Grounds for Growth: The Sundial Journey from Coffee to Community Hub

Transcript

Tyler: 0:31

Welcome back to the Whiskey and Wisdom podcast, everybody. This is your co host Tyler Yall. And today I am with Chris Kellum. And our special guest today is Hello,

Bridget: 0:39

I'm Bridget Levisca, an owner operator at Sundial Coffee Tea. Awesome.

Tyler: 0:44

Thank you so much for joining us today and also hosting inside of your beautiful cafe. Love it in here. Yeah. And you have, we'll talk about this in a second too, but you've had amazing artwork all over the cafe and all local too, right? Yes. Yeah. Perfect. But before we get it too far into it, since it is 10 AM and we are visiting a cafe, let's talk a little bit more about your

Bridget: 1:07

coffee. Awesome. Yeah. So, originally when we first opened sundial, we were really blessed with a company called kingdom growers. They were a mission minded coffee shop where all of the coffee beans that were sold through kingdom growers came from fields that had been planted. by locals, along with the help of missionaries, teaching them the process and teaching them the business side of it. Unfortunately, three years in Kingdom Growers went out of business. So, sadly, we started researching other mission minded coffee, coffee roasters. We tried some locally, however in our local coffee market, they just weren't able to keep up with the demand of the amount of beans that we needed. So we found a fantastic coffee roaster in Brooklyn, New York, actually called Stone Street Coffee Roasters. So, they ship our coffee in fresh as soon as it's roasted, and we do our we use their Perfect Espresso for all of our espresso drinks. We use their House Roast, which is a medium blend of coffee for our drip. And then we also use their Cold Brew Signature Coarse Grind that they actually grind for us perfectly to be able to brew cold brew here in house. Oh, wow. Yeah.

Tyler: 2:12

So there is a different, is there a different type of coffee used for cold brew, or is it just the grinding process that's primarily different?

Bridget: 2:19

I mean, you can use any coffee for cold brew that you really like. This was one that they specifically like, it's a, it's a dark roast blend that they put together that they thought would taste best as cold brew. And then and then obviously they just grind it so that it's perfect for the brewing process through the through the process. humongous five gallon bucket with the huge pillowcase sized filter that we can brew that in overnight. So it's really great. So

chris: 2:43

the Chris question is, I don't really drink coffee. I drink tea. So wait, what is your favorite tea that you guys have here?

Bridget: 2:50

So 100%. I mean, I love several of our teas, but if If I had to pick a favorite, I would say it's our matcha. We use a pure, organic, beautifully well grown matcha. Green tea powder is what matcha is. They just take some specially grown green tea leaves. It's dried. And powdered. So when you drink matcha, you're actually ingesting the green tea. You're not just steeping it and then drinking you know, remnants. You're actually ingesting the tea. So we found down in Wilmington, they have coffee fest every year. So I went to it as a coffee shop owner looking to see, like, who's new and what's out there. And I met Aki and her husband from Arteo and they are a small business up in Raleigh. And so they specialize in all kinds of Japanese tea, specifically matcha, but also several other different types of Japanese tea. But what's really cool is Aki is actually from the region in Japan where her family grew matcha. And that's where she and her husband met. They then moved back to the states and now have opened up their own tea district distributions. So, yeah, so I'm really fortunate that they're just two hours up the road. And so are a lot of places when you go for matcha, they might have it blended with powdered milk or sugar, other things to make it taste good because As Americans and most of us don't like this, like strong, earthy, bitter tea. But it's kind of just like coffee or wine or even whiskey. Like when you start to really and appreciate matcha You can start tasting the goodness that's in it and how good it is for you. So super blessed to have Aki and she just pick up the phone and answer questions that I have. And, you know, they also have beautiful pottery that you hand because you hand whisk matcha when you make it. So they supply us with all those beautiful things as well. Oh, wow.

chris: 4:39

So Now that we're done talking for coffee right now. Okay. Tell us a little bit about

