My Half Of The Sky

What My Half Of The Sky does

My Half of the Sky, L3C is a privately held, founder-led social enterprise headquartered in Wheaton, Illinois. It operates two co-located businesses on West Wesley Street: a fair-trade coffee and tea coffee house at 121 W Wesley and The Kilns Coworking + Social House at 115 W Wesley, supplemented by a co-located ethical-fashion boutique sourcing jewelry, candles, drinkware, purses, and bags from Freedom Brand partner social enterprises. The organization is structured as a Low-Profit Limited Liability Company (L3C) and is led by CEO and founder Renee Pollino, with approximately 10 employees and a mission to create dignified employment for women affected by extreme poverty, trafficking, addiction, or refugee status.

The business makes money across five distinct revenue streams: in-person coffee and tea sales at the coffee house, ethical-fashion retail purchases of Freedom Brand products, a recurring Freedom Box subscription ($55 annual / $65 quarterly) shipped four times per year, coworking and event-space rentals at The Kilns (including $15 drop-in day passes, hourly Think Space conference room rentals, and an Event Room for 10-30 people), and community programming such as the My Half Kitchen volunteer program and Propel Women chapter meetings. Commerce runs on a Shopify storefront with Square payment processing, mobile ordering via the TryPerdiem app, and Square-based e-gift cards. Distribution is hybrid: physical retail at both Wheaton locations, e-commerce, subscription delivery nationwide, and event hosting.

The customer base is long-tail consumer across three segments — socially-conscious consumers, remote workers seeking flexible coworking space, and event hosts needing 6-30 person venues. Sourcing extends to global Freedom Brand partners in the U.S. (Nashville, L.A., Chicago), India, and Haiti, where artisan production supports the company's "EQUIP + EMPOWER + EMPLOY" thesis. Earned media visibility includes features in Northern Star, USA Today, and Fox 32 Chicago.

Name

My Half Of The Sky

Legal name

My Half of the Sky, L3C

Website

https://myhalfofthesky.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

My Half of the Sky, L3C operates a fair-trade coffee house, ethical-fashion boutique, coworking space, and subscription box in Wheaton, Illinois, employing roughly 10 people to create dignified work for women affected by poverty, trafficking, and addiction.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social enterprise specialty coffee retail

NAICS

Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (722515)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Specialty Coffee Shops (Single-Origin, Third-Wave) (THAFADAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Specialty Coffee & Tea Retail (Beans, Leaves, Accessories) (CRAHAGAI)

Keywords

• Ethical fashion retail
• Fair trade coffee
• Social enterprise coffee shop
• Coworking space rental
• Ethical subscription box

Headquarters

HQ city

Wheaton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Retail Coffee and Tea Sales: Organic, fair trade, and direct trade coffee and loose-leaf teas sold at the coffee house. Revenue from in-person beverage purchases supporting the social mission.
2. Ethical Fashion Retail: Sales of jewelry, candles, drinkware, purses, and bags from partner social enterprises. Products created by survivors of trafficking, refugees, teen mothers, and those overcoming hardship. Supports vulnerable communities locally and globally.
3. Freedom Box Subscription: Quarterly subscription box ($65) or annual option ($55) containing coffee/tea, sweet treats, and ethical fashion items. Auto-renews quarterly/annually. Ships 4 boxes per year. Cancel anytime with no fees.
4. Coworking Space Rental: Drop-in day passes ($15), hourly room rentals, and 24/7 memberships at The Kilns Coworking two doors east of coffee house. Event room rentals for parties, showers, meetings, and lectures.
5. Event Space Rental: Private event hosting at both My Half of the Sky (121 W Wesley) and The Kilns (115 W Wesley). Includes training rooms, business lounges, and event spaces for 6-30 people.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

My Half of the Sky runs a social-enterprise coffee house and ethical fashion boutique in Wheaton, Illinois, serving organic, fair trade, and direct trade coffee and tea alongside jewelry, candles, drinkware, purses, and bags sourced from Freedom Brand partners that employ survivors of trafficking, refugees, teen mothers, and others overcoming hardship. It complements the retail operations with a coworking and event venue (The Kilns), a quarterly/annual subscription box (Freedom Box), and a nonprofit volunteer kitchen program (My Half Kitchen).

Product overview

My Half Of The Sky operates as a Low-Profit Limited Liability Company (L3C) social enterprise combining a coffee house with ethical fashion retail to create employment opportunities for women affected by extreme poverty, trafficking, or addictions. The core product is the My Half Coffee House (121 W Wesley, Wheaton, IL) serving ethically sourced coffee and tea alongside an Ethical Fashion Boutique offering jewelry, candles, and accessories from Freedom Brand partners. The subscription-based My Half Freedom Box (Quarterly at $65 or Annually at $55) provides seasonal deliveries of socially responsible products including coffee/tea, sweet treats, and ethical fashion items. The Kilns Coworking + Social House (115 W Wesley) extends the mission through coworking memberships and event space rentals, while My Half Kitchen offers volunteer opportunities. The company utilizes Shopify for e-commerce operations and Square for payment processing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Kilns: Coworking + Social House offering memberships, day passes, and conference room rentals
• My Half Freedom Box
• My Half Kitchen

