Pro-Life Entrepreneur: How to Make a Value Driven Business

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
What I realized is oftentimes possibly donate to have a very
little impact on, you know, whatwe think we're supporting.
I always thought there's like a better way to, to make an impact
and someone who love business. I was like, you know, why not
use business as like the catalyst to really make an
impact or change and a 'cause you really believe in one of the
most depressing moments, I wouldsay, where it just felt like

(00:21):
everything you worked for, everything you put your time,
energy in, so easy to find your identity and what you do and.
Who you are in Christ, you get hit from left field, you adjust
you pivot, you adapt, but it like makes you so resilient like
you become supremely confident in your ability to just figure
things out and then once you have that confidence, like

(00:41):
anything can come at you and youdon't just figure it out you're
alive. Anton, how are you?
Good Sir, I'm. Doing well Robin, thanks for
having me on. Hey man, I'm excited to be
chatting with you. So we get connected.
One of our mutual friends, she'sbeen sending me some awesome
podcast guests. She sent me your information.
All right, let's get this kind of show for sure, because you,
you got a business that you built around a passion as making

(01:03):
an impact. And it's about coffee as well.
We all like coffee. So you're hitting all the all
the top tier elements man. So we're here for that's.
What we're here for. So how did how did it get
started? First of all, I like hearing the
origin story of businesses of brands that what was the the aha
origin story moment. Yeah, So, you know, for me, I've

(01:23):
always had a passion about entrepreneurship business.
And for me, I, I, I've been working before I started sending
this coffee and political fundraising.
So I kind of had this backgroundand very mission driven things,
raising money for for conservative nonprofits,
faith-based nonprofits and I love that.
But what I realized is often times causes we donate to have a

(01:48):
very little impact on, you know,what we think we're supporting.
So, you know, from that experience of, you know, raising
money for a lot of great causes,I always thought there's like a
better way to, to make an impactand someone who loved business,
I was like, you know, why not use business as like the
catalyst to really make an impact or a change in a 'cause
you really believe in. And so during, let's see, it was

(02:10):
fall of 2021, it was, you know, right after COVID, there was a
lot of, I think shift in the economy at the time too.
So it was a really, really good time where people were very
aware of brands that were supporting causes they didn't
personally believe in. I don't know if you remember
this, Robin, but the big target,you know, backlash where, you
know, millions of consumers wereupset about the political stance

(02:33):
these corporations were taking. And really, you know, a lot of
people wanted to find alternative brands or products
they believe in that also support their values.
So it's all during that time I was very passionate and wanted
to see how I could use business to support the pro-life

(02:54):
movement. So I got to visit a pregnancy
care center, which are the handsand feet of the pro-life
movement years ago. And I left a big impression upon
my heart and they it's amazing what they do.
So a pregnancy care center, theysupport, you know, vulnerable
women and children, moms in the community truly to help provide
resources so moms can choose life for their babies.

(03:16):
So I got to see that first hand years ago.
And for years that was always a passion of mine house supporting
the pro-life movement. And so when I was working
political, fundraising, thinkingabout business and just seeing,
you know, consumers wanting to switch products to things they
believed in. I don't know what it was, I'll
call it a God moment, though. But I literally Googled pro-life

(03:36):
coffee, just the idea of like, you know, people love coffee.
It's a great way to like, you know, share a story, come around
a mission to really buy into a certain cause.
So I googled it and nothing cameup.
And it was a light bulb moment right then.
And there's picked up the phone,called my wife.
I said, hey, I have this idea for a pro-life coffee company.
What do you think? She paused and was like, we just

(03:58):
got married two weeks ago. What are we doing starting a
company, But she definitely camearound board and helped me come
with a name. But yeah, it literally started
Seven Weeks Coffee two weeks after I got married with the
idea of giving back to support local pregnancy resource
centers, to be, you know, to take a stand as a company in the

(04:18):
marketplace for certain values that are often overlooked.
And that was kind of the genesisof Seven Weeks Coffee.
And for us, it was, how do we dothat?
It's by giving back a portion ofevery proceeds.
So we donate back 10% of every sale.
It's a huge portion of our profits.
And that was kind of the, the genesis of it.
And it started right there, justright after I got married.
And yeah, that was just over 4 years ago.

(04:42):
And I I have not stopped since. I love it man.
What? What was the what was the
driving factor for you wanting to go down the pro-life path to
begin with? Of all the different reputable
causes to support, what was thatone?
Why? Why was that one the one that
stuck with you? Yeah, so like I mentioned, I I
got to visit a pregnancy Resource Center years ago.
This is right after College in 2019.

(05:04):
And it left this huge impressionupon my heart.
I didn't really know what it what it was or what they do, but
it's funny when you actually dive into certain missions and
charities, the pro live cause. The more you look at the more
you realize how of an honorable cause and in need of support.
It is when you, what they end updoing is often times relying on

(05:29):
volunteers, a handful of staff that are often underpaid and
they're serving the most important role in the community,
which is providing for, you know, pregnant moms who need
help. So that's, you know, really what
always stuck with me and I wanted to support that through
coffee. And another thing is pregnancy
care centers in the pro-life movement specifically, they

(05:51):
operate on a very local level. So I love this idea of donating
locally. So the bigger impact you have in
your community, the better, you know, it's awesome that there's,
you know, national organizationsfor a lot of different charities
or causes, but giving money backto a local level I think has the
biggest impact, right? It's, it's getting into the
community, not going to some, you know, large organization

(06:13):
where money kind of trickles down often.
So for us, you know, giving backto local pregnancy resource
centers was the was the mission.And it's why I was super
passionate about it because I got to see a local center years
ago. And yeah, it was, it was super
small, it was very underfunded, it was understaffed.
But they have these incredible stories of, you know, moms

(06:33):
coming through their doors and they are literally helping, you
know, provide for them, you know, provide for their future
families and, and change the trajectory of lives.
You know, so you see this incredible mission, you see this
incredible impact, but this need, there's a huge gap with
support for these organizations.So that's why we really honed in
on supporting pro-life groups. And I'll just throw a quick fact

(06:56):
out there, less than .2% of all charitable donations ends up in
the hands of a pro-life organization.
So you think about organizationsthat need, need funding the
most, have the most righteous cause in my opinion, you know,
supporting, you know, vulnerablemothers who are facing unplanned
pregnancies. That's got to be pretty high on
a list of my opinion. But yet those organizations

(07:18):
receive less than 1/2 percent, less than half a percent of all
charitable donations. So there's a gap there and we
seek to help fill that. I.
Love it man. What?
What made you find yourself at the pregnancy Resource Center to
begin with? Like was that just a random
charitable organization that youvolunteered at or like was that
something that you had interest in before ever going there?

(07:41):
Yeah, it's it was one of those times in my life where I I look
back upon and realizing how habitable it was.
But it was the summer after I graduated college, like full
transparency, I didn't know whatI wanted to do in life.
I was still finishing up. I played college golf, so my
whole life was dedicated to athletics.

