Valor Coffee Podcast

<p>A podcast and video show hosted by seasoned coffee pros and Valor Coffee founders Ethan Rivers, Ross Walters and Riley Westbrook where we discuss coffee, starting and running a business, and the specialty coffee industry.</p>

Designing a Cafe When You Can’t Afford an Interior Designer – 11/13/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29BThanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way!Opening a coffee shop likely means sacrificing the option of working with an interior designer. In this episode, we share practical tips and lessons learned from building out two cafes without the help of designers; fr...

11-18
01:00:48

Q&A: Competition in Coffee, Steps to Opening a Coffee Shop And More – 11/06/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29BThanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way!In this episode, we break down the complex dynamics of growing a coffee business, from securing funding for a new cafe to deciding when to add staff as sales increase. We dive into a variety of listener questions from ...

11-11
57:04

We Threw Out Our Core Values... – 10/30/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29BThanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way!We just had a big moment at Valor Coffee: we changed our core values! In this episode, we talk about how and why we went from five to three core values, breaking down how we landed on these core pillars and what they m...

11-06
01:09:40

Q&A with Valor’s Cafe GM – 10/23/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29BThanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way!In this episode, we sit down with Savannah Grace Lyle (aka Savvi), Valor's GM in Dunwoody, for a Q&A filled with honest insights on team culture, leadership, and running a specialty coffee shop. Savvi and the team ...

10-28
56:40

Three Changes That Will Take Your Mobile Coffee Cart to New Heights – 10/16/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29BThanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way!This ep we dive into carts, sharing lessons learned from years of catering experience. From undercharging and overcharging to dealing with equipment malfunctions, we've seen... a lot. Today we focus on three game-chang...

10-21
50:55

The Story of Valor Part 3: Opening Our Cafes and Roastery – 10/02/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29BThanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way!In this episode, we dive into the third and final part of the story behind Valor. Join us as we discuss opening our first cafe, launching our roastery, and expanding to a second location, all while navigating challenge...

10-14
01:33:45

The Story of Valor Part 2: Booking Events, Permanent Pop-up, Going Full Time – 09/25/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29BThanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way!In this episode, we dive into some of our most memorable early events, like surprising the Church of Scientology with a coffee cart and serving drinks at an unexpected Michael Jackson-themed drag show in Atlanta. We al...

09-30
01:14:46

The Story of Valor Part 1: Creation, Kickstarter, Cart Buildout – 09/11/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29BThanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way!In this episode of the Valor Podcast, we dive into Part 1 of The Story of Valor, where it all began. From friendships formed in high school to early coffee experiences that sparked a love for specialty coffee, we walk ...

09-19
01:25:44

Introducing Our Online Platform, The Valor Coffee Community – 08/28/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29BThanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way!When we started our company, we'd often be faced with problems we'd just have to figure out ourselves, mainly because there wasn't a central online resource that went really deep in helping us with the nitty-gritty of ...

08-30
56:49

Splurge on These Things When Building Out Your Coffee Shop – 08/21/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29BThanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way!In this episode, Riley and Ethan dive into a crucial topic for anyone looking to open or improve their coffee shop: the key investments you should never skimp on. While it’s tempting to save money on certain pieces of ...

08-23
01:06:47

Q&A – How Much Are Coffee Shops WORTH …and More! – 08/07/2024

Sign Up for Alerts About Our Community (coming soon) – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://mailchi.mp/018d9c38a953/valorcafecommunityThanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way!In this episode, we dive into the nitty-gritty of evaluating a coffee shop acquisition, discussing the hidden costs that can make or break a deal. We also chat about the challenges of maintaining high...

08-16
01:10:08

Opening a Coffee Shop for Less Than $100k – 08/01/2024

Sign Up for Alerts About Our Community (coming soon) – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://mailchi.mp/018d9c38a953/valorcafecommunityThanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way!In this episode, we dive deep with Elijah Knapp, a seasoned coffee professional, former Valor Pit Crew Member, current owner of Elliott Coffee in Dayton, Kentucky, and one of our dear friends. We chat...

08-07
01:22:24

Keeping Veteran Baristas Invested – 07/24/2024

Sign Up for Alerts About Our Community (coming soon) – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://mailchi.mp/018d9c38a953/valorcafecommunityThanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way!In this episode, we delve into the heart of staying passionate and committed as a veteran barista. Ethan is joined by our long-time Head Coach, Lillabea Goins, and they explore service philosophies, r...

07-26
52:28

Consistency is Everything – 07/17/2024

Sign Up for Alerts About Our Community (coming soon) – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://mailchi.mp/018d9c38a953/valorcafecommunityThanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way!This week, it’s just Riley and Ethan diving deeper into our service philosophies. We explore the crucial role of consistency in everything we do and how it impacts our decisions and operations. From e...

07-19
41:41

Three Service Philosophies That Built Our Business – 07/10/2024

Sign Up for Alerts About Our Community (coming soon) – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://mailchi.mp/018d9c38a953/valorcafecommunityThanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way!In this episode, we dive into the service philosophies that have shaped our company, discussing how to create memorable customer experiences through empathy and connection. We also recount a rare day ...

07-12
50:55

What Does It Even Mean To Break Even? – 06/28/2024

Sign Up for Alerts About Our Community (coming soon) – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://mailchi.mp/018d9c38a953/valorcafecommunityDOWNLOAD THE CAFE VIABILITY SPREADSHEET: https://mailchi.mp/valor/viability-spreadsheetThanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way!Ever wondered what “breaking even” really means for a business? In this episode we delve into the concept of brea...

06-28
01:01:41

Running a Business As a Parent – 06/21/2024

Sign Up for Alerts About Our Community (coming soon) – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://mailchi.mp/018d9c38a953/valorcafecommunityThanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way!When we started Valor, we had all the hours in the world to put towards building our business, but things have changed greatly with our growing families. Today we reflect on this and what our lives ha...

06-21
01:02:06

Why Your Coffee Shop SHOULD Start Roasting – 06/12/2024

Sign Up for Alerts About Our Community (coming soon) – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://mailchi.mp/018d9c38a953/valorcafecommunityThanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way!The boys sit down and have a continuation of last episode's topic of why you shouldn't start a coffee shop, this time explaining why it might be a good idea. We also discuss Ethan's trip to Japan...

06-14
53:56

Why Your Coffee Shop SHOULD NOT Start Roasting – 06/05/2024

Sign Up for Alerts About Our Community (coming soon) – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://mailchi.mp/018d9c38a953/valorcafecommunityThanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way!This week Riley and Ross chop up something we here from sooooo many wholesale partners: "Yeah, we'll probably eventually start roasting..." As a company who has taken this path, we feel it's our duty ...

06-07
01:08:42

Cat & Cloud x Valor Coffee: Burn Out, Human Dignity, Tacos & Dunking – 05/28/2024

Sign Up for Alerts About Our Community (coming soon) – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://mailchi.mp/018d9c38a953/valorcafecommunityThanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way!We credit a lot of our success to the Cat and Cloud Podcast, where we learned so many things about the industry, extraction, running a coffee business and more when we were just getting started. It wa...

05-31
01:32:01

Seth Weber

When you're a shop owner and know it was a 12oz coffee bag being ground at 43:25 😭

10-07 Reply

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