I am a Schwemm’s Coffeehouse server and supervisor. I like the social aspect of Schwemm’s, never a dull moment. Plus I like the team we have—we’re like a big family when we get together. We have nicknames for each other and a hand-drawn family portrait and everything!

What did you do before you worked here?

I was a baker at my family’s store in Charlemont, Mass. Dare I say I became somewhat famous in a small town for my inventions such as blueberry pancake muffins, zebra brownies, zucchini parmesan soup, etc.

Talk about where you’re from ...

I grew up on a dairy farm in the small hill town of Chesterfield, Mass. When I was little I would follow my dad around the barn as he was milking and he would refill my bottle straight from the cow when it was empty! My high school years were spent in Quebec, Canada due to a family move. I learned to speak French, properly use the term “eh?” and that poutine is one of the most amazing culinary discoveries of my life!

Can you talk a little bit about your family?

My mother and father are two of the most important people in my life. Both have kind, generous, loving hearts, and even though they have been divorced since I was a year old, they still have a good relationship. I have two older brothers who taught me valuable life lessons … like how to “man up” about things like gutting fish, making a fire the “right” way, and shoveling my way out of a driveway of waist-deep snow! They still ask me if I’ve checked my oil lately.

What are you passionate about?

Photography has always been one of my truest passions and after attending the Hallmark Institute of Photography it is now an educated passion. There is just something about the crisp morning air filling your lungs as you set up a tripod and wait for a glimpse of that perfect sunrise shot or the tears in a mother’s eyes as you hand her a black and white of her two month old sleeping peacefully. Side note—I also am an old school Nintendo fanatic! Super Mario Brothers just do it for me.

What is something interesting about you that not many people know?

The summer I turned five, I was in an accident involving a bow and arrow that my brother got for Christmas and him missing the target … It hit me in the eye and my grandmother laid me on the washer and dryer to pull the arrow out and I was rushed to the emergency room. After a lot of stitches and an eye patch all summer I luckily still have eyesight.

If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

I would have the super power of Insta-Heal! I would be able to wipe away tears and heal wounds and make all troubles turn into treasures. I would pick up the broken pieces of people’s lives and sew them back together with an unfraying thread. To me the worst thing to feel is helplessness ... when someone is in pain or despair over losing a loved one or a house full of memories burnt to the ground and there is nothing that can make it better. I would heal the world, one person at a time.

What is one of your proudest achievements?

I would have to say I have moments in mind, as opposed to a specific event. Standing in the show ring of a state 4-H show and looking down a lineup of about 20 cows from the first place position as I’m handed that ribbon … On a sunny June day amidst a sea of graduates and families gathered to observe wall after wall of photographic murals including my very own work and sweat and persistence … Looking down at delicate beautiful little eyes staring back up into mine as tiny fingers enclosed around just one of mine—I fell in love like never before when I became Auntie Katie …

What advice would you give to a college student?

Just remember that life is a process of layers upon layers of lessons learned and mistakes made and different paths taken and you don’t have to have it all figured out right now. If we hold the power to make life miserable for ourselves, then, inevitably, we also hold the power to make it worth while. Don’t wake up when you’re 45 and wish you had given it your all, make every day count.