Meet Joshua Moore | Faith & Mission Driven Dad & Husband

We had the good fortune of connecting with Joshua Moore and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Joshua, maybe we can start at the very start – the idea – how did you come up with the idea for your business?
“What are you gonna call it?” I was asked. “I want a name that tells everyone before they walk in that they are accepted just as they are, without feeling like they need to hide who they are. I don’t know, something that is inclusive.”
“Why don’t you just call it that?”
“What? Inclusive- hmm, Inclusive Coffee…” I said a few times, trying it out.
It didn’t exactly roll off the tongue. But, “Inclusion Coffee.” That felt better. It felt… well, like I want people who come to feel.
But there was just one problem— naming ourselves Inclusion— it just felt too self-righteous to name my business with something so obviously good and right.
Inclusion should go without saying.
But then, later that night as I was mulling it over and praying about it while taking a shower, a statement hit me, as if it was airdropped right into my mind by somebody else.
“Some things that should go without saying, need to be said the most.”
I immediately knew that had to be the name.
It should go without saying that we are accepted, that we are loved and… and respected with kindness… but we need to hear it every single day. So we are called Inclusion Coffee

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My original reason for applying to work at a coffee shop was because I wanted a job that seemed conducive to finally writing that novel I’d always dreamed of writing. Despite not even being a coffee drinker when I first got hired at Buon Giorno Coffee about 15 years now, they still gave me a chance. I spent my first year in coffee, showing up there at 5:30am most mornings. If I had a shift, I worked the shift, if I didn’t, I spent the time writing that novel while drinking copious amounts of coffee. I learned how good coffee can taste when it’s freshly roasted with care and intention. Coffee was my writing companion and I did eventually get published! However, my publisher wants me to finish book 3 in my trilogy before we release them. The first book is called The Missing Prophet and it’s a young adult fantasy novel that would appeal to your average Harry Potter fan. I just started writing book 3, so it’s still too soon to say when it will be released.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would take them on a bookstore crawl. Everything from the massive half-price bookstore in Dallas to some eclectic bookshops in historic buildings of Downtown Fort Worth or Downtown Denton. The kind of shops where floorboards creak and the bookshelves are arrayed in mazes that you don’t want to find your way out of.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are 5 people that must be mentioned in answer to this questions. 1. My first coffee shop job was at Buon Giorno Coffee in Grapevine Texas owned by David and Leyna Clarke. They taught me so much about coffee, but more than that, they showed me how to create a space where the community grows organically. I learned so much from them and am extremely grateful for the life they lead and the example they set.
2. I also can’t forget about my wife Mary, who I met the week before I found the “future” site for Inclusion Coffee. She met me when everything was still an unrealized dream and before I had anything to show for where this coffee shop mission was going. She believed in me, helped me keep my head on straight when times got rough, and was willing to help whether it meant wielding a hammer drill, steaming milk or offering wisdom and encouragement when times were hard.
3. I also must mention my Dad. Not only did my Dad teach me so much about what it is to keep going no matter what, he also got involved. He invested, and he was hear as much as I was, when we built the shop by hand. It took us 9 months of continuous construction to build nearly 7,000 sqft worth of coffee shop, that included building a mezzanine by hand. So much went wrong, but we always found a way to keep going until finally we finished!
4. The most important inspiration for the shop was my relationship with Jesus. No matter what went wrong, I always felt encouraged after I prayed that somehow things would work out. And somehow they always did and I can’t exactly explain all of it. But that faith kept me going even at times when it didn’t seem like there was a way forward.

Website: inclusioncoffee.com

Instagram: @inclusioncoffee

Other: my work in progress book website is themissingprophet.com and my publisher’s website is aethonbooks.com