Founded On Purpose

Kt McBratney: [00:00:00] Welcome to Founded on Purpose, the show where we get to know the people working to align business and impact, profit, and purpose. I'm your host, Katie McBratney. Each episode, we welcome a guest to answer the same set of questions to unlock beautifully different conversations about entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation.

And today's guest represents all three. Jaleah Hemmings is the CEO and co founder of Nourish Bloom, a tech company bringing access to healthy and delicious food to everyone. She's a serial entrepreneur who's bold enough to see the opportunities to make a difference in communities and the bottom line by addressing what we eat and how we access it.

Jalaya, welcome to the show.

Jilea Hemmings: Thank you. I'm so excited to be here. I used to take you with me everywhere I go. That was like, I was like, oh, all of that?

Kt McBratney: It's interesting to always hear, um, how other people kind of like describe your work in a nutshell.

Jilea Hemmings: Exactly. Like, oh. That sounds good.

Kt McBratney: It is good and it's what you're doing and have been doing.

[00:01:00] Uh, you know, I think this is what we, we open the show with the same question each time. And like, I literally cannot imagine a better question to start with for you. In one word, what is your purpose?

In one word.

I know.

Jilea Hemmings: I'm like, one word.

Kt McBratney: I'll

allow you to expand. I know. I mean,

Jilea Hemmings: I, I, I think to, I mean, it's one word, but I think the one word would be better, you know, like if I like to be better, if that's two words, but I mean, it's hard to put it into one, but I mean, my overall purpose is just to leave the world better than I found it in trying to make a positive impact in that way.

But you know. It's just better, you know, my purpose is that it's better without me here. Like, you know, with what we've been created, if I leave and it's better, I've done my job.

Kt McBratney: How long has that been like a guiding purpose in your life? Because I, you know, even looking back at the companies and, um, your, your professional career and your [00:02:00] personal work before Nourish and Bloom, like that seems to be a thread that predates this current iteration of, of your entrepreneurship and your, your successful founder journey.

Jilea Hemmings: Yeah, I think I've always my whole life always wanted to help. Right. But, and I always wanted to do well at the same time. So I've always tried to from the start of my career. I was fortunate to start in the pharmaceutical space, which in my mind at the time, don't ask me now, but at the time was the best union of being able to help people and also provide.

But, you know, so everything for me was always how can you do good and also, you know, be sustainable and live and all of those things. But I just always had this common thread, like, if I find out something and it can help you, how can I share it? And how many people can I share it with so that collectively we can be better together?

So I've always just had that. [00:03:00] infused into me from early on. And it's interesting that everything that I've done has always had that at the foundation.

Kt McBratney: And I wonder if you've always been clear on that. Has it always, is it something that you're able to see more clearly now in hindsight, looking at this, this body of, of work and projects and impact that you've had?

Jilea Hemmings: No, I think it's something I've started to understand as I've gotten older, it's been something that naturally because it's who I am has always been, but I didn't articulate it in that way. Right? But now I realize that for me where I feel the most level of fulfillment is where I'm able to help someone.

Be better than they were, um, in whatever aspect that is that I'm solving for at the time and that, you know, I don't go broke doing it,

you know, in that

Kt McBratney: we all should be able to survive and thrive, right? Well, you, you and your co [00:04:00] founder and, and husband, Jamie have the unique and really incredible accomplishment of having the first black owned autonomous grocery store in the world.

My second question is, what's a, what's like one of your most recent wins? Cause that one is amazing, but you didn't stop there.

Jilea Hemmings: We didn't stop there. That one, I mean, I think I'm, I'm still most proud of that. Um, but the one that I guess would be second to that would be that we just got accepted to take EBT and frictionless checkout.

So that one I'm really excited about because it just really. Fulfills our mission. Our mission with nourish and bloom is that everyone deserves access to fresh food. And so the word everyone means everyone. And so that was something that when we first built our store, we realized really early on that we couldn't service everyone because you couldn't take all payment types.

And so EBT is something that helps so many families and. Communities around the country, be able to put food on the table [00:05:00] and to think that they couldn't shop in our store just didn't sit right with me. And so, you know, the fact that we worked really hard for 3 years and went back into development and figured out how do we make this payment type accepted.

Um, and finally got it accepted over the last couple of weeks has been, I think, a really amazing feat, not just for me, just for community as a whole.

Kt McBratney: That's a massive accomplishment and you're the first technology to do this. Like you're the only one currently in the U. S. with, you know, this, this zero contact payment that we're all familiar with, you know, um, that accepts EBT.

So like, not only did you accomplish it, it's another first.

Jilea Hemmings: Another first.

Kt McBratney: And it's aligned with your purpose. Let, let's unpack, I'd like to dig into the EBT side of things, um, and how it relates to Nourish and Bloom as a technology company that's so deeply rooted in community and equitable access, right? Like your, your mission and the vision is very [00:06:00] simple.

When you say it, everyone should have access to nutritious, healthy, good food. Right. Right. Like that sounds simple. People can understand that, but it's an incredibly complicated. System and, and problem space. So on the EBT side, you said it was a three year journey is the length of time. The reason that no one has done it before.

