The Loom

About this event

The Loom is a monthly gathering for entrepreneurs, placemakers and keepers, creatives, and community builders. For those creating things, holding things down, or dreaming something new into being. The Loom creates space for mutual support, resource sharing, tool swapping, and simply being in community with others on the journey.

The People Work: Building Teams as a Founder with Julie Mierzwiak of Realfine Coffee

At some point, building something of your own stops being only about the work and becomes about the people who help you carry it. Hiring, training, coaching, and sometimes letting someone go are some of the most human parts of leading, and often the ones that leave us with the most questions.

This month, The Loom opens with a two-way conversation between our host Lynda Lopez and Julie Mierzwiak, owner of Realfine Coffee. Over ten years and three locations, Julie has hired, trained, and coached teams, and she’ll share her journey honestly, including what has worked, what hasn’t, and what she’s still figuring out. We’ll make space for the messy questions:

• How do you know who to hire, and what do you do when it isn’t working out?

• What does it look like to train and coach people in a way that feels good for them and for you?

• How do you navigate the hard conversations, including knowing when and how to let someone go?

• How do you lead a team while staying grounded in who you are?

After hearing from Julie, we welcome everyone in the room into a conversation to both ask questions and share experiences and wisdom. We’ll also break into small groups to dig into your own questions, swap what’s working, and co-resource together.

Come as you are, with your questions and your hard-won lessons. Leave encouraged, resourced, and more connected to the people building alongside you.

Container

We meet in person at The Apothecary, Shelterwood Collective’s street level shop and gathering space in Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood.

Our flow:

• 10:00-10:15 — Connection: Arrive, settle in, mingle & connect

• 10:15-10:45 — Learn/Inspire: A thoughtful conversation with a fellow entrepreneur/creative/placemaker. Topics emerge from what the group is living and navigating

• 10:45-11:15 — Connect: Collaboration and mutual support in smaller groups

• 11:15-11:30 — Sending: Space to linger, minger, share resources

Exchange

The exchange allows us to sustainably hold this space while allowing you to opt in what’s most sustainable for you:

• $11 — Access point (covers refreshments)

• $22 — True cost (covers the container: space, hospitality, and a stipend for our speaker)

• $33 — Pay it forward (helps hold space for someone else)

• $0 — No one will be turned away for lack of funds

We look forward to gathering with you! Feel free to share with other founders/builders/creatives in your community. Please sign up to support us in preparing the space and refreshments.

RSVP

Julie Mierzwiak

Founder of Realfine Coffee

Julie Mierzwiak is the owner of Realfine Coffee, a locally owned Seattle coffee company that she opened in West Seattle after almost a decade working as a barista. Her first shop opened in fall 2015, and a Capitol Hill shop followed three years later. She opened a third location in West Seattle in early 2021.

Realfine has always leaned into being hyper local, sourcing from nearby makers and bakers, and has been featured by Seattle Met as one of the 25 best coffee shops. Julie and her team like to say they hope to build community “one cup of coffee at a time.” Along the way she has hired, trained, and coached the teams that make that possible, and she’s bringing that journey, including the questions she’s still sitting with, to The Loom.

Learn more about Realfine Coffee .

Lynda Lopez

Director of Collective Development at Shelterwood Collective

Lynda is a strategic facilitator and community builder who helps purpose-driven leaders, teams, and organizations root into purpose and take aligned action toward meaningful, lasting impact. As Shelterwood's Director of Collective Development, she grows mission-aligned strategy, programming, and partnerships. She also coaches and facilitates strategy for purpose-led companies and leaders through her business Lynda Lopez and Co. Her diverse background — spanning racial justice, public policy, leadership development, real estate, and hospitality — informs the way she brings people and ideas together.

Learn more about Lynda