CUPPY’S: Robert Morgan’s “My Thoughts About The American Dream”
Robert “Morg” Morgan, the founder and previous owner of the controversial Cuppy’s Coffee and related controversial entities (Medina Enterprises, Elite Manufacturing, etc.) recently resurfaced as raw food guru "Bobby” Morgan, the “Rawman Walking.” Rawman Walking publishes two blogs in connection with his raw food seminar business and retreat: Living Raw & Free and The Sanctuary. He also publishes on Twitter as @RawmanWalking and has built up 5000+ followers in 2 months.
Upon learning this, we published two posts. The first was to alert victims of Cuppy’s Coffee about the current activities of Robert “Morg” Morgan (CUPPY’S: Robert Morgan is Now “Bobby The Rawman Walking”). The other was to inform potential investors of Rawman Walking about his previous investment opportunities (Beware of Rawman Walking aka Morg Morgan).
Within hours of the latter post being published, Rawman Walking Morg Morgan posted “My Thoughts About The American Dream” on his Living Raw and Free Blog.
After blaming this blog for the demise of Cuppy’s Coffee , Rawman Walking Morg Morgan deleted the post the following day. It is reprinted below verbatim and in its entirety.
Please share your thoughts with a comment below
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Sunday, August 23, 2009
My Thoughts About The American Dream
Wow… ‘I’ve the education, the experience and the power, now all I need is a business so I can live the American Dream’. That was my statement 30 years ago.
As I look back that far on what I wrote, I chuckle at myself. Through the sieve of time which has tossed me into the air and winnowed me like wheat, being separated from the chaff, my foolishness and ignorance is easy for me, as well as all mankind to see.
Something’s I’m Still About Learning 30 Years Later…
Real Education
Today, I realize education is not a degree or a certificate, but and ongoing process. I now understand that real education goes far beyond the classroom. I also believe there is something much more important than being at the top of the class and that’s knowing the difference between truth and theory and how to discern right from wrong. These are the two most important things we can learn starting in kindergarten through graduate school if only it were in our core curriculum. This knowledge would save all of us a lot of backtracking.
Today I commit myself to learning something new and sharing with others what I learned yesterday. There is joy in real learning when it’s subjected to the light of truth and is given and received in love. What we have learned seems to have a magical touch and is easily shared and grasped by others.
Real Experience
These are the definitions of “experience” that I garnered from looking up the word.
· Go or live through; "We had many trials to go through"; "he saw action in Viet Nam" · Know: have firsthand knowledge of states, situations, emotions, or sensations; "I know the feeling!"; "Have you ever known hunger?"; "I have lived a kind of hell when I was a drug addict"; "The holocaust survivors have lived a nightmare"; "I lived through two divorces" · Go through (mental or physical states or experiences); "Get an idea"; "Experience vertigo"; "Get nauseous"; "Receive injuries"; "Have a feeling" · The accumulation of knowledge or skill that results from direct participation in events or activities; "A man of experience"; "Experience is the … “· Feel: Undergo an emotional sensation or be in a particular state of mind; "She felt resentful"; "He felt regret". · Have: Undergo; "The stocks had a fast run-up" · An event as apprehended; "A surprising experience"; "That painful experience certainly got our attention" .
Finally, after a lifetime of consciously relying on and living in the confusion of relying on my past experience to direct my every move; today, I am finally free. For me my past experiences are just that, they are from the past, meaning they only have merit when l I reach in and stir them up and take one out. As I have grown into a man I have learned the only time I really need to recall my experiences is when I bring them up from the depths of my mind for the purpose of using them as learning tools or to evoke feelings of love and joy. It seems pretty dangerous to use them for bragging rights as they usually tend to be used to validate and build my ego. Today I dwell more in the experience of the moment, as it seems to me, it’s really the only place that I am really sure I can validate the experience of what is happening right now and it’s the only one I really have a 100% certainty it’s happening… Woops there goes that experience “said it, done it been there”. Don’t get me wrong I am not saying experiences are not important. I do accept the philosophy of John Dewey, that all past experiences influence our future experiences. I just know if you dwell on any of them good, bad or indifferent you get stuck. Just plain stuck, like one of those dolls that you pull the string and it talks, but is short on vocabulary. What I like to keep in mind, so I won’t lose my mind is simply that the contents of experience are the "what’s" and the conditions of experience and the "how’s". The ‘what’s’ are not as controllable as the ‘how’s’. As my Dad would say, “Son it’s not the problem that’s the problem it’s how you are looking at the problem –take a new look”. So, my last thought on experience is to live in the moment. Love yourself enough to forgive yourself and others for the bad experiences that you or they may have created and start this very moment bringing about a better you and a better world as you filter your “hows” through love and forgiveness.
The Real Power
This is one I really have a difficult time touching on. It seems to me the statement “Power Corrupts and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely” has real merit. I continue to find that I see myself so differently until I see myself through the lens of a video camera. My first thoughts are “that can’t be me”! Has this ever happen to you?
