Beginnings & Endings

<Carrie> I'm kind of in an inflection point with my business.

I have a lot of things ending and a lot of things beginning.

We need to move, because we are out of room.

We got to find our space.

<David> Absolutely.

<Carrie> Quickly.

<Carrie> How quickly can we get in here?

>> I'm so excited to hear about your next adventure.

<Bea> Is that for here or to go?

Opening a restaurant is... it's hard.

<Amy> We have lost a long-term customer.

<Carrie> The grocery business is so frustrating.

♪ Landlord in Atlanta, he's asking if we want to renew the lease because our lease is up.

Change is a-coming.

♪ <Carrie> I took my mom's best recipe and started selling handmade Southern biscuits.

Now I'm balancing a family, a business and biscuits every day.

Thank you so much.

I'm Carrie Morey, and this is How I Roll.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ <Amy> I just got a resignation letter from your daughter.

<Carrie> Yeah.

<Amy> Let's say, You knew it was coming?

<Carrie> Yeah, she had me, um, proof the email.

♪ Awww.

Caroline graduates in May, and she's definitely ready for the next chapter of her life.

<Caroline> I've worked at Callie's for three and a half years now.

I think I've served my purpose there.

I was just ready to move on.

<Carrie> We are hoping she'll come back at some point, at least to fill in.

<Amy> I like how she says she wants to grow in the food and bev world.

<Carrie> I know.

Should I tell her that's not a good idea?

<Amy> Yeah, that's what I want to tell her.

♪ <Caroline> I've made my decision.

I'm going to University of South Carolina in Columbia.

I'm very excited.

<Carrie> Rock'em.

Sock'em.

There's Cocky.

We should get a picture.

<Caroline> First step is orientation.

My mom's coming with me and she's very excited to see her old school.

<Carrie> You got to do this, right?

<Caroline> No.

I could just remember coming up here and we're like, the golden days.

It's like when we're like 10.

We had like cheerleader outfits.

We wanted to be cheerleaders so badly.

<Carrie> And I grew up doing that as well, and it was, it's a, <Caroline> Tradition <Carrie> It was a ritual.

<Carrie> It's what I grew up with.

We came to every game.

Well, how are your roommates?

Do you like them?

<Caroline> We've been coming up here forever, but I never actually toured like the physical campus.

It like seems super big, but when you're here everything's pretty close together.

<Carrie> I wonder if this is where people hang out.

This is very picturesque and a great place to study.

♪ I mean, I feel like you need one of these.

Du, du, du duh.

Caroline, wake up for class.

<Caroline> Don't do that.

[silence] <Caroline> Stop touching everything.

[silence] <Carrie> I'll do what my dad used to do to me when he would take me shopping.

You can have anything that you want, and you have three minutes to get it.

<Caroline> Okay.

<Carrie> Go.

<Caroline> Actually?

<Carrie> Yeah.

Three minutes.

Go.

<Caroline> To get anything I want.

<Carrie> Anything.

<Caroline> Okay.

[Carrie whispers] Not happening.

Wait till I tell her she can't have anything.

♪ [Carrie imitates a buzzer] Time's up.

<Caroline> What?

<Carrie> You missed the three minute mark.

<Caroline> Sweatshirt.

<Carrie> Sweatpants?

Do you need more sweatpants?

<Caroline> What am I going to buy here?

A t-shirt?

<Carrie> How about a cute little one word... <Caroline> Not that - that's yours.

<Carrie> ...sweatshirt with no hood?

I want the, I want the pajamas.

<Carrie> Fine, I'll buy you the pajamas.

That's it.

<Caroline> Okay.

So much for the three minute rule.

<Bookstore Employee> Here is your receipt.

<Caroline> Thank you so much.

<Carrie> Thank you.

♪ ♪ <David> So, good news.

You've got a lot of people that like where you're located now.

We are constantly getting requests for showings, almost to the point that we don't know what to tell them, because we're not in a position to quite respond until we figure out where you're going to go.

