Jimmy DeCicco | Entrepreneurial Mindset: Being the Expert of Your Craft From the Co-Founder of Super Coffee
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Find out how Jimmy created a company that started in this little brother’s dorm room and how he got celebrities like J-Lo and Alex Rodriguez to invest in his business. As you listen in you’ll get a whole lot of useful tips you don’t want to miss. Kristel did receive free super coffee products after recording was completed.
Key Takeaways From This Episode
How working out can improve your business performance
Tips to get into a flow state
Ways to attract big investors
The importance of asking for help
What do all entrepreneurs have in common?
Benefits of practicing gratitude
Disclaimer: All of the information and views shared on the Live Greatly podcast are purely the opinions of the authors, and they are not medical advice or treatment recommendations. The contents of this podcast are intended for informational and educational purposes only. Always seek the guidance of your physician or qualified health professional for any recommendations specific to you or for any questions regarding your specific health, your sleep patterns, changes to diet and exercise, or any medical conditions.
Resources Mentioned In This Episode
12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos
About Jimmy DeCicco
Jimmy DeCicco is Oldest Brother and Chief Executive Officer at Kitu Life Inc., makers of Super Coffee.
Jimmy is a former collegiate athlete who left a job on Wall Street six years ago to start a company with his brothers, beginning out of the youngest brother's dorm room.
Jimmy and his brothers place a strong emphasis on corporate culture and Super Coffee was recently honored as one of Inc’s Best Workplaces for the second consecutive year. They firmly believe in spreading positive energy and the mantra Work Hard Be Nice to People.
About DeCicco Brothers
Three brothers, Jimmy (‘92), Jake (‘93), and Jordan (‘95) DeCicco founded Super Coffee in 2015 as tired collegiate student-athletes. Sick of unhealthy bottled coffees and energy drinks, the DeCicco brothers invented a sugar free, enhanced coffee in Jordan’s dorm room and challenged Big Sugar head on. Today, Super Coffee is the fastest growing food and beverage company in the country (Inc. 5000, 2020) and has been recognized by Inc Magazine as one of the best places to work in 2019.
Connect with Jimmy
Website: www.drinksupercoffee.com
If you are struggling with feeling overworked or overwhelmed, access the Top 10 Stress Management Tips for the Overworked free right now.
Kristel Bauer, the Founder of Live Greatly, is on a mission to help people awaken to their ultimate potential. She is a wellness expert, Integrative Medicine Fellow, Keynote Speaker, Physician Assistant, & Reiki Master with the goal of empowering others to live their best lives!
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To learn more about Live Greatly's transformative online courses for personal development and self-improvement, to discuss collaborations and partnerships, or to book Kristel as a speaker or consultant, click here.
Episode Transcript
Jimmy (Teaser)
Having the humility and the vulnerability to say, I don't have all the answers I need to ask for help. And I want to learn from people who have done this before. That's one thing that we weren't ever afraid of. Like, we recognize that we don't have the business background. So our first time doing this, so we weren't afraid to ask for help.
Kristel (Guest Intro)
If you want to feel motivated and inspired, you are going to gain a ton of value from today's episode with Jimmy DeCicco. Jimmy's the oldest brother and CEO at Kitu Life or they're makers of Super coffee. Their mantra is work hard. Be nice to people. I absolutely love it. Jimmy's a former collegiate athlete and he actually left a job on Wall street to start this company with his brothers six years ago.
And it started in his younger brother's dorm room. Since then they've raised hundreds of millions from celebrity investors, including Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez. They also were on Shark tank. Their current valuation is at 400 million, so they are doing some really, really cool stuff. I'm super pumped to talk to Jimmy about his journey.
He's going to be talking about overcoming imposter syndrome, dealing with doubts and how to really have a positive uplifting corporate culture. They're all about spreading positive energy. So I'm, can't wait to welcome Jimmy to the show.
Jimmy:
Kristel, thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here today. This will be a fun one.
Kristel:
Yeah, for sure. I would love for you to share a little bit about how you got started with your business so that the listener can get a little bit of background.
And also, how did this begin, like in the dorm room? That's what I've heard that this started with your brothers in a dorm room. So I really want to hear that story.
