(upbeat music) - Why hello there. My name is Brad and this is work advice for me. Hey, I know you're listening right now and I just wanna say thank you for listening to this podcast, but I'm gonna assign you a task to do right now. I want you to close your eyes. If you're driving, please leave your eyes open. And I want you to think about what the highlight of your week has been so far. Now, if you're listening on Tuesday, what's the highlight of your Monday? We all have highlights that we wanna overlook in life. But today, I want you to think about that, write it down and remember it when you're having a bad time this week and go, I remember that, that was a great time. I have a lot of highlights. I could share them, but you'll have to email me to ask me 'cause I don't wanna waste your time, listen to what I have going on. But today, our journey to meet successful people who do interesting things that I just personally find cool is gonna take us to Denver, Colorado. We're gonna be talking with Ben Higgins. Now, Ben runs a coffee company called Generous Coffee. And in this conversation, we're gonna talk about that. We're gonna talk about how that came to be and why does it? We're gonna talk about feeling connected. Why do so many people not feel connected in life? Maybe they've just had bad weeks. Maybe they don't know what they have before them is so great. We're also gonna have to dip into the bachelor world because yes, you heard me right, Ben Higgins is a former bachelor on television and a former bachelorette, he was on bachelorette, he wasn't a bachelorette, but he was on bachelorette. Then he graduated to bachelorette, but Ben is so much more than a bachelor. And this conversation, I think, is a super incredible conversation that you all need to hear. And I'm just saying that 'cause I'm biased because it's work advice for me. Of course, I want you to listen to every conversation we drop, but I definitely want you to pay attention to this one because there's a lot to be said in this conversation. But before we get to this conversation, you have pulled us up on iTunes and Spotify, right? I need you to follow us. We want you to follow us, subscribe to our channel, leave us a review. We don't like negative reviews here. That's like not getting a rose on the bachelor, right? You wanna get the rose. I'm right, you do wanna get the rose. We want you to leave a good review. Now, you can also slide into our DMs on Instagram. If you have a question, please follow us on Instagram. Work advice for me. You can email me, work advice for me at gmail.com. Now, we've got all that out of the way. I want you to pretend you're about to get a rose handed to you by Ben Higgins. And this rose is not just any rose. It's a rose that's more about him and what his purpose is than just the flower you hold in your hand. Sit back and enjoy our chat with Ben Higgins. Okay, Ben, I gotta be honest with you. I'm getting a two for today because when I found you, I booked you because I wanted to hear about your coffee business and what all you do through that. And my friend Sloane, who is a big fan of yours, I said, "Hey, do you know this guy?" Because she follows you on Instagram and she let me know you're a bachelor. I didn't even know that, so I'm sorry. I'm sorry, but it's funny nonetheless because all the girls that I work with or that I'm around are super jealous and they can't believe I didn't know you were a bachelor. So, yeah, has that ever happened to you before? Has anybody ever booked you and not knowing you were a bachelor? - Oh, I'm sure. I'm sure you have nothing to apologize for. In fact, the best compliment I was ever given was in the Houston airport a few years ago I was walking through and somebody stopped me and said, "Ben?" And I said, "Yes." They're like, "You're the coffee guy, right?" And I said, "Yes, I am." Somebody knows me from outside that show and that makes me happy. - Good, I know you from outside that show. My friend Sloane says you are her favorite bachelor of all time. So, I told her I would name drop her with you today. - Well, hello, Sloane, and thank you for watching. And yeah, I'm pumped to be here, however it happens. - Well, I want to start with asking you, what did your childhood look like? - You know, I grew up in Indiana, an amazing town, worse on Indiana, more specifically, white on the lake, which is a township there. Grew up on the lake. It's a small town. It's a very conservative town. There's a lot of industry in the town. People are pretty good to each other in that town. The downside of that town is it's a bubble. I mean, it is as much of a bubble when it comes to kind of life as you can get. And part of that is just because, you know, everybody kind of makes community there and that's kind of where their minds live and stay. But I'm a really child. I love sports, played a lot of sports. And then went to Indiana University for college. - What's your go-to sport? - Well, now it's golf, man. I've blown my knee out three times now. And so I used to be basketball. Came first, football came second, and then golf. And now I've got three men jury of golfs. Golf is the main sport for me. I am getting into sprint triathlons, though. And so not the long distance where it kills my knees, but the sprint triathlons I'm getting into, just have something to be competitive with. - Are you a Bobby Knight fan? I'm just curious about that. - Oh, yeah, Bobby Knight. Yeah, he obviously was the king of Indiana for my youth and helped me, you know, fall in love with Indiana basketball, you know, early on in life. And one of the reasons I went there. - Mm-hmm. So, as I stated earlier, your coffee is amazing to me. And I wanted you to share with me and the listeners how that got started, and I love your mission for that. And talk a little bit about the mission that you have with that. - Yeah, definitely. Well, for it all that makes sense, there's a