Matt Cone with Chattanooga Culture

Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Woodstock, Georgia. It’s time for Cherokee Business Radio. Now here’s your host.

Stone Payton: [00:00:24] Welcome to another exciting and informative edition of Cherokee Business Radio. Stone Payton here with you this morning. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast with Chattanooga Culture. Mr. Matt Cone. How are you, man?

Matt Cone: [00:00:38] Doing great, Stone. Thanks for having me. How about you?

Stone Payton: [00:00:40] Oh, I’m doing well. And I’ve really been looking forward to this conversation. I got a thousand questions. I know we won’t get to them all, but I think a great place to start would be if you could share with me and our listening audience. Mission purpose. What are you really out there trying to do for folks, man?

Matt Cone: [00:00:56] So for Chattanooga culture, the whole idea was to start with Kombucha, because that’s something I’m very passionate about. But that’s definitely not the end goal. The end goal is to create a tribe or a community up in Chattanooga with the culture of health and wellness in mind. So we want to bring people together because that’s a massive community up there right now, but we want to really kind of assimilate it, bring people together under one name Chattanooga culture.

Stone Payton: [00:01:22] So take me back to the beginning. How did all this get started? What got you interested in in wellness in general, man, How did you get on this path?

Matt Cone: [00:01:32] So that’s really a lifelong story for me. My parents have always been kind of the hippie type, so I was definitely raised a little bit that way. But when I moved to Colorado, I learned a lot about health and wellness and really met a lot of really amazing people out there. That kind of helped me on my journey. And then when I moved back home, I ended up going to a life university for health and wellness. So I got a degree in health and wellness and that just really spiked a lot of interest in how I could get into that field and help people out with that.

Stone Payton: [00:02:01] So at this point in the work, what are you finding the most rewarding? What are you enjoying the most about the work?

Matt Cone: [00:02:08] Well, just starting my business has been so rewarding. And you know this as a business owner yourself, it’s a lot of work, but.

Stone Payton: [00:02:15] Yeah.

Matt Cone: [00:02:16] It’s a lot of fun. I’ve learned so much just over the past five, six months that I’ve really been trying to start up Chattanooga culture and really had the ideas in mind. But I would say for now, that’s the most rewarding part. But I’m really excited about really getting into the community and able to start helping people out.

Stone Payton: [00:02:32] Well, man, my hat is off to you, and it’s off to anyone who takes that leap and believes enough in themselves and and organizes something that’s going to go out there and genuinely serve others. And I got to say, in the same breath, you’re getting your business off the ground. Strikes me as something that has a lot more moving parts than, for instance, starting a radio show or even a full blown studio. You’ve had to go through and continue to go through some some things to to meet regulations and guidelines. Talk a little bit about how that process has been for you.

Matt Cone: [00:03:03] Well, it’s been difficult, that’s for sure. Like every aspect of it. But there’s a lot of bureaucracy in the health and wellness world. A lot of people don’t understand it. And so they put a lot of regulations around it. And so for the Department of Agriculture, who’s my regulating body for kombucha making, they have just a lot of strict regulations about alcohol percentage and everything like that. But actually this next Thursday will be my first inspection with the Department of Agriculture and hopefully I’ll hit it first, try and get my license to manufacture and then we can start selling by the beginning of March.

Stone Payton: [00:03:37] Well, I’m sure you will. And the kombucha you brought me to taste has been fantastic and I look forward to Business RadioX is probably going to put in a standing order. Maybe we’ll have it sitting here in the in the studio at some point. All right. So Kombucha, I think I know it when I see it. I have no idea what it really is, how it’s made. Educate those of us who are certainly laypeople in this regard. What exactly is what’s that process like?

