Three years into my college career, the disguised convenience of student loans began a swift transformation into a harsh and inevitable doomsday that directly affected my wallet. Who knew you actually had to pay those things back?

“Jaime,” I said to myself “What can I do to make a fortune?”

I immediately accumulated as many jobs as humanly possible, none of which had any real lucrative financial potential.  It turned out that working three and a half jobs did not bode well on this college student’s grade point average. It also negatively affected my fun time. Upon the realization that I would not become a young millionaire with hours of free time, I offered my resignation at all but one of these jobs. I kept the one that kept me caffeinated.

I began my barista career in a ‘76 Airstream Trailer my third year in college. I had always had a love affair with coffee, but this is where I fell in love with the industry. I remember flipping open my first issue of Barista Magazine and thinking “Wow! This is a career! I’m not crazy for wanting to do this forever!” Unfortunately, the Trailer could not sustain the blow of a poor economy, but I got what I needed from the place, a passion for great coffee and the drive to break into this industry.