MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – Where you grew up matters. A lot of people take pride in the place they were raised. For Kenya Vinson, he was just looking for the right chance to show it. It all started out when he was a little boy.
“I was tiny with my grandmother, I used to retrieve some coffee from the kitchen for her,” said Kenya Vinson, owner of Southlawn Coffee Company. “I used to get her some coffee out of the pot and take it to her, but I’d take a sip, sneak a sip in.”
After high school Kenya spent time in the Air Force and then was a firefighter for close to 20 years. In 2021, he got into the coffee business. A few months ago he decided it was time for something new and created Southlawn Coffee.
“I’m from the Southlawn community. It’s premium freshly roasted coffee.”
For him, the name means a lot.
“There’s a lot of pride in this area. My family still lives there.”
The bold green and gold fits in perfectly in this part of town.
“It’s very popular in this area on the West Side so we went with that.”
In an area that doesn’t get a lot of positive attention, Vinson is hoping to change that.
“We want to make a difference and show that we have pride. We are supported by this area. There’s money here.”
You can try it before you buy it at the Kershaw YMCA in Montgomery. Southlawn Coffee is also hitting store shelves. You can find it and Kudzu and Cotton in Prattville. It’s a little taste from the Westside has coffee lovers smiling.
In the near future Vinson says they hope to open up a small shop, and a few years down the road, they’d love to start roasting their own coffee.
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