Our People
No eclectic gourmet coffee business can succeed without a dedicated group
of serious food lovers and we are no different. Meet our team!
Jeremiah's path to coffee perfection was not without detours. With an initial interest in visual media-he earned his BA in Business and Cinematography from Portland State University-he worked as a stringer for CBS News in the Northwest. It was then that he decided to quit his job and become a drummer. (If it's a surprise to you, imagine how his parents felt.) Jeremiah spent the next 13 years crisscrossing the country as a drummer/percussionist in various bands, playing with such fervor he was finally warned he'd suffer permanent damage to his hands if he continued to play. So Jeremiah did what any ex-visual artist, ex-newsman, ex-drummer would do. He took a job as marketing director for the famed Caffe Trieste in North Beach. It was here he learned the coffee business from the ground up, so to speak. After absorbing all the coffee lore he could, he decided to start his own business, roasting and blending in his small garage, graciously filling his Russian Hill neighborhood with the luxurious aroma of fine coffee. After outgrowing his garage (ever tried to find parking on Russian Hill?) Jeremiah rented space in a South of Market warehouse, and Jeremiah's Pick Coffee Company was born. Jeremiah describes himself as the Joker in a deck of Tarot Cards, the character with one hand over his eyes and one leg over the edge of a cliff. So far, thanks to passion, good instincts, and maybe a little luck, he hasn't gone over the edge of that cliff yet. He has translated his ability to lay down a monster beat into a reputation as a master blender, creating a harmonious convergence of the right flavors and processes. In the coffee business, as in the music business, he produces something aesthetically pleasing, visually enticing, delightfully sensual-striving, through it all, to "provide the customer with a product that will make an everlasting impression."
He began his career at Morgan Equipment Co., a privately held international distributor of construction and mining equipment and franchisor. After winning numerous jury trials, he found working in the business to be his calling. In 1988 he was appointed as General Counsel. From there, he became the Chief Financial Officer of the company in 1991 and rose to the position of General Manager in 1992. After Morgan closed its doors in 1995, he began the search for a challenging position in the gourmet food world while maintaining a consulting practice focusing on legal and financial issues confronting emerging businesses in Emeryville. He joined Jeremiah's Pick Coffee Co. in 1998, becoming Chief Executive Officer in 1999. He also acts as Treasurer and Secretary of the company. "Years ago I had a dream of working in an environment like ours at Jeremiah's Pick. We have an open and creative team that creates the highest quality innovative coffees in the marketplace. Seeing Chocatal, a product that I brought from imagination to reality succeed in the marketplace is the pinnacle of my career." Jules is the Vice President and a director of Vendor Resource Group, a non-profit corporation dedicated to providing innovative solutions to independent grocers throughout Northern California. He is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and Hastings College of the Law and an avid cyclist.
Since the late 80's Eric has been involved with the Bay Area's vast gourmet coffee market. He oversees the implementation of promotions and marketing for the company. He works closely with Distributors and Brokers managing the accounts for maximum efficiency. He received his BA and MA from the University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1982. His passion for coffee comes from heritage. Eric is also an avid chess player who appreciates the mental stimulation coffee provides for his practice. Kelly Zeissner, Vice PresidentChild of the world, Kelly has now found her most permanent residence in beautiful San Francisco and an enduring passion for the regions artesian coffee and food community. After graduating High School in Kobe, Japan, Kelly moved on to an Art and Art History degree at the highly regarded Johnston College, part of the University of Redlands, one of the US’s only alternative undergraduate education programs. Following a stint in the art community as an Assistant Director for a successful gallery in Chicago, Kelly moved back to California in search of something a little different. “Coffee has all the facets that I was looking for in art. Much like art, coffee provokes all of your senses at one time, with the exception of taste which gives coffee the upper hand. In all seriousness though, there is a sense of global connectivity that I get from working in coffee compared to the often times micro- societies found in the art gallery world.” She joined Jeremiah’s Pick Coffee in 2003 as Office Manager and quickly moved on to manage several different programs including Private Label, Gift Basket, Internet, Branding and Events. With her immense curiosity and German meticulousness to guide her she looks forward to tackling the rest of her career in this industry. |
