Sustainable Harvest® Blog

Now part of Sustainable Harvest’s Quality Control team in Seattle, she’s bringing that experience full circle while balancing a return to work after motherhood and continuing to grow in a new chapter of her career.

I watched videos on cassette tapes for barista training, since that was all that was available, and I even remember my dad sketching coffee lessons on napkins, like a diagram of a peaberry. Clearly, the love of coffee runs in my family!

I studied painting in college and minored in museum studies, thinking I’d build a career in the museum world. But coffee was always part of the story! I worked as a barista during college and stayed connected to café culture and community.

I joined Stumptown Coffee Roasters in Seattle in 2008 during an amazing period for the company and for specialty coffee. Stumptown was bringing a lot of producers to Seattle and Portland for events, so from the beginning I really felt that relationship component that makes us all fall in love with the industry.

I started as a barista and quickly became involved in hosting daily public cuppings. A roaster mentored me and taught me how to cup and lead tastings, and there were many opportunities to learn and cup with the sourcing and roasting teams. From there, I moved into training and wholesale support, developing education programs on hospitality, brewing, and sensory skills and traveling to train baristas at new cafes.

As a retail trainer, I helped the Stumptown baristas learn the stories of producers and about each new lot of coffee, and I remember when Stumptown first bought coffees from Churupampa and Chirinos in Peru! As part of the SH team, I was able to meet Eber Tocto of Finca Churupampa at World of Coffee San Diego and he shared that they were exporting such a small amount of coffee back in those early days, so it’s amazing to see the growth and taste such amazing microlots since I’ve joined Sustainable Harvest.

We called it “Coffee University” because every month we learned directly from some of the best coffee companies in the world, not just how they brewed coffee, but why they approach coffee and coffee service the way they do.

It was intense and fast-paced, constantly changing and evolving, and it was an amazing opportunity to learn and connect with people across the industry.

I spent several years at home with my kids, and coming back to work meant rethinking what kind of role, schedule, and company culture would truly work for this stage of my life. I knew I wanted to return to coffee, but I also knew I needed flexibility and a team that understood that I’m very dedicated and passionate about my work – and I’m also a parent of young children who needs to find work-life balance.

For a while, I was meeting people, exploring opportunities, and trying to figure out what would be the right fit. I’d always been fascinated by the green coffee side of the industry – the deeper connection to producers, processing, and quality –but QC roles are rare and not easy to break into.

When I connected with the team at Sustainable Harvest, it was such a good cultural fit. And because of the nature of the role, I was able to start slowly, working a couple of days a week and gradually increasing my hours. That gentle transition has made such a difference.

I really love that a big part of my job is in person. Being in the lab, working with coffee, collaborating with the team, it refreshes me. I come home feeling more present with my kids. My work actually re-energizes me. That’s when I knew I had found the right fit!

In addition to calibrating with the team here, I’ve just completed my Arabica Cuppers course through the Sustainable Coffee Institute to continue to develop my sensory skills and deepen my knowledge of green coffee evaluation. Since most of my previous experience was with roasted coffee, this has been an exciting learning curve.

Beyond QC, I help host cuppings and events in our lab, support marketing projects, and contribute to the development of Let’s Talk Coffee’s future programming and content.

I love the variety! My days include hands-on work with coffee, sensory analysis, collaboration, and creative projects. I’m not sitting at a desk all day, and I love that balance.

So it’s the people, the shared passion, and that sense that we all want to do justice to this agricultural product that so much love and so much care goes into every step of the way. And we know if we succeed, we can improve quality of life for everyone along the value chain.

There’s also a strong commitment to building partnerships between producers and roasters that ensure the success of both partners, and our goal is to facilitate that process through our expertise and existing relationships.

I’m also excited about the idea of potentially visiting origin for the first time - – Peru and Kenya are at the top of my list.

Kenya has always been a favorite origin. Coffee from Nariño, Colombia, is especially meaningful to me since I worked at Stumptown when they were a part of the Nariño Borderlands Coffee Project, and I was able to brew and serve coffee to the women who grew it! It was such an honor. Again, it’s the human connection together with the flavor that makes coffee so meaningful

Recently, at Sustainable Harvest, one coffee that stood out for both the flavor and the story was Nicaragua, SOPPEXCCA, Las Hermanas! The flavor surprised me; it was really beautiful and delicate, and tasted like cinnamon. And then I was able to meet Fatima from SOPPEXCCA at World of Coffee!

And we also recently cupped an Ethiopian coffee, Yirgacheffe Chelbesa, that we used to serve at Stumptown, and it’s one of the most amazing coffees I’ve tasted in a few years!