The Success Story Behind The Gingerbread Twins with Billy & Denny

Ch 1 — Welcome & Introducing the Gingerbread Twins

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Good day, everybody. Welcome to the Deal Podcast. Uh, Josh here, you're gonna hear a few different voices come into this podcast. This room is filled with awesome people, and uh this is brought to you by FA Mergers. We like to sell businesses, middle market companies, like we love the the world of selling businesses. If uh you have a story or business that you'd like to talk about here on the deal podcast, head over to thedealpodcast.com, fill out a quick form, maybe get you on the show or maybe help you sell a business. Scott, why don't you uh Scott's our co-host today? Scott, uh, why don't you introduce yourself and then introduce the guest today?

SPEAKER_01 0:34

Yeah, so I am Scott with FA Mergers. Um this is gonna be a fun episode. So we have Billy and Denny of Twins, which is a uh bakery here, used to be a baker here in Lafayette. Um every business says they want to grow. Most of them aren't prepared to grow, especially not as fast as these guys just did. They had an absolutely viral kin cake season, which a kin cake is a I'll let them describe, but it's a Mardi Gras cake. Um their business exploded essentially overnight. Um so really want to dive into what does that do to operations, what does that do to your capacity, your your pricing, like how do you run your business, what caught you off guard? Um and let's just start with and how did that happen? How did you go from a bakery in Lafayette, Louisiana to like a viral sensation on TikTok?

Ch 3 — The Failed Marketing Agency & Learning to Make Their Own Content

SPEAKER_04 1:32

Yeah, well, uh started off we we decided to start a website, gingerbreadtwins.com. So we've always wanted to do this project. So uh over the years, like you know, we had some you know family issues through the pa in the past. Well we've always said we need to sell these cookies online. So we in 2023, we started thinking more about it because we just got through COVID and we knew people wanted our cookies uh all around the country. So then we started working on building out a factory in uh 2024, and we finally got it launched in 2000 late 20 2024. And uh we had this marketing company that did a really good job branding the company and uh making the gingerbread twins and the logos and all that, and uh the colors and the brand guidelines and all this. It was great. Like we were so happy with it. It was expensive to get all that done, but we were setting ourselves up for success at first. So then it was time to launch, and the marketing of the company, the guy was really good at branding, but the marketing was a flop. So uh kind of basically pissed me off because we we had this guy telling us, Oh yeah, just wait till we start marketing, make sure you have enough cookies, and then we launched with some video that didn't do so well, and then kind of other videos to back it up. Then we get a bill for quite a bit, and I was like, All right, I'm done with that. Like we we have to quit this, like we're gonna bleed ourselves dry. So we don't we're not like the most educated business guys, but when uh when something like that happens, it throws up a red flag, and then we say, All right, we have to do something because this is a sign that is just gonna ruin us if we keep going. So it's tricky because when you have somebody controlling the website and every all of your information, you have to be careful with that because you don't want them to go rogue on you and just erase everything that you've built over the past year. So then anyway, figured it out. A lot of details in between there. Have a good friend that helped us help me navigate through this situation. Well, I asked a friend, I said, Hey, we need some help. And then he called me, we had a conversation, and he said, All right, you have to trust me. And then there it goes. We started making videos and watching him edit, I was like, Oh, that's how you do that? All right. So then we started like the I started learning how to edit videos, and then the other guy was doing all these videos, making us look good on camera and making our job interesting, which I guess it is to a lot of people. So then it started catching on. Then in the 2024, we had a really good Christmas season. Okay. So uh our cookies were selling, it was so exciting. We'd get we we'd get these orders in, and it's like every time I'd get an order, if I'm at home, I'd run, drop not run, I'd drive back to the bakery and uh pack the orders and ship them out, and it was exciting because it was working. We weren't making enough money to cover the bills yet, but we knew that was going like we knew that going into it, that it wasn't gonna be, you know, it'd have to we'd have to build it.

SPEAKER_03 5:10

The factory was just like an extra thing. Like the factory was just uh something that we started knowing that we had twins as our you know livelihood, basically. So the factory, the gingerbread, gingerbread twins.com was just like a uh just extra, you know, it's just a fun project. Side hustle. Yeah. To to get it out to the to the whole country, I guess.

SPEAKER_04 5:32

So so then uh so with that being said, we we had a crazy Mardi Gras season in 2025. Like it was nuts. Like Denny was you know, tired after the season. It was a long season. We had a Youngsville location that uh ended up, we closed that after 10 years um in 2025 because we were so busy in in the Lafayette store and online for Mardi Gras that we were like, all right, Youngsville, we can't do it anymore. And the lease was going up and all that, so that was a good decision. And then in May after Mardi Gras, uh I started doing my own videos. I said, I'm going hog hunting and catfishing in the basin. So a buddy took me and uh we went for a couple days, and so I started I was filming everything, and then now that I kind of knew how to edit, it took me about four hours to edit a video, but uh I figured it out. Like I asked questions and I started making these videos, and then one of the things that we like we use we say a lot is you understand. So uh I'd use that in the videos too. Okay, so uh I'll tell you where we got you understand from. That was my question. Yeah. Our dad, our dad was an arrogant man, like he he was a good man, like he had a lot of good in him. Like he had a really good person inside of him, and then this other guy inside of him that like was just two different people. Okay. Well, he had a lot of arrogance because he was really good at you know, baking, maybe not as good at running a business and dealing with people, but he'd say this thing like, uh, I remember vividly one time we were in business with him at Southside Bakery, the next generation, when we we had that business with him, and that's a whole story. Well, this man said, Man, how do y'all make so many burgers? Uh he's my dad looked at him and said, We know what we're doing, you understand? And then condescendingly like that. But like, yeah, we're the best, we know what we're doing. Like, so and then he'd say, You understand? Like, and he'd say it in an arrogant way, and he would always say that, like, um, like all these things, you understand? You understand me? So then our dad died in 2018. You understand? You understand, and then uh, so after he died, we'd joke about like being like him, like we'd act like him, like, we know what we're doing, you understand, and then like eventually I would, you know, we would both talk about it, and we'd go. I went, we'd go on trips, and I even have a guy I went to the Bahamas with. I didn't go with just the guy, it was my wife, sure. But the guy he even put me in his phone as Billy, you understand Gilbo or whatever. So then uh, so after that, with that being said, we ended up uh I started using the you understand in my videos a lot, and people would say, Oh, that's aggravating. I don't know why he says it so much. I'm like, I don't care what you think, I'm gonna just keep like I liked it. That's like my period. So then I started making videos and they started going, you know, off a little bit. So it was neat to get the attention. And like when you first started, it's real motivating when you see all these views or whatever, and like people seem to like it. And then one day somebody said, Hey, uh my kids love to watch your videos.

SPEAKER_02 8:56

I'm like, Uh-oh, what am I saying, right?

SPEAKER_04 8:58

Yeah. So then I kind of transitioned from like, you know, just putting anything on the videos to like I have to be careful with what I put because I don't want to influence kids in a negative way, like I want to be a positive influence. And so then old people like were watching it and watching the videos. Then we'd make videos with for gingerbread twins, and those were catching fire, and then so we had one video go off during Mardi Gras and uh Christmas time that year, the 2024 that just kind of exploded. So, anyway, that's where we got started. Then now time just built up and is a lag effect, and now our videos from the past just create all these super fans that just want our stuff, and then we do make good quality products to the best of our ability. So the combination of the two uh being positive and you know, fun on the videos, backing it up with a product that we can stand behind, just kind of ties together and works. So now we're seeing the effects.

SPEAKER_02 10:11

Yeah, let me let me do something for people who listening in. What we have here in this studio at in Lafayette, Louisiana, is you know, you've heard me, my voice, you've heard Scott, and then you've heard two distinct voices across from me. You might be just listening in. I'm sitting in front of twins, and they they told me, like, if they just switched seats right now and I didn't know, like they're identical twins. So um you might be hearing different voices. You have Billy and Denny. All right. So just listening in, you're gonna hear a few different distinct voices. So let's do this. We're we're gonna have a little bit of a game. Uh let's start with you, Billy. Why don't you kind of tell us your your full name and then uh you'll do the same. That way people can maybe differentiate who's speaking and when.

SPEAKER_04 10:58

My name is Billy Gilbo, you understand.

SPEAKER_02 11:01

Yeah, and you that that is a trademark, like I mean, that that is uh a famous saying right there. Go for it, buddy.

SPEAKER_03 11:07

My name is Denny Gilbo, you understand?

