It’s Founder Friday! Today we are welcoming the great Matt Milletto of Water Avenue Coffee to the show! This conversation is packed with extremely valuable insight from someone who not only runs his own shop and roastery but has spent year educating and training others to do the same thing. We discuss his path to choosing coffee from growing up with coffee as the family business, the consulting and training at Bellissimo Coffee Advisors, the founding and running of Water Avenue Coffee, and how they prioritize community and partnerships based on their core values. Matt has an unparalleled body of experience in retail coffee and in this talk he delivers so much great advice and wisdom learned from the front lines of specialty coffee.
108 : Founder Friday w/ Dorian Bolden of Beyu Caffe in Durham, NC
It’s Founder Friday and boy do we have a great episode in store for you today! Â Today we welcome Dorian Bolden, Owner of Beyu Caffe in Durham, NC. Beyu (be-you) is designed to be “The Ultimate Community Gathering Place” and has been serving Durham through great coffee, cocktails, food, and live jazz for almost 10 years. He is now opening his second shop, Beyu Blue, on the Duke University campus and I was lucky enough to catch up with Dorian amidst all the business surrounding that project to explore the story behind this dynamic company. It was absolutely refreshing and inspiring.
102 : Founder Friday w/ Justin Hartman of OZO Coffee, Boulder, CO
It’s Founder Friday!!! Today we get to sit down with Justin Hartman who is the Founder of the standard bearing OZO Coffee Company. Justin brings a very down to earth perspective to all he undertakes. We discuss his journey into coffee working as a barista in the best shops he could find, the founding and evolution of OZO Coffee from one small shop using other roasters to now 4 busy cafes with a thriving (Good Food Award Winning)roasting operation. We also dive into management, leadership, scaling the business, the challenges of growth, hiring, and Justins 3 pieces of advice to other shop owners. There is a lot here and I know you will walk away informed and inspired!
097 : Founder Friday w/ Erica Escalante of The Arrow Coffeehouse
It’s Founder Friday! Today we are honored to hear from the owner of The Arrow Coffeehouse, Erica Escalante. Erica is an 8 year veteran of the specialty industry and went from Starbucks barista to coffee shop owner. Her story is one of extraordinary hard work, dedication, building relationships, constant learning, vulnerability, and servant leadership. Her perspectives on communication, making business decisions, hiring, and where she draws energy and joy in her busy life will leave you refreshed and enlivened to work hard to do good.
091 : Founder Friday w/ Talor Browne of Talor & Jorgen
Talor Browne, Co-founder of Talor & Jorgen in Oslo, Norway chats with us on this May edition of Founder Friday. Talor is an absolute legend and through her career has been at the helm of some of the worlds greatest cafes and roasters. She and her business partner Jorgen opened Talor & Jorgen December 2017 and have put together what looks to be one of the industries most unique and fun concepts.
086 : Founder Friday w/ JoEllen Depakakibo / Pinhole Coffee
086: Founder Friday! w/ JoEllen Depakakibo / Pinhole Coffee Warmth, hospitality, community, kid songs…this episode has it all! Today we get the chat with the founder of Pinhole Coffee, JoEllen Depakakibo! JoEllen’s shop, Pinhole Coffee, is an amazing little cafe nestled in the Bernal Heights neighborhood of San Fransisco. For four years now she has been living her dream of …
081 : Founder Friday w/ David Schomer of Espresso Vivace
It’s Founder Friday!!! I am honored to have David Schomer of Espresso Vivace join us on the show as his company celebrates it’s 30th year. Since it’s founding in 1988 Espresso Vivace has been home to David’s groundbreaking and paradigm shifting experiments with espresso coffee and drink presentation. His work has been foundational and formative in the lives of countless …
075 : Founder Friday w/Jill Killen of Cloud City Coffee, Seattle Washington
It’s Founder Friday!  Today we get to chat with one of the key players in the Seattle coffee shop scene, Jill Killen. For the past 16 year she has run coffee shops and has been dedicated to serving and investing into her staff and the community through them. We talk about her start in coffee, how she became the owner of …
070 : Founder Friday w/ Kristian Hedborg, Alkemisten Kaffeebar, Gothenburg, Sweden
It’s Founder Friday! Today we are talking with Kristian Hedborg, the Founder of Alkemisten Kaffebar in Gothenburg, Sweden. In this interview we get to hear about how Kristian went from restaurant management school, to co-owning a cafe at 22, then founding his own cafe, Alkemisten, 3 years ago. We discuss his drive to follow his dreams, how he got his …
065: A Look Back Founder Friday from 2017!
This year we got to learn from some of the best owner/operators around in the Founder Friday series. In this episode we go through from the beginning and listen in to some key points made by each of our superstar guests. Looking back at the kind of lessons and insights we heard, I am just amazed and grateful to be …
