Bettr Barista Coffee Academy

A better cup of coffee – that’s how it all started. I tasted my first decent cup of coffee more than 15 years ago, and since then, I have traversed the world for my caffeine fix. On this journey, as the world changed, our society evolved, and I grew older, I began to realise that I was searching for much more than this simple fix of mine.

The Bettr Barista story has developed and evolved over thousands of cups of coffee over the last 15 years. It is a story that is born of a desire to translate a simple selfish want to a tangible, action-based vision that has become much bigger than I could have imagined.

I joined the media industry when the web world was in its infancy, believing that through the power of the media, I could be part of a machinery of huge change and influence. I then realised the real power lay in business, so I co-founded a boutique web consultancy, and on a daily basis for 8 years, we were entrusted to churn out top-notch, industry-leading web work. It was an amazing time, we were experiencing success in so many ways, and I was hitting each of my personal milestones.

Yet something was always calling out to me. I was cruising on the high-speed internet network, but I felt like my ship was off-course.

We have never been wealthier, healthier, smarter, and more connected.
Yet, there are ever-growing disparities between rich and poor, healthy and sick, haves and haves-not. There is so much waste the way we are living right now. I am fortunate enough to have always had more than I ever needed. And I am also fortunate to realise that despite all the apparent progress the human race has made, there is still so much more that needs to be done to make this world a better place.

I went back to basics, to reconnect with the inner self, to listen to that tiny voice that had gone desperately quiet over the years. I had become so busy with work and the daily business of keeping up with this life, I never made the time to be truly present with family, friends and colleagues. Relationships suffered and I never “gave back” to society in the way I had always envisioned.

So the question was: what did I envision? For a long time, it was convoluted, unclear, messy.

Much like life.

After an intense period pursuing deeper self-understanding, clarity of thought and conviction of heart, it became clear and simple:
A better way to operate in life, where we are constantly working on being the best versions of ourselves.

A better way to give of ourselves and to the world around us.

A better way to utilise the power of social business to empower those who have less than us.

Oh yeah, and a better tasting cup of coffee.