Originally from Canada, Jessie Vandenberg-Molina (she/her) started her coffee journey in Glasgow at the legendary Space Coffee House, becoming founder Connie’s first ever employee and falling in love with coffee through the exploration of taste and curiosity. Most recently, Jessie started working at Oatly as Barista Market Developer almost three years ago, and has since moved into the role of Co-Lead of her team.
In this conversation, we delve into how Jessie’s coffee career got started, and the all-important move to London from Scotland that made her rethink how she wanted to move through the coffee world - including one pivotal conversation where she was asked “What kind of barista do you want to be?” Jessie’s journey is a wonderful, wholehearted representation of what a career moving from a barista role in coffee can look like; and the conversation is full of honesty about the ups and downs of that process.