Laura Zander of Jimmy Beans Wool shares a life lesson

Photo: Digiman Studio

I have had the privilege of listening to Laura Zander of Jimmy Beans Wool speak four times now, and each time I am so impressed with how down-to-earth this woman is. Her story is so inspirational. Laura and her husband Doug are software engineers who ditched the industry when it busted in 2000. They traded-in their San Francisco city lives for the quaint mountain town of Truckee, CA. By the means of fate, Laura stumbled into the yarn business and opened a tiny shop in Truckee. 13 years later, Laura and Doug are running a $7 million online retail business selling, yes, yarn.

Laura Zander has made yarn damn cool. I want to share one of her stories that really stuck with me, and has so many underlying messages in not just business but, in life.

Laura has a 5-year-old son named Huckleberry. Once upon a time, when Huckleberry was 2, Laura and Doug were boarding an airplane with him when the pilot walked by and caught Huck’s eye. Laura leaned over to her starry-eyed 2-year-old and whispered, “Hey, you should go ask the pilot if you can fly the plane.” Fly the plane? Really? Come on. “He is probably going to say no, that’s what he should say. BUT… what if he says yes?! Could you IMAGINE? You could fly a real-life airplane!” Huck looks over at the pilot excitedly, jumps down from his seat and makes his way to the front of the plane. The young boy speaks, “Can I fly the plane?” The pilot is stunned, and at a loss for words he says, “Sure.” Huck jumps into the pilot’s chair and goes crazy. Buttons, throddles, wheels, channels are all poked, prodded, and turned. The kid can hardly focus on what he is doing because he is so full of excitement. He is flying a real plane.

Many trips were taken after that, and each time, Huck prepares himself for a big-fat NO, and asks the pilot if he can fly the plane. Sometimes, the pilot will say yes! Sometimes, they say no and Huck understands, because after all, he was expecting it.

There was one occasion when Huck asked the pilot if he could fly the plane and the pilot replied, “I am sorry buddy, I can’t let you do that. BUT… I can let you under the plane to check out the cargo.” Huck looks over at his mom, and she says, “AWESOME! You never know what could be down there! There could be a whole circus down there, cotton candy, maybe even ice cream, and that would be way cooler than flying the plane! You never know!” Grinning ear-to-ear little Huck followed the pilot to the cargo.

You never know what kind of opportunities are out there if you don’t ask. And often, even a “no” will lead to an open door, if you are looking for it…a door that could be way cooler than the one you were originally trying to open.

Thank you for sharing your story, Laura.

Runners Come Out for the 1st Annual Downtown River Run

So, in February I found a pair of pink Mizuno running shoes, a GPS watch–and the rest is history. I am runner, and I am not turning around. This is one of the best towns for such a hobby (addiction) due to the amazing scenery and trails. There are so many different races held in this town, I wanted write about one that has really set the bar for other races being held in this area.

April 14th was the first of three races for the RENO 5000 race series, and it was held downtown (beginning and ending at Reno’s famous arch). This first race has been titled the Downtown River Run. Dolan Auto Group is the title sponsor for all three of the RENO 5000 races this year, and the Downtown River Run was an exciting success.

“This race was only the 2nd race I have ever participated in.  My wife runs marathons & 1/2 marathons all of the time, and her experience with your race was heads above many others including the San Diego Rock ‘n Roll marathon, the Portland, Seattle & Honolulu marathons as well.  You’re setting the bar high for everyone else.” – Doug I.

Over 1,000 runners arrived under the arch on the morning of April 14th and debated whether or not to run with their sleeves on… It was a chilly spring morning! The Junior 1 Mile race kicked-off the event, and kids took off in pursuit of a Lexus CT 200. The 10k and Half-Marathon racers took off immediately after the National Anthem, and then followed by the 5k runners. Runners headed west and followed the Truckee River, then looped back around to finish under the arch.

