Latest / Something Extra / Breaking Bread and Nourishing Community w/ Josh Allen

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Breaking Bread and Nourishing Community w/ Josh Allen · Something Extra

0:01
Josh Allen: Well, like I mentioned, the four c's are our our companions, our customers, our
0:04
community, and our company.
0:06
And so, you know, very similar.
0:08
I mean, I mean, look at Herb Keller said it a long time ago
0:10
with Southwest Airlines.
0:11
It's really the same idea.
0:12
Right?
0:13
If and you said it yourself.
0:14
If we take care of our people, they will in turn take care of
0:17
our customers.
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If our you know, if we take care of those things and we support
0:21
our community, all of that will come back to us as a company and
0:24
take care of ourselves.
0:25
And so, you know, we've just gotta put our energy where we can put
0:29
it.
0:29
And and you know, one of our core values is nourishing our community, which
0:33
is a big piece of what we do.
0:38
Lisa Nichols: It takes something a little more to lead with impact.
0:41
I'm Lisa Nichols, author of Something Extra, and this podcast
0:45
was inspired by our daughter, Allie, whose additional chromosome has shaped
0:50
how I see people in leadership.
0:52
Each episode features conversations with inspiring leaders from around the world
0:57
about what truly defines how they lead and serve others.
1:01
If you enjoyed today's conversation, please consider leaving a five star
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review.
1:06
It helps more people discover the show.
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And if you'd like to go deeper, my book, Something Extra, is available on
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Amazon and through other major book retailers.
1:17
I'm delighted to have Josh Allen on the show today.
1:19
Josh is the founder of Companion Baking and host of the Baked In podcast.
1:23
Well, Josh, welcome to the Something Extra podcast.
1:27
I am so happy that we were able to make this work.
1:29
Josh Allen: I'm thrilled to be here.
1:30
Thank you so much for including me.
1:32
Lisa Nichols: Well and you had me on your podcast.
1:35
I think that was, like, two or three months ago.
1:37
Josh Allen: Yeah.
1:37
But I've got this tiny little podcast, and you've got this big international
1:41
best selling podcast.
1:42
So it's, it's an honor to be included.
1:45
Lisa Nichols: Oh, well, I'm really, happy that we were able to make it work.
1:48
You're you're a fascinating guy.
1:50
That's for sure.
1:51
And I always love to tell our listeners kind of how I meet my
1:55
guest.
1:56
And you and I got connected by the UHI UHY women.
2:00
Josh Allen: Correct.
2:01
Lisa Nichols: Kim Anderson and Mary Anne, Vingardi.
2:04
Right.
2:04
Josh Allen: Kim is is the the wife of JB Anderson, who's my producer on the
2:08
show from Gaslight Studios.
2:09
Little plug for Gaslight Studios.
2:12
But, yeah.
2:13
So they connected us, and I was thrilled to do it, and we had
2:16
a great time.
2:16
Lisa Nichols: We did.
2:17
We had a great time.
2:18
Well, let's, let's jump in.
2:20
I mean, I know you graduated from Stanford.
2:23
You could have pursued, you know, many traditional paths, but what drew you
2:27
to bake breaking baking and breaking bread, I guess?
2:32
I love to break bread with people, but what drew you to baking bread?
2:37
Josh Allen: Well, I I mean, I fell in love with it early on.
2:39
I mean, I remember stealing my sister's Easy Bake Oven when I was when
2:42
I was a kid, and there was something magical about baking brownies with a
2:46
light bulb, from the beginning.
2:48
But I grew up in the food business, so my family was a a
2:51
broad line institutional distributor.
2:53
So they sold groceries, to restaurants, hotels, hospitals,
2:57
schools.
2:58
Eventually, that business was sold to US Foods when US Foods was rolling up
3:02
regional distributors across the country, but I had grown up in that business
3:06
cleaning trucks as a kid, cleaning out the freezer, making hotshot deliveries
3:10
in high school, and really went to school always thinking that I would
3:14
end up somehow in that industry.
3:18
But then I got a job.
3:19
I was racing my bicycle and racing triathlons in the Bay Area.
3:23
When I finished school and wanted to work at night so that I could
3:26
continue to do that during the day for a couple years before what I
3:28
thought was moving back home to Saint Louis, ended up getting a job in
3:32
Whole Foods in Palo Alto.
3:34
I think that was, like, the fifth Whole Foods store in the country at
3:37
the time, and started working in the basement overnight baking bread and just
3:41
absolutely fell in love with it.
3:42
And that was sort of the end of it.
3:44
I mean, at that moment, I knew that I had found something that I'd
3:47
love to do.
3:48
I, you know, would bake all night and then go home to my house
3:51
and bake more bread while I was trying to train for races
3:55
and stuff and just really loved it.
3:56
Spent a couple more years in the Bay Area before, bringing
4:00
the craft and what little knowledge I had as a twenty four year old
4:04
back to Saint Louis to open the bakery.
4:07
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
4:07
Twenty four years old is when you started Companion
4:12
Baking.
4:13
What do you believe, Josh?
4:15
Because I'm thinking back to when I was twenty four.
4:18
What gave you the courage or maybe even that naivety to take
4:22
that leap?
4:22
And, of course, you had seen your family.
4:24
I think it was your grandfather that started Allen Foods.
4:26
Right?
4:27
Josh Allen: My great grandfather, actually.
4:28
Lisa Nichols: Your great grandfather started Allen Foods.
4:30
Right?
4:31
Josh Allen: I mean, he was the typical story.
4:32
He came over, he came over, made it as far
4:36
as O'Fallon, Illinois with with the money he had, you know,
4:40
through Ellis Island and then got to O'Fallon, had a donkey and a cart,
4:44
and then general stores.
4:46
And then during World War two, they converted the business to to frozen and
4:50
grocery, wholesale and kind of grew that business from there.
