Welcome to this episode of The Experience Strategy Podcast! Aransas and Dave are joined today by Kylie Sachs, the owner of two thriving Milk Bar Cafes in Brooklyn, New York. Kylie’s café venture started in 2016 as a significant career and lifestyle change. Prior to making the switch to café/restaurant life, Kylie spent more than 20 years in management and finance at growing companies. Tune in to this episode as Aransas and Dave talk with Kylie about her “Team First” approach to running a business and how she achieves positive customer experiences. You don’t want to miss this insightful episode!
IN THIS EPISODE:
[01:30] Kylie’s life-changing career transition from working in finance to owning and operating cafes.
[06:00] The big surprises of running a business
[10:00] How Kylie redefined success for herself and engages her team.
[15:00] How Kylie creates an outstanding experience for her employees with her “Team First” approach, which benefits not only her employees, but also her customers.
[20:00] Kylie describes the steps she takes to ensure her customers have a remarkable experience from the moment they approach the cafe
[24:00] Instead of feeling like she must continually be innovative and creating something new, Kylie explains why she is solely focusing on where her business is now and perfecting that.
[27:19] Dave shares the research he’s done on the influence of trust and authenticity in relationship building between brand and consumers
[30:00] How Kylie’s team has built strong relationships with their customers, extending to life outside of the cafe.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
Kylie’s “Team First” approach with her employees has created happy employees who are equipped to provide customers with top-level service that keeps customers coming back. This approach has kept team members working there for years and former employees returning. Kylie and her employees have come to depend on each other and solve problems together.
The influence of integrity and consistency Kylie and her team have designed at Milk Bar is demonstrated in contented employees who connect with their customers, building a community within their neighborhood.
Focusing on the simple elements of her business, Kylie has created a meaningful and trustworthy environment for employees and customers. Prioritizing reliable consistency and steadiness, making the cafe a part of customers’ daily lives.
Links Mentioned:
BIO:
In 2016, Kylie bought two cafes in Brooklyn and in 2017 built a third. They are neighborhood favorites, serving breakfast and lunch in lovely settings. As a result of Covid-19, she shuttered one of them; happily, the other two are operating and thriving through this challenging time. Kylie’s café venture started in 2016 as a significant career and lifestyle change.
Prior to making the switch to café/restaurant life, Kylie spent more than 20 years in management and finance, bringing together skills in financial leadership at growing companies. She has broad experience managing functions including finance & accounting, legal, human resources and investor relations. Specialties include business modeling, strategic planning and plan execution. She has significant industry experience in for-profit education and high transaction-oriented businesses.
From 2010 – 2015 Kylie was CFO at Frontier Payments, a leader in point-of-sale and dispatch technology for more than 10,000 taxi drivers across 40 cities. Under Kylie’s financial leadership, Frontier processed more than a half a billion dollars of transactions. From 2003 to 2010, as a venture capitalist at Ascend Ventures, Kylie focused primarily on the Education and Media sectors.
Before joining Ascend, Kylie served in several operating and managerial roles at PRIMEDIA Inc. Prior to her tenure at PRIMEDIA, Kylie served as a Director of Corporate and Business Development at 360HipHop, a media company founded by Russell Simmons. Kylie also has a background in investment banking, having worked for Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Peter J. Solomon Company. Kylie earned a B.A. in Economics from Georgetown University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
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