Collateral Beauty
Join me for a conversation with Ellie, co-founder of Caribe Coffee, as she shares her inspiring story about resilience and family. She reflects on how facing life's greatest challenges led her to discover a deeper sense of purpose, make powerful choices, and develop a sustainable approach to taiming anxiety.
Words by Nelli Vaszilko | photography by Sprout Collective | average reading time 7 minutes
My search for meaning brings me to a quiet corner of Morpeth to meet Ellie. The family's bungalow is nestled behind old, green-draped trees, offering a sense of privacy. The front of the house is quiet, so I make my way to the back garden, where the space opens up to a few side buildings. In one, I find her husband, Wilmer, busy sorting coffee orders.
Their family business, Caribe Coffee, is a North East venture focused on sustainability. They work directly with farmers to ensure fair pay, a principle the Carcamos stand firmly behind. And they have every right to be proud: their coffee is nothing short of beautiful, and their cause is genuine and traceable - qualities often missing from larger companies.
Ellie appears, wearing a soft pink and black outfit. She looks tired, but her face lights up when she sees me. "Don't take your shoes off," she says with a warm smile as she invites me into their bright kitchen. By this point, I do find it hard not to think about a latte, but the thought quickly shifts as she begins to update me on the years that had passed. We haven't seen each other in seven years, not since I worked with her son, Max, who is nine now.
Just as we begin, Ellie's young daughter, Izzy, pops her head into the kitchen, curious about their visitor. She appears to be a quiet observer, but Ellie gently directs her to play with her grandparents in the other room. Her face softens as she watches Izzy go. "Izzy is an absolute sweetheart," she says. "But after Max's birth and all the diagnoses, I was so traumatized. I was too scared to have more kids."
The conversation turns to the fear she carried after learning about the complexities of genetics and how many conditions they could never have tested for during her pregnancy with Max. It became a huge source of anxiety for a long time. Later, they tried for three years to get pregnant, but couldn't. "We decided to go for IVF, but it was brutal and didn't work out. I was ready to give up," she says.
But a midwife encouraged her to keep trying. She had always said she would adopt if she wasn't pregnant by her 40th birthday. The night of her big 40th birthday party, she decided to take a pregnancy test just in case. To her astonishment, it was positive.
"After Izzy was born, I was overthinking everything. I was just looking for the bad," Ellie admits. But Izzy, she says, is just the ‘best’.
As we move from the kitchen island to sit on the sofa, the picturesque back garden catches my eye. Even though the great British weather is miserable outside, I can't help but feel a little jealous of the greenery surrounding their home. Ellie comments on how much this environment helped her work through the changes of moving back to the United Kingdom, and also during Covid.
Then, Ellie turns the tables, asking about my big move to focus on my own endevours. She notes how lovely it is to see me digging deeper, not just offering a simple service, but finding a new purpose in what I do.
"I was so excited when I saw your post on LinkedIn. I was like, 'Oh my God, she's going for it!'" Ellie says. "I saw you in a completely different light. It's evident you have a lot to share."
I reply with a smile, hoping to live up to this picture.
The Road to Caribe Coffee
I ask what they would be doing now if they hadn't started Caribe Coffee. Ellie's answer takes us back to their life in the Cayman Islands. "This all happened because of Max," she says, matter-of-factly. "If Max hadn't had his condition, we probably would have bought a house there." Ellie was six months pregnant with Max when Wilmer left his secure job to start his own businesses. Although the construction and salsa ventures would later become successful, she felt completely vulnerable at the time, remembering, "That is not what you want to hear," Ellie says. "I just felt like we were completely vulnerable."
After finding out about Max’s condition, the family had to make difficult decisions, including shutting down their businesses and moving back to the United Kingdom to ensure Max could receive high quality healthcare. Next to Max’s diagnosis, there were other factors also weighing in making the decision to seek out alternative opportunities after the Carcamos move back to the UK. Ellie feels Wilmer faced a sense of professional unfairness in his previous sales work. Despite being well-qualified and dedicated, they felt his hard work wasn't reflected in his compensation, especially when compared to others. Ellie explains that the only thing that seemed to hold Wilmer back was his lack of formal academic recognition, as his qualifications weren't seen as valid here. He struggled to find a job that truly reflected his skills and experience, and the stress began to take a toll. "I remember watching him leave one day, and he just looked so depressed," Ellie says.
