Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/716988
58 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 4, 2016 (August/September) STiR: What did you work on? How did what you were doing differ from your usual work? Johnson: I recognized they were using outdated software solutions so I helped Cascade vet an MRP system and some accounting systems, and made recommendations. At the time, I thought that would be the extent of my involvement. Luther Jonson, then president of Cascade, went to Phil and said he wanted to hire me, to which Phil promptly replied, "what on earth for?!" and I ended up joining the company as c.f.o. With that as my first job here naturally I followed the money. I asked, "How is money made in manufac- turing?" It all came down to one simple thing—ef- ficiencies in the supply chain. When I interviewed people about what their jobs are, I was learning the process of manufac- turing from receiving out to the loading dock. I came to understand the importance of safety and quality to us and our customers. I had run other businesses for clients but none were specifically in manufacturing. Those interviews opened up a whole new fascinating world to me. STiR: What did you do before coffee? How did those expe- riences help you to develop your leadership style? Johnson: My very first job was working as a clerk typist for the human rights commission for the city of Alexandria, Virginia. It was run by Judy Green, a very strong and determined woman fighting for the rights of minorities and women in the work- place, and I think that set the tone for my career path. From there, I went to the White House press office during the Carter administration. I assisted in preparing a news summary for the President and his chief advisors every day—reading 250 major daily newspapers, watching major networks news programs, and the AP and UPI wire services one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I didn't have a lot of patience for how slow- ly the political process worked. I left the Carter administration. I was attracted to the rock-n-roll world where people were communicating social change in a much more universal way through their songs. So, I moved to Los Angeles to explore the music industry. I worked for Chrysalis Records for years, but when the music business became more about dol- lars and cents than developing artists' careers and their messages, I cooled to it. The bands still wanted to work with me after I left the label and would en- gage me to help them with business decisions, such as how to manage their money and their equipment. That's how I was born into the business manage- ment world. Along with that comes a lot of contract work, and that experience translates well to contract manufacturing in the coffee world. One aspect of the music world I came to love: If you're a touring band and you've got a show to perform that night, no matter what your job title is at the moment you do whatever it takes to make that show come off flawlessly. When I went from that to the corporate world, the structure confused me. We were working in silos. Whether it's music or coffee, business is busi- ness and the axioms are all the same. When I became president, I deconstructed the old org chart and focused more on role definition. We're more team-oriented here at Cascade Coffee and it works a lot better now—we work on a peer-to- peer level and we have more cross-functional teams and the benefit of an expanded knowledge base. STiR: How does your role differ from those early days now that you are president and chief operating officer? Johnson: My role now primarily involves listen- ing and providing the resources needed to get the job done. My job is to combine top talent with best in class technology. My primary focus is on operations. We've just concluded implementing a new MRP system and now we're designing a new software infrastructure that's going to answer a lot of our quality, food safety, and regulatory require- ments. The key has been to adopt a culture of con- tinuous improvement. Coffee labels are in a constant state of reach- ing towards something new and our success will be in anticipating their needs. We had to do things that were beyond what we had ever done for Mill- stone—which was to take green beans and make them brown and send them off. We had all these new customers who had all sorts of new demands. We had to learn more things. Our customer base has grown tremendously. We now have the luxury of begin aligned with some of the best brands nationally. I'm really pleased with the vibe at the plant right now. Photo by Jenny Neill Sprefico brewer