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The Bean Cartel Co-Founder Alison Visser on being the ‘silent partner’, surviving business loss and an ensuing mental health crisis, and why having a female voice is essential for independent businesses.
In the background of almost every family business is a key character who prefers to stay out of the limelight but is the constant that keeps the company afloat. At The Bean Cartel, that role falls to Alison Visser, Co-Founder and wife of Stacy Visser who oversees the daily running of the specialty roaster.
While many people in the Melbourne coffee scene will recognise Stacy, Alison takes a more behind-the-scenes stance. That’s not to say her work isn’t essential: she spends hours every day ensuring each client or potential customer receives a personal response to queries and messages. Plus, she painstakingly plans social media posts and marketing materials to share The Bean Cartel’s latest updates and grow the brand.
“We treat each member of our team and our clients like they’re an extension of our own family. We’re heavily invested in their success,” says Alison.
“Because of what Stacy and I went through, I feel like we have a different level of respect and care. You need to show empathy in this industry, which we have in abundance.”
Alison is referring to the difficult few years when The Bean Cartel was in its infancy. When the couple relocated from Adelaide to Melbourne to start an office coffee company in 2009, the life and businesses they’d built in South Australia were beginning to crumble. They lost everything – their house, car, and children’s private education – and, at the most challenging points, could barely afford to put food on the table.
“Within two years of moving to Melbourne we lost pretty much everything,” she says.
“I had left my career in law, more specifically my job of 14 years, so Stacy could follow his coffee dream in Melbourne. It was very challenging as it was a role I loved and never thought I’d leave. Looking back on it now, I know we were probably running away from our problems.”
It was during this early period in Melbourne, trying to get their coffee business off the ground while navigating their sinking hospitality franchises in Adelaide, that Stacy’s mental health plummeted. It was Alison who picked up the pieces and kept the promising new company afloat.
“I would drop the kids to school and come home to find him in the foetal position on the floor. It was gut-wrenching,” she admits.
“Bills and notices of demand were piling up and I didn’t know what to do. We kept getting more credit cards, but that was just masking the problem. One day I started to break down, but then thought ‘right, I have to do something about this’, so I took a job working for someone we supplied coffee too. I was in survival mode.”
Stacy’s mental health was so poor that Alison had no other choice than to help run the business, manage the debt, and take care of their family. She sold her car to pay off what bills she could and started travelling around Melbourne to maintain office plants and coffee machines for less than minimum wage. She knew they needed to make changes, fast.
“Stacy sought help to address his mental wellbeing, and we put parameters into our life such as eating healthily, drinking less alcohol, spending time outside, and exercising,” she says.
Alison says there were many times when Stacy wanted to give up and go back to Adelaide, to their families, but she put her foot down.
“I said, ‘No way, we need to stick this out and you need to follow your dream.’ Our life in Adelaide was gone, I’d left my job and we’d sold our house, we couldn’t get that back,” she says.
Slowly Stacy started to get better and was able to head up the business again and, over the past decade, they have worked together to transform the office coffee company into the specialty roaster it is today. Yet, despite overcoming such great challenges and building a successful business, Alison admits she’ll never feel fully ‘comfortable’.
“It doesn’t matter how much money we have in the bank, we’ll still be cautious. There will always be a fear that we could lose everything again,” she says.
Image: The Bean Cartel
While Alison now has a more back-seat role at The Bean Cartel, Stacy still consults her on big decisions and stresses the importance of having a female opinion.
“Although I often share my thoughts with Stacy, I encouraged him to employ more female voices for our business. We already had our Warehouse Manager Lily Rice but, post-COVID, I felt we needed to add to our growing team by employing another female in a leadership role – someone who had experience in the industry,” she says.
“We were introduced to Melissa Glentis who has brought a wealth of experience and knowledge to our team in her role as National Manager.”
As the company continues to grow, moving into new premises and expanding its roasting operation, Alison attributes the success of her and Stacy’s business – and personal relationship – to allowing space for one another.
“Living and working together 24/7 isn’t healthy for any relationship, so Stacy works from the factory at least three days a week. However, we talk about the The Bean Cartel a lot and, while I’m not often the face of the business, I have a lot of input,” she says.
“Our hope for the future is to continue to gain respect in the industry and build the business on the foundations we’ve already established. This includes supporting each member of our team with their personal growth and development, as well as garnering our own personal hopes and dreams.”
For more information, visit thebeancartel.com.au
This article appears in the August/September 2024 edition of BeanScene. Subscribe HERE.
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