THE SEA-TOWN PODCAST: Interviewing Seattle's Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs

This week's guest is Mike Albaek, Owner of Proletariat Pizza in White Center, just south of West Seattle. Mike and his wife, Stefanie opened Proletariat Pizza in 2009 and have created a friendly neighborhood pizzeria, using quality ingredients to make great pizzas. Highlights From This Episode: Mike and Stefanie Albaek have lived in West Seattle they bought their house here in 2003. They wanted to start their own business and were looking at all sorts of options. Stefanie's background is as a hair dresser, so they thought about opening their own salon. Mike had fallen into his job in the Telecommunications world was realizing that he wasn't real happy in that line of work. And then Full Tilt Ice Cream opened in White Center, followed shortly after by Zippy's moving to their new location in White Center. through frequenting these two great businesses, he got to know the owners and found inspiration. Mike got to know Justin (owner of Full Tilt) and Blain (owner of Zippy's Burger) and was inspired by both of these new businesses to start a new restaurant in White Center and helping add to the new character of the neighborhood. They were initially considering opening a sandwich shop but Justin suggested that what White Center really needed and wanted was a local pizza shop. So in 2009, Proletariat Pizza was born. The plan was to open Proletariat and Mike would continue working his tele-communications job at AT&T Wireless for another 6 months... which turned into 2 years before he was able to step away and have Proletariat be their singular focus and income source.

• What do you love most about what your business now? Being part of the community and being able to talk with and get to know the customers. The interaction with the customers is his favorite part.
• What was most surprising or unexpected with opening your own business? How the business has evolved. What they envisioned the business being one thing when they opened but it ended up evolving into a very communal, family friendly neighborhood pizzeria.
• What is your business known for? A regular family neighborhood gathering place with good pizza.
• What set's you apart from others in your industry?
• What is your greatest strength? Being the face of proliferate and being able to interface with the customers
• What habit do you wish you had? Being able to get by on less sleep.
• What are you passionate about? Doing things right. Talking to the employees to treat the employees using "the golden rule" and treat others like you would want to be treated.
• What is your biggest challenge now? Managing employees (having grown from just a few employees to up to 25 at times) and getting information out to all of them without constantly having meetings.
• What is the biggest lesson you have learned in addressing this challenge? They are still learning it but just writing down procedures and having an employee handbook has gone a long way.
• In the past, what was holding you back from becoming the entrepreneur you are today? Fear of failure and fear of making the leap to self-employment.
• What is the best advice you have ever received? Make sure to get together regularly with like-minded business owners and being able to share experiences, and lessons... and hear that what your going through as a small business owner are the same things they are going through or have gone through and you can commiserate and learn from each other.
• What is a personal habit that contributes to your success? Wanting to do things right. Want to make a good product with good ingredients... not just trying to slam out a cheap product and make some money.
• What is your one book recommendation for our listeners?Anthony Bourdain - Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly or Charles Bukowski
• Parting Guidance - For other business owners - "Take vacations" and learn to rest.

Episode Links & Resources:

• Guest's Website: https://proletariatpizza.com
• Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Prolepizza/
• Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Prolepizza
• Guest's recommendations (other great White Center establishments): Full Tilt Ice Cream, Zippy's Giant Burgers & Noble Barton
• Learn more about Christian, other projects he's working on and his business at: www.Sea-Town.com

Ways to Subscribe to The Sea-Town Podcast:

• "Like" the Sea-Town Podcast FaceBook Page HERE
• Click here to subscribe on iTunes
• Click here to subscribe on Google Play
• Click here to subscribe on TuneIn
• Click here to subscribe on Stitcher

This week's guest is Jacob Wiegner, Owner of Blackboard Bistro in West Seattle. They are all about the food... simplicity, technique and flavor. Their menu is ever changing and reflects Chef Jacob's nomadic life prior this his settling in Seattle with his family. Enjoy delicious food while relaxing in the cozy restaurant atmosphere. Highlights From This Episode: Jacob was born in Iran to parents from Pensilvania just before the revolution and he has lived all over the US since then. When he was a teenager, they moved to London, where he started to cook (classically trained french cuisine), met his wife, Ginger (who is from New Zealand) and their oldest son was born. He still considers it a second home. After the birth of their first kid and living in London for 13 years, they decided to move back to the US. Initially they moved to Florida, to be close to his parents but at the time the culinary opportunities were limited... so they eventually made their way to Seattle. As a kid, he had visited Seattle several times with his family and always liked it and Seattle reminded Ginger of Wellington, New Zealand, where she grew up. Initially they were living in Ballard and he helped the open the Capital Hill restaurant Olivar and worked there for three years (before it closed in 2014 and is now the location of Marron). The owner of Olivar also graciously helped Jacob out a lot when he decided to open Black Board Bistro in West Seattle. When they moved out to Seattle, it was always their idea to open their own restaurant.

• What do you love most about what you do? The creativity he can put into each meal and the evolving menu. They have some staple dishes but much of the menu changes regularly to keep the menu fresh and interesting.
• What was most surprising or unexpected with opening your own business? Coming to terms with what they wanted to do and provide verses what their customers wanted. Finding the balance between offering the things they recognize and want and challenging them to try new dishes. He had to "get over his ego" as he realized that it's not about him but about providing a product that his customers want.
• What kind of food does Black Board Bistro make? What is Black Board Bistro known for? It's eclectic fine cousin with locally bought seasonal ingredients and while there are some staple menu items (like gnocchi), the menu reflects what Jacob (the owner and chief) is into and feels like eating at the time. For example, they buy their fish fresh from Mutual Fish in Rainier and may base their current items on whatever the latest fresh catch is.
• What habit do you wish you had? Better people skills.
• What are you passionate about? Food and his family.
• What lessons have you learned with owning your own businesses? If your going to jump in, jump in with both feet & just take it one day at a time.
• What is the best advice you have ever received? Putting into perspective that "we are just feeding people". This realization that at the end of the day, we are just feeding people helped give him some good perspective and felt very freeing. And "simplicity is the last test of the master" - Marco Pierre White. If you think about some of the best meals you have had, they were the simplest things (not overly complex or complicated).
• What is a personal habit that contributes to your success? Stubbornness.
• Do you listen to podcasts? What are your favorites? "Stuff You Should Know", NPR ones like "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me" and "This American Life". "The Moth Radio Hour" and now since being invited on... "The Sea-Town Podcast". Christian recommended Gimlet Media podcast (if you like story telling NPR style podcasts)
• What is your one book recommendation for our listeners? Jitterbug Perfume or anything by Tom Robins

Episode Links & Resources:

• Guest's Website: https://www.blackboardbistroseattle.com
• Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Blackboardbistroseattle/
• Guest's recommended books: Jitterbug Perfume or anything by Tom Robins
• Guest's favorite podcast(s): "Stuff You Should Know", NPR ones like "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me" and "This American Life". "The Moth Radio Hour" and now since being invited on... "The Sea-Town Podcast". Christian recommended Gimlet Media podcast (if you like story telling NPR style podcasts)
• Learn more about Christian, other projects he's working on and his business at: www.Sea-Town.com

