The Coffee Shop That Found Success Through Philanthropy I Dane Kenney & Bryce Oldham I AO 18

This episode of American Operator follows the founder of Noble Joe’s, a coffee trailer born out of curiosity, hustle, and a few too many unknowns. From struggling to source espresso machines to the first time firing up the trailer, it’s a candid look at what actually happens when you build a business without experience.

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Transcript

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:00:05
Speaker 1
appetite.

00:00:00:05 - 00:00:02:09
Speaker 2
I was gonna throw the fake mustache on.

00:00:02:11 - 00:00:04:18
Speaker 3
And do whatever you.

00:00:04:20 - 00:00:06:00
Speaker 2
Choose to kick it off.

00:00:06:02 - 00:00:07:18
Speaker 3
Yeah, I don't give a hoot. I do.

00:00:07:18 - 00:00:09:08
Speaker 2
It just. Just to mess around. You

00:00:09:08 - 00:00:10:18
Speaker 1
Look at this, man.

00:00:10:18 - 00:00:12:11
Speaker 1
Sorry. Now let's get.

00:00:12:11 - 00:00:12:23
Speaker 1
So.

00:00:13:01 - 00:00:15:03
Speaker 2
Feel free to say I must ask you a question, too.

00:00:15:03 - 00:00:20:14
Speaker 1
Unless they ask you. Before we kick off, I must ask you a question.

00:00:20:16 - 00:00:22:20
Speaker 3
I do,

00:00:22:20 - 00:00:32:10
Speaker 1
Hard work. Real talk. No shortcuts. I'm Joseph Cabrera. This is American operator.

00:00:32:14 - 00:00:51:08
Speaker 1
All right, team, we are here with the two and only founders of noble Joe, coffee, Dane and Brass. It's funny, we actually thought for half a second your name might have been Dan, but only just because there's a tablet. Came through the messages. Oh, man. I was like, we better get that rat man.

00:00:51:11 - 00:00:52:21
Speaker 4
Was that me or the typo?

00:00:52:23 - 00:01:01:15
Speaker 1
It might have been you. It was a typo. And so here's a moment in the In the Office. We were like, is it Dan or Dan? And I was like, let me see the picture of his face and I'll know, yeah.

00:01:01:17 - 00:01:02:09
Speaker 2
Oh.

00:01:02:10 - 00:01:06:17
Speaker 1
You like Dane? You could look like a Dane on the periphery.

00:01:06:18 - 00:01:07:06
Speaker 2
Okay.

00:01:07:06 - 00:01:09:20
Speaker 1
But the mustache is what really kind of gets you.

00:01:09:22 - 00:01:14:02
Speaker 3
Over to the Danes on us. Yeah, this is great.

00:01:14:04 - 00:01:21:01
Speaker 1
The audience. Thank you for coming in. It's so good to have, an Austin local favorite in here. It means a lot for you. Ought to be in studio today.

00:01:21:03 - 00:01:22:01
Speaker 2
Absolutely.

00:01:22:03 - 00:01:31:04
Speaker 1
Well, let's kick off with this, man. I think probably a good way to to warm this up. I think people might be in anticipation of this. You guys struck me as dog people. Yeah.

00:01:31:04 - 00:01:31:18
Speaker 4
Oh, for sure.

00:01:31:22 - 00:01:32:10
Speaker 2
But,

00:01:32:12 - 00:01:36:01
Speaker 1
All right, let's go through. Favorite breed of dog. Let's just kick off before.

00:01:36:01 - 00:01:41:01
Speaker 2
We say that we gotta let it be known. Bryce had an Instagram account called Bryce with pups.

00:01:41:01 - 00:01:41:20
Speaker 1
Oh, is that right?

00:01:41:23 - 00:01:43:11
Speaker 4
Yeah. Yeah, it's retired now.

00:01:43:13 - 00:01:45:08
Speaker 3
Yeah yeah yeah yeah, yeah.

00:01:45:09 - 00:01:47:23
Speaker 4
I'll get I'll go with my favorite dog breed first though. Okay.

00:01:47:23 - 00:01:49:07
Speaker 1
Let's go.

00:01:49:09 - 00:01:51:19
Speaker 4
I'm like a big fan of French bulldogs. Yeah.

00:01:51:20 - 00:01:56:16
Speaker 1
Give me the. Is there a different reason than a lot of people? We all like him. We see him walk by and we go, man. Yeah.

00:01:56:16 - 00:02:10:07
Speaker 4
That's cool. There's just something about. I just feel like they kind of, you know, they get a bad rap. They have some, like, you know, medical issues. They need a little more love, you know? So that's that's the way I see it. And I just I see one more time. Like as he did fit me. Well, you know what I mean.

00:02:10:07 - 00:02:11:15
Speaker 4
So yeah. Anyway, that's my take.

00:02:11:15 - 00:02:14:10
Speaker 1
French. Do you have a color scheme that you particularly gravitate to?

00:02:14:13 - 00:02:17:18
Speaker 4
No, no, I don't discriminate.

00:02:17:20 - 00:02:18:02
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:02:18:02 - 00:02:30:00
Speaker 1
No, I, I always learn learning colors of dogs that I had no idea, fawn to brindle and all that stuff. They make them in every shape and form. Okay. French bulldog. Yep, yep. Favorite. All right, how about yourself? Dang.

00:02:30:00 - 00:02:42:22
Speaker 2
I got to go with what my dog is. And she's, like, the most unique breed ever. She's half German Shepherd, 12% love, 12% Bulldog, 12% American Bulldog, 12% Connie Corso.

00:02:43:00 - 00:02:44:03
Speaker 1
But the kind of Corso.

00:02:44:03 - 00:03:08:15
Speaker 2
They're like these huge Italian mastiffs. Oh, is she a big dog? She's like 70 pounds. But she's fast and smart and athletic and, like, kind of a mix of everything you'd want. And she's 2% golden retriever, so like her, her, like, hair is tipped with gold. It's amazing. But, if I had to pick one pure breed.

00:03:08:15 - 00:03:14:07
Speaker 2
Yeah, I think the German Shepherds are the labs. They're just. They're so smart and nice and. Yeah. And, you know.

00:03:14:12 - 00:03:17:12
Speaker 1
Or if you, What is she mostly. What's your name?

00:03:17:14 - 00:03:35:16
Speaker 2
Ella. And the funny thing is, when she was a puppy, so I had this cat, Mr. G, aka mr. G money. And and when I got Ella Grace girls, we were living together at the time. Rice girls, whatever you do, just don't name or one letter. And I go, I'm gonna name her L. And then I was like, oh, Ella, actually that we got it.

00:03:35:16 - 00:03:47:01
Speaker 2
Cool. And then long story short, the people that, like, raised her. You know, I got her when she was a puppy, but the people that had the litter, named her Eleanor without me even knowing it.

00:03:47:07 - 00:03:49:13
Speaker 1
Oh. That's cool. So, yeah. Was kind of meant to be.

00:03:49:13 - 00:03:57:21
Speaker 2
Totally meant to be. And I love that she kind of has a grandma name with the modern twist, you know? So sometimes, like, she'd be at the park and I'd be like, Eleanor. And, you know, people just love it.

00:03:57:21 - 00:04:02:20
Speaker 1
So what? What does she mostly look like? Have all the breeds, most people mistaken her. For what, like.

00:04:02:20 - 00:04:16:18
Speaker 2
A CIA dog? Because she could go undercover with the German Shepherds or the labs or whatever. But most. I'd say she kind of looks like a like a lab. Mostly she, to be honest, she looks like a miniature polar bear. She's, like, all white. I'll show you this picture after I'm.

00:04:16:18 - 00:04:17:21
Speaker 3
Like, 14.

00:04:17:22 - 00:04:24:09
Speaker 2
Of her with polar bears. All right? And I was like, make her with a family of polar bears. And then she fits right in.

00:04:24:11 - 00:04:26:01
Speaker 1
Do you have any dogs at the moment?

00:04:26:03 - 00:04:34:06
Speaker 4
I'm just an uncle right now. Yeah, he's got his uncle. Yeah. I dog sled every now and then, but yeah, I, I love dogs, but, you know, I'm just enjoying my independence for now.

00:04:34:08 - 00:04:43:22
Speaker 1
Yeah, man. And y'all, I mean, the thing about it, we I'm always reminded that your, if we are, like, half as good as they are, we'd be all right in this world, man.

00:04:43:22 - 00:04:45:21
Speaker 2
What's dog backwards?

00:04:45:23 - 00:05:03:23
Speaker 1
God, man. Yeah, I think about that, you know. Yeah. They're they're like, they are from, You think about there are I've been around a lot of animals. That is the one that fits mankind like a puzzle piece. They're cool, man. They really are. Yeah. Who don't like a dog? Usually on a Friday, there's a bunch of dogs running.

00:05:04:02 - 00:05:06:07
Speaker 1
Oh, cool. Cool. Yeah. The team will bring in their dogs.

00:05:06:07 - 00:05:25:03
Speaker 2
And I was telling a friend the other day, you can learn a lot from dogs. Like the fact that they live in the present. You know, they're appreciative, loyal. There's a lot of characteristics that, you know, we're grateful to. I mean, so it's so cool to have an animal like like my dog would just follow me around. You know, my buddy, that same buddy was telling me he had a beagle and you let it off the leash.

00:05:25:03 - 00:05:25:21
Speaker 2
Nothing's gone.

