September 3, 2025 • 51 mins
What does it take to revive an American icon? For Stephanie Stuckey, it meant reacquiring her family’s struggling roadside brand, embracing grit, and turning nostalgia into momentum.
Founded in 1937 by her grandfather, Stuckey’s became synonymous with pecan log rolls and quirky highway charm. At its peak, the company had over 350 stores, but decades of decline left it nearly forgotten. In 2019, Stephanie brought it back into family hands, and since then has grown sales fivefold, acquired a candy manufacturing plant, and expanded into new retail channels.
In this episode, Stephanie shares why she pivoted from stores to snacks, how storytelling keeps legacy brands relevant, and why grassroots “road warrior” marketing beats big-budget campaigns. She also opens up about her career pivots - from law and public service to entrepreneurship - and the lessons she’s learned about leadership, resilience, and community.
From Route 66 dreams to dashboard inspiration, this conversation is both practical and inspiring. If you’ve ever wondered how to revive a brand - or your own career - Stephanie’s story offers a roadmap worth following.
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Episode Transcript
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Rich H (00:00):
What does it take to revive an American icon, owning
manufacturing, buildingcommunity mile by mile and
turning nostalgia into momentum?
Today, we go from thestatehouse to the open road with
Stephanie Stuckey.
Stephanie Stuckey is the chairof Stuckey's, the iconic
roadside brand known for itspecan log rolls and its quirky
highway charm.
Founded in 1937 by hergrandfather, ws Stuckey Sr, the
(00:24):
company grew to over 350 storesnationwide, at its peak in the
1970s, before decades of declineunder outside ownership.
In 2019, stephanie reacquiredthe then-failing business,
returning it to family hands.
In 2021, Stuckey's purchased apecan snack and candy plant in
Wrenge, georgia, fueling aturnaround that has grown sales
(00:46):
fivefold.
Today, the company operates adistribution center, fundraising
business, corporate giftprogram and online store.
A graduate of the University ofGeorgia School of Law,
stephanie's career spans triallaw, seven terms as a Georgia
State Representative, directorof Sustainability for Atlanta,
and teaching at UGA Law.
(01:08):
She serves on the boards ofBeals and Full Course and has
been recognized as one of themost admired CEOs by the Atlanta
Business Chronicle and amongthe 100 most influential
Georgians by Georgia Trend.
Her 2024 book Unstuck Rebirthof an American Icon has been
praised by the Wall StreetJournal and Georgia Public
Broadcasting.
(01:28):
In this conversation.
We dig into the operator's viewbehind the comeback, why owning
production changed the math,how a grassroots road warrior
approach beats spray and pray,and how to keep nostalgia as a
doorway, not a destination, sothe brand stays fresh for new
fans.
We also talk love of road tripsand dive bar curiosity that
makes great marketers showing up, listening and earning
(01:52):
advocates.
One story and one sample at atime.
Whether we're just starting offor well into our careers,
looking for a new path,stephanie's playbook is packed
with lessons on grit,stewardship and storytelling
that sells, so it's our pleasureto welcome Stephanie Stuckey to
the program today.
Thank you for joining us onRetail Relate.
Stephanie S. (02:13):
Thanks, Rich, I'm excited to be here.
Rich H (02:15):
And, of course, today I'm joined by Gautham.
Mr Professor, how are you doingtoday?
Doing?
Gautham V. (02:20):
Wonderful.
I look forward to thisconversation and thank you again
for making time, Stephanie.
Stephanie S. (02:24):
My pleasure.
Rich H (02:25):
And Jamie Lynn, who I've had the privilege of knowing
for many, many years, and I'velearned a lot from her as a
serial entrepreneur.
Jaime Lynn (02:33):
Thanks, Rich.
I'm so excited for thisconversation today.
Stephanie, Awesome.
Stephanie S. (02:37):
Yeah, fellow entrepreneur, we'll have a lot
in common.
Rich H (02:41):
You have a very impressive bio.
What we want to do is start offwith something a little bit
more telling about who you are,and so, instead of just taking
us through the long history ofwho is Stephanie Stuckey, what
are the three pivotal momentsthat have shaped who you are and
that have brought you to whereyou are today?
Stephanie S. (03:00):
I'm going to answer that in the context of
what I'm doing now, which iswith Stuckey's, and I've had a
lot of pivotal moments, but Ithink the most important was
figuring out the businessstrategy to revive what I like
to refer to as an 88-year-oldstartup.
We had to reinvent Stucky'swhen I bought it five years ago.
(03:20):
It had a long and complicatedhistory with some ups and downs.
My grandfather started thecompany and built it from a
roadside con stand to at itspeak.
We had 370 convenience storesin 40 states and we were this
iconic institution that wassynonymous with taking the road
(03:40):
trip during a certain era reallypeaked in the 1970s.
But he sold the company out ofthe family for decades and,
frankly, was really on thedownward spiral when I had the
unexpected opportunity toacquire it.
And so just figuring out, like,what am I going to do with this?
We only had a dozen stores left.
We didn't own them, we didn'toperate them, they'd seen better
(04:02):
days.
How do you turn a companyaround?
And I'd never run a companybefore.
I kind of joked.
Yeah, I'm a fellow serialentrepreneur, but I'm an
entrepreneur and trying a lot ofdifferent things throughout my
life, but I'd never run abusiness before.
So I would say one of the keypivotal moments was figuring out
that I could not do this bymyself.
And it was almost a year beforeI found a business partner
(04:23):
who's just been such a blessingand a great fit for what the
company needed and hopefully webrought a lot of value to him as
well.
So his name's RG Lamar, and sothat was a pivotal moment
realizing you can't do thisstuff alone.
Running a business, taking on anew endeavor, it's really hard,
I like to say.
The entrepreneurial journey islonely, but you're not alone and
(04:45):
don't do it alone, it's a teamsport.
The second key pivot was RG andI, jointly as a team, figuring
out what we were going to do toturn this company around.
And I had a very specificmoment.
I can share that story atanother time.
But basically I realized thatthe store model was not going to
work.
We were continuing tohemorrhage cash and so we
(05:06):
decided we were going to focuson Stucky's as a consnack and
candy brand.
So pivoting the business modelthat was really key.
And then the third was buying amanufacturing facility.
So we started outsourcing,realized we had a hard time
controlling margin, controllingquality and also just
controlling the business ingeneral you know we were
(05:28):
constantly trying to figure outwhen the product would arrive
and managing the outsidemanufacturers, the
co-manufacturers and then alsothe retailers.
There's a lot to do there, andso if we really wanted to scale,
we figured we had to invest inmanufacturing.
So that was a big turning pointas well.
Those are three.
Rich H (05:47):
But this isn't what you set out to do.
What were your aspirations whenyou were growing up?
Stephanie S. (05:53):
Well, actually, in a way it is.
My big aspiration was always togive back to community, and
that's what I did for many years.
I initially thought, well, todo that you need to be in public
service, so I wanted to run foroffice.
I thought the pathway to runfor office and elected office
was to be a lawyer.
(06:14):
So I went to law school andthen I became passionate about
being a lawyer and so my firstpart of my career, first decade,
was being a lawyer and helpingothers.
I was a public defender.
I also worked in the stateprison system, so I really had
this passion for helping others.
And then I transitioned that torunning for the state
legislature and I served therefor 14 years and then I didn't
(06:36):
run for reelection.
I transitioned to being head ofsustainability for city of
Atlanta, devoting my career tothe environment and building
community around environment.
And now I'm building communityin a different way and you know
it's not just making pecansnacks and candy.
We really are passionate aboutemploying people.
(06:57):
Being in the small community ofRenz, georgia, we're the
largest employer, building jobs,building careers, employer
building jobs, building careers,helping people, and also the
type of retailers with whom wepartner, like Rich, we work with
you, we work with the Navy andNextCom.
We really value people who giveback to community, so the
(07:17):
military is one of our mostimportant accounts.
Because of that, we like toemploy veterans.
We give veterans discounts atour gift shop in Wrens, georgia,
so we just really it's.
Valuing community, valuingpartnerships, has been what my
career has always been about,and I've learned you can be in
business and do that too.
I didn't always think that andnow I've totally embraced it.
Gautham V. (07:40):
Stephanie, you talked about three pivotal
moments right in Stucky's newturnaround and I'm going to just
double click on it.
I'm the academic, so excuse me,I'm going to go off script.
Rich, you know this.
I am very curious For a lot ofthe students that I work with.
They all have thisentrepreneurial journey.
They start off as soloentrepreneurs before they
(08:00):
realize that, hey, they can't doit all right and they bring in.
But finding the right partneralmost in everything in life, as
well in business is critical.
How did you and RJ Lamar, if Iheard correctly, right, rj Lamar
?
Rj just think really quickly.
Okay, rj Lamar, how did youform this partnership?
(08:25):
What's the secret toidentifying a successful
business partner?
Stephanie S. (08:29):
What I think is really important is your network
, is your net worth.
You hear that all the time butreally you probably have within
your network of people you trustand know the right fit for your
business, and so I reallyturned to that.
That gets back to the wholesense of community and not doing
it alone.
So I sought advice, and myfather was actually the one who
(08:52):
suggested I connect with RG,because they knew one another.
My family has always had apecan farm and RG's family has
had a third generation pecanfarm business and they manage
pecan farms, including theStuckey's family farm, which is
really small.
We're 100 acres.
Rg manages, you know, in excessof 1,000 acres, so we were
(09:17):
small.
Well, he manages a lot morethan that.
He owns 1,000 acres, managesfarms all over the state, and so
we were one of the farms thatLamar Pecans managed, and so he
was the right person and he wasalso had the skill set I was
looking for, which is we werelooking for.
I was looking for a fit with CPG, consumer packaged goods,
(09:41):
bringing a product to market, sohe really had the farm to table
journey mapped out.
He had done that.
He had a small packaged goodpecan snack brand.
So you look for the skill setand then we met and we just
clicked and he is a person offaith, he's a person with values
and you find that shared senseof faith and values I think is
(10:04):
really important.
You've got to have somethingthat's really anchoring, that is
deeper than just, oh, we wantto make money, of course, you're
in business, you want to beprofitable, but it's got to have
a higher calling or else thosetough times are going to be
really hard.
You got to pick someone youwant to be in that foxhole with
when it's really hard.
Jaime Lynn (10:22):
So, Stephanie, you know, when you took over the
business, it wasn't just abusiness for you, right.
It was essentially a story thatneeded to be retold.
How did you honor the historyand the legacy but make it
relevant for today?
Stephanie S. (10:41):
I'm still working through that, so I would welcome
advice and input.
Maybe some of the peoplelistening to this as well can
chime in at some point, reachout to me, but I'd love your
thoughts on it.
But for me it's aboutstorytelling, because that's the
way people connect with oneanother, and I've got a treasure
trove of stories just alifetime of having the last name
, stucky where people come up tome and they share their Stucky
stories and so I share theirstories.
But I also try to distill whatis the deeper underlying current
(11:05):
there that really makes thatstory stick.
And stories stick if they havesomething that's interesting,
something that's authentic andsomething that's relevant, and
so you really look for one orall of those combinations.
So authentic is pretty easy.
