CoCo Reflections from Celeste Bayer:
This Week’s CoCo: Create Remarkable Care
I think that creating remarkable care is one of the pillars of SCC. Yes, all the core commitments are pillars of the company, but without striving to create remarkable care, the others are less important. We speak up to our team leader or our coworkers because we want to create remarkable care, we are urgent to the customer because we want to create remarkable care, and we are prepared for our work because we want to create remarkable care. When I think of creating remarkable care, I think of going above and beyond. I think of jumping on flour a little early to help with a rush or restocking your bar fridge for the next person hopping on. These small acts are what make the difference. This is a great way to separate us from other coffee shops too. Customers really can tell when we put in that extra effort. We have a regular at Oconomowoc that was very grumpy for the longest time. When I finally put a little more effort into learning his name and drink (large hot latte, no foam, 140 temp, and skim) by heart and greeting him right when he came in. Since then he has become so cheery and upbeat! This remarkable care can make all the difference!
Next Week’s CoCo: Take Care of Your Coworkers
There are a lot of cool people that work at SCC, so I feel like this commitment can be pretty easy. I think what I find challenging is finding new and innovative ways to take care of my coworkers. I think the classic way is to cover shifts for your coworker if they need (which is such a huge help), but I think this commitment looks like going above and beyond! Maybe that is doing the tasks you know the person you are working with doesn’t like to do or maybe it is doing a few extra tasks to ensure your coworkers open is even more smooth! I am not sure what it is but I think we can always learn to help each other in different ways. I think this means to do things that are unexpected for others! If you know that something big or something important is going on in your coworkers life, do something to surprise them! This shows that you care for them and how they are doing. This bond and connection we make with our coworkers helps us produce this productive, safe, and healthy work environment. I challenge you to think of a new way to take care of your coworker this week and to write a hero card for someone who took care of you!
CoCo Heroes:
- Create Remarkable Care: This Core Commitment Hero comes from the Cafe Coach Group – Patrick Colbourn, our Tosa Cafes MCC! Patrick continuously flexes between Harwood and Tosa cafes, regularly interacting with customers at both cafes on floor, and always coaches and encourages his coworkers to grow in care. Tosa cafes and team members are regularly shouted out by our customers, demonstrating that they have established authentic connections through Remarkable Care. Patrick actively seeks out new ways to Create Remarkable Care for his team members and coworkers. You’re crushing it, Patrick – thank you!!
- Take Care of Your Coworkers: This Core Commitment Hero comes from the Cafe Coach Group – Eva Hagen, our Metro Cafes MCC! Eva seeks out ways to share her knowledge and operational talents with Factory and Downer cafes and incorporates coaching naturally into her role. These two cafes are the most operationally complex in our Retail group, and Eva does a great job collaborating and navigating through unique opportunities to learn and grow! Eva also regularly assists fellow coaches with identifying and executing creative schedule solutions and shows how thinking hard helps us Take Care of Your Coworkers. Way to go, Eva – thank you!!
Going-Ons:
- SCC Company Update: Did you miss our most recent Company Update? Check it out here.
- 11/17 Bakery Price Increase: With the Holiday Launch, we will also be implementing a price increase, mostly focused on our bakery. As noted previously, over the past 9 months we’ve seen steep increases in our costs across our product lines, our raw ingredients, our packaging, milk, butter, eggs, shipping, etc. It’s all going up, therefore we also need to raise our prices. We will be raising the prices of a few of our products including bagels, scones, croissants, phat slices, and cold case products. Please look for new price tags with the coming Holiday launch and be sure to swap them out. Tasks will be included in the Holiday checklists. In addition, the Bakery Leadership Team will be responsible for making updates to prices in Live and Square. If you have any questions, please reach out to Hailey – hbarsch@stonecreekcoffee.com
- 10/31 Halloween: On Monday 10/31, all team members can wear costumes to work! Karen will also be sending a limited quantity of trick-or-treat candy to cafes in your deliveries this week. Use a ceramic bowl or glass jar to hold candy, and offer this to kids of all ages at the register while supplies last.
- We will not have a costume contest on 10/31 – we are having our SCC Costume Contest during the upcoming TNT instead! Please do check out a few notes below:
- All health code and food safety guidelines still apply, so no exposed feet, midriff, underarms or dangly things that could get caught or fall off into food or bevs, hair must be tied back, etc.
- Please refer to your team’s specific health and safety guidelines and ask your team leader if you have any questions about whether your costume is ok to wear during work on Monday 10/31.
- Seasonal Health & Safety: As colder weather approaches, we enter into the cold & flu season amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We Create Remarkable Care through our actions and choices. At SCC, we know that caring for ourselves helps Take Care of Our Coworkers too! See the attached Seasonal Health & Safety Guide for a few reminders, notes and tools to help us reduce the risk of illness and stay safe and healthy this winter. Read more in our Seasonal Health & Safety Guide here.
- Tour Guide Hiring: We are looking for a Tour Guide to join our team of Factory Tour Guides! If you are geeked out about the farm to cup process of coffee, the history of Stone Creek Coffee, and helping others learn with a high level of hype – this opportunity might be for you! If this sounds like you, please reach out to our Director of Employee Care, Rachel Perik (rperik@stonecreekcoffee.com) for more information! *Friendly reminder that if you have not taken a Factory Tour yet, all employees can take one for free by emailing Teams & People (teams@stonecreekcoffee.com) with the date and time they would like to attend. Tour dates and times can be found in our event scheduling portal, Humanitix. If you are interested in becoming a Tour Guide, but haven’t been on an SCC Factory Tour, attending one will be a great place to start!
- Donating to Milwaukee Rescue Mission: We are excited to restart our relationship with Milwaukee Rescue Mission! On the evening of 10/31 all cafes will begin gathering donatable bakery products in empty bakery bins, to be delivered back to the Factory. The success of this program requires the careful coordination of our Retail, Driving, and Bakery Teams. The complete process can be found in the documents sent to cafes. Please take special note of what is donatable and what is not as well as which days our bakery will be donated, and which days it should be thrown out.
- November NSL Workshop Details: Our next round of NSL Workshops are quickly approaching! We are excited to host NSL Workshops in person once again! Attendance is required. Please take a look at your team’s NSL Workshop time and closing details below. Closing signage will be delivered to each cafe ahead of time and should be hung up by the appropriate date below.
- Session 1: Tuesday, November 1st at 5pm at Delafield – Oconomowoc & Delafield (close cafe at 4pm, post Closing Early signs on Mon 10/24)
- Session 2: Wednesday, November 2nd at 4pm at the Factory – Bakery & Production (No early closure)
- Session 3: Wednesday, November 2nd at 6pm at Downer – Downer Cafe & Kitchen (close cafe at 5pm, post Closing Early signs on Mon 10/24)
- Session 4: Thursday, November 3rd at 4pm at the Factory – Factory, Harwood & Wauwatosa Bluemound (close cafe at 3pm, post Closing Early signs on Mon 10/24)
- Session 5: Thursday, November 3rd at 6pm at Glendale – Shorewood and Glendale (close cafe at 5pm, post Closing Early signs on Mon 10/24)
- Office Staff: Please review the dates, times, and locations above and RSVP to Rachel Perik (rperik@stonecreekcoffee.com) regarding which session you plan to attend by end of day, October 14th.
- Please reach out to your Team Leader, Karen Strange, or Teams & People if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you all soon!
- 11/10 TNT: Mark your calendars! The next Thursday Night Throwdown is November 10th. This TNT is going to be a party- literally, a costume party! There will be two brackets, a beginner’s bracket and an experienced bracket, a Costume Contest, and a Rice Krispie Treat sculpting competition! We’ll be giving away prizes for all of the above! Please note that anyone who has been a barista for less than a year qualifies for the beginner’s bracket. Posters with QR codes will be making their way to cafes in the coming weeks!
Wins & Shout-outs:

