Inspiring Conversations with Heather Short of Coffee Connections

Today we’d like to introduce you to Heather Short. 

Hi Heather, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Growing up in Washing State and having the culture of coffee deep-rooted into my upbringing really opened up my love for coffee. I worked at multiple different drive-thru coffee stands until I ended up chasing the sun and moving to Arizona for college. While going to school for a degree in business I worked at a handful of different cafes. This one in particular-a drive-thru, walk-up business model by the name of Dutch Bros really captured my commitment. I went on and worked for Dutch Bros for almost 10 years. The culture of this company is unlike any other company I’ve ever worked for. They instill the importance of the people and why kindness always wins. The customer service was the most important thing followed by quality, and how quickly you could get the product out the window. I wore many hats with them and learned even more. I knew my heart needed to move on when I wasn’t able to grow with them in a town that I wanted to plant roots in so I said goodbye. I knew I would one day open up my own coffee shop with the same sort of values-to love people and have everything else secondary. My love for coffee never left while I searched for a spot up and down the Aspen valley, always leading to dead ends. Truthfully, I almost gave up but ended up shooting for the best one more time asking for a shared space agreement with a Thai and sushi restaurant. The owner said yes and from there I put everything into place for an operating cafe. I’ve had a business plan for this ever since I left Dutch Bros so it was an easy transition after gaining the support of my husband, Thai restaurant, and the city for approval. 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There is always struggles with anything that is worth doing and this venture wasn’t any different. Finding a solid location was very stressful, draining, and discouraging. Trying to figure out how to fund my business plan and all the equipment was an emotional rollercoaster, which led to my husband digging into his saving to do so. It took a lot of patience and grace with myself and the journey, not to mention a reminder to always take deep long breaths to try and avoid having meltdowns 🙂 I had to put my dreams on pause when I was pregnant with our son JohnPaul in order to pour into my pregnancy journey which then led straight to covid and a flip of everyone’s world. After a lot of tears, whys, constant change, and persistence Coffee Connections opened on June 14, 2021 

As you know, we’re big fans of Coffee Connections (CoCos). For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We make as much as we can in-house, this includes our nut mylks, flavors, and syrups. Everything is farm-to-table and locally sourced. We care a lot about our environmental impact which is the main reason I started making the nut mylks to eliminate a lot of the waste throughout the week. 

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success for me is the outcome of being able to treat people with love and grow in the community while your business is growing as well. The longer we are open the more people come into our lives. The more consistent they are every week and I am able to learn from them, grow with them and pour into them. We have a fierce community here that deserves kindness and it is such a blessing to be able to have a platform that is giving them just. Love people and the rest will follow. Creating safe spaces for people of all walks of life to feel welcome with open arms, that’s a great feeling. 

Contact Info:

• Email: coffeeconnectionsllc@gmail.com
• Website: https://rfvcoffeeconnections.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cocos_rfv/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cocosrfv

Image Credits
Amber Sananikone
Heather Quinn