Not So Small
Running a small business is anything but small. In each episode our host, Sam Bauman, asks small business owners about their challenges, triumphs, and the passion that keeps them going. Through this, Not So Small seeks to spotlight and strengthen the small businesses that are dedicated to their community and care about more than the bottom line.
Not So Small
16ozDays: Dillon Duong
In this episode of Not So Small, host Sam Bauman sits down with Dillon Duong, founder of 16ozDays, to explore how weekly coffee shop visits transformed into a thriving community-focused brand. Over the past four and a half years, Dillon has visited more than 263 local coffee shops, documenting their stories and building meaningful relationships with owners and staff along the way.
Dillon shares the evolution of his business, particularly the development of the Coffee Compass, a buy-one-get-one-free stamp book connecting coffee lovers with local shops. He details the thoughtful process behind creating this product, emphasizing how feedback from coffee shop owners led to crucial improvements that aligned with his core values of supporting local businesses rather than exploiting them.
The conversation delves into Dillon's approach to team building, revealing how his talented teammates keep him motivated through entrepreneurial challenges.
Dillon also offers candid advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, stressing the importance of showing up consistently regardless of circumstances, communicating efficiently, and being actively engaged with your business seven days a week. His story showcases how strong values and genuine interest in connecting with others can form the foundation for business success.
Guest Info
Community Shoutout(s)
Host & Show Info
- Host Name: Sam Bauman (she/her)
- About the Host: Sam is the President of Mellowlark Labs, a Twin Cities-based small business consulting agency. She has a masters degree in counseling psychology, a field she worked in for several years before applying her skills in business, and is certified in Organization Development.
Podcast Website
Sound Editing By: Adam Rondeau
Podcast Art By: Andy Bauman (website)
Welcome back to another episode of not so Small, the podcast where we ask small businesses the big questions. I'm your host Sam Bauman and this week I sat down with Dylan d. Founder of 16 Ounce Days. Over the past four and a half years, Dylan has visited over 260 local coffee shops and has shared their stories on social media. In my conversation with Dylan, he shares how these weekly coffee shop visits evolved into a thriving and community focused brand and the development of the super cool Coffee Compass, which is a buy one get one free stamp book which connects coffee lovers with local coffee shops. We dive into Dylan's journey of building relationships with coffee shop owners seeking customer feedback and he talks about how his incredible team keeps him motivated through the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. Dylan is clearly committed to supporting local businesses and his story showcases how strong values and a genuine interest in connecting with others can be the foundation for business success. I hope you enjoy our conversation.
Dillon Duong:Hello, my name is Dillon D. I'm the founder of 16 Ounce Days. So yeah, we support local coffee shops every single week. We go to a new one and do our best to share their story. As of two Sundays ago, we've been to 263 different coffee shops now and 264 will be in just a few days here. And so yeah, so it started with just me being at like a coffee shop every single week drinking a coffee. Right? And so at first it would just be like boop, little photo of like hey, I'm at. Actually I'm not gonna say any names. I'm drinking a coffee with Sam today or so and post that up. And about 90% of my community or my network was like oh my gosh, this is so sweet. You should like share this more often and maybe like start your own page on this. And the other 10% are like oh dude, like I don't know, like this is kind of cool but like I don't want to see your stuff ever.
Sam Bauman:Since too many coffee pictures.
