1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,380 Hello everyone and welcome to the Within Range Coaching podcast. I'm Ranger, certified holistic 2 00:00:10,380 --> 00:00:15,520 success coach. And in this podcast, I'm breaking down the journey that entrepreneurs face as 3 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:19,980 they start their organization, find solutions to the roadblocks in their way and create 4 00:00:19,980 --> 00:00:26,020 an impact that lasts. So if you're an entrepreneur, nonprofit leader or purpose driven community 5 00:00:26,020 --> 00:00:30,360 member that wants to learn how to grow your impact and develop yourself as the person 6 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:35,600 behind the mission, then this podcast is for you. I know you're just as eager to get started 7 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:44,200 as I am. So let's jump right in. Good morning, good afternoon and good evening, everybody. 8 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:49,800 And welcome to today's episode of the Within Range Coaching podcast. And I have a treat 9 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:56,400 for you guys, literally and figuratively, I guess. Continuing on with my walk across America 10 00:00:56,400 --> 00:01:01,440 journey, again, highlighting entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders and amazing community members 11 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:08,040 that are making a difference in their areas and just kind of showcasing that talent can 12 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:15,280 come from anywhere and that anybody can do amazing things. And today's story, it's one 13 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:20,680 of those, again, making a connection with people that I never would have had I not been 14 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:25,760 walking across the country. So on one of my very last days of being in Little Rock in 15 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:32,440 Arkansas, I was trying to brave the elements, it was raining a little bit outside. And I 16 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:37,720 crossed the road and ended up next to a little shopping center. And there were two little 17 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:44,040 businesses that caught my eye. The first one is called Cheesecake on Point. I was like, 18 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:49,560 oh, a little cheesecake shop. How neat. And as I turned to start walking in, I saw that 19 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:54,720 there was another business right next door, a little pizza joint. And I said, no way, 20 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:58,160 I'm going to get some pizza, I'm going to get some cheesecake, I'm going to build up 21 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:04,240 those calories and try something good as I make my way to my hotel for the night. And 22 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:08,360 as I was walking up, one of the gentlemen in the pizza shop stopped me and said, wait 23 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:12,640 a second, are you the guy I saw on the news earlier? I was like, I sure hope so. I hope 24 00:02:12,640 --> 00:02:18,080 there's nobody else walking across the country that was on the news recently. And I struck 25 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:24,240 up a conversation with them. And we are able to chat with them even more today. The pizza 26 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:30,560 joint that I was stopped by is called Certified Pies over in Little Rock, Arkansas. And today 27 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:36,600 we're joined by Craig Stewart, Samantha Stewart and Harlam Wilson, the owners of the pizza 28 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:41,000 joint. Guys, thank you so much for joining me today and taking time out of your schedule 29 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:47,440 to hang out. Hey, thanks for having us. Thanks for having us, Ranger. Of course. Yeah. Would 30 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:51,560 you guys mind? And right now it's just Craig and Samantha. It sounds like Harlam's doing 31 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:55,720 some inventory and he'll pop in from time to time. But could you guys share a little 32 00:02:55,720 --> 00:03:01,320 bit about yourselves and what your intention for today's episode is? Yeah. So my name is 33 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:08,400 Samantha Stewart and next to me is my husband, Craig Stewart. We are obviously married and 34 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:18,160 we own Certified Pies. We're located in West Little Rock. Our address is 9807 West Markham. 35 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:26,200 We started our business in 2020 during the pandemic. We built that up. We just operated 36 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:32,640 on weekends at first and tried to build up a following and a clientele and perfect our 37 00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:40,680 product. And then in September of 2023, we opened our brick and mortar. So we were able 38 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:48,040 to grow our business from just weekends and deliveries and pickups into a full service 39 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:54,880 restaurant, brick and mortar that we're now open seven days a week. So I think our intentions 40 00:03:54,880 --> 00:04:01,280 is just to be able to share maybe a little bit more about our story and inspire the next 41 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:07,560 person that is interested in creating the business. I love that. And I feel like that's 42 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:12,720 really what I kind of want to hone in on for a second is I feel like a lot of people, I 43 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:15,920 just got off of another, I was guessing on a different podcast and that was something 44 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:19,600 that we talked about a little bit is the like excuses or reasons that people come up with 45 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:23,960 as to why they can't do certain things. What I think right there is so valuable is what 46 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:27,520 I've heard from other people is, oh, I want to start a restaurant or I want to start a 47 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:32,480 business, but I can't go into it full time. I can't do 40 hours a week. I can't do Monday 48 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:36,520 through Friday. And we guys just kind of said there was you're you're kind of bootstrapping 49 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:41,360 it. You're doing it just on weekends, just doing what you can. And I did a couple of 50 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:45,400 Google searches, like looking into you guys a little bit more. And it looks like you guys 51 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:51,440 started out of I don't know how to pronounce like Arkansas kitchen or art kitchen. Can 52 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:56,120 you talk a little bit about that that business incubator, which it's a communal kitchen for 53 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:59,960 small businesses to use? Right. Can you talk about your experience there? 54 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:09,040 Yeah. Well, I mean, yeah, we basically started our well, our intentions really were to do 55 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:13,680 meal prep out of that space. We had no plans on doing pizza at first, believe it or not. 56 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:23,960 I really we really shifted our whole goal or business idea to pizza in the summer of 57 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:31,520 2020. On my birthday, actually, Harlem actually made me a pizza, a birthday pizza, basically, 58 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:36,840 I had been begging him for years to make me any of his versions of pizza, because he was 59 00:05:36,840 --> 00:05:41,960 just making pizzas, sub sandwiches, pastas, just all kind of good food over the internet, 60 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:48,520 and I could never get any. And finally, one day he took pity on me. He said, You know 61 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:52,160 what, I'm gonna make you a pizza for your birthday. So believe it or not, we were 62 00:05:52,160 --> 00:06:00,840 actually podcasting that day. So we did our podcast. He made the dough from scratch. Let 63 00:06:00,840 --> 00:06:05,880 it sit and we went and recorded our podcast for a second, about an hour or two came back. 64 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:11,120 And I just watched him make it. And I tell everybody when I tell this story, like when 65 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:16,160 I bit into that pizza, it was like a light bulb went off in my head and something was 66 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:23,120 just telling me like, Hey, you need to switch to doing this pizza. And it was really great 67 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:29,120 pizza. It was like something that I had I hadn't tasted in Arkansas. Like I was in, I 68 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:36,080 would say we are avid pizza eaters, you know, and we try pizza from around the area. And 69 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:40,600 it's all good. It's not that it's not bad or good or anything. It was just this was 70 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:47,720 different. And I just looked at Sam and I looked at Harlem. I was like, y'all I don't 71 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:52,640 know, man. I was like, do y'all I think we should partner up and do something with this 72 00:06:52,640 --> 00:07:00,400 pizza. And we all sat on it and talked about it over the weekend and came back together. 