Damien O’Brien

Nestled in the heart of Switzerland, where coffee culture and social awareness are on the rise, Damien O’Brien is on a mission to use coffee as a vehicle for change. With his Coffee Foundation, he aims to break down the barriers that surround mental health conversations, an often-stigmatized topic in Swiss society.

 

For Damien, coffee has always represented more than just a drink—it’s a means of connection. “Nothing brings people together and creates a safe space better than coffee,” he explains. And through that connection, Damien is determined to shine a light on mental health. “How do we break that [stigma]? We make it easy to talk about.”

Damien’s personal journey is deeply tied to his own experiences with mental health. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder six years ago, he reflects on the stigma and shame that can accompany mental illness.

Damien’s motivation to create the Coffee Foundation runs even deeper due to his family’s experiences. He lost his mother to suicide and his brother to addiction—both struggled with mental health issues. For many years, he was in denial that he might face the same struggles as his mother, but his own diagnosis forced him to confront these challenges head-on.

“I had to have a revolution or an awakening in my life of how do I take all of the darkness, sadness, tears, and pain and do something great with it?” he reflects.

Determined not to let others suffer in silence as his family did, Damien became a champion for mental health awareness, seeing coffee as the perfect medium to create a “safe space” for these vital conversations.

“For me, coffee is just a Trojan horse. It sets the stage. You can use it as the Trojan horse to break through the wall… and break the silence.”

Coffee, for Damien, represents a way to reach people, create safe spaces, and start conversations that might otherwise remain hidden in the dark.

But coffee was also the means through which Damien connected with the man who would help him launch his vision:Christoph, the roaster at Horizon Coffee Roasters in the Swiss Alps. After sending out over a dozen emails to various roasteries, seeking partners for his mental health-focused coffee brand, Damien faced silence and rejection. “I sent an email to about 15 roasteries around Switzerland, and… I got one email reply.” That one reply, however, would change everything.

Feeling depleted, Damien drove up to a small town perched 1,500 meters above sea level, to meet Christoph Sauser. “I didn’t even research who it was. I was just so depleted.” When Damien arrived at the quaint roastery, he was met with a warm smile. He spent the next 35 minutes passionately explaining his vision for Coffee Foundation, a brand that would focus on mental health, combining his love for coffee and his personal experience with mental illness. But throughout the conversation, Christoph remained quiet, precise in his Swiss manner.

Damien excused himself to use the bathroom, feeling sick with nerves. But when he walked into Christoph’s office, something caught his eye: an Olympic medal from the Sydney 2000 games hanging on the wall. “Alleluia! Alleluia!” Damien recalls. “I looked up… I’m from Sydney, Australia, and I came out of the bathroom with my stomach clear. I said, ‘Christoph, you didn’t tell me you’re an Olympian!’”

Christoph’s humility and warmth were evident as he casually replied, “Oh yeah, I like Sydney. I had a good time there.” In fact, Christoph Horizonte Coffee Roasters had won a bronze medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and was a five-time world champion in mountain biking. At that moment, Damien knew he had found the right person to bring his vision to life. “This is the guy,” he thought.

Christoph , with his own passion for excellence, immediately believed in the mission.

“I love it. I think it’s great. If you can do what you’ve just proposed and you’ve got the courage to do that, you’re going to have the best coffee in Coffee Foundation to start off with.”

From that moment, Horizonte Coffee Roasters became the backbone of Coffee Foundation, with Christoph ensuring that every coffee sourced, roasted, and served was of the highest quality. More than just a partnership, their collaboration embodied the spirit of coffee: bringing people together in unexpected ways.

With Christoph’s support, Damien’s vision began to take shape. But it wasn’t just the coffee that set Coffee Foundation apart—it was also the bold, bright pink branding.

The choice of pink was intentional. In a world where mental health is often viewed through a lens of sadness, darkness, and despair, Damien wanted to flip the script.

“Mental health discussions have been communicated over the many years… with darkness, violin music, and tears. I wanted to do something completely opposite.”

The pink branding radiates warmth, safety, and openness, encouraging people to engage with a topic that is often seen as taboo.

We live in a society where many baristas and coffee professionals work long hours, often battling mental health issues of their own. Yet, baristas are still sometimes viewed as unskilled or temporary workers, when in reality, they’re the heart of the coffee industry, the ones fostering connection and community. Giving them a voice and creating spaces where they can share their stories is as important as giving our customers the chance to speak about mental health.

Coffee, as Damien sees it, is more than just a drink. It’s the starting point for conversations, the medium through which baristas and customers alike can connect, listen, and share their stories. “We’ve got two ears and one mouth—listening is the greatest strength that we’ve got.”

Damien’s journey with Coffee Foundation is just beginning, but already, it’s clear that coffee is helping him achieve his goal of raising awareness about mental health. As baristas continue to fight for their rightful place in society, Coffee Foundation stands as a beacon, offering them a platform to share their struggles and triumphs.

Through Damien’s vision, supported by Christoph and the Coffee Foundation’s vibrant pink brand, the conversation around mental health is slowly changing—one cup of coffee at a time.