Drew Shows always has a plan.

He admits he is a “calendar guy” who likes to live with a certain organization and regimentation to his daily activities as a senior at Elysian Fields High School.

Up until the early part of this year, Drew’s plan included his job working in the Cafe Mojo coffee shop in Elysian Fields. The plan also included looking ahead to college, as is the plan with many of his classmates in the Class of 2025.

But as Drew Shows has learned, along with his family, plans change.

It changed for the Shows less than two months ago when he informed his parents that he didn’t want to go to college. Instead, he wanted to open his own coffee house.

“Just out of the blue, he tells us he doesn’t plan on going to college,” said Melissa Shows, Drew’s mom. “Richie (his father) and I were just shocked, and we said ‘what in the world are you talking about?’ Then, he just calmly told us he wanted to open a coffee shop.”

After they realized their fourth child, a solid, standout student at EFHS, was indeed serious, Richie and Melissa began the process of trying to apply reason to this new plan.

“At first, we were like absolutely not, that is not going to work for your life,” Melissa recalled. “But then we kind of talked about it and thought, well, there’s really no reason why he can’t do both, or he still can’t just try this and he would still be young enough to go back to school if he wants to. We prayed about it, and it just kind of led us to where we are.”

Drew’s Brews

Where they are today is a couple of weeks into what is now a new coffee house in Waskom. A couple of weeks after making his stunning announcement to his parents, Drew, with the help of Cafe Mojo owner and mentor Jodi Morgan, got connected with equipment suppliers and was off and running with his new adventure, the adventure of opening his very first “Drew’s Brew” coffee house.

Located just off Interstate 20 next to Jim’s, Drew’s Brew is his very first because Drew very flatly will say that he intends to open many more. This is just not a once-off venture for him; no, the new plan includes a desire to open a franchise of coffee shops in East Texas and beyond.

“I want to have more shops. I want it to be a bigger enterprise,” said Drew. “I want to have my second shop within two years.”

Seems a bit bold for a teenager to focus on adding more business property and management just a few days after opening his first one. However, Drew is confident he’s not thinking too big. 

It’s just a big plan.

“People are always going to be drinking coffee,” he reasoned. “So, I want to provide coffee and specialty drinks in other businesses. I want to eventually get to where I’m roasting my own beans. My biggest dream would be growing them somewhere, like going to Guatemala or something, growing my own beans and bringing them over and roasting them myself. The entire spectrum.”

The new Drew’s Brew includes not just coffee – hot, frozen, and iced, of course – but also has specialty tea, lemonade, and milkshakes on the menu. The plan is to continue to broaden the offerings to eventually include sodas and food, such as breakfast items.

As with any new business venture, there have been certain steps that had to take place for the plan to come to fruition. But Drew had plenty of help from his family and former boss.

Birth Of The Plan

Drew’s plan began with his job at Cafe Mojo in Elysian Fields. Since his freshman year, he has worked for Morgan in providing tasty refreshments for customers in and around the small, rural community where he grew up.

A month or so into his time at Cafe Mojo, the young freshman began testing and experimenting with his own coffee drink. He created a new drink that was simply to be named “Drew’s Brew,” a mixture of white chocolate, caramel, and vanilla blended to make taste buds glimpse a sweet taste of coffee heaven.

Drew’s creativity was so impressive, that Morgan began encouraging him to try more. Over the years, he said she began coaching him and encouraging him that if he ever wanted to and got the opportunity, he would make a great coffee shop entrepreneur. It’s a lot for a freshman or sophomore to consider, but as Drew got closer to his senior year and considering his next steps, he was being drawn closer to the business world and away from the traditional route of college.

That led to his moment of truth with his parents, who after a time of shock and puzzlement, realized how serious their son was to start his new adventure. At that point, it became a group effort as to how it could get done and how it could be managed by a then-17 year old.

“I had to fill out all his LLC paperwork because he hadn’t turned 18 yet,” said Melissa, smiling. “But everything just seemed to fall into place, and we felt a peace that God was opening doors for Drew to do this.”