73 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:07,240 And literally that Monday, we sat on the couch and started naming pizzas and what we 74 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:13,240 wanted. And it just grew from there literally from the couch to now we're in our brick 75 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:18,240 and mortar three years later. I mean, AR kitchen was definitely the incubator for 76 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:25,200 everything that we had to get started. I will say it definitely gave us the the trial 77 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:33,120 and error phase as far as being able to see if your product is sustainable. Do people 78 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:38,960 want it? Is it their demand for it? And we just did it on the weekends and we stayed 79 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:45,240 consistent with it. And people kept showing up. I always tell them every time I get if 80 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:50,720 y'all keep coming, we'll keep going. And every weekend we showed up and more and more 81 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:56,080 people just started spreading the word and spreading the word. And it was just it was 82 00:07:56,080 --> 00:08:02,000 nice to start in a space where it wasn't so much overhead. You don't have the 83 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:09,840 electricity, the water, everything's not on you per se to get started. But it 84 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:15,280 definitely helped us and to prepare for our full service restaurant for sure. 85 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:20,600 Yeah, Arkansas is a little different. We don't have cottage laws that allow people 86 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:27,560 to cook hot food like out of their homes. So when when we got with our kitchen, we 87 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:32,240 that was like a commercial kitchen space that we could get license in and rent out 88 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:39,080 versus us having again, the overhead, trying to find a space and also, you know, 89 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:42,920 knowing that if we had a more of a brick and mortar, especially during the 90 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:49,800 pandemic time where you couldn't dine in, that was just a lot of extra expense that 91 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:53,960 we didn't necessarily need, especially if we were like, I was still working full 92 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:59,520 time. Harlem was still working full time. He was still working. So like the 93 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:06,040 weekends was our chance to, you know, get that done. And so it, it did kind of give 94 00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:12,880 us a little bit of a cushion where we could do work, support ourselves, and 95 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:17,920 then create the business on the weekend. And, you know, put our efforts and energy 96 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:24,440 into into that, you know, solely solely on the weekends. And so yeah, it was it 97 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:30,320 was great for us at the time. And we grew out of it. And, you know, it, but it did 98 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:35,920 allow us to, you know, perfect our product, you know, really, you know, make 99 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:40,440 sure like what we were offering was something worth paying for. allowed us to 100 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:44,640 build up that customer base because this was something new. So, you know, 101 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:47,720 everybody wants to try out when it's new, but like, do they come back? Like we 102 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:53,520 want to make sure that people, you know, come back for the product. And just 103 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:59,080 figuring out all the things with, you know, business ownership. So it was good 104 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:01,640 for us to use that as a stepping stone. 105 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:05,400 Yeah, and I think that's so important, like these entrepreneur support 106 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:09,120 organizations, these ESOs, like our kitchen, which I saw you guys did a 107 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:12,480 little bit of work with the venture center in Little Rock too recently, or 108 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:15,840 you're partnering with them, you're one of your wing days, I think 109 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:21,960 organizations like that, that kind of help you limit risk early on, like you 110 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:25,720 said, so you can take that initial step, figure out if it's a good product, 111 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:29,520 figure out if people want it, like you said, is this just new and exciting? Or 112 00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:32,640 is this something that's sustainable, that's going to have that following in 113 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:37,520 that community behind it. And what I've noticed about you guys on your social 114 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:45,760 media, you have like what 16, 17,000 people or so that follow on socials. How 115 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:49,920 are you guys able to build that following like through COVID, like one 116 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:55,320 survive COVID, starting during the pandemic, it sounds like, and kind of 117 00:10:55,320 --> 00:10:58,760 build that following to the point that you have so much interaction, you have 118 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:03,280 this following on social media that's from, I don't know, from the outside 119 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:04,960 looking in looks extremely supportive. 120 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:11,080 I've always been an advocate about I want people to see our story from the 121 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:18,560 beginning, like to the end. So I will always take videos, go live, Samantha 122 00:11:18,560 --> 00:11:22,240 and Harlan get tired of me because I go live and I take videos off somebody 123 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:27,960 because I just, it's an experience not only for us, but for our customers as 124 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:32,760 well that do spend their hard earned money, they do come from out of state or 125 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:38,640 in state or wherever they come from to come here. And it's because of those 126 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:44,040 stories that I feel like when I go live and I'm transparent with our customers 127 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:50,400 about, hey, we went through, we're going through this today, not just talking 128 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:54,920 about what we're serving, but literally telling them, hey, I had a bad day, like 129 00:11:54,920 --> 00:12:00,400 today was not a good day. We didn't make that bunch of a lot of money. Hey, we're 130 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:04,240 going to keep going, we're going to be, we're going to get better, we're going 131 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:09,880 to keep focusing on the positive versus just always just showing product. I try 132 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:15,680 to show ourselves and make people fall in love with not only our product, but 133 00:12:15,680 --> 00:12:20,880 us as well as people and know that, hey, I'm just a guy that had a goal and a 134 00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:26,160 dream just like anybody else. And I really want to try to see us from the 135 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:31,880 beginning to where we are now with where we're at and how far we've come. And 136 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:37,080 that's when my goal this whole time is to just be as open as possible about just 137 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:40,760 the whole entire situation, everything that we go through on a day to day 138 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:49,560 basis. So I think that really touches people in a different way versus them 139 00:12:49,560 --> 00:12:53,640 just seeing a product, a pizza, because you can get a pizza from anywhere, you 140 00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:59,040 know what I'm saying? You can get a, you can't. But what makes a difference is I 141 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:02,760 think people know that like we're married, that we know that they see our 142 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:07,160 son in here sometimes and they'll speak and say, hey, KJ, you know, because 143 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:10,400 they'll see him on video and it'll shock him because they're like, how do they 144 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:15,680 know my name? I'm telling you, son, they saw you on live, you know. So it's just 145 00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:20,120 little stuff like that that you probably don't get to see from those big 146 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:24,080 franchises like McDonald's or, you know, those bigger companies that don't let 147 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:29,120 you in through the back door. And I just try to get people to inside peak on who 148 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:31,160 we are as people and how we operate. 