Discipline & Determination: How a History Degree Led to Entrepreneurship

Majoring in History prepares students for a wide variety of roles in the professional world, as Baylor History alumnus Dylan Washington can attest. 

Washington is an entrepreneurial force of nature in the Waco community, founding and operating the immensely popular coffeeshop and roastery, Pinewood Coffee Bar, with his friend and business partner, John David Beard (Baylor School of Business, 2014). With a cozy, light-filled interior, thoughtfully crafted drinks, immaculately roasted beans, and 70s-era records spinning on the turntable, Pinewood has become a favorite study spot for Baylor students and a beloved hangout for locals.

Washington’s entrepreneurial spirit was strong even at a young age, and after a brief sojourn as a Theatre major, he switched to majoring in Business. “I eventually decided the stage was not where I saw myself down the line,” says Washington. “I switched to the Business School and really struggled there and finally landed in the History department. Looking back, I wish I would have started there from the beginning.”

He fell in love with history largely due to the passion of his professors, and because he really enjoyed reading and writing. “I was a very dedicated student,” says Washington, “but let’s just say I wasn’t particularly the award-winning type.” Instead of pursuing summer internships, Washington took full course loads during the summer months in order to graduate early, which he did in 2014. 

In-between homework and classes, Washington spent his precious free time as a Baylor student roasting coffee in his apartment and sharing it with friends. “A month after graduating from Baylor, John David and I started Pinewood Coffee Roasters,” says Washington. “This year we are celebrating ten years in business, and our coffee shop is going on eight years.”

In 2019, Washington and Beard expanded their operations across the coffee bar’s tree-lined courtyard and founded Pinewood Pub, a neighborhood gathering space serving craft beer and wine. Pinewood Coffee Bar was featured in Food and Wine magazine's 2019, “Top 50 Coffee Shops in America,” and with annual block parties and frequent live music concerts, poetry readings, artisan pop-ups, and trivia nights, Pinewood as become a cherished community hub.

While history, entrepreneurship, and coffee may not seem like obvious bedfellows, Washington asserts that his time in the History department prepared him for the rigorous demands of owning and operating a business. 

“Anyone in the History department knows that to do well, there is a lot of reading and writing every semester,” says Washington. “You really have to be wise with how you spend your time, and it’s more work than you could ever do in a day (or week, or month), so you have to just chip away at it! The business world is no different, and that discipline that I developed at Baylor has paid dividends in the business world.”

Pinewood Coffee Bar and Pinewood Pub are located at 2223 Austin Avenue in Waco, Texas.