Dillon Duong:Right, right. Yeah. And so either way ended up kind of started my own page and that's how 16 ounce days happened. And so it started with just a drink and a photo every single week. And then I started adding like a fact about either the drink or the shop. Bought this tiny little camera. It's a Canon M50. Learned a little bit of lightroom, like basic lightroom editing and now it's people suggest in our community suggest a place for me to go to every single week. And we do like a poll and whichever one out of the two has more votes. I end up going there. Helps with engagement too. And yeah, I go in, I do this thing called black hoodie time and it's black hat, black hoodie gym shorts and these busted ass gym shoes I have on right now that I've had for four and a half years. Go in, just head down, kind of incognito and with a very curious mindset too right? So like haha, Shopify, love that favorite noise. And yeah we go in, head down and just hey, like what do you recommend here? Just to kind of see like the response you get too. We're not huge yet by any means but I never want to send anyone to a space where they'd feel like uncomfortable or like when they walk in they'll get like looks and stuff or oh, I don't know what a cortado is like, you know what I mean? And so we tried the coffee, observed the space and we at the very end kind of share like hey, this is kind of what we do. We're doing our best to like support these local spaces. Would love to hear more about your story and how it came to be and yeah, do our best to share their story and something that doesn't get shared often. So people see me for like two, three minutes of like hey, this is where we're at today. I'm Dylan guys, like we're drinking coffee here. It's hours of research beforehand. Like I spend 2, 3. It used to be closer to 4 but I'm getting a little better at it now. So like two to three hours the night before during the visit like trying to do like any sort of like current research and then afterwards it's like, I mean it's photos and stuff. The whole like interview we have and then like post edits too which has gotten shorter. But the whole process is typically around like 10 hours or so like every weekend. But it's really fun right? Like we get to share these stories and like it's not just hey, this is a coffee shop, it's hey, they went to this university and used to walk a mile to their favorite shop together where they met for this festival. And just doing our best to share like not just the coffee shop but like the owners behind the space and what they're all about.
Sam Bauman:Yeah, totally. So you're researching who the owners are and kind of before you even go to the shop, learning as much as you can about how that coffee shop.
Dillon Duong:Came to be pretty like basic facts or so. But yeah like so time is the most valuable thing to Me. And so if. And owners, I'm learning, like, they're busy as heck. Right. They have a million things they're doing every single day. And so if I'm able to snag a few minutes with them, I don't want it to be any question that I can find, like, just online. And, like, oh, yeah, dude, just check their website out. I did, I did. That's why I didn't ask that. Ha. And so doing my best to just, like, ask the, you know, like, wow, this guy did his research kind of thing. Questions of, like, how did you know that? That's kind of weird almost, right?
Sam Bauman:Like.
Dillon Duong:But, like, hey, it's our job. We're 69 stage.
Sam Bauman:Yeah.
Dillon Duong:Yeah.
Sam Bauman:How often do you get to actually talk to the owner when you go to a coffee shop?
Dillon Duong:So that is a great question. So before, people had never. God, we've come a long way before. It was a pretty low rate. Oh, there's just another influencer person trying to talk to us. And technically, you know, we are. Like, we started as a social media account. Like, I'd like to see us more of a brand. But, yeah, before, I was like, oh, I don't want to talk to anyone. Blah, blah. I kid you not. The last place I went into, and we already kind of, like, followed each other on socials, and I'm trying to be incognito and whatnot, and I go to the counter and they're like, oh, hey, how's it going? I'm like, oh, good. How are you? Oh, hey, Dylan. I'm like.
Sam Bauman:Okay, but that has to be a great feeling.
Dillon Duong:Yeah, Like, I mean, yeah, it's pretty awesome. Not gonna lie. I was just. I don't know, like, it kind of threw everything out. And I kind of just, like, went with the flow at that point. But I guess the short answer is it used to not be, like, much at all, and people would never give me their time of day, and now it's gotten to the point where, like, they know of who we are before we show up. And a level beyond that, like, have reached out to ask us to come in. So, yeah, we've come a long. Damn. Saying that out loud is crazy.
Sam Bauman:So it's been four years.
Dillon Duong:Yeah, four and a half. So the social media account started June 15, 2020, and we've been going pretty much every single week outside of, like, holidays and, like, personal events for the last four and a half years.
Sam Bauman:That's amazing. And then last year, you started the Coffee Compass. Tell me about that.
