Cut The Tie Podcast with Thomas Helfrich
Episode 279
Christine Sugrue spent 25 years in education as a Brooklyn middle school teacher—but a simple scooter ride changed everything. In this episode of Cut The Tie, host Thomas Helfrich sits down with Christine to talk about the leap from classroom to founder, the mindset shift from “just a teacher” to entrepreneur, and why you don’t need to wait for permission to start.
Christine shares how her small business idea, sparked by a friend’s family trip, evolved into Scoot, a micro scooter rental service helping kids explore NYC like locals. From burnout to bold moves, Christine reveals the power of trusting yourself even when it feels scary—and how AI gave her the early momentum to launch.
About Christine Sugrue:
Christine is the founder of Scoot, a micro scooter rental company for kids visiting New York City. With a background in education and a deep understanding of what brings kids joy, she combined her experience and entrepreneurial spirit to help families have more fun, less fatigue, and truly memorable NYC adventures. Christine is also a passionate advocate for late bloomers, reinvention, and saying yes before you’re ready.
In this episode, Thomas and Christine discuss:
- Leaving the classroom:
Burnout from 25 years in education led Christine to reimagine her purpose—for herself and her family. - The accidental business idea:
A casual favor for a friend’s kid sparked Scoot, a unique scooter rental concept with real market demand. - How AI helped her start:
Tools like ChatGPT and Canva gave her the momentum to move from “what if” to “why not.” - The identity crisis of reinvention:
Letting go of being “just a teacher” took emotional work—but unlocked personal and professional growth. - Why starting scrappy works:
Christine didn’t wait for perfection—she took action, pitched boldly, and built as she went.
Key Takeaways:
- Your identity isn’t your job title
You’re not limited to what’s printed on a contract. Reinvention starts when you give yourself permission. - Sometimes a great idea just needs space to breathe
A moment of inspiration—paired with action—can turn into something far bigger than you imagined. - You don’t need permission to try something new
Waiting for the “right” moment is just fear in disguise. Start before you feel ready. - Burnout is often a signal—not a failure
When you feel drained, it’s time to realign—not double down. - Validation often comes from strangers, not friends
The proof that your idea is real often shows up in the people who don’t know you—but still say yes. - Starting ugly is better than never starting
You can refine it later. Take the first step now.
Connect with Christine Sugrue:
🛴 Website: https://www.skootbk.com/
📸 Instagram: @skootbk
💼 LinkedIn: Christine Sugrue
Connect with Thomas Helfrich:
🐦 Twitter: @thelfrich
📘 Facebook: Cut The Tie Group
💼 LinkedIn: Thomas Helfrich
PodMatchPodMatch Automatically Matches Ideal Podcast Guests and Hosts For Interviews
Serious about LinkedIn Lead Generation? Stop Guessing what to do on LinkedIn and ignite revenue from relevance with Instantly Relevant Lead Syste
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Cut the Tie podcast.
I'm your host, thomas Helfrich.
We're going to help you cut atie today, something holding you
back so you can unleash thebest version of yourself and, if
you're an entrepreneur, thebest entrepreneur you can be.
Today, I'm joined by ChristineChagrou.
And Christine, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:15):
I'm very good.
How are you?
Speaker 1 (00:17):
I'm delicious.
Thank you for asking.
Just returned from a week ofcamping, so I don't know what up
or down is or what technologyis supposed to do, but we'll get
through this together.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
It's going to be great.
Christine, do you want to takea moment introduce yourself?
So my name is Christine Chagrou.
I recently founded Scoot, amicro scooter rental company
aimed for kids.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
I've done this after 25 years as a public school
middle school teacher, soprofessionally I had a very safe
career until now, where I feellike I've sort of jumped off the
edge into the unknown.
(01:00):
It isn't the edge in theunknown, probably less
administrative bullshit, butyou're a different kind of BS.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
You know one where I'm in charge of the decisions
that get executed.
We're working in public service, so much of things that I'm
asked to do aren't necessarilythe things that I think should
be happening, so that was one ofthe one of the things really
motivating me is I wanted to bethe master of my own destiny.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Yeah, that's well.
That's.
That's one of the biggest drawsof entrepreneurship.
There's a there's a lot ofthings that get challenging with
it.
Talk about your companies alittle bit about what it does
and why people you know should,should pick the, the scootering
ideas that you have with theworld.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Well, I live in downtown Brooklyn.
I live right next to theBrooklyn Bridge.
So for the past 20 years,pretty much every time I step
out of my apartment, I'm givingsomebody directions to local
landmarks, whether it's the bestice cream place, the best pizza
place or simply how to get onthe walkway to the Brooklyn
Bridge.
(02:05):
So, as a resident in a reallytouristy area, I've always had
this sort of inkling that whatdo people need who come here?
And when families come and wesee them walking over the
Brooklyn Bridge every day fromour window you see kids being
(02:25):
dragged by their parents, likeoften literally dragged hands
pulling.
And kids are here in New YorkCity having what should be this
awesome experience to travel toNew York, and they don't always
look very happy to be doing it.
You know New York is a walkingcity.
Look very happy to be doing it.
(02:48):
You know New York is a walkingcity and people are coming from
all over and not most placesdon't have that level of walking
that New York does.
So After a friend came to visit, I actually said what.
What's missing for all of thesefamilies that are visiting is a
way for their kids to getaround and enjoy getting around.
(03:08):
And what I realized is that'sactually how New York kids get
around, and if you walk throughNew York City, if you see a New
York family going someplace,chances are their kid is on the
scooter, whether they'rescooting to school, scooting to
soccer practice, and it's how mykids got around.
So I feel like when peopletravel to a place, they do want
(03:29):
to have that more localexperience.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
And it seems to be something that's missing from
the tourist market in New YorkCity.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Well, in your journey to doing this, just talk about
your journey a little bit more,about how you became an
entrepreneur and at the end ofthat, tell me.
