hill top

Dear Karen, Supervisors and Associates,

It has been my pleasure to work with you all to create a better Hill Top Coffee Shop over the last (nearly) 3 years.  We have made some big steps forward towards destroying the stigma of the ‘campus’ coffee shop.  Together we have changed the logo, the atmosphere, we have cultivated its personality and culture and we even upped the level of professionalism that was already there.  There is now no denying that the Hill Top is a ‘real’ coffee shop.  Better than most, but still surging forward.

That is why I am sad to say that my time with the Hill Top is over.  I have been offered a position with Tazza Mia that will give me the opportunity to take the lessons I have learned here and build on them.

I feel like I have been blessed to be a part of the team that was headed up by the sweetest, most caring and compassionate boss around.  Karen, thank you for all you have taught me about leadership and life in general.  I will not forget the times we have spent brainstorming and learning new and different ways to bring the Hill Top up another notch.

For all the supervisors that have worked under me, thank you for all the passion and creativity you have poured into Hill Top.  You have stretched me in many ways and I have enjoyed all the frustrations, all the silliness and all the fun we have had together.

To all the associates… you are what makes the Hill Top so special.  Your enthusiasm for what that place represents is contagious.  Thank you for bearing with me and my crazy coffee obsession (even going so far as to drink bad espresso shots and even good ones with me).

It is a bittersweet thing when you grow up and leave for college.  You climb in the car with a few suitcases, adjust your mirrors, and go. Suddenly, you look back at the road behind you and realize, you can come back and visit every now and again, but things will never be the same.  That is what this feels like to me.  I am driving on and looking back through the rear view realizing it will never be the same.  That I will never be the same. 

Sincerely,

Eric