Hi there.
Speaker:You're listening to gift biz unwrapped episode 98.
Speaker:It's covering my whole table.
Speaker:I'm just like,
Speaker:Oh man,
Speaker:I've got some serious beverage here.
Speaker:What am I going to do?
Speaker:Hi, this is John Lee,
Speaker:Dumas of entrepreneur on fire,
Speaker:and you're listening to gift to biz unwrapped.
Speaker:And now it's time to light.
Speaker:Welcome the gift bears,
Speaker:unwrapped your source for industry specific insights and advice to develop
Speaker:and grow your business.
Speaker:And now here's your host Sue Moen height.
Speaker:Before we get into the show,
Speaker:I have a question for you.
Speaker:Do you know that you should be out networking,
Speaker:but just can't get yourself to do it because it's scary.
Speaker:Are you afraid that you might walk into the room and
Speaker:not know anybody that you're going to freeze?
Speaker:When you get up to do that infamous elevator speech,
Speaker:where you talk about yourself and your business?
Speaker:Well, I'm here to tell you that it doesn't.
Speaker:If you know what helps you with this,
Speaker:I would like to offer you a call for the price
Speaker:of find me a cup of coffee.
Speaker:We can sit down through an online video and I'll tell
Speaker:you everything that I know about networking and how I have
Speaker:personally built two multi-six figure businesses,
Speaker:primarily through networking to learn more about this opportunity.
Speaker:Just go over to Bitly forward slash network Ninja.
Speaker:That's B I T dot L Y forward slash network,
Speaker:and then job.
Speaker:And now let's move on to the show.
Speaker:Hi, there it's Sue and welcome to the gift biz unwrapped
Speaker:podcast, whether you own a brick and mortar shop sell online
Speaker:or are just getting started,
Speaker:you'll discover new insight to gain traction and to grow your
Speaker:business. And today I have the pleasure of introducing you to
Speaker:Alex. Alex is the owner and farmer of life garden.
Speaker:He established his business in 2013 with plans to grow some
Speaker:peppers in the world,
Speaker:right in the heart of Florida.
Speaker:History has shown the health benefits of peppers.
Speaker:And Alex wants to share them with all of us life,
Speaker:garden farms,
Speaker:team nurtures,
Speaker:these peppers with love and good intentions and pay strict attention
Speaker:to detail and the natural growth and feeding of their crops.
Speaker:Today, just three years later,
Speaker:they've created a variety of products,
Speaker:including 10 specialty peppers,
Speaker:pepper powder,
Speaker:specialty salt,
Speaker:and pepper tincture.
Speaker:Alex lives in Lakeland,
Speaker:Florida with his four children,
Speaker:Isaac Alanya,
Speaker:Iceland, and Amelia.
Speaker:Welcome to the show,
Speaker:Alex, thank you very much,
Speaker:Sue. I'm so excited to be here.
Speaker:Me too.
Speaker:And I want to share with our listeners that I met
Speaker:you somewhat haphazardly.
Speaker:I was out in Florida at family celebration Weekend,
Speaker:if you will.
Speaker:And we went to a,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:just community fair,
Speaker:I guess is the way I should say it.
Speaker:And I walked by your booth,
Speaker:stopped in my tracks.
Speaker:Backstopped looked again and said,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:I need to know the story behind this booth.
Speaker:So that is how I happened upon you.
Speaker:And it was because of how cool your booth looked with
Speaker:all of these red peppers as if they're falling out of
Speaker:buckets. But I mean,
Speaker:I have no idea how many peppers you bring for the
Speaker:display, but there had to be,
Speaker:I don't know,
Speaker:maybe even thousands,
Speaker:I don't know,
Speaker:but very impressive and eye catching.
Speaker:Yeah. You know,
Speaker:the colors of the peppers really display themselves and draw people
Speaker:in and we can't help,
Speaker:but see the beauty in what nature provides to us.
Speaker:A lot of people haven't seen these peppers before they are
Speaker:exotic and rare,
Speaker:and sometimes people have seen them or haven't seen them in
Speaker:years, but it's just so much fun sharing it with people
Speaker:and having them see the beauty that nature provides us.
Speaker:Absolutely. And it certainly caught my attention as I had said,
Speaker:but before we get started with all of that,
Speaker:it's become tradition on the show to get to know you
Speaker:in a little bit of a different way.
Speaker:And that is by learning about your motivational candles.
Speaker:So if you were to create a candle that just totally
Speaker:describes you,
Speaker:what color would it be?
Speaker:And what would be the quote on the candle To describe
Speaker:me? I would say it'd be red.
Speaker:I'm a fiery kind of guy.
Speaker:I would say I'm outgoing.
Speaker:I like to get my point across.
Speaker:I like to share knowledge with people and I believe that
Speaker:red kind of stands out and makes you want to stop
Speaker:and take a look and see what's going on.
Speaker:And that's always been something I don't hang out in the
Speaker:shadows in anything I like to stand out and I like
Speaker:to bring life and to bring vibrancy and energy.
Speaker:And I feel like red just has this a foundation color
Speaker:to where,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:if you have that ad and you know that that's what
Speaker:you are,
Speaker:you can't really change.
Speaker:It just kind of got to go with who you are
Speaker:and what you are and goes really good with peppers too.
Speaker:I was,
Speaker:yeah, well,
Speaker:I'm not surprised.
Speaker:I thought for sure your color was going to be red.
Speaker:And I think it's a good point because you have to
Speaker:be authentic to yourself.
Speaker:If you're really going to present purity to any type of
Speaker:audience, if you're faking anything,
Speaker:people can see right through it in a second.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:people are putting this product in their bodies and I take
Speaker:that very seriously.
Speaker:I studied wellness for a while and anytime you put something
Speaker:in your body and that person on the other side of
Speaker:the producer versus the consumer,
Speaker:you have to think,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I really am,
Speaker:am aware that if I'm going to put it in my
Speaker:body, I wish the other person that's selling me a product
Speaker:or offering me a product would have the same type of
Speaker:integrity that I try to put into my product because I
Speaker:want to make sure,
Speaker:Hey, this stuff is pure.
