[00:00:10] Ray Latif: Hey folks, thanks for tuning into Taste Radio, the number one podcast for the food and beverage industry. I'm producer and host Ray Latif, and you're listening to episode 214, which features an interview with Miguel Garza, the founder and CEO of Siete Family Foods. Just a reminder, if you like what you hear on Taste Radio, please share the podcast with friends and colleagues. And of course, we'd love it if you could review us on the Apple Podcasts app or your listening platform of choice. It's interesting to hear Miguel Garza discuss his company's innovation strategy and host it fits into the mission and host of Mexican-American food brand, Siete Family Foods. As Siete's co-founder and CEO, Miguel presides over a sprawling and ever-widening platform of products, including tortillas, taco seasonings, queso dips, and enchilada sauces, all of which is plant-based and grain-free. Despite Siete's alignment with two impactful food trends, Garza says that new product development is focused on creating heritage-inspired food that can appeal to a broad range of consumers. That commitment is a cornerstone of Siete's ambitious goal to become a billion-dollar brand, and given surging sales and a $90 million infusion of capital in 2019, seems more likely every day. In the following interview, Miguel expounded upon the principles in which Siete was founded, including the importance of family in how the company operates and plans for the future, and why love is a critical component for any business. Hey folks, it's Ray with Taste Radio. I'm going to call right now with Miguel Garza, the co-founder and CEO of Siete Family Foods. Miguel, how are you?
[00:01:49] Miguel Garza: Good. How are you doing?
[00:01:50] Ray Latif: I'm pretty good. Pretty good. How are you enjoying the home life?
[00:01:53] Miguel Garza: I can't complain. It's actually quite interesting. I feel like my dogs maybe are tired of me and my wife being around. But as you may or may not know, me and my wife both work at a Siete Family Food. So it's basically every morning who's going to get to use the living room and the kitchen table and we get to work. So I feel pretty blessed to be where we're at.
[00:02:19] Ray Latif: Yeah, it is a blessing when you do have that ability to work with your partner at home and be able to organize yourselves in a way that doesn't disrupt your individual responsibilities. I know we have that in our house where it's like, okay, who's going to be downstairs? Who's going to be upstairs? Who's going to give our daughter lunch? Who's going to do the dishes, et cetera, et cetera. So definitely a different dynamic, but we are very lucky. For sure. Speaking of family, you and I have a common passion, which is scaring the heck out of people. And I always loved to do that when I was growing up with my siblings. Were you always that prankster hiding in the shadows and waiting to scare the heck out of your mom, dad and brothers and sisters?
[00:03:02] Miguel Garza: Yeah, I mean, I'm the baby of my family. So I feel like you just do whatever it takes to get attention. I don't know if I did as many scares then as I've done now in the office, but I feel like it livens the mood a little bit and just makes things fun. I've been scared a couple of times too. I feel like that's a running goal for different members of the team is to figure out how to scare me and my heart rates definitely raced a few times.
[00:03:33] Ray Latif: I am definitely that guy in the office as well. And people try to get me. I don't think people have gotten me many times, probably once or twice. Don't say it, man. Don't say it.
[00:03:41] Miguel Garza: Why would you challenge anybody? Our VP of operations, Erica, she's probably about, I don't know, maybe 5'1". And so she's actually gone into a big igloo ice chest. And then we've had people, and I think she must have, she has the camera footage of this, but we've told people, like, hey, will you go grab me a drink from the ice chest? And they do. And then there's a human in there. So we've done all, it's not just me. Multiple people get involved and it's always a little funny.
[00:04:15] Ray Latif: That is next level stuff. I love that. See, now I have an idea for when we do get back into the office. You write about your team and you talk about your team a bunch on your website. You share a lot. I didn't know about this. I guess thing called two truths and a lie. And you list all your team members on one page in your website, and have them participate in this two truths and a lie. I spent an hour on that page, even though I only know two people on it, I think you and your sister. What is that all about? And why do you want to share so much?
