When the student-run coffee shop Saxbys opened at Fordham on Oct. 1, senior Aidan Engelmann was at the helm.
A Gabelli School student in the Global Finance and Business Economics concentration, Engelmann was chosen as the inaugural student CEO of the cafe. The unique full-time role will allow him to earn course credits, thanks to Saxbys’ Experiential Learning Platform.
He spoke with Fordham Now about the opportunity to put “CEO” on his resume while still an undergraduate.
How did you find out about this role?
Father Vincent DeCola, a Gabelli School advisor, told me about it. He and I have had a pretty close relationship throughout the past few years. I read up on Saxbys and learned about their six core values and their mission to make life better. It stood out to me as a unique opportunity.
What made you feel that you could do the job?
The way that the Gabelli School has taught me over these past three years—it has really been ingrained in my head that I can take this on. They start you out with the Ground Floor class and build you up from there. You really get your bases down with finance, marketing, digital media, and technology, and you get to understand things like DEI, ESG, and public speaking.
What did you learn from the orientation process that you went through this summer?
I didn’t have any cafe experience, so when I was hired, we hit the ground running with establishing those skills. I visited Montclair State University and Marist University, both of which already have very high-performing cafes, and shadowed people for the day. I learned the culinary team skills, the beverage expert skills, the barista skills, the host skills, and the team-lead skills. Once I finished those, I worked in the cafe with the team out there. So they really taught me those hard skills within those first few months.
In terms of soft skills, they like to say that Saxbys is an education system disguised as a coffee shop. Through everything that they do, they try to ingrain in your memory really strong leadership skills. How can I manage a team? What are the good management styles? What are the poor management styles? And how can I be the most effective leader possible within this cafe?
Is there any particular class you’ve taken at the Gabelli School that has prepared you for this?
If I had to point to one thing, it’s the Consulting Cup. It’s a semester-long project where I worked with a team of peers. We created a business idea for Coca-Cola that addressed one of the current needs within the market. It helped me learn how to work on a team and be accountable for myself as well.
What are you hoping you’ll have taken away from the whole experience?
I want to develop the skills that come with being a good leader. You can learn accounting, finance, and marketing strategies in a classroom. Leadership can’t be taught. I think it’s something that you have to learn through hands-on experience.
