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Melinda Williamson
Melinda Williamson
01:22

Melinda Williamson

Morning Light Kombucha

Hoyt, KS USA

"When one door opens, more doors will continue to open."

Career Roadmap

Melinda's work combines: Food, Entrepreneurship, and Working Independently

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Day In The Life

Founder & Owner

I own my own small kombucha business.

My Day to Day

From 6 to 8 a.m. I have coffee and catch up on emails, bookkeeping, and ordering. I post on social media and plan my day. Then I get ready for the day. I do meetings and phone calls from 9 to 11 a.m. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. I head to the kitchen to work on brewing, filling orders, canning, equipment maintenance, and cleaning. The next few hours are spent delivering orders. Then, a quick workout. I'm back in the kitchen from 7 to 9 p.m. to finish up anything that needs to get done.

Skills & Education

Here's the path I took:

  • High School

  • Associate's Degree

    Natural Resources

    Haskell Indian Nations University

  • Bachelor's Degree

    Environmental Biology

    Kansas State University

  • Graduate Degree

    Rangeland Ecology and Management

    Oklahoma State University

Learn more about different paths to this career

Life & Career Milestones

  • 1.

    I earned my bachelor’s degree in environmental biology followed by a master’s degree in rangeland ecology and management.

  • 2.

    I spent the first part of my career working in grassland ecology.

  • 3.

    I was diagnosed with an autoimmune illness that doctors think is pre-lupus—I went from being a pretty healthy woman to having trouble walking unassisted.

  • 4.

    Rather than rely on a bunch of medications, I decided to look to food as medicine—I changed my diet and became more focused on what I was putting into my body and where it was coming from.

  • 5.

    This pivotal moment prompted me to reflect on my life and ask myself if there was anything I’ve always wanted to do that I haven’t done yet—I realized that I had always wanted to own a business.

  • 6.

    I made a five-year plan to save money, travel, brainstorm, and create a foundation for my business.

  • 7.

    I took free business classes and started brewing kombucha with the goal of starting a food truck business that sells kombucha and smoothies.

  • 8.

    I started Morning Light Kombucha in 2016 and have been building it up ever since!

Defining Moments

Experiences and challenges that shaped me

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  • I was diagnosed with an autoimmune illness that doctors think is pre-lupus. The diagnosis prompted me to change my diet and look to food as medicine.

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