[00:04:49] Miguel Garza: So specifically to the team, as a company, obviously, as you said earlier, we were, we're a fan founded by my family. And My sister was struggling with an autoimmune condition, and she ended up making this product as a solve for the grain-free diet that we had all gone on as a family. She created an almond flour tortilla, and we put it to market. I feel that as we've grown, our family has grown. I think it is very important for people outside the company to know who is actually building the Siete company on a daily basis. And I think when I said earlier that I feel very blessed to be able to work from home and work with my wife, it's the blessing actually comes from the amazing people that have decided to join and trust siete with their financial well-being, right? Like they've decided to put their trust in us. And so because they've put that trust in us, I think that every moment that we have, we should be highlighting them and making sure that they shine. To me, that's the important stuff. Like even me being on this podcast right now, I do it because it's my job to share the story and to make sure to amplify what everybody else is doing. But the company is built on a daily basis by the folks, you know, like our forklift operators that are, you know, putting chips on pallets and tortillas on pallets and shipping those things out and by our e-com team that's packing boxes and shipping that out and by our supply planner, who, you know, is probably currently routing different products to different DCs around the country and by our marketing team that's probably currently on a call with my wife like this. This whole company is built by the Siete Family. And I think that's much bigger than the Garza family. And people deserve to know who the broader Siete Family is.
[00:07:10] Ray Latif: You've said the word family so many times just in the few minutes that we've been chatting, and I know how important it is to the company. One of your taglines is family first, family second, and business third, or at least an internal tagline. Let's talk about the foundation of Siete and host it relates to everything you do. Siete's brand name and logo both have a lot of meaning behind them. Could you talk about each?
[00:07:35] Miguel Garza: Yeah, so Siete. There's seven members of my family. I'm the baby, my sister, who created the product and is our founder, chief innovation officer. She's the middle child. And then we have three other siblings in there, and then my parents, and we actually all work full time in the business. And so Siete is really like when we were coming up with the name, we kept on going back and forth on what was really representative of what we were trying to build. And when we first started, Must Be Nutty was the brand name. And Must Be Nutty was kind of the, it's like the running joke, because it was my idea. And therefore, it like, was the worst idea of all time. And my only comeback with it is that we at least put a brand on market that started to gain some success, but we actually rebranded about maybe nine months to a year into creating the company. And the reason for that was We wanted the company to be a representation and an authentic representation of who we were and what we were trying to share with the consumer and with the industry. And we felt that there was nothing more authentic than Siete because that is us. Like we even had a gym before we started this food company and it was called G7 Athletics. And so we are family and I think we want to authentically share that with the consumer and with the industry. You spoke about the logo too, and I think the logo actually has a very beautiful story. As we were going through this branding exercise, we were working with graphic designer. And we had done this exercise where you put it up on a whiteboard and you talk about what you're for and what you're against. And we found like what we were for was a lot having to do Siete Family, with fitness, with fun, with health, with wellness. And so we had this conversation with this graphic designer. And I say we, but it actually wasn't we, it was my sister, because so much of the story is my sister's story. And after that conversation and my sister shared her story, maybe about a week later, we got this mock-up and it was this very powerful image. And at first we were like, oh, that's actually kind of interesting. And then the graphic designer said, no, your last name is Garza or Garza. And that's what this is. This is a heron. So like Garza translates to heron. And so she said, but it's not just any heron. It's actually a heron with rising Phoenix wings because like the story of my sister, Vero, is one of triumph. She has an autoimmune condition and she was able to triumph over living and managing against it by working through food, exercise, and stress. And so There's a lot of meaning behind the name and the logo. And I think that that's why as like a broader family, we can really get behind it because it's, it's more than just an image. It's rooted in an authentic story.
[00:10:53] Ray Latif: It's a beautiful story. I looked up the word Garza or the name Garza and I saw that it was a Heron. I'm like, Oh, okay. That all makes sense. And you really do have a striking logo and it's just amazing the history and story behind it. Everyone in your family works for the company. A lot of folks can't work with members of their family, usually out of fear that money will muddle the waters. And you know what, sometimes it does. How do you make it work?
