Oh, now you're gonna donate over a million dollars. Yeah, so actually you're giving 10% of gross Yeah, it's a 10% of gross sales. So this is a large portion of our profits. It can be upwards of 50% of our profits We're still for profit company. We're still a profitable company. Welcome to another episode of coffees Thank you so much, Anta for jumping on the show today. Joe. Thanks for having me on I Appreciate you. So, you know Anton. I love the concept of a mission-driven Coffee company a coffee company that does a lot more than just brew coffee just provide coffee Let me get just the reasoning model as to why you started a Coffee company that's gonna donate a significant portion of its profit To this cause. Yeah, so I mean some it's a few things that were happening in my life personally And also do what was going on culturally in the economy. So it was right post COVID 2020 Two is when I had the late 21 so really between 22 is our was our first year in business But it was funny. It's actually two weeks after I got married in September of 2021 I called my wife. I say I have this idea for a pro-life coffee company. I think it's gonna be a great idea She was definitely caught off guard But really why it really hit me was I had a passion for coffee I was working the political movement and you can I kept seeing all these businesses, especially like corporate activism especially in the On the left, you know this push back on Bud Light this push back on target this idea that consumers faith-based consumers conservatives were being alienated where Where they spend money they were giving money to brands that obviously didn't support their values. So I was like, you know, I don't I don't feel good about that. I don't like that I want to help make a change in that environment. So I love coffee I was very passionate about supporting the pro-life movement. And so I literally googled pro-life coffee And nothing came up and it was the light bulb that's ball sparked the whole idea similar to black rifle coffee this idea that you can have a mission and a purpose behind a Coffee company what they're doing in the second amendment space But there was really no one doing it for you know, Christians are in the pro-life space So that's kind of the origins of it and you know, I've worked in politics for a few years before that So I had a lot of experience and you know, non-profit fundraising for profit front and fundraising for candidates and packs And so that kind of led to the idea of it as well So what if you could provide a really good product and service? To customers and actually make a difference with their money that they purchase from you So, you know instead of you know, essentially what I did before was to raise money for a certain cause, you know Where people would donate if you would buy coffee for a cause and they knew exactly where their money is going So that's why we ended up saying donate back 10% of every sale, which is a large portion of profits But as the idea of that transparency every month will share how much we've donated and see how much we can raise for local pregnancy Resource centers, so it started that simple idea in the first month We sold 8,000 bucks worth of coffee and I dropped off a check for $800 to our local pregnancy resource center And that was the genesis of it Wow, and now you're gonna donate over a million dollars. Yeah, so actually you're doing 10% of gross Yeah, it's 10% of gross sales. So this is a large portion of our profits. It can be upwards of 50% of our profits We're still a for-profit company. We're still a profitable company, but we're incredibly generous and this donation model is really You know, it's really what's led to our growth because consumers feel Like their voice and that their dollars is being steward in the most transparent way possible where we were able to really make this impact So yeah from that first check of $800 we've now raised over a million dollars and an update for you We've actually supported over a thousand pro-life organizations across all 50 states with funding So we're donating tens of thousands of dollars each month consistently through the sale of our coffee You know Anton when you give a little bit to God he just pours it on yeah, yeah, you know So it's a testament to what you're doing like you're giving 10% of gross That's insane. It is and on the On the you know outside looking in it's not a really good business practice You know when I first had the idea it just sounded like a fun It just sounded like a a good way to give back, you know kind of like tithing I wasn't super familiar with you know business models at the time. I was just learning it I thought oh that'd be fun 10% of every sale and as it got going It got real for me a few months in because when I stirred seven weeks coffee. I was working a full-time job Handful months later got laid off from a job and so I was at this crossroads, you know Do I pursue seven weeks coffee full-time or you know try to keep it on the side? And that's what it hit me is like wow donating 10% of every sale was a lot of our money And like I was very nervous. I was actually considering changing that donation model Because I was like this isn't sustainable It's you know, I got to make it profitable and I remember praying though I was like Lord if you want this to work and then you want us to keep this donation model I said I'll do it. I'll do it, but you have to make it profitable so I can you know take earn income from this pay for my You know family, you know actually make this a legitimate