The Screaming Bean Story: Purpose Over Profit with Martin Grams

Sponsored by Tar Heel Construction Group 

In this inspiring episode, Martin Grams shares the journey of founding The Screaming Bean, a community-driven coffee shop in Aberdeen, Maryland. Martin discusses how the café goes beyond serving exceptional coffee by actively supporting local charities, fostering community connections, and creating a space where purpose takes precedence over profit. Listeners will gain insights into building a business that not only thrives economically but also makes a meaningful social impact.

Guest: Martin Grams 

Martin Grams is the founder and CEO of The Screaming Bean, a coffee shop in Aberdeen, Maryland, known for its commitment to community engagement and charitable initiatives. With a background in publishing and event organization, Martin brings a wealth of experience to his entrepreneurial endeavors. His vision for The Screaming Bean is to create a welcoming space that serves high-quality, locally roasted coffee while actively contributing to the well-being of the community.

Main Topics: 

·         The origin of The Screaming Bean name and branding strategy

·         How Facebook was used to crowdsource the logo and color palette

·         Community involvement and nonprofit partnerships (e.g., CHEP, St. Jude’s)

·         Why Martin prioritizes purpose over profit in his business model

·         The unique hiring process that focuses on commitment, not applications

·         Empowering employees to become future business leaders

·         Training baristas beyond basics—into artistry and business knowledge

·         Creating handcrafted drinks and rotating seasonal menus

·         How The Screaming Bean competes by leading trends, not copying them

·         Charitable giving embedded into the business model

·         Upcoming pla

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Chapters

• 0:00 Celebrating 10 Years of the Podcast
• 1:31 Introducing Martin Grams and The Screaming Bean
• 3:11 Naming and Branding the Coffee Shop
• 5:33 Why Martin Opened a Coffee Shop
• 10:14 Purpose Over Profit Philosophy
• 11:56 Vetting Nonprofits and Giving Back
• 14:18 Choosing the Right Location (and the Horror Stories)
• 18:59 The Hiring Process: Commitment Over Applications
• 23:41 Teaching Business Skills to Baristas
• 33:57 Letting Baristas Design Seasonal Drinks
• 43:33 Employee Growth and Certification Support
• 51:13 Trade Shows & Coffee Fest Learnings
• 55:22 Food Philosophy and Secret Sandwich Strategy
• 1:00:11 Monthly Charities and Community Fundraisers
• 1:02:41 Heartwarming Success Stories
• 1:10:21 Why Former Employees Keep Coming Back
• 1:15:06 What Makes a Community Coffee Shop
• 1:25:44 Events, Newsletters, and Grab-n-Go App Features
• 1:28:36 Why The Screaming Bean Won’t Roast Their Own Beans
• 1:30:52 Unique Drinks: Lotus, Honey Teas, Hemp Coffee
• 1:33:37 Final Thoughts and How to Support The Screaming Bean

Transcript

Rich & Wendy 0:00
Hey, everyone is rich Bennett. Can you believe it? The show is turning 10 this year. I am so grateful for each and every one of you who've tuned in, shared an episode, or even joined the conversation over the years. You're the reason that this podcast has grown into what it is today. Together, we've shared laughs, tears, and moments that truly matter. So I want to thank you for being part of this journey. Let's make the next 10 years even better. Coming to you from the Freedom Federal Credit Union Studios, Hartford County Living presents Conversations with Rich Bennett. 

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. 

Rich Bennett 1:00
So me and this gentleman were talking for a while now. Actually, I don't even know how we've been talking for a half hour 

Martin Grams 1:08
before, probably. 

Rich Bennett 1:08
Before I hit record, almost an hour, simply amazing. And he started a 

coffee shop which is, I want to say it's pretty unique. And because of everything that he does for that, and I got it given credit because he, when it comes to giving back, they give back. And one of my favorite nonprofits, and I'm not saying it because I'm a veteran, but is Chappan. He just did a big thing for them. I have Martin Graham's on who 

started. And I got it. I'm going to, it is a, I'm going to be my first question for you. The Screamin Bean. 

So, Martin, first of all, welcome. I got asked right away. How did you come off that name? Because I love 

Martin Grams 1:52
I'm 

Rich Bennett 1:52
it 

Martin Grams 1:53
pleasure to be on the show. I listened to a few of the other podcasts too. So they 

Rich Bennett 1:57
there. 

Martin Grams 1:57
were very enjoyable. 

Rich Bennett 1:58
Thanks. 

Martin Grams 1:58
My wife takes credit for that. We were, if I'm a branding standpoint, and I guess any business leader or business owner listening to this or someone planning to open a business, the name has to reflect the business. And Screaming Bean kind of suggests it's a coffee shop. So, we threw a bunch of names around, I think about two weeks, one and off. And then one day my wife said that and I snapped my fingers and I went, that's it. That's a coffee shop. Do you remember one of those companies called Fractured prune? They used to have donuts. I don't know what part of that says donuts. It says prunes. And somewhere along the line they popped up opening everywhere. And now you don't see them anywhere. And I kept thinking, well, first of all, the name was kind of bad. So my wife gets credit for that name. And Screaming Bean is a community coffee shop. 

Rich Bennett 2:40
That did she create the logo as well? 

Martin Grams 2:42
No. I used to own a publishing company. So I had some illustrators and we had one that's a very professional one. Heck, I have a nice guy, Geoffrey. And he designed that one. And that's funny. It's a interesting trade secret of sorts for anyone owned business as well. 

Rich Bennett 2:57
Right. 

Martin Grams 2:57
That's clearly what we're here for. What we did is he would do six or seven different sketches of conception ideas. He put a number or a letter next to it, ABCD or 123. We put him on Facebook and we allowed Facebook to be the focus group. So we told people, which one do you like? And amazingly, 90, 95% of them love that one that we're using right now. 

Rich Bennett 3:18
Okay. 

Martin Grams 3:18
Then I turned them and said that one. And then he did a professional polished one because they were just sketches. 

Rich Bennett 3:24
Right. 

Martin Grams 3:24
He did a polished one and then did different colors, red, blue, green, etc. And they are right about color schemes. It doesn't matter. It was equally evenly like 33% on red, blue, green, what color? So we pretty much said, okay, green is more Starbucks, red means angry. Let's just go for blue. It's mellow and cool. And that's happened. That's how he came up with that. But we used Facebook as a focus group. 

Rich Bennett 3:46
Well, but the funny thing is screaming bean. When I first looked at the logo and the colors and where you're located, it's like it ties in with the Aberdeen birds 

Martin Grams 4:00
Almost I never thought of that. 

Rich Bennett 4:01
almost. Yeah. 

Martin Grams 4:02
It's a nice little logo, but the amusing part is we just we had a slideshow presentation and a little meeting with the staff the last probably a couple weeks ago. And we pointing out our brand is not the logo even though that's for the outside appearances. Our brand is what we do for the community because we set up at a show and have a de grace for a few weekends and we're during the Christmas season. People were like, oh, I've never been there, but I've heard of you. You're the ones that did the fundraiser for that kid. Oh, you're the ones that did the fundraiser for such and such. And after, I remember one of the employees came in one day and said it was unbelievable. I must have been seven or eight people and the two hours we were up set up that night that they were saying this. And I said, that's our brand. It's 

Rich Bennett 4:42
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 4:42
not the logo, but it does pop, but that's our brand is what we do, not who we are. And so the logo is who we are, but you got to have some sort of trademark [BLANK_AUDIO] 

Rich Bennett 4:52
exactly. And I want to get into the community aspect of it. But first, I want to ask you, why? Why did you decide to open a coffee shop? 

Martin Grams 5:02
Um, for the last reason, anyone would ever open a coffee shop. I thought it would be fun to open a coffee shop. 

Go to a private investor and say, I need to get some money so I can get this opened up. And the first question they ask is that and when you give them that answer, they get up and they will leave. Um, what they want to hear is there's money in it. 

Rich Bennett 5:21
Right, 

Martin Grams 5:22
And in a sense, yes, there is. And if it's done right, but any 

Rich Bennett 5:25
yeah. 

Martin Grams 5:25
business, it's just a matter of, it's a, it's a numbers game, Excel spreadsheet supply chain management. It's all about the numbers. And it's just paying attention to the numbers and knowing what you're doing. And you make adjustments depending on if it's a quiet week or a busy week and so on, identifying trends, sales trends and customer trends and so on. Staying ahead of what you call the curve and identifying where the curve is. So that's what we do. 

Rich Bennett 5:49
But yeah, and are you a coffee drinker, 

Martin Grams 5:52
oh, yes, I am coffee tea. I prefer tea, but coffee because we tried different flavor profiles and get different roasts coming in and so on. But for the community aspect, the whole point was we want to give back to them. So 

Rich Bennett 6:05
right? 

Martin Grams 6:05
it's, it's cruel to hear and I can hear some business leaders shaking their hips and he's never going to last long. 

Rich Bennett 6:10
That's, 

Martin Grams 6:10
It's, it's, it's, it's purpose over profit. I always say profits is a gauge, not a goal. If you do your job, you do it well and you're accomplishing your mission, the profits are going to be there. There's no point in looking at what you didn't write wrong. 

Rich Bennett 6:24
Right. 

Martin Grams 6:25
know people who own businesses and they'll have a quiet day, a really dead quiet day. And it's an odd. We had one Monday. It was, it was so dead, I actually texted one of the last person to come in for the day and say, I'm staying here. Don't even bother. It's just dead today. We don't know what the heck 

Rich Bennett 6:39
I 

Martin Grams 6:40
happened. It was like the deadest day and we rarely have a dead day, but it was a dead day for like, I hit. I don't know, three months. And we're like, we didn't know and I said, there's never one reason. Everyone always says it's this reason or that 

Rich Bennett 6:51
right. 

Martin Grams 6:51
reason. It's always a combination of a lot of little reasons. 

Rich Bennett 6:55
Yeah, 

Martin Grams 6:55
But oddly, the next day on Tuesday was the busiest Tuesday in the history of the business. 

Rich Bennett 6:59
really? 

Martin Grams 6:59
Really? And we were like, what the heck? Again, same thing on the opposite end, exactly what could have happened. We can have a theory, but that's all we have are theories. And it's probably a lot of little reasons. 

Rich Bennett 7:10
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 7:10
Yeah. You know, someone can say even just recently, well, it's tax day. Are they going to come in and tax day? Or they got to go get to their tax booth? They're going out to do their taxes and they grab in a cup of coffee on the way. You know, it's all theories. And reality is you go through about a year to find out there's one or two days that are unusual and you say, okay, moving forward next year, we're not going to be open on that particular day. 

Rich Bennett 7:29
Right. 

Martin Grams 7:30
It doesn't, it's not worth it. Or wow, we need to be open on that day. We had no idea we were going to get slammed. You know, and there's other things too. The public school is closed sometimes early on certain days. You 

Rich Bennett 7:41
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 7:41
have holidays. You have events going on. You got spring break. You got college down the road. You could have a tournament around the corner. You almost have to identify all the trends and stay ahead of the curve. 

Rich Bennett 7:52
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 7:52
But, but in most cases, 

Rich Bennett 7:54
Yeah. Yeah. 

Martin Grams 7:54
yeah, most cases, it's just staffing accordingly. 

Rich Bennett 7:57
So, and you guys have been open what not even a year yet, right? 

Martin Grams 8:01
No. We opened July 6, 2024. 

Rich Bennett 8:04
So, oh, wow. 

Martin Grams 8:05
And for anyone listening to this months or years from now, it is April. Was it 17, 18? No, 18, April 18, 2025. So, 

Rich Bennett 8:14
yeah, thank you. I forgot. Look. See, D day, tax day, be all of 

Martin Grams 8:19
my birthdays tomorrow. I should, I should have known 

Rich Bennett 8:21
Yeah, real, 

Martin Grams 8:21
that. 

Rich Bennett 8:22
the 19th. 

Martin Grams 8:23
Yep. So, anyway, it's a, it's a scenario where it's like, we've only been open less than a year, but on trends where they say small business takes about two years to turn a profit. We're already ahead of that curve. So, I am relaxed, laid back and like, no, we're fine. 

Rich Bennett 8:37
But you're, I think a lot of it's got to do with your business model because I create me if I'm wrong. Like I said before, you're a unique coffee shop. You're not like the other 

Martin Grams 8:46
right. 

Rich Bennett 8:46
ones, 

Martin Grams 8:47
Well, I don't know how other ones are run the mountain 

Rich Bennett 8:49
right? 

Martin Grams 8:50
pop ones. I knew 

Rich Bennett 8:50
Yeah, 

Martin Grams 8:50
how corporates are run. I was a corporate spy in a sense as an employee at some of them, like 

Rich Bennett 8:55
right, 

Martin Grams 8:55
Starbucks and such for a number of months, just to, you know, they say if you're going to open one, work at one and also figure out the trade-offs. Why do they use freeze dried strawberries instead of fresh ones in their drinks? Another would be, okay, it's six months shelf life transportation and distribution. I get it. Okay, that's why we do it. Put in water. No one knows the difference. 

Rich Bennett 9:13
Right. 

Martin Grams 9:13
Franchises have trade also because they have no other options. They're bigger. I always say a big business is like a 16-wheel vehicle and a small business is a pickup truck, which one can make that 90 degree turn much quicker and easier? Small business has that flexibility, they don't have to get corporate approval. So in our sense we have done very well in our direction of what we wanted to do and accomplished and succeed. So as a result we're just basically full speed ahead and on to the next stage as we continue to evolve. 

Rich Bennett 9:43
And what was it that made you decide to get involved with different non-profit? 

Martin Grams 9:49
That was from the very beginning. So when you create a business there should always be a purpose. 

