Latest / Coffee People Podcast / Jenny Barber, Talitha Coffee

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Jenny Barber, Talitha Coffee · Coffee People Podcast

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1:06
Hey everyone, welcome back to the Coffee People podcast.
1:09
That was fairly effusive, which makes sense because I'm excited
1:13
to be here and be back in 2025. I'm your host, Ryan Wolt.
1:17
This show is presented by Rostar Coffee Packaging.
1:21
You just heard that ad but but go check them out at rostar.com.
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The Coffee People Pod is part of the Roast West Coast network and
1:29
you can go to roastwestcoast.com to find recaps of this podcast,
1:33
our coffee smarter shows and so much more.
1:37
Today I'm chatting with Jenny Barber who along with her
1:39
husband Co founded Talitha Coffee Roasters, a mission
1:43
driven coffee company. A bit of a trigger warning for
1:47
you before we get started. The San Diego based Talitha
1:50
Coffee's mission is to produce great coffee course, but also to
1:54
advocate for sex trafficked victims, develop a network of
1:57
services for survivors, and create employment opportunities.
2:02
We chat about that today, which includes some information about
2:05
sex trafficking, what it means to be a victim, a survivor, and
2:09
how that has shaped Jenny's path into and through coffee.
2:13
There aren't any graphic descriptions, but this is an
2:16
intense and emotional topic and I wanted to give you a heads up
2:19
before we get started. OK, I need a cup of coffee.
2:24
How about you? I'm drinking a medium roasted
2:26
V60 pour over of a 100% Kona coffee from our friend Ed at
2:31
Rooster Farms in Kailua, Kona. HI, I just got a chance to stop
2:36
by there for a visit with my family and we had a little bit
2:39
of a tasting over the holidays. Somehow I came away with three
2:42
bags of the good stuff. I'll share details about the
2:45
farm in the Bean Journal, found at roastwestcoast.com.
2:49
Wherever you are, I hope that you have a good cup of coffee
2:52
too. Something to sip on as you
2:54
scroll through talitha.com and listen to this Coffee People
2:58
podcast featuring Jenny Barber, cofounder of Talitha Coffee.
3:09
Yeah, I'm Jenny Barber. I am the Co founder of Talitha
3:13
Coffee. We are a coffee company that is
3:16
based out of San Diego and going nationwide and we exist to
3:21
create incredible coffee and also employ survivors of sex
3:25
trafficking. I happen to have a connection to
3:28
Talitha. One of my close friends works
3:30
there, Greg. He's the one who turned me on to
3:32
your brand in the 1st place. And I've been kind of following
3:35
as you've quickly risen kind of through the ranks.
3:38
You had a big acquisition about a year ago, I think time wise
3:42
and got you like kind of jump started, which is is pretty
3:45
wild. But I'm wondering what got you
3:48
interested in coffee in the 1st place.
3:50
I know it's not the first thing you've done.
3:52
Yeah, So I actually did not drink coffee until about
3:56
probably 2015 when my husband started roasting coffee as a
4:00
hobby. He actually started on our stove
4:04
top with a popcorn popper. And it was just kind of one of
4:08
those things he had heard that you could do it.
4:10
And we were very familiar with, you know, the the average
4:14
everyday coffee that most people are consuming or purchasing for
4:19
their homes. But we are hearing about this
4:21
thing called 3rd wave coffee and also hearing that it was
4:25
something that you could do and create at home.
4:28
And so he was quite intrigued and started out really simply
4:32
whirly pop popcorn popper on our stove top.
4:35
And just even with that we were like, wow, this is actually
4:38
incredible. So he began to graduate to
4:42
larger machines and as he did, we discovered really great
4:47
quality coffee and without the all the pesticides and things
4:52
like that. And I realized, oh, I can
4:54
actually drink coffee and enjoy it.
4:56
And so that's when I really started getting into coffee.
4:59
But beyond that, we've been working in anti trafficking for
5:03
about 15 years now. And we have worked all over the
5:07
world providing outreach and advocacy for victims of
5:11
trafficking. And through that, we continue to
5:15
see that there was a breakdown when it came to the end part of
5:21
the recovery journey for survivors.
5:23
So they would go through recovery programs, we would
5:26
refer them, and they would end up coming right back to us in
5:31
our outreach efforts because they were facing barriers to re
5:35
entry. And so in that, that's really
5:38
when coffee took off for us, because we began to wonder, what
5:42
would it look like to take a skill that my husband had
5:45
developed as a hobby and turn that into a practical way to
5:50
help survivors rebuild their lives?
5:53
I want to just provide a little bit of context for myself and
5:56
anyone listening. When you say survivors, who are
5:59
you referring to? Yeah, so we actually work with
6:03
men and women, primarily women who have been exploited through
6:09
sex trafficking, through sexual exploitation.
6:12
Some of them are coming to us because they have been, you
6:16
know, involved in trafficking on the streets here in the United
6:20
States. Some of them have been exploited
6:23
through the sex industry and coming from all different areas.
6:27
But all of them are coming to us looking for hope and for an
6:31
opportunity just to rebuild their lives.
6:34
You know, a lot of people who start coffee companies are doing
6:37
other things and kind of dreaming of this.
6:39
Lovely movie experience of running a little Cafe and and
6:44
that kind of thing, but you already had this kind of thing
6:46
that was really valued in your life and important to you.
