OldNuc wrote:If they have any such agreement it must be presented and agreed to at the time of hiring or it is not worth the paper it is written on.

The OP lives in California. It's not enforceable here, period.

I am aware of that. I was referring to other states. These types of agreements are rarely enforceable with hourly employees anywhere in the country and rarely with lower and mid level salaried management employees. Only when you get a seat in the Boardroom is there a chance of enforcing one of these agreements and then only when it relates to IP from the former employer.

So, I did something similar. I stumbled my way into working 2 unpaid shifts a week at a young LA cafe that was high on quality and geek-ery but low on hipsterness (I'm talking about the kind of hipsterness that hails from the Burg in NYC, not the hipsterness that gets confused with yuppies and dinks). Being a responcible adult with a pre existing coffee skill set, it was easy to jump in as part of the bar staff after a few weeks. The small cafe started roasting, needed a roaster, I became a professional roaster instead of a home roaster. Roastmaster quit, I became head roaster. New roastmaster came on board, my 3rd kid came along, and I wound up in charge of vendor relationships, digital assets, some human resource stuff, and various other special projects.

Frank wound up managing that small LA cafe location where I first worked. That cafe is now has 3 shops, 1 restaurant collaboration, and a new flagship roast/retail space in Hollywood. I'm most proud of the fact that we have had a steady stream of career switchers, and several alumnus who have gone on to start their own coffee businesses - and successful ones at that! My biggest concern is that we won't be able to support the employees that have been around for a long time when they want to move on to the next stage in their lives...a stage that healthcare, retirement planning, and investment in a home or children or just a longer term stability. I worry about our younger staff who we have promoted into the first stages of a career without being able to provide a plan or path for that career. I'm almost done with my time as the person who's job it is to worry about this kind of stuff, but it will probably keep worrying me until I hear that everyone is OK.

Working in coffee is great because the people who make it their career do so out of passion and camaraderie. It's tough because initially there isn't much else other than passion and camaraderie. The barista world is dominated by people in their 20s, and barista social things tend to be of that nature. The notion of Barista as a profession is relatively new, and there isn't a lot of structure or guidance to help you beat a path to sustainable employment.

The two best things I think I can advise you to do after deciding to jump in would be 1) find a place to work where you can share a passion and dedication to coffee with your co workers and with the leadership, and 2) really think and always keep thinking about where you want to end up professionally. Roasting is really solitary and hot work, which I like but alone isn't enough. Running a cafe is as much about hospitality as it is about beverage quality. Maybe some of the green buyers here can chime in on what that's like, I have kids and a spouse with a demanding career, so it's not for me. There are lots of jobs other than roaster, barista, buyer, and cafe owner. If there's something about your current experience base that you enjoy, it's worth your time to try to figure out if something analogous exists in the coffee businesses that you have geographical access to.

The classics also still apply: find a mentor if you can. I've managed to find 3 partial mentors and a lot of enterprising peers, and so far that been working OK.

Rather than go in as a wage slave, I suggest you go in as a succession plan for the owner esp if they are slacking... You buy into the business and earn out the cost with work rather than 100% cash... And that work would include management level, expanding business, improving profits, etc. You both win. In the long run you buy him out and he retires or sell to him. Build on your experiences and transferable skills, don't throw it away.

I've seen several people do this...

russel wrote:So, I did something similar. I stumbled my way into working 2 unpaid shifts a week at a young LA cafe that was high on quality and geek-ery but low on hipsterness (I'm talking about the kind of hipsterness that hails from the Burg in NYC, not the hipsterness that gets confused with yuppies and dinks). Being a responcible adult with a pre existing coffee skill set, it was easy to jump in as part of the bar staff after a few weeks. The small cafe started roasting, needed a roaster, I became a professional roaster instead of a home roaster. Roastmaster quit, I became head roaster. New roastmaster came on board, my 3rd kid came along, and I wound up in charge of vendor relationships, digital assets, some human resource stuff, and various other special projects.

+1 to the whole post.

Baristas with ambition find lots of ways to move to another coffee career path that offers the opportunity to lead a reasonable (or better) middle class life. If you are not working for a company that offers a career path, then networking becomes essential. The Barista Guild has helped many to work their way up the chain. So has volunteering at events and going to Barista Camp. You meet people who will later offer you opportunities.

I know former baristas who own shops, do wholesale sales, training, roast, buy green coffees, act as consultants and do a wide variety of other jobs. The barista competitions have been a quick (but not easy) path to other levels of work. The SCAA is staffed by many former baristas. But you have to have a drive to succeed and love of the industry.

BTW Bishop is close enough to L.A. that you can come in for barista events (the recent Bloom event downtown was amazing). Good luck!

The true question is IMO not what technicalities and practical issues you'll encounter but the question if this is the change that makes you happy. Now that is a far more difficult one to answer, and there probably are no definitive answers. Still, I think you need to focus on it and investigate why you you don't like your current job and which aspects you like in your current job. Is it a 'the grass is greener on the other hill' situation making you consider this move, or is working in a coffee shop/owning one something you are passionate about?...or being the devil's advocate...does it look tempting out of availability and your love of coffee allowing you to end the frustration of your current job.

Like I said, probably difficult questions to answer but worthwhile investigating, once you know what you like in a job it will be easier to assess what a suitable new job will be and it may be that you identify what you don't like in your current job making it more bearable. (Been there done that and I learned that what I did not like was outweighed by what I liked and found it much easier to put up with the negative aspects)...now I'm not trying to talk you out of a move but it would probably be a good idea to do some digging inside yourself, as you may also be running into a fairly common issue (and by no means less important) for people in their 30-40s called a mid life crisis...

Marcel,

Thanks, I am definitely one of those grass is always greener guys.

I probably need a good therapy session before I do anything too rash!

If my wife and I stick with our current jobs for another 17.5 years we would be able to retire, as long as we live "cheap".

My biggest concern is that I'll be stuck in low-paying jobs for the rest of my life if I go into coffee now... If I could handle living in LA or another large city then I could see how being a barista could lead to a decent job in other parts of the coffee industry like roaster or green coffee buyer. A green coffee buyer sounds absolutely amazing, especially if I could combine work trips with climbing trips!