We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Abigail Melton a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Abigail , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

I would have never described myself as a person who took risks, at least not ones where I wasn’t fairly certain of the outcome which, ironically, makes it not very risky. In the beginning of 2021 I was entering my final semester of college and was facing the rapidly impending graduation date. I was looking at the potential career options after graduation and the uneasiness about graduating only rose. I was working full time, going to school full time, and panicking the rest of the time. For our final semester we had to complete a marketing project which we worked on the entire semester. Each course that I was in focused on a specific piece of the marketing final. We were expected to use an already existing business or to make up a business. I decided that I would use my dream business, my own coffee shop and roastery. I figured that if I was going to go through all of the work on creating a full scale marketing report I would use my dream business and then I would always have it in case the dream could ever become a reality. While working on the project the desire to make the dream go from theory to reality only grew. One day I was at my grandpa’s crying about the unknown future I was facing and discontentment I was feeling about picking a job after graduation.

All that sounded enjoyable was to run my own coffee shop and roastery. In the middle of tears and kleenex my grandpa looked at me and said, “Then go for it. If God is for you, then who can be against you, just start thinking outside of the box.” In a world climate that was crazy, while being a full time student, and a full time employee I started researching potential ways to make my dream a reality. My grandpa’s challenge got me asking, “what if I could do my dream if it just started smaller or if it looked a little differently than what I had typically imagained?” I came across an ad for a refurbished shipping container turned coffee shop in New York and I fell in love. Research turned into more research, which turned into phone calls, and quickly I had to message all of my professors and let them know that my theoretical school project turned into a real life project. Redemption went from a dream turned school assignment to a real life business ventor in 3 months time. There were so many possibilities of things falling apart throughout the process, and the journey definitely wasn’t an easy or seamless one, but the doors for Redemption kept opening so I kept walking through them.

There is a saying that my dad has always said which applied when facing the fear that the risk wouldn’t pay off, which is, “pull on the string and see where it goes.” We live in a world of opportunity and possibility, not all of which are going to pan out for you, but if you start “pulling on the strings” you can find clarity. The string will either end and you’ll move onto to a different one or the string will continue and connect you to someplace you never imagined you would be. Although pursuing Redemption looked crazy to most of the people around me I was able to open my doors 3 months after starting down the path. One of the biggest things I think I learned throughout this process of risking is that even if the risk had not paid off I still think the risk would have been worth it. I look at who I am now as a person after dreaming brave, taking risks, and putting myself through the hard unknown and I wouldn’t trade the character that it built. I would have described myself as a capable person before, but I only pushed myself to limits I knew that I could achieve. I was a girl bound by fear and it controlled most of what I did. What I’ve learned is that risk and faith go hand in hand. To not risk is to live bound to fear. Now don’t get me wrong, you still have to proceed with wisdom, but good risk unlocks the chains that fear can keep you bound in. A woman bound in fear is simply less effective than one who risks wisely, in faith, and dreams bravely. I’m very grateful that my great risk paid off, but I’m more grateful for the lessons it taught me about fear, faith, and freedom and that lesson I never want to lose.

Abigail , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I got into the coffee industry when I was a freshman in high school. It was my real job and I had zero knowledge of the industry, I didn’t even like coffee. I worked at the same coffee shop in my hometown all throughout high school and developed my skills, passion for the industry, and eventually a love for coffee! After high school I worked at a variety of different coffee shops, in a variety of different towns, as I pursued a college education at a variety of different schools. Life took me in a lot of different directions before I ended up at my final college, Chippewa Valley Technical College, where I graduated with a degree of Associates of Applied Science in Marketing. While completing my degree I was able to start pursuing opening my coffee shop and roastery. I graduated college and then a week later Redemption had its grand opening. Redemption Coffeehouse & Roastery is a little untraditional of a set up for a coffee shop. The building itself is a refurbished shipping container. Two of the exterior walls of the shipping container fold down and become a wrap around deck. Because of the open air concept of the building itself, and being located in Wisconsin, Redemption is a seasonal coffee shop. Redemption is also a roastery, which means that we freshly roast all of our own coffee which allows us to control more of the process and provide the freshest cup of coffee possible. Our mission statement at Redemption is “cultivating community through coffee and conversation.” This statement is really at the heart of everything that we do. Redemption believes in exceptional cups of coffee, but we also believe in the experience around coffee. One of my favorite parts of the coffee industry is I really feel like it breaks social, economic, political, etc. boundaries. It can be a very relational industry and Redemption’s mission and way of operating really reflects that.