RENO 5000 was created in an effort to produce events that will help our community to get fit, stay in shape, and to provide the feel of a world-class race experience for our local runners. You can expect consistency at each of RENO 5000′s events. After producing 40 events in less than 4 years, every single event has started on time and runners can always count on this in the future. There is nothing more frustrating for a runner than a race that has a late or even early start time.”Some of our more competitive and elite runners have a warm-up regimen, and a correct start time is vital to their performance,” says Race Director William Contreras.

“I think it’s the best race we’ve had,” said Taylor Samuels, who placed first for his age group and fifth overall in the men’s 5k. “There was a lot of positive energy.”

Many vendors from the area were in attendance; most importantly L’uva Bella Wine Gallery was pouring beer and champagne to treat the runners after the race.

RENO 5000 Race Director said, “As much as we try to please 100% of the people, it is impossible and we understand that, but if we can come close, we feel we are doing our job.” Furthermore, “I have run a lot of races, and I know that as a runner- all you should have to worry about on race day is your performance. The rest will be handled by us.”

RENO 5000 works hard to establish relationships with businesses in the community in an effort to produce sponsorships, so that the races can continue to offer low entry fees for a quality race experience. It doesn’t stop there; RENO 5000 strictly works with local vendors for all of their events and always donates a portion of proceeds to a local charity. Past donations have been given to charities that support: the victims of Air Races, JK Metzger fund, Northern Nevada Food Bank, and the fight against childhood obesity.

It was wonderful to see runners of all different ages come together for this event. If you would like to join the next race on June 23rd at Damonte Ranch High School, you can register here. The 3rd race will take place on September 8th at Bowers Mansion. The Downtown River Run has plans to return next year with the addition of a full-marathon, and there is even buzz about  next year’s race being Reno’s first Boston-qualifying event. Awesome.

WordCamp Makes Its Way to Reno

Ah, yes! Calling all developers, web designers, marketing professionals, and bloggers! The fifth annual Reno-Tahoe WordCamp will be held at the University of Nevada’s Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center April 27-28.

This unique educational event is an opportunity for WordPress developers and users of all levels to meet, share ideas, and learn more about the WordPress platform and its business applications. WordCamp features two days of conference sessions and workshops taught by local and national experts.  Covering “everything WordPress,” the event is organized by the Reno WordPress Meetup Group to benefit and support the WordPress Foundation.

WordCamp attendees can choose between technical and business tracks, and the agenda includes content and forums for WordPress novices, experts and everyone in between.

“WordPress is an awesome platform that makes it easy to build a website or blog,” says WordCamp organizer Megan Duggan, a graphic designer at Innerwest Advertising and Public Relations in Reno. “The Reno-Tahoe WordCamp packages great speakers and educational content into a low-key, affordable event for the local community. If you are designing websites or using WordPress for business or personal branding, you need to be at WordCamp.”

People can register online at 2013.reno.wordcamp.org. The fee for the 2-day conference is $30, which includes lunch both days, a t-shirt, and a Saturday evening after-party and networking event. Single-day registration is $18, and student discounts are available.

Businesses of all sizes are being told that “content is king,” and WordPress is the world’s leading content management system. More than half of all websites that include a CMS are WordPress-based, as are most professional blogs. WordPress is used worldwide to anchor and streamline ecommerce, digital marketing, and business and personal branding.

The two-day Reno-Tahoe WordCamp offers technical and business tracks that include presentations, live demos, question-and-answer sessions, panel discussions, and more. The international WordCamp organization embraces an “unconference” philosophy, encouraging impromptu sessions limited only by the imagination of attendees.

The technical track is aimed at developers and designers. The program is still being finalized, but topics likely to be covered include WordPress site setup, theme development, jQuery, developer trade secrets and techniques, the latest plugins, web fonts and mobile issues.

The business track is aimed at marketing professionals, business owners and bloggers. Topics include monetization, authority marketing, blog content, branding, e-mail marketing, podcasting and social media strategies.

“Reno WordCamp is one of the best conferences in town for the WordPress community of users, developers and designers, many of whom make their living from using the software and building new things on top of it,” says Colin Loretz, cofounder of the Reno Collective coworking space.  ”It also showcases the WordPress talent in and around Reno by attracting attendees and speakers from other cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Sacramento and Las Vegas.”