Rich Bennett 9:54
Right, 

Martin Grams 9:54
I've for 20 years done a non-profit event that brings in movie stars to Maryland and they'd sign autographs for charity and so on. And the point is if you just did it for the profits it's pointless. I mean it was I think it was Jimmy Hendrix. I could be wrong who said profits is and money is pointless because it's numbers and numbers is infinite and 

Rich Bennett 10:14
right, yeah. 

Martin Grams 10:15
as it continues to be infinite you're never going to be happy. I mean let's be honest when you get to a corporates they'll look at it. Hey drive-through was you're going through a minute and 10 seconds of customer. If you're succeeding I want it a minute and five now. You know they always keep pushing and stretching. Our role thumb is we have a goal. You start a certain amount you've covered your even everything else is gravy the rest of the day. We hit our goals almost every day every month and certain days we exceed that so beyond we're very happy. In fact this month we've hired two more people not to replace but to add one to. So 

Rich Bennett 10:46
Oh, 

Martin Grams 10:46
the crew is growing because we need those extra hours filled in. We're having certain days where we need another person added 

Rich Bennett 10:52
right. 

Martin Grams 10:53
to the bar to help manage the workflow and so on. So it's a good kind of problem to have but that's also sign of success 

Rich Bennett 11:00
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 11:00
behind the scenes. 

Rich Bennett 11:01
And I want to get into the hiring process everything but with the nonprofits how do you decide which and I bring this up because there are a lot of 

nonprofits out there that say they're nonprofits but then when you do your research you see they haven't paid taxes in years or whatever so how do you decide which nonprofits to actually 

Martin Grams 11:25
Well in a sense on certain nonprofits not even the taxes in some cases it's how much is the CEO getting paid. 

Rich Bennett 11:32
write? 

Martin Grams 11:32
And technically it's a write-offs but as a nonprofit it's legal. It's a matter of how much of it really is going to the intent and purpose of what that profit is for. So you take St. Jude's children's research auspital I know for a fact I'm a big supporter of them 88% of the money you donate goes to them they have been able to cut out so much of the overhead. That to me is fantastic. They are geared to what the purpose of their businesses and for that reason I have never had a problem reading to check out to them or doing some sort of event with a celebrity where they'll sign autographs to raise money for. In fact we're bringing celebs into the coffee shop in September. Vicki Lawrence is one of them. He's going 

Rich Bennett 12:10
oh come on. 

Martin Grams 12:11
joking. Nope. And it's a very simple method. You put a jar out on the and say, "Put whatever your heart's content. You'll sit there and sign an autograph photo post for photos with you. We'll get people as fast as we can for 2 or 3 hours and we raise money for whatever that local charity is even if it's for say a chap. 

Rich Bennett 12:26
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 12:26
Something that helps benefit the community." Now what do we gain out of it? From a business standpoint there'll be people at the register wanting to buy coffee in 

Rich Bennett 12:33
Right. Not 

Martin Grams 12:33
history. We get new people through the door who've never been there at least they know what we where we are. But on the plus side that's not the goal because we're already going to accomplish what we are set out to do for those 2 or 3 or 4 hours and that is raise money for a charity and a little excitement to meet someone you know mom was family or Carol Burnett. 

Rich Bennett 12:50
She 

Martin Grams 12:51
actually has A costume. It's not the costume from the show. She had 3 or 4 or 5 but she's not it's a replica I was told. 

Rich Bennett 12:58
Oh wow. 

Martin Grams 12:59
So our charity, the preferences of what we choose for, has to actually go back to the charity and answer to your question. We have had people come in and say, "We do hardwood floors. "We do such and such for whatever." And that could be a good cause, but that's more of a business that's not charity. Someone comes in and says, "We build permanent housing for disabled veterans "and we get them jobs and get them back up on their feet, "so they in turn can return the favor to the next person." That to me is a charity. So we get, I'd say, three or four out of every five, we kind of say, "Yeah, we'll get back to you, "assend it in writing." And then you get that one in five or so every month that we say, "That's giving back to the community." They benefits the community and that's what we choose. But the whole point of it was why run a business and be all about profits, when profits is engaged, not the goal. 

Rich Bennett 13:47
Right. 

Martin Grams 13:48
And as a result, we sleep very peacefully every night. I do. I've only lost sleep two nights since I signed the least 

Rich Bennett 13:54
Right. 

Martin Grams 13:54
contract two and a half years ago. Before the ground was even built, I've broken. So I could actually, and the first night was the night that we signed the contract. 

Rich Bennett 14:01
Right. 

Martin Grams 14:02
And that was my way of, we're already happy. We're not losing money. We're not gonna be, where's the bill's gonna be paid next month? 

Rich Bennett 14:09
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 14:09
It's, everyone's happy, everyone's having fun. That's the whole point, but we are accomplishing a goal. 

Rich Bennett 14:15
Actually, how did you come up with that location? 

I mean, that's a great location, I think. 

Martin Grams 14:20
That is a horror story in itself. 

Rich Bennett 14:22
Really? 

Martin Grams 14:22
Some up in 30 seconds, I have found, and this is just an opinion. I usually stick straight to facts, but I'll give an opinion here. Commercial Realtors call the shots, and I'm not corporate. So you look at property, and they throw stuff out at you, and you go, "Dude, no one can afford this. Who would pay this?" "Well, you're not corporate, you're not Starbucks, et cetera." We got the property solely out of pure luck. There is no skill set, there is no talent on my end. We went through 12 or 13 locations, and sometimes I thought we were gonna get one, and then the commercial Realtor was jucco and hide. And to be fair, I'm not the one paying them. Their client who owns the property is the one they're working. 

Rich Bennett 15:05
Right. 

Martin Grams 15:05
So they're not working for me. It's like, it's the joke about buying a house for your family, and you're gonna settle in. The Realtor is gonna show you places, what's your goals, where you wanna be close to schools, you wanna a safe area, what's your long term. 

Rich Bennett 15:17
Mm-hmm. 

Martin Grams 15:18
But one has to remember, they're not working for you. So as a result, you have to kinda say, "Uh, what are you showing me here, what am I not looking at?" 

Rich Bennett 15:26
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 15:26
For us, it was just pure luck. But I honestly believe everything God provides, so everything comes down to, it falls in line. Like the old routine, if you get worried and, "Oh, crap, we have a problem. How's it gonna be resolved?" Go to sleep at night. And the morning is probably gonna resolve itself, and you didn't worry over nothing. 

Rich Bennett 15:43
Mm-hmm. 

Martin Grams 15:44
And we just got lucky, and that's a good spot, and we are very happy there, and I will give a teaser, but this is the most, the only thing you'll get out of me. We are, we were given an offer now, 'cause someone came into the store, and said, "I love what you're doing. "I have a location, if you want a second location." And what he threw at me verbally, I said, "I am interesting." Normally, I would have said, "Look, "we got two or three more years "and trying 

Rich Bennett 16:06
Right. 

Martin Grams 16:06
to polish everything here." It's like the Chick-fil-A rule, before they really expanded the CEO, so we need to become better before we become 

Rich Bennett 16:12
bigger. 

Right, 

Martin Grams 16:13
But we've ironed out so many kinks from starting point, vantage point, and what he threw at us, we would be stupid, not to. But there's nothing signed, nothing did. We're just gonna go process the routine step by step, and we'll see where it goes, but even the Realtors are out of the equation, 

Rich Bennett 16:30
but yeah. 

Martin Grams 16:30
and I'm sneering back thinking, "This may not be a bad thing." So serious enough that a two or three of us are kind of like, "You know, we need to go look at this." 

Rich Bennett 16:39
Somebody throws you a line, sometimes you just gotta let them reel you in so you can at least look at it, check it out. 

I mean, if it's a no-brainer, 

Martin Grams 16:50
Well, that's what they call the red flag syndrome. If I see a red flag, we walk away, we're done. If not, we go to the next step. If I see another red flag, we're done. The rule for some thumb is, if you have no red flags, we're fine. It gets to the last point where we get to the contracting. Look at it and go two points. Let's make this a very simple. This is why, if you work with us, we're fine. 

Rich Bennett 17:08
right? 

Martin Grams 17:08
Right. 

I remember sometimes we went to contract and we would have red lines. That's where you red line it and say, "These are the changes or tweaks." And it didn't matter if I would say, "Hey, this is what we need because we're a coffee shop. "We this has to be done, this, et cetera." And you'd be surprised, I don't know if it's a power play or if it was just they didn't want it done to the property 

or silly little reasons depending on what it was. They would just not bend into it. I'm like, well, I don't see how we're gonna work here. 

Rich Bennett 17:35
Right. 

Martin Grams 17:36
And it's a red flag when they're not willing to work with you now what's gonna happen after you sign the contract. 

Rich Bennett 17:41
Speaking of red flags? So I had another person on who owns a, like a doggy daycare down in Howard County and next to it he's got a, It might be like a coffee and bourbon shop. But we were talking about hiring employees and he said that's one of the hardest things because he said, I hope you haven't had this, but he said people coming for interviews in their pajamas, he said one person even brought their mother. 

I'm 

Martin Grams 18:15
laughing because there's truth in humor. 

Rich Bennett 18:17
It's

 amazing, he said, how 

Martin Grams 18:21
many 

Rich Bennett 18:23
people don't even know what a resume is? What is your hiring process? 

Martin Grams 18:28
is out of the box. Our entire business model is a completely different than conventional, which is not a bad thing because some people can say good luck. They can laugh at me because they own their own businesses. And I would say one or two times, yeah, they were right, good luck, we figured it. But in most cases, our model works. But it may not work for every business. 

Rich Bennett 18:49
It 

Martin Grams 18:50
In the hiring process, we do not accept applications, we have no application online, we accept commitments, we have a routine. I have a routine, I should say we, but we have a manager. 

Rich Bennett 19:02
Right. 

Martin Grams 19:05
hasn't said no, the routine is, I'd say probably 20 or 30 people will send in whatever queries before they get one that has my attention. 

Rich Bennett 19:16
She 

Martin Grams 19:17
We've seen people walk into the store, look at the acoustics go wow, this place is awesome and nice. Are you hiring? And I'm thinking, you're looking at the outside of the book, you haven't read the book 

Rich Bennett 19:27
Right. 

Martin Grams 19:27
yet. And once in a great, great while, someone will send an email or come in and they'll say something that gets my attention. Like, I was a brista, such and such there, I also know kitchen hustle, this and this and this and that on the kitchen and restocking supply chain manager. They'll say something enough that I go, okay, they understand what all could be behind 

Rich Bennett 19:47
camera. Right. 

Martin Grams 19:47
the And our process, then is we will interview And as long as we don't have a red flag, as you, see 

a problem, but in general, what we do is we sit down, we feel them out. What are their long term goals, where are their intentions? Do they plan to stay around? Are they planning to move to Delaware next month 

Rich Bennett 20:06
we 

Martin Grams 20:06
and we 

Rich Bennett 20:06
don't 

Martin Grams 20:06
don't need them? But more importantly, we, almost everyone we've interviewed, we have given them a backstage tour. Come on back, take a look. We have here, part of that process is not, and I don't assume they're going to be applying, people who apply are going to be listening to this. These are more business owners. 

Rich Bennett 20:23
We 

Martin Grams 20:24
actually, I'm actually gauging what they are capable of doing right then and there. So when one of them said, I trained people, I trained bristas at Starbucks. I literally went up to this, press some machines and there you go, go ahead and make a latte. It's the simplest drink you can make on there. Now I get it. There's different dials, different levers, levels. We literally panicked and said I'll just have a nice coffee then and it kind of gave me a red flag like, you're supposed to, you should be, and it's not that she didn't know which buttons to do, she should have asked. If they're looking at certain stuff and they would say, okay, so where do you store such and such? How many of these do you need before you need to restock, 

Rich Bennett 20:58
Right. 

Martin Grams 20:58
etc? what gets my attention when we're doing. We want to see if they're actually intending. I always say are they there for the paycheck or they are there for the job? 

Rich Bennett 21:07
Yes. 

Martin Grams 21:08
There is a difference and in business, they have two kinds of employees. They always call the hoppers and the leaders. The hoppers are the people who, when they're 50 years old, they're still job hopping around. Some 

Rich Bennett 21:17
That's 

Martin Grams 21:17
of them can be 30 years old. They're still job hopping. They have no focus, no goals, and it's perfectly fine, but there's a reason they're still jumping. 

Rich Bennett 21:25
Right. 

Martin Grams 21:26
Good job. And then you get the ones that are the leaders. Those are the ones that you can see. Like any business owner will say, oh yeah, I've got one or two that are my shining stars. 

Rich Bennett 21:35
Right. 

Martin Grams 21:36
And then you got one or two that you know they can. And I like to try to motivate, like, hey, do you want to take over this? I'm not passing the buck over. I'm not giving them assignments, so I don't have to do it. I want to see if they're capable of running it, but giving them that chance to run certain aspects, kind of like running a business. 

Rich Bennett 21:51
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 21:51
If they, if five, six years from now they leave and they never became a manager, they can at least say, oh, I handled purchase orders. I'd handled such and such. I did the supply. I did the inventory. And we have two, and we're right right now that are technical. We have two that are shining stars. How are high water? I get down on my knees and beg and keep 

Rich Bennett 22:10
them. Right. 

Martin Grams 22:10
I have one that just started that I suspect is a shining star because the thing she did on her first day got my attention. And most people don't do that like 

Rich Bennett 22:21
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 22:21
literally, I was like blown away. Did not expect it. And I have two that sincerely icy, huge potential. And slowly, I'm trying to phase them up like, let's see how we can get 

Rich Bennett 22:32
up. 

Martin Grams 22:32
them because if we get a second location, for example, they are management 

Rich Bennett 22:37
Right. 