As I reflect on power and why it was important to me I realize the truth is I was afraid of my own weakness, afraid to look deep inside and finding out that I was nothing more than a scared little boy on the roller coaster of life and once I left the amusement park I would have no place to call home. I was sure, I would succeed and grow rich as long as I believed I had power and through my power the world would recognize me and I would not be left alone. Even when I was down I pretended to be the best the most powerful self I could be. Yes, power was my shield from experiencing pain associated with seeing the real me. What I am learning in this life, is that it is the only one I have and it’s truly a gift. I am not the author of this life, nor will I be the finisher. I cannot create nor can I take away the sorrow nor heal the pains of this life by acting powerful; It’s only by my acknowledging and accepting of who I am, a human being who did not get to choose where, when, how or to whom he was to be born. That is when I became free to just be me and accept with gratitude my place on this planet. The one thing I do have power over is how I perceive my place in this world. Today I know the only real power is in serving my fellowman and remembering my life was not earned by me, it was given to me, so whatever transpires is what it should be and whether its genetic disposition or the signs in the sky I am and that is enough. For power wielded in a wrongful manner, I want to deeply apologize to especially my estranged wife, my first wife, my children, family, friends, business associates, employees and whomever has been injured by my ignorance of power and how it can corrupt our souls. Again I deeply apologize and hope you will heal from any and all the wounds I have inflicted.
The Business
It seems like my whole life has been wrapped up in the belief that business was the only way a Red Blooded American could succeed; And now that I am taking a moment to reflect on my life and digging down, stirring up and taking out some of my experiences and reflect on them in the light of “how” instead of why the answer smack me right in face.
Even at the young age of four years old I can remember my grandfather, father, and other male family members and friends whispering among themselves asking each other what they will do if they are laid off or fired? They talked about unions and strikes and for some reason the word strike always put a chill up my spine. I guess even at as young boy I knew if my father was laid off, fired, or the union went on strike our household would not be a happy place anymore. Yes, I saw their faces light up as I listened to them speak of their dreams of what it was going to be like and how they would finally have power over their own destiny when they finally owned a business of their own. It was going to be like heaven to them they would finally be free from the fears and powerlessness that goes hand-in-hand with “working for the man”. A few succeeded in breaking their chains, but their businesses were under funded and failed. Most of them never even really did anything except join a multi-level business or do side work. All have either gone to their graves or have settled for small retirements, never having crossed over to what they believed were the greener pastures of owning one’s own business.
Ahhh…The McDonalds & Kentucky Fried Chicken Dream – I still can hear the excitement in my parents voices as they tried to figure out how to get into a McDonalds or KFC. They dreamed and schemed and I’m not sure, but they may have even submitted applications. I remember they became disheartened when they could not get enough money together to own one of those franchises. I along with them believed we could just pack up all our troubles and skip down the yellow brick road and arrive in Emerald City, before the boogie man got us. No such luck, raising and supporting 3 kids took all they had and the extra money to live their dream just never came their way.
As I grew in to my teens, I can clearly hear myself saying, “I will never in a million years work for ‘the’ man”. I was going to do it differently and I would help my family, friends and fellowmen break their chains and get into their own businesses as well.
Surprise –Being “the man” is not as wonderful as I thought and that brings me back to my opening statement. “I’ve the education, the experience and the power now all I need is a business to so I can live the American Dream”.
Well I did what I said I would do and did everything in my power not to have to work for anyone else and to be the boss and own a business. Every business I ended up owning or having percentage of ownership in or businesses that were already going but were usually on the verge of failure. Owners and stockholders brought me in and promised me a piece of the action if I could do what we in the business world call “stop the bleeding” and turn the business back in to a profitable entity. Everyday was painful, as I was now the guy that people were whispering about and were afraid I would lay them off or fire them. I had become my most hated persona “the man”. I justified what I had to do as “The American way” and the business had to survive so owners could prosper, investors profit and employees remain employed. Funny thing, when I was about to do this I had to make a lot of peoples live miserable by making personnel cutbacks and benefit cut backs so I could financially drive the company forward and increase sales all at the same time. Talk about intense work. My partners and investors usually loved me but employees feared me. Sometimes government regulators would come gunning for me. In one instance I ended up getting control of a large chunk of an insurance company that was really in a mess. I thought I understood the business but within weeks of taking claim of my stock, A partner disappeared and I ended up paying out thousands of dollars in fines and having to give up a license I had never gotten to used. It forced me to sell the company for pennies on the dollar and if that loss was not enough I was written about and called a “Master of Deceit”. Funny how being in the wrong place at the right time can ruin your reputation; And my Dad thought owning a business was like going to heaven, more like hell if you asked me then. What is that saying about greener grass of the other side of the fence. It is true that we live and learn. We don’t learn and live until much later in life when sometimes we feel it is too late.
No matter what the circumstance I found myself feeling lost and unhappy and it didn’t matter whether the business was doing well or failing. Days turned into months, months into years and every year I became more and more dissatisfied with the “American Dream”.
Finally in 2002, I felt I had found a business in which I could really make a difference. It was a women’s health and fitness franchise. Their health and wellness philosophies were in line with my beliefs. I did not know it, but I had cancer when I took on the consulting job. I was popping 20-30 pain killers a day to keep the pain in my neck and ear under control. I had been using over the counter pain meds to deal with the pain for almost two years and had been to several doctors who had given me several different misdiagnoses. Anyway this was another “Stop the Bleeding and Turn-Around the Business” consulting job. I had not planned on being a partner, and I was actually positioning myself for ownership in a communications company. But when it was offered to me in early 2002, especially without having to put up any money, I gladly accepted. Come to find out, in reality the stock was given to me because each partner had thought they could power-up over the other by bringing me to their side to use my voting shares in support their agenda. Anyway the business was in shambles and during my first week on the job the partners were so frustrated with each other they almost came to blows and even changed out the locks on each other. Sounds funny, but that’s how frustrating business can be, turning civilized grown men into raging maniacs. To make a long story short I was able to stop the bleeding, turn the company around, pay back the investors, put money in the owner’s pockets and obtain a nice share of the business. Thing were going along really well, we had expanded our product lines and were now offering a line of vitamins and supplements, along with spray tans and body wraps, most of the franchises were building their businesses and that was a good thing.
