"I'll Just Do My Own Thing." Coffee, World Travel, and Rochester City Ordinances with Abe Sauer
Collider is passionate about sharing the stories of Rochester entrepreneurs and small business owners! We recently had the pleasure of meeting with Abe Sauer, owner and founder of Old Abe Coffee Company, writer, and a Rochester entrepreneur since 2014, who shared his story, personal experience with opening a successful food business, and insights on the Rochester entrepreneurial landscape.
Photo by Corrie Strommen
Many of us are used to the sight of coffee shop owner and meatless bahn mi connoisseur, Abe Sauer, peddling away on his bike, pulling his coffee cart downtown or to the farmer’s market. Or seeing him behind the counter of his brick and mortar, a charming little home turned mural covered coffee house and restaurant. While a coffee cart may be a bizarre and rare sight here, Abe, who lived for many years in China and New York, found it odd that Rochester, with its bustling downtown full of Mayo Clinic employees on the hunt for coffee and food, lacked any kind of vendor presence when he moved here with his wife and two children in 2014.
Abe was born and raised in Wisconsin on a dairy farm. He went to college at the University of Wisconsin Madison and early on knew that he and college were not a good fit. He joined a study abroad program in China and when the program ended and the rest of the class flew home, Abe chose to abandon his college pursuits and stay in China…for the next seven years.
“At that time, in the early 90s, China was in a period of opening and growing economically. I was young, nineteen or twenty, and just thought ‘why not?’ There was an embassy attached to the school I had been going to and they hired me since I spoke the language, was living locally, and knew the layout of the city really well. At that time, it was like the Wild West, which is cliche to say, but they would just give me work without asking for any qualifications, no one asked to see a degree. They would ask if I could do a job, I would say yes, and if I could follow through I could keep the job. So I would do all kinds of things for them. I also did networking and events as a personal side business.”
He continued, “I was living with friends in the cheapest possible cement apartment, so even though the level of failure was high, I could still make it in the city. It was a great place to be creative entrepreneurially with very low consequences.”
Photo provided by Abe Sauer, from his time in China.
After his time in China, Abe moved to New York and lived there for the next eight years. He initially worked as a secretary, using his meager salary to rent a tiny, “roach infested Queen’s apartment” and “live off of day old bagels.” During that time he decided to finish his liberal arts degree, enrolled in night school, and passionately pursued writing. He started writing for some magazines and after completing his degree, landed a couple of marketing positions, one of which led him to move to Minneapolis.
In Minneapolis, Abe met his wife, they married, had two children, and decided to head back to China. “She had never been there, I still had contacts and opportunities there, and we just decided to go for it. The kids went to school there and it was a crazy and fun couple of years.”
Upon returning to the states, his wife accepted a job at Mayo Clinic and he applied there as well. Despite years of marketing experience, he was not hired, he suspects because he did not have an MBA. Undeterred, Abe shrugged and thought “I guess I’ll just do my own thing.”
He continued writing and consulting. Some of you may be familiar with the Minnesota classic children’s book, Goodnight Loon. A little known fact is that Abe wrote back in 2012! Along with children’s literature, Abe wrote for publications such as Esquire, The Atlantic, Reuters and The St. Paul Almanac.
During this time, while walking around downtown in search of coffee and discovering lines out the door of a skyway Starbucks, Abe saw the clear lack of coffee shops to fuel the patient and Mayo Clinic employee population of downtown Rochester. Inspired by the vendors that were a constant part of his life both in China and New York and a personal love of good coffee, Abe decided to jump through some city ordinance hoops and avoid the high rental costs of downtown spaces to open a mobile coffee cart.
“I looked up the ordinances, and had to play with an allowance they had intended for flower and newspaper vendors. Food wasn’t allowed, so there was another hoop to jump through. But, you know, I’m pretty good at reading directions, so I figured out a way to make it work.”
“At first I was just giving coffee away.” Abe admitted, chuckling. “You could tell that all of these people staring at me, of course, would love a free cup of coffee, but in a very Minnesotan way, couldn’t get over the embarrassment of walking up to a guy in a bike pulled coffee cart and asking for free coffee. Which was such a change from my experiences in New York, where if someone was giving away something it would be gone in minutes. It was very interesting learning the habits of the consumers of Rochester, which are very different from what I was used to in New York or even Minneapolis. Rochester has a very unique consumer environment. It has so much money, but it spends it in ways that are not easy to predict.”
