Perky Blenders:
An interview with Victoria Cozens - Blending business and family
Giulia Magnani London 25/06/2018
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We interviewed Victoria Cozens, co-founder of Perky Blenders with her husband Adam Cozens. This is the story of how they started their company while starting their family.
Perky Blenders, not to be confused with Peaky Blinders, are small batch specialty coffee roasters. They specialize in roasting beans that are taken from a UK importer and come predominantly from South America. They currently have 3 retail shops based in London and 2 that will be opening soon. They also sell their coffee online to direct customers and to a variety of different shops throughout London. Victoria's husband, Adam, was this year’s finalist for the Institute of Directors’ East of England - Director of the Year Award. As Victoria states, Perky Blenders is not just another coffee company in East London, and once we heard her story, we thought Victoria was definitely not just another entrepreneur. We are all familiar with the struggles and challenges entrepreneurs face when starting their own company: the rollercoaster of emotions that fill their days, and the continuous internal conflict that they need to learn how to cope with at every obstacle they encounter. Victoria, however, started Perky Blenders and the entrepreneurial life that comes with it, while also undertaking one of the biggest and challenging steps in anyone’s life: that of raising a new family. Victoria and her husband had always known they wanted to start their own company. However, leaving their careers in such a competitive and uncertain time was not something easy to do. The idea of starting Perky Blenders came while Victoria and her husband were sitting around their own kitchen table, discussing a few ideas. 
Soon after, they decided to take action: while still maintaining their jobs, they bought a Piaggio Ape and a coffee machine, and began selling coffee from another roaster in their own backyard during their free time.
They then decided to roast their own coffee, and after opening their first take away kiosk in Leytonstone on the Central Line, they were able to gradually expand their business and reach their current accomplishments. Having surpassed the first few challenges of setting up and developing the structure of the company, Victoria and her husband were soon hit by a completely new and different kind of preoccupation: raising a new family. Their first son was only eleven months old when they began building up the project of Perky Blenders and, as soon as it had started to become a reality, the couple found out they were expecting a baby number two! As Victoria recalls, it was a very exciting and exhausting period of her life: giving up the financial stability they had with their previous jobs for something unknown and full of risk, was surely not the easy way to deal with what was happening in their lives. However, their passion, persistence and efforts all paid off in the end, allowing them to create Perky Blenders, something they love, while still being able to enjoy their children’s presence every step of the way. Victoria adds that she is grateful of the network that surrounded her during the most difficult times: people, who helped her balance the two key components of her life: her new family and her new business. Perky Blenders has now come to be loved by its many customers, who value their quality, accessibility, inclusivity, and the fact that it is fun! The business keeps on growing and Victoria is able to share her biggest satisfactions with her husband and her two children, who she always finds time for. Perky Blenders and the story behind it is just one example of how life is often surprising, unexpected, and, of course, full of risk. However, sometimes, taking that risk leads to success and enormous satisfaction. Especially, when there is someone you value to share it with. |