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

Wow. Now 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. 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.

Yeah. It's a few things that were happening in my life personally and also to what was going on culturally in 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 said, 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 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, they're giving money to brands that obviously didn't support their values. 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 in space, but there was really no one doing it for Christians or in the pro-life space. So that's the origins of it. And I worked in politics for a few years before that, so I had a lot of experience in nonprofit fundraising, for-profit fundraising for candidates and packs. And so that led to the idea of it as well. What if you could provide a really good product and service to customers and actually make a difference with their money that they purchase from you? So instead of, essentially, And see what I did before, to raise money for a certain cause, where people would donate, people would buy coffee for a cause, and they know exactly where their money is going. So that's why we ended up saying, Donate back 10 % of every sale, which is a large portion of profits, but as the idea of that transparency. Every month we'll share how much we've donated, and see how much we can raise for our local pregnancy resource center.

So it started with that simple idea. In the first month, we sold 8,000 bucks worth of coffee, and I dropped off a check for $800 to our local pregnancy resource center. And That was the genesis of it.

Wow. And now you're 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, but we're incredibly generous. And this donation model is really what's led to our growth because consumers feel like their voice and that their dollars is being steward in the most transparent way possible, where we were able to really make this impact. So 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 tens of thousands of dollars each month, consistently through the sale of our coffee.

You know, Anton, when you give a little bit to God, he just pours it on. It's a testament to what you're doing. You're given 10% of gross. That's insane. It is.

That's a myth. On the outside looking in, it's not a really good business practice. When I first had the idea, it just sounded like a fun... It just sounded like a good way to give back, like tithing. I wasn't super familiar with 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 7 Weeks of Coffee, I was working a full-time job. Handful of months later, I got laid off from that job. And so I was at this crossroads. Do I pursue seven weeks coffee full-time or try to keep it on the side? And that's what it hit me. It's like, wow, donating 10% of every sale was a lot of our money. I was very nervous. I was actually considering changing that donation model because I was like, this isn't sustainable. I got to make it profitable. And I remember praying, though. I was like, Lord, if you want this to work, and you want us to keep this donation model, I said, I will do it, I'll do it, but you have to make it profitable so I can earn income from this, pay for my family, actually make this a legitimate career and job.

And so I feel like I made this deal with God, if you will. And ever since then, we've been profitable every single month, every single year, and we've continued to donate 10 % of every sale. So outside looking in, it's not the best business practice on paper, but God has made it work. It works for us. And it's been a way we've been able to truly make a difference. So it's cool. And now we've raised a million dollars. So it's been amazing.

Anton, that's a phenomenal story. And you know what? I'm going to be buying seven weeks coffee. Thank you. That's what I'm going to be using for My Coffee because to steward the money and knowing that 10 % is going to... That's incredible. That's just incredible. So where did the name come from, Seven Weeks?

Yeah, this is 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, 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. I got this idea. She probably thought something was the matter? But I'm like, no, it's cool. I got this business idea. Like I said, it was two weeks after we got married, and I was like, I want to start a pro-life coffee company. And then she said, what are you going to call it? And I had no idea. I was like, I'm not sure. And then she asked me the question that inspired it. She said, sometimes moms who are pregnant will say, my little bean, 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 It's seven weeks. A baby the size of a coffee bean. It's the same time a heartbeat is detected on ultrasound.

So our logo is the heartbeat. That was our name and mission, Donate 10% of every sale to support pregnancy care centers in their ultrasound services. So moms Can hear their child's heartbeat for the first time. That's how we got the name 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. Do you have any kids?

Yeah. We just had our first son three months ago.

Congratulations. That's amazing. God bless. Thank you. How does it feel to be a dad?

It's awesome. We're obviously pro-life. And so this is the real world we're stepping into it as parents, and it's been nothing but a blessing of living out, raising a child, and just seeing his development. Actually, seeing his development in the womb, and obviously what we're advocating for is protecting the unborn. In all the steps from pregnancy to the baby kicking, to hearing the heartbeat, you just know that, wow, this is a life in the womb. This is an unborn child, a human being full of unalailable rights like you and me. It just has inspired us more that their life is not optional, which obviously abortion is taking that right away and killing the innocent in the womb. It's been amazing and it's been inspirational to our mission to keep going forward.