Something clicked in the community in 2014 and 2015. “You saw this explosion of more localized, unique ideas and a strong demand for that. Which has continued up to now.”
With time, Abe’s coffee cart would become a popular downtown staple. Shortly after opening it, Abe had made the switch to a mostly vegetarian and vegan diet and was doing a lot of cooking for himself. He observed that there were very few plant based food options in Rochester and decided to try selling some food on the cart as well. Sure enough, people liked it! As demand grew, and winter made outdoor vending an unpleasant prospect, Abe looked toward finding a permanent space for his business, The small house that would become Old Abe’s Coffee Company was found near Cooke Park, where he has since established a beloved local restaurant and hangout spot for the vegetarian and vegan foodies of Rochester (or anyone who likes dang yummy food and coffee).
Old Abe has recently adapted to adopt another local favorite, Drift Dough Doughnuts. “It was just a good fit. The owner’s heart was in his other business in Decorah and he was kind of a satellite owner and wanted to move on. I wanted to have more food options for morning business and they had already figured out some vegan, gluten free, and dairy free doughnut recipes. So we took on their baker. It’s been a good transition; we’ve been able to get really creative with doughnut flavors since they lend themselves so well to so many different iterations.”
Photo by Corrie Strommen
This isn’t the only recent development, however, as Abe has also purchased a neighboring space and hopes to expand to provide overflow seating there, and- good news for dog lovers- build out a dog run between the two spaces! Fingers crossed all goes as planned!
A Rochester entrepreneur for many years now, Abe has some good insights about the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Rochester.
“If there’s one big problem I would point out, it would be that Rochester, as a city, has a tendency to invest in the one, big, expensive idea that is the ‘game changer’ in their minds, instead of investing in a ton of fast and dirty small ideas. I think that the latter are what people actually want. There’s very little risk to the city in investing in a bunch of fifty-thousand dollar ideas around town. There’s a ton of risk in investing in one twenty million dollar idea, and if that idea doesn’t work, there’s the inevitable feeling that you need to keep throwing money at it to keep it going instead of being really honest and admitting that it just didn’t work. So you’re throwing money at a dying idea, and money you invest in something that’s dying is money not being invested in something that is growing.”
“I joke about Rochester being like a treasury bill, it isn’t going to boom overnight, but it is the most secure investment you can make, because it just grows at this slow, reliable pace, like a municipal bond. The city is very consistent from a financial perspective, which is good, in many ways for our local economy. It does, however, tend to make people extremely risk averse, in my experience. Most people don’t move to Rochester because they are risk takers, people come here for the safety and reliability of the jobs they can find here. People want predictability and safety. Rochester has those things. I think that the risk averse nature, or more traditional nature of the city, in a bad way, sinks into the way the city governs itself. The city has many restrictive ordinances, which are harmful to entrepreneurs. If you come along and do something that Rochester has never seen before, it can be extremely hard to get people to see your vision.”
He continued, “On the other hand, many of the entrepreneurs who I know in the city have a support network either through their spouse or family that is grounded in one of the core businesses in Rochester. Mayo Clinic is the obvious one. A lot of people start these businesses with one person working a very reliable job and supporting them, giving them the entrepreneurial freedom to go start another venture. In this way, a safety net exists while you’re taking chances up front. Rochester’s economy allows for that. Because my wife worked at Mayo Clinic when I was first getting started, I didn’t have to bring home a paycheck. It may not have worked out if that option wasn’t available to me. At times when I was getting started, I was working eight hours a day and making forty-five dollars. I think it’s much more difficult for people without a financial support network to go out and take chances entrepreneurially.”
“In that sense it’s a great community to start a business in, because it has that safety net for entrepreneurs. But at the same time they face these extreme headwinds from ordinances. Which is a culture born out of that economic safety. When you have a bunch of medical professionals and IBM engineers in a town together, you aren’t going to get a risk taking town.” he concluded, laughing.
He advises aspiring Rochester entrepreneurs, in partial jest and seriousness, “Get a spouse with a stable job or live at home with your parents.” His core advice is to have a good perspective and attitude toward what you can live without and, though it may be uncomfortable for a time, adjust your life to pursue your idea. Tough it out.
