How She Rolls

<Carrie> I grew up with biscuits being served at every meal.

Biscuits are the bread of the South.

[mellow music] I'm definitely nervous about this food truck because it's a whole new venture.

[boxes tumbling] Okay, Sarah, order up.

<Sarah> Who's this for?

People love coming out here and eating some of the best food in the country.

How many of y'all have made biscuits...by hand?

That's not enough.

The whole reason I started the business was to make sure that biscuit making wasn't a dying art.

A walk in the park.

<Carrie> I took my mom's best recipe and started selling handmade southern biscuits.

Now I'm balancing a family a business, and biscuits every day.

Thank you so much.

I'm Carrie Morey.

And this is how I roll.

[Melodious music] <Customer> Charleston is one of those places that's magical.

It's on the coast, so we've got these amazing natural ingredients.

<Customer> You come to Charleston and there's an exhale that allows that food and beverage culture to just really thrive.

<Customer> When you're talking about the food of Charleston, in my opinion, you're talking about soul food.

In order to be able to cook from the soul, you have to do a little bit of heart work.

What makes it good is really the person who's making it.

<Carrie> I'm Carrie Morey.

I am a native of Charleston, South Carolina, and the owner of Callie's Hot Little Biscuit.

I am a mom.

I am a business owner.

All right!

Y'all enjoy!

<Libba> She was looking for a way to do something she believed in and pair it with being a working mom, who was still going to make it home every day for school pickup.

<Carrie> What are you doing?

<Sarah> So, there's a long problem.

I sneezed again, and both contacts fell out.

<Carrie> I am a cook.

I'm a dishwasher, a delivery driver.

[truck engine sound] <Libba> Started out with a really simple plan.

Bake her mother's biscuits recipe and get them in households across America.

Now, it's not simple anymore.

<Carrie> It's a puzzle that never gets solved.

<John> It's not a biscuit company.

It's way bigger than that.

It's an online retail company.

It is a production company.

It is four different restaurant companies.

It is a food truck.

And each one of those is a different beast.

[cheerful music] <Carrie> I've sold biscuits for over 14 years and I'm definitely nervous about this food truck because it's a whole new venture.

[cheerful music continues] Say a prayer that nothing falls.

[truck rattling, boxes tumbling] Whoops.

There go the boxes.

[cheerful music] The perfect spot to do a soft opening is in the middle of this neighborhood where I actually grew up called the Old Village.

Hopefully we'll just have a few people walk down on a sleepy Sunday morning from the neighborhood and come eat a biscuit.

We're not expecting a big crowd because, we kind of wanted to ease into it.

And you know, it'll be a nice Sunday celebration.

[truck rattling] [cheerful music] Meet me up there.

I'm going to have to do a loop and turn around so we can be in the right spot.

Huh?

You smell them?

I know.

I hope they're not burning.

I'll see you right up there.

[cheerful music] Okay.

[bright music] Ooh, a little browner than I would like, but...alright.

Nothing has its place yet.

It'll take us a while.

[bright music] <Carrie> Alright, this is Caroline, my oldest daughter.

She's working the front today.

She's going to remember to tell everybody, "Thank you so much".

Smile.

Give them Hot Little Biscuit cards.

BLT is the special.

This is Emma.

She spent the night with us last night, so she's going to be working for us today in the front.

Sarah is my drink girl along with Kate who just ran to get a trash can because we forgot.

Hey, Emma and Caroline, the special today is BLT.

We have sharp cheddar, cinnamon shortcake, country ham, pimento cheese, jam.

Do we have chopped bacon?

[bright music ending] <Customer> Hey!

<Caroline> Good morning.

<Customer> Can I please do a bacon, egg and cheese and then the three biscuits, two cinnamons and, no, one cinnamon and two shortcakes.

>> Do you want your eggs fried or scrambled on the bacon, egg and cheese?

<Customer> Probably scrambled.

>> I got you.

<Carrie> Okay, Sarah, we're up.

Order up.

So we're probably expecting maybe 50 people is my guess.

So, 50 transactions would be a good start.

<Caroline> Your total's $14.12.

Can I get a name for the order?

[bright music] <Employee> Got an order up.

<Tyler> Order up, please!