Speaker:This stuff is good.
Speaker:This stuff is healthy and I can stand behind and know
Speaker:that there's no questions asked about it.
Speaker:History has shown what the peppers have been able to do
Speaker:and how amazing they are.
Speaker:And they're just a lot of fun in addition to being
Speaker:good for you there.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So we've got that red candle and what's the quote on
Speaker:the candle.
Speaker:It would be from the living earth to your table.
Speaker:My mission is to bring a very simple product that there's
Speaker:no other added ingredients and just presented in a form that
Speaker:people can feel comfortable putting it in their body and receiving
Speaker:both flavor and the benefits.
Speaker:So with the earth being living,
Speaker:it's just springing up these plants and outcomes,
Speaker:these beautiful jewels that we can all partake in and enjoy
Speaker:and share and talk about.
Speaker:And I would say from the living earth to your table.
Speaker:Perfect. All right.
Speaker:So now let's start talking about your journey specifically with lifeguard
Speaker:and farm.
Speaker:How did the whole thing start?
Speaker:Where'd you get the idea in the very beginning?
Speaker:Well, it goes back,
Speaker:I've traveled extensively.
Speaker:I was fortunate enough to have a family member in the
Speaker:airline industry.
Speaker:So growing up,
Speaker:I got to travel all over the place and that really
Speaker:opened my eyes to see what different cultures do with food
Speaker:and how things are grown.
Speaker:And I wanted to really do something that connected me to
Speaker:the earth and connected me to people.
Speaker:I studied wellness on my own for probably 10 years,
Speaker:just wanting to be a healthy person and read everything I
Speaker:could and absorb it all.
Speaker:And peppers really just,
Speaker:they found their way in there almost immediately because it was
Speaker:something that I believe we're all linked to in history.
Speaker:And then it just really was like,
Speaker:who's doing it.
Speaker:They had hobbies of growing peppers,
Speaker:cause it's a lot of fun to see how they grow
Speaker:and how they mature and change colors from green to yellow,
Speaker:to red,
Speaker:to Brown.
Speaker:It's just an incredible what the pepper does.
Speaker:So people just automatically take to it.
Speaker:And I thought,
Speaker:wow, let me do something that I love being in the
Speaker:garden. Let me do something that's good for people.
Speaker:And that really isn't available mainstream,
Speaker:where they can get these exotic peppers that have such high
Speaker:levels of the capsaicin in it.
Speaker:So when you got this idea,
Speaker:did you go through and say,
Speaker:all right,
Speaker:I liked,
Speaker:I want to do something with the earth.
Speaker:Did you go through,
Speaker:okay, should it be tomatoes?
Speaker:Should it be peppers?
Speaker:Or should it be like,
Speaker:did you go through different products and kind of analyze all
Speaker:of that?
Speaker:Or did you just land right on peppers?
Speaker:Right from the start I saw a,
Speaker:at another farmer's market,
Speaker:I was walking along and I saw an exotic purple pepper
Speaker:that was from Brazil and all the colors.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:just like when you walk past the farmer's market and saw
Speaker:all of those colors,
Speaker:the same thing grabbed my attention.
Speaker:And I looked at this plant and I was like,
Speaker:wow, it was an ornamental.
Speaker:It was beautiful.
Speaker:But yet it was a pepper and it was edible.
Speaker:So I was like,
Speaker:wow, you have two markets in one plant.
Speaker:And then I started thinking further into it.
Speaker:And I started saying to myself,
Speaker:wow, when this plant now reaches maturity and you reap the
Speaker:fruit off of it,
Speaker:if it doesn't sell or you don't have a direct market
Speaker:immediately for fresh peppers,
Speaker:is there a way to preserve them so that you can
Speaker:basically not have any loss on your,
Speaker:on your farm because it's very tough to deal with loss.
Speaker:So that's something that we're able to take those peppers in
Speaker:their prime condition.
Speaker:Peppers are a preservative in themselves.
Speaker:So there's nothing that needs to be added to it or
Speaker:nothing that needs to happen to allow those things,
Speaker:to sit on a shelf for a year,
Speaker:two, three 10.
Speaker:It doesn't matter.
Speaker:It's never going to be harmful.
Speaker:You might lose over a couple of years,
Speaker:a little bit of that flavor,
Speaker:but you're never really losing.
Speaker:It's never going to hurt you.
Speaker:And then the health benefits,
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:When I started researching some of these doctors that I've researched
Speaker:in the past,
Speaker:it really,
Speaker:it just clicked.
Speaker:It all kind of clicked at once from the purple pepper
Speaker:to, Oh my gosh,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:this is who's doing it.
Speaker:Maybe I can do it.
Speaker:Let me just follow my passion and what I love to
Speaker:be, you know,
Speaker:in the garden and growing something and also specialize in something
Speaker:that everybody knows what pepper is.
Speaker:They might not know the variety.
Speaker:They might not know where they come from,
Speaker:but everybody's had an experience with peppers.
Speaker:Couple of things that I want to underline for our listeners
Speaker:is, okay,
Speaker:so you saw the passion,
Speaker:it just kind of hit you.
Speaker:And we continue to see this Alex over and over again,
Speaker:that people who get into one line of business or another
Speaker:it's because of some single experience,
Speaker:something happens like you walking by and seeing the purple pepper
Speaker:and all the colors and all that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:just something like that.
Speaker:But the other thing that you did is you analyzed and
Speaker:said, well,
Speaker:wait, I'm not seeing a lot of people out here already
Speaker:doing this.
Speaker:So there was an opportunity,
Speaker:a hole in the market,
Speaker:if you will,
Speaker:that you could then slip right into with the product and
Speaker:maybe a variation,
Speaker:like you're saying,
Speaker:everybody knows peppers,
Speaker:but a variation of something that everyone is already comfortable with.
Speaker:So even in that analysis stage,
Speaker:you were setting yourself up really well,
Speaker:just by thinking through all those issues before you got started.
