Brittney Valles

In less than a decade Brittney Valles’ dedication to doing what she feels is right, has positioned her as a leader of change in the industry, as evidenced by Eater’s recent selection of eleven upcoming in their 2021 “New Guard.”  One of Valles’ first jobs was for Chef Walter Manzke at Petty Cash Taqueria where she was office manager. In 2015, Valles started a side hustle called, “The Bee-Keepers.” She connected with small businesses and would help them with their in-house financials and general operations. One of her clients was chef Wes Avila of Guerrilla Tacos. By January 2016, she had become an integral part of the concept, working part-time, but officially as his business partner. Guerrilla Tacos grew annual catering sales going from $21,000 annually to nearly $225,000 annually. She left Petty Cash to focus on Guerrilla Tacos full-time. Valles fundraised $1.8 million to open their first brick and mortar at the age of 23.  When construction began in 2017, Valles oversaw the entire 4,600 sq ft build out while managing an increasingly busy food truck business. In July 2018, Guerrilla Tacos finally had a home with a full bar.  In its first year, the restaurant grossed more than $3 million. Valles is a founding board member of the Independent Hospitality Coalition. In December 2020, she began working closely with a group of women restaurant owners and founded RE:Her. After the loss of a close friend to suicide, Brittney sought motivation and founded the Juan Carlos Cantoni Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing transition-age youth with professional, educational and mental health support. Her desire to maintain these services for local youth was the impetus behind opening Gogo’s Tacos. She developed, fundraised and opened the concept all within one year.  Gogo’s Tacos offers street taco style food made with ingredients that have integrity. Additionally, they donate 20% of all net profits to support the foundation.