COFFEE CREW OF A CUP OF COMMON WEALTH: ZACH JOSEPH (PART 1 OF 2)

Zach was born and raised in what is probably the most southeast part of Kentucky – Letcher County.  He grew up in a small, mountainous town and tried to be involved in as many activities as he could find. 

In high school, Zach was part of the academic team, drama team, speech team, soccer team, the A-team (joking), and he tried to be okay at playing tennis.  Besides that, Zach spent most of his high school days playing way too many video games, especially spending time with his World of Warcraft Human Warrior character named Catheros.

He moved to Lexington a year and half ago to study at the University of Kentucky.  After switching his major about a million times, Zach has finally (maybe) decided on a degree in Mathematical Economics. 

In his off time, he likes to spend time playing guitar at UK’s Baptist Campus Ministry, singing in the UK Choristers, trying to find time to be in musicals, and trying his best to annoy Allison while she’s working.

Being a barista at A Cup of Common Wealth is Zach’s first job, and he couldn’t ask for a crazier, grosser, and more fun group of people to work with.

And now, questions upon questions for Zachariah (but you only get to see the first ten today…maybe the rest in a few days) --- check it out below:

1) What drew you to the coffee industry?

Honestly, at first it just sounded like a really fun, summer job. I didn’t want to work anywhere that I would be chained down to a desk the whole time or that I would have to be serving fast food. A coffee shop just has such a great feeling of customer interaction and friendliness that you can’t get at many other places.

2) Why A Cup of Common Wealth?

The first time I ever went into ACoCW was on the day you guys were giving away Pay-It-Forwards to any UK student for the basketball game that day.  Being the college student that I am, I sprinted down to the shop to get my (FREE!) coffee.  Once I walked in those doors I was welcomed by some awesome baristas (I won’t reveal those names) who were super friendly and energetic. They were even willing to have a conversation with me, something that isn’t always easy to find in the service industry.  After that day, I decided that I would love to work here, and the rest is history.

3) What's your favorite coffee drink and why?

I’d have to go with a good ole pour over, most likely of some Stumptown Hairbender.  I just love the whole process of making a pour over, and the results always bring out some great flavors in the coffee.

4) What's your favorite non-coffee drink and why?

Definitely a 9 Peaches of 8; an Ale-8 with peach and cream is about as Kentucky as a drink could get!

Zachy doing his best Willy Wonka impersonation!

5) What's your favorite part of being a barista?

Definitely all the awesome interactions I’ve had with the customers/baristas.  Making drinks is awesome, but the fun you get to have with everyone else definitely trumps it.

6) What is one of your guilty pleasures?

Not super guilty about it, but I spend waaaaay too much money on comic books every week.  They just tell stories in such a cool way, and I’ve honestly gotten some of my favorite literature in the form of a comic book.

7) When is the last time you broke a rule and what was it?

I probably break the speed limit a little too often when I’m on the interstate, but you would too if you had a powerful Ford Fusion like I do (four whole cyclinders!).

8) What's something about yourself that you wish more people knew about you?

How seriously in love I am with music.  It’s probably my greatest passion: playing, listening, and watching.

Zachariah serenading the shop one Saturday morning.

9) What's your favorite holiday?

Thanksgiving.  It’s all the great food and family of Christmas without the stress of presents.

10) What advice would you give to your 10 year old self?

You should start learning an instrument now, and be sure you never, ever meet Salvador Sanchez.

COFFEE CREW OF A CUP OF COMMON WEALTH: JOSEPH RATHBONE WILL (PART 2 OF 2)

And so the journey with JoeBro continues.  Below are the last few questions we asked Joe to help you all get to know him a bit better:

11) What advice would you give to your 50 year old self?

Live every day to the fullest; don’t have any regrets.

12) If you could hang out with anyone, real or fictional, past or present - who it would be?

Hunter S. Thompson and Anthony Bourdain

13) What are you reading right now or plan on reading next?

Everything But Espresso by Scott Rao

14) Where do you want to travel to next?

Would like to revisit Oregon.

15) Describe one of the items on your bucket list.

Travel to different parts of the world, backpacking across Thailand and looking for trouble.

A dreamer ^^^^ --- this guy!

