“I Have Become the Person I Was Meant to Be”

Learning for Life @ Gustavus

Helena Shanks, ‘12, co-owner of River Rock Coffee and Tea, a fair-trade coffeehouse in St. Peter and Mankato, MN, on her family background and path from the Fargo-Moorhead area to Gustavus; majoring (for a time, uncertainly) in Chemistry; what she learned while working as an employee at River Rock both before and after graduation; how and why she eventually transitioned from employee to co-owner with two other women (founder Tamika Bertram and Katie Aho); the responsibilities of ownership and how the ownership team functions; how being an owner has changed her; the alignment of her values and River Rock’s; and her case for Gustavus.