Meet Christian O’Leary of Junkies Coffee Co. in West Phoenix

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christian O’Leary.

Christian, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My wife Melissa and I started way back in college in Tulsa, Oklahoma where we fell in love with the local coffee culture. We both studied marketing and business and eventually used our knowledge to start our own small coffee business with a small coffee cart that we made back in 2013 in our hometown of Phoenix, AZ. We both worked full time jobs and put all of our extra time and money into the coffee business. We started at a corporate center in early 2014 making specialty coffee from our coffee cart in the cold mornings of January and February. After applying to local events, we got our first big contract with the Peoria Sports Complex for Spring Training baseball for the San Diego Padres and the Seattle Mariners. We quickly realized that there was a need for good quality specialty coffee at events so we geared our business toward catering to events all over Phoenix. We began to attend more and more events all over Phoenix and eventually became the go-to specialty coffee choice of major events like Barrett Jackson, the Phoenix Open, AZ Bike Week, Goodguys National Car Shows and many more.

Has it been a smooth road?
Although we have been blessed, growing this business has always been a struggle. Early on, we studied our competition and watched many small businesses go under. One of our biggest decisions was to not go into business with debt. It was a struggle from day one because we started a business with no capital and two full time jobs that made little money. It took a long time to gather the funds necessary to operate a successful business but ultimately, it was the best decision we made.

Developing a steady schedule with special events has always been one of our biggest struggles as well. Although Phoenix hosts some great events, there is a lot of downtime in the summer. One of our biggest challenges is finding enough work in the hot summer months to keep the business going.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Junkies Coffee Co. It is proud to serve the highest quality locally roasted coffee to the best events in Phoenix. We specialize in unique espresso infused specialty coffee concoctions, fresh squeezed natural lemonade/frozen lemonade and freshly brewed iced tea along with many other coffee shop favorites and a rotating seasonal specialty menu. Not only do we attend major events, but we also cater to weddings, parties, private events, corporate centers and many more. We strive to be the best mobile coffee shop hands down and our customers agree. We use a very specific roast for our specialty coffee and espresso that complements each cup of coffee or specialty beverage perfectly. Our unique specialty drinks keep our customers excited about returning to Junkies at their favorite local event.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
As a mobile specialty coffee business, there has been a large amount of competition growing over the years. When we first started back in 2014, we were one of the only coffee trucks/trailers in Phoenix. Today, the competition us limitless. Unfortunately, the food truck/coffee truck industry in Phoenix is extremely overpopulated (just look at a list of local coffee trucks in Phoenix on Roaming Hunger or Street Food Finder). I would recommend other mobile coffee businesses starting to do their research and possibly look at opening a business in a growing not-so-competitive market maybe in another state or city. Although it’s not impossible to start in Phoenix, it might be a better use of time and resources to start in a growing market.

Contact Info:

• Website: Junkiescoffee.com
• Phone: 6233989412
• Email: junkiescoffee@gmail.com
• Instagram: @junkiescoffeeaz
• Facebook: Facebook.com/junkiescoffee
• Twitter: @junkiescoffee

Image Credit:
Christian O’Leary & Melissa O’Leary

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