00:05:25:21 - 00:05:27:23
Speaker 3
I'm like, okay.

00:05:28:01 - 00:05:50:07
Speaker 1
Yeah, man, I know there's a lot of things. And not only a lot of things you learn from them, but I think a lot of things that they, it kind of forced the right practices. I have a German Shorthair, so a bird dog, and he he's a great reminder that, like, get outside. I mean, like, he's he's not a happy camper unless he goes out twice a day and is always running hard for 30 minutes each, and you go like, oh, I should be doing that for sure.

00:05:50:12 - 00:05:52:14
Speaker 1
That's not it's a good accountability tool.

00:05:52:14 - 00:06:07:07
Speaker 2
So I, you know, speaking out, I've got a gift for you that you can add in if you want, but I have a video that I haven't really shared. When Ella was four months old and we were living together, we had a piano, we got on Craigslist. She started playing the piano and singing, so that's actually one of her talents that she would do.

00:06:07:09 - 00:06:08:23
Speaker 1
I won't look forward to it. Good.

00:06:09:01 - 00:06:10:16
Speaker 2
She's great.

00:06:10:18 - 00:06:10:22
Speaker 3
But.

00:06:11:02 - 00:06:13:04
Speaker 2
Part of.

00:06:13:06 - 00:06:21:18
Speaker 1
Oh, of them, it was okay. Before we jump into coffee, how did y'all get. I mean, y'all obviously sounds like you guys have known each other for some time.

00:06:21:21 - 00:06:23:01
Speaker 2
Had it nine years now.

00:06:23:03 - 00:06:28:17
Speaker 1
Yeah. Did y'all meet because of the business or what? What created that cyclone?

00:06:28:19 - 00:06:46:07
Speaker 4
Yeah. So basically, Dane was playing on a basketball team, and, I just moved to Austin, and I was living with some guys who, you know, Dane's roommate knew the guys I was living with. And I just met these guys because I went on, like, Craigslist and got. I got roommates, which is not usually something you would recommend.

00:06:46:07 - 00:06:47:22
Speaker 4
I would recommend, but, it worked.

00:06:47:22 - 00:06:49:06
Speaker 2
Out like dog. It worked out.

00:06:49:06 - 00:06:49:23
Speaker 3
Yeah. Yeah.

00:06:49:23 - 00:06:51:19
Speaker 4
You don't recommend it, but, you know, what does.

00:06:51:19 - 00:06:57:06
Speaker 1
That listing look like? I have, actually, I can understand getting a room, but actually, roommates that are up there saying, hey, I need something.

00:06:57:08 - 00:07:03:18
Speaker 4
Yeah. And then we did a FaceTime and they, like, vetted me and everything, and yeah, we were over. You know what? That 24 diner is right.

00:07:03:18 - 00:07:04:19
Speaker 2
Near Whole Foods. Oh, yeah.

00:07:04:22 - 00:07:06:10
Speaker 4
Oh, yeah. We're like, in a house, like, right behind.

00:07:06:10 - 00:07:07:19
Speaker 2
And the house was really nice.

00:07:07:19 - 00:07:22:15
Speaker 4
Yeah, yeah, it was. It was an older house, but it was a really cool location, you know, a good vibe, everything. So anyway, like, I played baseball in college for a little bit, and my and my roommates knew that, and Dan had been, you know, asked on. Hey, we need it. We need a big guy.

00:07:22:15 - 00:07:23:23
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:07:24:00 - 00:07:34:15
Speaker 4
And so, yeah, I was like, oh, yeah. Like, I'll join the men's league team. And that's how we met. And then. Yeah, that's kind of that was the first way we met. And then we were roommates for a while. And yeah, that kind of that was the start of it all. So yeah.

00:07:34:21 - 00:07:48:18
Speaker 1
It's kind of out of necessity. It sounds like you all met. And then what what was the what was the thing that got you all down the path of, like, let's start something to get it. Was it together or was it separate the our planning and getting in business?

00:07:48:18 - 00:08:09:02
Speaker 2
I think we've always just been aligned on being interested in business and the freedom that comes with it, you know, and we have kind of different, like, skills in a way. Yeah. You know, Bryce is a software engineer by trade. And we just kind of balance each other out with a lot of stuff. So we'd always just talk about ideas and the fees about feasibility stuff and things like that.

00:08:09:08 - 00:08:15:14
Speaker 1
Yeah. What's your formal training there? And where'd you grew up and had no training? I'm official winger.

00:08:15:15 - 00:08:42:01
Speaker 2
Yeah. You know, ever since I was a kid, I've started a lot of different businesses. It was like selling stuff at the end of the street during road races, which was in, like, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, collecting cans in my neighborhood, selling shoelaces at school. All these different kind of things that the newspaper one is funny because my brother had the job first, but when I was ten years old, there's a ship that goes from the mainland of Cape Cod to Martha's Vineyard, the island.

00:08:42:03 - 00:09:01:07
Speaker 2
You have people coming on and off all day. Yeah, and at ten years old, I'm dealing with all these adults and, you know, just selling newspapers. My mom would be there with me. And then we ended up, figuring out this kind of contraption and roller blading around to the cars. And my mom would watch the papers, and it was just, kind of way to get started young dealing with adults.

00:09:01:07 - 00:09:18:11
Speaker 2
And, the thing is, is I was there at like 5 a.m. by the time I'd be done, my friends were just waking up and I had all this money, so fine motor scooters and taking my friends to lunch. And it was a really it was a way to, you know, kind of get your foot started or get my foot started in entrepreneurship in a very interesting way.

00:09:18:11 - 00:09:29:20
Speaker 2
And the funny thing is, at that time with the newspapers, they gave us 100% of whatever we made, which doesn't really make sense. So if you sold the paper for $0.50, they gave it to us all.

00:09:29:21 - 00:09:34:01
Speaker 1
It probably. I wonder if they're just making enough money on the on the ads. Maybe. That could.

00:09:34:01 - 00:09:34:18
Speaker 2
Make sense. Yeah.

00:09:34:18 - 00:09:35:23
Speaker 1
It just needed you to go.

00:09:36:00 - 00:09:37:19
Speaker 2
Yeah. Do it. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah.

00:09:37:19 - 00:09:47:11
Speaker 1
Interesting. So you feel like you. So you kind of feel like you had a natural knack for. Creating value, being the entrepreneur. That kind of was early. Yeah.

00:09:47:11 - 00:10:04:11
Speaker 2
And none of that stuff, like, scared me. You know, I think the thing that's easy or been easy for me is getting started. Yeah. And which I think for a lot of entrepreneurs, it's like some people can't get started, but once it's rolling, they're great operators and then some people can add value to existing operations. With me, it's like getting stuff started.

00:10:04:11 - 00:10:14:00
Speaker 2
I always get up, you know, throw something at the wall and see what sticks, and then and then keep rolling and stuff. So yeah. Yeah, I've tried and failed at a bunch of different businesses.

00:10:14:02 - 00:10:23:14
Speaker 1
It's kind of the, the, the mayor badges you get along the way that define years is that are you tick the same way brass or are you a little bit more regimented. What's kind of how do you counterbalance that.

00:10:23:18 - 00:10:54:08
Speaker 4
Yeah, I mean I think like I've taken it's been a little bit more of probably something that I've started in later on in my life. Like I don't have the story of entrepreneurship from that early. I mean, I think I've always been ambitious and taken on a lot. Like, I think when I was in high school, I had like 2 or 3 jobs, you know, but I don't think I ever was like, okay, you know, in my 20s, I'm going to take on a brand new, you know, company or opportunity, as like my first priority, you know, but I think over time, you know, we actually, before we launched Double Joe, we,

00:10:54:10 - 00:11:01:05
Speaker 4
actually, he started a dating app, and I kind of supported him in it. And it was a dating app where you go and volunteer for your first date.

00:11:01:07 - 00:11:02:00
Speaker 1
What's the name of the app?

00:11:02:03 - 00:11:19:15
Speaker 2
It was called. It was initially called Philanthropy Date. And then we and then we, I went through this program called the Founder Institute. Yeah. And then it transitioned into smoothie, which was a mix of swell and groovy. Yeah. Philanthropy was just kind of a mouthful, but the whole tagline was, even if you have a bad date, you're doing something good.

00:11:19:15 - 00:11:21:03
Speaker 1
Yeah, no, it's tough business.

00:11:21:08 - 00:11:22:16
Speaker 2
Really tough business.

00:11:22:18 - 00:11:27:06
Speaker 1
I imagine the is the engineering behind it all or just more like that, just to make money.

00:11:27:08 - 00:11:39:05
Speaker 2
You know, the only way to make money is to get acquired. Match.com acquires the majority of dating apps. And you know, you have to get that critical mass to even get to that point. So you're doing you're just burning so much money in order to get there, you know?

00:11:39:06 - 00:11:53:22
Speaker 4
Yeah, yeah. And I think the other thing was like that super saturated market, you know, and like that there's so many things I look back and like I kind of had more of a supplementary role. Like I was just like I was really early in my career. This was like 2018. And I was like, I just want to get more software engineering experience, you know, I just want to learn more.

00:11:53:22 - 00:12:11:21
Speaker 4
I want to help build more so I can grow my skills. And Dan was kind of, you know, leading the charge and, had brought some people in and that had a different vision than him. And I think what he probably takes away and I took away from it was that like when you start a business like, you know, if you you got to be really thoughtful about who you going to business with.

