Brewing Success: Jeff's Journey Begins

Jeff Roberts 0:00

The dream was really always just a passion for people . People are really our heart and so how do we do something on the people side ? I did have a background with Starbucks , so I'd seen that community that you can build around coffee . So I love just the team building side and the leadership side . I never loved anywhere I was , so I was like man , is there a place we could be ? That would just , that would be healthier than what I've experienced . Is that even possible ? Like , can that exist ? So I had that churning in the background . I've got this food truck idea doing it with coffee churning in the background and it was basically just kind of the discomfort of where I was in my life drove me to make a step to say you know what it's going to be now or never . I think what I did was I hedged against a regret At the end of the day . I didn't want to look back and say , man , you edged against a regret At the end of the day .

Rhett 0:57

I didn't want to look back and say , man , you should have just tried that . Friends and family . To another episode of the podcast with Rhett and Justin . It truly is our desire to steward stories in a way that serve you . And today , my friends , you are in for a ride . We are beginning a conversation with the CEO and co-founder of Yellow Hammer Coffee , located in Mobile , alabama . Now , if you're unfamiliar with Yellow Hammer Coffee , I'm telling you , over this episode and the next , you're going to become really familiar with the craze and obsession that's taking over the Southeast . So buckle up and get ready for a conversation that begins today . I mean , we talk leadership , leadership , leadership . So if you're a leader today or you want to grow in your leadership skills , this episode is for you . That's right . We talk about things like how to create a healthy culture where people actually love their job , as well as the grit and the grind behind the scenes of what it takes to not only run a successful business but to scale a successful business . We talk about all of this and so much more in today's conversation with Jeff , and there will be a To Be Continued . We will have a part two with Jeff following this conversation next week .

Rhett 2:34

Now , before we dive into this episode . I want to ask you something that I've never asked you before , and that is , if you're enjoying the episodes , would you do us a favor , would you pull out your phone , copy the link from this episode , or your favorite , and send it to a friend man ? That would mean so much to us All . Right , jumping into the conversation with Jeff , ceo and co-founder of Yellowhammer Coffee . You guys ready ? Here we go . Justin , I'm really excited . I've got a good friend of ours in the studio today , jeff Roberts . Listen , if you don't know who Jeff is . I mean , we're talking about going from a coffee truck like food truck style coffee truck in 2016 to now in 2024 , over seven brick and mortar locations . Yellow Hammer Coffee CEO and one of the founders , jeff Roberts , it's so good to have you in the studio today . Welcome to Armchair Authentic bro .

Jeff Roberts 3:32

Man . Thank you , I'm so excited to be here . It's great to be in person .

Rhett 3:49

I love just sitting at the table . You know so very honored to be on this podcast . Well , we know how much it means to you that you took the time to fly up today . It's faster than hardcore guys . I just want you to know , like Jeff and I , go back to my time when I was in mobile all my mobile peeps I love you so much . I do miss you . In fact , jeff and I were talking before this conversation about uh , I was just saying man , I miss so many people from mobile . It was such a great , it was a hard time , but then such a great time and I don't know how , but some way , somehow I have the ability to suppress the hard and remember the good . And that's another podcast for another day .

Rhett 4:10

Yes , it is , I do want to say though , man , I miss you guys dearly . You've been dear friends and you had a huge role in our life , and I've said this earlier . For those who don't know , one Life Church who I was graced to be able to plant along with my wife and my son in Nampa , idaho , would have never happened had it not been for financial investments from friends like Jeff and Mo , and I am so thankful .

Rhett 4:34

The people of Idaho are thankful because , the church is there because of your generosity . So I just say that on a personal end on this . So thank

Entrepreneurship and Building Lasting Friendships

Rhett 4:42

you for that .

Justin 4:42

What's cool about this , too , rhett , is even when you were in the mobile area you would tell me . You know , we're dreamers , Me and Rhett are dreamers we're always talking about ooh , what about this ?

Justin 4:53

What if we did this ? And you began to talk about Jeff , your friend at that time I didn't know his name , but he's starting a coffee business and I'm very much as our audience knows I'm very much into coffee , so that always stuck in my head . So I feel like , jeff , I have followed your journey all these years to see it's like you started with this , you know , portable truck that goes , and now to have seven stores , I mean you're taking over the place .

Rhett 5:19

I mean , you're really taking over mobile for sure , and I and I know you've got plans , I'm sure , because I know you well enough to know you've got plans to take over the state of Alabama . We're looking at spots .

Jeff Roberts 5:28

Yeah , I know I'm like , all right , we can put one there , we can put one there , but have I not texted you along the ?

Rhett 5:33

way going dude like here's a great spot Like I mean at the end of the day .

Rhett 5:38

You have our blessing the guests listening from all the cities around the country and the world I just want to bring you in . There are so many dynamics and facets to this relationship and the history and so many stories we could dive into , and so I'm not quite sure where this is going to go today . But my hope is that , as you're listening , you're hearing somebody who is brave enough to do something and be willing to fail at something , and it may be even honest enough to say we failed at a lot . But along the way you've figured some things out . You've taken a passion , which is coffee , and I remember back in small groups man , every small group we ever had at the church that we served on together . I'm bringing the coffee man .

Rhett 6:16

You bring your own espresso machine .

Justin 6:18

I remember hearing about this , I mean I don't know how portable it was . It was like you know you put it on the table . It's like God bless .

Rhett 6:24

This is not portable , Jeff . He's like pouring shots and he's talking about all you know , from Italy to Paris , to all the different facets of coffee . So if you're a coffee connoisseur , you're going to love this conversation .

Justin 6:36

That's when you know you're dealing with the right person , because they bring in the hardcore stuff .

Rhett 6:40

It's like that is not affordable .

Justin 6:42

My friend , that was meant to stay , you brought this everywhere you went because you love coffee .

Rhett 6:46

But if the small group was only going to last from like 7 to 8.30 , bro , it went till midnight when Jeff showed up . We were wired .

Jeff Roberts 6:53

None of us slept that night we were , all you know , rolling around the bed thinking why did even remember , like even tasting espresso , until I met jeff .

Rhett 7:03

He's like oh man , yeah , that's crap coffee you need the real stuff , man I'm telling you , man , once you get into it's like , it's like a great wine man , just take some time to get used to it . And , yeah , I think the first one I tasted I was like this is like this is nasty . But now I'm kind of like no , I'm into it now , baby , let's go . People need to know that .

Justin 7:19

Yeah about about espresso , who may just go ahead and rule it out . If you get someone who knows what they're doing , if you get a good I'm not even talking about espresso kind of dumped in the cream that turns into a latte , that's all great too , but pure espresso- by someone who does it right , just like you would have in an Italian or a French community .

Justin 7:39

It's amazing and it's got the best taste , the best notes that you taste when you're actually drinking it , and people might not know that , but you have flavor to this if someone knows what they're doing .

Rhett 7:51

Obviously you're a man who knows what you're doing . We try , oh he does , and so I don't even know the questions to ask a coffee connoisseur .

Justin 7:58

But I can tell .

Rhett 7:59

I told him earlier . I said I know a good cup versus a crappy cup .

Jeff Roberts 8:02

I can at least tell you that it's all that matters . Yeah for sure . At the end of the day , that's all that matters .