Ch 4 — Three Generations of Baking: Grandfather, Father, and the Gibo Boys

SPEAKER_02 11:10

Awesome. Yeah, thanks for doing that, guys. Um, all right, so now we're we're about to jump into kind of the story of you know answering Scott's question of you know, you you start going viral, you've had these bakeries, you bakery baking has been in your blood for generations, right? But you you've had some family, it seems like this family turmoil a little bit, and uh a new birth has come. The Phoenix, you know, changed, it rises, and a lot has changed in the last few years. But what what I want to point out to uh the the community here, and what I really want to like honor you guys for doing is you guys had it seems like some pain growing up, maybe with dad. And um you guys took something that was painful and kind of turned in it and reframing it to be a positive thing, and I think that's a a really great thing to honor tip of the hat to dad, but also reframing it in a positive way. So I'm I'm really thankful that you guys did that. I'm proud of you guys for that. Um, so let's pop into the story, man. This is great. You you guys took over the website, learned how to edit, started seeing yourself as an influencer, and you're like, oh shit, man. Like, we actually gotta like watch what we say and take, you know, like what are we gonna do with this newfound fame and newfound virality? Let's hear it.

Ch 5 — Selling Cookies in High School & The Entrepreneurial Spark

SPEAKER_03 12:34

Yeah, I mean, well, we could start, I guess, from how we learned how to how to work, I guess. I don't know. Uh, when, you know, growing up, my grandfather had a bakery. Uh, he was in the Navy, then he opened up a bakery when he got out, and it was called um Dixie Cream Donuts. It was a donut shop, and then he transitioned from that to Southside Bakery, which is across the street from where Twins is now in a pawn shop. So then he had that for, I don't know, he opened it in 1950 and then had it till 1980. Then my dad took it over, and so my dad learned how to bake from him. So my dad was my dad taught us, taught us a lot about how to work and all that, but he had a different, like he was a different type of guy. Like he he was so bad. One day I was at my my grandma's house and talking to her about him, and uh, she lived till 93 or something like that. So I was I was talking to her and uh she's like, Yeah, your dad, you know, he was so bad in high school, like he he was just so bad that, you know, I'd get home and talk to Russell, her hut, my grandpa. We'd I would talk to Russell about him, and you know, we would say, Well, we can't kill him, we just have to deal with him. That's how bad he was. Like he was he was a spoiled brat. He told my grandfather, if you don't buy me a Corvette, I'm moving out. So they bought him a Corvette. He was in high school. So then anyway, it was kind of that's the base of how my dad was. So anyway, so my dad took over the Southside Bakery, and then um he ended up, you know, my grandmother said that he didn't take care of his customers and he spent way too much money. Well, I've heard stories of him throwing cakes at customers and you know parsing at customers and and all these things, just you know, we can't kill him. We just have to deserve it. Uh-huh. So then um anyway, so probably not. You know, he ended up uh sh he ended up closing down because I think in 1987 the oil field went south, and you know, you had a big uh downturn in the economy, so then he didn't have any money, I guess, set aside, and he spent it all kind of like what my grandmother said, so he had to close. Well, then he went to work for different businesses or different places like casinos and all of that. So um we opened a bakery in Carn Crow. Oh, that's right. We opened up a bakery in Carn Crow. So, you know, that was um that's true. So um anyway, he had that. We we moved to Carn Crow and we were like 11 or 12. So he opened up What Time Is It Bakery? Because he liked burger time. It was a burger place. Well, he wanted to name it something like that, so it's what time is it bakery? So then uh, you know, he he started that. We had hamburgers there and and uh bakery stuff, donuts, and so then on the weekends, you know, I would um we would have to go help him, you know, so then I would wake up at, I don't know, midnight and I'd have to go to the bakery and and help him. So I'd get there and I'd sleep on the table until he was ready for me. So then I'd have to go and and help him make the donuts and like make the dough, and then I'd have to fry the donuts and all that. So, you know, at 12 years old, 11, 12, it was it was uh a lot of work, but you know, if I didn't do it, he would have beat me, so I had to do it. But it was good. Uh so then, you know, as he had that, when he had the bakery, you know, he would teach us how to do things. So we would make uh we would go around town and pick figs and make fig pies in the summertime. We would uh we would bring the figs back to the bakery, we'd make a my dad would make a filling with it, and then my mom would help us make the pies and then we'd wrap them, and then we'd walk around Carencrow with a bus tub and sell pies to different businesses. So it was pretty neat. So, you know, we made money like that. Then we started making different flavors, and then, you know, pineapple, apple, uh, pineapple, apple pin. No, that's a song. Anyway, but uh, we would do that, so we were making a lot of money doing that. So then um anyway, as time went on, uh my dad ended up, I guess, selling the bakery, and kind of he did some, he made some bad decisions in that business too, but uh anyway. Yeah, we can't we can't talk, but uh anyway, he uh so anyway, when we were in high school, we he was friends with the Long Lanays. So we were still living in Carencrows, so Long Lanay's bakery. So my dad ended up going make some, we ended up going make cookie dough at Longanaise. So then he was making uh eggnog cookies, so we would make these tree cookies like we sell to the Christmas tree cookies.

SPEAKER_04 17:35

Christmas tree cookies, so green icing and sprinkles.

SPEAKER_03 17:38

Yeah. So we would go to Longanaise and we would make the dough and and cut the cookies out. So then we started bringing these to high school, to school in high school, Karen Crow High. So um we eventually, you know, started bringing those to school and we would bring boxes of cookies. Like we at first we started with a few, and then we'd sell out. So then we started bringing boxes of them and we'd have extra ones in the car. So then we were selling so many cookies at school. I mean, it was crazy. We had pockets full of cash, and we were like, man, this is great. So then uh anyway, it was kind of like a a spark that you know ignited our um entrepreneurial spirit, however you say that. But um, it was pretty neat and combined with all the things that we used to do.

SPEAKER_04 18:24

We used to pick pecans and we'd like gather up all the pecans we could and we'd ride our bikes to the store that bought the pecans and then we'd sell them and then we'd get money back from it, and then we'd buy lunch and you know, whatever we wanted because oh look, let's let's go pick some pecans and go, you know, eat lunch at Pete's or whatever. It was a little store that had hot dogs. And then we did that. We'd pick find cans around town, and we'd gather up the cans and go sell them to the scrapyard. And then in high school, like you said, the cookies, like it was just it was, I remember vividly somebody walking up to me. I had the the shoebox full of cookies and I had some gingerbread planks in there. Uh, so I had like a big piece in there, and it was wrapped, and somebody threw a five-dollar bill in my thing and grabbed that. And I said, Oh, do you want change? No, keep the change. And I was like, Oh wow, like five bucks for this piece of cooking. So then uh teachers were buying them from us. So uh anyway, so then after high school, we decided that we wanted to move to the casino in Kinder where my parents were working. My dad was the bakery manager at Grand Casino Cashada. So we went work in valet over there. And it was cool because we'd run and get the cars and we learned how to do valet. And like, uh, so then we moved into, after about a year doing that, we moved into the fine dining restaurant. Uh, so that we helped open that. We did through this extensive training through this, you know, restaurant program and uh opened the restaurant there, then worked there for about six months or so, then we moved to Houston. So uh we wanted to go live in the big city. So we moved to Houston, worked at a restaurant there called Dennis's Seafood. It was my dad's good friend from uh school, Dennis Wilson. Dennis gave us a job, we had an apartment there, we lived there for about a year and a half and then just got sick of Houston. So we said, why don't we move back to town and ask dad if he can help us open a business?

Ch 6 — Going Into Business With Dad — and Everything That Went Wrong

SPEAKER_03 20:26

Yeah, I was going to UL and I was like, move back. He started at UL and I just didn't like going to school. Like I just didn't like, I didn't like trying to find a place to park. I didn't like trying to find these buildings, I didn't like the classrooms, like I just didn't like anything about it. So I'm like, man, we should open up some kind of sandwich shop around UL. And then I uh I was talking to Billy about it, and he's like, let's talk to dad about it. So I called, I called my dad, and then we said we want to open up a sandwich shop around UL. He's like, uh, okay, I'll help y'all. So then that's kind of where it got started. So we ended up looking at different locations, and then at the time my dad wasn't doing anything. Um he wasn't he wasn't working, he got laid off from the casino just because I guess most people, you know, they couldn't deal with him. So uh they they didn't want to just deal with him. So they just fired him. They couldn't kill him. So then uh anyway, so then um, but at the time it is kind of strange because during that time where he was at the casinos and stuff, you know, I I would I remember he he would have strokes and stuff. Like he would have these little pin strokes. And then one time he had like this stroke that I don't know, he was in the hospital and he was saying how he was probably gonna die. And I remember like I was in my room or something, and I was crying, and I was begging God not to, like, not to let him die. I I don't know, I was crying, even though like. Our childhood was like really tough. Like he beat, like he used to beat us, I guess. And and look, I I mean, I'm sure we did some bad stuff, but he used to beat us and we called him and he'd kick us. And like, you know, it's pretty uh it was pretty crazy. And I think, you know, having a twin brother, like if I was a a single person, like a single, you know. A singleton.

