Enterprising East Bay teen brightens up the day one cup at a time

ALBANY (CBS SF) -- When 19-year-old Diego Rojas was given the opportunity to open a drive-thru coffee kiosk in Albany last month, he wasn't about to let it slip through his fingers.

So each morning, when other teens are just rolling out of bed, he's already begun his day, firing up the coffee makers and ready to greet his customers with a smile and a cup of joe from the kiosk appropriately named Joe's Coffee.

"It's really nice when I get to make someone's day by making a cup of coffee," he told KPIX.

The kiosk is located in a parking lot of Toyota of Berkeley and was the brainchild of the owners Tim Southwick and Tim Southwick Jr. who wanted a coffee operation on their property.  But who would run it?

That's where fate and timing stepped in. The elder Southwick was a patron of Tomate Cafe, which is run by Rojas' mom. He asked her one day if she knew of anyone who could operate the planned operation. She mentioned her son.

Rojas had been working at the popular Alameda coffee shop -- Zolo Roasters -- learning the business from the grass roots up.  A couple meetings later, the Southwicks knew they had found the right person to run Joe's.

"It's not every day that people give opportunities to people my age," he told KPIX. "When the opportunity came knocking at my door, I just kind of grabbed on and held on."

But he also embraced creating bonds with his customers.

"It's funny, I'm not really a coffee drinker but I fell in love with the community behind coffee," he said. "(It's) definitely all about the bond. That's kind of how coffee slowly got into my blood."

"This guy was having a rough morning, I decided to hook him up with a free cup," he continued. "He ended up coming back and you know what, that really made my day and I appreciate it."

His advice for other teens.

"If you find something that you love, stick with it. Eventually it'll pay off."