00:12:11:23 - 00:12:37:15
Speaker 4
As which seems like a very clear and obvious thing, of course. But, you know, people are I think a lot of times, like us can be very easy to trust. But you have to be thoughtful of, like, okay, well, the moment that you give X amount of equity way, you now lost X amount of decision making, you know, and if that means that it's it's the majority of the business, then that means that, you know, you you lost the vision of the business, you know, and I think that that's kind of what was learned through that.

00:12:37:16 - 00:12:55:12
Speaker 4
And, you know, we saw that through that. And then also I've seen that not in my own business experience, beyond that, but I've seen with others. Right. Oh, yeah. Someone wants to raise money or somebody wants to bring in a partner and then. Okay, well, yeah, it's not just like boom, boom, it's that easy. It's like now you have competing priorities, you know what I mean?

00:12:55:12 - 00:12:56:06
Speaker 4
So anyway.

00:12:56:11 - 00:13:13:18
Speaker 2
And then there's that standpoint of where, you know, you're just burning the candle at both ends and you really need help. So you might be quicker to bring in people to help you instead of being thoughtful and more methodical about who's the right fit and who's going to align with your values. And to Bryce is testament to like, he was like, I just want to help you for free.

00:13:13:18 - 00:13:28:08
Speaker 2
I want to see you succeed just as a really good friend. And, you know, we were living together at the time, too. So it's cool to just be like, knock on his door and be like, hey, what do you think about this? You know, and, but, people like Bryce are really rare. And that's why, when we got, we want to get started with mobile Joe.

00:13:28:09 - 00:13:40:13
Speaker 2
Which is something we'll get into. It's a he's, like, the perfect person. It's like I told people, I was like, I could give Bryce a duffle bag of $1 million and be like, can you hold on to this for me? And when I get it back and probably have $1,000,001.

00:13:40:13 - 00:13:42:15
Speaker 3
It's, I.

00:13:42:15 - 00:13:44:06
Speaker 4
Would hope I put in the S&P 500.

00:13:44:07 - 00:13:46:16
Speaker 3
Yeah. Let's go ahead. Value to just say yeah.

00:13:46:16 - 00:13:48:14
Speaker 4
Yeah. But you know oh that's great. That's great.

00:13:48:14 - 00:13:49:13
Speaker 3
Take that. Yeah yeah.

00:13:49:13 - 00:14:00:22
Speaker 1
No I it's you know it's a topic that doesn't come up in frequently about finding the right partner. I've heard somebody say the only things that ship, you know, sink in this world are ships and partnerships and said.

00:14:01:00 - 00:14:05:18
Speaker 3
Oh, yeah, that's good. But both ships. Yeah, but she is very rare.

00:14:05:18 - 00:14:23:03
Speaker 1
Do you find to what? Like what? What why does it work? Like, why does it even married couples? We actually had a gentleman on not too long ago. And he talked about he loves his dear wife, but he realized that was not the right decision to go business together, because there are certain boundaries he couldn't keep. And it would just it mess things up.

00:14:23:05 - 00:14:30:13
Speaker 1
So like, why is it work for y'all? Like, what is the ingredient between you two that make this thing work? And it seems like you enjoy hanging out together?

00:14:30:15 - 00:14:51:11
Speaker 2
Well, the marriage stuff is tough if you're working. And living and doing life with somebody. Yeah, it's just a lot of time, you know, even, like my best friends growing up, you know, I'm like, why do I need, you know, it's me today, you know? And, but I think ultimately, though, it really comes down to, you know, our wanting to take steps towards the kingdom.

00:14:51:13 - 00:15:14:17
Speaker 2
You know, we're both faith focused entrepreneurs. And this business is not about us. We're just managing it for God. And so I think that's really what it comes down to, is like, we've both put our egos aside to do the best thing for the world and the community, and, you know, wanting to take sacrifices, and make sacrifices to, you know, do whatever we can to add value to the community and uplift other people.

00:15:14:19 - 00:15:15:09
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:15:15:11 - 00:15:43:00
Speaker 4
Yeah. Kind of another totally echo that. And I think, like, we've always aligned on those values and, to kind of like talk a little bit more about like why I think we've, like, succeeded in going to business together was like we've always talked about, you know, what is this look like to fill your cup. Right. And you know, that was that's actually been something that's been some trial and error, you know, because we originally set out and said, okay, we want to start the business with this ownership breakdown in this ownership breakdown.

00:15:43:02 - 00:16:06:14
Speaker 4
And here's what you're responsible and here's what you're responsible for. And you know, I think high level that's great. And that's kind of what's happened. But you know I think you know I originally had some bad attitudes around like oh, well that's kind of outside the scope of what I put in the partnership agreement. You know, and you know, and then, you know, there's just we've become times where either on my end or on Dan's end, like the, the expectations.

00:16:06:14 - 00:16:36:17
Speaker 4
And there's just like a misalignment. You could feel you could feel a tension. And so, you know, we weren't as mature and being communicators that we are now. And I think like that would that would boil over and other things and really what it just came down to was like, okay, how do we find, you know, either like an ownership breakdown agreement or like a responsibility agreement that really makes everybody's cup feel full because like, I have always, you know, been supplementary to Dane and Noble Joe and I've had, you know, I've worked in corporate America.

00:16:36:17 - 00:16:51:10
Speaker 4
And then I also have another, startup in the supply chain that I now, I co-founded and run. And so it's like, okay, I only have so much I can physically give, right? And some people are kind of, like, not super honest about that. Yeah. Yeah. Like a 50% ownership. And yeah, I help with this in this in this.

00:16:51:10 - 00:17:06:10
Speaker 4
And then when push comes to shove six much like you have a, you like you've contributed like this much. You know, it's like you should be able to be honest about like, okay, well this is what I can give. And then, you know, you can talk about whether or not that that's going to be, you know, valuable for both the people.

00:17:06:10 - 00:17:39:09
Speaker 4
And so we just over the years, kind of like I think there's a mismatch in like, you know, the what we felt like was was right expectation wise and ownership breakdown and eventually got to a point where, like, we're both so happy with where it's at and our cups are both full, in terms of like, you know, like I said, ownership breakdown and, and work life balance and you know, what kind of and even just kind of like what it looks like to, you know, return, get a return from the business, you know, and so once we really started to get honest and open the door to those conversations, I think, like it's

00:17:39:09 - 00:18:01:19
Speaker 4
just been really great for our business and people, really, people are weird about money, you know, their way. They don't want to talk about it or or they get kind of, you know, a little bit of a scarcity mindset. And, and, and I've always said, you know what? Like if I can live like, you know, in general life of generosity, whether it's just my values or with money, it's just going to work better and it's worked better with us in the business, you know what I mean?

00:18:02:01 - 00:18:20:04
Speaker 1
Was there like, a point that y'all both hit that as you all were kind of going through that storming phase like it's, may I ask it this way? It is rare that you find a moment. I mean, this even happens in relationships to where folks go at, this ain't working, but I want it to. How do we fix this or solve this?

00:18:20:04 - 00:18:31:15
Speaker 1
What what allowed y'all to do that? Because most folks are just go like, you know what? We're just not a fit walk away or kind of blow the bridge up or whatever it might be. What was the impetus that allowed y'all to go and and let's work through this. Let's figure out what that structure looks.

00:18:31:16 - 00:18:52:11
Speaker 2
I gotta give credit to Bryce. Like, you know, taking taking this on especially early on because, you know, we couldn't afford to hire anybody. Also, it's like with any business, you have to plant the seeds, water it, give it sunlight, give it time. You know, you don't just open the doors and you're busy. And so when you're not busy in your upbringing, any money, you can't hire people.

00:18:52:11 - 00:19:10:03
Speaker 2
So you're really having to spend a ton of time, you know? So for the first six months, it was, you know, primarily just me working and Bryce whenever he could, but he had his full time job. And so, you know, I was doing that without getting paid and everything. And Bryce has just always been like, how can I fill your cup?

00:19:10:03 - 00:19:29:14
Speaker 2
And, you know, what's going to what's going to make you kind of happy? Because I see the amount of effort and everything that you're putting in and just, like, really just being incredibly supportive. And it's like, you know, it's easy to get frustrated. But when you have somebody that really cares and it's like, you know, we want to do this because it's bigger than us.

00:19:29:16 - 00:19:34:09
Speaker 2
I don't know that it's rare to find people like him, though. So it's kind of, you know, kind of tricky shit that.

00:19:34:14 - 00:19:50:19
Speaker 1
Yeah, you know, it sounds like y'all got a great thing going on. So you got so noble. Joe came to life. How what was the. You know, you obviously got two good dudes kind of getting after it. But the idea for coffee came from. Where? Is that just something you grew up with or.

00:19:50:19 - 00:20:00:19
Speaker 2
Well, my my major, actually, in college was entrepreneurship. I went to the first school in the country that entrepreneurship is major, which was Uncg, Greensboro, North Carolina.

00:20:00:19 - 00:20:01:14
Speaker 1
I didn't realize it.

00:20:01:17 - 00:20:18:19
Speaker 2
Yeah. Which is a good and a bad thing because I didn't realize it at the time. But this program so new, it's, like, not really built out. You know, you're not learning from the greatest entrepreneurs of all time, right? So but it was still, you know, it was a cool thing. And going through business school, I actually want to touch on one kind of funny thing we mentioned Craigslist.

