Bring back the road trip! Stephanie Stuckey is on a mission that’s growing by the minute. Having bought back her family’s 85-year-old business and brought manufacturing in-house, the Stuckey’s Corporation CEO now faces the exciting challenge of exponential growth and how to fund it. In this episode, she joins Scott and Greg to chat about fundraising strategies, the power of story for branding and sales, expanding access to capital and more. Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur or a lover of the famous Stuckey’s pecan log, there’s something for you in this can’t-miss episode with one of the CPG industry’s brightest rising stars.

Intro/Outro (00:00:03):

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 entities Stay tuned to hear from those making global business happen right here on supply chain now.

Scott Luton (00:00:33):

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

Greg White (00:00:42):

I’m doing well. I’m glad that you share your global perspective, right? From the outset morning, afternoon, or evening, wherever you are.

Scott Luton (00:00:50):

That’s right. And the good news is there’s lots of entrepreneurs globally fighting good fight in the trenches, making it happen, creating value and opportunities for others every hour, the day, right?

Greg White (00:01:02):

Yeah. Uh, you know, I even alerted a, a good friend of mine, Alan help, uh, that he’s a huge Stuckey’s fan. So I said, Hey, we’re gonna be live with the CEO today. And he said, I’m playing golf, selfish. <laugh>

Scott Luton (00:01:18):

Well, Hey, it’s a big week for golf this week, but we’ll save that another show today talking about big, big weeks, big days, big shows. We’ve got a home run leader and a repeat guest joining us. It’s unscripted. Stephanie, Stuckey’s take on the entrepreneurial journey with a big focus today, Greg, on fundraising to include ensuring everyone. Everyone has access to capital excellent show teed up, right Greg?

Greg White (00:01:42):

Yeah, big topic for the day. And finally getting some eyes on that. So we’ve got some equity in terms of equity in the fundraising game.

Scott Luton (00:01:51):

Love that I’m, I’m really looking forward to, to not only, uh, learning from, uh, Stephanie’s journey, which has been incredible. You know, she’s been with this before, but, uh, you know, combining that with your perspective, you know, been there on that a thousand times, two of y’all, I think we’re gonna have a, a fascinating conversation and we’re gonna be including all the folks in the cheap seats. And we’re gonna knock out a couple of announcements and we’re gonna say hello to a few folks in just a minute, but Greg let’s pay the bills real quick. First up, we want to invite folks to join us for the May 10th webinar coming up right around the corner with our free ends at six river systems, how to solve three common peak season challenges, Greg home run stuff as always with this group. Huh?

Greg White (00:02:33):

Yeah. And can you believe we’re talking about peak season, but truthfully with the world we live in today now is the right time to be talking about preparation for peak season, right? That’s right. Mean it could take like it did last year, an extra 90 days. I think we heard about our friends at iRobot who may be able to use what they intended to sell last Christmas for this Christmas <laugh> so, I mean, that’s one way to get ahead of the season, right? That’s

Scott Luton (00:03:00):

Right. Not probably not in a preferred way, but Hey folks, y’all the ideal

Greg White (00:03:04):

Way. No,

Scott Luton (00:03:05):

Join us May 10th, 12 new, Eastern time free to register. The link to join is in the comments and talking about a, a fulfilling journey, man, this 2022 supply chain and procurement awards, it has been remarkable. I think we’ve got about 70 nominees thus far. We’ve got a few more that we’re, um, we’re, Corring in the last moments deadlines already passed though. We’re just kind of finalizing a few things, but most importantly, May 18th is the reveal. It’s a live virtual event. 10:00 AM on May 18th register. Uh, Greg, this, this thing’s been open for, I think four or five days, we have close to, I don’t know, 755 that have already registered and to register. So join us as we, uh, support, uh, not only celebrate all the success across global supply chain, but we support the nonprofit hope for justice, which is on a mission to eradicate modern slavery and human trafficking. Greg, your quick thoughts there.

Greg White (00:03:56):

I mean, if, if anyone can do these virtual type events with fun intellect and interest and entertainment, <laugh> I, I mean, I think that, I think it’s gonna be a great show. It’s good to, you know, to be able to celebrate some of these companies that are doing great things and to celebrate a great cause, right. Ending human slavery. So look, I’m astounded at the big and small companies that you know who have been nominated for this. We’re gonna have some really interesting entries to go through as we go through the judging process.

Scott Luton (00:04:29):

Agree,

Greg White (00:04:30):

We will be

Scott Luton (00:04:31):

<laugh> scrutinizing, checking, checking it twice. Hey,

Greg White (00:04:35):

Be judged. <laugh>

Scott Luton (00:04:37):

Learn more@supplychainprocurementawards.com. Okay. You I’m gonna flip the script real quick. Say that just once. Uh, it’s tough. <laugh> Let’s go ahead. I wanna walk him in our guests and then we’re gonna give some shout outs to the folks that in cheap seats. I bet some of these folks are big Stuckey’s fans, and I wanna give chance, uh, to Stephanie, to, uh, you interact and engage. So, uh, with no further ado, wanna walk him in our very special guest here today. Stephanie Stuckey, CEO of Stuckey’s Hey, Hey Stephanie, how you doing?

Stephanie Stuckey (00:05:10):

Good. I like that S swoosh

Scott Luton (00:05:13):

<laugh> Hey, it’s the little things right, Greg. Yeah.

Greg White (00:05:16):

Very few people get to get swooshed Stephanie. So count yourself among the lucky humans on the planet.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:05:23):

I’m I’ve been, I’ve been spoiled now. I’m going to expect that every time I do any type of online, I’m want the swoo

Scott Luton (00:05:31):

<laugh> well, you know, Stephanie, we’re so wonderful to have you back. We’ve really enjoyed a couple of interviews with you here. Live streams and podcasts here. It’s remarkable just to all of your journey. I don’t call a comeback anymore. It’s amazing what your team’s doing. Right? We’re gonna dive into that more, but while you’re here, let’s say it hello to some of the folks, uh, Greg and Stephanie folks that have tuned in. I wanna start with a demo who was with us the other day. Welcome back via LinkedIn. So great to have you enjoyed your perspective. You shared the other day, Carrie Joe Ellis from spring hill, Florida, Stephanie and Greg. Great to see you, Carrie Joe Mark Miller from the St. Louis area. I wonder if he’s a, a big Cardinals fan tuned in via LinkedIn.

Greg White (00:06:17):

I, I can see Stephanie going now. Did we have a store there? <laugh> I know we still have a store there. <laugh>

Stephanie Stuckey (00:06:22):

I I’m thinking of road trips. I’ve taken as well. And what, what did I see in St. Louis? Which is a wonderful town.

Scott Luton (00:06:29):

It is. It really is. Yeah. Sylvia. Judy, of course, Greg, we can’t do anything without the, the wonderful Sylvia Judy. Right, right.

Greg White (00:06:36):

How

Scott Luton (00:06:39):

Sure does from Johns island, of course, in the Charleston, South Carolina area, Lynn tuned in via LinkedIn, from Albertville, Alabama ever been there. Stephanie,

Stephanie Stuckey (00:06:49):

I’m thinking I have, so Lynn might need to let me know what’s around there, but I, that sounds so familiar. It’s a great town. It’s a great name.

Scott Luton (00:06:57):

Yes. Is it,

Greg White (00:06:58):

Is it Albertville Alabama or could, could it be Albertville Alberta?

Scott Luton (00:07:05):

<laugh>

Greg White (00:07:05):

Maybe in Canada. I wonder.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:07:07):

No, I think it’s Alabama and I love the liberation. You know, Stephanie needs to be, I I’m,

Greg White (00:07:13):

We’ve had so many things that are hard to say already. Yes, Stephanie. Right?

