Episode 79 // Lynne Thomas of Barnstorm Coffee

Written By Danna Larson

BARNSTORM:
To tour or travel from place to place, making brief stops.

This week on the podcast we’re in Riverside, Iowa (pop. 993) with Lynne Thomas of Barnstorm Coffee. Lynne is a self-taught barista with a mobile coffee shop, where she does pop ups and events all over the midwest. She loves collaborating with other small, local businesses and has become a favorite everywhere she goes. She’s dishing on how she learned the coffee business and built her brand, and the great people who have helped her along the way.

I was never a barista, I never worked in a coffee shop. I just learned it all by doing it and learning from my mistakes and having crazy things happen.

— Lynne Thomas

Lynne has such a fun business, and if you’re in the Midwest, you’ll definitely want to check out her schedule and get yourself some Barnstorm Coffee this year!

Listen right here or on these platforms: APPLE | GOOGLE | SPOTIFY | STITCHER

The mobile part of it just intrigued me because I like the idea of being able to go to places that don’t maybe necessarily have a good coffee shop to go to in their town. Or supporting another brick and mortar that says hey, I’ve got a cute store, can you come and pop in for a few hours? So it just brings a different element for them for the day as well, helps them support their business, helps me support my business.

— Lynne Thomas

The idea behind what I’m doing as well is I really wanted to support other Iowans and other Midwesterners. Running a small business is hard, so if I could support others in my journey, that was my goal as well.

— Lynne Thomas

People are so generous with their time and they really want to help you succeed. It’s been such a fun, collaborative journey with all these different people.

— Lynne Thomas

All photos used with permission.

Danna Larson
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