4:54
My dad ran that company for for over forty years.
4:56
But, I I mean, obviously, it was always entrepreneurial.
5:00
And then when I found something that I had a great passion for, the
5:04
wonderful thing about my family is they were incredibly supportive.
5:07
I borrowed the money from my grandfather to buy the oven, from
5:11
France and and buy our first mixer and and rented space from them in
5:14
South Saint Louis, in order to do it.
5:17
And so they were incredibly supportive, and and, obviously, they had
5:21
a really wonderful name in the industry, in the in the restaurant business,
5:25
in the hospitality business in Saint Louis.
5:27
And so that was always an inroad into the backdoor to meet with chefs
5:31
and restaurateurs in order to sell products.
5:33
So and you said it a second ago.
5:36
I mean, there there's also the element that ignorance is bliss.
5:38
I mean, I I didn't have a clue what I was getting myself into.
5:42
Never thought more than, you know, a couple of months down the road.
5:45
I mean, if you would have told me then that I'd still be doing
5:48
it thirty three years later, I would, I would have laughed.
5:51
I mean, I didn't have a five year plan.
5:53
I just wanted to make bread and and and find customers.
5:56
And my grandfather told me to shut up and listen to your customer.
5:59
They'll tell you how to grow your business.
6:01
And and I followed that advice advice, continue to do that today, and
6:05
we're still sort of going at it, I guess.
6:07
Mhmm.
6:08
Lisa Nichols: I I remember reading that what your grandfather had told you, and I chuckled
6:12
because it is true, though.
6:14
Right?
6:15
Your customers will if you listen to your customers, they'll tell you how you
6:19
need to evolve.
6:20
Right?
6:20
Yeah.
6:20
Josh Allen: And and I think your customers want you to be successful.
6:23
I mean, as long as you take care of if you if you make
6:25
a good product and you service them well and you value the relationship, they
6:29
wanna continue to help you be successful.
6:31
And so you've gotta figure out ways in which to give them that opportunity
6:34
to do that.
6:35
And so we started with I think I was making four different items, five
6:39
different items when we started, and we would sell bread to a restaurant tour.
6:43
Maybe it was sourdough bread for the basket on the table, and then they
6:46
would say, hey.
6:46
We need a a hamburger bun for lunch.
6:49
Can you can you work with me to develop a hamburger bun?
6:51
So we would do that.
6:52
And then we were selling, sourdough breads and and buns to
6:56
the Ritz Carlton.
6:57
And they said, well, we need banquet rolls for our banquets.
6:59
Can you develop a a, you know, a line of banquet rolls?
7:02
And so we did that.
7:03
So it was just constantly listening and figuring out ways in which we could
7:07
further create stickiness, if you will, with those customers by making more and
7:11
more things and penetrating deeper into their businesses and becoming a more valuable
7:16
supplier or baker for them.
7:18
And and we get a kick out of that.
7:19
It's really where our passion is is is helping our customer tell their story
7:24
with our product.
7:25
And and we just we have continued to listen today.
7:28
And, you know, we've evolved the business into mainly a custom manufacturer.
7:31
So that's really what we're doing now, every day, and and it's a real
7:35
joy.
7:36
Lisa Nichols: Yes.
7:37
Well, that's great advice, Josh.
7:39
That's great advice for anyone.
7:40
You know?
7:41
Listen to your customer.
7:42
I have to ask you, we just bought our companion bread last week at
7:46
Dierbergs, and it is good bread.
7:49
So listeners, if you have not had it, go and get your bread.
7:53
But where does the name come from, Josh?
7:55
Josh Allen: So the the Latin root of of companion is compane, which means with bread.
8:00
So a companion was literally someone with whom you broke bread or shared bread.
8:04
So that's where the name came from.
8:06
And I guess that's the Stanford education side of me that that that
8:09
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
8:10
That helped you come up with that.
8:11
Josh Allen: You come up with that.
8:12
Lisa Nichols: Right?
8:12
That's great.
8:13
That is great.
8:16
Well, let me ask you this.
8:17
So nineteen ninety three is when you found and, of course, we founded Technology
8:21
Partners in ninety four.
8:22
So we were right there at the same,
8:24
Josh Allen: Feels like yesterday, doesn't it?
8:26
Lisa Nichols: I I well, yeah.
8:27
Sometimes.
8:28
And then sometimes I'm like, I don't remember what I did before.
8:31
You know?
8:31
It's it becomes such a part of who you are.
8:34
Right?
8:35
But let me ask you.
8:36
When you've pulled those first baguettes out of the oven, what was your vision
8:40
for for companion?
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Was it just like, I'm just gonna kind of do this and see what
8:45
happens, or did you ever think that you would be this
8:49
national?
8:50
I don't know.
8:50
Are you international yet?
8:52
Josh Allen: No.
8:52
No.
8:52
Just national.
8:53
We are selling across the country.
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So we've we've allowed the business into frozen now.
8:57
So for for the most part, we're selling frozen product across the country.
9:00
But Mhmm.
9:01
I mean, no.
9:02
I think, unfortunately, I didn't have too much of a plan.
9:05
I mean, I I I just sort of believed that it would keep working.
9:09
You know, I I think, again, taking care of my people, we call them
9:13
our companions, but taking care of our employees and our bakers who would take
9:16
care of our customers, who would then take care of the community.
9:20
And then, hopefully, if all of those things happened, we could take care of
9:23
our company.
9:23
We called it taking care of the four c's.
9:25
That was sort of the Yes.
9:27
The value statement that we had, and and it just seemed to work.
9:30
And we've always been a little improvisational, I guess, in the sense that
9:35
we, you know, we don't say no a lot.
9:36
We say yes and then figure out a couple weeks later if that was
9:39
the right if that was the right answer.
