S2:E19: Scaling with Purpose: The Bravory Bakehouse story

Summary:

Join us as we explore the inspiring journey of Nic and Erin Vandre, military veteran and spouse turned entrepreneurs, who founded Bravory BakeHouse. Discover their insights on purpose-driven business, overcoming challenges, and supporting the military community.

Key Topics:

• Military entrepreneurship journey
• Purpose-driven business and community impact
• Scaling and pivoting in small business

Chapters:

1. 00:00 Introduction to Bravory Bakehouse
2. 01:53 Nic's Military Journey and Background
3. 03:09 Erin's Experience as a Military Spouse
4. 05:23 The Birth of Bravory Bakehouse
5. 08:12 The Mission Behind Bravory Bakehouse
6. 12:39 Challenges in Entrepreneurship
7. 15:46 Scaling the Business
8. 21:42 Lessons Learned in Business
9. 22:20 The Weight of Leadership
10. 24:14 Finding Purpose in Entrepreneurship
11. 25:34 The Role of Education and Mentorship
12. 27:46 Building Community and Collaboration
13. 29:02 Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
14. 31:48 Creating Value and Purpose-Driven Profitability

Resources:

Bravory Bakehouse
Dog Tag Incubator Program 
DAV Patriot Bootcamp 

Transcript

Julie Austin (00:04.945)
So today we are extremely excited to introduce our guests to the show, Nicholas and Erin Vandrie. Nick is a US Army Special Operations veteran and Erin is a lifelong baker and military spouse. Together they founded Bravory Bakehouse a purpose-driven company crafting premium handmade cookies with a mission to empower military families, create meaningful employment and give back to the communities that they serve and sac...

that serve and sacrifice so much. Nick and Erin, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for joining us today to discuss your journey from DogTags to Ownership and really to discuss the journey of a military spouse giving back to our community. So how are you all doing today?

Matt Cain (00:34.201)
Thank you.

Nic Vandre (00:51.854)
Great. Thanks for having us. Yeah, I really appreciate the opportunity.

Julie Austin (00:54.009)
Yeah. Yeah. And we're really, you like I said, excited to have you both on to discuss your journey. just to get started, Nick, can you just tell us a little bit about yourself and your military journey?

Nic Vandre (01:06.414)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So from the beginning, I was Wisconsin kid, small farm town, rural, blue collar kid. I think it was...

I can't remember a time when I didn't think I was going to join the military, right? It was just something that we all did. So like all the farm kids, we joined the National Guard. And then from there, I was inspired on an early deployment in my life by some former 75th Rangers who I think they were trying to get out of the military, but then they got pulled back into the nasty guard and they left a huge impression on me. And so I went to the 75th Rangers and then I went up to

Stayed in the soft family, went up to Fort Bragg to another soft unit to finish my career and retired one January of 25. So about a year and some change since I've retired.

Julie Austin (01:58.683)
Yeah, you're similar on the same timeline as Matt, I believe. And then I guess, how did you all meet? How did you come together? And then Erin with that, can you just discuss your journey as a military spouse? And before you get into that, just want to say thank you for being a military spouse. It is the hardest job, I believe, in the Army or in the military is being a military spouse. You don't get paid for it, but you have to deal with our BS on a daily basis. So from

from Matt and I to you, thank you for supporting your spouse and being there, and then also giving back to our community. if you all, you know, just talk a little bit about your relationship and then your journey as a military spouse, Erin.

Nic Vandre (02:40.746)
So we have been married for four years, about four years. I came from California where we met when he was visiting and it was love at first sight. And I moved out here three months after we met and we got married and then we... Can I add something? So I really want to add something because I think this is like a, this is an awesome opportunity for us to be like super transparent and like connect to, I think the listeners, but like...

The military is tough life, right? And I was married prior and we still are close friends with my ex, but the divorce rates are really high in the military, right? And, you know...

as a young kid growing up the way I did into the military, getting married was something that I always wanted to do, but you never really knew how to do it. And you didn't know also what was gonna be asking you in the military, especially the soft community, right? And the travel and all that stuff. And so how do you interpret that and how do you explain that to somebody? so...

That commitment took a lot out of my first relationship. as Erin would find out, you where she came in near the tail end of my career.

That was really tough. You know, that was a tough thing. so I think it's still tough. It's still tough, right? There's no playbook of like, hey, you're a mil spouse. This is what you're about to get into. Are you sure you want to do this? Right. Because what you're trading and then the other piece was and this is, know, I got married before social media, like really took off in the dating stuff. And so I was like this like new guy on the on the dating scene. So I was on the apps. Right. I was like, well, this is nuts. I didn't want to date anyone around my

Nic Vandre (04:27.92)
where I live in Fort Bragg I was like no like that was like a big no made that mistake right so I was out doing some you know TTY as we all know what that is temporary duty out in California and this one hit me up on one of the apps and I was coming out and she hit me up on one of the apps I was like I thought I was getting catfished right I was like this is a dude this is a gotta be a dude like I've never dated a girl this pretty

and she was hitting on me and I was like, what? Okay, dude, right? And so I was like, I didn't want to get cut up into little pieces, you know? So I met her in the lobby of my hotel and she like ate the largest hamburger plus like drink a bottle of wine with me. I'm like, okay, she's a keeper. And so that's how it started. So, and then I had to do this thing because she's a San Diego kid, right? Like a...

Orange County, San Diego kid, I had to convince her that the weather was just as nice on the East Coast as it was in the West Coast. And so I just drew a line from San Diego to Pinehurst, North Carolina. And I was like, it's like the same. It's just, you know, but.

Matt Cain (05:31.801)
not.

Matt Cain (05:40.431)
You sit on a throne of lies,

Nic Vandre (05:43.906)
Literally, yes. I trapped her actually. What is this he? How did I? I don't know. She asked me how I trapped her. Yeah. So anyways, where were you?

Julie Austin (05:44.867)
Literally, you do.

Julie Austin (05:55.534)
So I guess after he trapped you, Erin and got you to come over to the East Coast and to North Carolina and get into being a military spouse and being, you know, in that community, like how, how was that for you? Like, what was, you know, the change, like, what did you think about that? I guess, and becoming in that community.

Nic Vandre (06:17.006)
Thanks.

The change was a lot just because I left my family and my whole life in San Diego and then to be kind of like adopted into this community of people who...

really are very supportive and just want to see you succeed and there's always, it feels like there's always somebody to help you. It was awesome for me because coming from San Diego, it wasn't the same and now I wasn't in the military community there but it's just like a different world to come to this military town and just be surrounded by people who are all on the same mission.

And I mean, I kind of like love it. So I love the military spouse community. I love that everyone's there to support each other. It's like a sisterhood on its own. And my sister was in the Air Force for, you know, probably like a decade. And I was always kind of jealous of the...

the sisterhood that she had being in the military with the people she served with. And so I feel like it's my own way of having that sisterhood with the military spouse community. And I'm just super proud to support him.