[00:11:22] Miguel Garza: I don't know if we necessarily have a playbook, but I can tell a story about how we grew up. So we grew up in a household where as a family, we were all very close and My mom had this thing that she would do where if we ever fought, right, and we're not like any, like we're not unlike other siblings, like we would fight as kids. And if we ever fought, my mom would occasionally make us like do one of two things. Either like we had to sit on a couch and hug each other until like we were we stopped fighting or you know you would put on like the big like a very large shirt and you would have to like hug it out with your sibling in that shirt. And I remember a few times where the power and I think that's why there's, you know, just in the time that we're in, why it's so difficult. There is a power that comes with hugs and love that kind of overcomes. So you mentioned family first, family second, business third. Do everything with love is our seventh core value. And I think that that's how we're able to do it. If you're rooted in love and in this idea that Siete Family does come first, then there's an underlying trust that gets you through working together on a day-to-day basis, where we all understand that we're trying to grow a Mexican-American food brand for this generation of consumer. And because we all know we're striving towards that goal, we can trust that even in our disagreements, that we're actually all doing it for Siete Family, for the team, and host for ourselves. So to tie it back to that hugging story, like, I think there was just this, you're in a fight, and then 15 minutes later, after a 15 minute hug, and you're like, oh, this is, this is my family, this is my blood. And That's more important than anything. It's more important than ego. It's more important than aspirations. And so I think that that in itself laid a foundation for how we would love each other, even through the difficult times of running a business. And I say that we don't have a playbook because we're still growing. And I think that we still have many challenges to come. But I do know that if we continue to stay focused, like we have on Family First, Family Second, Business Third, and doing everything with love, that we'll have a good shot at it.
[00:14:07] Ray Latif: Your mom sounds like a genius because that's a genius idea, putting people in a big t-shirt and hugging it out. Although I can imagine there might've been some pinching and a couple cheap shots underneath.
[00:14:18] Miguel Garza: Yeah, we would annoy each other to the point where we were laughing and then realizing like, oh yeah, we love each other. It's not like, yeah, there definitely still is teasing happening even in that.
[00:14:32] Ray Latif: I grew up with a bunch of brothers and sisters too. Boy, definitely some disagreements, definitely some arguments, a couple tussles, if you will. Obviously, you can't tussle with your brothers and sisters nowadays as adults. I guess you could, but you know, it wouldn't end well. So verbal disagreements, uh, you know, how do you handle them with your family? I mean, I know you said, you know, everything is focused on love and if you focus on love, it can kind of work itself out, but are there any tactics that you use to handle those disputes? Do you work with a coach or a family advisor?
[00:15:10] Miguel Garza: No, but you know, my parents are involved and I think we still respect them and love them a great deal. So I just feel that there's a, this is why I don't think that there's a playbook because I think that we just have a very special dynamic where we do disagree and then we eventually build consensus. But we've been doing that Since Siete beginning. So even as we were starting the business, we were building consensus around what we wanted to build. And I think that we just continue to go back to that as we build. And we have a leadership team within Siete, and the leadership team isn't just members of Siete Family, it's the extended family. And we actually did that pretty early on because we wanted to make sure that we were... So we are a family-owned business, but we operate like a startup. And I think that that's very different from just a family-owned business because we've laid some ground rules from the beginning, and they're just kind of the informal, unwritten rules. around how we might make tough decisions. I don't have a checklist of things that we run through, but there is a lot of consensus building that happens on the bigger decisions that may have to get made.
[00:16:32] Ray Latif: A lot of times the buck stops with the CEO, you are the CEO. How did you determine titles and responsibilities? And, you know, when push comes to shove, not literally, but when push comes to shove, are you the one that has to make the call?
[00:16:48] Miguel Garza: Yeah, collaboration is key first. It's almost like a Knights of the Round Table model where I don't necessarily see it as the buck stops with me as much as it's I have the burden of making tough decisions. And that's with the input and guidance of our leadership team. The funny part is, and this actually, maybe this isn't funny, but the funny story is that my sister would probably tell you that I just kind of snuck into being the CEO and all of a sudden I was the CEO one day. And I think that there might be a little more to that story, but I feel that in, because we were a growth company and we are a growth company and I had maybe more of a, passion for selling and being out in the marketplace that we thought it was appropriate at that point in time to have a sales leader in the role of CEO because of the growth that we were trying to accomplish. But I'll kind of go back to, I don't view it as the buck stopping with me. I view it as the burden and responsibility of being accountable to the 70 plus people that call Siete home and the investors and board members and stakeholder partners across the board and making decisions that best benefit the whole.