Scott Luton (00:07:17):

You are right. Stuckey

Greg White (00:07:19):

CEO of Stuckey’s say that three times fast.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:07:21):

<laugh> right.

Scott Luton (00:07:23):

Joe’s tuned in from California via LinkedIn. Great to see you here. Brenda tuned in from Tennessee via LinkedIn. Great to see you, Joe Turner greetings from Atlanta. That’s right. I am home of the Atlanta Braves. Great to see you, Joe. Thanks for being here. Peter Bole all night and all day. One of our favorites around here, masters weekend. He’s also looking forward to that F1 race. Is that the one in Vegas? Greg and Stephanie are, y’all been tracking this.

Greg White (00:07:48):

I been, uh, I’ve been shirking my duties as an F1 fan. I must say my, my formula one skills are lacking. All

Scott Luton (00:07:55):

Right, well maybe Peter can let us know.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:07:58):

I just watching race car driving. I, I went to a NASCAR race at the Atlanta motor Speedway, not too long ago and loved it. Oh,

Scott Luton (00:08:06):

Cool. Nice. Nice. See, Fred told me don’t

Greg White (00:08:09):

Like to see any of that pesky passing Stephanie <laugh>

Stephanie Stuckey (00:08:14):

I just like the whole show, right? It’s not just watching the sport, it of fans. It’s the food,

Scott Luton (00:08:21):

The experience. It’s the whole experience. Yes.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:08:25):

Credible

Scott Luton (00:08:26):

Fred Tober. Greg, the nickname that you bestowed upon Fred Tober is

Greg White (00:08:33):

The doc holiday of supply chain.

Scott Luton (00:08:35):

That is right. One of our favorites. Fred, who’s doing some really cool things with, uh, UGA under grants. Uh, they’ve got the, the dog chain, I think is what they call the group of supply chain students here at UGA. It’s so great to see you here. Fred, of course, Ryan Campbell from Nashville, another great city via LinkedIn. Great to see ya, Evan from Omaha, Nebraska, wonderful T squared

Greg White (00:08:56):

Home, the most neutral accent in America,

Scott Luton (00:08:58):

By the way it okay.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:09:00):

And how a word buffet.

Scott Luton (00:09:01):

That’s

Greg White (00:09:02):

True that too.

Scott Luton (00:09:03):

The Oracle of Omaha T square, who holds down the Fort force on YouTube. Great to see you here. Hap happy Friday. Bring on the lunchtime nourishment. Well, we’ve got that by the truckload here today. Uh, I know we couldn’t get everybody, but y’all keep the, keep the feedback coming. We’ve got some great topics and, and stories and perspective here today. We want to make sure we feature all of, or as much as y’all’s comments as well. And by the way, Lisa’s confirming that it’s Albertville, Alabama Albertville, Lisa, Alabama, and Brenda. Now Brenda says she’s from the little town.

Greg White (00:09:37):

Is there in Albertville, Alberta? I wonder, oh my

Stephanie Stuckey (00:09:40):

Gosh. We’re probably related Brenda. <laugh>

Scott Luton (00:09:44):

How about that small world?

Stephanie Stuckey (00:09:45):

The same hometown Eastman’s got. Well, we’re almost population 10,000. There you go. Love

Greg White (00:09:51):

It. Is it growing now that you have facilities or you’re growing your are facilities there now? I wonder

Stephanie Stuckey (00:09:57):

We’re actually, we’ve moved most of our operations to right outside of Augusta, Georgia.

Greg White (00:10:03):

That’s right.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:10:04):

I love east Eastman, but the facility we bought was turnkey ready and it happened to be outside of Augusta, which is a really good job market and home

Greg White (00:10:13):

And a great town. That’s right.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:10:15):

Augusta like business has shut down in Augusta this week. We’ve got a few things going on and it’s just, you hit the whole button for the week of the masters. There is nothing else. But the master’s in Augusta this week.

Scott Luton (00:10:27):

Yes, that’s right.

Greg White (00:10:29):

Yeah. Nothing else. But slung JM, by the way, he is absolutely smoking that course.

Scott Luton (00:10:34):

<laugh>, you

Stephanie Stuckey (00:10:35):

Know, I love a comeback. So I’m, I’m root for tiger.

Scott Luton (00:10:37):

That’s right. I am too love. One more. Mark widdle says GoDog from crystal beach and I wonder if that’s Florida or California, mark, let us know, but great to have you here. I know we couldn’t get to a bunch know where the dogs are from that’s right. We do know where the dogs are from that’s right. But Hey, wherever, I know we couldn’t get everybody, but welcome. Y’all uh, picked a great live story, him to be a part of. All right. So Stephanie, let’s pivot just a bit here and let’s talk, you know, since you were sh sharing some of your, you know, where operations are and some of the evolution and the growth, uh, although I think there’s a, a beautiful new mural in Eastman, Georgia. If I saw that on, on social. So maybe we can touch on that. But in a nutshell, I know pun intended. Uh, <laugh> tell us about, for the two people. <laugh> for the two people

Greg White (00:11:23):

Out there. Well, we have an international audience, so we may have a lot of people who don’t know right

Scott Luton (00:11:28):

Point. That’s a good point, Greg. So Greg, uh, so Stephanie, tell us, um, little about Stuckey’s.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:11:35):

I’d be happy to, and thank you everyone. Who’s joined us. Please keep comments coming and hang on because we will have a giveaway. So you need to stay tuned. I’m gonna be giving away some PCAN log rolls, which is what Stuckey’s is best known for. So quick summary of an 85 year old company. Wow. We’ll take a quick trip in the way back machine to 1937 during the great depression, my grandfather founded our company as a roadside PCAN or pecan stand. However you wanna say it. I’m happy to say it. As long as you’re buying from us, I’ll pronounce it the right way. And he grew it from a pecan stand to at its peak. And then 1960s and seventies, there were over 350 stores in 50 states. I’ve got a painting. It’s actually a blown up Polaroid background of what our stores look like.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:12:23):

We had gas, we had, it was like a convenience store. The first roadside retail chain in the country. We had 4,000 billboards, a candy plant, a PCAN shelling, a trucking company, but he sold the company in 1964. There were a series of outside corporate owners. The brand took a plummet for a variety of factors and with six figures in debt. When I had the opportunity to buy the company back in November of 2019, and I had no prior business, experie had lots of other life experience, but not business. I’m an attorney. And at age 53, I basically sunk my life savings into buying my family’s company. Wow. Now, two years later, it’s been two years and a few months we’ve gone from 2.4 million gross sales to over 12 million from being in the red to having all over two, 2 million profit. That’s how we ended 20, 21. And the way we’re moving the brand forward is largely supply chain issues. And we have gotten back into manufacturing. I got a business partner and we bought a PCAN shelling plant and a candy plant outside of Augusta. And we’re just growing the brand by getting into more retail accounts so that the future of our company is manufacturing.

Scott Luton (00:13:37):

That is so there’s so many different elements of that. That’s cool, but I wanna, but I wanna add this, Greg and Stephanie, this is, this is, uh, this is worth the price of admission. Brenda says that you’re related by heart because her dad was a Stuckey store manager in the early sixties until 1973. Yeah. How

Stephanie Stuckey (00:13:56):

I’m sure he knew my grandfather.