(08:03):
I couldn't pursue that professionally.
I graduated with very little real world experience because
all I cared about was, you know,golf and my sport thinking that
was the only thing in my in my life.
But soon you quickly learn aftercollege, the music stops and you
got to get into the real world. I didn't know what I wanted to
do after I graduated and really just trying to discern God's
will for my life. I took like the summer off in

(08:27):
the sense I just worked, you know, odd jobs and I interned at
my church. I was, I had, there was an
opportunity to intern at my church back home in Cleveland,
OH. And one of the things we did was
you get plugged into the impact they're doing in their
community. So one of the things they work
with was the local pregnancy Resource Center.
So part of the internship was going there, seeing what they

(08:48):
do, how we can help and support them.
And yeah, that's what really resonated, you know, with me.
And that's how I ended up, you know, getting connected to my
first, you know, pregnancy Resource Center.
It was, it was definitely an eyeopening experience.
You know, and I look back upon that like short three months of
my life and you see kind of God's hand when you look back,

(09:10):
you can't tell in a moment, but you look back, it's like, oh
wow, God put that in my life so I can understand the importance
of the pro-life movement. And you know, oh gosh, that's
six years ago. Here I am today and we get to
support over, you know, 1000 pro-life pregnancy care centers
through seven weeks. Coffee.
Super cool man. Were you raised in like a church
based Christian home? Like how did that catalyst come

(09:32):
to be? Yeah, I've had great parents and
lucky enough to be raised in a Christian home.
And, you know, always it's one of those things, you know, you
grow up with a certain worldview, but you have to one
day step into that yourself. And so I always, you know,
believed, you know, specificallyin the pro-life, believed I was
pro-life, believed that life begins at conception, believed

(09:54):
it's abortion is, you know, the is essentially taking and
killing the innocent life, whichis always wrong.
But you don't know what that means.
So until you actually start investigating yourself,
understanding that what actuallyhappens, you know who the people
that are helping support women. What's the, you know, the the
issues, what what women face andwhy they consider abortion and

(10:16):
and so all that, you know, I grew up in a Christian home, but
you have to some at some point step into that yourself of what
you believe and why you believe it.
So a lot of that did happen you over that summer like I
mentioned, but luckily I was. I'm grateful for just having
parents that always instill those values in me at an early
age. And you said you were involved

(10:37):
in like, political fundraising before you started?
The business like that. So yeah, I mean, kind of backing
up and starting from, you know, when I graduated college, had
that internship, got to see whata pregnancy care center was.
It, it really like solidified mydesire to support the pro-life
movement, not knowing how I would do that one day.
Lo and behold, through coffee. But after that I moved to DCI.

(11:02):
Just wanted to get involved politically, kind of like this
idea of, you know, bringing biblical principles to
government, like to Washington. So very motivated to come to DC,
you know, quote UN quote, try tomake a difference, get involved.
And it was a great experience. I got to work for a couple of
great organizations and you know, I ended up learning

(11:22):
digital fundraising and raising money for a handful of
candidates and packs, you know, through the 2020 election, which
is a wild time. And, you know, I had all that,
you know, time to like learn, I'd say business and also
fundraising and just kind of howthe industry works, which
ultimately I think prepare me for Seven Weeks coffee.

(11:44):
Because a lot of what we do is, you know, instead of donating to
a candidate or a pack or to A cause, you're buying a bag of
coffee to make the very same impact.
So it's funny how those two years kind of working,
fundraising really did prepare me for Seven Weeks Coffee.
It was a great learning experience and it's I think it's
what's been helpful and was getting Seven Weeks Coffee

(12:06):
started. Was there a lot of pushback or
was it pretty receptive in EC when it comes to like biblical
underpinnings to political, you know, governmental regulations?
Like were they receptive to that?
You know, it's funny, when I first moved here, I, I thought,

(12:27):
I'm, I'm, I'm conservative. I thought, you know, just
because if you're conservative, you align with the, you know,
biblical worldview. And that's not always the case.
It's much more of a side thought, I would say.
And what's sad is, you know, ourfounders really sought thought,
you know, and sought to put faith at the center of our
government, at the center of politicians, at the center of

(12:50):
commerce and of how politics should work because it's such a
guiding factor in righteous decisions, in promoting virtue.
And that has really been, you know, stripped out of the entire
political ecosystem on the rightand the left.
Obviously, I'd say more people on the right support a biblical

(13:11):
worldview, but it's not as common as you would think.
So, yeah, that it's sad in a sense because it's such an
important part, I think to, you know, fixing the problems that
we have, especially in politics,is having faith be a central key
player in that. Do you feel like that will
continue to decline or do you think there's any anything on

(13:32):
the horizon that kind of shifts that tide the opposite
direction? I want to be an optimist with
it, but the current state, I would say there's not clear
signs that, you know, the institutions that run our
country or make all laws are moving towards a biblical
worldview. Now there's definitely great
politicians that try to promote that and really advance that,

(13:57):
but it's it's limited in a sensethat, you know, politics today
is such about the quick talking points and trying to just, you
know, grab power or authority asquickly as possible and have
this. There's there's such a uniparty
feel to Washington where we argue about all these fringe
issues, but there's the the mostimportant things that affect our

(14:20):
day-to-day lives. There's a very large overlap
between Republicans and Democrats agreeing on, you know,
whether foreign policy, economicpolicy and all the time, you
know, faith and biblical values are always pushed to the side.
Yeah, it's been slowly being eroded from our country, which I
think is a huge part of our problem today.

(14:42):
You know, the political divide, I think, has a lot to do with
the abandonment of faith. Yeah, now it's, it's
interesting, man. I feel like having moved, you
having moved to DC to make an impact, then kind of hitting a
wall in some regards with. 100. Percent regulation.
It's like, where can you make a grassroots movement from a
capitalistic standpoint using a business that makes an impact?

(15:05):
And like doing that is is super awesome.
And so you set out to make sevenweeks coffee and what where's,
where's the the the name come from?
OK so this is a great story. So when I called my wife and I
said I got this idea for a pro-life coffee company and
she's like totally take it back.Like like I said it was
literally 2 weeks after we got married.
I'm telling her I want to start a company.

(15:27):
The first question she asked me was So what are you going to
call it? And I said, I have no idea yet.
And then she asked me the inspiring questions like, oh,
don't sometimes, you know, moms who are expecting will say like
my little bean or like somethingaround like it in a pregnancy
term. And so I she's like, when is a
baby the size of a coffee bean? I don't know.

(15:48):
I look it up at 7 weeks, a baby the size of a coffee bean.
It's the same time a heartbeat detected on ultrasound.
And so I was like, boom, that isthe name admission, 7 weeks
coffee support, pregnancy care centers and ultrasound services
so moms can hear their child's heartbeat for the first time.
And that's why it's in our logo,it's on my shirt.
Just this idea that, you know, it's true.

(16:09):
When a mom hears her child's heartbeat for the first time,
she is 80% of the time, more likely or 80% of the time to
choose life for her baby becauseit just provides that humanity
aspect that there is a heartbeat, you know, living in
you. And that's, you know, not a

(16:29):
clump of cells. It's a living person with a
heart beating. And so that's where you get our
name, our mission and purpose. And so we now encourage, you
know, consumers to, you know, help on ultrasound services
through their morning coffee. I love it, man.
I love it. So when you have a business,
there's a lot more that goes on behind the curtain and having an
awesome idea and an awesome name, it's like, what did those

(16:52):
first six months look like? I mean, were you all like, give
me the nuts and bolts on that. Where you looking for?
Were you in the coffee before this?
Like was that a passion of yoursas well?
Were you big coffee consumers, Drinkers.
Brewers. I was definitely a big coffee
consumer, but I didn't have likeindustry knowledge or super deep
understanding into the whole coffee ecosystem, which I I soon

(17:14):
have and learned extensively. I've even been to one of our
farms we work with now and I'm happy to touch more on that, how
we source some of the best coffee across the world.
But yeah, it was from day one, that idea, that Genesis, that
phone call to my wife, I literally went home that night
and just started working on a logo late into the night and
just not stopping since that. It was just like a session with

(17:35):
an idea and like the quickest way I can iterate or create and
like take the next step. So within like a few days, I had
first iterations of a logo, I had the website domain and I
started just working as fast as I can around the clock, which it
just, it's why I feel like I wascut out for entrepreneurship
because you know, anything within business you have to be

(17:57):
so obsessed with to like in the beginning where it's like
consuming all your time, energy and emotions, which is a good
thing in the beginning. You eventually you have to
figure out how to balance thingsin your life.
But like this obsession when you're starting something is so
important to I think getting it off the ground and by from I had
the idea as like September 2nd by November 4th you could buy a

(18:19):
bag of coffee and seven weeks coffee.com.
So just, you know, 2 1/2 months later, I was able to have the
website up and running. I had a coffee supplier and we
were shipping and so it was all very rudimentary.
There's a lot of mistakes made. We had typo on our first labels,
which is hilarious. You know, stuff like that, you
look back on, which is, you know, hilarious, but you know,
we had a, we had a product that you could buy and I thought it

(18:41):
was the coolest thing is that, you know, people could start
buying it right away. And that's really the, I think
key to, you know, if any entrepreneurs are listening,
what's, what's the key to, you know, getting something off the
ground or, or, or really validating your product?
It's just starting with the mostsimple version of it.
Because once you get those quickwins and results, like, hey, we
have a website that works. We have a product that we sell

(19:04):
and a consumer can consume. It's awesome.
You get to immediately get the feedback loop going and you have
something to start with. So that, that was really fun for
me, the early days of just getting us started.
And it I self funded it. I put $3500 in a business
account, said that's it. That's the seed money.
No investors. I've never taken a dime even
though we had multiple opportunities to do that

(19:25):
throughout the years and just just completely self funded and
bootstrapped it to today. I love it, man.
We have to go in the weeds on this because we want to go and
we go lots of different ways. So like first, I totally agree.
You have to be like a lot of people want to just start a
business to make money and everybody wants to make money.