Jimmy:
Totally. So I'm the oldest brother and CEO of Super coffee. And this is our sixth year in business. Super coffee is a good for you bottle coffee. We take two grand or two cups of coffee and every bottle we add protein. We add healthy fats from coconut oil. We add zero sugar. So everything is naturally sweetened with monk fruit.
And we are all about like removing the negatives and adding the positive. So primarily we're a bottled coffee company. We started six years ago. Now my youngest brother's dorm room, he didn't want to drink the sugary bottle coffees and energy drinks that were sugar bomb.
They were indulgent. They tasted good, but they didn't give him energy and they weren't good for him. So he said, I want something that tastes good. I want something that's good for me. And I want something that gives me energy. So he brought it up in his dorm room and he ended up dropping out of school after his freshman year. He called me up and said, Hey man, I'm going to. And I mean, he was a full scholarship basketball player, so he gave up a lot and I know he was serious. Yeah. So I quit my job on Wall street. I just got started working. Me and my two younger brothers got started and Super coffee back in 2016.
Kristel:
So the fact that you quit your job on Wall street to do this with family, was that because you really, really believed in the mission or was that more that you wanted it to support your brother or like what was going on in your head? Cause that's a big leap to leave job with a set paycheck to start out as an entrepreneur going down this road.
Jimmy:
No doubt. Imagine our poor mother. I wasn't the oldest, I just graduated. I had a good job. Jordan was a full scholarship. Like my parents were empty nesters and my mom was wow. We did it. Our job is done here. Call,call her and we call them, Jordan's dropping out of school and Jimmy's quitting his job. And she's like, what the hell are you guys talking about?
Like, where did I go wrong? But for me, it was a little bit of both. I definitely believed in the mission. I like the products, Jake and Jordan were making, but I also didn't want my little brother to like mess up his future. All right. You're dropping out of school. I'm going to help out for a few months and make sure that like you get this thing going in the right direction.
And then I got to get a real job. And six years later, I'm still here.
Kristel:
Right while you guys are doing amazing things. And I got to ask, how is it working with family? I feel like that could be, it could bring you together, but also like there are unique challenges when you're dealing with the business. And how has that dynamic working with your brother?
Jimmy:
Yeah, everybody, everybody says, oh, I could never do that with my sister. We'd kill each other. I can never do that with my brothers. Like, I don't know how you do that.
And for me, I couldn't imagine doing it with anybody else. You know, like for us all, we, I mean, we had to think about it. We have built in trust system, you know, we're best friends.
We share a similar work ethic, similar values because we come from the same household and same upbringing. So all of that is just built in where a lot of founders need to build that over time because they don't have that, that lifelong relationship. So I couldn't imagine doing it with anybody else. And at the end of the day, if we fight or if this thing fails or whatever.
We're still brothers, we still love each other. And I think that's a super important piece. So I feel grateful that we get to do this with those two guys.
Kristel:
That’s Awesome. And what an adventure you guys are having together, so cool. All of you are athletes, right? You were an athlete in college, too. Correct?
Jimmy:
That's right. Yeah. We grew up playing sports. Mom and dad played sports in college. So it was always in the family. And I think that competitive nature really allows us to do what we do today, but I played football in college. My brother Jake played football and our youngest brother, Jordan played basketball.
Kristel:
Gotcha. And you're still really into fitness. I mean, before we started recording, you were telling me about how you climbed a mountain. How many times was that, that you just kind of?
Jimmy:
We, uh, today's Wednesday, we did it this week and we finished on Saturday. We did, uh, the 2, 9 0 2 9 challenge, which is the height of Mount Everest. So we climbed this mountain in Sun valley 15 times until we got to the equivalent height of Mount Everest. It was a good challenge.
Kristel:
Wow. Okay. So that's not something that you're going to do every day, but do you have a set routine that you do every day for your health, for your wellness? Is there some sort of way you start your day or finish your day or incorporate into your day? I would love to get a little tidbits on that.
Jimmy:
Yeah. So I'm very inconsistent. Like there's no two days are the same for me. I it's, non-negotiable like I have to move every single day. Like whether it's yoga or stretching or even just getting like a thorough gun and hitting my body, like, I need to shake things up, but like, I'm not at the gym at 5:00 AM every morning or anything like that.
But fitness is a mandatory part of my day at some point, whether it's in the morning or the afternoon. And for me, I think that, like I said, like being an athlete is what prepared us to be entrepreneurs. And I think even now, like the harder I work or the harder business gets, I find the harder I train at fitness, which is interesting.
