The purpose of Career Day at HTHNC is for students to branch out into the professional world and learn more about future professions. The day consists of students going to whichever workplace they secured and shadowing the person for a minimum of 5 hours, asking questions, and taking a photo at the end. I went to Leap Coffee in Carlsbad and shadowed the owner, Brandy Cutbirth. I learned about how she started her own business, and how she is so successful. This was very useful to me since I want to go to business school and be an entrepreneur! The day at Leap was very relaxed but busy, and detailed. Running any business (definitely a coffee shop!) is all about precision and execution. There were many different things going on at once at Leap, someone would be at the register, a few people would be making drinks, someone in the back was bagging coffee and doing production tasks, and Brandy was in the office doing all things concerning business! During the day she explained everything she was doing, and why she was doing it. I gained more knowledge about entrepreneurship by shadowing Brandy, and how difficult starting a business really is. I am still very interested in being an entrepreneur as my career, and Career Day just made me more excited! It was so interesting to watch how a successful business functions on a daily basis, and everything that you must keep in mind. Next year for Career Day 2019, I would like to shadow another entrepreneur in a different field. Possibly a fashion company business owner, since that was my initial plan for this year!
Interview Questions
Interview Question #1: Where do you get all the ingredients for the food that you serve at Leap? Brandy said how they usually order large quantity food and pastries, but there are certain things that are cheaper to buy in bulk locally, such as fruit, meat, trash bags and other small items. During the day we went to Costco, which is where she or another employee goes usually every week, to purchase fresh foods that the kitchen needs. For pastries, they order from a pastry supplier in Belgium. They send the fresh pastries over frozen, then at Leap they bake them daily.
Interview Question #2: What is the most important thing in running a business? ¨The little details are everything.¨ Brandy mentioned throughout the entire day that the small things matter tremendously. From depositing checks and cash, to little tools needed to make drinks, literally everything in a business matters more then you think. She also said how the little things end up costing a lot of money.
Interview Question #3: How many team members does it take to run Leap? Brandy said that Leap Coffee has about 10 employees. At first I was surprised that the number wasn't larger, but then I realized that it would be too crowded with too many workers. She said how there is a lot of work that goes on behind the actual coffee shop, which is usually done by herself or her manager. The jobs at Leap are normally specific to only one person, such as one cashier. Other jobs require more teamwork, such as the chef or baristas.