No One Would Rent Me a Café In Trendy NYC Neighborhoods, So I Tried Something Risky. Now I Have Three Coffee Shops.

Entrepreneurs can be impatient. When we have a great idea, we want to make it happen now. But I've learned that patience — taking time to convince resistant customers, or to prove your concept to dubious investors — can create an outcome much truer to your vision.

Seven years ago, I began trying to open a coffee shop in New York City. I had long worked as a barista, and imagined a café that treated coffee like a performance — the bar acting as a stage, where baristas would pull the espresso shot, weigh it, and heat it to a precise temperature, all while telling the origin story of the beans. I wanted the shop's sounds and smells and visuals to envelop each customer. I'd call it White Noise Coffee Company.