Martin Grams 22:37
capability. I don't think they recognize that in themselves, but I see that and my goal is to kind of get them up into this position, this assignment, this task. In a sense, and this is really odd, I know a lot of business leaders will shake their head the moment they hear this in the next 30 seconds. On our computers, the employees can push certain buttons and see numbers. And I let them see that numbers. They can see the trends, not just sales trends and items, they can see numbers. And the whole point is they can understand whether we're doing good, whether we're doing bad, whether we were a busy day today, whether we 

Rich Bennett 23:09
Call 

Martin Grams 23:09
were-- 

Rich Bennett 23:10
transparency. 

Martin Grams 23:10
Yes, and some businesses like Starbucks, they put it up on a chart. And most employees don't care. They just look at what they did this week. That's gross revenue. And they put on Starbucks mentality as they don't want the employees thinking they're multi-billion dollar industry, which they are, 

Rich Bennett 23:24
Right, 

Martin Grams 23:24
and that they should start asking for more money. It's kind of an anti-labor union issue in kind of subconsciously. In my end, I'm teaching-- I want them to learn the business. And I've had one that loves and still does going on to the computer from time to time, 

Rich Bennett 23:41
right. 

Martin Grams 23:41
looking at numbers, and then scaling back what was our number one seller? What's been rising trends? What's the numbers here? They can tell you what the number one selling pastry is, what the number two selling pastry is, what the number three. But in a sense, that's partly knowing numbers is also partly running a business. 

Rich Bennett 23:55
Right. 

Martin Grams 23:56
So they have that skill set, they're picking up. It's like the kids just say, I don't like going to school. Can you read it right? Yeah. You picked up a skill set. So at the coffee shop, they're picking up skill sets on running a business. 

Rich Bennett 24:06
See, and that's perfect for-- like somebody like me. I told you before we started recording. When I go to a restaurant or whatever, I always like when they ask me for my order, I like to say, surprise me. And when they knew that, they're looking at the trends and everything they can see what the number one seller is, 

then that will just make it easier for them, I believe. Maybe I'm just one in a million. That does that, buddy. 

Martin Grams 24:30
And I do it once in a while when they say what kind of cheese would you like on your burger? I said, I was 

Rich Bennett 24:35
surprised. Yeah. 

Martin Grams 24:36
In reality, it doesn't matter. I'll take whatever cheese I'm happy 

Rich Bennett 24:38
Right, 

Martin Grams 24:38
with. I'm just being fun with the waitress. Where we have the skills that they work behind the bar, they refer to as a barista. It means they work at a bar and 

is doesn't terminology for it. But anyway, a barista doesn't just make coffee or lattes. A barista knows exactly their measurements. A barista knows what kind of drinks to recommend. So when people are looking at flavors for iced coffee, 

baristas make those recommendations. Like, toasted marshmallows are a very popular one. I recommend that. And I have never, and that's when I always recommend. And I have 

Rich Bennett 25:12
right. 

Martin Grams 25:13
never had anyone turn me down on that yet. I'm still amazed at they go, OK, I'll try that because I know if so many people love that, it's something they're going to leave. 

Rich Bennett 25:20
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 25:20
And when they leave the coffee shop in the back of their head, wow, this is a good cup of iced coffee. I like this toast and marshmallow. Even if they never come back, they remember the place that gave them this toast and marshmallow because they tried something new. And then people are never scared of it. We actually have a policy. It's in our front door. When you come in, if you try a new drink, you've never had before and do not like it, we'll give you another drink for free. So go ahead and be adventurous. We 

Rich Bennett 25:47
Oh, I 

Martin Grams 25:48
don't want them to say the negative stigma. I just wasted money six-- and nowadays, it's six, seven bucks, sometimes for 

Rich Bennett 25:53
love-- 

Martin Grams 25:53
drinks. 

Rich Bennett 25:54
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 25:54
I just wasted $7 on this drink, and I didn't like it. Nope. The moment they come over and say, hey, I gave-- and we've had once in a while, OK, I tried the Lotus drink. The Lotus is just not my thing. No problem, what would you like? I just want a hot coffee. No problem. You give them a hot coffee. We don't think twice. We don't hesitate. It's customer service. And I always say, we're in a service-oriented business, not a product-oriented business. But that's what the brist is. A brist does know much more than just how to make a coffee. 

Rich Bennett 26:21
What is your favorite 

Martin Grams 26:22
drink? My favorite-- I'm eclectic. If I had a personal, personal favorite, hot cup, or all gray, with a dash of vanilla syrup, and matte a gas-gar vanilla, if I was-- 

Rich Bennett 26:33
[DRUMMING] 

Martin Grams 26:33
It's a stronger, better tasting vanilla. But it's not a lot. Just enough that you stored drinking Earl Gray. It's like a sweetener without having to add honey or sugar to it. 

Rich Bennett 26:43
Madagascar vanilla. Interesting. 

Man, I got to try that. And I just-- we went to a tea thing not too long ago. Happy Grace. The Belestiber. I think that's the first time I had Earl Gray. I loved it. Yeah, usually, I'm like-- I like the herbal teas, or the green teas. 

I fell in love with that right away. 

Martin Grams 27:11
Right, 

Rich Bennett 27:12
I 

Martin Grams 27:12
and-- 

Rich Bennett 27:12
didn't know I was going to have to wear one of those hats, but-- [LAUGHTER] 

Martin Grams 27:16
Oh, good. Oh, good. It's part of the experience. If they're just paying for a drink and getting a drink, then that's no fun. You want to have an experience. So one of the drinks we have is roasted coffee. Is whiskey-barrel-aged coffee? 

Rich Bennett 27:27
Oh! 

Martin Grams 27:28
That's where some guy in San Francisco, it's where we get it from. He figured out if he throws the green coffee beans, which are un-roasted, into a barrel that used to have whiskey. And there's no whiskey flavor, but it's like putting something wet into a container of rice where the rice saturates and soaks up the moisture out of it. The beans are saturating something out of the barrels, and he stirs it from time to time so the ones in the center are not like green bean, they actually still keep getting. He does it for two to three months, according to him, and then he dumps it out and roasts it. He does nothing else, just needs in the barrel, and it's got a distinct flavor. 

Rich Bennett 28:00
Probably like that oak flavor or 

Martin Grams 28:02
something. Something, I would say if it was a peanut flavor as the aftertaste, in my 

Rich Bennett 28:06
Okay. 

Martin Grams 28:06
mind. Some people could say, "They taste oak." We have customers who come in every day and they grab and they get that every day. They just love it, and I don't blame them. But it's a unique profile that when someone says, "I'm in the coffee, what do you recommend?" I always recommend that 'cause so many people love 

Rich Bennett 28:22
Right. 

Martin Grams 28:22
it. Mushroom coffee is another popular one, 

Rich Bennett 28:26
I 

Martin Grams 28:26
surprisingly. 

Rich Bennett 28:26
was gonna ask you about that 'cause you're seeing the commercials all the time for it now. And I was doing my research, I was gonna buy something then, I didn't do it because, apparently like if you have kidney problems, you can create kidney stones or whatever. 

Martin Grams 28:43
Although, 

Rich Bennett 28:44
I don't have kidney problems, but it's 

Martin Grams 28:46
to be fair, that's like saying, "You drink too much 

Rich Bennett 28:48
like, 

Martin Grams 28:48
green tea, you're gonna have kidney stones." 

Rich Bennett 28:50
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 28:50
There's ways you can easily put something in the green tea and you'll never have it. It's like medical. 

Rich Bennett 28:55
Right. 

Martin Grams 28:56
Mushroom coffee, by general consensus, is pretty much a regular coffee ground. It's just has a very, very small powdered blend of mushrooms that's mixed in with it. So, 

Rich Bennett 29:07
Okay. 

Martin Grams 29:08
I'd say maybe, remember, 99% of coffee is water. So, oh, that 1%, probably 10% of that 1% is really kind of mushroom. So, are you getting any flavor difference slightly? Are you getting any healthy properties? Well, you know what they say, green is clean. But in a sense, is it going to kill you or hurt you if you're not allergic to it? No. But, there are some people who do it. The one benefit to mushroom coffee is that it is less acidic. 

Rich Bennett 29:33
Right. 

Martin Grams 29:33
And this type of education, like we're going here on the table here, this is what they get when they come to the screaming being. 

Rich Bennett 29:40
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 29:40
They come to the table, they say, well, how's this? And we educate them a little bit so they leave getting more info, rather than watching whatever is being on TV, and they have to disclose all the FDA warnings like, you know what? It's not as scary as that. It's very simple. It's ABC. You know, we help them, but it's the process of being a barista is to educate the consumers as well. 

Rich Bennett 30:02
All right. With that, because I know like some of your restaurants, if they sort of wind, they'll go to different wineries or whatever to taste them. Is it the same with the coffees and tea? 

Martin Grams 30:14
In a sense, so we don't want to have 15 versions of mushroom coffee. We have one, we have one mushroom coffee. 

Rich Bennett 30:20
Okay. 

Martin Grams 30:20
What we did for the consumers, we sampled something like half a dozen until we found one that was fantastic and said, that's it. Not so much a focus group in a sense, we have our own discerning tastes, and we can engage it. I think when we first opened the first week or two, we went through three or different matches until we had one that even the barista said, that's it. We went through two or three chives until one of them, all of them said, that's the one and we have stuck with it. So in a sense, when they've come here to the coffee shop, 

Rich Bennett 30:48
actually. 

Martin Grams 30:49
they We saved them the trouble of experimenting. We're telling them, this is the best of the best that we have sampled. If you don't like this, you're not going to like pretty much 

Rich Bennett 30:57
Right. 

Martin Grams 30:58
anything to try it. In my opinion, being a meat's coffee is horrible. I don't know what's in the soil. It tastes bad. Some people try it. I give them the warning. Dude, you know, if you don't like it, I'll give you another 

Rich Bennett 31:08
Right. 

Martin Grams 31:09
drink. I'm just telling you right now. But if they're free to open it, sometimes they like it. Maybe they just like a lot of little Vietnamese coffee with a lot of cream. Who 

Rich Bennett 31:16
Right. 

Martin Grams 31:16
knows? But we 

Rich Bennett 31:18
got to be adventurous, like it says, 

Martin Grams 31:20
Correct. 

Rich Bennett 31:20
all 

Martin Grams 31:20
Correct. 

Rich Bennett 31:20
coming in. 

Martin Grams 31:21
But in our store, we've saved them that trouble, you know, the joke about the artist got 

the painting. Are you spending $10, 000 on a painting they made? Or are you spending $10, 000 on the $10, 000 attempts they made, until they got to a point where they were a polished painter? 

Rich Bennett 31:37
Wow. 

Martin Grams 31:38
That's what your paint. So for us, we've gone through all of those drinks, and so we have a type of smoothie that we're just finishing ironing out. We were actually determined, what do we put into it to make it pop? It's like, it's good. It's not phenomenal. So for one day, we were playing around here and there until finally, we were all like, okay, that works. That's what we're gonna do. So as Bristas, we don't just take something that's being sold by some retail place that's saying, hey, do you wanna carry our product? We don't sell it in the stores. It'd be great and yours. We still play around and experiment. They send us samples. Next weekend, two people from the coffee shop are going down to Houston, Texas to a coffee expo. And what we're doing is we're sampling a bunch of coffees and teas and such that are from the premier roasters of the country. That they cater a lot to like, say, a five-star cuisine coffee shop in Washington, D. 

Rich Bennett 32:32
Right. 

Martin Grams 32:32
But our goal is, there's one or two things we're looking for. We have a sweet chai, we don't have a kick ass. Spicy chai, what we're looking for is get a few see if we can get a couple samples. These are the people who will sample ourselves and then we take them back and we progress to. And if we don't have one after the weekend and even after we sample, then we'll keep searching. But our goal is, you come in for that sweet chai or spicy chai, that should be the one that you want. And it's experimental. We have seasonal drinks. We'll have four or five six seasonal drinks every six weeks or so up on the menu. We find everyone will try everyone once for the first week or two. And then by the end of the six weeks, one or two of them are dominating in sales and the rest doesn't. We make note of that. Next year in the seasonal era, we'll have different drinks. But we'll have those one or two that people really liked. So they're almost the customers themselves are a focus group. 

Rich Bennett 33:22
So it's-- and that's the baristas, I do that. 

Martin Grams 33:26
baristas, in fact, most of the drinks that are, especially the seasonals, are created by the baristas. They will play around, experiment. I remember we had one-- they told me not to mention any names. One of them created a drink. And I remember we were all sampling it, and even I-- and I was transparent. I said, it's OK. Needs something. And 

Rich Bennett 33:48
The 

Martin Grams 33:48
I think it was the third or fourth time she did it. That's it. That's perfect. That's exactly what it was. And then we-- she created a drink. So you look on the seasonal menu right now. There's one like a teddy graham lata. And you see a pair of hands holding the cup. That's actually one of the employees with the picture of her holding that proudly, because she and her friend, to baristas, created that drink. And it's hand-crafted. It's not brown sugar cinnamon syrup. It's actually real brown sugar cinnamon, where the espresso will melt it. So it's-- 

Rich Bennett 34:17
Oh ho 

Martin Grams 34:18
So 

Rich Bennett 34:18
ho 

Martin Grams 34:18
it's hand-crafted. Yes. And when they did that, I thought that was brilliant. I was like, we are giving more wholesome ingredients, or at least more pure ingredients in the synthetics 

Rich Bennett 34:26
ho ho ho ho ho ho. 

Martin Grams 34:27
that most places have. 

Rich Bennett 34:29
So being a barista, well, I guess it's a chef. It's an art. 

