Author: Anand Swamy

Founded in 1992, Dutch Bros is a coffee chain started by two brothers that grew up working on a dairy farm. 

What started as pushcarts around town, is 300 locations strong in the Western United States today. 

When I moved to Oregon, it was no surprise that Dutch Bros is more than just a place to get your morning Java. It’s an institution of the highest magnitude, with a cult-like following that rivals the Church of England. 

During one of my morning rendezvous visits to this caffeinated shrine, I talked to the morning barista. 

She was a second-year sophomore at a community college.

I asked her, “What are you studying?” 

She said, and without hesitation, “General studies, but I will work at Dutch Bros as an Operations Manager once I am done this year.”

“What is it about Dutch Bros that excites you?” I asked. 

“The Founders and the company. Dutch Bros is more than just coffee. I’ve been instructed, that if someone is having a bad day, to give them a free coffee. They don’t measure their success by money, yet they make it.” 

This was incredibly powerful for me to hear. It made me think about why I come to Dutch Bros. 

Although the coffee seeps into your bloodstream faster than Usain Bolt and has the power to make you free solo the Effiel tower, the patrons at Dutch Bros are kind. 

The buck really stops there. 

Whether in business, or our personal lives, we will forget many things, but we will remember how someone or something made us feel. 

I take this philosophy everywhere I go. 

Whether it’s a phone call to a disappointed customer or interacting with the clerk who has a checkout line longer than the Nile, being kind, isn’t just nice. 

It’s acknowledging that we are human. We are connected.

It’s realizing that we are on this tiny planet, and trying to make it another day. 

Together. 

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With Love,
Anand

As I sit on my kitchen table, enjoying a simple coffee, I think about this day.

My family immigrated here from Fiji Islands.

I was born in the US.

I have had opportunities that others would only dream of. I am no better than the others, just lucky.

Continue reading “#76 The Simple Pleasures”

About 40 miles South of Tokyo, Japan you’ll find the small fishing village of Misaki. 

There, the Misaki Tuna Center is where neighboring chefs gather every morning at 7 am to get their hands on the prized Maguro, or Bluefin Tuna. 

Master Chef and Artist, Yoshio “Oyaji” Yamada owns a restaurant called Kurobatei.

Like many of the chefs, he’s eager to get the best tuna he can for his customers.

However, unlike many of the chefs in the area, Oyaji utilizes every part of the fish and is able to perform alchemy on the lessor and oftentimes, neglected cuts. 

In particular, he’s able to take the inedible tendons of the fish and make them into deep-fried morsels of heaven. 

He takes the bloodline of the fish, which would make other chefs shutter to even think about cooking, and makes it taste like thin pieces of delicate beef tenderloin. 

He’ll use the skin, and mix it with strawberries to make a sorbet that not only tastes good, but because of the rich collagen, actually has properties to make you look healthier. 

The restaurant’s most prized dish is grilled tuna head.

Oyaji encourages other chefs in the area to use every part of the fish.

Like with many things in life, it’s not the lack of resources, but rather lack of resourcefulness that may inhibit us from accomplishing the goals we set out for ourselves. 

When’s the last time you utilized everything within your realm of possibility for something meaningful?

I haven’t. However, I am starting to, and hope you do too.

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There is a lot of uncertainty in the world. Politics and its leaders are less trusted. 

Who’s right is a tough question to answer, when everyone is sure they’re right. 

What’s going to happen when things go back to “normal?”

Continue reading “#74 The Pandemic”

Everything has an end. It’s Nature’s Law. 

As much as we’d like to prolong life, we are imminent and that’s ok. 

Every breath, cherished memory, and experience is precious because it’s not forever. 

Do you have deadlines at work? You probably do. 
Do you have deadlines outside of work? Maybe. 

Continue reading “#73 Deadlines”

In Turkey, the bakers have a practice called, “on the hook.”

If a customer comes to the bakery, and they are feeling generous and have a few extra shekels to spare, they will buy an additional loaf of bread and put it, “on the hook.”

Almost always, someone will come to the bakery, perhaps a family that’s down on their luck, and will ask the baker if there is anything “on the hook.” If there is, the baker will give them the additional loaf.

Giving without acknowledgment in this way is special.

Continue reading “#72 On The Hook”

When we use the dishwasher, there is a reason we put our silverware, glasses, and dishes in the same place. It saves time and energy because we know where things are.

I am taking this simple idea and trying to spread it across as many areas of my life as I can. I am making it a point to be more organized. It took me a long time to learn about the importance of knowing where things are until I started breaking down the idea of time.

Continue reading “# 71 The Dishwasher”

When Michael Jordan was playing for the Washington Wizards, he faced off against the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant who was in his prime.

Ironically, Kobe wore some Jordan brand shoes as admiration for his idol.

Jordan said, “You can wear the shoes, but you’ll never fill um.”

After the game, the Laker room was silent. For the next two weeks, Kobe was quiet.

The team asked former Lakers head coach, Phil Jackson, “what’s wrong with Kobe, is he mad at us?”

Continue reading “#70 The Cookie Jar”

I have many loved ones that will never understand self-awareness. 

That there are two people inside of you. One that does the talking, and the other, the listening. 

Continue reading “#69 My Biggest Fear”