Pause Coffee House has become a staple in the Fair Oaks California community, and could not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of Paul Magda and the rest of the team. Read on to learn more about this business’s journey from its humble startup origins until today.
A Lifetime Of Entrepreneurial Spirit: Meet Paul Magda
As the first-generation son of immigrant parents from a communist nation, a strong sense of work ethic is by no means new for Pause Coffee Shop’s co-owner Paul Magda. His parent’s model of hard work was the start of his own spirit of entrepreneurship. Without any formal education and knowledge of the English language, Paul’s parents made their way to the United States and worked tirelessly to create a better life for him and his three brothers.
A culture of hustle was an innate part of Paul’s childhood and adulthood alike. From as early as 10 years old, Paul spent years helping his mechanic father in transforming old cars from broken to beautiful and buying and flipping old products to make extra money on the side.
The Birth of Pause Coffee House: A Passion For Business
The skills and passion for business gathered through his formative years undoubtedly helped Paul in successfully opening Pause Coffee House. When the invitation to open up a coffee shop arised from a friend, Paul didn’t hesitate to jump onto the opportunity.
While his passion and savvy for business was initially stronger than that of a passion for coffee, he notes the intrinsic link between business and coffee: his fix is in the building of the organization creating opportunities for people.
Opening Pause Coffee Started From A Hunger To Learn
While at first Paul expected the operation of a coffee shop to be a relatively simple and streamlined procedure, he quickly learned the incredible amount of work needed to maintain a high-quality shop. This prompted Paul to jump head-first into the coffee shop world to learn as much as he could from others in the business.
In the first couple of years bringing Pause Coffee House to life, Paul notes the importance of expanding his network, asking impactful questions, being okay with making mistakes, and vulnerability. This level of curiosity and openness to learning were all key ingredients for growing Pause into the business that it is today.
The Challenges and Lessons Learned From Pause Coffee Shop
The process of launching a startup from the ground up takes an incredible amount of work and resilience. Paul reflects on the importance of pushing forward, despite not having all of the answers while simultaneously getting hit with countless obstacles all at once. In the first 18 months of getting Pause Coffee up and running, Paul spent 20 plus hours of hard work each and every day into labor, funding the shop’s space, and purchasing equipment.
Now, over three years later, Paul says that despite how much work the opening months entailed, he looks back onto the early months as some of the easiest parts of the business’s journey. The real work is continuing the momentum and operations past the opening day.
Leadership At Pause: A Unified Vision Brings The Shop To Life
With every good business comes good leadership and management. Paul found that when it comes to being a great leader, you don’t necessarily have to have all of the answers to every question thrown at you. It is more about a leader’s set of skills in adapting and solving the everyday challenges that inevitably come with running a business.
When trying to uncover the elements that keep successful large businesses running so smoothly, Paul realized that the commonality between them all was a unified vision with the leaders and staff. Keeping teams well-aligned starts with a common ground of all team member’s seeing the same goals and vision for the shop.
In order to create the unified vision for Pause Coffee, Paul takes the process of hiring his staff very seriously. Though investing energy in choosing the right members for the Pause team takes a lot of time and effort, it is entirely worth it for the end result of a team that is completely on the same page as him.
Pause Coffee House’s Mission To Create A Safe Space
Pause Coffee House’s unique mission gives the shop a competitive edge against other similar businesses. From the second that customers walk through Pause Coffee House’s doors, Paul and the team are committed to providing a relaxed and inviting place to have a positive experience in.
As the name suggests, Paul hopes that Pause Coffee House serves as a welcoming space for people to take a much needed pause from the madness, anxieties, and responsibilities of their everyday life. Paul says that this “pause” and separation is through the medium of coffee and genuine conversation.
What Does Success Look Like For Pause Coffee House?
In Paul’s eyes, the success at Pause Coffee lies in the shop continuing to do better and be better every single day. He remarks that if he is just 1% better at the end of each day at Pause, he finds this to be a successful day. It is clear that with such incredible customer service, coffee products, and the innate drive to be the best that they can be, customers are naturally attracted to come and return to Pause.
The idea for success that Paul continues to live by is to push as hard as you can and always be at ground zero with the business. He notes that no matter the size, revenue, or reach that Pause Coffee House could get in future years, this mindset will always be the same.
Pause Coffee House Is A Force To Be Reckoned With
The hard work, dedication, and tenacity that Paul and his team possess continue to keep Pause Coffee Shop relevant in the California coffee scene. By continuing with their strong mentality of success and growth, there is no question that this coffee shop is unstoppable for years to come.
