Finally, a Young Barista’s Point of View | EMILY MAKES COFFEE!
About this episode
Emily Makes Coffee shares her insights on the challenges and opportunities for baristas in the modern coffee industry.
Being a barista in 2026 means more than dialling in espresso.Dialing in from Canada, we’re joined by seasoned barista first, social media personality second - Emily Makes Coffee. With 40,000 followers, millions of views, and a lot of very honest takes about life behind the bar, Emily has become a refreshing voice in the coffee conversation. From burnout to opportunity, we explore what the job really demands today - and what needs to change for coffee careers to become truly sustainable in and out of the cafe. FIND her @emily.makes.coffeehttps://emilymakescoffee.ca/ CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 02:48 Being a Barista in 2026 09:16 The Skills Customers Don’t See 13:27 Burnout, Wages & Career Sustainability 18:10 Content Creation, Authenticity & Representation 29:31 New Opportunities for Baristas 38:20 Safety, Boundaries & Difficult Customers 46:14 What Makes a Great Barista 52:38 Great Customers, Bad Habits & Pet Peeves 1:00:12 What Makes a Great Café to Work In 1:02:58 Advice for Young Baristas 1:05:31 Hospo Horror Stories 1:11:13 Hot Takes + Final Shoutout Want more coffee content? IT'S JUST COFFEE…
People in this episode
Hosts: Ben Bicknell, Rohan Cooke
Guest: Emily Makes Coffee
Topics covered
- barista life
- coffee industry
- burnout
- career sustainability
- social media
- customer service
Keywords
- barista
- coffee
- burnout
- sustainability
- social media
- customer service
- career
Sponsors
Marco Beverage Systems, Apax Lab, Condesa Co.Lab
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Riverina Fresh
More episodes of IT’S JUST COFFEE!
- The Top 5 Most Innovative Cafes in Melbourne | CAFE TOUR!
- The Cafe with Intentionally Slow Service | w Gibrán Huerta of LONG PLAY!
- What Coffee Was Really Like in the 2000s | COFFEE BREAK!
- Designing Coffee Gear People Actually Use | DOM SYMONS from Subminimal!
- Processing Coffee Like Beer?! | Edwin Noreña of CAMPO HERMOSO
- Why Young People Aren’t Drinking Specialty Coffee (Next-Gen) | HANY EZZAT!
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the IT’S JUST COFFEE! podcast page.