WEEK 10
FOR THE LOVE OF BUSY(NESS).
In 2010 I ran a full-marathon in Seattle. It took 15 weeks of training to get me prepared to run 26.2 miles on the paved streets of the world’s most iconic coffee town.
Even after the training, the run was so much harder than I ever expected.
I can relate that physical experience to this week at Reverie. I’ve been training for 12 weeks through the e2e Accelerator program, and now I’m staring at the finish line. I am as prepared for my pitch as I could be. And all I have left before I'm set free is to stand among my peer cohorts and display to the crowd of entrepreneurs and investors what Reverie has to offer. Nothing is going to get in the way of this.
They say a marathon has two halves — there’s the first twenty miles and the last 6.2. At mile 20, I started developing shin splints. If my work in the e2e program is a marathon, this week was my shin splints week. But I was prepared to meet the challenge.
My café received a cryptic email last week from a marketing company requesting our participation in a Gilmore Girls promotion. We anticipated the experience to be fun and exciting, but had no clue how responsive Gilmore Girls fans would be.
Here's a snapshot of that response:
To add to the chaos, this promotion was going down at the same time as my e2e pitch demo at Accelerate the Heartland. Even though I couldn't be there, my team rallied to meet the most challenging feat Reverie had ever been faced with. They served a line of Gilmore Girls fans 200 deep for over four hours, with the line constantly full of customers until closing time at 7 p.m. And there were little-to-no problems or complaints they couldn’t handle.
It’s near the end of my e2e Accelerator experience, but it’s certainly not the end of my progress in making an even better business. I have much work to do. But this training has served me well, showing that I have the motivation and energy to get through just about anything. It’s also comforting to know my team is behind me 100 percent. They are a big part of the success I have been able to achieve.
I’ll spend the next few days recovering and serving some notable folks, starting with Food Network celebrity chef, and my personal hero, Alton Brown. It is an honor to partner with The Wichita Orpheum Theater to provide coffee services for several of their October events, including Brown. He was in town Thursday night to release his newest cookbook, EverydayCook.
Alton Brown even posted a picture of his Reverie visit on Instagram.
Before leaving Wichita Friday morning, Alton Brown also stopped by for some cortados — a drink made of espresso and steamed milk — and to say "hi" to our staff.
My weekend will also be busy, as I prepare for Saturday's fall market hosted by the Workroom.
Yes, I have been ridiculously busy. But if you love the work, it’s not work at all. It’s you being you. I love the work I do and it makes me who I am. And I look forward to every day I get to do it.
-- Andrew