Chris Grainger 1:34

Welcome to the Line Within Us, a podcast serving Christian men who are hungry to be the leaders God intends you to be. I'm your host, Chris Granger. Let's jump in. All right, fellas, meet episode time. Let's get into it. Okay. So the scripture of the week this week is Matthew 25, verse 21. It says his master replied, Well done, good and faithful servant. You've been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness. Guys, love that verse. I unpacked it at length in our spiritual kickoff episode, which by the way, we do a spiritual kickoff Monday through Friday at the Lion Within Us. We call it the daily SKO. So if you go to the website, thelionwithin.us, you'll see that daily SKO there. Guys, it's a free way to get connected with us. It gets you on our platform. We have that teaching every day, again, Monday through Friday. If you can't make the live streams, don't worry about it. We put those videos in that space and in that space only for you. Okay. It also has a prayer request, uh, not a prayer request space, but also a prayer meeting every Monday. So if you listen to this SKO

Scripture Of The Week And Community

Chris Grainger 2:29

when it comes out, uh on Mondays, hey, at one o'clock Eastern, every Monday, we have a prayer meeting, guys. We'd love to pray for you, be intentional about that, and just go to and just and just go to battle for you. We actually call it a prayer warrior huddle, is what we call it, guys. Okay. Uh also if you're in a continental US and you sign up for a daily SKO, we're gonna send you a free gift. We'd love to send you a free gift. So, guys, all just many, many ways that we try to serve that daily SKO for us is just an important way to get you started, okay? So get again, the linewithin.us, and get get cranking on that. This is gonna be a fun one, fellas. This I'm bringing in Anton Kreck, who's the founder and CEO of Seven Weeks Coffee. That's a mission-driven direct-to-consumer coffee company, guys. And the the big difference, though, is they're dedicated to promoting a culture of life. Okay, so since they launched this in 2021, they've grown Seven Weeks Coffee into one of the most impactful pro-life brands in the country. And here's the crazy part they know donate 10% of every sale to pregnancy care centers nationwide. So they've raised almost $2 million in donations since 2021. That's crazy. So 1,500 pregnancy centers across all 50 states, directly impacting women and the families in need. So his vision, we're gonna talk about it simple, but it was offered a direct trade, especially great coffee, while directly supporting the sanctity of life. So I really just enjoyed this conversation with Anton. A lot of fun here with him. Uh, he talks about his

Meet Seven Weeks Coffee And The Mission

Chris Grainger 3:55

how God gave him the call, what that looked like. He talked about his wife again. He got the call to start this from God two weeks after being his marriage, getting married. So talk about you know a fun conversation with the with your newlywed of hey, I feel like God's calling me to this just incredible opportunity, but the the the type of anxiousness and nerves that come along with that. So he just recently became a dad. He's got a 10-month-old little boy at home. So we talk about that. He lives in Virginia with his again, with his wife and his new growing family. So it is uh this is just a fun conversation, guys. I got connected, got to hear him from the Daily Wire, some of the stuff on Matt Walsh's show. That's how I heard about Seven Weeks Coffee, and then from there, when they reached out, it just seemed like a natural fit. So hopefully you're gonna enjoy this conversation with Anton. Anton, welcome to The Line within us. How's it going today?

Anton Krecic 4:47

Good. Thanks for having me on, Chris. Happy to be here.

Chris Grainger 4:50

I'm excited to have you here for sure. Looking forward to diving into it. And we always like to start with something fun. So maybe give us a share a fun fact about Anton that not many people know about.

Anton Krecic 4:59

Well, outside of uh coffee, I'm actually a very competitive golfer. So I've played competitive golf my whole life. Uh junior golf, high school golf, college golf was a huge passion of mine, and still is. So uh if I'm not uh working at seven weeks and doing this the day-to-day, you can find me on the golf course.

Chris Grainger 5:14

Okay, where what's the the the top course that you've ever played at? And then maybe what's your top course? What's the course that's on your bucket list?

Anton Krecic 5:22

Man, there's so many on my bucket list. I've got to play a really cool course in Florida called Seminole Golf Club. It's a very private course. I had the opportunity to play there twice, actually. So that's that was probably the top course I've played, but man, there's probably so many courses I want to play. I mean, the big one that comes to mind is you know, Pebble Beach or Augusta Nash. That would be fun to play one day. But those are not the easiest to get on. Pebbles uh just uh very expensive and it's across the country. So one of these days I'll at least make it out there, I hope.

Chris Grainger 5:48

There

Golf Pressure And Identity In Christ

Chris Grainger 5:48

you go. There you go. Love it, love it. Well, I mean, before we dive into your business, which, you know, like coffee is a big deal for you. I totally guess a big deal for a lot of our listeners too. But before we get there, maybe talk to us about your faith journey. How did you come to know Christ and and and what that what did that look like?

Anton Krecic 6:03

Yeah. Um, you know, lucky for me, I grew up in a Christian home. I'm from the Ohio area, Cleveland, Ohio, um, in the suburbs. And my parents were believers and um, you know, shared shared their faith with me at an early age, and I became to know the Lord. I'm probably saying I was like 10 or 11. That's why I remember getting baptized and having like a commitment to follow the Lord and having that personal relationship with Christ. Um, and so yeah, I've been walking with the Lord luckily for a good part of my life now. Um, and it's been integral, obviously, to what we do at Seven Weeks Coffee and to man, everything that I've uh either personally went through or just um in life in general, uh my faith is a core focus um of everything I do. So yeah, but luckily grew up in a just a strong Christian home and have was able to, you know, really learn um you know from my parents, which was is always a blessing.

