417: Being present with Jonathan Blakeslee

In this episode with Jonathan Blakeslee, we discuss doing something better every day, being patient when waiting for good things to happen, how Blakeslee got his start, calmness, focus, presence, following your passion, selling your passion, starting where you can, scaling from wholesale to retail, choosing transformative relationships over transactional relationships, knowing who you are, focusing on who you are, letting your team weigh in on the decision making and creative processes, becoming a person of value, and using small business centers. After serving in the United States Coast Gaurd, Jonathan Blakeslee fell in love with Japnese culture and tea. Upon finishing his service, Blakeslee attended the Western Culinary Institute in Portland Oregan, and would eventually find himself working at the Toa of Tea also located in Portland, OR. Homesickness slowly crept in, and Blakeslee moved bake to the east coast where he would start his own wholesale tea operation, White Heron. Today he has scaled that operation to include 40 seat cafe and White Herons own house-roasted organic coffee.