Matt Cone: [00:04:05] So Kombucha is just basically a fermented tea. It’s Camellia Sinensis most off, but something that I’m doing different is using yerba mate, which is a species of the Holly family found in South America. And so it’s still highly caffeinated, like green tea or black tea. It has a lot of micronutrients, tons of B vitamins and antioxidants, just like green tea. It just provides to me a smoother kombucha. So I’ll be experimenting with taking off with the aromatic kombucha, but still honing into the roots of kombucha, which was Camellia Sinensis. It came from Asia. They used to, I think in the Mongolian region, they would have Mongolian warriors would have kombucha fermented tea in the bladder or the stomach of an animal, and that was their water bottle. Back then. They would so it up at the top and it probably have some sort of cork on it and they would take it to battle with them. And kombucha was usually called the elixir of life or the elixir of vitality. And so I’m sure back then there was a little bit more potent, maybe a little bit different than what I’m going to be serving from the store. They didn’t have the Department of Agriculture regulating what they did back then, and so they probably had a little bit of alcohol content in there that probably gave them that boost of confidence that they needed to go on to the battle field, just like the tequila shot. But that’s. Basically it it’s a fermented tea. There’s culture in it with any fermented food. So it’s the symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. And that’s what everybody knows as the SCOBY or the mother. And that is basically the reproduction cycle of the fermented tea. You add sweet tea with the culture and then it turns into kombucha.

Stone Payton: [00:05:42] So when I buy a bottle or a jar of kombucha, does it have a shelf life? Do I need to consume it in the next week, month, six months, or does it just depend?

Matt Cone: [00:05:53] Realistically, it stays good for a very long time if it stays in the fridge. It slows the fermentation process down enough that you’re not going to have the bottle explode on you and the flavor is not really going to change too much. It won’t create much more vinegar once it’s in the refrigerator. So I would say I’ve drank Kombucha up to a year old that I’ve made and it was still delicious. So you don’t have anything to worry about there.

Stone Payton: [00:06:14] So how will we be able to get the product? Are you going to be selling it to grocery stores, wholesalers, farmer’s markets? What’s the distribution plan if you have that nailed down yet?

Matt Cone: [00:06:26] Yeah, so I don’t think it’s 100% nailed down yet. This is going to take me really getting into the market to figure it out. But for the most part, I’m going to start with farmer’s markets and wholesale accounts. So getting kegs and bottles into coffee shops, cannabis shops, different small little retail spaces in Chattanooga. And so I’m going to offer up them setting up a keg trader in their space if they want to, or setting up a little mini fridge and working on that on myself. I’m going to start building keg traders to get them into spaces. And then personally, I’ll be going to farmer’s markets with it in bottle and on tap in like portable keg traders or portable keg taps that I can sell, cups or bottles, Growler fills kind of the regular thing there.

Stone Payton: [00:07:09] So the market that I’m sure you’d like to meet a lot of different markets and demographics, but it strikes me that the the immediate market is that person who is wellness conscious. They are already doing business with these kinds of businesses and it’s maybe they already are drinking somebodies kombucha. So that group is already got that mindset of I want to be healthy and maybe you already have some understanding of the wellness benefits of kombucha. Yeah, yeah. While you were talking, I was thinking, how cool would it be to have a like a business Radio X blend?

Matt Cone: [00:07:43] We could do that. We could do that. Whatever your favorite flavor.

Stone Payton: [00:07:45] Is, I.

Matt Cone: [00:07:46] Like, make it happen. I’ll get a keg writer in here somewhere.

Stone Payton: [00:07:49] No, it’d be fun. You know, all of our other sponsors, they get a lot of digital love, you know, they get they. They get to kind of come along for the ride. When we produce these shows and distribute them, they get the the logo on the on the wall behind you there. But for you, we’ll have like the Business RadioX blend and the keg aerator and all that stuff. That’d be awesome. That will be fun. All right. So near-term plans and medium term plans, it sounds like near term, you’ve got to get through these regulation hoops, get the product out there. Yeah. What’s going to have you high fiving in the parking lot? You know, like a year from now? What’s a good picture or definition of success on that time frame? You think.

Matt Cone: [00:08:25] So? In the year, year long time frame, I would say getting into as many wholesale accounts as I can, getting as many keg graders out there into locations that people can just start drinking the kombucha and hopefully feeling the health benefits. Along with that, I would say what’s really going to make me high five is working towards building that community. And once I can actually bring some of those people that are drinking the kombucha together. And so whether that’s an event that I put on, I definitely plan on hosting different wellness based events, breath works, ice baths, meditations, all that good stuff. So once I can really bring those people who are drinking the product together and start creating that community like I was talking.

