Meet Tabitha Wall of Bully Brew Co. in North Phoenix/Glendale

Tabitha, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Coffee and I have had a long-term love affair. Some of my earliest childhood memories involve sitting with my late grandfather, drinking coffee at our small-town donut shop. I got into the industry in 2007, but they need to satisfy my big career goals led me to a corporate career and away from serving others for years. I loved the corporation that I worked for, but my heart just began to stray. When Nate & I started a family, we hit a crossroads where we really realized that life is too short to just stay somewhere because of financial comfort. We collectively decided that I would leave my cushy corporate career so that I could have the opportunity to be at home with my kids while they were young. Don’t get me wrong, it is an experience I’m unbelievably grateful for, BUT… once a goal-digger, you’re kind of always in that head-space where you want to work!

As far as Bully Brew Co., dare I say it is a crash collision of both accident and divine intervention? We had a lovely friend who had their own cold brew business, but he was spinning multiple other plates and was going to let it go. I was devastated (and totally willing to work for them in exchange for coffee!), but instead, he offered to teach us the cold brew method. After that, it was all about finding the perfect bean. So many coffees leave something to be desired; they either have flavors to hide or high acidity and tannin levels that render coffee lovers with upset stomachs. My goal was to find a bean roasted and brewed in a way that it didn’t have people reaching for creamer. I also wanted it to fit a very specific need: to be gentle on the stomach. Once we found our signature recipe, it all happened super fast!

At first, our coffee was made really just for us to have. Friends and family started requesting our new bean. At that point, we realized we were on to something that people wanted. Nate & I decided to give it a go and got into the Farmer’s Market world that is so lush here in Phoenix. It’s definitely something we don’t take for granted. Just two years later, we have grown so much thanks to our supporters and our market family! We just opened our first retail location in May. Cold Brew is still our core product, but now we are able to offer that full coffee shop menu, and it’s super exciting to be serving others again!

We never thought in a lifetime that we would get to work side-by-side, with our two children watching and learning. Our youngest is already on his way to being a coffee connoisseur. I know my Grandpa Charlie would be super proud. Drinking coffee is always something that I felt kept me connected to him, but my business makes me feel like I have a little piece of him with me daily, and I love that.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Definitely not, but what’s the fun in that?!

Cold Brew, in particular, is a fairly new product when you think about it. The coffee industry is constantly evolving, and sometimes even the county didn’t know where to point us when we first started. I can’t sing their praises enough; they really have gone above and beyond to help us along the way, admitting when they didn’t have the answers and working diligently to point us in the right direction.

I am a huge advocate in protecting your mental and overall physical health. Being an entrepreneur requires a lot of grit, but you have to create balance that truly doesn’t exist unless you create it. Schedule you-time in your calendar if you must! But you have to take care of YOU. I have found it is incredibly easy to become totally consumed by the necessities of your business. You have to remember to push pause and take care of you and your personal relationships. Your business CAN wait; establish boundaries early because they’re extremely important to your overall happiness, your family, and the long-term health of your business. You don’t want to lose that passion that brought you to do it in the first place. I wish that I could say I didn’t learn those lessons the hard way, but not keeping an inventory of how you’re doing can snowball into health issues you definitely could deal without.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Bully Brew Co. story. Tell us more about the business.
Bully Brew Co. was created with coffee-lovers and busy people in mind. We are proud to serve a high-quality, affordable product. Sometimes going to big chains feels like you lit a five-dollar bill on fire, but we work diligently to keep coffee simple and wallet-friendly. The most common thing we hear from our patrons is that they don’t feel like they have to add anything to the coffee to be able to drink it – and that was the big goal! Coffee should be simple. As for those who do decide for a more indulgent experience, we have a seasonal creamer menu that changes frequently. Our creamers are all scratch-made, and we aim to use local and organic ingredients wherever possible. We try to keep it as healthy as possible. Playing in the kitchen has been one of the most enjoyable and fun-filled aspects of having this business,

Our mission as we continue to grow is to continue to help give back to the community. We love to give back where there is a need, especially with local rescue efforts. Whether it’s to help spread the word on an adoptable dog, to raise awareness about the pitbull bread as a whole, or to help raise funds or supplies to meet their needs, we are all in. Our patrons are really awesome at letting us know where help can be needed, and it’s awesome to know they feel comfortable to pass that along to us.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Luck, paired with hard work, has been a huge role in both life and business. Whether it’s good or bad, you have to run with it. Even bad luck can lead to great things. My best stroke of luck was meeting and marrying and ultra-supportive partner. I truly married up, and we work amazingly well together. Nate is my rock. When I moved to Arizona in 2007, I had no idea the ride I was about to strap in to with the crash that the valley experienced. I felt like it was years of bad luck on bad luck at the time. I went from having a very stable job to being laid off twice due to market decline. Due to that, I’ve been immersed in several different industries. The people I’ve met along the way and the mentors I have now, I wouldn’t know if the crash didn’t happen. They have helped shaped me to who I am today. I’ve found that you have to be grateful for the good luck, and that bad luck can be very motivating. Sometimes, good luck masquerades as bad luck! Either way, it’s made me a person who doesn’t quit! If I had never been forced to be uncomfortable, I don’t think I would have ever been brave enough to start our own business. Everything has a purpose, even if you don’t understand it at the time.