Julie Austin (07:28.817)
So you weren't like, I guess you knew about the military because of your sister. So you're a military connected, we would say prior to meeting Nick and understanding the military lifestyle in some way in terms of like moving and all of that and how that goes. So I guess when you guys came together prior to you coming together, were you an entrepreneur prior to you and Nick getting married? Was that something that you had done?

Nic Vandre (07:58.882)
So I was, I had opened a med spa with a friend in Orange County and I was living in San Diego, but I had previously worked in aesthetics and was just kind of like grinding hard for other people and making their businesses successful. And then I was like, okay, I don't want to do this for other people anymore when I feel like I I, you know, I could do it better for myself. So we opened a med spa and I was actually close to the med spa when I matched with him, which was like,

an hour away from my house. So had I not been going to that med spa that day and searching on my phone, I wouldn't have matched with him because he was out of my radius. But I love it. I love creating. love watching something come to life and creating an environment, a space, and a team. And it's just like a fun hustle. Yeah. Her, you know, for...

When I was in the stage of my life where I was like being, you know, I'd been like two, two years since I'd been divorced, but I was looking for somebody who, who also kind of, I mean, cause I think all of us can relate to this, you know, being in the military, being a spouse or being a service member, like, you know, we've, probably all come from like pretty challenging backgrounds. It's one of the things that I've found is a commonality that attracts us to becoming part of something bigger in the military.

And then also, like I was kind of going through this like reawakening of my, you know, just coming out of really long relationship, you're kind of looking for somebody who can be a companion or somebody who can be of value. You can be of value to them. like, you know, you've identified, like you're on your own path at that point, right? After you've been through like a long marriage. And I had three kids, Erin had one kid, you know, so together now we have four kids, which is a really big family to us. And so...

when I met her, had this grit, right? And also this accountability to like saying, okay, I'm going to own what happens in my life. And she had this successful med spa but really her secret, which she'll get to, is why we have Bravory she had always made these amazing cookies, right? And she gave them away. She never sold them. She gave them away and everyone said, why is this not a company? You know what I mean? And so when we got out here, it was like, hey, are you

Nic Vandre (10:21.04)
going to start another Med Spa What are you going to do?" And she's like, you know, I think now's the time. Let's launch this cookie business. And I was not the entrepreneur, right? I was full-time active duty. Like that was the thing. And I just want to make her happy. So I'm saying yes to everything that I don't know anything about, right? Yes, let's do this. Like what could it be like? Little did I know that like...

an entrepreneur especially, I think this is why, you know, veterans and military connected service members who get into entrepreneurship do well because you got to grind and you've got to be relentless and you've got to take ownership and like there's just so many things about the problem solving space of being an entrepreneur that I think lends itself to our community.

Matt Cain (11:09.199)
So that was your idea when you get to North Carolina. How long ago was that when you started to discuss launching the Cookie Company?

Nic Vandre (11:19.79)
So we started the cookie company the same month we got married, which was in August 2022. it was a couple of months after I got here.

we weren't even, we'd have no plan. We just were like, I'm gonna bake some cookies and I'm gonna put this on this little website that I made and do some local pickups and shipping and people were buying them. And so we kind of like had to figure out as we were going what we wanted to do with it. Yeah, I think that was the plan though, was like, let's start small, right? It wasn't like.

It was just like, let's bake and sell cookies. Let's and sell cookies, you know, and then you realize things like, and the point was, if we're going to do this as well.

I mean, from the beginning, wasn't just like, we're just selling cookies, right? It was like, how do we take something that is a really great cookie and tie it to a mission so we can make impact? Because we both wanted to make impact in areas and represent the underdogs, right? Represent people who need a bigger voice. Like if that is something we do share, it's like we have a huge heart for purpose-driven demand, you know? And so being able to tie profitability to purpose and kind of hit both of those were something, and I was getting ready to

transition right like I was getting it closer to my window where I was like okay I'm like I need to start thinking about what's next

Nic Vandre (12:38.126)
And so we did launch a company, our company, we don't talk about this a lot, but we launched a company, Erin honored my father in our first company, which was Kind Cookie Company, because my dad, when he passed away in 2011, his last words to me were like, Nick, life is simple. So was like, dad, what do you ask your dying father? Like, what do you ask him? And I said, dad, do you, like give me something, you know, and he was a...

He's an interesting Vietnam vet and he was like, Nick, life is simple. Just be kind to people. If you be kind, he's like, life will work out. It's that simple. And so she called the company Kind Cookie Company and was all about spreading kindness in your community. That was the whole impact. Well, we didn't know anything. And so the owners or the lawyers from Kind Bar. We went to trademark it. Yeah, we trademark our company. We're waiting to hear back. And when they do that, it gets announced. It gets announced everywhere.

Matt Cain (13:26.138)
yeah.

Nic Vandre (13:32.001)
the lawyers from that company contacted us like, hey you are not going to use that word actually. And basically they were very polite but we read between the lines they were like, you're like okay like that's we can't win this one you know what I mean? You know and so and that was okay because at that time we also started realizing like my gosh this is scaling.

we're having a supply issue. Demand was like through the roof and you know we were shipping at that point nationwide but we had a demand issue or supply issue and so through some mentorship of others we decided like okay let's let's close that down go back to the drawing board

look at the rebranding, look at the remarketing, look at it for a relaunch. And we ended up pivoting for a bigger purpose. And that was to represent the the home front heroes, right? The family members and the loved ones, the spouses, the people who are behind the scenes of their service member who who serve but don't wear the uniform, right? So that was the beginning of Bravory And that's why how we got B-R-A-V-O-R-Y Bravory

Julie Austin (14:43.323)
beginning.

Nic Vandre (14:49.72)
is because we're like, we need to own a word. We need to come up with our own word here. So there's more to that word than just meets the eye. yeah. Yeah. I mean, to us, it represents like the everyday Bravory and not the big moments, but somebody who's showing up every day, regardless of the situation and continuing on kind of in silence and in the back to support, you know, our heroes. So and when I'm

Matt Cain (14:53.135)
morning.

Nic Vandre (15:17.506)
think about his previous spouse and I mean she really had the hard years where he was deploying and there was all of that and I just see Bravory, like I see someone that's brave and when I look at the military spouse community it's the same. I'm like in awe of women that can...

just support like that and go through what it takes to support their spouse in that way. we changed the name and it's a blend of Bravory and valor and it's just meant to honor and uplift the military spouse. Yeah, and I think the other piece too is

having watched, like my mom was a military spouse, know, my grandmother was a military spouse, seeing what my ex went through. When I was going through it, I didn't honor that enough, right? I was so focused on like the tempo of the mission and everything that I called upon, you know.

