December 3, 2024 • 33 mins
The idea for Fresh Bloom Bins struck Tia Johnson like lightning on a hot summer day. After struggling with a dirty trash can and a teenager reluctant to clean it, Tia was inspired to start her own trash can cleaning business. She hit the ground running, quickly landing a government pilot program.
In this episode, as we continue to celebrate business across the country, Ben heads to Ohio to talk with Tia Johnson of Fresh Bloom Bins and Desmond Bryant from the Columbus Chamber of Commerce. They discuss how to navigate government contracts, clean up sticky situations, and keep your business growing through it all. The Unshakeables is brought to you by Chase for Business and Ruby Studio by iHeartMedia
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Ruby.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Some of the best business ideas come from an unserved need.
You have a problem and you come up with a solution.
For Tia Johnson, that problem was dirty trash cans in
her house and her struggle to get her teenagers to
clean them. She realized that if she had that problem,
everyone else did too.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
And I get outside and the trash can is discussing
it as all of the flies, the maggots, and the odors.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
She knew she could fix the problem, so she contacted
her local representative and pitched a pilot program. The city
liked the idea and offered her a contract to begin
cleaning trash cans and dumpsters all over the city in
the spring.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
I would honestly say, after getting that contract, I absolutely
thought the company would be successful. How can you lose?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
So winter ended, the weather was warming up, and Tia
was waiting for a from the city and she got it.
But when it came, it wasn't the update she expected.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
So we eventually schedule a zoom call and that's when
I received the devastating news. Just thinking about it makes
me relive that moment, and all I could think about
is I can't let them see me cry. And I
said okay, and I got off the zoom and I
(01:28):
boughted my eyes out because I had no idea where
our next dollar would come from. It was the only
contract that I had at that time, and it was
just taken away.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Welcome to The Unshakables from Chase for Business and Ruby
Studio from iHeart Media. I'm Ben Walter, CEO of Chase
for Business. On the Unshakeables, we're sharing the daring moments
of small business owners facing their crisis points and telling
the stories of how they got through it. This week,
we're in Ohio with two incredible folks. Tia Johnson, founder
(02:08):
and CEO of Fresh bloom Bins, is joining us today.
We'll also hear from Desmond Bryant. Des is the vice
president of government Relations at the Columbus Chamber of Commerce.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Dez Hi, Ben, how you doing.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Thank you for being on the show, and thanks for
having this conversation with us today. He's helping small businesses
every day, supporting them as they navigate opportunities within the community,
and advocating for policy changes that will support them as
they grow. On today's episode, Fresh bloom Bins from Columbus, Ohio,
(02:41):
I just got to say I have a soft spot
for Ohio. Much of my family is from there, and
we have one of the largest chase offices in the
country in Ohio because we know how great it is
to do business there. Great people, affordable amenities, and a
pro business government. So I was thrilled to be speaking
with a Columbus based business owner, Tia. It's awesome to
(03:02):
have you. Thank you for being on the show.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Thank you for having me. It's awesome to be here.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
The name of Tia's company is Fresh bloom Bins, and
I'm not ashamed to say I did practice saying it
before we spoke. I'm gonna just see if I can
say it three times fast, Fresh Bloom Bins, Fresh bloom Bins,
Fresh bloom Bins. All Right, it's a little bit of
a tongue twister. The core of Tia's business is cleaning
dumpsters and trash cans, and we dove into the conversation
(03:28):
how she first got into sanitation, what excites her, But
it was the numbers that caught my attention.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
It's the unsexy part about business, right Like it's when
you know all the cans are cleaned and you're going
through the numbers.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
I love this. I mean, this is what's beautiful about
this podcast. One of our clients just said to a banker,
the un sexy part of business of the business, all
the numbers, The sexy part is cleaning the trash cans.
Now no one's ever said that before. So that's great.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
That is the fun and sexy part.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
It's not every day someone thinks clean trash cans is sexy,
but Tia does. It's also not every day that inspiration
for a business like this just pops into someone's head.
But that's what happened to Tia in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
It's all started on a hot summer day. I went
to go take the trash out and it was filled
with flies, maggots and odors.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
M yum.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
So I know, right. I told my teenage son that
he had to clean the trash can when he came
home from school, and of course he gave me all
of the teenage attitudes. Don't nobody want to clean no
trash can as he stumped down the hallway.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
I mean, he's kind of right. I mean, I know,
I'm like, I don't want to clean a trash can.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Nobody does, but it has to get done every now
and then, and I'm like, shrug shoulders, my mom card
has been pulled, and you're cleaning this right. Like I
was sitting on the couch and I'm like, nobody wants
to clean the trash can, but it's one of those
things that just have to be done. And I'm like,
I'm gonna I solved this problem. So I stay up
(05:02):
all night researching on the internet how to build a
trash cleaning machine and trash can cleaning.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Not that many people actually clean trash cans, and at
the same time, neither did Tia. Her career up to
that point had nothing to do with sanitation at all.
She'd worked it for Riizon Wireless for ten years, then
taught personal finance to girls and young women in schools.
It was around that time that she had the initial
spark of inspiration for Fresh bloom Bins. She kept exploring
(05:31):
the concept in her downtime.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
As I was talking to more people, I was like, oh, wait,
this is bigger than what I thought. It was like,
this is a real business and I could do this.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
So she started to tell people she knew about the idea.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
And it was going into that like telling people about
it right like, Hey, I think I want to do
this trash bin cleaning thing, and they're like, what, You're crazy?
Who cleans trash?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
But Tia had a woman she called her entrepreneur mom,
who she knew would support her no matter what. And
Tia was right. Her entrepreneur mom loved the idea.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
She calls me and she's like, I want to invest
in this. Let's sit down and talk about it, and
like tears just start blowing from my eyes because I'm like,
I can't believe she believes in me, like this we
go over, we have this meeting, or like, you know
what I want to do with my plans. She's like, okay,
I want to think about it, and I'm going to
get back to you, and I'm like okay. She gets
(06:33):
back to me and she says I love the concept,
but she don't know enough about trash. So I'm out,
Oh I died, I die in so many different ways?
Speaker 2 (06:48):
So does I want to bring you in here? What
a pivotal moment in TIA's journey, you know, one that
lots of entrepreneur's face. She believes in an idea, but
others around her don't talk to me a little bit
about ment I mean you work for the Chamber of Commerce.
Is that somewhere small business owners can go for support
and where else can they go?
