By Tiffany Merlo Phelps
mail@floridanewsline.com
Unhappy at her job three years ago, Tiffany Mason listened to a podcast called “Don’t Keep Your Day Job.” After she finished it, she decided to start her own podcast, fell in love with editing, and then started her own podcast editing business, “Virtually You!” While building up her podcast editing business, Mason discovered another interesting business venture along the way. It began when she told her husband, Shawn Mason, who she refers to as “Mr. Entrepreneur” that she wanted to make a little extra money in the interim. He, in turn, pitched a coffee bicycle cart idea to her. Tiffany Mason, a self-described extrovert, said yes, and Florida Coffee Peddler, a business name she pitched, was born in June 2021. The cart, which is a functional bicycle, allows Mason to have a social outlet and a strong connection to the community. “I remember a lot of people’s orders, and I remember a lot of things going on in their life. I know them from our community. So, there is very much a relationship to it,” she said. The Masons, who have three children, first introduced Florida Coffee Peddler in Nocatee’s Greenleaf Park. While she has a few fixed locations around town, Mason is often hired for events such as graduation parties, weddings, festivals, and sports gatherings. Even though she has a trailer for the bicycle cart now (for two months she pedaled to every event), she finds a way to ride into every event for a special entrance. “We wanted it to feel like a peddler on the street peddling their items as well as a bike with pedals that you ride. So, it kind of has a dual meaning,” she said. “It has a suitcase on there and a toolbox, so it has kind of a clunky vintage feel to it that we love.”
Q: Where are you from originally?
A: I was born and raised in Iowa, but I spent most of my married life in Minnesota. We moved a lot because my husband is in the restaurant business, living in Wisconsin, Chicago, and New York. We moved to Nocatee six-and-a-half years ago for my husband’s job (at that time) in Jacksonville at a new Morton’s Steakhouse. We loved it here in Nocatee right from the start, and our kids have thrived here. Shawn now works for Shark Coatings and owns Farmhand Kchn & Coffee in St. Augustine.
Q: What is your favorite coffee to make and what are some of your signature “provisions?”
A: When anybody says, “surprise me with a drink,” I always make them a mocha hazelnut latte, hot with half and half. That is really the cat’s meow. We are really known for our pop tarts and our blueberry muffins. We make everything from scratch, and our coffee is roasted in Jacksonville by Martin Coffee Co.
Q: Share more about your podcast, “Memories with a Beat.”
A: Memories with a Beat explores people’s favorite songs and how they connect with it. What has come out in a lot of my interviews on my podcast is that a lot of times music says what one cannot say for themselves. And it evokes emotion in you, and it just brings it out, and that is what I love about music. I love that story, and I love sharing it.
Q: What is your focus during your free time?
A: Fun. I want my legacy to be that I was fun. I was fun to be around, and I had fun ideas. I make it a priority to schedule enough fun. That really can be anything, but I really love music, and I really love the beach. When you are at the beach, I just feel like you remember how small you are and how everything is not really a big deal.
Q: Do you have a favorite quote that guides your life?
A: I rely heavily on a quote by Maya Angelou: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Photo courtesy Tiffany Mason
Tiffany Mason
