Sabrina Kaylor with Bizarre Coffee Company

Intro: [00:00:07] Coming to you live from the Business RadioX studio in Woodstock, Georgia. This is Fearless formula with Sharon Cline.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:18] Thank you for joining us here on Fearless Formula on Business RadioX, where we talk about the ups and downs in the business world and offer words of wisdom for business success. I’m your host, Sharon Cline. And today on the show, we have the founder of Bizarre Coffee Company, which is a it’s an independent coffee shop specializing in hand roasted small batch brews throughout the year, located in the heart of downtown Canton, Georgia, but also soon to be Woodstock, Georgia. Please welcome Sabrina Kaylor. Hello. Hello.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:00:49] Thank you for having me today.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:51] Oh, my goodness. I’m so excited to talk to you because I have been to your shop so many times and I just think it’s amazing and it’s it’s unique. And that’s what’s, like awesome about it is like here you made this company kind of on your with your own thoughts, your own inspiration, and look how well it’s doing, expanding, you know, to Woodstock.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:01:10] It’s really exciting. I’m so glad that you enjoy it there. It really just enforces everything that that we’ve done so far.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:17] So let’s talk a little bit about your background. I know that you had gone to college. I read that you had gone and gotten a degree in business in sales, but that changed after a while. Like you didn’t continue on that path, right?

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:01:30] I graduated. I did competitive sales in college, just really trying to bulk up my resume before I actually graduated. You know, we spent a lot of money to go to college, so I had to make sure that everything was as full as it could be. I specialized in marketing, so I did a lot of that. But once I graduated. I didn’t want to do sales. I think it was a. Uh, almost like a test to see how good I could get at it. And, you know, would recruiters want to try to recruit me? And they did. And it just wasn’t in line with with where what I was feeling. And. And then I started painting.

Sharon Cline: [00:02:12] So I know it’s kind of amazing when you think about it, the fact that you did like painting before, but it wasn’t something that you thought, This is going to be my future. Obviously it must be challenging to to know that you had your path. You really thought it was going to be this way, and then it kind of it didn’t fit to your spirit. But most people stay, you know. Well, this is what I invested in. This is what I did. This is my future. I’m building on it. How did you kind of decide what was the sort of way that you were able to kind of make peace with leaving it and getting into art?

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:02:41] So there was an actual specific moment. I mean, as a human in general, I would say I’ve always been somewhat rebellious, so to speak. I definitely tried to push the boundaries at every corner growing up at every phase, just differently. And once I graduated college, I felt like I spent all of this time over the last 4 or 5 years doing things for a specific purpose. So I went to college to get the degree to hopefully get the job to do this. I was working all the time to make money to do that. I was going to the gym to make sure I say, you know, like it was all for this major purpose that once school ended and I was transitioning into this next phase. I really didn’t know of anything that I could do to be happy. Like in that moment right then and there, simply for that reason and. I had to think back of like, when? When was that? And it was really just like being fun and free and creative. So I whipped out a bag of little Publix bag of old paint that I had from high school that I had been toting around through the years. And I had a piece of paper and sat at my dining room table and started painting. And then the next night I came home, I was like, Oh my God, that was so fun. You’re making something out of nothing. Let me do it again. And then we do it again. And then one night I came home after work, and I painted for eight hours straight. And I didn’t even realize what time it was, you know, like in that full flow. And that’s what I knew.

Sharon Cline: [00:04:11] It’s amazing because I think a lot of people, if they haven’t had that kind of creative moment where you almost are like something exists now that didn’t an hour ago, is this kind of an amazing feeling? It’s I’ve been in that kind of moment where I used to write a lot of music and I’d be like, Oh my gosh, this song, it’s out there in the world. And I didn’t even know, you know that. Where did it even come from? You know, it is kind of like a high almost. It is.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:04:34] Absolutely. It’s the best way to describe it.

Sharon Cline: [00:04:37] A natural high, I should say.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:04:38] Yeah. And you get to see something that like was on paper. Is it anything like what I paint now? No, because just like anybody else, I was just picking it up.

Sharon Cline: [00:04:46] Yeah. You evolve, right? Yeah.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:04:48] And I just kept doing it and kept doing it and I was like, I definitely want to do something in my career with this.

Sharon Cline: [00:04:54] There’s got to be a way. So the next step, you started to get involved in different art shows?

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:05:00] Yes, I did all sorts of art stuff in Atlanta. Any pop ups and, you know, small things sold online wasn’t wildly successful, all just like any I mean, it’s really hard to be an artist. So a lot of times we were barely making profit or breaking even. You know, my husband out there on his days off helping me try to sell art.

