Melinda Williamson is brewing health close to home

In honor of National Native American Heritage Month, QuickBooks is spotlighting indigenous-owned small businesses, their stories, and their journeys to success. Check the Small Business Stories hub all month for more inspiration.

Name: Melinda Williamson 

Location: Hoyt, KS 

Business: Morning Light Kombucha

Tell us about your business. 

We are a small indigenous and woman-owned kombucha company in Hoyt, Kansas. We've been in business since 2016, and we work with local farms in the area to source the majority of our ingredients. Everything except our citrus fruits are all sourced from local farms that have a commitment to sustainable agriculture. We get our teas from Teatulia, which is out of Bangladesh. It allows us to have a lot of fun with flavors. That partnership really allows us to create a lot of fresh, farm-to-bottle or farm- to-can flavors for our kombucha.

What sets your business apart? 

Along with our partnerships, we also have a strong focus on sustainability in almost every aspect of our business. We compost 100% of our brewery waste. We use fully compostable packaging. 

We also give a percentage of our sales back to indigenous communities. That could be an organization or it could be a basketball team — just people in indigenous communities that are needing help — we will donate some of our money from sales to these organizations and communities.

What made you decide to start your own business?

I had been in academia working at Oklahoma State University in research for several years, and I was diagnosed with an autoimmune illness they thought was pre-lupus. It just so happened that I lost two people to lupus that year. So I went from being a super active, healthy, young woman to being extremely sick and scared for what the future might bring. So I really turned to our traditional practices of harvesting, which is something we always did anyhow — harvesting medicines, healing with food, being really conscious about what my daughter and I were consuming. And I started diving into research on what causes autoimmune illnesses and what could be contributing factors. That's when I kept hearing about how important gut health is.So we started introducing fermented foods into our diet, and we saw a huge change. 

During that time, I decided to move back home from Oklahoma to Kansas, and there was this pivotal moment where I could go back and continue on the academia path, or take the opportunity to do something different.

How did you manage to get the business off the ground? How did you find funding?

I was a single mom and just supporting my daughter, and I wanted to start a business. But I had to be super smart about it. I decided I would save up all the money that I could over the course of five years. So it was all funded initially out of my pocket.

What’s the biggest lesson you learned in the first year? 

You’re flying by to the seat of your pants most of the time, especially in the beginning. It was just like, "Okay, I'm getting started and I have no idea what I'm doing." And so I think you need to have a lot of patience and not be too hard on yourself. Everything kind of works out the way it's supposed to.

Were there any things you needed to teach yourself about running a business? 

I had to teach myself everything. The only thing that really came easy was foraging and creating recipes and creating things that make that taste good. But everything with the business side, for sure. What I did during those first  five years was I basically just took every class. I mainly took free classes that I could through the SB or SDBC — anything I could find that was free for entrepreneurs.

I would also always try to find someone who was knowledgeable that would help me. And so I remember hiring. I assessed my weaknesses and my strengths early on. I knew from the beginning I wanted to put some money into finding a bookkeeper that would help me stay on track because I was working and running the business and taking care of my daughter. I had to step back and say, "Where do I know that I need help, and where can I do this on my own?”

What tools have you found the most useful? 

QuickBooks, absolutely. QuickBooks is something I definitely use to help manage and keep track of my income, our in-and-out, and our day-to-day. Our website, too. We use Wix.com and I really like it. It's pretty user-friendly, and we can integrate stuff when it comes to shipping and curbside pickup options for our customers so they're able to have a variety of options for getting our kombucha. And of course, social media. 

How do you engage with your community?

We have been creating jobs. Everyone who works for Morning Light Kombucha lives on our reservation. I have seven employees and all of them are tribal members. They're Prairie Band Potawatomi, and they live on a reservation. So it's really great to be working side-by-side with people you know and have the same kind of backgrounds and commonalities and thoughts about why we do what we do.

What challenges do you feel are unique to indigenous small business owners?

We're very community-focused. I could bring my business into a larger city and increase sales and just grow in a different way. But what I'm trying to do, and what I've seen other indigenous businesses trying to do, is create jobs in their community and empower others in their community. They want their representation to be close to home. We are creating challenges for ourselves because of the values that we have. And I'm seeing it more as I am getting out and talking to other indigenous entrepreneurs. We're struggling with the same things. And it's like, "Yeah, we could go out and do something a little different, but that's not what we wanted to do. That's not why we got into business."

And so I think that supporting indigenous entrepreneurs and realizing the sacrifices that they may be making — especially with trying to harvest locally and work with these local farms — it means our product is a little bit more expensive. So I think just being aware of that, being understanding, and still supporting them is important. Get to know these businesses and ensure that they really are an indigenous business. There's a lot of appropriation, and putting your money into true indigenous businesses is important to keeping us going.

What has been your proudest moment so far?

My proudest moment was when I hired my first employees. I have this single mom mentality of thinking that I can do everything on my own. I was working full-time and doing this business and going to the market. When I hired my first employee I was like, "I should have done this years ago. I should have hired somebody years ago." Don't be afraid to hire. Don't be afraid to ask for help.

When you're having a tough day, who or what inspires you to keep going?

I would say the kids. I mean, not just my kids, but the kids in the community. The youth are extremely important and they're an important part of our future. 

I do a lot for my daughter, my nephews, and the youth in the community. It just is what really drives me and makes me feel good about continuing with the work. Trying to be an inspiration, but not just necessarily to be an entrepreneur. Hopefully they see that you can do whatever you want. I went to school for science and now I'm an entrepreneur.

What’s your “power song”? What gets you pumped up for the day?

I don't know if I necessarily have a specific song, but I listen to Latin music. I have a radio station on Pandora, and so when I'm needing to just get pumped up and feel really good — and I like to dance — so I put that on and that's my motivating music. And then when I'm trying to just relax and chill, I listen to a lot of Billie Holiday radio.