So it's like, I don't know. I think it's just such a part of our identity now that when my fitness is on point, I feel like I'm showing up best as a leader as well.
Kristel:
That's great. Yeah. And I think when you're moving and you're exercising, there's actually research showing it can help improve performance. So there's that.
And then there's also your mental health and your mood that, and obviously your physical health too, that benefit from moving. So I think that makes total sense that you'd be a better leader when you incorporate that on a regular basis. Now, where you guys on shark tank? Is that? I haven't seen that episode.I want to watch it. So how was that? Was that super intense? Were you like shaking and freaking out during it? Or were you calm and collected? How did it go?
Jimmy:
It was one of those things we prepared our tails off for it, and we wrapped it every single day for a full month leading up to the show. Because, if we were nervous or like, let's say we blacked out up there, we would have had our lines so memorized that it still would've come out anyway, because the first 90 seconds of the show is a script that we write.
Like we introduce ourselves, we introduce the business, we introduce what we're asking for from the sharks. And then after that, it's just a dialogue as long as, as long as the sharks wanted to date. And also for us, we're in front of the sharks for overnight.
Yeah. I mean, I think walking in to shark tank was nervous.
You know, we were like, I dunno, it was like pre-game jitters, which is a good thing. You know, I always played my best games when I was nervous before, before kickoff. And then once you start having a conversation, it felt just like this, you know, we settled into a very human interaction.
Kristel:
I'm sure that being an athlete helped you with those situations.
Those pitch situations are where you have to be calm under pressure. You have you found that? Being an athlete has helped you be able to perform under those high stress situations.
Jimmy:
Yeah. I mean, it definitely helps you get outside of yourself. I think once you psych yourself out or you get in your own head with anxiety, or what if like that's when things can go wrong, but our mom, I mean, she's probably the best athlete in the family.
And she always used to tell us before big games, like, Hey, athletes rise to the competition and she would literally drop us off at kindergarten and say, boys, go kick today's ass. We'd be like, yes, mommy, we got you. So yeah, I mean, that's all really, all we knew growing up is like show up and try and get into that flow state.
Forget about what's happening and play your best game.
Kristel:
I love the idea of that flow state. Like I, it's hard to get into that sometimes though when you've like, when you're juggling a lot of things, I feel like for me personally, I was just in, we were in Michigan and we rented house on the lake and I'm working on writing my first book.
I'm trying to do at home, it's hard because there's like so many things going on. And then I look around and I'm like, oh, do I want to do the dishes? Do I got to work on this?
But there I was the most creative and I felt so inspired because I was in a different environment. I was looking at the water and I felt like I was totally in that flow state.
And it felt so good. But I mean, do you, how do you get into that flow state for yourself? I think, I, I definitely find it when I'm exercising, especially if I'm training hard or doing a difficult workout, like you have no choice. Like if you're not focused on the exercise, like you're not going to be in the flow state.
But I think the important thing about what you just said, and this is the confidence we had going into shark tank is that. You know, your craft better than anybody in the world are the book that you're writing. There's no better person to write that book than you because it's yours and for us, like, sure, we are in front of some of the best entrepreneurs of our time on shark tank, but we're the experts at Super coffee.
You know, they don't know more about our business than we do. So we sorta had that confidence and I think. Even just talking about the business today, whether we're on stage or speaking to college students or whatever, doing a podcast, it comes second nature to us because it's the life that we live. It's not something that you have to like prepare for just because you're in it all day, every day.
So, yeah, I think getting into that flow state, it's just like, one, you gotta be passionate about it. And that's what they say is like, if you find something you love doing, you don't work a day in your life. But I think when people truly are passionate, they're, they're curious, they're obsessed and that's the flow.
And if you're not finding that stuff with the stuff that you're working on, or if you're not finding that feeling with the things that you're working on today, it might not be your passion. It might be a job, that's a good opportunity. But if you don't find yourself wanting to do it more and more and get better at it, then it's like, that's tough to get into that.
Kristel:
I love what you said there. And I can't remember your exact words for you were just talking about how, like you are the expert in your business. So that perspective shift, I think, is so powerful to just take the pressure off because sometimes they think, we feel like we have to act like we're somebody else, or we have to, we can't show up just as ourselves.
