Eminent Roasters: Connecting Cultures & Sharing Stories Through Coffee

Josh Kaeter works to connect cultures and share stories through coffee. He is the owner of Eminent Coffee in Sartell, MN which opened its doors in 2022. Josh started his coffee journey while serving in the Marine Corps, looking for a natural caffeine source while falling in love with coffee and the culture connected to it. Join us as we talk with Josh and learn about his journey around the globe, spending time at coffee farms, learning about roasting, and starting his own small business near his home town. Josh is an inspiring young entrepreneur full of passion and love of his work. He is bringing so much more to your morning routine, he is bringing the best coffee from around the world and connecting your cup to a global community of growers and producers.

Learn more about Eminent Roasters:
https://eminentcoffeeroasters.com

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Over the past 7 years, our team has worked with over 120 entrepreneurs and small business owners in greater Minnesota. These incredible people are bravely taking chances on their dreams and giving back to their communities in powerful ways. They run what appear to be typical businesses... coffee shops, bakeries, consulting firms, retail stores, salons, restaurants... but they are really agents for change. And we need these rebel entrepreneurs and changemakers now, more than ever. Here's to you!

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Transcript

Betsy (00:03):
Hey, this is Betsy.

Gina (00:05):
And this is Gina, and this is the Lost & Found Podcast.

Betsy (00:09):
Our podcast is really a labor of love, and it came about a couple of years ago when we recognized that we have some incredibly interesting, passionate entrepreneurs. We're making this for you guys, if you're listening, we've made this for you because it's created for our alumni community, these are small business owners and entrepreneurs. We're in the trenches together, but the stories that we can share, I think will help you feel less alone, get you inspired, maybe even inspire you to connect with these people.

Gina (00:41):
Real stories from real entrepreneurs in small communities.

Betsy (00:55):
All right, everybody, welcome back to Lost & Found, we've got another fantastic episode today, it's going to be a great conversation. Gina, tell us a little bit about our guest.

Gina (01:06):
Well, today's guest is a really special guest, he is like the definition of the un in our business for our Unacademy. He's a small business owner with a huge heart, he has motivation, determination, and he has traveled a path that has led him to where he is today with Eminent Coffee Roasters in the Sartell St Cloud Area. Josh is a young entrepreneur who has come back to his community, he has a giving spirit, and he's using his business to make dent in the universe for good, for sure. He has an appreciation of coffee, of the processes and the craft that it takes to get our product that we enjoy every day from the farm into our kitchen, into a cup of coffee that we get to enjoy in the morning. So I'm excited to hear from Josh and share his journey and the path to where he got.

Betsy (01:55):
Thanks, Gina, the path that Josh walked to get to where we are, sometimes we think that our lives feel like a little bit of a wandering and unbeknownst to us, if you look back, they'd bring us to where we need to be, and I think Josh has a little bit of that story. Josh, thanks for joining us, if we could start by just sharing with us a little bit of your journey, your background, and the business that you started.

Josh (02:23):
Absolutely, thanks for having me, it's good to talk again, but I'm Josh with Eminent Coffee Roasters. The idea started a couple of years back, obviously the love for coffee came from my time spent in the Marine Corps, you drink a lot of energy drinks, try to stay awake any way you can and read the back of the can, there aren't a lot good going on with those. So I had to find something else to keep me going and fell on coffee, and that's where it started. And that just progressed throughout life, I realized that even with an individual, the same coffee you drink every day, you would notice that the taste is different from here to there and it's like, why does that happen? There's got to be a reason that it tastes different if this is the same coffee that I'm buying every time.

(03:18):
Then I started digging into it, reading it, and it's like, probably it could be how they roasted it, maybe it's a difference in how it's roasted. And that got that ball spinning and then I just found myself in a point in life where I saw the opportunity of how to learn how to roast from a previous employer, and they became good friends and mentors really through all this that I'm doing, so got to learn how to roast with them. And then again, some other life changes, I had to come back up north, but before I came back up here, my previous company that I was roasting for, they always wanted to take us on an origin trip, so to go to an actual farm, hang out with the farmer, learn everything that we could from them on the farm in front of the plants. So we got to do that before I had to leave the company and move back here, and that just solidified everything.

(04:19):
These farmers, they work incredibly hard and it's hard to imagine that they're getting a lot of compensation. When I've had experience buying green coffee, it's like I'm buying their product for not a lot of money, and these guys are working like mad every day of their lives. So it just solidified it that I needed to do what I could with the skills that I had picked up and learned to highlight their stories and just let people know how much work actually goes into their everyday morning ritual for a vast majority of people.

