Inspiring Conversations with Drew & DeAnna Fex of Drew’s Brews Coffee

Today we’d like to introduce you to Drew & DeAnna Fex.

Hi Drew & DeAnna, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Drew and I were both born and raised in lower mid Michigan and we were always surrounded by “mom and pop” coffee shops, we always had a dream to one day own one ourselves, but only a pipe dream of course. In 2018 we finally tied the knot after 5 years together and said goodbye to MI and headed for Tampa Bay Florida after falling in love with it time and time again on vacation every year (we also got engaged in Florida). Once settled in we quickly realized the chain coffee shops were most of what surrounded us and decided to maybe consider a coffee shop for real some day. Shortly after that we saw a super small drive through only shop open and realized that dream was more reachable than we thought we just needed to go smaller once we decided to chase that dream!
When Drew enlisted into the USMC in 2020 we were stationed up to Jacksonville NC and yet again it was chain after chain of restaurants and coffee shops. After a couple years we finally decided to take a leap of faith and open up a shop, we’ll sort of – we needed to stay mobile just in case we were stationed elsewhere in the future and so we decided to do it as a trailer.

Our Coffee Trailer idea was then slowly brought to life. We love supporting small and local businesses whenever possible so we used a spouse owned trailer business in the area to custom build a small concession trailer for us, a family owned Graphics company for the logos and such, and yet another family owned Coffee Roaster in the Wilmington area for our equipment and coffee needs. Add in a ton of behind the scenes paperwork and boring legal stuff and Drew’s Brews Coffee Trailer was open for business (July 2023)!

After growing our following, and learning new things as business owners for a year and a half in Jacksonville NC we loved what we were doing and loved the state of North Carolina but just we’re no longer in love with the town since we missed the busy bustle of Tampa so when Drew got out of the military we decided that it was time for a change of scenery and we moved to Raleigh NC in August of last year (2024). We have fallen in love with this area and are quickly growing a new following once again!

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
A smooth road? Absolutely not.

They say it happens in 3’s and our first month operating was the prime example of this. Our very first week open at our very first event was at a drag racing event. Mid day mid drink and middle of a line and our generator simply decided to just quit, it would not restart, and showed no solution it was only 74 operating hours old so wasn’t even due for its first service yet. Thankfully when you’re surrounded by racers they break out there own generators and a ton of extension cords. 100+ ft of cords and we were plugged in and back up and going, thank you race crews! We warrantied our generator and ended up purchasing a new one a couple days later, and bonus – this new one was quieter and way more fuel efficient too!

That following week our trailer was involved in an accident and the axle was snapped in half. After loading it onto a flatbed tow truck and sending it off to the amazing company who originally built it they ordered in a new axle and had us back on the road and open within that week!

Our 4th week open our original vehicle decided it just wasn’t cut out to be a work truck anymore and developed a rod knock so we had to go into a used/new vehicle search and buy our truck that we have now – we absolutely love it though so honestly it was a blessing in disguise (although a very expensive one).

All of that in our very first month!

We’ve also had to jump through the business hurdles like who does our taxes, adding on permits we didn’t have at first, what is the best way to inventory and so much more and even restarting our business in a whole new area from the ground up again. I swear we learn something new everyday! We try to tackle all the obstacles with an “it is what it is” mentality because nothing ever goes as planned so you just pivot and do it, learning and growing more each time.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Drew’s Brews Coffee ?
We are a Mobile Coffee shop specializing in and known for creative caffeinated drinks! We carry more flavors than most other places around, and have a lot of fun coming up with new combinations. Being mobile we get to travel and be part of some amazing events, both private and public. We take extreme pride in having consistent delicious espresso that is great in drinks, and shines on its own. Our beans are sourced right here in North Carolina and are always freshly roasted!

What was your favorite childhood memory?
DeAnna – I have too many favorites to pick just one but they all have the same thing in common – they are always centered around spending time with friends and family. Birthday parties at my aunt’s house (she was the cool aunt with a pool) or even snowmobiling trips up north (upper peninsula of Michigan) with my Dad and sister.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://drewsbrewscoffee.square.site/
• Instagram: @DrewsBrewsCoffee
• Facebook: @DrewsBrewsCoffee
• Other: https://linktr.ee/drewsbrews