Today we’d like to introduce you to Sloan Dorr.
Hi Sloan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My coffee story began in my 20s and evolved to a love of not just coffee but culture and community built around it. In 2012 I found myself ordering my third Americano at a cafe on Love St on Penang Island, Malaysia. I pantomimed with the barista to let them know it was my last day and he faked cried and gave me a hug as I left one last time. I’d spent every morning there journaling, reading, and trying to figure out my life at the age of 26.
Fast forward past multiple moves, careers, loves and losses to hustling at four jobs in 2018 in my dream town of Marquette, Michigan and still not making ends meet. I was offered a full time cafe manager job at the first coffee roastery in the Upper Peninsula. I quickly began making ends meet, developing friendships and a real sense of community. I spent a year writing a business plan and in November of 2021 I bought the owner out and have been making Dead River Coffee Roasters my own ever since. I can say that the buying process ‘just happened’, but in reality that would be selling myself short. It was a long, sometimes painful, process that showed me that I truly have grit.
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?
If a business owner tells your it’s been a smooth road, they’re lying. Over the past five years the coffee industry has been a growing yet tumultuous business. Between climate change, import tariffs, and ‘the big guys’ creating customer expectations we’ve had to adjust and change the way we do things on an almost daily basis. Not to mention the transient nature of the service industry–it feels like we’re constantly hiring, training, and saying goodbye to someone heading off to grad school.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Dead River Coffee Roasters?
We are proud to call ourselves the first coffee roastery in the Upper Peninsula. We’re deeply embedded in the Marquette community, founded in 2002, we’ve been roasting coffee for a long time and providing a safe place to drink coffee for the people around Lake Superior. I’m a customer service nerd. I have high expectations for my staff to be knowledgable about everything we do and sell and the shop and online. We train them, of course, and give them all of the resources, but it’s hard to train someone to be personable. I’m so proud of the staff and management team that I’ve put together, everyone deeply cares and works hard.
I’m a firm believer that in order to have an excellent product, the service and education behind it needs to be on par. And my staff continuously exceeds service expectations. We educate and treat every customer that comes through the door, and the we wow them with not only incredible coffee but house made syrups, baked goods, and fun merch that has been designed by a local artist!
Any big plans?
This year has already brought quite a bit of change inside the cafe. My partner and I knocked down a wall that positively changed the flow of the shop. I visited Guatemala and began getting to know some farmers and producers to add the coffee on our shelves. I’d like to visit more of the farms that I’m working with and lessen the gap between farm and cup, that it the most exciting part of this business, the relationships.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.deadrivercoffee.com
- Instagram: deadrivercoffee
