ENTERPRISE COWORKING COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: ARDITH MENDELL, OWNER OF COMPASS WEST

This month, Diana sits down with Ardith Mendell, owner of Compass West to discuss how their business connects furniture dealers to businesses and individuals. Compass West was one of our earliest members at Enterprise Coworking, now onto their 3rd private office in the space. Learn about the amazing company here!

TRANSCRIPT:

[00:00:04] Diana: Hello, welcome to another Enterprise Community Spotlight. This month, we’re featuring wonderful member company Compass West. They have been members of Enterprise since our start back in 2016. Ardith Mendell is the owner of Compass West. She is here with us to tell us more about their fantastic team. Hey Ardith, tell us a little bit about your company and what you guys do.

[00:00:26] Ardith: Sure. So Compass West is a multiline manufacturer’s rep group in the office furniture business and our customers are everything from designers to contract furniture dealers. And also we a lot of times get involved with end users. So companies that are looking for furniture and we connect them to dealers who can sell and service their needs.

[00:00:51] Diana: That’s so awesome, I know Enterprise has worked really well with Compas West to Furnish, connects us with the dealers and and furnish this building. And we always get compliments on all of our furniture.

[00:01:06] Ardith: Well, it’s been super fun because we’ve been able to use areas of the Enterprise building to test furniture out and see how it works in actual settings. And we’ve gotten great feedback from some of the members here about what they like and what they don’t like. And that really helps us find that right solution for other companies that are coming to us. So we definitely appreciate feedback on furniture.

[00:01:31] Diana: Yeah, you’re right. We love that relationship too. It’s a lot of fun to test out certain products and they all just happen to be really beautiful, too.

[00:01:40] Ardith: Well, thanks.

[00:01:42] Diana: So how long have you guys been in business?

[00:01:45] Ardith: So we’ve been in business since 2003. And I work with my husband. We’re business partners. We’ve been working together for about that long. And and we love being in this building because we get to be in touch with other companies that are growing and expanding. And we love hearing about what those companies are doing. And we’re just always here to help and and to help help them with simple solutions so that they can help their brand and their companies stand apart from other companies. We represent nine different brands of furniture and eight different companies. So a couple of them, one of the companies has two brands within it. But one of the products that you see behind me, this quiet earth moss, is one of the products that we that we represent. And it’s a preserved natural moss product that helps absorb sound and helps kind of muffle some of the sounds that are in a big office space. And it also brings that green from the outdoors. And so it adds that beauty. And on the back side of it, it’s a whiteboard. So it’s fully functional as well.

[00:03:02] Diana: Incredible. I love that piece so much. It’s striking. Looks like you’re in the Garden of Eden. I love it.

[00:03:08] Ardith: Yeah, well, it’s one of my favorite products, actually. It’s just it’s just so happy and cheerful and warm and it does really cozy office space.

[00:03:19] Diana: Yeah, for sure. What makes Compas West different from other companies in similar fields?

[00:03:26] Ardith: So we try to think outside the box when customers come to us looking for solutions. So we try to find solutions that are kind of different and unique. We ask a lot of questions about their company and the type of people that they’re hiring. Are they hiring and looking to attract more millennials? What what is their what is their core business and what do they do? And we try to create an environment that’s going to help set their brand apart from other companies. We also try to be really, really responsive to our customers. So we try to find solutions to them and we try to find good connections. So whereas we don’t sell anything direct to the end user, most of the time we try to find businesses, other furniture dealerships, that do connect directly to them and that are going to be a really good fit.

[00:04:22] Diana: Excellent. So going back to you, why did you guys choose Enterprise Coworking?

[00:04:32] Ardith: So we actually at the time were living in the neighborhood and we were walking past the building and we saw activity going on in here and we were like, oh, what’s going on in there? In fact, I think we were walking down to Walnut Room for dinner one night and we were really curious about what was going on in this building because it’s been in the neighborhood for a really long time. And Frank found out that it was a coworking space and that got us really interested in, hey, I wonder if we could get a space in there and have a small showroom and and and we did. And it’s worked out fantastically. It’s just such a fun community and so fun to be a part of everything and see people. And and it’s been fun watching businesses move from suite to suite. This is our third suite in this building. And we’ve seen other businesses grow and move into bigger suites and and then other businesses move on to where they’ve outgrown their wouldn’t be big enough for them. So that’s been a really fun to watch businesses grow and kind of incubate in this area.