SPEAKER_02 22:23

Is that what you call us? Yeah, I think so.

SPEAKER_03 22:25

That's what y'all are. So then I think if I was a singleton, it would have been pretty bad. But since I I guess since I had Billy as my twin, you know, we could, you know, gang up on him. Gang up on him. We could comfort each other. Yeah. So then um gang up on him. Anyway, so then I I don't know. I just remember crying, asking God to please just keep him alive, and and he ended up answering the prayer. And I don't know, it was just weird because I just didn't want him to die. Well, anyway, so then uh so what was uh so you asked him, hey, can you help us open a business? Yeah, so at the time he he said, I'll help y'all. So then we found this location, and um, at the time he wasn't working, like I said, and um, you know, he from what a friend of ours said, I don't know if I should talk about that, but he wasn't happy with his life, and he just didn't have a reason. He felt like he didn't have a reason to live anymore. But then we asked him, and I don't know what that entails, but whenever we asked him, a good friend of ours that was a good friend of my dad said, Sammy, why don't you do this with your boys? It it gives you a new a reason to live, and so you know, it kind of gets me the chills because it's true. Like I asked God to keep him, like, please don't let him die. And then we asked him to do this, and and he didn't want to live anymore. And then so now he has a reason to live, and then you know, we ended up opening up uh Southside Bakery across like where our twins is now. So we formed the corporation on our birthday.

SPEAKER_04 24:07

Um and Southside Bakery, the next generation is what it was called, and there was a logo with twin bakers holding the cake in the middle. Southside Bakery used to be the bakery that was the bakery that my grandparents started in the 50s. Then my dad took it over, like Denny said earlier, and then it closed in 1987. Then we asked our dad to help us open it. Southside Bakery the Next Generation. We get it open in April of 2023. So we formed the corporation. Yeah, 2003. Oh shoot, yeah, yeah. I always say that. I don't know why. So 2003, there's too many twos in there, but anyway, uh, so we get the bakery open, but it was tough because our dad, like we were working on Christmas Day of 2020. Yeah, that's right, 2002. Christmas Day we're in there. Denny got shocked, he was taking some wire down. My dad had him on the ladder, and then like electrical wire shocked Denny a little bit, and then so anyway, just remember that. Well, we borrowed$125,000 from the bank, we signed our names on it and everything, and uh my dad now I rode to Oklahoma to get equipment, and so we bought bakery equipment, then it came in, we opened the business. I was working at tsunami at the time, downtown, and I just kept working there to to where the business wouldn't have to pay me. Denny was working uh in the bakery, and we'd this is how it started. Denny and I would I'd work in the front and Denny would work in the back one day with my dad. Well, our dad, like we said, is very tough, right? So the next day we'd switch and I'd go in the back. And if my dad was in a bad mood, like we'd get there at four o'clock in the morning to start everything, work till six o'clock at night. Well, we'd switch. Well, one day my dad was just in the worst mood, and I was like, and I'm Denny's the if you need somebody to like if one of us needs to fight somebody, then he's gonna go fight him.

SPEAKER_02 26:06

Like uh he's a tough guy, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:07

Like he's the fighter, he's the one. So I said, Denny, can you go work in the back today? I just can't handle that. Like, I I can't do it. And I didn't like that anyway. I'm like, I I hate baking. Like, I don't want to learn how to do that. So then uh he said, Yeah, I'll go. And then so Denny went, and then like the next day, I'm like, you want to go again? It's your day anyway. And like, yeah, I'll go. So then I just stayed in the front, he stayed in the back. And then he learned because he liked that kind of stuff. Well, my dad, we had a friend helping us one day. You know, Jeb Bellard? Jeb, anyway, it's a friend of ours who was helping us, and I was in the back and I was putting powdered sugar in the kettle, and like my dad was in a bad mood. Well, some powdered sugar fell on the floor just a little bit, and then like, you know, uh, my dad came up and berated me in front of my friend that was helping us. And then he, I think you were back there too. Well, he said, uh, you know, that's your prophet right there. Uh, you know, watch what you're doing and all this, yelling at me. And I was like, I'm kind of embarrassed because he's yelling at me in front of my friend. That's the first time he's ever done that. Our friend would just come and help us. Well, he walked away, and uh, I said, Well, it was like this, like you should have seen the place yesterday, because my dad was working in the back the day before, and he made the biggest mess because everybody else has to clean up after him. So then I said it under my breath, but my dad can't hear, but then he heard that. So I'm like, how does he hear that? But he can't hear when we ask him. Superpower. So then uh so next thing you know, I had this white, like scrub-looking shirt on that had the logo on it. It was a uniform shirt from CentOS and like an undershirt underneath. That doesn't all matter. But anyway, he came up behind me and slams his hands on my shoulders and rips me back, and I'm like, I almost fell down. And he started yelling at me in front of my friend, and I'm like, like, it almost made me want to cry, and then like I just had to let him yell at me, and then like uh he went off, and then my brother, my buddy was like, You gonna let him do that? I'm like, what do you mean? He's like, Well, I'd kick his ass. I'm like, I can't, like, really, like that's what you do? Cause I can't, like, what am I supposed to do? So then anyway, that was embarrassing, and it just was like a holy crap, like I'm 20 something years old, 24 years old, getting I know beat. Seriously. So then uh so anyway, time goes on, Denny's in the back, I'm in the front. Our dad ended up, like, we ended up hiring three of our sisters because we have three older sisters who came to work with us, but they weren't owners, and they weren't so they weren't gonna be owners because it was our business. We started it, we took out the loan, you know, we signed our names up and we asked our dad to help us. So the business needed to transition to become ours eventually. That's what we thought.

SPEAKER_03 29:07

Well, and that's what my dad told the landlords when we leased the space. The landlords, the landry's, they grew up with my dad basically, so they knew how he was. And whenever we went in to get the to lease the spot, you know, my name was on the lease and my mom's name was on the lease. So then the landlords allowed us to be there. If it was just my dad, they'd have probably said, Sammy, like you need to go somewhere else. But it was because he said, I'm doing this for my boys, I'm gonna get them set up, and once they're set up, I'm gonna be out of there. Right.

SPEAKER_04 29:42

So uh along the the time we were all three sisters were working, we had a whole family working there. My mom, my dad, my sisters. So you could like if you know anything about a family business, it can get complicated. But we were the owners, we had the responsibility and our uh responsibility on our shoulders, and our sisters just had, you know, they worked eight hours, you know, whatever. Like they didn't have to work 12 hours a day or 14 hours a day. So then with that being said, our dad would uh ended up kind of taking it easier and he'd stay at home and he had we had cameras in the bakery and he'd he'd just play on his computer all day and just spy. So like I'm very impatient. Like it's I'm working on it, but like my impatience comes from when I'm in the front helping customers and stuff, and like I was like my dad kept the staff minimal to where like we'd do all the work, right? So I'm in the front working. Well, a customer would come in and like he'd watch the cameras and he'd call. Yeah, like, is anybody helping that customer? I'm like, yeah, I just helped them. So then over time, all these phone calls and him watching, just like knowing that somebody's watching, you know how that feels. Like if you're you know somebody's watching you, well, it's like, okay, well, now I have to like do acting to let him know that I'm helping the customer. So I'd have to do these gestures and stuff, like just like to let him know on the cameras that that customer is being helped. Well, then if I had to go to the bank to get change or I had to go use the bathroom, I'd have to go in a hurry because if I didn't, he'd call the bakery and there was a line four that rang a certain ring, it was a special ring, and I was like, oh man, what does he want now? And it just like wore me out. And this was for years, okay? So like it like seriously, it was like I was in jail getting watched all the time, and I had to like go through this, and like mentally, like like it could have like drove it could have driven me crazy. Yeah, it drove me crazy.

SPEAKER_00 31:49

That explain that explains a lot, huh? It it explains it all.

SPEAKER_04 31:52

So uh so then uh our dad started to have these meetings in the bakery, and he was behind the scenes. Denny and I were the face of the business to where like people knew that it was the twins from Southside Bakery. So our dad was doing these meetings, like these kind of anti-government meetings kind of things, like which we had to work. Like I had to cook burgers after six o'clock. I got there at four o'clock in the morning, worked till six. Well, then the days they had the meetings, I'd have to stay to cook burgers for his friends. So then it wasn't a good look because you had all these people with all these bumper stickers on their cars parking at the bakery. Uh, he'd advertise it on this program on TV, just let it let everybody know that they're gonna have a meeting at Southside Bakery, and then everybody was looking at the twins like we were we agreed with all that, and I'm like working it like thinking I shouldn't be here, like this shouldn't be happening here. And well, anyway, so he was doing that. Then he was every day we'd get TVs coming in to the back door, like because he'd sit at home on home shopping network and just buy everything, like two of give me four of them, like uh whatever it was, like shower heads and you know set of drums, like like a set of drums. He wanted to start playing the drums, so just anything he'd like, so spending all the money. Then what really kind of got us was when like this was about 2007, leading into 2008, maybe that year, seven and eight. Uh, well, he wanted to buy this the foot action building in Lafayette.