One of the things I’m the most proud of with Redemption is how the name reflects the heart beat of what Redemption is, what its values are, and how we operate as a small business. Redemption is the message that there is nothing too far gone that cannot be redeemed. Redemption is a message of hope, a story of second chances, and a place where people are welcome. Redemption is my story, it’s so personal to who I am, so to be able to see that vision come to life in my business is exciting. I get to share the things I love, be in the industry I love, and serve the people that I love. Watching all those pieces come together is really rewarding. Redemption is where passion and purpose collide for me which is just magical.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I recently got a divorced, which is by far the biggest life pivot I’ve ever had to go through. What is so unique about being a small business owner is that your life and your business are so interconnected, especially at the infancy of the business. I am not my business, but my business is very much a part of me, so it’s an unique dynamic of being a small business owner that I wasn’t quite aware of until I opened Redemption. Going through such a difficult journey in my personal life raised a lot of unique questions for me in my professional life. Not going to pretend like I have everything figured out with where Redemption is going, but I really had to ask myself some hard questions when life took a giant pivot from what I had expected. Were my dreams the same? How would my personal life pivot affect my business? Should it affect my business? Was I able or desiring to continue? Name the question and I probably thought about it and wrestled hard with it. What is really amazing is that this personal life pivot started a chain of difficult questions, wrestling, and reflection that was monumental in my perspective as a small business owner. A friend of mine gave me a business book while in the midst of the muck of personal crisis and confusion called, “The E Myth: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It,” by Michael E Gerber. The first couple of chapters were brutal for me as they challenged my entire way of thinking, mainly because I could very much see myself described within the pages. I continued on for the sheer fact of pride and to find some way to debuck the wisdom within the pages and by the end of the book I realized that I couldn’t risk NOT confronting what the book dealt with, mainly, me; the small business owner.
Going through personal trials wasn’t enjoyable, but it was very refined and that refinement I wouldn’t trade. What my giant life pivot propelled me into doing was to get off the train long enough to evaluate if I even liked the direction I was going. We live in a world full of opportunity and moving a million miles a minute. Although pivoting can be painful, it can provide the environment for slowing down enough to ask necessary questions and to address things that need to be addressed along the way. The beauty in that is refined clarity. I decided in the midst of trauma that I had two choices; I could either let it define me or I could let it refine me. Everyone is given that same choice. That applies to a business owner just as much as it applies to a business. When faced with a change in direction, a pivot, will you let it define you or refine you? The choice is yours.
My personal pivot from married to divorced affected me as a business owner, which naturally affected my business, but for me it was a refining. It brought more grace, perspective, passion, and a strengthening of a dream and vision. What’s beautiful is it also brought an increased meaning to my mission and brand. I had no idea when I was named by business Redemption Coffeehouse & Roastery, that shortly following it would become a message that I needed just as much for my own life as anyone else did. The purpose, passion, and mission of Redemption has only grown stronger and more clarified. My own life aligns even more completely with my brand which I had no idea was coming when Redemption started. The purpose and meaning found in a life pivot I would have never chosen for myself is insane and not something I could have ever planned.
My encouragement to anyone facing a pivot, whether personally or professionally, would be to let it refine you. So many people in this world go through hard things and let the difficult things define who they are. It becomes the label they wear into a room, I’ve been there, and I’ve had to face my own label wearing in rooms. But I’ve also seen the beauty that can rise from the ashes of our stories if we let it. Redemption is always possible.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

A giant marketing risk that I take consistently as a business is the vulnerability and humanity I put into Redemption’s social media marketing. Redemption’s social media platforms have very much become an essential part to the business and a recognizable extension of the heartbeat of the brand. There are businesses that I’ve seen post only about business/product related things, but I’ve handled Redemption’s marketing differently than that. Redemption’s mission statement is “cultivating community through coffee and conversation.” Redemption fulfills this mission in a variety of ways and stepping foot on our property physically one would experience such, so I’ve been intentional to set up Redemption’s social media marketing in a way that very much reflects the heart you would encounter if you came.
There is a lot of personal vulnerability and risk involved in marketing with so much of my heart and life on the table. With so much of my soul intertwined with Redemption a rejection of my business would also very much feel like a rejection of me. However, I’ve found that every time I’ve chosen vulnerability I’ve seen such an impact and power that it can have on people, because of that I’ve continued. One of my favorite quotes, so much so that I have it framed in my office, is a quote by Brene Brown that says, “Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weakness.” I keep it framed in my office, because I want to constantly be reminded that there is a different kind of strength required to be vulnerable and that vulnerability can be powerful. I take the first step in my business, because I believe great conversations happen over coffee. It’s the spot that passion and purpose meet for me and I never want to lose that in my business. The risk in marketing has paid off for me in my business. It’s allowed me to do what I love, authentically show up there, and to feel like I am purposeful where I’m planted. It probably isn’t a strategy for everyone, but for Redemption it’s worked and I continue to push myself to vulnerability for the sake of others.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.redemptioncoffeehouseroastery.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/redemptioncoffeehouse.roastery/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/redemptioncoffeehouse.roastery
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdxEQWjJZdl-Y-abH3gUSJA