[00:05:43] Diana: Speaking directly to our viewers, What would you like them to know about your company?

[00:05:49] Ardith: So we love getting to know other members in the building and we’re always here to help. So if there’s anything that you need, if there’s anything that you need for your home office, when you walk by and you see chairs in here, we have this many, probably three times over in our garage that are old samples. So if somebody needs a chair and they’re looking for something for their home office that’s comfortable or maybe they don’t have something at home that where they can work at a desk, we do always have stuff available. We’ve also got a cage downstairs that has some products that are available for sale. So if you need something for your office, for your suite here or for your office at home, definitely swing by and see what we’ve got and ask is what we’ve got and tell us what your needs are. And we’d love to help you if if there’s something. We always have great deals on samples, that’s for sure.

[00:06:48] Diana: Thank you so much. And thank you guys for tuning in. To learn more about Compass West, if you would like to connect with Ardith and the team, you can swing by their office any time and Enterprise Coworking. If they’re not around at that time, definitely leave a note on the door or email her at Ardith@compassgroupwest.com. You can also visit their website at CompassGroupWest.com. Thank you so much. It was so fun.

ENTERPRISE COWORKING COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: ARDITH MENDELL, OWNER OF COMPASS WEST

For our March Community Spotlight, Diana sits down with Pastor Brandon Washington of The Embassy Church to discuss their mission, Zoom church services, and why they think Enterprise Coworking is the perfect home for their office and study!

TRANSCRIPT:

[00:00:03] Diana: Hi, everyone, and welcome back to another Enterprise Coworking community spotlight. Today, we’re getting to know Brandon Washington, pastor of Preaching and Vision at the Embassy Church. Brandon and his team have been longstanding, wonderful members at Enterprise Coworking since 2018. So, Brandon, tell us a little bit about the embassy church and what you guys do.

[00:00:24] Brandon: So we are we are a Bible believing evangelical church. And we are we are located in northeast Denver. So we engage the communities of Cole, Whittier, Five points, Clayton. And our tip is to bring a message of the gospel message to that community. And we deliberately chose that neighborhood because it’s in the season of gentrification and it has some adjusting the makeup of the community. And we thought that that was in line with our mission of the church.

[00:00:59] Diana: How long have you been a church?

[00:01:02] Brandon: We started in 2012, April of 2012, so we will be nine years old this year. It seems that that’s a hard timeline to keep track of because 2020 was such a crazy year. We’re meeting online and we meet via Zoom as our medium on Sunday mornings right now. And because of that, 2020 is complicated because it was both longer than it felt longer than it was, and yet it still went by faster than we anticipated. It’s a weird, it’s a weird emotional experience. So we looked up one day and realized, wait a minute, the ninth anniversary of the church is just weeks away and we have to start preparing for some type of celebration and preparation for that.

[00:01:46] Diana: That’s really big. Congratulations. How is your congression congregation? How is your congregation adjusted to the 2020 zoom meetings?

[00:02:00] Brandon: It depends on who you speak to. It’s complicated. So we one of the great things that that we did not we don’t treat Sunday morning as the sole aspect of our identity, we pursue community within the church in other ways. We have home groups that meet, that meet in smaller settings and that kind of thing. But at the same time, I notice that they miss one. There were two occasions during the fall where we gathered in the parking lot at Enterprise, where we use a radio transmitters, the kind of a drive in theater, I got this idea from you, as a matter of fact, because I spoke to you about a drive in theater situation and I realized that driving theaters use the radio in people’s cars using an ethnic transmitter. So we bought FM transmitter and we would have our Sunday gatherings there in the parking lot of the enterprise. And that’s when I realized how much they miss one another. That was the first time we did that was October. And they had not seen one another since March. And you saw. People, they violated all the protocol that we had in place for covid, so people brought homemade cookies in and they had to fight the urge to to hug one another. So it’s it’s this weird thing where it depends on what day it is. Sometimes it’s a very difficult thing for them. But we’ll have the benefit of this medium that the virtual medium that they didn’t have the last time the world endured a pandemic, the when the flu struck in 1918. This was not available to them, so we’re grateful for this opportunity because it keeps us from being separated from one another entirely.

