There are more than 22,000 coffee shops across the nation but only one Bird on a Wire espresso. This tiny coffee house is just off 35th Avenue Southwest on Southwest Henderson Street and is owned by Heidi Herr. She arrives every day, before 6 a.m. to serve the coffee and pastry needs of her adoring customers.

As you might expect the decor has a distinctly bird-like theme with depictions of birds everywhere from the lights, to the art on the walls, to the slightly odd stuffed animals.

Herr was born in Yakima and later moved to Olympia. She has been making coffee since she was a teenager.

She has a degree in criminal justice and sociology, but after trying that "real world" for a couple of years she said, "I always would always go back to a job making coffee."

The customers are mostly local, intensely loyal and Herr loves to hear from them.

"Any Saturday morning you can walk in here and actually the entire neighborhood, every neighbor is in their sleepy eyed role, grabbing their latte and we just all sit her for hours and talk it up," customer Jenee' Arthur said.

Another customer Deborah Drouin said, " I truly believe that this is the best coffee in Seattle and as much as I love the neighborhood, and the company and Heidi and her dog Rosie, I really do come here for the coffee 'cause it's the best."

About why she chose to stay in the coffee business Herr said, "When you work in social work there's sort of a sense of deferred gratification and you have to wait to see your results years and years and years down the road. I really like the affirmation several times a day."

She is a perfectionist about what and how she serves her products, which are all local. Herr gets her baked goods from Macrina Bakery and Little Rae's, her coffee from Raven's Brew. Bird On a Wire is run in a very green fashion, recycling its by products whenever possible, Herr said.

In her free time, Herr is a well known roller derby skater for the Rat City Roller Girls going by the name Skate Trooper. She loves the Roller Girls organization for what it represents and the fact that it's all women in a rough and tumble sport, largely defying people's stereotypes and expectations.

The hard work she does makes it all look easy.

"My attitude toward life is you just sort of take what it gives you, and you don't have a lot of control over it," she said. "You do have control over how you respond to things. I like to remember as much as I can there's other people involved in my life. It's easy to forget but it's still important."

You can contact Heidi at Heidi@birdonawireespresso.com.