<Carrie> It's so frustrating that we can't find a place to move, and we've been, you know, looking for a few months now.

We got to find our space.

<David> Absolutely.

<Carrie> Quickly.

<Carrie> Nice.

<David> All right.

This used to be the K-mart, and inside the K-mart, it used to be the portion of the grocery.

<Carrie> Perfect.

<David> So, it's somewhat setup for the start of what we're looking for.

<Carrie> I wonder if they have like floor drains and all that would make life a lot easier and cheaper for me.

<David> Yes.

<Carrie> Look at those colors.

It's like I was meant to be here.

I can totally see it.

I mean, it needs a lot of work, but it's, it's basic work.

<David> Yeah.

<Carrie> You know, how quickly can we get in here?

<David> We really could get it accomplished in 90 days.

<Carrie> That's awesome.

<David> Yep.

<Carrie> We've got test kitchen classes, catering here, production, all along here.

Then we've got the shipping with the freezer and the dock door.

I definitely want that, that second level office area.

So, I want to add that in.

Amy...You got to come see this.

I know you - <Amy> Hi.

<David> How are you doing?

<Amy> Good.

How are ya?

<David> Good.

<Carrie> I think this is the space.

<Amy> We have production.

We have shipping on here.

<Carrie> Look at those stripes.

But look at how open it is.

<Amy> You're keeping the stripes?

<Carrie> Heck yeah, we're bringing back the stripes.

[David laughs] It's like all of our... our colors.

I think this is the one, I mean, I need you to make this happen.

<David> Absolutely.

Absolutely.

We'll drive the landlord.

<Carrie> I need it to be very cost effective.

<Amy> I'm not going to get excited... <David> I know.

<Amy> ...until you tell us, "They accepted."

<David> Yes.

<Carrie> I know.

♪ <Carrie> Bea, who worked with me at Hot Little Biscuit for many years, and who worked at Java Java, is coming today to share some of her menu items from her new restaurant, Cafe Eugenia out on Kiawah Island.

♪ <Bea> Well, I've been vacationing on Kiawah for over 30 years.

I met my husband on Kiawah.

While helping Carrie open her places, there might have been a little seed in the back of my mind that thought maybe one day I'll have my own spot out near Kiawah.

♪ <Carrie> I'm so excited.

You know, my favorite meetings always have food.

So, this looks absolutely fabulous.

I'm so excited <Bea> Thank you.

to hear about your next adventure.

<Carrie> So, tell me about all this delicious food.

<Bea> Yeah, this is our kale salad.

This has a creamy tahini dressing on it.

And then there's some tart cherries and some <Carrie> Mmmm.

toasted pistachios and a little bit of Parmesan cheese.

<Carrie> I love it.

This cherry is like the perfect thing to be in a salad.

<Bea> It's, I like, >> I love the tartness of it.

<Bea> That's what I like.

I like that it's a little more hearty than a cranberry.

and it's definitely more tart than a cranberry, as well.

So.

<Carrie> It's delicious!

<Carrie> So, at Cafe Eugenia, will you have seating?

Is it catering?

Like what is your plan?

<Bea> We are going to have a few tables and chairs inside and outside.

It overlooks this awesome pond that has a sunset that comes over it.

So, people can come in and order salad to sit and stay and have a glass of wine, but it's also a lot of grab and go.

So, I did want to ask you though, you know, I'm getting to that point where I'm about to start hiring or try to start hiring and you know, I know we were in the thick of it, but is it getting any better?

<Carrie> Just recently it's gotten a little bit better.

I think what has really kept our employees happy is the tip share.

I think that's key.

I think signing bonuses are key, referrals.

<Bea> The tip share, absolutely for the whole team.

It's not going to be a front of the house, back of the house.

<Carrie> No.

Yeah.

<Bea> Yeah, I just think it's so important to create a team and a culture.

