Introduce yourself, your name and your role here in Elevate.

My name is David, and I am the co-owner with my brother Andrew here at Elevate.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background.

So, my background in the industry probably started about 12 years ago doing my first barista role in Macquarie Shopping Centre. Then from there, over the years, it’s stretched out to working all around Sydney and managing different venues like the likes of Circa Espresso in Parramatta, and platform 82 in West Concord and a few other local cafes in the area.  Then my brother and I made the call three years ago during the start of Covid to open Elevate and here we are.

How was that experience?

That was a very big move by us, but we got through it and we feel like we can get through anything now.

What made you want to have a career in hospitality?

So, for me, myself, and I’m sure my brother can agree as well, it’s the passion we have for coffee and food and seeing the joy it brings to people. Being able to have a place where you can bring a community together as one is what makes this job worthwhile more than anything.

Tell us the story behind Elevate.

Once my brother and I got ourselves into a financial position, we were like, hey we’re ready to go off on our own. We saved and saved over the few years before 2020. Then once the time came, we were ready. We probably honestly looked for about 18 months for the spot until we found this location. That was 40 odd different places around Sydney and the Hills area mainly that we were locating. That was where we were focusing on. Then this spot happened to pop up through our old business partner actually funny enough. And then we had a look and did our research in the area. Andrew and I are local, we’re just from Winston Hills, so we were down the road anyway and very familiar with the area anyways. We were like, “Yep, this is the one. This is the one.” So yeah, came down to it and locked it in.

You said you’ve had quite an extensive experience in cafe and hospitality. Was it always in the back of your mind to do your own thing?

Eventually. Yeah. Down the track, absolutely. The goal was always to own our own shop one day.

At Elevate, what can someone expect to experience when they visit the space?

Well, our motto here at Elevate is the people’s place to be. Meaning we want this to be an environment where people come on their lunch break from the office, they step out of their house working from home, and they feel at ease. It’s a community of love, good food, good coffee.

If you had one thing that you wanted Elevate to be known for, what would it be?

I guess I’d like to definitely say service. All-around service, service with a smile and just welcoming.

What does the future look like for Elevate?

Hopefully just keep getting better and better. Keep adapting, keep pushing through, keep hustling and up and onwards from here.

Why have you chosen to partner with the Alternative Dairy Co.?

We came across The Alternative Diary Co probably nearly two years ago, I reckon. My brother and I, being familiar with all the other alternative milks out there, we just never could find that consistency in pricing as well, which is a massive thing and also pairing with whatever coffee we’re using. I can’t remember if it was a recommendation, or we just gave it a go. But when we did make the switch, we never looked back. We haven’t looked back and we haven’t used anything but The Alternative for two years now. We stock the oat, almond, and the soy.

If you could have coffee with any person in history, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

I’d love to have a sit down coffee with Sasha, which is the owner of Owner Coffee one day. I feel like I could learn and gain heaps of his wisdom and knowledge as he’s the GOAT of the industry. Yeah, I feel like I could learn a lot from him.