Like any professional, Stacey-lea Benjamin aimed to present the perfect cup every time she served a coffee. This is how we found her back in 2014 – the perfect personality for a barista – passionate, positive, affable. We immediately engaged Stacey-lea for a café marketing project that led to a very successful event for us and a long standing relationship with this multifaceted lady who is now chasing her dream of educating and coaching holistic health practices from a community platform…but never too far from coffee.
Which came first Stacey-lea, coffee oR naturopathy?
Professionally, coffee definitely came first. Personally, however, I have grown up in a family where holistic health practices have been passed down generationally for many years.
Tell us a little about your coffee career.
While still at school, I was working at a small local cafe as a waitress and kitchen hand. I really wanted to learn coffee but I was never really given the option. I then moved to the humble beginnings of coffee that many of us have done when we were younger and started at Donut King and then Gloria Jean’s before moving into larger companies and specialty coffee.
Did you ever compete or judge?
Yes I competed in the 2010 State Barista and Latte Art championships before making my way into coaching competitors and training as a sensory judge. I realised early on that I preferred to coach competitors and sit on the sensory panels when it came to the competition arena.
I have learned so much from so many highly educated and experienced coffee professionals with the added bonus of being able to train and hone my sensory skills. Being able to witness the passion individuals bring to their performances both on stage and in the cup is definitely an industry highlight for me.
You and Leigh Michelmore are the founders of the Queensland Coffee Community (QCC).
Actually, Leigh was definitely the brains behind starting the community and I was more than happy to support and work alongside her vision to create an open and accessible community platform.
It is a platform to share ideas, build business, support competitors, build profiles, educate, create conversations, share events, help with staffing needs and of course to help bring everyone who wanted to be a part of the community into the fold. Michaela Gerrad and Callum Peace have also been integral to the ongoing success of the QCC. They have certainly become irreplaceable assets to the team.
Going forward I am sure the community will keep rising from strength the strength and with so many industry groups online it is nice to see a common thread of open communication and healthy debates continuing.
And so, part two of your life…How did you get involved in Naturopathy?
I very nearly started this particular degree 10 years ago but as luck would have it I stayed in the coffee industry and met some of the most influential and inspiring individuals in my life, many of whom I am proud to say are still like family to this day.
I ended up building Salt Escape Holistic Wellness Centre with my mother and the help of my father in 2012. We run salt therapy sessions, sell salt related products and provide a space for people to relax, heal and recharge.
After years of personal interest, countless hours spent researching holistic health, various short courses and personally having my life altered in a positive manner by holistic health practitioners, including an amazing naturopath and acupuncturist, I bit the bullet at the end of 2014 and enrolled in a Bachelor of Health Science majoring in Naturopathy, and I am thoroughly enjoying every moment of it.
So what is Salt Therapy?
We built Salt Escape in 2012 when we recognised the need for more complementary therapies of this manner. At this stage there was only one other salt room within Brisbane but it has since gained in popularity and more centres have opened their doors in the past year, which is very encouraging for the therapy.
In 1843, a Polish physician, Dr Feliks Boczkowski, noticed that workers at the Wieliczka salt mine did not suffer from lung disorders that were common at that time.
During the ensuing years, Dr Boczkowsk developed a therapy based on his theory that spending time in salt mines could heal ill health. He dubbed this therapy Speleotherapy (Speleo = Greek for Cave). Halotherapy (artificial salt cave environments) was invented in 1982 in Russia.
Since then, thousands of patients have been successfully treated in Russia, Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary and Canada.
Put simply, salt therapy (Halotherapy) is breathing in salty air for therapeutic reasons. It is based on the principle that exposure to the micro climate inside a natural salt mine/cave can play an important role in the relief of many health problems; especially for patients with conditions such as asthma, cystic fibrosis, emphysema, sinusitis, allergies, eczema and other respiratory and skin conditions.
It is a high negative ion environment within the room, which helps to not only clear the air but also create an incredibly relaxing environment, which means most of our clients tend to have a snooze in the room.
Salt therapy uses a machine called a Halo Generator to reproduce and monitor the therapeutic micro-climate of natural salt caves/ mines. The air coming from the medical device is sterile, negatively ionised and saturated with a low concentration of highly dispersed, pharmaceutical grade salt.
Clients relax in comfortable chairs within the artificial salt cave, whilst relaxing music is piped into the room. Clients sit back and breathe in the regulated micro fine particles of salt, which is immediately transported to every part of the respiratory tract, even the smallest bronchioles and alveoli. Once in place, it dissolves and attracts the small, positively charged impurities, which are subsequently either coughed up by the client, or, which leave the body during metabolic processes via the bloodstream.
We personally use a combination of pharmaceutical grade Australian salt and Himalayan white salt in our halogenerator, More information can be found on our website.
Now that you’ve completed some health studies, what are your thoughts on coffee and health?
Well the good news currently for coffee lovers is that there are numerous peer reviewed research studies and articles touting the protective benefits of coffee against numerous health conditions (I should know… I have read a LOT the past year). But like the old saying goes – balance and moderation is key. Obviously over consumption of anything at the expense of another can wreak havoc on the human body. Reliance and addictions to substances such as caffeine to be able to function in every day life may spell out some underlying health issues, however I see absolutely no problem with coffee when consumed for the sheer pleasure and cathartic enjoyment many people harness from it.
What are your goals for the future?
I have a very strong feeling I will never break away from the coffee industry entirely as I value the relationships, connections and lessons too much. Ideally I would love to simplify health and well-being and make it accessible to anyone (much like our coffee community). By this I mean, I would love to educate and coach within the health and well-being sector from a community platform of sorts. I would also love to work alongside cafe owners to introduce and identify key healthy options and consumer demand to suit their business model.
