Today we’d like to introduce you to Austin Moon.
Hi Austin, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for sharing your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
We started Mojo Coffee as a family business amongst our cousins as a way to have an impact on our local community. Our first location was a 400-square-foot cinder block building in Burnet, Texas that used to be a popular taco stand. On our first day, we got more orders for tacos than coffee, and we were afraid we wouldn’t make it. Fast forward eight years later, and we’re in six locations with three more under construction. Much more importantly, we’ve been able to hire, grow, and develop an incredible leadership team that all started with us as baristas and helped guide our company to have an impact on our employees and customers every day. One of the most important contributors to our success has been our emphasis on creating a collaborative culture where love and respect are paramount. We’ve all heard the cliche that the customer comes first, but at Mojo Coffee, our employees come first, and that has made all the difference in how we treat each other and our employees treat our customers.
Alright, let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
The road has only sometimes been smooth. After we launched our first shop, we realized that to scale up our business, we would need processes, procedures, and training manuals. Creating these documents from scratch as we were still operating, building, and learning felt pointless then, but it helped us immensely. We also needed to figure out what we were doing when we built our first store and had an extensive trial and error on equipment, layout, and workflow as we quickly outgrew our initial build, and traffic began to wrap around the shop and go down the street. We had to have an employee outside to manage cars as a traffic cop until we could lease the lot next door to create enough space for our drive-through line. Over the years, we’ve had to endure several unforeseen obstacles, like the pandemic, significant supply chain issues, and the 2021 Snowpocalypse, to name a few. What we’ve found and firmly believe in is that if you hire the right people, train them well, and treat them with love and respect, you can come together and overcome any challenge that comes your way.
Thanks for sharing that. So, you could tell us more about your business.
Mojo Coffee is more than just another ‘coffee shop.’ Yes, we sell amazing coffee, but it’s more than just driving through and exchanging money for a product. We believe in loving people where they are and impacting our community. You will feel that when you come through and connect with one of our baristas, we get to know your name, what you do, and what’s important to you. In today’s fast-paced and faceless digital age, we want to bring back the basics of human connection: a friendly voice, a genuine smile, and, most importantly, unconditional love. This is our differentiator in a crowded marketplace.
Please talk to us about happiness and what makes you happy.
Great question! One of the things that brings me an unreasonable amount of joy is sharing in people’s first experiences together. Every year, we take all of our managers on an all-expenses paid trip to the beaches of Mexico, and we’ve had more than a handful of managers who’ve never been out of the country or on a plane before. We’ve also done several ski trips, concert ticket giveaways, skydiving tours, and exotic food excursions that have been ‘firsts’ for our baristas, and it tickles me to see the excitement on their faces.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mojodrivethru.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mojolakeline/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MojoBurnet
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MojoCoffeeLovesYou