(19:46):
But man, like you have to be super passionate, especially in
those early stages because like you have to put in a long hours,
you're going to hit hold the roadblocks at all times.
And if you're not passionate about what you're building, but
there's no staying power, like there's no way you can be able
to get through those hurdles. So like.
Look at our operation, I mean, my wife and I, we were zero
sleep working for the right end jobs to start things and get

(20:07):
momentum going. It's like if I wasn't passionate
about what I was doing, it wouldhave been underwater long, long
ago. It's just like, if you don't
have that, then I don't really see it being successful first
and foremost. Plus, when you do have it like
every day, no matter how much you work, it's exciting.
Like you're excited to get up and get to work.
And I feel like you have to havethat in the beginning for sure.

(20:30):
That's why I love entrepreneurship because like
you can create your own, your own trajectory in life.
You know, if I think entrepreneurships is something
that people need to consider much more because it's like,
it's like the only thing in lifethat can change your family's
outcome, your kids family, you know, your children's children
outcome. Like it's an opportunity to
create an immense amount of, youknow, either wealth impact, all

(20:55):
the above. And so many people don't even
think about it as like a career path.
And we get stuck in like the routine of like, oh, we just
have to work our nine to five under AW2 and, you know,
paycheck, which is fine for a lot of people.
There's nothing wrong with that.But, you know, I think there's
so many people that are missing out on this other way of life,
which is like, yeah, you can create your own business, create

(21:15):
your own value and do something you truly care about because
that's the best part. Like entrepreneurship is like
investing in something that means the most to you, which is
the most rewarding thing of workin my opinion.
So I agree, you have to be so obsessed with your craft and
your product or your service andit makes work easy.

(21:36):
You can work 80 hours a week without even thinking.
And what's more is I think it makes the ability to create an
impact so much more exponentially.
I was at my men's group last week actually.
And they were talking about, youknow, how can you do God's work
outside of church? There's like in the work around
amongst your employees, amongst your coworkers, all that stuff.

(21:57):
And there was a lot of guy. I love every guy there.
There were, there was a couple of them.
They were like definitely unfulfilled in the work they
were doing with their non right.And it's like they didn't have
the passion for the work they were doing.
It was kind of a grind. They did good work, but like in
the clock out. And that's all she wrote.
And then they like start talkingto me.
And it's like, man, I encourage all you ought to find what it is

(22:18):
that makes you tick. Because when you find it, the
amount of quality output that you can produce is just so much
more amplified. And if we've only got so much
time on this Earth, the bigger impact you can make for the
better, the better. So like, we owe it all to
ourselves and humanity to make sure that every waking hour that
we're here is putting out our best quality work.

(22:40):
And you can't do that if you're not in charge of it in some form
or fashion, passionate about it,and willing to just do what has
to be done. It's funny if you mentioned
that's one of my favorite Bible passages.
Is the parable the talents? It's the story of the master
gives each of his servants or people who work in this
household 510 talents. 5 talentsand two talents, something like

(23:04):
that or five, two and one. So he gives them these talents,
which first of all it was like alarge sum of money, like a
talent was like a year's wage. So think you know hundreds of
thousands of dollars. If not you know even more.
So it's it was a large sum amount.
And even the person who got one talent like this is still a
significant amount. And the whole story is its first

(23:25):
to invest it, work at it and double their talents and they
get rewarded for it. The last person is the only one
who does nothing with it and he's the master is so upset.
Not that he is almost if he was to lose the talent at the at the
person with who only had one because he did nothing with it.

(23:47):
It's like this huge reminder of like, you know, we're not just
optionally, we're, you know, asked to do something with our
lives or to having, you know, toto quote UN quote, make an
impact. Like, you know, God has given
everyone who's got breath in their lungs some type of talent
to use and he calls us to do that.
And so it's like this, I think almost way to see is like a

(24:10):
demand upon our lives to use what we've been given for his
glory and good. And so if we're not doing that,
like we're going to be the person with like the one talent
who's ultimate and rebuked. And so, you know, a lot of
people always like wondering what's God's will for my life?
You know what, what should I do for work or how do I find
something it's, you know, meaningful.
Well, let's look at what God hasgifted you with and just start

(24:33):
using those today. You know it doesn't happen us to
be immediately tied to your career.
It could be a tie to something you do, you know, but they say
you're 5 to 9, like after work hours and what do you do then to
to use your talents for God's good and glory.
So all that is, is something that we're asked to do.
And so I see that through entrepreneurship easily because

(24:53):
it's a great way to go after something you're super
passionate about. And it could be a side hustle to
start. But using what we've been given
is, is not just like this optional thing.
It's a requirement. And you know, we need to see it
that way. And more and more people do is
like how we're going to have a cumulative effect.
Totally agree. And I think when when people are
working something that they're not called to do and they know

(25:16):
it and they've just got this weight of uncertainty or regret
or remorse that just constantly that they're having to carry
like that. That's that's pulling people
down too, man. Like, whereas I'm sure you're
the same way as me, but like, I can literally die tomorrow and I
would die with a smile on my face knowing that I am doing
what I'm supposed to be doing with my life right now.

(25:38):
When you know that with completeconfidence, like you have just
this peace about you. And like, there's sleepless
nights, there's a lot of stress,there's a lot of chaos, but
like, there's this weird underlying peace in knowing that
I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing with my life on this
planet. That's so true.
Yeah. I feel like, I mean, for my
whole life, like I said, I've after I graduated college, I

(25:58):
had, I felt like I was starting at 0, not knowing what I want to
do, not having any career experience hitting what I
majored in, having just like nothing to like show for.
It felt even though, because I put all my time and energy into
golf, which I was really good at, but it didn't pan out the
way I thought it. It's funny when you get to that
place of really identifying yourcallings and like living that

(26:19):
out on a day-to-day basis, you do have that like piece of like,
I'm doing what I, what I should be doing, what I'm called to be
doing. And like, there's, there's just
like a piece that resounds throughout your life and it's,
it's truly impactful. It keeps you on the straight and
narrow and it keeps you focused on what you, what direction you
should be heading. You don't feel like you're
wandering. Like wandering is like one of
the worst things to end up in life where you just like moving

(26:40):
from one thing to an accident. Yeah, we more people that can
just feel like, what is their passion?
What is their calling And like really press into it.
And again, that's why I love entrepreneurship because it's so
easy to like start that right with like on your own, like you
can take take the bulls by the horn and like really build what
you feel your gifts are into a business, into a career.

(27:02):
Do. You still this is a little bit
of a tangent, but do you still golf at all or no?
Yeah, I do. I, I, I gave it up for a few
years. But the whole thing, why I gave
it up because I had an injury. I had an, I had a neck injury
from golf. And so yeah, I didn't play for a
few years, but I'm back. I'm back in it again and trying
to play competitively to some extent, some amateur events.

