What's An Ideal Situation?

Thoughts from the Careers in Coffee panel, or, my vision for an equitable workplace. Please join me in the comments :)

Last week, we (the Austin Coffee Collective) hosted a panel discussion at Carpenter Hall with five coffee professionals. We featured folks who had each taken a unique pathway outside cafe management: roasting, equipment tech, green coffee sales, brand marketing, and brand community building. I had the privilege of serving as the moderator. All in all, it was a great time!

We had a full house of 45 attendees, ranging from baristas to business owners to curious customers. We talked about each panelists’ unique journey, lessons learned along the way, mentors, and equity in the workplace.

just before the event began; photo by me

At the end of the discussion, one audience member asked an earnest, albeit common question: “How can we transform the role of the barista into a sustainable career pathway? What do we need to do to increase the respect and reward for our craft?”

Here in Austin, if I had to guess, the average barista gets paid around $11-12 an hour, plus tips. For someone working 30-35 hours a week (in reality, very few), a bi-weekly paycheck might be as little as $900 in the slow season or as much as $1900 for a busy cafe with a kitchen. Any more than that, for an hourly worker, is pretty much unheard of.

If you work in the industry, I hope this isn’t the first time you’re hearing this. Back in 2019, a slew of “radical” wage transparency surveys circulated in Philadelphia, Seattle, and other major cities, sparking conversation and inspiring workers movements and collectives to take action. There have been several more surveys since.

“Who in town is doing a good job of taking care of their workers?” another audience member asked. The room fell silent. “If I knew, maybe I’d still be a barista,” said one of the panelists. A few others nodded in agreement. Then, without raising their hand, someone in the front row shouted “what would an ideal situation look like?”

I’ve been thinking about this question for the last week and I want to briefly jot some thoughts here. This is first draft kinda stuff, just some ideas, but I’d love to continue this conversation.

Please join me in the comments, open to all subscribers:

1. What is a living wage in Austin, TX?

   1. I would like to see a world in which every worker can afford to live alone if they so choose (~$1300), pay bills (~$300), buy groceries (~$500), take care of a pet ($100, excluding any vet bills), have a little fun (~$200), and put $100 toward savings or debt. That puts us at $2500/month minimum.

   2. I would also like to see a world in which every worker can afford to survive by working 35 hours/week or less, which means the hourly rate for a barista would have to be around $18-19/hr, including tips.

   3. Keep in mind this is a living wage, not a thriving wage. If a worker has large debts, supports a family, prefers the finer things in life, etc, etc, this is probably not gonna cut it.

2. Responsibility of the owners

   1. As a cafe owner, I think it’s your responsibility to set reasonable expectations for your employees straight out of the gate. It’s also your responsibility (with help from colleagues and mentors) to keep your business financially healthy so you can pay people.

   2. During the interview, you should probably tell your prospective employee:

      1. How much they’re going to be paid and why*

      2. If and how they can get paid more (events, raises, upselling, etc)

      3. Any benefits of the job (shift meals, healthcare, PTO, etc)

   3. *I truly believe that the best way to create an equitable workplace is to be transparent. If you pay experienced baristas more, make it known. If your tip pool fluctuates wildly with the seasons, say that! Your workers deserve that knowledge so they can make good decisions for themselves (and maybe help you grow your business, if they feel so inclined).

   4. If you don’t feel comfortable being transparent about the financial health of your business, perhaps that’s cause for getting some professional help. Invest in a good consultant and turn that ship around! It’s not too late and your employees need you!!

3. Diversifying income streams (for baristas)

   1. If you want to make more money as a barista and you are hitting the ceiling at your job, it may be time to take your fate into your own hands. I love you and this might be hard to hear, but it’s not your employer’s sole responsibility to make you financially stable.

   2. There are lots of ways to make extra money as a barista. Here are some that I’ve seen:

      1. Catering gigs — Creature, Luna, and others are always looking for talented baristas to pick up shifts. Most of this is 1099 work, so they don’t take taxes out. You will have to pay back taxes on these gigs, but don’t let that stop you. It’s really not that terrible if you plan for it.

