About Us

Joanne Muirhead, owner of Jojo's Café

 

I have been cooking and baking since I was a kid.  My mom and grandma's taught me how and it's what I've always loved to do!  However, I never really considered turning that passion into a career so I turned to my other love - biology.  I became a wildlife biologist and worked in that field for about 10 years.  I secretly always had an ongoing business plan for a coffee shop in my head - it was something I thought of when I wanted to dream.

 

In 2009, I received a call from my sister, telling me that my dad had collapsed on a hike that day and had died.  We are a very close family and that news completely changed my entire world.  I had previously quit my job working for a conservation organization and I found myself existing through the days without any real focus and with a lot of grief.  I was walking downtown and I discovered that  my ideal location for a coffee shop had become available.  I called the landlord and before I knew it, I was gutting the place and renovating and accomplishing my dream.  I discovered that my emotion of grief was stronger than my emotion of fear and so I just went for it.  The gift that my dad's death gave me is just that:  I should never give fear the power to stop me in whatever I want to do.

Our Coffee - Supporting Local

 

One of the philosophies of the café is to support as many local businesses as possible.  So, our Dark Roast is supplied by Rock Creek Trading Post, and our other roasts (Light, Medium, and our espresso beans) are supplied by Max Voets Coffee Roasting in Vernon.  They are a family-run business that has been in operation for over 75 years.  We worked closely together to create custom roasts for our espresso as well as our Medium roast.  Our coffee is brewed so that it is strong - there is nothing I can't stand more than a cup of coffee that tastes like slightly flavoured water!  Our coffees are Fairly Traded and Organic.

Supporting Local Art and Artists

 

Another of our philosophies is to promote local art and artists.  At least once every month we host a musician paired with an artist and they put on a free show.  Our kitchen is closed during these events but we do serve beer and wine, along with our regular coffee menu.  We also have open mic nights, which are highly attended and super fun!