Dillon Duong:Yeah. So it was around 238 visits or so. Around, well, 238 visits. Guys. We a few locals that were really kind of close to us to partner on this thing. And I mean, it wasn't. Right away the team sat down. Grace and Spen are like my two go to. We have a rotating graphic designer, Amanda in book one, Will for book two. And we're chatting with Annabelle at the moment right now as well. But head down, ate dirt and just hated ourselves for a little while like all the others out here. But that was for about five months of just, hey, what do we need to make this happen? What are the pieces we should gather? What would make this, like, great and end of the day, and I live by this, like, I think 70% of something that's not complete but you can get good feedback on is better than, like sitting at what could be 100% but, like not getting any feedback out because you're not going to know how people react to it until it gets out there. And that's terrifying. But you have to do it.
Sam Bauman:Yeah. So what was that process like for the coffee compass?
Dillon Duong:Oh, man. So we got a lot of good feedback on. Like, hey, we would love to do stuff like this. This is like customers, right? We'd love to go out there. We love supporting local. So, like, okay, so what can we do to help people support local? What can we do to kind of like save people money or like, save people time on the customer side, on the business owner side, like, how do we bring more bodies into the shop? Right. And so there's a lot that went into it from, like, the type of paper that was used to, like, the little speech bubbles of the attaboys. Kind of just trying to make people's day. Better creation side, customer side. On the business side of things, we had eight brands and I'll use initials instead of their names just for the sake of confidentiality here originally had eight people brands that were just completely down to help us and to be on board with us for the coffee Compass. Super awesome. And one of them as well. Like, yeah, like, we're in. And I'm like, do you want to, like, hear about it at all or like. Or hear about it or know about, like, what it is? They're like, nope, just throw us in there. And so. Sure. And those are the kind of relationships, like, I love kind of like fostering and building and all the owners and managers on like, a personal level. Love them to death, treat them like fam. And those eight good to go. There were Three others, R, M and K. And they're awesome. Love the shops. They were like, hey, we love what you guys are all about, but we're just. We can't really be a part of this. Which, again, with like, a therapy and whatnot. Big fan of therapy. If you're not in therapy, whether you think you need it or not, go to therapy. Self awareness. And, like, one of those things is, like, learning to take things not as personally. And so it stung a little bit at first because, like, hey, those shops and I were pretty close.
Sam Bauman:Yeah.
Dillon Duong:But having that understanding and, like, coming from more of a curious mindset of, like, hey, maybe why did they say no? And so I went back and asked, like, hey, do you mind if I pick at kind of why you said no? A lot of the people we reach out to or businesses down the road are going to be super similar, if not exactly the same as you. And so would love to hear kind of what you have to say. So maybe we can kind of improve on that in the future. And they're like, oh, yeah, like, we love what you do. Like, we've actually just kind of done something similar in the past. And, I mean, the intention was the same, right? Like, hey, like, we're going to go in and get a drink. I'm gonna bring my friend Sam with me. We're gonna sit down, chitchat for a few hours, maybe get a second round or grab, like, a pastry or, like a. Like a light snack or a little bite and whatnot. Unfortunately, like, in reality, what happened was it wasn't like, hey, we're gonna sit down and chat for a few hours. It was, hey, I'm gonna get. Can I get a latte? Sweet, thanks. See you later. Right. And so all the shops would be at a loss and so ended up kind of feeling like they were scammed or taken advantage of. And I would have felt like an idiot if I did the exact same thing. Right. And so I brought that info back to my team. We meet at Wildgrind every single Friday morning. Love that space and love. My team brought it to them and was like, hey, guys, got some news. What are your thoughts on switching things from the original idea was a free drink, switching that to a buy one, get one. And initially I was chirped like, hey, that's going to bring our value down. We're going to lose out on sales. It's not going to be the same as before. And they were right on a lot of those things. But kind of what closed was, hey, I'd Rather have less money in my pocket and have people that really want to work with me and care about our community than have deeper pockets, but have people feel like I scammed or took advantage of them. Right. And so ended up, you know, kind of switching things over from that free drink to buy one, get one, brought it back over to R, M and K. Hey, you guys first, thank you so much for sharing that info with me. I would have never, ever, and I hope my community would never do that. But big fan of data. You guys have already done something similar to this and had those results, we would have felt silly doing the same exact thing. I don't know if this changes anything, but I want you to know that we took in your feedback and we ended up switching things from a free drink to a buy one, get one. And so that way it guarantees that you, at the very least, break even any sort of upsell on, like, getting a pastry or a bite or a second round. That's just icing on the cake. And so that same Friday evening, went from eight out of 11 to 11 out of 11 shops. And we're on book two now, kind of to wrap up with this, one of the 11 shops ended up switching their focus from more of their nonprofit, more on the coffee side to the art gallery side. But I'm super proud to say, like, best part is every single one of the other 10 stuck with us from book one to book two.
