April 26, 2024 • 30 mins
There's a special kind of connection that occurs when books and coffee come together, and this episode's guest, Kara Taghon from The Atlas Collective, is a true magician in that respect. With the scent of freshly brewed coffee in the air and a library of stories at our fingertips, we explore the creation of a community hub that's reinvigorating the Quad Cities. Kara reveals the life of a new business owner and how her introverted nature thrives within this extroverted venture, providing insights into the deep connections and vibrant community stitched together through shared stories and steaming cups of coffee.
As we unwrap the layers of The Atlas Collective's book club, we're invited into a microcosm of diversity and dialogue, where the joy of reading unites people from all walks of life. Our conversation ventures into the club's challenges and triumphs, from keeping pace with literary trends fueled by social media to honoring the timeless allure of the classics. Kara's journey as an introvert leading a book club paints an intimate portrait of connection and understanding, celebrating the richness of a community bonded over the pages of their favorite tales.
The episode culminates with a look at the broader picture of the Quad Cities' coffee scene, where the QC Coffee Trail casts a warm glow on the patchwork of local businesses. We hear touching stories and explore upcoming events designed to spark creativity and foster engagement within The Atlas Collective. Our gratitude for the QC increases as we reflect on the unique charm and collective joys that Kara's haven of literature and coffee brings to the heart of the Midwest.
QC, That's Where is a podcast powered by Visit Quad Cities. Through the people, partnerships, and personalities woven throughout the Quad Cities region, you'll meet real Quad Citizens and hear the untold stories of the region.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
They just they raved about the Quad Cities and both
of them were from the area, butthey haven't lived here since
the 90s.
They moved to the Kansas Cityarea and they came back and it's
night and day compared to the90s.
That's what they told me, andI'm not from the Quad Cities
originally and I think peopleknow that.
But they were like if thiscoffee trail existed while we
(00:20):
were here and this specific shopexisted while we were living
here, we never would have left?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Where do you find a family of communities connected
by the storied Mississippi River, where young explorers and
dreamers, investors andentrepreneurs thrive?
Where can you connect with realpeople living and creating in a
place that's as genuine as itis quirky QC?
That's when.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Well, everyone, welcome back to QC.
That's when podcast I'm hostingtoday, leah Nelson, and I'm so
excited to invite owner of theAtlas Collective, cara.
We're so excited to have you on.
Thank you for having me.
This is awesome.
Yes, of course, I think we needto start with, just like the
basic question how did this ideacome?
What made you want to open, youknow, an independent bookstore
(01:14):
slash coffee shop in the QuadCities?
Speaker 1 (01:17):
I like to tell people that I had a bug in me and I'm
passionate about books andcoffee and I just wanted to make
something in this communitythat's so special to me.
That's a reflection of myselfand the folks that I brought in
and want to continue to bring in.
So I've worked a lot of weird,odd jobs in my life and I
(01:37):
reached a point where I was likeyou know what, if I'm gonna
take a risk, the risk should betaken now, and it has paid off
tenfold.
Every day is the best day of mylife and I'm just really lucky
to be able to do this.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
So that makes me so happy to know that every day is
the best day of your life whileliving in the Quad Cities.
So could you talk a little bitabout what every day is like?
I know it's probably sodifferent and, like you said
before we started recording,you're like every day feels like
15 minutes.
So what kind of consists ofyour day at the Atlas Collective
?
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Um, bare bones of it is.
I show up at 7am, I put my bagdown, I check my email, maybe
once I get a cup of coffee in me, and then, honestly, all hell
breaks loose in the best way.
So I, with opening the AtlasCollective, I think the best
part about it and what I wantedthe most was I wanted every day
to be a little different.
(02:30):
I didn't want routine.
There's routine, of course, butI didn't want the same exchange
every day all the time.
Occupational, just like repeat,repeat, repeat.
And I've had jobs like that andit doesn't serve me.
I'm a creative moving, I justI'm a fidgeter, I'm a tinkerer,
I'm all over the place.
(02:50):
So every day at the Atlascollective, like I said, is
genuinely the best day of mylife.
But all walks of life comethrough my door.
Most of the I mean right now,it's new people, because we
literally just opened the doorin January, and it's uh, we do
have our wonderful regularswhich are a constant, which is
so cool, what the heck?
(03:11):
Um, but it's uh, putting outfires, running around, getting
my steps in making cups ofcoffee, ordering books, putting
books away and like those thingsstay the same, but it is
genuinely always a littledifferent.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
I leave feeling different every single day, in
the best way yeah, I was gonnasay I think that's what makes
working so fun.
I see that in like visit quadcities.
I love running around, I lovegetting content in different
places.
Like I mean, our staff came andhung out at atlas collective
one of these days and it was sofun and literally everyone raves
about it.
(03:47):
And we know Brittany.
Uh, she comes back and she'slike we have to all go to the
Atlas Collective.
It's a blast and it is.
It's such good vibes in there.
The coffee's great.
I'm a big reader and so, likeall of the books that I love
were on the, were on the umracks and I was like, oh, I need
to hear that that's the hardestpart.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Genuinely, that is the hardest part of everything,
because I also tell people likewe're abbreviated as a business,
like we have a little bit ofbooks and then we have the to go
coffee.
We don't have a sit downexperience not yet but it's so
hard to curate that collection.
We handpick everything and welisten to suggestions daily.
We've been doing mass returns,like we've gutted those shelves
(04:27):
twice and turned around and putnew titles up there and things
just continue to move.
And that's so cool that we havesuch a diverse community.
People want so many weird andawesome things that I didn't
expect the community to want andwe have a little suggestion box
for that.
Or people just come up and talkto me about it and we're open
(04:48):
to literally anything.
We'll order any title foranyone.
If we have the capability to doit, we'll do it.
It's just awesome.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
It's so nice to hear because I mean, you have a
suggestion, I want to see a book, and to hear that you're so
open ears and you're willing tomake that order is fantastic.
Talk a little bit about thebook club you guys have going on
.
I think that's amazing.
I love bringing the communitytogether, together in any type
of way, and the fact that youguys host a book club is pretty
(05:15):
cool.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
We.
That was in the plan from dayone when I started writing the
business plan.
Like we always the communityaspect of the Atlas Collective,
we wanted the book club to bethe starting point and the hub
of that, and we started our bookclub in January when we opened
with Legends and Lattes, whichis a very light fantasy about um
, an orc opening a coffee shop.
So we're like, okay, well, thisspeaks to us and we're gonna go
(05:39):
ahead and give that a go.
We had incredible, incredible,incredible engagement with that.
We sold out both sections rightaway and we were like, oh, wait
a minute, wait a minute.
Every month we've done somethingjust a little bit different.
We've jumped genres.
This upcoming month in May,we're doing two books, two
(06:00):
different books at the same time, two sections of one and then a
section of the other.
All of those sold out what inthe world?
But we just continue to jumparound because we're not really
sure what people want yet and wehave people voting.
