Speaker: Stephanie McKenzie

Stephanie runs a coffee shop that I walk by every single day on campus, Metro Coffee. This was a very fun talk to hear for me because there was something different about hearing from someone whose business I have seen prior to this class. It also feels more relatable because it’s a relatively small operation and I honestly don’t see myself trying to run a very large company, at least not any time soon. Stephanie took over the coffee shop when the previous owner unfortunately became unable to run the business due to cancer. She said that much of what she learned was simply from doing the job, rather than from school or elsewhere. She also received financial help from her mother which apparently ended rather poorly and damaged their relationship, which like John Dimmer mentioned can be a side effect of getting financial support for your business from friends and family. One small thing that she mentioned that I found interesting, although expected, was that the business they do throughout a given day can depend greatly on the class schedules at UW for that quarter. Apparently it was more common for there to be sudden spikes in customers at certain times, and now there is a more steady flow. She also said she decided to close down operations for the winter break because obviously there aren’t many people compared to during a quarter. The school apparently wanted to use the space the Metro Coffee currently occupies, but for now Stephanie has plenty of time left on the lease and is hopeful she will get to remain in the same spot for the foreseeable future.