And that's, I think part of what makes people so nervous in those situations is like, you have to act a certain way instead of just be you. Oh, and it sounds like you went in there. We're going to be us because you know what you're doing and you're the experts in Super coffee. So that was really, really helpful.
And now you have Super coffee has a lot of really big names for investors. I'm curious. How did you get connected with these investors? Like you have Jennifer Lopez, Alex Rodriguez and others. I'm like reading my list here. How did that happen? And how did you do with the pitching of that? Like, did you kind of take that same approach where you just felt really confident and you knew your craft and I would love to learn a little bit about that.
Jimmy:
And just doubling down on what you just said, I think the authenticity of who you are and like just being herself, rather than being this like weird expectation of what we think you should be is one, it takes a lot of courage and two, it takes practice, right? Like I have imposter syndrome all the time. I'm super insecure. I'm like, I need to be the CEO.
I need to like show up a certain type of way, but like nobody's telling me I need to do that. Like I just need to show up as Jimmy. And when I do that, I think that's when I play my best games too at work.
But with the investors, it's the same thing that we just talked about with low status. Like you're in it, you're living it and it's not, I think people see those steps of like us raising money from J-Lo and Rod.
And they're like, okay, how do I get there? There's nothing that I could tell somebody to say, like, here's how you go to J-Lo, it’s like build a great business, build connections along the way, and those connections lead to other opportunities. And that's the tough thing. You know, it's like a six year overnight success story because people see the headlines and they're like, oh wow, these guys are killing it.
But like we would have never got to J-Lo had we not been pouring samples at whole foods in 2016, that led to our first investors and our expansion to New York City that led to our second investors and our expansion to LA. It's this chain of events that happens over time. And that hard work is compounding and it just leads to a web of connection.
So with J-Lo and Rod specifically the group that led our series a, or sorry, our series B last summer 2020, they introduced us, they had a mutual connection to JLo's manager and we got to know them pretty good. And I mean, we're closer with Alex than we are with Jen and the cool thing. I mean, even after they split up, they're both still involved in the business and really excited about where it headed.
Kristel:
Very cool. I'm thinking about what you just said and it's, I think people see where you're at now and what they don't see as like all of the steps to get you to where you are now. Like you said, like the pouring the samples at whole foods, and I'm curious along the way, did you feel like should've been happening faster?
Were you expecting it to take the amount of time that it took to kind of get you to where you are? Cause I know for me personally, my expectations when I started my business, It was like, it was going to be quick. Everything was going to happen. And I have learned patience and that hasn't been a key thing is just like those little steps add up, but it's not an overnight success.
It takes laying the foundation, laying the groundwork. I would love to hear your experience with that.
Jimmy:
Totally. And it's taken longer than we thought, right? We want to win the game on the first play. We want to score touchdowns. Right. And that doesn't happen. And I think brand building in the food and beverage industry, it doesn't take weeks or months or a year.
It takes years of just showing up and compounding and evolution. Like you have to evolve yourself as individuals. Like I'm a different person than I was back then, because I have to be, you know, we're leading over a hundred employees. Now we have 200 investors. Like it's just requires a different skill set or requires me to show up a different way as a leader.
But that wouldn't happen if the time didn't pass. So there was no way that we could have possibly gotten here quicker because we needed all those hard lessons, those mistakes, those wins those losses along the way to get to where we're at. And you said I was surprised that it took so long. Oh, one of our early mentors, Seth Goldman from Honest tea, who is the founder of Honest tea and the chairman of beyond meat before we sold one bottle, he's like, Boy, the best advice I can give you is cut your revenue projections in half every year and double your expenses.
And looking back, he was a hundred percent right. Every year we missed revenue by 50% because we always set ambitious goals and we double spent, it always costs us twice as much to get there. So I think every entrepreneur has these dreams and lofty aspirations and goals. And I think you're quickly humbled by how difficult it is.
Kristel:
You know, this is a great segue into talking about, I think mental wellness and mental wellbeing and resiliency as an entrepreneur, as a business owner and just as a human being in general, because it's not just only with business. I mean, with the pandemic, everything that we've just, we're going through, there's a need for being able to be resilient and to be able to handle those challenges.
So I'm curious what your experience has been with bouncing back after you didn't get the revenue you wanted or things didn't work out the way that you were hoping for. And it sounds like with things that your business having grown, like there's more pressure, there's more expectations potentially, more people relying on you.