Speaker 4 (07:06):
So when a small business owner has this seed of
an idea, it's important they seek out as much advice
and mentorship as they can. But it has to be
the right advice and the right mentor. You want to
find your yes people who are going to be realistic
but supportive of your idea. It's unfortunate Tia's Mentor didn't
see the opportunity in her idea, But maybe it comes
(07:29):
down to timing and in a twist, maybe Tia's time
wasn't then, it's now. I've been with the Chamber for
almost four years now, and I will tell you what
was embedded in my head when I came here was
what we categorized as the three c's Connecting, communicating, and convening,
where we connect folks to networking opportunities, opportunities with respect
(07:53):
to job growth, mentorship opportunities. When it comes to convening,
we have about I think this year's sixty seven plus
events where we bring folks together through panel discussions, maybe
on one discussions. We established places for folks to convene
meet network, so on and so forth. Now, when it
comes to communication, we push out and disseminate all types
(08:15):
of information, whether it's about something that will impact your
business directly or indirectly. And so when it comes to
being a resource for the business community, there's a slew
of things that the Chamber does.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Okay, So back to Tia's story. With her trash dreams dashed,
she went back to her day job working in schools
and that was that until something unexpected happened and her
business took a.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Hit twenty twenty hits right, school shut down and I
lose sixty percent of my revenue because it was all
in person.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Now, with nothing left to lose, she jumped headfirst back
into that brilliant idea.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
And I said, everybody's talking about cleaning and sanitation right now.
I will never let anyone kill my dreams again.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
From that point on, in TIA's own words, it was
pedal to the metal. She dredged up all that research
from her all nighter, and in order to literally put
the pedal to the metal, she needed to get her
hands on a truck.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
I was talking to the builders on timelines getting the truck,
and of course there was a lot of unknowns at
that time, and they were like, oh, we can probably
get your truck in like six to eight weeks. And
I'm like, okay, I'm going to start selling for the
next six to eight weeks. And I had really thought
about doing single family homes, so going to individual homeowners
(09:40):
with like a door to door sales model.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
But again, this was during the big COVID lockdowns.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
And I'm like, I don't think that that's the best
market for me right now. So I quickly switched to government.
I said, wait, I'm going to go after corporate and
government clients. Like they are getting fun. They're looking for
ways to clean stuff. Trash cans are nasty, everybody's throwing
away all this ppe gear. So I started to pitch
(10:08):
to some of the city council members. I eventually get
in front of the director of trash and he's like,
I have a problem. We have these trash cans that
have been out fifteen years, twenty years, No almost ever
cleaned them. They're discussed, they're nasty. People complain about them
all the time. Can you fix this problem? Yes, I'm
(10:34):
going to fix it right, I'll figure it out later.
We give them a timeline on, like when we can
start and you know it's all laid out. I get
the po I get the contract.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
First of all, just for everybody's benefit. You don't have
a truck, you've never done this before, and you go
out and you get a not so small US municipal
organization to give you a contract.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
How I always tell everyone now that I can look
back on it, the trash Gods was in my favor.
One of the skills that I really tried to lean on,
to lean into as a small business owner was sales.
And part of that was the relationships. So I had
a lot of healthy relationships in the community that supported me,
(11:22):
put me in the right direction, was able to get
me in front of the right people or give me
feedback so that I could really make this thing come
to life. Outside of that, it was really the trash Gods.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Well, you know, you take help from anywhere. So you
land this contract, you place an order for this truck.
Where's the truck in Arizona, which is, as I'm sure
you've realized by now, not Ohio. And now I'd like
to share a short story with you. It's called How
(11:54):
I Got the Truck by Tia Johnson, how I.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Got the truck. I'm telling you, my belief system has
been a whole different place. So I had never been
in trucking before. Right, each truck is about one hundred
and twenty thousand dollars. They deny me financing for this
truck and said, based on your background, I don't think.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
This is a good bet.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
So I get connected to an investor and I tell
him I have the contract, the truck is being built.
I just need to be able to get the trucks
and he said, well, that's easy. He's been in the
box trucking industry for ten plus years. So he actually
gets my truck finance. I go to Arizona, catch a flight.
(12:40):
I have a CDL driver come out here with me.
But yes, we drive this truck from Phoenix, Arizona to
Ohio in like November.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Now that the truck was back in Ohio, Tian now
had to use the truck to make her deadline before
her contract was up.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
So we were expecting to start around like August or September,
and that was cool. We started at the end of
the year. So it's November, the temperatures are starting to drop.
We had a three man crew. We have to buy
all the gear for the staff. We were able to
get the routes. We initially start by following the trash
trucks after the trash is collected, and we just started
(13:26):
rocking and rolling and we killed it like they loved it.
Admins came out from the Department of Refuge seeing it,
they were like blown away. We were able to get
a second part of the contract completed indoors, and that
was like the ultimate win. I would honestly say after
getting that contract, I absolutely thought the company would be successful,
(13:48):
Like just based on my experience in working with like
government contracts, they normally don't have like a swift turnover,
right like you're normally in there for a while. And
based on that, I felt comfortable of going out and
continuing to build.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
In case you didn't know, you can't powerwash when the
temperature is below freezing. So this was November of twenty
twenty and the clock was ticking. Tia ended her first
year with a huge win, and based on the pilot
program's success, she also had a new contract in hand
that would resume work with the City of Columbus in
the spring when it was warmer.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Well, the weather starts to break, we're asking about, you know,
like next steps, and oh, you know, we have a
lot going on right now. Yes, we're still moving forward.
We're just looking at how to move forward. So now
we're right around like April May and haven't heard from
AM in a while. And it's always been a good
quality conversation, and now it's just starting to get very
(14:46):
very weird. There's this conversation that is scheduled for a meeting,
how like what next steps look like? So we're all
on zoom and they say we decided due to funding,
we're no longer moving forward with this project. The municipality
actually decided that those containers that we were anticipating cleaning
(15:07):
on a schedule basis, they were removing them from the
entire city. So I had this truck that's designed to
clean this container. I had no money coming in and
I had money going out, and I was like, this
is scary. How am I going to overcome this? I
(15:28):
felt very very very very defeated in that moment, like
a failure in one part of it, broken in another part,
and angry and other areas. Very angry because this is
(15:48):
the area of my life I can control right, Like
in business, I win, I set a course, I set
a destination. I know what direction this boat is rowing it.