SPEAKER_03 33:27

It was uh there's a guitar place now, it's kind of next to Applebee's.

SPEAKER_04 33:32

Yeah, like on Johnson and Ambassador.

SPEAKER_03 33:34

It was a big a big building.

SPEAKER_04 33:36

Yeah, so he put a bid on it for two million dollars. And and and like my dad wasn't the owner of the business. My mom owned 51%, and we owned 24.5% together. So he put a bid on that building and then was like, we're gonna buy that building. And we're like, uh like and so then a good friend of ours, uh he used to own a crawfish place in Henderson, uh, was a kind of a mentor to us, Mr. Jerry Gidry. And Mr. Jerry, I mean, I don't Mr. Jerry was a family friend of my dad, like he knew my dad very well. And uh we asked him for some help on this, like, hey, what do we do? He said, your dad is gonna like like y'all can't do this anymore. Like, and we were like, you're right, like we needed to hear that. He said, This was supposed to be your business, like it needs to transition to become y'all's, and we're like, yeah. So we met at my house and uh we talked about it, and we decided to call our dad and say, Hey, it was after I got married, right? In 2008. I got married in 2008, so in no in October. So in about November of 2008, we kind of put our foot down and said, Hey, this needs to transition to become ours. Well, you're spending all this money, you're doing these meetings.

SPEAKER_02 35:02

We need not keep going, man. I like your story.

SPEAKER_04 35:05

So uh we we ended up uh having that hard conversation. You're spending all the money, it needs to transition to become ours, you're doing all these things we don't agree with. So then we he starts fussing, yelling on the phone, and that was the break the ice moment of like we're standing up to you, it's time. Well, it wasn't easy because we had to go back to work. So we went back to work, and our dad was like, he liked to fight. So oh hey, how y'all doing too? Like he would play that game, right? Like be nice, but he was plotting stuff in the in the background. So after Christmas, in and uh we got into 2009, we get a letter saying we're having a shareholder meeting. So, like shareholder meeting, like what's that? We never had a board meeting or anything. So then we go to the uh we prepare for that. And we had some lawyer friends of ours giving us some good advice, and I got this corporation's book that she said to look it up about shareholder meetings and all this, and then uh, so we're preparing for the meeting, so we ended up going to their house because that's where the office, like the the meeting was gonna be. So then we show up and there's cars everywhere. And uh we're like, what are all these cars here for? So then we go inside and I'm like, it's not funny, but this guy walks up to us, uh, oh hey, how y'all doing? Uh I said, Oh, y'all having a party here? Like, what's going on? They're supposed to have a shareholder meeting. He's like, Oh, yeah, we're having a party. Uh come join the party. I said, It's not funny. I said, I'm not gonna lie, like, this is not a time to joke. Okay. So I don't know who all these people are, but y'all gonna have to leave. And then there was a guy sitting next to my mom, and uh, he said, I'm here to uh represent your mother. I said, Well, you're gonna have to leave in a few minutes because at seven o'clock when we start the meeting, like you have to be gone. This is a shareholder meeting. I don't know who you are, and I don't care who you are, but you can't be here. He said, Oh, I have the right to be here to represent your mother. I said, No, you don't. I said, You're gonna leave. We're having a shareholder meeting, and you're not a shareholder. He said, Well, I'm gonna stay. I said, No, you're not. All right, as a matter of fact, let's vote on it. I said, Denny, do you vote to have him here for this meeting? Anybody else besides the shareholders? No. I said, uh, like, okay, my vote's no. Mom, what do you vote? She said, I do. I said, Well, I'm sorry, it's two two to one. You're gonna have to get your crap and leave. When we come back inside, you better be going. Well, then we go outside and I called uh Allison, my friend, lawyer, and she said, Yeah, that's correct. Like you read that and uh read the right chapter. We go back inside, and the guy's picking up his stuff. Well, I think it's best if I leave. I said, You don't think it's best if you leave, you're gonna leave because you have to leave. Okay? So get your crap and get out. Because at this point, we were pissed because they're trying to bully us with they had like four lawyers there, and then like it was it was ridiculous. So then they all left. Well, then we started the meeting. Well, then it was uh thing like we're you know kicked off of the board of directors, which we never had board meetings, like I said. So we got kicked off of the board of directors, we got our rights stripped away from signing checks and for you know running the business and ordering and all this kind of stuff. So, like, okay, so it really like kicked us in the butt, you know, like just what are we gonna do now? So then what we did was we went back to work the next day. Okay, so we had to go do our jobs, smile at customers, all this tension, like and arguments. You can imagine the family tension at this point.

SPEAKER_03 38:59

Like so then you had the sisters, you know, they were, you know, my sister, my oldest sister, she was, you know, basically she could see everything that was going on, like, because she was in the office and she could see what my dad was doing, and he was just spending a lot of money, and you know, kind of the same things that he was doing in in his first business, you know. So then um, anyway, so then the other two sisters, they kind of, my dad kinda got them on his side. So then it was like a, you know, like a freaking battle, you know what I mean? And and but we just kept working, and you know, eventually um he my dad got my mom to donate her shares to him. So then he was the majority owner. So then at this point, like we didn't realize that, but then we went to California, like we're like, let's just go to California and play golf. So we went play golf in California, and then whenever we got back, um, you know, we had our we have a membership at um Oakbourne, the country club.

SPEAKER_04 40:09

Like we we got that this was a little further down the line, like closer towards the end, like in 2010. But in 2009 is when like we started, like we went through that year kind of like getting family drama arguments, like all these things, and then like you said, he was he was he hadn't owned it at that point yet, like he didn't take over it. It was later in like 2010 where he did the oh yeah, he took it over from mom. But so we had argue like our dad would argue with us and fuss at us and all these things and like try to be nice at times. Well, there was uh we couldn't get in the okay, yeah. I get to work one day and after the board meeting and all that, where I'm like, I'm walking up to the front of the building because we didn't have a side door at the time, so I parked in the front of the bakery. I'd walk up, I walked up and I saw that the front door was not latched. Like in between the crack of the door, I saw that there was no latch. I'm like, hmm, why is the door unlocked? So then I put my key in there and I tried to, it didn't work. So I'm like, hmm, he changed the locks. So I go in the back, I said, Denny, dad, change the locks. And I'm like, yeah. So then we're pissed off and we're like, okay, well. So then later on that day, a customer asked if they could if I could fax a menu. So I was like, yeah, I'll go fax it, I'll fax a menu to you, and then I'll go in the off. I'll try to go in the office and it was closed, and then I tried to unlock the door, and that was locked. So I got so mad I broke the key off in the door. So then I couldn't, I was mad because I can't take care of my customers because I don't have a key to the office. Like, seriously, and I'm doing all the work.

SPEAKER_03 41:56

Like, so then a little while later, my dad comes in the back and he tried and I was back there and he tries to, you know, he tries to go into the office. I said, You can't get in there. And he's like, why not? I said, Billy's key broke off in there. He's like, hmm. And he walks away kind of smirking, and I'm like, I said, it's not funny. I said, and I said, um, and he looked at me kind of like with a smirk. I said, it's not funny. I said, isn't it crazy? I said, the guy, uh, the guy, the guys, the guy stealing the money has a key to the office, and the guys making the money for you to steal don't have a key to the office. And he looked at me and uh like he got, yeah. So then obviously.

Ch 7 — Getting Fired, Sued, and Starting Over With a Home Depot Credit Card

SPEAKER_04 42:52

So then we ended up getting keys, like, because we like he didn't want to have to do everything. So then he, oh, I'm gonna give y'all keys. I was gonna give y'all keys. Oh yeah. Because he wanted to keep us there, right? So then we got a key to the office and all this. Well, one day uh I finally get on the computer and uh I see that we paid a law firm and then like something like 1500 bucks or whatever it was. So I called the law firm and said, Hey, I need an invoice for this. Like, I don't know, we didn't give the invoice. I saw we paid a bill. Oh, sure, I'll fax one right over. So then it was she faxed over the invoice and it said, you know, we paid a lawyer to like we're working to make money to pay a lawyer to figure out how to get rid of us. It was how to terminate minority shareholders from a corporation, all this stuff, and we're like, that's us. Like, so we took that letter, brought it to the landlords and said, Hey, we're about to get fired from our own business. Like, what do we do? We're signed, we signed the lease. They said, Look, your lease comes up. You had a nine year lease from 2003 to 20 uh 11.

SPEAKER_03 43:53

2012.

