How a Side Project Became Texas’ Best Coffee Roaster feat. Kenzel Fallen ’12

[00:00]Brian Jackson: Welcome to Owl Have You Know, a podcast from Rice Business. This episode is part of our Flight Path series, where guests share their career journeys and stories of the Rice connections that got them where they are.

Today, I'm joined by Kenzel Fallen, Professional MBA Class of 2012, co-founder and CEO of Three Keys Coffee. Before launching one of the nation's most acclaimed coffee roasters, Kenzel built a career in risk management, credit risk, and banking leadership. Today, she and her husband, Tio, lead Three Keys Coffee, a Houston-based company that has been recognized by Food & Wine as the best coffee roaster in Texas, and also a finalist for Global Micro Roaster of the Year.

In this conversation, we'll discuss Kenzel's journey from the corporate world to entrepreneurship, what it takes to build a business around your values, and how coffee, art, and music come together at Three Keys.

Well, hi, Kenzel. Thank you so much for joining me today on Owl Have You Know.

[01:01]Kenzel Fallen: Yeah, thanks for having me.

[01:03]Brian Jackson: Well, you've got such an interesting story, but I felt like it'd be important to start: How did you and your husband, Tio, meet?

[01:10]Kenzel Fallen: Oh. So, we actually met through mutual friends in New York City. I was living in Philadelphia at the time. He was working and living in Houston, and we ended up just coming into contact with each other. I thought it was so impractical to have this long-distance relationship, but fast-forward, we ended up getting engaged long-distance, and he's most of the reason why I ended up enrolling in the Rice MBA program.

[01:39]Brian Jackson: Wow, that's great. So, when you got to Rice, and I mean, this was just a few years back, did you think entrepreneurship would ever be a part of your story?

[01:52]Kenzel Fallen: It's so sweet of you to say just a few years back, considering it was 16, but...

[01:56]Brian Jackson: It's not that long. Come on.

[01:58]Kenzel Fallen: Right. Not at all. Entrepreneurship was not on my radar. Even my story in how I ended up enrolling in business school, and especially at that time, I was actually managing a fundraising program in the university development for Temple University.

And so, I was in Philly, but it wasn't really easy to translate that skill set and background. You know, everything here in Houston was so driven around oil and gas experience or healthcare experience. And I always had an interest in eventually going to business school, but I thought I didn't have enough work experience.

But I decided, just on a whim, to go ahead and just apply to try to see if that's a way that I could get down to Houston. Ended up getting a really strong score on the GMAT and was able to get a full tuition scholarship to Rice. And so, it made it pretty much a no-brainer to make that my decision to go ahead and enroll, even though I only had two years of work experience at the time.

[03:01]Brian Jackson: Well, your career post-Rice took you into risk management, and eventually you were senior leadership in banking, you know, what happened during the program that made this path make sense?

[03:14]Kenzel Fallen: I think for me it was the cohort of people. And by people, I mean my classmates and folks who were in my group, folks who were in other programs. So, not just the full-time program, but, you know, having connections with folks from the professional program, but then also the faculty and the staff.

I'm the type that wants to learn and absorb from as many people as I can. I really think everybody has a very unique story and a lot of interesting perspectives. I'm always trying to collect and gain insight and information. And especially for me, as someone who was on the lower end of work experience, I knew it was very critical that I, you know, connect and make sure that I was trying to build that network positively.

Having a lot of those relationships and understanding about how to advance, how to, you know, put together a quality product and presentation, and understanding, you know, how to conduct analysis, tips and tricks of things, all of that really helped me to just continue to leverage that experience post-MBA.

[04:26]Brian Jackson: Yeah, when they talk about, like, your network is your net worth, I feel like it's the things that you learn from that network, right, that make-

[04:34]Kenzel Fallen: Exactly.

[04:34]Brian Jackson: ... you a better professional.

[04:36]Kenzel Fallen: Yeah, you make a good point because I think sometimes when people hear that, you know, “Your network is your net worth,” it's almost more of a sense of someone can just get you an introduction, or they can get you in a room. And it's not so much about having adjacency to people. I think that's more, that's like social climbing, right?