And then, you know, I even have a chance to catch other people's stories, when I started like, when I was going through my transition, my re-entry into, you know, civilian life,

you start realizing the sacrifice everyone else around you is making. And it became very apparent at that time, like this storyline around the military spouse, these caregivers, right? It's about the service member, but it's about themself too. It's about what they're doing for their children. I mean, they've sacrificed everything for this nation so their loved one can go serve. And I'll tell you.

Nic Vandre (17:03.658)
I was never worried when I was deployed. That was like me getting into the game that I've been training for, right? It wasn't like, my gosh, I have to go on this mission. It's like, no, what messed me up was like when my loved one or my kids or my, people at home were hurting and I couldn't help them, right? They didn't have what they need.

I couldn't help them. That distracted me from the mission a thousand percent. So I think it's a national security issue if you're not accounting for the whole person, you know, for people who are married or have a loved one, even if you're not technically married, but you have someone at home and you're not, you know, the leadership isn't accounting for what that is like. And I know we've got FRGs and stuff. And I'm not saying that the government's not doing a good enough job, but it's just such a personalized thing that it takes a whole village to kind of do this. so

So with Bravory, Erin did talk about the design of the word. We Easter egged Bravo in there, right? That was kind of cool. Because like we want to show that we applaud you, right? And then we also wanted to connect the sacrifice of the spouses and the caregivers to the average American, right? So the military is like 1%, right? Of the human population. So there's so many people who have no idea at all what this even means.

And there was this story where, you know.

I always told myself, people always ask us, they're thanks for your service. And you're like, how do I respond to this? Okay, yeah, well, thanks for your support, right? But then like, what I started realizing in the later parts of my career was like, national security is not just those who wear the uniform. It's made up of the academics who are working on the early research for the tech that will go into the hands of the service members, right? It is, the healthcare, it is the industry providers, it is the capitalists, you know, it is the

Nic Vandre (18:56.488)
state government organizations and other federal it is a whole conglomerate and I don't think people realize their their role in that and so this was another way I think to to allow the average American to connect to the storyline of these these people who are out there supporting those who are who have raised their hand to say I'll go do that part of the mission right

And so for us, Bravory, the brick and mortar Bravory right here in Southern Pines, North Carolina, it's a flagpole, right? It's a way of connecting and creating community around entrepreneurship because we are working with consolidating resources and connecting with other.

entrepreneurship channels and beloved organizations to mental health services and you name it, that if you come to Bravory you know, it's not just a really great and really great baked good, but it's a vehicle to make impact, right, and to be a part of something bigger. So that was our version of creating purpose-driven profitability.

Julie Austin (20:08.213)
And everything you said is so impactful, but I do want to take a moment to go back in time to when you first started the business, because our podcast is really about providing the actual insights and advice to those who want to get into entrepreneurship and going through the transition process. And so as you started that for, you you started the first company that you were then told by kind bar, you can't have that.

that name and transition that you said you had a supply problem. So how did you all get, I guess, get your product out there? How did you, like what was the first way as you were baking your goods, Erin, that you were, you know, starting to sell the product? I know you said you had a website, those types of things, but was it word of mouth? what was that process like when you went from launching that first business, your website, to then having a supply issue?

Can you talk us through that and some of the advice that you have for others?

Nic Vandre (21:09.816)
So it was a lot of social media, really like heavily social media. And then we did one thing that was like the best and worst thing is we put a giant logo on my white suburban that said Kind Cookie Company on both sides, like big, like the whole half of the car.

So I would go pick up the kids in the car lines and like everyone would see me out in town. And it was a really great way to get our name out because everybody knew who we are because it's not a big town. And we were going to three different schools. So they've seen us in the pickup line around town and super embarrassing for an introvert. you know, it worked and it got the name out. Until you speed or Karen. There is no speeding. Until Karen sees you do something that you shouldn't be doing. Karen will say, hey, Bravory Bakehouse to the world and say.

That's not cool. kind cookie, you know. I used to cut people off in California because that's just the way you live. But here with kind on your car, I'm like, better not. Really good. Great reminder constantly to practice kindness. But then also the military spouse community, just they just came and supported us from the start and like allowed us to use their business as a local pickup or.

just spreading the word. It's just a really supportive community that we would not have come as far without them.

Matt Cain (22:30.841)
So very, I mean, very grassroots on top of the social media and the massive billboard on the suburban. Combination. Yeah.

Nic Vandre (22:37.228)
Yeah, it really was a lot of social media. Yeah, well, and also we, I mean, it was like, I mean, the best way, if you have a consumer packaged good or you have a baked good, you know, you have to follow cottage law. And like, if you have pets, then you need to find a co-space over like a shared kitchen space like we had to do because we couldn't do it in the house. And then the best, the network was really good.

It was also your network. Yeah, I'm like that. I don't know if you could tell, I'm the... Yeah. Not at all. I don't like to talk at all. And that helped, right? And so that reciprocity that came with... And I will tell everyone this, and I don't think any veteran entrepreneur will have a problem with this, is like, partner with your nonprofits.

Matt Cain (23:10.617)
No.

Nic Vandre (23:28.344)
partner with your nonprofits because you can serve a mission you care about. You can align proceeds and other donation ways to donate your goods to them or through them. But then they usually have a bigger reach as well. And so this is like that whole push of I tell every veteran entrepreneur like purpose driven profitability. By the way, that word came from my friend Waco Hoover from MConn. I was like, I'm stealing that. And I'm going to give you credit every time I say it, but I love it.

And then another veteran entrepreneur, Jesse Levin from, he's up north in DC. He talked about creating more surface area for serendipity, right? And that's what this is about. It's about taking, you know,

you're solving a problem, right? That's what entrepreneurship is, your problem solvers for one. So people don't need to get their heads wrapped around all these different words. It's like an entrepreneur is a problem solver and you're solving a problem for providing value to a market and the market share, right? And the rarity of your product can determine your price point, right? And I always tell people when you look to pick something, something pops in your head and says,

I love that. I want to do that, right? That's the number one key indicator that you have passion behind it because when the shit gets hard and the pain points start coming in, your passion has to be higher than your pain threshold. If it's this way, you're going to quit and it's not going to be a good company. we've got another friend, Kendall. He creates this free course for veterans called The Crucible.

And it literally is all the stuff you need to understand about entrepreneurship before you just focus on the happy, know, great, I'm solving a problem. a business. I have a business. And look, I have stickers and I have a website, but it's like, I haven't sold anything. You know, and then you're like, next thing you know, you're like, digging out the trash trying to pay your employees. Right. And you're like, cause when you start having employees, like, like we have a pretty decent runway and we have a pretty decent burn rate, but it's like,

Nic Vandre (25:31.934)
my employees have to be paid, you know what I mean? So they come first before me. And so like if you're an entrepreneur, you can choose to be either a W2 and go work for somebody, or you can go work for your customers, because that's who you work for as an entrepreneur is your customers. So

Matt Cain (25:46.639)
So that might be a good segue, Julie, unless you got something, just to talk kind of the scaling. When were there decisions about moving towards a brick and mortar? When were there decisions about, hey, I can't bake a million cookies in a week. Like, I need more help, right? So how did those conversations come up? Or is that always part of like a five-year or some kind of strategic plan in growing the company?

