Originally from Raleigh, NC, Lee attended East Carolina University where she earned her BA in Psychology with a minor in dance, the latter motivating her to relocate to Chicago shortly after graduation. In addition to modern dance performance and teaching, she found work in the world of independent and custom publishing. Somewhere within those strangely overlapping spheres, she discovered—and fell in love with—Chicago’s burgeoning coffee industry. Soon she embarked on her own coffee career, and when she and her spouse decided they could not weather another midwestern winter, they moved back to Raleigh. Lee joined Larry’s Coffee, where she took a special interest in expanding the brand’s nonprofit-benefiting Coffees For a Cause collection. She received her Non-Profit Management Graduate Certificate from NC State University in 2021, and transitioned to working at Activate Good as their first full-time Fund Development Manager. Lee served on the board for the International Women’s Coffee Alliance and the NC Specialty Food Association, and she also co-founded the Raleigh Chapter of The Handsome Ladies, a 501(c)3 supporting women in bluegrass. Lee also enjoys practicing yoga, and she still dances.