Stone Payton: [00:09:05] About, I love the name of the company and to me, like culture has a couple of different meanings or innuendos because there’s culture in the process, right? Like, but how did you come up with a with the name? Have you had that in your mind for a long time or did you just wake up, you know, one morning at 2:00 and say, Eureka, I got it.

Matt Cone: [00:09:23] Sadly, I can’t take full credit for that one. My fiance and I were talking over it and I think it was before we went to bed one night and we were just kind of hitting random names, random names, and I was talking about Chattahoochee and Sugar, like all these kind of combo words. And she just said, How about Chattanooga culture? And it just immediately said, yes. And I knew that it was going to be that from then on.

Stone Payton: [00:09:46] Yeah. Oh, I am so excited for you. Okay. Going back to getting the business off the ground, I would think that the support of your fiancee, the support of your friends, what was that like and did you get maybe, maybe everybody didn’t embrace the idea and they were like, Dude, it sounds fun. We know you love kombucha. You know, we know your personality and go get a job. I mean, did you get a little bit of that pushback to.

Matt Cone: [00:10:11] There’s definitely a little bit of that, but luckily, I have a lot of support in the entrepreneur entrepreneurial space, and you’ve been a huge part of that. So I appreciate that. And my my mom and. Has been very supportive as well. And just the local community in Chattanooga is incredible for starting up a business. Everybody that I’ve talked to for the most part has been just wondering how they can help. And so I want to really push that back to the community once I get up and running and start helping others do the same exact thing.

Stone Payton: [00:10:39] Well, I’ll tell you, for the listeners out there, I had the pleasure of getting a site visit, so I saw the kitchen. You’re in the kitchen. Your you’re moving to. I met a gentleman. He’s part of that whole facility, is part of an organization that is specifically committed to helping entrepreneurs like you get out there and get off the ground, aren’t they?

Matt Cone: [00:10:59] Yeah. Yeah. And very much like the innovation spot that you’re in here, but all about food and beverage. So we don’t have any office spaces like this one, but we do have kitchen spaces. And so the pod that I’m renting out from them is a Department of Agriculture pod that they have already set up with the sinks and the tables and everything that all need. And all I just do is bring my equipment, start my process and they can improve me from there. So without them, I would have had way more hoops to jump through. This was quite possibly the best thing that I could have gotten into for the business. So shout out to Kitchen Incubator of Chattanooga on that one.

Stone Payton: [00:11:31] Yeah. So I’ve known you for some time. I know you’re a health and wellness guy. You’re fit, you’re always energetic. Do you have a few? I’ll call them pro tips, like just a few things that just for people out there, maybe they are already that way. Or maybe they’re saying, you know, I got to turn the page here a little bit, reset. What are some things that you feel like the average citizen, the average person ought to be thinking about doing, reading, not doing, just to get just to start moving down the continuum a little bit and have a healthier lifestyle. What are some things you would encourage them to consider?

Matt Cone: [00:12:07] Well, I just I like to call it the path of positive progression, because you’re not always going to be doing 100% of the right thing. You’re going to have some steps back, you’re going to falter on trying to take that health and wellness journey. But as long as you’re knowing that you’re consistently on that path of positive progression, you’ll you’ll get there someday. So a couple of top things for me is meditating every single day as much as I can. You know, whether that’s 5 minutes, 10 minutes, an hour, but just really sitting down, having some silence some time to yourself and touching back into your body is incredibly important. And with that, you can pair it with breathwork and ice baths and different types of meditation, sound baths, meditations, just kind of whatever you can get your hands on to. For touch and back into your body. Movement is huge, and I know that everybody pushes the fitness thing, but you really just need movement. It can be any type of movement, whatever your body likes, whatever you have fun doing, and yeah, just having a good time with life, enjoying life to the fullest as you can.

