How to Use Storytelling to Grow a Personal Brand w/ Matt Williams - EP 85
How to Use Storytelling to Grow a Personal Brand w/ Matt Williams - EP 85
Matt Williams is the founder and creator of Fro Pro.
Years ago, Matt came into my south Florida office and we sat down and had a conversation about how he came up with the idea for Fro Pro and what it meant to him to start his own company.
Years later, we got caught up and learned about what his journey has been like over the last 2 years to see such drastic success.
Matt is a great person and anyone who wants to grow a business or a personal brand can learn from how Matt and his wife Chelsea have marketed their brand and obsessed over their amazing product.
In this episode we talk about...
What inspired Matt to start Fro Pro
How he and Chelsea have used social media and storytelling to grow their brand
The story of how Matt and Chelsea spoke in front of the entire Whole Foods convention to teach people are great storytelling
The growth of Fro Pro
Plans for the future
Matt and Chelsea's desire to support addiction recovery.
Show Notes
Fro Pro website (Buy a box. You Won't regret it!)
Transcription
Automated:
Welcome to TimStodz.FM, where each week we discuss new ideas and tactics to help you succeed in business, relationships and life and now your host, Tim Stoddart.
Tim Stoddart:
Hey, what's up guys? This is Tim Stoddart with TimStodz.FM. Thank you so much for joining me. We have a great guest today. My guest today is a good friend of mine, an old friend of mine, a gentleman named Matt Williams. Matt is actually the first repeat guest on the TimStodz.FM podcast. We get into the story a little bit more, but Matt started a company years ago called FroPro. FroPro is a protein snack and when he first came on the show, he was just getting started on his business.
Tim Stoddart:
He was a little ways along but wasn't nearly at the level of success that he is today and I've been watching Matt. I really like Matt, I admire him, he's a great person and so I finally reached out to him and I took the opportunity to talk to him a little bit more about his story and what has worked for him over the course of the last two years that has enabled him and his wife Chelsea to reach these new levels with FroPro. It's such an awesome story. They are a really awesome company. They have a great product, I personally vouch for the product, I love it, but the way that they present themselves as a brand and the storytelling in their brand is really top notch.
Tim Stoddart:
If you are looking to start a brand, a personal brand and you're confused as to like how you can tell the story, watch these guys because they really nail it. It was a great episode. I loved talking to him. I can talk to Matt all day. He and I are just buddies and we get along really well and it was a really great and wide ranging conversation, so please help me welcome, my friend Matt Williams. All right, we're good to go. Hey Matt, thank you so much for joining me on my podcast, man. I really appreciate your time.
Matt Williams:
It's exciting to kind of get a recap and come back on and chat. It's been a couple of years.
Tim Stoddart:
I'm glad that you brought that up, because believe it or not congratulations, you are my first repeat guest on my podcast.
Matt Williams:
Wow, I love that. Thank you very much for having me. Fantastic.
Tim Stoddart:
You and I have been talking a little bit over the last week and it's been really great to catch up, but I'm just going to jump right into this, because I've been getting a little bit reconnected with social media. I've lost touch with a lot of over the last couple of years because I deleted Facebook and I deleted Instagram and took a couple of years off of social media and I'm slowly diving back into social media a little bit. One of the first things I did is, I saw your name pop up and obviously that means that I see the work that you're doing with FroPro.
Tim Stoddart:
Over the last couple of years, I don't know if maybe it just takes some time to let things kick into gear or if you hit this new stride or whatever, but I got to tell you, Matt, seeing how far that you've come with your brand and how far that you've come with just the growth and getting your product out there. It's so cool to see and I kind of want to just start this podcast off by saying I'm really happy for you man. You're such a good person, you and Chelsea, you two both deserve so much success and I know you've been working your asses off. I wanted to start with some excitement, I'm really happy for you and congratulations.
Matt Williams:
I appreciate that. It's cool to obviously hear that and makes what we're doing that much more important than you get it there. It's hard in the beginning to, you've got something that you're not really sure what it is or what you're doing, but you love it and you just kind of keep going with it and I think it's been pretty cool. Congrats to you on actually number one, getting off social media for that amount of time, because I was like, "I'm going to take a break." I was going to do a month and after two weeks I realized I had to jump back on, because people do communicate through that medium and I had unfortunately missed some sort of important communication with people and I was like, "Oh, this isn't good."