Speaker:Now, did you already have a farm?
Speaker:No. At the time I was just right out the back
Speaker:door garden and,
Speaker:and start growing.
Speaker:And I was growing some mango trees and some avocados and
Speaker:blackberries and tomatoes.
Speaker:I always had a small little plot from traveling and being
Speaker:out in different parts of the world and seeing farming.
Speaker:I love collecting seeds and having,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:just some exotic,
Speaker:I grew up a few other exotic vegetables,
Speaker:a horned melon,
Speaker:which is a very interesting plant and a high biscuit,
Speaker:which is very interesting that people are now drinking and it's
Speaker:going more mainstream.
Speaker:But the excitement of peppers really,
Speaker:it was like,
Speaker:wow. The Guinness book of world records hottest in 2009 was
Speaker:the ghost chili.
Speaker:And then 2012 was the marula scorpion 2014 was the Carolina
Speaker:Reaper. And it's just like,
Speaker:I watched this,
Speaker:I found myself in that position of saying,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:they keep coming out with hotter and more potent peppers.
Speaker:Who's growing them is who's working with them.
Speaker:Who's providing them for the public.
Speaker:And when I researched it,
Speaker:maybe there's a couple of them in the country and that's
Speaker:it Beautiful.
Speaker:So you had this vision and that goes back to your
Speaker:intro in terms of the hottest peppers,
Speaker:understand how you drove into the idea of peppers.
Speaker:How did you start turning this into a business?
Speaker:Take us through a couple of concrete steps of how you
Speaker:got started.
Speaker:Just the whole business side of it.
Speaker:I knew that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:abundance in nature,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:it's there it's there,
Speaker:it exists.
Speaker:It's real.
Speaker:And when you multiply a seed and each one of my
Speaker:peppers that I sell at these markets contains anywhere from 15
Speaker:to 35 40 seeds.
Speaker:So one plant is capable of producing literally a few hundred,
Speaker:300, 500 cousins.
Speaker:I just saw that abundance.
Speaker:And I thought,
Speaker:my gosh,
Speaker:I'm in Florida in one of the most beautiful parts of
Speaker:the country for weather and for growing and for farming,
Speaker:I almost have a year round growing season.
Speaker:So I thought to myself,
Speaker:I've got to get myself going.
Speaker:So let me just start.
Speaker:I started literally with just seeds and wanting to get them
Speaker:in trays and wanted to get them growing.
Speaker:And then I was just kind of in the very,
Speaker:very beginning,
Speaker:like, I didn't know where it was going to go.
Speaker:I'd sold a piece of real estate and had a tiny,
Speaker:tiny cushion to kind of give myself a six month window
Speaker:of saying,
Speaker:okay, is this really something I want to pursue?
Speaker:And I went for it.
Speaker:I just thought to myself,
Speaker:look at the abundance in nature.
Speaker:And if nature has that abundance and I can just be
Speaker:partnered with nature and allow nature to provide that to me
Speaker:after all,
Speaker:when you go into a grocery store it's called produce,
Speaker:you're producing something.
Speaker:If you can produce produce,
Speaker:then you're going to be all right.
Speaker:And nature really does that for us.
Speaker:If we open our mind and our hearts and our hands
Speaker:to the work and the love and dedication that goes into
Speaker:growing, that really just kind of happened.
Speaker:Okay. But then,
Speaker:so how did you know how to make the products like
Speaker:the pepper powder and the specialty salts?
Speaker:And I love your passion for the produce,
Speaker:right? And,
Speaker:and the abundance and all of that.
Speaker:It's fabulous.
Speaker:So you've got the product,
Speaker:but then how do you learn how to put it into,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:to, to create something from them that plant in that pepper,
Speaker:that is something that you'd be selling at the fair It
Speaker:started when I had all these fresh peppers now see,
Speaker:it takes a very long time to grow some of the
Speaker:hotter peppers,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:they take,
Speaker:yeah, they take a long time to germinate.
Speaker:And some of these plants,
Speaker:they take a lot longer than your typical jalapeno pepper.
Speaker:So I had all these peppers coming up and then I'm
Speaker:all of a sudden,
Speaker:I'm pouring them out on my dining room table.
Speaker:It's covering my whole table.
Speaker:I've got some serious beverage here.
Speaker:What am I going to do?
Speaker:So I called the local farmer's market.
Speaker:That's here in Lakeland and I spoke with the manager and
Speaker:he says,
Speaker:why don't you come on down and try out seeing if
Speaker:people would be interested in what you have to offer,
Speaker:because we want to support local farms.
Speaker:And I was like,
Speaker:I'd love to.
Speaker:So I went down there with some baskets and a white
Speaker:tablecloth and one table,
Speaker:I had no tent.
Speaker:I had no experience in this whatsoever.
Speaker:So it was again a fly by the seat of your
Speaker:pants, put it out there,
Speaker:see what people think.
Speaker:And then when I ended up bringing those things home,
Speaker:I was like,
Speaker:now what do I do?
Speaker:Nobody. He really bought a whole bunch of fresh peppers.
Speaker:They didn't know what to do with it.
Speaker:And if they bought one,
Speaker:they buy one.
Speaker:So I was like,
Speaker:Oh no,
Speaker:what am I going to do?
Speaker:Yeah, no,
Speaker:I've got all these peppers now and the amazing health benefits.
Speaker:And I want to share these with people,
Speaker:but people don't know how to use them.
Speaker:I wouldn't have known rarely do I deal with fresh peppers.
Speaker:It's always in the powder form because it's so accessible.
Speaker:So I wanted to make these peppers accessible to people,
Speaker:to where they didn't have to worry about cutting them and
Speaker:getting on their hands and in their eyes.
Speaker:And, you know,
Speaker:I've heard of every place that peppers have been on people.
Speaker:So, yeah.
Speaker:Keep going with the story.
Speaker:This is interesting.
Speaker:Yeah. And that's where the,
Speaker:that's where the pepper powder up.
