What I’ve Learned Taylor Whiddon

CO-OWNER, JOJO’S ESPRESSO

Interview conducted by Candice Baxter. Photography by Alex Ginsberg Photographics

Just starting a business is a great accomplishment. If you’d have asked me four years ago if I wanted to start a business, the answer would be no. But in 2020, we started a craft coffee trailer parked at Thornwood three days a week. We went in with very little capital, and six months in, we paid off the trailer. Then we realized this was something special.

Way before we started, I was drawn to this place. I would bring my son to run in the grassy area by the clock. I told Hannah, my wife and co-owner, if we ever started a business it would be here. So when we got the trailer, I called up the property managers and brought the trailer so they could look at it. It’s a craft coffee shop on wheels with a nice bar and a tile backsplash. It fits the aesthetic. So from 2020 until last October, we were parked up here most days.

Don’t go overboard. Keep it simple. Simplicity is a big deal when it comes to our inventory, the layout of our shop and our menu. We don’t have 50 different syrups. Hannah makes all of our seasonal flavored syrups, and she’s really good at it. We have four that are house-made.

There are so many great things about this community. We have friendly neighbors. I love the safety, the effort of the police department. I love all the other local businesses, the mom and pop places with still the same people running them. I love how the regulations make it upscale, not snooty, but nice.

A year into the trailer, we went back and forth on a storefront. Some people told us to scale immediately, but that wasn’t the right decision for us. We started the store buildout this past March and opened up in November. We only have 17 seats, so we push mobile ordering to make it convenient for people to come in, get a coffee real quick and go back to work. We’ve been hitting our goals, and what we’re doing is making sense and making money.

My priority when I’m not at work is to be with my family, Hannah and our two boys. I’m also very involved with my local church. I play guitar and help out with production and stage design.

Faith means a lot to our family. My favorite quote is scripture, Collatians 3:23. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” Whether working at home or in a coffee shop, we do it for the Lord. That’s where our hearts are.

I would tell anyone brand new to business and coffee to start out mobile. That’s where our customer base was born. I didn’t think the trailer was going to be as successful as it was, but during COVID everybody wanted to be outside. On the weekends, we could go to other areas. We built a following on Instagram and got invited out to neighborhoods.

I look up to Richard, my dad. He used to have several jobs to provide for us, and he’s been working his whole life. My siblings and I all had cars. Now that I’m older, I think about five car notes and a mortgage. He worked in sales, commission-based, and somehow, someway with my mom as a nurse, they gave us a good life. I would do whatever it takes to care for my family like he did.

When you’re starting out, don’t burn out. It’s nice when you can make your own schedule to take a break or go on vacation. Spend time with the people you’re doing all this for.