(27:22):
Actually won a tournament for the first time, the Northern
Virginia Amateur recently, whichwas fun.
So I still got that. Still, I will say I still got
that passion, but it's just in adifferent capacity now or it's
not the overwhelming focus of mylife like it used to be.
Totally. How does one get a neck injury
in golf? Yeah, You know, like anything,
you know, it's funny golf. It's like, oh, hi.

(27:43):
You know, you don't get hit. It's not football.
It's not, you know, you're not running or sliding or getting
tackled. But it's like anything else.
It's like a repetitive injury. You know, you're just constantly
hitting so many balls and your joints are always like the most
vulnerable, right, Because you're twisting, you're turning,
there's impact on the ground. So a lot of people get wrist or
back. But for some reason, my neck

(28:03):
gave out and I was in pain for like 3 1/2 years.
Two, yeah, 3 1/2 years just playing in pain.
So that definitely wore me down to the point where I had to
like, just stop and restart life.
And, you know, it's funny. That was probably one of the
most depressing moments, I wouldsay, where I just felt like
everything you worked for, everything you put your time,

(28:25):
energy in and almost, you know, like, like anything else is so
easy to find your identity and what you do and not who you are
in Christ. But I easily could have, you
know, done that where my identity was in golf and known
as, you know, someone who playedcollege golf and that was going
to be my future and everything. And it's all just came to a
screeching halt. And because of that is how we

(28:45):
ended up in DC because of that is how I started Seven weeks
Coffee. So the very pain that, you know,
I had to go through, you know, pivoting what I thought my life
would look like was what ended up turning to, you know,
something I could be more grateful for.
It's just a business I love and get to do this hopefully for a
long time. Yeah, the gift of adversity,
man. I love it.
I love it. Oh yeah.

(29:05):
That's. The best, I do have a lot of
entrepreneurs that listen to thepodcast.
So it's just it's one of the theGears of all this.
So when you started, built the website, found the coffee
supplier, like how did you set everything up?
Were you like on Shopify or what?
What did you hit the ground running with?
Yeah, Shopify, it mean when I say I knew nothing, I, I
literally mean that like I was just like Googling like websites

(29:28):
to sell products on and you know, obviously Shopify comes
up, it's like, OK, let's learn Shopify.
So I just self-taught myself everything I could possibly
learn on Shopify's from how to build the website.
I did that myself, writing the copy, creating the, you know,
products, you know, trying to find a supplier.
The first supplier I had some, some guy in Alaska called called

(29:49):
this company and they shipped our coffee from Alaska to begin
with. And that was an interesting life
lesson there. Luckily we have a really much
better supplier now here in the Virginia area we work with and
it's been that was a big learning experience.
But yeah, you just, you just like have to be so like hustle
oriented. That's what's all I can say is

(30:09):
like, what's the outcome you need, You know, just figure out
how to get an outcome, which is like, yeah, we need some coffee
with like couple labels on it. You know, we need a website that
works and that has a nice experience.
And then as over time you iterate on that.
If you looked at our website from day one to where it is now,
it's like the night and day difference.
One looks like it was, you know,built by an eighth grader and
one now looks a lot more professional.

(30:30):
So, and it was all me just learning this over the last four
years. And so that's been a great, you
know, learning experience. You got to just iterate daily.
That's the biggest thing. Yeah, I, I joke, I tell people
like if, if somebody when I started the business, if
somebody was like Fast forward five years and like have a list
of all the headaches that I haveto figure out and think of on
the fly and just handed me that list.

(30:52):
I'd be like, to hell with this. This is no fun.
But it's, it's crazy, man. Like you, you do this, you get
hit from left field, you adjust,you pivot, you adapt.
But it like makes you so resilient.
Like you become supremely confident in your ability to
just figure things out. And then once you have that
confidence, like anything can come at you and you'll don't

(31:12):
just figure it out. Like it just happens.
It's funny like there is the only way to see problems are
like the inevitable of a solution.
Like you have to view it throughthe lens of I will figure this
out, I will get it fixed. Like there is a solution to
everything. Like that's the way you have to
do it because it is a constant, like, feeling of putting out
fires, you know, hopefully. And now we're like running much

(31:34):
smoother and there's more of an operational flow to things.
But there's still things that come up, you know, whether it's
daily or weekly. But yeah, from weight, when
you're getting started, it's alljust figuring things out and
being so relentless to find the solution.
Like the only thing that mattersis what's the solution to get
the desired outcome. If you have that attitude,
that's what that's what you need.
Like you can't be you. You have to really feel like you

(31:57):
can push down walls. Because if you don't have that,
you know, you'll just get stuck behind, you know, whatever
inevitable roadblock and then give up.
You have to be so, so relentlessin your mind to say, Hey, how am
I going to get get this figured out today?
Like, like today is my favorite word.
You know, they say if you, if you have something to do, if you
need something done, ask a busy person because they'll get it

(32:18):
done today. Because you know, people who who
really excel at a high level canjust get things done in the
immediate. It's like tomorrow is never an
option. Yeah, 100% ma'am.
So when y'all started and launched, how did y'all figure
out, you know, how the proceeds will be broken up to go to, you
know, pro-life movement? How did you figure out what
organizations to assist? Like how did that whole thing

(32:41):
shape up? Yeah.
I mean from where we have now, we have a, you know, just
contact with a very large partnership program with over
1000 pro-life groups that receive funding.
We're supporting 30 to 40 groupseach month, mainly pregnancy
Resource Center, some adoption of maternity homes.
We have a whole system for them to partnered with us, but at the
beginning it was literally like let's just sell coffee this

(33:02):
month and donate to our local pregnancy Resource Center.
So we sold 8000 bucks. Then I literally walked over a
check for $800 to our local pregnancy center and said, you
know, this is for you guys because we sold coffee.
And they were like shocked and so happy.
Obviously, you know, for that, you know, support and you know,
they wanted to learn more and you know, quickly actually our
name got out there. We did a couple pro-life events

(33:23):
and everyone just like immediately resonated with it,
which is cool. You know, it's kind of funny.
Its success is obviously not overnight, but early on, like
literally the first event we did, like people are like in
love with our mission, our brand.
I think someone was tearing up. Like, I love this so much.
Like this is the coolest thing I'm telling everyone.
And when you hear enough people say, I'm telling everyone, you
know, you got something that's, you know, working.

(33:44):
And so it really caught on quitewhere we had a lot of pro-life
organizations, you know, reaching out for support because
like we're offering, you know, what's usually not a common
thing, which is like that, you know, they say there's no such
thing as a free lunch. Well, we're giving it to you
because like it's literally justa free donation to a pro-life
organization. All you have to do be is 100%
pro-life organization, have a biblical worldview and like
we'll just write you a check. Like that is as simple as it

(34:06):
gets. So now we have a whole process
how they sign up and we can justvet them obviously because we
want to make sure our funds are only going to those
organizations and then they justenroll in a month to receive
funding from us. So I have a whole system now,
but from the beginning it was just like, hey, we'll just give
money to our one local center. And then we found a couple more
in the area and then we kind of just developed a program around
it after, like, you know, it made sense what was happening.

(34:29):
I love it man. So do y'all have to like set up
as a 5O3C or did you set up as alike a an LLC and then just
decide to donate the 10%? Yeah.
That's exactly right. We are a for profit company that
is just incredibly generous and I love that.
I love that because you know, you know, nonprofits, you know,
they have a lot more rules and regulations around them, you

(34:49):
know, for, for, for obviously obvious reasons, but I think
it's awesome that we're a for profit.
Like the whole idea for us is like to be as impactful as we
are, we have to be like profitable.
Like it's this like truth. Like like to have true impact,
you have to be self-sustaining. Like we're not taking money,
we're self-sustaining. We have, we make money as a

(35:11):
business. We give a huge portion of our
profits away, but it all maths out in the end.
So that's what gives us like I think a huge competitive
advantage and and it really allows us to make it a, a, a
long term impact. So yeah, we're just a for profit
company that's just extremely generous.
That's the best way I can say it.
I think that's honestly the bestmodel because like, you know,

(35:32):
you look at capitalism and people, you're exchanging
something for good services, products, whatever.
And if people are doing that, especially with something as
popular as coffee, like it's going to happen by default.
And if people are doing something and putting money
towards coffee that they believein the mission for, like you
grow that, the more firm you areas a business, as a functioning

(35:53):
profitable business, the bigger impact you can make.
And if you're coming at it from a good heart with a place of
generosity, like you can be ableto make that impact larger as
well. So I think that's honestly a way
better model than having a 503 Cset up or simply asking for
donations. It's just, it's just a lot
cleaner. It is in for me, it's it's kind

(36:13):
of like this idea of like, what is, what's the, how does
ministry work? And usually ministry is like,
OK, ministry is inside the four walls of the church.
This idea that like a minute to be a ministry has to be a
nonprofit to have like true impact has to be this idea of
like, you can't be for business or for profit.
And I think it's like the complete opposite.
Like what has a bigger impact onsociety and culture?

