January 27, 2026 • 30 mins
Ron and Kelly Moore started in the family business young — Ron in the warehouse, Kelly on the phones. They built careers expecting to take over one day. But when their father passed away, those plans unraveled. Their stepmother, now in control, shut them out. They went their separate ways until Ron called Kelly with an idea: start again, from scratch.
That call became Moore United Construction which allowed the siblings to rebuild what was taken and even fight new betrayals, including a project manager who quietly siphoned off clients. But they’re not interested in grudges. For Ron and Kelly, it’s about the work, the team and giving back — especially to veterans, a community they’re proud to serve. In this episode, Ben and Kathleen talk with Ron and Kelly about the reality of rebuilding a business, the complexity of family dynamics and the power of a shared mission. These are The Unshakeables
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Ruby. A long time ago, well, not so long, it was the '90s, in a far away place, if you consider California far, lived a brother and sister, Ron and Kelly Moore. Now, there are no princes or princesses in this story, but once upon a time, they worked at their father's small business, a flooring company.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I started working for my father in nineteen eighty nine.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Here I am a 23-year-old kid, and I thought, okay, I'm going to be vice president, my dad said, "You're starting in the warehouse."
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Over the following decades, both worked their way up to
rule their respective kingdoms within Moore flooring, and then tragedy struck.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
My father had pancreatic cancer, and he had his trust
where I had the company, the building and everything else.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
He passed away in twenty fourteen.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
And then when my father past, my stepmother came in
and said, oh, he changed it a couple months when.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
He was terminal, when he was taking chemo. She had
him sign the tress differently.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
And she gets everything.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
They were married twenty years and she was kind and loving.
It's hard because even though she was our stepmom, she
was my mom. We're extremely close. It was hard losing
a mother and father that day.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
And just like that, brother and sister were cast out on their own. Everything Ron and Kelly had been working for, everything that had been promised to them was gone. But this isn't where the story ends, in fact, it's only the beginning. Welcome to The Unshakeables, from Chase for Business and Ruby Studio from iHeart Media. I'm Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business. There's nothing small about the impact small businesses have on America. They don't just drive our economy, they define our communities, create opportunities, and inspire the next generation of dreamers and builders. On The Unshakeables, we are sharing the daring moments
(02:15):
of business owners facing their crisis points and telling the
stories of how they got through it. If you're joining
us for the first time, welcome, If you're a longtime listener,
welcome back. Well, here we are, everyone, season three. Kathleen, it's great to have you back
Speaker 4 (02:30):
We back, We're back in the building.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
I know we got some great stories for everyone this season.
You and I are going to have our hands full.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
We are, and the lineup looks incredible, And it's funny
because now knowing what businesses you gravitate toward versus the
ones that I tend to gravitate toward. It feels like
an even split a little bit. So I'm excited.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Yeah, we don't cook this up as much as you think,
but we do have our majors and minors, so I
think it'll work out pretty well. I think we're gonna
have some great stories for you this season, and I
look forward to seeing how we pick them apart.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
Yeah, me too, excited to be in your co-pilot chair.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
This season, we're starting off in sunny California, some would say the land of fairy tales. Let's get further into the story. On today's episode, Moore United Construction from Ontario, California. We have Ron and Kelly Moore on the show today. Now, we've had a few married couples, but this is our first time having a brother and sister on the show. They founded their company together, and it probably went so well because the first time they had worked together was not when they started this company. I love it when siblings can grow up and get along and find ways to do things together. But as I understand it, you both grew up in a small family business.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Yes we did. Our father owned a business and we
both worked for him. I went to the military and
when I came out, I worked for him for about
twenty one.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Years and then I started. He wanted me answer phones
in high school and here I am thirty years later
in construction.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
So you both worked for the company. And what was
his business.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
It was called Moore flooring and there was commercial flooring.
It wasn't easy. He was tough, you know. He made
us work hard. There was no nine to five. I
started as the warehouse kid, and twenty two years later
I worked my way up to the president of the company.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Yeah. I think that was the best thing he could
have done for us, as having us started answering phones
and warehouse and learn everybody's job and what we need
to do going forward.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
It took a while for Ron and Kelly to fully
appreciate their father's lessons, but from the very beginning, no
matter how tough their father was around the office, he
still found ways to be Dad. He'd call Kelly into
his office for a quote unquote meeting.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
He goes over the PA and he goes, Kelly, you
need to come in here right now and grab your
pen and paper. And I go in there and he goes, Okay,
whoever guesses The Price is Right showdown pays for lunch.
The other one doesn't.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Now, clearly you're not with Moore flooring anymore. So how
did that all come to pass?
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Well, he got cancer and all of sudden he passed away
from the cancer. And stepmom came in and said, your
dad changed.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
His trust when he was doing chemo.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
When he was doing chemo, and you get nothing, she
gets everything.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Yeah. Had he actually done that?
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Oh yeah, but he didn't know what he was saying.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
It was at the end.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
What really struck me about this tale was that Kelly
made it clear that their stepmother hadn't acted like that before.
They'd had a great relationship, but unfortunately it splintered in
those final hours.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
She was my mom, and this is where I get a little emotional, very involved with my kids... It was hard to see a person who was so loved by all of us, and who loved us, pretty much cut us off. That was where we worked with our father, and from day one, this building's yours, and it was paid for, and in California, it was a lot of money if we wanted to buy that building. Now, it was hard losing a mother and father that day. And her grandkids lost their grandmother and grandfather. We had dinners at least once a week, they went to every function, every event, and they were like their second parents. Our father put together a box for each child, and each grandchild, we put something that he cared about to give to each of us in this box. And I'm sure a lot of it were books that he read to us or the kids, huge into reading. To this day, we haven't received one thing.I asked her if I could have the clothes to make a quilt for the grandchildren, a papa quilt. "You're getting nothing," they went to Goodwill somewhere. No pictures, no box. With that happening, my brother and I are not one to prolong anything, so we ended up saying, okay, it is what it is, let's just go forward.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
They took different paths forward. Ron stuck around another month
or so to make sure more flooring wasn't going to
be totally destroyed, but then he and Kelly both left
for greener pastures.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
I went to work for a different type of construction,
freeways and tunnels, a large fortune five hundred construction company,
and I have three hundred and fifty employees below me.
