March 12, 2025 • 51 mins
Dreaming of turning your talent or passion into a profitable business? This episode of Money Matters takes you behind the scenes with three successful entrepreneurs who've done exactly that.
SCORE mentor Bob Breaux reveals why so many new businesses fail—and it's not what you might expect. "If it doesn't work on paper, it's not going to work in real life," he explains, emphasizing the critical importance of business planning before risking everything. His practical breakdown of the "six M's" of marketing provides a roadmap any aspiring business owner can follow.
Deidre Detelier shares how she built a 40-year Mary Kay business by prioritizing relationships over transactions. What began with a little suitcase of products evolved into a dedicated home-based storefront with loyal customers spanning decades. Her insights on adapting to technological changes while maintaining personal connections offer valuable lessons for any service-based business.
Hair stylist and salon owner Cody brings a refreshing perspective on authentic entrepreneurship. "It's like 60% how you make them feel and 40% hair," he reveals, explaining how he transformed his creative skill into a thriving business despite naysayers. His candid discussion about navigating licensing requirements, overcoming self-doubt, and building a business during COVID demonstrates the resilience required for entrepreneurial success.
Whether you're considering your first side hustle or ready to scale an existing business, this episode delivers actionable strategies from those who've weathered the entrepreneurial journey successfully. The consensus? Success requires passion, persistence, and people skills—plus the courage to ask for help when needed.
Ready to transform your talent into profit? Subscribe now and join us for more financial insights that help you use the money you have, make the money you need, and save the money you want.
Have an idea for a show or a question for Kim? Send us a text message
Welcome to Money Matters, the podcast that focuses on how to use the money you have, make the money you need and save the money you want – brought to you by Neighbors Federal Credit Union.
The information, opinions, and recommendations presented in this Podcast are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this Podcast is done at your own risk. This Podcast should not be considered professional advice.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Money Matters, the podcast that
focuses on how to use the moneyyou have, make the money you
need and save the money you want.
Now here is your host, ms Kim.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Chapman.
All right, welcome to anotheredition of Money Matters and,
like you heard them say how touse the money you have, make the
money you need and save themoney you want.
Today, we're going to betalking about entrepreneurship.
Do you have an idea, Do youhave a passion that maybe you
can actually turn into a profit?
You don't know how to getstarted, you don't know what to
do, or maybe you've gottenstarted but you're stuck.
(00:34):
Well, today we're going to talkabout how to make it a success.
I've got three phenomenal guestswith us.
Mr Bob Rowe you've probablyseen him before.
I mean, he knows everything, heworks for SCORE and he's going
to be able to tell you how toget started, at least the legal
logistics about it.
And then I've got some justlocal, talented, sensational
(00:55):
entrepreneurs that have turnedtheir businesses into a success.
We've got Ms Deidre Bro.
I've known her for what?
Over 20 years ago, when Istarted buying a little Mary Kay
lipstick, and I tell you I waswowed, because most people sell
their Mary Kay what out of alittle suitcase, out of a trunk.
She turned her whole what wasit?
A garage into a storefront, andso whatever you need, she's
(01:18):
definitely got it.
And then we've got Cody howmany of you are out there and
you can do something.
You're creative and you can doa good hairstyle.
I probably should have had himmeet me in the room before we
got started and do a littletouch of work.
But not only is he a stylist,but he also does those rentals,
and so he's going to talk abouthow, during COVID, rather than
sitting around being bored, heturned his business idea into a
(01:41):
profit.
So welcome, everybody, Welcome.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Ms Kim Happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Thanks for having us.
Absolutely so, mr Barbro.
Definitely we're going to startwith you.
So there are lots of peoplesitting out there, especially
the beginning of the year, thatmay be that delayed new year's
resolution.
You know, I want to start abusiness, I want to work for
myself.
Where do I get started?
I'm talented and that's one ofthe things I'm always promoting
when people come in and they'relooking for how can I earn more
(02:08):
money.
And I think about think aboutyour talents, think about your
skills and maybe you can turn itinto a business.
But obviously that is easiersaid than done, or is it?
You tell us how can you getstarted?
Speaker 4 (02:25):
started.
It's magic.
All right, it's easy, it'sreally easy.
No problem at all.
No, I think the first thing youneed to do is, as you said, have
an idea.
You need to have a dream, butthen you've got to do some
research and then you've got tomake a plan.
So people will get so tired ofme when talking about the
business plan.
But if you come looking toborrow money here or anywhere
else, what do they want?
They want a business plan.
(02:46):
And do they need that businessplan for what?
To see that you've got anexecutable idea.
You know, first of all, that youcan actually execute the
business plan.
So many folks just don't wantto do the business plan.
