mysisteropenedacoffeeshop

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New York’s 100-Year-Old Businesses Offer Lessons in Survival

“A lot of companies come and go, but these are the ones that have survived and have kept their culture.”

*photo of Holtermann’s Bakery on Staten Island’s South Shore, Dec. 16, 2021. Clifford Michel/THE CITY

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I saw this video a few years ago and remembered it when putting together the playlist I made for my sister as she begins her chemotherapy treatment. 

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I made my sister a playlist as her chemotherapy treatment begins. Music uplifts. It can speak for us when words fall short. Listen with us here. 

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Breakfast together at the best coffee shop in the world

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March 2019: My sister, Reneé, opens Fika Sisters Coffeehouse.

March 2020: The Coronavirus arrives and upends the world as we know it. Reneé adjusts and keeps Fika Sisters Coffeehouse open every day - Monday through Saturday - serving coffee from the front door for several months as the shop’s only employee.

September 2021: Reneé is working at the shop when a doctor calls with the news that she has Stage II Breast Cancer. 

I started this tumblr blog in 2018 to inspire Reneé as she worked to open the coffee shop of her dreams. Now, I’m hoping this corner of the Internet can once again inspire her as she continues running her coffee shop while undergoing treatment. Thanks for following along. 

* photo by me, Reneé’s sister, Lisa, of a simple and beautiful Tuesday morning in the shop

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“We all know an excessive apology giver, and if you don't, you're probably that person in your friend group haha. you obviously need to apologise sometimes, if you've done something bad or hurtful. being able to give someone an heartfelt apology is a good skill. but some people over-apologise. they apologise for things not in their control, things that are clearly not their fault. they apologise for being sensitive, for someone else bumping into them, they apologise for apologising. but over apologising can be troublesome, saying sorry too much can trivialize the act of apology, making the important ones carry less weight. many things can lead to over apologising. a high level of agreeableness, a difficult upbringing, a past of emotional abuse, a naturally high level of compassion for others, can all lead to constantly saying sorry. but always remember, you do not have to apologise for your existence. one way to stop saying sorry so much is replacing the "sorry" with "thank you". it makes it so that you seem more thankful, and assured, rather than sounding insecure, unsure, or undeserving. being able to assert yourself, and owning your right to make your way in the world is vital. you don't have to apologise for simply being, you don't have to apologise for having flaws.” - tilly / matilda, via

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The difference between fearlessness and courage is Fearlessness says “I feel nothing” and Courage says “I feel this, and I’m doing it anyway.”

Elizabeth Gilbert, in conversation with Lisa Congdon - the artist who painted the Fika Sisters mural. Listen to their conversation here. 

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“First we realize something can be done.

Then we realize we can’t do it.

And finally, we get better at it.

It’s the second step that messes with us.

If you care enough to make a difference, if you care enough to get better–you should care enough to experience incompetence again.”

- Seth Godin

* Reneé’s shop will be open on Monday, 3/11, 7-4. I hope everyone can stop in to give her a hello and a high five. I’m beyond proud of her. 

** Photo of what Reneé and I call the “living room” in the shop :)

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Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge fame is closing shop. As she prepares to shutter the doors of the first blog I ever read, she’s doing a recap of past content. 

Her Life & Business series was one of my favorites. Editors are posting the Top 20 Business Posts of All Time, and this week it’s #18: The Importance of Diversification. Lisa Hackwith and Erin Husted provided this advice to business owners:

- Start with what you know and love: When starting a new business, begin where you are comfortable. Surround yourself with people smarter than you. Keep in mind that if you don’t love what you’re doing, it will be incredibly difficult to put in the time to make it succeed.

- Take risks: As usual, we agree with Amy Poehler, “great people do things before they are ready.” While it’s easy to want to keep researching, practicing, and preparing, at some point, you have to dive in.

- Trust your instincts: By the time you’ve done the work to start your own business, your gut will know things that your brain can’t necessarily identify. Go with your gut. Common sense matters in business.

- Diversify: Part of diversification is making room for the next idea. You can build a business on elbow grease and adrenaline alone, but to maintain it, you have to take time to rest, to be inspired.

