Swelter Coffee with Stephanie Welter-Krause

[: 00:00:17

Let's start from the name, Swelter Coffee. I'm really curious to where the name's origin started, and I guess the origin of Swelter Coffee. Yeah, it's a little...

[: 00:00:32

Well, the name isn't really... There isn't really a great fantastical story behind it. It is basically my name. My maiden last name is Walter. And I went by S. Walter for lots of... That's just the shorthand I've used. Got you. And when I first started, I started home roasting about almost roughly 10 years ago. And so when I give friends and family coffee, a few of them just called its Walter coffee. There you go. I know when I decided to turn this into a thing, I just couldn't think of anything more meaningful. I mean, not that Swelter is super meaningful, but it was already in place. And I couldn't think of anything that would be more meaningful without trying to create some great story behind it. So I just stuck with that for now, and it seems like it's just going to stick.

[: 00:01:33

No, that sounds like it makes it more personable. It's more intimate that way versus something more catchy and punny.

[: 00:01:41

Right. Yeah, I don't know. I do like hearing people's origin stories or the thinking they put behind the name. That was really sticking to me. If I couldn't think of anything more potent or meaningful to me, then I'll just stick with my name. Then people think it's funny because sweltering hot and they're like, Oh, is it because of coffee roasters? It gets really high. I'm like, No, it's just my name.

[: 00:02:14

You should just piggyback off of it and be like, Yeah, that's exactly why I need it that way.

[: 00:02:19

Yeah.

[: 00:02:23

So you started with home roasting. What brought you into home roasting from the beginning?

[: 00:02:32

Yeah, right into the origin story. So basically, I'm almost a lifelong coffee drinker. I started at a young teenage age. I didn't start before I was... But then at teenage years, I remember drinking coffee. I grew up in the Northwest, so all of teenagers would go to the coffee houses and stuff because the coffee culture was just pretty prominent in the Northwest. I always just loved going to coffee houses. I've been a coffee drinker all my life. And then as I've gotten... I've also just been somewhat of a maker or someone who likes to try to make things specifically food related. I make cheese, I make bread. I'm not necessarily great at any of it. I just like to do it. For a long time, I made my own yogurt, partly for environmental reasons. Anyway, I stumbled upon a book from James from Blue bottle, about 10 years ago, and he had this little insert, like a two pages where it walked you through how to roast coffee at home. I was just like, What the heck? I've never done this before. Why haven't I done this before? I went out and I figured out where to buy green and started buying it and started in my oven, and I was hooked.

[: 00:04:04

And at the time, I was a diehard, dark, dark, dark roast coffee drinker. And so initially, and I lived in a tiny apartment in Oakland smoking out my kitchen every time I'm trying to roast because you have to like... I use a perforated cheat. You stick it in, you have to shake it every 30 seconds or so that you agitate the beans, because otherwise they just score on one side. And so all that exhausted smoke makes sure, definitely decreases the air quality inside of an apartment without ventilation. But yeah, and just exploring how to do it at home and where I would buy it. I could just buy a pound or two from different origins. And I just really got into trying out a ton of different origins and just having fun with it. And I just slowly, not super slowly, somewhat slowly got lighter and lighter just because I just couldn't get a really dark roast in my oven.

[: 00:05:06

And.

[: 00:05:07

Then I just started developing a taste for the lighter roast, and really appreciating all the nuances and different flavors. So I was like a happenstance, third wave specialty coffee drinker. And now I can't do the super dark roast anymore. It literally upsets my stomach. So I just had fun with it. And so I would just do it for fun. And I'd roast for my office. I'd roast for friends and family for many years. I quickly graduated to a home roaster. So I got a B-more about eight years ago, nine years ago, which basically looks like a little oven that you put on your counter. And I'd roast about a quarter of a pound at a time, or three quarters of a pound at a time, and spend on my whole Saturday, batch after batch after batch trying to get enough to give to everybody I wanted to give it to. And then sooner after I heard through the grapevine that there was a co-roasting space opening up in Berkeley. And so I jumped in on that and started roasting there on their one pound sample roaster, a San-Franciscan. And so I was on that thing for many, many years.