Bridget: 4:45

yourself. Okay. Well, I'm from Indiana. I met my husband there as a teenager and we've been together ever since. So we're about to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary this year. Congratulations. Thank you. So we have two children. Sam is 23 and he's a marine in the military and our daughter Abby is 21 and she recently graduated from UNC and is now working at Duke in research. Oh wow. Yeah. So she said they're both doing great. Fantastic. The empty nest is not so bad. But I will say that they, they honestly were my life career. I homeschooled them from the time they were five and six years old until all the way through high school. So. That is kind of what got me into coffee because they grew up and I didn't have a career anymore that needed You know full time homeschool. Yeah, so I started just looking for a part time job I'm super extroverted and I love coffee and I thought hey being a barista would be fun So I found a coffee shop a little small coffee shop up in Holly Ridge And applied and got a job at minimum wage and was so excited and instantly loved connecting with people, learning about coffee, mixing flavors didn't know anything yet about matcha. My friends at Arteo taught me everything I know now. But anyway, so I loved it. And within six months, the owner of that coffee shop was ready to sell. And here I was just a brand new barista and being asked if I wanted to buy a coffee shop. But my husband does have some business background. And so and he had a full time job. He had always supported us. So I was really blessed with that. And so we went ahead and bought the coffee shop and then he helped me understand like how to do finances and, and how to do taxes and payroll and all the things that I literally was not gifted in. But I was really good up front with the coffee and the tea and, and the, and just, you know, making relationships with customers. set up to be able to work well together. And so that's kind of how we got here. I bought that coffee shop in 2019 rebranded. It was four C's Java when I started working there, rebranded to make it sundial and kind of remodeled, took about a month, didn't do a whole lot, but enough to make it our own and then reopened in March of 2019 as sundial coffee and tea. So we were in that location for three years. Oh, okay. And then when this, this little shopping center was being built, we were able to get in on the, on an original lease here. And so we've been here two years now.

Tyler: 7:09

That's fantastic. So where did the name Sundial come

Bridget: 7:11

from? That's a good question. So, because my husband and I were kind of moving into that empty nest season, we were kind of seeing like, we need to start thinking about like, us again. Right. So Sundial actually is a resort in Sanibel Island, Florida, where we honey, honeymooned. Oh, okay. It was called Sundial Resort. And It was named after the Sundial Seashells, these little seashells that are very popular. They're somewhat abundant, they say, down in Sanibel. So we spent our whole honeymoon trying to find these Sundial Seashells. And so when we were just running around names, like that's just always been a happy memory for me. And we were coming up with some other ones Coastal. And then I started noticing everything around here is coastal, right? So, I was like so we came up with a few names and finally we both just felt happy when we said sundial coffee and tea. So that's a throwback to the original original days. That's really

Tyler: 8:02

cool. Kind of how brings it all together at the end of it. So my, my full time job, I'm a financial advisor, so I'm glad you talked on one aspect. So two, there's really three, but like two main things that I work with, with people that are, that have the money to start investing it is one the empty nester phase and two the retirement phase and they talk about How or at least like my clients always talk about how such a huge difference it makes in their lives Just going from kids being in the house all the time and always something to do bring them one place to another To suddenly quiet and how was that transition for you right away?

Bridget: 8:39

I was really nervous going into it. I felt my cut my actually because we homeschooled. I pulled my daughter up to seventh grade when my son was in seventh grade. So from 7th through 12th grade, I homeschooled them as one like they were the classroom. And so I knew that when they graduated, it was it was just gonna tear the bandaid off like they were, you know, Sam enlisted and Abby was, you know, applying to college. So super anxious about it. Super had had bad days, had good days, just didn't know how to feel about it. Yeah. But honestly, once it happened I'm just so proud of them that the joy that it gave me to see them fulfilling what they had always wanted to do in life, seeing them go after the things that I, because I was able to spend so much time with them, I knew them intimately, knew the things that they needed to do to be happy and to thrive in life. And they were both like moving in those directions. So that was an exciting time. Is Scary as it was for me personally, the joy that it brought me watching them become adults and, and do the things that they love to do. It, it, it kind of was a really sweet, sweet time. And then obviously the coffee shop took off and it just consumed my time. So we call this my coffee shop, baby. Yeah. So then, you know, I was so busy here. So now they give me a hard time for not answering the phone when they call and I'm like, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. You know, where before, like. So, you know, I was 100 percent there, so,

Tyler: 10:31

yeah. So what some people may know if they joined the Build Your Community Summit is you were actually one of the guests for the Build Your Community Summit we did for the Cargo District Studios. And the reason why we brought you on is because we met you through Brittany. And it's clear to both of us who have been in here just today already, you have built one heck of a community around. Thank you. So how were you able to build that in such a strong community that you have here? Yeah.

Bridget: 10:58

I think when I really reflect on it is that the relationships with customers who are now friends was really my priority. As much as I love coffee, it was never about the coffee. I know there's a there's a coffee shop downtown Wilmington called Vigilant Hope, and they actually have that written on the side of the building. It was never about the coffee. And when I see that, it just makes me so happy because I kind of feel the same way here. That You know, I was looking for my own place to connect with people and to not be alone and and to be able to talk about, you know, whatever was going on in my life. And the coffee shop brought that to me. And so then I was able to start giving it back to customers. And so I really feel like The difference here is that when people come in, they know that we're excited to see them, that we care about them. We want to hear how they're doing. You know, Brittany and I, we came, we became friends. Brittany Lineberry was just here helping us get set up this morning. She's a great friend of mine now. And the reason is the coffee shop. She came in as a realtor to do business, you know, then she'd hang out with her other realtor friends and work in the afternoon and socialize. And and now, you know, Her new little baby is one of my favorite people. She's so adorable, Morgan. So yeah, so I really feel like just getting to know people is something that is something I have. I can't be surface. I can't just, you know, say, Hey, and send you on your way. So, I think that's what has made the differences. People know when they come in here that they're cared for and that they can, they can be real and and, and have, we have time to chat. That's a,

