Founder & Roaster
Jenny Ulbricht
Jenny Ulbricht has a diverse background from plumbing at the South Pole Station in Antarctica, to being the second woman to circumnavigate Lake Superior in a kayak, to graduate school for Geoscience.
Ulbricht has a passion for coffee and guiding belief that business can be a force for good. Jenny enjoys spending time with her family, trail running and hiking when she’s not behind the roaster.
Why did you start East View Coffee Company? "That's a great question. It's something I try and come back to every day. My story starts growing up with parents who owned two businesses and seeing both the work and the joy of showing up, taking ownership of your idea and skills, and building something that can impact others. The fuel came with a desire to find a life where I would have time to do what matters: show up for family and community and live a thoughtful life where I can choose kindness and awareness. East View Coffee is a way for me to make small, consequential decisions toward making the world a little kinder, more accessible, and more inclusive. The goal is progress and not perfection, with transparency and humble honesty.
A deep love of coffee and years of coffee roasting as a hobby provided the direction. The motivation came from the coffee experiences that I had along the way. Like so many of us do, I fell into love with coffee -- a good cup at the perfect time. I learned that when we slow down and enjoy the simple experience of a good cup of coffee that we can gain perspective and mindfulness. It became my self-care, a tactic to find refuge from the stress of daily life. Immersing myself in a cup of coffee, letting all the flavors in the cup meld with all my taste experiences through life became a joy, a way of connecting memory and being present and noting the fullness of a moment in a new way.
I have a deep love of science and studied geology in graduate school. I fell in love with geology because it was this perfect vehicle of scientific application -- you can apply all these concepts of physics, chemistry, biology and make these sciences come alive while trying to understand earth's past. Coffee is very similar, and I love to ask questions and apply knowledge to keep improving and understanding all the changes that take coffee from a green seed to a beverage so full of flavor, depth, and fun."
Director of Coffee
Christina Langley
Christina has had quite a love affair with coffee. Over the years, she's worked as a barista, a roaster, a wholesale accounts manager, and a café manager. She has had the opportunity to work at and learn from large corporations and small independent shops, as well as attending various coffee-related events and competitions over the years. She loves the breadth of coffee experience. From the thick and dark diner coffee she remembers drinking for the first time at breakfast dates with her Dad to the delicate, precise brewing of some of the finest cafes in America, she loves how inclusive and communal it is to drink a cup of coffee.
Joining the East View team satisfied a hunger to be more involved in the story of coffee from farm to mug. She began as a loyal customer and then jumped at the opportunity to learn and grow in her understanding of ethical coffee, better business practices and providing delightful coffee to locals.
Off the clock, she enjoys spending time with her family, enjoying the beauty of Lake Michigan, making sad attempts at knitting projects, and reading too many books simultaneously.
Operations Director
Rye Ketchum
Rye joined the team with a vision for making the mundane tasks of packaging and ecommerce more FUN, infusing the farmers market and daily organization with new life and fresh perspective. She loves the opportunity to share coffee and talk coffee, both at in-person events and through the good old USPS.
Her favorite coffee is the Burundi, "Together We Can." Other favorite things: kindness, thrifting, fiber arts, YA fantasy adventure novels and asking people about the best 10 minutes of their day.
East View in the News
MARCH 2024
JANUARY 2024