Stone Payton: [00:13:05] I wonder if your council would be similar to people who are out there and they’re thinking about starting their own business. Any advice you might give that? Because a lot of our listeners are. I mean, there are some very well established businesses, but there are also, you know, people with an idea on a cocktail napkin and they’re thinking about doing it. What what are some things you might share with them that might save them a little heartache, reduce a little bit of the friction and shrink the shrink the timeline for them?

Matt Cone: [00:13:32] Well, I’m definitely not the master of it yet as I’m just getting started myself. But something that really helped me was just not giving up. Since Kombucha was a passion project of mine for about six years now, I never really knew whether I would get into that business or not. But people always said, Oh man, this is the best kombucha I’ve ever tried. You got to start a business. And I just was like, No, I can’t do that. And it was the residual people telling me, supporting me. And then also just knowing that I was always going to be an entrepreneur. And as long as you have that mindset that someday I’m going to be an entrepreneur, it doesn’t matter what space I’m going to be getting into or what sort of stepping stones you have to get there. So Kombucha is not the end goal for Chattanooga culture, but it’s a great starting spot. So for me, I would just say perseverance and really honing in on that desire for what you want to get.

Stone Payton: [00:14:21] And everything’s not going to work out every time the first time, right? And you got to I mean, that’s just part of it. Or at least that was my experience. And I’ve been at this for a while and I still experience that. But yeah, you got to you got to suit up and show up and get back at it, Right.

Matt Cone: [00:14:34] Make the work happen.

Stone Payton: [00:14:35] So another thing I’ve come to know about you is you are what I would characterize as a lifelong learner. So what kind of things do you read and study? Do you have some kind of go to resources, whether it’s a, I don’t know, a YouTube channel, an Instagram channel, books, that kind of stuff. Where do you where do you put your study time in?

Matt Cone: [00:14:56] So right now I’m focusing on a book that’s about how to start a business. And it’s basically like how to start a business for Dummies without the dummies part, I’m hoping. But they do a really good job of touching into all the basics, which is something that I really need. Since I didn’t have a business degree, I haven’t taken any courses on business. So that was something that I had a learning curve in. So I needed to really touch into that and it’s been a huge help. But outside of that, I’m reading a book called Integral Meditation by Ken Wilber. He’s a great American philosopher. And that book basically touches on how to show for your life, how to show up in the best way possible for your specific design. So that one’s been really cool. Just finished Thinking Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, which is a classic, but I highly recommend everybody reads that book. It is just a massive wealth of knowledge. And if we use that in school, if we taught kids that in school from a young age, I think we’d be living in a very different space right now. Armin Yeah. So in terms of YouTube though, I like watching people who are actually doing it, doing the things that I want to do, and so I can get inspired and see how they’re doing it and keep up with the changing times of health and wellness and sustainable living, really.

Stone Payton: [00:16:09] So outside of health and wellness and getting this business off the ground with all that extra spare time, what else do you have a tendency to to nerd out about and just kind of dive in on and really enjoy outside of the scope of that stuff?

Matt Cone: [00:16:23] So music, sustainable living, gardening. So certain agriculture, permaculture techniques and stuff like that and homesteading has been huge recently. That’s a lot of the videos that I watch is homesteading homesteading because that’s something I would definitely love to get more involved with down the road. We’ve got about an ACRE property right now and I’m starting to slowly shift that into more of a homestead style property. Getting the garden going this year, got the compost bins going. Just simple stuff with the very little time that I have. Extra.

Stone Payton: [00:16:52] Yeah, but you don’t have a lot of extra time at the moment. But it’s nice to. So it maybe you’ve answered the question with that answer, but I’m always interested to know particularly what entrepreneurs and high powered executives, what they do to kind of recharge, get. Because I know I mean, you can run low on your batteries, right? I mean, this can be exhausting where you go. And I don’t necessarily mean a physical place, right, but where you go to get recharged and inspired to get back out there and do it again, or maybe where you and your fiance go, maybe that’s a part of the equation.

