CoCo Reflections from Celeste Bayer:
This Week’s CoCo: Be a Hero, Find a Hero
Batman has always been my favorite superhero. He is brave, stands up for the little guy, and has crazy kick butt ninja skills. All of those things are great but the real reason he has been my favorite is that I always thought he was the most realistic. He didn’t come from another planet and have wicked powers like Superman. He didn’t have this crazy, technological suit like Ironman. He didn’t get bitten by a genetically engineered super spider like Spiderman. He was just a normal dude with crazy ninja skills, looking for vengeance. More than that, he cared for those around him who needed help, even if it was out of his way. I think that is what makes a real hero (not the crazy ninja stuff), being realistic and helping those around you. Doing those little things for people is what makes a hero. The other part is to be realistic. It is really great that you want to cover all the open shifts in your cafe, but that is not realistic. Maybe covering a shift or giving suggestions to who may be able to cover. Go out and find a hero! As Christmas is around the corner, this is a great opportunity to be a hero or to find a hero. Maybe that looks like donating to your favorite organization or maybe it is using your volunteer time to help out somewhere with a fellow coffee geek!
Next Week’s CoCo: Take Risks
I don’t know about you, but this is the hardest core commitment for me. I am naturally not a risk taker. I would rather stay comfortable and be cautious. I think this is because I have always looked at risk taking as reckless, but this is wrong thinking. There is a difference between taking reckless risks and calculated risks. Reckless risks are not putting any thought or consideration toward the thing and just doing it (though there are times that you need to just send it). This maybe looks like irrational decisions or not taking peoples opinions into deliberation. Rather calculated risks are considered decisions that expose a person to a degree of personal and financial risk that is counterbalanced by a reasonable possibility of benefit. What kind of risks are you taking? If you are like me, you may need to adjust your thinking on what taking risks looks like. I think this starts small and can then grow from there! Maybe it is taking that master barista certification or taking the promotion for the experience rather than the money. Risks add some flavor to life and can open new opportunities that you didn’t know even existed!
CoCo Heroes:
- Be a Hero, Find a Hero: This Core Commitment Hero comes from Downer Cafe – Dom! Dom is always moving her schedule around to help cover shifts. Dom is also looking for ways to help ensure the team is in the best spot they can be during shifts. Thanks for your hard work, Dom!
- Take Risks: This Core Commitment Hero comes from the Delafield Cafe – Michelle! She is newer to our team but from the start, she was willing to take risks. Whether the risk be taking hero shifts or going to the factory to pick up add on orders. She is always more than willing to take a risk if it means it will benefit the team! We are all so thankful for Michelle!
Going-Ons:
- Brewing Change Project – Dressember: Stone Creek Coffee is excited to be supporting Silken Buska, one of our Wauwatosa Cafe baristas, and Celeste Bayer, our Employee Care Coordinator, in their Brewing Change initiative for the 3rd year! During the month of December, Silken, Celeste, and others will be participating in Dressember. This movement is now a global event where you commit to wearing a dress or tie every day in the month of December. The power of this small consistent action shows the force of everyday advocacy to help bring the much needed awareness and finances to fight against human trafficking. On Tuesday and Wednesday, December 6th and 7th, Stone Creek will donate $1 to this Dressember group, for every pound of coffee sold in our cafes and online. Please see a note from Celeste below with more details about how you can join the team!
- “What started as a fashion challenge for herself, Blythe Hill (CEO of Dressember), slowly transformed into a movement to end human trafficking. Human trafficking is a global problem, which doesn’t exclude Milwaukee. The challenge is to wear a dress or a tie every single day in the month of December. With wearing a dress or tie everyday you have the opportunity to bring so much awareness to the issue of human trafficking. If you want to learn more, you can check out this website here. If you would like to join, you can create your page by going to the website and then from there you can join the team Woven World Collective here. If you would rather not participate but donate, you can do that here as well!”
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Brewing Change Project – Guest House: Stone Creek Coffee is thrilled to be partnering with Guest House of Milwaukee for potential volunteer opportunities. Located on North 13th Street between Juneau and McKinley Avenues in the King Park neighborhood, Guest House of Milwaukee is the largest publicly funded homeless shelter in the city and has been leading our community in ending the cycle of poverty in their clients’ lives for nearly forty years. Guest House of Milwaukee provides shelter, housing, education, and services to Milwaukee’s homeless who seek to transform their lives with dignity and purpose. To learn more about Guest House of Milwaukee check out their website here.
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Want to help? Sign up here if you are interested in December 13th-31st volunteer opportunities and future opportunities! Reminder: We have that rad SCC benefit where we have paid time off for the purpose of doing volunteer work!
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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:
- 12/7 – Madeline Conway
- 12/14 – Patricia Kovochich
- 12/15 – Stuart Rosenthal
- 12/19 – Krista Michels
- 12/20 – Michael Marchant
- 12/21 – Brianna Arnold
- 12/28 – Harmony Krafttakacs
- 12/29 – Brooke Sherman
Anniversaries:
- Chloe Drapes – 5 years!
- Tori Kalman – 1 year!
- Analisa Lopez – 9 years!
- Dominique Whitney – 3 years!
Welcomes:
- Callie Lemley – Oconomowoc
- Hailee Wallner – Delafield
- River Cardwell – Oconomowoc
- Sara Jagdfeld – Delafield
- Buddy Garczynki – Factory (Welcome back!)

Employee Discount Codes:
Please don’t share these with non-employees
- 20% Employee-Only Website Coupon Code
- December: Dec22sccemp
- 40% Employee-Only Mobile App Coupon Code
- December: Dec22sccemp

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.