I'm at the peak of my career, making a lot
of money, all these benefits and constructions. Kind of hard
to have all these benefits, and it was really a
(07:53):
nice home kind of because everybody was very kind, but
I missed my family.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Ron took a different path.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
I went straight to a couple of my friends that owned a construction company, and said, "Do you need a partner?" And they brought me in and I was with them for seven years. When I left, my clients weren't Moore Flooring's clients, they were mine and they went with me to my next adventure in life. And I was a partner with them for seven years, and we built that company up from doing three million to about 20 million a year. I was doing very well.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
But it wasn't Moore flooring. It wasn't a Moore company
at all.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
And I realized that these are great guys, they have
a great company, but it's not for me. I need
full control. Everybody has a drive and they have a direction,
and that wasn't mine. My ultimate direction was to start
my own company again and run it and make it
how I wanted, make our company legacy, how it's supposed
to be.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Ron just needed one thing to get started.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
I called Kelly up and I said, I'm starting my
own thing.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
And I go, "I'm proud of you, that's fantastic." And he told me, "Well, I need you." And I go, "For what?" And he goes, "To help me start it."
Speaker 3 (09:14):
We're best friends. We've always talked all the time.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
I'm at the peak of my company. I'm in my fifties.
Starting over is going to be crazy, and so he goes, well,
you and I just want to start my own company.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Kelly went home that night and Ron's business was all
she could think about.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Thinking about how hard it will be for him to
find an employee that is protective like I am, and
to make sure everything is done correctly. Ron is fantastic
with clients, but Admin's side of it, he needed my help.
(09:53):
The next day, I called him and I go, are
you serious?
Speaker 3 (09:56):
I said, I'm for real, and she goes, well, I
gave my two weeks.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
I go, okay, are the clients coming with us? And
he goes, I don't know. That was scary because I
was single at the time, paying for all my bills
and making sure that I can take care of myself financially.
We took a huge pay cut starting the company really
not making anything.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Ron even took out a home equity line of credit, or HELOC, to get things going.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
I remember the first month I took 200,000 to buy equipment and materials and this and that, I'm like, if I don't succeed, I'm going to lose the house, everything I've worked so many years for.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
As Ron gathered materials, he also scheduled meetings all over town.
He met with all of his clients and let them
know what he and Kelly were doing. Meanwhile, Kelly was
getting everything together on her end.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
I'm getting all the contracts and paperwork, and buying a computer, and getting a business license, getting all our certificates, he's a disabled veteran-owned company, for myself, learning all of that through the state... It took a while, and getting the proper licenses and everything. We did not have a physical location, meetings in parking lots, meetings in my living room, at my house, and my brother's living room.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Then one of their subcontractors offered up a warehouse he
had and Ron and Kelly moved in. They were officially
back in business together under the name Moore United Construction,
and they were interested in expanding beyond flooring.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
Moore Flooring was a flooring company, and yeah, it was
a great company and it was strong. But if you
don't diversify, you're going to die on the vine. And
one day I was saying, you know, I'm just looking
at floors. Why am I not looking at walls and
ceilings and everything else. So diversity was very important, and
that's why now we have our flooring division, or construction division,
(12:02):
or a lighting division. Now we're starting up a solar division.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
So what were the first few jobs you did? I mean,
you're out of the gate constructions of capital, heavy business.
You borrow money to start, you take out a HELOC?
What were those first few jobs?
Speaker 3 (12:18):
What was great is the clients that I have worked with, one of my colleges, Mount San Antonio College, gave me small projects with quick turnaround, paid me within 10 days. The US Post Office, I've done work for them, quick turnaround, they pay me within 10 days. I do work for Tarkett, which is a big manufacturing company, they pay me within 10 days. I focused on them, so I can get that 10 day money in quick so we can start building it. And the whole thing was is, I told Kelly, let's do a million dollars first year, slow climb, and we'll build up from there. First year we did three million. I said, whoa, okay, good profit, good profit margins, kept the money in the bank, slow. Kelly.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
I'm curious you're the CFO of the company. As a banker,
I tell people a lot about the importance of cash
flow and getting paid on time. We see lots of clients,
especially when they're starting out, more focused on winning the
business than getting paid for the business. So can you
talk about how you think about that as the CFO
of the company, Like, how do you think about cash
flow and getting paid?
Speaker 2 (13:22):
That's a great question. Sometimes we get a client that doesn't pay right away, and we have to take that into our thought process if we're going to bid on more jobs with them. But it's really about what type of clients that helps our cash flow, and having that thought process of knowing which money we can count on and when we need it, and we don't spend, we really keep the money in house and have it in the bank to where we're old school and been around a long time that rainy day.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
That rainy day, well, the two of them were just
Speaker 4 (14:05):
a delight and a pleasure I just was sitting there
listening to your conversation with them, like so much heart,
military business, sibling business, service business, all heart against this
crazy backdrop of like a dark fairy tale and an
evil stepmother, and they're just like maintaining their love and light.
(14:27):
But what I also loved about it is it reminded
me of what makes business great in this country. I
think the media and I feel like you feel this
way too, Like we're so fixated on the cool, shiny
founders and businesses and this is just like a wholesome,
heart centered, do the right thing, lead with integrity sort
(14:49):
of American business, yes.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
And American capitalism can be a force for good. Yeah, And they are the living embodiment of that, they're just terrific. When I reflect on the way that they started the business and what they came from, the way that he takes hits is something to study. I really believe that, because we've had so many guests on this show who've had this happen to them and that, and these really tough things, and we talk about this unshakable spirit, and for a guy who's all heart, he was remarkably stoic about some pretty tough things. The business that he'd worked for his whole life, he got swindled out of, and he picked himself up, moved on and just said, well, guess it's a new day.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
He just kept it moving. Just kept it moving. Because you can be so consumed by that animosity and the spite, and we've heard a spite speech before. Totally.