(36:34):
For profit entities from from media, from products, you name
it, these are for profit entities selling a good or
service that ultimately have an owner behind it with a certain
agenda, right. So take that context and apply
it to the Christian worldview, say, OK, how is believers?
Can we, you know, actually engage culture was like, yeah,
create a better product or service that you can be

(36:55):
profitable with and actually usethat for good.
That's going to have a way bigger impacts.
Like why wouldn't we want like the CEO of Amazon to be a, you
know, believer Christian to really make an impact with his
business? Like this idea of like, you
can't be a wealth the, you know,business owner and actually have
an impact, but I, it's actually the opposite.
I see. It's like, how do you steward
the wealth that you know God hasgiven you or is blessing you

(37:19):
with as a business and use it for good?
That's the bigger impact. Again, going back to the parable
of the talents, he gave, you know, someone 5 talents, which
is a huge sum of money. So this idea that like God
definitely blesses those he entrusts, but we have to
actually just be faithful what he's blessed with.
It's a two way St. How did you all land on the 10%
going towards the pro-life movements?

(37:41):
It that was a funny part becauseagain, like not knowing
anything, not knowing anything about like running a business or
understanding financials of the business, 10% of every sale just
sounded like a good idea, like atie.
What I realized 10% of every sale is a massive portion of our
profits. It's upwards of like 50% of our
profits. So when I first started and I
was a few months in and I'm like, oh, wait, no one actually

(38:03):
donates 10% of every sale. Like people donate 10% of
profits. And so I like panic and I was
like, maybe I should switch this.
Like this doesn't make sense. Like no one's doing this.
No one in the business world is doing this.
Like maybe we should switch. And I remember like specifically
like praying about it. I was like, OK, I it's working.
I'd feel I'd feel bad switching it, but maybe we have to.
But I was like, Lord, if you want me just to keep as is,

(38:26):
like, I just pray you just make it profitable so I can like, you
know, be able to take a salary, pay for my, for my family, for,
you know, for my life, for the things that I need.
Like the reality is we all need an income.
So I was like, Lord, if you can provide this as an income for
me, I will continue to like donate.
So I remember like having this, you know, conversation in prayer
and he's done that, You know, ever since we've been profitable

(38:48):
every year, which has been a blessing.
And we continue to donate 10% ofevery sale.
And so it's been awesome. And I, I don't know how
unnecessary like it works, except I just would say like,
you know, God is in control of it because it's not a common
business practice. But do people donate?
And just like on a side point, it was funny.
I read a book on Hobby Lobby, the origins and then the story

(39:12):
and the impact that the Hobby Lobby family of what they,
they're strong Christian family and it's in, in there.
I remember reading this passage and said, like we, we donate
upwards of 50. They donate like 50% of their
profit. I'm like, wow, that's like
essentially for us what 10% of every sale is, it's 50% of our
profit. So I was like, wow, they're
doing it, so why can't we? So that was actually a cool

(39:34):
moment where I realized other people do give a lot away.
We just started doing it right from the beginning.
It's. Awesome man.
I love it. I love it when when I'm talking
to other entrepreneurs, it's like therapeutic for me because
I can't really relate with the people running the 9 to 5 gig as
much. Like I just, it never turns off.

(39:56):
I mean, you, you freaking go to bed sleeping, thinking about
spreadsheets, like just the way it works when you're so like,
what are some of the biggest memorable headaches, obstacles,
hurdles and just like, Oh, no moments, especially when you
were talking. Man, you know, it's it's like
this, you know, when you're starting a business.

(40:20):
And so for US, seven weeks coffee I really knew nothing
about like e-commerce and I didn't know much about coffee.
And so like, you're constantly, you have this general feeling of
just like the unknown and like there's so many decisions coming
at, at, at you where you just continuously saying, Lord, help
me like not screw up. Like that is like a, that was

(40:40):
like a continuous prayer and still is like this idea of
there's just so many unknowns and you have to make your best
guess. And that's an overarching one.
But from the beginning, you know, we had, you know, I needed
to put more money in, which was a big deal when we had to put
another $10,000. We were just married and that
was, you know, a big investment at the time.
And we had, we had issues with our first coffee supplier where

(41:05):
they, you know, tried to essentially RIP us off and then
compete against us. And that was like a huge
backstabbing moment that I knew nothing of and never had like
the proper understanding of like, hey, get an agreement, get
a contract in place. So that was one of the most
painful things we had to walk through, man, I'm trying to,
there's this constant fires you have to put out your I've had

(41:26):
people, you know, really amazingpeople, try to be investors and,
you know, purchase large percentages of the business.
And so, you know, I'm 20, I'm 28now, but this was two years ago.
Someone, you know, trying to purchase 40% of the business for
a decent size amount of, you know, amount of money.
That's a very like staggering decision.
You have to like weigh. So it's things like that from

(41:47):
the good and the bad, you know, definitely what happened with
our supplier. We're super painful and I'm
happy we're in a much better place now.
But I've tried in a general sense to always grow the
business or when we take risks or we take steps, they're not if

(42:08):
they don't work out, that's not catastrophic.
And so I've definitely like always had that view of it, like
make sure you take swings withinreason because yeah, this is
like my livelihood. I don't want to put the business
on a line with one decision at any point, or at least avoid
that as much as I can. Yeah, it's, there's been a few
decisions we've made that it's like, man, if this doesn't work

(42:28):
out, then I don't know what the outcome is going to be, big
picture. And like the pandemic was tough,
man. Like we, we're doing all our
production in house and we have from day one.
And we bought like our building in 2020, they had to do a year's
worth of renovation before we could use it.
So like, my biggest purchase wasthe building, and then we were

(42:48):
moving in the middle of the pandemic and I'm like, man, I
have no idea. But it's like this is just the
foreseeable path to growing thisfurther.
So that's just rocking. But like moments like that where
you're just on the fence and notknowing what the smart decision
is, it's like you get really in tune with your instinct, your
heart, prayer, and just doing the best you can on a day.

(43:09):
That's a really good point. Like, you know, I definitely
rely on a lot of people for advice and that's like a huge,
you know, part of business is getting other business people
around you. You're getting like a good like
feedback loop. So I always have like a really
good feedback loop. And that's like the most, one of
the biggest things you recommendif you want start a business and
you're getting started or you'rekind of in the middle of the,
you know, start up phase, like guess get feedback loops going.

(43:32):
Like, you know, what's free people's opinion?
People love to give their opinion.
Like it's the easiest thing. And so you get the right people,
you get really good feedback. And so that was an important
part. I had an advisor from the
beginning who really helped me through a lot of these major
decisions and that was that was critical.
It's like just having the make this one key person and I still
have them that, you know, helps with like major decisions.

(43:53):
So you're just not, you know, stabbing yourself in the back
or, you know, affecting, you know, making decision that can
have really long term effects onyour business.
So that's so super important because, yeah, a lot like you
said, like a lot of times you'rejust taking a step out in faith.
Like I think this is the right direction to go and you're
owning it. But there's there's really like
no way of fully knowing. Totally.

