Bryce Fluellen:
Hey, glad to be here. Thank you.

Simon Mainwaring:
And Bryce, I actually did a bit of research and I found that you actually started out as a teacher. So how does a teacher go from that profession to making impact at scale in the food business?

Bryce Fluellen:
Yeah, I actually have a culinary background. I’m a chef by trade. And so teaching is a transferable skill. We all can teach. And so what I did is, I taught young people across south LA, east LA, Long Beach, and even Santa Ana, nutrition, education and basic cooking skills. So I was blessed, Simon, to work with over about 10,000 kids and families, specifically in underserved areas, with limited access to nutritious food. And this was with American Heart Association, and so it was really about engaging young people and the importance of what they put in their body, but also teaching them how to cook it, and so they can empower themselves to be able to make those choices on their own. Bryce Fluellen: And so, I mean, teaching is something that, like I said, is something transferable. We all have the skill set to do, and we all can teach someone else. And so that’s how I got into Every Table. Actually, I met Sam, our CEO and founder, while I was working with American Heart Association, and he was starting his nonprofit at the time, which is called Feast, which is a nutrition education program for adults.

Simon Mainwaring:
And so, it’s interesting. I think a lot of people appreciate that there are those who have greater access to food and those who don’t. But through your unique line of sight, working with all of these kids in an underserved community, is just how acute is this problem? And what’s this impact on people’s lives when they don’t have access to healthy food regularly?

Bryce Fluellen:
I can’t remember which surgeon general it was, Simon, but the surgeon general said that because of limited access to food and a lot of the preventable diseases, that young people were now suffering from type two diabetes. That this could have been the first generation that would not live longer than their parents. So that statement within itself says a lot, right? So you have young people who are suffering from diseases that are preventable. There’s a lot of different reasons why, but one of those reasons is limited access to the food that they need to nourish their bodies.

Simon Mainwaring:
And also it’s not just their problem. And I don’t mean to sound unkind about it, but sometimes all of us are guilty of thinking there’s a problem over there and not here. It affects all of us in terms of the burden on the healthcare system, generational sort of illness, and so on. What have you seen play out if we don’t really address this problem?

Bryce Fluellen:
I think you hit the nail on the head. I mean, it’s something that impacts every one of us, right? So when you have young people who, or places in this country and across the world where people aren’t able to live their best because of limited access to nutritious food, along with other things, then that helps us and prevents us from being able to be as strong as a country as that we could be, right? You can think about limited access to education. I mean, all these things intersect. And if we have a majority or a lot of people in our country who just don’t have that chance to lead healthy and productive lives, then that’s something that’s hurting us as a country overall.

Simon Mainwaring:
And let’s talk about the root causes of that problem before we go to the solution, because sometimes we forget that all of these things are connected. It could be the infrastructure, like where do highways go? And where are the access points to highway? Where are the investments made at a neighborhood level, community level, statewide level, national level? Give us a sense of how complex the issue is.

Bryce Fluellen:
It’s extremely complex, Simon. I learned that immediately, working with young people. Before I started teaching, I had no idea or the term food desert or some would like to properly say the proper term is food apartheid, because what you just talked about, you said systems, right? And these systems weren’t created by happenstance. And so you can actually directly tie limited access to food to the divestment that was made in a lot of these neighborhoods across the country.

Bryce Fluellen:
And then tie that to policies, for example, redlining and housing policies, that prevented people or made people live, or couldn’t move out of a certain neighborhood. So you take that along with the divestment of money from these neighborhoods, and then you have a perfect storm of what we see today. And so you see neighborhoods across this country where people don’t have access to healthier food, but they also don’t have access to a competitive education. They may not also have access to jobs that are going to put them in the position where they can take care of their families. So like you said, it’s complex and all of these things intersect. Simon Mainwaring: And paint us a picture, again, because all of us drive past and we see homelessness, we see underserved communities or neighborhoods, and we feel that this isn’t right. But paint a picture of the choices that a young person might have in an especially underserved community in terms of their health and wellbeing.

