Fable Coffee Stories

Siala Farani-Tomlin (she/her) is Head of Coffee and Roastery Operations at Elsewhere Coffee Roasters in London. In this episode, Siala shares her experiences in the coffee industry; from building confidence and people skills in her first coffee job in New Zealand to emceeing Coffee Masters at London Coffee Festival this year. In this conversation Siala shares invaluable insights on her learnings throughout her career; from the importance of maintaining your own identity outside of work to learning to negotiate, from the differences between management and leadership to the exhausting demands of having to be on social media to stay relevant, and her thoughts and experiences on being an introvert in the coffee world. Theme song by Good News. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sharon Ip (she/her) is the founder of Rish, a coffee roastery she started with her partner Riley back in January this year. No stranger to the coffee competition scene, Sharon also went on to win Coffee Masters in May this year. In this episode, we get into the realities of starting your own coffee roastery, the lead up to and winning of coffee masters and the impact of this on a new business, the paradox of visibility and credibility and Sharon’s passion behind bringing something new to the UK coffee scene. Theme Song by Good News. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An expert in people management, HR and employment law with an extensive background in the coffee industry - Sarah Kern (she/her) has a unique and perceptive crossover that brings together HR and coffee. In this conversation we address a topic seldom spoken about in the coffee industry; who is responsible for the HR? So often small coffee businesses have no dedicated HR person - so what are the options that business owners have? And where can employees go to find the information they need? And what do you do when something goes wrong? Expect to hear other lesser covered topics such as ageism in the coffee industry and how this can disproportionately affect women, the difficulties faced by folks coming back into the workforce after time off and endless insights around employment law, people management and best practices. Theme Song by Good News. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jess Wright (she/her) is Sales and Marketing Director at Caravan Coffee Roasters. Having transitioned into the coffee industry after a fruitful decade of varied commercial sales roles - Jess brought a unique perspective with her to the world of coffee. In this conversation, we explore some of the big questions relevant to Jess's story such as; are women more likely to make better salespeople? Is coffee actually a welcoming environment to those who haven’t been brought up here? And what makes coffee so wildly different to other categories, such as beer or drinks? Theme Song by Good News. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Having started out in the coffee industry in 2016 after graduating with a degree in Education Studies, Aashifa Hussain’s (she/her) coffee journey circled all the way back around several years later when she started her job at Well Grounded, where she herself was trained many years before. Working her way up to Education and Quality Manager, she was also a key member of The Kore Directive – putting on accessible events for women and non-binary people in the coffee industry. Full of joy, passion and insights and the kind of intelligence that truly stops you in your tracks, in this episode we cover a multitude of topics from the importance of role modelling to barriers to entry to forcing yourself to slow down. Plus, Aashifa shares some details on a very exciting project that she’s been working on, that will be released very soon! Theme Song by Good News. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bee Southworth (she/her) is Coffee Partnerships and Training Manager for North Star Coffee Roasters in Leeds. With a coffee journey that spans 16 years, this conversation provides a real deep dive into the honest realities of working in the coffee industry - starting out as a barista and journeying to a variety of corners of the coffee industry. Hilarious, honest and deeply personal, Bee's story is super inspiring. In this conversation, we cover the formative impact of working in hospitality in comparison to university experiences, the power of LinkedIn, social media and their relation to hiring practices in coffee, how the coffee industry can compromise a work-life balance and the realities of living and working with anxiety on a daily basis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To finish Season One, I thought it would be great to share my insights on what the last year of creating Fable Coffee Stories has meant to me. From the ways in which I've seen the industry starting to change, to the things that still need to be worked on, as well as my own struggles trying to work through self-doubt while creating this platform - this is a 45 minute bonus episode of the impact Fable Coffee Stories has had on me. See you soon for Season Two! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Em Herriott (they/them) is the founder of We Are Here in Margate - a queer, disabled owned coffee roastery that has making coffee more accessible and welcoming to everyone, in a multitude of different ways, at the core of what they do. We delve into how Em's journey took them from coffee to corporate and back to coffee again, openly discussing the experiences along the way that really shaped how they move through the world in their life and career today. In this open and honest conversation, we cover a whole host of themes from the importance of safe spaces in real life and online, creating your own coffee business as a disabled person, and the complexities of communicating sociopolitical viewpoints through a brand that feel both safe and authentic. Footage of Fred being stolen - https://www.instagram.com/p/BaG1YpXnrTE/ Theme song by Good News. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Esther Hope-Gibbs (she/her) set up Hope Espresso 6 years ago out of utmost necessity when her career plans fell through when the pandemic hit in 2020. Now, with over 15 years experience in the coffee industry, Esther is an authorised SCA trainer, Q Arabica Grader, ESTA Tea Trainer and the director of her own coffee business specialising in sustainable sourcing, quality training and business development. Esther’s career journey is a story of resilience, knowing your own worth and the integral nature of failure in progress as a process. We delve into how Esther continually moves forward as a business owner with open and honest conversations around her experience of imposter syndrome, unconscious bias and ADHD. Theme song by Good News. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zoe Williams (she/her) wrote in her diary 5 years ago that she wanted to compete in the UK Barista Championships before she was 30. Not only did she hit that milestone, but she came second in the competition the first time she ever competed. At the time of recording, Zoe was working at Clifton Coffee Roasters, where she began her first behind the scenes coffee job packing bags at the roastery, navigating her way to the role of coffee trainer. Since then she has started a new role with Well Grounded as their South West Coffee Trainer. This episode explores the transition from barista to roastery production, and delves into the ins and outs of coffee competition. Where is the best place to start when crafting a competition routine? How can you prioritise focusing on your own progress rather than comparing your progress to that of others? What are some of the key personal barriers to work on overcoming when thinking about competing? Theme song by Good News. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more…