[00:18:32] Ray Latif: You've called it a burden to be CEO. Do you like the job? You know, is it something that you want to continue to do? Or do you feel like it's something that another person could and should do down the line?
[00:18:44] Miguel Garza: I do enjoy it. And I think it's a burden in that I don't think burden has a negative connotation. In fact, just as we were on this call, I was like, Oh, well, let me, let me Google that real quick. So a load, typically a heavy one would be the first definition on Google. And so I think you have to view it as that it is a heavy responsibility. And I think if you take it lightly, maybe you're misinterpreting what the job actually is. So I enjoy it because I get to work with an amazing group of people and because I get to be a part of what I feel will be one of the next iconic brands in the industry. And I feel that we are building something that is going to continue to have a big impact in the industry, as well as just in the corporate world, in that I believe that we're building a company differently, where our first goal is to put people first. And the thought process is that if we put people first Since Siete Family first, family second, business third value, that success will follow. So I want to make sure that I'm clear there. I don't view it negatively as much as I think. I think burden is the right word because of it's heavy when you're trying to lead a high growth company.
[00:20:16] Ray Latif: One of the most striking things about Siete and its growth is the amount of innovation that you guys have pumped out over the years. The company markets no less than five product lines and also has seasonal products. Can you talk about the hallmarks of your product development and innovation strategies?
[00:20:33] Miguel Garza: Yeah, heritage inspired and fundamentally innovative. And I think that's the cornerstone. So if we're going to make a product, it has to be heritage inspired. And Then on the flip side it has to be fundamentally innovative. And I think that my sister my sister could probably speak to this much better than I could. She leads our innovation. But it's often rooted in solving problems with the idea being that that's what we're supposed to do as a business. We're supposed to solve problems for the consumer. And so the initial product was solving a problem for herself in that she wanted to continue enjoying in the foods that were culturally relevant to her, in this case, tortillas, and that she couldn't anymore on the diet that she was on. this being like a grain-free paleo-type diet. So then she made an almond flour tortilla. And it needs to be heritage-inspired in that we're not trying to make things that aren't culturally relevant for us and authentic to us. So we're not making traditional Mexican products as much as we're making authentic Mexican-American products where we feel like We are well positioned because we are Mexican-American. So she made an almond flour tortilla. And it tasted amazing. And she was able to share it with the marketplace. And as we've continued on, we've, you know, as you touched on multiple categories, we make tortilla chips, which are grain-free, fried in avocado oil. We make hot sauce, which is made with apple cider vinegar and no gums and avocado oil. We make cashew queso, a dairy-free dip. We make grain-free taco shells that are fried in avocado oil. We make enchilada sauces, and we also make taco seasoning. I know earlier you said my mom's a genius, but it's that my sister is a genius as well, in that she continues to see problems in the marketplace, and she solves them for herself, and then we're able to share that with the consumer, and we're able to do it in an authentic way. I could speak to a high-tech R&D lab that we might have, but it's really my sister. She's very good at what she does. I'd say that she's one of the best.
[00:23:11] Ray Latif: When you're talking about heritage-inspired foods, especially ones that are ethnic in nature, you can have some pretty tough critics. Who's your toughest critic?
[00:23:21] Miguel Garza: Oh, on innovation?
[00:23:23] Ray Latif: Yeah, on new products and innovation.
[00:23:25] Miguel Garza: My sister on herself. Every product that we put out, she thinks can still be better. Speaking of, I would say, validation seeking. I wouldn't necessarily say critic when, when we launched the almond flour tortilla, you know, we, we took it and we've shared this story in the past, but we, we took it to my grandmother who was still living at the time. And we remembered stories of my grandmother where we would be traveling to Baytown, which is where she lived. And we would arrive in Baytown at, let's say, 11 p.m. or midnight, and she would have a pot of beans on the stove and homemade flour tortillas every day that we were there. So my grandmother made tortillas from scratch, by hand, many times a week, maybe every day of her life. And when my sister was creating this product, we eventually had my grandmother taste it, and we actually captured some footage of it. And she told my sister like, hey, these taste better. These taste as good, if not potentially better than the ones that I've been making my whole life. And this was comparing it to a flour tortilla, which we all have a lot of beautiful memories around. just because of all the associations that come with it with this homemade process. So I think at that point having that validation was was a game changer for us and host we viewed how broad the product could span. and taste was so important to us, but I really do think that internally in the company, my sister is her biggest critic. That when she makes something, that if we're finally getting to taste it, it's because she's already gone through like 50 iterations of it. And I think that that's what makes her so good, is her constant, or her refusal to accept good enough in her constant pursuit of perfection in her craft.
