Meet Bailey Morris

We were lucky to catch up with Bailey Morris recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Bailey, so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?

I’ve always felt like an odd ball out amongst other people, especially those in my age group. I can’t focus or think about what other people are doing. I had to learn to not compare but stay in my own lane and work on the things I can control. I think many businesses fail because they are focusing too much on what other people are doing, and less on what makes their business unique and putting energy into that. I have to keep my values and goals at the forefront on my mind and remind myself of how far my business has come. I have to keep an open mind to constructive criticism and always strive to improve and makes things consistent. It’s not easy to do when there are constantly opinions and voices telling you what you should do without them knowing all that it takes to successfully run a business, but believing in what you are doing despite negativity builds resilience and confidence in your own skills.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I own a coffee shop and bakery called Third Space, where we make every single thing in house, down to our house-made coffee syrups and even our chai tea. My goal for opening this business was taking my love of from scratch baking combined with my years as a barista and desire to create the community space coffee brings to people to the small town of Landrum in Upstate South Carolina. I often visited bakeries with excellent baked goods, but low quality coffee, or went to vibey coffee shops that just missed the mark. I didn’t want anything in our space to be an afterthought, every detail matters. Our coffee is organic and locally roasted, our matcha is sourced from Japan and processed by a woman owned business out of Asheville, we partner with local farms for seasonal produce, and even have our own garden for the herbs and veggies we can’t source locally. We have a rotating seasonal drink menu that always has unique, elevated coffee, matcha, and mocktail specials you won’t find anywhere else. I wanted to create a space anyone and everyone felt welcome at, no matter their background or social status. We have something for everyone and a place for everyone.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Three qualities that were the most impactful for me were resilience, perseverance, and the ability to daydream. It takes A LOT of pushing through the difficult times and getting over whatever life throws your way to run a business. There’s so many things you’ll never be able to control, so you have to learn to persevere and keep going. You can’t take what people say too personally or you’ll get emotionally burnt out real quick. Listen to those who really know you and believe in you. The last thing I don’t think is often talked about is being able to day dream, literally. For so long my dreams and goals were just floating around in my head where they shaped and grew into something that felt attainable. You have to give yourself time to just dream and be creative, so don’t be afraid to just take an extra long walk to think or drive to the top of a mountain to write down your thoughts. A bonus suggestion for other people new in this journey is to accept help when people offer it. You are no less of a person in asking for help. At the end of the day we are all humans who need each other to survive and thrive, so don’t be ashamed to reach out!

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

The biggest obstacle I have faced since opening a business has been taking care of myself. With running an entire coffee shop with a bakery comes extremely long hours, super early mornings, and evenings spent cleaning up and trying to get any sort of rest before I repeat it again. I don’t have a business partner where we split tasks or take on the shared mental load of owning a business so I feel both physically and mentally drained constantly. My peers are living it up in their 20’s: traveling, getting married and settling down, some even having kids, and I often feel stuck in my little coffee shop doing the same things every day. I love what I do and I feel so grateful to do it, but it does come at a heavy cost. My friendships and my relationship has changed since opening my shop in 2024. But everything is just a season. A new business is like a newborn baby where you have to take care and nurture it for the first few years, but overtime it grows and builds it’s own identity that other people get to help with. We’ve taken a big steep and right now have the biggest team in both the bakery and barista side we’ve had yet, and this has really helped me to be able to take time off to rest and pour into those who I love. Every single day brings its own challenges, but taking what you have and making the best out of it is the only way to move forward and grow.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thirdspacelandrum?igsh=cGtkODQ4bHMyOG1m&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thirdspacelandrum

Image Credits

All photos by me and Hutch Haven Photography.