Kelsey Goslin, a pre-junior marketing and entrepreneurship major, and Meghan Regan, also a pre-junior marketing major, are the founding café managers at the new coffee shop, Saxbys Drexel, on 34th and Lancaster. Kelsey is the current manager of the Saxbys team and Meghan was the inaugural manager who worked behind the scenes to prepare for the grand opening.
Saxbys Coffee is a small franchise company that exists to “make life better.” The CEO Nick Bayer opened the first Saxbys in 2005 and has since opened about 35 cafés mainly throughout the Greater Philadelphia Area with a few locations scattered up and down the East Coast. However, Saxbys Drexel is known for being the first completely student-run café in the country and was widely covered in the media during its grand opening. Both collegiettes found their co-op through SCDC online and were drawn to the job for its high level of responsibilities.
While Meghan was not on co-op during the café’s grand opening, she still had plenty of experience as a café manager. For the first two months of her co-op, she assisted in the grand opening of Saxbys Peddler’s Village. After the grand opening, Meghan trained and managed the Peddler’s Village team to assimilate them into their new environment. Next, she stepped in as manager of Saxbys UPenn while the permanent manager was opening another café. Finally, Meghan had hands on experience in the hiring process for Saxbys Drexel. She helped conduct around 50 interviews and hired many of the team members who still work at the location. Meghan was also involved in many marketing and promotional campaigns for the grand opening.
Kelsey is responsible for the finances of the café, including doing daily deposits and tracking cash flow. “I manage the day-to-day operations to ensure the café is running smoothly, such as helping out behind the line and fixing problems that arise or running to other cafés to pick up products we run out of,” she said. Kelsey is also in charge of scheduling, ordering supplies for the café, and coordinating donations for campus organizations. She, too, will have the opportunity to get involved in the hiring process for the summer term.
Kelsey spoke a little bit about the excitement of opening week: “Opening week was the most insane, fun week of my life. I worked over 12 hour days and was not tired at all—not even taking into account the amount of coffee I drank that week. We were so busy all the time which was overwhelming but it was so exciting.”
Both women shared their favorite part of their co-op. “The favorite part of my co-op was actually making an impact. I wasn’t treated like your usual co-op. I worked my butt off, but every moment was worth it. It’s awesome to be apart of something that is going to be so big,” Meghan said. She, as well as Kelsey, also cited the relationships they’ve established throughout their time at the company as one of the most rewarding parts of the process. “I love the amount of experience I’m getting and how I’m never bored. I absolutely love the atmosphere here, as well. Everyone I work with, whether they are from corporate or are team members, are incredible and I have fun at work every day. We’re like a crazy family,” Kelsey said.
Their time at Saxbys has provided them with lessons they will take with them into their future jobs after graduation. Meghan acknowledged how working behind the scenes has allowed her to see every aspect of how a business is run from the ground up. Kelsey mentioned that one of the most helpful parts of the job was learning to work as a team and manage schedules. Both said that they aspire to work in management at Saxbys even after graduation.
Meghan shared with us her favorite Saxbys drink, “My favorite drink would have to be either the café crèma, which is espresso with vanilla and half and half, or the very berry smoothie.” Kelsey agreed that the very berry smoothie was one of her favorites but also spoke highly of the grasshopper frolatte that consists of peppermint and chocolate syrup in a frozen latte.
Major accolades to both ladies because Saxbys Drexel had the largest grossing profit for opening week compared to any other existing Saxbys and continues to gross three times the daily profit of any Saxbys location! They shared their tips on how to be as awesome and successful as they are, starting with one of the most important aspects of co-op: the interview. “My best interview tips would be to just stay confident. You don’t have to brag about yourself but just know what you are talking about and make it sound good. Make sure you’re relaxed and don’t be afraid to have fun with it and make them laugh,” Meghan said. “Research the company and people you are interviewing with and always come with questions,” Kelsey added.