"I spent 10 years working for Chase Bank, building a career in corporate banking. It was steady, professional, and came with a clear path forward. But when a prime lot went up for sale in my small hometown of Damascus, Oregon, I saw an opportunity that banking couldn't give me. The property sat right along a major highway that had no drive-thru coffee stands nearby."
"They weren't wrong - but I knew I could figure it out. I had spent years helping small business clients with lending and commercial strategy. I understood balance sheets, profit and loss statements, and how to set up a business. Coffee, I figured, could be learned. So I found a coffee roaster willing to train me like a new employee, practicing for six months by making drinks for my dad's work crew."
"Even with all that work, by early 2023, the coffee side of the business was struggling. Some days, I wondered if it made more sense to close and focus on the bar, which was doing better. I'd been posting casually on TikTok since 2021 - nothing fancy, just drink-making videos and lighthearted content. But in the spring, I stumbled on a quirky product online: oversize 34-ounce plastic buckets with handles and straws. They reminded me of fairground lemonade containers."
Nicole McMillian left a 10-year corporate banking career at Chase to buy a prime lot in Damascus, Oregon and open a coffee stand. She trained with a coffee roaster and practiced by making drinks for her father's work crew. By September 2019 the stand opened and later expanded into food carts and an outdoor concert space. By early 2023 the coffee side was struggling and she considered closing. She had posted casually on TikTok since 2021 and discovered oversized 34-ounce plastic buckets with handles and straws. She filmed with the buckets, achieved viral TikTok fame, tripled sales, and attracted guests driving hours to buy the buckets.
Read at Business Insider
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