I was Blank Street's first employee. I almost said no to the drink that changed the company.

Jai Lott said he doesn't want to work with people he couldn't spend 12 hours a day, five days a week with. Courtesy of Jai Lott Jai Lott, Blank Street's first employee, said he would have likely passed on the drink that changed the coffee chain. One thing he looks for when hiring: Does a candidate push in their chair and bus their cup? Before building a business with someone, he said he has to be able to be friends with them. Jai Lott, 41, began working in the coffee industry as a teenager in…