We put polls on our socialmedia, we talk about it every
time we meet.
But we have had returningmembers, but we've also had
(06:21):
newbies that are just right offthe street and then we get
everybody in the same room andthe conversation is organic and
beautiful and everything that wewanted in book club and people
have been craving that and wehad no idea.
Literally I just did what Iwanted to do, what spoke to me
and what I love to do, like whenI travel outside of the Quad
(06:42):
Cities which is rare because Ijust I don't know it Cities
which is rare because I just Idon't know it's rare, I'm busy,
I don't know, but I I seek outbookstores and I love the whimsy
of walking into one and likemoving around and like kind of
sitting in the community thatI'm in, you know, and people get
to do that at the AtlasCollective and book club is kind
(07:04):
of people have made new friendsthere and that is so cool and
amazing and I would say I'm at aloss for words but I'm just
gabbing.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Okay, no, I have.
I have goosebumps and seriouslylike at this age, honestly, as
you get older, like out ofcollege and whatnot, it is hard
to make friends as you get older, like out of college and
whatnot.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
It is hard to make friends, oh my gosh.
And like it didn't help, girl,and we're trying to like shake
it up a little bit.
And I'm, I'm not old, I don'tknow what old is, I don't even
think about old.
I have not reached the 30 markyet and I'm inching.
I'm right there.
I'm right there my May.
But, like I, I tell people allthe time also that I'm an
(07:47):
introvert running an extrovertedbusiness.
Yes, like turn on my businessowner hat and then turn it off
and be a silly goose.
But I love making connectionswith people in my space that are
like minded and also introvertslike me, like I, just I gel
with all of our customers.
I have not had one weirdexperience.
I love, I love people.
(08:07):
I've always loved people, andthe people that come into the
Atlas collective come for areason and it's just so cool.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
I don't know it's just cool.
You know it's.
It's so cool and I can speakfrom experience of like when we
walked in.
I've never met you, I've onlyheard word of mouth of like oh,
how cool this place is.
I'm not kidding you.
We all left, people like thepeople from visit quantities
that came.
We all left and we're like thatis the coolest place ever.
Such good vibes.
It just felt like comfortable.
(08:36):
I could have stared at thebookshelves forever, even though
I walked back and forth throughthem like 20 times already.
But it's fun, cause you have abookshelf that celebrates um
different whatever that month is.
So you've had, you know, blackhistory, you've had women um
authors, it just it's cool thatyou guys are um making it
(08:58):
important to celebrate differentcommunities, different cultures
.
It's not just like oh, here's,here's the popular books that
are on TikTok, it's like youguys really care about who's
coming in to your coffee shop.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Yes, 100%.
We have such a beautiful anddiverse community and I think
people forget that sometimes andI and I've had a lot of poetry,
(09:46):
that's, all different kinds ofauthors, bipoc, queer, just all
different kinds and, um, I, Ikind of I've started now to like
mix our queer books in with ourregular stock because it's, I
mean, that's normal.
You know, like just just do itright and, um, there are some
(10:07):
that I highlight cause they'remy favorites.
And then I do have to look atTikTok sometimes and like, you
know that's and that goes withthe wind too.
I just have to be on it.
And again, I'm lucky to have ateam that I have, because my
Brooke, my creative director,she is on it, she's on it, she
knows what's trending, she's's,we're in, we're ordering all the
(10:27):
time, like multiple times aweek, and again we order for
people as well with specialrequests, and we are, we're just
always learning the whole, it'sonly learning, and it's just
wild how things have beenchanging, especially with books,
um, and following what'strending.
It does give me a migraine, Iwon't even lie, but it's also it
(10:49):
does turn into a fun game tolike what are people in the mood
for now?
Like it's just, but we also havethe classics, so it's it's just
crazy.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
That's how I get my book recommendations.
Sometimes, like I got to log onand see what everyone else is
reading, I'm like, why don't Ijust listen to what I want to
read?
I'm like, nope, not enoughreviews on TikTok or Atlas
Collective hasn't ordered it yet, so it must not be good you're
so real for that?
Speaker 1 (11:12):
because we, we like, go to Goodreads.
We're like, well, let's checkthe reviews on that, but, and
like, goodreads isn't like acatch-all for everything it's.
There aren't a lot of platformsout there that are good and if
there are, I want people to tellme about those.
Come into the Atlas collectiveand educate me, hello.
But I'm a mood reader throughand through.
(11:33):
Like.
I have a TBR that's 80 yearslong.
Don't talk to me about it.
Don't talk to me about it.
I have books.
I have a library at home.
I'm sitting in it right now.
I'm staring at all the booksthat I will read someday, maybe,
if I feel like it.
Like the wind has to be justright, and then I'll pick a book
and people think that's kind ofwacky, but I don't really care.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
I love it.
It's whatever you're feeling.
And and I have to ask you doyou, if you're reading a book
this is, this is kind of offtopic but if you're reading a
book and you're like a chapterand you're like this isn't for
me, do you shut it and put itaway?
Are you finishing it?
What a question.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
You know I've.
Only I can count on one handthe amount of times I've done
that I, oh, I'm a commitmentgirl.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
And I got to see it through.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
I have done that with one book in the past five years
and God it really wasn't for me.
I won't put the book on blastright now because some people
really it's a genre that'strending right now, but there
was one book that I.
That's a lie.
There's two and they're in thesame genre and I got a couple
(12:37):
chapters in and I'm like I havelimited brain space.
I am not going to force myself,like force feed this book into
my brain when I know there'sbetter stuff out there for me.
So like I don't feel badanymore, I just like my time is
precious and I barely I got alot going on up there.
So whatever I'm putting inneeds to serve me, fill my cup
(12:59):
so I can pour it into otherpeople, you know.
So that's just kind of how Ifeel about that.
I love it.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
I need to learn from you, because I'm so like, oh,
this book, it is going to get somuch better.
I just trust the process andthen I'm like forcing myself and
I'll.
It's just, and you kind of knowWhere's the enjoyment, babe.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Where's the enjoyment there?
Reading is a leisure fun Some.
I mean sometimes it's necessary, like for work, for school,
whatever.
But it can when it's leisure.
Do not force yourself.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
I can't know that.
I can't wait.
I can't wait to end thisrecording and ask you what those
books were, because I, in myhead, I feel like I yeah, I say
that to people and they're likeoh, I already know and I'm like
cool, you're my people like okaybut I already know.
Oh, I had to ask as, likesomeone else who reads, because
(13:45):
it's, I feel like it's split 5050.
There's people that if they'renot into it in the first couple
of pages off the shelf theydon't even think twice.
Or there's people that I giveit a couple chapters At least.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
I'm like I got that.
There's the trust, the process,this itty bitty part of me.
I'm like, okay, we'll give it acouple of chapters, Like if the
first hundred pages are kind oflike oh, yeah, oh, you gotta,
you gotta put it.
You gotta hook me man.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Uh-huh, uh-huh, it's hilarious.
