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A Popcorn Story: Interview with Jason Staner of Freddie's Popcorn
47 Plays2 days ago
Jason Staner is a dynamic entrepreneur who, together with his wife Tammy, owns and operates Freddie's Popcorn. Prior to taking over Freddie's Popcorn in 2022, Jason worked as a paramedic and in auto repair. He brings a wealth of experience in customer service and business management, which he leveraged to successfully rebrand and manage the legacy popcorn business. Jason is also involved in volunteer paramedic services in his hometown.
Episode Summary:
In this engaging episode of Uncommon Wealth Podcast, host Phillip Ramsey interviews Jason Staner from Freddie's Popcorn. Jason shares his journey from paramedics and automotive repair to owning a beloved popcorn business. Known for his observant nature, grateful attitude, and easy-going personality, Jason navigates the challenges and triumphs of rebranding and expanding Freddie's Popcorn.
Jason recounts the origins of Freddie's Popcorn, detailing how his in-laws first purchased the business and their vital role in its early success. He discusses the hurdles they faced, including dealing with supply chain issues that forced them to pull their best-selling product off the shelves for over two months. Despite these challenges, Jason and his team pressed forward, emphasizing the importance of customer service. They have plans to expand their business nationally while maintaining a strong local presence in northeast Iowa.
Key Takeaways:
- Family Legacy: Jason reveals how Freddie's Popcorn was initially bought by his in-laws and has become a family-run business, growing and adapting over time.
- Customer Service: Jason's diverse background has taught him the importance of customer service, which remains a cornerstone of Freddie's Popcorn's operations.
- Supply Chain Challenges: The episode explores the significant challenges faced by Freddie's Popcorn, including a supply chain crisis that hit their best-selling product.
- Resilience: Despite obstacles, Jason and his wife Tammy remain dedicated, resilient, and focused on growth and quality.
- Business Expansion: Future plans for Freddie's Popcorn include national distribution and strategic marketing to make their product a household name across the United States.
Notable Quotes:
- "You can tell why I like him... He's grateful, super grateful for where he's at and all the things in his life, even the bad things." – Phillip Ramsey
- "Luckily, all of her family members pretty much knew that that was going to happen because we'd been there with it all the time." – Jason Staner
- "Really having each other in there to kind of help bounce it off. Now we can both kind of bounce it off each other and work our way through it." – Jason Staner
- "Everybody has a memory with popcorn... we want to make sure that people relive those memories and incorporate Freddie's Popcorn into it." – Jason Staner
- "Whether you're running a business, there's always little crises that come up." – Jason Staner
Resources:
- Freddie's Popcorn Website: freddiespopcorn.com
For more insights and personal stories on navigating business challenges and achieving growth, be sure to listen to the full episode. Stay tuned for more inspiring content from the Uncommon Wealth Podcast!
Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
Everyone dreams of living an uncommon life. And the best asset you have to achieve your dreams is you. Welcome to the Uncommon Wealth Podcast. We're going to introduce you to people who are living uncommonly. We're also going to give you some tools and strategies for building wealth and for pursuing an uncommon path that is uniquely right for you. Hello and welcome everybody to another episode of the Uncommon Wealth Podcast where I'm your host Phillip Ramsey and today we get an interview, one of the luckiest people in the world who gets to deal with popcorn every day. You wanna talk about uncommon? We got him. Jason Steiner is here with us with Freddy's Popcorn and so excited for him to be on the show. He's been married for 10 years and he's owned Freddy's Popcorn since 2022. You might know us, if you're from Northeast Iowa,
00:00:54
Speaker
The decor, the decor, the Dubuque area, you probably know Freddie's popcorn because they're kind of known around there. It's a staple, I would say. But here's what I like to start with ah my shows. I know Jason a little bit. And so I have three words for ah the listeners. When I think of Jason, here's the three words I have. You ready for this? Here we go. The first one is observant. He is observant. He knows, he just sees, he watches and he observes. It's fun to see his wheels turning as he's observing everybody. That's fascinating to me, I love that. He's grateful, super grateful for where he's at and all the things that is in his life. Even the bad things, he's grateful for those and he can laugh about it. And the last one, he's easy going. So you can tell why I like him. I'm super excited to be on the show. Jason, welcome to the show.