Cancer Is Confirmed
Just before Christmas of 2003, I found out I had an advanced form of head and neck cancer. In a matter of 72 hours I was bought out, which enabled me to focus on the healing process that took every waking moment of mine and my wife’s attention. I want to innerject, I would have not ever made it through the cancer without my wife’s help. Though we are apart and divorcing I will always be thankful to her for helping me make it through a disease that I would most likely not been able to come out of without her support and care. While I was fighting my cancer, the partners went back to fighting with each other, but this time they were not just locking each other out of offices they were suing each other. There was nothing I could do to control the outbreak as I no longer had ownership. I could only sit and watch the business spiral out of control. They sold out for pennies on the dollar and instead of the million plus owed to me, I ended up with a few thousand dollars, lawsuits, no insurance and personal debt. Are you sure you still want to be in business?
Why I Left the Business World
When It Rains It Pours
After finally being healed of my cancer in the fall of 2004, I suddenly found myself alive and not sure why. Like most cancer survivors, I didn’t know what to do with myself each day, or how I was suppose to live out the remainder of my life. Though I did not show any more signs of cancer, I was absolutely exhausted and would need several months of physical therapy to be able to get back on my feet and be able to take care of myself. I was pretty much a broken man physically, financially relationally and spiritually. My marriage was in tatters, my fault not hers, judge me as you will. This is so very personal for me. To comment further serves no purpose. The Cancer battle was expensive as we had decided to approach it from and allopathic and a holistic approach. I believe it saved my life, but by the time we came out of the cancer, I say we, meaning my wife & I and the family and friends who gave my wife and I prayers and support, we had to move from our home into a smaller one and we had hocked, sold or lost everything we had worked for.
I was physically weak, financially broke and had no prospects for a job, or financial recovery to start a company. I lost friends, as that happens when you are sick with terminal cancer. I lost past investors, as who would invest in a guy they were not sure would even be alive in 6 months. My life seemed rather hopeless though I was thankful for my healing and coming out of the cancer. I still felt like I was in a car on a foggy, rainy road and was sliding sideways out of control. As I look back I realize now I was in absolute depression. All seemed lost and my prospects of owning a business or even consulting seemed slim to none.
I was so thankful when a friend whom I had only seen once during my cancer recovery, but had consulted for on other projects, invited me to come and meet the owner of a business in Florida. Thus began the Java Joz, Cuppy’s, Medina Saga and my move to Destin, FL.
When I got into the company I worked diligently to analyze the company and work on the turn around. The company was on the verge of going out of business.
To start there were dozens of customers without real estate sites to place buildings and more people who didn’t have their financing in place. The company that was handling the real estate was not doing its job and left the customers to do the search themselves and then milking the commissions if they were able to find a site, which at the time was almost impossible without paying top dollar. The person doing the financing was a broker who charged an upfront fee and did little to assist the new coffee store owners. I was emotionally invested in this company to the point that I purchased the company from someone who was preoccupied with IRS complications from 10 years previous. It took a year to provide the company with the resources and services I thought it needed to accomplish its goals across the entire USA. It takes a long time to fix something that didn’t break over night.
Then the bottom fell out when banks pulled back their financing and SBA loan qualifications were increased. The worst part was the wedge put into the mix from the Unhappyfranchisee.com blog site bashing our every move as we worked non stop to stop the bleeding. This site’s objective is to bash franchises that have the smallest of hiccups to devastating pitfalls. It is a site where Sean Kelley makes money using his time and energy to bash other people with assumptions and accusations all of which make the worried franchisees scared. Of course people need to be aware and be concerned, but not by a stranger adding fuel to the fire for their personal financial benefit. Of course things got rough, but when you have someone antagonizing your people it makes it hard to work as a team. I was exhausted working very long hours 7 days a week doing everything in my power to keep this business afloat. We moved the Real Estate in house, we did in house financing and we even set up an in house refund pool for people who wanted to get out of the business. Unfortunately, there was not enough money to bail us all out and there wasn’t enough knowledge and energy within myself to stop the bleeding alone. After serious salary cut backs and high emotions within the company, I took up an offer from a consultant for help. After several months of working and assisting in directing day to day operations of the company he offered me a buyout. I was told that the only was he could save the company was if I gave him ownership as he had promised he could bring in investors without me on board. My reputation was ruined due to my inability to carry the company alone but mostly due from the defamation of character by Sean Kelley and Unhappyfranchisee.com. I knew that I could not do it alone so I sold the company. I did not make my money back at that time and the reason was there wasn’t enough cash for a buyout, to complete construction and finance the refund pool, there was enough for operations with the cut backs.
In April of 2008 I sold my interest in the company in which I had invested all my money, time and talent. I made the sale to a person who had been a lead consultant and business mentor, who promised me that if I sold the company to him he would be able to stop the blogs and get the business back in the black. I made the sale on a promise of being paid for the assets and values over an extended period of time. At the time value of the business was hard to determine, but selling it for three million including interest would give me and the other, major stock holder who had twenty-five percent interest, a chance to work on projects where we would not have to be working 60 -70 hours a week. On top of this I was exhausted, not fully recovered and my partner was past sixty-five and really wanted to leave the stress of the business world behind.