[00:03:38] Diana: That’s incredible. Shows how you’re just you guys are really flexible community. And that probably leads us to our next question, which what makes the embassy different from other churches?

[00:03:52] Brandon: And it’s unfortunate that this is different. But one of the things that we value is diversity and integration. So if you look at the body, you will not be to tell. I tell people all the time. One of my greatest joys that no one can look at the congregation and decide what the ethnicity of the pastors is, because the church is deliberately we sort this out. We sought out diversity and not just diversity, but integration. I think that diversity is good for a photo op. So on Sunday morning, everyone can see a different a difference in a group of people. And it looks good in a photo op. But when they leave after the benediction, when church is over, they still go two separate ways and they don’t engage one another. So one of the things we were hoping would come of our mission is not just diverse, doing our gathering on Sunday but the lives of that diverse gathering are integrated so they know one another. We tell people all the time that we want this to be a place where you know and are known. And that that requires some hard conversations across lines of distinction, and it’s not just for us, not just the ethnicity, but we also are attentive to generational diversity. We don’t want to be a church that appeals only to men or women that have a broad gender presence there. So we try to approach how we do church in a way that engages more than one people group. And I think that that’s what the church should be. And yet, at the same time as my experience has been, that there is something unique or it is rare, I will be careful. I don’t always leave my case here. It is rare to churches like ours.

[00:05:29] Diana: That’s incredible. Thanks for sharing that. So why did you choose Enterprise Coworking for the embassy?

[00:05:39] Brandon: There’s a few reasons for that. Number one, the enterprise is what I call one, stop shopping. So it’s I love being able to pay one feat at the beginning of each month and everything I need is provided it’s not just rent for the space, but utilities are their Wi-Fi, is there that kind of thing. It’s a good one-stop shopping place. I also like that it’s a shared meeting location. So you interact with people who are in fields that are nothing like the one I’m in. I engage people from different from different professions that are there are entirely unlike mine. It also it also engages personality types of different. So you and I have discussed this. I’m not a dog person and it’s very dog friendly place. And we’ll have to interact with people who are nothing like me. And during non pandemic times, the fact that they are public or centralized meeting locations where where accommodations like coffee and tea are available and even even beer on tap, those those things are all available in our common meeting locations is just the ideal type of meeting venue for us. We also like that it’s only 0.9 miles from our Sunday morning gathering location, it’s essentially within walking distance of what we gather on Sunday is during a typical non-Corona year. And because of its close proximity, where we gather, it’s easy for us to tell people where the office is. It’s an easy address to remember. It takes a lot of boxes for us is a very easy address to remember. The building is hard to miss and there’s lots of opportunity for meetings to occur in the building that benefit our mission as we’re trying to engage people who are coming to see us.

[00:07:33] Diana: That makes me so happy. You guys have been with us since 2018 when we opened our doors and it’s been awesome ever since. Like we love having your team with us. You’re you’re great.

[00:07:48] Brandon: Yeah. It’s, it’s I could not we’d actually like to discuss this in Elders meetings. It you find a place that you think is going to work for you. It looks good on paper and then you meet there for a while and you realize it’s everything. It’s most of what we hoped it would be. It’s not everything that we need. Enterprisers exceeded our expectations there. Yeah, it has exceeded the you and I are like, you are reading face when I walk in you and our type. But the bigger thing is. I mean, I need a place that is quite as I need it for when I’m doing my writing and at the same time admit certain accommodations and I don’t know what is the thing for me, but I like that the facility is clean and think I will not specify where we were before, but we left that place because I couldn’t work well there because it wasn’t clean.