<Carrie> Now that Java Java is in the rearview mirror, what is the one biggest thing that you learned about that experience?

<Bea> Don't always think of it as a negative if something doesn't work.

It wasn't meant to be and that's okay.

And instead of letting it get you down, let it motivate you to do something better with it.

<Carrie> I'm proud of you.

<Bea> Thank you.

I mean, <Carrie> This is going to be amazing.

I cannot wait.

♪ ♪ <Bea> Bacon, got a case.

How do we look on heavy cream?

♪ You are now standing in Cafe Eugenia.

♪ Magic commercial oven or so I'm told.

Part of the reason why I got this was so I could sell these biscuits for breakfast.

This biscuit that I just put in there frozen is supposed to come out beautifully fluffy and hot.

So, we will see.

♪ The moment of truth here.

Uh oh.

I don't think we're quite there yet on the biscuit testing.

♪ but as soon as we master this, we'll be ready to open.

♪ music ends ♪ <Carrie> I have not been out here in forever.

This is nice.

<Amy> I like the sign.

<Amy> Those are old.

Remember we had the yellow ones?

>> Yeah.

<Carrie> Hi.

<Bea> Hi.

<Carrie> Special delivery.

<Amy> Oh hi!

<Carrie> Oh my God, it's gorgeous!

<Bea> Come around.

<Amy> It smells good in here, too.

<Carrie> Oh my God, it's fabulous.

<Bea> We're going to sell hot biscuits for breakfast.

Some hot Callie's bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches and sausage biscuit.

So, we're really excited about that.

So, we're going to give ourselves a couple weeks to get the kinks out.

<Carrie> Smart.

How big is this space?

<Bea> It's 1500.

<Carrie> It seems so much bigger.

<Bea> And then they brought some cheese crisps and some biscuit mix and some other fun retail items.

So, we're excited to have them.

<Carrie> This is the frosé?

<Bea> Yes, are you going to take some with you?

<Carrie> No, I just want to taste a little bit.

<Bea> They really did help me get to where I am.

<Amy> Like I'm going to use a spoon.

<Carrie> I'm just going to use my tongue.

<Carrie> They're good.

<Bea> I'm just so happy they were able to see it and that I have their support.

<Amy> Okay, love you.

Give me a hug.

It's been way too long.

<Bea> Thank you so much.

<Amy> Proud of you.

<Bea> Thank you for everything.

<Carrie> So excited.

<Bea> Thank you.

<Carrie> This is so awesome.

<Carrie> Let me know if I can do anything for you.

<Bea> It just means the world to me.

♪ <Amy> Well, yesterday afternoon, late afternoon, we heard some really big, sad, devastating news that has taken me 12 hours to process.

But we have lost a long-term customer that we've had for almost 11 years and it's a heartbreaker.

[cup bangs onto desk] <Carrie> I am just so disappointed that we've been in that store for 11 years and a mass produced, lesser biscuit that's cheaper from a company, a person who doesn't even... isn't even a biscuit maker comes in.

<Amy> Well, look at you being Miss Negative Nelly.

I'm the negative one here.

Why are you turning that around?

<Carrie> I'm not being negative.

I'm just... <Amy> We're going to use this to learn from... <Carrie> I'm just, I guess...Oh, I know.

<Amy> We're going to get through this.

<Carrie> I guess I'm just disappointed.

They're like the ones that we started with.

It's...The grocery business is so frustrating because I feel like we work so hard, and we don't make any money.

You know?

It's just, it makes me think should we re-evaluate the whole business and not even concentrate on getting stores but just put all of our resources into e-commerce?

<Amy> Do you know what's sad?

Is that business has never been better.

<Carrie> I know.

<Amy> With those stores, but yet they're going to make more money off of the other customer.

<Carrie> It's not going to hurt us.

I mean it will hurt.

It hurts my ego.

It hurts my...

It'll hurt our pocketbook a little bit.

It's just disappointing.