couple of elements that I have to be clear about. One, I am somebody of faith. And so I've always had, in my least mindset, what I feel like is a calling or a desire, a passion, to try to give more than I take. And I think that comes from my faith tradition and wisdom that comes from the people that were around me and kind of me seeing them lead with a servant's heart. And so I've always tried to follow that. And at a young age, I went to Central America for the first time, but a few buddies and my parents. We witnessed poverty, extreme poverty. At least I did for the first time in my life. But I also saw how we in the United States are kind of handling that poverty. And the model back then, and this is kind of familiar with nonprofit through the 80s and 90s and early 2000s, was to go down, tell people who live in poverty-stricken areas what they need, give them what they need, and then leave and back away and expect, you know, or at least assume that the wisdom that we have here in the United States is gonna work for them, whatever part of the world they lived in. And it felt disingenuous to me, it angered me, it made people look and feel like projects. It didn't really bring much empowerment in my eyes to the people in these areas. And so I came back and I was pretty upset, pretty mad about the trip. And talked to a few buddies about it, talked to my family about it. And one of my friends kind of told me, "Hey, I'm feeling the same way, "and I think there's a better way." And he presented me with this idea that we could go into these communities and ask them, "What do you need? "What do you dream of?" And then ask them, "How can we help?" And let them lead us. And we could be kind of a fundraising engine because our ability to fundraise the United States a lot easier and better than maybe their ability to fundraise than Central America is. And then we could partner with them to help build these sustainable communities. And with that comes empowerment, with that comes relationships, and with that comes really good partnerships. And that's working, it still exists today, it's going really well, it's called humanity and hope united. Or it's called humanity and hope united. But one big issue happened. We were young, we were, you know, I was 19 and my buddy, I think it was 23 at a time. And after a few years of doing this work, we realized that our network was getting small. We had called friends and family already, we had called people that we knew in our local community. And we needed to find a sustainable way to fundraise. 'Cause if you're gonna have a sustainable organization, you have to have a sustainable fundraising source. And so we kind of went on a brainstorming trip through Honduras, visiting different people, visiting different farms, visiting different coffee farms. And on that trip, we kind of came up with the idea that what if we started a for-profit business, we sold a product that was widely consumed, that we could get into most households, and then we decided to donate 100% of the profits to non-profits. And so with that came generous. And generous coffee company is our company that's existed since 2017. Now, we donate 100% of our profits. We sell mostly coffee, but also some other products with stories behind them. And the way this can work is it's not, it's my full-time job, but it's not my only job. And so I'm able to work for our radio and have a show within. Obviously, there's been opportunities from the Bachelor as you were kind of referencing earlier. And then my partner in that now, he's 40 years old. He's able to sell his business at a young age, but he wasn't done working yet. And he kind of wanted to give back and do something that was within business, but doing good with the revenue and with the profit. And so he came on to help. And now today, we're rocking and rolling out of work on Indiana and selling as much coffee as we can, both wholesale and retail to whoever drinks coffee and wants to participate in a greater story. - That is incredible. And it's cool that you found your passion and you know what God wants you to do in life. - Yeah, it's been one of the most frustrating journeys, because obviously when you're donating your profits and you're not making any money on it. And with any business, obviously there's startup costs that myself and a few others kind of consumed. You're oftentimes going ask yourself the question, like God, what is this all about? Like why is this not maybe working the way I wanted to work? Why are we not like booming right away? And there's been a lot of patience, a lot of grit that I've been taught through it. We're in a really healthy place right now. I'm really excited for the future. We have some amazing nonprofit partners who are helping us grow and helping us tell the story. But it's, yeah, you know, I guess if I summed it all up, what I feel like now, at least at my age and where I'm at, what my calling is to participate in story and working for generous and working with these organizations allowed me to interface with incredible human stories and work alongside of them to help them get where they want to be. - That's incredible. And you're also a restaurant owner, right? - I am, yeah, I got lucky at a young age. I was 24 years old. I had not gone on the show yet. I was kind of my local like hangout spot was a bar right by my house. I had no friends in Denver. I wasn't dating. I'd just go there and kind of sit and see who walked in and talk to him 'cause I was bored. And the owner of that place one day said, "Hey, man, I want to start another restaurant. Do you have any money that I have got?" "No, I was making no money at my job." And I said, "You know, but I do have some money in a bank account from my grandmother passing away and he goes, "Okay, well, if you trust me, I want to start a restaurant." And so I gave him that money. And that was obviously eight years ago now. And we