We were lucky to catch up with TIANA ASHWORTH-BERNARDO recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi TIANA, thanks for joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I have been a small business owner for 15 years now, and both my husband & myself, have had multiple businesses together. I think what it takes to be successful is to keep your morals & values every day. Staying true to yourself & what you want your business to look like. Having good relationships with customers and people in general that you will encounter daily.

TIANA, 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 husband and I bought into our first local Coffee shop in August 2007 knowing nothing about coffee, employees, payroll, expenses, etc. Our first time experience in buying our coffee shop in Sandy, did not start out very well. We did not know anything about purchasing businesses, and we almost lost everything due to not being prepared and having the knowledge. We encountered dishonesty and fraud upfront from the previous owner that was selling our coffee shop we now own in sandy called Brews on 7th. We had to deal with the IRS, Utah Tax Commission & numerous other vendors that the previous owner owed money to. We finally had to get a lawyer to sort everything out. We did not know that you had to have a tax clearance letter & all documentation and records from the business to show what they have been doing in their day to day operations. The previous owner was breaking many Utah business laws including franchise laws. It has been a roller coaster to keep our business open and running, mending relationships with vendors, trying to run an honest small local business & maintaining good customer service. Over the years we have opened a few other locations. We had a Coffee Kiosk inside Primary Childrens Hospital for about 10 years. We have had another Coffee Kiosk inside Lone Peak Hospital in Draper for a couple years too. Those 2 locations are now closed. We currently have a Coffee Kiosk inside Larry H Miller Superford dealership in Salt Lake City, a Cafe in Brian Head, Utah. As well as, our drive up location in Sandy, Utah & we are opening a Brick & mortar location in Murray Utah end of 2022. One of the struggles is corporate giants like Starbucks, Dutch Bros, Beans & Brews, Dunkin Donuts- that local cities allow in and they take over the areas where other small local businesses are trying to make an honest living & gain and keep the customer base in those areas. Most small businesses do not have a lot of working capital to advertise & to get our name and business out there. We do use social media, and we have a lot of regular customers that love us. We keep our pricing competitive, we offer numerous discounts and offers & we try to keep up with what people want in way of Coffee & Coffee related products. We use a local Coffee Roaster that has been around for over 50 years. We custom make anything that a customer requests, and we make a great effort to keep customers coming back because we listen & care about their experience with us. We are also supportive of our local Animal rescue groups & Shelters & do a lot of charity drives and adoption events. My husband is a retired veteran with the Army National Guard & we struggle to keep our dreams alive in owning & running our own businesses. My husband has been doing Garage Doors for nearly 25 years, as well as, owning Coffee shops. One of the issues is that you can not change a customers mind & consumers love the brand of Starbucks or Beans & Brews. Starbucks is worldwide, but they have lost what is important. People & quality products. I think if more bigger corporations & businesses would open up opportunities for smaller, local businesses to partner with them, I think it would show a support of community. For example, the University of Utah Hospital has a Starbucks inside their main lobby. If they would show more support for a local business/coffee shop to come in there, I think it helps our economy. We had a Coffee Kiosk inside Primary Children’s Hospital for 10 years, and they sought us out as a local coffee shop & that is what they wanted to offer to patient’s families, hospital staff, etc. We only had to close prior to the pandemic, or we would still be in business. Supporting local businesses & serving the community starts at the very top.

Let’s talk M&A – we’d love to hear your about your experience with buying businesses

In August 2020, My husband and I purchased a Cafe in Brian Head, Utah. The previous owner was experiencing difficulty with staff & running the day to day operations on her own. And the Covid Pandemic did not help matters for her. So we saw an opportunity where others might say it was a bad business decision during a pandemic. But we had just had another of our locations that we had for 10 years inside Primary Children’s Hospital close in March of 2020. So it is true what they say, when one door closes another door opens. We contacted our attorney, who looked over the sales contract and all the bookkeeping for the business since it opened, to make sure there were no issues with liens, or outstanding debts. And that the previous owner was offering it for a fair price. We felt that we could open this existing cafe & add a full Coffee bar, since it did not have a very good variety of options for good coffee, especially at a local ski resort. We first went into the cafe when we were attending a wedding in mid July 2020, and by the first of August 2020, we owned it! It was a scary process for myself, since we live 200 miles away in Sandy, Utah. I was concerned about staffing it. But the process was pretty smooth, although very exhausting. The previous owner stayed on, as a paid employee, for about 2 months to help with training, staffing & the transition, which helped a lot. We have been open at Brian Head, Utah as Mountain Peak Cafe since August 2020 & have had some challenges, but overall, it has been a great addition to our business.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

We have had to maintain a lot of different personalities over the years in our staff. We have had the good, the bad & the ugly work for us. It has been challenging. And with different locations, I sometimes had to trust my managers to interview & hire people that would be best for our team. The best way I can describe keeping staff motivated & passionate about the job, is mainly communication. I put my trust in everyone that works for us, and in turn, they can trust me to keep my word. Respect & honoring what you say you will do, goes both ways as an owner & as a member of our team.

Contact Info:

• Website: brewson7th.com
• Instagram: brewson7th, Mountain Peak Coffee
• Facebook: Brews on 7th, Mountain Peak Coffee