Like, it seems like there are, there's a lot of. Market opportunity with it and EBT as well. So like, how did you decide, like, aside from the mission, that this was a meaty challenge that you all were going to rise up and actually deliver on knowing that there were obstacles along the way? And what were some of those?

Jilea Hemmings: You never know what it's going to be or what it's going to take. It's always just starts with a great idea. Like, sure, let's try it, you know? So for us, it was, yeah, this is not okay. Let's pursue it. We never thought it was going to take three years. So the fact that it took three years was a tremendous feat.

Um, this is [00:07:00] not, I mean, is it something that could have been done by somebody else? Sure. But, you know, it wasn't on their radar because it wasn't a priority. Right. Like a lot of, you know, when we think about food accessibility, especially for the underserved, it's never really how do we make sure that they get the best.

It's always like an afterthought. But for me, it was about how do we make them the priority because everybody deserves access, especially them. Right. And so for us, yeah. You know, it became really clear because we started to see so many communities around the country, just reaching out and saying, we have this problem.

We need it. And I said, you know, sometimes there's so many pivots in business. We talk about that. I talk about that all the time. And when we first start to started to open the store, we're just like, okay, let's just get this cool text store open and it'll be amazing that people can come in anytime they want, but quickly the pivot showed up because the community.

Was reaching out to us and saying, Hey, we need help. Right. [00:08:00] And we want access to good food and we don't have access. And going back to like my purpose, although that doesn't, that's not okay. Like, how do we make it better? Like, how do we fix it? I became like, you know, I was like, let's fix it. And so, um, I didn't realize what it was going to take to fix it.

I just thought, okay, we'll just create, like, we'll figure it out. How hard could it be? Which is always kind of good. I think that's a good way to be because we really knew a lot of times what it would take. You might not embark on those journeys. So for us, you know, it took three years because the organization had to learn how to wrap their head around it.

Right? And so, which is fine. Like, you know, they've been doing it, you know, a certain way for, you know. A long time, and this is a whole new process for them, and I'm just really excited that they didn't just shut us down and say, we don't understand this. We're not going to do this. So we're not going to even allow you to take it.

They were like, all right, let's do it. You know, and so we were all really committed. We've had pretty much the same team over the 3 years. And so, [00:09:00] you know, it's a big accomplishment for just access to better food options. Like, there's a crisis in this country unnecessarily. And I feel like this is just 1.

You know, hurdle that we've been able to overcome that can help us to get in the right direction.

Kt McBratney: And as we were saying before, before we hit record, the goal is not to be the 1st and only the goal is to be the 1st of a wave of change. Yeah, and we're, and we're based here in Atlanta where there is, you know, there, there is data supporting, um, inequitable access to food, the talk of food deserts and all of that.

And something that. I think is really interesting about Nourish and Bloom's approach, both having physical brick and mortar stores, but also having a whole suite of hardware and software solutions is that when we think about quote unquote food deserts, which we can put some links in the show notes about what, how about that term and how it is helpful and unhelpful.[00:10:00]

But when we think about that label and those areas where there isn't access to good food, healthy food. What often I think gets misunderstood or not thought about is that people don't always stay in the same area. They go to work, they go visit their friends, they go to social events, like people move around.

So, though there might be communities and, and, and groups that live in areas where there's not easy access to healthy food, they move into areas where maybe there is access in terms of availability. But not in currency,

Jilea Hemmings: right? I mean, I think that's a really good point, you know, as a people, we're really resourceful, right?

And we don't feel like we should be denied. So if it's not where we currently dwell, we're going to go to where we can get it. Right. We're going to figure out how do we get access to it? But what does that do to an ecosystem? It breaks it down, right? Because if I live in my house and my grocery store is a mile away [00:11:00] from my house.

Guess what happens when I go shopping. I'm going to be able to have tax dollars that go right into that community where I live. But if I now have to drive 10 minutes or 20 minutes or to get to a grocery store, right? So now I'm leaving my community. My tax dollars are still being spent within somebody else's community, helping them to thrive.

So it becomes a problem that just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger. And then the other issue is that people really feel. That because you live in an area that doesn't have accessibility, it must be that you don't have ambition, that you don't have resources, like all the things, and it's completely a false narrative.

So I think one of the biggest things that I'm really excited about is to show the power of these communities, where it might not fit into the big box store, you know, KPI, you know, uh, requirements. But there is opportunity, there's still room to service a community and also be able to thrive and, and, and, and, and, and be a for profit business and not a nonprofit business, which is a lot of times is what the, [00:12:00] the, I guess the solution that people come up with is.

And so, you know, that's one of the biggest things I'm excited about is to say, hey. Yes, now we do take EBT, which is great. That's going to help to open up access, but there are resources here and everyone in these communities are just leaving to still get what they need. It's not that they're not getting it and it would be amazing if those dollars could now circulate in those communities so that those communities could thrive as well.