Matt Williams:
So it kind of led me to come back a little bit quicker than I had anticipated, but I can only imagine not having access to social media kind of made you. Like when you tell people that they're like, "What are you talking about? What do you mean, why?" But I'm impressed man. So congrats to you because I know it's a tough thing because everybody uses it and it's the thing that people communicate through now. So it's good to be connected to you as well. Like I remember, we got a chance to talk prior to you moving and it's been a little time and a lot has happened. A lot of our friends have moved to other places or had babies or got married and a lot of goods, a lot of highs, a lot of lows and it's cool that we can still touch base after a period of time.
Tim Stoddart:
I agree. I want to take a step back. Let's give people a little bit more context, I mentioned FroPro, I mentioned your brand, I'm sure that you've said this a million times, but for people who are just hearing about you, what is FroPro?
Matt Williams:
We are a peanut butter snack bar with the added value of protein. So when I say snack, it's not a meal replacement, it is a snack bar. So it's about 40 grams of deliciousness wrapped into a unique package that we feel like is unique to us, because we're not like anybody else. It's delicious guy, like I said, organic peanut butter, plant based protein, gluten free oats, honey and cinnamon and then we kind of add some other things like for the mint, the birthday cake and a new flavors we have, depending on what it is, we add some other awesome ingredients to it. Our whole thing is we're snack bar company and it's literally myself, Matt Williams and my wife, Chelsea Williams and I think the last time we spoke, I don't even think we had a kitchen yet, our own kitchen yet.
Tim Stoddart:
No, you didn't and you were talking about that on the podcast.
Matt Williams:
Yeah, I mean, it's crazy. A lot has transpired, we went from, as you know, and as you stated, I was making this out of my own kitchen and my apartment and realized that there was an opportunity to kind of grow. So we moved into another space and I was still training on the side and working for another organization and just kind of working seven days a week just trying to get things off the ground. As anybody, you work hard as well, you get it. It's a labor of love and some days are better than others, but working seven days a week for two to three years until obviously every day when you're an entrepreneur is what you put into it, you get out of it.
Matt Williams:
So it's great, man. I wouldn't have it any other way. I never thought this was going to be my life, but I'm super grateful that it is and it's allowed me to do a lot of really cool things and everybody kind of identifies that differently, but for me is connecting with people in the community, sharing our story across the United States and hopefully soon to be doing that a lot more. Just kind of sharing the journey and the process through social media and who we are and what we're doing and what we're about and as I was taught, just bring everybody else with you and try to lift those up and carry the people that had been carrying you and just kind of run with it.
Tim Stoddart:
So you said twice in there and I was paying attention because I've been really excited to ask this question, but you said talk about what we are, and I'm going to laugh a little bit because I don't know if you did this intentionally, but I feel like it is one of the most genius branding things I've ever seen, because you say we're a protein snack bar and on your website it says, "We're not gluten free, we're not vegan, we're not this, we're for everybody. We're a protein snack bar, relax." Every time I see that, it cracks me up because in the food industry, especially I'm pretty healthy and I understand my way around food and nutrients and what it means to your body, but there's a lot of, I guess I'll call it tribalism in the food space.
Tim Stoddart:
There's cliques and it's like, this is the best way to eat and you got to do this and you got to do that and if you want these results, this is what you have to do. Every time I think about that, I'm just like relax everybody, it's just a snack and I can't tell you how much I love that. I think that is so genius.
Matt Williams:
I appreciate that. That was a tough learning lesson because a lot of people try and pigeonhole you and say you have to be for these or that, or do you ever think about making the bar for this died or that died or can you use less honey or less this or more of this. It's like at one point it just kind of came out was I was like, "Nut, it's an effing snack." Kids can eat it, I've had my friends like, it's cold so they allowed it like, "No, it's allowed," they test it out, they let their infants like no, on it and I'm like, "Hey, cool." It's for kids, it's for literally any age and I know that's like a huge demographic and that people like to be a little bit more specific, especially like you said in the food industry.
