Tonight on Undercover Boss...
Hi, how's it going?
John Fuller,
president and CEO of Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf...
This is what I did before.
Goes undercover for the second time.
- Hello, family. - It's quite disturbing.
This former Johnny Rockets CEO...
Looks like a little miniskirt on you.
Is ordering up a double shot
of Undercover Boss.
Toss it and start over.
You got to try to remember their order.
- Oh, crap. - I have a few more other things.
I know. Sorry for taking so long.
- While undercover... - Man, it's small in here.
He'll meet the people who keep
this company brewing.
Hey, Coffee Bean, we're giving you free drinks today!
All right, people! Free drinks!
Thank you for choosing Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.
My name is Mick. How are you?
And what will happen when one employee thinks
she knows his true identity?
Find out next on Undercover Boss.
Headquartered in Los Angeles, California,
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is one
of the largest coffee chains in the world.
Can I do a regular Iced Americano?
With more than 1,000 locations,
15,000 employees,
and bringing in $500 million
in annual revenue, this company sells high-quality
hot and cold beverages around the globe.
Brewing up this coffee giant's
strong future is one man.
I'm John Fuller, president and CEO
of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.
I first appeared on Undercover Boss
as president and CEO of Johnny Rockets.
The first time I went undercover,
it was an awesome experience.
Here you go, Tom. You want to take this?
Sure, absolutely. Here you go.
If it's frozen, you're gonna throw it in the blender.
I really was able to empathize
with the employees and just see the passion
and actually how difficult their job really is.
Let me know if this is any good.
And it's hard, you know. You stand on your feet all day.
But the best part about it was what I learned.
And this isn't on the menu, right?
No, it's not. We submitted some ideas to corporate.
- Did you ever hear back? - No.
I learned so much that I'd be a fool
not to take advantage of this again.
Hi, how's it going?
I was with Johnny Rockets for 7 1/2 years.
I left the company a little over a year ago
and joined The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf started in 1963
by a guy named Herbert Hyman.
Mr. Hyman would travel around the world
to places like Colombia,
Costa Rica, Indonesia,
and he would notice that the quality of the beans
that he was getting in his coffee was something
that was missing here in Southern California,
and so he opened up a store in Brentwood in 1963.
We have about 1,100 stores now in 30 countries
and 14 states in the U.S.
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf was the first
of the premium coffee and tea retailers,
but since then, there's been a ton of successful companies
that everyone's heard of, from Starbucks to Peet's.
What differentiates us from the competitors
is that we are not as corporate as they are,
so we're still able to have the approachability
of the neighborhood coffee store.
And I think that's a competitive advantage for us.
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
is best known for the Ice Blended.
It's a drink that was created almost 30 years ago
and has been stolen by every other competitor out there.
Large Caramel Ice Blended with fudge.
I'm just still waiting for the day
when Starbucks actually says
that they stole this idea from us.
Their Frappuccino is our Ice Blended.
So a lot has changed since the last time I was undercover,
when I was a divorced father, two girls,
and had a man cave.
Not only do I have a new job and I now live in Burbank.
I also got married five years ago,
so my whole life is completely different.
Thank God I don't have braces anymore.
- That's a start. - Yeah, yeah.
- You were brace face back then. - So little.
And then, McKenna, you hadn't had your growth spurt yet.
I was just... I was tiny. I was so small.
It's amazing what can happen in five years.
I know the disguise needs to be a lot more radical
than it was on the first time I did this.
First time, I had a couple people recognize me.
You look like the CEO of Johnny Rockets.
How you doing?
- I'm fine. - Good.
This is what I did before.
You think we can make it where
- no one will recognize me? - Yeah.
How long does this take?
- Around four hours. - Oh, my gosh.
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
has been around for over 50 years,
and so if we're gonna see another 50 years,
we've got to really kick-start the growth
above and beyond where we're at today.
The best way to do that, though,
is to make certain the stores we have today
are operating as efficiently as possible.
One of the best ways to try to get the feel for that
is by going undercover and experiencing it firsthand.
I'll be going undercover as Mick from Phoenix, Arizona.
My employees will think
they're on a different reality show.
They will have no idea it's really Undercover Boss.
You use Facebook more than I do.
Hello, family.
No! Oh, my God.
When I first went undercover,
I was a newly appointed CEO of a company.
That undercover experience allowed me
to learn things at a much faster pace.
Or like this?
It's quite disturbing.
So being relatively new here,
I'm kind of going into this with an open mind
and knowing I'm gonna learn a lot of things
I never thought I would have.
Bye, guys.
- Be careful out there, Dad. - Bye.
Today I'm in Downey, California,
and I'm gonna get a chance to work with the shift supervisor.
In order for our brand to be successful,
we kind of have to have the next line
of general managers getting groomed
and ready to assume new responsibilities
as we add new stores.
The shift supervisor is where we get
most of these people from.
Hi, I'm here for Deanna.
Yeah, that would be me.
Today I'm hoping to see how ready they are
for that next step in their career.