Sharon Cline: [00:05:24] And we were talking before the show about what it’s like to be an artist when you don’t, you know, when you kind of have your idea of how you want it to go and you don’t want to sort of go the mass route like making prints or whatever, how to stay true to that and still be successful. And I can’t imagine the pressure of it trying, but well, then that probably led you to what you’re doing now, right?

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:05:43] Yes, it did. It’s funny because prior to diving into art, I did always love coffee. I spent my high school years at a Dunkin Donuts. It evolved to a Starbucks when I was in college and I spent a lot of time there. And my first business plan I ever wrote was for a coffee company. I’ve got five variations. Some were shops, some were custom making companies. I’ve always been into entrepreneurship and that side of life as well. So it’s just interesting how that evolved. It was kind of like the thing that I knew I would do. I just didn’t know when or how or why.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:20] How did it all come together.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:06:21] Right before COVID.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:23] Right? So I remember going to your shop and it was during COVID. And I think I think I must have had a mask on. But I was like, how are you guys doing? And you were still open. And I loved seeing that because so many companies didn’t survive it.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:06:38] So yeah, I mean, we we got our coffee shop and opened in December of 2020, but we were first out at the Canton Farmers Market in. June of 2020.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:48] So when you talk about how you were branding yourself as bizarre coffee, how did you come up with the logos or sort of the angle that you wanted?

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:06:56] When I saw it and I was like ready to make the step into doing a coffee business was right after I had just sold the most art I had ever sold, which was during COVID. My husband sold on Facebook Marketplace. We sat, we set up our living room like an auction, and he wore a button up and a whole thing. And we sold my art because, you know, of course, just like anybody else, I was in marketing. I lost a bunch of clients.

Sharon Cline: [00:07:22] But still, that was really cool. Wait a sec. That was amazing. What a great idea. Holy cow. And it.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:07:27] Worked. And that’s when everybody was on Facebook live. Yeah, we sold, I think, 25, 26 original pieces. We shipped them out. And, you know, it was before then that I was like really getting back into art. And I was also doing this, this coffee. I was designing the bags and and doing all of that. And I was like, There’s got to be a way. There’s got to be a way. Art might not have done its thing by itself, but if I pair it with a commodity and something that people can really latch on to and appreciate in a different way, like maybe it’ll get my art into people’s houses in a, in a new way. And that’s where Bazaar coffee came. When I designed the logo I pulled, I was painting these weird eyeballs and I pulled that and I threw it in the middle and I was like, Oh, that works. And the nature of the business being bizarre coffee, I knew that it would it would be sustainable as an artist would evolve through a period of time.

Sharon Cline: [00:08:22] Wow.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:08:23] You know, so there wouldn’t be like a strict box. I mean, it’s bizarre coffee. You can just keep it weird and keep it moving. You know.

Sharon Cline: [00:08:30] You can do whatever you want as a side question, Do you remember the first time you sold a piece of your art? The first time? Yeah, the first one you sold and sort of were like, I, I am I am a professional artist.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:08:44] I don’t I don’t think I still to this day, like, I’m not a professional artist. Yes, you would know. Like, it doesn’t feel that way, you know? So when I was selling it, it was like, oh, like, do they even really like it? Like or do they just feel bad for me? I don’t know. I don’t remember exactly. But even even to this day, I think back of people who own my pieces, I’m like, I hope they didn’t give it to Goodwill when they moved. Oh my God, I hope they still like it.

Sharon Cline: [00:09:09] Like if you walk through a goodwill and you’re like, I would be mortified.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:09:12] But you know, it happens to the best of the artist, so.

Sharon Cline: [00:09:15] Well, it would be worth a ton. Like on Antiques Roadshow. Exactly. Exactly. Okay. So you were obviously looking into finding a well, first you started off at your farmer’s markets and then you realized that you needed a real shop. Like a storefront?

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:09:33] Yes, a storefront was always the goal. Okay. But the farmers market was really a way for us to test the brand and and the coffee itself. Are people resonating with what we’re putting out there? Are we getting good feedback? Is it interesting? Are people enjoying the coffee? Are they buying it? And we got really amazing feedback. And the community of Canton, you know, shout out Cherokee County in general has all been amazing and the people were just awesome. So we we were definitely looking for a spot. We just weren’t planning on moving as quickly as we did.