It was at that point that Ellie thought they should consider looking to find something that Wilmer was passionate about, something that would also work around Max's needs. Wilmer's grandmother was a coffee farmer, so coffee was a part of his life, but it never seemed to be a defining passion. Then came an epiphany during a trip to the Edinburgh Fringe. They found a small coffee van advertising "Central American specialty coffee." Wilmer was so excited, thinking it would be just like the coffee he used to get at home.
But his excitement quickly turned to disappointment. "He asked the barista about it, and they had no idea," Ellie recalls. "And when he drank it, it was awful. I think he just saw there was no love in the coffee." It was in that moment that Wilmer saw an opportunity to show people the true quality of coffee he was used to and make it more accessible.
"I was six months pregnant with Max when he left work to start his own businesses. That is not what you want to hear. I just felt like we were completely vulnerable."
Ellie admits she was hesitant. She was more in favour of a "safe" NHS job for Wilmer, but he was driven by a different vision. He turned down the secure job offer to pursue coffee, and Ellie was terrified.
But Wilmer, who came from a poor background, had always lived in a state of vulnerability. Nothing seemed to faze him. "It just sort of pulled me along," Ellie says, her voice full of admiration.
The Decision to Be Happy
Before reflecting on the difficulties they had faced with their first born, she offers a coffee - signaling that a couple of moments to take a break would be much appreciated.
The most profound change came after Max was born and received his 5q143 deletion syndrome diagnosis. "I was not in a good place," Ellie says honestly. She had a vision of a life of travel and hiking, but the diagnosis shattered that. "It just crashes through your entire trajectory of life, and in that moment, you just know everything is going to change."
Ellie talks about her initial grief. She describes a very dark point where she felt overwhelmed by the grief and trauma of the diagnosis. She knew she needed to seek help to get through it. She went to therapy with a doctor who had clients with terminal cancer. "That's the level I was at. My life, in my mind, was over."
But she found her way through the darkness, inspired by Wilmer's unwavering strength. "He just loved Max from day one regardless. It didn't matter," she says. "He was so strong and just choosing to be happy."
"I can sit and wallow, or I can actually think, 'What's the good? Where's the gratitude?'"
Seeing his resilience, Ellie realised she had a choice. "I can sit and wallow, or I can actually think, 'What's the good? Where's the gratitude?'" she says, talking about finding the ‘collateral beauty’ in their life.
"I have to make that decision every day, to be happy," she confesses. This wasn't a one-time choice, but a daily practice that has given her immense strength. I am utterly struck by her quiet resolve - a strength forged not by avoiding vulnerability, but by embracing it, continually shaped by the meaning she finds in life's small, everyday wins. Max's diagnosis, while heartbreaking, has been a catalyst for her own personal growth. "He's made me make decisions about who I am, what's important, and face my fears," she says.
This daily choice isn't just about finding happiness; it's about forging a new sense of meaning. For the Carcamos, that meaning is deeply interwoven into every aspect of their lives. Their business, Caribe Coffee, is no longer just a way to make a living; it is a direct extension of the values they've built. The commitment to fair pay and transparent sourcing isn't just a business model - it's a reflection of their personal journey, a way to ensure that from their struggles, something genuinely good and meaningful can emerge.
Ellie explains that they could have stayed on the safe path, the one she had originally envisioned. Instead, they were thrust onto a new trajectory, one that forced them to strip away old expectations and find a new foundation for their lives. This new foundation, built on resilience and a conscious choice to seek out the good, has given their lives a richness they never could have anticipated.
They're still chasing new goals and growing the business, but these days, the life Ellie and her family have feels truly fulfilled. They've found a new meaning in their business and family, and Ellie's anxiety is now tempered by a conscious choice for positivity. We end our conversation with a look at their new coffee bags for the newly opened kiosk at Gateshead Metro Centre. The design is beautiful, and Ellie says they are looking forward to the future.
Ellie’s story is a powerful testament to the truth that meaning isn't something we find pre-packaged; it's something we actively build. It is forged in the fire of life's most challenging moments. It is in the act of choosing to be purposeful and happy, day after day, to allow us to rediscover what it means to live.
About Ellie and Caribe Coffee
Elle Carcamo | Co-founder of Caribe Coffee Ltd. | 2021 GBEA NE food & drink winner | 2020 Small Biz Top 100
We started Caribe Coffee Co. September 2018 out of necessity. The need for good quality coffee, the need to help farmers back in my husband's home country and the need to work in a sustainable and ethical manner. Our coffee keeps me awake and I can also sleep at night.
@caribecoffeeco | www.caribecoffeeco.com | Elle@caribecoffeeco.com