 16) What do you do outside of work?

Love catching a show at Al’s Bar, biking, and discovering new cities.

17) If you could be a Superhero what would your name be? Your Powers? Your Supervillain?

I would be Pyro Dude and be able to control & manipulate fire.  My nemesis would be fire’s natural enemy, Water Bro.

18) Describe your perfect day.

A perfect day would be traveling to a new city and exploring the food, coffee, music and drink scenes with a friend who knows all the spots.

19) In a perfect world - what would you be doing, where would you be living, what would life be like?

In a perfect world, I would be living in a cool city, working with coffee, and life would be busy but exciting (looks like my world is already perfect)! :)

All-American Joe!

 20) What makes you fun?

What makes me fun is that I’m always trying to find fun things to do.  I love gathering or socializing with old and new friends.  I’m always down for a good time.

21) If you could only have one meal for the rest of your life what would it be?

Sushi from Sugano’s

22) How do you unwind from a stressful day?

Drinking beer with friends.

23) What's your philosophy on life?

My personal philosophy to life is always changing and growing with myself, but I would say “perception is reality,” holds a lot of meaning to me currently.

24) What makes you genuinely happy (when you can't help but smile at it)?

Seeing my friends or colleagues succeed or accomplish personal goals.  Nothing makes me more happy.

25) What's your greatest accomplishment?

My greatest accomplishment was finding out my passion for coffee and then working harder than I ever have in my life to shape and help the growth of the shop.

Joe - thinking about jetpacks

 26) What is one of the most valuable lessons you have learned?

Hard work always pays off.  Generosity always pays off.

27) What's your go-to entertainment right now?

Live shows, records, Netflix – sometimes.

28) Who are some of your mentors and why?

Salvador Sanchez is my biggest mentor in my life.  I’m not just saying that because he’s my boss, but because I’ve never had anyone genuinely believe in me like he does.  His support, life advice, and good humor has changed my outlook and direction in life.

29) How do you stay informed with everything that is going on in the coffee industry?

Sprudge, Daily Coffee News, Roast Magazine, different Roaster’s and Shop’s Instagram pages.

COFFEE CREW OF A CUP OF COMMON WEALTH: JEFF POLING (PART 2 OF 2)

So, lets keep getting to know the Jeffster.  Below are the rest of the questions we asked Jeff to help you all get to know him a bit better.  Enjoy!  

11) What advice would you give to your 50 year old self?

Make the most of every day. With being older comes different responsibility from being young. Redeem every second the way you tried to when you were younger.

12) If you could hang out with anyone, real or fictional, past or present - who it would be and why?

There’s a podcast in England called the Football Ramble. It’s my favorite podcast because somehow they manage to be really professional in their analysis but also have a really good time. If I could hang out with any or all of them, I think it’d be fun. When people are able to have fun in their profession, I think that is a good indicator that they have a good head on their shoulders and they tend to make good friends.

13) What are you reading right now or plan on reading next?

I’m reading Gaston LeRoux’ The Phantom of the Opera.

14) Where do you want to travel to next?

It probably won’t be next, but I’m dying to see Eastern Europe. I think the culture seems so raw, so underappreciated, and yet it’s so classic. There’s a ton to see. I’d love to visit, maybe even live there at some point.

15) Describe one of the items on your bucket list.

This should be an easy one to fulfill, too…I’ve always wanted to get a straight razor shave. I just have to decide when I’m willing to part with my beard.

16) What do you do outside of work?

I’d like to say I do a lot of reading, but it depends on the book. Sometimes I read quickly, other times very slowly. I’m also rediscovering my joy in music – I especially love to sing. Not a lot of people know that about me, either – and selfishly, it’s fun when they find out and are shocked. Sometimes I write songs but often times I just like to sing other people’s songs that I enjoy, because I’m not a terribly creative person; songwriting is difficult for me. I also love and lose myself in the game of soccer – I’ll watch just about any game from any league in the world; I love playing (we have a plethora of soccer balls in my house that we dribble around the place) and I love listening to podcasts that break down the game. I’m always trying to understand it more, and I never tire of hearing about it.

17) If you could be a Superhero what would your name be? Your Powers? Your Supervillain?

