“Having Lee Safar, at Map It Forward, as a business coach and mentor has truly brought a whole new perspective to how we approach the day-to-day operations of our family coffee farm. We knew there was a piece that was holding us back in the exponential growth we knew our farm had the potential of experiencing but couldn’t put our finger on it.
Read More“Working with Lee has completely changed my approach to marketing. Having never worked in coffee before, I had no idea how the industry worked from the inside, and had no idea how to go about approaching coffee shops and roasters to stock my products.
Going through the process of customer acquisition planning with Lee helped immensely, but
Read MoreAs an entrepreneur, especially a female entrepreneur in a fairly new industry in my region, people around me kept telling me that I will face obstacles and hardships over and over again without really telling me what they were. At some points, told me I would fail.
I really dedicated my time to understand what these challenges might be in order to avoid them but little did I know that each experience is different and there surely isn’t a manual that can prepare you for embarking on a new venture.
Read More“My business partner and I started Perspective in June of 2020. We had no idea what we were doing but, we were two very good friends willing to figure it out. Lee’s ‘One on One’ coaching quickly allowed us to develop an understanding of the work needed to build our business. She has provided financial tools and resources to help us track revenues, expenses, and understand operating performance. In a very short period of time, my business partner and I ran into several dynamic issues. Lee’s business acumen and ability to
Read More“The Map It Forward team has created a safe space and community for new roasters and coffee businesswomen and men. We started our roastery in spring of 2020 with no real knowledge of what we were doing. With a global pandemic further keeping the World constrained, Lee’s knowledge and genuine concern for the success of small business owners, has catapulted our knowledge and understanding into the coffee industry years beyond our time.”
Read More“Lee and the MAP IT FORWARD initiative has birthed something brilliant here, and I’m sincerely grateful to be a part of it. We know that when a multitude of selfless minds are connected beautiful things happen, old ideals are dismantled, difficult revelations are discovered, and most importantly everyone is challenging each other to become the best version of themselves. This happens to us every meeting.”
Read More“Being self-taught in coffee by reading books, blogs, watching videos, repeating actions and tasting, trial and error; was the way to go for us because there was no other option at the time. There was so much information out there and every time something new came out we had to try it and if the coffee world was in agreement with it, we agreed too. There was not much questioning about it. I was certain that we needed training if we wanted to grow as coffee professionals, but I wasn’t sure as to where to look for it and if it was the right one for us.”
Read More“Lee helped us unpack some of the issues that we were struggling with as a new business venture and gave us clarity of purpose on how to move forward. Lee’s values-centric level of inquiry was challenging, precise, relevant and was facilitated in a highly professional manner. Lee was able to leverage her expertise and identify specific strategies that will deliver increased brand awareness and exponential growth to our business. Lee is incredibly intuitive, highly pragmatic, an active listener and her approach in wanting to be of service to others is authentic.” - MAP IT FORWARD Monthly Coaching”
Read More"I started my business from the ground up with just some small savings because of my love for coffee. I slowly learned the craft and industry over the course of a few years, and many times scoffed at the idea of paying someone, (usually more than I was making myself) to help with my business and its future.
It was after a few friendly conversations that I began to see Lee’s deep understanding of our industry. Like our brand, MAP IT FORWARD isn't interested in the hip, flash in the pan ideas, but in relationship-based, long term business growth.”
Read More"At Nomad Donuts we set out to bring our coffee up to the level of our highly acclaimed donut and bagel offerings. MAP IT FORWARD has been essential to improving our program and we couldn’t have done it without them. Lee’s training not only improved the consistency of our drinks but also the attitude of our barista crew. They grew confident and started taking pride and having fun too!”
Read More“Working with MAP IT FORWARD changed the course of my coffee career. When I first met Lee I had a million ideas and thoughts about how we were going to establish my new cafe. Lee was critical in helping me organize my thoughts and create a plan of action so we could be successful. MAP IT FORWARD is one of my biggest resources and I wouldn’t be where I am without it!”
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