Sharon Cline: [00:10:07] Gotcha. Sometimes things just open up timing wise that you have to jump on.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:10:11] Yes, absolutely. And that’s exactly what happened. Somebody was getting rid of a spot. It was right near where the market was. We did the the transaction in two weeks and we were open doors for two weeks.

Sharon Cline: [00:10:25] So I well, I can’t imagine what that felt like. Like hurry.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:10:29] Yeah. Everything was just insane. There were so many nights that my husband and I looked at each other like. We sign that paper, right like we did. That means like, we have to do this and we have to do it well. Anything that I’m signing, you know, I’ve got to make sure that we make we do our we.

Sharon Cline: [00:10:46] Honor what we say. So when you go into your store, do you call your store? What do you call it? Shop. Shop. It’s full of beautiful art. That’s your work. That must be so exciting to walk in and see.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:10:58] I do. I’m glad that everybody else loved it as much as I did. Oh, it’s really cool to hear.

Sharon Cline: [00:11:05] It’s up the wall and everything. I mean, it’s beautiful, it’s colorful and it’s cheerful, which is, you know, you don’t realize. I don’t. I know how much I’m impacted by the environment of something when I walk into a store or a place. But you really get the vibe in a it’s a happy vibe in your place. Plus, people are happy to be drinking coffee. Yes, I love it.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:11:24] The good mood juice.

Sharon Cline: [00:11:25] The good mood juice. That’s right. That’s what’s on your cups. So did you come up with that logo? I did a phrase. That’s awesome.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:11:32] I wanted to evoke the feeling that we were trying to create every time. So you knew that the vessel was the coffee. Everything else was. Was an exchange of energy. Whether it was you walking into the space, talking to a customer or talking to an employee, and that it was all being transferred through the actual vessel itself.

Sharon Cline: [00:11:50] So when you moved into this place, here you are a new business owner, basically, like with a physical store. What’s what was the most surprising to you? As you became an established business, like with a physical store.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:12:06] Most surprising would be how quickly things break.

Sharon Cline: [00:12:11] Oh, no.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:12:14] And. How hard it is to to build a team and train people and, you know, just the restaurant component in general. My husband and I have worked at many restaurants, but being in charge of it for the first time, front of house, back of house, everything involved was definitely a challenge.

Sharon Cline: [00:12:34] Because you don’t just have coffee, you serve food as well. We serve smoothies.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:12:37] And then a kitchen, and that means inventory and food and training and all of that too. So we just I mean, we just bootstrapped. We we learned as we went and made mistakes.

Sharon Cline: [00:12:47] But is there something you wish you knew beforehand besides besides something breaking, you know, things breaking easily?

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:12:55] I think if we had a better understanding of like food and like inventory in general, I think is one of the biggest hurdles for us and I’m sure for other people. Um, I think that that is a business is, is very hard.

Sharon Cline: [00:13:11] Especially in the pandemic when you don’t know how many people are going to come into into your shop or now there are lots and lots of people, right?

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:13:19] You have no clue. And for us, you know, our shop is very small, so we can’t even keep an excess.

Sharon Cline: [00:13:26] I heard I want to say, who was it that I was? Lori Sutton of bananas and beehives. She was talking to me about how great you all are, and she said, You have a separate roastery. Is this correct? It’s down the street. It is. So initially, did you have this?

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:13:40] No, we opened that about a year and a half, maybe even closer. So we celebrated two years in December and the roastery was opened in September. October. Where did.

Sharon Cline: [00:13:51] You roast.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:13:52] Everything? So everything was roasted at a contract roaster. So it was a small batch roaster. Gotcha. We worked with him really closely. There’s a lot of ways that you can start a coffee company and some involve you can do it online and the they’ll stick a bag, a label on a bag and send it to you and you can claim it as yours. I worked a little bit in the in the coffee roasting world prior on the marketing side, So I was aware of kind of what the specs were if you wanted to start it. But it’s a lot of overhead, even more so. Well, maybe not more so. But you know, to have a shop and a roastery. So when the testing phase, we found somebody who was doing really small batch who would let us. Be all hands in. So sourcing, testing, tasting, packing, grinding, all of those. I wanted to touch it, feel it, see it and be part of it. Your baby. Before I put something of mine and put it out into the world. So that was really lucky for us to find somebody who was in that position where they were just starting. They had a small operation and we could be part of that, and we were where we were very lucky to have that. Not everybody does. It’s not very accessible. So yeah, that’s what we did.