I’m glad when I come here and just when I come in, I never have to worry about the facility being well kept and it’s a comfortable place. I’m not embarrassed to invite people with whom I have meetings to our office space. It checks all the boxes for us.

[00:09:03] Diana: What a major compliment. Thank you so much. And your office, your private office in particular, a lot of people pass by and they are impressed by your library. So many people ask me about that.

[00:09:16] Brandon: I try to have the I try to have the appearance of. Of intelligence, at least, so I don’t think you just have the appearance, I think you’re highly intelligent. Yeah, one of but there was another one of the things that we enjoyed is that there was a diversity of of membership opportunities. So some members of our team don’t use our private office space. They come in and they sit in one of the blue chairs. But I need a space where. It’s almost it’s almost inappropriate to call my office an office, it’s a library to study because my primary responsibility is serving prep and writing for articles and books. And so I need a place where I can have my entire library there for research. And I’m one of the benefits that we have is we have full access to the building. So there are times I’ll come in at two o’clock in the morning and I’m there until 6:00 or 7:00 a.m. and I never I’m never worried about my safety or anything of that sort when I’m in the building because of the building as well attended to.

[00:10:14] Diana: Also, what a big compliment. Thank you all for speaking directly to our viewers. What would you like them to know about your team?

[00:10:26] Brandon: Wow. So the that my team will want you to tell you want me to tell you about who we are, the church they still want me to tell you about. Tell you about the mission. And the thing they will want to drive home is we gather every Sunday morning at 10 a.m. and we do that via Zoom you can get the link for that if you visit our website. But we do that every Sunday morning. And that gives you a glimpse into who we are as a church and what we’re trying to do in northeast Denver. And so I would without hesitation, was shameless plugging willingness. I would invite everyone to just come join us on Sundays at 10 a.m. and partake in what we’re doing there.

[00:11:08] Diana: Excellent. That’s that’s a really nice invitation. Well, thank you so much for sitting down with me today, Brendan, and thank you all for tuning in to our community spotlight. If you would like to get in touch with Brandon or visit them for tune in for their Sunday service, you can visit their website at theembassy.org. Thanks again. And see you guys next time.

[00:11:28] Brandon: Thanks for this.

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: RICARDO, CEO OF BONDADOSA

This month Diana sits down with RiNo member Ricardo Rocha, CEO of Bondadosa to talk about his amazing comapny and team who are addressing food insecurity around Denver and getting meals into the hands of those in need. Bondadosa has seen tremendous growth over the past few years and we have been honored to call a company like Bondaosa a part of our community!

TRANSCRIPT:

Diana: Hi guys, and welcome to Enterprise Coworking Community Spotlight. This month, we’re talking to Ricardo Rocha, founder and CEO of Bondadosa. Ricardo, thank you so much for taking the time to sit down with me over Zoom and talk about your company. Tell us a little bit about Bondadosa and what you guys do.

Ricardo: Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. Bondadosa was founded in 2017 [00:00:30] as a social enterprise looking to address food insecurity around Denver. So, as you know, and even now, more pressing now than ever, right through COVID, we all aware that there are hundreds of thousands of people who are at home and at risk and they don’t know where perhaps or when their next meal is going to come from. And so we were founded to focus on this kind of food insecurity, thinking that people like you and I wanted to be [00:01:00] more kind and wanted to be more involved in in supporting a food system that helps people who may find themselves in need thrive, and that we have an active role to play on that. So that’s kind of why we were founded. We were first a technology and now more of a distribution company. So that’s kind of how people can can can work with us.

Diana: What an incredible organization you guys are. And on Bondadosa means Kind. Correct?

Ricardo: That’s [00:01:30] right. It means Kindly.

Diana: Beautiful. How long has Bondadosa been in business?

Ricardo: You know, we’ve been in business for now almost three and a half years, and we have grown a ton. Right. So so over the last year, over the last three years, we’ve just been through all kinds of changes and pivots and running experiments, all related to food access.