Sam Bauman:And you added some new ones.
Dillon Duong:We did, yeah. We expanded to five more spaces as well. And that's great.
Sam Bauman:Great.
Dillon Duong:Yeah.
Sam Bauman:The story that you just told about how you developed this product, I think is such a good example of how core values play into building a business and helping a business be successful. You were faced with a decision to make. Do I go the path of, in some ways more guaranteed money, or do I risk the financials in order to uphold this other value that I have of giving, supporting the community and giving these coffee shops a product that they actually feel good about and that they'll actually see a return from as well. And I'm curious if that was part of your thought process or how you've seen that play out now that it's been a couple of years.
Dillon Duong:Yeah, I mean, our goal is to give, not take. Right. And so I think that's kind of me almost like putting my money where my mouth is with, like, hey, there was a big risk in, you know, like, losing value and whatnot on the customer side of things in sales. But taking that risk, God, saying Goes out is so crazy to just like make sure, like, hey, like, they're going to have a higher chance to succeed is 100% worth it. And was definitely worried. You never really know how things are going to go until you do it. But like, it's one of those. Entrepreneurship is not for like the faint hearted. Yes. Thank you. I was drawing a blank.
Sam Bauman:Yeah.
Dillon Duong:But it's one of those things where, like, you have to, you're putting yourself out there. Right. And not just like, I mean, it's finances. It's like it's you. Right. And so really happy to say that. So we launched on August 10 for book one. Between August and the end of December got a little over 900 out. And this year we're looking to do, fingers crossed, around 6,000 of them.
Sam Bauman:That's amazing.
Dillon Duong:Thank you. And so it's been like head down, day at a time and like getting feedback. Right. So, like, I'll give you some more of how there's some more of how awesome we are right now, please. From book one to book two. Yeah, it's. I mean, I work weekends. Like, I do markets, events, and then Sundays I go to like the shops as well. But like, when I'm out at like the farmers markets or doing events, like every single event I'm at. Also a great way to break the ice because people are always thinking you're trying to sell them stuff. I'm not, but if it fits, great. Hey, can I ask you a few questions? I'm a new brand looking to get feedback. I have done that. And this is like the getting your reps in kind of thing, right? Like, I would say close to at least a few hundred, close to over a thousand times with all the events we've done, just, hey, this is my favorite shop. Or what's your favorite shop? What's your favorite drink? How far would you go? What's your biggest, like, hurdle and whatnot? And okay, book one was five by seven. Right. And it lasted from August to December and there were 11 shops. The biggest things from book one to book two for feedback were, oh my gosh, the guys. The girls were like, oh, like, I just, I want to be able to like fit in my purse and I have to like, kind of like do a little riff raff sometimes to kind of get it in there. The guys were like, I just want to throw it in my pocket. Right. So what did we do? Make it smaller, Right? Yeah, the second one or the second change that we made. Oh, like August to December. I'm not sure if we'll have enough time. And to me, I'm going to a space like, every day, if not every other day. So I'm like, what do you mean? But, hey, crazy. Not everyone's like, me, wow, crazy. But okay, let's have this next one go from January to December. So it's like more than double the time, right? So they had a whole year to use it, and the last one was on the other side of things. Oh, wow. Like, 11's great, but I wish there were more spaces. So what did we do? We expanded. Right. And so I, like, kind of worked backwards from, oh, I think this thing will be super cool. Let's see how people react to it now. It's, hey, we really like these things. And, like, I create something that they want. And so it's been a really fun experience. And also, like, and with my team too. So, like, we're blunt. We. We gotta learn how to take a hit to the ego too, right? Like, luck to be right. Not always. Right, right. And so doing our best to just be blunt with communication. Like, say what's on your mind. Like, say how you actually feel. You're not going to understand how others feel or know how they feel unless you guys talk about it, right? Same