But when you network, I see that as sharing. I see that as exchanging information and insights. And so, for me, when I think of that phrase, like, network is your net worth, I look at that as enhancing your education, enhancing your perspective, enhancing how deeply you understand the world and society that we live and work in.

And sometimes you do have to rely on a lot of different, you know, experiences and perspectives. For me, that's how that network expands, is through sharing, both receiving and also providing my own insights and perspectives.

[05:27]Brian Jackson: Yeah, and, you know, we were talking about risk management a minute ago. I always think of it, it's synonymous with avoiding risk. You know, did that experience in your career actually make you more comfortable taking calculated risks?

[05:42]Kenzel Fallen: Oh gosh, absolutely. I was having coffee with one of my former managers. So, she's currently a chief risk officer at a bank, and she happened to be in town. And how I had advanced in my career, specifically in risk, was in the enterprise risk management department. And with that, we're looking at all of the different risk categories across the entire bank.

And so, you really get an understanding of how one impact or occurrence in one area ends up having some sort of effect on a completely different part. And I think that having that exposure and experience in risk helped to prepare me so much for being an entrepreneur because that's a lot of what we do, is needing to wear a lot of hats. Again, as a founder and a CEO, needing to know, well, how is one change in one department going to impact another?

And so, I think that having that risk background really helped with that. Also, you know, the risk, it's really uncertainty, right? It's not knowing if something is going to happen or not. But I always like to say risk doesn't always have to be negative. When there's positive outcomes that we're uncertain about, that's opportunities.

And so, you know, the way that I've looked at risk, too, is not always glass half empty, but it, you know, tends to have some moments of glass half full because you want to prepare for the best-case scenarios as well.

[07:13]Brian Jackson: So, I mean, you're entrepreneurial, so you brought in and combined something, I mean, two things that you love, Tio and coffee. But I want to know, when did coffee become more than, you know, I guess a morning or a mid-afternoon routine? Was there, like, a particular experience or a trip that, kind of, changed the way that you think about it?

[07:33]Kenzel Fallen: It's not so much like a smoking gun sort of thing where I can say, "Aha, it was this moment." I think it was just a gradual uncovering of the love of, you know, this seed. A lot of people refer to it as a bean, but coffee's a seed of a fruit.

I think that as my husband and I were becoming more discerning consumers, then that opened us up. It's like, you know, you, kind of, start out with Starbucks being the only thing you really know, right? And then you, kind of, make your way over to more of the craft coffee world and understanding specialty coffee.

Then, with my husband, he took it a step further and then decided that he wanted to try roasting his own coffee at home, where I always say that my craft, in terms of the whole business and everything, it's in the organization side. It's in how we've built and structured the company, how we've, you know, handled growth. You know, with having that background in finance and consulting, you know, I'm just always thinking about, "Okay, well, what are our processes looking like? How can we scale?" And so, that's the craft that I brought to it.

You know, people are always really surprised. Now, I can't make you a latte, and I do not roast the coffee. But I can say that I've been the driving force behind a lot of our company's growth, and that's been the craft and the art and the skill that I've brought to the company.

[08:59]Brian Jackson: When you were talking about, like, as a consumer, you walk the aisles, and of course, you start with your Starbucks. I'll tell you, my cup right now is Folgers. And we're-

[09:08]Kenzel Fallen: Oh, no, we got to change that. How dare you?

[09:10]Brian Jackson: ... we're a quantity family, not a quality family. But, you know, I think it made me think of your literature, and you talk about shopping your values. Could you explain, kind of, what that is and how it relates to Three Keys?

[09:23]Kenzel Fallen: Yeah. So, I think especially with an industry like coffee, where it's just so commoditized, you have so many options, and a lot of people do view it as just this, you know, cheap thing to get them an energy fix, right?

First of all, coffee has a lot of health benefits. There's a lot that the public does not get to know about, you know, the antioxidant properties of coffee and some of that. I think people are averse, maybe to some of the caffeine or some of the jittery feeling that they have, or maybe the only coffee they know is really the dessert variety, which just has, you know, like I said, the fraps, which have a ton of unhealthy whipped cream and sugar. And at that point, you're not drinking coffee. Like I said, that's more of a dessert.

You know, but when you have a very well-sourced, well-roasted, well-prepared cup of coffee, you should be able to just drink it straight, without adding anything to it, and it should actually have some inherent sweetness in it.