Ways to Subscribe to The Sea-Town Podcast:

• "Like" the Sea-Town Podcast FaceBook Page HERE
• Click here to subscribe on iTunes
• Click here to subscribe on Google Play
• Click here to subscribe on TuneIn
• Click here to subscribe on Stitcher

This week's guest is Cary Kemp, Owner of Pizzeria 22 in the Admiral District or West Seattle. Pizzeria 22 is West Seattle's first Neapolitan style, wood-fired, thin crust pizzeria. Cary traveled to and lived in Naples, Italy for sometime, along with his friend and colleague, Mike MCConnell (of Seattle's Cafe Vita fame) to learn and study how to make amazing Neapolitan pizza and bring it back to Seattle. Highlights From This Episode: Pizzeria 22 opened up in June of 2011 and was the first Neapolitan style wood-fired pizzeria in West Seattle. Cary's restaurant background goes way back but he got his start in the pizza world, assisting a colleague of his, Michael McConnell (who also founded and owns Seattle' iconic Cafe Vita coffee roosters/shops), starting Seattle's famous Via Tribunali pizzeria. Mike asked Cary if he wanted to help him on his journey to bring Neapolitan style pizza to Seattle (at the time, there was no certified Neapolitan pizzerias on the West Coast). The traveled to Naples, Italy and lived there for a while, learning and studying the art of Neapolitan pizza making. Naples, Italy is the birthplace of pizza as we know it here in America (1889), specifically the margarita style pizza. Cary got a job working at Sorbillo, a 3rd generation owned pizzeria in Naples, to be trained and learn how to make genuine Neapolitan pizza. Sorbillo was located on a street called "Via Tribunali", which is where they got the name for what became the Seattle pizza chain. To be a "Certified Neapolitan" pizzeria, there are a series of standards that need to be met, from the type of flour used, to limiting the ingredients in the dough to only flour, yeast, salt & water (nothing more), to the requirement of using a wood-fired pizza oven. It's also required to use a different kind of yeast (fresh cold yeast) for the dough and a "cold rise" or "slow rise" process, which takes several days longer to proof. This proofing process makes the dough very delicate and it takes a specific skill-set to be able to work with it (it takes several months to become proficient, so they can't just hire a pizza maker from a New York style pizzeria, like Pagliacci, to come over and be able to make Neapolitan style pizzas).

• What do you love most about what you do? Being part of the community and being able to participate in community charity events like the annual Taste of West Seattle,happing May 25th, 2017 (Taste of West Seattle is a fundraiser event for the West Seattle Helpline - listen to WS Helpline's Executive Director, Chris Langeler's podcast interview on Episode 26)
• What was most surprising or unexpected with opening your own business? Wasn't expecting to be as busy right away, as they were... and credits the West Seattle Blog in helping build the interest and anticipation prior to Pizzeria 22's opening.
• What is your biggest challenge now? Staffing is the on-going challenge. It seems like these days, it's hard just to get applicants to show up for their scheduled interviews. There is also so many restaurants out there that it can be difficult get and keep good employees.
• What set's you apart from other Neapolitan pizzeria's in the area? Cary created his own menu that offers some less traditional toping options and doesn't make the pizza as "wet" as most traditional Neapolitan pizzas are (doesn't put on as much sauce and strains the fresh mozzarella to drain some of the water from it).
• What is the best advice you have ever received? One of Cary's mentors is Vince Mottola (who started and owns Pizzeria Pulcinella on Rainier Ave). Vince's dad started the famous South End Vince's Restaurants in 1957 (Burien, Federal Way and Renton). Cary helped Vince open Pizzeria Pulcinella and when Cary started Pizzeria 22, Vince told Cary that success in business "is not a sprint, it's a marathon"... you have to make decisions based on the long term.
• Parting Guidance - "It's ok to send it back". In the days of yelp and other online reviews... if you ever have a bad dinning experience, it's way more helpful to raise the issue at the time and give the restaurant an opportunity to correct the issue. Rather then the increasingly more common method of posting a nasty review on multiple sites or smearing the businesses name online or starting a campaign against going to a restaurant without even letting the business know and giving them the chance to make it right.

It's also worth noting that Pizzeria 22 expanded about two years ago and doubled their space by adding "Room 22", a large private dinning space that fits 50 people. It can be reserved for local soccer banquets or whatever and used for private events and is also used as an overflow dinning on regular evenings. There is now plenty of space. Episode Links & Resources:

• Guest's Website: Pizzeria22.com
• Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Pizzeria-22-Ventidue-139885352731246/
• Learn more about Christian, other projects he's working on and his business at: www.Sea-Town.com

Ways to Subscribe to The Sea-Town Podcast:

• "Like" the Sea-Town Podcast FaceBook Page HERE
• Click here to subscribe on iTunes
• Click here to subscribe on Google Play
• Click here to subscribe on TuneIn
• Click here to subscribe on Stitcher

Help Us Spread The Word - Reviews Help a Ton! Thanks for joining me again this week. If you have any tips, suggestions, or comments about this episode - email me at [email protected]. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Thank you! And finally, please leave an honest review for The Sea-Town Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show and I read each and every one of them.

This week's guest is Erin Williamson, the owner of Pier Coffee, a Seattle based cold-brew coffee brewer and distributor. They brew, package and produce their coffee cold and can it for ready to drink applications at grocery stores. The big idea is that when your on the go and grabbing a quick lunch at the grocery store, you shouldn't have to sacrifice having access to gourmet cold-brew coffee... even if it's out of a cold-case. Highlights From This Episode: Erin owned a coffee shop for a long time and after leaving that, she started a nano-brewery out of her laundry room in her house. Pier Coffee is now in a nice large brewing space that they share with Odin Brewing in South Center. The process for brewing cold-brew coffee and gourmet beer are pretty similar, so they take turns using the brewing equipment. They also have a tap-room off of the brewing space where they feature both Odin beers, Pier Coffee's cold brew, along with some food. Erin's transition from from the hands on brewing to more the business operations side of things has been very eye-opening for her. She's having to continually give up that she knows whats best all the time... realizing that she needs to give up control of certain aspects of the business to other people who are better at that aspect of the business then she is, and that she is also there to learn from them and that they are ultimately more successful in the end.

