Holly from The Coffee Incident
"I was born in Armidale but grew up in Glen Innes. After completing my schooling here, I headed off for university and college in Armidale in 2014. At university, I completed a Bachelor of Psychological Science. I knew from about my second year of uni that I wasn’t wrapped with the path I had chosen, but being the person that I am, I decided to complete my course regardless. The social aspect of college may have also played a factor in my staying on.
In 2016, when my 3 years was up, I headed home to Mum and Dad, where I nabbed my first hospitality job coincidently at The Coffee Incident where I stayed on for just over a year. I had an absolute ball working there and got to work with a really fun group of people. Chris Glennan, the founder and owner at the time, gave us a lot of freedom to make the shop what we wanted it to be and this was when I confirmed what I had previously thought, that I absolutely had to own a café at some point in my life. The dream started here and it stuck and it grew.
While I learnt so much in that year at The Coffee Incident, I wanted to know more about the industry while also getting some life experience away from the Northern Tablelands, so I moved up to Toowoomba at the end of 2018. I only learnt one thing from my very first job in Toowoomba, and that’s how not to be a boss. Thankfully I landed myself a different job at Sage + Butler Café shortly after. Here I was put on back of house duties working alongside an amazing bunch of motivated and inspiring women. I grew SO much here in my knowledge of food and coffee which was forever edging me closer to making my dream a reality.
In June of 2019 my grandmother, Margaret Hayden, unfortunately passed away. While I was enjoying my time in Toowoomba, things like this can make you feel a little homesick so I started exploring some avenues to get home. I had always been very torn on whether Glen Innes was somewhere I would want to end up, but it’s funny when you’ve been away for a while how you have a new appreciation for where you’ve come from. I looked at a few buildings and shop fronts until one day I thought I would just send Chris Glennan a message and see if he still wanted his café. As it turned out he said he’d love nothing more than to pass on the batten to someone that knows, understands and loves the business as much as he did. Now the rest is history."
Be sure to visit Holly and the team at the Coffee incident in Grey Street Glen Innes and enjoy fabulous hospitality and delicious coffee.