Chris Grainger 6:57

What about I mean, and that's great, but when if you look back, when did your faith become your own? Because I'm s I'm I'm curious for that for a lot of guys when it when it actually becomes our own faith.

Anton Krecic 7:08

You know, I think it it the West Bank and it was definitely like right before high school, I I remember that. And it's actually so funny, I'll connect it to golf. I remember playing at a tournament, it's like a junior golf tournament, and I was getting like incredibly anxious and nervous, like to the point where like I felt like I couldn't play anymore. Like it was kind of not a panic attack, but like a nervous, like I feel like I have no control over my game anymore. And I remember literally, this is um uh a funny story, I remember like like faking an injury because I was like, I cannot play this tournament anymore. And it was like it was totally spiritual because I remember just feeling so overcome with like the outcome. Um, like if I play bad, like this is my identity. Like if I am not um you know, competing well with any all I got, then when you're playing bad and you think about that, it's like, oh my gosh, I am gonna be so embarrassed by um like maybe coming in last or something or coming at the bottom of the field of a tournament. So I literally um faked an injury um to quit because it was it was all nerves that caused me, but really behind that was like the spiritual identity issue of not having my identity the board and you know my golf ability or whatever, you know, it could for anyone could be whatever you're doing for work or career or sports or what you know, it's so easy to get your identity wrapped in these things, and that's what I was doing. So I literally faked an injury and um I remember going home and like really realizing I needed to like have a fundamental uh shift in my relationship with the Lord. So I I may have been a Christian at that age, and but it was like more of like a that was like the time I like committed, I would say, to Christ, where I was like, my identity is gonna be in him. I remember specifically like writing that and journaling that and you know, really making that like that prayer for uh feeling um uh for like really God's you know acceptance and also uh for the Holy Spirit in my life. And that was a fun that was a really cool moment. I look back because after that, you know, uh golf was a huge part of my life after that, but in the right way. And I actually grew to play incredibly competitively in high school. I played Division I college golf after that, and so I competed at a really high level, and but that really started with like having an identity shift um in Christ. So that was like right before high school. So I remember like going into high school um with uh like a relationship with the Lord. Um because I I you know, just you know, high school, like you're very much not around other believers, and then I you know it's so often high school and college if you are a believer and you're um you know quite quite literally on an island sometimes. So um I remember walking through those seasons of life. So um, but the Lord was with me uh through all that, which is um you know his blessing and protection.

Chris Grainger 10:00

Amen. Where did you play in in college?

Anton Krecic 10:03

Yeah, so from Ohio, I played at Cleveland State University. We were Division I golf program, uh smaller program, but we were we were division one and did that for four years.

Chris Grainger 10:13

Right, yeah. So I mean secular school, did you yeah, what did you find it hard to stay you know constant in your faith, or were there times that you were being pulled away? What did that look like for you?

Anton Krecic 10:25

It it was hard. You know, it was it was a secular school and there really wasn't many believers around. I mean, we didn't even have like most colleges, especially athletic care, they have like an FCA or a college fellowship. And like we didn't even have that, you know, it was it was truly like on an island it felt. Um, I was really the only believer on my golf team, too. Why I had tons of close friends, it was spiritually, there was not like um anyone really around me. However, I lived in the area, so my local church was still um in town, so I was able to go there like on weekends or for sometimes for a young adult. So like I wasn't totally removed from community, but at college, I mean there was really zero Christian community. Um, and

Staying Faithful In A Secular College

Anton Krecic 11:08

it was four years of feeling um slightly just separated from people in a sense and feeling um a little bit isolated, not in a bad way. It's not like I did have friends or wasn't really close to my teammates. I really was, but you you know how it is. Like without a spiritual connection to someone, especially other Christians, there's there's always a slight disconnect. So that was like four years of my life of um kind of having to just um go through that, you know, on my own. But I did have my local church and that was a good refining time, you know. I definitely look at it as uh a time where God was um training me, you know, and like uh building me up in some capacity. Not that I was the best Christian in college and didn't make my mistakes or have things I regret, is it's more so that um I I really look back on those four years and realize, you know, there are seasons where you have to know that like your relationship with the Lord is is the most important thing, regardless of who's around you. And it's it it's quite frankly not a popularity context, especially with believers. You know, a lot of times we find ourselves um in the minority in in friend groups and in uh different relationships.

Chris Grainger 12:20

Yeah, 100%. Well, I mean, hats off to you. It sounds like you had a great experience, and I'm sure you were you are a light to a lot of those people there. Hopefully. You know, so and then that's led you. So take us from there, walk us down the path, the journey. So you you graduate college, what's next?

