We love our customers. They're the reason we get out of bed in the morning. It's a true pleasure to be invited into so many people's businesses to help them get the most out of their Apple technology. We thought it'd be a great idea if we share the spotlight with the people who let us do what we love to do within their organizations.
Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee has been a great customer of ours since the beginning, and it's been a real treat to see their vision come alive. I recently had a chance to ask Jonathan Golden, the founder, some questions about his company and how they use their technology to get work done. Be sure to see their video below, and then share in their vision at drinkcoffeedogood.com.
What does your company do?
Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee™ buys coffee beans directly from farming cooperatives in Rwanda; ensuring growers receive a fair, Living Wage. As the growers come together for the common purpose of coffee, they redeem the relationships that once divided their country.
What does your company do differently than everyone else?
Our presence in rural Rwanda has allowed us to create community in our coffee village in Bukonya and with our coffee drinkers. We invest a portion of our profits into village projects like building a washing station in Bukonya, offering microfinance loans to entrepreneurs, and providing coffee bikes to growers. In a post-genocide nation, Rwandan farming communities are becoming a vibrant picture of opportunity and sustainability.
What geographical area do you serve?
The Land of a Thousand Hills office and flagship coffee shop is based in Roswell, GA, with another shop down off Aker’s Mill Road near the Atlanta perimeter. The cool thing about our company is that we’re based here in Georgia—where we roast all of our coffee to order—but we sell coffee all over the country. All of the people who drink our coffee in the United States and Canada have a part in what we’re doing for the people of Rwanda.
How does your team use Macs?
Macs are the perfect computers for Land of a Thousand Hills because everything is integrated into one well-running system. We can use our Macs to video chat with our team members in Rwanda, edit videos of a recent trip we’ve taken, and create marketing materials.
How many Macs do you have?
As a team, we have about 10 Macs, both iMacs and MacBooks.
Does your team use iPhones?
We sure do. They are a perfect extension of the Macs we already use in the office and they definitely increase our productivity as a team—as we are able to work, even on the go.
Which 3rd party applications do you use the most for business?
We are big fans of Daylite, Omnifocus and Action Method here at Land of a Thousand Hills and we also make good use of Twitter and Facebook—sharing what we’re doing here and inRwanda with our customers around the country.
What about the Mac has helped you or your team increase productivity?
Everything is easier on a Mac. The few PCs that we have in the office are much harder to navigate than the Macs—and they’re not as much fun to use! The Mac interface is so simple and it’s easy to get to everything you need. It can make complex projects simple.
Is there a favorite application on your Mac that you can't live without?
Omnifocus and Action Method help keep us organized. With so many projects and things going on at once, it’s good to have projects and action steps mapped out. Plus, the apps on the Mac sync with the apps on our iPhones.
What "fun" thing do you enjoy doing on your Mac?
Going through photos in iPhoto, video chatting with staff across the world, and creating fun marketing pieces with Pages.
What advice do you want to give to others who are making the switch or thinking about making the switch to Mac?
It makes perfect sense for any small business to switch to using Macs. Everything is integrated into one easy-to-use system and you can do so much more on a Mac than you can do on a PC.