Meet Evan Hafer, the Green Beret turned CEO of Black Rifle Coffee Company. Deployed in Iraq, Evan’s love for a robust cup of coffee led to the founding of Black Rifle Coffee in 2014, disrupting the industry with bold blends and a mission to support veterans.

Evan’s military background instilled discipline, crucial for overcoming entrepreneurial challenges. Named after the AR-15 rifle, the brand signifies a commitment to veterans and first responders.

Black Rifle Coffee’s dedication to quality is evident in global bean sourcing, delivering a rich experience from light to dark blends.

Beyond coffee, Evan actively supports veterans, fostering community and social responsibility. As the brand grows, it becomes more than a coffee supplier—a movement celebrating freedom, patriotism, and entrepreneurial spirit. Evan’s story inspires, proving that with passion, perseverance, and a good cup of coffee, bold ideas can thrive.

Kayla Itsines, a notable entrepreneur in the fitness industry, began her journey as a personal trainer in Adelaide, Australia. Inspired by her passion for helping people achieve their fitness goals, Kayla created the “Bikini Body Guide,” a series of workout programs. She initially faced hurdles as an unknown figure in the fitness world, but her determination to make a difference drove her to promote her programs on social media. Overcoming doubts and limited resources, Kayla’s workouts gained a dedicated following, and she co-founded the fitness app, Sweat. Through innovative training techniques and a strong online presence, she expanded her empire, transforming lives worldwide and motivating women to adopt healthier lifestyles. Her success is a testament to her perseverance and vision in building a fitness brand that empowers individuals to achieve their fitness aspirations.

Imperial Systems is a company that I have had the privilege to have partnered with during on of the entrepreneurship classes here at Grove City. they are a local company that make dust collectors and air filtration systems for industrial use. The founder, Jeramiah previously worked with a company that made the same product as Imperial Systems, but the company’s values did not align with his own so instead he decided to start his own company. He focused on the customers impute and made it an essential point of many of the innovations that Imperial has made to their dust collectors. His dream was to make the best collectors in the world and so far he has done a great job of working towards that goal. Imperial designs is an amazing story where one person set out with a dream and that dream came to fruition and now Imperial Systems is a thriving company that, more than anything, values its customers and their impute.

Atherton Bikes is a company that brings together the culmination of years of experience and passion into helping others enjoy their passion of Bicycle riding to its fullest. The founders and three sibling, that all raced for years at the professional level but they were missing one thing. While they were riding some of the best bikes on the market they were never able to customize the bikes to be the perfect fit. This is where their dream started coming into fruition. They created a Bike Brand that uses simple carbon tubing with connected with titanium links. This design was unlike anything that anyone had ever and gave the customer the ability to create a bike with a geometry to match their riding style, body type, and desires. Atherton bikes has now entered into the professional market where they are raced by the three sibling that started it all, along side many others

John Brittian Is a name that is well know in the Motorcycle industry. From a young age he was fascinated with  motorized vehicles and was very advanced in his ability to make his own by the age of elevon. John is most well know for a motorcycle that he made called the Brittian V1000, this bike was revolutionary to say the least. John’s philosophy was that to beat some of the biggest names in the industry you need to do it different from how they do it. His bikes weren’t like anything else on the race track and, when the bike would run properly,  held their own against Ducati; which were the fastest bikes of the time. John Brittian was  visionary who wanted to make a bike like no other and through an immense amount of perseverance he succeeded.  His bikes are known as works of art and held in high regard, to this day you will find his bikes in museums.

Koenigsegg is a well know car manufacturer in the hyper car industry. He started His car company in the early 2000’s, a very hard time to break into the car industry. His dream was to make a car without limitations, compromises, and with no fear of failure. starting at 22 his company has had some ups and downs but never lost sight of their mission. Today Koenigsegg is know for building the world most high quality cars with some of the most innovative ideas that challenge the car industry. The cars are hand made, often with engines that output more power that any other car manufacturer, shifting system unlike any car seen in the industry and some of the highest speeds; and they continue to be a leading innovator with cars that sell for several million each. This is what it looks like when someone runs after their passion.