Coffee People: David Foster, Kiln Coffee

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S10:E5

Guest: David Foster
Role: Co-Founder of Kiln Coffee & Author of Jett Goes To Work With Dad
Based: Grand Junction, CO
Online: @JettGoes on Instagram • www.kilncoffeebar.com • @KilnCoffeeBar

It's always exciting to reconnect with someone who's already been a guest on the show. On the Coffee People podcast, we often discuss our guests' coffee history. How did they get from there to here? What motivates them? Why do they do what they do in coffee? That quick topic list is often more than enough to get an entire show recorded, but our guests are so much more than their coffee journeys.

David Foster worked with students before getting into coffee and opening Kiln Coffee seven years ago. The idea of writing a book for young children was always there as a kernel of an idea. Over the years, that idea grew, was inspired by his collaborators, and finally pushed through to the surface. It has come into the world as Jett Goes To Work With Dad.

The storyline was inspired, in part, by the ever-developing training model in the Kiln cafe.

The cover and an inside page of Jett Goes To Work With Dad. — L: The cover of Jett Goes. R: Jett and his Dad make it to the coffee shop.

“The biggest thing is…starting off with what you want to communicate…The most important part of a children’s book is communicating some sort of value.
• David Foster

Inside pages (illustrated) of Jett Goes. — Pages from Jett Goes.

BUY THE BOOK!

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE POD

Kiln’s general training overview: Leave people better than you found them.
Before getting into coffee, David worked in school-age special education.
Writing the book was a collaborative process with his wife Meghan and illustrator Ben Haver, but it took working through a momentary roadblock. Most of writing is processing and procrastinating until there is a breakthrough that can come in the form of inspiration, support, or even shame.
This was not undertaken as a money making endeavor! It is a mission to share the author’s passion for supporting others in the form of service.
As someone, who like Jett, has worked with his Dad, I can say it is worth it, even if you—like me and my dad—don’t always have the same method of problem solving.
A big lesson in this book is that we all make mistakes, as I did confusing David’s backstory with that of his twin brother!
Kiln Coffee is expanding into teas. Stay tuned.

SHOP KILN COFFEE

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