Belton business owner chosen in reality TV show

By Don Bradley

Selling coffee and specialty brews in downtown Belton is one thing.

Taking the idea of that coffee shop and selling it to the world is another.

But that’s what Briana Schrodt, owner with her husband, Gregory, of Random’s Coffee, did recently when she took part in The Blox, a reality TV show to find the greatest start-up business idea among 100 contestants chosen from more than 50,000 applicants.

Now back home after the national competition at a Tulsa casino, did she win?

She grimaced. “I’m not supposed to say.”

Good enough.

The first episode of the 8-part season appeared Sept. 1 with a new episode weekly. The Blox, in its 13th season, can be seen on the mobile app through Google Play and the App Store at Betablox.com/theblox or on The Blox Facebook series. Briana and the other contestants lived together for the week-long competition as they took part in activities and team challenges to test their entrepreneurial skills.

She described the experience as “intense.” Some contestants were already operating businesses, everything from tech to inventions to beekeeping.

Others came with just concepts.

Briana described the show as “an incredible learning experience.”

“I learned what we’re doing right (at Random’s) and I learned what we’re doing that we could be doing better,” she said.

Briana and Gregory opened Random’s a year ago in an old grocery store site at 414 Main Street in old downtown Belton. Gregory had been roasting coffee beans for a dozen years and Briana’s plan was to take her husband’s craft and pair it with a community space where people could visit and inspire each other “one sip at a time.”

As for The Blox, which took time away from home and her two kids, would Briana do the show again.

“Oh, yeah, absolutely.”