Matt Cone: [00:17:27] That’s definitely a part of it. I would say, you know, back to gardening, just touching back in with the earth, just, you know, putting my feet in the ground is incredibly grounding and charging up for me energetically. We have some great chiropractors that we are very good friends with in Chattanooga, so shout out to rev chiropractic. They support our not only physical body but our energetic body and our our mental state as well. They kind of multifaceted individuals that act as our our therapists in a certain way, but also our chiropractors really making sure that our bodies are in tune and aligned. And so I do that once a week to make sure that I’m on top of my game.

Stone Payton: [00:18:05] I often ask entrepreneurs, no matter how long they’ve been at it, if they’ve had the benefit of one or more mentors along the way. And I get the distinct impression because we’ve had this conversation off air, that these folks at Rev have really been mentors for you on all these fronts. Right? The health and wellness arena, but also the business world. Is that.

Matt Cone: [00:18:28] Accurate? Yeah, absolutely. They their model for their business is very similar to what I want to bring into mind as well down the road. And so they’re all about community building that drive around optimal living. And so the people that I’ve met through that, the networking that I’ve gotten through them, the business advice, the life advice, everything, it just goes full circle with them. They really want to touch on all of the major pillars of life and how to live the most optimal self.

Stone Payton: [00:18:55] It also strikes me that your business is one of those that really lends itself to tapping into an existing community, but also sort of building your own tribe. As Seth Godin, one of my favorite authors, and thought leaders would say, Do you have some plans to intentionally build that community, that that tribe, that Chattanooga culture? I don’t know. Don’t know. You’ll have to go back to your fiance and get the right word for it. But that group of people, are you going to maybe intentionally try to provide for the care and feeding and nurture that group?

Matt Cone: [00:19:29] Yeah, absolutely. And so that’s why I was saying kombucha just is kind of a stepping stone for me. I want to make the best kombucha that I can. The most potent medicinal plant based kombucha. That’s not only good for your gut, but could be good for your brain or your immune system and multifaceted on that point. But then really take that and as you said, build a community around the product, right? Not only the product but the name. And so down the road I want to eventually have more of a wellness lounge or wellness center type space where I’m still going to sell kombucha. So I’m going to make delicious kombucha have a nonalcoholic bar style social scenario where people can come together and and have a think tank in a certain way, but also just have a good time and then also allow other local people in the health and wellness world like massage therapists, meditators. Breathwork facilitators come in and use the space for their own so that they can start up their own business as well.

Stone Payton: [00:20:27] All right. What’s the best way for anybody who may even be interested in investing in your concern? I don’t even know if that’s an option. I should have asked that first, too. Just want to learn more about Kombucha or they want to, as soon as it’s available, tap in and purchase the product. What’s the best way for our listeners to connect with you and have a conversation with you or somebody on your team, man?

Matt Cone: [00:20:49] Yeah. So social media right now, Instagram is the best way. I’m really trying to focus on getting a lot of content on there and so you can reach out to me at Chattanooga Culture on Instagram. And then we also got the website live right now and Chattanooga culture.

Stone Payton: [00:21:03] Oh, congratulations. Because I knew that was something you were working on.

Matt Cone: [00:21:06] Yeah, we’re starting to flesh it out now a little bit more. But right now, just a simple intro landing page and a contact form. So if you don’t want to get in touch with me, you can get in touch with me there or through Instagram.

Stone Payton: [00:21:16] So I can get in this tribe now. I’m already in the tribe right here already. Absolutely. Well, it has been an absolute delight having you in the studio today and getting a chance to hear your perspective. It’s a it’s inspiring. I mean, you’re energetic. Your passion comes through here in the room, and I know it does over the airwaves. Keep up the good work and don’t be a stranger. Come back, if you will, because we want to follow this story as it unfolds. I think it might be fun over time to maybe talk to some of your wholesalers, talk to some of the folks in your tribe. So if you’re up for it, man, we’d love to love to have you back and and keep up with your progress.

Matt Cone: [00:21:55] Yeah, absolutely. I’d love that. Thank you so much for having me.

Stone Payton: [00:21:58] It is my pleasure, man. All right. Until next time, this is Stone Payton for our guest today, Matt Cohen with Chattanooga Culture. And everyone here at the Business RadioX family saying we’ll see you again on Cherokee Business Radio.