Growing Pains, Blueberry Danishes, and Sale Days

August was a strange month for us here. While there was a lot of excitement around the Advanced Latte Art training for the baristas, we saw our foot traffic slow down. The fact that it has been the rainiest August on record didn’t help. But along with the rain, we faced some growing pains. 

We lost three staff in three weeks, all of which were unexpected. This left gaps in our kitchen, coffee bar, and serving departments.

Sushmita is the younger sister of our friends Samir and Olivia. While they now live in Kathmandu, Sushmita has remained here in Pokhara with us so she can go to college. She lives with us and she is part of our family now. She is also our youngest staff member, and she began with no work experience, recently graduating high school. At first, I had hesitated to hire staff that had no experience. I preferred to have a strong beginning staff as we found our footing with this new cafe. Sushmita came to the cafe every single day as we were preparing to open – sometimes from the early morning to late evening, helped with anything that was needed, shadowed our Head Baker and helped her, and became a beloved part of the Tiny Yeti Baking Co. family. Everyone loved her and her sweet and infectious smile. Her bubbly and joyful personality warmed all who came to know her.

But she wasn’t officially staff. She came mostly because she was bored at home and didn’t want to just sit doing nothing after graduating. But after observing her kind personality, her work ethic, and her ability to learn so quickly, I decided to hire her. And it was one of the best decisions I have made. She represented exactly the kind of atmosphere we wanted to have among our staff.

She started as a full-time server and learned incredibly quickly, arguably becoming our most skilled server. In our beginning weeks, she became a customer favorite and they would seek her out. One family visited us every morning at 7am for their breakfast and grew to be a beloved customer during their time in Pokhara. They particularly loved Sushmita and, when they left to return back to the US, they cried as they said their goodbyes and asked for a photo with her. 

After they left, Sushmita told me “I never knew how much I loved serving people until you hired me to do this job. Thank you so much for this opportunity.”

Such is the character that all have come to enjoy with her.

After we lost three staff in three weeks, there was an opening in our kitchen. We immediately looked at Sushmita as the right candidate to fill that gap. She had shadowed the Head Baker, was learning the recipes, and excelled in the techniques and concepts. I offered her the promotion and she happily accepted it.

A young girl who started with no work experience at all has already risen to Bakery Assistant in just a few short months. We are all thrilled to see how she grows as we work to develop her.

Another “win” was our surprise sale: “25% on the 25th”. We announced this on social media and into the community and we had our second best sales day, only behind our grand opening. We introduced new items such as Blueberry Danish and Creme Brulee.

As we approach tourist season, we are planning to add additional items, create a breakfast and lunch menu, and we have some small expansion projects that will set our space up for better success.