Coffee People ft. Cait Rifkin, Snake River Roasting Co.
Cait Rifkin is the GM of Snake River Roasting Co. in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We chat about the need for self-sufficiency, empathy and anxiety, paying attention to politics, and burnt milk.
Full video posted below, or watch and/or listen to Coffee People on:
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Guest: Cait Rifkin, GM of Snake River Roasting Co.
Based: Jackson, WY
What they drink: Specialty Drinks, part of a cortado, and sips of her husband's drink.*
“And now, I’m like in to coffee in the most beautiful way.”
• Cait Rifkin
How many careers are too many?
The answer is that there is no answer. I've been a medical supply truck driver, graphic designer, restaurant general manager, marketing director, barista, entrepreneur, author, and—
You know what...Maybe there is a limit!
The point I'm making is that modern generations were offered significantly more career paths and choices than the Pre-Boomers.** However, with that came the expectation that young people, just figuring out their lives, would make a choice, commit to it, and with a bit of conviction, stick with it for the long haul.
It's a lot to ask of anyone, but even more so to ask someone coming out of high school or college. At that age (said the wizened old sage), you've only a glint of what your life might become. You've got a foundation, but the finished design of your mind isn't even close to being built.
It is something Cait felt compelled to address. Like a river over time, you can change the course of your life. Sometimes it is the little things that build towards a change of direction. Other times, the rush of water, like a major life change, creates a new fork. Is this metaphor working? I think so.
According to Indeed.com, millennials are the largest segment of the current workforce, and they stay at a job for an average of two years and nine months.
Millennials and Gen-Zs tend to spend less time on the job than Gen-Xers and baby boomers. According to a 2021 study, Millennials stay in a job for an average of 2 years and 9 months, Gen-Xers spend approximately 5 years and 2 months on the job, and baby boomers spend around 8 years and 3 months in the same job. Gen-Z employees spend approximately six months less on the job than millennials, with most sticking around for 2 years and 3 months. (indeed.com)
That doesn't mean they change careers every few years, but as the pace of technology changes what work looks like year over year (sometimes month over month), career changes are inevitable. Cait advocated for being aware of yourself and approaching your career choices with intent. Is this what you want to do? Is it a healthy space for you to be? What are the values of this job that are essential to offer career fulfillment? What other roles might meet that need while offering more joy or less burnout?
Whatever your qualifiers might be, you have the right to change your mind. Notwithstanding the very real need to pay bills, just because the younger version of yourself chose coffee, data entry, or psychology doesn't mean the current version of you has to keep canoeing down that path...
See...the metaphor works.
*Sharing drinks and meals is one of the great under-the-radar benefits of being married. I never want an entire chai latte, but I do want a sip of my wife's.
**You know who I'm talking about right?
Find Snake River Roasting on social media: Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube.
Coffee People is sponsored by our friends at Roastar. They can support your coffee brand by providing excellent service and custom packaging made in the U.S.A.
What is your favorite cheesy holiday movie?
Put your answer in the comments below.
Die Hard isn't cheesy so it can't be the answer. Some better examples include: Love Actually, The Holiday, Anything on Hallmark, The Holidate, or Hot Frosty. In the latter, a "sexy" snowman comes to life. That is not a joke.
PODCAST TAKEAWAYS
- Working in a small(ish) roasting company allows Cait to wear a lot of hats as the GM.
- Being in Jackson, WY forces a bit of self-sufficiency into the operation. Jackson Hole is near some incredible places—Grand Teton National Park, Mt. Baldy, Yellowstone—but most of them don't include the conveniences afforded small businesses in a larger community. The internet has made a lot of things easier but actual hands on on fixing things is not one of them.
- Side note: Jackson is the name of a town in Jackson Hole, which is the name of the region.
- Check out The New Art of Coffee: From Morning Cup to Caffeine Cocktail Authored by Ryan Castelaz with photographs by Kevin Miyazaki.
- I want my phone to do less, and also make me pay less since I’m not doing all the AI or App things.
- Being a barista is much physically harder than an outsider might expect, and requires a lot of an employee across broad spectrum of physical, mental, emotional bands. Be nice to your barista.
- An owner or manager who leaves a foundation is to be appreciated. It is a great way for them to uplift the community they've been serving long after they've left a business. Ruth Ann Petroff made the effort to mentor Cait (among others) before she sold Snake River Roasting Co. That exposure to leadership through example has inspired Cait to do the same to those who now look up to her in a position of leadership.
- Despite the General Manager title, Cait doesn't think of herself as a leader or mentor, yet. She leads by example, specifically by being humble about what she knows and doesn't know. There is always room to learn, and she wants to create a space where her team can learn without fear of judgement.
- Some people take on the emotional weight of others in their career because they are instinctively empathetic. Others have that challenge built into the job. Cait's previous career demanded a lot of her. Her role in coffee has enabled her to sate some of her desires to affect social justice and help people in a different way, one that may allow her to maintain a more healthy mental state.
- Just because you start down a career path, doesn't mean you have to stay on it. Even if you've made great efforts to get a ways down the path!
- Coffee is comfort!
- What makes a good cup of coffee:
- The people you enjoy it with.
- Knowing the passion and effort that went into it existing in the same space and time as you!
- What makes for a bad coffee drink:
- Burnt milk.
For future green coffee buyers: Pay attention to the political environment that surrounds coffee. That means looking beyond your local borders, and increase your awareness of what is happening in producing countries.
(Distilled from the interview with Cait Rifkin).
Café Femenino
The Café Femenino coffee program is one-of-a-kind ethical sourcing model committed to ending the cycle of poverty affecting women coffee farmers across the world. Café Femenino provides direct compensation to women farmers, along with the opportunity and resources to enact positive change in their communities and on their own terms.
• https://www.cafefemenino.com/
Similar to a certification program, when a green buyer sees Café Femenino attached to the coffee they are buying, they know they are sourcing from a woman run farm either directly or through a coop that meets certain requirements designed to uplift women in an effort to generate gender-equality.
For example, a current offerings list from Organic Products Training Company (OPTCO):
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Ryan Woldt
The Simply Good Coffee Brewers are so cool we have two.
The Roastar Design Awards are back!
COMING SOON:
Brad Gutwein of Manatee Coffee and Copper Moon Coffee, plus another edition of Nick & Ryan Drink Coffee.
Just for fun-ish:
I am not joking when I say I want my phone to do less. I've been threatening to get a flip phone for years. The only hesitation is that I can't find a digital map that works without a smartphone app. C'mon, Garmin! Go back to to the app-free device!
Dr. Arthur Brooks gives a five minute primer on why we should put our phones down (but not till after you watch his video).