[: 00:06:25

I'd go on my lunch break because it wasn't far from where I worked.

[: 00:06:31

I'd go and roast for an hour, do a couple of batches, come back. It was way more efficient than my kitchen. I just really loved the process and then learning more about origin, processing, all those things. I just fell in love with it.

[: 00:06:53

When you explored home resting to being able to work on the sample roaster, when did it start to click that you wanted to own your own shop?

[: 00:07:07

It was a fantasy for a while. I was like, Oh, maybe this will turn into something. And then it was when I actually started getting serious thinking about it, it was actually after I had my daughter, she's five now.

[: 00:07:27

And.

[: 00:07:30

I was like, We don't need another coffee roaster in this world. There's so many, especially in the Bay Area in California. There's just so many. And there's so many great ones. There's so many around really tasty coffee roasters, different folks trying to do different things, good things, et cetera. I was like, I don't know if I'm going to do this, I have to have a point of view. It has to mean something to me, and it has to mean something to the world. I was actually at a... In my previous life, which is still active, I'm a designer, and I design a lot of stuff around messaging and strategy around more sustainability, sustainable stuff. I was at a talk with Paul Hawkin, who started Project Drawdown, which is a really great organization that does a lot of data and calculations on how to achieve drawdown using accessible technologies in the world. They do all the research and they rank things. I was at a talk, and at the time, one of the top ranking things to achieve drawdown to curb basically global warming was to support women farmers. And that's when this light bulb of my head went off of like, Well, there's women coffee farmers.

[: 00:09:02

Maybe that could be a focus. I had just had my daughter as this new found somewhat feminist outlook on gender equity and everything is bubbling up very fresh. I'm very fresh having gone through the whole birthing process and learning about a lot of stuff is just compounded. I can really get behind that. I can really get behind figuring out ways to support or just supporting women from a sustainability standpoint. The data they were talking about is more or less small shareholders worldwide in agriculture, supporting small shareholders, women, farmers- Is there a reason? -worldwide is what... Is there a reason? Yeah, it basically has to do with access and... Sorry, what's the word? Volume. For example, women just globally, especially in third, second world countries, don't have the same access to owning land, education, resources, financing, and so their yields don't tend to match that of men. However, they do do a lot of the work. The idea is if you invest in those farmers so that their yields can increase and match everyone else's, quote-unquote, then you can produce more food for the world without having to deforest more land. They're able to calculate and measure it and actually have...

[: 00:10:48

It's like as a way to invest in things that will support populations without degradating more. It's a really loud.

[: 00:11:00

Out there. You can hear it? No, I can't. So we're good.

[: 00:11:03

I can barely hear myself talking.

[: 00:11:06

They're literally- You're speaking into a void.

[: 00:11:10

Yeah, they're literally at the leaf floor right outside my door. So anyway, yeah, that's the gist. That's the gist of why supporting women farmers, it was just one of the top ones at the time. And so I was like, okay, if I'm going to do a coffee brand and start my own thing, that's going to be the first thing. Figure out ways to support women, women producers in whatever way I can. Diving into that, I really didn't know how to gain information about what producers were paid and all that stuff. I was diving into all of that, understanding better how much they make, and then learning all the things about how producers can't even support themselves, and they're all in poverty because of the commodity pricing and all this stuff. That was it. Then I was like, okay. Then I just started thinking about how do I build a brand around this? I started seeing if I could actually buy coffee from one of my producers through the resource that I had, and that was really hard. And then I found one that made it a little bit easier to find, because traceability is a really hard component of it, especially when you're working with importers and stuff.

[: 00:12:31

And when you're a really small roaster, you can't even fathom doing anything direct. You have to go through importers and such. So then just seeing like, Well, can I get my hands on? I started finding some women producers that I could buy really small volumes and just slowly dabbled and did it and was starting to plan my departure from my day job and figuring out how I would do that. And then the pandemic hit and I was like, okay, I'm not going to do it now. Oh, man. Yeah. I had been planning my departure or just more to leave it, because I was trying to do all of this while I had a full-time job and while I had a very small child at home.

[: 00:13:25

Which is another full.

