The Strength & Resilience of Coffee- Stephen Kennedy - Copper + Straw

“Competition keeps you on your toes, it makes you work harder and it’s healthy”.

In this episode of Corporate to Calm we speak with Stephen Kennedy from Copper + Straw coffee, located in Bray, Wicklow and Arran Quay in Dublin.  We chat about his love of coffee and how this passion & love resulted in him opening an extremely successful coffee business.

Stephen decided to open his beloved Copper + Straw when he realised that he was not going to pursue his other love of writing. He is ambitious, conscientious, and hard-working. Stephen’s leap from Corporate to Calm came after serious research and groundwork. He was working his full-time career is higher education and serving coffee as a barista on the weekends. He simply didn’t open a coffee shop to let others do the job, make the coffee, Stephen embraced every aspect of opening Copper + Straw and he wanted to “do something interesting and different in the coffee space”. The ritual of coffee is so important to Stephen and different coffees tick different boxes depending on the day of the week or time of the day.

“A flat white is a hug” while an espresso can simply get you through.

We chat about Pride and how Copper + Straw has embraced it making it positive and fun in an energetic way. We also discuss sustainability and how from the water sensors on the taps to the cups, the napkins, everything has been thought about. Stephen thinks this need to be pushed even further and has an appetite to make these further sustainability changes in his business.

“Follow you dreams and change these dreams into an ambition” Stephen tells me about the sense of community in Bray and about the risk he took to open Arran Quay during a global pandemic, between his belief in the project and his knowledge of the market it was a risk he knew would pay off. When asking him about advice to a budding entrepreneur, Stephen wants everyone to make their dreams a reality however you need to do the groundwork, you need to understand what you want to do, and you don’t need to make impulsive decisions, do the research and then take the leap. Everyone needs to follow their dreams, but those dreams need to be driven by ambition.

So, grab a cuppa sit back and relax or go for a walk to your favourite coffee shop. Whatever you do, I hope you love this episode as much as I did.

Enjoy x