now, as of the end of this year, we'll have 20 restaurants in Denver, New Orleans. We're gonna start opening up to new markets outside of Denver here in the next quarter. We'll have restaurants at Denver International Airport. So yeah, it's been, that's been a wild ride. Very lucky ride for me. - You're also an author and I wanted to ask you about your process when you're right because you're a busy guy. And I wanted to ask you like, what's your process like? - Yeah, that was a tough one. So I wrote a load-in-plane site and it's a book on all of them. Because most of my life kind of felt like the outsider. I've definitely felt like the outsider looking in. And then still today, you know, I'm married and doing different things. And there's still many moments, in fact, last night. I was with my wife and I was telling her some of my things going on in my heart and just that I was feeling defeated and feeling pushed aside. And it still comes up in my life today. And the more and more I feared this publicly, the more and more people that I knew said, "Hey, me too, I feel this way also." And so I wrote this book, it was a journal mostly that I had written over time through my time on the show and then my time after the show. And so then when I got the journal put together, my process was I took time in silence. You know, I think God speaks to me in times of silence more than any type of time else. I did a lot of contemplation. And then I did a lot of interviews with people who I have learned from along my way. I'm sure there's stories also. And so it was really a time of reflection and silence to get what I wanted on paper was kind of how I went through it. Sometimes did not be busy, I guess would be the way I'd answer it clearly. - Who was someone that inspired you growing up? - Well, you know, a lot of it's been, you know, I've had, I've been lucky enough. You know, they said you were saw as incredible people. A lot of that town, when you live there, you have a lot of people kind of wrap their arms around you and lift you up. But there's also any time, you know, you have that close relationship with so many people. There's also the people that will wrap their arms around you and push you down. Those things both happen when in relationships, especially I think as you get older. And so really the people that stood out to me that I wanted to write in the book were the people that influenced me through my 20s and early 30s, I got to interview a young lady who had cystic fibrosis, had three lung transplants with denied a fourth and had two weeks left to live. And so I got to talk to her about what is her short time on the surface. She was 24 years old. What does it look like? What have you learned along the way? How have you, what do you want your legacy to be? What do you want this last two weeks to look like? Those questions that are so vulnerable and so difficult, but she gave me a space to do it. I also got to talk to a young man who's a buddy of mine named Avery who was born with some really difficult diseases. And it spent most of his life in quarantine before quarantine was a popular word or cool. He'd spent most of his time in hospital rooms with people coming in with hazmat suits because he was so sick. And so I got to talk to him about what does it look like to be literally locked off in the world and locked off from relationships, locked off from those memories that so many of us take for granted that we've been able to create. I got to talk to a young man who, with the college athlete, who moved to Denver and the weekend he moved to Denver, he went on a ski trip with his girlfriend, now wife and ran into a tree or a sign and he's now paralyzed from the neck down. And so within a week of moving to a city that he was so excited about because of the adventures and because of the things he was going to get to do, now he's in a wheelchair. So what has he learned about life through that process? And just people like that. People that have been through it and as a result came out of it or are still living in it, but gaining great wisdom from the experiences that he had. - It's all about perspective, really, because the worst thing that could happen to me today in my brain is like, oh man, I didn't get to eat that or do that. And then you think about your friend who hit a tree, right? And it's like, we should be always grateful for what we have every day. - Yeah, and be in the present moment and then understand that life is a gift. And no matter how we're living life or we're at life that it is a valuable gift and it's a, no matter what faith tradition, if you have a lack of or if you have one, I think we can all agree that just being on this earth, having breath is a miracle amongst itself. So what are we gonna do with this time? Like what does this mean? What is, what are we about? And just focusing on that, I think is something that helped me one stay centered, but also to kind of be in awe of the opportunities that I get to have or even sometimes the lack of opportunities I get to have, just that I have opportunity at some point to have breath is something that I'm grateful for. - I wanna talk about opportunity, but before we go to that, I wanna say you talk a lot about people wanting community and that is so true. I wonder if it's the digital age that has really killed community today because it's hard to have a conversation with someone that's younger who they don't know, they don't know how to communicate anymore because they do it all through texting and snapping and all that stuff. It's really hard now. I think you're on to something, we all want community and we all wanna be accepted, but we wanna be accepted by the right people and not the wrong people, right? - We definitely do. And I think there's some beauty to this digital age where we can connect now people all across the world and I can FaceTime my family right now and see their faces and