Into every entrepreneur’s journey some challenge must fall, and these are often the come-to-Jesus-moments that can forge the greatest business successes. In this episode, Scott and Greg join Stuckey’s CEO Stephanie Stuckey to hear the tale of a hole in the roof, Jesus on the dashboard, and the moment she knew Stuckey’s had a future as bright as its storied past. Hear from all three founders on their biggest challenges, how they grew from them, and the wisdom they have to impart on today’s aspiring entrepreneurs.

Intro/Outro (00:03):

Welcome to supply chain. Now the voice of global supply chain supply chain now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience, the people, the technologies, the best practices, and today’s critical issues. The challenges and opportunities stay tuned to hear from those making global business happen right here on supply chain now.

Scott Luton (00:33):

Hey, good afternoon. Good evening. Good morning. Wherever you are. Scott Luton and Greg White with you here on supply chain. Now, welcome to today’s live stream, Greg, how are you doing?

Greg White (00:43):

I’m doing quite well. It’s not nearly as dark in my studio as it looks like. I’m <laugh> seriously need to fix something here, but, uh, yeah, doing well. It’s great day. It’s beautiful house is perfectly clean.

Scott Luton (00:57):

Nice.

Greg White (00:57):

I didn’t have to do it.

Scott Luton (00:59):

<laugh> well, we got a wonderful,

Greg White (01:03):

You wanted to call this unscripted, right?

Scott Luton (01:05):

Yes, I did. Okay,

Greg White (01:06):

Good.

Scott Luton (01:07):

You gotta be careful what you asked for these days, right? Right. You might just go off script. Well, we are so excited to have one of our favorite repeat guests. Come back with us, Stephanie Stuckey for as we continue this, uh, one of our newest series here. Yeah. Unscripted with Stephanie Stuckey. And today, Greg, we’ve got a big focus on those come to Jesus moments that will happen in any entrepreneurial journey. Really? Any journey is that right?

Greg White (01:32):

Yeah. I mean, and there are plenty of them in an entrepreneurial journey. It seems like almost daily, right? As you reflect on it, it’s a roller coaster ride of risk and persistence

Scott Luton (01:47):

Risk and persistence roller coaster. Don’t sign me up for that. It’s six flags, huh?

Greg White (01:52):

No, you’ve already signed yourself up for that by starting a company.

Scott Luton (01:56):

Yeah. Well, you know, it, it does come to the territory, but you know what I love about Stephanie and she’s gonna join us here in just a couple minutes is gosh, if you’re connected with her or if you follow her and you’ll hear it here today, it’s authentic. It’s transparent. And you know, folks like that, that are leading their own journeys. You can learn so much just by, you know, lean leaning in and engaging with them and what they’re sharing. So folks, it’s gonna be, I think, a very powerful conversation here today, but Greg, before we bring Stephanie on, yep. Uh, we gotta share a couple of program notes and we’re gonna say hello to some of these folks. I see some, some repeat there’s some folks. Yes, there are. Uh, so let’s share a couple things. Let’s pay the bills really quick. Uh, we’ve got an upcoming webinar next week, June 14th, Greg, can AI be the unexpected ally for demand planners with our forensic Garvis

Greg White (02:44):

I think we should expect it to be the <laugh> ally. Yeah. I mean, I, I think this is gonna be a great discussion because there’s a ton of help that we need. We saw a little bit of evidence of that with Kohl’s and Walmart and target and dozen other retailers being caught off guard by the shift in consumer demand. So, and you know, we just got off a phone, a call where, what is it? 95% of companies have have planning technology. And 93% of decisions are made in spreadsheets. Right? Became dare to say the words. So, yeah, there’s a huge opportunity and upside, and that’s what we’re gonna talk about in this show. I’m looking forward to

Scott Luton (03:26):

It. I am too, June 14th is free to join us. So check out the link. Our production team just dropped into the chat at 12 new Eastern time. And speaking of home, run events, please continue our collaboration and partnership with the national retail Federation and their new event. Supply chain 360. That’s coming up June 20th through the 21st in Cleveland, Ohio. Yes. Cleveland does rock Greg. Quick comment here.

Greg White (03:51):

Golly. What can you say about any event that RF puts on? It’s gonna be fantastic. That of course can garner the biggest names and the most knowledgeable intellect in commerce, whether that’s manufacturing, distribution, retail, whether that’s United States, north America or the globe, there’s gonna be a ton of great ideas shared here. So

Scott Luton (04:12):

Agreed, wonderful speaker lineup, wonderful networking, wonderful market Intel gathering. I won’t say best practice cause that’s not a phrase Greg lights, but uh, y’all check out supply chain 360 coming up just around the corner. Okay. So let’s say a little to a few folks. We got some of our favorites and some of our new favorites in the comments here today. Of course, big, thanks to clay, uh, AKA diesel and Chantel and Catherine for leading our production here to be the livestream today. So thanks for all that you do. Hey Brenda Allen with PR Kenny Bob’s foods, Brenda. Great to have you back. I’ve been enjoying your sauces and your seasonings. Greg. I can get you hooked on this stuff too.

Greg White (04:53):

Yeah, no doubt. I mean I’m, I’m always down for a little barbecue to

Scott Luton (04:57):

<laugh> it brings a spice. Hey, Joseph Motta is with us. He hails from the Northeast, us a really cool things. Podcast, supply chain training and more Joseph. Great to see you here today. Emirate Emirate via LinkedIn. Good afternoon. Let us know where you’re tuned in from. Uh, we love to connect the dots here. Michael Jones is in the house. <laugh> and Michael, I think I owe you a re I think you shot me a note and I owe you a response. I’m glad you’re here though. You know, maybe we’ll get, but you

Greg White (05:25):

Wanna just give him the response now

Scott Luton (05:27):

<laugh> Greg, Greg, Greg. Well, you know, maybe we’ll get a ski report. Uh, Michael, we love your, your ski reports. A picture in my mind, those, those white snowy slopes, uh, where you are, I wanna say out in Utah. Oh, I could be wrong.

Greg White (05:43):

Probably not. You’re not gonna get a ski report this time of year.

Scott Luton (05:45):

Not no, probably not. Probably not. Brenda says entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart for sure. Absolutely. Amen. Absolutely. NA Natalie’s back with us from the, uh, Charlotte area, looking forward to hearing what Stephanie has for us. I’m with you. Hey, Emirate. Appreciate that feedback. My friend, gene pledger old GP is with us hailing from Northern Alabama. After Friday, everybody, he says, NA, so this is so talking about startups realize this, Michael is in his third startup and he says, you know that feeling when you lean too far back in your chair and you almost fail, but you catch yourself that’s life in a startup. How about that, Greg?

Greg White (06:25):

Well, he’s dead on and by. And it makes me think that all of those years in like second to sixth grade of leaning back in my chair, right with the teachers telling me not to do it, that was preparation for entrepreneurship. I didn’t even realize it.

Scott Luton (06:40):

<laugh> so great to have you Michael. And we have to compare notes, uh, old TV, Tom Valentine.

Greg White (06:46):

It’s Valentine’s day, every

Scott Luton (06:48):

Day.