[00:25:37] Ray Latif: If you're always looking for perfect, I can imagine some things end up on the cutting room floor or perhaps the garbage disposal, in the garbage disposal that is. There's a range of opportunities I can imagine that Siete could take but have passed up on when it comes to new products. Could you talk about a few of them and why they never made it to market?
[00:25:58] Miguel Garza: I probably can't talk about all of them because they may eventually make it to market. But I can talk about instances. I think you're correct. My sister probably has 10 different ideas in her head right now and 15 different types of products that she's played with. And there's definitely a pipeline there. But there have been maybe opportunities that we've been asked about where because we are so focused on heritage inspired and fundamentally innovative that we don't we don't go after those opportunities. So let's imagine on let's imagine like a dip. We've been asked to do different dip flavors that just don't make sense for a Mexican-American food brand. We've been asked to make maybe different chip flavors or different tortilla flavors that actually just don't fit our Brandt Gehrs. So there have been a lot of things that we've shelved before they even got into the pipeline. The reason that I wouldn't be able to say the stuff that goes into the garbage disposal is because my sister really only shows us the stuff that's like ready for primetime. And so she has a pretty far-reaching pipeline in that regard.
[00:27:22] Ray Latif: Well, I'm excited to see what that pipeline looks like. I'm sure your customers are as well. When you said that you've been asked to make certain products. Who are those people that are asking you to do so? Is it retailers? Is it your investors?
[00:27:36] Miguel Garza: Yeah, so we have different retailer partners that may see a gap in their shelves. And I think they see us as potentially being able to fill that gap. And we've been able to politely decline on some of those because it doesn't fit our vision of building a Mexican-American food brand. And I think that that's the core, like going back to the innovation pipeline, like Heritage Inspired and Fundamentally Innovative has to be there because we're trying to build a Mexican-American food brand Since Siete. And it is very important for us that when we like three, five, seven, 10 years down the road, that when we look back, that we stayed within our guardrails so that we're building something that's authentic to us. Some of these may have been real ideas. Some of them may have just been spitballing. But I think that retailers are always looking for opportunities to grow. And I think sometimes if we were just, or if we were a grain-free company, or if we were a dairy-free company, some of those ideas may make sense. But because we're a Mexican-American food brand, it kind of has to come from the heart in what we're trying to put out there.
[00:28:53] Ray Latif: When you are asked to create a product or when some of that spitballing is happening, is it usually focused around a specific ingredient or perhaps a trend, a micro or macro trend, or is it a specific product that they want you to sell? And going back to your point about politely declining, how do you do that in a way that maintains the relationship so that it stays positive and growth-focused going forward?
[00:29:19] Miguel Garza: I think you touched on the key word there, which is relationship. So I think in any of these things like building a relationship that's rooted in trust, even with your retailer partners is very important. So that there's an understanding that you can sit in a meeting and you can spitball with each other on ideas, because at the end of the day, The retailer is trying to grow their business. And as a brand, you're trying to grow your business. And you're really just trying to identify the ways that you can both accomplish your goals together. And so if there is this root in the relationship, and that root is built on trust. I think that it's easier to politely decline because the idea is that you as a brand know your business better than the retailer knows your business. And then on the flip side, the retailer knows their own business better than you do. And so you're just trying to gather as much information. And sometimes in politely declining, it's that there's another idea that neither of you guys saw. And in the discussion, you're able to go after that innovative idea.
[00:30:34] Ray Latif: Going back to trends, you know, Siete hits on a few really big food trends, particularly plant-based and authentically ethnic. Do you intentionally incorporate macro trends into your innovation strategy?
