WHY WE BUILT OUTSIDER
In 2018, we were doing everything we thought we were supposed to do.
The jobs. The schedules. The responsibilities. The “stable” life that looked good from the outside.
But deep down, we knew something was missing.
C.J. was working a corporate job that didn’t feel aligned with the life we wanted to build. I (Lindsay) was juggling multiple side businesses while raising our four boys. On paper, we were fine. But most nights, we went to bed feeling disconnected from our purpose, our future, and the kind of work that actually made us come alive.
Years earlier, we had taken a big risk that did not turn out the way we hoped. So stepping out again felt scary.
It is easy to get caught in the golden handcuffs of a life that feels comfortable, predictable, and responsible, even when you know you were created for something more.
Then we discovered the possibility of opening a drive-thru coffee business, and something in us woke back up.
As the vision for Outsider Coffee started taking shape, we realized pretty quickly this was never going to be just about coffee.
We wanted to build a people-first coffee company centered around encouragement, community, genuine connection, and helping people remember who they are.
Opening our first Outsider location in Southern Oregon was a huge leap of faith. Jackson County is one of the most competitive drive-thru coffee markets in the country, with established coffee brands and major competitors all around us.
We knew if we were going to survive, we could not simply blend in.
We had to build something different.
So we focused on creating more than a transaction.
We built a drive-thru coffee brand where people feel seen, valued, and encouraged before they ever drive away from the window.
From handwritten Wake Up Words on cup lids to intentional customer interactions, community partnerships, local involvement, and a leadership-driven culture, Outsider Coffee was designed to make people feel like they matter.
Because to us, coffee has always been the vehicle.
The real mission is people.
What started as a risk has grown into a coffee franchise, a community, and a mission we care deeply about protecting and building with intention every single day.
MAYBE YOU'VE FELT THIS TOO...
One of the reasons we care so deeply about franchising Outsider Coffee is because we know what it feels like to wonder if there is something more to life.
Not in a dramatic, burn-it-all-down kind of way.
More like a quiet pull you cannot seem to shake.
Maybe you have built a career that looks successful on paper, but deep down it no longer feels aligned with who you are or the kind of future you want to create.
Maybe you have spent years taking care of everyone else while your own dreams slowly got moved to the bottom of the list.
Maybe you are stuck somewhere between comfort and calling.
Grateful for the life you have built, but still feeling pulled toward something more meaningful, more flexible, and more connected to who you actually are.
We understand that feeling because we have lived it too.
That is one of the reasons Outsider means so much to us.
We believe meaningful business ownership can change more than someone’s financial future. It can change their confidence, their purpose, their leadership, their family, and the way they experience everyday life.
Outsider is not simply about opening drive-thru coffee franchises.
It is about creating opportunities for people to build a business they genuinely believe in while making a real impact in their families and communities.
Because sometimes one brave decision changes far more than your career.
Sometimes it changes the entire direction of your life.
THE MOST VALUABLE ASSET
We cannot talk about being a people-first coffee company if we do not give you the foundation to build, lead, and serve an incredible team.
At Outsider Coffee, our team culture has been shaped by vulnerability, humility, clear leadership, and a genuine desire to help people grow.
But culture does not happen by accident.
It has to be built with intention.
That is why our franchise system includes the tools, training, and operational support to help you create a strong team from the beginning. From hiring and onboarding to leadership development, daily rhythms, customer experience, and store standards, we are excited to teach you what we have learned along the way.
Because the goal is not just to open a drive-thru coffee shop.
The goal is to build a team that believes in the mission, serves people well, and helps carry the culture of Outsider into your community.
YOUR GREATEST OPPORTUNITY
When you open your first Outsider Coffee drive-thru, something pretty incredible starts to happen.
You begin to know your customers.
Not just their drink orders, although yes, you will definitely know those too.
You will learn their names, their routines, their kids’ sports schedules, their hard days, their celebrations, and the little pieces of their lives they choose to share from the driver’s seat.
You will get to celebrate with them.
Some days, you may even cry with them.
You will greet them with a smile, hand them their favorite drink, and send them on their way with a handwritten Wake Up Word on the lid.
You will help create the kind of moments people remember.
Pay-it-forward chains that last for hours.
Power Hours where local businesses buy coffee for the people in their community.
Small acts of generosity that remind everyone there is still so much good happening right in front of us.
That is what makes Outsider different.
Yes, it is a drive-thru coffee business.
But when it is built with intention, it becomes something much bigger than coffee.
This journey will change you.
And then, one cup, one conversation, and one brave act of kindness at a time, it will begin to change your community too.