We were lucky to catch up with Tanner MARKER recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tanner , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

“Risk”
The biggest risk for me is the same as many small business owners, walking away from stability in a career, in this case from oil field to all in on coffee. For years I worked a steady job with good pay, benefits yet it came with long commutes, exhausting hours and a small company ceiling that hampered any possibility of further promotion for the next 8 to 10 years. Alway being treated exceptionally well and respected in my career the halting of further advancement ate at me. A few years flew by as I continued to push on while simultaneously moonlighting as a coffee roaster selling a few bags of coffee online every month and attending a handful of local craft/trade events it wasn’t much but gained some traction and had potential. Jump ahead to April of 2025 I had the opportunity to purchase a “spacious” 600 square foot store front in downtown Roswell, NM, not fully confident a brick and mortar for the coffee roastery could pay all the bills I planned a light remodel and open a few days a week after my long workdays just enough to pay its own bills.
In the middle of the remodel my restlessness in the stable career was amplifying and right about the time I was involved in a safety accident at work. Not life threatening nor negligence yet higher management proceeded to make an example of the “near miss” and the threat of further development. Years of loyalty and going above and beyond felt to have been wiped away, I went home that evening and thought long hard to the point I exhausted myself, the thought of my future in the next 8 to 10 years riding in someone else’s hands that could lead to nowhere didn’t set well but what else could I do? Could i make the roastery profitable enough to support me? Should i just ride it out?
Why not? was the final thought I had before making the decision I was terrified to ever make. Degenerate Coffee Co. was no longer going to be a brick and mortar for the roastery, Degenerate Coffee co. was about to be Roswell’s only coffee shop serving up specialty coffee roasted in house. Remodel switched gears to fit the change in operation and through late nights Degenerate Coffee Co. opened its doors in late June. The oilfield life hadn’t ended yet we opened on limited hours as I was still employed while working out some kinks and lining up everything in hopes of the best. Skip to mid-July and the shop is doing ok, still room for growth but patterns are starting to show, and revenue began to come in so that’s all I needed, finished out my resignation notice and dove headfirst into the small business owner lifestyle, no more stable paycheck or sense of security but in return i have never been happier. Yes, the days are just as long, struggles are ever real and it’s me or no one to fix them but this is an amazing experience to finally build something from nothing and have full control of what’s to come. No more small company ceiling, if I can build smart the sky is the limits but for now the 600 square foot hole in the wall known as Degenerate Coffee co. is exactly where i want to be. My biggest risk and the most satisfying to date.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Ironically enough my background has nothing to do with coffee, the closest thing to coffee when i was young was riding around with my Dad, pouring a cup from a worn-out thermos while he seemed to have found the roughest parts of the road causing me to wear just as much as what made it into his broken handled mug. As a young adult I still knew little of coffee that is until I went into a shop out of town that roasted their own coffee. How cool! I though as I had rarely enjoyed coffee and definitely never seen it roasted. Excited about the experience I looked for a roastery back home in Roswell, NM and found out quickly it didn’t exist. My mind began turning and started doing research on what all it would take to get a cafe with a roastery started. Alot and then some is the answer if your curious, but that was ok I began looking at buildings to lease and none worked out, from finances to life in general it seemed impossible. Somewhat defeated i pumped the breaks on my enthusiasm and humbly put the idea to the side but didn’t stop learning more about the world of coffee. Over the next few years i read books, watched videos, tried different brew methods and visited every roaster i came across and still hoped to figure out how to do something in coffee. Scrolling social media one day i saw a roaster for sale, fairly reasonable and it ignited that fire again. Long story short i drove to Alabama to pick up a beautiful roaster and start my own roasting journey.

Do you have multiple revenue streams – if so, can you talk to us about those streams and how your developed them?

Blue collar is my background, and I would go crazy without getting my hands dirty, this being said Degenerate Coffee Co. is supplemented by hard work and sweat. When the lights are off and shots of espresso Arnt being pulled I am out building everything from fences to metal buildings. A self-sustaining coffee shop is the goal but until we get there contracting is the boost.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

A book i highly recommend and have read multiple times while trying to utilize it daily at the coffee shop is “Unreasonable Hospitality” by Will Guidara. A good read and one that resonated with me in a way that it made me want to build a business with many core values from the book.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Degeneratecoffee.com
• Instagram: Degenerate.coffee
• Facebook: Degenerate Coffee Co.
• Youtube: Degenerate Coffee Co.