Greg White (06:48):

It’s always Valentine’s day. That’s

Scott Luton (06:50):

Right. The hammer, Tom, the hammer Valentine. I think that was a wrestler’s nickname, but Tom really been too long. Hope this finds you well based here in the Atlanta area. I know we can’t hit everybody. George has tuned in via LinkedIn from river falls, Wisconsin. George. That is a pretty picture.

Greg White (07:07):

Don’t miss summer George

Scott Luton (07:09):

<laugh> don’t miss summer.

Greg White (07:10):

It’s only a couple weeks,

Scott Luton (07:12):

Uh, Greg, because you think it’s CAEL

Greg White (07:15):

Kill, kill O Nielsen.

Scott Luton (07:18):

Wow. Well, I figured

Greg White (07:20):

As good as I can do. Sorry. Yeah.

Scott Luton (07:22):

Well welcome. Welcome. And, and he says hello from Sweden via LinkedIn. Great to have you looking forward to your comments here. Brenda says, Hey, Greg, send me your address and we’ll send you some sauce. How about that?

Greg White (07:31):

Right.

Scott Luton (07:32):

Ashley tuned in from Tucson, Arizona. Great to see ya.

Greg White (07:36):

There’s a, there’s a town with a ski mountain. Believe it or not. That’s Tucson. Arizona’s in the wintertime. Yeah.

Scott Luton (07:43):

And Ammi is, uh, Toronto.

Greg White (07:46):

We get a lot of people from Toronto, Toronto.

Scott Luton (07:49):

It is a neat city, maybe a supply chain hub, perhaps as well. Okay. So with no further ado folks, we are delighted to continue our unscripted with Stephanie Stuckey series here at supply chain. Now these have been, you know, I think we let off a month or so ago with a conversation, a Frank conversation focused on funding, Greg, that was chock full of takeaways, practical takeaways. And today I think even though that set up tall bar, I think we’re gonna surpass it with this Frank conversation around these, these tougher moments that we all have. So with no further ado, I wanna bring in and introduce Stephanie Stuckey CEO with Stuckey’s Stephanie. Good afternoon. How are you doing

Stephanie Stuckey (08:31):

Great. I love the woosh.

Scott Luton (08:33):

<laugh> that’s great. We do too. It’s the simple things in life, right? Well, so much

Stephanie Stuckey (08:39):

As

Greg White (08:40):

Not everybody gets swoosh Stephanie, so it’s, you’re in a very, very rare air,

Scott Luton (08:46):

Rare air.

Stephanie Stuckey (08:47):

I feel special. I’m wearing my Stuckey’s beer shirt. I’m not quite drinking beer

Scott Luton (08:52):

Yet, yet. Not yet

Stephanie Stuckey (08:54):

Getting ready. Cause it’s Friday.

Greg White (08:56):

You guys actually make beer. Wow.

Stephanie Stuckey (09:00):

Yes, we have St. We don’t make it. We license it. Licensing is a wonderful thing. We could talk about that. On another episode.

Greg White (09:06):

There we go. Half

Stephanie Stuckey (09:08):

Of income.

Scott Luton (09:10):

Nice, good

Stephanie Stuckey (09:11):

Stuff.

Scott Luton (09:11):

We will.

Stephanie Stuckey (09:12):

Yeah.

Scott Luton (09:13):

We’ll talk about beer. We’re gonna talk about business movies in a future episode. Yes, we got, we got a, a jam packed warehouse of ideas for future shows. Don’t great.

Greg White (09:23):

Everybody’s got jampacked warehouses right now, Scott. So yeah,

Scott Luton (09:27):

We fit right in.

Stephanie Stuckey (09:28):

I wish we had a jam packed warehouse right now. We are behind on some of our kitchy souvenirs. There is, is that right? A lot of product right now. Mm. Yeah. Like we’re low on this kind of stuff. It’s the little statues. I don’t know what’s happening, but

Greg White (09:47):

Man, somebody is trying to corner the market on glowing skulls.

Scott Luton (09:50):

<laugh>

Stephanie Stuckey (09:51):

Snow Globes, low in inventory on snow Globes. Wow.

Scott Luton (09:56):

Well look here. Uh, as, as you already know, you got lots of fans here, uh, not just for your business and that journey, but your, your content, your Frank authentic content. Yeah. Uh, with, with what you’re up to, uh, day in and day out and like, like Michael Jones love me some PCAN logs. Michael says, <laugh> pick him up or you can go to the Stuckey’s website. George is going back to Wisconsin, two weeks of summer and many mosquitoes, right. Where he is in Wisconsin, the

Greg White (10:26):

State bird of Wisconsin

Scott Luton (10:27):

Mosquito and Ashley confirms what Greg said earlier. Yes. Mount lemon. And today it’s a balmy, 110 degrees. How about that?

Greg White (10:35):

Not a lot of ski in today. Oh,

Scott Luton (10:37):

All right. So

Greg White (10:38):

Beautiful view from up there anytime of year though.

Scott Luton (10:41):

I bet it is. I bet it is. So let’s start before we get into those come to Jesus moments and, and we gain Stephanie’s point of view and, and, and some stories here today. I wanna start with a fun warm up question tomorrow. Folks, Greg and Stephanie and, and those across, uh, the supply chain now, digital family. It’s national corn on the cob day. Yes. There’s a day for everything. Now. Amanda’s not with us here today. She is one of our favorite foods is, uh, corn on the co, especially like that, that you can get like from the Mexican food trucks, you know, where you get slathered with sour cream and cheese and all that stuff. It’s delicious. But I wanna pose a question to you if it’s not corn on the cob, Stephanie, what is one of your favorite go to summertime foods.

Stephanie Stuckey (11:23):

Okay. Other than the pecan log roll <laugh>, I’ll switch it up a little bit and just say our pecan snacks. Okay. These are great for baseball games. It’s baseball season. It is. And we were talking before in the green room about how great the Savannah bananas are doing anyone interested in marketing. It doesn’t matter if you’re into sports or not, but if you’re not into baseball, I kind of question what’s wrong with you. <laugh> you might have to hand in your American card, right? But the Savannah bananas has taken baseball to a whole new level and the way they promote and market and brand themselves is amazing. So go to Savannah bananas game. We were at one recently and I threw out snacks between innings.

Scott Luton (12:12):

Love it.

Stephanie Stuckey (12:13):

And really it’s just a great pecans are great muy snack. When you’re doing fun. Summertime activities like baseball games,

Scott Luton (12:21):

Always heart healthy too, you know, I’ll check out

Greg White (12:24):

True. I did not know that.

Scott Luton (12:25):

I think so. If you check out, you know, I’m, uh, everyone comes, didn’t know what medical advice, pecans, pecans are. Heart are good for the heart. Uh, so you get some medical benefits right

Stephanie Stuckey (12:36):

Along with it’s the healthiest nut.

Scott Luton (12:38):

How about that? I don’t know that. All right. So folks

Stephanie Stuckey (12:41):

Super high in antioxidants and the good, the good kind of fats. Not the bad fat.

Greg White (12:47):

Okay. See why we call this unscripted. I mean, who would’ve, how do we learn that? That’s impressive.

Scott Luton (12:51):

Folks. Check out the Savanna bananas. Even if you don’t like baseball, they are doing some very innovative things, not just to market of the team, the games, but to really enhance the fan experience. Really, really cool stuff. All right. So Greg, we pose that question, Stephanie. So they go to summertime foods. Uh, how about you?

