Speaker 1: I'm Lauren Rosen and on this special edition podcast for
Speaker 1: the seventy Sixers podcast network, I had the pleasure of
Speaker 1: getting to know Lizette Appy, owner of Thundermug Cafe. This
Speaker 1: year's By Black Program winner. Lozette has an amazing story
Speaker 1: and an even better energy. So without further ado, here's
Speaker 1: my conversation with Lizette. I'm so excited to welcome Lizette
Speaker 1: Appy to the podcast today. Lizette is the winner of
Speaker 1: this year's By Black Program with the seventy Sixers. She's
Speaker 1: the owner of Thundermug Cafe in East Falls, and we're
Speaker 1: so excited to have you on the podcast. Learn more
Speaker 1: about Thundermug and hear all about your journey. Sozette, welcome. Oh,
Speaker 1: thank you, Lauren. I am so excited to be here. Well,
Speaker 1: we're so excited to have you. I guess we should
Speaker 1: just start obviously. The Sixers are what bring us together
Speaker 1: here today. So what's your relationship been like with the Sixers?
Speaker 1: Are you a fan? How long have you been in Philadelphia?
Speaker 1: What do you make of this team? I'm a fan.
Speaker 1: I've been in Philadelphia going on eight years seven eight years,
Speaker 1: and from the first year of being here up until
Speaker 1: the pandemic, so I guess it's been two years. Went
Speaker 1: to the game games twice a year. So love the
Speaker 1: seventy Sixers. Love the excitement, love the fans, love the enthusiasm.
Speaker 1: It's very similar to being a Bulls fan. I'm originally
Speaker 1: from Chicago. It's very similar, same type of kinetic, frenetic,
Speaker 1: wonderful fan energy, loyal, super loyal fans exactly. I was
Speaker 1: with the Bulls before I joined the Sixers, so I've
Speaker 1: had gotten to see both fan bases. I prefer the Sixers.
Speaker 1: I'm biased, but I wanted to ask you that sort
Speaker 1: of segues nicely. Can you tell us a little bit
Speaker 1: about how you came from Chicago to Philadelphia and then
Speaker 1: how you ended up starting your own business. I came
Speaker 1: to Philadelphia from Chicago by way of my daughter. As
Speaker 1: a matter of fact, my job was actually phasing out,
Speaker 1: and she called me one day and she said, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm never moving back to the Midwest. And she was
Speaker 1: doing an AmeriCorps program here in Philadelphia, and she said, Mom,
Speaker 1: I think you'll love Philly. She's like, it reminds me
Speaker 1: a lot of Chicago. She was like, and she knew
Speaker 1: she was boring to law school in DC, and she said,
Speaker 1: you know, why don't you come visit look around? And
Speaker 1: you know, for her, Philadelphia is like a third home
Speaker 1: for her because she lives in DC now. And I
Speaker 1: came and I fell in love. It was everything I
Speaker 1: thought it would be. Everything she described it to me.
Speaker 1: Very it had that very similar Chicago vibe, and as
Speaker 1: Lauren you can attest to, it really does have a
Speaker 1: very similar Chicago vibe. And I just fell in love
Speaker 1: with it and I packed up and moved here. I
Speaker 1: find that people in Philadelphia and Chicago are really authentic
Speaker 1: and aren't really trying to be anyone else. I was
Speaker 1: raised in the South. I was raised in Houston, and
Speaker 1: there are a lot of beautiful things about being from
Speaker 1: the South, but people aren't quite as like open about
Speaker 1: who they are or about what they care about, like
Speaker 1: people who are really passionate and really open about it.
Speaker 1: And I really enjoy that about Philadelphia. I was gonna say,
Speaker 1: it's I think that's what where I draw the similarities.
Speaker 1: It's kind of the passion. You know, Chicago has sports
Speaker 1: teams passion, Philly has the sports team's passion, and they're
Speaker 1: both big cities, but you still get that since deer
Speaker 1: small town vibefe so to speak, well to me. Something
Speaker 1: that creates the vibe of Philly are small businesses like yours,
Speaker 1: and I'm passionate about I live in Old City. I
Speaker 1: have not been to Thundermug Cafe yet, but it's jumped
Speaker 1: immediately to the top of my list. So I'm hoping
Speaker 1: that you can tell me about the business. Tell me
Speaker 1: about Thundermug, how it came to be, and what people
Speaker 1: can get when they come there. Okay, thunder Mug. It
Speaker 1: wasn't always named Thundermug because I didn't have an actual
Speaker 1: name for it in my head. But I had worked
Speaker 1: my way in high school and college by way of
Speaker 1: cafe route, not necessarily fast food, but by way of
Speaker 1: cafe route. Small owners, you know, who had their hand
Speaker 1: in every aspect of the business, and something about that
Speaker 1: you know you feel really invested. You know the owner.