6:50
You mentioned the using the skill to create more opportunity
6:55
and advocacy opportunities for human trafficking victims.
6:59
How did that conversation work for you and your husband?
7:02
Where you were going is thinking, oh, this is this thing
7:04
that I do for fun on the side, but I want to incorporate it
7:07
into our, our, our career life, our, you know, our advocacy
7:10
life. Yeah, so we were becoming really
7:14
involved in the anti trafficking movement and we were providing
7:19
outreach and advocacy on the streets of LA and like I
7:22
mentioned all over the world. And, you know, what started out
7:27
as a hobby for my husband, I think kind of grew quickly
7:31
because we realized how great he was at it.
7:35
And he was just selling coffee to, you know, at first he was
7:38
just giving, come on over, try this coffee I made on my stove,
7:40
you know, and then I think he graduated to a little be more on
7:44
our counter. And it was, you know, gradual
7:47
steps from there. Then he kind of hinted at, oh,
7:49
you know, maybe I could get a larger like A1 kilogram coffee
7:56
roaster that we could, you know, just put in the house and or in
7:58
the garage or something. And before he knew it, I
8:01
purchased it. I was like, let's do this.
8:03
And he actually started selling small bags of coffee just to
8:08
help fund the work that I was doing on the streets.
8:11
And, you know, we were giving out gift bags to those who were
8:14
being exploited. And, you know, a bag of coffee
8:17
would buy some bags to take out on outreach and that kind of
8:21
thing. And so it was pretty organic in
8:23
that way, but I was just feeling really defeated, I guess.
8:28
I was going out every single week or sending teams of people
8:31
out every single week. We were going on the streets and
8:34
in the strip clubs and reaching those who are being exploited in
8:37
the pornography industry. And we were very determined, you
8:42
know, to reach those who were being exploited.
8:45
And they would leave, they would go, they would find hope, they
8:48
would start going through a recovery process.
8:50
And as I mentioned, within a matter of months, they were
8:53
coming right back to us. And the average age of entry
8:57
into trafficking is 11 to 15 years old.
9:00
And So what we were seeing was these victims were having, they
9:04
weren't even having the opportunity to complete
9:06
education, to develop work skills.
9:10
And some of them had criminal records they weren't even aware
9:13
of. And so we were in this cycle and
9:17
I was feeling pretty defeated in that, but knowing that there had
9:21
to be another level to the anti trafficking movement that needed
9:25
to be addressed here. So that's really when my husband
9:28
was like, why don't we take what we bring to the table and and do
9:32
something about the problem. And so that's when he suggested
9:35
opening up a coffee shop. So we started with the coffee
9:38
shop in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles and in 2020.
9:44
So it was a pretty crazy time to, you know, start a coffee
9:48
shop. But we did it and we we realized
9:53
in that capacity we could hire maybe one or two survivors.
9:57
And we knew that we wanted to address an issue.
10:01
We wanted to be a part of something on a greater scale.
10:05
And so that's when we reached out to a longtime friend and
10:09
donor, Mike Glands, and knew that he had a heart to create
10:15
business that was highly successful and highly impactful
10:19
and prove that the two are not mutually exclusive, that you can
10:23
create something that's really amazing on the business side,
10:26
but it's also is making an incredible impact.
10:29
And so we asked him to help us develop out the business model
10:34
that would be really scalable and could sustain the rapid
10:39
growth that we were hoping for. And he asked if I wanted to hire
10:43
5 or 10 survivors. And I said, I want to hire at
10:46
least 1000. And so that was the point for
10:50
him where he actually became intrigued.
10:52
He was like, OK, there's something, there's something on
10:56
this. So he began to look at what does
10:58
it look like to grow through acquisitions and develop out
11:02
this coffee model in that way, but to do it with something
11:06
that's creating not just a nationwide coffee brand, but
11:09
also a nationwide impact. And so that's when he completely
11:13
pivoted his life and joined us. And at the end of 2022 is when
11:18
we made our first acquisition, we went from £300 a month to
11:23
£10,000 a month overnight. And that was quite, a quite a
11:28
learning curve. But we made that first
11:31
acquisition down in San Diego. We have continued to acquire,
11:36
acquire companies and have just now we have cafes, we have
11:42
multiple roasteries that we've streamlined all of production
11:46
into one facility. We have a coffee training
11:50
institute and so we're able to offer employment to survivors of
11:54
trafficking. We, through our coffee training
11:57
institute, we are offering specialty coffee training to
12:00
wholesale customers, to the public, but we're also able to
12:04
scholarship those four survivors.
12:06
And then we have the Talitha Survivor Care Network, which is
12:09
offering holistic care. So everything from therapy,
12:12
support groups, legal services, reunification with children,
12:17
work skills, all of that kind of stuff, just to really make sure
12:20
that survivors are having not just the practical assistance of
12:26
job placement, but they're also able to have those other
12:29
tangible things that they need in order to really succeed in re
12:33
entry. I find it really interesting
12:37
this idea of entering the industry in an acquisition state
12:41
of mind that's, you know, it's just not a story that I hear a
12:44
lot. I've done 300 of these episodes
12:46
and it's maybe once or twice. How has that, you know, going
12:51
from, you said £300 to 10,000 lbs overnight, expanding into
12:55
areas that maybe not your initial focus or finding new
12:59
challenges, How do you manage that from a a business side when
13:03
the advocacy is such a key component for you?
