10/06/2026
A friend (who is also a small business owner) posted something the other day & it’s been on my mind ever since (& no, nothing awful has happened .. but it’s the truth) ..
Why is it that we give billion dollar companies so much grace, but sometimes struggle to give that same grace to small businesses?
We’ll wait on hold forever.
We’ll accept shipping delays.
We’ll get the wrong order.
We’ll deal with an app that isn’t working.
We’ll hear “we’re experiencing higher than normal call volume’s …” for the hundredth time .. literally.
& we simply we move on.
But, with a small business, one mistake can sometimes become the thing we’re judged by.
& I’ll be honest — that can be HARD.
Pine Street Grind means so much more to me than a place that sells coffee, teas & food.
There are real people behind our counter. People who wake up early, work long days, juggle life outside of these walls, learn from mistakes, celebrate the good days, push through the hard ones & genuinely just care about the experience you have when you walk through the door.
We’re going to have days when we absolutely nail it.
But we’re also going to have days when we don’t.
Maybe your drink takes a little longer than usual.
Maybe we run out of something you came in for.
Maybe someone makes a mistake.
We’ll own it.
We’ll learn from it.
& we’ll ALWAYS try to make it right.
I’m not asking anyone to lower their expectations for small businesses, i’m just asking that we normalize leaving a little room for humanity. (& trust me, I used to be guilty of all of these same things. So I get it. But I get it differently now)
Because behind Pine Street Grind isn’t a corporate office with endless resources.
It’s us. Working all day & then going home at night to do more work, hoping we made all the right choices & did all the right things during our shift.
& every person who walks through our door, every cup of coffee you buy, every friend you tell about us, every post you share, every kind review you leave & every time you choose to come back genuinely matters to us.
You’re helping us build something.
So, thank you to the people who have supported Pine Street Grind, encouraged us, been patient with us, celebrated our wins & given us grace while we grow.
We notice it.
We appreciate it.
& we’ll never take it for granted 🤎