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
5 thoughts on “My hero”