“My friend.”
Those two words have built a community and connection for Caitlin Campbell. The cheery-faced Torontonian can be found every Sunday during the summer at the Leslieville Farmers’ Market at her coffee trailer, saying those words — to every customer.
“I say it to have that connection with people. I truly see every single person who comes through the trailer as my friend,” said Campbell, the proprietor and owner of Street Brew Coffee.
The coffee company originally launched at trade shows in 2019, though her father, Ross, had been roasting beans for years before.
“Friends and family would taste them and tell me to go back to the drawing table. I did, and I did until we got to a good place,” he said. “We started it, and Caitlin has taken it somewhere I could never imagine.”
Through just two words, Campbell became a viral sensation online, boasting 1.1 million followers on TikTok, many of whom love her attitude, interactions, and now-famous catchphrase. Many of her videos regularly topped five million views, sometimes as many as 15 million people watching her bite-sized content.
“I didn’t even know what I was saying until the first vlog that I posted on Twitter, and it went crazy viral — and everyone said, ‘My friend, that’s gold, we love that!” she said.
For Campbell, it was customary to address people who visited her coffee trailer as “my friend”, a phrase she said she’d been using for years. And it naturally came out when she chatted with folks wanting a morning brew and it caught on.
“Despite being the most connected generation, we are the most disconnected we’ve ever been. A lot of people are just craving that connection, so when I interact with them, I try to make sure they feel seen,” she said.
And seen is exactly how people feel, both in-person and online. Campbell livestreams her Sunday morning coffee business, interacting both with people online and people tuning in.
“Hi TikTok, we’re live today and here at the Farmers’ Market,” she said to a phone.
One person told Campbell he had walked an hour to come and get her coffee on Sunday morning, while another wanted to ensure he got a selfie alongside his coffee. Those experiences aren’t uncommon, she said.
“I’ve had people come to the trailer, and I hand them a cup of coffee, and I say, ‘Here’s your coffee, my friend,’ and they literally start tearing up and crying,” Campbell said.
The community around Street Brew Coffee, like Danielle Black, has been a regular to Street Brew Coffee. She said that when she hears “my friend” come out of Campbell’s mouth every week, she knows she truly means it.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, where you came from, your age. You are her friend, and you really feel that she means it,” Black said.
And while Caitlin is the star behind the brand, Black said she loves the authenticity of everything Street Brew stands for.
“I think I keep coming back there because they’re so sweet and pleasant, you can tell it’s a family-run establishment…and they care so much about making people feel great,” she said.
It is a close-knit group, with Campbell’s father, Ross, dealing with everything related to the product, Caitlin as the face, and her mom, Pat, and Aunt Laura working in the trailer to get orders out.
“I get a lot of joy and happiness from my parents. They’re also very happy people, so it just makes working fun,” Campbell said.
Rania El Mugammar regularly visits Street Brew Coffee, and on this particular Sunday, she came bearing flowers.
“These are for you,” said El Mugammar, handing flowers to Campbell. “I hope you have such a beautiful day; you’re literally literal sunshine at every market.”
El Mugammar said it was vital for her to show Campbell the love she doles out after Campbell was recently harassed and bullied online. Campbell said she’s used to being harassed, having created content on TikTok for nearly three years, and now knows she has abundant support.
“It’s been absolutely insane, to be honest. I never expected it to get this big. When I first started posting videos, I thought if I could get 10,000 followers, that would be amazing. And then it grew so much more than that,” said Campbell.
For the 29-year-old, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. In 2019 she suffered a serious brain injury while playing hockey, her first true passion. The injury meant she likely wouldn’t just be off the ice but could struggle with basic functions.
“Some of the doctors said the injury was so bad that I’d never be able to walk or talk again,” Campbell said.
But she persisted and pushed on. She went to study abroad in the U.S. and suffered her second serious head injury there.
“It was such a low moment,” Campbell said.
Her father, Ross, noted that he wasn’t entirely sure if Caitlin could get through university then, noting that they had her down to one class a semester.
“It was all she could handle at the time, and even then, there were times she was overstimulated,” he said.
Despite another major setback, Campbell pushed through, eventually graduating and completing her Masters. She said those tough moments reminded her to be a light for others.
“Through that moment when I was at my darkest that to get better, I would seek joy in everyday things,” she said.
And now, as she brings smiles, both close and far, the Toronto native is going to carry on with her mission of making friends out of strangers.
“My goal is always to make people smile, to spread as much joy as I can,” Campbell said.