And lastly one of my aims is to be a freelance writer focusing on mind, body, spirit health and wellness if the opportunity arises.
Professionally, coffee definitely came first. Personally, however, I have grown up in a family where holistic health practices have been passed down generationally for many years.
Tell us a little about your coffee career.
While still at school, I was working at a small local cafe as a waitress and kitchen hand. I really wanted to learn coffee but I was never really given the option. I then moved to the humble beginnings of coffee that many of us have done when we were younger and started at Donut King and then Gloria Jean’s before moving into larger companies and specialty coffee.
Did you ever compete or judge?
Yes I competed in the 2010 State Barista and Latte Art championships before making my way into coaching competitors and training as a sensory judge. I realised early on that I preferred to coach competitors and sit on the sensory panels when it came to the competition arena.
I have learned so much from so many highly educated and experienced coffee professionals with the added bonus of being able to train and hone my sensory skills. Being able to witness the passion individuals bring to their performances both on stage and in the cup is definitely an industry highlight for me.
You and Leigh Michelmore are the founders of the Queensland Coffee Community (QCC).
Actually, Leigh was definitely the brains behind starting the community and I was more than happy to support and work alongside her vision to create an open and accessible community platform.
It is a platform to share ideas, build business, support competitors, build profiles, educate, create conversations, share events, help with staffing needs and of course to help bring everyone who wanted to be a part of the community into the fold. Michaela Gerrad and Callum Peace have also been integral to the ongoing success of the QCC. They have certainly become irreplaceable assets to the team.
Going forward I am sure the community will keep rising from strength the strength and with so many industry groups online it is nice to see a common thread of open communication and healthy debates continuing.
And so, part two of your life…How did you get involved in Naturopathy?
I very nearly started this particular degree 10 years ago but as luck would have it I stayed in the coffee industry and met some of the most influential and inspiring individuals in my life, many of whom I am proud to say are still like family to this day.
I ended up building Salt Escape Holistic Wellness Centre with my mother and the help of my father in 2012. We run salt therapy sessions, sell salt related products and provide a space for people to relax, heal and recharge.
After years of personal interest, countless hours spent researching holistic health, various short courses and personally having my life altered in a positive manner by holistic health practitioners, including an amazing naturopath and acupuncturist, I bit the bullet at the end of 2014 and enrolled in a Bachelor of Health Science majoring in Naturopathy, and I am thoroughly enjoying every moment of it.
So what is Salt Therapy?
We built Salt Escape in 2012 when we recognised the need for more complementary therapies of this manner. At this stage there was only one other salt room within Brisbane but it has since gained in popularity and more centres have opened their doors in the past year, which is very encouraging for the therapy.
In 1843, a Polish physician, Dr Feliks Boczkowski, noticed that workers at the Wieliczka salt mine did not suffer from lung disorders that were common at that time.
During the ensuing years, Dr Boczkowsk developed a therapy based on his theory that spending time in salt mines could heal ill health. He dubbed this therapy Speleotherapy (Speleo = Greek for Cave). Halotherapy (artificial salt cave environments) was invented in 1982 in Russia.
Since then, thousands of patients have been successfully treated in Russia, Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary and Canada.
Put simply, salt therapy (Halotherapy) is breathing in salty air for therapeutic reasons. It is based on the principle that exposure to the micro climate inside a natural salt mine/cave can play an important role in the relief of many health problems; especially for patients with conditions such as asthma, cystic fibrosis, emphysema, sinusitis, allergies, eczema and other respiratory and skin conditions.
It is a high negative ion environment within the room, which helps to not only clear the air but also create an incredibly relaxing environment, which means most of our clients tend to have a snooze in the room.
Salt therapy uses a machine called a Halo Generator to reproduce and monitor the therapeutic micro-climate of natural salt caves/ mines. The air coming from the medical device is sterile, negatively ionised and saturated with a low concentration of highly dispersed, pharmaceutical grade salt.
Clients relax in comfortable chairs within the artificial salt cave, whilst relaxing music is piped into the room. Clients sit back and breathe in the regulated micro fine particles of salt, which is immediately transported to every part of the respiratory tract, even the smallest bronchioles and alveoli. Once in place, it dissolves and attracts the small, positively charged impurities, which are subsequently either coughed up by the client, or, which leave the body during metabolic processes via the bloodstream.
We personally use a combination of pharmaceutical grade Australian salt and Himalayan white salt in our halogenerator, More information can be found on our website.
Now that you’ve completed some health studies, what are your thoughts on coffee and health?
Well the good news currently for coffee lovers is that there are numerous peer reviewed research studies and articles touting the protective benefits of coffee against numerous health conditions (I should know… I have read a LOT the past year). But like the old saying goes – balance and moderation is key. Obviously over consumption of anything at the expense of another can wreak havoc on the human body. Reliance and addictions to substances such as caffeine to be able to function in every day life may spell out some underlying health issues, however I see absolutely no problem with coffee when consumed for the sheer pleasure and cathartic enjoyment many people harness from it.
What are your goals for the future?
I have a very strong feeling I will never break away from the coffee industry entirely as I value the relationships, connections and lessons too much. Ideally I would love to simplify health and well-being and make it accessible to anyone (much like our coffee community). By this I mean, I would love to educate and coach within the health and well-being sector from a community platform of sorts. I would also love to work alongside cafe owners to introduce and identify key healthy options and consumer demand to suit their business model.
And lastly one of my aims is to be a freelance writer focusing on mind, body, spirit health and wellness if the opportunity arises.