Read the full post, originally published in 2015, here. 

(photo via Design*Sponge)

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HOW TO MAKE SENSE OF THINGS WHEN YOU’RE FEELING OVERWHELMED

Do this. Make a note or a list or just mentally take inventory of the following:

What urgent issues do you have right now? What areas of responsibility are you managing? What projects are you working on? What things do you feel that you should be doing but you’re not?

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Life Lessons

1. Everything is temporary. 2. Life is not fair. 3. Others treat you the way you treat yourself. 4. Happiness is a choice and requires hard work. 5. Beneath anger is always fear. 6. Family are the people who truly love you. 7. Things don’t matter that much. 8. A lifetime is not very long. 9. You played it too safe. You should take more risks.

(from here, via)

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I’ve been to coffee shops where the barista complimented me on something I wore, or the gray streak in my hair. But what if a barista could compliment me on something more meaningful, about who I am as a person? Is it possible to make the barista-customer relationship better? Deeper? More true?

(photo via, via)

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Courier Coffee is my favorite coffee shop in Portland. They’ve been roasting beans since 2009, and it shows. For several years now, my sister and I have been visiting Courier for Fika Sisters work meetings. It’s inspired us in so many ways, but specifically:

- The coffee is always, always delicious. I think there is a lot to be said for consistency when it comes to quality. There are other shops I go to where certain baristas are better than others, and I am that customer who will return a poorly done americano. But I never have to worry at Courier. I’ve literally never had a bad cup of coffee here.

- A community vibe. Courier is downtown, so many of the folks that stop in work downtown and stop in on their way to their office, or for a work meeting. People recognize one another here, and they chat. The counter is low, which makes conversation between customers and the baristas conducive and natural. 

- The decor is simple, white, and not fussy. 

- All the baked goods are created in-house, right at the coffee bar. They’re served from a butcher block behind the counter until they sell out. The ingredients are locally sourced and clean. And they taste delicious.

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“The United States goes through over 500 million plastic straws every day, according to Eco-Cycle, a United States-based nonprofit recycling organization. They get used for only a few minutes, but potentially last for hundreds of years in the ocean, and are among the top 10 pollutants collected during beach cleanups. Plastic straws kill marine life and choke reefs and beaches, never decomposing completely, but instead breaking into bits of microplastics, which eventually enter the food chain. And so the straw — ubiquitous in most restaurants, bars, cruise ships and luxury resorts — has become a prime example of how tourism can have a deeply negative effect on the environment.

Global momentum has built in recent months to ban plastic straws and replace them with biodegradable ones, in part thanks to numerous social media campaigns using hashtags like #StrawsSuck and #TheLastStraw. In February, Queen Elizabeth II issued a rare royal decree banning plastic straws and bottles from all royal estates (and their cafes and gift shops) and pledged to reduce using other single-use plastics at all royal functions.”

- Adam H. Graham, from this New York Times article

Related:

- Portland City Council OK’s limits on plastic straws, utensils

- Starbucks to Stop Using Disposable Plastic Straws by 2020

- #DitchtheStrawPDX

{photo of LoveJoy Bakers via}

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I enjoyed Jen’s recent podcast episode entitled What I Learned About Business: Part One.

It’s about what she learned in the first five years of building her company, ban.do.

She based the talk around these six pieces of advice:

1. Build A Brand

2. Make a Good Product

3. Listen to Your Customers

4. Pay Attention to Social Media

5. Comparison is the Thief of Joy

6. Relinquish Control as You Grow

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I believe in a humanistic enterprise: business should comply in the noblest manner with all the rules of ethics that man has devised over the centuries. I dream about a form of humanistic modern capitalism with strong ancient roots, where profit is made without harm or offense to anyone, and part of it is set aside for any initiative that can really improve the condition of human life: services, schools, places of worship and cultural heritage

Bruno Cucinelli (via)

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“When we’re innovating a product or iterating a service, we tend to add value by introducing features and benefits. But more isn’t always better.

Sometimes improvements and progress are made by removing things that people wouldn’t miss.

What could you subtract or stop doing to improve your product or service?”

- Bernadette Jiwa, via her blog

(photo of Passenger Coffee, via)