We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Caryl Stone. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Caryl below.
Caryl, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
When my husband died (as a result of his addictions) my life took a drastic turn. I was 55 and starting over at zero. Having lost our house to foreclosure and no money in the bank, with a young child still at home, I knew I needed a plan for our future. I needed to create a life for us so when I can no longer do my full-time job I can still work and support myself. I needed to live where I worked, a commute to work would not be practical. It needed to be comprised of things I was passionate about, so it didn’t feel like work. Baking, Coffee, upcycling. I needed a project that was fun and consuming, so I didn’t have time to feel sorry for myself. With virtually pennies in the bank and help from friends, I bought a 100-year-old church and began pouring literally every ounce of energy I had into making it a welcoming, peaceful environment. Because more than anything, I needed peace. 2 years later, I opened a gift shop / coffee shop with baked goods, sandwiches and ice cream. It resides in a tiny little community close to my children. What started as a place for me to feel a sense of family and friendship & to help me heal, has become a place where I offer as much healing to others as I can. A cup of coffee, a friendly smile, an ear to listen and if needed, a hug of encouragement. We have classes on self-care and self-improvement. We work with several charities, are involved in many community events and pay it forward as much as we can. The shop is also home to 3 free pantries full of books, food and now pet food. I am so proud yet so humbled of how wonderful my community is to us, and I am no longer scared for my future.
Caryl, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My background is in corporate IT management. (I still function as a Systems Analyst Consultant) Having spent over 35 years of my career in the NJ/NY fast paced corporate environment I know the meaning of hard work, long hours, critical decision making and creative thinking. After my husband died, I relocated to Ohio, near one of my clients. I feel lucky to now be in a slower-paced Midwest environment armed with fast paced skills and determination. I learned quickly to sustain a small business in a small town; you need to offer a variety of products and services. I started by having crafts and gifts that appeal to our residents and offer consignment services where I sell items for them. We have ice cream and boba tea to appeal to kids and families. I took the downtime of covid to study and obtain my licensing for us to have a full-service kitchen, where we make all our café items and baked goods fresh. The last 2 years have been spent building our “coffee-game” to compete with all the niche coffee shops in the area. And I’m very happy to say we are thriving because of those efforts. My best advice is to stay very flexible, be open to change and pivot as often as needed.
On a personal note, very organically my helping others began the minute the doors of the store opened. My story was featured in the paper and very often widows would come in to share their story. I started to feel selfish, because listening and talking to them had also helped me. I began getting back to my studying and practicing of spiritualism and mediumship, I found early on that New Jersey’s spiritual community was much larger than Ohio’s and that side of me took a back seat. Now it was awakened and ready to serve others.
I am so proud of what we (my family and I) created with so little money, but a big desire to bring old-fashioned customer service and compassion to anyone who comes here.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I am very proud of the fact that our values are very strong yet very simple. Be friendly, be accommodating and make everyone feel like they matter. Because to me they DO MATTER. The have chosen to spend their hard-earned money to shop here, that’s huge for me. Every employee is told they need to greet each customer sincerely. Learn their name if you see them often. Be flexible, allow them to make personal changes to their food order. I pay my employees fairly, because I have an aversion to expecting people to tip. I remind my employees how shopping at a friendly store feels nice as opposed to being barked at or ignored by an entitled clerk.
In return we have the best customers ever. They treat us great, spread the word like crazy, write us wonderful reviews and come back often. And none of that cost me a dime!
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I share this often because it was a hard lesson. Get to know your audience early, don’t assume they will love everything you do. Being from the northeast and opening a cafe in the mid-west I assumed they would like everything we were familiar with. But our particular town did NOT know what an avocado was, did not want anything labeled sugar or gluten free, and only wanted cookies without fancy ingredients like hazelnuts. I was stubborn for a while, but begrudgingly simplified our menu and ever so slowly introduced people to the items we were used to. We still struggle with the lack of diversity we are used to but now know to take things slowly and test the waters before any big commitments.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://RandomActsofWalbridge.com
- Instagram: @RAofWalbridge
- Facebook: @RAofWalbridge
- Other: TikTok @RandomActs.Walbridge
Image Credits
Willow Saje & David Jeffries