• What do you love most about what you do? Love waking up in the morning, planning out her day and day never ends where she thinks its going to. There is always this joy of unexpected discovery everyday.
• What was most surprising or unexpected with opening your own business? The steps required to grow in something and then the amount of hustle and need to project a certain image of "success" before feeling like your business was actually at that point.
• What is Pier Coffee known for? That Pier Coffee really focuses on the technical aspect of cold-brew and the quality, coffee-sources, roasting & emphases on the brewing process. They also source all their coffee from woman owned coffee farms and cooperatives. Erin loves that they can bring together the technical and community aspect of making good coffee and running the business.
• Where do you see the future of Pier Coffee being? Developing a really strong regional Pacific Northwest Regional presence. With the emphases being on quality and playing up the relationship between really good coffee and beer - tap houses and brewers were traditionally communal meeting areas. A place to exchange ideas and fellowship. In modern times, coffee houses have taken on that role too. Pier Coffee / Odin Brewery's tap-house is a place were you can can get both... and a meal.
• What is your greatest strength? Curiosity. Erin reads about everything and is a big believe that we can fuel our own growth through knowledge. Erin is what she calls, an autodidact, meaning being self taught.
• What habit do you wish you had? To get up when her alarm first goest off.
• What are you passionate about? Too much... Before she was in the coffee world, Erin was a non-profit arts administrator. She tends to get passionate about non-profit volunteer opportunities. She is involved with Ventures Non-Profit (checkout Ep. 28 with Beto Yarce, the Executive Director of Ventures) teaching a weekly class for startup low-income and minority entrepreneurs. She is on the board of the non-profit co-op The Bridge School and just founded a new non-profit, Engender International, with the mission of supporting woman around the world who are in commodity markets, specifically in textile and agriculture.
• What has been your biggest challenge with running Pier Coffee? Discipline. About a year ago they had a product recall which was very difficult to work through and they had to stop and reflect on what they were really trying to do. The lesson learned was that in moments like that, don't get bogged down by focusing everything that needs to happen... just focus on the next step to move you in the right direction. And instead of thinking about the problem as this life shattering devastating moment, think about it as a puzzle and then try to fit the puzzle pieces in to put your picture back together.
• In the past, what was holding you back from becoming the entrepreneur you are today? Erin didn't know that she was one. Christian references the book the changed his business life around - The E-Myth Revisited: Why most small businesses don't work and what to do about it by Michael Gerber
• What is the best advice you have ever received? Think of the wave your riding in life as a sine-wave (as opposed to a triangle-wave) - on a sine-wave, from the top of your peak, you can see your next valley but you can also see another series of peaks and from the valley you can still see your way out. As opposed to a triangle-wave, were the ups & downs are so steep, you can't see your way out. This meaning that if you can keep your rollercoaster of emotion in check in business and life, you will be able to maintain a clearer head and perspective.
• What is a personal habit that contribute to your success? Smiling.
• What is the best advice you have ever received?
• What is your one book recommendation for our listeners?Catherine Gramm's Biography. She was the publisher of The Washington Post during the Watergate era. She was thrust into a position that she was not trained in but ended up thriving in that role... this happens in life sometimes, where being an outsider can give you unique insight and lead to success.
• Parting Guidance - The thing I talk to my clients (at Ventures) about all the time, is that as people our tendency is to focus on what is not going right or what we are not good at and then make plans to correct those but we often reflect on what is going right and what we do well. Spend time focusing on what has been successful and make plans to do more of that - Success reflections and success plans. Do this on a three year cycle because as humans,we tend to overestimate what we can do in 1 year but underestimate what we can do in 3 years.

Episode Links & Resources:

• PierCoffee.com - Available in Whole Foods in WA State, PCC, Metropolitan Market and those types of stores or visit Erin at the Odin Brewing Tap Room in Tukwila during work hours.
• Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Pier-Coffee-1401799176700892/
• Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pier_coffee
• Non-profits that Erin volunteers with: Ventures Non-Profit (checkout Ep. 28 with Beto Yarce, the Executive Director of Ventures) where she teaches a weekly class for low-income and minority startup entrepreneurs. She is on the board of the non-profit co-op The Bridge School and just founded a new non-profit, Engender International, with the mission of supporting woman around the world who are in commodity markets, specifically in textile and agriculture.
• Guest's recommended book: Catherine Gramm's Biography.
• Learn more about Christian, other projects he's working on and his business at: www.Sea-Town.com

Ways to Subscribe to The Sea-Town Podcast:

• "Like" the Sea-Town Podcast FaceBook Page HERE
• Click here to subscribe on iTunes
• Click here to subscribe on Google Play
• Click here to subscribe on TuneIn
• Click here to subscribe on Stitcher

Help Us Spread The Word - Reviews Help a Ton! Thanks for joining me again this week. If you have any tips, suggestions, or comments about this episode - email me at [email protected]. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Thank you! And finally, please leave an honest review for The Sea-Town Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show and I read each and every one of them.

This week's guest is Christian Castro, Co-Owner of Industry Finishes, a new company spinoff to flush out the already great logistical, office furniture & cubical supplies, facility services and IT Services provided by Reliant Group. Highlights From This Episode: Christian Castro talks about the various businesses he has had and his journey as a serial entrepreneur. He ended up here in Seattle when he agreed to help one of his friends grow his fledgling IT business, which brought him from flipping houses and doing IT in Pheonix, AZ to Seattle. Castro talks about what shaped him to be willing to take more risks and put it all on the line to create something from scratch. His parents were from Mexico and migrated her in their late teens. His dad retired at age 64, after starting in agriculture at age 16. He started picking lettuce to buying his own tractor and eventually starting his own agriculture business. His mom financed Christian's first RadioShack computer and it's his parents investment in him and their determination to make it work and figuring out how to make it that has made Christian successful and persistent in squeezing the opportunities out of life's situations. Along the way, what has been your biggest challenges? There is no such thing as an "overnight success". Make a plan but understand that you are going to have to change courses many times along your journey. Castro thinks it's true what they say about Thomas Edison... he found 100 ways on how to NOT make a lightbulb, before he was the first person to make the lightbulb. You will have many failures to get to your success. For Christian, both construction and computers have been passions for him and his challenge is focusing on just a couple opportunities at a time... there are just so many opportunities out there for everyone, the real struggle is just focusing on one at a time. At the end of day, if he was retired and could just do whatever he wanted, he would probably just focus on building houses. What is your biggest challenge now? Christian wants to make sure they have the right people on the bus and in the right seats on the bus (to use the "Good To Great" verbiage). Some people want perfection and want to retain 100% of their customers... Christian is actually of the reverse philosophy: You've got to let go of the worse 5% to make room for the better 10% so you can focus on quality growth. Though things are changing so rapidly with technology and business, it's still well worth the time and energy to develop out a 5 year plan. As Christian is getting older, he is really seeing the importance in investing his time in the things that are important to him and he wants to partner with the right people and not get stuck in a "bad business marriage". Scott (the owner of Reliant Group), says at the end of his regular meetings that, "I want you to go out today and fail somewhere", because that means the employees are making decisions and the only way one can learn is by making decisions. They empower the employees to be invested in the company by allowing them to be part of the decision making and not micro-managing.

