My Favorite Coffee Story

Our special guest Maria Esther Lopez-Thome will be sharing her incredible story, how coffee helped her reinvent herself. We'll learn about Maria Esther's twenty year career as a lawyer in Venezuela and then how she decided to spend all of her time focusing on coffee as a trainer, barista and attending coffee events while learning more about specialty coffee. We can't wait to hear the inspiring stories how coffee brought hope, smiles and dreams and how she decided to setup Cafe Registrado in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2015.

We're having such an amazing show with our special New Zealand guest, David Downs, who has been a standup comedian, an author, a keynote speaker, a Microsoft Director and a General Manager at New Zealand Trade & Enterprise. He is also a cancer survivor and has an incredible story to share. We'll highlight some favorite coffee stories in between and we'll learn how we can choose our reactions no matter what the circumstance. David is such an inspiring example how the power of positivity and some laughter can make a big difference.

There are a lot of exciting things brewing at The Icehouse and Ice Angels in New Zealand and it's more than just great specialty coffee. Robbie Paul, CEO of Ice Angels, the largest and most active angel investment network in Australasia, joins us to share stories about the hot New Zealand startup community. Members of the Ice Angels have collectively invested more than $85m into 145 companies representing a range of industries. We'll learn about some of the recent startup trends and how coffee weaves through New Zealand's tech community and culture.

Producing Bon Mua coffee starts out in Vietnam's Daklak Province, where Lan Nguyen has been tending to his family coffee farm since 1978. Lan's daughter, Lan Marberry who manages Bon Mua Oregon Coffee, will be joining us to share favorite coffee stories about their family coffee farm and how her father was one of the very first coffee growers in southwest Vietnam. We'll find out about growing Robusta and Arabica coffee and how the question Do you know who has been drinking our coffee? posed by Marberry's father inspired the start of Bon Mua Oregon coffee company.

We've enjoyed sharing favorite coffee stories and personal journeys during the past year. We'll take a look at some of the life stories and lessons from inspiring guests around the world. Some of our favorite stories involve helping our communities, helping the environment and taking moments to reflect on what's important in life, often over a cup of coffee. We've learned about so many interesting and important topics ranging from cancer research, helping children, nutrition, sustainability, Saudi coffee, red espresso tea, coffee flour, craft beer and wine, Starbucks early days and Peet's Coffee, Stumptown Coffee, Fundamental Coffee, petroleum engineering, Ivar's story, the food industry, wildfires, mindful living, etc...just to name a few. We're so glad you've been part of My Favorite Coffee Story and hope you'll join us as we talk about the year in review and how we developed our interest in coffee at Anikona Farm.

What is it like being a coffee barista and winning the World Barista Championship? We are sharing favorite coffee stories with 2018 World Barista Champion, Agnieszka Rojewska. We'll learn about how Agnieszka won the championship to become the first woman to win the competition in its 19 year history. Agnieszka says it's important to be yourself and don?t give up. We can't wait to hear more about her inspiring stories and how she was true to herself, patient and learned from all her experiences.

Michelle Pfennighaus, well-known Nutrition and Health Coach, will be sharing how positive change in our lives is within reach! She helps thousands of clients around the world to achieve balance and re-invent their relationship with food...and themselves. We can't wait to hear about Michelle's personal health discoveries, the moderation mantra she promotes...and about her favorite decaf cold brew iced coffee. Michelle will share how she cuts through the clutter of nutrition information and helps women improve their over-worked, over-stressed lives. It doesn't have to be complicated to lose weight, gain energy, overcome chronic conditions and start feeling like ourselves again.

We have an amazing show with special guest Jerry James Stone, a food blogger, chef and internet personality known for simple gourmet recipes. We'll chat about the sustainable food and wine movement, Jerry James' cookbooks as well as his food blog, Cooking Stoned (it's a play off his last name, no one is stoned). Jerry James Stone also offers online cooking classes on Facebook and shares easy and delicious vegan and vegetarian recipes via his popular YouTube videos. One of our favorite recipes is the coffee and black bean brownie recipe! We can't wait to learn more about Jerry James Stone's latest projects and how he also develops recipes for Discovery Channel, Whole Foods Market and KQED's Bay Area Bites.

We're sharing inspiring stories about energy and petroleum engineering with our guest John Moltz, Petroleum Engineer. We'll hear about some of the important consulting projects John is working on to help oil, gas, petrochemical and mining companies create abundant and future energy resources domestically and internationally. Coffee often is described as a fuel, so we'll weave in favorite coffee stories too!

Our work can at times be stressful, but there are ways to help ourselves to be on the path of happiness. We're sharing stories about mindfulness in the workplace, mindful development of technology and the power of presence in leadership. Melissa Sutor, well-known mindfulness teacher, keynote speaker and corporate consultant will be joining us to share her insights and how we can transform our work experiences while making the world a better place. We'll weave in some favorite coffee stories and how getting together over a cup of coffee and tea is a great way to connect with ourselves and with others.

