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The blustery snowflakes melted
in mid air as they swirled in behind me, enveloped by the vibrating warmth
emanated by the coffee roaster. January 2nd, 1993 was a teeth-clenching
cold day in Cleveland, Ohio. The dry, crunchy snow outside made the Phoenix
Coffee Roastery on Mayfield Road seem as inviting as a tropical island.
It did seem very exotic to me, with the green overgrown plants filling
the windows, the whirr of the roaster's drum, the colorful beads hanging
around the proprietor's neck, the blue jeans that fit him just right,
and of course, the awesome aroma of freshly roasted coffee that permeated
it all. It seemed like a sanctuary in there. On my first visit to the
roastery, all I did was ask if they were hiring. The conversation that
took place lasted less than oneminute, and out I went, back into the icy
winds of the Cleveland winter. Little did I know that over a decade from
that fateful day, I, Sarah Wilson-Jones, would not only be married to
the guy with the colorful beads, but I would also be married to the company
and permanently enamored with coffee and the art and science of its preparation.
Ten years later. And here I am, still learning and loving
the business and Carl. I did manage to get hired, and then to sleep my
way to the top. Now I own the company and Carl and I have two kids. Sometimes
when I walk through the roastery, past the rounded bulging burlap sacks
of green beans, I briefly close my eyes and concentrate on the humming,
smoky, dusty machine that magically transforms those hard, green beans
into something so wonderful. The fire inside that machine is what runs
our business. I love the fact that I get to work around that every day.
Carl Jones started Phoenix Coffee in 1990. And he named
it Phoenix after the mythical bird that transforms itself through fire.
Which was appropriate, since Carl's career in coffee was marked by transformation.
If you visit our Roastery Café, you can read more about his adventures,
and see all the photos of Carl over the past 30 years. It's amazing how
much he has changed. And now that I think about it, I've changed too.
So has our company. Since I took over in 1998, we've become a new company.
We now have fewer retail stores and more wholesale customers, we have
more new products and more fun. We know we are good at roasting and distributing
coffee and we are planning on getting even better. The Phoenix Bird's
imperative is to continue transforming and reinventing itself. So here
we go! Thanks for coming along for the ride.
Want to know more about the Phoenix Bird our company's named for?
Learn more at these links (goes to pages off-site):
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