Franchisee Stories
Ed and Eileen Buison blend love, lattes and franchise ownership with BIGGBY® into a life that centers family, community and opportunities for their team.
When the economy buckled in 2008, Ed and Eileen Buison found themselves chasing entrepreneurship just to make ends meet. “We were both working for a small business and then, around 2008, much of the country — especially here in metro Detroit — the automotive companies were having issues,” Ed said. “And honestly, we were about to be homeless. Our house was in foreclosure — rock bottom, if you want to call it that.”
They launched a home health care company in 2010. It steadied the family, but the next chapter had to be deliberate — something they could build around community and their life together. “We knew we wanted to do something with limited food options but heavy on community involvement,” Ed said.
A friend pointed them to BIGGBY® COFFEE. The couple attended a Discovery Day in Lansing, Michigan, and left aligned on values. “We pretty much fell in love with the culture,” Ed said. “They were speaking our language.” By 2014, they signed their first franchise agreement and opened in Livonia, Michigan, where Ed grew up. “I wanted the first store to be in the city where I grew up because it helped shape me, and I wanted to give back to the community,” he said.
From the start, the Buisons chose to do everything side by side, even when others were skeptical. “Sometimes we would sign a lease or a rent agreement and people would have this look on their face like, ‘You work with your wife? You’re together 24/7 — is that right?’” Eileen said. “So yeah, literally 24/7 we would be that couple. For us, we didn’t question why we would do something different. It just is, and it worked out that way.”
Parenthood refined their boundaries. “After we had Isabelle, our daughter, we figured out, ‘OK, there should be work time and there should be family time,’” Eileen said. “It’s not 100% always followed, but we try to follow that plan to spend time with her.”
BIGGBY® also gave them the flexibility to make those boundaries real. Ed says the goal was control over time and resources so the family could raise their daughter on their terms — without resentment for a business that never sleeps.
Inside the stores, the couple’s differences became an advantage. Leadership training helped name it. “We took this assessment. In the four categories, we were complete opposites,” Ed said. “It makes for an interesting dynamic where we’re at opposite ends of how we make decisions. I want to have a discussion; Eileen is like, ‘No, I think we should just do this.’”
That contrast requires discipline in front of the team. “At the end of the day, we always get in alignment before we work with our team to provide a unified front,” Ed said.
“It’s like our yin and yang,” Eileen said. “I’m the person who likes to react first, then make solutions or tackle the problem after the reaction. Ed is more, ‘Let’s analyze this. What’s wrong with this process? Let’s figure out how to make it better.’”
BIGGBY® COFFEE’s baked-in expectation of community engagement matched how the Buisons see their role. “We view it as: those are our customers, those are our neighbors. We want to give back,” Ed said. That commitment shows up in events, donations and presence — and in how they invest in people.
One longtime team member, Megan Richardson, started as a barista and is now an owner with them. “We talk about, ‘Hey, you can be an owner with us.’ It’s not just talk,” Ed said. “We follow through.” For the Buisons, “family” includes the staff who helped them build. Eileen says they want “opportunities for ownership” and paths to move up inside their organization.
Legacy, for the Buisons, means exposure, options and service. Their daughter participates in store events, “pouring drinks and handing them out,” Ed said. The family is also exploring BIGGBY® COFFEE’s Farm Direct program in the Philippines, where Eileen is from. “It’s a way to give opportunity to a place where it all started for us and to show our daughter — coming full circle — that you can do big things,” Ed said.
They’re clear that Isabelle’s future is hers to choose. The business exists to create options, not obligations. Still, the idea that one day there could be BIGGBY® locations connected to their family’s roots was something Ed “could never have thought possible years ago.”
Working with a spouse can blur every line. “If we’re not in alignment, our team — especially the ones who know us — they know there’s something going on,” Ed said.
At home, there’s always the risk of a little spillover, which is why the Buisons find it important to name a cutoff and honor it. “We’re working during the day, and at night we’re still talking about it,” Eileen said. “We have to say, ‘OK, we’re done with work. It’s 7 p.m. It’s time for family.’”
The trade-off is the life they wanted. “To be able to do that, have a livelihood and experience things together — to me, that’s the best thing,” Ed said. Eileen agrees, pointing to the everyday win: “Spending time with Ed every day — that was really rewarding.”
The Buisons’ story isn’t a fairy tale about effortless balance. It’s a practical map for building a business that serves the people in it — starting at home and extending to a neighborhood, a team and, potentially, another country. BIGGBY® gave them a framework. The family made it a life.
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