Blue Sky Coffee gears up for grand opening
April 9, 2024
Matthew Stevenson seeks to inspire with his new coffee shop, Blue Sky Coffee, coming to Fairborn on April 20!
A music therapist by trade, Matthew designed his coffee shop to facilitate creativity and community.
“We’re better living in community, supporting one another. Blue Sky may be a coffee shop, but without people, it’s just lifeless cups filled with liquid, sitting around. It’s the people that bring life,” he said. “I hope anyone hitting writers block, or struggling to piece together their project, or having difficulty figuring out a problem, can find inspiration here. I want ideas to flourish.”
Matthew tapped the Miami Valley Small Business Development Center’s business counseling to help get his shop open.
“It has been so helpful! Lisa is the best. She helped me secure funding, get my ducks in a row, and offered overall support in seeing my vision through,” he said. “It’s clear she truly cares about me and the project and wants to see me succeed. That means the world.”
Read on to meet Matthew and learn more about his new venture!
Introduce yourself — who are you and what is your company?
Hello! My name is Matthew Stevenson. I am a music therapist by trade, hospitalitarian by heart, creative by nature, and lover of coffee. I am the owner of a new coffee shop in Fairborn, OH called Blue Sky Coffee. The shop, located across the street from Wright State University and down the street from Wright Patterson Air Force Base, is a welcoming space, primed for conversation and creativity. From nods to Dayton’s innovative history embedded within, to floor-to-ceiling chalk and white boards on every wall, creativity is welcomed and celebrated over a comforting cup of coffee and tasty treats.
How did your company start?
My company was rooted in my love of hospitality, coffee, and creativity. I shared a conversation with a friend over a cup of coffee and communicated my desire for a coffeeshop centered around creativity and innovation. They urged me to make it happen, so jumped right in from there!
Why this idea?
I am not a Dayton native, but came here in 2014. I fell in love with the City. One of my favorite aspects is the rich innovate history, and the city’s drive to create cool things moving forward. I wanted a space that honors this rich history, while inspiring and promoting a creative future. Coffee felt like the perfect avenue. Coffee, to me, has always acted as something that brings people and ideas together. People have business meetings over coffee, chat with friends over coffee, study with coffee, work on projects with coffee, start their day with coffee, relax in the afternoon with coffee, etc. While seemingly such a simple thing, coffee plays a big role in people’s lives. It’s been present for the beginning of so many innovative ideas.
Did you always want to be an entrepreneur?
Not knowingly. Looking back, I’ve always had a desire to pave my own path and create something new. I feel as though I’ve always valued aspects beneficial to being an entrepreneur, such as adaptability, perseverance, passion, and positivity. So while the idea of being an entrepreneur was not always on my radar, the ideas that entrepreneurship embodies were.
What identities or life experiences do you bring to entrepreneurship that helped prepare you for this lifestyle?
For as long as I can remember, I’ve played music. I’ve learned to play a myriad of instruments from piano to guitar to percussion to harp. Several of the innate requirements in learning to play music transfer beautifully to the entrepreneurship space — dedication and discipline, creativity and perseverance, independence and community. All of these values help in this entrepreneurship journey.
What is the biggest barrier you’ve faced on your entrepreneur journey?
Perhaps a rather dull answer, but one of the biggest barrier’s I’ve faced may be red tape. I knew there would be licenses and forms and rules I’d need to adhere to, but there are more nuanced items than I realized, so it has been a learning process for me to navigate.
Why do you love what you do?
I love getting to collaborate with so many brilliant individuals in my community. From getting restaurant advice from previous employers, to building new relationships with electricians and plumbers, to teaching new employees to make coffee, to bouncing ideas off friends. There has just been so much to learn and experience and create. I’ve loved every second of it and look forward to all the future relationships to be had.
What advice would you offer fellow or aspiring entrepreneurs?
Don’t overthink it. I am an over-thinker. I will let ideas ruminate in my cranium for hours, days, weeks, indefinitely sometimes. I’ve learned that at some point, you just have to jump in. It is great to think and plan, but if that’s all you do, then nothing will actually get done. So by all means, think, but don’t get caught up thinking that you forget to do.
How can the Launch Dayton community support you?
I need help getting the word out there. Blue Sky Coffee is a brand new coffee shop. I’d love for people to give a try.
Connect with Matthew @blueskycoffeedyt on Facebok + IG.
