By Erin Williams
Faith at Home and in Business
The Super Shakes Story
“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13
Although three months have gone by, I still remember that January day like it was yesterday. I was a first-time mama to a 6-week-old daughter who came to the Super Shakes drive-thru on Old Fannin with bags under weeks of sleep-deprived eyes, greasy hair in a disheveled up-do, a spit-up stained shirt on, and choking back tears.
My husband had been back at work for three weeks at this point and I spent most of my days with a colicky little blessing that seemed to only sleep while driving. That morning I had been driving Dallas around for over an hour and dared not put the car in Park long enough to go in and pick up food so I swung through Super Shakes tired, hungry, and doubting if I could really do this whole mama thing. However, when I drove off and saw “Philippians 4:13” handwritten on the cup, it was like God spoke to me and gave me the encouragement I needed in the form of a kind girl, a Sharpie marker, a still sleeping baby, and a peanut butter cup shake.
It is truly my honor to tell part of the Super Shakes story, a business that was started by a demand for a delicious, healthy product, and one that continues to grow as a platform that Christ uses to touch many people daily—oftentimes in the moments they need it most.
In November 2009, Co-owner and Founder, Jason Stogner, a registered dietitian, founded Quick Quakes with a goal in mind to create delicious healthy shakes that were made withhigh-qualityy ingredients, low fat, and with a high protein content. With his expertise in dietetics, he was able to formulate original, distinct recipes for shakes using the best ingredients that provide energy, nutrition, and satisfy hunger. Each made-to-order Super Shake is made with the highest-grade 100% whey protein isolate. Good for you, great-tasting, convenient, and low-fat shakes made Super Shakes quickly begin to garner a following.
About a year into Quick Quakes, Jason connected with Taylor Lyle of Taylor Made Labels. Taylor Made Labels had been producing the labels that went on the cups and, curious to try the shakes out, came by and eventually became a regular customer. Jason and Taylor decided to partner up and take Quick Quakes to the next level. In 2014, they rebranded and changed the name to Super Shakes. Although they started with the original drive-thru on Old Fannin Road, Super Shakes has grown tremendously and now has three locations—Old Fannin, Crossgates, and The Township in Ridgeland.
The idea behind the Bible verses Super Shakes has become known for originated with an employee who wrote encouraging notes on customers’ cups. One morning, another employee decided to write the Bible verse from her morning devotion on customers’ cups. Jason and Taylor loved this idea and began to train their employees to pick 10 of their favorite Bible verses to write on cups during their shifts. The rest, as you would say, is history.
“We don’t tell our employees what verses to write,” said Jason and Taylor. “We want to give them the flexibility to pick the verses that mean something to them on that particular day and it’s really taken off. We are so incredibly proud of the employees we have.”
As I sat across the table and talked with Taylor and Jason, even if I wouldn’t have had my own Super Shakes experience a few months before, their authenticity is apparent. With Christian music playing in the background (which I now know is standard across all Super Shakes locations), I could feel that these guys didn’t just push their faith by trying to say all the right words—they meant it.
They live it.
Somewhere between sipping our shakes and talking about expansion, future franchising opportunities, and growth, we landed on the subject of family. Both Jason and Taylor are also husbands and fathers who are striving to live out the same faith that sustains Super Shakes at home in their own personal lives.
“Both of our wives are just saints. They’re amazing women. They keep us grounded in our faith,” said Taylor and Jason, “We know we should both be more of the spiritual leaders in our homes, but it’s our wives that are really the backbone. We get busy, and our wives have this steady, unsung faith that motivates us to be better. They push us outside of our comfort zones.”
Jason gave an example about how he is in a band, the Jason Stogner Band, and sometimes will play a show on a Saturday night and feel the urge to sleep in on Sunday. However, because he wants to provide an example to his kids regardless of being tired, he gets up and they go to church as a family.
Taylor, who travels some on the weekends for soccer, agreed that it would be easy to go out of town and try to forget about church or skip it when they get back but he finds that he has to continuously make an effort to keep it a priority. Like the rest of us, they realize that growing your faith often times lies with intentionality more than anything.
While they are certainly humble about it, both Jason and Taylor model their faith as husbands and fathers to their families as well as to their employees. They both attend Pinelake Church and have even invited their employees to attend church with them, should they want to.
“Faith is a part of our life, not just our business.” Said Taylor and Jason. “That’s why we subtly try to provide a daily message for our customers and let God do the rest. Ultimately, we’re happy to be a platform. That’s all God really needs is people who are willing to do something, even something small.”
As we kept talking, they told me story after story of people who had experiences similar to mine where they found the encouragement they needed at just the right time. With each story, and they are numerous, I was reminded time and time again that God hears and He cares—He is big enough to talk to each of us in any way that we will allow Him to.
And just like Super Shakes, if we would only give God a platform—even a small one—we would find that He not only uses it to speak to us, He will use it speak to others, too.
Sure, “fitness never tasted so good,” but maybe, at least I’d say, a little faith never tasted so good, either. That’s something we can all #shakelocal about.
For more information about Super Shakes, find them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, or visit their website at mysupershakes.com.