career and job And so I feel like kind of made this deal with God if you will and ever since then We've been profitable every single month every single year and we've continued to donate 10% of every sale So I would you know on outside looking in it's not the best business practice on paper, but God has made it work He works for us and it's been a way. We've been able to you know, surely make a difference So it's it's it's cool and you know now we've raised a million dollars. So it's been amazing Anton that's a phenomenal story and you know what I'm I'm gonna be buying seven seven weeks coffee and that's what I'm gonna be using yeah for my coffee because To steward the money and knowing that 10% is gonna that's that's incredible. Yeah, that's just incredible so Where did the name come from seven weeks? Yeah, this is the So I gotta give credit to my wife So when I had the idea for a pro-life coffee company, like I said, it was in September of 2021 I googled pro-life coffee nothing comes up. I'm like, I'm starting a pro-life coffee company So immediately pick up the phone call my wife like I got this idea She probably thought something was the matter, but I'm like no, it's it's it's cool. I get this business idea Like I said it was two weeks after we got married and I was like I want to start a pro-life coffee company And then she said what are you gonna call it? And I had no idea I was like I'm not sure And then she asked me the question that inspired her. She said, you know sometimes Moms who are pregnant will say like my little bean like kind of this term of endearment during pregnancy And I was like, oh, that's interesting. So she she asked the question Which was so when is it baby the size of a coffee bean? I'm like, I don't know I look it up at seven weeks and baby is the size of a coffee bean it's the same time a heartbeat is detected on ultrasound so our logo is the heartbeat and That was our name and mission donate 10% of every sale to support pregnancy care centers and their ultrasound services So moms can hear their child's heartbeat for the first time. So that's how we got the name mission of that is so cool I should have known that I knew something because I've been a four ultrasounds for my kids. Yeah, so you have any kids Yeah, we just had our first son three months ago. Yeah, congratulations. Congratulations. That's amazing. God bless. Thank you How's it feel to be a dad? It's awesome. You know, it's you know, obviously pro-life And so this is like our the real world we're stepping into it as parents and it's been nothing but a blessing of like living out You know raising a child and just seeing his development, you know Actually and he's seeing his development in the womb and obviously what we're advocating for is protecting the unborn in All the steps from pregnancy to the baby kicking to hearing the heartbeat You just you just know that like wow, this is a life in the womb this is an unborn child the human being full of Unalienable rights like you and me and it just inspired us more that like, you know, their life is not optional which obviously abortion is the you know, you know taking that right away and you know killing the innocent in the womb So it's been amazing and it's been inspirational to our mission to keep going forward Incredible incredible. I love the mission now you spent years in DC before launching a business Yeah, what pulled you away from politics and toward entrepreneurship because that's a big risk Yeah, and you went from something totally stable right to something something, you know totally Very very dangerous for any sort of parent or married couple. Yeah, not only did you do something very very? Risky, but you also decided to give 10% up of gross profit. Yeah Very stable position and it just sounds, you know, I'm an entrepreneur most entrepreneurs are crazy But I just want to know what was your your mind at the time. What was your mindset? What were you thinking? What drove you? Yeah, we took you away from politics. It's definitely a few things. So, you know politics was was good I learned a lot about marketing fundraising But but in anything the one of the main reasons I moved to DC was I was very passionate about biblical values conservative values and this idea of like advocating for a life and family within Washington within government working in fundraising and You kind of realize everything's a stalemate here like 24 7 very little things very little happens very little change happens everything's kind of always tied up and While it's important to advocate for policies and laws especially from pro-life policies and laws You can actually have a bigger impact or more and let's rather a more immediate impact like what we're doing with seven weeks coffee by just working in the private sector, you know by using business or You know, whatever it is to actually help people who are facing, you know the challenge or contemplating abortion So it was kind of like a this a moment of like, you know Politics is fine, but not a lot a change happens sometimes because a little disheartening in that moment And so that was going on and then the business side. I Hated working nine to five for someone else. I mean at the symbols I can put it like I always wanted to work for myself I loved the idea of like stepping into starting a business, you know wanting to you know Forage my own path if you will and That was definitely behind it were you know, I was you know, working in fundraising, but in the back of my mind I'm thinking of like, you know, what can I do what