Kt McBratney: I want to dig in even, even, even deeper if, if we can, um, because you really, you alluded to a lot of these, these challenges and these opportunities, right? That go hand in hand, a challenge to S to solve and to address, but that's also an opportunity to build a successful, profitable business from what you know now.

And where you've grown Nourish and Bloom over these past several years, what would you say is the single biggest missed opportunity in your field?

Jilea Hemmings: I think it's the one that we're in right now. I mean, I really [00:13:00] feel that providing access and food access to communities That don't have it is a huge opportunity.

I mean, that's to me is like, in my mind is a no brainer. Everybody has to eat. I don't care what happens in life every day. If you don't eat, you will die. Right? So we know that that's like the number one requirement of living. And so to me, And people, you know, I think the pandemic brought that out for everybody.

Like, what are you willing to do? How many lines did we all stand on to get toilet paper and to get food and do whatever it took because we didn't know what was going to happen. Right. And so to me, this has been the biggest opportunity that I see that I'm like, I don't know why you all don't see it. Like you're focused on, I guess what we traditionally think are the areas that are most lucrative, but they forget that.

You know, communities that still might not have a big box store also still need to eat. And so for us, I think this is the biggest opportunity that had they focused on communities that needed it and not. It just being [00:14:00] like a nice to have, but being, you know, a requirement to have, um, you know, we would have probably seen some different things happen in the industry because this industry has changed.

I've seen, you know, from when I started and I'm like, the baby in this space, pretty much everyone has dropped out, but us. And the only reason why we are here is because. We were mission focused and we found an area that we could support that really needed us and that everyone left behind because they felt like they weren't valuable enough to pay attention to when I felt like everyone's important to pay attention to.

So. You know, so we've carved this lane out, which I'm very happy about, and I love just really dispelling the narrative about it, you know, because even, you know, we can talk about that later, but just as soon as you say EBT, people think, you know, nonprofit and you should be a nonprofit. Right? And so when I start to say, did you know that the government spends 120 billion a year, you know, on EBT, they're like, what?

And I was like, yeah, [00:15:00] which, Equals cash, right? And like in some of the big box stores, like almost 20, 30 percent of their bottom line comes from that. They're like, Oh, Oh, like they, they just had this false narrative of what EBT was like, it wasn't money. Like, I was like, what did you think it like was to a business?

Right. And so, um, it's, it's a huge opportunity that I'm happy was there for us to realize and. No one else, because it's been a lane that we've been able to really own.

Kt McBratney: Yeah. And I think, you know, to that point, that's a massive market and, and it's been either ignored, overlooked, underserved. Um, but when you talk about that dollar amount, those dollars spend the same within a store, within an ecosystem.

Yes. The source of funding, right. Is different. Sure. But 1 of EBT spent at a store is. Spending the same as

Jilea Hemmings: a dollar,

Kt McBratney: a [00:16:00] dollar bill,

Jilea Hemmings: exactly,

Kt McBratney: you know, except a little bit different because paper and frictionless. Right. There's a little bit of ease. Um, tell, like, as you mentioned, there have been other players in this space and some real, especially when it comes to the autonomous.

Shopping, um, with groceries and things like that, you mentioned that they've pretty much all dropped out

while

you're still in the game.

Jilea Hemmings: Right.

Kt McBratney: Why do you think that is, that there's this big market opportunity that you've been able to fundraise, you were a part of the Techstars program, you've been on Shark Tank, like, you have gotten lots of validation and signal that there is.

A big market to capture here, as well as the impact. Why do you think that these bigger players that are, you know, more resourced than you all

Jilea Hemmings: way more? Can we say way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way more resource. Yes. Some of

Kt McBratney: them are owned by [00:17:00] one of the wealthiest people in the world, right? Like there there's resources behind those companies.

Why, why have they dropped out? You all are still in the game making impact. Innovating new products, being the first again. And is it just the mission? Is it just the commitment to community over the bottom line? Or is it something else?

Jilea Hemmings: I think, you know, honestly, it's like when we make a decision to do something, right?

It's not, it has to be, we really have to make a commitment to do something. And I mean, not to bring like race into it, but I think it does have a lot to do with it. Right? Like, there was no body writing us a big check from my idea on a napkin. Right? Like, it was my family and my friends who saw what I had done in the past.

Um, yeah. That believe that if anybody could potentially do it, I could do it. And they were like, [00:18:00] I'm willing to give you money out of my 401k that's supposed to pay off my house, but I believe in you, right? So, when you're starting with that as the foundation of who is your core that's actually giving you the resources to start.

There is no, uh, you know, I could make a few extra, you know, points on this avenue and we can just drop this off, right? Secondly, for me, I knew what it meant when I said I was going to open, forget about technology, but open a grocery store in a community. You can't be like, well, you know what? Not enough people shop today, so screw y'all, we're just going to close up tomorrow and we're out.

Right? Like this is infrastructure. It takes time to build and you're here to really make an impact in a community. It's not going to happen overnight. And I know that that's traditionally not a sexy VC. Investment, but it's starting. I mean, I got into entrepreneurship because I have a son with autism that I have to provide for when I'm no longer here.