Originally from Canada, Jessie Vandenberg-Molina (she/her) started her coffee journey in Glasgow at the legendary Space Coffee House, becoming founder Connie’s first ever employee and falling in love with coffee through the exploration of taste and curiosity. Most recently, Jessie started working at Oatly as Barista Market Developer almost three years ago, and has since moved into the role of Co-Lead of her team. In this conversation, we delve into how Jessie’s coffee career got started, and the all-important move to London from Scotland that made her rethink how she wanted to move through the coffee world - including one pivotal conversation where she was asked “What kind of barista do you want to be?” Jessie’s journey is a wonderful, wholehearted representation of what a career moving from a barista role in coffee can look like; and the conversation is full of honesty about the ups and downs of that process. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emily Graves (they/them) works as Independents Channel Manager at Union Hand Roasted and is an undeniably passionate advocate for accessibility, diversity and inclusion in the coffee industry. In this conversation, we delve into Em’s experiences throughout their career from hospitality into specialty coffee, and cover a wide range of topics from barriers to entry and progression in the coffee industry, such as - do entry level jobs in coffee really exist? And are the requirements to work as a barista keeping too high and keeping too many people out of the industry all together? Emily shares their experiences working with deaf and hard and hearing people at different points of their career, and we discuss ways in which the industry needs to be more accessible, creating spaces that welcome people with disabilities rather than waiting for them to ask for accessibility adaptations. Theme song by Good News. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gene Ke (she/her) is a certified CQI & CVA Arabica Q-Grader, having made her way into the coffee industry long after she got her degree in Mathematics and a masters in Education from Oxford University. The absolute definition of someone who throws herself into every opportunity - especially when she begins to feel stuck - Gene has been carving out a breathtaking career in coffee since 2020 after spending 7 years teaching Maths in schools. From opening her own coffee shop to trading in the maths education to train wholesale accounts at Curious Roo Coffee Roasters, from competing in numerous national competitions to being integral in levelling up the coffee programme at Joe and the Juice; Gene is a shining example of how to move through the coffee industry and find your place within it. This episode dives into the twists and turns of Gene’s coffee career; how to keep pushing forward when you feel that you’ve hit the ceiling of progress, navigating the transition between independent coffee roastery and global…

Joana Vieiralves Wood (she/her) is the founder of Bristol Coffee Festival in addition to her full-time role as Logistics and Accounts coordinator at Volcafe UK & Ireland. After moving from Brazil to Bristol and working in coffee shops there, Joana felt that the city she had fallen in love with was missing out on something major – a coffee festival. What does a woman like Joana do when she sees something needs to happen? Makes it happen herself, of course. We explore the depths of Joana’s coffee journey all the way up to where she is now; divulging in topics from overthinking as a barrier for self-confidence to navigating your way to find your place in the industry, from the importance of protecting your values and learning to tell people exactly what you need, to pregnancy and being a parent while carving out a career for yourself in the coffee industry (whether it be working in cafes or organising on coffee festivals) and navigating the judgement this can bring. Theme song by Good News. Hosted on Acast. See…

Natalie Hodgkinson (she/her) is the founder of Boss and Brew - a barista training academy that does integral work in Cardiff, Wales, using specialty coffee as a vehicle to boost young people’s confidence and self-esteem, raise their aspirations and support them in expanding their networks to set them up with the skills they need to enter the world of work. Prior to entering the coffee industry, Natalie was a maths teacher. Since opening her own coffee business, she felt that she could make positive change and impact on issues she saw within her own community in Cardiff, drawing from many of her own frustrations with the traditional education system and advocating for the importance of tailoring training to the individual. This conversation explores a plethora of issues surrounding barriers to entry in the coffee industry; including the issues within recruitment processes in coffee, the immense pressure on young people to know what is right for them so early on and how to negate intimidation and accessibility…

Grace Talbot (she/her) has come a long way in her coffee career since her bookselling barista days at Cafe W (the coffee shop concept within Waterstones). From being offered a position she didn't apply for at the coffee roasters Girls Who Grind, to re-shaping how we think about coffee festivals at Cup North, Grace's career has gone from strength to strength, despite multiple hurdles that threatened to stand in the way. Today, she's absolutely smashing it as Sales Manager at Mió, and very recently emceed the World Barista Championships. In this conversation we delve into a multitude of themes, from accessibility at coffee events to the power of people and the extreme importance of encouragement for progression, from imposter syndrome to re-baking the pie and making space for as many people as possible. Theme song by Good News. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Estelle Bright has been in the coffee industry for more than 20 years. After spending almost a decade at La Marzocco UK, in recent years she made the move to La Marzocco USA to become Events and Brand Experience Manager - leaving her previous life of coffee engineering behind. Coffee competitions, unconscious bias and how exactly do you learn the skills you need to become a coffee technician? In this conversation, Estelle talks about her extensive journey through the coffee industry and how it led her from Wales to where she is now, living and working in New York. Theme song by Good News. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.