So here I am today – I too am one of the losers and one of the people who lost their fortunes. Am I the scammer? No, I am just a hard working man who could not stop the bleeding in a company that I thought I could. Did I do anything wrong, illegal or unethical while I worked with that company? No, I did not even have authorization to sign checks. So now if you or anyone else doubts me and my scam to make money through business ventures by ‘taking’ from people rethink who is doing this and why. I am the one who is out 3 million dollars along with many others who are out in their personal investments as well. I do not own a beach condo, drive a Jaguar nor do I have any assets. I lost my life just as much as the others involved in this company. If anyone else could go in and fix it then they should have stood up and taken it on. I did not sabotage the company nor did I gain financially. I lost just as the rest of you. The only person gaining here is the guy on Unhappyfranchisee.com, Sean Kelley, by using his site. He is the one benefiting from the loss of our investments, our dreams and your passions.
I hope that you are like me and continue to work toward your passion and have faith that with the help of God you will make it. My passion is Raw food and teaching. I may not have been good at being a business owner, or being a husband, or even being a father or friend but now I am going to succeed in walking with God and sharing what I know works. My passion is in healing with raw foods, teaching others how to survive disease through a raw food diet while adding meditation and easing the stress of life and increasing their spiritual being. That is my true American Dream!
I know that Sean Kelley & Unhappyfranchisee.com will take this, dissect this and post the pieces and parts he wants on his site and interject his derogatory comments. Know that I have written this for you, my family, my friends, readers and those who have lost their investments and are suffering. And as I have said before it was not my intention to take from hurt or cause undue pain to anyone in my life. May each of you find peace.
Posted by Rawman Walking at 6:59 PM
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wow sean, he gives a lot of credit to this website for bringing down his empire. I did a quick look back on Cuppy’s posts on this website and the first post made (at least that I noticed) was on April 13, 2008. News of the Nabors takeover happened on April 22. You must’ve done a lot of work over those 9 days.
Now, I know there were plenty of comments on your other site and most of those started in March 08. For the year prior pretty much all was quiet, except for the typical AAFD comments you, I and others made about how it was a joke that they got that accredidation and the thought was that they were using this to sell franchises.
The real story is, is that this all started under his and Roy’s (in jail now and reading his indictment is interesting) time with Java Jo’z. Purchasing the assets and leaving the liabilities and depositors out of luck, unless they wanted to continue a build-out. When the first Java Jo’z post were made attacking the writers of said blogs with letters from attorneys. Hiring a PR firm (who has posted on here recently that she regrets working with them). Playing the AAFD card to sucker more people to buy his franchise, and also giving them the agreement that deposit was refundable if they didn’t qualify for a loan.
Obviously he didn’t understand how to run a business. Sure, running a business is the American Dream, but no matter at what level you have to understand how to run a business. Having an office of 120 people and having less than 100 franchisees, doesn’t make sense. His problems came to light once they people he preyed on weren’t able to open there stores, there ‘refundable’ deposit had already been spent and he couldn’t pay them back. Then people start finding out that their sba loan has been disbursed but no work done on their buildout (hmm, maybe that was what brought the sba into it).
Finally, the money ran out, Dale is considered the bad guy because he had to take the majority of the fall. Morg was going lose his $3mil (if that’s really the number) either way.
jd:
You are correct. I thought it was amazing that if Morg was going to blame me for toppling his empire, he would have been able to name the website. Most of the posts he’s objecting to were on FranchisePick.com, before UnhappyFranchisee.com was born.
You’d also think he’d spell my name correctly.
His step-daughter Summer called me a “douchbag” on FaceBook today for unfairly criticizing her father who was trying to do the right thing. I suddenly remembered the woman Mary who was being pressured to wire $39,500 or so to Morg’s company “by Friday” to get “the discount.”
Remember her? Over the course of 2-3 days you and I talked her out of sending the money. She never would have seen a cent of it again and would have bought herself a year or two of heartache – or worse.
Man, I sure do feel guilty about that! :)
Wait a second, I met Morg in Fall of 2005. He sure made it seem as if he was actively sick! I really like the fast forward from joining the company to the banks turning wise on him. A whole lot happened in between!
Hey, you douche bag, Kelly what are you doing being a dream killer, uh.
You oughta leave that poor cancer survivor alone, eh.
Like, what do you care about the $30 million in approved SBA loans that were disbursed on fake invoices?
Like the rawman says, he really wanted to help. Not his fault that $30 million disappeared; jeez talk to those dumb bankers who disbursed the loans, ok?
Man, I see big things ahead for the rawman, don’t you? Guy has got like a spa deal going on, where he will pour out his soul for a couple thousand a shot. \
Kelly, you freaking dream killer, you are just jealous that the rawman has more Irish poetry in him than you could imagine.
Look at this freaking marvelous wordsmithing:
“My intentions were pure, as I believed owning and helping others to own businesses was the “American Dream” I have always hoped for each person to have the greatest success in their lives. Wishing each reader of this blog the best day and life ever.”
“The best day and life ever!” Okey, can you beat that Mr. Sean Freaking I used-to -be-in-PR Kelly!!
(On a more serious note, you are fire lately – snagging the big prize from Morgan and whacking Liberty Tax! Hot, hot, hot, man! Congrats.)
Now, Mike, are you sure that it was $30M in disbursements? Or just $30M in approved loans? You’re really going to upset Summer if you don’t have your facts and sources straight and who knows what she’ll call you then.
Thanks, Michael.
Yes, I guess I am a dream killer.
