Amanda Harth, the Chicago native behind Monday Coffee Co., is a determined entrepreneur who exemplifies the South Side's "give it a try" spirit.

She and her business partner Felton Kizer have now opened Monday Coffee's first café in Starling, a new neighborhood space on 16th Street where people can meet to enjoy coffee and company together.

"The space is designed for anyone that wants to come in, even if you're not buying a cup of coffee. If you want to rest, read a book, it's great," she said. "For years, coffee has always been a thing that brought people together; to start their businesses, to meet a friend, to go on a first date — like that seems like a safe sort of social thing to do."

Harth and Kizer first created their coffee business as a bit of a pandemic projects. The beginnings were humble.

"Felton and I, we started making cold brew in his mom's kitchen," Harth recalled. "We went online on Oct. 26, 2020, and sold out the first week, and had a pop-up in Chicago and sold out that Friday. For whatever reason, this just took off."

Now it's landed at Starling, which also features a book corner, a chess club on Tuesdays and a cozy, cool vibe.

"We knew everything was going to look great. We have good taste. We know how things should look," she said. "We had to learn how they should taste. And thank God, they taste great now!"

They roast their beans at the café, and their customers can see what's happening behind the bar.

"The big thing about Monday Coffee is we never really wanted to do the traditional coffee route," Harth said.

Her route to success has been anything but traditional. Growing up in Chicago's Pullman neighborhood, Harth loved music, fashion and art. Then she took a bit of a left turn.

"I went to the Chicago High School for Agricultural Science," she said with a laugh. "I have a love for animals, and originally, I thought I was going to be out there with the animals, but I didn't want to be out there smelling like the animals. So I ended up studying food science and learning about food — and I didn't really think I was going to do anything with it."

We first met Harth about two years ago at the artist workspace Compound Yellow in Oak Park, where she told us about one of her other loves, denim.

"For me, it's a lot of history that's tied to it," she said at the time. "Indigo technically found its way to America during the transatlantic slave trade."

Harth has even hosted events where other denim lovers can meet up and talk all things indigo. She turns denim into art, which is then displayed in places like Hotel Emily in Fulton Market.

In her spare time, Harth has even developed her own fragrance line, called Universe of Harth. But entrepreneurship hasn't been easy.

"Being a woman, being a Black woman, that's a part of it is you don't get too many shots, so you have to do your best to stay consistent and ask for help when you need it. There's nothing wrong with that," she said. "I just started asking for help, and let me tell you — I get more sleep now. I am more stable financially because I asked for help, because it's also learning that you can't do it all, and that's OK."

And we just had to know – where dd the name Monday Coffee come from?

"We wanted to kind of change the culture of how people experience Mondays. It's usually, a lot of people's least favorite day of the week.," said Harth. "For us, we see it as an opportunity to start your week off strong."

It's clear that one of Harth's strengths is her "let's give a try" attitude.

"For me, that's part of being an artist. It's good and it's bad, but it's also a big part of entrepreneurship," she said. "You can't be afraid to try things and fail. I'm learning that this is what I'm supposed to be doing, because so far, it brought me here — so I think I'm on the right track!"

Not surprisingly, Harth has a lot more on her to-do list, including opening more coffee shops and, perhaps, taking a minute to breathe.

You can find Monday Coffee at 3243 W. 16th Street in North Lawndale.

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