We were super excited when we heard about the project and the opportunity to be interviewed for it. Zarak has done an awesome job of combining the two interviews, with a nice opening and closing! For this blog post, we asked him to provide some additional background info – which we are happy to copy/paste below:
I always wanted to make content about coffee in Pakistan for the longest time, due to my fascination with coffee. I always wanted to know how it developed in the country and what cafes are doing now that’s unique or interesting. So when I came across James Hoffmann’s competition for content creators in November 2020, I quickly sent my pitch – a video about the growing coffee culture in Karachi through a series of interviews with roasters and café owners. I had no expectation of event getting an acknowledgement for my idea, so I was thrilled when I heard back from James and his team! I got selected, but not as a finalist, which meant I would get partial funding and my video, once uploaded, would get shared through his social media channels.
I believe Coffee Wagera has made a significant impact on Karachi’s coffee culture, not just in terms of how they approach coffee, but also how they interact with their community/environment. Mush is someone whom I’m particularly inspired by and I always wanted to have a chat with him about his journey in the coffee industry, so this project was the perfect opportunity. I also really wanted to speak to Faisal from Nomad Coffee Studio, which was the first local Pakistani roastery whose coffee I had tried for the first time back in 2017. Faisal is someone who is a keen observer and has an immense amount of wisdom in regards to coffee, not only as a commodity but also as a culture. It seemed like a no-brainer to interview Mush and Faisal, and they ended up adding a great deal of depth to the video and story.
The video has finally been put out into the world and James Hoffmann was kind enough to promote it through his socials as well, which will give it an immense reach amongst coffee enthusiasts around the world.
Mush is the Founder of Coffee Wagara. He has been a sales, marketing, and training expert for over 35 years; he has worked with corporates, leaders, and entrepreneurs in 20 countries. Mush is also the author of Dhinchak Life, a book about living a fantastic life!