Anton Krecic 12:36

Yeah, well, what was next was like starting all over in life because like I was saying, I played high school golf, college golf, and I thought I was gonna like play competitively, maybe move to Florida and try to play professionally or something like that. And I ended up getting a really bad injury from golf. It was a neck injury. And I was playing in pain for for years. And um, I realized like I could not do this anymore. So put all my time, energy, and effort into this one sport. And then time graduation rolls around, I'm literally starting from zero. I had a major I hated. I had no internships or skills outside of you know pursuing golf. I didn't care about school. I I kind of was um only focused on one thing. And now when I couldn't do that one thing, I was starting over. So it was definitely a really big reset in my life. Um, but I had the opportunity, this was totally a God thing, where I, after I graduated it, I interned at my church. And so for three months after I graduated college, I was just able to be around

Injury Reset And The Pro-Life Spark

Anton Krecic 13:31

great people in ministry and the church I we went to. And it was an eye-opening experience of just um just trying to discern what was next for my life. And what happened was during those three months, I got to visit a pregnancy care center for the first time. So obviously at Seven Weeks Coffee, we support over 1,200 pregnancy care centers. But that was the first time at that internship seeing what a pro-life pregnancy care center did. And it was totally moving to me. I was just amazed by the work they do, the impact they have, the mission, all of that. And I left with this deep heart for the pro-life movement, not knowing I was gonna start Seven Weeks Coffee one day. Obviously, God did. But it definitely put the pro-life issue on my heart. Um, so after I did that internship, I ended up moving to DC for another internship because after that I was interested in like politics and where faith and culture and kind of politics, you know, um have a crossroads um and where that kind of intersects. And so I was interested, especially about advocating for the pro-life issue. So I'd moved to DC. I I worked here for a few years doing fundraising and doing like various political things, which was great. But um, it's obviously wasn't what I was called to. So um it was I was working at a fundraiser company, fundraising companies two weeks after I got married. I was just, you know, constantly thinking about what is it gotta have next for me and really thinking about entrepreneurship. I loved business, I loved, you know, the idea of owning my own company one day. And I saw this email about growing uh trends in mission-based coffee companies. And that's when I I had the idea because I was like, yeah, there's gotta be, you know, coffee for basic Christians, or um, you know, what would be their type of coffee? And I was like, well, the issue that it kind of unites most believers and denominations really is the pro life issue. And so I googled pro life coffee and nothing came up. And right then and there is when I had the idea, and you know, God really put on my heart and I went after it um full bore from that first day of like I'm gonna start a pro-life coffee company and tying it all back. The first pregnancy care center we donated to was that very one um from that I saw the first time when I was at that internship at my church. So you're the organization who received the first dollars from us, and you know, it's cool to see how God's hand is in everything, and he can it's really cool. Like you look back on life and you see how God has connected all the dots. You can't see what is happening, you can't tell, you know, what's coming next or where the next step might be. And it almost might feel a little chaotic or confusing, but you look back and you see how wow, this is all connected. Like every step in in my life is like very much in a in a path that God's leading me on. And I totally think about that every time I think of the first pregnancy center we supported. So um, yeah, that was in the fall of 2021, is when I had the idea for seven weeks of coffee.

Chris Grainger 16:18

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Support Group For Sexual Integrity

Chris Grainger 17:13

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Anton Krecic 18:29

Well, luckily she's really supportive of me in general, but she was definitely caught off guard because I called her out of the blue. She was a she's a nurse. Um, she wasn't, she's a full-time mom now, which is awesome. And um, but when I called her, she was working. I was like, hey, I need to talk to you. She probably thought there was something wrong. And I'm like, I got this idea. A pro-life coffee company. What do you think? I want to start this. And she's like, What are you talking about? We're starting a business, like, you know, we got to unpack the boxes first, like literally two weeks into marriage. Um, I'm like, no, no, this is gonna be great. I think it's a cool concept. Um, and she's like, Okay,

Starting The Business With His Wife

Anton Krecic 19:05

well, what are you gonna call it? I said, I don't know yet. And then she said, Well, sometimes moms who are pregnant will say, My little bean, or, you know, as a term for pregnancy. And then she's like, Well, then what is a baby the size of a coffee bean? So I look it up at seven weeks, a baby the size of a coffee bean, same time a heartbeat's detective. And so she asked the question that inspired the name, and it all came together right then and there. And, you know, literally seven weeks coffee was born, and I was off to the races. And, you know, it was it's always been great, you know, um, how Krista, my wife, has supported me through it. I I for sure she was probably a little like cautiously optimistic because we've never I've never started a business before. She's never been involved in a business. You know, I have a good job, she has a good job. Like, you know, why upset the apple carton and you know try to, you know, change up like the very ease of life that we have, maybe just get settled. So I think her caution was like very wise, but it but she was always so supportive of me and obviously still is of you know going after this. And you know, she's always been uh on my side, and I don't think we've would have the success if it wasn't that way, because you know, in business, you have to understand how involved your personal life is to your business. And I I share this with a lot of Christian entrepreneurs. Like, if you don't have like your personal life in order, your business is not gonna be in order. It's your personal life, your relationship, your spouse, or whatever it is, you know, maybe even business partner. If that is not in a healthy spot, you're gonna bring those same problems into your business. Um, they're totally interconnected, you can't separate the two. So I think for us, what I realized, you know, seven weeks coffee was specific, you know, even though it was two weeks after we got married, it was two weeks after we got married. Like God led us through the season of like dating and then marriage before you open the door of like this business. And it was specifically meant for that. I think about that, because you know, this wouldn't have been a good idea to start, you know, with a girlfriend or fiance, and like you should start this with your spouse. That's what I've you know come to realize. And so it it's cool how you kind of see God's order and timing between that. And um, it's quite frankly been a part of our marriage in the best way for the entirety of our marriage. You know, we've been married for five years, and the company's been around for you know nearly five years now. So um, yeah, it's been a blessing.