>> Caroline, who's this for?

[bright music] <Customer> Thank you.

[bright music continues] <Friend> How are you?

>> I keep thinking the town will tell me that I can't be here.

<Friend> Absolutely not.

They should come celebrate this.

>> Hopefully they don't work on Sunday.

<Customer> I'm a big critic of biscuits and gravy.

And this is really delicious.

<Customer> I'm so excited.

She's doing a food truck now.

<Customer> Hmmm, so good!

<Employee> Honestly, I didn't think it was going to be this busy.

But I think we're handling it well.

<Customer> May we please have two shortcake biscuits?

<Carrie> Two shortcake biscuits <Customer> with blackberry jam and butter.

<Carrie> Got it.

[various conversations] <Employee> Have a great day.

>> Church ran long today.

We were lucky to get the last biscuit.

<Carrie> We're sold out of eggs, sold out of bacon.

We're sold out of biscuit sandwiches.

We're sold out of.... <Carrie> We have shortcakes and grits, and three sharp cheddar.

And what time is it?

It's like 11 a.m.?

<Employee> Yeah.

>> I call that a good day.

Whoa!

[bright music] I've got a really good crew and my children.

I wouldn't want to do it without them.

I hope that they love it as much as I love seeing them there.

[bright music ends] [jazz music] <Carrie> SEWE is definitely the kickoff weekend to the 9 month tourist season that we have created here in Charleston.

The mood changes.

The buzz is around town.

Everybody's out.

It's just a perfect place to be.

[jazz music continues] <Carrie> You're a little messy, You need a bib!

[man laughs] You need a bib!

[jazz music ends] I love that, that made my day.

[calming music] Today, I'm making mushroom gravy for SEWE which is Southeastern Wildlife.

And we are doing a demo with making biscuits and serving it with mushroom gravy.

These are local oyster mushrooms.

<Carrie> How many of y'all have made biscuits... by hand?

No mixers, no cracking the can up on the counter and doing the twist.

Okay, that's not enough.

Well, I love showing people the art of biscuit making because I truly feel like it's a dying art and not many people do it anymore.

I want you to feel the love.

You're picking up the flour.

You're moving it, you're pinching it.

Lift, Lift... You're doing it.

Don't tell me you don't know what to do.

You're doing a great job.

<everyone> One, two three... [Everyone sighs] Yeah, good job!

This is the reason why I want you to make them by hand because when you make them by hand.

They're so delicate, and they're like down pillows.

It is the bomb.

I love hearing the stories about different people's recipes.

<Customer> I'm trying to like experiment with different recipes and all that.

>> There's no wrong way to do it.

>> Unless you do the can on the side of the counter.

>> Exactly.

<Customer> Do you make your homemade pimento cheese?

>> We do.

I love a roasted red pepper.

>> We pick them out of the field, the red peppers or the pimentos.

You grind them up, cook them in vinegar and sugar.

I'll send you some.

>> Oh, I cannot wait to taste that.

That's the whole reason I started the business was to make sure that biscuit making wasn't a dying art.

[gentle music] My mom, Callie, is an amazing cook, and always has been, and a great entertainer and certainly the inspiration for wanting to start the biscuit business.

<Callie> Yes, I'm the name on the bag that we see.

<Libba> Callie was kind of the preeminent, under the radar, caterer in Charleston.

So she, of course, had her signature ham biscuits.

<Callie> I decided that I can make a better ham biscuit, and I could make it better by chunking it up, and then I decided it would be better on a cheese biscuit.

Then again, it would be even better if I put half mustard, half butter on each side of the ham.

They still do it that way.

<Carrie> The number one reason, I started the business was so that I could have balance and be at home with my girls and be involved in the food world in a professional way.

The second reason I started the business was because I wanted to have a connection with my mother, which I really have not had.

And I thought if we started a business together because we both had this connection of food, that it would bring us together even more so and really form a bond.

And the irony is, it did the opposite.

[light music] <Callie> Carrie came over one day and said "Mom, I can, we can make your biscuits, "and we can make them to sell and we can sell them "on the Internet.

"We can sell them in gourmet stores."

<Libba> Carrie knew that there were people that a taste of a good biscuit, really hit home.

