To get lunch, Brian Morgan used to order pizza during homeroom and sell it for $2 a slice to his classmates. In college, he sold plus-size lingerie on eBay and in 2010 he launched a church at Ground Zero in New York City.
The founder and owner of Austin’s Couch Potatoes is passionate about meeting the needs of people and building a business around those he brings into his ever-expanding family.
It’s rare to find a person whose story is so captivating that you have a hard time stopping the conversation, but we have it here. Brian’s journey coves so much ground we decided to break this episode into two parts.
In part one, we introduce you to Brian—who he is, his approach to business, and the early days at Austin’s Couch Potatoes. It started by reselling scratch-and-dent furniture from Macy’s on Craigslist before moving into their first brick-and-mortar location—an old bathtub manufacturing facility with no electricity or running water where Brian and his crew ended up living for three years.
Brian used a coffee shop’s WIFI to transact business, purchased a lifetime membership to a fitness facility to get a hot shower, and sold furniture out of their dark warehouse by giving customers headlamps so they could see it.
Although his journey covers a lot of ground, the heart of Brian’s message is clear: you can serve people in business by meeting their needs—and meeting them where they are.