Scott Luton (00:13:58):

That is awesome. So

Stephanie Stuckey (00:13:59):

Yeah, so the stores, unfortunately we don’t own or operate any of them. That is the way I acquired the company. It’s not necessarily the way I’d like to have it. And we only have 20 licensed locations that are still around. Okay. So most of our revenue is being generated from just selling the product mostly to third party retailers. But those managers back in the day, Brenda would know this. They actually lived in the stores. So old Stuckey locations, they’re living quarters in the back. And my grandfather would often set up young couples with the seed money to open a store and they’d pay ’em back usually within a year or two, because profits were so good and wow. And he made his money from the sale of product and from the sale of gas, cuz he had to deal with Texaco. So it’s really fascinating. You know, when you really look at these businesses and how they generate revenue, even though in our prime, we were known for the stores, the stores themselves is not how the company made its money. The company has always made its money through sale product that we either made ourselves or that we outsourced. Cause we sell a lot of just kitchy stuff, alligator heads. And I just have one of these buy, you know, pigs,

Scott Luton (00:15:09):

Right. Is that, is that Wilber from uh, <laugh> what’s the Charlottes web. Yes.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:15:17):

That’s part of my job is getting to go to the trade shows. I call it the kitche souvenir trade show, but it’s the Vegas show. Every year’s where people in the retail business go to buy sort of the somewhat more, the lower end souvenir type merchandise. And I have so fun helping pick out the product line for our stores. Yeah. So this is a new trend. People are buying these like stretchy animals,

Scott Luton (00:15:43):

Right? Well, Hey, going back to, you’re describing the stores back in the sixties and seventies, you know, uh, Evan makes a point live and work from home is wonders. That’s what that’s what do you, you were way ahead of the trend. That is right. Yes. Uh, Steve’s a big fan. Uh, you’re welcome, Steve. Uh, we’re big fans of Stephanie as well. Steve, We look forward to, uh, to diving deeper. So, so on that note, before we get to, we wanna talk about fundraising and getting both of y’all’s per and stories there as well as you know, how important it is to ensure access to capital for all right. That’s uh, some of the issues of our day, but Stephanie, before we get there, you’ve got a trivia question and a giveaway, right? So tell us what you got.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:16:28):

So we will be giving one of our gift tens. And if you go on our website, I www.stuckey.com. You can see the gift tens they’re super popular and I’ll be giving a gift 10 that will have two ounce PCAN log rolls and divinity two of our best selling items. And I should have the count, right? I think it’s a 12 count and I think it’s valued at 59 90, but it’s a nice item and we will just ship it direct to you. We, you have to get the trivia question, right. And we will randomly select among the correct winner, correct answers.

Scott Luton (00:17:05):

So we’re gonna let you pose that question. I wanna share a couple quick comments here first. So Lisa saw you speak at last month at a chamber meeting. Mm-hmm <affirmative> uh, says, hello. Great. Thank you for that. Lisa, Jeff says he grew up on your PCAN divinity. So I was in your store so much. I felt like I lived there. Yay. Thank you for sharing. Hope you get the

Stephanie Stuckey (00:17:23):

Trivia question, Jeff. That’s

Scott Luton (00:17:25):

Right. Yeah. So with no further ado, Stephanie, what’s the question

Stephanie Stuckey (00:17:29):

I do wanna say a quick note about divinity because Jeff prompted this divinity is really for the ultimate candy Coner in my opinion, it is the hardest candy to make and you have to have just the right weather conditions. If it’s too humid, it doesn’t come out. Right. It is absolutely delicious. And we make ours from scratch. So I think our divinity will stand up next to any other candy company. Love

Scott Luton (00:17:54):

That. So

Stephanie Stuckey (00:17:56):

Yeah. So for your chance to win some of our divine candy, you have to get this right? What? Oscar winning film featured a scene at a Stuckey’s.

Scott Luton (00:18:08):

So that’s the question. Y’all drop the answers and the comments I’m gonna give a little hint is that it’s it’s it’s uh, it’s from a movie. Thank you, Craig. For the sound effects there. Hollywood sound effects <laugh> so the movie is from just within the last few years and it’s a great movie. I mean, and what best

Stephanie Stuckey (00:18:26):

Picture? When I say Oscar winning it won best picture. That

Scott Luton (00:18:29):

Is right. I forgot that. Uh, Stephanie, Amanda and I really enjoyed, in fact, I’m about to rewatch it this weekend, now that, and we’ve got one, we’ve got a couple answers already. And uh, Amanda, if you and the team will make sure that sometimes like with this here, sometimes you have a setting on your LinkedIn. We can’t see who that is. So Amanda, if you will make sure we can take these winners in account. And what, what we’ll do is

Greg White (00:18:54):

Basically, oh, I know the answer. <laugh>

Stephanie Stuckey (00:18:56):

<laugh> take a minute, Greg. You’re like,

Greg White (00:18:59):

Yeah, do

Scott Luton (00:19:00):

Do

Greg White (00:19:00):

Do no, actually I had it here. Right?

Scott Luton (00:19:04):

So Amanda, Chantel and Catherine, thanks for what y’all do the production team behind the scenes. If y’all would just pull all the right answers and we’ll select a winner at the end of the live stream. So,

Greg White (00:19:15):

Uh, Hey, there, there are a few answers that could probably be adjusted here. And I don’t think we would know the difference, but right. It is does seem like a shame of all the things that for Gump featured that Stuckey’s was not in. I mean, it just seems like a natural

Scott Luton (00:19:28):

This opportunity,

Greg White (00:19:29):

Doesn’t it?

Stephanie Stuckey (00:19:30):

We should have been,

Greg White (00:19:31):

They need to have a forest Gump too. Yes, yes. Or a prequel.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:19:36):

Yes. And we were actually, this is a bit of a trick question because we have been featured in two Oscar nominated.

Greg White (00:19:44):

Oh wow.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:19:45):

Films in the past. I wanna say it’s past five years. I I’d have to check years the moon female, but in recent years, but only one of them won best picture. So it’s the one that won best picture

Scott Luton (00:20:00):

One that won best picture. So Amanda, Chantel and Catherine y’all pull those, uh, answers the right ones. And to give us a winner, if you would, we’ll announce that at the end of the live stream, we got so much, you get to between now and the, I wanna move right along. I wanna move into our first of, uh, two big topics here today and now we’ll never do it justice, but we’re gonna, uh, maximize our time. We’re gonna be talking about fundraising, right. Fundraising. And, and you know, if you’re an entrepreneur, you probably know well and had plenty of experiences that our two, our two, uh, friends here, Greg and Stephanie have lots of exp. Uh, in fact, I’ve learned a lot from Greg in, in the last two or three years when it comes to fundraising and Stephanie, but I wanna start with you. We’ll get, Greg’s taken a minute, but what are some of your observations as it relates to this journey here that you began a few years back, as you made a, you know, big, bold bit to use your words, put your life savings into rebuilding this, uh, legendary American company and you know, and you’re doing it, but what have you learned about fundraising along the way?

Stephanie Stuckey (00:21:00):

Well, it’s hard. And I think the biggest takeaway has been, it’s almost like a second job.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:21:09):

You and I used to run a nonprofit. And I remember at the time thinking, this is the hardest job because you are doing two jobs, you’re doing the business of running the organization and you’re fundraising. And I thought, well, when you’re running a for profit corporation, that’s gotta be easier be because the service that you provide, the product you provide is producing the income that supports organization or the company, which is true. But if you like Stuckey and like most companies, you’re going to get to a point where a pressure point, where there are incredible growing pains, which is where we are right now out. It’s a, it’s a good problem, but it is painful right now because we are getting major national accounts interested in our brand, wanting to place large POS large purchase orders where we’re talking about potentially millions of pounds of pecans. We’re talking

Scott Luton (00:22:10):

Big orders,

Stephanie Stuckey (00:22:10):

Hundreds of cases.