Right. And I also [00:19:00] have to provide for my other kids, but it's different when I'm like, we don't have a chance to fail at this. We got to win. Right. We have to win. Not only do I have to win for my family, but then I decided to bring my whole entire family and my whole friendship crew on the bus too. And I was like, you know, it's not like, Oh, this doesn't work.

Okay. Like, yeah. I still have to see these people like that would be an awful experience, especially when I knew what they risked to believe in and to believe in Jamie. And so I think that's important because capital wasn't just easily flowing to begin with. Um,

Kt McBratney: I'm glad you named that. I think, I mean, it's a reality, there's data that backs it up.

It, it, it is absolutely a component, like their systemic issues affect everything, including access to capital and risk tolerance. Right. And, and I think in addition to that, what you, what you hit on is this community component that is not just the mission, but it's kind of like part of the DNA of nourish and bloom.

Jilea Hemmings: It was built by, it's built by the community [00:20:00] for the community. I mean, it's truly a community based. Endeavor and initiative and and so it's not something you could just turn your back on if it doesn't garner what you think it should for this quarter of profits. Right? And so that's 1 thing. I mean, that's the 2nd piece around it.

I think that's really. Important is is the community piece because I think that's. Really, like, a strong piece, like, they're depending on you, they're counting on you and you have to be able to deliver for them. And so, you know, the community funding and family funding, and then also our responsibility level.

Those were two really important pieces to this. And just in that, you know, it's like, okay, so fine, you get your family and your friends to support you. You have the community that's so excited that you're here. You're like, okay, we've done it now. Now, now we're going to get proper funding so that we can scale this and [00:21:00] help more communities and do all of that.

And the needle keeps moving, right? So when you talk about raising capital and the funding piece, it's like, it keeps changing. They're like, well, you know, before we did it, we have to see if you could do it, then we did it. And they're like, Oh, well, we knew you could do that one. Let's see if you could do it again.

So the needle always starts to move. I think in a way that's different for maybe others that are trying to raise capital to continue to do the work. So even after you prove, he's like, you have to continue to overprove and overprove and overprove. And so I come back to the foundation if it wasn't for the community that I can go and say, I need your help.

You got to overprove and overprove and overprove. Um, you know, that's the only reason why we're still here when everybody else is out. It's because this doesn't make sense probably to, you know, a traditional VC, but it makes sense to community and they're like, we're going to make sure you're here.

Kt McBratney: Yeah, it sounds like, um, you, you all, not just you, but Jamie, your co founder, the whole team really embody the idea that your [00:22:00] investors, your supporters, your customers, they aren't numbers in a spreadsheet.

They're actual real life people like who many of whom you know by name and see regularly. And that's something, um, I believe in, in the team here at Renew VC believes is like At the end of the day, we're people building solutions for people that provide for people. Um, and it's so easy as we think about rapid scale, which is, you know, venture is a vehicle for that.

It's not the only funding mechanism. It's one with a certain timeline and a certain trajectory, but even within that, that rapid scaling stage. We're still serving people. And I mean, like we believe in it so much. We put it as like, it's the first tenant in our founder manifesto. Cause like we need to emphasize that more and more to recalibrate how we're building, how we're funding.

What we're doing in the world,

Jilea Hemmings: it helps you stay focused when it gets hard, right? Because [00:23:00] this thing is not easy, you know, like, yes, I get to live my dream every single day. I am not taking that for granted by any stretch, but it also comes along with a tremendous amount. And the more you're given is the more tremendous that amount comes with.

And so when the days are really, really hard and you're like, I don't, I'm You need that pick up. It's like it's the community that gives you that and the people and the ones that you're here to work for and serve and what you create this thing for in the first place just to begin with that give you that drive to keep going

Kt McBratney: so important to hear.

Let's, let's, let's dig into that a little bit more because like. As, as everyone has heard by now, I clearly agree with a lot of the sentiments, the assessment, the opportunities, um, and solutions that, that you're working on. I'm curious, like you're an entrepreneur, you're always in the, in the role, no matter how experienced you are.

And I don't mean just you, I mean any entrepreneur, [00:24:00] of figuring it out. When was the last time you were wrong about something and, and, and tell us how you navigated that, knowing the pressure that you are under and the commitment that you have to doing it.

Jilea Hemmings: I'm wrong a lot. I'm like, I gotta pick a wrong time, I've been wrong on so many things.

Um, and that's actually a mantra of mine, dare to fail up, right? Like, so for me. Every day. If you ever hear me, that's my signature is dare to fail up. So like, you know, failure has been something in general that we've all been so afraid of. Right. And like, don't get it. You know, it starts from school, like an indoctrination, like the last thing you want to get is an F.

Right. But in reality, it's like, if you push those limits and do things that, you know, could really be a big fail. Those are usually the things that are really a big win to right. EBT was. Right. It's something that could really fail, but you know, we pushed it and guess what? Now we did it. Right. And so, and now many [00:25:00] people, more people can eat, um, you know, one of the things that I failed at in our most recent with, with what we even doing all of this and had to quickly learn about was thinking, because it's a good idea to me, it's a good idea, you know?