13:06
Like you're obviously very passionate about it.
13:09
Yeah, for sure. I think that we have actually
13:13
been really surprised by the response.
13:16
You know, whenever we acquire a company, it's not like they
13:20
initially signed up to be a part of a coffee company that had a
13:24
cause behind it, right? But we've actually been so
13:28
encouraged by the response because we have we have a high
13:33
value for change and we talk about that a lot.
13:35
We realized early on if we're going to be a company that is
13:39
growing with this model and a company that's working with
13:42
survivors of trafficking, we have to have a value for change,
13:46
right? We have to be able to adapt.
13:48
We have to be able to grow and develop and make shifts and
13:51
change. And we also have to realize that
13:54
when we bring on a new company, yes, we are imparting our DNA
13:59
and our culture and things like that and the incredible
14:02
operational systems that we bring.
14:05
But we're also realizing that these companies that we're
14:08
acquiring, they have attributes that are incredible and that we
14:12
need to learn and grow from as well.
14:14
And so I think by valuing change, it really leaves room
14:18
for that. We have seen in the companies
14:22
that we've acquired, there has been just such a positive
14:26
response to change as well. I think a lot of times people go
14:29
after building their careers, you know, they the thing that's
14:34
missing is the purpose. You know, you can build all the
14:38
skills in the world, all the talents in the world, all of the
14:41
success in the world, and then kind of get to this point where
14:44
you ask yourself, but why? You know what, what was all of
14:48
that for? And I think that by being a
14:51
coffee company that has a cause, we're kind of creating
14:55
opportunities for people to take their skills and do it in a way
14:59
that's not just serving coffee or roasting coffee, but now
15:04
you're also doing that and changing lives.
15:07
And that's been something people have been really excited about.
15:10
I think being so immersed in the anti trafficking world for so
15:14
long, I think I also wasn't an aware of the opportunity that
15:20
this would be for us to create awareness.
15:22
When we do our monthly trainings with our staff, we're hearing
15:27
from people that are living everyday lives and had no idea
15:32
the reach that trafficking has and the impact that trafficking
15:35
has. And now we're able to inform and
15:38
equip our staff in such an organic way that they're
15:41
actually becoming really passionate about this issue as
15:45
well. And they're bringing that
15:47
knowledge back to their families and to their communities and
15:50
really, you know, raising advocates just through everyday
15:56
coffee. Just as like a normal person who
16:00
doesn't necessarily have a connection to trafficking or
16:03
survivorship, it's, it breaks my brain a little bit to think
16:07
about how often it happens and on the scale.
16:10
And we're seeing a lot of it recently in the news with some
16:13
celebrity issues and people I think are it's on the forefront.
16:16
So we're talking about it and just coincidence that you and I
16:18
are connecting now the name and the branding.
16:22
How did you settle on that and how does it reflect you know
16:25
what? It is you're doing.
16:27
Yeah, I I absolutely love our branding.
16:30
Everything is so intentional behind it.
16:34
So Talitha actually comes from an Aramaic story where a little
16:38
girl is raised from death to life.
16:40
The origin is Talitha Kum, which means Maiden arise.
16:44
And that's what we're wanting to see in the lives of survivors,
16:48
right? We're wanting to see them rise
16:50
from this place of desperation and hopelessness.
16:54
And some of the darkest situations that you know, that
16:57
do really break the brain that you can't even fathom that these
17:00
horrors are happening. And they're rising from that
17:03
place into a place of empowerment and hope to a place
17:07
of being able to dream and pursue futures that they build.
17:12
And so that's, that's the meaning behind the name.
17:16
And then if you look at our branding, we wanted to choose
17:19
colors that were vibrant and happy and really cultivated
17:25
hope, right? That's everything we're hope
17:27
roasted. Everything that we do is about
17:29
creating hopeful opportunities for the survivors that we work
17:33
for with with the communities that we work in and with our
17:37
employees. And so everything's very vibrant
17:41
and full of life. And then if you look at the side
17:45
of our bags, you'll see there's a beautiful silhouette of a
17:48
woman. And that's just a way to
17:51
represent Talitha. I think Talitha is also a name
17:54
and it's a name that can represent the overall picture of
17:59
survivors. And you know, it's a way that
18:02
survivors can share their stories in whatever capacity
18:05
they want to. If somebody wants to share their
18:07
story but they don't want to disclose, they want to remain
18:10
anonymous, they can have that opportunity to do that through
18:14
that silhouette and through the name Talitha.
18:17
We also really encourage survivors to walk out their
18:21
journey in the way that they're most comfortable.
18:24
So when we bring on a survivor staff, it's need to know, not
18:27
everybody knows that they're a survivor, just those who need to
18:30
know in the company in order to make sure that they have the
18:32
support and care that they need. And then from there, we will
18:37
totally get behind them. If they want to share their
18:39
story, we will champion that, right?
18:41
And then we also, if they, if they're like, hey, I want to
18:45
work this job, I don't want anybody to know we're also
18:49
behind that as well. This is something that I've been
18:52
able to lead out in. I'm actually a sea sex survivor
18:54
myself. So I faced exploitation as a
18:57
child. And so even with that Talitha
19:01
model and platform, like I've been able to share my story and
19:05
kind of create opportunities for other survivors to do so as well
19:09
in whatever way that they're comfortable too.
