S2Ep11: Pouring a New Narrative in The Coffee Industry with Aaron Fender, Co-Founder, and CEO of Portrait Coffee

Paint & Pipette: The Art & Science of Innovation

The majority of the world’s coffee is made in areas inhabited by people with black and brown skin. However, coffee culture globally has cropped this out. Addressing this issue through pouring a new narrative in the coffee industry is today's guest, co-founder, and CEO of Portrait Coffee, Aaron Fender. Aaron is driving the conversation around the origins of coffee through his unique brand, where each product is a portrait of an inspirational person with ties to the flavor of the coffee within. We dive into where Aaron found the inspiration for the brand, and how the Barry was created. Find out how curiosity drives Portrait’s mission, and Jeremy’s brilliant idea around marketing to initiate the conversation! We also learn where Aaron’s passion for coffee started, and how he came to realize the rich history of coffee being overlooked by the industry. Uncover the wealth of experience that lead Aaron to becoming an entrepreneur to solve the problem he’d identified, and where he finds his inspiration. From submitting an NBA salary caps article alongside his compensation table, to why brewing coffee is similar to a barbecue, Aaron’s outlook is wonderfully unique, a driving force in the success behind Portrait Coffee. So, grab your cup of coffee and tune in to uncover a world of passion and progress in this exciting episode!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Welcome to today’s guest, Aaron Fender, co-founder and CEO of Portrait Coffee
• What Aaron would love this conversation to contain: a learning opportunity!
• The creative accomplishment Aaron is most proud of (creating the coffee named Barry).
• Why Portrait Coffee is so unique, and how it pours a new narrative into the coffee industry.
• How curiosity drives Portrait’s mission.
• The origin of the Barry coffee, and the translation from black skin under moonlight to a coffee flavor.
• How Aaron was drawn to coffee: from hospitality to sparking a conversation.
• A great idea from Jeremy on how to get Portrait customers to engage in the conversation.
• The story behind Aaron identifying the lack of representation of people of color in coffee consumption.
• The moment Aaron realized he needed to seize the opportunity before it was too late!
• Where you can find out more about Aaron and Portrait Coffee.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Portrait Coffee

Aaron Fender on LinkedIn

Portrait Coffee on Instagram

Moonlight

Adam Grant on LinkedIn

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The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation

Jeremy Utley

Marcus Hollinger