It can be all consuming. But being able to just
say onwards.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
They're just positive, looking to the future kind of people,
which is great.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Yeah, we haven't had a brother's sister before. I thought
that was remarkable. I mean, I'm close with my sister,
I'm close with my brother. I don't know if we
could think you could do it. I don't think we
could do it, Okay, And I'm really close with them.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
Yeah, I certainly couldn't. No way on earth. And I just love... They're truly simpatico with each other.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Husband and wife is more common than sister brother. But
I will say, whenever we see family businesses, the ones
who do well are the ones who have figured out
the dynamic and figured out in particular the power dynamic.
Who's in charge of what, who takes the lead where,
who has decision rights where if that's unclear, it's a
lot tougher.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
Did she on that roll piece? Did she feel like
an unlikely CFO to you?
Speaker 1 (16:30):
I don't know if she felt like an unlikely CFO.
She seems like she is the person who sweats the execution.
That's what I got from her is he's the idea guy,
and he's the values guy, and he's the sales guy,
and she's the deliberate Yeah lady, Yeah yeah, that's what
I got from that.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
So a little bit on family, because I think I
could imagine a world where and you certainly see this
in personal lives too, it's a handshake or it some
implicit understanding with someone, especial when you're family. You don't
want a contract. You know, you don't want to broach
that right.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
It's awkward.
Speaker 4 (17:04):
Prenups are awkward. All these things are really awkward. How
do you think about legal contracts with family? Not with family?
What does that look like?
Speaker 1 (17:13):
They clearly don't because they've worked out a deal with each other and it seems very simpatico and fantastic. I wouldn't recommend it for most people. The other business lesson is about getting paid, and
we've talked about it on the show before. But what leaser.
Speaker 4 (17:25):
Focus ten day payment terms. I've never heard of those before.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
It sounds to me like those weren't necessarily the terms.
He just knew people who pay promptly. Yeah, but imagine
the courage it takes, particularly early in your tenure, to
say no to something because you don't like the payment terms. Yeah,
or to charge more and risk losing the business because
you don't like the payment terms.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
It's a hard thing to do.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
So hard to do. And I think pushing back on
all those things like, hey, we've got too much liability
and exposure here. I'm a small company. I can't take
on this amount of liability that you're asking for. But
it really does make all the difference.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Yeah. What I heard him saying is something I don't
hear from a lot of particularly new or small business owners,
which is thinking about the trade off between margin and
payment terms. I really don't hear that a lot. And
I thought he had a really thoughtful way of thinking
about it, which is I'll take longer payment terms, but
I'm going to get margin for it so that I
know that I'm mitigating my risks.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
Yeah, and he's also not afraid to collect.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Look, businesses rarely die because they run out of sales.
They die because they run out of cash. No one
wants to talk about that, but it's true. So you
know they've figured that out. Yeah, And I'm sure they're
carrying more cash on the balance sheet than they need
to and I think they're very happy about that. Thank
you very much. Okay, let's hear the next part of
Ron and Kelly's story. The first few years of the
(18:41):
business make everything sound like a happy ending was a given,
But don't forget. This isn't a fairy tale. This is
real life.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
It's difficult every year, it's just a different difficult our
first two years. I didn't want to grow too quick.
I was offered monster projects. I'm like, we can't afford it,
we can't fund it, we can't make it work, and
if we don't do it correctly, our end user will
never us again.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Moore United Construction grew slowly and most of their clients
and subcontractors from their previous work came with them. Early on,
there was a project manager Ron brought in to help
manage the workload.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
A lot of construction companies have estimators, have project managers.
Mine estimator project manager. You catch the fish, clean it,
cook it, and that's what we did.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
This project manager had a general contractor's license and he
was a great addition to the company.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
We're working on some fantastic universities and doing a lot of.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
Work, and he decided that he wanted to start his
own company. Well that's fine. If he were to come
to me and said I want to start my own company,
I would support him, wish him well, I'd even have
my subs help him. But he started his company. Why
he was under our payroll, under my time, taking clients
that were my clients.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
He is on our clock, received our pay and he's
quoting stuff for his new company. And the sad part
about it, when he told us he's starting his new company,
we offered to give him work and to have him
work as now a subcontractor.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
And when I found that out, we both decided he
was going to go on his merry way. He put
in his letter of resignation as soon as he knew
I knew, and he took some clients. We lost work
from certain clients that we had, and he's out doing
his thing. He doesn't really compete against us now. But
it was more heartbreaking to me. If you're not happy,
(20:40):
go find where you're going to be happy.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
There were a lot of f bombs that I said
behind closed doors. How can he just do this to us?
I was angry. I felt that he betrayed us. That's
one thing that has changed in my personality. It takes
a lot for me to trust you. I can't hear words,
(21:06):
I have to see actions.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
And you know, I didn't sue him, and I didn't
put him down and tell everybody not to use him
or anything like that. I'm not gonna have a heart
attack or stress over that. Good luck. I wish you
well and would go on to the next adventure with
my team.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
So it's really interesting. You've now described two betrayals to me, essentially,
one by your stepmother and one by your employee, and
both times I don't hear any vengeance. I don't hear
any sour eggs. I just hear, well, moving on with life.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
We know who we are and we just move on.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
I mean, Are you going to sit and dwell on this nonsense and have stomach acid and heartache? I'm blessed with wonderful children, I'm blessed with a wonderful wife, my sister's my partner, my best friend, let's drive on to make more work. Have your legacy be better than that. Because believe me, it's taken me years to think this way. Back in the old days, I would've broken some knees, but over the years you realize that it's not worth it. That there's karma, karma's going to come around to those people.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
So Ron said something really interesting to me during this
part of the conversation about his legacy, and to him,
legacy isn't Moore United Construction. It's not the money, even
though he and Kelly are on track to do about
twelve million dollars in sales this year. And it's not
leaving the company to their kids. The kids don't share
their passion for construction. No, they have a different happy
(22:30):
ending in mind. Altogether, our legacy is helping veterans. When
I did my time in the service, i left the Army,
did you serve overseas?
