kate b.

Kate B. | Manager/Trainer

Parisi Café at Union Station » Crossroads

Years of Industry Service: 14

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Parisi Café opened inside Union Station last August and Kate has been there since the beginning to help with the opening and with training. She didn't know what to expect and says it's way different than a retail setting. Business is unpredictable, depending on special events, train travelers and business traffic. "I like being here," Kate said. "I've always adored this building."

Before Kate joined the Parisi family, she managed Latté Land, working mostly on the Plaza. For the past five years, she has also judged regional barista competitions but has never competed. She is a barista advocate and being in the business, knows exactly what they're going through. When she's not working in a coffee shop, Kate reads, drinks beer and eats good food. She loves Fred P. Ott's, Westport Cafe, Waldo Pizza, Eden Alley and Thai food.

  Make KC Better » I still thing we have a long way

to go establishing food culture, especially vegetarian,

there are not a lot of places. 

natalie h.

Natalie H. | Barista

The Coffee Girls

Years of Industry Service: 4

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When Natalie started working in a coffee shop, she thought it would be an easy second job. Making a pot of coffee is pretty basic, right? Wrong. She soon found out that there is an artistry to making a good cup of coffee and that she had a whole helluva lot to learn. Luckily, Natalie likes coffee and being a barista is now her full-time job. She recently gave up caffeine for six months, but is now back on "the juice."

When Natalie is not making coffee, she hangs out with her "fur friends." She has four dogs: two pit bulls, a Boston terrier and one loveable mutt. She recently fostered and found a home for a pup dog left in the middle of a busy part Broadway. Although she is not a big jock, she enjoys running and she loves watching soccer because "soccer is all about soccer." She's a big Sporting KC fan.

Some favorite restaurants that Natalie and her boyfriend frequent are down in the Columbus Park area, Pandolfi's Deli and Vietnam Cafe. She lives in Hyde Park on a block with a lot of young families.

  Make KC Better » I really think that this whole curfew things needs to be broken down to what it is. There is really a racial divide. These kids need somewhere to go and they deserve as good of a shot as anybody else. 

maggie s.

Maggie S. | Barista 

Eddie Delahunt's Cafe &

Years of Industry Service: 3

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French-speaking Maggie is leaving the service industry and Kansas City any day now. She is packing her bags and moving across the world to be an au pair for a French family in Paris. (Go ahead, be jealous. I totally am.) She met the family through a friend, but French culture has been part of her life for a long time. Her family has hosted many exchange students and she started learning the language in middle school. In between high school and college, Maggie had the opportunity to live in France as an exchange student herself and says, "It's exciting to get to go back. My dad speaks decent French. It's one of those things that worked itself into the fabric of our family over time."

For a little while longer, Maggie lives in a house with four women so they spend a lot of time together at home. She is involved with her church community and likes gardening, cooking and baking. "I really enjoy baking," Maggie says. "It's something that clicks sentimentally for me, making pies and cinnamon rolls (which her mom taught her to make)."At work, she gets plenty of time to read and visit with her customers. A set of bright red ginger triplets stopped into the café with mom to say their last goodbye to Maggie. They had cinnamon rolls.

  Make KC Better » My interests and passion lies in land and agriculture. Make land more accessible to people and easier for them to gain knowledge and skill to produce their own food. 

rachel e.

Rachel E. | Ice Cream Scooper, Barista

Glacé

Years of Industry Service: 4

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Rachel , a junior at the University of Missouri, is studying photojournalism and Spanish. Next year, she is going to say goodbye to ice cream and will be abroad for a summer in Spain. When she finishes school, she would like to be in the news business, primarily in sports photography and says, "I'd like to shoot National Geographic at some point in my life." See Rachel's work here. Rachel plays intramural sports (soccer and tennis), likes to travel and reads a lot. She's also big on shopping. Although she admits the shopping scene in KC could be a little bit better, "there are a lot of good places. You just have to look."

  Make KC Better » Rebuild and revitalize older parts of the city. 

rachel h.

Rachel H. | Baker/Barista

One More Cup

Years of Industry Service: 1.5

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Rachel is a self-taught baker. She has always enjoyed it, but during college, she really upped her skills while baking with friends with whom she created a project called Cookie Bombs. They made baking fun and outrageous, surprising friends with their baked goods and their ideas. Rachel's masterpiece included building a Trojan horse filled with sweet goodies and sneaking into a friend's house to deliver them. Another project, named Operation Dessert Storm, involved rewriting a Donald Rumsfeld speech about the gulf war into a manifesto about baking.