But I also think, aside from, you know, being discerning in terms of the flavor and in terms of where it's coming from, it's also important to be discerning, like you said, in terms of the values of whichever company that you are deciding to support. I think that we have a lot of options in the coffee industry, and so all the more reason to be very intentional.

Three Keys Coffee, being named after the valves of the trumpet, it's all about creativity and the influence of music, and we have these curated playlists that pair with each of our coffees. And so, we like to feel like we are fueling creativity, and so that draws a lot of folks from some of those creative spaces to us.

We're also very much proud to be a woman-owned, minority-owned company, and so folks who are seeking out those sorts of values, you know, you have some options there.

And additionally, from a sustainability perspective, like, our roastery is a solar-powered roastery. We've started switching some of our packaging to more either recyclable or compostable or some sort of more environmentally friendly option.

And so, all of those things, you know, whether it's coffee or any other sort of product, I always just encourage people to make sure that you're really understanding, like, who's benefiting from this purchase here? Am I helping a small business or a family-owned business? You know, those are the purchases that always go such a long way.

[12:01]Brian Jackson: So, I mean, it seems like I gather your connection really is to the process and expansion, and Tio's the connection to the coffee and, kind of, beyond there. But I think of this business, and you've got a mechanical engineer, you've got a risk executive. It seems like an unlikely pair for coffee entrepreneurs.

I'm sure you both have different strengths that you brought to this that maybe even you didn't expect.

[12:27]Kenzel Fallen: Yeah, one of the things that I incorporate with my team are personality assessments. It's really important for me to have, like, a great team dynamic. When I'm interviewing candidates, I ask them, you know, to opt in to taking some sort of personality test just to help to gauge where they may or may not fit in, and it's never a deal breaker. It just always helps me to understand how they might interact with others.

And so, obviously, my husband and I took these ourselves. And so, there's two that we really like. A lot of people have heard of the Myers-Briggs. That's one that we like to use, but I like to supplement it with another one called The 5 Voices because that's the one that showed the greatest distinction between my husband and myself.

So, there's these five voices. You have guardian, nurturer, creative, connector, and then pioneer. My husband and I are almost complete opposites. So, he's a creative connector as a primary, and then I'm a guardian nurturer. And so, we kind of meet in the middle with the pioneer because then, on the flip side, his guardian and nurturer are his lowest voices.

And so, what it essentially means, and, you know, there's a lot of these videos that help to support, like, well, what is that? How do those kind of types interact with each other? That the creative connector is coming up with all of these ideas, and then the guardian nurturer is like, "Okay, that's great, but, like, how are we going to do that? How do we make sure that we're, you know, minimizing our cost as we're doing this? How are we, you know, maximizing efficiency? How do we optimize this?"

And apparently that duo makes an extremely great pair when it comes to... And it was almost like they were reading our lives when we were looking at these videos because they were like, "If you're a creative connector and you're trying to, you know, do any sort of venture or start up something," they said, "Get you a guardian." And it's just like, well, that's exactly what he's done.

It reflects in both our personal lives, even in how we parent, but then also in the business. And so, I think we have very complementary views and perspectives that have helped this be something that has worked.

I know a lot of couples that say, like, "There's no way I could work with my spouse." And yeah, we're not one of those. He's still working his day job, so he's not, you know, full-time in the business. I'm the only one who's full-time.

But, you know, when we're just exchanging ideas and things, it tends to be very collaborative and, you know, solutions-driven. And so, yeah, we actually work pretty well together.

[14:59]Brian Jackson: So, I mean, just the idea of starting a business with a partner is enough to scare people away from it. You know, how did you know, like, "Okay, yes, this is the idea. This is what we want to do," and then actually commit to it? Was there, I guess, like a moment where it was like, "Okay, this makes sense"?

[15:15]Kenzel Fallen: Looking back, we were both very passive about it. We didn't think this business would turn into something that either of us could really dedicate full-time to. We always thought this would be a passion project, a side thing, and we will continue to work our jobs and, you know, be on our respective career tracks.

So, we were launching our business at the beginning of COVID, which actually ended up being great timing for us because we launched as an online store. And with a lot of coffee shops closing, people were looking for specialty coffee roasters that could ship beans. So, that allowed us to get put on the map pretty quickly.