9:41
You You know, we've had to backtrack on a few things.
9:43
But for the most part, we've sort of let the the universe guide us
9:47
in in that respect, and it's led us down some really interesting paths.
9:51
We we're in the cafe we have a cafe in Saint Louis now as
9:53
well.
9:53
We had a handful of those for a period of time.
9:56
And even the frozen business was us selling yes to a customer in Columbia,
10:00
Missouri that needed product, you know, delivering a couple hours away, which led into
10:05
shipping them brought across the country.
10:06
And and so I think that willingness to sort of run with things and
10:10
and being open to opportunities and not being so structured or
10:14
finite in sort of our vision was was beneficial.
10:17
Maybe in the same sense, it it hasn't been as well organized, but at
10:20
least I had a lot of energy all the way through, so we were
10:22
able to to get away with it.
10:24
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
10:25
We are so similar in many regards, Josh, because at Technology
10:29
Partners, we've always said, if we take care of our people, treat our people
10:33
right, treat them like family, if we take care of them, they'll take care
10:36
of our customer, then our success will follow.
10:38
And we've kinda done the same thing.
10:40
I mean, I don't think we had this big grandiose
10:44
strategy,
10:45
thirty year strategy or plan, but but it's just taking
10:50
one step at a time and just continuing to work hard and, like you
10:53
said, serve your customer and, you know, and then because
10:57
sometimes I think things come along, right, that you didn't even
11:01
envision
11:02
Josh Allen: at all.
11:02
Absolutely.
11:03
Lisa Nichols: You know?
11:03
So Yeah.
11:04
Josh Allen: I mean, we're we're we're servicing customers now that we never envisioned servicing.
11:08
And so it's and if we would be close minded in terms of that
11:11
approach I mean, as long as we can make a product that we're proud
11:14
of and something that I would wanna share with my kids and share with
11:17
my family and and we can find customers for that, then that's what we're
11:20
doing.
11:21
But we're doing things like mix ins for frozen custard companies.
11:24
I never thought we would be doing something like that, but there are these
11:27
beautiful baked goods that they're mixing into frozen custard.
11:30
We have delis and restaurant chains that are that are using our product.
11:34
We have a customer in the south that uses a a dough ball we
11:37
make to make brioche doughnuts.
11:39
And, again, like, we we've just sort of followed the path of trying to
11:43
work with with quality people and and folks that we wanna have a relationship
11:46
with and building those relationships.
11:48
And and it's led us into a lot of different products and opportunity.
11:52
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
11:53
I love it.
11:53
Love it.
11:54
I think it's just such a such good sage advice there.
11:58
Now the food industry can be really difficult, though.
12:01
It can be brutal.
12:02
You've got lots of regulations and FDA.
12:05
You know, have there been some really hard lessons, that you've had to personally
12:10
learn as a founder being in the food industry?
12:13
Josh Allen: I mean, I think most of the lessons are around,
12:17
I guess, the the hardest part is people.
12:18
Right?
12:19
I mean, my grandfather always said if it wasn't for your employees or your
12:21
customers, your job would be easy.
12:24
And I always got a kick out of that.
12:25
And I I I think that's true.
12:26
I mean, I think I think sometimes taking care of folks is hard to
12:30
do.
12:31
You know, I think probably the biggest challenge for us was was the pandemic.
12:35
I mean, I I I can't imagine anything that's gonna you know, knock on
12:38
wood, we don't have to deal with that again in in my lifetime, but
12:41
certainly the challenge is, you know, we lost seventy or seventy five percent of
12:45
our revenue overnight with the pandemic because the restaurant business pretty much just
12:49
disappeared, at least in the short term, certainly.
12:52
And it's it's rebounding back.
12:54
And then all the commodity challenges with flour and butter and eggs and sugar
12:58
and stuff like that.
12:59
But really, it was the turnover.
13:00
I mean, we hadn't talked much about turnover historically.
13:04
We we still have a number of companions who've been with us for thirty
13:07
years and more than twenty years.
13:08
But at the same time, we have a big group of folks that have
13:11
had have churned quite a bit during the pandemic, and that was the hardest
13:15
part.
13:15
It was it's hard to treat folks well and lean into trying
13:19
to build a wonderful culture, but just sort of the nature of the world
13:22
during that time was folks were just in and out, and they were scared,
13:26
and loyalty wasn't that important to folks.
13:28
And and Mhmm.
13:29
Just things were changing quite a bit.
13:31
And so, I mean, that has been the biggest struggle because for us, you
13:34
know, we're very hands on in what we do.
13:36
So losing quality people or losing people and turning them over means
13:40
our product quality is is more of a struggle, and we gotta pay more
13:43
attention to that, and it slows our capacity down.
13:46
Right.
13:47
So it's just sort of you know, it it all builds from our people,
13:49
no different than your business.
13:51
If you I mean, when when those moments are well where you're surfing along
13:54
and everybody's happy and in a good spot, things, the bread seems to be
13:58
better, customers seem to be happier, and then at those moments where hiccups exist
14:02
with your team, then it leads to those other challenges.
14:05
And so Yeah.
14:06
You know, by far, that was the hardest part.
14:08
I think prior to that, you know, we we had some growth spurts that
14:11
were challenging, but those are fun problems to solve.
14:14
And and I guess the only other thing was the Atkins diet in the
14:18
early two thousands.
14:19
Lisa Nichols: Oh my goodness.
14:20
Yes.
14:21
Josh Allen: We did deal with that.
14:22
So, you know, it's funny though because we opened during the the low fat
14:26
craze, and so I don't think I had an appreciation for, you know, the
14:30
mid nineties.
14:30
It was go ahead and eat a dozen bagels.
14:32
Just don't put any cream cheese on them because everybody was eating carbs.
14:36
And then, obviously, in the early two thousands, it flipped and went the other
14:39
way.