Scott Luton (00:22:12):

Yeah. Packaging

Stephanie Stuckey (00:22:13):

Thousand unit stores. Yes. That level,

Greg White (00:22:16):

Tons of sugar, all of that stuff. Right? I mean,

Stephanie Stuckey (00:22:18):

Volume for purchase orders. We bought a candy plant that was almost at its capacity. So we have completely stretched its capacity. So we are in the process of trying to acquire a new facility in the Augusta Georgia area. We have to move our distribution facility, which is currently in Eastman, it’s rented and that landlord is expanding and needs us out. Hmm. So we have to move for the distribution. So we’re, we need to move the distribution closer to our manufacturing and we’ll expand the manufacturing capacity at this new facility as well, because you have to get new equipment. Yep. Equipment takes up space. You can’t just stick a en robing machine and a small room. You’ve got to have space for the equipment to work. Yep. So,

Scott Luton (00:23:11):

So Stephanie

Stephanie Stuckey (00:23:11):

Found the site and um, just real quick, we’re looking at raising 6.5 million,

Scott Luton (00:23:18):

6.5 mil. That’s the number I’m gonna get Greg to comment here in just a second, but one quick follow up. You’ve really laid out the why Stephanie. Yeah. Right. To fuel this next phase of growth. Yeah. So the why is there, tell us about one, some of those, what the conversations, those fundraising conversations are like. Cause, cause you’re, you’re new to this, I think admittedly, so yes. What, what stood out there?

Stephanie Stuckey (00:23:39):

Well, just trying to figure out how you want to get access to capital and you have to make the decision, do you wanna do debt funding or equity funding or a blend thereof. And then there’s also these hybrids of the equity funding where you can structure it in different ways. It could be an equity buyback, or if it’s equity, do you wanna do the private equity route? Do you wanna do family fund, which are whole different animal? Do you want to do a crowdfunding equity, which is largely non-voting small, small shares, lot of work to put that together. So you have to figure out what your platform is. So we have been vetting all these different options and then their government loans, You know, do wanna take some of these government programs, uh, U S D a in particular, because we are in the agricultural food production space and likely what we’re gonna do is a capital stack. Right. We’re gonna get different ch different places.

Scott Luton (00:24:41):

Okay. All right. So you’re, you’re describing some of those conversations. Describe some of those options, kind of talking about how you gotta build your strategy. Greg, gonna pull you in here. I know all of this has probably been there, done that a thousand times. You’re our guru here at supply chain. Now, when it comes to these conversations, talk a little about what we’re hearing from Stephanie and from your experience.

Greg White (00:25:02):

I think that I think the most important thing, I mean, if you’re in business, if you’re an entrepreneur is to realize that it is a second job. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and in fact it’s a very delicate balancing act because you’re, you’re at an inflection point as a company, meaning it could go either way, right? Usually you you’ve hit the ceiling of what your current capacity or funding or team yeah. Can do, right. So you’re up against it as it, as it is. And you have to continue to perform at an excellent, you have to Excel while raising funding. So you literally have to take off your eye off the ball and still hit a home run. I mean, that’s the way, that’s the best. That’s the best analogy that I can give you. You, you have to take your eye off the ball of running the business day to day and still hope the business hits a home run because if sales dip or production alters, while you’re going through the funding, the, the fundraising process, everybody’s like, eh, I dunno,

Stephanie Stuckey (00:26:02):

I’m just doing both. I mean, my business partner and I are do, we are literally working 12 hour a day and consuming incredible amount of coffee. And the takeaway that I learned I read somewhere is you need to start raising money when you don’t need it.

Greg White (00:26:19):

Uh, unquestionably, especially if you especially, well, especially if you want loans, right? You can’t get loans when you need the money because you don’t have the collateral or you don’t have the capital structure that, and, and assures banks who are incredibly, incredibly conservative that you can pay them back. It’s a little bit different with equity. Somebody has taken a bit of a flying leap. However, there are all these provisions when you get equity, that puts it’s called the top of the stack that puts the new investors at the top of the stack. So if anything goes wrong, they get paid first. So there’s a lot of risk mitigation. That’s that’s going on. And I think the other you have to understand is that as much as they say, and I believe as much as investors believe that they are a partner with you and that they believe in your vision, they believe, believe in your vision for precisely, as long as it is creating returns on their investment than they don’t

Stephanie Stuckey (00:27:22):

A hundred percent. Yes. You need to accept that if you are going to go that equity route. And it took me a lot of meetings to get to that point and deciding frankly, that it is highly unlikely that that’s going to be the route for us. I would never say completely. No <inaudible>, but you are giving up a lot when you give up equity. And I look at some of the companies I admire, and I was thinking about Atlanta based MailChimp because they recently had a huge sale of their company, but

Greg White (00:27:55):

With zero investors

Stephanie Stuckey (00:27:56):

And his partners, two of them, and I’m sorry, I’m forgetting the other partner. They bootstrapped it completely. I read a great interview with the founder Calandy and he largely, and he’s based in Atlanta. He largely bootstrapped it with the exception of like a $50,000 friends and family type loan, like a con look, a connection. He knew that’s it. He bootstrapped it so you can bootstrap it. You just have to grow slower. Mm-hmm

Greg White (00:28:26):

<affirmative>,

Scott Luton (00:28:27):

That’s a great point. And Jed liked your earlier point capital. Stack’s a really interesting, great idea. Quote and loved your comment there. Raise money when you don’t need it. Uh, so Jed, thanks for being there. Sylvia is a big fan. Must be of SBA loans. Uh, wanna make sure, yeah,

Stephanie Stuckey (00:28:44):

We got a 5 0 4 loan to finance the acquisition of the candy plant and the shelling plant. Great money. If you can get it, you’re often locked in into a longer term loan, 10, 20 years, depending on the terms. And you’re locked in at very favorable interest rates, right? I, there is a variable, but if I recall correctly, we like at 4.1 for the I’m sorry. I had to let my

Scott Luton (00:29:11):

Smokey

Stephanie Stuckey (00:29:12):

In. She was, she was making a lot of noise at the door <laugh> so you, you get great interest. You get great terms and it’s backed by the SBA. So banks loan to loan to you. Here’s the challenge with an SBA. They require personal guarantee. And if you go bankrupt, it’s not shielded. And I don’t even wanna think about that being a possibility, but you need to know all the consequences of an SBA. They, they will get their money and they will go after everything. You own. Everything I own is just in that SBA loan.

Scott Luton (00:29:48):

Okay. Peter says, banks always willing to give it to you when you do not need it. <laugh>

Greg White (00:29:54):

Right. And,

Greg White (00:29:55):

And when you can personally guarantee it, I mean, that’s the truth. They just don’t take risk. And I think that, that, I think what you have to understand, um, in all of the legitimate and rhetoric, rhetorical discussions we’ve had about entrepreneurs and whether they built that or not, is that entrepreneurs are taking a significant risk so that no one that ever works for them into the future will ever have to take that risk again. Yeah. And the on, and they are literally the only people, Stephanie is the only one putting her home on the line so that this business can, can flourish. Not the best. Well,

Stephanie Stuckey (00:30:35):

The business

Greg White (00:30:35):

Partner, not the investors and not the employees. So my

Stephanie Stuckey (00:30:38):

Business partner, there’s two of us. We jointly own the company, but here’s the other thing. It’s our families too. Right? Right. Those assets. Can the family home, the family car, so right.