00:20:18:19 - 00:20:39:18
Speaker 2
My my project in business school was a Craigslist for college students, where you'd use your edu email address, to ensure security, you know, because it's a more secure form of email. And then if you wanted to transact outside of the college community, you could sign up for like a dollar, you know, have a credit card on file kind of thing because there's there were so many scams and stuff like that.

00:20:39:20 - 00:20:59:04
Speaker 2
But yeah, so my, my major was entrepreneurship and I was near that. That was the path I wanted to take. And you know, I don't just get there, you know, sometimes you have to do different jobs and stuff in order to build up some money to take the take the risk. And I, started a couple things, but I had the opportunity to join a tech company.

00:20:59:06 - 00:21:14:17
Speaker 2
And actually, in college, I worked for a large coffee company, but just on the weekends doing demonstration for, like, coffee machines. And it was a really cool thing because you realize how, you know, nobody's like, nobody's ever like, oh, we have to go get a coffee. It's like, oh, let's go get a coffee is a very positive thing.

00:21:14:17 - 00:21:16:19
Speaker 2
Yeah, yeah. You know, so that was a.

00:21:16:19 - 00:21:18:09
Speaker 1
That's a good point. I thought about it. Yeah.

00:21:18:09 - 00:21:24:01
Speaker 2
And I had never drinking coffee at the time. So I working for this company I'm realizing more coffee.

00:21:24:01 - 00:21:25:05
Speaker 1
You never drink coffee before.

00:21:25:05 - 00:21:41:18
Speaker 2
No. Not really. Wow. Me I got a job in college. It's really cool. I'm giving people free coffee. It was a sales job as well. I did really well with. With sales. I was like, this is great. Then I fell in love with coffee. And I think quality is apparent with certain with certain coffee companies. See this?

00:21:41:18 - 00:22:14:16
Speaker 2
This is a really good coffee company. And, it made me realize the beauty of it. Overall. So I did that for a while. Then I got a job in tech sales. And long story short, ten months and Covid hits and then I was like, you know, I don't really see the long term here, but I had been working so much for that first, you know, ten months, which ended up being 13 total months that, I was able to save up this nest egg and technically got fired, because if you missed your quota three out of four months, you automatically get fired for severance.

00:22:14:17 - 00:22:42:23
Speaker 2
12 weeks severance. And I was like, everyone's locked down. And I was like, I'm going on a road trip with my dog. So I went all the way to Boise, Idaho, stayed at a bunch of tiny homes throughout the country, and the whole kind of trip, I was kind of searching for what's next, and I realized, like, I've been working so much for this past year, I saved up enough money to finally start Noble Joe, which, working with the large coffee company I was working for, I was always thinking like, this is something I would want to do is start a coffee shop or truck or something in that vein, and my mind just works

00:22:42:23 - 00:22:55:10
Speaker 2
that I think of names and ideas and stuff. And this, you know, the whole it's kind of getting lost on people now, but the whole cup of Joe, you know, is where Noble Joe comes from. Yeah. But for Bryson, Bryson that people like, oh, are you Joe.

00:22:55:12 - 00:22:56:14
Speaker 3
You know, really go.

00:22:56:14 - 00:22:57:14
Speaker 2
To Cup of Joe and then.

00:22:57:14 - 00:23:00:01
Speaker 1
On the noble one. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah.

00:23:00:02 - 00:23:18:00
Speaker 2
And then the noble component is a lot of the philanthropic stuff that we do. But to, to kind of tie that in, the on the I, I'm in Colorado up on this mountain, and I was with my dog and I just realized, like, wow, I can finally do this. You know, I, I was like, thinking, what's next?

00:23:18:00 - 00:23:34:21
Speaker 2
And I remember looking at this, like, beautiful valley of these, like, pine trees, and they're all, it was beautiful. And so the whole ride back, I was just thinking of how I could, you know, it was a really cool, think mental thing to think of. Then Bryce and I went to Big Bend National Park on a trip, and we started talking about, you know, this idea.

00:23:34:21 - 00:23:45:18
Speaker 2
And he's like, dude, I love it. I want to, you know, support you in it. And then that. So that was the foundation of it. I brought it to him and we were. And then we were living at the time together too. So I was like again, knock on the door. I'm like, hey, you know what? What do you think?

00:23:45:23 - 00:23:46:08
Speaker 2
Yeah.

00:23:46:08 - 00:23:51:10
Speaker 1
So what was the thing about the idea as he pitched it that made you go, I mean.

00:23:51:12 - 00:24:22:06
Speaker 4
Yeah, I think like so it was, it was this balance of, you know, both of our passions for coffee. But like, Dane's been passionate about coffee way longer than I have. But that and then the whole like, technology component of like, you know, how do we want to, you know, blend in my skills and kind of what I can bring to the table with, you know, what kind of we talked about before and I'll, I'll touch on a little more, but like, basically like being able to we have the philanthropy aspect, the passion for coffee and then the passion for like how can we get technology involved here, which is just really not

00:24:22:06 - 00:24:40:01
Speaker 4
normal for a coffee company. Yeah. And yeah, and it just kind of came together and we said, okay, like we sat down and went to codependent. And I remember is still kind of during the pandemic because, you know, you got masks and everything. I mean, very different, you know, you know, vibe looking back. But we're like, we want we want to like, go help the community.

00:24:40:05 - 00:24:56:03
Speaker 4
We want to like, support entrepreneurs. And we want to like, build the best quality customer experience. And then. Yeah, and then, like, how can technology help that and like. Yeah. So that's kind of what we sat down and we kind of shook hands, put together a partnership agreement and we're like off to the races. Yeah.

00:24:56:05 - 00:25:05:19
Speaker 1
When you let's see this I mean what kind of probably keeping people in the dark talk about what Noble Joe is, why it's not in your normal coffee shop.

00:25:05:21 - 00:25:24:05
Speaker 2
So what's cool is that we have a different business model than most coffee shops. Every product that we serve is from different local businesses. So our whole intention is to be a showcase for small businesses. And that model is pretty cool because, you know, Bryce's dad grew up in Montana. For instance, if we ever went to like Bozeman, Montana, we would.

00:25:24:06 - 00:25:43:07
Speaker 2
Instead of bringing all our products there, we would partner with local businesses and uplift that community, bring our, you know, processes in customer experience. So the idea would be that in each city we have a different products that are local to that area. But the same Noble Joe experience, you know, the place would look different, but the experience would be the same.

00:25:43:07 - 00:25:43:11
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:25:43:13 - 00:26:02:11
Speaker 2
Cool. So that's the one part of it. The second part is the technology component that he's talking about, which is for every product that we that we sell, every time we sell something, we take a percentage of that and help fund microloans, which, for instance, people in Guatemala live on a dollar a day on average. So you think of the impact that $200 can make.

00:26:02:11 - 00:26:19:23
Speaker 2
It can change someone's life. And so we've partnered with a company called Kiva, and they provide microloans for people. And so the whole idea is that at the point of purchase, you get to see exactly who it is that you're helping. And then, you know, any of that, that money that gets paid back, which the repayment rate's about 96%.

00:26:20:02 - 00:26:23:03
Speaker 2
We then donate to local nonprofits and help our local community.

00:26:23:06 - 00:26:27:12
Speaker 1
Wow. So it's kind of it gets it does good twice it exactly at least.

00:26:27:15 - 00:26:38:05
Speaker 2
And it's built into the same experience that everyone's already used to with coffee. We're not asking anybody for anything. Just by supporting Noble Joe and getting your cup of coffee, we're doing all the stuff and just showing you.

00:26:38:07 - 00:26:46:01
Speaker 1
How hard was that to put together? Like in concept, it's like, man, that's a great idea in execution. Is that quite complicated behind the scenes?

00:26:46:03 - 00:27:07:07
Speaker 4
So that's actually where the technology part comes in. So essentially Kiva has an API that we can gather all the information about the, the, you know, the, microfinance entrepreneurs who we can support. So that's where we can showcase them. And also I can send them the payments directly. So at the end of the month, like we basically collect take what, what our revenue is that take that percentage.

00:27:07:07 - 00:27:32:18
Speaker 4
And then we just auto auto basically get investors to the entrepreneurs. So I mean it took some build out initially, but like that's that's essentially all that it is. So really not anything from a huge lift from our end to do that every month. We do kind of like want to move for moving forward, want to like, in the future, give, you know, maybe customers ability to see a few showcased people, you know, and, and just kind of, tell that story a little bit better.

00:27:32:20 - 00:27:43:13
Speaker 4
Because it's really hard to explain that we, we use technology to auto, you know, donate to microfinance entrepreneurs, and then we get it back and then we donate again. And like.

00:27:43:15 - 00:27:44:07
Speaker 2
What are microloans?

00:27:44:07 - 00:27:44:20
Speaker 3
How do you.

00:27:45:00 - 00:27:46:16
Speaker 4
How do you succinctly tell that story?

00:27:46:16 - 00:27:50:12
Speaker 1
And so this is a Ponzi scheme. Like, what are you talking about? Like, no, no, it's all good. Yeah.

00:27:50:12 - 00:28:06:08
Speaker 2
We actually got a two star review recently, which in the early stages, like would have kept us up all night. But the guy was like, this yuppie spot donates to nonprofit fates or something like two stars. We're like, dude, we're not asking you for anything.

00:28:06:08 - 00:28:09:06
Speaker 4
Yeah, yeah. All right. Hard, man. All good. I'll go with us.

00:28:09:07 - 00:28:10:12
Speaker 3
So every day.