Matt Williams:
It's like, "Who's your target audience?" I was like, "Anybody that likes to eat good stuff, anybody that enjoys a good snack and by the way, that has protein and it's healthy for you." It's not over the top. It doesn't cure cancer. It doesn't save, it's just a snack that I started making for myself that I enjoyed, to kind of get me through the day, because I was biking a lot back when I started it and kind of getting myself around town that way. So, you can't really carry a sandwich in a backpack. It kind of goes bad. I was never really a big, every now and then I'm a cheap guy, so I'm going to go, you know what mean? But you can't carry things around in a backpack with clothes and you remember South Florida?
Tim Stoddart:
Of course.
Matt Williams:
It's sunny one second and then you're biking and then all of a sudden you're in a monsoon and it's like, okay I have to have something that's able to be the travel well and it all just kind of came together from that. So, I hope we're for everybody. I have a lot of big lifter guys that are like, "Man, it's too small for me," and I'm like, "Wait, that's why it's literally, go eat your huge meal and then when you want healthy snack or something that tastes like dessert, that is not going to throw off your macros, you can eat a FroPro."
Tim Stoddart:
I was on another podcast, I can't remember exactly which one it was and I think you were a guest on that podcast as well and your name came up and I totally put a stop on this interview and I didn't even realize I was doing, I kind of felt bad afterwards, but I gave you a good six minute plug, because at the time my wife Juliana, you had sent her a couple of them and I had boxes of them in the fridge and I was like, "Man, I cannot stop eating these sayings." I was saying exactly what you were saying, where it's not my meal. If I'm walking around the kitchen and I'm looking for a snack, it's the snack I go to and I'll stop talking a lot now, but like I said, even though I'm the person viewing your brand, I'm a fan of your product and I think that's great.
Matt Williams:
Thanks man. I appreciate it, that's how it started, just a good healthy snack, that's it.
Tim Stoddart:
Okay, great. We got through the product, like I said before, I don't know if there was like a moment for you when you realized that you needed to approach this a little bit more strategically or maybe it was a just a learning experience or trial by fire, but as a marketer I think it's safe that I call myself that, especially, if somebody that is really interested in what I call personal brands. It doesn't necessarily mean that you're an Instagram star, but you and Chelsea you have a product and your story is attached to your product, you guys are the brand, but the sophistication of your marketing and the story that you guys tell through social media has really grown like leaps and bounds in terms of its production, the quality of the content, how well it resonates with people. I want to I want you to talk about how you improved your skills as a marketer. Was that something that you just figured out along the way or was that something that you were intentional with?
Matt Williams:
Well, I think it's kind of like anything, they kind of do it for you when you see and look back at Facebook or look back at Instagram, here are your favorite photos or here was something that caused a ripple in the people that follow your stuff. You kind of look at that and you say, "Well, why did that one do so well or why did this," and that didn't really for me I just like to post stuff and my wife, the more of the strategic one when it comes to that. We have, some very close friends that have been helping us out with that and where credit is due. It's people that are a lot better at something than I am.
Matt Williams:
For a while in a funny way, I wasn't even allowed to touch the gofropro Instagram, because I like to think I have a sense of humor and part of that at the beginning was, we're changing packaging and we're changing brands and I want to say what, I forget what year it was, but we had a woman come in and she was like, "Hey listen, I don't know why I buy these, but my kids loved them and I really just don't know anything about you guys, because all I know it's a peanut butter snack bar." I said, "Well, yeah." She said, "Well, I want to know more," and she kind of helped us tell the story and it's essentially, we sat there and I think I shared this on the last podcast of yours.
Matt Williams:
We sat there and we're talking about things that were important to me and Chelsea, my wife brought up something about, "Hey, you know, Matt?" She's like, "Listen, we don't need a motivation for this, that and the other thing," and we kept going and it was just kind of like staring at a whiteboard and you're just like, "Man, a couple of things, I worked with kids and I help, I trained and kids are overweight or kids that were struggling in sports or anything," and then I was like, "Well, why not do we, how do we transform that to whatever it is?" She's like, "Well, whatever Chelsea was talking about before, tell me your story and how you came to this point." I told this woman our story and she's just like, "Wow," she was like that.