149 00:13:32,560 --> 00:13:36,120 Yeah, because I was going to say you're you're as his personalities or whoever 150 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:41,880 manages social media account, like your personality is in the page. Even just 151 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:46,040 scrolling through it, like you're posting like memes and jokes and you're like 152 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:49,520 playing with customers like in your customers play back. Like, you know, 153 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:53,960 play back like there's like, what is it? There's one was like, oh, like this 154 00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:58,320 pizza needs to come with a nutrition label or something for like, I was like, 155 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:01,760 I don't think I've ever seen somebody make silly jokes like that with like 156 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:05,800 Domino's like, you know, like, nobody's going to see these other cut these big 157 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:09,520 chain corporations, which again, they're still good. They're still pizza, like 158 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:13,360 pizzas, pizzas, right. But like your guys is personality and what you guys be able 159 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:16,840 to cultivate online, I think is very unique. And I think it's a lesson that a 160 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:21,200 lot of people can learn from what you guys are doing kind of replicate that 161 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:21,720 almost. 162 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:26,320 Yeah, I think most you know, people that are even interested in business 163 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:30,320 ownership, like we said, they just see a business pop up like out of nowhere, 164 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:35,320 you know. And, you know, we've been real vocal as far as like, even when we were 165 00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:39,280 looking for spaces outside of the space that we're in right now, like we would 166 00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:46,160 go and we would talk about that process of going to a empty, you know, space and 167 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:50,480 then trying to figure out whether this was going to work or not for us. You know, 168 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:55,040 is the location good? Is it, you know, is it going to have enough parking? Is it, 169 00:14:55,040 --> 00:15:01,000 you know, just all of those small minor details? You know, we was, you know, 170 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:04,960 communicating and we would even have people send us like places like, Hey, did 171 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:09,320 you see this this spot? Or Hey, did you see that, you know, this this business is 172 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:14,320 moving or closing? Um, I mean, because during that time, there was a lot of a 173 00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:19,000 lot of restaurants were, you know, closing down. Um, and so, you know, 174 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:25,560 people felt empowered to be able to give us this information or connect us with, 175 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:31,240 you know, with with different different people. But, um, you know, sharing that 176 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:37,840 journey does build a bond with your with your customer and your your clientele. 177 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:42,800 And you want loyalty, like you want loyal followers. So we had people, but 178 00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:47,000 there was a short period from when we stopped serving out of the kitchen until 179 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:55,640 we opened this space because we we had to really focus on the new space versus 180 00:15:55,640 --> 00:16:02,040 operating. And, you know, we had people tell us like, I didn't eat no pizza 181 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:07,640 from, you know, when y'all stopped until y'all opened back up because I just 182 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:13,840 felt like I was cheating like or it just wasn't the same, you know. And I 183 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:17,400 mean, and then we've had people that say, well, I did, you know, I had I went 184 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:23,000 out and it just it just wasn't right. You know, so much like, you know, you 185 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:27,120 see these people leave, you know, reviews or, you know, like I said, 186 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:33,720 they'll tag us in random stuff. But that's, that's part of it. Like we enjoy 187 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:37,160 we enjoy that interaction with the customer just as much as we enjoy, you 188 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:42,840 know, seeing them come into the store and other people telling our story. So 189 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:48,080 because they have their version of how they found us. Like I remember when we 190 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:52,360 was pulling around to the back of the building, and, you know, where I could 191 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:54,960 only get it through DoorDash, or I could only get it, you know, through 192 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:58,960 delivery and only during these certain times, but I would tell everybody about 193 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:04,640 it. So, you know, everybody has their their version of either how they got 194 00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:08,880 the how they found us. And you know, how they share our business to their 195 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:13,760 friends and family. And I think we enjoy we enjoy those stories just as much as 196 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:16,600 you know, we enjoy sharing how we actually did it. 197 00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:20,120 And that's what I've noticed even with my journey of you know, my with my walk 198 00:17:20,120 --> 00:17:24,240 is it's one thing to share, you know, all the good things are, oh, here's the 199 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:28,000 sights and the pretty things I see in this and that. But sharing the 200 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:33,520 struggles sharing the issues that come up, the worries, the concerns, I think 201 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:37,200 that's what kind of creates that what the difference between like a follower 202 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:41,240 and a supporter, or maybe it's vice versa, I don't know how to describe it 203 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:45,240 just yet. But there, when other people that aren't directly doing the thing 204 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:49,480 you're doing feel like they're a part of that community, it's a literal 205 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:54,120 game changer in how they interact with you how they tell people about you. And 206 00:17:54,120 --> 00:17:58,520 I think that's that's the difference between having what a million followers 207 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:04,000 and like 50,000 supporters, right? Like they're invested in it in some way. 208 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:11,720 So yeah, I try to tell all my restaurant friends to get on social media, engage 209 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:16,880 with the people, let them know that you're out here, post all the photos 210 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:20,960 that you're scared to post. They don't have to be perfect. My mom wasn't 211 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:25,520 perfect or they still aren't perfect as me. But I just you just continue to 212 00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:31,680 post and you continue to just reach your customer base, find out, you'll find the 213 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:34,920 people that really want to support you, you just got to be able to be willing to 214 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:37,760 put yourself out there. That's really it. 215 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:45,080 Yeah, be willing to like what imperfect action is, I don't know, better than 216 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:48,480 nothing. No action. You're right. Yeah, for sure. 217 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:55,160 Okay, people like human like, yes, people, people, social media makes you, you 218 00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:57,880 know, it, I don't know, it has that kind of 219 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:06,400 unreal expectation. Sometimes people are faking or whatever. But people really do 220 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:11,480 want that human humanness out of what they see, you know, on social media. So 221 00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:18,160 like, they know we're real people in the community. People tag us and they see our 222 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:22,760 vehicle because we have our logos on our on our vehicles. And I mean, we could be 223 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:26,320 dropping the kids off and they're like, I've seen certified five struts. Oh my 224 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:30,920 god, you know, and I'm like, I'm just, I'm going to get coffee, guys. Like, you 225 00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:36,160 know, it's just like, I'm doing regular stuff. And people are excited to see that 226 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:40,960 driving down the same street that I'm driving down, like it's, it's, it's fun. 227 00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:44,960 It's fun for people to, you know, interact with us interact with us that 228 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:47,200 way, just because they know that will respond. 