But remember what Nicholson said in the movie A Few Good Bloggers:
“Son, we live in a world that has walls and those walls need to be guarded by men with blogs. Who’s gonna do it? You? Steinberg? Solomon? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Rawman and curse the Blogs; you have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that publishing Morg’s poetry, while tragic, probably saved lives and that my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties you want me on that blog, you need me on that blog. We use words like the Franchise Rule, escrow, and refundable deposits. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to those who rise and sleep under the blanket of the very freedom I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just picked up your vegan raw food snack tray, said “thank you,” and went on your way. “
Thank the Lord for you guys…because after all I have been through and what I am still going through (i.e.probably losing my estate) I can still laugh…and boy…..have I had a good laugh today….Thanks Sean and Michael….where is Paul? I need his sarcasm so bad, haven’t experienced it in a while….
Or….maybe…..we just need another ambush video. Maybe I need to travel just a few hours south to the beautiful gulf of Mexico. Remember guys, I am just south of Atlanta and my car knows the way to the Panama City, Destin….area…..just say when…..
“We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence [through blogging] on those who would do us harm.”
George “Kelly” Orwell
I am laughing again….You know what they say, “laughter is the best medicine”…..
Robert Morgan (Morg, Rawman, Strawman or whoever he is this week) has an amazing business history. Never before in history has such an altruistic well-meaning man had such an amazing run of bad luck. He is constantly surrounded by corrupt and evil people and somehow he always gets the blame.
It’s hard to understand how that he could be so full of love for others but keep being made the victim!
Maybe Mayo Clinic has the answer.
They call it “Narcissistic Personality Disorder”:
“Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance and a deep need for admiration. They believe that they’re superior to others and have little regard for other people’s feelings. But behind this mask of ultra-confidence lies a fragile self-esteem, vulnerable to the slightest criticism.
“Narcissistic personality disorder is one of several types of personality disorders. Personality disorders are conditions in which people have traits that cause them to feel and behave in socially distressing ways, limiting their ability to function in relationships and in other areas of their life, such as work or school.
“In particular, narcissistic personality disorder is characterized by dramatic, emotional behavior, in the same category as histrionic, antisocial and borderline personality disorders. Narcissistic personality disorder treatment is centered around psychotherapy. “
Hey, hey, Mr. Anon stop picking on the rawman.
rawman was out there on the front lines, helping every 18 year old florida cutie trying to make a living in customer support.
You call that a “disorder”!
My main man rawman was out there doing the Obama thing, jest spreading the wealth around: from banks to a bunch cuties in Florida, including the very well known wife of an equally well known tax evader.
I am telling ya, rawman is the poster child for spreading the wealth around. So just lay off our do gooder, eh.
Hey rawman just give me my $51,900 you stole from me.
morg only paid 400,000 to roy and kim snowden for java joz….the note was 3 million, but morg never paid more than 400,000….there is sworn testimony from kim snowden to that fact…..so he is only out 400,000
Don’t get involved with this guy in any scheme!!!! He robbed us of 67,500+ and our dreams. He should be in jail!
And he thinks people believe this isn’t business. Of course it is. Train someone to be able to train others and everyone gets a cut. What a joke. Also we all thought he still had cancer during his cuppy’s time.
I want my 62,000 back you dirupted my life and took my money and did nothing but hide under the rug . there is a place for you and you will find out how Bernie Madoff is living in a 6×8 thats where you are going I pray for it everyday
Michael, what was I thinking that I needed Paul for my humor fix. I didn’t realize you are just as good or even better than Paulie.
And… accurate you are that Morg employed every 18ish cutie in Florida? You left out redneck Florida cutie….except for maybe…….one or even two…but the rest??? I think he found them at strip clubs on the gulf..
You may run “Morg” but God knows where you are and the rest of the Cuppy/Java Joz bunch
He told me that he had cancer in January 2006…sorry to hear youre still suffering Alicia. But glad to hear you can still laugh. It may be a long time before you can move on (it was for me) but with time and prayer you begin to heal. Bancruptsy hurts….
Rawman wrote “The Cancer battle was expensive as we had decided to approach it from and allopathic and a holistic approach. ”
Is chemo allopathic & wholistic?
I signed in 2006. He was healed in 2004, if I have that right. Whatever. Hey Sean, I have a taped conversation with Morg and his croney lawyer. Would you like to here it> He states that I have a mental disorder and that I need psycological help. I dont know the law ramifications of that, but I sure would like as many people to hear it as possible. What do you think? It was a three way call, that was taped with Susan from MCSI.
Morg is not out anything. He former zees are out $400,000. He never earned the money that was sent to the Snowdens because nothing was produced for it.
It would be flattering to think that UnhappyFranchisee.com or Sean Kelly helped bring the Cuppy’s scam to an end the way Rawman Morg says. Unfortunately, unlike Morg I am somewhat constrained by reality.
Truth is, UnhappyFranchisee.com played NO role in Morg’s struggles – it didn’t exist until around the time Dale took over. BlueMauMau.org and Sean Kelly’s (not Kelley’s) FranchisePick.com did the blogging.
So why try to paint a site that didn’t exist and a writer whose name he can’t spell? Because that’s the source of the current criticism and he needs to discredit this site so his meat-deprived minions will keep drinking his vegan Kool-aid by thinking we’re all the bad guys.
The way he merged Java Jo’z and Cuppy’s into one company in his story so he can blame Snowden & Nabors is preposterous to those who know what happened and to the franchisees who were devastated by this scheme. But that’s not his concern. He’s creating a narrative for his next group, not the last.
The warnings posted here will at least alert the more savvy that they should look before they leap.