Speaker 3 (22:39):
I did. It's funny because back in '91, December of '91 when I got out, I got a slap on the butt and said, good luck. What am I going to do? I'm not going to let that happen to veterans, not on my watch. We work with homeless veterans when I see them, we hire veterans that come and work for our company, and I pay them a living wage. You want to be an electrician? Come on, I'm going to pay you $35 an hour, come work for us.They're not worth $35 an hour, but it's a living wage where they're not worried about their bills, they're learning something, and then they have a skill, and then 99% of them, they go work for bigger companies. And it's our legacy. My wife's behind me, my brother-in-law, my sister, we sit down and talk to veterans that are homeless, and we have go bags in our cars that have toiletries, food, blankets, towels.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
And the most important thing that we put in there was a plate and utensils, everybody deserves to eat off of a plate with utensils, so that's in our go bag. We see a homeless person, they're important, we value them. And my story of helping vets was I was driving up a street, one way, in a rush, and I turned and I was two inches away from hitting a homeless man that had a Vietnam vet hat on. And I go, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry I didn't see you." And he goes, "No one does." And I go, "No, seriously, I'm really sorry, I didn't see you." And he goes, "No one does." And so, I started driving and then I called into work and I go, "I'm not going to be in today." I turned around, picked him up, got him in my car, I got him some food, we sat at a park for eight hours. I go, "I see you. What do you need? I'm here. I see you." And I kept track of him for like six months helping him out.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
And I'm on the board of directors for Pomona Valley
Habitat for Humanity and our company just finished being a
part of building two houses for veterans and we didn't
make a penny on it. It was paying forward to
help these veterans. And we give scholarships to colleges to
veterans every year. And when I was going to college,
(24:48):
the GI Bill paid for my college. I just starved
and couldn't afford to do anything. Our scholarship pays for
their food, their rent, their car, their insurance, their gas,
whatever they need other than their tuition, because that military
pays for that. So we gave out ten this year
to various veterans.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
We're free because of our soldiers, you know, and our
military people, and I'm thankful and I want to show
it every day.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
I do want to talk a little bit about the
way that they give back, because you and I have
talked a lot about small business and how generous small
business owners are, but I think they might have broken
a new record for how committed they are to these causes.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
It was humbling to listen to that, at least for me,
because the level of commitment to give back to the
community in the smallest ways, it's part of their ethos
and their DNA.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
I think that's right, they clearly have a passion. It sounds like half their family's in the armed forces, which is fantastic because they're helping defend America. But I hear all the time, and I see it in my work, Kathleen, that the resources that we have available to recruit and train our soldiers far exceeds the tools and resources we give them when they leave the service. Yeah, And it can be a pretty jarring experience for a lot of people when they get out, and have to reassimilate into civilian life. They have tons of skills. When Ryan was on the show talking about the Warrior Scholar Project, we learned a lot about that, there's a lot of good they can do, but they need help. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:21):
I heard them talk about kind of three levels of
work that they were doing. They had just general support
with their teams and people that they were employing and
that sort of thing. Then they were doing upskilling to
your point, military veterans and giving them something tangible that
they can use in the world which keeps people relevant.
And then mentorship really giving back. They're focused on how
(26:45):
do they help train other people who don't have as
much experience as them. And I love the point about
don't reinvent the wheel like this has been done before,
and a great mentor can help you just leap frog
where you're not figuring everything out for the first time.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
Yeah, they've been terrific partners for us. They were part
of our Coaching for Impact program, which is a program
we have to coach small business owners on various aspects
of running their business, and they've also been willing to
give back then and coach other businesses, and the multiplier
effect on that is enormous. So we're really grateful to them.
Speaker 4 (27:19):
Yeah, I mean that program is so great you guys
have done. I had heard close to ten thousand businesses.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
We're over ten thousand over.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
I mean, and what resource to have. It's just to
be able to have this free resource that you can
turn to. Huge, huge, huge, huge.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Yeah, Kathleen, always good to see you. It's great to
be together again for the holidays.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
Yeah, I'm so glad we got to do it. We
got the whole team here too, with us in person.
So looking forward to a holiday drink after.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Yes, I don't know when this is airing, but it's
the holidays right now and we get to say so.
So did close this out. I want to ask each
of you a question we asked to all our guests.
If you had one piece of advice that you could
give to our listeners about starting and or running a
small business. Piece of advice be I would.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
Say, don't think you're going to control the world at
the beginning. Start small, but service oriented. Your name be honorable.
Everybody knows that company, that person that you can't trust
or believe you've only got your name. I pitch that
with my children, I pitch it with everybody else. So
be service oriented, drive, push, don't quit, don't ever quit Kelly.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
So my one idea of advice for them would be
be true. If you love baking and you want to
start your own business, make it your life. Don't go
after Oh this is a great way to make money.
But I hate doing this because you have one life.
You got to enjoy it and love it and be
(28:48):
true to it. And same with what Ron says, be steady.
I want to take over the world, and he reels
me in all the time, because the steady person will
win the race and money will come. As long as
you're honest and you take care of your clients, it'll come.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
I'd like to point out the CFO just said that
take care of the clients and the money will come.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
It will come. And what's interesting is being honest and
caring and giving back.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
Well, thank you both for being here. This is awesome,
what a great business you've built.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Thank you, Ben, really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
You should be really proud, very proud.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Unshakeables.