So I would say during that call, I was just
so broken, and I could feel myself saying, I can't
(16:15):
let them see me cry. There was this dryness in
my throat that I let them speak, and I said okay,
and I got off the zoom and I bought my
eyes out because I had no idea where our next
(16:37):
dollar would come from. It was the only contract that
I had at that time. I had no idea how
I was going to survive.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
And my guess is, in your head, you'd spent some
of the money, right, like you were counting on that revenue.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
I was counting on that revenue. That was like the
base I was naive to believe, like, oh, I got
this government contract and we can scale from here.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Right.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
I really had thought. I thought it out, but it
didn't work out like that.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Yeah, and then the rug got pulled out.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Yes, the rug up pulled out.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Does you heard TIA's story? She was participating in a
pilot program and she counted on that revenue as the
basis for her business, and then that pilot was canceled
and that revenue evaporated. Is there a specific lesson in
that or is that something people should always be aware of.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Yeah, I'm glad that you asked me that.
Speaker 4 (17:31):
In TIA situation, I'm happy that she was able to
acquire that contract. But I think the lesson that should
be learned from her particular journey is when it comes
to the government, their budgets fluctuate. Let's be honest, budgets
from a governmental standpoint are going to be tightening. So
when it comes to pilot projects, when it comes to spending,
(17:53):
they start scaling those things back and they start reevaluating
what can we use and what do we need not
to use With respect to our teas service that she
was providing. What if we just hired someone to do
the work that she was providing to us, it might
be cheaper, it might not be, but we're going to
evaluate that. But in TSCSE, it would have been my
hope to ensure that she leveraged that contract for lack
(18:17):
of better term, as an endorsement of her product and
or service, and she can go into different rooms and say,
the city believed in me.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
They believe and they're utilizing my service.
Speaker 4 (18:26):
You should too, and a lot of folks will say, well, heck, yeah,
the city said you're good, then yeah, let's talk business.
Because you never know with the government's going to happen
with their budgets or their spending, or their desire to
continue to do business with you. Or you might have
someone competing with you and they might outbid you.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Yep. So those are all types of things that can happen.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
I think a lot of our listeners either do business
with governments or would like to. How should small businesses
think about working with particularly state and local governments. The
federal government's a whole different animal, but state and local governments,
where do you even start.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
Most of your larger municipalities and even smaller have a
procurement office that handle the purchasing of various products, supplies,
whatever it may be, and even services. So when you're
thinking about cleaning services, when you're thinking about supplies like
office supplies, things as simple as that, there is someone
within those agencies that are purchasing things from companies like TIS.
(19:23):
That's where you want to start now, prior to engaging
the government. You want to ensure you that you have
your in house things together as well. And what I
mean by that is that you want to ensure that
you have what they call a capability statement. It's very simple,
what is your business, how long has it been founded?
Are there other clients or other customers that you have,
who are they, how long have you had them? What
(19:45):
products and or services have you provided to them? What
kind of products do you have? What kind of services
do you offer? I highly encourage it be one page.
And so when you're getting started again capability statement, business
plan and relationship building with categorize them as targeted staff
those procurement officers. Now it doesn't hurt to have or
(20:06):
engage elected officials as well, So when you're talking about
the mayor's office, when you're talking about maybe the small
business chair of city council, just letting them know they're
not going to guarantee you a contract or anything of
that nature, but at least again relationship building. That's what
a lot of these contracts are garnered off of is
do I know this person?
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Can I trust them?
Speaker 4 (20:26):
And if I can trust them, I can more likely
trust the product or services that they're providing.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
So Tea's story in that way was unusual, right because
her first contract was with the government that is not
what most people should expect.
Speaker 4 (20:37):
And that's why it was a pilot program, right, because
they wanted to ensure what she was offering was quality. Right,
And so I look at that pilot program that they
offered her as just a test. Hey, let's see if
what service you're providing is applicable, is it successful?
Speaker 1 (20:53):
Can it work? And I trust you, I trust your business, and.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
So we're going to give you a temporary placement to
do some business and we're going to see how well
you do.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
And in her case, she did well.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
But a pilot is far from a guarantee, is what
you're saying?
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Oh, absolutely absolutely got it.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
So does how should people think about the actual process?
Sometimes there's RFPs, sometimes there's open calls for vendors. I'm
guessing that it can be a bit paperwork heavy, a
bit process heavy, but maybe I'm wrong, or does it depend?
Speaker 4 (21:24):
It depends, However, it can be a bit of a
lengthy process. It's accountability more unlikely, this government agency is
going to purchase your products and or services with tax dollars,
so they have to ensure that what you say you
are and who you say you are, and the product
(21:45):
and or service that you're providing is what it is.
And so when it comes to landing a contract with
the government, yeah, they're going to ask you from various questions.
They're going to wonder if you might already own a company,
or a veteran owned company, or a woman owned company.
They're going to ask you questions to verify that status.
What I tell folks that are going through that process
(22:05):
is just to be resilient, get it in. There are
resources out there that can help you navigate the complexities
of those documentations you have. Here in Columbus they have
the m Back Office, the Minority Business Assistant Center that
they will help you with those different types of certifications.
So don't think that you're doing this alone. I hope
that if you do get through that process that it
(22:27):
will be well worth it for you at your particular enterprise.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
So it's interesting you mentioned programs that lots of governments
have for minority entrepreneurs or women owned businesses. One of
the things I've heard from clients over time is you
still got to put your best foot forward and you
still have to deliver a compelling value proposition for the government.
They're not going to hire you just because you're a
minority or women own. You got to be good at
what you do.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
That is absolutely right. And at the end of the day,
you have to deliver your products on time. You have
to do good work, and you have to be patient
as well. And so I'm encouraging folks large and small,
mid sized businesses that are out there. If this is
your first contract with the government, whether it's a small contract,
a subcontract, the opportunity take it. And I'm telling you,
(23:12):
if they enjoy or they like the product that you're providing,
you will see more. You will see more opportunities.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
It was now April of twenty twenty one, and Tia
is pretty leveraged at this point. She was losing money
and she'd put everything she had into this company. She
didn't have a backup plan. She had to find something,
anything to keep moving.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
At the time, there was a wastehauler that was here
that was getting some really bad press. So I had
reached out to their marketing department. I sent them an
email and I was like, hey, we need a feel
good story. You know, like you guys are getting some
terrible reviews. Can we work together in some capacity? Maybe
you offer a free cleaning service and they said no,
(24:02):
but they were interested enough that they invited one of
the executives from another city to come here to Columbus
and see a demonstration. So we scheduled the demo. I
think I give us like a week. Maybe. I'm like,
we gotta be out here practicing like we did it
a million times. They're cleaning the same trash cans over.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
If that seems like overkill. Remember, Tia hasn't had income
for almost six months at this point, she's supporting her
staff living off the little bit of money she made
on the first pilot program contract. There was no way
she was going to mess up this demo.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
So we go out, we do the demonstration. We even
have a hiccup at the demonstration and it's like, oh,
I seen enough. So he says, will you guys travel?