You want the story to be real,like you might be able to riff
off of it a little bit to makeit more fun, but you want it to
(11:26):
be grounded in authenticity.
And then it's got to beinteresting.
It can't just be someone whosaid, oh, I took a lot of road
trips as a kid and we wouldalways pull over for a log roll
like yawn.
It's got to have somethingthat's a little bit of a punch
and then it's got to be relevant.
So that's where it gets to moreof a modern day.
So you try to look for timelessanecdotes.
I mean I have dozens and dozensof them.
(11:46):
I hear them every week.
One I heard after a speech was awoman came up to me and said
thank you, stuckey's taught mehow to read.
And I was like what?
And she said well, you had allthese billboards and it would
say Stuckey's 200 miles,stuckey's 100 miles, and your
billboards had all these funsayings.
And so I'm the youngest ofeight kids and you're kind of on
your own when you're theyoungest of eight kids.
(12:08):
And she said I would readbillboards.
And I said so was your firstword exit, you know.
So stuff like that you know.
I've had people who told methat they were so poor they
couldn't afford a log roll forthe.
You know, for everyone.
So they get this big log rolland they slice it up.
Mom would serve it up like pate.
So that's kind of a fun story.
(12:31):
And another kid who told me thathe had gotten left behind at a
Stucky's you usually hear thiswhen it's big families.
Those are some of my moreinteresting stories and his
parents actually went about halfan hour down the road.
It was like a home alone, buthome at Stucky's, and they had
to do a U-turn.
And his parents actually wentabout half an hour down the road
it was like a home alone, buthome at Stucky's, and they had
to do a U-turn.
And he said I was not scared atall, I was so happy.
(12:51):
I was like what do you mean?
You came and got me.
So you just tell stories andyou try to make it relevant.
Times can be hard and I thinkjust turning to some comfort and
nostalgia is really reassuring.
And comfort food is a thing andcomfort candy is really a thing
, and so I don't think candy isever going to go out of style
and I don't think nostalgia isever going to go out of style.
(13:13):
I think now more than ever.
Rich H (13:14):
I'll ask the question and it's probably an unfair
question, but it's kind of thechicken or the egg.
What was the spark?
The idea of the product or theidea of the story?
Obviously, both are critical toyou, but was there something
that drew you in as you decidedto go down this journey?
Stephanie S. (13:33):
Oh, why did I decide to buy Stucky's?
Well, it was for sale.
I wasn't looking for it.
I literally got a phone calland there's a group of investors
that own the company at thatpoint and they were looking to
sell and they were having a hardtime finding buyers.
And it was offered to me why Iactually did it.
Well, first I reached out toall my family members and nobody
(13:55):
else was interested and theyall said that's great, you go do
that.
No one wanted to do it.
My grandfather had sevengrandchildren and I was the only
one who said yes.
And really the reason I saidyes was pretty simple.
I loved my grandfather and Ithought what he did was pretty
amazing.
It's just the great Americandream.
You know, you start off withnothing.
(14:15):
It was during the GreatDepression and he had this
little stand and he worked hardand he made something of himself
and he created something reallyspecial.
That was this unique experience.
It wasn't just making convoysand snacks and selling kitschy
souvenirs, but it was creatingthis memory and experience that
people just treasure and Ithought that was so special and
(14:36):
I thought it was worth saving.
I think some things are worthsaving.
We see a lot of really greatbrands that have died and it
just hurts my soul when I seebrands that I just have this
really emotional, closeattachment to.
And I want a Polaroid camera.
I want to be able to shop atTower Records.
I'm kind of aging myself as aGen Xer, but there's just
(14:58):
certain things that make me sohappy and warm and I'm sad that
I can't go to Howard Johnson'sand order fried clams and a hojo
cola.
I just wanted to save it.
I thought it was worth saving.
Gautham V. (15:09):
I love the comment of worth saving right.
I'm a marketing professor, butas an academic researcher, I
study the existence of brandsand look, the reality is many
brands come and most die, right,they have longer cycles, some
have shorter cycles.
You started off by having thisconversation that stuckies is
(15:29):
still undergoing atransformation.
Companies are always looking totransform themselves to stay
relevant in today's economy, andyou talked about storytelling
and community as being pillarsto this transformation.
What else do you think drivesthis transformation for you?
And I also want to touch on thesecond point, the pivot point
(15:50):
that you said.
You said store model is notgoing to work.
So clearly you have made thatpivot.
How do you see stores playing arole in building a community,
being this memory, and what elseis elements of your
transformation if it's notstores?
Stephanie S. (16:06):
Wow, okay, that's a lot so.
Gautham V. (16:08):
I'll A lot of questions.
Stephanie S. (16:09):
Wow Okay, that's a lot so thanks, professor, I'll
tackle it as best I can.
So with the transformation,we've always sold product.
We just sold product andbranded Stucky stores.
And there still are a handfulof those licensed stores and I
value them and they're great.
But that's not enough torebuild a brand.
And so really, how we'rerebuilding the brand is still
(16:31):
through selling in stores.
It's just not Stucky stores.
So we're selling in retailersthat you'll find on the
interstate highway, like ClipperPetroleum, weigel's, road
Ranger.
We are just landing in HotStops, which is about a 60 store
chain in North Carolina.
We're in Rutters inPennsylvania.
So we're growing in thatC-store space.
(16:53):
But we're also growing ingrocery Food.
Lion and Ingalls are our twobiggest, and then Nextcom is a
great one for us.
So we're a military channel.
So just, we're growing in theseother channels and these other
retailers.
And I found what's important isto really lay your foundation
and what is true to your brand'sidentity.
(17:14):
Our brand has always beenclosely associated with road
trip, so we always try toconnect.
Even if you may be going toyour grocery store, we still
want that spirit of the roadtrip to be there.
We want you to think not justof getting in the car and
exploring America, but all thefeelings that are associated
with taking a road trip, the fun, the excitement, the
independence, that uniquelyAmerican experience.
(17:36):
We're a uniquely Americanproduct.
We get all of our pecans fromlocal farmers.
Pecans are the only snack nutnative to this country.
We make everything in ourfactory in small town Georgia.
So just all that connectivity,I think, to associations that
are fun and warm and exciting.
I think that's really importantin making that transition from
(17:57):
the Stuckey's retailers to ourpartner retailers.
It's all about thosepartnerships.
The hard part is we're doing iton a budget, so we can't just
throw money and say, all right,we want to.
You know we're going to be inWeigel, so here's, you know, a
$10,000 budget, which isprobably nothing for a lot of
retailers, but for us that'slike a big chunk.
You know you can't always throwmoney if you don't have the
(18:19):
money.
So we're trying to figure outlike how can we get that message
across in a scrappy way, almostlike guerrilla marketing?
Gautham V. (18:27):
I want to authenticate your strategy or
validate it in one personalanecdote.
So I come from India originally, right?
You know, when I first came, Iused to make these long drives
from Texas to Oklahoma to bewith family and part of the
Minnesota, like almost always itused to be to get these pecan
praline candies Wow, and thatwas something uniquely, and so
(18:51):
it is a taste that I love and Ibuy all the time now, and it's
it's associated with road tripsfor me, right so, and now with
my family, we do the same thing,and my daughters got addicted
to these things, uh, in a goodway.
So, yeah, it's a great idea.
Stephanie S. (19:12):
And see, that's another way you've touched upon.
Something else we're doing totry to get our brand to resonate
with the new generation ofconsumers is the pathway is
often through the parents oreven the grandparents and in
some cases, great grandparents.
I mean we've been around since1937.
So we've got generations whoknow our brand.
So it's not uncommon for me tomeet someone in their 30s to say
, oh, I know your brand, myparents love your brand, and so
then that's my opportunity tosay, well, you tried it and I do
(19:38):
a lot of pop-up tastings.
And I'll just call a retailerthat carries our product and say
, hey, can I set up a littletable?
I mean, I'm literally in my car, I drive around, I am a
traveling pop-up tasting booth.
I have a table, I have thetablecloth and the little.
I have a Stucky's pop-up banner.
I always have.
I always have product on me.
I don't care where I am.
I can be traveling by plane.
I am packing a case of logrolls.
(19:59):
I will hand out log rollswherever I go.
It's just constantly like snackand share, chat and chew.
You can't just give the product.
You have to talk to the personand say here's the story behind
the brand.
You're not just eating a pecanlog roll.
Pecans are the only snack nutnative to our country.
We made everything fresh in ourcandy plant.
This is my grandmother's recipe.
(20:20):
I called her big mama.
People want that.
They don't want just a well.
I think more and more that'swhat younger people especially
I've got two Gen Z kids and soI'm seeing this firsthand
they're craving something that'spersonal, that's unique.
Rich H (20:34):
So talk to me about the road trip, because that's how we
met.
On Lincoln, as you were, youwere telling your story and
getting people excited.
And then you happen to be herein Norfolk and we connected
after you had spoken at theconference, and I'm amazed at it
.
Almost seems like every dayyou're on the road somewhere and
you're sharing a scene and Ihadn't connected the dots that
(20:58):
you would have had a case of conlogs in your trunk, but now it
makes all the sense in the world.
How did that idea spark and howdoes that keep driving you?
Because that really is, I mean,that's guerrilla marketing and
it's fine.
Stephanie S. (21:12):
I will give credit to I do have.
So I have my main businesspartner, rg Lamar, who's the CEO
, and I'm the chair.
I started out as the CEO andquickly wanted him to be the CEO
.
He's doing a great job.
So I've got RG.
And then we have two otherinvestors and one of them is a
man named Ted Wright who runs amarketing firm called Fizz
(21:33):
Marketing and he wrote a bookcalled Fizz about word of mouth
marketing.
So I learned a lot of thosestrategies from him on how you
find what's the essence of yourbrand and then you just hone in
on it.
You tell stories around itconstantly to connect with other
people.
So Ted and I had a wholestrategy session where we just
(21:54):
threw out all the differentcharacteristics and attributes
for your brand.
This is such a great exercisefor anyone and you should really
almost do this exerciseregularly to just make sure
you're refreshing what yourbrand is all about and remind
yourself.
And so we just threw up on awhiteboard right, all the
different characteristics andwhat are the experiences
associated with our brand, andwe just kept circling things and
(22:17):
it all came back to the roadtrip.
And that's when Ted's one whoreally kind of put some real
flesh around those bones to say,all right, it's not just the
road trip, it's freedom, it'sindependence, it's independence,
it's control.
In a time when we feel sooverwhelmed with everything
that's happening in life to beable to just get in a car and
(22:39):
behind the wheel of a car, wesuddenly have control.
We may not have control in anyother aspect of our life, but
when you're driving, you get topick the tunes, you get to pick
where you pull over, you get topick what you see.
Oh and, by the way, you get topick your snacks.
What's a road trip about?
It's about snacks, and caloriesdon't apply when you're on the
road.
I like to say that, and it'strue, road trips are when you
(23:01):
treat yourself.
So he really helped me sort ofriff off that theme over and
over and over.
So whatever you figure out isgoing to be the essence of your
brand.
It's got to be something thatyou can come up with 365 stories
about and not have it be stale.
You could do that with a roadtrip.
I thought about the pecan.
