What to Do When Parents Strongly Oppose Your Barista Job? Should You Persist in a Career Your Parents Disapprove Of?

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The Reality of Being a Barista

One of the hottest topics among baristas is undoubtedly, "What is it like to be a barista?" The answers from netizens in the comment section starkly reveal the current situation of the vast majority of baristas in China.

Besides salary issues, a greater challenge comes from lack of family support. Many young people mentioned that while their parents approved of them working part-time in coffee shops during their studies, they faced opposition when they chose to continue as baristas after graduation... "I didn't send you to college just for you to become a waiter" / "If I knew you'd end up in this job, you shouldn't have gone to college." Simply put, parents believe this profession has no future.

Making the Choice: Passion or Pragmatism?

Faced with parental opposition, whether to listen to parents or stick to one's own path has become a dilemma for many. For such questions, the first thing we should consider is: Why do you want to become a barista? What do you want to do in the future?

Many people, before becoming baristas, imagine this job to be as relaxed and artistic as depicted in movies. When they see coffee shops hiring inexperienced workers, they eagerly apply, thinking that once they learn latte art and coffee brewing, they can get better salaries and development opportunities at other coffee shops.

The True Value of a Barista

However, the true value of a barista doesn't lie in technical skills alone. Whether a profession can command high salaries and offer more development opportunities largely depends on the actual value the individual can create. While good skills are certainly important, the technical content and difficulty don't necessarily correlate with earnings, but creating value often does correlate with returns.

To develop in the coffee industry, we must first establish professionalism while letting go of our obsession with technical skills. Only by releasing our fixation on brewing coffee can we see more possibilities.

We can consider how our academic background might bring new perspectives to our coffee journey; what we've observed and learned from past work/experiences can support us in creating new paths; we can also carefully observe the development trends and consumer patterns in the entire coffee industry to create things that interest more consumers.

Beyond the Counter

Often, parental opposition stems from seeing many baristas spending their days day after day behind the counter without room for other advancement. If you chose this profession simply because barista work appears to be easy, please think twice. All stagnation will not bring any progress and will waste precious time.

But if your goal extends beyond working behind the counter, consider sitting down with your parents and rationally explaining your choices, reasons, and future plans. Also listen to what your parents have to say—they might offer valuable perspectives.

Image source: Internet

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