Learning about perseverance, risk and opportunity from Shirley

Before I met Shirley in person, my only interaction with her had been haggling over the price of coffee on the phone (in which she I conceded to her superior bargaining skills).

When I met her, I was blown away by her energy, work ethic, and conviction. Shirley was raised on a small farm in San Luis, Costa Rica, and started picking coffee when she was in primary school. She told me the story of how she saved up and used the money she earned from coffee picking to buy a pig, and started selling piglets to pay for her siblings' school supplies. She has since used this same drive and resourcefulness to start a successful coffee business, all while her two children who attend the Monteverde Friends School.

We talked in depth about the challenges facing small coffee growers in Costa Rica, including rising costs due to disease and increasing weather unpredictability, limited avenues of sale, and problems with the fair trade model (to see a video of our conversation, see: ).