Bryce Fluellen:
Yeah. If you go to certain neighborhoods here in LA, we’re in LA, the LA area, all you have is access to fast food. You have liquor stores that have processed food. So you see an abundance of that, almost a swamp of these choices that are, from a financial standpoint, they hit the pocketbook because they’re cheap and you can afford them. But from a health standpoint, we know that they can be disruptive, particularly if you eat it on a consistent basis. But if all that is, what’s surrounding you and it, and you may have one grocery store within a three or four mile radius, that’s what you’re going to consume. Always tell people, it’s easy to say, hey, all you got to do is make a better choice and eat healthy. But the fact of the matter is we’re going to eat what we have access to and what’s in our neighborhoods. And if what’s in our neighborhoods is predominantly fast food, high sugar, high salt, that’s what we’re going to consume.

Simon Mainwaring:
Completely. And especially when families in those communities might be working two or three jobs, the parents, and you’ve got to provide for the family. You have limited time. And it just compounds and compounds. And then suddenly, a lot of the system is working against you rather than for you. But on a personal level, what made you, you’re a trained chef, you’re an educator, but what made you make that pivotal decision to say, you know what, I’m going to step up and I’m actually going to play a role in addressing this problem> what was that personal shift?

Bryce Fluellen:
Yeah, I think the personal shift actually was something that could be considered somewhat selfish, right? I was impacted personally. My family, my father has had kidney disease and actually started off with type two diabetes, led to kidney disease and kidney failure. I’ve had two grandmothers that have had strokes. And I started to suffer from high blood pressure and so I started to say, hey, I need to make some changes within myself, and looked at food and what I was consuming is that first place where I would start. Bryce Fluellen: Then I got the opportunity from there. Then I got the opportunity to work with young people. And as I’m working with young people and really excited and passionate about teaching them how to cook and how to eat healthier, I realized pretty quickly, Simon, that, hey, this is just one solution, providing awareness and a skillset to be able to cook your own food. But if you don’t have it in your neighborhood, then it’s pretty hard to do, to make that choice.

Bryce Fluellen:
And so what that, Simon, led me down to is, I needed to go back to school. I needed to educate myself. And so I started to connect with a lot of grassroots organizations here in LA that do a lot of food justice work and connect with those leaders and really learn from them and really start to educate myself on the complexity of the issue, right? So I thought, oh, it’s just about choice. And if you make people aware and if they learn how to do it, then they’ll make that decision. And like I said, I learned, oh, that’s just one place to be able to make a change. Bryce, if you really want to make a real change, then you got to really get into the systemic stuff and really learn more about that. So that’s what led me down this path.

Simon Mainwaring:
Yeah. You got to address the root cause. Otherwise, you’re just putting band aids on the solution. And I know you worked with Magic Johnson Enterprises at one point, and he’s famous for his philanthropic efforts and so on. Is there anything you took away from that wonderful relationship you had with him?

Bryce Fluellen:
Yeah. I mean, so much. I learned so much, Simon. One of the things that I learned is really to really understand the community, right? President of Magic Johnson Enterprises or Johnson Development Corporation, which is the arm that had the partnerships with Starbucks, TGI Fridays and Lowe’s Theater, he said something in the beginning as I was working there, he would tell me, Bryce, you can’t know something 20,000 feet away. And so what that meant to me, and that still resonates, is that you really have to be in these communities.

Bryce Fluellen:
You really have to have a culture competency. You have to spend time, you have to talk to people, because the people that are living there are the ones who have the solutions, right? And so oftentimes we come in with these ideas of what we think a problem is and what a solution is, but we haven’t spent time in the community talking to the people who are the ones that are dealing with it on a day to day basis. So that’s one thing, which is a big thing that I learned from them.

Bryce Fluellen:
The second thing is the ability to connect with people, regardless of who they are. I saw Magic open up doors, make people feel comfortable, make people feel like he knew them, even if he just met them. And so that’s something that goes a long way and just learning how to build trust, and people to understand that you truly care, which he did. And so those are two things that resonate on what I learned from that experience.

Simon Mainwaring:
You made a really important point there, which is, there’s a lot of good intentions out there to address all these issues from climate to other issues. And often it happens at a very high strategic level with lofty institutions involved, and so on. But change happens on the ground. It happens person by person in a local community. Is there anything you’d share from what you saw at the American Heart Association or Magic Johnson Enterprises to that end?

