Steeped in Specialty: How One Coffee Shop Shaped My Career

Mar 1

Written By Dani H

My entry into the coffee industry feels very serendipitous. It started long before I realized it, when I was pursuing a different dream entirely.

I was working on my MA in literature, hoping to go on to get my PhD. I sat in this brand new coffee shop off one of the main streets — literally and figuratively — of Bowling Green, OH. Flatlands was the first specialty coffee shop in this small college town, which was exciting for me, because I'd spent that summer exploring the growing coffee scene in Cincinnati.

Three or four times a week, I'd meet my friend at Flatlands to work on our PhD applications. The café owner convinced me to try a pour-over for the first time, changing the trajectory of my life more than either of us could have realized.

Working on my thesis at Flatlands Coffee in Bowling Green, Ohio.

This little coffee shop felt more like home than my studio apartment did. It's the first business where I became a regular, where everyone on the team knew who I was. The feeling of community and solace that I experienced there shaped my view of everything a coffee shop could and should be.

Ben, the owner, would answer all my questions — and trust me, I had a lot — about the coffee and roasters they brought in and how I could brew better coffee at home. There was one specific roaster I would get excited about whenever it was on the menu: Madcap Coffee. Remember that, because it will be important later.

Toward the end of spring, PhD application responses started rolling in, and with a few spots on waitlists, I knew it was time to reorient my career. I finished out my master's thesis, thanked the team at Flatlands in my acknowledgements, and decided to pursue a career in copywriting and digital marketing — a surprisingly great fit for someone with a background in writing and analytical thinking. While I wasn't going to be an R1 university academic, I would still be using my understanding of voice, flow, and shaping opinions through writing.

I packed up my life in Ohio and moved to Austin, TX, to work at GoDaddy as a copywriter and social media manager. One of the first things I did when I arrived was find my new go-to coffee shop, naturally, by locating a place that carried Madcap Coffee. (This is not why I told you to remember it.)

I stayed in Austin for three years before returning to the Midwest, where I spent several more years in the marketing department for a design and lifestyle brand. By that point, I'd been in marketing for about five years, and I was more than ready to start working for an industry I actually cared deeply about. I was just looking for a sign.

ahalife sign, one of the brands I worked with at AHL holdings

In December of 2020, that sign came. I was buying my sister some Madcap coffee for Christmas — yes, that's why I told you to remember it. For the fun of it, I checked out their careers page, and what do you know? They were hiring for my exact role.

I applied immediately, not wanting to let this seemingly too-good-to-be-true opportunity pass me by. When I got the job, everything clicked into place. I was entering the industry I'd dreamed of being a part of for years.

And I haven't looked back since. Over the next five years, I developed knowledge and expertise across the coffee industry: coffee farms, coffee roasters, coffee equipment, the whole seed-to-cup process. While I've moved on from that position, it gave me the firsthand insight into coffee culture, consumer behavior, and brand storytelling that I'd been seeking.

What I really love about marketing in coffee is that every day I'm helping build the kind of community that shaped me, the one I first experienced at that little shop in Bowling Green. And in a world where cafes open and close constantly, that feeling of community and belonging isn't just something worth protecting. It's the most powerful marketing tool a coffee business has.