chris: 12:28

A good thing that you point out is like a lot of people are used to, you know, going to the super corporate coffee shops and you're like, you walk into Starbucks and unless you order every single day, they really don't ask you a question. And usually you're ordering mobile, but here it gives you that intimacy where it's like, hey, you know, come in, sit down. You want to hang out. And I love the color palette design like me and Tyler joke about this all the time I'm the color person in the group and I'm like, I love the warm tones It's in here. Like it feels very sundial ish Like it's very inviting or is like you go into like the corporate shops and it's like It's dark colors, dark wood, dark seats, and I was like, yeah, they don't want you to stay here. Like this spot is very inviting.

Bridget: 13:12

It feels like you want to stay. That's right. Exactly what I

Tyler: 13:14

hoped for. So we were talking to a to the Ibiz downtown, that's coffee in the morning, then cocktail bar at night. And they were talking about doing the same type of thing too, is like wanting people to stay and hang out. And that's the way that honestly Starbucks started. And then now they've been slowly like, how can we change the chairs to make them more uncomfortable, that you're not sitting around as often. They're trying to make it more just a commodity, come in and out. And they've even talked about reducing the inside of their footprint. So people can come in and get their stuff quicker, so they move out. Exactly, all transactional. So when there's people like you that actually say, hey, you know what? I enjoy the community coming in, I want them to come in and hang out. It's such a nice like, breath of fresh air. Yeah. To have someone be like, no, come be here, come hang out with us. So I love what you're doing up here. And I think it was well needed for Surf

Bridget: 14:03

City too. I needed it. And I'm glad the city needed it because we're all hanging out together.

Tyler: 14:09

And something that we haven't brought up on the podcast yet. So the week prior to this one coming out, we would have had on I think, you know, Heather Allen. So we had her on when these episodes come out the week before yours. So we decided, Hey, you know what, since, since she lives up here, we plan on coming up here. We're going to have a whole entire surf city and topsoil month. Wonderful. Yes. The whole month of April is going to be all about surf city

Bridget: 14:31

and topsoil. Very cool. Yeah. There's lots up here. Like now that I'm so involved with the community and I've got to know a lot of the business owners around me. I mean, everything I need is here. Yeah. I don't, I don't need to leave surf city often.

chris: 14:45

I didn't realize that. So like I'm from Wilmington and I have friends who are, were up here in like Topsail beach and surf city growing up. And every time I come up this way, there's something new. And I feel like it's just growing to do what it's supposed to and build a true community like this shopping center that you're part of. I remember when it was just the other side, like it was just the brewery and like some food. This whole section. I think the last time I met Brittany was up here and they were building this side. I was like, gosh, I can't believe it was two years ago now. I

Tyler: 15:18

know I was thinking about that too. I was driving up, it was like, turn here. And I was like, there's nothing over there. And then I passed it and I was like, oh, there's a lot over there now. It was like, okay,

Bridget: 15:28

well, I hope you have time to just take a stroll up the sidewalk and see all the small businesses. I mean, it's amazing what just in this little Triton village, what we've got going on over here. Super

Tyler: 15:38

happy. I'm just kind of talking about bringing, bringing it all together. I know you have some paintings behind you and then other artwork throughout the building and stuff as well. Do you want to touch on kind of what you bring in here and

Bridget: 15:47

why you do it? Absolutely. So at the old shop because I just, you know, was trying to get to know everybody every month I would have a new artist. So we, we'd put their art up for up on this large wall that we had every month. And then at the end of the month we tear it down and a new art. And so we did that every month and it was great. I loved being able to meet all the new artists, but it, it did become a, it was time consuming. It's a lot, yeah. And paying it, you know, just, it was, it got complicated. And so when we came here, I really wanted to simplify. And I really wanted like a vibe or an aesthetic that I felt really matched what I was hoping to bring here. Yeah. So, Brittany Lineberry, who we mentioned earlier was It's exactly what I wanted this feeling to be. So if you're in the front of my coffee shop, all the artwork that's around the walls is Brittany Lineberry's photography, mostly of Topsail Island. There are a few from Bald Head and some other islands around, but most of it is all Surf City, Topsail Island marshland and beaches and piers and, and just, you know, just the beauty that Surf City has I think she's captured it beautifully. So if you're up front. All of that artwork is Britney's, but then I also wanted this to be super family friendly where parents with little kids didn't have to feel like. Oh, we can't touch anything. You know, everything is just so aesthetically pleasing. So Vinnie Adenosio is also one of our most regular customers way back from originally in Holly Ridge. He's been coming and hanging out with us and getting Americanos every single time. But anyway, he's a great guy and he does this, these original acrylic and oil paintings and he does big, bold paintings and I just have always loved his work. So. I knew I wanted Brittany for the, you know, the entrance in the, in the big picture, but I asked Vinny for like our, you know, meeting room. And then we also have a family room around the corner behind where we're sitting where there's a sofa and a game table and some blocks for kids and books. So I wanted some of his big, bold paintings to to kind of make that room feel even more warm and friendly. So, yeah, so we have a a Harrington cow over there and a big pelican painting. And then in this room, obviously you have this gorgeous sea turtle and then a beach scene over here. So, so that's Vinny's work. And I just really feel like the two together, even though they're so different from each other, they both bring like the same kind of feeling that I wanted for space.

