We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Bridget & Andrew (reichhart) Laing a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Bridget & Andrew with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
I would say that both of us were fortunate to take part in activities and have opportunities early in life that made us develop a strong work ethic. We learned from family, sports, academics, and life in general about what working hard felt like, more intrinsically than anything else. When you know what you can do, or at least believe in your own potential, you’re not happy with yourself if you know you had more to give. Once you start a pattern of high work ethic, anything else just feels bad. You taste success in whatever field, and know that to keep achieving, you’ve got to put it all out there…not just occasionally, but all day every day. We learned early on that everyone naturally has different talents, strengths, weaknesses, academic opportunities, financial situations….some things are out of your control as you’re growing up….but work ethic? That’s up to you no matter who you are or where you come from.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
When Andrew and I first began dating (2010), we learned early on we shared a dream to someday (retirement?) own a coffee shop. We both love community and contributing positively to the world around us, especially our little piece of it. When the opportunity came up to buy a coffee shop/restaurant, the timing could not have been better for us (2018). I was looking to get back into work after having our first two children, and Andrew was looking for something that took him away from home a little less (he was coaching tennis at Harvard at the time and was away a lot). We’re also into real estate investing, so one day when he was browsing commercial listings from our home in Boston, he texted me a screenshot of the shop info and asked if I wanted to own a coffee shop. We literally had to check a map to find out where Southport was, and it certainly didn’t look like a bad place to live! Fast forward a week and we had an accepted offer as we loaded the kids into the car to go visit and meet with the current owners. We moved to Southport in late July 2018 and took over the next month. Over the course of the first year, we realized that the coffee and community side of the business was where our true passion was. We were on the floor working all day 7 days a week, and worked hard over the next couple of years to hire a larger team to be able to step back and grow the business….specifically the coffee side of the business. Andrew grew up in the Pacific Northwest (Bend, OR)….with coffee huts on every corner, he noticed early on in our time in Southport the distinct LACK of any drive-thru locations to get a good cup of coffee. The timing of a 1031 exchange from one of our California properties was perfect to buy a corner lot with a high traffic count close to downtown, and the dream went into action. We now have the original location downtown (Southport Coffee Co & Kitchen) and the drive-thru hut Southport Coffee Co that we built literally from the ground up and opened in 2021, with plans in the works and building sites ready for two more locations over the next two years. Community support since opening has far exceeded our expectations….obviously business picks up during tourist-heavy times, but our own locals are also absolutely incredible. The number of regulars we have is amazing, which reflects exactly what we wanted to create – relationships. Our baristas and our customers get a chance to really connect and get to know each other, and I know for a fact that the kindness and conversation they offer each other is impactful far beyond a simple (though delicious!) cup of coffee. We’re fortunate that we’re able to stick to our commitment of hiring people who not only have a great work ethic, but are also kind and team-players….both matter a lot to us in our hiring process and we like to think that shows through the absolutely amazing team we have. A business is nothing without its team members running things on the floor, and we’re fortunate that ours run things not only efficiently and effectively, but with a smile.
Community and connection are at the top of the priority list for us….we moved here partly to raise our children in a small town. After living in Los Angeles and then Boston, we were ready to get back to our roots in a sense, as we were both raised in the very small communities of Potsdam, NY, and Bend, OR (it was small at the time!). There’s nothing better or more important than contributing and giving back to the community that we live in, that supports us through pandemics, hurricanes, no-name storms, all of it. We started our Third Thursday Giveback program not long after we got the hut up and running. Each month, we partner with a local non-profit and 25% of sales from that Thursday go directly to them to use as they see fit. Some of the organizations with whom we’ve partnered include the local elementary school PTA, our local Museum, a local Hospice organization, local animal shelters, and many others. There’s no better feeling than knowing you’re taking your hard work and success (and inevitably some luck!) that contributed to get you where you are to help those around you…this will always be a very important part of all we do. We’ve found so many opportunities through the years to give back to the community in different ways, whether handing out hot coffee after a hurricane or sending lunches to essential workers during the pandemic, and will continue to do so as long as Southport Coffee Co exists.
On the exciting side of things, over the past couple of years we’ve started roasting all of our own beans. We even have a dedicated roastery right behind the coffee hut. Andrew is the master roaster and his passion for coffee and the various ways to roast and adjust a roast is almost tangible. His commitment to the art of roasting is evident in every cup. We also recently created an online store as we had many requests from tourists to be able to order from home the rest of the year. In addition to the coffee itself, we have a fun line of tee-shirts, tumblers, and occasionally some seasonal items at southportcoffee.com!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Eyes Open Always – There are opportunities everywhere if you’re ready to see them and ready to jump and take risks as they present themselves. The easy and safe thing to do in 2018 would have been for Andrew to get a different coaching job and for me to return to my previous career of school counseling. With two young kids, only crazy people would pick up and move from Boston to the North Carolina coast to buy a coffee shop, right? Perhaps. However, the timing of the opportunity was just too perfect to turn down, no matter the risk. We’ve since had several business successes due to recognizing opportunities as they come up and taking that next chance.
Accountability/Open to Learning – This will never change. No matter what we learn and know, we’ll never know it all. We recognize that we can always improve, and it’s a disservice to our customers and team to believe otherwise. We look for accountability in our team members, and we hold ourselves to the same expectation. If we make a mistake, we acknowledge it and move forward to fix it and/or figure out how to prevent future issues. So much learning and growing is done when you’re able to admit you’ve done something wrong!
Kindness/Community-minded – So much of our success is because we genuinely care about our team, our customers, our community, giving back. I can’t imagine doing something that takes so much time and commitment and not truly enjoying those around you and wanting to do good beyond making money. A business created only with financial motivation and lacking passion would never work for us. We recognize regularly and are so grateful for how fortunate we are to be able to combine our passions and interests with making a living.
Flexibility – The best laid plans……! Things will change, certainties will become indefinite…..you need to be ready for that and to go to Plan B or C or Z…..or to step back and figure things out. Problem solving and flexibility are essential to so many parts of life, and creating and running businesses is no different. You can’t freak out or play out every bump in the road as a doomsday scenario. Expect the unexpected. Be ready to reevaluate. It really helps if you have an amazing partner to brainstorm and decompress and vent with. Sometimes the frustrating things that don’t work out at all lead to the things that work out better than you could have ever imagined…
Oops! That was 4–sorry!
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
Honestly, we can’t imagine doing this without each other. Friends joke that we must go crazy working so closely together each day, but our strengths/weaknesses balance each other out so well….both emotionally and in the business-sense. We bounce ideas off of each other, we troubleshoot issues together, we confirm major orders and make the big decisions as a team. This really is a family affair and we’re lucky not only that we get to spend so much time together, but that we enjoy all that time. Our kids are growing up witnessing business decisions being made, disagreements happening in civil discourse, problem solving when things don’t go quite right, hard work, and most important of all – keeping the family, community, kindness and giving back at the forefront of the big picture.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://southportcoffeeco.com
- Instagram: @southportcoffeeco
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/southportcoffeeco
Image Credits
Salah Elhachimi
Bridget Reichhart
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