- My name is Deanna. - Okay.
I am the shift supervisor,
and I oversee everything when the manager's not here.
First thing we're gonna do is, we're gonna put
- an apron on you. - Okay.
- It's a little short, but... - It's all right.
- Do you mind tying it for me? - It kind of looks like
a little miniskirt on you, but it's okay.
It's all right.
All right.
Okay, so we're gonna do super basic.
- Okay? - Okay.
We're just gonna make, like, a Vanilla Latte.
- Okay. - I'm gonna show you
how to do it, and then you're gonna do it.
- Okay. - They only can be in here
for three minutes, 'cause we don't
want the customers waiting.
These are all little cheat sheets that we have.
So, like, if we do forget,
all we have to do is look this up.
Just steam your milk first.
You're gonna put this under here like this.
You want to hear it wisp. Psss.
- All right. - Keeps it nice and frothy.
So the temperature's, like, at 100.
Too cold. One, two.
- All right. - Right here.
30 pounds of pressure.
Bam. Push this button.
The shot's only good for 18 seconds to 26 seconds.
They expire at 30. This is a Vanilla Latte.
So it has one shot of espresso.
- Okay. - This is small.
Vanilla powder. And mix.
And pour it.
Okay, done. All right.
Like, right now, this is gonna be a real order coming in.
Like the Vanilla Latte that I showed you...
- Yep. - Except this is gonna be
in a larger cup with an extra shot.
- There you go. - Okay.
So it's the same old thing here.
Wait, that's not on there right.
Yeah, put it on there right.
Okay.
And just the 12-ounce... or 16-ounce?
No, it'll be in the large one,
so it'll be the large one.
There you go. Now mix her up.
Yeah. Try not to touch all that, because that's going in...
You don't want to touch all that.
Sorry it took so long. Have a good evening.
Hey, look, our board's getting full.
Oh, boy.
So right now, we're gonna make a large chai.
Oh, three... three shots, okay.
Remember, you need to, like,
put the pedal to the metal. Let's go.
They are probably packing up
their car and their kids and leaving.
Time's ticking, buddy.
- Here you go. - Thank you.
- Have a good evening. - You got it, buddy?
- Okay, regular... - Whoa, wait. Whoa, whoa.
Remember, these are only good for 30 seconds.
- Toss it and start over. - Ugh.
So it's gonna be with soy milk.
Are you sure this is the right one?
Yeah. Others are waiting, like, 20 minutes.
- So I whisk it now? Yes? - Yes, start whisking.
So just add whip to it.
Yeah, the whipped cream
is somewhere around here, I'm sure.
Apologize. Sorry. First day.
Mick has people waiting.
I had to give out gift cards to apologize
because he was crumbling.
- I'm just making your shots. - Thank you.
I'm trying to get you caught up here, buddy.
Yeah, it's a little too sweet.
All right. You can get another one.
Since you're a little bit behind here,
I'm gonna find something else for you to do.
- Okay, please. - Go ahead and go in the back.
And then I'll help you out in about a...
Give me a... let me get caught up here.
Making coffee and tea the right way
is so much harder than making hamburgers at Johnny Rockets.
So this is our inventory sheet.
You're gonna look on the paper.
Okay, so this right here are powders.
This is where we keep our powder.
You just look on the side of the box,
and it'll tell you... vanilla.
Okay. Oh, that's helpful.
I want you to count them all.
- So you have two boxes... - Okay.
And then how many bags are in this one?
So start counting up the powders.
And you have to be exact
because I won't know what to order.
Okay.
French vanilla.
They should put these things in order.
All right, Deanna, I do have a quick question,
- if you don't mind. - Yeah, sure.
It's a little confusing for me.
So this is hot chocolate,
and I don't see hot chocolate on here.
Even though it says "hot chocolate" on it,
- it's just chocolate. - Oh, okay. So...
That's what we make hot chocolate with,
which we also make our mocha...
Okay, so it's just chocolate, then.
- Just chocolate. - Okay. All right.
Our inventory process to me seems somewhat archaic.
What frustrates me is,
the words on the box don't match the words on the form.
So help me find Colombia light on there, then, if you could.
Right there. That is Colombia light.
See, it doesn't say "light," though.
- It won't say "light." - So how would I know?
As a CEO, I've always tried
to make things as simple as possible.
The way we do our inventory, though, is far from simple,
and I'm gonna look into that
and see if we can be better at that.
How long have you worked here?
- I've worked here for 15 years. - Okay, no wonder.
Okay, so that... so it's not like...
Yeah, so week one, you knew how to do this?
- No. - Or week ten?
No, I walked into The Coffee Bean,
and I just said, "Look, I've never had a job.
"I don't know too much.
"I had a bad drug habit a long time ago,
and I need some help to get on my feet."
I feel like Coffee Bean kind of turned my whole life around.
- Ah. - That's... where it
all began is right... 15 years...
Really, so someone gave you a chance and then...
Somebody gave me a chance.
I mean, I dropped out of school at tenth grade,
so I don't really have too much education.