Speaker:I'd seen in India,
Speaker:a whole mountain of all these different curries and spices and
Speaker:powders and,
Speaker:and their drying methods were just literally laying them on the
Speaker:ARD clay in the sun.
Speaker:And so I thought,
Speaker:wow, if I could just take these peppers and get them
Speaker:to a state of preservation where they can be maintained for
Speaker:a while,
Speaker:I started with one jar at my table and I started
Speaker:selling it at $3 a scoop.
Speaker:And I thought to myself,
Speaker:my gosh,
Speaker:people went crazy over it because they get $3.
Speaker:They take a little stoop.
Speaker:They say,
Speaker:my gosh,
Speaker:I just have to add a little tiny bit.
Speaker:And it changed my whole meal.
Speaker:So then it was all the different varieties of peppers that
Speaker:I was growing.
Speaker:I found out my gosh,
Speaker:they all have a uniqueness.
Speaker:So from habanero to ghost chili,
Speaker:to scorpion,
Speaker:to yellow,
Speaker:seven pot,
Speaker:each one of them to when they're green,
Speaker:they all taste different.
Speaker:So it's like,
Speaker:my gosh,
Speaker:I want to share this.
Speaker:Letting people know that a pepper,
Speaker:isn't just a pepper.
Speaker:One has maybe some citrus notes to it and has a
Speaker:very slow building heat where another one is right off the
Speaker:bat. Very,
Speaker:very sharp and very hits the front of your palette.
Speaker:Other ones,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:kind of,
Speaker:you don't taste a very earthy kind of taste.
Speaker:And of course the difference between Verde and salsa,
Speaker:that's red versus green.
Speaker:You're getting a different vitamin content and a different sweetness.
Speaker:So when you have green peppers,
Speaker:they taste a certain way versus the red.
Speaker:So I,
Speaker:I was just able to,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:right off the bat,
Speaker:expand into doing nothing other than taking each strain of pepper
Speaker:and just processing that by itself and having a 100% pure
Speaker:product that allowed the pepper to showcase its own uniqueness.
Speaker:Got it.
Speaker:And I love how you speak with such passion about it.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:clearly you love your peppers.
Speaker:You love all the varieties and the sensation when someone is
Speaker:consuming the product.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you gave an excellent example of this.
Speaker:You should actually do a video and put it on YouTube
Speaker:about all that.
Speaker:If you haven't done that already,
Speaker:because that would get people definitely attracted to the product.
Speaker:I'm sure.
Speaker:So give biz listeners think about the same thing when you're
Speaker:talking about your product and the passion that you have,
Speaker:because I didn't know,
Speaker:half this stuff,
Speaker:Alex, that you were just talking about is so much fun
Speaker:and peppers are amazing.
Speaker:And the story behind the different peppers and the different levels
Speaker:of growth and all of that,
Speaker:I would have never thought about any of that.
Speaker:And I'm sure when you're around,
Speaker:it becomes more commonplace to you probably a little bit,
Speaker:but you got to tell the story,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:everyone loves stories.
Speaker:So that was awesome.
Speaker:Excellent example.
Speaker:I absolutely loved that.
Speaker:Let's get over and talk a little bit about how you
Speaker:sell your product.
Speaker:Talk to us a little bit about the farmer's market and
Speaker:your experience with it.
Speaker:And any advice that you can give us,
Speaker:It's such a community.
Speaker:And when you end up shopping local and you end up
Speaker:seeing the people or find some something local,
Speaker:it doesn't matter what city you're in,
Speaker:but you find somebody that is doing something that you're not
Speaker:going to see.
Speaker:You find these little niches and these little unique scenarios that
Speaker:people have created in their mind.
Speaker:It's a community.
Speaker:It really is a community.
Speaker:And the people that are involved from the market managers to,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:the staff,
Speaker:when you pull in and they help you in,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:everybody is there and we're all entrepreneurs for the most part.
Speaker:It's not big business.
Speaker:It's not corporate business.
Speaker:It's more of a smaller farm to table.
Speaker:Like I say,
Speaker:it's a farm to table operation where I'm out there in
Speaker:the field picking stuff.
Speaker:And literally the very next day,
Speaker:it's like you were there picking with me because I did
Speaker:that work for you so that you don't have to.
Speaker:Now here it is,
Speaker:and you can enjoy it and share it and,
Speaker:and see something that maybe you wouldn't see through the main
Speaker:channels of receiving.
Speaker:So how many markets are you doing a year?
Speaker:Hey, Saturday is my busy day.
Speaker:So I'm year round.
Speaker:Saturday is my really busy day.
Speaker:And then I'll do two Sundays a month.
Speaker:Okay. And in Florida,
Speaker:weather allows you to do that.
Speaker:Obviously here,
Speaker:I'm up in Chicago and we don't get farmer's markets except
Speaker:for maybe four.
Speaker:If we're lucky,
Speaker:five months out of the year,
Speaker:I used to know birds.
Speaker:When you come down,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:it makes for a great season,
Speaker:but when you go home and we end up in that
Speaker:90 degree weather,
Speaker:that's hot and you're outside.
Speaker:And that the market does slow down in the summertime.
Speaker:For sure.
Speaker:So we're in the peak of our season right now.
Speaker:And a lot of tourism is in Florida,
Speaker:especially the beautiful St Pete area,
Speaker:where I do my market.
Speaker:You've got the seagulls chirping and you've got the boats in
Speaker:the Marina and you've got salt in the air and music
Speaker:playing and the smell of all these different foods coming in.
Speaker:And, and then you just got your community of people on
Speaker:top of it.
Speaker:And it's like to be able to share,
Speaker:I feel like I'm at a trade show every Saturday And
Speaker:you're sharing your own produce,
Speaker:which is so fabulous.
Speaker:Yes. And you know,
Speaker:they have really supported that,
Speaker:where I don't pay what normal people would pay.
Speaker:They actually give a discount for farmers because they want to
Speaker:encourage more people to bring their produce and to bring things
Speaker:straight from the farm.
Speaker:Interesting. They really do help us out the farmer.
Speaker:They help the small guy out.