Sharon Cline: [00:15:06] Not everybody has a drive either, right, to to even want to do that.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:15:09] Yeah. Or to find it, you know, like, I’m really good at asking questions and reaching out to people. So, you know, I just try. In the worst cases, the answer is no.

Sharon Cline: [00:15:19] But, you know, I have a rebel spirit, too. That’s actually the name of my company, has the word revel in it, because I don’t think being a rebel has a negative connotation to it at all in my mind. I think of it as I know that my idea is like, who I am doesn’t really fit into what traditional society loves, right? So I consider it a positive. Like, I’m not afraid to ask questions either, but I think that that’s kind of something that that works in your favor because if you hadn’t and.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:15:50] I think that people are just afraid. They’re afraid of rejection. So they don’t and they don’t ever ask. But really, the worst case scenario is the answer is no, in which you’re in the same position that you were prior.

Sharon Cline: [00:16:02] I think this is a huge lesson moment because for fearless formula, that’s the whole goal is to how do you navigate around what makes you afraid, which is so many things in life to be afraid of thinking about, like, where are we going to have a shop? How is this all going to happen? I don’t know anything about this. You know, it can be very overwhelming and the unknown is terrifying. But even that, like being afraid to hear the word no, I know a lot of people that don’t take steps because they don’t want to hear a no no.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:16:29] Exactly. And you get desensitized to it once you hear it enough.

Sharon Cline: [00:16:32] Someone told me that that there was an experiment. They had somebody walk around. Maybe it was This American Life. I listen to podcasts where they walked around and all day they had to ask questions to where they knew they most likely would get a no. And all day they got knows about whatever it was they asked. But by the end of the day, they did not have that fear anymore because what was going to happen had nothing.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:16:54] Nothing? No. Okay, cool. Moving on to the next person. Right? Just answer the question so I know where I’m at.

Sharon Cline: [00:17:00] Right. Do you think that your personality, because you have that kind of like want and bravery, I guess is a better word or maybe just drive that it lends so well to what you’re doing now? That’s what I think.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:17:14] I definitely think that that is a huge factor specifically because it’s not like it’s not like we had a circle of people who were taking action in these spaces. I’ve always really, really believed in my abilities to accomplish what I desire. I don’t know really why in particular why I was ingrained with that at a young age, whether it was through college or high school or anything that I did. I just really trusted in my innate ability to accomplish it. And I do. I think that that’s a huge thing. And my husband, he’s a little bit more reserved, so I just grab him and jump and grab him and jump and grab him and jump. And he’s like, All right, you know? But the more you keep swimming, the easier jumping becomes.

Sharon Cline: [00:18:01] So you now are looking at moving or expanding into Woodstock. So tell me about that.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:18:08] So we will be expanding into Woodstock. We have our second location, hopefully opening in October. Oh, great. That’s fall sometime. We don’t have an exact date because we are not in just yet doing construction, but likely construction will start early July.

Sharon Cline: [00:18:23] Wow, That’s coming. Do you do you want to say where it’s going to be?

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:18:27] So it’s going to be right near where copper coin was. Okay. But on that side of the building. Oh, wow.

Sharon Cline: [00:18:32] So right in the heart of downtown Woodstock.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:18:34] Oh, my goodness. Yep, right in the heart. And we are so excited.

Sharon Cline: [00:18:38] But you also are. I was thinking about this, So you’re kind of like giving birth in many ways. Yes, very much so. Giving birth to a new, like part of your business. But also, you’re about to have a baby. I am.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:18:51] I’m about to have a baby.

Sharon Cline: [00:18:51] How does that impact your life in the business world?

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:18:55] I guess we can catch up in six months once the baby’s here. No, You know, I think it’s just funny how things work. If you would have asked me. I’m in my 30s. I’m 33. Every year, I was like, just wait one more year, one more year, one more year because we were just doing so much. And I’m trying to check all the boxes as fast as possible, like just try to make it through before we did it. But, you know, it was just it was always going to be in the chaos. So might as well if it wasn’t now, if it was next year, we’d still we’d have two stores and whatever. So, you know, we’ll see. I’m due in June and we’ll be in construction in July and. We’ll just make it work. I may have a baby on me in the shop. You know, you just do what you can and you do.

Sharon Cline: [00:19:45] But I was wondering what it’s like to be a female business owner. What is that like for you? Do you notice any things? I asked someone else this question once and I was really surprised at their answer that they actually did notice that there were some sort of pervasive, misogynistic ish kind of attitudes.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:20:01] 1,000%. No way.

