Marc Renson Inspires With His Journey of Creativity, Coffee, and Storytelling
Photo: Marc Renson, author of Is the Coffee Fresh? and How Will I Know, in his element at Ambition Coffee House.
A Visionary’s Path Blending Culinary Arts, Literary Passion, And Lifelong Dreams
Marc Renson shares his journey from culinary arts to storytelling excellence, interweaving his entrepreneurial spirit with human experiences, transforming obstacles into opportunities, and turning passions into award-winning books and coffeehouse success.
Marc Renson emerges as an exemplar of creativity, perseverance, and boundless passion, embodying the very essence of what it means to live a life driven by authenticity and innovation. Renowned for merging his love of coffee and storytelling in ways as aromatic as the beverages served at his celebrated Ambition Coffee House, Renson’s artistry transcends mediums, bridging the culinary and literary worlds with striking eloquence. His books, marked by heartfelt humor and captivating narratives, invite readers to explore the depths of human connection while savoring the rich flavors of life and imagination.
Through the pages of Renson’s works, including Is the Coffee Fresh?—an award-winning memoir rooted in the bustling and sometimes chaotic realities of his coffeehouse—and How Will I Know, a vibrantly imaginative fiction featuring Whitney Houston as a guardian angel, readers are treated to an unforgettable blend of wit, warmth, and poignant storytelling. Renson’s unique ability to infuse joy and wisdom into his prose reflects a creative spirit that not only crafts relatable tales but transforms everyday challenges into opportunities for connection and self-discovery.
Marc Renson’s brilliance shines through his ability to transform life’s complexities into relatable tales and spaces full of inspiration.
This interview reveals Marc Renson as far more than an author—he’s a visionary who has gracefully intertwined his entrepreneurial dreams with his passion for charting the human experience. From overcoming monumental obstacles to creating spaces of community and creative expression, his journey is as inspiring as the characters he brings to life. With every loaf of artisan bread served, every espresso poured, and every chapter written, Renson reminds us of the power of persistence and the beauty of pursuing what we love.
Marc Renson’s story is an invitation—a call to embrace our own dreams, no matter how audacious or unconventional. It is a privilege to showcase his journey, and we are thrilled to present this interview that promises to inspire readers to forge their paths with courage, creativity, and an unshakable belief in their own potential. If you haven’t yet explored Renson’s acclaimed books or experienced the magic of Ambition Coffee House, you’re in for a treat. This is a journey that tastes as good as it reads.
What inspired you to intertwine your love for coffee and storytelling in your career?
I’m a true believer in following your dreams. I’ve been drinking coffee since I was seven at my parent’s beauty parlor. So coffee has been with me all these years. The inspiration of intertwining them, that gets chalked up to fate. It wasn’t something I chose, it was something that was almost forced onto me, that became a burning desire, a passion. I gotta do this, kind of thing, that manifested into a book. And let me add, an award winning book too!
How did your upbringing influence your journey into writing and entrepreneurship?
My upbringing was my parents owned a beauty parlor but my father was a serial entrepreneur. It was he who was a harness racer, owned an auction parlor, sold fireplaces and dabbled in gold and silver from South America. He owned a sawmill, had his pilot license, sold metal detectors, owned arcade rooms, built homes and bought and sold land before “flipping“ became popular. Mom stayed behind and operated the beauty parlor, while he pursed his other interests.
When I was eighteen, I saw the 1988 movie Tequila Sunrise, (Michelle Pfeiffer’s character owned a restaurant in this movie) and that’s when I said, I want to own a restaurant.
My father passed away just as I was graduating high school and mom said, “You’re going to culinary school.” And that was it, you didn’t fight with mom. But my mom saw my passion for cooking and that’s why she pushed me towards that direction. My parents entrepreneurial drive was instilled in me and my sisters as we worked along side them in their many businesses. I was taught what hard work can produce and I learned it at a young age.
When I went to Paris in 1997, it was then that I was forming a real vision in my mind of what I wanted and I said, I want a coffee house and eatery.
It just so happened, my coffeehouse opened in a downtown that was revitalizing and we had a lot of homeless and addicts walking the streets. They would come in, wreak havoc and that began the notes and the storytelling of what people do, say and steal from my coffeehouse.
At the time, I was a chef, not an author. Culinary colleges do not teach creative writing, they teach creativity, but not writing. The writing I had to learn again. I would say, “This can’t possibly be happening, this is something you watch in the theater or read in a book!” And that’s when my writing began, and the voice for my book came to life.
Can you share some of the challenges you faced while starting Ambition Coffee House?
I don’t think you have enough magazine for my story but your question was the challenges I faced while starting Ambition. So I will answer that question.
The biggest challenge I faced, was myself.
The quote I used in my high school senior yearbook was “Opportunity knocks, but you have to answer.”
