Meet Ozzy Guragac | CEO

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

Hi Ozzy, alright, let’s jump in with a deep one – what’s you’re definition for success?
Success is the mindset of clearing up obstacles on the way towards your goal/achievement. The more obstacles you discard, more successful you become. Other than that, there’s no such thing as unsuccess.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Well, our business is coffee. A good commodity that is widely consumed all over the world. It normally is extremely challenging to create a difference from one coffee shop and roastery to another. However, what you love doing makes you unique and special. Here at Barbarossa, we have the privilege to offer more than 20 different varieties of coffee beans that come from different parts of the world. Each with a unique characteristics. With years of trials and errors, we have learned to create unique blends in perfect harmony. None of these came easy though. Creating unique blends and special tastes take time and effort. Every single roast is another lesson in terms of fully understanding the characteristics, and another experience for creating special blends. Our initial thought of our philosophy at the beginning was to be able to try enough of “bad coffee” to be able to create a “good coffee”. And I was fortunate enough to experience all different tastes around the world. Again, it took time and effort. Currently, Barbarossa’s widely covered coffee bean spectrum embrace majority of our customers who have different sense of tastes. So, being heard, recognized, and respected in our local area is the greatest award and that’s what will keep us to be innovative and creative.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We live in the Space City. My favorite place is the NASA’s facilities. It is a unique priviledge to invite my friends and relatives who don’t live in the same city. I love hanging out around Washington Avenue area. Handle Bar has been a place to go for the last couple of years. In terms of food, Fogo de Chao offers one of the best steak which what Texas is famous of. As a good activity, I’d rather watching Rockets and Astros playing. Also, at least once a month, I really enjoy hanging out in the Museum District.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Our lovely community, first of all, has played the biggest role on our success. Without their great support, we would have not been able to manage growing. Our employees, on the other hand, has played just as important role as our community. Employees that made us a big family where everyone feels like they’re at their homes. Lastly, my real family! Feeling the suuport of your own family on the way with full of obstacles and problems is healing.

Website: www.barbarossacoffee.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barbarossacoffee/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oguzhanguragac/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Barbarossacoffee.roastery
Yelp: https://biz.yelp.com/home/jev9YxJO9rzjjEL3ElCCqA
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyiB9ldy5t9V4nB3B1GqJlw
Other: https://www.pinterest.com/barbarossacoffe/_created/

Image Credits
Jo Gerald – @jgcrudo