If you liked this episode, please rate and review it.
Next time we're talking to a man on a quest
to bring manufacturing back to America.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
We would have way more people involved in careers that
can't be replicated or can't be taken over necessarily by AI.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
I'm Ben Walter, and this is The Unshakeables from Chase
for Business and Ruby Studio from iHeartMedia. We'll see you
back here soon.
Ruby. A long time ago, well, not so long, it was the '90s, in a far away place, if you consider California far, lived a brother and sister, Ron and Kelly Moore. Now, there are no princes or princesses in this story, but once upon a time, they worked at their father's small business, a flooring company.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I started working for my father in nineteen eighty nine.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Here I am a 23-year-old kid, and I thought, okay, I'm going to be vice president, my dad said, "You're starting in the warehouse."
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Over the following decades, both worked their way up to
rule their respective kingdoms within Moore flooring, and then tragedy struck.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
My father had pancreatic cancer, and he had his trust
where I had the company, the building and everything else.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
He passed away in twenty fourteen.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
And then when my father past, my stepmother came in
and said, oh, he changed it a couple months when.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
He was terminal, when he was taking chemo. She had
him sign the tress differently.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
And she gets everything.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
They were married twenty years and she was kind and loving.
It's hard because even though she was our stepmom, she
was my mom. We're extremely close. It was hard losing
a mother and father that day.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
And just like that, brother and sister were cast out on their own. Everything Ron and Kelly had been working for, everything that had been promised to them was gone. But this isn't where the story ends, in fact, it's only the beginning. Welcome to The Unshakeables, from Chase for Business and Ruby Studio from iHeart Media. I'm Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business. There's nothing small about the impact small businesses have on America. They don't just drive our economy, they define our communities, create opportunities, and inspire the next generation of dreamers and builders. On The Unshakeables, we are sharing the daring moments
(02:15):
of business owners facing their crisis points and telling the
stories of how they got through it. If you're joining
us for the first time, welcome, If you're a longtime listener,
welcome back. Well, here we are, everyone, season three. Kathleen, it's great to have you back
Speaker 4 (02:30):
We back, We're back in the building.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
I know we got some great stories for everyone this season.
You and I are going to have our hands full.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
We are, and the lineup looks incredible, And it's funny
because now knowing what businesses you gravitate toward versus the
ones that I tend to gravitate toward. It feels like
an even split a little bit. So I'm excited.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Yeah, we don't cook this up as much as you think,
but we do have our majors and minors, so I
think it'll work out pretty well. I think we're gonna
have some great stories for you this season, and I
look forward to seeing how we pick them apart.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
Yeah, me too, excited to be in your co-pilot chair.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
This season, we're starting off in sunny California, some would say the land of fairy tales. Let's get further into the story. On today's episode, Moore United Construction from Ontario, California. We have Ron and Kelly Moore on the show today. Now, we've had a few married couples, but this is our first time having a brother and sister on the show. They founded their company together, and it probably went so well because the first time they had worked together was not when they started this company. I love it when siblings can grow up and get along and find ways to do things together. But as I understand it, you both grew up in a small family business.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Yes we did. Our father owned a business and we
both worked for him. I went to the military and
when I came out, I worked for him for about
twenty one.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Years and then I started. He wanted me answer phones
in high school and here I am thirty years later
in construction.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
So you both worked for the company. And what was
his business.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
It was called Moore flooring and there was commercial flooring.
It wasn't easy. He was tough, you know. He made
us work hard. There was no nine to five. I
started as the warehouse kid, and twenty two years later
I worked my way up to the president of the company.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Yeah. I think that was the best thing he could
have done for us, as having us started answering phones
and warehouse and learn everybody's job and what we need
to do going forward.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
It took a while for Ron and Kelly to fully
appreciate their father's lessons, but from the very beginning, no
matter how tough their father was around the office, he
still found ways to be Dad. He'd call Kelly into
his office for a quote unquote meeting.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
He goes over the PA and he goes, Kelly, you
need to come in here right now and grab your
pen and paper. And I go in there and he goes, Okay,
whoever guesses The Price is Right showdown pays for lunch.
The other one doesn't.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Now, clearly you're not with Moore flooring anymore. So how
did that all come to pass?
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Well, he got cancer and all of sudden he passed away
from the cancer. And stepmom came in and said, your
dad changed.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
His trust when he was doing chemo.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
When he was doing chemo, and you get nothing, she
gets everything.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Yeah. Had he actually done that?
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Oh yeah, but he didn't know what he was saying.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
It was at the end.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
What really struck me about this tale was that Kelly
made it clear that their stepmother hadn't acted like that before.
They'd had a great relationship, but unfortunately it splintered in
those final hours.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
She was my mom, and this is where I get a little emotional, very involved with my kids... It was hard to see a person who was so loved by all of us, and who loved us, pretty much cut us off. That was where we worked with our father, and from day one, this building's yours, and it was paid for, and in California, it was a lot of money if we wanted to buy that building. Now, it was hard losing a mother and father that day. And her grandkids lost their grandmother and grandfather. We had dinners at least once a week, they went to every function, every event, and they were like their second parents. Our father put together a box for each child, and each grandchild, we put something that he cared about to give to each of us in this box. And I'm sure a lot of it were books that he read to us or the kids, huge into reading. To this day, we haven't received one thing.I asked her if I could have the clothes to make a quilt for the grandchildren, a papa quilt. "You're getting nothing," they went to Goodwill somewhere. No pictures, no box. With that happening, my brother and I are not one to prolong anything, so we ended up saying, okay, it is what it is, let's just go forward.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
They took different paths forward. Ron stuck around another month
or so to make sure more flooring wasn't going to
be totally destroyed, but then he and Kelly both left
for greener pastures.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
I went to work for a different type of construction,
freeways and tunnels, a large fortune five hundred construction company,
and I have three hundred and fifty employees below me.