And I'm like, yeah, we travel. He says, I have
about three thousand trash cans two hours from here. It
need to be clean. I said, heck yes, like today,
(25:04):
and we cleaned over three thousand containers that year with
that particular wastehauler. We were able then to renegotiate our
service agreement with the local municipality as well. That allowed
me to turn around and increase our revenue by three
hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Wow. So you you basically like, just when you thought,
how am I going to do this, a whole bunch
of stuff starts to come through.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Just when I thought I was going to die and
the guy was going to have to like just take
me away.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
And so do you still work with that trash? Holler?
Speaker 1 (25:41):
I do. So.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Now the business starts to really scale right now that
you've gotten over that hump and you start have to
really hire people and build it out right.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Oh my gosh, Yes, the business started to scale. We
had our project going with cleaning trash cans. By twenty
twenty two, we got into delivering trash cans and then
still had to run my operations here in Columbus with
the band cleaning and the trash can removal services.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
So I was stretched. I've learned so much about myself
during that time. I got to know me personally.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
And what did you learn about yourself? What did you discover?
Speaker 3 (26:22):
I jumped into an industry slightly blind, slightly what's the
best word I can use?
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Naive?
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Maybe naive, very very naive, thinking I could do this,
but there was a lot more to the industry that
I needed to learn. There was a lot more skill
sets as a leader.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
One of the things you said is that you were
a little naive when you got into this industry. I mean,
you're out there trying to sell. You're honest about that,
but you know nobody's going to buy from someone who says, well,
I don't know what I'm doing, so tell me more
about that.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
Some of it's borrow confidence. I borrow confidence all the time.
Other people are already doing it. What are you so
afraid of? I'm very comfortable with sales and asking my
customers what is it that they want for me. They
weren't looking for experts, they were just looking for people
who could show up. Also partnering with other people that
(27:21):
are really good at what I'm not good at. I
don't need to know everything. I need to know enough
that I can get the job done and then just
ask a lot of questions. I stay very curious and
learning and continue to grow.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Beyond trash. Tia is now involved in composting. She acquired
a composting company.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
We work with London Correctional here where the inmates actually
take the material that we bring to them and turn
it into composts, and then we take that material and
we actually sell it to the community for community gardens
and things like that.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
Tia mentioned London Career Actional specifically here, but she often
works with folks who were formerly incarcerated from all over
the city.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
I decided, I want to make this bigger than trash
can cleaning. I had to sell the bigger picture. So
I was really selling this idea of supporting a female
business owner and how they can help grow and be
part of something. I want to ask how we can
show up for our community. So when we started cleaning
(28:27):
trash cans, we actually started cleaning in some of the
most vulnerable neighborhoods. So we were retaining talent from the
neighborhood saying hey, we're going to be out here, We're
going to be helping your community clean. We were able
to offer them employment without necessary looking at any of
the blemishes on their record that would be a positive
(28:48):
impact on the community.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Q from our last episode also makes it a point
to hire formerly incarcerated individuals, So I wanted to ask
Tia a little bit more about that. What makes it
challenging at times but also makes it rewarding.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
So there's a level of compassion that just in me
and wanted to be able to become an employer that
recognized that at some point in our life, we all
can have made a bad decision and that decision for
others looks different. And how can we offer an employment
(29:24):
where we didn't have that stereotype or stigma of this
is who you are simply because this is what you've done.
Is there an opportunity to show that I can do
something different and I can do something better and I
can be part of something.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
It would be helpful, does if you could talk to
us a little bit about Ohio itself. I mean, are
you a native?
Speaker 4 (29:48):
I am a native Akron Ohio. I want to raise
an Akron Ohio home of Lebron James. You got to
say that it's like a laws.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
On way right now. It is a lot, but that's okay.
Someday he'll come home again for the third time. So
can you talk a little bit about why Ohio is
a great place to do business, what you love about
doing business there, and why small business owners should consider Ohio.
Speaker 4 (30:11):
I would say Ohio is a continuously growing state. We
have companies like Intel Amjin, we have you know, Aws, Amazon, Meta.
We have all of these folks that are coming to
this state, so that is additional jobs.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Right.
Speaker 4 (30:27):
We have some of the best institutions, universities here, some
of the best primary secondary school districts in this state.
And so when you're talking about the new workforce folks
that are graduating from these wonderful universities, they need a
place to work. And so if you're a business owner,
you got some talent coming out of these amazing, you know,
universities and colleges, So that should be.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Appealing to you.
Speaker 4 (30:46):
When it comes to land use and the availability of land,
the costs associated with that particular land.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Resources, talent, land, Yeah, I mean, we have it all.
I want to end with a question that I ask
of all of our guests on this show, which is
a lot of people who listen to the show are
either small business owners or aspiring small business owners. What's
one piece of advice you would give them?
Speaker 3 (31:12):
Oh my gosh, be a little naive, but not blind naive, right,
maybe do you know a little bit more research. I
think once you get excited about an idea, like you
just want to take off with it, do a little homework,
a little bit of that digging to you know, make
(31:32):
sure that you can build something and that you can
be proud of. I have like ten Like wait.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
I'll give you a bonus one. You can have one more.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Okay, so a bonus one. Know your numbers. I don't
care how passionate you are about the cookies, the cakes,
the pies, the trash can cleaning. We all get into
business for a reason, and that's to generate revenue. Get
you a good CPA, a bookkeeper, and understand what questions
(32:05):
to asks. I focus a lot on revenue, and that's
why our business struggle with profits, because we weren't necessarily
doing it the right way.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Yeah. A mentor of mine once taught me that revenue
is vanity, but profit is sanity. And yes, it doesn't
matter how big the revenue number is. If it's not profitable,
it's just not going to work. Tia, thank you very much.
It was terrific to meet you.
Speaker 3 (32:30):
Yes, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
Thanks so much for listening to this episode of The Unshakables,
and to Tia Johnson and Des Bryant for speaking with
us today. If you liked this episode, please rate and
review it. They'll help us find more listeners. This is
usually where we mentioned what our next episode will be today,
though I have an update. We'll be back in early
twenty twenty five with season two of The Unshakables. We
(32:57):
have so many more incredible small business stories from across
America and I can't wait for you to hear them.