14:39
And so we were a little bit more mature as a company.
14:42
And so we definitely saw, you know, folks becoming carb aware, I
14:46
guess.
14:46
And and Yes.
14:47
You know, the the biggest example to that was, you know, I mentioned the
14:49
Ritz Carlton and banquet rolls.
14:51
When we first opened the business, if the Ritz had a banquet for
14:55
a hundred people, they ordered two hundred and fifty dinner rolls.
14:58
Now if the Ritz has a banquet for a hundred people, they order twenty
15:01
five dinner rolls.
15:02
Like, that's where the world has gone.
15:04
Like, people just aren't you know?
15:06
So the nice thing for our business to a certain degree though is people
15:09
have traded up on their carbs.
15:11
So if they're gonna eat carbs, they want a better quality carb.
15:14
So that means better quality bread, sourdough breads, you know, sandwich
15:18
buns that are more unique or differentiated.
15:20
And so we get the flip side of that too is is because we
15:24
make a higher quality product, folks come to us for that differentiation.
15:28
But the amount of of bread that's consumed is definitely different
15:32
than it used to be.
15:33
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
15:33
Wow.
15:34
And, of course, Josh, those are all things you could not have predicted.
15:38
All the things that you just said are things that you could not predict.
15:41
So Right.
15:42
Just having that agility,
15:45
and adaptability, I believe, as a business is really important.
15:49
So, you know, how you
15:53
know, truly now, it's become this national platform.
15:57
You know, how do you feel like that you have scaled without
16:01
losing that soul?
16:03
Is it just what we talked about, like making sure that you've not sacrificed
16:07
on the quality, making sure that you understand that this this brings
16:11
you joy?
16:12
I mean, that you still you still have joy in baking the bread for
16:16
Josh Allen: Yeah.
16:16
I I think the biggest thing and you talked about it too with your
16:18
business.
16:19
I mean, taking care of our people is the number one priority.
16:23
Yeah.
16:23
But I I will say that historically or when you when younger because I
16:27
was the one out there leading the team making bread every day, it sort
16:31
of happened by osmosis.
16:32
Right?
16:32
Because I'm on the floor and and everybody worked with me because I was
16:36
working eighteen hours a day and so it sort of happens.
16:39
But as that as the business grows and scales, you gotta codify that
16:43
more and and write it down more and and and talk about it
16:47
differently.
16:47
And so how you how you talk about your core values and your mission,
16:52
it has to you know, we lead every meeting with a core value story.
16:56
You know, what have we seen in the last seven days, you know, with
16:59
the group of people that are in that meeting, whichever group that happens to
17:03
be.
17:03
We talk about something that somebody who exhibited one of our core values.
17:07
We talk about safety, but we, you know, we talk about it.
17:09
We lead with safety and and the metrics behind it.
17:12
And we didn't always do that.
17:14
And I think what we learned through the pandemic was, look, there are a
17:18
lot of people now in the business that haven't been around for thirty years.
17:21
And so you in order to teach them and in order to to make
17:25
sure that they carry that forward in the way they do their job and
17:28
the way they interact with our customers or our vendors or suppliers
17:32
or whoever it is, we've gotta really we've gotta really write that stuff down
17:36
and talk about it in a way that's different.
17:37
So I think we spend a lot more energy trying to communicate
17:42
who we are and what we're about than I felt like we needed to.
17:45
I guess I thought it would sort of happen by accident because I Right.
17:49
Because I had all of the relationships.
17:51
Right?
17:52
Every vendor talked to me.
17:53
Every customer talked to me.
17:54
But that that absolutely isn't the case anymore.
17:57
And so I've I have a wonderful team of people that that communicate that
18:01
message message very effectively, but it's become much more intentional
18:05
than it ever was.
18:06
Lisa Nichols: I love that.
18:07
I love that you start your meetings with these stories.
18:11
And to your point,
18:13
the people that have been around for a long time know the stories.
18:16
Right?
18:18
But you've got so many new people, and they need to understand the stories
18:20
too.
18:21
And,
18:22
we see the same thing that kind of that tribal knowledge needs to be
18:26
passed on.
18:26
And so I don't believe you can communicate too much, Josh.
18:31
Josh Allen: No.
18:31
Absolutely.
18:31
And and especially as you grow your business outside of Saint Louis, your
18:35
customers can't you know, the customers are new to your story also.
18:38
Lisa Nichols: That's right.
18:39
Josh Allen: It's easy in Saint Louis.
18:40
You know, the the restaurant industry is is, I
18:45
guess the word incestuous is the term.
18:46
You know, a chef ends up somewhere else.
18:48
The staffs move around.
18:50
You know, so once somebody buys our bread at one restaurant, they end up
18:53
at another one.
18:54
And within the Saint Louis region, you know, our name carries a lot of
18:57
weight in the in the industry.
18:59
But as we've tried to expand outside of that, that goes away too.
19:02
So we have to tell our story differently and more intentionally
19:06
also to our customers.
19:08
And so whether that's through the website, whether that's through the the podcast that
19:10
I have to try to tell stories, whether that's through the the
19:15
sales sheets that we pass out, you know, all of that stuff becomes so
19:19
much more critical as as you attempt to scale and expand your reach because
19:22
it's, again, it's just not gonna happen automatically like it used to.
19:27
Lisa Nichols: Right.
19:27
No.
19:27
Good point.
19:28
Good point.
19:30
Well, you know, let's talk about this, the four c's,
19:35
because you had mentioned it earlier.
19:36
What are the four c's and how did this framework
19:40
come about?
19:42
Josh Allen: Well, like I mentioned, the four c's are our our companions, our customers, our
19:46
community, and our company.
19:47
And so, you know, very similar.
19:49
I mean I mean, look at Herb Keller said it a long time ago
19:51
with Southwest Airlines.