Diana: Incredible. What makes Bondadosa different than other companies in your industry?

Ricardo: Yeah, it’s interesting, [00:02:00] right? Because, I mean, when you think about delivery services, you think about post mates, GrubHub and Instacart, sometimes even Amazon. I think what makes us different is our origin story, first. Right. We we are we were founded out of a very specific needs, very focused on those those kinds of of needs. And I think that makes it makes us different. It makes a company culture different. We also run on electric fleets. I [00:02:30] think that’s another cool part about what we do. We you see the vehicles parked outside and we’re looking to purchase more. I think lastly, what makes us really, really different is our ambition to create a more sustainable food system. It’s very focused on food. It’s very focused on connecting consumers to local products and and making sure that along the way we’re doing good. And I think that’s for for many companies, [00:03:00] you know, you’re kind of greenify the social enterprise model. You, like, put a face to social enterprise and it’s just really what we do every day. So for us, this is what we wake up and and go to sleep with.

Diana: Incredible. I love the decals on your car. I mean, you could see them coming from a mile away. And I think their beautiful.

Ricardo: We need ten more of them. Yeah, soon.

Diana: There [00:03:30] has been amazing growth in your company. What are a few goals or achievements that Bondadosa has attained recently that you’re proud of and you’d like to reach in here.

Ricardo: Yeah. You know, we it’s hard to tell from our website, but over the last three months, we’ve spent a significant amount of our resources and time building something called the Denver Metro Emergency Food Network and the Denver Metro Emergency Food Network we stood up a Website and a sign up sheet, really for families who are going to become food insecure [00:04:00] because of COVID. And since then, we’ve delivered about two hundred and seventy five thousand meals to those in need. Over the last three months alone, I think that as a as a as a reason why we’ve grown so much, but also a reason why we need it to exist before and after the pandemic. So, you know, delivering more than a quarter of a million meals in the span of a quarter is an incredible feat. And I am just in awe one of of the team that we’ve built to [00:04:30] make that happen and also eager to find out where it will take us before COVID. So, you know, there are about 16 million meals a year are skipped in the city and county of Denver alone because they don’t know where their next meal is going to come from. And having delivered only about a quarter of a million of them shows you the gap that needs to be filled before COVID right now, only now and now, it’s only gotten wider. And so for me, that this incredible amount [00:05:00] of growth is an opportunity to set us to set us up to really solve this problem long term.

Diana: Incredible. Incredible. Why did Bondadosa Choose Enterprise Coworking as its home?

Ricardo: The charging stations. Honestly, like the number one thing was the charging stations for me. Trying to pilot what a what an electric vehicle fleet would look like and what we would need was a huge part of what we do. The flexibility [00:05:30] around your membership. So like the one hundred ninety nine dollar, 24 hour access membership was really helpful for me. I mean, you’ve seen us grow from one person, one desk to four to eight to now nearly 60 people staffed, you know, so it’s it’s just been a great place for us to experiment with the ups and the downs and the growing pains and the challenges of being a young startup. So for me, it was just a perfect setting and of course, a coffee shop. You know, just having a coffee shop there [00:06:00] and ready to pick you up in the mornings is is this great.

Diana: Amazing. I’m so glad that Enterprisers is able to provide you with a comfortable and flexible coworkig home.

Ricardo: Yeah we love the conference room to right when you invite people over And it’s it’s so inviting and it’s so welcoming, clean, nice and sweet. So we’re just happy to be here.

Diana: I, I’m so glad to hear that. So lastly, what would you like our viewers and fellow members [00:06:30] to know about Bondadosa?

Ricardo: Yeah. So Bondadosa is on a mission to create a more sustainable food ecosystem. We want you all to know that you play an active role in that, which means being aware where you shop, how you shop and how it impacts people, planet and profits across the food ecosystem. And so we’re eager to share what we do with with with all of you and eager to have you be part of our organization in one way or another.

