A new food truck is hitting the streets this summer, serving up coffee and girl power in the Mile High City. The Bold Beans mobile coffee truck is a girl-run business, supported by Girls Inc. of Metro Denver (GIMD). This mobile truck is the organization’s second venture into social enterprise and assists high school and college-aged girls who are pursuing entrepreneurship. With a brick-and-mortar already in place, Girls Inc. and the Bold Baristas are piloting the mobile coffee shop come June.
Girls Inc. is a national organization with a local division that has been serving girls in the metro Denver area for 35 years. Working with girls from age six to 20, they strive to inspire all girls to be strong, smart and bold. Through programming, Girls Inc. teaches girls what it means to live a healthy life, how to find academic success with a focus on STEM programs and how to be both a leader and self-sufficient. Director of Development Sara Hazel explained, “We’re giving girls a comprehensive, healthy view of their lives and helping them navigate barriers to success that they may face as a girl in their future.”
The Bold Beans coffee enterprise began as a pop-up in 2015 reminiscent of a lemonade stand, expanded to a pilot program at the Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales Branch Library and eventually grew to their permanent location at STEAM on the Platte. Girls Inc. designed the program to teach career and leadership skills as well as orient girls with a sense of entrepreneurship. The girls also have a sense of ownership in Bold Beans — after learning about financial literacy, the girls asked the organization to support them in their enterprise.
Photo courtesy of Girls Inc. of Metro Denver
Bold Beans is truly a community-supported program. Both the Mile High United Way’s Women United Innovation Fund and the Daniels Fund supported the purchase of the coffee truck, and with additional help with a crowdfunding campaign, the truck is getting a Girls Inc. makeover. The coffee truck, like the brick-and-mortar, will serve coffee from Copper Door Coffee Roasters, a completely female-owned business. Owner Hannah Ulbrich often teaches the Bold Baristas about the coffee roasting process, offering a coffee tasting as the girls select the roasts they want to serve.
For Andri’Nae Rhymest, working at the Bold Beans coffee shop “has been really life-changing,” she reported. “This was my very first job and has led me and helped me to branch off to other jobs that are similar.” A job at Bold Beans truly does prepare girls — not only for finding similar jobs but also for owning a business. The girls are responsible for all the decisions that come with the business — creating weekly specials, interviewing future baristas and now another expansion.
After a year and a half as a brick-and-mortar, the Bold Baristas want to deepen their reach in Denver with a mobile coffee shop. At STEAM on the Platte, Bold Beans is only open during the weekdays. With a mobile truck, the shop can expand their hours, serving more of the Denver community while also offering more working hours to the Bold Baristas. Jenny Valadez Fraire, a Bold Barista, commented that the truck is “a wonderful opportunity to expand our client base and provide people all over Metro-Denver with the chance to support Girls Inc. through a simple purchase.”
Sonya Ulibarri, President & CEO of Girls Inc. of Metro Denver, commented, “It is their innovation and commitment that drive new opportunities for girls across our community, and we are so proud to support them.”
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Girls Inc. of Metro Denver is located at 1499 Julian Street, Denver.
The Bold Beans coffee shop is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and is located at STEAM on the Platte, 1401 Zuni Street, Denver. The mobile coffee shop will launch mid-June and will try out various locations and events throughout the summer.
Follow along on their website to get updates on where the truck will be each day.