00:28:10:16 - 00:28:27:17
Speaker 1
I think about folks with, who have who give bad reviews and I think, like, man, they're in a pretty bad spot. If you got to go online publicly and, like, do that's probably a topic for another time, but probably more for more about his day than probably like yours, service or whatever amount of it.

00:28:27:17 - 00:28:43:23
Speaker 2
I think, too, I think sometimes I think we're people think we're bigger than we are. Yeah. It's like, you know, we're we're trying to do a lot to really help. And it's like we try to make things consistent and our teams growing a lot and, you know, try to bring on the right people and everything like that. We actually just made a sign that said, talk to us before you help us.

00:28:43:23 - 00:29:00:08
Speaker 2
And it's like, you know, just has like a dog holding a mobile Joe coffee, coffee cup and, yeah, I mean, I think with any business, you know, one of the challenges I've had to overcome is like my perfectionism, wanting everything to be perfect. Yeah. You know, and that's why in the early stages, that two star would have killed me.

00:29:00:13 - 00:29:13:17
Speaker 2
But, you know, we talked about it and it's like, hey, you know, we're just going to keep doing the best we can. And you know, the intentions in the right place and nothing's going to be perfect. And I think that's probably where people get stuck in sand a lot with starting a business. Like, no, it has to be perfect.

00:29:13:23 - 00:29:31:02
Speaker 2
And the truth of the matter is, you know, the whole idea of like MVP's now in technology of a minimum viable product of just putting something out there, getting feedback, adjusting, getting feedback, adjusting, opposed to spending three years to build something perfect. And then, you know, it may or may not hit when it comes to the market, you know?

00:29:31:04 - 00:29:44:05
Speaker 1
Yeah, it's such a muscle that's hard to teach, I think. Yeah. So it could be, you know, you want to maybe that's the early days of grade school. You want to show up and get a good grade on the thing. You know, no teacher is going to let you, like, start with an F and work your way up there, you know?

00:29:44:07 - 00:30:03:06
Speaker 1
But that is the world of business. It's kind of like how the whole thing works. And so funny, as humans, we have like an amnesia about take a big brand, whatever your favorite brand is, you know, and no job. Yeah. No, the biggest brand, biggest coffee brand, no joke. And you just only see the awesomeness you don't see, like.

00:30:03:06 - 00:30:19:04
Speaker 1
And if anything, they're maybe not even documented. All the stuff that didn't work or, you know, or whatever might have happened. Before we leave the topic on the macro list, I mean, like, do y'all have any cool stories about, like, just the just kind of the impact, like the specific impact in the in Guatemala or wherever the countries are?

00:30:19:04 - 00:30:20:20
Speaker 1
I'd love to hear those.

00:30:20:22 - 00:30:37:23
Speaker 4
Yeah. I mean, any favorites? Oh, man, I got so many stories. Well, first of all, like one thing. So we've, we've donated to a lot of not just Kiva for the microfinance is also have another organization, that a family friend of mine started, called Esperanza. Okay. So we donate. That was like the.

00:30:37:23 - 00:30:38:13
Speaker 1
Pope in.

00:30:38:13 - 00:30:56:21
Speaker 4
Spanish. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And the same kind of thing. Microfinance. And they're based in, the doctor and in Haiti and, and so like, that was one of the great stories. And basically, I think the, the best part about that was we had just, we just started the business and, and the guy's name is Dave Valley, who runs it.

00:30:56:21 - 00:31:21:01
Speaker 4
And we, we had a call with him, and it was just kind of this moment where at least I felt like I was like we were talking to him about. He's like, yeah, there's just, you know, you're kind of feeling what I felt at some point in my life where, you know, as a man, you've, you've, you've, you know, become established enough to be confident in who you are and, and your community and your in your work and you now you look outwards and you say, okay, now what?

00:31:21:07 - 00:31:37:22
Speaker 4
You know, what do I do now? And I think, you know his answer. And he's like, and I think your guys's answer is, how can I go and make an impact for others? Because I have been, you know, just have a lot of gratitude for where I'm at. And so we donated I what did we donate? Just we didn't have like, any revenue at the time.

00:31:37:22 - 00:31:55:04
Speaker 4
Yeah. Like, we like we're making like, you know, like, oh, we made $150 a day. We're like, let's go, you know, and we donated. We still ended up donate 200, $300 that first month, you know, which we've learned. Okay. Like, you know, we got to find some balance there, of course, to make, you know, everything. Make ends meet on both sides of the coin there.

00:31:55:04 - 00:32:04:04
Speaker 4
But I just love that story because, like, I don't remember exactly who the entrepreneur was that we supported in that given moment, but it was cool that, like, we kind of just like, you know.

00:32:04:04 - 00:32:06:05
Speaker 2
We can see the picture of Earth. Yeah.

00:32:06:05 - 00:32:25:03
Speaker 4
Yeah. I just remember, like that conversation and the fact that, like, you know what? Like we're kind of just having faith that like, this is all going to work out and like that our mission here is like how we're going to start this. You know what I mean? Yeah. So that's good. And then I have, a couple different organizations from the nonprofit side that we've loved supporting, which is like, God behind bars.

00:32:25:07 - 00:32:29:22
Speaker 4
We support them a lot. And then, you know, ATX Rescue Pops.

00:32:30:00 - 00:32:44:19
Speaker 2
Jeremiah Project, which is a really cool nonprofit that, they basically help single moms with everything that they need to get back on their feet. They'll provide them with housing and babysitting and all that kind of stuff. Mobile Loaves and Fishes is another one.

00:32:44:19 - 00:32:48:08
Speaker 4
Yeah. Community first village. We've had we've done a lot with them. They're an awesome organization.

00:32:48:08 - 00:33:02:07
Speaker 1
So it's fun to see like kind of building building the building that ethos in the business and not making it an afterthought or something. It's why do you think a lot of folks don't maybe think about it that way?

00:33:02:09 - 00:33:22:23
Speaker 2
The thing is, is if if we didn't start this with our own money, it's the way that we did things is not looked at as a smart way to establish like an investment. You know, we gave money day one to different nonprofits and for microloans. And it's like every every investor would say, no, you need to like, bring money in to get to that point to be able to help.

00:33:23:04 - 00:33:42:19
Speaker 2
And we were like, you know what? No, we're just going to we're going to, you know, kind of put our money where our mouth is and have this kind of flip the business model on its head and do it, do it the way that isn't just the way everyone else tries to do it. And I think that, you know, the community has kind of bought in because they see, you know, the fruits from us really trying to help.

00:33:42:19 - 00:33:57:05
Speaker 2
It doesn't mean it's going to be perfect. But yeah, you can just kind of tell, I think when the intentions in the right place and, that's what we've been super aligned on which to your initial kind of thought is like, why I think we've worked well together, because it's not like one person saying like, hey, let's help the person.

00:33:57:05 - 00:34:01:16
Speaker 2
It's like, no, no, no. We're both like, do let's help wherever we can and we'll figure it out.

00:34:01:18 - 00:34:19:05
Speaker 1
That's so important, man. It's you find that a lot of that stuff, like a slow cooker, it just takes time and oftentimes you're just not giving it enough. When y'all were, was there a moment where you where you all felt like just as a business with everything y'all were doing that like, like the community or whatever, like, oh, this is going to work.

00:34:19:07 - 00:34:25:05
Speaker 1
Not just like I believe it's going to work, but now you're seeing, like, something change. Did you? I mean, does that moment stick out to you all at all?

00:34:25:05 - 00:34:27:05
Speaker 2
Probably when we went viral on TikTok.

00:34:27:05 - 00:34:28:23
Speaker 1
Yeah. Oh, okay. That works. Yeah. Which is.

00:34:28:23 - 00:34:34:23
Speaker 2
Just crazy. It's like I still like, I still like I get it, but I don't.

00:34:35:00 - 00:34:35:18
Speaker 3
You know.

00:34:35:20 - 00:34:37:13
Speaker 1
I like the algorithm and I makes say, I.

00:34:37:13 - 00:34:38:21
Speaker 2
Just remember dial up internet.

00:34:38:21 - 00:34:41:23
Speaker 3
So it's like, you know, you're, you're in here.

00:34:42:04 - 00:34:43:05
Speaker 4
You're not that old.

00:34:43:07 - 00:34:44:02
Speaker 3
You're not. No I.

00:34:44:02 - 00:35:08:11
Speaker 2
Remember man. And so, you know, but I think like the thing I've told other people too, that are taking the leap with stuff is if you look at anybody that's ever been successful in any industry, the commonality that they all have is that they tried something. Fail got back up, adjusted, failed, got back up. It's it's the getting back up that's the key in anything that you do.

00:35:08:13 - 00:35:25:04
Speaker 2
And I think having, you know, when you're doing it by yourself, it's harder to get back up kind of like with you in the service. It's like when you have your band of brothers helping you, it's easier to get back up and the likelihood of being successful is just a lot higher, you know, which even comes back to the whole thing of bringing on the right people and working with the right people that are going to lift you up and support you.

