Today we’d like to introduce you to Hannah Gomes
Hi Hannah, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My sister, Rebekah Gomes, and I started Sip Scouter in the early months of 2023. We started forming ideas of how we could work together to do something good and purposeful in our community, we came up with an overwhelming list of ideas and chose to start with the thing that brought us the most joy – coffee. Rebekah is an experienced barista and coffee/tea fanatic, and I love visiting new and unique coffee shops with a journal, good book, or a friend. With so many great, mission-driven coffee shops in the Twin Cities, we found a niche opportunity to curate a list of locations with values, products, and business that we wanted to support and promote. This “list” has come to be our annual Sip Scouter booklet that gives buyers a coupon for a free drink at each participating coffee shop.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
My sister and I have learned so much about ourselves, business ownership, and time management through this venture. The biggest hurdle for me was learning about business, law, LLCs, taxes, record keeping, etc. We had an idea and a goal, but to get there, we had to first meet with consultants, submit paperwork, and pay fees. This process took months. Getting something as small as a two-person operation off the ground was more work than expected and it gave me a huge appreciation of other local business owners who deal with even more complex situations.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Sip Scouter is a passion project managed by two coffee-loving sisters. Each year we put together a is a local coffee passport of free drink coupons to great local coffee shops that meet at least one of our following values (independently owned, family owned, woman owned, LGBTQIA+ owned, BIPOC owned, locally sourced ingredients or merchandise, organic ingredients or products). We promote our partnering coffee shops and sell the coupon booklet to local Minnesotans, getting customers explore and engage with the local businesses that make our cities so special.
Sip Scouter was the only coffee passport or coupon book in Minnesota after the COVID pandemic. As folks began to re-engage with the public, we saw a need to recommend and encourage our communities to invest back into their local, independently-owned businesses. That is one thing that makes Sip Scouter special, we are picky with our partnering locations. We want to support and highlight the little guys, the single location coffee shops, the independently-owned businesses.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Rebekah and I certainly felt lucky to manage such success in our first year of selling Sip Scouter booklets. We were honored to collaborate with 15 great coffee shops during our first year. These business owners went out on a limb to make our dream come true – and we were rocked with great responses from the public. People were excited to get to know their neighborhoods, they shared their photos with us online, met up in groups to explore new coffee shops, and word made it’s way all the way to WCCO. We were lucky enough for a reporter to pick up on our story and run a clip on the local news about Sip Scouter and one of our participating coffee shops that is making a positive impact with the youth in Frogtown. And again, we were wowed by the enthusiasm shown by the public as we quickly sold out of our inventory. Even today we get messages asking when our second edition of the Sip Scouter booklet will be available for sale. It is this reinvigorated longing to support local businesses that keeps Rebekah and I motivated to continue this project even with our full time jobs and other commitments.
Pricing:
- The 2025 Sip Scouter booklet will go on sale December 1, 2024! You can buy yours at sipscouter.com for $25.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sipscouter.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sipscoutermn
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sipscoutermn/