While Abe admits that he doesn’t have a lot of free time, one of his favorite pastimes is swimming with his children. “Perversely, I also love reading city ordinances, agenda packets and things like that. Mostly because you start to see trends and patterns in them that predict the future of Rochester’s growth in a way, which I find super interesting. It’s also a hobby that I can do at home, not on my feet.”
Thank you so much for taking the time to read Abe’s story! If you find value in this content, please consider donating to help Collider continue amplifying the voices of Rochester entrepreneurs. You can also learn more about Old Abe Coffee Company by clicking the link below!
Article by Corrie Strommen, Director of Community at Collider.
Immersive Storytelling and Experience Based Entrepreneurship with Laura Elwood
Collider is passionate about sharing the stories of Rochester entrepreneurs and small business owners! We recently had the pleasure of meeting with Laura Elwood, owner of Chamberlain Concierge and Lifestyle Management and Rochester Trolley and Tour Company, who was willing to share her journey as a transportation industry entrepreneur.
Photo by Corrie Strommen
Laura Elwood, owner of Rochester Trolley and Tour Company, never really envisioned running a transportation business, even though it would seem natural given her upbringing. Raised in Rochester, she grew up in the transportation industry. Her father and grandfather started R&S Transport, a medical non-emergency transportation service in the 90s.
“I grew up in this world of hospitality, logistics, and transportation. When I graduated from high school I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I was always jealous of people who just knew that they were going to be a lawyer or a doctor, or were good with numbers or born with a basketball in their hands. That just wasn’t who I was. But I had all of these experiences that my parents and grandparents had given me. I was never scared of meeting new people or exploring new places. My family ingrained in me that every person you meet has a story to tell.”
Artistic by nature, Laura went to Columbia College in Chicago to pursue an art degree after completing high school.
“When I look back on it, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Columbia was great at fostering creativity, deep critical thinking, and the application of your skills. They allowed students to be individualized. I graduated with an interdisciplinary art degree. Which, in a way, was the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey.”
When she graduated in 2009, however, she still didn’t have a clear idea of what career path she wanted to pursue. So she bounced around working odd jobs in Chicago. For a time she worked for the Chicago Cubs, babysitting players’ children during games. She also worked for Second City, a comedy club and improvisation school. “I realized I was obsessed with experiences, so I would seek out all of these weird experience jobs.”
When the economy crashed, Laura found herself jobless and driftless so when a friend who had a holiday visa to New Zealand asked if she wanted to come along, Laura threw caution to the wind and started what ended up being a year long backpacking adventure.
“My friend was there for six months and I ended up staying for a year. I was totally a free spirit, but it was also terrifying to do it alone, and to live in a country where you don’t know anyone. But it helped me realize that the experience of exploring the world was something that I always wanted in my life.”
After her escapade, Laura dejectedly made her way back to Rochester. “Once you see the world and return to your hometown it can feel like a setback. I was uncertain of my place in this community and didn’t know how I could contribute to Rochester.”
At the time, Laura’s father was still working in the transportation industry, so she followed him into the business, taking on marketing, operations, management assistance, training and HR, learning the ins and outs of the family business.
“I learned from all kinds of people doing different jobs in the industry. I cut my teeth. I really loved being part of a huge team.”
Laura continued traveling often while managing a black car business. While lounging on a beach one day, she received an email, the contents sparked an idea and made her wonder if she would be better off running her own business. When she returned home she decided to move forward and opened her very own transportation company, Chamberlain Concierge & Lifestyle Management.
While she didn’t always have entrepreneurial aspirations, Laura does think some aspects of her personality lend themselves well to it. “I’m very independent, individualistic, adaptable and optimistic. I always knew something would work out, I could get a lot of different jobs. But I’m also someone who needs a lot of space to work and do my thing. So I knew that I needed to work for someone who could give me the space and independence I need, or build something of my own.”
What started as a black car service quickly expanded and grew. Laura decided to pursue a shuttle service for her company in December of 2019. She placed an order for custom shuttles…which never arrived.
“I went from Plan A to Plan K in four days, because my shuttle service was supposed to start in January. I was looking around town to see if I could partner with another local company until my own buses arrived.”
