Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: This is trojan media network.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Welcome to behind the Business.
This is a student run podcast where we talk with local business owners about how real businesses actually work.
[00:00:18] Speaker C: Today we are talking with Haley, one of the founders of Java Hut.
[00:00:22] Speaker D: Java Hut started in Winchester and has recently expanded into Tullahoma.
Thank you so much for being here with us today, Haley.
[00:00:30] Speaker A: My pleasure.
[00:00:32] Speaker C: At the beginning, what was something you felt confident about that ended up being a lot harder than you expected?
[00:00:38] Speaker A: Hmm, definitely like time management.
I knew it would be hard. I knew my life would change, but I didn't realize how difficult it would be to have a good work life balance.
[00:00:55] Speaker B: What was the first real problem that made you stop and realize that this was serious?
[00:01:01] Speaker A: So that snowstorm that we might be getting this weekend, those are always stressful. Every year we get them because, you know, you don't know how many days you're going to be closed. You worry about the pipes. You know, it's the, it's just unpredictable.
[00:01:16] Speaker C: Looking back, what small decision early on ended up mattering a lot more than you expected?
[00:01:24] Speaker A: Probably the, the standard we set for good customer service. Obviously we knew it was important, but it's kind of became what we're known for.
The, the connection we have with our community. It's, it's different than you get anywhere else. It's, it's close.
[00:01:45] Speaker D: So was there a choice that you made early that changed the direction of just like, you know, the entire business?
[00:01:52] Speaker A: Yeah, not really.
[00:01:58] Speaker D: So what part of your job would.
[00:01:59] Speaker C: Surprise people if they saw how much time it actually takes.
[00:02:05] Speaker A: Making menus and like always coming up with new drinks? It's, it's time consuming because, you know, you can't just come up with like a flavor. You have to test it and tweak it until it's right. And it's coffee. So, you know, you're, you're trying a lot of, a lot of coffee.
[00:02:22] Speaker D: So during a normal week, what kinds of problems or decisions take up most of your time?
[00:02:29] Speaker A: Inventory, Keeping milk stocked.
That's an everyday thing.
Just keeping up with like the, the daily tasks of running a business. You know, filling in when you're, when you're an owner and an operator, you're. I'm kind of filling in wherever needed. So day to day in my job, it changes, which I like that. But while it's, it's hard to try to keep up with the day to day stuff and then also plan ahead for the future and stay on top of things and stuff, what told you.
[00:03:05] Speaker B: That it was the right time to open a second Location in Tullahoma.
[00:03:09] Speaker A: We were hearing it every single day from people. I wish y' all had one in Tahoma. I drive here from T every day.
We've, we've heard it for years. So we, when the opportunity came about, we knew we had to jump on it.
[00:03:27] Speaker C: What was something about opening the second location that caught you off guard? Even with experience?
[00:03:35] Speaker A: It's, it's pretty unpredictable there, which is to be expected with like a new business. But some days it slams, some days it's slow.
It's a different flow. Even like the traffic flow is different than here. So that's been an adjustment just trying to gauge how much business we're going to get.
[00:03:57] Speaker B: What is a mistake that ended up teaching you something important?
[00:04:03] Speaker A: Hiring the wrong people and being afraid of letting them go, you know, because you like them as a person. But sometimes the job just isn't for everyone.
[00:04:15] Speaker C: What is something you've learned the hard way?
[00:04:23] Speaker A: Not going so hard to the point where I kind of burned myself out.
And again, struggling with that like work, life, balance, which is most entrepreneurs, it's a big struggle for us.
[00:04:38] Speaker D: So how, how do you balance just your work and your life? Because I mean, even with schoolwork, I know a lot of us struggle, so I can't imagine how hard it would be with a business.
[00:04:50] Speaker A: Yeah, I have to really check in with myself because when you are busy, dizzy like I am, it's easy just to get caught up in the motions. But you do have to slow down and you have to take care of yourself and, and know when you need to rest. Sometimes you have to slow down to speed up.
[00:05:08] Speaker B: What skills do you use now that you never expected to need when you opened a coffee shop?
[00:05:15] Speaker A: A lot of creativity and it's gotten even stronger throughout the years. Um, you have to be creative and unique in order to honestly, in my opinion, be successful.
You have to have your own thing, which we do, and confidence.
I've been an entrepreneur since I was 19 and I've definitely gained a lot more confidence over the years.
And you have to have confidence in order to be able to make make decisions quickly.
[00:05:50] Speaker D: So this is a fun but a very honest question.
So if you could go back and talk to yourself on opening day, what would you tell yourself to relax about.
[00:06:01] Speaker A: Everything and, and try to get some more sleep. The night before I, before we opened up the Tullahoma location, I'm, I pulled an all nighter. So I was running on no sleep opening day, but it was worth it.
[00:06:15] Speaker B: Is there anything about your experience that we did not ask. But you think is important for us students to hear.
[00:06:23] Speaker A: The importance of shopping local and choosing to shop local? We all hear it all the time. We see it on T shirts and stuff. But when you guys support Java Hut, you are supporting me. You know, my. My employees, the co owner of Java Hut, they went to school here. You know, we all live in this community, so the money stays in this community.
I think a lot of people don't realize. I didn't realize the importance of shopping local until I became a business owner. But you are literally helping your community. Community by funding, by giving people jobs. You're helping families put food on the table. When you're supporting a corporation like in our case, like Starbucks, you know, that, that. That's our competition.
That money's being funneled out of our communities, and we're. We're not going to get that back.
[00:07:17] Speaker D: That. That I think is very insightful.
But, Haley, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us and share your experience.
[00:07:25] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely.