00:35:25:09 - 00:35:57:08
Speaker 2
Because the fact is, like, entrepreneurship is really hard. Any business that you do, even if it's a side hustle of like making t shirts or something like that, you might be printing t shirts at 2 a.m.. Yeah. You know, it's like there's. And on the other side of that too, it's like nothing worth doing is easy. So you know, there's just kind of this like melting pot of, of truth that you know, if you're doing working towards something that you actually believe in like because we, you know, when we see people that we knew we had a customer not too long ago that was like, I didn't know this, but their kids were running

00:35:57:08 - 00:36:16:15
Speaker 2
around and I just happened to say like, you know, like what a career you got or something like that. And then they were like, oh, you know, just sparked a conversation like, oh, you're one of the owners of no job. You know, like, I got to tell you something. And I was like, you know what? They were like, man, you guys have been such a light because we had a kid in the hospital and we'd be like, we need to get out of the hospital.

00:36:16:15 - 00:36:33:08
Speaker 2
Like we need to go do something. And like, we know we could go to Noble Joe and get a positive experience and be, you know, in nature and go grab a coffee and walk the boardwalk. And it's like, sometimes I think you don't realize the impact that you're making on people, because it's hard to maybe hear that it was kind of chance that I heard that.

00:36:33:14 - 00:36:52:09
Speaker 2
And they were they were just like, you know, beyond appreciative for what we've been trying to build. And I think sometimes when you're in the thick of things, you know, you're thinking like, oh, I messed this up or did this wrong or, you know, I dropped the ball here and it's like in the grand scheme of things, it's kind of like if the intention is there, you're going to help a lot of people.

00:36:52:09 - 00:36:55:06
Speaker 2
And, that's what we've been super aligned on. You know.

00:36:55:06 - 00:37:15:04
Speaker 1
Any advice you can give to folks like in the thick of It, you know, we get, you know, folks who tune in to this or folks just like y'all or folks thinking about it, or folks that bought their dad's plumbing company or their mom's cafe, whatever it might be. And they're probably right now they're all, I think you probably once a week kind of have this thought of like, oh, man, I don't know if I can keep going.

00:37:15:06 - 00:37:34:14
Speaker 1
You know, just something about it feels like you're the in love with it kind of fell out of love with it, whatever that is. Because of the grind behind the scenes, any advice you can give to folks about how to do that? More like how do you get plugged back in to kind of the the good that you might be doing that you may not be aware of without just keep going, faking it, keep going.

00:37:34:16 - 00:37:57:13
Speaker 2
Keep going. You know, it's like, no matter, no matter what you do, I think that it also comes down to doing something that you really do see value in the whole idea that, you know, get upset. Going to get a coffee. Yeah. You know, like people are it's a very positive thing. People are working from home and they want to go to, you know, to a place where the one of the things we can control is the fact that we really try to be nice to everybody and treat everybody on a human level, you know?

00:37:57:13 - 00:38:11:16
Speaker 2
But every single friend I've had that's an entrepreneur, they all have that thought that they want to just give up. And it does. You know, it's doesn't mean it's going to be easy, but I think you just it's kind of the whole thing of anybody that's been successful. You're going to fall down. You just got to get back up.

00:38:11:19 - 00:38:22:03
Speaker 2
Actually, it's funny, we had a so it's it's kind of funny. Our very first truck we built out and it basically didn't pass DMV inspection.

00:38:22:05 - 00:38:22:19
Speaker 1
It's pretty cool.

00:38:22:19 - 00:38:24:18
Speaker 2
Tractor know this is the first, first one.

00:38:24:21 - 00:38:27:18
Speaker 1
Oh, this is even before the one that everybody knows before. Oh, really?

00:38:27:18 - 00:38:46:13
Speaker 2
A 2017 electric wagon that looks like a 1912 Stanley Steamer mountain wagon. It's super cool, but it was from Belgium. And so because of that, it wasn't an approved US manufacturer, really. So we we go through all this stuff and, you know, trying to talk to the DMV is like.

00:38:46:15 - 00:38:48:06
Speaker 4
You know, they just pass you along to somebody.

00:38:48:06 - 00:38:51:02
Speaker 1
Else, you know, like you don't know what to do with that information. Crazy.

00:38:51:04 - 00:39:16:12
Speaker 2
So we end up talking to all these different people. I'm emailing like the whoever the like, president of the DMV is and trying to get this information on LinkedIn, just trying to do my FBI cutting you to work. And, we basically from all the information that we had, we thought we were in the clear. We get to the health inspection truck fully built out, spent a ton of money on it, and they said, this isn't going to work.

00:39:16:14 - 00:39:22:05
Speaker 2
So we immediately had to scrap everything and figure, figure out like, you know, what are we.

00:39:22:05 - 00:39:26:03
Speaker 4
Going to do? Yeah, we probably poured $75,000 into that holy smoke.

00:39:26:07 - 00:39:29:19
Speaker 1
And and it didn't work because it wasn't registrable because.

00:39:30:00 - 00:39:40:08
Speaker 4
They did. Basically everything ties back to a Vin. And the Vin is from vehicle or wholesale manufacturers who are like license on a federal register, like.

00:39:40:08 - 00:39:42:08
Speaker 2
Chevy for Dodge. Yeah.

00:39:42:09 - 00:39:52:00
Speaker 4
And so like the state, the state level DMVs honor the Vins of these registered supplier manufacturers. And if you're not on that list, sucks to suck. Yeah.

00:39:52:02 - 00:39:53:00
Speaker 3
No.

00:39:53:01 - 00:39:57:20
Speaker 4
That's that's what we learned. And and, that I mean, it's just like how could we have known that?

00:39:57:23 - 00:40:09:22
Speaker 2
Well, the person how we got the wagon from two said like, oh, people register these all the time. You guys will have no problem like all that too. So there wasn't the full transparency there. But at the end of the day anything that happens is our fault.

00:40:10:00 - 00:40:33:01
Speaker 4
Yeah. And you know I remember like that day that we, we had tried one thing tried another thing. They didn't they didn't let us pass Agentless pass. And the third time like then again like they didn't us pass and we're like, oh man. Like we are officially like we got to go back to the drawing board here. And it was so draining because we're just like, we report in six, 6 to 9 months right now and all this time and money.

00:40:33:01 - 00:40:46:16
Speaker 4
And I was just like, what else do we do? You know? And we didn't really have like we didn't have to have that answers right now I look I look back and I'm like, dude, we didn't have to have it all figured out right now, right at that moment. And so I was just day I just like, you want to go get some food?

00:40:46:21 - 00:40:48:00
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:40:48:02 - 00:40:48:17
Speaker 4
And we just.

00:40:48:17 - 00:40:51:18
Speaker 1
Go. There's no no. Well, Joe then otherwise you would have went to take a break.

00:40:51:18 - 00:40:52:18
Speaker 3
Yeah for sure.

00:40:52:18 - 00:41:06:18
Speaker 4
I'm like, let's just go get some food, man. And like, we go to Jack Allen's kitchen and have a comfort meal, get a good night's sleep. And we're just kind of like, okay, let's just like, we still probably took about 24 hours to bounce back, but then we said, okay, like what's our what's our next plan here? Yeah.

00:41:06:20 - 00:41:19:20
Speaker 4
And you know what? Like we we got through it like, we, we got on we basically found another vehicle. We invested some more money into that. We got that thing fixed up. And that's what became the first truck that's now at our second location. You know.

00:41:19:23 - 00:41:31:09
Speaker 2
To our credit to we had budgeted perfectly like we you know, I remember in business school they said out a third to your budget, we added a third. We were right on PA. And then when it didn't pass for like, shoot.

00:41:31:11 - 00:41:32:11
Speaker 4
We didn't plan for this.

00:41:32:11 - 00:41:33:12
Speaker 3
Yeah, yeah.

00:41:33:17 - 00:41:36:03
Speaker 1
Was were you able to repurpose anything.

00:41:36:05 - 00:41:46:21
Speaker 2
It's been sitting. But what we ended up doing is, basically mounting the truck to a trailer like a tiny home. Yeah. And so now it it can be used for something. It will be used for something.

00:41:46:21 - 00:41:51:17
Speaker 1
It's so funny. You literally made this thing less stable, and now it's, like approved.

00:41:51:18 - 00:41:54:13
Speaker 3
Yeah, yeah, I'm not sure.

00:41:54:15 - 00:41:57:08
Speaker 1
But it's the weird, the way that the things work. I mean, it's like.

00:41:57:09 - 00:41:58:22
Speaker 4
Six feet off the ground to.

00:41:58:22 - 00:41:59:11
Speaker 3
Me. You know what?

00:41:59:11 - 00:42:01:01
Speaker 4
We'll build some steps or something. Exactly.

00:42:01:01 - 00:42:09:20
Speaker 1
To tell folks about what it became, though. I mean, it's pretty iconic what you guys have been. It sounds like where your second location now has it. Right. Just talk to folks about what the second location.

00:42:09:20 - 00:42:30:14
Speaker 2
So basically what happened is we were the we ended up finding another vehicle, which was a 1947 restored milk truck. So it's like one of a kind and really, really cool. So we we ended up, you know, figuring that out, getting it built. The funny thing is it was it was a coffee truck before, but it still needed like our spin on things.

00:42:30:16 - 00:42:51:13
Speaker 2
So we were able to kind of get it rolling relatively quickly. And then, you know, we were considering going down the road of, like, getting a traditional trailer, but we were like, we really want something unique. And that's, you know, aligned on our, on our brand. We got the we got the truck. And then we when we ran that for a few years, you know, kind of needed some updates and some renovations.

00:42:51:13 - 00:42:59:21
Speaker 2
We ended up converting a tiny home into the current coffee shop, putting that there, getting the truck renovated. And now that's at our new spot.

00:43:00:00 - 00:43:03:19
Speaker 1
Oh, cool man. Yeah, yeah. And that new spot here. I say it's insane.