[: 00:13:26

Time job. And quickly realized, yeah, quickly realized that's just not a recipe for happiness. So that's when I realized, okay, if I'm going to actually give this a go, I'm going to have to let go of my secure full-time job. The only thing I've ever known for most of my whole life, and go into the deep end of entrepreneurship. But I don't know, I just had the part of me was like, I got to give this a go. I got to try it out. I got to see if I can make this into something. And so it delayed a few months because of COVID, but it quickly turned into like, You can't put this off anymore. You just have to do it. Take the bullet.

[: 00:14:08

Yeah, exactly. That's what I did in the summer. Summer 2020 is when it basically came more official that, yes, I'm doing this. I love.

[: 00:14:20

That because it seems like there's a lot of the pandemic from different also episodes. We've had a few people on the show who have also opened during the pandemic. I'm happy that both and yours included have made it and pulled through that hard, rocky road that it probably gave you. But it seems like the pandemic really sprung a lot of entrepreneurial ideas for a lot of people, especially in the coffee world.

[: 00:14:49

Yeah, I think maybe part of it, too, is like it really comes to your drive and your passion in there. When things are unstable outside, it's like, well, you're more likely to go with either, I have to do this because there's something in me making me do it, or you have that fear. It's like, no, I can't take the risk, and then you stay where you... It pulls you into those extremes maybe. I don't know. It's just one theory that... And then maybe the folks who actually take the plunge are more willing to ride the ride, and it's scary and unpredictable and unsure as it is. I don't know. I don't think I've pulled through yet. I'm still growing. It's still not making any money. I'm not profitable or anything like that. I think that takes time. But I've had really good luck. I've met some amazing people, and I'm happier than I've ever been. That's great. I can say something in there. I'm not making any money, but I'm happier than I was when I had my secure job. So that's something, right?

[: 00:16:17

Yeah. No, I think that in general, the coffee industry always just produces a really great sense of community. And then, of course, working with the producers, it's a very humbling experience to be able to affect other people's lives just based off of a product.

[: 00:16:39

Right. Yeah, I really hope to strengthen that side of it more as my business grows. I've really just barely dabbled in the connections with producers. I'm really excited to... I'm going to be getting my hands on some beans from some producers who I have met. I have been to their house and I have hung out with them in the next couple of months. And so that just feels really amazing that I can see those connections and some of the other folks that I've met that I will be showcasing their beans. One of them also is Ruth from Artisan. I'm going to get some of their coffee in, which I'm really really excited to support and to celebrate the work they're doing and the women they work with. Then right now, I've got coffee from Mighty Peace, and that's been a really exciting. From the folks in the Congo, that has always been just really exciting to be able to share what they're doing with my customers and such, so stuff like that. Yeah, it is pretty amazing. It just adds a little bit of depth, a lot of depth to what we're doing with this beverage that we just love to drink every day.

[: 00:18:12

You're creating stories, which ties the entire experience together.

[: 00:18:19

I see it more as sharing stories because those stories are there. They're there, they're around the world. It's like, how do we better connect with them so that us here in privileged first-world countries can have a better, deeper appreciation to what actually goes into all the things that we love to consume and enjoy every day. It's a huge privilege to have that. And most of us just go through every day and just enjoy it or not even think about it, just totally take advantage. And so I think I see coffee is a great opportunity to start breaking some of that down and understanding better where that comes from and why it's important, why it's been so important for so many years.

[: 00:19:18

So working with women, is it mostly women owned and women produce, or is it just women produced?

[: 00:19:29

I don't have that much detail for everything else. For example, one of some of the coffees I get are from a co-op. It's like a women's co-op. I don't know who all really owns the land, but through my sources, they're produced and run by women, so I think that.

[: 00:19:48

Qualifies.

[: 00:19:49

To support their work and things like that. Yeah, totally.

[: 00:19:54

So are you also interested in gender equity? I think I Snooped on your website and saw gender equity mentioned, and I wanted to pick your brain on that too.

