Creating a Space for 'Others': An Interview with Others Coffee's Founders
Join us for an in-depth conversation with Washington DC entrepreneurs Ashley May and Brian Raupp, founders of the cafe and roaster: Others Coffee.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Dear coffee lovers,
Today we’re excited to share the first edition of Coffee Club’s Interviews series! 💙 Our first guests are the founders of Others Coffee in Washington DC, Ashley May and Brian Raupp. We had an enriching conversation with this inspiring couple to uncover the meaning behind Others, how the COVID pandemic played a vital role in the early stages of their roasting operation, the connection between their musical aspirations and coffee journey, and more. So grab yourself a fresh cup of coffee and enjoy.
Huey: Can you tell us the Others origin story? When did you both realize you wanted to start the company?
Brian: When we met, we connected over coffee. Some of our first dates were in coffee shops. So it was just this thing that we had in common right off the bat, and like many people in coffee, we joked about owning a shop someday.
Later, we both worked in coffee. Once we gained that experience, we started an Instagram blog called Rabbit and Fox where we visited coffee shops, not to review them, but to experience them. It wasn’t intentional at first—just a way to explore. It was really the pandemic that gave us the opportunity to take this loose idea and start to put it into something tangible.
Ashley: After we had both worked in coffee, we realized the ladder is really short in this business. The highest you’ll climb is normally shop manager or something like that. So once I got pregnant, I started thinking about what we could do next, and the pandemic gave us the time and financial space to pick up roasting.
We were really blessed because we weren't furloughed without any income. So we picked up the trade of roasting, and Brian started roasting in a tabletop roaster at his dad's house. From there we started sending out coffee to friends, coffee professionals, pretty much anyone that we knew until we got some feedback that was good enough to say “Let's launch a coffee company online.”
Brian: Without the pandemic we might’ve had a different entry point, but thanks to Ashley's wisdom, roasting was a natural fit for an e-commerce business. We watched YouTube videos and learned as we went. We found out we were having our son in August of 2020, and then we launched the business in September of 2020. So as Ashley’s pregnancy progressed, roasting in a backyard wasn’t ideal.
Huey: What about the name, “Others?”
Brian: I’ve always been a fan of thesauruses, and as I remember the story going, I was just searching for words that felt like something. As a starting point, I started by looking up “outcast,” which is my favorite rap group, OutKast, but with a "C." One synonym for "outcast" was "other," and it clicked. The name felt right because we’ve both felt like outsiders, like the “others.”
Ashley: We aim to stay true to our values and always try to help others, especially within the community. It’s not about Instagram followers or clout—it’s about real intentions. As we grow the name will start to become evident.
Brian: Exactly. Like in music, you don’t criticize someone for just discovering a band. You welcome them in. It’s about creating space for everyone. We aim to be inclusive—welcoming everyone, whether they know the difference between a flat white and a macchiato or not. We’re here to teach, not judge.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Coffee Club to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.