<Carrie> I think for a long time she didn't believe in it.

>> I thought it was the most hare-brained scheme I've ever heard in my life.

I did.

<Libba> There are a couple of moments in the beginning that really kind of solidified knowing they were on to a good thing.

When Carrie first came to me there were certain things that she wanted and she wanted Today Show.

Callie not so much.

She still wasn't really believing that the biscuits were going to take off.

>> We were at different times in our lives.

And we were at odds because of that.

<Carrie> And that's probably why we separated as business partners because I was the one who had the dream.

And it wasn't her dream.

>> I was wrong.

I mean, it did work.

I got out and everything flourished and bloomed and blossomed and grew and turned into an empire.

So, I was the holdback.

<Carrie> And it took us separating from the business, taking some time away, and probably both maturing, for us to have a solid relationship.

[guitar music] <Employee> Good morning, rockstar.

>> Ha!

How are you?

<Employee> I'm okay, how are you this morning?

>> Good.

I'm going to Market first then King.

But Market?

Did anybody not show up?

<Employee> Yeah, so DeAndre didn't come in on time.

Terry was there this morning anyways, I asked her to step in and help get the specials caught up for this morning.

Market is good now.

Shelby's there and still trying to get there and she's heading this way.

>> We're constantly hiring, trying to find the best people to be a part of the team.

Whereas I went for the last four years, four and a half years really, with incredible team members that we never had an issue with showing up late or not coming in, and now it's every day.

[bright music] And did she say she acknowledged that she was late?

<Employee> She was like I'm getting up now.

And that was the thing, it was at 8:37 or something.

<Carrie> What?

Why do we have to wake people up for work?

I don't get it.

<Employee> Very good question.

>> I don't know the solution.

And I always have a solution.

Always.

I don't have one.

<Carrie> Briana, she is a rock star.

You are our first employee hired at Market right?

<Briana> Yes, I believe I was.

<Carrie> We can always count on you.

<Briana> Thanks <Carrie> Thank you.

[foreboding music] <Carrie> Maybe I need to be in the stores and I can't be in four places at once.

And I can't be there all the time.

So I keep thinking, this too shall pass.

It's going to get better, but it's just now the norm.

[foreboding music ends] <Carrie> Guys, I need this on the fly.

Extra country ham.

He said he didn't get it.

We need to reassemble it and make it beautiful.

He's not happy.

Just maybe start all over and give him extra, extra ham.

Okay, that's extra country ham and lots of butter and...sugary sweet.

<Carrie> I made it myself.

I'm so sorry.

Thank you.

<Customer> You're welcome.

>> Have a good one.

Our production facility is on the Old Navy shipyard.

There's about 9 bakers that constantly making handmade biscuits.

<Kelli> With lunch shift, we're pretty comfortable at 100 trays.

There's 126 biscuits on a tray.

So, you do the math there 12,600, I think.

<Carrie> It's where we house all of our employees.

<Tyler> We're definitely having a staffing struggle, for sure.

<Carol> We have 5 confirmed interviews between tomorrow and Thursday.

<Carrie> I want to make sure that you and Carol are impressing upon the GMs and the shift leaders how to teach the culture, how to treat the customer, how to make sure there's not a 45 minute wait for a biscuit.

That's the stuff that we're missing.

And all of the dead weight is bringing really bad service and we're seeing it in my inbox.

<Employee> Yes, we are.

<Carrie> I hope that you all can help work on that culture component that we all live and die by.

[bright music] <Libba> I had a chance to catch up with Allison at Atlantic packaging.

She's available this afternoon.

>> I can do between one and three.

I have to head out around 3: 15 to get the girls.

<Libba> Maybe 1:30?

>> Yeah, that's perfect.

1:30.

<Libba> Okay.

[bright music] <Libba> So, I got you on speakerphone.

<Carrie> Hi, Allison.

This is Carrie.

Nice to - <Allison> Hi.

<Libba> I had a quick call with Allison this morning and shared with her that y'all are looking for good ways to cut down on labor and costs with this new packaging.

<Carrie> Not only do we hand make all the biscuits, we hand package all the biscuits.

<Tarah> So, what we'd like to move to is two sizes, one for a 6 pack, one for a 12 pack, something that allows us to pack more boxes inside of a shipping box.