Within our first six months in business, we had shipped to all 50 states. And then within our first year, Trader Joe's had reached out about a regional coffee program they were launching to highlight roasters. And so, we ended up getting in 43 locations, and five and a half years later, we're still in all of those Trader Joe's locations. It's been a great partnership for us.

But I say that to say the business, kind of, grew a bit faster than we expected it to. I was also working a very demanding job in my risk role because around 2020 was also when it was announced that my bank, which was IBERIABANK, was going to be merging with First Horizon Bank, and I had one of the roles as a co-lead for the integration of all of the risk departments.

So, taking what First Horizon did, taking what IBERIA did, and figuring out, okay, what path forward are we going to do, and bringing together systems and bringing together processes. And it was a lot because I'm at home. I had two little kids at the time because schools are closed.

And so, once I was able to get, you know, everything in my world integrated, it was still a little bit of time to be able to get a severance package. And so, I volunteered myself for that because I was able to get a year's salary, which is really great. So, I said, "Okay, I'll do this for a little bit and then just come back."

And then one of my former colleagues caught wind that, "Oh, you're available. You're not working. Can you, like, create a consulting company and then come and start consulting with us?"

And I don't know, maybe being risk-averse, you know, even though I had this nice severance package, this year, you know, and I had a business that was starting to grow, I was like, "Okay, yeah, because then I can continue working, and this is a really great, you know, big safety net I can continue establishing."

But what I realized is that I was always just, like, halfway in, halfway out. And I felt like I wasn't being my full, greatest present self to either side. I was, like, halfway focusing on the business, halfway consulting, and trying to do things part-time. And so, yeah, about four or five years into starting the company, did I finally decide to walk away and just completely focus on Three Keys Coffee.

[18:07]Brian Jackson: That's incredible. How did you build the supply chain and actually get to the product?

[18:14]Kenzel Fallen: Yeah. So, much in the supply chain, especially with green coffee, there's a lot with relationships. And so, as I was saying earlier, around, you know, network and just being a good person to people, that goes such a long way in terms of the supply chain for probably any industry, but I can especially say that it's relevant for coffee.

I mean, you also have this being a global industry. Coffee is something that has to be imported. Aside from extremely tiny quantities in Hawaii and Puerto Rico, we do not grow coffee domestically.

So, within the U.S., it being the second most consumed beverage behind water, that means that we are very reliant on the import. And to have all of the roasters here, having those really great, strong relationships that can help to bring some of those good beans over stateside.

So, it's interesting because coffee, the tariffs, and all of that, you know, had such a big impact on coffee that I think a lot of folks, didn't realize, you know, again, how we cannot produce this domestically, and so we have to bring these in from outside.

And so, we definitely had to change some aspects of our program temporarily, right, because Brazil had, like, a 50% tariff, and we were relying on a lot of Brazil imports. And so, yeah, had to make some different changes along the way due to factors like that.

So, a lot more that goes into things like bringing in coffee and maintaining your supply chain. Like I said, as an entrepreneur, we wear so many hats. And that's one of the things I wasn't expecting to have learned along this way, but yeah, I'm in it.

[20:06]Brian Jackson: So, what does that look like when you're building the relationships, trying to find out who you're going to source beans from? Like, are there moments where you, kind of, go, "Actually, hey, our values as a company, we want to do it, you know, a different way, and it's going to cost more, but this is how we manage it"? I mean...

[20:23]Kenzel Fallen: Mm-hmm. Yeah, absolutely. So, we have a lot of products. And, you know, we have our staples of things that might be available at grocery stores. But then we also have places for, you know, some things that we really want to highlight, some things that we want to have shine or tell a story around, or maybe that we've actually personally met the producer or the farmer.

My husband's been able to visit some coffee farms in Guatemala. COVID threw a lot of things off. We're very much due for an origin trip. But what has happened is we get folks just coming and seeing us at our roastery, if, you know, they've heard about Three Keys, they want us to try out their coffee.

