Life has evolved, food hasn’t. Protein Puck is a whole food, plant-based energy company built around empowerment. Their mission is to fuel human beings to be a little bit better in the passions they pursue each day. That’s why they smashed together the world’s healthiest ingredients to create a delicious, frictionless fuel for people with a full plate. They power possibility by feeding the potential in you—nourishing your brain, body and soul with clean, ethically-sourced food. Seeing people take risks, find their greater purpose in life and reach their potential is their greatest gratification and their biggest why behind their brand.

In Episode 3 of The Nothing But Good Podcast, Cassey Pennington, shares how Protein Puck was first thought of and how it’s grown from being in one coffee shop in Washington to now being sold in all 50 states. 

Listen in to hear why Cassey believes their customers are so loyal and why she is proud to be a part of this small but mighty team. 

Ready to order your Protein Pucks? Visit proteinpuck.com. Follow @proteinpuck on Instagram to stay up to date on all Protein Puck news.

Transcript of Episode 3:

00:00

Hey guys, welcome to another episode of the nothing but good podcast. I'm your host Jennifer Calderon and the founder of Oh Goodie Box. In today's interview, I sit down with Cassey Pennington, who's going to share how Protein Puck was first thought of and how it's grown from being just in one coffee shop in Washington to now being sold in all 50 states. Protein Puck knows that life has evolved, but food hasn't. Protein Puck is a whole food plant based energy company built around empowerment. Their mission is to fuel human beings to be a little bit better in the passions they pursue each day. That's why they smashed together the world's healthiest ingredients to create a delicious frictionless fuel for people with a full plate. The power possibility by feeding the potential in you, nourishing your brain, body and soul with clean, ethically sourced food. Seeing people take risks, find their greater purpose in life and reach their potential is their greatest gratification, and the biggest why behind their brand. Listen in to hear why Cassey believes their customers are so loyal, and why she is proud to be part of this small but mighty team. You're listening to The Nothing But Good podcast, a show that believes you should know where your food comes from, or more specifically, who it comes from. Each week, we bring you new interviews with the makers and founders of the brands you love so you can see how they came to be and what makes them different. We focus on telling the stories of emerging brands and brands who are committed to using better for you ingredients in the snacks they create. Every episode of The Nothing But Good podcast is brought to you by Oh Goodie Box, a snack box subscription service that sends healthier snacks directly to your home or office so that you have the fuel you need to make your greatest impact each day. Order your first box at ohgoodiebox.com and use code PODCAST for 15% off your first order. That's ohgoodiebox.com and code PODCAST for 15% off your first order. Now grab a snack and let's get to today's show. All right Cassey thank you so much for being on the show today. For everyone listening, would you mind introducing yourself and Protein Puck, the brand that you're here being an ambassador for?

 02:52

Yeah, so thank you for having me. Jennifer. I'm really excited to talk to you guys today about Protein Pack. My name is Cassey. I have been with Protein Puck for almost three years, which seems crazy to me time is flying by. But there was kind of a few different reasons that I wanted to join the team. One, I grew up in the food and beverage industry. My dad was a food broker forever so in high school I grew up interning there. And then in college and after college I found opportunities within the same food and beverage space. So I knew I kind of always wanted to stay in that space and then another reason why I wanted to join the team was I just saw so much potential in the brand. All the Protein Puck products are super clean, transparent ingredients and the brand has the most loyal customer base I've ever seen. It is so awesome. And then lastly, the founder, Dave, he is one of the most passionate and genuine people I know and he's just such a go getter. He treats everyone on our team with respect and as an equal and so that's just kind of the person you want to show up and work for everyday and learn from. So that's, I guess that's kind of why I joined the team and happy to be here. And hopefully I'm here for the long haul.

 04:16

Gosh, I love everything that you said. I didn't realize that you'd been with them for three years already. That's a commitment. I love it.

 04:23

I know it'll be three years come March. So one more month.

 04:27

That's awesome. I also didn't realize you grew up in the food and beverage world. I also grew up in the food and beverage world.

 04:35

So ya know, my dad was a food broker in Boise, Idaho, owned a salt farm and he sold it about five or six years ago. So I grew up going to all the events when I was a little kid and just hanging around all the people who worked there. And then once I got older, started working there, learned a lot and just learned that I love the space so much and there's just good people in the industry in general. So it's a fun space to work in.

 05:01

I think so too. I always tell people, it's just like a good people industry, it's hard to explain, but you just get a random, Oh, you're just legitimately good people.

 05:11

Yeah, absolutely.

 05:12

I love it. Well, with Protein Pack, I know you've talked about how it's a great place to work and the loyal fan base and all of that, what do you think makes people so loyal to the brand?

 05:24

You know, I think probably one of the transparent ingredients, I think, a lot of times, you know, grab and go options aren't very healthy. And so we use 15 Ingredients throughout our entire product line, all ingredients that are naturally occurring ones that you can pronounce, very nutrient dense. So just very clean products in general. And so I think, you know, those customers just truly appreciate that. You know, they clearly care about what they're putting in their body so they appreciate that. And then, Dave, he's such a good person and cares so much about his customers that when he's the first person to pick up the phone and cold call just a small independent retailer and say, How are you doing? How can we help? Offering as much support as you possibly can, he really has built this brand. It's a family feel to it. So he just, he cares so much that and I think it's reciprocated. And when we do have any sort of customer issue, he's the first one to call them and say, how could we have done better? What can we do better? How can we fix this? I mean, they're rare when they come in, usually, we get emails that are like, Oh, I loved your product, which is great. Every brands dream is to have not any customer complaints, but he's the first person to reach out and say, you know, what went wrong here? Was it flavor was it delivery time, what could we have done to make this better? And so I think people just really appreciate that.

