We have endured.

I am an entrepreneur. My husband and I own coffee shops. We have 2 locations. We are about 80% of the way to opening our 3rd location. The first 2 locations are hybrid businesses. They are also laundromats. Both of these locations are in Far West TX, the economy that supports us is tourism. Our industry, as you know, is suffering right now. Today we are closing our first location, until April 9th, because a “shelter in place” order has been issued for the city. 

We have endured as adaptable entrepreneurs. We are feeling all the feels that we can’t “pivot” anymore, we have to accept temporary defeat. We will endure this. We will come out the other side, we have no doubts about that. We find a way. We always have and we always will.

We were back at our business 5 days after I had our first child. We endured. We opened our first location in the midst of the 2008 financial crisis. We endured. I worked my way through 3 pregnancies behind the counters of our businesses. We endured. We’ve been stolen from and lied to. We endured. We’ve been broker than jokers. We endured. We grew our family from 2-6 since we opened our business. We endured. A massive wild fire swept through our area in 2011. We endured. We have been open 7 days a week, 363 days a year (closed for thanksgiving and christmas) since 2008. We endured. It has been no small feat to keep these businesses open and functioning in small towns for as long as we have. We endured.

This day has lots of feels for my husband and I. Small business owners ARE their business. We have put all our time, energy, money, emotions, sweat, tears, and blood into our business. We have nurtured our coffee shops into the community centers they are. People meet there. Tourists congregate on our patios. Our shops are heartbeats for the towns. The heartbeat has slowed with social distancing in place. We know we will feel life within our walls again after all this.

We will endure. Catch y’all on the flipside.