WordPress enthusiasts at all levels are encouraged to register at 2013.reno.wordcamp.org.

What’s WordPress?

WordPress is a free, Web-based, Open Source software program anyone can use to build and maintain a website or blog.  Originally intended as a user-friendly blogging platform, WordPress has been transformed by a large Open Source community of WordPress programmers who have improved and greatly extended its capabilities. No longer just a tool for bloggers, today’s WordPress is a comprehensive content management system (CMS) that can be used to run full-sized, media-rich websites for social businesses.

What’s WordCamp?

WordCamps are casual, locally organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They come in all different flavors, depending on the local communities producing them, but typically include sessions on how to use WordPress more effectively. Attendees range from blogging newbies to professional WordPress developers and consultants, and often combine scheduled programming with unconference activities. The first WordCamp was held in San Francisco in 2006, and WordCamps have since spread to more than 100 cities spread across five continents.

Hope to see you there!

Mark Estee, 12-months Revisited

“Persistence is probably the single most common quality of high achievers. They simply refuse to give up. No matter how hard it seems, the longer you persist the more likely your success.” — Jack Canfield

I will NEVER get tired of hearing about people overcoming challenges, and stepping into their own.

My life has been a beautiful roller coaster, specifically in the past 12 months. I wanted to take a minute to revisit one of my posts, which really kicked things off for me in 2012. There’s this guy, named Mark Estee, who took the time out of his extremely busy life to give a graduate student (me) an interview late one evening as his newly opened restaurant was locking it’s doors for the night.

I met Mark Estee during his 4^th month in business with Campo, this month marks the 16^th month that Campo has graced Reno with its presence. And oh, what a year it has been. This place is great. Ok… But, in the words of Mark Estee:

“Restaurants are supposed to have great food. That should be expected. There’s so much more to a great restaurant than just the food.”

This place is so much more than the food. I can go on and on about the accolades, the awards, Campo Mammoth, Top 10 this, Best of that… This guy and his restaurant have achieved the unexpected in the past year. BUT, I am not going there. I am going to stray away from the obvious. There are 2 things that inspire me most about Mark: 1. He is the self-made-comeback-kid 2. He LOVES Reno.

Mark says, “No matter what you do, you are bound to make mistakes. That’s the best part.”

I have listened to Mark give a handful of speeches about his journey, and I pick up on something new each time. Rock bottom means different things to each of us. But, I have a feeling that this guy stared rock bottom straight in its ugly face. He climbed out of it. He made the choice one-day to “put on a new self” and has been choosing to put on that new self-everyday since. No one made Mark a successful entrepreneur, no one told him he should be a chef, no one protected him from all the mistakes he has made personally and professionally, no one told him he should create this beautiful concept known today as Campo. No one. He did it- the good, the bad, the ugly, the brilliant, the beautiful, the delicious. On his own.

Mark has put in the hours. But, as much as he is doing it for Campo, he is doing it for Reno. He wants to help define our community and put Reno on the map- and not for our casinos or Reno 911. Mark is so passionate about the Biggest Little City, buying local, and helping people out. He has transformed the look of a section in downtown Reno and he has set the bar for restaurants in this area to a whole new level.

I’ve been on this mission recently trying to figure out what makes Reno. This town doesn’t get as much positive recognition as it deserves, quite frankly I am tired of it and I know I am not alone in making that statement. We have so many cool people doing really cool things, and our town is embracing the small businesses that are popping up all around Reno. You know what’s even better? Mark isn’t from here, he’s from Boston. He came to Reno from California to follow his dream of opening Campo. He left California, to come here.

Small business owners like Mark Estee, in my opinion paint a beautiful picture of the opportunities that this town has to offer. AND I don’t mind making the claim that when I think of the people that make this town so communal and inspiring-people like Mark come to mind. Cause Reno, in a way, is a comeback kid.

Oh, what a year it has been. Thank you Mark for continuing to share your story, and letting Reno be a part of it.

