“Good employees that you can trust and have your back - They’re more like family to us than employees - That’s a key piece to a successful business.” - Andrea Ringhausen, Owner of Espresso Yourself Bakery

Espresso Yourself Bakery - Andrea Ringhausen & Natalie Titus

If you have been inside this shop or in the drive-thru, you know that you are going to be greeted with smiling faces. These ladies truly love what they do and take pride in knowing their customers by name (and the dogs of their customers by name too). As we were in the building we could hear their customers being greeted by name and “do you want your regular?”.

Andrea was a special education teacher and when retirement started approaching she gained interest in starting a business. She thought about what the town of Jerseyville needed and realized there wasn’t a coffee shop. She also enjoys baking (a very talented baker) and wanted to also include that in the business. She had never owned a business before and dove straight in! They opened their doors in 2016.

She talked about how hard it was at first getting the business started while still teaching in the beginning. Natalie as well spent time working another job during the start of the business opening. Andrea said a challenge in the beginning was that she doesn’t use recipes and instead knows what something should look, feel, and smell like to be made correctly. She said it was a blessing to find their employee Sarah, who has the same baking style as Andrea. Mackenzie was also a blessing to them as she has been there since the very beginning.

Natalie talked to the students about the uncertainty at times of owning a business. She said that’s part of it and you have to weather those storms. She also encouraged the students to not ever feel ashamed and not be afraid to change their mind with their career path. It’s something that many people do and it’s perfectly okay. Natalie has a degree in criminal justice and psychology.

Let’s talk about the delicious options they have! They can make a coffee with just about any flavor your could imagine: cookie dough, toasted marshmallow, chai, salted caramel, peanut butter and more! They also use locally made Bunkhouse Joe Coffee.

Some of their customer favorite food items are: blueberry muffins, danishes, turnovers, and ham & swiss rolls.

They also do custom orders for things like cake, cake pops, cupcakes, and cookies. Keep them in mind for any weddings, birthday parties, anniversaries, etc.

Espresso Ladies,
You made our day with the free drink.
Thank you!

Thanks to donations to the CEO program, we also purchased a breakfast item for each student.

Thank you so much for speaking with us today! The food and drinks were delicious!!