Wes is the owner and operator of all the Roasters Coffee stands in the Tri-Cities. An interesting fact about Wes is that he was a straight F student in high school and is now a successful entrepreneur.
Wes owns 11 Roasters here in the Tri-Cities and is opening 2 more. There is one in Walla Walla and 2 that will be opening in 2020 in Spokane. Wes did not know as a boy that he was going to be an entrepreneur. In his twenties he lost his job and found himself without many options. He played guitar and made coffee! He started in 2006 and coffee was expanding.
He moved to TC in 2006 not knowing that it really even existed. He googled the state of Washington and found the Tri-Cities. He flew up here and fell in love with the area and saw the opportunity. He moved his wife and small children up here and within one year, he had his first coffee shop.
Building a team and finding leaders has been a difficult road. From a small group to hiring a General Manager from the outside, cutting ties with that experience, he just builds leaders from within the company. He is very good at capitalizing on people's strengths and keeping them in their lane. He currently has 6 people that are running the company. He looks for people that are faithful, willing to go the extra mile, availability and commitment and willing to invest in. Promoting from within has been successful for him because he has created a culture.
Through the years, recognition and praise has evolved. When people feel valued and appreciated, they are willing to give a lot and invest a lot. He has a team of six and recently he took them and their spouses to San Diego for about 10 days. They enjoyed dinners, activities, Disneyland. Every year they now take trips. He pays his people what they are worth or more. He has created an environment where they take ownership of their division and run it accordingly. They feel valued and a part of something that they are creating.
Wes gets out of town at least once a month for a couple days to create balance and find time to regroup. Once a quarter he gets out of town for at least a week, every 6 months he is out of town for about 2 weeks and his family always does a holiday ski resort trip. He spends a lot of time alone and he spends his time reading, researching, with his whiteboard, hammering out the finances and trying to master money.
Wes struggles with time management. He has tried 25 different programs and hasn’t found any that works for him. His way is very different: he stays up late and he sleeps late. After 9:00pm he is more creative. He leaves the house around 9 or 10am. His goal has always been to never have to set an alarm. He enjoys it and finds it is more consistent when he stays up late and sleeps in. He knows his rhythm.
He energizes himself based on what is going on at the time. He follows social people like Ty Lopez, Gary V., and he gleans as much from them as possible and then moves on. He is a huge Eckhart Tolle fan, along with Warren Buffet, Charlie Munger. He feels the words they speak is a gold mine. You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with. He also really loves Dean Martini who has helped him with deep-seeded shame and guilt. Tim Bush is someone locally that Wes connects with at least once a month. He really appreciates that Tim has made him work for everything he’s gotten and holds him accountable.
The advice he would give to upcoming leaders is never stop learning. We live in an information age and Google has been his mentor! Constantly reading, going to the next level and keep pushing yourself, when things get tough just keep moving forward and make the best of each day.
You can connect with Wes best through email: wes@roasters.com. You can often find him at Resilient in Richland.