Diana: Amazing [00:07:00] Well, thank you so much, Ricardo, for sitting down with me today and telling us a bit about Bondadosa. we’re so excited to have you part of our community and we’re hoping to see even more big things from you in the future. For more information on Bondadosa, you should visit their Website at bondadosa.org. Or you can contact Ricardo directly by Ricardo@bondadosa.org. Thank you so much.

This month Diana sits down with Enterprise Coworking member Chris Owen, founder of Madre Coffee Collective to share his amazing story of travelling to Guatemala which birthed the company. They go into how the coffee is sourced from famers from all over the world and how the recent pandemic has caused the company to pivot to a more consumer-based model. Enjoy!

TRANSCRIPT:

[00:00:00] Diana: Hi, guys. Welcome to Enterprise Coworking Community Spotlight. This month, we’re talking to Chris Owen with Madre Coffee Collective. Thanks for taking the time to sit down with me and talk about your company. Hi, Chris. Let’s. Why don’t you introduce us to Madre Coffee Collective and what your role is in the company.

Chris: Thank you so much, Diana. Well, my name’s Chris Owen I’m the founder slash head broom sweeper of madre coffee collective, roast The coffee traveled the world to source it, try and bring it back to the United States and deliver people delicious, sustainably sourced coffee. And it’s a lot of fun. It’s a project that I’ve had for about a year now. It began as I had a job where I used to cover seven states and I traveled just about every week and coffee shops were a little bit of a safe haven for me. You know, I get to know the baristas and when I come back, I kind of set up shop and your work done. And, you know, I just always had this passion for coffee as a conversation like Diana. If I asked you, hey, you want to grab coffee, I’m really asking you to connect. Right. Like, it’s a medium for us to connect. And so that’s wherein a lot of my passion lies. And so then I started traveling last summer and I ended up in Guatemala with a good buddy of mine, Mark Harrington. And we just like like a military drop, just like we’ve drug in Guatemala. We start asking questions. And we ended up meeting some suppliers. We ended up like finding a black sand beach. And we found this amazing coffee through our hostel owner. And he set up a meeting with him. I rented an ATV and drove it 30 minutes accross Guatemala. That’s how sort of our sourcing began. So it’s just been a really cool adventure to try and connect people with a good that, you know, it’s easy to just buy off the shelf and never think about twice. Trying to tell the stories of our partnership.

[00:01:51] Diana: That sounds like an incredible adventure and i look forward to hearing that in a book you write.

Chris: You know, I need a new editor, but I’m down.

Diana: How did you come to find Enterprise Coworking?

Chris: Yeah, so I was. I love RiNo. First and foremost, and so I just the energy there, even the mural behind you, I think speaks to the energy of right now. And so I was at Crema, which is one of my favorite coffee shops in all of Colorado. Amazing. And then that team, they really take a lot of pride in what they offer. And I was in there and I saw a friend who came and said hi and I was catching up, her name’s Whitney. And then she goes, oh, my gosh, Kevin’s right here. He’s with one million cups. Have you ever heard of one million cups? I said no I havent. So she introduces me to Kevin Buker  and Kevin and I’ve got to wrap it. And he invited me to come join one million cups. And so I came and it’s was really cool group of people that have startups, they share ideas, they support each other. It’s great presentations. And that is held at Enterprise Coworking. And so after being in the building, I decided to work there that day and got to work with, you know, just kind of the energy that was there. Set up shop. And I just love it. It’s it’s a really great place to be surrounded by other people that are doing similar things, which is either working remotely or trying to build something or looking to lean forward into like a community, you know, versus just hoping the things come to you from your home in the sky, like really being out and about. And it’s been great. Really loved it. I can’t wait to get back. I miss everybody.

[00:03:34] Diana: Yeah. Have you been to the virtual meet ups?

Chris: The One million cups? I have, yeah. I’ve been to a couple of them and you know, it’s like everything. It’s just interesting trying to navigate like what that big room of communication looks like when you’re offering feedback. But it’s growing consistently. I think also getting presenter’s. That’s something they’re navigating right now because people are some people putting their businesses on hold. Others are trying to creatively grow.