Tyler: 18:08

I think that's great too, because like you said, it does kind of bring everything together, but they're all so very different that it's not really like competing necessarily against each other,

Bridget: 18:16

right? Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. So

chris: 18:21

thinking about like just bringing everything together, and you have like a space back here for families and friends. Did you come up like when you My thought process when you were leasing this space out, were you thinking of like, Hey, you know, if someone wants to homeschool and they want to bring their kids here for a little bit, and we have some space for like the, like, just the sit around playing your computer, like when you were designing this space, like, what were you thinking? That's

Bridget: 18:46

exactly what I'm thinking. And I do not have any kind of architecture background. So I literally taped eight and a half by 11 pieces of paper together to make this very long, narrow space. Empty space that we had. And then I kind of drew where I thought the coffee bar meet it needed to be for flow. And then after that, I noticed I had this even more narrow, long space. I'm like, well, what if we chop it up into sections? And I know that's kind of like, not the thing these days, everything should be open and airy, but I felt like that took away a little bit from like possibly cozy, which is what I wanted people to feel like they had their own space here. So the main space in the front is big and open and airy. And I love that. But in that space, we also built an L shaped business bar that faces the wall. So if somebody needed to come in and get some work done, they could literally put their earbuds in. They're facing the wall, so they're not distracted by the people behind them, and they can, like, crank out some work up on that business bar out in the main room. And then in the center I have the room that we're sitting in today is just a small conference room with a long you know, conference table. There's a smart TV here. Somebody needed to cast a presentation. A whiteboard for, you know, whatever you need to doodle and then we could set up a coffee bar in here. People really needed to just sit down, not come out and get business done. But also, mostly we have a lot of families that do come in and homeschool in this space. So there's little kids in here, you know, doing their work. We have a group that's wanting to know if they can start meeting here regularly. Some expect I'm excited about that. So it'd be one tutor with like three or four homeschool kids getting some work done once a week here at the coffee shop. So that's what this space is for. And then finally, like I said, the family room. just very like the kids can play on the floor and pull the blocks out. The other thing that we were fortunate enough to be able to add is a very small bakery. We have limited space, but we make it work. So we've pretty much got in inventory going up. So we carry ladders around. But so we have a nice little bakery back there. And so I have a bakery manager now that she pretty much makes everything in house. from Blueberry Lemon Loaf, Orange Cranberry Muffins she's making these humongous Rice Krispie Treats and Cake Pops, and, but all of those things are made fresh right here in our location, so,

Tyler: 20:55

it's really nice. I'm gonna have to try some of those after this, yeah. Yes, it's very yummy. It's like, now I'm hungry. Now I

chris: 21:00

want to ask, I'm like, everywhere I go, like, Blueberry and Lemon

21:04

is

Bridget: 21:04

always, like, It is a winner every time.

chris: 21:07

And I'm like, but what coffee does that go well with?

Bridget: 21:11

Well. I'll tell you it goes with whatever coffee you like. Like personally, when I eat a sweet treat, I like to have a black Americano. Yeah. And I like a strong black Americano. So yummy. I like, I like that just kind of heavy, smoky, almost tobacco flavor that, that a nice dark Americano has. But honestly, people get the coffee they want and grab any treat that they want. So yeah. There's no no defining that.

Tyler: 21:36

I recently started getting into Americanos as well, and I'm in love with them. Yeah. And this is probably not the right thing to do, especially for a good Americano, but in the afternoons around like two o'clock ish, probably later than I should have an Americano anyway, but I'll also take my protein powder and put it in there. Okay. Well,

Bridget: 21:57

if you gotta get protein and a coffee at the same time, why

Tyler: 22:00

not? Yeah, I'll do an iced Americano and put it in there and shake it up. Okay. Yeah, so that way I get my protein powder. Protein and a little bit of a pick me up before I go work out.

