Community Highlights: Meet Megan Love of Fiddle Leaf Café

Today we’d like to introduce you to Megan Love.  

Hi Megan, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I started becoming obsessed with the food and coffee industry at a young age. My parents were divorced, so when I would go to my dad’s I started watching cooking shows every weekend and getting really into experimenting at my mom’s during the week! As I got older, I quickly realized I wanted to be around the coffee industry more and fell in love working at a corporate coffee company after graduating from WMU majoring in food service administration. I always knew the end goal would be owning my own shop, when kids arrived, and my family was growing, my cup was no longer filled in the corporate side. An opportunity presented itself when I was on a break from my corporate job, and I jumped! My family and I took a huge leap of faith into running our own! It’s only a little over a month in, and I haven’t looked back once! We have definitely had some stress, but it’s a different kind of stress. All I can say is I am alive every morning and look forward to the day ahead serving the community amazing coffee and being a vessel for local goods! Bonus, I’ve been more present with my girls, and they love hanging out at mom’s cafe and especially love when mom makes them “pink tea” and brings them a treat! 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
All in all, smoother than I expected. I think that’s one of the main reasons I never pulled the trigger before. I would build images of obstacles in my head, thinking about all the possible challenges… but once the first step was taken things really just fell into place way faster than I even imagined. It really makes you feel silly about all the time that has past that I could have been doing it for myself. The whole process really only took about 2 months. The main struggle was money, which is probably the most common. I had a lot of great people around with super ideas about funding! I ended up doing a Kiva loan for the bulk of what I needed! The biggest challenge outside of funding was trying to get things done timely well-being at home with my 1.5- and 3.5-year-old! But even if it was only one email or one thing a day, we got it done! 

As you know, we’re big fans of Fiddle Leaf Café. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about the brand?
Fiddle Leaf Café is a coffee shop located in the hub of the Edison neighborhood in an old historic building of Kalamazoo, MI. The main thing I care about is being genuine and carrying as much local as I can! We make all of our syrups/sauces and milk alternatives in-house. 90% of our retail is from local Michigan makers; the other 10% we source from either woman-owned or other minority groups. We offer refill programs and have a strong emphasis on being sustainable. We are currently building into our calendars to host weekly workshops on Wednesdays as well as offer different events and classes. We want the space to be more than just a coffee shop. People can also rent our space, and or we offer light catering services! 

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Hopefully, we will stay small. I think the main key in staying genuine and keeping it about the community is to keep it small and manageable! But I would love to be able to offer more bulk refill goods and have our calendars always booked with fun events, classes, workshops, etc. That’s the 5-year goal! 

Contact Info:

• Website: Fiddleleafcafe.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/fiddleleafcafekzoo
• Facebook: www.Facebook.com/fiddleleafcafekzoo