I'm glad you answered that itwas.
It was brewing inside me, so uh, you guys are officially on the
QC Coffee Trail.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Yes, Woo, woo.
We're having so much fun Good.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
And, uh, we're celebrating for people that are
listening in.
Um April we're celebrating twoyears of the coffee trail, so
it's just really exciting.
Like we love it.
We're hearing great um thingsfrom it, from the community.
Um, I love going to differentcoffee shops.
It's fun when new ones join, sojust kind of chat about your
experience and people coming inand and using the qc coffee
trail I have so many incredibleexperiences to talk about.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
I just want to say, like before I opened the Atlas
Collective, I was a coffee Imean, I am a coffee trail girl.
I there are so many incrediblecoffee shops in the QC that I
frequent when my doors areclosed because sometimes I want
a treat that I don't have tomake with my hands, and there
are so many coffee shops that Igo to in the Quad Cities.
There's no way that I want youknow, I just I you pour your
(15:09):
money back into the community.
But as far as our experiencewith the coffee trail, I have to
highlight one incredibleexperience I had a couple of
days ago with out of townersthat found the QC coffee trail
and did about five in a day andwe were their last stop and by
the time they reached us theywere from the Kansas City area
(15:32):
and somehow they found thecoffee trail, which is so cool.
It's really cool.
They came in.
I watched them visibly take adeep breath and get immediately
emotional in our space.
And the couple they were a transcouple, which was so cool and
they came up to me and they werelike we are from out of town
and we're here specifically forthe coffee trail and we didn't
(15:54):
realize you had books too.
And I go yeah, we're, we'retwo-part, we're hanging out.
And they were like we wouldn'thave known about you if we, like
, we were just going through thecoffee trail website, like, and
they were talking about howbeautiful and everything you
guys have done and how you'veset it up and how it's
user-friendly and there's suchgreat information on there.
And they were like we found youon that platform and this was
(16:16):
one of the best stops, if notthe best stop of our day.
And they sat with us for, oh mygod, like an hour and a half.
They got each of them got twodrinks each and they we were
their last stop to get theirblanket or whatever their prize
was I think it was the blanketand um and they just they raved
(16:38):
about the Quad Cities and bothof them were from the area, but
they haven't lived here sincethe 90s.
They moved to the Kansas Cityarea and they came back and it's
night and day compared to the90s.
That's what they told me.
And I'm not from the QuadCities originally and I think
people know that coffee trailexisted while we were here and
(16:58):
this specific shop existed whilewe were living here.
We never would have left andthat I've been meaning.
I was gonna email y'all rightaway, but I can't wait to tell
everyone.
I was like, oh my gosh, like youguys have made something so
beautiful and incredible and youshould be so proud, and, um, it
(17:21):
was such an emotionalinteraction that I had with them
.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
I feel like I'm getting emotional now too.
Like you think, oh, a coffeetrail, like no big deal, or even
just the coffee shop thatyou've opened, like it's, you're
passionate about it.
But to create such a safe spacefor people in the Quad Cities,
but even out of the quad citiestraveling through is such an
incredible experience andfeeling to have.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
It is you guys made something amazing, and the fact
that we get to represent youguys and then you guys are a
part of us, it's just, it'ssymbiotic and gorgeous and
incredible.
And the fact thatout-of-towners get to do it and
get to experience the QuadCities in a totally different
way than so many othercommunities, it's huge.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
It's huge it creates a community is what I like to
think.
Like it's an easy pathway fromlike visit Quad Cities to you
guys.
It creates relationships so wecan do this kind of fun stuff,
but then it also creates thiscommunity to our community and
it's just perfect.
It brings us all together.
We love when people come in andthey're like I just went to
(18:32):
like so many places on the QCcoffee trail, or like I make a
post on social media and peoplecomment all their favorite
places, Like they all have theirgo-tos.
But yeah, the QC coffee trailalso allows them to like try
different things that they mightnot like some people everybody
has something different in thiscommunity.
Every shop is different, andit's so awesome it's so fun and
I like that you're so open tothat too.
Like, yes, it's competitive,you want all these people, but
(18:54):
it's also like a community, youwant people to just get out,
totally have relationships.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
People ask me about that.
Like I tell people all the time, I just I I'm a mood person.
I go where I want to go.
There are coffee shops.
I mean, I sat and built mybusiness plan in Milltown.
I loved Milltown, I still go toMilltown and I will not stop
doing that.
I love what they do, I love whothey are and I don don't the
(19:20):
competitive side of me I almostfeel like it doesn't exist when
it comes to the coffee.
You know, coffee is coffee.
Coffee brings people together.
I'm gonna go where I want myteam does the same.
You know, like we, we love ourcommunity and I'm gonna continue
to support others because itcomes right back around to me
(19:40):
too.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
It really does.
It really does.
Oh, I'm like I can't wait to gotell everyone.
Brittany's going to be soexcited, katrina's going to be
so excited, everyone, the wholestaff, is going to be like oh my
gosh, the QC coffee trail.
It's really nice to hear hearthose stories.
I, dave just our CEO andpresident just posted a thing on
social media yesterday.
He went through a coffee shopand someone was like oh, like,
(20:01):
where do you work?
And he said visit Quad Cities.
They're like oh, we love yourtext messages and your website
and I'm like it's just nice tohear that kind of stuff.
It's nice to know that peopleare like loving it and it's
helping the community and it'sgiving them resources to know
what's going on around the QuadCities.
I love the Quad Cities and Iwant everyone else to love the
Quad Cities, and so theseresources are just really
(20:25):
exciting for people to hop on to100%.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
I'm with you.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
We also.
There's also a really excitingthing that's happening this
weekend, april 27th 2024.
For people that are listening,maybe in the future, but it's
National Independent BookstoreDay.
Yeah, folks, yeah and look whohas national independent
bookstore day.
Yeah folks, yeah, look who hasan edit, look who has an
independent bookstore it's me hi, it's me.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Um, indie bookstore day.
This is our first, obviously,and we are uh foaming at the
mouth.
We are very excited, burstingat the seams to share all of our
, our goodies with you guys.
I know we've dropped some hints.
If you follow us on socialmedia, we have um a special
drink called the Eos all week.
(21:09):
Um, it is a, it's like a orangeJulius dupe with a little bit
of energy.
I know we're silly, so, yeah,yeah, just tastes like sunshine.
So we have that.
We have.
We're releasing some new shirtsthat are in a bright golden
yellow.
Uh, we're releasing exclusivestickers of our signature drinks
(21:31):
.
So, if you're not familiar withthose, we have the atlas, the
veto, the cleo, the sticks andthe ivy.
Uh, they're adorable andhand-drawn by our creative
director brooke, who's thebombcom.
We have children's reading at 930 in the morning.
We're doing blackout poetry.
Uh, digging deep.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
Right now, my brain is uh soup so anyone can just
come into the atlas collectiveon saturday and just hang, get a
great experience.
