Meet Kelli Nielsen of Arise Coffee Cart in Boulder

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelli Nielsen.

Kelli, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’ve been searching for what fulfills me most in this life and the answer isn’t just one thing, although so far, starting a mobile coffee business fills me in more ways than I may ever be able to describe.

The only common theme in my life has been to follow my curiosity. Starting a company wasn’t something I ever thought I would end up doing but I’ve never ruled anything out as a possibility, I feel that I’ve always been pretty good at keeping an open mind. Connecting with people and getting to know their stories has always been deeply important to me as well. I’ve always been inspired by my grandmother, who is a mother of 4, never stuck to one career path and found herself doing many things before she started an antique store of her own. One thing I have always admired most is her patience with people and her eagerness to know them more. She always had a table in her store where customers could sit and have a cup of coffee, encouraging them to stay longer and that always stuck with me.

I grew up in southwest Iowa and graduated in May of 2015 with a Bachelors Degree in Exercise Science and coaching endorsement from Wayne State College. I then went on to work near where I grew up and taught group exercise classes, did some personal training, and coached track at my old high school along side my former track coach. I loved teaching and coaching and still think that is something I will again pursue down the road; however, it wasn’t something I felt I could do for the long term.

I decided to move to Colorado in 2016 after falling in love with the beautiful state on a road trip I had gone on with some friends. I didn’t know what Colorado had in store for me but it felt right to go. A friend of mine had a sister in Santa Barbara who started a coffee cart of her own called, Welcome, who seemed to be having so much fun doing it and I couldn’t help but be intrigued by this business she had created. This type of work seemed to offer a sort of freedom I wasn’t sure I had experienced before and I felt called to start a business of my own.

My great friend Chris and I launched Arise in January of 2018 and it has been an extraordinary journey. I’ve had so many friends help with the process- from consulting, to building, to working the cart with me, to simply being emotional support and I couldn’t do it without the help and hands of all involved. I am so thankful for the opportunity to run my own business and am in awe of it every single day. Arise has taught me how it truly is about the journey, not the destination. It has also taught me the importance of community and how supporting one another is not only powerful but necessary.

Has it been a smooth road?
There are no smooth roads just smaller bumps. The biggest struggles along the way were mostly mental. Starting a business is a very vulnerable position to put yourself in and can be crippling at times because you can be and usually are your worst enemy. You really have to get to a point of truly believing in what you’ve created which boils down to believing in yourself.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Arise Coffee Cart story. Tell us more about the business.
Arise Coffee Cart is a mobile coffee bar that pops up for special events such as weddings in Colorado. We work with local roasters such as Copper Door Coffee Roasters (in Denver) and Gabee Coffee (in Boulder) who provide us with beans from different regions of the world to ensure variety and quality coffee. We specialize in working private events but have done festivals, farmers markets, and many other types of events as well. We are different from others because we are an assemble on site cart which can fit anywhere isn’t bulky like some cart designs I’ve seen. We also are not limited to parking in certain spaces like most food trucks tend to be. We are most proud of our ability to go just about anywhere with the cart, indoors or outdoors– a true coffee shop feel anywhere you desire.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I have some interest in owning a brick and mortar and would love to get into roasting myself someday but I also have a vision of creating a non-profit to help elderly people that don’t have the resources or no longer have the ability to get out to do things. I don’t know what that quite looks like yet but it is something I am very passionate about and I would like to branch from Arise and use some of the things I’ve learned from owning/running a business to grow a service for those in need.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.arisecoffeecart.com
• Phone: 720.593.0742
• Email: arisecoffeecart@gmail.com

Image Credit:
Chris Rasmussen- of Chris Rasmussen Films
Kate Merrill Photography
Tom Kletzker

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