Today we’d like to introduce you to Eugene Kim.
Hi Eugene, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Fresh out of the U of U, I decided to try my hands in advertising, spending years servicing clients and developing a lovely addiction to coffee. After advertising, I went to work in social media, software utilization, and ultimately came back to the family business of Advanced Gloves. While working here, my father and I opened the Bean Yard in an effort to bring specialty coffee further south in the valley.
It has been a labor of love and sacrifice, but it is has brought so much joy and we are very excited to be able to support our baristas and producers from around the world.
Along with developing direct trade and fair trade partnerships, we have committed 10% of our profits to E-Cafe of Chiapas to help them fund their community education centers and school, Ichthus Academy.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Never a smooth road. Running a coffee shop means razor thin margins, and when COVID hit we were just trying to make things work in the best way possible.
There’s always something to fix, always someone that needs help, but plenty of reason to keep navigating the hardships of small business ownership!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
To be honest, I specialize in not being specialized in anything. I am a master of nothing, which is 100% apparent when I speak with the baristas I have come to trust to help me fill in the dots when I need it.
Being a business owner and an entrepreneur means that my role changes every year, month, and even sometimes every day. One day I might be figuring out how to fix a grinder while other days I might be negotiating green bean contracts. When we opened the shop, I worked the most hours on bar and now I work almost no hours on the bar but spend a large amount of time trying to build new business to create stability and consistency for my employees and myself.
What matters most to you? Why?
What matters to me changes daily, but I would say being better than yesterday is a huge focus for me. Being a better father, husband, business owner, son, and friend. I hate to be stagnant.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thebeanyard.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebeanyardslc/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebeanyard/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXDT4For1OYrNl2CgXJMmRw
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-bean-yard-coffee-house-sandy