Martin Grams 34:35
It is. And a science. And the best of them never stop. I'm not saying they have to win championships. But they keep researching. They keep digging. They know their measurements. If I say, hey, this is a 16 ounce. They have to know how many ounces the espresso, how many ounces on the syrup. And then if it's a hot and versus ice, they have to know how many ounces the steam in the course milk expands when you steam. So you're really going to do like nine to 10 ounces of milk. You're going to steam it to up to 12. You've got three that's going to be the espresso shots. And you've got one that's going to be the flavoring. If they want extra flavoring or an extra shot, you need to make the adjustment. It's not so much you've got to know your math in your head. I've seen other places where baristas are dumping milk down the drain. They're doing a frap, but then they end up dumping so much at, which means the measurements were off. I'm not saying that's not going to taste good. 

Rich Bennett 35:26
Right. 

Martin Grams 35:26
But baristas know their measurements. Baristas know what recommendations. 

Rich Bennett 35:30
Bar part. 

Martin Grams 35:31
And yes. And it's like a bartender. You can get the same drink at three different bars. And it's going to taste a little bit different because each one does it their own way. But the one that blows you away, unless they're using specific ingredients and knows what they're doing. 

Rich Bennett 35:43
Right. 

Martin Grams 35:44
So it is a situation we're going through. We have discovered inadvertently through, I wouldn't say competition, because I don't like to think 

Rich Bennett 35:53
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 35:53
competition. But some local regional coffee shops or type places are clearly duplicating everything we do two, three days later. And they're just hammering it. If we have chocolate-covered strawberries pre-order for Valentine's Day, two days later, they're doing the same. 

Rich Bennett 36:06
Right. 

Martin Grams 36:06
If a week and a half later, we put a reminder on Facebook, they're doing the same two days later. It's very obvious. We complement that. That makes us trend setters. 

Rich Bennett 36:14
It's a form of flattery. 

Martin Grams 36:16
Yes, that's the way we look at it. Yes. But what we are doing now is we figured, if we are the trendsetters, then we are going to transcend. And so, my baristas, and I'm very proud of them. We did not, as a company, invest in them. They invested in themselves. They took a train. They've never done a train. Never checked into a hotel. Never been in New York City. They jumped a train, went up to New York City, and spent three days at coffee fest where there's a-- 

Rich Bennett 36:40
Really? 

Martin Grams 36:41
Trade show for people who own and work at coffee shops. It's not for the general public. I paid for their-- I paid for their train, their hotel. It was a per-dem for food, and they had mission to the place. And they spent three days taking notes on slideshow presentations. Everything from supply chain management to new trends. What's the flavor profiles for various coffees to the new type of tea that might be the next big thing and sampling stuff? They came back with one new product, which we're going to, technically, too. It's the same company that we're going to start introducing. Everything else we either already had, but they came back with notes and the ideas who sat down at a table on that Monday night afterwards. And we all sat at a table and they opened the notes. And even those who couldn't make it up to that show at the meeting and what they brought to the table was what transcended us to become better. So we were not-- in most places-- and I'm not criticizing mom and pop coffee shops. And I'm not going to need-- but in our county, Hartford County, or any neighboring county, I noticed that they hired people to come in and just either teach them to make coffee or they figure they already know how to. Anyone can steam milk, pour it over a espresso shot and call it a latte. We discovered that's not a true latte. And what we're doing behind the scenes, which I won't give away, is makes it a real latte. And so what we are doing is we're harnessing our skill set now. So we're in what we call a transcending period, a 30-day, 60-day transcending, transcending. I'm pronouncing that. Anyway, it's a situation where we're getting a brand new espresso unit coming in to replace the one so we can do better espresso. We're literally spending thousands of dollars to buy a unit to replace one that costs a few thousand dollars. 

Rich Bennett 38:18
Wow. 

Martin Grams 38:19
Just to pull better espresso, it's like it should. It was like Honey, 1/3 to spread 1/3, crema. The guy was in our store, the guy who's bringing in, he's going to install it. I was telling him we want to be able to elevate what we are. We nailed it out of the ballpark. We're doing fantastic. Now we want to take it up another notch. If we were a corporate Fortune 500 franchise, we would not be allowed to do that. But we're doing so well. We said, let's take it up a notch. So even those who come in and get, let's say, they're Teddy Graham Latte. 

Rich Bennett 38:49
Mm-hm. 

Martin Grams 38:49
They're going to turn around later in about a couple weeks and say, this is a bit different. This is better. What did you guys do to this? 

Rich Bennett 38:56
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 38:57
That's what we would like to hear. But our intent is, can we take our skill set and go up a notch? And the rule of Bruce Lee, I always follow, always be the student. 

Rich Bennett 39:07
Yes. 

Martin Grams 39:07
Yes. I just said it in his dialogue, too. That's what he accredited. He never taught people. He always wanted to learn the next-- how can I do this? How can I be better? So we are still transcending to become better. We're not bigger, but better. So how can we replace this product for the exact same product, different name, but make it healthier. Now even vegans can enjoy it, but it tastes better, too. How can we elevate the lemonade, which we call kick ass lemonade? We got a new sample. And we sit there, and all of us said, no, this 

Rich Bennett 39:38
is better. Right. 

Martin Grams 39:39
Notching everything up. So even if they haven't had it in a few months and they come in and it's now warm weather, and they want an ice cold lemonade, they're going to say, this is-- if they didn't know it's better, they will clearly say, wow, this is as good if not better than when I remember it, having it months ago when we were in the summertime at months. 

Rich Bennett 39:56
So when you mentioned, with the employees, you're looking for commitments. They really are committed. I mean, they're still learning and everything. I mean, 

Martin Grams 40:11
I am very proud of our birthdays, our employees. 

Rich Bennett 40:14
oh, 

Martin Grams 40:14
I will say most people who apply who come in, especially before we open, 

Rich Bennett 40:19
we 

Martin Grams 40:20
just checked them off the list and said, no. We had yeses. We had question marks. We had nose. There were certain things we were looking for. They always say you can teach an employee how to make coffee. You cannot teach them the smile. If they weren't smiling, no. Now the truth and humor reference we made earlier, yeah, we had a kid came in here and he literally stood in front of us and said, my mom's in a car in the parking lot. She wants me to apply for a job. I'd rather stay home and design video games. 

Rich Bennett 40:47
Wow. 

Martin Grams 40:48
And I stood there for a pause for a couple probably deer and headlights and said, at present time, all the positions have been completely filled. Thank you very much for your time. And he walked out and we just like, why is it even waste that our time? We had one come in. She literally was on her phone the entire time. We did the Q&A. 

Rich Bennett 41:05
What? 

Martin Grams 41:05
I'm not joking. She's like, literally, looking down the entire time while we're asking, what the heck is it? No, red flag done. And I say red flag done, move on. the ones that I our baristas are fantastic 

Rich Bennett 41:19
yeah 

Martin Grams 41:20
not I'm not a crack the whip my role thumb is as long as the job gets done we're good you know it's I don't care about anything else if they cross the line they don't do certain things then okay we have to put in some 

Rich Bennett 41:31
right 

Martin Grams 41:31
restrictions or limits like any business 

Rich Bennett 41:33
yeah 

Martin Grams 41:34
and there are reasons why businesses will say they're They'll shout not have a cell phone at the workplace that has to be in the locker 

Rich Bennett 41:40
I'm 

Martin Grams 41:40
that shout except yes but in our case what if they ask for a drink that we don't know and yeah I want an upside down brevvy 

brevvy it's it's it's half espresso and half and instead of a lot instead of milk it's just half and 

well you can ask however you want we have to go quickly and look it up or if we're looking up like potential what it merges 

Rich Bennett 42:06
half 

Martin Grams 42:06
what if using a drink that's going to have coconut milk what would merge well and blend in with that don't not be like oil and water based so having a phone on hand is not a bad thing also lots of bells and whistles with the apps that they can do with the computer like rescheduling and so on but my role thumb is you know as long as the job gets done and we have really great baristas so most places I always say barista is a job title and 

Rich Bennett 42:32
yeah 

Martin Grams 42:32
at the screaming bean especially once we're done our translation the baristas is not a job title we're literally going to be public on our own website baristas here baristas is not just a job title and we want to prove that we want to elevate our skill set so you can get a latte anywhere but you can get a latte at ours and say there's something different there's it's a little bit better but for that you have to have the best baristas and we've hired for the most part the best ones that they're there for 

Rich Bennett 43:00
the commitment right 

Martin Grams 43:02
it doesn't have to be their second life second wife but they're taking the time I just had one the other day she just got her serve safe certification literally you know the serve safe certification you have to blue certificate says you 

Rich Bennett 43:14
yeah 

Martin Grams 43:14
know your allergen's pathogens etc if you're working in the kitchen they're not required but the company is paying for any of them who want to go get that take the courses past the test get the serve safe certification this is employee commitment that they want to go up that notch and for that I am sincerely proud 

Rich Bennett 43:31
yeah 

Martin Grams 43:31
of them very proud of 

Rich Bennett 43:32
them all I would be too and I think too it makes it feel like it correct me if I'm wrong but I have just from talking to you since I met you today I have a funny feeling you look at those employees more like family 

Martin Grams 43:49
yes and I'm sadly this is one of the few days I've actually referred to them as employees one of the manager at the coffee shop will test I have said many times they're co-workers 

Rich Bennett 44:00
yeah 

Martin Grams 44:00
so they do not work for me I work with them 

Rich Bennett 44:03
that's yeah 

Martin Grams 44:03
I am in that store almost every day and it's not by choice it's not by a requirement it's by preference one I like working at a coffee shop but be I want to be there for them to assist them 

Rich Bennett 44:15
that's good 

Martin Grams 44:16
we have had one or two in the past that you could clearly tell they're there for the paycheck they don't care about their job or they just don't care they don't show up for a meeting they don't you can tell real quickly and or they just decide this isn't my skill sign just want to come in clock in do the job did not last long and it happens but if you hire the right people I sincerely and we've proven it we can actually elevate the skill set you know how amazon.com actually hires the best people for their warehouse they have a routine you can google this 2% of the least performing at the end of every quarter or month I don't know which of the two they get rid of that's one in 50 their routine is their routine is if you're that least performance you know I don't know how they gauge performance whether it's a number of containers 

Rich Bennett 45:02
right 

Martin Grams 45:02
number of packages whatever they look at the least performing they get rid of them that's why they're always hiring and I don't want to look at the least who's the weakest link let's get rid of them routine I like to say if they're the weakest link let's move them up let's get them yeah strengthen correct let's get them up into that skill set because I didn't hire them thinking they weren't capable they have something there we saw we can make them 

Rich Bennett 45:27
that's good 

Martin Grams 45:27
that and I keep pushing and striving without pushing pushing but it's like no they're there I think even one of them I just literally one night we went down to look at those like new espresso units someone who's never closed an evening shift by herself well not by yourself she's with someone else but she's always had someone who knows how to close I figure she's done enough of them and someone said she's not gonna succeed and I said you know what we're gonna do that lever there we're coming back at 5 o'clock anyway we can always help out except 

Rich Bennett 45:54
yeah yeah 

Martin Grams 45:54
And I don't know if she kind of felt uncomfortable. I think she was more concerned, did I do everything right? Said, she nailed everything out of the ballpark. And one person who had told me, we're gonna be having to do A, B, C, D, and E, et cetera. We didn't have to. And now that employee is saying, she can actually get that, we can, we can make, we can get her up there. And I said, okay, you see what I see. Let's move them up. But you know, it depends on the employees. So this goes for any business out there. I'm sure every business owner says, I've got an employee. I know they're capable, more than capable of what they're performed. They're just not there. They're not motivated. And I've always said, if you have something more important, if you feel you have more important to do with your time than what you're doing now is work. In this case, it shouldn't be work. It should be fun. It's enjoyable. But you see that skill set. And you're like, let's shape them up. Let's get them up there. They're not going to stay forever. Let's be honest. Employees come and go. five, six years from now, if they go off, let's say, hey, my parents bought a house in Tennessee and I'm moving down there, I can feel content saying they're a better employee now than they were when they first came in. And when they go there, their new employer is, even if it's a coffee shop, is going to say, where did you pick up that skill? And that will make me happy saying that I have-- like the Little Bird has just 

Rich Bennett 47:07
Right. 

Martin Grams 47:07
become a 

Rich Bennett 47:08
But

Martin Grams 47:08
big bird. And they're moving on to doing something greater. They've flown the nest. 

Rich Bennett 47:13
You're listening to the conversations with Rich Bennett. We'll be right back. 

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410-638-7021. With the baristas, yes, good, yes. Go to culinary school. 

Mixologist-- well, mixologist. I want to say because there's a difference between that and a bartender. 

Martin Grams 48:49
Correct. 

Rich Bennett 48:50
Go to school. Is there a school for baristas? 

Martin Grams 48:54
There is. But I have found that all these schools start to at Basic 101. So one of my baristas, the manager, took a course up at Coffee Fest, and it was kind of one of those courses. It wasn't like a school, but it was the type of same thing you'd go with it. And I said, how was it? And she goes, I already knew all this. And they weren't showing me any extra skill set. It wasn't anything to elevate her skills that she 

Rich Bennett 49:18
3D 

Martin Grams 49:18
should. 

Rich Bennett 49:18
thing? 

Martin Grams 49:19
Oh, yeah. But she took a three-hour course, so it was like latte art. And they were teaching-- she's already nailing latte art. 

Rich Bennett 49:25
Right. 

Martin Grams 49:25
She wanted to say, hey, I want to do the Death Star. Come on now, you know? I can make flowers and hearts. I want to do the Death Star. Come on. You know, without a stencil. But it's one of those situations we're trying, you know, I get it. But there are schools for baristas. But I think it's a waste of time and money when I can send them to trade shows where they could be-- not so much more motivated, but they can see what all is there in that industry that they can find something that we are missing, 

Rich Bennett 49:54
Right. 

