No one will carry the vision like you do. Hold on to it despite discouragement, setbacks, and mistakes. Keep dreaming, believing, and building.
As part of my series about “individuals and organizations making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jenny Barber, Talitha Coffee
For 15 years, Jenny has been a formidable force in the fight against sex-trafficking. With a deep commitment to supporting victims and providing advocacy, she has dedicated her career to training and empowering survivors, advocates, and communities to combat trafficking. Overcoming her own exploitation, she launched into the anti-trafficking movement with a vision to create sustainable, collaborative, and holistic approaches to abolish modern day slavery. She has successfully established herself as an expert in counter trafficking efforts and survivor empowerment and continues to be a contributor to the advancement of the global anti-trafficking movement.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Thank you for having me!
I have been in the anti-trafficking movement for just about 15 years. I was exposed to the reality of trafficking and exploitation at a really young age and, as a CSEC survivor, I experienced exploitation throughout my youth.
I knew from a young age that I was going to be an overcomer. I not only wanted to create freedom for my own family line, but also create pathways of hope for other survivors.
My husband and I were married at a young age and jumped into non-profit work early on. We had a really key moment in our lives on a trip to Thailand in 2010. While leading an outreach team to the red-light district, my husband saw a young Thai girl sitting on an American, married man’s lap. It was a moment of realizing how deep the effects of exploitation run, and that was when we knew this was the mission we would give our lives to.
We moved to Los Angeles in 2011 and continued learning all we could about the issue. This led to us pioneering outreaches on the streets of Los Angeles and serving with organizations reaching those in the sex industry.
My husband started roasting coffee on a Whirly Pop popcorn maker on our stove top. We realized right away that he was incredibly talented.
As I continued outreaches, we started seeing patterns of survivors leaving the life of exploitation, going through recovery programs and efforts, and then coming right back to us. They were returning with a strong message: “Don’t even try to leave, there is no hope.” This is the same message that their pimps were instilling in them to hold them captive. This is when my husband determined that we needed to take our skills and build a coffee company to provide hope and offer solutions.
In 2020, we launched our first coffee shop in Los Angeles. We realized quickly that we could hire a few survivors, but were feeling drawn to be part of a greater solution. We reached out to a longtime friend, Mike Glanz, and asked him to help us build a business plan that was scalable. He had an incredible track record in building businesses and a strong desire to prove that business can be highly successful and highly impactful. Mike asked if we wanted to hire 5 or 10 survivors. I told him at least 1000. He was moved by this and pivoted his life to join us as CEO, and in 2022 we made our first acquisition of another coffee company in San Diego, CA, taking us from 300 lbs a month to 10,000 overnight.
Since then, it has been pretty rapid growth. We have acquired three other brands and are in talks with multiple others, putting us on track to be a highly successful, national brand with incredible impact.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?
We had a full circle moment recently during the interview process with a survivor. She shared her story with us about being trafficked on the streets of Compton during the years we were doing street outreach and dreaming of building a coffee company. She had never been allowed to speak to our teams, but one day got the courage to call out for help from law enforcement.
Now, years later, she was sitting in an interview with me. I looked at her and said, “YOU are our ‘WHY’, YOU inspired this company!”
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Oh, there were so many moments in our startup days. Probably launching a hospitality company at the height of COVID in Los Angeles, CA. Those beginning days were scrappy and full of $40 revenue days. We learned to celebrate the small wins, and every increment of growth was a victory. This mindset of gratitude and celebration has shaped not only the way my husband and I build, but our family as well.
Can you describe how you or your organization is making a significant social impact?
As a company, we are focused on both our direct and indirect impact. Our direct impact consists of being intentional to be ethical and combat trafficking from the farms to the baristas serving the coffee, providing employment opportunities to survivors first and scholarships for training through our Coffee Training Institute. Every position we have is opened to our Talitha Survivor Care Network before they go public. We offer both onsite and remote positions.
Our indirect impact is through our partners within the Talitha Survivor Care Network. This is a comprehensive network of organizations and experts offering services like support groups, therapy, life skills training, etc. We are boldly believing we can see an end to trafficking, but it will take a collaborative effort.
Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
Absolutely, we have seen a range of circumstances from the single mom who comes in barely able to navigate a computer and is now pursuing a college degree, to the individual who came to us with unstable housing, no income and gained stability to now be in a place to dream and build for the future. Every situation we see is so unique. We see ourselves as a launching pad to meet survivors wherever they are in their journey and launch them into the next steps to be empowered in stability, dreaming, and building their futures.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
Yes, absolutely. These action steps would look different depending on the organization.