[00:30:47] Miguel Garza: No, we do our best to not chase trends. And that's mainly because we're focused on solving problems. And we feel that chasing the trends would be inauthentic, and that it's often hard to forecast and predict anyway. So for us, it's How can we be focused on creating something that's an authentic expression of ourselves but solves the problem? And the thesis is that if we solve a problem, that we're not the only ones with that problem in the marketplace, and that hopefully it solves problems for others as well. That's not to say that we don't look at data and that we don't understand the marketplace, because we definitely do. But I think that we're not, in our innovation, we're not driven by the external macro trends because we're trying to build something that is and that feels authentic to who we are as Siete.
[00:31:54] Ray Latif: I guess I'll ask you point blank. Would you ever release a product that had a meat component to it, an animal-based protein?
[00:32:04] Miguel Garza: Oh, I don't know. I wouldn't be able to answer that in a way that was... Actually, no, my only answer is that I don't know. I really have no idea whether we would or not. I would say that we're a Mexican, so, and this is gonna sound like a broken record, but I think it's important in that we are building a Mexican-American food brand, and that in building a Mexican-American food brand and trying to solve problems, That again, we're not guided by the macro trends, but we are guided by trying to do the right thing by our customer. And so we continue to do a lot of listening in that regard.
[00:32:48] Ray Latif: Mexican-American brand focused on solving a problem. These are two things you have said many times. You've also said more than a few times that you have a desire for Siete to become a billion-dollar brand. At the top of our conversation, you said you want it to be the next iconic brand. A billion dollars is a lot of money, and it's a lot of product to sell. Do you have a roadmap for how to get there, how to become that iconic billion-dollar brand that you were talking about?
[00:33:17] Miguel Garza: Internally, we do, but I do believe that man plans and God laughs. But the exercise of planning is still important. Internally, we have a plan. I want to be clear also that when we say we're building a billion-dollar brand, there's no tie to the actual billion dollars as some sort of landmark that we're trying to hit. I use it more as an easy indication for people to understand the size and scope that I think the brand can have. And obviously, I get to live in the trenches with the brand. And as a family, we get to live in the trenches with the brand. So we're able to see things that others aren't. But we just believe that what the brand stands for, and what we're trying to do in the marketplace could set it up to be, you know, the next, let's say like, uh, the next Annie's next Chobani next brand of that sort of impact. So it's not, it's not a dollar amount as much as it's the, the size and scope of, of the company. And it, and it goes back to this idea that like, I, I believe that if, if we're building a company and we're doing it in the right way, then being successful can create a roadmap for others in the marketplace to also feel good about treating their people well and trying to build a sustainable business and that there would be a roadmap for success with that. Yeah, I think it has way less to do with a billion dollars and way more to do with this idea that we're stewards of a brand and that we think the brand has legs to really stand for something in the marketplace.
[00:35:21] Ray Latif: Getting a $90 million infusion of cash certainly seems like it would help with reaching that goal. Let's talk about the deal with The Stripes Group in which you did receive that 90 million. How does that transaction work within the structure of a family first focused business?
[00:35:40] Miguel Garza: Yeah, so it actually started with getting to know The Stripes Group, building a relationship with Chris and Karen and Julia and Ken and, you know, all the folks that are over there and recognizing that we were bringing them into the Siete Family. So it wasn't a decision that was made overnight. It was one in which we wanted to make sure that we were aligned in what we were trying to build the business into. And so like I said earlier, we're a family owned business that operates like a startup. And so the thought was that we had an opportunity to grow a little bit faster. And so we wanted to bring on a partner that also saw that opportunity with us and would come alongside us. you know, just like you would add a team member to the team, and that they would be able to help us in our pursuit of building that business. It was not something that we took lightly. And it was something that required, I would say, years of relationship building. How many years? A couple, two.
[00:37:02] Ray Latif: The Stripes Group is also invested in another brand that is quickly becoming an iconic brand within the dairy set and beyond, and that's Califia Farms. It's led by co-founder and CEO Greg Steltenpol, who is himself an iconic figure in our industry. Did he mentor you through the process? Did you talk to him a bunch about, you know?