get to communicate with them, feel closer to them than maybe I could have 15 years ago, but then there is that disconnect. There's a lot of assumptions built in the social media where the assumption is that yeah, just because I saw your picture on a thread, you know that I am checking in on you that I'm caring about you and I'm following you and et cetera. And the truth is we don't feel that. It's a very disconnected platform. It's a very disconnected world that we live in and this next generation coming up, they have some very beautiful things about them that maybe we haven't quite recognized whole yet, you know, they're very socially conscious. They have very strong passions and values. They really care about certain topics and they care about making sure that people feel welcome. The problem is, I don't know if they know fully how to do that, you know, so they have these things that they wanna do, but they've never been in a world where they've had to sit across the table from somebody and hear their opinions or hear their problems or hear their difficulties and communicate back with them about it in person. You know, they've never had to have a heated discussion or a calm discussion over topics that are critical for how we operate as a society because, you know, what they can do now is they can just turn off their phones and they can, or they can send a tweet out and never see the repercussions that that tweet has on somebody. And I think those are hopefully things will be learned over time and skills that will be implemented, but if they're not, we gotta figure out how we can continue to have discourse and how we can have separating opinions so that we don't become robotic and so that we don't just absolutely crush the story and stories of others. And I think that's an initiative I'm excited to continue to work on. It's how we continue to connect, how we continue to listen and how we continue to build relationships in the midst of a world that's spinning quickly around us and that is fairly disconnected. - Amen to that, you're totally right. And I wanna touch on opportunity before we close today. - You started on the Bachelorette, right? - I did, yes. - Yes, and then you went to the Bachelor, so I would probably say you were the winner of the Bachelorette at that point, right? I mean, you didn't get hurt, but you got to go to the Bachelor, so I would have seen that's a winner, right? - Well, yes, in my life, that has been one of the best things ever happened to me. - Yes, so I don't really wanna talk about, I mean, you're married now, I don't wanna talk about the relationship you had on there. - Yeah. - But I do wanna talk about the process for a minute because there's a lot of people listening that may not understand the process and I wanna understand it myself. I watched the Bachelor one time, one season, it was one Pablo season, I don't know how many years ago that was, that was a long time ago. - Yeah. - And you were totally different than one Pablo was, 100%. I mean, I wouldn't even put you in the same stratosphere as him, not that he's a bad dude, but you're just a different perspective, different eyes. What was it like for you having to deal with ladies pursuing you the whole time? That had to be a tough struggle in your brain, would be for me. - Yeah, yeah, you know, I think my mindset maybe was different than most leads because I knew that the women that were showing up to the mansion to date knew I was gonna be the Bachelor. So at least they had interest. But I also knew that a lot of them were there because of the opportunity that was being given to them. Hey, you're going on national television and your life could change pretty dramatically from that, either direction, either you're with somebody at the end or maybe you have new opportunities and a more recognizable faith and maybe you just want to travel to the world for free and have a good time. You know, I knew there was other weak reasons why people are there. And so I never let the idea that these women were seeking after me kind of, I never let it sit in. I was pursuing them as much as they were pursuing me. And when, you know, our relationship on the show would start to feel like it didn't exist, then most of the time when the breakup had to occur, I tried to let it happen so that we both were on the same page. I think, you know, if you're on a show and you have 30 amazing people dating you and in your mind you're like, they are pursuing me so much. They all like me. They all want to marry me. I think you get a really big head. I think you become a pretty weird individual. And so I always kind of played it as, hey, I know that some of them might be interested. I know that some of these women are probably looking at this going up, that is not my husband. And so let's just walk through this as best we can, you know, side by side in a really weird environment with a lot of variables. - Yeah, it has to be weird for you. I guess you've been on the Bachelor and so you were kind of prepared, but you have cameras around you all the time, right? - All the time. Mostly most of the day and sometimes even after the day ends. And the fantasy dates are amazing. I mean, I remember watching this, those are amazing. And I watched one of you, I did YouTube some. You went to Wrigley Field, which was incredible. - Oh, yeah, I'm saving, yeah. - Yes, did they let you keep the jersey? - Oh yeah, I still have it today. - Awesome, 'cause I was like, that's a really cool jersey. The scoreboard was there, it was really, it was really cool. But my question to you is you go on these fantasy dates, what's it like when you leave the Bachelor and you end up at McDonald's one night? 