business can I start? How do I like, you know, actually You know do something on my own I just like the idea of that risk was fine with me that and just like taking ownership of an idea and it's been it's been Awesome because I was always so motivated by using business for faith and advocating for Family values and so I'm able to really live that out with seven weeks coffee. So Entrepreneurship has been nothing but a blessing and a dream of mine from probably a really young age But you know after working for a few years for other people. I realized that's not what I want to do long term. So Were you an entrepreneur when you were younger? I was I was definitely a tinkerer for sure Like I always wanted to figure out different ways to either make money or think of different products I was always interested in like, you know sharp tank and all these things. So there's probably a lot of Early indicators that I was I was always wanting to like do something for myself Like I was always a contrarian to like why followed but why followed her and like I'm a very comfortable going in the opposite direction I don't know. That's always been my inkling and and on top of that. I've always loved politics like I used to watch Glenn back when I was a kid, you know, 11 13 years old and I always used to watch Fox News and you know when my first taste in politics was We working the Republican National Convention when I was in Cleveland, which is where I'm from from and that's where Trump spoke And I was like very enamored by him and what he was doing and like the MAGA movement in early 2015 like, you know, 2016 So I was like always like interested in politics very interested in business. So From years ago, so it's funny how, you know, looking back at so it's it seemed to be meant to lead to what I'm doing today Incredible so how How old were you and you moved to DC? I moved right after college. I was 24 25. So I graduated I didn't know what I wanted to do in life. I didn't know I didn't like my major So context I played college golf. I graduated in 2019. I only knew college golf I had an injury though. So I couldn't like pursue it professionally I had a major in supply chain management, which I hated And so I felt like I was starting from square one after I graduated and all I knew was I like politics and you know, I like I did like business. I was like, you know, I'll try to find an internship so I found an internship in DC and you know, kind of the political movement And that's was my first in and then I got a job in fundraising after that but Um, there was no like clear plan in front of me of like what I was going to do I was just kind of you know, piecing it together as I went along and you know, taking the opportunity which you know Then led to the next so now I'm here. I've been living in the area for over five years now Tell me about the moment you realized seven weeks coffee is going to be more than just a coffee. It's going to actually be Your career so It's anything it's like anything with like I think business owners like Externally, you never would say that early on but internally I was like this could really catch on like this could be a really big deal um, I remember the First event so it's funny. So I had the idea for seven weeks coffee In september. I started in november and I got like 2000 bags of coffee, you know Made for us through a private label And we went to this event in DC. So during the march for life, which is in january. It's a big pro life weekend Um, I was like, oh, we should get a booth at this big conference there It's all these pro lifers and it was 2000 bucks for a booth and I literally put 3500 dollars in a business account And so I'd let I and then I spent some of it So I didn't even have the 2000 bucks to cover the sponsorship and I emailed them. I said, hey, if you just let us Donate back the 10 percent of every sale to your organization. Would you let us have a booth? And they said sure So I go down there, you know, I get some couple t-shirts made You know, my wife comes and I bring a friend give him a t-shirt So he kind of looked like a company but really it's just three of us with t-shirts And we start selling coffee and it's just people are like enamored by like I remember one person was crying Like this is the coolest thing ever. I love the name. I love the mission. Where has this been? How long you guys been around? I'm like it's been two months and we're just getting started But like that initial reaction from like, you know, really the first customers that ever heard of it Um Was awesome and then I was like, okay, there's like there's like something here Like this is meeting a need people are resonating with what we want to do as a brand and a company Um, and it really just kind of took off from there. Honestly, like it's funny like, you know Good products and good names that like really serve a mission And you know, it kind of is self-explanatory when a customer sees it and that's the experience we had So I think early on I knew it could be something but if you said we you know Raise a million bucks in our first four years of business. I would I would not believe that so it's definitely surpassed What I thought you're yeah So what has been the biggest catalyst to its growth has been for marketing has been the mission has been social media marketing has been You know word of mouth like how did you get to 10 million dollars in sales on just coffee beans in such a short period of time? Yeah, it's it's definitely a multifaceted approach. So, um A few things we started