And so, you know, we all think like, Oh, that's great. Everybody's going to think that's great too. We went off of that, like, initially, like, we were like, okay, this is what we're going to do, we're going to build Nourish and Bloom, we're going to put all these groceries in here, and it's going to be, like, Whole Foods products, and everybody's going to love it, it's going to be great, and yada yada, and, you know, we talked to, like, a few people, but, like, no real market data, you know, involved, like, we just went off of a hunch.

And it was a fail, it was like a complete fail, like nobody was buying the products, was it, like, you know, we thought, well, is it the cost, like, is it the product, like, it was a whole lot that we had to then go and re engineer. [00:26:00] And so one of the first things, and I mean, I'm not like new to this entrepreneurship thing, but still made that big blunder that I just went with, because I get passionate and then I'm like laser focused, like you got to do this.

Kt McBratney: Founder conviction.

Jilea Hemmings: Right. And then, you know, I kind of got knocked out and it's okay. So. You know what we realized, like we had to like change everything in the store, our entire product offering had to change in the markets because people weren't buying it. And I was like, they would like come in like, oh, this is nice, but they would like walk out.

And I'm like, what's like, where's the disconnect? Everyone said they wanted healthy food. Right. And I had to learn that quickly. People like to feel comfortable. And if you put people into a situation where I'm They see a whole bunch of new things that they've never seen before, like, they don't know how to they want to interface, but it's kind of like, you know, there's that hesitation.

And so we switched up our product line to put still have some of those products. Right? But also put conventional items in the stores as well. And when we did that, it was [00:27:00] like, Oh, I see something I'm familiar with. And then even if they went and bought that familiar item, if that familiar item wasn't there, they were more inclined to try the other item that they weren't familiar with because they have already had that level of familiarity.

And that was a really interesting, like, understanding the buying cycle. Lesson that I needed to really understand that people buy, you buy from who you like, you know, it's, it's, it's common sense. I was just,

Kt McBratney: you order the same dish at your favorite restaurant. Cause you know, you're going to get it, you know, you're going to like it.

Jilea Hemmings: Absolutely. All of those things. So that was a big, cause we put a lot of money into inventory. We like doubled down, like this is going to be what it was. And it was a fail, but I'm happy that we failed quickly and realized that we needed to, to make that shift. And then the other piece to that was. You know, we really need to get out and speak to the folks that are in the communities that we're going to serve.

So that was the first and last time that I built a store based on my thoughts and my ideas, like, I was like, we're going to go out and we're going to figure out for [00:28:00] real what they want and like really talk through this and make sure this is really what they want. And so that was, that was a, that was a big lesson that I had to learn, but I feel it's something probably every day, you know, that's just part of the journey.

Kt McBratney: Same, same. Well, and I think about like. How you handle failure, right? How you handle that, that failing up, like what you learn from it, how you change, and also when shopping at a nourish and bloom store, or even interfacing with, you know, the app, or maybe there's a smart fridge, um, at your, or a mini market at your place of employment, that's powered by nourish and bloom, you're also introducing to some folks, a new buying behavior because they might not be used to autonomous shopping, frictionless checkout, certainly.

Being able to use EBT, EBT in this, in this way is new.

Jilea Hemmings: Right. Absolutely. Right.

Kt McBratney: So, so you're putting people in a new environment and shopping experience. So also having an entirely new [00:29:00] product selection is new, new, new, new. And so you learned that instituting an element of familiarity helps people ultimately.

Rise and succeed in what you want them to do, which is behavioral change. That's really what, you know, I think about the technology of, of nourish and bloom and in, in, in preparing for this interview, your solutions are, and the products that you build and put out into the world. Are actually just conduits for behavior change, changing how people shop, both in the, the modalities, the mechanisms of payment of access, right?

Like store open store close your, your, your markets. You can, they're 24, 7, right? Because you're powered by technology and all of that. Um, they have a different labor market, right? Like you don't have to. Mhm. Staff them the same way.

Jilea Hemmings: Absolutely.

Kt McBratney: But you're also helping change behavior of [00:30:00] access and selection of food items by having the inventory in there.

So you're really, you are very much in the world of food access and technology. As a mechanisms for both systems change and behavior change, which is like people are wild. Like, we keep thinking that we are logical and predictable and every single day we prove that wrong as a species. Um, and so like, I don't know, I've wondered how, how, you know, how much you think about the human behavior side of it.

In talking to your customers, in exploring and expanding a market that others are viewing as too much of an investment or risk.

Jilea Hemmings: Yeah. I mean, I always say I'm a glutton for punishment because I'm always like doing things before they become hot. You know what I mean? Like it's always like, we started making meatless meals for kids before beyond and impossible.

Now everybody's like, Oh yeah, meatless. Da da da. I was like, we did that first. We were there first, but it was like the educational period. And so it's [00:31:00] really interesting, like getting people's. Behaviors and, and understanding their behaviors and what goes into it. Right. And seeing behavioral change. And so, so it's like understanding what their initial preconcept, like, like preconceived notions are about why or what they're going to do.