In the meantime, if you know someone who may like
the series, please tell them about it. I'm Ben Walter
and this is The Unshakables from Chase for Business and
Ruby Studio from iHeart Media. We'll see you back here soon.
Ruby.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Some of the best business ideas come from an unserved need.
You have a problem and you come up with a solution.
For Tia Johnson, that problem was dirty trash cans in
her house and her struggle to get her teenagers to
clean them. She realized that if she had that problem,
everyone else did too.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
And I get outside and the trash can is discussing
it as all of the flies, the maggots, and the odors.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
She knew she could fix the problem, so she contacted
her local representative and pitched a pilot program. The city
liked the idea and offered her a contract to begin
cleaning trash cans and dumpsters all over the city in
the spring.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
I would honestly say, after getting that contract, I absolutely
thought the company would be successful. How can you lose?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
So winter ended, the weather was warming up, and Tia
was waiting for a from the city and she got it.
But when it came, it wasn't the update she expected.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
So we eventually schedule a zoom call and that's when
I received the devastating news. Just thinking about it makes
me relive that moment, and all I could think about
is I can't let them see me cry. And I
said okay, and I got off the zoom and I
(01:28):
boughted my eyes out because I had no idea where
our next dollar would come from. It was the only
contract that I had at that time, and it was
just taken away.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Welcome to The Unshakables from Chase for Business and Ruby
Studio from iHeart Media. I'm Ben Walter, CEO of Chase
for Business. On the Unshakeables, we're sharing the daring moments
of small business owners facing their crisis points and telling
the stories of how they got through it. This week,
we're in Ohio with two incredible folks. Tia Johnson, founder
(02:08):
and CEO of Fresh bloom Bins, is joining us today.
We'll also hear from Desmond Bryant. Des is the vice
president of government Relations at the Columbus Chamber of Commerce.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Dez Hi, Ben, how you doing.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Thank you for being on the show, and thanks for
having this conversation with us today. He's helping small businesses
every day, supporting them as they navigate opportunities within the community,
and advocating for policy changes that will support them as
they grow. On today's episode, Fresh bloom Bins from Columbus, Ohio,
(02:41):
I just got to say I have a soft spot
for Ohio. Much of my family is from there, and
we have one of the largest chase offices in the
country in Ohio because we know how great it is
to do business there. Great people, affordable amenities, and a
pro business government. So I was thrilled to be speaking
with a Columbus based business owner, Tia. It's awesome to
(03:02):
have you. Thank you for being on the show.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Thank you for having me. It's awesome to be here.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
The name of Tia's company is Fresh bloom Bins, and
I'm not ashamed to say I did practice saying it
before we spoke. I'm gonna just see if I can
say it three times fast, Fresh Bloom Bins, Fresh bloom Bins,
Fresh bloom Bins. All Right, it's a little bit of
a tongue twister. The core of Tia's business is cleaning
dumpsters and trash cans, and we dove into the conversation
(03:28):
how she first got into sanitation, what excites her, But
it was the numbers that caught my attention.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
It's the unsexy part about business, right Like it's when
you know all the cans are cleaned and you're going
through the numbers.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
I love this. I mean, this is what's beautiful about
this podcast. One of our clients just said to a banker,
the un sexy part of business of the business, all
the numbers, The sexy part is cleaning the trash cans.
Now no one's ever said that before. So that's great.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
That is the fun and sexy part.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
It's not every day someone thinks clean trash cans is sexy,
but Tia does. It's also not every day that inspiration
for a business like this just pops into someone's head.
But that's what happened to Tia in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
It's all started on a hot summer day. I went
to go take the trash out and it was filled
with flies, maggots and odors.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
M yum.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
So I know, right. I told my teenage son that
he had to clean the trash can when he came
home from school, and of course he gave me all
of the teenage attitudes. Don't nobody want to clean no
trash can as he stumped down the hallway.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
I mean, he's kind of right. I mean, I know,
I'm like, I don't want to clean a trash can.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Nobody does, but it has to get done every now
and then, and I'm like, shrug shoulders, my mom card
has been pulled, and you're cleaning this right. Like I
was sitting on the couch and I'm like, nobody wants
to clean the trash can, but it's one of those
things that just have to be done. And I'm like,
I'm gonna I solved this problem. So I stay up
(05:02):
all night researching on the internet how to build a
trash cleaning machine and trash can cleaning.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Not that many people actually clean trash cans, and at
the same time, neither did Tia. Her career up to
that point had nothing to do with sanitation at all.
She'd worked it for Riizon Wireless for ten years, then
taught personal finance to girls and young women in schools.
It was around that time that she had the initial
spark of inspiration for Fresh bloom Bins. She kept exploring
(05:31):
the concept in her downtime.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
As I was talking to more people, I was like, oh, wait,
this is bigger than what I thought. It was like,
this is a real business and I could do this.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
So she started to tell people she knew about the idea.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
And it was going into that like telling people about
it right like, Hey, I think I want to do
this trash bin cleaning thing, and they're like, what, You're crazy?
Who cleans trash?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
But Tia had a woman she called her entrepreneur mom,
who she knew would support her no matter what. And
Tia was right. Her entrepreneur mom loved the idea.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
She calls me and she's like, I want to invest
in this. Let's sit down and talk about it, and
like tears just start blowing from my eyes because I'm like,
I can't believe she believes in me, like this we
go over, we have this meeting, or like, you know
what I want to do with my plans. She's like, okay,
I want to think about it, and I'm going to
get back to you, and I'm like okay. She gets
(06:33):
back to me and she says I love the concept,
but she don't know enough about trash. So I'm out,
Oh I died, I die in so many different ways?
Speaker 2 (06:48):
So does I want to bring you in here? What
a pivotal moment in TIA's journey, you know, one that
lots of entrepreneur's face. She believes in an idea, but
others around her don't talk to me a little bit
about ment I mean you work for the Chamber of Commerce.
Is that somewhere small business owners can go for support
and where else can they go?
