Hi, hello and howdy, and welcome back to Tiny Sidecar. I'm Kate, your host in Sidecar Sidekick. This season we're zooming in on one remarkable weekend that shaped conversations, connections, and the future of women-powered coffee. That's right, we're talking about the Women Powered Coffee Summit of 2025. Think of this as your behind-the-scenes pass. Equal parts, insight, storytelling, and the cozy moments that make coffee culture feel like home. And for season two, we're traveling through it day by day. Each episode traces a different leg of the journey from travel days to touchdown moments with candid interviews sprinkled in along the way. So you know the drill. Grab your favorite cup of coffee, and let's get into today's episode, shall we? Wow, welcome back. I'm so happy to have you here. If you can't tell, it's so nice to see you, hear you, be with you, whatever you might say. And happy early holiday season. Christmas is just around the corner, New Year's is right behind. So many beautiful holidays all happen at this time of year. Winter solstice, Hanukkah, Kanza, all the things. So I hope that you're celebrating with family and friends and having a beautiful holiday season. I'm lucky enough that the roasting company that I work for, we are so busy through like basically Black Friday, which is kind of a holiday in the US. I feel like it's become less crazed than it was when I was a kid. But basically, from Black Friday all the way to Christmas. So we're just days away from things starting to settle a little bit. Um, but we're really lucky in the sense of the mindset for this busy season for us really is about being a part of people's gifts and helping them share love and send love and joy. And so I think that there's it's a busy, tiring energy, but at the same time, we're so grateful that people choose us. So if you're working at a roasting company or a cafe, I hope that some of that also rubs off onto you that you get to create these special moments for people during this season when you know they're looking for a little extra happiness, a little extra joy. So yeah, it's been busy, but it's also been such a beautiful time of year, and like I said, it's amazing when all of the packages go out and you feel like you're a little bit like Santa, and I'm really grateful for that. So, a couple more days of that, and then we're kind of out of holiday season and into a much colder, hopefully snowier than it has been time of year, and I'm excited for that. I'm excited for the new year. I'm someone that likes to set resolutions, more so resolutions maybe isn't the right word, but I like to set like guidelines or goals for the coming year in the sense of like how I want to continue to develop in my personal life, my work life, all of those things. Just like good intentions. Intentions is the correct word. So if you're also one of those people, or if you have coffee intentions or whatever, and you want to share them with me, I'd be so happy to hear from you. Um I think it's just a special time to get that like clean, slight, fresh start. And I personally feel like 2025 was way more than I thought it was going to be in so many aspects. So I know not everything will be better just because we're in January versus December, but having that moment of just like a fresh, clean what intentions do I want to put into the world, I'm welcoming it very strongly. So, like I said, if you have some for the year, let me know. I would love to hear from you per usual. But shall we get into the meat and potatoes, if you will, of today's episode? Um, I'm always so excited to talk about the Women Powered Coffee Summit, and uh today is really about the travel day. So uh at this point, you know that I live in a remote area of Wyoming, and Wyoming is a remote area in the US. And typically, like even going home to Wisconsin, it it's a it's a bigger travel day, um, just because I fly out of a tiny airport. So heading down to San Cristobal's in Mexico was a very large travel day for me as well. Uh, the first flight that I took out was at 7 a.m. And luckily the airport that I fly out of is so small that there's like literally no security. It just you walk up and you say, hello, I'm here, and they're like, Okay, cool. Um, so early start, 7 a.m. flight, and then from there, I believe I had four flights to get down to Champas, which is the state in Mexico that San Cristobal's is in. And I will say the flight from Mexico City to Champas uh was a really special and beautiful one because it felt like the majority of the flight were women that were going to the summit. So you immediately started to see little stickers that said Women Powered Coffee Summit 2025. Uh, just big smiles, lots of energy, lots of joy, even though it was starting to get late in the day. I think we landed in Chiapas around, I want to say it was like around 8 p.m. Um, I just know that we then hopped on a shuttle and it was probably like 40 to 50 women, and we got into four or five different shuttle buses and then drove an hour and a half to get to where our hotels were and where the city was that we were staying. And remember in last episode I was talking about how Bean Voyage had really set up the summit to start to provide safety and security, even by having calls where you got to meet people. Well, this really showed off in true form during the flight in shuttle because there were women that I had met on those phone calls that were actually on my flight, and then Christina, who I absolutely adore. She was not only on the flight, but she actually sat next to me on the shuttle bus and we got to talk