We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Abigail Melton. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Abigail below.
Abigail , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?
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. By far one of the biggest risks I’ve taken in life has been the decision to start my business. Entrepreneurship is such a crazy road, because there really are no promises that it’s going to pan out and you really place your finances, job, livelihood, etc. all on the line to risk for the possibility that the dream works. There are all sorts of projections that business people suggest running, market analysis, cost calculators, etc. but at the end of the day it’s really just a calculated risk and a lot of praying that it doesn’t flop.
That was definitely my journey to Redemption. I drove out to New York from Wisconsin to look at the shipping container that I had found online and walked away from that weekend as the owner of a shipping container with no clear plan on how I was going to move it- which looking back now seems crazy! I did eventually figure out how to get it shipped home to Wisconsin, but it was weeks of waiting and a lot of praying for things to work out. Right around the time the shipping container was arriving on the property I got news that the funding I thought I was going to get was denied. So I was watching my giant investment roll into the parking lot with no clear idea where any additional money was going to come from to be able to have it be anything more than a shipping container sitting in the dirt. Honestly, looking back I’m just amazed that Redemption ever even opened, because there were so many moments where I was staring down risk straight in the eyes and I had to make a choice to move forward and turn around.
Although pursuing Redemption looked crazy to most of the people around me, I was able to open my doors three 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 the risk would have been worth it! Now it would have been insanely hard if it hadn’t worked, but just because something is hard doesn’t mean it’s not going to be used for something good. I look at who I am now as a person after taking the scary risks, putting myself through the hard unknowns, and continuing forward even when I didn’t know the end of the story and I wouldn’t trade any of it, because I like Abby better now. 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 those are lessons I never want to lose. If I hadn’t walked through the process of learning to risk in business I don’t think I would have ever survived watching my marriage end and getting a divorce. To go through such devastating personal trauma would have knocked me out before, and although for a while I thought that it would, it didn’t. Because I’d learned that hard doesn’t always mean bad, even if circumstantially things look bad. Risk might feel scary, but it doesn’t mean it’s not the right call. I continue to face risk daily in decisions in Redemption and I very much continue to face it personally as I walk the road of learning what risking love again looks like, but I firmly believe it’s a road worth walking my friend!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Redemption is such an expression of my heart and passion for people. As I mentioned before, I fell in love with the coffee industry, because of how I watched it connect people. It still blows my mind how something so seemingly insignificant, like a cup of coffee, really can transform someone’s day if just done with intention. Redemption is about a lot more than just good cups of coffee now, but at the core of Redemption our heartbeat is coffee, community, impact. Everything we do is centered around these three things. Our shipping container turned seasonal coffee shop is a very tangible picture of how something can be redeemed to be it’s a picture of hope. Redemption is really my story, and I’ve found that a lot of people have their own versions of “redemption stories.” I think at the end of the day we are all looking for a little hope, a place that feels safe, and people who can cheer us on in this life and help us make it and that’s what Redemption is all about.
I’m insanely proud of the relationships we’ve gotten to build through this business. People will always be my passion so it could be serving up a latte at the shipping container, sending out roasted coffee with a handwritten note to a customer’s door, meeting at a Cultivate event, or having someone listen to a killer conversation on the podcast Beyond the Bar. I just love connecting with people, bringing encouragement, and watching the impact that can have.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
The story that comes to mind for this question is getting divorced. Marriage isn’t something you enter into expecting to end, at least for me that wasn’t my mindset at all. Divorce wasn’t something I ever would have even told you was a remote option for my life. My first season at the coffee shop was pretty much head down, running hard, and praying that I was making the “right calls” so that the business didn’t flop. Thankfully, it was an incredible first season and I closed for the winter that September. That winter my life would hit the lowest point it ever had. I spent the next couple of months barely leaving my house, battling intense anxiety, and trying to fight for my struggling marriage. I had struggled with anxiety and anxiety attacks before when I was in high school, but post high school I hadn’t experienced any issues. So when the tightness in my chest started to return, the collapsing on my ground unable to stop my body from shaking, and intense fear so bad it kept me housebound started up again I panicked. It was a rough couple of months as I wrestled with my reality. I had just opened and successfully operated through my first season of business so from the outside it didn’t look like there should be anything I should be struggling with, yet internally, and in the walls of my home all hell was breaking loose.
In January, my marriage collapsed, and I faced season two with entirely different life circumstances than I would have ever anticipated. The business that was sort of optional to work before was now the only thing that I brought with me into the new unknown chapter I was entering so the pressure for it to be successful increased significantly. Navigating processing trauma, healing, managing anxiety, all while trying to open, operate, manage, and grow a new baby business is insane. I wouldn’t say that I walked this season out perfectly by any means, and honestly, a lot of it is kind of a blur, but I would say that it requires a level of reliance and grittiness. This season of my life was by far the hardest and most vulnerable season I’ve ever gone through. You don’t walk through something like that unchanged, but I can look back now and not want to unwrite any of the pages, because it’s made me the woman I am today. Would never wish those circumstances on anyone, but I definitely like the Abby I see in the mirror now a whole lot better so I love the beauty that came from the pain. That kind of perspective to take the good, leave the bad, and honor what was even if it’s not what you would have wanted I think is a mark of reliance. To own your own story, even the messy parts, that’s where the power is.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
This is probably going to sound like a cheesy answer, but I think the biggest thing that helped me build my reputation in my market is always showing up authentically. When you are true to your core values and show up in alignment in every situation you are in, people really start to respect who you are, even if they don’t agree with you. I also think it’s extremely important to be humble and admit your mistakes! This is something I haven’t always done well, but we are all growing humans. So when I stopped trying to prove to the world that I had everything together and just started humbly showing up in the imperfect reality that was Abby I think people really resonated with that. Ironically people have a lot more respect for a genuine imperfect person than they do for someone who looks like they have it all together.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.redemptioncoffeehouseandroastery.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/redemptioncoffeehouse.roastery/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/redemptioncoffeehouse.roastery
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdxEQWjJZdl-Y-abH3gUSJA
Image Credits
Me