In this episode, Travis sits down with Mesh Gelman, founder and CEO of Cumulus Coffee Company. With a career spanning entrepreneurship, retail innovation, and leadership at Starbucks—including running retail partnerships and its innovation incubator—Mesh brings decades of experience to the world of coffee. After years of R&D, he launched Cumulus to solve one of the biggest challenges in coffee: delivering high-quality cold brew at home in seconds. His journey blends curiosity, resilience, and a relentless drive to build something truly differentiated.

On this episode we talk about:

Mesh’s unconventional path from teaching to textiles to coffee innovation
Lessons learned scaling a retail business and landing major partners like JCPenney
What he learned working closely with Starbucks and Howard Schultz
The massive shift from hot coffee to cold brew and what it means for the market
The 4+ year R&D journey behind building Cumulus Coffee

Top 3 Takeaways

Curiosity and asking better questions can open more doors than having all the answers.
Building your own brand—and owning the customer relationship—is critical for long-term stability.
The best innovations often come from solving operational pain points that others overlook.

Notable Quotes

"The smartest people I knew were asking questions, not just giving answers."
"The world will be fine tomorrow without us—we have to earn our business every day."
"It’s the hardest job I’ve ever had—and it brings me more joy than anything I’ve done."

Connect with Mesh Gelman:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meshgelman
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meshgelman/
Other: https://cumuluscoffee.com

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INTERVIEW | Make Money by Reinventing Coffee with Mesh Gelman