There are a few things that I am most passionate about: God, coffee, architecture, and marketing.
From an early age, I had dreams of becoming an architect. I believe this passion was awakened in me when my parents began the journey of looking for our new family home. I became excited by the entire process: from the introduction of the scale and outside appearance (I was drawn to large 2-story brick homes having multiple bedrooms, family living spaces, and in-ground pools) to the discovery within…the imagination of selecting my own space, setting up a reading nook in my very own personal Bay window, and settling in to my new, cozy and carpeted upstairs bedroom. My parents would tour different homes; when my mother and I were together, I would sometimes convince her to drive through neighborhoods to look at homes or to visit open houses. And then there was the Annual Tour of Homes – don’t even get me started.
Architecture was my passion (and still is!); I’d design large homes, small spaces, night clubs, salons… I kept books and books of house decor magazines, design books, blueprints… I’d order design software and download design programs to fuel my passion and eventually perfect my craft.
I decided to make a career of it, enrolling in art history and historic preservation classes in college and shadowing an architect at a design firm. I was most interested in the beauty of old, historic homes and buildings and the renewal and architectural planning of the urban city environment; my design style was an integration of modern spaces with traditional, historic finishes.
End goal: entrepreneurship – to be an architect who ran my own design firm.
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Growing up, I wasn’t too much of a coffee drinker; I was more like my father, drinking coffee for gatherings or special times every now and again. My mother thoroughly enjoyed coffee and always had the best creamers and delights in our home. I’d come to enjoy breakfast or mid-day coffee sessions with her.
I was nearing my senior year in college when my hip sister started bringing home all of these sweet, sugary, coffeeish drinks from, you got it, none other than…SBUX.
Me, who had a weakness for sweets, began making a bad habit out of it, sometimes spending $300 a month on their coffee and foodie sweet treats.
Being a curious student of life, I began exploring the process of coffee backwards: from cup to crop (there’s a path followed in industry called ‘crop to cup’).
In my senior year of college, I was working on final projects for a few different courses. A few of my classmates and I ended up in multiple groups, one of which we were all working toward the completion of our senior thesis. Since we were in multiple groups together, we decided to meet up at a consistent time to work on both projects throughout the semester. The topic of one thesis was for us to research the fastest growing small businesses on the Fortune 500 list and provide a demonstration of their marketing and product development. My friends’ group researched Peet’s Coffee (the father of coffee in America, I’d come to discover, and also where SBUX founders started and received their foundation). I guess by some stroke of luck, instead of sending magazine or other samples, Peet’s accidentally sent my friends boxes and boxes of FRESH. ROASTED. #COFFEE.
Peet’s said, “Keep it.”
I disliked SBUX from that point forward, and felt almost sad for them, in a way, that their core values and approach had changed to fit the corporate model throughout the years.
Since my curious mind had already set its sights on discovering the coffee process, this magnificent accident ignited a fire within me. And I never looked back. In 2005, I had discovered just what fresh roasted coffee meant to me. In 2008 I started roasting coffee and launched a fresh roasted coffee club, with dreams of owning an eclectic coffeehouse that offered fresh roasted coffees and decadent food.
End goal: entrepreneurship – to be a coffeehouse owner.
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Ever since I was young, I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I’d made up in my heart and mind that I was going to own a business in whatever industry I worked.
The word was ‘advertising’ back then, and I was fervently passionate about it.
I remember when our family got our first computer, a far step from our large, loud typewriter that we’d typed our old school papers on.
Putting the new computer to “work” was fun. I would emplore the use of Corel Draw and Word Perfect to create banners, special invitations, and unique additions to other little business ideas I came up with along the way. Thank the Lord my parents saw my creativity and didn’t get on my case for printing pages and pages of colored artwork just to tape them together to create giant sized banners!
My first real client, in some case, was our church. I’d asked our pastor if I can begin sharing weekly programs for worship, and he agreed. It was like I had the opportunity to create something interesting and brand new on a blank canvass! Although the Order of Services was the same from week-to-week, it was exciting to incorporate unique additions within. My favorite thing to do was include Psalms and other Bible verses.
College was really the culmination of everything for me: it is where my passion for coffee got ignited and where I went in to become an architect, but resolved to be a business marketer.
For me, resolve is not about giving in; it is about pursuing with passion each footstep that God tells you to step in.
When God put on my heart to start Passion Series, there were loads of things that I was most interested in, simply because I am an extremely creative person. The whole intent of Passion Series is to step into God and out of your comfort zone to allow God to elevate His will within your life. God knows the most pure and passionate areas of your heart. Once you have allowed His Will and His process to take precedence in your life, He will grant you access to His favor. “Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he will give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” – Psalm 37:4-5
End goal: the dream of entrepreneurship accomplished. KBC Solutions was born, an organizational management and vision planning firm. Design is at our core – oh, and we are fueled by God’s #coffee.
– P.S., Kaye –