Bryce Fluellen:
Yeah, you said it perfectly, Simon. I would tell people that, look, oftentimes we do not empower the people who are suffering from the issues the most. And that’s something that I learned. That it’s really about, like you said, the people who are on the ground, grassroots, and really engaging them, empowering them to understand that they can use their voice and that they have influence.

Bryce Fluellen:
I don’t think a lot of us do that well. We often think, particularly if we have positions of power, that we are the ones that should always be driving the decisions or making solutions, and we don’t include the people who are suffering from a lot of these issues that we talk about. And so I would like to see a lot more of that, particularly when you look at, when you talk about people of color, like even the environmental climate thing. I mean, I don’t see a lot of people that look like me, and I know they’re out there, but I don’t see them getting platforms to really talk about environmental issues and climate ssues.

Simon Mainwaring:
So I’m going to put you on the spot, Bryce, for a second. If you were to speak to anyone about any impact initiative they wanted to have, it’s not specific to food and food deserts, but any initiative and you wanted to really leverage the local community as well, what, what are three points, like a three point plan you might say for how to approach it?

Bryce Fluellen:
Yeah. First I would say, reach out to the people in your local area. They’re out there. I mean, we have this powerful tool at our disposal called Google and the internet where I guarantee you, Simon, that if you Google, let’s say, for example, you’re really passionate about education and education change and changing education and making education more equitable. If you Google that and you Google who’s doing work, you will find people that are doing the work, give them a call, tell them, hey, I’m here to learn. So that’ll be the second thing.I would come in and say, I’m really here to learn. I want to help, but first I want to learn. And connect with those people and those individuals, and then be consistent in that and give your time, but also give yourself an opportunity to really listen.

Bryce Fluellen:
I would say that would be the third thing. Listen. So once you go into working with people who are already doing the work, take time to listen to them, take time to research, take time to hear what they have to say and have that humility coming in. And then as you learn and research and spend time with people who are experts in this in particular situation, you will enable yourself to be able to really help.

Simon Mainwaring:
Yeah, I couldn’t agree more, and I’ll tell you why. There’s a presumption or an assumption by brands that consumers, citizens, communities, want them to ride in and save the day. And in fact, many local communities are so frustrated that they’ve taken to self organizing themselves around the issues they care about most. And they’re doing a lot of the heavy lifting, the work on the ground. So brands almost need to be invited in these days. You can’t come in with an arrogance or presumption that the brand has to save the day. So I think listening and learning is absolutely spot on. Nd so if anyone wants to have an impact, start at the grassroots level, learn as much as you can, listen to what you’re being told, and then collaborate to that end.

Simon Mainwaring:
So, Bryce, let’s turn to Every Table. It’s doing something truly unique. And one of the things that really jumped out to me is the fact that you actually price the meals based on the location. So give us an overview of Every Table and some of the specifics.

Bryce Fluellen:
Yeah, it isn’t that great, Simon? I mean, you can get meals between $5 to $9, fresh prepared, chef prepare meals. So Every Table is a social enterprise, mission driven company whose mission is actually to make nutritious food accessible and affordable to everyone everywhere. And so that price point is one way we do that, and we price our food to the neighborhood, the medium income of the neighborhood. As we talked about recognizing the systemic issues that we face in this country, we know that in some areas where a medium income is $20,000, that we couldn’t price our meal at $8 to $9 there, so we have it $5 to $6. And then if you go to more affluent neighborhoods, let’s say like Brentwood, the meal would be between $8 to $9. And so it’s not charity, it’s just the recognition of making our food more accessible and the systemic things that make that prevent people from having that access to nutritious, affordable food.