Oh yeah, With you guys.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Coffee bars open all day, which is different.
So usually we close our coffeebar down at 3, but we'll have it
open all day until 5, andthat's a huge deal.
And then we're also doing araffle.
We have a shredded book so youcan guess the shredded book.
Put it in our raffle.
Those who guess the shreddedbook correctly go into a
separate raffle.
We pull that winner and thenyou get a free paperback of your
(22:25):
choice, which is so cool.
That's so cool, so cool.
Oh, and we have propagation, uh, propagation stations and
little babies, uh, to give outfor the first 15 people that
make book purchases that day.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
So what an incredible , what a fun event for the
community.
Again like, congrats, it's yourfirst one, so very cool.
But oh, I'm gonna have to stopby on Saturday.
I have some books that I are onmy on my list to read.
I just started a series acouple days ago.
Uh, thrown a glass so.
(23:00):
I and I know you've alreadyread it right.
Did you read that, or did youread Crescent City or all?
Speaker 1 (23:04):
I read them all, babe , okay yeah, and we'll chat
about that when you come see meon Saturday.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
There's lots of oh, what a fun thing, very so much
exciting stuff happening for youguys.
I mean, do you, do you plan onchanging like your coffee menu
at all?
Is it, is it different or is itpretty solid?
Speaker 1 (23:28):
Um, we have the classics, for sure for those
folks that uh you know, haveroutines and they don't want to.
They don't want to mess around.
I'm a drip coffee person bynature as well, so I get that Um
, as far as switching it up bynature as well.
So I get that, um, as far asswitching it up.
We have not talked aboutanything major.
But our summer menu obviouslywill be coming out soon and we
(23:48):
still have our spring, which isthe Gaia and the Dryad.
And the Gaia, which is thehoneydew matcha with the boba
has been super popular andpeople love that.
But as far as a mass switch notquite in the cards yet we want
to get through the year.
Yeah, see what's up and thenshake it up from there.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
So it's just crazy to me that you guys haven't been
open for a super long time,because to me it's like you've
always just been part of thecommunity, like you always just
been around down the street fromus.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
So it's so funny that you say that.
So many people say that to meand I tell people like I
remember the day I sat down towrite the business plan for the
Atlas Collective and then Ithink I went to sleep and then I
woke up and I was already doingit and I feel like I've been
here forever, but it's been 15minutes, genuinely okay so you
know, um, that's inspiringthough.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
So like, if anyone has a business plan, go to a
coffee shop, write it down andjust start it the next day you
know, the coffee shops are wherethe magic happens.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Everyone, this is not news, this is, this is fact, so
put it on a t-shirt.
I watch me write it down.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
It's pretty incredible.
So you're not originally fromthe quad cities.
You said that.
Oh, I'm not.
So what is your favorite partbesides coffee shops?
Take that off the off the table, doesn't it?
Because that could have been aneasy answer.
What is just your favorite partabout the quad cities and
living here and working here?
Speaker 1 (25:12):
I this is going to be the weirdest answer ever.
So just everybody brings thatoff.
This is like not, this is offthe cuff.
I, one of my favorite places inthe Quad Cities is the
Riverside Cemetery.
Okay, because I love.
My favorite part about theRiverside Cemetery is I love
walking in there and then Ireach it's very hilly, so I get
(25:33):
to a point where I'm at like thehighest part of the hill and I
can see the bridge, I can seeIowa, I can see like a good
chunk of the Quad Cities andit's so peaceful to me.
And moving here from I grew upin the Chicago suburbs, south
Suburb area and it's and it's somuch different.
(25:53):
It's night and day and I movedhere for my partner who's from
the area, and I just rememberfeeling peace.
People are friendly, thecommunity is good.
It was good when I moved here.
I don't know six years ago now.
Perhaps this is just such abeautiful place to live and be
(26:18):
and I know riverside cemetery isa really funky thing to pick
out of all the most amazingthings that we have here, but,
um, being there and walking inthere gave me, it just gives me
peace.
There's so much wonderfulhistory in this collection of
four towns five, I guess, if youwant to get you know, people
like to add another town like abajillion I know it is.
(26:39):
There are um, I don't know.
I feel really small when I'm upon the hill and I'm looking at
the Quad City conglomerate.
It's a cool feeling, I don'tknow I.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
I love that because I've never heard when I ask
people that question.
You know, usually people don'tgo to cemetery, but I, that just
makes you you and it adds evenanother layer to the Quad Cities
.
Like guys, are you kidding me?
Even even these cemeteries aregreat and incredible and
inspirational and, like you said, we do have so much history
(27:12):
here.
There's so many layers to theQuad Cities and I probably sound
like nerdy, even though it ismy job.
Like Quad Cities, history here,there's so many layers to the
Quad Cities and I probably soundlike nerdy, even though it is
my job.
Like Quad Cities, come here,but I genuinely love it and to
hear, like you say you love it,having such a good experience
with your business and thecommunity, it just it warms my
(27:33):
brand and content coordinatorheart for social media.
I love it.
I love it.
It's so fun.
Well, is there, besidesindependent bookstore day or,
yeah, independent bookstore dayis there anything else on the
radar that we should be likelooking out for for the atlas
collective, any other events?
Speaker 1 (27:50):
if not, certainly fine, but yes, there are a lot
of things coming up.
Um, some I can share and some Ican't, because you know I got
secrets.
You gotta stay tuned.
Um, what has been announced sofar for upcoming in may, which
apparently is next week and thatgives me hives because this
year is moving really fast um,we have the wags and tails
(28:10):
reading program.
We're partnering with the quadcity animal welfare center and
we're doing um their uh littlereadings in our shop for
children and we're they'rebringing puppies and it's going
to be beautiful and we're goingto continue that throughout the
year.
And the first inaugural one isMay 11th, saturday at 930, I
believe we set it for and Pattywill be coming to read a book
(28:31):
called Can I Be your Dog.
Everyone will cry about that.
It it's beautiful, there willbe dogs there.
It's a huge deal.
So we're starting that readingprogram very soon.
Um, but please be on thelookout on our social medias.
We have some workshops andevents coming up into the summer
, and june is pride.
So you know we're gonna gobananas.
(28:54):
So just keep an eye out for us,because we can't be stopped.
We can't, apparently.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
And keep going again.
You're bringing so much greatenergy to the Quad Cities.
We love having you here.
We love having you on the QCCoffee Trail again.
It's crazy that we've been herefor two years and you've joined
and you've already had such agreat experience with the Coffee
Trail.
So that's incredible, soexciting.
We can't wait for you to be onit for a bajillion more years,
(29:23):
of course.
Well, I don't want to take toomuch of your time, but we always
end, you know, our podcast witha QC that's where statement.
So I gave you some time tothink.
So fill in the blank QC, that'swhere the magic happens.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
In the blank, you see , that's where the magic happens
.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
It's true, you see, that's where the magic happens.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
I had a little body.
Speaker 3 (29:41):
Just it's where the magic happens.
