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International Women’s Day: Cindy Chappell

Bean Counter owner and operator
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For International Women’s Day, we talked with some amazing women around the Cariboo Chilcotin. There are enough incredible women in this community to fill several books, but please read on for International Women’s Day series on just a few of them.

Customers to the Bean Counter in Williams Lake are often greeted as soon as they walk in by the always-cheerful Cindy Chappell.

Chappell has run the business for the past eight years, purchasing it almost on a whim from the previous owner.

“I needed a new baby, all my four sons had grown up and left the home,” she says. “I’ve always been so impulsive so I got the ball rolling just because I wanted to see if this was what I wanted to do and it was,” she says.

Having been a stay-at-home mom to four sons, the all female staff at the time was fun, she says.

Read more: International Women’s Day: Debbie Seland

“I really enjoy the people, the public. It’s so fun to have one on one with all of your customers.”

Chappell has always been passionate about food, being a director of the Farmers Market and on the Food Policy Council, so the company seemed a natural fit, despite having no background in coffee.

“I just love the community, I love the people, I love supporting local farmers and growers. It’s so easy to do that for sure.”

Much of her style, she says, comes from being a mom: it takes patience, kindness and organization.

“Since I was a little girl I wanted to be a mom. I couldn’t wait, and now I’m a mom of 15.”

Read more: International Women’s Day: Meera Shah

While Chappell sometimes trips, and calls her staff her “girls” (it’s no longer only women who work in the coffee shop) she says she enjoys working with people without any experience.

“It’s giving them a job and giving them a start,” she says.

And, as for being a female business owner: “Sometimes it’s empowering with the things you do as a woman. I’ve laid on the floor on my back fixing the pipes and I’ve figured all these things out myself.”

While admittedly, she says, she sometimes takes work home, her dog keeps her busy and she likes to relax, make dinner and put on the TV after work.

Otherwise, she loves the people she meets every day.

“I think we’re all the same race. We are all the human race in my eyes and I think that makes a big difference.”

Read more: International Women’s Day: Fabiola Faubert