March 12, 2025 • 55 mins
Find out how YOU could be the next Mr. Charlie’s Franchise Owner!
Mr. Charlie’s is the up-and-coming, plant-based, fast food chain, sometimes dubbed “The Vegan McDonald’s.” It made headlines when world-renowned boxer Mike Tyson did a media event at Mr. Charlie’s in Los Angeles to celebrate the brand’s 3-year anniversary! The crowd went wild. Turns out Tyson, who is famously plant-forward, is an investor in Mr. Charlie’s. This innovative company riffs on popular culture in a humorous way, making any visit an entertaining experience. And, great news, Mr. Charlie’s is now offering franchise opportunities in select US states! Could that new franchisee be YOU? Now, UnchainedTV host Jane Velez-Mitchell brings you the inside scoop on their super-popular potato ice cream and so much more with Founder Taylor McKinnon and Carma HoldCo CEO Adam Wilks, who says, “Mr. Charlie’s isn’t just a restaurant, it’s a movement.” They will tell how they’re giving back to the community. It’s amazing. Watch.
More about our host:
Jane Velez-Mitchell is an award-winning journalist, TV producer and NY Times bestselling author who founded and runs UnchainedTV, the world's premier streaming TV network to promote the plant-based, compassionate, sustainable lifestyle. UnchainedTV offers 2,000 free documentaries, vegan cooking, lifestyle and news shows as part of its nonprofit media network. You can download UnchainedTV for free on any cell phone. You can watch UnchainedTV for free on any TV via streaming devices like Amazon Fire Stick, Roku device and Apple TV device. And, it's on all Samsung TVs. Here's the online portal: https://watch.unchainedtv.com/browse
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the Unchained TV podcast with me,
your host, Jane Velez Mitchell.
What an exciting show we have for you.
Mr. Charlie's is the up and coming plant
-based fast food chain, sometimes dubbed the vegan
McDonald's.
Now it made headlines recently when, huh, guess
(00:20):
who showed up?
Mike Tyson did a media event at Mr.
Charlie's in Los Angeles to celebrate the brand's
three year anniversary.
And I gotta tell you, the crowd went
wild.
Turns out Tyson, who is famously plant forward,
is an investor in Mr. Charlie's.
This innovative company loves to riff on popular
(00:43):
culture in a humorous way, making any visit
a very entertaining experience.
And great news, Mr. Charlie's is now offering
franchise opportunities.
So could you be the next new franchisee
of Mr. Charlie's?
Now, Unchained TV brings you the inside scoop
(01:05):
on their super popular potato ice cream, and
so much more with founder Taylor MacKinnon and
Karma Hold Company CEO, Adam Wilkes.
Now, Adam, you have said that Mr. Charlie's
isn't just a restaurant, it is a movement.
So tell us, sir, what did you mean
(01:25):
by that?
So first of all, thanks for having us
here today.
I greatly appreciate it.
I'm excited to be talking about Mr. Charlie's
and Karma Hold Co.
But this all falls into just the story
behind Karma Hold Co.
and the authenticity of connecting Mike to plant
-based products.
Everything we do is about authenticity, and Mr.
(01:47):
Charlie's is as authentic as it gets.
Focused on bringing plant-based products to the
masses as we had with Karma Hold Co.
So for us, it was love at first
sight.
The bold, grand identity, the scalability.
There was so much that went into just
(02:10):
the excitement to myself and Mike and the
whole team over at Karma Hold Co.
that drew us to Mr. Charlie's.
And I mean, just working with Taylor has
just been unbelievable.
And being able to work again on such
a exciting concept and scaling this to our
(02:31):
goals as we have with Karma, scaling to
19 countries, we hope to bring Mr. Charlie's
to people all over the world and really
just push forward on that plant-based movement.
It's so exciting because it is, looks very
much like McDonald's-ish, the products, the design,
(02:52):
but it's vegan.
So Taylor, what I thought was so fascinating
about this is that this was your brainchild.
And when you arrived in Los Angeles from
Australia, you were in crisis, really.
Is it true that you were actually out
on the streets?
Yeah, yeah, that's what past mistakes will do
(03:15):
to you.
You don't look at your pain and want
to move forward.
So I was just stuck in a never
-ending cycle of never being able to get
out of my own way until I received
some help.
You know, that's what we all need sometimes,
right?
It's a bit of help.
So a little bit of help goes a
long way.
How did you go from being an unhoused
person on the streets of Los Angeles to
creating this incredible brand that now has the
(03:37):
backing of one of the most famous men
in the world?
You know, good people, actually.
I think it took a lot of people
to see it, a lot of people to
support it.
To answer your question, I received an opportunity.
I met a team of people at the
Dream Centre that were helping people get back
on their feet.
The Dream Centre is a rehabilitation centre in
(03:58):
LA that has about 500 rooms.
It's founded by Matthew Barnett, one of my
favourite people in the world, naturally, these days.
And he saw something in me and gave
me an opportunity, which was a bed in
the shelter.
I was there for many months, trying to
recover from addiction and pain and just a
(04:18):
lot of mistakes.
You know, it's just, it all stemmed from
my childhood, really, not being able to grow
past anything that was too hard.
And I finally met a team of people
that were willing to give me a second
chance at life and show me that I'm
not my mistakes and that we're all more
than the hardest and worst thing that we've
ever done.
So I moved in, supported them back by
(04:41):
chores and things.
And then one afternoon after service on a
Sunday, Matthew Barnett called me into his office
and gave me a check for $1,000
and said, I need you to leave.
And I was like, okay, what did I
do?
And he said, nothing.
And he said that God had told him
that I was gonna leave and come back
one day with an idea that was gonna
(05:01):
change things at the Dream Centre.
So I did that, I left.
At the time, I was seeing a girl
who was volunteering and I later married her,
had some kids.
It's been an amazing journey.
And I got to a point in my
life after a lot of plant medicine, which
is why I'm connected to Adam and Tyson
and many others.
(05:22):
And thank you, Jean, that's very kind of
you.
But I realised that it was time to
do something back, give something back.
So in a crazy plant medicine journey, I
asked the universe the one question that I
was scared to ask myself for so long.
Why was I homeless?
What's that about?
(05:43):
And then I heard it.
How do you say it without getting too
emotional?
Because it's hard to talk about it, but
it's beautiful at the same time.
But how do you help them if you
don't know what it feels like?
So then I became an example of change
because I'd been supported by so many people
to get back on my feet.
I met Aaron, my business partner at Charlie's,
our co-founder, and he gave me a
(06:03):
shot.
We built a brand together.
We had a creative agency helping people find
their voice and just making the world a
better place.
So it was the love from the Dream
Centre.
It was the team over there, the outreach
team that are constantly on the streets of
LA looking for people that want help.
I think I got to a point where
I wanted to help.
I think we're all scared to look under
(06:25):
the carpet of what we create in our
life, good or bad sometimes.
And I needed a place to rest and
find solitude, and I did.
And it was enough for me to shift
my perspective, my direction, and connect me to
my heart.
So when the opportunity came up to build
Charlie's, I've been a chef my whole life.
(06:46):
I love cooking.
I love plants.
I've been on a very strict diet for
a long time because of health and I'm
kind of borderline bipolar a little bit, so
I'm a bit quirky.
So I have to maintain myself.
I have to work out.
I have to eat good.
I have to nourish my mind.
I have to meditate.
I have to, you know, I spend a
lot of time healing with plants.
So it seemed like the right thing to
(07:07):
do to create a concept for food that
people put in their bellies that was made
of plants, that was plant healing.
But with a twist, what would happen if,
you know, I said to Aaron, what would
happen if we did this but didn't hire
conventionally?
What if we went to the Dream Centre
and got a load of people that were
ready to rehabilitate like I was but just
needed a second chance where they could come
(07:27):
to an interview and not be judged by
their past?
Oh, you've been in jail?
Yeah, we're gonna turn you down.
That's what we were finding everywhere.
You know, an example, Andrew, you know, our
store manager in LA, took him out of
jail three years ago, came straight out of
jail, lost his kids, alcohol abuse.
He had a couple of dreams.
One, get his kids back.
And two, his mom was dying of stage
four cancer.
I'll never forget this conversation.
(07:48):
And he said to me, Taylor, I just
wanna get my mom with me and let
me be with her for the last moments
of our life.
And they gave her six months to live.
She passed away three years later, actually, not
too long ago.
And, you know, that's what Mr. Charlie's does.
It creates an opportunity for people to do
better, you know, without judging you.
There's no judgement.
Like, we're all broken.
(08:09):
Like, none of us are perfect.
You know, society likes to treat us that
way.
But, you know, we're not perfect.
We're a work in progress.
And it's about being kind to yourself and
realising that every hard thing that you ever
do, it shapes you to be better in
some way.
So that's really kind of the story of
how I got at the Dream Centre and
back out.
(08:30):
Unconditional love.
But I had to work at it.
I have to ask you these questions.
Fascinating story.
And congratulations on your sobriety and your success.
By the way, on April 1st, I'll be
30 years sober.
Knock on wood.
Oh, wow.
Congratulations.
So- It's nice up here.
Beg your pardon?
(08:50):
It's nice up here.
It is.
It's a- Yes, we're happy.
Yes.
I like to say I thought alcohol was
my solution, but it was my problem.
And so one day at a time, I'm
30 years sober.
April 1st, knock on wood, that's a few
days away.
So yes, I totally relate to what you're
saying.
So your whole mission is to use the
(09:13):
unhoused and the recently incarcerated, hire them, get
them to work at your stores, and now
you're creating franchise opportunities.
My question is, if somebody wants to be
a franchise owner, do they have to follow
that process?
Do they have to hire people who are
unhoused and or recently incarcerated?
(09:34):
Or just give us a sense of how
that would work.
Well, we don't try and reinvent the wheel.
So we're just trying to be a spoke
on the wheel to help it turn a
bit better, a bit smoother.
So there's a lot of great places like
the Dream Centre.
So I'll give you an example.
We just did another rehire from the Dream
Centre yesterday, and we took on some new
people, but they've been on the programme for
(09:54):
many years.
They found where they needed to be.
They are just now ready to get back
into work and settle down.
For a lot of people, it's very hard
to find jobs once you've gone through so
much.
So we don't specialise in anything other than
not overlooking anybody.
Everyone's got an opportunity here.
So we have lots of people that work
(10:15):
for us that haven't been through anything.
They just want to be a part of
the team because they want to be a
blessing to other people.
They feel they've got something to offer.
And then we have people that have been
working for us, with us, since day one,
three years now, that are still living in
shelters, some of them.
So it's just, it's a work in progress.
But it's not about any stigma or any
(10:38):
type of category.
It's open to everybody that wants to just
do more for their life.
Charlie's is a stepping stone.
I don't want it to get confused about
a long-term kind of career.
Maybe that is the case for some people,
but it's a kind stepping stone where you
can come in, be a part of something,
rework who you are, if that's what you're
looking to do, and just find a way
(10:59):
to give back.
Healing, and internally is great, but I'll tell
you what, there's no better feeling than helping
somebody else.
Not for me, anyway.
Absolutely.
Taylor, this is such a fascinating story and
it's so inspiring.