I would say the first step is to become active learners. Learning from the experts and educating themselves on the issue globally and in their community.
Next I would say, be active advocates. It’s one thing to know information and another to implement active participation in the movement; whether through policies, structures, our community engagement and awareness.
Third, vote with your dollar. Where you invest your money matters. There are other impact companies like Talitha making a big difference. A great resource for this is the Freedom Business Alliance. The money we spend either creates a demand for exploitation or builds hope!
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
Leadership is the ability to inspire, guide, and empower others toward a shared vision with integrity, wisdom, and a commitment to growth.
As leaders, it is important that we take our influence and opportunities seriously. We have the privilege to pave the way and invite others into the process. Part of leadership is ensuring the right people are in the right place, building structures and systems for advancement, and then creating opportunities that make the world a better place. Integrity is key for all things big and small. Compromise rarely happens overnight.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
1. No one will carry the vision like you do. Hold on to it despite discouragement, setbacks, and mistakes. Keep dreaming, believing, and building. Write it down. We are scientifically AT LEAST 42% more likely to achieve a goal if we write it down. Writing down goals also helps with accountability and motivation, making them feel more tangible and achievable.
SO MANY TIMES, I was told I was too busy (as a mom of 6 and non-profit leader), or it would be too hard to build a company that was highly successful and impactful. There were many skeptics and many who “abandoned the dream” along the way. It takes grit to grow.
2. Master cascading communication. Don’t assume people know what you mean or want. When you make decisions, make sure you ask: who needs this information?
Some of the biggest hurt I have seen in any organization (emotional and systemic) is caused by poor communication. Not having the right voices in the room, or not ensuring those voices are communicating to others who “need to know”. Make sure the message is unified and clear. You need the buy in from the team, or progress halts.
3. Begin with the end in mind. We can get really caught up on what we have in our hands today, but imagine where you want to be in 10 years and put in place attainable goals that get you closer to that end goal.
We opened our first shop knowing we wanted to meet a need. Every step we built was with that goal in mind. Every leader and system we put in place gets us closer or further to that goal.
4. Staff your weaknesses. It is not your job to be an all-star at everything. Carry your lane well, and recruit people who are STRONGER than you in other areas.
We started with my husband and I at the helm. I was the expert in anti-trafficking, he was the expert in coffee. From there we pulled Mike in who was the expert in the financial model, and he brought on Sergio the expert in growth. We have continued to bring members onto the team that are exceptional in their area. It is easy to be insecure in areas that aren’t our strength or to fear someone will have more influence in an area, but that brings growth!
5. Stay flexible.
Know what the few non-negotiables are to promote the goal, hold those tightly, and remain openhanded with all else (approaches, strategies, structures, team, etc.).
We actually started with wanting to open coffee trailers because we were thinking small. We were going to direct source, but then realized as you start small you need an importer for ethics and pricing. Then, we realized we needed to focus on the roasting for growth. Mike originally wanted to abandon cafés, and only roast, but we realized cafés are key for brand recognition and authority. The approaches may change, but the goal is still to create a highly successful coffee company that employs survivors of trafficking.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I’m a pioneer to my core. I am used to simultaneously igniting multiple initiatives, and it will hopefully always be that way.
I believe there is something incredibly powerful about igniting passion in the next generation; equipping and mobilizing them to bring impact into every sphere of society. I would love to mobilize a movement that creates collaborative efforts to comprehensively combat trafficking in communities around the world. I believe that economic empowerment is a huge component to this. Employment paired with empowerment models attacks multiple levels of exploitation by providing hopeful and alternative opportunities.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“There is no passion to be found in playing small — in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” — Nelson Mandela
I think this quote sums up the way I live. I don’t want to live a small life, I want to show up everyday giving my all to make this world a more beautiful and hopeful place.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
Christine Caine. Hands down. She has been such an inspiration to me personally and professionally. As a strong female leader, there are moments when you see other women and just know that you are cut from the same cloth. Without being in direct contact, I would say that I have learned so much from her.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
We would love for people can follow along and join our journey on Facebook and instagram at
F: https://www.facebook.com/talithacoffeeroasters
I: https://www.instagram.com/talithacoffeeroasters/
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
Social Impact Heroes: How Jenny Barber Of Talitha Coffee Is Helping To Change Our World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.