- Uh-huh. - So this is it for me.
Have you gone back? Can you go back and get your...
- I could. - Yeah.
- But I don't want to. - How come?
'Cause I'd rather put all my energy into my kids.
I'd rather them go off to college.
I have to do everything for them now,
'cause I was sick for a long time
and I took nine months off.
What's your si... is it...
Do you mind if I ask?
No, I still have liver cancer.
- Oh, my gosh. - I mean, I'm still sick.
But I was also taking care of my dad
- that has colon cancer. - Oh, my gosh.
So it was two of us being sick at the same time, but I had to.
- Mm-hmm. - But I had to take the time off
'cause I was just too sick to work.
- He passed away in May. - Oh, sorry.
But I took care of him till the last day.
I think the best thing is, I get up in the morning,
it's time to go to work.
And I'm doing something positive.
I'm gonna make somebody's day,
so that turns around and makes my day.
If I make one customer happy, good.
Deanna's a fighter. She's got heart.
And to have the strength to come do what she does
ever day despite all the things she's dealing with
is absolutely amazing.
She's a great shift supervisor and someone
who can continue to grow and advance in our system.
So let's go out to the front.
- All right, let's do it. - Okay.
Coming up...
Don't forget to add the powder in there.
Oh, crap, thank you.
Mick freezes up on the job.
Man, I'm making a mess for you. Ahh!
They're already out here waiting.
They're thinking you're slow already.
And later...
Sammy.
The boss faces an employee
with suspicions about his true identity.
Welcome to The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.
So today I'm here in Henderson, Nevada,
right on the outskirts of Las Vegas, and I get to work
with the general manager for special events.
As CEO, I'm always aware of brand awareness
and opportunities to take advantage of that.
One of the best ways is by going into communities
and taking part in special events.
So you go... on the very back is all of our locations.
You go to any one you want and test us out.
Still being relatively new to the company,
I'm really interested to see how successful
this coffee truck can be at this event
'cause I think there's gonna be tremendous opportunities
going forward to do more of this.
Hey, is there a Chris back here?
- Hey, how's it going? - Hey. Mick. How you doing, man?
Chris. Nice to meet you. You want to come on in?
- Sure, let's do it. - Hey.
- I'm ready. - Oh, you're ready to go?
What are you gonna teach me?
We're gonna do some marketing today.
I'm a special events manager.
We have 15 locations in Las Vegas, Nevada,
but a lot of people don't even know who The Coffee Bean are.
I don't know. Have you ever heard of us?
- I have. Yeah. Yeah. - Okay, well, good, see?
That's one up on a lot of other people.
So what we do at the truck is,
we do a lot of nonprofit organizations.
We do events like this to get our name out
where you're giving 'em drinks and things like that.
That's free. Once everybody tries us,
they never go back to any other coffee shop.
When Mick first walked up to my truck,
I was like, "Whoa, is this guy gonna fit into my truck?"
I couldn't believe how big he was.
He looks like, you know, a retired
professional football player.
- Man, it's small in here. - Yeah, that's what I said.
- Are you gonna fit? - It's crowded.
All right, so what we're gonna do,
we're gonna do four drinks.
- Vanilla Blendeds... - Okay.
- With coffee or without coffee. - All right.
Or the Mocha Blended, with coffee or without coffee.
- Okay, sweet. - So grab a cup.
- All right, I can do this. - Fill that up with ice.
And we're gonna do a coffee one,
so we're gonna do half milk,
half espresso extract.
Oh, I did too much.
- That's okay. - All right.
A little extra flavor never hurt.
Okay, next, we're gonna grab our coffee extract.
- And fill it to the top? - No, to the line.
That goes into the blender. Now I'll let you pick.
You want to try the vanilla or the chocolate?
- Oh, we got to go chocolate. - Well, there you go.
Yeah, that's good.
- Keep that closed. - Okay.
As that's going,
I got my lids and such over here.
- Dude, you sweat a lot in here. - Oh, yeah.
- And then... - Top off. Into the cup.
Oh. Sorry.
Man, I'm making a mess for you.
That's okay. Hey, it happens.
That's what towels are for?
That's what towels are for, and I tell people,
when you're not making a mess you're not having any fun.
- Oh, okay. Good to know. - See how it snaps on?
All right, are we doing some whipped cream with it?
And some whipped cream.
You hand the drink out with the straw.
- Perfect. - And also I have
some location cards
and that's good for one free drink.
It works out 'cause we have a store
which is right across the street,
so, A, if you like us so much,
go hit them up right across the street.
- Okay. - How are we doing today?
- Hi. - How's it going?
We're gonna have some pure vanillas
and pure chocolates coming up here in a second.
He's making... we're making 'em right now.
Don't forget to add the powder in there.
Oh, crap. Thank you.
Are you having fun out here?
- Yeah. - Yeah, good, good.
All right. And the extra cups are right here.
Yup.
You're having a little trouble with the lids.
These lids are gonna drive me crazy.
You don't want to hand out drinks that are... you know.