Getting back to Adams, you're the CEO of
(11:21):
the holding company, and Mike Tyson is a
big investor in that holding company and in,
therefore, Mr. Charlie's, and he was there recently.
I wanna play that video again, because honestly,
we were there live.
Unchained TV went and was live, and it
was a wild scene.
(11:42):
If the video looks a little bumpy, it's
because there were so many people there crushing
into the place.
And that's a good mob scene.
You want that.
Oh, what an exciting day.
So how are you changing the dynamics of
making money?
Because what Taylor said was so much about
(12:04):
giving and about compassion.
And I also read that you have days
where you do 99 cent hamburgers.
How are you able to make money and
still do all those wonderful things for the
community?
So there's two parts to it.
I mean, yes, it's in the end, we'd
all love to make money at it, but
what attracted Mike himself, just knowing his background,
(12:27):
his story, and the life that he's lived,
is the whole story of giving back, doing
our part, having the opportunity to scale this
brand globally and bring this opportunity and plant
-based products to the masses, but also give
back at the same time, whether that's donating
to charities or as Taylor mentioned, hiring from
(12:49):
the Dream Centre.
There's two parts to this, right?
It's the extremely innovative and crave-worthy menu
and bringing vegan products to the consumers, as
well as being able to give back.
And in turn, as we create days like
having Mike there where the lineup was around
the building and we had a very successful
(13:09):
day, great turnout, launching new products, the interest
in opening new stores has just skyrocketed, right,
from a dozen new states lined up to
multiple countries.
So we feel you give back, you do
your part, and the rest kind of follows.
It's part of the business model, and again,
(13:32):
it's working for us.
So we're excited about the whole process.
So how many stores do you have now,
Adam?
And where are these, let's say I want
to be a franchise owner.
I'm not saying I could.
I'm not saying I could at all, but
let's say hypothetically.
Anyone could be.
Yeah, but I mean, is it California?
(13:52):
Tell us about the details and how much
it would cost.
Yeah, so we already have two stores opening
in California, one in San Francisco and one
in LA.
We have additional stores coming online in California,
in the LA area.
We have some new stores coming online in
the East Coast.
We launched Australia, which we're all super excited
(14:13):
about with some more stores coming online there.
And then with our network, and again, my
past experience in the QSR space, we have
dozens of countries we're in talks with around
the globe on bringing Mr. Charlie.
So the excitement since bringing Tyson and Carmen
has really just hockey stick, really blown up
(14:35):
the interest in Mr. Charlie's.
And we'll continue to build the awareness of
this movement we've created.
Well, Taylor's created that we're helping with and
bring more doors to consumers all over the
world.
We have people wanting it everywhere.
(14:55):
So we vet our franchisees, looking for people
with obviously the financial ability to open one,
and we'll continue to vet them and open
stores all over the place.
Well, what is that?
And yes, we hope to come to Dallas
too.
Yes, people are asking, when are you coming
here?
When are you coming there?
What is the bottom line?
(15:17):
What's the bottom line investment?
And people could maybe group together and gather
the investment, but I think people will wanna
know, if let's say somebody says, I wanna
do this, how much money do they have
to come up with?
Let me do this.
Let me take you back a step to
a question that you asked a second ago
about making money and being profitable and giving.
(15:39):
So in life, if you go through some
hard stuff, you're gonna get to a point
in your evolution where you're gonna continue to
keep banging your head against the wall, or
you're gonna lean into some change.
You're gonna lean into your faith.
You're gonna lean into people.
You're gonna start listening.
I became two ears, one mouth in my
life.
When you create a dream, when you create
(16:02):
something meaningful, and you're passionate about it, and
you've got a story like I have, like
many have, no different to anybody else.
I'm just another example.
And you create a plan.
All I did was go to some of
the best people in the industry, people like
Tyndall, who make all of our chicken product
(16:22):
directly with us.
And I went to Tyndall and said, this
is a dream, but we need help to
be able to achieve past the status quo,
where it has to be about profit.
It has to be about penny pinching.
It has to be about that.
I'm not interested in any of that stuff,
because it sorts itself out if you're doing
the right thing.
If you're love in everything you're doing, you're
(16:46):
gonna find love back.
So we created a foundation that was scalable
through the support of great brand partners.
We get unique pricing on certain products, and
then the ability to distribute globally to different
places like Australia.
There's so much support from marketing, from product,
(17:08):
to just everything that we could ever need.
So this isn't about a brand that's just
open and done really well.
This is about a brand that connected with
great people to form a mission, to go
out and do something that's never been done
before, to treat people with so much respect
that you don't take advantage of anything or
(17:29):
anyone in the situation.
You just trust.
So what does it cost to become a
franchise partner?
That's gonna vary on how many stores you
want.
Our email for franchise- Let's say one.
Adam, do you know more about- I
can't say exact numbers, but I can tell
you, with my decade in the QSR space,
(17:49):
working with dozens of different QSR brands, it's
an extremely affordable investment and a great entry
point for someone who wants to get into
the food space and really be a part
of the vegan movement.
I think it's super exciting.
And I've been saying for years, we need
(18:10):
to have a vegan McDonald's and you've created
it.
Who makes your hamburger patties?
That I'm very curious about.
Do you use a variety of companies or
is there one company that makes your patties?
Well, we work with Tindle as our main
point.
We're currently working with the Impossible Light Burger,
which is a lot cleaner than what you
(18:30):
can get in a supermarket or anywhere else.
We've been working with them for a long
time, but we've been R&Ding, working on
new concepts, new things, ice cream with clips.
That was amazing.
Having an ice cream made of cassava, it's
nuts.
Never in a million years thought I would
ever eat anything like that that would resemble
ice cream.
Blows my mind.
So it's just, you know, it's fun.
(18:52):
The ice cream, I gotta say, I gotta
say with, again, almost a decade in the
dairy space, working with yoghurt and ice cream
brands, I was blown away with the flavour,
the texture, everything about the ice cream.
Mike loved it so much.
I think he had three of them when
we first came through for the testing.
It's just been a home run.
(19:13):
So I can't wait for everyone to try
them.
If you haven't, get in the store and
try it.
It's unbelievable.
You can also get the fun little Mike
bite on it too, the chocolate ear.
It's funny.
It's reminiscing on the 1987 break with Holyfield.
Yes, I'll never forget.
It's really funny, that chocolate ear, because I
have a personal story on that.
(19:34):
I'm not a personally a fan of boxing
and I didn't want to go to the
event and the person I was with was
like, come, it's a big event, it's a
big event.
So we went into this bar where they
had the screen and literally within 30 seconds
of me walking in, the infamous ear bite
occurred.
And I was like, see?
(19:54):
It's 1987, right?
Yep, yep.
That was so funny, but you've turned it
on its head and now you have this.
Now my understanding was it's potato ice cream,
which is absolutely fascinating.
How did you arrive?
And again, if you see the chocolate ear,
it's the infamous bite that, well, you can,
(20:19):
again, not being the boxing expert, you can,
I don't want to mess it up.
Adam, what was the moment?
Mike Tyson fighting Evander Holyfield, 1997.
And it was a very viral moment.
25 years after the fight, we released the
Mike Bites product line, which has now evolved
into so many new products.
(20:41):
One that we're extremely excited about is the
vegan ice cream with Mr. Charlie's.
And this is potato ice cream?
Originally it started out as potato based and
we moved to a cassava base with Eclipse,
which is a lot healthier, has no GMOs,
no artificial flavours or colours, just really clean,
really great actually.
Very proud of it.
(21:02):
We've been open for three years and people
have requested ice cream for three years.
But I'm never going to put anything out
that's not mad, mad special.
And again, it comes back to the point
of scalability, like need a brand partner, need
somebody that we can work with that can
help us scale.
Back to your franchise question, we have made
(21:23):
it very affordable.
Not to dodge the question about how much
does it cost, it varies on different people
and size, but our model is scalable with
not just our support, but the support from
all of our vendors, all of our support.
Everyone's there to help it thrive.
So when you get involved with Mr. Chutley's,
you kind of, it's almost like a marriage
(21:43):
in a way.
That's what it is, where we can all
do good together.
We all want to see the world be
better.
It starts with us.
We all spend so much time worrying about
the world ending and this happening and that
happening, but the truth is you can only
focus on what you can control.
(22:04):
And if that means that you want to
see the world better, then you've got to
do better with you.
You've got to wake up in the morning,
make better decisions and choose self-love, choose
to meditate, choose to eat good.
We created this brand, not for vegan people.
We created it for everybody.
It's a vegan people already vegan.
(22:24):
So we're gonna need converting.
They already made the decision, really good decision.
Like we wanted everybody else.
Those that are confused.
There've been so many people that have come
to the store that have just been like,
what does it taste like?
How good is it?
We get the same questions all the time.
I'm gonna stand up and say our menu
is absolutely fantastic.
(22:46):
You know why?
Because I have owned multiple restaurants.
I've worked in multiple kitchens and I've failed
many times, more than I can remember.
And the more you fail, the more you
get good at it.
And then you meet someone like Adam, who's
been in the QSR space forever, who really
knows how to scale a brand.
And so him coming in wasn't just about
(23:06):
money or anything like that.
It was really just about how do we
have the best guys, the best people in
our team to help drive it?
Well, he understands the market, but he's also
a beautiful human being.
Like even Mike Tyson, I'm from London.
I grew up on a council estate with
no money.
And then all of a sudden, this little
(23:27):
kid from London is now teaming up with
Mike Tyson.
It was a pinch yourself moment for me.
And then you wonder, what's he gonna be
like?
You've seen all the trials and everything he's
been through in his life.
But when you meet him, you realise that
the guy's got a heart bigger than his
punch.
And he cares more than most people understand.
(23:48):
And he's so smart, like so intellectual.
Like your conversations have been profound.
And his kindness towards this brand, his support,
like literally jumping on a plane and flying
across one side of the world to the
other, just to be at our event, which
is what happened.
That means everything.
He's a champion of people.
(24:08):
He's a champion of his own life.
Because you see, the thing that Mike Tyson
did and the example to all of us,
I believe, it's that he never gave up.
It got sticky, it got tough, it got
very heavy.
I'm sure many times you've read about it
in his life, all the trials and tribulations.
Same with me, but we never gave up
in the end.
We decided just to choose self-love, to
(24:30):
keep pushing forward.
And we are a product of great people.
We both shared plant medicine.
We've both done very similar plant medicines, which
are one of the reasons why I believe
we're all together.
It's in those teachings where you can really
let go of everything and all attachment and
remove the ego from your life and your
mind for a minute.
(24:50):
We realise that actually we're all really, really
special.
I always say this to our team, everyone,
look at your fingerprint.
I encourage everyone watching this right now, look
at your fingerprint.
It's the only one.
There's not another one.
What does that mean?
It means you're so special.
And that if you've been through hard things,
if you're going through something hard right now,
(25:12):
it's because you chose it before you came
here.
It helps you evolve.
It helps you spiritually grow.
And what we've got to get good at
doing is learning how to be more honest
with ourself.
We've got to learn how to ask for
help because we're so proud of that that
we don't want to seem to be a
failure in front of the world.
So it's not okay to ask for help.
Yes, it is.
(25:32):
It's bloody great to ask for help.
I ask for help all the time these
days.
And my life's a great, happy place because
of that.