Rhett 8:05

And as much as I like Starbucks , I will never order espresso from Starbucks ever , because I've had the real deal and I'm like not happening , you know .

Justin 8:20

We've opened our episodes with some , even we joked . One of our titles was something , something , something and a crappy cup of coffee . Today we like to just say this is being brought to you by Yellowhammer Coffee . Yellowhammer Nation , baby , the coffee being partaken at this table right now and we are enjoying it . You even brought your own barista with you to make the coffee .

Rhett 8:36

Hey , that's not a joke , justin has actually been real . His barista is also his pilot that flew him here today , if that says anything about who you are .

Jeff Roberts 8:44

Richard is a man of many talents .

Justin 8:47

I'd like to call him , king Richard , who literally was the barista getting this ready for us today and flew you in . That was pretty awesome .

Cultivating a Healthy Workplace Culture

Rhett 8:58

We have a large listening audience in the Pacific Northwest and I kind of feel sorry for them . I mean , you know , I think some of the best coffee I've ever had was in my time in the Northwest , oh yeah .

Jeff Roberts 9:07

Amazing coffee and .

Rhett 9:08

I'm not just , I'm not brown nosing , I'm not kissing your butt , but this coffee is some of the best coffee I've had .

Jeff Roberts 9:13

It's good . It's really good . It really is man . Our roaster is legit .

Rhett 9:17

And I think it's prophetic . I'm drinking it from a Starbucks cup that I got from Idaho . You know how Starbucks has all these different cups , that's awesome . So I think it's prophetic to know that one day I don't know how we're going to do it , but we're going to get Yellowhammer up in Idaho and we're going to show those specific Northwesterners .

Justin 9:36

A thing or two about some real coffee We'll make it happen . Well , I don't know , jeff , like you do , rip , but just somewhere you've got the personality and drive . Oh , so much and it sounds like you and your wife . The way that y'all work as a team , y'all could probably do anything that you wanted to .

Jeff Roberts 9:48

It's a lot .

Justin 9:49

It's a lot of stress .

Rhett 9:50

That's a good lead in . So you know , jeff and Mo , you know you guys , you obviously you had a passion . I know Mo's got a passion for it too and you guys stepped out of a comfort zone and you started something that did not exist , that now exists , and that people , honestly , if you , if you're not in the mobile area , I'm telling you , when you drive through a mobile , you can just sense the craze for Yellowhammer . It's everywhere , social media , everywhere . I mean it's on every street corner . Everybody's talking about Yellowhammer coffee , and so we know that you're there and you've got all these dreams and aspirations to take it further , but this thing did not exist before 2016 .

Rhett 10:28

Correct , so we go back to that time that you're thinking about you and Bo and those conversations . Sure , we served on a church together and then you guys took a step . Can you go back to that and talk to me about the crazy , like the idea of going ? What in the world ? What are we doing ? We're stepping out into no man's land . I've got this dream . I don't know if it's going to work , but by God , we're going to try . So take us back to that .

Jeff Roberts 10:51

So , rhett , the dream was really always just a passion for people . Like it's really not a passion for coffee . People are really our heart and so how do we do something on the people side ? Because we could have done anything . We could have done a different business , different retail business , an online business we could have . We looked at a lot of different models and so I did have a background with Starbucks , so I'd seen that community that you can build around coffee right , just people love to meet there for coffee , sitting at a table , connecting . So I really enjoyed that . And then , and I love people , so I love just the team building side and the leadership side and all of that .

Jeff Roberts 11:26

So I was like I think , and then the biggest question was I would see all these food trucks come in . You guys probably have them up here in birmingham . Yeah , they'll hit the scene and then a year or two later you don't see them anymore , right ? So I had this burning desire of like , why don't people just try something different ? It doesn't have to be the hot dog food truck or the crepe food truck or whatever . You know , the chicken , chicken wings or whatever . So I'm like why doesn't someone take Starbucks and just put it inside of a food truck , like I think that would work , and so I didn't want to do it . I was like someone else can get this idea and run with it , hopefully , right . So a couple of years into that no one had still done it .

Jeff Roberts 12:03

And then we're dealing with just kind of in a work culture and I've been in corporate world uh , a pretty good bit I've . I've got a background there . We were talking off off air , uh , justin and I , um , so I've got this , you know , and I just I never loved anywhere I was . So I was like man , is there a place we could be that would just , that would be healthier than what I've experienced ? Is that even possible ? Can that exist ? So I had that churning in the background .

Jeff Roberts 12:28

I've got this food truck idea , doing it with coffee churning in the background , and it was basically just kind of the discomfort of where I was in my life drove me to make a step , to say you know what it's gonna be now or never . And I like to tell people . I think what I did was I hedged against a regret , because I would rather try it and fail and then live peacefully knowing I gave it all . I had then Always wondering my whole life right , and so that was kind of what we did , and so we just hedged against it With the idea of can we do something healthy , can we make this healthy culture and can we try this crazy ?

Rhett 13:18

Coffee idea and can we put those two together ? It's just something that you spend , that you say to try to get business , and I just want to speak to this that's absolutely not your heart . Like you love people , Like your heart is not to spend that in a way to get people . Because I can speak to the fact that I knew you guys well before you even started this thing and you've always been just an attractional couple , if you will , to where you're like a magnet . You're a magnet to young adults . I mean you guys for crying out loud , you were youth pastors .

Rhett 13:43

Yeah , and God had just given you you have this grace gift and I don't think it's something that you've ever tried to be . It's just , it's a natural response to how God has created you . It's who you are .

Rhett 13:57

And you just have this . You really genuinely care and people feel that , and they they . There's this sense of wow . They love me for who I am , not for what I do for them , and they make me feel special . So this is , you know , and I say Mo , monique is her full name , but you know those who know her , it's Mo . So Jeff and Mo are the type of people who have always lived this type of life and have represented this . Not saying you're perfect , because nobody is right , we can talk about all the mistakes .

Rhett 14:20

But I just want people to understand that you really do generally mean that , because that comes out of the overflow of who you guys are . You've always been that way . When I was in Mobile , our family felt that way , our son felt that way , and I've never heard anything honestly from people that are worthy of respect , have anything negative to say about you guys , and so I just want to just level the playing field on that for a minute .

Jeff Roberts 14:42

That's a good point . We didn't read this off of some , you know , website somewhere like oh yeah , we should be a people company .

Justin 14:47

Like we .

Jeff Roberts 14:48

That literally came out of just who we are .

Rhett 14:50

And so we weren't trying to get the marketing hype you know , it's like this is literally how we want to build it , and that's what's made this so special to me , from the stories that I've heard and from the visuals that I see on social , and even knowing some of your employees who you know used to be at the church that we were part of , who were serving and uh , and all that to say , the one thing you didn't mention is healthy culture . Healthy culture , healthy culture , which you were talking . I'd like to dive into that for a minute because obviously I don't want to assume anything , but most people , their experience from whatever that is previous , whether it's the , whether it's church life , whether it's business life , there had to be some experiences there that were like , ah , you know , like if I'm ever doing something , in charge of something .

Rhett 15:30

I'm going to lead this in a way that's different , that had it was out of drive for you when it comes to this healthy culture thing .