19:52
It's really the same idea.
19:54
Right?
19:54
If and you said it yourself.
19:55
If we take care of our people, they will in turn take care of
19:58
our customers.
19:59
If our you know, if we take care of those things and we support
20:02
our community, all of that will come back to us as a company and
20:05
take care of ourselves.
20:06
And so Mhmm.
20:07
You know, we've just gotta put our energy where we can put it.
20:10
And and, you know, one of our core values is nourishing our community, which
20:14
is a big piece of what we do.
20:16
We're a one percent for the planet company, so we focus a lot of
20:20
things on environmental issues and a lot of food insecurity issues with them.
20:24
So we have a really strong partnership with the Saint Louis Area Food Bank
20:27
and with Operation Food Search.
20:29
And, you know, all of those things are are hugely important.
20:33
And I do believe that it's our obligation as successful business owners to give
20:37
back, like and I also think it pays dividends.
20:39
I I I do think that there is there is value in those relationships.
20:43
I mean, we the one percent for the planet, I mean, it's a it's
20:47
a big ask of a small business to give one percent of your top
20:50
line revenue, to those causes.
20:52
But I also, in many respects, kind of look at it almost like a
20:55
marketing expense.
20:56
I do think it tells a story, and I do think that what a
20:59
wonderful way to tell a story by also being able to help environmentally
21:03
and and and with food insecurity.
21:05
Like, if we're gonna spend a dollar on something, what a great way to
21:08
spend it.
21:10
And and all of those things sort of come back and have value.
21:12
And so the the four c's sort of built out of that framework.
21:15
It was, one of our leaders a long time ago that sort of helped
21:18
me put that together and talk about it.
21:21
And it sort of has led to our core values and our mission and
21:24
and all of that stuff.
21:24
So
21:27
Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
21:27
Josh, I love what you just said because the one percent because
21:32
I think what's really important is I think that allows the world to
21:36
see the heart behind your company, that it's not
21:40
just about the almighty dollar.
21:42
I mean, you want to do well so that you can do
21:46
really good in the world, right?
21:48
And
21:50
I think more than ever, I think people want to understand that what they're
21:53
doing every day matters and that it's purposeful
21:58
and meaningful and being able to give back like that,
22:02
I'm with you.
22:02
I do believe it pays dividends.
22:04
Josh Allen: And I think, you know, interestingly enough, I think the internal story is more
22:08
powerful than the external.
22:10
Yes.
22:10
We have customers that appreciate that we're a one percent for the planet company.
22:14
And, yes, we have customers who who have their own agendas for
22:18
regenerative agriculture or
22:29
oven and taking bread out of the oven.
22:31
They also recognize that that we're committed to nourishing our community,
22:35
and they get to do that too.
22:37
And, look, an hourly baker doesn't always have the means to give back,
22:41
but they can give back as part of our team.
22:43
They can help us direct the choices as to where those funds go.
22:46
We we allow some of the we do companion directed giving within the
22:50
environmental causes.
22:51
We do a lot of volunteer days at the Saint Louis Area Food Bank
22:55
where folks can come out with us and box groceries or go pass out
22:59
food or or whatever we're gonna do it.
23:01
And and it really means almost more internally than externally.
23:04
It's great that the external validation happens.
23:06
But Right.
23:07
But, honestly, the internal story, we were, we probably
23:11
didn't even realize how impactful it was in until we got into it, and
23:14
we realized it's that's probably a much bigger deal.
23:18
Lisa Nichols: I agree.
23:19
I completely agree.
23:20
Well, Josh, I have a lot more questions for you.
23:22
But we need to take a quick break, and we'll be right back with
23:25
Josh Allen on the Something Extra podcast.
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23:58
Lisa Nichols: Well, welcome back everyone to the Something Extra podcast.
24:01
So, Josh, we were just talking about your companions and how much they
24:05
love that, you know, what you guys are doing in the community and nourishing
24:09
the community.
24:10
What are some of the other things that you guys do?
24:13
Are there other things that you guys do to make your, your companions
24:17
in the workplace feel valued and seen?
24:21
Tell me a little bit about that.
24:23
Josh Allen: It's a great question.
24:24
I mean, we do we do family meal once a month.
24:26
So our our chief happiness officer is also a former chef, and so
24:31
we do we do a family meal once a month.
24:33
We're you know, we work twenty four hours a day in the bakery business,
24:36
and so she'll so she'll produce something that we can serve over the course
24:40
of twenty four hours.
24:41
So sometimes we'll mimic what one of the concepts, one of our customers
24:45
have.
24:45
You know, we have a fried chicken concept out of the south that we
24:48
make a bread for.
24:49
So we did chicken tenders all day and and grilled the bread that we
24:53
serve with that and give, you know, folks a chance to try it.
24:56
Sometimes we'll bring in products from some of our customers to share.
25:00
Maybe it was frozen custard with one of our mix ins or something that
25:03
we'll do.
25:04
So family meal is a big part of it.
25:06
One of the things that I learned from my friend, Tamara Keith, who owns
25:09
Clementine's Creamery here in Saint Louis, Tamara does.
25:13
We started doing Christmas pictures.
25:15
So we have Santa Claus come one day, and we invite any
25:20
of our companions to bring as much of their family as they want.
25:23
And we do holiday photos for people and just give them the downloads.
25:26
And so, you know, we spend a few thousand dollars on a on a
25:29
photographer and on bringing Santa in.
25:32
But it's so wonderful to see these folks, again, who most likely couldn't afford
25:36
to bring a professional photographer in to do Christmas photos, and they'll bring twenty
25:40
people in with them sometimes.
25:41
And and everybody's sitting around Santa.
25:43
So that's been a a great thing, and shout out to Tamara for that
25:47
idea, because I think it's great.
