¶ Small Business and Coffee Entrepreneurship
All right , everybody . This is Mark Swig and we're back with another episode of Big Talk About Small Business . I don't know why Eric and I do that .
It's the norm , Everyone loves it . Everybody like calls in and says hey , can y'all do that 20 times on the show ? Let's do it again , Just for the fun of it . You want to ? Yeah , we're going to do a little about small business . I'll throw in the NAS for it .
It was a little sassier the second time .
We got , excited , we got . I'm here with Eric Howard and a very special guest , amber Dietrich . Hello and hi , amber , and Amber is in the coffee business . She has a company called Confident Coffee and we were just laughing about how we're drinking something other than that . Here we are .
I think we need to do a quick toast , because let's announce that , pamper , we're drinking bad K-cup decap coffee , decap coffee , not even the full octane coffee . Well , I mean earlier . Mark knows , amber , would you like a cup of decap coffee ? And that squirrel is like what .
Like why decap ? It was like sacrilege .
And that is like is this like a really special decap , Like what ?
No , no , no , you can tell . It tastes like water . For God's sake , I'll call it swag coffee . Yeah it's , it's I , but I already had so much coffee today .
I mean , I don't know about you too , but so you're on the decaf side now .
Oh my God , yeah , I mean , I'm just like wired beyond belief . Last night I was awake , so much of the night Was crazy .
Did you have coffee or caffeine late ?
at night . No , I'm just . That's why I absolutely don't need it , because I would have been awake even more , but my aura ring gave me a terrible report . I don't know if you guys have these . What aura ring this records ?
almost . Oh yeah , I don't have one of those because I don't want to see those types of things .
Yeah , I don't get one Really , I think you'll get addicted to aura yes , or if you have like a whoop , watch like the whoops .
I've got an Apple watch .
And then you start running your life by it . Like everyone I know who has them . They're like oh my gosh , my recovery is terrible .
Yeah , I know .
I got to do this . I got to do this . I got to get fed by 828 . Yeah .
I like it when I'm laying in bed and it's like you're stand goal . What do you mean ? I never crossed it . It's always asking me if I fell . Did you fall ? I'm like , no , what is it ? A message is to Sonia . You're wise , everybody you know Mark fell , mark fell .
It's insane . Did you ever enter in your age ? And that is that why I don't know , I'm sorry , I don't know , I don't know , I don't know , I don't know , I'm sorry .
It is pretty sad , but anyway . No , let's talk about Amber today . Amber , I've had Amber speak to my classes when I can get her . Most of the time she ignores me when I ask her .
She's very busy , but Amber she did , but last semester I was way over committed .
I think actually there's a text message right now where I'm ignoring you on that . It's the same subject . It doesn't matter , is it ? Yeah , I had a response . You're right .
I did not ignore his wife Right .
No , don't .
I was like , just will you tell him , mark , I can't do it this semester .
They're friends .
I just didn't do it .
That's a good way to do it . I like that , but but no , Amber . Amber has a very interesting story to tell . I met her originally when she and her husband bought a house that we had done through our other business . What year was that that you moved here to Fayetteville 2016 .
2016 is when they came from via the DFW area , Although Amber did not grow up there . Tell us a little bit about yourself , Amber , and your story . Where did you grow up and what was your youth like ?
So it was a very boring youth I am actually from a little village called Muir in the great state of Michigan Going to two teenagers and , uh , I know that's crazy , I know you know In a different time , yeah , but also I do feel like I have a very classic . What are we ? We're Gen X .
I don't know , very classic Gen X . You may be , I'm , I'm a baby boomer , unfortunately .
Yeah .
I know I don't seem that old .
Amber , no , you don't .
But I am .
You don't .
Well , I mean his , his brain is asking if he's falling .
You know you might be on the cusp . I'm well into the boomer years , yeah , but go on . So you're going to .
Jen Right .
Gen X .
Yeah , Gen X Muir , Michigan , population 700 . Wow . Uh only person to even be raised in that town my age , um , so I really grew up with like 50 year olds predominantly . Uh started working . We had a little town restaurant and a post office and so I started as a dishwasher at 14 .
Uh eventually was promoted to like Monday and Tuesday night waitress and uh found , I guess , like a calling in a certain way kind of but yeah , first generation to go to college out of my entire family .
Uh graduated , went to Central Michigan University in Michigan and then actually did enough taking jobs and working in Michigan but moved to Dallas , texas , in 2001 and studied uh you know , my master's degree down there at university of Dallas . So really passionate . Weirdly , not anything food or beverage related . Like .
I studied logistics management you know , supply chains as a secondary and back then they weren't fields Like right , it was just like part of marketing or something .
Yeah , it was like a crazy idea . Right .
And there were five colleges that were just in the first year of being accredited with this as a program and I signed up to be in marketing . You know , I showed up and they were like you know , you're a girl , you should do marketing .
And I was like , okay , that's sense sexist though , doesn't it .
It was sexist , but you know it was whatever the time . So I signed up and they were like one of these requirements to this marketing degree is that you have to do logistics management . Everybody has to do this .
Right , it was just one class of the marketing curriculum .
Yeah , Check the box right .
Right .
And so the lucky thing was that I did it first and not last , and I took a class , I had an excellent professor , and I knew immediately . I was like no , this is what I want to do . Like .
I'm good . And what field ? In the logistics ? In logistics , yeah . I imagine that's highly applicable towards everything you've been doing too 100% .
Yeah , it's got to make her like organize and just lend an approach to this .
What people people in it understand , but people who don't it is nonstop problem solving , and so you know , if your brain works towards that , you know I'm a problem solver to a fault .
Yeah , you know , my friends are like listen , we just want to talk to you , we don't need you to fix anything , and so I'm like okay , I don't do that when somebody tries to tell me that it's like I don't do that , yeah , your response should be you need to find another damn friend then , because that ain't me .
You obviously don't know me . You're not my friend anymore , you're Al .
I just sit there with the like , my coffee or cocktail , and I'm like uh-huh .
Sure , I'm still judging , you , but yes , uh-huh .
¶ Corporate Career and Transition to Amazon
But you had a very interesting like corporate career before you got into your own thing , so tell us about that .
Okay , so started . You know also this is important to the journey . But my first job out of school was JB Hunt . Okay , I graduated , I went to Detroit for a couple of months . I was working at a Home Depot account at the time , running flatbeds and just kind of learning about trucking .
And I left to go to Misawakka , indiana , and we were doing JB Hunt had a startup account there with a business called Elro Steel and like two months out of graduating I was managing 11 truck drivers , flatbed accounts . Like learning the steel industry , starting up a new business , working on site with a customer .
