Welcome to my story!

Its always been my dream to open/own/operate a little bakery business. Nothing too crazy, but perfectly manageable for one person to operate. So, with my limited knowledge of box cakes, online tutorials, melted frostings and strange concoctions of floury goop that only a kid/young adult can create, I enrolled in culinary school. And loved it. I found my people, my calling, and my future. 

I was able to land a job at one of the best restaurants in the city after just one semester of attending school, and from there it's been a wonderful whirlwind of working as a dishwasher/line cook to new restaurant line cook, to someone that was being noticed, to sous chef. From there, I loved my job, I loved every aspect that came along with being a sous chef, my found family and community. Over time however, I realized I wanted a little bit more. So I looked into the local health departments regulations to be able to make and sell my own products. 

Then, Cafe Muse was born.

After the absolute grueling process of jumping through all the little hoops to get health permitted every where, insured over every inch of my business, permitted with the city for the right to operate, I was open. 

I posted up at the cutest little art market in town, with my one table of pastries and a little setup to make basic coffees. This market was every saturday morning and I was determined to go. It felt like every waking moment I was not at the sous chef job, I was creating. Creating new ideas, new recipes, new concepts, new layouts, everything. I had the most interesting time discovering what would sell and what wouldn't, and I must have donated hundreds of baked goods to co workers and people in need for so many weeks straight. I never gave up and I never stopped trying to be my best and make my best, then by the grace of sheer will power, I started getting invited to apply/ attend other art markets around town. Finally it seemed my little setup was catching on and I was working multiple events each weekend. I wanted to start offering more options and a larger setup of coffees. 

So, then I decided to build a coffee/ pastry cart by hand, from scratch, all by myself. 

Again, after grueling weeks of back and forth with the health department and city, I had my final blueprints in hand and I was going to build this thing. It took me almost 4 months, start to finish to get everything done. Now keep in mind, I am NO contractor, but I was determined. Sheer will, blood, sweat and tears could not stop me. I went back and forth to the store so many times, I cried in the plumbing aisle, I cried in the electrical aisle, I cried in my garage. Now, if you've made it this far, don't feel bad for me. While the plumbing aisle is my official hellscape, I cried as much happy tears as frustrated or sad ones. When the sink finally worked and I could effectively pump water, when the battery and inverter system effectively ran my refrigerator, when all my careful measurements of the wood all fit perfectly together, I cried. A lot. And through it all, through how crazy my life was, trying to build my coffee cart, work full time, kept going to events so people wouldn't forget I existed, I had the most amazing support team. 

In January of 2022 Cafe Muse was born with a table,

In January of 2023 Cafe Muse was born as a full fledged Coffee cart. 

So, where else do you set up a coffee cart, but on a college campus? From 6am to 3 pm, I was working my coffee cart. Then from 4pm to 10 pm, I was working my sous chef job. 

After months of that insane schedule, I was able to work my coffee cart full time in March of 2023. From there, the rest is history and I wouldnt change a thing.