Trading NFL game day prep for second career: Ex-Miami football player tackles coffee business with blend of innovation
Owning a Fort Lauderdale coffee shop has meant there’s always a fresh cup of joe for former professional football player and 2003 Miami Killian High School graduate Stephen Tulloch.
Tulloch, 38, found success as a linebacker over 11 seasons on the gridiron between the National Football League’s Tennessee Titans, Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles. He consistently took notes from his coaches on game day preparation that made him think outside of the box in terms of his own professional development.
Many former pro athletes go broke after their playing careers are over, Tulloch said. He was determined not to be one of them. He took Stanford University, University of Michigan and University of Miami business classes, and even went to a specialized school in Seattle to learn about the different blends of coffee during his off seasons, because he “knew football wasn’t forever.”
“Early on in my career, [coaches] Jeff Fisher, Jim Schwartz, Jim Caldwell and Doug Pederson empowered me with information, and data,” he said, in a recent interview about his growing enterprise featuring coffee with a dose of innovation. “I have had the opportunity to experience good months and bad months. Especially in understanding how people’s habits are changing.”
In 2016, Tulloch purchased the Fort Lauderdale property at 727 NE Third Avenue, a three-floor building that is now home to Circle House Coffee, the coffee shop he owns. The coffee shop occupies two floors of the building and he leases the third floor to a commercial tenant for office space.
Circle House opened in March 2019 and built a name for itself locally, before a game-changing event began a year later that changed the way Tulloch and many other entrepreneurs conducted business. The start of the pandemic in March 2020 had a profound — really transformational — effect on Circle House’s operations and that of many others in the food and drink service arena.
“We shut down inside dining. Our employees couldn’t get tips and drive-through lines were extremely long,” he said. “We had to find a way to speed up service to where customers could do touchless transactions and help cashiers make transactions.”
Tulloch’s experience being a leader on the football field from high school up through his NFL days helped him quickly find a solution for the problems the pandemic presented for his coffee business. And soon, if this ambitious entrepreneur finds further success in his second career, Tulloch could be helping other food purveyors boost sales with innovative technology.
Introduced in October 2021, the so-called Tully Arm delivered immediate results for Tulloch. Working from Circle House’s drive-through window, the manually operated device allows customers to make payments via cash or credit without employees having to touch the method of payment.
With a more seamless payment method, Tulloch noticed employees were tipped at a higher rate so their base pay could be that much lower because of employees’ capacity to earn more overall.
Realtor Miguel School has been a frequent customer of Circle House Coffee and hopes that more companies implement the Tully Arm into their workflow. As the parent of a newborn child, supporting a business with touchless technology has been helpful for him.
“My family has been extra careful when venturing out. I am a regular at Circle House Coffee for meetings, business and overall supporting a local brand,” School said. “Seeing the Tully Arm implemented was a great addition to make customers feel safe and know that Stephen really cares about his customers and their safety.”
The Tully Arm is being discussed as an addition to certain food service businesses nationally, and an automated version of the payment device is being developed. Tulloch credits his affinity for business to the work ethic he learned from his Jamaican roots. In 2017, he built a school for 125 students named for his mother, Mercedes Tulloch, in her hometown of Little London, Jamaica.
“If you’re a person from the Caribbean, you know work ethic is everything,” he said. “My Mom and Dad came in their early 20s. They wanted an opportunity and had that hustle. I never forgot my roots of being Jamaican.”
Today, Tulloch is finding joy in his post-football business career and is mindful of the work and learning it took to build revenue streams through food service and real estate. His real estate portfolio has expanded to include parking lots, buildings and national clients that provide passive income for him and allow him to have more free time. He emphasized that having patience goes a long way toward making the end result that much sweeter.
“Staying consistent is important,” he said. “Being disciplined, sacrificing time with certain people ... is what truly separates everyone. Everyone wants to get out of their funk, but not everyone wants to sacrifice the work to do so. It’s about hustle, grind and consistency.”
This story was originally published December 18, 2022 at 5:30 AM.
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