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PHOTOS BY KIRK MASTIN They were gathered around a wood stove at party under the stars in Portland, Ore., last October when the shape of the idea wobbled together. They were laughing and sipping microbrews, talking about coffee, husbands, lip gloss, the Pacific Northwest, and back to coffee again. Sarah Dooley, Laila Ghambari and Anna Gutierrez—these women's paths have crossed enough times in their combined years in the specialty coffee industry that they long since stopped being just colleagues, and are now, fast and sure, friends. I joined them to warm my hands at the fire, and to say hello, and I listened as they chattered. This rooftop party was a gathering of people to plan the upcoming Specialty Coffee Association of America's Annual Conference and Expo, as well as the United States Barista Championship, that would take place in April right here in Portland. Laila, Anna and Sarah had shown up to assist in the planning of the activities that would involve their beloved Barista Guild of America, and I marveled at them as I considered their collective years and experience in coffee. They represented baristas, trainers, salespeople, service people. They were coffee advocates and barista politicians. These three women were the present of our industry, and also the future. We talked that night about coffee and women and the Pacific Northwest. We scratched the surface of the challenges of each: intelligently educating the public as coffee ambassadors; working as women in an industry that continues to be male dominated; the positives, but also negatives of operating within the utopian coffee bubble that is the Pacific Northwest. And we decided those conversations deserved more time, as well as an audience. I invite you to get to know Anna, and Sarah, and Laila in the following pages. Then join us for that conversation, which took place over the course of a cold, sunny day in Portland as we hopped from café to noodle house, café to ice cream shop, talking about the industry we love best, and where it is, from their perspectives, today. —Sarah Allen www.baristamagazine.com 51