Bridget: 22:07

Absolutely. Good. Yeah, no, I do. I used to be a big drip girl. Like even with my first couple of years into the coffee shop, I liked Americanos, but if I was going to have espresso, I wanted it like an afternoon sweet treat. Kind of like what you're talking about. So in the morning I was always like, I just like our house, you know, I like our drip. And then everybody kind of made fun of me about that. They were like, you own the coffee shop, but you only drink the drip. I'm like, no, I drink it all, but I prefer the drip. But now the past year or so. I've just been straight Americanos.

Tyler: 22:36

And you probably have a better way of describing this, but What's the main difference between, like, a black drip coffee and an Americana when it comes to taste and profile? That's such

Bridget: 22:46

a good question. So, a lot of people A couple things that I like about the difference is with drip coffee, you brew, you know, 100 ounces Drip, you know, through a filter. It drips down into the pot and that's it. So, and then that will sit for, you know, two hours, maybe. But with an Americano, every single time you go to a coffee shop and order an Americano, they should be pulling it the minute you order it. So you always get a fresh cup of coffee. That's just been brewed for you. So, especially if you're a decaf drinker, you don't know how long decaf has been sitting around because not many people order it. And so, I would say if you're gonna order decaf, always order a decaf Americano. We do have decaf espresso beans here. Not all coffee shops do. But I know bespoke downtown is like death by decaf, which I think is hilarious. But I do care about decaf drinkers as well, so we do offer decaf. But what I like about it is, to me, the taste difference is, the espresso almost is a more intense coffee taste. And also just the way that the shot is pulled. If it's pulled a little longer, a little shorter can change the acidity and the bitterness and even sometimes if it's not pulled well, it can be sour. So I just I think as my palate has started to understand coffee better, I think that's why I have moved over to Americano because I can, I can like Figure out what I do and don't like about this cup of

Tyler: 24:10

coffee. Yeah, there's a place that I go For my two o'clock coffee. It's like I take like eight steps and I'm there for my office and yes And and I noticed when I would go at two o'clock most people aren't ordering coffee anymore So they were making a whole brand new thing of drip coffee and I know the owner really well And I was like I feel horrible about this like what else can I do and she was like I got him fine doing it I'm like That's I appreciate that. But what else can I do? And she was like Americana is about the same and then it's also much quicker to as opposed to brew a whole nother thing. Waiting for a whole fresh pot. Yeah. And I was like, this tastes better. It's better for you. Better for me. I'm like,

Bridget: 24:45

let's do this. Great. No, that's fantastic. And that's what, so we don't offer decaf drip coffee. So when people come in, I'm like, I'm so sorry. We don't offer decaf drip. And then I have to explain what Americano is. And once I do that, they're like, Oh, and then most people like yourself, once they taste it, they're like, Oh, actually I think I'm going to switch over.

Tyler: 25:03

Yeah, exactly.

chris: 25:05

I feel like it's very similar to like people who drink whiskey. Like you start drinking like Jack Daniels or like Jim beam, like something classic. But as you start learning the, just. Drinking and learning flavors and someone's like, Oh, try this. You, you taste like the PDN is from the scotch. Can you taste like the mineral ness from like this one that came out of like maker's mark or the composite? I was like, Oh. So that that does explain why a lot of people who drink whiskey really also have a coffee

Bridget: 25:39

preference, a coffee preference. And, you know, it's so interesting because it really starts, you start realizing it in a lot of different things. Like I've started like whenever I eat nuts in the afternoon, I'm like, Ooh, what is the difference between an almond and a walnut? You know, like I'm like, so starting to taste profiles in all kinds of different things or even trying to describe Not just what I like better than the other, but what I taste differently in one than the other. So, and that, like I said, you know, homeschooling my children, we didn't, we didn't do a lot of those kinds of things. We were learning about how to cook, not necessarily about all the different things. and everything. So it's not been until I've kind of gone on this coffee shop journey that I've started understanding the value of being able to taste things. So speaking of whiskey, I will give a little, you know, caveat to that. One of the great things about having adult Children is they bring home really great gifts, right? So my husband's birthday was Wednesday, and he really enjoys whiskey. His favorite is hidden chips. Oh, yeah. We're going there next, by the way. Yes. I cannot wait for you to try it. But anyway, he loves hidden chips. So, typically we'll have that, but he loves to try different things. So, my son, for his birthday on Wednesday, brought him home a bottle of whiskey he'd never had before called Rabbit Hole. Oh, yeah.

Tyler: 26:51

Have you guys had that? Yeah. And what do you think about that? Which kind did he get? I don't know. Was it a green label? I think it was red. Maroon? What It was like a maroonish. Maybe maroon. So that's the sherry cast. That's my favorite.

