In north London, the display case at Shiraz Patisserie gleams with pistachio cookies and chickpea flour treats known as nokodchi — sweets that carry the flavors of a city halfway across the world. But owner Sana Pishgoo will tell you that her real secret ingredient isn’t Persian spice or family recipes. It’s the confidence she rebuilt in a coffee cup.
Pishgoo, 45, once ran a celebrated café in Shiraz, Iran — and became the first woman in the city to apply for a cafe license at a time when such permits were reserved for men. When her marriage ended in 2013, she lost custody of her daughter under Iranian law and spent months fighting to reunite with her child. She fled to the U.K. as a refugee in 2015, leaving everything behind.
In London, Pishgoo rebuilt her life through free training courses, earning qualifications in pastry and bread making. But when COVID-19 wiped out her job at an east London bakery, she needed a new path forward. A former boss suggested she apply to Well Grounded, a social enterprise that trains unemployed people — including refugees — for careers in the coffee industry. She got in.
"I properly learned how to make coffee, but I also learned how to be confident as a business owner, and that if you have a dream, you can achieve it," Pishgoo said.
Today, Shiraz Patisserie is a neighborhood fixture and a gathering spot for London's Iranian community. It’s a long way from the refugee Welcome Centre where Pishgoo first walked through the doors.
Well Grounded was founded a decade ago in an east London café by Eve Wagg, a former sales manager who turned her love of coffee into a social mission. What began as a single training course has grown into academies in London, Bristol, and Leeds — all offering free programs for people who have been out of work or education. The curriculum goes beyond pulling espresso shots: students learn about coffee sourcing, bean grading, and wholesale distribution, with real shifts at partner cafés and connections to a network of employers.
Since launching ten years ago, Well Grounded has trained 1,200 people. More than three-quarters of graduates — 77 percent — move into sustained employment or further education. That record matters in a country where unemployment has climbed steadily since 2022, reaching its highest rate in five years last December.
"We hear time and again that our academies are a safe space to learn for people who may have been out of work or learning for a while — that it's a really accepting and special environment where people can spend the time to figure out their next steps," said Wagg.
The programs are funded through a mix of corporate partnerships and government support, keeping them free for participants at every level — from introductory barista skills to advanced courses for those aiming to build specialty coffee careers.
For Pishgoo, the training was about more than technique. It was about believing she belonged in business again. Now, as regulars line up for her Iranic cakes and she trains apprentices of her own, she’s passing that belief forward — one cup and one cookie at a time.