TikTok and lattes make the perfect blend for Toronto coffee company going viral – Toronto | 24CA News
“My friend.”
Those two phrases have constructed a group and connection for Caitlin Campbell. The cheery-faced Torontonian might be discovered each Sunday through the summer time on the Leslieville Farmers’ Market at her espresso trailer, saying these phrases — to each buyer.
“I say it to have that connection with people. I truly see every single person who comes through the trailer as my friend,” mentioned Campbell, the proprietor and proprietor of Street Brew Coffee.
The espresso firm initially launched at commerce reveals in 2019, although her father, Ross, had been roasting beans for years earlier than.
“Friends and family would taste them and tell me to go back to the drawing table. I did, and I did until we got to a good place,” he mentioned. “We started it, and Caitlin has taken it somewhere I could never imagine.”
Through simply two phrases, Campbell grew to become a viral sensation on-line, boasting 1.1 million followers on TikTok, lots of whom love her perspective, interactions, and now-famous catchphrase. Many of her movies often topped 5 million views, typically as many as 15 million folks watching her bite-sized content material.
“I didn’t even know what I was saying until the first vlog that I posted on Twitter, and it went crazy viral — and everyone said, ‘My friend, that’s gold, we love that!” she mentioned.
For Campbell, it was customary to deal with individuals who visited her espresso trailer as “my friend”, a phrase she mentioned she’d been utilizing for years. And it naturally got here out when she chatted with of us wanting a morning brew and it caught on.
“Despite being the most connected generation, we are the most disconnected we’ve ever been. A lot of people are just craving that connection, so when I interact with them, I try to make sure they feel seen,” she mentioned.
And seen is precisely how folks really feel, each in-person and on-line. Campbell livestreams her Sunday morning espresso business, interacting each with folks on-line and folks tuning in.
“Hi TikTok, we’re live today and here at the Farmers’ Market,” she mentioned to a cellphone.
One particular person instructed Campbell he had walked an hour to return and get her espresso on Sunday morning, whereas one other needed to make sure he received a selfie alongside his espresso. Those experiences aren’t unusual, she mentioned.
“I’ve had people come to the trailer, and I hand them a cup of coffee, and I say, ‘Here’s your coffee, my friend,’ and they literally start tearing up and crying,” Campbell mentioned.
The group round Street Brew Coffee, like Danielle Black, has been an everyday to Street Brew Coffee. She mentioned that when she hears “my friend” come out of Campbell’s mouth each week, she is aware of she actually means it.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, where you came from, your age. You are her friend, and you really feel that she means it,” Black mentioned.
And whereas Caitlin is the star behind the model, Black mentioned she loves the authenticity of the whole lot Street Brew stands for.
“I think I keep coming back there because they’re so sweet and pleasant, you can tell it’s a family-run establishment…and they care so much about making people feel great,” she mentioned.
It is a close-knit group, with Campbell’s father, Ross, coping with the whole lot associated to the product, Caitlin because the face, and her mother, Pat, and Aunt Laura working within the trailer to get orders out.
“I get a lot of joy and happiness from my parents. They’re also very happy people, so it just makes working fun,” Campbell mentioned.
Rania El Mugammar often visits Street Brew Coffee, and on this explicit Sunday, she got here bearing flowers.
“These are for you,” mentioned El Mugammar, handing flowers to Campbell. “I hope you have such a beautiful day; you’re literally literal sunshine at every market.”
El Mugammar mentioned it was very important for her to point out Campbell the love she doles out after Campbell was just lately harassed and bullied on-line. Campbell mentioned she’s used to being harassed, having created content material on TikTok for practically three years, and now is aware of she has ample help.
“It’s been absolutely insane, to be honest. I never expected it to get this big. When I first started posting videos, I thought if I could get 10,000 followers, that would be amazing. And then it grew so much more than that,” mentioned Campbell.
For the 29-year-old, it hasn’t all the time been easy crusing. In 2019 she suffered a critical mind damage whereas enjoying hockey, her first true ardour. The damage meant she possible wouldn’t simply be off the ice however may battle with fundamental features.
“Some of the doctors said the injury was so bad that I’d never be able to walk or talk again,” Campbell mentioned.
But she endured and pushed on. She went to review overseas within the U.S. and suffered her second critical head damage there.
“It was such a low moment,” Campbell mentioned.
Her father, Ross, famous that he wasn’t fully positive if Caitlin may get via college then, noting that they’d her down to 1 class a semester.
“It was all she could handle at the time, and even then, there were times she was overstimulated,” he mentioned.
Despite one other main setback, Campbell pushed via, ultimately graduating and finishing her Masters. She mentioned these robust moments reminded her to be a lightweight for others.
“Through that moment when I was at my darkest that to get better, I would seek joy in everyday things,” she mentioned.
And now, as she brings smiles, each shut and much, the Toronto native goes to hold on along with her mission of creating pals out of strangers.
“My goal is always to make people smile, to spread as much joy as I can,” Campbell mentioned.
