Last week I had another coffee date with a fellow German expat woman. Monique Menesi lives in Portland, Oregon and that’s why it was a virtual meeting. I went to Barefoot Coffee in Campbell, had a Mexican Mocha while FaceTiming with Monique, sitting in her home in Lake Oswego. I will tell you more about the coffee place at the end of this post.
Monique told me her fascinating journey that led to a life in the US with two own companies.
Travel agent, word traveler and coach
Monique Menesi is a German from the „Ruhrpott”, who always wanted to leave her home country to see the world.
After graduating from school with an economy diploma (Wirtschaftsabitur), she did an apprenticeship as a travel agent. After an interview at a consulting company, the interviewer decided to take Monique under his wing and to start a travel agency franchise with her. Monique ran the first „Flugbörse” and owned four agencies for almost 16 years. After 9/11 the travel business caved and Monique and her husband decided to finally explore more of this world and to leave Germany. For three years, they lived with two little kids in Dubai, Qatar and Switzerland before returning to Germany in 2008 for their son to start school.
In Munich, Monique went back to school to study psychology and to get a certification as a coach. She worked as a consulting coach for executives in different companies like Lufthansa, Otto and FTI. During this time she discovered that the work of a coach only focuses on future goals. But in Monique’s opinion you have to work on your present self in order to achieve long-term goals. Therefore she decided to round her education off with a qualification as homeopathic practitioner and to become a more holistic coach.
You can only help a client, if the person is looking for support and is ready to evolve.
A new life in the US
Still having the itch to see more of the world, Monique and her husband Sascha entered the green card lottery four times in total. And in 2012, they actually won it. After pondering about it for a while, Monique and her family sold almost everything, left Germany and flew to Seattle in June of 2014. They traveled through the US for three months to find the best place to settle. Eventually, they moved to Charlotte, the city with the biggest density of German companies in the US. To make a living for their family, Monique and her husband worked in Corporate Sales for while. It was very hard for Monique to give up her job in Germany, and she misses coaching a lot. After a while, they started a recruiting business that helps German companies to find employees who are especially qualified to work in an intercultural environment.
Sometimes German companies struggle to operate successfully. Some employees are either too German or too American. For a successful business you need staff that is able to build a bridge between the cultures.
The German Love of Bread…
Like for most Germans, bread has always been an important part of Monique’s life. She says that her parent’s have always had at least three different sorts of bread for the daily breakfast and dinner. During her time in Dubai and Quatar she already starting making her own bread and experimenting with different kinds of doughs.
In 2016, back for a visit in Germany, one of her friends gave her a bread mix in a jar. That gave Monique the idea to start a bread business. The Menesi family decided to take a break from life in Charlotte. They wanted to think carefully about this plan and to be sure that it is the dream to pursue. Therefore, in the summer of 2017, they traveled through the US once more. They visited flour mills, baked lots of different breads in a dutch oven in their camper van and started working on a website. Back in Charlotte, they sent the website live and overnight they received their first order. Breadlovers was born.
…led to Breadlovers.
Monique and her husband attended the „Ich bin Expat Fair” in New York City and it was a huge success. People just snatched the bread mixes out of their hands. Ever since they’ve been improving the business step by step and finally moved to Portland, Oregon in January of 2018. That’s where they always wanted to live anyway. Now, with an up and coming food business, Portland was the perfect location. The city is known for its eco-friendliness, microbreweries, and general love of good food. Only after four months being in Portland, Breadlovers are connected to other local food businesses, they have regular booths on farmer’s markets and their own kitchen for packaging.
We are born entrepreneurs, we are brave and we believe in the success of Breadlovers.
I became aware of Breadlovers through some expat websites and social media channels. After checking out their website and facebook page, I contacted Monique about a potential collaboration. We had a super nice chat on the phone and discovered quite some touching points in our American life. She sent me a couple free bread samples and my family appreciated the new style of carbohydrates very much.
Breadlovers offer seven different kinds of bread mixes. The breads are all named after the places they were first baked, or let’s say invented. Like the Grizzly and Bison Power bread that were both made in Yellowstone, or the Glacier Mountain Bread from Montana and the Columbia River Gorge bread from Portland. They also offer the Eagle Rye, the French Quarter and the Missoula Nuts bread. The mixes come in two sizes (mini and midi), two even in three different sizes (mini, midi and maxi). Next week they will release a new mix and soon they will also offer a gluten-free option. Check out their website!
Thank you so much for your time, Monique. I loved listening to your story and to write it down. I’m sure Breadlovers are going to be a success and I can’t wait to work on other projects together. And of course, to eat more of your delicious bread!
Barefoot Coffee, Campbell
Barefoot is located on 1819 South Bascom Ave and opens daily at 7 am. They offer hand-crafted pour over drip coffee and espressos and a variety of lattes, cappuccinos and mochas. Barefoot’s award-winning direct Trade and organic coffees are featured in some specialty markets, other coffee bars and restaurants around the country. The cafe on Bascom is rather small and not really cozy for my taste, but you have the option of sitting outside.