Greg White (13:10):

Whew, man. That’s a long list. I can only the one that comes to mind. I know I’m gonna take some heat for egg salad. I love oh, cold egg salad sandwich. I, I mean, I just think, I know it’s kind like that time you ask me, you know what I would do if I made it and I said landscaping. Yes. Yeah. It it’s kind of one of those kind of answers. I’m boring. Stephanie, I can’t help it. I just like hear devil

Stephanie Stuckey (13:34):

Eggs. What about devil eggs?

Greg White (13:36):

Oh, I love devil eggs.

Stephanie Stuckey (13:37):

That’s kinda a summer. I think of devil eggs at a picnic.

Scott Luton (13:41):

Yeah. So what we gotta do then is devil eggs with some of this, the Kenny Bob’s foods sauce on top. And I think we’ve got a wonderful picnic. Yes. Well,

Greg White (13:51):

Barbecue is of course. I mean, that is a huge summer thing right now. It’s pretty toasty. So I’m thinking of cold things, right?

Scott Luton (13:59):

Ah, yes. So,

Greg White (14:00):

But you’re right. I mean, there’s, I don’t know. I love summer, so I love every food you can eat

Stephanie Stuckey (14:06):

During watermelon.

Greg White (14:07):

Oh gosh.

Scott Luton (14:08):

One. That was a great one. In fact, my dogs eat watermelon. In fact, there’s not, there’s not much. My dogs won’t eat. Uh, a man, we brought home a watermelon. I think it was last weekend and cut it up. And she was sitting on the couch with it and had both dogs there, full attention, their nose, right at the bowl, hoping to get a piece of watermelon. It was so funny. Hey, couple quick comments here. Michael is big fan of the PCAN logs. Tom says the log was the foundation. He’s bringing some history here today. Yeah. Uh, there we go.

Greg White (14:36):

There it

Scott Luton (14:37):

Is. PCAN log role. Uh, Natalie, pcans over peanuts for her every day. Okay.

Greg White (14:42):

You’re gonna live a long time, Natalie.

Scott Luton (14:44):

Yes, Brenda. I’m with your fresh tomatoes all day of summer, all day. I love tomato

Stephanie Stuckey (14:49):

Pie in the summer.

Scott Luton (14:50):

Ooh, love too.

Stephanie Stuckey (14:51):

I had tomato pie for lunch earlier this week. Amazing with feta instead of the usual mozzarella,

Scott Luton (14:58):

Sign me up. Sign up George grill bros. That sounds delicious. Oh yeah. And also homemade ice cream. I love homemade ice cream, but also there’s a place called scoops here in the, um, out part of Atlanta. We’re in Metro Atlanta and has some of the best I’ll call it retail, homemade ice cream. The kids love that. Although I take three kids to ice cream shop, you leave with about a $97 bill, uh, these days. So triple scoops and, and toppings for all. Okay. Hang on a sec. Two square who holds out in the Fort forest on YouTube says deviled eggs and fried green Fri tomatoes. Fri tomatoes. Yes. Banger, sir. Love it. All right. So let’s get back shifting kind of to the main topic for here, uh, today, not food, you know, we like to have a fun warmup question here. We’re all big food enthusiast, but we’re talking about the, those come to Jesus moments that make up everyone’s walk in life.

Scott Luton (15:51):

Right. But especially the entrepreneur’s, uh, journey right. Where you’ve got your fate in your hands. Right. And, and it almost makes bad news or bad days, like 10 times as bad. It feels like at times. So where I wanna start and Katherine, Chantel clay, if y’all could drop Stephanie put together this really a social masterpiece, I really open and honest about some of the tougher days, both with her grandfather and her, and it was well received across social. So I wanna start there if we could drop the link to that in the comments, but on the first part of that story, Stephanie, you were talking about your grandfather’s one of his come to Jesus moments. So tell us more about that as we get started here today.

Stephanie Stuckey (16:31):

Yes. So he had to drop out of law school during the great depression and work on the family farm and things were so bad that they could not afford to feed the plow mule. Wow. Enough. And the mule collapsed while he was plowing cotton. And he had to hoist up the mule in the hot summer sun. And my grandfather always spoke of that as his come to Jesus moment, he was hoisting that mule and he said, I have got to get outta this place.

Scott Luton (17:03):

Right.

Stephanie Stuckey (17:04):

It was like that Scarlet O’Hara moment for the anyone who’s Southern has probably seen going with the wind several times, which I will never go hungry again. And she’s pulling up the turn up. So it’s is that moment where you really think things started to turn for me, like this is the Nader, this is as low as I’m gonna get. And it’s gotta be up from here on

Scott Luton (17:25):

And that’s

Stephanie Stuckey (17:26):

To come to Jesus moment.

Scott Luton (17:27):

I I’m with you. And what did he do from the after that moment?

Stephanie Stuckey (17:33):

Well, he finished plowing. He did hoist the mule up. He finished the day’s work, but after that, he started looking for another job. He, it was a side hustle. Stuckey started as a side hustle because he still had to farm, but he, during off hours after he’d worked the farm all day, he would drive around the countryside. It was a bumper crop year for pecans. And he was buying up pecans from all these houses, people all over the south because pecans, not only is it the healthiest, Nu Greg is the only snack nut native to this country. And so pecans grow all over the place and he would go around the countryside and just buy up people’s pecans in their yards and he would get them shelled. And then he’d start selling them on the weekends at this roadside stand. And so he, he started a side hustle to save up money so he could find a better life.

Scott Luton (18:30):

How cool is that? Great. And

Stephanie Stuckey (18:31):

That was, that was the beginning. The roadside stand was the first Stuckey store,

Scott Luton (18:36):

Man. So, uh, Greg, I’ll get your comment here, but for all of you out there with a side hustle that has those tougher days, you think about giving up, I mean, goodness gracious. He built an empire coast to coast that started as a side hustle. So that that’s some inspiration right there. But Greg, your thoughts as you, as we learn more about Stephanie’s grandfather.

Greg White (18:55):

Yeah, not probably maybe a generation removed like Stephanie, but I have had similar kind of, I will not never go hungry again kind of moments. And I think it, I think a lot of people have, and I know people in my family had, because I grew up with my great grandparents and my grandparents still alive until I was at least 15 years old. So I heard a lot of stories about the dust bowl being from Kansas and, and the great depression and that sort of thing. And, and I, and I think a lot of entrepreneurs have that. I mean, there are a lot of, of those kind of moments and it’s good to learn from that, but it’s always darkest before the Dawn, right. There is nothing like that pivotal moment where you realize it’s thrive or virtually die, right. Mm-hmm <affirmative> to choose to take that kind of action. And to think of that really is really pretty impressive greed. So agreed. I really admire people who can do that and there are tons and tons of them throughout history.

Scott Luton (19:58):

Well, we’re gonna talk a lot more about a lot of things you just mentioned there, looking forward to that kind on the second half of the show, but, uh, Stephanie, I wanna keep going now that you’ve kind of shared the first half of, uh, the story you shared on, on LinkedIn and across social of the day, you then kind of segue to one of your own come that Jesus moments, uh, where you described the moment you had in Marion, Arkansas. So tell us about that.

