Fable Coffee Stories

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.

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.

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.

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 commercial chain, and the similarities and differences in teaching maths in schools and teaching coffee to coffee businesses – specifically the unconscious biases this can bring to the surface.Since recording this episode, Gene has set up her own coffee business, Tribe Coffee Workshop, offering coffee events and education as well as green coffee services.Theme Song by Good News. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 at coffee events. 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.