Sharon Cline: [00:20:03] I hate hearing.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:20:04] That all the time. For me, it’s really frustrating, too, because, you know, my husband just came into the business full time. He was working full time for another company. And although he was very hands on in everything we did, meaning still working every week, helping at the shop and doing whatever, but all the back end has always been me. I it’s my natural ability to do so. And we would sit in meetings and people would address him and he doesn’t even know why we’re there for the meeting. Oh, no, you know, and they would ask him questions. So what about this and that? And he would look at me and I’m like, Yeah, you’re talking to the wrong person. Like, at least the dress is both. But situations like that or, you know, for example, when we were first looking for our roastery space, I was calling agents. And I think it’s a combination of not only being a woman, but being young on the younger side. You just get pushed back.

Sharon Cline: [00:20:59] That’s so frustrating to me. Like I’m just kind of incredulous.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:21:02] Like what? But the big thing is like them addressing him first. All that happens all the time. If he’s in a meeting with me. Obviously, if I show up by myself, they know who they’re talking to. But if he’s there, they typically address him, whether it’s a contract or business meeting anything.

Sharon Cline: [00:21:20] I recently had to have some work on my air conditioning unit, and I’m not married at the moment, but my son is 20 and he’s got like a beard. He looks like a little man, right? So he was in the house with me while we were speaking to the air conditioning guy and he was just talking to my son, like the whole time. And my son’s like, oh, I don’t know. It was interesting. It was something to note that I was kind of like watching him. Like, does he realize that this gentleman is talking to him like he’s the husband here and like naturally deferred that way? And I thought, this is fascinating to me and how do I feel about this? And just I don’t know. I’m a little frustrated, but I imagine you see it all the time. A constant.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:22:01] Reminder. I do. I try not to let it bother me and I just move on. And I think it’s always really interesting and kind of a little bit funny when they do realize because then they they feel stupid. Oh, interesting. You know, so like, when they realize or I answer the question that they just asked my husband, who has no idea what they’re even asking. And I chime in, it’s like, oh.

Speaker3: [00:22:21] Wow.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:22:22] You know, like they realize that they addressed the wrong person. And then from that point forward, who’s their point of contact is me, you know.

Sharon Cline: [00:22:30] But a little check maybe in their in their spirit.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:22:32] 100%. Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:22:34] How do you balance your life when it’s your business, you and your husband in this business, how do you put the phone down at night or whatever? Is it difficult? Most most business owners I talked to have really struggle.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:22:47] It’s very difficult. It’s very difficult for me. I’m a. There’s always something. And when it sparks like I got to do it and my husband’s very much like, I’m ready to wind down at this moment. So I know at the beginning. You know, he had to tell me, like, like enough for the night, like, I’m good. Let’s talk about something else.

Sharon Cline: [00:23:11] Like, not the business.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:23:13] Yeah, but, I mean, as you’re also moving through different phases, like, sometimes you just don’t have time and, like, you got to get the work done while you can. And I feel like that is also another differentiating factor, too, between people who are moving quickly and aggressively. It’s like, you really it sucks, but you just sacrifice. It’s not every night, it’s not every seven days a week. But if the work’s got to be done, like there’s nobody else to do it, you know? So balance is hard. I do feel like we’ll get to that point and I think having more people in more tiers of of your company allows that. We’re just not there yet but that’s okay.

Sharon Cline: [00:23:51] But you were saying the challenge can be finding those good people, right?

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:23:54] It’s always a challenge.

Sharon Cline: [00:23:56] And keeping good people, too, I bet.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:23:58] I mean, I will say, like we’ve been lucky. We’ve been very lucky with a core group of people. And even though some have maybe left now at this point, they were with us for almost two years and helped us create the groundwork of what we’re doing now. So I do feel like we, being that my husband and I worked in house every day with them, like they really they saw the growth, they saw the work. They they were part of something. They believed in it.

Sharon Cline: [00:24:24] Yeah.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:24:24] And I still think that that’s something that we experience is there are there rotating people for sure. There’s always going to be. It’s a restaurant industry, so to speak. But I would say we’ve got an amazing core and.

Speaker4: [00:24:39] When stuff goes.