It was just like a lot of experience , a lot of learning , a lot of new things for somebody who was 23 at the time . I was living on my own and kind of do my own thing and a startup to jump . So I started there . September 11th happened .
I was at that account and like the big thing , one of the big things that changed was just the domestic steel industry tanked . Foreign steel was on the rise and JB Hunt ended up divesting that business . So I moved back to the Detroit area and worked there for a little bit longer .
Did you ever come to Northwest Arkansas then during that time ?
No .
It was so weird .
And it really is weird because within just a few years , maybe four years or less one of the requirements with JB Hunt you had to come here , like you stayed in Loll . They would put you in trucks with drivers and you would actually be on the road . So , in just a small amount of time they changed . Like one of those requirements .
Yeah , that's crazy . So , anyway , so you did that . And then what ? I get rid of it . Yeah , went down to Dallas .
Texas , and there's a little blip of time where I thought I don't know , it is weird to be a logistics major and come out of Detroit and have all of these opportunities . But I landed in Dallas , texas , where it was like a communication telecom bust and so it was like super horrible timing to get a job .
And why'd you go to Dallas ? Was that because of your husband ?
Yes , because he worked for JB Hunt and at the time he was promoted . We were dating . We weren't married and I was like , if we're going to continue dating ?
Living in sin .
Well , we hadn't been until we got to Dallas , and then it was full living in sin .
I mean , man , that's like . This goes against like two of our philosophies or rules of engagement . Oh sorry .
Well , at least he does love all at once .
You know , yeah , thanks Amber .
You're a defend me , you only do home runs , defend me .
Only home runs , bro . Okay . So because of Bill , though , you went down there . So because of Bill , yeah , you got to Dallas . The telecom industry is collapsing .
I go down there , I think no big deal , I'm going to get a job immediately .
Right , who wouldn't hire you ? For God's sakes ? It'd be crazy . Apparently a lot of people , it'd be crazy .
Apparently , many , many people will not hire me , okay .
So then , what'd you do ?
I immediately started bartending and waiting tables at the world famous Logan Roadhouse to make sure that I was keeping sharp on my skills .
You didn't eat too many of those rolls , though , although they are good , that's questionable no but like I also am a hustler , so I was printing resumes .
I was this person . I would go down to downtown Dallas , I would pick Thanksgiving Tower if you know what it is and I would have a stack of resumes and I would go to the 45th floor and knock on every door .
Love , it and I would go down . This is why she's successful . Hell yeah , it is .
And every place , any place I open the door got an Amber Dietrich resume .
Love it .
And I was like I need work , I'm looking for a job , I'm here , I obviously know where you are . Let's do this .
Can we make a global , universal world statement right now from that comment ? Sure , that is what it freaking takes . I know , dang it , people have to understand . You got to dog it and you start , you start . You don't have to have anything , just start .
She started at the top too . I mean , think about the symbolism in that she gets to the 45th floor . So what floor did you have to go to before you found a job ?
Sorry , All 45 floors . Ok , you know Love it . But a guy did call and I was lucky I didn't end up taking this role . But a guy called from me doing this and he's like I will pay you $45,000 . Start tomorrow . It was an accounting rule and it was basically almost the accounts payable job you're talking about and he's like I need help .
So this is like Kismet , show up . And just by chance I also got a call and it was JC Penney and they were like hey , we have a job , we're based in Dallas , aren't they ? Yeah , they're based in Dallas , in Plano , texas , but they also have a distribution center down in Cedar Hill , and so they were like we'd love to talk to you immediately .
We have an immediate opening , come and talk to us . And I was like I mean , this other job makes more sense than probably accounts payable jobs , sure .
It's more aligned with your background and interests .
So really I ended up going down . I talked to them and took a job and I ended up at JC Penney in the distribution center working there and it was a terrible job . It was second shift , it wasn't anything of a . I wasn't at headquarters . I came in and it had been ran by a third party logistics company .
It was a bit in disarray Really good people working there , but not processes in any way . I would go to work at five . I would get out at three in the morning , Then I would drive from Cedar Hill back to debt .
That's like 30 miles or so , isn't it 30 ?
or even 45 just in time . And the bad thing is is like there's terrible traffic there Even though it's in the middle of the night . It's so dangerous . I saw so many really bad things in those hours . Tell them about traffic accidents . Accidents , I mean people dying .
My first wife was a school psychologist in Duncanville . Oh , I was right next door Duncanville yeah , right next door . She drove that every day , but anyway .
so that road was so busy , there was just constantly accidents .
A lot in the middle of the night and it's like we were staying in Addison . So you're on a road that's you're driving and it's like a freeway , it's a tollway , but there's a lot of blind little hills and people are drinking and driving and just stuff was always happening . And I'm always on the road at three in the morning , so it's just it was weird .
But I had a guy that I worked for there . His name was Rich Wallace . He was at corporate and he was one of those people . So it's like you have key people in your life along the way that recognize something really good with you and take you under their wing and mentor you to help progress your career .
So it was like I did a lot of work when I was at JCPenney and I took on many departments and at some point from zero to two and a half years like one awards and management awards and efficiency awards and he would bring me up to corporate and let me work on these really big rollout projects for all 13 DCs across the nation .
So it was like he was really invited .
Who was your advocate ? He was yeah , he was your mentor . He was invited to the table Right . Sure , Quite a bit , yeah .
And then , out of the blue , I get a call and there's this little startup company called Amazon .
Oh my .
And Amazon's like hey .
What year is this ?
2005 .
Wow .
And they were like we're calling you , like we know of you from your time at JB Hunt in Detroit , so like from months one and two .
They had no idea what you'd done all this time at Pennies , which is directly relevant .
But they were wanting to come to Texas and they had reached out and called some people and somebody who was also at Home Depot at that time had left , and so they were doing HR recruiting for Amazon . And once people started talking , they were like , hey , there is a girl we know of and we're pretty sure she's down there .
So that's what was just like somebody who knew , somebody who thought I was there , and so they called and they were like we really want to talk to you about coming to work for us and opening our first facilities in the state of Texas . And so I was like , ok , this is exciting , but I'm not sure . And they said come to Coffeeville , kansas .
You're going to spend an entire day . And you did . You spent an entire day . You interviewed . I had 11 interviews , wow , in one day .
That's insane .
It was insane and it wasn't just even 11 people , it'd be a one-on-one , then a panel of three , then a two-on-one , then a one-on-one . I mean it was an investment and I was like this is crazy . This company , I think , is really going to do something .