25:50
And then just all of the different community support.
25:52
We were, my wife battled breast cancer.
25:55
We've had a number of folks within the bakery that have battled breast cancer,
25:58
so we're big supporters of of, of the Pink Ribbon
26:03
of the Pink Ribbon organization.
26:04
We also do stuff with Komen.
26:06
We're big fans of Pedal the Cause because of my bicycle.
26:09
So we we feed breakfast to everybody at Pedal the Cause and invite our
26:13
team to go out and help, you know, feed breakfast to thirty five hundred
26:16
or four thousand riders.
26:18
So a lot of those kind of community things that we give folks an
26:21
opportunity and and access to.
26:23
So it's really just I think it's having those conversations and telling
26:27
those stories, and also giving folks chance to, you know,
26:31
try the product, take the product home, share it with their family, bring their
26:35
family in.
26:36
You know, those kinds of things are really important.
26:39
It's not it's not necessarily big things.
26:41
It's a it's a lot of little things.
26:42
Lisa Nichols: It doesn't have to be.
26:44
Josh, I have seen sometimes it's the smallest things that really
26:48
make the biggest difference.
26:49
It could be a handwritten note to someone, truly.
26:52
Right.
26:53
But here is the underlying heart behind it.
26:57
It's intentional living.
26:59
Oh, absolutely.
26:59
Intentional.
27:00
Right.
27:00
Because if you're not intentional, if you don't sit and think what
27:05
you could do, then it's not gonna happen.
27:08
Kinda to your point before, it's not it's not gonna just happen by accident.
27:11
You have to be Oh, and
27:12
Josh Allen: it's I mean, you mentioned the handwritten I send handwritten birthday cards to every
27:16
you know, we have a hundred and fifteen people, but I'll send those out
27:19
in their birthday month.
27:20
And, you know, a hundred and fifteen people don't say thank you, but, you
27:24
know, the the ten or twenty of them that that it really impacts,
27:28
it makes it worthwhile to to spend the thirty or forty five minutes a
27:32
month that it takes to send out those cards.
27:34
And and you just realize just how important it is.
27:37
And different things are important to different people.
27:40
And, you know, you can't wait for everybody to be thrilled with the
27:44
whatever the benefit or whatever it is.
27:45
We do a picnic every year.
27:47
Half the team brings all their family and loves it, and the other half
27:50
doesn't show up.
27:51
But but, you know, my dad told me a long time ago, you you
27:54
gotta do it for the people that come and the people that find value
27:57
in it, and you can't let the people that don't because that it just
28:00
for whatever reason, it doesn't work for them or they're not interested, but that
28:04
doesn't make it a bad idea or not something important to do.
28:07
Because if you let the
28:08
Lisa Nichols: Good.
28:09
Josh Allen: The handful of folks not interested dictate that you don't do anything, then you're
28:12
making a big mistake.
28:14
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
28:14
Oh, that's so good.
28:15
That is so good.
28:18
I love that.
28:18
And I love that you I did not know this, that you have a
28:22
chief happiness officer.
28:24
Josh Allen: Yes.
28:24
Well, we I mean, she used to be the director of HR.
28:27
Like, what a terrible term that is.
28:29
Right?
28:29
Like
28:29
Lisa Nichols: Right.
28:30
Josh Allen: Right.
28:30
In essence, her job is to make people happy.
28:32
Like, she's responsible for the recruiting all the way to the retirement, and we
28:36
hope that folks make it that whole that whole series.
28:39
But, you know, what are the things that she can be doing every day
28:42
to the bakery?
28:42
She meets one on one with a hundred and fifteen people every month, or
28:46
every couple of months.
28:47
You know?
28:48
Supervisors, it's every week.
28:50
Leadership development, you know, career path.
28:53
You know, we do tuition reimbursement.
28:55
How can we folks you know, give folks an opportunity to better themselves?
28:58
Not everybody's, you know, gonna find a career in baking.
29:01
It doesn't mean they aren't an incredibly valuable companion to us for whatever that
29:05
Mhmm.
29:05
Chapter of their lives it is.
29:07
And so how can we help them be better, be stronger?
29:10
It's not necessarily school for baking.
29:11
Like, we have folks that that learn how to knit and we reimburse tuition
29:15
on, like, even if it's a hobby.
29:17
Like like, make yourself better.
29:19
Learn something new.
29:20
Lisa Nichols: Woah.
29:20
Josh Allen: That's incredibly valuable.
29:22
Lisa Nichols: Oh, I agree.
29:24
I agree.
29:24
And even those hobbies, when you're encouraging that, Josh, I'm sure you've
29:28
seen that with the triathlons and things like that that you've done.
29:32
It it informs other parts of your life.
29:34
Josh Allen: Absolutely.
29:35
Lisa Nichols: When you expand your
29:37
your interest and expand your brain, you know, to to take in other things.
29:42
Well, you were twenty four years old when you found a convenient.
29:46
If there is a twenty four year old out there that's listening
29:50
and they're thinking about starting their own business, what advice would you give them?
29:55
Josh Allen: I think that you you gotta have grit and and perseverance.
29:58
Like, I mean, I that's it.
29:59
Right?
30:00
Like Yes.
30:01
Thank god I had it.
30:02
I think the triathlon and the bicycle racing and all of the training
30:06
I mean, certainly from the physical demands of baking because baking can be pretty
30:10
physical.
30:11
It's hot.
30:11
The hours are not particularly wonderful most of the
30:15
time.
30:17
But but if I didn't have that grit and perseverance and certainly the immigrant
30:21
family and and just my the entrepreneurial nature of my family's business taught
30:25
me a lot.
30:25
Like, you gotta show up and go to work.
30:28
And and showing up is is our number one core value here.
30:31
We talk about that all the time.
