baker

crew member

barista

kitchen manager

general manager

Storyville Coffee Company

You get less tips if you’re new! Insane standards for training and day to day, Not the absolute worst job I've ever had, but nobody stays long because they don't pay enough for how busy we are. I've met a lot of cool people for sure, but stuff changes week to week, managers give us super long updates for what we're doing wrong, and upper management sounds like a disaster from what the trainers and managers tell us. They make it sound like everyone has a chance to become a manager and they expect us to naively believe that. They fired half of us last year, and now they're just clamoring to stay open. I literally heard from a managers mouth that they doesn’t actually care about the coffee they took 6 months to teach us, they only care about how many emails we can gather each day. I’m not mad I’m just disappointed. Just freaking pay your people more and be a little human

I worked at Storyville for about 9 months.  They start you off with what they call "ground school" where they teach you all about storyville.  Ground school gave me feel like I was being initiated into a cult, but I gave it a chance.  It wasn't bad at first because I enjoyed the fast paced work environment and my fun coworkers.  Soon, I started to realize that Storyville is terrible.  They force the company culture on you. I felt like I was a robot, putting a fake smile on my face and reading from a script.  I felt like I was pressured to make storyville a part of my life and I felt like I was stressed about it, even on my days off.  You won't get the time off you want, you won't get paid what you deserve, and storyville will become a lifestyle, which most people don't want. They turned the amount of tips we make into a game, by making us collect a certain amount of emails in order to get a certain amount of tips. This makes it seem like they are helping us, but it's clearly just to benefit the company, because it made our paychecks less consistent. Around the time that I quit, many other people quit because we all started to address these issues.  The management has their favorites and if you're not one of them, you probably won't advance very much.  I don't recommend.

I absolutely LOVE working for this company for the simple reason that the people they hire are TOP NOTCH humans. Everyone who works there new or old is welcomed into the family. They also have a mission to donate 100% of profits to ending human trafficking and that is amazing. 

A lot of the people who work here give 110% but are not always recognized for it. 

There is not a lot of room to grow in this company, this is more a place to just come work for a little while ( a year or two, while you look for something else)

Not very student friendly when it comes to school schedule conflicts.

But somehow in spite of all the problems with management this place continues to have an amazing work culture and it all comes down to the people they hire to work in the shops and the positive attitudes everyone has the culture has nothing to do with upper management. It is this reason alone I would recommend you work here because you will not find this ANYWHERE else.

Working at Storyville was a slow rollercoaster. The day-to-day was consistent, with generally very little oversight from management. The workplace culture was always fun with my coworkers, but management could be difficult or nice but unavailable. I worked under a few different managers, and one was amazing and the others were okay to terrible. How it felt to work here really depended on who the manager was at that moment. Some were quite flexible with schedule and clear about expectations whereas others expected you to read their mind and got upset if you didn't. 

Very fussy about promotions, a lot of carrot dangling just to pull it away. Really high expectations, with paychecks that didn't reflect that. I mostly enjoyed my time working here and made long-lasting friendships. 

I would recommend working here if you have no interest in getting promoted and don't mind the hard work, but if you're looking for a career look elsewhere. 

I spent two years at this company and remember them fondly. The people there were some of the best I ever worked with.

It's unfortunate that the company itself is so poorly run.

There's an awful dynamic where the lowest workers are constantly pressured to "lean in" and dedicate more time/effort/energy into their work. New workers either leave, or get stuck trying to continually one up themselves and their coworkers. Meanwhile upper management continues to throw money at any issue without acknowledging the inherent flaws in their business model.

Employees were once promised pay raises after completing certain training "levels." They were later denied these pay raises and continued to work for the same rate as new employees despite having significantly more experience. These same employees were later laid off en masse while newer employees stayed.

As much as I once loved working here, I would never go back. I need a place that shows its employees more respect.

I was hired to lead an effort to grow the brand by touring  with some wonderful musicians, produce high end concerts in people's homes, and invite guests to enjoy delicious coffee with wonderful music.  Such an inspired and novel combination of coffee and music. It was by no means easy. Nor were many of the tasks that followed. In fact, not much was easy. It was challenging and often rewarding. 
No Storyville is not for everyone. In fact, likely not for most. They ask a lot, while providing real and enduring training and support.  It is quite something to be paid while learning the high art of guest service, the construction of truly fine coffee drinks, while displaying grace under the pressure of caring about each and every person served.  

In summary.  This is not for everyone. If you don't want to care deeply about a learned craft and the details required, Storyville may not be for you. If being asked to lean in and care about the details and the craft is appealing.... I recommend it.

The coworkers for the most part were wonderful. The coffee and pastries? Delicious. However working for Storyville was one of the most mentally damaging experiences I have experienced ever. The work is hard for very little pay. The food is expensive and there’s not a shift meal provided. When I did have conflicts with another worker, management refused to help moderate a conversation between the two of us when I asked for it saying that “we needed to solve it ourselves”. This lead to me being yelled at in-front of the entire team and being humiliated. One time I got in trouble for talking too much (which fair I was taking a lot). However, the next day when I chose to be quiet and focus on my tasks more to show I heard their concerns I then got pulled aside by management and was told  I was “bringing the mood down” I  got in trouble (written up)  for not coming in during a snowstorm with over a foot of snow after expressing safety concerns.  I found out later 3 guests had come in the entire day. 
It’s just not worth it.

Executive leadership who you only hear from when you do something "wrong", except they never told you what was "right". The expectations change, literally, daily.

Rarely felt valued for the time and effort I would give. When asking for a more competitive wage, since I was being wooed away, I would be told how much more I would have to do without an acknowledgment of past achievements. Never felt like I was trusted or empowered to make a decision without jumping through hoops. I'd jump through the hoop, write the email, make the presentation, and then wait and wait for a response.

The best thing about my job was my coworkers and the lifelong relationships I formed with them and my direct reports.

I loved being there in the beginning, but the honeymoon period wore off. Executive leadership does not know how to build and keep a healthy, positive, profit-bearing culture.

Stay away!

My coworkers were a wonderful bunch of people, and will continue to be my friends, but the lack of leadership and consensus about how our shop should be run led to multiple mixed signals, people getting in trouble after acting on a different leader's advice, etc. Almost worse than that, though, is this company's complete and overwhelming obsession with branding. I understand the need for strong branding, but the owner, CEO, on down to the managers of each shop are so obsessed with branding that they are constantly changing how things run, updating the brand, moving from one direction to another, one promotion to another, and all at the detriment - and held responsibility - of employees who are really trying their damnedest to do the best work possible. This company's motto is "Love everybody." I wish they'd start with their employees.

If you have any self value and drive, this is not the company for you. I could speak mountains of witness about how destructive my experience was working there, however I’ll summarize. I was part of “ground school” One. In its origin, Storyville had potential and was an inviting unease. 

People make a place and environment. Storyville is an insecure and unstable work space. The management and work place policies shifted dramatically on the regular. 

I don’t know what kind of skin you have to have to declare “Love everybody never ever hurt anybody” and blatantly execute the opposite daily, but that is exactly what happened to staff working for Storyville. 

This is a place of hypocrisy on the next level. 

If you like hurt and confusion, this is the company for you. Otherwise, skip this dead end and flourish elsewhere. 


Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Baker 1 salary reported	$24.50 per hour
Crew member 4 salaries reported	$24.85 per hour
Barista 3 salaries reported	$23.33 per hour
Kitchen manager 6 salaries reported	$71,083 per year
General manager 6 salaries reported	$72,917 per year

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