How I ended up Here

Most likely the first to a several part series because wow there is a lot to unpack. I would like to note that no matter where you think you are going in life, God has a plan and it is most likely different than the roadmap you drew for yourself after high-school…

I have always been distinctly 2 things, an artist, and an entrepreneur. In 4th grade I got a stencil book and began making custom name-tags for the kids in my class for $1.00 a piece. The year prior I was really into reading and AR was a thing (remember the pizza parties) so I made bookmarks and sold them for 50 cents. I got through my entire high-school career (though be it a short one) on painting commissions.

Once I graduated high school, I thought “hey graphic designers are like artists that get to make money so let’s go to college for that”. Boy oh boy oh boy, when my professor uttered the words “when you get a job and are making labels for Titan Wheel” (a local wheel company in case that was unapparent) I dropped out so fast, like so fast. To be totally fair I was also pretty sure I was going to fail the semester and never actually looked at my final grades so we will never know.

I began auditioning for modeling agencies during that semester and got signed right after I dropped out. Now this industry was intriguing to me because I realized how much of a business it was. I also got really excited about how creative I got to be. When we would do runways and had hours backstage, we would talk about different gigs and I was always pretty much the only one to prefer photoshoots to runways. But the creative hours in your day being on set greatly out-numbered the few minutes you got walking.

I decided to leave the fashion industry 2 years later (which BY THE WAY is something I never thought I would talk about on here so claps for Annalisa Please). I got married and moved up to northern Wi (like the most northern part to a town of 700). I got a job as a barista at a cool coffee shop and brewed my first ever cup of coffee. And so the obsession began. I went from being so terrified of the espresso machine to being haunted by quality control and bean knowledge (it’s a thing). I loved the curation of espresso, steaming milk to get good latte art, understanding tasting notes, and constantly figuring out how to improve.

So the creative side of me was happy as could be, however the self starter inside was dying of thirst and needed full reign and control because she’s crazy. Thus Antler Specialty Goods was born, our now full time mobile coffee shop run by Hunter and I.

I can never say anything for certain, but being a business owner is the only thing I know how to do well. It is also the only thing I will fully apply myself to (just being honest here but we all know it) because it is like a 6th sense to me.

Anyways, that is my 11:34pm anecdotal short story on why I now tow a mobile coffee shop to Lake Superior 4 days a week.

I hope I don’t read this in the morning and regret it, Just kidding, I don’t proof-read my blogs.

-Annalisa