Martin Grams 49:54
something we should add to complement, and then increase their skill set so that we all become better. We have a policy in our shop. Greed them at the door or not at the register. We picked that up at one of those courses a few years ago. So there, when they come back, you can imagine, when they have 13, 14 pages, one of them had-- another one had so many. We sat down at a table for 30 minutes. She and I are giving me the info. That was the part where I noticed the day after they came back, that they were a bit more attentive to customers than they usually were, not that they weren't. But 

Rich Bennett 50:26
Right. 

Martin Grams 50:26
you could see a slight 

Rich Bennett 50:27
You 

Martin Grams 50:27
change in 

Rich Bennett 50:27
see 

Martin Grams 50:28
the 

Rich Bennett 50:28
a death. 

Martin Grams 50:28
difference. There's a difference. And progressively, we're to continue. Even seven, eight years from now, if their same employees are still there, we're still doing the same to motivate them. But seven, eight years from now, they should be managers at the second, third, fourth location. 

Rich Bennett 50:41
Right. 

Martin Grams 50:42
Because I know they can say, well, that's not really a career, but define what a career is. I know a guy who's a janitor at the Harper County Schools and someone can laugh at, sorry, custodian. They could say-- 

Rich Bennett 50:53
[LAUGHTER] 

Martin Grams 50:55
They could say, you know, even there for how many years, you know, the guy's dude's retiring at 30 years with a county pension. What exactly did he do that was not a career, you know, it's relative. Success is relative. Career is 

Rich Bennett 51:08
Here's 

Martin Grams 51:08
relative. 

Rich Bennett 51:09
the thing, I mean, 

anybody who wants to get into this field, being a barista, I clearly do believe it is a career. 

Martin Grams 51:20
You can 

Rich Bennett 51:20
make a career out of it. Correct. You could, they could turn around and do what you're doing. Have their own coffee shop in another state, but, you know, another thing you could do. Because I know this, 

this would have to be a whole other podcast, but the technique of 

making coffee, especially all that, like I said before, it's an art. 

I never seen a recipe book on different coffees or anything. You know, different types of drinks. You see them for food, you see them for cocktails, I've never seen one for coffees. 

Martin Grams 52:01
There, there are, it's not widely known out there because you have to have the right equipment. So 

Rich Bennett 52:06
Right? 

Martin Grams 52:06
not most people cannot do it at home, hence there's no point of having a cookbook recipe book for home on that. We have a few books actually in the back that has some ideas, but you know, the internet has that too. 

Rich Bennett 52:17
Well, 

Martin Grams 52:17
And we 

Rich Bennett 52:18
yeah. 

Martin Grams 52:18
just browse through and then there are groups like on Facebook where people who own independent coffee shops, we chat with them. I chat with at least one or two every month. Hey, but I just send a friend request, you know, and then once he goes, you guys are demonstrating such and such. How are you guys doing that? I'm in Maryland, you're in Maine. We're not competition. 

Rich Bennett 52:34
Right. 

Martin Grams 52:34
And then as a courtesy because I believe in counterbalance in the universe when they share something with me, I send them something, oh, dude, I'm not joking. So knock it out of the ballpark. Here's something I hope you end. Oh, great. Appreciate it. We help each other out. So there's, they're all over the place and recipe books in a sense, but literally what I prefer in a perfect world, the bristas run the coffee shop. They don't just make the drinks, elevate it, create the ideas. But I prefer them too because otherwise not so much that I have to find the next new drinks for the next, you know, seasonal menu. But I want them to be involved because in a sense, this should be their coffee shop, they work there. Otherwise, they're clocking in, they're being slave labor and they're clocking out like a franchise. They're told what to do, how to do it, and that's what they do until they're tapped on the shoulder and said in four hours, there's your 15 minute break, go take your break. In my end, I feel they should feel this is their second home, you know, 

Rich Bennett 53:32
and 

Martin Grams 53:33
there's a thing called the third place. I'm sure you're familiar with it. If you're not home, when you're not work, where's your third place? There's a lot of people with a coffee shop, but that's their office, that's what they're reading books, it's their place, they love going to, and there's a lot of people who come constantly. It's the third place. For the bristas and the employees, that should be their third place. This is not their second place. This is the place they enjoy working, they have say in it, I've seen one or two of them over the last week that came by and said, "Why do we not have this flavor, sir? Why do we not?" I don't know, you want me to get it? I had one to say we should have this type of equipment and this type of equipment will make things faster, I went and got the equipment. This is their decision-making, they're telling me why, and it's completely logical, and I went and grabbed it. The kitchen gets very hot. One of them said we need a fan, but there's a certain type of fan. So if there's ever water spills, we can tilt the fan down, it's a commercial use, and it will actually blow the air and dry it out much quicker and easier. I went and got that for, and she's like, "Thank you." This is not me as a business leader who owns a franchise, and I've seen 

Rich Bennett 54:32
them. 

Martin Grams 54:32
them in We'll say, "Well, it's not in the budget, sorry, my role of them is if you need it, we'll get it for you." 

Rich Bennett 54:39
You mentioned kitchen, we've been talking about the drinks, because, of course, a coffee shop, which is very important, but food, by all means, is very important. You guys make your own stuff there, right? 

Martin Grams 54:51
A large chunk of it, some of the pastries come from third parties, 

Rich Bennett 54:56
Right. 

Martin Grams 54:56
but a lot of that is done, especially in the kitchen is done from us. There's a few, I can't say, trade secrets. It's like a psychological aspect that our number one is breakfast sandwiches, but anybody can make breakfast sandwiches. It's what we're doing and how we're doing it. Anyone can come in, do reconnaissance, buy a breakfast sandwich, sit there and go, so what is it about this breakfast sandwich that makes it their number one seller, and they'll never figure it out because it's not there. 

Rich Bennett 55:23
Right. 

Martin Grams 55:23
There's a couple little tips and things that we have done that makes why it's the big seller and In a sense I'll give you a true story and I don't like to look back on it But it's funny. I'm on a computer and I'm sitting like a customer at one of the tables inside because we don't really have Much of a back room office 

Rich Bennett 55:43
right 

Martin Grams 55:43
space but 

Rich Bennett 55:43
right. 

Martin Grams 55:44
this day and age and iPad can be your office So I'm sitting there on a computer and I'm doing it as a guy walks in with seven eight maybe nine people and they were his employees And he I later found out who he was. He's very influential in this county 

Rich Bennett 55:58
Okay, 

Martin Grams 55:58
as a business owner investor, etc. So I'm not gonna call names out He literally shouted out and he must have one heck of an ego. Okay guys take pictures and compare notes later 

Rich Bennett 56:09
Really 

Martin Grams 56:10
I stopped and looked at like what the heck is that about and the manager of our store right now She remembers that she goes all I remember him, you know, some of us who were there the day when what the like it stood out 

Rich Bennett 56:20
yeah 

Martin Grams 56:20
like what on three four months later. He hasn't not only a coffee shop. Apparently he already had one He just decided to do a big renovation of sorts He has the live edge wood counters the aprons or the exact aprons and one of my 

Rich Bennett 56:34
Oh 

Martin Grams 56:34
employees said One 

Rich Bennett 56:34
come 

Martin Grams 56:35
of my employees said and I did not know that she said I don't know how difficult it was to find those aprons or where you found them But when I wanted one of my own and I had to go online it was impossible to find it So the fact they took a picture and said we want the same aprons that she told me and I this is from her words Her words to her mouth to my ears. I don't know where he found them But he had to really really search to find those exact same aprons That's the same kind of group that when we put a posting on Facebook. They duplicate it right I guess they were trendsetters, but I'm looking at it saying what the heck so In the kitchen aspect they can come in they can copy what we do they can't copy who we are Right, and that's why the bristas are taking it up a notch and the kitchen. That's our trade secret What we do what we've made and how we make it is different than what most people would say oh wow It's a breakfast sandwich. It's got egg. It's got cheese. It's got sausage. 

Rich Bennett 57:27
Mm, 

Martin Grams 57:28
It's it's on a bagel and No, there's three or four little things. We didn't that's the secret and we are just knocking it out of the ballpark 

Rich Bennett 57:35
Love it. 

Martin Grams 57:36
but I'm very proud of it and everyone who contributed to it So 

Rich Bennett 57:39
Yeah, 

Martin Grams 57:39
the kitchen is indeed a is essential, but we're still refining the menu We're following the roll Chick-fil-A. We're gonna become better and we continue to do that We're getting now trademark type sandwiches. We have a turkey pesto. We have a Hawaiian. We have a Hawaiian spicy Cajun type sandwich, 

Rich Bennett 57:56
huh? 

Martin Grams 57:57
chicken sandwich We're kind of like I'm not saying campenaire bread but you know how they have signature breads and sandwiches and then every year or two they'll change them 

Rich Bennett 58:05
Okay. 

Martin Grams 58:05
We're saying okay, we started out with basic ABC. Let's take it up to DE and F and if we can shoot for G Let's see what we can do with this and there is a noticeable difference and people are gone I want to try that this is interesting this is good and people are and we find out what doesn't doesn't do And 

Rich Bennett 58:22
Yeah, 

Martin Grams 58:22
what we keep on the menu and the menu has been tweaked we've taken stuff off the menu, but think we have that fluid 

Keepability beyond what a fortune 500 franchise can do because we have that and and This all this stuff is coming from someone who works in the kitchen has got culinary culinary arts and one person saying You know, this is great drink that this celebrity created, but all it is is ABC and D Why can't we make that into a sandwich 

Rich Bennett 58:48
oh 

Martin Grams 58:48
and all the 

Rich Bennett 58:49
right 

Martin Grams 58:49
sudden we're going oh, and that's how they created what they did and Succeeding and where we're going so I would say while we opened in July and it's now April by July We probably are so much more polished sophisticated We we've ironed out the kinks. We've figured out the workflow We're progressing and now the menu and the drinks are about to go up another notch and to be fair Do they want a local mom and pop that's contributing to local charities and we obviously have going to that Do we want to be that local putt that's that's just offering generic tuna salad and chicken salad sandwich Where do we want to offer some signature sandwiches that we are still striving 

Rich Bennett 59:30
I 

Martin Grams 59:30
to even offer better? Cuz eventually we'll get old if we're doing the same thing over and over so 

Rich Bennett 59:36
Wow, actually how many charities have you guys worked with so far? Do you know 

Martin Grams 59:40
Yeah, we've done it more than a dozen. So the way our business model is half of one percent of the net profits. 

Rich Bennett 59:47
mm-hmm 

Martin Grams 59:47
For each month we'll go to a monthly charity. We have a sign in display this month. It's April is veterans, sorry, a military child month, so the military children, people don't realize they're moving to one base to another base. The parents are not there all the time. They go through a lot and there's a lot of programs that helps them. So there's a local charity here in Aberdeen. They had just recently opened like a month or two ago. We are actually going to donate that half of one, half of one percent of the net profits goes to them this month. Next month there's one for a paternal parents who are like single mothers or whatever. Every month it's a different charity and then on top of that we usually every month there's one day where we'll do a fundraiser. So fresh start furnishings last month for international waffle day and that's what we ended up giving and it actually works. So the profit and those 100% of the profits we've had Muffin Monday, so 100% of the profits for that Muffin sales will go to this one charity for this one calls. We've had a few success stories like the Muffins was going to a clinic that would help people get help families cope with someone who lost somebody or a guy 

Rich Bennett 1:00:54
right? 

Martin Grams 1:00:54
was one drugs and it helps it affects the families and we 

Rich Bennett 1:00:57
Yeah, 

Martin Grams 1:00:57
had a guy come in and he literally said I'll buy all the Muffins. He said my 

Rich Bennett 1:01:01
wow 

Martin Grams 1:01:01
brother, my brother is three years sober as of today, clean and as a result I want to do this in tribute to him. Then he took one Muffin and said give the rest away. didn't stop there. The rest of the day when we told people they're already paid for they still donated money to the calls and took Muffins. We had some Muffins left over at the end of the day so the next day we went down to a 

retirement home for people who apparently I guess the kids just dropped the dad and mom off and who are like 90 years old and say good luck. We donated the Muffins. Some of them were so paranoid about how much is this going to cost me and they're like no, it's free. It was donate. We saw so many tears in eyes for people there 

Rich Bennett 1:01:40
It 

Martin Grams 1:01:40
and so we continued to keep giving it out and I think even the two employees who are with me understood this is what we do that we're not just a coffee shop so we've done probably about a dozen charities at this point even though we're not even 12 months in to help out local charities and we continue. We will continue to do that and that's the best part of this is like I said purpose over profits. What's 

Rich Bennett 1:02:02
been besides seeing the tears for somebody who helped out what's the biggest reward you've gotten from this so far? 

Martin Grams 1:02:10
actually it's the trophies and awards that we've gotten from people who have sent us for what we have done donation stuff and when I say that it's not we have over a dozen 

what do you call proclamations and certificates and awards from senators congressmen congresswoman to bunch them not just for grand opening. This is just hey for what you have done congratulations it's under to Chris Van Holland sent one we got it 

Rich Bennett 1:02:35
Right. 

Martin Grams 1:02:35
framed up well but there's a section in our store where the real awards are those are the handwritten letters of kids thanking us 

Rich Bennett 1:02:44
Oh, 

Martin Grams 1:02:44
the thank you card from the teachers at the school who said thank you for donating the Lions Club and so on. Those are our trophy case and progressively it's getting bigger. Those are the ones when someone says so what awards have you received I take them to that and say these are our awards. 

Rich Bennett 1:03:00
So where would you like to see the screaming or possibly screaming beans 

Martin Grams 1:03:07
bean 

Rich Bennett 1:03:07
in say five years time. 

