Donate to Letty Jo's: A Unique Wellness Cafe and Lounge

Our Story/Who we are:

Hey Everyone! My name is Abigail, Co-owner and founder of Letty Jo’s Elevated Alchemy, alongside my Husband Ryan, my biggest supporter in every crazy idea I have (and believe me, I have a lot of them). Together we have created a dream and vision to bring something incredibly special and unique to our area, but we need your help in crossing the finish line.

But first let me tell you a little bit about who we are, how we got to where we are today and why this vision is important to us.

Our Personal Story:

For the last 10 years my passion and education has revolved around holistic wellness, and finding a better way in this world where everyone seems to be struggling. I got my bachelors in nutrition, became a health coach, then a nutrition therapy practitioner, and I am always continuing to learn, unlearn and relearn. For a good chunk of those 10 years, I have had a dream to open some sort of wellness related center or cafe, but it was never at the forefront of my goals, I planned on doing some coaching programs first and then maybe someday it would be something we’d build together. However, a few years back, in the thick of heartache and trauma, my husband and I decided perhaps it was time to dive in head first and do the thing.

Back in September 2019, we welcomed our first child, our baby girl Scarlett Josephine (or as we liked to call her Letty Jo). She was the biggest joy and light in our lives, and dreams of this business were barely scratching the surface at that time. It wasn’t even a thought, because parenthood was at the forefront. But little did we know that parenting in the way we wanted, was not going to be our reality. After 28 days of absolute bliss with her here on this earth, we unfortunately lost her in a matter of a couple hours after an unknown heart valve disorder took her suddenly in October 2019. Like any parent who has lost a child knows, it wrecks your world, and it takes an extreme toll on your mental and physical health. Immediately after her death, we had many friends and family around to support us and help us through, which we are incredibly grateful for, but we all grieve differently, and it became incredibly hard to continue to be around people, always fearing the unanswerable question “how are you doing?”, or seeing people happy and joyful when your world was just ripped from you. So we stopped going out, didn’t attend many family gatherings, stayed home on holidays and while the 2020 pandemic was an extremely difficult and hard time for most people, we found ourselves with a little peace while everything was closed, because there was never pressure to gather with others, we could just stay in our bubble and rest our minds. Unfortunately, that peace became a trade off for extreme social anxiety when the world opened back up, which I know is true for many more than just myself. We were secluded for too long and it became really difficult to get back into society, especially when most places to socialize are revolved around alcohol which no longer fit into my lifestyle. I had so much anxiety over going out and “people-ing”, but at the same time on some level I was craving it.

After about a year, together Ryan and I decided we needed to re-cultivate our desire for a wellness space revolved around community, wellness, fun drinks and building deep connections. We wanted to take our grief and love for our Letty, and use that as our driving force to bring the dream to reality. We knew we needed to live FOR her, and so we said “lets do it”, no more waiting and that when Letty Jo’s Elevated Alchemy officially came to be.

Who we are as business

Letty Jo’s Elevated Alchemy is a Wellness cafe by day and Functional Non-alcoholic cocktail + kava lounge by night. We specialize in functional drinks - aka, drinks that use ingredients that are designed to help support your body and your needs, think functional mushrooms, adaptogens, herbs, etc. We currently have a separate daytime and evening menu because as we envisioned what we we wanted to build for our area, we realized there was 2 different spaces we were missing. Our initial business plan was built on the desire for a space much like a cafe for functional drinks where you could have a quick catch up with friends, bring your laptop and work for the day, attend a wellness workshop, grab your drink and head upstairs to our sauna, attend one of our movement based pop up classes, like yoga, functional flow, pilates, etc, or just grab a drink on your lunch break to go. And so that’s what we set out to build. None of that has changed, but what we realized over time was, we also really wished we had a space that was adult only, where we could socialize in a fun atmosphere and make genuine human connections with others, whether through fun events, board games, or just real conversations and getting to know others, in a way that didn’t revolve around alcohol. Because lets face it, that doesn’t really exist - we’ve created a society where socialization comes with a drink in your hand, and if you don’t have one, you’re asked why. Or if you do and its not alcohol, it was probably just juice and soda water- and honestly, that’s just boring. BUT what if there was a space where there was no pressure to drink alcohol, no matter what your reason - health, goals, sobriety, pregnancy, etc - but you could still have fancy adult beverages, one that feels celebratory and sophisticated, with functional ingredients that help to relax you, or energize you or give you a nice buzz, while yo remain sober minded, keep your health goals and still get to have a great time? Well now there is! Our evening menu has an array of functional NA cocktail that create a buzz, give you all the good feels and is built to compliment our adult only hours. This is our goal and our dream for you, for us as a community, and we are just weeks away from bring it to you!!!