[: 00:20:05

Yeah, definitely. So my first love is more in the sustainability space. But as my adult years have gone on, I've gotten way more aware and passionate about gender equity and just equity in general. Just... I mean, it's hard to decouple it from just about everything, but gender equity is such a huge component, and they run so deep and for so long in so many different cultures, and it's so varied yet at the core, very similar in lots of cultures. I have to say, it's something I was aware of before and somewhat paid attention to. But having a daughter has really amplified my attention, my heightened sensitivity to it, and being able to see it, just the layers of prejudice and injustice and things that are ingrained in everything that we do. The more you pay attention to it, the more you see it everywhere.

[: 00:21:35

Right.

[: 00:21:35

That's been a big part of it.

[: 00:21:43

Where do you want or coffee to go? What trajectory do you see it hopefully following?

[: 00:21:53

But yeah, as far as having a company that has a positive impact, it's extending further into being a coffee bread and a product that can offer something to consumers that is a better choice or a better option. In the environmental space that I've worked in, I get really frustrated that everything lands on the customer or the consumer has to figure out how to deal with it. You have to figure out how to deal with your waste. You have to figure out how to recycle. You have to figure out how to make better choices and compare all the things. Well, as a brand, as a company, I want to put something out there that is easier for customers to make this decision. So that's really what inspired the Zero Waste Coffee Club is like, I can't find a packaging solution for my coffee that I feel good about, that I feel is making the world a better place because all it is more waste and using it more energy. And I didn't see anyone else doing that. So I was like, well, I'll just try to figure this out on my own. I started with just a handful of friends who were subscribers and tested out like, okay, if I mail the coffee to you on this container, will you mail it back to me thing.

[: 00:23:26

I had a pretty good response. I eventually launched it just for anyone to join about a year and a half ago. It's been my... I mean, it's not huge still because I haven't really done any aggressive marketing or anything because I still feel like it's a pilot phase, but it's been my fastest growing product. I've gotten pretty good feedback with the system. People just feeling really good that they're getting their coffee. The coffee is impactful because it's all produced by women and trying to support smaller shareholders, et cetera. But then there's no packaging waste in it as well. So basically folks who are with the join, they receive the coffee in a reusable container. Right now I use silicone bags, like stasher bags, but I don't use the stasher brand. I use a different brand. They receive that in a reusable mailer. And basically once they get the coffee in the mail, they pour it into a jar or they can opt in where they get a canister at the beginning of their subscription. And they refill their container and then they put everything back in the same mailer, flip the return label over and then drop it at USPS and it comes back to me.

[: 00:24:52

And then I wash everything and do the same thing.

[: 00:24:55

That's amazing.

[: 00:24:57

And it's on a four week cadence, trying to like... Because in my testing the coffee, it seems pretty good for at least a month if you store it well. So I try to educate folks, okay, store it in the airtight container, keep it out of the sun, that stuff. And so then you only need delivery once every, I do every four weeks, only because I roast every other week. So it's like every other... It just fits my schedule right now. So and then the volumes are higher, so people can get from one to four pounds every four weeks if they want. And yeah, it's as simple as that. The technical difficulties is getting is the containers. So sometimes they don't seal because it was never made for that being mailed across the country. So they don't seal. So sometimes they spill in the bag, which I use these additional clips for that. I'm looking into getting custom bags made for this so that that's not an issue. But generally, yeah, people have been pretty pleased with the product. And like I said, it's been the fastest growing product that I offer. People just will sign up for it.

[: 00:26:19

So it's been a pretty fun journey just exploring that. But yeah.

[: 00:26:26

It seems like you say that you do a lot of marketing for sustainability and you said climate change.

[: 00:26:33

It's all related. I didn't do marketing. I would design work.

[: 00:26:42

For.

[: 00:26:43

Companies and corporations, corporate reporting or smaller companies and nonprofits that have more sustainable minded products or industries, etc.

[: 00:26:59

Seems like that background and then this idea as itself, it's pretty innovative. I think that do you have more projects in the future of this trajectory line that we're painting for Salta Coffee? We're going to manifest this to happen along this rhythm. Do you have future projects that you would love to start implementing for Salta Coffee in terms of obviously supporting that sustainability being a huge part of your brand and legacy?

