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

Alright, Claudia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My parents always told me two things when I was growing up. 1. Can’t is not a word. 2. You can do anything you want. Looking back, I realize they probably said it more like a thing that you tell a child so that they learn to tie their shoes, or make straight A’s. I took it, though, as they were telling me that I was unstoppable. Until about the 3rd decade of my life, I exactly and precisely knew that “can’t” was not a word. One of my children said “can’t” and without thinking I replied, “Can’t is not a word”. Their reply had me stumped. “If it’s not, then why can I say it?”. Ok, so maybe it is, but if I had accepted that as a homeless 15 year old, or a 17 year old mom of 1, a 19 year old mom of 2, or a 20 year old mom of 3, I would definitely have been broken by now. Now, here I sit as a successful 50 year old mother of 5, and an entrepreneur in an industry that was new to me just 5 or 6 years ago with a business that I started after being released from federal prison.

Until my 3rd child left the house and went into the Navy, people consistently said to me, “You have your hands full. How are you so calm with 5 children?”. The answer was simple to me. It was so simple that sometimes I was offended by the question. I was calm because I CAN obviously do anything. The fact that I was doing it was confirmation to me that once again, my parents were right. I raised 5 children who did very well in school. 3 of them graduated from high school at least a year early. The 4 girls went to college and my son became a linguist in the Navy.

At 19 I began to build a successful income tax preparation business. At 39 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. That was the same year I opened the two tax offices that brought me to a new humble place. While I was undergoing several surgeries, my offices were preparing to meet their fate. At 44 I was indicted on federal tax fraud charges. I was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison right before the pandemic hit. Sounds terrible. It was, except that my parents prepared me for this moment. (Funny thing is, I wasn’t they had properly prepared me for anything, but here we are. lol).

After spending about a week feeling sorry for myself I remembered the words of my parents. “You CAN do anything”. Since can’t is not a word, I began to figure out the “how” and the “what”. What is it that I can do if anything is available to me? After that, the how is pretty self-explanatory. You do it whatever it is with relentless obsession.

Now, after the indictment I worked at a coffee chain to avoid having too much time to myself as I was beginning to sink into a deep pool of self-degradation. When I started, I was wildly unsuccessful at making a latte. I actually had no idea what a latte was. I just knew that I used to sound sophisticated ordering a cappuccino whether I knew what was in it or not. At some I began noticing how coffee made so many people so happy at 4 in the morning. Behind the walls in Alderson, WV I reflected on that happiness. Maybe what I could do is make people happy early in the morning. I inked the first draft of my business plan.

When I got home I began roasting coffee beans with a little red popcorn popper, setting off smoke detectors every once in a while. My neighbors were less than thrilled, but supportive. My son took the batteries out of the smoke detectors and my confidence began to grow. I CAN roast coffee. Now, let’s sell it. I set up a website, queencoffeebean.com. It took days of no sleep to create a terrible first draft of that website. It’s much better now. I now own and operate a full coffee roastery, located inside of my coffee bar/house with an old school, chill kind of vibe. I keep Saint Mercedes, Melanie Fiona, Snoh Alegra and Sinead Hartnett on repeat. Sometimes we throw in some Cedric Brazle so the fellas can get some shine. I have sold coffee beans to people all around the US. I have made delicious beverages for locals and travelers from all around the world.
What my parents did right was to teach me that when the great Nikki Giovanni wrote “Ego Tripping” she was talking about me. “…I am so hip, even my errors are correct… I am so perfect, so divine, so ethereal, so surreal, I cannot be comprehended except by my permission. I mean I can fly, like a bird in the sky…”

I am Claudia L. Shivers. I am the mother of 5. I am the creator of Queen Coffee Bean, where we do Queen Things, and the divine, the pretty, the smart, the adventurous daughter of Minnie and Lawrence.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a specialty and gourmet coffee roaster and a drink chef. I provide high quality beans and elevated craft drink experiences for people who love themselves enough to give themselves the best. We have iced coffee and hot coffee. We have iced lattes and hot lattes. We have fraps, teas, and lemonades. Everybody’s favorite beverage lives in their imagination. We allow them the opportunity to open their minds, imagination what gratitude as a beverage feels like, and we create that for them.

I actually started Queen Coffee Bean in my kitchen with a little red popcorn out of necessity. I owned several tax offices for over 20 years and had to close them unexpectedly, per the Internal Revenue Service. In search of another way to provide for myself and my family, I went to work at a chain coffee business. That sparked my interest in coffee culture. From there, a star was born and her name was Queen Coffee Bean.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I used to believe that we were all valued by our accomplishments. When I was in elementary school I was so happy when I got S’s on my report card. Then they changed the grading system to A’s for exemplary work. I got those too. In high school I was the Treasurer for the Student Council. I ran the school store. I was on a roll. Then, my parents decided to get divorced and my whole world changed. I got pregnant at 16 and was a mom by 17. So many people were disappointed and I spent the next almost 3 decades believing that.

What I ended up learning while I was in Alderson, WV at Alderson Federal Prison Camp was that we are all valuable because we are here. The world must need us just for our presence. Our energy on the planet makes it better so we owe to ourselves to love and accept ourselves unconditionally. Then we can do the same with everybody else.

Now I know that acceptance is the best way we can leave our imprint on the planet. That is pretty much the foundation of coffee culture.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Practice, practice, practice, and execute. I have mastered my craft. When I first started making delicious beverages, I was terrible at it. I took my work home with me. I bought coffee pots, espresso makers, milk frothers, popcorn poppers, flavoring products, books. I watched videos, reached out to people in the coffee industry. I was (and am) relentlessly obsessive about my coffee bean roasting and craft beverage development. I build relationships with my customers and I have learned to listen. Customers will let you know what they want, you just have to listen for it.

Contact Info:

• Website: queencoffeebean.com and claudiashivers.com
• Instagram: queencoffeebean
• Facebook: queen coffee bean
• Linkedin: Claudia Shivers