[00:37:23] Miguel Garza: Yeah, he didn't necessarily mentor me through the process, but just as you're going through a fundraising process, you definitely do reference checks. And Greg was somebody that I was able to call and have a conversation with. And, you know, Calafia is an iconic brand. And I think as we were looking at a partner, We wanted to see The Stripes had worked with Calafia and that was definitely a part of the process for sure.
[00:37:55] Ray Latif: Earlier, you talked about how your employees are part of the Siete Family and in some ways indirectly a part of the Garza family. Do your shareholders feel that way as well? Are your shareholders in The Stripes Group as loved and represented as everyone else in the company?
[00:38:13] Miguel Garza: Definitely, and I think that it's very necessary. If you were to ask my mom what she thinks about Karen Kenworthy from Stripes, she would tell you that she loves her and she loves getting to work with her. If you were to ask my dad what he thinks about Chris Karen Julia and Ken from Stripes, he would say that he loves them. And I think that in the partnership that we've been able to grow that relationship. And it's not The Stripes. We've had other investors before Stripes, and I think the same is true there. We want it to feel Siete Family because maybe it's a little bit selfish. You just want to enjoy what you're doing. And it's easier to enjoy that when you're able to have that kind of regard for somebody. And a lot of that comes down to what kind of effort are you putting towards building that relationship? So it's not something that you just snap your fingers and it happens overnight. It's are you are you being intentional about the relationships that you're building? And I think that we very much are and we're very thankful to have been given the opportunity to partner The Stripes and partner with any of our investors really. There's a lot of thankfulness that we have for that.
[00:39:38] Ray Latif: I wonder if some folks might misinterpret this as, you know, love has to supersede or love supersedes business. And I don't think that's what you're saying at all. No, no. I think what you're saying is that it's really important to show the effort first and show the people that you're willing to do the work that will keep them loving you.
[00:39:58] Miguel Garza: Yeah, and it's also a recognition in a partnership that you have to understand what the partner is trying to accomplish too. You bring on investors because you're trying to attain or you're striving towards a certain goal. And you don't bring on investors for the sake of bringing on investors. You believe that the investor is going to help you accomplish the goal faster and more efficiently than you may have been able to do on your own. And then you recognize that on the investor side, you know, they have LPs and their business model is to create a return. And so this is the same conversation that I had earlier as it relates to retailers. Once you recognize what the other party is trying to accomplish, then you can align the goals and align the incentives. so that you are headed on the right path together. So when I say family, I'm talking more about the relationship side of things. Like I want to build something with people that I like working with, even on the investor side. And I think the rest of my family and team feels the same way. We want to have that sort of relationship with them because we feel it is a more pleasant experience when you're in the trenches of building a business. to be doing it with people that are in the trenches with you and have your back.
[00:41:30] Ray Latif: Miguel, aside from entrepreneurs in really early stage startups, you're one of the youngest CEOs that I've interviewed for the podcast. And I'm curious as to whether you see that as a benefit or whether it has been a benefit or a challenge for you.
[00:41:45] Miguel Garza: I don't know, I sometimes forget my my age, unless I'm comparing it to my wife's in which I always make sure to tell her that I'm younger than her. But, uh, I see it as a, I don't know if I see it as an advantage or a disadvantage. One advantage that I have is that I can more easily ask a lot of the dumb questions because this is the first time that we've ever done this. I feel like that gives me an opportunity to learn even more. So I think that there's obvious experience that as a family we're missing as it relates to the CPG and food business, but we've been able to surround ourselves with people that are amazing at what they do and that we've learned from along the way. I think that sometimes maybe it could, maybe I wouldn't even call it age. I could say that maybe my lack of experience is advantageous in that we're as a company, we're always striving to not do things just because that's the way they were always done. So maybe not having a playbook is advantageous at this point in time. But other than that, I don't, I don't know if it would have any other advantage. I mean, there's, again, the obvious disadvantage is lacking some of the experience that other folks that you've interviewed obviously have.
[00:43:26] Ray Latif: I'm sure there are folks listening to the podcast right now that are saying, you know, I wonder what advice Miguel would have for me as a young entrepreneur, particularly in terms of leadership.
