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

Lindsey , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

My husband and I have always been “risk takers”. From the moment we boarded an aeroplane 25+ years ago, and headed from family, friends and all that we knew in South Africa to go and live in London, we have had a reputation for being “those people”.

While living in London, we decided we wanted to move to the United States. We both loved it here when we had visited on vacation. However, the legal immigration process was daunting, lengthy and often confusing. So we set those ideas aside and worked on building a home, family and business in the UK.

Still, the urge to pack up and and move grew stronger. Finally we made some enquiries with an immigration lawyer who offered the solution in the form of a business visa. All we had to do, he explained, was purchase and run a business here, keeping within certain rules and parameters.
While risky, it seemed a good option.

So, in 2012, we sold our house, closed our successful IT consultancy business, packed our belongings into temporary storage and boarded a plane for Colorado, ironically one of the places we had NOT previously visited in the US.

We engaged the services of a business broker and began the process of considering coffee shops to purchase.

At this stage, we now had no home, no income, no belongings and still no visa! To many people, it seemed crazy. And honestly, looking back it was!

After some consideration, we found the business we wanted to buy. It’s the same coffee shop we are still running ten years later…but I’m jumping ahead a little!

After all the legal back and forth, we returned to the UK to attend an appointment at the US Embassy in London. We had used the services of the immigration lawyer to prepare the lengthy and extensive petition for a business visa. Everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING, hinged on this in-person meeting.

To our great delight, we were awarded the full five years that is available on this type of visa. Within days we were making our way back to the USA to start our new life here. We arrived the day before Thanksgiving and boy were we thankful!

We officially took ownership of Wesley Owens Coffee, now Wesley Owens Coffee and Cafe, on December 1, 2012.
We had moved here with a three year old and six year old and began to run a food business, which we had never done before.

The first few months were intense and insane. The learning curve was steep and at times seemed impossible to climb.

It soon became apparent the location we were in was over-priced and unsuitable for potential growth. So after two years of making no money, we decided to move the store to a new location. For a business racking up plenty of expenses, this was another big risk. And another time that many people,shook their heads and asked if we were sure we knew what we were doing!
This was a really good question. One we didn’t always have an answer to. However, as Christians, we relied on our faith and relationship with God to help dictate our choices and so, investing yet more money, we moved into a larger location just across the road!

We were so touched by the many customers who came out to help us paint, renovate, clean and make ready the new store.

One customer, who was both in awe of our bravery and simultaneously concerned we were just a little crazy, asked one day, as he painted yet another wall for us, “Lindsey, what’s Plan B, if this doesn’t work out?”
I smiled nervously and replied, “There is no Plan B.” For our family, it has always been ‘Pikes Peak or Bust!’.

After the five years our visa expired, we reapplied to extend it. This involved another lengthy application and another in-person meeting at the US Embassy in London. We were awarded another five year extension.

So fast forward to 2022. We have now owned and operated this coffee shop, plus gift store and mini ladies boutique for almost ten years. It has grown into a thriving business that survived the pandemic, survived the lock downs, the closures, the limited hours etc. In fact, by making sure we continued to meet the needs of our community, we didn’t just survive, we thrived.

We have a home and an income; our temporarily stored belongings made their way over some months after we arrived! Our beautiful children are now thirteen and sixteen.
We are a huge part of our community, love our customers and the people we get to meet and work with. We are mentors to the young people in our employ and take the time to pray for any and all who are in need as they come in to our store.

Was it risky? Absolutely! Would we do it all again? Most likely! We are grateful for our faith and the confidence of our friends, family and community who have supported us along the way! Here’s to the next ten years!

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?

It surprises many people to learn that I have never been formally trained as a chef! In fact, my back ground was in recruitment. I also worked as freelance journalist for some years and then helped my husband run our IT consultancy, before we came to the USA.

However, I’m blessed to come from a line of accomplished bakers and cooks. My grandfather was thee baker in the Scottish village my mother was raised in. Both my grandmothers were accomplished cooks and bakers and my mother allowed my talents to sprout by letting me randomly bake cakes using the “right ingredients”, long before I could read the quantities or directions on a recipe.

I’ve developed a passion for helping others learn to cook and prepare meals from scratch, and our online cooking classes became very popular during the pandemic. I currently offer in person cooking classes too.

My job at Wesley Owens Coffee and Cafe is to develop and test the recipes we use in store. Whether that’s the biscuits and gravy we make from scratch or a new muffin recipe, a summer salad special or some yummy cookies. All of those recipes must be tested, altered for altitude in some cases and then repeated and recorded so that staff can replicate them. It’s a fun activity and I’m always on the hunt for new ideas, delicious foods and tasty treats that we can add to the menu in store.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Managing staff is a tricky business. People are the most complicated but simultaneously the most necessary part of any business, whether those people are customers or staff, people count!

When managing staff, it’s important to clearly express expectations for both the staff member and the owners or managers and co workers.

We provide all new staff with a contract that clearly details what is required of them and what they can reasonably expect from us. This covers clothing policy, food safety policy, disciplinary procedures, pay expectations etc. I have tried to be as thorough and as clear with all these things as possible so that there is little room for misunderstanding.

Additionally, we have written job descriptions for each of the roles in store. I provide staff with these job descriptions, both for the role they are entering as well as the role they should be aspiring to be promoted to in the future. This helps them know what they need to learn and understand both currently, as well as what they need to know to progress with us.

We discourage gossiping about customers, colleagues and management. I personally check in with staff regularly and have our assistant manager maintain relationship, open conversation and connection with the staff. I encourage adult discourse about minor issues, but will also actively participate in remedial conversation, should a resolution be unavailable from staff members directly.

We have also learned to address issues, of any sort, as soon as possible. Failure to correct or disciple staff leads to low morale and frustration with others. When matters are addressed promptly, calmly and respectfully from all sides, growth is possible and relationship maintained.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Treating everyone’s money like it is yours! Whether that’s the business money, customer money, staff money, the same theory applies.

Our most reliable form of “advertising” is word of mouth. Whether that’s direct conversation with neighbors or social media reviews; happy customers sharing their experiences is the kind of promotion money can’t buy.

We encourage staff to consider that before they serve an item, be it food or drink, they should consider if they would be happy, had they just paid x dollars for it. Customers choose to spend their hard earned money with us and if staff would be upset about the quality or value of the product they are considering offering, then that’s a good indication customers will be too.

We also operate on the premise that many stores can offer a decent cup of coffee, or a decent pastry. The main thing that differentiates one business from another is the atmosphere and customer service. Friendly staff, happy to be at work, enjoying working hard and playing hard too, are the mainstay for a successful business.

We encourage team work, which creates a positive environment in the store. That in turn trickles into the customer services, quality of product and general positive experience.

When all that works, business grows without even trying! It’s almost like that becomes the happy bi product of a healthy business.

Again, focusing on people will automatically generate growth. Focusing on growth, nearly always generates burn out.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.wesleyowenscoffee,com
• Facebook: Www.Facebook.com/wesleyowenscoffee
• Yelp: Wesley Owens Coffee
• Other: To reserve the meeting room: reserveroom.wesleyowenscoffee.com

Image Credits
Fabian and Lindsey Leite