One of my best friends had justleft after a two-week visit and
I said to my husband I have anidea, and we've been married 20
(04:14):
years.
On Wednesday and I've said Ihave an idea a lot of times over
the past 20 years, but usuallywe kind of pick apart the idea
and then it goes away until thenext one comes.
So this one I had the idea, andthe first step after one of my
ideas is always Googling it tosee if it already exists.
(04:34):
And often my brilliant ideaswere discovered by somebody
prior to me.
So this one, like it, doesn'texist.
There's no place for people toget this here.
You know there's people rentbikes in New York City the brave
few who want to bike throughNew York City, usually older
(04:57):
kids or adults and people rentcarriages when they visit.
So from there, this was.
You know I went to sort of thatnext step.
Well, what would I need to do?
And ChatGPT makes finding outwhat you need to do pretty easy
and quick.
So I started using AI.
(05:19):
For, you know, give me 10things I would need to do to
start this business and thenfrom there you kind of have this
synopsis and obviously youcan't just trust ChatGPT with
your time and your money and allthe things that go into
starting a business.
But it gave me sort of thatquick overview that I was then
(05:40):
able to investigate the stepsand I was able to take a step
and then break it down further.
Then able to investigate thesteps and I was able to take a
step and then break it downfurther.
So I realized with this type ofventure there's obviously a lot
of liability when you're dealingwith children and mobility.
So I knew I would need an LLCto offer protection and so I
said, well, it's a couple ofhundred bucks, let me, let me
(06:03):
spend a couple of hundred bucksand and get the, the LLC.
And you know, then it was like,okay, what's my next?
You know, my next biggestexpense it's well, I need the
scooters, but that's actuallynot the biggest expense the.
The next biggest expense wasinsurance.
So then I started callinginsurance and it just sort of
(06:26):
one step at a time, like, and Istarted off with a to-do list.
You know, I just a simple to-dolist.
That was what do I need to doif I want to start this business
.
And from that to-do list, whichwas my overall starting a
business list, it then was like,oh, I'm going to have a to-do
list, which was my overallstarting a business list.
It then was like, oh, I'm goingto have a to-do list by month.
(06:50):
And now I'm at the point itjust kind of evolved because
with each step I took there were20 other things that needed to
be done.
Now I have the daily to-do listas we get ready to really to
really launch our, our business.
So it was.
It was really one sort of onestep at a time and as I did each
(07:15):
step, um, I was furthercommitted to the idea.
One of the one of the big piecesthat that started happening was
I had to reach out to peoplewhich, professionally, as a
teacher, was not really in mywheelhouse.
So I reached out to MicroKickscooters.
(07:37):
That's the brand of scooterthat my kids always had.
It's what you see all over NewYork.
They're really high quality.
They're sort of rubberizedwheels, are great for the city
streets so they hold up for theamount of miles that kids put on
it.
And when I reached out to themand they got back to me and
(07:57):
spoke to me as the founder of abusiness, that was really sort
of reaffirming, and you know Iwould get off a call and have
sort of a giggle like I'm ateacher, I'm not a business
owner, and you know my mindsetstarted to shift with each call
(08:17):
and ultimately I ended up in ameeting with the CEO of the
company who then sponsored thescooters for our business
because she believed in the ideaand actually believed that our
idea would support their company.
(08:38):
That was the I'm all in.
This is more than just methinking I have a good idea that
this is something that couldreally work.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Was the tie then?
Just getting over the identityyou assigned yourself?
I'm just a teacher.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Yeah, that's I mean for 25 years.
And there's risks in teaching.
I mean standing up in front ofmiddle school students every day
.
You're taking certain risksevery time you work with kids,
because they will tell you howit is and they will let you know
if they don't like what you'redoing.
But it's very different and Iknow it and I know kids and this
(09:25):
thought.
You know I've heard of impostersyndrome, but then, making that
shift, it became such a realterm to me, like I don't have to
.
You know, no, I don't have tojust be a teacher.
I could.
I could be something else andactually the things I learned as
(09:47):
a teacher and the things I knowabout kids are part of my
business model that I've.
Actually, I feel like asteachers you do sort of feel
pigeonholed.
It's like you've never leftschool.
You almost feel like you arestill a student and it's been
(10:08):
interesting to sort of take this, embrace a new identity, but
realize that I've had awonderful career but I'm also
ready.
I'm ready to do something else,and after 25 years of working
for the city of New York, itsounds like a long time.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
You talked about a little bit, but do you remember
the moment when you knew youwere going to cut the tie?
But do you remember the momentwhen?
Speaker 2 (10:44):
you knew you were going to cut the tie.
When I got off that meetingwith Micro Kickboard, I was all
in, I said this is it.
I just conducted a meeting, Ihad an agenda and I you know,
and I followed it and I was ableto to talk about my plan with
(11:04):
them and make a deal ultimately,which the and the people in the
meeting, the CEO of MicroKickboard and the other women it
was all women which was alsoreally empowering to me, like
seeing these other women inbusiness and working together to
(11:26):
sort of bringing it bring anidea to life.
I was like they're doing it.
I, I could do it.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Right, you do, and so would you have ever imagined
that a year prior, that afterjust one meeting, you were like
I'm all in.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Right and you know, I think one of the one of the
things is sort of like timing.
You know, and if, if I was togive advice to anyone, it would
be that, like you almost can'tworry about the timing, that if
you do, the timing's neveractually going to be right.
(12:04):
Like I took a huge chunk of oursavings to make to make this
happen, to pay the insurancecompany and to start this.
I have two sons who are juniorsin high school right now and,
luckily, a very supportivehusband, but the decision it was
(12:26):
like I had this meeting.
I'm like I'm doing this.
I'm doing this despite lookingdown the barrel of two college
tuitions in the next two years.
I'm doing this because, ifanything, I look back and I gave
it a shot.
