Leading with courage, clarity and coffee
If you’ve ever sipped a latte in a Coffee Culture café, you’ve experienced the ripple effect of Sacha Coburn’s leadership. As ‘2-i-cof’ the much-loved Christchurch-born brand, founder of leadership company The Company You Keep, keynote speaker, podcaster, and Chair of the Board at Foster Construction Group, she’s one of Canterbury’s most dynamic business figures. But talk to her, and you’ll quickly discover her energy isn’t wrapped in corporate stiffness, it’s grounded in approachability, humour, and an unwavering belief in people.
Sacha’s journey with Coffee Culture began more than two decades ago, but she’s quick to clarify she hasn’t been fully focused on the company all that time.
“Coffee Culture is a team effort. Chris Houston, who’s our Managing Director, is our founder, and he’s been running it all this time. From day one, he’s poured everything into Coffee Culture, and he’s the reason, alongside our fantastic team of store owners and staff, that we’re still here after all these years. I met him 26 years ago, when I was working as a lawyer in Sumner, and I used to get my coffee from the first-ever store. We fell in love, and over the years, I started working more and more for the business.”
That partnership, in life and business, has been at the heart of Coffee Culture’s steady growth. And in a highly competitive industry, staying relevant for 30 years is no accident. “I think what’s really central is keeping our guests at the heart of everything we do, and continuing to delight them and meet the needs of our community… We’re always asking ourselves, what’s trendy and worth adding in, and what’s just a fad? There’s always a balance.”
From its Sumner roots, Coffee Culture now stretches across Canterbury, Otago, South Canterbury, and into the North Island. Expansion, Sacha says, hasn’t been about growth for growth’s sake. “We’ve never opened a store just because a lease was available. Every store we’ve opened, we’ve said, Is there a group of people that will benefit from us being here? It’s never been about growth at all costs. It’s about saying, ‘How can we bring what we do to new communities? ‘”
Moving into the North Island was a fresh challenge. In Christchurch, the brand is trusted and known. Elsewhere, they had to earn that trust from scratch. “You start with a blank sheet. Even though you have all your systems and knowledge, you have to prove yourself again and again in new markets.”
While coffee is the day job, leadership is the calling. Sacha co-founded The Company You Keep after one too many conversations about the fallout from poor leadership. “We kept coming across people who were being burned, disillusioned, and burnt out simply due to a
lack of leadership skills in the people they were dealing with. I said, ‘We’ve got to stop complaining and do something about this.’”
Her approach is “inside-out”: helping leaders first understand themselves before they can bring out the best in others. And she’s honest about the reality for many New Zealand leaders: they’re under-resourced, juggling functional roles, and rarely get the luxury of time to think deeply about challenges.
In business, uncertainty is unavoidable. Sacha believes Christchurch’s resilience gives its leaders a unique edge. “We’ve gotten used to dealing with uncertainty… You have to act your way out of some problems. Where courage is lacking, it’s often because we’ve created cultures of blame. One of my mottos is: try something, if it doesn’t work, and you fall down, get up. Go again.”
It’s a philosophy that’s personal. At 36, Sacha faced an unexpected breast cancer diagnosis while her children were very young. The experience reshaped her outlook on health, ambition, and balance. “I’ve learned to be kind to that younger version of myself. Now the challenge I have is, what do I need to do today that a 62 or 72-year-old Sacha will be thankful for?”
Balance, she says, doesn’t mean every day is perfectly measured. It’s about ensuring over weeks and months that the essentials like physical, emotional, spiritual, and social wellbeing are in the mix. “I like the idea of sprints… but then you need to have a couple of days where you can recharge.
“I’m pretty good at doing literally nothing. And I recharge through creative outlets. I think there’s something enriching and soul-enhancing about being immersed in culture, and the more we do to celebrate and promote the arts, the more we are able to tap into the elevation of our emotional state and how things make us feel.”
From boardrooms to conference stages, Sacha adapts her leadership style to the setting. Motivational speaking, she says, is a completely different medium. “It would be ridiculous if I showed up in the office and said, ‘You too can live a great, amazing life.’ They’d look at me like I was crazy. But the essential elements of leadership are the same. Really, all I’m saying is, you can do this. You’ve got this. It’s possible.”
She’s also unapologetic about the need for ongoing inspiration, comparing it to personal hygiene. “You don’t just shower once a year. You don’t just get motivated by a speaker or a podcast once a year, you need to return to it regularly.”
Sacha’s advice to emerging female leaders is short and powerful: “You’re ready. You have everything you need within you right now. Let’s go.
“There’s nothing wrong with us. We’re not broken. We don’t need fixing. If we could all get out of our own way, what could we achieve?”
She’s passionate about creating environments where everyone can lead. As Chair of Foster Construction Group — the only woman on the board — she’s faced the predictable question: “What do you know about construction?” “I think that’s the wrong question. The question ought to be, what do you know about business and governance? The questions came because it’s like construction is for boys, and you’re a girl.”
She also points out the difference in how men and women approach opportunities. “Women don’t apply for jobs unless they have eight out of 10 things required. Men will often say, ‘I’ve got two — let’s give it a go.’ We overemphasise qualifications. I think a lot of good is being achieved by people who work hard and are quick learners.”
After several years living in the North Island to grow the Coffee Culture footprint there, Sacha and Chris are returning to Christchurch. “We still have plans for Coffee Culture to continue its expansion in the north, but there’s a feeling of coming home.”
With the company’s 30th anniversary next year, the milestone is a reminder of what’s made the brand endure: a strong local ownership and a commitment to community. “Each store is individually owned by local families, who pour their hearts and souls into doing a good job for their communities. That’s part of what’s made us special.”
For all her achievements, a Bachelor of Law, a Master’s in Adult Education with First Class Honours, study at Harvard Business School, high-profile governance roles, and an international speaking career, Sacha’s definition of greatness is refreshingly grounded. “I genuinely believe we are all extraordinary, that we all have great capacity and potential to do great things, and we just define greatness in different ways. I don’t like the way financial or corporate success is celebrated over and above what makes communities work.”
It’s that mix of business acumen, human-centred leadership, and grounded values that makes Sacha Coburn such a compelling figure in Canterbury’s business landscape. She’s living proof that you can lead with courage, clarity, and ambition without losing the human touch.
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