thing with you, right? Like, people aren't going to know how you feel about something unless you share. If I was like, I have a little. I call them my God, siblings. They're like, my little brother and sister Elise is allergic to peanuts. And if I bake her a cake or like, let's say cookies, like peanut butter cookies, right? Like, oh, my God, I love these peanut butter cookies. I'm gonna keep making her peanut butter cookies because I love peanut butter cookies. But if I knew she was allergic, I wouldn't do that. Right? Same thing with the book, right? Like, hey, I think five by seven's great. I think this is the perfect size. Or I think, you know, this is a perfect time frame getting that feedback. And sometimes, you know, like, I am, like, kind of pretty spot on with things. But, like, that's why I also have the team to, like, hey, just to get, like, different points of view. And, like, outside of my team too, like, having the owners, right? And then outside of that, like, the hundreds of people that I've talked to, like, these markets and events and everything. So, like, okay, let's take it back to the drawing board here. Right?
Sam Bauman:Well, what I love about this product is you look at it and it's simple, it's cute, it is obvious what it is. And yet hearing you talk about it, there's been a lot of thought that's gone into it. And I think that when you're working with a product that's so simple like this, sometimes it can be tempting to just take what makes sense to you and run with it. Right. Well, how complicated can it be? It's just a buy one, get one free stamp book. But what you're doing is you're seeking feedback. And we talked a little bit about your psychology background and I think that's another way that you're bringing in that skill set. You're putting yourself into the mindset of your audience. And your audience is not just people like you. It's a lot. Everybody drinks coffee and so you're thinking about a lot of those little details and kind of how to fold that all together into this really compelling product. So what keeps you motivated when things feel hard? I mean, you talked about staying here till midnight, working on Sundays, eating dirt. What keeps you going through all of that?
Dillon Duong:Not the dirt. My team. All of my team. So much like highs and lows through the last four years too. Like, we're not where we want to be yet. We've made progress, but like it wasn't always like where we are now. Right? Like, yeah, from just like doing weekly posts together to traveling the country together now. Right. Like, seriously, like, I don't, I would not be here without my team. They are so talented at what they do and whether it's media, newsletters, like short form, long form, graphic design. And we have a little bit of cross functional stuff where we kind of know what the other people do, but they're there because they are way the hell better at it than what I can do. And honestly, last week, and this is again, without getting super personal, like it was a tough week for me. I had some personal stuff going on where I was in bed and just like, I don't want to do anything. And Saturday morning, like, we have to be at one of the partners places. That's their first market of the year. And Sven's there, he's waiting for me. Like he needs me, like he needs me to be there. Right. Sunday, same thing. Annabelle's got like project I need to send over the blurbs, QR codes, the speech bubbles, all the little things. But like having that like drive of. I don't know if drive's the right word, but end of the day, like they don't look to me for stuff, right? But I need to be the person there to Lead them in case stuff goes wrong. That's how I feel about things. They can handle themselves for sure. I try to make things as easy as possible for them.
Sam Bauman:Is your team working full time with you?
Dillon Duong:Maybe one day. It's very much task based right now. So graphic design contract or per reel per interview, that kind of deal. And so I mean it's the progress thing I was telling you about. Right. So like we're not necessarily. And the goal, right, long term goal is to do what we're doing now. Visiting a shop every single week, but out of state one time a month, covered by the brand 100%. That's the goal. And so we're not quite there yet, but Friday mornings when we're at Wild Grind, I mean coffee and pastries, you know, they're not. That's not too bad either. Yeah, we're on our way kind of thing. So still doing task based kind of things but like even having that being covered by the brand too. Yeah, it doesn't feel real, honestly. So. Yeah.
