We were lucky to catch up with Amaya Lawton recently and have shared our conversation below.

Amaya, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

If I could go back in time, I would have started my business sooner! My family and I decided to start the business at a time when we thought it was best to start making something stable for ourselves. But being pregnant and wanting to start a coffee stand full-time was not the greatest idea! Due to pregnancy, we had only served our community a couple of times before my child was born and then we stopped business for a while. Now we all work full-time jobs and run the coffee business on the weekends, but having less time with my child is definitely hard. Starting sooner would have allowed us to jump in and not worry about the sleepless nights! We would have had more time to put into the business and less worry about needing to be home by a certain time. The amount of events we would have been able to attend would have increased dramatically than where we are now, but we had to start at some point! Even though we started later, it has still been an amazing experience and we hope to only continue to grow from this point forward!

Amaya, 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?

The Swirl is a family owned pop-up coffee stand that was created to invest in ourselves and our family’s future generations. The passion for coffee started when I was introduced to the industry by being hired at a chain coffee shop. The way I saw how coffee impacted someone’s day, changed my perspective of the simple beverage. Getting to make something that can brighten someone’s day is truly amazing! The Swirl sells hot and iced espresso, with different flavors and variations that can be unique for each person who comes to grab a drink. By The Swirl being mobile, we are able to be in an area for the people, and move as the community moves! This allows us to bring our creativity to the community in different areas, at different times. We are a business who loves to interact and create memories; even if it is for a short time. So, if you ever get a chance to come try us out, just stay a while and have a chat while we make you something just as great as you!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When we first started the business, I was 4 months pregnant! During that time I was the only one out of the team that knew anything about coffee. We did a test run and got smashed. It was a long rough day, and after I was bedridden due to straining myself while pregnant. At that time we thought it was best to just let it go. But while I had some time on my hands, I took it upon myself to do more research, reach out to local businesses, and join the Small Business Association, to get some help growing. Since then we have been able to reach over 700 people in the community in a little over 6 months. It has been super fun and we cant wait to take more time to work on growing!

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source for new clients are pop-up community events all around the city. Joining farmer’s markets and small pop-up markets has helped us gain new customers and allowed us to try out different areas around the city!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @_the.swirl_
• Facebook: The Swirl

Image Credits

Amaya Lawton