Products and services

• My Half Coffee House A social-enterprise coffee shop at 121 W Wesley, Wheaton, IL, serving organic, fair trade, and direct trade coffee and tea in support of the L3C's mission to employ women overcoming poverty, trafficking, or addiction.
• My Half Freedom Box (Quarterly) A $65 quarterly subscription box that delivers socially responsible brands four times per year, each shipment containing coffee or tea, a sweet treat, and ethical fashion items that fund employment for women overcoming hardship.
• My Half Freedom Box (Annual) A $55-per-shipment annual subscription prepay option that ships four seasonal Freedom Box deliveries in a year at a discount versus the quarterly plan, with no cancellation fees.
• The Kilns Coworking + Social House Coworking and social space at 115 W Wesley, Wheaton, IL offering 24/7 memberships, drop-in day passes ($15), conference room rentals, and event space, with revenue supporting local women.
• Ethical Fashion Boutique An in-store boutique line of jewelry, candles, drinkware, purses, and bags sourced from Freedom Brand partners that employ survivors of trafficking, refugees, teen mothers, and others overcoming hardship.
• Event Space Rental Rental of training rooms, business lounges, and event spaces for 6-30 people at 121 W Wesley and 115 W Wesley for parties, showers, business meetings, lectures, and concerts.

Quantifiable outcome

• Research indicates when one woman is pulled out of poverty she brings four people with her

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Partner Social Enterprises (Global)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-term trading partnerships with social enterprises, both non-profits and for-profits, that partner with marginalized artisans worldwide. Includes partnerships with organizations supporting those affected by homelessness in Nashville and L.A., human trafficking survivors, and artisan communities in India and Haiti.
• Haiti Farmer PartnersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with farmers in Haiti working against deforestation and soil infertility through reforestation efforts. Jewelry and watches line helps fund environmental restoration.
• Teen Mother Program Partners (Chicago)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with urban teen mothers in Chicago creating soy candles. Program provides parental guidance and job skills training.
• Freedom Brand PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOur Freedom Brand partners create opportunity for those overcoming trauma + hardship, in the U.S. and globally. Provides jewelry, candles, drinkware, purses and bags that support employment for women overcoming trafficking, poverty, and hardship.
• The Kilns CoworkingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTwo-doors-east coworking and social house partnership. My Half refers customers for coworking memberships and day passes. Event space available at The Kilns for larger gatherings. Rental supports local women.
• Propel WomenminorOthersMulti-generational women's leadership chapter. Chapter meetings held monthly (3rd Wednesday) and learning sessions bi-weekly (2nd Tuesday). Part of founder Renee Pollino's membership.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Industrious: National premium coworking and flexible-office operator. Comparable as a broader incumbent in the coworking/membership workspace segment that The Kilns Coworking competes in.
• Intelligentsia Coffee: Established specialty coffee roaster and cafe operator with direct-trade sourcing programs. Comparable as a broader incumbent in the third-wave specialty coffee retail/wholesale category in which My Half of the Sky operates.

Emerging players

• Hot Bread Kitchen: NYC-based social enterprise incubator for immigrant women and refugees running cafe and food businesses. Comparable as a mission-driven food/beverage operator that uses commerce to create employment pathways for marginalized women.
• Drink Coffee Do Good: Online coffee subscription business donating proceeds to community nonprofits. Comparable as a smaller, mission-driven coffee subscription model that shares the Freedom Box recurring-revenue concept.

Direct peers

• Conscious Coffees: Boulder-based fair-trade, organic coffee roaster selling to cafes, offices, and retail. Comparable as a small specialty roaster focused on ethical sourcing and mission-aligned wholesale and retail customers.
• Higher Grounds Trading Co. Specialty coffee company that channels proceeds to international development and clean-water projects. Comparable as a small-scale fair-trade coffee business that integrates a social mission into its core product.
• Equal Exchange: Worker cooperative selling fair-trade coffee, tea, and chocolate through wholesale and direct channels. Closely comparable as a fair-trade/direct-trade coffee seller with mission-driven producer partnerships.
• Café Reconcile: New Orleans-based nonprofit social enterprise cafe that trains at-risk youth through food service. Directly comparable as a mission-driven specialty coffee/food operation that uses the cafe as both revenue engine and employment platform.
• Pachamama Coffee: Farmer-owned coffee cooperative sourcing directly from smallholder producers and selling to specialty retail and wholesale customers. Comparable as a small-batch, mission-led specialty coffee operator with a direct-trade supply model.
• Just Coffee Cooperative: Worker-owned coffee roaster and distributor focused on fair trade and direct trade. Comparable as a small mission-driven specialty coffee brand that distributes through both retail and subscription channels.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/myhalfofthesky
• Instagraminstagram.com/myhalfoftheskycoffee
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/my-half-of-the-sky

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about My Half Of The Sky