Matt Williams:
Number one, touched that you share that with me. Number two, I can relate to it because I've known people that have had similar struggles in their life and some of them haven't made it and some are going through it. It's really cool to hear that, because you don't typically hear someone sharing the ups and the downs and it's obviously with social media. It's a highlight reel of what's good and what's bad and I think as we grew and we'd started talking about that, I didn't want it to attach to kind of brag where we are now at first because I was worried what people were going to think and I was worried that people are going to be like, "Ah, this is stupid," but what happened was, is that the community kind of came together in over time and was like, "Hey, like this is really cool."
Matt Williams:
I was like, I don't want people to buy this because they're like sad or, or it elicits a response, but if I can connect with people that, "Hey, we have a really great peanut butter snack bar. Oh by the way, we have this journey that I walked through with my wife coming from losing pretty much everything to starting over," and that's what's been really cool is because along the way I've had really cool opportunities to meet people from pretty much all across the world. Really quick side story. A guy that reached out to me during our like 2016 New York city marathon, Reebok, the ASX thing that we did. I connected with some guy and still keep in touch with them and he works in the mental health field and what's really cool, is I think this year he's coming to the States and we're going to get a chance to actually meet in person and do some speaking, him more on the mental health side and me on the more drug and alcohol side.
Matt Williams:
I think it's just cool, man. I don't know what other way to say. It sounds so basic, but it really is an amazing, cool experience to be doing this to be sharing and watching what other things kind of open up because of never giving up.
Tim Stoddart:
I can really relate to that for anyone that is, again listening to us to this for the first time, what Matt is getting at is he and I met because everybody listens to my podcast especially knows it's like we're both in recovery from addiction and a lot of Matt's story, if you go to his website, I think it's gofropro.com, right?
Matt Williams:
Yes.
Tim Stoddart:
So if you go to gofropro.com you can read Matt's story and about his journey through recovery. Obviously it's very inspirational, but what you're talking about specifically is something that I can definitely relate to because on my website, on my personal site, on my blog, you want to be known as something other than a person who used to have a terrible life and then got themselves out of it. I like to be known for my skills and you like to be known for your product, but for some reason that story will also really resonate with people. I'll give you a great example. Just this last week I became part of a website that has been really impactful for me in my life.
Tim Stoddart:
It's basically an educational website, is the website that I used to read every day that taught me how to be a good blogger or a good podcaster and the guy who started this site is a real legend in the online marketing space. Long story short, I kind of idolize this guy and over the course of the last 10 years, my 10 year anniversary is coming up pretty soon, I somehow managed to get myself as a part owner in this site. So that's really cool, but when the announcement was made through the email list, because there's like 300,000 people on this email list, I knew that there was going to be a lot of traffic coming to my blog.
Tim Stoddart:
On the homepage of my site, it says, "My story," and I talk about who I am and obviously I mentioned my wife and that I love fitness and that I love online marketing but also how can I talk about myself without talking about where I come from. So it's this really weird kind of push pull type thing where you want your message to have a story attached to it, because like I talked about before, it is your personal brand, it's your wife's personal brand and you guys need to share that story, but then if you go too far, are you losing what it is that you're actually putting in front of people? So, it's been a challenge for me to kind of rustle with how far to go with it, how far to just let people find out on their own, but I look at the content you have created and I think that you guys are really nailing it. You have a message, you have a mission, but you're not taking it too seriously, which I think is really like a crucial point.
Matt Williams:
Damn it. Rule 62 I think, isn't it? Have a sense of humor or something like that.
Tim Stoddart:
Yeah. Don't take yourself too seriously.
Matt Williams:
Right, exactly, for sure. I appreciate that and I think, here we have a good balance, Chelsea can kind of really back in when I'm like going and going and I can kind of reel her back when there's something else going and I think that's incredibly important. You're married, you understand that having somebody that understands what you're doing and why you're doing it and either as assisting and helping in that process or just being super supportive and makes all the difference. I give Chelsea all the credit. When she came on in 2016, full time from running someone else's business, it just was a game changer because I was doing three jobs to kind of get this off and running. Her approach to systems and the day to day operations and everything related outside of the kitchen, was instrumental in us growing at the rate we have since 2016. Well, when she came in like halfway through 2016 and 2017 and I think from there we've been able to really kind of learn a lot more.