So how have you managed all of this with everything that's been happening?
Jimmy:
And I think the way we are as just individuals, I think this has to go for every entrepreneur is sort of highly motivated, highly driven, highly resilient, gritty. You can stay in there longer than other people, but with that comes great rewards, right?
You can build awesome things with awesome people, but it also comes a lot of stress and pressure and anxiety and pressure that you put on yourself. Right. I think for us, we're not impressed by ourselves, which is, it is, it's a good thing because it constantly allows us to keep driving for more, but we don't really celebrate the wins as much as we should.
And I think that to answer the question, how do you handle it? It's like you have to put in the work on yourself and you have to put in the work to evolve. Because like I said, the problems that we faced in the first year when I was just my brothers and I making deliveries are very different than the problems we face today.
When we're dealing with investors are showing up on a national stage with Walmart and target and distributors nationwide, you know, it's, it's just, uh, requires a different executive skillset. So, I mean, we have an executive coach. I see a therapist once a week. I think having the humility and the vulnerability to say, I don't have all the answers I need to ask for help.
And I want to learn from people who have done this before. That's one thing that we weren't ever afraid of. Like we recognize we don't have a business background. This is our first time doing this, so we weren't afraid to ask for help.
So I think that's the best advice I can give anybody. Like, even if you think you know what you're doing, or you think you're the expert, ask for help and that way you just have data points, I get like any problem we face as a business, I'll go get 10 pieces of advice from 10 people I respect and trust and admire.
And if all 10 of them are saying the same thing, but Jake Jordan and I disagree, we'll hear what they're saying. And then we'll sort of still do it our own way. Right. But at least we had that information that was informed and we can make those decisions. So I think surrounding yourself with people and asking for help is the key to evolution.
Kristel:
That's such great advice. I think having a great mentor and you know, the fact that you are making your health and wellness and mental wellness, a priority. Is so important because you are under a lot of stress. There are a lot of, you know, unknowns and different things happening. So having all those resources available, I think is just so wise.
And then as far as your company culture, I know that it's something that is really important to you all is to have a supportive company culture. So I would love to hear a little bit about that and, you know, your mantra to work hard, to be nice to people resonates. I absolutely love that. So I would love to just get your perspective and insight into that mantra and how you look at company culture at Super coffee.
Jimmy:
Yeah, it's a great question. I think people is the most important part of any good product or brand. And if you take care of the people that take care of the company and for us, like we started out as a family, just because of literally doing it with my brothers. But what we realize is this is a team and a family everybody's treated as equals.
In a team the best player plays, and it's a meritocracy in that regard, but to the mantra of work hard and be nice to people, you need both. If you work hard and you're a bad person, we don't want to work with you. And if you're only nice to people, but you don't work hard, that's great. You're probably a good friend, but I have no value here because we expect so much out of everybody on the team.
And given our background as athletes, we created an acronym that really captures our core values and it's called COACH. So we want all of our people to represent the five core values of COACH. And that's Curious, Optimistic, Ambitious, Compassionate, and Humble, and not one of those things isn't any more important than the other five, but what's cool about it is it's become so ingrained in our culture that we just refer to each other as coach I'll be like Kristel, what's up, coach ,how you doing today? My brother, Jordan, calls his girl, Coach. He was like, coach, like instead of babe, I'm like, dude, you're taking this too far. Like let's, let's dial it back. Yeah. So I think setting those values and communicating them is the guard rails for the company. Because today we're 110 full time.
We're a very remote company, so we're not all together. And like we're not people aren't, don't get the benefit of interacting an office setting. I think most people are that way right now. But being very clear about what your values are and what you want that culture to be sets the standards for who you attract and also what you tolerate once you get people on the team.
Kristel:
I love that. I love that. I want it go back a little bit, because something that was sticking out that you had said before that we really didn't talk much about was imposter syndrome. And that's something that, you know, so many people experience. And I was thinking back to a conversation I had with someone who was on my show, Matt Higgins, and he was actually a guest shark on Shark tank.
And he shared that he experiences imposter syndrome that he thinks everybody experiences imposter syndrome, even the people who are, you know, sitting in those chairs have those feelings and that Damon John shared with him, like backstage, that something like, you know, don't let anyone tell you that you don't belong here.
