**This episode is brought to you by MuteSix, Repeat, and CartText**   “We think of ourselves as being in the business of discovering better coffee,” says Mike Lackman, CEO of Trade Coffee. This brand delivers fresh, sustainably sourced coffee monthly from the best roasters in the nation. Coffee is a huge customer category that almost seems musical to Mike. He joined Trade Coffee due to the relationship, origin, quality of products, and consumers' need for personalized coffee. The brand helps customers discover the perfect experience, and for that, it works with the best roasters. The roasters also benefit too by increased awareness, access to more customers, and increased sales. Trade Coffee takes every coffee bag very seriously. In this way, they earn trust from their customers, and their customers, in turn, trust them with their next bag of coffee. In part 1, Mike discusses: * What he’s grateful for * Overview of the brand * Why he joined Trade Coffee * The value they offer top roasters * How the brand uses data * Criteria for roasters * Opportunities in the industry Join Ramon Vela and Mike Lackman as they break down the inside story on The Story of a Brand. For more on Trade Coffee, visit: https://www.drinktrade.com/ * OUR SHOW IS MADE POSSIBLE WITH THE SUPPORT OF MUTESIX. MuteSix is the leading agency in performance marketing. They have been in this space for nearly eight years, growing and scaling the world’s most recognizable e-commerce brands with breakthrough creative, targeted media buying, and data-driven results in every step of the funnel. They're currently offering listeners a FREE omnichannel marketing audit. Their team of auditors will perform a deep dive analysis into your current marketing efforts and identify which strategies might be budget wasters and which strategies will improve performance. The audit covers all digital marketing channels, including Facebook, Google, Email, Amazon, Snapchat, TikTok, Pinterest, Influencer, Programmatic, and Website CRO. For your free digital marketing consultation, visit: mutesix.com/storyofabrand * This episode is also brought to you by CartText. Are you interested in improving your Abandoned Cart Recovery rates? Cart Text is Powered by real people, not bots, not AI, real people. Cart Text will contact & engage with your customers in real-time to make the sales you missed. One by one, CartText will convert your abandoned carts, churned subscriptions, and billing-related issues using live agents + SMS. Real people, getting the job done. To learn more, visit https://carttext.com/ * This episode was brought to you by Repeat. Repeat is the easiest way for your customers to reorder products they love. Repeat will automate a frictionless reordering experience for the most significant part of a CPG brand’s customer base: The non-subscriber. Repeat uses machine learning to analyze one-time shopper behavior, automates reorder notifications, and delivers personalized replenishment carts that aid in up-sell and cross-sell efforts. The result? Higher LTV, better margins, and more insights on your best customers. To learn more, visit https://signup.getrepeat.io/