Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Brandy Berry & Jessica Barry. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Brandy Berry & Jessica Barry thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Getting that first client is always an exciting milestone. Can you talk to us about how you got your first customer who wasn’t a friend, family, or acquaintance?

Upon launching our business, we knew we wanted to serve in every opportunity we possibly could. We put our website live and applied for a couple different local markets in the area. We only received response from one and it was for a Valentine’s Day market. We were ecstatic at the opportunity. When we arrived we were not prepared for the chaos that we had just jumped into. We ran out of supplies and had to have friends run to get us more. We had so many people show up to support us. We had an overwhelming feeling of gratitude and it helped set fire to the drive we felt when we started this journey.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Hey 👋🏼 I’m Jess, one of the proud owners of Fortitude Coffee! A little bit about me

I’ve been a coffee enthusiast for as long as I can remember! I have had the joy of being a barista for many years, and now I’m excited to be able to share that passion with all of you once again

By day I’m navigating the world of real estate and coaching others at Orange Theory Fitness to help them meet their fitness goals. When I’m not doing that or serving you coffee, I’m out hitting the trails here in WA, traveling, or staying active in the gym oh and let’s not forget spending time with my Aussie pups Tobi and Raya

Hey 🤗 I’m Brandy, one of the owners of Fortitude Coffee!

I’ve been a Barista continuously for 23 years! I have spent my coffee career managing multiple stands and cafes and I currently run the coffee shop at my church. I have had the opportunity to teach so many other women how to make a killer cup of coffee throughout my career!
In 2018, I started a similar journey of opening up my own coffee adventure but that plan quickly got detoured when I became pregnant with my first child. The timing wasn’t right, but I’m no quieter and I’m here doing this again! I truly enjoy the process of making a cup of coffee for someone else. There is unimaginable joy that can be brought from handing someone their first cup of the day and getting to know them through conversation. The impact you have on someone’s entire day, it all has shaped me along this barista journey.

Together we strive to create the best coffee and service for our clients and their events. It’s very important to us that we leave a lasting impression and impression our clients who hire us. We want to ease the stress and worry that comes with planning events such as weddings or corporate events and make the process of serving coffee to their guests a stress free experience. We also love the look of our coffee cart. It was very important to us that we had a very clean aesthetic looking cart that can be dressed up or decorated to fit any theme possible. We also made sure we use only high quality clean products for our clients. We did countless hours of research and testing to make sure we were providing only the best.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

We have a ton of fun attending Venue open houses year round. We gain the most from these events. Not just clients but we get opportunities to meet and build relationships with fellow vendors and venue owners. We feel it’s so important to show face and be a light to others in the same industry. We can all grow through supporting each other.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

We’ve learned that Instagram has been our best option for growing our clientele. We tried out advertising on Google and yelp but nothing compares to the exposure you get on Instagram.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.fortitudecoffeecart.com
• Instagram: @fortitudecoffeecart

Image Credits

Shaunae Teske
Seth Cartwright