1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:26,720 Alright, now the latte, do you want to throw the hot latte or ice latte? 2 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:28,720 Any plans for the weekend? 3 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:30,720 Hi, I'm David. 4 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:35,720 David James is still new to La Crosse, but he's loving it. 5 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:37,720 She's like, I didn't get it. 6 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:40,720 And I'm the owner of OO Coffee. 7 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:43,720 I love what I do. I love this place. 8 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:46,720 I love what this place means to a lot of people. 9 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:50,720 If this is the most complicated your day gets, that's going to be a great day, right? 10 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:53,720 When I can get somebody to fall in love with coffee, 11 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:57,720 or when I can get people to fall in love with the community, 12 00:00:57,720 --> 00:00:59,720 I'm just happy. 13 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:04,720 David has happily fallen in love with his new community. 14 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:08,720 Just what he was seeking after a move from the big city of Denver. 15 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:12,720 Thank you. Have a good rest of your conference. 16 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:16,720 Growing up, he'd spent summers in rural Wisconsin. 17 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:21,720 My grandma passed away and me and my wife went to her funeral 18 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:24,720 and we just sat on my uncle's porch 19 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:28,720 and just listened to just quiet. 20 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:31,720 And in that conversation, we were just like, 21 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:35,720 what if we lived in a place this peaceful? 22 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:40,720 That quiet moment set in motion a move to Wisconsin. 23 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:44,720 This is just like the most beautiful area of the country. 24 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:47,720 We felt pulled here. 25 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:50,720 Okay. 26 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:56,720 Just finding this location to open his dream coffee shop was picture perfect. 27 00:01:56,720 --> 00:01:58,720 We're right here. 28 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:03,720 David brought this painting from Denver where it had sat on his living room wall. 29 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:09,720 There he had been a champion barista, an owner of a coffee truck. 30 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:13,720 The landscape was painted by his grandmother decades ago 31 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:18,720 and it shows this view where today, O.O. coffee sits. 32 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:21,720 Something David took to heart. 33 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:23,720 I just think that it's fate. 34 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:28,720 I've been staring at this place my whole life. 35 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:33,720 Another thing that seemed just right to David was the name O.O. 36 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:37,720 Essentially it's named after my brother in a roundabout way. 37 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:40,720 Two hands make up the logo for O.O. coffee. 38 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:42,720 It's a tribute to David's brother. 39 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:45,720 Still want to share a beat with you guys. 40 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:46,720 I just made it. 41 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:47,720 Check it out. 42 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:52,720 As a musician and activist, he was known as Iggy Igloo. 43 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:58,720 In a nod to the brothers shared native Alaskan heritage. 44 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:03,720 He understood his path really early. 45 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:10,720 He knew he wanted to follow in the guidance of our ancestors from an early age. 46 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:12,720 He was at Standing Rock. 47 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:18,720 He was a water rights activist and he got colon cancer and stomach cancer 48 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:22,720 and then passed away a few years ago. 49 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:30,720 His signature tattoo went across his knuckles, spelling Iggy Igloo. 50 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:36,720 Me and a lot of my family, we all got this pinky tattoo to remember him, 51 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:40,720 which is the O.O. from Igloo on his knuckle. 52 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:46,720 O.O. became the name of the shop where David pays honor to Iggy. 53 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:51,720 Hey, do you want a latte? 54 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:56,720 So many things in this cafe are just shrines to him, basically, 55 00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:59,720 including the activism that I do. 56 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:02,720 David maintains a food pantry, 57 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:07,720 donates coffee service, and insists on paying a fair wage. 58 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:13,720 My barista is the highest paid barista in the state of Wisconsin. 59 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:17,720 I thought he made a typo at first because I'm like, there's no way that 60 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:20,720 this is a starting wage for a part-time barista. 61 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:22,720 He's also banned tipping, 62 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:25,720 and you're all set, while still elevating service. 63 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:30,720 You've got to pay a wage that respects the person's time. 64 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:36,720 But second, you have to make sure that that employee is respected here. 65 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:43,720 And then third, you make a promise to your customers that you're going to give good service. 66 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:45,720 Mary? 67 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:50,720 The promise of O.O. Coffee is the product of David's intentions, 68 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:54,720 to start anew in a peaceful place, to honor his brother, 69 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:58,720 and create community around his love of coffee. 70 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:03,720 Being able to see myself in what I produce is really important, 71 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:05,720 and I think that we've lost that. 72 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:10,720 It's something that I can look at every day and really be proud of. 73 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:12,720 Thank you so much. 74 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:31,720 Thank you.