Greg White (00:30:50):

College funds, good

Stephanie Stuckey (00:30:51):

Money, good terms. I just think people need to be aware that none of this is without a certain amount of risk. And, and one, we haven’t talked about that I am intrigued by and I’m really interested pursuing is a crowdfunding option.

Greg White (00:31:08):

Very

Stephanie Stuckey (00:31:08):

Doing a I’ve looked at Indigogo, I’ve looked at Kickstarter and I’ve actually become very intrigued with a new platform that I think we might try out. So we can talk about it. Future episodes, it’s called deal maker. You familiar with that platform?

Scott Luton (00:31:22):

I, I am not great.

Greg White (00:31:23):

I’ve heard of it. I’m not that familiar with it.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:31:25):

Yeah. So basically they help you structure all of the S E C filings. So you can’t just, I couldn’t just go up on LinkedIn and say, Hey, buy some equity, crowd funding, shares of our company where, where it’s different. If you’re doing the crowd funding route is that they’re not owning a sizable amount. It’s going to be a, it’s going to be a non-voting small share, but people will have a share of the company and you can choose the terms. And you can say, we’re not paying you back unless there’s a liquidation event. And that’ll be in 10 years, you know, so people know upfront through what the terms are, but you can also provide reward and fun incentives. So we’re looking at structuring it in a way that I think would be appealing to people to give at maybe the 500, a thousand dollars level. And we could get some of the funding that way. Okay. The deal maker is really nice in that they don’t have the huge percentages that you have to give up with some of these other platforms. They all come with fees and fine, not these. And they get percentages,

Scott Luton (00:32:26):

These and strings and percentages. Oh my, I wanna shift gears here for a second. I wanna share this. Um, Amanda, let me know who this is. If you would, he or she says, basically you need a runway where you have the luxury to build your brand right. And a deliberate, meaningful way. So as to ensure success. Yep. Excellent point there, uh, in, in light of all the risk that Greg and Stephanie, both are describing that that all of us are, have, have lived our living, you name it. And that was, um, mark Meers here. So thank you for that, mark. Greg. Thank

Stephanie Stuckey (00:32:57):

You, mark. So true. Yeah. And I wanna run away

Greg White (00:33:00):

And let’s talk about <laugh>, let’s talk a little bit about what builds brand, because Coca-Cola the most recognizable brand in the universe. Probably at least on this planet, didn’t start out as a brand. They started out selling the hell out of something. They called medicine that ultimately became a, a consumable PR uh, a consumer product soda, right? Sales it, what is what makes a brand a branding exercise does not make a brand mm-hmm <affirmative>. I just wanna be. I want people to understand that. I mean, we’re talking, I, I presume we’re speaking to some entrepreneurs here today, but it, the proof is in the pudding as has been said by who ever for however long. And I still don’t know what it means, but everybody understands it. <laugh> I mean that of a brand, somebody has to buy it and lots of people recognize it before you get to a branding exercise, sales, sales, sales,

Scott Luton (00:33:56):

Sales,

Greg White (00:33:57):

An entrepreneurial company, doesn’t have one problem, more sales can’t solve

Scott Luton (00:34:01):

Sales, speak loudest, for sure. Uh, thank you for that’s a great point, Greg folks, don’t go after the branding exercises. Get better at selling

Greg White (00:34:10):

Stuff

Scott Luton (00:34:11):

Too early. Yeah. Too early. Yeah. Get, thank you. Get better. Get better at selling stuff, folks. Um, okay. Can I

Stephanie Stuckey (00:34:17):

Quick thing to that though? Yeah, because I’ve learned interesting thing and we may be in a different position because Stuckey’s did come with a brand, albeit one that was a little dusty and maybe fading in people.

Greg White (00:34:28):

Yeah,

Stephanie Stuckey (00:34:29):

No, it was a little bit of like, whatever happened to when I got Stuckey’s that was literally the top Google search, whatever happened to Stuckey’s and Stuckey’s left and that is no longer the top Stuckey’s search. Now, now it’s become log roles. Thank you very much. Oh

Greg White (00:34:44):

Yeah. Awesome.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:34:45):

I had to do a lot of marketing. I you’re looking at the chief marketing officer and the chief sales officer and the chief executive officer. You wear many hats when you run a company. But what was interesting to me was when I was trying to market and sell the brand, what produced the most sales was when I talked about the brand, when I told the brand story, when I told the story of my journey, when I told, you know, I would talk about, oh, we sell cactus candy and here’s the story of cactus candy. And then next thing I know you look on the website and stuff is selling. So it’s a fine balance of not being too salesy at and telling the story. But if you just tell the story and don’t remind people, Hey, behind this great story, you can buy a mug. Right?

Scott Luton (00:35:34):

Yeah. <laugh>

Stephanie Stuckey (00:35:36):

So it’s interesting to me like the branding, branding, branding. It’s like what Gary V says, punch, punch, punch, punch, jab. Right? Right. You tell the story, you tell the story, you tell the story, all right, jab, you need a sale

Scott Luton (00:35:50):

Until you run into clever Lang and you gotta come up with new strategy maybe. But Hey, Stephanie, um, I wanna share a couple comments and I wanna shift into our second big topic, which is access for all access to capital for all. We got a bunch of great comments here. I’m gonna try to share some of ’em quickly. Uh, Sylvia says her sister started her publishing company through crowd front crowd funding. Unconventional. Yes. Effective. Yes. In big bold letters. Sylvia, thank you for sharing that co I might wanna

Stephanie Stuckey (00:36:19):

Connect with your sister just would love to chat with someone.

Scott Luton (00:36:23):

Let’s do it. Peter’s talking about Coca-Cola cocaine in a bottle. Gotcha. Hooked. He said back in the day, Peter loved that. No

Greg White (00:36:30):

Comment.

Scott Luton (00:36:31):

Uh, <laugh> Elizabeth as asking, attending south by Southwest for crop funding could be a resource for you. So maybe two of y’all can get connected after the show there, John is talking about Stuckey’s legacy highway locations. Yeah. Now online direct to consumer convenient stores, grocery stores. What other channels are in your omnichannel strategy? Uh, and he asked lot of great questions there. All the

Stephanie Stuckey (00:36:55):

We’re working on all those, we, we just sign up a new broker to get in the value chain. Uh, and we’ve been talking about airport gifts shops. Okay. Not wanting our own, but selling our product.

Scott Luton (00:37:05):

Wonderful, wonderful. We’re we’re we’re stirring some passions here. Nick is talking about, uh, equity is not a bad way to go. If the investor is able to structure a deal where you’re operating debt free and you then have capital for long term expansion, then they take a less equit, uh, equity position that allows you to own majority shares. Uh, Greg quick response there.

Greg White (00:37:26):

Yeah. Most, most equity is gonna be a minority investment to begin with, but with significant preference. Now it also depends on the kind of business you’re in, right. Technology has, has its own structure, retail or, or manufacturing or consumer goods have used different structures. And other industries use different structures. That is a very, the model that Nick is talking about is a very, very early, early equity equity model, but gotcha. Um, where some people, those would typically be called angels as opposed to the opposite. Some can be, um, those are typically called angels that would allow you to basically buy back your company from the equity investor. But most companies, if they have enough value can, can give away as little as a 20% share of their company for, for that equity. Hmm. So, but I mean, and that might be a different story Stephanie, than your hearing. And it also depends on the upside potential of a business, right. Particularly in technology they’re expecting to you to return 10 times what they’ve invested in your company. Exactly. Yeah. That’s very difficult from a manufacturing standpoint. Mm

Scott Luton (00:38:36):

Okay. Evan to append the proof is in pudding. That cake is also a lie. I I’ll have to learn that one. That latter one, there is that true. The cake is also a lot.