Speaker 1: It's not like working for McDonald's and you know you
Speaker 1: have no idea who owns this McDonald's or you know
Speaker 1: the higher ups in corporate. Small businesses have always appealed
Speaker 1: to me. I've worked large and small businesses and I
Speaker 1: just never lost my passion, my love for working in
Speaker 1: that cafe environment. I think it's because I like to
Speaker 1: make connections with people, and you really do start off
Speaker 1: someone's day, So that's that's kind of I've always been
Speaker 1: inspired by that. So it's been a very long love
Speaker 1: affair with cafes, working in them, going to them, and
Speaker 1: as I got older, raised my kids. You know, I
Speaker 1: helped my daughter through law school. I was kind of
Speaker 1: looking at myself one day and I thought, oh, my gosh, okay,
Speaker 1: you're an empty nester. This is kind of it. You know,
Speaker 1: you can either make this dream happen or you can
Speaker 1: just say oh to everyone. I used to have a dream,
Speaker 1: and so I just decided, you know, my job is ending,
Speaker 1: why not? Just why not? And and almost two and
Speaker 1: a half years later, you were still thriving. I love
Speaker 1: that for you. That's always something that I preached to
Speaker 1: people when they asked me about my job and what
Speaker 1: I do, Like, I very much followed my passion into
Speaker 1: this job. So when I meet other people that did
Speaker 1: the same thing, I'm just like very excited to hear that.
Speaker 1: But especially someone that raised children like You've seen and
Speaker 1: done so much more in your lifetime. Than I might
Speaker 1: ever accomplish. Plus now have opened a business, and I'm
Speaker 1: really inspired by that. So that's not a question. I
Speaker 1: just wanted to let you know amazing and what I'm hoping.
Speaker 1: So this is another little look into our podcasting community.
Speaker 1: We almost always record podcasts and do our podcast in
Speaker 1: the morning, and I always talk about my morning coffee.
Speaker 1: It's like I cannot function without a morning coffee, and
Speaker 1: I think a lot of our listeners are the same way.
Speaker 1: So how would you describe, like what you get? I
Speaker 1: know that everything is super high quality. What are you
Speaker 1: passionate about on your menu? What can people expect when
Speaker 1: they come into the cafe? We have really great coffee.
Speaker 1: First and foremost, A lot of people that come in
Speaker 1: our ice coffee is hugely popular. I know it's winter now,
Speaker 1: but we have some diehard ice coffee fans who come
Speaker 1: in every single day and they're like, I don't know
Speaker 1: what you all do to this ice coffee, but it
Speaker 1: is absolutely amazing. So, first and foremost, I know it's
Speaker 1: not iced coffee season, but we do have amazing coffee.
Speaker 1: Our pastries, people nine times out of tend grab a pastry.
Speaker 1: We have gluten free, we have vegan. We have authentically
Speaker 1: French pastries. We have just you know, we're growing, so
Speaker 1: our menus growing. We also on the weekends we sell
Speaker 1: key should We sell handpies, which people absolutely love. We
Speaker 1: have my pastry. I have a pastry chef that I
Speaker 1: partner with, so she and I come up with ideas
Speaker 1: and it's a collaborative. You know. I'll say, hey, Amy,
Speaker 1: can you do this? And one hundred percent of the
Speaker 1: time she tweaks my idea because I'm at home cook.
Speaker 1: She's a professional pastry chef, and she tweaks my idea
Speaker 1: and I she just she impresses me every single time
Speaker 1: because you know, I sit here and I think pretty
Speaker 1: good cook, you know, and then she comes back with
Speaker 1: this tweak which just takes it right over the moon.
