Today we’d like to introduce you to Arie Kirsch.
Arie, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I spent many years dreaming up the concept of a local coffee truck. I spent a few years selling coffee wholesale online and working for other coffee companies before finally being brave enough to launch out on my own. Once I opened in December of 2019 we were almost immediately shut down by the global pandemic. Instead of operating from the truck I switched to bottling coffee with equipment at a local brewery and doing doorstep deliveries while trying to promote my new business. While farmer’s markets and local events came to a halt I actually found my way into the local film industry here in Wilmington. I began working on set serving coffee to cast and crew all hours of the night and day and was so grateful for the opportunity to work my small business as well as make connections in the film community, we still work with them regularly today. As we moved past the pandemic season we were able to branch out into farmer’s markets, serving local schools and businesses, serving at weddings, and even large festivals. We recently celebrated our sixth-year business anniversary and spent some time looking back on our humble beginnings. I am so grateful for all the ways we have learned and grown since that time. We have a beautiful and supportive community that have shown up for us through every season of growth and change, we are so grateful to them for being part of our dream and vision.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I don’t think any small business owner can say they’ve gotten to where they are on a smooth road, each one present’s their own unique challenges which require the blood sweat and tears to keep the ball rolling. I surely didn’t have a global pandemic on our BINGO card for our first year open. Just as I was preparing for this big push to put this dream out into the world, everything shut down and I was scrambling to come up with a plan B.. C… D… E? just to keep the doors open. But I did, and here we still are. Actually, there was this time when we couldn’t find cups because of a global shortage. I ended up finding a supply of adult drink pouches (think Capri-Sun) that I served coffee in for the whole summer until I could source cups again. We also briefly opened up a brick and mortar that was only open for a few short months, we put years of savings into making this space absolutely stunning and eventually found out that we had been hooked up to the wrong water source and had to close up shop and go back to full time on our coffee truck. We lost our entire investment and I still haven’t quite emotionally recovered from that loss. We’ve faced a lot of really wild times, but we’ve also stayed on our toes and never gave up. Just keep on pivoting!
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Brighter Days Coffee?
Brighter Days Coffee is a woman owned coffee truck based out of Wilmington North Carolina with a focus on bringing together community. Our motto is “kindness matters, coffee helps” and we do our best to spread Brighter Days as we set up and serve thousands of members in our community at local farmer’s markets and events. We specialize in good vibes and great coffee — featuring a rotating menu of house made specialty syrup flavors. We love creating unique flavors that you may have never had before and of course it wouldn’t be complete if the end product wasn’t worthy of a quick snapshot before you enjoy it. We offer our coffee truck set up as well as catering options for events of all sizes including a staffed coffee bar, self serve coffee bar, as well as bottled lattes that can be dropped off for smaller events. If your school, office, baby shower, wedding or event needs coffee – we would love the opportunity to come and serve.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://brighterdayscoffee.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brighterdayscoffee/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrighterDaysCoffee/
