Meet Joe Witmer of Two Birds Coffee

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joe Witmer.

Hi Joe, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My wife, Amanda, and I really didn’t set out to start a business, let alone a coffee shop.

However, it began our first year or two of marriage in Dubuque, IA with a dream of one day owning our coffee shop. There was something about the culture encapsulated in the coffee world and in many of the shops we were visiting where we lived and when we traveled.

The smells, the sounds, the music, the style, the people – all drawing us in. We decided we wanted to make a place where people could come and feel as at home as we often did in those places.

Yet, It was decidedly out of reach at the time. Not long later we were moved to return to my hometown of Clarksville, TN. I started a job and during that time the urge began to well up within us again.

A coffee shop still seemed unrealistic, so we thought maybe we would try to pursue a roastery and focus on that side of the business. We even went and looked at a couple of places. Upon further research, we decided that probably wouldn’t work either. Some time passed and this inescapable yearning to try rose up again. We determined that maybe if we downscaled again maybe it would be small enough to start and still have the potential of growing into what we were wanting to do long term.

That’s where Two Birds got its start. We decided to make a cold brew in July of 2018 and sell it at the farmers’ market the following year. After our first batch, I was sure I could sell it if we could figure out how to bottle it. By the time we got to the farmers market season in 2019, we had begun to build a customer base and kept it going through the next two years until we were able to open a shop of our own.

It has been an incredible learning experience on how to wait and rest even when things don’t make sense and when it seems like it won’t work out. Here we are in our fourth year of business, and we have planted and are pleased to cultivate a culture of community and creativity for people who we believe will do the same.

We were made to make things and do things and live life together, and it’s our privilege and honor to be gifted with the opportunity to be good stewards of a product, a place, and a people that are doing the very things we fell in love with: Welcoming, engaging, and inspiring.

It’s such a joy to be able to step back and see our coffee shop, art gallery, social center, and creative space grow and evolve with the people that define it. We are learning and growing with all of those who have become part of our Flock. It’s a process, and it takes time.

Moments are the memories.

We must learn to hold them dearly.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It hasn’t always been, of course. We wanted to begin with as little debt as possible, much of which was factored into us not being able to qualify for a loan, having left my job with a secure income to pursue opening a shop in the first place.

Money and investing are almost always the scariest part of all of it. For me, though, it just seemed like we just wouldn’t get the help we needed, and that we would have to go at it alone. The hardest moments were when I felt like Amanda and I were the only ones that could see the vision.

I can’t fully or effectively tell you though how much provision, support, care, and love we have been shown. We have always had everything we have ever needed, even when we shouldn’t have, to include people, not just things.

As you know, we’re big fans of Two Birds Coffee Co. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Two Birds isn’t reinventing the wheel of coffee. In fact, there’s a pretty definitive wheel for that, and is universally accepted. But what we pride ourselves on is simplicity. We pursue locally sourced products as much as possible, and, where it’s not, we do our best to use organic and even fair trade ingredients when possible.

In addition, we are going to do our best from the ground level to be low to zero waste as a company and shop and to emphasize sustainability and transparency. We like to consider ourselves a Fourth Wave coffee shop, which isn’t really a thing… Yet. Third-wave, in short, is emphatic on transparency in business and even more so concerning the sourcing of coffee and tracing their origins.

The distinction between Third and how we are defining Fourth Wave is that, while Third Wave certainly opens the door to quality, specialty coffee and the combined art, craft, and science of coffee, Fourth Wave takes it another step further and emphasizes the empowering of the individual through resources and education, regardless of experience or expertise.

We want to break the fourth wall of the coffee world and put the power into the people’s hands. We want to show others a different way of doing business that values people over products, service over sales, cooperation over competition. We aren’t building a dynasty; we are cultivating a community.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I would always encourage people to take the initiative to reach out to others in your industry that are already doing it well and finding success, especially if they also have a good presence and rapport in the community.

If you can call the people friends or at least allies, that would typically be your competition, you’ll find yourself opening with support and with people in your corner to help you in times of confusion or crisis.

Contact Info:

• Email: twobirdscoffeeco@gmail.com
• Website: twobirdscoffeeco.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/2birdscoffeeco | Instagram.com/2birdsartgallery
• Facebook: Facebook.com/2birdscoffeeco