Betsy (05:02):
Josh, as you tell that story, it's hard to do it justice because I've seen photos of you standing with these farmers that you're speaking of. And I'm wondering if you could put us in that photo and tell us what you're looking at and seeing when you're with a coffee farmer in another country, what does it look like, what does it feel like to be there?

Josh (05:24):
Completely immersive. There's a huge language barrier, obviously, depending on where you're at. Specifically for myself, it was in Panama, so majority Spanish speaking, and I had taken some Spanish years ago in high school or whatever it was, but it's a perishable skill, so jumping right back into that, it's just like, I don't have any idea what's going on, it's a different culture, they're not speaking the same language, I don't understand anything. But the more you just let yourself into it, it starts coming back real fast and by the end of the week, you're speaking almost fluent in Spanish again, at least having decent conversations with the locals and with the farmers.

(06:13):
But on that specific farm, it might be relatively the same depending on where you go, but we just took a walk through the farm itself, looking at the actual coffee plants as they were still growing, there's a couple different harvests, depending on the climate and where you're at. So when we were there, they had just finished the harvest, but there was some stuff that they were going to do a later harvest on. So we got to see that growing still on the plant, we pulled the seed right out of the cherry, you get to taste the cherry, what that tastes like, the fruit of the coffee plant itself so you can tell where the sweetness is actually coming from in the seed in the bean. So that's pretty cool just to see that it's not just like a peanut, a dirty bean in the ground or something, it's a seed of a fruit and all those bright fruity flavors that you get in a number of different coffees, that's where it comes from, it comes from that coffee cherry.

(07:18):
And a lot of people don't know that, I knew it going into it, but then to see it and hold it in your hand, it's just a completely different experience. And then to see all the different processing they do once it goes from the plant to the drying beds and just the different ways that they can harvest and process it to get different flavors out of the same exact bean, it's pretty wild, there's just so much that goes into it for such a simple...

Gina (07:48):
I have two questions out of that discussion, so what happens actually to the fruit of the cherry, is it just discarded?

Josh (07:56):
No, they do make it into a tea, actually, it's called cascara, and it's literally just the skin of the coffee fruit. After they pull it off of the bean and they separate them, they lay that out to dry too, and they can use that as another source of income. And it's actually pretty good tea, it'll get you going, there's a lot of caffeine in, it'll push you up. I don't know how to describe it, I haven't had it in a while, but it's not bitter, it's not a harsh dirty tea or anything like that, it's pretty bright and vibrant, and I would call it colorful.

Gina (08:36):
Well, on that story that you just told us and then also through our experience at the bootcamp, I think what's really amazing is that, like you said, this is a ritual, a cup of morning coffee is something that the majority of our population does. And the limited knowledge that we have of where it comes from and how it's grown and how it gets from a field into your kitchen, that's not something that a lot of people understand or know.

Josh (09:03):
And it's a little bit more advanced, I try not to jump straight into that. A lot of people, it's still their morning ritual, but people have different schedules, they're busy in the morning and they might be just shooting it down, trying to get it in their body to get going for the day. So I try to start with, take a couple of minutes, sit down and actually enjoy it, find the time, it might not be the full 30 minutes that I take when I wake up just to sit there and enjoy my coffee and start the day. But even if it's just a couple of minutes to stop, take a sip and just enjoy it and then you can keep running, do your morning routine or whatever. But that's where I try to start with a lot of people and then more advanced, you can really dig into the bean and the farm and the soil and the climate and all the other fun stuff that comes along with it.

Gina (09:53):
Well, and we've had the opportunity to have your coffee, we had it at bootcamp, and it's coffee good enough that makes you stop-

Betsy (09:59):
It does.

Gina (10:00):
... And take a sip and pay attention to what you're tasting because it was fantastic.

Josh (10:07):
There can be a lot going on, it's hard to nail down some tasting notes on certain coffees because it's just like, there's 10 different things going on in here, and I can only fit so much on a label.

Betsy (10:18):
Well, and to most coffee drinkers, they just think coffee's coffee, and I'm not-

Josh (10:23):
I hear that a lot too it's, how was the coffee? It's coffee. It's like, try it again.

Betsy (10:31):
... And I don't have a very experienced palate with coffee, but when I took the first sip of your coffee, it stopped me and went, wait, what?

Josh (10:41):
What is this?

Betsy (10:43):
Yeah.

