Storyteller Interview Series: Stephanie Stuckey
Chair of Stuckey’s Corporation
How do you go from six figures in debt to $13 million in sales in under five years? If you are Stephanie Stuckey, one story at a time.
In 2019, Stephanie Stuckey faced a personal and business dilemma. Her family’s business, Stuckey’s Corporation, was six figures in debt. Her grandfather, W.S. Stuckey Sr., had founded Stuckey’s in 1937 as a roadside pecan stand. Over the next three decades, it expanded to include gas stations and stores that sold cherished tchotchke souvenirs and candy. With 368 stores at their peak, Stuckey’s was a staple stop on family road trips for the coveted pecan logs. But decades of mismanagement left the brand in debt and disarray.
In 2019, Stephanie disregarded the warnings of others, took her savings, and bought back the business. She recognized the emotional connection people had with the brand. Anytime Stephanie told someone her last name, their eyes would light up and they would share stories of their Stuckey's visits. Last summer I even shared mine.
Stephanie knew if people had such a strong emotional connection to the business in the past, there was an opportunity for the future. Through the intentional use of storytelling, she has rebuilt the family business with dramatic growth.
Below are excerpts of my interview with Stephanie that I wasn't able to include in The Perfect Story.
If you create content, are fascinated by rebuilding a business, or love nostalgic storytelling, this one’s for you!
To learn more about Stuckey's and order one of their infamous pecan log rolls, visit: https://stuckeys.com/.
Stephanie has a book coming out April 2024 describing her journey rebuilding her family business: "UnStuck: Rebirth of an American Icon."
Stephanie Stuckey
Chair of Stuckey’s Corporation
Your posts often talk about your products, nostalgia, family history, and road trip destinations. Which stories resonate the most?
I think the road trip ones because they transcend a lot of demographics. Road trips can be any age, ethnicity, gender, and relate. Those are the fun ones. Those are the ones the media picks up on. The New York Times did an article on Stuckey’s that led with the road trip theme. The Today Show wanted to take a road trip with me. It’s something people are rediscovering right now. You have to find those commonalities that are going to help people relate to you. The pathway to Stuckey’s in many ways is going to be the road trip.
I do have what I call a “brand diamond.” It’s an illustration that looks like a diamond with t seven facets that I talk about in my posts. I try to hit on at least one of those facets every time I tell a story. They include road trips, families, Americana, pecans, nostalgia, and Southern hospitality. It also includes what we don’t do. We don’t get into politics, cuss, and aren’t sassy or sarcastic. That isn’t our brand.
How intentional are you about sharing daily challenges and how hard it is to transform the business?
Very intentional. I try not to overshare. Sometimes people think they have to give overly intimate details. This is storytelling. That doesn’t mean you aren’t telling the truth. But you weave the truth and present it in a way that is going to hook people. You don’t have to present every minute detail to get your point across. You really don’t want to bog it down.
Sometimes I truth-test my post with a couple of my board members. One of my board members is a marketing professional. He will sometimes advise me to change a sentence or two or the whole post. It’s important to have people that are 100% in your court but are also going to let you know if your post just struck the wrong chord for whatever reason.
How do you know when a story is good?
I would like to say that I know in my heart, but often a story has a life of its own. I’ll come up with this narrative and think “This is a slam dunk,” and people don’t relate to it like I think they will. Then I will be slammed and throw up something and people will love it.
I did a post on Town Topic Diner in Kansas City Missouri. I walked past this diner and thought it was so cool looking. I took some photos and found out they were founded in 1937, the same year Stuckey’s was founded. I did a post about it. It got thousands of people connecting and sending me messages about their Town Topic story. I posed that nine months ago and people still bring it up. You just never know what connects with people. It’s usually something in their background that something you said hits a chord.
What advice would you give to someone looking to get started in storytelling?
Tell your own story the way you want it told. Just keep putting it out there day in and day out. Don’t get frustrated. It will take a while for it to get traction. I was putting out content every single day for months before I really got one that hit a tone. Even then it is a daily slog.
My goal is to get to 100,000 followers and it’s been almost three years to get there. If you are not known and you aren’t a celebrity, you have to plug away at it day in and day out. Gary Vee who came from nothing. I look to him for motivation in how you structure this. He said you have to put a ton of content out there.
The other important thing is to experiment with new and different content. Don’t be afraid to fail. Put out some content that you think is a bit of a stretch. If it falls flat, then ok. Then change your approach. But what I don’t do is take the mistakes down.
If I put up a post and it doesn’t get a lot of engagement, I’m not going to remove it. I think it’s important to keep it up there. Sometimes you connect with people on that post who haven’t connected with you in any other way. Keep the mistakes up there, it’s part of your progression. If you don’t try something you don’t know.
What is your intentional approach to the different types of social media you use for your stories?
You have to really understand each format. Twitter tends to be sarcastic, pithy, and witty. You can put stuff out that is slightly edgier than you would on other forums.
Instagram is more visual. I like that you can have multiple slideshow images that scroll with each getting its moment. I like the hashtags. You have tons of opportunities to pick up new followers with creative hashtags. In every post, I have a few mainstay hashtags, but I also try to do new hashtags to get new followers.
Facebook is a little older. I can be a little more nostalgic and post things that appeal to Baby Boomers. I find more retail stores, especially Mom and Pop stores, are going to be on Facebook. Pulling over at an interesting coffee shop or retail shop and posting about it on Facebook is a great way to engage the community. People from small towns are on Facebook. It’s a different demographic.
TikTok surprisingly is for all age groups. I have a lot of followers in their 40, 50s and up. You can have fun and get comfortable filming yourself onscreen.
Linkedin, I tend to be more business focused. I am not trying to be a thought leader on economic trends. There are other people who are much better at that than I am. What gets people to follow me is telling my personal experience and tapping into that creativity.