People know it.
That was so good.
Well, thank you so much, kara.
Seriously, I appreciate it.
It has been such a blast.
I could talk to you for hoursand hours and hours.
I know, I know I can't wait tocome in and grab some coffee.
Can't wait to tell the staffabout the amazing experiences
you've had in your store.
I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
I haven't shared it sooner.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
No.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
Again, it's not real.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
Again, it's not real.
Seriously, thank you so much.
I really appreciate it.
Of course, anytime, thank youfor having me.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Thanks for listening to QC.
That's when a podcast poweredby Visit Quad Cities Text
VISITQC to 38314 for insiderevents, activities and updates
sent straight to your phone.
That's V-I-S-I-T-Q-C, one wordto 38314.
(30:33):
Message and data rates mayapply.
They just they raved about the Quad Cities and both
of them were from the area, butthey haven't lived here since
the 90s.
They moved to the Kansas Cityarea and they came back and it's
night and day compared to the90s.
That's what they told me, andI'm not from the Quad Cities
originally and I think peopleknow that.
But they were like if thiscoffee trail existed while we
(00:20):
were here and this specific shopexisted while we were living
here, we never would have left?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Where do you find a family of communities connected
by the storied Mississippi River, where young explorers and
dreamers, investors andentrepreneurs thrive?
Where can you connect with realpeople living and creating in a
place that's as genuine as itis quirky QC?
That's when.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Well, everyone, welcome back to QC.
That's when podcast I'm hostingtoday, leah Nelson, and I'm so
excited to invite owner of theAtlas Collective, cara.
We're so excited to have you on.
Thank you for having me.
This is awesome.
Yes, of course, I think we needto start with, just like the
basic question how did this ideacome?
What made you want to open, youknow, an independent bookstore
(01:14):
slash coffee shop in the QuadCities?
Speaker 1 (01:17):
I like to tell people that I had a bug in me and I'm
passionate about books andcoffee and I just wanted to make
something in this communitythat's so special to me.
That's a reflection of myselfand the folks that I brought in
and want to continue to bring in.
So I've worked a lot of weird,odd jobs in my life and I
(01:37):
reached a point where I was likeyou know what, if I'm gonna
take a risk, the risk should betaken now, and it has paid off
tenfold.
Every day is the best day of mylife and I'm just really lucky
to be able to do this.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
So that makes me so happy to know that every day is
the best day of your life whileliving in the Quad Cities.
So could you talk a little bitabout what every day is like?
I know it's probably sodifferent and, like you said
before we started recording,you're like every day feels like
15 minutes.
So what kind of consists ofyour day at the Atlas Collective
?
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Um, bare bones of it is.
I show up at 7am, I put my bagdown, I check my email, maybe
once I get a cup of coffee in me, and then, honestly, all hell
breaks loose in the best way.
So I, with opening the AtlasCollective, I think the best
part about it and what I wantedthe most was I wanted every day
to be a little different.
(02:30):
I didn't want routine.
There's routine, of course, butI didn't want the same exchange
every day all the time.
Occupational, just like repeat,repeat, repeat.
And I've had jobs like that andit doesn't serve me.
I'm a creative moving, I justI'm a fidgeter, I'm a tinkerer,
I'm all over the place.
(02:50):
So every day at the Atlascollective, like I said, is
genuinely the best day of mylife.
But all walks of life comethrough my door.
Most of the I mean right now,it's new people, because we
literally just opened the doorin January, and it's uh, we do
have our wonderful regularswhich are a constant, which is
so cool, what the heck?
(03:11):
Um, but it's uh, putting outfires, running around, getting
my steps in making cups ofcoffee, ordering books, putting
books away and like those thingsstay the same, but it is
genuinely always a littledifferent.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
I leave feeling different every single day, in
the best way yeah, I was gonnasay I think that's what makes
working so fun.
I see that in like visit quadcities.
I love running around, I lovegetting content in different
places.
Like I mean, our staff came andhung out at atlas collective
one of these days and it was sofun and literally everyone raves
about it.
(03:47):
And we know Brittany.
Uh, she comes back and she'slike we have to all go to the
Atlas Collective.
It's a blast and it is.
It's such good vibes in there.
The coffee's great.
I'm a big reader and so, likeall of the books that I love
were on the, were on the umracks and I was like, oh, I need
to hear that that's the hardestpart.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Genuinely, that is the hardest part of everything,
because I also tell people likewe're abbreviated as a business,
like we have a little bit ofbooks and then we have the to go
coffee.
We don't have a sit downexperience not yet but it's so
hard to curate that collection.
We handpick everything and welisten to suggestions daily.
We've been doing mass returns,like we've gutted those shelves
(04:27):
twice and turned around and putnew titles up there and things
just continue to move.
And that's so cool that we havesuch a diverse community.
People want so many weird andawesome things that I didn't
expect the community to want andwe have a little suggestion box
for that.
Or people just come up and talkto me about it and we're open
(04:48):
to literally anything.
We'll order any title foranyone.
If we have the capability to doit, we'll do it.
It's just awesome.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
It's so nice to hear because I mean, you have a
suggestion, I want to see a book, and to hear that you're so
open ears and you're willing tomake that order is fantastic.
Talk a little bit about thebook club you guys have going on
.
I think that's amazing.
I love bringing the communitytogether, together in any type
of way, and the fact that youguys host a book club is pretty
(05:15):
cool.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
We.
That was in the plan from dayone when I started writing the
business plan.
Like we always the communityaspect of the Atlas Collective,
we wanted the book club to bethe starting point and the hub
of that, and we started our bookclub in January when we opened
with Legends and Lattes, whichis a very light fantasy about um
, an orc opening a coffee shop.
So we're like, okay, well, thisspeaks to us and we're gonna go
(05:39):
ahead and give that a go.
We had incredible, incredible,incredible engagement with that.
We sold out both sections rightaway and we were like, oh, wait
a minute, wait a minute.
Every month we've done somethingjust a little bit different.
We've jumped genres.
This upcoming month in May,we're doing two books, two
(06:00):
different books at the same time, two sections of one and then a
section of the other.
All of those sold out what inthe world?
But we just continue to jumparound because we're not really
sure what people want yet and wehave people voting.
We put polls on our socialmedia, we talk about it every
time we meet.
But we have had returningmembers, but we've also had
(06:21):
newbies that are just right offthe street and then we get
everybody in the same room andthe conversation is organic and
beautiful and everything that wewanted in book club and people
have been craving that and wehad no idea.
Literally I just did what Iwanted to do, what spoke to me
and what I love to do, like whenI travel outside of the Quad
(06:42):
Cities which is rare because Ijust I don't know it Cities
which is rare because I just Idon't know it's rare, I'm busy,
I don't know, but I I seek outbookstores and I love the whimsy
of walking into one and likemoving around and like kind of
sitting in the community thatI'm in, you know, and people get
to do that at the AtlasCollective and book club is kind
(07:04):
of people have made new friendsthere and that is so cool and
amazing and I would say I'm at aloss for words but I'm just
gabbing.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Okay, no, I have.