Gina (10:43):
It was an experience, it was an actual ... you took the time to brew it correctly and we served it up at the right temperature and it was in a great atmosphere. But when we actually took a sip, I remember Betsy being like, I get it, this is an experience in a cup, and I understand why people need to take a step and you actually enjoy. You can take that time in the morning to enjoy your coffee, but also with your coffee, I love the work that you're doing in the story that you told about your experience in Panama and to drinking that cup of coffee in the morning in our own kitchens. The story that you get to tell that connects people to that cup of coffee, it's something we don't ever think about and I think that's what makes you really different and unique.

Josh (11:33):
Well, thank you, I appreciate that. And I do enjoy telling the stories of the specific farmers and it's hard to do with six different origins that you have as much consistently as you can, sometimes you'll fall in between harvests and you got to supplement it for something else. But as far as the limited released stuff, I really enjoy telling the other people's story and highlighting those specific farmers. And right now, a majority of them are going to be coming out of Columbia just because that's a good partnership that I have right now with Unblended Coffee, and they're a Columbian importer. So just about everything that they're going to be sending over or shipping out of the country's going to be from Columbia.

(12:25):
But there's so much going on in the industry right now in Columbia that it's going to be vastly different across the board from limited to limited release. So there's a lot of room to play around in there, and they're doing a lot of experimental processing too. So a couple of months or whatever it is down the road, we can start getting into some real funky stuff, just the processing, it just completely almost like even coffee anymore, the flavor just becomes so wild and different, it's like, how can we even call this the same thing? But it's coffee and it's...

Betsy (13:10):
For those of us in our first world privilege, can you explain what you mean by these farmers work hard? I think you told some stories at bootcamp that I just think it's an important for us to have that perspective.

Josh (13:24):
It's a labor-intensive industry. Typically, it's not flat terrain, they're walking up and down a lot of the times, steep mountainside or whatever it is, because they need certain climates in order for the coffee to grow properly to prosper. So they have to plant it in certain areas, and then they have to go and cultivate and maintain those areas. And it's just every day they're out there checking plants, making sure the soil's correct, that everything is where it needs to be, and that's just before the harvest.

(14:06):
And then the harvest time comes, they have to come pick every single individual coffee cherry. There's only two coffee seeds inside of each of those cherries, so you can imagine how much it takes to fill up 154 pound sack of coffee, it's a lot of work just for one sack of green coffee or even a 12 ounce retail bag, that's a lot of coffee cherries in that one bag, that's a lot of work. And then you have to wash them, if it's a wash process, you have to get that seed out of the cherry and the fruit juice in the, that's called nusalage, they have to get all that off of the seed if that's how they're processing it, there's a lot of labor that goes into it every day of the week.

Betsy (14:52):
Yeah, good for us to appreciate that, I think we take it for granted.

Gina (14:59):
That story leads me into your why, and I think part of the impact, like we talked about is, this is something that everybody does and there's not a lot of understanding around it or the habits that we have and the work that goes into it. But you had shared with us what your why was, and you had a story in the packaging of your product too, that I think it's pretty cool. So why don't you go ahead and share your why with us.

Josh (15:31):
Yes. My why right now, at least it evolves as I've found from hanging out with you all, is to connect culture through coffee. Again, through telling the stories of the farmers, my goal is not only to highlight the amount of work that went into that single cup, but hopefully by doing that, I can connect our culture with the culture of that specific farmer, if you hang out with them. We're not that different, we're all human beings, we speak a different language, we eat a different foods or whatever it is, but we're really not all that different, we're all just human beings surviving.

(16:20):
And we know what hard work is here in our country, and it's very comparable to other countries around the world. It's obviously different settings, arguably a lot of the times we don't know what our work is compared to what they're doing every day. So hopefully, by telling the stories, I can connect different cultures just through that aspect alone. And when you take out everything else and you've got one common ground that opens the door to countless other common grounds, and really you just need the one thing to start building relationships and making more connections. So hopefully, I can do that by telling these stories.

Betsy (17:11):
That's beautiful.

Gina (17:13):
It's so good. And what a great way to build connections around a cup of coffee, it just works.

Betsy (17:22):
Tell us about the business side, Josh, where you're at right now, maybe where you started on the entrepreneurial journey that you're on, which I think is a neat story because it seems like a next step in your life after a series of experiences. But tell us where the entrepreneurial side started and where you're at now?

Josh (17:45):
As far as the entrepreneurial side, I feel like that's always been in me, just reflecting on life, going back, it's like I didn't really ever want to work for anybody, that was the deciding factor. It's like, that would be cool to do, I could go to school for this and do this, but then I got to work for somebody, there's always going to be somebody I'm working for. It's like, I don't want to do that or do this long enough, it's like, I'm still working for somebody, this isn't it. And I think it started a long time ago and then it just was piecing it together over the years and figuring out that it's not impossible to work for yourself, it's not impossible to imagine, design, create, and build something from the ground up. And as much as you want it to happen that overnight, let's be real, it's going to take time, it's going to take sacrifices and struggle, uphill battles every day. But I think it's worth it, even if you're not done building it, I think it's worth it.