And then seeing how you can almost help them to maybe see a different perspective is really interesting. Like I've had people come in my store, like, I'm just not, I don't want to do this. I'm not, I'm not doing it. I'm not shopping like this. No, no, no. I just came in here for something quick. And I was like, okay.

So, you know, we, you know, it's interesting because our first store. gave a lot of choice and choices is an interesting thing. You could have a whole discussion on choice and how much choice you give. And the more choices you give is really not sometimes the best thing. But we had an opportunity to have an alternative form of checkout, which is more comfortable, right?

What's You know, because it was like self checkout, people know how to do that. So they were like, okay, I can do that. So they, so we gave her another alternative, but in that alternative, she decided she was going to order food, but she was in such a rush. So she ordered food. So she's waiting [00:32:00] anyway. And so it gave her an opportunity to be in our store.

And I use this as an example, because it was just interesting. And so she saw the person go in and come right back out. And I was like, yeah, I was like, this allows you to come in 24 hours a day. You just simply download the app once and then you can just scan in, you know, it's only a one time. Operation of downloading the app, but the, the friction that you avoid moving forward is so, you know, easy, but like, you know, she just was so against it, but because she had to wait for her food, because she decided to take the other method of, you know, checkout, she was able to see.

What was happening and just see she's like, oh, like, you know, but it's like they come in and they have even with AI, especially like people have a whole lot of views of what they think AI is and how it's horrible and bad. And so I talk about how

Kt McBratney: or the best thing in the world ever,

Jilea Hemmings: right? Like, in this case, I said, there is AI that's not great. I said, but there is AI. That is good. It's like, and this is one example. Of where it's good, because when you think about why [00:33:00] big box stores don't go into certain areas, it's not because they don't want to. I mean, it's just because they have to have a certain number of, you know, of items in a certain square footage in order for them to hit their bottom line.

Right? And so what allows us to be able to go into certain communities that they can't is that we've reduced our overhead through not having, you know, as much staff as possible. Traditional stores have, but that allows us to then go into these communities. So it's like, this is an example of AI for good.

If it wasn't for AI, we couldn't be here. Right. And so it's allowing us to be able to bring access to areas that would never have been able to have access. So it's just about changing perspective and behavior. But now she's like that customer is like, Oh, download the app. And now she goes in and out, but it's like.

We all come in with their preconceived notions and that's okay, but it's interesting just having and taking the time to have that human interaction and that human experience to just understand where their thought process is because a lot of times you can change it. I've had people come in there be completely against it [00:34:00] and I just start explaining it and they leave almost in tears about how like, oh, my God, this is amazing and how proud they are that this is something that they get to have access to.

So it's all about perspective and patience.

Kt McBratney: I'm curious because like you clearly have a lot of joy in the work that you do and you're not afraid to name that there's a lot of challenges and that there's hard days too. An entrepreneur can easily get sucked into their work, especially when it's so closely aligned with their value system and their mission and their vision for the world.

How do you embrace play or create space for play in work and outside of it? Right. To keep your cup full, to not burn out, to keep the joy alive and building nourish and bloom, especially like this is a company that you're building with a co founder that you have a whole life with outside of nourish and bloom and together and, and, and all of that.

So there's [00:35:00] easy bleed over into or potential bleed over into I'll work all the time. So

Jilea Hemmings: we laugh a lot. We laugh a lot. Laughter is our, um, is our therapy. I mean, Jamie and I will be married 20 years this year because we got married when we were one. And like bride and groom, right, right, right. And that's something that we talk about all the time.

He's like, you know, we don't celebrate our wins enough because usually There's something that has to happen. Like, you know, it's like EBT is great. Okay. But now we got to figure out how we're going to let everybody know EBT is here. You know, it's like, it's like, we never sit in it for a moment, but our short term coping mechanism is that we laugh a lot.

And we really just, you know, that's one of the things that as a collective family, we like to do, like we can laugh about just anything, but that's something that I even say is a work in progress. Like, how do we sit in it? And so like, you know, this year he's like, we can't let our 20 year anniversary go and not like, Really celebrate it.

So that's an example of like where I'm [00:36:00] trying to actually pivot and say you're right because it is really important A lot of people don't get to that milestone and it's important that I get to work with my best friend and my husband every Day, um, and so yeah, it's a big deal.

Kt McBratney: Let's take a pause for that because that is That's amazing.

Congratulations and you still like i've seen i've i've been in the same room as jillian and jamie and They do laugh a lot And it's hard not to join in that, like there, you, you both have such a warmth and such a joy for the work that you're doing, even when it's incredibly hard and the challenges are stacked up against you and, and, um, you know, I've been in lots of rooms with lots of stressed out entrepreneurs, and I've seen both of you when.

You get thrown another curveball and it's not as common to see founders find laughter and joy and see each other right as, as a, as a complicated person trying to do their best. [00:37:00] And it's, I think it's, it's refreshing. Like, I want to hear founders laugh more. Yes. I want to see them work hard and take things seriously, but like.

To see founders

Jilea Hemmings: like enjoy each other.