It's when I try to do it all
myself.
That's why I went wrong in my life,
overcompensating on the love that I never had
as a kid.
And then what you try to do is
you become a people pleaser like I did,
trying to give everyone everything and then falling
short on everything and then creating a bad
(25:54):
picture about yourself.
And then- You know, I'm gonna jump
in because there are so many questions that
people have, but I agree with you.
In fact, I'm listening to this great book
right now called Let Them, which is a
bestseller.
And it's basically, if you're having problems with
people, just let them.
And it's like a weight off your shoulders.
I love it.
Okay, so many questions.
(26:16):
Everybody's asking, the ice cream is now made
out of something else, but they didn't catch
the word.
I didn't really catch it either.
It's not potatoes anymore.
What- It's cassava.
So it's still- What is it?
It defies from a root vegetable.
It's very similar.
We work with Eclipse.
Eclipse are a profound company that have been
(26:37):
making vegan ice cream products for a long
time.
Their original base had potato in it.
They moved to a more sustainable option.
Less in it, it's cleaner.
And it has- Cassava.
It has more of a fluff to it
as well, cassava.
Okay.
It's a little bit more fluffy.
So it's been clutch.
(26:57):
Again, like- You have gluten-free options.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah, of course.
We just, actually, we're just working on a
new gluten-free bun right now.
I feel bad for people that are gluten
intolerant.
It's like, I love bread.
I can't imagine not being able to eat
bread.
Like, it'd be devastating.
So we think about that when we're planning
(27:18):
menus, when we're doing drops.
You know, we want to accommodate for everybody.
So we have just introduced a new gluten
-free bun that's absolutely fantastic.
I'm very proud of it.
So yeah.
All right.
Here's a question.
Is there a story behind the name and
the various names?
Okay.
Gene wants to know.
Okay.
(27:39):
Gene, I'm a deadhead.
The only band I would ever tattoo on
my arm.
There you go.
I went to, when I was going through
my healing stages, I ended up somehow, ended
up at a Grateful Dead concert, a Dead
& Company concert in Utah.
And I decided that that was the night
(28:01):
that I was going to experiment with my
life and broaden my horizons a little bit.
As you do within the dead, if you
know anything about the scene, you kind of
know what goes with it.
And I had an out-of-body experience
where I got to hear music for the
first time, but I got to witness a
family of people dancing in front of me
that were just loving each other, having a
(28:21):
great time.
So when we first started putting this concept
together, I was in a brainstorming session with
Aaron, my co-creator, my co-founder, my
man-wife, as my wife calls him.
And I remember meditating and I saw Bob
Weir from the dead standing in front of
(28:41):
me on the stage going, I'm going to
roll you over and shoot you because Mr.
Charlie told me so.
And I was like, ah, Mr. Charlie told
me so.
So it's really about cosmic Charlie, who is
a dead character.
And really what the brand represents, other than
the obvious of creating jobs for people in
need, supporting our voiceless animals, but that's huge.
(29:02):
But it's really, it's a proof of concept
for every single person looking at it, which
is you can be really brave and succeed.
You can choose to put people over profit
and succeed.
And the real concept is to make you
feel like a child.
I'll share a quick story.
I had a, we used to have these
little yellow stalls outside the building when we
(29:24):
first opened.
From Ikea, we had no money.
So it was like, you know, that's the
other thing too.
We didn't borrow any money to build this.
Everything that it cost to create it, me
and Aaron personally paid for it with everything
that we've ever made.
It was a real sacrifice.
But on that day, this gentleman came in
and he says to me, why do you
have these stupid little kids' stalls outside?
Why don't you have some proper seating?
(29:45):
And I said to him, can you do
me a favour?
And he went, sure.
I went, I'm going to buy you lunch
today and I want you to sit on
that stupid little yellow stall and I want
you to eat your lunch and tell me
what you think.
And I gave him his food.
He sat on the stall and I came
back and I asked him, how are you
(30:06):
feeling?
And he was cheek to cheek with a
smile.
And he told me in that moment that
I helped him feel like a kid again,
that I recreated a childlike experience that he
once remembered.
And that's really what it's about also is
that inside of us, all of us, is
a beautiful, enlightened, kind, glorious little child.
(30:27):
That's your real self.
And we get conditioned at a very young
age through schooling, people's emotions, pressures of life,
money, whatever you want to call it, to
start to shift into a place of fear
and everything else.
And then you start to lose track of
who you are.
Well, where I went wrong in my life,
I had no connection to my inner child
and where I went right in my life
(30:49):
is when I connected with him.
So I am a seven-year-old Taylor
who creates Mr. Charlies.
I am seven in my mind, you know?
I love it.
And we all have to work on that
inner child, myself included.
I want to talk about the branding a
little bit because this is very interesting to
(31:10):
me.
And I love on your website, you say
we are sarcastic disruptors, community, love, change.
And this is one of your logos.
So what does it mean?
To me, it was sort of the opposite
of the Happy Meal, which obviously involves a
dead animal.
So to me, it's not a Happy Meal.
I invite McDonald's on anytime, but is that
(31:32):
a direct reference to the Happy Meal or
what is it?
I'll tell you exactly where it came from.
I was, when I left the Dream Centre,
I didn't have anywhere to go.
So my girlfriend, now my wife Amanda, at
the time gave me her couch.
So I lived on her couch for the
first couple months.
And I remember being, she went to work
(31:53):
every day and I stayed back, didn't have
a job or anything.
And I'd watch Netflix and eat Lucky Charms
at that time.
I was like, I needed a Lucky Charms
sponsor at that point, actually.
I was that good at it.
But I was so depressed because I couldn't
get out of my own head.
And then one day before my wife went
to work, she looked at me and she
said, Taylor, can I share something with you?
(32:14):
And I went, sure.
She said, it's okay to be sad sometimes.
Through your sadness is your complete happiness.
I was like, wow.
I never forgot that and I never will.
So what that logo represents that it's okay
to be sad sometimes.
And the Xs are, it's death to what
we once knew that overextends this planet.
(32:37):
That's not gonna allow it to be here
for our children's children.
So we're gonna do something about that.
We're already doing something about that because we
can.
And we've caught the eye of great people,
sponsors, Adam, Mike Tyson.
When you bring people like that into the
equation, people start to take you a little
(32:58):
bit more seriously.
And it's, thank you, LULAC.
So many great comments.
You guys are so nice.
Thank you.
Everybody's super excited about it.
And just when we saw that Mike Tyson
event, it was just, people are swarming.
What percentage of your clientele is vegan and
(33:20):
what percentage is just going in for a
fast food meal?
And then what do they discover?
Is there any kind of eye-opening aha
moment that you hope your customers have about
animals, about climate change, about nonviolence?
Because it looks just like, quick glance, it
(33:43):
looks like the fast food that many people
grew up on, but it's not because no
animals die.
It's a great question.
You know, for us, it's really about just
creating opportunities for people to do better.
Like we can't force anyone to do anything.
(34:04):
Well, nor do we want to.
Everyone's so individual.
We want to respect everybody with where they're
at.
But all we did was make plant options
more accessible in a unique, fun way that
felt nostalgic, that really made us laugh.
Like we enjoy it.
Like, you know, red and yellow are the
most dominant food colours to make you feel
more hungry.
(34:25):
Aaron and I love the circus.
We are clowns.
Like the brand makes me feel like the
circus.
Like it sparked my own curiosity, my own
need to make the world a better place,
you know?
And after everything I've been through to be
in a position to be able to help
people on this level, it just, it's inspiring.
So again, like we're nothing without the customers
(34:47):
that come in.
We're just an idea.
For years, people have poured in, supported, purchased,
loved, told their friends, you know?
And back to your question, I would say
20, 25% of our audience are actually
vegan.
Everybody else is curious, very curious.
(35:07):
So a couple of hard questions.
You know, Hard House recently reportedly shut down.
There was, it had opened with much fanfare
and also had a famous person behind it.
How do you hope to avoid that given
that the plant-based movement is under attack
right now?
It's widely reported that the meat industry has
launched a massive campaign against plant-based restaurants
(35:30):
and food and products.
Let Adam take that, if you would.
Yeah, I don't think it has to do
with the actual product being sold.
I think it was just mismanaged, to be
honest.
Don't wanna talk negatively about anybody, but I've
been in the restaurant space long enough understanding
running lean is the only way to go
(35:52):
when operating these businesses.
We've acquired dozens of fast food brands in
the past that went through a very similar
situation as the Hard House individuals, overspending and
just not being able to maintain their staying
power.
And again, just pair that with the quality
(36:15):
and craveability of the food.
I mean, I can tell you, I crave
Mr. Charlie's all the time.
My kids who, again, my kids were not
vegan.
I mean, when I brought them into Mr.
Charlie's, they fell in love at their first
sitting.
It's incredible to taste, incredible to experience.
And again, you feel the love as you
(36:38):
eat and enjoy your experience at any of
the Mr. Charlie's that you visit.
So it's just, it's different.
I don't put us on the same playing
field as anybody else.
It's one of a kind and I don't
think anybody else is doing what we're doing.
So, I don't- And so let me
ask a follow-up.
(36:59):
In terms of achieving economies of scale, what
I'm hearing is that as you open these
franchises and you're using the vegan companies, whether
it's Tindle or Impossible Burger to supply you,
you're able to reach the economies of scale
that some smaller vegan restaurants cannot because they're
(37:21):
obviously not franchised across the globe.
How many franchise restaurants do you foresee?
In other words, maybe, where do you see
yourself, let's say, in five years?
Globally, every country, all over the world.
And again, how we're able to scale is
through collaboration.
You think about it, like we'll use Tindle
(37:42):
as an example.
Like, Timo is an amazing CEO who has
supported us since the beginning.
We help them with marketing.
We are the perfect serve for that burger.
If you're an investor trying to invest into
Tindle or you're interested in working with Tindle
or you see them in a supermarket and
you wanna try it and you go to
(38:02):
Charlie's, you're gonna get a great experience.
We strive to be that for the brands.
We are here to bring these brands up
at the same time and we will only
work with somebody who values the same things
as we do and that's where we're at.
We pass on all of our savings, all
of our discounts at volume because it will
get easier directly to our franchise partners.
(38:25):
We don't mark up anything.
That's not what it's about.
It has to scale.
This model needs to be scaled.
So what we need at that point is
people that are like-minded, have some experience
and wanna do something with their life and
change it up a little bit.
And Charlie's is a fantastic opportunity that one,
is incredibly affordable to get involved in.
(38:47):
One, is very scalable but two, three, comes
with so much support that I don't believe
any franchise partnership has ever received before in
the world.
Like what we're giving, it's like we're holding
your hand.
We're with you, making sure that we deliver
on something that's really ethical and kind, that's
long lasting.
And again, we are only here doing as
(39:08):
good as we are because of great customers,
people supporting us but the brands that are
supplying us, they're giving us everything to make
it more affordable.
And that's what we've been doing.
So where do you see yourself in, let's
say five years in terms of the number
of franchise restaurants?
I'll say this and hold me to it.
(39:31):
You are looking at the biggest fast food,
plant-based company on planet earth in the
making.
That is not an entity, energy, frequency on
this planet that is going to stop us
from achieving that goal which is a Mr.