Speaker 1: And so we have something for everyone as well as
Speaker 1: an amazing team of people that we work with, so,
Speaker 1: you know, just good vibes and like you said, I
Speaker 1: really take it personally that I am sometimes the first
Speaker 1: person that people see that's to start their mornings. And
Speaker 1: you know, it's really important that people, you know, have
Speaker 1: a wonderful exchange, you know, when they come in. We're
Speaker 1: always smart and it's always genuine And I always tell
Speaker 1: my staff, my team, I say to them, you know,
Speaker 1: I hire people based off of personality. You can teach people,
Speaker 1: you know, basically anything, but you can't teach people to
Speaker 1: be nice. You can't teach people to be kind, You
Speaker 1: can't teach people to be genuine. And that is that
Speaker 1: is what you'll get when you come in. Not only
Speaker 1: will you get a great cup of coffee, you will
Speaker 1: encounter a teammate who will remember who you are, remember
Speaker 1: your name, make you a part of our community. It's
Speaker 1: just it's it's a really good small town kind of
Speaker 1: feel in the big city. That's so great to hear.
Speaker 1: And you sort of led me into my next question.
Speaker 1: When I was reading about you, you described the coffee
Speaker 1: shop as a safe and inclusive space, and I'm curious
Speaker 1: why those words safe and inclusive are so important to
Speaker 1: you when it comes to building a business, because those
Speaker 1: words mean a ton to me and a lot of people.
Speaker 1: You talk about the community in your shop, so why
Speaker 1: is that something that's such a priority to you. It's
Speaker 1: a priority because it is a safe space. We love
Speaker 1: everyone I you know, and that's important to me because
Speaker 1: we accept, we love, we genuinely love everyone and along
Speaker 1: with Like I said, someone to be part of our team,
Speaker 1: they have to not only feel safe with us, you know,
Speaker 1: I want them to provide the sense of you know,
Speaker 1: inclusion and in warmth to the people that come through
Speaker 1: our doors. So you know, if you if you have
Speaker 1: a problem with me not having a problem with anybody,
Speaker 1: you know, then I don't know. If you know, then
Speaker 1: I don't know if you'd be hired. But we just
Speaker 1: include I just like everyone, I don't, you know, we
Speaker 1: don't Being an African American woman, being a black woman,
Speaker 1: discrimination you know, has been my life, you know, So
Speaker 1: I you know, I can't change who I am, and
Speaker 1: neither can anyone. No one can. So that's why inclusivity,
Speaker 1: you know, and loving everyone is so important. It's tantamount.
Speaker 1: This is getting to like a deeper space. Then I
Speaker 1: thought maybe we were going to go, But it all
Speaker 1: kind of ties together to me. When you talk about
Speaker 1: sometimes you're the first person that someone sees in the morning.
Speaker 1: The idea that if you're that first person, you're going
Speaker 1: to be someone kind and inclusive and accepting, I think
Speaker 1: is really beautiful. And I also think of people that
Speaker 1: might be coming from a more difficult home environment or
Speaker 1: coming off of a difficult night shift. The idea that
Speaker 1: they can come in and see someone that's going to
Speaker 1: be open and accepting. I can only imagine how much
Speaker 1: that means to your customers, and I'm excited to come
Speaker 1: and be one of them in the coming days. So
Speaker 1: I wanted to ask you about the Buy Black program.
Speaker 1: My understanding. First of all, huge congratulations I know of
Speaker 1: is apply, So I'm really excited to hear that you
Speaker 1: were the winner for this year. So I think, if
Speaker 1: I'm not mistaken, one of your employees actually found the
Speaker 1: program and told you about it. So do you mind
Speaker 1: letting us know how you found us and then how
Speaker 1: the process has been. My teammate, yes, Ryan, he was
Speaker 1: watching Sixers game and he saw it, and what really
Speaker 1: stood out to me is and he texted me the details.
