Frame of Mind with James Yoder

Welcome to the Frame of Mind series, the brain child of Chase Price with RedefineU Media. At hygge, we’re kind of known for keeping it short. Most of our videos are under one minute and at Zero Day we strictly enforce the 10 minute rule. But a few months ago, Chase came to us with an idea: interview local start ups and entrepreneurs about their stories and ask them questions that small business owners, creatives and community leaders everywhere are struggling with. This series of long interviews (yup, 30-45 minutes) is designed to get in-depth and personal, so get ready to dig in.

James Yoder will joke that he and wife Miracle had “no business starting a business” in 2009 when they opened the first Not Just Coffee on the corner of 15th and North Davidson.

“I watched endless hours of Youtube videos: from how to prepare an espresso to, whatever, how to make a pour over, just out of curiosity and fascination for it. There weren’t really other shops doing that to learn from,” he says.

But he took that chance anyway, and now Not Just Coffee has 6 locations, including one in our very own hygge jay street that we couldn’t love more.

This week on Frame of Mind, Chase sat down to chat with James and get to know a little more of his backstory, like how he lived abroad until he was 16, then went back and didn’t settle in Charlotte until 2009. Or that the coffee shop really found its roots in the Sunday potlucks with their friends when he and Miracle were totally broke, in the middle of a Charlotte that looked like a construction graveyard thanks to a downward turn in the economy. Or, how they said, “Fuck it,” and started their business, even though they had no business doing it.

Chase asks James how he decides to hire who he does, the process of finding a roaster to work with and how he creates the minimalist yet cozy aesthetic you’ll find in any Not Just Coffee you walk into.

You can watch the entire interview below: