The man behind FLTR Magazine
I’m going to talk about two things in this blog post. First is about mentorship and why you need to take up a mentor, it can be in any aspect of your life. Who, that’s for you to decide. Second, I’ll tell you my who and why.
When I started my journey in specialty coffee, I allowed a few people to be my mentors, not that I go up to them and tell them that they are. But I allow myself to be influenced by them, and I try to learn from them as best I can.
It’s normal for us, as humans, to be envious of others when we see them doing better than us. What’s harder is to learn from them, but I promise you, it’s more rewarding in the end.
Picture credit: FLTR
That is what I did when I came across portafilter. There are many accounts on Instagram in the UAE posting about coffee. But the reason this account caught my eye because the person behind it knows how to captivate his following, followed by the meteoric growth of his account.
So, like him, when I tried to find out more about the person behind the account, I didn’t end up with much, except for a name - Andy, a mysterious figure who is skilled in the art of story telling, but more adept in keeping his identity a mystery.
Now, when someone wants to stay behind the scenes, but bring everyone else to light - baristas, roasters, farmers etc., you have to respect that, stop digging around, and understand the vision and mission behind what he is doing.
In some ways, our blogs align with what we post about. We both love talking about people and their love for coffee. He talks about design much more elegantly than I do, he understands it, and from him, I am trying to grasp what gives that hygge vibe to a cafe.
So naturally, I started engaging with his blog more often, without even thinking. You can imagine, to my surprise, when he approached me to write for his blog. This was heavy weight on my shoulders. Can I deliver? Will he be happy? What if he changes his mind? Will his subscribers read? I’m not even trained in writing, I am amateur at best.
All these doubts, thoughts and questions occurred in my mind. I stopped thinking, and wrote for him like I did for myself. Fast forward to today, a week after we met, I’m still thinking about our meeting, and few people ever manage to leave an impression on me like that.
If you draw a Venn diagram, you will see that two circles intersect and overlap, nice people and coffee. I’m convinced that I can associate remarkable personalities with great tasting coffee and vice versa. I know, I know. That’s a very generic statement, but there’s a pattern here that I cannot overlook.
I’m certain that because of the great conversations I have had, the coffee tastes even better. Talking to him, I understand he is building a community. A community devoid of any hate, malice or agenda, rather a safe place for people to engage in productive conversations, solving issues, and to be of value to each other - the essence of humanity, all of this revolving around the specialty coffee industry.
He keeps saying my writing is better, but I don’t see how his is not. Some of my favorite articles, as listed below, are a must read:
Coffee is not about coffee
Picture credit: FLTR
This is the most read post on his blog. If coffee is not about coffee, what is it about then? Spoiler alert, it’s about the people behind it. This is the quintessence of specialty coffee.
Nine lessons I learned from Ralf Rüller, founder of The Barn Berlin
Picture credit: FLTR
This is one my favorite places to visit ever since Ralf opened The Barn in Dubai. Having a cup of coffee under the most iconic tree in the Dubai is bliss.
What goes into great brand design?
Picture credit: FLTR
This is a great interview with Tannaz Shams, the creative strategist and founder of Studio Foreign, shares her thoughts about great brand design.
Andy has built an impressive community of 400,000 followers on Instagram. He is also the curator of @humansofcoffee, @coffeeshopgoals, @manmakecoffee & @foodfluffer.
I am flabbergasted, how he single-handedly built this community, and how he finds the time, is beyond me. He has some great ideas he is working on currently, and I can’t wait for them to burgeon into greatness like his other projects.
