#@americanexpress

Meet Travis Weaver, A Teller of Stories

Walking door to door in the Houston summer heat selling fax lines is no small feat. Do this in a suit and you, too, would be looking for a new direction in life. Travis Weaver, owner of Manready Mercantile, @manreadymercantile, the purveyor of quality goods both handpicked and handmade, has experienced this first hand. Many years before Harvey hit Houston and with no shortage of hard work, he started that new direction — which became Manready — in his apartment, accepting American Express from the beginning. This is his story.

Coming from Zephyr, Texas, a town in the literal heart of Texas with a graduating class of 22 people, Travis Weaver lives the American dream. He graduated from Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas with an advertising degree that was never put to use. While selling those T1 fax lines under the Texas heat, he learned valuable lessons about not succumbing to failure and learning to be creative in his sales approach.

Welcome to Manready Mercantile

Step right up, there are goods for everyone.

It is the attention to detail that grounds the Manready story. Everything matters.

 With $100 dollars, Travis started making candles in his apartment. “Why were candles only for women?” Focusing on products that were sold in a gender specific market, he found an open market that could be capitalized on. “I didn’t invent anything. I just learned how to market it.”

With candles cooking on a stove, Travis built the Manready Mercantile website on his phone with photos edited using Instagram filters. Once the candles were selling, he kept expanding the product line along the same concept.  It was all “stuff I wanted or needed.”

Growing up, Travis spent much of his weekends attending flea markets and picking antiques with his grandparents long before it was “cool.” It was only natural that while selling these new products in flea markets he found items that would find a home in the online store.

Now with a brick and mortar store in Houston Heights , you can find all of these items and an ever-expanding product line of other makers under one roof. With a drive to share stories, “I am able to not only share mine, but the story of others.”This is the motivation and inspiration that keeps him going each day. Housed in a building that has seen countless storms, Manready weathered Hurricane Harvey with good fortune, unlike many. Once the weather passed, they came to the aid of Houstonians in need by opening the doors to receive donations of goods which were dispersed around town to shelters in need. The employees delivered them once the van could no longer hold even a sock and then went a little further by dontaining their own time and effort in the shelters. “I wish we could do more” Travis told me.

“We made an art gallery of sorts. Our art is quality, ”  Travis explains. “ Everything has a story, we give those stories to people to ensure the customer leaves with an appreciation for what they’re buying. It’s an investment, not just a purchase.”

Even as the brand grows, Travis refuses to remain idle. “’If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ is the worst saying ever!” He says that you must constantly adapt, looking forward to where you are going. Change is constantly taking place, but convincing others this is necessary remains one of his largest roadblocks.

 Never fear, Travis is not shying away or lowering his level of expectations. People come to Manready with the understanding that “if it’s good enough for me, customers know it’s the best. I won’t sacrifice!”

The latest rendition of candles from Manready.

What Travis lacks in big business presence, he more than makes up for with quality and a story that others will share for them. “I do just what my granddad would have done in the pre-internet days.”

 When his customers come to take those stories and goods home, American Express is there to help keep the dream alive. Since it’s so easy to use Amex’s online merchant portal, Travis is able to spend more time telling those stories than hovering over a computer. Did you know that in 2016, over 1,000 more clothing locations in the Houston area started accepting American Express cards? Manready was well ahead of that curve, but it’s never too late to start.

Travis shares stories of the products with an employee to pass on to customers.

TX pride comes in many forms.

Although he is always hustling, Travis still finds time to leave the shop for a few hobbies. Junking and picking, camping, hunting and fishing remain at the top of his list with leather working being the favorite.

With a new interest in photography who knows where Travis may end up next. “I made my hobbies into a business and put my favorites in a store.”  Whether you visit online or come through the door, it’s inevitable you will feel the truth behind Travis’s mantra of Manready, “Work Hard, Live Well.”

Meet Morgan Weber, Purveyor of Good Times

Houston may be the fourth largest city in the United States, but its heart was built by small town folks. Hailing from Yoakum, Texas, one of these small towns roughly three hours from Houston, Morgan Weber brought his ferocious appetite for tinkering and built that curiosity into a series of bars and eateries for all to enjoy.

One of the best patio bars in town.

As owner and beverage director of Agricole Hospitality, his domain reigns over Houston favorites neighborhood butcher shop and café Revival Market, Texas-flared Italian restaurant Coltivare and bar Eight Row Flint with more coming soon. Whatver you may fancy, Agricole has you covered.

 Leuisure or pleasure. They have it covered

After Hurricane Harvey bullied his way through town, I found some time to grab tacos and a drink at Eight Row Flint. As my favorite spot in town, it was only fitting to grab a chair with Morgan,and see how they were doing after the huge storm hit and then dive a little deeper into his story.  

Luckily, Eight Row Flint weathered the storm without physical damage, allowing the doors to reopen quickly with relief in mind. Thanks to Morgan, they have been heavily involved in relief efforts even putting their cocktails to good use, raising $40,000 with fashion designer Billy Reid during a warehouse sale of clothing in which all proceeds went to food and industry people affected by Harvey. Between these efforts and sales of specific cocktails, Eight Row Flint is sending 100% of those proceeds to Mayor Sylvester Turner’s Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund and Southern Smoke TX.