So, we've had producers come in from Colombia and El Salvador and Brazil and Nicaragua, stopping by our roastery. And so, that really helps to tell a very personal story because we can say, we know where this is coming from. We've heard the story about the family that this is coming from. We've heard the story about the impact that this is having on the families that we're purchasing these from. And so, it's just really great to be able to highlight that and share those stories with our consumers.

[21:35]Brian Jackson: Yeah. I think we, kind of, talked about Three Keys. It's three keys on a trumpet. And so, you know, it's about coffee, art, and music, and jazz. So, what about jazz feels like the right inspiration for the company?

[21:50]Kenzel Fallen: Oh, yeah. So, jazz is unique in that it's, you know, one of the few art forms, first of all, that's created here in America. The birthplace of jazz is New Orleans, and we've actually had one of our coffees that was named in honor of that square, Congo Square, which is believed to be the birthplace of jazz.

But there's also this nature of how unstructured, but yet sophisticated that jazz can feel. You know, you have a lot of the improv. You have a lot of this sense of being lost in the moment that you can gather from the artist as they are actually playing the music, and then even sometimes as a listener when you're, you know, hearing some of these just solos.

And so, that idea of, you know, being lost and this moment of having full feeling around what you're doing, that's something that we really wanted to highlight. Also, from even just a, you know, kind of practical standpoint, jazz was actually one of the genres that helped with the advent of, you know, vinyl albums. You know, people wanted to be able to take that live music experience but be able to enjoy it and celebrate it at home. Prior to some of the early jazz recordings, there really was just, like, classical music that had actually been put on vinyl.

And so, jazz allowed people to bring home that concert and that live band experience, and that's the same thing that we, kind of, wanted to do with coffee. It's like, "Hey, you don't have to go to a shop. You get the right beans. You understand how to make them. You can have that cafe experience at home."

And so, kind of, having drawing that parallel as well in the way that we wanted to create coffee and share coffee with people, there's a lot to explore with the overlap. We have this thing, you know, in the specialty coffee industry. There's something called the flavor wheel, and it tells you all of these different types of flavor notes you might get from a cup of coffee.

And so, we wanted to, quote-unquote, "reinvent the wheel" and stylize it as a vinyl album, but we used musical descriptors. You know, we wanted that to be a fun way to try to describe coffee. And we always say it's no coincidence that, you know, you describe both music and coffee using notes, right? So, having some of those music terms to help with describing what you're tasting has been a fun thing for us to explore.

[24:24]Brian Jackson: Well, I guess on the wheel, are you Ella, Louis, Dizzy, Miles? Where do you fall?

[24:29]Kenzel Fallen: Oh, I'm very much in, like, a moody Nina Simone, you know, Miles Davis sort of... I'll say before he got into his free jazz era and all of that. And you'll see in our wheel, it, kind of, goes around in that space. But I enjoy tasting all around the wheel, all different kinds of coffees.

You know, you can have very wildly different tastes that you get from one cup to the next, just depending on origin, and processing, and all types of different factors.

[25:03]Brian Jackson: Yeah. So, Food & Wine named Three Keys the best coffee roaster in Texas. I guess what did that recognition mean to you personally, professionally?

[25:13]Kenzel Fallen: It was huge because, you know, a lot of recognitions that people get, it's because they've applied. Food & Wine Magazine, there was no application. We didn't know we were on their radar. Nothing.

I remember getting an email that was like, "Hey, we're thinking about, you know, highlighting different coffee shops. Can you send us some pictures of your shop?" And it was from Food & Wine, but I'm just thinking, "Oh, they're just going to highlight a bunch of folks."

I had no clue. I truly had no clue until the announcement was made that we were named. They had us on the list as the best in Texas. We were just, I mean, mind-blown.

And so, I think that's, for one, why it really felt so huge for us because we realized, oh wow, yeah, people are noticing. It's not like we put ourselves in front of them and said, "Hey, consider us for this thing and come and review us," and then, you know, put our best foot forward for whatever random day that one of their correspondents decided to come and visit us.

We just were being our regular, normal selves, had no idea that we were potentially entertaining someone from Food & Wine, and apparently, it was enough to have made that much of an impression on them.

And we had another similar one come about this year, which was the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops. Same sort of situation. Didn't know we were on their radar. They have these secret shoppers, so to speak, or judges who go around to shops and nominate. And yeah, we were named one of the top 100 in North America, South America, and the Caribbean. That was another huge honor.

