Connect
To Top

Meet Glenna and Dustin Whitaker and Ashley and Nick Emery of Down Dog Coffee Roasters

Avatar photo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Glenna and Dustin Whitaker and Ashley and Nick Emery.

Glenna, Dustin, Ashley, and Nick, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Several years ago, my husband Dustin and I(Glenna) visited Portland, OR where we took a coffee tour and fell in love with the coffee community. We had always been avid coffee drinkers but never really understood all that was involved with getting coffee from farm to cup. We learned so much from all of the wonderful people at each café, roastery, and community coffee gathering. We were instantly enamored by the immense level of care and vast scrutiny each coffee bean underwent before ever leaving its origin. Harvesting coffee seemed so complex but we could have never imagined how complex and scientific it was to discover the perfect roast level to produce an enjoyable cup that honors the farmers and origin. That tour gave us a great appreciation for the coffee community, and we knew we wanted to be a part of it. From there we dove headfirst into learning all we could about everything coffee, specifically coffee roasting.

Dustin and I knew early on that we couldn’t run this business alone so we reached out to our friends Ashley and Nick about becoming business partners. We knew they had the same hearts for creating a  for-purpose coffee company as we did. Ashley is an RN who helps others on a daily basis and volunteered in Haiti after the devastating earthquake in 2010. Nick had been the manager of a bike company but had dreams of having his own coffee shop one day.

As a team, we set out to find a roastery space of our own. After a long journey of building the roastery from an empty commercial space we were able to open the doors of our very own shop in April this year. Together we are constantly educating ourselves, roasting, cupping new coffees, and figuring out the most efficient processes to find the best coffees for our customers. Most of all, we remain focused on growing our business with the hope of making significant positive impacts on the women farmers across the globe as well as the women in our own community.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
We have certainly had our fair share of ups and down, much like any new start-up. Some things took far longer than anticipated to accomplish and inevitably unforeseen challenges arose. Fortunately, since we are a yoga-minded brand we have learned to pause and breathe through the difficult processes. We have learned to accept that there are many things that we simply have no control over and we can only do our best with what we can control.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Down Dog Coffee Roasters – what should we know?
We decided to name our company Down Dog Coffee Roasters as a way of paying homage to our love for yoga. Dustin is a Fire Captain, the years of stress on the job had taken its toll a couple year prior to the start of this business he was looking for a positive outlet for his stress and yoga not only did that but completely changed his life. It physically relaxed his body, but more so, it brought a calm to his mind and gave him peace he hadn’t experienced in years. We believe that yoga is something that everyone can benefit from and it teaches principles that can be applied to every aspect of life, even how we roast. That is why our slogan is “Mindful Roasting. Intentional Living” and we try to align with as many yogic principles as possible.

These was never any question that when we started our coffee roasting company that we wanted to do as much good as we could while doing something we love. We want to have as much of a positive impact on our community near and abroad as possible. We researched for-purpose business models and we decided to build our company that can give back while remaining sustainable. We only purchase organic and fair-trade coffees because we want to support sustainable farming practices and ensure that those who work the hardest harvesting our coffee are treated and compensated fairly.

I (Glenna) have always been outspoken about issues revolving women’s empowerment. In a stroke of fate, I came across an organic coffee importer that co-founded a nonprofit, Cafe Femenino. Café Femenino is “a gender-focused program to support social justice and empowerment for women coffee producers worldwide.” In predominantly male-dominated societies, it affords women in 9 different countries a seat at the table, hold title to land they farm, receive payment directly, and the ability to provide for their families while receiving the recognition they deserve. Green coffee buyers pay a premium for these Cafe Femenino coffees to ensure the mission and vision of this great organization can be realized. We were so proud to join in the movement.

In addition to working with Cafe Femenino, we knew it was equally important to make sure we support women in our local community as well. We decided that we needed to donate time and proceeds to local women’s charities so that women locally and globally alike were being recognized. We have  partnered with several local organizations that help us with this mission. It is a true privilege to be a part of such a great cause.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
We are so fortunate to be part of such a gracious coffee community. We are surrounded by some many people that believe in us and are always there to lend us a helpful hand. Without them we would not be where we are today. When we were first starting out, we wanted to learn, practice, and be sure we could roast coffee well before investing everything we had into opening our own roastery. We approached a local coffee roaster, Kevin Lentz at Hearthwood Coffee Roasters, and asked if we could rent space at his place and use his roaster. Kevin not only welcomed us into his shop but taught us how to roast.  He mentored us as new members of the coffee community. We will be forever grateful for his time, guidance, and friendship.

We are also so thankful to Ivibe Coffee So Cal.  They have a really awesome mobile coffee truck that travels all over Southern California making great drinks with the use of our coffee. They were our first major wholesale partners.  Even though we were still very new and had a lot of learning to get under our belt, they saw something in us. They recognized that our values aligned and decided to take a chance on sharing our coffee with their customers. We cherish their trust and friendship and look forward to growing together.

We are incredibly proud of how strong the spirit of community and collaboration is in this industry and we promise to be good stewards as we continue on our journey of roasting coffee, giving back, and helping women.

Contact Info:

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

Related Items

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in