19:10
So that's all, all about our brand is all about just creating
19:14
hope and opportunity. And I would say from the
19:19
outside, I think representation, when a survivor sees somebody
19:22
out there talking about it or representing or starting a
19:25
company or working towards something, it makes you think,
19:28
oh, if they can do it, I could. I think.
19:31
There's. A great value there.
19:34
You know when I think of cause 'cause.
19:37
Brands, whether it's coffee or booze or.
19:39
Whatever it might be, towels, soap, Doctor Bronner's comes to
19:43
mind. I don't always think about the
19:46
product first. You know the the quality of the
19:49
product. But you and your husband had
19:51
this thing as a hobby where you were learning and caring about
19:54
craft and specialty coffee. Do you find it a challenge to
19:58
convince people that you're also doing the coffee side in a
20:00
certain way, or is that secondary?
20:03
Does that matter as much to the company and the brand?
20:06
How do you address that question?
20:09
We are all about creating an excellent product, right.
20:12
We want to create an excellent product that is accessible to
20:16
everybody. So we have we have been able to
20:20
create multiple different coffee blends and single origins and
20:25
all of that at price points that are still accessible and not
20:29
exploiting people. So the thing that I love about
20:32
coffee is that we can bite trafficking and exploitation all
20:36
the way at origin. We can do that by part with
20:39
farms that are having everybody sign code of conducts and
20:43
they're making sure that they are treating people fairly and
20:46
paying people fairly, and we don't have to compromise on that
20:51
front. But we're also all about
20:53
intentionality. So every single bean that comes
20:55
across our warehouse is roasted with intentionality to its best
20:59
capacity. And the reason why we're so
21:02
adamant about that is because, again, we want to prove that you
21:07
can be highly successful and highly impactful.
21:10
And I think that part of being successful is creating an
21:13
excellent product. I think it's also really
21:15
important for the survivors that we're working with.
21:18
We're inviting them into a company that is roasting with
21:23
excellence and we're inviting them to be a part of something
21:26
that is incredible that they can actually be really proud of.
21:29
They can know that they are worthy of being a part of a
21:33
company that they can be really proud of and creating a product
21:37
that they are excited and that is winning awards.
21:41
And you know, they, they can just feel excited and proud to
21:45
be a part of that. And I think that our staff, all
21:47
of our staff can be really proud of not just the impact that
21:51
we're we're making, but also knowing that we are making
21:55
award-winning coffee. I'm wondering how you feel about
22:00
you brought up the term hope, and we're at a moment in history
22:05
where hope seems to be lacking a little bit or it's not as easy
22:08
to find. You got to work a little harder
22:10
for it. What is the value of hope when
22:13
you're in a dark place in in your opinion or what is that
22:17
value that providing hope to a group of people?
22:20
What does that mean to you as an opportunity?
22:24
Yeah. I think hope gives us the
22:27
inspiration to just take another step, right?
22:31
It's believing that there can be more than the reality that we
22:36
are currently in, right? That we continue to, like you
22:41
said, it's something that we have to work for a little bit
22:43
more right now. There are seasons in life that
22:47
are like that, right? Regardless of where everybody,
22:50
even as a nation, where we're all at, whatever it is, where
22:52
the world is. I think that there are going to
22:56
be times in life where things feel a bit foggy, you know,
23:00
where things feel a bit muddled. And you're kind of like, I don't
23:04
know how how we go forward from here, But I think that hope is
23:09
something believed for, you know, it's, it's knowing that
23:12
there's, there's got to be more, right?
23:15
There's got to be, there's got to be an alternative future, an
23:19
alternative way, all of those things.
23:21
And I think that oftentimes when you are in the darkest of
23:24
situations, it's really hard to have hope.
23:27
It's hard to believe that there could be anything other than
23:31
what you're experiencing. And by being a company that is
23:37
creating hope, what we're doing is we're saying we're coming
23:41
alongside and we're creating opportunity, we're creating the
23:45
resources that are needed, and we're believing in you.
23:48
So I think even in my life, I was able to escape a lot of the
23:53
darkness because I had people that showed up.
23:56
I had people that, you know, continue to call out my
24:01
potential and the value on my life.
24:03
And because of that, they were so insistent about it that at
24:07
some point I was able to reach and grasp for that hope myself.
24:11
And I think that that's what we want to be as a company.
24:16
We want to be the people that are saying, Hey, we see you, we
24:20
believe in you and we're here to create opportunities and not
24:24
just constantly, you know, be handing on assistance, but also
24:28
to get you to a point of setting goals and believing and really
24:32
creating your own path forward and, and achieving independence
24:36
and all of those things. And so I think that's, you know,
24:40
I think that we forget how powerful that can be for people.
24:46
I think that in a time when it sometimes it feels like hope is
24:49
hard to find, it's important to continue to speak it out, right?
24:53
To continue to say there is hope, there is opportunity and,
24:57
and believe for those things. And you never know the way that
25:01
your life is going to have impact on those around you,
25:03
right. So I think that the people who
25:06
were reaching out to me and, you know, speaking encouraging
25:10
things over me and calling out who I really was and my
25:14
potential and all of those things, they never knew where I
25:17
would end up. They didn't know that I was
25:18
going to end up creating a huge coffee company with, with a
25:25
group of other people who had no idea.