It's disappointing, but we will continue to try to fight our way to get back in too.

[Amy sighs] <Carrie> Oh, Calgon, take me away.

♪ ♪ ♪ <Jason> It's good to be able to take a step back maybe a 1000-foot view and say here, here's our product.

Here... here's our competition and, and how do we objectively cut or compare to them?

<Carrie> Going into the taste test I was a little nervous because I've never tasted our biscuits against the competition, which is kind of embarrassing to admit, but I haven't.

<Lindsay> So, you've got four brands here today.

Company A, B, C and D. We're trying to make sure that the products that we have, that they're the right products, the right flavors, that we're at the right retail price point, that our packaging is on point.

We just want to capture feedback and see what y'all think.

All right?

♪ music begins ♪ <Carrie> That's raw.

<Peter> Yeah!

<Carrie> I actually said that was the best part of their biscuit, was the sausage.

<Employee> I agree with you.

[intelligible] <Carrie> Which one was that?

>> Yeah, something is really wrong with those.

♪ <Lindsay> All right, so some pretty distinct differences, huh.

So, Company A, what are your thoughts?

<Peter> Texture was a little flat.

<Carrie> Gummy.

Gummy.

<Employee> Raw.

<Ashley> Doughy.

<Peter> Too compressed.

<Lindsay> All right, feedback on Company B.

<Peter> It was very unappealing to me because it was greasy.

<Carrie> Yeah.

<Peter> I expect a biscuit, in my mind, to be light fluffy, airy not look greasy.

<Lindsay> Yeah.

Visual matters a lot.

All right.

Company C?

Come on, Carrie, tell us all about it?

<Carrie> Well, I...

I know this company well, and I love the founder, I've tasted... [laughter] <Carrie> Just kidding.

<Lindsay> What I was trying to get from this group today is let's look at what's out there, because that's what we're up against when we're trying to sell our product in.

I think our biggest challenge right now is just getting it in people's mouths, you can taste a difference.

It's the same thing with the pimento cheese.

Once you can taste it, you realize that there's a difference.

I think we were able to glean some really important information from today.

<Carrie> What I learned was that ours was, by far, the best tasting, looking, packaged product, but it's also the most expensive which is, the problem.

All right.

It's nap time guys.

Let's go.

Get out your mats.

[laughter] <Amy> Get out your mats.

[laughter] ♪ ♪ <Bea> I need six sausage biscuits... <Employee> Okay.

<Bea> ...a bacon quiche, and an avo toast.

We have people in here.

They seem really happy and they're waiting on a little bit of food, but I think that's a good problem to have.

<Bea> Okay.

♪ <Carrie> What Bea is doing is a huge success.

It's on a whole nother level.

It's stunning, well thought out, needed and I think she'll be wildly successful.

♪ <Bea> We have solved the biscuit problem.

We just throw them in the parchment bag and warm them up for three minutes and we're ready to go.

♪ All right, let's see how they did in here.

So, we've got our nicely golden brown biscuits, couple of orange slices, a little butter, a little jam.

♪ It's ready to go.

♪ music ends ♪ Opening a restaurant is... it's hard.

You need to make sure you have a great team and a great support system.

Otherwise, it does become an animal that you have to be there every day.

You have to make sure it's being taken care of every day.

[intelligible] And we've got wine on the shelves, and they come have lunch, and have a glass of wine, and look out at the view, and it's great.

It's exactly what I wanted it to be, so.

[giggles] ♪ ♪ <Carrie> I just got an email from Stuart, landlord in Atlanta, and he's asking if we want to renew the lease because our lease is up.

<Amy> I knew that was coming.

♪ <Carrie> I know we've been struggling.

I think it's been a good run.

<Michael> Two chives, two cinnamon, one bacon egg and cheese and three buttermilks?

[bag rustling] <Carrie> I talked to Michael about it this morning.

<Amy> They have an awesome staff.

That's the hardest part.

<Carrie> That is the hardest part.