• What is your greatest strength? Being able to see an issue from many different perspectives but is able to assess it quickly to make a decision.
• What habit do you wish you had? Better and clearer timely execution of decisions.
• What boundaries have you setup to keep from being distracted by technology or other time suckers? Prioritizing opportunities - committing to particular opportunities and putting the blinders on to ignore the other opportunities so they can stay focused and keep quality high.
• What is the best advice you have ever received? Work hard now so you don't have to work hard later.
• Do you listen to podcasts? What are your favorites? Casey Neistat
• What is your one book recommendation for our listeners? "Emotional Intelligence" by Daniel Coleman or "Emotional Intelligence 2.0" by Travis Bradberry & Jean Greaves
• Parting Guidance - "We all think that we have time... but we don't" and this becomes truer and truer every day of our lives. They say everyday like its your last day because one day this will be true.

Episode Links & Resources:

• Contact Christian at [email protected]
• Reliant Group
• Industry Finishes
• Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reliant-Group-229137833919664/
• Learn more about Christian, other projects he's working on and his business at: www.Sea-Town.com

Ways to Subscribe to The Sea-Town Podcast:

• "Like" the Sea-Town Podcast FaceBook Page HERE
• Click here to subscribe on iTunes
• Click here to subscribe on Google Play
• Click here to subscribe on TuneIn
• Click here to subscribe on Stitcher

Help Us Spread The Word - Reviews Help a Ton! Thanks for joining me again this week. If you have any tips, suggestions, or comments about this episode - email me at [email protected]. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Thank you! And finally, please leave an honest review for The Sea-Town Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show and I read each and every one of them.

This week's guest is Chris Smith, Owner of LowerCase Brewing. You can get their beer on tap at The Copper Coin & Coastline Burger in West Seattle... or better yet, grab a bear at their new (Nov. 2016) taproom in Georgetown. Highlights From This Episode:

• LowerCase Brewing opened it's doors in January of 2014 in the South Park neighborhood of Seattle with a taproom in Georgetown. The only place you can get their beer on tap outside of their tap room is at The Copper Coin and Coastline Burger's (Coastline Interviewed on Episode 12 of the Sea-Town Podcast) in West Seattle.
• Like many Seattle breweries, LowerCase Brewing started off as a home brewing operations and simply called to where they are today... from brewing 5 gallon of beer to 500 gallons at a time.
• Chris relocated from Tampa, AZ to Seattle for work (developing training for Starbucks) and decided to "do as the Seattleites do", so he started rowing crew and learning how to home brew beer.
• What do you love most about what you do? Chris loves the variability of owning his own business and all the various skills and challenges he has to learn and adapt to.
• Traditionally, with the competitive nature of the WA brewing scene, tap rooms have largely been thought of as secondary, with wholesale being the primary focus... But this is starting to change as the marketplace for tap-rooms becomes more accessible to smaller breweries and a much larger potential for revenue (The margins on beer are fantastic).
• What was your biggest challenges when first starting the business? Raising capital. The original idea was to have a growler to go space but it eventually grew into a full-blown tap-room simply out of necessity based on the real estate spaces available. The tap room opened in November of 2017.
• What is your biggest challenge now? The amount of check-boxes required to create and operate a new business in today's business climate is really challenging. It's about being scrappy and understanding what you need and what you don't need to make it and effectively run a business... take it one step at a time and don't try to boil the ocean.
• What set's you apart from others in your industry? LowerCase Brewing tries to be about simplicity and just about brewing good simple beer. They don't make a ton of different beers... they brew 9 different styles of beer to try and appeal to every type of beer drinker.
• Beer 101 - Most people would be familiar with lagers, because most large domestic beers are lagers (which take longer time to make or more time to "turn a tank"), but a beer like an Ale, takes less time to make and has more flavor complexity. Pale Ales (especially IPAs) are hoppyier, dark beers (like porters or stouts) tend to be sweeter.
• The first 90 minutes of each day look like... coffee! Chis isn't "dependent", so to speak, but he really gets excited about having his coffee the next morning. About 50% of his day is planned, while the rest is being agile and getting done what needs to get done.
• What is your greatest strength? Tenacity and (overly) optimistic.

Chris talks about another successful local business owner he knows: James Barrington, owner of the original Seattle food truck, Hallava Falafel and partner in Woodshop Bar-B-Q and Bread and Circuses, is mentioned as being cut from the same cloth as Chris and having been quoted as saying, "I may not be the smartest business owner or the most talented... but I'll outwork them all. I'll hustle". But Chris points out that success is not just a one dimensional thing or about how hard you can work. You also need to be able to tell a story, ability to organize, ability to access capital, ability to engage other people... it's so multi-fascinated. There are tons of failed businesses that had really hard working owners.

• What habit do you wish you had? He wishes he was a better communicator. He has a tendency to take tasks and projects from inspection through execution... and then realizes he never really told anyone about it, which can not be so great when you have business partners and investors to keep in the loop.
• What are you passionate about? People and making sure they understand the potential that each one of us posses to accomplish pretty much anything they want to... even though sometimes we are socialized to not believe that. Gary Vaynerchuk talks about how we live in such an amazing time where the average person has the most opportunity then in any society that has ever existed. Christian says that it takes a whole bunch of factors coming together just right (and your only in control of some of those factors), for a business NOT to fail - The default state is failure... simply meaning it's tough to start and run you own business and requires a lot of sacrifice.
• What is the best advice you have ever received? Be patient. Building a business takes time. Stick to your guns and eventually you'll build momentum and success.
• What is a personal habit that contribute to your success? Enthusiasm.
• What is your one book recommendation for our listeners? Anything by Malcom Gladwell. He writes about human behavior and what motivates us to do what we do.
• Parting Guidance - "Don't be afraid of failure. You will have small failures and small successes... and as long as you have more successes then failures, you'll be ok. Break it down and just take it one step at a time".

Episode Links & Resources:

• Guest's Website: www.Lowercasebrewing.com
• Like on Facebook: www.facebook.com/lowercasebrewing
• Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lowercasebeer
• Go visit LowerCase Brewing's new taproom in George Town and have some taste beer at 6235 Airport Way South, Seattle
• James Barrington, owner of the original Seattle food truck, Hallava Falafel and partner in Woodshop Bar-B-Q and Bread and Circuses, is mentioned as being cut from the same clothe as Chris and having been quoted as saying, "I may not be the smartest business owner or the most talented... but I'll outwork them all. I'll hustle".
• Learn more about Christian, other projects he's working on and his business at: www.Sea-Town.com

Ways to Subscribe to The Sea-Town Podcast:

• "Like" the Sea-Town Podcast FaceBook Page HERE
• Click here to subscribe on iTunes
• Click here to subscribe on Google Play
• Click here to subscribe on TuneIn
• Click here to subscribe on Stitcher

Help Us Spread The Word - Reviews Help a Ton! Thanks for joining me again this week. If you have any tips, suggestions, or comments about this episode - email me at [email protected]. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Thank you! And finally, please leave an honest review for The Sea-Town Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show and I read each and every one of them.