Bridget: 27:02

Okay. Yeah, it definitely was not green So yeah, so he brought home rabbit hole and so, you know, I'm not a big whiskey drinker But whenever they're talking about it and tasting it, I can't be left out. So, oh my goodness Like it is really yummy vanilla y like the smell of it was fantastic So anyway, so we just tried that new new whiskey this

Tyler: 27:23

week at our house. Rabbit holes. Fantastic. That's a very, very good pick. Yeah. Especially I, anything that was rested in a sherry cast is going to be one of my favorites. Okay. Along with rise too, but sherry cast is always good, especially for you say you're not much of a whiskey drinker, but something with it in a sherry cast is always going to taste a little bit

Bridget: 27:39

sweeter. Okay. That must've been what I found so yummy about it. Yeah, it's good. It's really yummy.

chris: 27:44

clues when it goes to buying whiskey. Green labels typically are going to be rye. Okay. So spicy. Yeah. So a spicier taste. And then typically like a red or a maroon label is going to be like sherry cask. Gotcha. And then they have like different colors for everything else. Like I saw one I was at the shop, I was at rounds and they had basil Hayden and it was in like a, like technically it was a bluish gray and it was one of their like, Special releases. Oh, okay. If you see something outside of like a brown, red, green, it's typically like a special

Tyler: 28:18

release. Gotcha. Very cool. Fun facts about whiskey. We've learned over the years. So what's something since you started in the coffee industry, kind of like what we said about the whiskey side that you've been like, Oh, this is really neat. I wish I would have known this earlier, or this is something I want everyone to know about

Bridget: 28:35

coffee. Hmm. I guess one thing that a lot of people. Is that espresso Is not The bean. It's, there's not an espresso bean. Even though we sell bags of coffee that say espresso on it, it's really just coffee. It just might be a really a specific way it was roasted that they feel would present well in a cup of espresso. But espresso is only, the only thing that makes espresso espresso is the process of pulling the, the the hot water through those grounds really fast through the portafilter. So that's what makes it. espresso. So before it's espresso or cold brew or latte or drip, it's all just coffee. It's just it's a coffee fruit. The seed has been taken out of it. It's been through the coffee process and then roasted. And so then, obviously, you know, you can have a light roast all the way down to a dark roast. The other interesting thing that I didn't know before I came into coffee is that dark roasts are actually lower in caffeine than light roasts. So a lot of people when I say, Oh, well, we offer a dark roast. They'll say, Oh, that's probably too caffeinated. I'm like, actually, it's not the other way around. So, so just, it was just fun to learn just the process that it takes to make coffee. Every single bean is just, it's just so much so labor intensive to make to process coffee from fruit to, to, you know, my hopper over there. So it's really special thing and learning about it's been really

Tyler: 30:07

fun. I'll make sure I tell my doctor I am getting my full serving of Yes,

Bridget: 30:12

absolutely. So I do want to give a quick shout out to friends, coffee roaster. So I just mentioned dark roast. So we friends, coffee roasting is just two sisters who, who one of them, Tacey lives in Sneeds Ferry. So she's a regular here at our coffee shop and she roasts her own coffee for this business and they sell their bags locally at, you know, craft markets and at a few small souvenir shops and things. But we love her dark roast. It's Bali, it's organic. It's, you know, the super amazing process. And so she's actually been over there to the fields where these coffee where the coffee's grown. And so if you come to sundial and we offer you a dark roast, it will be friends, coffee, roasters, dark roast. So our medium house roast and our espresso and a whole brew, all of that, like I said, comes from New York. But we do have one. Special pot of friends. Dark roast brewed at all times for people to try. Tasty. And then we sell her bags in retail here as

Tyler: 31:08

well. Oh, that's neat. It says a lot about their coffee to them and to be like, Hey, you know what? We'll make this a special exactly.

Bridget: 31:14

Yeah. Yep. Yep. Yep. So that's cool. Fantastic.

chris: 31:17

So my question for like future thoughts, you would you look at opening another sundial or would you push into the roast?

Bridget: 31:28

I would love to push into the roasting. I would absolutely love that. I just know that that's probably a few years down the road. Like, that's huge startup. So we need sundial to do really well. Keep buying coffee because someday I would love to roast. Well, I will tell you that we did recently open a second location. Yeah. So down in Hampton, If you guys know where iron clad golf course is okay. So the, the guys that own Chaka taco actually bought that golf course a few years ago, built a Chaka taco right on the grounds of the, of the golf course. And then they have a beer garden as well with a huge backyard, cornhole, all kinds of family fun activities you can do out there. Well, we talked with them last summer and talked about the idea of adding a coffee shop to the beer garden because the beer garden is only open from 12, to 9 p. m. Right? And so it's empty all morning. And so I was like, well, could we fit a coffee bar in here? Like I can get a compact espresso machine. I can, you know, I can do with little storage. Like I can go vertical. So we, so they let us up fit the beer garden in order to accommodate the coffee shop. And so now we built a deck on the side of the beer garden that faces the parking lot. So you can literally pull up, order at the window, sit at the deck if you have little kids, you can go around to the beer garden side and hang out for the morning. So we're there every single day from 7 to 12. Wow. So that just opened in December. And we were really fortunate. My husband was actually able to quit his job finally, and he's now the full time manager down there, as well as doing all the other supply runs and banking and all the other Things that he does that I'm so thankful for so yeah, so he's he's there every single