Speaker 1: He said, we should apply for this. So I like
Speaker 1: that his wording, his verbiage was weak, you know, because
Speaker 1: I always say, you know, we are a team. You know,
Speaker 1: I don't work you don't work for me, you work
Speaker 1: with me. And so the fact that he was so
Speaker 1: excited and I looked into it and then I got
Speaker 1: super excited. So that's how it all came about, and
Speaker 1: you know, when I heard back from you know, Lexie,
Speaker 1: you know, we were screaming, and I'm like, oh my goodness,
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness. So it's um. It was just I
Speaker 1: was really touched that even when he sent it to me,
Speaker 1: he said, we should apply for this because I invest
Speaker 1: in them and they invest in me. So that was
Speaker 1: that was how this all came about. And then it
Speaker 1: just kept progressing and escalating and we just kept getting
Speaker 1: more and more excited. That's obviously such a huge indicator
Speaker 1: or though of the community that you've created and how
Speaker 1: well you've done it, sort of starting out with this
Speaker 1: dream and creating a reality for yourself. I'm curious about
Speaker 1: people that are listening to this, or maybe people in
Speaker 1: your life, people in my life that want to either
Speaker 1: start a business or want to start pursuing something but
Speaker 1: are maybe afraid to take the leap or haven't taken
Speaker 1: the leap yet. Do you have any advice to people
Speaker 1: that might be in that situation, a situation sort of
Speaker 1: like yours was a few years ago. Well, as you
Speaker 1: pointed out in the very big you know, a little
Speaker 1: bit ago, I always believe in following your passion and
Speaker 1: as they say, if you follow your passion, it will
Speaker 1: never lead you astray. And so first and foremost, if
Speaker 1: you have a passion and you are able to follow it,
Speaker 1: just do it. And I know that sounds lofty because
Speaker 1: there's a lot of hard work and saying Okay, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna follow my passion. Then you've got to plot it out,
Speaker 1: then it comes in you know, the business plan and
Speaker 1: things like that. But you know, that's what's really important
Speaker 1: about this program. It's all in partnership. I'm super excited
Speaker 1: because not only is this program does is it highlighting
Speaker 1: you know, my black owned business that is surviving and
Speaker 1: thriving still actively during a pandemic, but it's also kind
Speaker 1: of serving as a beacon of hope for future black entrepreneurs.
Speaker 1: You know, like there was a large number of black
Speaker 1: owned businesses that did close down, but for those of
Speaker 1: us that survived and stayed open, it's now more than
Speaker 1: it's more important now than ever to really come together
Speaker 1: as a community and to let you know, future black
Speaker 1: owned businesses know you can do this. And just with
Speaker 1: this partnership, this will enable me to be a resource
Speaker 1: for these new young black business owners that are yet
Speaker 1: to come and you know it was daunting. You know,
Speaker 1: all of us businesses had to pivot. You know, we
Speaker 1: kept having to pivot. And you know, you know when
Speaker 1: you if you ask me, you know two and a
Speaker 1: half years ago, you know, have you thought of everything
Speaker 1: that could happen with opening a business? Pandemic was not
Speaker 1: on my list, But it just it just showed me,
Speaker 1: you know, what I was made of. And and in
Speaker 1: any business that you own or open or start, you
Speaker 1: have to have the strength and the courage to get
Speaker 1: up every morning and invest in it, pandemic or not.
Speaker 1: And my best advice is to you know, get out there,
Speaker 1: do it. Partner with people, find a community. The community
Speaker 1: will all actually find you. I can't tell you how
Speaker 1: many black owned businesses that I've reached out tour that
Speaker 1: have come into the cafe and we've just discussed things
Speaker 1: and that I've become friends with, and you know, I've
Speaker 1: asked them, they've asked me, you know, where do you
Speaker 1: see opportunities for growth? You know? And through it all,
Speaker 1: we've all helped each other and we're all trying to
Speaker 1: build an even more solid community, not only for ourselves
Speaker 1: but for future businesses to come into and That's what's
Speaker 1: really tantamount about the Buy Black program. Not only is it,
Speaker 1: you know, helping black businesses stay in business, it's also
Speaker 1: giving us the tools to help, you know, teach other
Speaker 1: people how to stay in business, and that builds a community.
Speaker 1: You've mentioned now. Community it's a word that has come
Speaker 1: up explicitly or implicitly when we talk about Chicago and
Speaker 1: Philadelphia and business owners and black owned businesses and business
Speaker 1: businesses that closed in the pandemic and businesses that stayed
Speaker 1: open during the pandem So to sort of bring it
Speaker 1: all full circle, I'm wondering what your community means to
Speaker 1: you and what your businesses, or at least what you
Speaker 1: aspire to have your business's role be in your community community.