Chris Grainger 21:25

That's so awesome. So, I mean, were you a like uh a big coffee guy before, or did you have have you had to learn this industry when God gave it to you? So, how did that work for you? Both, both. It was cool.

Anton Krecic 21:35

Again, it's so cool how God kind of connects it. I was like randomly getting into coffee, like like months before that, like learning about different types of coffee, specialty coffee, which is what we sell. It's like the highest form of you know, highest grade of coffee, if you will. And there was a lot of different levels of specialty coffee. So I would say I wasn't, I wasn't, I wasn't a novice, I wasn't an expert, I was somewhere in between who like knew you know a decent amount about coffee, maybe more than your average person. And so when I had the idea, I was like really passionate about it personally at the same time. So that's why it was it was really cool. Now, over the last five years and what we do well at Seven Weeks Coffee is like we take incredibly pride and pride, pride in the coffee that we sell. And we wanted to do the best specialty coffee we can get, sourced from best farmers we trust. And so now I'm uh you know pretty well versed in the area of coffee from how we

Learning Specialty Coffee The Right Way

Anton Krecic 22:20

export and sorry, sorry, sorry, from how we import it into how we process it and all the good things that we want. So direct from farmers, specialty grade, low acid, you know, mold-free, because we lab tests for it, uh, all those good things, pesticide free, organically farmed. So those are all things that have like come later over time with a lot of knowledge that you know why we get to provide such a great product. But um, yeah, it's something that um we've had to learn and it's it's it's a fun industry. It's actually funny enough, it's the second largest commodity in the world traded outside of oil. So quite literally, is the you know one of the backbones of global imports and exports. People, you know, fuel their cars with oil and they also yell themselves a coffee. So it's kind of runs the country and the world outside. Amen to that. Now and what are you guys based out of? We're northern Virginia based, so still right outside of DC.

Chris Grainger 23:11

Yeah. Yeah. And so the manufacturing, I mean, give us a s an idea of scale where it started, where it's at right now. So you got so what does that look like for you guys?

Anton Krecic 23:20

Yeah, we we ship from the state of Virginia. We have over um nearly 200,000 customers now, um, from all 50 states. Um we Shipped uh 20 some thousand units or orders a month now. So it's really cool the the volume we're able to have and the impact we've donated. And really what it is, we've donated nearly two million dollars to pro life causes. So um it's been really cool. So we donate back 10% of every sale uh to pro life causes, a huge portion of our profits. And through this model, we raised nearly two million dollars now, which is just amazing uh the impact we've been all have. But it's really just thankful to the consumers. Like we're not doing it, we're providing the product, and people are trusting us that it's good coffee, which it is, and they're making the switch, and that's really where the impact has. And we're just using the dollars we make in a fair way to get back to pregnancy care centers.

Chris Grainger 24:14

Yeah. I mean, how has the message been received? I mean, that marketing is very special, it's very niche. I mean, it's a very target demographic, and I'm sure you're probably getting pushback from the other side on it. So how are you managing that?

Anton Krecic 24:26

A little bit. You know, but what's really cool when I had the idea is that people were overwhelmingly supportive and positive, and that's why it really caught on, because there was there was no one doing this, Chris. Like no one had a pro life coffee company, especially um the impact we were having, the idea of like this give back model, buy with a cause, you know, and and and really make a difference to uh in a tangible way, giving back to these local pregnancy centers. So, you know, it really was well received. Like, you know, thousands, tens of thousands of consumers now have made this made this switch and love, love, love what we do. Um, it's just really important that like we continue to advocate for the pro-life issue as best we can because that's what people are resonating with. And they want to feel like quite frankly, a company

Scaling Donations And Handling Pushback

Anton Krecic 25:09

is standing up for something they believe in. Because how many times you know, have you and me spent dollars with companies that kind of hate our values, you know, as Christians? So think people are sick of that.

Chris Grainger 25:20

100%, absolutely. So, I mean that that to me, that's it's the core of what you guys are doing, and obviously God is blessing it in a mighty way, and you've had tremendous growth. I mean, how from a from a Christian worldview standpoint, how has it been hard to mainstay to maintain like your the biblical values that are important to you inside the business? Because I know inside the business, when you're looking at PLs and and and and hiring and firing, and those types of decisions, it can it can be challenging at times to maintain that that focus. So, how do you go about that?

Anton Krecic 25:51

Yeah, it's a great question. And I will say this like over time, you know, from five, zero to five years, the more your business grows, the more money it's just generating in general, the harder, or I'd say like the more like important those decisions are. Um and it's not a one-time solution, one-time decision. Like you have to make a decision every day to um stay committed to your values, stay committed to your core mission, do not compromise or cut the corners on things because it's important to have that integrity. And it's really easy to find little ways to maybe compromise. Like that's that's just the reality of life. And so, as a business owner, I have to be really committed to our core mission. Um, and I want to always keep that first and foremost in our mind. And like, yeah, there's a balance. Like, we have to be a profitable company, we have to make sure the numbers make sense, and like we have to be sustaining so we can like continue growing and paying our employees and all this good stuff that you need to do. So there's uh the one thing I've you know, I don't think I have the the best maybe solution for it. I think it's a but from what I can tell, there's there's not necessarily a solution, there's more of a daily um alignment you have to have, like bringing your business back before the Lord. But and most importantly, just understanding like you were if if I were ever to say, Chris, I solved it, or like I feel like, yeah, we're in a good spot with always um you know keeping our mission first and like it's something we don't really deal with or struggle with, I think that would be the place of of vulnerability. I think it's more the real answer of admitting, like, hey, like every day, like there's gonna be a challenge or a um a thought to compromise something, and then we have to be aware that like we're human, um, there's a still sin nature within us, and it's easy to to to um let things slide. But I think out of that posture is like we're like true, um, you know, God's protection comes in. So I think that's kind of how I've seen it and continue to see um, you know, that that you know balance.

