Passing the Latte: Maddie Dierolf on Being Inaugural SCEO at Saint Joseph’s University and “Mom of the Cafe”

After two years working with the Saxbys team, Maddie Dierolf proved herself as a rockstar team member. So we gave her a monumental task we knew she’d be up for — opening the brand-new Saxbys Saint Joseph’’s cafe. That meant Maddie had to develop a new group of team members, help create a positive and unique cafe culture, become a community leader, and master financial management. She also developed baselines for sales, scheduling, food ordering and everything else associated with running the cafe day-to-day.

It’s all part of the Saxbys Experiential Learning Program (ELP) where college students like Maddie run all aspects of a cafe while earning college credit and competitive pay.

As we suspected, Maddie mastered her experience as a SCEO. In fact her team presented Maddie with flowers on her last day and some tears were definitely flowing. Now that it’s over, Maddie took a few minutes to reflect on her experience.

Overview

How would you briefly describe your experience as a SCEO?

It was so rewarding. It went by so fast. The people on my team are amazing. They made me excited to come to work everyday. There was stress and at times I was overwhelmed but I’m so happy to have done it. I learned so much about myself personally and professionally.

What are some lessons you learned?

I learned how to talk to vendors, how to interact with guests on a professional level, and figured out the line between being a boss and being a friend.

What specific challenges did you face opening a new Saxbys ELP cafe?

Everything from training team members to marketing and advertising. You pretty much have your hand in a million different bowls to make sure it’s a successful opening. We also wrote different quotes and fun things on the chalkboard everyday which let students know it was a fun environment.

Team Development

How did you build a culture based off your leadership style in just 2-and-a-half months?

The week before the cafe opened, my team was in the cafe everyday getting trained. I made it a point to be there too and show them how excited I was to have the job. I wanted to know everything about them. I wanted to know their interests, majors, what they want to do with their lives. That helped build bonds.

What are your thoughts on your team?

My team made me so happy to come to work everyday. Every single person on my team was so kind, so respectful, so motivated and happy to be part of brand-new cafe.

What was the most rewarding aspect of developing your team?

To see everybody grow. It’s so rewarding that they want to grow within the company. Part of SCEO’s job is pushing them through tiers. It was so awesome when a team member would come to me and say “I’m host trained but I really want be a barista, can you help me get there?” That would always make me take a step back and realize they want to work hard.

What was a major obstacle you had to overcome when it came to developing a team member?

I was so hands on and I wanted to make sure I was there for my team no matter what. But I realized that if I’m constantly helping them, they’re not going to grow and learn to do tasks on their own. I had to remind myself that it’s okay for them to fail every once in awhile — that’s how they learn. Towards end of co-op I forced myself to stand on sidelines far more often.

Community Leadership

What were favorite community initiatives?

We catered for a club called Agape Latte twice and they brought in guest speakers. We provided gift cards for a lot of professors in the business school so they could host meetings with their students. We also hosted an open-mic night which was such a nice atmosphere. People were really into it and it provided something mellow for finals week.

Were there any philanthropic initiatives you think went particularly well?

We had a rounding up initiative with Philanthropos. We would ask guests to round up to the nearest dollar to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters. St. Joe’s is a huge service school so it was a big hit. It got to the point where we didn’t even have to ask, guests would just say “can I have a small coffee and you can round me up?”

How did you balance the best interest of your team while also contributing to the community that your cafe served?

A lot of my team members were involved in some kind of service so I made sure not to make any decisions on community leadership efforts without checking with them first. I wanted it to be a group effort so I’m not saying “we’re doing an open mic night whether you like it or not.” Instead I’d ask “do you think this is a good idea? How can we make it better?” That got them passionate and excited.

How did becoming a community leader impact your cafe?

It showed that we were interested in being more than just a cafe on campus. It showed we wanted to make a real impact wanted to be involved on campus as much as any other student club or organization.

Financial Management:

How did you achieve mastery to manage and understand your P&L?

I think I did have a really good understanding of the administrative tasks because I worked with Saxbys for so long and received excellent training. It took the first week or so see what sales and foot traffic would be like to help us determine how to order product, how to schedule my team. For me, setting a baseline was really important.

How did you keep your cafe accountable to the day-to-day responsibilities in order to manage your costs?

I tried to make sure everyone was on the same page. I was very open with my team, explaining what I was doing and why. I communicated with them a lot. It was helpful for me and helpful for them to know how the process works.

How were you able to step outside of the day-to-day management of your cafe to strategically plan for your P&L?

Stepping out of cafe was really hard for me. On most days, I planted myself there and never left. They all called me the mom of the cafe. But I knew I had to set time aside from work to analyze those things and that helped us succeed.

Final Thoughts

What was it like to leave?

I was emotional leaving because I worked for Saxbys so long. Starting out as a barista and ending as SCEO was really emotional. The connections I made with my team were amazing. On my last day, they brought me flowers and a really nice card. That was so meaningful for me that I was able to make an impact on my team’s lives.

What advice do you have for Doug Szilagyi, the incoming SCEO?

Stay positive and don’t stress about the small stuff. Everything works out one way or another. Don’t fill your headspace with things that aren’t worth the stress.

How does this experience prepare you for your eventual career?

This will help me immensely. I carry myself in a different way than when I entered this position. I know how to hold myself in a professional environment. I’m really excited about new opportunities and to put the skills I gained to test and see how it helps me in long run. Communication skills my confident skills and my overall leadership skills so I’m excited to see that play out in my next job experience.