Davy Ratchford of Northstar, Enlightens with Valuable Personal Insight

“We are so lucky. We are marketers. Everyday, we get to be creative and disruptive for a living.” –Davy Ratchford

I am proudly on the board for the Reno-Tahoe American Marketing Association. We host luncheons each month and we host a guest speaker. I want to hear more from the best marketers in our area, and in 2012- one of the best presentations came from Davy Ratchford. We are in a creative field, and marketers constantly have to be on their toes. I am always on the lookout. What is the latest tactic that is grabbing consumers’ attention? What was the plan and thought put behind these tactics?

Davy Ratchford was the Director of Marketing at Northstar California. I just found out hours ago, via Twitter, that Ratchford has accepted a position at Vail Mountain in Vail, Co. Congrats, Davy! Davy transparently shared his personal story and presented some great insight as to what he is constantly looking for, everyday, as a professional marketer.

Davy shared 2 major points that really got my wheels spinning: “As marketers, it is our responsibility to cause disruption and to seek out unique opportunities.”

Disruption: As marketers, it is our responsibility to look for a way to get the consumers’ attention. How do you do that? By being different. Normal is…well…normal. It’s expected, it’s assumed. Disruption, however, gets the people’s attention. Disrupt the status quo if you want people to notice your product.

Opportunity: Constantly be on the lookout for unique opportunities to position your service or product. Ratchford shares a story of a once lost, white, fluffy dog that was spotted wandering around the Northstar resort. This little pooch is now Northstar’s mascot, and his name is Marsh Mellow. Marsh Mellow is a big time celebrity on Facebook, the fans love him! All of this was made possible because someone saw an opportunity. Opportunity can be in the form of a dog, a person, a song, a product…opportunity is everywhere! You just have to find it.

It doesn’t matter what industry you are working in, Ratchford’s insights apply to all marketers across the board. I appreciated his transparency. Thank you Davy Ratchford for sharing your journey with as, as well as some very inspiring thoughts and ideas!

Do you have a story worth spreading? Now’s your time: TEDx makes its way to UNR

 

“This is a great opportunity for Reno’s brand. This town is full of talent. We want to find and showcase the hidden stories and talent in our community as well as the familiar ones.” -Bret Simmons, Associate Professor of Management, College of Business

Can it be? Is it true? Word on the street is that TEDx is making it’s way to the campus of our very own University of Nevada in search of “ideas worth spreading.” Believe the buzz. This is yet another excellent opportunity for our community to come together and really shine. TED has created a program called TEDx, and TEDxUniversityofNevada will be held on January 25, 2013 at the Joe Crowley Student Union on the campus of UNR.

The most beautiful part about our town is the people. I just moved back in January, and in the past 10 months I have been nothing but inspired, moved, intrigued, and motivated by the people I have connected with in Reno. There are some extremely inspiring people which make up our community and now is the time for them to share their story.This isn’t for professional speakers or superheros, this is for anyone in our community who has a story or an idea worth spreading. Doesn’t matter how old you are or what you do, the more diversity among the TEDx talks- the better! All proposals will be considered. TEDx wants to hear your story.

Who’s TED?

TED isn’t a person. TED is a nonprofit devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading”. It started 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. TED’s mission: Spreading ideas. They believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world.

The two annual TED conferences, in Long Beach/Palm Springs and Edinburgh, Scotland, bring together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes or less). These talks are recorded, and published on TED.com. What’s your favorite TED talk? Mine is John Wooden’s.

What’s TEDx?

It’s TED, but local! TEDx is designed to give communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level. TEDx events are fully planned and coordinated independently, on a community-by-community basis.

TEDxUniversityof Nevada

Team TEDxUniversityofNevada consists of: Bret Simmins, Clare Dreyer, Greg Mosier, Kambiz Raffiee, Sue Moore, Lori Mead, Christina Hilfer and Jim McClenahan from UNR, Abbi Holtom Whitaker, President of The Abbi Agency and Liz Christofferson, CEO of Empower Consulting. This team is responsible for organizing the event. The mission is broader than traditional education. This opportunity is beyond the University; the college of Business MBA program is sponsoring this event, but it’s for the best interest of the community as a whole.