I don’t know.

18) Describe your perfect day.

I awake around 6 AM, refreshed by 8-10 hours of sleep. I spend a little bit of time reading while I drink coffee, and then watch an early game of soccer. After the game, I go get breakfast (my favorite meal to eat) with a friend, where we sit and converse for hours on end about life, friendship, work, God, and anything else that comes to mind. Maybe later in the day I go to see a movie (in theaters preferably) and have a few drinks with even more friends before we play some music together at my house, and once we have worn our voices out, we call it a night.

19) In a perfect world - what would you be doing, where would you be living, what would life be like?

I’d like to do more with music, so in a perfect world, I suppose I’d be playing music with some of my good friends, and we’d record and play a few shows, but not travel too much (I’m a homebody, which is why I decided years ago that the band life ultimately wasn’t for me!) Honestly, I’d probably live here, but I don’t know. I’ve been here my whole life, and I’ve never had much of a reason to live anywhere else. But I suppose wherever you live, the most important thing is that you’re surrounded by people and activities you love, so that’s what matters most to me.

20) What makes you fun?

I like to think that my propensity to make puns is something that sticks with people. I have some people who ask me every time they see me if I have a new joke, which makes me smile. I also have a tendency to get really excited about really silly things – like Election Day or some new report that breaks something down numerically – and I think people think that’s funny.

21) If you could only have one meal for the rest of your life what would it be?

Breakfast: preferably some over-easy eggs, bacon, biscuits with sausage gravy, and some hash browns. I’d be a gassy man, but a happy man.

22) How do you unwind from a stressful day?

Playing soccer helps me a lot. It takes my mind completely away from every other issue.

23) What's your philosophy on life?

I just try to enjoy things as much as possible. If I’m playing sports and my team is losing, focus on the fact that I’m playing a really fun game. If I’m going to sleep, I think about how amazing it is that my body and mind are getting rest. If I’m working, I think about how much impact it has and that makes it easier to enjoy. I find a lot of joy in a lot of things that are sort of odd. I get giddy about Election Day results, regardless of who I voted for. I get myself excited about walking to the bank. There’s always a reason to be excited about something.

24) What makes you genuinely happy (when you can't help but smile at it)?

I realize this may come out of left field from a guy with no kids, but really good parenting. When I meet a kid who is well-behaved and polite but does so in a very natural way, I think that’s wonderful. I love when parents treat their kids with respect and dignity, and they teach their kids good manners without being fearmongers. I just think that creates a lot of functional people, and that’s worthy of a smile.

25) What's your greatest accomplishment?

I graduated from college completely debt-free. I think that’s a rarity, and I’m really proud of that.

26) What is one of the most valuable lessons you have learned?

In college, I was a psychology major, and if there’s anything I learned, it’s that there are a plethora of reasons for which people behave the way they do. I value that a lot, because a lot of times I want to rush to conclusions about people and what they do, but it gives me a lot of pause and forces me to think and try to consider all of the reasons why people are they way they are.

27) What's something you would like to do over again?

When I was in high school, I was in a band. Even now, I have mixed feelings as to whether or not I’d like to be in a band, but I really miss performing and practicing. I really would like to get back to that at some point, even if it’s not in a full-time or professional manner. I just miss performing for people.

28) What's your go-to entertainment right now?

I’m pretty hooked on FIFA and/or Football Manager on my phone.

29) Who are some of your mentors and why?

There are a couple of guys in my church who’ve mentored me for, I think, 6-8 years now. At first it was forced mentorship – we had set up a program in my youth group in which you just chose who you wanted to mentor you. I chose a guy named Ben, and he’s been one of my best friends and my mentor ever since. The other is my pastor, who took me under his wing when I was starting college and expressing some interest in ministry. I guess the ‘why’ is because they’re two folks who never made me feel unwelcome, and who always made me feel valuable.

30) How do you stay informed with everything that is going on in the coffee industry?

Shoot, I don’t even do it nearly as much as I’d like! I guess it’s mostly through talking with our vendors. I love to shoot them an email and find out what they’ve been working on, what they’re excited about, and what’s new with them. They do a really good job of spreading the passion of coffee.