229 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:51,880 Yeah. And I think that's a funny thing, too, is what I've noticed is, people are 230 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:57,680 very forgiving of individuals making mistakes or not being perfect. And then as 231 00:19:57,680 --> 00:20:00,320 soon as it's like a business page or something like there's like that 232 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:03,840 expectation, like you're that unrealistic innovation to everything has to be 233 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:07,320 perfect. And if there's one thing that's wrong, they're going to get slammed, 234 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:11,920 they're going to do whatever. And what I think, basically, what I'm hearing from 235 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:17,920 you guys is highlight the people behind what's going on, like, hey, we're humans 236 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:21,880 too. We're people too. We're in the community. We're basically the same thing, 237 00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:28,800 right? We just so happen to have really good pizza at this location. So I think 238 00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:33,760 that's, again, injecting that personality and sharing the humanness behind the 239 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:36,400 journey is what connects people the most. 240 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:39,840 You know, I guess in the restaurant industry, especially like we see so many 241 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:43,760 people that come in that, you know, obviously, they don't look like us. And 242 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:48,720 that's perfectly fine. Like, it's, it's, it's a joy to see my dining room full of 243 00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:55,520 a variety of people, families, kids, older, you know, couples, groups, we 244 00:20:55,520 --> 00:21:03,000 have, we've had schools come and bring buses of kids. And, you know, each, each, 245 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:06,720 each day is different and filled with different people, different types of 246 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:14,000 people. But I think our goal to have that diamond is to is to bring that together. 247 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:20,040 Like everybody can come sit at a table and enjoy food. That is a commonality 248 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:25,120 that no matter what you look like, no matter what your background is, or what 249 00:21:25,120 --> 00:21:29,080 you did, everybody likes good food. And everybody's going to come in and have a 250 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:32,160 good time or enjoy themselves at least while they're here. 251 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:36,480 Yeah, kind of the concept of like, don't build with success, don't build a wall, 252 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:40,520 build a longer table. Like, everybody's welcome. Everybody can come, everybody 253 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:44,280 can hang out. Like, if you like pizza and community, this is this is where you want 254 00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:44,600 to go. 255 00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:46,520 It's a commonality. Yeah. 256 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:47,080 Yeah. 257 00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:54,000 Hey, listeners, if you're finding this episode thought provoking, and you're 258 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:57,320 wondering how to take what you've learned and your own experiences to help others, 259 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:01,440 I'd love to chat with you. Let's dive into a coaching call. And your first one 260 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:05,160 is on me. Just head over to the link in the show notes labeled coaching call 261 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:08,840 interest form, and we'll set up a time that works for both of us. I can't wait 262 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:09,360 to connect. 263 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:17,160 There's something I want to ask you guys. So you guys have mentioned before in 264 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:20,760 other interviews, and I think even the first time that we met that you guys are 265 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:27,760 the first black owned pizza joint in Arkansas. As far as I know. And can you 266 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:33,280 just explain I guess I what is the significance of that for you guys? Why is 267 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:37,320 that something to be proud of? Why is that something that you talk about? Like 268 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:40,840 what's what's the significance of that for you guys? 269 00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:45,760 Um, I think for us, I mean, the statistics, you know, really show that 270 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:52,520 minorities don't really own businesses. And even me growing up, we weren't 271 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:56,080 really we were taught to just be workforces, right? Like just to, you know, 272 00:22:56,080 --> 00:23:00,520 you want to get a job and, you know, work a nine to five so you can, you 273 00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:06,520 know, do all these things. Um, like entrepreneurship wasn't really taught in 274 00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:12,600 in our generation, at least for me. And it's something that we want to 275 00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:17,840 showcase, like that you don't have to, you know, just play the status quo. If 276 00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:23,160 you have an idea and you want to see it executed, you can do it like, you know, 277 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:27,840 and, and also just changing, changing in your business pivoting, we, you know, 278 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:31,440 again, like Craig said, originally, like our idea was like a meal prep business. 279 00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:35,760 And then we started to really like dive into how much that was going to cost and 280 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:39,400 all the food and all the things. And we're like, man, that's gonna be a really 281 00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:44,160 tough journey. But then Harlem came in, and that light bulb went off for all of 282 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:48,440 us, like, this is the direction we need to take this. And then look at us now. 283 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:53,960 So it just, you know, took that dedication. So I think we want to be that 284 00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:59,480 visual representation is why it's really important for us. And, you know, we said 285 00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:03,400 that, yes, we are the first, you know, black owned pizza company that we built. 286 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:08,880 There's other, there have been other black business owners that have gone 287 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:14,840 through a franchise or may have owned a business, you know, whether they sold 288 00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:21,720 pizza or other things, there's more than one way to own a business or to be that 289 00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:27,880 in the community. So our purpose in saying that we are the first is that we 290 00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:32,280 built it like we built our brand, we built our products, we built our menu 291 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:39,800 items, and everything, you know, that we are we share, and in hopes that one day 292 00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:46,760 we decide to maybe, you know, do be that franchisor where, you know, we have other 293 00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:49,640 buildings or other people that want to replicate what we're doing. 294 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:55,920 Yeah. So a lot of it is really being like that, that mentor that I guess ideation 295 00:24:55,920 --> 00:25:01,240 of like, hey, like it is possible. Here's the proof. We did it started from 296 00:25:01,360 --> 00:25:05,880 literally the ground up. I think just I think that's the other good thing to 297 00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:10,040 highlight too, is that this wasn't even the original idea that you were able to 298 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:14,800 take an idea that came from another idea and something you were already taking 299 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:18,840 action on and able to make that pivot into something that has all these 300 00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:23,760 followers that has a brick and mortar that has this community in this, I guess, 301 00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:28,040 I guess a mission that really stands for something more than just the pies in 302 00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:28,560 front of you. 303 00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:35,480 I'll tell you a story, Ranger. Back, I would say 2017. Was it 2017? Yes, a lady 304 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:41,880 messaged me and she was saw my food on Instagram. And she was like, do you 305 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:45,840 offer meal prep services? And I was like, No, I've never even thought about 306 00:25:46,360 --> 00:25:49,480 cooking food for anybody. She was 307 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:54,200 set the stage. So he was a truck driver at the time, on the road all the time. 308 00:25:54,200 --> 00:26:01,880 I was working, we had just had our son. And we were trying to eat better, cook 309 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:08,840 healthier, because like we are just, we were going nonstop. And so it was like, 310 00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:14,240 we've got to do something. So, you know, we were crafting these healthier meals 311 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:18,040 so he could take on the road with him. And I would have something at the house. 