Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union is proud to be a Seattle institution. We have been a part of this community for more than 80 years and are reminded every day how lucky we are to be able to serve the people of this great city. That’s why we are excited to present the Seattle Original series, a tribute to this place and some of the unique people who make it what it is. If you are looking for a new place to do your banking, we would love to talk to you. Click here to learn more about SMCU.
As we all know, where there’s a will, there’s a way. Dani Cone is all will, and that has resulted in her finding her own unique way in the Seattle community.
As late as her mid-twenties, Dani wasn’t sure where her life was supposed to go. To that point, she had spent much of her time working as a barista. She knew that she loved coffee. She loved the sense of community that she found every day as she created caffeine-laden masterpieces for the people who tromped up to the counter. So, she decided to take the leap and open her own coffee shop.
Starting a new coffee house in the backyard of the java giants may not have been the easiest way to make a living, but Dani’s vision and tenacity paid off. She quickly opened three Fuel coffee shops, and business was good. Then, the economy crashed.
Between her customers and her employees, Dani had built a community that was in danger of sinking beneath the waves of major economic turmoil. She wouldn’t give up, but again she was unsure of what to do. What could she do so as not to let down all the people who were counting on her?
As she often did, Dani pondered her conundrum over a slice of Grandma Molly’s pie. The answer stared back at her from the end of her fork: Pie! As Dani turned to pie for comfort in times of stress, she thought others would too. She realized that pie is a social food, just as coffee is, and the two were a perfect match.
With customary gusto, Dani started baking and selling pie at her coffee shops. Far from simply stemming the economic tide, Dani’s pies took on a life of their own. Demand was overwhelming, and before long she opened a full-on wholesale pie business and in time, High 5 Pie, a retail eatery where the community could come, have a slice of pie and a cup of coffee, and maybe for just a minute feel like everything was going to be OK.