(18:50):
And again, it takes a lot of work and self-determination, no one's forcing you to get out of bed and go work for yourself that particular day of the week, but it's got to happen, it's got to be done. If that's your goal and that's where you want to be, if you want to start something and see it succeed, you have to be self-driven. So it's always been a trade of mine and everything just fell into place. And again, my mentors from the previous roastery that I learned to roast at and then was working with for a number of years, they did the same thing, they were a small business, they were a startup, started from nothing, and now they've created something monumental in the southeast.

(19:40):
It was just taking the things that I picked up from them, and not everything is always good, that's another thing that specifically I learned from the Marine Corps. Even if you've got bad leadership or somebody's doing something that you don't think is effective, it's not a lesson to just be tossed away, you still retain that knowledge and that experience for your future when you're in their position. So that you know like, that wasn't effective with me per se, so it might not be effective to whoever I'm in charge of at this point. But you use it as a lesson still as of what not to do maybe, so you just have to retain everything, pick everything up and then make the best decision from all the information that you've retained and just keep pushing forward.

Betsy (20:36):
I know both of us have been in business for a lot of years, and I found myself at bootcamp pausing just to stop and take a moment to think about what you just said because you have an incredible wisdom about you. That's rare knowing your age and your background, so it's really neat to hear that from you.

Gina (20:56):
Yeah, it takes a lot of ... you're quite insightful and your determination, I think that you've had that throughout all of your career with your military career and moving forward, I think that your ability to take in information and knowledge, but you do it with such empathy as well, it's a really unique blend. And I think hearing you talk about it just makes you understand why you're doing what you're doing and why this is something different and why this is something special. The pieces are getting connected when you hear your story and how you live your life and your experiences that you've had.

Betsy (21:42):
What would you say, Josh, was unclear to you when you started that's clearer now?

Josh (21:50):
Man, everything, all of it.

Betsy (21:52):
Give us the lay of the land.

Josh (21:55):
I knew it was going to be uphill battles every day, state, city regulations, everything like that. There's always somebody to answer to, even still when you work for yourself, so that was eye-opening. It's like, let me do what I know what I need to do, but there's always somebody to get approval from still, so that was a big barrier, we'll call it. But again, just keep your head down to keep moving forward, that's all you can do, you can't give up. First year or two into it and you hit a bump in the road and it's like, that's it, all right, move on to the next thing. It's like, where's that ever going to get you in any part of life? And that's just how I've always been, you set a goal, you keep it, as long as it's obviously a worthwhile goal. But you set goals in life and you keep at them, it might not happen overnight, it might not happen in the timeline that you thought it would, but if you keep working at it, it will happen.

Gina (22:58):
Well, and as you say that, there are situations where you got to dig deep to keep that motivation moving you forward. And I know that you ran into a few roadblocks in getting to where you are in your new facility. Can you tell us a little bit about where your roastery started and then the path that you had to take to get to where you are right now?

Josh (23:22):
As most small coffee roasters start, it's started in a garage. And, how do I say it correctly here? I got reassured that everything that I was doing in that garage would make it up to code and everything. And then just spent a whole bunch of time and money making that happen and then it was like, here's another thing that we didn't tell you that actually null and voids all of what you just did, you have to move. It's like, really, are you kidding me? Who's going to pay me all that money back? No one, but it is what it is, put your head down, keep moving, it's all you can do.

(24:05):
Luckily, I stumbled upon the current facility that I'm in, and it was in a great location, I didn't even know it existed back here on this road in the town that I'm currently in. It's like two blocks up from the Mississippi River, so I just popped over and immediately I'll walk through the door and it's like, this is a coffee roastery, it's got to happen, let's do it. And then a whole another snowball after that, just figuring out what state, city code again for this particular building. And then not only that, it's in a residential area as opposed to a rural area, so there's another mountain of red tape and everything like that. But you just figure out what needs to happen and make it happen, however you need to do it. So that's what we did, and we're in it in now, we're running and now it's on in it.

Gina (25:02):
Well, you're in it and it's a beautiful facility that allows you room to grow and room to modify and you can adapt your business as you want to in the next three to five years. And that's a really big step because, and we've talked about it before, Betsy, sometimes as a small business owner, there's so many things on your plate and you're trying to do so much inside of your business, and when you hit a barrier, it can just completely stop momentum and you can't see past it. So when you hit that barrier, you understood and you had the determination, but also you just trusted the path that you were meant to be taken on and you followed it into this, you didn't know at the time that it was going to lead you to this location?