25:27
And all of these things, you know, none of us knew where our
25:29
lives were going to end up. Those people didn't know the
25:32
power of their words over my life.
25:34
But now look, you know, So I think that it's important to
25:37
realize that our lives have impact on others around us, too.
25:41
I heard this phrase recently, I can't remember.
25:44
I think it was in a show and it was find the crack in the
25:47
darkness. And if there's there's always a
25:51
crack somewhere, you just got to find it and you might have to to
25:54
search for it. But you know, you mentioned
25:56
something just now about you didn't, you don't know where
25:59
your life is going to go and you didn't know that you'd start
26:01
this company. It wasn't like some plan you had
26:04
from early on. But that makes me wonder if you
26:09
feel like you're an entrepreneur at your core or if it was an
26:12
accident of advocacy that gave you this opportunity.
26:15
Do you think if this if, if this advocacy wasn't your focus, and
26:19
I know that's hard to imagine necessarily we're dealing a
26:22
little bit in hypotheticals, but would you be trying to start a
26:25
business on your own anyways? I mean the the entrepreneurial
26:29
mindset is a little bit different than going to work
26:31
9:00 to 5:00 and making. Donations or going up the
26:34
volunteers. Yeah, that's a great question.
26:38
I, I am a true maverick to my core.
26:42
Like everything about me, like you take all of those
26:45
personality tests and all of that stuff, it is like all of my
26:49
scores are 100% blaze my own trail maverick to the core.
26:55
And I'm also definitely a a pioneer to my core as well.
27:00
And so some of my earliest memories of being a child were
27:04
creating little businesses, which is hilarious.
27:07
So, you know, my my dad worked in in the whole construction
27:13
world. And so whether it was selling
27:15
water to other construction workers or making egg salad
27:20
sandwiches and selling them to the other workers and driving
27:23
them around in my Barbie car and making deliveries, whatever it
27:27
was like, I think there's always been kind of that pioneering
27:31
business spirit inside of me. I've also pioneered a nonprofit
27:35
that's also still doing incredible work.
27:38
And so I think it's always been in there.
27:42
I don't think if you would have asked me early on, like, is this
27:46
what I thought I would be doing? I, I, of course, I don't think I
27:48
would have said that, you know, my husband came in with the
27:52
coffee skill and that's why, you know, I, I am not the coffee
27:57
person, right? I definitely bring the impact
28:00
and that kind of pioneering thing.
28:02
But you know, I think you, when you begin to partner your skills
28:06
with other people as well. So, you know, you had me who is
28:10
very active in the anti trafficking world and a pioneer,
28:14
and then you had my husband, who's also very pioneering and
28:18
incredible at coffee. And then you have Mike, who is
28:22
incredible in the business world and scaling and all of that and
28:25
you kind of brought all of these skills together.
28:28
I really think that that's what was able to ignite everything
28:32
that we're doing. And then not to mention all of
28:36
the incredible other people. You know, you mentioned Greg,
28:39
who's doing our operations, and he's just a whiz with that stuff
28:43
and making connections in our operations world.
28:46
And then we have other people on our team that are just so
28:50
excellent at what they do. And then the cause is really
28:53
what pulls us all together, which is incredible because we
28:56
all came to the table to do something to make a difference.
29:01
Just to clarify, you mentioned your nonprofit but Talitha is
29:04
not acting as a nonprofit. No as a.
29:07
For profit in the idea that it's creating a successful business
29:11
that can continue. Correct.
29:12
Yeah, Talitha is for profit on purpose.
29:15
So we did that again because we really want to show that
29:18
business can be highly successful and highly impactful.
29:22
And we really believe that in the business world we can have
29:26
an even bigger impact. And so I think a lot of times
29:30
people think and can kind of get stuck in this mindset of like,
29:33
if I want to do something great for the world, I have to go in
29:38
the nonprofit realm and I really have to kind of stick to that,
29:42
that side of the world. But but it's just not true.
29:46
I think that we can be intentional to make a difference
29:49
in whatever, whatever we bring to the table, whatever our
29:52
business model is. There are ways that you can be
29:55
changing the world with your model.
29:57
There's an interesting dynamic with nonprofits where I think
30:01
the world looks at them and thinks you should be doing this
30:03
out of love and not necessarily making money or, you know, you
30:08
should be living basically a subsidence can't even say that
30:11
word. You're living just enough to
30:13
make your pay your bills, but you're doing this for love.
30:15
When in reality, the more we reward nonprofits, the more
30:19
successful they can be. And you're kind of just saying,
30:21
well, we're going to do the same thing, but we're doing it
30:24
without that label holding us back to some extent, Not that
30:27
that's the only thing you had you mentioned earlier on.
30:30
And I have in my notes here the Telethic Care Network.
30:33
What is that? Yeah.
30:34
So our Talitha Survivor Care Network is, it is a group, it is
30:40
a collaborative effort. So everything that we do in
30:42
Talitha is very collaborative. We believe that we really can
30:46
see a day where trafficking is completely abolished, that it is
30:51
not an issue that we are facing, but that we absolutely have to
30:54
do that through collaboration. I don't think anyone
30:57
organization is going to end the issue, right?