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 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. It just sounds... I'm an entrepreneur, and most I know 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 politics was good. I learned a lot about marketing, fundraising. But in anything, one of the main reasons I moved to DC 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 realize everything's a stalemate here, like 24/7. Very little happens, very little change happens. Everything's always tied up. And while it's important to advocate for policies and laws, especially some pro-life policies and laws, you can actually have a bigger impact, or let's rather, a more immediate impact, like what we're doing with 7 Wings Coffee, by just working in the private sector, by using business or whatever it is to actually help people who are facing the challenge or contemplating abortion. So it was a moment of, 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 9: 00 to 5: 00 for someone else. I mean, that's as simple as I can put it. I always wanted to work for myself.

I love the idea of stepping into starting a business, wanting to I'm trying to forge my own path, if you will. And that was definitely behind it where I was working in fundraising. But in the back of my mind, I'm thinking of what can I do? What business can I start? How do I actually do something on my own. I just like the idea of that risk was fine with me, and just taking ownership of an idea. And it's been awesome because I was always so motivated by using business for faith and advocating for family values. 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 after working for a few years for other people, I realized that's not what I want to do long term.

Were you an entrepreneur when you were younger?

I was definitely a tinkerer, for sure. I always wanted to figure out different ways to either make money or think of different products. I was always interested in Shark Tank and all these things. So there's probably a lot of early indicators that I was always wanting to do something for myself. I was always a contrarian to why followed her? I'm very comfortable going in the opposite direction. I don't know. That's always been my inkling. And on top of that, I've always loved politics. I used to watch Glenn back when I was a kid, 11, 13 years old, and I always used to watch Fox News. And when my first taste in politics was working the Republican National Convention when I was in Cleveland, which is where I'm from, and that's where Trump spoke. And I was very enamored by him and what he was doing in the MAGA movement in early 2015, 2016. So I was always interested in politics, very interested in business from years ago. So it's funny how looking back, it seemed to be meant to lead to what I'm doing today.

Incredible. 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 my major. 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. I felt like I was starting from square one after I graduated. And all I knew was I like politics, and I did like business. I was like, I'll try to find an internship. I found an internship in DC and 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 what I was going to do. I was just piecing it together as I went along and taking the opportunity, which 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.

It's like anything with, I think, business owners. Externally, you never would say that early on, but internally, I was like, this could really catch on. This could be a really big deal. I remember the first event, so it's funny. I had the idea for seven weeks coffee in September. I started in November. I got 2,000 bags of coffee made for us through a private label. And we went to this event in DC. So during the March for Life, which is in January, it's a big pro-life weekend. I was like, Oh, we should get a booth at this big conference there. It's all these pro-lifers. And it was 2,000 bucks for a booth. And I literally put 3,500 dollars in a business account. And 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 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 some couple of T-shirts made. My wife comes, and I bring a friend, give him a T-shirt.

So we 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 enamored by it. I remember one person was crying like, This is the coolest thing ever. I love the name. I love the mission. Where has this been? How long have you guys been around? I'm like, It's been two months, and we're just getting started. But that initial reaction from really the first customers that ever heard of it was awesome. And then I was like, Okay, there's something here. This is meeting a need. People are resonating with what we want to do as a brand in the company. And it really just took off from there, honestly. It's funny. Good products and good names that really serve a mission, it is self-explanatory when a customer sees it, and that's the experience we had. So I think early on, I knew it could be something, but If you said we raise a million bucks in our first four years of business, 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 it been word of mouth? How did you get to $10 million in sales on just coffee beans in such a short period of time?

Yeah, it's definitely a multifaceted approach. So a few We started digital marketing, especially Facebook ads, and just very organic UGC, like moms with the coffee, telling the story of why they enjoy it, why they support the mission, showing the impact of what we're donating. Our digital marketing really took off from there. So that's been a huge catalyst. We've had some great partnerships with podcast hosts, and that's been a very big brand recognition and also growth in terms of sponsorships. But there's that third element of word of mouth, where we'll go through our views, and people are like, I'm telling everyone. I'm sharing it at our Bible today. I'm telling our friends. That is a true organic growth of the company that has led to a lot of this rapid success. 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. So it's really multifaceted, but everything plays in. But because we've had a great digital advertising program over the last few years, and then word of mouth, you get this compounding effect, where we've established ourselves as now America's pro-life coffee company, really, probably the largest faith-based coffee company in the country.

