- If I wanted to see the change,
I had to be the change.
And that's why we're recreating an opening, The Bean.
St. Louis has gone through some crazy turmoil.
We've had a lot of things from race issues to politics,
and it's definitely troublesome as a young millennial
who wants to see more out of my community.
A lot of peers felt like they had to leave St. Louis,
but I knew I could find my fit here.
Over 80% of our university
becomes the workforce here in St. Louis,
so it's really important to develop
and build the network, a community now.
There are no places on campus to hang out,
no coffee shop, no bars.
There's one restaurant.
If something's not going the way you want it to go,
you have to be that change you wanna see.
Grandfather passed away about 15 months ago.
In that moment, I had to tell myself, "Carpe diem".
In my university I help pioneer
a new entrepreneurship degree.
I wanted to put together proposals
that create a space for writers,
authors, professors, students,
and the community members that come together,
and decided on a name, Seize The Bean.
We're currently converting an old sorority house
into a coffee house so that we can open
in the next few months.
- Congratulations.
- There it is.
Thank you so much.
I'm looking forward to this.
There is a lot to do within our space
as far as updating and bringing it to code,
and making it into a space that students, or faculty,
or the community wants to hang out and linger in.
Tonight, we're throwing a little pop-up concept
where we're gonna share some coffee,
and bring people together.
I'm not really sure how many community members
are gonna show up, but I'm definitely really excited
for tonight, to see how it all goes.
I know my grandfather is sitting above me,
right now, watching, smiling, telling everyone jokes,
saying, 'That's my grandson, come take a look.'
How we present ourselves physically,
and what we're wearing is very important.
I want the employees to feel like they can have
some swagger under their aprons.
- [Man 1] All right.
- [Man 2] Actually, this is nice.
- [Jesse] This is awesome.
- [Alex] We picked out different shirts for our baristas
that are similar design but different patterns.
- Cool.
- [Jesse] Dude, look at that!
Dude, that is nice!
Cool. Sweet.
- It's really important to me
for our spaces, that our employees feel
like they're their own person.
So that when people come in the door,
they can feel like they're their own person.
You guys are ready to serve some customers?
- Heck, yeah, let's go then.
- All right, let's do it.
- Welcome, welcome.
You guys wanna actually grab some coffee, behind you?
Thank you so much for being here.
- Alex, I think I need you up here.
I wanna thank you guys for all coming out,
and supporting this guy here,
and realizing that what he's doing
is gonna be awesome for the community.
- He's charming, he's persistent,
and above all he's a visionary.
- You genuinely want what's best for other people.
- And whenever you come up with an idea,
you really set your mind to it, and you figure
out a way to make it happen.
- It takes hard work, dedication,
and you did those things.
- You know how to surround yourself
with all the people who believe in you,
and nobody believes in you more than your mother .
- He's gonna find a way to succeed.
He always has and always will. Good.
- I love you.
- Wow, you guys really believe and honor my dream,
and that's incredible because I think
we really share a similar dream.
Seize your moment, seize the Bean,
Carpe Diem, and thank you guys so much.
- [Crowd] Seize the Bean!
- Entrepreneurship isn't just about creating
a business, it's about creating something more
than just yourself.
We have all these pressing matters
that are here at our front door and alive.
But, we need to face them together.
This is my city, this is my people,
this is where I wanna be.
I'm definitely very grateful
just to do something bigger with this coffee shop.
We're doing our best to change the culture,
and I think that's really what St. Louis needs.