We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Melissa Heuser. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Melissa below.

Alright, Melissa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

Coffee really means community. Our shop serves premium ingredients and dozens of local products. Unlike the industry giants who are looking for margins and mass produced ingredients. Being small allows me hand pick the brands we use and highlight them . My goal is to introduce our customers to local brands and have them build relationships with them.

Our love and support of local and small businesses has direct, positive, affects within the community .
More than ever supporting local is crucial. We serve locally roasted coffee , local milk delivered in glass jars, eco friendly and fresh, local honey, farm fresh eggs in our grab and go case, just to name a few . Offering local products makes the difference in flavor and freshness.

Having a family with 3 kiddos has me reading food labels and searching for healthy, local, clean options. I brought that attention to detail into the shops menu.
We believe in the power of knowing where your food comes from. In our shop you we provide info cards next to the product . This introduction brings the consumers to their web sites . Meeting the faces and the hands behind the product your are consuming is very powerful. You are now connected and will most likely go out of your way to support them.
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As a consumer when you support local you see where your money is going. Purchasing local products and ingredients and part of the circle of a thriving community.
I use Coffee and Supply Co as a platform for small local businesses to have pop ups. Giving our customers an opportunity to delight in something new and continue to support local.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have been an entrepreneur since I was 6 . Constantly looking for ways to make a business and be unique. The thought of creating something for others to enjoy always fascinated me. Whether it was a simple lemonade stand, I had to be different. I added homemade chocolate chip cookies to stand out on the block. When I was a personal trainer, I focused on the niche of pre and postpartum training ( this was before it was common) and I came to your house. Once I became a mom, I got creative and did after school art classes in the neighborhood. This class made it easy for mamas and my kids could be there with me. My Husband is also and entrepreneur and we have always wanted to work together, Having him by my side navigating small business woes and obstacles has been exciting as we both took not he service industry for the first time. Opening during COVID and in an industry that has established giants, I knew the details and unique offerings would mean more than ever. So we took our time establishing relationships with small business and collaborated to help each other grow. As our small town grew after COVID we continued to support new small businesses, and welcomed people searching for community.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I know this strategy wouldn’t work for everyone’s business but this has worked for us. I am 39 years old, social media is not second nature for me and I don’t love it for a variety of reasons, but I have found it to be a powerful necessary tool . I am not skilled in the ins and outs and still have a lot to learn.

But for my brick and mortar business my goal has never been more followers, it’s the engagement that matters. And after 4 years I have earned our customers/ followers attention. I don’t follow the trends or algorithm. I chose one social media outlet, Instagram, cause that’s all my bandwidth could handle, with 3 kids and very busy schedule. I have loved being able to connect customer with new brands and business.

Don’t hire out. I really suggest doing your own social media so it’s your authentic voice. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Don’t over think the post. I mix in short and sweet posts, to pop up in someones feed as a reminder to swing by for a treat, with deep posts that suggest an interaction.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

COVID. Well if you are wondering how opening a service focused business in the face of pandemic was ? Terrible. We barely knew what we were doing and to have to dance around masks mandates and opinions, was defeating. I am people pleaser and during this time it was impossible to give everyone their ideal environment to enjoy coffee. Doing the best we could taking care of staff and customers, with the occasional emotionally charged customer. Being kind and having patience with even the most upset customer was our motto. For the most part our community was supportive and awesome during that strange time. But that roller coaster of a year helped me grow thick skin and have the foundation to build a team with the goal to do our best to serve the community .

Contact Info:

• Website: www.coffeeandsupplyco.com
• Instagram: @coffeeandsupplyco

Image Credits
The head shot with me with the coffee cup is Mindy Sue Photography