I rather look back and think,well, I tried something.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
You could always teach again.
I think, there's always afallback.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
You know and I'm still teaching now the beauty of
a seasonal business as ateacher is, you know, my husband
and I are working on it.
We're using weekends now, butI'll have the summer off to
really build our business and wealso the teacher in me is
always thinking of like, what dokids like to do?
(13:10):
What makes things fun for kids?
And I added a scavenger huntcomponent to our business.
So you know, our whole sort ofspiel is scooters and scavenger
hunts.
So you know our whole sort ofspiel is scooters and scavenger
(13:34):
hunts so that for families who,for whatever reason, might not
be interested in a scooter or itactually works really well with
scooters but local scavengerhunts that are interactive and
built into our website so thatwhen kids are out and you make
it interesting, they actuallyend up learning a lot If they're
having fun.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
You're having fun, you do learn a ton and the
teacher who might become mightbe a young entrepreneur's
teacher as well.
You know it's like where doesit go next?
And there's, it just becomes.
Once it's open, you're like ohwell, look at all the
opportunities.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Right.
Well, exactly that's.
You know, sort of one idea haskind of led to another and the
people we've reached out to withthe scavenger hunts, we've
ended up.
I've ended up creating somecollaborations with other local
small businesses in our area.
So yesterday I was at OddFellows Ice Cream, which is a
(14:21):
really it's a franchise aroundthe country now, but it started
in Brooklyn and they arefeatured in our scavenger hunt.
So they're you know, they'rehanding out our postcards and
they're promoting us on theirsocial media and they loved the
idea of kids coming in to getice cream as part of their
scavenger hunt, exploring thelocal sites.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
That's fantastic.
I think you said it, but justfor the purposes of edit.
What advice do you give to thelistener?
Speaker 2 (14:54):
You just have to take the chance that the time will
never be perfect, that if youkeep waiting then things don't
happen, that they're sort ofjumping off that cliff into the
abyss and knowing that somethingpositive will come out of it.
I'm hoping that I build awildly successful business that
(15:18):
supports lots of travel andexcitement in the next couple of
years.
But if that's not the outcome,I have learned so much.
I have a whole new vocabularythat I've developed around this.
I've had fun doing it, goingout and creating scavenger hunts
(15:38):
.
It's made me look at where Ilive in a different way.
So there's numerous parts.
There's numerous ways you couldbe successful and while
financial success will hopefullycome and be wonderful, it's not
the only success.
So you have to take the chance.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Well listen, financial success is often a
marker because you have to payfor things and do things.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
And it's also the thorn that you're like you love
what you do, but it doesn't makeenough.
Sometimes too, and we've allbeen through it.
I mean, my business faces thatcyclically, like you know.
Once a year we call call it thewinter whenever it hits, where
you're like, oh, do I still wantto do this?
And you know.
And then and then, when thetimes are gray, you're like, oh,
(16:29):
of course that's part of beingan entrepreneur is facing that
cycle of it doesn't make enough.
The benefit you're seeing, Ibelieve, is it's fun and it
probably brings energy into your, your day job, because you have
something to look forward tobeyond this, which is secure.
And it might be like, hey, Itrade time for money here, but
(16:49):
my real passion is this otherthing, so it keeps you going for
the other thing because you'relike I need this.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Yes, and I have built this very secure, stable career
that doing something differentis really motivating, Having
just like the intellectualexercise of what else could I do
?
If this, then that.
Well, if this doesn't work, howam I going to pivot?
(17:17):
Who am I going to talk to?
And that I mean.
And then the sort of all right,that note, they didn't respond.
So what am I going to say next?
How am I, you know, justwalking, walking into?
One of the main ways that we'relooking to, um, rent our
(17:39):
scooters is through hotels.
So, walking into hotels andsaying, hi, can I please speak
to your manager?
Oh, you know, and people assumeyou have a problem.
Um, oh, no, no, I just, I justwant to introduce myself and
share, share what I'm doing andjust having to, like, have the
guts to walk in there, um, andand sell myself.
(18:02):
Really, you know what I'mselling, and I mean the beauty
of dealing with hotels is thatpeople in the hospitality
industry are very nice, evenwhen they say no.
But that's been, you know,that's been a really sort of
gear up to walk in and ask forsomebody and speak to what I'm
(18:29):
doing and try to convince themthat they should work with me,
even though I have no realexperience yet.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Well, they don't know .
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Exactly, and you know , and I've been told to know,
I'm still reaching out.
The best is when, when I'm nottold to know that, then they
keep hearing from me.
But there's been quite a fewpeople who are like, yeah, this
sounds cool, like I would.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
I guess the we guess the boutique ones are.
We need an advantage in any waywe can to make it fun.
The Marriott's are like no.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Well, exactly, I do have one Marriott and one Hilton
.
That are a little further.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
My guess is those are not corporate owned and they're
franchise owned, yes, andthey're probably breaking a rule
and they do it.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
So Some of the like cool boutique hotels there they
are.
They're looking for somethingdifferent, something that sets
them apart, um, and especiallylike the hotel.
Right now we're only in hotelsin brooklyn.
I've done that as a as choice.
I wanted to sort of test thewaters right in our neighborhood
.
There's 15 hotels in walkingdistance of where I live, and
(19:45):
then the next step is to getinto the Manhattan hotels.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Exactly.
Then you got to deal with themafia.
It is New York.
What's been the impact?
Speaker 2 (19:59):
It's become this sort of new conversation piece in
our family.
I have two teenage sons and forall of us my husband, my sons
it's sort of reinvigorateddinner conversation it for me.
I just feel so supported by myimmediate family, by my friends,
(20:24):
supported by my immediatefamily, by my friends.
It's been really exciting tohave people have my back in
trying something new.
I feel like so often you hearof haters and people not
supporting new ideas and I'vekind of come away with like wow,
(20:46):
I have so many wonderful peoplein my life who are like what
can we do to help?