Bryce Fluellen:
And so how do we do that? So we have a commissary model, meaning that all of our food is made freshly every day in Vernon, which is right outside of downtown LA. We have a 30,000 square foot facility. So all the food is brought in there. We have all kind of different vendors. And so we bring that food in there. And then we have our chefs who create recipes, and then we have a production staff that makes the food, then we assemble the food there as well. And then we have our own distribution channel, so we have our own logistic and fleet of trucks that are refrigerated, about 70 of those. Bryce Fluellen: And then we have an omnichannel model. What that means is that we have stores. So here in LA, we have about 25 stores now, and, Simon, we’ll have 60 here in LA County by the end of the year. We also have a subscription model where people can order the food online and get it delivered to their house or apartment. We have about 5,000 to 6,000 customers every week. And then we have a food service channel.

Bryce Fluellen:
Now, Simon, this started during the pandemic. When we had to shut all of our stores down. We put out a call and said, hey, if anybody needs nutritious food delivered, we have the capabilities to do that. And that led to a number of contracts with city agencies and even community colleges. And then lastly, we have a vending machine business, Smart Fridges, where people can get Every Table food in their office building. It’s internet capable, so you put your credit card in there, pull a meal out. And we fill that up weekly with our logistics team. And so we’re trying to be wherever customers are, Simon, and making sure that our food is accessible, but also it’s between that $5 to $9 price point.

Simon Mainwaring:
I mean, to have fresh food, chef made food, with all the logistical challenges of that at a price point that makes it accessible to everybody, and then these delivery formats in offices and so on. It’s what the businessman, the entrepreneur in me, wants to say, is it just the economies of scale that make that possible? Because if this is possible, why haven’t others been doing it before? It’s a head scratcher.

Bryce Fluellen:
Yeah. Well, I’ll say that, yes, it is economies of scale. And then, the more we grow… Our goal is one day that we’ll be able to those meals at between $4 to $6. And so we do that, to your point, the more we grow. Why others don’t do it? It’s complex. When I talk to you about the different channels, so we have about four different businesses within one, right? And so it’s not easy. We have an amazing team of individuals and leaders that I get to work with every day, from our store staff, to our commissary staff, to our leaders that run everything from logistics, to supply chain, to store operations. So it takes an amazing team and it takes a lot of work. And so I would say that, why people don’t do it, it’s definitely a challenge, but a challenge that we understand that if we can accomplish, we’ll change the landscape of what food looks like in the food system in this country. And so it’s a huge task and a vision.

Bryce Fluellen:
But for me personally, I like to be alongside people who have vision, individuals who see things that to your point, why isn’t everybody isn’t doing it? Because everybody hasn’t seen it, or if they see it, they don’t have the foresight and the fortitude to go after it. So I like to be able to be working alongside people who see something that doesn’t fully exist and we try to make it come to life.

Simon Mainwaring:
And would you say that the vertical integration in as much as you’re making the food, you’re shipping it, you’ve got your own sort of kiosks in offices and so on, is that the sort of secret unlock because you don’t have all those middle men or women that carve out a piece of the profit and therefore bump the prices up? Is that where the unlock is?

Bryce Fluellen:
I think that’s one area. But another, if you look at the fact that we do not have kitchens in our stores, for example, that’s where we’re able to have savings as well, which allows us a couple things. One, it helps us be able to reduce our average build out costs. And so for those who don’t know, build out is a term that’s used in the restaurant industry on how much it costs to build a restaurant or a unit. So our average cost right now is between $275 to $300. We only need between 500 to 1,500 square foot, so we don’t need a lot of space.

Bryce Fluellen:
Another part of it, Simon, as well, is because we do not have kitchens, we don’t pay that. We’re not building out. And that’s a huge cost to build out a kitchen. And we don’t need as much labor in store as some of the other competitors, right? So you can run a store with between one to two people. Where if you look at some other models where you’re making food in that particular location, and you have kitchens in there, not one, you’re paying that cost for the kitchen build out, but two, sometimes you’re going to need between six to 10 people which puts the cost… You got to add that cost onto the food, that passes on to consumers.

Simon Mainwaring:
It’s super smart. And as you say, the more you grow, the greater the cost efficiencies you can establish. Where are you planning to expand next? You’ve got LA, you’ve got San Diego. What’s the big vision, the big plan?

Bryce Fluellen:
Yeah. We’re going to New York this year. We’re excited about that. That’s going to push us to develop a skillset that

Simon Mainwaring:
And a patience level.

