Two 13-Year-Olds Are The Owner Of StayWoke Coffee Seattle’s Friendliest Coffee Entrepreneurs

Jamaica Myres and Aaron Bossett prepare coffee for their “Stay Woke” stand in Columbia City

Seattle teens serve coffee and inspiration at StayWoke Coffee

Aaron Bossett and Jamaica Myres are a pair of 13-year-olds who ran a thriving coffee stand called StayWoke Coffee in the South Seattle neighborhood of Columbia City. The venture started as a home-schooling summer project to make some money, but the teenagers’ sustained commitment and a strong response from the community have fanned that initial vision.

Their spot was a folding table on the sidewalk loaded with coffee gear on the corner of South Alaska Street and 31st Avenue South near the light rail station. During normal business hours (weekdays from 6:30-ish to 11 am) would find the two young men who are devoted to the craft of coffee preparation. Their menu is a small chalkboard advertising coffee, flanked by two burners used to heat up water for skillfully prepared pour-overs.

“It’s a slow process,” explains Bossett. “You wanna wet the filter, have a perfect bed size, use a fine grind.”

The response thus far has been overwhelmingly positive. Thanks to their hard work, Bosset and Myres have been able to meet celebrities like Guy Fieri and former Seattle Seahawks cornerback Marcus Trufant, per the article. The response from the community has been equally enthusiastic, and the duo says they have long-term plans of securing funding to turn their stand into a full-blown cafe.

“Some people treat us as kids, but some people are more professional,” Bossett says.

When StayWoke opens, they sometimes post an announcement on Facebook that could also serve as a mission statement for the upstart business:

“Good morning, beautiful people. We have arrived, and are set up to pour you an excellent cup of coffee.”

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