Greg White (00:38:45):

I thought it was heavier. Your cake. You eat it too.

Scott Luton (00:38:47):

Maybe

Stephanie Stuckey (00:38:48):

Or less cake

Scott Luton (00:38:49):

Now that’s right now Lisa disagrees.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:38:52):

Rebranding is key. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:38:54):

Yeah. Key foundation.

Greg White (00:38:54):

Unquestionably

Scott Luton (00:38:56):

Customers. Yeah. And she also says it’s an emotional experience and, and Lisa, um, really, I think, I think, uh, Lisa, I, I agree with that. Um, but I think, talk about cake and eat it too. If you focus on sales and you’re driving sales, you can still work of course, on making that emotional connection via branding with your customer. Right. Um, Greg and Stephanie

Greg White (00:39:17):

Unquestionably. And you have to, I mean, think about, let’s talk about, Coca-Cola just real quick, how that brand evolved. It started out as medicine, not a sustainable branding exercise because it didn’t generate enough sales also. Well, nevermind. I said, no comment didn’t I <laugh>, um, uh, also the, the, you know, so they, so they recognized that there was a consumer element to this and they shifted their brand identity to, to capitalize on that. And that did help drive that, that consumer, uh, that consumer consumption, which makes perfect sense. But they had to sell it before the branding meant anything. I mean, I, I bet nobody can name a brand that has never sold anything.

Scott Luton (00:40:04):

Hmm. Is that

Stephanie Stuckey (00:40:05):

Branding is at the core of everything a company does. Am

Greg White (00:40:09):

I unquestionably? You have to have some identity that separates you from the pack, right? Yeah.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:40:13):

And, and that emotional connection is key. And I’m a huge fan of Simon Sinek. I’m sure most people have seen his power of Y video mm-hmm <affirmative>, but talks about most people, you know, most businesses know what they make Coke makes Coca-Cola. They may know how they make it. Although the secret formula is a secret, but a lot of companies, in fact, most companies don’t truly understand why, what, why are they doing what they do? And so when I first acquired Stuckey’s what, what little team we had, we literally spent four hours locked in a room talking about the why of our brand, why do we exist? And we went around and around. Is that the pecan? Is that the RO what is our core? What is our raison Detra? And we came up with it’s the road trip. Yep.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:41:05):

Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so everything we do revolves around that evolves around that. We talk about the road trip. We talk about the fun of exploring small town, America. We talk about products that are made in this country and, and taking pride and being part of what’s a classic Americana experience. All that’s kind of wrapped up together. So even if we’re just selling our product, a food lion in some suburban location, when you see that become log role, you have an emotional connection because you think about taking a road trip and what fun it was right. Or is going to be so that’s branding, right? It’s everything you do. And it does drive the sales.

Scott Luton (00:41:40):

So I wanna, I wanna move to a second gear, but I wanna, I wanna make, uh, I wanna put kind of a period on this, on this, uh, segment here when we’re talking sales and, and branding or revenue generation and branding, you know, I, I think maybe the disconnect, at least from my perspective is, you know, sales and driving revenue and figuring out what the market is wanting to buy and what they’re willing to pay for and what exactly what they want. You know, that is, that is the lifeblood of the business, right? Yeah. And, and, and so I’m not disagreeing. You’ve gotta have a brand, you’ve gotta have a, you’ve gotta Polish, all of that. And you gotta make that emotional connection with the customer. But gosh, if you’ve got the, you know, the sexiest looking logo and product position and all this stuff, but you don’t know how to drive sales and drive revenue, really, what do you have? What’s the value of what you have. Yeah. So we’ll have to have a whole nother discussion <affirmative> around this.

Greg White (00:42:34):

I think the beautiful thing is we can disagree and all be successful.

Scott Luton (00:42:37):

Yes.

Greg White (00:42:38):

Yes. I don’t think, I don’t think it’s a mutually exclusive relationship. I, in fact, I know from, from personal experience multiple times that it’s not a, a,

Scott Luton (00:42:48):

Uh, is it a zero sum game, exclusive relationship? I still don’t know what a zero sum game is, but we’ll, we’ll save that for another too. We have a

Greg White (00:42:55):

Lot of stuff we don’t know. We just say that we don’t know

Stephanie Stuckey (00:42:58):

War. Right. They’re no winners.

Scott Luton (00:43:00):

Right. Okay. Thank you. I think that’s right. Stephanie, I’m, I’m leaving with the sounds good. I, I, I’ve not known that in any of my, uh, definition of that through my entire life. And I’m now walking away with, uh, that included on my 17 pages notes from this conversation between three of it. So let’s, let’s move along. Cause with the time we have left, I got a couple questions I wanna pose to both of y’all. I wanna get into access to capital for all. And before I, I, uh, Stephanie, we start with you and get some of your perspective here. I wanna start with this quote from Hypepotamus Potm I can’t got that, right?

Greg White (00:43:35):

Yeah. Close enough.

Scott Luton (00:43:36):

Close enough. Okay. Quote, minority founders receive less than 3% of all us venture capital investments. While those from underrepresented backgrounds, continue to struggle to get seats, venture capital side of the table in Stephanie, with that as a back, your take on how important it is and, and your maybe your personal experiences of making sure everyone has access to capital.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:44:03):

I think those statistics play out and the experiences that I’ve had now, I do have a white male business partner. So we’re, we’re not considered a minor minority company, but I do see the frustration. I do have friends and colleagues who are minority owned and operated businesses. And I see the challenges that they face. I would love to see a statistic if anyone has it on the private equity end of it, because it’s always the venture capital number that I’ve seen. And VC as y’all know, tends to be more tech and gadget related, which is not the space I’m in. And there are certainly, uh, and the minority companies I interact with tend to be more on my side, sort of the, the CPG, uh, the food business manufacturing making. So, uh, be interested to see if the numbers are consistent. I would bet that they are. Um, and I think it’s subtle.

Greg White (00:44:58):

It might be worse in private equity, right?

Stephanie Stuckey (00:45:01):

It’s, it’s very subtle. It’s, it’s not like you’re necessarily going to, I have not experienced where I think I was rejected because it’s a female uncle company, but it’s just the access to those contacts. I mean, I’m very fortunate that my business partner is a very good golfer and he plays golf. I don’t play golf. I’m not in those inner Santos where you hang out and smoke cigars and chat and oh, by the way. So, and so how’s this fun you should talk to about. And next thing you know, you got your money. Mm. So there’s, it’s all these subtle undercurrents and, and connections. And that’s hard if you didn’t grow up with that access, I have some access, but not, not like some other companies. And so I would like to see more private equity, more venture capital, make a deliberate decision that this is how we are going to run our company.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:46:06):

We are, some of this is going to have to be getting beyond our comfort zone, getting outside circle of people that you generally do business with and lend money to, and try really actively to seek out minority companies. And I know just this is related, but different and procurement with our business. I’ll look at, we’ll usually get three bids on a job. And I always look at what is the racial and, you know, demographic, what’s the demographic of the leadership of the company. And if we have three bids from three white male owned companies, I will insist that we get another bid from a minority owned firm. It doesn’t mean they get it, but it means that they get a bid. And so you have to do that. You have to make that extra

Greg White (00:46:56):

Effort be very conscious matter

Stephanie Stuckey (00:46:58):

Because they’re not necessarily these companies aren’t necessarily on our radar. And I have to say, it’s hard. Sometimes I really have to actively search. I get on the internet. I get on LinkedIn. I’m like, I’m trying to find in a firm in this space. Right. And it’s hard.