[: 00:27:30

Yeah, nothing else so far. I'm still pretty swallowed up by figuring out this circular packaging system and just making improvements with that. I think there's still a lot of improvements that need to be made before I really push it to grow bigger. But I think just sticking to those things is really creating a product that really I feel good about putting out in the world and then supporting folks who I want to support in the world, so that's the producers in their communities. Just getting deeper into those things, I think, is where my passion is right now. Because it can be so complex and just trying to do it well, trying to grow this thing in a sustainable manner. Right. Then eventually, if I grow large enough to have a team within my company, it'll extend to how do we operate and where is our energy coming from, how do we run our facility? Things like that. I'm just going to have an eye towards that naturally because that's just how I operate. It's all learning because I don't have any formal education in a lot of this stuff, so it's a lot of learning as you go and talking to lots of people and doing research and all of that.

[: 00:29:05

You also always have to be willing to pivot and reevaluate what you thought you knew. That's another thing is like there's always more to learn. There's always more analyzes. There's always people doing really interesting research and reporting on things. And you have to just be always open to how that might influence how you approach something and how you might need to change that so that it still fits within your ethos or your values from the sustainability and an equitable approach.

[: 00:29:42

So you started off home roasting, you're growing Swelter Coffee. How has it been integrating into the coffee community? Have you been going to SCA-driven events or have you... Obviously, the Bay Area has a lot of coffee roasters, so I'm guessing, do you all meet up and mingle and exchange it? I don't know. I'm just more curious. No.

[: 00:30:04

Yeah, I should do more. I am more so an introvert when it comes to that. I'm very intimidated by coffee people.

[: 00:30:17

Yeah, it's okay. I get it, trust me.

[: 00:30:20

So I have been trying to get myself out there, and then also diving into this while it was during COVID and stuff. So there wasn't a lot going on to go to. But I did go to my first... I went to the SCA Expo last in April. Was it April? Yeah, it was April. So that was the first big event I did for that. I haven't done it really much locally. I roast here at a co-roasting space. So I try to do some of their events when I can, but I also have a young kid and a family. So that's my top priority, is that type of... I know I'm a bit of a tackle-like stuff, but yeah, as I get into it, I just try to do more. And I tend to definitely resonate more with coffee related things that have the initiative or that are tackling these types of things that resonate with me. And then I find that I can find people there that I connect with. So, for example, last summer, I went to the women powered coffee summit held by Bean VOYAGE in Costa Rica. And that was really me going out on the limb being like, I don't feel like I belong here, but I feel like I should go.

[: 00:31:48

This is exactly the type of stuff I want to support. So I went and I couldn't really talk to anyone because everyone spoke Spanish. But they did really good job. They actually did a fabulous job translating all the... Because we have little individual ear things, recorders where they had the translator. So all the presentations were predominantly done in Spanish, but they translated for the few of us who couldn't speak or understand Spanish, and it was really amazing. But I met some really amazing people. Amadis was one of them who I met there last year from Joe Coffee.

[: 00:32:26

And.

[: 00:32:27

Then a few other folks who... And now the coffee farmer that I met there is the coffee that I'm bringing in to supply for my customers through being in voyage. So things like that that are just really mission driven. I definitely try to jump on those types of events and connections. And at SCA, there was a few extracurricular events that were more mission driven. I definitely got a lot of value out of those and met some really wonderful people there. I feel like it's been slow for me just because I need it to be. Again, I'm not much of an extrovert, and I get really intimidated by people, so I don't necessarily put myself out there as much as I.

[: 00:33:19

Should probably.

[: 00:33:22

But yeah, totally, but surely.

[: 00:33:24

I would love to hear more about your experience at the Women's Summit.

[: 00:33:29

Yeah, and they have another one this, I don't know if you've heard about it, but they're having another one this fall in November. So I plan on going to Bat.

[: 00:33:39

In Costa Rica again?

[: 00:33:41

I think they're at the same venue outside of San Jose. And so I need to learn some Spanish before I go. Yeah, it was really cool. It's an attempt to connect to producers with more industry folk. And what I think they're doing, and that's very different. And again, I'm new to the industry, so I didn't really know that this just wasn't a thing, but it's putting on these events to support and gain access for producers primarily. But I think roasters and us up in Western world or first world would still get a lot out of it. All the presentations, maybe it doesn't relate to you 100 %, but I think it just helps everyone have a better understanding of the complexity of what it means to support this industry.

