniques, and how to make different types of coffee drinks. This knowledge can be invaluable when it comes to owning your own coffee shop, as you’ll need to have a deep understanding of coffee in order to create a menu that customers will love. Plus, knowing the limits and demands placed on a barista will help to make you a better boss.

Customer service skills: As a barista, you interact with customers on a daily basis. This experience can help you develop strong customer service skills, which are essential for running a successful coffee shop. You’ll need to know how to interact with customers in a friendly and professional manner, handle complaints and difficult situations, and make sure that your customers are satisfied with their experience.

Time management: Working as a barista requires you to be efficient and manage your time effectively in order to keep up with the demands of customers. This skill is crucial when it comes to owning your own coffee shop, as you’ll need to be able to manage your time effectively in order to keep your business running smoothly.

Multitasking: As a barista, you may be responsible for taking orders, making drinks, cleaning, preparing food, and handling cash all at the same time. This experience can help you develop strong multitasking skills, which will be useful when it comes to running your own coffee shop.

Understanding the industry: Working as a barista can provide you with valuable insights into the coffee industry. You’ll learn about trends, what customers are looking for, and how trends and customer wants can change over time. Getting a good feel for the flow of the industry is invaluable.

Overall, working as a barista can provide the necessary experience and skills that can help prepare someone for owning their own coffee shop. By learning about coffee, developing strong customer service skills, mastering time management and multitasking, and understanding the industry, you are better prepared with the knowledge and experience needed to run a successful coffee shop.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Kate Firoved and I own Carnelian Coffee Co. in Old Colorado City with my husband Colton Klauss. Working in the coffee industry for years helped me develop a true passion for owning a coffee shop. I’ve been working in various capacities in the industry like green coffee buying, roasting, managing, and as a barista for over a decade. Our vision for Carnelian is to bring tasty coffee made with thoughtful ingredients that compliment rather than disguise the quality of our house-roasted coffee beans. Colton brings the same passion to coffee as he does to the food program at Carnelian. He has worked in fine-dining for over a decade, but has a true passion for making quality food accessible. Together, we want to make a true impact on our community and share our quality products with our customers and friends to help them develop a passion for what good coffee and food can mean as well as how a coffee shop can positively impact the environment and community.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

I had opened Carnelian Coffee in 2017 and was working by myself for over a year before I hired our first staff member. I had plenty of help from family and friends and a lot of support from the community, but it was a tough job from the start. Colton first came in as a customer during our opening week. He was just passing through town visiting a friend, but each time he came back to Colorado, he made a point to visit me at Carnelian. Eventually we developed a relationship together and he started helping out at Carnelian whenever he was in town. He soon realized the impact that he could make by coming to work full time for the business and he has enjoyed the ability to create something of his own with the shop. His expertise in food and coffee tasting has proven to be invaluable. You can catch us working together behind the bar and in the kitchen most days. We will officially be married this May.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

Our customers are very important to us and we want everyone to feel welcome. We have an emotional connection to Carnelian and we want our customers to feel that as well. We want to foster a sense of belonging and strive to provide a safe space in our community. Having a friendly and welcoming staff that provides personalized service in a warm and inviting environment is very important to us and leaves a strong impression on customers and make them more likely to return in the future. Many of our customers will share their positive experience with their friends and family and it is a powerful tool for building brand loyalty, as people are more likely to trust recommendations from people they know and respect.

We try to create an atmosphere of acceptance and love which has helped us to develop a positive reputation in our community. We truly like and value our customers and this has helped to foster loyalty and build long-term relationships.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.carneliancoffeeco.com
• Instagram: @carneliancoffeeco
• Facebook: @carneliancoffeeco

Image Credits
Shaunti Lally