Julie Austin (25:47.014)
So, thank you.

Nic Vandre (26:09.002)
Yeah, this is a great question. Great question. think if I had it my way, would have I would just be probably my first like in this time period that we're in right now, be just B2B and D2C like direct to consumer and business to business to grow that that model because storefronts are very expensive. Well, but that's what we wanted to do. But so we we rented a space and turned the back big part of it into a kitchen. And then we were just going to fix the front up nicely.

so that people could come pick up like they were doing before and not really worry about needing to have somebody up front. But it didn't turn out that way. It was, know, now I have a cute counter and a display case and a coffee machine and an ice cream machine. you know, it then became a space. Which I think is good because in our community, small town America, we're very, it's very rural, you know, it's like.

People, like there's two markets, right? If you're doing online, your storefront is your website and then it's your service and that customer journey that you go through is like, it's all those points, right? Including your social medias. When you have a brick and mortar, it's a different demographic. Like nationwide's out the door. It's like, yes, it's the social media stuff, but it's also their journey is the minute they walk in the door, how they're received, their product, when they leave, like everything in between, right? And so,

And each of those are a full-time job, right? And so... Well, also, it kind of had to go that way because I was doing everything by myself and I couldn't keep up with it and it wasn't enjoyable at all. And it turned something that I was very passionate about and loved doing into something that I honestly hated because it was so stressful and it was just...

I mean, you're doing literally everything. So if we didn't go into a space, I wouldn't have been able to get the help and the support and the team to become bigger than we were and have a greater reach and greater purpose. Yeah, yeah, it's true. Yeah, you definitely miss the human factor when you don't have a brick and mortar, but it is more expensive. so, I mean, the best thing to do for anybody thinking about getting into a food and beverage line of work as an entrepreneur

Nic Vandre (28:28.976)
is make the product and then go out and find the demographic and get the feedback. That customer discovery piece never, never, never ends. And so when we're trying to figure out new things we want to launch online, we always use the front of house of the brick and mortar to get that feedback loop going.

But I mean, that's free, right? You don't even have to have a product. You can just go to a food court area or to some collection point during lunches or dinners or whatever it is you're thinking. Hey, what's missing that you wish you had here that you don't have, right? And look at the foot traffic numbers. And just compare a lot of giving things away like I did to see people's reaction and response. And that also works. Yeah, for sure.

Julie Austin (29:13.969)
So when you first started baking you mentioned you had to have a shared space because you couldn't do it in the house. So where was your shared space? Were you partnering with someone else? Like where was that shared space that you were first baking in?

Nic Vandre (29:26.314)
It's a local commissary kitchen and there's not many around here. So you really have to kind of plan your week and your hours because there are so many other people that are using the kitchen as well. So it does limit you on.

you know, your growth because it's not your space. There's storage, there's, you know, permits and all the things that come into it. So, but it was very helpful because we wouldn't have been able to do any of this if we didn't have that kitchen and the military spouse owned. So we were very grateful for them as well. Yeah.

Julie Austin (30:00.658)
And then like from there, I guess that's when you, you started local, right? Given, selling to whoever was around the Fort Bragg, Fayetteville, Southern Pines, Pine Harvest area. And then you mentioned that you guys went to national distribution. So, and I'm assuming, cause consumer packaged goods, it's a little bit different depending on the product, right? So, but for baking, is there like a certain type of flour or something you have to put in it for it first?

for it to be store shelf to ship nationally? Because I know for like sauces and things like that, there's an ingredient you have to put in for it to keep shelf life. Is that the same for you all to ship nationally and to be able to expand to that national consumer market?

Nic Vandre (30:46.382)
Did you use? So we don't use any preservatives at this point, but we do heat seal the cookies and try to do like a two day shipping so that they they do end up lasting a good while. Like he's eating them at 10 days and yeah, they might look a little different. Well, but they they taste the same. It is good quality ingredient. The timing and temperature were a really big thing. So Erin's kind of got it down to a science now of the time of year that we're shipping and

then what type of packaging to preserve the freshness and then when those are coming out exactly when they're cooled and then we heat seal them for the shipping and then they go off right like overnight or two day we've had really you know

Trial and error, I mean the first thing we did when we started thinking about out of state and expanding was we tested the market, Friends and family, like hey, we're sending you cookies. Open them, show us, take pictures, tell us what these are like, right? And so we were just talking about international and then we're gonna do the same thing. We have friends globally, it's like okay, let's start with this country first and just ship to them and see how they show up, right? Because right now we don't use preservatives, so eventually we'll have to use some type of healthy preservative.

But right now we don't, so we have to battle that.

Julie Austin (32:07.279)
Yeah. And so then I'm assuming now you do it all in your storefront. You bake everything, package, ship, all of that in the storefront and expanded. So I know Matt's question was about scaling. So it went from a one woman show with maybe Nick helping on the side some to now how many employees do you all have today?

Nic Vandre (32:30.99)
So we have two full-time bakers that do almost all of the baking and then we have two girls that work up front.

our two of our daughters also help part time. yeah, that's it for now. But yeah, we're like, we're getting ready to go into our scaling of our B2B, D2C. And so we're just trying to like, instead of like in the past where we just jumped in, because that's the thing, once you go, the customer is unforgiving. Like once you go into it, you can't go back. Like you can, but it's going to cost you, right? Because customer experience is everything. And it's like, you'll find out on your Google reviews real quick.

what things people care about, right? So it's always best to try to test the market before you actually go into the market, right? As much as you can and protect. Like you have to look at your business as a separate entity from yourself, right? You have to think about what is the mission? What are you doing? Because at some point you are going to get in the way of that mission of your business. Emotionally, like, you'll tie yourself all through it and if you are continuing in your business, you're not on top of it, you're not going to grow your business. You're going to basically paint yourself

into a corner where now you have to figure out how you're gonna get out of these things where only you could do them, right? And so scaling is one of those things. For Erin the first thing we had to do was Erin couldn't be the one anymore to make the product.

like that there's no way you can grow a company if one person's the only person, like that doesn't scale, right? So you have to start thinking, you know, what is, what are those quality controls and how do I teach people to recreate my product was the first, the first thing, right? And so now we're just kind of going the next thing after that. And the beautiful thing about our community is that there are so many resources, mentors and coaches in the entrepreneurship space. People are always wanting to give back even in your own community. may not know,

Nic Vandre (34:25.632)
it but like you're either a learner earner returner and like if you find those returners who've already had their businesses it's amazing what they'll tell you like you just got to ask and that's the hard part is asking for help

Matt Cain (34:37.623)
So Nick, no, a lot of sage wisdom and advice there. that, did you learn the issues with like, you get one opportunity to launch going through that or was that advice from mentors and others that wanna help you all? Like, where did that come from?

