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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 17 A U G U S T 5 , 2 0 1 9 C offee By Design's Mary Allen Lindemann may be one of Maine's best-known coffee entrepreneurs, so some may find it surprising she didn't drink the stuff until she was in her 30s. "I was a tea drinker, not a coffee drinker, which is not unusual for my generation," she says. at changed when she and then-husband Alan Spear lived in Seattle, where she "started tast- ing what good quality coffee was like." She researched the industry while work- ing at an advertising agency. Spear, then employed as an engineer, did further research, and they brewed up a plan for starting a coffee business back home on the East Coast. After false starts in Burlington, Vt., and Providence, R.I., they opened their first Coffee By Design shop on Portland's Congress Street in July 1994, when there were a lot of empty storefronts. Today downtown is full of stores and restaurants, including other coffeehouses that have done nothing to hamper Coffee By Design's success. e craft coffee maker has, in fact, weathered three waves of rival newcom- ers to become today's thriving whole- saler and retailer. It boasts $8 million in annual sales, a 65-strong workforce, 700 wholesale accounts from Maine to Japan and three retail locations in Portland, one in Freeport and a small café at IDEXX Laboratories in Westbrook. It has a loyal brand following and big community footprint. Lindemann, 59, who had also worked in fashion before she got into coffee, laughs about where she ended up, saying, "is is career No. 3, but this one stuck." Twenty-five years later, she's just as passionate about Coffee By Design and her self-designed role as com- munity builder that includes serving on the boards of the Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center and Portland Ovations and supporting numerous other nonprofits. She also champions causes from immigrant inte- gration to reproductive rights. "ere's no social cause I know of that Mary Allen is not connected to," says Alain J. Nahimana, a Burundi native who serves as the Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center's executive director. Appreciative of his friend's early support of the Center and limitless energy, he says: "It's tough sometimes to say 'no' to her." From New York to Maine Lindemann, one of five siblings, grew up outside New York, moved into the city when she was a teenager and knew Maine from family summer vacations. Her mother was an assistant to come- dian Bob Hope, while her father was a TV sports executive who started his career as a cameraman for "e Kate Smith Hour." Reflecting on her childhood now, Lindemann feels fortunate to have grown up in a family where civil rights were discussed and with parents who were "incredibly progressive and open to the world." After landing at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Lindemann left after her freshman year when the student body voted to keep the fraternity system in place. She spent a semester at the New School in Manhattan before continu- ing her education at Brown University, where she majored in creative writing with a focus on women's and African- American studies. ough coffee and business owner- ship were then "so far off the radar," she finds today that her interdisciplinary studies give her a better understanding of how to explore various cultures, even in her own country, and to be a thought- ful business owner. "I feel as if everything I've had the opportunity to do, see and experience because of my family, friends, work, and life has brought me to this moment when it all comes together," she says, "and I can do work which has meaning and hopefully has positive impact." She and Spear have sought to do that from the time they opened the first Coffee By Design as a welcoming, inclusive, community-focused coffee house and employer. eir first custom- ers included Bosnian refugees who had Entrepreneur by chance, community builder 'by design' B Y R e n e e C o R d e s C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » One Moment Can Make A Difference. Owning your own business can be stressful. As a local business, we know what it takes to be successful. We know how to make your job easier. Along with conveniences like mobile banking, online banking, and remote deposit capture, Maine's credit unions offer low fees, favorable rates, and personal service you can depend on every day. Get in touch with your local Maine credit union, and own it. It's Your Moment.

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