This week's guest is Brad Loetel, the co-owner of West Seattle Cyclery, which opened in 2013 in West Seattle's Alaska Junction. After many years in the software industry, he decided to transition and his passion for cycling has driven his desire to create a bike shop which provides great customer service and gives back to the community. Highlights From This Episode:

• After leaving the software industry, Brad managed a couple different bike shops in the Seattle area since 2009 and in 2013, an opportunity arose for him to open his own shop in West Seattle.
• What do you love most about what you do? Working with the customers and he loves cycling... being able open the shop, he was able to put cycling back into his regular life rhythms.
• Some bike shops have the reputation of not being very personable and it's ridiculous that a bike shop would talk down to or belittle their customers. With having worked on the retail side for companies like REI and Apple that are very customer service focused, he really saw the value and benefit of a business centered around the customers experience (very similar customer service values as Dave McCoy, owner of Emerald Water Anglers expressed during his interview on Episode 24). Brad is good friends with Reed, the manager at Dave's shop. They race together on the same cycling team and even helped bust a guy that was stealing from both of their shops (making it onto the West Seattle Blog).
• One of the reasons West Seattle is so great is because of all the small businesses that give it such a "small town" and homey feel. It's not like the Eastside, where the majority of the businesses are owned by large corporations but it also makes it very challenging for West Seattle business to compete with larger corporations.
• What was your biggest challenges when first starting business? Challenging his vendors and staff that their is a certain level of service and quality that he expects at West Seattle Cyclery. Also, with so many moving pieces in running your own business, it can be hard to stay on track and easy to get distracted.
• What is your biggest challenge now? Competing with online retailers and companies flooding the outdoor market with "grey market" products (bike accessories being sold out the back door of larger companies at or below cost). Many times those "great deals" on online bike parts are missing pieces because they were designed to go with a specific bike... and the bike owner has to spend additional money on the parts it didn't come with to make it work and it ends up being a bigger headache and cost them more then it would of had they bought it in a local bike shop or from an authorized distributor.
• What set's you apart from others in your industry? Great customer service, only sell bikes and accessories that are good quality that they stand behind. The bike owner/client knows what they are getting is going to be right for them, develop a trusting relationship with them and that they are supporting a local small business and supporting the community.
• What is your greatest strength? Being able to adapt to needed changes... being agile enough to adjust quickly.
• What habit do you wish you had? To be better at asking a few more questions to get to the root of an issue with employee and vendor relationships.
• What is a personal habit that contribute to your success? Being outgoing and nice to people... even when he is in a bad mood or things weren't going the way they should have been.
• What boundaries have you setup to keep from being distracted by technology or other time suckers? Brad tries to be intentional about taking a break (for himself and his employees) from work to do something else for a few minutes to reset and be able to come back and focus on his work better... otherwise the work suffers.
• What is the best advice you have ever received? Brad's dad and grandfather really instilled a strong work ethic and taught him to work smart and always do it right the first time (don't take shortcuts).
• What is your one book recommendation for our listeners? "The Design of Everyday Things" by Donald Norman - Great for someone looking to create a business that is customer-centric.
• Parting Guidance - "Get out and ride your bike 😉 ".

Episode Links & Resources:

• Guest's Website: http://westseattlecyclery.com
• Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/westseattlecyclery/
• Recommended book: The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman
• Learn more about Christian, other projects he's working on and his business at: www.Sea-Town.com

Ways to Subscribe to The Sea-Town Podcast:

• "Like" the Sea-Town Podcast FaceBook Page HERE
• Click here to subscribe on iTunes
• Click here to subscribe on Google Play
• Click here to subscribe on TuneIn
• Click here to subscribe on Stitcher

Help Us Spread The Word - Reviews Help a Ton! Thanks for joining me again this week. If you have any tips, suggestions, or comments about this episode - email me at [email protected]. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Thank you! And finally, please leave an honest review for The Sea-Town Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show and I read each and every one of them.

This week's guest is Matt Greenfield, owner of QED Coffee. QED Coffee started as a wholesale coffee roaster and now has multiple locations in the Mt. Baker and West Seattle neighborhoods. They really excel at perfecting the flavor of their coffee through the roasting and brewing process, while also providing the customer with a great experience. Highlights From This Episode:

• QED started in 2012 as a wholesale coffee roaster.
• Matt met and partnered with Jason Venhuizen in 2013 and decided to put together plans for opening a cafe, which they opened in 2015 in the Mt. Baker neighborhood of Seattle. They just opened their second QED Coffee cafe close to the Morgan Junction in West Seattle at the end of 2016.

What do you love most about what you do? There are so many facets to owning your own business and since the gourmet coffee industry is only about 25 years old, there are still a lot of things to be figured out and not a lot of absolutes... So there is this aspect of getting to play with things and experiment with all the factors that make for a great coffee (different coffee beans, from different places, processed differently, different roasting techniques and brewing techniques... all have huge impact on the finished coffee's characteristics and taste).

• So from the technical side of things, there are many ways to geek out over the roasting and brewing of the coffee but at the end of the day, it's just coffee that tons of people enjoy daily. He being able to simply make that connection with people by handing them a delicious cup of coffee for them to enjoy.
• Matt also really enjoys serving people and making connections. They have their cafe's in neighborhood locations so they can be part of those neighborhoods and build the community connections with their regular customers.

Matt has a Bachelors Degree in Pure Mathematics and the name his business, "QED", is a mathematical term used at the end of a solved mathematical proof. It is an abbreviation for a Latin phrase, meaning "That which was to be proven"... which is basically a sign of completion (not to mean it is the best thing period, but rather that this is what they decided to show and share with their customers... this is what they wanted to do with these coffees). Matt gives a little history lesson on the relatively new rise in popularity of gourmet coffee and the "waves of coffee" trends.

• There are examples of pockets across the nation (and in Seattle), that have been making espresso 25 or 30 years ago (before the rise of Starbucks brought it to the masses.
• First Wave - Black coffee at home.
• Second Wave - Lattes, Macchiatos and such (Italian made machines imported for specialty coffee drinks)
• Third Wave - People started modifying the equipment to do different and customizable things.
• While there are some places with high-turn over (more of a job) but being a barista and working in coffee is now a viable career option... and that is what places like QED, Stumptown, Victrola and Cafe Fiore do, where they have employees that have been there for a very long time, providing a wealth of experience and coffee knowledge.

What in your estimation is the difference between what creates a "this is just a job" environment vs. the longer term invested employee?

1. The management and owners need to create a culture that takes care of their employees and strives to understand the unique challenges that people in the service industry have (inconsistent hours/shifts, no-paid vacations, avoiding employee burnout, etc).
2. The engagement of knowledge - Providing employees opportunities to learn about the product, how it's made, tasting it, asking questions of them... so they are engaged in what they are doing, who they are doing it and how to best serve and engage with both the product and customer.

