For Ona, coffee is their passion, and they’re one of Australia’s most highly regarded speciality roasters. With sustainability at the forefront of their operation, Ona has several different arms to the business. Wholesale roasts and coffee distribution to cafes all around Australia; Project Origin is the green bean supplier; and a retail group, which consists of five venues across Australia, three in Canberra, one in Sydney, and one in Melbourne.
We sat down with Danny Moreno, Co-Owner and Venue Manager of Ona, in our podcast series, RAW, to discuss the pressures of running a successful business and the importance of taking time out to manage your mental health.
This is the story of Ona.
From kitchens to coffee
Like many of us in the hospitality industry, Danny started as a youngster at the bottom of the pile before working his way up to being a chef and then swapping the kitchen for coffee.
“As a teenager, while I was in college, I started washing dishes in a restaurant- bottom of the food chain. An opportunity came up to start an apprenticeship. So, I ended up going that route. I did three years there… developed a bit of passion for food.”
“That was a tough slog at the start. Lots of split shifts and long hours. But obviously, it really set me up for my career, with a good work ethic and training and that sort of thing.”
From there, Danny moved to Element, under an Indonesian chef, where he became qualified. He then went on to run a few different kitchens of his own before moving to Thredbo and finally returning to Canberra and starting with Ona.
“I spent a year and a half up in Thredbo, at Eagle’s Nest. That was quite an interesting experience, catching the chairlift to work every day and cooking for the masses on the hill.”
“I hooked up with Ona a little bit after that… saw what they were doing with coffee and was drawn in.”
“I always wanted to run my own place but didn’t really wanna do it from the kitchen. I wanted to be able to jump front-of-house and be able to know all aspects of the business.”
“I was really grateful that Saša gave me an opportunity to learn the ropes, and eventually, I went from the machine to learning the ins and outs of working the floor and managing a venue.”
“And yeah, here I am 22 years later. It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster, but I still really enjoy just connecting with people and being able to enrich people’s day and just be a positive influence on the younger generation and being a leader…it really inspires me.”
Battling burnout
For many business owners in the hospitality industry, burnout is a familiar feeling that often hits close to home. Working in a high-pressure environment, combined with long hours, managing a team and juggling business priorities can be exhausting.
“It’s easy to do when you run your own business. You just want to be there all the time and lead by example and all that sort of thing… But you’ve got to know when to take your foot off the gas and take it easy a little bit.”
While burnout and the mental health impact are common in the industry, it’s unfortunately seldom discussed or addressed in workplaces.
Danny opens up about his struggles, how the stress of running a business impacted him and how he sought help to manage his mental health.
“I was obviously in a bit of a rough patch. We’d renovated, and I was just quite stressed, run-down, you know, things get like that for business sometimes.
You go through rough patches, and I wasn’t doing very well, and it took me a while to finally get the courage to go out and see someone.”
“Going to see a professional therapist was the first step to me starting that recovery process.”
“I felt quite weak about doing it at the time. It took me a few months to finally sort of bite the bullet and go ahead and start, you know, having a conversation with someone.
But it made a huge difference being able to just speak to someone that’s impartial, that obviously knows what’s going on and can help give you the tools to get out of it.”
The importance of mental health
Working in hospitality can often mean dealing with high-pressure environments that are wrought with stress, and it’s common for many in our industry to sometimes struggle with their mental health.
Taking proactive steps to Manage your mental health is imperative, and it’s important to regularly check in with how you’re feeling.
After seeking help from a therapist, Danny shares the tools he uses to manage stress both at work and in his personal life, to help others in the industry who might be feeling the same.
Adjusting routine
While this sounds a bit cliched, adjusting your routine, or even having one, is often the first step towards making positive changes to your mental health.
“You’ve got to start slow. I think I started just trying to fix my nightly routine and going to bed at a decent hour, writing a list if I needed to.”
“I’ve been able to just add layers to those routines and those habits. But you definitely have to start slow. It’s not something that happens overnight.”
Diet and exercise
Ensuring you’re eating well and getting regular exercise, even if it’s just getting in a bit of movement each day, can also make a huge difference.
“I tried to slowly fix my diet, and I just started slowly walking. We’re blessed here with lots of beautiful trails, so it was good to sort of get in a bit of an escape, and I developed a hobby for hiking in the end, which was really cool.”
Managing stress
Understanding how to manage your stress and acknowledging when you’re feeling run down is another important step in proactively managing your mental health.
“I’ve just learned that when I do start to see those [stress] signs, and I get a little bit run down, a bit tired, I take a break when I probably didn’t use to.”
“Just making sure that I’m not up too late. And making sure that I’m not doing six, seven days and that sort of thing. You know, you still need to work hard and do what you gotta do, but make sure that you’re not overrun or run yourself down.”
Helping others
Taking these steps to manage his mental health and stress meant Danny is now well-equipped to deal with the unpredictable stresses of hospitality, and he uses his experiences to help and advise others in the business.
“I do try and impart some of the knowledge to the younger kids… it’s definitely becoming more and more a part of society. So whenever I can be a good influence and be a good leader and just show the younger generation how to have good habits and how to carry yourself and how to keep a good state of mind, it’s obviously something I try and do these days.”
Listen to Raw Podcast
Listen to the full interview with Danny on developing a resilient mindset to succeed in the industry.
Subscribe to the RAW podcast series to get the latest episodes every other Wednesday.
News you care about. Tips you can use.
Everything your business needs to grow, delivered straight to your inbox.