Matt Williams:
I don't know if I told you, but last year, was like a year or so ago, I even did a workshop and I think back to your original question is I've done some more reading and some more, like you said, you've been following this website that you're part owner of now for 10 years and learning how to be a better podcaster and a better online marketer. I kind of tried to do the same thing in the areas to kind of grow with all the different channels that are out there and focus on the ones that I'm comfortable with, dabble in some of the ones that are not my thing, AKA tic-tac. I'm still trying to figure that one out and just kind of move forward with that. So I think it's super awesome when you have a great, a great team in place.
Tim Stoddart:
Let me get a little bit technical with you real quick. So, in terms of where you're seeing the growth, what is working for you and why do you think it's working, from more of like a strategic technical standpoint?
Matt Williams:
I think telling our story in a way that we're telling it is great and I went to this workshop in New York city and it was kind of you're in a fitness, like a meal prep, but for a media prep and looking at what events are coming up, how do you prepare for those a month ahead, right before, then after and also taking the things that have happened, the past events and kind of touching base on that and what they meant, but telling a story, anybody can post a picture and it looks good and some people will like it, but then it's the content that's underneath. Like I posted one today and I was just feeling super grateful and we just took some new pictures and it's Chelsea and I standing in the Florida scrub and I made it humorous, she saw it, she's like, "You can't say that," she's like, "But like I think," and she was like, "It's like torn in us," and she's like, "No, I know." She's like, "This is your page."
Matt Williams:
I think we're doing really well at telling the story and sharing our journey because it's who we are and we're super comfortable with that. We're an open book and what really kind of validated that for us was at a Whole Food Summit, there were, I don't know, 400 people there and let's just say 100 of them were trying to get into the Whole FOods in some way, whatever it was, whether it's Super Puma, whatever it. What was kind of cool is there was a business keynote, there was a supply and distribution keynote and then we've got to stand up there on stage and tell the storytelling keynote and just talk about how it's important to be who you are and to share the highs and the lows and not really, for lack of a better word, give a shit what anybody else thinks in the nicest way possible, but you've done that in there, in an inappropriate manner.
Tim Stoddart:
Let me unpack that a little bit. So, you're saying at this Whole Food Summit, the people that were trying to get into Whole Foods, not literally get into the store, they were other businesses that were trying to get space on the Whole Foods shelves, right?
Matt Williams:
Right. So there was a ton of people there that are already on the shelves that are national brands and there was other people that were there to essentially pitch their product, to the powers that be, that were there and kind of understand what it looks like to work with Whole Foods. It was just really cool, to be asked to share our story. Like for you and me, when you look back, because we were around the same time, I'm in May and we're 10 years into this and it's like you look back and you're like, it's just so bizarre and it's so crazy to think at one point, no one wanted me to stand on stage, no one wanted me near the stage, no more than we want in the building, let alone now saying like, "Hey man, can you give us a little insight to your storytelling and how you share so openly and honestly."
Matt Williams:
I think, that's a testament to the community that I live in and being in recovery and realizing that it's like I have the ability hopefully to help somebody and this platform as it grows will be that opportunity as long as I remember where I came from.
Tim Stoddart:
I love this. So, I'm hearing two things there. One, I'm just obviously hearing the power of a story, but also when I asked you how do I phrase this? When I asked you to speak technically, I was kind of thinking about, what platforms are you using, what kind of content is resonating a lot of times a day-
Matt Williams:
Oh, sorry about that.
Tim Stoddart:
... but here's the best part about it. Where you immediately went to was basically what I really believe all along and I'm trying to get better at paying more attention to those kinds of technicalities, but at the end of the day, whatever it is that you're trying to do, you have to touch people on an emotional level and it doesn't necessarily matter what the platform is or how you choose to share your message. What matters is that when people see what it is that you're about and they hear what it is you have to say and how you being in their lives can make their lives better. I think that's the secret sauce, man. I really think that, that's what people want to see when they participate in somebody else's dream, right?
Matt Williams:
Yeah, and again, I apologize for when you said technically I wasn't answering that appropriately. In terms of technical, actual things that we do, I'm a big Instagram guy. I really am comfortable there, and that kind of links right to Facebook for me. I think Facebook owns Instagram if I'm not mistaken?
