Sarah Wilson-Jones is CEO of Phoenix Coffee Company, with several specialty custom roasted coffee houses in Cleveland. Recently she returned from a trip to Mexico, where she learned the finer aspects of coffee bean growth, production, roasting and importing. She's also involved in community activism, and is currently organizing Cleveland's first Coffee Festival to unify the arts, our neighborhoods and local businesses with the coffee culture. Phoenix will be featured at the Cool Cleveland Art/Tech/Dance event, A Moveable Feast, this Thu 6/17 at the corner of Cedar & Lee Roads. Register online here. http://www.phoenixcoffee.com

Cool Cleveland: When you boast to people outside Cleveland about Cleveland, what’s on your list?
Sarah Wilson-Jones: Parade the Circle, Hershey Children’s Garden at the Botanical Gardens, affordable real estate, and the wonderfully low cost of living here.

What’s your vision of how Cleveland should look and feel?
Not so clean and neat. The clean and neat neighborhoods and commercial districts filled with national brand names won’t yield the growth and the creativity that Cleveland needs. This may seem unrelated, but recently I made a sales call at Broken Wheel Auto Wrecking in Brook Park. This place is the quintessential example of Cleveland grit and grime. Not that it’s a hot bed of creativity, but there was something culturally meaningful about the dusty shelves of dismembered automobile parts, the sagging 1940s office furniture, the grease stained uniforms and the acres of twisted metal. Seattle managed to make grunge cool. We have acres of empty, dilapidated warehouse space as well as very talented local artists. I think these two need to come together to create Cleveland’s brand: the blue collar workaday world and the vibrant visual arts. I drove down Chester Ave this morning and imagined the gaping empty warehouse windows filled with paint and color, the piles of demolition dirt pushed into sculptured forms, just like a playground for adults. What if?

What are your passions and how does it manifest itself in your life?
Learning and exploring. When I was a junior in college, I rode my bike home to Cleveland from Houston, Texas. The spirit that motivated me then needs to be the same spirit that exists in my efforts to lead my company to a new level of exploration. I have fun exploring places I haven’t been before.

What has your best contribution to Cleveland been?
My mission is to improve the quality of coffee being served in Cleveland’s restaurants, for the benefit of not only restaurant patrons but the whole region. What if Cleveland developed a reputation so that wherever you went you got a great cup of coffee? Wouldn’t that be cool? I’ve already spent hours, days, weeks, years of my life educating my staff as well as the ownership and staff of other Cleveland area coffee shops and restaurants about what it takes to serve a great cup of coffee and/or espresso. I even went so far as to invent Phoenix Coffee’s “Super Barista” character who wears a shiny red cape and makes espresso drinks. I’m also working on this Cleveland’s Rockin’ Coffee Festival idea, which I think can be culturally significant. Not to mention the value provided by running a company that is good to its employees, provides health and dental insurance, a retirement plan, flexible paid time off, and honest, regular performance feedback, among other things.

Do you have favorite quotes or sayings you live by?
"The thing about the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat." from Lily Tomlin, and, "it’s better to be shot out of the water than to rot at the dock" from Burt Morgan.

What’s the best learning/experimenting you’ve done in the last 5 years?
I am constantly learning and experimenting. That’s why I love my job; my company is my playground, my workshop, my laboratory, where I get to try out my ideas and see what works and what doesn’t. It’s fascinating to see that the more you push it, you risk it, you believe in it, the more it works. One of the most rewarding projects I’ve been involved with lately is redecorating our Lee Road Café, using ideas entirely generated by my wonderful staff. So cool! Also, I did some exploring on my recent trip to a coffee plantation in Veracruz Mexico. I finally got to meet the beautiful coffee plant, up close and personal. Also, in the nearby town of Huatusco, we found this awesome indoor market, filled with an unbelievable array of treasures, from freshly slaughtered chickens to frilly dresses for girls. I love the contrasts that life presents us.

Who’s on your list of most-admired & why?
Carol Latham, Founder of Thermagon, for her courage and perseverance in building her company. I also respect people who think out of the box, challenge, create and win.

What’s the best advice you’ve been offered?
I get lots of advice, a lot of which is unsolicited. As my friend Burt Morgan used to say, unsolicited advice is known as interference. As for solicited advice, Denise Fugo (owner of Sammy’s Catering) advised me to stay focused on my main business (Phoenix) rather than getting distracted with my tea house idea, and that was helpful. My husband also advises me to be a self-validating person, which I see as being my most worthy goal.

What was a significant failure in your life and what did you learn from it?
More than once, I have hired the wrong person for a job. This may not sound like a big deal, but it is, especially when the person is a friend or a family member. It has taken me years to understand how to fit a person with a job, or a job with the right person.

Where are you most likely to hang out in Cleveland?
With my two daughters, Charlotte and Veronica, wherever they are, because they are great company. I like their jokes and sense of humor.

How do you think Cool Cleveland can continue being successful?
Continue being true to your honest assessment of what’s cool and interesting, while rewarding the risk-takers of the region with attention, and continue taking risks yourselves.

Interview by Tisha Nemeth (:divend:)