We went back and forth on thepecan and I love pecans and I
(23:22):
write about them and talk aboutthem, but I don't have 365
stories Five years running now.
I mean, I post pretty muchevery day.
If I don't post, it means I'msick.
Jaime Lynn (23:36):
Well, I have been following you, you know, since
we planned out this podcast.
I love how you have made it afamily affair.
You know, I do the same thingwith my kids.
They're always coming into thevideo.
It just makes you real and itmakes you genuine.
And I was actually just readingsomething it was a statistic
that said I think it was like70% of people are willing to
purchase from a brand if theyknow that the founder or the
(23:58):
leader is authentic and is outthere and has a presence and
really believes in what they'redoing.
So talk to us a little bitabout.
Was that like a defining momentfor you to be the face of
Stucky's?
I mean, I know it's your lastname, but how do you
authentically and genuinely goout there every single day and
be the brand?
Stephanie S. (24:16):
Well, it's pretty easy.
I'm my own brand or the companybrand ambassador, because I'm
free.
I mean, we just we didn't havea big budget and so I can't
afford influencers.
They're expensive and not onlythat, I agree, it's not
authentic.
And also I'm frequently on theroad by myself, and so when I'm
(24:40):
looking for content, it's me orit's just taking photos of
product on the shelves, whichI'll do sometimes.
I try to take photos in aninteresting way and I'm also
self-taught.
But people engage with otherpeople.
So if you have a photo of aproduct versus a photo of
(25:02):
somebody engaging with theproduct, unless your photo is
like super amazing and creative,most times people are going to
gravitate towards the one thathas a human in it.
So that human, you know, 80% ofthe time is going to be me.
I'm doing my best to get morecontent with our team members,
with my business partners, withmy daughter.
(25:23):
My daughter is so cute and hassuch a great personality and
sometimes I just have to bribeher to get her to be in the.
I'm like come on, I'm payingyour tuition, come on, just do
this, and she's so good at it.
So, and my son barely is in andyell them and my team members
(25:47):
sometimes will be in them.
But I'll beg them.
I'll be like come on, you're,you're doing a trade show.
Can I, can I get photos?
And I will get photos of atrade show booth.
No people Yawn, can we get some?
And then it's a posed picturesometime and I'm like no people
want things that are different.
You have to have a littlepersonality.
(26:09):
I don't.
But it's hard because when youare 50-ish and I'm soon about to
hit a decade milestone so Ican't say I'm 50-ish anymore,
you know, you notice things likeI got lines under my eyes and
my hair is turning gray and Idon't look as thin as I did in
my 40s, and you just have to getover it.
(26:31):
It's hard sometimes, but youjust put yourself out there.
It's authentic.
You're doing a great job.
Yeah, no, it's authentic,because some days I don't look
super polished.
Rich H (26:43):
We haven't noticed.
But what I do notice when youdo post is you love to highlight
iconic diners or brands orbusinesses in other communities.
Stephanie S. (26:55):
Yeah, that's my jam, that's my personal thing,
and dive bars I love dive barsand fortunately that meshes very
well with our brand and so Ican.
I can talk about that and Ireally do strive not to be so
1980s that I want Gen Zers torelate.
(27:18):
I want millennials to relateand fortunately I have family
members in those categories.
So I'll reach out to them andsay, does this resonate?
But people love diners and so Ifind that that connects people.
Everyone loves a dive bar.
I really don't know anyone whosays it.
Maybe they don't, they justdon't say they don't but I think
(27:39):
people love dive bars of allages.
So I try to pick things thatpeople can just relate to.
Rich H (27:46):
One of the rapid fire questions may be what's your
favorite dive bar?
So you might want to prep forthat one.
Stephanie S. (27:51):
Oh, I don't need to prep, it's right down the
road from me.
The Claremont Lounge in Atlanta, georgia it's my local New Glid
App.
New York Club too, that's rightdown the street from me, and
then in Georgia, pinky Mastersin Savannah is just legendary.
Rich H (28:07):
I will go and I know it's kind of an old, an old
stable.
But Florivama was when I reallydiscovered what a dive bar was
on the Florida Alabama line.
Stephanie S. (28:15):
Yeah, national Dive Bar Day was this week and I
did a post about it on I thinkit was on X, and I'm on every
platform.
I try to make them different,so if you follow me on different
platforms you'll get differentcontent.
And I talked about, like, whatmakes a dive bar, and I had a
really good time coming up withthis list on my morning walk and
I was like, well, the barstools are always duct taped and
(28:37):
they've got really fun graffiti.
That's even more fun than aTikTok feed.
You know, the graffiti isawesome and they always have
Freebird on the jukebox andthey've got some guy at the end
of the bar his name is Red andhe's never not there and you
just look at it and you can telllike, yeah, that's a dive bar.
Rich H (28:56):
So let's talk strategy for a second so you're very open
bought the company and I wasreally on my own.
Stephanie S. (29:23):
I drew up a strategic plan and it was
focused on the stores, and sothat did not work, but the
branding strategy has beenconsistent.
Ted is really good at crafting.
Who's your audience when you'redoing this post and who do we
want the audience to be?
Who road trips?
(29:43):
Think of groups that road tripthat you want to make sure you
appeal to.
Think of groups that lovenostalgic candy that you want to
make sure you appeal to.
So, trying to make sure thatwe're crafting things in a way
that's going to be gearedtowards a specific audience.
That's one refinement of thestrategy that we've made.
So not so much a pivot, but likecontinually finessing to make
(30:05):
it more interesting.
I'll give an example.
One that I'm really starting tofocus on is RVers, because they
road trip, right, and so I justsigned up this week that I'm
going to be at the KOACampgrounds of America trade
show this year.
I'm going to go to theirconference and hang out with all
the owners of the KOAcampgrounds all over the country
(30:26):
and pitch selling Stucky'sproducts.
So how can I be more thoughtfulin telling a story in a way
that's going to resonate withRVers?
Motorcyclists, right, that'sanother one.
They love to road trip.
They like to take the backroads.
They like to take the backroads, they like to take the
scenic routes.
They always stay at motelsright so they can park their
motorcycle right outside theirwindow and keep an eye on it.
(30:48):
So what are they going to wantto see?
They like motels Just finessing, constantly finessing.
Jaime Lynn (30:53):
Stephanie, I want to ask you a question back to the
pivot of your career.
What is one piece of advice youwould have for students who are
just getting started in theircareer journey, or possibly
somebody who was looking to makea pivot in their career, like
you did?
Stephanie S. (31:07):
Don't be afraid to seek mentorship and advice.
Just ask questions.
Don't be embarrassed to askquestions and then also have
faith in yourself.
I think the times when I felt Ireally didn't go in the right
direction or I could have made abetter decision, there was when
I knew what I needed to bedoing and I didn't trust myself
(31:28):
enough.
And so I think having a supportsystem and having friends and
having people you really respect, that can run things by and say
, hey, can I do a gut check,like I think this is the way I
should be doing this, or justask an open-ended question, see
if they agree with you, so itgives you that confidence, and
then assert yourself.
Don't be afraid to assertyourself and speak your mind.
(31:50):
So, yeah, seek support andguidance from others and then
have some confidence in yourself.
Rich H (31:56):
So I'm going to jump back into the strategy part for
a second.
And, gautam, since you and I'mseeing it now kind of following
in your footsteps to a smalldegree at GMU that there are a
lot of students that are lookingto start their own businesses
and, stephanie, you mentionedthat you kind of started with
the, what I'll call thetraditional what's the store or
the and then you wrapped it intothe story.
(32:19):
Gautam, when you talk tostudents that are starting a
business or thinking about it,do they start with the tradition
and do you have a hard timebreaking from the story?
Gautham V. (32:29):
I think they don't even know what the story is
right.
To be quite honest, I thinkoftentimes they start with a
product and they go to build astory.
So maybe I'll take thatopportunity to ask you the
question on building brands.
Right, so, as I hear you speak,stephanie, you are the brand.
(32:49):
I think that's kind of a pointthat Jamie was also getting to.
What are the stages, if youwill, to building a brand?
How do you go from zero to one?
So now, of course, in Stucky'scase, how significant right Now,
talk, ask a professor andeducate our audience.
How do you go, build a brandand how do you stay consistent
(33:13):
to the brand message across time?
Stephanie S. (33:16):
I am probably not the best person to say how to
build a brand from ground up,because I've never done that.
I have built a brand orrebuilding a brand, and I
shouldn't say I.
I should say we, team Stuckies,we're rebuilding a brand and we
started on second base.
We already had a brand, we werehitting the refresh button on
(33:38):
it, so it's slightly different,and that, and you look at what's
the essence, what really makesthis brand special.
So I would think, if you'restarting at ground zero, think
about what the essence is.
And you said a lot of yourstudents start with a product.
Well, they probably came upwith that product because I
think what most entrepreneurs dois they problem solve.
(34:00):
So there must have been someproblem that they were trying to
fix that this product solves.
And so I would start with thestory of what does that solve?
How are you making people'slives better?
Why should anyone buy this?
Why should anyone care?
Why should anyone have aconnection with it?
And so figure out what is that?
(34:20):
What's that solve?
That makes things easier on allof us, and that's what we're
all searching for, is somethingthat's going to give us meaning
and that's it's going to help usconnect with other people.
At the core, that's everythingwe do, and so how can I
translate that to a product?
And so then the consistency isyou force yourself to get up
(34:41):
every day and tell the story.
Habits are, and thatconsistency it's that daily
practice is going to build ahabit and that's going to build
the discipline.
And I think the key to theconsistency is to give yourself
some grace.
If you miss a day, don't think,oh my gosh, I've screwed up,
(35:04):
I'm off track, so just get upthe next day and get back at it.
Keep pushing forward.
And I have a promotion calendar.
I have a calendar.
It's on a platform calledLoomly.
There's hundreds of platformsout there.
Whatever works for you.
There's hundreds of platformsout there.
Whatever works for you.
That's one that we have.
It's myself and a man namedMarcos Thomas on our team.
He's also doing sales, so wewear a lot of hats, but part of
(35:27):
his hat one of his hats ismarketing too, so he and I
collaborate on the marketingpiece and he helps me a lot with
the technology.
So we have a shared like here'swhat we need to be posting.
There's certain key themes.
We have a shared like.
Here's what we need to beposting.
There's certain key themes.
And then I actually have littlecards that one of my partners
created that just have differentthemes on it and he's like
(35:48):
listen, if you ever have a lowday, just pick a card.
It's like a deck of cards,right?
And it'll say all right, you'reposting about nostalgia today.
You're posting about how it'smade.
Today You're posting about aroad trip story.
Today You're posting aboutpecans and why they're special.
You're posting about made inthe USA.
You're talking about.
You're posting about family.
(36:08):
It just kind of helps you likeokay, today's a family story and
don't don't have too manythemes and you don't have to
overcomplicate it, because thereality is there's very few
people are going to be readingyour post every single day.
Most people are scrolling andyou just happen to hit on their
feed at the moment that they.
That's why you have to postevery day, because there's a
randomness to it.
So, even though I'm out thereevery day, rich isn't reading my
(36:30):
post every day.
You might, I might come acrossyour feed I don't know once
every couple of weeks.
