It’s hard enough to find an awesome cup of coffee. But, it’s even more rare to find a cup of stellar coffee brewed by a company that has a genuine passion for what they do and for its community.
Meet Yeti’s Grind. If you’re not familiar with Yeti’s, you’ve been missing out. The company was built by two compassionate, entrepreneurial spirits – Nate and Tara Picklo. The two didn’t start in the coffee world though. Tara was a teacher and Nate was in construction.
Nate and Tara decided to jump into, what is often considered a risky business, building their first location in Eagle in 2007. And when we say ‘build,’ we mean it literally. Nate physically built their first shop from the ground up, resulting in a true labor of love.
The two are firm believers in supporting the local community, which is why they only use local bean suppliers. Their belief has always been that supporting the local community and other businesses in it only fuels their goal of creating the best product possible for those it serves daily at Yeti’s Grind.
It’s no surprise that their first location was a raving success, which led them to building their second location in Vail. But, the two still yearned to create more. Again, they wanted to take a passion and translate it into something they could use to give back to the community they love dearly. Nate started lov bikes – a custom bike company based in Vail Valley that specializes in high-end, custom steel frame bikes.
“Nate has a million incredible ideas and an incredible entrepreneurial spirit. I, on the other hand, am more of the execution person. I see his visions and do my very best to make them a reality. I guess you can say in addition to having a really great marriage, we also are a dream team when it comes to business,” said Tara.
But, their journey hasn’t always been easy.
Two years after opening Yeti’s Grind, Nate and Tara received some earth-shattering news. Nate was diagnosed with cancer. Instead of going down a dismal road, these two poured the same positive energy they’d put into Yeti’s into Nate’s fight with cancer. The community that they’ve always actively embraced and contributed to has reciprocated with an overwhelming amount of support on their Go Fund Me page.
“Besides loving this beautiful community for the
support they’ve given to Yeti’s over the years, we are so blessed that our community has also supported Nate’s fight,” said Tara.
And fighting is just what Nate is doing. With the support of his wife Tara, friends, family and members of the community, he is waging war against the disease.
As a company and members of this great community, we at PCW wanted to share this story with you. Nate and Tara are the perfect examples of why we love where we work and live.
We’d like to ask you to give back to these awesome people. Maybe it’s stopping by for a cup of locally brewed coffee or contributing to Nate’s Go Fund Me page. Nate and Tara are what make this area such a spectacular place, so we hope that you’ll pay it forward.