A recent addition to our thump crew, Jo was drawn away from Spokane, WA by many of the things that attract so many of us to Bend.

With a wink, Jo summarized his life: “I play guitar like Eddie Van Halen, I climb like Ed Viesturs, I look like Matthew McConaughey, I make coffee like world barista champ Gwilym Davies, and I run like Dean Karnazes.”  Then he added, “I’m just a 20 year old here to figure life out!”

Jo is a distance runner, averaging 55-60 miles a week. He’s not into running in events or races though, just running for the sheer pleasure (agony?) of it!

Alpine skiing and mountaineering are also interests. He hopes to summit Mt. Jefferson in the next year and eventually climb Denali and various international mountains.

Shaped by the music of classic rock guitarists such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana, Jo also devotes a large portion of his time playing acoustic and electric guitar.

When asked what draws him to working with coffee, he responded that he loves starting work at 5:30am. RIGHT! We didn’t buy that one.

He did share that with all of the effort and hands that coffee goes through to finally reach the customer, from meticulously farming, harvesting, processing, shipping, and roasting, his final touch, of preparing the drink, can really make or break all of that prior effort.  Knowledge of this highly motivates him to be “… on my ‘A’ game when making coffee.”