Stephanie Stuckey (20:21):

Yes. And I have a photo of the store on my LinkedIn page. I actually pinned this post at the top of my profile because it did get crazy engagement. People really responded to it. And I think it’s because we’ve all had those moments. So my moment was touring all the Stuckey stores right after I bought the company. And frankly, realizing that the stores weren’t in great shape, we don’t own or operate any of the stores anymore. Our company, a lot of people know this, but for those who don’t, it was out of our family hands for decades. My grandfather sold the company and through a series of corporate owners, most of the stores were shuttered. The ones that remained were franchised and independently owned and operated, some looked good, some looked okay and some looked terrible and that was Marion Arkansas. So I pulled up to this one store and I had no idea how bad some of our stores looked.

Stephanie Stuckey (21:16):

And this store was the worst. It literally had a hole in the roof. It was hit during a tornado. Wow. And I had been taking photos for social media of all the stores that I visited and giving all these cheery upbeat reports about our comeback brand. And look at me at a Stuckey’s. Even if the store looked mediocre, I could figure out with filters and angles. This would be interesting. Yeah. You know, like it’s photography. So, and it’s social media, which is reality that you choose to show <laugh> my posts are all real, but it’s just a fraction of what you actually choose to show. So I had managed up to that point to make even the mediocre stores look okay. And interesting and post something about the store that people would respond to. Right. But this store had a hole in the roof. Mm. There was no way I could make this store. And the paint was peeling. The gas pumps didn’t work. It had plastic, orange bags over the pumps with handwritten signs, not working. It was terrible, really hurting. And,

Greg White (22:26):

But operating this store was actually operating.

Stephanie Stuckey (22:29):

It was operating. Wow. So that gets to the good part of the story. Don’t don’t blow the punchline. <laugh>

Greg White (22:34):

Sorry.

Stephanie Stuckey (22:35):

So it literally, wasn’t a come to Jesus. I actually got my, my, my Jesus, my dashboard savior to, to demonstrate I took him off the, the dashboard for this show. So he, Jesus is my co-pilot. He really does drive with me on all my road trips. So I focused on Jesus and he was the, he was the main point of the post. And then in the background really fuzzy was the store. Right? So that’s how I posted about the store on social media. So it literally was my come to Jesus and I walked in the store and this was the amazing part. The store actually had people in it, it was busy. The shelves looked okay. The inventory was pretty well stocked.

Greg White (23:22):

Really

Stephanie Stuckey (23:23):

Product was moving. Cash register was ringing. There were clearly regulars in there because they all knew each other by name chatting up the employees. And so I asked someone in line, why you stop here? This store looks terrible. I didn’t have a Stuckey shirt on, or I’m the CEO tag or anything. So

Greg White (23:44):

Didn’t know undercover boss. Right. He

Stephanie Stuckey (23:45):

Didn’t know this was my business. And he said, I love Stuckey’s. I grew up stopping at Stuckey’s and maybe they’ve seen better days, but so have I <laugh> and he said their fixer upper, I I’m a fixer upper. I still remember how great the stores were and the pecan log roll still tastes good. <laugh>. And that just gave me hope that I could revive this brand. If this crappy looking store had customers. And then I called the office and I checked their sales reports and the reports actually verified that that store was profitable. Mm. So imagine if we actually had halfway decent looking stores again, we don’t own or operate them, but we’ve been working with the store managers and we’ve been creating nice displays and better signage and better like we we’ve uped our packaging game. I talked today on social media about how we’ve improved the design collateral. And then we bought a candy plant. And so the product is absolutely delicious. So that’s gonna help the stores and that’s gonna help us be profitable. But that moment told me what I thought was a brand. And it’s a brand that still resonates with people that has an emotional connection that has sticking power. And it just gave me that confidence and that literally faith that I could do this right. That we could do this, our team could do this. And the company is now out of debt and profitable

Scott Luton (25:19):

Love. That sounds are good. Love that. So, Greg, there’s a lot, uh, we can comment on there, but what, what stood out in your mind? What the that’s from, what Stephanie just shared from her come to Jesus moment.

Greg White (25:31):

I, I mean, I’m just astounded that the store was operating. Honestly. That’s what I cannot, I cannot extract myself from that because I I’m curious how you operate a store with a hole in the roof, but then it was operating in that

Scott Luton (25:45):

Only on sunny days. I probably

Greg White (25:46):

That right. I mean, it didn’t even have a blue tarp. I mean,

Stephanie Stuckey (25:50):

It was the corner of the roof. It was, it was like the, I should know my builder terminology, the Eves.

Greg White (25:59):

Mm, yeah, yeah. That’s yeah.

Stephanie Stuckey (26:02):

So was like, it was literally like someone, it was like a, a Godzilla took a giant bite out of the corner.

Greg White (26:10):

Wow, man. Yeah. Well, I mean, I, look, I think that that does go to the power of a, of a brand. And I mean, if you think about it, you know, we didn’t do like nationwide road trips, but still I’ve been to a SU a Stuckey store, but I mean, you hear it over and over and over again. How I think the first time we had you on Stephanie, we were talking to somebody or heard from somebody who, oh, that’s right. It was my wife who said, that’s how they got gas was they would go from, from Phoenix, Arizona to Fairmont West Virginia, stopping at Stuckey’s all the way to get gas and snacked and, and do dads and <laugh>, and I mean, that’s three, that’s like 70 stores thousand miles or something.

Stephanie Stuckey (26:58):

You could take your entire road trip only stopping at Stuckey’s. Wow.

Greg White (27:03):

The power of that experience has been ingrained in, in yeah. Um, you know, in generations. So I think agreed interesting. I I’m hopeful and it sounds good that you’re, you’re able to re rejuvenate that brand and, and, uh, you know, give a whole new generation of folks. That’s right. I think the experience, and by the way, I love the new packaging that you were talking about today.

Stephanie Stuckey (27:28):

Yeah. So do, I mean,

Greg White (27:29):

I’m sorry for yellow,

Stephanie Stuckey (27:31):

But my post today gives the old and the new packaging and just for one of our products, but it gives you a sense of

Greg White (27:38):

What’s the name of the pro product

Stephanie Stuckey (27:40):

Hunky Dory

Greg White (27:41):

Hunky Dory. That’s right. I just thought what a great name that is.

Scott Luton (27:45):

It is, well, you know, packagings,

Stephanie Stuckey (27:47):

My father’s favorite thing we make and he is got this big Southern accent and he calls it. Hunka do,

Scott Luton (27:54):

There’s a couple extra syllable in there. Theora <laugh> well, you know, packaging is all the rage has been for, uh, several years when it comes to supply chain for a variety of different reasons, not only how it impacts, influences our buying decisions, but also more and more now from a sustainability standpoint. Yeah. So maybe that future episode kind of maybe walking through that whole decision making process on, on your end, Stephanie, couple quick comments and folks, let us know what you’re thinking. Let us know about your tough days, your come to Jesus moments or your reaction to what, uh, we’re sharing here today. Ashley says lots of pecans in Southern Arizona, love pecans, and this Becky story.

Greg White (28:31):

I about that

Scott Luton (28:33):

Really?

Greg White (28:34):

The other call <affirmative> really? Yeah. They’re called pecans

Stephanie Stuckey (28:35):

There shape. Last time I was in Arizona.

Scott Luton (28:37):

Huh? Well, here’s a question for you, Stephanie. Natalie wants to know is if that little dashboard Jesus available in the store,

Stephanie Stuckey (28:46):

Very good question. We don’t sell these. We need to, I got mine from Archie MCee if you know, Archie MCee it’s online store and they sell all sorts of,

Scott Luton (28:55):

Okay.

