Our amazing team for opening: Jessica, Hannah, Jo, Brianna, and myself
What was your life like the night before your science fair experiment was due? Were you the kid who had it all done well in advance? Or were you the one up late still trying to pull the whole thing together? I suspect the answer might tell us quite a bit about we function the rest of our lives, right down to what is happening the night before opening a new business.
I will tell you that the night before my science fair project was due, Iwas always up very late, but it wasn’t exactly because I procrastinated. More likely, it was because I had taken on something a little too ambitious, and then I cared so much about getting it perfect. My first late-night on a school project was in eighth grade, when I remember very clearly staying up until 2:00am as I carefully painted plastic canvas to look like a to-scale replicas of our hallway lockers. Those were the early days of KERA, and I was determined to get a “distinguished” on my portfolio.
Times have changed (a little) since I was a perfectionistic 13 year old trying to make the best project ever by burning the midnight oil. All the same, on the night before we open Moonbow Tipple Coffee and Sweets, I feel a lot of that same nervousness. There are so many small details, and I just want to make sure they are all right. The people of Harlan deserve something awesome, and I really want to deliver. Plus, this is a project that feels very ambitious, particularly given all the chaos that has surrounded Christmas for us. If you didn’t hear, our 5 year old, Perry, got sick on December 14, which escalated to taking him to the pediatrician for some wheezing on the 17th. By the morning of the 18th, I was taking him to the ER where he was diagnosed with pneumonia and transferred to UK Children’s Hospital. He spent the 19th and 20th in ICU when the pneumonia triggered an asthma attack so severe that his right lung collapsed. I will spare you the gory details, but it is no exaggeration to say that he nearly died as I watched a huge team of doctors work on him. And then, in the amazing way of children, he got better. He got out of the hospital just in time for Christmas.
So, yeah, opening a coffee shop feels a little crazy and stressful right now. And, to be honest, I have had my moments of questioning myself and some pretty serious mom guilt. Coffee shops don’t just come together by themselves — I worked 9 hours on Christmas Eve away from my family to help get this together. Geoff, who had developed pneumonia himself, stayed home with the boys, taking it easy (for him!). I pulled into Corbin Walmart at 5:30 that evening when it closed at 6 to pick up one last gift. I may have had a puppy with me. I made it home after dinner, but still in time for evening gifts, making cookies for Santa, and bedtime stories. And then all the late-night wrapping. I asked Geoff if I was doing the right thing, if we were doing the right thing. He was adamant: he told me to think of the example I was setting.
Yes, it is a good example, particularly as the mom of boys. After all, this coffee shop is also exciting and important. We have three employees in Harlan who have been waiting to get paid for regular work, and a town more than ready for something new during Christmas break. So often, being an entrepreneur is pushing ahead, especially when you feel uncertain and vulnerable.
I have an early morning ahead of me: I need to leave the house at 5:00am to be certain to get to Harlan at 6:30am to help our team with opening. I know that entire drive I will be thinking over and rehearsing all the things I want us to practice and get right. Greeting customers, ringing up sales, and making drinks are all high on the list. I am sure I will need to run out and get more supplies, since I will also be brining a refrigerator to store our extra supplies, and it will need to sit at least 24 hours before we plug it in. There is a mirror that needs to be hung in a bathroom, and menus that I just finished up and am printing out now. There are puzzles and games I want to put out, and we will need a new cake stand since I broke the last one.
I am proud and worried and thinking of every scenario, from getting slammed to the coffee shop being a ghost town. And for some crazy reason, that viral Peleton ad is running through my head. In it, the woman wakes up at 6am to exercise – commendable, except in the context of an ad that seems to be about her husband forcing an already incredibly slim woman to exercise. How cool it feels to be waking up early to start a new business instead.
I can’t wait to put on my apron, join our great team of women in Harlan, and get this place going!