Speaker:Tell us a little bit about working your table at the
Speaker:farmer's market in terms of,
Speaker:have you had any challenges with too many customers or how
Speaker:do you work it so that you're able to give everybody
Speaker:attention or presenting it or making sure that you're getting the
Speaker:exposure at the farmer's market that you intended by being The
Speaker:St. Pete downtown farmer's market is one of the best markets.
Speaker:I believe a couple of years back it was voted.
Speaker:The number one market in the country.
Speaker:We have,
Speaker:I think on average,
Speaker:anywhere from seven to 10,000
Speaker:people on a Saturday.
Speaker:Oh wow.
Speaker:So yeah,
Speaker:they did a report on that and got back some really
Speaker:strong numbers.
Speaker:It can get overwhelming where people end up selling my product.
Speaker:For me,
Speaker:I'll be standing back and somebody will come up and be
Speaker:like, Oh,
Speaker:I had it last week,
Speaker:Alex, or I did this or that.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:it's so wonderful and this and that,
Speaker:but with my customers,
Speaker:I try to,
Speaker:if I'm speaking with somebody,
Speaker:I give them that attention.
Speaker:And if other people are standing there and they want to
Speaker:ask questions,
Speaker:or there's plenty to look at,
Speaker:there's plenty to read on the table.
Speaker:You can always mosey around and come back because it's a
Speaker:very relaxed feel,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:moseying around the market and everything.
Speaker:But I want to make sure that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:a lot of people talk to me about wellness and talk
Speaker:to me about what do peppers do and what are the
Speaker:benefits and what does your product do?
Speaker:Because they haven't seen anything like it.
Speaker:Once they have it,
Speaker:it's going to their cousins,
Speaker:their aunts,
Speaker:their uncles,
Speaker:their brother,
Speaker:everybody knows,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:a grandpa that loves it spicy or a son-in-law that loves
Speaker:it spicy.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:they, they always look and try to challenge themselves with the
Speaker:hottest. So why is that fun for me when they come
Speaker:into It Never gets old.
Speaker:I don't know why.
Speaker:And I guess that's why YouTube has a million plus views.
Speaker:Every time somebody eats one of these peppers,
Speaker:but it's All right.
Speaker:You're so right.
Speaker:Well, listen,
Speaker:give us a little bit of a health lesson.
Speaker:Pretend like we're just coming up to your table right now.
Speaker:And we're wondering what this is all about from the health
Speaker:angle. I say that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:my peppers are produced within the most natural way.
Speaker:I don't spray them with harmful pesticides.
Speaker:So it starts at the farm.
Speaker:When you stick a seed in the ground and you nurture
Speaker:it with love and good intention,
Speaker:and then you're able to bring that product to the market
Speaker:and put it into people's bodies,
Speaker:the pepper itself,
Speaker:according to Dr.
Speaker:Schultz, who was an amazing man who healed a lot of
Speaker:people in California,
Speaker:he wrote a book called the secrets of the last chance
Speaker:clinic. And in that book,
Speaker:one of my favorite quotes,
Speaker:he says,
Speaker:cayenne contains within it,
Speaker:the life giving force of our son on which all life
Speaker:depends. So cayenne,
Speaker:just being pepper.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:he was saying cayenne,
Speaker:but it's pepper.
Speaker:It's the capsaicin inside the pepper.
Speaker:So peppers move blood and increase circulation and blood being the
Speaker:most precious fluid in our bodies because it contains the life-giving
Speaker:oxygen that all the other nutrients and body chemicals we depend
Speaker:on. If we are consuming something,
Speaker:that's moving the blood in our body and circulating it around,
Speaker:which is why your face gets red when you eat it.
Speaker:And there's an immediate reaction,
Speaker:it hits your endorphins.
Speaker:It's going into your brain and passing the blood-brain barrier to
Speaker:release that endorphin because of its purity,
Speaker:because a lot of things can't pass that barrier.
Speaker:They can't go in and do the work that needs to
Speaker:be done.
Speaker:When you consume a pepper,
Speaker:there's no hiding it.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:people, their faces going to get red,
Speaker:especially the hotter ones.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:they're going to have a reaction.
Speaker:And usually it's a good one because you know,
Speaker:your face is getting red because you're circulating more.
Speaker:Then you're dropping nutrients off in your body.
Speaker:So the blood being the oil for our body,
Speaker:and then the peppers come along,
Speaker:all they're doing is they're,
Speaker:they're, they're going to make sure that that engine is really
Speaker:going so that the oil can move around in the blood
Speaker:can flow to all the other parts of your body.
Speaker:So if your legs bothering you too,
Speaker:your head's bothering you to your elbow to this and that
Speaker:the only way that your body is getting those nutrients is
Speaker:by circulation.
Speaker:It's by the blood,
Speaker:bringing the nutrients to that area,
Speaker:dropping off the nutrients,
Speaker:and then flowing back through the body to go pick up
Speaker:more nutrients to go drop off again.
Speaker:So it's a beautiful cycle Benefit.
Speaker:Only good for the time that you're consuming the peppers,
Speaker:or is there any long lasting residual effect?
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:once you're getting it into your bloodstream,
Speaker:this isn't something that you eat and then it just goes
Speaker:away. So it's something that the longer you take it,
Speaker:the more benefits actually appear because this isn't just something that's
Speaker:a cure all,
Speaker:or you take a pill and forget about it in the
Speaker:morning. This is something that if you're consuming and adding this
Speaker:into your diet and into the equation,
Speaker:you're going to start seeing all of those other benefits.
Speaker:Maybe you're what's ailing you is they're giving you a little
Speaker:bit of discomfort.
Speaker:Is your feet get cold or your,
Speaker:you need a little circulation down there,
Speaker:or maybe you have some arthritis or your little sore.
Speaker:A lot of people think that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:when you get older,
Speaker:your blood flow declines.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:that's just a fact,
Speaker:if we're aging and blood flow is declining.
Speaker:If we add a little bit of that cayenne in there
Speaker:on a regular basis,
Speaker:you're increasing your blood flow as you age.