Stephanie Stuckey (28:55):

Stuff like this.

Scott Luton (28:57):

We’re gonna have to check that out, Archie MCee and also by the way, y’all can check out, uh, the original story. The team dropped the link in there. Uh, so check in on that and comment and engage there. I wanna switch gears for a minute. Greg, gonna put you on the spot if you’re willing to be put on the spot, uh, of course, you’ve you, I call her you the founder whisper at times you’ve been through lots of startups, very successful career. But talk about if you would, one of those days where you got, you know, a punch in the gut and you had a, a similar experience like Stephanie was just describing.

Greg White (29:31):

Wow. Uh, that’s a long list and there are a few that I am actually legally restrained from actually repeating. And they would be embarrassing for some global corporations. <laugh> uh,

Stephanie Stuckey (29:44):

Wanna hear <laugh> right.

Greg White (29:46):

Well, okay. I’ll I’ll just give you, I can’t name names, but I literally had an executive vice president of a major corporation lock me and my business partner in his office and say, you will sell me your business right now, or we will crush you. Hmm. Wow. I was 23 years old. We were going gangbusters. It it’s the stuff that you need. I need a lawyer. Stephanie

Stephanie Stuckey (30:13):

<laugh> well, I I’m a former public defender. I, there we go. I, a lot that, that meets the legal definition of kidnapping <laugh>

Scott Luton (30:25):

Is there a statute of limitations there? Can you still

Greg White (30:27):

Back there’s statute of limitations? Cause it was over 30 years ago, but,

Stephanie Stuckey (30:32):

But holding people against their will. Yeah. Well,

Greg White (30:34):

I don’t know that, uh, I don’t know that I was actually held against my will. Uh, I was definitely, definitely emotionally, uh, bereft thereafter though, but I, I look, I think we have these kind of things, not nearly that bad, but we have these kind of things occur frequently. My wife loves to tell the story about how I came home from my days early in my tech startup and said, the company is failing. We’re gonna have to sell everything and declare bankruptcy. And, um, it was really then I think her, her part of the story is much better the way that she responded to that was very supporting and uplifting. And it was one of those moments where I was like, oh my gosh, I have to do everything to keep this from happening. Which of course I felt like I was doing, but it was kind of like your grandfather’s moment, Stephanie, I did some soul searching, figured out a way, you know, made the company survive personally, put $24,000 in my pocket that year. And that wasn’t a hundred years ago. Mm <laugh>. Uh, and somehow turned the company around and, and, you know, turned it into a force in the marketplace, but it, it was close. It was very close. Mm

Stephanie Stuckey (31:49):

Amazing.

Scott Luton (31:50):

It really is. You know, it forces

Stephanie Stuckey (31:52):

You to innovate

Greg White (31:53):

It. You know, it, I don’t know. I mean, this is maybe too introspective, but I don’t know if you guys ever look back on this as an entrepreneur and wonder who was that person who faced that moment and somehow got out of it. I mean, I, I sometimes wonder it’s like when you write something brilliant and you walk away from it for a while and go back to it, you’re like, who wrote that? That is really good. That couldn’t have been me like an

Scott Luton (32:19):

Outof body experience.

Greg White (32:21):

Yeah. I mean, it is kind of almost that, right. I am really good at extracting compartmentalizing, those kind of things. They’re they are long term philosophically impactful on me, but not, it’s not something that I remember the details of. In fact, I have people remind me of things that have happened in the past that I would’ve never, you know, really thought of as that impactful. I don’t know. Do you guys have that happen?

Scott Luton (32:49):

I think, you know, I think tough the toughest of days, the toughest of experiences, the most challenging experiences, I think kind of along the lines of what you’re sharing, Greg, I think you find new strengths and things you can do. Maybe you had doubted it for a long time and then when you have to do it, cause there’s no one you look around, there’s nowhere else there. You know, I think you find new, new, new aspects of yourself. This isn’t a perfect analogy, but you know, there was a series, there was a finals where Michael Jordan who never really shot threes, all of a sudden he found a skill set and, and he had, he went on a tear. I think I was getting some blazers. I couldn’t have that wrong clay. Maybe you can correct me. But he found a, a, uh, an incredible athlete, uh, of all types of skill sets. He found yet one more tool in his arsenal based on some diversity, he, that he and the team were facing. So, um, Stephanie, you’re gonna add, you were gonna add something to,

Stephanie Stuckey (33:41):

I was it forces you to innovate and I, I did a post on this recently, too, about how some of the greatest businesses of all time were founded during economic. Yeah. Hard times, Microsoft, Airbnb, Amazon Revlon, personal favorite of mine. Stuckey’s crispy cream. The list goes on and on, right. And MailChimp, I’ll name a Atlanta business. And it’s those hard times that force you to innovate and do something different. And that’s what changes the marketplace. Yeah. That’s what makes you a household name? That’s what makes you a real brand? If my grandfather had not gone through the depression, he would’ve finished law school. He would’ve become a country, lawyer. He would’ve lived a wonderful life and the world would be without pecan log rolls and rubber alligators and ashtray shape like toilets and say, put your butts here. <laugh> where would we be? Had he not been forced to go work? The family farm hoist up that mule been absolutely miserable and needed a way out

Greg White (34:51):

Well. And where would you have been if he hadn’t, if he hadn’t started his side hustle, right. To get you through those difficult times. I think it’s difficult. Yeah. For people who didn’t meet people who went through the depression to realize how bad it was then. And I mean, oh gosh,

Greg White (35:10):

Yeah. People starve to death and families were yeah. Completely annihilated. And, and for, um, for someone to respond like that is really truly impressive. And you’re right. It is in those difficult times that you have to be not just a good visionary, you have to be a really, really outstanding leader and manager because there are things outside of your control. I mean, there are a lot of entrepreneurs who are going through that now and will go through it in greater measure over the course of whatever economic turmoil we want to call this occurs over the next few years.

Scott Luton (35:46):

I wanna change gears here for a second. I want to, uh, I wanna share a couple comments here. Natalie says, I grew with Scott on the growth opportunity of the hard times they heard it first, but the creativity to solve the problem can be a lot of fun. That’s right, Natalie, once you get past the pain, right. But now I want you both. Stephanie and Greg, I wanna share this with Brenda. Brenda is taking a page out of, uh, Stephanie’s book and authenticity and transparency. Uh, she says, Hey, Kenny, Bob’s foods is going through grown pains right now we’re two weeks behind on a huge order because we’re waiting for the electrician inspection happen, their 4,000 square foot building. We just moved to so we can get production up and running. They’re still looking for investors. So, yep. I’d love for both of y’all and we’ve all needed it. Yeah. Well, yeah. Give, give us

Stephanie Stuckey (36:33):

And a good vibes, Brenda.

Scott Luton (36:34):

Thank you. Uh, Stephanie, Greg, what would you share with Brenda Allen?

Greg White (36:39):

Wow. I mean, I, I mean, I think you, you just gotta figure out a way through these kind of things. I mean, um, and you’ll know it when you find it, it’s, it’s almost ethereal when you find these, when you get to these kind of pivotal moments like this, you just gotta keep scraping and explore different angles. If you’re waiting on the electrician, by the way, go see if you can find another one, which is be difficult.