Drew dove into his plan with his trademark gusto. With help and guidance from Morgan, he got information on all the correct forms that had to be filled out to go into business. The ones he couldn’t sign because of his age, his parents completed and signed. He contacted the same espresso tech that services Cafe Mojo and lined out all the equipment he would need to open the coffee house. Morgan put him in touch with a realtor who found the building for lease – with his parents, again, having to sign the lease because he was still underage.

All in all, it was a frenetic two-month or so process but it eventually led everyone to Saturday, March 29 – opening day at Drew’s Brew.

Drew was busy behind the counter that day, making a ton of Drew’s Brew and other drinks for his new customers. But his grandmother, Malinda Reamer, who had been an encouraging part of the entire journey as well, estimated that at least 200 people made a stop at the new coffee house that day.

Many of those were friends and family, and even more were friends, teachers, and administrators from Elysian Fields. Jacket Nation indeed turned out to help one of their own establish a fantastic start to the new journey – even if graduation is still a month or so away as part of the journey.

“I mean, we’re still six weeks away (from the end of school),” Melissa said. “People want coffee in the mornings. And, I know Drew – if he were there in the mornings, he’d be late to school. So we had to have a plan for opening the coffee shop during the school day until he graduates.”

That plan includes the current 3-5 opening window, but Drew has also hired another employee with coffee house experience who can run the shop in the mornings while he is finishing his school commitments.

Laying Out The Plan

The coffee shop hours will be a bit transitional until Drew graduates with his senior classmates on May 16. Currently, he is open daily 3-5 and 9-3, with one exception being this last Saturday when the shop was open from 8-12 because, well, he had to attend senior prom, of course.

But once his school days are over at EF, after graduation, Drew will expand the hours to more of an all-day type schedule. With that will also come the expansion to the menu, and he can continue his plan of looking toward opening up even more shops.

“We’re trying to slow him down a little bit,” said Melissa. “But, Drew is very hard-headed. Once he sets his mind on something, he will stick to it and make it happen. He’s also just kind of always been ready to be an adult, not in a bad way but he’s just always been mature for his age. When he finds something he likes, he goes all in.”

Of course, there is the natural, parental caution that comes with having an 18-year-old decide to immediately become the owner of a personal business right out of high school. But the Shows’ faith and belief that this is indeed a calling for their son has given them peace as the school year hurtles toward a close.

“I was very nervous,” Melissa said. “But, honestly, the way all the doors opened up and we were praying about all this, it’s like even the Lord was telling me ‘this is okay.’ Because, all of that stuff would not have opened up so easily. And also, really, the advantage is he is young, and he doesn’t have to support a family while opening a coffee shop.”

For his part, Drew was willing to compromise a bit with his parents on the whole college thing as well. Through dual credit, he is less than a handful of courses away from an associate’s degree at Panola College. He will continue to take those courses online while running Drew’s Brew, and promises to finish what he started with that degree.

After that, who knows. The youngest coffee shop owner in East Texas has no idea what the future holds — other than the future he envisions in his all-important plan.

“I’ll be open throughout the entire day, really, as soon as I can,” Drew said. “The market is still growing, so as long as the market allows, I’ll keep adding time. We are using social media and marketing tools to get the word out, and so far we’ve been pretty successful just being open in the afternoons.”

Drew also credits his educational experience at Elysian Fields, which he says has prepared him and provided him with the confidence needed to open a business. Through various CTE courses, including business certifications and culinary arts, the soon-to-be EFHS graduate feels more than prepared to tackle the world of small business.

“On my opening day, I saw quite a few of my teachers come in support,” said Drew, mentioning EFHS instructors Alice Langley, Alice Wilson, and many others. “That really means a lot.”

And then, there is his family, which has overcome the uneasiness of the unknown to fully get behind and help Drew make his dream a reality.

“My parents and my grandmother have really helped me out a lot with actually getting everything up and running,” he said. “I mean, I didn’t turn 18 until a week before we opened the shop. I couldn’t legally sign any of the required paperwork, so my parents have been on board and been really supportive. At first they didn’t really know what I was talking about or what I was doing, but they have helped me and I couldn’t have gotten this done without them.

“As bad as it sounds, and I don’t mean this in a negative way at all, I’m ready to get out of here and really get more into it. I’m ready to get everything expanded and add more and more options and see it grow. It’s been really fun and exciting.”

It’s all part of the plan.