Jeff Roberts 15:36

It was out of just necessity , like I knew , I knew where we were , we had to get out , I knew we had to do something different . And really , what I think a part of a healthy culture is can you engage in healthy conflict ? And if you can , I think that is a driver for healthy culture , cause , you know , I think culture trumps everything . I'll look at a lot of businesses . Their financials are awesome , everything's amazing , they're profitable , everything's good , but then they're losing people at a hundred 150% turnover rate , right . And I'm like , well , that's not good , right . And so , yeah , like you can drive all the numbers you want to , but if you're losing people faster than you can retain them , that's not healthy , you know . And so it really came out of that . That was the idea , right ? So so we go through courses I mean , I don't know if you guys know Pat Lencioni , oh yeah , he's an author so we actually read through like five dysfunctions of a team . We read through the advantage .

Jeff Roberts 16:25

Yeah , we practice this stuff and it's not easy . Like I don't like sitting down with my executive team and going through that and they tell me everything is wrong with me . Like it's not comfortable but it's necessary , right .

Jeff Roberts 16:36

If you're going to be healthy that is like part of the drill right , and so we do that in all our stores . Like our shifts will meet with our managers , we run them through this content . This is something no one does in food Nobody . Restaurants do not do this . Like so it is the one driver for us . We kind of think it's our secret formula , like so we're coming up here really resourcing leaders , really teaching them how to engage , because most people , especially young people , very uncomfortable saying hey , let's talk about that .

Jeff Roberts 17:08

I didn't like the way that sounded , I didn't like the way that interaction went . I felt like you could have done that better and so I have to model that . You know what I mean . So literally two , three weeks ago , my regional manager , who was awesome , he's been with us for six or seven years , his name's Sam , sam sat me down and said hey man , he was running a meeting that I was in and I'm just dealing with a bunch of texts , I'm dealing with a bunch of nightmares and fires and headaches . So I'm in his meeting and I'm just kind of texting , trying to stay , but I'm still trying to stay engaged . He goes hey man , you looked really distracted . First off he checked on me hey you , okay .

Jeff Roberts 17:40

I was like , yeah , man , I'm good we that meeting and he goes . I really don't think you should be there if you're distracted . He's telling his boss that . And you know what I said . I was like you're 100% right , man . Like I either need to go to my office and work or I need to put my phone down and engage , and you cannot do that in most corporations . Right , you go to the CEO and tell them that they're messing up . See ya , you're fired . Dude , dangerous ground .

Jeff Roberts 18:03

Get out of here Like yeah Next .

Rhett 18:05

So why ? Where was that drive from what happened in your life to go ? You know what I've got to be different . I want to be different . I want to lead that way , Cause nobody naturally goes to that type of leadership .

Justin 18:14

You know , cause that's .

Rhett 18:15

I mean they , they might say it on paper , but then the moment that happens , you're like yeah , there's not enough trust here . I know you said that you want me to be honest with you , but you don't Correct , and if I would have responded that way , he would have never said another word to me .

Jeff Roberts 18:30

And then I could have killed the culture that day Absolutely . So it comes from a couple things . One is just a bunch of bad experiences with things like that Because you say that to some leaders , you're going to get hosed . So I've been in those situations . Those are very uncomfortable and they're not great , but you're not running an honest culture at that point . It's literally kind of a dictator model . What I say goes , what I say is is is gospel and so . And then part of that comes out of some humility .

Jeff Roberts 18:55

like man I just humility is everything Right when you are humble , you will listen , you will take the time to listen to what people are saying , you will not get offended and you're like , all right , what is the best for this team ? Right ? So we just it's just a level of humility that we try to teach all of our managers , all of our leaders , all of our shift leads , all of our baristas like man , humility is great and there's not a lot of humility , and so , yeah , I just think it's a mix of mixing those two together . Right , take some bad experiences , have some humility and be willing to learn , be willing to be wrong and yeah , because the two parties listening to this .

Justin 19:32

I mean , if you're someone who you know you have a leader and maybe you know you understand the risk it is to depending the culture of the listener right now that you come from , that may be a hard thing to do and you're going to have to take that risk to have that conversation . Or you might be smart enough to realize this sounds great in theory , but my culture over here is not built like this .

Leading With Humility and Vision

Justin 19:56

But , what I would say to the flip side , to the leader . I love how you say humility is everything . That's actually a line . We say a lot . I mean humility wins . It always will win .

Justin 20:06

You might not feel like you're winning in the moment as the leader , but humility will always lift you up . God will lift you up through it , and so what I would encourage the leaders even listening to this is do an internal audit , because this is a real thing . You may be listening to this and you may be buying into your own hype and you've said the right things because you've listened to the latest podcast that says a good leader should do this and now you're trying to go apply it . But now that you said it and one of your staff actually take you up on it , now you're in this valley of decision . How are you going to treat the employee from that point ?

Justin 20:44

And if you want a thriving culture , it's going to be about you humbling yourself because as the boss , as the leader , the manager , whatever your role might be , you are going to maybe feel an irritant when they actually come and say something , the humility factor that you as a leader might be facing . In that moment you might make the right decision , as you're approaching your employee and say , okay , thank you for bringing that to me . But that's where it really starts , because now you've got the voices in your ear or outside people who may be coming to you and feeding you more words of hey , are you going to let them say that or you're not being that way , and you've got to have the strength to say no , no , no . Culture is everything , and if I'm doing that , we have to put that to a stop , wow .

Rhett 21:32

Well , the fact that you're displaying that I mean it's not just words , it is something you're living , because I know and I've seen and I've heard how many you've got people lined up by the droves who want to work for your organization because , you're leading this way , you're leading with transparency , you're leading with empowerment to your employees at the I don't mean to say lowest level , as if there's not value there , but I mean , but at the point at the contact with the customer right .

Rhett 21:55

they're empowered to make decisions and to make it in the best interest of the customer experience and I know you're doing that , so we know you're leading that way , but all this didn't happen overnight , you know , and none of it happened overnight . So I know you've had to have clear vision and you've implemented that vision over time . So if we kind of you know , I know we'll get to some of this , but if we can just peel the layer back a little bit and go back to that coffee truck and that experience , so you took a step , you fast forward and you got your truck , you're out there , and then what's going through your mind ? What's your first event ? And then what are you thinking , dear God , what did I get myself into ? Or hey , we got something here . What was that experience like ?

Jeff Roberts 22:31

That event was at Mary G Montgomery High School which I know you're familiar with . First event . It was a 4th of July thing , I think it was June or July the 3rd , and so we this is not going to work .

Jeff Roberts 22:47

We're not going to make it too hard for not a lot of money . And coffee's tough to do , like it's a very , it's a smaller item , like if you're selling chicken sandwiches for 15 bucks or whatever , you can make those numbers work Right . We're selling coffee for four and working hard on every customized order and it just

Mobile Coffee Truck: From Startup to Success

Jeff Roberts 23:08

wasn't a lot . I was like and we got gray water dumping all over the ground because we didn't know how to manage all that .

Jeff Roberts 23:13

So all the tanks underneath the trailer hold hold the gray water and you have to , you know , dispose of the gray water and a proper sanitation and all that stuff . So it's dumping out on the parking lot while you're serving customers customers are standing in in steamed milk and water and coffee grounds to get a cup of coffee and I literally was like and I've got , you know you remember jeremy jerry's in there , jeremy had worked at starbucks .