Josh (25:48):
Not at all, I didn't even know that this place existed.

Gina (25:52):
And it's pretty incredible that you were able to look over the barrier to keep moving forward, to not let it stop you in your tracks, and to just trust in the path that was in front of you to get to this spot, it's not an easy thing to do.

Josh (26:08):
And something I have to tell myself every single day, when I started this, I was like, I'm not going to push it, I'm not going to try to move it along quicker than it is going itself, just let it happen organically. And I have to tell myself every day because I'm like, I want to be here, I want to be doing this, but that all takes time, that all takes money and I'm still only one person doing all of this. Again, specifically when the hurdles come up, I definitely understand when you say it stops you on your tracks because it's still just me. So I don't have another team like, we could do this, this is how we navigate it, it's just me. And it's one fire over here and another one over here and I definitely understand hurdles everywhere, but you can't quit.

Betsy (27:04):
I'm glad you said that, Josh, because earlier you were using, we, which we all do this, all small businesses do that because you want to represent a bigger entity than you maybe are, but you're-

Josh (27:17):
Forward thinking.

Betsy (27:18):
... You're among friends now, and I want to acknowledge just that you're the one doing all the work, and all these things you're talking about, there's no, we. And I say that just because I want to appreciate all that you're doing yourself.

Josh (27:32):
I threw that around in my head when I started the company, it's like, how do I talk about the company? Social media, how do you make certain posts? And it's like, at some point, this will be a, we, there will be a team, so I just started doing it immediately. And I don't care if people look at it like, he is a weirdo calling it, we, it's just him.

Betsy (27:58):
No.

Josh (28:00):
I don't care what you think, really, regardless.

Betsy (28:03):
No, we all do the, we, and I get it, and that is the right thing, but I just wanted to acknowledge in our little community that we get it. It's all Josh right now as far as work and decisions and stress and anxiety, everything's on you and you're killing it.

Josh (28:24):
Well, I appreciate it, I just like roasting coffee, that's all it is.

Gina (28:29):
That was going to be one of my questions for you, now that you've got the roaster, I know your new location's fairly new, but how long have you been roasting and selling coffee for Eminent Coffee Roasters? How long has this business been about?

Josh (28:46):
I think I fired the roaster up last November, so it sat in the garage from October through mid-November and then I finally got to getting it hooked up, getting everything wired, getting the exhaust or whatever it was that I needed. But I think it was mid-November, maybe beginning of December, it's a blur at this point. But I do remember selling coffee to friends and family last minute right before Christmas, before everyone left town for the week or whatever it was.

Gina (29:24):
You've been in operation for a year now. So I want to know, what do you love about it?

Josh (29:34):
All of it. It's just fulfilling to see where it started, specifically in this building, and to look around and see where it is right now. It's fulfilling for knowing that we're not anywhere close to where we want to be or need to be, but you have to be able to look around you and look back on what you've done and what you have already accomplished. Otherwise, you're never going to be able to keep moving forward, there's just no way.

Gina (30:05):
That's huge, and we've heard that on a podcast before, I know Morgan from Clay Coyote said that too. As a small business owner, it's super important to stop and acknowledge the successes that you've had, the small things and the large things because you're always looking forward and you can forget to celebrate where you're at and to enjoy this time.

Josh (30:29):
Even if it's a handful of small victories, it adds up, it keeps you moving, it keeps you going forward. So you have to be able to show gratitude for the things that you've already done.

Gina (30:41):
What a great time to show your gratitude as you're sipping your incredibly delicious cup of coffee in the morning.

Josh (30:46):
Exactly, take the extra time.

Gina (30:50):
I don't know, but people will be able to see Josh in his setting right here, but your machine is a beautiful machine that you have too.

Josh (31:01):
Thank you.

Gina (31:01):
And I know on your Facebook and your social media and your website, you have different photos of your machine and how it works and how much it's roasting. We also did a video that you were featured in, and there's a section of the beans going around and the there's a real art. I know you have a machine that you can dial in and set all the different settings to have it be this certain in particular roast, but there's a real art into doing what you're doing as well, it's not something that just, you got the first time you tried it.

Josh (31:36):
No, not at all.

Gina (31:38):
What was the learning process like, and why that machine and how you're using it?

Josh (31:48):
Let's see, where do I start? So even with learning how to roast coffee, you're learning how to roast coffee to somebody else's experience in somebody else's idea of what roasted coffee should be, and that's not the same as from one person to the next. So you get the fundamentals, you get certain degrees and certain goals that you need to hit at certain points. But specifically for me, once I became the roaster at my previous company, and then my brain starts rolling and I'm looking into this and looking into that and trying to find any information I can on the internet about coffee roasting, because it's few and far between, it's a secret society.