Speaker 4 (07:06):
So when a small business owner has this seed of
an idea, it's important they seek out as much advice
and mentorship as they can. But it has to be
the right advice and the right mentor. You want to
find your yes people who are going to be realistic
but supportive of your idea. It's unfortunate Tia's Mentor didn't
see the opportunity in her idea, But maybe it comes
(07:29):
down to timing and in a twist, maybe Tia's time
wasn't then, it's now. I've been with the Chamber for
almost four years now, and I will tell you what
was embedded in my head when I came here was
what we categorized as the three c's Connecting, communicating, and convening,
where we connect folks to networking opportunities, opportunities with respect
(07:53):
to job growth, mentorship opportunities. When it comes to convening,
we have about I think this year's sixty seven plus
events where we bring folks together through panel discussions, maybe
on one discussions. We established places for folks to convene
meet network, so on and so forth. Now, when it
comes to communication, we push out and disseminate all types
(08:15):
of information, whether it's about something that will impact your
business directly or indirectly. And so when it comes to
being a resource for the business community, there's a slew
of things that the Chamber does.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Okay, So back to Tia's story. With her trash dreams dashed,
she went back to her day job working in schools
and that was that until something unexpected happened and her
business took a.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Hit twenty twenty hits right, school shut down and I
lose sixty percent of my revenue because it was all
in person.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Now, with nothing left to lose, she jumped headfirst back
into that brilliant idea.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
And I said, everybody's talking about cleaning and sanitation right now.
I will never let anyone kill my dreams again.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
From that point on, in TIA's own words, it was
pedal to the metal. She dredged up all that research
from her all nighter, and in order to literally put
the pedal to the metal, she needed to get her
hands on a truck.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
I was talking to the builders on timelines getting the truck,
and of course there was a lot of unknowns at
that time, and they were like, oh, we can probably
get your truck in like six to eight weeks. And
I'm like, okay, I'm going to start selling for the
next six to eight weeks. And I had really thought
about doing single family homes, so going to individual homeowners
(09:40):
with like a door to door sales model.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
But again, this was during the big COVID lockdowns.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
And I'm like, I don't think that that's the best
market for me right now. So I quickly switched to government.
I said, wait, I'm going to go after corporate and
government clients. Like they are getting fun. They're looking for
ways to clean stuff. Trash cans are nasty, everybody's throwing
away all this ppe gear. So I started to pitch
(10:08):
to some of the city council members. I eventually get
in front of the director of trash and he's like,
I have a problem. We have these trash cans that
have been out fifteen years, twenty years, No almost ever
cleaned them. They're discussed, they're nasty. People complain about them
all the time. Can you fix this problem? Yes, I'm
(10:34):
going to fix it right, I'll figure it out later.
We give them a timeline on, like when we can
start and you know it's all laid out. I get
the po I get the contract.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
First of all, just for everybody's benefit. You don't have
a truck, you've never done this before, and you go
out and you get a not so small US municipal
organization to give you a contract.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
How I always tell everyone now that I can look
back on it, the trash Gods was in my favor.
One of the skills that I really tried to lean on,
to lean into as a small business owner was sales.
And part of that was the relationships. So I had
a lot of healthy relationships in the community that supported me,
(11:22):
put me in the right direction, was able to get
me in front of the right people or give me
feedback so that I could really make this thing come
to life. Outside of that, it was really the trash Gods.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Well, you know, you take help from anywhere. So you
land this contract, you place an order for this truck.
Where's the truck in Arizona, which is, as I'm sure
you've realized by now, not Ohio. And now I'd like
to share a short story with you. It's called How
(11:54):
I Got the Truck by Tia Johnson, how I.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Got the truck. I'm telling you, my belief system has
been a whole different place. So I had never been
in trucking before. Right, each truck is about one hundred
and twenty thousand dollars. They deny me financing for this
truck and said, based on your background, I don't think.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
This is a good bet.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
So I get connected to an investor and I tell
him I have the contract, the truck is being built.
I just need to be able to get the trucks
and he said, well, that's easy. He's been in the
box trucking industry for ten plus years. So he actually
gets my truck finance. I go to Arizona, catch a flight.
(12:40):
I have a CDL driver come out here with me.
But yes, we drive this truck from Phoenix, Arizona to
Ohio in like November.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Now that the truck was back in Ohio, Tian now
had to use the truck to make her deadline before
her contract was up.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
So we were expecting to start around like August or September,
and that was cool. We started at the end of
the year. So it's November, the temperatures are starting to drop.
We had a three man crew. We have to buy
all the gear for the staff. We were able to
get the routes. We initially start by following the trash
trucks after the trash is collected, and we just started
(13:26):
rocking and rolling and we killed it like they loved it.
Admins came out from the Department of Refuge seeing it,
they were like blown away. We were able to get
a second part of the contract completed indoors, and that
was like the ultimate win. I would honestly say after
getting that contract, I absolutely thought the company would be successful,
(13:48):
Like just based on my experience in working with like
government contracts, they normally don't have like a swift turnover,
right like you're normally in there for a while. And
based on that, I felt comfortable of going out and
continuing to build.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
In case you didn't know, you can't powerwash when the
temperature is below freezing. So this was November of twenty
twenty and the clock was ticking. Tia ended her first
year with a huge win, and based on the pilot
program's success, she also had a new contract in hand
that would resume work with the City of Columbus in
the spring when it was warmer.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Well, the weather starts to break, we're asking about, you know,
like next steps, and oh, you know, we have a
lot going on right now. Yes, we're still moving forward.
We're just looking at how to move forward. So now
we're right around like April May and haven't heard from
AM in a while. And it's always been a good
quality conversation, and now it's just starting to get very
(14:46):
very weird. There's this conversation that is scheduled for a meeting,
how like what next steps look like? So we're all
on zoom and they say we decided due to funding,
we're no longer moving forward with this project. The municipality
actually decided that those containers that we were anticipating cleaning
(15:07):
on a schedule basis, they were removing them from the
entire city. So I had this truck that's designed to
clean this container. I had no money coming in and
I had money going out, and I was like, this
is scary. How am I going to overcome this? I
(15:28):
felt very very very very defeated in that moment, like
a failure in one part of it, broken in another part,
and angry and other areas. Very angry because this is
(15:48):
the area of my life I can control right, Like
in business, I win, I set a course, I set
a destination. I know what direction this boat is rowing it.
So I would say during that call, I was just
so broken, and I could feel myself saying, I can't
(16:15):
let them see me cry. There was this dryness in
my throat that I let them speak, and I said okay,
and I got off the zoom and I bought my
eyes out because I had no idea where our next
(16:37):
dollar would come from. It was the only contract that
I had at that time. I had no idea how
I was going to survive.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
And my guess is, in your head, you'd spent some
of the money, right, like you were counting on that revenue.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
I was counting on that revenue. That was like the
base I was naive to believe, like, oh, I got
this government contract and we can scale from here.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Right.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
I really had thought. I thought it out, but it
didn't work out like that.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Yeah, and then the rug got pulled out.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Yes, the rug up pulled out.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Does you heard TIA's story? She was participating in a
pilot program and she counted on that revenue as the
basis for her business, and then that pilot was canceled
and that revenue evaporated. Is there a specific lesson in
that or is that something people should always be aware of.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Yeah, I'm glad that you asked me that.