[: 00:34:44

Right.

[: 00:34:45

And especially understanding the situations that most and many women producers find themselves in and the challenges they face and the tools they need to succeed is I think good for all of us to understand and be aware of. Then that way, as a brand, as a roaster myself, I can be more intentional in how I support that and how I talk about it. How I talk about it with consumers, how you educate consumers, all of the above. I think it's a really interesting and powerful thing that they've started.

[: 00:35:27

Yeah, I have heard about the Women's Summit before, and I was very curious about wanting to attend it, but obviously logistics getting there is always the hardest part.

[: 00:35:37

Yeah.

[: 00:35:38

How have your interactions with everybody in the industry been for you? I'm guessing I know that you said you're more introverted. You haven't hopefully had negative occurrences, have you?

[: 00:35:54

I wouldn't say negative, but I definitely would say I don't always feel comfortable in the space of coffee people. I'm trying to think. I don't know if I have any specifics, but especially being peripheral for so many years. I would go to the co-roasting space and go do my thing, go roast on the sample roaster. I wasn't in the industry, so I wouldn't say people were outright mean, but they weren't overly friendly. They definitely were not friendly. I feel like that's changing, especially... One thing I've noticed that because of being someone who is interested in the whole craft of coffee, roasting, and all of that, I've been seeking out information and things to learn, et cetera, over the years. Earlier on, when I first started, the first couple of years that they started roasting coffee, I just couldn't find anything out there. There just wasn't resources out there. There were videos. Now there's a ton of videos. There's lots of people doing education and stuff like that around it. Whereas I felt like back then, there really wasn't. It seems like the openness to share is growing. I think that's good. That's why I think my initial approach or reaction was like, okay, this is a closed club.

[: 00:37:39

At least that was my impression. It just felt intimidating. I never really approached people. I didn't ask questions. I just tried to learn on my own. And the folks that I would encounter, they didn't seem very interested in sharing with me. But I think that's changed. It seems like the industry is more open and people are more open to sharing.

[: 00:38:09

Do you have any interest in advancing outside of roasting? And since you're interested in a lot of sustainability, I guess, economic development or other things.

[: 00:38:22

Yeah. So there's a project I'm working on with Amaris and another woman we met at, who you should also talk to, how we know you, her contact and stuff, that we're started. I feel like both of them are a lot more eloquent to talk about the project, but it has to do with... I could sit and listen to Amadie's talk all day. She's very intelligent and such a wonderful tone. But yeah, it has to do with... How do I sum it up? Equitable quality information around coffee quality. And so it's like how do you share? How do you judge? How do you decide who decides the quality of the coffee? Is it us up here in the global north that are roasting it and selling it and then telling everyone else what the quality is? Or should it be the farmers on the farm? How do you share that information more equitable together as a community? And then how does the industry enable folks at origin to have the confidence to judge their own coffee and stand up for what they feel the value should be and the quality should be or the quality is versus the other way around, where they're very just like sending it out.

[: 00:40:14

They're like, okay, people tell me what's the coffee score? What's the number? Well, these people said this, and those people said that. What is it? And it's just like farmers, they should be able to do that themselves and have the tools and the confidence to make those decisions themselves and to take what we say in conjunction with what they understand versus take what we say and be like, okay, that's the price point or whatever based on some arbitrary. It's not arbitrary, but based on some numbers that they don't understand. The organization that we're starting tries to grapple with a lot of that and create an exchange where it encourages that dialog and collaboration across the world.

[: 00:41:06

Yeah, that's great.

[: 00:41:08

So it isn't necessarily Swelter specific, but it's me being concerned about something. Yeah, it's whatever you're-Yeah. -and starting something that just feels right and feels like, okay, let's do this. Finding people that you work really well with and have a passion for it.

[: 00:41:27

Yeah, I think she had mentioned it briefly in her episode as well, that that was something that she was interested in exploring more, too. It's a pleasant surprise that you're also involved.

[: 00:41:41

Yes, I am also involved. And again, I'll let her do the speaking about it, because they're both way.