Chris Grainger 27:50

Yeah. And I mean, and you're having tremendous success, and with that success, you already mentioned several things there. But as it continues to grow as the leader, as the CEO, as the founder, how are you protecting the mission from being what from being watered down at all or overtaken by just business success or or targets and you know, KPIs and things like that?

Anton Krecic 28:11

Yeah, it's so true. It's a as like I said, it's it's something you have to continuously battle. For us, it's always keeping our core mission in front of us, being um committed to donating 10% of every sale to pro like Franks and Care Centers across the U.S.

Chris Grainger 28:25

So that does that get pushback from any of your leadership team? I mean, that's a big number.

Anton Krecic 28:30

Oh, no, no, no, because it that's that was the core thing before I hired even the first person. So, you know, that was like the fundamental like mission of the company. So um that will never change.

Chris Grainger 28:42

Yeah, yeah. What have you learned? I mean, this obviously we're about leadership and trying to help guys be the leaders of God that tempt them to be. So, what have you learned personally about leadership from building this faith-driven company? And because you're doing it in a culture that pushes back against, particularly this fact. This is this is a very black or white type of topic. So, what have you learned about leadership from doing this?

Anton Krecic 29:02

Well, the biggest thing, especially because your audience is mostly males, like I would just encourage everyone that as men we are called to lead. I think like have an expectation of yourself to lead in your life, whether that's business, whether that's your family life. It actually I will say specifically to business. Like men are called to be leaders, especially in the workplace, in the marketplace. Um I think that's important to know. And as Christians, we're called to influence the world for Christ, to take dominion over things, to have in influence in places of leadership. And so, you

Leadership Lessons And Fatherhood Perspective

Anton Krecic 29:38

know, when I started Seven Weeks Coffee, I didn't have, you know, come from some big career. I was just an average Joe Schmo and I had this idea to go after. But here's what I would say from the moment I started Seven Weeks Coffee, I took it very seriously that like what we're doing is important, we're gonna have impact, we're gonna have influence, and I need to lead this from day one. And so there's almost this like catch 22 where like you feel like, oh, because I haven't done something important yet, I can't really lead yet, or I can't really speak into something. That's not true at all. You can speak and lead from day one with whatever you're doing. So take authority over what you're doing, have an expectation of leadership and ownership, understand the responsibility of that, and go out there and compete, you know, to be leaders in the marketplace. I think we need more men to just have a very like godly but like assertive um stance. Yes.

Chris Grainger 30:40

Well said, well said. Now you mentioned so two weeks after you got married, God gives it to you, division, your wife's behind. Now you also mentioned your wife is a stay stay-at-home mom now. So you've walked through how many kids do you have? Just one. Yeah. Just all right, got well, you've walked through one. So you got you got one at home. So now you become a father. So how has that personally deepened your understanding of the mission behind Seven Weeks Coffee? Because I mean, it's nothing like, I mean, it's great to have be pro-life, but when you when you hold your firstborn for the first time, something changes, bro. And I've done it multiple times now. So what how did that deepen your your resolve for this mission?

Anton Krecic 31:19

I mean, in in so many ways, Chris. Like you can be in like pro-life in heart and in in and in your belief, which is great, but like there's nothing like, like you said, experiencing like you know, seeing your child for the first time, going through all the stages of pregnancy with your spouse and the birth and you know, the first day you bring them home, and so oh man, I mean, the first thing I realized is like how utterly disgusting abortion is. Like, I literally I mean that in the most graphic terms, because when you're there with your spouse, going through all these different like gosh, like it's an ultrasound scan. So they're telling you about the heartbeat, they're telling you what size the baby is today and what they can do, and like what's developing, and like you just see like this amazing life within the womb. Like, this is my son, whom I love already, and I never even met. And the idea of anyone just considering, you know, terminating that life just disgusts me. And it's not because, and sadly, this is the whole, you know, maybe a little bit of a sidebar, like because women like necessarily want to do that, there's a lot of pressure involved in abortion, there's like financial insecurities, and there's some women that just willfully want to, you know, terminate their baby, which is disgusting. So there's a lot of different cases for this. So like I'm not trying to bucket everyone in one piece, but I just want to explain to the audience like how disgusted we should be despite abortion in general. Um, and so that was the number one thing is like you realize, you know, how disgusting the abortion industry is, um, because you can't imagine, you can't fathom that with your own child. Um, and then just this perspective of life that uh a baby has, especially over the he's um 10 months old now. So he just those first these first you know year here, it's been amazing. You just see all these cool things where he's developing every single day and starts to crawl and he's starts to say, you know, dad and stuff, and all those amazing memories that you have. And that perspective really hits me home on like their turnal of understanding, like, hey, like I can get wrapped up in business so easy. I can get distracted or stressed by this stuff. And none of that matters as long as like I everyone's good at home, everyone's healthy, everyone's happy, we're putting our faith first, and like the most basic things become the most important things. Like, is your family healthy? Is everyone are we doing well and growing with the Lord? Like, those are like the most basic fundamental things that you kind of can lose when it's just maybe like you and your spouse because you can get distracted by other things, but like having a child just brings you back to that.