Nic Vandre (34:58.158)
Yeah, it was both. mean, the first thing for us was when we were kind cookie, it was like, oh my God, we can't have a break. were like, go to bed at like state, you know, we'd be at the store and this is before we had the brick and mortar and we're like, oh my God, all these orders are coming in. Like it never turns off. Like this is crazy. And like having to get up and so we're like, oh my gosh. So we realized we painted ourself and you know, we had some really crazy opportunities to go, hey, can you, can you

give us 30,000 cookies. No, we can't. We don't have enough. So we're like, OK, that's an issue. And we started seeing these bigger opportunities and reading about people who've made it to those levels. And all these are is just accumulation of steps taken. And so a lot of it was life lessons learned.

and some realizations along the way. so a lot of pivoting, lot of pivoting. Erin developed this this what was it? Don't was it pivot? Don't panic because I would panic and she did it. I'm like, it's supposed to be the other way. And so it's like that was we have all these little things like, OK, no, that's right. You know, it's an entrepreneurship. It's like daily pivoting daily. Yeah. And your numbers don't lie. I mean, the thing is like you can get caught up real quick in the marketing and the branding and you get caught up in like all the easy

Matt Cain (35:59.94)
Like that.

Nic Vandre (36:18.736)
things, like the most successful entrepreneurs, know your numbers, you know your business, right? And that's a daily thing. so, and then the customers.

Matt Cain (36:28.227)
Yeah, I wanted to ask that specifically just for the listeners of this podcast. So they know it's not all like sunshine and rainbows behind the scenes, right? There's like, again, like you're rolling up your sleeves.

Nic Vandre (36:38.902)
No. There's no sunshine. There's no rainbows.

Matt Cain (36:43.309)
Yeah, there's a lot of, cause in this day and age of social media where everything on Instagram is like, we have the perfect family and the perfect house and the perfect business and all these things. Like there's a lot that goes into that behind the scenes, right? To make it perfect, to make the perfect cookie. So I just, yeah, I wanted for people that are like, man, Nick is dropping some wisdom on this podcast. Like that came through a lot of trial and error and lumps, you know, like it wasn't a smooth pass.

Nic Vandre (36:58.17)
my gosh. Yeah.

Matt Cain (37:12.579)
path along the way. So again, just want to amplify that message to the folks listening.

Nic Vandre (37:18.602)
Yeah, yeah. I there is like, I mean, me and her had to make, and this is a thing, and this is probably a great opportunity. When you get into business with your spouse, right, like your first husband and wife, you have to treat this, and I'm telling you because we didn't, and it's been hard. Still don't. And there's moments when you get these moments, like these disagreements, right? But you have to say, I would even say, you know, create an operating agreement with your, with your spouse, you know, even if you do a business with your kids, teach them, you know, like,

Those are roles. Everyone runs after the CEO title because it sounds cool, right? But that's a real role in a company. And what I found out was...

through senior mentors is like most of are like, I don't wanna be the CEO, I'm the founder, it's my great idea, I'm gonna build a team that's gonna create, know, who have the skills of a CEO, you know, at different stages of growth of the company who are gonna do those roles, but like, at first, you're like, I'm a CEO, yeah, I'm putting that on my LinkedIn, and then it's like, that's actually, I have responsibilities and duties to that shit, yeah, you do.

you're accountable and if you don't do them guess who like if you're the CEO like she knows it right it's like because I'm not the CEO but that company does well awesome job Erin it does bad what's going on Erin you know what I mean and that's like like radical accountability yeah it's like if you like and there's no hiding from it when you're married to it either

Yeah, you're married to them. I mean, you're married to your business, you're being into your business partner, like, that's a hard thing. Like, that's a really hard thing. But I would also tell you that it can be the thing that can pull you so close to your spouse, like in ways that you never knew them before. Because when you're an entrepreneur, and this goes for everybody's like,

Nic Vandre (39:02.07)
you cannot hide from your true self. Like it will come out. Like there is no one else to blame. It's your business. It is an extension of who you it came. The idea came out of you. You know what I mean? So I'm

It's like if you want radical accountability, be an entrepreneur, right? But if you're a problem solver and you, there's a pain point out that you're so passionate about, that will be the thing that gets you out of bed. And then the, the, the, the, that's the mission, right? And then the company is the vehicle to get there, right? And I would say this company is not about Erin and Nick. This company is about others. It's about the military spouse community, the stories that need to be told. It's about the services and the unemployment rates and the suicide rates and the things that people don't know about.

and allowing the average American to connect to that but also to realize their own everyday Bravory, right? That they're not so different, right? That we're all so similar. And so that's what gets us out of bed every day, you know? And then also, you you still gotta make a good cookie because people have to eat it, wanna eat it, right? So.

Matt Cain (40:03.748)
Thank

Nic Vandre (40:05.678)
But yeah, that's a great question. mean, like everybody puts out there the like, you look at our LinkedIn or look at our Instagrams, you're like, oh, these dudes got a fucking together. It's like, no, it's a shit show. Like, if you guys want to see more of that and give us more likes, hell yeah, I'll show you the shit show. But it's like a circus, right? Yeah, so, yeah.

Julie Austin (40:06.191)
Yeah, that's a good one.

Matt Cain (40:25.689)
Thank

Julie Austin (40:29.041)
And you guys, did you do DAV Patriot Bootcamp? Weren't you guys? Okay, so that's where I saw you, I believe, because we partner with them and do some stuff with them. And that's where I saw you. So at what point in your business journey did you go to DAV Patriot Bootcamp to utilize them to help you? Did they help you move forward with what Bravory is?

Nic Vandre (40:54.284)
Yeah, they did. think it was more dog tag. Well, for her it was dog tag, for me it was was D.

Julie Austin (40:59.055)
right. Yeah. So did you do dog tag? Like did you do the military spouse incubator thing?

Nic Vandre (41:03.278)
Yeah, so it was a five, six month program and online, know, Monday through Thursday, nine to four, just a crash course MBA. It was really, really, really intense learning at a...

at Ivy League school. But then they did some in-persons and it was really all about business. Gave us the tools to do the business plan and do all the things that we didn't want to do before and didn't do when we started as kind because they're scary because you don't know how and you know, it's it's a lot. step by step, we went through every single thing you need to start a business. And during that time was right when we we pivoted to, you know, OK,

we're gonna be Bravory now and let's refocus our mission and you know what we want to do and going through that program really gave me the confidence to be like okay I can do this because I've got through the business plan and the two-year budget and the pitch all the things but without that you know we would still probably be treading water and you know who knows where we would be just not a lot of direction

Yeah, and so that was really important and going back to like, well, why did you guys choose to go there? That was part of our, when we were closing kind, it was like, okay, everything's based, I mean, everything you do is like, it's on education, right? And so Erin's like, I'm gonna amplify my education around this, let me figure this out. I was like, okay, I need to go get some more revenue, right? Like what we wanted to do and the way we saw like us moving, like I was gonna need, we didn't wanna take on loans.

and we didn't want to leverage investment from others. Even though lots of people were like, hey, we want to give you money to do this. It's like, no. And so I knew my retirement was going to come. I knew I got some other side hustle stuff. And so we ended up, she did that. I ended up finding new revenue sources, you know.

