Working at a coffee shop saved my life. 3 years later, I bought the coffee shop - here's how I did it.

I knew I wanted to continue, but didn't know where to go or what to do. After a few years at the shop, I started taking classes at the local community college to gain credits. Eventually, I went back to Purdue for a semester to finish my degree.

While I was there, I took a creative nonfiction class taught by Roxane Gay. Tasked with writing a memoir essay, I decided to write about depression and dropping out of school. The first draft had a single paragraph about finding a place to heal — the coffee shop. I was encouraged to pull that detail. Eventually, it stretched to become the main story line.

Through multiple drafts I changed the tone of the essay to be less about the events that had such a negative impact and more about the place that had such a positive one. I wrote about how the people I met, the community I worked in, and the coffee shop atmosphere impacted my health in a positive way.

I let love back in my life when I worked at the coffee shop and didn't even notice it. Love for coffee, work, others, and for myself. It wasn't until I turned in the final draft that I realized how much the coffee shop meant to me.

When I came home to Illinois, I didn't go back to coffee. Instead, I had a few management jobs in the restaurant industry. But the entire time I felt a pull to go back to coffee. I set a new goal to open a cafe before I turned 30.

They were ready to sell, and they approached me before they put it on the market. I couldn't pass it up.

I wanted to take the cafe that I already loved and grow it to be a "third place" for the community. A third place is the social gathering space that differs from home or work.

I had my parents and my best friend's support to buy the coffee shop. A lot of people looked at me like I was crazy when I told them what I was doing. But I needed to be back in coffee.

I covered most of the cost through a loan from a friend and received microloans for other expenses.

The first few months I kept things running as normal and introduced myself back to customers. I eased into running the business as an owner and switching things over to the new LLC. After about nine months I started renovations, funded by an investor. We painted the interior and changed the rooms around to allow for more seating. We changed the coffee we carried and updated our breakfast and lunch menus.

Somewhere people can come that isn't home or work and is still comfortable. We have free WiFi and encourage people to work or study here. We do like to host groups, and will happily reserve a table or room.

We hope to be a place for the community and host and hold more events in the future. But what I truly want to do is be a place for people to come and heal, and find love.