Lee Hyo-sik is Finance Desk editor at The Korea Times. He manages finance-related stories on macroeconomics, banks, stocks, bonds, crypto etc. He is passionate about covering what's happening in Korea's financial industry and explaining it to both Korean and non-Korean readers. You can reach him at leehs@koreatimes.co.kr. Your insights and feedbacks are always appreciated.
Barista overcomes hearing disability
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Kwon Soon-mi
By Lee Hyo-sik
By Lee Hyo-sik
It is not easy for a person with a hearing impairment to work as a barista because he or she has to take orders from customers and brew coffee accordingly. Being able to hear exactly what customers say is more important than anything.
However, for Kwon Soon-mi, 36, a hearing disorder has not deterred her from pursuing her dream of becoming a barista at Starbucks Coffee Korea, the country’s largest coffee chain. Four years after Kwon joined Starbucks in August, 2011, she was recently promoted to a deputy store manager despite her disability.
“I am really happy that I was able to pass a stringent, highly-competitive test to assume the post of deputy store manager at the Olympic Park South Gate store in southern Seoul,” Kwon said. “Over the past four years, I have worked really hard to figure out what customers say by closely watching how their mouths move. I have also done vocal exercises every day to make the correct sounds so customers can understand what I am saying.”
She also acquired an in-house barista certificate in February after completing Starbucks’ 6-month training course.
Kwon said it is also important to mingle well with other “partners,” a term Starbucks employees use to refer to one another, to have a successful career.
“When I meet other partners for the first time, I always try to approach them first and build friendly relations with them,” She said. “At first, they are a bit surprised that a hearing-impaired person like me can work as a barista. But they soon come to understand my disability and try to help me out. Sometimes, we go out for beer after work.”
Kwon said she will continue to pursue her career at Starbucks and grow together with other colleagues with physical disabilities.
The Korean unit of the Seattle-based Coffee franchise, founded in 2000, began hiring physically-handicapped people as baristas in 2007 as part of its expanding corporate social responsibility. Currently, a total of 142 disabled employees work at the firm’s stores across the country.