ANNE: Did you make these pretzels?

Unidentified Woman #4: Yes.

HATTIE: Did you ever have to go to the bank for a loan because you were out on the edge too far?

ANNE: Yes. Yes, we did. We did. And we went to the bank for loans and they didn't like the amount of money that we were giving, so they wouldn't give us the loan.

HATTIE: You were giving away too much money.

ANNE: Yes, right.

HATTIE: They said to you, 'Now look, Anne, if you'd stop giving that money away, we would give you a loan.'

HATTIE: You were giving away too much money.

ANNE: Yes, right.

HATTIE: They said to you, 'Now look, Anne, if you'd stop giving that money away, we would give you a loan.'

ANNE: Basically, that's what they said, yes.

HATTIE: And what did you say back?

ANNE: And I said, 'Well, you don't understand that this company was born to give, and I'm not going to give at the expense of paying my suppliers and my employees, but I'm not in the company to become wealthy. I'm in this to give money away.' But anyway, we found a chicken farmer that was introduced to us, and he has given us all the money we need to this day.

HATTIE: Wait a minute.

ANNE: So-- HATTIE: Wait a minute. This is somebody we would call an angel--

ANNE: Oh, yeah.

HATTIE: --in the finance business.

ANNE: Yes, he is an angel. And he would do business on a handshake if that's what we wanted to do.

HATTIE: How did you find him?

ANNE: A friend of ours gave us his name and said, 'He's got lots of money, and he likes Auntie Anne's. Maybe you should call him and see if he's interested in--'

HATTIE: Is he close by in this vicinity?

ANNE: Yes. He lives in this area.

HATTIE: So you could go see him in person--

ANNE: Yes.

HATTIE: --and you could say to him , 'Here are the financials. Here's why the bank told us no.'

ANNE: Yes. Oh, yeah.

HATTIE: And you did that and he said, 'OK, Anne,' and he gave you a check for $1 million.

ANNE: Yes. He didn't know who I was. I didn't know him, like a longtime friend. He was just someone that we were introduced to.

HATTIE: In one meeting, in one meeting.

ANNE: Oh, yeah, I believe. I'd have to--

HATTIE: Or maybe two.

ANNE: But, yeah, we talked a time or two and--

HATTIE: So has it been a good investment for him?

ANNE: Yes. He's a wonderful man.

HATTIE: But he's making money?

ANNE: Oh, yes, of course. Of course. He loans us the money. He's not a partner and he does not have any stock in the company.

HATTIE: Right, but he gets a percentage--

ANNE: Like my bank, yeah.

HATTIE: So he's your bank. The chicken farmer bank.

ANNE: Yes. He's wonderful.

HATTIE: My banker, the chicken farmer.

ANNE: Yes. So there are no limitations. When you go into business, you know, you've got to look beyond the norm. The concept of giving, the power, the force behind giving, I can't explain that, but there's something wrapped into that word of giving that there's really no explanation, but I can say that it works.