What a waste of god given talent. And the wordsmithing is beautiful. And mostly lies. I don’t believe Morg – that you even know the truth anymore.
The $ was “spent” on resources who continued to attempt to sell more franchises. There was never any of the support which was promised. There was very little if any buildouts completed or equipment delivered. At most your cost was 40% of the buildout funds paid. So on a 1200 SF cafe transaction, the “profit” to you was 60% of 200k …$120k. False information was used to support the amount of the SBA loans. And then even though you were paid a huge premium, the buildouts still did not happen. Where did the $ go?? sloppy bookeeping?? Sounds like creative bookeeping. I’m sure there are banks in the caymans who know where the $ is.
The banks did not stop lending because of Sean Kelly and his site. The banks stopped lending because monies were dispersed and services not rendered. And even if the buildouts did happen at some point in time – the loans were at risk because of delays to get open AND the fact that people paid 2x what they needed to. On top of everything the sales assumptions provided to franchisees, the SBA and to the SBA lending banks was complete garbage.
So if we did get the cafe done, it was late, we had to pay back too much and the sales were not anywhere near what was projected. Franchisees had to personally guarantee everything. You have no assets…coincidence? I think not. There is then nothing to gain by filing suit. Franchisees can not do anything except attempt to rebuild what is left of our financial lives. And pursue justice for those who have done us wrong. And make those people who are considering an investment in the rawman aware that it would be a grave mistake.
and btw – Sean Kelly has never asked us for anything other than to speak our minds. The only thing that costs is time…which is good because that is about all we can afford at this point. I hope the SBA is able to put together a case to put the rawman in jail. Then you can try to work your wonders with Bubba…good luck with that.
Morgan writes: “This site’s objective is to bash franchises that have the smallest of hiccups to devastating pitfalls. It is a site where Sean Kelley makes money using his time and energy to bash other people with assumptions and accusations all of which make the worried franchisees scared.”
So Sean Kelly is responsible for the build-outs that never happened, the construction loans being disbursed for mythical constructions, and the countless deposits not being returned.
Bad Sean.
I do have to admit I’m making a fortune.
Turns out, a website that reveals all that can go wrong with franchise opportunities is the perfect environment for pay-per-click franchise opportunity ads. Nothing makes people want to click a Quiznos or UPS Store ad than blog posts about their lawsuits.
And once-well capitalized now pissed off ex-franchisees are a great target demographic! ;)
I’m actually thinking about franchising UnhappyFranchisee.com. Anyone up for a Discovery Day on Perdido Key? Raw carrot juice is on the house!
FYI Rawman’s Sanctuary is on Perdido Key. Perdido is Spanish for Lost.
You couldn’t make this stuff up.
Just for humor, I did some research on the Rawman’s newest scheme, the Sanctuary.
“Our Chief Mentor & Founder
Robert “Bobby” Morgan – RawManWalking
Raw Food Health & Nutrition Advocate,
Personally Certified by Alisa Cohen as a Raw Food Instructor, Teacher and Chef, Lifestyle Coach and Spiritual Mentor”
Uh, but can you find Bobby over at Allisa Cohen’s list of instructors:
http://www.rawteacher.com/teachers_usa.html
Jim:
Great summary of this “perfect storm” of franchise fraud that Cuppy’s, Elite, etc. represents. Imagine how widespread this could be across the industry. We all collectively just shined a light on this situation and would go not away.
As far as Morg knowing the truth, I think it’s irrelevant to him. I think he’s just writing the narrative that can explain away the negative posts and rumors they are hearing.
What did he expect? That people were going to lose everything and just let him build a new illusion without having to answer to those he harmed? What’s in that celery juice?
Mike, Alissa removed him after several of us alerted her to his background. He still has her info on his site.
why doun’t you try and help this buisness morgue, we are located at 100 commercial rd leominster ma , 01453. remember you and your onterage made us sighn a lease for ten years adding up to $600,000. at the end of the term. ” what a great deal” that’s not including $300,000 to start this bull shit buisness. I stand here with faith that one day one of you cowards cunfront what you have done and actually do something about it. That will bring you peace. (978)537-3291)
I just read Morg’s assessment of the downfall of Cuppy’s.He is not telling the truth.He instructed some of his employees to lie in order to get the franchisees to send more money-not to use the money on their projects but rather use it to keep the business afloat[salary,rent,ect].He also told another employee that everybody was to be pre-approved[even though the finance department declined them] so they would send in their deposits and if they did not get bank approved then he would put them into the refund pool and pay them back @ $500 a month.He is very two faced-telling franchisees and employees what they wanted to hear and then cursing them when their back was turned.He is very unethical and has no remorse for what Cuppy’s did to a lot of people.We ruined a lot of good people’s lives.I don’t know where the investigation is at but all of you franchisees need to keep pushing the appropriate investigators.I am ready to give my side of what happened behind the closed doors but nobody has contacted me or any of the ex-employees.We have all the answers and most of us now see what we have done with Morg at the helm.I hope I can help give peace to all.
ex cuppys department manager:
Please email me in confidence at unhappyfranchisee[at]gmail.com.
This is not the first I’ve heard that everyone was to be pre-approved.
I received some correspondence from a couple that had paid a $39,500 (I believe it was) refundable deposit when they were told they were preapproved. The couple had recently gone through a bankruptcy and the Funding Solutions contact was pissed that they had even forwarded the initial questionaire. They had no chance of getting funded, yet they were urged to send the deposit.
Of course, the people never saw their money again.
sean i would like to contact the ex cuppys DM also and talk with her please…thank you
Morg, you ARE the boogie man………
We franchisees were not taking a gamble. We entered into a business with a contract. The “other end” failed to uphold their end of the contract.