Jeff Roberts 23:37

He's helping me . You know , I got some other guys in there out josh , I think was in there , morgan , I think was in there , and I was like this , this was a terrible idea . Like who thought of this ? You know like who's I gotta blame , you know like well , why did you tell me that ? No , I'm just kidding .

Jeff Roberts 23:53

But I'm like this is not going to work , like there's no way this is going to work , and so . But you , you know , you just got to get up the next day and say , all right , let's get it better , let's streamline it , let's figure out how to not better , because we just didn't have a clue . So we're running the sinks non-stop . You know , we're just doing all that . So we just had to figure out our water management better , had to start figuring . We had to figure our processes out better , all of that stuff .

Justin 24:19

I mean , yeah , we knew nothing so the process you have no clue you know how to make good coffee and you got the coffee and you know how to take care of people .

Rhett 24:26

Correct , but as so the vision . It was there and the people were there , and people were still buying . And I know they were lined up in droves regardless of the process , because the way you're making them feel Correct . But there was a lot of process , the process was a disaster and it was awful .

Jeff Roberts 24:43

Everything was horrible . The generator was too loud , I bought the wrong one , it's just the . It was awful Right . And so we had to slowly work to get better processes , better speed , better efficiency , quieter generators . So over time , over that year or two , we really worked hard to dial that in and then we started finding good regions that we could set up in normally . So we would just drop a schedule once a week and say we're going to be at this school on this morning , we're going to be over here at this church on this afternoon , we're going to be in this empty parking lot here . And people just started showing up .

Rhett 25:15

You were doing that via social media , though right , I mean you were just all social media , you weren't paying for any other type of billboard or advertising or commercials . It was straight up social .

Justin 25:23

People want to know where the yellow hammer truck was going to be .

Rhett 25:25

I mean you created a little like yellow hammer , like cult following .

Jeff Roberts 25:29

So people started calling themselves truck chasers .

Rhett 25:31

Yeah , that's it .

Justin 25:32

So they're like .

Jeff Roberts 25:33

So we made a shirt that said truck chaser you know , and so it was wild , though , like I'd never seen anything like it , but also it was a new idea no one had ever they were like you mean star , a Starbucks type business can come to my parking lot . This is insane and so mobile really embraced it . We we just kind of got lucky with the timing Um , there wasn't a lot of coffee at the time , so it was just this new thing that started , and it just from there . You know , we just kept

Evolving Processes and Reinvesting for Growth

Jeff Roberts 26:01

cleaning things up .

Rhett 26:01

Talk to me about the process stuff . How did you involve , did you involve people , your employees , at that point in this ? Go guys , I need help . Obviously , don't know what I'm doing . No , not how to take care of people , not how to make great coffee . But was it just you and Mo at home trying to figure this out , or did you invite along , at that beginning stage , the employees that were in there ? Were you ? Were you asking the customers , hey , I mean , like what was ? How did you figure out those processes ?

Jeff Roberts 26:22

It was really in kind of our internal team . We'll just say , hey , what if we did this ? What if we ? What if we move the syrups from here to here , cause that would be faster step right , like what if we move the grinder from here to over here ? You know ? And so it was just . We were just figuring out the flow .

Jeff Roberts 26:36

If you've ever seen the movie the founder- oh yeah , so you know when he gets on the tennis court and he tapes it out and he just times them and he's like Nope it's a story of the McDonald's , so yeah it's the story of McDonald's and so he would get on a ladder and watch these people move with everything taped down .

Jeff Roberts 26:51

So that's kind of how we did it . We would just , we would see that and we'd like we could save two seconds if we did this . We could save three if we did it like this . We could say , I mean , it was , here's a good example . So we would . You would come up and you're like , hey , rhett , how's it going ? Man Good to in . Yeah , I'd like a vanilla latte . Awesome .

Jeff Roberts 27:16

We would put it in the POS system . Then we would grab the cup and then we would write RET on the cup . Then we'd write , you know , vl , extra hot or whatever . Everything was handwritten . Then we would push it down the line . They'd put the syrup in it , they'd pull the shots , it steamed the milk , all that Right . So that is a horrible system because you're working twice I'm inputting in the POS and then I'm handwriting everything . So then we got smart and I started testing printers and I was like there has to be a way to do this . So then we figured out a system that was kind of a little rigged together that as we put it in the POS , it would print it on a thermal printer .

Jeff Roberts 27:41

So then we're only inputting the data once right , and you're getting , so we're , we're getting faster , right , and so it was just stuff like that . We would just figure out little ways to save time but still keep the connection there , but make the drinks faster so that we could do more volume , and so that's been the game for eight years .

Rhett 27:57

How long did it take you to become profitable off that truck and the initial investment ? How many cause you did ? You're doing a high school and you're thinking , surely , okay , I'm looking at this and that revenue is like how many high schools do I have ? To do to get to the place where I can actually build this thing ?

Jeff Roberts 28:11

It may have been you know , I can't really maybe a year or two Okay . But then we went and bought , we took another loan , bought a second trailer and then started doing that . And then we reinvested , went and did the first brick and mortar , and so we've always just kind of so break even is kind of a loose term , okay , because we just kept pouring even today . All we do is go back and we , we get ready for the next location and so , um , it wasn't like we broke even , or like all right , we're good now , but probably a year or two , to kind of get that first loan paid down .

Jeff Roberts 28:39

Yeah , uh , and we did it real stupid . So we didn't have any money and we quit our jobs on the same day like idiots , and we had three kids at the time .

Rhett 28:47

Well , I wasn't going to say any of that , but you're willing to go there ?

Jeff Roberts 28:50

I would not recommend this for anybody . Um , so we , we quit our jobs , like , honestly , we should have kept some income , but but it also when your back's against the wall you're going to figure it out , right , yeah , so quit our jobs . We barred from an insurance policy about 35 grand and then we pulled an interest free credit card for20,000 . Dave Ramsey would love me , I'm just kidding , that's sarcasm .

Rhett 29:13

By the way , if you're Dave Ramsey , if you're a Ramsey listener , this is not baby step two I can tell you that right now , this is how not to do it , but God can still work through it .

Jeff Roberts 29:23

Dave would absolutely demolish me . But we had no other option , right , and so we paid that credit card off , didn't pay a dime of interest . I've never paid a dime of interest . Dave would be proud of that Never paid interest .

Jeff Roberts 29:34

We paid that policy back , got all that going and then we just started cashflow and positive and then we just kept reinvesting , reinvesting , reinvesting . So to this day I still take a very , very , very small paycheck and I tell my whole team that I'm like guys , like I know we have a lot of competition , I'm kind of fast forwarding , yeah no , it's okay I know we have a lot of competition coming in , but no one can work more than me or in cheaper than me .

Jeff Roberts 29:53

So I'm like all these guys got to get paid their VP's , got to get paid their marketing directors or blah , blah , blah . You know all up the chain . I'm like I can live on

Yellowhammer Coffee Spotlight

Jeff Roberts 30:02

very little .

