Podcast S2
Podcast S2: Shannon Allen, Grown
Shannon Allen, wife of NBA Hall of Famer Ray Allen and Founder & CEO of Grown, is changing fast food forever. Grown is the first 100% USDA organic certified fast-food restaurant in the country.
Date
10/28/2025
Author
Team Coeus
With her restaurant, Shannon took a system built for speed and rebuilt it around health, transparency, and love. What started as a desperate search to feed her son living with Type 1 diabetes has become a national movement to make real food accessible to real families, every day, everywhere.
In this conversation, Shannon breaks down what it actually takes to reinvent an industry. We talk sourcing organic ingredients at scale, partnering with Wal-Mart, building a franchise model with the Founder of Boston Market, and pushing through inequality in venture capital. We also go deep on faith, motherhood, resilience, and being built for a path that most people could not handle. Shannon’s story is not just inspiring. It is proof that purpose can be powerful enough to change culture.
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:10 Why to Start with Why
7:29 The Need to Create Grown
18:05 What It Takes to Revolutionize Fast Food
29:20 How She Sources Organic Ingredients
37:24 What It Takes to Work With Wal-Mart
47:22 Forget About "Healthy" & Antonio & Leon's Backstory
1:04:48 Creating Grown's Franchise Model with Boston Market Founder
1:18:14 Inequality in Venture Capital
1:27:20 Being Built for a Challenging Career Path
1:30:28 A Visit from Shaq
1:30:53 Driven by Faith & Family
1:46:00 This or That
1:49:11 Final Words of Advice
1:50:57 Shout-Outs & Plugs