Looking like crap?
Well, you know, stuff on the side.
Yeah, I know.
Oh, they're already out here waiting.
They're thinking you're slow already.
I know. I just want them to be happy.
Mick was having a hard time.
I think he was a little nervous. He wanted to do well.
I think the biggest thing Mick was struggling with was,
he was spilling it everywhere,
and he's a big guy,
so his hands is like two of my hands
trying to, you know, pick up a cup.
Ah, I knew that was gonna happen.
I tried to rush, and I don't like rushing.
All of The Coffee Bean locations.
Come by and check us out.
- The line's getting long. - Get 'em all hyped up.
Hey, Coffee Bean, we're giving you some free drinks today!
- Get 'em all hyped up. - You want me doing that?
I want you doing that. Get loud. I ain't scared of you.
All right, people!
Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, free drinks!
Get over here!
Come and visit.
Now that it's standing up,
we're gonna have it pop out for you guys.
Chris' energy around the guests was perfect.
I mean, it's that right passion, that right energy.
Test us out.
- Can I get it? - Yeah, there you go.
He knew how to keep 'em happy, motivated.
He had great interaction with them.
That's so important; that's what I look for
in people that work in our stores.
Here's two,
and then I got one more left.
Whoever yells loudest,
"I love Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf," gets it.
I love Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf!
All right, you win. You did it.
Yeah!
So how did you decide to do this?
Originally when I first moved to Las Vegas,
I was working for a toy store.
You know, I was talking to my boss, and he was like,
"You know, I'm bringing this new coffee concept to Nevada.
I think you would fit perfect for what I'm doing."
How'd you meet him?
- He came into the toy store. - Oh, really?
Okay, so he liked your personality and all that?
Yeah, yeah. So I was their original employee
that Coffee Bean hired, so I've been around
since everything, since day one.
- Okay, that's cool. - And we moved up.
15 years later, I've been here.
I'm still doing it, I'm gonna keep doing it.
Ah. So you like it? You think you'll stay out here
- for a long time? - Oh, I love Vegas.
You know, I grew up with my dad in New York,
and I lived out there for about 19 years.
So I said, "You know what? I spent 19 years with my dad."
- Yeah? - "Let me move to Vegas
and spend some time with my mom."
My oldest sister lives in Jersey,
and then the other four are out here in Vegas.
- So do you miss New York? - I miss it a little bit.
But, you know, I go back in the holidays
to visit my family, so that's always nice.
What about, like, the sports teams and all that?
Well, I'm coming up on 38 years old.
- Okay. - In my life,
I've never seen a professional NFL game.
This past Christmas, I went to New York, me and my dad,
and we got to watch the Buffalo Bills
- play the Dallas Cowboys. - Oh, how cool is that?
I thought that was the best thing.
Family's important, and that's what I'm about.
Man, I like it. Like, you have a better,
truer sense of yourself than most people.
The streets of New York, you learn quick.
Yeah, it's a good School of Hard Knocks, yeah.
Our franchise here in Las Vegas has done a lot of things right,
but certainly one of the things they did right
was to hire a guy like Chris.
I am impressed with his ability to interact with the people,
and Chris showed me that a truck's a great idea.
Again, being involved in the community,
I think, is so important,
and what a great way to do it, so I really want to think
about how to get more trucks in activation.
- Thanks for coming. - All right, man.
Hey, hey. Next event.
So you're off to the next gig?
My next event. We keep it rocking all day.
Today I'm here in Riverside, California,
and today I will be working with the general manager.
Enjoy.
As I continue to grow the business,
one of the areas of focus is having more drive-throughs.
When you commit to having drive-throughs,
speed of service is a critical element of that,
and that's one of the things I really want to monitor today.
There a Tatiana here?
- Yes. - Hi, I'm Mick.
- Hi, how are you? - Nice to meet you.
- How are you? - Nice to meet you too.
I hear you're gonna be the one teaching me stuff.
Oh, absolutely.
So, Mick, I'm the GM here.
I'm over every aspect of this business.
What do you want me to do?
Well, today I'm gonna be
teaching you the drive-through.
- Are you ready to learn? - Cool. Yes, let's do it.
- All right, come on back. - All right.
You're gonna get your own headphone.
Now, the drive-through here is 85% of our business.
- 85%? - We have to be fast.
We have to be efficient.
Want to make sure we're friendly,
but we want to make sure we're giving genuine service.
- Got it. - So this is our spiel.
- Oh, got it. Right. - So I'm gonna do it.
And then I'm gonna have you do it
and let you go on your own.
Got it.
Thank you for choosing Riverside Plaza Coffee Bean.
This is Tatiana. How can I help you today?
Can I get a regular Ice Blended,
half hazelnut, half white chocolate?
Okay, your total's gonna be $5.89 at the window.
- Thank you. - Thank you. Did you see that?
That was quick. And then someone else...
After you do that, someone else around here...
They already started working on it.
- Okay, that's great. - Okay?
Okay, so the next one's yours.
Okay.