Rachel has participated in a year-long internship at Wren Song, an 80-acre, organic, demonstration farm  in Northeast Missouri. Wren Song is electricity-free and all the machines are human-powered. Now Rachel helps run a smaller half-acre farm in Midtown with her neighbors. She also volunteers at two other community gardens and works at a greenhouse part-time. 

Rachel graduated in 2008 but is going back to school to study law. 

  Make KC Better » Improve public transportation. 

 Add bike lanes. 

natalie w.

Natalie W. | Barista

One More Cup

Years of Industry Service: 5

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Natalie is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, her parents have come to Kansas City by way of Vancouver and Montreal and they visit family back home several times a year. "My parents both say eh all the time." Before Natalie got into the coffee business she was making smoothies at the Juice Stop close to her high school. "It was run by really fun people, friends stopped by all the time and my friends worked there too." 

Natalie is not one to sit around counting coffee beans in her spare time, she has three jobs in three different industries: food and service, skincare, and photography. Photography is something she does as part of her work, but it's also something she enjoys along with playing the piano and learning the guitar. Natalie recently shot her first wedding. She said it was a difficult and long day; she was the only photographer and had to run back and forth a lot trying to capture every moment for the bride and groom. "It turned out to be a beautiful shoot and a beautiful wedding." You can see more of her gorgeous work here.

  Make KC Better » Public Transportation...subway, train, buses, 

 anything besides expensive taxis. 

jess k.

Jess K. | Ice Cream Girl, Barista

Glacé

Years of Industry Service: 6

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Jess is a journalism and communications major with a focus on radio at the University Missouri Kansas City. "I really like music and literature," she says. She's currently interning for KCUR's New Letters on the Air on 89.3 FM. Often falling asleep around 5 a.m. when a lot of office people are getting up in the morning, Jess is very much a night owl. Luckily, she only has one day shift a week this summer. She works and goes to school and loves her job at Glacé. "Everyone is happy when they come in and happier when they leave, so it's awesome."

  Make KC Better » Better Transit. 

esther p.

Esther P. | Barista

Hi Hat Coffee Shop

Years of Industry Service: 6

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Esther comes from a really big farm family. Of the ten children in Esther's family, the oldest is 26 and the youngest, 8. Her father, a feed farmer, primarily grows alfalfa, wheat and milo. Although she enjoys serving, her patience is limited to quick, friendly service from behind the coffee counter. Esther started her barista career at the Barnes & Noble coffee shop but gradually moved to smaller shops. Currently, she is at Hi Hat, quite possibly one of the smallest (and cutest) coffee shops in all of Kansas City. Esther said making coffee has been good part-time work while she finishes school. She was a former nursing major and has switched her focus to history. With one more year left, she says she would like to be a teacher. "I love children. Right now, I'm all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed about it." 

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Full disclosure: A customer came in and ordered a frozen coffee drink and we got samples!

  Make KC Better » I would give it a sea or a lake and make it on the water. 

 I'd give it a longer spring. 

michael v.

Michael V. | Owner-Barista

Mud Pie

Years of Industry Service: 5

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In Michael's previous life, he was a musician and guitar instructor. Now, he runs and owns an all vegan coffee shop and bakery with his wife and mother-in-law. Michael is of Spanish, Mexican, Aztec Indian and German descent. When we stopped in, he was working alongside his wife and older brother and they were testing out a vegan ice cream. Since opening his new business, Michael finds himself regularly working 95 hours a week, but business has been good. "It's been going well. People have been really supportive. The neighborhood has been really supportive." To read more about Michael and the bakery, click here and for ecstatic customer reviews here.

  Make KC Better » Retain our character. 

luke s.

Luke S. | Barista

The Roasterie Café

Years of Industry Service: Not that long

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Young Luke Coffeemaker's foray into the service industry began through the world of fast food. Then he took a giant leap in the opposite direction to Whole Foods. Going from dirty kitchens to the super clean environment of a natural and organic grocer, was like "two completely different worlds," he said. For Luke, slinging coffee is just a way to survive right now. He respects the high standards and quality of local coffee company, The Roasterie, and enjoys his job but he's only 20-years-old. And with youth, there's a certain unknown, optimistic wonder about what the future holds. He does want a future in photography, however, as he likes to observe people. You can visit his site here.

  Make KC Better » Better public transportation that connects both states (KS + MO).