ATHENS, Texas — While most coffee shops soothe you with jazz and calm music, one peculiar shop in Athens will get you on your feet.
The Van Zandt Coffee Co. located just outside of Athens has been going strong since 2016 when veteran Sam Deen opened his first location in Canton.
"I started roasting coffee in my kitchen in Canton and would smoke out my house," Deen said. "My first coffee roaster was about the size of a microwave."
So why did Deen choose to open his shop in Athens?
"I was thinking about Kaufman at one point and looked at some property over there," Deen said. "Then I found this property to buy and we did it."
Deen wasn’t looking for a nice place downtown because he didn’t want it to be a calm, luxury spot -- rather a distribution site where it can process pack its beans and help people get fit.
"I came here to find out about CrossFit, which was completely new to me," Boog Ferrell, a devoted customer said.
You read that right, CrossFit, because Deen started out teaching it before getting into coffee after retiring from the military.
"And the place smelled wonderful so then I took home some coffee," Ferrell said. "I always say that I came here for the coffee, and stayed for the people."
Those people are the ones Deen wanted to help change their lives by giving them some training he taught while serving in the war against terror in Afghanistan.
"I went to Afghanistan for a year and in 2011 I got out and I moved back home," Deen said. "I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do, and I didn't have a lot of skills being in the infantry, like a foot soldier."
So Deen decided to put his knowledge of physical fitness to use.
"As officers we train our soldiers every day and every morning," Deen said. "So I was like, well, probably I can do that for civilians. So I started a little gym and that's kind of grown. That started in 2011 and we've grown to two locations. "
Proving that with hard work, dedication and support from the community anyone can be successful.
"My former soldiers, they got out of the military to move on and do to great stuff," Deen said. "Most of them have, but you know, when they can get that support, start a small business and you buy from them. It really makes a huge impact on their life."