Leah Koesten Born and raised in the Kansas City area, I’ve served in the food services industry for 12 years and have served as a barista for 6 - so far! After high school, I attended Bradley University for two years on a scholarship for the study of music and vocal performance. During those years, I sang with the Bradley Chorale, Bradley Madrigal Singers, and the Illinois Opera chorus for Aida and La Traviata. For many reasons, I left Bradley after two years and I returned to Kansas to pursue a major in Spanish at KU. While living in Lawrence I sang with the well-established Lawrence Civic Choir. In 2003, I transferred to Washburn University and completed my BBA in general business, with a minor in Spanish. After graduating, I successfully completed a 12-month management training program with Enterprise Rent-a-car. In my quest to gain a promotion with the company, however, I learned (some would say the hard way) that in order to sustain mental and physical health, pleasing others sometimes has to be secondary to taking care of myself. And that’s been a difficult shift for a natural born people pleaser! So, here I am - opening up a coffeehouse with my mom!! What’s that all about? Well, she knows a lot about business and I know a lot about great specialty coffee. Sounds like a winning combination to me! Now that I live and work in the River Market, I’m eager to be part of this incredible community. The Kansas City Fine Arts Chorale, of which I am a member, provides a great outlet for music passion. My other pastime passions include: fine arts, travel, language and friends!

Joy Koesten Some have suggested that I’m a “meshugener” (crazy person) for opening up a coffeehouse at this stage in my life, but I couldn’t be more excited! Yes, I’m probably the most over educated barista in the Midwest - maybe anywhere. At heart I`ll always be a scholar and teacher, but I’m also an entrepreneur and I couldn’t think of anything more exciting than working with my daughter, Leah, to create a space where people can work doing something they love (make great coffee!) and provide a community space for ideas to emerge. And what a community space! Situated in a beautiful historic building on Delaware Street in the River Market District of Kansas City, Eljay’s is now part of the 158 year-old history of Kansas Town (incorporated in 1850). We live in a loft nearby, so we get to enjoy this great neighborhood everyday. Not only that, it only takes me minutes to get to work!! Not bad considering I used to commute up to 2 ½ hours each day to teach at Washburn University in Topeka! Yes, I had a previous life in academia that included stents as assistant dean of the Graduate School and adjunct faculty in the Communication Studies Department at the University of Kansas; assistant research professor in the Department of Family Medicine at KU Medical Center; and as a faculty member in the Department of Communication at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. I still teach graduate classes at the University of Kansas and collaborate with a number of research partners on topics that interest me, such as how communication within the family and the systems within which they function (i.e. work, school, community), affects health and health decisions across the lifespan. I earned my Ph.D. in Communication Studies from the University of Kansas in 2002; my Masters in Communication Studies from the University of Kansas in 1998 and my BS in Comprehensive Marketing from Missouri State University (formerly Southwest Missouri State University) in 1978.