Making Coffee Special with Spices
Christy Clement from Vashon Island, WA
What do you like most about Vashon Island?
Oh, so many things to love about Vashon Island! You have to take a ferry to get here (no bridges!), which forces you to slow down before you even arrive. It’s a small, rural community with a big heart—neighbors actually know each other, and other small business owners are incredibly supportive. Plus, we’re just a 20-minute ferry ride from Seattle, so we can pop into the city without losing our island vibe.
What’s your backstory?
I was a brand-new coffee drinker during COVID—by “coffee” I mean a tiny splash of coffee with a whole lot of cream and sugar. I loved the morning ritual but hated the junk I was adding just to make it drinkable.
Then my friend Kim suggested adding spices, and boom—I could cut way back on the cream and sugar. I started experimenting with blends and realized no one else seemed to be doing this. As I weaned myself off cream and sugar with my own “Coffee Dust,” I knew I had something worth sharing.
What are your income streams?
Online, wholesale, Etsy, Amazon, and craft fairs.
How have you attracted new customers?
It’s been a lot of little things. I focus on earned media rather than paid ads, so getting featured in Real Simple and Tim Ferriss’s newsletter was huge. In-person markets also bring repeat customers.
My favorite hack: I run a giveaway at every market. People enter by scanning a QR code that links to an Omnisend form—way better than the old “write your email on this scrap of paper” system that had me deciphering handwriting for hours afterward. Our 1–2x/month newsletter is a big driver of repeat sales.
What is your favorite product?
Our Flavor Expedition Kit—12 servings of each of our six flavors, plus the cutest spoon you’ve ever seen. It’s perfect for sampling or gifting, and it makes people smile.
If you could go back, would you do anything differently?
I resisted custom packaging forever because I assumed it would be way too expensive. Turns out, if you order in bulk, it’s actually cheaper—and it looks a thousand times better. I wish I’d made that switch sooner and saved myself all the printing and stickering marathons.
What are your goals?
Last year we did about $140k in sales. This year, we’re on track for about $300k, which I’m insanely proud of. My big goal: hit $1 million in the next few years.
Only about 2% of women-owned businesses ever reach that milestone, and I want to be one of them.
The plan is to lean hard into wholesale and partner with fantastic retail shops.
I want to launch a solid profit-sharing model this year and make sure Coffee Dust stays fun—no corporate vibe, no soul-sucking stress.
What tools do you use?
Shopify for e-comm and POS, UpPromote and ShareASale for affiliates, MaterialsInventory for tracking raw materials, Gusto for payroll, Omnisend for newsletters, Canva and Adobe Illustrator for designing social posts and packaging, Ninety.io for running my Entrepreneurial Operating System (if you haven't read Traction, their EOS framework helps me stay on track!)
Do you have a favorite motivational quote or podcast?
Favorite quote: “Be curious, not judgmental.”Favorite recipe: whipped cream with Cocoa Calm Coffee Dust and fresh strawberries.Favorite podcasts: Postcards from Jubilee Station, How I Built This, The Tim Ferriss Show.
Do you have pets?
No pets of my own, but Captain the dog—our “dog-niece”—is the namesake for our original Captain’s Coffee Dust.
Where can we find you online?
@vashoncoffeedust on Instagram and Facebook.