Every week, The Talon interviews a member of the Oklahoma Christian University community, a “Newsmaker,” to answer questions about their role on campus.
On March 30, The Talon interviewed the manager of The Brew, Gracie Vanlandingham.
What job before this led you to manage The Brew?
“My only background has been in coffee. I’ve been working in the coffee industry since I was 15. I had to get my parents’ permission to work my first job since I was only 15. I started at a roastery in my little hometown, and I always knew that it was a really great opportunity to meet all different types of people, and it was a really creative job as well. I really liked it. It was creative and it was social. I decided to stick with coffee and I’ve worked in coffee shops and managed coffee shops for the past 15 years.”
Do you have any changes or additions to The Brew that you would like to make soon?
“One of my big goals for this upcoming year is making the brew more accessible to the general public, getting more ads out there for The Brew, and making it easier to rent the space online for private events. It’s a really good source of income for The Brew. And the better we do, the more fun drinks and events we can have for the students on campus, which is really the main goal; to make it feel like it’s your guys’ space. Another fun thing that we are doing, that we’re starting in a couple of weeks, is we’re doing a big open mic night event once a semester. We’re just going to go big or go home. Instead of just a bunch of them throughout the week, because honestly, you guys are kind of hard to get a hold of and full time college students are busy. So, we’ll do a big open mic event with outfits and a theme. April 16, from 8:00-10:00 p.mm is our first open mic night, 70s theme, so dress accordingly.”
What is your favorite drink at The Brew?
“Our new line of healthier energy drinks. You don’t really think of health when you think of energy drinks, but we have a new line of Lotus energy drinks. They have ashwagandha, L-theanine and magnesium in them. And we’ll have sugar free options and regular sugar options. They’re super minimal dye and they have dye-free options. That’s my favorite drink right now..”
What have you learned from working at The Brew?
“I haven’t necessarily learned anything about coffee from The Brew. I think I’ve definitely gotten a lot better at managing a large staff and communicating better and getting better at timing with ordering. So I’ve just improved my overall management style since I started here about three years ago. I don’t know if you guys know this, but I also helped open The Brew in 2017. I helped set up the bar layout and choose some of the products. Then, after a couple of years of helping with the startup, I then opened my own coffee shop in Bricktown for four years. I have had my own coffee shop and bakery. After Covid, I closed it. But it’s okay because I really, really enjoy getting to know the students and I get to know my staff really well. I get to know a lot of different students on campus as well, and get to pour into their lives and make sure they’re doing okay.”
How is The Brew’s playlist compiled? How do you choose what music to play?
“All the brewistas/brewistos are welcome to make their own playlists. During their interviews, that’s one of the questions that I ask, ‘What kind of music do you listen to, and what would you play during a typical afternoon shift or morning shift?’ I actually do kind of hire based on music taste as well. It’s a part of the job. You don’t want to be enjoying your morning coffee and listening to scream. At least the typical person does not.”
What makes a good brewista/brewisto?
“I make sure to hire a variety of personalities, because I think that if we were all the same, then certain things wouldn’t get done. I like to build a team of multiple different personalities. I ask them ‘Are you type A, type B or type C?’ And I also ask a lot of personality questions. What makes a good brewista is the willingness to learn, because a brewista who is stuck in their ways might be making bad drinks and they don’t care. So someone that cares about people and is open to learning.”
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