Charlie's in every major city in every country
in the world, doing good, changing the narrative,
(39:54):
creating options for people to get more involved
in plants and helping people start a plant
journey because it's just one thing.
You know, you look at Tyson 2.0,
they make great products that improve your quality
of life.
That's the real.
So for us, it's all rounded and it's
not just about where we're at right now.
It's about where we're gonna meet other people
(40:15):
in this space in the future and be
an ambassador.
You know, we spend a lot of time
coaching other plant-based restaurants.
Now you mentioned Hart House.
I'm very good friends with Andy Hooper, the
CEO of Hart House and back to Adam's
situation, it's nothing to do with the product.
It's just sometimes the market share isn't there
and sometimes you can grow too quick.
You know, we could have easily have opened
(40:35):
five, six, seven Mr. Charlie's stores in the
last two years, but we probably would have
closed them all within a year or two
because we wouldn't have been ready.
We decided to go completely backwards, going unorthodox
and learn how to really master this, learn
how to do it, go through the growing
pains, learn how to build, learn how to
grow.
And we've done that.
And then we were in a position of
(40:56):
expansion.
And then when it came up to talk
to Adam and Mike and everybody, it's a
no brainer.
Like I was just, I never forget the
conversation with our team when they told me,
hey, we've got someone who is interested in
coming in.
And I was like, oh, okay, who?
Mike Tyson.
And I was like, yeah, right.
(41:16):
Like Mike Tyson?
They're like, yeah, he loves it.
He wants to meet you.
And I'm like, holy shit, Mike Tyson.
Okay.
So then I remember going to meet Mike
for the first time and I was like,
scared shitless.
Like he's 50% terrifying and 50%
beautiful, but when you meet him, he's all
beautiful.
He's just, I love him.
I just want to eat him up, put
him in my pocket.
(41:38):
Like he's uncle Mike these days.
A man who's never given up on himself.
A man who's constantly pushed forward.
A great husband, an incredible father.
Like, oh my God.
But a great friend, good human being.
Like I love him.
I'm so grateful for him.
So grateful for Adam.
(41:59):
I want to jump in and ask, I
think you raised a very good point because
I think overexpansion is a danger.
And I've seen it actually, I'm no business
expert, but I've seen what I consider to
be overexpansion and saying, why are they opening
another one?
Just in general, I'm not talking about any
(42:21):
specific restaurant.
How do you find that balance, Adam?
You know, how do you decide, well, I'm
working too slow or I'm working too fast?
Because you're talking about world domination.
So that requires expansion.
How are you going to mitigate the dangers
(42:42):
of expanding too fast?
How do you do it?
Yeah, with our experience, it's all about doing
your due diligence, spending the proper time and
reevaluating each market as you launch, ensuring you're
not overlapping.
Again, ensuring what competition is around, what the
demographic is in each area and ensuring that
again, you're not cannibalising your own business, right?
(43:03):
Not opening too close to any of your
existing locations.
There's benefits to opening to near other vegan
concepts as we create a one of a
kind product.
But again, there's a whole process of due
diligence that we run through before selecting new
regions, territories, cities, and so on.
(43:25):
I like that because I've noticed just in
the LA area where I live, a lot
of times vegan restaurants seem to be in
a cluster.
I'm like, wait a second.
You know, there's not that many over here.
Put them over here, not just all in
this area.
So I think it's very wise that you
do that.
We've got a whole bunch of questions from
people who are watching.
Can't wait for you to come over to
(43:45):
the UK.
Are you there?
Oh, it's great, bring it on.
I had a great conversation with somebody huge
in the UK recently who sparked a lot
of interest.
I've gotta take it.
I was born there, it's the motherland.
I'm taking it home for sure.
That's happening, I can't wait.
I need, all my family are there, so
(44:06):
it actually gets me more time with my
family as well who I miss dearly.
So it's been a journey, you know?
But yes, UK, definitely, for sure.
There was another comment here, somebody asking, are
you going to adjust your menu depending on
what country you're in?
For example, if you were in India, would
(44:27):
you adjust your menu?
Now, I noticed that, well, maybe I'm wrong,
but the big fast food companies seem to
just export the, you know, what I would
call the bad fast food across the world,
but- It's a great question.
It's very, very important.
Like one of my favourite things that I've
been able to do and been so blessed
(44:49):
to have done over the last few years
is travel the world a little bit.
You know, this brand, Stephanie, helped us kind
of go some places, but I've travelled a
lot.
And one of my favourite things is really
appreciating different cultures.
Like it's what makes the world so great.
Like we're all so individual, but so when
we go to different countries, you know, we'll
use India as an example.
I'm going to team up with the best
(45:09):
Indian vegan restaurants and the best vegan chefs
to come in and do limited runs and
core things and adjust flavour profiles and just
keep it really exciting.
Like that's, I'm a chef.
I'm not a one trick pony.
I can do anything.
And I'm, cause I love it.
You know, I've been doing it my whole
life.
So it will vary from different places.
You know, some terminology may change as well
(45:30):
as menu items, but as a base, we're
pretty much there.
We want people to experience what we've done
in LA everywhere, you know, and that's the
goal.
Now we hear you're coming to Brentwood.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Woo baby.
We found the most amazing store that has
(45:51):
been vacant for years.
And the amount of people that are businesses
that have tried to rent this particular store
have all come up short.
And the reason why is because the owners
of the building have owned it forever.
It was their previous business and one of
them passed on.
And when I went to meet them to
(46:12):
talk about it, the first question I asked
was, why did you do this?
Why did you build this?
And I got to hear the whole life
story of the brand.
And that's how I can connect with people.
You know, I want to take the legacy
of that feeling because it's really all about
feelings.
You know, it's like, even when I'm manifesting
these days, I'm not really manifesting a particular
outcome.
(46:33):
If you think about it, like it's your
best feeling in everything you're doing, that's what
you want.
You want to feel your best self in
everything you're doing.
So in that moment, I wanted to feel
like that would be our store.
And the only way I could do that
was by showing the owners how beautiful this
brand is and how authentic we are.
And because of that, she fell in love
(46:54):
with us.
And she's like 96 years old.
She's a little girl.
And you know, she's like three foot, like
tiny.
And I remember the first time I ever
met her, like she was struggling looking up
at me in the meet and I sat
on the dusty floor so she could look
down, like little things, showing the respect.
So when that store came up and we
got the approval to go in, oh man,
(47:16):
I was so excited.
And it's a great store.
It's the first store that we've ever opened
that actually has some internal seating with a
bathroom, which is nice.
More event space.
And you know, it's just, it's really exciting
for us.
And again, like, you know, you think about
what we've gone through in LA with the
fires and everything recently.
You know, we almost lost that store.
(47:38):
And then it was, it was the brave
work of the firefighters putting out the fire
on the hill that stopped it from leaning
into Brentwood.
So we're so grateful for everybody.
Let me jump in with a question.
And that is how many Mr. Charlies do
you have now?
How many are, I don't even really know
how many are in the Southern California or
(47:58):
Los Angeles area.
Do you have any in New York?
Funny you should say that.
We're working on something in the Big Apple
right now.
I'm gonna take a big bite of that
with some really special people.
When we announced that, I think it's gonna
shock the world a little bit.
So I'm excited for that.
We have one in Hollywood.
(48:20):
We did a pop-up in Venice for
six months just to test that area, which
is why we ended up taking a store
in Brentwood, which is technically Santa Monica.
We have a store at Union Square in
San Francisco, right in the centre.
And then we also just opened one in
Australia.
So Brentwood will be our third California store
(48:40):
with many more coming.
So we're in good conversations right now with
many people.
Now, is this a turnkey operation?
Like when, let's say somebody decides to become
a franchise owner, do you design everything?
Do you keep it?
Because apparently one of the reasons why the
mainstream meat and dairy fast food restaurants have
(49:03):
had so much success in their franchises is
that they keep to a very strict formula.
People cannot sort of personalise it that much.
Well, we want personality in the mix.
We're gonna definitely be a little bit cautious
about who's coming in.
Well, we have been.
So we want you to feel like you
(49:23):
can add a little bit of your personality
in.
But the question you have to ask yourself
is why are you getting involved in it?
Why are you buying?
Why are you buying into Mr. Charlie's?
If you're buying into it because you love
it.
So therefore we have created a system that's
so scalable, that's so easy to maintain.
Again, like our team, we've had the same
team at core since the day we've opened.
(49:45):
Think about that.
Since day one, most of them haven't left,
they've stayed.
And they've now been trained into regional managers.
So an example, like when we opened Australia,
we flew out our store GM from LA
to Australia to open that store so the
consistency was there.
(50:05):
So it's very much a hand-holding process
with great internals of how to deliver.
But it's so organised that we take kind
of the hard part out of it for
you.
We've created that consistency.
And then that gives you an opportunity to
be completely 100% yourself in making it
work and sharing the message.
Which also a lot of what it is,
(50:26):
it's getting people excited about it.
That's what I do on the daily, get
people motivated and in love with the brand
by understanding it.
Like most people don't know that we employ
homeless people.
Most people don't know that, I was homeless
11 years ago, they don't know.
We've talked about it a little bit, but
it's not about any one individual or certainly
not me.
I'm just an example.
I think it's a great story and I'd
(50:46):
love to see it as a New York
Times piece profiling you.
It's a good story.
And I'm excited to be able to cover
it because it's not your regular business story.
It's a unique story.
And so many aspects of this is unique.
Do you see what you've created here as
(51:09):
a template for let's say capitalism 2.3,
4.0?
100%, it's just an example of how to
do better.
We've already gone into multiple plant-based businesses,
businesses that you've all eaten at and I've
gone in and I've helped them already.
I've already given support and love.
(51:30):
I want everyone to come up.
It's not about Mr. Charlie's at all, it's
about everybody doing better, winning together.
We're all gonna win together.
It's way more cool if we can get
to the top of change and then go,
oh, look what we did together, guys, and
actually share it instead of just this solo
battle of, you know, it doesn't work, so.
Well, I have to say, we've only got
(51:51):
a minute or so.
This has been such a fascinating conversation and
I do feel it's an evolved business approach.
So final 30 seconds, Adam, what would you
like to say and how can people get
in touch if they wanna have a franchise,
a Mr. Charlie's franchise?
Absolutely, check us out online, go to our
website, send in your request and we'll happy
(52:14):
to lead you to success.
As Taylor stated, it is a turnkey operation.
We come out, we train you, set your
store up with you, again, and lead you
to success to ensure everything goes smoothly.
Providing you with all your SOPs, menu items,
everything you need, again, for a turnkey operation
and excited to continue to grow the brand
(52:34):
together.
And last 30 seconds, Taylor.
Just gratitude for everybody that's put their hand
on this brand in any way.
And then, you know, if I've got 20
seconds of that left, I'm gonna say to
everybody that's watching this that's having a hard
time, I know that's had a hard time,
keep going.
Keep going.
Yeah, that's it.
I love it.
I love your enthusiasm and I really love
(52:58):
this model of making money.
It doesn't have to be a zero-sum
game.
It can be a win-win for everybody.
And to that end, I would also love
to encourage everybody watching to download Unchained TV.
We are the world's only vegan streaming television
network and you can download it on your
(53:20):
phone, any phone, just go to the app
store, and any TV with streaming devices.