30:32
Like, showing up for yourself, but also for your for your friends and your
30:36
peers and your company.
30:37
Like, that's that's an important thing to do.
30:39
And and I know in this day and age where everything is so immediate,
30:43
if you want something, it's delivered to your house and then, you know, you
30:45
don't have to go out to eat.
30:46
You don't have to go out to buy groceries.
30:48
You don't have to go out to date.
30:50
Like like it like Yes.
30:51
Immediate gratification is such a big piece of the younger generation now, and and
30:56
that's just not how it works in business.
30:58
And I think the the advice is is just to have that patience
31:02
that if you just continue to do the right thing, take care of your
31:05
employees, take care of your take care of your vendors, take care of your
31:08
customers, you know, do business with integrity, I do think eventually it'll
31:13
pay it off.
31:13
But it just it takes some time.
31:15
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
31:16
No.
31:16
That is great advice.
31:17
I love that.
31:20
You know, this is kind of along the same same line,
31:24
but, you know, what we see sometimes and and you said it yourself.
31:28
You know, sometimes hopefully, you're not doing that now, but there was
31:32
a period of time where you're working eighteen hours a day.
31:36
What I I see that a lot, you know, where founders just
31:40
the buck stops with them, and they don't know how to turn it off.
31:44
I mean, how do you keep balance?
31:45
I know that you I think you have five kids, don't you, Josh?
31:48
Josh Allen: Yes.
31:48
I do.
31:50
Lisa Nichols: And so how do you how do you keep yourself from burning
31:54
out?
31:55
How do you stay curious and fresh?
31:57
And I know growth is really important to you, but
32:01
got any advice there?
32:03
I mean, you've got five kids, and I'm sure they are all super busy.
32:07
Josh Allen: Right.
32:07
I mean, I think, you know, I
32:10
I I guess you gotta try to find it.
32:12
Right?
32:12
I I think the biggest thing is building a wonderful team.
32:15
And so I I do think there are parts of there are moments
32:19
where there's not gonna be equal balance.
32:21
Like, I don't ever believe that you have balance in life.
32:25
There are just moments where you gotta lean into certain things, and and there
32:28
are moments where you gotta lean into the business.
32:30
If if things are growing quickly or if there's a challenge, you gotta lean
32:34
in.
32:34
And then there are times where you have to lean into family if you
32:37
have a medical situation or a or a challenging situation
32:42
with the family or the time is needed for sporting events or school or
32:45
whatever it is.
32:46
And I think it's it's picking those moments and and trying to communicate
32:50
effectively to your team what you need, you know, what your needs are, but
32:54
also to your family what your needs are.
32:56
And and I I don't wanna say that it's easy to do all the
33:00
time.
33:00
It's never easy to do, but anything that's that's anything
33:04
worth doing isn't easy.
33:06
Right?
33:06
Lisa Nichols: That's right.
33:07
That's right.
33:08
Josh Allen: I I and I think it's just it's a it's an ebb and flow.
33:11
So I don't know that there's particular advice.
33:14
I think it's again, it's kind of leads to that improvisational nature that we
33:17
tried to we've always used to build the business.
33:19
You just gotta sort of go with it a little bit and and believe
33:23
that you're gonna come out the other side.
33:25
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
33:26
That's good.
33:27
That's good advice.
33:28
Well, I know that you host I want you to talk about this for
33:31
just a minute.
33:32
I know that you host your own podcast, Baked In Podcast.
33:34
We talked about that in the beginning.
33:36
I was fortunate to to be a guest on your podcast.
33:39
What have you learned about leadership by sitting on the other side of the
33:42
microphone?
33:43
I don't even know if we have enough time, Josh.
33:46
Josh Allen: I think I think it's the same thing.
33:48
It's all those little things.
33:49
Right?
33:49
It's Tamara's little little things that she did to to help her
33:53
folks.
33:54
It's it's metrics that other folks look at.
33:56
I mean, I'm I'm just a super curious guy, and and Saint Louis is
34:00
just a wonderful giving community.
34:02
We talked about that a little bit at the beginning.
34:04
And and, you know, the the leadership.
34:06
We we really have developed some wonderful businesses here, some of which just service
34:10
the local community, many of which are are national and have grown, you know,
34:15
well be outside of Saint Louis.
34:16
And so that opportunity to sit down with folks and you know, I mean,
34:19
as much as I wish that you and I would have just had a
34:22
cup of coffee one day, the way people get together I mean, sometimes a
34:26
podcast is an excuse to to be able to sit down with somebody that
34:29
maybe you wouldn't have crossed paths with.
34:31
And so there's so many different leadership lessons that come out of those conversations.
34:36
And and I've been much more open to meeting folks for coffee and
34:40
and and just sort of the term networking always
34:44
felt very manipulative to me, like, that you were trying to get something out
34:48
of somebody.
34:49
Or but I just realized now that that taking that minute to connect with
34:53
people has tremendous value.
34:55
Sometimes it leads to a sale or introduction down the road,
34:59
but a lot of times it just means to learning something new and and
35:03
seeing something differently or being able to help somebody else.
35:06
And and sometimes helping somebody else leads to different opportunities.
35:09
And so the podcast is just a wonderful excuse
35:13
to sort of to sort of, I guess, formalize some of those connections.
35:18
Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
35:18
Yeah.
35:19
It's about building a relationship, Josh.
35:21
You know?
35:22
It really is.
35:22
It's about building a relationship.
35:24
And to your point, sitting down with somebody, understanding their
35:28
story,
35:29
you you may not be helped in that moment.
35:32
There may not be something that comes back to you, but it may be
35:34
something that you can deposit into them.
35:36
Josh Allen: Absolutely.
35:38
Lisa Nichols: So it's, I I think it's just it it has been one of the
35:42
greatest joys of my career, honestly, is hosting the podcast.
35:45
I just absolutely love it.
