Even before he hung up his cleats, Stephen Tulloch attended business school at Stanford, the University of Michigan, and Miami University.
Stephen Tulloch was known for his consistency, work ethic, and attention to detail during his 11-year NFL career as a linebacker for the Tennessee Titans, Philadelphia Eagles, and the Detroit Li-ons. Although his football career ended in 2016, today he’s apply-ing those same intangibles to his ownership of Circle House Cof-fee.
Circle House was launched in 2018 as a coffee shop in his native Miami. This past October, Tulloch signed a deal to distribute his coffee in 46 Michigan Meijer stores.
“I started buying properties in Florida,” Tulloch says, recalling his early post-football days. “I came across a building that I really liked, and I thought it would be cool to convert it into a coffee shop and drive-through on the first floor.”
Once he made the decision, he went all in, and even attended the Seattle Barista Academy in 2017. Once Tulloch graduated, he hired his teacher as a consultant and flew him to Florida every two weeks to help him pick coffee beans and discern the best flavors.
Although Tulloch still only has the one location in Miami, he’s looking to expand by adding a shop in Detroit, perhaps in Cork-town. “It would be awesome to get back to Detroit and do some-thing like we have down here in Miami,” he says.
Fifty-five cents of each bag of retail coffee sold goes to the Ste-phen Tulloch Foundation,
The packaging of former Detroit Lions linebacker Stephen Tulloch’s coffee brand, Circle House Coffee, describes the charitable story of why he created and launched his java line.
which hosts 55 kids touched by cancer at every home game of the Detroit Lions. The foundation also has adopted 55 Detroit public schools. It’s involved with other commu-nity initiatives around the country, as well.
“I wanted the business to work with the foundation to help other people,” Tulloch says. “Our ‘why’ is bigger than our business. The business is the icing on the cake.”
He says his entrepreneurial roots were planted during his playing days, when he started preparing for life after football. During the off-season, Tulloch took courses at the business schools at Stan-ford University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Miami.
“I’ve always been more than an athlete,” Tulloch says. “Football was just something I was good at. My ‘why’ was always bigger than what I did. Now that I’m transitioned out of football, I’m able to show more of my ‘why,’ but still bring a football mentality — hard work, dedication to my craft, attention to detail, and taking ad-vantage of opportunities.”