Speaker:And that really matters.
Speaker:And interesting.
Speaker:I would imagine that is youthful too.
Speaker:Your whole system is working better.
Speaker:You're moving nutrients around your body.
Speaker:And some people might say,
Speaker:well, Oh,
Speaker:I can't take peppers or I can't eat peppers.
Speaker:It really bothers my stomach.
Speaker:And it sure can.
Speaker:It'll bother my stomach.
Speaker:If I go right now and eat one of my crazy
Speaker:hot peppers,
Speaker:you better believe I'm not immune to it.
Speaker:And I've been on this thing for a couple of years,
Speaker:but I still it's going to bother me.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I'm not this,
Speaker:this pepper guy that can eat all these peppers now because
Speaker:I'm growing them and I'm surrounded by them.
Speaker:Your tolerance can go up a little bit.
Speaker:But if you start with small amounts and especially the powder,
Speaker:it goes directly,
Speaker:it can go right into the blood stream.
Speaker:You're using a very small amount.
Speaker:It's not having to go down into the digestive system to
Speaker:break down,
Speaker:into breaking down the water and breaking down.
Speaker:A lot of the acid that's contained inside the pepper,
Speaker:or a lot of people confuse.
Speaker:I can't eat hot because I had hot sauce and I
Speaker:pour a half a thing of crystals,
Speaker:hot sauce on my food to get hot.
Speaker:But then they just added,
Speaker:who knows how much acid and vinegar and salt.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:all these things that are kind of counter reacted to the
Speaker:pepper. So if they really had pure cayenne,
Speaker:you wouldn't believe it.
Speaker:If I said that with ulcers and people with stomach problems
Speaker:and people with acid reflux have come to my booth and
Speaker:said, I have acid reflux.
Speaker:I can't,
Speaker:I can't have peppers.
Speaker:I said,
Speaker:well, you know what,
Speaker:why don't you just give it a shot?
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I'm not here to give you medical advice,
Speaker:but I know that peppers have never been known historically to
Speaker:kill anybody.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:it's this,
Speaker:isn't a drug here.
Speaker:It's, it's like saying an orange killed somebody today or eating
Speaker:an Apple.
Speaker:We're definitely dealing with a natural product.
Speaker:And when people have taken it,
Speaker:I've had people come back with amazing results.
Speaker:One lady,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:it, it broke my heart.
Speaker:She was losing her teeth in the back of her mouth
Speaker:because of the amount of excess acid she had from acid
Speaker:reflux. And she had tried this and been on that and
Speaker:doctor this and doctor that.
Speaker:And then she came to me and she's like,
Speaker:I'm willing to try anything.
Speaker:But my doctor always told me to stay away from peppers
Speaker:because it could irritate.
Speaker:And I said,
Speaker:well, you know what?
Speaker:I can't tell you what to do or not to do.
Speaker:But here is my product.
Speaker:I've had people come with some amazing results.
Speaker:And if you were to give it a shot,
Speaker:I'd love to hear back from you.
Speaker:She came,
Speaker:came back a month later and bought six bottles from me
Speaker:and said,
Speaker:Alex, I have no more acid problems.
Speaker:And I thought,
Speaker:Hmm, Oh my gosh.
Speaker:If I could do that a million times and really help
Speaker:people. That's one story.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:the amount of people that have had ailments from one poor
Speaker:man was losing his toes and they had taken off two
Speaker:of his toes.
Speaker:And, you know,
Speaker:he had really bad circulation.
Speaker:And so his sister-in-law came and picked up a thing of
Speaker:the, and she goes,
Speaker:I'm not even going to tell them,
Speaker:I'm just going to start putting it in his food.
Speaker:And you know what I mean?
Speaker:You wouldn't believe it.
Speaker:She said to me,
Speaker:Alex, they were going to take off his leg.
Speaker:They started with his toes and they took off two toes
Speaker:and then they were going to go to his foot.
Speaker:And, you know,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:it's it,
Speaker:my heart just absolutely sinks because it's like,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:this poor man is really going through something.
Speaker:And here's something that's provided by nature could give him some
Speaker:relief. And,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:she came back to me and she goes,
Speaker:Alex, his foot was swollen.
Speaker:So big that to put a sock on was uncomfortable.
Speaker:His foot is normal size.
Speaker:That's crazy.
Speaker:It's crazy.
Speaker:It's, it's unbelievable.
Speaker:It really is.
Speaker:And they keep coming to me and coming to me and
Speaker:coming to me,
Speaker:all these stories and,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I just keep giving.
Speaker:Thanks. You know,
Speaker:I'm just so grateful that I'm doing doing it.
Speaker:And it drives me that much further to say,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:I got to do this more.
Speaker:I got to get this in more people's hands.
Speaker:We got to not only enjoy the flavor and how it
Speaker:makes us feel when we eat something with a little warmth
Speaker:and our palette loves it,
Speaker:but our body is going to love it too.
Speaker:And the things that it's doing internally is really nice.
Speaker:All the people that come back to you and then all
Speaker:of these stories,
Speaker:it brings back into you exactly why you started this passion,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:the mission and the passion in the first place.
Speaker:Yeah. You know,
Speaker:I can read a book and it can tell me a
Speaker:hundred times it stops heart blockages and capsaicin is,
Speaker:is known to,
Speaker:to clear the arteries and to assist in aiding in so
Speaker:many different things.
Speaker:And I can read that.
Speaker:But if somebody is actually coming to me and saying,
Speaker:Alex, it really did it.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:it's like a,
Speaker:in my face testimonial to where I don't have to trust
Speaker:an author.
Speaker:I don't have to trust a scientific report.
Speaker:This is the community coming to me.
Speaker:I'm sharing something with them.
Speaker:They're coming back to me with Results that I'm not paying
Speaker:them for those Results.
Speaker:They don't have to come tell me anything,
Speaker:but they're doing it out of their sheer excitement for the
Speaker:amount of improvement in their life that they have received from
Speaker:the benefits of peppers.
Speaker:So interesting.
