Brewing Purpose: How Seven Weeks Coffee Is Funding Life with Every Cup | Coffeez for Closers

0:00Now you're going to donate over a million dollars. Yeah. So you're giving 10 % of gross? Yes, 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. Welcome to another episode of Coffees. Thank you so much, Anton, 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 going to donate a significant portion of its profit to this cause.

0:51Yeah. So, I mean, it's a few things that were happening in my life personally and also did what was going on culturally and the economy. So it was right post-COVID 2022 is when I had the late 21. So really 2022 was our first year in business. But it was funny. It was 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 going to 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 in the political movement. And I kept seeing all these businesses, especially like corporate activism, especially on the left, this pushback on Bud Light, this pushback on Target, this idea that consumers, faith-based consumers, conservatives were being alienated where they spend money.

1:45They were giving money to brands that obviously didn't support their value. So I was like, 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 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 or in the pro-life space.

2:20So that's kind of the origins of it. And, you know, I worked in politics for a few years before that. So I had a lot of experience in, you know, nonprofit fundraising, for-profit fundraising for candidates and PACs. And so that kind of led to the idea of it as well. It's like, what if you could provide a really good product and service to customers and actually make a difference with their money that they purchased from you? So, you know, instead of, essentially what I did before, which is raise money for a certain cause where people would donate. People would buy coffee for a cause and they'd know exactly where their money's going.

2:53So 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 we'll share how much we've donated and see how much we can raise for our local pregnancy resource centers. So it started with that simple idea. In the first month we sold a thousand 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 going to donate over a million dollars. Yeah. So actually, so you're giving 10 % of gross 10 % of gross sales. So this is a large portion of our profits.

3:27Um, it can be upwards of 50 % of our profits. Um, 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 stewarded 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 are donating tens of thousands of dollars each month consistently through the sale of our coffee.

4:05you 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 that's a and on the um 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 started seven weeks coffee, I was working a full-time job.

4:46A handful of months later, I got laid off from that 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 that I was like, Lord, if you want this to work and 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.

5:24And so I felt 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 continue 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. It works, um, for us. And it's been a way we've been able to, you know, surely make a difference. So, um, 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 going to be buying seven, seven weeks coffee.

5:57And that's what I'm going to be using for my coffee because, uh, to steward the money and knowing that 10 % is going to, that's, that's incredible. Yeah. That's just incredible. Um, so where did the name come from? Seven weeks. Yeah. This is the, so I got to 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. Um, 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 cool.

6:32I get this business idea. Um, 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 going to call it? And I had no idea. I was like, I'm not sure. Um, and then she asked me the question that inspired me. 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. She asked the question, which was, so when is a baby the size of a coffee bean? I'm like, I don't know. I look it up at seven weeks, a baby is the size of a coffee bean.

7:02It'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 and mission of seven weeks. That is so cool. I should have known that. I knew it was something because I've been to 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.

7:31How's it feel to be a dad? It's awesome. You know, it's, um, you know, obviously pro-life. And so this is like our, or the real world we're stepping into it as parents and it's been nothing but a blessing of like living out, um, you know, raising a child and just seeing his development, you know, actually seeing his development in the womb and obviously what we're advocating for is protecting the unborn and all the steps from pregnancy to the baby kicking to hearing the heartbeat. You just know that like, wow, this is a life in the womb. This is an unborn child, a human being full of unalienable rights like you and me.

8:03And it just has inspired us more that like, you know, their life is not optional, which obviously abortion is, 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. What pulled you away from politics and toward entrepreneurship? Because that's a big risk. And you went from something totally stable to something totally very, very dangerous for any sort of parent or married couple. Not only did you do something very, very risky, but you also decided to give 10 % up of gross profit from a very stable position.

8:57And it just sounds, you know, I'm an entrepreneur and most entrepreneurs are crazy, but I just want to know what was your mind at the time? What was your mindset? What were you thinking? What drove you? What took you away from politics? It was definitely a few things. So, you know, politics was good. I learned a lot about marketing, fundraising. but in anything one of the main reasons I moved to D.C. was I was very passionate about biblical values, conservative values and this idea of advocating for 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 a more, let's rather a more immediate impact, like what we're doing with Seven Moves 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.

10:07So it was kind of like a, this, a moment of like, you know, politics is fine, but not a lot of change happens sometimes. So it was 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, that's as simple as I can put it. Like I always wanted to work for myself. I love the idea of like stepping into starting a business, you know, wanting to, you know, forge my own path, if you will. And, um, um, that was definitely behind it where, you know, I was working in fundraising, but in the back of my mind, I'm thinking of like, you know, what can I do?

