In this episode of "Tea Time with the Central Virginia Business Coalition," hosts Heather and Mike interview Jordan, owner of the Vincent Van Gogh Cafe. Jordan shares how her grandmother’s love of art inspired the cafe’s creation, blending artistic ambiance with a focus on health, wellness, and faith. She discusses overcoming personal health challenges, operating a unique trailer-based cafe near JF High School, and the importance of community support. The episode highlights the cafe’s commitment to pure ingredients, educational outreach, and plans for future arts events, while offering insights into local business challenges and successes.
Transcript:
Certainly! Here’s a revised version of your transcript with last names removed and only keeping the dialogue from Heather (Speaker 2), Mike (Speaker 3), and Jordan (Speaker 4):
---
Heather 00:00:37
Every business has a story, and we're here today to sit down with one of our local businesses in Central Virginia to find out why they make Central Virginia, central Virginia. Welcome to Tea Time with the Central Virginia Business Coalition. I'm Heather, the executive director of the Central Virginia Business Coalition.
Mike 00:00:53
And I'm Mike with Visiting Angels of Lynchburg.
Heather 00:00:56
And we are here today to spill the tea, literally in this episode with our guest, Jordan from the Vincent Van Gogh Cafe.
Mike 00:01:04
Hey Jordan, thanks for joining us. Are you ready to spill the tea?
Jordan 00:01:08
Absolutely. Yeah. It's a pleasure to be here.
Mike 00:01:09
Thank you. It's great to have you here. So what's the story behind your business? And how did you get started?
Jordan 00:01:14
Well, it all starts from a passion. And, in the arts, pretty much coming from my grandmother. She really educated me in the arts, from loving Vincent van Gogh and Monet. The idea, the concept behind the whole branding was to utilize the name Vincent Van Gogh for the art side of the business, and actually do a little memorial to my grandmother, who had passed. And so it really started from my grandmother. And then it got to me. And then my love for Vincent van Gogh as much as what my grandmother loved. It just ended up blossoming into more on the health and wellness side of the business and also faith based.
Mike 00:02:02
Awesome, I like that. So what inspired you to kind of take the leap and go for a brick and mortar?
Jordan 00:02:12
Well, we're still trying to go for brick and mortar at the present time. So we're really working with a food and beverage trailer. Cafe space that is an outside courtyard cafe and a blacktop type cafe within the Pratt strip mall. I don't know if you've ever been to that area, but it's actually right near the high school JF Cavaliers Corner. And so we created a nice little ambience of arts with some flowers and Starry Night on the actual trailer itself. So it's pretty much backed up by baristas that actually are doing a drive through concept at the moment for the winter season. And then we'll have events that are played out through the spring and the summer.
Mike 00:03:02
Very cool. So was there a particular moment where you knew, like, this was what you were meant to do?
Jordan 00:03:07
Yes. There's been a lot of struggles in my life. Lots of obstacles. Quite a bit of suffering through lots of illness, ailments and such. And I feel like God has pretty much gotten me through so many hard times. And it's gotten me to this stage of trying to give back to the community and help people out, try to help cure chronic illnesses. Focus on gut health, helping the mind and the body. And that is the biggest thing that we focus on is to make sure that we have pure ingredients, the finest ingredients that are just going to help reduce inflammation.
Mike 00:03:49
Awesome. I like it. So, what do you think is the biggest challenge you faced since you've opened?
Jordan 00:03:55
Biggest challenge is location, right? Everybody says that in business when you first—it's like location, location, location. And I think that because we're located in a parking lot that is a little far away from the strip mall, most of the other stores that are in the parking lot, it makes it more difficult for people to see us. So we're doing our best to try to attract people to come out and utilize the drive through with signage that's pretty much on the side of the road, trying to get some awareness that way.
Heather 00:04:27
What keeps you pushing forward, though, with the challenges that you're facing? What is what's kind of keeping you moving forward?
Jordan 00:04:33
Well, I would believe that, an education within health and wellness on different options for coffees and teas and having different types of alternative sweeteners to different flavors that can entice people to enjoy their drink but also stay healthy. So I think that the educational side of it is, you know, forthcoming. We're doing our best to to get that education out from, posts online through our social media platforms. So we are on Facebook, we are on Instagram, and we're going to be creating more and more content every single week, at least 3 to 5 different pieces of content to help educate people, to understand that we're trying to reduce the—I guess you want to call it food and beverage poisons, but whatever you want to say is that we're trying to do stuff that take out the seed oils and the process stuff.
Heather 00:05:28
Okay. And we have some of your products here. What made you decide to land here in Lynchburg to put your small business here in our area?
Jordan 00:05:40
My father was a very big part of developing some of the land within Forest, Virginia. And he actually helped develop residential property and such. So it brought me here through my father. My father has pretty much been a kind of a beacon of hope for me during my chronic illness phase for 3 to 4 years, having a neurological disorder, he was very much there for me through hospital bills and lots of different times that needed to be financed and paid for and finding the right treatments and such. And, my father actually had a place here that he said that, you know, since I'm retired and I live in Ireland, I'm going to provide you a place to live at no charge and be there for you in that way. And I got to know and love the people here, just literally staying here for a short period of time. A little less than a year.
Mike 00:06:42
I like it. So you've been part of this Central Virginia business coalition since you got started. And how do you feel like the ABC has helped your business?