They think it's a lot of work,that's going to be the easiest
thing that you ever do, and soyou know you do the business
(03:09):
plan.
They think that's a lot of work, that's going to be the easiest
thing that you ever do.
And so you know you need abusiness plan.
You need to research and youneed to research.
And you need to research beforeyou go out and risk everything,
because, as everybody knows, ifyou're in small business,
you've got everything on theline.
So are you willing to do that.
Do you have what it takes to gointo business?
Speaker 2 (03:23):
And if somebody is listening saying business plan,
that's exactly where I'm stuck.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
Tell them how you and SCORE might be able to help
them with that process.
The business plan is not thathard.
As I said, that's probablygoing to be the easiest thing
that you ever do.
But I understand that becauseeverybody is so afraid it's as
if that you were carving.
Whatever your ideas and yourplan is into stone and it can
never be changing.
But a business plan is a livingdocument that you can use to
get that viewpoint of.
(03:51):
Here's my idea, here's myskills, here's how I wanted to
put it to work.
Now let's put it on paper anddetermine how it works.
If it doesn't work on paper,it's not going to work in real
life and it can be daunting andit can be hard.
That's why SCORE mentors arethere.
We're all experienced executives.
(04:12):
We volunteer, We've been there,We've done that and so we know
some of the pitfalls.
We've been in the pitfalls.
We have been tripped.
We haven't had all goodsuccesses.
I had my first foray intobusiness.
I bought a business and itfailed in 18 months.
That was great.
(04:34):
That was better than my collegeeducation.
I can tell you right now.
I learned more from thatfailure and so two years later I
was back in business andstarted a computer company and
started with a business plan.
I did not have score I wish Idid and learned quite a bit in
the next 25 years running thistechnology company.
(04:57):
Technology company that didn'thave these types of cameras and
these cell phones that we had in1983 when I got started.
So now that there's also video,you can see I'm an old guy.
I don't have to tell you that Ihave been around a while.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
So you mentioned pitfalls.
What are some of those pitfallsthat are common to a new
entrepreneur?
And then, what are some ofthose myths that are having
those people just hesitate aboutputting their foot in the water
?
Speaker 4 (05:26):
They don't do a plan, they don't do the research.
They take their idea and theyrun with it and they think they
can do.
It Might be as an example thatI use.
You might be an electrician,you're working for the man, so
you've got him riding around inhis trucks using his tools and
you've got the skill to do itand you say, hey, why am I doing
this for him when I can do itfor myself?
And so they quickly might gobuy his own tools, get his own
(05:49):
equipment.
But he doesn't realize that hedoes know the work of the
business.
He knows how to do theelectrical work, but there's so
much more that comes with thebusiness.
You've got the accounting,you've got the budget, you've
got to have cash flow.
You're going to need help.
So when you're going to go intomanagement, all of that's going
(06:09):
to come from out of nowhere ifyou haven't planned.
So planning is absolutely thekey.
Now, while I've still got themic, I might suggest it can be
super easy to do a business planif you just use AI, and it
could be the worst thing thatyou've ever done.
I have got two or three sittingon my desk that you can tell.
(06:32):
All they did was go to AI.
And I just told you I'm fromthe technology world, so I'm not
anti-technology.
I believe that AI, you know, isa great tool, but it's just
that it's not going to think foryou.
It's a tool, it might bethinking for you later on, but
today you can go to it and say,hey, I'm thinking, I want to be
(06:56):
an electrician, what do I need?
And and write a business plan.
You know, do it and I'll giveyou no specifics and it's not
going to ever fly at the bank orwith me or anybody else,
because I got, as I said, two orthree sitting on my table now
that I'm viewing and I'm pushingback to them.
But you could go to it and saywhat do I need?
(07:18):
And it'll give you a list ofthings that you need to think
about and there's going to bebullet points, so they'll show
you where they got thatinformation.
Go back and read thatinformation.
That's the beginning of yourresearch.
And then you might say, okay,here are the bullet points,
here's what I've gathered fromwhat you've given me and here's
what I want to do based on thatand put it in and it will help
(07:41):
you, just like a score, mentoror others will help you, but
it's all in the details.
You've got to go in and put instep-by-step, detail by thing.
I call it a two-step.
The first step is the businessplan to make sure we can get to
that.
Can it, can it happen, can itbe successful or not?
Once we do that and we decidewe're going to go into business,
(08:01):
then change it somewhat and wecall it a strategic plan.
We put more detail on it.
If I'm you know what's everystep of the way, I'm the
electrician I need to.
What do I need?
Make a list of all the thingsthat I need and then start right
where you're going to do thatin the basic business plan.
(08:21):
Then later on you're going towrite job description.