SPEAKER_04 43:55

So then it's it's right now it's uh 2000, it was. 2011 at this point, and we were gonna get fired. So the landlord said, Look, your lease comes up at the end of February of 2012. We're not leasing it to your dad unless y'all it to Southside unless y'all want to stay there. But if your dad fires y'all and you want to start your own business, talk to your lawyer about it. And if he says you're free to open your own business at this point, then we'll lease it to you and form a corporation and we'll get a lease drawn up if that's what y'all want to do. Said we're gonna do that. Formed a company called Southside Burgers, eventually changed the name to Twins Burgers and Sweets. But we didn't know what we were doing, but we started there. We later that year, probably after the summertime, we signed the lease for that. Well, then at that point, we're like, all right, good. We know what's gonna happen. We're gonna get fired. Well, sure enough, one day Denny comes to work, and uh, you know, my mom said good morning to him, and Denny said good morning. Like, uh, you know, it's so much tension at this time. Like, we're going through years of this. Like, so then my mom calls my dad, and my dad ends up showing up pissed off. So then he says, uh, you know, what's what's going on? And I'm like, what do you mean? He's like, Your brother didn't tell your mom good morning. I said, Yeah, he did. Like, he said, No, he didn't. Uh I said, he told her good morning. And uh he said, Your mama says he didn't. I said, Well, she's lying. Like he told her good morning. And my dad said, You're calling your mom a liar? I said, Well, Denny told her good morning. I'm just telling you, I'm telling you what Denny said. Mom is lying. You're calling your mom a liar, don't call your mom a liar. I said, Okay, well, what is it? Like, mom, did Denny tell you good morning? She said, Well, he didn't mean it. I said, You see what I'm saying? I'm not calling her a liar, I'm saying she did lie because he did tell her good morning. So she calls you, you can come over here getting pissed off. Now we have to deal with that. I said, Mom lied and started this whole argument. And he got in my face, he said, You don't work here anymore. You're calling your mom a liar. I said, What do you mean? Like you're firing me? Yeah, you don't work here anymore. I said, Well, hold on a second. I said, You can't fire me. You're just the owner's husband. Like, you can't fire me. You're nothing here. All you are is I don't even know what you do here. Do you even work here? Like, I'm an owner. Denny's an owner, and mom's an owner. Mom, why don't you fire me if you think that's right? She went back in her room. She didn't fire me. And uh, I start yelling, and like he's yelling at me. Well, then I go in the front. We had a door to go in the front, so uh a glass door. So I go in the front and I'm like, oh hey, how y'all do? Like, yeah, y'all been all right. Like, and this was over the course of those from 2009 to two thousand late 2011, this was how it was. I'd get in an argument, get berated by my dad, I'd go in the front and hey, turn it on.

SPEAKER_02 47:16

You would turn it on in front of the customers. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 47:18

Because I had to my our our thing was like we still need to help our customers. Like our customers have been supporting us for years, and we can't we can't give our customers less than our best. So that's what we did, like for our customers, right? So then it was like that was hard. You can imagine getting fussed at by your wife and your friend comes to the door, hey, and then you're like, like, that's what it's like, that's what it feels like. So then finally, like, so I stayed at work. My dad couldn't fire me. Then a couple weeks later, Denny gets fired.

SPEAKER_03 47:59

Yeah, because I was making uh making butter cookies, I remember, and then he's like, um he said, Denny, uh, like I was doing something, like I was remodeling my bathroom whenever I bought my house, and you know, years before, I never did this bathroom, so I was remodeling the bathroom. And he uh, you know, after all of these things that he did to us, change the locks, then you know, then our sisters, okay, so as we were working, he we were making a certain amount because we were like we were the owners and my mom, you know. So then we were 24% owners, each of us, and then 24.5%, my mom was 51%, 20%, yeah, whatever it was. So then um anyway, but he decreased our pay and then increased our sister's pay, so we were all making the same amount, which we felt like that wasn't fair, and rightfully so, because we were the ones that started the business and took the risk, I guess, like signing our name on the loan, whatever. So, anyway, so we were upset with that, but we still went to work and whatever. So then uh, so anyway, dad goes up to you by the oven. He comes up to me and he's like, Denny, uh, you finished with your bathroom? And I'm like, I looked at him, I'm like, yeah, like, like, yeah, like in other words, like, why are you asking me this? Why are you talking to me? And he's like, Okay. I said, how do you expect me to talk to you about my personal life when you're doing all these things to us? And he's like, like what, Denny? Like, like that. I said, uh, like what? I said, our Oakborn bill was was is not paid, it's past due. Our cell phone bills are past due. They're about to shut our cell phones off. I said, you changed the locks. I said you're we're you changed our pay to where we're making the same amount as our sisters. And I said, all of these things. And he's like, hmm. I said, you know, I said, uh, I said, my mom was right about you. I said, the way you ruined that business across the street. I said, you spent too much money and you didn't take care of your customers and you're doing the same thing here. And he said, and uh he he got mad. So he said, I'm getting tired of putting up with your BS. And uh I said, we've been putting up with your BS for eight years. I said, wait a minute, for 31 years. He said, why don't you get out of here then? I said, fire me. He said, you're fired. He looked at me like that and said that. I said, okay. So I dropped my bag of butter cookies and uh I got some things. I walked out to my car, came back in. He tried to stop me and said, Denny, let's talk. I said, I'm done talking. So got the rest of my stuff, and uh I went uh left. I went to uh the golf course. So I didn't know where to go. I was shaking. I was like, I could I was just out of it. So then I went to the golf course and I was on number 13 T-Box. Just I was walking and just well, then I get a call from a number, a Lafayette number, and then it was the Lafayette Police Department saying, uh, you know, hey, this is Lafayette Police Department. Uh we're calling because your dad, I guess it's your dad, said that you stole his recipe books. I'm like, bruh. I said, I'll bring the recipe books back. And he's like, okay, I'll meet you at the police station. So anyway, so I brought some recipes back, but you know, I had all the recipes copied anyway, because in like 2004 or 2005, this is taking us back. My dad, this was kind of like, you know, what what how he was. Whenever he would want to do something, like he wanted to make cakes for the casinos, and we would have to make the cakes, cut the cakes, box them up, sell them to the casinos for eight bucks a cake. And it was a lot of work, took a lot of space. We weren't gonna be able to do it. So my mom was like, Yeah, Sammy, we we can't do this, like it's too much. And he would get mad at us and get mad at my mom, and and he got really mad and he said, I'm leaving, I'm leaving you. So he took all of his recipe books out of the bakery, left. He made a note, wrote a note for my mom, packed my clothes, I'm leaving you. Well, she was crying on our shoulders, like, didn't know what was gonna happen. I'm like, he's gonna come back, mom. He, you know, so then anyway, so then uh, so eventually after a few days, he came back and brought his recipe books back. So then I'm like, okay, good, now I can make the stuff because I didn't have the recipes and I didn't know them by heart. So then, anyway, so then things got back to kind of normal, if whatever you call normal, that's our normal. So then he did it again. Like he left my mom again. He left us again and took his recipes again. So then it was like a uh control thing, kind of like a, I don't know what you call that, but that's how he got his way. So then after he did it the second time and finally brought him back, I took all his recipe books and went copy them at a at my girlfriend at the time's mom's office. So I copied them on a copy machine. I copied all of them and I hid them in the bakery. That way, if he'd do it again, I'd have the recipes. So then uh anyway, so that's kind of how. So after that, you know, I didn't go back to work and Billy had to work.

SPEAKER_04 53:29

And he called me one day, that that day, and said, Hey, dad just fired me. I'm like, oh, great. And I know he's not going back. It's like so I stayed when I got fired.

SPEAKER_03 53:38

Okay, and and to to go back to 2008, this is another story that kind of led to this we can't do anything with my dad again. It was Hurricane Gustav, and like we we were open because we had electricity and we were the one of the only places open for food in Lafayette. So we opened. Well, at the time we used to make hamburgers with ground meat, and we would freeze the patties and thaw them out as we need them. Well, in case of uh power outage, we had all the we didn't take any patties out to freeze, we just had fresh ground meat. So then I had to make these fresh patties, and you know, I had to season them and then make the patties by hand. So I was doing that in the back, and you know, because all the other patties were frozen and they were so busy, they had aligned at the door. My dad came in the back and he's like, You need to get up front and help your customers. I'm like, Dad, I said all the patties are frozen. Like, we can't. I I can't. I have to do this. Well, he he would go up front, he'd come back again and start saying the same things. And I'm like trying to work, I'm nervous because he keeps coming in the back, and I could tell his eyes were like he was crazy that day. So then he came back the last time and said, You need to get up front and help your effing customers. And he's he he uh he yelled at me like that and I said, I am helping my customers. And I slammed my hand down on the scale. Well, he reared back and he pushed me with all his might in my chest, and I flew back and I stepped back in his face, and I swear for like a a split second, I was about to just, I was about to hit him. And I, if I would have hit him, I wouldn't have stopped. Like I it was it was that I had so much rage, and I stepped back in his face and I put my finger and I was looking down on him because he was kind of a shorter, bigger guy. Um, and I looked down, I said, You better never eff and hit me again. And I was cussing. Like I said it I don't I don't know how many times, but all he could say was, shut up, shut up, because he could tell that that was the last time he was ever gonna hit me because he used to obviously used to hit us before. So then I swear I was I was so close to hitting him. Well, I didn't, and then after that day, I said, I am never doing anything else with him again. Like that was that was the kind of That was the breaking point. Yeah, it was.

