In 1994 Keba Konte flew to South Africa to photograph the first election where everyone could vote. He had no press credential, so when Mandela appeared, the fifty accredited photographers had the front position and Keba was stuck in the stands with the crowd. Then Mandela turned his back on the press, faced the people, and raised his fist. Keba got the frame.
He has been standing on that side ever since. Twenty years later he started Red Bay Coffee in Oakland, roasting at home on a popcorn popper after the bank declined his loan. He was in his late forties with two careers already behind him, photojournalist and exhibited artist, and he built the company around a question most founders never ask out loud: how do you open a coffee shop in a neighborhood you grew up near without becoming the front edge of its gentrification.
The hiring is where it gets specific. Keba went out to re-entry programs and recruited returning citizens on purpose, and he can tell you both halves of what happened. They worked twice as hard. They also came in with real trust issues, and he leaned on counselors from those same programs to work through it. Healey brings him a 2018 study of a million applicants across eleven firms that found the same performance and 13% lower turnover. Keba already knew.
The rest is the stuff you only get from someone who has run the thing for twelve years. Where you find talent for an industry that never trained anyone who looks like your customers. Why his farmers get paid more than fair trade to pick only the red cherries. How a tagline got flagged by the Black Panther Party's IP holders and why that ended well. And what he would put on a billboard in front of a billion people, which nobody saw coming.
In this episode:
- What a day behind the press line taught him about where to stand
- Why he refused to build a coffee company that would speed up gentrification
- Recruiting out of re-entry programs, and the part he will not sugarcoat
- The study that says the risky hire is the one who stays
- Mercenary employees, missionary employees, and which one is the founder's fault
- Hiring from chocolate, wine, kitchens and bars when your industry has no bench
- Where "beautiful coffee to the people" came from, and who had to approve it
- Why the red in Red Bay is about ripeness, and what that costs
- Naming coffee blends after protest anthems in the middle of a political crisis
- Coffee is a fruit
Subscribe for more conversations about doing well without being a jerk.
New episodes on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:19 South Africa, 1994, and no press credential
03:15 Stay with the people, not the VIP section
04:30 Starting Red Bay, and gentrification in Oakland
06:27 Roasting at home after the bank said no
07:48 Going out to re-entry programs on purpose
08:15 Working twice as hard, and the part he will not sugarcoat
08:58 A million applicants, eleven firms, 13% lower turnover
10:36 Mercenary vs. missionary, and the purpose part
11:53 Building a team for an industry that never trained one
15:30 Where “beautiful coffee to the people” came from
16:58 The Black Panther Party trademark flag
19:02 Coffee is a fruit
21:41 Why Red Bay is called Red
26:23 The Hero Collection and the protest anthems
28:51 Red Bay as a piece of art
32:10 The billboard
