{"id":2140,"date":"2023-06-22T09:20:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-22T09:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/?p=2140"},"modified":"2026-02-19T19:59:43","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T19:59:43","slug":"the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/","title":{"rendered":"The future is yours to create: Josephine Sondlo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Fifth in our new series is Josephine Sondlo, founder of Sizwe Studios in Stockholm. She talks about her habit of repetition, how to be smarter working with brands, and why goal setting is important<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A little bit about me<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I was born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden<\/strong>, and while food and drinks have always been a central part in my life, I never really wanted to work in the industry. I started working in the industry as a means to pay my rent. At first it was just a way to earn money, but it quickly became something so much more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Challenges make me happy.<\/strong> Be it a competition challenge or figuring out the perfect lighting in a venue, I\u2019m one of those ADHD-kids who just has to pick things apart to understand them and then reassemble them into something better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

“I have this weird infatuation with repeating things over, and over, and over, until I get it right.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m restless and kind of impatient<\/strong> which are terrible traits in a relationship, but excellent ones when you are working in the industry. I\u2019m also insanely curious and I really love the process of going from not knowing anything about something, to knowing everything about it. I have this weird infatuation with repeating things over, and over, and over, until I get it right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How I approach my work<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The best piece of advice I\u2019ve been given is<\/strong>: \u2018There is joy in repetition\u2019. Ever since I was a kid, I\u2019ve been really bad at being patient and trusting the process \u2013 I want things to happen now and it took a really long time to realise that the people who are at the top of their industries became so after years, and years, of honing their skills. My dear friend and mentor Johan Evers kind of opened my eyes to that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think we\u2019re generally pretty bad at setting goals<\/strong>, however small or big, in our bars or for our personal progression. If I don\u2019t have something to work towards, I get super bored. I\u2019m in the process of opening my own bar. But that\u2019s the easy one. Like my end goal is to do something with IKEA and to change the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

“I think we’re generally pretty bad at setting goals… in our bars or for our personal progression.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

To motivate me at work, employers can give me a working environment that is safe and sustainable<\/strong>, because I\u2019ve come to the point where I\u2019m too old to not feel great at work, I guess. But also, give me some responsibility that is mine \u2013 like being in charge of a tea program, or figuring out how to solve a problem pertaining to systems, service or business. I believe that if you give your employees some autonomy, the results that they are going to come back are going to be amazing.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brands are important supporters<\/strong>, but while do tonnes for us, I think they could do more when it comes to addressing the more problematic parts of our industry. But I think that us bartenders need to be smarter about working with brands as well. A lot of bartenders like to refer to bigger brands as \u2018evil\u2019, but these are the only brands that can help you make lasting change or have actual impact. If you want to change the world, you\u2019d better figure out a way to utilise these brands and have them open some doors for you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My thoughts on mentorship<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I used to be more into cool bartenders who did cool stuff<\/strong>, but I\u2019m starting to lean into the people who have progressed from being award-winning bartenders to successful business owners. Sure, it\u2019s super impressive to run a 50-best bar, but its way more impressive to build a sustainable business. I have huge respect for Dave Mulligan of 1661 because how he\u2019s built that bar and that business is super impressive. Johan Evers of A Bar Called Gemma here in Stockholm is another person I look up to who I\u2019m also super lucky to have as a mentor. Will Guidara, most definitely.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside of the industry<\/strong> I would say my biggest inspiration is probably Maya Angelou and I dream that I could do just 5% of what she did and stood for as a POC in American culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

