Stanford's first and only student-run cafe.
On Call Café
Primary Role: Co-founder & Creative Director
Duration: November 2023 - Present
I helped found a student run cafe that is now Stanford's largest student run institution, having served over 88.8% of Stanford's population. I started as a graphic designer, when On Call was a an idea on post-it notes, working my way up to creatively direct the entire operation. Today, On Call has a permanent home in Old union and has expanded into the entirety of its first floor under my leadership.
The long story: keep scrolling.
The problem.
Post-COVID, rates of loneliness were at an all-time high, several campus traditions had been lost, and most communal gathering spaces closed by 10pm. Students were more isolated than ever. Stanford social life has always been driven by students, for students. We felt that we lacked a central place to connect, meet new friends and build community.
Stanford lacked this third space.
February 2024
1. Refinement & Iteration
This was the initial space we were given; sterile, un-inviting & usually empty. It was the spot people would eat their TAP at if TAP were full.
The transformed space with over 100 student art pieces and thrifted all furniture & lighting transforming the space completely. We built On Call from scratch, and facebook marketplace.
2. Pop up Hard Launch
February 2024
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Love On Call, our first official pop-up in our permanent space! We successfully launched to a crowd of 2,000 students our first night of Love, On Call. Since then, the On Call Café team has served over 56% of Stanford's campus, employing over 70 students, and open M-TH, 8PM-12AM.
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3. Launch V.2: On Call Brews
March 2024
All photos shot by me!
Introducing On Call Brews; a drink-only prototype. Every Monday and Wednesday during winter quarter, On Call “Brews” served hot drinks, music, and good vibes.
4. Photo highlights
2024
February 2024: Love, On Call
Love On Call Marketing. This was my first project for On Call that I directed and had full creative direction, so this is a special one!
September 2024: Fall Menu Photoshoot
Fall menu shoot. This was my first time shooting product "hero shoots" to be used on our website / socials. Believe it or not, but we shot alot of these on the grass, only using the sun as lighting & used a roll of white paper as our background. Definitely in line with the "scrappy" nature of On Call!
September 2024: Back-to-school Merch Photoshoot
We made stickers & punch cards! Using the same, scrappy methods I completed this photoshoot. Instead of just highlighting our merch on a white background, I tried playing more with Stanford's outdoor space (palm trees, and sky)
5. Ongoing Creative Management
April 2024-Present
Welcome to On Call! Meet On Call's '24-'25 cohort of new hires! As founding leadership transitions, we're in a new generation of On Call. We couldn't feel more honored, excited, and enthusiastic about continuing this legacy; for students, by the students.
September 2024 - Present
Alongside directing all the cafe's creative assets, I work in the cafe! I've been a toastmaster, a barista, and on the register. I value immersing myself in the cafe, to feel for what's going well, and what we could work on. It's fulfilling to know that we—as a late-night, fully student-run cafe, have the opportunity to make someone's day just a little bit better!
On Call turned 1! From ideas on post-it notes to a fully functioning, alive cafe that lives & breathes. We celebrated with exclusive menu items, a decorated cafe, and a whole lot of smiles and laughter. How did this happen?!
November 2024
6. Physical Design
March 2025 - Present
1. Expansion Floor Plan: Google drawings
Our next big thing was expanding into Old Union's entire first floor. I created a floor plan to gage how many new items we needed to source. How can we maintain the needs of both those who come to On Call to study, and those who come to be social? I strived to create this balance in the new space.
2. Sourcing Furniture: Facebook Marketplace
3. Re-designing the space
Everything was sourced from Facebook
marketplace—to maintain budget & On Call's scrappy values
Maintaining the ambience of the inside of On Call, out into the expansion space was the main goal. We purchased several lamps and couches to fill the space up. Meetings with exec solidified out main goal of this expansion to be attracting more customers; thus we focused on creating more social / work spaces.
2024 recap
On Call Year Two
September 2025
On opening night of On Call Year two we had Stanford's President Levin visit On Call and see what its like to work behind a shift.
We had a mural done to solidify out permanence in our space!!!!!!
On Call Year Two
November 2025
photo creds to maggie :)
Then came one of On Call's most exciting collaborations I spear headed: Rocky's Matcha x On Call. Rocky Xu, founder of Rocky's matcha came up to Stanford to give a talk about starting his business from the ground up, and what its like to be a differentiating brand in a saturated industry. In the future, I hope On Call invites more founders to speak about their journies for us, and the Stanford community to learn more about!
You can read more about this event here.
2025 recap
Present
Hi, I'm Kailani—the Senior Creative Captain here at On Call Café.
I joined On Call back in 2023 as a freshman & it has truly been the best decision I've ever made. Me, my camera, and my love, eye, and grit for creating meaningful things for people, that's all it took.
After looking up to—and being mentored by Lucy, I've consistently learned what it means to be a better leader. Be intentional when you speak; present yourself with clarity, even if things aren't; first think big, constraints next, you'll always figure out a way to do it. Because of you, I've learned to be comfortable in my own voice; to not just be a creative, but to be a leader, a team player, and a mentor in the same way you were to me.
When I'm not on shift attempting latte art, I lead a team of 9 creatives to crank all of On Call's digital & physical creative assets. I oversee our Instagram, direct product photoshoots, redesign our space (stalk FB marketplace), and help *better* design the On Call experience.
Weekly, I report to the broader executive team on behalf of creative, coordinating with 5 other executive teams about our website, how to navigate figma resources, and optimizing the systems of our various Notion pipelines.
Since stepping up into senior leadership, I've been extremely interested in learning how the other executive captains lead. While I've been told the creative team works like a "well-oiled machine", I am constantly thinking of better ways to support my team, to make our momentum sustainable. We're full-time students after all.
So, what's next?
Alongside my new & extremely talented team, whom I am consistently in awe of, and Jr. Captain (Christine), we've expanded into the entirety of Old Union's 1st floor, continued to uphold our brand digitally, and curate our space physically!
I deeply care about this project, and my only hope is that that is conveyed in everything I do. This year, I can't wait to continue to define what On Call means to Stanford, not just as a startup, but as an institutionalized space, here to stay.