digital marketing especially like facebook ads and just you know, very like organic UGC like moms with the coffee telling the story of what why they enjoy it Why they support the mission showing the impact of what we're donating and our digital marketing really took off from there So that's been a huge catalyst We've had some great partnerships with podcast hosts and that's been a very big brand recognition and also growth in terms of you know sponsorships But yeah, there's that third element of word of mouth where You know, we'll go through our views and people are like i'm telling everyone i'm sharing it or bible say i'm telling our friends It's like that is a true organic growth of the company that has led to a lot of this rapid success and you know and then On top of that we'll do 10 conferences a year where we're there selling coffee we're meeting with you know thousands of people over the course of these conferences So it's really multifaceted But you know everything kind of plays in but because we've had a great digital advertising program over the last few years And then word of mouth you kind of get this like compounding effect We've kind of established ourselves is you know now america's pro life coffee company really Probably the largest faith-based coffee company in the country And that's what we want to be like we want to be america's like faith-based christian coffee company where we can really stand for pro life christian values and have a very huge impact a tangible impact Supporting life. So I think people just resonate with that I love it. You know i'm a i try to be a faith-based leader and and uh And a servant of the lord and everything that i do No, but when i hear a company that starts with a cause before a product it's like It really touches me. So whatever i can do to To push your brand i'm gonna do it. Thank you now. How did you change the way? You built your brand when you started with just the cause You didn't even start with a product Well, we had to figure that out, you know, we I had I found a coffee supply right away And one of the interesting thing is I was very interested into coffee coffee sourcing studying coffee And this is actually the thing i want to highlight is like You know you can find very cheap coffee interested in general sense cheap products and slap your label slash mission on top of it And you'll get a bunch of people to buy it for the first time But you're not going to have enduring success or a long-term growth if people won't buy it again because they'd like the product so On a coffee level our product is really second to none It's all directly sourced from farmers, which is a huge benefit means we don't buy through a middleman It means we know every farmer co-op that grows our coffee We pay them transparent wages, which is three times a fair trade requires So we actually get to see the impact we have on the farmer level. It leads to exceptional quality traceability And it's the highest, you know some of the highest specially-grade coffee you can get so in terms of sourcing its direct trade Which the best you can get specially grade which is the highest quality coffee you can get We also lab test to make sure it's mold free. So it's very clean coffee. It's also pesticide free organically farmed So on a coffee level we're much better than anything out there in terms of competitors. So That's been awesome because so many that's great to hear. Yeah, because so many people will buy a product This is like I love telling, you know, they're business owners It's like you have to have a product that will win on its own like on its own You have to have something that will compete with market because people aren't going to give you their hard-earned dollars unless they know It's a good product. Like we're not a charity. We are a for-profit entity that wants to provide a better product on its own And also, you know share this incredible mission. So it's a really it's a two-fold approach You know customers are buying it for the first time for the mission they're buying it again because they love the coffee and that's really important to us because We don't take their money for granted. We want to provide them with the best coffee experience possible and I you know, that's what we've been doing That's great to hear now what does uh What's that donating you've donated to 700 pregnancy care centers. How do you choose where to give? And how do you how do you make the impact for you feel personal? Well, actually, so it's funny. We've actually raised it's actually been a thousand centers now. So um, what's going on rapidly? So it's pretty simple. Um, there's around Probably 2,500 to 3,000 pro-life organizations in the u.s. They're all local Meaning they're local to your town or you know county or you know city Um, they serve a local community. So our biggest thing is donating locally We want dollars to go into the hands of local organizations who know because they know how to use the money the best So you have a program simple but Your pro-life organization you sign up. We vet you obviously making sure your legitimate pro-life organization You're you have the same pro-life worldview that we support Um, and then once you're vetted you get into an enrollment sheet and it's pretty simple your pro life We want to support your work. You um, you know, you have a pro-life worldview You just enroll in a month and we'll just send you a check during that month So each month we're donating between like, you know 20 and 40 pregnancy resource centers or pro-life organizations