[00:24:40] Down, you know, like they’re ready with us. And you’ll find similar people, I imagine, for the Woodstock. I hope so, but I believe so for sure. People are have already been excited. Oh, that’s nice. Are we hiring? And you know, so we can’t wait to to meet more people in the community here. That enthusiasm is like kind of like infectious, you know? Yeah, we’re excited. So you have a really great social media presence, which is something that I talk a lot about with business owners, about what it’s what it’s like to know that a lot of your marketing can be almost a 24 over seven sort of job. Yes, especially if people are making or leaving Google reviews or putting out there on social media, something that you’re like, let me handle this. I can’t imagine what that’s like. But what I love to see is because I follow you on TikTok, you’re very creative. You’re super creative. You have like a huge following. We we’ve also been really lucky there to you know, I’ve I think the big thing and the reason why.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:25:40] I think most people just second guess what they post to and for good reason, right? Like you got you do have to tread lightly. It is your business. It’s your reputation. So there is that space. So I’m not saying that, but I felt like for me, like I can tend to be a perfectionist in things that I do and it would hold me back from doing it enough. But I knew that. The more I posted on there, even if one person saw it and came into the shop, it’s still a win. Yes. So I stopped looking at the metrics because the metrics really didn’t matter. The followers really didn’t matter. What mattered is are people coming into the shop? Are they finding us here? And the same thing with Instagram. I mean, it’s the same if somebody new comes in, it’s a win. Whether it’s one like it doesn’t matter, it’s still a win.

Sharon Cline: [00:26:29] I like that you kind of put it out there and not worry about the end result.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:26:33] I mean, if it gets a lot of views, people are going to be mean. They’ve always got something to say. You know, the more views, the more chances. I mean, we’ve been lucky for the most part we don’t. But we put out an April Fools Day drink recently. And what.

Sharon Cline: [00:26:45] Was it.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:26:46] This year was a everything bagel latte with cream cheese smeared on the inside and everything. Bagel seasoning.

Sharon Cline: [00:26:54] I have that in my notes.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:26:56] And that’s funny. It went crazy on Instagram and the comments are horrible. But no, you know, it’s funny and it’s still circulating and some people realize that it’s a joke, some people don’t. But that’s like, you know, it just that’s the nature of social media. And if, like I said, we get five new followers who never knew who we were and thought it was funny and follow us, like that’s still a win, you know, they’re not going to be able to order it. So I’m not providing something that they won’t like. You know.

Sharon Cline: [00:27:26] I saw the video and I was like, Oh, it’s like savory. And then I was like, Wait a minute. And then you have like a bagel on top of the. Of course.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:27:33] Yes. We had to like, really level in because companies go the big companies go crazy for April Fools. So we always try to do one. Last year we did Bacon Grease and people still tried to order that. People tried to order this too. So it’s just become kind of like a funny thing. And this one just blew up. Oh, gosh.

Sharon Cline: [00:27:51] That’s so funny. I was going to ask you about it, but it’s kind of cool, though, is that you actually legitimately do have special holiday drinks throughout the year, Some of them Gingersnap, These are Christmas ones. Gingersnap latte, mint cookie latte, French toast, latte sounds amazing, but what was the inspiration for having sort of really special, one of a kind kind of drinks?

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:28:12] I think ultimately, at the end of the day, we’re really trying our best to cultivate an experience that you’ll remember. So you’ll always think back whether you were just traveling or you took a special trip to come out. And like you can you can associate the place. So whether it’s colorful and bright and then you remember this drink that was really unique that you haven’t seen anywhere else or it’s never been presented in this way. Exactly. I think that that’s really important. So we do a lot of testing. We’re always testing.

Sharon Cline: [00:28:43] So are you do you have like your employees Test, test, taste, test them is what I’m trying to say. Yeah.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:28:50] So typically we will. Me and another one of our employees, we’ve pretty much crafted everything. She’s amazing. She’s been with us since we first started as well. And it’s kind of become our thing is like that’s what we do in every season. We just wrapped up our summer, you know, and and everything else. So.

Sharon Cline: [00:29:05] So and you’ve got a lot of merch in your place. We do. So how did you decide how you were going to invest your time this way? In other words, it’s a lot of your art, right? Which is so cool. And like you said, you could imagine someone coming home with a little piece of your art on a on a bag of coffee. That’s amazing. But what else do you have?

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:29:23] So we have stickers, we’ve got t shirts, and we just released mugs and cups and tote bags and it’s been really cool. So all of the coffee bags themselves have original pieces of artwork on them, the stickers and stuff like that. I work with a local designer too, and he is awesome at capturing the the vibe that I’ve always gone for. If I had the time to sit and do design work in the way that I wish I could, you know, I wouldn’t necessarily have to use him, but he’s amazing. He makes my life easier and he is great at, like I said, capturing the vision that I have. So that must be so fun to be.