Sam Bauman:So how did you build this team that you feel so supported by? You know, how did you find them? How did you start working together?
Dillon Duong:Yeah. God, I'm so like, okay, I love my team. So Grace is like my right hand. And this is in like the back of the book too. We have like a team page so you can kind of see what they look like as well. Grace I met at one of our visits, our weekly visits. And at the time she was at the U of M doing business and I think more marketing. And I kind of shared like, hey, this is what I'm doing right now. And she was looking to kind of like find an internship at the time. And I was like, hey, I can't, I don't have an internship. Or like I can't like afford any of that at the moment. But I can maybe like do like task based stuff to help you build the skills to help you get one right. And dude, I'm so proud of her. One of the smartest people I've met in my life. So she helps out for a little while and I mean she's still with us today. Right. But got a job at Centro very quickly. She's extremely smart. Very shortly after that, became the manager, went to Larissa Lodden for a little while. Central wanted her back. She became like, I think the director of marketing for a while and now she's a in charge of Steel's social media. So they run of like Crispin Green and like, or she's mainly in Charge of like Puralima right now too. So she's doing big things. She has a really nice view from her office that like overlooks Wayzata. Right. So like she's doing really well. But I met her at a coffee shop four and or about four years ago. She. We met like six months in but still here kind of deal. Right.
Sam Bauman:Incredible.
Dillon Duong:Sven was roommates with back then in school and yeah, were in the same fraternity. We were in the same like were both in choir and we lived together too. So like we kind of had that dynamic of like working together in the past already too and like living together and so that felt like kind of a natural fit as well. And we've helped each other grow as well. And the coolest thing about all of this too is like all of us run our own brands too and like we have our things going on. Sixteen ounces is kind of like a way to bring it together kind of deal. So yeah, that's kind of how I met them. We have a rotating graphic designer, but all of them extremely talented as well. Our most recent one with Annabelle and this one was Will. Will's actually in the co working space as well. Annabelle worked with Grace at Centro and she was a recommendation and so I'm excited to kind of share some of that down the road, but.
Sam Bauman:Awesome. So are you already scheming for the 2026 Coffee Compass?
Dillon Duong:So we launched on June 15th of 2020 and so that's coming up in what is it today?
Sam Bauman:Just over a month.
Dillon Duong:Yeah. So about like 29 days. No, I can't do math. June 15, 2025, whatever that is. We're thinking about launching like a five year anniversary edition. So like I'm low, but yeah.
Sam Bauman:Okay. So would that be just an additional book kind of thing or what is that going to look like? Maybe it's too early to ask.
Dillon Duong:These are good questions. Maybe a good way to kind of share it with people too.
Sam Bauman:Yeah.
Dillon Duong:So, hey, more feedback. Crazy. A lot of these people when I'm at these markets or like farmers markets or events and whatnot, one of them was at Mill City. Right. And so, oh my gosh, I love this. I just, I don't have any transportation. I just take the 23 or 21 or the 63 or like the Green line, Blue line. Right. So hey, same thing, smaller blah. Right. Same exact thing this time around. Hey, I'll throw the names up for this one actually, just because they're new. Quixotic over by St. Thomas St. Kate's Groveland, Macalester area. Right. Jones Coffee. They're fairly big name in some of the churches nearby and they do quite a bit around the Twin Cities. Pillar Forum in Northeast. Yes, very big fan. I'm very much into music concerts and edm so like I have a lot of fun like potential ideas with them down the road as well. Seven Corners. So that's right across from Carlson. They have one on east bank as well and over in I think Eden Prairie too. I should know this but east bank and I think Carlson's in West bank too. I didn't go to the U, but right across from Carlson. So like right by the schools for the students to just walk there or take the train or Blue Line or sorry, Green Line. Wow. I'm cultured. I swear. The Green Line. Excuse me. And last one was I reached out in November. This, this took a little while and I think moving forward I'm probably only going to partner with people where I can just speak with the owner directly just to save time. Reached out in November. Finally heard back in like March. But our biggest like I guess name for this expansion is Spy House. And so thank you. And all of the locations as well. We also got the Emory. It took them an extra day or so because they have like hotels and stuff as well. But right off the Green Line. I think it's on fifth or so but part of the Emory collection. But that'll be really nice for all the people in co working spaces nearby downtown. Students really doing our best to just, hey, why can't you guys do it? Oh cool. Well actually we have a solution for you now. Right. And so yeah, just listening to our people, man.