This led Laura to have her first conversation with the owner of Rochester Trolley and Tour Company at the time. While he couldn’t help with her lack of buses, they did have several conversations about transportation.
In time, Laura got her shuttle service up and running. She and the owner of the trolley company continued talking casually and he started asking questions about where Laura saw her business going. Eventually the conversation rolled around to what it would look like for Laura to purchase the business from him.
Fast forward to September of 2020, after Laura’s company had managed to stay afloat for the first waves of the pandemic. The subject of purchasing the trolley company was once again broached and Laura agreed.
Photo by Corrie Strommen
“I purchased the trolley company, and sixty days later we were shut down. It stayed that way for the next six months. We’re still recovering from that. In hindsight I ask myself why I did it. But I’m a risk taker. The potential for reward seemed worth the risk. ”
Though purchasing an already established business may help you bypass many start-up obstacles, it is certainly not without challenges of its own.
“When you buy somebody’s business you inherit their habits, success, and clients. You also inherit any problems they may or may not have disclosed to you, or things that maybe weren’t a problem for them, but are for you; it depends on your perspective.”
She continued, “It’s challenging. I grew up in the industry so I didn’t have to learn how to run the business per se, but I had to learn how each vehicle operates. There were also things that were totally different from what I’d done up to that point. I’m great at picking people up and getting them from Point A to Point B and all the details in between, but building a tour is a completely different experience.”
One of Laura’s favorite experiences that she and her team offers is the history tour. She is very passionate about immersive storytelling and loves that tour building gives her and her team the opportunity to be creative and share the story of Rochester that visitors may not know.
To Laura, having a strong team is one of the most important factors in her business and she was grateful that she was able to build a great one over the course of the pandemic.
“The team that I have is phenomenal. Finding people that actually care about the experience, who care about the customer, and aren’t just here to collect a paycheck is so vital. They have a passion for the little things and understand that they’re all connected to the success of the business. On the darkest days, I’ve been so grateful to have these people around me because I absolutely could not do it without them.”
Photo by Corrie Strommen
Laura is thankful for the continued support of the community. “I was really fortunate that the majority of the clients and partners of the trolley didn’t jump ship when it changed hands. They were excited that I was a part of it, which in and of itself was a generous opportunity.”
As a word of advice to anyone considering starting or taking over a business, Laura urges them to do their homework, to not be afraid of asking for help and advice, to take risks, and to view failure as a learning opportunity. “Don’t forget to take care of yourself. Eat, sleep, take time away, and turn your phone off. If you don’t care for yourself, you’ll fall apart.”
Outside of work, Laura unwinds by making her own art, listening to podcasts, and being active. Still an avid traveler, she looks forward to days ahead when she can safely travel to her heart’s content. Some of her favorite spots in town are Fiddlehead Coffee, Ootori Sushi, Bleu Duck Kitchen, and local breweries. She loves spending time with friends who keep her grounded and remind her that she doesn’t need to work ALL the time.
“I’m just really lucky that I have people who believe in me.”
From Marine Engineering to Consignment with Paige Jehnke
Collider is passionate about sharing the stories of Rochester entrepreneurs and small business owners! We recently had the pleasure of meeting with Paige Jehnke, owner and founder of Janky Gear, a local gear shop that sells top brand outdoor clothing and equipment on consignment, who was willing to tell us her story and share some insight on what it’s like opening a small business in Rochester.
Photo by Corrie Strommen
Paige’s journey with Janky Gear, though it wouldn’t open for another 13 years, started when she graduated from Mayo High School in 2008. After graduating, she spent the summer working at a camp in Northern Minnesota, with plans to attend college in the fall in pursuit of an art history degree. But amidst her days spent taking kids outdoors, hiking, backpacking and sailing, she couldn’t shake the doubts she had about pursuing that path. During a “freak out” she decided to change course, and zip codes, in a big kind of way! For the next year, Paige worked in Alaska with at-risk youth through AmeriCorps before instead pursuing further education at the University of Alaska, majoring in Outdoor Recreation.
After her time in Alaska, Paige headed to Colorado where she worked a variety of jobs, from being a ski attendant to working on trail crews, all in her favorite field- literally anything outdoors. She had found her desired lifestyle, but she wanted it to be more sustainable. Driven by a desire for stability and health insurance, Paige returned to school, this time to become a marine engineer with the end goal of working on ships.
