Ave Maria Living Magazine | Issue # 1 | September 2016

field, martial arts, reading, sailing,
fencing, book-writing, video game
playing, and coding, to name a
few.
While their schedules haven?t
always been full with the
multitude of activities they are
now, Daniel and Monica are no
strangers to long days and
packed schedules.
The two met while Monica was
studying ceramics and sculpture
at -Quote Carnegie Author Mellon University and
Daniel was finishing up his
degree in art history while
working as an art conservator at
the Carnegie Museum of Art in
Pittsburgh, PA. They fell in love
and Daniel proposed while on a
seven-week bike trip together in
Europe. Monica, who was a cradle
Catholic, although not practicing
her faith at the time, wanted to
get married in the Catholic
Church. This was a bit of a
problem for Daniel, who was a
practicing Christian, but had no
real allegiance to any particular
denomination at the time. His
problem came with the vow to
raise his future children in the
Catholic faith. Daniel took this
vow very seriously. After
discussing it with his own family
and because it was something
that Monica felt strongly about,
the two were married in the
Catholic Church.
Before they got married though,
shortly after their engagement,
Daniel left Pittsburgh to put his
journalism degree to use by
taking a job in management at a
daily newspaper in his hometown
of Wooster, OH. Monica wasn?t
thrilled about the idea of moving
to Wooster, so she stayed in
Pennsylvania believing it might
be easier to find work
somewhere she was already
comfortable. It didn?t take her
long to realize that she needed to
be where Daniel was, ?I was like,
?what am I doing? I?m ruining this
relationship I?m supposed to be
in? Daniel proposed! This isn?t just
dating anymore? I had made a
commitment to Dan. And
ultimately, I missed him? that
was really the biggest part. So I
moved to be with him,? Monica
said.
While she was happy to be with
Daniel again, she struggled to
find work. They would often talk
about starting a business that
they could do together and
Monica was interested in the
nascent coffeehouse industry. As
fate would have it, while Daniel?s
parents were on their yearly
vacation to Sanibel Island that
year, they had noticed that a
coffeehouse called The Bean had
gone up for sale. Monica said,
jokingly, ?let?s buy it.? Next thing
she knew, Daniel had obtained
the financing to purchase the
business and they were looking
for the least expensive house
available on the island. They
quickly sold their house in Ohio
and moved to Sanibel sight
unseen.
After a year of working and
learning, Daniel and Monica
expanded the business and The
Bean of Sanibel Island became a
smash hit. It had a cool island
vibe, great staff, and the Dixes
were always there forming
relationships with their
customers and working alongside
their staff. They had no problem
pulling in revenue; they could
make their rent payments from
souvenir sales alone. They sold
t-shirts, mugs, and popular
bumper stickers that said ?I heart
the Bean.? They asked their
customers to take photos of
themselves with their Bean
bumper stickers and to send them
the photos to hang on the shop
wall. Their customers did not
disappoint? the walls were full of
photos.
Due to their success, they decided
to open not just one, but three
more coffeehouses? two in the
new Fort Myers airport and one
in Cape Coral? all of which were
wildly successful not only in
providing a good caffeine fix, but
in offering a place for people to
come together. Continued on
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