00:01:40
Speaker
Freddy's popcorn, baby. Let's go. Well, Phil, thank you for that introduction. That's amazing. I really appreciate it. So I do. ah um My wife would disagree with the whole ah noticing things all the time. oh and yeah beat observ okay You never notice things. I'm like, well, I just don't notice certain things. ah Yeah. And you don't say anything because you're easy going, but it doesn't mean that you don't observe it. I'm just going to say, yeah. but Okay. That's good. Okay. So Jason, what what's your wife's name? Tammy. Tammy, okay. All right, I wanna know the whole story behind Freddy's Popcorn. One, I don't know if the listeners know this, I love popcorn. And I've had Freddy's Popcorn and it was frickin' amazing. So there's my plug for Freddy's Popcorn. Get you some, okay? But okay, how did you get into Freddy's Popcorn? Give me the lay of the land and do you eat a lot of popcorn? Don't answer that. All right, give me the the backstory of Freddy's Popcorn.
00:02:33
Speaker
The backstory phrase popcorn kind of starts out um with my in-laws. My mother and father-in-law, when I dated my wife before we were married, we were dating, her parents had a stand down at the Dubuque farmers market. They've been doing ah fresh-grown and tomatoes and petal corn and caramel corn and cheese corn down at the farmers market since the early 2000s at least, maybe in the 90s, way before I ever even knew them. They've been kind of that staple down there for that, down at the buke farmers market.
00:03:11
Speaker
and yeah One time he just decided this store, this little store came up for sale called Freddy's Popcorn and Dubuque. And I actually knew the original owners of Freddy's Popcorn. They're actually from my hometown. Really? His name was Fred in Cascade. Cascade. Freddy from Cascade. Started Freddy's Popcorn. Yep. Yep. So the thing you might know about Cascade is that's where Gary Dolphin's from. Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah. The voice of the Hawkeyes is originally a rope and cascade. Oh, that's cool. Yep. Yep. And then the head coach for the Creighton Blue Devils basketball team, Greg McDermott. The Harvard of the Midwest.
00:03:50
Speaker
Well, so that's Cascades claim to fame all 1500 people in the town. But and Jason Jason is also kind of a claim to fame. I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. yeah Well, well, well, yeah, well, not quite. true But so. Anyway, this little store came up for sale and they're like, Hey, you know, we're, we're only 60 some years old. Hey, let's go and buy the store and start a business with it. You know, cause it's for them. There's a lot of people were like slowing down at 60. Oh no. You're in loss, baby. Oh no. no by father law He was, he was charging straight forward on it. So he was, which is, it's fantastic. You know? And so they they bought it and I was working as a paramedic.
00:04:38
Speaker
And at the time, so I was working like a 24, 48 schedule, 24 hours on 48 hours off. wow um And so on my days off, I'd go up and help them. Cause I've had some business experience before I ran a small business of my, my, our family small business for 12 years before this. Really? What was that? We had an automotive repair shop, so I did undercar repair and trailer repair and tractor tires and stuff like that. so mean I ran that alongside with my dad from 1997 up through 2008 when I sold that out. so okay so Then I got in the paramedic thing from there, so my journey is a little different than what this is.