What do you need Like good foryou and you can do?
You know.
This really has made me feelhappy with the people I have in
my in my life and appreciativeof of their support.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
Well, there's a lot of people say no because it
makes them uncomfortable morethan the real thing.
The real measure I'll say itthis way is when a hotel who
doesn't know you says yes, yes,that's like that's the only
really proof you need, is they?
Well, they say yes and thenthey renew the next year and
you've made money from them andthat's it.
I mean like that's the measureinitially, but yes, I'm proud of
you for that.
(21:30):
The uh, let's do a couple rapidfires.
Who gives you inspiration?
Speaker 2 (21:36):
who gives me inspiration?
I have a good my friend who wasvisiting who her family was
really the inspiration for thewhole idea.
She has also entered the fieldof entrepreneurship and was a
successful businesswoman priorto that in her own right.
So watching her go out on herown and start her new business
(22:00):
has been inspiring, and just herideas.
From her experience for thepast 30 years in business you
know she's been sort of thecheerleader of.
Of course you can.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
Yeah, I mean you can or you can't, they're both true.
They really are Kind of in yourjourney, what's been the best
business advice you've gotten?
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Read, listen, you know, from whether it's a
webinar with the Tory BurchFoundation to reading the e-myth
, Just finding all sorts oftaking in all the information
and then kind of weeding throughit to decide which works best
for me.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Yeah, that's.
That's a tough challenge whenyou take information, because it
also can be a distraction.
Though a very good idea, itjust might be the wrong timing
of your distraction or of ofwhat you need it's.
So it's uh, I'm alwaysconscious of that.
It's like, oh, that's a greatidea, but like, but, that would
require so much work and I'm notready for that.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
And so you know, that's always one of those ones
to know what is your recommendedkind of book, the must read
book making sure that, from thestart, that you're working on
(23:27):
creating a business that couldbe replicated and scaled, that
you want to create somethingthat gives you freedom, not
where you're so entwined ineverything that you could never
separate yourself out.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
That's hard to do.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
I could imagine, because already I I know that at
some point I'm going to needother people doing things and
the thought the thought of it isis frightening.
But I think it's a good sort ofmantra to have.
Like creating systems, if I'mthe one who creates the system,
(24:11):
make sure that system is goodenough that it doesn't need me
to operate.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
That's right, and that is definitely a cyclical
piece.
Sometimes I'll give you anexample, just an autobiography
of this you have a marketingagency.
I'm the lead on the strategyall the time, and that's why
people buy.
And I'm like, oh man, that'snot a very scalable business.
And so I'm like I'm going topivot the whole business because
(24:35):
I don't want to do that whenI'm 60.
Right, I'm like, but it's whatwe started as.
And I'm like, oh, but I'velearned some things.
So what could we become?
And that I remember.
Michael Gerber writes that Iremember listening to that book
on like CD, like driving my carlike 20 years ago almost.
So, anyway, it's, it's yeah,it's uh, yeah, good stuff there.
(24:57):
If you had to start over today,what time period would you
start over from and what wouldyou do differently?
Speaker 2 (25:06):
I would.
As soon as I started to buildthe website, I would have hired
a graphic designer.
That is, design is not mystrong suit.
I could look at other people'sthings and love how they look
and know what I like, butcreating it is challenging for
me and I wish I had somebodyright from the beginning so that
(25:28):
I wasn't doing work over thatdidn't need to be and constantly
like I think this looks goodand then changing it, that I
should have just paid someonefrom the beginning to set me up
and then I could just followthat design piece, because
building a business businesswhere you know instagram is a
(25:50):
major feature in marketing andin, I think, just in tourism in
general.
Aesthetics matter and it's achallenge for me and it's not
something that I love to do Iwill tell you.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
I tell you, I'll take it a step further for you.
On the e-myth, look how AI canhelp you do it now.
You may not need to hire anyone.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
I've played with AI with graphics.
They never quite get it the wayI want it.
I tried to use a few differentAI tools, but I think, when it
comes to art and creativity,there is something about a human
doing it, and those humans Ifeel like probably could use AI
(26:41):
to create something because theyhave the vision so they could
guide it.
They have the vision so theycould guide it.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
My make something that looks nice isn't getting
any of the AI tools where I needthem to be.
The AI in the future willdefinitely do it.
I would even argue that peoplespend lots of times on colors
and logos and the truth is itdoesn't really matter.
Some of the best producingwebsites are horrible and they
do great because it's juststraightforward.
Anyway, that will probably makethe editor.
I hope that's true.
The truth is like they'rebuying into you and your idea
(27:18):
and as long as that's simplypresented and you show up with
the scooters and they work andyou do all the things you say
you're going to go do.
After that, it's just aninvoice.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
And so if there's one question I should ask you today
, but I didn't have asked thatbut it was this sort of reaching
out to micro kickboard and thatvalidation of somebody who
doesn't know me, the peopleknowing you, supporting you,
helps you, helps you go on butultimately, hearing back from
(28:06):
somebody who doesn't know me andhad no reason to buy in other
than they truly believed thatwhat I'm doing could benefit
their business, was the pointwhere I knew I had something
that I had to see through to theend.
(28:27):
Hopefully, hopefully it createsa profit and there isn't an end
.
But there is only so much moneyin the bank and I'm going to
see what, what I could do withit.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
We got to pause.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
I think we're frozen, you're frozen All right, we're
(29:17):
back.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
That was weird.
I think I caught it.
Shameless plug time for you.
How should someone get a holdof you and who should get a hold
of you?
Speaker 2 (29:26):
So our website my website is wwwscootbkcom and I
am at at ScootBK on Instagram,so either place is great to get
an idea of what I'm doing and toreach out, either on DM on
Instagram or the contact me onmy website DM on Instagram or
(29:51):
the contact me on my website.