Summarized: Matt's vision for QED Coffee is to have a high focus to detail... both on the details of taking care of people; their employees and customers and the details that go into roasting and serving delicious gourmet coffee. One issue with the top 1% of quality coffee places in the country, are not enjoyable places to get coffee due to their pretension... the customer may not be familiar with how they are suppose to order there drink and the barista will be condescending and snarky that the customer doesn't order "right" or use the right terms... And QED Coffee will never tolerate this sort of attitude.

• He uses the classic example of the "Carmel Macchiato" (which was popularized by Starbucks but is different then the classic Italian beverage) and how some specialty coffee shops try to shame customers that order "wrong".
• What is your biggest challenge now? Time. Not enough of it. Matt is working 6+ days a week... but normally, the challenge is staffing. Initially he only hired part time barista's but he found they were very vested and now all of QED's employees are full time and they are very supportive of each other and the shop.
• What set's you apart from others in your industry? Coffee wise, he tries to bridge the gap between the traditional and new school trends in roasting to give a well rounded, unique and consistent flavors. He goes deep in the weeds in the difference between single origin coffees and blends (Matt only does blends to blend the best body flavors with different notes and characteristics). Good coffee isn't about the function of getting caffeine into your body... it's suppose to be an experience.
• What is your greatest strength? Given the right tools, he can solve any problem (this is the basis of Pure Mathematics, the subject
• What are you passionate about? Coffee. The Bean... getting the roast right, getting the brew right. There isn't a "correct" answer but there is a best answer for right now. The problem solving involved in getting the coffee tasting just right today.
• What's in store for QED Coffee? Still building the whole sale accounts and working on a secret larger cafe roaster location.
• Parting Guidance - "If it was easy, everyone would do it". It's a well known saying but it's something he has to remind himself of it sometimes.

Episode Links and Resources:

• Guest's Website: www.qedcoffee.com
• QED Coffee details:
• • Mt. Baker Ridge location: open 6am-6pm with traditional cafe fare (coffee, pastries, sandwiches + beer & wine)
  • West Seattle location (shared with Harry's Fried Chicken, which is open in the evenings): open 6am-2pm weekdays with coffee and pastries
• Like on Facebook: www.facebook.com/coffee.proven/
• Follow on Twitter: twitter.com/QEDCoffee
• Employee scheduling app/service - www.deputy.com
• Favorite podcast(s) - My Favorite Murder, Last Podcast on the Left & Race Invaders by his friend Aloc Desai.
• Learn more about Christian, other projects he's working on and his business at: www.Sea-Town.com

Ways to Subscribe to The Sea-Town Podcast:

• "Like" the Sea-Town Podcast FaceBook Page HERE
• Click here to subscribe on iTunes
• Click here to subscribe on Google Play
• Click here to subscribe on TuneIn
• Click here to subscribe on Stitcher

Help Us Spread The Word - Reviews Help a Ton! Thanks for joining me again this week. If you have any tips, suggestions, or comments about this episode - email me at [email protected]. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Thank you! And finally, please leave an honest review for The Sea-Town Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show and I read each and every one of them.

This week's guest is Beto Yarce, the Executive Director of the Seattle non-profit, Ventures. Ventures helps low income entrepreneurs start their own businesses, through micro-loans, training, mentorship, incubators and on-going support. They empower aspiring entrepreneurs with limited resources and unlimited potential to improve their lives through small business ownership. Highlights From This Episode:

• Ventures helps low income entrepreneurs start their own businesses.
• Ventures was founded in 1995 by Peter Rose after visiting Bangladesh and started it as a micro-loan program for underserved communities: People of color, immigrants, refugees and others who did not have access to capital to start their own businesses.
• The big idea is to help eliminate poverty through self-employment & micro enterprise... providing a hand-up instead of giving a hand-out.
• Over the years, they have transformed the organization from just providing micro-loans as a CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution) to focusing on providing training and education on how to start a business to more advanced business developing programs, technical assistance, coaching, incubators and on-going support.
• How did Beto come to be at Ventures?
• • Beto has been the Executive Director for 2.5 years but has been working with Ventures for 9 years.
  • Beto was a Mexican immigrant 13 years ago and an entrepreneur who had a lot of ideas and dreams and was looking for opportunities to start his own business.
  • He started his own business selling jewelry and folk art from Mexico at Farmer's Markets.
  • He started volunteering with the Seattle non-profit group, Casa-Latina, because as an immigrant, he really understood the challenges of starting his own business in another country.
  • After running his own business for 5 years and volunteering with Casa-Latina, Ventures contacted him to be the lead on helping them establish their Latino program (all the programs that they offer in Spanish at Ventures) and worked in 4 different positions at Ventures before becoming the ED.
  • They currently offer their programs and training in both English and Spanish but no matter the language, the training is culturally appropriate for people of all backgrounds and ethnicities. They want to make sure to respect and understand the people they are serving.
• The Ventures Process - Ventures gets most of their new clients via word of mouth from prior clients who have been through their training and started businesses.
• • It starts with their free "Get Ready For Business Workshop" (GRB) - A 4 hour workshop explaining who Ventures is, why they exist, where they get their funding, etc. and they go over some basics on what it takes to start your own business and what the requirements are to qualify for their programs.
  • Qualifications for clients (need to meet all three qualifications):
  • 1. They have to be clear on ONE business idea to focus on (as entrepreneurs, you usually have a multitude of ideas for new businesses).
    2. They have to have some experience in the industry they want to start a business in.
    3. They need to be low income, according to the King County HUD Subsidized Housing Eligibility (currently it's defined as a family of three living on $24,400 a year or less - 30% of Area Median Income [AMI]).
  • If they qualify, they can then apply for a spot in their 8 week Business Development Training (BDT) program.
  • • When they graduate from this training, they have a business plan with their financial, marketing plan and operations plan.
    • While the training itself is great, it's also great to see the development of the confidence in the individuals in the training, as they also begin believing in themselves to start and run their own business.
  • After graduating from the 8 week BDT program, they then have access to Advanced Services:
  • • On-going support, coaching, legal clinics, advanced marketing, advanced operations, a 14 week financial management training program were they learn about both personal and business finance and the incubation program to help them test out their products, food or services business ideas.
    • They have 3 incubators for new business owners who graduate from their program (For 3 different types of businesses: Retail, Food and Services)
    • • The Retail incubator is a storefront located in Pike Place market, so the new business owners have access to markets where they can sell and test out their products. (This includes coaching about packaging, marketing, wholesale selling, etc)
      • The Food incubator provides access to a commercial kitchen at a discounted price and fully outfitted, licensed and permitted food truck that their clients can rent for $100 per day to see if it's a good fit for their new business.
      • The Services incubator is hosting their own "Angie's List" style platform on their site, helping connect their new service businesses with new clients.
    • They still provide micro-loans to their clients for their new businesses, if they need them, from $1,000 to $35,000.
    • • Additional programs include providing a credit card to help them improve their credit score, and many more...
• Their biggest challenges - Helping Ventures' funders and individual donors understand that this is a long term process for the clients and that their investment dollars take longer to garner results then other models of non-profit, as they are working with a population that has been underserved and in poverty for generations.
• • It's not like a non-profit that provides shelter for those needing it, where you are immediately solving the problem and see results.
  • Ventures provides a long-term solution through their training, services and teaching life-skills that result in a "hand-up", not just a temporally useful "hand-out".
  • Ventures sees that on average, clients that have been working with them for 18 months see their income increase 40% and are off public assistance... with the client having broken the cycle of poverty for them and their family.
• Ventures is funding through federal, state and local grants, private foundations, as well as generate their own income through their store in Pike Place and charge a little bit for their classes and loans. And as any non-profit organization, they do their own fund-raising efforts (in 2016, they doubled their goal for fund-raising).
• Some Stats:
• • Ventures serves roughly 800 clients per year.
  • 71% of their clients are people of color.
  • 30% of their clients are Latina.
  • 68% of their clients are woman.
  • 98% of their clients are low-income.
• The clients business success varies but the real metric for Ventures is how many of their clients do they help get out of poverty and how many of their clients are growing their business through the help of Ventures.
• In 2017, Ventures is going to start tracking how many of their clients end up deciding that being an entrepreneur is not for them but end up increasing their income and getting out of poverty regardless, by becoming better employees with better jobs due to the life-skills and training they received at Ventures.
• What doe you love best about what you do at Ventures?
• • Their clients and hearing their stories, hopes and dreams - Seeing the eagerness of the clients, seeing the transformation, hearing the stories about wanting to be able to provide better for their families, they have the dream of sending their kids to college, want to buy their families first house or go on vacation because their kids have never seen the ocean.
  • There are also very challenging stories like when they hear about someone who is going to be deported or someone who doesn't have the money to pay their rent.
  • Beto also loves the team he gets to work with each day at Ventures - they all share the same passion for what they do.
• What is the biggest challenges that new immigrants to N. America face? Immigrants don't know how to navigate the system and it takes many of them too long to learn the language and culture and be able to effectively function and navigate. There is no school on how to be an immigrant and make it in your new place. You want to do something good with your life, which is why someone decides to leave everything behind; your language, your food, your family, your home... everything that is familiar and comfortable to you... in pursuit of "The American Dream". When someone gets to the new country, how do you navigate the system and "learn the ropes" of a place your not familiar with, a culture your not familiar with and a language that you don't speak or at best, is your second language. Even if they speak the language, It can be overwhelming.
• The best advice they have received - Never stop learning. Professional development and continual education is so important.

