Barista drew cute designs on every coffee he made — then one difficult order unexpectedly changed his life
A life-changing moment doesn't always look like one. For seasoned barista and artist Brian, it was a coffee order that barely gave him enough foam to work with. Posting as @baristabrian on Instagram, he recalled in a post on October 17, 2025, how one unusual decision shaped the rest of his life. The incident occurred over 10 years ago, when he was working at a café in Toronto in 2015, where he experimented with latte art, drawing quick faces, elephants, bears, and other little doodles. Then a customer ordered an Americano Misto, and Brian wondered if he would be able to draw a face with the limited foam. He decided to try anyway, and the instinctive choice changed everything.
The barista mentioned that when one particular customer ordered an Americano Misto, he knew that the beverage barely called for foam, making it challenging to do the usual doodles. In that moment, he wondered if he was capable of making it work. Yet, he drew the customer's face with just a few spoonfuls. The man smiled, took a photo, and left, and the employee thought nothing more of it. A few days later, the same person came back and revealed he worked for a magazine. He had shown Brian's latte art to his colleagues. They were in awe of his work and decided to do a feature on him. The piece was titled, "Toronto's Best Latte Artist." It was his first press coverage, and the article went viral, becoming the magazine's most-shared story at the time. That simple chance that he took opened up opportunities for interviews on TV, other magazines, and radio.
Looking back, the significance of that moment goes beyond the coffee itself. Brian says he remembers wondering whether there was enough milk, enough foam, enough room to make the drawing work; and, on a deeper level, whether he had enough in him to take the chance. And believing in himself changed his life. Latte art elevates the beverage to a different level, adding to a customer's experience. A 2015 study published in the Journal of Sensory Studies found that simply adding such doodles affected people's expectations of a milk-based coffee. In follow-up experiments, participants were willing to pay 11-13% more for coffee with latte art than for a similar drink without it. It was also noted that such designs on beverages made the brand stand out.
Life is all about taking chances. Opportunities do show up, but proving ourselves with our skill is totally up to us. In another story, an 18-year-old business student was working part-time as a Starbucks barista when she learned one of her customers was a successful entrepreneur. With only seconds before he left, she took a chance and said, “I would love to work for you.” He gave her his email, and she followed up with a “three-paragraph essay” making her case. She was offered a job, entered the startup world, and gained a mentor. At 28, she is running her own startup, all because she dared to try. “You've got to shoot your shot," she said, because the worst they can do is say no.
For more such stories, you can follow @baristabrian on Instagram.