Your mission forms your business. Whether you tell your customers your purpose or not it is the foundation of your business’s existence. While there’s a detailed founder’s story on Uncle Ray’s Peanut Brittle’s website, a few lines about the founders on P. Terry’s About page, and zero mention of the CEO on the Bumble site, each of the founder’s visions are embedded on every page of these three Austin businesses.
BUMBLE
The woman holding a toddler in this photo is Ms. Whitney Wolf-Herd, the founder of Bumble. On Valentine’s Day in 2021, she became the youngest woman self-made billionaire when the dating app where women make the first move, went public.
Ms. Whitney Wolf-Herd was VP of Marketing at swipe-right-swipe-left Tinder. She was also in a relationship with one of Tinder’s founders. According to Ms. Herd, the environment at Tinder was toxic, she and the women at Tinder, particularly women of color, were routinely bullied and harassed.
She broke her relationship, left Tinder, and founded Bumble, where she engineered an ecosystem for healthy relationships and a safe space for digital romance. Ms. Herd said that her ambition came from abusive relationships. She saw Bumble as a tool to make women feel powerful.
Ms. Herd’s story is not told on Bumble’s website, but it’s embedded on every page.
And when you’ve made the first move and you get a “What’s up?”
Under Ms. Wolf-Herds leadership, Bumble today promotes romantic, platonic, business, and community connections, and champions the causes of young women worldwide.
UNCLE RAY’S PEANUT BRITTLE
Courtney Ray Goodson the founder of Uncle Ray’s Peanut Brittle literally tells her personal story on their website, on almost every page.
When Ms. Goodson was in the Peace Corps teaching small business development in India, her great Uncle Ray shipped her packages of his homemade peanut brittle to help her feel at home, Ms. Goodson shared the peanut brittle with families who invite her to eat in their homes.
She soon realized that the sweet brought the community together.
When she returned to the US, she continued to mentor a lady named Roshni. Ms. Goodson created a crowdfunding campaign for her and thanked those who donated with peanut brittle.
When the campaign ended the crowd asked for more peanut brittle! That was how Uncle Ray’s Peanut Brittle started.
Ms. Goodson uses photographs and text, and several videos to tell her story. One video shows Great Uncle Ray preparing peanut brittle. (place a photo of the video only)
P. TERRY’S BURGER STAND
On P. Terry’s About page, there are two one-line stories by Patrick and Kathy Terry, the couple who founded the Austin burger stand in 2005. When you look closely, the two stories form the basis of every brand and business decision made by the company.
First story: Patrick was following his childhood dream to open a classic burger stand, like the legendary Mack Eplen’s he grew up with in Abilene, Texas.
Turquoise is the color of the Southwest and Texas. It is a variant of green which says “healthy” and stands out against other fast-food competitors’ red, white and yellow, especially direct competitor IN-N-OUT from California who is making inroads in Texas.
P. Terry’s distinctive midcentury modern architecture known as Googie, harks back to a period in history after the second world war, when Americans were optimistic about the future. With upswept roofs reaching for the stars, it reflects an obsession with cars and the space age – nostalgia for the good old days when the future was bright.
A simple, limited-choice menu and old timey font reminds you of Mom-and-Pop diners in small Texas towns known for hospitality and friendly service.
The second story reads: But when Kathy read the book “Fast Food Nation”, their plan to provide quality food and service went to a higher level.
The book by Eric Schlosser is an expose of the fast-food industry’s poor food quality and treatment of employees. While much has changed for the better in the industry, P. Terry’s is committed from the get-go to providing locally sourced ingredients prepared fresh daily.
Four days a year P. Terry’s give all their profits to local charities. According to their website, their employees are given opportunities to grow with their business, access to unique benefits, and pay above industry standards. From someone who has been through a few drive-through windows, at P. Terry’s the voice from the other end of the speaker is often engaging, the order is heard the first time, and delivered correctly, which speaks to well-trained staff.
Bumble, Uncle Ray’s Peanut Brittle, and P. Terry’s illustrate that the founder’s purpose and vision define their brands and how they run their business, whether they tell their stories or not. It is the basis of how each brand meets their customer needs.
What is your story? How does it benefit your customer?