Kt McBratney: Yeah,

Jilea Hemmings: it's an important thing. I mean, he's my ying to my yang. I'm like the crazy, like, and then he's like, okay, let's figure it out. Right. And you need to have that balance. But the one thing that we really do like share is that love of just like laughter and silly stuff.

Like we could just sit on a bench and just. People watch and just crack up. You know what I mean? Like we, nice, good, free fun, you know, so that's like our, you know, our way of decompressing. I mean, my other thing that I do is I love reality TV. So that's my other way of just like, Letting it all go. And, you know, I'm like a real housewife junkie.

Don't judge me.

Kt McBratney: I won't. I've said it before. I think when, um, another founder, Murav, of, of All Better Co. talked about her love of K dramas. I was like, there is no such thing as a guilty pleasure if you're not, if nobody's getting [00:38:00] hurt.

Jilea Hemmings: Right.

Kt McBratney: Also. Real Housewives is a franchise that is massively successful for a whole lot of reasons.

Jilea Hemmings: A whole lot of drama. I know it's sometimes good to get out of your old drama and watch somebody else's, right? A big cup of ice. Cause that's my favorite. I think food group, which is not really.

Kt McBratney: I'm going to help land the plane because I could talk to you for like 17 hours. I'm curious, like you, again, you are not a new entrepreneur.

Nourish and Bloom is doing new things all the time, but you've, you've built successful companies before. And also people love to give opinions, whether you want them or not. How do you navigate taking advice as somebody who's done a lot, but is also always forging new paths?

Jilea Hemmings: Um, I'm always open. Like I like to hear different frames of thought, like while I have.

Great ideas myself. I always want to hear, you know. Others opinion, especially folks that I respect, right? Because if they could give me a new perspective, I'd be like, try it [00:39:00] this way. Or, you know, have you done this? Like, it could save me. So I, you know, because this is not my new rodeo. I've realized that a lot of the reason why reasons why I've had the success that I've had is that I've had people that were adjacent to me, so they might have been a little further ahead or in industries that were similar and they could be like, do this.

Don't do that. Right? So I'm always really, um. Open to hearing advice, but there is also advice that you're like, it's irrelevant or like, you know, the ones that really don't help you to get to the next level, or you could tell, like, they don't have a real clue. So you have to be careful who you take advice from.

So that's why I said, it's like important to have folks that are. In alignment with what you're doing, or been where you are, because they are going to give you a different perspective. That can be quite useful to maybe somebody that has no idea. And then just like, you know, I think you should wear a bathing suit today.

And it's 29 degrees outside. Like, there's randomness that makes no sense. Right? So you have to like, you have to filter it, [00:40:00] um, and sit with it and even those that are close to you might make a suggestion that you don't go. I'm not saying you go with everything, but I think it's good to. I always question, I ask a lot of questions, and sometimes for me, people take that as me not valuing what they say, and it's not that, because I was like, I pick you apart, like, and I'm picking the advice, not you, but I'm picking the advice apart, because I'm trying to find the holes, because not, more so because maybe I'm really considering it versus not, it's just I want to make sure we've thought of all the different things that could happen, um, but my dad always taught me to question.

And ask questions. And so I've been a big questioner my whole life, but sometimes people are like, why do you act like, I feel like you come on trial. I'm like, no, no, no. I'm just trying to work it out with you. Like going back and forth, but

Kt McBratney: Often asking questions is an underutilized tool. Like, I'm also a question asker.

Um, you know, and sometimes people are like, why, why are you still asking questions? And I'm like, because I [00:41:00] want to understand more because I'm, I'm pulling at pieces that some, it's, it's a sign that I'm engaged, not a sign that I'm not tracking.

Jilea Hemmings: Right, right. But I think that people that are so used to people not asking questions, they're offended when you start asking questions.

I was like, you want me to be, to care. Or confused,

Kt McBratney: right?

Jilea Hemmings: They're just like, wait, what?

Kt McBratney: Well, as a leader, do you think that there is a, an assumption that, that if you're the leader of a company or a team or a family, right, whatever the, the unit is, do you feel like question asking is something that like is underutilized?

And, or is something that's like really a tool that you go, it sounds like it's a tool you go back to often.

Jilea Hemmings: I think in life it's underutilized. I think that's part of the reason why we're where we are right now as a society is that we don't ask enough questions and we take things, you know, like, I think we've been indoctrinated our whole lives into a certain path.

Like, okay, if you're wearing a white coat, whatever they say must be true. You know what I mean? Like those types of things. And we've been taught not to question. And then when you [00:42:00] start to question, you know, you do find resistance because people are not used to being questioned. So if you go into like a doctor's office and you're like, so I did my own research on WebMD and open AI.

And it says that I'm like, they first thing they're like, Oh, don't do that. Right. But the reality is, but why not? I mean, like, why not ask? And then you need to come back Why maybe I should take your approach versus not, but let's have a real discussion versus you having a one sided discussion. So I think in general.

We don't ask enough questions as a society. I could talk about this for hours, like, I'm like, why aren't we asking questions and why aren't we digging deeper and why aren't we looking for facts and showing proof and showing different like proof sources beyond just someone saying so. I think we'd be in a different position just collectively, but I do that and I think it saved us as a family.