And that's what we want to be. We want to be America's faith-based Christian coffee company, where we can really stand for pro-life Christian values and have a very huge impact, a tangible impact supporting life. So I think people just resonate with that.

I love it. I try to be a faith-based leader, and 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 push your brand, I'm going to do it. Thank you. Now, how did you change the way you built your brand when you started with just a cause? You didn't even start with a product.

Well, we got to figure that out. I found a coffee supplier right away. And one of the interesting The thing is I was very interested in coffee, coffee sourcing, studying coffee. This is actually the thing I want to highlight is you can find very cheap coffee in just in general, it's cheap products and slap your label/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 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. It means we don't buy through a middleman. It means we know every farmer co-up that grows our coffee, we pay them transparent wages, which is three times as 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 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 competitor. So that's been awesome because so many people- That's great to hear. Yeah, because so many people will buy a product. I love telling their business owners, it's like, you have to have a product that will win on its own. 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. We're not a charity. We are a for profit entity that wants to provide a better product on its own and also share this incredible mission. So it's Really, it's a two-fold approach. Customers are buying it for the first time for the mission. They're buying it again because they love the coffee. 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. That's what we've been doing.

That's great to hear. Now, what's that? You've donated to 700 pregnancy care centers. How do you choose where to give and 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. Wow. So it's pretty simple. There's around 2,500 or 3,000 pro-lif organizations in US. They're all local, meaning they're local to your town or county or city. They serve a local community. So our biggest thing is donating locally. We want dollars to go into the hands of local organizations who know how... Because they know how to use the money the best. So we have a program, simple as 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. Each month we're donating between 20 and 40 pregnancy resource centers or pro-life organizations, and they're just getting a check from a portion of our sales. So they can enroll multiple times a year. They can receive funding from us. We also do a lot of donations with free coffee for their events.

We send them coffee for galas and things like that, down on gifts. And so we try to be this resource for pro-life organizations. For us, every month, I go in and we just allocate our funds from the dollars we raise 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 We 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? I know we alluded to it before where it was like, Man, I don't know if I'm going to make it. But where you really You really just had to put your faith in God to get through that moment. Because you built a mission-based business where you were giving away half your profit. When was that breaking point for you?

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 invest investors. That got very close a few different times, and I'm very happy, and I never did that and was able to just keep ownership of the company. That was a very difficult time. I've had issues where people have tried to rip us off or copy us. I'm a supplier and it's very unethical, and that's been very harmful and hurtful personally.

Copy you with mission-based products like this?

Yeah, it's happened before. It's sad. You see people get too inspired by what your mission and people you know, and that was very hurtful. And it's tough because you have to build up a resiliency, and that's what I've done more and more. It's so easy to take it 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. We're not trying to copy anyone. I started this with the intention to fund the Pearl Life Movement. No one was doing this through coffee. It was a new idea be it. If people want to copy us, so be it. But there's something to be said when you're not trying to copy anyone, you're just trying to follow what God put on your heart, and that's 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?

I think it's important for For more entrepreneurs. One, we need more Christian spiritual entrepreneurs. This has 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. I want people to understand that they can have influence and that they can have bias towards their values and beliefs. For me, it's Christian values and Christian beliefs. And I just want to see more people live those out. It doesn't have to be in the same capacity as we're doing, which is outwardly, explicitly Christian-based. You can have an HVAC company, but you as an owner or as a Christian, you should have influence over the people that work for you. You should have an influence over the people you interact with and your customers. You can have an area of influence, and it just might be a different way than what we're doing. My advice is that we see more people to do it.

I love that. I try to live out my Christian principles. But when you have a big company, there's boards, and you got to just... You don't put your Christian values aside, but you do have to accommodate non-believers. You got to tread lightly. The bigger the company, the more lightly you tread. I wonder, who knows? Maybe you become Starbucks, and then you're like... Because now we're seeing a bigger shift towards faith, I feel like, than ever, especially after what happened with Charlie Kirk. Exactly. I'm Egyptian. I'm Christian, and we come from the Church of the Martyrs. I was saying this to someone else. Charlie Kirk was the first American martyr. I come from a lineage of Coptic martyrs or churches painted in purple and red for the blood of the martyrs. We're going to see a bigger shift towards faith in the next couple of years. What you're going to see is more martyrdom for that in the next couple of years, much more. This is the time for those who are faith-based to really step up. This is the time for entrepreneurs to step up. This is the time for even entertainment companies to step up and step out of the wickedness of all the content we've been consuming and all the different insane leftist movements, extreme left movements that have been really toxifying this generation and the kids that have been just so just confused.