Where we are right now:

We found our perfect spot, in Downtown Dubois in 2021, but unfortunately it needed a complete renovation and one thing just kept turning into the next thing, turning into the next thing. And the goal just kept getting further and further out of sight, and it was completely defeating. Those of you who know are story know we have been working on this space for 3 years! It felt like it would never happen, but we are finally in the home stretch!! Walls were taken down, leaks were fixed, floors were ripped out and replaced, and we had to do an entire buildout for our bar, and needed all new requirement. As you can imagine, this was incredibly expensive. But we’ve finally made it and are just weeks out from soft opening. The light is at the end of the tunnel. The only problem is, due to all the expenses for renos and major build outs, we have reached our limit, and unfortunately still need our opening inventory and a 2nd commercial fridge and freezer to have the capacity to open full time and serve the community the way you deserve!

How you can help:

This was a very difficult decision to ask for help in this venture, as we understand it was our dream to build not yours. However, we felt strongly about the need for this type of a community space we are building, and what better way to do so then with the community coming together to bring it to life. No amount is too small or big, we simply ask for what you feel compelled to give. Donations will be matched with a tiered reward, you can see below! If you cannot donate monetarily, we simply ask that out of the kindness of your heart, comment your support below and share our story, our business and our fundraiser with others, on your favorite social platforms. We are eternally grateful to you!

**Supporter Reward Tiers**

**$25 - Supporter Level:**

- Thank you email and social media shoutout.

- A branded sticker, or virtual tour of the space for non-locals.

**$50 - Bronze Level:**

- All previous rewards.

- $10 gift card, or a branded sticker and sample mailed for non-locals.

**$100 - Silver Level:**

- All previous rewards.

- Branded Tee - exclusive design for paid pledgers (mailed for non locals)

**$250 - Gold Level:**

- All previous rewards.

- locals: Experience Certificate: Choice of Sauna session for up to 2 people for up to 60 minutes or Kava package for 4 people

- Non-locals: Digital Kava Workshop (about kava, how to, tasting. includes a mailed sample pack of kava) OR option to donate your local reward to a local, and receive a photo of the recipient with the reward in return

**$500 - Platinum Level:**

- All previous rewards.

- Locals: VIP Discount Card -5% off purchases for 6 months from date received.

- Non locals: DIY Mixology Kit and Recipe Card OR option to donate the local reward to a local, and receive a photo of the recipient utilizing their service in return)

- Your name as an official sponsor and OG supporter of Letty Jo’s displayed in the building

**$1,000 - Diamond Level:**

- All previous rewards

- Locals: Private Mixology/Cocktail Workshop or kava ceremony for up to 6 people + 20% off for all orders the day of the party for all 6 members.

- Non-locals: Virtual Private Mixology Class for 4 to go alongside the mixology kit from previous level OR option to donate the local reward to a local, and receive a photo of the recipient utilizing their service in return

- Your name as an official sponsor and OG supporter of Letty Jo’s displayed in the building

Edit: We had a later soft opening than initially planned as we found out we are excecting. ALL gifts will be sent to the supporter by or before Feb 28th, 2025.