Rhett 30:02

Hey friends , it's Rhett . I know we're in a conversation with Jeff regarding all things Yellowhammer coffee , but we have to take a moment and encourage you If you're in the area . My goodness , you've got to drive through right now . You've got to pick up an order of one of their seasonal favorites , like the pumpkin pie , white mocha Come on , their s'mores mocha . Or one of their fall lattes , like banana cream pie , french toast , maple pecan pancake Come on , are you feeling it right now ? Pumpkin spice ? Or the potter's favorite butterbeer . I mean , listen , they got something for everyone .

Rhett 30:41

Now , if you're listening today and you're thinking , my goodness , I'm not in the area , how can I get my hands on some of this coffee ? Are you ready for this ? Even if you're not local , get my hands on some of this coffee . Are you ready for this ? Even if you're not local , you can still enjoy their award-winning coffee . All you got to do is just go to yellowhammercoffeecom that's yellowhammercoffeecom , that's yellowhammercoffeecom , in case you missed it and all you have to do is click on their subscriptions and get their roast . Listen , you can have it delivered weekly , biweekly , or even get your fix monthly , and more than that . If you just want to see the craze and culture firsthand man .

Rhett 31:21

Can I encourage you ? Follow them on Facebook , instagram or TikTok ? At Yellham Coffee , that's at Yellham Y-E-L-H-A-M-C-O-F-F-E-E at Yelhamcoffee . Stay connected with everything they've got brewing . So here's my last question what are you waiting for ? Fly high and hammer down with Yelham coffee . And remember this if you're local and you're going through the drive-thru , tell them . Your friends Red and Justin from Armchair Authentic sent you All right . Now back to the conversation .

Jeff Roberts 31:56

No one can work more than me or in cheaper than me . So I'm like all these guys got to get paid their VPs , got to get paid the marketing directors , or blah , blah , blah . You know all up the chain . I'm like I can . I can live

Leadership Growth Through Experience and Accountability

Jeff Roberts 32:08

on very little .

Rhett 32:09

I don't know , there's something driving on the inside of you . What has been the drive to get you from one trailer to true trailers , to the brick and mortar now to seven ? Because that just doesn't happen by accident ? Obviously you , you , obviously you've got a clear vision right , but how ?

Jeff Roberts 32:26

do you ?

Rhett 32:26

implement that vision in a way that grows beyond that into what it is today ?

Jeff Roberts 32:28

Yeah , a lot of it . I just I'm a driver , like , I'm a builder , and so it's knowing your DNA and most of those guys , most builders I would not want to work for , right . So I look at guys like Elon Musk would not respect what he does but never want to . You think we've had a bad , bad experiences . Go work for that guy . You know , like I look at guys like Steve jobs . Yeah , one of my heroes would never want to work for Steve jobs , right , and so it's like but I've got that drive , I know I've got that Steve jobs in me . And so the other side I always pull from opposites . The other side is like man , don't treat people like this , cause I could , I could do it . I mean I've got , I've got that DNA , I've got that a type personality I could . I could hammer some experiences that we've had . I could easily turn into that .

Rhett 33:10

Well , can I just say that it's interesting that you say that , because there was things when we were on staff together that we've talked about . You're like , hey , if I'm ever in the position to lead , you know , I want to do this in a healthier place , and I think after you had been leading for a while , we would text each other and go bro , I have tendencies to do the same thing and I have to fight it .

Jeff Roberts 33:28

It's literally , and it's one of my biggest fears is becoming that type of leader and so I have to hedge against that . And that's why I want the honest conversations .

Jeff Roberts 33:35

That's what my regional manager and he and I'm , I'm fully transparent with most , with , with my team Right , especially the executive team . So Sam knows that's my fear . That's why he's not scared to say , hey man , like don't look distracted in a meeting I'm running and I'm like bro , you're right , you know . But he's not scared of that Cause he knows , he knows the . The fear side of me is like I can't turn into this like dictator type , driving it down from the top you know , so so yeah .

Justin 34:03

Yeah , no , I like that too , because you know you might have a leader who , their , their insecurity is why you get the toxicity , if you even come and challenge them . Yeah , but the way that you wrap that back up your experience was quite the opposite . Yeah , you , you may have been on the receiving end of that , but it made you say , lord , if I ever do this , I will not do that . And so , even though you're tempted , because you're that A personality , d personality , let's get it done . Let's get it done . You have that tool in your belt to remind you I need to actually listen and take a constructive criticism .

Jeff Roberts 34:40

You just you just hammered , I think , what the root of it all is . It's genuinely insecurity . I'm telling you , like that is the , the , the moment , like that's the key right there .

Jeff Roberts 34:50

Because even like you look at , I know I keep referencing Steve jobs Steve jobs was driven by that massive insecurity , right , and if you've ever read his , his biography , or , yeah , biography by , uh , I think , isaacson or Walter , I seen him . I read the whole book , cover to cover . A lot of insecurities and that drove a lot of his leadership style . It's I'm never going to add up , I'm never going to be enough . I've got to drive harder , I've got to shop harder . So then he would drive his team like that , right , I mean he would drive these guys insane amounts of work , you know . And so , yeah , you hit it nail on the head it's insecurity , is , is . Is the really the root of what I've seen in , like really those dictator type leaders ?

Justin 35:28

Oh , absolutely . And because of what you've been through , you're looking at it also even without the insecurity . You're looking at it from the standpoint of because I've experienced that I want people to know what it's like not to yes , and I even think about where I've come from . I've been with a church Church of the Highlands since literally its start in 2001 . And something that our pastor had told us is when he was trying to launch Highlands like there was nothing out there really to even get things started .

Justin 35:54

Yeah , there was nothing to model for and , of course , Ark came from that , but his big deal that he's always told us that he told the Lord . It was like , if you help me get this started , I will make it my dedication to try to help , kind of the little guy , if you will , sure , but had he not faced those setbacks , he might not have been saying that Correct In the same way with you and I lead in a major way because of some of the experiences I had growing up , as we've talked on some of these episodes in the podcast where we had our own setbacks . It's cool how you learn from the stuff that you've been through , sure , and it actually it can be redeemed and restored and you become a better leader . So what I hear from you is you're actually the leader you are because of some of the stuff you've come through , but there's an army of people which I know we'll talk about in a little while that work for you , that are getting to experience what it is to have a life-giving , empowering boss .

Rhett 36:52

So what kind of boundaries do you create or what kind of accountability do you create to keep you in that safe place of not leading out of that insecurity and driving down from the top ? I know you mentioned that reference from empowering your employees , but like , is there anything deeper or rooted ? I know you're a man of faith , I know that you know . But but where ? Where do you seek refuge and how do you get ? How do you stay healthy , I guess , is my question in leading

Embracing Team Diversity and Individual Strengths

Rhett 37:15

that way .

Jeff Roberts 37:15

Yeah , Faith is a is a big part of it . Uh , very honest relationships , or another part . If , if my wife tells me , hey , like this is , you're getting a little crazy here . You know , I'm like I heed to that , right , like I listened to that . Uh , my team members , right , and I think some of it's just vulnerability , right , so I lay any like I haven't . It's all the Lindsay only stuff . Like I have no secrets with my team , like they know my weaknesses , they know where I struggle but they know my strengths , like if you got to get something done .

