Meet Your
Community Leader
Emilee O'Kelley
The first job I ever had was working in a tiny mom-and-pop coffee shop in the small Texas town I lived in. I loved it almost too much that every job I had after that didn't compare until I was 18 and found a cafe to help. It was in Downtown McKinney and that's where I grew up. It's where I first learned about God and His unconditional love for me after growing up in an abusive home. It's where a quiet, scared girl became a confident young woman. I loved seeing people meet, start dating, get engaged, married and eventually start families. I got to sit and hear everyone's stories and share my own. It's where I made my life-long friends and mentors. It was my real home. I stayed and grew with that cafe for six years and grew as much as I could. Change started to come along with the time and it was no longer the same place I had fallen in love with years prior and I knew it was time to move along to somewhere else. For an entire year I looked for a job but not in the food industry. I felt tired and burnt out, I was starting fresh so why not start over? But nothing that came up felt right or felt like home. I got tired of looking and threw my hands up one day and cried out to God, "I give up. I want a home, please help me find that."
Three days later, I saw a posting for a Community Leader in Frisco, Texas. I was so excited (especially about wearing fun aprons and having themed workdays, I wanted to be like Rachel Green when she worked at Central Perk) because it sounded exactly like what I had been searching for for so long. A place to make and call mine, to harbor and grow a community. A building to call home. I applied and I was shocked that they wanted to interview me. I talked to Tara, the Chief People Officer, on the phone for longer than we should have, eventually interviewed with Scott Moore, the founder, and then I was offered to do a “Confronting Reality” at another store in Georgia. I gave my months' notice to this cafe and at the end, I packed up my car and drove to Georgia to go see what this "Maple Street" was really all about. I spent three days with an incredible team, met my best friend there, and at the end of the third day, I drove away crying. For the first time in my life, I had found my family.
From that day on, I've been hooked. I'm grateful every day that Mr. Moore and Tara took the chance on someone so young because they saw and understood the real me. If you find me in a band tee any given day here at Murray Hill, I'd love to share a cup of coffee and hear your story and share my own.
Help people. Serve others. Be a part of the community.
Copyright 2021 – Maple Street Biscuit Company & Immerse Marketing LLC
