Hastings College student set to start her own coffee business

HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) - Carli Russell is busy, very busy in fact.

She’s a business major at Hastings College, she also works with on-field football operations for the Broncos and now she’s set to add entrepreneur to the list.

Russell is originally from Lubbock, Texas, and she said coffee has been a love of hers since high school. It was when a professor suggested she submit her class project on a mobile coffee business to Big Idea Hastings College, that she took the leap.

She went on to win the competition, and Howdy Mae’s coffee started to take form. Russell is preparing to open in March, and she said even with the added stress of the new responsibility she is happy about what this means for her future.

“I love it so I’m excited to start this young. I guess because from here I can just go up and it is nice to know that when I graduate I will have my career already started, so I don’t have to worry about ‘oh no what do I do now’,” Russell said.

Emma Enochs helps to organize the Big Idea events at Hastings College and she told Local4 News Russell’s story is just one look at what the event is meant to do.

“Big Idea HC is a platform for people to have a voice about their college experience, and like whether they’re unsatisfied or they have an idea to implement to make campus better, just make these four years the most memorable for them,” Enochs said. “That’s why we put on this event every year.”

The flavors of coffee Russell will serve are inspired by her past. She said she lived in New Mexico for 12 years before moving to Texas, and she wanted to show off that side of her life with her business.

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