PARK CITY, Utah — When you walk into a coffee shop, you usually don’t think about the conversation you’ll have with the barista or the person emptying the trash, but at Lucky Ones Coffee Shop, it’s what they live for.
“Just really seeing all the people just coming in to see all these films and also having good, small chats with them every now and then, when I can,” said employee Brian Pepito.
“We employ and empower individuals with disabilities. So, we have about 38 neurodiverse baristas that work for us,” said executive director Katie Manhart. "They work on cash handling and customer interactions, coworker interactions, social skills.”
During Sundance especially, Pepito utilizes a lot of those skills.
“It's been a lot. This is the like, the most amount of people we get in all our time here at Lucky Ones,” Pepito said.
Because they see around 500 customers each day during the festival, they extended their hours and found creative ways to adapt.
“We grow our menu just a little bit, we increase our staffing, and then we have a large pool of volunteers,” Manhart said.
The shop also increased its prices.
“Supply and demand, we raise them just a little bit because that first two years we didn't do that, and it was just so overwhelming,” Manhart said. "All of the revenue that we have here goes back into our program, so no one really complains too much that, you know? I think they see it. They see the mission.”
Manhart said they will miss the economic growth that comes from Sundance.
“We make most of our winter money in these two weeks,” she said.
Above all, Manhart said they will miss the opportunities it brings for the employees.
“We have a lot of people that email us or talk to us after Sundance is over, that have come in here,” she said, "and got to speak with our employees, and then after that, have gone back to where they live and wanted a Lucky Ones, or wanted something very similar in their community.”
They are the exact opportunities that inspired Pepito to keep going.
“It really showed that I was capable of little things. I actually didn't think I was going to be able to make drinks or paninis,” he said. “Lucky Ones here really helped pull me through that.”
During Sundance, the shop will open at 7:30 a.m. and close at 6 p.m.
