Our first pop-up was at FUJI’s Brazilian jiu jitsu championship in NY. It was only appropriate because 2nd Rule’s fist bump logo was inspired by it. My co-barista for the day was Christian, founder of Alpha Fitness United, who I met on the training mats in this very sport in 2018. He and I both quit our corporate careers to engineer our own fulfilling lifestyles, so it was an honor to have him behind the bar with me. He said his “barista level is Folgers", but anyone who was served by him that day would’ve said that getting a cup from him was a delight.
2nd Rule had particularly special visitors, like Jen, my cousin, and Francis, my former manager from my public accounting days. They say you’ll never forget your first customers!— ours was a family who arrived to the championship a little too early that morning and purchased 4 cups while we were still setting up. That day we quickly ran out of coffee and milk.. way earlier than we expected and lesson learned! The environment of Brazilian jiu jitsu is always energizing to be around.
Thank you to the organizer of FUJI NY, Allan Bernstein, for having us!
