Another question we’ve heard all year long is:

“So… how is business?”

And honestly, there are two very different answers.

First, there’s the business of our community.

And by that measure?

WOW.

The growth we’ve experienced at Raven 425 Rise Above this year has been some of the most incredible, unexpected and genuinely humbling growth we’ve experienced since our inception.

People came to the Raven Beach Shack specifically to support what we’re building.

They came for the coffee, the clothing, the books, the experiences and the good vibes — but more importantly, so many people came because they wanted to become part of the Raven 425 family.

That community growth has been way beyond anything we expected.

And for us, that’s the part that matters most.

But then there’s the other side of the answer:

the financial business.

And that’s a very different conversation.

With the rising cost of food, gas, tariffs and everything else businesses are navigating in today’s market, every business and brand owner has to be more aware, more organized and more on the ball than ever.

Every “i” needs to be dotted.

Every “t” needs to be crossed.

There are more curveballs, more moving pieces and more responsibility that comes with running a business today.

And honestly?

It’s a lot of work.

But there’s also something exciting about it.

It forces us to stay sharp.

It forces us to keep learning, adapting, creating and paying attention.

And after everything we’ve experienced this year, there’s absolutely no place the Raven 425 Rise Above crew would rather be.

We’re still here.

We’re still building.

We’re still learning.

We’re still growing.

And most importantly…

we’re still surrounded by an incredible community of people who believe in what we’re creating.

So, how is business?

The community side?

Stellar. Epic. Unreal.

The financial side?

Challenging, exciting, demanding and requiring more attention than ever.

But the answer that matters most is this:

We’re exactly where we want to be.

Welcome to the Stoke.

“So now what?”

It’s one of the questions we hear again and again from visitors to the Raven Beach Shack and people who follow Raven 425 Rise Above online. What’s next for Raven 425, the Raven compound, the North Shuswap community and the growing online Raven 425 family?

In this episode of United by Stoke, the Raven 425 Rise Above podcast, we go behind the scenes and talk about three areas of growth we’re exploring for the future.

First is health and wellness. We want to continue expanding the health-focused side of Raven 425 through Contrast by Raven and explore ways to bring more practitioners and wellness experiences to the North Shuswap, with a vision of helping make the area a destination for healing, connection and whole-person wellness.

Second is our online community. We want to create more entertaining, educational and story-driven Raven 425 content that gives people a deeper connection to the brand, even when they aren’t physically at the Raven Beach Shack. That includes our vision for a cartoon-style Raven Ryda show, as well as more behind-the-scenes Raven 425 Rise Above content created with a team following the journey and documenting what happens behind the brand.

Third is online live selling. We’re exploring the idea of creating a small studio that would allow Raven 425 to bring products, stories and community directly to people online through live shopping and interactive content.

None of this is presented as a finished roadmap. These are ideas, opportunities and directions we’re exploring as Raven 425 Rise Above continues to grow.

The bigger question behind all three is simple:

How do we take what we’ve built at the Raven Beach Shack and the Raven compound and create more ways for people to be part of the Raven 425 community?

That’s what “So Now What?” is really about.

Welcome behind the scenes of Raven 425 Rise Above.

Welcome to United by Stoke.

www.raven425riseabove.com

What exactly is a Raven Froth?

In this episode of United by Stoke, the Raven 425 Rise Above podcast, we take a deeper look behind the brand and the story of one of the most recognizable drinks to come out of the Raven Beach Shack in Scotch Creek, British Columbia: the Raven Froth.

First, we catch up on what has been happening around the Raven Beach Shack since our last episode, including the day-to-day happenings, community, business and life behind Raven 425 Rise Above. We also continue introducing the new direction for United by Stoke: going deeper into the brand, the people, the ideas, the experiences and the mission behind Raven 425 Rise Above.

Then we get into the story of the Raven Froth.

The Raven Froth wasn’t created because Raven 425 had unlimited resources or a massive startup budget. Quite the opposite. When you’re building a small business from the ground up, you sometimes have to get creative. A $20,000+ espresso machine wasn’t realistic for a young startup, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t create something special.

Instead of letting what we didn’t have stop us, we looked at what we did have: creativity, curiosity, a love of coffee, and a desire to bring people together at the Raven Beach Shack.

That’s where the Raven Froth came from.

In this episode, we talk about how the drink was created, the thinking behind it, what makes it different, and how a simple idea became part of the Raven 425 experience. More importantly, the Raven Froth represents something bigger about the brand: you don’t always need the biggest budget, the fanciest equipment or the perfect circumstances to create something people connect with.

Sometimes you just need an idea, a little creativity, and the willingness to try.

The Raven Beach Shack in Scotch Creek has always been about more than coffee. It’s a place where people come together, conversations happen, friendships grow and the community becomes part of the experience. The Raven Froth is one small example of how that philosophy shows up in everyday life at Raven 425.

Raven 425 Rise Above is a North Shuswap-rooted lifestyle, movement and community brand built around connection, health, resilience, creativity and stronger humans. United by Stoke gives us a chance to go beyond the short-form posts and share the deeper stories behind the brand — including the decisions, challenges, experiments and little moments that helped shape Raven 425.

So if you’ve ever wondered what a Raven Froth actually is, how it came to be, or what a coffee drink can have to do with building a small business and creating community, this episode is for you.

What is a Raven Froth? How did Raven 425 create it without a traditional espresso setup? Why was bringing people together at the Raven Beach Shack so important? What can creativity teach us about starting a small business? How does the Raven Froth connect to the bigger Raven 425 Rise Above mission?

Welcome to United by Stoke.

Welcome behind the scenes of Raven 425 Rise Above.

And welcome to the Raven Beach Shack — where sometimes the best ideas start with what you don’t have.