Meet Shannon Gaines | Founder and co-owner of Trail Rated Coffee Company

We had the good fortune of connecting with Shannon Gaines and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shannon, what’s the most important lesson your business/career has taught you?
The most important lesson business has taught me was to never give up on a dream and to be relentless.

What should our readers know about your business?
What sets us apart is we are a family-owned small business and not a faceless company. When you buy from us, you are buying directly from the family that roasts, packages, and ships your coffee order to you with care.

What we are most proud of is our TRCC Trail Fund. All of our products are named after trail systems. We donate $1 from each product sold to the trail network it’s named after and regularly award funds to deserving trail organizations. We are committed to supporting volunteers and organizations who build and maintain recreational trails. The TRCC Trail Fund’s mission is to support, recognize, promote, trail stewardship.

When we started out we did not know a lot about the coffee industry. We had to learn quick! It wasn’t easy in the beginning, learning how to roast, source raw materials, and building our product line were all full time jobs. There were just two of us. With determination and a little luck we were able to tackle each hurdle one day at a time.

I want the world to know Trail Rated Coffee Company is a labor of love. We take pride in every product we produce. Our story is still being written. As long as there is coffee to roast and trails to save we will keep going!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Being that we love the outdoors, I would take them on a camping adventure. I would take them out of the city and in to the mountains. We would camp our way through Colorado. Making stops at Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand Mesa, Gunnison National Forest and end up at Mesa Verde, We would enjoy amazing coffee while watching the sunrise, fish for our dinner, sleep under the stars, and just soak in the Rocky Mountain Majesty!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My success is due to the support and love of my family. We are a family run business and many times when things are hard or I doubted myself they picked me up. If we have a huge order they pull together and work all night if needed.

Just knowing that the love and support was there regardless made all the difference.

Website: https://trailratedcoffee.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trailratedcoffee/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/trailratedcoffee