Stephanie Stuckey (37:08):

Is that right? So that’s like city, government.

Greg White (37:11):

Oh, oh, sorry. Did that? Oh, did that say electrical inspection? Oh, I thought you said electrician. Oh yes.

Stephanie Stuckey (37:17):

Okay. Yeah. See that’s where you’re just in the queue. We had a similar experience waiting for a food permit from local government with one of the Stuckey’s, even though we don’t own the stores, this was the store we needed open in order to start selling product. And it was delayed a month waiting for the inspection.

Greg White (37:36):

Wow. That being the case, conserve cash. Mm that’s great tip. I mean, because it, it is government and you could wait a long time. Yeah. And also, but also you have representatives where wherever you’re being governed, you have representatives don’t tap until to lean on them because

Stephanie Stuckey (37:54):

You know, that’s what I did.

Greg White (37:54):

That’s what you pay your taxes for.

Stephanie Stuckey (37:56):

I called the state agricultural commissioner. This actually went through, it was governed. Ultimately health inspections are governed at the state level. This one was because I don’t know for whatever reason it was through them. And I called and it, it fast tracked it.

Scott Luton (38:15):

Yeah. Interesting. Well, Hey, great

Stephanie Stuckey (38:17):

Advice. It is you. I had one thing. The other thing we’ve done, cuz we had supply chain issues, especially during C and we’ve had production issues because of labor. The best thing we’ve done is just be absolutely honest and overcommunicate with your customers. Let them know. I am so sorry. This is gonna be two weeks late. Mm-hmm <affirmative> what can we do to make amends? We’ll give you a discount on your next order. Yep. We’ll give you extra product. I mean what without breaking the bank obviously, but we made sure we try to make amends. Your next order is, has always been a good one for us because it encourages them to make another order, make it next door. I’ll give you a discount or we’ll wave shipping if, and then we try to figure out, can we put it on our truck? That’s already on the routes. We can save some costs that way, but anything we could do to try to be very communicative about the delay, frankly, let them know it wasn’t our fault. Right? It was outta your control, the inspection, right outta your control

Scott Luton (39:18):

Over communication.

Stephanie Stuckey (39:20):

Be super honest.

Scott Luton (39:21):

Yep. Great tip there. You know that phrase, one of my favorite phrases I picked up a couple years ago, this two shall pass. It might pass like a kidney stone, but this too shall pass. Right. It’s really interesting at some of many toughest days that, that I, that have been a part of my journey is trying to find that sense of humor and just take a, take a moment, you know, laugh with somebody, laugh heartily with somebody because you are gonna get through it. You know, the outcome may not be ideal and optimized, but you’re gonna persevere. You’re gonna get through it. So Brenda, hopefully we get good news. Next time. You’re with the live stream that you’ve gotten that inspection, the production’s back, your sales are going bonkers and it will celebrate with you. Um, gene pleasure. Creativity is spurred by extreme challenges, business music, art, excellent point there gene. Excellent point. And Ashley kind of along the same lines. Ashley says so many companies started in the thirties during the great depression. Mm-hmm <affirmative> that is an excellent point. Let’s see here. <laugh> Brenda says yes. Kidney stones. Definitely. Hey we’re we’re we’ve all been there. We’ve all been there. Okay. One other.

Stephanie Stuckey (40:29):

I’ve gotta look up Kenny. Bob’s food. Brenda. I’m gonna check y’all out.

Scott Luton (40:33):

Check that. So

Greg White (40:34):

They’re a co-packer too. Stephanie. They have their own brands, but they’re also a co-packer. Huh?

Scott Luton (40:38):

So

Stephanie Stuckey (40:39):

That, and that’s what we do too. We just landed a big account. I can’t talk about it cuz it’s a co pack. It’s

Scott Luton (40:46):

Next time.

Stephanie Stuckey (40:47):

We’re private labeling

Scott Luton (40:48):

For that. We’ll add that to the warehouse of show ideas next time Stephanie. So I want to switch gears one more time. Hey, life’s full of just switching gears to shows like this, right? And so folks, if you’re coming here today for lots of supply chain focused conversation, this is kind of a departure. This is, this is much more about, uh, the entrepreneurial journey, which is not foreign to the world of supply chain here, especially the last, uh, couple of decades. I want to switch over to some good news, Stephanie and Greg, some good news. So what is something that hit your radar? Something you experienced, maybe something that member the family or friend experienced. What’s something that you drew inspiration from this week and Stephanie I’ll start with you.

Stephanie Stuckey (41:30):

Oh, well I was just gonna say some good news that happened this week please.

Scott Luton (41:34):

Yeah,

Stephanie Stuckey (41:34):

Sure. And that is Stuckey’s was chosen by hoot suite. Are you familiar with hoot suite? The, we are social media platform that helps you schedule your post in advance and really helps you strategize about what your posts are going to be as well. They selected Stuckey’s as a small business profile and they did a filming. Took all day. We drove out with their team from Vancouver. They’ve came in from Canada and came to BR Georgia. <laugh>

Scott Luton (42:07):

Wow. How that all

Stephanie Stuckey (42:08):

Day filming this video short and I will be posting it on social media when it’s done, but it’s Hootsuite featuring some of their customers. So we’re a customer of theirs and they reached out to us and it’s, it’s really exciting. And I enjoyed having these Canadians and Ren, Georgia, they, and by the way, I’ve got my air conditionings kind of wonky today. So I’ve got my little sweat thing. So I took ’em to, um, Piggly wiggly.

Scott Luton (42:37):

Nice to pig.

Stephanie Stuckey (42:38):

Okay. Yeah. They’d never been to a Piggly wiggly before. They’d never even heard of a Piggly wiggly before. So I was really, uh, I treated them to, uh, some American culture.

Scott Luton (42:49):

<laugh> love that. Piggy, Piggly, wiggly home of the whole go get your own item off the shelf, you know, prior to

Stephanie Stuckey (42:56):

That’s right. They revolutionized grocery stores. I Don’s think people realized that Piggly wiggly was the first like go serve yourself grocery store in, in the world.

Scott Luton (43:08):

That’s right. That is right. Yeah. And you know, it also gave inspiration, uh, you know, the whole, uh, lean methodology, right. There was uh, Japanese business folks that were here in the states. I think they toured a Piggly wiggly, you know, there’s a, there’s a phrase called one piece flow just in time, especially in the manufacturing space. And they were inspired by, I think it was soup cans and the customer would pull one and then the cans because the, the, the shelf

Greg White (43:37):

Loaded shelf. Yeah. Yes.

Scott Luton (43:39):

And it would move the next can up. And that inspired these Japanese, uh, business folks to take those ideas back. And, and one piece flow just in time is what spring out of that. So, Hey, who would’ve th that the pig would’ve had this, this big of an impact on global business, Greg? Yeah. Have you been,

Greg White (43:58):

I live eight tenths of a mile from a Piggly wiggly on Hilton head. And I learned from the, from the locals here that it’s the best seafood on the island and unequivocally unquestionably. And we have some really good brands here. Harris Teeter, Publix, um, whole foods and fresh market, but unquestionably the best seafood on the market. Why family owned business been here since the, the road that they were on was a dirt road and they have an end with all of the local fisheries. So

Stephanie Stuckey (44:32):

I love it. I think they were founded during economic hard times. If anyone’s there, who can Google? Yes. Let us know. It may have been a great depression and they also have just the best branding. I mean, what a great name. Yeah.

