An Interview with Jake & Abbey Chiavario
/By Hylan Joseph
Jake and Abbey Chiavario are a husband-wife team working out of Nashville, TN. With their company Technico, their mission is to serve the needs of the Nashville specialty coffee and espresso community by going above and beyond in everyday settings. They strive to do this by offering a personal customer service experience coupled with the highest quality work.
I had a chance to catch up with both of them and ask them a few questions.
Jake
How long have you been in the industry?
6 years as a technician, and I've never been a barista. Prior work was in CNC machine shop repair.
Drinking coffee since?
Since I was about 12, it was the only thing that would work to wake me up when my brother and I would go fishing at 5:00 am, I have to admit it was also mixed with vanilla creamer in those days.
Favorite coffee origin?
Africa I would say is the most exciting in terms of flavors, but Colombian coffee always tends to be the most satisfactory.
Favorite tools?
Knipex Pliers/wrench. For my favorite sentimental tool, I have an International Harvester branded Phillips screwdriver that has somehow stuck with me all these years. I put skateboards together with it as a kid. I still use it to this day.
Hometown?
Sandwich Illinois (yes, it’s real).
What do you wish you had gotten told when you were first starting out in service
Dealing with people will be the hard part. Fixing machines is easy.
Is there anybody you admire in our industry? Why?
Anyone who is truly driven by what they do, and is not only seeking to strike gold.
How and why did you start working in our industry?
A family member owns a roasting company, they were having difficulties finding someone who could reliably fix their espresso machines. Turns out that was an overall problem for other shops and roasters in the area.
Why is it gratifying to you to work in coffee?
Taking something that is broken or not functioning and fixing it is definitely one of the most gratifying feelings. I got addicted to this feeling when I was young, my dad, a mechanic of John Deere tractors for 43 years would always bring home broken snowblowers, lawnmowers, etc. My brother and I would get them running and resell them. That graduated to motorcycles, cars, etc.
Favorite aspect of the job?
New challenges and new technology being integrated. There is always something new to learn. These machines are so cool to work on, it’s so interesting to see how different engineers accomplish the same goal in so many different styles.
What drives you to do great work?
Great customers, most people who own independent shops are people in my community. If they take care of us, we take care of them.
What issues in coffee do you care about most?
Sustainability and fair compensation.
Favorite repair trick or tool?
Owning an ID thread cutter, we've saved customers thousands at this point on repairing grinder housing threads from cross threaded collars.
Do you have any advice for new techs?
Work on everything and anything, your toilet, your car, your dishwasher, it all applies. Learn Ohm’s law, and plumbing fittings.
How important is customer service training to techs?
Extremely important, no one will call back if you have a grouchy tech.
Where do you see our industry in the next five years?
Ideally have a small workshop and showroom, and a small team who is trained really really well.
Abbey
How long have you been in the industry?
Technico officially launched in 2014, and I stayed in the background for much of the first few years. It wasn't until we started growing that I took a more active role. I'm still the new kid around here.
Drinking coffee since?
Ha, since I was about 16. I got a job in my tiny hometown working at a local Panera Bread. Back in those days, I would sweeten that stuff until it was basically liquid dessert. Sometimes I go back to my good old sugary roots. No regrets.
Favorite coffee origin?
The crazier, the better. I want my palette to be doing backflips. Generally, Ethiopian beans get that done for me.
Favorite tools?
Knipex brand anything.
Hometown?
Yorkville, Illinois
What do you wish you had been told when you were first starting out in service?
That yes, people really do take themselves that seriously in this industry (across the coffee board, not just techs). As a goofball, sometimes it's a hard perspective for me to see.
Is there anybody you admire in our industry? Why?
Oh man. So, for all of the people who are super-serious, there are some absolute gems. I love the folks like Stumptown who encourage jokes and humor while keeping their product consistent. I just feel like I relate to the people who can laugh at themselves.
How and why did you start working in our industry?
By association. My sister-in-law owns a shop here in Nashville and she needed a tech who could consistently fix her equipment. Jake is the guy I'd call too – that dude can listen to something, whether it's a motorcycle, a boat, or coffee equipment – and tell you what's up. Initially, I would go on calls with Jake because we really do love hanging out together, and eventually, I picked up some more tasks for Technico behind-the-scenes, as well as some marketing and networking.
Why is it gratifying to you to work in coffee?
I love the friendships I've made. I'm not sure it’s necessarily working in coffee that gives me the gratification I seek. To me, it's starting a company from the ground-up with my partner, watching it grow, and seeing continued success doing something that not everyone can do. It's a multi-level type of gratification. I'm grateful that coffee gave us that opportunity.
Favorite aspect of the job?
Meeting people. I am an extrovert through-and-through. I thrive in forging new relationships and connections. I truly love people.
What drives you to do great work?
The intrinsic desire to be better. We can always improve. The day you decide you know enough is effectively the day you quit.
What issues in coffee do you care about most?
Farmers and growers and ensuring they receive fair price regardless of market manipulation, and sustainability.
Favorite repair trick or tool?
Jake said this in his interview, but a thread cutter. Perhaps it comes from years of owning vintage motorcycles that come to us with a cross-threaded spark plug, but we know how much that stuff sucks to repair. We've managed to save customers *so* much money by having the ability to recut some threads on grinder housing.
Do you have any advice for new techs?
ASK QUESTIONS. No question is dumb. This stuff can get dangerous if you don't know what you're doing, so make sure you know how to do it and do it well.
How important is customer service training to techs?
Extremely. Aside from mechanical expertise, we pride ourselves on our interpersonal skills. It doesn't matter if your job isn't to talk to someone – you're going to talk to someone. You have the ability to turn someone's day around, so why wouldn't you strive to do so?
Where do you see our industry in the next five years?
I hope the coffee industry continues to grow at a healthy pace. I hope to see others working together in collaboration instead of competition. We have so much to learn from each other that it's silly to push people out. I also hope that large corporations start paying growers and farmers properly so that the agriculture end can grow. Without them, we're nothing.
What it is like working with your partner?
Working with your partner is interesting, but has generally paid off for us. We come to the business in completely different ways. I come from a customer service background, while Jake is more introverted and comes from a technical and mechanically-focused background. I am always interested in the ways we can better serve the emotional needs of our clients, while he wants to focus on doing the best job he can for the life of their equipment. That part is harmonious. There are other things we're able to have open and honest conversations about concerning things like money, hours, and pricing. I also think we’re more readily able to tell one another when we disagree with the way they handled a situation, but this has to be handled carefully so not to pull in personal attacks from non-business life. I cherish the relationship we've cultivated by starting a business together. I'm incredibly proud of how we've both grown, thankfully together, over the last five years.