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                                                                                                                          These learning experiences were also a process of   “I have been pretty
                                                                                                                      developing her self-awareness. Regarding the chemical
                                                                                                                      engineering major, she said, “I frankly liked math and   set on focusing on
                                                                                                                      chemistry and it seemed like a logical, safe employment
                                                                                                                      option after school. I also went in thinking after school   the manufacturing
                                                                                                                      I  would  work  in  hydrology  or  some  time  of  environ-
                                                                                                                      mental management.” But ended up choosing something       of coffee, though
                                                                                                                      that  turned  out  to  be  quite  the  opposite  of  what  she
                                                                                                                      expected – chemical control engineer. However, once          we have a small
                                                                                                                      she actually started working she realized keeping sys-
                                                                                                                      tems running was not as much fun for her as the design/   cafe in Baltimore,
                                                                                                                      experimentation portion.
                                                                                                                          After working for a few years, she left the indus-        Maryland now.”
                                                                                                                      try  and  decided  to  go  back  to  school  to  “get  back  on
                                                                                                                      track” with her initial plans. “After working in an in-
                                                                                                                      dustrial environment I could see first hand the health,
                                                                                                                      community engagement, and environmental challenges.
                                                                                                                      They seemed ongoing. So, I thought studies in Inter-  for  the  roaster.  Her  prior  professional  background
                                                                                                                      national  Affairs, Natural  Resources  and  Sustainable   endowed her with a profound understanding of systems
                                                                                                                      Development would be a way to learn more about how   thinking in project management.
                                                                                                                      these challenges can be approached, both internation-  She  now  owns  a  company  named  Southeastern
                                                                                                                      ally and nationally because we are in a global environ-  Roastery,  running  a  cafe,  a  roasting  lab,  and  a  retail
                                                                                                                      mental system.” Candy said.                    operation for whole beans and teas. The company part-
                                                                                                                          Throughout her academic learning and work expe-  ners with mostly female producers, ranging from bak-
                                                                                                                      riences, she actively participated in various internation-  ers who make snacks for her cafe to a fashion designer
                                                                                                                      al coffee projects, including initiatives aimed at assisting   who repurposes burlap sacks that hold bulk coffee beans
                                                                                                                      small-scale coffee farmers. In addition, she obtained her   to make unisex handbags.
                                                                                                                      master’s degree focusing on the sustainable agricultural   Women have always been a part of the coffee in-
                                                                                                                      production  of  coffee,  specifically  from  a  green  coffee   dustry. Just as in many business sectors, this has usu-
                                                                                                                      perspective. All of this drew her into the idea of coffee   ally not been in leadership positions or at the executive
                                                                                                                      roasting. She liked the idea of working with communities   level. She believes in equitable access to systems and
                                                                                                                      from  different  countries  to  process  an  international   resources.  “Unfortunately,  the  United  States  was  not
                                                                                                                      product and the creative process of roasting, playing with   built from that political context (is any society?) and
                                                                                                                      variables that change aspects of the coffee experience.  we are constantly struggling to make up for that. As an
                                                                                                                          She began to study roasting at the Academy of   active  female  participant  in  moving  toward  a  society
                                                                                                                      Coffee Excellence in 2016. Then she bought a one-ki-  that operates more in that way, I have chosen to work
                                                                                                                      logram roaster from a company in Minneapolis and   through a gender lens.”
                                                                                                                      set it up in her great-grandmother’s house.  At that   “I  really  went  in  without  any  expectat  ions.  I
                                                                                                                      time, she was living in a fourth floor walk up apart-  focus on making good coffee first and foremost,” she
                                                                                                                      ment  with  no  elevator.  She  didn’t  have  any  other   says. “That I can do it representing Black and Brown
                                                                                                                      free available space to work from. Within a week of   women  is  a  plus,  but  I’m  not  responsible  for  this
                                                                                                                      finishing her studies at the Academy of Coffee Ex-  aspect of myself. So, I focus first on being the best
                                                                                                                      cellence,  she  landed  her  first  account,  roasting   of myself… or at least making the effort to.”
                                                                                                                      coffee for a whiskey and coffee pop-up called Dual-  Despite  being  an  individual  whose  biological
                                                                                                                      ity  on  U  Street  NW  in  Washington,  D.C. She  had   sex is female, she told me she struggles with “fem-
                                                                                                                      finally found her dream career, tailor-made for her   ininity”. There are times she doesn’t feel so “femi-
                                                                                                                      aspirations and passions.                      nine” because of her natural body shape and the fact
                                                                                                                                                                     that  she  has  had  issues  with  reproductive  organs
                                                                                                                      Her Place in the Family of Things              starting from childhood. She can’t have children. So,
                                                                                                                                                                     she feels she has an excess of creative energy. “My
                                                                                                                          In late 2019, Candy was prepared to take the leap   nature is quite feminine I feel – the desire to create
                                                                                                                      and establish her own storefront, complete with space   and nurture.” Candy said.


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