I would love to hear fromfamilies who are traveling to
New York City, but also anyonewho's working in the tourism
industry and thinks that whatI'm doing could work with what
they're doing, whether it's touroperators who cater to families
and think, huh, this might makemy tour go a little more
smoothly, or people in the hotelindustry who are saying, wow,
(30:13):
our guests would reallyappreciate that Maybe there'd be
less whining kids in the lobbyat the end of the day if they
didn't realize they were beingtraipsed all over a city because
they were having so much fundoing it.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
I think when we went to New York, by the way, I think
we walked a marathon over twodays.
It was something crazier.
Three and a half is some crazynumber and I was like cause we
just we walk everywhere andwe're like?
Kids were like oh, it's sotiring.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
That's a lot of miles .
That's our when, our when myfriend was visiting her
seven-year-old had a day of20,000 steps, and all
seven-year-olds' legs are notmeant for 20,000 steps.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
We had an eight-year-old I think at the
time.
She might have been seven whenwe went, seven or eight, but we
did 26 miles, or something likethat, over three days.
She's a trooper, though theother two complain ridiculously.
Thank you so much for joiningme today, Christine.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
Well, thank you for having me.
It's been a pleasure talking toyou.
It's exciting to talk about mynew venture.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
I love it and guys listen.
If you're still listening, getout there.
Go cut a tie to somethingholding you back.
Go unleash the best version ofyourself.
Thanks for listening.
Welcome to the Cut the Tie podcast.
I'm your host, thomas Helfrich.
We're going to help you cut atie today, something holding you
back so you can unleash thebest version of yourself and, if
you're an entrepreneur, thebest entrepreneur you can be.
Today, I'm joined by ChristineChagrou.
And Christine, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:15):
I'm very good.
How are you?
Speaker 1 (00:17):
I'm delicious.
Thank you for asking.
Just returned from a week ofcamping, so I don't know what up
or down is or what technologyis supposed to do, but we'll get
through this together.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
It's going to be great.
Christine, do you want to takea moment introduce yourself?
So my name is Christine Chagrou.
I recently founded Scoot, amicro scooter rental company
aimed for kids.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
I've done this after 25 years as a public school
middle school teacher, soprofessionally I had a very safe
career until now, where I feellike I've sort of jumped off the
edge into the unknown.
(01:00):
It isn't the edge in theunknown, probably less
administrative bullshit, butyou're a different kind of BS.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
You know one where I'm in charge of the decisions
that get executed.
We're working in public service, so much of things that I'm
asked to do aren't necessarilythe things that I think should
be happening, so that was one ofthe one of the things really
motivating me is I wanted to bethe master of my own destiny.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Yeah, that's well.
That's.
That's one of the biggest drawsof entrepreneurship.
There's a there's a lot ofthings that get challenging with
it.
Talk about your companies alittle bit about what it does
and why people you know should,should pick the, the scootering
ideas that you have with theworld.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Well, I live in downtown Brooklyn.
I live right next to theBrooklyn Bridge.
So for the past 20 years,pretty much every time I step
out of my apartment, I'm givingsomebody directions to local
landmarks, whether it's the bestice cream place, the best pizza
place or simply how to get onthe walkway to the Brooklyn
Bridge.
(02:05):
So, as a resident in a reallytouristy area, I've always had
this sort of inkling that whatdo people need who come here?
And when families come and wesee them walking over the
Brooklyn Bridge every day fromour window you see kids being
(02:25):
dragged by their parents, likeoften literally dragged hands
pulling.
And kids are here in New YorkCity having what should be this
awesome experience to travel toNew York, and they don't always
look very happy to be doing it.
You know New York is a walkingcity.
Look very happy to be doing it.
(02:48):
You know New York is a walkingcity and people are coming from
all over and not most placesdon't have that level of walking
that New York does.
So After a friend came to visit, I actually said what.
What's missing for all of thesefamilies that are visiting is a
way for their kids to getaround and enjoy getting around.
(03:08):
And what I realized is that'sactually how New York kids get
around, and if you walk throughNew York City, if you see a New
York family going someplace,chances are their kid is on the
scooter, whether they'rescooting to school, scooting to
soccer practice, and it's how mykids got around.
So I feel like when peopletravel to a place, they do want
(03:29):
to have that more localexperience.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
And it seems to be something that's missing from
the tourist market in New YorkCity.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Well, in your journey to doing this, just talk about
your journey a little bit more,about how you became an
entrepreneur and at the end ofthat, tell me.
One of my best friends had justleft after a two-week visit and
I said to my husband I have anidea, and we've been married 20
(04:14):
years.
On Wednesday and I've said Ihave an idea a lot of times over
the past 20 years, but usuallywe kind of pick apart the idea
and then it goes away until thenext one comes.
So this one I had the idea, andthe first step after one of my
ideas is always Googling it tosee if it already exists.
(04:34):
And often my brilliant ideaswere discovered by somebody
prior to me.
So this one, like it, doesn'texist.
There's no place for people toget this here.
You know there's people rentbikes in New York City the brave
few who want to bike throughNew York City, usually older
(04:57):
kids or adults and people rentcarriages when they visit.
So from there, this was.
You know I went to sort of thatnext step.
Well, what would I need to do?
And ChatGPT makes finding outwhat you need to do pretty easy
and quick.
So I started using AI.
(05:19):
For, you know, give me 10things I would need to do to
start this business and thenfrom there you kind of have this
synopsis and obviously youcan't just trust ChatGPT with
your time and your money and allthe things that go into
starting a business.
But it gave me sort of thatquick overview that I was then
(05:40):
able to investigate the stepsand I was able to take a step
and then break it down further.
Then able to investigate thesteps and I was able to take a
step and then break it downfurther.
So I realized with this type ofventure there's obviously a lot
of liability when you're dealingwith children and mobility.