Martin Grams 1:03:09
Oh, they always say when you run a business shoot for where do you project to be five years from now and then shoot for that. Primarily we're staying focused on what we do within the four walls of our business which is the four walls theory. If we get a slow day we don't say what could be down the road across the street what are they doing what are they doing we stay focused on what we're doing. So our track record probably will not change too much on 

Rich Bennett 1:03:32
what's 

Martin Grams 1:03:32
the next charity next month in the month after what kind of charities can we do a special one there you know Star Wars Days coming around the corner you know may the fourth may the fourth be with you we'll have some sort of probably the wookie cookie drink and so on. and that's the fun part and we'll probably say come in and talk like Chabaka and get it and get and get 10% off yeah, get 10% off your drink and so on. But the reality is we will do it with a charitable angle like what can 

Rich Bennett 1:03:58
Yeah 

Martin Grams 1:03:58
we do to donate some chair money to some local charity on that day or that weekend. I think it's a weekend so we're gonna do a Saturday Sunday for two days. Come in dressed up in the Star Wars character and we'll give you such 10% off a drink but the charity will still be benefiting that weekend so it's it's it's it's having fun but still accomplishing something for the good of it for the good whatever and that's probably what we're gonna still be doing five years from now if other locations that would just be whatever falls into a play that's like one person who came in and said I got you an offer you may not be able to refuse and I kind of shrugged it off and then progressively you went okay you've got my attention because 

Rich Bennett 1:04:38
right yeah yeah. 

Martin Grams 1:04:38
I've learned a long time ago and running a business and businesses prior I can sleep a good on a deal I could over should have taken I will not sleep good on a deal I should not have taken which is hence why I see one red flag I walk away I'd rather walk away from 12 good 12 potential deals but take that 13th that somehow there's something there that I go we have something but in a sense I cannot do this on my own I never did from the beginning it was a dream for seven years and then had somebody really it's had somebody yeah research too and jumped in to say let's let's let's see what we can pull off and pull something off successfully and then now like potential second location I have two people who want to jump in and say hey if you open that second location I want to run that 

Rich Bennett 1:05:23
yeah 

Martin Grams 1:05:23
they have that just 

Rich Bennett 1:05:24
that's good 

Martin Grams 1:05:25
drive to want to be in charge run it I think one of them wants to get the kitchen up and going the one that has culinary arts the other one wants to be a manager but you can't be one manager and a location I have to because you can't be there seven days week and there's one there at work who I honestly see potential huge potential and so in the next few weeks unless she listens to this and goes oh my 

Rich Bennett 1:05:44
that's 

Martin Grams 1:05:46
my goal is to say hey let me get you in there say let's get you in this procedure so progressively she could even sit back and say you're making me do all this work now that she would they're all they're all wonderful employees and co-workers but in reality my goal is you know if that's why they look at it I'll have to correct them and say no I have potential to get you into a management position we'll be a little bit more money yes we'll be more responsibility yes but they also get to call the shots see at our coffee shop and I work to Starbucks if a customer had a complaint you had to go to the manager and most franchise I get they have to have some control at our shop they have that creative they have that control and make the 

Rich Bennett 1:06:26
good 

Martin Grams 1:06:26
decisions and they are told if it's what's best decision is the best decision is what's best for the customer 

Rich Bennett 1:06:31
right 

Martin Grams 1:06:32
so by all means they don't need do not need to come to me for any exceptions making I've seen them literally like the mother will buy a drink and something for herself and she's got a four year old sitting at the table and she didn't get anything for him but he's such a cutesy little boy they literally will go over take the little cute mini donuts or the carrot cakes and they'll put them in a bag and go over and give it 

Rich Bennett 1:06:51
to 

Martin Grams 1:06:51
them they don't have to ask me for that I have no objections to that 

Rich Bennett 1:06:54
right 

Martin Grams 1:06:55
what they're doing is not just forming a connection with the customer that's and it's not even psychologically for that purpose it's because we should 

Rich Bennett 1:07:02
yeah 

Martin Grams 1:07:02
you know that little boy should get something we give him something if somebody spills a cup of coffee we don't think twice give him another cup it's that kind of scenario they are given that free of autonomy to run the place 

Rich Bennett 1:07:13
you're 

Martin Grams 1:07:14
because 

Rich Bennett 1:07:14
taking care of everybody 

Martin Grams 1:07:15
but the employees are given that coaching of no this is your decision the sad part is if they go off to work at a franchise they're going to discover real quickly we actually had one that did that so for reasons I won't get into and it wasn't anything bad on my end or anything 

Rich Bennett 1:07:29
right 

Martin Grams 1:07:30
and part of there was two reasons one of the she wanted more hours and at the time we could not 

Rich Bennett 1:07:35
um 

Martin Grams 1:07:35
she went to go work for major fortune 500 franchise this won't say which one it's going to bad mouth them and I'm not that I am not a bad mouth person anyway she went to go work for them two months later when a particular employee was in a situation had changed at our coffee shop and you run a business the example she get contacts me I understand such and such has changed yes uh I don't like working over here can I come back 

Rich Bennett 1:08:01
I 

Martin Grams 1:08:01
went to the employees hey it's all of your decision you all make 

Rich Bennett 1:08:05
oh wow 

Martin Grams 1:08:06
now I'm not always done that I had to make what's best for the business at the end of 

Rich Bennett 1:08:10
right 

Martin Grams 1:08:10
the day I have a business to run but all of them said yes she should come back and we had no problem as she came back and then she would tell me yeah you're not allowed to do this and this at that store and this name well they're a fortune five they're a 

Rich Bennett 1:08:22
their 

Martin Grams 1:08:22
franchise they they have 

Rich Bennett 1:08:24
They got rules. 

Martin Grams 1:08:25
They 

Rich Bennett 1:08:25
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 1:08:25
have reasons. She saw both ends as a 16 year old her first job. She discovered what we do. And then she went somewhere else and said, I want to go back, which is a compliment to us. In fact, and when we, since we opened in July, we have lost six employees for various reasons. Five of the six have in various ways and shapes and forms asked to come back. 

Rich Bennett 1:08:48
Wow. 

Martin Grams 1:08:49
At one point in time or another come back, it's not the money. To be fair, they get paid minimum wage, and 

Rich Bennett 1:08:55
Right. 

Martin Grams 1:08:55
they get tips and a couple other things. They realize where they went is not what they, there's fringe benefits and so on and so forth. But they go work now all the sudden they're working. And that, to me, tells me we have a very good at work environment. And we've made exceptions on two of them. The third one we were going to, and then the day after musingly, she sent a text and scratched that. I apologize. I'm pregnant. 

Rich Bennett 1:09:21
Wow. 

Martin Grams 1:09:22
She goes, "I'm now not going to be able to work a job and my husband is supporting me, thank you very much." And I said, "No completely understood. "Congratulations, I can see you being a very happy mother "and a good mother at that too."

Rich Bennett 1:09:33
Wow. 

Martin Grams 1:09:33
But she wanted to come back and then she went, "Oh, scratch that, something just can't, "just something just happened." And it's a good thing too. But literally five out of six wanted to come back. So that tells us, it's not the pay. And it's not so much the fringe It's the environment. They went somewhere else and they went, "Oh, this isn't working." 

Rich Bennett 1:09:50
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 1:09:50
Or, "I really want to come back." So they understood it's, and to be fair, what makes our coffee shop different than any other coffee? They could have gone to another coffee shop. It really comes down to, they understood our mission statement and what we're doing. We have an etched on the wall. Here at the Screaming Bean, our job is to make the world a better place than it was when we woke up this morning. But first coffee. 

Rich Bennett 1:10:11
(laughing) 

Martin Grams 1:10:12
we are living up to that motto. So progressively, slowly, we always say people will brag, and I see this, a lot of businesses will brag. There's a Fortune 500, well they'll keep posting up this item, this item, this item. Okay, they're a franchise. There's a local coffee shop that's pitching up, they're just putting Peter trying to be cutesy and so on. And then you go to our Facebook page, and it's a totally 180, ours is, this charity we just supported, this charity we're helping. You can scroll through and see it, and I've always said that is our brand, and that is where we're going to be and continue five years from now, but it's a compliment that even the employees say, I want to work for that. 

Rich Bennett 1:10:50
And 

Martin Grams 1:10:50
'Cause they could have gone elsewhere, and that to me is a compliment. 

Rich Bennett 1:10:54
Yeah, well I wanna thank you for that because you are truly giving back, not just to the nonprofits and the charities, but to your, I'm not gonna say employees, to the family 

Martin Grams 1:11:07
as well, 

Rich Bennett 1:11:08
and they're learning, and 

Martin Grams 1:11:10
then that's something I've always 

Rich Bennett 1:11:12
told young kids, and I kick myself in the tail for doing bad in school. I don't care what job or career you do, the learning never stops. 

Martin Grams 1:11:24
Correct. You 

Rich Bennett 1:11:24
should always be willing to learn. 

Martin Grams 1:11:27
that's how you evolve. They say and it's a routine and it happens in business, I wouldn't say the 

disciplinary action form that's filled out to documents in the files, whether they know it or not, there's always the review process. 

Rich Bennett 1:11:42
Yeah, 

Martin Grams 1:11:42
When they've been there once a year, for every year they get another review, some places do it every six months. The review really is this is where you were, this is where you've come, this is where we think you can go. My methodology at the screaming bean is, let's see if we can take them, continue to keep them going up. If after a few months they decide this is just a job, I don't want to evolve, they'll show it, they'll demonstrate it. They're not going to say it. At that point I have to make the decision. Well, this new employee here, she's doing ABC and D and I did not ask her to do that. Wow, and she wants more hours, and then you get an employee who says, I'm not showing up at the meetings, I don't feel like this, I just said, okay, we're just going to make some adjustments to the hours, they, one's not going to like it, the other one is. But that's how you prime and get the, and put the best in place. On our plus side, we've hired mostly the best of them that we said, they'll work out, they're for the mission. And I still say our business model may be out of the box. We can get laughed at by other people who run business say, good luck, you're going to find out. And they could be right. But in our process, I still think it does come down to who you hire and hiring the best, and crossing fingers that they actually are there for the purpose and the intent. We're not asking them to work extra hours, go do walk-a-thons, and help clean up the garbage out of the place. But you know, when the city of Aberdeen comes to us and says, hey, we got once a month, we get a collection of people get, got, collect garbage off the side of the road. Can you do a donation for like a coupon for a free drink if they bring in garbage the first Saturday of every month? I didn't think twice. I said, yes. By all means. 

Rich Bennett 1:13:22
yeah, yeah, 

Martin Grams 1:13:22
And I saw one of the employees behind me going, oh yes, let's do that. We don't collect the garbage 

Rich Bennett 1:13:27
yeah. 

Martin Grams 1:13:27
thankfully. I mean, we were wondering how they showed up a few days later. So here's what the coupons will look like, and we ironed out the details, and they went, wait, we're not collecting the garbage, we actually thought we were collecting 

Rich Bennett 1:13:36
to. 

Martin Grams 1:13:36
the garbage, we had Oh, okay, no problem. So in our ways, there's something that's giving back to the community. 

Rich Bennett 1:13:43
Yeah, 

Martin Grams 1:13:43
So it's not about the free drinks that we're giving away in the coupons. But I will say there's never been a school or church or anyone that's come in and said, hey, we're looking for a raffle, we're looking for basket, bingo stuff. Do you have anything? We never turned them down. We've never, we never have. We don't ask for a receipt either. Do I print out a receipt? If I remember and then mark it and say tax deduction, it should be of sorts. But the reality that's not our, that's not the agenda. So a lot of places out there will promote, hey, we're a community, such and such. We're a community, let's say, coffee shop as well. We call ourselves a community coffee shop. But by my definition, giving back to them makes us the community, 

Rich Bennett 1:14:23
yeah, 

Martin Grams 1:14:23
because let's be honest, there's a lot of them, they have tables, chairs, they have people who convene, they gathering, and they call themselves a community coffee shop. From a business standpoint, what they get out of that, I get that. 

Rich Bennett 1:14:34
right. 

Martin Grams 1:14:35
But to put it in a perspective as we were talking before we were on the air, McDonald's and Burger King has tables and chairs too, are they a community, are they and they serve coffee, are they a community coffee shop or community business? For us, we don't try to pitch it, hey, we're the good guys, hey, we're doing this, hey, we're doing that. Our rule thumb is this charity is here folks that need it. Hey, on this Tuesday, we're doing raising money for a church and so on and so forth. For us, that is our goal, but we are we're nailing those marks. And that's what makes us different. 

Rich Bennett 1:15:08
And that's why you're successful already and going to continue to be. 

Martin Grams 1:15:11
And we predict to be so, yes, you 

Rich Bennett 1:15:14
will be. 

Martin Grams 1:15:14
I mean, we are a business, I mean, doesn't mean you get an employee gets a bad grumpy day and says the wrong thing to a customer. Fingers crossed, it never happens. We've never had that yet, but we had some customers come in and be really rude, mean, or even post false reviews on Google. Oh, yeah, it happens. It comes with the 

Rich Bennett 1:15:32
business. I always say, yeah, 

Martin Grams 1:15:32
you got to be crazy to run a business. Like I'm brick and mortar store, you have to be a sincere crazy to think that ain't going to walk through the door. That mouth 

Rich Bennett 1:15:40
people have bad days. It 

Martin Grams 1:15:42
they 

Rich Bennett 1:15:42
always 

Martin Grams 1:15:43
they do. And my rule thumb is make them happy as best they can. 

Rich Bennett 1:15:46
Exactly. 

