North Bay Woman

F A L L 2 0 1 6 | NORTH BAY WOMAN 51 blends that was the driving force that led to buying a small Ital- ian coffee roaster and some green coffee beans and putting the two together at home. "It was the three of us in a garage in Corte Madera," says Russell of their early days roasting coffee. While McDonnell developed the product, Russell drummed up the sales, and McHugh led the operations. "We're all very mature, strong-willed women," says McHugh. "We just naturally gravitated to these roles." The combination worked. McDonnell's blends were popu- lar with tasters and customers, and slowly the business grew. They moved out of the garage into a warehouse and increased production to 2,000 to 3,000 pounds a week. But the warehouse couldn't contain their dreams. In 2003, on the advice of their accountant, McDonnell and Russell sought a loan from the Small Business Administration in order to purchase their current 5,500-square-foot building, where they produce 50 times more coffee than previously. The business developed. So did the women along the way, anointing Equator with a number of industry firsts. McDonnell, for example, traveled to the countries that provided the beans Equator roasted. She met with growers and gradually forged what would become long-term working relationships that led in 2008 to Equator becoming one of only a handful of roasters in the country with its own coffee plantation, Finca Sophia, in Panama. Russell wrote and implemented the company's marketing plan, writing for trade magazines, handing out coffee samples and knocking on doors to promote the company's products. As the company grew, she became the public voice and face of Equator, bringing in clients such as The French Laundry, Wil- liams-Sonoma, Google, Twitter and LinkedIn. With her help, Equator became the first roaster in Northern California to sign onto the Fair Trade Certified program. While McDonnell and Russell enhanced the product and promotion of Equator, McHugh improved the business opera- tions, not just for Equator, but for their suppliers. Since 2003, she has been a member of the board of directors of the Interna- tional Women's Coffee Alliance, which she describes as "a group of women who are working to empower women in the coffee chain." Because of her career with Equator, McHugh finished her bachelor's degree at Dominican University in San Rafael, then continued on to earn a master's degree in sustainable enter- prise, known as a "Green MBA." "This was the engine for our designation for B corporation," McHugh says. B, for benefit, corporations must "meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency," according to the nonprofit B Lab, which certifies companies for this designation. Equator was the first coffee roaster in the San Francisco Bay Area to achieve the status of B corporation. Becoming a Benefit corporation epitomizes the higher pur- pose of Equator Coffees and the philosophy of its leaders. "It's about impact," says Russell. "It's not about what we do, but why. It's about being successful and using that success as a platform for others." n Clockwise: Equator Coffees & Teas co-founders Brooke McDonnell and Helen Russell at the Tam Junction cafe; a cappuccino at the Miller Avenue cafe in Mill Valley; Equator's VP Maureen McHugh with Russell and McDonnell, pose with their new SBA National Small Business of the Year Award with Maria Contreras-Sweet, the administrator of the Small Business Administration, and left to right; Douglas Kramer, former SBA deputy administrator and Mark Cuban; Equator Coffees & Teas sponsors professional cyclist Tayler Wiles, who gifted this bike to Equator. –Photos provided by Equator Coffees & Teas

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