(44:14):
Talk to me about like supply chain sourcing, all that good
stuff. I love so you know, with
anything, with what we're doing,it's so easy to say, you know,
we're just a pro-life coffee company.
You know, here's some coffee, we'll slap a label on it and
you'll buy it because of the mission.
That's not what I wanted it to be from the beginning, which I
think a lot of people, you know,thought it was like literally my

(44:37):
favorite review. And I've probably seen this
review, you know, dozens if not hundreds of times where people
like, I just bought the coffee for the 'cause I was surprised
that it's the best coffee I everhad.
Like literally I've seen that somany times because my thinking
from the beginning is like, OK, people remember to buy it for
the first time because the causeto have really like true impact.
They got to buy it again becausethey love it.

(44:57):
Like we have to be a better product.
Like I'm like coffee standard only not because of the mission,
like just put us up against any other coffee, you know, on its
own, we're going to win. And so the that obsession for
the best quality product is super important.
So we work closely with amazing coffee partners.
We source all our coffee throughdirect trade or it means every

(45:20):
coffee we sell, we personally know the farmers who grew it
through our importer. This is the most ethical way to
source coffee. It's not fair trade, it's direct
trade. It's the most transparent.
It pays up three times. What fair trade requires simply
means we buy coffee. We buy directly from the people
who grow it, hands that touched it, so there's no middle man.
Most coffee is not purchased that way.

(45:40):
It's purchased through a brokerage.
To think just buying something, you know what?
The product, you're not knowing exactly who grew it, how the
farmers were treated, the quality of it.
It's just so much better when you buy direct from farmers, you
get to support them and support ethical wages across the world
and you get the most exceptionalproducts.

(46:00):
So we have the all direct trade specialty coffee.
It's all ranked 85 or plus on Q score, which is the way you
score coffee, which means it's like really the top, you know,
especially coffee out there. And then for us like just
keeping it like a super healthy product.
So there's no pesticides, there's no mold, we test for
that. It's all organically farmed and

(46:22):
we even have two that are USDA organic, but all of it being
organically firmed is essentially the same thing in
terms of, you know, quality. So that that is where we like
separate ourselves on products. So having an amazing partner in
our supply chain is I think critical to our success.
Like I said, I got to visit one of the farms in the Dominican

(46:43):
Republic earlier this year, and it's amazing just to see the
production, the coffee that we've literally sell that
coffee, meet the farmers, the whole see the whole production
of it. And you get to see the impact.
Like literally, you know, this family that owns the farm has a
massive impact in their town from supporting to a local
nonprofit, the school, the fire department.
It's like, yeah, that's an amazing, like uplifting supply

(47:05):
chain that also people are helping when they purchase our
coffee. So, you know, we've been trying
to highlight that more like pro abundant life and the moms at
pregnancy care centers to the farmers, you know, across the
world, like we're truly uplifting and supporting life.
That's the key, man. I respect that.
You, you went out there and put boots on the ground, man.
Like we use organic cacao butteras one of our primary fat

(47:27):
sources. And like I was going to Brazil,
meeting farmers, ranchers, like I'm always trying to source the
best one. It's like that's what makes it
all come like forefront of your mind, like people, so many
businesses out there like drop ship goods, like slapping a
label on it, white labeling. It's like there's no true
connection. Like I want to know my farmers,
I want to know my ranchers, I want to know sourcing so that I

(47:49):
can be confident that we're putting the best thing out there
possible. And like it's, it's going back
to the people that raised it andgrew it, all that good stuff.
So. It's got a you got to be product
because you have to be totally agree.
You have to be product obsessed because what's going to truly
differentiate you in the market?Then you're just going to be
like everyone else. And then you're just competing
on who's got better ads. You know, having a superior

(48:11):
product is hard, but it's worth it when you can figure it out
because that's what's going to give you that lifetime value
from customers. I mean, I've read probably every
single one of our reviews. I mean thousands and thousands
of reads. I read them all because I'm
obsessed with what people think of our coffee.
And it that that obsession is what always needs to be there
because that's what keeps, you know yourself to the highest

(48:33):
standard and it honors the customers in the best way
because you're going to provide them with the best quality
product. And you know what, long term
it's going to benefit your business.
So many people, I'm sure I'm saying for your business, like
word of mouth, like people say they love a product is the best
way to get your next customer. Yeah, I was talking to an
entrepreneur, a friend of mine that kind of was like a mentor

(48:54):
to me when I was really startingout.
He was like, look, you can either be the first, you can be
the cheapest, or you can be the best.
And like, coffee's been around for a while, so now I can be the
first, only want to be the cheapest because it's just a
race to the bottom. So it's like, OK, your best
option is to be the best. And that's what I've tried to
do. Sounds like, well, that's what
you're trying to do and it's hard.
Like you just have to have a massive amount of integrity and

(49:15):
not cut corners, not sacrifice anything.
But if you're the best, I feel like that's honestly an easier
model because it just ensures success to some extent.
It does, yeah. I mean, I think that's a really
fun way to think of it. Just like, you know, we're not
as big as black wrap or coffee, We're not as big as some of the
other coffee companies, but I'llput our coffee against anyone.
You know, it stands, it's on itsown.

(49:36):
And I love that like mindset is,you know, we, our product speaks
for itself. And that's so important for any
business. And you have to have a product
that speaks for itself. Consumers are, you know, they're
smart. Everyone, everyone is cautious
where their towers go. You know, you can't trick
someone into a purchase. Maybe you can for the 1st order,
but they're not going to come back for the next.

(49:56):
So that's why it's so. Yeah, it can't be.
It's got to be the biggest focusfor an entrepreneurs like
quality and product obsession. Totally agree.
What have you all done from a marketing standpoint that's
really worked versus not worked at all?
Well, it's cool, you know, it's funny like this has not been the
biggest thing, but it's, it's, it's funny like, you know, like
I mentioned, like giving away 10% of every sale is a huge

(50:18):
portion of our profits. That was, I thought for, you
know, from the beginning, maybe we shouldn't do that.
You know, how is that going to make sense?
And what I've realized all the pregnancy care centers we
support, they love, you know, our coffee and they love telling
people about the coffee. They're able to share it with
their audience. And when people purchase their
10% goes back to their local center.
So it's been an actually a way of being able to grow our brand

(50:39):
from a grass roots level. So that's been awesome.
It's that was kind of a unique thing for us.
And then additionally, you know,we, we do a lot of typical
advertising, you know, Facebook and Google ads and, but
podcasting too. We've, we've partnered with some
great podcast hosts that that's helped grow our brands
significantly too. But really, you know, that's,
that's all part of it. But like the word of mouth and

(51:02):
actually funny enough, we, we doa handful of in person events
each year, you know, 7 to 10 events a year that will have a
booth and you might sell a few 100 bags of coffee, but add that
up, you know, you just met like a few 1000 people, you know,
over the course of a year. You do that over the course of
four or five years, that's a lotof people that you literally

(51:23):
just got to meet. Share your heart and passion for
your product. And it's very like time
consuming and tiring, obviously,but you're giving the most
valuable impression for your customers, which is like the
founder, you know, sharing theirheart for their product.
And that's, I think led to a lotof growth too.
It's like, hey, I'm like, let's just go meet people as quickly

(51:44):
as possible. I'm telling about our mission,
you know, that's going to get you a lot of new customers.
Yeah, I do love the conferences man.
They are exhausting like they are.
You're wiped out afterwards. I kind of like I kind of got
this like love, hate where I'm like enjoy the pain.
Like you're sitting there and your eyes are like glazed over.
But it's like this is good. Like we're hustling hard.
Like I got to go lug this coffeelike up the stairs and tear down

(52:05):
this booth and like my back hurts and you got a flight
later. It's like that's this is what's,
this is what makes you tough. This is what grows your
business. It's like a fun, I don't know,
it's fun pain. What?
What genre of conferences? Is it like coffee specific
conferences or like? No, it's funny.
We mostly go to pro-life conferences and faith-based or

(52:25):
conservative conferences, which is fun because you know, a lot
of these conferences, they're like, for example, there are the
other vendors there are not likereally selling products.
They're more like services or maybe there's some products, but
they're not like physical goods like us like like coffee.
So we're like this anomaly in the sense of, you know, what's a
coffee company doing here? And you know, but obviously once

(52:46):
people hear of it, they, we perfectly fit in.
But it's kind of sets us apart too, because like, we're the
only people there selling like aphysical product, which has been
fun, I think, to help us stand out.
Man, I got to get you in front of a few of these nutrition
conferences because like it would make these keto low carb
nutrition conferences. They're all about their coffee,
man. Like that is the highlight of
their day and I feel like they would totally buy into your

(53:08):
mission, the overall cause. Coffee's keto, right?
Totally, man, totally. Coffee's keto.
They put some fat in there, someheavy cream, and everybody wins.
There you go. That's important.
Yeah, I haven't tried it with the I'll do it like half and
half sometimes, but you guys drink my coffee black.
But that's a good idea. What a.
What? What's your preferred way to
make coffee like? You an Americano guy?

