Gloria Jeans Coffees

You can find us over at Vijayapuri Colony in Uppal. The address is Hno:2-2-129/11/6, which is easy to find if you know the Ranga Reddy area. We are a Gloria Jeans Coffees outlet, but it feels more like a local hangout for the people living nearby. I start my shift early to get the espresso machines warmed up and the milk ready. The smell of coffee beans is the first thing that hits you when you walk in. We have some wooden tables and chairs that people like to sit at for hours, sometimes working on their laptops or just chatting. It’s a bit of a mix of people—students from the nearby colleges and workers taking a break. The music is usually playing quietly in the background, though sometimes we forget to change the playlist. Uppal can get really busy with traffic, but inside the shop, it stays relatively calm. I spend a lot of time wiping down the counters and making sure we have enough cups and napkins. Sometimes we run out of a specific syrup, and I have to explain that to the customers, which can be a bit awkward. We don't have any fancy mission statements; we just try to make a decent cup of coffee so people can go about their day. It’s a nice place to work because you get to see the same regulars every morning. We just focus on the beans and the milk.