On Friday, our Silver Creek Area CEO students piled into St. Louis Coffee World in Lebanon and were greeted with the kind of smile that fills a room before a single word is spoken.
Ritchie Clow stood in front of our students and shared that she is originally from the Philippines. She met her husband Chris overseas during his 24 years in the military. It took two years to get her here. Two years of messenger chats that sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t, slow video calls, trips back and forth, and even a call to a congressman because time felt urgent and uncertain.
As Chris described those early internet days, I looked around at our students. Most of that was happening right around the time they were born. In their short lifetime, connection has shifted from glitchy screens and hoping a call goes through to instant FaceTime and constant access. It was such a clear reminder of how immensely technology has changed in just their lifetime.
Ritchie arrived in the US in 2011 and began working weekends at the coffee shop on base.
Weekends.
She worked her way up to manager. And after eight years, when the previous owners were ready to retire, they offered the business to Ritchie and Chris.
They said yes.
What started as weekend shifts became ownership — together — of a coffee shop that had once operated at Union Station and later at Scott Air Force Base.
They grew to five locations. Then the pandemic hit. They had to close some. Renovations forced another pause. Today they operate three and are focused on building well and building wisely. Ritchie was honest that five locations was overwhelming. Even sleeping, her brain would not stop thinking about schedules, supplies, and who called in sick.
There was something so refreshing about that honesty.
Chris added perspective about the long hours — five in the morning until midnight. The weight of payroll. The pressure of rent. The responsibility that doesn’t turn off when you lock the doors. You could see how they balance one another. Her heart for people. His steadiness in operations. It works because they both carry it.
The Lebanon location happened because they had a kitchen. They started with croissants and small pastries. Then customers said, “You’re Filipino. You can make pancit, right?” Then lumpia. Then chicken adobo. She laughed telling that part, like she could still feel the moment it all snowballed.
Now it is not just a coffee shop. It is a café. Some even call it a restaurant. She talked about cooking with her grandmother and her mother in the Philippines, and about inheriting that love of feeding people. She also shared how nervous she still gets asking customers how the food tastes. When someone says “amazing,” her heart pounds and she feels like a kid in the back room celebrating. When someone says “it’s okay,” she used to cry. Now she goes back, makes it again, and says, “Hold on. Try this.” And when they smile the second time, she smiles even bigger.
And this is where I stopped the room.
Right now in Silver Creek Area CEO, our students are working on both their 30-second pitches and their 3 minute-pitches for their businesses. They are practicing voice inflection. Body language. Eye contact. How to communicate passion instead of just information.
And there it was.
Ritchie wasn’t giving a rehearsed speech. She wasn’t pitching anything. But when she talked about her grandmother, her face changed. When she described reopening after the pandemic, her voice carried both exhaustion and gratitude. When she talked about customers loving her food, she lit up.
The energy in the room could be felt.
I told our students, “This is what we mean.”
Passion isn’t memorized lines. It isn’t being louder. It’s belief. It’s lived experience. When your heart is aligned with what you’re building, people feel it.
And they witnessed it.
She also told them something simple and powerful: You will cry in business. But you face it. You fix it. You keep going.
When Jaydon asked about the threat of competitors they explained they don’t look at it that way. They focus on what they do well. They talked about supporting other businesses. Recommending others. Collaborating. Believing that when one business struggles, others probably are too.
After sharing their story, they took our students behind the counter.
They showed them how to pump vanilla and honey syrup. How to steam milk. How many shots go in each size. Why you never pour hot espresso straight into a plastic cup. They frothed sweet foam just right and carefully layered it on top like art.
We walked through their kitchen where everything is made by hand. Bacon sizzling. Veggies sliced fresh. Students asking questions. Taking pictures. Watching it all come together.
When we left, the kids were still talking about her.
About her courage.
About her positivity.
About the way her face changed when she talked about her grandmother.
I hope the next time they stand up in class to give their business pitches, they remember that feeling in the room.
Because that’s the goal.
Not perfection.
Not memorization.
Belief.