312 00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:22,360 And it was just like that was, we were just cooking for ourselves. It was 313 00:26:22,360 --> 00:26:26,200 in, you know, he got to posting it on Instagram, and then this lady reached 314 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:27,200 out. So 315 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:34,280 he messaged me and she was willing to pay me $200. And I was like, I was 316 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:38,320 shocked at the time. I was like, let me talk to my wife and I'll let you know, 317 00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:41,000 if this is something I want to do. And I was like, baby, she's willing to pay me 318 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:46,520 $200 to make her some food. Do you think I should do it? She's like, Yeah, I 319 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:51,240 mean, why not? Let's try it out and see. So I was like, do you mind if I 320 00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:56,320 was like, do my literally my first customer. And from there, it just 321 00:26:56,320 --> 00:27:02,480 sparked this fire in me to be like, I found something that I was passionate 322 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:06,480 about for one, but then I found something where I was like, I feel like 323 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:11,320 I'm finding myself, you know, a little bit outside of my regular norm of being 324 00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:17,680 the truck driver. And I've always had this, I don't know, learning to be an 325 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:25,480 entrepreneur in my life. And I just never knew how to get there. Or the 326 00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:31,220 path. And it's in with cooking, it gave me the opportunity to be able to 327 00:27:31,220 --> 00:27:37,960 showcase my, my talent outside of what everybody I guess knew me for, which 328 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:46,280 was just a truck driver. And that passion really just fuel our spark into 329 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:51,240 all I would say we went for three years just doing meal prep out of our home 330 00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:59,760 until we graduated to the AR kitchen. And our total intention was to go in a 331 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:04,320 our kitchen doing meal prep all the way up until my birthday when I tasted that 332 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:10,640 pizza. And it was just like I said, a light bulb went off and I'm very, very 333 00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:19,320 uh, thankful that Harlem and Samantha really supported the my vision as far as 334 00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:23,760 because I'm the one that really pushed the idea onto them to be like, Hey, 335 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:28,400 y'all, I think this might be where we want to go. Harlem wasn't even a part of 336 00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:33,240 the company. He was just my friend. My brother, he's just my friend from the 337 00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:39,720 outside making me a pizza. And he just from day one never, never was never 338 00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:47,080 denied the idea of certified pies just always have been supportive of the 339 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:55,320 journey. And just having my back, I will say and each other's back during this 340 00:28:55,320 --> 00:29:04,240 whole time, the transition to AR kitchen to now and without that support, 341 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:10,840 without their support, I definitely couldn't, we couldn't be where we are 342 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:17,480 today without that. But everything, I'm definitely thankful for them to 343 00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:24,520 Yeah, no, I think that's I always think those are so cool. Like how that one 344 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:28,960 message changed so much very much like the butterfly effect, the ripple effect, 345 00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:33,240 whatever you want to call it. And it led us to where we are now with the three of 346 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:37,440 you brick and mortar shop serving people, you know, having these different 347 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:42,600 experiences for folks. And the question I want to ask you is about that the 348 00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:46,240 partnership that the three of you have, like there's a there's a couple 349 00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:50,160 different dynamics here. And I tell me if I'm accurately there's the married 350 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:54,400 couple, the friends, the partner, the business partners, like I want to know 351 00:29:54,400 --> 00:30:01,640 how that works. But then it also kind of sounds like there's kind of what the 352 00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:06,400 the visionary, the operator and the talent is kind of how I'm seeing it 353 00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:10,040 almost. Like, is that is that accurate that there's like, you all bring 354 00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:14,360 something different to the table? Yeah, it's not just that's my wife, or that's 355 00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:17,480 my husband, obviously, we're going to go into it together. It's like you all 356 00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:20,480 bring different talents and different aspects to the business. Like, can you 357 00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:24,320 talk a little bit about that? What I'm curious about is the dynamic that all 358 00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:28,760 three of you have. Because I feel like something that a lot of entrepreneurs or 359 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:32,440 business owners, nonprofit, whatever, they think, oh, I'm going to start this 360 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:36,320 business with my husband, just because he's my husband, or I'm going to start 361 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:39,240 it with my best friend just because they're my best friend. And it sounds 362 00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:42,760 like what you guys have is more so everybody brings something different to 363 00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:47,400 the table. And just from what the conversation I've had so far with Craig 364 00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:52,920 and Samantha, is it's like the visionary, the operator and the talent, and you all 365 00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:57,640 bring something different. So what I was curious about is how that dynamic has 366 00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:01,080 worked for you guys, how it's evolved over time, if you guys can just kind of 367 00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:05,360 speak to everything that everybody brings to the table to make certified 368 00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:06,520 pies a success. 369 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:11,800 I'll tell you this is better to have three heads working in one. Sam is real 370 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:15,600 good at numbers, Craig is real good at the physical thing, I'm real good at 371 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:22,040 doing the thing and it all mesh as well. Um, it's it's kind of that's a loaded 372 00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:23,160 question. It's a good question. 373 00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:28,200 I threw a lot at you guys right there. Yeah, it's hard to explain on my I 374 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:31,920 don't sell mine in because you know, before this I was actually like I worked 375 00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:36,640 in the library for 15 years. And yeah, linked up with him. He was like, we 376 00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:43,840 should be selling this, you know, and doing it. And I never I never thought to 377 00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:50,280 put into a plan of action like that. It took them having the speed like foods to 378 00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:55,200 be able to, okay, this can be a thing. If they answer the question, I'm sorry for 379 00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:55,880 doing this. 380 00:31:57,240 --> 00:32:02,880 Yeah, it sounds like all the ingredients were there. Right. I mean, ingredients 381 00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:07,680 pun intended for sure. Right. Everybody had like, I don't know, but the basics 382 00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:11,720 of a pizza like the the the dough was in one spot, the sauce was in another the 383 00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:15,640 cheese was over here. But it wasn't until you started kind of putting them 384 00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:19,440 together that they all really started to match like second to third place. 