I love the ones where it's a total surprise. We have no inkling that they're coming our way because it really does mean that we're making a positive impression on our community.

[27:01]Brian Jackson: Well, that is fabulous, and a huge congratulations.

[27:05]Kenzel Fallen: Thank you.

[27:06]Brian Jackson: You know, I guess one thing I'm thinking about, if I'm sitting in a coffee shop tomorrow, how should I just think about describing that cup of coffee? And I ask you because you're an Evolved Q Arabica Grader, which is a sommelier for coffee.

[27:20]Kenzel Fallen: Yeah, but, you know, I consider myself so much of a rebel in that because what I always say is the best type of coffee is the one that you're going to enjoy, the one that you are going to drink. It reminds me back in my consulting days when, you know, we would get the, "Well, what's the best tool for this?" Or, "What's the best solution?" Or, "What's the best system?" Or, "What's the best, you know, application for X, Y, Z?" And it's like, "The one that you're going to use."

And it's funny that I'm finding myself saying that same thing even in coffee because, you know, I think I'm not wanting to judge anyone's preferences. And I think that's what we want to, in our program, offer, a range of tastes. You know, the traditional specialty coffee crowd sometimes turns their nose up at dark roast. We don't, because we understand that there are some folks that that is their preference.

And so, yeah, I always say the best cup is the one that you are going to happily drink, and it's going to bring you joy. So, if it brings you joy, if it makes you smile, then that's all that matters. And if it doesn't, then, you know, come over to Three Keys because we will help to make it right. Our baristas will find you your match. I'm sure of it.

[28:44]Brian Jackson: So, I guess the question is, like, how do you describe coffee? Like, I know wine, I can, kind of, high-level do it enough to sound, kind of, interesting at a work dinner, but if I meet someone for coffee, like, what adjectives, what words do you use?

[28:58]Kenzel Fallen: Yeah. You know, it can be very similar because, with coffee being the seed of a fruit, you get sometimes a lot of the similar notes that you might pick up on in some wines. Take, for example, you're going to have some coffees that are pretty fermented, and they do give you a winey sort of aspect to them.

I always like to, kind of, focus on things like acidity. Like, does it feel very bright? Are you detecting some sort of, kind of, like, citric aspect to it? Because some people like that, and then some people don't.

So, detecting, you know, how much of an acidic factor are you picking up on? Like, what's the mouthfeel? Is it more of, like, a creamy, or is it, like, a, you know, kind of, feeling drying? You know, you can also pick up on what's the sweetness level in there. Does it taste pretty sweet, or are you not really picking up on some of those sweet notes?

But I think with most run-of-the-mill coffees, you're going to pick up on the chocolate. You're going to pick up on, like, nutty sort of flavors. Those are things that typically are characteristic in there.

But if you, you know, detect some berries and, you know, other sorts of fruits and things, you know, feel free to just explore and just think about where your brain's telling you you're having this association with. I mean, that's pretty much the same thing that a lot of folks do with wine. It's like, okay, well, what's that association that you, you know, get when you're trying it?

[30:24]Brian Jackson: Okay, so to be adventurous. I think I'm one of those who's, kind of, the same order, same thing. I recently switched from a latte to a flat white, but, you know.

[30:33]Kenzel Fallen: Yeah. You're making it there. You're making it there. You're reducing the amount of milk in your coffee, and that's what's...

[30:39]Brian Jackson: That's what I'm trying to do.

[30:41]Kenzel Fallen: Yeah.

[30:42]Brian Jackson: So, I mean, after being involved in the coffee world, you know, is there something about coffee that has basically changed the way that you think of your morning cup?

[30:51]Kenzel Fallen: I think for me, it's all around the impact to people in just a typical everyday cup. You know, as we're all drinking our cups of coffee, knowing how many hands it took to get to your kitchen and into that cup. You know, starting with there was a farmer who could have been a, you know, third-, fourth-, fifth-generation farmer on land where that's all his or her family has known to do.

And it could be their entire life's work and be the thing that sustains them. And if they get a frost or the crop doesn't go well, that family is struggling and not having, you know, a good season. Just knowing how dependent some families are on that.