Hi. Good morning. Thank you for choosing
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Riverside Plaza.
My name is Mick. How's your day going?
Uh, I'm not sure it's working.
- Now. - Thank you for choosing
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Riverside Plaza.
My name is Mick. How's your day going?
- Medium pumpkin latte. - Your total is $4.69.
Thank you. We'll see you at the window.
- Thank you. - Okay.
Don't worry about rushing through it.
Okay. Good morning.
Thank you for choosing
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Riverside Plaza.
My name is, uh, Mick.
How's your day going?
I want... I want to put my name down here
'cause I can see me saying,
"My name is Tawny," and I would feel ridiculous.
You requested a large sugar-free macchiato.
You got to be full of energy, because remember,
whatever you're giving off,
that's what they're picking up off of you.
Hi, good morning. Thank you for choosing
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Riverside Plaza.
Does it sound like I'm reading it?
A little bit. A little bit robotic.
I'll do a Blended Thai Tea, regular.
Blended Chai Tea, regular.
Wait, did you say "Thai" or "chai"?
- Chai. - Uh, Thai, please.
Okay, chai.
Okay, I want you to pace yourself.
Okay. It's Iced Caramel, you said?
Yes.
Uh, and then I repeat the order?
Do I ask that on every single one,
cream, sugar, whip...
or do we wait and let them ask?
- Anything else? - No, that would be it.
Thank you and we'll see you at the window.
Well, Mick, you're gonna be putting these orders in...
- Throwing me in the pool? - On your own now.
And then I'll be right over here
checking on other stuff.
- Okay, great. - Okay?
Hi, good afternoon. Thank you...
Hi, good afternoon. Thank you for choosing
Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Riverside Plaza.
My name is Mick. How are you?
The way Tatiana looks at me,
I'm really concerned she knows who I am.
Sammy.
I don't want to go in and assume my cover's blown,
but I see her talking to the staff.
I just don't feel comfortable right now.
Welcome to The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Riverside Plaza.
It's one thing if Tatiana suspects it's me,
but if she starts telling everyone
and other locations find out,
I've got to stop this immediately.
I got to come up with something fast.
I see her talking to the staff, whispering.
I kind of feel like she's looking at me weird.
I wouldn't be surprised if she knows that this is a disguise.
I got to fix this immediately.
So we're gonna do a little bit more order...
Well, actually, I was gonna
- ask you something. - Yes?
Can we go talk for just two minutes?
- Outside of here? - Yes.
So we can get someone to cover for you?
Yes.
So, um, do you think I'm somebody else, by chance?
'Cause I kind of heard you talking...
- Okay, okay. - I heard you talking to people...
You did... you do favor our CEO a little bit.
Okay, well, I am John Fuller.
I'm sorry for trying to trick you,
so it's actually Undercover Boss.
I did not know that part.
Oh, you didn't? Well, now you do.
- No, I didn't. - Well, being the boss,
one of the reasons I did this is to go undercover
so I can learn and be better as a CEO.
I want you to.
Okay, so now that you know who I am,
if you could be me for a day or a week or a month,
what would you do different?
I do have a ton of ideas.
I really think that I would make sure
that our team feel like we're taking care of them.
- Uh-huh. - If they don't feel like
we care as a company,
they're not gonna give us the best them.
- Right. - You know, I ran
- the Newport Beach location. - Okay.
And I kept the same team in there all that time.
How long have you been at this location?
For just a couple months.
So why'd you come here?
To get close to home
because I've been commuting for ten years.
You know, I put 240,000 miles on my car.
- Oh, my gosh. - And I was running up
a $1,300 toll road bill every year.
All right, and how close do you live to here?
To here, I live eight miles away.
But they just said,
"We're gonna just put you out here,
"and then when we open up something,
we're gonna put you in there,"
so they're moving me to Fontana somewhere.
How far away is Fontana from here?
It's about 22 to 25 miles.
But I have to get close to home.
You know, things have got kind of critical
toward these last couple of years
because my husband has renal failure.
- Oh, jeez. - But his kidneys
actually failed 'cause he was
prescribed the wrong medication.
So I was working in Newport Beach,
and I got a call from my daughter.
She's like, "Daddy's getting rushed to the hospital,
so come," so I ran out of my store.
You know, he could have literally died.
But thank God he didn't.
- Right. - But that did, like,
change the whole dynamic of our life, you know.
That's when I made up in my mind,
- I have to get close to home. - Right.
Tatiana shared with me that her family life
really changed about a year ago.
Here's someone who has
all the reasons in the world to relocate,
and we should be right on that immediately.
The fact that our company is so slow to act on it
and see if we can find her a better home
is really disappointing to me.
For me to get what I need to gain
from this undercover experience...
- Right. - It's super important
that you protect my secrecy and my identity.
Oh, yeah, we'll get it under wraps.
Well, thank you for talking to me.
- Thank you. - Want to go back in?
- Yes. - All right.
When I went undercover at Johnny Rockets,
one of my biggest takeaways was that
taking care of our people is the most
important thing you could possibly do.
