Should I Stay or Should I Go?

When it comes to coffee education, a few different conversations can happen. Which conversation applies to you almost entirely depends on your geographical location and your intent. Let's break that down a bit.

"Strength=Extraction + Dose? How the hell is anyone getting "blueberry pie" flavor out of this espresso? All I taste is bitterness"- You, trying to study coffee on your own

When I am talking about your intent, I am talking about your desire to pursue a career in coffee. Is your current or prospective job in the industry just a hold-me-over job until you can find a job in a different field? Or are you hoping to make a life long career within the coffee community? This is a really important question to ask yourself-honestly. If you align more with the former, I suggest you still take pride and ownership of your current position- it will pay off when you end up where you want to be. Now if you're looking into a career in coffee, I offer the same advice with one asterisk: Take pride and ownership of your current position* *but know that ultimately you need to put your career and progression at the forefront of your focus.

Getting a formal education is relatively mapped out. You go to high school, you get good grades, apply to schools that offer what you think you're interested in doing (and have a rad campus and hopefully are in a community you vibe with), get into that school and continue on your 2-4(or more) year journey to a number of careers within your major. Now if you want to have a career in coffee, that map doesn't exist. It can, you just have to make it yourself. Like your friends at a 4-year, you too must choose a "major" and odds are you will change it, just like most people. Of course, when you do pick your major, you also have to design your curriculum, syllabus, timeline, and find a few knowledgeable educators along the way. Think of your education in coffee as a create-your-own-adventure kind of lifestyle. Once you've chosen your ideal career focus-let's say you want to own a trendy cafe- now you need to figure out how to get from working as a barista at your current job, to owning your own successful cafe.

"Think of your education in coffee as a create-your-own-adventure kind of lifestyle."

Here, we are faced with the second variable: location. There is a reason that there are thousands of accredited university options offering different specialties and vastly different tuition/acceptance rates. You get a different caliber of education depending on where you go. To a vast majority of people, the cost of relocating to an entirely new state and paying 3x more in tuition to get a quality education that isn't available where they grew up is well worth it. Especially when they're able to use that education to show they've competed in highly competitive and respected programs. It is (or at least shouldn't) be any different for you in your career aspirations in the coffee industry.

So often, prospective coffee professionals burn out and never reach their full potential based off of their location. Want to work in the industry, but you live in a town that's only coffee shop is ~ahem~ a shit show? Then move. Can't move? Commute. Can't commute? Save up, wake up earlier and drive further, catch the bus to the next city over, sofa surf with a friend or relative for a while. Make the sacrifice. If you limit your potential to just what is in a 15 mile radius of your home, you limit your potential to exceed your own expectations. The honest and hard reality is that if you want to make a living in coffee, you just might have to relocate to find a shop that can challenge you and teach you. All cafes were not created equally. Some are owned and operated by someone who has no interest in evolving with the industry, some will be owned by the most passionate coffee geeks you'll ever encounter. Some will have all the potential in the world, but not invest in their employees development. It is okay for all of these shops to exist. It is okay for you to abandon your hometown shop for a better opportunity elsewhere.

"A cafe job doesn't have to be a dead end career. It should be your jumping off point."

When you are trying to start a career in coffee, the shop you work at is multipurpose in your life. It is your home, your get away, your job, your greatest frustration, your biggest inspiration, and your classroom. You have to find a shop that hits all of those marks, and if it doesn't then you need to keep looking until you find it. A cafe doesn't have to be a dead end career. It should be your jumping off point. It should launch you onto the next step in your journey. When it is no longer challenging for you, and you are no longer learning from it, you need to evaluate what you want next. You need to express your desires to whoever runs that cafe, and if they shoot you down you know it's time to move on to your next "classroom".

As a coffee professional (in the making) you should view each cafe no differently than a biologist (in the making) views each class they take in college. Each should teach you new skills, each should challenge you, and each should put you a little closer to where you want to be. Some of those lessons may take the form of finding out what not to do, instead of what to do. What's important is that you keep at it, and understand that as soon as your location is not challenging you and not fulfilling you, it's time to move on to the next chapter. The education never stops, because the industry never stops developing. Your personal growth should be no different. So if you find yourself at a dead end, feeling uninspired and stunted, stop looking at your path as any different than that of a college student. Make the move you have to make to get the education you deserve to create the career that you love.