So I knew I would need an LLCto offer protection and so I
said, well, it's a couple ofhundred bucks, let me, let me
(06:03):
spend a couple of hundred bucksand and get the, the LLC.
And you know, then it was like,okay, what's my next?
You know, my next biggestexpense it's well, I need the
scooters, but that's actuallynot the biggest expense the.
The next biggest expense wasinsurance.
So then I started callinginsurance and it just sort of
(06:26):
one step at a time, like, and Istarted off with a to-do list.
You know, I just a simple to-dolist.
That was what do I need to doif I want to start this business
.
And from that to-do list, whichwas my overall starting a
business list, it then was like,oh, I'm going to have a to-do
list, which was my overallstarting a business list.
It then was like, oh, I'm goingto have a to-do list by month.
(06:50):
And now I'm at the point itjust kind of evolved because
with each step I took there were20 other things that needed to
be done.
Now I have the daily to-do listas we get ready to really to
really launch our, our business.
So it was.
It was really one sort of onestep at a time and as I did each
(07:15):
step, um, I was furthercommitted to the idea.
One of the one of the big piecesthat that started happening was
I had to reach out to peoplewhich, professionally, as a
teacher, was not really in mywheelhouse.
So I reached out to MicroKickscooters.
(07:37):
That's the brand of scooterthat my kids always had.
It's what you see all over NewYork.
They're really high quality.
They're sort of rubberizedwheels, are great for the city
streets so they hold up for theamount of miles that kids put on
it.
And when I reached out to themand they got back to me and
(07:57):
spoke to me as the founder of abusiness, that was really sort
of reaffirming, and you know Iwould get off a call and have
sort of a giggle like I'm ateacher, I'm not a business
owner, and you know my mindsetstarted to shift with each call
(08:17):
and ultimately I ended up in ameeting with the CEO of the
company who then sponsored thescooters for our business
because she believed in the ideaand actually believed that our
idea would support their company.
(08:38):
That was the I'm all in.
This is more than just methinking I have a good idea that
this is something that couldreally work.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Was the tie then?
Just getting over the identityyou assigned yourself?
I'm just a teacher.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Yeah, that's I mean for 25 years.
And there's risks in teaching.
I mean standing up in front ofmiddle school students every day
.
You're taking certain risksevery time you work with kids,
because they will tell you howit is and they will let you know
if they don't like what you'redoing.
But it's very different and Iknow it and I know kids and this
(09:25):
thought.
You know I've heard of impostersyndrome, but then, making that
shift, it became such a realterm to me, like I don't have to
.
You know, no, I don't have tojust be a teacher.
I could.
I could be something else andactually the things I learned as
(09:47):
a teacher and the things I knowabout kids are part of my
business model that I've.
Actually, I feel like asteachers you do sort of feel
pigeonholed.
It's like you've never leftschool.
You almost feel like you arestill a student and it's been
(10:08):
interesting to sort of take this, embrace a new identity, but
realize that I've had awonderful career but I'm also
ready.
I'm ready to do something else,and after 25 years of working
for the city of New York, itsounds like a long time.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
You talked about a little bit, but do you remember
the moment when you knew youwere going to cut the tie?
But do you remember the momentwhen?
Speaker 2 (10:44):
you knew you were going to cut the tie.
When I got off that meetingwith Micro Kickboard, I was all
in, I said this is it.
I just conducted a meeting, Ihad an agenda and I you know,
and I followed it and I was ableto to talk about my plan with
(11:04):
them and make a deal ultimately,which the and the people in the
meeting, the CEO of MicroKickboard and the other women it
was all women which was alsoreally empowering to me, like
seeing these other women inbusiness and working together to
(11:26):
sort of bringing it bring anidea to life.
I was like they're doing it.
I, I could do it.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Right, you do, and so would you have ever imagined
that a year prior, that afterjust one meeting, you were like
I'm all in.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Right and you know, I think one of the one of the
things is sort of like timing.
You know, and if, if I was togive advice to anyone, it would
be that, like you almost can'tworry about the timing, that if
you do, the timing's neveractually going to be right.
(12:04):
Like I took a huge chunk of oursavings to make to make this
happen, to pay the insurancecompany and to start this.
I have two sons who are juniorsin high school right now and,
luckily, a very supportivehusband, but the decision it was
(12:26):
like I had this meeting.
I'm like I'm doing this.
I'm doing this despite lookingdown the barrel of two college
tuitions in the next two years.
I'm doing this because, ifanything, I look back and I gave
it a shot.
I rather look back and think,well, I tried something.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
You could always teach again.
I think, there's always afallback.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
You know and I'm still teaching now the beauty of
a seasonal business as ateacher is, you know, my husband
and I are working on it.
We're using weekends now, butI'll have the summer off to
really build our business and wealso the teacher in me is
always thinking of like, what dokids like to do?
(13:10):
What makes things fun for kids?
And I added a scavenger huntcomponent to our business.
So you know, our whole sort ofspiel is scooters and scavenger
hunts.
So you know our whole sort ofspiel is scooters and scavenger
(13:34):
hunts so that for families who,for whatever reason, might not
be interested in a scooter or itactually works really well with
scooters but local scavengerhunts that are interactive and
built into our website so thatwhen kids are out and you make
it interesting, they actuallyend up learning a lot If they're
having fun.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
You're having fun, you do learn a ton and the
teacher who might become mightbe a young entrepreneur's
teacher as well.
You know it's like where doesit go next?
And there's, it just becomes.
Once it's open, you're like ohwell, look at all the
opportunities.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Right.
Well, exactly that's.
You know, sort of one idea haskind of led to another and the
people we've reached out to withthe scavenger hunts, we've
ended up.
I've ended up creating somecollaborations with other local
small businesses in our area.
So yesterday I was at OddFellows Ice Cream, which is a
(14:21):
really it's a franchise aroundthe country now, but it started
in Brooklyn and they arefeatured in our scavenger hunt.