10:40What 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.

11:17So 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, Shark 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, why followed her? And like, I'm a very comfortable going in the opposite direction. Um, I don't know. That's always been my inkling. And, and on top of that, I've always loved politics.

11:53Like 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, um, 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. Um, so I was like always like interested in politics, very interested in business. So, um, from years ago. So it's funny how, you know, looking back, it's, it's, it seemed to be meant to lead to what I'm doing today.

12:30Incredible. So how, how old were you when 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 for context, I played college golf. I graduated in 2019. I only knew college golf. I had an injury though, so I couldn't 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.

13:05So I found an internship in D.C. and, you know, kind of the political movement. And that was my first in. And then I got a job in fundraising after that. But there was no 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 like anything with like, I think business owners, like externally, you never would say that early on.

13:48But 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. Um, in September, I started in November and I got like 2000 bags of coffee, you know, made, um, 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 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 And I literally put$3 ,500 in a business account.

14:22And then I spent some of it. So I didn't even have the 2 ,000 bucks to cover the sponsorship. And I emailed them. I said, hey, if you just let us donate back the 10 % of every sale to your organization, would you let us have a booth? And they said, sure. So I go down there, get a couple of t-shirts made. My wife comes and I bring a friend, give him a t-shirt. So we kind of look 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 it. Like I remember one person was crying, like this is the coolest thing ever. I love the name.

14:53I love the mission. Where has this been? How long have 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 was awesome. And then I was like, okay, 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. And I 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, it kind of is self-explanatory when a customer sees it.

15:25And 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. Yeah. So what has been the biggest catalyst to its growth has been for marketing? Has it been the mission? Has it been social media marketing? Has been word of mouth? Like how did you get to$10 million 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.

16:14So 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 our Bible study, 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 thousands of people over the course of these conferences.

16:48So it's really multifaceted, but 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 where we've kind of established ourselves as now America's pro-life coffee company, really probably the largest faith based coffee company in the country. Um, and that's what we want to be. It's 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, um, supporting life.

17:22So 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. 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 going to do it. 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 got to figure that out. You know, we, I had, I found a coffee supply right away. Um, and one of the interesting thing is I was very interested into coffee, coffee, sourcing, studying coffee.

18:03And this is actually I'm going to highlight is like, you know, you can find very cheap coffee and just 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.

18:33We pay them transparent wages, which is three times what 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 specialty grade coffee you can get. So in terms of sourcing, it's direct trade, which is the best you can get. Specialty 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.

19:04So that's been awesome because so many people - That's great to hear. Yeah. Because so many people will buy a product. This is like, I love telling their 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 twofold approach.

19:31You 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.

19:47That's great to hear. Now, what does, uh, what's 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, with some grown 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 a 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.

20:22We want dollars to go into the hands of local organizations who know how to use the money the best. So we have a program, simple put, you're a pro-life organization. You sign up, we vet you, obviously making sure you're a legitimate pro-life organization. You have the same pro-life worldview that we support. And then once you're vetted, you get into an enrollment sheet and it's pretty simple. You're pro-life, we want to support your work. You have a pro-life worldview. You just enroll in the month and we'll just send you a check during that month. So each month we're donating, um, between like, you know, 20 and 40 pregnancy resource centers or pro-life organizations.

20:57And 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 do a lot of donations with free coffee for their events. We send them coffee for, you know, galas and things like that don't own gifts. And so we're, we try to be like this resource for pro-life organizations. Um, so yeah. And you know, for us, every month I go in and we just allocate our funds from the dollars we raised that month to these organizations. And then we go out and process these donations and send them the money. And that's the most personal part.

21:30We literally get to see each and every center every month, they receive a portion of our sales through a check. So 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 we 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 built a mission-based business where you're giving away half your profit like When was that breaking point for you?

22:15You know, I cannot tell you how many times the prayer has 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. There's been multiple times where I almost sold a portion of the company to investors. That got very close a few different times, and I'm very happy that I never did that and was able to just 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.

22:47And that's been, that was very harmful and hurtful personally. Um, Copy you with mission based products like this? 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, um, 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.

23:20We're not trying to copy anyone. I started this with the intention to fund the pro-life movement. No one was doing this through coffee. It was a new idea. If people want to copy us, you know, so be it. But there's something to be said when you're not trying to copy anyone. And 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.

24:01One, we need more Christian spiritual entrepreneurs. The idea that as, so this has kind of been 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. We need more entrepreneurs to live out their faith 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.