[: 00:41:50

More eloquent. No, you're doing fine.

[: 00:41:53

But yeah, it's a really great thing. I feel really excited to be able to be a part of it and working with them on this and the potential of we've gotten we've done some focus groups and talk to a handful of people about it and just had really great feedback. So it's pretty exciting. Yeah, it sounds great. We'll do an episode on that project in the future.

[: 00:42:21

I don't usually have a lot of chances to talk to mothers who work in the coffee industry. How is being a full-time mom and balancing the work life of your coffee business been?

[: 00:42:37

Hard. Yeah.

[: 00:42:40

Because it's two very big investments.

[: 00:42:42

Yeah, and you asked before what could be another thing that I might focus on. I would say that might be a huge theme through growing this business. And especially as I grow and employ people, that work-life balance and being able to support people and their families will be huge.

[: 00:43:07

Are you talking specifically for the producing countries or your staff?

[: 00:43:13

Staff. I think it would be more staff. And producing, I would definitely be game to figuring out because I know that's a huge part of issue. I mean, it's an issue globally with what do you do with child care. When you are in axially in countries that women are assumed to be the child care-ers, how do you support them? And how do you create an environment where they can flourish and be the amazing employees or business owners or whatever that they can be, in addition to taking care of their family and having the family values. It shouldn't be an either or. I think that could definitely be something that flares up in my future just because it's something I grapple with and something I see a lot of injustices in just in that in itself. But it's been hard, especially having a young kid and trying to straddle this passion I have to grow a business and then also wanting to be a good mom and also feeling like I can't do either one very well because I didn't have training for either of them. You're just trying to do your best at both and hoping that you're doing a good job at both.

[: 00:44:39

But I will say that partly for having a kid pushed me to do the business, because that's part of what keeps me going, it's like I want to show my kid that you can go after your dreams and you can work really hard at them, and you can make something of it. Or I might have to show her that you can really go after something, decide that it's not going to work, and you need to switch it. And that's okay. That is for... I think first and foremost what I want her to see firsthand and apparent. And so when things get really hard and I just feel like I can't do this and I shouldn't be doing this, that's try to where I take myself and be like, well, I have to do it for her. I have to keep trying for her. I can't lose hope. Because starting a business is starting your own thing. If you don't have hope that you'll work through it all, you're doomed. You don't have all the answers, but you have to have hope that you'll get there, or you'll figure it out, or you'll meet the right person, or you'll hear the right thing so that you can solve this problem or that problem, or get over that hurdle.

[: 00:46:03

That's where I try to take my brain is like, well, I got to show her that I can do this. I also have to show her that it's really hard. It's really fucking hard. Excuse me, language.

[: 00:46:16

Oh.

[: 00:46:16

You're fine. That it takes a lot of hard work and sacrifice as well. I don't know if she'll want to be an entrepreneur or whatever, but whatever she decides to do with her life, I just want to show her that you can have passion and you can have drive and you can do all the things and you can love it. You don't have to give anything up.

[: 00:46:44

Sounds like you're verbally speaking a love letter to your daughter right now. It's beautiful to listen.

[: 00:46:49

To you. I think so. I think so. No, I mean, she has been... I mean, motherhood just, on a daughter level, has just been really hard for me. But I've also found a huge amount of... What's it called? Maybe it's that drive or that passion. Strength? Strength. Yes. Thank you. That's a good one. I found a huge amount of strength just having that. I mean, of course, throwing a kid in the mix of trying to build a business makes everything harder. But it's almost like you need that to do it. I couldn't do it on my own for some reason, even though I thought about it for many years. I didn't have the courage, but now that I had a kid, I was like, well, either now or never.

[: 00:47:43

Yeah, I think it goes back to what you were explaining before about balancing between that leap of the unknown into that faith-driven hope that this will pull through and be what it is hopefully meant to be. Or you say in a system where you're constantly working that nine to five or whatever that job is that's bringing you that financial stability and you just sit and wonder. I think.

[: 00:48:08

That.

