We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Natalie Huscheck a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Natalie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Success at Well Grounded Coffee Community is measured by relationships. We build relationships with our baristas in such a way that promotes life transformation for them and for their children. We build relationships with our customers that build community and a safe place to grow & learn. The most exciting event in a day at the coffee house is watching baristas and customers connect at a deep level, each offering the other support, love, and encouragement. We’re not just a Coffee House. We are building relationships one cup at a time.

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

In December of 2020, we opened the doors of our nonprofit coffee house in East Dallas. Yes, right in the middle of the pandemic. The mission: Transforming lives through a process of work, education, community, and faith. We create opportunity for individuals who are barely surviving life to reach a higher level of purpose and social contribution.

We hire, train, educate, and love on those who society has rejected; woman who have been marginalized (formerly incarcerated moms, pregnant homeless woman, recovering addicts, and woman escaping the sex industry.

And… we make amazing coffee! We partner with a local roaster “Full City Rooster”.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Working with a population that has been deeply wounded by those who were suppose to care for them is always a challenge. The very people who they trusted, proved untrustworthy and this makes it difficult for them to learn to trust again. We are learning to not take it personal and instead to go the extra mile to earn trust. One example is taking extra time to sit together to do payroll so they can see how the hours are entered, tip-share is added, the taxes taken out, etc. In the end, people don’t CARE how much you KNOW, if they don’t KNOW how much you CARE. Taking the extra time for these small things goes a long way in earning trust.

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

I’m always amazed at the way certain people repeatedly cross my path in such a way that I know it’s not an accident. In these situations, I ask God what He is trying to telling me!

Alyx Jones and I are the two Barista Mentors that share the bulk of the hours with our baristas on a day to day basis. Alyx and I met many years ago when we were attending the same church. She and her husband then moved away. A couple years later, my husband and I also moved and began serving in a ministry called Apartment Life. We reconnected with Alyx as she was on staff at Apartment Life. Alyx then changed jobs and once again we lost touch. My husband and I completed our commitment with Apartment Life and bought a house in Dallas. We began working on our NonProfit Coffee House idea. We ran into Alyx and her husband at a local event and shared our plans with them. Alyx told us she was in between jobs and trying to figure out her next step.

I couldn’t shake the idea that Alyx would be an amazing addition to our team. I called her the next day and asked her if she might be interested in working a lot of hours for nearly no money!!! She has played a lead role at Well Grounded ever since!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.wellgrounded.coffee
• Instagram: @wellgroundedcoffeeco
• Facebook: Well Grounded Coffee Co
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-huscheck-78b7085/

Image Credits
Natalie Huscheck’s cell phone:)