385 00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:23,880 So it's like a mesh like separately, you don't really have that vision for what 386 00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:27,960 it could be all together. But once you know, when when that woman reached out 387 00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:33,200 to you, Craig about doing the meal prep and being a business, right. And then I'm 388 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:37,240 sure once Samantha saw that and was like, Oh, wait a second, let's look at the 389 00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:40,760 numbers. I don't know, I'm just making things up, obviously. And then bringing 390 00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:44,200 you in and saying, Hey, like, this is amazing. Like one, the birthday pizza 391 00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:49,400 sounds fantastic. What a what a friend there. It's just so interesting how all 392 00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:53,960 of you are working together in a way that nobody saw before or even like it 393 00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:57,320 doesn't sound like any of you worked in food service before this, right? Like the 394 00:32:57,320 --> 00:33:02,560 library, the truck, the I miss what Samantha did. I was in sales. I was in 395 00:33:02,560 --> 00:33:07,840 business. My first job was at a pizza joint. Oh, okay. So you had some 396 00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:11,160 experience in it, but I'm sure the library for 15 years was very different 397 00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:15,600 than most of them. Working at a pizza restaurant, like as your first job is 398 00:33:15,600 --> 00:33:20,800 working at a pizza restaurant, it was creating it, owning it. Yeah, sorry, I 399 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:24,320 guess being the 16 year old truck delivery driver is very different than 400 00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:31,320 the man behind the stove or behind the oven or flipping the dough. So I guess 401 00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:34,840 from your guy, like the on the talent side of what each everybody brings, like 402 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:38,520 can you guys speak to that a little bit more like from Craig and Samantha and you 403 00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:44,280 Harlem? Like what what has that dynamic been like? I would say if I'm if I'm a 404 00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:51,880 compliment these two, I would say for Harlem, for me, he is like the the glue 405 00:33:51,900 --> 00:34:00,040 that keeps everything on. Don't let everybody get too high. Don't let 406 00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:06,520 everybody get too low. He kind of balances me and Sam out as far as like 407 00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:14,120 I'm this whole visionary guy. I want to do a stuffed pizza with the cheese. Uh, 408 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:19,800 and cut it in an octagon and serve it to people and they'll be like, well, let's 409 00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:23,440 talk about that. Let's talk about that first. 410 00:34:30,200 --> 00:34:37,400 And, you know, to me, I have to very much the detail. Like I need the detail 411 00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:41,880 in order to make it make sense. Like, you know, having the idea of one thing, 412 00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:46,400 but but like going from here to the end, like you're missing, like I'm missing 413 00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:50,280 all of this in the middle. But Craig don't see it that way. He's like, no, 414 00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:55,120 this is it's in my head and we're going to do it this way. So when we're at odds, 415 00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:59,520 then Harlem comes in, he's like, all right, guys, I see. Here's where Craig is. 416 00:34:59,520 --> 00:35:03,920 And here's here's where you are. I'm going to insert and he's as we are now. 417 00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:09,320 He's in the middle. So he definitely, Harlem definitely balances out the 418 00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:16,600 dynamics between my strong suit of operations and so that's my background 419 00:35:16,920 --> 00:35:21,480 and and the how everything works. 420 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:26,560 And, you know, I always tell him, like, Harlem, you have to pick a side. 421 00:35:26,560 --> 00:35:29,120 He will never pick a side. Very even keel. 422 00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:34,840 So we have to work it out like like he's he's not going to let us 423 00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:38,200 leave the room without us figuring it out. Like, it's just not going to happen. 424 00:35:38,200 --> 00:35:42,880 Yeah. And we sometimes when they come to a vote, we all we put some stuff to a vote. 425 00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:46,040 Sometimes I get outvoted. So. 426 00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:48,120 Yeah, I think that's also important. 427 00:35:48,120 --> 00:35:50,800 I mean, that's something that I've experienced even with my walk, right, 428 00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:52,200 is I came up with the idea. 429 00:35:52,200 --> 00:35:55,480 I was going to do this whole crazy thing and my fiance is like, have you thought 430 00:35:55,480 --> 00:35:58,240 about this? Like, what about this or what about that? 431 00:35:58,600 --> 00:36:02,440 So I think it's so important to have like, again, that the big words, right, 432 00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:07,160 like visionary that says what things can be or has those ideas, but also the other 433 00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:09,120 person that kind of say, hey, let's slow it down. 434 00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:11,240 Let's think about how we can make this happen. 435 00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:15,400 And it doesn't sound like it's a no, that's a terrible idea or no, that's dumb. 436 00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:18,320 It's like, OK, that's great. 437 00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:22,560 Put a pin in it. How do we get from right here where we are now to what you're 438 00:36:22,560 --> 00:36:25,120 saying? What about this whole gap in between? 439 00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:28,080 And then we can make that intentional decision. 440 00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:37,320 Do we want to fill this gap or do we want to do something else with that information? 441 00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:02,280 Oh, the other question I want to ask you guys, the name Certified Pies. 442 00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:05,160 How did you even come up with like, what is that? 443 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:07,200 Yeah. What are you certifying? 444 00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:09,120 Yeah. Oh, wow. 445 00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:10,320 We were not. We were not. 446 00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:12,120 We were originally thinking about this. 447 00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:16,440 Yeah, we said we wanted some legit. 448 00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:22,200 I said, this is a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very 449 00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:29,480 nice. We said we wanted some legit. I said, this is different pizza. 450 00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:32,840 So this is the best pizza we got to have. 451 00:37:32,840 --> 00:37:35,720 And the name has to be. 452 00:37:35,720 --> 00:37:37,800 Legit has to be certified. 453 00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:39,880 I was like certified pizza. 454 00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:43,400 I was like, I think that's the name that certified pizza. 455 00:37:43,680 --> 00:37:49,320 And we sat down, I told Harlem and he was like certified pies. 456 00:37:49,320 --> 00:37:52,440 And I was like, you know what, it has a better ring to it. 457 00:37:53,920 --> 00:37:57,120 It's certified pizzas, certified pies. 458 00:37:57,120 --> 00:38:03,120 It's a you're guaranteed to get a great tasting pizza. 459 00:38:03,120 --> 00:38:05,600 All right. That's basically behind our product. 460 00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:11,840 We want to make sure that we stand behind everything that we serve from the wings, 461 00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:13,200 the pizzas, the salads. 462 00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:19,200 It's all going to be a quality, great experience for you to enjoy. 463 00:38:19,880 --> 00:38:21,680 That's why we named the certified products. 464 00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:27,360 I think a lot of them too are very into like their their music lovers. 465 00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:33,720 So I and I mean, I'm not like many people, but when we were thinking about names 466 00:38:33,720 --> 00:38:38,320 and everything, like we were like, you know, you think about a record, like, you 467 00:38:38,320 --> 00:38:43,080 know, you have a product that comes out, you have a song that comes out. 468 00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:45,360 Right. And then people want to come back. 469 00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:47,200 So people want to like, re listen to it. 470 00:38:47,200 --> 00:38:54,640 So that's what certifies like a song is they get a stamp of, you know, so many records 471 00:38:54,640 --> 00:38:57,320 played, you know, so we got to base it off of that. 472 00:38:57,920 --> 00:39:02,120 And then we took we took it from the certified pies. 473 00:39:02,120 --> 00:39:07,520 And then we that's kind of where some of our names of our pizzas come from is all 474 00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:15,600 referencing a great artist or a song of some sort, maybe some lyrics, like just 475 00:39:15,600 --> 00:39:19,760 something that was unique to to be certified. 