From barista! barrister to
Innovative mum Heidi Cotton tells why she swapped life in court for running a café for cyclists
Growing up, Heidi Cotton was surrounded by strong women who all knew the value of hard work and home baking. By day, her mum, Carole, was a parttime office and retail worker, her grandma, Audrey, was a hairdresser and her other grandma, Elizabeth, was a seamstress. “They were phenomenal role models,” recalls Heidi (now 41) who always understood exactly what the women did to earn enough to buy life’s little luxuries as well as the essentials. Following in their footsteps, her own strong work ethic developed early on and everyone was delighted when she announced, at 13, that she wanted to be a barrister. “They were supportive but not pushy. I’d always enjoyed drama and performing and I really liked the idea of standing up in court,” she adds. Encouraged to work hard at school and develop homecraft skills in her spare time, Heidi went on to study law at university and successfully made it to the bar in her native Yorkshire. But after marrying husband Richard (now 44) and having daughters of
‘I liked the idea of opening a cosy café, but we wanted something different. It was trial and error and I don’t think I’ve ever worked as hard’
their own, by her mid-30s she’d begun to think twice about her career choice. “Although I enjoyed law and it was very rewarding, the hours were long and it was stressful. I got to a point where I knew that if I was to advance my career, it would take even more time and dedication. “I knew I had at least another 20 years to work – probably more given today’s climate – and I had to decide that if I didn’t want to do that, did I want to carry on as a barrister at the same level?” The tipping point for her decision to leave law, though, was centred round the family dinner table. Unlike when Heidi was growing up, she didn’t like the fact that after a hard day’s work, she couldn’t come home and talk about her day with her daughters Grace and Charlotte, then aged eight and six. “I was dealing with criminal cases and it wasn’t always appropriate to talk about my work. I would have preferred to have been doing something I could talk more openly with the girls about. “Both me and my husband were very busy with our jobs and were often apart from the girls during the week but they weren’t really seeing why that was.” At their age, Heidi had never had any doubt about the value of her own family’s hard work. As a teenager she had even worked as a Saturday girl at the women’s clothes shop where her mum worked. After voicing her concerns to Richard, he was 100 per cent behind her decision to change career – as were her family. “Richard’s attitude was ‘love it, change it or leave it.’ We’re all living and working for so much longer. You’ve got to make those extra years count. So I chose to leave.” she says. Together they came up with the idea of opening a café that catered largely for groups of cyclists, who often weren’t welcome in more genteel establishments. “I’d always baked with my mum and grandma from the age of about éve and I really liked the idea of opening a cosy café serving coffee and cakes. But we wanted something a bit different. Richard is a keen cyclist and it’s a growing sport, so we decided on a café serving simple hearty food that had a clubhouse feel to it. Cyclists could bring their bikes in and move tables around if need be.” Despite knowing nothing about coffee other than “some I liked and some I didn’t like” Heidi marched on, announcing her plan to leave her Sheffield barristers’ chambers, énd café premises and then train as a barista. In March 2014, the Broomwagon cafe was opened in Retford, North Notts. (A broomwagon is the name for the vehicle that follows a road cycling race sweeping up stragglers). “It was trial and error and I don’t think I’ve ever worked as hard,” admits Heidi who initially did all the baking herself, often using family recipes for old favourites such as Yorkshire parkin. Soon, up to 500 cyclists a week were travelling up to 80 miles to visit the café so she and Richard decided to expand the business by closing the café in favour of ‘pop up’ mobile cafés that they could take to cycling events across the country. After successfully winning the licence to pitch a converted old military LandRover – fondly christened Beryl – in Clumber Park, they opened it as a café in March last year and plan to open more. “There’s a phenomenal difference between running a café and being a barrister and it’s been a massive learning curve. I’ve put some of my old legal skills to good use and I’ve learnt a whole lot more, too. I’ve no regrets about my decision at all and am happier now for all sorts of reasons.”