Last summer, we received a letter from Professor Michelle Richau of Jamestown Community College (JCC). She oversees the Department of World Languages and teaches dynamic Spanish and freshman intro classes. She had dreamed up But First, Coffee!—an Inquire class for incoming students—and asked Nick and me if we would participate for a couple of days.
We were nervous because we had never lectured to students or taught a coffee class before, but Nick and I decided to go for it. So far, we’ve had the privilege of participating in three classes, and we absolutely love it. On the first day, we visit JCC and talk about the realities of owning a coffee shop and running a business. On the second day, students visit Crown Street to observe the cafe and our roasting operations. Students are encouraged to come up with possible solutions for complex cafe issues and ask questions during this two-day experience.
As JCC alumni and cafe owners in downtown Jamestown, we were thrilled to share our first-hand experiences. We started the lecture by discussing the realities of owning a coffee shop—the sacrifices, managing a team, ensuring consistency, and preparing for unexpected challenges, such as a staff call-off or a vital piece of equipment needing repairs.
It’s important to discuss these realities because they are the things you learn along the way as a business owner. While you can never be fully prepared, being aware of the challenges helps. But more than that, we also spoke about the great things—there are so many. Most of all, the immense privilege and hard work of building something we own in a community we adore.
The coffee roasting process was fun for the students, too, as they got to see the behind-the-scenes operations of the cafe and how we create the product. Coffee education is something we are passionate about because it’s fascinating to know where your daily cup of coffee comes from and how it gets from Brazil to Jamestown. It’s a lengthy process that results in a product our community gets to enjoy.
As JCC alumni, it’s been exciting to come full circle and guest-teach a class. We would have loved to take a class like this during our time at JCC, and we are so thankful that Professor Richau allowed us to be a part of it.