Em’s Coffee Company: An Iowa Coffee Shop Brewing Community and Opportunity

[MYKENZI MEIKE] Right away in the morning, 6:15 on the dot.

[MYKENZI MEIKE] If I'm late, I get a phone call.

So 6:15.

I mean, she gets in the car and she she's spitfiring and she's like, what are we doing today?

This is our plan.

She doesn't let you not be a morning person.

She's very like, she is up, she is ready.

And if you're not on her level, she is gonna get you there.

[EM] Brr brr brr brr brr brr brr brr brr brr brr.

I'm cold, I'm cold, I'm cold, I'm cold, I'm cold.

Turn on the lights.

♪♪ [TAMI FENNER] She does a full espresso bar.

They make their own gelato.

Paninis.

Very big cinnamon rolls, homemade pecan rolls, scones, strudel sticks.

The coffee shop is located on Main Street.

It's across from City Hall.

It is on 150.

It's a very bright, happy place.

It reflects her personality.

[EM] Here you go, Bill.

Have a good day.

[ASHLEA LANTZ] There's this welcoming atmosphere, and it's usually full of chatter.

The coffee shop is not a quiet place.

Have a good day.

[ASHLEA LANTZ] It is bustling at its best.

[NIKKI BARTH] Em is probably one of the most light hearted, welcoming people you're going to meet in our downtown.

If you haven't been here before, she's going to ask you everything about yourself, who you are, where you're from, what you're doing here, what you like to drink.

[JOHN KLOTZBACH] She's so effervescent.

She's very joyful and and connects with everyone who comes in the door, whether it's a stranger or a regular.

[MYKENZI MEIKE] The coffee shop is owned and operated by Em.

She is an individual with disabilities.

She is bubbly and joyful.

She's Em.

[EM] All right, boys.

[ASHLEA LANTZ] Em runs the show.

Em loves being the boss.

[ASHLEA LANTZ] She just embodies it.

And she's a natural saleswoman.

You will buy coffee from her.

[TAMI FENNER] Emilea is my daughter.

She was born with agenesis of the corpus callosum.

They told me she could be a monster.

They told me to institutionalize her.

She wouldn't be able to walk, talk, basically do anything.

Her right and the left half of her brain don't really communicate except through a very small passageway.

She looks pretty normal.

You can't really tell by your first impression that she has a disability.

So she was just one of the family.

[ASHLEA LANTZ] When Em graduated from high school looking for employment it was traditional for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to go and work with other people with disabilities in a facility based setting.

[TAMI FENNER] We tried it for about nine months, but Em is very, very chatty and it was not a good fit.

[ASHLEA LANTZ] And so then it was self-employment is part of our family coming from business owners, of our grandparents owning the local hardware store, and then our parents.

Self-employment was a pathway that felt achievable.

[TAMI FENNER] We just kind of all brainstormed.

The City of Independence at the time, did not have a coffee shop.

Em does not like coffee, has nothing to do with coffee.

She loves to get up early and she needed a place where she could talk.

[ASHLEA LANTZ] We realize now that Em was pioneering something in particularly our mom, because she was the one who was always pushing the system.

[TAMI FENNER] I contacted the IRS.

I contacted the disability world.

But at this point nobody had done that.

The IRS didn't understand the disability side.

Disability didn't understand the IRS side.

She is the pioneer of a person with a significant disability with a Main Street business.

♪♪ [TAMI FENNER] The coffee shop was originally the newspaper office.

It's long, it's narrow.

We got it at - it was in need of lots of love.

We retrofitted it for Em.

The espresso machine is marked.

So if it's one shot for small.

They know which button to push.

[EM] 1 or 2 shots?

[CUSTOMER] Two shots.

[EM] Sure.

When I pushed the button, she comes out super duper fast.

[TAMI FENNER] The cash register is square.

It's a touch screen with pictures and everything ends in a quarter.

And tax is included so when you ring it up, it's very easy to make change.

[EM] There you go.

[CUSTOMER] Thank you.

[EM] Have a good day.

[CUSTOMER] You too.

♪♪ [ASHLEA LANTZ] Independence is a small town in northeast Iowa.

I think 6,000 people.

Her community supports her and she supports her community.

[EM] That is my customer John Klotzbach right there.

[JOHN KLOTZBACH] This has been in my wallet for over ten years.

You know, that's my order right there.

Caffeinated.

Whole milk.

Sugar free chocolate syrup.

Five pumps sugar free raspberry syrup.

Topped with whipped cream.

And sugar free chocolate swirl at the top.

[NIKKI BARTH] You always leave here with a smile.

So even though you've come in and you may not have had any caffeine in the morning and you're in that like uncaffeinated mode, you're always going to leave with a smile.

[EM] Nikki and I are buddies, aren't we?

[NIKKI BARTH] We are, aren't we?

[TAMI FENNER] It makes me very proud that she's so accepted.

And she's a business owner.

She's very, very successful.

Prior to her, there were two coffee shops in Independence.

Each one of them lasted two years.

She's on year 16.

[ASHLEA LANTZ] There's a sense of belonging that exists there that is hard to replicate.

That comes from energy.

It comes from culture and being seen and feeling safe and being part of something.

It started with who is Em and who is Em at her best.

[EM] Have a good night you guys.

[CUSTOMERS] Night, Em.

[ASHLEA LANTZ] And the best thing is that Em doesn't drink coffee.

And I think so many times we first start with, well, what do you love to do.

Em loves people and coffee I think is the the mechanism that helps deliver that.

♪♪ [NEBBE] Next we'll meet a man who has dedicated