Life is Service: Zachary Johnson x Third Eye Coffee

“I wanted to be exactly who I am without asking for anyone’s permission. I’m the first person in my family that is in the hospitality industry, but I’ve been following in my father’s footsteps for a while now. We both served in the Navy and became entrepreneurs after getting out.

Third Eye Coffee started with a desire for autonomy and freedom. I’m sorta a ‘have my cake and eat it too’ kind of guy, so I dreamed up a business that indulged my expensive coffee habit and desire to go to festivals. I’ve daydreamed about quitting this a few times, but I’m the provider in my family, and I won’t let them down. Plus, the petty side of me can’t let the haters and the ‘I told you so’s win.

Third Eye Coffee and all of the risks I’ve taken thus far have been inspired by a series of mushroom trips I went on in 2019/2020. These trips stripped away all of my habits of perception, leaving me a blank slate to build myself anew. I started seeing this life as a speck in my eternal existence, allowing me to stomach risks that I never would have dreamed of taking.

Life can change at any moment. Even at our lowest moments, we could run into an opportunity that launches us into the stars and I feel like I am in a rocket ship.”

— Zachary Johnson
Founder / Owner @third_eye_coffee

Photo series: Life is Service
Pt 4.
Photographed + Interviewed by: Jordan Abdur-Ra’oof @shotbyjbot

Location: Third Eye Coffee - NC.