Yeah, I agree. I couldn't agree that more because especially from the business perspective, there's been so many businesses that on the other side have taken an activist stance in the economy. It's like, well, why can't we take the same activist stance and advocate for what we believe? What you said, where Charlie Crike is so inspirational to me and what he did. It's okay to be bold. It's okay to be loud. We need more of that, not less.

Yeah. You're being bold, you're being loud. Who knows? If you get the crown of Heaven and get shot just like Charlie, you get that instant sainhood.

I hope it hasn't happened, but it is true.

I hope it does happen to me, but I don't have a job to do that. I don't get the benefit of any way to do that right now. You can't talk about it through mortgage, maybe through podcasting. I'll piss off enough people. There you go. Now, what's something about the coffee business you didn't expect to love or expect to be so hard?

What's come to be something the most interesting is just learning the supply chain. I got to visit one of our firms he worked with in Dominican Republic earlier this year. It's just really cool to see the impact behind the coffee, the story behind the coffee. Coffee is the second largest commodity in the world outside of oil. Shipped, it's the second biggest commodity transported around the world, which is coffee. It's such a huge industry, and it's growing all over the world. Most times, farmers are paid pennies on the dollar. And so for us, by working directly with farmers, we're able to have a true impact with them in growing their local communities, because coffee obviously comes from most third-world countries, where people live on very little and don't have good accommodations. And what's awesome is our coffee helps reverse that trend. We're able to truly give life back to the farmers we work with. So it's really cool to see that. It's awesome. I mean, coffee is a painstakingly tough industry, from a growth to transportation to roasting. But everyone relies on it, so it's been fun to learn.

That's incredible. Now, a couple of last questions I have for you. One of them is about goals. It's a three-prong question. What's a personal goal that you have for yourself? A family goal. I know you just had your brand... It was a son or daughter? A son, yeah. A brand new son. Again, congratulations. A family goal, and then a business goal that you have for seven weeks coffee.

Personally, I'm not the best with goals. I have to be honest with you. I'm more of a process guy, but I've been trying to channel myself with more goals, personal goals. It's actually funny. Like I was saying before, I grew up as a playing competitive golf my whole life. Since I played in college, I know the last five years, I really haven't played competitively anymore. So personal goal, I'm trying to get back into competitive golf. I want to play at a high level in terms of amateur golf and get back into competing again. I love competition. It's probably why I love business. I hate losing more than you like winning. It's like that old adage. So playing competitively, again, it's the thing I really want to do. Family goal, I'm very blessed where we're at. We have a beautiful family, baby's healthy. So the prayer is that we continue to be a happy, healthy family. And then a business goal, I think we're just getting started with our company in terms of opportunity. A million dollars donated is great. I think we have tens of millions of dollars to donate to go.

I love that. I'm going to do my small, tiny little part to continue to advocate for you guys. Now, my last question. When you're in front of the curly gates, what do you think God's going to tell you?

I hope he says, Well done, staying true to the mission from start to finish. That's the biggest thing I could help. It's so easy to start something well intentioned. I think it's really hard to finish it well intentioned. And because as things grow, things change. Numbers get bigger, dollars get bigger. And how do you actually continue with the same authenticity and ethics behind it is the biggest challenge. And so God willing, we're still doing that. And when this all said and done, we're still doing that.

Anton, you've been an absolute blessing to have on the show. If people want to with you or 7weeks. How do they find you?

7weekscaffee. Com. That's where our website is. Feel free to look it up. Get some good coffee this Christmas season.

Guys, make sure you connect with him. Buy that coffee and know that you are being a good Steward buying that coffee because that money is going to help thousands of people. God bless you. God bless your mission. I hope you hit every single one of your goals. Thank you for jumping on the show today.

Thank you for having me.