(53:28):
French press? What's the What's the secret?
If pour over it's the easiest interms of what produces the best
cup of coffee. So you can get like a cheap pour
over on Amazon. Like I said, I think a hero or
AV 60 is what it's called. I'm forgetting the name of the
brand. Like 40 bucks to get a glass
one. It's the best way to make

(53:50):
coffee. All you do is for One Cup.
Perfect cup of coffee. Here it is.
Heat your water up to 200°. You put your pour over, get it
set up over your cup. You put 16 grams of coffee in
there, and then you pour 320 grams of water.
So you just need a scale to weigh it out.
Obviously, you got to do it on ascale, but just 16 to one ratio.

(54:10):
And that makes like one delicious cup of coffee.
And it's truly the best way to, I think, enjoy like true quality
coffee because you're going to get the best, like, flavor and
tasting notes out of it. Like obviously a coffee machine
is much easier, but it's still going to taste good.
But you're not going to get likethe depth of the tasting notes,
like a pour over. So that's how I do it every

(54:32):
morning. Nice, nice.
I like my cup of coffee man, so I get me a good pour over setup,
especially when I'm out camping or something like that.
That'd be perfect. What's next for the business?
Like what's got you excited about the horizon?
You know, I feel like for the last year I went from start up
phase to like, I don't want to use the word institutional, but

(54:55):
more like structured. Let's just say structured.
Like how do we build like a moresustainable structure, build
more sustainable like team and like within the different like
departments of the company. But you know, a lot of people
ask me like what, what's next? And it's funny, I'm not a big
goal setter. I'm more of a process person.

(55:15):
And so growth to me is like relative, right?
Like what's the most important thing that we do with our
company, It's really three things.
Continue to provide an excellentproduct, continue to serve and
donate 10% of every sale to pregnancy care centers and
continue to be profitable because if we're not that we
can't do the other two. So they're all related.
And when I think about growth, Ithink about all those things.
All those three things have to continue to happen as we grow.

(55:38):
So when when, you know, people ask me like, where is it going
to go? What, what is going to become?
You know, I think we're on an upward trajectory.
We've grown a ton. I think we have a lot of
opportunity to be, if not already, the largest Christian
coffee company in the USI think we have a large opportunity to
reach, you know, thousands of our thousands of our churches.
I don't see why not. We can't be the coffee for
churches across the US. So, yeah, there's so much

(56:00):
opportunity. I believe that.
But like through throughout all that and all the plans and all
the visions of where we're goingto go, those three things are
always going to remain the same because they're so interrelated.
We want to make sure we're committed to our quality.
We're committed to supporting pro-life pregnancy care,
pregnancy care centers are beingprofitable so we don't have to
rely on outside funding, continue to be self-sustaining.

(56:22):
So all that to be said, there's a lot of opportunity, but I
always see it with this lens of,you know, keep doing, you know,
the most fundamental things well, and I'm happy with the
outcome. Yeah, no, I I agree with that
sentiment for sure. I feel like people get these,
you know, five year goals, 10 year goals and it's like they
lose track of the day-to-day operations.

(56:42):
And like if that's out of whack,then there's no point in looking
5-10 years at like you have to make sure everything that's in
house is as streamlined as possible.
How? How big is y'all's team?
We really have like 4 main people, that's it.
And then a handful of freelancers, contractors,
agencies to like put it all together.
Yeah, very cool man Small, you know, it's, it's fun.

(57:04):
You, you can do a lot of things with a lean team and nimble.
I like that. Yeah, you.
Got any kids? I just my wife and I just had
our first first son born July 30th.
So we're a month and a almost a month and 1/2 in here so.
How's that going? It's a lot of work, it's very
tiring, but obviously being a pro-life company, it's been

(57:25):
surreal like living out like what it means to like cherish
life. Even when my wife was pregnant,
just seeing, you know, the ultrasounds and the baby kick,
it's like, wow, this is amazing life within the womb.
Like how could we ever as a society like treat this as like
an optional no choice to live like this is a human being and

(57:48):
their life is not optional. So that's been really surreal to
like, like embrace that personally.
And now we're a month end and soit's obviously super tiring.
I'm up in the night a lot, but Ilove it.
You know, it's so fun just to hold them, feed them and just,
yeah, it's funny. I'm just excited to see like
where he goes in life. And, you know, you just, you're

(58:09):
watching him grow like literallyday by day.
And yeah, it's, it's one of those feelings where it's it's
hard to express, but it definitely changes your
perspective for the better. So that's why we definitely need
more kids in the world. Totally agree, man.
It's it definitely changes respective, especially with the

(58:29):
foundational belief system of your company.
You said he was born July, what,30th?
Yeah, 30th. So my second son was born July
5th. So we've got two of them now.
Rang Lim. And it's challenging, man, like
juggling. How do you handle it?
Dude, two kids, man. Like having one kid was an
adjustment. We waited like I'm 33, so I

(58:50):
wanted to kind of get the business set up before we had
the first because when we were living in the warehouse for
three years, but we built the whole thing bootstrapped as
well. And it's like, let's get solid
before we have our first kid. And then we've had the 2 now.
And I'm fortunate to have a position where like my wife can
step away from the business operations.
She could just focus on being a mom and be with him 100% of the

(59:12):
time, which is awesome. And I'm here grounded in out the
business. But man, having two kids, it's a
juggle. But it's like you, you gain an
appreciation for why you're doing everything that you're
doing in the 1st place, you know?
And I feel like that is incredibly valuable.
Yeah, you know, it's, it's funny.
It's like the more, the more commitments you have in life,

(59:35):
the better the outcome of your life is.
So this idea of when you're really committed to work, right,
you're gonna be on the straight and narrow, you're gonna be
focused, you're gonna be disciplined.
You're committed to the success of this with kids.
When you have kids like you're responsible for and you're
committed to them, you're committed to seeing them grow up
the way you want them to, to be strong and healthy and, you

(59:56):
know, raise them right. Like you, you have to be so like
sharp personally. And so like all these things
like refine us. And so we are, it's like funny,
like we live in a culture that'sso like unrefined and
uncommitted. Like we have, no, we have, we
have nothing like we're, we haveownership of anymore.
Like everything's a rent, rent culture.
Everything is, you know, transient.

(01:00:17):
No one has any like deep meaningful connections.
No one like prioritizes marriageand one prioritizes kids and one
prioritizes. You know, you know, having like
roots or like living in a certain place, like everyone
just fluidly moves and owns nothing.
And then they have no commitmentto anything.
So you, you, it's like a complete opposite of like what
we're called to, which is like build your family, build your

(01:00:38):
community, you know, build, build your business or at least
build your living. Let me like another way to put
it. And all those commitments is
what drives like, our personal success and like ultimate
freedom, in my opinion. Yeah, totally green and it's
funny kind of make this full circle for what we're talking
about earlier in the very beginning about being passionate
and just like having that driving force and sense of

(01:01:00):
purpose within you. It's like when you're doing
this, when you're steering the ship, so to speak, there's not
really a separation from all thecomponents of your life.
There is no work life balance per SE, but you're very sensible
to the fact that everything thatyou are working on, everything
that requires your time, it's all symbiotic in nature.