Speaker:And now we all know because you've given us a great
Speaker:demonstration in terms of what it can do.
Speaker:I want to circle now Alex,
Speaker:into our reflection section.
Speaker:And these are just really kind of succinct answers to things
Speaker:that have helped you to be successful as you are right
Speaker:now. What is one natural trait that you think you call
Speaker:upon to keep pushing forward and be successful?
Speaker:Determination. I am very determined.
Speaker:I have four children and I look at them and I
Speaker:know that they depend on me.
Speaker:I'm a single father and it's something that they're looking to
Speaker:me. And I felt that if I go out and I
Speaker:was a mortgage broker,
Speaker:I was a pilot.
Speaker:I've done some things at a young age to where I
Speaker:got to experience the hotel industry.
Speaker:And I'm just an entrepreneur.
Speaker:And in my spirit,
Speaker:in my soul,
Speaker:in what,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:however, want to say the universe has given me this confidence
Speaker:and this ability to say I can.
Speaker:And it's that attitude of I can do this.
Speaker:I'm going to be determined and not stop.
Speaker:And if somebody says no,
Speaker:then I'm going to find a way for it to be
Speaker:yes, especially when you stand behind something as powerful as nature.
Speaker:And this little Juul called the pepper.
Speaker:It's really given me the confidence to be able to say,
Speaker:wow, I can stand behind a product.
Speaker:That's helping people.
Speaker:And that's really unique.
Speaker:And not everybody knows about it,
Speaker:even though everybody knows about peppers.
Speaker:So it's really just the drive to help people and to
Speaker:be determined for my family and for just being built with
Speaker:an entrepreneurial spirit and not stifling that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:it's very easy to get into the cans and shouldn'ts,
Speaker:and couldn't,
Speaker:but when you just really follow your heart and follow what
Speaker:you love and pursue it and be determined and not listen
Speaker:to those nos and keep marching forward,
Speaker:I keep planting seeds.
Speaker:So the more seeds I plant,
Speaker:the more peppers I have,
Speaker:the more people I can help,
Speaker:the more Absolutely.
Speaker:Yeah. Determination and passion and belief in your product,
Speaker:because it does produce such good for people Know that trifecta
Speaker:right there.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:it's those three things that have really,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:Okay. And is there a tool or something you use in
Speaker:your day because you do have four children you're working the
Speaker:farm, you're selling the product,
Speaker:all of that.
Speaker:Is there something that helps you just keep grounded to stay
Speaker:balanced and stay in control of your time?
Speaker:Every morning,
Speaker:take a 15 minutes,
Speaker:10, 15 minutes.
Speaker:I'm always up early as a farmer.
Speaker:I'm up before the sun,
Speaker:but I feel like it's that centering of your time.
Speaker:Everybody should have that 10,
Speaker:15 minutes where you get up and love yourself and love
Speaker:what you're doing and love your day and give thanks.
Speaker:And that time right there sets my whole day up.
Speaker:So what is it like reflection or is it real like,
Speaker:is it meditation or is it just reflecting and gratitude?
Speaker:It's the same thing every day when it comes to the
Speaker:gratitude and giving things kind of in my own little mantra,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:thank you for life and for being alive and forgiving me,
Speaker:these beautiful children and this opportunity to walk in light today.
Speaker:And there's no method.
Speaker:It's not like I follow this thing where I drink my
Speaker:cup of coffee.
Speaker:And then I go sit down here and then I go
Speaker:read this thing.
Speaker:It's very free flow,
Speaker:but I make sure that the gratitude is in there.
Speaker:First thing,
Speaker:and that the love is in their first thing.
Speaker:I love my children.
Speaker:I love myself.
Speaker:I love what I'm doing.
Speaker:I love the planet and my people on the planet.
Speaker:We're all human beings.
Speaker:My heart goes out to them.
Speaker:I think about all the people that might be suffering with
Speaker:this or that.
Speaker:And if I just plant another pepper and I just keep
Speaker:the thing moving,
Speaker:I'm going to be able to give back.
Speaker:That's what feels the best for me to be able to
Speaker:give back and to be able to share.
Speaker:But it's really just a 10 minute in the morning,
Speaker:quiet time.
Speaker:It's spending that time in love.
Speaker:We can so easily get so muddled down in the day-to-day
Speaker:tasks, but you're saying you lift yourself up from all of
Speaker:that and look at the higher level reasons of why you're
Speaker:doing what you're doing with your product and its effect on
Speaker:people and all that.
Speaker:And taking the time,
Speaker:first thing in the morning to kind of setting your mind
Speaker:straight on there,
Speaker:I can imagine is so beneficial as you're going through the
Speaker:day, moving on.
Speaker:Is there a book that you think our listeners would find
Speaker:value in?
Speaker:Oh wow.
Speaker:There's one I'm into right now.
Speaker:And I wish I could comment on the whole thing,
Speaker:but it was written back in 1909 by TB Terry.
Speaker:He wrote a book called how to keep well and live
Speaker:long, pretty simple.
Speaker:Now, is he still alive?
Speaker:Nah, he's probably not with us anymore,
Speaker:but wow.
Speaker:Is it?
Speaker:It was something that the very first chapter,
Speaker:he went over the basics of living and he says,
Speaker:what do you need to live?
Speaker:And it was like,
Speaker:everybody's like,
Speaker:well, we need food.
Speaker:We need shelter.
Speaker:We need this.
Speaker:And that.
Speaker:And myself included.
Speaker:I was like,
Speaker:well, we need,
Speaker:we need food.
Speaker:We need shelter.
Speaker:My head is going.
Speaker:Yeah. He starts out.
Speaker:And he says,
Speaker:well, well,
Speaker:let's start with the foundation.
Speaker:It's the way he put the book together.
Speaker:He says,
Speaker:air number one,
Speaker:you need air.
Speaker:If you don't have air,
Speaker:then you can't eat.
Speaker:You can't sleep.
Speaker:You're not going to be here.
Speaker:So he really discusses things.