[00:43:36] Miguel Garza: I think mentors are hugely important. And I think it all depends on how you learn, but for myself, I feel like I'm always speaking from a biased point of view, because I have one experience point, and that's my own. But I think mentors are hugely important and valuable, especially, well, not just because they're going to be able to tell you like, hey, use Copacker A instead of Copacker B, or Maybe don't price your products in that way or you should be looking at this margin Like I think there's some general fundamentals that you could gain from industry expertise but on the other side, I think as it relates to attempting to lead a a team and an organization, having mentors is hugely important because of the, I would say the soft skills that become more and more important as the organization grows, even in how you relate to partners. So I found mentors to be hugely valuable. And then making sure that you like check your ego at the door, which I think is very difficult. And recognizing that you don't know a lot of things and doing everything you can to try and learn as much as possible about the things that you don't know. I think that we've been incredibly blessed with the people that we've been able to work with, even within the company, who have been pretty instrumental to the success and so I think a lot of leadership is sometimes figuring out how to like get out of your own way and then get out of other people's way and just doing your best to get your people the resources that they need to then demonstrate how successful they can be. So I think there's a lot of humility in knowing or a lot of humility gained in making sure that you're not the smartest person in the room.
[00:45:50] Ray Latif: Your mentors, how do you find mentors? Cause that's, I think that's something, and host do you approach them? I think that's something that a lot of people struggle with, which is they want to talk to someone, they want to just, you know, pick up the phone and be able to call a Seth Goldman from Honest Tea or a Greg Steltenpol from Calafia, but those people have limited time to talk to folks. and host do you get in touch with them in the first place?
[00:46:11] Miguel Garza: Yeah, I think it all depends on the problems that you're trying to solve. You know, I've outright built a relationship with somebody and then outright told them, hey, will you mentor me for a year? And they said, I'd love to. And for the next year and a half, we had weekly phone calls. and host ask of me is that I would bring topics to discuss. And my ask of him is that he would call me out on anything I needed to be called out on. And then I think sometimes mentorship comes not from the industry, from outside the industry. So there are a couple of people that invested in the company early on that didn't necessarily have the food and beverage expertise, but they knew how to lead teams and they knew how to grow businesses. And I think that there's a lot of knowledge share in that and knowledge gained from that. And that was just, building relationships with people and asking questions and then creating informal mentorship opportunities. And then lastly, it's sometimes your own team can mentor you. That's informal in my opinion as well, but there's people that I've had the opportunity or have the opportunity to work with that become mentors, and you're able to bounce ideas and ask them questions. And I think it's making sure that you're not like a mentor doesn't have to be somebody that has necessarily scaled a successful business. I think that you can piecemeal a lot of relationships together to make sure that you're continuing to increase your knowledge base and to increase your perspective. and your experience with many different experiences. And a lot of times that just comes The Stripes like tell me about a time that this happened to you. and host people that have grown businesses or even been a part of growing businesses are going to have a perspective and that perspective will help inform or hopefully help inform future decision making. So to me, it's being open minded in who can actually be a mentor and host can teach you.
[00:48:35] Ray Latif: Well said, and this has just been a fantastic conversation. I can imagine there are probably people that are gonna try to connect with you on LinkedIn and be like, Miguel, can you be my mentor? So, but thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me. I know you're very busy and I know this is a challenging time for everyone. And it means a lot that you've carved out this time for me and our audience. I know everyone's gonna get a lot out of this.
[00:49:02] Miguel Garza: Well, I appreciate it too. I really enjoyed it. And it definitely is a, it's obviously an uncertain time, very challenging time. And, uh, I think having these conversations and, and being able to be a part of this industry, you know, continues to be, it's like the gift that keeps on giving for us, uh, just in, in the friends that we've been able to make through it. So I really appreciate it. And thanks for giving me the time to speak as well.
[00:49:34] Ray Latif: Thank you. And really hope to catch up in person soon. Awesome. That brings us to the end of episode 214. Thank you so much for listening, and thanks to our guest, Miguel Garza. You can catch up with Taste Radio and Taste Radio Insider on Taste Radio, the Apple Podcasts app, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. As always, for questions, comments, ideas for future podcasts, please send us an email to askatasteradio.com. On behalf of the entire Taste Radio team, thank you for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.
