Argies Coffee Director, Phil McArdle, recently came across a website celebrating the strong women of coffee – but in his South Wales Coffee and Vending Company, gender inequality isn’t an issue, he says.
I recently stumbled upon a website entitled https://strongwomenofcoffee.com/
It’s definitely worth a read, but while I enjoyed reading about these amazing women, I am saddened that a site like this needed and it shows we have a long way to go on equality and diversity in our market. Over my 34 years in the coffee industry, I honestly believe the best and most productive people I’ve come across are women – but this has not always translated into positions of power.
I’m proud to say that’s not the case at Argies – we’re a South Wales Coffee Company that is thriving thanks largely to two of my incredible female Directors.
Being a “big womens libber” (if that’s even a term), I’ve always had a great belief in meritocracy. It therefore may not be ‘by design’ so much as by hiring the best people for the job, but at Argie’s we have two strong women, both named Jo, who are instrumental in running our business.
These special women make sure that our simple ethos of quality, second to none service and hard work is implemented.
Operations Director, Joanna Mordecai and Sales Director, Joanna Parry have complementary skills and both are a major factor in our success and longevity as a business. so when I came across this website I thought I would share with you that our company is built on the different strengths of these two strong women.
Argies has a fantastic team overall and we were delighted to recently mark our 20th anniversary – these two strong women have definitely contributed (and continue to contribute) to our success. During the day to day running of any business there are challenges – and time and time again the two Jo’s have proven themselves to be more than up to the task.
While they definitely qualify as ‘Strong Women in Coffee’, I’m not sure how much being female has helped them overcome the challenges of our industry and our business.
Personally, I would like to think they are simply the best people for the job.
