Check Out Emily Peterson’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Peterson.

Hi Emily, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
It’s been 10 years since my husband, Chef TK Peterson, and I opened our restaurant in Downtown Lawrence, Kansas. The journey has been long and storied, and rewarding. TK is a career culinarian, but my industry education has been more of a trial-by-fire sort. I studied Strategic Communications at KU and worked in advertising for over 9 years before joining TK in our restaurant endeavor. Through our time in business, we’ve had ups and downs, as everyone does, but the element that has inspired us to persist – at times against all odds – is our love for and dedication to our community. Being part of Lawrence, particularly the Lawrence Hospitality Industry is rewarding beyond measure. We get to take care of people – our guests, our staff, our local producers, our fellow restauranteurs. My role in the restaurant is the operator. Together with TK, I run the daily front-of-house operations, as well as manage the business administration. I’m currently serving as Chair of the Lawrence Restaurant Association.

Alright, let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
Ha! Hardly, but few roads as a small business owner are smooth. As small business owners, we don’t have the deep pockets, financial runway, and safety nets of a multi-store company, and that means we have to do whatever it takes to make ends meet. Early in our business, this meant developing additional revenue streams, like catering, to make rent and payroll. We are lucky to have a staff of talented, passionate, kind individuals. And they are also humans, with human problems like transportation issues, childcare issues, mental health struggles, and the like. Our most important work is caring for these people, and it’s one of the job’s hardest – and most rewarding – parts.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
The greater good is important to me. We have a lot to take care of in our business, and it can be easy to get lost in running our shop, but I work hard to pick my head up and look around to see how I can contribute to and improve the community around me.

An example of this is my work with the Lawrence Restaurant Association. Many of our establishments closed indefinitely at the onset of the pandemic, and the Kansas Unemployment system was in chaos. We had unemployed workers without notice and no idea when they could receive assistance. The situation for our people and our industry was dire. Taking care of our employees at Merchants was given. Still, I could see the irreparable damage to our industry if we didn’t find a way to care for all our community’s hospitality workers. I worked with other restauranteurs to develop an aid program for people in our local industry. In a matter of weeks, we designed and funded a low-barrier grant program for hospitality workers in Lawrence, Kansas. With proof of previous employment, workers would receive emergency grants of $500 to help with rent, groceries, utilities, car payments, medical bills, and other living expenses. Most folks received funding within days of applying, and we utilized systems like Venmo, Paypal, and CasApp to expedite the distribution of funds. Over the next year, we distributed over $240,000 in grant funding to local hospitality workers.

Once the immediate need was met and businesses had reopened, we transitioned this program into a long-term structure. Now, hospitality workers in Lawrence can continue receiving financial aid for mental, physical, and dental health, child care, transportation, rent assistance, and utility assistance through our service-providing partner organizations –Ballard Community Service, Bert Nash, Centro Hispano, Heartland Health.

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
Kansas City has become an outstanding food city! The good-food halo encompasses Lawrence as a dining destination. I am grateful for the fertile environment for hospitality folks to bring new concepts to locals and visitors alike. I wish there were better public transportation options to connect the communities in and around Kansas City (like the Metra train system in Chicago!).

Contact Info:

• Website: merchantsonmass.com
• Instagram: @merchantsonmass
• Facebook: @merchantsonmass
• Twitter: @merchantsonmass