So it's OK if I hit on roadtripping five out of 10 times,
because you're only going to seeit once, maybe, but if you
consistently see me postingabout that, that's what you say,
like it looks like you'realways on the road.
Well, sometimes I'm justworking from home or I'm at the
(36:51):
candy plant with a hairnet on,but I'm posting about being on
the road because I've got awhole library full of photos
that I take and save and post.
Rich H (37:00):
And I've seen you post from the factory with a hairnet
on.
Stephanie S. (37:03):
Yes, At least I don't have to do my hair.
It lends character.
Hey, if I don't have thehairnet on, I get so many
comments you are violating foodsafety standards.
What are you doing?
Yeah, or people say there's apiece of trash in the background
.
Oh my gosh.
I have to be so carefulWhenever I post from the factory
(37:23):
.
Everything has to look perfect.
Jaime Lynn (37:30):
Stephanie, you have dropped so many nuggets today
about your journey, but I wouldjust be curious to know what's
one piece of advice that youwere given and you would love to
share with our audience today.
Stephanie S. (37:39):
I've had a lot, one that just really sticks out
and is really basic.
But I think it came to me at atime when I was really down, and
this was during my legislativecareer.
I had a mentor who's now one ofmy very dear friends, mary
Margaret Oliver.
She's a state representativeand I had this bill that I
worked so hard on.
(37:59):
I worked on it for six years.
It was defeated three times onthe House floor.
By the way, it is what I ammost proud of At 14 years in
office.
It allowed for higher alcoholbeer to be sold in Georgia.
So there are thousands andthousands of craft beers in the
state of Georgia that are nowlegal because of this bill.
But at the time it was verycontroversial and I was being
(38:23):
fought by the traditional beermanufacturers and I was being
fought by Mothers AgainstDriving Drunk and the Christian
Coalition and it was just I meanjust crushing defeat.
I got defeated on the Housefloor, very public vote.
It was all over the mediabecause it was kind of an
interesting bill and people weresaying Stephanie Stuckey passed
(38:45):
the high alcohol, we're tryingto pass high alcohol beer
getting teenagers drunk bill.
And I mean it was.
It was bad and I was justsobbing in the women's bathroom
and she comes into the stalllike, whams the door and like,
hands me some tissue and she'slike don't ever let them see you
(39:06):
cry, you dry your face.
And she said, mush on.
So it was mush on.
And I think of that all the time.
When I have a hard moment I'mlike just mush on, it's, you're
in it for the long game.
It's a down moment, you're init for the long game.
If you know what you're doingis right, you just got to keep
at it.
And you know that high alcoholbeer is sold in every
(39:31):
convenience store in this state,just about.
It is one of the largesteconomic drivers in the beverage
industry in this state.
And pat myself on the back, youknow, and the whole team that
worked on that bill like we gotit done.
So you just mush on.
You know what you're doing isright, you just keep doing it.
Gautham V. (39:50):
So maybe that's a good time for me to ask a
follow-up question, right?
You said just so.
I love this conversation as aperson who studies passages of
Bill.
Only 2% of Bills ever getpassed, so congratulations on
getting it done at a later pointin time.
But how do people like talkstudents when they deal with
(40:12):
failure?
It's near to them, right?
It's not something that we talka lot about and oftentimes even
for me we don't have the toolsto cope with someone.
Yeah, they don't teach that,yeah, and it's hard to teach it.
It's through these stories thatpeople tell that you can.
(40:32):
So what would you give?
What advice would you give ourstudents Like if you're an
entrepreneur, you're bound todeal with failures, right, how
do you get back up?
How do you incorporate thosefailures into future success?
Do you have any tips that youcould give for our students or
audience in general?
It doesn't have to be studentsright On this very critical path
(40:55):
of being successful as anentrepreneur successful as an
entrepreneur.
Stephanie S. (41:01):
Yeah, I can give three tips.
First, be really grounded inwhat you're doing and you're
playing the long game so youknow what you're doing.
Have a very clear sense of notjust what you're doing but why
you're doing it and your whycannot be.
I want to make a lot of money.
That's just not your why.
It's not going to motivate you.
It's not I don't know anyonewho.
If that is their goal, that'sreally keeping them going.
(41:41):
No-transcript of community andwealth and and building jobs
where people have a pathway toprosperity.
You know like we really areinvested in that vision for the
entire team and we all want tomake pecans like America's big
(42:04):
snack nut.
My business partner is a thirdgeneration farmer, so just
having that like we're groundedin something, that is a why that
really drives you.
It's got to be a strong whythat drives you because you're
going to have some tough times.
So that is number one.
And number two is connected andthat's that's you're not alone,
Right, the best way throughfailure, I found, is knowing
(42:27):
that you are not in it alone.
A Buddhist saying help others tohelp yourself, help yourself to
help others.
We had a very big meeting thisweek that was.
That was tough.
I was feeling incrediblyanxious about it and I realized
the way I could help myself getthrough it was to reach out to
my business partner, because I'msure he had the same anxieties,
(42:48):
and to ask how can I help?
How can I help you?
Because he was doing the maintalking.
I said how can I help youprepare for this meeting and
what materials can I puttogether for you and how can I
bring value?
How can I help so you're notalone?
Help other, help your team.
They're going to help you.
You support one another.
Turn to your team, Turn to thepeople you're in the trenches
(43:09):
with.
And then the last thing is begrounded in a sense of
meditation or whatever thathigher spiritual connection is
that you have.
For me it's religious, but itdoesn't have to be.
It can just be having a senseof something that's spiritual
purpose, that's higher than you,and spend some time every
morning meditating.
How do you start your day?
Do you start your day with somepositive meditation?
(43:32):
I have all these meditations Ilisten to that are uplifting,
and I go for a walk and I listento it and I just try to get my
mind in the right place to dealwith adversity, because you are
going to have a lot of adversitythrown at you.
People who succeed aren'talways the smartest.
They don't always have the bestideas.
People don't give up.
Gautham V. (43:51):
I love it.
I took notes just to remindmyself of these.
I also want to make one comment, Stephanie, that stood out to
me in this whole chat that we'vebeen having, which is that
throughout this conversation,you have consistently of my
products that I work with Takinga step back.
Can you just, is that somethingreal Like?
(44:13):
Is that a real issue?
How do you know when to stepback, when to let someone else
take the lead?
Stephanie S. (44:30):
Yeah, you have to listen to other people and ask
them to be brutally honest andsay, okay, what's my strength,
what's not my strength?
I'm good at the brand and thestorytelling.
My strength is not thefinancials, it's not talking the
deal terms.
I'm not a great closer, I'm abetter opener and I've asked my
(44:53):
business partner for some verycandid feedback on how I do when
we do pitches.
And he's like Stephanie, you'regreat at the opening, tell the
story, tell the history of thebrand, tell why the brand's
relevant.
There's so much passion,there's so much energy, like
that's great.
He's like please don't do thedeal terms.
He's like you go off script,you get very enthusiastic and
(45:15):
sometimes you over promise andwe can't fulfill.
Or you throw a number out andthe number's wrong and we've got
to backtrack, and he's likejust don't do it.
I'm like heard, I hear itUnderstood, and so I've got to
check myself and sometimes Iknow, when there's an email
that's going to someoneimportant, that's relating to
(45:37):
financing or a pitch, I'll do adraft and send it to my partner
and say, all right, review this,and maybe you need to be the
one to send it, but here's thedraft.
So just try to have someself-awareness and even if you
don't be humble enough to askpeople and really really listen
when they say, hey, sometimesthis isn't your strength, I've
got other things I can do thatare going to bring value to the
(46:00):
team and I'm going to rely onthem to do their part, and I
feel confident they're going todo it.
Rich H (46:06):
All right, Jamie Lynn, why don't you kick off the rapid
fire round?
Jaime Lynn (46:09):
Okay, I need to know , Stephanie, what's your most
favorite road, route 66.
Stephanie S. (46:14):
Yeah, and I've never done the full stretch.
I've done pieces of it in everystate, but I have not done the
entire mother road from start tofinish.
And next year is the 100thanniversary of Route 66.
And it is my 60th birthday is aweek before 2026.
So I'm going to celebrate my60th birthday in 2026, 60 on
(46:38):
Route 66, and my kids havealready signed up for it.
And so at some point next yearI am going to finally take a
vacation which I haven't takenin a while.
I'm going to do the ultimateMother Road road trip.
I'm going to drive Route 66 inan RV, I hope.
Jaime Lynn (46:53):
That is fantastic.
You will have content for days.
Stephanie S. (46:56):
Yes, oh yeah, and I'll have fun.
We'll have fun.
Yes, oh yeah, and I'll have fun.
Gautham V. (46:59):
We'll have fun and I can't wait to hear how that
trip went.
So, sticking with that roadtrip, what would be the comfort
food that you take with you?
Not the Stucky's pecan roll.
Outside of that, what else willyou be taking with?
Stephanie S. (47:15):
you.
Oh, I have to give a shout outto my other third generation and
fourth generation nostalgicbrand.
So moon pie, which is a fourth,fifth generation, sam campbell.
I think he's the fifth now, buthe's he's fifth generation.
He's younger than I am and heis poised to take over moon pie.
That's a great road trip food.
(47:37):
Goo goo uh, laurie spradleyruns that company.
Uh, that's a.
That's a great road trip food.
Goo Goo.
Lori Spradley runs that company.
That's a great heritage brand.
I absolutely love Goo Goo.
I like Cheer Wine, which is aNorth Carolina drink, but of
course I'm from Atlanta, I livein Atlanta and so got to give a
shout out to Coca-Cola, got tohave a Coke.
That's a great one.
(47:58):
Got to have something crunchy,right.
I love Dot's Pretzels becauseDot is my Shiro I hope to meet
her at some point North Dakotahousewife who had this amazing
recipe and hustled and becamethis incredibly successful
entrepreneur and sold her brandfor a reported I think it may
(48:19):
even be a billion, I don't know.
She sold out to Hershey and didokay.
So Dots Pretzels classic.
I want the classic flavor.
I want the ranch.
Rich H (48:28):
All right.
So, sticking with the retailtheme, you've been on road trips
, you've been in gift shops.
What's that one thing that youpicked up that you either
absolutely love or absolutelyregret, but it was that impulse
item when you were on the road.
Stephanie S. (48:42):
Oh, I have a dashboard Jesus that I love.
You know you stick him on yourdash and he wobbles.
Yeah, you can also get a hulagirl.
I love a good dashboard littlestatuette.
I think they're so much fun.
Rich H (48:54):
I'm a Jeep owner, so my dashboard my daughter just
decorated it with about 20 ducks.
Stephanie S. (48:58):
Oh fun, it's a little talisman, it's a little
good luck.
I rub my plastic Jesus headwhen the weather's bad and pray
for safe travels.
He gets me through it.
Rich H (49:08):
Well, that is awesome, stephanie.
I really appreciate you joiningus today.
This was a fantasticconversation, and I will tell
you, for somebody who didn'tnecessarily intend on jumping
into a brand like this, you'vedone more than just recraft it.
You've created a new version ofit.
So I think there's a lot oflessons learned, both personally
and professionally, in here.
Stephanie S. (49:27):
Thank you, it's just a delight talking to all of
you and, gotham, we're going tofollow up with your class.
