Sometimes, in order to build something that truly holds meaning, you have to lose everything first.
This was the journey I went through as I spent most of my adult life to date in the UAE. A place built on work visas and migration, the world swirled and pivoted every 3, 5 or 7 years around me and it became a very lonely place despite living in a matrimonial home with my then wife and two children.
To fill this strange emptiness, I went on search of people who had the same passions as me, and all paths led down the automotive routes whether someone was a photographer, a racer and a purveyor of the two wheeled adventures. In 2015, I had created a thriving online blog/website called Crank&Piston. I was writing the articles, taking the photos and it was getting me out into the crowds where the people were. After taking on a business partner it soon became evident that this passion project was slipping through my fingers and eventually I lost it all. The coping mechanism of choice at the time was a litre of Jack Daniels every night, a lot of cigarettes and little to no support from those closest to me.
You often have moments when you know something needs to change, and this was one of those wake up calls for me – I was a functioning alcoholic, but I had a dream and ambition.
Caffeine&Machine began as a singular occurrence out of Cafe Rider, with the same ethos it has now; everyone is welcome’. I wanted to break down the barriers of owners clubs and exclusivity, and find out why these people drove what they did, or chased the adventures they loved so much. To my amazement, it was a sentiment that resonated and it began to grow.
From these small beginnings came much bigger events, eventually hosting C&M at Dubai Port. Everything came out of the garages hidden on industrial estates, from high end super cars to built-not-bought masterpieces. But what intrigued me the most was the people and how we all had the same problems, the same loves, and the same struggles no matter what your social standing was, or the size of your bank account. I realised at this point that the only way out of misery is to talk to people, to find people that understand what it is you’re feeling and to find and enjoy common ground together.
Skipping forward to Caffeine&Machine as it is today, you will see all of these original concepts running through its core and some even painted on the walls. All these mantras are pillars to everything that has been built here, and ‘I Love You, Man’ was somehow tucked away in the background.
What started as a means to help our own staff who were struggling with their mental health, quickly became something I realised the wider community needed. Men are notoriously bad for sharing intimate conversations with their male peers, or anyone for that matter, and the consequences of that can be devastating. Having had customers write blog posts about how C&M had saved their mental health and helped them find friendship circles that genuinely meant something to them, we realised how important this sense of community was not just to our team but to every single person who came to Caffeine&Machine.
‘I Love You, Man’ is an un-recorded, no holds barred conversation about life, careers, ups, downs, struggle, and achievement. It is meant to be a safe haven for people to hear the stories of others that may resonate with whatever is happening in their own lives to remind them that they’re not alone. To remind me that I’m not alone.
Someone’s story could be someone else’s inspiration, and that’s really important. A shared passion and sense of community should never be underestimated, and always remember to tell your friends you love them.
‘everybody is somebody’s everything’
