Whenever I want to get a drink in the afternoon, I pay a visit to the Summer Moon Coffee Bar. I’m not the biggest fan of coffee, so I instead I order the Moon Glacier, which is a drink that consists of milk and ice mixed together.
But this is not the only reason I pay a visit to Summer Moon… It’s also so I can see my friend Zac Tinney who works there. Zac spends many of his days pouring coffee and other drinks for customers while consistently having a smile on his face. Despite having to wake up at 5:00 AM in the morning, he is still able to keep his customers happy with overwhelming friendliness.
“Summer Moon is a mixed bag. On one hand it's a new store and so it can be really busy and fast paced. But I try to constantly slow down and remind myself that within each cup and conversation is the power to help someone start their day off right or launch a new project/idea,” says Zac.
It should come as no surprise that Zac was excited when I asked if I could write about him. I know what you’re thinking. Is Zac the owner of Summer Moon? Is he a manager? And to answer all your questions; no, Zac is just a normal employee of the Summer Moon Coffee Bar…
and yet that is what makes Zac so fascinating.
You see...
and yet that is what makes Zac so fascinating.
You see…
Zac Tinney at Summer Moon Coffee.
I ’ve known Zac for more than 2 years now, and if there’s one thing I can say about Zac is that he is like your best friend. It doesn’t matter if you need support or just need some of his time, Zac will be there to help you out. But don’t take Zac as the most serious person; he still knows how to have fun.
Case in point, I thought I had gotten all the footage of Zac that I needed for this profile but I found out I needed to grab a few more shots. When I reached out to Zac about getting some more footage, he said that in two days he would be going out on a flight to Atlanta for an event. The very next day, Zac met up with me at 8:30 in the morning to get some more shots.
But it’s not just me that he gives this time for. If there’s one thing I know about Zac is that he loves spoken word. Spoken word is the performance art of using words and poetry. In the past, he has sent me multiple albums consisting of spoken word on top of music tracks. So it should come as no surpise that last week, Zac went out to see his friends Tyler and Aaron performing speaking and poetry at the “Night of Words.”
Zac (right) watching Tyler performing at "Night of the Words".
Throughout the night, Zac was supportive of his friends, especially Tyler, this being Tyler’s first time speaking his poems out in a public space.
“From spoken word to live music, I love the arts and I love my friends. I've helped build a diverse community of folks with all sorts of unique gifts and passions. Next time I might just get up there with him (Tyler),” says Zac.
I met Zac, Tyler and Aaron around two years ago at an event known as Austin Lit (which has been rebranded as Equinox), which was a night of discussion and critical thinking hosted by Catalyst Collective.
Little did I know that Zac would eventually become...
Zac is also the Program Director for the non-profit organization Catalyst Collective. Since Catalyst Collective is a small non-profit, Zac is also their graphic designer, volunteer coordinator, manager, speaker, janitor and more. As program director, Zac is in charge of the many unique programs that Catalyst hosts.
A few weeks ago, in a response to the Austin, TX boil water notice (known to some as the water-pocalype), Program Director Zac came up with the idea of handing out free water bottles to students who came to After Hours.
“We (at Catalyst Collective) run an After Hours program in a local school that was affected by the recent waterpocalypse. We stocked up on waters and handed them out in hopes of serving the community. It was real easy to meet a tangible need and to start up a conversation,” says Zac.
What is After Hours, you may ask? The After Hours program that meets at various local middle and high schools to provide a relaxing environment with many tables set up for students and free classes that can help students explore something students may not have the opportunity to learn in school itself.
Campfire at the young adults program Equinox.
Another Catalyst Program is Equinox (Formally known as Austin Lit). This young adults program meets on Thursday nights to provide a night of reflection and discussion is another program with Zac at the front. At Equinox, Zac brings up a topic that college students or young adults may be struggling or are curious about and then have a place for young adults to critically discuss these topics.
When I asked Zac why he was working at a coffee shop while he was also working hard as the Catalyst Collective Program Director, he gave me a simple answer: “Money.” While we both laughed afterward, it is the undeniable truth that working for a non-profit does not in-fact often make that much profit.
“Right now, I wake up every morning to go work at a coffeshop at 5 AM… but I know that’s not where I want to be full time. I want to launch my own shop,” Says Zac.
With the help of Catalyst, one of Zac’s goals is to start a coffee shop / co-work hybrid where people can come and drink coffee while hearing each others stories eventually building a community. Zac hopes to take his experience working at Summer Moon Coffee and apply it to his future coffee shop.
It is no doubt that Zac is a hardworker working as a barista, a non-profit program director and taking time out of his personal schedule to support and help out friends. If there ever was someone deserving to acquire his own coffee shop, it would be Zac. His kindness of handing out water bottles to students during the Austin water boil crisis to attending his friends’ spoken word concert. It is in this kindness and through a possible coffee shop, Zac could put a smile on everyone’s faces.