Tyler: 33:02

day That's really neat when I was actually I found that out today that you had a second location because I put in my gps Like all right Which way do I need to come from Leland? And then it said sundial because the closest one clearly to me at Leland was Hampstead and I was like That is not the one i'm going to I was like i'm gonna have to ask about that. Yeah,

Bridget: 33:20

my husband would have sent you on down here. Yeah Yeah, I wish he could have been with us today, but right yeah Yeah Hard work to do. Yeah, he's hard. Yes. Slinging coffee. Yes. He's not

chris: 33:32

like swinging a golf club.

Bridget: 33:34

No, he's not. He does. Now he and my son have gone a few times over to ironclad to play in the afternoons and they love playing golf. And that's awesome. It's nice just to have a local course. It's fun to play and they're always doing upgrades to it. So yeah,

chris: 33:47

nice. I love that you're so going way, way, way back. How did you guys end up here?

Bridget: 33:55

So my husband I've pretty, we got married young, like I said, 21 and 23. And so he was just out of college actually. It's crazy and just quit college to marry him because I mean, I didn't love college. Anyway, however, so we moved to Kansas City. Basically, he was just looking for a job, you know, wherever he could get a job. So we found a job in Kansas City. So we moved there from Indiana when we were, you know, 21 and 23 and lived there for a few years. He then he was in sales out there, so then found a new job with sales in Roanoke, Virginia. So we actually lived in Roanoke for 12 years. That's where we had our kids and bought our first house. And lived there until 2011. And he actually got a promotion and a new position here with a pharmaceutical company that he was working for. And then about six years ago, that pharmaceutical company Reallocated a lot of their employees and he was one of them reallocated means that he just didn't have a position anymore. So, he actually,

Tyler: 34:56

that was a nice way of corporate way of

Bridget: 34:57

putting it. Reallocating you, but nowhere to allocate you. Right. Yeah. So, so he actually became the missions pastor at our church, which missions is really a big deal to him and to me as well. We've been on several missions trips to just two places in the world that need care. They don't have all these things that we have. And so we've been really blessed to get to do that. So that was a dream come true. So he did that for five years. And is now obviously he is now, you know, working full time at sundial, but he's also a missionary with a community an organization called Answering the Call. Oh, okay. And the nice thing about working for Sundial is he is his own boss, so he can go whenever he wants to. Wow. So he has a trip coming up to Ghana, Africa next month. He's going to go to Ukraine later in the year. And just go to places where he can bring supplies and care and love and just see what's needed out there.

chris: 35:46

But next question,'cause being able, being your own boss and kind of being able to do trips and do missions around the world, how do you find good employees and keep them like retention I hear is ridiculous

Bridget: 36:00

nowadays. Yeah. And I am. So blessed that I don't have that problem. I genuinely care about the guys and gals that work here. My manager is one of my very best friends. We actually homeschooled our kids in the same co op. Oh, wow. Okay. all the way down to Monkey Junction from Surf City every Tuesday. So we were in that same co op together. Her kids and my kids are the same age. So, once her kids graduated, she joined me. So she's now the manager of the Surf City location. So we're just dear friends. So we just know each other. And I really, I, when I, you know, I haven't The girls that I have here now, and I do have one young man they've all been here at least a year or longer. And I just know them. Like, I, I spend time with them. I tell them I'm going to get in their business. I want to know how their life's going. I want them to tell me when things aren't going well here. You know, so there's no resentment to build up. So yeah, we just chat a lot and get to know each other. Maybe I'm more nosy than I need to be, but.

Tyler: 36:59

Seems to be working. Laughter.

chris: 37:02

No, it's one of those things, like I said, small businesses are having a hard time like getting people and I know just big business in general because we have a lot of people listen to podcasts or just having issues retaining people. So I think that's a good thing. It's like, hey, you know, talk to your associates, your employees, like become friends and just. Like a real person.

