What makes Winning Coffee Co. what it is? The people. Those behind the counter and those in front of it. It’s a special place for people. I worked at Winning for five years and it was such a great place to work. The owners were so good to me and really had an ethic that was about making a great place to spend your life. The business came after that. Then when the old owners wanted to sell and offered it to us [at q-Staff theatre], I had no idea what it would mean to be the owner, but I just tried to keep it the same good-feeling place to live and work. That was seven years ago and I can honestly say that 80 percent of the time I really love the staff and the customers. I keep a rolled up newspaper in my office for the 20 percent. What’s it like being a business owner in Albuquerque? No idea. I’m a theater performer who had a coffee shop dumped in her lap. Owning and running Winning is great, but I can’t really tell you what part of that translates to being a "business owner." What’s your favorite thing about what you do? Well, working with the people is such a great part of my job, but I’ve already talked about that, sooooo I guess I would say that my favorite thing is making soup. I love to make the soups. It’s like alchemy. What’s your favorite coffee concoction? First thing, when I stumble in at 5 a.m. to open up or later when I come in to do paperwork, I make an Americano. The warm, rich flavor is the best entry to my day. Then I move into the brewed coffee and sample the roast of the day. Yum.
—Emma Crane