00:43:03:19 - 00:43:13:16
Speaker 2
Elmo. Yeah, at the paddle club, which is, paddle is like a form of tennis meets pickleball. And it's a really cool, like, it's a really fun sport, actually. I just played it for the first time the other day.

00:43:13:18 - 00:43:26:02
Speaker 1
For those folks looking to get into the, this space food, beverage, that kind of stuff. How much does location matter? Do you find if you build a big enough brand, people will find you or a meaningful enough brand. People will find you. I mean.

00:43:26:06 - 00:43:47:12
Speaker 2
It's funny, just our first few days open, you know, although we've established a cool brand and, we have a pretty loyal following. You can't. It makes us, like, realize again, like, okay, you do. You have to. You can't just put something there and and people show up, you know, unless you are like, I guess, you know, Starbucks or whatever, and, you know, you put it at the corner of Congress and whatever.

00:43:47:18 - 00:44:01:07
Speaker 2
Yeah. You know, it's kind of it's just going to be crazy. But with anything, you have to plant that seed and water it and give it time. And, it's there's no just overnight, you know, it's like some people will say, it took me 50 years to become an overnight success and, you know.

00:44:01:10 - 00:44:07:16
Speaker 1
No, it's. So what's on the horizon for this business? Like, what's the what's the end state. The goal for it all.

00:44:07:18 - 00:44:08:17
Speaker 4
Yeah. You go ahead.

00:44:08:19 - 00:44:23:14
Speaker 2
I mean, so long term, you know, we'd really like to do drive thrus, you know, and, but we want to do it in a way that we can still have kind of the community vibe. Like our current spot is right on the boardwalk. Downtown, so people can grab a coffee and walk the trail to the location.

00:44:23:14 - 00:44:38:13
Speaker 2
Side of things, like, is really important. We want to do it in a way that we're not going to compromise the customer experience. And, you know, we want to make it where, you know, every time you go, you're going to be treated well and, and have a positive experience because, you know, not to put anybody down because it's hard.

00:44:38:16 - 00:44:58:09
Speaker 2
But, you know, we've gone to places and we're like, man, you know, especially in like a hospitality environment. It's like, you know, they're not very nice. And those are the controllables at the end of the day, you know, being welcoming and, you know, kind and understanding that like, you never know what somebody is going through that day. And you know, so we want to, you know, kind of thoughtfully scale out the business.

00:44:58:11 - 00:45:23:09
Speaker 2
Dutch Brothers coffee. Are you familiar with them? Right. Yeah, yeah. So they did something really cool. Bryce and I watched The Undercover Boss, like, years ago from them. And, one of the things that they did that we really liked is that in order to become a franchisee, you had to start as a barista. So you're empowering people, you know, with a lot of support and your brand and funding and everything that align with your values to start in the company and grow into being an owner.

00:45:23:14 - 00:45:34:07
Speaker 2
And I think that's a really cool way that we could, you know, grow the business in a way that aligns with, like a lot of the stuff we're talking about, getting the right people to continue to steward the brand.

00:45:34:09 - 00:45:40:15
Speaker 1
Yeah. So, I mean, the idea is drive thrus and then you want to get beyond Texas. I mean, it's just like, how big in this thing go?

00:45:40:19 - 00:45:46:15
Speaker 2
Austin's so great, you know? Yeah. And we still have a lot of work to do in here. But in the future, I think it would be awesome, you know.

00:45:46:18 - 00:46:04:15
Speaker 4
Yeah. And I you kind of touched on that. But like definitely we've been looking at like what would it look like to franchise this because we just I don't know I think like we want to have that that great customer experience everywhere. And and it's it's about being really thoughtful about finding the right people because like, you know, we can only scale so much with two people, right?

00:46:04:17 - 00:46:22:02
Speaker 4
So what would that look like? You know, what would the model look like with the structure look like. So we're kind of exploring all of that. And just seeing like what would this look like, you know, if we expanded to a third location in Austin, would that be something we continue to manage under our own brother, or would that be the first example of a franchisee model?

00:46:22:02 - 00:46:37:07
Speaker 4
You know, so we're kind of we're kind of going through all that and, and just trying to get more, you know, more data, talking to people who are in the similar industries who have franchisees. Like, I know some people who are franchisees at Chick-Fil-A, you know, and so they they have a certain experience and they have a certain model.

00:46:37:07 - 00:46:39:06
Speaker 4
So trying to, like, just weigh everything right now.

00:46:39:08 - 00:46:49:19
Speaker 1
Yeah. What's the what what are what's kind of a non-negotiable for like as you grow and as you decide, you know where it goes from there. What's something you're like, we never want to make sure it never loses.

00:46:49:22 - 00:47:10:14
Speaker 2
And that's a great question you made me think of. I meant to kind of say this earlier, like, we have some stuff as far as, you know, the checkbook. Like when whenever we make a decision, the check marks at the business. Yeah. You know, it's like, is this giving a positive experience? Is is helping the community, you know, and it's like with any major decision, it's like making sure that we kind of check those like that Northstar non-negotiables.

00:47:10:16 - 00:47:13:09
Speaker 2
So like those are two of them. Anything else?

00:47:13:11 - 00:47:32:19
Speaker 4
Yeah. I mean, you know, I look at, you know, he talks about, you know, Dane has, you know, a great attention to detail when it comes to the operations and the customer experience. And I think the most overwhelming thing that I can to give us as we scale, that are non-negotiables, are one, just like always making the customer feel welcomed and feel like a priority.

00:47:32:21 - 00:47:54:10
Speaker 4
Say like they ordered a matcha and they didn't say they wanted oatmilk, but they wanted oatmilk, you know? And maybe it was on them and they didn't notice. And we don't care. Like we're going to really make it for you. You know, because we just want you to feel, feel appreciated and acknowledge, you know, it's just like it goes so far and like, maybe we messed up and, you know, then that gives us more opportunity to be gracious, right?

00:47:54:10 - 00:48:11:05
Speaker 4
Because we're handling everything in a gracious way. So I think that's one thing is just like people sometimes I think, take it personal as a barista, when you know somebody gives that feedback, it's like it's bigger than that. You know, it's like it's not any, you know, as leaders of the business, we're not saying you're bad barista. We're not saying you messed it up or anything.

00:48:11:05 - 00:48:43:00
Speaker 4
We're just saying that like, hey, we just want the customer to feel great because that leads to more business for us. And we're everybody's happy, you know? So that's one. And the other thing is just like, I think, you know, we're a little limited in our current scope with the tiny house and the, with the, the truck that we have is just kind of like, really operationally being as efficient as we can, you know, and like, you know, I, we talk about chick fil a lot and, because they do a lot of those things well, and it's like, it's no, you know, how they created a brand that's like in a lot

00:48:43:00 - 00:49:04:11
Speaker 4
of, you know, in a lot of strokes, just, you know, ingredients wise, very similar to most other fast food places. Yet they've given everybody this idea that they're this elevated experience because of, you know, the customer service and how clean it is and how, man, they just you just cruise through that drive through fast. Right. And so that's kind of I think those are winning combinations, you know.

00:49:04:11 - 00:49:22:23
Speaker 4
And it's like if we if we don't compromise on those things, I think we'll be continue to be successful because, you know, people notice that in the quality. When I talk about operational quality, I also talk about the the quality of our coffee itself, the quality very much. I mean, we try to do the same every single time, you know, and not buy the cheapest coffee.

00:49:22:23 - 00:49:36:11
Speaker 4
You're like, oh yeah, this is like, you know, it's it's cheaper than the alternative. We're like, no, we buy a premium, Brazilian coffee and people are like, your coffee tastes really good, know? Yeah. I mean, so we're not the cheapest, you know, product you'll get out there, but, like, that's not what we're going for.

00:49:36:15 - 00:49:48:14
Speaker 1
Yeah. When the y'all like when y'all train up, folks. Sounds like humans are really core piece to this. It makes sense. And you all have a priority. And what is the like? How long does it take the average person to be like teammate to be productive?

00:49:48:14 - 00:50:06:22
Speaker 2
It depends. So if had coffee experience or not okay. But part of that initial six months, if you look at the we the way we did things day one versus week one versus month one, it's like totally different. Yeah. Right now we have a 650 pound icemaker. We Bryson I used to go get bags of ice like from the ice machine and carry them in big totes.

00:50:06:22 - 00:50:30:00
Speaker 2
And you know, and it's funny because people joining the team now don't see that. You know what it's like. You know the fact that we have ice on demand is just it's such a luxury. It it really has, you know. Yeah. And so part of the whole kind of first six months, you know, the goal was like 3 to 6 months to get, get, our first hire, we ended up doing it like month five and making it really easy for them.

00:50:30:00 - 00:50:44:16
Speaker 2
And so the idea is like having stuff be easy so that they can focus on the customer, you know, and any equipment we can get stuff like that. To make that just an easy operation for people. Yeah, yeah. But usually like two weeks or so to get, get people going.

00:50:44:18 - 00:51:04:04
Speaker 1
You know, not bad at all. It's such a powerful statement y'all made. You got me. It's like stuck in my brain. The idea behind, most folks can make coffee at home. The reason they go somewhere is because they're looking for this experience in the way place makes them feel, and the way a place like opens them up to something different than it is in their kitchen.