And then you take that, then it goes to some sort of mill where it gets processed. And then you have it transported, where it gets put on these, you know, big shipping containers. And, you know, Houston's one of the ports where some coffee comes into. Not a whole lot, but, you know, it comes over stateside. We have it in various facilities.

And then a lot of times there's some roaster who, you know, a lot of it may be just like a family-owned roastery such as mine that's picking up those sacks of beans, experimenting with, you know, roasting them in different ways, and then putting them into a bag. And if you do have a barista that's, you know, working to prepare that, you know, baristas, there's an art, and there's a skill behind extracting the best flavor notes out of coffee.

You know, you can have an incredible coffee that, from the farm to the bag, is just perfect, and then if the barista doesn't know exactly what to do with it, you could walk away thinking it's crap. That is the worst coffee.

And I've also seen baristas completely elevate a cup of coffee or, you know, some beans that maybe hadn't received the best treatment along the way, right? And so, yeah, it's just, kind of, knowing the impact that it's having on all of those folks. You know, I was reflecting fairly recently on what keeps me going with this, and I know a lot of it is the impact that I've seen on my employees.

We are funding people's life work and families, and just knowing that type of, like, impact that we're having to our people and our community. We're also providing benefits to our team. And so, knowing that my company is doing the right thing by its people and helping to better the lives of folks is just something that makes me feel so good and just continues to drive me with this business.

[33:40]Brian Jackson: And what a wonderful purpose. What's your go-to order at Three Keys?

[33:45]Kenzel Fallen: Oh, gosh. It always switches. When I'm there, I like to just try our standard drip, right? Because I'm not huge on adding, like, like I said, a lot of the extras. But that's usually a way to just gauge, okay, for the typical coffee consumer who probably is just going towards, like, "Let me just get a drip coffee," I want to make sure that that's tasting top-notch, right?

But if I'm going to another coffee shop, I'll say the way I judge the other coffee shops is to order a cortado. It's, well, next to a macchiato, is the one with the least amount of milk. And by macchiato, I want to clarify, the traditional macchiato, which is like a very small, not the Starbucks macchiato, which is the huge, you know, again, all the sugars and whipped cream.

But I think a cortado is one of the drinks that is the hardest to accomplish. And so, when it's done really well, then I know, okay, this shop's doing pretty good. And it's also one where I can still taste the espresso, the brew method there, and really, kind of, understand, like, how that bean tastes. So, yeah, I always try to order a cortado when I go out to other shops.

[34:59]Brian Jackson: Okay. That's great. Then that's how I'll taste-test and know I'm at the right spot.

[35:03]Kenzel Fallen: Yep.

[35:05]Brian Jackson: What is the next big step for Three Keys?

[35:08]Kenzel Fallen: So, we have two more locations we are working on, one in Missouri City. We have another that's going to be in Sunnyside. But we are also feeling a very strong push to be a more positive force in the community, potentially outside of, you know, coffee directly. And so, we're working on a few ideas and collaborations, but, you know, coffee may be just the beginning. So, we'll see.

[35:40]Brian Jackson: So, I guess looking back and, you know, what a really wonderful story, but your Rice MBA, and you think back to the experience you had, you look at being an entrepreneur, you know, is there anything from that experience that you lean on and you go, "Okay, wow, this has really helped get me here"?

[35:56]Kenzel Fallen: Here's one example. I remember in my marketing class, it was around pricing philosophies and around the perception of discounts and how, when you have discounts, you're devaluing how the consumer's, you know, viewing that product, and they're so much less likely to purchase it again, especially not at full price. Because now, if you've gone from $20 and, you know, giving it to them half off for $10, then now their max is they're thinking, "This thing is only worth $10. I'm not going to ever pay more than this."

And we have taken that stance with our company of never discounting our products. We will provide, you know, a complimentary promotion such as, well, maybe you can get free shipping, or maybe you can get a free gift. I may do an add-on or something, but we will never discount our products. And that's something that I've seen a lot of other peer companies doing, and then they're, kind of, chasing themselves, in a sense, to the bottom because then it's like, well, I got to keep discounting to get more customers, and then before you know it, now your product's not worth at all what you started out communicating that it was.