It was very iffy , but you know , and I remember coming back and it was crazy because one of the things that you know , the faux pas of talking is like where you're at salary-wise , where you want to be salary-wise , especially back then , I'm not sure .
And they trap you like that . They trap you , but then also it's like do I give them too high of a number ?
Well , the thing about this is ah , I think the way I'm saying it's wrong . I had been trying to make more money at JC Penney and we're talking an incremental difference of , say , $4,000 .
And not to sound like bragging , or you know , I was doing the work of six people and the reason I know this is because when I left , they had to hire six people to take my job . And the older you get , the more you start to realize like was this a good decision ?
You know like they were fighting me so bad on this , like $4,000 difference , and I was putting in the time and a lot of it is like just stick with us and you're going to get their kid and you know , one day . You know all these things .
And obviously Penney's went the other direction than Amazon right and well , this was the big debate at the time because I was going back to Rich and like the BP teams and stuff , and I was like I've got an amazing offer from Amazon . And when they were , you know , we'll bring you in .
And at the time my seller was going to be $55,000 at Amazon and $10,000 signing bonus and the stock is where it really was going to be . You know , maybe now , obviously yes , and it was just like do I do this ? And everyone at JC Penney is like you're insane .
If you do this , you cannot leave us Like we have such a great company , you have a guaranteed future here . This is a startup . They're not going to make it Like do not do this . And so I was like well , of course I did it right . And I was like , I don't know , I feel like if you guys really like me that much , you'll just take me back .
Sure , yeah , yeah . But it's not going to be because I did a bad job , you know . So I just like you know what .
I'm going to go .
The best decision I made in my whole life Not an amazing work experience and that year was like , really I suffered . You know like you hear some horror stories about Amazon and some of them are true , but you will never that was .
The biggest education of my life was that year and three months spent and in a little context , it was like we were building out 700,000 square foot facilities with nothing in them . It was four walls . You know , you went into the bathroom in a trailer , in a parking lot , and so it was like , day one , how do we build receiving ? How do we build shipping ?
How do we build pack lines ? How do we build everything ? And then it was like , okay , we built it . It wasn't good , tear it down , let's do it again . And so , from day one to you know , in less than a year , we were shipping 23,000 packages a day .
Wow .
I had over 100 employees , you know , I mean , you were just and we worked six days a week and we worked 15 hour days .
So just , but you didn't work full time , it was only 90 , a hundred and 68 hours . Right , you're in a way , you've got a really good point , so you were working part-time . But if you survive . What are you not doing ?
live now .
I mean , why would you do that , Amber ? I mean I'm just curious .
Most people would say I think reflecting back is one I love working .
Yeah .
I don't think I will ever retire .
Yeah , I understand that You'll leave me .
And I don't even have any desire to yeah , it's horrible .
I've done it a couple of times . I didn't even last a month . No , you didn't . You're not going to do this , or something .
You're going to sit there like right . You're just going to get bored . What ?
does time to work is my perspective . It's like we're humanly designed to labor work . We need to work , it's .
That makes a lot of sense to me , yeah .
Because I think it's subconsciously like , if you're not , you don't feel like you're producing and growing . You know , and that's why I think a lot of folks like I've seen it happen over and over again people that stop , they just start to decline . It's like stopping working out . You know , I've got this , you just start losing a friend , okay , and he's crazy .
I only developed a relationship with him in the last three or
¶ Billionaire Job Search and Work Challenges
four months . But , billionaire , he's got a company that does 4.9 billion that he's retired from . He's the chairman and founder . He's 83 years old and he's out looking for a job . Love him so much . I have to do something . His mom worked for the Chicago Board of Trade in some sort of management job and she lived to like 100 .
She retired at like 99 or 100 and she died 10 days later . His dad was an attorney . He made it to 96 and he died like three weeks later . He's like you got to keep going , you just stay in motion . Yeah , he keeps your brand sharp .
He keeps you thinking , he keeps you engaged with people . I mean honestly , like your work is predominantly the most of your social engagement with people .
There's something about that .
I think it's a lot for sure too , I think it's another reason why , like the , I'm not a big believer in the remote work where people are in isolation , especially people that have or extroverted or ambitious .
You know outgoing yeah , Don't just want that job that they can shut down from .
Yeah .
I mean so anyway , sorry , amber , we're sidetracking . We're sorry , amber , we're sorry , we're together , sorry Can . 90 hours a week there at Amazon . You got 100 employees , then what ?
Well , you know you break . I think I broke it . You know you get to a point where I really wanted to get my master's degree and Amazon . I will give respect to the fact that Amazon really said we do not care about this at all and will not give you time off to do this .
Show some respect for that decisiveness .
They're decisive .
They didn't support higher education .
They're not going to beat around the bush . You know that was not their priority right then and I think I was like it's not exactly a great sign , though , for an employer in a way , but anyway . No , but again times they have changed . This now is like 25 , 20 years ago . Wow , Still already we're almost at 2025 .
So how did you do all that when you were 12 ? I know it's hard . She's just In these shallow neighborhoods , she's just blown me away . Okay , I know . So it's skirting the system . I don't know how you get it . So then say , you wanted to get your master's degree , so did you just quit and go back to school full time ?
Yes , that's a full new and I tried to quit .
Well , I had another job . I keep trying . You know I try not to work and I keep working . But this is one thing that you know my husband was really pissed about I'm not going to lie Because I was like I just I can't do this anymore . I can't do Amazon anymore . I'm like I'm at the end , like I can't take it .
And also , you didn't eat , I wasn't healthy , right , I was hustling , you're trying to my girlfriend I worked with .
She was a cigarette smoker and she's just like , just cover me so I can smoke one cigarette , like she's like on the verge , on the edge , and I was like , okay , girl , go hide outside , you know , and we're like trying to , like we're sneaking food .
You know it was a wild time , but I was like you know I'm doing it , I really do want to go to school and there's other things I'm going to want to do .
¶ Career Progression and Job Transitions
And I didn't know that there was even a possibility of a career for me at Amazon beyond Dallas , texas . You know it wasn't like they were talking to me about going to Seattle .
Sure . So , that would have posed a problem for you anyway , wouldn't it ? I mean , you got Bill there to think about , yeah , yeah , he's high up in JB Hunt at this point .
Yeah , that's true . That is one of the things that you know . If you talk to somebody and it would be your short mobility who's career oriented people , you know how do you balance that ?
Exactly . It's tough . Whichever of you makes more money , I guess you go that direction . That's one way to do it . Yeah , that's true . But not necessarily always happen like that . So you went back to UT Dallas .