00:51:04:06 - 00:51:20:21
Speaker 1
And I do think, I even think personal experiences where you'd go to it, we'd go to a place my wife and I, and we'd have coffee, and then you find, like, maybe the crew changed over and people just maybe didn't even become rude or mean. They just kind of became neutral like it is. There's actually no personality there.

00:51:20:23 - 00:51:38:11
Speaker 1
And we could actually sense ourselves gravitating to another shop later without even really thinking about it. When you said that, it got me thinking of a couple places that I'm like, oh yeah, we started kind of moving. When you think about it from a business perspective, how much like, what is the lifetime value of that customer now just moved to another coffee shop across the street.

00:51:38:13 - 00:52:02:19
Speaker 1
Pretty meaningful for something that doesn't cost much. She just being nice and caring and remaking the oatmilk markets that have the whole milk match or whatever it might be. Do you think there's. For folks looking to get into growing their business, let's say there may be kind of in the thick of it. Is there something that you all kind of go back to that kind of recenter you on kind of the fundamentals?

00:52:02:19 - 00:52:12:02
Speaker 1
It seems like those things y'all talk about are just fundamental to good business, and we get kind of fancy sometimes. What are the things that kind of helps you keep grounded on the fundamentals?

00:52:12:04 - 00:52:31:20
Speaker 4
Yeah, I mean I can kind of relate this on for Noelle, Joanna, for my other company. I mean, I think people we had an understanding of how we were going to be successful and what the products people wanted and all these kind of things. And it's the same thing in my other company that we build software, right? We have this this underlying premise of the software should do A, B and C, and this is what people want.

00:52:31:22 - 00:52:51:05
Speaker 4
And it's like, you could be right. You could have you could be 40% right. You could be 10% right. But you have to go out and consistently go get feedback from people. And we've had we've had plenty of products that we never had before. And they organically became signature drinks because people kept ordering them. And it's like people, oh, you guys should do this, you do this.

00:52:51:09 - 00:53:08:23
Speaker 4
And we just hear that enough. We're like, let's create a signature drink, you know? And it's like, that's because we're listening to people, not just kind of being like, nah, I do it. This is how we do it around here, you know what I mean? And I think that's been such a winning thing because, you know, Dane is like been like, okay, people like matcha and they like all these different flavor combinations.

00:53:08:23 - 00:53:33:01
Speaker 4
And, you know, we have these signature drinks like a butter vanilla, oat. And that's been those have been huge winners. And so just like, you know, listening to people and understanding like what you know what what's a hit. And then we just continue to like okay, let's let's now test out a few more drinks that are in that same vein, you know, and so I just think that people can be like, you know, I'm good enough with how I've established my business, but it's like kind of like a it's like seasonal.

00:53:33:01 - 00:53:37:12
Speaker 4
We continue to continually get feedback, continually iterate, you know, so.

00:53:37:14 - 00:53:53:06
Speaker 2
My mom always said, do it right or don't do it at all, you know? So with everything we've done, I think from day one, it's like new equipment. Get everything you know, do it right, quality ingredients. You know, we like to say noble ingredients. So even when we scale, we're just not going to compromise on that stuff.

00:53:53:06 - 00:54:11:01
Speaker 2
And I think if you're checking all the boxes on really taking care of people and at least really trying your best, you know, because a perfect experience, like, every time is not realistic. You know, there might be something that goes wrong and what we can control, though, is the fact that we'll do whatever it takes to make it right.

00:54:11:02 - 00:54:25:06
Speaker 2
You know, and I think when you really care about your customers and your community and we, you know, that we talk about this stuff all the time of like, you know, what can we do to help? You know, people will say to people, if you need anything from us, let us know. If we can't do it, we'll say no.

00:54:25:10 - 00:54:55:12
Speaker 2
Yeah. You know, but at least, at least ask. Yeah, yeah. And I think part of like what price is saying too, about remaking stuff for people. A lot of times it's just knowing that, you know, we try to be easy to talk to and our prices be easy to talk to. If it's like somebody rude and you mess up the drinks back, I might not want to go, but it's like, hey, you know, we want to be, we want to make you feel welcome and open and, anything we can do to make your experience better because, you know, at the end of the day, you never know what somebody is going through.

00:54:55:12 - 00:54:57:11
Speaker 2
And we're just there to try to be a light in the world for.

00:54:57:11 - 00:55:15:07
Speaker 1
People to anything. I mean, we're at that hour. Blue bar. Yeah. Yeah. Really? Yeah. I mean, what, any last things about just even where folks in fancy and how they can find you? I mean, they obviously, are here in Austin. If folks want a good cup of Noble Joe. Where do they find you guys?

00:55:15:09 - 00:55:20:10
Speaker 4
Well, we are right off of Riverside at the Amalie. That's our. That's our kind of where our first location was built out.

00:55:20:10 - 00:55:22:14
Speaker 1
So by the, like, Oracle spot, right? Yeah.

00:55:22:16 - 00:55:39:15
Speaker 4
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Lake shore, Lake shore drive there. And that's the one where, you know, you can go grab a coffee, walk the trail, you can hang out like, oh, and it's kind of a little bit of a hidden gem because it's like, you know, tucked behind some trees. But everybody loves that. And then our second location is, at that paddle club.

00:55:39:15 - 00:55:55:00
Speaker 4
And so, yeah, I mean, we we just want to, you know, it's cool that we can like, you know, tell the story a little bit and people can see, like, who we are and what and why we started another Joe. Because, you know, it's like we're really we genuinely do want, want to build this, to continue to support the community.

00:55:55:00 - 00:55:58:23
Speaker 4
And, that's a huge that's a huge component of this. So yeah.

00:55:59:01 - 00:55:59:08
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:55:59:08 - 00:56:02:10
Speaker 2
But go to the new location because the lines are way less.

00:56:02:12 - 00:56:07:02
Speaker 1
Oh yeah. Good call. Yeah that's a good pro tip. Yeah. Same coffee you can get there. Yeah.

00:56:07:03 - 00:56:07:14
Speaker 4
Come on. Yeah.

00:56:07:14 - 00:56:08:20
Speaker 3
Saint John's operations.

00:56:08:20 - 00:56:14:10
Speaker 1
Operations. Y'all heard it here. It's the same thing no matter what you get. What did you call your signature drink? Butter or vanilla.

00:56:14:16 - 00:56:16:04
Speaker 2
That's one of them. That's one of them. Yeah.

00:56:16:05 - 00:56:18:14
Speaker 4
We have the the noble Joe. That one's big.

00:56:18:14 - 00:56:29:03
Speaker 2
That's a Bryce came up with because he would get it at like different shops and it's agave and oat milk. Oh it's it's just it's like just super clean and organic and it's kind of classy. Yeah.

00:56:29:03 - 00:56:31:00
Speaker 4
It's like a vanilla latte, but,

00:56:31:02 - 00:56:31:16
Speaker 2
With a twist.

00:56:31:16 - 00:56:45:17
Speaker 4
Yeah. It doesn't have any added sugar, like added processed sugar. Just a lot of sugar from the. So you kind of feel better because you're like, oh nothing processed. Yeah. But it's still pretty sweet. But we only do about a pump. Pump and a half. Yeah, that's.

00:56:45:19 - 00:56:54:17
Speaker 2
A good point. A lot of, like the big chains. They do like four pumps, 4 to 6 sometimes of sirup. And we do 1 to 2.

00:56:54:21 - 00:56:55:04
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:56:55:04 - 00:57:05:07
Speaker 2
Keep it light, keep it light. So it's a lot less sugar. And then also the idea is like being open to talk to if you want it sweeter, we can make it a lot sweeter. It's like a haircut. It's like take a little off. Yeah, like an animal.

00:57:05:07 - 00:57:07:14
Speaker 1
But I can't take it out. Yeah. Without making the whole thing.

00:57:07:14 - 00:57:08:18
Speaker 2
Yeah, exactly.

00:57:08:20 - 00:57:32:07
Speaker 1
Gentlemen, thank you all for coming on today. I think it gives folks a lot of insight into this business. Not only is it from the outside looking in, it's fun. It's awesome. I mean, you're all. Thanks for the hat. I mean, like, all that stuff is, need to look at, but I think the humans behind it and kind of the pun intended grind that like, is what it is to keep it going is not, is not without the energy and stuff.

00:57:32:07 - 00:57:36:07
Speaker 1
So it's good to see good people doing good things. And we appreciate your coming on today.

00:57:36:07 - 00:57:48:17
Speaker 2
And also, if anybody wants to message us on our Instagram, we're really active on there. And if we can help anybody with, you know, business or, you know, anything in the community, like I said, we'll say no if we can't, but we really try to help wherever we can.

00:57:48:22 - 00:57:56:01
Speaker 1
And I and I believe that especially with y'all doing that. Yeah, y'all, y'all have a cool badge, man. I mean, it's there's a good amount of dogs on that too, you know. Yeah. Yeah. A lot.

00:57:56:01 - 00:57:58:16
Speaker 3
Of dogs. Always. Always. Yeah.

00:57:58:18 - 00:58:00:10
Speaker 1
Thanks. Yeah. Appreciate it.

00:58:00:12 - 00:58:02:17
Speaker 2
Thank you so much. That's awesome.

00:58:02:17 - 00:58:28:23
Speaker 1
Thanks for tuning in to the American Operator Podcast, where we celebrate the backbone of America small business owners and operators like you. If you've enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe so you'll never miss out on more of these stories and insights from people who keep our community strong. Until next time, keep building, keep operating and keep America moving forward.