Right?
I want to be a class project.
Gautham V. (49:34):
I would love that.
Yes, I would love that.
Stephanie S. (49:37):
Yeah, jamie, I welcome any advice you have in
the future.
So this is just absolutely Iwould love that.
Yeah, jamie, I welcome anyadvice you have in the future.
Jaime Lynn (49:41):
So this is just Absolutely.
I would love to stay connected.
You are worth such a pleasureto talk to and I'm just so
inspired by everything thatyou've done and will continue to
cheer on Stucky, thank you.
What does it take to revive an American icon, owning
manufacturing, buildingcommunity mile by mile and
turning nostalgia into momentum?
Today, we go from thestatehouse to the open road with
Stephanie Stuckey.
Stephanie Stuckey is the chairof Stuckey's, the iconic
roadside brand known for itspecan log rolls and its quirky
highway charm.
Founded in 1937 by hergrandfather, ws Stuckey Sr, the
(00:24):
company grew to over 350 storesnationwide, at its peak in the
1970s, before decades of declineunder outside ownership.
In 2019, stephanie reacquiredthe then-failing business,
returning it to family hands.
In 2021, Stuckey's purchased apecan snack and candy plant in
Wrenge, georgia, fueling aturnaround that has grown sales
(00:46):
fivefold.
Today, the company operates adistribution center, fundraising
business, corporate giftprogram and online store.
A graduate of the University ofGeorgia School of Law,
stephanie's career spans triallaw, seven terms as a Georgia
State Representative, directorof Sustainability for Atlanta,
and teaching at UGA Law.
(01:08):
She serves on the boards ofBeals and Full Course and has
been recognized as one of themost admired CEOs by the Atlanta
Business Chronicle and amongthe 100 most influential
Georgians by Georgia Trend.
Her 2024 book Unstuck Rebirthof an American Icon has been
praised by the Wall StreetJournal and Georgia Public
Broadcasting.
(01:28):
In this conversation.
We dig into the operator's viewbehind the comeback, why owning
production changed the math,how a grassroots road warrior
approach beats spray and pray,and how to keep nostalgia as a
doorway, not a destination, sothe brand stays fresh for new
fans.
We also talk love of road tripsand dive bar curiosity that
makes great marketers showing up, listening and earning
(01:52):
advocates.
One story and one sample at atime.
Whether we're just starting offor well into our careers,
looking for a new path,stephanie's playbook is packed
with lessons on grit,stewardship and storytelling
that sells, so it's our pleasureto welcome Stephanie Stuckey to
the program today.
Thank you for joining us onRetail Relate.
Stephanie S. (02:13):
Thanks, Rich, I'm excited to be here.
Rich H (02:15):
And, of course, today I'm joined by Gautham.
Mr Professor, how are you doingtoday?
Doing?
Gautham V. (02:20):
Wonderful.
I look forward to thisconversation and thank you again
for making time, Stephanie.
Stephanie S. (02:24):
My pleasure.
Rich H (02:25):
And Jamie Lynn, who I've had the privilege of knowing
for many, many years, and I'velearned a lot from her as a
serial entrepreneur.
Jaime Lynn (02:33):
Thanks, Rich.
I'm so excited for thisconversation today.
Stephanie, Awesome.
Stephanie S. (02:37):
Yeah, fellow entrepreneur, we'll have a lot
in common.
Rich H (02:41):
You have a very impressive bio.
What we want to do is start offwith something a little bit
more telling about who you are,and so, instead of just taking
us through the long history ofwho is Stephanie Stuckey, what
are the three pivotal momentsthat have shaped who you are and
that have brought you to whereyou are today?
Stephanie S. (03:00):
I'm going to answer that in the context of
what I'm doing now, which iswith Stuckey's, and I've had a
lot of pivotal moments, but Ithink the most important was
figuring out the businessstrategy to revive what I like
to refer to as an 88-year-oldstartup.
We had to reinvent Stucky'swhen I bought it five years ago.
(03:20):
It had a long and complicatedhistory with some ups and downs.
My grandfather started thecompany and built it from a
roadside con stand to at itspeak.
We had 370 convenience storesin 40 states and we were this
iconic institution that wassynonymous with taking the road
(03:40):
trip during a certain era reallypeaked in the 1970s.
But he sold the company out ofthe family for decades and,
frankly, was really on thedownward spiral when I had the
unexpected opportunity toacquire it.
And so just figuring out, like,what am I going to do with this?
We only had a dozen stores left.
We didn't own them, we didn'toperate them, they'd seen better
(04:02):
days.
How do you turn a companyaround?
And I'd never run a companybefore.
I kind of joked.
Yeah, I'm a fellow serialentrepreneur, but I'm an
entrepreneur and trying a lot ofdifferent things throughout my
life, but I'd never run abusiness before.
So I would say one of the keypivotal moments was figuring out
that I could not do this bymyself.
And it was almost a year beforeI found a business partner
(04:23):
who's just been such a blessingand a great fit for what the
company needed and hopefully webrought a lot of value to him as
well.
So his name's RG Lamar, and sothat was a pivotal moment
realizing you can't do thisstuff alone.
Running a business, taking on anew endeavor, it's really hard,
I like to say.
The entrepreneurial journey islonely, but you're not alone and
(04:45):
don't do it alone, it's a teamsport.
The second key pivot was RG andI, jointly as a team, figuring
out what we were going to do toturn this company around.
And I had a very specificmoment.
I can share that story atanother time.
But basically I realized thatthe store model was not going to
work.
We were continuing tohemorrhage cash and so we
(05:06):
decided we were going to focuson Stucky's as a consnack and
candy brand.
So pivoting the business modelthat was really key.
And then the third was buying amanufacturing facility.
So we started outsourcing,realized we had a hard time
controlling margin, controllingquality and also just
controlling the business ingeneral you know we were
(05:28):
constantly trying to figure outwhen the product would arrive
and managing the outsidemanufacturers, the
co-manufacturers and then alsothe retailers.
There's a lot to do there, andso if we really wanted to scale,
we figured we had to invest inmanufacturing.
So that was a big turning pointas well.
Those are three.
Rich H (05:47):
But this isn't what you set out to do.
What were your aspirations whenyou were growing up?
Stephanie S. (05:53):
Well, actually, in a way it is.
My big aspiration was always togive back to community, and
that's what I did for many years.
I initially thought, well, todo that you need to be in public
service, so I wanted to run foroffice.
I thought the pathway to runfor office and elected office
was to be a lawyer.
(06:14):
So I went to law school andthen I became passionate about
being a lawyer and so my firstpart of my career, first decade,
was being a lawyer and helpingothers.
I was a public defender.
I also worked in the stateprison system, so I really had
this passion for helping others.
And then I transitioned that torunning for the state
legislature and I served therefor 14 years and then I didn't
(06:36):
run for reelection.
I transitioned to being head ofsustainability for city of
Atlanta, devoting my career tothe environment and building
community around environment.
And now I'm building communityin a different way and you know
it's not just making pecansnacks and candy.
We really are passionate aboutemploying people.
(06:57):
Being in the small community ofRenz, georgia, we're the
largest employer, building jobs,building careers, employer
building jobs, building careers,helping people, and also the
type of retailers with whom wepartner, like Rich, we work with
you, we work with the Navy andNextCom.
We really value people who giveback to community, so the
(07:17):
military is one of our mostimportant accounts.
Because of that, we like toemploy veterans.
We give veterans discounts atour gift shop in Wrens, georgia,
so we just really it's.
Valuing community, valuingpartnerships, has been what my
career has always been about,and I've learned you can be in
business and do that too.
I didn't always think that andnow I've totally embraced it.
Gautham V. (07:40):
Stephanie, you talked about three pivotal
moments right in Stucky's newturnaround and I'm going to just
double click on it.
I'm the academic, so excuse me,I'm going to go off script.
Rich, you know this.
I am very curious For a lot ofthe students that I work with.
They all have thisentrepreneurial journey.
They start off as soloentrepreneurs before they
(08:00):
realize that, hey, they can't doit all right and they bring in.
But finding the right partneralmost in everything in life, as
well in business is critical.
How did you and RJ Lamar, if Iheard correctly, right, rj Lamar
?
Rj just think really quickly.
Okay, rj Lamar, how did youform this partnership?
(08:25):
What's the secret toidentifying a successful
business partner?
Stephanie S. (08:29):
What I think is really important is your network
, is your net worth.
You hear that all the time butreally you probably have within
your network of people you trustand know the right fit for your
business, and so I reallyturned to that.
That gets back to the wholesense of community and not doing
it alone.
So I sought advice, and myfather was actually the one who
(08:52):
suggested I connect with RG,because they knew one another.
My family has always had apecan farm and RG's family has
had a third generation pecanfarm business and they manage
pecan farms, including theStuckey's family farm, which is
really small.
We're 100 acres.
Rg manages, you know, in excessof 1,000 acres, so we were
(09:17):
small.
Well, he manages a lot morethan that.
He owns 1,000 acres, managesfarms all over the state, and so
we were one of the farms thatLamar Pecans managed, and so he
was the right person and he wasalso had the skill set I was
looking for, which is we werelooking for.
I was looking for a fit with CPG, consumer packaged goods,
(09:41):
bringing a product to market, sohe really had the farm to table
journey mapped out.
He had done that.
He had a small packaged goodpecan snack brand.
So you look for the skill setand then we met and we just
clicked and he is a person offaith, he's a person with values
and you find that shared senseof faith and values I think is
(10:04):
really important.
You've got to have somethingthat's really anchoring, that is
deeper than just, oh, we wantto make money, of course, you're
in business, you want to beprofitable, but it's got to have
a higher calling or else thosetough times are going to be
really hard.
You got to pick someone youwant to be in that foxhole with
when it's really hard.
Jaime Lynn (10:22):
So, Stephanie, you know, when you took over the
business, it wasn't just abusiness for you, right.
It was essentially a story thatneeded to be retold.
How did you honor the historyand the legacy but make it
relevant for today?
Stephanie S. (10:41):
I'm still working through that, so I would welcome
advice and input.
Maybe some of the peoplelistening to this as well can
chime in at some point, reachout to me, but I'd love your
thoughts on it.
But for me it's aboutstorytelling, because that's the
way people connect with oneanother, and I've got a treasure
trove of stories just alifetime of having the last name
, stucky where people come up tome and they share their Stucky
stories and so I share theirstories.
But I also try to distill whatis the deeper underlying current
(11:05):
there that really makes thatstory stick.
And stories stick if they havesomething that's interesting,
something that's authentic andsomething that's relevant, and
so you really look for one orall of those combinations.
So authentic is pretty easy.
You want the story to be real,like you might be able to riff
off of it a little bit to makeit more fun, but you want it to
(11:26):
be grounded in authenticity.
And then it's got to beinteresting.
It can't just be someone whosaid, oh, I took a lot of road
trips as a kid and we wouldalways pull over for a log roll
like yawn.
It's got to have somethingthat's a little bit of a punch
and then it's got to be relevant.
So that's where it gets to moreof a modern day.
So you try to look for timelessanecdotes.
I mean I have dozens and dozensof them.
(11:46):
I hear them every week.
