Vibrant: Coffee & Hospitality

Bean-to-bar chocolate industry leader, Shawn Askinosie, shares about an impactful gift from origin, his hospitality influences, direct trade sourcing, and the value of mutuality and kinship at Askinosie Chocolate. Shawn Askinosie is the CEO and founder of Askinosie Chocolate.

What happens when you learn things are not going quite as well as you thought? Patrick Burns, founder and owner of Palace Coffee Company, shares an important story about upturning hospitality and the transformative impact of colleagues within the greater specialty coffee community.

Tovara Salley, the Retail Trainer and Coffee Educator for Equator Coffees & Teas, tells a story about getting talked out of an order and shares about the value of humor, honesty, and being relatable in hospitality moments.

Michelle Johnson, writer and creator of The Chocolate Barista, shares a story she experienced about baristas whose attention to detail went beyond technical skills and into focused interactions, ultimately creating a memorable, dynamic cafe atmosphere.

Joe Marrocco of Cafe Imports shares a story about his own career in specialty coffee, the outgrowth of the hospitality he has received from others within the industry along the way, and the exponential value of learning to "lean on generosity."

Andrea Allen of Onyx Coffee Lab shares insights from Santa Rose Coffee Farm in El Salvador visiting Raul Rivera with a story about full-circle hospitality.

In this episode, Jess Steffy of Square One Coffee tells about visiting Richard Kimondo, a coffee producer and member of the Rutuma Cooperative in the Nyrei region of Kenya, sitting down for tea after a long day on the farm and the impact the experience has had on her.

Laila Willbur shares about a potentially disastrous moment evaded because a cafe established a foundation of great hospitality experiences. As you listen to this episode, you can hear her newborn son Fitzgerald, pictured here with Laila and mentioned in the story, quietly hiccuping in the background.

Nathanael details moments of generosity throughout a recent trip to Guatemala that have impacted his perspective on hospitality.

In this episode, Lorenzo Perkins shares a story about a cafe supervisor's reaction to learning an unexpected detail about a regular.