{"id":1837,"date":"2018-04-05T16:36:30","date_gmt":"2018-04-05T21:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/?p=1837"},"modified":"2018-04-05T16:43:12","modified_gmt":"2018-04-05T21:43:12","slug":"profile-banu-hatfield-of-zion-coffee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/2018\/04\/05\/profile-banu-hatfield-of-zion-coffee\/","title":{"rendered":"Profile: Banu Hatfield of Zion Coffee"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\">By Megan Lamont<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Nestled on the corner of Adams and Hightower in Peoria\u2019s Warehouse District sits something of a millennial\u2019s heaven. A crisp, minimalist coffee house with a succulent plant at every table. When the sun rises, the light reflects off the white walls in a way that almost blinds you while you sip your morning coffee.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> Zion Coffee Company began in 2012 as an experiment in downsizing for Mike and Banu Hatfield. After the death of Mike\u2019s mother, the couple began to question the meaning of their own lives. Both had successful corporate careers at Caterpillar; Mike worked in data analytics and Banu was a sales manager. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> \u201cWhat we did goes against much of what society tells us. More, more, more.\u201d Banu says. \u201cBut the size of our house, the types of cars we drove, those things don\u2019t leave a legacy when you\u2019re gone.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> With their five children, they moved to a smaller home with the goal of living more simply; specifically, they wanted to pay off their debts. Serendipitously, while traveling for work in Boston, Mike stumbled across a coffee conference. He met a young Yale graduate who had sold everything and quit his job in order to pursue the fair-trade coffee business. Bringing his knowledge back to Peoria, the Hatfield\u2019s bought their own espresso machine to save money. Then they realized they could save even more by roasting the beans themselves. The next thing they knew, they were selling their coffee at farmer\u2019s markets and catering local events.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> This was in 2013. Four years later, they took a leap of faith by moving their growing business from online to in-store. With no prior experience in the coffee industry and no partners, the Hatfield\u2019s poured their life savings into leasing and renovating the building that is now home to Zion. Surprisingly, this historic building once served a very different purpose: an adult video store.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> \u201cWhen we walked in there, I could not visualize turning it into a coffee shop,\u201d Banu laughs. \u201cIt had no windows and nasty green carpet\u2026 But Mike walked in and said \u2018Yep, this is the place.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"interview \/\/ zion coffee company\" width=\"352\" height=\"198\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/c9mI4qWfkP4\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> The Hatfield\u2019s transformed the dingy porn shop into a space designed not just to serve coffee, but to serve a community. While quality coffee and freshly baked goods bring people in, Banu knows that it is the culture of Zion that will keep people coming back. Her definition of this culture can be summarized in four terms: kindness, curiosity, optimism, and pissing excellence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> \u201cPissing excellence is a term my husband coined,\u201d she says. \u201cWell, he heard it in a movie or something. But one day a few years ago, he sat the whole family down and said \u20182015 is the year the Hatfield\u2019s will piss excellence.\u2019 And it just sort of stuck.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> In the simplest terms, pissing excellence means Zion strives to be the best at what it does: serving good coffee and bringing people together. Anyone who works there needs to buy into the idea that it\u2019s not just about the coffee.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> \u201cZion has turned me into more of a people person,\u201d barista Mati Hill says. Hill is a longtime friend the Hatfield\u2019s oldest twin daughters and has been with Zion since 2013. \u201cI\u2019ve met so many inspiring people \u2014 both coworkers and customers.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> Frequent customer Molly Paterson says the environment of Zion continues to draw her in. \u201cEven when it\u2019s packed, it never feels chaotic. It\u2019s got a calming atmosphere, and everyone who works there greets you with a smile. I recognize the same faces over and over.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> Twenty-one-year-old Liz Hatfield, the only child to regularly work at the store, says working with her parents has both pros and cons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> \u201cIt\u2019s good because we are all so close. We can bounce ideas off each other and offer criticism. On the other hand, sometimes we end up talking about work even when we\u2019re at home, and that can be frustrating. Everyone needs a break sometimes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> Liz was recently promoted to a shift manager. She also stepped into her mother\u2019s shoes for a brief period when Banu traveled to Turkey for her mother\u2019s funeral. Both of Banu\u2019s parents passed away within three months of each other. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> \u201cThat\u2019s why kindness is so important,\u201d Banu says. \u201cYou never know what type of day someone is having before they walk through the door.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> She speaks at length about both of her parents.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>She was raised in Istanbul with her older brother. Her mother was a teacher and her father was a general in the military. Banu attended college in Belgium before moving to the United States 26 years ago.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> \u201cI\u2019m going to try to tell you this without getting emotional,\u201d she says with a soft smile. \u201cMy parents taught me that education is the best investment you can make in your life. And I feel very fortunate for the opportunities they gave me because I know not all girls have that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> She sees her passion for gender equality in education interwoven with the mission of Zion. When people buy coffee, it allows the company to purchase more from their suppliers in Guatemala or Nicaragua. Spreading wealth to the farming families in these communities, she believes, allows young girls to attend school instead of working in the fields. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> \u201cSometimes I think about the one girl that gets to go to school because we chose to invest our savings and work hard to build this,\u201d she says. \u201cThat makes it worth it, don\u2019t you think?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> The Hatfield\u2019s took a trip to South America several years ago in order to experience the true interconnectedness of their small Illinois coffee shop to the lives of people they had never met. Now, several large photographs of their suppliers in their home countries hang on the wall. The photographs are among the only wall decor in the shop, speaking volumes to the value the Hatfield\u2019s place on the lives of those who grow their product.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> Regarding Zion\u2019s namesake, Banu says there is no \u201csexy story\u201d behind it. Originally, they wanted to call it Origins Coffee, but to their dismay, the name was already taken. Then one day, she was in her hammock in her backyard one day listening to music. The title of the album was Zion. She ran it by her husband and it stuck. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> The name often makes people think of Mount Zion. \u201cCoffee grows on mountains, so I think that\u2019s fitting.\u201d In a religious sense, Zion can mean the heavenly city or kingdom of heaven.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> \u201cPeople ask if it\u2019s religious, and it\u2019s not,\u201d she says. \u201cBut one definition is \u2018an ideal community.\u2019 Truly, we want people to feel welcome and included here. So the name works.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Megan Lamont Nestled on the corner of Adams and Hightower in Peoria\u2019s Warehouse District sits something of a millennial\u2019s heaven. A crisp, minimalist coffee house with a succulent plant at every table. When the sun rises, the light reflects off the white walls in a way that almost blinds you while you sip your morning coffee. Zion Coffee Company began in 2012 as an experiment in downsizing for Mike and Banu Hatfield. After the death of Mike\u2019s mother, the couple began to question the meaning of their own lives. Both had successful corporate careers at Caterpillar; Mike worked in data analytics and Banu was a sales manager. \u201cWhat we did goes against much of what society tells us. More, more, more.\u201d Banu says. \u201cBut the size of our house, the types of cars we drove, those things don\u2019t leave a legacy when you\u2019re gone.\u201d With their five children, they moved to a smaller home with the goal of living more simply; specifically, they wanted to pay off their debts. Serendipitously, while traveling for work in Boston, Mike stumbled across a coffee conference. He met a young Yale graduate who had sold everything and quit his job in order to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[37],"class_list":["post-1837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-com-425"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1837"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1856,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1837\/revisions\/1856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}