Yeah , so quite Amazon , ut Dallas , and ended up in a job again , at that time working for Solvay engineered polymers aeroplastics manufacturing company .
Okay , and what were you ?
doing for them , running their distribution , so international distribution doing Most of our stuff was in after-region , so shipping plastics to Mexico and Canada , running . I had like 15 distribution centers across the nation and then ran all of the railroads . A lot of our stuff was intermodal . We started doing some tool work over in China when I was there .
So it was like understanding how that worked a little bit , but that was in its infancy at the time and that was the first time I worked somewhere . That was bought out too .
So there's a company , lionel Basel , and they acquired Solvay engineer polymers and really for our technology and a couple other key things and I really loved my job but it was going away . So I was down when they bought it . We had 250 employees . I held on until there was 30 of us , wow .
And they said , basically you guys have maybe a year at the time I can't remember honestly but if it's like we will shut down this office , you can keep your job , but you either have to move to Houston or you have to actually go back to Michigan . So there was like a plant up there and we weren't going to do that . So it was just like a tender .
You know my notice and left and started on the job hunt again . I worked then for a company right away found a business over . It was called Prime Distribution . Good . And what they did . At the time when I came in , they were two guys that had started a business .
They were doing basically LTL type shipments , consolidation for Walmart and Sam's Club , predominantly working with small lines .
So we would build a truck of freight but in that truck you would have Topo Chico , you would have sun dried Er , sun made raisins , you know , like all these different foods this is what started my adventure into the food and beverage sector . I worked there .
Their biggest problem was that they had the worst operating distribution center was in Garland , texas , and so they were like we want you to come in and your entire job is change management and like let's just see what you can do . And I was like , okay , exciting problem solving . We became the best in the nation . So it was really a very fun challenge .
I had very bad apples in there , kind of like you talked about a little bit earlier before we were on air , and it was like weeding some of those things out , looking at best practices , looking at seasonality , highlighting the people who were doing the right things , putting them in place and eventually like there was no more work to do .
We were just we went from . You know , bill will say stuff like you're a builder and not a farmer .
Yeah , not a maintainer . That's right . We understand that here in this table .
And so .
I totally get that .
I think that's boring , then it's boring .
Yeah . So then everything center control .
So what do I do now ?
Right .
And then they're like , why don't you just keep doing this , like run the facility , keep your team , but then go into sales , like start doing you know West Coast sales and working in Mexico , and you know , see what happens . So I was like , okay , this sounds cool , like I don't know how to do this , but let's do it .
And so that's like my career then went into you know , account management , new business development , sales . I was working a lot in you know , guadalajara and Monterey , mexico , and just the West Coast and a lot of different farms out in California obviously . And all of a sudden , out of nowhere , my phone rang and there was a company that wanted to talk .
A guy called and he's like hey , there's a group of people out of Farzaba , israel , and they want to talk to you about starting a company with them in Dallas , texas . And I was like , well , what is the company ? And they were like , well , think of like Etsy , but kind of higher end .
So it's like the art of butchery the art of shoemaking , you know , making watches , like this type of stuff , like industries that are dying but like we really shouldn't , they should be preserved .
And so I mean Artisan bread , artisan shoes , artisan candles , everything's artisan .
It really has . But and at the time we know , but this was like 2009 .
¶ Building an Artisan Grocery Delivery Company
And I was like I don't know , I mean it sounds cool , it's not going to work , I mean there's no business here , but like there's no here here . There's nothing . This isn't real . But you know , I will like I'll keep watching what you guys do and you know , and thanks for calling , you know .
And like a week later this guy his name was Paul and he calls back and he's like listen , just go on a date with us , you don't have to marry us One date , we can meet in a public place . And I was like okay , you're funny . Like okay .
I'll show up . If you're funny , then I'll show up . Oh , yeah , yeah .
And he's like , okay , and so we I showed up and really listened to him and saw everything . I still didn't think it was going to work , but I was just like you know it wasn't . There was more depth to it .
Right .
And so I met the first couple of founders . That was horrible . It did not go well . Um , it was . There was a lot of silence and it was just just awkward . And so it was like I don't , I don't think I fit . You know , this isn't feel good , I don't , I don't think I know what they're looking for at all .
And so I left , I took my name out of the hat again and then Paul's like okay , come on , meet us one more time . There's another guy coming into town . And I was like my uncle on for punishment . And so I came . I was like all right , one more time , so I meet . And , and really , game changer , you know , uh , the guy's name is Leor .
He came into town . He's very charismatic . He really had , like the passion for what this business was going to be . He was explaining like yeah , this is our concept , but like what ? What ? We had the ability to do this , let's just figure out what it is . And they had done a lot of market research .
There was proof in the market that that artists and foods were growing , the market was growing and it was underserved . And so when you started to really look at the data in the research , you were like wait , there could be a business here . It's just the approach wasn't right day one . And so , yes , we're learning everything .
We you know you build in , and again Amazon comes right back into why this was important . It was like understanding that you can build something , don't be tied to it .
Be ready to rework this and you know , we Thank you for not saying pivot Amber .
Pivot has been overused .
Okay .
We can retire that word now .
I just so damn sick of it . You said it so much more eloquently and I'm grateful , you know , and so are our listeners . I really liked the word pivot more , eric , we'll talk about that after this session . Okay , so you got to be flexible , you got to be willing to change , right ? Okay ?
We have all of these Brilliant engineers in Israel working behind the scenes , coding , building websites . We launch and I can't remember .
So obviously you went to work for these guys .
Yes , I took the job , okay , you know , yeah , we build our website , we launch with like six artisans and the whole idea , and I guess , yes , I didn't do a good job articulating , but we did end up building what became the largest artisanal grocery delivery company in the nation .
Wow .
And so it launched with six artisans in Dallas on a website . It was called Silver Light , Silver Flash , Silver something or another .
What the heck does that have to do with ?
anything . It became obsolete immediately after we launched , so we had to scrap the whole business , start all over again . You know it was like a panic . Oh my gosh . We did this and now nobody's computer can even open this .
Yeah , technology advanced and their browser's .
So fast and they were like no one can ever open this in four days it was just like oh my gosh it started over .
So it was like , you know , from jump you're just learning and this model doesn't exist and we were building what was really unique about it and I feel like people did not understand this and at the time , you know , we were self-funded , they had money that was coming in from a large IT contract that was just being invested in growing this idea .
But everyone knew from the beginning that there was a time limit on this happening . So we either had to be profitable or we at least had to have enough proof points to be able to get private equity or VCs to back it . Yeah , get some traction in the market .
