When Coffeebar proclaims, “You Belong Here”, we’re not only talking about welcoming you for a cuppa, or a great pastry, or a glass of wine.
If you’re passionate about coffee--or food, or just delighting people--not only do You belong here now, but Future You is invited, too.
We’re crazy about homegrown talent. To us, aptitude and attitude are the most important qualities in a crew member. Experience can always be acquired, but true “hospitalians” are born that way.
Our company has grown organically from our first store in 2010 to eight locations and counting in 2021. But we can only grow as fast as we can find great team members. Yes, there are definitely clear advancement paths in our cafe operations: a cashier can move to a front of the house lead, and if they excel, advance to store manager. But there are other parts of our company that must grow too, alongside operations.
Marketing is a great example. The marketing career path at Coffeebar is a bit like the road to the Bat Cave. It’s not always clearly visible, and there may be some vines hanging over the entrance of the cave, but if you have unique skills in your utility belt, you’re probably going to find it.
Courtney, our Marketing Coordinator, was a self-described “coffee snob” who loved coffee so much she thought it would be fun to become a part-time barista. She had a degree in marketing but had yet to find a true home for her talents.
“I had no idea that there would be a need in the Coffeebar marketing department and that I’d have the opportunity to merge my degree in marketing with my love for coffee,” she says. “It couldn't have worked out better!”
With multiple Coffeebar stores doing outreach to their own distinctive communities, as well as projects going on at the corporate level, keeping all the balls in the air is a big job. “I'm the person who makes sure all the moving parts come together. There’s so much going on, and each store is completely unique. I also manage the social media pages for all the stores, create posts and stories, and engage with followers.”
Ciara is the gifted and imaginative graphic designer behind Coffeebar’s fresh, bold and whimsical package design and bold collateral. “After spending some time working remotely pre-pandemic, I was starting to feel stuck at my 9 to 5 design job,” she recounts. Turns out, Ciara was a closet hospitalian; she decided to become a barista.
Greg, who’s always had a nose (or ear) for promising talent, overheard Ciara mention that she was a graphic designer. He gave her some small assignments, and when she knocked those out of the park, she got more opportunities. Her work shifted steadily toward design.
“I love that there’s something different going on every day. Some days I'm working on a new illustration for a coffee bag, other days I'm designing a giant menu board for one of our cafes!” Ciara is also responsible for the handsome label design of the soon-to-be-released new single-origin coffee liqueur, Coretto, from Reno’s Ferino Distillery.
Her favorite project so far has been working with our former Director of Coffee, on the 2020 Transparency Report. One glance at the handsome, infographic-packed 15-page report, and you can feel the effort, skill (and love) that went into producing it.
Jenna creates visual content for Coffeebar’s social media. From mouthwatering food photography and intimate vignettes of coffee shop life to elevating images of coffee adventures in the great outdoors, Jenna is a true visual storyteller.
Jenna moved to Truckee from the Bay Area just as the pandemic shut everything down. Joining us as a cashier, she quickly advanced to Front of the House lead. Soon we discovered her talent with a lens and her role quickly blossomed. She shoots most of our video, and shoots and edits photos for social media, working closely with Melissa and Courtney.
Melissa is the person to thank If you enjoy our Bay Area stores’ Insta feeds. She’s a Marketing Specialist with a focus on Bay Area outreach. “I love sharing the exciting and new stuff that Coffeebar is up to by capturing moments in the cafe,” she says. She’s turned a passion for social media into a rewarding new role. Melissa resonates with our philosophy that “Community is the Family You Choose”. “I had no idea that I would gain lifelong friends and an amazing community to lean on when I joined the team,” she explains.
Kellie, the newest member of our marketing team, originally came to Coffeebar “to bring some community and good energy back into my work life following quarantine.” She started as a customer. “I used to come to Coffeebar Reno for a space to work, and I quickly fell in love with the atmosphere and people. When I found out there was going to be a job fair, I jumped on it!”
Soon Kellie became fast friends with Jenna, our social media specialist. “We ended up really enjoying bouncing ideas off each other and working together.” And, in true Coffeebar fashion, that organic connection bore fruit: “She opened a bridge for me to meet with the rest of the marketing team, and then we joined forces. I’m so grateful for her and all of the great people it’s brought my way.”
Peggy was Coffeebar fangirl before she started writing blogs for the company. She’d notched visits to our Bay Area and Reno/Tahoe cafes, and was delighted to learn we were looking for a freelance writer.
“I think it was my love for the brand that won me the opportunity to tell Coffeebar’s stories. This is an amazing company, full of remarkable people. It’s been great getting to know--and interview--so many of them,” she says. “As a proud grandma of five, I can attest to the fact that the company lives its ethos of “You belong here”. The opportunities here are genuine, because the priority is your commitment, your desire to learn, and your skill. It was an unexpected, and totally refreshing surprise.”
The downside of working with Coffeebar? “My husband can no longer enjoy his complimentary hardware store (or tire store) coffee in peace. But he now appreciates a good flat white.”
Coffeebar’s marketing team is a perfect illustration of what can happen when you “come as you are”...and stay for a while. Where passion and talent meet, the possibilities are endless.