476 00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:24,840 Yeah, and that's something I also noticed that you guys have very unique names for 477 00:39:24,840 --> 00:39:26,680 your items on your on your menu. 478 00:39:26,680 --> 00:39:28,520 Like, what can you explain a couple of those? 479 00:39:32,760 --> 00:39:34,920 In my in my spare time, I'm a DJ. 480 00:39:34,920 --> 00:39:38,760 So I'm a real big music lover, this man, a real big music lover, Sam Love Music. 481 00:39:38,960 --> 00:39:44,520 So a lot of our items are based on either artists or songs that we know, such as the 482 00:39:44,520 --> 00:39:48,520 Al Green, we eat Al Green because it's a smoother piece. 483 00:39:48,520 --> 00:39:52,720 So, you know, it's Alfredo based spinach lettuce with spinach, tomato and chicken. 484 00:39:53,320 --> 00:39:58,320 We got the 400 degrees, which is a classic rap album, which is a classic rap album. 485 00:39:59,640 --> 00:40:02,200 And that is one of our both. 486 00:40:02,240 --> 00:40:03,280 That's our Buffalo pieces. 487 00:40:03,280 --> 00:40:06,600 So that's a Buffalo based chicken and ranch. 488 00:40:06,600 --> 00:40:11,520 You know, we got the Smooth Operator, you know, which is a very classic good 489 00:40:12,040 --> 00:40:13,920 Sade song. You haven't heard it. 490 00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:17,360 Who hasn't heard it? But, you know, it's like our chicken bacon ranch. 491 00:40:17,560 --> 00:40:20,920 It's just we want people to be able to look at the titles. 492 00:40:21,360 --> 00:40:25,720 And if you know, you know, and get the same experience from the food, you know. 493 00:40:25,720 --> 00:40:29,440 So when you buy into some smooth operator, we want you to have a smooth experience. 494 00:40:29,440 --> 00:40:31,360 Like, this ain't something to really take you fast. 495 00:40:31,360 --> 00:40:34,560 There's something to ease you into it and then you open up, you know. 496 00:40:36,960 --> 00:40:40,720 I love that. And again, that's just all like personality of the owners, 497 00:40:40,720 --> 00:40:43,440 of the people that are operating the business shining through. 498 00:40:43,440 --> 00:40:46,400 And like it's an extension of yourselves rather than just this 499 00:40:46,960 --> 00:40:51,480 come over time like this clean cut, like the meat lovers, the whole. 500 00:40:52,040 --> 00:40:57,360 Like it adds that level of like you said, if you know, you know, if you don't. 501 00:40:57,640 --> 00:40:59,840 It's still a good pizza. It's still great. 502 00:40:59,840 --> 00:41:02,240 But I think that's so interesting. 503 00:41:02,240 --> 00:41:05,600 A lot of this conversation sounds like injecting your personality 504 00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:07,800 into the business that you have. 505 00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:11,360 And that's what's really going to shine through and create that following in that, 506 00:41:12,040 --> 00:41:17,280 I guess, long term sustainable success rather than just new exciting pizza place. 507 00:41:17,920 --> 00:41:20,320 And then you forget about it a month later. 508 00:41:20,320 --> 00:41:24,200 But I guess with all that being said, like what is there anything else 509 00:41:24,200 --> 00:41:28,080 you would want listeners to know about certified pies or where you guys 510 00:41:28,080 --> 00:41:31,760 are going in the future? Like, what does that look like in the next several years? 511 00:41:32,600 --> 00:41:36,440 I just say for me, I just want people to understand that 512 00:41:36,920 --> 00:41:41,000 when you see me, Harlem and Sam, we are just 513 00:41:41,840 --> 00:41:44,920 regular people that decided to take a chance on. 514 00:41:46,080 --> 00:41:48,680 Trying to live out a dream of being 515 00:41:49,520 --> 00:41:53,040 self-employed and being entrepreneurs and actually just 516 00:41:53,920 --> 00:41:57,520 trying to take advantage of life and all that it brings with you. 517 00:41:57,520 --> 00:42:03,160 And just being able to live life to the fullest, man, you can say 518 00:42:04,160 --> 00:42:07,240 we can say that we actually own the pizza company, that 519 00:42:08,080 --> 00:42:13,360 we can take this memory with us forever, however long we are here on this earth. 520 00:42:13,360 --> 00:42:19,160 And to be in the midst of it, to be making the pizzas 521 00:42:19,160 --> 00:42:23,520 and to be owning the business and all that stuff is it's amazing. 522 00:42:23,520 --> 00:42:26,800 It's an amazing feeling that I don't take for granted. 523 00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:29,280 I know that they don't take it for granted and 524 00:42:30,280 --> 00:42:33,040 just very passionate about making sure 525 00:42:33,520 --> 00:42:38,320 if you do hear this podcast or you do listen, that you just go 526 00:42:38,840 --> 00:42:41,360 go for what you know. Life is very short. 527 00:42:41,360 --> 00:42:46,040 And I never want to spend a lot of time saying that 528 00:42:46,040 --> 00:42:50,080 I didn't get to pursue my dreams of owning 529 00:42:50,680 --> 00:42:53,960 a pizza company or whatever it is you choose to do in life. 530 00:42:53,960 --> 00:42:58,880 I say go for it. Walk across America. 531 00:43:01,600 --> 00:43:04,240 Open up the pizza place, start, take the first step. 532 00:43:04,720 --> 00:43:07,160 Really just, you know, again, take the first step. 533 00:43:07,160 --> 00:43:09,240 Everything is a metaphor, right? 534 00:43:09,240 --> 00:43:12,320 Like just jump into it, see what happens, take risks. 535 00:43:12,320 --> 00:43:15,600 And it sounds like even with your guys' story, take risks, 536 00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:18,520 but find resources to mitigate as much of it as possible 537 00:43:18,520 --> 00:43:21,440 so you can see what's actually going on and what it will take. 538 00:43:21,440 --> 00:43:24,360 I'll say Samantha played a big part in 539 00:43:24,360 --> 00:43:26,920 getting us to that next level. 540 00:43:26,920 --> 00:43:30,440 Believe it or not, I mean, I'm sure you know, but she 541 00:43:30,440 --> 00:43:35,480 she really has taken her talents from being a business salesperson. 542 00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:39,920 And I've always told her she attracts people like she literally 543 00:43:39,920 --> 00:43:44,560 attracts people with her. 544 00:43:44,560 --> 00:43:48,320 The way that she can just talk to people, she can talk to a stranger out of nowhere 545 00:43:48,320 --> 00:43:51,560 and become best friends with you within like two to three minutes. 546 00:43:51,560 --> 00:43:56,520 And I always told her when she was selling stuff, like that's a skill, babe. 547 00:43:56,520 --> 00:43:59,880 Like everybody can't just attract people 548 00:43:59,880 --> 00:44:02,720 like the way that you attract strangers to you. 549 00:44:02,720 --> 00:44:09,320 And she's really taken all of that and brought it all here. 550 00:44:09,320 --> 00:44:14,920 And it's just crazy to see like literally the stuff that you learn 551 00:44:14,920 --> 00:44:17,760 and the stuff that you learn too from working at the library. 552 00:44:17,760 --> 00:44:23,120 And how that has all transitioned into where we are. 553 00:44:23,120 --> 00:44:27,600 And now we're actually putting the stuff that we did from our jobs 554 00:44:27,600 --> 00:44:32,560 and lives to use and making it work and to our advantage. 555 00:44:36,760 --> 00:44:41,160 I'll say. Man, take a chance on yourself. 556 00:44:41,960 --> 00:44:45,120 In my spirit, well, in my past life, I was very conservative. 557 00:44:45,120 --> 00:44:48,320 I had a job. Everything was mapped out. 558 00:44:49,320 --> 00:44:52,200 And it's cool. But after 15 years. 559 00:44:54,040 --> 00:44:55,640 What else is there to do? 560 00:44:55,640 --> 00:45:00,000 You can always be an employee is rare that you get to be an owner. 561 00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:05,200 And if people take a chance on you, learn to take a chance on yourself. 562 00:45:05,200 --> 00:45:07,040 That's what I like. 563 00:45:07,040 --> 00:45:09,520 I've always been very conservative. I don't do too much. 564 00:45:09,520 --> 00:45:10,600 I'm going to do too little. 565 00:45:10,600 --> 00:45:12,000 I'll be right there in the middle. 566 00:45:12,000 --> 00:45:18,240 So to so to be like, OK, I'm going to leave this spot and go over here 567 00:45:18,240 --> 00:45:20,120 and do this like it was a big fake. 568 00:45:20,120 --> 00:45:22,760 But I had people that believe it really took. 569 00:45:24,680 --> 00:45:27,720 It took Craig and Sam to take a chance for me to even be like, 570 00:45:27,720 --> 00:45:30,240 OK, this product can sail 571 00:45:30,880 --> 00:45:36,840 and no matter what you do, whether you sell pizza or you. 572 00:45:38,360 --> 00:45:40,720 You know, Nick, whatever. 573 00:45:40,720 --> 00:45:43,400 Take a chance on yourself and take a chance with people. 574 00:45:44,040 --> 00:45:45,240 And it'll work out. 575 00:45:45,240 --> 00:45:48,400 It's really been the happiest I've been in a long, long time. 576 00:45:50,320 --> 00:45:51,240 That's all I. 577 00:45:52,800 --> 00:45:53,840 I mean, I think. 578 00:45:55,440 --> 00:45:59,280 You know, I don't know, that's hard to follow up with them to. 579 00:46:00,640 --> 00:46:03,680 I know I'm a corporate, so I was very much that. 580 00:46:03,680 --> 00:46:07,800 Like I said, you know, talk to you, get a job, do your nine to five, 581 00:46:07,800 --> 00:46:13,320 you know, work your way up the ladder to, you know, work for 582 00:46:13,480 --> 00:46:14,680 make somebody else money. 583 00:46:14,680 --> 00:46:19,360 And, you know, although my brain was very, very operational. 584 00:46:19,360 --> 00:46:24,280 So even just, you know, his vision, his products, 585 00:46:24,280 --> 00:46:29,840 you know, Craig's vision, Harlem's product, you know, I still was was very leery, 586 00:46:29,840 --> 00:46:32,440 you know, very I was not the risk taker. 