31:01
But it's going to happen because a bunch of people come and bring
31:04
their skills to the table and really fight together to make a
31:08
difference. And so the Talitha Survivor Care
31:11
Network is an expression of that.
31:13
So we really began to create it from a place of making sure that
31:18
our survivor staff had the resources that they needed.
31:21
So as I mentioned, the therapy support groups, life skills
31:26
training, legal services, all of those types of things, But it's
31:30
even kind of beginning to grow beyond that.
31:32
So we have the nonprofit side of what we do in the care network.
31:36
So those are the individuals that are offering resources to
31:41
survivors. And then we have the businesses
31:45
that are also a part of this Aletha Survivor Care Network
31:47
that are providing additional employment opportunities for
31:51
survivors. So if we don't have a position
31:54
that's available, we can refer to other places that we know can
31:57
hire survivors with care and support.
32:00
Or if a survivor comes to the end of their journey with us and
32:04
they want to try something new or launch out to something that
32:07
gets them closer to their goals, we have businesses that we can
32:10
reach out to in that way too. I think there is there are about
32:16
80% of victims who leave trafficking actually end up
32:19
being re exploiting and returning to the life.
32:22
And of those who succeed, only 20% of survivors are able to
32:27
succeed in work environments if there are not support networks
32:32
put in place. And so we're really going after
32:36
creating opportunities to see that that change.
32:41
We want to see survivors to leave the life, we want to see
32:45
them go through recovery, and then we want to see them launch
32:48
into successful and thriving lives.
32:51
And so that's why the Talitha Survivor Care Network exists.
32:55
It's actually been really incredible to watch this network
32:58
develop because now our non profits are actually working
33:03
alongside each other and bringing strength to one another
33:06
and kind of teaming up their skills and even talking about
33:09
like, hey, let's open a safe home together and things like
33:12
that, which is really incredible.
33:14
Yeah. So it's it's really becoming a
33:16
networking opportunity as well as creating opportunities and
33:20
services for survivors. That 8020 number is fairly
33:24
devastating to hear. I'm wondering is there a
33:29
structural reason that you could, I mean, obviously we're
33:33
digging too far deep into that, but that a structural reason
33:37
that that success is so fleeting?
33:41
Yeah, definitely. So I mentioned earlier that the
33:47
average age of entry is 11 to 15 years old and that what that
33:52
does is that creates barriers to re entry, right.
33:55
So you see survivors facing things like they haven't had the
33:58
opportunity to develop life skills in some areas.
34:01
Some areas they haven't been able to complete education or
34:06
build work skills or have their first professional job and
34:10
things like that. And so those are all big
34:13
hindrances. I think that it takes an average
34:15
of seven attempts for a victim to leave the life of
34:20
exploitation. And So what we're seeing there
34:24
is that we're seeing this reality that sometimes the
34:28
unknown is even more terrifying than the reality that we're
34:32
living in, right? And kind of like, like we talked
34:36
about hoping for an alternative future can be really daunting
34:40
and terrifying. And I think there's also, you
34:44
know, factors as far as there are not a lot of employment
34:49
opportunities where there's going to be the structures and
34:53
the patience and the resilience on the employer side of things
34:57
to employ a population that is so high risk, right?
35:01
And so it's really important to make sure that we're creating
35:06
pathways. So you think about like career
35:09
pathing. I think that it's similar with
35:11
survivors, but also on the personal side of their journey.
35:14
So when a survivor comes on to work with us, we're looking at
35:18
where they're at in their journey, right?
35:20
We're making sure that they have the resources that they need.
35:24
They don't have stable housing, then they're not going to be
35:27
able to show up to work, right? If if they don't have their
35:32
legal documents, then they're not going to be able to get
35:35
employed and things like this. And so that's also why the
35:38
Talitha Survivor Care Network is important because it's making
35:41
sure that all of those pieces are put into place.
35:44
And then as an employer, we're looking at their journey that
35:47
kind of coexist and is in alignment with their career
35:50
pathing. So starting for what does it
35:53
look like to show up to a job on time, You know, what does it
35:57
look like to meet your daily tasks?
35:59
And then taking on more responsibility and then kind of
36:02
developing into a place of taking on more leadership and
36:05
initiative and all of those kind of things.
36:07
But in the beginning, we have to really meet them where they're
36:10
at. And I think that a lot of times
36:12
those numbers come into place and those statistics that are
36:15
really daunting come into place because there isn't opportunity
36:19
or they don't know about the opportunity.
36:21
So I think that we really, the more and more services that we
36:26
see for survivors in that re entry phase, in that launching
36:30
phase of the recovery journey, we're going to see that 7
36:34
attempts really go down. We want to see that go down to
36:38
one because we want people to know I can grasp onto an
36:42
alternative for future. I think we also look at trauma
36:46
and trauma really, you know, it makes our brains get stuck kind
36:50
of we get stuck in, in different places of our cognitive
36:55
abilities, but also in our development and things like
36:58
that. And so when you're in a place
37:00
where you are stuck and you're living from a nervous system
37:04
response and things like that, you can't dream, you can't set
37:08
goals, right? You're just trying to get
37:10
through every single day. And so recovery and safe homes,
37:15
they allow survivors to come out of that nervous system, constant
37:22
crisis response, part of their brain.
37:25
And then things like Talitha and the Talitha Survivor Care
37:29
Network, we're coming alongside and we're saying now let's set
37:33
goals and dream for for a better future.