(01:01:22):
Like everything contributes to the whole.
And you know, like, I think the business is going to be a great
vehicle for me to teach my sons very valuable life lessons.
I feel like them seeing this is how they learn integrity, hard
work, discipline, dedication, like it all is inclusive.
And I feel like that's a beautiful thing in and of
itself. Like so many people live and

(01:01:44):
they compartmentalize everythingand they just kind of like half
ass everything because nothing'stied together.
Whereas if everything's symbiotic, everything flows.
So it's actually funny you say that because like early on, like
going back to like, what was it like growing a business?
Because I started after I got married because like we were

(01:02:05):
like in a, you know, my wife wasa nurse, had a stable job, we
had some money saved. We didn't have like any personal
debt. We had, you know, very limited
expenses. Like your personal life affects
your business life. The decisions you make in your
business affect your personal life.
And yeah, it's so true. If you don't realize that or at

(01:02:26):
least have the idea of like, hey, my personal life, my ACT
has got to be together if I'm going to have a successful
business. Because you can't like have a,
you know, completely flippant personal life with all these
problems or financial issues andthen think you're going to go
start a successful business. Like they're so interrelated.
And so I I can't agree more. Like you have to look everything
as a whole, like how am I makinga decision in my business that

(01:02:48):
ultimately will trickle down andaffect my family or future or
things like that? So you have to take it all into
consideration and that's truly how you make your best
decisions. A. 100% ma'am, we got one more
question for you. So if you were sitting, if
somebody listened to this is on the pro-choice side of the
aisle, right, what would you sayto them?
Like if you are sitting down enjoying a cup of coffee

(01:03:10):
together. If I hand them a cup of seven
weeks coffee. Yeah.
Like what's that conversation look like?
Like what is your driving force that you would want to relay to
them? Yeah, you know, it, it's
obviously the most one of the most combative issues in our
society. It gets incredibly nasty quick.
They always reverts to like their three core, you know,

(01:03:31):
talking points. I, I try to, I try to keep it
more light and open-ended where I'll just, I would say like, you
know, what do you think kids area blessing or a curse to our
society? Do you think we are at a place
where motherhood is embraced or rejected?

(01:03:51):
Are you happy for, you know, your relationship with your mom
or do you have a relationship that you're thinking for with
your mom? Like just bring it back to this
idea of that, like motherhood isthe most important role.
Children are a blessing to society, you know, And then you
can ask them the simple questionof like, what do you think about

(01:04:11):
like when a baby heart, a baby'sheartbeat is detected on
ultrasound? What does that mean to you?
And so I'd keep it like very general into these big, these
topics that just like give this overall approach that like,
yeah, life is a beautiful thing.There's nothing wrong with
choosing motherhood. And even for us, like, do you

(01:04:33):
think it's OK to support moms who are facing an unplanned
pregnancy, which is what we do literally.
And those topics, I think help reframe it to the reality of
situation, which is most moms would not choose abortion if
they just had their resources, you know?
And so that's like abortion is the ultimate like what people

(01:04:53):
feel like this last resort versus on this, this first thing
that mostly people are inclined to.
So I, I kind of focus on that orlike, you know, isn't it better
that we have more children to love in this world than less?
So stuff like that. I think there's like ways to
just ask these questions that provide more of a general view

(01:05:13):
on like, isn't it good that likehumanity is growing and not
shrinking? Like don't we want like a
growing like isn't, isn't humanity and like bringing
people into this world? Can't that be a blessing or
something for good? Yeah.
I mean, when you think of it like that, like culture of life,
culture of death, I think if theanswer is pretty clear.
Yeah. And I feel like, I would assume,

(01:05:35):
like when you were volunteering at that, you know, unplanned
pregnancy Resource Center, like most of them feel up against the
wall from a resource standpoint.Like they just feel like they
can't provide. You can't.
Afford. This.
Yeah. And you're making a very
tangible impact with your donations to the company, but

(01:05:56):
it's like if people just felt like they weren't up against a
wall. I would assume the majority of
people wouldn't default to the abortion in the first place.
It's very, yeah, it's sadly the situation where people just feel
either alone, they feel their partner wants this or they don't
feel like they have the resources to provide for their
child, which obviously are threeterrible reasons to end a human

(01:06:17):
life, but the real reasons that women face.
And so that's why, like I said, like, why is this society where
humanity's on the line, the, youknow, the growth of our species,
the most important and greatest blessing that people already say
is their children. Why are why is that like most

(01:06:39):
critical thing in this, this world, in our society, like the
least funded, like I'm all for like taxpayer dollars, you know,
going to help moms based on planned pregnancies.
Like, I'm conservative and fiscally conservative, but if we
can spend, you know, trillions of dollars on wars in the Middle
East, why can't we spend a fraction of that for moms who

(01:07:01):
face unplanned pregnancies so they can just feel like they
have the cushion and resources they need to thrive?
Like not just get by, but like thrive.
Like let's give money to that. Like that's a good use of like
society's funds for, for paying taxes anyway.
Why not at least least give something, At least give some
support to like literally the growth of our communities.

(01:07:23):
Yeah, totally. What do you say when people give
pushback about the world being overpopulated in and of itself?
And that's where a lot of the. Well, that's, that's a great
question because actually if youlook at it, the world is
underpopulated. Most countries are facing a mass
replacement rate issue, like where there's more like the UK,
there's like more deaths than than children born.
So like there's literally a replacement rate, like China is

(01:07:45):
falling off the Cliff. Russia is like going extinct
with like their replacement rate.
And in the US is following that too.
There is literally like a need for more humans like, like, and
that's like a terrible way to ina sense to only look at it, but
it's the it's also, it's anotherfact to put on to it like,
because then the theory would belike, OK, what if, you know, we

(01:08:06):
had enough humans like therefore, like we don't need
any more. Well, that's not it.
That's not the answer either, But that's but that is a truth.
Like there is every society is facing a mass decline in and
popular relation and replacementrate.
And so like from a literal standpoint, we need more people
to like become and grow up and to like take part in the economy

(01:08:27):
because everyone's retiring and then and dying.
Literally there's a book, I forget the name of the and
that's like the end of the worldis just the end of the world is
just the beginning. But there's a lot of in that
book. There's just, it's just I think
a psychologist or something about a lot of these societies
are facing a mass like, you know, depopulation.

(01:08:48):
And the US is like, I don't think they've gone net negative
yet, but they're like right on the cusp of it.
They are, yeah. I mean.
Fertility Europe is like net negative in Europe, Yes, I think
that's like the common for all European countries at this point
or it's not very close. We're right there.
Yeah. It's crazy because most, yeah, I
mean, I think it was those families, you know, 50 years

(01:09:09):
ago, two to three kids, it was avery common thing.
And now it's like less than 1.4 or something or somewhere on
there. And that's like very concerning.
So yeah, we need more. We need more people.
Oh, here's another, here's another great fact.
This is, it's just, it's just again, so sad.
But like every newborn, so that's born, that's place for

(01:09:30):
adoption. There's over 30 families that
are like applying to adopt that child right now.
So think about that from like a pure like supply and demand
aspect of it. Like there literally is 30 to 1,
you know, people that are like looking to adopt, they're just
not children to for them to adopt so.

(01:09:51):
Well, you're having a lot of those problems right there, man.
I mean, you're fighting the goodfight through and through and
it's truly awesome what you've been able to build and continue
to build. I'm stoked, man.
I've, I've truly enjoyed this conversation.
I'll be buying me some seven week coffee after this for sure.
Awesome. Well, I appreciate the time and
I really enjoyed it as well. Where's the website so people
can jump on board as well? Yeah, seven weeks, coffee.com

(01:10:13):
all spelled out. Awesome Anton, truly appreciate
it. Man.
If there's everything I can do for you, just let me know,
brother. Thank you, Robert.

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