<Allison> Our structural team will design a couple options then send that back to you.

<Carrie> Obviously, with the online business, we ship all this stuff and we have corrugated boxes in probably 6 or 7 different sizes.

<Allison> I'll try to get as much for you under one roof as possible.

<Carrie> Okay, awesome.

<Libba> Allison, thanks so much.

<Allison> All right, thank you guys.

<Carrie> All right, that was painless.

[upbeat music] >> I should have been an Uber driver.

I drive all day.

Sarah, I'm outside waiting for you.

Please come on.

We're going to miss- [indiscernible speech] <Caroline> She says she's coming mom, bye.

[upbeat music continues] >> I think growing a business is hard.

I think it's even harder for moms to try to find that balance.

[crowd cheering] [girls celebrating] [music ends] [dryer running] Long day... but a productive one.

I see my phone going.

And my mother's coming to the retreat tomorrow.

And we have $34,000 worth of expired pimento cheese product that I got to deal with.

So there's that, the life of an entrepreneur.

All right.

I got to go.

[gradual music] We're on the way to our first ever company retreat.

<Callie> Hello.

<Carrie> Hi.

<Callie> I'm on the way.

<Carrie> I thought you were calling to say you weren't coming.

<Callie> No, I'm on my way.

<Carrie> All right, I'll see you there.

<Callie> Okay, Bye.

<Carrie> Bye.

Wow.

I'm definitely surprised.

I mean, she's not involved in the business and she's really busy, so I was shocked that she wanted to come, pleasantly surprised.

[relaxing music] This is Callie, the Callie of Callie's Biscuits.

<Callie> I am Callie.

>> The inspiration for this 15 year business in the making.

Can you believe it?

<Callie> I cannot believe it.

Time flies by.

>> Can you believe that ham biscuit has sparked - <Callie> It's pretty incredible.

>> - 70 employee big company?

<Callie> Yeah.

>> You can?

You're not surprised?

<Callie> No, I'm not surprised at you, doing what you've done to make my ham biscuit takeoff.

[goat bleating] <Carrie> You're ready for goats to climb on your back?

<Callie> That's why I'm here, for goats to climb all over me.

[relaxing music continues] <Amy> Employee retention is hard.

We have to let our employees know that we care about them.

There's not many people that bring their 70 plus employees to a goat farm and do goat yoga and treat them to lunch.

<Carrie> Hopefully this will rejuvenate their love for Callie's and make them want to do an even better job.

I could have stayed there for another two hours.

It was heavenly.

<Employee> You're sweet.

Ohhh!

[bluegrass music] <Carrie> Cornbread, homemade bread, chili, lime butter, not spicy.

<Employee> Jalapeno right here.

So I made mine a little spicy.

I knew there was going to be a cast iron in there somewhere.

[bluegrass music ends] >> If you haven't figured it out yet, we're here to connect.

That's why you've got your buddies.

We're going to collaborate.

And then of course, we're going to celebrate all day.

Right?

[upbeat music] <Employee> What do you like to do when you're not at work?

Sleep.

<Employee> Okay, okay.

<Employee> What kind of dog do you have?

<Employee> I have a shih tzu.

<Employee> Oh!

So cute!

<Employee> We're making s'mores.

It's a bonding experience.

<Employee> Yeah.

I love s'mores.

It's a mess though.

<Employee> It's burnt.

<Employee> Trust me, that ain't burnt.

<Employee> It's not burnt.

It's flavorful.

<Employee> It's hard to ignore a concern of someone you've met, and you want to kind of help them succeed too.

<Carrie> Me forcing them to meet other people that aren't in their comfort zone, that could have gone a little off.

And I heard that they loved it.

[laughing] <Employee>.

Hold it.

Hold it.

[both scream in shock] >> We didn't solve all our problems.

We still have 101 problems.

That we're walking right out of this bus too.

But at the end of the day, we have to let our employees know that we care about them.

We do silly things like this for them and to bring us together.

<Carrie> The theme that I heard over and over again was family and care and you really care about us.

And so I can't ask for any more than that.

<Employee> One!

Two!

<Everyone> BISCUITS!