Speaker 4 (17:31):
In TIA situation, I'm happy that she was able to
acquire that contract. But I think the lesson that should
be learned from her particular journey is when it comes
to the government, their budgets fluctuate. Let's be honest, budgets
from a governmental standpoint are going to be tightening. So
when it comes to pilot projects, when it comes to spending,
(17:53):
they start scaling those things back and they start reevaluating
what can we use and what do we need not
to use With respect to our teas service that she
was providing. What if we just hired someone to do
the work that she was providing to us, it might
be cheaper, it might not be, but we're going to
evaluate that. But in TSCSE, it would have been my
hope to ensure that she leveraged that contract for lack
(18:17):
of better term, as an endorsement of her product and
or service, and she can go into different rooms and say,
the city believed in me.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
They believe and they're utilizing my service.
Speaker 4 (18:26):
You should too, and a lot of folks will say, well, heck, yeah,
the city said you're good, then yeah, let's talk business.
Because you never know with the government's going to happen
with their budgets or their spending, or their desire to
continue to do business with you. Or you might have
someone competing with you and they might outbid you.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Yep. So those are all types of things that can happen.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
I think a lot of our listeners either do business
with governments or would like to. How should small businesses
think about working with particularly state and local governments. The
federal government's a whole different animal, but state and local governments,
where do you even start.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
Most of your larger municipalities and even smaller have a
procurement office that handle the purchasing of various products, supplies,
whatever it may be, and even services. So when you're
thinking about cleaning services, when you're thinking about supplies like
office supplies, things as simple as that, there is someone
within those agencies that are purchasing things from companies like TIS.
(19:23):
That's where you want to start now, prior to engaging
the government. You want to ensure you that you have
your in house things together as well. And what I
mean by that is that you want to ensure that
you have what they call a capability statement. It's very simple,
what is your business, how long has it been founded?
Are there other clients or other customers that you have,
who are they, how long have you had them? What
(19:45):
products and or services have you provided to them? What
kind of products do you have? What kind of services
do you offer? I highly encourage it be one page.
And so when you're getting started again capability statement, business
plan and relationship building with categorize them as targeted staff
those procurement officers. Now it doesn't hurt to have or
(20:06):
engage elected officials as well, So when you're talking about
the mayor's office, when you're talking about maybe the small
business chair of city council, just letting them know they're
not going to guarantee you a contract or anything of
that nature, but at least again relationship building. That's what
a lot of these contracts are garnered off of is
do I know this person?
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Can I trust them?
Speaker 4 (20:26):
And if I can trust them, I can more likely
trust the product or services that they're providing.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
So Tea's story in that way was unusual, right because
her first contract was with the government that is not
what most people should expect.
Speaker 4 (20:37):
And that's why it was a pilot program, right, because
they wanted to ensure what she was offering was quality. Right,
And so I look at that pilot program that they
offered her as just a test. Hey, let's see if
what service you're providing is applicable, is it successful?
Speaker 1 (20:53):
Can it work? And I trust you, I trust your business, and.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
So we're going to give you a temporary placement to
do some business and we're going to see how well
you do.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
And in her case, she did well.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
But a pilot is far from a guarantee, is what
you're saying?
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Oh, absolutely absolutely got it.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
So does how should people think about the actual process?
Sometimes there's RFPs, sometimes there's open calls for vendors. I'm
guessing that it can be a bit paperwork heavy, a
bit process heavy, but maybe I'm wrong, or does it depend?
Speaker 4 (21:24):
It depends, However, it can be a bit of a
lengthy process. It's accountability more unlikely, this government agency is
going to purchase your products and or services with tax dollars,
so they have to ensure that what you say you
are and who you say you are, and the product
(21:45):
and or service that you're providing is what it is.
And so when it comes to landing a contract with
the government, yeah, they're going to ask you from various questions.
They're going to wonder if you might already own a company,
or a veteran owned company, or a woman owned company.
They're going to ask you questions to verify that status.
What I tell folks that are going through that process
(22:05):
is just to be resilient, get it in. There are
resources out there that can help you navigate the complexities
of those documentations you have. Here in Columbus they have
the m Back Office, the Minority Business Assistant Center that
they will help you with those different types of certifications.
So don't think that you're doing this alone. I hope
that if you do get through that process that it
(22:27):
will be well worth it for you at your particular enterprise.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
So it's interesting you mentioned programs that lots of governments
have for minority entrepreneurs or women owned businesses. One of
the things I've heard from clients over time is you
still got to put your best foot forward and you
still have to deliver a compelling value proposition for the government.
They're not going to hire you just because you're a
minority or women own. You got to be good at
what you do.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
That is absolutely right. And at the end of the day,
you have to deliver your products on time. You have
to do good work, and you have to be patient
as well. And so I'm encouraging folks large and small,
mid sized businesses that are out there. If this is
your first contract with the government, whether it's a small contract,
a subcontract, the opportunity take it. And I'm telling you,
(23:12):
if they enjoy or they like the product that you're providing,
you will see more. You will see more opportunities.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
It was now April of twenty twenty one, and Tia
is pretty leveraged at this point. She was losing money
and she'd put everything she had into this company. She
didn't have a backup plan. She had to find something,
anything to keep moving.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
At the time, there was a wastehauler that was here
that was getting some really bad press. So I had
reached out to their marketing department. I sent them an
email and I was like, hey, we need a feel
good story. You know, like you guys are getting some
terrible reviews. Can we work together in some capacity? Maybe
you offer a free cleaning service and they said no,
(24:02):
but they were interested enough that they invited one of
the executives from another city to come here to Columbus
and see a demonstration. So we scheduled the demo. I
think I give us like a week. Maybe. I'm like,
we gotta be out here practicing like we did it
a million times. They're cleaning the same trash cans over.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
If that seems like overkill. Remember, Tia hasn't had income
for almost six months at this point, she's supporting her
staff living off the little bit of money she made
on the first pilot program contract. There was no way
she was going to mess up this demo.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
So we go out, we do the demonstration. We even
have a hiccup at the demonstration and it's like, oh,
I seen enough. So he says, will you guys travel?
