A July 2021 New York Times headline presented a compliment inside a loaded question: “Can the Black Rifle Coffee Company Become the Starbucks of the Right?” Just the insinuation that a company co-founded by three veterans could compete with America’s landmark coffee company is provocative. The startup, unsurprisingly, courts the comparison: In 2017, the liberal, Seattle-based Starbucks offered to hire 10,000 refugees; in response, Black Rifle Coffee Company said it would hire 10,000 veterans.
The Salt Lake City-based company is a long way from Starbucks but also a pretty long way from where it started. Co-founder Evan Hafer started by grinding his own coffee via modified gun trucks while deployed in Iraq as a Green Beret. Now, the business, which started officially in 2014, employs approximately 550 people, half of whom are veterans, reservists, or military spouses. Hafer, who also spent nearly a decade as a CIA contractor, is the brains behind starting the company, which imports coffee beans from Colombia and Brazil and distributes them five days a week to customers worldwide, packaged with patriotic and military references such as “Freedom Roast,” “Gunship Roast,” and “AK-47 Espresso Blend.”
Hafer’s co-founders are veterans, too: Mat Best, the executive vice president, is a former Ranger who deployed five times to Afghanistan and Iraq. Jarred Taylor, executive vice president of partnerships, is a former tactical air-control party specialist in the Air Force. The veterans and coffee lovers don’t mind the Starbucks comparison, even if they’re just as known for their fierce patriotism and gun obsession as their coffee. “That’s a compliment,” Hafer told the Washington Examiner. “I have respect for people with a successful business [like Starbucks]. Do I agree with their politics? No, I don’t. That’s why I have my own business.”
Black Rifle has not grown without some controversy. In 2020, social media posts accused the company of sponsoring Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old accused of killing two rioters in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Hafer rejected the rumors or any connection to Rittenhouse whatsoever. The New York Times’s July profile was quickly followed by what Taylor called “a very coordinated social media campaign” targeting Hafer’s Jewish heritage and claiming the company had now gone “woke” because Black Rifle had disavowed extremism.
Still, Hafer, Best, and Taylor try to remain focused on the (business) mission. “Companies became anti-gun and it became cool. They got into politics. No, no, no, we’re not into that,” Hafer said. “We’re pro-gun, pro-America, pro-law enforcement. We’ve always been that way. A lot of people say, because they don’t know our history, that we’re placating a certain demographic. It’s like, no, this is me. I’m the only coffee company CEO that has a hundred-yard range. I know tons of CEOs who are pro-gun and anti-woke, but they won’t ever say s*** because they’re afraid of the backlash. I’m like, it’s good to be me, bro.”
Neither Black Rifle’s controversies nor success has inspired any of these veterans to consider retirement. “I don’t even think we’re successful right now. I think that’s why we are doing well. We’re in the grind every day,” Mat Best told the Washington Examiner. “We don’t ever stop and smell the roses. I don’t ever think, ‘We made it.’ I don’t know what making it is. Making it is constant progress.”
Of course, not all veteran-owned businesses wield guns with bravado via social media, but it has been a double-edged sword for fellow veteran Chris Vargo’s Detroit-based apparel company Freedom Fatigues. After enlisting in the Air Force and serving nine years in the Air National Guard, he became a police officer. While responding to a call, Vargo was in a car crash, putting an end to his career in law enforcement. Unable to resume the work he once loved, Vargo had the idea to start a company that would sell American-made patriotic apparel. “We decided to make and sell patriotic apparel that appealed to other patriots.”
They launched in 2018 with T-shirts for men and women with slogans such as “Don’t Tread on Me,” or “Love Her or Leave Her,” splashed over a sketch of the Statue of Liberty. The most frequent customers came as a surprise to Vargo and his wife, Ryann, who helps run the company: “I’d say the majority of our sales are from California, Washington state, and Oregon. You’d think it’d be places like Texas or Florida, but it’s not,” Vargo told the Washington Examiner.
Like most entrepreneurs, Vargo has faced multiple obstacles. One of his biggest issues has been sticking to his commitment that everything he sells is made in America. “It takes time, and it’s a real task to locate local suppliers,” he said. But Vargo thinks it’s worth the effort, to hold to his commitment. The company is still young and spreads the word via social media. But that comes with its own pitfalls: “Ads get refused or censored if we’re selling a shirt that says something about the Second Amendment or even just about America.” While Vargo tries not to take it personally, it’s frustrating, and he does think it points to “a broad spectrum across all social media against conservatives speaking.”
Still, Vargo’s never forgotten his choice to serve both in the military and law enforcement and the impact it made on him. He partners with various organizations, giving some proceeds from sales back to groups such as Mission 22 and Blue H.E.L.P., which aid veterans and law enforcement members who are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Neither are veterans confined to one area of the marketplace. Chrissy Cabrera served in the United States Air Force for five years and then founded Naturally London, an award-winning boutique that sells artisanal foot- and hand-care essentials made from sustainable, cruelty-free, plant-based materials. Cabrera conceived of the idea for the business during her first pregnancy while suffering from swollen feet.
“The only way to get relief was from daily foot soaks and massage,” Cabrera recalled. Unfortunately, many of the products on the market for swollen feet contained tea tree and peppermint, two things that made Cabrera nauseated — so she began experimenting with products without those ingredients. “There is a direct correlation to the way your feet feel and the rest of your body. When your feet feel good, this feeling stems to the rest of your body,” she told the Washington Examiner. Today, specific products have been featured in Allure and PopSugar, among other places.
Realizing Cabrera’s dream of owning a self-care business didn’t come easily. “I utilized my entire savings to fund my dream,” Cabrera said. “I have used any challenges as fuel to adapt and overcome.”
Cabrera credits her military experience with helping her overcome hurdles and bolster her business chops. “My entrepreneurial spirit was always there, prior to joining the military. Two of my best supervisors of all time were Capt. LaFrance and Sgt. Dangerfield. They taught me the importance of mutual respect being a key ingredient to successful leadership. The lessons I learned from them directly influence how I interact with anyone who works for me.”
Despite the pandemic, Naturally London is thriving in retail partnerships with Grove Collaborative and Macy’s. She recommends that people, including veterans, push fear aside if they’re considering becoming a business owner. “There is only success and lessons learned, there is never failure.”
Nicole Russell is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog.