00:05:24
Speaker
and And my wife was working at ah and so our Prudential Financial Services. oh yeah yeah yeahp she was She was working there, so she'd come on like her lunch hour because it was only a couple blocks away from the store where she was working. And we'd help them out and kind of help them build the business. And we'd help them on Saturdays at the farmer's market and stuff like this. So. Is that how you met your wife, Tammy? No, I met my wife on a blind date. oh i was set up on a blind date with her with her so by her sister huh and your sister her sister knew you uh well her sister met me um a buddy of mine's a chiropractor and we were heading into uh into madison to go to a paddling expo in there we did a lot of kayaking a lot of
00:06:13
Speaker
camping stuff like this, or going into an outdoor and paddling exponent. And it was a Saturday morning. He's like, Hey man, I got stopped by the office real quickly. I got to have a patient that's just coming in. He couldn't make it in on the day. So it's just be real quick. Just got to give him adjustment and then we'll head out. I'm like, sure, no problem. I'll hang out in the office zone. Yep. That was his, her nephew and her sister brought him in. So as I was waiting on the waiting room, I was talking with his sister. Oh, yeah. And then she went home and told Tammy, like, I got this hunk. You got it. That's how that worked. Yeah. This guy that showed up 15 minutes late to our first date. Yeah. This is so good. OK, sorry. That was candid, but it's super important to me. Yeah. Maybe nobody else, but I love it. OK, keep going. Sorry. So where was I? Oh, yeah. So we kind of helped them out with that in the in twenty two.
00:07:01
Speaker
Um, they're kind of decided, you know, they've been through COVID and the whole COVID thing and they're getting up there in age and they're like, you know, I think we're, we're just done, you know, they want to pass it on. So I looked at Tammy and. ah We kind of, things are changing our life and stuff like this. And she's like, you know, I think we'd want to take this on. I think this would be good. You know, I think we got plans. You know, we want to kind of build it, kind of grow it, see where we can take it, see what can happen. I'm like, you do know you're going to be a business owner now, right? yeah You do know what this you're going know what this means. Yes. So wait. So, ah so your in-laws bought it from Cascade Freddie.
00:07:43
Speaker
Yeah, well, they bought it from another guy. So, Cascade Freddie had it for the year, who sold it to a guy whose mom wanted him to buy it because he was a golf pro. She didn't think golf pro was a good profession for him, so he wanted to buy it. Well, he hated it, and he wanted to get out of it, so he sold it to my in-laws. It's been kind of passed down before my in-laws got it. Okay, all right. But it seemed like it stuck. Your in-laws have probably done a really good job building that brand. Yeah, they have. And now you guys are taking it to the next level. Okay. So quick, um I keep interrupting just because I'm like that. but So let's talk about that transition from you know your in-laws having it to them men wanting to get out to then you and Tammy taking that over. How was that transition? Was it smooth?
00:08:29
Speaker
Was it tumultuous? I used to have a relationship with them. Was it hard? No, it was good. It was good. It was smooth. I mean, we, we worked it out stuff like this. Uh, luckily, um, all of her family members, um, pretty much knew that that was going to happen, ah you know, because we'd been there with it all the time, you know, and other stuff like this yeah and everything. We were able to work out a deal on it on what it should be, you know, on it. And, um, yeah, no, it, it went really smooth. it It better because they live across the street from us. Oh yeah. it Better. that So our house, they live, I can, uh, I can look out my, our, uh, look out our picture window and look in their picture window. but So, so we're not sure that goes well, you know? Yeah. No, no, it did good. It was,
00:09:22
Speaker
is a good transition, so it was. And um and so people are bringing me to us in the business. My wife had been working there actually full time for three years before that because her job decided that it would be better done overseas. so Yeah. That sounds about right. Yeah. Yeah. So she was, like she was laid off there after 17 years, I think. oh Yeah. So, so then she transitioned into it about three years ago. So she'd been working up there full time for three years. so Okay. How many employees did it have at the time when you took it over? Uh, my wife. Oh, Tana. My, my, by father-in-law my-in-law, my mother-in-law and my wife.
00:10:07
Speaker
Okay. So three. Yep. Say, okay. All right. And then when you stepped into it, then your, you know, in-laws kind of stepped out, right? So now there's two full time. Yep. Yep. So I actually did step in until about a year later. So, okay. So we went ahead and we hired a couple of people. We, uh, Marnice works for us, Avery, and, uh, then we hired her another gal. and ah about About October last year, I was still working full-time as the paramedic and IT and stuff like this. I got in more of an IT role in our company. and She decided ah she could turn in her two weeks notice about October.