'Cause it's got to, you know, 'cause you go from the really cool thing to then you hit real life and real life is real life. - Yeah, yeah, it's, you know it is, it's a transition. I had some really low moments. I got really infatuated with the idea of fame and I didn't even know that I was doing it. I enjoyed having people come up and say, I enjoyed, you know, being on Reg Carpet. And at the time I didn't know necessarily how much I was enjoying it until, yeah, life flows down a bit and you're no longer the most current Bachelor. There's somebody that comes after you and then you see like people within the franchise get opportunities that you didn't get. And then all of a sudden you start to question yourself and that was a really hard season for me. It was a really beautiful season. That's, you know, when I came out of it. But it was months of me just again, feeling more like an outsider than ever before. I also within that started to realize that fame is not fulfilling. You know, I got to taste it. I got to feel it, but it's not fulfilling. It's not a worthy pursuit. It's exhausting to try to stay famous and relevant. And it changed, you know, in order to do that, you constantly have to be changing who you are to look for new opportunities and make a headline. And that's just not a life I want to live. I don't want to be 45 years old and look back and be like, well, that was a really weird season of life. I don't know who I've been for the last 20 years. And that's a big chunk of my timing on her. And so I had to kind of come to terms that, you know, fame is fleeting. Fame is not fulfilling. And a life that I wanted to live was that life where I was involved in a human story. And even as I'm telling you this, I'm like, yes, I got to tell myself this more because yeah, I get down on myself often, you know, still today and I got to tell myself, you know, I'm made to be a part of stories that deal with humans and that doesn't always include, you know, the most famous or recognizable rounds. - Yeah, for me, you're no more for your coffee and how you give back than the Bachelor. So I mean, that's-- - Well, that's great. - Yeah, thank you. - And now you're married, right? So I want to make sure we end on a great note. You're married now. - And you're happily married. - Happily married. And I think that's a good testament to your life and, you know, where you're at right now. - Yeah, happily married, just as amazing. We met, I messaged her on Instagram. She's never seen my season, which is a blessing for me and a gift to me that she never has to like have a weird dream one night and have an image of me kissing somebody else as you watch on TV. We've been married now, oh, a year and seven months, but in a really fun year and seven months, we did a long distance. She's from Nashville, Tennessee. And yeah, it's been great. I bet we, you know, it's interesting and my relationship with her. There's moments that I bet, you know, us talking about the Bachelor. I bet it's been less than five times in our relationship. It's just not a part of it. And that's really incredible to kind of go through that experience, learn through that experience, have that experience. And then somebody that has a lot more interest in who I am today than, you know, maybe who I was on that show. I love that God gave you a platform with the Bachelor and now you use it for good in other ways. And it's not something you ever wanna be defined by. - Well, it's, you know, I think there was a big moment in my life where I started to feel pretty lonely pursuing being famous and I talk to a buddy of mine, a good friend of mine. And that's one key element in my life. I have four friends that I can confide in who are celebrating with me in celebrations necessary, but also hold me in check when that's necessary. And I was telling that I was feeling weird, feeling lonely, having all these cool experiences, but not getting to share them with anybody and didn't know what to do with that. He said, "Hey, what if this is never meant to be about you? "What if this platform was meant to be "about something greater than you?" And from that moment on, there's been a switch where it's like, "Yes, now I get a platform "and now I get to use it hopefully for others. "Which just makes it a lot better." - Well, I appreciate your time, Ben. You've been incredible. I've enjoyed our conversation and I love your work. I'm gonna continue to follow it. - Thank you. - And I'll follow your career and, man, I will always be a fan of yours. - Well, I appreciate that. Thank you so much and anybody's listening and they wanna know more yet, generouscoffee.com. And we'd love to supply you. You're household with coffee or your business with coffee or your church or cafe or whatever it is. We're in the coffee business and we'll try to get coffee to you wherever you're at. So hey, thanks for having me. It's been great to talk to you too. - And where can we get your books? Your book? - Amazon still. It's a load and plain sight. It's the book. If you want it signed and shipped to you, just email contact.ben.higgins@gmail.com. I can figure out a way to send you a book. - I'm definitely gonna read that book. Thank you, Ben, so much. And again, I appreciate your time. - Of course. - Thank you. I truly appreciate Ben's vulnerability and honesty with us and thank you, Ben, for coming on. Again, you are so much more than a bachelor to me. I appreciate all you do. And I encourage all you listening right now. I will put the link in the show notes. Go buy some coffee from generous coffee. You're gonna help the world. Ben's got such a perspective that's great. And we all need to channel what Ben said in this conversation. Hey, you're listening to us on iTunes, right? Spotify, leave us a review. You know we love good reviews. Don't leave us bad ones. And follow us, work advice for me. On Instagram, email me. If you got a question, work advice for me at gmail.com. This podcast brought to you by HopeCast. Hey, my name is Brad, and I'm gonna go watch the Bachelor. Ben's season right now. I'll see you next time. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)