That's what you're talking about . Yeah .
We went from six artisans to 80 in Dallas . We launched in 20 . So this was in 2010 . You know , within a year we were launching Chicago Illinois . We grew 150 artisans there . The concept worked in the sense that you know , you and Sonia would go to artisonecom . You would shop for artisan foods .
Your meat was coming from the local butcher , fishmonger , chocolateeered cheese maker , roasters , you know , chickens from farms that were in our actual community , eggs , honey , everything and the logistics . And my , my biggest contribution was figuring out how to pick that up fresh every single day and deliver same day .
Wow , I can see that be hard with all those different sources that you're going to . It's going to be very hard . And the tech side . The tech side was really advanced in that time too , because they were writing .
You know , imagine that you come in and you shop from 10 different people . Well , they were writing a program that would allow the system to receive an order , split it to 10 different artisans . They only see their portion , so they don't have to like weed through things . You know be able to fill .
You know fill the order , put their package together , put an order number on it . I would send drivers out that would do round robin pickups . They would come back to our DC , like we would very quickly repack all of this into like master packs and then we would load vans and then ship them right away out to people's homes , yep , so concept .
That does sound hard , doesn't it ? It was a lot of touches , yeah , you know . So there were things that you knew , like day one isn't sustainable , but also it's the smart way to start , and eventually you're like , okay , how , how does this really work , though ?
Because I think where I always tripped up on it is like you can't feed Dallas , fort Worth , with artisans . Really , it's such a big area and so fragmented .
It's so big .
And then you take why the reason artisans are artisans and you make them corporations , right , like you're forcing them to be what they inherently don't want to be . Uh-huh . So to me , I felt like , can this actually work without ruining what's great about it , you know ?
And so then it was like we need to go to work to maintain what this is , but be working with Amazon . Like Amazon at the time , it was really relevant because they had bought I don't think they'd bought Whole Foods yet , that's not true .
They had done grocery delivery so , and they had announced 10 cities and we had already been in a little bit of conversation . This is what we're doing . We have the ability , with an API , to plug into your systems . You know you guys can do sundries but then plug into us and then we just allow people to max out . So it's first come , first serve .
Sure .
You have 100 opportunities to get something from the local butcher , and when it's done you go to tomorrow , you know , so you can still get something to just be today , yeah . So then it was like , okay , this could work .
Yeah .
You know there's scarcity . Scarcity can sometimes be a good thing . How do we make this happen ? And so what ended up happening is just nothing could happen fast , which is weird because you know Amazon , I came from the fastest . Everything we ever did was so fast . But at this point now , 2016 .
Yeah .
Really different . You know , working a big company with a really small company is difficult . Cities that they were rolling out weren't the cities we were in ?
Sure .
So it was like , yeah , brooklyn's great , but we're still in Chicago . At the time we had opened up Denver , okay , and it was like I'm in Denver and I'm in Chicago and Dallas , but they're not in any of them .
Yeah , and then the contract that we were servicing to even have the funding to do this , tender noticed that they were going to break the contract early and at that point we also thought that we were really ahead of the game . You know , we thought we have 10 years on this contract .
At year five we started pitching to VCs and so we're like , surely everyone's like , two years , you're going to get a thousand , but plan for two years ? No , it was like we had been on the road for a full year . We had gotten a thousand no's .
You know , we had gotten two yeses of second meetings , but nobody wants a logistics heavy company , they want tech .
Yeah , seems too complicated and too personal , people dependent .
Too many everything and you were not going to get hockey stick growth and that hockey stick was the pivot of 2015 and 16 . I think it was the most popular word . I heard it so many times and I was like can we just I can't take the word hockey stick , I can't take . Can we just pick a different word ?
Can we pivot ? Can we pivot to a hockey stick ?
Can we pivot to something else ? Let's use a whole or something .
This is all interesting . I'd recommend pivoting to a hockey stick type model . I want to get a hockey stick right To software and subscribers . Yes , well , that's what you did . I did pivot to a hockey stick .
You did pivot into a hockey stick . It worked out well .
At least it was working for one of us in this room , right ?
So so it . I played ice hockey . I don't know if you knew that , but I played for like nine years and I was the captain of my team . Really , yeah , Where'd you play ? At Kirkwood , Kirkwood , Missouri .
Really .
Yeah , spent my youth there . Anyway , I was kind of a hacker , to tell you the truth . So then what happened ? So you couldn't sell it , all right , so just shut down , or what'd you do ? Okay , so then what happened ? Now you're here in Fayette Bill . Yeah , you moved here . And you were still doing this thing when you moved here , I think , weren't you ?
Yeah , we were trying to dismantle .
Right .
You know , I think the lucky part is that Bill had an opportunity here and so it was kind of like , well , let's go , you know , this is the time . So we put the money in the bank , so we put the house up for sale . We started coming over here checking everything out .
What year is this ? This was 2016 .
2016 . So we came to the area I had , you know , went back for a while and , you know , sold the house and completed , you know , selling off everything and I don't . That was a devastating , you know , heartbreak of a time , but you moved into that fantastic house . I did move into a fantastic house . I mean it's so cool .
So there was , you know , one upside to this .
Yeah , exactly .
And I and .
I . The shower in that house is so big , Eric , you would not believe it .
So I don't think our audience understands that . You built that house , yeah , and she bought it from you , right ?
Yep , yeah , it was under construction when they bought it , gotcha .
But the what was it about the shower ? It's huge .
Yeah , he did build a huge shower Really .
Yeah , it's awesome , Very bougie Anyway bougie Very bougie , we're moving to a new house
¶ Adapting to a New Life
too . I have to tell you guys about it .
Oh , you are Cause . I love where you're at .
Yeah , dude , this dude moves more than anybody I never met him .
I didn't think he would move from where they are right now , though .
You should see there's been five times . I thought you never would move from where you're at .
We've lived in like 16 houses in the last 20 years and Sonia and I were even married for most of that time , but we both moved a lot .
Yeah , you did .
But anyway , this new one . It's crazy . It's almost once a year you move ? No , it's every couple of years .
Well , yeah , no , no it's really close to once a year , oh well , I mean like if you move twice in one year , two times , you will be moving once every year , like last one we moved into in November of 2021 .
So give us a break . So you moved back here . Let's go back to Amber . Move back here . You're dealing with the new house , getting rid of your old one and all that . You were kind of depressed . You think oh my God , I'm moving from this cool area in Dallas to this God-forsaken place in the center of the country . What the hell is this about ? Right ?
