Perspective: Joebella Coffee’s Young Owner Spills the Tea
Words by Bella Steffenauer
In this Perspective piece, a young coffee shop owner describes the challenges of running a business, and the joys of creating connection with customers and the community through coffee.
When I started working at Joebella Coffee in Atascadero, I was actually envisioning one day opening a gluten-free bakery. I shared my vision with Juan Elias, who manages the roastery and café. When an opportunity to open a location in San Luis Obispo opened up, he told me he thought it would be a great way for me to learn how to run a business. That advice has turned out to be a gift — a learning experience.
Running a coffee shop as a 27-year-old woman with just a few years of barista experience has definitely come with challenges. I manage several employees and wear a lot of different hats. In the year that we’ve been open in SLO, I’ve learned to be adaptable to whatever new surprise situation arises: broken equipment, delayed shipments, unexpected costs. With running a business, there’s never a state of being comfortable; you’re always putting out fires. But you can either look at it as stressful or you can take on the role of firefighter. If you understand that’s the reality, you’re not lying to yourself. You know what you’re expected to do and you do it with joy instead of fear.
Joebella was opened by Joseph Gerardis and his wife, Isabel. They’re retired now but still remain involved with the three locations, though they are winding down. What’s been really helpful for me is that the three of us owners — myself in SLO, Juan in Atascadero and Mackay Stith at H. Cheval in Paso Robles — are all partners. Though we each own a different location, we have all invested in and share responsibility for our network of cafés. The biggest thing I attribute my success to is that my partners share their expertise and structure. They always have time to answer my questions and help me problem solve.
My love for this work comes more from my love for people than beverages. In college, I was a Resident Assistant and I was an intern running a young adults group. I’ve been developing my people management skills over many years. I realized that working at a café is a perfect fit for my personality: I’m a people person. I get to talk to customers all day and make coffee. If I’m having a bad day, talking to one of our regulars can really lift me up. It’s very much a community here.
This community is so important to our business and I hope that others consider Joebella important to the community. When I look at chains like Starbucks or Dunkin’, I think they lack personability. And that comes from a lack of training [in that forgotten skill]. Training for their level of production requires making drinks quickly and getting people out the door as fast as possible. They could be cozy and personable but that would require slowing down, which — for corporations — is money. Local cafés offer a connection that publicly traded chains can’t afford. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t a source of competition. We have to prove to our customers every day why spending their dollars at a small, local spot is a reinvestment in our community.
Running a business in a college town means we hire a lot of students. We receive tons of resumes — it’s crazy how many. We have a large turnover rate as an industry. The downside with college students, especially, is the short-term investment. They’re drawn here because they love coffee. They learn the techniques and then they leave. A coffee shop is a great place to develop people skills and take that experience on to be successful somewhere else, so I don’t take it personally. We’re kind of a training space.
As a smaller café, we have to charge for customizable options like alternative milks and gluten-free products. I’m actually dairy-free myself, so when I see the extra cost, I don’t like it either. The reality is that almond and soy milk are more expensive than dairy milk. We upcharge because it’s needed.
Something special to Joebella is that many of the beans we source internationally are single origin. We name the beans after their country of origin. If we say Mexico or Sumatra, that’s where it’s from. We roast our own certified organic beans at our roastery in Atascadero. We only have three cafés, but you can also find our beans for sale at Vons, Whole Foods and other grocers.
My original (and ongoing) dream of opening a gluten-free bakery comes from my own struggle. Gluten intolerance is a recent development for me, and I see it in others of all ages who can’t eat gluten anymore. There’s a need for specialized baked goods on the Central Coast; our clients are always asking. But it can be expensive and there would be a learning curve. Yet my dream is still there in the back of my mind. It’s something I would love to bring to the café.