I'm at the peak of my career, making a lot
of money, all these benefits and constructions. Kind of hard
to have all these benefits, and it was really a
(07:53):
nice home kind of because everybody was very kind, but
I missed my family.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Ron took a different path.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
I went straight to a couple of my friends that owned a construction company, and said, "Do you need a partner?" And they brought me in and I was with them for seven years. When I left, my clients weren't Moore Flooring's clients, they were mine and they went with me to my next adventure in life. And I was a partner with them for seven years, and we built that company up from doing three million to about 20 million a year. I was doing very well.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
But it wasn't Moore flooring. It wasn't a Moore company
at all.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
And I realized that these are great guys, they have
a great company, but it's not for me. I need
full control. Everybody has a drive and they have a direction,
and that wasn't mine. My ultimate direction was to start
my own company again and run it and make it
how I wanted, make our company legacy, how it's supposed
to be.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Ron just needed one thing to get started.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
I called Kelly up and I said, I'm starting my
own thing.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
And I go, "I'm proud of you, that's fantastic." And he told me, "Well, I need you." And I go, "For what?" And he goes, "To help me start it."
Speaker 3 (09:14):
We're best friends. We've always talked all the time.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
I'm at the peak of my company. I'm in my fifties.
Starting over is going to be crazy, and so he goes, well,
you and I just want to start my own company.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Kelly went home that night and Ron's business was all
she could think about.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Thinking about how hard it will be for him to
find an employee that is protective like I am, and
to make sure everything is done correctly. Ron is fantastic
with clients, but Admin's side of it, he needed my help.
(09:53):
The next day, I called him and I go, are
you serious?
Speaker 3 (09:56):
I said, I'm for real, and she goes, well, I
gave my two weeks.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
I go, okay, are the clients coming with us? And
he goes, I don't know. That was scary because I
was single at the time, paying for all my bills
and making sure that I can take care of myself financially.
We took a huge pay cut starting the company really
not making anything.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Ron even took out a home equity line of credit, or HELOC, to get things going.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
I remember the first month I took 200,000 to buy equipment and materials and this and that, I'm like, if I don't succeed, I'm going to lose the house, everything I've worked so many years for.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
As Ron gathered materials, he also scheduled meetings all over town.
He met with all of his clients and let them
know what he and Kelly were doing. Meanwhile, Kelly was
getting everything together on her end.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
I'm getting all the contracts and paperwork, and buying a computer, and getting a business license, getting all our certificates, he's a disabled veteran-owned company, for myself, learning all of that through the state... It took a while, and getting the proper licenses and everything. We did not have a physical location, meetings in parking lots, meetings in my living room, at my house, and my brother's living room.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Then one of their subcontractors offered up a warehouse he
had and Ron and Kelly moved in. They were officially
back in business together under the name Moore United Construction,
and they were interested in expanding beyond flooring.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
Moore Flooring was a flooring company, and yeah, it was
a great company and it was strong. But if you
don't diversify, you're going to die on the vine. And
one day I was saying, you know, I'm just looking
at floors. Why am I not looking at walls and
ceilings and everything else. So diversity was very important, and
that's why now we have our flooring division, or construction division,
(12:02):
or a lighting division. Now we're starting up a solar division.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
So what were the first few jobs you did? I mean,
you're out of the gate constructions of capital, heavy business.
You borrow money to start, you take out a HELOC?
What were those first few jobs?
Speaker 3 (12:18):
What was great is the clients that I have worked with, one of my colleges, Mount San Antonio College, gave me small projects with quick turnaround, paid me within 10 days. The US Post Office, I've done work for them, quick turnaround, they pay me within 10 days. I do work for Tarkett, which is a big manufacturing company, they pay me within 10 days. I focused on them, so I can get that 10 day money in quick so we can start building it. And the whole thing was is, I told Kelly, let's do a million dollars first year, slow climb, and we'll build up from there. First year we did three million. I said, whoa, okay, good profit, good profit margins, kept the money in the bank, slow. Kelly.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
I'm curious you're the CFO of the company. As a banker,
I tell people a lot about the importance of cash
flow and getting paid on time. We see lots of clients,
especially when they're starting out, more focused on winning the
business than getting paid for the business. So can you
talk about how you think about that as the CFO
of the company, Like, how do you think about cash
flow and getting paid?
Speaker 2 (13:22):
That's a great question. Sometimes we get a client that doesn't pay right away, and we have to take that into our thought process if we're going to bid on more jobs with them. But it's really about what type of clients that helps our cash flow, and having that thought process of knowing which money we can count on and when we need it, and we don't spend, we really keep the money in house and have it in the bank to where we're old school and been around a long time that rainy day.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
That rainy day, well, the two of them were just
Speaker 4 (14:05):
a delight and a pleasure I just was sitting there
listening to your conversation with them, like so much heart,
military business, sibling business, service business, all heart against this
crazy backdrop of like a dark fairy tale and an
evil stepmother, and they're just like maintaining their love and light.
(14:27):
But what I also loved about it is it reminded
me of what makes business great in this country. I
think the media and I feel like you feel this
way too, Like we're so fixated on the cool, shiny
founders and businesses and this is just like a wholesome,
heart centered, do the right thing, lead with integrity sort
(14:49):
of American business, yes.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
And American capitalism can be a force for good. Yeah, And they are the living embodiment of that, they're just terrific. When I reflect on the way that they started the business and what they came from, the way that he takes hits is something to study. I really believe that, because we've had so many guests on this show who've had this happen to them and that, and these really tough things, and we talk about this unshakable spirit, and for a guy who's all heart, he was remarkably stoic about some pretty tough things. The business that he'd worked for his whole life, he got swindled out of, and he picked himself up, moved on and just said, well, guess it's a new day.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
He just kept it moving. Just kept it moving. Because you can be so consumed by that animosity and the spite, and we've heard a spite speech before. Totally.