Tim Stoddart:
Yes.
Matt Williams:
I learned this from someone else that was in marketing who runs this stamped billion dollar company in New York city and this is like, "You have all these people that are already currently engaging with you after you do something and if people are engaging, make sure you're engaging back," and I've really tried to stay true to that. Now, sometimes there's a comment here and a comment there, but really trying to engage in see what people are writing back and for the most part it's positive. There's a couple obviously haters and negativity out there and I learn from that and don't engage with any of that nonsense. I read it, but I just keep moving forward and I think between Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, really starting to see what I'm going to do somewhere-
Tim Stoddart:
LinkedIn really?
Matt Williams:
Yeah, I got on LinkedIn honestly, studying FroPro and I was like, "Oh this is like Facebook for business." There's so much more and I'm learning a lot more from some of the people that I follow. There's like a woman down here that's crushing it that I really like to see how she does things and she uses a lot of humor and a lot of video and makes it fun and she's done really well for herself. So, like I try to look at some of the people that are consistently putting out great content that I like and then kind of catering that to how I operate, because I never want to put something out that I'm like, "This isn't me," and people will know it's not me, but anything, humorous photos of Chelsea and I, or a candid shots or some stuff you like to do.
Matt Williams:
I like to work out, I keep it really basic when people are like, "Well what's this all about?" I'm like, "Ah, I like to make peanut butter snack bars and work out with my wife." That's literally pretty much my life because like we opened this facility, it's an abandoned gym. We've fixed it up, we built the kitchen, we have a cool little space with a couple of my friends that train out of there and it's like a cool little family and everybody operates, respects the space and operates really well together.
Matt Williams:
If there were ever to be an issue, which there hasn't, it's like everybody communicates and it's a really cool space that having worked in a lot of awesome gyms, and been associated with a lot of great people here, I've learned so much. The goods, the bads, the things that I want to do, the things that I don't want to do and how does that operate. So, I took a lot of those learning experiences and kind of try to make it a really awesome place for people to work. People like hopefully are waking up and being like, "man, I can't let you get there today."
Tim Stoddart:
Cool. So last little subject on this topic, we talked about growth a little bit and for your business is so much different than mine, because it requires you to be picked up by places. First off, I always think about how cool it is that when you go into whole foods, you see your product. Let me ask you a little side question. Do you ever just kind of stop and just going into Whole Foods and like walk in the back and look at it just to remind yourself that it's there and think of how cool that is?
Matt Williams:
Well, yeah, no. It's great dude. There's a new one open in Del Ray, but yes, the answer to the question is, there's times where I walk in like I did today, I had to buy something next door, Bed, Bath & Beyond and I literally popped in there and I know Chelsea was there the day before to finish making sure it looked good for the sale and I walked in and I was like, "Oh man." It was cool because I ran into this girl who I see at the gym from time to time and I was like, "Hey, how are you?" She's like, "Good, should go in here to check on your product?" It was just like one of those things I don't know her that well. I always say hello and I'm very pleasant, but she just kind of reminded me, it's like there's a product that I created that's in Whole Foods and supported by Whole Foods and I don't want to get emotional, but it's this kind of like it blows my mind and I don't take any credit for it.
Matt Williams:
You know what that means? Hope maybe some of your listeners will know what that means. It's like I give all that credit to using universe and just being given this chance to kind of correct former ways of living and really just do the deal. You know what I mean?
Tim Stoddart:
Absolutely. I think everybody would understand that, but I think that to you and Chelsea's credit, you guys brought the shovel, you guys have been doing the digging and that is certainly a requirement. So other than Whole Foods, I know that you guys were in LA this last weekend, are you guys getting picked up by smaller retailers? Is that part of your business model? Are you just going for like the go bigger, go home, try to get in these shoes, national chains or are you seeing yourself in more consignment stores? I'm really curious as to what the scheme for that is.