Episode Links & Resources:

• http://venturesnonprofit.org - office number - 206-352-1945
• Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/venturesnonprofit/
• Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/VenturesNP
• http://casa-latina.org
• Learn more about Christian, other projects he's working on and his business at: www.Sea-Town.com

Ways to Subscribe to The Sea-Town Podcast:

• "Like" the Sea-Town Podcast FaceBook Page HERE
• Click here to subscribe on iTunes
• Click here to subscribe on Google Play
• Click here to subscribe on TuneIn
• Click here to subscribe on Stitcher

Help Us Spread The Word - Reviews Help a Ton! Thanks for joining me again this week. If you have any tips, suggestions, or comments about this episode - email me at [email protected]. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Thank you! And finally, please leave an honest review for The Sea-Town Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show and I read each and every one of them.

This week's guest is Amanda Hightower, the Executive Director of the Seattle non-profit Real Escape from the Sex Trade (REST). REST's mission is to provide pathways to freedom, safety and hope for victims of sex trafficking and people involved in the sex trade. Highlights From This Episode:

• RESTs mission is to "provide pathways to freedom, safety and hope for victims of sex trafficking & people involved in the sex trade".
• They are a faith-based non-profit doing direct services providing opportunities for people who have been trafficked in the sex trade locally to have a place where they can escape the sex trade and start to rebuild their life and pursue their goals.
• Many people are shocked to find out that sex trafficking in Seattle is such a problem, as many of us assume it's something that happens "out there" in foreign countries and such.
  • Some Seattle stats on sex trafficking:
    • 300-500 youth trafficked in Seattle each night.
    • 3,000+ adults trafficked in Seattle each night.
• How did you become aware of the issue in the Seattle area? - In 2007, Amanda was working with Homeless Youth and Young Adults and was doing street outreach to sexually exploited women on N. Aurora. As she was working with these woman involved in prostitution, she realized that the barrier was so significant for them to be able to leave the sex trade that everyone she talked to wanted out but didn't have the opportunity or means to get out. Often times, there was a trafficker or pimp keeping them physically or emotionally bound. She felt that they needed to do something different then what they were doing for just generally homeless youth or people experiencing drug addiction, so they could provide better opportunities for them to exit the sex-trade.
• What led you from just being aware of the needs of woman in the sex-trade and their desire to exit it, to founding REST?
  • in 2008, she moved from the Eastside to downtown Seattle and got involved with a church that had more of a "mercy and social justice vibe" to it and brought this need for outreach to woman involved in prostitution and in 2009, they started doing direct outreach on the streets, in strip clubs and bikini barista stands.
  • The initial goals of REST:
    • To build relationships with woman in the sex-trades and build trust.
    • Find out their needs.
    • Help them connect with resources.
    • In connecting them to resources, they also saw what resources worked, didn't work and where there were gaps in the resources needed
      • Their growth became focused around what resources where needed and how to provide those.
• Common themes and needs that they found woman in the sex-trades have:
  • A safe place to go, shelter, housing, beds.
  • Due to the layers and layers of trauma that come with being in the sex-trade... many woman also have a history of abuse prior to being exploited.
    • These layers of trauma can make adapting to mainstream services very difficult or services don't know how to accommodate what this trauma recover looks like.
• What did REST do in light of these needs? -
  • They knew they needed to provide safe places for woman to go to where they could recover, ride the up & down waves of that recovery, be welcomed back even if they left because they know it takes a long time to recover.
  • They invited the woman whom they were serving to inform them about what they needed and what was and wasn't working for them.
  • Coupled with the actual serving the woman, was a lot of research around all the aspects that often come into play... like drug addiction, physiological effects of this type of trauma, mental illness & how to provide the best quality of care that will be most effective and not just rely on the "good intentions" of their efforts.
• They realized they needed to figure out a way to make a shelter space work for woman who were dealing with the specific trauma responses common in woman coming out of the sex-trade.
  • When someone experiences years and years of trauma, their brain gets stuck in "fight or flight" mode, so the littlest thing, even though not a danger, may trigger that response (so many conventional shelter situations don't work for them... they may only stay for a night or two before they leave).
  • REST opened their 6 bed residential program in 2012, where woman can stay up to a year, where they each get their own room (long-term while in recovery).
  • REST opened their 7 bed emergency receiving center/shelter last month (Nov. 2016) to meet the immediate needs (short term while stabilizing).
• The residential program is not a graduated program like Seattle's Union Gospel Mission's (UGM) Re:novo house.
  • The woman who stay in these long-term shelter are likely in the very beginning of their recovery journey.
  • Instead of having classes to attend all day, they help them build their individualized program based on what they say is most important to them to work on... like education, getting a job or getting a child back, who may be in the system.
    • REST adapters their weekly schedule around what is most important to them to help them restore their sense of agency and control over their own lives.
    • Because the program is centered around what they want to do, it helps them want to stay in the program and shelter. When someone goes from years and years of chaos and crisis, it can feel really uncomfortable to be in a stable environment... it doesn't feel normal.
    • The make sure their is trauma counseling and life-skills activities and survivor support groups.

