We recently connected with Denzell Oats and have shared our conversation below.

Denzell, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

It started with a self converted bus. In 2021, like so many people, I found more free time on my hands than I could ask for. At a time where everyone was working from home and so many places were shuttered to the public, I was finding myself “antsy”. So,I took time to myself. To read. pick up new hobbies, practice old ones. But I still felt unfulfilled in how I was spending my time. I remember one Sunday watching a random Youtube video of a travel influencer who bought a van, and rebuilt the interior into a full blown, “tiny home” to travel the world. Traveling has always inspired me and this idea was truly fascinating. Not only was it a genius way to travel, but the rebuild itself offered a steep enough challenge to make me think, “I could do this.”
So I found an old city shuttle bus that was in good condition and purchased it. I completely emptied the bus of it’s seats and wheel chair lift to make space for the new floorplan that would accommodate a queen size bed, seats for four people, a bathroom and a kitchenette. 8 months later, the vision became a reality and has since completely changed my life and how I approach time.
The “Risk” element in this story for me was the fact that (1) I had no building experience or background with tools, and (2) one could come up with many other ways to spend that time and money. Thoughts of, “What if I don’t finish?” or “What if I mess something up so bad the bus never runs again?” There were days I thought I made a huge mistake. But let me tell you what was on the other side of that risk. The element of surprise. I’ve learned when you take a risk and you prioritize and concentrate your efforts – the outcomes are limitless. What was a blank canvas is now a self contained tiny home that has made so many friends and memories with loved ones and family. From start to finish the bus is nothing but a collection of small accomplishments and learning moments for me. It’s given me community but more importantly was the motivating factor in my life to take more risks – Enter Expectancy and every other risk taken after.
I’m a huge proponent of everyone needs a “bus” in their life.

Denzell, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Denzell. I love coffee and I love people.

I started Expectancy in 2021 with the whole premise to “Expect Something Good”. As everyday people we often face challenges, and difficult times in life. For many COVID was just that. Expect Something Good was a mantra I used to keep myself grounded in positivity. Through my love of coffee and people I decided to connect the two in hopes to further this message and create a positive community of coffee lovers and community builders. Not only have we been able to source and share coffee from around the world, we’ve been able to create community through our product.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Not every ones path is the same, and success is not linear by any means.

As young people growing into a shaped society, it can be hard to find your way, your passion, or your why. I found myself early on adopting “pre set” plans for growing my career and myself as a person. This was ultimately unfulfilling. It’s very easy to look at conventional paths of success and follow those but I’ve learned lean into autonomy and follow what I know to be true about myself. I’ve also found this to be a great reminder on how to infuse genuineness and authenticity into what you are doing.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Social media is our main marketing tool – Instagram to be exact. When we launched I thought it important to show the product, the look the feel and the packaging so people knew what they were engaging with. We saw mild success with our posts early on and kept in mind that we were just starting. We tested many types of content but the one type of content that was the most successful was the one with people. This didn’t always include people with our product either. As a group, we learned that “People engage with People”. As much as we are a brand, and we sell coffee, we aim to be so much more than that and the best way to tell the genuine and authentic story of who we are is by infusing real people, smiles and interactions into our feed. I want to say we’ve found community by doing that more than success.

Contact Info:

• Website: expectancyco.com
• Instagram: @expectancyco
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/expectancy-coffee-company