08/16/2025
The Last Days of Pleasant Roast--
Pleasant Roast began as more than a business idea — it was a lifeline.
The vision started after one of the hardest days of my life: September 13, 2023. That morning I learned I had skin cancer. By afternoon, I learned my brother had died. Out of that wreckage, I began writing The Cancer Diet, my first memoir and dreaming of building something tangible. Pleasant Roast was born from that need — a drive-in café serving handcrafted bagels, good coffee, and small touches of flexibility that I hoped would grow into something lasting.
From the beginning, the project had both promise and obstacles. I met Zach and Robert, the building’s investors and owners. Zach was polished and steady; Robert was sharp, volatile, and harder to read. I knew personality would play a role, but I pressed on. Greenville itself became a challenge too — the city’s urban development plan clashed with the drive-through concept, creating endless hurdles.
Still, we pushed. We dreamed. I poured myself into the plan, even as doubts crept in — some from my parents’ worries, some from my own. And then the inevitable happened: one bad call, one flare of impatience, and the partnership unraveled.
Letting go of Pleasant Roast is bittersweet. I know it’s a disappointment to the people who were excited and rooting for me. It stings to take down the café section of my website, to close this chapter after pouring so much into making it real. But the truth is, even if we had made it to opening day, it would have been unrelenting stress. In a way, maybe this ending is a blessing in disguise.
Pleasant Roast now belongs in the “what if” section of my life — a good plan, carried as far as it could go, and then set down.
To everyone who followed along, got pumped up about the idea, and cheered me on: thank you. Your support meant more than you know. I’ll be leaving the Pleasant Roast section up on my website — because it was real, it existed, and it mattered. This article will live there as a marker of what we tried to build.
For now, Pleasant Roast is one door that’s closed. But other ideas are already brewing — including a hyper-local delivery venture I’ve been sketching out. Who knows what the future will bring? The future is wide open. This page will stay active, and I invite you to keep following my story as it unfolds.
In the meantime, if you’d like to keep up with my writing, you can find me at:
👉 https://fulcrumandaxis.com
The Cancer Diet- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F7B15NTV
— Frank
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