My dad’s uncle, Andy, founded our business in 1965. The business was called House of Coffee, and while we sold freshly roasted beans, it was really a European goods store selling candies, jams, meats, and cheeses. My father, who immigrated from Lebanon, took over the business in 1983 when Andy retired. When he saw Andy’s roasting machine, it reconnected him to his roots. He roasted coffee beans as a child in his grandfather’s bakery back home.
I grew up in the shop, but if I’m being honest, I completely hated it. I was dragged to work on Saturdays as a kid when I just wanted to watch cartoons. I had no aspirations to take it over. I went to college, majored in finance, and spent 10 years in the corporate world. But in 2013, when my father asked me to help him value the business for retirement, I saw a massive opportunity in the online space and decided to leave the corporate grind behind. Now, I love every single day I spend here.
I’ve always been an early adopter of technology. My brain is wired for efficiency, so I looked at AI as a way to make my life easier. It started with simple things like writing emails, but once I discovered Google NotebookLM and Gemini, the scope of what I could do exploded.
My first real win was our Armenian coffee kit. Armenian coffee, often called Turkish coffee, has a unique, 14-step brewing process that we used to explain with an old-school card in the box. I knew people would prefer a visual guide, so I uploaded a PDF of the steps and our brand guidelines into NotebookLM, and after brainstorming for about 20 minutes, I had a perfect, ready-to-print infographic.
As a finance nerd, I love data. I wanted a daily sales forecast for our e-commerce site, but I’m not a developer and didn't know how to write the code to connect our tools. Gemini walked me through the API keys and JavaScript I needed.
Now, every morning, I get a detailed email comparing yesterday’s performance to last year. I’ve saved countless hours and have immediate direction every single day.
I’ve also found Gemini incredibly helpful for developing content that connects us with our community. We launched a weekly newsletter called the "Sunday Pour" featuring coffee-related news. I developed a workflow where Gemini shares dozens of articles, I pick my favorites, and have it help craft the writeup.
I’ve received an amazing response—about 30 thank-you emails from customers after the first few sends. There is no way I could do this on my own every week.
Most recently, I used Gemini’s image generation model, Nano Banana, to design a holiday advent calendar featuring 24 different coffees. Visualizing the packaging was a huge hurdle, but I uploaded our fonts and colors, and after iterating with Gemini, it generated an elegant image of a dark green box with gold hot stamping and cloth handles. The mockup was almost identical to the physical sample I eventually received from the manufacturer, saving me thousands of dollars and months of back-and-forth.
My vision is to keep this going for another 50 years. I have three boys, so there’s at least a 33% chance one of them becomes the fourth generation to lead House of Coffee. Because of the efficiency AI tools and experiences provide, I don’t have to work 80 hours a week. I’m financially comfortable, but more importantly, I have the balance to spend time with my family and my hobbies and connect with our community while keeping our family tradition alive.