#TheGoodTribe Interview with Ben Higgins, founder of Generous Coffee

Hey, good humans! This week we introduce you to another hero from our #GoodTribe, an inspiring good human helping our communities and our planet. The incredible human: Ben Higgins!  We all fell in love with him during his appearance on The Bachelor, now get ready to fall in love with him again.  His compassion extends to his work life and we are super excited to talk to Ben about his latest projects, including Generous Coffee and his book. Ben co-founded Generous Coffee, with the main mission and heart to serve communities! Imagine taking a sip of coffee and knowing that you just changed someone else’s life! Well, Ben is making it happen.

Generous Coffee is the most tasty and thoughtful coffee ever! And if you are a coffee lover it’s a must buy. Why? Generous coffee is made with love and purpose. All profits are donated to companies that feed children, build schools for them, create jobs, and much more! 

Ben spills the beans, (pardon the pun) from his own personal journey to all the good that Generous Coffee does. Here’s what he had to say. 

1. How did the generous coffee journey start? Is there a story behind it?
   
   I had gone on a trip to Honduras that changed my life. Something never sat right with me with all the organizations that would go to a place and try and make a ‘quick fix’, and then just abandon these people. In my eyes, it never seemed to help.  However, my buddy started a nonprofit, Humanity and Hope United, that actually did sustainable work down in Honduras. Teams would go down and hear the needs from the people in these villages, and then help empower the Hondurans to meet those needs themselves - it was sustainable. Since I am a board member for H&H, during my time on the Bachelor I was able to share about what Humanity and Hope United is doing. Because I was able to share on such a large platform, H&H saw a huge response in aid and help from other people. The response was awesome; however, my friends and I knew that we couldn’t ride out the “Bachelor” card forever. We were on a mission to create some type of for-purpose company whose profits could then eventually sustain Humanity and Hope United. That is how Generous Coffee was born. We wanted to create a business that had a main purpose of selling products and donating the products back to nonprofit and organizations fighting injustice around the world. We do this by selling the highest quality coffee, and other purposeful products. Our main beneficiary is Humanity and Hope United, but we also donate to at least two other purpose organizations each quarter. Today I sit as the President and Co-Founder of Generous Coffee, and we just hit our three year mark. To date we have been able to donate over $70,000 in monetary and product donations to different organizations and nonprofits.
   
   
   
   
   
2. How has being on the bachelor changed your life and what impact does it have  on your business?
   
   The show allowed me to gain a platform to share all these causes and socially good organizations with others. I have loved being able to use my platform to show people what is happening around the world, and in their communities - and how they can get involved to help combat the injustice that so many are facing.
   
   
3. What is the best part about being a social entrepreneur?
   
   It is being able to be a part of so many different yet equally interesting and powerful stories. In all the businesses I am a part of, each one of them is telling a story that relates with people. Because of my investment into them I get to be included in so many terrific events, stories, programs, projects, and meet so many interesting people!
   
   
   
   
   
4. Generous Coffee supports many causes and communities, from Haiti to Honduras. On your trip to Honduras, what’s something that really shocked you on seeing the inequality that these poor communities have and the help they need?
   
   I think the most shocking part is when you see someone missing the things we say are "essential" for life. Infrastructure, clean water, food, etc. it is shocking when you recognize just how much you have been given based on where you were born. When you see injustice facing humans there needs to be a response. Our response has always been using our time, money, resources, etc to do what we can to fight injustice facing humans. There are people out there hurting, we choose to fight the injustice hurting these people with everything we do.
   
   
   
   
   
5. The Generous Coffee is helping out communities in Honduras, giving them job opportunities, building houses for them, and much more. Was there one specific act of kindness that stands out most? 
   
   The cool thing about Generous is that we are able to help in these countries, but we also are able to help in our communities right here in the states. Some of the most heartwarming stories for me involve our incredible Generous Ambassadors. We have an ambassador program of people around the country who are dedicated to living out generosity in their daily lives. It warms my heart to hear of stories where ambassadors have gone out in their community to volunteer, donate their skills, serve coffee, write notes of kindness, and so much more. 
   
   
   
   
   
6. There are more than 15 drinks in the Generous Coffee Menu, could you share with us which one is your favorite?
   
   I normally am a black coffee kind of guy and love our Obsidian blend. However, if I had to choose one specialty drink from the shop, I think I would choose the Honduran latte. This one has espresso, honey, and cinnamon in it. It has a nice subtle sweetness that I like! 
   
   
   
   
   
7. What is in the future of Generous Coffee, is there any more generous and delicious plans you want to share with us?
   
   We are really excited for this year! We can’t share much right now - but you will definitely want to keep an eye out for some new changes with our coffee bags. In general, we hope this is another year where we get to be a part of life-changing stories of kindness and generosity. We also hope that safe travel starts to happen again so we can take more generous adventure trips and get back to visiting our coffee farms! 
   
   
   
   
   
8. Tell us more about the amazing book you just released. How was the experience and what is the one thing you know now about the process of writing a book that you didn't know before starting? 
   
   I wrote this book for anyone who feels like an outsider. In more detail I wrote this book for anyone who has felt lonely, isolated, misunderstood, and disconnected. I wrote this book with the hope that if someone out there has felt these feelings mentioned before they would feel less alone after finishing "Alone in Plain Sight". Alone in Plain `Sight took me two years to write. The experience writing this book was a journey through my own story and through the story of others. Hearing the life stories of others as well as digging through my past allowed me to heal, gain empathy, and also re engage things of my past. The book process is complex. It was a lot more organization and planning than I have imagined. In addition to writing a book you have to almost live within the book at all times. Every interaction, walk outside, prayer, night laying in bed is a potential lesson or moment of clarity that can be written about in the book. The book was all consuming, and as a result the book became very personal.

   
   Isn’t it comforting to know that there are good humans like Ben who are working hard  to change the future of coming generations, by helping out communities around the world in every way. Thanks to Generous Coffee, there is education being supported in Guatemala, villages are receiving water in Africa, sustainable work is going on in Honduras, and much more. There are a lot of people around the world that need all support possible, and this is the kind of initiative that they need right now. The best part is that you can be part of the change by supporting companies like Generous Coffee.

   If you are interested in being part of the change with this delicious coffee, or you want to learn more about Generous Coffee, click here.

   
   

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