(32:38):
But eventually, you start to figure out certain things and it's like, I like this coffee, but maybe it's like too bitter, maybe I need to take it a little bit less, a little bit lighter. Even every day that I'm behind this thing, I'm learning something, I'm recreating profiles almost every single day. And again, like you said, the machines can be automatic, I had the option to do that with this one where, you run it manually, you find your golden profile for that specific coffee, and you lock it in, and then all you have to do is hit go from there on out, every batch after that, just hit go, and it does everything for you.

(33:18):
But to me, that takes a lot of the craft out of it, so I specifically opted out of that option, which in the long run, I'll probably kick myself for just because hopefully one day I'm busy enough where that thing's running seven days a week, eight hours a day, but then I have to be behind it eight hours a day, seven days a week, whatever it is, when I could just have it automated. But again, it takes away from the craft. And, to me-

Gina (33:49):
I was just going to say that-

Josh (33:50):
... I enjoy doing that.

Gina (33:51):
... You could have done it that way, but it would take away from the craft and the beauty of what you're doing.

Josh (33:55):
And it keeps me attentive as much as I love to turn this thing on, drop a batch of coffee and walk around and do something else, and then come back and check it. But I can't do that right now because it's fully manual machine, I have to sit over it and I have to watch it progress and if it's going too fast, if it's going too slow, I have to be there, I have to be watching, and I have to be attentive and focused on that machine in order for that specific batch to be consistent and not let it go off the rails and burn it. Because I don't want to throw away however much, depends on how big the batch is, but you don't want to throw a whole batch of coffee out, it's just literally money going into the trash.

Gina (34:40):
Well, and if you switch to an automated format, dare I say, I think maybe you would miss that part of it. Maybe that's one of the reasons why you love what you're doing, because the product from the farm to your machine that's coming out in this perfect way, like you're honoring where that bean came from and how to roast it to be the best that it could be. Maybe without that, there'd be a piece of it that you'd be missing.

Josh (35:04):
You're breaking that connection.

Gina (35:05):
Mm-hmm.

Betsy (35:09):
Your business model now, Josh, is selling into retail and a little bit of wholesale, is that right?

Josh (35:18):
Yep.

Betsy (35:19):
And does that business model-

Josh (35:20):
Ideally-

Betsy (35:21):
... Sorry, go ahead.

Josh (35:23):
... I was just going to say, ideally, it's more wholesale and then 51% wholesale and 49% retail, whatever it is. But right now, we're still growing, so wherever we can get it at this point just to get the name and the story and to get the coffee out there.

Betsy (35:46):
And where does that business model go in the next couple of years? How does it change or expand?

Josh (35:55):
Well, I'm working on a couple of things right now to bring it directly to the community, and I wish I had it in here, but it's out on the farm because I'm still building it. We got a mobile cart that I'm currently constructing, so that will go to businesses, churches in the warmer months outside farmer's market, stuff like that. Fold espresso bar, I'll try to drip coffee with it as well, but it'll probably just be pour overs, honestly. So that might get a little bit hectic to run the espresso machine and be doing pour overs at the same time.

(36:38):
But I don't mind it, as long as the customer doesn't mind hanging out for a few minutes and having a conversation while they wait for a pour over or wait for another espresso to be made in front of them, whatever it is. As long as the customers realize that they're getting something that's worth the extra couple of minutes to stand there and have a conversation, it'll be good. But yeah, working on that and then over the winter, the front of this roastery here, I got to tackle that too. But right now, I got to finish this cart first, and then once that's up and running and good to go, then I can turn my attention to that.

Betsy (37:18):
You're teasing us, what do you mean by that?

Josh (37:18):
The cafe space.

Betsy (37:18):
We know what you mean, but people listening don't have any idea what to expect.

Josh (37:29):
It'll be, not very small, but it'll be a good size for, I'm calling it a tasting room, but it'll be a couple tables, couple chairs, there's a little separate room up front that you could use for business meetings or whatever. Or even if you just want to get in there with a couple of your friends, catch up or whatever, there's a door, you can have your privacy, what have you, or leave it open and invite your community neighbors in and have a conversation with them. But-

Betsy (38:05):
Why is that-

Josh (38:06):
... Ultimately, I just want to be able to ... sorry, go ahead.

Betsy (38:09):
... No, you're probably going to say what I was going to ask.