Bryce Fluellen:
A patience level, right? It’ll be a smaller footprint to start off, maybe four or five stores, subscription around those zip codes where the stores are. A smaller commissary that’s between probably 4,000 to 5,000 square feet. I could be a little off on that. And so we have a couple key leaders that we’ve hired a few months ago, and then we’re continuing to build that. So that’s exciting.

Simon Mainwaring:
I mean, from a business point of view it’s very exciting, but from a human capital, from a flesh and blood, from people’s lives, for kids and their futures, it’s just extraordinary. And give us a sense of the menu, because sometimes you see a lot of the fast casual restaurants out there, do you have a limited menu and that helps the efficiencies we’re talking about or what spectrum of foods or meals do you offer? Bryce Fluellen: We have hot bowls. So we have a kit, a chicken curry meal that’s one of our most popular, a turkey taco bowl. And then we also, for example, we partnered with a restaurant here, a black owned restaurant here in south LA called Post and Beam last black history month and developed a meal with their chef. It’s a Creole chicken gravy bowl, so it has roasted chicken with the Creole gravy, spinach, brown rice, black eyed peas, and sweet potatoes, between $7 to $8. So that’s the type of meal that if you went into the restaurant, you’re probably going to pay $20 or more.

Simon Mainwaring:
You’re making everybody hungry right now. You’re just painting a picture right now.

Bryce Fluellen:
That’s the point. And so those are meals that you can get heated up within the store. You can take those home, and that’s more of the dinner type of meal. We also, Simon, have salad. We have a shrimp salad that we just launched a month ago with asparagus. And then we have wraps as well. So we have a pesto chicken wrap, we have a falafel wrap, more on the lunch spectrum.

Simon Mainwaring:
And how do you finance this model? It’s a franchise network, but obviously you want to support those who might not have the means to launch a franchise in their own right, even with the cost efficiencies you mentioned. So how are you rolling it out?

Bryce Fluellen:
Yeah, I’ll go back. I’ll even go back a little bit. So from a company perspective, we’re a corporation and we just actually finished the series C last year and raised almost $40 million in series C. What you’re talking about specifically is the franchise program. And so this was something that was a vision of Sam back in 2018.

Simon Mainwaring:
And this is Sam Polk, the founder and CEO.

Bryce Fluellen:
For those who don’t know, our CEO and co-founder, back in 2018, similar to looking at the food system and trying to transform the food system, he looked at the franchise system and said, hey, if you look at franchising traditionally, Simon, you have to have a significant amount of capital to get in the game. So on a small end, that could be $50,000, which to most people and to a lot of people, that’s a lot of money, all the way to $2 million. So for example, McDonald’s, you have to, as an average, $1.5 to $2 million, just for one unit.

Bryce Fluellen:
And so he understood that shuts out a lot of people, particularly people who do not come from the means, people of color. And so he started. That led, because of him running his own nonprofit for a few years called Feast, really had a better understanding of the philanthropic world and found out about a vehicle called PRI, which is called program related investments. This is a tax code assignment that’s been around since the ’70s. It was led by a foundation for a foundation, which is one of the largest foundations in the country. And it basically says that if you are a social enterprise corporation, that foundations can actually invest in you. You do not need to be a nonprofit. You just need to have that tax code, a public benefit corporation, social enterprise.

Bryce Fluellen:
And that investment is really to get that capital out into the market. Most people who know foundations know that they do a lot of giving money out as grants and grants are complete write off, but what about the rest of the capital that they have? I mean, foundations have almost $1 trillion in assets in this country, right? And so they said, we can align ourselves with people whose values mirror what our values are, and we can invest that capital. And then we’ll look for concessionary, in some cases, no interest on that money or like 2%.

Bryce Fluellen:
And so Sam did the footwork just like he did with Every Table and Feast and started calling, getting on the phone, and was able to secure the first one from Kellogg Foundation for about $1.5 million. And they invested in not only the social equity franchise program, which was just a vision at that time, but also Every Table, because Kellogg has, at the root of what they do, is around food equity and racial equity. And so year to date, we were able to raise almost $7 million in a mix of PRIS and then also grant money as well.