One I heard after a speech was awoman came up to me and said
thank you, stuckey's taught mehow to read.
And I was like what?
And she said well, you had allthese billboards and it would
say Stuckey's 200 miles,stuckey's 100 miles, and your
billboards had all these funsayings.
And so I'm the youngest ofeight kids and you're kind of on
your own when you're theyoungest of eight kids.
(12:08):
And she said I would readbillboards.
And I said so was your firstword exit, you know.
So stuff like that you know.
I've had people who told methat they were so poor they
couldn't afford a log roll forthe.
You know, for everyone.
So they get this big log rolland they slice it up.
Mom would serve it up like pate.
So that's kind of a fun story.
(12:31):
And another kid who told me thathe had gotten left behind at a
Stucky's you usually hear thiswhen it's big families.
Those are some of my moreinteresting stories and his
parents actually went about halfan hour down the road.
It was like a home alone, buthome at Stucky's, and they had
to do a U-turn.
And his parents actually wentabout half an hour down the road
it was like a home alone, buthome at Stucky's, and they had
to do a U-turn.
And he said I was not scared atall, I was so happy.
(12:51):
I was like what do you mean?
You came and got me.
So you just tell stories andyou try to make it relevant.
Times can be hard and I thinkjust turning to some comfort and
nostalgia is really reassuring.
And comfort food is a thing andcomfort candy is really a thing
, and so I don't think candy isever going to go out of style
and I don't think nostalgia isever going to go out of style.
(13:13):
I think now more than ever.
Rich H (13:14):
I'll ask the question and it's probably an unfair
question, but it's kind of thechicken or the egg.
What was the spark?
The idea of the product or theidea of the story?
Obviously, both are critical toyou, but was there something
that drew you in as you decidedto go down this journey?
Stephanie S. (13:33):
Oh, why did I decide to buy Stucky's?
Well, it was for sale.
I wasn't looking for it.
I literally got a phone calland there's a group of investors
that own the company at thatpoint and they were looking to
sell and they were having a hardtime finding buyers.
And it was offered to me why Iactually did it.
Well, first I reached out toall my family members and nobody
(13:55):
else was interested and theyall said that's great, you go do
that.
No one wanted to do it.
My grandfather had sevengrandchildren and I was the only
one who said yes.
And really the reason I saidyes was pretty simple.
I loved my grandfather and Ithought what he did was pretty
amazing.
It's just the great Americandream.
You know, you start off withnothing.
(14:15):
It was during the GreatDepression and he had this
little stand and he worked hardand he made something of himself
and he created something reallyspecial.
That was this unique experience.
It wasn't just making convoysand snacks and selling kitschy
souvenirs, but it was creatingthis memory and experience that
people just treasure and Ithought that was so special and
(14:36):
I thought it was worth saving.
I think some things are worthsaving.
We see a lot of really greatbrands that have died and it
just hurts my soul when I seebrands that I just have this
really emotional, closeattachment to.
And I want a Polaroid camera.
I want to be able to shop atTower Records.
I'm kind of aging myself as aGen Xer, but there's just
(14:58):
certain things that make me sohappy and warm and I'm sad that
I can't go to Howard Johnson'sand order fried clams and a hojo
cola.
I just wanted to save it.
I thought it was worth saving.
Gautham V. (15:09):
I love the comment of worth saving right.
I'm a marketing professor, butas an academic researcher, I
study the existence of brandsand look, the reality is many
brands come and most die, right,they have longer cycles, some
have shorter cycles.
You started off by having thisconversation that stuckies is
(15:29):
still undergoing atransformation.
Companies are always looking totransform themselves to stay
relevant in today's economy, andyou talked about storytelling
and community as being pillarsto this transformation.
What else do you think drivesthis transformation for you?
And I also want to touch on thesecond point, the pivot point
(15:50):
that you said.
You said store model is notgoing to work.
So clearly you have made thatpivot.
How do you see stores playing arole in building a community,
being this memory, and what elseis elements of your
transformation if it's notstores?
Stephanie S. (16:06):
Wow, okay, that's a lot so.
Gautham V. (16:08):
I'll A lot of questions.
Stephanie S. (16:09):
Wow Okay, that's a lot so thanks, professor, I'll
tackle it as best I can.
So with the transformation,we've always sold product.
We just sold product andbranded Stucky stores.
And there still are a handfulof those licensed stores and I
value them and they're great.
But that's not enough torebuild a brand.
And so really, how we'rerebuilding the brand is still
(16:31):
through selling in stores.
It's just not Stucky stores.
So we're selling in retailersthat you'll find on the
interstate highway, like ClipperPetroleum, weigel's, road
Ranger.
We are just landing in HotStops, which is about a 60 store
chain in North Carolina.
We're in Rutters inPennsylvania.
So we're growing in thatC-store space.
(16:53):
But we're also growing ingrocery Food.
Lion and Ingalls are our twobiggest, and then Nextcom is a
great one for us.
So we're a military channel.
So just, we're growing in theseother channels and these other
retailers.
And I found what's important isto really lay your foundation
and what is true to your brand'sidentity.
(17:14):
Our brand has always beenclosely associated with road
trip, so we always try toconnect.
Even if you may be going toyour grocery store, we still
want that spirit of the roadtrip to be there.
We want you to think not justof getting in the car and
exploring America, but all thefeelings that are associated
with taking a road trip, the fun, the excitement, the
independence, that uniquelyAmerican experience.
(17:36):
We're a uniquely Americanproduct.
We get all of our pecans fromlocal farmers.
Pecans are the only snack nutnative to this country.
We make everything in ourfactory in small town Georgia.
So just all that connectivity,I think, to associations that
are fun and warm and exciting.
I think that's really importantin making that transition from
(17:57):
the Stuckey's retailers to ourpartner retailers.
It's all about thosepartnerships.
The hard part is we're doing iton a budget, so we can't just
throw money and say, all right,we want to.
You know we're going to be inWeigel, so here's, you know, a
$10,000 budget, which isprobably nothing for a lot of
retailers, but for us that'slike a big chunk.
You know you can't always throwmoney if you don't have the
(18:19):
money.
So we're trying to figure outlike how can we get that message
across in a scrappy way, almostlike guerrilla marketing?
Gautham V. (18:27):
I want to authenticate your strategy or
validate it in one personalanecdote.
So I come from India originally, right?
You know, when I first came, Iused to make these long drives
from Texas to Oklahoma to bewith family and part of the
Minnesota, like almost always itused to be to get these pecan
praline candies Wow, and thatwas something uniquely, and so
(18:51):
it is a taste that I love and Ibuy all the time now, and it's
it's associated with road tripsfor me, right so, and now with
my family, we do the same thing,and my daughters got addicted
to these things, uh, in a goodway.
So, yeah, it's a great idea.
Stephanie S. (19:12):
And see, that's another way you've touched upon.
Something else we're doing totry to get our brand to resonate
with the new generation ofconsumers is the pathway is
often through the parents oreven the grandparents and in
some cases, great grandparents.
I mean we've been around since1937.
So we've got generations whoknow our brand.
So it's not uncommon for me tomeet someone in their 30s to say
, oh, I know your brand, myparents love your brand, and so
then that's my opportunity tosay, well, you tried it and I do
(19:38):
a lot of pop-up tastings.
And I'll just call a retailerthat carries our product and say
, hey, can I set up a littletable?
I mean, I'm literally in my car, I drive around, I am a
traveling pop-up tasting booth.
I have a table, I have thetablecloth and the little.
I have a Stucky's pop-up banner.
I always have.
I always have product on me.
I don't care where I am.
I can be traveling by plane.
I am packing a case of logrolls.
(19:59):
I will hand out log rollswherever I go.
It's just constantly like snackand share, chat and chew.
You can't just give the product.
You have to talk to the personand say here's the story behind
the brand.
You're not just eating a pecanlog roll.
Pecans are the only snack nutnative to our country.
We made everything fresh in ourcandy plant.
This is my grandmother's recipe.
(20:20):
I called her big mama.
People want that.
They don't want just a well.
I think more and more that'swhat younger people especially
I've got two Gen Z kids and soI'm seeing this firsthand
they're craving something that'spersonal, that's unique.
Rich H (20:34):
So talk to me about the road trip, because that's how we
met.
On Lincoln, as you were, youwere telling your story and
getting people excited.
And then you happen to be herein Norfolk and we connected
after you had spoken at theconference, and I'm amazed at it
.
Almost seems like every dayyou're on the road somewhere and
you're sharing a scene and Ihadn't connected the dots that
(20:58):
you would have had a case of conlogs in your trunk, but now it
makes all the sense in the world.
How did that idea spark and howdoes that keep driving you?
Because that really is, I mean,that's guerrilla marketing and
it's fine.
Stephanie S. (21:12):
I will give credit to I do have.
So I have my main businesspartner, rg Lamar, who's the CEO
, and I'm the chair.
I started out as the CEO andquickly wanted him to be the CEO
.
He's doing a great job.
So I've got RG.
And then we have two otherinvestors and one of them is a
man named Ted Wright who runs amarketing firm called Fizz
(21:33):
Marketing and he wrote a bookcalled Fizz about word of mouth
marketing.
So I learned a lot of thosestrategies from him on how you
find what's the essence of yourbrand and then you just hone in
on it.
You tell stories around itconstantly to connect with other
people.
So Ted and I had a wholestrategy session where we just
(21:54):
threw out all the differentcharacteristics and attributes
for your brand.
This is such a great exercisefor anyone and you should really
almost do this exerciseregularly to just make sure
you're refreshing what yourbrand is all about and remind
yourself.
And so we just threw up on awhiteboard right, all the
different characteristics andwhat are the experiences
associated with our brand, andwe just kept circling things and
(22:17):
it all came back to the roadtrip.
And that's when Ted's one whoreally kind of put some real
flesh around those bones to say,all right, it's not just the
road trip, it's freedom, it'sindependence, it's independence,
it's control.
In a time when we feel sooverwhelmed with everything
that's happening in life to beable to just get in a car and
(22:39):
behind the wheel of a car, wesuddenly have control.
We may not have control in anyother aspect of our life, but
when you're driving, you get topick the tunes, you get to pick
where you pull over, you get topick what you see.
Oh and, by the way, you get topick your snacks.
What's a road trip about?
It's about snacks, and caloriesdon't apply when you're on the
road.
I like to say that, and it'strue, road trips are when you
(23:01):
treat yourself.
So he really helped me sort ofriff off that theme over and
over and over.
So whatever you figure out isgoing to be the essence of your
brand.
It's got to be something thatyou can come up with 365 stories
about and not have it be stale.
You could do that with a roadtrip.
I thought about the pecan.
We went back and forth on thepecan and I love pecans and I
(23:22):
write about them and talk aboutthem, but I don't have 365
stories Five years running now.
I mean, I post pretty muchevery day.
If I don't post, it means I'msick.
Jaime Lynn (23:36):
Well, I have been following you, you know, since
we planned out this podcast.
I love how you have made it afamily affair.
You know, I do the same thingwith my kids.
They're always coming into thevideo.
It just makes you real and itmakes you genuine.
And I was actually just readingsomething it was a statistic
that said I think it was like70% of people are willing to
purchase from a brand if theyknow that the founder or the
(23:58):
leader is authentic and is outthere and has a presence and
really believes in what they'redoing.
