July 22, 2024

EXPERIENCE 177 | Building a Multi-Location Bourbon & Bacon Colorado Pub with Ryan Wallace, Co-Founder and CEO of William Oliver’s Publick House

2 hours 17 minutes

I popped into William Oliver’s Publick House a few weeks ago at the end of the day, to grab a quick beer and a snack - and ran into the owner whom I remembered from their early days - Ryan Wallace. William Oliver’s had been a regular lunch-spot for me when I worked at Capital West Bank - a top choice because the staff was always great and they served locally sourced fare in a non-pretentious fashion. After leaving the bank and becoming Old Town centric in my consumer behaviors though, William Oliver’s fell from my rotation for many a season.

But now - it’s back on! - even if I have to go out of my way. When I asked Ryan about being on the podcast, he said “only if we can drink too much bourbon” - and I knew we were going to have a fun time. What I didn’t know is that William Oliver’s now has additional locations in Windsor and Lafayette, and that Ryan is not only an incredible spirits expert and armchair historian - he’s also a very-business-savvy CEO!

Ryan’s journey into founding William Oliver’s is all about “why wait?”. He’d been working in various contracting and consulting roles, fell in love with Publick Houses during a stretch in the UK, and had a dream of “someday” opening a pub in Fort Collins. His wife Tiffany asked the question “why wait”, and a year later they took over a tiny space that had been vacant for years, in the King Soopers center off Drake and Timberline. They worked evenings and weekends building out and then staffing the kitchen and the bar (and raising a family) for many a season before they could depart their day jobs. But the concept caught strong from the start, and the location was soon expanded, and later, more locations added!

William Oliver’s is a story of passion, smart business, employee engagement, and why wait - and Northern Colorado is richer in deed and in spirit for it. So, please join me in enjoying my conversation with Ryan Wallace.

The LoCo Experience Podcast is sponsored by: Purpose Driven Wealth Thrivent: Learn more

💡Learn about LoCo Think Tank

Instagram

Facebook

Music By: A Brother's Fountain

...more