Good afternoon, okay?
Hi. Good afternoon. Thank you...
In my role as CEO,
I'm trying to change the culture in a place
where people are the first priority,
and things like I hear about today from Tatiana
makes it seem like people are not the first priority.
Certainly that's one of the things
I want to change immediately.
That was 100% better.
You did really good, okay?
Yeah.
Today I'm gonna be working with a team member
in San Diego, California.
Our San Diego market does not perform as well as others,
but this specific location does pretty well.
Hi, is Jacob here?
And I want to see why that is.
- Mick. How you doing? - Nice to meet you, Nick.
We're gonna teach you how to run
- our register today. - Awesome.
We have four different screens.
We have hot drinks, cold drinks...
- All right. - Food, and retail products.
- Okay. - We have three main options.
A small, regular, and large drink.
Single or double shot of espresso
unless the customer asks differently.
So we got some people coming up right now.
How you guys doing today?
I'm in training, so sorry if I go slow.
You know what?
I'll just have espresso... like, a macchiato.
Ask him if he wants a single or a double.
- You want a single or a double? - Single.
- Single? - Single shot.
- Okay, and macchiato? - Uh-huh.
Your total is $4.68,
so go ahead and slide right there.
There you go.
- Thanks. - Thank you.
For this order, you're doing this on your own.
- I'm stepping back. - All right.
Hi, we're getting...
This is one of the items we're getting.
- Okay, so... - Scan that.
Is there a scanner?
Sorry.
How is this supposed to go?
- Go to bottled drinks. - What's that?
- Bottled drinks. - Oh, crap. All right.
I have a few more other things.
Let me know when you're ready.
I know. Sorry for taking so long.
Mick, when he was on the register,
he was really fumbling about.
So back to cold drinks.
- It's a hot drink. - Oh, hot drink.
That's why I can't find it.
He seemed to get caught
in his own words too much
that he forgot what he was doing.
We want to make sure we're going
- and going and going. - Okay, yeah.
- Hi. - Retail product.
- Uh... - Other way. Up.
I'm just gonna start hitting a bunch of buttons
and see what happens.
You got to try to remember their order.
Okay. All right, thanks for taking it easy on me.
Imagine if you were in here
and you were waiting for ten minutes.
For me, I'd... when walking out,
I'd go, "Wow, that was a long wait."
- Right. - You can get coffee anywhere.
So we want to really make sure
that this is a place they want to come back to.
- Yeah. - So here we have
this thing right here for making our coffee.
We have to brew these once every hour.
And then we also have all of our teas.
- We only have bag teas. - Oh, you do?
And we only do one size for our hot teas.
If I was a tea drinker and I came here
and I was really looking for tea...
- Yeah? - And it says
Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, I would think
that they would have something more traditional.
Really underrepresented in the tea world.
Seems like that's a ton of choices, still.
In the world of tea,
there is hundreds of thousands of types of tea.
You're kidding me.
Each teas come from a different plant,
a different fermentation.
You have a loose leaf tea.
What that is, is a proportional scoop per cup.
Like, here, we only bag teas.
Can't really do anything for a small or large
other than recommend another tea bag.
You want us to add more water?
Right. Do you get people asking you about it?
Yep. Coffee Bean doesn't really focus on...
They really leave out the tea aspect
of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.
Jacob kind of said some interesting things about tea,
and I know, as a system, we're about 15%
of our sales are tea,
but I've underestimated, I think, how tea
is such a huge area of growth potential for us,
and so I'm really gonna focus in
on growing our tea business.
We got four teas on our list.
We have Pacific Coast, Tropical Passion,
Orchard Peach, and Swedish Berries.
So we had somebody label these tea pitchers for us.
What this has is the name of the tea.
This is all used for iced tea.
Oh, ice... okay.
So these are our teas right here.
Black tea, since it's so strong and thick,
it really has to take that five minutes
to fully diffuse in the water.
Herbal infusion will be at seven minutes
just because it's mixed with fruits, pieces of plants,
while a green tea, it's a lighter tea,
it's easier to diffuse,
so it's gonna take three minutes to get ready.
So let's go ahead and get our Swedish Berries started.
- Okay, so... - That is a herbal infusion tea,
so how long do you think that's gonna go for?
- Seven minutes. - Yep.
- Just drop it in? - Yep, go ahead.
- All right. - That's seven minutes.
We're done with that one for now.
That one's gonna brew on its own.
We can start filling up these other ones.
So we got a green, Orchard Peach,
and how long does green tea brew for?
- Three minutes. - Three minutes, so you want
to go ahead and prepare this.
All right. Uh...
Start? No, wait.
No, just go ahead and hit the minute.
Add the minutes I want on there?
- Yep. - Oh, wait.
That says minutes, but...
That's three minutes, right?
Yep, that is three minutes.
Okay, we're gonna do two of these?
- Yep. Go ahead. - Yeah.
- And that's our teas. - Okay. Done.
Should I stir that up?
No, we just pull 'em out.
Just pull it out.
