Welcome to Porch & Coffee Creative!

It’s a New Year, and what a perfect time to start a new adventure! Porch & Coffee Creative is an idea I’ve dreamt up for years, and how she’s here in all of her glory. This creative space allows me to explore my love for branding and my experience creating Squarespace websites while paying tribute to my Momma, Sherri Beaubouef Hayes. 

Porch & Coffee came from the memories of sitting on Momma’s porch with her and a hot cup of coffee. We talked about everything on her porch, and I wasn’t the only one. Every family member and many family friends found Momma’s wisdom and empathic ear on that porch. Like any mother, she knew what we needed to hear. 

One of our many talks was about how she thought I should start my own business. She praised my professional work with excitement as when I came home with a drawing from daycare. She sang the praises of my talent, as she would call it, to everyone and said I knew what I was born to do; remembering times I said I wanted to be an artist when I grew up. I didn’t believe her at the time because I didn’t have much confidence in my abilities or myself. I should have remembered the golden rule: Momma knows best.

Momma enjoying the Louisiana sunset on the porch. She may or not be happy I’m taking her picture.

In October 2021, Momma was placed on a ventilator for ten days due to non-COVID-related pneumonia. She was off for 15 days before relapsing with pneumonia and passing away on November 4, 2021. I spent most days in the hospital with her, pouring my heart into caring for her. I tried to give her all the love she gave me my whole life. The last thing she said to me and my brother, Charley, was, “I love y’all.”

2022 was the longest, most challenging year of my life. How was I supposed to go through life without my North Star? I looked up to Momma my entire life as a person, as a professional, and as a one-day-to-be mother myself. I didn't know how to move forward without her and honor her memory. I couldn't go to the porch, share a cup of coffee, or ask her advice. The porch was a special place, and I haven't been able to sit there since her death.

Moving forward through the fog of grief, I wanted to find ways to share what Momma meant to me, my brother, and so many people in her life. I found a journal she gifted me in 2019 about starting my own business. She wanted me to write my notes and ideas about the business in that journal and left me a letter saying everything I needed to hear when I doubted myself. Momma has given me a lot of signs this year, and this was another one. One thing I was always stuck on was a name. Momma thought I should use my name, but I needed a name that was going to be bigger than me.

Lightbulb! What about naming it for Momma? Why not? I made my list of things we shared, commonalities, and things we did together, and my brainstorming brought me back to the porch. All of us talked about big ideas and bigger dreams on the porch. And that’s what I want to do for my clients – bring the business’s goals and ideas to life. On top of that, a caramel-colored cup of coffee was something Momma and I shared, and I believe naturally, ideas flow over a good conversation with a cup of coffee.

Of course, sprinkles of stories about Momma and her personality are in the brand visuals, but I will save that for a future case study. For now, I wanted to share this brand story and how I hope to continue to love Momma through this brand. Let’s talk about your business ideas over a cup of coffee soon.