00:10:51
Speaker
on us. And if you know anything about retail, what's the busiest seasons? Christmas. Yes. November and December are the busiest times. She turned to her and my wife's like, Oh my gosh, what do we do? You know, what do we do? I'm like, well, dear, here's the thing. Where do we want to take it? How do we want to get there? You know, So we made the decision to bring me on full time and I still work my other job one day a week going there. Yep. Not now though, right? Oh yeah. You still do. Yeah. One day a week. One day a week. So Wednesdays I go in and I work my other other job. So I do. Paramedic? Yeah. Paramedic and IT. t So yeah.
00:11:37
Speaker
I didn't know that. that And then i do then I do volunteer paramedic in our hometown here. so Okay. Do you get benefits from that? that's Yes. For the next year, because I was enough time with the company taking benefits, I could qualify for benefits for another year. so Wow. Okay. so ah So that's a big key important It really is. It's super nice. Okay. Let me ask you this. Um, how has been an auto, like an automotive manager mechanics type of thing and paramedic help you like equip you for what you do now at Freddy's popcorn. Oh boy. Um,
00:12:15
Speaker
Well, I mean, when you're talking ah business is business, you know, there's certain parts about business that is just transitions. No matter what the business is, yeah it transitions over, you know what I mean? um And as far as like anything else, everything I've done has been built off customer service. you know, from an automotive mechanic, working on people's cars, you know, you're in a small town, you know, everybody, you know, stuff like this. I mean, it's all built off customer service. Paramedic, I'm sorry, you're built off customer service. 100%. I mean, when you get there, it may be, it may be nothing to you, but it's the worst thing that's happening to that person at that time.
00:12:55
Speaker
ahhu you know, that I'm showing up. So you have to be able to give that empathy gap, be able to give that customer service going through to it. So now transition to this, when you're dealing with other businesses, you're dealing dealing with customers walking in the door, you're just dealing with this. It's all about how how you how you deliver that ultimate customer service to them, because that's why they come back. They like your product, they like stuff like this, but they have to like dealing with you also. Oh yeah. It doesn't matter how good your product is. If they don't have a good interaction with you, they don't come back. Yeah. Plain and simple. Yeah. so Wow. That's crazy. Okay. So you've been running it now for two years because you bought it in 2022. How has that, um,
00:13:39
Speaker
Like tell me about some obstacles that you've had to overcome and the reason why I say that so for the people who are just tuning in for Jason I get it he's awesome but like our company on Commonwealth partners try to help people invest in themselves with their time talent resources and what we find is you get really fun outcomes and you get to learn a lot about yourself and honestly it's it proves out to be what I see the best investment. of trying to pour in and create something, impact other people, and then have something at the end of the rainbow, and that's obviously what you're doing with Freddy's Popcorn.