Jordan 00:06:52
I think it's been absolutely wonderful. Everything that you guys have been doing to really get the word out on the business to support us. We appreciate 100% all the support. I think that everything from the ribbon cutting to getting people to come out and support us, whether it's telling people word of mouth, to posting things online for us to being able to even make sure that our specials or discounts are mentioned in the community. Thank you.
Heather 00:07:30
All right. Are you ready for some rapid fire questions here? You got to think fast.
Jordan 00:07:35
Sure. It's gonna be a little hard for this brain, but I'll do my best.
Mike 00:07:38
All right, well, this one everyone has an opinion on, right? This is the most divisive question we're going to ask on any podcast or anything that we do. Sweet tea or unsweet?
Jordan 00:07:47
Tea unsweet.
Heather 00:07:48
Wow.
Mike 00:07:49
Okay. All right. What's your favorite local business here in central Virginia? That isn't your own.
Jordan 00:07:53
Corner Burger.
Mike 00:07:53
Corner Burger? They have good burgers.
Jordan 00:07:55
Yeah, yeah.
Heather 00:07:56
Amazing burgers. Best business advice?
Jordan 00:07:59
Best business advice? I'd say, there's never really a door shut. Never really a closed door. You will be able to make the sale at some time in the future. Don't walk away and never forget.
Heather 00:08:13
I love that. I love that. Is there a myth about your industry that you want to kind of dispel right now?
Jordan 00:08:23
A myth about the industry is, you know, a lot of people say that the health and wellness side or combining that with, say, the coffee and tea and cafe side can't really be done. But we are proving it every day that we can combine all of the good things that people are loving in their daily routine, and putting that into just having 3 to 4 ingredients per item and making it pure for everybody.
Mike 00:08:48
And what's one thing that you wish you had known before you started this journey?
Jordan 00:08:53
One thing. Let's see, I would say, it's about, I would say the location from where we are. I would say if I would have learned a little bit more about how the community operated with, say, drive thru, if people really love drive thru in this community. So I didn't realize that at first that it was going to be such a major thing, that people are going to our competition in more of a drive through setting, rather than stopping in, not getting out of their car or not walking over, not ordering something. So that's kind of something that I've learned pretty much that I wish I would have known before coming to this community and knowing that it was a big drive through, cafe, coffee shop community.
Mike 00:09:40
Okay, awesome. How can people best support or connect with the Vincent Van Gogh Cafe?
Jordan 00:09:47
Best way to do that is follow us online through our social media platform and then try to track us down where we're located, which is 1208 Perryville Road. That's where, like I said, it's close to JF High School, and we're actually doing this promotion right now for the full month of December. So we would love for you guys to come out. Everybody just, just use the drive through now that we have a drive thru setup and we're kind of looking forward to trying to get everybody to enjoy the arts later on, the events later on. So just, you know, keep following us and you'll see that during the spring and summer, we'll do much more.
Mike 00:10:29
So come for the coffee. Stay for the arts.
Heather 00:10:32
Jordan, thank you so much for joining us on Tea Time today. Thank you for watching us on our very first episode of Tea Time, and we hope that you will join us next week as we spill the tea with another local business.
Time Stamps:
Show Introduction (00:00:37) Hosts introduce themselves and the purpose of the podcast.
Guest Introduction (00:00:56) Jordan, owner of Vincent Van Gogh Cafe, is introduced as the guest.
Origin Story & Inspiration (00:01:14) Jordan shares how her grandmother and love for art inspired the cafe’s concept.
Business Model & Location (00:02:12) Discussion of the cafe’s current setup as a trailer and drive-thru, and its location.
Personal Motivation & Health Focus (00:03:07) Jordan talks about overcoming personal struggles and the cafe’s health and wellness mission.
Biggest Challenge: Location (00:03:55) Jordan explains the difficulties of being in a less visible parking lot location.
Motivation to Continue (00:04:27) Jordan discusses the drive to educate customers about healthy options.
Community Engagement & Education (00:04:53) Efforts to educate the public via social media and promote healthy ingredients.
Why Lynchburg? (00:05:40) Jordan explains her family ties to the area and her father’s support.
Support from Business Coalition (00:06:42) Jordan describes how the Central Virginia Business Coalition has helped her business.
Rapid Fire Questions (00:07:30) Fun, quick questions about tea preference, favorite local business, and business advice.
Industry Myth Busting (00:08:13) Jordan dispels the myth that health and wellness can’t be combined with a cafe.
Lessons Learned (00:08:48) Jordan shares what she wishes she’d known about the importance of drive-thru culture.
How to Support the Cafe (00:09:40) Information on following the cafe online, location, and current promotions.
Closing Remarks (00:10:32) Hosts thank Jordan and wrap up the episode.
Key Words:
Tea Time, Central Virginia Business Coalition, Heather Alto, Mike Northfield, Vincent Van Gogh Cafe, Jordan, local business, art, health and wellness, faith-based values, food and beverage trailer, outdoor courtyard, Pratt Strip Mall, JF High School, drive-through concept, community engagement, gut health, mind and body healing, high-quality ingredients, inflammation reduction, alternative coffees, teas, educational content, social media, processed ingredients, seed oils, visibility, ribbon cutting, specials, discounts, Corner Burger, business advice, health and wellness myths, drive-through service, community support, arts events, promotion, 1208 Perryville Road, Lynchburg, Virginia.