I will say the first year was tough , but I think really is , because where I grew up so it was hard to go from your mission we had nothing . You know , it was like there wasn't even a fast food restaurant where I grew up , so it was like really nothing . And then you go to Dallas where there's everything .
Right the shopping and restaurants you just can't be in Dallas for that .
No , you know you're not going to do anything outdoors .
It's plastic , it's hell and hot in the summer , but yeah , it's got everything .
So much food , so much shopping , oh yes , I've never thought . I mean everything Every major concert , comedians , everything . And so then , when we were coming here , I was like , is this going backwards ? That's what I'm scared of . How is this really going to change our life or my life ?
And I do think the first year was really hard and I'm really honest about it . But what I realized was it really had nothing to do with the things to do here . They were . You know , it's beautiful , there was outdoors , there was hiking , there was everything that you can do . You cannot do in Dallas .
Yeah , it's a good area . You're not going to spend a lot of time stuck in traffic here like you were there . It's great . Okay , it's a great area .
But it is extremely difficult to be in your late 30s and have no friends , have no community . You know , in Dallas we lived in a neighborhood where we're all very different people from one another , but we really loved each other . We did fun things . You know , you have your traditions and all of a sudden I'm like I have no neighbors , no friends .
If we didn't know that , we'd have taken you guys in more than Well it's okay , thank you . I'm still bad , Amber .
It's okay , you don't have to feel bad .
We didn't do a good job . It's fine Welcoming you to the area . It's fine . So then , what ? So for a year , yeah .
Yeah , improved every year after that . Now I would not leave .
Sure I am .
You know why would you leave ? I can't make an argument for leaving .
Right .
And now it's even like a just different perspective because I love going back to the city Like I'll drive back over . Obviously , I stay in my neighborhood with my friends , you know .
Sure .
And I love coming back in and it's like my favorite foods . I hit up North Park Mall . You know I do all the things , but then it's like and then I get to leave . And then it's like okay , this is actually .
And you're glad I called yeah .
And then I come back and I'm like I'm back home .
Every time I get out at XNA I'm like yes , yes , yes . I go walk outside of the terminal and I smell it and I'm like thank God for the chicken litter . Yeah , it just like comes across .
Dude it is . I mean like it's funny , but like poultry , poultry feces in the air .
It's not the best aspect .
It's like . It's like it's better than smelling cookies . I don't know about that , but it is Actually . It smells kind of like cookies , it's got a sweet .
Have you ever been around a pulp and paper mill ? They smell a lot like that . They really do A little cookie . Oh gross Anyway . So so what did you do , amber ? How did you get going in business for
¶ Starting a Coffee Company and Lessons
yourself ? I ?
came here , I almost immediately met a guy named Tom . Tom had wanted to do coffee with something he was working on for a while . I was connected with him and pretty , I mean almost right away . He was like hey , I really want to talk to you , like , would you ever consider opening a coffee company ?
And I was like huh , I don't know why , was he drawn to you based on that ? I'm just curious . I mean , was it he thought you had money to contribute to this business , or I don't think so . I think it was like you thought you're just your personality and I think it's know how . Okay .
And I don't know how much he knew about me , to be honest , but it's like he had . You know I've done some amount of homework . He knew art is on at the time was a face of the company .
I see , I see I was on TV , got it , got it Okay From that , that makes sense . Yeah , so like higher in food related products .
Yes , in a sense , and like a resume filled of building businesses that didn't exist .
Right , so that way .
I spent a summer , you know , talking with him and trying to do due diligence and I think he was , you know , doing due diligence as well and and eventually I talked to friends out of Dallas that were roasters noble coyote coffee check them out if you're in Dallas and I called Kevin and Marta and I was , and Marta is from here and I was like what do you
guys think about like doing coffee here and in 2016, ? Like there were obviously you had our seagulls doing stuff . You know , Onyx was making their name , and but there still was not a lot of coffee .
No , no , not at all .
But even when we were here , you had to drive in the car to like find something 10 minutes down the road . So I knew that the there was opportunity at the time and they were like you need to do it , Like do it . And I was like , okay , I think I'm going to do this .
And so , you know , Tom and I just got to talking a lot more serious and he was like I trust you , whatever you want to do , and let's do this .
And at the time again , you know , I had friends that were in Dallas , that were in private equity and I was like , you know , as I am researching this , there is a huge opportunity from Dallas to Atlanta in the Midwest to build a big company , not like a cute mom and pop shop . And they were like proof of concept , Amber , just go proof of concept .
And so Tom and I were talking at the time and he was like I really let's go five stores . So like the first thing was , you know , we were on the road and picking out locations and I was working on branding and it's like how are we naming this thing ? What does this look like ? You know , how is this adding value to customers ?
Like , what are we doing and eventually we built what is now Boulder coffee . We opened our first store in Rogers . That was in one of John L Hunt's properties .
A year later we opened our second location , which is still open , in Garland and Fayetteville and we had gone through large scale development in Tonnytown and large scale development in Fayetteville and it just seemed like the writing was on the wall that it just wasn't going to happen .
You know , in Tom the one thing wasn't going to happen . You had two places operational .
We had two places operational and three in the pipeline Right .
I know you had the one on North college that was like semi under construction for a long time . Well , it's still there , right ? No , I mean the building's there , but it's not Boulder coffee , this is not no it never .
The one you're thinking of is the one that's been open Long Garland , yeah , okay .
And then there's a Boulder that's across the interstate . Here it's still operational .
That was the first one .
Okay , that's the first one , got it so .
I just felt like we , you know , we the money . Sometimes you just know the money's not there and if it is , it's not . That's not the priority right now . We'll just leave it at that . And so our relationship was really good for a really long time and then I think in the end it wasn't the greatest .
And I just kind of felt like again I hate to say this , but like how do I keep ending up in these situations where I'm like pouring my everything into businesses where I have no control over actually what's happening ?
Yeah , that gets dissatisfying doesn't it ?
And who do you have yourself ? Who can you blame ? No one yourself .
Yeah .
And like I told your students right , If you aren't the one with the money on the line , if you are not the majority , you are not the decision maker .
What's the golden rule ? The two or she has the gold rules .
There you go . Do not see fooled , it doesn't matter . Okay , so that's the reality of the world , and anyone can tell you anything they want , but when it comes right down to it , you know , if you want to have something that's yours , then put your money on the line Okay so . So I left .
Okay .
He , and you know , obviously he has Boulder and to this day I've heard he sold it and I don't know , maybe didn't , Didn't . I took about a month off .