Scott Luton (00:47:14):

No, absolutely. That that’s why sourcing the procurement and those professionals are, are so talented and, and such an important part of the mix because, uh, whether you’re talking, um, well, whatever suppliers you’re talking about, uh, it, it’s very difficult. The finding, uh, and vetting and, and making sure you’re as inclusive as you want to be. It’s a, it’s a full time job. Greg respond, if you would, to some of the things that Stephanie talked about in particular on the front end, as she was talking about, it’s, it’s not so much an active exclu exclusive type of vibe. It’s that, it’s the stuff that you don’t even think of about just because of kind of, you know, uh, the golf club as she’s talking about, but Greg speak to some of those things that Stephanie, the

Stephanie Stuckey (00:47:55):

Inherent biases.

Greg White (00:47:57):

I, I think it’s even, uh, more than that, it’s not, it’s not intent as much as it is neglect. I mean, look, let’s face it. Who are the investors in their countries, in this, in any country, they are hedge fund managers and their children, those children go to Wharton business school and they hang out with other hedge fund managers, kids. Um, they are exceptionally intelligent because they are taught business around the breakfast table from mm-hmm <affirmative> birth, basically. Yeah. I, I have struggled with this because it, uh, it’s not a, it is a demographic thing. I think Frank frankly, and unfortunately that’s probably the best description for it because it’s not a race thing. It’s not an ethnicity thing. It’s, it’s not a class thing though. All three of those things come into play. It is, it is, uh, an, an, uh, affinity thing. It is, they don’t know us. They don’t know people other than those hedge fund managers and their trust fund babies who have gone to Wharton. So, uh, or, or other now schools, but really it did all start with Warton. Yeah.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:49:04):

Like Harvard

Greg White (00:49:05):

<laugh>. Right, right.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:49:07):

They’ll look at some other schools,

Greg White (00:49:09):

Harvard. Yeah. But I mean, the, the net effect, we don’t have to list all the schools, I guess, but the net effect is the same, right? These are really knowledgeable people. And, and if you think about it from their perspective, somebody you have known maybe your whole life, but certainly all the way through college who, you know, to be highly intelligent and ultimately capable, and also O backed by daddy’s money is a great investment. Somebody you don’t know, regardless of what they look like or sound like or who they are, but that doesn’t have the same pedigree that you do. And you don’t know what their backstop is in terms of funding or whatever. It’s a much, much higher risk. And what I’ve discovered from now being on the other side of the table in venture capital is we need to make, and all investors need to make, and they are starting to make, they are really, really trying hard to make those connections at an earlier stage with people that aren’t from their regular social class or even social circle, right.

Greg White (00:50:10):

You, you have to start making those connections, even just like with banks, even before you need the money, or even before, you know, you might ever need money. Right. We need, we need to do it in high school and grade school and kindergarten and preschool, whatever <laugh>. Um, so, so that we know one another better, we can, we come up through our livelihoods and our professional lives together, and we can recognize the value that you go. You know, if I gave that, that lady like a million bucks, I think she’d do good stuff with it because I have this timeline of experiences that I, I can draw from ultimately, and this is an outsider’s analysis, regardless of what I look like. I’m an definite outsider when it comes to investing, um, that’s an outsider’s perspective and analysis of why it was hard for me, even a white male, right. Um, to raise money and, and why it is hard to get, to make those contacts with so many people.

Scott Luton (00:51:11):

All right. So Stephanie, I wanna get your quick response, what Greg just shared and your final thought when it comes to access for all, uh, to that critical capital to, you know, to help fuel this rapid and successful, uh, growth. But Stephanie, your quick response there,

Stephanie Stuckey (00:51:26):

Greg touched on some good pull. I think there needs to be this infrastructure, not just where you have these opportunities to get to know people who don’t come from the same background. And I would love to see that begin at the educational stage pre-K elementary school. That’s gonna be pretty hard

Greg White (00:51:45):

List,

Stephanie Stuckey (00:51:45):

Right? I think more like we are going to need to have an infrastructure in place to support businesses, entrepreneurs that don’t have that access. And you make a point I’m, there’s often this conception that, well, if you’re white and male, then you’re privileged and you have access to these ho halls. Not always the case, huh? To percent agree with that. But I would say vast majority of those private equity. In fact, while you were talking, I was clicking through, I have easily talked to 40 or 50 private equity firms. I have taught, not talked to a single one that was not Rumbo by white males, not

Greg White (00:52:34):

UN unquestionable.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:52:35):

I’m not saying they don’t exist.

Greg White (00:52:37):

They do. And I, I can point you at one that might even be a good,

Stephanie Stuckey (00:52:41):

Uh, I would love it.

Greg White (00:52:42):

Option four.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:52:43):

Love it. Yeah. But I think having the infrastructure to support entrepreneurs who don’t have those opportunities, because I did have the benefit of a couple of times being on a judge panel for pitches, for entrepreneurs, which is so fun because I’m usually on the pitching side, not getting pitch too. Right.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:53:04):

And great way. Great time to talk about pitch with baseball, just starting that’s. But I realize how ill prepared. So many of them are, even though they may have a great idea, but it’s understanding what it really takes to scale. Like so many of them will say, well, I have this great product and I aim to be in target in a year and they’re not even in their local community store. So it’s just that not really understanding what it takes. And then, you know, you ask to look at the financials and they’re not done well, these aren’t CPA generated financials. The business plans really need a lot more support. So I think there’s just this infrastructure there that needs to be more available and it’s not an easy problem to fix

Greg White (00:53:59):

That’s right. It’s not, and it takes intention and action. And I think we’re getting there. I mean, when I started tequila, sunrise, that was, this was one of the topics that we addressed on, on the show at a very early stage, the intent and the action is there. It is a heavy lift from both sides, I believe. Yeah, yeah.

Scott Luton (00:54:20):

Right. I

Greg White (00:54:20):

Mean, you can’t have grown up in, you know, extreme wealth and, and expect to know people other than that are like that. Just like you can’t expect to grow up in extreme poverty and expect to know people other than outside that circle. So we need to bridge that gap substantially and rapidly, I think because there are some fantastic ideas out there and there are some fantastic opportunities for everyone to benefit.

Scott Luton (00:54:48):

Yep. Really quick. And I wanna, I wanna, as we start to wrap here, we, we got just a couple more minutes. We have some great comments by the way, Elizabeth, thanks for sharing this. Uh, she, she recommends search funder.com good resource for making some of those connections, search funder.com. Check that out. Awesome.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:55:04):

I will check that

Scott Luton (00:55:04):

Out. Yeah. Rhetorical question for now, want to save y’all’s takes on this, uh, for the, uh, another show, but you know, sometimes I wonder, especially as I, as I, uh, dive deeper into some of these, uh, raises, uh, raise journeys and what what’s published, if we don’t need more folks born to build and to sell versus born, just to raise, you know, I think we should think about that, but we’ll save that for another show. Yeah. Uh, okay.

Greg White (00:55:30):

What do you mean by that born to raise I’m curious, you mean raise funds?

Scott Luton (00:55:33):

Yeah. I, I, I think in some of the, some of the things I’m observing, right, rather than folks get into and know their market, get into build the product that the market wants rather than get into and start creating revenue. They, they build something that’s more poised just to raise rather than

Greg White (00:55:52):

That’s a really good insight. That is unbelievably insightful. Yeah. That <laugh>, I mean, WeWork is a great example of that by the way. Right.

Scott Luton (00:56:01):

Which is a fascinating story. There’s some great documentaries, Greg.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:56:05):

Oh, I just finished reading the, we were work biography. Well, I, I listen to it on audible. Amazing.