Josh (38:15):
I was just saying, ultimately, I want to ... and it sounds bad to have full control, but there's so many aspects of this industry where anything could go wrong in the process. So I spend all this time sourcing green coffee, all this time roasting it to its golden profile for that specific bean or that specific crop or whatever it is, and then it goes off and it's just brooding correctly. And someone's like, this is bitter, this is isn't great. And it's like, well, it's probably brewed wrong. So this is my way of making sure that it gets to the customer the way that it should be and highlighted the way that it should be.

Gina (39:01):
And a great retail opportunity as well. And in both of those aspects that you described, Josh, in the cart that you're doing and in the space and the tasting room that you hope to start working on, I heard multiple times conversation, it's conversation, and what a great opportunity to connecting cultures through a cup of coffee. Through that cup of coffee and a conversation, I think you're doing the work that you meant to do with this business, and it's really neat to keep hearing it even in your future plans, that it's still at the core of what you're planning to do.

Josh (39:41):
Connecting peoples.

Betsy (39:43):
Beautiful. It's a great story, Josh, very inspiring.

Gina (39:50):
I'm wondering, is the tasting room going to reflect the bags, you're packaging, because your packaging is beautiful and the actual bag of coffee and your website really-

Betsy (40:03):
It's rich and dramatic.

Gina (40:06):
... It's rich and it's dramatic and it's super deep. Rich is a great word.

Josh (40:10):
It's all revolved around that right there.

Gina (40:12):
Smart.

Betsy (40:13):
I never thought of that, but you're right, it does have that same rich, dark kind of-

Josh (40:18):
Color scheme.

Betsy (40:21):
... Yeah.

Josh (40:21):
But it will, I'm not going to paint the whole walls black or anything weird, I don't want to make it a spooky dungeon to walk into.

Betsy (40:28):
It's not weird.

Gina (40:29):
It might be really cool.

Betsy (40:30):
Mm-hmm.

Josh (40:32):
The company colors, if you will, will definitely be reflective in both the bar, cart, and the cafe space up front, it's just figuring out how much you want it to come through. So it's just trial and error and figuring out what works best. Again, you don't want to black out the cafe space and then just have the bar gold, so you got to figure out different ways that you can make it still approachable and presentable, but keep it uniform or relative with main colors.

Betsy (41:10):
Another point I want to just touch on, Josh, because a lot of our alumni are in this same scenario where you grew up in a somewhat small community and then you left and then you came back and you chose to come back to this community to start your business. Tell us why and what drove that decision?

Josh (41:36):
I think it's just a strong sense of community. And I've found it all across the world and the country as well, but at a certain point, you want to start, not necessarily giving back, but doing something that is good for not just yourself, but for other people in your community as well. And again, friends, family, I have roots here, and it just made sense to me that if you're going to do something and try to help out a community, why would you not do it for the one that helped bring you up or whatever it was?

(42:17):
But that's just my experience, there's other people obviously, that maybe their communities, as they were growing up, weren't supportive, and by all means, if you found one sense then that you want to give back to and start something that could help that community, go for it. But for me specifically, this is the community that I had the roots in, so here I am.

Betsy (42:41):
That's really neat that you came full circle with your feelings about your own community that you grew up in, and it can't be forgotten, thanks for your service to our country. And I know you're also giving back to the veteran community, tell us about that.

Josh (42:56):
It was one of my actual first partnerships, it's with a organization called St. Cloud Standdown, and it's like a veteran resource center here in town. They've got a barbershop, they've got a women's boutique, and then they have a bunch of men's clothing and stuff as well. And they take donations almost every day of the week, I think Monday through Thursday they're there. And they'll sort through it and make sure that it's stuff that's usable, and then they in turn donate the other stuff that isn't.

(43:31):
But it allows veterans that might not be in the best points of their life or the best scenarios or situations, maybe they're just trying to get back on their feet, they've lost everything, they don't have even a nice set of clothes to go to a job interview. St. Cloud Standdown is there for them to set them up and help them in any way that they can to get back on their feet.

Betsy (43:59):
I'm sure you're an inspiration to a lot of the veteran community who do struggle with that, and you somehow got on your feet and you're giving back already to your community in ways that are pretty powerful for someone so early in their career, so thank you for that. We'd like to come full circle and assume that you have either the earlier Josh or some young entrepreneur who's just thinking, I think I want to work for myself. What's your advice for someone that is thinking about traveling the road that you traveled and they're just at that beginning point?

Josh (44:43):
Learn a skill, no, man, what would it be? Start it early, even if you don't launch it, start it, get the foundation work, get that in place as much as you can before you even launch or start. I wish I would've had a little bit more structure underneath it before I started, but specifically with this, you're roasting a product, so you have to get that product out to people, I don't want to just roast hundreds of pounds of coffee for myself.