And we're also on all Samsung TVs, soon
to be on all LG TVs.
So it's a vegan Netflix.
Okay, that's the craziest thing I've ever heard.
I love Unchained TV.
Unchained, Unchained TV.
Your life will change, it's just that easy.
Unchained TV has all sorts of content for
(53:41):
everybody.
Unchained TV changed my life.
Unchained TV is crushing it.
I love Unchained TV.
Unchained TV is my go-to.
Unchained TV.
Who knew?
Unchained, baby, yay!
This episode was brought to you by Unchained
TV.
Unchained TV is a nonprofit organisation producing plant
(54:04):
-based content filled with tips and tricks to
spice up those healthy veggies, grains, and legumes.
For more information on Unchained TV productions, just
visit unchainedtv.com.
That's unchainedtv.com.
Welcome to the Unchained TV podcast with me,
your host, Jane Velez Mitchell.
What an exciting show we have for you.
Mr. Charlie's is the up and coming plant
-based fast food chain, sometimes dubbed the vegan
McDonald's.
Now it made headlines recently when, huh, guess
(00:20):
who showed up?
Mike Tyson did a media event at Mr.
Charlie's in Los Angeles to celebrate the brand's
three year anniversary.
And I gotta tell you, the crowd went
wild.
Turns out Tyson, who is famously plant forward,
is an investor in Mr. Charlie's.
This innovative company loves to riff on popular
(00:43):
culture in a humorous way, making any visit
a very entertaining experience.
And great news, Mr. Charlie's is now offering
franchise opportunities.
So could you be the next new franchisee
of Mr. Charlie's?
Now, Unchained TV brings you the inside scoop
(01:05):
on their super popular potato ice cream, and
so much more with founder Taylor MacKinnon and
Karma Hold Company CEO, Adam Wilkes.
Now, Adam, you have said that Mr. Charlie's
isn't just a restaurant, it is a movement.
So tell us, sir, what did you mean
(01:25):
by that?
So first of all, thanks for having us
here today.
I greatly appreciate it.
I'm excited to be talking about Mr. Charlie's
and Karma Hold Co.
But this all falls into just the story
behind Karma Hold Co.
and the authenticity of connecting Mike to plant
-based products.
Everything we do is about authenticity, and Mr.
(01:47):
Charlie's is as authentic as it gets.
Focused on bringing plant-based products to the
masses as we had with Karma Hold Co.
So for us, it was love at first
sight.
The bold, grand identity, the scalability.
There was so much that went into just
(02:10):
the excitement to myself and Mike and the
whole team over at Karma Hold Co.
that drew us to Mr. Charlie's.
And I mean, just working with Taylor has
just been unbelievable.
And being able to work again on such
a exciting concept and scaling this to our
(02:31):
goals as we have with Karma, scaling to
19 countries, we hope to bring Mr. Charlie's
to people all over the world and really
just push forward on that plant-based movement.
It's so exciting because it is, looks very
much like McDonald's-ish, the products, the design,
(02:52):
but it's vegan.
So Taylor, what I thought was so fascinating
about this is that this was your brainchild.
And when you arrived in Los Angeles from
Australia, you were in crisis, really.
Is it true that you were actually out
on the streets?
Yeah, yeah, that's what past mistakes will do
(03:15):
to you.
You don't look at your pain and want
to move forward.
So I was just stuck in a never
-ending cycle of never being able to get
out of my own way until I received
some help.
You know, that's what we all need sometimes,
right?
It's a bit of help.
So a little bit of help goes a
long way.
How did you go from being an unhoused
person on the streets of Los Angeles to
creating this incredible brand that now has the
(03:37):
backing of one of the most famous men
in the world?
You know, good people, actually.
I think it took a lot of people
to see it, a lot of people to
support it.
To answer your question, I received an opportunity.
I met a team of people at the
Dream Centre that were helping people get back
on their feet.
The Dream Centre is a rehabilitation centre in
(03:58):
LA that has about 500 rooms.
It's founded by Matthew Barnett, one of my
favourite people in the world, naturally, these days.
And he saw something in me and gave
me an opportunity, which was a bed in
the shelter.
I was there for many months, trying to
recover from addiction and pain and just a
(04:18):
lot of mistakes.
You know, it's just, it all stemmed from
my childhood, really, not being able to grow
past anything that was too hard.
And I finally met a team of people
that were willing to give me a second
chance at life and show me that I'm
not my mistakes and that we're all more
than the hardest and worst thing that we've
ever done.
So I moved in, supported them back by
(04:41):
chores and things.
And then one afternoon after service on a
Sunday, Matthew Barnett called me into his office
and gave me a check for $1,000
and said, I need you to leave.
And I was like, okay, what did I
do?
And he said, nothing.
And he said that God had told him
that I was gonna leave and come back
one day with an idea that was gonna
(05:01):
change things at the Dream Centre.
So I did that, I left.
At the time, I was seeing a girl
who was volunteering and I later married her,
had some kids.
It's been an amazing journey.
And I got to a point in my
life after a lot of plant medicine, which
is why I'm connected to Adam and Tyson
and many others.
(05:22):
And thank you, Jean, that's very kind of
you.
But I realised that it was time to
do something back, give something back.
So in a crazy plant medicine journey, I
asked the universe the one question that I
was scared to ask myself for so long.
Why was I homeless?
What's that about?
(05:43):
And then I heard it.
How do you say it without getting too
emotional?
Because it's hard to talk about it, but
it's beautiful at the same time.
But how do you help them if you
don't know what it feels like?
So then I became an example of change
because I'd been supported by so many people
to get back on my feet.
I met Aaron, my business partner at Charlie's,
our co-founder, and he gave me a
(06:03):
shot.
We built a brand together.
We had a creative agency helping people find
their voice and just making the world a
better place.
So it was the love from the Dream
Centre.
It was the team over there, the outreach
team that are constantly on the streets of
LA looking for people that want help.
I think I got to a point where
I wanted to help.
I think we're all scared to look under
(06:25):
the carpet of what we create in our
life, good or bad sometimes.
And I needed a place to rest and
find solitude, and I did.
And it was enough for me to shift
my perspective, my direction, and connect me to
my heart.
So when the opportunity came up to build
Charlie's, I've been a chef my whole life.
(06:46):
I love cooking.
I love plants.
I've been on a very strict diet for
a long time because of health and I'm
kind of borderline bipolar a little bit, so
I'm a bit quirky.
So I have to maintain myself.
I have to work out.
I have to eat good.
I have to nourish my mind.
I have to meditate.
I have to, you know, I spend a
lot of time healing with plants.
So it seemed like the right thing to
(07:07):
do to create a concept for food that
people put in their bellies that was made
of plants, that was plant healing.
But with a twist, what would happen if,
you know, I said to Aaron, what would
happen if we did this but didn't hire
conventionally?
What if we went to the Dream Centre
and got a load of people that were
ready to rehabilitate like I was but just
needed a second chance where they could come
(07:27):
to an interview and not be judged by
their past?
Oh, you've been in jail?
Yeah, we're gonna turn you down.
That's what we were finding everywhere.
You know, an example, Andrew, you know, our
store manager in LA, took him out of
jail three years ago, came straight out of
jail, lost his kids, alcohol abuse.
He had a couple of dreams.
One, get his kids back.
And two, his mom was dying of stage
four cancer.
I'll never forget this conversation.
(07:48):
And he said to me, Taylor, I just
wanna get my mom with me and let
me be with her for the last moments
of our life.
And they gave her six months to live.
She passed away three years later, actually, not
too long ago.
And, you know, that's what Mr. Charlie's does.
It creates an opportunity for people to do
better, you know, without judging you.
There's no judgement.
Like, we're all broken.
(08:09):
Like, none of us are perfect.
You know, society likes to treat us that
way.
But, you know, we're not perfect.
We're a work in progress.
And it's about being kind to yourself and
realising that every hard thing that you ever
do, it shapes you to be better in
some way.
So that's really kind of the story of
how I got at the Dream Centre and
back out.
(08:30):
Unconditional love.
But I had to work at it.
I have to ask you these questions.
Fascinating story.
And congratulations on your sobriety and your success.
By the way, on April 1st, I'll be
30 years sober.
Knock on wood.
Oh, wow.
Congratulations.
So- It's nice up here.
Beg your pardon?
(08:50):
It's nice up here.
It is.
It's a- Yes, we're happy.
Yes.
I like to say I thought alcohol was
my solution, but it was my problem.
And so one day at a time, I'm
30 years sober.
April 1st, knock on wood, that's a few
days away.
So yes, I totally relate to what you're
saying.
So your whole mission is to use the
(09:13):
unhoused and the recently incarcerated, hire them, get
them to work at your stores, and now
you're creating franchise opportunities.
My question is, if somebody wants to be
a franchise owner, do they have to follow
that process?
Do they have to hire people who are
unhoused and or recently incarcerated?
(09:34):
Or just give us a sense of how
that would work.
Well, we don't try and reinvent the wheel.
So we're just trying to be a spoke
on the wheel to help it turn a
bit better, a bit smoother.
So there's a lot of great places like
the Dream Centre.
So I'll give you an example.
We just did another rehire from the Dream
Centre yesterday, and we took on some new
people, but they've been on the programme for
(09:54):
many years.
They found where they needed to be.
They are just now ready to get back
into work and settle down.
For a lot of people, it's very hard
to find jobs once you've gone through so
much.
So we don't specialise in anything other than
not overlooking anybody.
Everyone's got an opportunity here.
So we have lots of people that work
(10:15):
for us that haven't been through anything.
They just want to be a part of
the team because they want to be a
blessing to other people.
They feel they've got something to offer.
And then we have people that have been
working for us, with us, since day one,
three years now, that are still living in
shelters, some of them.
So it's just, it's a work in progress.
But it's not about any stigma or any
(10:38):
type of category.
It's open to everybody that wants to just
do more for their life.
Charlie's is a stepping stone.
I don't want it to get confused about
a long-term kind of career.
Maybe that is the case for some people,
but it's a kind stepping stone where you
can come in, be a part of something,
rework who you are, if that's what you're
looking to do, and just find a way
(10:59):
to give back.
Healing, and internally is great, but I'll tell
you what, there's no better feeling than helping
somebody else.
Not for me, anyway.
Absolutely.
Taylor, this is such a fascinating story and
it's so inspiring.
Getting back to Adams, you're the CEO of
(11:21):
the holding company, and Mike Tyson is a
big investor in that holding company and in,
therefore, Mr. Charlie's, and he was there recently.
I wanna play that video again, because honestly,
we were there live.
Unchained TV went and was live, and it
was a wild scene.
(11:42):
If the video looks a little bumpy, it's
because there were so many people there crushing
into the place.
And that's a good mob scene.
You want that.
Oh, what an exciting day.
So how are you changing the dynamics of
making money?
Because what Taylor said was so much about
(12:04):
giving and about compassion.
And I also read that you have days
where you do 99 cent hamburgers.
How are you able to make money and
still do all those wonderful things for the
community?
So there's two parts to it.
