Hidden lessons in a slice of pie: Dani Cone at TEDxRainier

Getting back to simple pleasures - like pie and coffee - helps us remember what is, and has always been, important. Seattle pie-maker Dani Cone walks us through her path to pie-making, and how community and family have shaped the way she sees the world and sought out her passions.

Dani Cone has two great loves: coffee and pie. In grade school she and her sister got a business license to start Friday Flowers, selling flowers one afternoon a week in the neighborhood and business district. At 15, she got her first official job at a deli, cutting meats and pulling espresso drinks...falling in love with the latter.

She attended Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, where she studied business economics. After a stint in Colorado, she returned to Seattle. She was a well-loved barista at Caffe Vita for six years prior to opening her first of three Fuel locations in 2005. An aficionado of the café experience, she authored the book Tall Skinny Bitter: Notes from the Center of Coffee Culture published in 2009.

This talk was given November 9, 2013 in Seattle at TEDxRainier, a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences.

TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)