“I am a state employee with the College of Business. My responsibility extends beyond the classroom, it’s also to be a good citizen. I have brought TEDx here because it is a great way for the University and the community to work together.” -Bret Simmons

Have an inspirational story you want to share at TEDx?

All proposals need to in by Friday, October 19, 2012. Please visit the TEDxUniversityofNevada site for all of the info, and for specific instructions on how you could be considered as a speaker for TEDx.

Now’s our time to shine, Reno!

The Biggest Little Relay Race: The Reno-Tahoe Odyssey

“This is kind of like Burning Man, but with running.” – friend/burner/Odyssey teammate, Johanna Bailey

Here’s an event that keeps the Biggest Little City, little…The Reno-Tahoe Odyssey. Now, this is one of those events that I tell my friends about, and they look at me like I am completely nuts. Probably. But, I am not the only one who is nuts. There were almost 3,000 people that participated in this 178-mile relay race throughout the Reno/Tahoe area on Friday/Saturday.

Eric Lerude founded the Odyssey 8 years ago, and he coordinates the event every year with many volunteers. Portion of the proceeds are donated to charities like the Northern Nevada Children’s Cancer Foundation and Tahoe Pyramid Bikeway. An incredibly entertaining aspect of the race is all of the team names and yes…costumes. I saw it all this weekend. Men running in speedos, women running dressed as American flags, women and men running in tutu’s. And yes, there is beer. I saw a man dressed as a pink bunny running up Geiger Grade with a Heineken in his hand. God bless him.

How does this work?

Most teams include 12 members (male, female, or coed); some only have 6 (these teams are “ultra” which to me, means unbelievable). Each team of 12 will be broken up into 2 vans (6 and 6). Van #1 will have runners 1-6 run each of their legs, stopping at individual “exchanges” to have each runner pass off The Odyssey wristband. Then van #2 carries runners 7-12. These exchanges go on for 178 miles, a team of 12 will have each runner run 3 times. It took our team 26 hours to complete the race, some teams are faster, and some teams are slower.

Here are some FAQ’s: Is there time to sleep? A little, when your van is off- you can attempt to grab some shut-eye.  I slept for about 3 hours, which is a treat! Where do you change? In the vans…yes it gets stinky. Do you run in the dark? Yes. The race is nonstop; in fact Miss Evven Carrion was climbing 4.2 miles up Kingsbury Grade, exiting Lake Tahoe at 3 am. Where do you go to the bathroom? ANYWHERE and EVERYWHERE! Are you following all of this? This may break it down for you:

Where do you run?

The best part about The Odyssey is the scenery. Starting in Downtown Reno along theTruckee River, traveling through the Sierra Nevada Mountains and along the shores of Lake Tahoe. Then, we circle back through the Northern Nevada high desert back to where you began in Reno, at Idlewild Park. Runners get to experience a variety of sceneries. Each of my legs were in completely different areas, I saw Tahoe, Carson City, and Downtown Reno.

I was invited by the Mayberry Athletic Center to run with them this year. I was runner #12, which means I was the runner to cross the finish line for my team. My first leg was the beginning of North Lake Tahoe, it was about 9pm. The moon was fairly full that night and the whole lake was lit, it was gorgeous. Once again, I am from Southern California- and running through Truckee and Lake Tahoe is still a dream to me. I am still a tourist, and I may always be. If you check out my Facebook, I was keeping everyone posted throughout the 26-hour race. I was also tweeting. The Odyssey hash tag this year was #RTO12 if you want to check out tweets from the race this year- many of them are quite comical.

Despite the beer and costumes, this race is nothing to take lightly! It was intense and it was hot. Running in and out of the mountains has many elements: altitude, total darkness, animals, bugs, major inclines, and major declines. All of that aside, it is an amazing experience and I had a blast competing with my team. It was cool to see so many runners come together to enjoy this event. Everyone is supportive of one another. Complete strangers will offer you water, food, cold towels, or toilet paper. I can’t wait to do it again.

