Owner / Age 21
Scream ‘N Conuts and The High Lift
Just after Emilee Rysticken turned 15, she started working as a barista at a local coffee shop in her hometown of Two Rivers. Just two years later — days after graduating from high school —she opened her own business, Scream ’N Conuts.
That early success at the age of 17 “was incredibly motivating and really put my foot in the door,” she says. “It was proof to myself and to others of what I was capable of.”
She went on to open a second location for her ice cream shop in Suamico, and Rysticken also opened The High Lift, a new coffee shop in Two Rivers, after winning New North Inc.’s 2021 NEW Launch Alliance Pitch Event. She was named Wisconsin Main Street’s “Best New Business” in 2019 and was one of Insight’s 2022 Women of Influence in the New North Region.
Rysticken took one welding course at Lakeshore Technical College while still in high school, but her business management skills have all been self-taught — including the design of murals, logos and merchandise.
Rysticken served on the Two Rivers Main Street Board of Directors starting in her junior year of high school until the end of 2022, allowing her to connect with local business owners who became friends. “I’m thankful for so many people along my journey,” she says.