00:14:11
Speaker
But so talk a little bit about that whole transition and and maybe some obstacles, because I feel like as awesome as it is, as you see a business owner, you only see like the front facade of like, oh, everything's rosy and great, but they don't see the the times where it just isn't going great and you just kind of want to burn it down ah because there is that time. But the stuff you learn in that thing is almost like more like it's invaluable. So Tell us the time when it hasn't been going well and you had to push through and yet you're now better because of it. So ah so when we took it over, we did this whole new rebranding campaign. Went on and got a ah marketing company. We did a whole new logo, all new look, kind of modernize it, rebrand it. you know um
00:15:02
Speaker
kind of get started on where we want to take it to, you know, get that good foundation going. When I did that, we went out to get all new packaging. So I had a company come in, design all new packaging for us and everything like this. And we start rolling out all our new packaging. And then like every business hit, we hit with a supply crisis. Oh no, one of our major, our best selling product, which actually isn't popcorn. Imagine that really, but our best selling product. It's a, it's a, it's a,
00:15:40
Speaker
Huh? Salt. No. Oh, okay. No. Cereal. Oh, what? So we, we, we do a product called, that it's a, it's a, it's called our sweet party mix. I'll send you some, um, it's called sweet party mix. We do it with or without M&M. It's like a caramelized checks mix with pretzels. And so it's a very good seller for us. People just love it. Huh? Uh, I get, so what I've learned from this is there is one, manufacturer that manufactures all the different types of checked cereals. No matter where you get it from, no matter ah waterr um if it if it's name brand or if it's generic. It's coming from the same place. Good to know. Whether it's fairway, whether it's Hy-Vee, whether it's any place, there is a shortage on it. We actually ran out, of we couldn't get that ingredient for
00:16:39
Speaker
about two and a half months. so Oh boy. So during this whole major retransition and stuff like this, I had pulled my best selling product off the shelf for two and a half months. Oh, that'll keep you up at night. Let me tell you. Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, yeah So that that would be one example, as you know, whether you're running a business, there's there's always little crisis that come up. Yeah. But that's a big one. That's a big one. Yeah. Yeah. that's that was That was a gut punch right then. You know what I mean? How were trying to how long ago was that? or like let's how So you transitioned in 2022 and then when did that happen? but That happened in August of 22. Okay. So fairly new, like that does not feel great.
00:17:25
Speaker
so but Did numbers show at the end of that year that that two and a half months really hit the bottom line? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You can see that with that with that product being pulled off the off the shelf, but we just, you know, we worked through it. We worked with our supplier. They're able to get us, you know, start getting us something, you know, and wow go through, but that's, it's just, are you let's talk about this. Cause like, this is part of that you and your wife work in the business. So like, this is it. You are ah breakfast, lunch, and dinner, baby. You're in it. How are you guys in that crisis? Like, were you stressed? Were you nit picky at each other? Were you guys pretty unified? Like, well, you got to figure it out. yeah How does stress manifest? I mean,
00:18:13
Speaker
I mean, it, we do pretty good. So yeah give yeah it's like, Eddie, you know, you have your days, but, um, yeah but really having each other in there to kind of help bounce it off. So oh you know before I got into it, you know, where I was in full time and stuff like this, I was still part time on that, but you know it's like, internalizing everything, you know what I mean? Yes, like yes. Or bringing it home and stuff like this and trying to work out where now we're kind of can both kind of bounce it off each other. and Yeah, you know, it's lonely. It's lonely as a business owner at times. So it is nice to have your wife there, you know, and understanding and then also trying to like, process through all that. Yeah. And my wife's a rock star at it. I mean, she just, she just, is she goes up there and she, she keeps that place humming. You know what I mean? yeah It's like product coming out, keeping up with the stores and keeping up with everything, you know? And she, she runs that up there and she just keeps that manufacturing going. So she's, she's a rock star at it. so
00:19:17
Speaker
Okay, so you talked about some kind of obstacles that you had to overcome. Who has been instrumental in pouring into you, kind of mentoring you in this like now running business? Well, I tell you what, I learned a lot from my dad. Really? Oh, yeah. From when but when I was working with him, my dad, ah my parents were like serial entrepreneurs. I love that. They owned, they own multiple businesses. They owned a pool hall where they did pizzas and like back in like the 70s. Nine pool tables. and Yeah. and ah they did they had the original tombstone pizza ovens from the 60s and they did like pizza things like that yeah so growing up growing a home i never had a frozen pizza unless it came out of like a tombstone pizza oven one of the originals yeah yeah which still do the best way to do frozen pizzas uh-huh cascade though that's where is cascade yep yep it was called the queue
00:20:15
Speaker
That was, was your dad a pool player? ah Yeah, my dad did a little bit of pool. He could, he could strike a ball pretty good. So are you good? You're probably pretty good at pool. No, I'm not. No. Okay. That was, they, they sold that before I ever came along. Okay. Cause I've, uh, my, my parents had four kids in five years. Oh yeah. Then waited 10 years to have me. Oh. Yes. Yes. Jason. so oh no So they, they, they, they had that sold. They're like, it's too hard with four kids under like six years old to run a business and have four kids. So they sold that. They owned a couple of restaurants in between. Wow. They got into tire shop and yeah, that is crazy. So
00:21:02
Speaker
My dad, I learned a lot from him just working beside him. He's the ultimate impatience. you know He had the thing yeah had the the theory is, well, this may have gone wrong. Okay, we just got to work your way through it. you can't you know That's crazy. That's cool though. Okay. So, uh, so your parents or your dad, you really like got a lot out of him and really mentored you in that whole thing. So tell me where, where's Freddy's popcorn? Like, what is the trajectory? What's the future? Tell me all about it.