Matt Williams:
So for us, yeah, we got picked up in the middle of last year, we went out to the Expo West, which is a big food show out in Anaheim and we walked into one of the markets that Chelsea was familiar with and I didn't know and she said, "I'd love to sell here," and we walked in and we bought a box and we introduced ourselves, really awesome employees, everybody is super friendly and we got the shot. It got to the manager's desk, she tried it, loved the product, hit us, like literally a purchase order was placed and we're now in four of those stores. So I think what's great about Whole Foods obviously is our biggest retailer and we want to focus on that relationship because it's still so local. We're only in the Florida Whole Foods and that's 31 stores soon to be 32. With that you have to travel and do demos in Orlando, demos in Jacks Git N Go, demos in Destin, and Sarasota and all these different places where there's Whole Foods, because obviously there's so many products, you just have to kind of introduce that to people.
Matt Williams:
So there's obviously certain stores that are moving and some are moving well, better than others, others are just absolutely crushing it. So for us, it's super important that we're in places like Whole Foods and then other smaller chains that are growing and being able to tell our story, because at the end of the day, the more people we're exposed to, obviously they need a great case in product, but it's also, what's the story behind us? Our story guy and if you're eating a product or you're looking at things like, "Oh, what's the story behind this?" Nowadays most people's stories are on their packaging or on their website. If you're a big website person and it's what is this all about?
Matt Williams:
A lot of the other companies that are out there, they're like, "Oh, we couldn't find anything on the market and I'm an ex-Olympian or I'm an ex-athlete or I'm this and that," and stories are great. We didn't want to tell a story where it was like, we couldn't find anything else out there that had peanut butter on it, which should be complete crap, but this is how this came to be and this is what's important to us and that's kind of what's resonated with everybody. So to answer that question is we love... I don't say small business, but any small chain or anything that allows us to be featured in it, if that makes sense.
Matt Williams:
We've tried, Planet Fitnesses in a certain state and we've looked at distributions for like, let's just say... trying to think of another coffee company or not Dunkin or Starbucks. There's one here R1 or The Seed or something that has a two or three locations, like 3Natives. Oh actually, no, it's good 3Natives. 3Natives is one of my buddies and his wife own three down here, but there's I think nine across the state and through working with him and his wife, we've been exposed to the six others and they order and it's great.
Matt Williams:
I think relationships are everything when it comes to that and sometimes the larger more corporate businesses where people are like, "Hey, why aren't you in Equinox? Or why aren't you here in Berlin or anything like that." We've tried a couple of places and when there's more people involved and director of food and beverage, to a manager of a gym or anything like that, it can be really challenging to kind of crack that, because you could talk to Joe Smith and then a week later Joe got promoted to somewhere else and you have to talk to this, Sally. Sally's not available for two weeks because she's doing this and again, not taking anything personal. It's just we kind of gravitate towards the accounts that are kind of more organic and intro from somebody that's personal to us.
Matt Williams:
Like I had a meeting down in Miami today with the distributor and it was through a friend from here and what was crazy is this guy ended up being 10 minutes from where I grew up. There's business was discussed but it was, "Oh dude, no way and Oh, you like this or I need to know this guy or this and that," and we talked about life and that relationship was built rather than like a cold email or a cold call or an and not that there's anything wrong with that. Those were two and cold call could come in the form of, "Hey, we've been to your juice bar in Miami and loved it, would you mind trying FroPro? We're going to send you a box. Let us know what you think."
Tim Stoddart:
I completely agree. I think that probably matches your skill set really well to speak of how personable and likeable you are. Let's wind this thing down. There's one subject that I did want to end with because as you said, one thing that truly stands FroPro apart, at least in my view, is that it's a protein snack that tastes really good and I'm saying that from a personal, yes, I love eating them, but also from a business standpoint, because it's difficult to find that kind of product that you can grab on the go, that doesn't fucking tastes like cardboard and I'm serious. I go through them a lot because, I do a lot of cardio man. I'm a skinny kid and I got to keep beating sound. Like I'm always just digging out of my fridge, but you mentioned that you were the kitchen guy. How much time did you spend with that? What was the experimentation process like and was that stressful for you? Did you obsess over it or did it just kind of land how you wanted it?
Matt Williams:
At the very beginning there was no stress, the only thing that I would get bummed out about, because I was really working off limited funds was like if I made something and it wasn't edible and I'd be like, "Ah crap, I got to throw it out," but for the most part it was really kind of selfishly what tasted good to me and is this good? Our first product was a chocolate bar. I'm a dark chocolate guy and I was like, "All right, how do we get that?" Not milk because it started out at the very beginning I had, whey protein and I became educated on plants and plant based and I understand that a little bit more than I did 10 years ago. I think what was so cool about that was, people always like shrink up their nose anytime and are like, "Oh, mint peanut butter?" I'm like, "I have," I'm going to say this and-
Tim Stoddart:
The mint ones are the best.