[00:04:01] Diana: But now there’s they’re still doing their thing and and trying to provide a platform for entrepreneurs. And, you know, it feels like steering wheel being together and hearing those in person.

Chris: I think so, too. And I can’t wait to have one million comes back here. They meet here every Wednesday morning for one hour. It’s a great networking opportunity.

Diana: How is your team affected by the COVID 19 virus and what has your team put in place to weather the storm so far?

[00:04:31] Chris: Yeah so we were supply, you know, my first gig, I was on a plane to London. I met a guy named Jason and he was reading Happiness Hypothesis to go back to a conversation about books. Wonderful book about the science and just sort of culture of happiness and across the world and time. And we started rapping about the book because I just finished. And then we start talking about fasting and podcasts. And I was like, is this guy trying to front or is he like, really this guy? You know, you never got a point. And I was like, what if he is if he is this guy?

[00:05:03] Chris: And sure enough, he goes, you know, you have this coffee dream. I have an office with 50 people when you get back to the states because we’re going to London. Why don’t you call me and we’ll put your coffee in the building. We’ll see what happens. OK. So my first gig was like a pop up at his office and I like roll in my cannisters. I’m making lates. You know, I do that and end up doing that again for another friend in the tech center. And I realized, like, I dont like the pop up model. And then I had another friend asked me to supply their office. She goes, hey, we have 50 people, but we like your coffee more than ours. Would you be interested in supplying us? So that’s when the office supply model was born. And that is really probably about 70 percent of our business up to COVID was this office supply and obviously no one visits the office anymore so that took a huge hit. And so we had to really pivot to a much more of a consumer strategy at that point because like, you know, 70 percent of the contracts that we have are still on hold because, you know, capacity is 10 percent or people are working remote, et cetera. So the consumer strategy was something that we kind of leaned into. We formed a coffee club where people could still travel the world, experience different copies of the world every month in a coffee club. And that was cool for a consumer that’s looking to gain education as well as a sensory experience and try Madre coffee. So so that was a really big development for us. we created a coffee quiz to try and match people and create a marketing campaign around like Swipe Right for your perfect match of coffee. This fun, like, basically quiz that takes your tastes, takes how you make your coffee, how much coffee you drink and tries to match you with what we believe will fit your taste profile. So that. And then lastly, education. We’ve leaned into the education. So we’ve got a couple of videos on the website about, you know, there’s an example of this. The coffee tasters wheel from the Specialty Coffee Association. People can take a look at that and see how the world classifies coffee flavors or how to make your own cold brew at home. Watch a video on that or how to make your own pour over at home video on that. So leading into the education of the consumer model, still touching base with our suppliers, we had a conversation with Pinwheel Coffee, who carries us over in the Highlands, really cool nonprofit with a school in the mix of their coffee shop, awesome place. And they’re they’re getting their curbside up and going. There’s maybe some opportunity around additional patio seating per the governor’s recent order. So, you know, there’s some potential to maybe see demand go up for those guys. And, yeah, just trying to trying to still support our suppliers and our retailers and then making sure that we have the consumer in mind as well.

[00:07:55] Diana: Thank you so much for sharing that. Sounds like you guys are really coming up with amazing creative strategies to keep yourself strong and in the game. What are some exciting projects you’re working on and what are you excited about for the future? For Madre Coffee Collective.

Chris: Yes, we had a meeting yesterday with a with the breakroom supplier called Blue Tiger, and they do snacks and beverage service and machinery. And so one of the things that you run into as you grow a coffee supply business is people are sometimes accustomed to having machines like I get that beautiful touch screen in the hotel and your going to give it to me. Right.

