This summer, Rancilio set out to host the Ramp Up Tour, which featured sessions on espresso tech, espresso theory, and a community panel about careers for baristas at every date. The tour kicked off in Chicago, and Rancilio reached out to have me host a Boss Barista session, so obviously I said yes. This event let me put together a short presentation about how baristas can become their own advocates in the workplace, regardless of how positive or toxic your work environment may be. 

To round out the presentation, I invited Melissa Stinson from Everybody's Busy to discuss how starting your own business can be a struggle, but that doesn't mean you can't make it happen. Everybody's Busy is a pop up coffee bar on the Southside of Chicago, and Melissa launched it as a career change after spending many years working in film and television. To finish off how these ideas might apply in the workplace, I invited Ari Sofiakis who wears many hats at 4 Letter Word to chat about finding your place and asserting yourself while building your own role at a new business. 

I'm grateful to Rancilio to invite me to speak about real issues and real ways to address them at a community event, and if you'd like to follow along with the presentation, the slides will be available soon on the Boss Barista Instagram page.