Q&A: How Go Get Em Tiger earned its stripes

What does it take to build and scale a successful coffee shop brand? Kyle Glanville is CEO and Co-founder of Go Get Em Tiger, a celebrated specialty roaster and café group in Los Angeles. The US Barista Champion speaks to World Coffee Portal about the founding principles of his brand and how the business painstakingly crafts each customer’s coffee ritual across its ten stores

What are the founding pillars of your brand?

The name ‘Go Get Em Tiger’ is a throwback to an American phrase that has largely dropped out of the lexicon. It’s something that a parent would say to their child for encouragement before they go to school or play sports.

Our intention has always been to deliver truly great coffee to a wider audience and perfect the coffee ritual. That’s why the design of the Go Get Em Tiger brand sprang from the heart and centres on accessibility and fun.

Our brand speaks to how the coffee ritual fits into your day. Whether you’re going to give a speech to the UN, compete in a cycling race or perform brain surgery, it doesn’t matter who you are; if you’re a coffee drinker, you’re going to get coffee first.

It’s very intentional that there are no tigers anywhere in our branding, and there never will be as long as I’m CEO. That’s because our brand is about embodying the spirit of the phrase and what it represents.

I honestly think we’re at our best when we are speaking from the heart, when we’re conversational with our customers and when we’re perhaps not as slick as when we try to present ourselves like a monolith. We want to be more of a friend who happens to be a coffee expert.