Long before these efforts, Morgan departed Yoakum for Baylor University, he originally was in the pursuit of church music, but found his passions shift towards jazz. When graduation came, he headed to Houston for a job in real estate acquisition, departing from the music industry before he even began.

Inside or outside, standing or seated, Morgan is always glad to see you.

In those early years, Morgan took his “inherently curious” character down a rabbit hole in the cocktail world to start the well-known bar Anvil. He soon left this venture, returning home to Yoakum in a new pursuit on the family farm that his grandparents had run. As he puts it, “I nerded out on pigs,” raising a few varieties that brought him right back to Houston. Selling to several key restaurants in Houston, Morgan naturally fell in with industry chefs and purveyors. With Chef Ryan Pera, he would open craft butcher shop and café called Revival Market, then Coltivare, an Italian restaurant, before establishing Eight Row Flint. “The concepts just happened organically.”

Take a seat...if you can get one.

“Fancy cocktails” as the menu proclaims 

Throughout our conversation, it was abundantly clear that Morgan thrives off of curiosity. If something sparks even the smallest attention, “I’m going down a wormhole. I won’t settle for mediocre knowledge.” This thirst keeps his concepts fresh down to the minutest details. Although you may not realize it when entering these establishments, those are the elements that make them unique and subconsciously keep us returning. Even further, you may not realize it upon the next return, but those details are also constantly evolving. “My goal is to better an idea, so it’s a constant pursuit.” To some it may seem overwhelming, but for Morgan, this keeps him going. “If you are not happy with where you are, you never achieve the goal.” This is progress in its simplest concept.

His roots brought him from a small town to a major metropolis where the tinkering nature of his grandfather has been allowed to flourish. The products may be housed in Houston, but the concepts generally come to life when he is free from this environment. Forced creativity is the absolute worst roadblock for Morgan.

Knowing this, he surrounds himself with curious people and refrains from those whom are close-minded. It’s simple, don’t be the most interesting person in the room.  It’s also easy to adhere to this when pursuing his favorite activities of hiking and camping, fly fishing rivers and fall duck hunting. “My best ideas have come while sitting around a campfire drinking a little whiskey.” Life in a city is noisy; we could all use a little escape to nature for a reset and clear thinking.

 In the end, Morgan may struggle with forced creativity, but his tenacious “pursuit for better, not the best” keeps the ball rolling. He will explore new avenues even in established markets because there are always unopened doors and tweaks to be made.

One of the many taco options that should gladly accompany your drink of choice.

This is not for decoration. This is where the real magic happens.

 When asked for advice to other business owners, Morgan left it straightforward. First, don’t make excuses. Second, failure cannot be an option, it’s not only for yourself. “You have to go down with the ship or be the leader that pulls them up.” Finally, “sociopathic compartmentalization is what keeps me alive. You will either learn to compartmentalize concepts or let them eat you up.”

Joshua Black Wilkins strumming some tunes on a Tuesday evening. You never know what Eight Row Flint could do next.

Morgan Weber. A man certainly not scared to use his own hands in the work.

With this many choices, you may need to come more than once.

You cannot build a great company without loyal customers. In a world where goods and services from competitors are easy to discover, it’s more important than ever to retain your customers.  

Yesterday morning I was reading Fred Wilson’s blogpost about growth vs. retention. While it focuses on early-stage user retention numbers and reaching product fit, the thesis of the blogpost applies to all companies: you cannot grow a valuable business unless you first nail customer retention. 

Customer retention starts with a great product. I have written about launching businesses with more than just an MVP. After releasing a great product, you will invariably have some customers who need support. How you treat them may have more impact on their loyalty than the quality of your product.

A recent example of good customer service: I called American Express because there was a late payment fee on my statement. I make sure to always pay my credit cards on time but I was out of the country for a few weeks and had not seen the statement. When I called Amex to let them know I just returned to the country and will be sending the payment immediately, the customer support person said: “You have been a loyal customer for many years. You have never missed a payment date. I think we can delete that late fee for you.” I got off that call and thought; I love American Express and will continue to be a loyal customer.

Guiding principle of good customer support: treat your customer with respect and appreciation.

We all have many examples of bad customer service.  My favorite recent example occurred at JFK airport. To start with, it’s never an enjoyable experience to wait on security lines and have people yell instructions at you. But on this particular day, the line was drifting a little when the TSA agent yelled "You guys don't even know how to form a line."  Yes, it was insulting but it was such a textbook wrong way to speak to customers that I just had to laugh.

Guiding principle of bad customer support: insult your customer.

Yes, American Express probably cares more about customer retention than does the TSA. There are lots of reasons for this but the TSA should care more about how they treat customers. 

Every business should care about customer support and retention. You cannot build a valuable business (nor feel great about it) unless you have loyal customers.