37:37
There's a phrase that I was thinking of early in in this
37:40
little segment called the Devil you know, and it's something
37:44
I've kind of held on to throughout my life when I'm
37:47
about to take a big risk or go into the unknown, is is the
37:51
devil that I know worth what I'm going through or should I take
37:55
this step? Because who knows?
37:56
How? Good.
37:57
It could be. I'm wondering if you have you've
38:01
you've started a company, you've grown, you're a survivor
38:05
yourself and you've created these networks and opportunity
38:07
for others. Is there a piece of advice you'd
38:10
like to pass along to anybody listening about coffee or about
38:13
life, about entrepreneurship, whatever you like?
38:17
Yeah, I think that a lot of times people look at others and
38:23
they kind of can get stuck in comparing themselves, right?
38:27
They can look at people who have built incredible things and be
38:30
like, wow, that's so awesome for them, right?
38:33
Or how incredible to be somebody who's done those things.
38:37
But I am legitimately just a normal human.
38:41
And, you know, I think that I was once stuck in frustration.
38:46
And in our family, we say frustrated as an opportunity and
38:50
we really try to instill that mindset in our kids.
38:54
And honestly, we just had that light bulb moment of being like,
38:58
what if we're the answer to the problem that we see?
39:01
What if we just take our skills and do something?
39:04
And I think that it just starts from taking steps in everyday
39:09
life, right? You have a future, you have a
39:12
place you want to get to in life, but what are you doing
39:15
today to get you closer to that goal?
39:18
And so I think don't get stuck in comparison, you know,
39:22
everybody's on their own journey, but everybody is
39:25
capable of incredible things. It's just having the courage to
39:30
do that and and to say, you know what, I'm going to take a step
39:32
towards it. And I think that, you know, we
39:36
want to bring other people along into that journey.
39:38
We want Talitha to be something that inspires other people and
39:41
shows people that that's possible and that everyday
39:44
people can do something. That's great.
39:47
And so that's the other thing I love about coffee, right?
39:50
Coffee is something that brings people together, it's something
39:54
that creates space for others and we really wanted people to
40:00
join the fight with us. And so by buying a coffee
40:04
subscription or bringing a wholesale coffee into your
40:10
business, like, we are actually creating avenues for people to
40:14
be a part of the fight against trafficking.
40:17
Coincidentally, I was at cocktails the other day and one
40:22
of the women with us asked me what I knew about Talitha
40:26
because they were, there was like a program at their school
40:29
where they were buying it and, and as a group.
40:32
And I thought, oh, that's interesting.
40:34
I'm actually going to be connecting with them soon.
40:36
And I kind of shared what I knew and, and now I have a lot more
40:38
to share. I have two last questions for
40:41
you, hopefully not terribly challenging ones, but the first
40:46
is when you're out on the road or you're out visiting someplace
40:49
thinking, oh, maybe we'll, you know, acquire a new Business
40:51
Today just for fun. When you stop at a coffee shop,
40:56
what do you order for yourself? Oh for myself, I I have 2GO
41:02
twos. I honestly I love an ice don't
41:05
milk latte and I also I am like so basic in that way.
41:10
But then I also really love cold brew and I'm, I'm so excited.
41:17
Like Taliba has some incredible cold brew.
41:20
That's something we have nailed. And I so that one I have to be a
41:24
bit more picky. Like when I'm I, you know, I'm
41:27
like, OK, how's their cold brew going to stack up?
41:30
But those are my 2GO TOS. OK.
41:33
And then the last question and borderline the most important
41:36
one. If you had to pick your favorite
41:39
Keanu Reeves movie, what would? It be oh gosh, Oh my goodness,
41:45
oh oh I cannot. I'm so bad with names.
41:52
Oh my goodness I cannot even remember the name.
41:57
Throw out names to me. Well, we've got the matrix.
42:00
We've got speed, there's John Wick, there's the lake.
42:04
John Wick, there you go. Absolutely, hands down love the
42:09
John Wick movies. Yes, except for like a minute
42:12
that I Fast forward through in the beginning, the very first
42:16
one, because I didn't watch that movie for years, almost 10
42:19
years, because I had heard about the scene with the dog.
42:22
And I oh, I know, I know. It's so I Google searched what
42:27
is the minute that that happens and I just skipped it and.
42:30
Yeah, yeah, it's it's like so gut wrenching, right?
42:34
Because you're like you that was all you have like that.
42:38
Yeah, that's devastating, right. I.
42:40
Find this incredible dynamic with Keanu Reeves and it's one
42:43
of the reasons I asked this question where he seems like the
42:46
most hopeful person. Yeah.
42:48
Especially in Hollywood and and famous people generally.
42:51
Yeah. And then he's famous for these
42:52
roles, which are for John Wick in particular, which is pretty
42:56
aggressively not hopeful. Yeah.
43:00
And I just find that dynamic wonderful.
43:02
Jenny, thank you so much for spending 45 minutes chatting
43:06
with me and and taking time out of this journey to build
43:09
something. And and I certainly am looking
43:12
forward to seeing where it goes. Yeah, absolutely.
43:15
Thank you so much for including Talitha in what you're doing.
43:24
OK, just a few key takeaways here, but head to
43:27
roastwestcoast.com to see much more in the newsletter.
43:33
Jenny didn't actually get into coffee until 2015.