I have goosebumps and seriouslylike at this age, honestly, as
you get older, like out ofcollege and whatnot, it is hard
to make friends as you get older, like out of college and
whatnot.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
It is hard to make friends, oh my gosh.
And like it didn't help, girl,and we're trying to like shake
it up a little bit.
And I'm, I'm not old, I don'tknow what old is, I don't even
think about old.
I have not reached the 30 markyet and I'm inching.
I'm right there.
I'm right there my May.
But, like I, I tell people allthe time also that I'm an
(07:47):
introvert running an extrovertedbusiness.
Yes, like turn on my businessowner hat and then turn it off
and be a silly goose.
But I love making connectionswith people in my space that are
like minded and also introvertslike me, like I, just I gel
with all of our customers.
I have not had one weirdexperience.
I love, I love people.
(08:07):
I've always loved people, andthe people that come into the
Atlas collective come for areason and it's just so cool.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
I don't know it's just cool.
You know it's.
It's so cool and I can speakfrom experience of like when we
walked in.
I've never met you, I've onlyheard word of mouth of like oh,
how cool this place is.
I'm not kidding you.
We all left, people like thepeople from visit quantities
that came.
We all left and we're like thatis the coolest place ever.
Such good vibes.
It just felt like comfortable.
(08:36):
I could have stared at thebookshelves forever, even though
I walked back and forth throughthem like 20 times already.
But it's fun, cause you have abookshelf that celebrates um
different whatever that month is.
So you've had, you know, blackhistory, you've had women um
authors, it just it's cool thatyou guys are um making it
(08:58):
important to celebrate differentcommunities, different cultures
.
It's not just like oh, here's,here's the popular books that
are on TikTok, it's like youguys really care about who's
coming in to your coffee shop.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Yes, 100%.
We have such a beautiful anddiverse community and I think
people forget that sometimes andI and I've had a lot of poetry,
(09:46):
that's, all different kinds ofauthors, bipoc, queer, just all
different kinds and, um, I, Ikind of I've started now to like
mix our queer books in with ourregular stock because it's, I
mean, that's normal.
You know, like just just do itright and, um, there are some
(10:07):
that I highlight cause they'remy favorites.
And then I do have to look atTikTok sometimes and like, you
know that's and that goes withthe wind too.
I just have to be on it.
And again, I'm lucky to have ateam that I have, because my
Brooke, my creative director,she is on it, she's on it, she
knows what's trending, she's's,we're in, we're ordering all the
(10:27):
time, like multiple times aweek, and again we order for
people as well with specialrequests, and we are, we're just
always learning the whole, it'sonly learning, and it's just
wild how things have beenchanging, especially with books,
um, and following what'strending.
It does give me a migraine, Iwon't even lie, but it's also it
(10:49):
does turn into a fun game tolike what are people in the mood
for now?
Like it's just, but we also havethe classics, so it's it's just
crazy.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
That's how I get my book recommendations.
Sometimes, like I got to log onand see what everyone else is
reading, I'm like, why don't Ijust listen to what I want to
read?
I'm like, nope, not enoughreviews on TikTok or Atlas
Collective hasn't ordered it yet, so it must not be good you're
so real for that?
Speaker 1 (11:12):
because we, we like, go to Goodreads.
We're like, well, let's checkthe reviews on that, but, and
like, goodreads isn't like acatch-all for everything it's.
There aren't a lot of platformsout there that are good and if
there are, I want people to tellme about those.
Come into the Atlas collectiveand educate me, hello.
But I'm a mood reader throughand through.
(11:33):
Like.
I have a TBR that's 80 yearslong.
Don't talk to me about it.
Don't talk to me about it.
I have books.
I have a library at home.
I'm sitting in it right now.
I'm staring at all the booksthat I will read someday, maybe,
if I feel like it.
Like the wind has to be justright, and then I'll pick a book
and people think that's kind ofwacky, but I don't really care.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
I love it.
It's whatever you're feeling.
And and I have to ask you doyou, if you're reading a book
this is, this is kind of offtopic but if you're reading a
book and you're like a chapterand you're like this isn't for
me, do you shut it and put itaway?
Are you finishing it?
What a question.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
You know I've.
Only I can count on one handthe amount of times I've done
that I, oh, I'm a commitmentgirl.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
And I got to see it through.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
I have done that with one book in the past five years
and God it really wasn't for me.
I won't put the book on blastright now because some people
really it's a genre that'strending right now, but there
was one book that I.
That's a lie.
There's two and they're in thesame genre and I got a couple
(12:37):
chapters in and I'm like I havelimited brain space.
I am not going to force myself,like force feed this book into
my brain when I know there'sbetter stuff out there for me.
So like I don't feel badanymore, I just like my time is
precious and I barely I got alot going on up there.
So whatever I'm putting inneeds to serve me, fill my cup
(12:59):
so I can pour it into otherpeople, you know.
So that's just kind of how Ifeel about that.
I love it.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
I need to learn from you, because I'm so like, oh,
this book, it is going to get somuch better.
I just trust the process andthen I'm like forcing myself and
I'll.
It's just, and you kind of knowWhere's the enjoyment, babe.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Where's the enjoyment there?
Reading is a leisure fun Some.
I mean sometimes it's necessary, like for work, for school,
whatever.
But it can when it's leisure.
Do not force yourself.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
I can't know that.
I can't wait.
I can't wait to end thisrecording and ask you what those
books were, because I, in myhead, I feel like I yeah, I say
that to people and they're likeoh, I already know and I'm like
cool, you're my people like okaybut I already know.
Oh, I had to ask as, likesomeone else who reads, because
(13:45):
it's, I feel like it's split 5050.
There's people that if they'renot into it in the first couple
of pages off the shelf theydon't even think twice.
Or there's people that I giveit a couple chapters At least.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
I'm like I got that.
There's the trust, the process,this itty bitty part of me.
I'm like, okay, we'll give it acouple of chapters, Like if the
first hundred pages are kind oflike oh, yeah, oh, you gotta,
you gotta put it.
You gotta hook me man.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Uh-huh, uh-huh, it's hilarious.
I'm glad you answered that itwas.
It was brewing inside me, so uh, you guys are officially on the
QC Coffee Trail.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Yes, Woo, woo.
We're having so much fun Good.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
And, uh, we're celebrating for people that are
listening in.
Um April we're celebrating twoyears of the coffee trail, so
it's just really exciting.
Like we love it.
We're hearing great um thingsfrom it, from the community.
Um, I love going to differentcoffee shops.
It's fun when new ones join, sojust kind of chat about your
experience and people coming inand and using the qc coffee
trail I have so many incredibleexperiences to talk about.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
I just want to say, like before I opened the Atlas
Collective, I was a coffee Imean, I am a coffee trail girl.
