By Pik-Long Phoebe Leung
While the Roasted Cherry Coffee House is helping turn youth into young entrepreneurs, it faces difficulties in marketing its story.
“Part of the reason is because we are afraid to grow very quickly,” says Jessica Michaud, director of finance and business management of New Beginnings for Youth, the local charity that owns the O’ Connor Street coffee house. “It’s a very fragile business model. When you think about kids running a business, there might not be the right capacity for growth.”
But Michaud says plans, such as revamping the coffee house’s website and issuing a monthly newsletter, have been made to slowly let the Centretown community be more aware of how the coffee house is benefiting youth.
The Roasted Cherry isn’t just a café; it is a living classroom where youth develop entrepreneurial skills by helping run a real business.
“We want kids in here who are innovative, ones that want to take risks, who have a keen sense of responsibility, and we give them a platform,” says Michaud.
Youth employees learn how to run and manage the coffee house on their own through serving customers, formulating viable business plans and executing them.
Roberta Lam, an occasional customer who works down the street, says she knows a little bit about the story behind the coffee house through a co-worker. She says it’s a good idea to have such a place that allows youth to learn valuable skills in a real business setting.
Opened in 2002, the Roasted Cherry just celebrated its fourth anniversary in May. Michaud says New Beginnings for Youth started the coffee house to help at-risk youth get back onto the right path. Over the years, she says, it has turned into a training ground to develop business leadership among young people, hiring mostly high school and university students. But the coffee house continues to take in a few at-risk youth, she adds.
Michaud also says the Roasted Cherry wants customers to come in and come back not only because they support the cause, but also because they enjoy the food and the services.
At the Roasted Cherry, youth are encouraged to be creative and to bend some rules, says Michaud.
Anne Beamish, a former employee, says working at the coffee house allowed her to prove herself to others, despite her lack of work experience. She adds that she might not be given such an opportunity if she were to work at other places.
“They look at your ideas. They look at your potential,” she says. “I feel like this place sees in employees what the employees may not even yet see in themselves.”
Katie Edgerton, a current employee, says she knows the positive feelings youth have after contributing to the coffee house and having their efforts recognized.
She says she was encouraged to bring in a new product when she was co-op student there, prior to being hired as an employee. Having decided to introduce loose-leaf tea to the store, she started researching, networking with various individuals and performing different business analyses.
Now, loose-leaf tea is available at the Roasted Cherry, something Edgerton says is a proud accomplishment.
Beamish says every youth employee at the coffee house plays an equally important role in the team as opposed to being just a number at large corporate-run coffee houses. “It makes you feel like you are needed,” she says.
Meaghan Anderson has worked at the Roasted Cherry for a few weeks, but she has already been entrusted to keep the store’s keys. She says she feels respected.
“They are willing to recognize that even though we are young, we are able to take on responsibilities,” says Anderson.
Meanwhile, these youth at the Roasted Cherry say they are happy with their experiences.
“I’ve learned a lot about what it’s like to run a business,” says Edgerton. She enjoys the fact that she is gaining hands-on experience, something hard to get in a classroom.