Equinox Kombucha Employee Spotlight: Interview with our Technical & Site Manager, Joanna Southgate

We caught up with Joanna Southgate, Technical & Site Manager at Equinox Kombucha, and she told us a little bit more about herself and working with us. Joanna talks about everything from her childhood dreams, college, life in the factory, highlights of working at Equinox (spoiler: free booch is one of them), potential up-coming Kombucha flavours and more…

What did you want to be when you grow up?

I always wanted to be a vet or a travel agent! My cousin was a travel agent and she told me she flew to work in a plane everyday and I thought that sounded pretty glam!

I actually ended up going to college to train in horse management but soon found that it wasn’t for me…I hated the cold and the dirty work.

What is the best thing about working for Equinox?

The best thing is the team. We’ve been working together a long while now and all understand each other a lot better as we’ve worked a lot on people culture. We’re more able to overcome difficult situations that come our way. I love the level of communication we have between us and I really respect how much hard work and care the team put in….it’s really rare to have such a dedicated team. Second best has to be the free booch all day and taste testing all the new flavour combos!

What has been your funniest moment in your time here?

It’s hard to pinpoint one moment in particular. Rupert makes me laugh on a daily basis. He brings so much to the team and makes every day working at Equinox a fun one.

What is your favourite place in the world?

That’s a tough one as I am not attached to anywhere in particular. However, I do love Australia and London as that’s where most of my friends are. I’m also pretty partial to Wales because it feels like walking into a vast woodland cathedral…I’m really at peace there.

What flavour do you think we should develop next?

Raspberry! Ha ha I did actually ask for that once and have never lived it down (Raspberry & Elderflower is our most popular flavour!). New takes on old favourites I love as I don’t drink fizzy soft drinks these days so combining them into kombucha is a brilliant way of enjoying nostalgic flavours.

I had some amazing flavour combinations in Bali recently which has given me some real inspiration too so watch this space…