Page 72 - #63 eng 电子版

First time when I get very nervous be-
Honestly, I can
tried coffee I was cause I don’t feel com-
fortable speaking in
front of a lot of people.
about 3 or 5 years Even now after all the
competitions and prac-
old and I did not tice, I am still nervous
a bit while presenting
like it back then. my coffee. While pre-
paring for the champi-
onship, one of the hard-
est things for me was to
keep my motivation
and balance my private
is usually for special events like birth- life and competition practice. I even lost
days and anniversaries. So cakes and some friends as I did not have enough
pastry are associated with fun and fes- time to meet them and spend time togeth-
tivity. And I wanted to bring this into er. But now it will be different as it was
people’s lives. my last year competing.

How did you enter coffee industry? How does it feel to be the first wom-
an that got a second place in WBC?
At some point I realized that pastry
is not my path. Around the same time, I started competing international-
thanks to Starbucks, I started drinking ly in 2011, at that time I was already a
coffee: from Caramel Frappuccinos to finalist. This time my motivation was
black coffee, that’s how I fell in love that I wanted to become a female cham-
with it. In 2007 I started my first coffee pion, I wanted to become a hero for
job in Zoka Coffee, a company from other female baristas. In fact, we need
Seattle. I really wanted to become a a female finalist every year, not just
barista but at that time not so many from time to time.
people actually knew who barista was.
After working in Zoka for a year, I got Do you think that there is any dif- Miki Suzuki has been
a proposal from the newly opened ference between male and female working for Maruyama coffee
Maruyama coffee. baristas and the treatment they get? since 2008, almost 10 years.

How did you get into competitions? Usually, women face a hard deci-
sion: they create a family and take care
My boss told me that I have to of it or they stick to their job and im-
compete and that’s what I did. Our team prove themselves. It might be the most
supports me a lot, because you need a difficult choice for a woman. So to
lot of time, money and power to prepare compete any participant needs a lot of
for a championship. I am extremely time and experience, but women get
grateful for my team, and especially to less of it as they face this hard choice.
Kentaro Maruyama(founder of Maruyama Especially in Japan, where the culture
Coffee), Hidenori Izaki (World Barista is very traditional. There are a lot of
Champion 2014) and Mie Nakahara female baristas in Japan, but not so may
(Japanese Barista Champion 2009). participate in competitions.

Would you say that you are a com- What challenges did you face during
petitive person? championships?

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