Bryce Fluellen:
And so what we do is, the uniqueness of this program is, that we look for individuals who have the talent, just haven’t had the access. So that person who may have been a supervisor or assistant manager in a restaurant, whether it’s a Subway, or maybe they have been a supervisor at like a CVS, and they have that skillset, they’ve always wanted to own their own business, but always looked like it was out of reach because they just don’t have generational wealth or access to traditional bank capital.

Bryce Fluellen:
And so we look for those people, they apply to the program. It’s a rigorous interview process, about six stages. If you’re accepted into the program, you go to go between eight to 12 months of training. So you start off as a staff and learning about everything within Every Table, then go into management training. Once you finish management training, you are now a manager and you’re applying your learning for the next eight months.

Bryce Fluellen:
And then we’re also building in leadership coursework along the way. So we have classes in communication, entrepreneur mindset, because as you and I know being an entrepreneur is a very rough role. It can be lonely. So what are the tools and resources that you need in order to make it through financial planning and management? And then also civic leadership. So how do you step outside of the four walls and engage the community and become a part of the community as a leader, but also giving back and engaging the folks who are going to be spending money with you and building that loyalty? And so once you get through that program, then we transfer a store over to you and it becomes a franchise store.

Bryce Fluellen:
And then you pay us back to build out costs over five years in non-linear payments. But the payments, here’s the thing, Simon, the payments don’t kick in until the store starts to achieve profitability. So we look at it as a transformative way to really build economic mobility and hopefully generational wealth for people and get them in the game and get them along to be able to own something, where a lot of the people who are in our program never thought or never had that opportunity to do that.

Simon Mainwaring:
I mean, what’s so smart about the solution Every Table is providing is, I mean, you are creating impact on so many levels. You are going into these underserved communities and all the health issues associated with lack of access, to healthy, nutritious food, and so on. You’re allowing foundations to deploy their capital most effectively with the greatest sort of impact and so on. And then you’re surfacing up self qualified entrepreneurs who then go through your program, and there’s a whole diversity and inclusion component to that, to then serve other people through their own franchises. I mean, you know, it’s so smart.

Simon Mainwaring:
And I think what I’m taking away from Every Table is the root of all of these problems is systemic, as we touched on, but the solutions are as well. You know, it’s about applying the capital in the right way to make the difference and include as many different stakeholders as possible to create impact to scale and that compounds through the community.

Simon Mainwaring:
And I wanted to ask you what sort of experiences have you had on a personal level when you see people get access to this type of food, whether it’s just the ease of a mother who’s got four kids at home who wants to be responsible and feed them well, or whether it’s college students or just the communities that felt underserved up to that point? Have you got any sort of reactions that sort of touched you?

Bryce Fluellen:
That’s what fuels me, Simon. When I hear people say, hey, so you’re in my community. I’ve been asking for, looking for something a little bit healthier and Every Table is providing that. It’s really about being a part of the solution and something that’s larger than myself, right? So it’s that piece, like you said, the access to more affordable food. But then it’s also from the social equity franchise program, we have six participants in the program now. They will be the first social equity franchisees, Every Table. So they’ll be making history, right?

Bryce Fluellen:
And all of them have incredible stories. They’re all incredible committed, hardworking, passionate individuals. But I wake up every day and understanding that their success is my success. And so my role is to make sure that I’m providing them with everything, the tools and resources, the confidence, the ability to understand that they are worthy, that they will be successful, and that we’re here to ensure that. And so hearing them and their dreams and their hopes and their aspirations drives me every day. And it makes me understand the huge responsibility that I have and everyone else working on this program with Every Table. From our leadership to our funders, we are trying to make something happen that hasn’t happened. And we have a vision for that.

Bryce Fluellen:
But then understanding who we serve, right? Which is really about servant leadership. It’s about empowering people who haven’t had that opportunity to be empowered and to be owners. And then even after that, I tell them every day, I already see you owning two Every Tables. I want to be there when you buy your first home.

