Gabrielle Rinker (more commonly known as Gabzy) is originally from North Carolina but moved to Richmond, Virginia back in 2016 where she started college at VCU. She graduated in 2020 with a BFA in Craft and Material Studies where she focused in woodworking and ceramics. Starting in 2018 she has worked as a barista and eventually worked her way through 3 different shops. Throughout these experiences she learned how much she loved this other craft in her life (coffee) and how she loved the community it created plus the special moments it provided for these people.
She noticed, when done right, the incredibly versatile and supportive work environment it created for both its employees and Customers alike. That of course tended to always be the hardest thing to maintain, but gabzy always found it made the most difference to everyone who experiences a coffee shop.
That being said, one of the common denominators from all of the shops she worked at was that they were all owned and managed by people who didn't start in the coffee world as the bottom barista. While that isn't necessary, it certainly seems to make a difference in Gabzy’s eyes and definitely inspired her to open her own coffee shop. She had started from the bottom and by the time she got to her last coffee shop she had done everything from training to hiring and even designing and documenting the daily operations and drink recipes.
The other motivation that fueled gabzy was all of the love and support she received from both her coworkers and customers throughout her coffee journey. Even from the beginning she had always received comments from customers about how their interaction with her had brought joy to their day. As her journey continued and she moved into the managing aspects, still receiving compliments from her peers, often being told how much people enjoyed working under her and the support they felt during their journey to perfect their craft.
This feeling of love and support from her community was immediately replicated when she experienced the Muddy Roots Music Festival in Tennessee for the first time. Now while she had always grown up around Bluegrass And Folk music with her parents being from Bristol and Berryville, VA she had not fallen in love with it as much as when she discovered the darker more gothic side. Very quickly she dove into music genres such as Southern Gothic, Rowdy Bluegrass, and eventually Folk Punk where she really felt like home. This of course was even more solidified when she found the Muddy Roots Music Festival and actually got to immerse herself in that community.
From then on nothing has felt quite so perfect in her life as this community's love and support for one another and in the past years this community seems to be growing more and more in Richmond, Va making RVA even more of a place that Gabzy now is so proud to call home.