I mean, yes, it's in the end, we'd
all love to make money at it, but
what attracted Mike himself, just knowing his background,
(12:27):
his story, and the life that he's lived,
is the whole story of giving back, doing
our part, having the opportunity to scale this
brand globally and bring this opportunity and plant
-based products to the masses, but also give
back at the same time, whether that's donating
to charities or as Taylor mentioned, hiring from
(12:49):
the Dream Centre.
There's two parts to this, right?
It's the extremely innovative and crave-worthy menu
and bringing vegan products to the consumers, as
well as being able to give back.
And in turn, as we create days like
having Mike there where the lineup was around
the building and we had a very successful
(13:09):
day, great turnout, launching new products, the interest
in opening new stores has just skyrocketed, right,
from a dozen new states lined up to
multiple countries.
So we feel you give back, you do
your part, and the rest kind of follows.
It's part of the business model, and again,
(13:32):
it's working for us.
So we're excited about the whole process.
So how many stores do you have now,
Adam?
And where are these, let's say I want
to be a franchise owner.
I'm not saying I could.
I'm not saying I could at all, but
let's say hypothetically.
Anyone could be.
Yeah, but I mean, is it California?
(13:52):
Tell us about the details and how much
it would cost.
Yeah, so we already have two stores opening
in California, one in San Francisco and one
in LA.
We have additional stores coming online in California,
in the LA area.
We have some new stores coming online in
the East Coast.
We launched Australia, which we're all super excited
(14:13):
about with some more stores coming online there.
And then with our network, and again, my
past experience in the QSR space, we have
dozens of countries we're in talks with around
the globe on bringing Mr. Charlie.
So the excitement since bringing Tyson and Carmen
has really just hockey stick, really blown up
(14:35):
the interest in Mr. Charlie's.
And we'll continue to build the awareness of
this movement we've created.
Well, Taylor's created that we're helping with and
bring more doors to consumers all over the
world.
We have people wanting it everywhere.
(14:55):
So we vet our franchisees, looking for people
with obviously the financial ability to open one,
and we'll continue to vet them and open
stores all over the place.
Well, what is that?
And yes, we hope to come to Dallas
too.
Yes, people are asking, when are you coming
here?
When are you coming there?
What is the bottom line?
(15:17):
What's the bottom line investment?
And people could maybe group together and gather
the investment, but I think people will wanna
know, if let's say somebody says, I wanna
do this, how much money do they have
to come up with?
Let me do this.
Let me take you back a step to
a question that you asked a second ago
about making money and being profitable and giving.
(15:39):
So in life, if you go through some
hard stuff, you're gonna get to a point
in your evolution where you're gonna continue to
keep banging your head against the wall, or
you're gonna lean into some change.
You're gonna lean into your faith.
You're gonna lean into people.
You're gonna start listening.
I became two ears, one mouth in my
life.
When you create a dream, when you create
(16:02):
something meaningful, and you're passionate about it, and
you've got a story like I have, like
many have, no different to anybody else.
I'm just another example.
And you create a plan.
All I did was go to some of
the best people in the industry, people like
Tyndall, who make all of our chicken product
(16:22):
directly with us.
And I went to Tyndall and said, this
is a dream, but we need help to
be able to achieve past the status quo,
where it has to be about profit.
It has to be about penny pinching.
It has to be about that.
I'm not interested in any of that stuff,
because it sorts itself out if you're doing
the right thing.
If you're love in everything you're doing, you're
(16:46):
gonna find love back.
So we created a foundation that was scalable
through the support of great brand partners.
We get unique pricing on certain products, and
then the ability to distribute globally to different
places like Australia.
There's so much support from marketing, from product,
(17:08):
to just everything that we could ever need.
So this isn't about a brand that's just
open and done really well.
This is about a brand that connected with
great people to form a mission, to go
out and do something that's never been done
before, to treat people with so much respect
that you don't take advantage of anything or
(17:29):
anyone in the situation.
You just trust.
So what does it cost to become a
franchise partner?
That's gonna vary on how many stores you
want.
Our email for franchise- Let's say one.
Adam, do you know more about- I
can't say exact numbers, but I can tell
you, with my decade in the QSR space,
(17:49):
working with dozens of different QSR brands, it's
an extremely affordable investment and a great entry
point for someone who wants to get into
the food space and really be a part
of the vegan movement.
I think it's super exciting.
And I've been saying for years, we need
(18:10):
to have a vegan McDonald's and you've created
it.
Who makes your hamburger patties?
That I'm very curious about.
Do you use a variety of companies or
is there one company that makes your patties?
Well, we work with Tindle as our main
point.
We're currently working with the Impossible Light Burger,
which is a lot cleaner than what you
(18:30):
can get in a supermarket or anywhere else.
We've been working with them for a long
time, but we've been R&Ding, working on
new concepts, new things, ice cream with clips.
That was amazing.
Having an ice cream made of cassava, it's
nuts.
Never in a million years thought I would
ever eat anything like that that would resemble
ice cream.
Blows my mind.
So it's just, you know, it's fun.
(18:52):
The ice cream, I gotta say, I gotta
say with, again, almost a decade in the
dairy space, working with yoghurt and ice cream
brands, I was blown away with the flavour,
the texture, everything about the ice cream.
Mike loved it so much.
I think he had three of them when
we first came through for the testing.
It's just been a home run.
(19:13):
So I can't wait for everyone to try
them.
If you haven't, get in the store and
try it.
It's unbelievable.
You can also get the fun little Mike
bite on it too, the chocolate ear.
It's funny.
It's reminiscing on the 1987 break with Holyfield.
Yes, I'll never forget.
It's really funny, that chocolate ear, because I
have a personal story on that.
(19:34):
I'm not a personally a fan of boxing
and I didn't want to go to the
event and the person I was with was
like, come, it's a big event, it's a
big event.
So we went into this bar where they
had the screen and literally within 30 seconds
of me walking in, the infamous ear bite
occurred.
And I was like, see?
(19:54):
It's 1987, right?
Yep, yep.
That was so funny, but you've turned it
on its head and now you have this.
Now my understanding was it's potato ice cream,
which is absolutely fascinating.
How did you arrive?
And again, if you see the chocolate ear,
it's the infamous bite that, well, you can,
(20:19):
again, not being the boxing expert, you can,
I don't want to mess it up.
Adam, what was the moment?
Mike Tyson fighting Evander Holyfield, 1997.
And it was a very viral moment.
25 years after the fight, we released the
Mike Bites product line, which has now evolved
into so many new products.
(20:41):
One that we're extremely excited about is the
vegan ice cream with Mr. Charlie's.
And this is potato ice cream?
Originally it started out as potato based and
we moved to a cassava base with Eclipse,
which is a lot healthier, has no GMOs,
no artificial flavours or colours, just really clean,
really great actually.
Very proud of it.
(21:02):
We've been open for three years and people
have requested ice cream for three years.
But I'm never going to put anything out
that's not mad, mad special.
And again, it comes back to the point
of scalability, like need a brand partner, need
somebody that we can work with that can
help us scale.
Back to your franchise question, we have made
(21:23):
it very affordable.
Not to dodge the question about how much
does it cost, it varies on different people
and size, but our model is scalable with
not just our support, but the support from
all of our vendors, all of our support.
Everyone's there to help it thrive.
So when you get involved with Mr. Chutley's,
you kind of, it's almost like a marriage
(21:43):
in a way.
That's what it is, where we can all
do good together.
We all want to see the world be
better.
It starts with us.
We all spend so much time worrying about
the world ending and this happening and that
happening, but the truth is you can only
focus on what you can control.
(22:04):
And if that means that you want to
see the world better, then you've got to
do better with you.
You've got to wake up in the morning,
make better decisions and choose self-love, choose
to meditate, choose to eat good.
We created this brand, not for vegan people.
We created it for everybody.
It's a vegan people already vegan.
(22:24):
So we're gonna need converting.
They already made the decision, really good decision.
Like we wanted everybody else.
Those that are confused.
There've been so many people that have come
to the store that have just been like,
what does it taste like?
How good is it?
We get the same questions all the time.
I'm gonna stand up and say our menu
is absolutely fantastic.
(22:46):
You know why?
Because I have owned multiple restaurants.
I've worked in multiple kitchens and I've failed
many times, more than I can remember.
And the more you fail, the more you
get good at it.
And then you meet someone like Adam, who's
been in the QSR space forever, who really
knows how to scale a brand.
And so him coming in wasn't just about
(23:06):
money or anything like that.
It was really just about how do we
have the best guys, the best people in
our team to help drive it?
Well, he understands the market, but he's also
a beautiful human being.
Like even Mike Tyson, I'm from London.
I grew up on a council estate with
no money.
And then all of a sudden, this little
(23:27):
kid from London is now teaming up with
Mike Tyson.
It was a pinch yourself moment for me.
And then you wonder, what's he gonna be
like?
You've seen all the trials and everything he's
been through in his life.
But when you meet him, you realise that
the guy's got a heart bigger than his
punch.
And he cares more than most people understand.
(23:48):
And he's so smart, like so intellectual.
Like your conversations have been profound.
And his kindness towards this brand, his support,
like literally jumping on a plane and flying
across one side of the world to the
other, just to be at our event, which
is what happened.
That means everything.
He's a champion of people.
(24:08):
He's a champion of his own life.
Because you see, the thing that Mike Tyson
did and the example to all of us,
I believe, it's that he never gave up.
It got sticky, it got tough, it got
very heavy.
I'm sure many times you've read about it
in his life, all the trials and tribulations.
Same with me, but we never gave up
in the end.
We decided just to choose self-love, to
(24:30):
keep pushing forward.
And we are a product of great people.
We both shared plant medicine.
We've both done very similar plant medicines, which
are one of the reasons why I believe
we're all together.
It's in those teachings where you can really
let go of everything and all attachment and
remove the ego from your life and your
mind for a minute.
(24:50):
We realise that actually we're all really, really
special.
I always say this to our team, everyone,
look at your fingerprint.
I encourage everyone watching this right now, look
at your fingerprint.
It's the only one.
There's not another one.
What does that mean?
It means you're so special.
And that if you've been through hard things,
if you're going through something hard right now,
(25:12):
it's because you chose it before you came
here.
It helps you evolve.
It helps you spiritually grow.
And what we've got to get good at
doing is learning how to be more honest
with ourself.
We've got to learn how to ask for
help because we're so proud of that that
we don't want to seem to be a
failure in front of the world.
So it's not okay to ask for help.
Yes, it is.
(25:32):
It's bloody great to ask for help.
I ask for help all the time these
days.
And my life's a great, happy place because
of that.
It's when I try to do it all
myself.
That's why I went wrong in my life,
overcompensating on the love that I never had
as a kid.
And then what you try to do is
you become a people pleaser like I did,
trying to give everyone everything and then falling
short on everything and then creating a bad
(25:54):
picture about yourself.
And then- You know, I'm gonna jump
in because there are so many questions that
people have, but I agree with you.
In fact, I'm listening to this great book
right now called Let Them, which is a
bestseller.
And it's basically, if you're having problems with
people, just let them.
And it's like a weight off your shoulders.
I love it.
Okay, so many questions.
(26:16):
Everybody's asking, the ice cream is now made
out of something else, but they didn't catch
the word.
I didn't really catch it either.
It's not potatoes anymore.
What- It's cassava.
So it's still- What is it?
It defies from a root vegetable.
It's very similar.