SPEAKER_04 56:01

So then, you know, so then uh after Denny left, I stayed. My dad was trying to get me to do all the work, uh, like make fig bars and all this, and I'm like, I ain't doing this again. You're not the baker. I'm not the baker. I'm gonna screw everything up, and I'm it's miserable. So then I stayed because I had a one-year-old son that uh I had to provide for, and my wife was in school full time as a nurse practitioner. Uh, so like I needed to earn to keep the money kind of coming in, a little bit of money at least. So then uh so I stayed at work. Well, then one day I woke up, it was uh in probably summertime of 2011, like later in the summer, where I said, you know what? It was a Saturday, I I couldn't do it anymore. Because imagine that Denny's been gone for like a month or so, and then my dad keeps asking me things, and the day before that, like that Friday night, when I was about to leave, my dad called me in the office and wanted to talk to me. And uh he said, uh, you know, what's your brother gonna do? I said, I don't know what he's gonna do. And he said, Well, I mean, you need to talk. I said, and I I like then he did, I slammed my hands on the desk, I stood up and I started yelling at him and cursing at him, saying, You ruined this whole place. You, you know, all these things that I've been wanting to tell him, and I never really yelled or cursed at my dad. You know, I stood up to him and I slammed the door open, I took a bakery rack and I threw it, and then I go up front, they all. So that's how like I go from my heart's beating to that. Okay, so then the next day I woke up, I said, hmm, I ain't doing it again. Like, this is it, I'm done. So I called my sister and I said, I quit. I can't do it. So I went to uh Oakbourne, and it was like the best day of my life. Like I go, I'm playing golf, and I'm thinking, like, I'm free. Like it's I feel so free. I'm like my own person now. Like, I don't have to make anybody happy and just get to turn like because that's our goal was to make our dad happy. So then it couldn't happen. So then played golf that day. My dad called me. I cried, telling him I can't do it anymore. I just can't, like the mental capacity's done. So then after that, we started planning our business, and uh it was hard because like the news story got the news got a hold of the story.

SPEAKER_03 58:40

Yeah, because when we signed when we signed the lease, you know, we told the landlords, why don't you send the letter sooner rather than later? That way he has time to move out. Well, we they did. They said, okay, so they sent it in like August, and he had to be out by the last day of February 2012. So they sent it in August of 2011. So then that gave my dad time not to move out, but to file a lawsuit against us for breach of fiduciary duty to Southside. So he did that, and that's where it was public information.

SPEAKER_04 59:17

So then the lawsuit said that we basically tricked the landlords into leasing to a different name called Southside Burgers, and we slipped the we just re-signed the lease for Southside Bakery, but we tricked the landlords and my dad into having to move out to where we started our own business. Well, our lawyer said, Look, you don't have the fiduciary duty to the business because you were kicked off of the board of directors. So y'all are basically employees that can do what you want to do. And we're like, all right, good. But he filed a lawsuit anyway. It was on the news. We did a news conference uh basically, like we went to the news station and with our lawyer and uh Mr. Joe Giglio, and then we we uh talked about what we were gonna do. We said, look, we'd rather not be sued by our dad. We did everything we could to make him happy, we couldn't do that. So we're gonna start our own business in that location, and it's gonna be called Twins, Burgers and Sweets, and we're gonna do this, this, and this. And we tried to keep it positive. Well, after that, we get all this these people online making talking like we stole the business from our parents and all this, and it was hard. Another, like, that's mentally tough when people are talking bad about us, but we're like, our dad fired us. Like, what are you talking about? Like, so then we at a certain point I said, Denny, forget about it. Don't respond to anybody, don't defend yourself, just keep being who you are, and I'm gonna keep being who I am. And eventually all these people are gonna find out that we didn't steal the business from our dad.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:48

And yeah, a lot of people, and you know, how long is this podcast?

SPEAKER_01 1:00:53

As long as it needs to be.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:54

Yeah, I mean we started just to give people a frame of reference. We started this at 7 a.m. Central Time. Uh, we're at 7 15 now, just to give you guys a subscription. 6 a.m. 6 a.m. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:06

Yeah, we got here. We got plenty of time. Yes, unless you guys got it. Yeah, we're good. I've got so many questions, Josh. Yeah, yeah, it's a lot.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:15

I I love it. I I I really want to encourage you guys to um keep sharing the story, but uh, you know, just to give you guys a frame of reference. I know that you guys gotta go bake some cookies and stuff. So, you know, you let us know how how we're going. But you know, um, Scott, throw in a throw in a question because I love your whole story, and I think maybe what we do too is as uh maybe next episode as we go. Oh, okay. We we we maybe I I think you guys should really document your story. And I think the people here really want to hear the full story, so maybe that's something that we do in the future with you guys. Okay. Um Scott, why don't you ping us with a with a question?

Ch 8 — Opening Twins & Building a Culture the Right Way

SPEAKER_01 1:01:50

Yeah, no, I think that's fascinating though, because on the social media pages you see the like and I've been there, I've worked for free there, which I'm still waiting on a paycheck. It is like the happiest, funnest place. Everyone there is so happy, which they don't see all the story you just told, which I think is so cool, and also ironic that like the tagline that went viral was your dad's. Yeah, it's like and I that's what I picked up through that whole story is like you always wanted to get away from him, yeah, but you couldn't, and like you still haven't, which is amazing to me, and such a cool way to uh close the story. And I know just from being friends with them that like their relationship with their dad ended on good terms, which is also yeah, like it's a happy end of the story, and twins is on the happy end now, too. So I think the whole thing's really, really cool. Um so thanks for sharing that part. How much did your dad like influence how you manage people now? Yeah, I mean and and let me add, because like you guys grew quick. So like you got this new factory, right? Like it's already too small. Like you've got all these great people, but like you don't have enough already, at least during Kincake season. But everyone's happy and everyone's treated well. Was that because of your dad, or is that just how you guys are?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:09

Yeah, yeah. Like we we just basically it's just like raising our kids. Like, I have four sons, he has three, he has two boys and a girl, but like, you know, we know what we didn't like as a child, um, how we got treated. So then it's just like with my kids, I know what not to do and I know what to do. My dad taught us how to do a lot of things other than like we can do plumbing and all kinds of stuff. Well, my so that was the good thing, but he also did some bad things to us, like and that we didn't like, so we know not to do that. And it's just like the employees, like we know that people have to work to make a living, like they have to work, they don't want to have to work, they just have to work. So when you're at work, we try to make it as fun as possible, but at the same time get you to do do it the right way. And I'm I'm hard on people to put out a quality product because that's my job. And you know, maybe sometimes I'm stern about it because I have to be, because it's important to me, because it's our brand. But at the same time, I love when people are having fun um and working, and I try to joke with them, and as long as the product is good, that's great.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:31

So, like my thing is I wanna like I put myself in their shoes. Like everybody has a problem, everybody has a story. So, like, I just want to treat people the way that I would want to be treated if I was them. And like, I'm not gonna fuss at you, like if you're if you're on your phone too much, or and I tell you a couple times, hey, why don't you, you know, you know, you can probably have that customer instead of being on your phone. Like, and I tell them in a fun way, like I don't want to control anybody, but I want to make it a point without being like a jerk, like get off your phone, like you, I'm paying you to do this. Like, that doesn't work. So, like, I want and if they abuse it, well, then we'll find somebody else. And I'll say, look, you just you're on your phone too much, maybe at the next job, like you should like maybe focus on that. And I want people and I give people second chances, I give like so I think with all that, I want them to be happy so that the customers are happy. So let's have fun, and you have a little bit of a responsibility to do your job properly because I give you that grace. So that's kind of how we lead people. And if I treat them right, they're probably gonna treat others.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:45

Often started at the bottom and worked their way up. So like it's easy to say like I put myself in your shoes, but you were in their shoes for a long time. That's true. Yeah, that's a good point. So I think that makes a big difference, and they respect what you you know, what you respect. Request from them because you've done it. Yeah. And like you're actually back there b baking and like you're not just showing up and collecting the check.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:10

There's a a turning point in the story. Right? You guys were both fired from from the business that you started. Uh this this family turmoil, the the pains of that, the the the amount of pressure that you guys had to carry through through tough years of being able to, you know, withstand and put up with dad, but then switch it and turn it on and do the baking, run the back shop, be in front of the house, put on a smile. That's exhausting, right? What would you say, what was that, what was the thing that kept you guys going, and what was the thing that kept you guys maybe healthy?

