Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Rounds.
Hi Jason, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started getting experience in specialty coffee in 2013 as a student in New York City. At first, coffee wasn’t really an interest, but seeing how important it was to my customers encouraged me to take being a barista more seriously. I started exploring the New York coffee scene, trying out new spots & new drinks. I remember coming across Third Rail Coffee in Alphabet City by way of a magazine feature for their lead barista. It was the first time reading about the person making the coffee instead of the shop, equipment or roaster. This created a lot of interest in the barista role as a profession & into the various elements that bring the experience of coffee together. From location & aesthetic, to technology & bean selection, to company culture & the people behind the counter I quickly developed a deep interest in the industry as a whole. Over the years, I curated a vision for what I wanted to present to people in a specialty coffee shop & eventually decided it was time to press “play” on the process of rolling out my first shop. I had a roughly 10 year career in accounting, organizational development & operational management. I saw a lot of what NOT to do when building a company & fostering a culture and built those lessons into what I wanted from my small business. I also invested a large percentage of my wages in a 401k account, which was the sole source of funding for my first coffee shop – consciousness coffee & tea co. I am now the sole employee at the shop & almost all of my time goes into keeping things afloat. It’s worth it!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Life is hard, but also beautiful. You will inevitably get where you are meant to go. Struggling is a really important part of building trust with yourself & finding clarity about what matters.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about consciousness coffee & tea co?
consciousness coffee & tea co is a small specialty coffee shop in Lemoyne, PA. We’re going on two years in business in July 2026. We are owner operated, have no external investors & our focus is on kindness, equity & building community. consciousness coffee & tea co specializes in brewing craft beverages, like coffee, matcha & loose leaf teas. Locally, the thing that sets us apart is our events. We host a minimum of 3 free events per week, including open mics, concerts, art jams, book clubs & much more. We host a lot of queer & LGBTQ+ events, like our monthly drag shows, benefit concerts & fundraisers. On a broader scale, we’re part of what is being collectively built in specialty coffee across the US & world. What sets us apart in this area is that our team only has one member (for now!). Maintaining a really high level of product quality with a clean supply chain & a really high level of hospitality is something I’m proud of. consciousness coffee & tea co is a multi-roaster coffee shop, which means we offer coffee from multiple roasters at once. Customers can enjoy a variety of options in one visit & we’re always rotating new roasters into the mix. We are currently serving coffee from three current or former microroasters of the year, which I’m also proud of.
What matters most to you?
kindness. It’s always an option & often not the most popular choice. It’s easy to be unkind, but being uncommonly kind is something that can make a difference at any moment.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://consciousness.coffee
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consciousness.coffee/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564103617892
