Grounds for Change: Connie Blalock's Journey to Building a Business with a Purpose in Albemarle

Some stories remind us just how powerful resilience, community, and purpose can be—and Connie Blalock’s journey is one of those stories. In this episode, I share her path from a childhood marked by hardship to becoming the heart behind Glory Beans Coffee House in Albemarle, North Carolina. What started as a business quickly became something much deeper—a place rooted in love, service, and genuine human connection.

We talk about overcoming self-doubt, facing life-altering challenges like a breast cancer diagnosis, and learning how to receive support from others. Connie’s story is raw, honest, and incredibly inspiring, offering a powerful reminder that even in our hardest seasons, we are capable of more strength than we realize. 

Episode Highlights

[00:38] – Introducing Connie and the story behind Glory Beans Coffee House

[02:24] – Growing up in a challenging and traumatic environment

[05:29] – Struggles with school, self-doubt, and earning her GED later in life

[09:57] – Facing a breast cancer diagnosis and finding strength through community

[12:31] – Learning how to accept help and the importance of letting others show up for you

[13:47] – How life’s challenges shaped her resilience and mindset

[14:56] – The heart behind Glory Beans and serving the community

[17:28] – Why Albemarle is a special place and what makes the community unique

[19:46] – Words of wisdom: “What don’t kill you really does make you stronger”

Links & Resources

*This episode is part of a series highlighting stories in Albemarle, North Carolina*

• Glory Beans Coffee House: https://glorybeanscoffeehouse.com
• Instagram:
  https://www.instagram.com/glorybeans_coffeehouse_/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GloryBeansCoffeeHouse/
• Albemarle Downtown: https://www.albemarledowntown.com/
• Visit Stanly: https://visitstanly.com/

Follow Amelia

Instagram: @AmeliaOldOfficial

Website: https://AmeliaOld.com

If this episode moved you, share it with someone who might need a reminder of their own strength. Don’t forget to follow, rate, and leave a review—it helps these stories reach more people and continue making an impact. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Everyone has a story to tell. We connect and relate to one another when we share our stories. My name is Amelia Old, and I'm your host of Voices of Inspiration. Between me as I share stories of friends, family, and strangers through my everyday life and travels. We will laugh, possibly cry, but walk away feeling connected more than ever to those around you and ready to be the change our world needs. Everyone has a story to tell. What's yours?

SPEAKER_01 0:38

Hello, my friends. Thank you for joining me today. I hope you had a wonderful holiday break. Things are just now getting back to normal on my end. It seemed like I had a bit of a revolving door for a couple of weeks with visitors, but it was nice to see loved ones and old friends. My children have gone back home now, my older children and my friends have gone back home, and we've all gone back to work and school and back to reality. So I'm a little delayed in my most recent episode, and I'm actually having to record this introduction outside of my daughter's acting class. So you might hear a little bit of traffic and sound. I do apologize. Oh good. No, there goes someone racing near me. So not where I would prefer to be recording, but hey, you know what? That's what makes it interesting. Today's episode is another part of our series highlighting the city of Albemarle in North Carolina. In this episode, I chat with Connie Blaylock, who is the owner of Glory Beans Coffee House. And we talk about education and becoming an adult learner, her breast cancer diagnosis, and what led to her opening a coffee house in Albemarle and what plans she has for the future. Well, thank you so much for joining me today, Connie. I really appreciate you taking time, especially right here, just a couple of days before Christmas. Well, thank you for having me. So you have owned Glory Beans Coffee House in Albemarle, North Carolina since 2009. And I want to talk about the really great things that you are doing with your business, but I want to kind of back up to the beginning. Can you talk a little bit about childhood? Okay.