Chris Grainger 33:45

Amen to that. Amen. Well, congratulations on that 10-month. That's that's so awesome. It's awesome.

Anton Krecic 33:50

Thanks.

Chris Grainger 33:50

All right, guys, we'll take our next break. We'll be right back with Anton. If there's one habit that can change a home, it's this when a husband prays with his wife, not because it's a magic formula, but because it recenters your marriage under God's authority and care. And let's be honest, a lot of guys want to do it, but most don't know how to start without it feeling awkward. Maybe you've tried it before and it felt forced, or maybe you've never tried it because you don't even know what to say. Or maybe you're thinking, Man, I'm not a pastor, I'm just a guy. And that's why we created this guide. It's our how to pray with your wife. Simple guide. It's biblical, it's practical, and it's designed to help you start praying with your wife in a way that actually feels natural. So it's a five-section guide and it gives you a simple framework to get started. Okay, it makes sure everything is grounded in scripture,

Guide For Praying With Your Wife

Chris Grainger 34:45

and it also has a powerful PDF that you can pull up whenever you need, especially when things get off. Because they're gonna get off. That's normal. So this is all about reclaiming your marriage and reclaiming the spiritual leadership reigns of your home. Because praying with your wife is one of the strongest ways to fight for unity, to build trust, and to write the ship when life starts to pull you off a course. So if you're ready, get access today at the lionwithin.us slash guides. That's the lionwithin.us slash guides, and start unleashing the lion within at home by leading your marriage through prayer. So Anson, I get pitched a lot, a lot for guys who want to come on the show and talk about their testimony. And it's a blessing. I'm not complaining at all, but yours is interesting because I had heard about you guys from Matt Walsh. I listened, I listened to Matt a lot and uh have a lot of respect for what he's doing over the Daily Wire. How'd you guys get connected with them?

Anton Krecic 35:50

You know, we've it's been lucky. We've been able to partner with some amazing podcast hosts over the years and for sponsorships, obviously, and you know, who have a great pro-life voice and advocates for life issues. I've been we work with Matt Walsh and we work with Matt Fratt from the Daily Wire. Um, we've got to work with Ali Bet Stuckey and Lila Rose and some other pro-life people and and leaders on the issue. So um, I don't know how we got connected with them, but you know, they're very or they might have reached out to us, honestly, because um they're very pro-life aligned, which is really cool. So those have been some really strategic partnerships um where we've been able to partner with with them and uh

Parable Of The Talents For Entrepreneurs

Anton Krecic 36:24

been great for our business and now obviously sharing what we're doing.

Chris Grainger 36:29

Amen. Amen. Well, keep keep up the work and maybe speak to uh the to young entrepreneurs out there. I mean, you're you're an you're you're a young entrepreneur yourself, and particularly for the Christian ones who are wanting to bring their their faith into the work that they're being called to do. What encouragement would you give them? Yeah, because they want to build something meaningful, but maybe some of them are are pretty afraid to do that because they don't want to be so public about their faith. And I just help help that guy who's struggling right now with that thought.

Anton Krecic 36:57

Well, I would say two things. Like, be strategic in what you want to do, but be very confident that that God can use something in the most amazing way. And like your vision for something from day one is not the vision that God's gonna give you from five years in. So if you would have told me like five years ago, we'd be selling millions of dollars of coffee a year, have this you know massive impact of all the sentence we get the support and you know, the amount of coffee we sell. It's like I didn't even think that was a possibility, but you know, you stay faithful with something and God really can grow it beyond your wildest dreams. So I think that's like the first thing. And then um, and uh good entrepreneurs have to have a very like go-getter mindset. You have to hustle and work your butt off, you have to be aggressive, you have to be um very um committed to what you're going after. You know, you can't be passive or timid um when you're starting a business. You have to really be someone who loves to be out there competing in the the business realm and um being confident in what you're doing, making a ton of connections. Like your network that you have is like your core initial business, you know, customers. Like you have to grow your network substantially. You have to be able to connect with like tons of different people or stakeholders that are related to your business. And so that's what I try to do every day. Um and I think God calls us to that. Like my favorite parable is the parable of the talents where God gives uh the master, gives the servants, rather, all the uh different amounts of talents that are incredibly valuable. And there was this like deep expectation to go trade and make money with their talents, like to go use this and bring back a return. And it's a very implied, you know, command to like go work hard, go hustle, go be confident, go into the marketplace and don't sit there, go do business, you know, be someone who's willing to take risks, be someone who's willing to step out and like to start something. And he it's so funny about that parable. He never tells them what to do with the money, which I always found interesting. You know, if you gave someone money, you know, maybe you'd give them some clear instructive, like, please do XYZ investment or don't do this, or you know, please make sure you you only trade in this way. You know, there could be all these like restrictions, and there was like such freedom with these um um with this parable. And what I take away from that is like we get so caught up, especially as a young, young people, young men, like wondering what God's will for me is, that we do nothing that is of his will. And what I mean by that is like God's will is to serve him in all that you do. Like you can work in 10 different jobs and still be in God's will at all single, and all 10 of those, if you are doing it to his glory and you're pursuing it in a manner that's using it to um um glorify him. So it's really more about your attitude and your heart position and um really um, I don't know, like just where your heart is in all of these different areas of your life, much less than it is like what is a specific job title or role I have. And so we get caught up and we end up doing nothing versus just getting out there. Like, I I didn't have to like think about can I serve the Lord by starting a pro-life coffee company? Of course I can. That was my heart. Like that was like the whole idea. It's like if obviously if God like puts a check in your spirit, listen to that. But there's more freedom than I think people realize when we're walking with the Lord. So have freedom to get out there, try different things, do everything, you know, to the service of the Lord. And I think you'll be surprised where that'll lead you. Amen to that, bro.