Jeff Roberts 37:45

Yeah , watch this , give me 10 minutes Right and um , yeah , and that's something that that's something I've learned from from a leader . We were , you know , associated with super hard worker man driver , like , get it done . So just cause you're under someone that you would you to lead like does not mean that you cannot learn from them .

Justin 38:00

That's so good , both good and bad , and so I've learned a lot because he was a worker he was a workhorse oh yeah , absolutely , and could get it done .

Jeff Roberts 38:09

So I've learned how to execute like him . I just didn't want to lead a culture like that .

Rhett 38:14

And there's nothing wrong with that .

Jeff Roberts 38:15

People look at me and probably say , well , I don't want to do this . Yeah , I'd rather like . I'm sure Sam has differences of how he would lead , and that's healthy . You know , I'm not trying to print many me's . Yeah , Like , I really try to embrace a team this get back to your question . I try to embrace a team that has different strengths , right , like I'm not looking for many Jeff's Right , that'd be a disaster . I want people with different strengths in different areas and we we're all going to disagree on some level .

Rhett 38:45

But , man , when you form that team , it's a well-balanced team and you can . You can get a lot done . So that's a great thought . How in the world do you accomplish that ? Cause I can only imagine in the beginning , somebody who's like I don't know , this would be me like , oh , you want to work with us . Oh , wow , that's cool . You know , sure , go ahead and get started . You know , like you know . But how in the world do you get to that place to to be able to make that kind of decision ? Because you know , honest truth is that most of us , we want to hire people . We want people on our team that are like us , that act like us or respond like us , that think like us . Right , while that might sound good on paper , you don't need a whole team of that , because it's all the same person .

Rhett 39:18

So what was that like in learning that process ?

Jeff Roberts 39:22

It's a process over eight years . I mean , we hire we'd hire anybody on the spot back in the day . Right , it was just get on the team man . You , you think you want to make coffee ? Get in here , get in this trailer man , I'll show you right now how to pull a shot , you know . So it was a lot of that . The more we've probably got 95 people maybe in the company . So the more we've grown , the more we can fine tune kind of the teams how they work , some strengths .

Jeff Roberts 39:43

So I and I look for people all the time . Like I'm literally I met with someone as one of my managers is , uh , his name's Hudson . Super smart guy , like one of the smartest guys you'll ever meet . His brain is so techie , like he could be a chief technology officer anywhere . Like I mean , the guy is smart . So I'm in the background . I'm sitting here churning saying how can we get him in a CTO role inside this company ? Right , so now , so I've been throwing him things right .

Jeff Roberts 40:09

We just recently switched our point of sale system First time we've ever done it in the history of the company . Absolute disaster , but we had it was . There was kind of only one way to do it . It was just a train wreck . Um , he led a lot many parts of that because he understood the tech , he understood the wiring , he wired the stores , he understood the like , ips and all the stuff to talk , make all the devices talk . So I just kind of threw that to him and I'm like man , run with this , we , we had this within our company like here , like like take this over , you know , and so , and I think he appreciates that and he knows I'm dreaming about , okay , where's this next thing ? I've got another guy . He's a manager , uh , his name's Will . He's in law school right now . Will literally wants to graduate law school and be Yellowhammer's lawyer . We're not big enough to have a lawyer yet , right , and so I mean we have lawyers on retainer but we're not big enough to have like an in-house full-time , right , and he knows that and so . But I'm dreaming of how how big do we have to be to have this guy full-time lawyer and also doing some other things ?

Jeff Roberts 41:06

You know I think about like one of our assistant managers . I met with him the other day and said hey , man , I heard that you love trading stocks . I heard you really good in numbers . I'm like , bro , you ever thought about , like business , financial side , right , like kind of the , the , the . I guess it'd be like a CFO , like a chief financial officer , right , I'm like dude , you're good with numbers , man , I need people in the numbers every single day , looking at the stats , looking at the sales , looking at the , you know profitability , looking at payroll , you know . And so I just try to dream with my team .

Jeff Roberts 41:34

When I see strengths , I try to say , hey , man , I think you'd be better than me . Like , how do we get you in ? How do we create this environment as we grow to where you can see a path too ? Cause I'm like you probably won't make coffee forever . Like , I mean , my regional manager used to be a barista . Right , he doesn't make a lot of coffee now . I mean , he'll fill in every now and then , just keep the skills up , but he doesn't make a lot of coffee . He oversees , he has an insane amount of conversations . He's in stores all the time . He's dealing with our managers , he's dealing with our team members , he's dealing with our friends . That's what we call our customers . Now .

Justin 42:06

Friends . Yeah , dude , they're our friends . Man , let's go we recently just revamped that right .

Rhett 42:11

That's awesome .

Jeff Roberts 42:14

And so he's just having all of those conversations . Doesn't make a ton of coffee . But then I'm like , where does where do you want to go ? I'm like do you want to be the CEO ? Do you want to be the president of this thing one day ?

Rhett 42:20

Like , do you ?

Jeff Roberts 42:21

even like this job , and so I'm always just having these conversations , and but it draws back to your point , man , like if you can flip the script from insecurity to security , it's almost game over at that point , right Cause I don't care , like I like I get no Because I don't care , like I get no , I never try to flex , I never try to front , like I just don't care . I will drive the biggest piece of crap on the planet and I don't care . And I drive really nice cars , but I don't get any identity from that .

Justin 42:50

That's good .

Jeff Roberts 42:51

I just don't , I don't care , I drive them because they're efficient and they're electric and I'm like .

Rhett 42:57

I save a ton in gas money .

Jeff Roberts 42:57

It's like man once you're secure it , just man , the humility is there , the learnability is there Like it's just man .

Justin 43:06

What I appreciate about what you're saying , too , is it's the fact that we are so unique and you're looking at everybody who's unique , and they have a common theme . They're here as your employees of Yellowhammer Coffee , but you're embracing their uniqueness . That's the secret right there , leaders who are listening .

Jeff Roberts 43:26

the greatest things that we can do it's out of security . You nailed it , man .

Justin 43:31

I'm telling you we could sit here for the next hour and just talk about that .

Jeff Roberts 43:34

Let's talk about that . Let's talk about

Staying True to Core Values Through Leadership Growth

Jeff Roberts 43:35

that Break that down more .

Rhett 43:35

If I'm listening to this and I'm hearing it , I'm like great , all right , security , wonderful . How do I get there ? Where does that come from ? Where is that rooted ? Because that's not something that is in anybody's natural state of humanity . So where do you find ?

Jeff Roberts 43:48

your source of security , bro ? I literally asked myself that question , like I just once you stop caring , it's so freeing man Like it's so freeing . Man Like if you see me in mobile sometimes you'll see me in a gas station and I'll look homeless . I mean you'll be like I need to buy this guy gas Like this is this guy's having a rough time , you know .

Jeff Roberts 44:11

But like I just I don't know , like I've asked myself that question , like I really don't know , but like I just it doesn't matter to me , like I'm not , that's why I don't post a lot . I mean , we flew up here in one of our planes .

Jeff Roberts 44:24

We had partners in this thing , we could sell it tomorrow and I could never be it doesn't matter , like it literally doesn't matter , and so , um , I've asked myself that I really don't know . I'm just , I'm just , I think I'm satisfied in who I am , but I always want to get better , and that's the humility side coming in , and I don't know , dude .