When we started Ambition, I was twenty-nine. I wanted the opportunity to operate my own restaurant and when that opportunity came, I threw my hand up in the air so fast.
I had a culinary arts degree, I had worked many culinary positions in hotels, restaurants and even a florist. I had customer service, I was the head chef at the Sheraton. Food Production Manager for SUNY Albany, I worked many small mom and pop restaurants. But that still wasn’t enough experience for what was to come.
Like my father, I work best when I work hands on. Unfortunately, when you work hands on, you make a lot of trials and errors.
I wasn’t ready for employees to steal thousands of dollars from my two year old business.
When the money wasn’t there, I grabbed the sales tax money, and used that to float, but then sales tax came due and the sales tax account was empty and what I thought was a solution to a problem, only caused a bigger problem. The state adds penalties and late fees on top of sales tax. In the beginning, we did not have a POS system (point of sale). We used hand written checks, and it’s amazing how fast a guest check of cash disappears. And this employee’s stealing went on for about three quarters before I figured it where the money was going.
So what did I do, I worked like I never worked in my life to pay off those penalties and late fee charges. Every bit of profit for two years went to New York State.
Positive thing, I never did it again! A mistake is only a mistake if you don’t make it again, then it becomes a choice.
How do you balance your time between managing a coffee house and writing books?
That was a delicate balance but it swayed more towards procrastination, “I’ll write the book tomorrow, today’s too busy!”
Well guess what, tomorrow was too busy too. Most of my writing was burning the midnight oil, Staying up way later than my bedtime to get every thought out of my head. It took me six years to write Is the Coffee Fresh? That was just gathering notes and getting the first draft written. Then came editing, and more editing and even more editing. Then came finding a publisher. That whole process start to finish took me nine years!
What role does creativity play in both your writing and your coffee business?
I’m a chef by trade. But I’m an artist at heart. As an artist, I like to create. That’s my biggest joy of owning the restaurant is creating sandwiches or omelettes or naming the dish, or creating a fantastic sauce or just the imagination of allowing a thought to flow through my mind, think about it and make that thought come to life, that’s now sitting on a plate in front of a customer. What was once nothing is now something.
Writing allows me the same artistic expression. To pull from my imagination. To tap into an unknown source with no ending. It’s past fear, part exhilaration, and part determination.
But the two are very different. Once the book is done, it’s done. When it’s written and published, it’s done. You have better be happy with that end result because with writing a book, once it’s published, it’s done! Unlike food, if I don’t quite hit the mark the first time, someone will still buy the item, but I still have several more chances to get it right. Or with food, I can change my mind with the recipe and make the product gluten free or make it vanilla instead of chocolate because food isn’t permanent like that of a written book.
The JOY of creating something is what any artist enjoys the most. Most artists consider creating their art more joyful than their finished end result. That’s why some books are never finished. Because like any artist, while creating we’re full of wild abandonment but with the end result, we see our flaws and shortcomings and as an artist, we’re never truly happy with our end result. That’s the sad truth. I guarantee you, Harper Lee would’ve loved to change some things in To Kill A Mockingbird.
Can you tell us about the process of writing “How Will I Know,” and what inspired the storyline?
How Will I Know is the unofficial story of my life. Between my upbringing, college, work, and personal experiences, it all comes together in what I am so proud of as “a fun, whimsical romp.” Which just happens to be one of my favorite book review quotes!
I love food, music and Hollywood. That’s me! I should’ve been a Michael Jackson, Prince or George Michael but I didn’t have the confidence as a kid to go after my dream, so I went into culinary arts. But guess what? My destiny still found me. Hollywood found me in my Ambition.
I’ve been the personal chef to Bradley Cooper. I’ve fed Ryan Gosling and Kelsey Grammer. I’ve fed many Food Network chefs Alton Brown, The Cake Boss, Bethenny Frankel and Restaurant Impossible Robert Irvine. And so many more! I fed James Brown a burger and the biggest Jeannie in the land Barbara Eden was in my restaurant.
When the inspiration to write a second book came and that artistic thought went through my mind, write a book, call it How Will I Know and use Whitney Houston as a guardian angel, it struck a cord in my soul and I loved the idea. I believe in meta physical. Why not?!
The problem was, I only ever wrote Non Fiction. How do I write fiction? That was my hardest obstacle, creating a story. My best way for me to learn is to jump right in. I didn’t take writing classes. I didn’t join book clubs. I did however read Stephen King’s memior On Writing. He writes just put the words down, your editor will fix it. Well, maybe that works for Stephen King and maybe publishers tolerate that from authors like Stephen King because they know the payout will be there. However, for an independent author like myself, publishers are much more picky. They want a finished, polished manuscript. I received more rejections from this book than my first. Because writing fiction for me was so much harder than Non Fiction. Plus I had a mess of a book and publishers weren’t dealing with it. That is until my publisher heard my voice and liked the project but they even wrote this manuscript is gonna take some heavy lifting to get it up to professional standards.
