CoCo Reflection from Madisen Debord:
This Week’s CoCo: Never Stop Learning
I consider myself a forever learner. I love documentaries and podcasts and opportunities to learn. I recently had a conversation with my brother about working. In this conversation he expressed that he begins to not enjoy his work when he feels like he’s done learning. I couldn’t agree more. I want to have continued growth and expose myself to new information. I don’t want to plateau and never change. We’re made to evolve and expand. I love that I’m always learning new things here. I’ve gone from someone who just enjoyed coffee in the morning, to a barista, to a cafe coach in my year and a half of being here. This idea of never stop learning has impacted me as an employee and a person.
CoCo Reflection from Garrett McGowan:
Next Week’s CoCo: Keep Your Commitments
“How has it come to this?” I reflect in horror. Isla (my daughter) is running away from her swim instructor screaming at the top of her lungs in terror. Robin (my son), who has never stepped foot in a pool, has spotted a shiny toy floating in the deep end and is committed to retrieving it at all costs. Lauren (my wife) is trying her best to keep our children alive in the wake of this suburban hellscape. The commitment is to teach our children how to swim and it has become abundantly clear – this is not working.
Too often we fall prey to the sunk-cost fallacy: since we have devoted resources/time/effort/expectations to a particular plan, it feels unwise to abandon it in favor of an alternative course of action. Even more severe, it can feel like failing or giving up. But the truth is that “Keep Your Commitments” is most beneficial when framed as a commitment to an outcome and not a commitment to a specific set of actions. In many cases, the best thing we can do is reset and address the problem from a completely different angle.
Lauren and I remain committed to teaching our children how to swim, but we have completely reset our plan to achieve this goal. While progress is not linear (a whole separate lesson), we are seeing results. The highest mark I’ve received in a performance review in 2023 is when I asked Isla what she wanted to be when she grew up and without hesitation she answered, “a mermaid.”
CoCo Heroes:
- Never Stop Learning: This Core Commitment Hero comes from the Delafield team – Hailee! She consistently tries new coffees, encourages others to sample, shares her coffee thoughts with co-workers and customers, and actively seeks out new and fun challenges in her work with SCC.
- Keep Your Commitments: This Core Commitment Hero comes from the Harwood team – Ali Nofrey! Ali is an awesome example of keeping her commitments. She works hard to get ahead of her daily tasks, and helps keep the team accountable to the checklist. Ali also regularly hits up the group chat to communicate gaps she has seen or anything that is different than normal so the whole team is aware.
Going-Ons:
- SCC Company Update: If you missed the March 16th Company Update, you can check it out here.
-
Join the Whitefish Bay Opening Team: We are so excited for the opportunity to Create Remarkable Care in a new Whitefish Bay Cafe & Kitchen, with a target opening date this summer! We are in the early stages of building a team of Baristas, Line Cooks, and Cafe & Kitchen Team Leaders. If you are interested in joining the Whitefish Bay opening team, either as a permanent transfer or a temporary transfer, reach out to teams@stonecreekcoffee.com!
- Volunteer Opportunity: Are you looking for a way to use your paid volunteer hours? Check out Milwaukee Riverkeeper’s annual Earth Day event. It is on April 22, 2023, and most clean-ups start at 9:00 am. There are ~30 locations to choose from and vary from child-friendly to adults-only (due to safety concerns). They organize clean-ups all along the rivers, provide clean-up gear, and they host many other educational events throughout the year. If you are interested, you can register here.
- SCC Transportation Grant: Hey Coffee Geeks! In striving to be equitable, inclusive, and environmentally conscious, SCC offers a transportation grant opportunity to a handful of team members each quarter. This grant is awarded based on need. Team members who receive this grant will receive a monthly reimbursement towards a bus pass, bike, etc. If your primary method of transportation to work is something other than a personal vehicle and you are interested in participating, please email teams@stonecreekcoffee.com to request an application. All current and previous recipients should reach out to Teams to request a new application to reapply for the upcoming quarter. We will be accepting applications Monday, April 3 through the end of the day Monday, April 10, 2023. Q2 grant recipients will be selected by the end of the day on Monday, April 17th. Please see the 2023 Employee Handbook for additional details.
Wins & Shout-outs:
SHOUT-OUT FROM DOWNER: Aaron and Annaliese always ask each cafe team member if they need anything prior to them leaving for the day. Recently on separate busy days, Aaron helped the Downer team check expiration dates for pastry items and the cold case, made a few syrups and Annaliese helped ring up a few customers. Thank you to them both for always going the extra mile in taking care of their coworkers.
If you’d like to recognize or celebrate a teammate, we would love to hear about it! By clicking here, you can fill out a form to nominate a hero and choose how you would like them to be celebrated.
Birthdays:
- 3/28 – Kaylee Pikula
- 3/30 – Adelie Content
- 3/31 – Anna Huntley
- 4/1 – Domenic Serena
- 4/1 – Maya Shub
- 4/5 – Juliana Dutcher
- 4/5 – Christopher Hoag
- 4/8 – Claire Gorman
- 4/10 – Rachel Perik
- 4/12 – Chris Chapman
- 4/12 – Michal Franson
- 4/12 – Avianna Holmes
- 4/12 – Joshua James
- 4/17 – Margaret Tews
- 4/17 – Bree Bertz
- 4/21 – Riley Isaac
- 4/21 – Jordan King
- 4/25 – Eva Hagen
- 4/27 – Jenai Ellner
- 4/27 – Garrett McGowan
- 4/29 – Monica Brown
- 4/29 – Austin Grandlich
- 4/30 – Aaron Johnson
- 4/30 – Bryan Kraft
- 4/30 – Michelle Lunak
Anniversaries:
- Madeline Conway – 4 years!
- Annaliese Frailey – 5 years!
- Michael Marchant – 5 years!
- Anthony Moroder – 2 years!
- Dan Olsen – 1 year!
- Matthew Wilkins – 1 year!
Welcomes:
- Katie Wallace – Oconomowoc
- John Harvey – Service Tech
- Cameron Maas – Line Cook

Job Openings:
view all current openingsEmployee Discount Codes:
Please don’t share these with non-employees
- 20% Employee-Only Website Coupon Code
- March: Mar2023sccemp
- April: Apr2023sccemp
- 40% Employee-Only Mobile App Coupon Code
- March: Mar2023sccemp
- April: Apr2023sccemp
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.