Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jesse Mohler. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I work full time as a graphic designer & digital print specialist for an athletics company during the day. I run KAMPFIRE Coffee on the side from my home. Roasting coffee started as a hobby and quickly turned into a business endeavor. It started with a Hario pour over and some artisan coffee that an old girlfriend got me as a gift. Then the fascination with brewing different coffees started to take off. I attended the Columbus Coffee Festival back in September of 2017 and talked with roasters from all around Ohio; picking their brains about how they started up. By March of 2018 I had designed a logo and started the LLC. I started with a wooden spoon, a cast iron skillet over an open fire. Then moved into my kitchen, using a stovetop Whirly Pop Popcorn maker. Then, a stovetop nut roaster, before finally moving to a small drum-style coffee roaster.
The goal was to take a stab at big corporate coffee companies by trying to roast a high-quality coffee whilst using the bare minimum. (This is where the NO FLUFF, NO FRILLS. JUST GREAT COFFEE slogan started). I’d always drawn inspiration from Punk Rock music; The DIY ethos and standing up to big corporations has always been appealing to me, so I sort of used this mindset when starting out. I also used my hometown and upbringing in Ohio’s Hocking Hills region as a big inspiration for the branding aspects of KAMPFIRE. Growing up in that area, hiking, camping, being outdoors and in nature taught me the “leave no trace” principles and showed me beauty in simplicity. That’s where the minimalist look to the product packaging comes from as well as the utilization of eco-friendly/biodegratable packaging.
Currently, the goals for KAMPFIRE are to expand retail locations and continue to grow sales that way. The latest location is the New Leaf Market at Lancaster Greenhouse (Lancaster, OH).
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I would have to say some impactful qualities would be to never stop learning, trust the process, and sometimes you have those Bob Ross “Happy accident” moments that turn into something great. Another great skill would be to not take things too seriously. I definitely like to keep KAMPFIRE loose and allow it to be something fun and creative where I’m always learning and adapting and moving it in a positive direction. Sometimes over-roasting a batch of beans that I would normally do as a light roast, opens up a door where I think, “Man, this may actually work better as a Medium or Darker roast if I blend it with something”. And then the creativity starts flowing and sometimes it turns into something great. Not every little mistake is a bad thing, Moreso a learning experience.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
It’s certainly easy to feel overwhelmed when working a full-time day job and then being the sole owner/operator at a small business. Especially being a creative type. It seems like there’s ALWAYS something new to do or an area to improve on, a product to launch, a post to share, a website change to make, etc…
I have learned to write things down. I make notes and keep a weekly planner. Breaking things down into smaller, more manageable tasks seems to help me out. If I’m able to check 0ff smaller tasks more consistently throughout the week, it seems to be more gratifying than feeling like I have a huge amount of work at hand, and it’s going on unaccomplished. By breaking the workload into smaller bits that I can knock out each day in the evenings after I leave my day job, it keeps me on track and gives me more of a sense of accomplishment.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kampfirecoffee.com
- Instagram: kampfirecoffeeroasters
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/kampfirecoffeeroastersllc