You know , I was like I don't even know if I want to be in coffee and there was a lot of just drama around everything and , like my friends kept saying like hey , this is weird because you're like , you know , you're an old timey lady and did you ever think you were going to be a old timey ?
lady .
You know it was late , 30s .
It feels like it , but it's really not .
People in coffee aren't out because they're all like young hipsters with lots of tats and stuff . Okay .
That's a younger culture .
Yeah , it's fun . Yeah , those guys at on X and all . Yeah , I get that .
So they're like like listen , you're an old timey lady , but you're a really good coffee roaster and you shouldn't quit roasting coffee . And I was like is this ? What should I do with this ? You know , and that's why I went and I had a lot of touch points and ran around town and I was like no , yes I , there is so much bad coffee , you guys .
That's the truth . Yeah , I mean Starbucks couldn't be worse . I'm sorry , I just there's , so you know people are looking at me like I just made the worst statement in the world . The people in Arkansas are spoiled .
I don't know , you know , if they realize or not , because there is excellent coffee here , like there's excellent roasters and coffee shops , and get out of the store .
We've got a lot yeah .
And very high quality . So it's like I don't know if you realize , you know , if you get out of town and you don't have to drive too far and you're like , wow , this is different .
Sure .
You know , I went , I talked to Bill and I was like I just I don't know how to do this . Here's another challenge .
Bill's the husband . Folks , just to refresh your mind .
I was like I kept saying , like I just I want to do my own thing . And here's what's important . And people ask that all the time , like why confident coffee roasters ? It is a hundred percent how I felt .
Love it . I was going to ask .
And I just it took a long time , but I got there and I kept talking to my friends and I'm like , look , this didn't work out . Okay , boulder didn't work out , but coffee is where I'm supposed to be .
Sure and .
I know this and I kept saying I'm just , I'm confident , I just know this . I don't really know how I'm going to compete with myself in a market . You know , it's like , how do you , like I had just branded a business I had already put , like you know , live bold , because I love bold , yeah . Yeah , it's like this is me Sure .
This isn't just like some nameless business .
Right .
So it's like how am I me in this market when I'm right there and and , but I can't be that anymore .
Right .
And so I was just like no , you know one of if I were to do this again . And everything you do , you learn something .
Sure .
So it's like like what are things that I actually am passionate about ? And you know , for me it was like once you get into coffee and you , once you go to origin and once you visit farmers and you talk to people and you look at like what are the challenges that are faced in this industry ?
Like one of the things that kept coming up is like it's really hard for women to take a predominant role in coffee in an ownership way . You know , obviously women are the 70% of the workforce of specialty coffee . Is women ? Sure they're . They're the laborers . Right .
And there are , you know , still countries where women can't even own property , and so I was , like , you know , as an empowered woman . That's like naming a company , confident coffee roasters . I think one of the greatest things that we can do is look at like , how can we also , you know , elevate women throughout our value chain ?
And so it just kind of started to really fall into place and the things that I really cared about I also had the freedom to do and I think it is weird to say that , because it's not like I was 21 , out of college and trying to figure it out . I don't know why it took so long to understand entrepreneurship and ownership is freedom , now freedom .
It's a tether at the same time .
Means many different things , too many different things Like when your toilet was overflowing .
you had the freedom to fix that .
I had the freedom . Yes , when people flush their underpants down your toilet and your establishment you had that happen , oh man . That's the freedom of fixing that problem .
Yes , congratulations .
But yeah , the confident coffee name , like my wife's proudly got her sticker on the back of her car , you know yeah , you know what I love .
When I first saw your coffee shop in the Rogers location and I saw the name of it , I was I'm so happy to hear you say where it comes from , because it actually the name resonated with me , because I'm a big believer in confidence , Like confidence is almost everything that you need in your entire freaking life to get through it , man .
And that was such a cool meaning behind that , because I resonated with it . I'm glad that you know that's why you chose it . I mean , it's just it's beautiful . What a fantastic , what a fantastic name and brand . Yeah , yeah , absolutely . It's championship . It's good coffee too .
No , no , no , totally yeah , but the name .
Yeah , the name's fantastic Name . Brings in the good coffee , Makes the coffee even damn better . It does .
Amber makes it better . Hell , we just have an Amber involved with it makes it better , I agree .
So so how many locations do you have now with confident coffee ?
So we have two .
Which you have one in Rogers .
We have one in Rogers . We have our original location in Johnson . That's where we roast everything . We actually have a commercial bakery in Johnson as well now .
So Where's that at in Johnson ? I'm sorry , I'm un-made .
You know where Wright's barbecue in LaMadia Luna is Okay okay , yes . We form kind of like a food triangle right there .
Oh , okay , cool , Okay , that's a cool place .
Yeah , then this morning we made the big announcement that we're actually coming to downtown Springdale .
Right Fantastic man Springdale is coming up , thank you for coming up .
Man , thank you for contributing to Springdale . It is . It was fantastic .
We were just down there the other night at Odd Soul . Yeah man , it's a cool place . It's just great I mean you know you're in there . I mean , when I think about like downtown Springdale , 20 years ago I could have bought blocks of buildings for $100,000 . And now I looked around and there's all these yuppies .
They look like they work in computer companies and I mean it's like where did all these people come from ? You know ?
I will say , like one thing that's like humbling , or you know that you have to think about going into Springdale now . It's like there's already been businesses there doing the struggle busts . You know like they're the ones that have been building the community . That's right . They've been there for three to five years .
You know they weathered and were being shut down .
Right Con Caso was one of those that now shut down their location there .
I don't know if you knew that Did he technically shut down ?
He told me did . Oh , wow , I didn't know .
I knew it , he had put a shout out at one time that he wanted somebody to do it .
Yeah , yeah Well , downtown Springdale's got , I mean it's got a . It's the leading edge of a mixed , diverse cultural . I mean the diversity there . I mean it's fantastic , like I think there's some cultural epicenter there that's going on that could , which I hope is nourished and amplified . I think it will . I think it will be too .
Yeah Well , it's just , it's got . That's something precious that I don't know where that's held anywhere else , the Northwest Arkansas Council is brilliant .
I mean , they've really engineered a unique identity for each one of these sort of metro areas that we have Rogers , bentonville , springdale , fayetteville , and Springdale , I think , is rapidly becoming the place for the young hip people who can't afford to live necessarily . Well , that's what I'm saying .
It's the only place , they're told , any kind of affordable housing .
Yeah , it really is , and they're really making the downtown nice . They've been . I mean Tyson , of course they were the seed that when they went in there with their job at center . That tech center that they built , yeah that put all those people down there and really made it . That was the best thing that could happen .
