ABOUT

Hi, I’m Jenn! Nice to meet you.
I’m a San Francisco-based freelance writer, photographer, and marketer in the specialty coffee industry.
On my blog, I share tips on digital marketing & document my personal travels (obviously now on hold because of the pandemic). I write a biweekly personal newsletter that is a combination of essays and articles. I’m also an editor at large at Sprudge and a past contributing writer of 6 years on Sprout Social’s blog. I’ve been freelancing and consulting for over 10 years and working in coffee for more than that. When I’m not working, you can find me involved as a:
- GoFundBean board member, where I help work on the mentorship program, Bean for Bean
- Member of Sprudge’s first editorial advisory board
- Writer on the topics of freelancing, culture, and more on Medium
- Past volunteer on SCA’s Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion Task Force
- Former Vice President of Bay Area Coffee Community, an organization of coffee professionals
My passions lie at the intersection of multiple industries:
coffee, social justice, writing, photography
Career origin story:
When I was in 6th grade, my teacher asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. I said, “author.”
Four years later, my career choice became “veterinarian.” Because authors don’t make a living, according to my parents back then. (I have since decided that being an author is pretty cool & a completely valid career choice.)
I now have a degree in Zoology, specializing in Animal Behavior & Neurobiology. This has nearly nothing to do with coffee. I say “nearly,” because my degree has helped me in a qualitative way: I can easily digest scientific texts and “translate” that to common-speak. This is something I do daily for coffee companies and in my journalistic work.
I began my coffee career first as a summer roasting intern, then a barista, then I left coffee to save up for opening a cafe, then became a barista again (decided I didn’t want to open a cafe), started & ended a business doing coffee crawls in Chicago, and finally decided to create my own job. I work within the specialty coffee industry with a blend of writing, photography, and marketing consulting. These did not all happen at the same time but I’m happy with where I’m at now.
Press & Notables
Contributions & Clients
Across all my service offerings.
- Sprout Social
- Acaia
- Mr. Espresso
- Coffee Quality Institute
- Edible
- World Coffee Research
- Breville
- Fresh Cup
Even more info about me
Why coffee? How it all began…
There was one cafe on my college campus where many of my friends gathered. At any given point of the day, we would be able to find a familiar face among the patrons. As regulars, we became friends with the baristas.
At one point, I started questioning. How do you make that quad-shot latte that I love? Where did this roasted coffee come from? How is quality maintained?
I started a coffee club at college. Over the course of two years, we learned about the importance of coffee cupping, attempted to make rosettas in a latte art workshop, and threw music events in cafes.
We created a coffee community: it bridged professionals and consumers. That was my first addictive dose.
After going in and out of the coffee industry, I’ve decided to carve out my own niche and take on clients who have the same goals as I do. Building a community involves a lot of sweat & tears, but it’s rewarding work.
Current Projects
At any given time, I’m trying to conquer new skills and work on projects. Here are a few that I’ve been trying out:
- Spanish on Duolingo
- DIY miniature cafe kit
Upcoming Travels
- No travels booked for the foreseeable future.