And they're just getting a check from a portion of our sales so they can enroll multiple times a year They can receive funding from us. We also like you do a lot of donations with free coffee for their events We send them coffee for you know gallas and things like that don't own gifts And so we're we try to be like this resource for pro-life organizations So yeah, and you know for us we every month I go in and we just allocate our funds from our the dollars we raise that month to these Organizations and then we go out and process. Um, these donations. Um, and send them the money That's the most personal part is like we literally get to see you know each and every center every month They receive a portion of our sales. Um, through a through a check. So, um, it's the best. It's the best part of the month I love that now. I want to ask you a question You don't have to answer you could but have you had a moment in time where you really felt like This is incredibly challenging and I know kind of alluded to it before where it was like man I don't know if I'm gonna make it but like Where you really just like had to put your faith in God Yeah To get through that moment because you've built a mission-based business Where you're giving away half your profit like When was it when was that breaking point for you? you know, there's I cannot tell you how many times the prayer it's been Lord, just protect me protect this company and just help me make the right decision because there's so many times There's decisions that come up that you have no idea what to do. Um, there's been multiple times There are almost sold a portion of the company to investors Um, that got very close a few different times and I'm very happy it never did that and was able to just You know keep ownership of the company That was a very difficult time. I've had you know, uh issues where You know people have tried to rip us off or copy us. I'm a supplier and it's very unethical and that's been That was very harmful and hurtful personally Copy you with mission-based? Yeah, it's happened before. Yeah, it's you know, it's sad. You see people kind of like get too inspired by what your mission and you know People you know and that that's that was very hurtful um And it's tough because you have to build up a resiliency and that's what I've kind of Done more and more because it's so easy to take it, you know personally, but what I've come to realize is If you stay pure in your mission and what you're trying to accomplish I can let the results fall as they may. Um, we're not trying to copy anyone We we I started this with the intention to fund the pearl life movement Um, no one was doing this through coffee. Um, it was a new idea. Um, if people want to copy us, you know, so be it but Um, there's something to be said when you're not trying to copy anyone You're just trying to follow what god put on your heart and that's that's what we're trying to do Love that now blending faith and business You're doing that in a big and bold way. Yeah What advice do you have for someone trying to build something aligned with their faith? Yeah, I think it's important for more entrepreneurs one we need more Christian spiritual entrepreneurs the idea that as So this has kind of been my my thought over the last few months. There's been a misnomer that ministry has to take place in the four walls of the church or within nonprofit When business and for-profit entities can have the biggest impact for what you believe and so we need more entrepreneurs Any more entrepreneurs to live out their faith? Um in their business? Um We want I want people to understand that they can have influence and that they can have bias towards their values and beliefs You know for me it's christian values and christian beliefs and I just want to see more people like live those out It doesn't have to be in the same capacity as I were doing which is like outwardly, you know Christian based Christian base that you can have an h-back company But you were as an owner or as a christian you should have influence over the people that work for you should have an influence over the people You're at you know interact with and your your customers like you can have an area of influence and it just has it just might be a way than what we're doing So my advice is that we see more people to do it I love that, you know, and I try to live out my My christian principles, but you know when you have a big company there's like boards and you got to like just kind of like You don't put your christian values aside, but you do have to accommodate non-believers So there's you got to tread lightly The bigger the company the more lightly you tread and I wonder You know, who knows maybe you become starbucks and then you're like And there's a because now we're seeing a bigger shift Towards faith. I feel like than ever Right, especially after what happened with charlie kerr. Exactly, you know, and I'm egyptian. I'm christian Um And we come from the church of the martyrs And I was saying this to someone else like charlie kerr was the first american martyr I come from a lineage of coptic martyrs or churches Painted in purple and red for the blood of the martyrs We're gonna see a bigger shift towards faith in the next couple years and what you're gonna see is more martyrdom for That in the next couple years much more So this is the time for for those who are faith-based to really step up This is the time for entrepreneurs to step up. This is the time for you know, even Like entertainment companies to step up and step out