Dear Friends,
My journey in the coffee biz goes back to the B&O Espresso days back on Capitol Hill in the Broadway Market. I couldn’t have been older than 7 or 8 when I started putting stickers on whole bean coffee bags all day for a crisp $5 reward at the end of the day. I have fond memories of bussing tables and standing up tall on top a milk crate, ringing up orders at the cash register. These were the experiences I took with me when I entered business school at the UW. Entrepreneurship and small business was and always will be ingrained in who I am and who I will become.
After becoming the first in my family to graduate a four-year college, my family urged me to go to work for a big company and see the family business as a last resort. With resistance, I accepted an offer in banking. The toughest year to date; to say the least, it wasn’t me. Struggle is an opportunity to better ourselves, so with that I learned from my experiences and moved forward.
In September of 2008, I came back to the family business with the focus of embracing what my family had started and taking it to new heights. With five cafés, increased competition and a tough economy, I knew that my father was spread thin. Every day I’m striving to build more and more community around our company by embracing all the people around us; our baristas, customers and neighborhoods.
We are going back to the basics: A great cup of coffee, distinct food and genuine relationships.
Join us,
AJ Ghambari