35:47
When you think about your life, Josh, and companion,
35:51
in your life as a father and as a,
35:56
father to five and as a husband to your wife,
36:00
I mean, what do you hope people remember about you?
36:04
Josh Allen: Oh, wow.
36:06
Well, I hope I'm gonna be around for a long for a long time,
36:09
and I can still continue to formulate that for people in their minds.
36:13
I, you know, I I think I think that I brought integrity to what
36:16
I do.
36:17
I think that's the most important thing.
36:18
I mean, that's the look.
36:19
Your kids are watching everything that you do.
36:21
Your our companions are watching everything that I do.
36:24
Like like, I think that's the thing that that my dad told me early
36:27
on.
36:28
Like, pay attention to the little things that you're doing because people are people
36:31
are watching.
36:31
Right?
36:32
Like, I I had a chef, Bill Cardwell, who who had a restaurant in
36:35
Saint Louis for a long time, and he used to have a restaurant inside
36:38
of Plaza Frontenac, which is a a mall in Saint Louis or a shopping
36:42
center.
36:42
And I remember walking across that with him, and he was picking up trash.
36:46
It wasn't anywhere near his restaurant, but that was just the nature of the
36:49
way that he like, he felt like he needed to make the area in
36:53
which he was part his community inside of that mall, you know, he he
36:57
just took that second to pick up trash.
36:59
And I always think about that when I'm walking inside of our building or
37:02
walking into somebody else's restaurant that it doesn't take a second, but to
37:06
but to help make the area a little brighter and a little cleaner.
37:09
Because I and sometimes people are watching.
37:11
Sometimes that example I don't think Bill thought I was paying any attention to
37:15
what he was doing.
37:16
I mean, this was probably twenty five years ago, and I have never forgotten
37:19
that moment walking across Plaza Frontenac with him.
37:22
And so I I I try to do that with everything.
37:24
Right?
37:25
Like, we we we choose which vendors we we buy products from, and those
37:28
relationships are hugely important to me.
37:31
And and we don't jump ship to save, you know, twenty five cents on
37:35
a on on flour, sixty cents on sugar.
37:38
I mean, if somebody services us well, takes care of us when we have
37:41
an emergency, you know, you have to treat us fairly.
37:44
We're gonna pay attention and go you know, we're gonna shop the business every
37:46
once in a while to make sure we're being treated fairly, but those relationships
37:49
matter.
37:50
And and Mhmm.
37:51
I hope that people remember me for that willingness to formulate
37:55
to form those relationships and the value that I placed in them.
37:58
Lisa Nichols: That's so good.
37:59
Josh, as you were talking, I was thinking there is a famous saying out
38:03
there, and I don't remember if it was I don't remember who who
38:07
who said it, who coined it, but leaving somewhere
38:11
better than you found it.
38:13
And I'm like, that's precisely
38:15
Josh Allen: I think it was like Smokey the Bear, I think.
38:17
Lisa Nichols: It's Smokey the Bear?
38:20
Yeah.
38:21
I'm not I'm not really sure.
38:22
I felt like it was like a,
38:25
I don't know.
38:26
I I felt like it was, Winston Churchill or something.
38:29
I don't know.
38:30
But whoever.
38:31
But I was thinking, as you were saying that, I'm like, that's what it
38:35
means to leave something better than you found it.
38:37
You know?
38:37
If there is something there, I love that.
38:40
And, yeah, you're right.
38:41
I mean, people are always watching.
38:43
We're always influencing whether we believe it we are or not.
38:46
So I love that.
38:47
Well, let me ask you this.
38:48
This is called something extra.
38:50
What do you believe is the something extra that every leader needs?
38:55
Josh Allen: I I think it speaks to that relationship thing.
38:57
I mean, I I guess, you know, you can use empathy.
39:00
You can use authenticity.
39:02
What whatever word choice you wanna come up with, I think it's it's believing
39:06
in the integrity of those relationships with our people, with our vendors,
39:10
with our customers, with our banker, with with all of those things.
39:14
I think it's it's coming to that with a real,
39:19
with a real caring sense about it and believing that you know, and I
39:22
don't like the term win win, but it's I mean, it's believing that that
39:25
that there's integrity to both sides of the relationship and that you've got to
39:29
treat people fairly, you've got to expect to be treated fairly in return,
39:33
and that you put value into all of that stuff.
39:35
I mean, in the end, we're just taking flour, water, and salt and making
39:38
bread.
39:39
So we don't, you know, that it's not rocket science what we're doing, but
39:42
but we do believe that that bringing people together to break
39:46
bread is something that's incredibly valuable.
39:48
And and we look at that with all of the relationships that we're able
39:51
to form with the business.
39:52
And I think I think leaders have to bring that because you there's you
39:56
can't fake that.
39:57
People know it too quickly if it's if it's not authentic or you
40:01
don't have empathy for those relationships.
40:03
And, you know, things happen.
40:04
People make mistakes.
40:05
Challenges arise.
40:07
You know, stuff happens.
40:08
And and if you have all of those relationships intact, I think you
40:12
can you can get through those times,
40:16
much less scathe than you would be without them.
40:19
Lisa Nichols: Agreed.
40:19
That is so good.
40:21
Well, I am looking forward to breaking bread with you soon.
40:24
Okay?
40:24
Josh Allen: We'll do it soon.
40:25
Yes.
40:26
Lisa Nichols: Let's do it.
40:27
Thank you so much, Josh, for making time to be on the show.
40:30
It was a really, a joy to be with you today.
40:33
Josh Allen: Well, thank you, Lisa.
40:33
I really appreciate it.
40:35
Announcer: Something extra with Lisa Nichols is a Technology Partners production.
40:38
Copyright Technology Partners, Inc, twenty nineteen.
40:38
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40:48
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40:51
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