James, thank you so much for being
here today on Connections.
You and I both have Southern roots.
We know how personal a recipe can be.
What makes your pie so special?
The number one ingredient, which is love.
So let's jump right into it.
So first, we have to peel our yams.
Then we're going to pour our yams in here.
Now let's move to our dry with sugar, butter, flour, salt.
Well, why don't we do the interview while this bakes?
Hey, I'm Sarah Franklin and welcome to Connections,
where we hear from some of the
most innovative leaders in marketing.
I grew up in the South, so sweet potato pies are near
and dear to my Southern girl heart.
I used to bake these pies with my mom and my grandma
in Virginia, North Carolina.
So for me, these pies are a taste of home.
My guest today is bringing that same sense
of comfort to people far and wide.
So I can't wait to sit down with and bake with
the inspirational James Edwards.
Let's talk sweet potato pie.
Yes.
How did you start baking?
You know what, I started baking with my grandma
when I could barely see over the counter.
So you're like down here?
Oh yeah, I was way down here.
She never asked me if I wanted to bake.
It was like, "Yeah, you're in the kitchen with me."
I guess even as a kid, I had an entrepreneurship mind state
and my mom always dragged me to church.
So I was like, you know what, we're going to bake these
and then we're going to sell them at church.
So you might have been the youngest entrepreneur.
You're what? Five, seven?
Yeah, exactly.
Selling pies?
Look at you now. That's incredible.
But you spent time in the Air Force too.
Like, tell me about that.
And I was there for 14 years.
And I see on your, right here.
Why do you wear that every day?
It reminds me of the brotherhood that we had
When you don't know if you're coming home
to see your family and you're with your brother next to you,
it's a different kind of comradery.
And this flag always reminds me of that.
I loved it. Brought me here to Utah.
I didn't know what was in Utah, but then I got here
and was like, this is a pretty cool state.
How did you go from the military to baking?
We had a military bake sale one year,
and everyone's trying all the pumpkin pies
and cookies and all this other stuff.
They wasn't trying my sweet potato pie.
Not another Sergeant or officer is about to walk by
without at least trying my sweet potato pie.
Now, had they ever had sweet potato pie here in Utah?
It was like, I almost had to put people
in a headlock just to try it.
95% of the people either never had one
or had a bad experience, like a store bought one.
Yeah, so they've never had like that home,
Southern, real sweet potato pie.
And then once they tried it, you know,
they tell someone else or bring it home to their family,
texting me and calling me for pies.
And I was like, well, wait a minute.
Maybe we have something here,
because I've always been in the service industry, right?
Service before self is something
that was drilled into us as Air Force members.
So I carried that on and I was like, oh,
this is great servitude, you know?
People are telling me what great experiences they
had and with their families and friends and all of that.
So I knew from that point on, this is what I had to do.
So when people are eating your pie,
you feel that you're just bringing that sense
of happiness and comfort to them.
I know that I'm bringing it
because I can see it in their face.
I can see it in their eyes and the kids.
And then they light up and then it's like, oh my goodness,
the best thing in the world.
So I heard that you've done some kind
of gorilla marketing tactics.
You go and you give people your pies, or at the farm.
Like, how have you gotten that word out?
Farmer's markets is going to be the best way
and most efficient, because you already
have customers walking around.
So you got to say, "Hey, would you like to try a sample?"
And then they finally try a sample,
and then before you know it-
What has it been like growing through COVID?
COVID changed everything.
It was probably around January.
I said, I'm just going to take pies to the moon, right?
And then March comes around, shuts down everything.
I have no more income from the military,
from my jobs, 'cause I quit.
And then I met this guy named Joe at Little Cloud Media.
And I said, "If you could just let me clean
your office, let's exchange services
'cause I have no money right now."
And he allowed me to do that.
I cleaned it for maybe a month or two.
he had me out selling pies everywhere.
If you don't have money, that should not be an excuse.
So you got to hit the streets, ground and pound,
and you have to tell the world about your products.
And if you really think that it's going to help
someone else out, then that should be easy.
So you grew your revenue six times
from 2019 to 2020, even with COVID?
Even with COVID, that's right.
So this is the time that you have to be resilient, right?
You have to think of creative ways to still
get your product out there,
because we can no longer have farmer's markets.
I can no longer give out samples, right?
So you have to just be precise
with your marketing 'cause you don't
have a whole lot of money,
so you have to be smart with that
and you just got to figure it out.
That's the number one thing is, figure it out.
So you were doing farmer's market before COVID.
Now you have this big like nationwide global business.
What was that journey like?
So every single year has always been growth, you know?
Growth is something that is painful, it hurts,
it's not easy, but you know,
you stick your shoulders back and chin up
and you just go through it, no matter what it is.
And it's been a lot of tests and trials,
and I've survived all of them.
What have you used to grow the business?
Everything has been organic.
I think last year we haven't even spent anything
I will see you all tomorrow.
We will be at the Ogden farmer's market.
The word just spreads like wildfire, right?
Like, someone will try it
and then they'll tell their friends.
Then they always say, "What was that?"
And then they contact us,
and then it just keeps growing organically.
What's the secret sauce or the secret?
The number one secret is love.
You got to have love. You know, coming from the South.
You can't just throw things together,
and you think it's going to come out good.
Even if I gave someone my exact recipe,
it would taste different.
Talk to me about your goal to bring James Gourmet
into military chow halls.
We have almost like a buffet style,
cafeteria style restaurant where all the airmen go
for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
And I would love to be able to be one of those people
that they can have a pie that was from an Air Force veteran,
because we like to support each other.
So even if they're from the South and they're not home,
it'll take them home for that little bit of time.
Any time of the year that you're not with your family,
you want something that's going to make you feel good.
Are there any lessons that you've learned
as a baker that you can apply to running your business?
You should have seen me the first time that I got here
in this factory, because you're not whipping
in a little bowl anymore.
You got a big old mixer. Oh, it's a big old mixer.
So now, your calculations have to be spot on.
Teaches you how to be on your toes and precise.
And what advice do you have for entrepreneurs
like yourself that are, you know, have their special thing,
their craft, their trade, their service,
and that they want to go and have the success that you've had?
The number one thing would be to figure it out.
You know, you're going to run into brick walls.
I don't care how high of a level you get to,
it's like you're constantly checking doors,
and there's going to be locked doors.
But then you're going to finally get that one that opens.
So you got to step through that one,
and you got to stay true to yourself and just keep going.
That's the only thing, is just keep going.
So many people, they fail because they stop.
Mistakes are inevitable, but quitting is permanent.
How do you keep going? How do you not stop?
You know what, I could give you
at least 50 different reasons why you shouldn't stop.
And if you don't have that why pushing you,
then it's going to be easy to quit.
Your why should be your family to keep going.
You don't want to let them down.
You know, I can't let my customers down.
You should have a whole bunch of people that you do it for.
And if that's what brings you that gratitude,
then you got to keep going with that.
Oh my gosh. That is incredible.
Are we going to get to eat this right now?
I want to eat some of this pie right now.
I want to taste the special ingredients.
I want that pineapple, the texture.
Oh my god. This is so good.
Oh my God. This is incredible. I need another bite.
Oh my God, James. This is incredible.
You know what, we will make sure you
You can have your little piece.
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