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It's not like any other coffee house |
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Written by Erin Frustaci
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Wednesday, 12 July 2006 |
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 Everyday Joe’s Coffee House in Fort Collins is anything but your everyday coffeehouse. Picture the Central Perk atmosphere from the TV show “Friends” and then add a nonprofit element.
“Everyday Joe’s is a coffee house started by Christians, not a Christian coffee house,” said Daryle Dickens, executive director.
At 144 S. Mason St. in Fort Collins, Everyday Joe’s Coffee House is run by a board of directors with 95 percent of the staff being volunteers. A portion of the proceeds helps charities within the community.
“I like the idea that business doesn’t have to be in business for itself,” Dickens said. ‘It can be in business to help the community. It can exist to specifically help the community, not to make itself rich.”
 Chris Hess, director of events and public relations, stumbled upon Everyday Joe’s while he was working as a reporter for the Scene.
His first assignment was to write a story about the coffee shop in 2003, and he was instantly hooked.
“I believe everyone has a longing for community, and when I came here it was something I felt right away,” Hess said. “I felt welcomed and loved the second I walked in the door to write the story.”
Both Dickens and Hess started out as volunteers before making Everyday Joe’s their full-time job. They said Everyday Joe’s provides a place for people to meet and relax, students to study and the community to come together. The open area is perfect for special events and concerts.
“We love people and community,” Hess said. “That’s why we are around.”
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VITAL STATS
Names: Daryle Dickens, executive director, and Chris Hess, director of events and public relations
Company: Everyday Joe’s Coffee House
How long have you worked there? Dickens began as a volunteer since the coffeehouse’s beginning in 2003 and joined the paid staff in January of this year. Hess came on staff in February but started volunteering in 2003.
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COFFEE FOR A CAUSE
The charities Everyday Joe’s donates to are selected by the nonprofit’s board and change every so often. Now, they contribute to:
• Food Bank for Larimer County
• Habitat for Humanity
• Open Door Mission
• Catholic Charities
• Neighbor to Neighbor
IN THEIR WORDS
 What is it about this job that makes it challenging?
Dickens: For me it’s managing volunteers. They come with different challenges than employees do.
Hess: Really finding a way to connect individually with each person I make coffee for. That’s more of a challenge I try to give myself. The challenge is reminding myself of that and remembering this is not just a job.
Makes you get out of bed in the morning?
Hess: A lot of things. My wife. The opportunity to show people the truest kind of love there is starting with something as simple as cup of coffee.
Dickens: The opportunity to serve Fort Collins, which is a community. I really like Fort Collins a lot. It’s great that I can have this opportunity to serve the town and community through something simple like a cup of coffee.
Hess: Old Town is in Daryle’s very being.
Things that impress you?
Dickens: In general, I’m most impressed with someone’s integrity. People who do what they say they are going to do. Simple things like that.
Hess: One of the things that impresses me is a person’s willingness to serve. When that desire in their heart really comes through, you can just see it and can’t ignore. It’s just there.
Things that don’t.
Dickens: Probably the opposite of that. Lack of integrity.
Hess: The thing that doesn’t impress me is when someone does something purely for self gain. When someone does something and manages to make it all about them instead of what it should be about.
Did you ever think in a million years you’d work here?
Dickens: No. I definitely never imagined I would be working leading a nonprofit coffee shop. Being an executive director or a coffee is really comical to me.
Hess: I didn’t. I thought it would be cool, but didn’t think it would actually happen. My plan was to graduate from college and write for some impressive magazine, but this is way better though.
If you weren’t doing this, what would you do?
Hess: I hope I wouldn’t be writing instruction manuals still.
Dickens: Actually, I’d like to be doing what you’re doing, writing. My hobby is writing. I have an online magazine.
Hess: Whenever this is over, we could start a magazine.
What’s the most unusual thing you’ve ever done to make money?
Dickens: I canned salmon. I worked in a salmon cannery in Alaska.
Hess: I built bubbles, clean rooms for medical research facilities.
What do you do when you’re not at work?
Dickens: Train. I’m training for the Pikes Peak Marathon.
Hess: You’re going to make me look so lethargic. Watch Sports Center. Ride bikes with my wife. That has been our past time as of late. Watch America lose in the World Cup.
