We recently connected with Sean Abrusci and have shared our conversation below.

Sean, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Day to day the world can seem like a tough place, but there’s also so much kindness in the world and we think talking about that kindness helps spread it and make the world a nicer, kinder place. Can you share a story of a time when someone did something really kind for you?

The kindest thing someone has done for me is nominate me for the SBCA Carrey Foundation Congressional Humanitarian of the year. This is something that I never in 1 million years thought I would be in the running for. Especially within the first year of business. However, the kindest part wasn’t being nominated or winning the award itself, it was the self reflection that occurred after being nominated. It was reflecting on how I got to the point, how the people to my left and right not only influenced but helped me along the way. Without the support system of friends and family none of this would be possible. So in essence, my support system is the kindest thing that has ever happened to me.

Sean, 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?

Since deploying with the Marines to Afghanistan in 2011, coffee has always brought a sense of comfort to me. An escape from the harsh reality that we were dealing with. It was something that we all would sit around and enjoy together while talking about home. After the Marines, I went into law enforcement witnessed how coffee played a similar role to what I observed while I was deployed. It appeared to be brief escape from the call that just happened while it also was used to help form camaraderie. Around this time I began nonprofit work embarking on a mission to combat veteran suicide while combating the worlds water crisis. During this time I traveled all throughout the Amazon, Nepal, and Ethiopia. During my time in Ethiopia, I was fortunate enough to observed how the Ethiopians would utilize a coffee ceremony as the highest level of respect for their guests. The beauty of this ceremony and being served their local roasts brought an immediate sense of community that I will not forget. It was here where I realized that coffee is always surrounded by community. No matter what I did in life coffee was always in the center. So now I am utilizing coffee to not only fundraise for nonprofits but to also show case them. To bring them together as most of them run parallel but have different voids. Coffee is always surrounded by community and Abrusci’s Coffee is there in the center.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

Not only do we sell our coffee through shopify but we also are on Etsy, the knot, and wedding wire. We decided to get a little creative with our coffee and start doing party favors which have been very profitable. We allow the customer to create a design unique to their party, and put is on a 4 ounce bag filled with our coffee. This allows the guests to take home a party favor that they will actually use while getting our coffee in their household.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

The most success I’ve had with my social media posts have been through any sort of educational posts that we do. It seems that people don’t interact as much with advertisement posts but more educational posts. They want to learn or see something different. Break down your product piece by piece.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.abrusciscoffee.com
• Instagram: @abruscis_coffee
• Facebook: Abrusci’s Coffee