When did you first fall in love with coffee?
I think I fell in love with coffee the day I found out that Bold Bean, my favorite cafe back home in Florida, was hiring. I definitely fell in love on my first day of training there when I drank black coffee for the first time. I hadn’t even tasted it black since I was really, really young and then I’d thought that my Papaw’s Maxwell House coffee tasted like dirt.

Favorite cafe. Why?
I haven’t been to as many cafes as most of the team here, but I’d have to say I have two favorites so far. Bold Bean’s Murray Hill Roastery in Florida is where I learned most everything I know about coffee. My best friend and former coworker/roommate Shelby runs the show there now that they’ve opened a small cafe and it feels like being in our old kitchen talking over pourovers (not to mention she pulls amazing shots on their Slayer!). A close tie would have to be Kickapoo Coffee in Milkwaukee. It’s the most beautiful shop I’ve ever been in, and the coffee is up there with some of the best I’ve ever had in my young coffee life.

Favorite person to drink coffee with?
I think my favorite person to drink coffee with is probably Casper (one of my two dogs). He’s been there almost since the beginning of my journey with coffee. On the occasions when I drink coffee at home or even at my old neighborhood haunts back home, he was always with me sitting as close to me as possible and licking the coffee remains off my fingers or face.

Most memorable Blueprint experience?
I’m with Abi on this one: our Employee Day at the end of last summer spent at Castlewood Park eating tacos and hiking through the woods to go swimming in the river with Casper and Kevin’s sweet old pup Rodin (yes, like the sculptor). That was up there with the holiday party at Nora’s parents farm when we lit all the Christmas trees on fire!!

Who inspires you?
Honestly, as cliché as this sounds, all of my friends inspire me. Wil inspires me to always be confident; Shelby inspires me to be ever more environmentally conscious; Abi inspires me to be more creative with my food; Ben, Rad, Kevin, and the BP crew as a collective whole inspires me to always push myself harder and be the best I can be but to always stay true to myself, to look at things in a new light, and to expand my palate to taste more in my coffee.

What are your favorite places in St. Louis?
Having only lived here for a year, I have a crazy love for this city. It’s the first place I’ve ever lived away from Jacksonville and it’s been amazing. When I moved here I lived in South City, in Tower Grove South. I could cross the street and be in Tower Grove Park. I’ve seen the park through every season and as much as I hate the cold and the snow, seeing the park covered in snow is absolutely magical. I love the old houses in South City. I have this weird sentimental love of the Arch. I’ve been to a secret place in North City that blew my mind and had an incredible view of the whole city (feel free to come ask me about it). I love the Central West End for it’s otherworldly giant houses that seem to be right out of a movie. Most of all I love my tiny apartment in Maplewood, because it’s cozy and warm and my pups are always there with kisses and it’s the apartment that Wil and I have made into a home.