We work with Eclipse.
Eclipse are a profound company that have been
(26:37):
making vegan ice cream products for a long
time.
Their original base had potato in it.
They moved to a more sustainable option.
Less in it, it's cleaner.
And it has- Cassava.
It has more of a fluff to it
as well, cassava.
Okay.
It's a little bit more fluffy.
So it's been clutch.
(26:57):
Again, like- You have gluten-free options.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah, of course.
We just, actually, we're just working on a
new gluten-free bun right now.
I feel bad for people that are gluten
intolerant.
It's like, I love bread.
I can't imagine not being able to eat
bread.
Like, it'd be devastating.
So we think about that when we're planning
(27:18):
menus, when we're doing drops.
You know, we want to accommodate for everybody.
So we have just introduced a new gluten
-free bun that's absolutely fantastic.
I'm very proud of it.
So yeah.
All right.
Here's a question.
Is there a story behind the name and
the various names?
Okay.
Gene wants to know.
Okay.
(27:39):
Gene, I'm a deadhead.
The only band I would ever tattoo on
my arm.
There you go.
I went to, when I was going through
my healing stages, I ended up somehow, ended
up at a Grateful Dead concert, a Dead
& Company concert in Utah.
And I decided that that was the night
(28:01):
that I was going to experiment with my
life and broaden my horizons a little bit.
As you do within the dead, if you
know anything about the scene, you kind of
know what goes with it.
And I had an out-of-body experience
where I got to hear music for the
first time, but I got to witness a
family of people dancing in front of me
that were just loving each other, having a
(28:21):
great time.
So when we first started putting this concept
together, I was in a brainstorming session with
Aaron, my co-creator, my co-founder, my
man-wife, as my wife calls him.
And I remember meditating and I saw Bob
Weir from the dead standing in front of
(28:41):
me on the stage going, I'm going to
roll you over and shoot you because Mr.
Charlie told me so.
And I was like, ah, Mr. Charlie told
me so.
So it's really about cosmic Charlie, who is
a dead character.
And really what the brand represents, other than
the obvious of creating jobs for people in
need, supporting our voiceless animals, but that's huge.
(29:02):
But it's really, it's a proof of concept
for every single person looking at it, which
is you can be really brave and succeed.
You can choose to put people over profit
and succeed.
And the real concept is to make you
feel like a child.
I'll share a quick story.
I had a, we used to have these
little yellow stalls outside the building when we
(29:24):
first opened.
From Ikea, we had no money.
So it was like, you know, that's the
other thing too.
We didn't borrow any money to build this.
Everything that it cost to create it, me
and Aaron personally paid for it with everything
that we've ever made.
It was a real sacrifice.
But on that day, this gentleman came in
and he says to me, why do you
have these stupid little kids' stalls outside?
Why don't you have some proper seating?
(29:45):
And I said to him, can you do
me a favour?
And he went, sure.
I went, I'm going to buy you lunch
today and I want you to sit on
that stupid little yellow stall and I want
you to eat your lunch and tell me
what you think.
And I gave him his food.
He sat on the stall and I came
back and I asked him, how are you
(30:06):
feeling?
And he was cheek to cheek with a
smile.
And he told me in that moment that
I helped him feel like a kid again,
that I recreated a childlike experience that he
once remembered.
And that's really what it's about also is
that inside of us, all of us, is
a beautiful, enlightened, kind, glorious little child.
(30:27):
That's your real self.
And we get conditioned at a very young
age through schooling, people's emotions, pressures of life,
money, whatever you want to call it, to
start to shift into a place of fear
and everything else.
And then you start to lose track of
who you are.
Well, where I went wrong in my life,
I had no connection to my inner child
and where I went right in my life
(30:49):
is when I connected with him.
So I am a seven-year-old Taylor
who creates Mr. Charlies.
I am seven in my mind, you know?
I love it.
And we all have to work on that
inner child, myself included.
I want to talk about the branding a
little bit because this is very interesting to
(31:10):
me.
And I love on your website, you say
we are sarcastic disruptors, community, love, change.
And this is one of your logos.
So what does it mean?
To me, it was sort of the opposite
of the Happy Meal, which obviously involves a
dead animal.
So to me, it's not a Happy Meal.
I invite McDonald's on anytime, but is that
(31:32):
a direct reference to the Happy Meal or
what is it?
I'll tell you exactly where it came from.
I was, when I left the Dream Centre,
I didn't have anywhere to go.
So my girlfriend, now my wife Amanda, at
the time gave me her couch.
So I lived on her couch for the
first couple months.
And I remember being, she went to work
(31:53):
every day and I stayed back, didn't have
a job or anything.
And I'd watch Netflix and eat Lucky Charms
at that time.
I was like, I needed a Lucky Charms
sponsor at that point, actually.
I was that good at it.
But I was so depressed because I couldn't
get out of my own head.
And then one day before my wife went
to work, she looked at me and she
said, Taylor, can I share something with you?
(32:14):
And I went, sure.
She said, it's okay to be sad sometimes.
Through your sadness is your complete happiness.
I was like, wow.
I never forgot that and I never will.
So what that logo represents that it's okay
to be sad sometimes.
And the Xs are, it's death to what
we once knew that overextends this planet.
(32:37):
That's not gonna allow it to be here
for our children's children.
So we're gonna do something about that.
We're already doing something about that because we
can.
And we've caught the eye of great people,
sponsors, Adam, Mike Tyson.
When you bring people like that into the
equation, people start to take you a little
(32:58):
bit more seriously.
And it's, thank you, LULAC.
So many great comments.
You guys are so nice.
Thank you.
Everybody's super excited about it.
And just when we saw that Mike Tyson
event, it was just, people are swarming.
What percentage of your clientele is vegan and
(33:20):
what percentage is just going in for a
fast food meal?
And then what do they discover?
Is there any kind of eye-opening aha
moment that you hope your customers have about
animals, about climate change, about nonviolence?
Because it looks just like, quick glance, it
(33:43):
looks like the fast food that many people
grew up on, but it's not because no
animals die.
It's a great question.
You know, for us, it's really about just
creating opportunities for people to do better.
Like we can't force anyone to do anything.
(34:04):
Well, nor do we want to.
Everyone's so individual.
We want to respect everybody with where they're
at.
But all we did was make plant options
more accessible in a unique, fun way that
felt nostalgic, that really made us laugh.
Like we enjoy it.
Like, you know, red and yellow are the
most dominant food colours to make you feel
more hungry.
(34:25):
Aaron and I love the circus.
We are clowns.
Like the brand makes me feel like the
circus.
Like it sparked my own curiosity, my own
need to make the world a better place,
you know?
And after everything I've been through to be
in a position to be able to help
people on this level, it just, it's inspiring.
So again, like we're nothing without the customers
(34:47):
that come in.
We're just an idea.
For years, people have poured in, supported, purchased,
loved, told their friends, you know?
And back to your question, I would say
20, 25% of our audience are actually
vegan.
Everybody else is curious, very curious.
(35:07):
So a couple of hard questions.
You know, Hard House recently reportedly shut down.
There was, it had opened with much fanfare
and also had a famous person behind it.
How do you hope to avoid that given
that the plant-based movement is under attack
right now?
It's widely reported that the meat industry has
launched a massive campaign against plant-based restaurants
(35:30):
and food and products.
Let Adam take that, if you would.
Yeah, I don't think it has to do
with the actual product being sold.
I think it was just mismanaged, to be
honest.
Don't wanna talk negatively about anybody, but I've
been in the restaurant space long enough understanding
running lean is the only way to go
(35:52):
when operating these businesses.
We've acquired dozens of fast food brands in
the past that went through a very similar
situation as the Hard House individuals, overspending and
just not being able to maintain their staying
power.
And again, just pair that with the quality
(36:15):
and craveability of the food.
I mean, I can tell you, I crave
Mr. Charlie's all the time.
My kids who, again, my kids were not
vegan.
I mean, when I brought them into Mr.
Charlie's, they fell in love at their first
sitting.
It's incredible to taste, incredible to experience.
And again, you feel the love as you
(36:38):
eat and enjoy your experience at any of
the Mr. Charlie's that you visit.
So it's just, it's different.
I don't put us on the same playing
field as anybody else.
It's one of a kind and I don't
think anybody else is doing what we're doing.
So, I don't- And so let me
ask a follow-up.
(36:59):
In terms of achieving economies of scale, what
I'm hearing is that as you open these
franchises and you're using the vegan companies, whether
it's Tindle or Impossible Burger to supply you,
you're able to reach the economies of scale
that some smaller vegan restaurants cannot because they're
(37:21):
obviously not franchised across the globe.
How many franchise restaurants do you foresee?
In other words, maybe, where do you see
yourself, let's say, in five years?
Globally, every country, all over the world.
And again, how we're able to scale is
through collaboration.
You think about it, like we'll use Tindle
(37:42):
as an example.
Like, Timo is an amazing CEO who has
supported us since the beginning.
We help them with marketing.
We are the perfect serve for that burger.
If you're an investor trying to invest into
Tindle or you're interested in working with Tindle
or you see them in a supermarket and
you wanna try it and you go to
(38:02):
Charlie's, you're gonna get a great experience.
We strive to be that for the brands.
We are here to bring these brands up
at the same time and we will only
work with somebody who values the same things
as we do and that's where we're at.
We pass on all of our savings, all
of our discounts at volume because it will
get easier directly to our franchise partners.
(38:25):
We don't mark up anything.
That's not what it's about.
It has to scale.
This model needs to be scaled.
So what we need at that point is
people that are like-minded, have some experience
and wanna do something with their life and
change it up a little bit.
And Charlie's is a fantastic opportunity that one,
is incredibly affordable to get involved in.
(38:47):
One, is very scalable but two, three, comes
with so much support that I don't believe
any franchise partnership has ever received before in
the world.
Like what we're giving, it's like we're holding
your hand.
We're with you, making sure that we deliver
on something that's really ethical and kind, that's
long lasting.
And again, we are only here doing as
(39:08):
good as we are because of great customers,
people supporting us but the brands that are
supplying us, they're giving us everything to make
it more affordable.
And that's what we've been doing.
So where do you see yourself in, let's
say five years in terms of the number
of franchise restaurants?
I'll say this and hold me to it.
(39:31):
You are looking at the biggest fast food,
plant-based company on planet earth in the
making.
That is not an entity, energy, frequency on
this planet that is going to stop us
from achieving that goal which is a Mr.
Charlie's in every major city in every country
in the world, doing good, changing the narrative,
(39:54):
creating options for people to get more involved
in plants and helping people start a plant
journey because it's just one thing.
You know, you look at Tyson 2.0,
they make great products that improve your quality
of life.
That's the real.
So for us, it's all rounded and it's
not just about where we're at right now.
It's about where we're gonna meet other people
(40:15):
in this space in the future and be
an ambassador.
You know, we spend a lot of time
coaching other plant-based restaurants.
Now you mentioned Hart House.
I'm very good friends with Andy Hooper, the
CEO of Hart House and back to Adam's
situation, it's nothing to do with the product.
It's just sometimes the market share isn't there
and sometimes you can grow too quick.
You know, we could have easily have opened
(40:35):
five, six, seven Mr. Charlie's stores in the
last two years, but we probably would have
closed them all within a year or two
because we wouldn't have been ready.
