We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jeremy & Ellen Sizemore a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jeremy & Ellen thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

Both my husband and I have had to take quite a few risks both personally and together as business partners in order to be in the position we are at with our businesses today.

My husband Jeremy (Spearhead Coffee, High Tide Deli, Pie in the Sky Pizza, Mosey’s Burgers) grew up here in the Central Coast, but spent many of his young adult years traveling the world, studying philosophy & psychology, and learning about other cultures. He found that he couldn’t help but compare every place he visited to the Central Coast. He returned to the area and found it had begun to boom with small businesses and there was a new burgeoning food & beverage industry (much more than when he’d left the area). His time overseas provided him with a well rounded knowledge of the specialty coffee industry and he decided to bring that to Paso Robles. In 2014, he and two friends took a leap and started a specialty coffee roastery & cafe specializing in ethically sourced beans roasted in-house, and quality handcrafted espresso drinks.

Flash forward to 2019, Jeremy was on a trip with another business friend who asked if he would be interesting in purchasing his Morro Bay business, High Tide. The business deal began with a handshake on top of an iceberg in Iceland, and little did Jeremy know that taking that leap would lead to keeping a business alive through COVID. Thankfully, its take-out only model and outdoor seating made that possible along with a lot of “getting creative”.

Throughout this time, I (Ellen) was working in management in the Paso Robles wine industry. My primary roles were overseeing shipping & managing wine clubs for local wineries. I loved what I was doing and it was a stable career with employers and coworkers that I loved. But I would come home every day and hear Jeremy’s stories of entrepreneur life (some of them inspiring, some of them exhausting!) and found myself wanting to be part of that world.

In 2024, the right circumstances presented themselves and the opportunity for me to join Jeremy in the wild world of business ownership came about. After over a decade in the wine industry, I left my job and jumped in to help Jeremy run High Tide. Not long after, the opportunity to open Pie in the Sky Pizza came to us and for the first time I got to be part of the building of a business & brand. About 6 months later, the opportunity to open Mosey’s Burgers came up and we had to really ask ourselves if we would be crazy to take another big leap so soon after opening a brand new business.

We decided the answer was that we would be crazy not to. The iconic, historical space was just too good to pass up and we are anxiously awaiting opening day of our brand new business, Mosey’s Burgers!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Jeremy & I are passionate about creating inspiring spaces where the community can gather and enjoy upscale versions of comfort food. Most of our businesses are small spaces that pack a lot of punch into a tiny area!

Here’s a little more detail about each of our businesses and what is unique and special about them.

Jeremy’s business, Spearhead Coffee, (Paso Robles) works hard to source high quality, ethically sourced beans, roast them in-house, and provide an inspiring atmosphere to enjoy an espresso beverage. When you visit you can watch the beans being roasted and can always find members of the local community gathering together.

Our business, High Tide, (Morro Bay) serves wholesome acai bowls, smoothies, & sandwiches in a fun “surf shack” environment. We have a mini-mercantile where visitors can shop local goods while they wait for their food, and a beautiful patio to enjoy your lunch on.

Pie in the Sky (Cayucos) is an artisan pizza walk up window serving sourdough pizzas. We specialize in local, fresh ingredients on high quality, naturally fermented dough. We are also just steps away from the ocean so you can’t ask for a better place to enjoy your pizza.

Mosey’s Burgers (Coming Soon to Cayucos) will serve smash burgers & beef tallow fries, among other rotating seasonal specials in a fun “vintage vibes” space. We are also located directly across the street from the beach, the perfect treat after a day of surfing.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I would say a mindset that we are constantly unlearning is that business owner life is always hard/exhausting/frustrating, etc. It certainly can be all those things, but we are often reminding ourselves that it is the life that we chose and for good reason. Yes, it certainly has many very stressful days and seasons. But we try to remind ourselves how fortunate we are and the community that we’ve been surrounded by because of this lifestyle that we chose.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

To be a business owner is to become very well practiced at the art of the pivot! During COVID, we were constantly having to pivot and get creative to be able to continue operating and keep our businesses alive. One day, they would say we were allowed to have outdoor seating, so we would put all our patio tables out and open for business. The next day, we’d be told that was no longer allowed so we’d stack them back up. It felt like every other week was a new change, and with it the chairs would be stacked, unstacked, stacked. Meanwhile, we leaned heavily into online ordering and our open air patio and hoped for the best.

Contact Info:

• Website: spearheadcoffee.com, hightidemorrobay.com, pieintheskypizzacayucos.com, (Mosey’s coming soon!)
• Instagram: @spearheadcoffee, @hightidemorrobay, @pieintheskypizzacayucos, @moseysburgerscayucos

Image Credits

Sarah Kathleen Photography, Amanda Zippi Photography