“I\u2019m starting to lean into the people who have progressed from being award-winning bartenders to successful business owners.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Role models to me are<\/strong> the people who lead the way in how to be a hospitality professional. Not necessarily the ones who have access to the coolest machines or endless amounts of money. I\u2019d rather say that to me a role model is someone who helps others to be brave, someone who shows you that the things you want to do or dream of are not impossible. Emilio di Salvo of Satan\u2019s Whiskers is probably a person that fits into that category for me, with his everlasting quest of, \u2018There must be a better way to do this\u2019.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think that the leaders in the industry have the responsibility<\/strong> of mentoring, sharing their work and curating the coming generation so that they get not as good as, but better than them. I would love to see some kind of summit or initiative where instead of workshops where we talk about our bars, we talk about our systems of service and hospitality and create a platform with resources that can be used and implemented in any bar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My hopes for the future<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If I could change one thing about our industry<\/strong> it would be the destructive side of it, because it is literally killing us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think bartenders hold so much more power<\/strong> than we can imagine \u2013 we could change the world, to be honest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the bar community to grow together<\/strong> and make sure our voices are heard, we need to take better care of each other, we need to look out more for each other \u2013 we need to get healthier and less toxic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want to know that I in some way<\/strong>, inspired someone to try harder and be better. And I want to, in some way, change the world to the better. It\u2019s unlikely that I\u2019ll save the planet, but I want to know that I at least did something to make the world my kids grow up in a better place. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fifth in our new series is Josephine Sondlo, founder of Sizwe Studios in Stockholm. She talks about her habit of repetition, how to be smarter working with brands, and why goal setting is important\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34120,"featured_media":2141,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,27],"tags":[],"theme":[94],"class_list":["post-2140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration","category-trends"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe future is yours to create: Josephine Sondlo - Campari Academy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The future is yours to create: Josephine Sondlo - Campari Academy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fifth in our new series is Josephine Sondlo, founder of Sizwe Studios in Stockholm. She talks about her habit of repetition, how to be smarter working with brands, and why goal setting is important\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Campari Academy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-22T09:20:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-19T19:59:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/06\/Josephine-Sondlo-7.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1366\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"milliemilliken\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"milliemilliken\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"milliemilliken\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/#\/schema\/person\/d258177a16bffcf7b2027dbafa774df0\"},\"headline\":\"The future is yours to create: Josephine Sondlo\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-22T09:20:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-19T19:59:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/\"},\"wordCount\":1108,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/06\/Josephine-Sondlo-7.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Inspiration\",\"Trends\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CH\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/\",\"name\":\"The future is yours to create: Josephine Sondlo - Campari Academy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/06\/Josephine-Sondlo-7.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-22T09:20:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-19T19:59:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/#\/schema\/person\/d258177a16bffcf7b2027dbafa774df0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CH\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CH\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/06\/Josephine-Sondlo-7.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/06\/Josephine-Sondlo-7.jpg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1366},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The future is yours to create: Josephine Sondlo\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/\",\"name\":\"Campari Academy\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CH\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/#\/schema\/person\/d258177a16bffcf7b2027dbafa774df0\",\"name\":\"milliemilliken\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CH\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70b75bc84e13ab2f02c5323b6cd8b9d5b5acf26cd790aad47280e45fd58694d4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70b75bc84e13ab2f02c5323b6cd8b9d5b5acf26cd790aad47280e45fd58694d4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"milliemilliken\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/author\/milliemilliken\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The future is yours to create: Josephine Sondlo - Campari Academy","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The future is yours to create: Josephine Sondlo - Campari Academy","og_description":"Fifth in our new series is Josephine Sondlo, founder of Sizwe Studios in Stockholm. She talks about her habit of repetition, how to be smarter working with brands, and why goal setting is important\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/","og_site_name":"Campari Academy","article_published_time":"2023-06-22T09:20:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-19T19:59:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2048,"height":1366,"url":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/06\/Josephine-Sondlo-7.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"milliemilliken","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"milliemilliken","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/"},"author":{"name":"milliemilliken","@id":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/#\/schema\/person\/d258177a16bffcf7b2027dbafa774df0"},"headline":"The future is yours to create: Josephine Sondlo","datePublished":"2023-06-22T09:20:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-19T19:59:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/"},"wordCount":1108,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/06\/Josephine-Sondlo-7.jpg","articleSection":["Inspiration","Trends"],"inLanguage":"en-CH"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/","url":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/","name":"The future is yours to create: Josephine Sondlo - Campari Academy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/06\/Josephine-Sondlo-7.jpg","datePublished":"2023-06-22T09:20:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-19T19:59:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/#\/schema\/person\/d258177a16bffcf7b2027dbafa774df0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CH","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CH","@id":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/06\/Josephine-Sondlo-7.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/06\/Josephine-Sondlo-7.jpg","width":2048,"height":1366},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/inspiration\/trends\/the-future-is-yours-to-create-josephine-sondlo\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The future is yours to create: Josephine Sondlo"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/","name":"Campari Academy","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CH"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/#\/schema\/person\/d258177a16bffcf7b2027dbafa774df0","name":"milliemilliken","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CH","@id":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70b75bc84e13ab2f02c5323b6cd8b9d5b5acf26cd790aad47280e45fd58694d4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70b75bc84e13ab2f02c5323b6cd8b9d5b5acf26cd790aad47280e45fd58694d4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"milliemilliken"},"url":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/author\/milliemilliken\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2140"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3903,"href":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2140\/revisions\/3903"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2140"},{"taxonomy":"theme","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.campariacademy.com\/en-ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/theme?post=2140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}