Life Guide LIFEGUIDE IS ABOUT TALKING TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE MADE INTERESTING LIFE/WORK CHANGES AND HAVE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE TO THE ‘THIRD’ AGE, DOING THINGS DIFFERENTLY, CHANGING THEIR PACE OF LIFE, THEIR PRIORITIES, REFLECTING ON WHAT’S GONE BEFORE AND THE NEW OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES TO COME…
Generation ageless Steve Ashman celebrates his 50th birthday this month. He owns speciality coffee business, Mint Hobo, on Yarm High Street
I used to do this…
I was the ‘corporate man’. I ran supermarkets for a leading UK chain, looking after hundreds of staff and thousands of customers. I had the big salary, the car and the long hours. For a couple of years we spent time living and working between London and the North. While travelling to work in opposite directions on the M25 we would have the same conversation time and time again – how service and people were becoming less at the heart of what a business was about and how much we wanted to build a place where amazing people would be able to enjoy a unique and amazing experience.
Now life is about…
Coffee! As a shopkeeper, I looked after my staff well so that they would look after customers well, too. But values became compromised, customers were taken for granted and it didn’t feel right. Now those values are the same, but it’s my business, my customers - my coffee! There came a point when I thought if things didn’t work out (they didn’t), then I would bring speciality coffee to Yarm. I could have stayed and retired at 55, but instead I see this as a new chapter in life. LIFE GUIDE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 17
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