Scott Luton (00:56:12):

It really is. Yeah. Disturbs me <laugh> and you’ve got some strong, uh, I’ve enjoyed some of your strong takes on the we WeWork story. And I can’t remember the, uh, the founders, um, the founder’s name. What’s that? Stephanie, Adam,

Stephanie Stuckey (00:56:28):

Adam. I remember it. As soon as we go off the air,

Greg White (00:56:32):

I’m trying to forget it,

Stephanie Stuckey (00:56:35):

Type

Greg White (00:56:35):

It in. All right.

Scott Luton (00:56:38):

<laugh> that’s right. Oh, Hey, that runs me. We gotta get to the trivia winner. So we gotta wrap up really quick. And Stephanie, you got a full Friday afternoon too, as does Greg. So a couple things I wanna first off make sure, uh, Stephanie, how can folks, before we pick our winner and Amanda Chantel or Catherine, if one of y’all could pick the answer to the trivia question was the green book, the green book. So check that out on that Netflix amongst other places, a great movie. So let’s, let’s pick a winner that shared the right answer. And Amanda, if you could let me know in, in the chat there, uh, Stephanie

Stephanie Stuckey (00:57:13):

Story, the green book’s a true story.

Scott Luton (00:57:16):

So, and

Stephanie Stuckey (00:57:16):

Stuckey’s is in the movie because we were never segregated.

Greg White (00:57:19):

Okay.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:57:20):

And stories about driving through the segregated south. So it’s, it’s an amazing tale. Definitely check it out.

Scott Luton (00:57:27):

Wow. Okay. Well, I’m gonna pick the winner here, but in the meantime, as I’ll do this, Stephanie, make sure how can folks connect with you and Stuckey’s how, how can that happen?

Stephanie Stuckey (00:57:37):

Yeah. So LinkedIn is the best place to find me and Stuckey. So Stuckey’s corporation and then I’m listed at is Stephanie Stuckey. I will say, if you send me an invitation to connect, it is not personal that I do not accept is that LinkedIn will not allow me to accept any more connections. So if you will kindly follow me, if you need to reach me, my information’s in my bio. And I do also try to check the messages. I get a lot of spam. I do my best, but email me is the best way. If you have like a, a message for me also, I’m on Twitter TikTok. I’m on TikTok now.

Greg White (00:58:15):

Wow. And

Stephanie Stuckey (00:58:15):

Instagram as at Stuckey, stop, all one word and Facebook is E Stephanie Stuckey. My first name’s Ethel.

Scott Luton (00:58:24):

Okay.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:58:25):

Page is E Stephanie Stuckey.

Greg White (00:58:27):

Awesome.

Scott Luton (00:58:28):

It’s just that easy. Make sure you connect with her, uh, make sure you check out Stuckey’s for all of your year round, uh, uh, candy and, and beyond needs. I love the nostalgia and, and of course the legendary brand, uh, Greg, this is Dave S is what Amanda tells me. He was a fur the person to answer correctly. Uh, Dave ES. So Dave, if you can, um, I’ll tell you if you can shoot your information over to, I think Stephanie shared her email address. You might also want to copy amanda@supplychainnow.com on there. So we make sure it makes it through all the, the junk mail filters that, that, uh, things happen these days. But Dave, congratulations. You’re the winner, Dave.

Greg White (00:59:09):

Yeah.

Stephanie Stuckey (00:59:09):

We’ll mail it direct to you. It’s S Stuckey Stuckey’s dot com.

Scott Luton (00:59:14):

Okay, perfect. Okay. So Greg, we didn’t get a chance to get to good news. We was Stephanie, both, both of y’all were sharing so much good stuff here today. Been there, done that, um, really appreciated y’all’s time and perspective Greg, out of all the goodness that Stephanie shared beyond the story, which is really cool. Um, you know, the, the massive risk on the free front end, you know, to basically invest her life savings and to rebuilding her family’s company and an America can icon and all the good stuff that she shared since then. What’s one thing that she shared that you really think folks should take away.

Greg White (00:59:48):

I, I, I think the, um, the number one, um, attribute of an entrepreneur is, is persistence. And Stephanie taught, you know, she didn’t get to share it here, but she shared it in the past, just how persistent she had to be. And, and, um, I think in one of your recent posts, you said you were something like seventh in line to take over the company, right? Yeah.

Stephanie Stuckey (01:00:16):

Seven grade kids. I was number five of seven. So not high

Greg White (01:00:20):

In order. Oh, okay. Five, okay. Five outta. Okay. You still, but I, I mean, I think that’s important cause that persistence has to come from belief. It has to come from your why as we talked about, and, and that persistence is absolutely necessary to get through the Hills and valleys the hurdles and troughs and all of those things that you go through as an entrepreneur to keep you going pointed at that north star to get to the moon and or, or whatever your goal is. Right. And, um, and make it happen that, you know, I don’t think that really, we were able to enunciate that here, but I think that’s really important to acknowledge. And secondly, I think it’s important that Stephanie and other entrepreneurs don’t just get at theirs and then claim their land. They are looking out for others. They are looking to uplift others who are, or would be entrepreneurs to create a more level playing field, a fairer, uh, rule book and those sorts of things that make everyone have the opportunity to build that. Mm. So I think that is, that’s an important, uh, takeaway from, for me today,

Scott Luton (01:01:27):

Agreed as Lisa says, persistence and passion and Lisa, by the way said that she’s gonna be a part of that. Uh, the marketing and branding call that we have Lisa. We’d welcome it. Uh, I love your passion around topics today. Stephanie, is this your, uh, we get this email here, right? Peter, uh, S Stuckey at Stuckey’s dot. Okay.

Stephanie Stuckey (01:01:45):

Yeah. Email me Peter.

Scott Luton (01:01:47):

So Dave S our winner, uh, send, send a note to that email and of course, copy, uh, Amanda supply chain now.com to make sure that gets through, uh, and folks what a wonderful conversation. Big, thanks to, uh, the one only Stephanie roadie Stuckey. We didn’t talk about your nickname. What have to get to the story behind that at some point soon, but big, thanks to Stephanie and big. Thanks to my colleague here, partner in crime, the one only Greg white, thanks for your time here today. Uh, we hope to have Stephanie back again soon, where we’re gonna dive deeper into this incredible journey, her and her team, her own some of her Frank observations, the good, the bad, and Hey, some of those days can be ugly, but that’s that that’s, that’s all part of the, all part of the walk of life that we’re on when you’re not, that

Greg White (01:02:31):

Makes the win that much taste here. <laugh>

Scott Luton (01:02:36):

All right, folks. Thanks for tuning in all the great comments, uh, by the way, Stephanie, Nick says he’s gonna email you information on his firm may be able to help you. We’ve got some other comments along those lines. Thank you. Thank y’all. Appreciate

Stephanie Stuckey (01:02:49):

That. And thanks to smokey

Greg White (01:02:52):

<laugh>

Greg White (01:02:53):

Yes. Right. Who made a cameo a couple of times. That’s

Scott Luton (01:02:56):

Right.

Stephanie Stuckey (01:02:57):

My assistant

Scott Luton (01:02:58):

<laugh> well, Hey folks, thanks for tuning in big, thanks to the whole production team, man, helping to make today’s show happen. Catherine, Chantel and Amanda, whatever y’all do, though, whatever you do. If you take one thing away from this conversation here today, I wanna challenge y’all to be like Stephanie, be like Greg, do good. Give forward. Be the change that’s needed. And on that note, we see next time, right back here on supply chain now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (01:03:22):

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.