So talk to us a little bitabout.
Was that like a defining momentfor you to be the face of
Stucky's?
I mean, I know it's your lastname, but how do you
authentically and genuinely goout there every single day and
be the brand?
Stephanie S. (24:16):
Well, it's pretty easy.
I'm my own brand or the companybrand ambassador, because I'm
free.
I mean, we just we didn't havea big budget and so I can't
afford influencers.
They're expensive and not onlythat, I agree, it's not
authentic.
And also I'm frequently on theroad by myself, and so when I'm
(24:40):
looking for content, it's me orit's just taking photos of
product on the shelves, whichI'll do sometimes.
I try to take photos in aninteresting way and I'm also
self-taught.
But people engage with otherpeople.
So if you have a photo of aproduct versus a photo of
(25:02):
somebody engaging with theproduct, unless your photo is
like super amazing and creative,most times people are going to
gravitate towards the one thathas a human in it.
So that human, you know, 80% ofthe time is going to be me.
I'm doing my best to get morecontent with our team members,
with my business partners, withmy daughter.
(25:23):
My daughter is so cute and hassuch a great personality and
sometimes I just have to bribeher to get her to be in the.
I'm like come on, I'm payingyour tuition, come on, just do
this, and she's so good at it.
So, and my son barely is in andyell them and my team members
(25:47):
sometimes will be in them.
But I'll beg them.
I'll be like come on, you're,you're doing a trade show.
Can I, can I get photos?
And I will get photos of atrade show booth.
No people Yawn, can we get some?
And then it's a posed picturesometime and I'm like no people
want things that are different.
You have to have a littlepersonality.
(26:09):
I don't.
But it's hard because when youare 50-ish and I'm soon about to
hit a decade milestone so Ican't say I'm 50-ish anymore,
you know, you notice things likeI got lines under my eyes and
my hair is turning gray and Idon't look as thin as I did in
my 40s, and you just have to getover it.
(26:31):
It's hard sometimes, but youjust put yourself out there.
It's authentic.
You're doing a great job.
Yeah, no, it's authentic,because some days I don't look
super polished.
Rich H (26:43):
We haven't noticed.
But what I do notice when youdo post is you love to highlight
iconic diners or brands orbusinesses in other communities.
Stephanie S. (26:55):
Yeah, that's my jam, that's my personal thing,
and dive bars I love dive barsand fortunately that meshes very
well with our brand and so Ican.
I can talk about that and Ireally do strive not to be so
1980s that I want Gen Zers torelate.
(27:18):
I want millennials to relateand fortunately I have family
members in those categories.
So I'll reach out to them andsay, does this resonate?
But people love diners and so Ifind that that connects people.
Everyone loves a dive bar.
I really don't know anyone whosays it.
Maybe they don't, they justdon't say they don't but I think
(27:39):
people love dive bars of allages.
So I try to pick things thatpeople can just relate to.
Rich H (27:46):
One of the rapid fire questions may be what's your
favorite dive bar?
So you might want to prep forthat one.
Stephanie S. (27:51):
Oh, I don't need to prep, it's right down the
road from me.
The Claremont Lounge in Atlanta, georgia it's my local New Glid
App.
New York Club too, that's rightdown the street from me, and
then in Georgia, pinky Mastersin Savannah is just legendary.
Rich H (28:07):
I will go and I know it's kind of an old, an old
stable.
But Florivama was when I reallydiscovered what a dive bar was
on the Florida Alabama line.
Stephanie S. (28:15):
Yeah, national Dive Bar Day was this week and I
did a post about it on I thinkit was on X, and I'm on every
platform.
I try to make them different,so if you follow me on different
platforms you'll get differentcontent.
And I talked about, like, whatmakes a dive bar, and I had a
really good time coming up withthis list on my morning walk and
I was like, well, the barstools are always duct taped and
(28:37):
they've got really fun graffiti.
That's even more fun than aTikTok feed.
You know, the graffiti isawesome and they always have
Freebird on the jukebox andthey've got some guy at the end
of the bar his name is Red andhe's never not there and you
just look at it and you can telllike, yeah, that's a dive bar.
Rich H (28:56):
So let's talk strategy for a second so you're very open
bought the company and I wasreally on my own.
Stephanie S. (29:23):
I drew up a strategic plan and it was
focused on the stores, and sothat did not work, but the
branding strategy has beenconsistent.
Ted is really good at crafting.
Who's your audience when you'redoing this post and who do we
want the audience to be?
Who road trips?
(29:43):
Think of groups that road tripthat you want to make sure you
appeal to.
Think of groups that lovenostalgic candy that you want to
make sure you appeal to.
So, trying to make sure thatwe're crafting things in a way
that's going to be gearedtowards a specific audience.
That's one refinement of thestrategy that we've made.
So not so much a pivot, but likecontinually finessing to make
(30:05):
it more interesting.
I'll give an example.
One that I'm really starting tofocus on is RVers, because they
road trip, right, and so I justsigned up this week that I'm
going to be at the KOACampgrounds of America trade
show this year.
I'm going to go to theirconference and hang out with all
the owners of the KOAcampgrounds all over the country
(30:26):
and pitch selling Stucky'sproducts.
So how can I be more thoughtfulin telling a story in a way
that's going to resonate withRVers?
Motorcyclists, right, that'sanother one.
They love to road trip.
They like to take the backroads.
They like to take the backroads, they like to take the
scenic routes.
They always stay at motelsright so they can park their
motorcycle right outside theirwindow and keep an eye on it.
(30:48):
So what are they going to wantto see?
They like motels Just finessing, constantly finessing.
Jaime Lynn (30:53):
Stephanie, I want to ask you a question back to the
pivot of your career.
What is one piece of advice youwould have for students who are
just getting started in theircareer journey, or possibly
somebody who was looking to makea pivot in their career, like
you did?
Stephanie S. (31:07):
Don't be afraid to seek mentorship and advice.
Just ask questions.
Don't be embarrassed to askquestions and then also have
faith in yourself.
I think the times when I felt Ireally didn't go in the right
direction or I could have made abetter decision, there was when
I knew what I needed to bedoing and I didn't trust myself
(31:28):
enough.
And so I think having a supportsystem and having friends and
having people you really respect, that can run things by and say
, hey, can I do a gut check,like I think this is the way I
should be doing this, or justask an open-ended question, see
if they agree with you, so itgives you that confidence, and
then assert yourself.
Don't be afraid to assertyourself and speak your mind.
(31:50):
So, yeah, seek support andguidance from others and then
have some confidence in yourself.
Rich H (31:56):
So I'm going to jump back into the strategy part for
a second.
And, gautam, since you and I'mseeing it now kind of following
in your footsteps to a smalldegree at GMU that there are a
lot of students that are lookingto start their own businesses
and, stephanie, you mentionedthat you kind of started with
the, what I'll call thetraditional what's the store or
the and then you wrapped it intothe story.
(32:19):
Gautam, when you talk tostudents that are starting a
business or thinking about it,do they start with the tradition
and do you have a hard timebreaking from the story?
Gautham V. (32:29):
I think they don't even know what the story is
right.
To be quite honest, I thinkoftentimes they start with a
product and they go to build astory.
So maybe I'll take thatopportunity to ask you the
question on building brands.
Right, so, as I hear you speak,stephanie, you are the brand.
(32:49):
I think that's kind of a pointthat Jamie was also getting to.
What are the stages, if youwill, to building a brand?
How do you go from zero to one?
So now, of course, in Stucky'scase, how significant right Now,
talk, ask a professor andeducate our audience.
How do you go, build a brandand how do you stay consistent
(33:13):
to the brand message across time?
Stephanie S. (33:16):
I am probably not the best person to say how to
build a brand from ground up,because I've never done that.
I have built a brand orrebuilding a brand, and I
shouldn't say I.
I should say we, team Stuckies,we're rebuilding a brand and we
started on second base.
We already had a brand, we werehitting the refresh button on
(33:38):
it, so it's slightly different,and that, and you look at what's
the essence, what really makesthis brand special.
So I would think, if you'restarting at ground zero, think
about what the essence is.
And you said a lot of yourstudents start with a product.
Well, they probably came upwith that product because I
think what most entrepreneurs dois they problem solve.
(34:00):
So there must have been someproblem that they were trying to
fix that this product solves.
And so I would start with thestory of what does that solve?
How are you making people'slives better?
Why should anyone buy this?
Why should anyone care?
Why should anyone have aconnection with it?
And so figure out what is that?
(34:20):
What's that solve?
That makes things easier on allof us, and that's what we're
all searching for, is somethingthat's going to give us meaning
and that's it's going to help usconnect with other people.
At the core, that's everythingwe do, and so how can I
translate that to a product?
And so then the consistency isyou force yourself to get up
(34:41):
every day and tell the story.
Habits are, and thatconsistency it's that daily
practice is going to build ahabit and that's going to build
the discipline.
And I think the key to theconsistency is to give yourself
some grace.
If you miss a day, don't think,oh my gosh, I've screwed up,
(35:04):
I'm off track, so just get upthe next day and get back at it.
Keep pushing forward.
And I have a promotion calendar.
I have a calendar.
It's on a platform calledLoomly.
There's hundreds of platformsout there.
Whatever works for you.
There's hundreds of platformsout there.
Whatever works for you.
That's one that we have.
It's myself and a man namedMarcos Thomas on our team.
He's also doing sales, so wewear a lot of hats, but part of
(35:27):
his hat one of his hats ismarketing too, so he and I
collaborate on the marketingpiece and he helps me a lot with
the technology.
So we have a shared like here'swhat we need to be posting.
There's certain key themes.
We have a shared like.
Here's what we need to beposting.
There's certain key themes.
And then I actually have littlecards that one of my partners
created that just have differentthemes on it and he's like
(35:48):
listen, if you ever have a lowday, just pick a card.
It's like a deck of cards,right?
And it'll say all right, you'reposting about nostalgia today.
You're posting about how it'smade.
Today You're posting about aroad trip story.
Today You're posting aboutpecans and why they're special.
You're posting about made inthe USA.
You're talking about.
You're posting about family.
(36:08):
It just kind of helps you likeokay, today's a family story and
don't don't have too manythemes and you don't have to
overcomplicate it, because thereality is there's very few
people are going to be readingyour post every single day.
Most people are scrolling andyou just happen to hit on their
feed at the moment that they.
That's why you have to postevery day, because there's a
randomness to it.
So, even though I'm out thereevery day, rich isn't reading my
(36:30):
post every day.
You might, I might come acrossyour feed I don't know once
every couple of weeks.
So it's OK if I hit on roadtripping five out of 10 times,
because you're only going to seeit once, maybe, but if you
consistently see me postingabout that, that's what you say,
like it looks like you'realways on the road.
Well, sometimes I'm justworking from home or I'm at the
(36:51):
candy plant with a hairnet on,but I'm posting about being on
the road because I've got awhole library full of photos
that I take and save and post.
Rich H (37:00):
And I've seen you post from the factory with a hairnet
on.
Stephanie S. (37:03):
Yes, At least I don't have to do my hair.
It lends character.
Hey, if I don't have thehairnet on, I get so many
comments you are violating foodsafety standards.
