We went from nowhere to the top brand in America Any case study Would tell you that it was impossible any case And in 2005 I saw an ad that said fully equipped yogurt plant for sale It was 85 years old And it was closed Because somebody in a glass tower far away sight unseen Decided to close it There were 55 employees They wondered are we not good enough?

The company wasn't just giving up on yogurt or a plant it was giving up on them So I call my attorney Mario, and I said I want to buy this plant He said Andy the largest food company in the world closing this plant They're getting out of your business Who the hell are you to think that you can make it work?

I said you're right, but I called him again next day.

I said no really I want to buy this plan So this time Mario said you have no money You have no money and you haven't paid me in the last six months, which was true To make the story short by August 15 2005 I had a key for this old factory The first thing I did was to hire four of the five employees 55 employees To come and help me to start the plant back up and we Sit down for our first board meeting So Mike said Andy so what are we going to do next and they look at me as if I had the magic answer.

I Said we're going to go ace hardware store we're going to buy some paint and We're going to paint the walls I Said honey, that's fine.

We'll do that.

But tell me you have more ideas than that one.

I Said we're going to paint the walls white Honestly, I have no other ideas on that one But I gotta tell you about this thing as the poet Rumi who lived in Turkey said When you stop walking the way the way appears When you start walking the way the way appears That summer we painted those walls Along the way we came up with more ideas We launched a bunny in late 2007 Time passed and eventually we hired almost all of that 55 workers back Then we hired hundred more than hundred more after and we start to grow fast I Knew the promise of what we started but I questioned myself many times.

I Got to the point where I wasn't sure if I was able to do it I Had never met anyone who had done this before so maybe I thought I should hire a CEO with more experience So I found this guy who was a big shot another company He had a lot of experience MBA big salary stories written about him One day I met him in a diner He was so anxiously impressed me he completely dismissed the waitress It was true, you know, he was really rude to her disrespected For me this wasn't a sign of power it was sign of weakness He showed lack of character Thanks to him I realized two things one I would never hire this guy I Would never hire him to my company second He enforced everything I believed about business my whole life He forgot What was important?

I?

Realized that moment I had more in me than I thought I decided to put my faith in the people of that planet and that community To believe in them as much as they were hoping that they could believe in me.

I Spent every day on that floor for five years on that factory Working shoulder-to-shoulder with the team Together we get out of it We believed in each other we walked away and the way started to appear In five years, we went from five people to more than 2,000 people We went from zero sales to more than a billion dollar in sales.

We went from nowhere to the top brand in America Any case study Would tell you that it was impossible Any case With the resources we had the old factory the community left behind any case study would say it's just impossible Remember I had no money but if you believe in people you work with and listen to them and Learn from them and give them a reason to believe in you Everything is possible You Acknowledging the sacrifice of others That enable you to be in this position Does not diminish sacrifices that you made on your own Be kind of a person be kind of a leader that the other people want to sacrifice for Be good to waiters on be good to waiters The best part of Chobani for me is the same Exact people Who have been given up on were the ones who build it back?

100 times better same Chobani journey has taught me something special What matters most in business and in life Is the difference you make for other people and for your community?

So Where do we begin class of 2018 As soon as you can start painting a wall.

I'll leave the color up to you.

Thank you so much You