Young entrepreneur thrilled with her businesses

Photo Courtesy Brooke Harden - The Cove Coffee Co. is open for business in South Bend seven days a week. Harden also owns The Beach Bus (Shave Ice), which is available for public and private events and catering.

SOUTH BEND - Now is a good time to beat the heat. A refreshing new business opened in South Bend earlier this month...The Cove Coffee Co.

"August 1st was my official opening day and everyone in the community has been incredibly supportive and encouraging," owner Brooke Harden told the Herald. "It was really uplifting to see how many people showed up to support my new business. I'm very optimistic for the future, I have lots of big plans for The Cove."

Harden, 26, is a local and was born and raised in Menlo graduated from Willapa Valley elementary and high school. She also attended community college for a while, }but ultimately decided that I knew I want to be an entrepreneur," adding, "From a young age, I was always creating hypothetical business and dreaming about having my own shop someday."

For Harden, this isn't her first business endeavor. "I also have an Etsy shop and a mobile shave ice business (The Beach Bus) that I do out of a 1966 Volkswagen van at local and private events." The Beach Bus has been open for four years.

"My parents have always encouraged my creativity and supported every business idea I come up with," Harden said. "I would say I was inspired from a young age by my dad to have an entrepreneurial spirit."

You may remember Brooke as the friendly face that served you for six years at Elixir Coffee in South Bend for more than six years, which she said "was a great experience overall. It was a great way to learn the coffee industry and about business and marketing. I feel like it really made me as prepared as I possibly could be to be able to run a shop on my own."

Elixir Coffee also owned Elixir Express, which Harden ultimately purchased and renamed it The Cove Coffee Co. "Currently I have about five employees," Harden said.

The Cove offers its customers a large variety of drinks ranging from hot and iced coffee to tea, smoothies, energy drinks and more. "We offer snacks like muffins, cake pops, chips and bagels with cream cheese," Harden added. "We post daily drink specials nearly every day on our Instagram and Facebook pages. You can follow us at The Cove Coffee Co. on Facebook and @thecovecoffeecompany on Instagram to see everything new going on at The Cove."

The Cove is located at 520 Robert Bush Drive West in South Bend and is open seven days a week from 7:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m.

In closing Brooke said, "Overall, I'm just very excited for the future and to be able to create something of my own."