Learning Publicly is Failing Publicly

Three years ago I got thrust into a series of events that led to me opening a cafe. Before then I had never worked in food or customer service before.That first year was one of the toughest years I have ever been through, but I did learn a lot.

We had to start with almost nothing. Our renovation was extremely modest, but still almost wiped us out. Leaving me to open and learn coffee, food and customer service through doing, and facing the scorn, frustration and criticism you would expect. I learned so much and I feel like these insights can really help anyone in the situation of needing to learn in the public eye, whether its a career change or a life change you are facing, there are simply times when we need to brace ourselves to fail publicly.

1. Be Honest and Vulnerable. The first month I was extremely honest, explaining that we were new and still learning the bumps. I would be friendly and polite, but vulnerable. Sure, this was not for everyone, but it really worked for some people and I actually gained my first and some of my most loyal regulars in this time. They seemed to enjoy going along on the journey with me.

2. The Harder You Apply Yourself, The Shorter Your Pain Period Will Last! I try so hard to convey this to my new hires. When you are first starting something, it will hurt at first, sometimes a lot. But that is when you need to lean in harder. My first weekend open I invited everyone I knew in the city to come by for a free shot of espresso, my goal was to pull 5 lbs of espresso in one day (about 100 shots) and learn enough to make it muscle memory. When it came to learning milk steaming, I practiced over and over again with just water and soap until I could do it with my eyes closed. On my time off, when I was running or folding laundry, I listened to pod casts and watched Youtube channels that were discussing coffee and cafe management. I bought or borrowed books that spoke about business, coffee and management. I would ask for tips and training from my roaster and go out and look at other cafes and be so inspired by what they were doing. I made myself become obsessed with my new industry and with start ups and business in general, and I learned as much as I could. I learned in 3 months what it takes some of my baristas to learn in a year, because I needed to.

3. Note Criticism, But Keep Going. There will always be lots of critics and complainers, but many actually have no value. Most will only be a little bit about you and more about something wrong with the critics day, life or attitude. But some criticism will be valid, and important for you to notice, as this is what you will need to work on next. The majority of customers with a valid complaint won’t say anything and also won’t come back. So, you need to learn to differentiate between the two types of critics. My tips are to look objectively at the complaint, and own your mistakes openly. But don’t take ownership for things out of your control.

4. Be Gentle With Yourself to Be More Consistent. The first year I was giving it my all, still getting complaints and was so broke I was afraid I would lose my home. But giving up was failure, and we couldn’t afford to do it. I needed to be super gentle on myself outside of the cafe. I forgave myself for letting things go. My house was a mess that year. We weren't eating healthy, and I would watch my friends on Instagram start workout accounts with a little envy, but that just wasn’t where I was. I was lucky to have two really supportive friends, who I leaned on so much. We set up a Friday dinner club, where we would meet, eat and digest the week (they were also going through big events in their life.) That weekly connection became my rock, and my only really happy memories from that year were of those dinners. In order to stay consistent on your goal, you might have to let other things temporarily slip. And thats ok. Just take care of yourself in a way that really matters to you. And keep going. It will get easier with time.

Its hard to think back to those times, that was easily the hardest year of my life. But we came through. I now know how to run the cafe, its making money and I get some time off. My life is more balanced and I, again, am working out, eating healthy, and have a clean home.

If you are starting something where you have to learn publicly, I hope this article inspired you. Keep looking for your inspiration and your strategies, it is well worth it.