Matt Wiliams:
Right and I say to people, have you ever had a girl scout cookie? For the most part, 99% of people have been like, "Yeah." I'm like, "All right, so think pepper mint and tag along. You eat them together or separate. It's literally the taste of a mint FroPro," and they're like, "Really?" Then they try and like, "Oh." It's funny, people like wrinkle their nose at things and that's fine and I know there's like bars out there that are like, chili pepper, rugelach, banana bars and if that works, great. I like all those three things separately. I just haven't tried to put them in a bar yet, but all the stuff that we made, the testing process was fun because it's like, you like to cook, right? You know your way around the kitchen, right?
Tim Stoddart:
Yeah, I'm decent. I can cook around me, or I can feed myself.
Matt Williams:
Right, exactly. Like I'm not a crazy good chef, but when you're in there, it's kind of fun. Back in the day, I remember when it was the holidays, my mom would make cookies or this thing. It's kind of fun because you get to try all the things that are coming out and it was just a fun trial process. What's great now is having a space where I can just throw out on media it's like, "Hey guys, I think this space is good, but for the next two days, if you're in the area or around FroPro, come by and let us know what you think of this bar," and we get everyone's feedback and we'd kind of go from there. Like I had a couple bars that I was super psyched about, but in the last year and people were like, "No," and I was like, "Really?" There was like, "No this, Nope." I listen because they're the ones buying the product and the other things we've tried, people like home run.
Matt Williams:
I didn't know birthday cake was such a big thing and literally birthday cake, everywhere come out birthday cake and I was like, I need to find something that's organic and this and that and everything that the good ingredients and I finally found it and I was like, "All right, we're giving this a whirl," and it came out and people were like, "This is your best bar ever," I was like, "Wait, what? They're like, "No, this is the best one. Don't ever change it. Don't ever get rid of it. This shouldn't be a part time thing. It shouldn't be a test run. This needs to be a permanent bar," so we made it a permanent bar.
Tim Stoddart:
Amazing brother. I'll just say it again, man, I'm so happy for you. You're a really good person. You're a hard working person, you and your wife respect each other and you guys treat each other good and you guys work hard together. I see people like you and it just reaffirms the notion that if you work hard and you're a good person, good things happen and I just appreciate you for that man, thank you.
Matt Williams:
No, thank you man. Again, it's an honor to be able to do this and to be on your show and like I said, between our conversations and this conversation now, hopefully it inspires somebody to keep kicking ass, or try something new or just keep moving forward.
Tim Stoddart:
For sure. Yeah, great. Well, thanks again. Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. I know that we mentioned a couple ways, but let's make it official, if somebody wants to buy some FroPro, where would they go? How do they find you?
Matt Williams:
Yeah, they can find us www.gofropro.com that's G-O-F-R-O-P-R-O.com you can find this on Instagram @gofropro or @mwarwilliams. It's M-W-A-R-W-I-L-L-I-A-M-S or Facebook, you can find the FroPro. It's again making sure you're searching in the United States FroPro will come up as a peanut butter snack bar and you should see a picture of my wife and I believe that's it and if people want to have any questions, they can always email us. I believe my personal contact information is on the website as well, so we are open to any inquiries or questions or comments or concerns.
Tim Stoddart:
Love it. I will link all that up in the show notes of the post. Matt, thanks again so much for your time. I really appreciated talking to you. Let's do this again in a couple of years.
Matt Williams:
I love it man. I appreciate you dude and we'll chat soon.
Tim Stoddart:
All right brother, talk soon. Hey guys, it's me, it's Tim. One last time before we wrap up. Just wanted to say thank you for tuning into the podcast. Please subscribe on iTunes. Please leave me an honest rating. Please follow me on Spotify. It's the best thing you can do to support the show. If you want to find out more, go to TimStodz.com, feel free to fill out the contact form to reach out to me personally. I always respond. I appreciate you guys so much. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Have a good one.