So they're you know, they'rehanding out our postcards and
they're promoting us on theirsocial media and they loved the
idea of kids coming in to getice cream as part of their
scavenger hunt, exploring thelocal sites.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
That's fantastic.
I think you said it, but justfor the purposes of edit.
What advice do you give to thelistener?
Speaker 2 (14:54):
You just have to take the chance that the time will
never be perfect, that if youkeep waiting then things don't
happen, that they're sort ofjumping off that cliff into the
abyss and knowing that somethingpositive will come out of it.
I'm hoping that I build awildly successful business that
(15:18):
supports lots of travel andexcitement in the next couple of
years.
But if that's not the outcome,I have learned so much.
I have a whole new vocabularythat I've developed around this.
I've had fun doing it, goingout and creating scavenger hunts
(15:38):
.
It's made me look at where Ilive in a different way.
So there's numerous parts.
There's numerous ways you couldbe successful and while
financial success will hopefullycome and be wonderful, it's not
the only success.
So you have to take the chance.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Well listen, financial success is often a
marker because you have to payfor things and do things.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
And it's also the thorn that you're like you love
what you do, but it doesn't makeenough.
Sometimes too, and we've allbeen through it.
I mean, my business faces thatcyclically, like you know.
Once a year we call call it thewinter whenever it hits, where
you're like, oh, do I still wantto do this?
And you know.
And then and then, when thetimes are gray, you're like, oh,
(16:29):
of course that's part of beingan entrepreneur is facing that
cycle of it doesn't make enough.
The benefit you're seeing, Ibelieve, is it's fun and it
probably brings energy into your, your day job, because you have
something to look forward tobeyond this, which is secure.
And it might be like, hey, Itrade time for money here, but
(16:49):
my real passion is this otherthing, so it keeps you going for
the other thing because you'relike I need this.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Yes, and I have built this very secure, stable career
that doing something differentis really motivating, Having
just like the intellectualexercise of what else could I do
?
If this, then that.
Well, if this doesn't work, howam I going to pivot?
(17:17):
Who am I going to talk to?
And that I mean.
And then the sort of all right,that note, they didn't respond.
So what am I going to say next?
How am I, you know, justwalking, walking into?
One of the main ways that we'relooking to, um, rent our
(17:39):
scooters is through hotels.
So, walking into hotels andsaying, hi, can I please speak
to your manager?
Oh, you know, and people assumeyou have a problem.
Um, oh, no, no, I just, I justwant to introduce myself and
share, share what I'm doing andjust having to, like, have the
guts to walk in there, um, andand sell myself.
(18:02):
Really, you know what I'mselling, and I mean the beauty
of dealing with hotels is thatpeople in the hospitality
industry are very nice, evenwhen they say no.
But that's been, you know,that's been a really sort of
gear up to walk in and ask forsomebody and speak to what I'm
(18:29):
doing and try to convince themthat they should work with me,
even though I have no realexperience yet.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Well, they don't know .
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Exactly, and you know , and I've been told to know,
I'm still reaching out.
The best is when, when I'm nottold to know that, then they
keep hearing from me.
But there's been quite a fewpeople who are like, yeah, this
sounds cool, like I would.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
I guess the we guess the boutique ones are.
We need an advantage in any waywe can to make it fun.
The Marriott's are like no.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Well, exactly, I do have one Marriott and one Hilton
.
That are a little further.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
My guess is those are not corporate owned and they're
franchise owned, yes, andthey're probably breaking a rule
and they do it.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
So Some of the like cool boutique hotels there they
are.
They're looking for somethingdifferent, something that sets
them apart, um, and especiallylike the hotel.
Right now we're only in hotelsin brooklyn.
I've done that as a as choice.
I wanted to sort of test thewaters right in our neighborhood
.
There's 15 hotels in walkingdistance of where I live, and
(19:45):
then the next step is to getinto the Manhattan hotels.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Exactly.
Then you got to deal with themafia.
It is New York.
What's been the impact?
Speaker 2 (19:59):
It's become this sort of new conversation piece in
our family.
I have two teenage sons and forall of us my husband, my sons
it's sort of reinvigorateddinner conversation it for me.
I just feel so supported by myimmediate family, by my friends,
(20:24):
supported by my immediatefamily, by my friends.
It's been really exciting tohave people have my back in
trying something new.
I feel like so often you hearof haters and people not
supporting new ideas and I'vekind of come away with like wow,
(20:46):
I have so many wonderful peoplein my life who are like what
can we do to help?
What do you need Like good foryou and you can do?
You know.
This really has made me feelhappy with the people I have in
my in my life and appreciativeof of their support.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
Well, there's a lot of people say no because it
makes them uncomfortable morethan the real thing.
The real measure I'll say itthis way is when a hotel who
doesn't know you says yes, yes,that's like that's the only
really proof you need, is they?
Well, they say yes and thenthey renew the next year and
you've made money from them andthat's it.
I mean like that's the measureinitially, but yes, I'm proud of
you for that.
(21:30):
The uh, let's do a couple rapidfires.
Who gives you inspiration?
Speaker 2 (21:36):
who gives me inspiration?
I have a good my friend who wasvisiting who her family was
really the inspiration for thewhole idea.
She has also entered the fieldof entrepreneurship and was a
successful businesswoman priorto that in her own right.
So watching her go out on herown and start her new business
(22:00):
has been inspiring, and just herideas.
From her experience for thepast 30 years in business you
know she's been sort of thecheerleader of.
Of course you can.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
Yeah, I mean you can or you can't, they're both true.
They really are Kind of in yourjourney, what's been the best
business advice you've gotten?
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Read, listen, you know, from whether it's a
webinar with the Tory BurchFoundation to reading the e-myth
, Just finding all sorts oftaking in all the information
and then kind of weeding throughit to decide which works best
for me.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Yeah, that's.