We decided to go completely backwards, going unorthodox
and learn how to really master this, learn
how to do it, go through the growing
pains, learn how to build, learn how to
grow.
And we've done that.
And then we were in a position of
(40:56):
expansion.
And then when it came up to talk
to Adam and Mike and everybody, it's a
no brainer.
Like I was just, I never forget the
conversation with our team when they told me,
hey, we've got someone who is interested in
coming in.
And I was like, oh, okay, who?
Mike Tyson.
And I was like, yeah, right.
(41:16):
Like Mike Tyson?
They're like, yeah, he loves it.
He wants to meet you.
And I'm like, holy shit, Mike Tyson.
Okay.
So then I remember going to meet Mike
for the first time and I was like,
scared shitless.
Like he's 50% terrifying and 50%
beautiful, but when you meet him, he's all
beautiful.
He's just, I love him.
I just want to eat him up, put
him in my pocket.
(41:38):
Like he's uncle Mike these days.
A man who's never given up on himself.
A man who's constantly pushed forward.
A great husband, an incredible father.
Like, oh my God.
But a great friend, good human being.
Like I love him.
I'm so grateful for him.
So grateful for Adam.
(41:59):
I want to jump in and ask, I
think you raised a very good point because
I think overexpansion is a danger.
And I've seen it actually, I'm no business
expert, but I've seen what I consider to
be overexpansion and saying, why are they opening
another one?
Just in general, I'm not talking about any
(42:21):
specific restaurant.
How do you find that balance, Adam?
You know, how do you decide, well, I'm
working too slow or I'm working too fast?
Because you're talking about world domination.
So that requires expansion.
How are you going to mitigate the dangers
(42:42):
of expanding too fast?
How do you do it?
Yeah, with our experience, it's all about doing
your due diligence, spending the proper time and
reevaluating each market as you launch, ensuring you're
not overlapping.
Again, ensuring what competition is around, what the
demographic is in each area and ensuring that
again, you're not cannibalising your own business, right?
(43:03):
Not opening too close to any of your
existing locations.
There's benefits to opening to near other vegan
concepts as we create a one of a
kind product.
But again, there's a whole process of due
diligence that we run through before selecting new
regions, territories, cities, and so on.
(43:25):
I like that because I've noticed just in
the LA area where I live, a lot
of times vegan restaurants seem to be in
a cluster.
I'm like, wait a second.
You know, there's not that many over here.
Put them over here, not just all in
this area.
So I think it's very wise that you
do that.
We've got a whole bunch of questions from
people who are watching.
Can't wait for you to come over to
(43:45):
the UK.
Are you there?
Oh, it's great, bring it on.
I had a great conversation with somebody huge
in the UK recently who sparked a lot
of interest.
I've gotta take it.
I was born there, it's the motherland.
I'm taking it home for sure.
That's happening, I can't wait.
I need, all my family are there, so
(44:06):
it actually gets me more time with my
family as well who I miss dearly.
So it's been a journey, you know?
But yes, UK, definitely, for sure.
There was another comment here, somebody asking, are
you going to adjust your menu depending on
what country you're in?
For example, if you were in India, would
(44:27):
you adjust your menu?
Now, I noticed that, well, maybe I'm wrong,
but the big fast food companies seem to
just export the, you know, what I would
call the bad fast food across the world,
but- It's a great question.
It's very, very important.
Like one of my favourite things that I've
been able to do and been so blessed
(44:49):
to have done over the last few years
is travel the world a little bit.
You know, this brand, Stephanie, helped us kind
of go some places, but I've travelled a
lot.
And one of my favourite things is really
appreciating different cultures.
Like it's what makes the world so great.
Like we're all so individual, but so when
we go to different countries, you know, we'll
use India as an example.
I'm going to team up with the best
(45:09):
Indian vegan restaurants and the best vegan chefs
to come in and do limited runs and
core things and adjust flavour profiles and just
keep it really exciting.
Like that's, I'm a chef.
I'm not a one trick pony.
I can do anything.
And I'm, cause I love it.
You know, I've been doing it my whole
life.
So it will vary from different places.
You know, some terminology may change as well
(45:30):
as menu items, but as a base, we're
pretty much there.
We want people to experience what we've done
in LA everywhere, you know, and that's the
goal.
Now we hear you're coming to Brentwood.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Woo baby.
We found the most amazing store that has
(45:51):
been vacant for years.
And the amount of people that are businesses
that have tried to rent this particular store
have all come up short.
And the reason why is because the owners
of the building have owned it forever.
It was their previous business and one of
them passed on.
And when I went to meet them to
(46:12):
talk about it, the first question I asked
was, why did you do this?
Why did you build this?
And I got to hear the whole life
story of the brand.
And that's how I can connect with people.
You know, I want to take the legacy
of that feeling because it's really all about
feelings.
You know, it's like, even when I'm manifesting
these days, I'm not really manifesting a particular
outcome.
(46:33):
If you think about it, like it's your
best feeling in everything you're doing, that's what
you want.
You want to feel your best self in
everything you're doing.
So in that moment, I wanted to feel
like that would be our store.
And the only way I could do that
was by showing the owners how beautiful this
brand is and how authentic we are.
And because of that, she fell in love
(46:54):
with us.
And she's like 96 years old.
She's a little girl.
And you know, she's like three foot, like
tiny.
And I remember the first time I ever
met her, like she was struggling looking up
at me in the meet and I sat
on the dusty floor so she could look
down, like little things, showing the respect.
So when that store came up and we
got the approval to go in, oh man,
(47:16):
I was so excited.
And it's a great store.
It's the first store that we've ever opened
that actually has some internal seating with a
bathroom, which is nice.
More event space.
And you know, it's just, it's really exciting
for us.
And again, like, you know, you think about
what we've gone through in LA with the
fires and everything recently.
You know, we almost lost that store.
(47:38):
And then it was, it was the brave
work of the firefighters putting out the fire
on the hill that stopped it from leaning
into Brentwood.
So we're so grateful for everybody.
Let me jump in with a question.
And that is how many Mr. Charlies do
you have now?
How many are, I don't even really know
how many are in the Southern California or
(47:58):
Los Angeles area.
Do you have any in New York?
Funny you should say that.
We're working on something in the Big Apple
right now.
I'm gonna take a big bite of that
with some really special people.
When we announced that, I think it's gonna
shock the world a little bit.
So I'm excited for that.
We have one in Hollywood.
(48:20):
We did a pop-up in Venice for
six months just to test that area, which
is why we ended up taking a store
in Brentwood, which is technically Santa Monica.
We have a store at Union Square in
San Francisco, right in the centre.
And then we also just opened one in
Australia.
So Brentwood will be our third California store
(48:40):
with many more coming.
So we're in good conversations right now with
many people.
Now, is this a turnkey operation?
Like when, let's say somebody decides to become
a franchise owner, do you design everything?
Do you keep it?
Because apparently one of the reasons why the
mainstream meat and dairy fast food restaurants have
(49:03):
had so much success in their franchises is
that they keep to a very strict formula.
People cannot sort of personalise it that much.
Well, we want personality in the mix.
We're gonna definitely be a little bit cautious
about who's coming in.
Well, we have been.
So we want you to feel like you
(49:23):
can add a little bit of your personality
in.
But the question you have to ask yourself
is why are you getting involved in it?
Why are you buying?
Why are you buying into Mr. Charlie's?
If you're buying into it because you love
it.
So therefore we have created a system that's
so scalable, that's so easy to maintain.
Again, like our team, we've had the same
team at core since the day we've opened.
(49:45):
Think about that.
Since day one, most of them haven't left,
they've stayed.
And they've now been trained into regional managers.
So an example, like when we opened Australia,
we flew out our store GM from LA
to Australia to open that store so the
consistency was there.
(50:05):
So it's very much a hand-holding process
with great internals of how to deliver.
But it's so organised that we take kind
of the hard part out of it for
you.
We've created that consistency.
And then that gives you an opportunity to
be completely 100% yourself in making it
work and sharing the message.
Which also a lot of what it is,
(50:26):
it's getting people excited about it.
That's what I do on the daily, get
people motivated and in love with the brand
by understanding it.
Like most people don't know that we employ
homeless people.
Most people don't know that, I was homeless
11 years ago, they don't know.
We've talked about it a little bit, but
it's not about any one individual or certainly
not me.
I'm just an example.
I think it's a great story and I'd
(50:46):
love to see it as a New York
Times piece profiling you.
It's a good story.
And I'm excited to be able to cover
it because it's not your regular business story.
It's a unique story.
And so many aspects of this is unique.
Do you see what you've created here as
(51:09):
a template for let's say capitalism 2.3,
4.0?
100%, it's just an example of how to
do better.
We've already gone into multiple plant-based businesses,
businesses that you've all eaten at and I've
gone in and I've helped them already.
I've already given support and love.
(51:30):
I want everyone to come up.
It's not about Mr. Charlie's at all, it's
about everybody doing better, winning together.
We're all gonna win together.
It's way more cool if we can get
to the top of change and then go,
oh, look what we did together, guys, and
actually share it instead of just this solo
battle of, you know, it doesn't work, so.
Well, I have to say, we've only got
(51:51):
a minute or so.
This has been such a fascinating conversation and
I do feel it's an evolved business approach.
So final 30 seconds, Adam, what would you
like to say and how can people get
in touch if they wanna have a franchise,
a Mr. Charlie's franchise?
Absolutely, check us out online, go to our
website, send in your request and we'll happy
(52:14):
to lead you to success.
As Taylor stated, it is a turnkey operation.
We come out, we train you, set your
store up with you, again, and lead you
to success to ensure everything goes smoothly.
Providing you with all your SOPs, menu items,
everything you need, again, for a turnkey operation
and excited to continue to grow the brand
(52:34):
together.
And last 30 seconds, Taylor.
Just gratitude for everybody that's put their hand
on this brand in any way.
And then, you know, if I've got 20
seconds of that left, I'm gonna say to
everybody that's watching this that's having a hard
time, I know that's had a hard time,
keep going.
Keep going.
Yeah, that's it.
I love it.
I love your enthusiasm and I really love
(52:58):
this model of making money.
It doesn't have to be a zero-sum
game.
It can be a win-win for everybody.
And to that end, I would also love
to encourage everybody watching to download Unchained TV.
We are the world's only vegan streaming television
network and you can download it on your
(53:20):
phone, any phone, just go to the app
store, and any TV with streaming devices.
And we're also on all Samsung TVs, soon
to be on all LG TVs.
So it's a vegan Netflix.
Okay, that's the craziest thing I've ever heard.
I love Unchained TV.
Unchained, Unchained TV.
Your life will change, it's just that easy.
Unchained TV has all sorts of content for
(53:41):
everybody.
Unchained TV changed my life.
Unchained TV is crushing it.
I love Unchained TV.
Unchained TV is my go-to.
Unchained TV.
Who knew?
Unchained, baby, yay!
This episode was brought to you by Unchained
TV.
Unchained TV is a nonprofit organisation producing plant
(54:04):
-based content filled with tips and tricks to
spice up those healthy veggies, grains, and legumes.
For more information on Unchained TV productions, just
visit unchainedtv.com.
That's unchainedtv.com.
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