SPEAKER_03 1:06:57

Yeah, I mean, we had good friends like Mr. Jerry Gidry, you know, he he used to come in often, like, you know, he was a good businessman and a realtor, and he owned a restaurant, Crawfish Town, USA, but he he came in, like he would come in and one day he told me um, he said, Denny, look, uh, he said, I see what's he said, I see what's going on. And he said, uh, I see what you're dealing with. He said, listen to me. He said, learn everything you can from your dad. I know it's hard, but he said, learn everything you can. He said, Because one day you might need it, because he saw what was happening before anything. So then I'm like, okay, and it gives me the chills because it's true. Like, I and I took his advice. I just I kept going because I knew maybe there was something bigger to come or something more important or something, you know. So I learned everything I could, and um, and you know, looking back on it all, I guess, you know, the reason God kept him alive, you know, was to teach us and to give us this lesson in life, maybe like uh, you know, to maybe humble us or, you know, I don't know, I guess learn from my dad, you know, so that way learn a lesson in forgiveness, which is a big deal for, you know, for us, because it's hard to it's hard to forgive somebody that you at one point wanted to die. Like you wanted them to, we just wanted him to die. But, you know, and it came to where we could totally forgive him, which is powerful. So um I guess that was kind of like the his yeah, my motivation.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:47

Mine, uh, like like I said, I'd go in the front and hey, you know, my motivation was the people because I knew so many people in the business that would come in every day, and I my duty was to be there for them. They shouldn't come in and see my problems, like like sure. I mean, I had a lot of problems back then, but I couldn't make them see that because you know, when you go in somewhere and the the you know, the person is in a bad mood behind the counter and you're trying to order something, you're just it's like it just puts a negative mood on you. But I didn't those people were paying for a product coming in, but not only the product, they wanted to be happy because they're getting something that they like, they wanted to be happy, so then I had to be myself, and I had to just really focus on the the mindset of like putting myself in their shoes. Well, like with the employees and stuff, well, same thing with the customers, like they knew me, and I had to be me. I couldn't be sad or you know, stressed or whatever. So, anyway, that was my motivation.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:58

Who's older? Me. By how much? 28 minutes. Have y'all ever been apart? Like, obviously, during the day there's ties, but like for an extended period of time?

SPEAKER_03 1:10:10

No, we've always lived in the same place, like, you know, done the same things.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:15

So curious if the story would have been different if it was like a singleton. Like, how much did you guys rely on each other through the that entire journey? Shoot.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:25

You we have our like the the it's like the way I can explain it is like you have one thing inside of like we come together and there's one this one thing. And it's like it's almost like a superpower where like I have my special skills and Denny has his special skills. Well, together, it's like we have two different, like he's the fighter, I'm more passive, and I think like about different things, and he thinks, no, it has to be this way, and I'm like trying to please people because that's what I've done my whole life, like pleasing customers, and he's just like, I'm gonna do it right, and that's not right. This is like so it just creates, and like through our our fight with our dad, it was like you know, he had his side, I had my side. We put those sides together and it creates this decision that works. So, like, yeah, like on the golf course.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:20

I was about to say it's such a cool dynamic that I've seen. So, like they butt heads on the golf course big time. It's quite entertaining if you haven't seen it. Yeah, but the results are really good and they win. Like they've won a lot of tournaments as a team. I'd imagine twins is the same, right? Like there's got to be some button heads, like oh yeah, yeah. But the results at the end of the day. Right.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:41

We get it done.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:41

You get it done.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:42

And when we're on the same page clicking and we're agreeing, then that's when like the like the superpower really shines. And like, look, we play golf, we're not the best golfers in the world, but when it when the team is there in sync, then yeah, because I mean you've seen you've seen how he acts.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:04

So yeah, me. You know, so then like I'm good at dealing with like I was good at dealing with my dad. So then I'm good with dealing with him.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:13

But uh Well, we we played in a tournament and we didn't fight, so no maybe it's you. Yeah, you're the problem. So let's go back to the the whole the beginning of this. So the viral growth. What's been the hardest part about like you build this factory and all this stuff, and then like overnight, man, we don't have enough capacity, we can't make enough cakes. Like, what's been the hardest part of growing so fast?

SPEAKER_04 1:12:39

I I like it's besides the the workload, you know, other and and keeping up with the demand, we just work harder, and our team behind us, like to get people to go to war with you, is like something that I guess happened. Like, we the people want to come to work. There's one girl who had like 160 hours in two weeks, like 80 hours of overtime. Well, the hardest part right now is figuring out how to go forward. Because you see a lot of businesses like fail because they, oh yeah, we're so busy. Uh everybody loves our yogurt. Let's open four more yogurt places, and then uh, you know, then they expand real fast because it's a thing. Well, then now there's like one yogurt place left in Lafayette. Right. So that's kind of what I keep in mind. Like, how do we continue to grow without making a big mistake? And like the balance, like, oh, there's a some property that's man, that's great. That would be awesome to have. Like, okay, well, do we get the property or do we get more equipment? Do we expand our factory into the space next door? Like all these things, and like we're balancing it out. And then, like, you know, we we put our faith in God and ask for guidance, and things happen. Like, hey, we need some help. This guy came off off a like uh uh life, you know, a wake-up call in his life where he thought he was gonna die, and then went through some treatments and he's he's there. He helped us start with the social media. Then another friend of ours went through a pretty tough time in his life. Well, he's helping us too. So then, you know, the guidance along the way is really neat because I feel like God has his hand in our business, and it's just I mean, it's just amazing. Our decisions are based off of just things that just come into our lap. And then is it right? Is it wrong? Oh, it's this is right, let's go with this. So then that's how it kind of flows.

Ch 9 — The Forgiveness Letter and Reconciliation With Their Father

SPEAKER_02 1:15:04

As the story kind of unfolds, one of the things that I'm I'm hearing from a story arc is uh you have to overcome challenges, and sometimes you have to confront the challenge. Sometimes you have to get out of a bad situation, right? Or be forced out, right? I think as entrepreneurs, visionaries, founders, sometimes we'll stay in a situation until we are forced out of it, right? And then that force out, like you said, that was one of the best days of your life. You play golf and you're like, wow, I'm I'm free. You were on a golf course experiencing a different thing where you're getting called by the cops, right? But in the story, I hear uh a faith in God. Okay, God, I put my trust in you, whatever the situation is, I I gotta put my my faith there, right? I trust you. But you said that there was this powerful moment of forgiveness, right? Let's talk about the the the moment you started to forgive what you went through in the past and how that reshaped a positive reframing for what you guys have become today.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:11

Uh I could say, like, I took the first step towards that. So Denny and I, Denny said earlier that we wished our dad was dead. So during our fight, the lawsuit, one thing after another. There's so many details in between. We can cover that another time, but we're like, the only way it would get better is if dad would die. Just like his parents said, right, when he was younger. Yeah, we can't kill him. What do we do? And we were that's funny because I just thought about that. Like we thought the same thing. We can't kill him, but I wish he was dead. Yeah, because that was the only way, yeah. So then uh after we opened twins, people would come in, you need to make up with your dad. I'm like, no, like he did all these things to us, like, no. I I mean he made our lives hell, but sure, we're good now. But like, and then my wife like would make me go see them with our son, and uh, so I'd go to this house like pissed off, and then so then I ended up uh after a couple years, I'm like, all right, I woke up just kind of the same way I woke up when I decided to quit. I woke up, I got to the bakery, and I'm like, all right, they had a legal pad on the desk, and I started writing. I said, thank you for I just want to thank you for teaching us everything you did. You taught us how to do plumbing, electrical work. You made us hold the flashlight while you were doing things to where you, if we'd move it, we you'd fuss at us because we're not watching what you're doing. So then uh I said you taught us how to, you know, you brought us fishing, you brought us, you came to our soccer games, you provided for us, you did this, we never had to worry about food. Like you gave us responsibility by letting us live by ourselves during our senior year of high school, uh, all these things. And I said, then uh, I said, then what happened whenever and I said, the mo but most of all, uh, I thank you for teaching us right and wrong. You always said, if you don't think something's right, don't do it. And I said, what you did when in this business we didn't think was right. So we went along with it for a while because you're our dad and you were you we trusted you, but then finally we put our foot down and said, Hey, this isn't right. We need to do what's right, and you took it as opposition, you filed the lawsuit, you did this and that. Then I said, What we did was we got like we talked to the landlords, we got the lease, you got the letter, you filed the lawsuit. We had to get a lawyer, we didn't know what to do, but we went went through with it. We couldn't get a bank loan. We were talking to bankers. I said we the bank turned us down when we moved into the location. I said we, you know. Because of the lawsuit. Because of the lawsuit. So then we're like, okay, now what? We don't have any money. I had a$6,000 Home Depot credit card, and I said, we use that credit card to buy sheetrock. We we tore down walls in the bakery, reused pieces of sheetrock, reused metal studs, kept all the screws, took down the wiring, reused the wiring because we knew how to wire things. So we built walls, we did sheetrock work, we like all this stuff. Plumbing, copper pipe, plumbing stuff, all this stuff. Then he was good at copper pipe because our dad showed us how to do that, solder it and all that. So then with a Home Depot credit card, we did that. I went bank shopping. We finally got a banker to agree to make a loan. I said, but then you know, all the lawsuit stuff just kept banging us down. And I said, I had to sell my car, finance a Ford truck, take that money, pay the bills. I sold some coins that I had. I did this, I was paying Denny's bills. Uh finally we get open somehow, and uh we get our business going. And I said, we're happier now than ever. I said, You taught us how to do everything. I said, I want you to know like I forgive you for everything that you've done to harm us. And I said, I know that if this was against anybody else, that you'd be so proud of us for getting through it without fighting back. We just defended ourselves, and I said, We're happier now than ever, and I want you to know that I love you and thank you for teaching us everything you did. And it was like a seven-page letter that I wrote. So then he called me uh that night.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:45