Chris Grainger 40:29

Well said. I mean, let's go down the put on some special glasses and we can look 10 years down the road. What what are you hoping you're seeing from seven seven weeks coffee?

Anton Krecic 40:39

Man, I mean, just I to be frank, I I try not to be um too focused on the future. I just try to be committed to the goal. So if 10 years from now down the line, maybe we're donating tens of millions of dollars, you know, hopefully a year. Um, that'd be amazing. But most importantly, if still we're donating back 10% of every sale to local pregnancy resource centers. That'd be the most important thing, I hope we're doing.

Chris Grainger 41:00

Amen. Well, Anton, we'd love to put a little lightning ramp with you at the end if you if you're willing to jump in and have some fun. Yeah. All right. So look, hobbies. I'm gonna take golf off the table because we are we know golf's a big hobby for you. So what other things do you enjoy doing for fun?

Anton Krecic 41:14

Man, that's like the biggest one. Um getting to pickleball a little bit too. Um, I'm a sports guy, watch sports, play sports. So anything that's athletic or competitive, probably because I like business so much, I want to compete at everything. So anything that's competitive.

Chris Grainger 41:29

So what's your sports teams? Who are you pulling for?

Anton Krecic 41:31

Oh, so from Cleveland, so all the Cleveland sports, uh, which are sometimes tough. Browns, uh guardians, and cavs. So all the Cleveland sports. Yeah.

Chris Grainger 41:40

All right. So you'll have some tough days. That's okay. I've always had, yeah. I was pulling for you guys in the playoffs, man. I really was. I was I thought Harden was going to help them out, but it just uh it wasn't a B, I guess. So anyway. I know. It's so frustrating. So outside of coffee, what's your what's your go-to food?

Anton Krecic 41:57

Number two question. Um my my family is Italian

Lightning Round And Personal Reflections

Anton Krecic 42:00

on my mom's side, so I'm really into anything authentic Italian food. Nice. Um, so yeah, that's always that's always a go-to for us.

Chris Grainger 42:09

All right. What's your and and back to coffee, what's your favorite blend of seven weeks? Okay, so I drink it all.

Anton Krecic 42:15

I definitely do. Um this is why it's so hard because I literally drink it all. I mean, I literally rotate through all the coffees. But if you want, I'll say this like our top of the line coffees. Like if you're like, hey, what's the best you know, coffee you have in terms of like scoring, which is like coffee scoring system? Our Ethiopian medium roast and our espresso roast, they score at like an 86 on the corn 86 to 87 on the score Q scoring scale. So they're they just get some really great tasting outside. Ethiopia is more floral and fruity, the the uh espresso is gonna be a little more chocolatey. It's it they're really delicious. So like I'm gonna I'm gonna leave it to like the quality scoring. They're all phenomenal. I I quite literally drink them also. Love it.

Chris Grainger 43:01

Love it. You got a date night with you and your wife and you got a babysitter. What you guys doing? Well, my mom loves to babysit now because she loves being a grandma.

Anton Krecic 43:09

Um we're pretty we're pretty chill. What we like to do on date nights is you know, what we do like to do is just have a nice meal and then go for like a short walk after. That's kind of like a pretty yeah, a pretty basic evening for us. Um Chris is a little more adventurous, so you know, she probably would like to do more like hikes and things like that. So we've done um probably should do more of that stuff because I know she she enjoys it.

Chris Grainger 43:33

There you go. If you had a superpower, because I mean you guys, you got a son, right? So you got a son, so he's gonna be in this in the superheroes and stuff like that. So if you if you if you could have a superpower, Anton, which one would you pick and how would you use it?

Anton Krecic 43:47

What am I I guess to have any options, or do I have to pick up uh any options, man?

Chris Grainger 43:51

You can go Marvel if you want, or just across the board, whatever you want.

Anton Krecic 43:55

Oh, that's a good one. Um I guess to read people's minds, but that'd be the most useful in life, right? Tell what they're really thinking.

Chris Grainger 44:06

That would be a good one to use. Now, if you look at the last year, you're obviously your life's busy, you got a lot of stuff going on. Where did you spend too much time? It's always good to kind of reflect and look back and do an audits. Anywhere that jumps out that you spent too much time?

