Today we’d like to introduce you to Annika Baylis.
Hi Annika, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I don’t rush to tell this story because I want to tell it correctly. I want to be intentional and slow enough to ensure that the Lord, not my effort, receives the glory. My story is not about striving, it is about His faithfulness.
The name “Prickly Pear” comes from my childhood. Physical touch was never my love language, and my family jokingly called me a “prickly pear.” Years later, that nickname became my brand.
I was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. During the spring of my senior year of high school, COVID shut everything down. Around that same season, I had given my life to Christ during my junior year and found myself living in the tension between two deep passions, business and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18–20). I had always dreamed of owning a Christian coffee shop one day, but I wrestled with what it meant to do ministry outside the walls of a church.
Although I grew up in the church, I became increasingly aware of how many people experience church hurt or feel disconnected from church spaces. I began asking, “What if ministry happened where people already are?” People spend hours in coffee shops. Jesus meets us where we are, so why wouldn’t He meet us there? That question became the foundation of Prickly Pear.
The downtime of 2020 gave me space to act on that vision. While finishing high school, I built the website, launched Instagram, and researched everything I could about starting a business. I worked nearly full-time, splitting my time between a coffee shop and a spray tan studio. I loved working, serving people, and learning from those older than me. I finished my high school classes around 10 a.m. and went straight to work most afternoons.
When unemployment stimulus checks began, I received the same $600 weekly checks as much of the country because I was working full-time. I was living at home and didn’t necessarily need the money, but I saw it as provision. I invested it directly into Prickly Pear’s equipment, supplies, and getting the business off the ground.
Our first events were simple, a folding table, an espresso machine, and a lot of trial and error. That summer, we worked weddings, farmers’ markets, and local events throughout Minneapolis. It grew faster than I ever expected.
In August of 2020, I moved to Nashville to attend Belmont University, pursuing degrees in Entrepreneurship and Theology. At the time, Prickly Pear was only the second mobile coffee cart in Nashville. I spent my freshman year cold emailing, DMing, and calling local businesses. There were many no’s, and a few yes’s that changed everything.
One of those yeses came from Kate at Alexis + Bolt, who allowed me to set up anytime. Nearly every Saturday of my freshman year was spent behind the cart. Slowly and steadily, the business grew.
The following summer, my plans shifted when I moved to Orlando. I chose to pause Prickly Pear and be where my feet were. I had a loyal customer base and consistent corporate bookings, but I knew I couldn’t do everything at once. My professors at Belmont were incredibly supportive, and transitioning to online asynchronous classes gave me the flexibility to continue learning and growing.
In 2021, I became more disciplined. I refined our mission, tightened our business plan, and made major investments, including upgrading to our signature lavender purple trailer. That same year, we were accepted into the Franklin Main Street Festival. Standing alongside hundreds of vendors was one of the first moments Prickly Pear felt undeniably real and bigger than I had anticipated.
In May of 2022, while at a baseball game in Atlanta, I struck up a conversation with the couple sitting next to me. The husband owned a marketing agency and asked if I’d ever consider corporate America. I said no, I had just pivoted to online school to run my business full-time and didn’t feel qualified. He told me that if I ever changed my mind, he had a job for me.
A month later, as I prayed for provision and clarity, that conversation kept resurfacing. My prayers shifted from asking God to bless Prickly Pear to asking if He wanted me to work for that man instead. I received a clear yes and accepted the job in obedience.
In 2022, Prickly Pear took another back seat. I felt the Lord say, “You won’t learn what you need to learn if you’re multitasking.” That season was about sitting, learning, and absorbing everything I could about corporate strategy, finance, and structure. I worked full-time and completed my degree at night. It was a season of preparation.
Believe it or not, I did have a life outside of work! I got engaged to my now-husband at the end of 2022. In 2023, I was planning a wedding, finishing my degree, and working 50–60 hour weeks. I felt the pull back to Prickly Pear, but the Lord made it clear that my time there wasn’t finished yet.
Then, in March, the push toward full-time entrepreneurship finally felt obedient. The day I submitted my notice at work, I received a call just one hour later from a former corporate client. He had just acquired Nashville’s iconic Batman Building and built a coffee bar in the lobby. He offered Prickly Pear Coffee Co. a brick-and-mortar location, with six weeks to open.
It felt like a coffee shop handed to me on a silver platter. We opened on May 15, 2023. Overnight, everything changed. I was hiring staff, running payroll, managing inventory, and serving customers daily. A dream had come true.
