Meet Jeremy Lyman, founder of Birch Coffee and Coffee Futures Fund's first guest speaker, who shares his insights on the most foundational question every coffee entrepreneur must answer: Why are you doing this? In this conversation, Jeremy reveals how your "why" isn't something you need to figure out on day one—it's something that evolves through real experiences and interactions with customers.

Drawing from nearly three decades in service and hospitality, Jeremy discusses how Birch Coffee's mission centers on making every person feel seen and heard in their 5-8 minute interaction. He shares practical wisdom on active listening, the importance of greeting every customer, and why you should aim to "knock it out of the park" with one person at a time until it becomes second nature.

Jeremy also provides a candid look at the challenges of scaling personal service, training employees to embody your values, and why being a coffee shop owner means taking 100% responsibility for everything that happens in your business. His story about eating bacon as a vegetarian perfectly illustrates how small lapses in attention can break customer trust forever.

Topics covered:

• Why your "why" evolves through experience rather than appearing fully formed
• The 5-8 minute window you have to create meaningful customer connections
• Practical active listening techniques and greeting strategies
• How to train employees to make customers feel seen and heard
• Why setting impossibly high standards actually works in service
• Taking complete responsibility as a business owner for your team's actions

Chapters:00:33 - What It Really Means to Know Your Why04:54 - How Birch Coffee Discovered Their Purpose Through Experience10:18 - Making One Person Feel Special: Practical Active Listening16:11 - Training Your Team to Deliver Consistent Service21:04 - Taking 100% Responsibility for Your Business

Jeremy Lyman is the author of "Love Thy Customer" and founder of Birch Coffee. This episode features our Week 1 guest speaker from the Coffee Futures Fund Summer Cohort.