You belong here because you are here. And I think. That idea of, um, people who are CEOs or founders or look like they found their success. Like there's this assumption that they don't have those doubts or those insecurities. And I just, I would love to hear a little bit about how you navigate that and, and what your thoughts are on that whole topic.
Jimmy:
I love that quote, you belong here because you are here and one thing. So I think understanding that you're not alone in that is really relieving feeling. Um, our executive coach, Charlie Jones. Awesome. He works with the sweet green guys and Danny Meyer from shake shack and the whole 30 team. And he told us he was like, Jimmy, what?
There's two things that all of my executives have in common. One, they all feel guilty when they're not working. Meanwhile, we all deserve a break, right? So like, we shouldn't feel guilty. Like we've, we've, we've worked our asses off for this, but it's true. Like, we it's like, oh, dang. I feel like, why am I taking the day off? I got to get back to it.
And two, we all have some level of imposter syndrome of like, why am I the guy that can be leading this big company now? Or why are do people look up to me? And I think having the confidence in, in yourself, I don't know. I guess it's about leadership in the sense that like leadership is not your title.
Leadership is like, when you turn it around, you see how many people are following it. And for us, like any entrepreneur, that's at the top of a company, a lot of people are following them, right? Because they believe in the vision or they believe in the work ethic and they believe in the culture. And I think it's still tough to overcome. I still have imposter syndrome every day, but understanding the team behind us believes in us. So we should believe in ourselves too, but that's been a constant battle for me personally at least.
Kristel:
You're not alone in that. And I think part of it is. So you'd like self limiting beliefs that everybody has from one place or another, that navigating that inner dialogue.
And that is something that I think is a lifelong journey for most of us is to get to that place where you're just really at peace with yourself. And really, and you really love yourself. I think that self-love is something that everybody can work on. And for me personally, like just grounding myself in the present moment and mindfulness practices and coming back to where I am, and then also taking the time to kind of see the bigger picture.
Like I know you had mentioned, you don't give yourself, you don't really give yourself credit for all the things that you guys are doing. And I think that's a really common thing because life happens so fast and it's like, you set one goal and then you're onto the next and then onto the next and then onto the next.
So sometimes for me, what helps is just like those quiet moment. Those reflection points were like, I take a deep breath and I like, see the bigger picture. And it's like, wow, like looking at all of the things that you've accomplished, that can be really eye opening, but taking the time to reflect and to take those breaks, which I know you mentioned that sometimes you'll feel guilty when you take days off.
Jimmy:
Yeah absolutely. Taking the pause practice to reflect finding a habit that allows you to do that for me to archery. And I like to think about the thing about bow hunting is it's not just killing you don't go to the woods and kill animals. Like most hunters, like we, we just sit in the woods for days at a time without seeing anything.
And like, that can be one, it can be lonely, but two, you have to be very comfortable being by yourself. The other thing I like about archery I when you're just shooting a target. If you're thinking about anything else other than hitting that target, you're going to miss. So it forces me to clear my head. So I think to get over that, and pause is finding the quiet moments to reflect.
I think the other key component for us lately has been celebration. When you have a win go celebrate, you know, as entrepreneurs we're constantly on to the next thing, or the goal line is keep, keeps getting further and further away because it's like, all right, we got that done. Let's let's get going to the next one.
So pressing pause to celebrate and just enjoy the moment has been awesome.
Kristel:
Yeah, I love that. And I read somewhere, I can't remember in the bio that you guys are all about gratitude. And I find that something that's really helpful and kind of from this like psychiatry background too. It's like, if we can take time to be thankful throughout the journey and to notice those things, like that's also good from like a neurotransmitter perspective, like supporting healthy serotonin release.
Instead of, if you're putting all of your energy and focus into that goal and accomplishing that goal, it's like, you might get a little dopamine hit, but if it doesn't go the way that she wants, then it's not going to there's. It can be, it's not really the best way to go about it. It's like enjoying that journey and putting the value in the experiences along the way, which I think is a challenge for a lot of people, myself included.
It can be hard to remember that, but I would love to hear a little bit about the gratitude practice.
Jimmy:
Yeah, I'm so glad you brought that up because it's so important. We end every meeting with at least 10 minutes of gratitude where people are just giving each other shout outs, because one, it's great to be on the receiving end of a shout out or have that gratitude.