of The wickedness of all the content we've been consuming and all the the different, you know and insane you know leftist movements that extreme left movements that have been really Toxifying this generation You know and and the kids that have been just so just confused Yeah, I agree. I I couldn't agree that more because like And especially from the business perspective, there's been so many businesses that on the other side have taken like an activist stance In the economy And so it's like well, why can't we take the same like activist stance and advocate for what we believe and like like what you said Which are like so inspirational to me and what he did and like it's okay to be bold It's okay to be loud and like we need more of that now less Yeah, yeah, so you're being bold you're being loud You know And who knows if you get the the the crown of heaven and get shot just like charlie you get that instant sainthood You know, I hope that doesn't happen, but this is true. You know, you know, uh, I hope it does happen to me But I'll get the I don't have a job to do that Like I don't get the benefit of any way to do that right now, right? Like you can't talk about it through mortgage. Maybe through podcasting up piss off enough people There you go. Um Now what's something about the coffee business you didn't expect to love or didn't expect to be so hard You know, what's what's come to be something the most interesting is just learning the supply chain I got to visit one of our firms you work with in the medican republic earlier this year and it's Just really cool to see the impact behind like the coffee like the story behind the coffee Like coffee is the second largest commodity in the world outside of oil like shipped. It's like the biggest, you know Second biggest commodity, you know, transported around the world. It's coffee. It's such a huge industry and it's growing all over the world and um Most times farmers are paid pennies on the dollar and so for us by working directly with farmers are able to have like a True impact with them and like growing their local communities because coffee obviously comes from most the world countries where people You know live on very little and don't have you know good accommodations and um What's awesome is like our coffee helps like reverse that trend like we're able to like truly You know, um, you know give you know life back to the farmers we work with so it's really cool to see that. Um Yeah, it's awesome. I mean copies of painstakingly tough industry From a growth to transportation to roasting and um, yeah, but everyone relies on it. So it's it's been fun to learn That's incredible. Now a couple last goals I have for you a couple last questions. I have for you one of them is about goals Yeah, three prong question. What's a personal goal that you have for yourself? A family goal. I know you just had your your brand. It was a son or daughter a son. Yeah a brand new son Again, congratulations a family goal and then a business goal that you have For seven weeks coffee. Yeah, personally. Yeah, I'm not the best with goals. I have to be honest. Yeah, I'm more of a Um Process guy, but I've been trying to channel myself with more goals um personal goals, so it's actually funny I think I've seen before when I I grew up as a um playing competitive golf my whole life You know the last since I played in college. I know the last five years. I really haven't played competitively anymore So personal goal. I'm trying to get back into like competitive golf I want to play at a high level in terms of you know amateur golf and um get back into competing again I love competitions. Probably why I love business. I love, you know, I hate losing more than you like winning It's kind of like that old adage. So playing, you know competitively again. It's the thing I really want to do Family goal, you know I'm I'm very blessed where we're at. We have a beautiful family. Baby's healthy. Um So I just the prayer is that we continue to be a happy healthy family Um and then a business goal. I think we're just getting started with our company in terms of like opportunity, you know A million dollars donating is great. I think we have tens of millions of dollars to donate to go I love that and uh, I'm gonna do my small tiny little part to continue to advocate for you guys now my last question When you're in front of the pearly gates, what do you think god's gonna tell you? I hope he says Well done staying true to the mission from start to finish. That's the biggest thing I could help You know, it's so easy to start something well intentioned. I think it's really hard to finish it well intentioned. Um And because you know as things grow things change numbers get bigger dollars get bigger and How do you actually continue with the same? You know You know authenticity and ethics behind it is the biggest challenge. And so God willing we're still doing that and You know when this is all said and done we're still doing that Anton you've been an absolute blessing to have on the show if people want to connect with you or seven weeks How do they find you? Yeah seven weeks coffee dot com. That's where our website is feel free to look it up Get some good coffee this christmas season Guys make sure you connect with him buy that coffee and know that you are Being a good steward buying that coffee because that money is going to help Thousands of people god bless you god bless your mission. I hope you hit every single one of your goals Thank you for jumping on the show today. Thank you for having me You