Betsy (45:25):
When you say before you get started, do you mean before you leave your day job or you commit all in on the business, is that?

Josh (45:33):
Definitely that. I'm still working part-time while I'm doing all of this, and eventually it'll get too much that then I can quit that and just do this. But I don't want to quit doing that either, because I still work for the VA. I like doing that, I enjoy helping other veterans where I've seen hiccups within the VA system itself, that's why specifically, I placed myself where I did in that role. So you don't want to stop doing that, but at a certain point, I won't be able to do that and continue to do all of this, and I can always bring on more people earlier.

(46:15):
But again, that's just the plan and the goal that I had set forth for myself, it's like work yourself until you can't do both anymore, and then work yourself doing this solely until you can't handle it by yourself anymore either. And then you know it's time to grow and then you know it's time and feasible to bring on a team and keep going.

Betsy (46:42):
It's such an important thing for all small business to make those decisions, and I don't think there's a right way to do it. And I think we see so many entrepreneurs and small businesses who are living those dual lives working and running a business, and there in no way does that signal that you're not taking your business seriously or you're not successful. In some ways, it's really smart and strategic, it just depends. So there isn't the right answer, but you're definitely proving that flexibility and being willing to do both at the same time can be a really effective way to get on your feet. Well, this has been great, anything we missed that you felt like we should be?

Gina (47:28):
No, I'm just so blown away by you, Josh, I just think that your heart is in such a good spot. And we know this from working with our small businesses, that small businesses are the hearts of their community, that the work that they're doing and the entrepreneurs themselves aren't just small business owners, they're building communities and they're making change. And I just hope that you can recognize too, in the work that you are doing, you're giving back to the community that gave so much to you, you're giving back to a veterans' community, you're giving back to the farmers that are creating the product that you're selling.

(48:09):
The business that you're doing, it's a force for good and you are creating change while doing something that you love. And I just think that you are a great example of loving your work, but you're a great example of making a dent in the universe, you're not like everybody else. And that's what we say about the Unacademy, you're the Uncoffee roaster and you're making a difference, and it's really cool. And I'm thankful that you're a part of this community because you're a big, this is it, you're it, man.

Betsy (48:44):
This is the stuff.

Josh (48:46):
That's reassuring, that's my today's, keep going. Thank you for that.

Betsy (48:54):
Well, it's from the heart for sure, you're the reason we like doing what we do. Well, thank you, this is going to a great episode.

Gina (49:02):
Yeah, it is.

Betsy (49:02):
It's going to be really good, so appreciate-

Josh (49:04):
It's fun.

Betsy (49:04):
... Appreciate you sharing, you've been such a generous sharer, being willing to share your story in details and that's been-

Josh (49:12):
Don't get me talking.

Betsy (49:14):
... Well, I love it. When I first met you, I didn't necessarily expect that, and I really am grateful.

Gina (49:22):
Yep.

Josh (49:23):
I get that a lot, I'm a brash human being.

Betsy (49:26):
No, that's not what I meant. But I don't know that when you walked in the door, that I would've looked you and thought, there is a person who has exquisite coffee taste and pays great attention to detail in the brewing and sipping of a wonderful coffee, it's just a different pairing.

Gina (49:48):
It is a different pairing, which is what makes it so cool. Your background, your military experience, the story that you share on your website, like in the military, it's not just about energy drinks, I wanted to find something, an alternative for caffeine and that starting your journey in that way. It's not-

Betsy (50:12):
It's got some unexpected twists.

Gina (50:14):
... Exactly, and that's what makes it so cool.

Betsy (50:17):
Yeah, that's what makes it special.

Gina (50:19):
Mm-hmm.

Josh (50:20):
Thank you for having me, this was fun.

Betsy (50:23):
All right.

Gina (50:24):
Keep kicking ass, man.

Josh (50:26):
We will, we got some [inaudible 00:50:28] to do.

Betsy (50:29):
We hope to see you soon.

Gina (50:30):
Yeah, whatever's next, we hope you're there.

Josh (50:32):
Absolutely. We'll stay in touch and hopefully we can get down there too, you guys got another event going on down there.

Gina (50:38):
We'll have some workshops coming up, but we'll let you know through email.

Josh (50:40):
Cool.

Gina (50:40):
All right.

Josh (50:42):
Awesome.

Betsy (50:42):
Thanks, Josh.

Gina (50:43):
Thanks, Josh, thanks for your time.

Betsy (50:44):
Thanks again, this is so cool.

Gina (50:44):
Mm-hmm.