I there are so many incrediblecoffee shops in the QC that I
frequent when my doors areclosed because sometimes I want
a treat that I don't have tomake with my hands, and there
are so many coffee shops that Igo to in the Quad Cities.
There's no way that I want youknow, I just I you pour your
(15:09):
money back into the community.
But as far as our experiencewith the coffee trail, I have to
highlight one incredibleexperience I had a couple of
days ago with out of townersthat found the QC coffee trail
and did about five in a day andwe were their last stop and by
the time they reached us theywere from the Kansas City area
(15:32):
and somehow they found thecoffee trail, which is so cool.
It's really cool.
They came in.
I watched them visibly take adeep breath and get immediately
emotional in our space.
And the couple they were a transcouple, which was so cool and
they came up to me and they werelike we are from out of town
and we're here specifically forthe coffee trail and we didn't
(15:54):
realize you had books too.
And I go yeah, we're, we'retwo-part, we're hanging out.
And they were like we wouldn'thave known about you if we, like
, we were just going through thecoffee trail website, like, and
they were talking about howbeautiful and everything you
guys have done and how you'veset it up and how it's
user-friendly and there's suchgreat information on there.
And they were like we found youon that platform and this was
(16:16):
one of the best stops, if notthe best stop of our day.
And they sat with us for, oh mygod, like an hour and a half.
They got each of them got twodrinks each and they we were
their last stop to get theirblanket or whatever their prize
was I think it was the blanketand um and they just they raved
(16:38):
about the Quad Cities and bothof them were from the area, but
they haven't lived here sincethe 90s.
They moved to the Kansas Cityarea and they came back and it's
night and day compared to the90s.
That's what they told me.
And I'm not from the QuadCities originally and I think
people know that coffee trailexisted while we were here and
(16:58):
this specific shop existed whilewe were living here.
We never would have left andthat I've been meaning.
I was gonna email y'all rightaway, but I can't wait to tell
everyone.
I was like, oh my gosh, like youguys have made something so
beautiful and incredible and youshould be so proud, and, um, it
(17:21):
was such an emotionalinteraction that I had with them
.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
I feel like I'm getting emotional now too.
Like you think, oh, a coffeetrail, like no big deal, or even
just the coffee shop thatyou've opened, like it's, you're
passionate about it.
But to create such a safe spacefor people in the Quad Cities,
but even out of the quad citiestraveling through is such an
incredible experience andfeeling to have.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
It is you guys made something amazing, and the fact
that we get to represent youguys and then you guys are a
part of us, it's just, it'ssymbiotic and gorgeous and
incredible.
And the fact thatout-of-towners get to do it and
get to experience the QuadCities in a totally different
way than so many othercommunities, it's huge.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
It's huge it creates a community is what I like to
think.
Like it's an easy pathway fromlike visit Quad Cities to you
guys.
It creates relationships so wecan do this kind of fun stuff,
but then it also creates thiscommunity to our community and
it's just perfect.
It brings us all together.
We love when people come in andthey're like I just went to
(18:32):
like so many places on the QCcoffee trail, or like I make a
post on social media and peoplecomment all their favorite
places, Like they all have theirgo-tos.
But yeah, the QC coffee trailalso allows them to like try
different things that they mightnot like some people everybody
has something different in thiscommunity.
Every shop is different, andit's so awesome it's so fun and
I like that you're so open tothat too.
Like, yes, it's competitive,you want all these people, but
(18:54):
it's also like a community, youwant people to just get out,
totally have relationships.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
People ask me about that.
Like I tell people all the time, I just I I'm a mood person.
I go where I want to go.
There are coffee shops.
I mean, I sat and built mybusiness plan in Milltown.
I loved Milltown, I still go toMilltown and I will not stop
doing that.
I love what they do, I love whothey are and I don don't the
(19:20):
competitive side of me I almostfeel like it doesn't exist when
it comes to the coffee.
You know, coffee is coffee.
Coffee brings people together.
I'm gonna go where I want myteam does the same.
You know, like we, we love ourcommunity and I'm gonna continue
to support others because itcomes right back around to me
(19:40):
too.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
It really does.
It really does.
Oh, I'm like I can't wait to gotell everyone.
Brittany's going to be soexcited, katrina's going to be
so excited, everyone, the wholestaff, is going to be like oh my
gosh, the QC coffee trail.
It's really nice to hear hearthose stories.
I, dave just our CEO andpresident just posted a thing on
social media yesterday.
He went through a coffee shopand someone was like oh, like,
(20:01):
where do you work?
And he said visit Quad Cities.
They're like oh, we love yourtext messages and your website
and I'm like it's just nice tohear that kind of stuff.
It's nice to know that peopleare like loving it and it's
helping the community and it'sgiving them resources to know
what's going on around the QuadCities.
I love the Quad Cities and Iwant everyone else to love the
Quad Cities, and so theseresources are just really
(20:25):
exciting for people to hop on to100%.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
I'm with you.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
We also.
There's also a really excitingthing that's happening this
weekend, april 27th 2024.
For people that are listening,maybe in the future, but it's
National Independent BookstoreDay.
Yeah, folks, yeah and look whohas national independent
bookstore day.
Yeah folks, yeah, look who hasan edit, look who has an
independent bookstore it's me hi, it's me.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Um, indie bookstore day.
This is our first, obviously,and we are uh foaming at the
mouth.
We are very excited, burstingat the seams to share all of our
, our goodies with you guys.
I know we've dropped some hints.
If you follow us on socialmedia, we have um a special
drink called the Eos all week.
(21:09):
Um, it is a, it's like a orangeJulius dupe with a little bit
of energy.
I know we're silly, so, yeah,yeah, just tastes like sunshine.
So we have that.
We have.
We're releasing some new shirtsthat are in a bright golden
yellow.
Uh, we're releasing exclusivestickers of our signature drinks
(21:31):
.
So, if you're not familiar withthose, we have the atlas, the
veto, the cleo, the sticks andthe ivy.
Uh, they're adorable andhand-drawn by our creative
director brooke, who's thebombcom.
We have children's reading at 930 in the morning.
We're doing blackout poetry.
Uh, digging deep.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
Right now, my brain is uh soup so anyone can just
come into the atlas collectiveon saturday and just hang, get a
great experience.
Oh yeah, With you guys.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Coffee bars open all day, which is different.
So usually we close our coffeebar down at 3, but we'll have it
open all day until 5, andthat's a huge deal.
And then we're also doing araffle.
We have a shredded book so youcan guess the shredded book.
Put it in our raffle.
Those who guess the shreddedbook correctly go into a
separate raffle.
We pull that winner and thenyou get a free paperback of your
(22:25):
choice, which is so cool.
That's so cool, so cool.
Oh, and we have propagation, uh, propagation stations and
little babies, uh, to give outfor the first 15 people that
make book purchases that day.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
So what an incredible , what a fun event for the
community.
Again like, congrats, it's yourfirst one, so very cool.
But oh, I'm gonna have to stopby on Saturday.
I have some books that I are onmy on my list to read.
