Guts and honour
A single parent fought mental health and adversity to build three community powered coffee shops
Bootstrapping movement
A single parent fought mental health and adversity to build three community powered coffee shops
Trouble Coffee & Coconut Club is anti-growth small business. In thirteen years Giulietta has opened only three locations in San Francisco. In ten years Chai Pointmay have opened 200 stores.
Giulietta, the founder of Trouble coffee started selling mix tapes at the age of 10 years. She struggled from failure to another til she reached San Francisco, and started working in a coffee shop. Her employer encouraged her to start her own coffee shop. She opened a bank account and enrolled with Small Business Association. With the help of the friends and the community, she opened her first cafe in 2007. All this while she kept battling the mental health. Today she employs more than 14 employees in three locations. She also kick-started the artisanal toast movement in the Bay Area.
Its manifesto says: Trouble Coffee acts as a locus of resources in a network of information via word of mouth. we are local people with useful skills in a tangible situations. strong & dependable. respect. skills. culture. committment,guts & honor. drink a cup of trouble. eat a coconut. and learn to build your own damn house. we will help. we are building a network.”
Indian cities have their version of Trouble coffee. There is Teasta Tea Shop in Noida. There is Dolly’s Tea Cafe in Kolkata. Bengaluru has Koshy’s Cafe. Mumbai has Irani cafes and bakeries. More local businesses helps in employing low skilled workers and building the communities.
Eat more: The best toast ever Link