This weekend I went to the grand opening of a coffeeshop in San Leandro. The proprietor of the shop is a dear friend of mine, and a former co-worker. He had pretty much everything you might want from a career in the Silicon Valley. He worked for a company he loves, on technology he cares about deeply. He has an extraordinary reach of influence in the industry, and the respect of his peers and co-workers. He also made a fairly impressive salary. And he walked away from all of that to open a coffeeshop.
I don’t think I can fairly represent all of his reasons for making this change, but I know at least some of them. He decided that having an improved quality of life is worth more than the demands of the High Tech industry. He decided walking to work is more important to him than driving two hours each day. He decided that working in his neighborhood and attempting to grow a sense of community is more important to him than arriving home at 8:00 each night (or later) and never knowing his neighbors.
Tim is my hero. I hope he achieves everything he could hope for with his new venture. If you’re in the San Leandro area, stop by for a cuppa.
Zocalo Coffeehouse
http://www.zocalocoffeehouse.com/ has been registered but does not yet have content. Check again in a few weeks.
645 Bancroft Avenue
San Leandro, CA
510-569-0102
My mommy used to live in San Leandro so we return sometimes to visit old eateries. I might have to check that out sometime.
That’s a pretty cool story – inspiring.
Is this the kind of coffee shop that has local artist’s work hanging on the walls? Perhaps his dream could fuel my dream. 🙂
Artwork
Oh yeah, a ton of local artwork hanging, most of it available for purchase. I’m eyeing one of the pieces with lust in my heart.
Oh yeah, and I like the artwork too. 🙂
That’s great! I am a bit envious. I hate the rat race. I am not working now – looking but haven’t found – and I am dreading going back to the corporate environment. I’d love to do something else. Accounting sucks!! Anyway – congrats to your friend. Sounds like he’s got his priorities straight!
Update
The original URL I posted had a typo in it (duh, “coffee” has two Es in it), so I’ve corrected that. And the web site is open and working these days.