St Remio Coffee founder, Julia Tink writes candidly about building a coffee brand that empowers women, being a mother and the lessons of running a business.
I am Julia Tink, Director of One Collective Group and St Remio coffee. I am first and foremost a mother and wife, and my passion lies in building businesses and brands with purpose.
I formally ran my own PR agency for 6 years prior to starting St Remio coffee. Initially, having a coffee brand was the goal, but after my husband Trent visited Rwanda in late 2015, the vision for St Remio changed dramatically and the focus shifted to become a brand that celebrated and recognised coffee growers, sourced sustainable coffee and gave back to communities through education and infrastructure. It is this part of the brand that I am most passionate about.
When we enjoy our morning coffee, we rarely stop to think about the people behind it. We are consumed by the brand, the barista and our own personal taste. We are not thinking about what it took to cultivate the coffee.
Over 75% of the world’s coffee producers are female and it is a hard and laborious task. These women cultivate and harvest the coffee we know and love and they do so to provide for their families. I am a mother too. Our motivations are the same; do whatever it takes to provide for your family no matter what the challenges are. It doesn’t matter where you live, or the circumstances you find yourself in, the motivation is universal and that driver is family.
On my recent trip to Rwanda this year, I took some time to reflect on life and my own personal values. It was the first time I had been able to join my husband on an origin trip because in previous years I was pregnant or my son was too young for me to leave. But this year, I found myself in the fortunate position to go and open up the first big project we at St Remio have been able to fund, the Cupping Lab for the female cooperative of TUK Rwanda. And WHAT. A JOURNEY!
As I walked towards the facility, I was overwhelmed by the celebration. The joy from the women radiated and the fields were filled with the most beautiful song. It was a life-changing moment and as I walked down that hill to greet the women, my heart felt full.
The vision for St Remio at that moment had never been clearer. What we are trying to achieve, the stories we are trying to highlight, and the messages we are trying to drive are REAL and POWERFUL. It’s about shifting the conversation away from commodity and into community. Celebrating the producers and making people aware that great coffee starts at origin.
These days we talk a lot about influence on social media. People influencing a brand, awareness and sales and we put a lot of emphasis on this. On this trip I found myself asking, “what does that really achieve?” I realised that influence is fleeting. What lasts and what really means something is IMPACT; an action that has a direct and meaningful outcome on people’s lives.
I saw firsthand the impact we at St Remio were having, and the ripple effect on 1000’s of people’s lives and that of their families. By being able to fund the Cupping Lab, we saw women learning about coffee, finally able to taste and understand their own product and learn the value of the crop they’ve grown. It was empowering them in business and allowing them to sell their product with confidence and for a higher yield. They could also now teach other farmers about the flavour profile of their coffee and advise them on how to change their farming techniques in order to grow a more desirable crop and ultimately earn more for their family. The flow on effect was far and wide.
Whether St Remio lasts for 2 years or 50 years, the Cupping Lab will continue to have a positive impact for generations to come. To know that I have built a brand that has been able to do this, spurs me to do more, earn more and be more for communities like this. Each year at St Remio we fund a new initiative for a female farming cooperative with the aim to fund multiple projects at once as the brand continues to grow.
Running a business is so hard. It can be incredibly challenging and isolating. The stress. The worry. The highs. The lows. The sacrifices. It is a never-ending battle, but I thrive on it. I’ve cut my teeth on small business since I was 19 years old, and I would never have life any other way. Whenever things get tough, I think about the women I have met, and are yet to meet, and it gives me the fire I need to push through at all costs.
You need to be so resilient in business. Every day is like stepping into the boxing ring. Some days you’ll land the punch, other days you will cop it, but each morning you need to dust yourself off and step back into the ring, turn up, and get it done. From some of the darkest moments in running St Remio, have come the most amazing opportunities, but you need to look for it and keep an open mind. The universe has bigger things at play for you and if you tune into your intuition, you can see the clues and guiding posts all around you. You won’t always win. People will try and cut you down. You’ll get knocked back a dozen times, but then one day you won’t and what will set you apart from the others, is a never-quit attitude and unrelenting self-belief.
If someone told me at 15 this is what I would become, I would have laughed. While I always knew I wanted to run my own business, I could never have dreamed my life would take me here but I love it! I love my family and I love what I am building. I love what it is teaching my son and I am proud of the legacy I will one day leave behind.
I am only 37 years old and I still have so much life to live and so much more to learn about myself on this journey. But what I have learned is that true meaning and outcomes with real purpose lie in IMPACT. Stop comparing yourself to others online, stop listening to the “noise” and stop caring about what people think of you. You won’t be liked by everyone and you know what, that’s ok. Because you are here for a reason. For a purpose. Maybe you have found it like I have, maybe you are on your way to discovering it, but whatever your journey is you need to own it, love it and most importantly back yourself in at all costs. It’s easy to look at others and think they have it all, but you also need to look beyond that and ask yourself – “what sacrifices have they had to make to get there?” Chances are they’ve given up so much in order to be a success, it just happens to be the part that no one sees or talks about.
You don’t have to have 10,000 followers to do something amazing and have an impact in life. Change starts with one person. You have the power to DO and BE something great. Sometimes the smallest change can have the most profound outcome. The biggest mistake you can make in life is regret. You have one life. Make it count.