Episode 28: Culture, Community and a Great Cup of Coffee, with Nick Bayer

Nick Bayer is currently the Entrepreneur in Residence at Cornell University and faculty member at Drexel University, where he teaches a course in entrepreneurial franchising. He serves on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern Pennsylvania and has been a Big Brother for seven years. What you'll learn about in this episode: How Nick's upbringing and lessons learned from his parents shaped his career path and outlook Why Saxby's mission statement is "make life better", and why their core values are critical for their success Why Saxby's employees are an even more important component for their success than the great coffee they sell Why Saxby's hires people living in homeless shelters, and what impact that makes on Saxby's and on the community at large How building and growing Saxby's was a challenge for Nick, and how he found the tenacity to keep pushing How an early legal challenge caused Saxby's to go into reorganization just to be able to survive, and what lessons Nick learned from the process Why faith in his franchisees allowed Nick to survive reorganization and helped his business emerge far stronger for it How Nick's leadership style came to be, and why Saxby's impact on the world and its employees is a core component Why Nick brings young people into high leadership positions, and what qualities he looks for in a leader How Saxby's evolution has impacted Nick in his own personal growth, as well as how he interacts with those around him How to contact Nick Bayer: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/nickbayer6/ Instagram: @nickbayer6 Twitter: @nickbayer Website: www.saxbyscoffee.com