Nic Vandre (43:09.302)
so we could bootstrap it. And then I ended up getting a chance to finally go to DAV, which is awesome because I actually hadn't really got up in front of anybody and told the story. And so that was like super emotional and hard for me because I was going like, this is life work for me. Like this is really meaningful stuff because I have seen, you know,

Countless divorces happened because the relationship between the service member and their spouse wasn't well supported through

meeting the needs of the spouse or like, you know, and for me it was a lot about like they're so like looking back now, there are so many resources that could save some of these relationships if they could get connected to them better or if they could have the opportunity to become an entrepreneur as a spouse and realize you don't have to work for someone. Like you have a ton of God-given gifts inside of you that can be converted into capital and you just need to know how to do that. And so our whole thing was like how do we recharge, you know, like workforce development?

in a local area, rural area outside of Military Post and teach entrepreneurship as well. And so I got to go to DAV, meet amazing people. DAV is freaking amazing. Like everyone should go to it. If you do have the time commitment, Dog Tag is amazing as well. And then we, one of our mentors, Stephanie Brown.

at the Rosine Network, Mills Falls Chamber of Commerce, she has been just like a ride or die for us in getting us through a lot of these like really I don't know moments where her, you know, her human capital is crazy to connect us to other mentors. And so I always tell people, if you have an idea, go talk to a million people who've done that already. And you're going to bring your own nuance to whatever it is you're creating. But mentorship goes a long, long way.

Nic Vandre (45:00.866)
like a long way into space.

Julie Austin (45:04.719)
Yeah, and did you get you guys won the pitch contest? Did you win it? Okay.

Nic Vandre (45:08.174)
We got second. Yeah, we got second. It was, yeah, that was unexpected. So unexpected. It was great though. It felt so good. And then she got mad at me because I gave the money away. I gave it to another person who didn't get to do a pitch, but I just like... That's just who he is. I give everything away. Like, everything. I'm like, you want my... Oh, you like this here? Let's just talk about it. That's why he gets from...

Julie Austin (45:28.259)
Yeah.

Julie Austin (45:32.945)
I was gonna tell you I really do like your vest.

Nic Vandre (45:36.59)
and we're like, here's a cookie, here's a cookie and just give all this stuff away and we're like, Nicholas, please. Yeah, it's true. It's true. I do.

Julie Austin (45:41.393)
You can't run a business just giving it away is what I've been told.

Nic Vandre (45:48.108)
Yeah, yeah, you can. Did you hear that? Yep.

Matt Cain (45:52.161)
Julie and I, think we get that from both of our spouses as well.

Julie Austin (45:55.282)
Yeah, so I feel unique because I also give things away. I have a small catering business that I like pick and choose who I want to cater for and I definitely give away barbecue pretty much. I just, and my wife yells at me daily about it.

Nic Vandre (45:59.279)
The servant leaker.

cool.

Nic Vandre (46:10.112)
Yeah. I just... It's hard not to. Yeah.

Matt Cain (46:15.425)
It's something, it's something where we're all reprogrammed, I think in the military, right? Like Joe eats first, right? The private eats first. Everything is done before you, right? I mean, that's like the mentality we have. So it's like, what do you need? How do I meet your needs before I meet my own? Right. And sometimes to a fault. but, I think it's a good, it's a good characteristic. you know, more than a bad one. Just, just, just keep.

Julie Austin (46:39.095)
Erin's like, no, it's not. You guys got to change that.

Nic Vandre (46:41.494)
I mean, it is, it's just like, you've gotta just take it and not go full force on it, but like also be aware of your own needs and your family's needs.

Matt Cain (46:48.174)
Yeah.

Nic Vandre (46:52.938)
Yeah, well I think too, once you get, you know your numbers a lot more, you'll probably stop giving away less, more, you know, you'll find ways to give away. Or or you won't. Yeah, so I mean, that's a thing, you know, I do like, if you're, if you're into the food and beverage, especially the food, less than beverage, but if you're in the food space, I mean, like, that it's some like,

That's some grittiness because like the restaurant space, food and beverage space, like the amount of things you have to be accountable for, the fluctuations in your numbers, it's insane. Like I have another business in the government contracting space and like government innovation space. And there's like, there's no overhead. There's not, you know, it's all like service based stuff. And I'm like, this is a way, way easier way to make have a whole entire huge spreadsheet with all of the list of ingredients we use with the vendors, the price.

the price per ounce, all of the things and I've had to completely change it at least three times. I'm still working on.

getting it right because the prices change. all of everything, it's like a... You're chasing it. Weather changes, humidity changes. It means the amount of product you use to make something changes, right? things go bad. Seasons change, you know? It's the winter or the summer. You mail something and it melts because they had a hot spell that wasn't supposed to be there. It's like, oh my God, like why would anyone do this? You know? So it's like... It's not for the week. No, it's not, you know, but I mean we have a vision.

and the mission's never going away. It's like this regeneration of military spouses keep coming. So it's like, how do we just improve the Fox Hill? And it's a lot of fun for us. mean, we have ideas for other brands under the Bravory banner. And so we really wanna nail this and figure out the architecture to continue. But for us, our thing is like,

Nic Vandre (48:44.588)
let's teach others how to fish, right? The one thing I think is really tough for people in this space is it's competitive, but we don't believe in competition. You want competition. You want your idea. You want a million people to have an idea in, let's say, cookie space, right? Because that means there's a market share there. Now, here's the cool part. You just have to do it better. You have to offer better service, better cookie, better product, whatever. Don't shy away from that. And then also,

People are probably like, what? When I say this, but copy people, copy people, copy as much as you can. You're going to make things that you're going to have. It's called inspiration, right? Motivation. Nothing. There's not a lot of originalist anymore. The originality comes out of your own.

nuanced way to do it differently, right? Like you with barbecue, right? Like you people make barbecue, you didn't invent barbecue, right? So you get inspired by other people who make barbecue. You know, one of the best stories, one of our mentors and one of our motivators were... Bill. Yeah, Bill. Bill Krauss. Yeah. You want to tell a story?

Matt Cain (49:38.463)
Okay.