But we priced our products very fairly so that we would never feel that pressure. It's like, "Hey, the price is the price." And that is something that squarely came from my Rice MBA program that I do not think that I would have had that perspective had it not been for that marketing class. And so, those are things that, you know, just, kind of, loop in my head that I've carried with me even, yeah, like 16 years later.

[37:30]Brian Jackson: Yeah, no kidding. Well, I mean, as recently at the, what, alumni reunion, you were awarded Rice Business' Distinguished Alumni Award.

[37:39]Kenzel Fallen: Such an honor. It was incredible. But yes.

[37:42]Brian Jackson: I wanted to know, what did that recognition from the community mean to you?

[37:45]Kenzel Fallen: Oh, I think, like I said, I was a bit on the younger end when I started the Rice MBA program, and being there, I think I had the sense of, well, I've got to do, like, investment banking or consulting in order to be considered, quote-unquote, "successful."

And I think that having that honor redefined that view for me. You know, you don't have to always go with these glamorous, high-profile sorts of tracks, that you can have impact and meaning and purpose in a lot of different ways.

And so, that affirmed for me that you didn't, like, waste your degree on, you know, a coffee job, right? It's like, no, it's so much more than that. It's changing the lives of people. It's, you know, being a positive impact in my community. It's representing Houston and everything that we're able to create here on a global scale.

You know, like, there's a lot that I can now look to that my little coffee business has done. And I think that's something that, you know, knowing that Rice also views that as worthy of recognition and that, you know, is essentially proud of that, I think that it goes a long way. I think I am doing work with meaning and impact, and I think that that's what Rice recognizes, and I appreciate that.

[39:09]Brian Jackson: Yeah. So, if there was someone, assuming from the Rice Business community, listening today, and they've got a successful corporate career, but they have that pull towards entrepreneurship, what advice would you give them?

[39:22]Kenzel Fallen: You know, I am still very much this risk-minded, risk-averse person, so I always tell people, "Do not hurry up to quit your day job and start a new thing. Have the safety net. Do it thoughtfully."

But I think that the biggest takeaway is to define what the purpose, and the mission, and the vision is that you want to have, and to know that if you're still committed to doing that, you know, all of the other stuff will follow, like the accolades and, you know, the customers, and, you know, we'll all find our people.

But it's really important to just stay so dedicated to what our intention is because customers pick up on the phoniness, and they're attracted to intentionality, and they're attracted to authenticity.

And so, you know, anyone who, kind of, has that pull, if they're thinking, like, "Oh, this'll be a great moneymaker. This'll be a great... You know, this business idea will, like, just exponentially grow," I'm going to be, kind of, shaking my head and looking like, you know, "You might want to rethink this one a little bit more," because I do think that our motivations are just so key and so important in what we're doing.

And so, yeah, having a very pure intention and a “why” behind what you're doing, I think, is just going to be critical before undertaking any sort of venture. But once you do that, like I said, just staying true to that, I think people will pick up on it and be drawn to the things that matter to them.

And so, yeah, it's, kind of, a tough one. You know, I've had people come up to me who maybe were in traditional consulting roles, and I think that they view coffee shops as being, like, the super profitable way out. And I've straight-up told people in consulting, I'm like, "This is not going to replace your consulting salary." It's not.

But if you're in it for something beyond that, if you want to reclaim some of your time, if you want to, you know, have more of a presence with your family, you know, all of those other kind of intangibles that have huge value, that's what I've seen as the biggest impact in being, like, a business owner to my life.

[41:41]Brian Jackson: Fantastic. Well, I do want to thank you so much for joining me on Owl Have You Know. It's been just such a pleasure.

[41:48]Kenzel Fallen: Yeah, likewise. It was such a pleasure talking coffee, and business, and all of those with you.

[41:56]Brian Jackson: And a little bit of jazz.

[41:57]Kenzel Fallen: And a little bit of jazz, yep. Thank you.

[42:03]Brian Jackson: Thanks for listening. This has been Owl Have You Know, a production of Rice Business. You can find more information about our guests, hosts, and announcements on our website, business.rice.edu. Please subscribe and leave a rating wherever you find your favorite podcast. We'd love to hear what you think. The hosts of Owl Have You Know are myself, Brian Jackson, and Maya Pomroy.