Alumni Stories – Carmel Laurino
November 23, 2016
Who are you and what do you do?
Hi, hello my name is Carmel Laurino and I’m the founder of Kalsada Coffee Company.
What project/job/event/research are you currently working on? Please tell us a little about the impetus, content, expected impact of this work.
I’m currently living in the Philippines working in the agribusiness sector specifically in rural development through increasing the quality of coffee and creating both local and international specialty coffee markets for smallholder coffee producers. How did I end up here you ask? It all began with a 1909 photo of a market stall of the Filipino Coffee Company in Pike Place Market that I saw as an undergraduate at the University of Washington. My curiosity got the best of me and here I am 3.5 years into my social enterprise and we’ve brought Philippine grown coffee back to Seattle!
I’m currently living in the Philippines working in the agribusiness sector specifically in rural development through increasing the quality of coffee and creating both local and international specialty coffee markets for smallholder coffee producers. How did I end up here you ask? It all began with a 1909 photo of a market stall of the Filipino Coffee Company in Pike Place Market that I saw as an undergraduate at the University of Washington. My curiosity got the best of me and here I am 3.5 years into my social enterprise and we’ve brought Philippine grown coffee back to Seattle!
In what ways did the work/research you did at parsons prepare you for that transition and the work you’re doing now?
As I started to weigh my options of moving to NY or to Manila I realized I could do both. With the online program I was able to pursue my passion and dream while pursuing my Parsons degree all at the same time. My time at Parsons supported my thirst for learning, empathy, chaos, collaboration and teamwork. It allowed me the freedom to understand the beauty of the unknown and the challenges in creating meaningful solutions and impact in communities I wouldn’t have dreamed of at the start of this journey.
List any awards, recognitions, etc. that you’ve received since leaving Parsons.
Young Intellectuals in Southeast Asia Program, Japan Foundation.
How has the MS-SDM program challenged you to grow as a strategic designer?
Many of the challenges presented in the coursework I directly put to the test while starting my business and vice versa, while starting-up I was able to use real life challenges and scenarios to inform the questions and exercises we did in the courses. Post MS-SDM, I would say it’s been something nagging at the back of my mind that I want to refer back to and reflect where we are as a business but haven’t had a chance to use many of the tools learned from school, but then again maybe I’m subconsciously using them already – I would say it was much easier to put the designer hat on as a student but as the sole designer in the company it’s hard to allot time for it as there are other priorities. Hoping to make lots of monies soon so I can hire my schoolmates because I can’t ask them for free advise now….wishful thinking (haha!)If you were to give one piece of advice to current students, what would it be?
Many of the challenges presented in the coursework I directly put to the test while starting my business and vice versa, while starting-up I was able to use real life challenges and scenarios to inform the questions and exercises we did in the courses. Post MS-SDM, I would say it’s been something nagging at the back of my mind that I want to refer back to and reflect where we are as a business but haven’t had a chance to use many of the tools learned from school, but then again maybe I’m subconsciously using them already – I would say it was much easier to put the designer hat on as a student but as the sole designer in the company it’s hard to allot time for it as there are other priorities. Hoping to make lots of monies soon so I can hire my schoolmates because I can’t ask them for free advise now….wishful thinking (haha!)If you were to give one piece of advice to current students, what would it be?
I would say stay curious. When you do so many questions arise and it’s in asking all those questions where the magic starts to happen and strategies, classwork, projects, will all start making sense.
What book are you reading right now?
Oh man, I’ve been trying to finish Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore for probably over a year now. Life is hard, why couldn’t you have asked me about the last movie I saw? (insert emoticon here)