The Internal Focus: Customer Experience and Community Starts from Within | Coffee Retail Summit

When your staff feel valued, your customers feel valued. This session focuses on the importance of your internal structure, systems, and culture.

Special Thanks to Our Coffee Retail Summit Partners

Coffee Retail Summit wouldn’t be possible without our generous partners, including our title partner, Pacific Barista Series. Learn more about how all our partners are supporting coffee retail businesses.

We’ll look at a variety of approaches to how you run your retail business - with the clear, overarching message that your relationship with your staff can truly contribute to success.

About the Presenters

Daniel Brown, Founder & CEO
Gilly Brew Bar


Daniel hails from Brooklyn, NY with strong Jamaican root.

As a child he grew up singing & touring professionally and built quite a strong resume as a child. Honestly, he thought that he would be in the music industry full-time. He ended up moving to Atlanta, GA in 2009, where he attended college to study business. This challenged him as an artist to pursue the path of an entrepreneur. Shortly after he met his wife & together they took a leap of faith to open her family business, Apple-Butter Bakery in 2011.

A few years later, Daniel’s family pursed a historical property in Stone Mountain Village, where Daniel became the curator of what he calls The Mayors House in 2015 - A community incubator operation, with kitchen, creative work space, bar & is where he opened is 1st gilly concept by April of 2018. Shortly after he brought his friend Nephthaly (who he often refers to as his sister), to help him run & grow gilly brewing co. An innovative startup beverage brand, on a mission to help people re-imagine coffee culture.

Nephthaly Leonidas, Co-Founder
Gilly Brew Bar


Nephthaly Leonidas is the co-founder of Gilly Brewing Co, a beverage company re-imagining coffee culture. After receiving her undergrad in Economics, Nephthaly joined Gilly in 2018. Gilly serves in Stone Mountain, GA. As a black owned company, re-imaging coffee culture means redefining the culture both to our team and our community. They use drinks they call Elixirs to story-tell and re-imagine what coffee culture can be. Nephthaly is currently pursuing her Master’s in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. Her days are made up of grad classes and slinging coffee alongside Founder Daniel Brown and the baristas they call Bartist.

Selina Viguera, Café Leader
Blue Bottle Coffee


Selina works for Blue Bottle Coffee in Venice, CA and has been with the company since 2010. As a Café Leader, she continues to enjoy her work as a barista, but also as a trainer, mentor, and coach. Selina began volunteering with the SCA in 2012 and has managed the SCA BGA Café since 2015. She loves people and coffee.

Elizabeth Odushola, Chief People Officer
Specialty Coffee Association


Find all of the presentations from this event in the freely available Coffee Retail Summit Resource Library or learn more about our upcoming Coffee Retail Summits at retail.sca.coffee.