Email the Employee Celebration Committee (celebrations@stonecreekcoffee.com) if you’d like to recognize or celebrate a teammate. Or if you want to make a public shout-out, email Val (vnewhouse@stonecreekcoffee.com) to include in the next Employee Newsletter!
Birthdays:
- 10/24 – Joey Mandarino
- 10/25 – Dominique Whitney
- 11/1 – Saragrace Johnson
- 11/2 – Jester McLaughlin Haralson
- 11/5 – Gwynn Beversdorf
- 11/9 – Katie Fariss
- 11/13 Karen Strange
- 11/14 – Natalia Duchesneau
- 11/14 – Payson East
- 11/17 – Sundance Duchow
- 11/19 – Kyra Hankins
- 11/28 – Maelyn Kaczmarek
Anniversaries:
- Olivia Aponte – 1 year!
- Monica Brown – 5 years!
- Emili Butrin – 3 years!
- Zipporah Caspers – 4 years!
- Jason Knaak – 1 year!
- Miguel Martinez – 4 years!
- Katelin Rockwell – 1 year!
- Kyle Ryan – 1 year!
- Litzel Saavedra – 1 year!
- Arcadia Schmid – 1 year!
- Vanessa Van Den Elzen – 3 years!
Welcomes:
- Julia Frank – Line Cook
- Tyler Retlich – Line Cook
- Clare Eigenbrode – Baker
- Kensington Naze – Glendale
- Emily Gunn – Line Cook
- Jester Haralson – PM Delivery Driver
- Madison Schroef – Harwood
- Isabella Hansen – Oconomowoc

Employee Discount Codes:
Please don’t share these with non-employees
- 20% Employee-Only Website Coupon Code
- October: Oct22sccemp
- 40% Employee-Only Mobile App Coupon Code
- October: Oct22sccemp

Catch up on all of our newsletters, company updates, recipes, and more in our Employee Blog here.
Ways to Speak Up:
Do you want to speak up about ideas, thoughts, and more? Send an email to Teams & People (teams@stonecreekcoffee.com) or use the button below to send a note anonymously.