During her time in Alaska, she was a deckhand on a few boats and met people who worked three months on, three months off as marine engineers- not a bad gig -and hey, it provided health insurance! She acquired her degree and a US Coast Guard license to operate ships with both steam and diesel engines, of unlimited horsepower and tonnage, and off she sailed into the sunset- or rather the Great Lakes. Later on, she moved west to work on tugboats and eventually, and most recently, worked as a contracted civilian engineer on a military transport vessel stationed in Okinawa, Japan.
In the following years, Paige would most often be far away from home. And when she did occasionally return to the States, amidst training, traveling and visiting friends, she did not often make her way back to Rochester.
Cue that all too present and life changing event, the Covid-19 pandemic.
When it hit, Paige was stuck overseas and confined to a ship with little to no clear communication from leadership about a timeline for getting home (or where exactly their groceries were coming from). Paige used this time of strain and uncertainty to consider what to do next, and started writing a business plan. Once Paige was finally able to leave her ship mid-pandemic she could’ve gone anywhere. She found, however, that after all her work across the country and the world, that she was craving somewhere familiar and headed homeward to Rochester.
Paige’s inspiration for Janky Gear started during her time spent out west, where she always had an outdoor store to go to for clothing and gear. At the center of her business plan are three points: get outside, be active, and try new things. Looking at the people of Rochester, from millennial girls to retirees, Paige saw people that love the area they’re in, and who enjoy being outdoors- or at least like wearing The North Face jackets and leggings. Rochester was the spot, and now she just needed to get started.
The summer before opening Janky Gear, Paige joined us here at Collider for our Basics of Entrepreneurship Class. She was surprised by the structure and time commitment of the class, finding it to be more college class adjacent than expected.
“I appreciated the blend of formal class format, learning from already established business owners, and then also having classes dedicated to us and our own businesses, doing the homework within our own experience and sharing what we found and learned. There was a wide range of people and business plans in the class which opened doors for future collaboration and community building,” she explained.
“Obviously I didn’t connect with every business owner or idea, but there were definitely instances that helped me learn a lot. I was also able to hone in on my target market which was really useful. I thought it was great that Amanda and Jamie were there for every class and had really helpful insights for each topic. I find often now as I’m planning and thinking of ways to improve my business and get people through the door, that a lot of my ideas and thought process reach back to the class and the skills I learned there. I would honestly love to sign up again, it was extremely minimal in cost and I learned so much. As things in the business world constantly evolve, it would be good to make sure that I’m still spot on in my knowledge of how to best run my business.”
When the time came to prepare for the grand opening of Janky Gear- projected for July 2021- the process was not without challenges. The build out process in particular- meeting with contractors, getting bids, wrestling with labor shortages, and setting a realistic timeline- all proved to be more difficult than anticipated. Having worked on shipyards and managed projects, Paige at times wondered as she jumped in mid demolition project, “Shouldn't a contractor be doing this?” But she put in some elbow grease, tested her patience, and eventually the store was able to open in mid September.
Photo by Corrie Strommen
She mentioned “I’d like to reassure other prospective business starters that buildout will likely take longer than you think and it will be frustrating, but eventually it’ll come together and that’s alright.”
Another challenge, and a more perpetual one, is stocking the store with merchandise and keeping up with seasons.
“Since my business model is consignment, all of the product in the store comes directly from people in the community bringing it in. I constantly have to figure out ways to both get customers through the door and also get consignors to bring things in, which is always a worry for me.”
So far so good, however, as Paige has been happy to see how the space has taken off and filled up rather quickly.
Her advice to other aspiring business owners? Write out a thorough business plan and be open to change.
During her self designated ‘weekends' on Mondays and Tuesdays when the store is closed, Paige does her best to not work and enjoy her time off. She loves being outdoors, as I’m sure you’ve gathered, and spends time outside skiing (downhill and cross country), hiking, and biking. She enjoys hanging out at Forager and, an introvert at heart, curling up at home with a book.
Paige is grateful for the community support of Janky Gear and says, “I’m not making a lot of money, but you know what, I’m happy and that’s okay.”
Photo by Corrie Strommen