Hey Everybody! Welcome to the newest addition to our website. We decided that 2022 would be the year we attempt to start a blog. We want to do a better job at communicating who we are, what we are doing, and why we are doing it. So, this will be a place for us to write about whatever we are learning, creating, overcoming, etc. We want to leave it pretty vague, so we can basically write about whatever we want. It will range from our background story to the physics of pour-overs to crazy stories from our travels across the world. We'll try to do a good job of taking turns writing posts, so you can become more acquainted with each of us (Joel, Carson, and Trent). We believe this will be a great way to connect more with you all, keep you in the loop, and grow in our ability to communicate things we are learning along this arduous journey of starting a business (and just living life lol).
It seems fitting that I begin by giving you a brief backstory on who we are and why we started Moravian Coffee...
It all started while we were college students at The University of Oklahoma (UT fans, please disregard and continue buying coffee plz). I was studying Petroleum Engineering, Carson was studying Computer Science, and Joel was studying Graphic Design. We spent the majority of our days skipping classes, playing video games, and going to coffee shops to study and do homework. We were also very involved in our local church. We led small groups and local outreaches, and we spent our spring breaks and summers traveling overseas for mission trips. In 2018, Carson and I were Juniors, and Joel was finishing his Senior year. We were all too aware that college life was drawing to an end, and the idea of moving away and starting a 9 to 5 job somewhere didn't sit well with us. I wouldn't say any of us were necessarily passionate about our college majors, we just studied what we were good at.
One day we found ourselves sitting around a table drinking coffee and talking about life, which was a frequent occurrence for us. We were passionate about Jesus, and these conversations often involved dreaming about how we could make a positive impact on the world and show others the love of God. We were all expressing our dissatisfaction in the cultural norm of getting a degree, moving wherever a job offer appeared, and living out your days working in an office. At some point the conversation shifted to how we could interweave all the things we are passionate about into a concrete path forward. These were some of the main points:
We love God, and enjoy building communities centered around Jesus
We value relationships, and always want to prioritize them above our careers
We love helping those in need, both physical needs and spiritual
As we discussed this, it dawned on us that we always have these inspiring conversations while sitting in coffee shops sipping cappuccinos. We thought about all the places we had the opportunity to travel to over the past few years: India, Mozambique, England, Mongolia, etc. One of the few similarities between these places was this....people love to sit down together, drink coffee, and talk about the important things in life. This realization sparked the crazy journey we have been on over the past few years!
Thanks for tuning in to our first blog post! We'd love for you to share this with others, and we look forward to posting on a somewhat consistent basis!
Bless up,
- Trent
Hanging at a coffee farm in Haiti :)