Leveraging Social Media to Display Your Community

A Facebook page for your business should be viewed as a window into your company’s soul. Now-a-days, when people Google your business (or even just YOU… creepy…) they will select your Facebook page over your website. Why? When individuals view Facebook pages, they are viewing actual human interaction, feelings, personality, professionalism, customer service and all! Also, Facebook is much more “now” than compared to a website. Customers want to see fresh content. Think about it: how often do you update your website, a couple times a year? How often do we update our Facebook pages? For some of us it’s hourly! So because Facebook pages are starting to become equally if not more prevalent than websites, I can’t stress enough how important it is to create a community on your page.

Each and every business has it’s own culture, it doesn’t matter if you sell pencils or are the hottest nightclub in town- every company has a culture. Here is a list of things to think about: your personal story, your beliefs, your employees, your product, your service, your mission statement, transparency, your physical business presence, the city and state you operate out of, YOUR CUSTOMERS, their story, their kids, their pets, THEIR testament as to why they love YOUR business. All of these things are factors, which create your business’s culture. In Jason Falls’ and Erick Deckers’ book, No Bullshit Media, they discuss the idea of “creating a kumbaya effect.” You got it. Think of everyone gathered around the campfire, swaying back-and-forth, maybe holding hands, and singing kumbaya. Develop a strategy to show your “kumbaya” culture on your Facebook to create an online community.

How would a business exude their culture online? Here are some ideas:

• PICTURES: Include your staff, YOU, your physical location, your product or service, your logo.

• Videos: Nothing is more powerful than a message delivered via video. YouTube anyone?

• Content: Encourage customers to leave comments, let them tell everyone else how good your business is. Post valuable tips or advice related to your industry. DON’T SELL. Focus 80% of your content on your fans, and 20% on you and your business. Ask questions; open all kinds of doors that will allow your customers to respond.

• Provide and nourish a place for your fans to interact.

• Timeline Photo: This is a new tool, which Facebook recently added. This is the first thing a person will see when person looks at your page. Make sure the picture clearly depicts what your business is all about. See examples below.

Some Reno businesses that are doing a great job displaying their community:

• Campo-Reno
• BoBo’s Mogul Mouse
• Squeeze In

Check out these pages and let me know what you think. Do you feel what their business is all about? Do you sense a community amongst their fans? When you leave these business pages you can have a pretty good understanding of what it would be like to step into their business- and that my friends, is a display of culture well executed.

Haley Wood and Jessie Watnes Create Big Following on Facebook for GourMelt

Facebook, Twitter and grilled cheese sandwiches served from a food truck, what a beautiful combination. The gourmet food truck craze really hit hard in 2009-2010. The idea of selling high-quality food from a truck has appealed to people all across the nation, especially to Haley Wood and Jessie Watnes.

These two wonderful women met 10 years ago, as servers at the local Archie’s. Haley is from Elko, NV and Jessie is from Reno, NV. Each of them were going to school, but they had a knack for the foodservice industry. When school was over and they set out to tackle their careers, but something was missing. The life of desk jobs, clocking in, and repetition was not what these 2 ladies had in mind.

“We loved working in the foodservice industry, it was ingrained in our brains, and we were very good at it. We always have friends and family over and we really enjoy cooking for everyone.”

In 2010, the girls researched the food truck phenomenon as it was all over the Food Network and other media.

“This idea was different. We are not chefs, we don’t have any fancy credentials- but we are artists. A gourmet food truck was a perfect way for us to channel our talents.”

Haley Wood is the voice behind Gourmelt’s Facebook and Twitter. Months prior to GourMelt’s first event, she was tweeting to the community creating awareness and anticipation for Reno’s new food truck. After hours of research and the blood, sweat and tears involved in the reconstruction of their food truck from 1989 (Bessie), GourMelt grilled their first sandwiches on Earth Day, 2011.

Haley and Jessie created a business plan, which involves offering a quick and quality lunch to local businesses. How it works: businesses contact GourMelt and request for them to come and sell lunch to their company. Before GourMelt started on Earth Day, they had 5 weeks of locations booked. These ladies also love the idea of supporting local businesses and enjoy bringing their crowd to various locations. GourMelt’s bread is from Reno’s House of Bread and their eggs are from Reno Egg.

