Meet the founder: 23-year-old coffee shop owner puts it all online

• "We put our freaking back into our social media marketing," the 23-year-old owner said in a recent video, sipping on an iced drink as she strolls outside her South End cafe and explains how she upped her sales.

Why it matters: Layman is among a wave of entrepreneurs, like Sip City, Seemingly Overzealous and Thrift Pony, who are unusually transparent online about running a business.

• "People love to see what's going on behind the scenes," Layman tells me. "People love to see someone try."

Flashback: Layman got her first gig in coffee at Starbucks at 16 — "It's like the gateway of coffee jobs," she jokes.

• "I was addicted to the rush of being busy in hospitality," she says.
• As she wrapped up her business degree, she was hired at Giddy Goat, where she started planning a separate coffee cart business in 2024.
• "It sounds woo-woo, but I felt this gut feeling and calling," Layman recalls. "Like, you have to start this."

She made a pitch deck for her parents with a business plan, asking to borrow money. They told her no. She would go to the bank instead.

• She used a $10,000 loan — which felt like a lot of money to a 21-year-old, she remembers — to buy a $6,000 cart from Simple Cart Systems and pinched every other penny. With Giddy Goat beans, she started doing pop-ups on the street and at weddings, corporate events and vintage markets.
• She paid off the loan in six months.

The latest: When The Club was opening, South End community manager Allison Mills recommended Layman to the wellness hub's founders.

• She's been there for more than a year now. She says foot traffic is growing. And she still uses Giddy Goat coffee beans.

The big picture: With so many national chains coming into Charlotte, it's increasingly difficult for small businesses to compete against deep pockets and find ways to stand out. But Layman is using what they can't to her advantage: Relatability.

• Layman says her social media presence is building a brand that people can trust, even if it sometimes means being vulnerable.
• "As we grow, I will film things and be like, 'Wait, this has the potential to reach 500,000 eyes,'" she says, "and that brings a lot of opinions."

What's next: Layman has been searching for her own storefront for several months but hasn't found a location just yet.

• "Ideally, people walk there, they can get their fresh bread for the week, enjoy a Sunday morning coffee and we hold community events," she said. "I always want to personally be really in touch with who we're serving."
• In another upfront video, Layman says she is worried about figuring out permitting, making another business plan and investing more money to get there.

If you go: Order Layman's personal rec, the cinnamon brown sugar iced latte.

• For a seasonal drink, try the Biscoff cookie cold brew this fall. Or if you want what's most popular: Pertinacious' blueberry matcha has gone viral.

Stop by: 1200 S Graham St. Open until 3pm daily.