Bryce Fluellen:
So that’s what true success to me looks like as well. How do we empower people? How do we go back to… I know a lot of people want to forget about what happened with the uprisings and the pandemic and all of that happened at the same time. But if you do remember, there are a lot of people saying, hey, the system is broke. We see it now. You and I know that it’s been there, but now we want to change. Bryce Fluellen: And so I always use the term, let’s stay committed after the moment, right? There’s always these moments in history, these inflection points that come and everybody rallies around it, and it’s euphoric in some ways. And people say, I want change, but change is hard. Change takes commitment. It’s a marathon and you have to be there every day and you’re going to get knocked down. You’re going to get discouraged. You’re going to always have people telling you, well, that’s just something that I haven’t seen done before, and it’s going to be very difficult. And why would you want to do that? And so all of these things are in your head. So you have to really be consistent and committed and be reminded of why you’re doing what you’re doing and it’s bigger than you.

Simon Mainwaring:
Yeah. I so appreciate the support you’re providing for these aspiring entrepreneurs that then own franchises because entrepreneurship is a tough journey. And every single one of us gets disheartened periodically. And I want to speak to the issue you just mentioned there, which is that everyone does get euphoric about these watershed moments like the black lives matter movement of the last couple of years and the global exposure it got. But truth be told, for a long time, companies have not only not served all communities equally, they’ve arguably exploited some communities and they’ve really compromised their lives, their future, their opportunities and so on.

Simon Mainwaring:
Here you are, somebody who’s worked with Magic Johnson Enterprises and the American Heart Association and now at Every Table. What is the upside to any entrepreneur or business leader listening to this to be more inclusive in their mindset, to not sort of dismiss these communities, but rather embrace them and think about them, what they’re offering or taking to market in innovative ways to include them. What have you seen?

Bryce Fluellen:
It takes a courageous leader to really understand the power of the experiences and diversity that we have in this country. So if you’re really thinking long term, and you’re thinking sustainability, and if you’re thinking about how you can have a true impact, not only in the communities or the city or wherever you serve, but also this world, it’s really about how do you be inclusive and include people that haven’t had a seat at the table, no pun intended and the power behind that, right?

Bryce Fluellen:
I always looked at it like, hey, you and I, for example, we come from two totally different backgrounds. You’ve experienced things that I haven’t experienced and there’s power in that. So why would I want 20 Simons at the table? Why wouldn’t I want Simon, a Bryce, a Paul, a Mohammed? All these different people that bring all these different experiences, all this different intelligence in order to build a stronger company.

Bryce Fluellen:
So if you have vision and your courageous, you understand that as a leader and that’s what you’ll invest in. It won’t be something that you’re intimidated about. I look at it from an abundance mindset, right? Someone else’s strengths and their background don’t diminish mine, they actually add to it. And so that’s the way in which people won’t need to be thinking. And if you look at all these hard issues that we have, we can no longer have a toxic individualism. We have to understand that it’s going to take the collective to do that. And the collective is about investing in people and bringing people to the table who, to your point, in a lot of cases have been exploited and diminished and dismissed and haven’t had a voice, right?

Simon Mainwaring:
And you’re not going to get any argument from me there on Lead With We, the podcast. I mean, but individualization, a fear-based mentality, a scarcity mentality has come at the cost of not just the vast majority of people, but our very future. Everyone. And we need to look at it through a connection and community and abundance mentality now. And the issue you’re solving for is not static. It’s something that’s increasing around the U.S. in terms of food deserts, lack of access to food, the disparity of wealth is increasing. The climate crisis is going to compound that by disproportionately affecting those that are already disadvantaged. What keeps you up at night right now as you try to solve for these big issues? Is there any one thing that you sort of scratch your head over? Bryce Fluellen: What keeps me up at night is reflecting on my elders and all the people that have poured into me, those who came before me, those came before them, and understanding that I have a responsibility. I’m blessed, and in that blessing means that I have a responsibility to others. The immediate is to my family, to my kids, to my wife, and to my community. But when you talk about from a global perspective, I want my legacy to be like a person who people will say, you know what? This person, Bryce, he cared and he tried and he put his best foot forward for others, right? Martin Luther King said the most persistent and urgent question that we have is what are we doing to help others? So in that spirit is what keeps me up at night and keeps me motivated as well. Because I always know, like I said earlier, about listening and asking questions. I’m always pushing myself to be better and do better for other people, right? And I feel responsible for that.