A lot. Um, and I credit my son to that because, you know, I was that kind of person like, oh, I guess that's what it is. But when you have a child that has a disability, [00:43:00] you start, you know, first, you're trying to fix your child. The second thing you're trying to do is figure out why it happened or what could have prevented it.

And in that process. I started to realize what I listened to and how that, how that, you know, contributed to what he has. And so for me, I was like, from this point forward, I'm not taking anybody at face value. I'm going to research and figure everything out and then come with my questions and be You know, have more, you know, knowledge behind whatever I'm doing and I, I credit him to that because he's, he has saved through him.

We have saved so many people literally. Um, and so I think it's something that we all need to do. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get so serious, but it's real. Like, I think it's something that we really need to do more of.

Kt McBratney: Well, two things just happened. One. You answered my next question without me even answering it or asking it, which is what's a hill you would die on so Sounds like that and I'm here for it and [00:44:00] to you you provided a really refreshing take For the startup world in particular which has been long embedded in this mantra of move fast and break things right like Push the status quo, but don't necessarily ask questions.

Go fast because that's just what we do. Um, and you know, that's something that even when we just, uh, we just onboarded a new, uh, company into our venture studio and During that process, like our team is asking a bunch of questions, right? And, and we make it clear that like, we're asking questions because we care, because we want to understand, because we want to see where there are opportunities.

We want to see where you have things, insights, data, ideas that like we don't. We want to learn those and, and know how we can best show up instead of being like, just send us a deck, give us your access to your data room. And, and we'll, we'll know it all. Like, I think that there's a presumptuousness, um, as well as a [00:45:00] degree of hubris with just saying that, like taking things only at face value and.

And especially when you're dealing with complicated things, um, and, and big opportunities that like, we just don't ask questions when spending, you know, pulling back on the move fast and break things and taking even a beat to say like, hold on, let me think. What about this instead of rushing to the next milestone?

Because we're just told that that's the right path. And I think that that's the reason why

Jilea Hemmings: it's actually a form of flattery. I mean, cause if you're not, you wouldn't ask questions to a dummy, would you? I mean, you wouldn't. I mean, actually engaging with you and asking you questions. That means I value what you have to say.

And I think there's been this misconception that questions is like a D value when it's actually a value

Kt McBratney: Sold. Yes. Stamp. I don't have a stamp, but I wish I had like a virtual stamp. Like, I don't know. Maybe we can do that and [00:46:00] figure out a sound effect for it. Exactly. Um, okay. Can you believe that we're at the last question?

This is like, time has flown and I love all of this. Let's leave folks with this, what is the most challenging thing about your job and what is your favorite thing that you get to do as the CEO of Nourish and Bloom?

Jilea Hemmings: The most challenging thing about my job is that I can't replicate myself, honestly. That's the one thing, because I could do more, um, and the thing that I am most excited about is when I see my vision come to life and what I mean by that is that someone goes through the store like we just had these 70 year old ladies a couple weeks ago and I was checking the ring camera because I heard a bing and I was like, you know, I'm still like, I'm like that mother trying to like, is everything okay?

You know, like I'm always that way. And so I look and I [00:47:00] get on the camera. I'm like, are you all okay? And they're like, yeah, we just left the store. We want to make sure we were charged. And then there was like, Ginger they like, like we bought Ginger. And I was like, you were charged like, oh my God. And it was like 70 something.

It was 10 o'clock at night, right. Like all the things that go against who is our ideal customer. And they were just so happy. Like they felt like I am shopping in the new digital age and this is amazing. And I was just like, it, like it brought me to tears. I was like, this is what I do this for. Like, you know, to.

allow two little ladies at 10 o'clock to get the ginger that they needed to probably make some tea that was probably doing

Kt McBratney: shop local

Jilea Hemmings: and shop local and be able to walk home. Like it was, it was like, that's it to me. I'm like every day that's hard. As long as I could feed someone that day, that probably would have had to have more challenges to get access to food.

We doing something right.

Kt McBratney: That's beautiful. All right, where can folks follow along? How can they connect with Nourish and Bloom? How can they connect with you?

Jilea Hemmings: Yeah, so right now, I mean I always say [00:48:00] i'm always accessible on so many things But social is great. Instagram is a phenomenal way to follow what we're doing and LinkedIn Um, we're actually doing a capital raise right now on WeFunder So the community built all of our stores thus far and so we are continuing with what has worked for us.

So Um, we're putting that out as well Um, and that's going to be on our instagram and our uh LinkedIn and you can always, um, go to our website too. So nourish and bloom market.com

Kt McBratney: amazing, amazing. We will drop all of that in the show notes. And if you're in, in the Atlanta area, nourish and Bloom has two locations open.

Come see us. Yes, you can come see the magic in person. Be one of those happy, happy customers. And if you're visiting from out of town, you can think about how maybe you can bring Nourish and Bloom to a community near you. Jule out. Thank you so much.

Jilea Hemmings: Thank you. This was so much fun.