It can be all consuming. But being able to just
say onwards.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
They're just positive, looking to the future kind of people,
which is great.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Yeah, we haven't had a brother's sister before. I thought
that was remarkable. I mean, I'm close with my sister,
I'm close with my brother. I don't know if we
could think you could do it. I don't think we
could do it, Okay, And I'm really close with them.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
Yeah, I certainly couldn't. No way on earth. And I just love... They're truly simpatico with each other.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Husband and wife is more common than sister brother. But
I will say, whenever we see family businesses, the ones
who do well are the ones who have figured out
the dynamic and figured out in particular the power dynamic.
Who's in charge of what, who takes the lead where,
who has decision rights where if that's unclear, it's a
lot tougher.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
Did she on that roll piece? Did she feel like
an unlikely CFO to you?
Speaker 1 (16:30):
I don't know if she felt like an unlikely CFO.
She seems like she is the person who sweats the execution.
That's what I got from her is he's the idea guy,
and he's the values guy, and he's the sales guy,
and she's the deliberate Yeah lady, Yeah yeah, that's what
I got from that.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
So a little bit on family, because I think I
could imagine a world where and you certainly see this
in personal lives too, it's a handshake or it some
implicit understanding with someone, especial when you're family. You don't
want a contract. You know, you don't want to broach
that right.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
It's awkward.
Speaker 4 (17:04):
Prenups are awkward. All these things are really awkward. How
do you think about legal contracts with family? Not with family?
What does that look like?
Speaker 1 (17:13):
They clearly don't because they've worked out a deal with each other and it seems very simpatico and fantastic. I wouldn't recommend it for most people. The other business lesson is about getting paid, and
we've talked about it on the show before. But what leaser.
Speaker 4 (17:25):
Focus ten day payment terms. I've never heard of those before.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
It sounds to me like those weren't necessarily the terms.
He just knew people who pay promptly. Yeah, but imagine
the courage it takes, particularly early in your tenure, to
say no to something because you don't like the payment terms. Yeah,
or to charge more and risk losing the business because
you don't like the payment terms.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
It's a hard thing to do.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
So hard to do. And I think pushing back on
all those things like, hey, we've got too much liability
and exposure here. I'm a small company. I can't take
on this amount of liability that you're asking for. But
it really does make all the difference.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Yeah. What I heard him saying is something I don't
hear from a lot of particularly new or small business owners,
which is thinking about the trade off between margin and
payment terms. I really don't hear that a lot. And
I thought he had a really thoughtful way of thinking
about it, which is I'll take longer payment terms, but
I'm going to get margin for it so that I
know that I'm mitigating my risks.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
Yeah, and he's also not afraid to collect.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Look, businesses rarely die because they run out of sales.
They die because they run out of cash. No one
wants to talk about that, but it's true. So you
know they've figured that out. Yeah, And I'm sure they're
carrying more cash on the balance sheet than they need
to and I think they're very happy about that. Thank
you very much. Okay, let's hear the next part of
Ron and Kelly's story. The first few years of the
(18:41):
business make everything sound like a happy ending was a given,
But don't forget. This isn't a fairy tale. This is
real life.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
It's difficult every year, it's just a different difficult our
first two years. I didn't want to grow too quick.
I was offered monster projects. I'm like, we can't afford it,
we can't fund it, we can't make it work, and
if we don't do it correctly, our end user will
never us again.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Moore United Construction grew slowly and most of their clients
and subcontractors from their previous work came with them. Early on,
there was a project manager Ron brought in to help
manage the workload.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
A lot of construction companies have estimators, have project managers.
Mine estimator project manager. You catch the fish, clean it,
cook it, and that's what we did.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
This project manager had a general contractor's license and he
was a great addition to the company.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
We're working on some fantastic universities and doing a lot of.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
Work, and he decided that he wanted to start his
own company. Well that's fine. If he were to come
to me and said I want to start my own company,
I would support him, wish him well, I'd even have
my subs help him. But he started his company. Why
he was under our payroll, under my time, taking clients
that were my clients.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
He is on our clock, received our pay and he's
quoting stuff for his new company. And the sad part
about it, when he told us he's starting his new company,
we offered to give him work and to have him
work as now a subcontractor.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
And when I found that out, we both decided he
was going to go on his merry way. He put
in his letter of resignation as soon as he knew
I knew, and he took some clients. We lost work
from certain clients that we had, and he's out doing
his thing. He doesn't really compete against us now. But
it was more heartbreaking to me. If you're not happy,
(20:40):
go find where you're going to be happy.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
There were a lot of f bombs that I said
behind closed doors. How can he just do this to us?
I was angry. I felt that he betrayed us. That's
one thing that has changed in my personality. It takes
a lot for me to trust you. I can't hear words,
(21:06):
I have to see actions.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
And you know, I didn't sue him, and I didn't
put him down and tell everybody not to use him
or anything like that. I'm not gonna have a heart
attack or stress over that. Good luck. I wish you
well and would go on to the next adventure with
my team.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
So it's really interesting. You've now described two betrayals to me, essentially,
one by your stepmother and one by your employee, and
both times I don't hear any vengeance. I don't hear
any sour eggs. I just hear, well, moving on with life.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
We know who we are and we just move on.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
I mean, Are you going to sit and dwell on this nonsense and have stomach acid and heartache? I'm blessed with wonderful children, I'm blessed with a wonderful wife, my sister's my partner, my best friend, let's drive on to make more work. Have your legacy be better than that. Because believe me, it's taken me years to think this way. Back in the old days, I would've broken some knees, but over the years you realize that it's not worth it. That there's karma, karma's going to come around to those people.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
So Ron said something really interesting to me during this
part of the conversation about his legacy, and to him,
legacy isn't Moore United Construction. It's not the money, even
though he and Kelly are on track to do about
twelve million dollars in sales this year. And it's not
leaving the company to their kids. The kids don't share
their passion for construction. No, they have a different happy
(22:30):
ending in mind. Altogether, our legacy is helping veterans. When
I did my time in the service, i left the Army,
did you serve overseas?