00:21:35
Speaker
I have to start off with a cuz I I'm a marketing guy through and through that's where that's where I've cut my teeth is with marketing I have a degree of marketing right and yep, so so praise popcorn the we're building it off a family company because Everybody everybody knows popcorn. Everybody loves popcorn. Everybody has a memory with popcorn, right? Uh-huh yeah If I mentioned popcorn, something in your brain is triggered. You remember you know sitting on the floor reading a magazine with the big but full butter popcorn next to you or something like that. you know Grandpa, grandma, something like that. so you know As a company, that's what we want to build off. but We want people to know those memories and remember those memories with their families and and incorporate them within their lives. you know Obviously, incorporate Freddie's popcorn into it, but you know remember those times with their families.
00:22:27
Speaker
Things like this as they're sitting down with our product, it's whether it's buying them off the shelf somewhere else, you know, or coming into our store and visiting with us, you know, we want to make sure that people relive those memories and it it touches them, you know, so. Very much so. I love that. and And that's the thing that popcorn, everybody has a good experience around popcorn, like you said. And so why wouldn't everybody have a good experience with Freddy's popcorn? That's I think such a really cool idea and future for you. um I love it. So if if we get all that done, like right now you're based solely in Iowa, right? Like you have ideas to go throughout the country or what are what's that trajectory? Yeah, we're we're hoping here in the future to be able to find a place and be able to get to where we get our FDA certification so we can sell in all 50 states if we need to. Right now, we do have a website. We can ship out to 50 states through that, but be able to have our popcorn available to people at the neighborhood corner stores. Yeah. You know, stuff like this. Get into different retailers, regional retailers.
00:23:41
Speaker
So we're in we're in some of the high V's, the local high V's and the local high V stores around the area. And hopefully here we just hide around a couple new people. So we'll be able to get me out there to be able to get a little bit expand outside the Dubuque area here. Yeah. There you go. and Okay. So if our listeners wanted to hear more about you or phrase popcorn, how do they reach out to you? Well, there's a couple of different ways you can call us. um Best place to find us would be on the web, freddyspopcorn.com. We do have an e-commerce site there. um We do have a Facebook page, freddyspopcorn. Hopefully here within the next couple of weeks, I'll have be on Instagram.
00:24:24
Speaker
TikTok, all those other things. We're working our way up there. But yeah, freddyspopcorn.com is the best way to probably do. Awesome. Well, Jason, thank you so much just for giving us a little bit of story behind the Freddies and all this is the wisdom you have. You and Tammy are doing awesome things, creating something really cool. and so Thank you for taking this uncommon journey yourself and and seeing the repercussions and the benefits from going to Uncommon Path. So thank you. Good luck in your future. I'm a huge fan. Love your popcorn. And until next time, go be uncommon. You've been listening to the Uncommon Wealth podcast.
00:25:01
Speaker
That's all for this episode, brought to you by Uncommon Wealth Partners. Be sure to visit uncommonwealth.com to learn more about our services. Don't miss an episode as we introduce you to inspiring people who are actively pursuing an uncommon life.