Scott Luton (44:46):

Uh, fun to say how

Greg White (44:48):

Living in Missouri. That was the first time I went to a Piggly wiggly.

Scott Luton (44:51):

Really? Yeah. Michael’s back with us here. Michael. Just find you well, welcome to the humidity from Vancouver to Georgia, as we were talking about friends,

Stephanie Stuckey (45:00):

That’s true. The Canadians were like, what is this? He here?

Greg White (45:04):

Yeah.

Scott Luton (45:05):

Seriously. Katherine says she had no idea. The pig was my go-to college grocery store. Hey, wow. They’re something new every day. And Michael makes a great point. Local stores typically source locally. And Greg, we had some delicious steam shrimp from the pig just a couple weeks ago. That’s they were delicious.

Stephanie Stuckey (45:24):

The founding dates up here now, 1916.

Scott Luton (45:27):

How about that? 19?

Stephanie Stuckey (45:29):

How was the economy like, that was, that was before the,

Greg White (45:31):

It was right before world war I,

Stephanie Stuckey (45:33):

So yeah, yeah.

Greg White (45:34):

Would not.

Stephanie Stuckey (45:36):

So not probably not great times. Yeah.

Scott Luton (45:39):

Well thank you for that, uh, production

Stephanie Stuckey (45:41):

Over a hundred years old. And am I right? It’s independently. Uh, the stores are independently owned and operated. They’re not corporate owned.

Greg White (45:47):

Yeah. It’s co-op

Scott Luton (45:49):

And look here. Their

Greg White (45:50):

Distribution is a cooperative

Scott Luton (45:52):

Time. Valenti,

Stephanie Stuckey (45:53):

Tennessee,

Scott Luton (45:53):

Memphis home of good barbecue home of, uh, Phil from Sweetwater and home of the pig. How about that? So, and Elvis, I

Stephanie Stuckey (46:03):

Wonder, oh, you know what I think. Okay. I remember this last time I was in Memphis and I didn’t have time. I think there is a Piggly wiggly museum. I’m sorry. We are really going down a,

Greg White (46:14):

I was gonna say around Stephanie,

Scott Luton (46:20):

Let me, so let me bring it back. So Stephanie shared some good news, so congrats on, on, uh, we’ll look forward to more information there, uh, from hoot suite, but Greg, give us some good news. Something inspiring that you have hit your radar here lately.

Greg White (46:36):

Yeah. So, wow. Uh, there’s a lot, sorry. There’s just kind of a lot going through my head after that Piggly wig between I think probably sorry.

Scott Luton (46:44):

This could populate

Stephanie Stuckey (46:46):

Right. The pig wiggly story <laugh> so

Greg White (46:50):

My, uh, my wife ha uh, has babysit our granddaughter for the first time last night and it, and what was good news was that she’s still a great mother even to her grandchild. Um, and it, and what was kind of funny about it was my oldest daughter, Devin is very possessive and that she even let her, the woman who raised her watch her daughter for three hours while they went to a movie was a huge step in her, in her persona. And that she what’s also really funny about it is that she is so cautious about letting the woman who raised her to be the woman she is <laugh> watch her own child. It’s kind of hilarious to watch. So anyway, watching that interaction has been, has been, uh, yeah, that that’s, that’s been really fascinating and good stuff. Yeah. I’m

Stephanie Stuckey (47:46):

Watching. I was the opposite. I was happy to go the movies and drop my kids off <laugh> with whoever

Greg White (47:52):

<laugh>. Well, you need Devin is a lot like her mother. I remember when Devin, our oldest, when she was born, we would go out, just barely get to the restaurant. And, and this happens several times, just barely get to the restaurant and she would go, I can’t bear being away from her this long. We wouldn’t eat. We’d stop at taco bell, grab some food and go back to the house. So I totally get where she got it from mean. Yeah, there is a very deep connection there.

Scott Luton (48:21):

So, Hey, we’re getting more Piggly wiggly history from our, our dear friend, Tom Valentine. Thank you. Pley Wigley was the first to provide checkout stands, price, mark. Every item in the store provide shopping carts or buggies for customers starting in 1937 in Oklahoma. How about that?

Greg White (48:38):

Buggies right?

Stephanie Stuckey (48:39):

Shopping carts. Yes. Wow.

Scott Luton (48:41):

The innovators that are, uh, the team behind Piggly wiggly.

Stephanie Stuckey (48:45):

I have to go to Memphis. I, I remember there’s a Piggly wiggly. If it’s not a museum, it’s like the local Memphis museum that has a whole Piggly wiggly exhibit, but there is, there is some,

Scott Luton (48:58):

We get

Stephanie Stuckey (48:58):

Public facing museum exhibit

Scott Luton (49:02):

Update on your next show. We’ll get a, we’ll get a full update on the piggy wig. Let’s go live. Let’s go live.

Stephanie Stuckey (49:08):

Let’s film. Live at the pig wig. There you go. And share business stories. Cause

Greg White (49:13):

From the seafood section, Stephanie Stuckey from the seafood section,

Stephanie Stuckey (49:18):

See Greg, you’re gonna be the seafood section in Hilton head. Okay. And then I’ll be in Memphis and that’s a great idea. Gotta have matching.

Greg White (49:26):

I’ve got, I’ve already got a Piggly wiggly. T-shirt it says on the back, it says I’m big on the pig. Yeah.

Scott Luton (49:32):

Does it have on the pig?

Stephanie Stuckey (49:34):

Okay.

Greg White (49:34):

Mine face on the front. Yep. And bottom on the back. Yep. Yeah.

Stephanie Stuckey (49:39):

All right. They’re not even a sponsor, Scott. We need to call down and say

Scott Luton (49:44):

She

Stephanie Stuckey (49:45):

To sponsor this show.

Scott Luton (49:46):

You know, this is, this is just UN uncompensated love

Greg White (49:50):

For us. This is the pub public service that we do step

Scott Luton (49:53):

That’s. Right. That’s right. But

Stephanie Stuckey (49:55):

If you so inclined, we we’d be okay with that.

Scott Luton (49:58):

I think so. I think so. What I wanna do though, is I want to make sure folks know how to connect with everybody here. And by the way, George is weighing in the piggy Wigley museum is pretty cool. Uh, Hey, big, big show. Bob Bova Paul’s island, I think is where he maybe had his first pig experience. I don’t

Greg White (50:17):

Know also where the hammock was invented. Yes. Hollys island.

Scott Luton (50:21):

Also. How about that college shot? Big show. That is such a great image. We were talking about that the other day. Um, okay. So Stephanie and we continue this unscripted series where, Hey, we’re gonna, you never know what we’re gonna talk about. Cause it’s unscripted. It’s gonna largely focus on your entrepreneurial journey. I’m I’m hesitant to call it a comeback cause um, been here for years. That’s right. And I can’t remember how you said that. Uh, we had a, it was either last show. Yeah. Hello.