Everyone working at Cuppy’s/Elite, give or take…say, maybe a few, knew what was going on and everyone benefited from my money and all the other zee’s money.
Thanks for pointing that out to a misunderstood ex-employee, Admin…
Listen up Morg, Nabors and all of you ex-employees.
Keep looking over your shoulders for supeonas and summons to come your way.
We will never give up going after you. Everyone one of you will answer in court…one day and one day soon. Every one of you are a part of this fraud.
Justice will be served on each and every one of you.
All of the name calling and negative comments thrown to us franchisees??? I scoff at it. What crime did I commit? Will I be supeoned? Negative… I will be sitting front and center in that courtroom with a huge smile of victory on my happy face.
Ex-Cuppys DM:
You may not have been following the stories on bluemaumau.org . No one qualified for SBA loans without a highly ambitious forecast, some say call it fraudulent information, supplied to the bank. So Cuppy’s and associated parties may be the focus of an additional investigation by the Inspector General’s Office of the SBA.
I remember when I signed up back in the Snowden Java Jo’z days, and part of your package included a software program called QuickPlan. You could run numbers into spreadsheets and it would calculate your profit/loss based on your numbers. I remember spending HOURS, DAYS, WEEKS plugging in HUNDREDS of combinations…and most realistic numbers revealed that even at $1500 per month rent, and a .05% buy rate, it still took like 1200 cups of coffee per day to make a profit…and i kept telling cuppy’s this and they said the program was wrong. Morg and Danny Jones said this. I asked them why they would give this program out to licensees (at the time) if it was a bad program, and they said it was a mistake. Soon after that no other franchisees got this program. Also in their opening packet they included a spreadsheet of how much money you would make with selling XX amounts of cups per day, if you entered those numbers into the program, it wouldnt be close. They were definately glorifying their numbers. I still kick myself in the ass everytime i think about the day I caught this scenerio in the computer program.
Alicia Benefield on August 27th, 2009 2:36 pm
Feisty Alicia “Ghetto Fabulous” speaks: All of the name calling and negative comments thrown to us franchisees??? I scoff at it. What crime did I commit? Will I be supeoned? Negative… I will be sitting front and center in that courtroom with a huge smile of victory on my happy face.
You are completely innocent of any wrong doing… Yeah… uhm… NOT so much…
You can’t seem to take any responsibility for anything you do. You are pitifil. You are such a name caller and negative comment thrower. Take a look back at all the trash talk you’ve participated in…
Are you stupid or are you dumb? For sure, you aren’t a Christian, like you tried to make everyone think you were. That makes you a phony liar. We all answer for everything we do whether here or the after life..
You should have done your homework before you gave your money to a scammer. $200 K is an awful lot of money to fork over without making sure you’re giving it to someone with an exemplary reputation. All you had to do was google a few names and you could have saved yourself a lot of trouble.
Well Feisty Alicia, maybe you like drama. Judging from all your comments on this site, you thrive on drama and you enjoy being a victim.
■cd or feisty…yeah that’ll do… anything to hide behind..
what is your name speaking of hiding behind something? you are right – we all probably could have done different and better due diligence where we may have decided not to invest. but here we are – we wanted to believe. we wanted to believe in the basic goodness of people. people who would not lie to your face and orchestrate a fraud. not only has this debacle taken our money – it took our faith in people. we have taken responsibility. i spoke to each of my creditors and apologized that i could not fulfill my obligations. when will Morg, Dale and friends take responsibility. and not i’m sorry. sorry applies to accidents or mistakes. this was neither. we have the right to pursue justice. and the responsiblity to warn others of these men and their histories. i will continue to pursue them.
Jim
cd or feisty…yeah that’ll do… anything to hide behind… said “You should have done your homework before you gave your money to a scammer. $200 K is an awful lot of money to fork over without making sure you’re giving it to someone with an exemplary reputation. All you had to do was google a few names and you could have saved yourself a lot of trouble. ”
Thanks for your support. Finally someone on the dark side (figuratively, not literally) has admitted Morg was a scammer. Well done! Next time someone googles Morg’s name, they will come up with this site and, to put paraphase your words, save them a lot of trouble. Hopefully a lot of money as well.
In response to Jim on August 29th, 2009 10:28 am
Jim, I wish you all the best. It’s a terrible thing that happened to you and others who paid Cuppys for products & services you never received.
I was there from about half way through until the end and I know that some of us who worked for Morg have asked ourselves how it was that WE didn’t really know what was really going on around us. Most of us had never worked in a corporate office before Cuppys, so we had nothing to go by regarding what would be the right or wrong procedure to follow.
Speaking for myself, I was just glad to have a job and I did my best to follow my job description everyday. I just got used to what went on everyday.
Morg seemed bigger than life to me and I think to everyone else too. He was crazy mad one minute and the next minute he would give one of us the shirt right off his back. It’s really interesting how many ex-employees STILL love and adore this man. I can’t say that I hate him either. He was good to me while I worked for him. And he was always a gentleman to me, but there were rumors.
It was a whirlwind and looking back it hardly seems real. Maybe I should have know better – the people I was working for (too), but at least I really glad I didn’t give them any money.
Jim:
He doesn’t even say he’s sorry, really, because he claims he’s a fellow victim. In his story above he says
“I am the one who is out 3 million dollars”
“I am just a hard working man who could not stop the bleeding”
“I too am one of the losers and one of the people who lost their fortunes.”