      2. Photo and video shoots for brands — I can’t tell you how many times I see casting calls come through my DMs for brands that need a barista to pour latte art. In a city like Austin, these gigs are always popping up. It’s usually something like $150-300/day.

      3. Teach private lessons to your favorite customers — This is my favorite way to make extra cash as a barista! More and more customers have home espresso machines in their houses. Be a friend and teach them how to do it like a pro.

      4. Funnel your energy into your creative practice — If you’re a barista, I’m willing to bet you’re also some kind of artist. Perhaps your frustration at your paychecks could be funneled into some art that you could sell. I feel like “start an Etsy shop” is trite advice, but worth mentioning.

4. Perks

   1. We’ve already kinda discussed this, but as a cafe owner, what perks can you afford to offer your employees?

      1. There are the obvious ones, like healthcare, PTO, dental/vision, etc. This is a challenge for smaller businesses, but there are solutions out there. Odeko just started offering simple healthcare plans, for example. As an Austin musician, my healthcare is subsidized by HAAM. If you have musicians on staff, that might be a resource you can share with them. Just some ideas.

      2. But there’s also some less-traditional perks that I think employers fail to advertise to potential talent:

         1. Educational opportunities — how many of your baristas want to open their own cafe some day? They are looking to you for guidance. That is a perk of the job, the ability to learn how the business works.

         2. Menu development — open the doors to creativity and feature your baristas’ recipes on the menu

         3. Neighborhood discounts — when you work for us, you get free drinks at the bar next door

         4. Internal promotions — what are the opportunities for growth within the company?

         5. Clear values and expectations 🙂

   2. As a barista, think about what perks this job affords you and choose wisely:

      1. Commute — TBH I’m okay with being paid a little less if it means I can walk or bike to work

      2. Hours — For a coffee person, I hate waking up early. Bonus points if an open shift starts after 7 a.m.

      3. Good coffee — Do you actually like the coffee you’re serving!?

      4. Culture — Do you like the people you work with and around? Do they inspire you? Do you love the music they play, the art they hang on the walls? Does it make you a better person to work here?

5. When the company wins, we all win

   1. SO IMPORTANT. I’m going to shoutout my friends at Creature Coffee, who do this so well. If they meet or exceed their event goals for the month, everyone who worked that period gets a small bonus.

   2. If you start making more money as a business, you need to pay the people who made that possible. Maybe it was your big idea, but it was the workers on the register, the production team that packed the bags, the farmers who experimented with that processing method, who made it possible. They deserve to be rewarded.

6. Donations, investments, equity, etc

   1. I don’t know a lot about this, but I wonder if any of y’all do? How do you see private investments working in the coffee space? Would it be possible to subsidize sales with donations or investments from wealthy customers to help pay rent, increase wages, or provide more benefits? Would wealthy donors ever be interested in that?

   2. I’m just thinking out loud here but I’m pretty sure there’s a ceiling to how much money you can make as a cafe. Maybe that’s a limiting belief? I know certain things help — selling roasted coffee, having a food program, low or non-existent rent, alcohol…

7. Worker-owned cooperatives

   1. The more I think about this stuff, the more I feel inspired to start a worker-owned coffee shop in Austin. Why doesn’t that exist yet? Is it possible to do that and make money and maintain the highest quality? This might be a pipe dream and not for me, but someone’s gotta try!!!

PS — Who do you think does a good job of creating an equitable workplace in Austin, TX? Would love your thoughts on this.

More resources to explore:

• “What Happened When I Instituted Wage Transparency at My Coffeeshop” by Ashley Rodriguez (Boss Barista) - Ashley is the go-to person if you want to know more about workers rights in coffee, imo.

• 2023 Coffee Wage Survey by Go Fund Bean (now defunct) by Ashley Rodriguez

• The Pour Over - awesome online journal by Fionn Pooler

• The Worker-Owned Coffee Cooperatives in Baltimore by Fionn Pooler