But two, it feels really good to give that gratitude too. And I think whenever anybody is struggling, sort of personally, or as an individual, see what you can do for others, right? So how you can help other people. Even if that's paying them a compliment for work that they did or something that you noticed them contributing to the cause, because that makes you feel better.
It takes yourself out of your own head and it makes them feel better and it brings the team closer. So the gratitude is a non-negotiable part of every single one of our meetings, just because it's keeps the energy high, especially during this weird remote COVID time.
Kristel:
Right. And it builds connection too. I love that you guys do that. That's fantastic.
So I wanted to talk a little bit about Super coffee, and then we're going to go into like a wellness lightning round. I'm just going to ask you a few quick questions where it's like first thing that comes into your head.
So let's so Super coffee. I would love to know what your favorite flavor is or your favorite drink. If you are willing to share, if you can pick, like what's your go-to and then any other insights about where it's available and then I'll put a link in the episode details, but just where can people find it? And what's your favorite flavor?
Jimmy:
So, yeah, mocha Super coffee was our first flavor and it's still my favorite.
The close second though, we just launched a coconut mocha, which is plant-based and that's really good too. They both have 10 grams of protein. They're both sugar-free so those are my favorites. I'm a sucker for chocolate.
Kristel:
Okay. And then where can people find your coffee is?
Jimmy:
Yeah. So the best place is drinksupercoffee.com, where we distribute nationally from our website, but we're nationwide and Walmart and target CVS.
We're about to be chain-wide in seven 11, and then every major regional grocery store. So depending on where you live, your regional grocery store, likely carry Super coffee.
Kristel:
Awesome. Anything else that you'd like to share about Super coffee before we jump into the wellness lightning round?
Jimmy:
No, just checked out our website. There's one piece that we just launched. It's called add something positive. It's a campaign and there's little tips and tricks and hacks on how you can add something positive to others, add something positive to yourself. So it's sort of a fun page that we're proud of.
Kristel:
I love stuff like that. I think we all need that too.
Like coming out of pandemic, hopefully things are opening back up, but it's been a heavy year and a half. So I think having more things to lighten people's mood it's really, really valuable.
All right, Jimmy. So are you ready for the wellness lightning round? All right. I want to stretch a little, get ready.
Jimmy:
You need a super coffee to be in here.
Kristel:
Okay. So first question is what is a book you've read recently that you really found valuable or listened to? If you listen to it?
Jimmy:
Yeah. The one that I'm reading right now is 12 rules for life by Jordan Peterson. I think he's just super smart and like the way he articulates these stories that, that lead to these rules have been pretty awesome.
So I like that one.
Kristel:
Okay. Perfect. And then what is your top self-care tip? That is a non-negotiable for yourself and you might've already answered this but curious.
Jimmy:
The fitness piece for sure, but also nutrition. I think that's the biggest thing that's changed for me since college. Like in college, we've trained so hard that like, I ate whatever I wanted, you know, like we're naturally small guys.
So like, I didn't have any understanding of how food affected me and now, um, Dialed in on like what foods make me feel brain fog or what foods make me feel focused, you know? So I've been avoiding a lot of sugar, avoid carbs sometimes, you know, eating a balanced diet. I think nutrition has been the major unlock in my personal life.
Kristel:
Awesome. Yeah, that's a huge one. And then last question, knowing what you know now, what advice would you give to yourself from 10 years ago?
Jimmy:
Yeah, you can do this. I think just taking that up imposter syndrome, head-on especially starting out as like a, I was 22. When we started super coffee, I would look up at these other entrepreneurs and just say like, oh, that person must have something that I don't have.
They must be, have more qualifications or they must be built differently or they must be smarter than I. But the reality is we're all human beings and it's just a matter of putting in the effort, learning and evolving and growing. And so I wish that myself 10 years ago, my 18 year old self knew that like just believed in myself, had the confidence to make plays both on the field and in business.
Kristel:
I love that. I know, I feel like everybody needs that everybody needs that advice and insight. Okay. Well, this has been awesome. That was the last question.
So you can take a deep breath, no more pressure. And this was so fun, Jimmy. I'm super excited to try the coffee as well. I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but I definitely am going to, and thank you so much for spending some time with me today. This has been a lot of fun.
Jimmy:
Oh my pleasure, Kristel. Thank you so much. I'm excited to hear the episode. Have a great afternoon.