Nic Vandre (49:56.335)
You guys heard of Mission Barbecue? I mean, you're on a roll. I might as well. I know, I'm talking too much. I'm sorry, guys. She's kicking me under the table, by the way, guys. If you notice me go like this, she's kicking me. She's kicking me back. Take accountability. whoever comes... Never mind. So Bill.

Julie Austin (49:56.401)
Yes.

Nic Vandre (50:13.784)
Bill, very wonderful man, worked in corporate America, very successful. He loved barbecue, loved barbecue, and he loved America. He took his love for barbecue and love for America and put them together, right? Created Mission Barbecue. He didn't know how to run a restaurant, so what did he do? He went and got somebody who knew how to do that, right? He went and partnered with somebody who was an expert in running restaurants, and then he tried every barbecue in the world. Every barbecue he could get his hands on, best barbecues across the United States, tried them all, and then created his own.

own version of what he felt right looks like to create this mission space that gives back purpose driven profitability and then made it community driven and he's doing very well. Amazing product. You go in there and you talk to the culture of the company and they'll tell you like they love it. People love it. Right. And that matters. And so that was a lot of inspiration on us for our company was like what Bill did was like it made a lot of sense. And so we encourage people like if people were to come to us and say hey

Nick I want to start a cookie company in your in in Southern Pines right next to you I will totally help you I don't believe in company I'm like this is awesome she'll probably be like stressing right what the fuck and I'll be like sorry I shouldn't swear but I'm like no this is good this is what we want right like

Matt Cain (51:31.087)
I think there's competitiveness. Julie's a very competitive individual, more so than I am.

There's competitiveness without stepping on people, think, right? It's like being kind to people, but you can still want to win, you know, but it's like, I don't, don't need to put you out of business for me to be successful. We can have them. We can share the market, right? There's so I think there's given, you know, again, maybe that's a something we get from the military or just how we were raised or whatever. But, I think that's more competitive in that nature. Maybe that's why we all get along so well, right? It's like, I still want to help.

Julie Austin (52:08.593)
Thank

Matt Cain (52:08.715)
you and everybody that comes on this podcast that are probably very competitive in the business side of things also want to lend their hand to anybody that needs help right I mean it's it's something we continue to see over and over again with the folks we have on here so Julie

Julie Austin (52:24.717)
So what would be both of your piece of advice to a military spouse or a military member transitioning? What would be your piece of advice to them about getting into entrepreneurship?

Nic Vandre (52:40.32)
would say to find your why is really important and really like identify it. When we started, we knew we wanted to do good things, but we didn't have a clear path or direction. And so it was harder to move forward. But now that we have like, know our purpose, we know our why, it's easy to wake up every day. And even when things are hard.

you know, you have that foundation. So that is really important. Also, asking for help is like he said, it's hard, but like this community is there's every single thing that you could possibly need in our community. everyone is usually willing to, you know, help and share that information. So just really leaning into the community and asking for help and, you know, partnering with people is...

is Erin. So I'll add to what Erin said. So your why, your purpose is number one, right? Because again, identity before destiny, right? You got to know your identity. You got to figure that out. I think that's really important because it's going to save you from a big pivot down the road. And so do that homework. And that's just going to serve you in life in general, personally or professionally. The thing that I would partner on to that was

The problem, right? What's the problem you're gonna solve as an entrepreneur?

you know, and then do your market research. Who else is trying to solve that problem? And who else has that problem? Like both sides of the market, right? And then, and then people like, so once you purpose problem, then people, right? Who are the people that are that you can align to for all the different things? Get mentorship, who's been there before you, you know, where can you get educated? Where's all the resources, right? If you can put this on paper first, you're going to exponentially improve your chances of success.

Nic Vandre (54:35.47)
by identifying where the bottlenecks are in your idea, right? Get out of your own way, right? Get comfortable with people saying, I don't like that, that tastes gross. People aren't gonna like everything you do, right? And that's okay, that's not your market, let it go. I think those three P's are the biggest, probably the biggest piece. And then...

Yeah, I mean, ask for help. being willing to pivot and not stay on one path if that's your plan, but it's not working. Being willing to be like, all right, let's, let's shift a bit is like you just have to. Yeah. Yeah, you know, and then for everyone listening, like, put our name at the top of your list when you get to the people list, right? Like, we're here to help like

Matt Cain (55:14.797)
Not panic, pivot, not panic.

Nic Vandre (55:27.392)
It's easier like to build momentum, you know, also leverage AI like dude life has never been easier to start a job to start a career or start a entrepreneurship journey without with AI like AI will help you immensely on everything you want to do from your Don't get caught up in like I need a business plan because somebody said I need a 20 page business plan It's like you don't need a freaking business plan, dude You need a business plan maybe to show financials if you're going to a bank

thought through it, but I haven't looked at mine once since. You need a whiteboard and you need a mind map and you need to just go like we could do it right now. It's an AI like I want to start a business doing tell me everything I need to know. It's going to tell you what's the first steps that you do you know this is you need to do. Be a ruthless mentor tell me when I'm screwed up okay you're screwed up okay. So it's great for resourcing out information but you still have to do the hard work and you have to be willing and committed to do the hard work because it doesn't ever stop. Yeah.

Matt Cain (55:58.029)
You

Matt Cain (56:06.617)
you

Matt Cain (56:23.972)
Yeah.

Nic Vandre (56:24.446)
Okay, I know you just asked for one, but the last thing I'll say on this, I'm sorry, is how do you...

Matt Cain (56:26.351)
you

Nic Vandre (56:30.196)
start to finish, how do you exercise your idea of the business you want to create in the smallest way possible, right? How can you provide a product or service to a person that they're going to pay for, right? And then repeat that and then scale that, right? That's what you're doing. So before you start getting into like, we're going to call the business, the brand, what's the logo, just go do that. Just who cares, you know?

Julie Austin (56:56.227)
Yeah, I think that that is awesome advice. It wasn't one, it was like five, but they're all very good pieces of advice for our listeners and followers. No, and I think, and to Matt's point that he said earlier, right? It's good for our listeners and followers to hear because entrepreneurship isn't easy. It's difficult, it's grinding, it's taking, pivoting, it's taking all the things that you have and reaching out and talking to folks.

Matt Cain (57:03.855)
I'm not counting.

Nic Vandre (57:05.9)
much advice to give.

Julie Austin (57:24.731)
to help you build the business that you want. And like you said, building a mission-driven profitable business. Is that right? Is that the right term?

Nic Vandre (57:34.326)
It's a good term. It's a term. That's good. Purpose driven profitability. Yeah, but mission driven is really important. It's the same. Mission driven is a really good, now that's six things. So yeah, mission driven is good.

Julie Austin (57:35.717)
That's not the one that you say. Which one do you say?

Julie Austin (57:41.147)
Purpose-driven profitability.

Julie Austin (57:48.658)
So mission driven profitable business. I'll use that as our term to steal from you a little bit. But I guess before we get to our last two questions, because we're almost at an hour, anything that we didn't ask you both today that you would want to tell our listeners and followers?