Like my first book, How Will I Know took from start to publish, eight years. But that doesn’t include the four years I spent thinking about writing the book because my old friend procrastination was there.
As I began writing the book, I already knew I wanted to write a fun story. I didn’t want murder, zombies, werwolves, kidnapping, I wanted fun. I wanted to write a story that captures the essence of a great pop song and how a great, fun pop songs pulls a listener in with its repetitive choruses. Who doesn’t like the song How Will I Know or Call Me Maybe. They are fun pop songs and they pull you in. How Will I Know is the perfect beach read. Many authors frown at their book being called a beach read, not me, I’m proud of it.
I soon realized about half way through, that I was drawing inspiration from my own life’s events and putting them into my character Michael Monroe who falls on hard times and meets his guardian angel Whitney Houston. Don’t you just love that?! How would you love to meet your guardian angel? And have it be Whitney Houston! OMG JOY!
What is the most memorable feedback you’ve received from readers of your books?
My first book Is the Coffee Fresh?, long time customers love the banter I write about as they know me and the restaurant and how funny they say the book is to them because they personally know me.
Then there are the readers who connected to my voice who also work in customer service but a different field then a restaurant. Several beauticians, tattoo artists, nurses, school teachers that loved the book and they would tell me they’re horror stories of what happened to them. That’s a great feeling to have someone connect to your voice and want to share. And that’s why we’re all here, to share ourselves with each other. We’re all one big family, connected to each other. There’s magic in a book when it personally connects author to reader.
How Will I Know hits readers differently. When a person picks up my book and see the title How Will I Know, then turns it over to find out Whitney Houston is the guardian angle, they start singing her song of the same name. And they connect. Then they continue reading the back page blurb and it says Whitney brings my character to the Florida Keys as she fixes his life. Even if the reader doesn’t like Whitney, but they have been to and love the Florida keys, that’s another connect. I’m literally grabbing and pulling the readers in. Which is why, “It’s a fun, whimsical romp!”, is my most favorite review. Because that’s what I wanted from the very first moment I started writing, a fun book. Kirkus Reviews writes
“An inventive…whimical…self discovery novel”. There’s that whimical again!
How has owning Ambition Coffee House influenced your writing style and themes?
I’ve always been told to do what you love. I love food, music and Hollywood and I’ve invited all of that into my restaurant Ambition. I’ve appeared on Daytime TV, The Dr Oz Show, I was featured on daytime TV, The Good Dish. I was a personal chef to Bradley Cooper. I fed the Bill Rasmussen the co-owner of ESPN. I’ve fed many Broadway stars Kristen Chenoweth, Tommy Tune, Marvin Hamlisch, Ted Neeley, and Tony Ward. I wore Kate Shindle, 1998 Miss America’s crown. I shook hands with Dolly Parton. Barbara Eden folded her hands and winked her Jeannie wink at me. i made an espresso for KD Lang. I hugged Cyndi Lauper and made a ham and Swiss sandwich for Styx lead singer Dennis DeYoung and there are so many more stories.
My restaurant has been reviewed my many national blogger and reviewers. And as I said, I feed Hollywood right out of my upstate New York restaurant. I don’t go to them, they come to me! it’s the Law of Attraction at work. What you seek, is also seeking you. And these are the themes of my writing in both books. Food, music and Hollywood. Do what you love!
What advice would you give to someone looking to pursue dual passions like you have with writing and coffee?
My advice would be, do what you love. Chase your dreams, not the money.
When everyone else quits, keep working!
Be true to yourself. Be kind to yourself. Nobody in this world can say worst things about you than the thoughts that you‘ve already said about yourself.
Forgive yourself.
Failing is all part of learning. Don’t be afraid to fail or you will never learn.
Try it, what’s the best that can happen?
When life gets you down, remember you can still smile.
Pursuing a dream is hard work. Success is like a recipe. A teaspoon of faith, a cup of hard work, a dash of inspiration, one bag of hope all mixed with a whole lotta courage. Believe in yourself. There’s only one you in this entire world, follow the passions that hide deep in your soul.
I will close with a quote I wrote in How Will I Know when Whitney first appears to my character who’s down on his luck and she tells him, “You already have everything you need, you just need to recognize it!”
That’s the advice I would give to people who are looking to pursue a passion or like my instance, dual passions.
“You already have everything you need, you just need to recognize it!”
You know what to do! Take the first step
What advice do you have for aspiring authors who want to infuse personal experiences into their writing?
Aspiring authors will need to be brave enough to expose their short comings, their failures, and their not-good-enoughs because if they don’t write the truth, then they’re lying to themselves and the reader.