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CARING Wafa Abdullah Saleh knows a thing or two about coffee and that’s official!
She is a master of different brews, strengths and flavours and is the first Arabic woman to be crowned a coffee ambassador by international outlet chain, Starbucks.
At 26, she not only manages a team of coffee experts and staff across the kingdom she also faces the challenges of keeping her close-knit family together after the tragic loss of her parents within a short space of time.
She said: “I love my work – it has been a wonderful learning experience. I am very dedicated because I believe in my family and in God.
“Creating the perfect cup of coffee is an art.”
Shortly after her father’s death early this year her mother fell into a coma from which she never awoke.
With four younger siblings, two brothers and two sisters, she took over the role of bread-winner of the family.
Living in
“I discovered one important thing … that you don’t just learn in school,” she said. “I didn’t study English language or computers in school. Everything I now know I learned whilst working here.”
She joined the company as a barista – serving customers. She also dealt with merchandise, the cash register and eventually gained the skills to manage an outlet.
But better things were brewing. Starbucks International staged a coffee master’s competition to find the employees with the best knowledge of its business. The competition was held for baristas across the
Wafa proved to have more than a frothy head on her shoulders and so impressed the company that it decided to induct her as one of the coffee masters. She was taken on a guided tour of the company’s European facilities as well as roasting fields and factories.
The Starbucks brand ambassador for
Today, all she thinks about is coffee. While at home discussions instantly centre around coffee beans which she says sometimes “bores” her brothers and sisters. While at work, inevitably, coffee is always on the agenda and even while out shopping … it’s coffee on her mind!
“I check out coffee brands in supermarkets and check their packages to see what they are made of and read all the information on the packaging,” she admitted.
“As a woman wearing a hijab, I feel an extreme amount of responsibility to be able to succeed in a multi-national company.
“Some Bahraini women may think that working in a coffee shop is not a nice thing to do; that no girl must do anything of such a social low.
“It’s not true. It isn’t a wrong thing to do. I worked here, started as a barista, serving coffee to people and see where I have reached – what I have become.”
Her responsibilities as coffee ambassador include:
* Intercommunications amongst the Arab communities.
*Communicating with coffee masters from other coffee shops.
* Educating herself and the team and keeping update on coffee education.
*Conducting seminars and enhancing the brand awareness by promotions.
* Taking her team through corporate and social responsibilities – for example the Starbucks team offering their services in the community by lending a helping hand at an old age home in Muharraq.
As a concluding note, she added that she hoped her role as the first woman coffee ambassador would encourage young Bahraini women to follow their dreams and not let anything stand in their way.