Anton Krecic 44:21

Uh I would say probably on social media. I uh it's it's probably it's so easy to just get distracted on there. Uh just the mindless scrolling. Um, but it's tough because I also kind of work on social media with the company, so I'm also touring because I'm like following trends or seeing what's going on in the news or pro-life stuff. So I think it's a little bit of a makes it more difficult to get off it. But yeah, it's so easy to do scroll. It's probably terrible for for most people.

Chris Grainger 44:50

I get it. I get it. How about uh when you think about God? What's your favorite thing about him? I I love asking this question just because it just gets uh shows the heart of the uh to the listeners of what of what's important. But so what do you think is your favorite thing about God? Such a good question.

Anton Krecic 45:04

I never thought of it that way. I guess my relationship with the Lord has always it's always like come down to just like knowing he's like just always there. And I guess my my favorite thing about God is like when you when you genuinely know the Lord, it's not that you can like feel his physical presence, but just like the belief that he's there. It's such a comforting thing. So I guess I don't know. That's probably my favorite thing. It's like no, it actually I'll add one more. Just like being able to talk to God all the time. Like I just feel like I always have conversations in my head or small prayers. I think that's really really amazing that you can just talk to God like at any time. Like you don't need to go somewhere or do something specific. Like you can just start talking to God in your head at any moment.

Chris Grainger 45:57

Amen to that, Bo. Amen. Now, what's your least favorite thing about the evil one?

Anton Krecic 46:03

Well, I guess everything, because he's terrible, right? Like, I don't know if I've thought about that.

Chris Grainger 46:08

Yeah, he's he's definitely he has his ways, that's for sure. Yeah. Well, if I've really enjoyed this one, Anton. So what's one thing that you hope the listeners remember the most from our time together today?

Anton Krecic 46:21

I would just say if like, especially since your audience is men, like be a leader today, you know?

Chris Grainger 46:27

Hmm. 100%.

Anton Krecic 46:30

Yeah.

Chris Grainger 46:30

And where can they connect with you? You said you're on social media. Obviously, where did where can they go to get this awesome Seven Weeks Coffee? Where do you want to send them?

Anton Krecic 46:37

Just at sevenweekscoffee.com or at sevenweeks coffee is our social medias, and then sevenweekscoffee.com is our website.

Chris Grainger 46:44

Okay. Awesome. We'll make sure we got that stuff synced up for you. Anton, anything else you'd like to share today, sir?

Anton Krecic 46:49

No, I appreciate you having me on, Chris.

Chris Grainger 46:51

It's been an honor. Looking forward to to learning more. And guys, get connected with the coffee for sure. Anton, have a great day, brother. You too.

Anton Krecic 46:58

Bye.

Chris Grainger 47:00

All right, guys. I told you this is gonna be a fun one. So thankful for him for coming on the show. So go again, go check out sevenweekscoffee.com fellas. Question

Final Charge And Ways To Connect

Chris Grainger 47:07

of the week this week is where are you chasing more instead of stewarding what God already provided? Again, it's it's just that God has called us to work, but we just had to make sure that we're not trying to pursue our own desires, but we're pursuing what God calls us first and foremost. Okay. So, guys, if you like this stuff, head over to thelionwithin.us, give us some some some information. Like connect with us on a daily SKO. Start your lines then. Uh uh, just join that, right? Or put in your application to the leadership mastermind. Maybe you want to open up the Bible app, open up the UVersion Bible app, search for the Lion Within Us, follow our page there. We have plans coming out there on a regular basis, guys. Hopefully you'll be enjoying you'll be encouraged by those plans, and and you never know how they're gonna uh just aid you in your discipleship journey. I get so many feedback, just wonderful feedback from guys who find those plans helpful and encouraging. Okay, so again, all that stuff found, fellas. The lionwithin.us is our website, how you get connected with us. We'd love to hear from you. If you give us a rating and review for the show, if you're particularly if you're listening on Apple, give us a rating and review. That would be very helpful, fellas. So just want to say thank you for that. Other than that, guys, if you want to just support us and just because of what we're doing, you you like the lion, the lionwithin.us slash donate, connect with us right there. All right. Have a great day, guys. Get after it. Look forward to seeing you soon. We'll see you next time on our fun Friday. We'll have a member spotlight for you. So have a good one and just keep unleashing the lion within. If there's one habit that can change your home, it's this when a husband prays with his wife, not because it's a magic formula, but because it recenters your marriage under God's authority and care. And let's be honest, a lot of guys want to do it, but most don't know how to start without it feeling awkward. Maybe you tried it before and it felt forced, or maybe you've never tried it because you don't even know what to say. Or maybe you're thinking, man, I'm not a pastor, I'm just a guy. And that's why we created this guide. It's our how to pray with your wife. Simple guide. It's biblical, it's practical, and it's designed to help you start praying with your wife in a way that actually feels natural. So it's a five-section guide and it gives you a simple framework to get started. Okay, it makes sure everything is grounded in scripture, and it also has a powerful PDF that you can pull up whenever you need, especially when things get off, because they're gonna get off. That's normal. So this is all about reclaiming your marriage and reclaiming the spiritual leadership reigns of your home. Because praying with your wife is one of the strongest ways to fight for unity, to build trust, and to right the ship when life starts to pull you off a course. So if you're ready, get access today at thelionwithin.uslash guides. That's thelionwithin.us slash guides. And start unleashing the line within at home by leading your marriage through prayer.