Pets?
Hess: Not anymore. I want a new dog soon.
Dickens: A cat, Nessa, and a gecko, Gus.
What’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever done while at work?
Hess: One time there was a benefit for the Fellowship House which is a rehab center. The band was up on-stage playing. I just popped in to see how it was going. The bar was really busy so I came over to the bus tubs to grab some of the dishes. As I was walking there was a pause in the music and this entire pile of dishes I was carrying went crashing to the ground. It was perfectly timed, enough that they commented on the timing from the stage.
Hess: You knocked over someone’s tea.
Dickens: That was even today. I’m pretty lucky if that’s the worse thing I’ve done.
Smartest?
Dickens: Hired Chris even though that wasn’t my decision. I think the smartest thing I’ve done is focus on the volunteers. It’s still the most challenging thing, but also the smartest.
Hess: After a month of working here Daryle told me to start taking ownership of my decisions and not running everything by him. Probably following that advice was the smartest thing I’ve done.
Any interesting anecdotes?
Dickens: Always look both ways when crossing the street, even when it’s a one way street. It’s an important rule here.
Hess: Always listen to the counsel of your wife. They are usually way smarter.
What’s the one thing you wish you could do on the job that you can’t right now?
Dickens: Give away more money. Give away more to community.
Hess: I agree. I’m not sure we will ever be where we want to be because our standards are so high for that, but I agree. Giving away more to community.
What do you do during your breaks?
Hess: What are breaks? Go home and sleep for seven hours, then come back in the morning.
Dickens: I go on walks around Old Town.
What’s one thing about your job you would do, even if you weren’t paid to do it?
Hess: As much as I could. Getting paid to do this full time is kind of icing on the cake. If we lived in a world where we could do anything and not have to worry about paying rent, I’d probably still be doing this.
Dickens: Ditto.
Name one thing in your life that really prepared you for your job.
Hess: I’d say my dad. My dad and mom and the fact that they made me do chores when I was six. They taught me to always try my best and never give up hope.
Dickens: All the jobs I’ve had that involved really long hours like the army and salon cannery. This is great but it takes a lot of energy and time. A lot of endurance is required.
Hess: I don’t even know if we consider this a job. It’s what I do during the day.
What’s the biggest payoff in your job?
Hess: Seeing people who wouldn’t feel comfortable hanging out at a lot of places hang out here, like enough so to take naps on our couches.
Dickens: Getting to meet people every day and learn a little bit about them. It’s like “Cheers”.
Are you the boss? Do you think you should be?
Hess: I answer to Dickens, I would say. And I don’t think I should be the boss.
Dickens: Yeah, I’m the reluctant boss.
Hess: I don’t think we have the boss non-boss relationship.
Family?
Dickens: a wife, no kids.
Hess: a wife, no kids.
Favorite TV shows?
Dickens: “The BBC Office.”
Hess: “The Simpsons”, when Conan O’Brien was the writer, like starting season three.
Movies?
Hess: The First Trilogy. Episodes Four, Five and Six of “Star Wars.”
Dickens: “Wayne’s World”.
Books?
Dickens: “The Stand” by Stephen King.
Hess: “Messy Spirituality” by Mike Yaconelli.
What Web sites do you have bookmarked?
Hess: zaf622.com, the city library, Demetri Martin, a Web site where I can get themes for my browser. Everyday Joe’s is my home page. Everydayjoes.org.
Dickens: zaf622, the city library.
Where do you play?
Hess: My backyard to play washers a lot.
Dickens: My backyard to build stuff.
Go out to eat?
Hess: Island Grill.
Dickens: Louseal’s for breakfast.
Favorite spot?
Dickens: Next to my wife.
Hess: In the middle of a glacial lake in Alaska. It’s my favorite place on earth. I have family up there and go up there every five years or so.
How do young/new employees get ahead?
Hess: Daryle is so good at managing the volunteers and investing time in them. He was on staff a month before me and when we had our breakfast meeting at Perkins at 6 a.m. the day I started the one thing he told me was it has to be all about the volunteers. You can't really get ahead here, and if you want to get ahead here, you’re missing the point.
Dickens: Everyone is very equal here. | Only registered users can write comments.
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