Speaker 1: You know, it's really interesting because I m a couple
Speaker 1: of weeks ago I got stricken down with bronchitis. And
Speaker 1: right before I got bronchitis, well not right before, but
Speaker 1: before I got bronchitis, a new customer came into me,
Speaker 1: came into the cafe and she was sitting down and
Speaker 1: you know, she had been in there for a couple
Speaker 1: of hours just and she was getting her coat and
Speaker 1: she was about to leave, and she said you know,
Speaker 1: this is the first time I've ever visited this cafe.
Speaker 1: She said, it will not be my last, she said,
Speaker 1: you know, and it really touched my heart because she said,
Speaker 1: you know, you know about ninety percent of your customers
Speaker 1: and she said, you've loved done every one of them.
Speaker 1: She said, every one of those customers walked out loved on,
Speaker 1: with a smile on their face. You and your staff,
Speaker 1: you just love when your She's like, I'll definitely be back.
Speaker 1: And that just meant so much to me to you know,
Speaker 1: I just I'm a community person. That is just who
Speaker 1: I am. Um, and I was. That was such a
Speaker 1: hearts felt compliment. I was just really like wow, and
Speaker 1: I didn't even it was something I didn't even know
Speaker 1: that I was doing, but something she had pointed out.
Speaker 1: And the fact that the words she used were you
Speaker 1: loved on every single person that came in and building
Speaker 1: a community. You know, for me, it just means to
Speaker 1: be connected, you know it, you know, to be involved,
Speaker 1: to know everyone that you know and and to help out.
Speaker 1: You know, there's a community refrigerator in East Falls that
Speaker 1: you know, we we donate to. I spearheaded a Christmas
Speaker 1: tree lighting for the East Falls community, you know. I
Speaker 1: you know, with the East Falls Development Corporation, we did
Speaker 1: a wellness fair, you know, at right after COVID so
Speaker 1: everyone could see all of the resources, you know. So
Speaker 1: community involvement, you know, yes, it does help people get
Speaker 1: my name out there as well, but it also it
Speaker 1: also makes people feel like, we like this community. You know,
Speaker 1: we want to stay in this community. We want to
Speaker 1: spend our money in this community. You know, we want
Speaker 1: to send our kids, you know, to this cafe, to
Speaker 1: this restaurant in the community. It's not just about one,
Speaker 1: my small little cafe, but it is about the community
Speaker 1: at large and everyone involved. I think it's funny things.
Speaker 1: You open the conversation talking about how this all started
Speaker 1: when you became an empty nester. But it's very it's
Speaker 1: very clear to me that you are not an empty nester.
Speaker 1: It seems like you mean a lot to a lot
Speaker 1: of people. I'm so excited to come visit you. It's
Speaker 1: been such a pleasure to get to know you, Lizette,
Speaker 1: So thank you for your time. For everybody that's listening.
Speaker 1: Lizette's cafe is Thundermug Cafe, the winner of this year's
Speaker 1: By Black Program. You can find her in East Falls.
Speaker 1: I'm going to come find you in East Falls, and
Speaker 1: if anyone that's listening wants to come with me, we
Speaker 1: can make it a group thing. I'm really excited to
Speaker 1: hopefully meet you in person in the next couple of weeks.
Speaker 1: This has been heartwarming for me and I'm really glad
Speaker 1: that we got to have this conversation. Oh, thank you
Speaker 1: so much, Lauren, and I look forward to seeing you. Yes,
Speaker 1: we're gonna see you very shortly, hopefully at a Sixers game.
Speaker 1: And stay safe, stay healthy. Can't wait to come visit.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Lizette, Thank you, Thanks as always
Speaker 1: for listening to the seventy six Ers podcast Network. Thanks
Speaker 1: to Lizette for coming on the show, sharing her story,
Speaker 1: and sharing her time with me. If you're not already,
Speaker 1: to make sure you're following the seventy six Ers Insiders podcast,
Speaker 1: made for in depth Sixers content all season long. Plus,
Speaker 1: make sure you're following the seventy Sixers podcast networks newest podcast,
Speaker 1: The Bike Niang Theory with George Niang and Lauren Rosen
Speaker 1: for organic, depthy conversations between George and his Sixers teammates.
Speaker 1: I think you guys are going to love it as always.
Speaker 1: I'm Lauren Rosen. Thanks again to Lazette, and thanks to
Speaker 1: you for joining us.