I just started a series acouple days ago.
Uh, thrown a glass so.
(23:00):
I and I know you've alreadyread it right.
Did you read that, or did youread Crescent City or all?
Speaker 1 (23:04):
I read them all, babe , okay yeah, and we'll chat
about that when you come see meon Saturday.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
There's lots of oh, what a fun thing, very so much
exciting stuff happening for youguys.
I mean, do you, do you plan onchanging like your coffee menu
at all?
Is it, is it different or is itpretty solid?
Speaker 1 (23:28):
Um, we have the classics, for sure for those
folks that uh you know, haveroutines and they don't want to.
They don't want to mess around.
I'm a drip coffee person bynature as well, so I get that Um
, as far as switching it up bynature as well.
So I get that, um, as far asswitching it up.
We have not talked aboutanything major.
But our summer menu obviouslywill be coming out soon and we
(23:48):
still have our spring, which isthe Gaia and the Dryad.
And the Gaia, which is thehoneydew matcha with the boba
has been super popular andpeople love that.
But as far as a mass switch notquite in the cards yet we want
to get through the year.
Yeah, see what's up and thenshake it up from there.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
So it's just crazy to me that you guys haven't been
open for a super long time,because to me it's like you've
always just been part of thecommunity, like you always just
been around down the street fromus.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
So it's so funny that you say that.
So many people say that to meand I tell people like I
remember the day I sat down towrite the business plan for the
Atlas Collective and then Ithink I went to sleep and then I
woke up and I was already doingit and I feel like I've been
here forever, but it's been 15minutes, genuinely okay so you
know, um, that's inspiringthough.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
So like, if anyone has a business plan, go to a
coffee shop, write it down andjust start it the next day you
know, the coffee shops are wherethe magic happens.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Everyone, this is not news, this is, this is fact, so
put it on a t-shirt.
I watch me write it down.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
It's pretty incredible.
So you're not originally fromthe quad cities.
You said that.
Oh, I'm not.
So what is your favorite partbesides coffee shops?
Take that off the off the table, doesn't it?
Because that could have been aneasy answer.
What is just your favorite partabout the quad cities and
living here and working here?
Speaker 1 (25:12):
I this is going to be the weirdest answer ever.
So just everybody brings thatoff.
This is like not, this is offthe cuff.
I, one of my favorite places inthe Quad Cities is the
Riverside Cemetery.
Okay, because I love.
My favorite part about theRiverside Cemetery is I love
walking in there and then Ireach it's very hilly, so I get
(25:33):
to a point where I'm at like thehighest part of the hill and I
can see the bridge, I can seeIowa, I can see like a good
chunk of the Quad Cities andit's so peaceful to me.
And moving here from I grew upin the Chicago suburbs, south
Suburb area and it's and it's somuch different.
(25:53):
It's night and day and I movedhere for my partner who's from
the area, and I just rememberfeeling peace.
People are friendly, thecommunity is good.
It was good when I moved here.
I don't know six years ago now.
Perhaps this is just such abeautiful place to live and be
(26:18):
and I know riverside cemetery isa really funky thing to pick
out of all the most amazingthings that we have here, but,
um, being there and walking inthere gave me, it just gives me
peace.
There's so much wonderfulhistory in this collection of
four towns five, I guess, if youwant to get you know, people
like to add another town like abajillion I know it is.
(26:39):
There are um, I don't know.
I feel really small when I'm upon the hill and I'm looking at
the Quad City conglomerate.
It's a cool feeling, I don'tknow I.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
I love that because I've never heard when I ask
people that question.
You know, usually people don'tgo to cemetery, but I, that just
makes you you and it adds evenanother layer to the Quad Cities
.
Like guys, are you kidding me?
Even even these cemeteries aregreat and incredible and
inspirational and, like you said, we do have so much history
(27:12):
here.
There's so many layers to theQuad Cities and I probably sound
like nerdy, even though it ismy job.
Like Quad Cities, history here,there's so many layers to the
Quad Cities and I probably soundlike nerdy, even though it is
my job.
Like Quad Cities, come here,but I genuinely love it and to
hear, like you say you love it,having such a good experience
with your business and thecommunity, it just it warms my
(27:33):
brand and content coordinatorheart for social media.
I love it.
I love it.
It's so fun.
Well, is there, besidesindependent bookstore day or,
yeah, independent bookstore dayis there anything else on the
radar that we should be likelooking out for for the atlas
collective, any other events?
Speaker 1 (27:50):
if not, certainly fine, but yes, there are a lot
of things coming up.
Um, some I can share and some Ican't, because you know I got
secrets.
You gotta stay tuned.
Um, what has been announced sofar for upcoming in may, which
apparently is next week and thatgives me hives because this
year is moving really fast um,we have the wags and tails
(28:10):
reading program.
We're partnering with the quadcity animal welfare center and
we're doing um their uh littlereadings in our shop for
children and we're they'rebringing puppies and it's going
to be beautiful and we're goingto continue that throughout the
year.
And the first inaugural one isMay 11th, saturday at 930, I
believe we set it for and Pattywill be coming to read a book
(28:31):
called Can I Be your Dog.
Everyone will cry about that.
It it's beautiful, there willbe dogs there.
It's a huge deal.
So we're starting that readingprogram very soon.
Um, but please be on thelookout on our social medias.
We have some workshops andevents coming up into the summer
, and june is pride.
So you know we're gonna gobananas.
(28:54):
So just keep an eye out for us,because we can't be stopped.
We can't, apparently.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
And keep going again.
You're bringing so much greatenergy to the Quad Cities.
We love having you here.
We love having you on the QCCoffee Trail again.
It's crazy that we've been herefor two years and you've joined
and you've already had such agreat experience with the Coffee
Trail.
So that's incredible, soexciting.
We can't wait for you to be onit for a bajillion more years,
(29:23):
of course.
Well, I don't want to take toomuch of your time, but we always
end, you know, our podcast witha QC that's where statement.
So I gave you some time tothink.
So fill in the blank QC, that'swhere the magic happens.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
In the blank, you see , that's where the magic happens
.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
It's true, you see, that's where the magic happens.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
I had a little body.
Speaker 3 (29:41):
Just it's where the magic happens.
People know it.
That was so good.
Well, thank you so much, kara.
Seriously, I appreciate it.
It has been such a blast.
I could talk to you for hoursand hours and hours.
I know, I know I can't wait tocome in and grab some coffee.
Can't wait to tell the staffabout the amazing experiences
you've had in your store.
I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
I haven't shared it sooner.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
No.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
Again, it's not real.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
Again, it's not real.
Seriously, thank you so much.
I really appreciate it.
Of course, anytime, thank youfor having me.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Thanks for listening to QC.
That's when a podcast poweredby Visit Quad Cities Text
VISITQC to 38314 for insiderevents, activities and updates
sent straight to your phone.
That's V-I-S-I-T-Q-C, one wordto 38314.
(30:33):
Message and data rates mayapply.
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