43:36
That's when her husband started roasting on a stove top hopper
43:38
at home. It's a more recent hobby, but
43:41
they've turned it into an opportunity to start a business
43:44
that meshes with their efforts in anti human trafficking, which
43:48
has been part of their life for much longer than coffee already
43:51
15 years and running. It's a 'cause that's close to
43:54
home. As Jenny was once a victim.
43:57
Through their nonprofit work, they saw that survivors had
44:00
different needs when moving into a career path.
44:03
Their challenges were numerous, and while opening a coffee shop
44:06
would help, they can only offer job placement to a few people, a
44:10
few survivors. Talitha is their effort to
44:13
create a much bigger opportunity through acquisition which will
44:16
enable them to offer more and more opportunities as the
44:19
company grows. Of course, they couldn't do it
44:22
alone. They reached out to one of their
44:24
long time supporters and current partner Mike Lands for guidance
44:27
and support to make it so. Two years after opening the
44:31
first CAFE, they made their first acquisition.
44:34
Overnight their roasting pounds went from 300 to 10,000.
44:39
But they didn't stop there. The growth has continued with
44:42
more education, more training, more support and advocacy
44:45
occurring as they've pushed the boundaries of the business.
44:49
During an acquisition. Talitha imparts their ethos,
44:52
their DNA on a business that may not have thought they would ever
44:55
be part of a mission based company.
44:57
But the response, according to Jenny, has been positive, as
45:01
they've imparted purpose beyond the job to their new partners,
45:05
who in turn have turned into passionate advocates for a brand
45:09
that roasts coffee and offers hope for many that the next step
45:14
into a different place is still possible.
45:18
All right, that is our Coffee People podcast for today.
45:21
Learn more about Talitha Coffee's mission, their survivor
45:24
network, and brand ethos on talitha.com.
45:29
You can also follow them on at Talitha Coffee Roasters on
45:32
social media. You'll find all of those links
45:35
in this podcasts, show notes or in our newsletter, which of
45:38
course you find at roastwestcoast.com.
45:41
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46:13
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There's more news on our expanding brand partnership
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Follow at Rostar on social media and be sure to explore their
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46:55
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47:01
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47:19
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47:21
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47:24
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47:27
Coffee Company, Ascend Coffee Roasters, Me and My Uncle,
47:30
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47:35
Coffee Company. Thank you for being there for
47:37
the long haul. We appreciate you and can't wait
47:40
to work on future collaborative projects.
47:42
Speaking of our first coffee collaboration, yeah, no, yeah,
47:46
coffee is out now. We put this out with our good
47:49
friend Bryant Banker Scannell at Relative Coffee in Minneapolis,
47:52
MN. It's a blend of Columbia and
47:55
Ethiopia coffees, which were sourced from Mill City and
47:58
roasted on a Mill City roaster where Brian also works as a
48:01
coffee educator. We couldn't be prouder of it.
48:04
Ryant has been absolutely crushing the roasts and I've
48:07
been really enjoying it, mostly as a traditional Aeropress with
48:11
the Prisma adapter. I do 20 grams of coffee, 50
48:14
grams of water, stir five times or so, and let it sit for about
48:18
75 seconds before beginning the press down.
48:21
I suggest you give it a try. I'll put that recipe in this
48:24
week's newsletter. Thank you for listening to and
48:27
sharing this podcast. Please keep being coffee
48:30
curious. This show, the Coffee People
48:32
podcast is part of the Roast West Coast Coffee Network.
48:37
This episode is was has been written, produced, researched
48:39
and recorded by me, Ryan Wolt. Wherever you find yourself
48:44
today, I hope it's with a pretty damn good cup of coffee.
48:49
Thank you for listening to us tell the stories of Coffee
48:52
people. Oh, and almost forgot, cheers to
48:56
Kim Z, you have been supporting this show since the beginning
48:59
and I just wanted to say thank you.
49:02
I'll make sure I reach out, but wherever you are Kim ZI, hope
49:05
you have an extra special cup of coffee today.
49:19
Hey everyone, this is Ryan, the host of the Coffee Smarter and
49:22
Coffee People podcasts. I drink a lot of coffee and a
49:27
lot of times I brew it in AV 60 or an Arrow press.
49:30
Sometimes I just want to hit the button and walk away.
49:33
Let the machine do its work. That's where the Simply Good
49:36
Coffee Brewer comes in. You can read a review that we
49:39
wrote about it. It's on our website at
49:41
rosewestcoast.com. It's pretty popular actually,
49:44
and we stand by it. We've been abusing this coffee
49:47
machine for almost 2 years. I think that's right.
49:50
Almost 2, literally hundreds, maybe even 1000 brews have gone
49:55
through it and it just keeps on crushing.
49:59
We don't do a lot of affiliate marketing, but I definitely feel
50:02
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50:04
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50:07
I've actually gotten a bunch of them for other people or gotten
50:09
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50:12
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50:15
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50:21
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50:23
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50:35
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Education podcasts. Coffee Smarter is designed to
50:45
enable coffee drinkers to brew a better cup of coffee at home,
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and Coffee Smarter Pro covers industry specific topics for
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baristas, roasters, shop owners, and aspiring coffee
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professionals. You'll find both shows on your
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favorite podcast platforms or on our website at
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coffeesmarterpodcast.com.