They have really great people running like the whole downtown association to the city planning I mean the government's even involved and just like how their perspective of building a fantastic growing community is . I mean like it's pretty awesome , it's a unique place .
Yeah , I like it Cool , so that's gonna be your
¶ Entrepreneurship and Business Growth
next deal .
Yeah , February 3rd .
So you announced it is it public and everything .
Now we announced today and we're actually .
And you're announcing on big talk about small business .
bro , I know around the biggest media in Northwest Arkansas , so listeners the world's leading podcast on small business In Northwest Arkansas . Right ? Well , we're based in Northwest Arkansas . Sorry , they covered the world . I'm sorry , you're right , sir .
He's my mentor .
So how is it this time around ? You're in control of everything . How's it gone for you ? What do you like about it ? What do you not like ? What have you learned ? What do you change ? What's ?
Okay , I have zero drama in my life .
Yeah .
This is the truth . Okay , you know , there's not not headaches or problems .
Sure .
Or , you know , trying to make it to a podcast on time . Of course , this is the day that it like ices and snows and stuff isn't working in the shops . You know , like there's always headaches but there isn't drama . I have a fantastic team and I mean that wholeheartedly . I really changed the way I look at this .
Arguably , I could respect somebody saying that it's naive way to look at it , but I mean , it is my way . You know , I have no long-term plans . I think one of the things I learned like there's no control over this world , even when we try to think like I think the what do you see yourself in five years ? That's old timey stuff that doesn't exist anymore .
That's not real and there's no reason to even it's like six months now . No , everything changes all the time and everything's changing in our lifetime so fast .
So you gotta be ready to . Take every . Pivot like a hockey stick . Dude , look at the hockey stick . Gotta be ready to pivot Perfect timing To something else that's got a hockey stick growth curve . My approach is the same as what you're saying . No , I make sense . To me it's like take the meeting .
Have the conversation .
Right .
You know , find out what's coming , make some phone calls , ask people to drive you around , like you know , stay in the know but be very flexible . And you know people ask me like , well , what's next ? I'm like I have no idea . I didn't think I'd be opening up Springdale , but an opportunity to partner and I got to plug us .
So it's like a joint venture between us and Social Project Brewing Company and he's already there . He's been there for a year .
Which one is Social Project Is that in the White House that's been totally redone down there and real crazy outlooking Cause I know those guys too . They have like a German beer company .
That's someone else , so he's in . It used to be Bikereck Brewing there , but probably COVID time they shut down when they built all of Springdale's , you know , new city buildings . Yeah , I don't know what you're talking about , it's right in between , so it's in Johns .
It's not on Emma , on Emma , but where Emma just opened up Homegrown , so it's a standalone building behind between . And , honestly , we wouldn't be able to make this move at this time without him , you know he's like With a lower risk sort of situation .
He's already there , the overhead , and that's where you know we talked briefly but it's extremely hard to take on , like the debt to build out spaces and especially in coffee and even with coffee and food , like your transaction you're . You know you're six bucks 650 . And we're not in New York City .
You know we have a great population of people and we're growing , but you , you know that's a lot of people you have to turn to be able to pay employees Like I really believe in paying people money they can live on Right . So you know we pay living wages and you know we're paying our rent on time .
And you know there's all these things that you know I care so much about integrity and like trust with like my employees and my customers .
I get it .
And and so you just you can want to grow as fast as you can . You can't afford to , and so it's like this opportunity with Chris . He made it where I was like we can do this , but without him I could not have done it right now , you know .
Just being truthful , so we don't have any particular giant exit strategy and anything like that at this point . You're doing what you want to do .
I have no desire to exit .
Good , not now , all right . Well , you got a long runway ahead of you , amber . You're still a young woman .
Thank you .
I mean you could do any number of things . It's a long time to go . I mean , I was , I really hope so .
Yeah , I hope so , and I want to be like 90 years old and and look and be like I rocked my forties .
Hell , yeah , yeah , baby .
I rocked .
All right yeah yeah , I love it . All right , what a fantastic story it is . An interview Really is , and I'll take a lot of credit for keeping my mouth shut this entire time . You did a wonderful job . I feel like I did the best job on this podcast .
Just because of that word , he's not there Cause so many opinions and thoughts and accolades I wanted to throw in , but I mean what a great , what a what a fantastic journey you had .
Yeah , Amber's a real entrepreneur and I think her experiences have led her to the past .
She's on now and and that's could change- and no pun intended at what I mean , but I love you coming here and telling your story to give confidence to the community . Yeah , and doing this Cause that's kind of part of our deal , right , it's like how do you ? I mean like let's have a real conversation about what life is and what entrepreneurship is .
Less planning , less coffee shop , more entrepreneur-ing .
Yeah .
And more entrepreneur-ing , just go do it , do it , do it . Do it , do it , do it . Figure out how to change the guys , dang handle on the toilet seat or pull some underwear out of the freaking plumbing and then go to the VC meeting . Yeah , because that's your next meeting , that's right .
Yeah , yeah . And one of my employees did ask one day . We were driving around , we're getting Rogers going , and she's just like how do you know what you're doing ? And I'm like I don't know what I'm doing ever .
I just show up and call someone and then they tell me what to do on the next thing , and so I go do that , and then and every city is different . So yeah . Just like keep on , keeping on .
It's a learning experience , but you put yourself in the game , yeah .
I'm in the game . Okay , you're in the game .
That's it .
That's it . Well , this has been fantastic , and , amber , if anybody wants to reach out to you , what's the best way to reach you ? Do you have an email ?
Yeah , it's amber at confidentcoffeeroasterscom .
All one word .
And very long .
Amber at confidentcoffeeroasterscom . Okay , that's great . Well , we really appreciate it .
Yeah , go get you a cup of confident coffee . That's right , stop drinking this .
Stop swagger Eric's swag . Get your coffee . Yeah , wait , just stop it . Get good coffee from no one , all right , well , thanks everybody . This has been another episode of .
Big Talk .
About Small Business . Check out our website at wwwbigtalkaboutsmallbusinesscom . That was long as hell , and if you're interested in sponsoring our podcast monies , bring it on . We'd be glad to talk with you . Thanks again , everybody . See you next week . Wee , wee .
Wee , wee , wee . Thanks for tuning into this episode of Big Talk About Small Business . If you have any questions or ideas for upcoming shows , be sure to head over to our website , wwwbigtalkaboutsmallbusinesscom and click on the Ask the Host button for the chance to have your questions answered on the show .
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