Sam Bauman:Yeah, that's great. It sounds like 16 ounce days is really at the point of expansion. Maybe even faster than you have been. I mean it seems like you're picking up good traction partnering with some pretty big names. That's a really exciting place to be.
Dillon Duong:Thank you.
Sam Bauman:What advice do you have for business owners or people who are thinking of starting their own business, turning a hobby into a business?
Dillon Duong:Oh gosh. Well, the first one I want to preface with what we said earlier about the not for people with the heart or the fainted.
Sam Bauman:Faint hearts.
Dillon Duong:Yeah, it's a tough thing. Like people think it's all sunshine and rainbows. Like dude, it is cloudy as hell, there's a storm, there's like a cow flying in a tornado nearby and you're in this tiny little shed trying to of like oh my gosh, just kind of get by for a lot of it early on advice that I have on the day to day show up. And that's. It sounds a lot easier said than done. Like, especially on like the happy days or like even the average days, right. Like, just go in whether you're happy, whether you're sad, whether you're angry, frustrated. You just have to show up. And that's. Right. Like last week, right? Doesn't matter. Like, if I'm in the. Like, I'm feeling like a million bucks or on cloud nine, or if I'm like in a little bit of a pit or like, maybe I'm gonna. This is dark humor. Flip a coin or roll a die. God, to just, hey, like, we have things we have to do. We have people that, you know, like, not like, expecting things from us, but, like, just we got to keep it up, like for ourself to kind of deal. It helps build grit and character as well. And so that's on the day to day. The other thing, maybe this, it's tied for number one. Communication is my most important thing ever. My team knows this and most people I speak to know this about me too. I think it's very important to just like, share, express how you feel and what we're working with too. And therapy and business hand in hand. A lot of parallels. And honestly, I'll use kind of like even the podcast today as an example. Right? So, like, communication. Say it takes seven interactions to get something to happen, right? So like, hey, how's it going? Good, how are you? We do this thing.
Sam Bauman:Cool.
Dillon Duong:Like, right, Say that takes some people take. And I don't really work with these people anymore. I catch your piece a week to respond at times, right? So like, say it takes seven interactions. That's almost two months to get something to happen, right?
Sam Bauman:Yeah.
Dillon Duong:Break that down to like seven interactions a day at a time. We can get that same thing were going to get done in two months, in a week, right? Do that again, right? In an hour, right? So that's seven hours. And like, that's how you and I spoke the other day. I think this was last week, right? Back and forth. Hey, can we do this? Let's find a space. Let's find a time within a day. We figured out when it was right? And say, like, hey, we're here. Literally, I think we planned this like less than a week ago.
Sam Bauman:Yeah, definitely we're here.
Dillon Duong:And so communication efficiency, right? Like, and when you do that and you stack that like, you just like to the sky.
Sam Bauman:And so not just being like open with Communication and doing it, but also doing it efficiently is something that you've found valuable.
Dillon Duong:Yeah. And to add to that too, and this is like where I was like, hey, I'm a little bit of a psycho. Like on the weekends, like Sundays, I do my visits, like my research, my post edits, Saturdays research and whatnot too. I go to concerts almost every weekend. Some of the best relationships I've made in business have been outside of the workplace. Right. And so to tie that in, and technically, I mean, I don't want to say it's work because it's fun building relations. I'll say being active. I'm active with my brand seven days a week. Those two extra days give you an extra 40% to just, yeah.