In August of 2023, I graduated. Shortly after, I received a call about where our second shop needed to be. I had just opened our first location and was about to get married, signing another lease felt impossible. At first, I said no. But once again, the Lord opened wild doors and made it abundantly clear that this was a yes. I signed the lease the week of my 22nd birthday.
In January 2024, we opened our second location, Albion in the Gulch. Our team grew, our systems expanded, and I began stepping into my role as CEO and visionary, minimizing my time behind the bar and learning what it truly meant to lead the business forward.
I made mistakes with money, hiring, self-doubt, and expectations. I’ve had to grieve versions of life that no longer fit my reality. But through it all, the Lord has been faithful. He answers prayers tenfold, far beyond what I initially asked (Ephesians 3:20).
There is so much more detail from these past five years that I could share. But today, in 2025, Prickly Pear Coffee Co. has expanded into a new coffee camper concept, one in East Nashville and another in the Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood.
As the company grows, so do our dreams. I have learned that the Lord answers prayers in ways far greater than we initially imagine, often in timing we could never plan ourselves. My prayer is that through this story, you would see His faithfulness, be encouraged to remain steadfast, and trust that obedience, even when it feels slow or uncertain, is never wasted. I cannot wait to see what the Lord continues to do through Prickly Pear Coffee Co.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Entrepreneurship is never a smooth road! While there have been incredible moments of provision and open doors, the journey has been marked by uncertainty, waiting, and hard decisions.
Some of the biggest struggles were learning when to move forward and when to pause. There were seasons where I had to put Prickly Pear on the back burner in obedience, even when momentum was building. That meant walking away from income, opportunities, and growth I had worked hard for, trusting that God’s timing was better than my own.
I also faced the challenge of learning everything for the first time, often at a very young age, from building systems and managing finances to hiring, leading, and sometimes letting people go. I made mistakes with money, overextended myself at times, and had to learn hard lessons about boundaries, expectations, and leadership under pressure.
There were emotional struggles too. I’ve had to grieve versions of life that no longer fit my reality, carry the weight of responsibility for a growing team, and navigate seasons of self-doubt where I questioned whether I was capable or qualified. Opening brick-and-mortar locations came with intense pressure, long hours, and the constant tension of stewarding both a business and a calling.
Despite all of this, those struggles became the very places where my faith was deepened. The road wasn’t smooth, but it was formative. Every challenge refined my dependence on the Lord and reminded me that Prickly Pear was never built on striving, but on obedience and His faithfulness.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Creativity has always been central to my work, even when it shows up in places that don’t traditionally look “creative.” While many people associate creativity with aesthetics or branding alone, mine often shines through in structure, strategy, and systems.
In business strategy, my creativity shows up in connecting vision to execution. I enjoy zooming out to see patterns, opportunities, and long-term direction, then creatively designing a path to get there. Whether that’s deciding when to pause growth, when to say yes to expansion, or how to steward resources wisely, I approach strategy as a form of problem-solving that requires imagination, discernment, and clarity.
In marketing initiatives, creativity looks like telling a story with intention. Prickly Pear’s brand isn’t built on trends, but on meaning, consistency, and values. I think creatively about how our mission is communicated through customer experience, community partnerships, social presence, and physical spaces, ensuring that everything feels aligned and authentic rather than forced or performative.
Creativity is essential in building efficient SOPs and systems. I enjoy taking something complex, messy, or inefficient and designing processes that are clear, repeatable, and empowering! Writing SOPs, building workflows, and creating leadership rhythms allows the business to scale without losing heart. To me, that kind of operational creativity is about serving people well by removing confusion and creating margin.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
What matters most to me is honoring God in everything I do. At the core of my life, work, and leadership is the desire to live out 1 Corinthians 10:31, *“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”* That verse shapes how I view success, decision-making, and purpose.
I don’t see my work as separate from my faith. Whether I’m building a business, leading a team, creating systems, or serving a cup of coffee, I want it all to point back to Him. Excellence matters to me because it reflects stewardship. Integrity matters because people matter. And obedience matters because I trust that God’s ways are better than my own, even when they feel slower or harder.
What matters most is faithfulness over recognition, obedience over outcomes, and people over profit. I want the way I lead, create, and serve to reflect Christ’s character and invite others into spaces marked by grace, truth, and care. Ultimately, my goal is not to build something impressive in the world’s eyes, but to glorify God in the ordinary, everyday work He’s entrusted to me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://pricklypearcoffee.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pricklypearcoffeeco/