Martin Grams 1:15:46
It's one of the next customer, the next one smiling and happy. I was in a dollar tree the other day, grabbing something from my wife. And the woman behind me was asked to please empty the stuff out of the basket and put it on the the car. So I guess, 

Rich Bennett 1:16:00
right. The conveyor 

Martin Grams 1:16:01
belt conveyor belt. Yeah. And the woman said, why do I have to do that? And she literally said that to the woman 

Rich Bennett 1:16:06
the 

Martin Grams 1:16:06
in the behind and she goes, "Well, I really need that done "so I can check them out." And the woman took the basket and dumped everything really rudely down and then 

Rich Bennett 1:16:14
wow, 

Martin Grams 1:16:15
slammed the basket down. And I'm sitting back thinking to myself, "Yeah, we've had a couple odd ones "at our coffee shop too. "You know, they're out there." All I could do was before leaving, told the woman behind the register, "You have a good weekend, the rest of the weekend." Thank you very much, just to let her know, kind of 

Rich Bennett 1:16:31
yeah. 

Martin Grams 1:16:31
emphasizing, it's not the customers. You just got an odd one that you're about to deal with for the next minute or two. 

Rich Bennett 1:16:37
"Oh, I deal." Wow. 

Martin Grams 1:16:40
And it happens, but sad. And we get a few of them. I will say we have noticed a couple odd trends of things that I don't know. We had wanted, very clearly, Guy came in, wanted an- don't know, or something, and apparently it wasn't the way he wanted it. He could have came back and said, "Can you make it this way or that 

Rich Bennett 1:16:57
[stutters] Uh-huh. 

Martin Grams 1:16:57
way?" I mean, that's how it works. You just, 

Rich Bennett 1:16:58
I 

Martin Grams 1:16:59
the drink's not, and every, to be fair, making coffee is complex. So, they can go to Starbucks and get a macchiato. You go to a regular coffee shop, that's not what a macchiato is. It's a- 

Rich Bennett 1:17:08
Right. 

Martin Grams 1:17:09
And then you have to clarify and sometimes say, "Oh, no, we won't make remake it." What he did is he posted a negative review on Google. We posted it underneath. We're very sorry. What we suspect you really wanted was A, B and C, and you know, 

Rich Bennett 1:17:21
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 1:17:21
what you're asking for. And based on all the reviews, you've posted on other coffee shops. You have yet to find the perfect one because you're still criticizing their Americanos. We just like to let you know in the future, when you go to the next store, probably ask for this and you'll get what you're looking for. We were kind of helping them 

Rich Bennett 1:17:36
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 1:17:36
out. He was, I don't want to be stereotyping, but it's the only way I can describe this. He had a Chinese-type name. And what happened was, because we put a comment in, there was 12 negative reviews and literally one hour. And it was all of these Chinese names or Chinese language signs. And what he apparently did, he got a bunch of his buddies to go up 

Rich Bennett 1:17:57
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 1:17:57
there and post all these negative feedbacks. So all of a sudden, we had to go to a bunch of friends and say, "Do us a favor, please report all these for fraud." And progressively because that's Google's algorithm. All of a sudden, progressively over a week, week and a half, they were starting to be taken down one by one. And it's the process of we have to go through this because one guy decided he was asking for a drink and wasn't getting what he thought he was getting and all he had to do was ask us. 

Rich Bennett 1:18:23
I've seen that happen with restaurants and other businesses. Somebody will, they're not pleased and they'll put up a negative review. But then all of a sudden, that place will get a ton of good reviews 

because your loyal customers 

were, and if they haven't left a review yet, they were teed off, they're like, 

Martin Grams 1:18:47
Correct, so. 

How are 

Rich Bennett 1:18:47
you going to have you? 

Martin Grams 1:18:48
Yeah, so 

Rich Bennett 1:18:49
is 

Martin Grams 1:18:49
one 

Rich Bennett 1:18:49
backfire. 

Martin Grams 1:18:50
A local coffee shopper of sorts in our area decided to pull stunt and one of their employees. And we actually, because we do Facebook, whatever, we want to reach out to them if they have a negative, even if they don't remove the negative. We're not asking them to, we just want to make good on it, clarify. We found out 

Rich Bennett 1:19:07
Smart, you 

Martin Grams 1:19:08
that their parents were the owners of the local coffee shop that was posting the review and I went, "Okay, that's a bit of..." And it happens, "Did I complain and argue about it?" No, I did exactly what you did. We sent out a text to our customers and said, "Hey, we could use some five star reviews." Now that we're asking for five stars, but we could use a few of them, but if we can hit a certain goal, like say, "Hey, we can get up from, we're at 270. "We can get up to 300. "We'll give away a free cookie" when such 

Rich Bennett 1:19:34
should, 

Martin Grams 1:19:34
and such day. 

Rich Bennett 1:19:35
right. 

Martin Grams 1:19:35
And Google is king, we want the reviews. So all of a sudden we're at 350. And like literally overnight, we're at three. No, 

Rich Bennett 1:19:42
(laughs) 

Martin Grams 1:19:42
no, no, no, no, okay. When I owned a publishing company, there was a guy who published a book. And I remember there was a negative review of his book on Amazon and what he did mistakenly when he saw the review he commented underneath. He can comment and he said, "Wow, you don't know anything "about the subject." And then the guy put a comment and says, "Actually I do. "I want an award-winning book on the same subject," et 

Rich Bennett 1:20:01
Oh, 

Martin Grams 1:20:01
cetera. And it went back and forth and basically he was arguing, you know what they say in Murphy's Law, if you argue with an idiot in public, people will not know the difference between 

Rich Bennett 1:20:09
yeah. 

Martin Grams 1:20:10
the two. So it got to a point, he calls me up. He says, "What should I do?" I said, "Well, first of all, you should not have commented." 

Rich Bennett 1:20:15
(laughs) 

Martin Grams 1:20:16
posting what you should have done is went and said hey friends I got a free copy of my book I got 20 for the first 20 people available the condition is I'm not asking what kind of review but I need to review up there within two weeks how does it look when one guy's given a negative and you got 20 positives up there and he went oh so you know when someone tries to put up a review because their parents actually own a coffee shop in the regional area and they decided to post a negative do we call them out on it no do we what do is he posts were very sorry sincere apologies that we let you down it's not our goal if you want to come on back in there but it actually motivated us to get a lot of more positives 

Rich Bennett 1:20:53
Right. 

Martin Grams 1:20:54
and they ended up losing on that end and so I've always found that there is a calm diplomatic simplistic way to resolve a simple issue 

Rich Bennett 1:21:01
Yes. 

Martin Grams 1:21:02
that people want to make a bigger banana you and I were talking beforehand before we went on and I don't know if it was a question you asked or I said it's generally a question what's the worst thing that could ever happen to a business in brick 

Rich Bennett 1:21:15
mortar 

Martin Grams 1:21:15
and 

Rich Bennett 1:21:15
and uh-huh 

Martin Grams 1:21:16
disgruntled employee because they will badmouth other people and their customers and 

Rich Bennett 1:21:21
yelp 

Martin Grams 1:21:21
so on and I've always said it doesn't matter in the end how long and how much can they really do but I've also said if they're bad-mouthing a former employee that does make them officially then a disgruntled employee and it doesn't say anything about the employer it does say something about the 

Rich Bennett 1:21:37
bad then so 

Martin Grams 1:21:39
in the long run I've said it doesn't matter because there's always subtle ways to simply go we can resolve this we can do this and that it's it's almost like the moment you get lemons you can make lemonade it's just annoying exactly what to do and how to do 

Rich Bennett 1:21:53
yeah that's one of the things I was always taught with with business if you ever leave a job or get fired or whatever 

Martin Grams 1:22:02
it 

Rich Bennett 1:22:02
always leave on good terms 

Martin Grams 1:22:04
yes 

Rich Bennett 1:22:04
because you never you may need to go back to that business you never know or you may end up working with somebody else or you know you never know what's gonna 

Martin Grams 1:22:14
never 

Rich Bennett 1:22:14
happen never 

Martin Grams 1:22:16
you 

Rich Bennett 1:22:16
thank 

Martin Grams 1:22:16
and and I firmly believe no matter what you're gonna always look back and question maybe it was a bad decision to 

Rich Bennett 1:22:23
uh-huh 

Martin Grams 1:22:23
get it people have bills to pay sometimes they have reasons if they have to move to Tennessee okay I get 

Rich Bennett 1:22:29
yeah 

Martin Grams 1:22:29
that completely you know you're 16 your parents just bought a house in Tennessee you're leaving three weeks 

Rich Bennett 1:22:33
and I 

Martin Grams 1:22:33
we get it but at F-or S-hey I get you guys enrolled in school I'm gonna be going to college in Ohio in September good for you no problem glad you let's just know that you're still here through at least August et cetera that's always always great but if someone turns around and says I don't want these hours or et cetera and I try to accommodate and we've sadly never had thankfully never had much of that problem at the screening being but one day we will I already know in the back of my head a five out of six people who no longer work here wanted to come back back 

Rich Bennett 1:23:03
that's 

Martin Grams 1:23:03
we already know that you know somewhere along the line they're gonna stop and go I think I have a good thing here 

Rich Bennett 1:23:08
yeah 

Martin Grams 1:23:08
but sometimes people have to find that out but but if any employer has employees that's left and never had them want to come back I'm not saying it's a bad company culture or bad management of sorts but they might want to re-evaluate in my opinion re-evaluate 

Rich Bennett 1:23:24
huh 

Martin Grams 1:23:25
their business strategy and how they run it what was the one I was always saying if you're an employee let's say at a chain and you love working at one location but you hate the other location that's not company culture that's employee or management called so while we have one location we cannot define which 

Rich Bennett 1:23:43
is 

Martin Grams 1:23:44
but I do say it's probably the employees as well because they hang out with each other at off the clock but it is a good place on and all those aspects not the financials I am very happy to say we are very successful in what we have done and we can only keep going up 

Rich Bennett 1:24:01
I can't wait to get there I just 

Martin Grams 1:24:06
I 

Rich Bennett 1:24:07
get good coffee and good what the turkey pesto sandwich you said 

Martin Grams 1:24:11
yep turkey pale 

Rich Bennett 1:24:11
oh I got to get up there get that you guys are over seven days a week 

Martin Grams 1:24:15
seven days a week we close at five every day except Sunday we close it too 

Rich Bennett 1:24:19
okay open 

Martin Grams 1:24:20
we are open six o'clock on weekdays we open seven on weekends and easy way we are open every day except Easter Thanksgiving and Christmas 

Rich Bennett 1:24:30
Easter Thanksgiving and Christmas 

Martin Grams 1:24:32
yes for very obvious reasons 

Rich Bennett 1:24:34
right well yeah I would hope so what's the website 

Martin Grams 1:24:39
it is screaming bean cafe dot com 

Rich Bennett 1:24:42
screaming bean cafe dot 

Martin Grams 1:24:43
we have an email newsletter we have a facebook page instagram etc i'm not on all that except facebook percent So, what we do is we send out a weekly newsletter once a week, and it'll literally say what events are going on in the area, what new food or item, but we don't really pitch much of the menu, we really more along the lines of just a reminder on Tuesday, the last Tuesday of the month, all the money goes to this mission that the church is doing. I think it's a epic church, for example, they're going to be raising money because they're sending a missionary trip to Kenya. 

Rich Bennett 1:25:13
Oh 

Martin Grams 1:25:14
Not 

Rich Bennett 1:25:14
wow! 

Martin Grams 1:25:14
everybody can afford to go out there, so we're helping to raise some funds on that day. It's little stuff like that so people can see what's going on, what events. Hey, we got Easter Egg painting on Saturday from 2 to 4, absolutely free. Bring the kids, even if you're a big kid at heart. 

Rich Bennett 1:25:29
Your 

Martin Grams 1:25:29
You know? 

Rich Bennett 1:25:29
money is going to be 

Martin Grams 1:25:30
No. 

Rich Bennett 1:25:30
there? 

Martin Grams 1:25:31
Easter money seems to be at the mall this 

Rich Bennett 1:25:34
Oh! 

Martin Grams 1:25:34
year. Oh, wait until the mall is gone and he's on him pull... 

We do little things like that, and that's what the newsletter is, 

Rich Bennett 1:25:41
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 1:25:41
it keeps them abreast of what's going on, some little tips and trips. I mean, that's where people are going to discover, oh wait, you mean I can go collect garbage off the side of the road when I go take my walk, and then get a free cup of coffee. How can we not all 

Rich Bennett 1:25:52
from that? 

Martin Grams 1:25:52
benefit 

Rich Bennett 1:25:52
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 1:25:54
We also have a text. They have an app, mobile app, or pretty much hip on almost all 

Rich Bennett 1:25:59
Wow! 

Martin Grams 1:25:59
of that stuff. We have a drive through. The app is great because if you order on the app or even on the website, you can select the time. So you can say 10 minutes from now and boom, and then you come through and you can grab... We have called grab and go, so most drive-thrues, you know, if you pre-order unless you park and walk in and grab your food, you've got to wait till all the people in front of you have gotten it, and it's going to be a minute or two a person. Believe it or not, we have a cut through that's in that lane. So you can literally bypass all the people and drive through, go up to the window grab and go. You can't place an order unless you're the only person that's quiet moment because we're okay with that, but they can literally just grab and go. So I'm here for a challenge, Jeremy. There you go. There's your drink and he drives off and he didn't have to wait in line. 

Rich Bennett 1:26:43
Was that your plan when the building was being built? 

Martin Grams 1:26:46
It was an improvement I had asked for when they did the architect, the design that had to be 

Rich Bennett 1:26:53
Okay. 

Martin Grams 1:26:53
approved by the county. They had one or two funky things and I said, "Can we do this?" I was surprised. They actually did it and I was even more surprised the county said, "Yeah, it's fine. It does confuse people the first time. They'll come through and go, "Wait, did I miss the order board?" Yeah, you did. The only one here we're fine. I mean, just don't have a menu here and sometimes I'll go, "Let me go around the board and take a look." 

Rich Bennett 1:27:12
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 1:27:12
So on. 

Rich Bennett 1:27:13
Wow. 