more and learn more about each other for that hour and a half, and she immediately felt like someone that I could trust and I felt very safe with, and I think she's just like a very kind, considerate, but also real person where I tend to like in uncomfortable situations maybe fluff through them sometimes. And I think Christina is someone that just like asked the right question, and I really I respect her so much, and I think she's so cool. But this was the shuttle was actually when we first started talking to each other outside of that um pre-summit phone call, and it was so great to have her there and immediately feel like, oh, I know someone, and again, that just speaks volumes to what Beam Voyage does and how they set up this summit for us to all feel much safer going somewhere maybe alone. So, hats off, worked perfectly, loved it. So now that we are officially in San Cristobal, de la Casas, um, something really fun happens. So we start to check into hotels, but then we are asked to come to this location where you officially sign into the summit. Now, again, bean voyage, thinking of the different time zones and internet access and all of the things, made the decision that you did an in-person signup for any workshops, farm visits, any activities that you wanted to join. So, because my flight was one of the last to get there, there were other women that had already signed up for things. And I consider myself very lucky in the sense that I visited multiple farms over my career and have those kind of relationships. But the thing that I don't always get is those community days. And so because my um plane was one of the last to arrive, all of the farm visits by the time I signed up were already like people had already committed to them and they weren't available. So I then got to sign on and do a community visit instead. And I will say while signing up for things, it reminded me of a feeling of like first day of summer camp where energy is really high. Everyone's so excited to see each other, and you get to pick all of the things that you're really excited to be a part of. And even at 10 o'clock at night, the energy was still buzzing. Now, after signing up for the community day and the workshops and all of that, all of this was marked on your badge. And what was nice about that is again, very summer camp, and we're all in this together. Whenever you saw someone or met someone throughout the summit, you got to compare your badge and see if you were doing any of the same classes together. And again, it just brought like this instant like icebreaker in some ways and conversation starter. Um, so I just loved it. I loved every piece of it. It felt like you were in a cool club. But after getting all signed up, uh Christina, a woman named Chris, and I decided all to go and have dinner together, and we had a really nice little casual dinner before being very responsible and going straight to bed. I think that from a long travel day and then also realizing what was coming in the next few days, we made the wise decision to tuck in as early as we could after getting everything else settled. Now there is someone that is very, very close to my heart. So Christina is someone that for sure there is something about Christina's energy that I will forever feel safe in her company. I just think that there's something about Christina that is just incredibly important to me. But I also then got to meet my roommate, which again, to be very clear, I didn't really know anyone personally other than through the internet that was attending the summit, and I didn't know who my roommate was. And there was some awkwardness about sharing a room with a stranger when you don't arrive at the hotel at the same time because her stuff was in the room, and then I arrived, and I've very few times in my life. I think like my freshman year of college, when I went into my dorm room, I had this experience, but you're kind of like, Oh, is she gonna come back soon? What's going on? Um, but that night is the night that I met Laura, who Laura Co. is a brewing champion of Spain, and she is an incredible brewer, but she's also an incredible coffee professional and one of the sweetest humans I have met in a very long time. She has this like very infectious, bubbly energy and brings a lot of joy and light into the world. And immediately upon her walking into our hotel room, it was just like an instant connection that was so fun, completely different. Um, we ended up, it was like the night that Taylor Swift's new album came out. So we ended up listening to the album together and talking about travel and boys and all sorts of just like fun girl roommate things, and obviously talking about coffee and how we were in the coffee industry and what we were doing and all of that. So I just she was such a surprise in the sense of like I didn't expect, I didn't know what to expect going to the summit, and ultimately I immediately had such strong connections with these women, and it was just like an instant thing. The second that we were together, it just it just happened, and it was like we had been friends forever. And again, so grateful for Laura, so grateful for Christina. The time that I got to spend with him over the course of that weekend really did change the whole feel of that. Laura and Christina both were a part of the Ideas Marketplace as well, and so we got to navigate that a little bit together, and it just really opened up the experience in such a positive way right off the bat. Now, thinking about the summit and thinking about what makes it so different, and even sharing these