♪ <Employee> Michael.

Five minutes on gluten free.

<Michael> Got that, thank you.

<Employee> Thank you <Carrie> I don't know.

We have a lot to talk about.

<Customer> Thank you.

<Michael> Thank you so much.

<Customer> Have a good day.

<Michael> You do the same.

♪ <Carrie> Hey y'all.

I wanted to let you know from me that after seven years in Atlanta, our Hot Little Biscuit bake shop is closing today.

[silence] We closed Atlanta and you know... [gasps] it's been a great run.

We've been there for almost seven years.

Our lease was up.

After about three or four months of, of not being profitable, it became very evident that the only reason that I was keeping the business open was because I love the team there.

[silence] But as you get bigger, and you have more mouths to feed, and everyone's livelihood is depending on you, including your own, you, you have to make decisions that are best for the company.

I do think that there is a huge opportunity for this concept to be way bigger, but I am not the person that's going to take it there.

♪ ♪ I'm a huge believer in the universe, and the signs were clear and in my face that it may not be time for us to make a move and make a huge financial decision.

[silence] We've lost some business, some major business.

Uh, the economy is volatile.

I think we need to wait, and when the time is right, we'll do it.

So instead, we're going to expand and make some changes at our current bakery.

<Lindsay> What we want to walk through and better understand is just process.

<Carrie> I think the hardest part for me was how I was going to tell our team that we're so excited about a new bakery.

[appliances humming] <Elmer> <Ashley> Oh, that was tough.

<Lindsay> It makes it a little bit harder.

You know, we're constrained by the four walls.

<Elmer> I'm not giving up hope on a new production facility in the future, but right now, we need to work with what we have.

<Lindsay> Right!

So, we can make more today.

<Amy> Yup...Exactly.

<Lindsay> We just can't store it.

<Ashley> At the end of the day, we try to figure out how we can make this one, more efficient.

We need to reevaluate how we're storing product, the overall flow of product into the facility, and maybe we'll see how we can rearrange some rooms in order to make it a little more efficient.

<Elmer> So far, the back deck has been re-done.

So, we got a natural loading dock.

With stairs out there, two additional freezers out there.

<Ashley> We switched the hardwood floor that we used to have which is difficult to clean, difficult to maintain to a tile floor.

<Lindsay> I don't think it's ideal, but I think you got to play with the cards you're dealt.

So, I think we've got to roll our sleeves up and figure it out.

<Carrie> You never want to disappoint anyone, but I have a lot of people that are counting on me to make good decisions.

♪ We can still grow.

We can still reach our goals, but do it a little closer to home.

♪ <Carrie> We're having a leadership supper.

All my team leaders are coming over, and I'm going to feed '‘em corndogs, and succotash salad and slaw, and just have a little fellowship and fun.

♪ We've got really good tomatoes, and corn and butter beans.

So, we're going to mix, mix these together with some okra that I'm going to roast, and then add some cheese and fresh basil, and that's the salad with corndogs.

All right, thank you so much.

<Employee> Thank you, Sweetie.

Have a good day <Carrie> Good to see you.

Stay cool.

<Employee> You too.

<Carrie> Take care.

♪ ♪ >> My business is not close to what I want it to be, no where near.

But, we're going to always keep trying to get better and do more.

So, here's what I've decided to do.

We are going to stay in Charleston, and stay focused, and grow the business slowly, and steadily.

We're going to take on the business that we have and make it better and work on being profitable, and we're going to see what the day brings us, every single day.

♪ [indistinct chatter] ♪ [indistinct chatter] ♪ <Carrie> Team, y'all come on in.

Who needs a little refresher?

I think y'all know that this has been a very difficult year for me, personally, and definitely in 16 years at Callie's, the most challenging year, yet.

I wanted you to know how much I appreciate each and every one of you and I wouldn't want to do it without you.

So, on that note, cheers.

<Everyone> Cheers.

<Carrie> Let's eat.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