Nic Vandre (57:52.226)
Yeah, yeah, it's your turn.

Nic Vandre (58:07.47)
Um, man, you know, I just, I just want everyone to know like those crazy ideas that you have in your head could have been anything, but like God gave you that thing in your head for a reason. And like, like I always, I believe that we're all here to serve a bigger purpose. And so like, it's up to you to take action on those things, right. And bring others along. And if you always put.

whatever you do for the rest of your life about others, like you're gonna find the next thing and it's gonna bring all the other, and don't worry about money. I know that sounds crazy to say, but be valuable. People pay for value. So create value. Money is an output of value in a market, right? And so if you focus on money, you're not gonna attract money. If you talk about like, I'm not gonna get wooed, but if you talk about laws of attraction, you talk about creating value, right? Being of value.

that will attract abundance into your life. I can't show you the math, I don't math well, but it works. And so just create value, focus on creating value and you'll be fine.

Matt Cain (59:22.613)
Erin, anything?

Nic Vandre (59:24.174)
Nope. agree with everything that he said. Yes, he really has. I'm like her service animal too. Like she brings me everywhere. So yeah, it's a good balance of I'm an introvert and he is a really big extrovert. So it's good to have that in there. Yeah.

Matt Cain (59:27.152)
You said it all.

Matt Cain (59:46.071)
I thought it was the other way around. thought you were just giving them more of an opportunity to speak on our podcast.

Nic Vandre (59:50.263)
Yeah, that's what it is. She's my house mouse. Yeah. If you see her at the store, she's like, you know, she's buzzing all over the place, but she's, she's so nervous. So nervous. Yeah. No, but I mean, this is, I mean, this has been great. I appreciate you guys and what you're doing. You're this platform.

Matt Cain (59:54.051)
Yeah.

Julie Austin (01:00:09.243)
We're not done yet. We're not done yet. We have two questions that we always finish our podcast with. So I'll let Matt start. So go ahead.

Matt Cain (01:00:10.359)
Nick or not? Yeah, this is our podcast. can't end it on us.

Matt Cain (01:00:18.639)
So a one recommendation on a book, audio book podcast that's been impactful in your life.

Nic Vandre (01:00:28.814)
Yeah, okay, so this is gonna go back to the beginning, right, of the entrepreneurship journey, but it actually was a book that Erin recommended to me, and I know everyone's probably going to say, but Nic I want the education about how to run my company. The best education on running your company is knowing yourself, right? I cannot, I cannot just say that enough.

and being certain in your decision making, right? Because entrepreneurship takes leadership. so, Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Joe Dispenza is priceless, priceless. Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself from Joe Dispenza was a book she gave me early on when we met and it changed my life. It changed the way I look at the world. It changed the way that I see how I problem solve and I see myself.

And so that book will help you. The one thing that's a good one. Is that yours? Yes, that I gave you. Not about me, but what's your book? No, that is a good one. But it's a good one on finding that one thing to focus on to move you forward. so many good books. I'm looking at a bunch of books. He said one, Nicholas. I know, I got more though.

Matt Cain (01:01:51.289)
You got your Nick, Nick, just got your full name. It was Nicholas on that one.

Nic Vandre (01:01:51.534)
He has a book buying problem too.

Nic Vandre (01:01:58.071)
Yeah, often. Yeah, he's my new favorite for everyone. Anything on Alex Hermosy, Dan Martell, or Cody Sanchez? Done. They're giving away million dollar answers on there. those three, crush it.

Julie Austin (01:02:14.341)
Yeah, Alex Ramozzi is amazing. Do you listen to his podcast?

Nic Vandre (01:02:17.684)
yeah and Gary Vee, sorry Gary. Gary Vee all day. Gary Vee will respond to you. If you message Gary Vee, Dan Martell, like they will respond to you. Like they are like gangsters. They are owning it.

Julie Austin (01:02:21.327)
Yeah.

Julie Austin (01:02:29.745)
Wow, I didn't know that. But yeah, Alex Ramozzi, his podcast has been, one of our previous guests recommended him and I've been listening to his podcast and it's really good and the things that he talks about. So, all right, so our last question of every episode, Admiral William McCraven, author of the book, Make Your Bed, Little Things That Can Change Your Life and Maybe the World. So do you guys make your bed every morning?

Nic Vandre (01:02:51.182)
Yes, yes, yes. And honestly, I swear it's because of that book, because it just puts that thought in your head like I'm not going to succeed in my day if I don't make the bed, even when you don't want to. Yeah, yes. 100%. Do our children? No. We try. Are we working We try to teach them that, you know, but yeah. But it's so true. Starting off the day with a small win will...

The most successful people manage their time, their energy, and their money, right? And so if you don't have accountability of your time and your energy, and it starts with making your bed in the morning, it starts with how are you priming your purpose for that day, right? Screw it up, you start over again tomorrow, right? But like.

time block your day into like you know every goal should have a sacrifice and it should have a place on your calendar with that you actually do it if you don't do that you don't have you have not completed the cycle and the steps necessary to achieve it so

Matt Cain (01:03:54.671)
All right, it's time to wrap up, I think, right, Julie? It's time to go. We just wanna thank you both so much for coming on the podcast today. it was, I know from Julie and my perspective, we really enjoyed having Erin on as well. This would be a good one to watch on YouTube for our listeners, because there was some really good back and forth.

that you probably can't pick up on your radio or on your speakers. So I won't do it justice, I think, concluding all of the knowledge and wisdom that you dropped.

on this podcast. I would just, again, for those listening and for you guys, thank you so much for being on here today. It was such a pleasure. You're doing incredible things. And I know we want to get you back on at some point in the future, kind of do an azimuth check on where you guys are at with the business and everything else in life. So thanks again.

Julie Austin (01:04:44.913)
Yeah, what we would like to really do is come down to Bravory Bakehouse and do some type of media for you all down there to help even promote you guys even more and what you're doing because it is mission-driven profitable purpose is what I'm gonna call it based off of what you said and now what we said. So like Matt said, thank you both for coming on. Really appreciate it.

Nic Vandre (01:04:49.431)
Yeah.

Nic Vandre (01:05:11.17)
Yeah, thank you so much. appreciate the opportunity and you know, we're big on the ask and the offer. And our biggest thing right now is like if there is corporate companies out there that are looking for custom labeled cookies that are tied back to purpose-driven profitability and want to like, we would love to support you. Great way to say appreciation to any, you know, military connected members of your company or, you know, gifts for your clients like.

love love love doing that and we'll even hand write a note for you too so yeah

Julie Austin (01:05:44.241)
That's awesome. All right, I'm gonna hit stop.

Matt Cain (01:05:47.965)
I feel like you're...

Julie Austin (01:05:52.112)
I know, that's why.