So I was talking to Ben, a barista at Octane, and he was explaining that he has passed the first phase of their new certification. He was pretty proud. As well he should be. Their certification is hard as hell. So I asked him "why do you do it? Do you get paid more?" I mean I knew he didn’t, but I was curious his answer. "Because I want to be the best at what I do."

Almost everyone at Octane feels the same way. Inspired. Inspired to be the best. And that’s just hard to do. Is it like that where you work? I know it isn’t like that at most coffee shops I go to. At Octane it’s in the culture.It makes it enjoyable to be a customer there, and as someone who finds businesses fascinating, I enjoy watching it unfold.

I used to think Tony and Diane were passionate people about their coffee shop. Then I thought they were good at finding people. Then I came to realize that they are gifted leaders. They set a vision, without a trace of doubt, to become to best coffee in the world, starting with the Southeast. They asked their people to get on board and they did.

Unwavering leadership and ass-kicking. Oh, and beer.