moments of listening to Taylor Swift or taking the shuttle together and talking about coffee and the relationships of how I feel about these women, even though I physically was with them for three days. I think like this is the root of what coffee is, and this is what weaves us all together in such a beautiful way, is when coffee people come together to share this love for a product, there's so much more to it than just that. I think coffee people tend to be people that are looking for connection and tend to be people that are wanting to learn and wanting to grow. And there sometimes is a different energy to summits or expos or whatever it might be. But the thing that really stood out about this, and I'll say it time and time again, is there was just like a want and a need to be heard, but also to be a listener and to be a student of one another and to experience something together. And the energy that was around that was just so incredibly special, and even talking about these women now and just like this brief moment and just the start of this beautiful weekend together feels so special to my heart, and I think it's something that as an industry we do very well is that we seek out that human connection with this thing that we love. And because coffee reaches multiple countries and all around the world, and everyone experiences coffee in a different way, and there's so many different key parts to the coffee chain, it's like a never-ending conversation, an exploration of something that is so beautiful, and we all love so much. And I guess for me, the longer that I stay in the coffee industry and the more people that I meet in the coffee industry, it's so funny to me to think of coffee as just a drink, because to me, it has built relationships across countries, it's built these stories and these memories and these moments and this laughter, and it's become so much more than a drink that I enjoy in the morning. Or I remember when I was first starting out and like interviewing to be a part of the company I work for now. I remember being like, I just love coffee, like coffee's coffee, like whatever, just give me some. And now I don't know, it just has like this product, this beverage has completely transformed into something that has enriched my life in such a beautiful way that I I don't know, it's so much more than just a drink, and it's it's so beautiful, and um, but when I say that, I'm I'm not specifically talking about just the drink or just the roasting or just the beans or just the process. I'm talking about I see all of these beautiful humans that make what this is and that we all have this passion and this love for. And I think that's something that's so unique about people, especially in specialty coffee. I think like people in specialty coffee maybe were like the romantics that really have, you know, fallen in love with a community just as much as we have a product. And I don't know. I don't know, it just felt important. All right, friends. The last thing that I will leave you with is I haven't even talked about the fact that it was raining when we arrived. And to me, rain always signifies a beautiful start to any sort of trip or weekend or special moment. I think rain is so important because it activates all of these senses and you just experience something a little bit different, right? So you're hearing it, you might be feeling it on your skin, you can smell it in the air, and I think it really locks in memories. And some people wish rain away, but rain in these like epic weekends, I think it just locks in all those memories. Um, and so for me, coming into San Cristobal de la Casa and it being rainy, and all of those senses are right there, already engaged, was so cherry on top, cherry on top. Thank you again for spending some time with me today. It's always so special to be able to share these stories and experiences with you, and I will forever be grateful for you taking that time. Next week, we're going straight into the community day. I I, to be honest, was a little bummed that I wasn't going to be able to go on a farm trip, but after spending the day with some beautiful humans and seeing this culture that I would have not experienced otherwise, I am so grateful that it turned out exactly how it did. So I can't wait to talk more about that and listen to some more women speak about their stories and share what they're hoping to share with the world. So lots of good things still to come in this season, and forever grateful for you. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week. And if you would like to reach out to me, you can always reach out at howdy at tinyysidecar.com or on Instagram, which is just tiny sidecar. And thanks, friends. I'll chat with you soon. Oh, and have a great holiday season. Man, can't believe it's already on us. Alright, bye, friends. Okay, now that we got some serious stuff out of the way, I just have to tell you that I did maybe one of the grossest things I've ever done. Um, that's ridiculously dramatic, but I was eating popcorn before recording this episode, and I don't know why, I was just clearly not all there, but I started eating popcorn into the microphone, and it was as if my ears were in my mouth and I could hear every single kernel. And I just need you to know that I just did that. And if it wasn't bad enough the first time, as I've been editing, I went and got more popcorn and did it all over again. So I've had an experience. I will remember this for next time. Anyway, I I needed you to know that. Obviously, it was very important to today's story. Okay, bye, friends, you know.