You got to be fast about it, though,
because while you're doing that, the tea's still brewing,
and if you wait too long, then that tea's
gonna be overbrewed and it can taste different.
Mick needs to move a little bit faster.
If he's not ready to serve up the tea,
the whole batch might go bad.
- Did you grow up here? - No, I'm not from here.
- Where'd you grow up? - Born in Indiana.
And your family... does any of them live out here?
None of them live out here.
Most of them are in Indiana and Michigan.
So you don't have family at home, huh?
Nope, no family here.
Where do you live around here? Do you live close by, or...
No, I live on the other side of San Diego.
It takes me about an hour to get here in the mornings.
- Really? - I take the buses.
- You do? Okay. - Yep.
Right now, I don't have a permanent address.
I'm sleeping on some guy's living room floor
for $550 a month.
$550 a month? To sleep on a floor?
But, you know, it's better
than finding a park to sleep in every night.
I've been homeless too. It's hard, and...
Really? Where, out here or in...
Yeah, out here.
I mean, I've had sprinklers.
I've had a cop tell me to go.
- Yeah. - It gets tiring.
- I was very tired. - Yeah. Yeah.
And that has long-lasting effects.
So you can't, like, rent a room
from other people for that amount?
I probably could, but the problem is,
I don't have a computer, so it's harder to find it.
At the same time, I'm always working,
so I don't have the time to go and track stuff down.
With two jobs, you really have to weigh
what you need against what you have.
For me, I'm getting offered
another dollar at Buffalo Wild Wings
if I'd be open just one more day a week.
- Really? - Promised 28 hours.
And that... you know, it's probably
gonna interfere with Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.
I need at least a full-time equivalent.
I'm gonna keep working hard until I get where I need to be.
- And sometimes that's... - What do you want to be?
Do you know? Do you know what that looks like yet?
Yeah, I would love to be a linguistics professor.
- Really? - I can speak four languages.
Which ones?
English, Spanish, Portuguese,
and American Sign Language.
Wow.
Working with people like Jacob,
it takes me back to six years ago
when I went undercover for the first time,
and this just is exactly the reason
I wanted to do this again,
and with that kind of drive
and intelligence and passion
and commitment to doing the job right,
I can see why this location
is one of our best performers in San Diego.
- Now, that one tastes right. - Really? I nailed it?
- That one tastes good. Mm-hmm. - Cheers.
Coming up...
- How you doing? - Hi.
The boss reveals
his true identity to his employees.
- I'm Mick. - Okay.
- But my name's not Mick either. - Oh, my God.
How will they react?
You're on Undercover Boss.
Are you serious?
I'm really glad I undertook
this journey one more time.
Still being relatively new to the company,
of course I have all kinds of ideas
of what I want to do,
but innovation isn't always about new products.
It's about new ways to take care of your people,
and I've relearned that again every day this week.
- How you doing? - Hi.
Do I look a little different?
- Very. - Yeah?
- Very different. - And how was Mick?
Um, very messy.
He did come in a little shaggy.
I think I've seen you somewhere before.
- Really? Have we met? - I don't know.
I think so. Maybe.
- So I'm Mick. - Okay.
But my name's not Mick either.
- What? - My real name is John Fuller.
I'm our president and CEO of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.
- Oh, wow. - Oh, my God.
So you're on Undercover Boss.
Are you serious?
You caught me off guard for that one.
Oh, my God. I feel embarrassed.
Don't be embarrassed.
Deanna, I learned some things.
That inventory sheet drove me crazy.
So help me find Colombia light on there, then, if you could.
Right here. That is Colombia light.
See, it doesn't say "light," though.
- It won't say "light." - So how would I know?
So if we automated it
and made it more kind of today's technology,
do you think that would help?
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.
So, um, you've had some health issues.
Yeah.
I know you're under so much pressure
with what you've had to deal with.
Well, I'm a single parent, you know,
so it's a little difficult, you know?
One of the things we want to do
so that you can create a different path for yourself
and also try to create a good, happy environment
for your kids is, we want to give you $20,000
to help get you started with that.
- Are you serious? - Absolutely.
That would...
That could pay off everything.
I can see... when you were telling me
you dropped out in the tenth grade,
I could hear the pain in your voice.
- It's embarrassing. - And I don't want you
to have to have that anymore.
What I would like to see you do for yourself
is get your high school diploma,
and we will fund whatever it takes
to go online to take care of getting that done,
and I'm gonna have a graduation present
waiting for you of $10,000 once you complete your courses.
It's so embarrassing, but I thank you.
I tell my children, you know, go to school.
Education is everything.
In order to help you with that,
we're gonna set aside $40,000 in a college fund,
$20,000 for each kid, so that can help them on their way.
That would help them both so much.
I really thank you.
I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off me.
I don't feel like I'm drowning.
Having my kids both get to go to college,
it's a gift that I never thought
I'd be able to give 'em.
Thank you.
Coffee Bean saved my life twice.
Chris, you know, we're much more than just giving away coffee.
You made it an experience.
