Employee Spotlight: Darrian

What prompted your interest in coffee? 

The simple answer is tea. I’ve always been fascinated with beverages and food. Teavana was one of the first brands I loved. I’ve always been interested in the history of tea, but being in theater introduced me to coffee. In the fall, I was hyper-fixated on the featured drinks at Starbucks (i.e., PSL). I started to learn how to cook vegan food and realized that I loved the variety of flavors and syrups. 

 

What is your job title? What’s your favorite part of your job? 

Daytime bartender, two years in August 2024. My favorite part of this job is being able to give back to the community that brought me up. I want to support the brands that come from the Northside. 

Any fun facts you’d like to share about yourself? 

I was cast on Elmo at six, but my family didn’t want me to be in Hollywood.

I grew up in a neighborhood where many creatives grew up, like Chuck Berry and Tina Turner. I grew up a few miles away from Maya Angelou’s childhood home. Josephine Baker is a family friend. My entire family is creative, which is where I get it from. 

Hopes, dreams, and desires for the future? What are your passions outside of coffee? 

All roads lead to communication, language, and storytelling. The mediums keep changing – it started in fine arts for me and is shifting to programming languages. I’ve always enjoyed learning languages, problem-solving, and being intellectually stimulated. The arts industry is typically more intuitive and personal. With coding, abstraction, and creativity are more structured. I’m enrolled in Launch Code, and this shift has made me feel much better. I still consider myself an artist, but I enjoy not having the pressure of profit attached to the craft. I’m very interested in the ways things work and how to make life more efficient for everyone. I will continue to tell my story, it just might look different over time. 

 

If you could have coffee with any one person, who would it be? 

My great-grandmother, Mary Jackson. 

 

What is your go-to drink order at a Blueprint location? 

Cortado or a matcha latte. 

 

Anything else you want to share with Blueprint fans? 

I hope you’ll continue to support me in my journey and expansion.