Daily Inspiration: Meet Shawn Clark

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shawn Clark.

Hi Shawn, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve been in the coffee industry for 20 years now. As soon as I got my first Barista position in downtown Fort Worth, TX in 2004 I knew I wanted to own my own coffeehouse one day. I traveled all around the United States in a VW Van with my cat for a few years and worked in various cafes to gain experience and just have fun doing it.

I moved to the Central Coast of California ten years ago and started pursuing coffee roasting as a natural evolution to get deeper into coffee.

I worked in some of the best cafes around and roasted coffee on the side in a coffee roaster that I constructed myself. I built a four-pound coffee roaster out of parts I found at Home Depot and Goodwill.

I finally got a professional coffee roasting position as a roasting manager at a cafe that tasted my coffee I roasted on my own. They helped me out by getting trained by a coffee roaster from formally (handsome coffee) and then newly hired by Blue Bottle.

From there, I developed my own roasting process by following Scott Rao and listening to my own artistic discretion. About five years ago, I launched Cacti Coffee Roasters with one coffeehouse taking on my coffee. Sally Loos Wholesome Cafe in San Luis Obispo was my first account, and they remain with my coffee to this day. Since then, I have gained many different varieties of coffee shops, boutiques, and retail shops.

Last year an opportunity presented itself to run a small bar in Pismo Beach to promote Cacti and be more in the public eye. I have been running that shop myself and enjoyed getting back into barista work and being creative with my craft.

We offer specialty-grade coffee with an elevated experience for the curious and creative coffee drinker.

For example:
We make a “Cappuccino Brûlée” made exactly like a specialty cappuccino but topped with raw sugar and brûléed with a torch topped with a twist of lime.

I have seen a ton of success with this model of mixing the Mixology world with the specialty coffee world.

All in all, Cacti is growing and making waves and keeping our reputation here on the central coast.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I don’t think starting a small business is ever super smooth, but I feel like I had a pretty good handle on it from the beginning; we haven’t lost any money, and we’re not in debt, but I did have to work a second job when I first began Cacti, and then when the pandemic hit, it was another setback because a lot of cafés were closed and my Coffee accounts decreased. But we quickly pivoted to dropping off Coffee at people’s door steps during the pandemic to help people get coffee that couldn’t get out, and we saw much success with that, and that helped us through the pandemic, and then when we came out the other side, we were stronger, and the coffee business flourished.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I feel like I had a leg up on getting out there because I’ve been playing music around the Central Coast for a while in a band. The Shawn Clark family band has been playing on the Central Coast for the last seven years, and people know me by that. They also know that I have high integrity with the coffee that I roast and have always strived for perfection with my coffee craft. I feel like the thing that sets me apart is that I want to take Coffee to the next level and find out what we are doing next in the Coffee industry.

I’ve gone down the route of coffee, sourcing, coffee, roasting, barista, and I think that I want to find out where the Coffee industry is supposed to be headed next. So I started experimenting with mixing the mixology world and the specialty coffee world and have seen people really respond positively to it. I’ve done experimental drinks like the cappuccino brûlée and the cocktail smoker, smoked iced Americano. While all along keeping the integrity of the coffee at the upmost discretion. I believe in upholding the tradition of coffee while taking it to another level to see what can be done and how tastes can intertwine.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Yes, I was trained by an amazing coffee, roaster, and barista that has gone on to win multiple competitions. I also looked for advice from local business owners who have had much success here on the Central Coast. I am forever grateful for their guidance and mentorship.

I think finding a mentor is a natural evolution of being passionate about your craft. You have to look to those who are more successful than you and surround yourself with people who have done at least part of the dream that you want to do.

If you were actively doing the thing that you’re passionate about, you will naturally seek out and hopefully be bold enough to ask for advice.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.cacticoffeeroasters.com
• Instagram: cacticoffeeroasters
• Facebook: cacticoffeeroasters