Sharon Cline: [00:30:02] Creative that way as well, right?

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:30:04] Absolutely. And to to send him I mean, half the time it’s just me sending voice notes of like, what about this weird eyeball thing with, you know, with a bagel and, you know, I just, like, send him random notes and he just makes something with it and we go from there.

Sharon Cline: [00:30:20] Do you ever like if you’re out at the grocery store or something, see some of your merch out there.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:30:25] I see it around Canton for sure.

Sharon Cline: [00:30:28] That must be so awesome.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:30:30] I see people wearing the Crewnecks or whatever. It’s always.

Sharon Cline: [00:30:33] Really cool. It’s neat. I always think this is it’s inspiring for me because I think, how neat is this that someday someone 20 years from now is going to be like, I used to come here with my mom and like, you’re part of their story in a major way, 100%.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:30:47] It’s one of the coolest things. I mean, I posted recently about the Bazaar Baby, who she’s been coming in since we first opened. She was like eight months. She took her first steps in our shop. And, you know, we’ve become friends with her parents and, like, it’s just like a thing. The bazaar, baby, you know? And like, she, like, grew up in our shop from all these, like, major milestones of being like, a baby, you know? So it’s really, really cool.

Sharon Cline: [00:31:12] How does it feel to be plugged into your community like that, too?

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:31:16] It feels awesome.

Sharon Cline: [00:31:17] Because I was speaking with some other business owners. What it’s like to have someone like during the pandemic, if they ran out of something, they could ask another business owner who’s in a similar field, you know, Do you happen to have some of this? And they really did all help each other.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:31:30] I mean, and for us, like it’s at least in Canton, where we’ve been at. Our shops really tiny. You’ve been in there, so you know, it’s small. We’ve been limited on a lot of things. We’ve done our very best to to remodel and put things that we absolutely needed. But the businesses around us have been critical for our success, like a critical whether it’s getting ice from them or running out. And like we’re lucky we’ve got a restaurant right across the street. You know, restaurants use some of the same stuff. I’ll be like, I need thermal paper. I need a I need utensils, like, you know, And they’ve always been so gracious and so helpful. And yeah, you can have your people sit on our patio and like, you know, it’s just been, it’s a, it’s a huge blessing for sure.

Sharon Cline: [00:32:15] I love that because I always believe there’s space for everyone. There’s a place for everyone and there’s space for everyone. Um, it’s also so kind. And I think when you have such kind intentions to help people, it comes back to you too, you know, in those moments, like 100%. So where would you like to see yourself in like five years? Do you ever think about those things? I do.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:32:37] I do, of course. What do you mean? I’m a planner and I’m always thinking of, like, the next move and the next five years. I would love to have more locations for sure, and I definitely want to have an ability to live coastal side. So my husband and I have talked about opening a location in Savannah or something, you know, where I was born and raised on the beach. I love it so much. It’s like a sacred place for me. So being able to build that into our business is something that I really, really hope for.

Sharon Cline: [00:33:14] So you’ve got you started off doing art, got into your coffee company and now you have more art that you do, correct? Like you, you have a success in a different way too. It’s like they both helped each other to grow. Yes.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:33:28] Yes. Because my art gets to go into people’s homes in a way that it never did. Right.

Sharon Cline: [00:33:32] So do you do you still go to any of the art shows and display your art that way? I don’t. Because you don’t have time. I don’t what?

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:33:41] I don’t. And I you know, I have painted a little bit here and there and I still do. But after a website.

Sharon Cline: [00:33:49] Specifically for yours, I do.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:33:52] And I went, I did the roastery. I painted all of that. So after that, I was like, okay, I got my fix in for a little bit, you know, and we’ll have a second location that will have plenty of white walls for me to transform. But that’s.

Sharon Cline: [00:34:09] So fun. Yeah. So. As we wrap this up, what do you think is the most rewarding part of what you do?

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:34:16] The most rewarding. Making people’s day. It’s so simple. It’s exactly what we wanted to do and it is the most rewarding part. People message us. They tell us how, you know, things in their lives weren’t going great and they stopped in and like, it really makes a difference. And I can’t stress that enough to anybody else around us, whether it’s you going out into the world as yourself and you’re going to the grocery store or, you know, our team members, every every interaction that they have has long lasting implications and and it has impact. And I think that that’s that’s everything.

Sharon Cline: [00:34:56] It doesn’t have to be something major and big. It can be something small as making someone kind.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:35:01] Yeah, being nice, being a light in somebody’s day. You don’t know what they’re going through and you can change that around.