He is a loser, all right. He tries to claim he didn’t own Cuppy’s, Elite, etc.
“Every business I ended up owning or having percentage of ownership in or businesses that were already going but were usually on the verge of failure…”
“I did not even have authorization to sign checks.”
Why doesn’t “cd or feisty…yeah that’ll do…” comment on the blatant lies in Morg’s story above?
Morg writes “today, I am finally free. For me my past experiences are just that, they are from the past meaning they only have merit when l I reach in and stir them up and take one out.”
Guess what, Rawman? Lots of people are not free from what you did in the past… they’re still living the nightmare and will be for some time. And they are dedicated to making sure your past continues to be an unforgettable part of your present and future. You can run but you can’t hide.
Free trauma therapy for Cuppy’s Coffee survivors. Raw diet and/or celibacy not required. Contribute or just laugh:
CUPPY’S COFFEE Poetry Festival!
http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/cuppys-coffee-poetry-festival
This is in response to victim on August 29th, 2009 11:24 am
“cd or feisty…yeah that’ll do…” will be glad to comment:
* I don’t know anything about 3 million dollars, except that it must be the money that Dale was supposed to pay Morg when he purchased the company.
** Morg did seem like he worked hard and he spent too much money making sure his employees idolized him, which perepetuated the bleeding.
*** When Morg says he’s a loser… well… I’m taking the high road on that one. Did he lose a fortune? Did he have a fortune to lose? Who knows??? He DID lose the respect of some people in his life and he lost some people.
Is Morg a liar? That’s a good question. I think he might believe the things he says. Maybe he’s dilusional. Really, who knows? Morg’s persona seems larger than life and his ego seems even bigger than that. Morg was kind to me. He paid me pretty well. When Morg left, things got really bad. Dale was crazy and mean.
Like I said, I don’t hate Morg. He paid me. If I had paid him and lost a lot of money, I would probably hate him.
I am sorry for what went on and my part in that. It’s a terrible thing that happened with Cuppy’s. You’re right “sorry” doesn’t fix it.
Blame the victim on August 29th, 2009 10:56 am
Dear Blame the Victim,
If I have supported you, I’m glad. I like to support people. I am a truth seeker, I don’t enjoy all these low blows back and forth, even though I have been known to respond to a low blow or 2 with a low blow or 2. This is an emotional situation for a LOT of people.
By the way, I didn’t “admit” morg was a scammer. If it seems like I did, Oh well… I don’t really know what Morg is. If you think he is a scammer, then for you, he IS. That’s what counts in this forum.
You think everyone who worked for Cuppy’s should have known what monies Morg was using to pay what and where it was all coming from? How the heck were all these 18 year old florida NOT-SO-Cute-ies supposed to know how business is supposed to work?
Like it’s been acknowledged all along, Morg hired young inexperienced (maybe ignorant) people… some right out of the strip clubs, bowling alleys, off the beach, young mothers right off the welfare line. He gave them jobs and free daycare.. Maybe a little luvin’ in the backroom. He was Big Daddy Morg and he seemed to luuuuv all the luuuuv.
That’s right. Google and then google some more. Keep on googling everytime you nweed to get some info before doing business with someone AND ESPECIALLY before giving your hard earned cash to someone. I’m finding that a lot of this info has been circulating for years.
cd or feisty…yeah that’ll do..:
Interesting that you bring up the Internet.
Next to Robert Scoble I was the first to blog on Java Jo’z/Cuppy’s, early in 2007.
Within hours of my first post I received a nasty legal threat that Cuppy’s would sue me if I didn’t take the post down immediately.
I told them they could kiss my rear (I used a different term).
They tried to intimidate me, but it backfired.
They hired a top franchise PR firm to “handle” me and the smart contributers on BlueMauMau.org.
They hired an expensive Internet firm John Dozier, known for dirty tricks.
There were lots of dirty tricks, including anonymous personal attacks on attorney Paul Steinberg & myself.
They launched 20-30 fake blogs to try to drive FranchisePick.com and BMM posts down in the search engines.
(Remember when all you good Cuppy’s employees blogged your love for Cuppy’s on those inane blogs?)
And as a handful of us tried to sound the alarm bell about what was going on, Morg Morgan and crew paid the AAFD – with franchisee deposit and construction money, I assume – and hoodwinked that franchisee group into giving them a much-touted Fair Franchising award… which bought credibility for another 8 months of hooking suckers.
There were what, as many as 11 full-time salespeople, a marketing staff, a PR firm, an Internet reputation firm, franchise ads and a franchisee association telling people what a great company Cuppy’s was vs. some part-time, unpaid bloggers trying to sound the alarm bell.
It’s easy now to say people should have done their homework, but don’t forget your side deployed an army to make sure the textbooks and notes were extremely hard to find.
THANK YOU, Mr. Admin. for summing that up for all of us “suckers”.
Sincererly,
Alicia Fiesty Benefield
In response to ADMIN on August 29th, 2009 8:27 pm
Thank you, Sean, for helping to put things into prospective for all of US suckers TOO.
Let”s talk jail time for representatives of Cuppy’s Coffee and Elite Mfg. Many feel there is cause for an investigation which may lead to criminal charges. If you want and deserve justice, you may try contacting the proper authorities. They will request information to start this process, so be prepared to provide proof of fraud to substantiate your situation. For the State of Florida contact KennyPinkard@fdle.state.fl.us If you were involved with an SBA loan contact Jenell.Clark@sba.gov . Better yet, contact both and be relentless to pursue the people responsible for ruining so many families.