You gave it to him?

SPEAKER_04 1:20:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 1:20:47

I gave it to my dad, I gave it to my mom to give to my dad. I put a letter, like a slid it to her at her house when we were visiting, and then he called me that night crying, thanking me for the letter.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:59

And then before he died, he he had called us in the car, and he said, you know, the the whole time, like Billy said, you know, the only thing we've always tried to make our dad proud of us our our whole lives. Like that was, you know, our goal. I mean, so then um, you know, that was what we strived for, but it never seemed to work. Like nothing we could do would ever make him happy. Um so then one day we were in our car, in my car, and uh, you know, he called and we were I answered, and he's like, you know, he ended up saying um that he was proud of us for what we've done with twins, basically. And I was shocked. I was like, wow. Uh I said, wow. I said, um, I said, well, thank you, Dad. I mean, but I said, our success is your success because you taught us how to do this. And, you know, he cried. And um, yeah, that was kind of like shocking to hear that. So then, um, you know, so then uh a little a few, I don't know, a few months before he died, you know, he called and he said that he wanted to give me all his recipe books. He said, since you're the next generation, you're continuing this. And, you know, he started to cry. And um, I told him, I said, I said, thank you, uh, dad. I said, thank you for teaching us how to make an honest living. And um, I said, teaching us how to do all these things. I said, we really appreciate it. I love you. And you know, that was pretty much it. That was the last time I talked to him.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:44

So as we as we come to the close of maybe part one of this of this conversation, um, you guys have had a phenomenal response online on social media and into the millions, right? Like you guys have become a what they say, like a 20-something year overnight success, right? 20.

SPEAKER_05 1:23:07

Yeah, yeah, I got it.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:10

That's funny.

Ch 10 — What Drives Them: Faith, Family, and Putting Smiles on Faces

SPEAKER_02 1:23:10

I like it. Good job, Scott. You're so smart. Nice work. Uh with with this, um what is one thing that I want you to leave with the the listeners, and you know, kind of going into we'll we'll put all your contact information we'll get from your you know, your marketing team, all your contact information in terms of like social handles and stuff. So people listening in and they want to follow the story even more, they could go watch. But um, you know, so that'll be in the show notes. But you know, maybe Dana, you first. What is one thing that you felt was so um monumental that you'd like to pass on to future generations of entrepreneurs?

Ch 11 — Words of Wisdom for Future Entrepreneurs

SPEAKER_03 1:23:52

Yeah, I mean, I guess, you know, from the from the time that we started, you know, like everybody has a story of, you know, having to go through something to to start anything. And like, you know, some people could say, well, I mean, why me? Or like, why do I have to go through this? I I used to think of other people our age, whenever we were younger, you know, in their 20s, you know, we were in our 20s. I used to envy the people that had businesses, well, that their parents had businesses that, you know, they could just walk in and work and not and never have to deal with any struggle. So I used to say, man, those guys are lucky, you know. But then I look back and I've I've looked back, I think about it so often. I'm like, how great is it to have gone through something like we had to go through, you know, to struggle and to know what it's like to just, I don't know. It it's just really neat to have gone through that and then to have grown a business like we've grown. And and it's so much, it's it's so um, it's awesome to be able to to do that. I I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:25

So what would you tell if you could go back and encourage yourself like as you're you know, a younger self, and just maybe a word of encouragement or hope or inspiration that that you could go back and tell a a a younger, you know, Denny. What would you say to yourself?

SPEAKER_03 1:25:41

Yeah, I mean, just as long as you do, I guess I would say keep your head down and work and do the right things for the right reasons, you know, and have faith that God knows what he's doing in your life, and then you just have to trust trust God's plan, and you know, that's pretty much it. I mean, everybody goes through troubles, and you can't say, poor me, you just have to keep going.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:14

Yeah, love you, dude. Uh Billy, what about you, man?

SPEAKER_04 1:26:19

I think the what I tell people all the time is the worst things that you go through end up being the best things for you because all the bad things that you go through build you to who God wants you to become. And I feel like over the years, yes, we've had uh back, like we've had our values instilled in us from we were when we were kids, somehow. You know, our dad, you know, he taught us a lot of good things. And I don't want people to think that our dad is all bad. Like our dad was great, he knew the Bible back and forth. Like uh I he was a good man. Like I said, he had this other person inside of him. So the worst things that ever happened to me ended up being the best things. Then I f those negative things, those bad things that happened, tested me. Most of the time I did the right thing and we did the right thing. Now we're reaping the rewards of that. Because you do the wrong thing in those situations, then you pile up these bad things and it leads you down the different path. If we'd have done things that people were telling us to do, we probably wouldn't be where we are. We turned the other cheek, defended ourselves, and did what was right, and trusted God's plan, dealt with the bad things because they're gonna happen, and we move forward. And we still do that today.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:02

Yeah, and it's not a money thing. Like, it's not a money thing for us. It's always been we want to make this stuff for people to come in and get and make put smiles on their faces. And then, like, when we opened up twins, it was like, um, man, just think how nice it's gonna be to work in peace. And then once we open, we're like, huh, we might even make money doing this because it was busy. We were like, we might even make money doing this. So that's dumb to go into business that way, but it worked out, and so that's how we treat treat everything. Like, let's just make this stuff that people want, and they're gonna smile, they're gonna come in happy, and they're gonna leave happy. And then, oh, at the end of the day, oh, we yeah, we made some money. Like screwed. That's kind of yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:28:55

Well, uh one more time, why don't you uh why don't you give us you know a little rundown of you know the the name, the brand, and then end it with your your and Scott will close us out.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:08

All right, well, it was fun. We have a long story, we talk a lot, but man, y'all do. I mean we do. We're the gingerbread twins. And I'm Billy and I'm Denny, and we hope y'all have a good day. Yeah, Under Sam.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:29

Scott, close this out, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:31

Where to even start? This was awesome, guys. Um thanks first for sharing your story. Um especially the dark side, like your social media, like you're the happiest positive person, but there's always another side. Um thanks for sharing that. Thanks for sharing just like the fight that you guys had through all of that. Um, definitely inspiring. Thanks for being positive. Like you guys make the world laugh. No matter where you go, people say you understand. Um yeah, thanks for being a friend. Yeah, coming on the show. Um and man, the fact that you understand came from your dad. I I don't know if anyone knew that. I didn't know that. I'm wearing the shirt. I think that is so cool. He uh maybe wasn't great at knowing how to love people, but he definitely would be proud. Um and man, what a cool story! And the fact that his line is what got you here. Yeah, man, that's powerful. That's cool.

SPEAKER_04 1:30:41

Yeah, that's cool for you to point that out. Thank you. Thanks for having us. Absolutely. Thanks for having us.

SPEAKER_02 1:30:45

Yeah, well, fellow deal makers, um behind every business, behind every success, there is a story. And a lot of times, like we're in the middle of a story and we're in the middle of a pain, we're in the middle of a journey, and I want these things, and this is the mission of our team here, is to inspire people, to give them hope, and to show them what is possible. So, as always, show gratitude to our guests, all of their social handles, go watch these videos, they're really funny, and it's gonna make you want king cake. And maybe on the next episode we'll we'll talk to you about what what is a king cake. But uh, you know, this has been a um man, a blessing to to be a part of this with you guys. And for for people in the audience, um, if you have your story, your deal story, your business story, or maybe even a business to sell, head over to thedealpodcast.com, fill out a quick form. Someone from our team will connect with you. We'll go from there. Cheers all.