Grab a cup and join us as we talk about what you need to know about wildfires with Elizabeth Pickett, Executive Director of Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization, HWMO. Did you know embers from a wildfire can ignite a home up to one mile away? And did you know 99% of wildfires in Hawaii are started by people, both by accident and arson? Elizabeth will be sharing insights into the cause and prevention of wildfires and how her organization has helped Hawaiian communities and the Pacific region to protect precious resources. HWMO informs people across the state about current fire and drought conditions as well as provides information and education to help protect life and property from wildfires. We are grateful to all the firefighters and we'll also ask about the notion that firefighters love their coffee.

Robert Rosell and Patricia McDermott Rosell are sharing amazing trekking and travel stories...and some of the unique places they've had a good cup of coffee. From Morocco to Chamonix Mont Blanc, Pat and Robert have had such an incredible personal and trekking journey. We'll hear about how they've produced award-winning videos as part of their company Quality Media Resources - The Respectful Workplace Company and about the books Robert has authored, Virtually Yours, Jonathan Newman and Civitas Island - The Birth of Hope. Robert also wrote Getting Past Getting Lucky which is about making life's most important relationship decision. We look forward to hearing about Robert and Patricia's upcoming treks and projects, while sharing their favorite coffee stories along the way.

We can't wait to hear about the award winning beverage Red Espresso, South Africa's much loved red cappucino. As the world's first red rooibos tea espresso, it is caffeine free and loaded with antioxidants. Monique and Pete Ethelston, Co-founders of Red Espresso, are joining us from South Africa to share how they started Red Espresso, what it's like living in South Africa, how they team up with red rooibos farmers and practice fair trade. They have been giving back to the community in so many ways while creating a healthy fancy cool espresso beverage.

It's interesting to learn about stem cell research and all the amazing things happening in this area. Scientists often find themselves in the lab and at meetings where coffee keeps them fueled. We're sharing favorite coffee stories with noted stem cell researcher, Dr. Suzanne Peterson. We are delighted to have Dr. Peterson talk about all the exciting progress happening in this area...and how coffee might play a role. We could say, that a lot 'stems' from coffee in the field of science. We'll find out more from Dr. Peterson as we hear about what's hot in biology.

We'll be sharing fun and inspiring stories with Owner and Master Brewer David Skiba about No Boat Brewing Company's fantastic hand-crafted brews in Snoqualmie Washington near Seattle. We'll talk about how David became involved in viticulture and then when on to pursue a dream to create No Boat Brewing Company and their incredible brews like Snoqualmie Maybe Pale Ale, Mozzie IPA, Illuminaughty Simcoe DIPA, My Beautiful, Dark, Twisted Oatmeal Milk Stout and the Bia Hoi Vietnamese Lager. We can't wait to hear about their Coffee and Cream Ale, along with their tremendous care in the process and sourcing of ingredients. Please join us as we brew up stories!

We'll discover how performing artists are the imagination mavericks, creative pioneers, and shamans of today. We'll be chatting with Bestselling Author and Creativity Coach, Holly Shaw, about how artists and performers take us on an emotional journey and often heal audiences and themselves. We'll find out more about why artists are today's Shamans and what brings out their creativity. We can't wait to ask Holly about her favorite coffee stories and how coffee might play a role in an artist's world.

We're sharing favorite coffee stories with our special guest and Wine Enthusiast Contributing Travel Editor, Lauren Mowery, J.D., D.W.S. Lauren regularly writes about wine, food, and travel for Forbes and USA Today. We are excited to share coffee stories with Lauren as she has travelled to more than two dozen countries in the last few years. Wine and coffee have so many things in common... we'll get an inside look into some of the similarities and how their delicious flavors enhance our lives every day.

Helena Diez-Fuentes, Professional Event Energizer, Moderator, Interviewer and Presenter will share with us the secrets to bringing energy and passion to presentations. We'll explore how events can become engaging and memorable, what are important communication skills and how to work with the audience. We can't wait to hear about how Helena has been the ultimate Master of Ceremonies for many company events and how she became an experienced presenter, moderator and speaker. We'll also learn about the preparation that goes into a flawless presentation along with some of Helena's favorite coffee stories during events and travels.

This week we're sharing favorite coffee stories with Dr. Benjamin Anderson. We are excited to hear about the latest technology in medicine, the advances in breast cancer research as well as the current projects in global health medicine. Specializing in breast cancer surgery, Dr. Anderson travels the world speaking at global health conferences and sharing his expertise. Most recently, Dr. Anderson received the 2013 Inspiration Award by the National Coalition of Breast Centers (NCBC) in recognition of his dedicated efforts to improve breast cancer quality of care around the globe. During Dr. Anderson's travels, we'll explore some of his favorite coffee stories. We'll also have the opportunity to ask about the possible health benefits of coffee recently highlighted in the news.

We're sharing coffee moments with good friend Luis Mejia. Luis is CEO of VoterCapital.org and most recently was Associate Director at Stanford University Office of Technology Licensing. We'll hear about about the famous Google Moment, what it was like working at Stanford University's Office of Technology Licensing, what it's like living in Silicon Valley and about Luis' current projects. It's always so wonderful to catch up with friends over a good cup of coffee.