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The Startup Junkies Podcast

The Startup Junkies podcast is hosted by Jeff Amerine and the team at Startup Junkie. We’ll cover topics ranging from getting started, planning, growing your business, proving your concept, leadership, marketing, exit strategies and so much more. We’ll interview business owners, entrepreneurs, experts and people we think will bring value to our audience. Subscribe, and together we'll take your business to the next level.
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This is the Startup Junkies Podcast. These are the stories of the people that are afflicted with creating the next great products and services that are going to change lives - not just in America, but worldwide. We're going to tell the stories of the next great beer producer, products and apparel makers, and the stories of people that don't accept the status quo and that want to make things better. 

Welcome to the Startup Junkies Podcast.

Dec 11, 2023

Summary

On this episode of Startup Junkies, hosts Caleb Talley, Jeff Amerine, and Victoria Dickerson talk to Austin Simkins, co-founder of Natural Way Food Group, an innovative food company based in Fayetteville, Arkansas. In 2017, Austin and his brother Quinn started their journey in their grandmother's utility room with a family recipe for chocolate covered peanut butter. Natural Way Food Group has since grown to sell peanut butter in six different flavors in over one thousand stores across the country, including Walmart, Safeway, Sprouts, and Whole Foods. Throughout the episode, Austin discusses how Natural Way Food Group’s products differ from its competitors, what’s on the horizon for Natural Way Food Group, and how its marketing tactics are community driven.

 

Show Notes

(0:56) Introducing Austin Simkins

(1:37) The Start of Natural Way Food Group

(6:02) The Process and Struggles of Building a Business

(10:21) Natural Way Food Group’s Peanut Butter vs. Others

(14:09) Natural Way Food Group’s Target Market

(16:28) The Impact Sports Can Have on Entrepreneurship

(19:27) What’s Next for Natural Way Food Group

(30:45) How Natural Way Food Group Is Reaching Its Customer Base

(40:00) Advice to Younger Self

(42:18) Closing Thoughts

 

Links

Caleb Talley

Jeff Amerine 

Victoria Dickerson

Austin Simkins

Natural Way Food Group

 

Quotes

“For me personally, since I wasn’t the most talented athlete, I had to outwork people. And so that’s the same mentality I have with our business. I may not be the smartest guy in the room, but I will outwork you. I will put in more hours than you do. I will find a way to get over whatever hurdle I have in my way to get to the next point.” - Austin Simkins, (17:14)

“Building those relationships at the end of the day, I can love my job, I can make as much peanut butter as I can make, but if I don’t have customers that love the product and believe in what we’re doing, it doesn’t matter. So they are the lifeblood of the company. I want to connect with people on the deepest scale that we can.” - Austin Simkins, (33:10)

“Trust the process. The first couple of years when we started, it was the expectation that things would happen overnight, and I think that’s part of our culture of instant gratification. We’re just inundated with it. We put in a little bit of work and we want the finished result right now...but as I’ve gotten a little bit older, I’ve just fallen in love with the process. I’ve had a couple of mentors that have told me if you can learn to love the process instead of the results, you could do this your entire life.” - Austin Simkins, (40:06)