Jimmy Butler, a top player for the Miami Heat, is determined to reach his full potential in all he does, whether it be on the basketball court or behind the bar. Because of this, he has been actively involved in each and every stage of the process of establishing his own coffee company, which is known as Bigface Brand.

“I want to be in every Zoom call, every meeting, and on every sourcing trip, regardless of where it is, anywhere in the world,” Butler stated on December 14 at the CNBC Small Business Playbook. “I want to be there.” “I’m going to these places and I’m learning more and more every single day,” she said. “Just because I want to let people know, yes, my name is in it, on it, it’s a part of it, but I’m actually in it, I’m actually with it, I’m going to these places.”

The six-time NBA All-Star stated that he, along with a large number of other people during the peak of the Covid-19 quarantine, found himself bored. Butler, who had recently found himself with more spare time, made the decision to create his own coffee brand, combining his passion for coffee with his love of competition. 

When the National Basketball Association (NBA) was obliged to relocate its operations and games to Orlando in order to play its “bubble” season, Butler found the coffee selections to be unsatisfactory. This was the beginning of the brand’s rise to prominence. Butler took matters into his own hands and began selling $20 cups of coffee to other NBA players. These cups were made by Butler himself using an espresso machine that he brought to his hotel room in Orlando, and the beans that he used came from El Salvador. 

“Ever since the beginning of the NBA bubble, I have had the goal of becoming the best barista,” Butler claimed. “Now Bigface Brand, Bigface coffee is a real thing, and I’m just trying to get the best coffee and the best experience out to the world,” said the spokesperson for Bigface Coffee.

October 2021 marked the formal launch of Bigface by Butler, which was accomplished through a collaboration with the e-commerce platform Shopify and through the creator program of Shopify. As part of the program, Butler is entitled to all of the income, and Shopify is able to capitalize on the athlete’s name, image, and likeness. Shopify made an announcement earlier this year that it has reached agreements with six high school basketball players to assist them in developing their own direct-to-consumer businesses.

The coffee brand Bigface is now offering four distinct blends of coffee, in addition to a partnership with the coffee brand Onyx Coffee. In addition to selling coffee beans, Bigface’s website also sells a variety of other products, including clothes such as hoodies, crewnecks, and t-shirts, as well as accessories such as coffee mugs and tumblers.

The statement made by Butler was that “Shopify really made my idea as an ecommerce [platform] make sense.” Despite the fact that I had a lot of various ideas, I was unable to figure out how to actually bring them to life. They did an absolutely amazing job with that changeover, and everything looks just fantastic. I was so at ease with the way that our business concept was progressing, and I believe that they assisted me in bringing this vision of being an entrepreneur to fruition.

According to Butler, the inspiration for Bigface came to him when he witnessed the power of people coming together over a cup of coffee. With the expansion of the business, he expressed his desire to establish Bigface cafes in every region of the world.

“That’s what this whole thing was built off of, is trying to bring people together, laughing and having a good time, regardless of whether you’re getting an iced coffee, hot coffee, cold coffee, or cold brew, and sitting down and having a conversation and realizing how similar you are as individuals,” said Butler. “This is what this whole thing was built off of.” 

It is Butler’s recommendation to anyone who is interested in beginning their own business that they surround themselves with a group of people who encourage them to be the greatest, and that they refrain from comparing themselves to others.

According to Butler, “Just do what you do, remember why you’re doing it, and stick to that,” and success is actually on the other side of very, very hard. This is because it has been very, very hard. This, however, is the most enjoyable aspect of life, because nothing that is worth having is simple.