The use of social media is crucial, almost reliant, to Gourmelt’s business plan. To market their business, GourMelt solely relies on Facebook and Twitter. Around 10:30am (timing of her posts is crucial) each day, Haley will tweet to over 4,000 fans the location of the truck. When it comes to social media, these two really focus on creating excitement and anticipation amongst their fans. They also keep it very simple. It’s not about sales or gimmicks, Haley only posts once a day and it is relevant and valuable information. Gourmelt serves any where from 85-140 meals per day, thanks to their tasty menu and the marketing power of Twitter and Facebook.

“When people communicate on our Facebook, they are not talking to a robot- they are talking directly with us and we respond to every question or comment.”

Hats off to Haley Wood and Jessie Watnes for their excellent execution on Facebook, another business that is leading by example. Check out their creative menu and get more info here. Become a fan of their business page and follow on Twitter so you can find out where they will be today!

Mark Trujillo and The Hub Coffee Co. Do Coffee and Social Media Right

“It’s always just been about bikes. It’s always just been about coffee.” -Mark Trujillo

I was wandering down Cheney St. in MidTown Reno looking for The Hub. Owner Mark Trujillo saw me aimlessly looking around before pointing me to a small opening, a former 2-car garage, where I found Reno’s beloved coffee shop. Beginning from the small and discrete location, to the old bikes hanging on the wall and roll-up door on the outside, to the raw brick walls, modern art, and tiny service station on the inside; this place is one of Reno’s best kept secrets. A REAL and authentic coffee shop, The Hub offers the best cappuccinos and coffee in town. If you are looking for a quiet place to study, a low-key place to have private conversation, get a meal, or a sugary flavored non-fat-latte-macchi-frapp-a-what? Then do not come to The Hub. This place is busy, has a “Cheers” like atmosphere, it’s small, gimmick-free, and they are serious about coffee.

Reno native and avid cyclist, Mark Trujillo sold Walden’s Coffee House in 2009 to search for something different; a place, which solely focused on providing the best coffee around. In June of 2009, Mark opened The Hub Coffee Co. in Reno’s MidTown District. Businesses (Sup, Crème Café, Sushi Pier 2, Midtown Eats, etc.) in this district, often unknown to all the tourists, are tiny gems nestled right below the big buildings of Downtown. Mark and his son Joey, 22 and Jessica 20 have created an atmosphere, which depicts the personality of their coffee- raw.

“If I am going to provide a product, I want it to be the best and I want it to be as raw as possible. We do not manipulate our coffee.”

You will not find any blue, yellow, white or pink sugar packets in the building. Non-fat milk doesn’t exist. The only additive they offer is a homemade chocolate sauce for their mochas. Best chocolate I have ever had. Mark gets his coffee from small, intimate, culturally-sound farms that have processes which have been handed down from generation to generation. He receives the coffee bean raw, roasts the beans in-house, and serves his drinks with no fuss or over processing.  Watch Mark make yours truly a cup of coffee:

Mark and his son Joey are responsible for creating the buzz around town about their coffee on the expanding world of social media. With their location being so small and discrete, they rely on social media to help spread the word. Did you know that coffee has 300 more properties than wine, and that it’s the 2^nd highest traded product in the world next to petroleum? Facts like these can be found on their Twitter. Want to see a never-ending review list with pictures from all of their fans? Check out their Facebook. Want to know about the various coffee beans produced worldwide? We have bloggers on our hands, people! Check out their blog.

“It’s not about specials or sales. It’s about our customers, coffee, how it’s served, or our process. We use social media to excite our customers and depict what we are all about. We are a hidden, local hot-spot and we leverage that mystery and build it up with our social media marketing. I respond to every single comment or complaint, I am building relationships with my fans.”

Mark and his kids are running a business that profits pennies at a time from their coffee, and it has taken time for him to figure out what works best for him. He never makes the same mistake twice, and that he will not lose to competitors. Mark and Joey Trujillo are leading by example on the social media-marketing front; follow these guys to see what’s going on in that 2-car garage on Cheney St., and at their new location in The Discovery Museum.