Speaker:The air quality that you're breathing and the environment that you
Speaker:put yourself in.
Speaker:So when you start with that and it kind of goes
Speaker:in order,
Speaker:definitely water is next and then sleep and then food.
Speaker:And if you look at it,
Speaker:we can go the shortest time without oxygen.
Speaker:Then you're going to have to drink something.
Speaker:Eventually you have to get dehydrated and you don't make it.
Speaker:Then you need sleep because you can stay up for so
Speaker:long before your body's just going to break down.
Speaker:It has to repair itself and go back to sleep.
Speaker:People have gone weeks without food,
Speaker:but they can't go weeks without sleep.
Speaker:They can't go weeks without water.
Speaker:And they can't definitely go weeks without air.
Speaker:Just getting into the first chapter.
Speaker:I thought to myself,
Speaker:my gosh,
Speaker:I never looked at it that way.
Speaker:And how amazing is that?
Speaker:That it's right in front of my face,
Speaker:but yet I wasn't giving consideration to my air quality,
Speaker:even in my own home.
Speaker:So for the last couple of weeks,
Speaker:I've been sleeping with the windows open and you know,
Speaker:he discusses,
Speaker:even if you live in a cold environment,
Speaker:just to get that exchange of air flowing through an environment
Speaker:is crucial,
Speaker:really, really important.
Speaker:Wow. I'm going to have to stop you here because I
Speaker:think we all need to consider reading in the book.
Speaker:It sounds so interesting.
Speaker:Gift biz listeners.
Speaker:I just want to remind you that just like you're listening
Speaker:the podcast today,
Speaker:you can also listen to audio books.
Speaker:I am thinking that this one probably isn't in an audio
Speaker:book at this point,
Speaker:but that doesn't mean that you can't get it hard copy,
Speaker:but I want to remind you that I've teamed up with
Speaker:audible. And if you're interested in getting an audio book,
Speaker:you can do so for free on me.
Speaker:All you need to do is go to gift biz,
Speaker:book.com and make a selection.
Speaker:That's gift biz book.com.
Speaker:Okay. Alex,
Speaker:we've reached the point where I want to invite you to
Speaker:dare to dream.
Speaker:I'd like to present you with a virtual gift.
Speaker:It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.
Speaker:So this is your dream or your goal of almost unreachable
Speaker:Heights that you would wish to obtain.
Speaker:Please accept this gift and open it in our presence.
Speaker:What is inside your box?
Speaker:Wow. That's such a fun question.
Speaker:It's so wonderful.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I thought about that.
Speaker:That is wow.
Speaker:I would take a trip with my family and I would
Speaker:travel the world to see all the different spices and do
Speaker:like a world of peppers or a journey through the pepper
Speaker:world. Take a three month documentary filming,
Speaker:maybe with a chef at some places and maybe with a
Speaker:farmer at some places.
Speaker:But with my children being able to be with me and
Speaker:experience the culture and the history,
Speaker:the variety of peppers from Thailand to India,
Speaker:to South America and parts of Guyana and Brazil,
Speaker:and right here in America,
Speaker:where they grew the world's hottest pepper,
Speaker:the Carolina Reaper go to the chili pepper Institute in New
Speaker:Mexico and see all the different research and benefits.
Speaker:And, you know,
Speaker:I think that traveling with family and experiencing life that's,
Speaker:that would be my dream.
Speaker:That sounds fabulous.
Speaker:Will you need someone to care your suitcases?
Speaker:I'm raising my hand.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:Well, I have family in St.
Speaker:Pete, so you will be seeing me again.
Speaker:Is there a single location that you would tell people to
Speaker:go to to learn more about your peppers?
Speaker:Now, if they're not in St.
Speaker:Pete, if they can't end up coming to the farmer's market,
Speaker:would you send them to a Facebook page or website or,
Speaker:yeah, I'd love to send them to a Facebook page to
Speaker:get, to see pictures.
Speaker:And I'm working on getting that.
Speaker:I've been spending a lot of time in the farm.
Speaker:So during the busy times a year,
Speaker:you'll notice that my Facebook page isn't really too active.
Speaker:There's always a picture a couple of times a month,
Speaker:but during the slow times during the summer and during,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:when people are BBQ in and out doing their thing,
Speaker:wanting to put some spice on their food,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:that's where I would go.
Speaker:It would be my Facebook page at lifeguard and farm.
Speaker:Perfect. And give biz listeners,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:there's also a show notes page.
Speaker:So if you're out and you're not able to go and
Speaker:check all that out right now,
Speaker:maybe you're working out at the club,
Speaker:maybe you're in your own garden,
Speaker:who knows,
Speaker:but remember,
Speaker:there's a show notes page.
Speaker:I'll have all that information there.
Speaker:So you'll be able to get in touch with Alex as
Speaker:you wish.
Speaker:I'm so sorry to say,
Speaker:we've reached the end of the interview.
Speaker:It's been so interesting almost for a little bit of a
Speaker:different perspective.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:we've talked about the business and how your business journey went,
Speaker:but we also got a great lesson into the value of
Speaker:peppers, what they can do for us health wise and so
Speaker:many fabulous tidbits along the way here.
Speaker:So for that,
Speaker:Alex, I really appreciate it.
Speaker:Thank you so much for taking your time today and look
Speaker:forward to seeing you again,
Speaker:sometime at the farmer's market and may your candle always burn
Speaker:bright? Well,
Speaker:thank you so much.
Speaker:So, and like I always say,
Speaker:Stay well and keep it hot.
Speaker:Where are you in your business building journey,
Speaker:whether you're just starting out or already running a business and
Speaker:you want to know your setup for success.
Speaker:Find out my taking the gift biz quiz,
Speaker:access the quiz from your computer at MIT dot L Y
Speaker:slash gift biz quiz or from your phone by texting gift
Speaker:biz quiz to four four two,
Speaker:two, two.
Speaker:Thanks for listening and be sure to join us for the
Speaker:next episode.
Speaker:Today's show is sponsored by the ribbon print company,
Speaker:looking for a new income source for no gift business.
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