The services that REST provides:

• Street and text outreach - They still do some street outreach but have partnered with a technology company and now do mostly text outreach, as the majority of soliciting for prostitution has moved from the streets to online.
  • They are able to use technology to comb "personal escort" sites for the phone numbers of the "call girls" and send texts to them from one of their volunteers, who used to be in the sex-trade (currently they send out about 250 texts per week).
    • The text message will be something to the effect of, "Hi, I used to be in the sex-trade for x years, I'm out now. We serve individuals who are trying to get out of the life themselves and would love to chat if your interested or if you need anything."
• Community Advocates - They meet with woman out in the community, who are trying to get connected with services but don't necessarily come to their drop-in center or call the hotline.
• Emergency (short-term) and Residential (long-term) shelters / safe spaces.
• Relocation services - Help someone move out of the area if their pimp or trafficker is local and posses a threat to them.
• Prevention Team - Goes into juvenile detention centers and works with young boys and girls in the justice system who will learn from their team about gender based violence and do prevention work around exploration to help train young boys and girls to work agains exploitation... not just avoid it.
• Quarterly community training - Geared towards raising awareness about the sex-trade and what they can do get involved with helping fight against the sex-trade and the elements that empower it (societal messages that encourage the objectification of woman, pornography, girls with low self-esteem, guys who don't respect woman, ect).
• Ambassador program - help inform and empower people to be able to carry forward the message and raise awareness in their workplace and community.

Current size and scope of REST:

• 31 employees & around 50 volunteers
• Serve 80-100 woman & sometimes boys per month.
• Receive about 40 hotline calls per month.
• Since REST started, they have worked with around 1,400 women.

Common Themes for woman who end up in the sex-trade:

• One of the primary reasons they have seen woman get involved in the sex trade is because of an abusive relationship.
  • An older man approaches a younger and vulnerable younger woman or girl and sells this dream of a fantasy life together in a loving relationship, she actually believes they are in a romantic relationship and maybe she is running away from a dysfunctional or abusive home life or is in the foster system and so doesn't really have any roots anymore.
    • The "relationship" makes her feel like she belongs, like she is somebody, like she is seen, loved and valued... sometimes for the first time and is promised all these things that she has not been able to have... so she gets swept up into this fantasy and promises of this dream.
  • It can be weeks or months down the road and then he'll ask her to prostitute, "I just need you to do with one thing for me this one time"... and then it becomes a regular thing with the promise of, "this is how we are going to make our dreams come true even faster".
• There are numerous ways that he can coerce her into engaging in a commercial sex act and because of her emotional attachment to him, even if she doesn't want to do it, there is such a connection to the idea of that dream someday coming true, that she'll stay.
• A lot of psychological coercion, manipulation and shame is used to keep her in this situation.
• This isn't always the story but it's not uncommon.
  • Sometimes it's a family member forcing their child to be involved in prostitution or actual forced servitude using kidnaping and drugs used to keep them in the life.
• Because it is often a relationship (as mixed up and abusive as it is) that got them into this exploitive position... it will be a relationship that is able to get them out.
  • The main need they see with everyone they work with is the need for healthy trusting relationships. A sense of belonging. A sense of community. Having a meaningful purpose with other people again.
    • As these meaningful and fulfilling relationships gets stronger in their lives, there is less of a draw pulling on these woman back into a relationship with a trafficker.
• Their need for economic stability... the ability for them to make money in a job.
• In such a heavy and emotionally draining field of work, What keeps you going? - Those times we we get to walk around and see evidence of healing and recovery happening. When walking through their spaces and hearing laughter and bonding, she gets little glimpses of hope being restored. When she hears about their woman getting a job or getting their first car, they take the time to celebrate each of these milestones, as they are significant in these woman's lives towards their own personal independence and self-sufficiency. Digging into her faith is also really important, as they do this work out of their faith convictions about how everyone is a child of God and image-bearers of God... worth of personal dignity and freedom.
  • Because the work of REST is faith driven, they want to make sure they don't become the "saviors" of these woman. They recognize that they have a part to play in bringing opportunities of freedom, safety and hope and sharing hope and compassion to some of the most vulnerable people in our community but also recognizing that she is not the savior and will not be the one to solve this whole problem...

• Additional events like Dressember are great in helping bring awareness to the existence and problem of sex-trafficking.
• Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST) is a partner of RESTs - aligns and equips leaders to use the power of business to prevent human trafficking.

• Pornography has largely become acceptable and mainstream in our culture and has had a huge negative impact on the culture's attitudes regarding men objectifying woman.
  • The average age for boys to first view porn is 11 years old.
  • The nature of porn is addictive and leads people to need more and more extreme sex-acts to get the same effect and it does't take long before the sex-acts get pretty violent and extreme and eventually the porn viewing isn't enough and they desire to act out it out.
  • The young mail mind sees this and thinks this is normal, expected and what woman want... they expect to live this out sexually in their relationships. When they find out that the woman they are in relationships with are not ok with those sorts of aggressive and violent sex-acts... but they still want to play these acts out in real life, so purchasing sex is the next step when porn no longer does it for them. (Obviously not everyone who views porn is going to purchase sex but it is an on-ramp to this and fosters an unhealthy and violent attitude towards woman).
  • Plenty of former "porn star" actresses have come out about the damage that participating in porn has done to them and the effects it has.
  • It's common to hear from girls and woman whom REST has worked with, that porn videos where used to "train" them to how they needed to act and what they needed to do... and even filming the prostitution and selling it as pornography.
  • All this to say that not all porn is between consensual adults or something the girls would be doing if they had other options.

What can I or the listeners do to help and make a difference in this?

• Join one of their quarterly Training Days & becoming an ambassador in your workplace and community to talk about these issues and raise awareness.
• Become a volunteer with REST or partner organization.
• Volunteer with their drop-in center, where they provide a meal Monday - Thursday night were folks can bring a meal and provide for the woman.
• Give a financial gift.

Episode Links & Resources:

• Guest's Website: https://iwantrest.com
• Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wewantrest
• Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/iwantREST
• Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST)
• Homeless Youth and Young Adults
• Dressember
• XXX Church - Resources for breaking the chain of porn addiction and other sex related issues or addictions.
• Learn more about Christian, other projects he's working on and his business at: www.Sea-Town.com

Ways to Subscribe to The Sea-Town Podcast:

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