Sam Bauman:Give you a leg up over people that aren't doing that.
Dillon Duong:Oh, not even like other people just like to be the best that you can be.
Sam Bauman:Yeah.
Dillon Duong:And so, yeah, that's kind of a little bit of in this. In the inside of the brain of like this little psycho over here. But yeah, I think that's great.
Sam Bauman:I mean, you know, you mentioned that this work, as hard as it is something that you really enjoy. And that obviously is going to make it easier to kind of always be thinking about how you can, you know, connect with people over this business or, you know, what opportunities exist. And I mean, I love that you're kind of like, you have that in your mind when you're visiting coffee shops for research and you also have it in your mind when you're going to an EDM show on the weekend just for fun. So in the spirit of lifting up our community and supporting small businesses in our community, who would you like to spotlight for your community? Spotlight?
Dillon Duong:Definitely want to shout out, like all the guys here. First of all of the people at Upload, like, I feel like we've all helped each other in one way or another. So Reese, I showed you his space earlier too. He was the guy that kind of introduced me to upload media. And whether were looking to go into apparel or we recently started getting into ads or just all the questions along the way too. Like, he's been. He's just been like that go to guy. And yeah, not to be too cheesy or whatever, but, oh, I love it.
Sam Bauman:He's great. Be as cheesy as you want to be.
Dillon Duong:Just really cool guy and super helpful with like everything. And he makes it look super easy too. And like, oh, now it's nothing. I'm like, that would have taken me like days, dude. And then same with. And you met him a little bit ago too. But Nate, both him and Reece, they. They are really trying to uplift every single person in this space too. And whether it's opportunities just working together or advice, feedback, or just calling things out. And again, not from like a, like critical view, but like, hey, this wouldn't make sense to me. Me. But then suggesting like, hey, try this out and it works like it's crazy. But they've been a huge influence to me. And I mean, like, seriously, like, Upload Media is my third space. Like, I come here and I'm just like, okay, I'm happy. I don't have to worry about anything. Like, these people are just.
Sam Bauman:Yeah, yeah. So Nate is one of the owners of Upload Media.
Dillon Duong:Yes.
Sam Bauman:Which is the co working space that you work in.
Dillon Duong:Yes. I'm sorry, I forgot to elaborate that part. And then Reese runs a clothing brand called Fieldwork. Both of them, they're almost like mentors in a way unofficially. But whenever I have a question or so they usually have like a quick, you know, like, hey, try this out or let's find a time. Sit down. I'm not kidding you. Like last week, like four hours just in the shop, nothing. Just like it was nothing.
Sam Bauman:Wow. And so, yeah, thank you for sharing about them. We'll definitely connect with them. Is there anything that we haven't talked about today that you were really hoping to get to share with us?
Dillon Duong:I don't think so. You guys covered like a lot. It was really fun kind of getting to share. I don't get to do this often, so this was really nice.
Sam Bauman:It's great to hear your story. I really appreciate it. Thanks again to Dillon D. For talking with me this week. You can find dylan on Instagram at 16oupuncedays. That's 16o, z, d, a, y s. Or on his website at 16oz.com spelled the same. We'll put that info in the show notes. If you want to purchase a copy of the 2025 Coffee Compass, you can also find that on his website. Or you can go to one of the 15 coffee shops that are in the Coffee Compass. Wildgrind Coffee Caffeine, Minneapolis Cosmic Coffee Luminary Minimum wage, Tim's Coffee Company, Red Wolf Chai Co. Coffee Co. Fairgrounds, Misfit Coffee Corner Coffee, the Get Down Coffee Company, Vitality Roasting Black Coffee and Waffle Bar. Happy Monday & Co. And Hola Coffee. Thanks so much for listening. We'll see you next week.
