Confessions of *Failure and Success

coffee salesmen as pastors

Almost every Friday for the past three months my partners and I have met with a business consultant about the direction and plan for One Village Coffee. Recently, we had time where we all confessed our position on the future.

“I have to admit when I first met all of you, I was not sure how serious you all were,” our consultant stated with honesty and humility.

“I am glad you wake up with the burden of making this thing work,” he said to me with direction in his voice.

“When you look on paper at the team you have to admit it is not that impressive,” my redefinition of what he said.

You have pastors, theologians, students, food service managers and salesmen.

Every time I tell Bob about our new sales rep, who is a pastor, he laughs, but his laughter has more to do with intrigue than disbelief. And I have to admit it feels good to be apart of the evolution of OVC, a living organism self creating around the idea of helping one village through becoming a coffee roasting company, supporting non profits and developing direct trade with the countries of origin.

In my mind of course it will take some pastors, and service oriented people. We are not going to succeed because of our business experience, but we will succeed because of what success means to us. Looking back a year from now, it might just be, because we have pastors and salesmen