 07:05

I think so too. That's beautiful. Do you know how Protein Puck came to be? The origin story of Protein Puck?

 07:13

Yes. Dave actually started Protein Puck in his kitchen. He owned a coffee shop, still does, up in Spokane, Washington. And he was having a hard time finding a product or items in his coffee shop for people who maybe had allergies or just were looking for a healthier option with their coffee. So he kind of started messing around with stuff in his kitchen, and then formed, what today is Protein Puck and started selling them in his coffee shop. And then it kind of just spiraled from there. Local businesses were coming in asking, Hey, where can I get this? I want to sell it in my juice bar, I want to sell it in my gym, I want to sell it at my cafe. And so just within Spokane, it really spiraled. And then some local distributors brought it on. And then it just kind of took a life of its own. So today we're available in all 50 states and growing. And yes it just started in Dave's kitchen.

 08:17

Gosh, I love that type of origin story where he just had a need, he wasn't necessarily seeking out to start a whole new business he just said “I just need something to sell in my existing place of business”. And then all of a sudden, it's taken on a life of its own. That's a really cool story. This is not my first interview today where I didn't realize that the product founder also had another successful business, still kind of attached somehow but completely separate, you would have no idea. And then it's so cool to hear you say he's the first one to pick up the phone. He's the first one to make things right or be a resource to somebody. I'm so intrigued by how they do that,  how do you make yourself that available to people and still be successful. And all of the things I'm very intrigued.

 09:11

Yeah. I have no idea how Dave juggles everything, but he does. And he does it very well. The coffee shop is really fun too. Because he's a local business owner he cares so much about all of our small one shop, you know, mom and pop shops and a lot alike. One of our biggest pieces of our business is the coffee industry. I mean, we have a huge distribution channel in coffee because that's where it got started. And so it's fun to see you know, his take on being a local business owner and then also now having this emerging brand. It's pretty cool.

 09:51

I love it. Yeah, that's great. Well, for you and Protein Puck you said you're in it for the long haul. So what do you do at Protein Puck? What's your favorite part of your job?

 10:02

So we are a very, very small team. So I get to wear a lot of different hats, I kind of like to think of myself as Dave's right hand. So I mean, I talk to him all day every day. And we together just get to work on calling on accounts, retail, larger retail accounts, working with our smaller wholesale accounts, I do most of the customer service as well. And then I handle most of our online e-commerce stuff. So I get to do a lot of fun things every day in a little different. But it's fun. Because we're a small team, we kind of get to tackle a lot of things together, we do have our separate roles, but we do come together quite a bit and tackle the big things. So yeah, definitely working side by side with Dave constantly, is my favorite part about the job.

 10:52

Gosh, I love it. It's so cute. It's just nice to hear someone not only enjoy the product that they're selling, or making, but then also just to enjoy the people. I think a lot of times, we underestimate the importance of that connection that you have with your co workers, you spend so much time with them. So much of your life is with them. And so if that piece was missing, it wouldn't be as much fun I would assume.

 11:21

I'm definitely not 40 plus hours in your work week. So yeah, it's nice to work with people that you see as family you know, and that's what we're about over here just a big family. So it is super fun to be on the team and I'm so thankful to be part of it every day.

 11:41

That's so good. Well, the last question that everybody gets asked on the show, because our mascot is a koala. And so very cheekily, we say what's your definition of a quality or quality life?

 11:53

Like that? So fun. Yeah, so there's actually a quote by Tony Robbins that says, “quality of life is determined by the quality of your relationships”. And that quote, just kind of always resonated with me, because that's where you can really measure value in your life. So whether that be the relationship with yourself, your mind, your body, the relationship you have with your family and your friends, the relationship you have with your co workers at work, your finances, there's a lot of different types of relationships in your life, that can bring value and success. So I think when our relationships and our beliefs regarding those relationships align with our values, then that's when we can really start enjoying our life. And I gotta say, the quality of relationships, our puck team, is just truly remarkable. So we're small but mighty, but it makes showing up to work so easy and working hard.

 12:55

Yeah, I love that. Well, Cassey, for anyone who wants Protein Puck and they're not getting it in their December Goodie Box, or they did get it in their December Goodie Box, and they want to go repurchase. Where's the best place for them to go purchase? Where should they follow you guys? Like what social area? Are you the most active on all of the things?

 13:15

Yeah, so we're definitely most active on Instagram. And we update people on there quite a bit. Our email list on our website also has the most up to date stuff going on with Protein Puck, whether that be, discounts that we're doing or new retailers that we had just gotten into. So our emails a great way to find out what's going on at all times. And you can purchase us on our website directly. That's probably the best way. And then we're also available on Amazon and Walmart.com as well. And there's also a store locator on our website. So if people are looking to go into their actual store, grocery store near them, they can see if there's any stores nearby that are carrying them.

 14:03

Thank you for listening to this episode of The Nothing But Good Podcast. We hope you enjoyed today's show. And if you did, we'd be so grateful if you could leave a review and share this episode with your friends. Before you go make sure you're subscribed so that you are always the first to know when a new episode is released. And don't forget to follow @ohgoodiebox on Instagram, so you can get an even deeper look into how we decide which products get placed in our snack boxes. Last but not least, visit ohgoodiebox.com and make sure you use promo code PODCAST for 15% off your first box. Links to everything are in today's show notes. Until next time, happy snacking.