What are you doing?
Yeah, or people say there's apiece of trash in the background
.
Oh my gosh.
I have to be so carefulWhenever I post from the factory
(37:23):
.
Everything has to look perfect.
Jaime Lynn (37:30):
Stephanie, you have dropped so many nuggets today
about your journey, but I wouldjust be curious to know what's
one piece of advice that youwere given and you would love to
share with our audience today.
Stephanie S. (37:39):
I've had a lot, one that just really sticks out
and is really basic.
But I think it came to me at atime when I was really down, and
this was during my legislativecareer.
I had a mentor who's now one ofmy very dear friends, mary
Margaret Oliver.
She's a state representativeand I had this bill that I
worked so hard on.
(37:59):
I worked on it for six years.
It was defeated three times onthe House floor.
By the way, it is what I ammost proud of At 14 years in
office.
It allowed for higher alcoholbeer to be sold in Georgia.
So there are thousands andthousands of craft beers in the
state of Georgia that are nowlegal because of this bill.
But at the time it was verycontroversial and I was being
(38:23):
fought by the traditional beermanufacturers and I was being
fought by Mothers AgainstDriving Drunk and the Christian
Coalition and it was just I meanjust crushing defeat.
I got defeated on the Housefloor, very public vote.
It was all over the mediabecause it was kind of an
interesting bill and people weresaying Stephanie Stuckey passed
(38:45):
the high alcohol, we're tryingto pass high alcohol beer
getting teenagers drunk bill.
And I mean it was.
It was bad and I was justsobbing in the women's bathroom
and she comes into the stalllike, whams the door and like,
hands me some tissue and she'slike don't ever let them see you
(39:06):
cry, you dry your face.
And she said, mush on.
So it was mush on.
And I think of that all the time.
When I have a hard moment I'mlike just mush on, it's, you're
in it for the long game.
It's a down moment, you're init for the long game.
If you know what you're doingis right, you just got to keep
at it.
And you know that high alcoholbeer is sold in every
(39:31):
convenience store in this state,just about.
It is one of the largesteconomic drivers in the beverage
industry in this state.
And pat myself on the back, youknow, and the whole team that
worked on that bill like we gotit done.
So you just mush on.
You know what you're doing isright, you just keep doing it.
Gautham V. (39:50):
So maybe that's a good time for me to ask a
follow-up question, right?
You said just so.
I love this conversation as aperson who studies passages of
Bill.
Only 2% of Bills ever getpassed, so congratulations on
getting it done at a later pointin time.
But how do people like talkstudents when they deal with
(40:12):
failure?
It's near to them, right?
It's not something that we talka lot about and oftentimes even
for me we don't have the toolsto cope with someone.
Yeah, they don't teach that,yeah, and it's hard to teach it.
It's through these stories thatpeople tell that you can.
(40:32):
So what would you give?
What advice would you give ourstudents Like if you're an
entrepreneur, you're bound todeal with failures, right, how
do you get back up?
How do you incorporate thosefailures into future success?
Do you have any tips that youcould give for our students or
audience in general?
It doesn't have to be studentsright On this very critical path
(40:55):
of being successful as anentrepreneur successful as an
entrepreneur.
Stephanie S. (41:01):
Yeah, I can give three tips.
First, be really grounded inwhat you're doing and you're
playing the long game so youknow what you're doing.
Have a very clear sense of notjust what you're doing but why
you're doing it and your whycannot be.
I want to make a lot of money.
That's just not your why.
It's not going to motivate you.
It's not I don't know anyonewho.
If that is their goal, that'sreally keeping them going.
(41:41):
No-transcript of community andwealth and and building jobs
where people have a pathway toprosperity.
You know like we really areinvested in that vision for the
entire team and we all want tomake pecans like America's big
(42:04):
snack nut.
My business partner is a thirdgeneration farmer, so just
having that like we're groundedin something, that is a why that
really drives you.
It's got to be a strong whythat drives you because you're
going to have some tough times.
So that is number one.
And number two is connected andthat's that's you're not alone,
Right, the best way throughfailure, I found, is knowing
(42:27):
that you are not in it alone.
A Buddhist saying help others tohelp yourself, help yourself to
help others.
We had a very big meeting thisweek that was.
That was tough.
I was feeling incrediblyanxious about it and I realized
the way I could help myself getthrough it was to reach out to
my business partner, because I'msure he had the same anxieties,
(42:48):
and to ask how can I help?
How can I help you?
Because he was doing the maintalking.
I said how can I help youprepare for this meeting and
what materials can I puttogether for you and how can I
bring value?
How can I help so you're notalone?
Help other, help your team.
They're going to help you.
You support one another.
Turn to your team, Turn to thepeople you're in the trenches
(43:09):
with.
And then the last thing is begrounded in a sense of
meditation or whatever thathigher spiritual connection is
that you have.
For me it's religious, but itdoesn't have to be.
It can just be having a senseof something that's spiritual
purpose, that's higher than you,and spend some time every
morning meditating.
How do you start your day?
Do you start your day with somepositive meditation?
(43:32):
I have all these meditations Ilisten to that are uplifting,
and I go for a walk and I listento it and I just try to get my
mind in the right place to dealwith adversity, because you are
going to have a lot of adversitythrown at you.
People who succeed aren'talways the smartest.
They don't always have the bestideas.
People don't give up.
Gautham V. (43:51):
I love it.
I took notes just to remindmyself of these.
I also want to make one comment, Stephanie, that stood out to
me in this whole chat that we'vebeen having, which is that
throughout this conversation,you have consistently of my
products that I work with Takinga step back.
Can you just, is that somethingreal Like?
(44:13):
Is that a real issue?
How do you know when to stepback, when to let someone else
take the lead?
Stephanie S. (44:30):
Yeah, you have to listen to other people and ask
them to be brutally honest andsay, okay, what's my strength,
what's not my strength?
I'm good at the brand and thestorytelling.
My strength is not thefinancials, it's not talking the
deal terms.
I'm not a great closer, I'm abetter opener and I've asked my
(44:53):
business partner for some verycandid feedback on how I do when
we do pitches.
And he's like Stephanie, you'regreat at the opening, tell the
story, tell the history of thebrand, tell why the brand's
relevant.
There's so much passion,there's so much energy, like
that's great.
He's like please don't do thedeal terms.
He's like you go off script,you get very enthusiastic and
(45:15):
sometimes you over promise andwe can't fulfill.
Or you throw a number out andthe number's wrong and we've got
to backtrack, and he's likejust don't do it.
I'm like heard, I hear itUnderstood, and so I've got to
check myself and sometimes Iknow, when there's an email
that's going to someoneimportant, that's relating to
(45:37):
financing or a pitch, I'll do adraft and send it to my partner
and say, all right, review this,and maybe you need to be the
one to send it, but here's thedraft.
So just try to have someself-awareness and even if you
don't be humble enough to askpeople and really really listen
when they say, hey, sometimesthis isn't your strength, I've
got other things I can do thatare going to bring value to the
(46:00):
team and I'm going to rely onthem to do their part, and I
feel confident they're going todo it.
Rich H (46:06):
All right, Jamie Lynn, why don't you kick off the rapid
fire round?
Jaime Lynn (46:09):
Okay, I need to know , Stephanie, what's your most
favorite road, route 66.
Stephanie S. (46:14):
Yeah, and I've never done the full stretch.
I've done pieces of it in everystate, but I have not done the
entire mother road from start tofinish.
And next year is the 100thanniversary of Route 66.
And it is my 60th birthday is aweek before 2026.
So I'm going to celebrate my60th birthday in 2026, 60 on
(46:38):
Route 66, and my kids havealready signed up for it.
And so at some point next yearI am going to finally take a
vacation which I haven't takenin a while.
I'm going to do the ultimateMother Road road trip.
I'm going to drive Route 66 inan RV, I hope.
Jaime Lynn (46:53):
That is fantastic.
You will have content for days.
Stephanie S. (46:56):
Yes, oh yeah, and I'll have fun.
We'll have fun.
Yes, oh yeah, and I'll have fun.
Gautham V. (46:59):
We'll have fun and I can't wait to hear how that
trip went.
So, sticking with that roadtrip, what would be the comfort
food that you take with you?
Not the Stucky's pecan roll.
Outside of that, what else willyou be taking with?
Stephanie S. (47:15):
you.
Oh, I have to give a shout outto my other third generation and
fourth generation nostalgicbrand.
So moon pie, which is a fourth,fifth generation, sam campbell.
I think he's the fifth now, buthe's he's fifth generation.
He's younger than I am and heis poised to take over moon pie.
That's a great road trip food.
(47:37):
Goo goo uh, laurie spradleyruns that company.
Uh, that's a.
That's a great road trip food.
Goo Goo.
Lori Spradley runs that company.
That's a great heritage brand.
I absolutely love Goo Goo.
I like Cheer Wine, which is aNorth Carolina drink, but of
course I'm from Atlanta, I livein Atlanta and so got to give a
shout out to Coca-Cola, got tohave a Coke.
That's a great one.
(47:58):
Got to have something crunchy,right.
I love Dot's Pretzels becauseDot is my Shiro I hope to meet
her at some point North Dakotahousewife who had this amazing
recipe and hustled and becamethis incredibly successful
entrepreneur and sold her brandfor a reported I think it may
(48:19):
even be a billion, I don't know.
She sold out to Hershey and didokay.
So Dots Pretzels classic.
I want the classic flavor.
I want the ranch.
Rich H (48:28):
All right.
So, sticking with the retailtheme, you've been on road trips
, you've been in gift shops.
What's that one thing that youpicked up that you either
absolutely love or absolutelyregret, but it was that impulse
item when you were on the road.
Stephanie S. (48:42):
Oh, I have a dashboard Jesus that I love.
You know you stick him on yourdash and he wobbles.
Yeah, you can also get a hulagirl.
I love a good dashboard littlestatuette.
I think they're so much fun.
Rich H (48:54):
I'm a Jeep owner, so my dashboard my daughter just
decorated it with about 20 ducks.
Stephanie S. (48:58):
Oh fun, it's a little talisman, it's a little
good luck.
I rub my plastic Jesus headwhen the weather's bad and pray
for safe travels.
He gets me through it.
Rich H (49:08):
Well, that is awesome, stephanie.
I really appreciate you joiningus today.
This was a fantasticconversation, and I will tell
you, for somebody who didn'tnecessarily intend on jumping
into a brand like this, you'vedone more than just recraft it.
You've created a new version ofit.
So I think there's a lot oflessons learned, both personally
and professionally, in here.
Stephanie S. (49:27):
Thank you, it's just a delight talking to all of
you and, gotham, we're going tofollow up with your class.
Right?
I want to be a class project.
Gautham V. (49:34):
I would love that.
Yes, I would love that.
Stephanie S. (49:37):
Yeah, jamie, I welcome any advice you have in
the future.
So this is just absolutely Iwould love that.
Yeah, jamie, I welcome anyadvice you have in the future.
Jaime Lynn (49:41):
So this is just Absolutely.
I would love to stay connected.
You are worth such a pleasureto talk to and I'm just so
inspired by everything thatyou've done and will continue to
cheer on Stucky, thank you.
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