Speaker 3 (22:39):
I did. It's funny because back in '91, December of '91 when I got out, I got a slap on the butt and said, good luck. What am I going to do? I'm not going to let that happen to veterans, not on my watch. We work with homeless veterans when I see them, we hire veterans that come and work for our company, and I pay them a living wage. You want to be an electrician? Come on, I'm going to pay you $35 an hour, come work for us.They're not worth $35 an hour, but it's a living wage where they're not worried about their bills, they're learning something, and then they have a skill, and then 99% of them, they go work for bigger companies. And it's our legacy. My wife's behind me, my brother-in-law, my sister, we sit down and talk to veterans that are homeless, and we have go bags in our cars that have toiletries, food, blankets, towels.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
And the most important thing that we put in there was a plate and utensils, everybody deserves to eat off of a plate with utensils, so that's in our go bag. We see a homeless person, they're important, we value them. And my story of helping vets was I was driving up a street, one way, in a rush, and I turned and I was two inches away from hitting a homeless man that had a Vietnam vet hat on. And I go, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry I didn't see you." And he goes, "No one does." And I go, "No, seriously, I'm really sorry, I didn't see you." And he goes, "No one does." And so, I started driving and then I called into work and I go, "I'm not going to be in today." I turned around, picked him up, got him in my car, I got him some food, we sat at a park for eight hours. I go, "I see you. What do you need? I'm here. I see you." And I kept track of him for like six months helping him out.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
And I'm on the board of directors for Pomona Valley
Habitat for Humanity and our company just finished being a
part of building two houses for veterans and we didn't
make a penny on it. It was paying forward to
help these veterans. And we give scholarships to colleges to
veterans every year. And when I was going to college,
(24:48):
the GI Bill paid for my college. I just starved
and couldn't afford to do anything. Our scholarship pays for
their food, their rent, their car, their insurance, their gas,
whatever they need other than their tuition, because that military
pays for that. So we gave out ten this year
to various veterans.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
We're free because of our soldiers, you know, and our
military people, and I'm thankful and I want to show
it every day.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
I do want to talk a little bit about the
way that they give back, because you and I have
talked a lot about small business and how generous small
business owners are, but I think they might have broken
a new record for how committed they are to these causes.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
It was humbling to listen to that, at least for me,
because the level of commitment to give back to the
community in the smallest ways, it's part of their ethos
and their DNA.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
I think that's right, they clearly have a passion. It sounds like half their family's in the armed forces, which is fantastic because they're helping defend America. But I hear all the time, and I see it in my work, Kathleen, that the resources that we have available to recruit and train our soldiers far exceeds the tools and resources we give them when they leave the service. Yeah, And it can be a pretty jarring experience for a lot of people when they get out, and have to reassimilate into civilian life. They have tons of skills. When Ryan was on the show talking about the Warrior Scholar Project, we learned a lot about that, there's a lot of good they can do, but they need help. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:21):
I heard them talk about kind of three levels of
work that they were doing. They had just general support
with their teams and people that they were employing and
that sort of thing. Then they were doing upskilling to
your point, military veterans and giving them something tangible that
they can use in the world which keeps people relevant.
And then mentorship really giving back. They're focused on how
(26:45):
do they help train other people who don't have as
much experience as them. And I love the point about
don't reinvent the wheel like this has been done before,
and a great mentor can help you just leap frog
where you're not figuring everything out for the first time.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
Yeah, they've been terrific partners for us. They were part
of our Coaching for Impact program, which is a program
we have to coach small business owners on various aspects
of running their business, and they've also been willing to
give back then and coach other businesses, and the multiplier
effect on that is enormous. So we're really grateful to them.
Speaker 4 (27:19):
Yeah, I mean that program is so great you guys
have done. I had heard close to ten thousand businesses.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
We're over ten thousand over.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
I mean, and what resource to have. It's just to
be able to have this free resource that you can
turn to. Huge, huge, huge, huge.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Yeah, Kathleen, always good to see you. It's great to
be together again for the holidays.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
Yeah, I'm so glad we got to do it. We
got the whole team here too, with us in person.
So looking forward to a holiday drink after.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Yes, I don't know when this is airing, but it's
the holidays right now and we get to say so.
So did close this out. I want to ask each
of you a question we asked to all our guests.
If you had one piece of advice that you could
give to our listeners about starting and or running a
small business. Piece of advice be I would.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
Say, don't think you're going to control the world at
the beginning. Start small, but service oriented. Your name be honorable.
Everybody knows that company, that person that you can't trust
or believe you've only got your name. I pitch that
with my children, I pitch it with everybody else. So
be service oriented, drive, push, don't quit, don't ever quit Kelly.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
So my one idea of advice for them would be
be true. If you love baking and you want to
start your own business, make it your life. Don't go
after Oh this is a great way to make money.
But I hate doing this because you have one life.
You got to enjoy it and love it and be
(28:48):
true to it. And same with what Ron says, be steady.
I want to take over the world, and he reels
me in all the time, because the steady person will
win the race and money will come. As long as
you're honest and you take care of your clients, it'll come.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
I'd like to point out the CFO just said that
take care of the clients and the money will come.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
It will come. And what's interesting is being honest and
caring and giving back.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
Well, thank you both for being here. This is awesome,
what a great business you've built.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Thank you, Ben, really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
You should be really proud, very proud.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Unshakeables.
If you liked this episode, please rate and review it.
Next time we're talking to a man on a quest
to bring manufacturing back to America.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
We would have way more people involved in careers that
can't be replicated or can't be taken over necessarily by AI.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
I'm Ben Walter, and this is The Unshakeables from Chase
for Business and Ruby Studio from iHeartMedia. We'll see you
back here soon.
Hosts And Creators
Ben Walter
Kathleen Griffith
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