SPEAKER_02 2:24

Well, I was the third of the baby of three kids. And my dad was just very abusive. We he was a an alcoholic, he wasn't on drugs. We really just don't know why he was so abusive. But uh, you know, there was a lot of physical abuse for my mom, my brother, my sister. I was four, so I don't remember if I was abused or not, but then my dad died because of all that abuse. Um and it wasn't until I was 12 that my mom finally stopped getting into abusive situations. So, you know, until I was 12, I grew up just in fear all the time, you know, scared for my life, running to hotels to get away from the next abusive man and just a lot of trauma in my life. Yeah. Now, was this in Albemarle?

SPEAKER_01 3:26

It was in Staley County, yes, which is where Ablemarle is, yeah. Okay, okay. How do you think seeing your mother with some of those relationships, how do you think that that shaped your relationships with other people?

SPEAKER_02 3:38

Well, for men, it definitely shaped an idea in me that said, I will not stand for anybody ever trying to hurt me or hurt my children. You know, I think growing up in all that trauma and fear created a lot of chaos in my life over the years, but it also gave me a lot of strength to create a better life for myself and my kids.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

You said something in your pre-show notes that really stuck with me. And you said that you did not graduate high school and you finished your GED in 2014. And first of all, congratulations, I think that's that you went back and did that. You said, I didn't think I was smart, and I have carried that with me all my life. I speak the truth to myself often. I'm really smart. And I think that that's more common than we tend to think about young people not believing in how capable they are. My siblings and and mother are borderline genius level when it comes to books, book smart, if you will, you know. And I, on the other hand, made average grades and you know, I didn't go to college. I'm in college now, but I didn't go right out of school because I couldn't wrap my brain around, you know, school and a teacher standing in front of me and focusing on that. And it wasn't until almost two years ago that I was diagnosed with ADHD, and that was like a huge game changer for me. And it's like, wow, if I hadn't known this back then, and I would treat this back then. But can you talk about your challenges with school and what encouraged you to go back to get your GD? Because I think that that is really something important about your background that I think a lot of people might relate to.

SPEAKER_02 5:29

Well, I can remember sitting in in ninth grade physical science with Mr. Rush, you know, a man. And he was he was nice and you know, I liked being, but I was afraid to ask for help. So because a feeling they would think I was dumb. So I remember sitting in science class one day, and we were looking over the periodic table, and I was looking up at that thing, and I'm just thinking that makes no sense to me. It's just, I mean, it was it was another language to me. And cause I was ashamed um to ask for help, I was afraid that, you know, he would think I was dumb, or, you know, another student would think, you know, she's stupid. So I sit there in my seat with tears streaming down my face. Just a vivid memory of, you know, sitting in class and not asking for help because of fear of what people would think of me. And so I think I probably maybe at that time just said, this, I I can, I cannot do this, and I'm not smart enough for this. And I don't think I ever believed that I could graduate high school. And, you know, my mom, she was a good mom, you know, and she done the best that she could, but she wasn't one to encourage. She wasn't one to say, you can do it, you know, she wasn't one to help me with my homework. And, you know, so I just never really thought it was a possibility for me to graduate from high school. So then I just lost interest, you know, and became a dropout. And then there was another time when I had already dropped out of school. My best friend went to school when I was living with them. And her science teacher, her biology, biology teacher, said to her, Where's Connie? And she's like, Well, she dropped out of school. And he said, What is she gonna be a street walker the rest of her life? And you know, probably had she known then what we adults know now, she would have never told me that. But you know, things like that stick with you forever. And I didn't become a street walker. I would love to tell him that. But, you know, I just as easily could have, because you you need people to believe in you when you can't believe in yourself. So absolutely. And what encouraged you to go back to get your GD? You know, I guess probably my girls, my kids, and the fact that even though I was I was running a business, I had a cleaning business at the time, I knew that just for my own peace of mind, just to say that yes, I did this. You know, I just wanted to be proud of myself that I done that, and I wanted my girls to be proud of me as well.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

I think that's amazing that you went back, and I do think that there are a lot of people that can relate to this.