[: 00:48:10

That plagues the mind. I don't think that's a healthy way to live. I think that you taking the big leap and a lot of what you're trying to build for Swelter too, I think it's really innovative. I like the ideas that you have in place and who you're collaborating with and what you're trying to build for yourself only being like starting from a really interesting groundwork of home roasting that I honestly have never tried to do. And don't know- You should try it. I feel like I'd burn my whole apartment down. I'd be like, Oh, how does this work? I literally do this for a living in a bigger oven. I can't do this here. But you're really like covering so many different levels of ground here that I think that once you reach that trajectory line that we're manifesting here, it'll just be implementing so many different things for when you do eventually build staff to the other sustainable projects you want to be involved with or create for Swelter. I think that there's just a lot of potential for what you're building for yourself. And I think that your daughter is going to be able to look at her mom and be like, wow, look at my mom being cool and building stuff and doing things for the environment and for global warming.

[: 00:49:29

Well, like yeah, I think I think it's important that you should just do what you're passionate about. I don't know. It's not that I want her to see and be like, Isn't it cool what my mom built? It's like, Oh, I can do anything. I can go after the things and have an impact and make these decisions. I don't have to conform to what society thinks I should be or what these people think I should be. That's more or less what I want her to see. Because I think when I went to college and entered the workforce, I had a very much more traditional. Yeah, you do that nine to five. Entrepreneurship, that was totally different. I didn't even know what it was. Or that you could start... Anyway, it's just to show that... There's nothing wrong with being in a 9:00-5:00 either. There's definitely nothing wrong with that. It's figuring out what's the right thing for you at the right time in your life. That's going to change as your life changes, and you grow, and you learn things, and it could be the other way around where you wanted to be an entrepreneur when you're younger, but then decide, No, I want to have a 95 and work in a bigger organization.

[: 00:50:53

I feel like I have a better impact. I could tap into my talents and my passions more this way or that way. There's no wrong or a way about it, but it's about doing things that's meaningful to you and trying to find that balance with what makes you human, what makes you you, and what you want to represent in the world. And it can be through your family, it could be through your work, it could be through the combination of the two and a few other things that you throw in there.

[: 00:51:23

Sounds great. But I appreciate you being on this episode and explaining your journey and explaining about Swelter and a lot of you and your new birth of being in the industry and paving your path.

[: 00:51:42

Thanks. Well, thanks for having me. It was fun to meet you. I've been listening in on your episodes and learning more about what you're doing. It's really great. Oh, thank you.

[: 00:51:50

Yeah, thank you. I'm trying.

[: 00:51:54

No, I mean, you're paving your journey, too. And so it's fantastic.

[: 00:52:00

I appreciate that. Thank you. I will say that her whole brand is very much like she's running it all. And I have a lot of respect for her doing that and being a mom and whatever else that she's working with on that nonprofit idea, just equity in terms of coffee quality. And I think it's really amazing what she's trying to do for herself being so like me, fresh in the industry, because obviously she started during the pandemic when she brought up Swelter and then has been slowly growing. And then she wanted to start from the ground putting and implementing these sustainable ideas that I'm pretty sure once she has a knack for it, she'll continue to create more innovative ideas. So it's like the idea of what she's trying to do is great and who she's working with are great people. But yeah, I think that the zero waste idea is something that could really turn into something great. I do like the educational part of her trying to inform the consumer because I feel like a lot of the time coffee companies don't do that. They don't try to teach coffee to people. It's not very educational at all.

[: 00:53:11

I think that what she's trying to do is make it so personable. I think a lot of this is a characteristic to her personality. I think that her trying to make a difference within the consumer side, along with obviously the producing and the roasting side, she's focusing primarily on educating her customers. She starts from really small, intimate groups. The name started from a small, intimate group. What she's doing is firsthand on her own. She's doing everything on her own. And then she had an opportunity, took it, met amazing people, started a nonprofit with another person who's already started a Women in Coffee project. She's on a great path towards being a successful businesswoman. And then her devotion to her daughter was beautiful to listen to. So yeah, I just genuinelyand genuinely want people to help her, bring her awareness of what she's doing to the forefront and help grow what she's trying to create for sustainability and for obviously, I think she does want to work on a lot of economic development that Ruth was doing, and it's just great.