Sharon Cline: [00:35:10] I love that because, you know, it doesn’t I don’t know. It can be intimidating when you’re thinking, what can I do to make the world a better place? Like, there’s just too much, but it can be just as simple as being a kind person. And here you go. Have a great day. A smile even.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:35:24] Absolutely. And I mean, we in our in our book, our employee manual, we have a concept that I call the happiness paradigm, which is essentially just that and being able to pay it forward. So being going above and beyond for one person, knowing that now you’re sending them out into the world in a better space where they can do that to somebody else.

Sharon Cline: [00:35:47] I love that. Pay it forward thought because it’s not directly for you. It’s just to give to somebody else that hopefully will expand on the people around them.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:35:55] And it’s that exchange, you know, that energy exchange, whether it’s the communication, whether it’s you handing something off. A smile, a look, anything like it matters.

Sharon Cline: [00:36:07] And you know, if you don’t have the right employees that have that energy, I imagine you can feel it. Yeah. Yeah.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:36:14] And does it happen? Do people have off days? Of course. But I think, you know, at the end of the day, if it’s built into the culture and you just remind them, you know, everybody does their best with what they have and they know what the mission is. When we get feedback, I send it to them. People send me things and I send it to them. And I say, you know. This matters. You helped this person today, you know, so that they can see that what their work does as well.

Sharon Cline: [00:36:42] That’s very satisfying, I would think. It is. Is there anything you’re not afraid of anymore, having gone through your sort of journey to where you are right now?

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:36:53] Having hard conversations. Oh, really? Yeah. That was always really hard for me. Because they come up in business and when you’re running a business and you have. Employees and working with employees was really hard. I was always a really independent worker. I mean, I’m an artist. Like, what do you mean? Of course, like, I was used to working alone and like, you just get used to it.

Sharon Cline: [00:37:15] Is it like what we’re talking about where you. You don’t when people don’t want to hear? No. So once you have been told no, enough, you get desensitized to it. It’s the same thing. It’s like a muscle.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:37:25] It is a muscle. And it’s the more you do it, the more comfortable you get. Probably the same thing like being on a microphone. Oh, yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:37:33] True. Because when I hear myself enough, I’m like, I’m sure it’s fine. I don’t know how I sound exactly. Yeah, I don’t like tough conversations. I don’t. So that’s interesting to note that if I were to just start to have them and see that the world doesn’t swallow me up whole and like the negative repercussions are going to push me apart. I guess I like the idea of knowing that I could do it if I just practiced.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:37:57] It and that you’re not stressed out about it. I used to stress out about like every hard meeting with somebody or like if I wasn’t giving 100% praise, like, you know, the last thing I wanted was for something to be misconstrued or come off badly. You know, when my intention is to help them be better at whatever it is and that we’re addressing. And I think, like it’s taught me how to deliver things better and to just be more comfortable in the conversation.

Sharon Cline: [00:38:27] This is good to know. I think this is good advice for anybody. It’s a communication, especially if.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:38:31] You have employees for sure.

Sharon Cline: [00:38:33] And all the different personalities.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:38:34] It’s challenging. It really is. That was that was a huge learning curve.

Sharon Cline: [00:38:40] What would you say to someone who’s maybe interested in starting their own business? Whatever it is, what would you say is like a word of wisdom that you could give them something you learned and you wish you knew before?

Speaker5: [00:38:53] Um.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:38:54] Well, first I would tell them to take action immediately.

Sharon Cline: [00:38:57] Don’t wait.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:38:58] Don’t wait. If you have a thought and you think it’s worth any bit of while, do something, even if it’s small. That takes a step towards that action. I think that that’s imperative. Okay. Um. And I also think just be willing to put the work in. Like know that it’s going to be hard and that’s okay. But know that, like, you’ll do whatever’s necessary. And you’ll work and you’ll get it done.

Sharon Cline: [00:39:26] Like trust yourself that you’re going to be able to handle it and do 100% right. This is good advice. I’m going to take that with me today. Sabrina, thank you so much for coming. This has been so fun just to get to know you and kind of see the other side of what I get to enjoy when I go visit your your shop and I get to see the new one open. So that’ll be really exciting.

Sabrina Kaylor: [00:39:46] Thank you so much for having me.

Sharon Cline: [00:39:47] You’re welcome. And thank you all for listening to Fearless Formula on Business RadioX. And again, this is Sharon Cline reminding you that with knowledge and understanding, we can all have our own fearless formula. Have a great day.