And I'm like, yeah, we travel. He says, I have
about three thousand trash cans two hours from here. It
need to be clean. I said, heck yes, like today,
(25:04):
and we cleaned over three thousand containers that year with
that particular wastehauler. We were able then to renegotiate our
service agreement with the local municipality as well. That allowed
me to turn around and increase our revenue by three
hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Wow. So you you basically like, just when you thought,
how am I going to do this, a whole bunch
of stuff starts to come through.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Just when I thought I was going to die and
the guy was going to have to like just take
me away.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
And so do you still work with that trash? Holler?
Speaker 1 (25:41):
I do. So.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Now the business starts to really scale right now that
you've gotten over that hump and you start have to
really hire people and build it out right.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Oh my gosh, Yes, the business started to scale. We
had our project going with cleaning trash cans. By twenty
twenty two, we got into delivering trash cans and then
still had to run my operations here in Columbus with
the band cleaning and the trash can removal services.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
So I was stretched. I've learned so much about myself
during that time. I got to know me personally.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
And what did you learn about yourself? What did you discover?
Speaker 3 (26:22):
I jumped into an industry slightly blind, slightly what's the
best word I can use?
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Naive?
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Maybe naive, very very naive, thinking I could do this,
but there was a lot more to the industry that
I needed to learn. There was a lot more skill
sets as a leader.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
One of the things you said is that you were
a little naive when you got into this industry. I mean,
you're out there trying to sell. You're honest about that,
but you know nobody's going to buy from someone who says, well,
I don't know what I'm doing, so tell me more
about that.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
Some of it's borrow confidence. I borrow confidence all the time.
Other people are already doing it. What are you so
afraid of? I'm very comfortable with sales and asking my
customers what is it that they want for me. They
weren't looking for experts, they were just looking for people
who could show up. Also partnering with other people that
(27:21):
are really good at what I'm not good at. I
don't need to know everything. I need to know enough
that I can get the job done and then just
ask a lot of questions. I stay very curious and
learning and continue to grow.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Beyond trash. Tia is now involved in composting. She acquired
a composting company.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
We work with London Correctional here where the inmates actually
take the material that we bring to them and turn
it into composts, and then we take that material and
we actually sell it to the community for community gardens
and things like that.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
Tia mentioned London Career Actional specifically here, but she often
works with folks who were formerly incarcerated from all over
the city.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
I decided, I want to make this bigger than trash
can cleaning. I had to sell the bigger picture. So
I was really selling this idea of supporting a female
business owner and how they can help grow and be
part of something. I want to ask how we can
show up for our community. So when we started cleaning
(28:27):
trash cans, we actually started cleaning in some of the
most vulnerable neighborhoods. So we were retaining talent from the
neighborhood saying hey, we're going to be out here, We're
going to be helping your community clean. We were able
to offer them employment without necessary looking at any of
the blemishes on their record that would be a positive
(28:48):
impact on the community.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Q from our last episode also makes it a point
to hire formerly incarcerated individuals, So I wanted to ask
Tia a little bit more about that. What makes it
challenging at times but also makes it rewarding.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
So there's a level of compassion that just in me
and wanted to be able to become an employer that
recognized that at some point in our life, we all
can have made a bad decision and that decision for
others looks different. And how can we offer an employment
(29:24):
where we didn't have that stereotype or stigma of this
is who you are simply because this is what you've done.
Is there an opportunity to show that I can do
something different and I can do something better and I
can be part of something.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
It would be helpful, does if you could talk to
us a little bit about Ohio itself. I mean, are
you a native?
Speaker 4 (29:48):
I am a native Akron Ohio. I want to raise
an Akron Ohio home of Lebron James. You got to
say that it's like a laws.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
On way right now. It is a lot, but that's okay.
Someday he'll come home again for the third time. So
can you talk a little bit about why Ohio is
a great place to do business, what you love about
doing business there, and why small business owners should consider Ohio.
Speaker 4 (30:11):
I would say Ohio is a continuously growing state. We
have companies like Intel Amjin, we have you know, Aws, Amazon, Meta.
We have all of these folks that are coming to
this state, so that is additional jobs.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Right.
Speaker 4 (30:27):
We have some of the best institutions, universities here, some
of the best primary secondary school districts in this state.
And so when you're talking about the new workforce folks
that are graduating from these wonderful universities, they need a
place to work. And so if you're a business owner,
you got some talent coming out of these amazing, you know,
universities and colleges, So that should be.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Appealing to you.
Speaker 4 (30:46):
When it comes to land use and the availability of land,
the costs associated with that particular land.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Resources, talent, land, Yeah, I mean, we have it all.
I want to end with a question that I ask
of all of our guests on this show, which is
a lot of people who listen to the show are
either small business owners or aspiring small business owners. What's
one piece of advice you would give them?
Speaker 3 (31:12):
Oh my gosh, be a little naive, but not blind naive, right,
maybe do you know a little bit more research. I
think once you get excited about an idea, like you
just want to take off with it, do a little homework,
a little bit of that digging to you know, make
(31:32):
sure that you can build something and that you can
be proud of. I have like ten Like wait.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
I'll give you a bonus one. You can have one more.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Okay, so a bonus one. Know your numbers. I don't
care how passionate you are about the cookies, the cakes,
the pies, the trash can cleaning. We all get into
business for a reason, and that's to generate revenue. Get
you a good CPA, a bookkeeper, and understand what questions
(32:05):
to asks. I focus a lot on revenue, and that's
why our business struggle with profits, because we weren't necessarily
doing it the right way.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Yeah. A mentor of mine once taught me that revenue
is vanity, but profit is sanity. And yes, it doesn't
matter how big the revenue number is. If it's not profitable,
it's just not going to work. Tia, thank you very much.
It was terrific to meet you.
Speaker 3 (32:30):
Yes, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
Thanks so much for listening to this episode of The Unshakables,
and to Tia Johnson and Des Bryant for speaking with
us today. If you liked this episode, please rate and
review it. They'll help us find more listeners. This is
usually where we mentioned what our next episode will be today,
though I have an update. We'll be back in early
twenty twenty five with season two of The Unshakables. We
(32:57):
have so many more incredible small business stories from across
America and I can't wait for you to hear them.
In the meantime, if you know someone who may like
the series, please tell them about it. I'm Ben Walter
and this is The Unshakables from Chase for Business and
Ruby Studio from iHeart Media. We'll see you back here soon.
Hosts And Creators
Ben Walter
Kathleen Griffith
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