You know, I left you alone in the truck.
I was like, "He's gonna make a total mess in there and"...
And I did.
You're having a little trouble with the lids.
Swear to God, these lids are gonna drive me crazy.
You don't want to hand out drinks that are... you know.
Looking like crap?
In order for The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
to be more successful, I want to get
more trucks out in the community,
and I'd like to ask you to be part of a task force here
in the home office to help us become great at this,
and I'd want to pay you $5,000 if you agree to help us.
That sounds good to me. I appreciate it.
- Thank you very much. - Yeah.
One of the things that is so touching
was hearing how you went
to your first NFL game with your father.
You mentioned how important family is to you.
You have your mom here.
You have your brothers and sisters here.
It would be my pleasure to give you
and your family six tickets to an upcoming Rams game.
We're gonna send a car for you on the day before the game.
We'll put you up in a nice hotel,
take you out to a nice dinner, and then the next day,
you go to the game together as a family.
That's great. Thank you very... thank you very much for that.
- Wow. - Sure.
This is gonna be a great trip for everybody,
so I really appreciate it.
Thank you so much.
It's a great feeling.
All my hard work gets noticed,
so it shows other employees
that stuff like this can happen
and if you work hard, you do a great job
that good things happen.
My future looks brighter in The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.
Tatiana, you're the greatest.
You were willing to be open and honest with me,
which is rare for me, so I appreciate it.
I hope that was okay.
- It was fantastic. - Okay.
I want to make sure that our team
feel like we're taking care of them.
- Uh-huh. - If they don't feel like
we care as a company,
they're not gonna give us the best them.
I'm personally taking this on to make certain
that we relook at how we recognize,
reward, promote, educate,
all things that have to do
with how we treat people to make certain
that we're a place that everyone can be proud of.
Yeah, and make 'em feel good about what they're doing.
Well, one of the things I want to do for you
because of your loyalty is,
you said you wanted to move stores.
Yeah.
Where did you want to move to?
Downtown Riverside.
If I switched you there immediately,
would you like that?
- Uh, yes. - Okay, done.
For sure?
- For sure. - Okay.
One other thing I want to do for you,
if we were able to... acted on this sooner,
at a minimum, you would have saved
$1,300 a year in toll road fees,
so I want to give you $2,600 to at least offset the last...
- Are you serious? - I'm pos... yes.
Oh, my God. Thank you so much.
So tell me about your car.
My car, Hercules, is a '06 Dodge Charger.
He has 235,000 miles.
What I'd like to do for you,
since of all the things you've done for us,
is, we would like to get you a new car,
make sure that you can get there.
Oh, John, for real? Serious?
Oh, my God.
I need that so bad.
Thank you so much.
This has changed my life.
I still don't understand how I'm even here.
Like, how did this happen?
I've just... I'm just thankful.
John is my guardian angel and hero today.
He saved the day for me.
Jacob, you care about what you do,
and just how you talked about tea, it was such an...
like, a romanticized experience for you.
It wasn't just a product off the shelf.
In the world of tea,
there is hundreds of thousands of types of tea.
You're kidding me.
Each teas come from a different plant,
a different fermentation.
You mentioned to me that we don't have
enough variety in the way we could do tea,
so I think you have some ideas
that might be able to help us
grow our share of tea as far as sales.
I want to send you
on an all-expenses-paid trip to Sri Lanka...
- Really? - To one of our tea farms.
And you're gonna learn so much from this trip,
and I want you to come back
even smarter about tea than you are today,
'cause I think we can learn some things from you.
That's... that's amazing. Thank you very much.
I've always wanted to travel the world.
I always thought that would be something really cool.
It's one of the reasons why I love languages
and culture so much.
And going to see an actual tea farm, that's really cool.
You shared with me your goals of being a...
- Linguistics professor. - If you allow me,
I'd love to be your personal mentor
and maybe help you as you try to navigate through colleges.
That... that sounds amazing.
You mentioned you don't have a computer.
- Yeah. - And so by the time
you go home today, you're gonna have a computer.
I... what?
Yeah, you're gonna get a laptop.
Th... thanks.
Another thing I would like to do for you, Jacob,
I want to offer you a full-time job
here at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.
Okay. One second.
Um...
You're serious about that?
- Yes, I am. - Okay.
What we're gonna do for you
as long as you work for Coffee Bean,
over the next year, we will provide for you
a fully furnished apartment with very close proximity
to your current location.
Okay.
I don't know if I mentioned it or not,
but I was homeless for a while, and right now is...
So I'm paying $550 to sleep on somebody's floor,
so that, like... that's...
That sounds like...
that sounds like the deal of a lifetime to me.
Wow.
I never really thought that I was
anyone important; I thought I was just there
to get the job done and go home,
and then the CEO does something like this.
I don't know how I can be more grateful.
- Thank you very much. - All right.
Getting a full-time job
and getting a place to live...
Oh, my God. I'm gonna have a bed.
There's so much stress
that's gonna be taken off my shoulders.
This is definitely going to change my life.
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