Stephanie Stuckey (50:50):

Cool. Jay don’t call comeback. I’ve been here for

Scott Luton (50:52):

Years. Yes, that’s right. But it’s really fascinating to see what you’re doing and, and what you’re going through. As you do rebuild an iconic, uh, brand that is Stuckey’s. How can folks connect? How can they order, uh, all the various treats, hunky Dory, the log log rolls, or, you know, you do a lot of, uh, speaking and keynotes and whatnot. How can they connect with you and have you come out and, and chat with them?

Stephanie Stuckey (51:19):

Yes. Thank you. So Stuckey’s dot com is the easiest. And actually on that site, you can see all our various social media channels and father’s day is coming up. I think your kids might wanna order you something. So Stuckey’s dot com. We got tons of gifts for dad. And then I’m on LinkedIn, under Stephanie Stuckey, Facebook under Stephanie Stuckey and then all other social media platforms at Stuckey stop. My newest is TikTok. Okay. I’m doing TikTok videos now,

Scott Luton (51:49):

Man, what can you not do Stephanie?

Stephanie Stuckey (51:51):

Yeah. Well what can anyone not do?

Scott Luton (51:54):

That’s that’s a good point. That is a good point. TikTok

Stephanie Stuckey (51:57):

Is really not that hard. I’ve no had to play around with it for a couple weeks to figure out what would get traction and watch other videos and see what I liked and who else was in my space. So it takes a little moment to get used to a new platform. Right. But what was most interesting to me about TikTok? I thought it was a bunch of teenagers on there and there are, but there’s a lot of people in their forties, fifties and up on TikTok really

Scott Luton (52:29):

We’ll have

Stephanie Stuckey (52:29):

To that’s who’s following me. I don’t, I don’t have a big teen audience. I think my followers and then people on LinkedIn are messaging and commenting and saying, I’m enjoying your TikTok feed. Huh? And they’re all businessmen and women in their forties, fifties and up.

Scott Luton (52:47):

Hmm. So you’re saying TikTok might be getting a bad rap. Uh, Stephanie, well

Stephanie Stuckey (52:52):

Maybe just, uh, well, it, it, part of that may have been my own perception, but I think we, as people in business trying to market our brand need to, if you had a perception like mine, that TikTok is a bunch of teenagers dancing. It’s not just that if you are a business and wanna promote your product, it is another way to get your message out. Yeah. And it will help you get to different audiences. And I, Gary V is the one who really convinced me. He, he kept saying, if you’re not on TikTok, you’re not marketing.

Scott Luton (53:26):

I am so glad on TikTok that you brought up. Carrie V uh, Stephanie, because Greg is a super fan. I’m a huge

Stephanie Stuckey (53:33):

Fan. Yeah. Total fan

Scott Luton (53:35):

Girl. Good. Hey, really quick.

Stephanie Stuckey (53:37):

Are you not, or are you you’re kinda shaking your head. Next

Greg White (53:41):

Question.

Scott Luton (53:42):

Next question please.

Stephanie Stuckey (53:42):

Oh, sorry. I, I don’t, I’m not able to do everything. He does like post 10 times a day on every social media platform. Wow. Because some of us have to run a business, but he’s right. That you need to be putting yourself out there. No

Greg White (53:55):

Doubt there. No doubt. Unquestionably that. Yeah.

Stephanie Stuckey (53:58):

Agree. And take out, take away from him. What is helpful to you or maybe he doesn’t work for you, but I, I find him inspirational.

Scott Luton (54:04):

I agree with you. And you can, you can really learn from all folks, whether you’re aligned with kind of their whole personality and, and worldview, or, you know, if there’s, uh, not as much alignment, but you can learn from anybody and Stephanie, I

Stephanie Stuckey (54:18):

I’d love folks to tell us if they like Gary V or not. Yeah.

Scott Luton (54:21):

This way in way in much like, uh, Chris Fay is saying that that the museum is in the pink palace in Memphis, Tennessee. I love that. Uh, big show. Bob Bova says, entrepreneurs never die. They recapitalize.

Greg White (54:35):

That is a t-shirt right. There is

Scott Luton (54:37):

There you go, man. Big show brings it. So Greg, how can folks, I definitely wanna touch on as much as I enjoy Stephanie’s content and point of view. I certainly enjoy yours. And I love man, these supply chain summaries on Mondays, we Wednesdays and Fridays on LinkedIn. They are strokes of genius, Stephanie, I’m not sure if you’ve seen this yet, but they really, Greg sits down, you break out your thinking cap and you challenge folks, assumptions. You challenge the news reporting about supply. You challenge, challenge everybody to, to take a D different spin on what really is going on. So really quick, how can folks connect with you and how can they find that?

Greg White (55:14):

Yeah, I’m on LinkedIn, Greg white, probably Greg white and add supply chain. And you’ll find me. There are a lot of Greg whites. I found out Scott

Scott Luton (55:22):

Really

Greg White (55:23):

Also on Twitter. You don’t get the commentary, but, but you can see the article that I’m, that has inspired the discussion. You know, always trying to illuminate, what’s not obvious in some of these discussions around supply chain, because it is a big black box to a lot of people and help people understand how by learning how the supply chain works, the complexities and the dynamics of it, how they can improve and how we can improve as practitioners, the supply chain and, and how effective it is. Cuz there’s a lot of opportunity even as for the best performers out there.

Scott Luton (55:57):

Agreed. Agreed. Well, I love, I love that side of, of you when you sit down and you, uh, you dedicate yourself to a really hot topic. Like the, the target story. I mean, really it is must see, uh, must see TV. Okay.

Greg White (56:13):

Cup of coffee in an ocean view and

Scott Luton (56:15):

That’s right in a, in a pecan

Greg White (56:17):

3000 characters, right?

Scott Luton (56:18):

Three

Greg White (56:19):

<laugh> that’s all you get by the way, really three, 3000 characters. That’s all you get. So you, you have to be very precise with your wording, huh?

Stephanie Stuckey (56:27):

A lot better than Twitter.

Greg White (56:29):

<laugh>

Scott Luton (56:29):

That’s true. True. All right. So Stephanie, thank you so much for joining us. Once again, here, unscripted with Stephanie Stuckey folks, make sure you connect and follow her across social. Uh, Stuckey’s dot com is where you can put in those father’s days or father father’s day orders. And Stephanie, I think we’ve got our next, uh, live stream teed up for what, two weeks from the day or something like that. I believe it’s coming up. So it coming up soon. So if y’all rejoin us and Greg, thanks for, for sharing some of your own entrepreneurial journey here today, as we, uh, spoke

Greg White (57:02):

About, we could come up with better stuff, but it unscripted. I’m not that good, right?

Scott Luton (57:06):

Uh, it was good. It was great. But folks, whatever you do, be sure to connect with Greg and with Stephanie, Hey, take action with some of the things you heard here today, or Linda helping hand to, to those folks that maybe have their own, uh, come to Jesus moments or, or, you know, tough days in their life. But whatever, there you go fully enjoy the conversation as much as we have. Uh, Hey, who knows who would’ve thought that the pig would’ve had a major role and an Emmy won an Oscar from today’s livestream conversation, right? But whatever, uh, Scott and Greg and Stephanie challenging you to do good to give forward and to be the change that’s needed. And with that said, we’ll see next time, right back here on supply chain now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (57:46):

Thanks for being a part of our supply chain. Now, community check out all of our programming@supplychainnow.com and make sure you subscribe to supply chain. Now anywhere you listen to podcasts and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. See you next time on supply chain. Now.