Rhett 44:39

Well , here's what I'm hearing so far . If you're listening to this , maybe you're younger . I hope you're not missing these points . He had clear vision . He's willing to learn , he's transparent , very secure , humbling himself and , in a way , what I'm hearing is the fact that it's like I want to know , like what makes other people tick , and I want to get behind that and position them in a place to where they're flourishing . This thing's not about me , it's about other people .

Rhett 45:04

Going back to what you said from the beginning yes , we're we . We get to do coffee and we love coffee , but really we want to create environments for people to feel loved , to feel valued , to feel honored , and don't always get it right , but we're going to work very hard at that . We're willing to be married to the vision , but be willing to learn and grow and not be the only person that has a voice and want to be . You know , change the process as much as we need to change the process until it fits the vision and moves the ball down the field . Uh , you know , trying to hire people that are better than you . You're , you have this sense of you . Obviously , you've mentioned books that you've read , which I think is really important for people to understand , because you didn't have a process to model . I mean , in the Northwest you've got Dutch Bros .

Jeff Roberts 45:47

You've got this Seven Brew who's ?

Rhett 45:48

starting to come down this way too , which is kind of , in a sense , of what you're doing .

Rhett 45:52

It's in our territory , but you didn't have a lot of people you could look to . So you could look to . So you're . You're a learner . You know you're reading things and you're learning . People are mentoring you through the books that you're reading , because you're not just . You don't become this overnight . You don't become this naturally . So if you're listening and you're gathering all this , take note of the type of leader that it takes to be able to to create something , implement something not make it about you and watch it grow and flourish as you help pour into other people to see them flourish .

Justin 46:20

Yeah , that's what I'm hearing and you're maintaining your values , even the first two years , where you're kind of sure you're launching this , trying to figure everything out literally day by day , fifteen hours a day , six or seven days a week in the first couple of years .

Justin 46:40

But the value . Even though you are getting tired , you are working it , but you had a value that stuck with you the whole time . That it's like when this continues to build , it's based on this . When we bring in our first employee and me and Mo aren't doing all this , I mean it's going to carry this value . So you have retained a value with your company and now my goodness , I didn't know you're closing in on 100 employees .

Rhett 46:59

Yeah , that your company , and now my goodness , I didn't know you're closing in on 100 employees . Yeah , there has wild . Was there ever a moment where you were like , I mean , I know we mentioned the trailer , the truck part , and you're having that moment of what are we doing ? But you've had something to keep driving you , to move you forward . So what do you ? What do you look at on the days that you want to quit and you're like I just want to sell all this and just do something else ? I mean , like I'm sure you've had those moments All the time . I probably have that once a week . What keeps you in it ?

Jeff Roberts 47:21

That's what keeps you in it you know , get some rest , yeah , get some sleep , get up and reevaluate .

Rhett 47:29

Okay .

Jeff Roberts 47:30

Right . So I mean , really , don't make decisions when you're tired , don't make decisions when you're overwhelmed , don't make decisions when you're a little confused , right . So , just , man , take a timeout , get some sleep and then reevaluate it . And when I do that , I'm like , all right ,

Balancing Business, Marriage, and Parenthood

Jeff Roberts 47:49

let's keep going .

Jeff Roberts 47:49

But the discouragement is always there , right , like I mean , I had a very rough phone call yesterday , like , literally , I had to deal with a nightmare yesterday , and I mean even stuff like that . I'm like , oh , I need to be doing something else . Like this is not fun anymore , you know . And so that's a tired moment , that's a whatever . So today I feel great , you know , I was like , man , get some rest , get some sleep , get out of mobile , let's go to Birmingham , um , and I still have to deal with the situations , I still have to come back and figure something out .

Jeff Roberts 48:12

But it's like I didn't feel the same way today as I felt yesterday . Right yesterday , I of like , oh , let's just hang it up and do something else , you know . And so there's gotta be something deeper inside of you that saying , no , like we can , we can still do this , we can still push , we can still . And it's been exhausting . This has been the most tiring year I think of of the business , like it's been so many changes , so many , uh , projects that are just insanely intense . Um , it's been a lot insanely intense . Um , it's been a lot , it's been a lot . It's weird . It's like year number eight has been the most changes in the company we've ever had , you know , and so um so , with all with all that happening .

Rhett 48:46

you're a husband . Yeah , You're also a father . How many kids do you have now ? Four kids now .

Jeff Roberts 48:51

So my three-year-old wanted to fly up here with me .

Rhett 48:54

You know , if you're taking the airplane , I'm going , you know you know I say this kiddingly , I know we've got this relationship , but do they ? I know they know they have a dad , but most business owners and CEOs have a hard time being able to balance , oh , dude , leading a company , being a husband , having a healthy marriage and having healthy kids , and I know that's important to you . So how do you balance that , if you even do ?

Jeff Roberts 49:15

So it's it's hard to balance and I don't think I'm doing a great job now . So we'll go to the beach , we'll take our camper over to Panama City or something . I'm on the phone a lot and so it's funny you're asking this and I'm glad you are , because , if you're listening , it's something I think we all deal with and wrestle with . So I don't think I'm doing it great right now . So I'm I'm in the process of kind of reevaluating how much time I'm spending on the phone . I mean , when I showed up here , when we landed , I had a hundred texts and one of them was really important , so I had to take a moment just to respond to that because it just it had to be done , and so , um , yeah , I'm trying to get better about just putting my phone on do not disturb really spending quality time with my kids . We've been playing ultimate Frisbee in the front yard , so we started doing that , started our little family league you know , and so we're trying to do that .

Jeff Roberts 50:02

So obviously I'm not on my phone then . But , man , if I'm on the couch I'm on the phone . Like if I'm at the dinner table , I put my phone down , but like I'm , it's quick , Right , and so I'm not doing great there . So I really need to make some adjustments there . Marriage is tough man . So when you're married to your business partner , that gets very dicey , very dicey , Cause you're , you're mad at each other over something , some decision that got made that should have been communicated . I mean , Mo and I've had more fights , and God , I mean it'd be so much easier if we just worked a regular job , you know , and so . But then you , you go to bed with this person and you're like , well , I'm still married , but we're business partners . But this is weird and we're navigating that Right . So what's really cool is I met this guy a couple of weeks ago in Mobile who is amazing . He does like the cold bath things you guys seen that ?

Rhett 50:46

Oh yeah , he does .

Jeff Roberts 50:47

He does that crap . Yeah , he does breathing techniques which are wild . He did this breathing technique . My face went numb , like my . He was like , ah , it's great man , it's great , but he's also a licensed counselor . Okay , so it's awesome because next Wednesday , I think , mo and I are going to see him for marriage counseling .

Justin 51:03

And I just think it's not like we're you know what I mean .

Jeff Roberts 51:05

It's not like oh , we're about to get on the brink .

Rhett 51:08

Let me just say this with counseling , I wish I would have started counseling back when I not just what we're doing premarital , but like all the way through our marriage , because it's just like getting that old change . So I used to look at it as one of those things that , oh my God , you've got to be on the brinks of divorce to go to college , but no , no , man , it's like it's investing into your relationships and my relationship is important , it's the most and this isn't .