That's a tough challenge whenyou take information, because it
also can be a distraction.
Though a very good idea, itjust might be the wrong timing
of your distraction or of ofwhat you need it's.
So it's uh, I'm alwaysconscious of that.
It's like, oh, that's a greatidea, but like, but, that would
require so much work and I'm notready for that.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
And so you know, that's always one of those ones
to know what is your recommendedkind of book, the must read
book making sure that, from thestart, that you're working on
(23:27):
creating a business that couldbe replicated and scaled, that
you want to create somethingthat gives you freedom, not
where you're so entwined ineverything that you could never
separate yourself out.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
That's hard to do.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
I could imagine, because already I I know that at
some point I'm going to needother people doing things and
the thought the thought of it isis frightening.
But I think it's a good sort ofmantra to have.
Like creating systems, if I'mthe one who creates the system,
(24:11):
make sure that system is goodenough that it doesn't need me
to operate.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
That's right, and that is definitely a cyclical
piece.
Sometimes I'll give you anexample, just an autobiography
of this you have a marketingagency.
I'm the lead on the strategyall the time, and that's why
people buy.
And I'm like, oh man, that'snot a very scalable business.
And so I'm like I'm going topivot the whole business because
(24:35):
I don't want to do that whenI'm 60.
Right, I'm like, but it's whatwe started as.
And I'm like, oh, but I'velearned some things.
So what could we become?
And that I remember.
Michael Gerber writes that Iremember listening to that book
on like CD, like driving my carlike 20 years ago almost.
So, anyway, it's, it's yeah,it's uh, yeah, good stuff there.
(24:57):
If you had to start over today,what time period would you
start over from and what wouldyou do differently?
Speaker 2 (25:06):
I would.
As soon as I started to buildthe website, I would have hired
a graphic designer.
That is, design is not mystrong suit.
I could look at other people'sthings and love how they look
and know what I like, butcreating it is challenging for
me and I wish I had somebodyright from the beginning so that
(25:28):
I wasn't doing work over thatdidn't need to be and constantly
like I think this looks goodand then changing it, that I
should have just paid someonefrom the beginning to set me up
and then I could just followthat design piece, because
building a business businesswhere you know instagram is a
(25:50):
major feature in marketing andin, I think, just in tourism in
general.
Aesthetics matter and it's achallenge for me and it's not
something that I love to do Iwill tell you.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
I tell you, I'll take it a step further for you.
On the e-myth, look how AI canhelp you do it now.
You may not need to hire anyone.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
I've played with AI with graphics.
They never quite get it the wayI want it.
I tried to use a few differentAI tools, but I think, when it
comes to art and creativity,there is something about a human
doing it, and those humans Ifeel like probably could use AI
(26:41):
to create something because theyhave the vision so they could
guide it.
They have the vision so theycould guide it.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
My make something that looks nice isn't getting
any of the AI tools where I needthem to be.
The AI in the future willdefinitely do it.
I would even argue that peoplespend lots of times on colors
and logos and the truth is itdoesn't really matter.
Some of the best producingwebsites are horrible and they
do great because it's juststraightforward.
Anyway, that will probably makethe editor.
I hope that's true.
The truth is like they'rebuying into you and your idea
(27:18):
and as long as that's simplypresented and you show up with
the scooters and they work andyou do all the things you say
you're going to go do.
After that, it's just aninvoice.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
And so if there's one question I should ask you today
, but I didn't have asked thatbut it was this sort of reaching
out to micro kickboard and thatvalidation of somebody who
doesn't know me, the peopleknowing you, supporting you,
helps you, helps you go on butultimately, hearing back from
(28:06):
somebody who doesn't know me andhad no reason to buy in other
than they truly believed thatwhat I'm doing could benefit
their business, was the pointwhere I knew I had something
that I had to see through to theend.
(28:27):
Hopefully, hopefully it createsa profit and there isn't an end
.
But there is only so much moneyin the bank and I'm going to
see what, what I could do withit.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
We got to pause.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
I think we're frozen, you're frozen All right, we're
(29:17):
back.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
That was weird.
I think I caught it.
Shameless plug time for you.
How should someone get a holdof you and who should get a hold
of you?
Speaker 2 (29:26):
So our website my website is wwwscootbkcom and I
am at at ScootBK on Instagram,so either place is great to get
an idea of what I'm doing and toreach out, either on DM on
Instagram or the contact me onmy website DM on Instagram or
(29:51):
the contact me on my website.
I would love to hear fromfamilies who are traveling to
New York City, but also anyonewho's working in the tourism
industry and thinks that whatI'm doing could work with what
they're doing, whether it's touroperators who cater to families
and think, huh, this might makemy tour go a little more
smoothly, or people in the hotelindustry who are saying, wow,
(30:13):
our guests would reallyappreciate that Maybe there'd be
less whining kids in the lobbyat the end of the day if they
didn't realize they were beingtraipsed all over a city because
they were having so much fundoing it.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
I think when we went to New York, by the way, I think
we walked a marathon over twodays.
It was something crazier.
Three and a half is some crazynumber and I was like cause we
just we walk everywhere andwe're like?
Kids were like oh, it's sotiring.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
That's a lot of miles .
That's our when, our when myfriend was visiting her
seven-year-old had a day of20,000 steps, and all
seven-year-olds' legs are notmeant for 20,000 steps.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
We had an eight-year-old I think at the
time.
She might have been seven whenwe went, seven or eight, but we
did 26 miles, or something likethat, over three days.
She's a trooper, though theother two complain ridiculously.
Thank you so much for joiningme today, Christine.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
Well, thank you for having me.
It's been a pleasure talking toyou.
It's exciting to talk about mynew venture.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
I love it and guys listen.
If you're still listening, getout there.
Go cut a tie to somethingholding you back.
Go unleash the best version ofyourself.
Thanks for listening.
Popular Podcasts
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com