Meet Jason & Christina Stebbins | Curator/Founders

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jason & Christina Stebbins and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jason & Christina, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
Thank you, Mike and Shout Out Magazine Atlanta, for the time and this interview today. We are excited to share our story with your readers. Owners Jason and Christina Stebbins have decades of retail, business and customer service experience. Using this considerable experience, the trio collaborated founding District 48 Coffee or D48 by our most loyal followers, on April 1, 2016 in Glendale, Arizona. District 48 is a local family owned company and is passionate about the community. We as a company have set ourselves apart from our competitors and believe we bring a uniqueness to the Arizona coffee scene. Our goal is to provide quality coffee at an affordable price point remaining inclusive, offering various blends and single origins coffee for our diverse community. We can be found in our store front located inside of Arrowhead Mall or on our mobile store at https://district48coffee.com/.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As with anything there is no straight path to success, the District 48 road has been full of twists and turns since our creation 3 years ago. Our company not only offers clothing, fun fact, we actually launched District 48 Coffee two weeks after the country shut down due to the COVID pandemic. Our friends and family thought we were foolish and making a big miscalculation. We decided to move onward through the adversity and the untimeliness of the pandemic, stepping out on faith.

Honestly, we already had containers of our coffee available for the launch. Since our store front was temporarily closed following local restrictions, we decided to use the time productively and launch our website using our social media platform to promote our product. We personally traveled to our customer’s doorsteps making deliveries of our various coffee roasts. The outpour of support from our community was optimistic, a sign of good things to come. If the pandemic did anything for us as business owners, it fully exploited any weaknesses we had in our business structure. We learned quickly we had to pivot, regroup and reproach our business model to stay relevant. Going out of business was not an option, we were ready to do whatever we needed to survive.

We want the world to know that our coffee blends are personally curated by us, roasted locally, small batch for freshness and a local artist brings each blend to life through art. We take acidity, flavor and method of beverage preparation into consideration when creating each blend. Our coffee is roasted in small batch. Available in both whole bean and ground upon request and we mail all over the country.

District 48 Coffee and Tea is for everyone who enjoys a quality drink.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Great question Mike, diving into cities is the fun part about new adventures. Atlanta is rich in culture, food and diversity with inclusiveness. We really enjoy ourselves in the city and dive right into the fun by starting our day with coffee and a lovely brunch at Rias Bluebird. A relaxing cafe is the best way to start the day. My best friend and I would pick up tickets and make our way to the Swan House, make our to Centennial Olympic Park and spend majority of our day at National Center Civil and Human Rights. Atlanta has rich roots and soil with respect to promoting healthy and necessary changes in our community. We would head back to the rental property to freshen up for the Black history and Civil Rights bus tour. Knowing my best friend and I we would go shopping and seek out local makers to get lost in the beauty of Atlanta. Eventually venturing over to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens for a relaxing afternoon.

There are so many fun things todo in Atlanta. The Midtown Atlanta Food and Cocktail tour would be on our list of things todo along with getting all glammed up for dinner at by George. The plush weather is a far cry from the desert in Arizona however finding a local Atlanta coffee roaster to indulge in that Local Atlanta coffee culture would be top priority. We would enjoy the city and all her splendor seeking out local restaurant and entertainment while in the city.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
One constant for us the last 3 year has been the loyalty of our District 48 Family. As we continue to grow with each passing year we strive to use our platform for the greater good of the community and maintain confident coffee consumers throughout the country. Community outreach is vital to our brand, because of the support and dedication from our loyal customers, we are fortunate enough to participate in many annual events around the valley.

We partner with various local groups, businesses and 501c3 charities to support Arizona Military/Veterans and local Law Enforcement Agencies. We advocate for the homeless population, victims of domestic violence and those suffering the burdens of addiction by offering donations of clothes, water, meals and resources. During the holidays we enjoy donating raising money to help sponsor medical grade hair for people experiencing hair loss due and custom coloring books to children suffering from various ailments in the hospital. When you shop local with District 48 you will boost the local economy and reinvest your money, helping to support the community in a variety of ways. We love this community and are grateful to have the opportunity to meet and collaborate with other individuals/businesses nearby

Website: https://shopdistrict48.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/d48coffeeandtea

Image Credits
Art: Dylan Morgan Photo: Kristy Velesko & Rueben Daniel