MEET: Tom – How a footballer opened a coffee roastery

Tom Geißler is the founder of Franz Morish . Born in Oschatz, he came to Leipzig as a child through football. He attended the sports boarding school there and remained loyal to this path for many years. As his sports career gradually drew to a close, his next plan was already roughly outlined: "My vision has always been to become self-employed with a café. I just didn't know what that should look like yet."  How did Tom go from being a professional footballer to a managing director, roaster , and coffee nerd? And what did Iceland initially have to do with it?

When Franz Morish opened in 2017, most people knew our driving force not as a coffee expert, but primarily as a professional footballer. And with good reason – he spent his "first life" passionately playing for VfL Osnabrück , RB Leipzig , and 1. FSV Mainz 05. "I started playing football when I was nine. I quickly realized back then that there was a passion there," Tom recalls, "it was simply my love. I think otherwise you wouldn't be able to master all these uncertainties."

"Football was simply my love. I believe,
Otherwise, it will be impossible to overcome all these uncertainties.”

For his love, football, he was prepared to put everything else aside. Injuries, grueling training, and giving up most of the things that make life worth living for other young people. Tom spent those years of living for the moment, partying, and being carefree on the football pitch: "That was my life – everything subordinated so that one day I could play in front of huge crowds," he reflects. "It was a cool time. I experienced a lot."

When coffee comes to life at the UEFA Cup

In 2005, Tom played for FSV Mainz and traveled extensively for the UEFA Europa League – from Armenia to Spain and finally to Iceland. And it was here that Tom's journey to becoming a coffee expert began. "Just being in Iceland was absolutely amazing," he recalls, explaining that the team watched videos beforehand to see "what the conditions were like. Terrible winds – the ball would fly right back at you. We landed and it was exactly like that." The next day, they had a match against IB Keflavik in the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik. "In the morning before the game, we had a bit of free time after breakfast together. We wandered around Reykjavik and went into a café." Even back then, Tom enjoyed coffee and was – incomprehensibly from today's perspective – very satisfied with his fully automatic coffee machine at home. But that was about to change in Reykjavik: "I went in there without any expectations and drank what was – for me – the best coffee I'd ever had," Tom says, his eyes shining. He believes that Scandinavians have a completely different approach to coffee. "They drink enormous amounts of very good filter coffee. Very light roasts, where you can really tell that coffee is a fruit. And that's what grabbed me," he says, describing a hand-filtered coffee in a small, unassuming café in Iceland that sets a new standard: Specialty Coffee. "That was the moment: Wow, this is what coffee can taste like!"

"That was the moment: Wow, coffee can taste like this!"

In the afternoon, Tom's day truly came to a head. He was playing on a team with current RB Leipzig coach Marco Rose. Shortly before the final whistle, "Rosi" delivered a cross from the left wing, providing Tom with the perfect assist: his first UEFA Cup goal. "That really made the whole day perfect."

One door closes – the other opens.

Tom's journey to becoming a coffee nerd begins. "Whenever I was somewhere, I'd pop into shops and drink coffee. Every shop does it differently." Years of experimenting and researching pass. The fully automatic machine gives way to alternative brewing methods. "Now I only drink black coffee. At home, almost exclusively Aeropress or Graycano ."

"These days I only drink black coffee."
At home, I almost exclusively use Aeropress or Graycano.”

That simply represents coffee better. What can the bean really do?” At the same time, Tom’s football career was slowly drawing to a close. “As a professional athlete, you know that it’s finite. At some point, your body says no .” After Tom suffered a herniated disc during a match, the signs became increasingly clear: “I constantly had to go to the coach and tell him I couldn’t play. That really got on my nerves after a while. If you’re not fit, you’re not good,” Tom explains today, reflecting on his final months in professional sports. “I realized: My body couldn’t deliver what I wanted to so quickly. That was frustrating.”  And then I decided to quit.”

The vision of roasting and really good coffee

For Tom, the end of his professional sports career wasn't a cause for concern at the time. "I love football, but the business side of it was never for me. I never felt truly free." The decision to be self-employed and build something of his own therefore preceded the actual business idea. "My vision was always to open my own café; I just didn't know what that would look like yet."

"My vision was always to become self-employed with a café,
I just didn't know what it should look like yet.

Over time, the idea matured that everything should revolve around coffee. "I wanted to open something that didn't yet exist in Leipzig. A place where people could meet and simply drink really good coffee," Tom summarizes his initial ideas today. The rough vision grew into a clear goal: "It quickly became clear that I didn't just want to open a café, but to create a brand with which we could represent very, very good coffee. I wanted complete control over the quality and design of the product. That's why it was also clear that I would roast it myself." We, as the Franz Morish coffee roastery, are now in our sixth year.

What's next?

Today, Tom looks back on an adventurous journey. From the end of his sports career to the opening of our coffee roastery, many stories have been written – here you can read how Tom turned his passion (coffee!) into his job for the second time: “ INSIDE FRANZ MORISH: A Founding Story ” . One thing is certain: Tom is definitely right about one thing: “When I do something, I don’t like to do it halfway,” he smiles, “or no: I don’t do things halfway.”