Bridget: 37:24

Exactly. Find out what they need. Do the best to, to, to give it to them if they need it, you know, reward them when they're doing a great job. Sometimes it's even just a shout out. We have a team's chap on my Microsoft teams. And one of them is called the sundial superstars. I know super cheesy, but and that's in that specific chat thread, we just shout each other out. So like the other day Abraham, you know, gave a huge shout out to two of the girls because Monday morning was. Crazy in here. It was absolutely, they just called it a silly Monday morning. It was just lots of orders. Lots of big orders. So the girls were just slamming drinks and everybody was having fun and they were blasting Taylor Swift and singing while they were doing it. And so they didn't allow the number of drinks that were being ordered. Needing to be made and the number of customers waiting in line. They didn't allow that to ruin their day or to get snappy or stress people out. So Abraham gave them a big shout out in our team's chat just to say, Hey, these girls killed it on this crazy Monday that we, none of us expected. I think it was president's day. Maybe. Did we have a Monday where kids were off school for something recently past Monday or like a while ago? I don't know. It was like

Tyler: 38:30

yesterday. I never know what week it is. Yeah. President's

Bridget: 38:33

day was a couple of weeks ago. Or else maybe it was a spring break. I don't know, but anyway, it

Tyler: 38:38

was crazy.

chris: 38:39

Yeah, spring break. Probably was last week. Yeah. That would make more sense. That probably

Bridget: 38:44

was what it was.

Tyler: 38:45

I'll take Chris's question that he was probably going to ask you. Okay. What were you going to ask Chris? Chris was going to ask you, with everything you have going on right now, what does success look like to you? Oh,

Bridget: 38:56

what does success look like to me? I mean, honestly, just to have a day where people are connecting where I get to come in and like already this morning while we were setting up like I got to connect with two of my most regular customers, see how they're doing. And I've heard, you know, Got to share some important things going on in their lives and got to encourage a little bit and be encouraged. So honestly, this is just being in community, being a part of people that care about me and that I care about them. It was like, there's not much more I could ask for. That's great.

chris: 39:29

So then I'll take Tyler's question. If you could tell your younger self one thing, what would it be? Whether it be good and whether it be bad, like What

Bridget: 39:39

you got? Honestly, do not think that you know how your life is going to go. You know, like, honestly, I had planned to be a public school teacher. I did finish college. My husband insisted that I finished college before we have Children. So I reluctantly did and then became pregnant while I was student teaching. So, yay, didn't. So my plan was to be a public school teacher and was excited to send my kids to school. And I did. I sent him to school. They've got on that bus. And then I started working at a preschool while I was getting my license up to date. and within a year was like, this isn't working. Like, I don't enjoy sending my kids out the door. I don't enjoy going and spending time I did love other people's Children. I love Children. Children are my life, but I was missing my own. Why am I spending time with other Children but not my own Children? So? So that was a big U turn. I went from public school to homeschool within a year and enjoyed that immensely. And then, like I said, like the coffee shop business, I never, ever would have thought that I would own my own business. That was never a plan of mine. Never really. thought that it could happen. And and it just did. And so I think just being willing to pivot year to year with where your life's going and being okay with not knowing the next steps. You know, we have young Children, not young Children, young adults. And same thing. You know, they're already starting to think about, you know, what's gonna be next and what's gonna happen. And we just keep saying, you know what? You don't know what's next, and we don't know what's next. And just be ready for whatever is coming and be excited about what might might come instead of being worried about what's not going to come looking forward to the unknown, which a lot of times we get ourselves beat up about not knowing what's next. Like, No, be excited about what's next. You have to know. Yeah.

Tyler: 41:22

So how can people reach out to you and come see both of your locations? Where can they go for

Bridget: 41:27

all of that? Okay, well we have a website sundialcoffeeandtea. com. So you can go there. We have our whole menu on there. We have all of the different non profits that we have. That we support throughout the year are listed on there and you can click links to see those. So we we try to support the sea turtle hospital, which is right behind us. Share the table. Is a food pantry for our neighbors in need here locally. We support safe haven, which is a domestic violence shelter out in Burgaw. So you can go and see all the different places that are specific coffee shop supports. You can also reserve a coffee bar if you wanted to have a, you know, set up something for, you know, baby shower or anything like that. You can reserve the conference room that we're in today if you need to come in and do some work or homeschool. So our website is probably the best to kind of get an idea of who we are and what we're about. But just come in. Really, that's what I'd really like people to do. Come in, have a cup of coffee, sit down, love to meet you. Awesome. Love it.

chris: 42:22

So I'm very thankful you've let us come in and hang out today.

Bridget: 42:26

It was a blast. Yeah, no, I loved it. Thank you for having me. Yeah, thank you. It's fantastic.

chris: 42:31

So for all those who know, we do have a YouTube channel now. You'll be up there. Oh, okay, cool. If you want to drop a cute little picture of your sundial mug, we'll put it on. Okay. I'm right. Mix it up for Tyler. Make them do more work.

Bridget: 42:44

I'm sure Brittany has a great picture. She's I'm

Tyler: 42:46

sure. Yeah. But

chris: 42:48

yeah, thank you. Thank you everybody for listening. Like, comment, share, subscribe. Hit us up on either YouTube, as per usual we've been on Spotify and Apple Music. And definitely come out here and check out this amazing venue. Whether you need to book the space and do a little, you know, conference, or just for some great coffee on your way to the beach. But we'll catch you in the next one.

Tyler: 43:12

Cheers.