“The Stand” is well… exactly that! A coffee stand yes… but a stand for something.
That’s kinda our whole thing as humans, we all stand for something.
But that's getting ahead of myself.
Let's start over three years ago, when I was out to dinner with my spouse of one year, my two month old baby, and my passionate self.
My husband and baby were deeply engaged in the World Series on the TV in the bar, and my mind was brewing, no pun intended, up a way to tell my husband that we need to start a coffee shop, like right now. So that’s what I went with “hey I have an idea, we should start a coffee shop, like.. as soon as possible” At first he thought I was crazy for suggesting such a thing while he’s literally holding a fussy newborn, then after hearing me out he agreed that he’d love to start a shop, but we just don't have the money for it at all. (That’s my beige flag, forgetting that you need money to do things.) So we talked more and I suggested that we start small, with a coffee cart! My husband, being the wise man he is, suggested I write out a business plan then once I do that, he will look it over and we can start working towards opening a coffee cart. He might have been bluffing, but clearly it was meant to be, and together we made it happen, like in 6 months made it happen.
Stephen built the cart from scratch and Abbie designed & painted it. Together, we agonized over how to jump through legal hoops, get that health department on board, how to transport our cart, how to book events, and how to price events, etc. etc. etc. We were left to our own devices and whatever we could scrap together from Pinterest, google, and lots of government policies.
It was definitely full of surprises, good and bad, but ultimately, we loved owning the cart, and finally after 2 years of trial and error felt like we had it DOWN! But once we welcomed our second kiddo, we realized that owning a mobile business, in a city, with two kids, and no family nearby, was maybe just too much for this season and decided to put the cart on pause until the kids are bigger and could be involved.
We operated The Stand for 2 years before we decided to put it on pause. Our whole vision for The Stand was to bring quality, convenience and care into one coffee spot. We only used high quality, sustainable and organic products because I believe care should start at the root. We also donated 10% of our sales to varying nonprofits that were helping people in need. A few organizations we have supported & stood for are; Plant with Purpose, the SJI Family Resource Center, A21, Soulumination, LOVE MLT, Every Mother Counts, A Jesus Mission, Destiny Rescue, the SJI Community Foundation, Soroptimist of FH, Not for Sale, and local families in need. Our attention to detail, and to people, made us stand out from the crowd, and my only hope is that God was glorified through every cup of coffee we served in those 2 years!
We learned so much, had so much fun, and now we are still working towards our goals, but in different avenues. Embracing the nuances of life, we are training the new generation of coffee cart owners and multi passionate entrepreneurs through an online course. My husband, Stephen, has taken up coffee roasting, he got his specialty coffee association certification, and small business management certification through our local community college, and I wrote a kids book about coffee!
Meanwhile we are both working jobs to pay the bills, and most importantly raising two little disciples in the way of Jesus. Life lately looks so different from what I thought it would be, so much harder, and so much more intricately enticing seeing the hand of Jesus making everything beautiful.
If you’re reading this and want to start your own business one day, but don’t know what it is, observe what makes you light up like nothing else, seek out what you’re gifted in and what brings you joy, and pursue that. You might end up somewhere else along the way but the journey is where God gets to make things beautiful, and you won’t get the honor of seeing the completed work until the end, so embrace your life's texture, embrace the unexpected, and relinquish control over life’s puddles, knowing that there is a skilled artist who has a plan to make everything beautiful once again.
If you’d like to learn more about us, enroll in our course, or buy some coffee goodness, check us out at thestandcoffeecart.com or follow along with our life over @abbievital on instagram.
and as always,
Take a stand with us &
drink good coffee while doing it!
Comments