What I learned from Conversations with Ali Ghambari

I often come to Cherry Street Coffee House in the mornings on the weekends to get some work done – it’s a beautiful location in the occidental park and only few mins walk from my place.

More than the location (which is beautiful with the views of the park), I love the Persian/American food here and the warm ambiance.

Some days, a gentleman would walk in and engage with everyone with friendly and authentic conversations.

He walked in today; with his high spirits, treating the employees and customers with utmost respect.

As he ordered his salad and sat down to eat it – I figured I would introduce myself and learn more about him.

Ofcourse I could have just looked him up on the internet since I was on my tablet but that’s no fun.

I walked across the coffee house and I asked if I could join him for a conversation.

With a smile and welcoming gesture, he said ofcourse, please sit down.

It was Ali Ghambari – the owner of Cherry Street Coffee House, currently serving more than 10 locations in DT Seattle and more in the making.

What a remarkable human being – conversation with him was full of energy and high spirits.

He shared his insights about his outlook on life and I could tell he is made of authentic soil from this earth (essentially we all are but very few of us are connected authentically).

When I playfully asked him if his ultimate goal is to overtake Starbucks…

He simply replied with a smile - I am not here to do better than someone else except do and be my own personal best.

He mentioned that life is full of miracles, love and abundance and it’s our responsibility to feel that love and share it with others through our creations.

He spoke about his love for community, life, poems of Rumi, gratitude, mediation (living in the present moment), eating healthy and spreading positive energy.

Being a spiritual being, I love engaging in conversations that are right brain centric.

I asked him if he has always been a spiritual being and he shared his favorite poem from Rumi that moved him deep inside sometime ago.

"I am not from this world or the afterworld. Ever since I realized love, I lost both worlds."

[something along these lines]

He also spoke a lot about love and abundance.

His outlook on life resonated with me because most of us are taught to think from a vision of fear and lack. We are taught that there is a lack of resources and ideas and the only way to achieve success is to do better than someone else and with this outlook; our actions in life are constantly motivated by fear and lack. Competition is more valued in our left brain centric way of living than connectivity and creativity.

Ali looks at life from lenses of love and abundance – he is not creating something to get bigger market share, beat competition or make more money but to simply share his vision and creativity to connect with others through his creation and have others feel the same connection.

He spoke highly about community, connecting with people and spreading positive energy.

His last words of wisdom before we ended out conversation was to - Wake up in the morning with a big smile, feel love and connection with yourself and with others and do the best you can every day.

What a magical conversation!

Note – These may not be exact quoted words from Ali Ghambari as I have expressed them from memory of our conversation. The opinions expressed in this article are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of Robert Half International Inc.