Bryce Fluellen:
I mean, like I said, so many people have prayed for me, have opened a door for me, have said a kind word. And people that didn’t have to. My family members, but people outside of that, I mean, Los Angeles, for example, it says it in the name. We forget about it, but I’ve met a lot of angels here and a lot of angels have done great things for me and opened doors for me. And so for me, it’s like, how do you pay that forward? How do you pay that back? And so that’s what keeps me up at night. Am I doing enough? Am I a part of the solution? There’s so many problems out there that sometimes we can get discouraged and we can get lost in just kind of the problems, but it’s also about, okay, how can you be a part of the solution? What are you doing to move the ball forward? It’s not all on you, but you are a part of that solution.

Simon Mainwaring:
You know, and that’s the difference that makes all the difference, I find. I mean, imagine, just like you, all of us are out there. Our motivating driver is, am I doing enough for others? Imagine how much better off all of us will be if we are thinking that way, instead of what have I got for myself often at the cost of others or the planet. And it’s only that shift that’s going to allow us to provide the solutions at sufficient speed and scale, given all the challenges that we face. I was going to ask you know, in that context, what makes you optimistic? But I think that’s what makes you optimistic. That same spirit in others, perhaps.

Bryce Fluellen:
Yeah. That’s what makes me optimistic. I’m an optimistic person by nature, if you can tell, so that’s what makes me optimistic. That’s what I try to tap into. Doesn’t mean that I don’t have bad days. Doesn’t mean that I don’t get discouraged. But thinking about all the sacrifices that people in my family and beyond have made for me, but also thinking about, hey… and I took this from sports. One of the beautiful things about participating in sports and athletics that I always tell people is the mindset that you can develop. And so I started playing sports at an early age. My parents, my mother put me in the pool at four or five years old. And so one of the things that I learned from that is, hey, you get knocked down, you get back up, you push forward. You know, you stay consistent. Sometimes you lose and then you learn from that. You learn from losing, but you get back up and you keep going.

Bryce Fluellen:
And so if you take that, along with the fact that, to your point, there’s so many things, and so many people who are suffering in this world from a number of different issues. And how can you support those folks? And then understanding the power of network, the power of the collective. Like you said, I mean, you personify that in the book and what you’re doing with Lead With We, but I can’t say that enough. The power of your network, and not just from a, what can I get from people, but understanding the power.

Bryce Fluellen:
And once you give, it’ll come back to you tenfold. It may not happen for a couple years. It may not happen for five years, but I have testimony. For example, the situation with Sam Polk our founder and owner. Sam and I met back in like 2013. I never had an idea that I would be working here. We just built a relationship on common ground, around changing the food system, kept encouraging each other along the way. I would encourage him when he had the nonprofit. He kept up with my work. We sat on a number of councils together. We did webinars together and just built a relationship, right? And an admiration for each other’s work and philosophy on life. And now, here at 2022, I’m leading this incredible social equity franchise program. So that’s a testimony right there of planting a seed, building relationships, and understanding the power of those relationships.

Simon Mainwaring:
Couldn’t agree more. I mean, let’s all just be the great unlock for each other in terms of opportunities and the impact we can achieve together. You know, Bryce, thank you for your time, for your insights, and for all the different ways that Every Table is having impact. Bryce Fluellen: Thank you, Simon. I really enjoyed talking to you today.

Simon Mainwaring:
Thanks for joining us for another episode of Lead With We. And you can find out more information about today’s guest, Bryce Fluellen, in the show notes of this episode. Follow us on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or Google podcasts so you never miss an episode. Plus, you can now find us on all United Airlines in flight entertainment consoles as well. And if you like this video, hit the like button and make sure you subscribe. Finally, if you want to dive even deeper into the world of purposeful business, check out my new book and Wall Street Journal best seller, Lead With We, that’s now available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Google Books. Lead With We is produced by Goal 17 Media. I’ll see you very soon. And until then, let’s all Lead With We.