[00:08:33] So, you know, we were looking for a partner to to try and help us on the supply side. That would be machine expert and maintenance tech, because that’s just how we’re going to find the best coffee in the world for you, souce it and bring it to you and roast it to perfection is the goal. And so the machinery part of it and the snacks and beverages, that’s just not part of the model. So having a meeting with them and now starting to distribute through them is super exciting, kind of finding those partners that handle the logistics. While, we continue to find coffee. You know, we’ve got a couple of our coworking spaces that we support opening up. So we’re excited to see people just gather. And there’s a couple of breweries up by where I live in Tenyson that are currently sampling some coffees for the next round of our coffee beer series. So we always do. But every quarter, a little coffee beer release party, happy hour. We just invite the community out and get to showcase the story of a local brewery. Have a fine coffee, beer, and then just have a blast. So, yeah, so super excited to kind of see, you know, which coffee the breweries go with and then watch the happy hour. My heart is hoping July Fourth is sort of an OK date where people maybe are starting to feel comfortable about stepping outside. Hopefully sooner. But I feel like that’s a conservative estimate-ish. So we’re kind of just trying to put some things on the map to where we can create some exciting increase in engagement. Tell the story of some of our local brewery partners and bring people together.

[00:10:11] Diana: That’s awesome. Chris, what makes Madre Coffee Collective different from other organizations in your area?

Chris: Well, we really pride ourselves on this, like going and knowing our farmers. And so that’s you know, there’s there’s five parts of our business how I look at it. You’ve got sourcing, which is a blast you’re in Central America, Speaking Spanish a lot of times and getting to know these farms that are multigenerational. they work with, you know, cultures and tribes of of the coffee pickers, the fruit pickers, and just understanding what their washing process is like with their logistics look like. So that’s that’s a blast. And that to me, is like a key part of what we do is we’re down there learning the stories and bringing coffee back. Artisan roasting. I think there’s a lot of fantastic roasters in Denver across the world. We obviously understand that that’s a massive part of creating the flavor and bringing out the notes. And the third thing I would say in terms of what makes us different, separate from the model is we are single origins. So we are giving you a farm or a regional coffee. We’re not saying we’ve got a little bit of leftover, a little bit this leftover, let’s just call it grand teton and go with it. I don’t know if grand teton is a company, if there is I’m sorry, but the idea is we’re trying to provide an experience whereby you can pick out the intricacies of flavor that come from different regions of the world. And so that, combined with telling farmer stories, I believe is a huge difference, because now you’re starting to realize the Guatemalan coffee is volcanic grown. Therefore, there’s a certain earthiness like a Malbec wine that comes through the flavor profile. Dark chocolate or Brazil. A little bit of a higher altitude in the region that we grow with. And some notes of like almond and coconut. So the idea is we’re we’re trying to share that there are certain regions, much like wine, I think is the easiest example where the soil produces distinctive flavors. Learn the stories of our farmers, Combine that with single origins and provide that to the consumer with the education.

[00:12:13] Diana: What else would you like our viewers to know about madre coffee?

Chris: Oh, yes. We are to me, you know, the idea of the word collective is let’s just engage together and create it. You know, I think that, you know, as an entrepreneur, you’re you’re kind of looking to get the most bang for your buck in different ways. So you’re to finish the business model and get sourcing, roasting, brand development in social media, which is, you know, that’s a community based initiative. Then you’ve got, you know, sales and you’ve got to deliver in distribution. But the idea of the collective is let’s all come together and share ideas or collaborate. I mean, most people drink coffee. Most people like to get up and go to work and have great days. How do we find a way to, like, support people as they go ahead and do that and give them the early bird, gets the worm. Or, you know, we even had an event with mythology, a distillery and other really great local business where we had a espresso martinis, and kind of had a fun event around it with them. So the idea is like we just love sharing the other stories of local businesses, collaborating with our business owners. You know, I have a little interview series as well where love to share your story and what makes you guys unique in the culture you built. So I would say we just we love to engage the community and kind of promote you guys as well. So love to hear your stories, too.

[00:13:36] Diana: I love that. Thank you so much. Thank you Chris for sitting down with me today and telling us a bit about my great coffee collective. We’re so excited to have you part of our community at Enterprise Coworking. And we’re hoping to see big things from you in the future. So for more information on madre coffee collective and Chris, you can go to his website. And that is…

Chris: Madrecollective.com. Check it out, guys.

Diana: And be sure to say hi to Chris once you’re in the space.