Rhett 51:34

This is just . I keep staying healthy , right , it's not because we have a lot of issues . I mean we do , if we're honest , but we're just working through things .

Justin 51:41

So when I hear you say that I don't think of it like you know , I just look at investment . You can be proactive what you're doing , you can be reactive or you be radioactive .

Rhett 51:50

And a lot of people wait for radioactivity to happen .

Justin 51:53

You're jumping on the front end of this , probably between proactive and reactive , and to the business , and that's awesome . So yeah , next week marriage counseling , jump right in .

Jeff Roberts 52:03

I'm so excited Like I can't even tell you , and I booked it so a lot of times , you know , the woman is like , hey man , like it's really going bad , and the husband's like , oh , I'm not going in this crap , you know . So I'm the one that initiated , booked it . I'm like this will be amazing Cause , cause I know we can always be better . You know what I mean ? I mean Mo and I got in a tiff yesterday , right , it was just a little like she was mad , cause she felt like I was distracted , which I was , but I had so much on my plate , so she called me a little upset and I was like let me tell you what I mean .

Jeff Roberts 52:35

So that , weirdness , you know , and that that that's never fun you know , but it's like I know there's better ways that we can have conflict , and so , um , yeah , and just maintenance on the marriage , you know , and just really staying strong . And I like what this guy says . So this guy's named Scott and he said Jeff . He said , um , he said most people need the counseling really in this time , right , cause you're in your mid life , you have young kids , you have the most stress you ever do in your in your life and you have older parents that you're trying to navigate that and figure that out with . And I'm like , oh he goes , dude , I wish everyone came to counseling , cause he goes , especially in this season you know like early season's kind of easy .

Jeff Roberts 53:11

The later years , if you do things right , you know , kind of chill . This is the most stressful . And he was like man , you need a coach come and do some of this stuff . And I was like well , sign me up , you know so wonderful , we're excited .

Rhett 53:22

Well , I know how stressful it was to leave a church , even with what we were doing , and feeling like I was getting hounded on all fronts and having to work , you know , seven days a week if you will , and not get a day off , and even not even know how to rest If , given a day off , I don't even know how to rest in the day off .

Justin 53:36

Like , and they're just like what do you enjoy for fun .

Rhett 53:38

Rhett , I'm like I don't know , I guess church stuff , I mean , I don't know , you know , and and it led to a season of burnout for me to where it was just like . I mean , you know , we've mentioned that in past episodes and and I can only imagine portion of getting me healthy again and getting me back to a place .

Jeff Roberts 54:00

Was this the church you launched ?

Rhett 54:01

Yeah , the church we launched .

Jeff Roberts 54:02

So you kind of went through burnout in that .

Rhett 54:04

Oh , 100% , Wow , 100% . And I listened to your story and even with you know , I had 100 texts and I know you're not making that up , because I saw you and I saw your texts just blowing up no-transcript . You know , I want to see this thing go and continue to grow on . You know , go on , grow on if you will . How ?

Justin 54:33

about that .

Jeff Roberts 54:34

Yeah , there you go , you there you go , you guys are , you guys are too much in the church world . Man , come on , hey , no , man , you know come on .

Justin 54:42

It's a creative dude . You and me , we're the creatives though we're . We're all three creatives around this table .

Jeff Roberts 54:48

Put me in the go track . Put me in next steps .

Justin 54:51

You're always welcome , jeff . What do you call it refuge ? What do you call your infuse ? Put me in infuse . Dude , I'm signing up right now . You are always welcome . You guys can't see this Standing invitation , you guys ?

Jeff Roberts 55:02

can't see it because you're listening , but I'm signing my Infuse form right now .

Rhett 55:05

So I signed up for that . I'm on next steps . It's leadership training . I'm in your track .

Justin 55:13

I just signed up . All hammer here , it's going to be great .

Rhett 55:16

But you know , I know you kid around with all that , but at the same time , what I'm hearing you say as far as just the development of your company , it's amazing how you've implemented type leadership .

Jeff Roberts 55:24

It really is man .

Rhett 55:25

No , it's good stuff , we were watching your I thought it was entering , we were watching one of your videos and you've got this thing like a culture card .

Jeff Roberts 55:35

Yeah , talk to me about a culture . So we , we were like , let's have good culture , and I'm doing air quotes , I know you can't see . So , air quotes , let's have good culture , right . What does that mean ? Like , what are we talking about here ? I don't know , dude , just a good vibes . Okay , what does that mean ? I don't know man , just go fly high , hammer down . Like I don't know , do something , right .

Jeff Roberts 55:55

So that was our first attempt to putting like language around how we operate , how we work , how we think , like what we do . So we printed 56 cards in like a card deck and so that was kind of our like and we printed a couple hundred boxes and we just handed them out to our team members . Like , read that . And so the cool thing is it gives us something to go by , right ? If someone is not living by a culture card , anybody on the team , like a barista , could come up to me and be like hey man , culture card number 37 . Like I just didn't feel like you were and I'm like , bro , you're right . Like I mean , I get called out . Like what I tell my team is I have an unlimited amount of apologies , like unlimited . Like I will . I say I'm sorry a ton , right . So someone's like hey , I just didn't feel like dude , I'm really sorry , man , like I can definitely get better at that , and so it put language in like something like substance around what we actually meant when we say healthy culture , and so that was our first attempt .

Jeff Roberts 56:54

This year . We've actually rolled out some deeper stuff that I'm really so . We've transitioned . We did an eight-month Sam actually led this . I didn't even initiate this . So my regional manager said , hey , um , I want to do something . I want to change the way we're interacting with our customers . I was like , okay , that sounds awesome . He goes , I want to systemize . He used this term .

Sneak Peak of E39 - Jeff Roberts (Part 2)

Justin 57:14

He said I want to systemize On the next episode of Armchair Authentic , part two of our conversation with Jeff Roberts , co-founder of Yellowhammer .

Jeff Roberts 57:21

Coffee . You don't have to reinvent . You . Look at the best Walt Disney . Disney says we hire friendly people and we make them Disney people . So at Yellowhammer , we hire friendly people and we make them Yellowhammer people . It's good , it's so . It's so simple . It's really not rocket science .

Rhett 57:35

I'm pushing back a little bit . People can put on and pretend to be friendly .

Jeff Roberts 57:39

Oh bro .

Rhett 57:40

How do you see through it ? Is there a way to push those buttons ?

Jeff Roberts 57:42

Well , you can't see through it in an interview . Okay , we've had phenomenal interviews and then they get hired and our managers go oh my gosh , like they did not . This is not what I saw . It's very easy , it's very easy .

Justin 58:11

It's part of the process . It's part of the process so , as they're running through the now very structured training program , they're just like

Yellowhammer Coffee Spotlight

Justin 58:16

hey , like we're not cutting taste buds to a cup of Yellow Hammer Coffee . You can order a subscription at yellowhammercoffeecom and they'll ship it straight to you . And , as usual

Reach Out To Us: Info@ArmchairAuthentic.com

Justin 58:27

, you can reach out to us if you have any questions or comments at info at armchairauthenticcom . Until next time , have a great week .