587 00:46:32,440 --> 00:46:34,680 I didn't I didn't know that I wanted to take the risk. 588 00:46:34,680 --> 00:46:39,800 But doing that has really like it's really opened up, 589 00:46:39,800 --> 00:46:43,440 you know, opened up my eyes and also knowing, you know, I guess, 590 00:46:43,960 --> 00:46:48,320 seeing that, you know, you do learn, you know, these skills, 591 00:46:48,480 --> 00:46:50,280 you know, working for a job is not a bad thing. 592 00:46:50,280 --> 00:46:55,000 I don't want anybody to get off of this, you know, lesson of that you 593 00:46:55,040 --> 00:46:58,480 absolutely shouldn't, shouldn't, you know, work for somebody. 594 00:46:58,640 --> 00:47:03,560 But every one of us took skills that we learned on a job and then turned it 595 00:47:03,560 --> 00:47:10,400 into this. So, you know, and sometimes sometimes that pivot happens 596 00:47:10,400 --> 00:47:12,080 whether you want it to or not. 597 00:47:12,600 --> 00:47:18,000 And you just have to believe in yourself and believe that you do have the skills 598 00:47:18,320 --> 00:47:23,360 to, you know, to to do the thing, like to, you know, invest in yourself 599 00:47:23,600 --> 00:47:26,840 and, you know, that something may, you know, something may come out of it. 600 00:47:27,640 --> 00:47:32,480 I think that's again, one of the joys for us is that we built our business 601 00:47:32,480 --> 00:47:37,160 and then we built it off of collaboration, which is something 602 00:47:37,160 --> 00:47:40,040 that you don't see in the business world because everybody thinks you have to 603 00:47:40,040 --> 00:47:44,960 have competition or you have to compete with somebody else in order to have 604 00:47:44,960 --> 00:47:49,680 a business. And we knew that, you know, having and building this business 605 00:47:49,680 --> 00:47:54,520 as a Black owned company and just in Arkansas was was going to set that bar 606 00:47:54,520 --> 00:48:02,680 like really high already. But we wanted to bring other others along with us 607 00:48:02,680 --> 00:48:07,400 in our journey. So for us, we also partnered with other small minority 608 00:48:07,400 --> 00:48:12,640 businesses to fill in some gaps. And we've said we in return seen their 609 00:48:12,640 --> 00:48:16,760 businesses grow as well, which is something I think that we're all proud 610 00:48:16,760 --> 00:48:21,480 of, not just for our business, but for others and other, you know, businesses 611 00:48:21,480 --> 00:48:26,760 to be able to see that, you know, you can collaborate and bring something 612 00:48:26,760 --> 00:48:35,000 good and everybody wins. So that's that's what I think all that's fantastic. 613 00:48:35,040 --> 00:48:38,200 There's so many different little lessons and nuggets, I think listeners can take 614 00:48:38,200 --> 00:48:42,440 away from there. So thank you guys for sharing all of that. If people want to 615 00:48:42,440 --> 00:48:47,000 follow you on your journey and learn more about you whenever you guys decide 616 00:48:47,000 --> 00:48:49,760 to go live or Craig forces you guys to be online. 617 00:48:49,760 --> 00:48:50,760 Keep up with you. 618 00:48:51,240 --> 00:48:59,280 Certified pie is literally on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, wherever 619 00:48:59,280 --> 00:49:04,200 you can find is we're literally on our social media platform. Just check in 620 00:49:04,200 --> 00:49:05,200 what is there. 621 00:49:05,680 --> 00:49:06,680 Perfect. 622 00:49:09,680 --> 00:49:10,680 And get you a good piece. 623 00:49:11,040 --> 00:49:12,040 Yes. 624 00:49:12,080 --> 00:49:13,080 We did. 625 00:49:13,400 --> 00:49:16,040 Yeah, pizza, wings, salad, whatever you guys want. 626 00:49:16,040 --> 00:49:19,960 Yeah, they may be. That's for sure. 627 00:49:19,960 --> 00:49:20,960 But awesome. 628 00:49:20,960 --> 00:49:23,600 And while we have you, Ranger, what was your review? 629 00:49:23,600 --> 00:49:25,600 Because you have one of our pizzas. 630 00:49:25,840 --> 00:49:27,840 I thought it was one of the best pizzas I've had in a while. 631 00:49:27,880 --> 00:49:32,760 I mean, I feel like I eat a lot of like the chain stuff, which again, pizzas, 632 00:49:32,760 --> 00:49:37,640 pizza. But I don't know, you could just tell that it was I think you guys like 633 00:49:37,640 --> 00:49:38,840 you make everything fresh, right? 634 00:49:38,840 --> 00:49:39,840 Like everything. 635 00:49:39,880 --> 00:49:40,880 Yeah, you can tell. 636 00:49:41,920 --> 00:49:43,240 It was it was solid. 637 00:49:43,240 --> 00:49:44,240 It was solid. 638 00:49:44,240 --> 00:49:48,080 It wasn't like, I know, like you feel like pizza is like usually gross or greasy 639 00:49:48,080 --> 00:49:51,040 or something. I didn't feel gross eating it also. 640 00:49:51,360 --> 00:49:53,000 But maybe I just eat really bad pizza. 641 00:49:53,000 --> 00:49:54,000 I don't know. 642 00:49:55,040 --> 00:49:56,680 It was it was solid. 643 00:49:56,680 --> 00:49:57,680 It was I don't know. 644 00:49:58,240 --> 00:50:01,200 I also needed that good little little bump. 645 00:50:01,200 --> 00:50:02,200 So thank you guys. 646 00:50:02,720 --> 00:50:04,040 That was it was cool for us. 647 00:50:04,040 --> 00:50:05,040 It was cool. 648 00:50:05,040 --> 00:50:06,040 I mean, it was amazing. 649 00:50:06,040 --> 00:50:08,840 I think that you came into the park and like that day. 650 00:50:09,160 --> 00:50:11,840 Yeah, our staff was super excited to meet you. 651 00:50:11,840 --> 00:50:12,840 Yeah, I thought it was awesome. 652 00:50:12,840 --> 00:50:15,320 Meet you. Yeah, I think that was a highlight. 653 00:50:15,320 --> 00:50:20,760 So we appreciate you for taking this journey and walking and walking down the street 654 00:50:20,760 --> 00:50:21,760 off of Markham. 655 00:50:22,160 --> 00:50:23,160 All right. 656 00:50:23,480 --> 00:50:24,480 Let me get some pizza. 657 00:50:24,960 --> 00:50:27,120 If I walk a thousand miles, get your guys's pizza. 658 00:50:27,120 --> 00:50:30,280 Nobody has. If you're in Little Rock, you have no excuse not to try it. 659 00:50:32,640 --> 00:50:33,640 Awesome. Thank you, guys. 660 00:50:33,640 --> 00:50:36,080 I appreciate it. All of your info will be down in the show notes. 661 00:50:36,080 --> 00:50:38,480 But thank you again for hanging out with me for a little bit. 662 00:50:38,480 --> 00:50:43,480 Thank you, Dave. 663 00:50:43,480 --> 00:50:48,680 And as always, thank you to the listeners for spending some time with us today and hearing 664 00:50:48,680 --> 00:50:53,440 the story of Craig, Samantha and Harlem and Certified Pies. 665 00:50:53,920 --> 00:50:59,320 I think that my biggest takeaways from today's episode are to take the risk you've been 666 00:50:59,320 --> 00:51:05,360 wanting to take, but find ways to mitigate it as much as possible. 667 00:51:05,360 --> 00:51:09,920 Just like they were able to work in a kitchen to really hone in on their idea and figure 668 00:51:09,920 --> 00:51:13,520 out whether or not this product that they were working so hard to create was actually 669 00:51:13,520 --> 00:51:14,520 worth it or not. 670 00:51:14,960 --> 00:51:19,720 I think that we can take that and apply that to other areas or risks that we want to take 671 00:51:19,720 --> 00:51:22,600 in our life to make it as safe as we possibly can. 672 00:51:23,360 --> 00:51:29,080 The other main thing is to take the experiences that you have from your past, whether it's 673 00:51:29,080 --> 00:51:35,000 an old job, an old volunteer opportunity or just a passion or hobby that you have. 674 00:51:35,000 --> 00:51:40,320 And be willing to let that blossom into something different, just like they're able to take 675 00:51:40,320 --> 00:51:45,000 their experiences working in corporate America, working as a truck driver or even working 676 00:51:45,000 --> 00:51:46,000 in the library. 677 00:51:46,320 --> 00:51:52,720 Every single experience that you have is useful in some other facet of your life. 678 00:51:53,360 --> 00:51:59,960 And the third is to build relationships with folks to go into business with them. 679 00:52:00,400 --> 00:52:01,880 That actually makes sense. 680 00:52:01,880 --> 00:52:06,320 As we kind of talked about, there was the visionary, the operator and the talent. 681 00:52:06,320 --> 00:52:11,840 And you can see how each one of these players with Craig, Samantha and Harlem were able 682 00:52:11,840 --> 00:52:16,240 to really interact and play off of each other to create something amazing. 683 00:52:16,640 --> 00:52:19,760 They didn't just go into business together because they're best friends or because they're 684 00:52:19,760 --> 00:52:25,040 married. I'm sure that helps, of course, but it's because they all brought something 685 00:52:25,040 --> 00:52:28,160 different to the table to make it a success. 686 00:52:29,440 --> 00:52:30,840 What were your big takeaways from today? 687 00:52:30,840 --> 00:52:34,280 Let me know in the comments of the post that I make on social media. 688 00:52:34,280 --> 00:52:36,880 Send me an email or on Spotify. 689 00:52:36,880 --> 00:52:39,680 Leave a comment and let me know what you thought of today's episode. 690 00:52:40,160 --> 00:52:42,800 Was there something that you'll be taking away into your business, something that you'll 691 00:52:42,800 --> 00:52:44,520 be taking away into your life? 692 00:52:45,000 --> 00:52:46,200 I want to know. Let me know. 693 00:52:46,760 --> 00:52:47,800 Share it on social media. 694 00:52:47,800 --> 00:52:48,640 Tag me in it. 695 00:52:48,640 --> 00:52:49,640 Let me know your thoughts. 696 00:52:49,640 --> 00:52:53,800 I would really love to hear the feedback that you guys have about the show so that I can 697 00:52:53,800 --> 00:52:59,000 help facilitate these conversations in a way that is better for everyone. 698 00:52:59,000 --> 00:53:01,240 Thank you again to today's episode sponsor. 699 00:53:01,240 --> 00:53:05,240 All their information will be in the show notes below right above where we have all 700 00:53:05,240 --> 00:53:07,240 the information for Certified Pies. 701 00:53:08,000 --> 00:53:11,320 And as always, please be sure to share the show. 702 00:53:11,880 --> 00:53:15,480 If you share it on social media and you tag us in it within range coaching, I'll be sure 703 00:53:15,480 --> 00:53:17,320 to share it on my socials as well. 704 00:53:17,720 --> 00:53:18,680 I'd love to see that. 705 00:53:18,680 --> 00:53:23,760 And I would be eternally grateful so that we can help more people help more people. 706 00:53:23,760 --> 00:53:27,280 Just as the way that we end every episode, I hope you have fun. 707 00:53:27,280 --> 00:53:29,120 Stay safe and be yourself. 708 00:53:29,120 --> 00:53:54,320 I'll see you guys next week.