Martin Grams 1:27:13
But it has been an experience in a ride and it's a 20-year ride at least for this location. And so we'll see where it goes from the next year or two or three and hopefully that new location towards the end of the year. 

Rich Bennett 1:27:25
Oh, man. I, oh. Cool. 

I just love the name of it. I love the logo. And I know once I get up there, I'm going to love the food and the 

Martin Grams 1:27:35
Local roaster is actually real good coffee. It's not the kind that's been on the shelves for six months to distribute. Distributor. We get a lot of ours from Baltimore, T and Coffee. We've had Zeke's Coffee 

Rich Bennett 1:27:45
drinks. 

Martin Grams 1:27:45
come in. We've had a bunch of other locals and we get some from local roasters across the country. That's like really good. Like I said, the whiskey barioli becomes from San Francisco. 

Rich Bennett 1:27:55
Any plans? I have a funny feeling I knew the answer is probably no, but I don't know if any coffee shops do it. Any plans on roosting your room? 

Martin Grams 1:28:05
No, that is a totally separate business and another separate science. 

Rich Bennett 1:28:10
Okay. Yeah, 

Martin Grams 1:28:10
I know 

Rich Bennett 1:28:11
that's what I thought. 

Martin Grams 1:28:11
people who got into it and it's not until you're 15 that they've nailed that aspect. 

Rich Bennett 1:28:16
Right. 

Martin Grams 1:28:16
We prefer to support someone who's got all that going through trouble. Being beans imported, we get it from Baltimore, T and Coffee. They get stuff imported from the Port of Baltimore. If you go to any other coffee roaster, they may have to be going to a middleman who 

Rich Bennett 1:28:30
gets something. Yeah. 

Martin Grams 1:28:31
There so the beans are a bit more pricier. But Baltimore, T and Coffee has like 80 years of experience and their coffee is fantastic. 

Rich Bennett 1:28:38
Really? 

Martin Grams 1:28:38
Yes. So that's what we have there. We have a dark roasts in a regular called house and then dark roasts is black raven for the ravens. It's their name that roaster gave to it and then we have everything from mushroom coffee, Ethiopian coffee, Colombian coffee, mushroom coffee, hemp coffee. 

Rich Bennett 1:28:56
What? 

Martin Grams 1:28:56
A little bit of hemp in the coffee. We brew it with the grind so it's not like it's in the coffee 

Rich Bennett 1:29:02
I 

Martin Grams 1:29:02
itself. 

Rich Bennett 1:29:02
didn't know that was a thing. 

Martin Grams 1:29:03
It's a thing at our coffee shop. We 

Rich Bennett 1:29:05
Wow. 

Martin Grams 1:29:05
actually... The powder and said let's put it in there and figure out the ratio and how difficult can those be? Well, they're still tinking around but then you go, okay I can taste a little something but it's not over. It's not bearing or 

Rich Bennett 1:29:17
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 1:29:17
anything. 

Rich Bennett 1:29:17
You're 

Martin Grams 1:29:17
still drinking coffee. So we play around with it and we will continue for even for years. The best part about this is it is always an evolving business. 

Rich Bennett 1:29:25
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 1:29:26
So five years, I mean who thought cold brew and mitreo cold brew 10 years ago in a coffee shop? He thought many pizzas or something like that. little 

Rich Bennett 1:29:35
I'm 

Martin Grams 1:29:35
things. 

Rich Bennett 1:29:35
a mushroom 

Martin Grams 1:29:36
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 1:29:37
coffee. [laughs] 

Martin Grams 1:29:37
yeah, and we have lotus drinks, and people are like, what's a lotus 

Rich Bennett 1:29:39
drink? 

I was just gonna ask you that, what is a lotus? 

Martin Grams 1:29:41
it's, we actually make it. It is with pumps and all that sort of stuff. It's a syrup of sorts. What it is is kind of like an energy drink, like a monster energy drink or red ball, except it's all plant-based. 

Rich Bennett 1:29:54
Ooh, 

Martin Grams 1:29:54
So it's not synthetic, it's not all that sugars, and at the end of the five hours, when caffeine starts worrying off, you don't crash. 

Rich Bennett 1:30:02
Oh, really? 

Martin Grams 1:30:03
There are people who love the lotus. Funny thing is, when we first started it, we put whipped cream on the top, because that's how we were told by the company, the girls who created. 

Rich Bennett 1:30:11
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 1:30:12
And surprisingly, at this point, I'd say 90% of the people do not want whipped cream, they just want the lotus drink as itself, but it's still an option. 

Rich Bennett 1:30:21
Interesting. 

Martin Grams 1:30:21
One of the things we have that you won't find at other coffee shops unless they want to rip us off is honey teas, which is, it's teas. We have blueberry, we have lavender lemon, which are the two big pot that are ones, peach and my favorite apple cinnamon, and these girls in Virginia had figured out how to create these right blends, and they literally put honey granules in and it's the right portion. So the tea bags, depending on the flavor, vary in size, but we just put the hot water in there and if they want it iced, we make it iced, and it is fantastic. And especially in the summer, people are just getting a picture, it goes fast. It's 

Rich Bennett 1:30:55
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 1:30:56
like, it's healthy brew tea, you just have honey as the grams, and it's flavoring for the sweetener, and they're awesome, and they taste fantastic. 

Rich Bennett 1:31:04
It's good for you. 

Martin Grams 1:31:04
It is, actually, for some reason, the scientific nature, the honey or the excess from the bees, whether it be honey or pollen, seems to be, not only a super food, they're thinking that if there was anything here that would beat genetics and make you have longevity in life, it's actually something from the honey bees. 

Rich Bennett 1:31:24
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 1:31:24
It's the byproductum. Something is in there that they're still trying to figure it out, you think they would by now. 

Rich Bennett 1:31:32
It's, you look in nature and it's amazing, but some of the things out there, we haven't been able to figure it out yet. I remember a report, I don't go back a long time ago, they were looking at using spider webs 

to replace kevlar vest. 

it. 

Because they were so strong, the material, 

Martin Grams 1:31:54
I 

Rich Bennett 1:31:54
the 

Martin Grams 1:31:54
faintly 

Rich Bennett 1:31:55
silk is 

Martin Grams 1:31:55
remember 

Rich Bennett 1:31:55
so 

Martin Grams 1:31:55
something 

Rich Bennett 1:31:55
strong, 

Martin Grams 1:31:56
about 

Rich Bennett 1:31:56
yeah. But they couldn't figure out a way to, I guess, either farm the spiders or whatever, because the female kept beating them. 

Martin Grams 1:32:05
Creative replica. 

Rich Bennett 1:32:05
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 1:32:06
Of chemicals. 

Rich Bennett 1:32:07
But you think about it. You ever walk into a spider web? It takes forever to get that thing over you. 

Martin Grams 1:32:14
Nature is wonders. 

Rich Bennett 1:32:15
Oh, it is, and it's something else I found out when you mentioned the honey bees. 'Cause the last year I thought I had honey bees in my, between my bricks and the cinder block. 

A pest company cannot come out and get rid of honey bees. You have to hire a beekeeper. 

And a beekeeper will bring the box and somehow another, 

Martin Grams 1:32:39
Lot of that. 

Rich Bennett 1:32:39
use the queen bee to get them out. Yeah, you cannot kill honey bees. 

Martin Grams 1:32:43
Yeah, well we shouldn't. It's 

Rich Bennett 1:32:45
No, you sh--

Martin Grams 1:32:46
nature, they cross pollinate and everything. Otherwise, there goes your orchards too. 

Rich Bennett 1:32:49
Yeah, that's one of the reasons I'm gonna be putting in a colony and 

Martin Grams 1:32:52
hmm. 

Rich Bennett 1:32:52
gardening too, 

Martin Grams 1:32:53
Well, 

Rich Bennett 1:32:53
might. 

Martin Grams 1:32:54
I encourage you to come to the screaming being any of your listeners. And I've always said, knowing that a percentage of the profits from every drink and food that you buy is always going back to your community makes the food and drink tastes better. 

Rich Bennett 1:33:06
Yes. 

Martin Grams 1:33:06
And I mean, do they wanna support Wall Street and people who own stock? Or do they wanna help support the local that literally is next month? We could be doing a fundraiser for a soccer team that little girls need their soccer uniforms. 

Rich Bennett 1:33:19
Mm 

Martin Grams 1:33:19
I mean, not a place to say, well we do a charity from time to time. We do it all the time. 

Rich Bennett 1:33:24
And so those of you listening, if you're local here in Hartford County, when you go to the screaming being, make sure you leave a review on Google, Facebook, 

wherever, if you're one of the other countries or states, whatever listening to this, that just means you have to visit and hit the screen and then leave a review as well. 

Martin Grams 1:33:44
We do have a coffee in our own brands, a coffee tea and such in packages. They can even buy you online if they're--

Rich Bennett 1:33:50
Oh really? 

Martin Grams 1:33:51
If they're not in Hartford County, they can have like the Whiskey Barrow Age coffee or a house blend shipped to them. They can do it online, mail order. They can do subscription too. I know some people, they've got subscriptions before we even open when we had them, Pat, we were--

Rich Bennett 1:34:04
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 1:34:04
They're still on subscription and they're still getting the 

Rich Bennett 1:34:07
All 

Martin Grams 1:34:07
coffee. So 

Rich Bennett 1:34:07
right. 

Martin Grams 1:34:08
they must 

Rich Bennett 1:34:08
it. 

Martin Grams 1:34:08
love 

Rich Bennett 1:34:09
Do you sell merchandise too? 

Martin Grams 1:34:10
We do. We don't go overboard, we have mugs 'cause he doesn't want a mug. We've got it, I'm trying to think what else to be. We had Christmas ornaments at one point, 

Rich Bennett 1:34:20
Okay. 

Martin Grams 1:34:20
which was kind of cute, and then we have, trying to think what else. We've got stickers and the stickers are free in the store. People put them on their bottles, they put them on their laptops, they put them on all that stuff. 

Rich Bennett 1:34:30
Yeah. 

Martin Grams 1:34:30
and that's funny. Kids love stickers so we give them the kids we don't care. 

Rich Bennett 1:34:33
A dutch dude too. 

Martin Grams 1:34:35
Who doesn't like stickers? It's the experience appeal 

Rich Bennett 1:34:39
it. 

Martin Grams 1:34:39
and see Figuring out where you want to put it and how you want to And 

Rich Bennett 1:34:42
put 

Martin Grams 1:34:43
then it's like, okay, I need another sticker. 

It happens and then, of course, you know, besides that in the store we have, we're trying to be, we are working on it and we're almost there. We go to source. We have coffee supplies. We have bottles of syrup. You can go to Walmart and pay the same price for a bottle of like, I don't know, 100 milliliters, where you can get 750 milliliters in our store for the same 

Rich Bennett 1:35:05
it. 

Martin Grams 1:35:06
price. 

Rich Bennett 1:35:06
Wow! 

Martin Grams 1:35:06
Wow! You can get your syrup, you can get the honey tea's packaged as well with our logo on them. We've got pretty much a little of everything in all the different types of coffee I just mentioned, including a rum raisin, which I have not tried yet. It's a very interesting blend. Hortada, you name it, we've got it there. And they can come in and buy it. And so, you know, it's like if you're looking for something coffee, tea, supplies, whatever, we've got it there. And this is kind of like the go to place. And Christmas, it's also nice because you know, you're not only supporting your friends and you're supporting, like I said, the community. 

Rich Bennett 1:35:39
And as an official, I know Santa Claus and he says to go up there, so make sure you get there. Martin, is there anything you'd like to add? 

Martin Grams 1:35:48
No, we're good, they got the website, schemingbeancafe.com, we are on case you're curious and you can travel exit 85 on I-95. We're in Aberdeen, but we're not in the city of Aberdeen, we're right near Ripkins Stadium on Route 22. So if you get off exit 85 on I-95, literally just make the left and you'll see the royal farms and we're right next door to them. You can't miss us. 

Rich Bennett 1:36:09
Yeah, that must be a business thing because I've lived here all my life and I do not know exit numbers. 

Somebody asked me, how do I get the job it down, come up and what exit number is it? I don't know. 

Martin Grams 1:36:22
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 1:36:23
Mountain road! 

Martin Grams 1:36:23
And you do as much traveling. I spent 20 years going to the trade shows and it was like 22 to 24 weekends a year. You get used to knowing the numbers. 

Rich Bennett 1:36:32
Well, yes, you're traveling. 

But I don't know the owner, I don't ask. 

Martin Grams 1:36:42
A friend of mine lives in New York State and he said out of curiosity, why are your numbers on exits in Maryland, different than New York? I said, what do you mean? We have exit 1, exit 2, exit 3. You have exit 77, exit 85. And I said, oh, mile markers. I said 77 to 85, you can easily figure out that's, you know, that's eight miles difference and he goes, oh. And I said, I said, wait, they don't have that in New York, he goes, no. Ever since then I've noticed New York seems to be the only state that I know that has exit 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Everywhere else, it's actually by the mile markers. That's, I learned that from all the travel. So if you got to go on a PA turnpike and you just got on exit 100 and you got to get to 240, well, it's going to be two hours and 20 minute drive. Mine was going to enjoy it to crank up the radio. 

Rich Bennett 1:37:30
Should have been a truck driver. No, never mind, never mind. Martin, thanks a lot, man. 

Martin Grams 1:37:36
Likewise, appreciate being on the show. 

Rich Bennett 1:37:39
Thank you for listening to the conversations with Rich Bennett. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and learned something from it as I did. If you like to hear more conversations like this, be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode. And if you have a moment, I'd love it if you could leave a review. It helps us reach more listeners and share more incredible stories. Don't forget to connect with us on social media or visit our website at conversations with rich Bennett.com for updates, giveaways and more. Until next time, take care, be kind and keep the conversations going.