SPEAKER_02 8:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:45

Like you said, you need someone to believe in you. Sure.

SPEAKER_02 8:48

Well, ironically, when I started my GED, I don't remember what year it was. It must have been in the early 2000s. Um, and it wasn't until like I finished, I think there were three or four, four or five tests, I can't remember, but I didn't finish the math because I had never had anything more than general math in high school. So for almost 10 years, I run from that math test and never finished it. So I started my GED and you know, 10 years previous to when I finished it. And they called me from the community college here in Alvemarle and said, Connie, if you don't do this math test now, it's been 10 years and your other tests will be voided, so you'll have to start over. So I was pushed into taking a math test that I hadn't been writing from for for 10 years because I didn't believe that I could pass that pre-algebra and algebra that would be on that test. But by the grace of God, I did.

SPEAKER_01 9:46

And then in 2018, life got really hard yet again, and you had yet another challenge to face. Can you talk about that?

SPEAKER_02 9:56

Yeah. So in I think it was March of 2018, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and it was in my right breast. So really tough time, very trying, but I had a right side mastectomy, chemo, radiation, five surgeries, but in the midst of the breast cancer, in the very beginning, I was extremely scared, you know, the what-ifs, but it kind of like I had the I went upstairs up then. I was living at the coffee shop upstairs, and I had this little area that I would go and sit in and you know, listen to music and podcasts. And um I just remember saying, God, I just I need peace, and I'm so afraid, I'm so scared. A little before breast cancer, I had kind of gotten into a place where I was just maybe empty would be a good word. I was just, you know, I had poured out for so many years, and I just felt so empty because I poured out and didn't feel back up, you know. And so I begin to the community in in having the brisket, the community just begin to love me and hold me up and just love me in a way that I never imagined, and begin to feel my cup that was so empty. And it was just an amazing time.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

I think as women, we all struggle with that, and we get to a moment where, like you said, you felt empty. And I know that for me personally, I've had moments where you just you you just say to yourself, I literally do not have anything else in me to give to someone else because you're starting to just, as you mentioned, pouring into other cups and doing things for other people that you forget that self-care to take care of.

SPEAKER_02 11:58

Right.

SPEAKER_01 11:59

Um what would you say to to not just women but men as well who might go through a challenge like you went through or or something similar? What would you say to them on accepting that community help or help from friends or help from strangers? Because I think that's the other thing. Like some people don't know how to accept that from other people, they don't know how to embrace other people wanting to do something for them.

SPEAKER_02 12:31

Right. Well, I think first of all, we gotta remember that we were put here to love one another and to help one another. And you know, for us control freaks, it's hard to receive that help. But um, you know, this is kind of harsh. But when when, you know, if you go out to eat somewhere and somebody tries to buy your meal and you're like, no, no, no, you can't do that, you know, no, no, no. Well, in a sense, that's a sense of pride. And it's, you know, and I think it's overcoming that sense of pride that says, I can't receive help. It's overcoming that sense of I don't feel loved enough to allow people to help me. And I think that I had gone through that period where I didn't feel very loved, and and it was just amazing. So, you know, just understand that when we have an empty cup, there's somebody who can help to fill your cup up. So just allow that to happen.

SPEAKER_01 13:36

How did your experiences from your childhood and your diagnosis shape your perspective on life and resilience?

SPEAKER_02 13:47

Wow. Well, my motto became what don't kill you really does make you stronger. And you know, I think all of us grow up hearing that sometime or another. And honestly, the truth is your struggle is big, but you were bigger than your struggle. And in the middle of the fight, you can be the one that stands and continue to stand and keep fighting.

SPEAKER_01 14:18

So what have you learned about yourself after all this? I'm stronger than I ever knew I was.

SPEAKER_02 14:27

Um I'm an overcomer, you know, and I'm smart. I have to remind myself of that. But um, yeah, just that I am I'm stronger than the battle, and uh, I was created to be an overcomer, and I think that's really important for us to remember.

