Owner of Ashlawn Farm Coffee Speaks to Entrepreneurship and Environmental Science Classes

By Dr. Hedwall
​Carol Adams, Owner of Ashlawn Farm Coffee, spoke to the Business Department's Entrepreneurship and Science Department's Environmental Science classes about what it takes to start a business while doing something you love as well as using environmentally friendly products. She told the students how her business came about accidentally by her wanting just a cup of coffee with nothing available in her house.  From that initial idea for wanting a good cup of coffee, she started thinking about making one from beginning to end herself.  This took her into researching coffee beans, finding out where they were located, looking into how to buy them, and finding out about the equipment needed. Once her research was done and she figured she could do it herself, she and her family took their own funds and invested them into their own coffee business. In an effort to see if the general public would like it, Ms. Adams sold it at the Ashlawn Farm's Stand which, because of the coffee's popularity, led to her opening her own brick and mortar business.  Ms. Adams also explained the process her business went through from starting up to how she had to figure out financing, locations, and product.  Her business took her outside the US to find the exact coffee beans she wanted and to finding coffee bean businesses she could support, including those run by women. Getting the word out started with word of mouth after trying the business out at the Farm Stand; that lead to her opening a store and having a website, which allows people to buy her product online. Ms. Adams mentioned that her goals included providing others with a quality product as well as supporting the environment and women-owned coffee bean businesses. She also answered questions, such as explaining the advantages and disadvantages of owning a business, what she enjoyed about her work, branching out to including pastries at her store, hiring employees, and what the hours were like.  Students later commented that she was very informative and a wonderful speaker and that they appreciated her coming to class as a local brick and mortar entrepreneur with environmental awareness and concern.