SPEAKER_01 14:50

So tell me about your pride and joy, glory beings.

SPEAKER_02 14:55

Well, I opened the doors in 2009, and my heart has always been to help people, and I knew that when I opened the doors, that the first thing I would do is open my doors to the homeless community, and I knew that it was my goal to share the love in our city. It was my goal to be a life changer in our city and to love people unconditionally. So we opened in June of 09, the community in, which is our homeless shelter, opened, and I think in September of the same year. And I just immediately called and said, I want to help. But you close at a certain time, you tell them they can come up to the coffee shop, and we have coffee, water, you know, whatever, whatever we can do, we want to help. Cool place to stay, you know, a warm place to stay. So that's kind of what Glory Beans became. It became a business, a coffee shop and cafe. But more than that, it was a ministry for the homeless, for me to just love on people. And uh in the early years of that, when my cup was full, I I sat down and I, you know, I loved them every day and we had fun. And that's when I think about my business, or when I want other people to think about my business, I want them to think, oh yeah, glory beans, that's you know, they help the homeless there. You know, I want to be recognized for good food and good coffee, but I want people to know not because I'm prideful or arrogant, but I want people to know that, you know, that's what we do because we love people.

SPEAKER_01 16:46

So you've basically been in the area your your entire life.

SPEAKER_02 16:50

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

What are some of your because you know, a big thing that we talk about here on the show is travel and experiencing new places. And Albemarle is it's not that far from Charlotte. So it's a great place for, you know, those that live in this area to come and have like a staycation of sorts. So they're close to the mountains, but they're also not that far away from home or just a quick overnight. Or people who are coming to Charlotte that want a different part of the community during their visit. So I would love to hear what are some of your favorite things to do in the area.

SPEAKER_02 17:27

Well, we are right in the middle, like you said, of the mountains and the beaches, but we also in Stanley County, we have two huge lakes. We have Mara Mountain, we have Uari Trails, and we are just surrounded by beautiful spots in our county where you can go to swim, boat, hike. There's just so much to do here. And being in the middle of two hours from two and a half hours from the beach. So we just live in a great place. I've been here my whole life, and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Well, until I have grandchildren. I want to be closer to them, but I'm just Almore will always be my home. Um we were kind of a we're a small city, but we stick together where I'm from. We got a large tribe of people who take care of one another, who care for one another. And I don't my my children live in bigger cities and and I love to go and visit, but I am the true Southern woman who talks to everybody everywhere I go. And finishing it. And people don't always receive that, depending on where you where where you're at. So in Albemarle in Stanley County, um people receive that. And we're just everybody knows everybody almost. If you don't know them, you've you've seen them at least 10 times. Do you have a favorite restaurant that you recommend?

SPEAKER_01 19:02

Yes, Glorybeans Coffeehouse. We have the best breakfast and lunch in town. So where can our listeners find you online to check out all the amazing things you're doing and also find you for a visit?

SPEAKER_02 19:17

Well, we are glorybeanscoffeehouse.com, my website, our menu. We're also at glorybeans on Instagram and Glorybeans Coffeehouse on Facebook.

SPEAKER_01 19:31

And I will make sure that I link to your website and all of your social channels in the notes of the episode of this show. Do you have a favorite quote or words of wisdom that you would like to leave behind with those listening today?

SPEAKER_02 19:46

Well, I guess my favorite quote would be what we've already talked about. What don't kill you really does make you stronger. That's that's my that's my quote. That's what keeps me going, and that's what I share with everybody. You know, we sometimes have tough battles, but we are overcovers. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 20:04

Thank you for being with me today and taking time to share your story. You are extremely inspiring, and I was super excited when I heard about you to sit down and chat with you, and I'm confident that your experiences are going to touch the lives of many others who hear this episode and through your coffee shop.

SPEAKER_02 20:24

Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.