I can go on for an hour and ahalf, two hours.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
We got two other guests I know we're going to let
them chime in just a little bit, so I want to switch gears.
You know Mary Kay is awell-known name and I imagine it
probably comes with its ownbusiness plan decided that this
was something that you weregoing to venture out into and
tell us a little bit how it hasgrown into that beautiful space
(08:47):
that I saw over 20 years ago.
That just kind of wowed me.
Speaker 5 (08:51):
Oh, you're quite right.
Mary Kay actually started in1963 and it started in a
basement of a building with anidea and Mary Kay Ash and she
took her idea and started herbusiness on a Friday, the 13th.
So she you know no superstitionthere, but she does.
(09:12):
This business has its plan thatif you stick with the plan you
can be successful.
You have to work your business.
It takes time.
You can't just jump in andthink it's going to happen
overnight.
You have with us, it's aconsumable product and so when I
was asked 40, over 40 years ago, because I started in October
(09:36):
of 1984.
So it'd be what that's 41 yearscoming up, if I'm my math is
right I was asked at a party youknow this was something that
was geared for women and alsofor men to become consultants
and to um, to uh, come intosomeone's home and to share the
products.
(09:56):
And when you fell in love withthe products and you believed in
the products, and then you wereshared the opportunity, and
then you will ask so tell memore.
Well then that's when they gaveyou the plan and you know the
things that that Mary Kay had tooffer, whether you wanted to do
this part-time or full-time,you know the sky was the limit
(10:21):
and I think that's what that'swhat inspired me, because you
could.
You could come in and you couldtake your time with it.
You didn't have to come in andyou know it's a.
It's a tier company where youhad to recruit all these people,
uh, to be higher on the ladder,you know, to be a director, to
be, you know, the.
(10:43):
I want to say that the personwho recruited the most people,
the person who sold the mostproducts, you know, you be part
of it and still raise yourfamily because it was based.
What triggered me, as far aswhat I fell in love with, was
(11:04):
that it's a company based on Godfirst, a family second and
careers third, and so and that'swhat, anything.
When you put things inperspective like that, the
perfect business plan.
It's the perfect business planand success.
And so, yeah, you're offeredthe opportunity to go to all
these training seminars whereyou learn about money management
(11:28):
, inventory, recruiting, beautytips, the product, on and on and
on.
And it's your choice.
If that's what you want to do,you do it.
If not, then you still have totake a back seat and say, well,
if I'm going to grow thisbusiness, I still need to know
(11:48):
something about it.
You just can't sit there andsay, here's my business card,
here's a book.
No, you still have to knowsomething.
So you have to build a business, you know, with the products
that you're selling, and I wasalways told that if you were
going to start a business and itwas something consumable and
the person who bought it likedit and you had it on your shelf,
(12:12):
they were coming back forbusiness with you.
Um, but I always take pride inuh, you know, building that
relationship with my customer,which is where me and Kim come
in to play because youremembered me and I thank you
for that.
I take pride in that I really do, Because I think over the years
(12:33):
I just didn't.
I wasn't making just a customer, I was building a friendship.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Absolutely.
So take us back because I'msure, like many other Mary Kay
consultants, you started outwith that little suitcase, you
know, selling it on the go.
We definitely didn't have allthat good AI technology and
social media wasn't as big, itwasn't as dominating back then.
So tell us, how did you grow itfrom just that little suitcase,
you know, going from door todoor selling, to now you have a
(13:02):
storefront?
When was the change?
When did you know that this wasgoing to be something that you
needed to grow and expand intoyour home?
Speaker 5 (13:09):
Well, you're saying that I, literally it was.
It was a suitcase and you wentdoor to door and pretty much you
know you, you met someone.
You showed them the product.
If they liked it and loved itlike I did, well, then they
shared it with their family andfriends and then your business
grew from that.
You know you had to get on thephone and make calls, you know,
(13:35):
calling that customer, potentialcustomer, saying Hello, my
name's Deirdre Detelier, I'm aMary Kay Beauty Consultant.
Kim gave me your name and shethinks that you would love, you
know, to sample these productsand tell us what you think.
And so from there, you hopethat they would fall in love
with it like you did, and wouldcall you because they fell in
(13:56):
love with the lipstick or thecleanser or what you know, the
perfumes and everything that wehad to offer and word of mouth,
passing out the business cards Imean it was.
You know you did.
Your time is how I said it tosome other people.
You know you got to put thetime in.
You know it doesn't comeovernight.
You know you buy your products,you're making some phone calls
(14:21):
but then you're not doinganything else.
It doesn't work that way.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
So how long had you been, I'm sorry how long had you
been in a business before youactually decided to grow that
product stash and actually turn?
Was it just an extra room?
Was it a garage?
It was an extra room.
Speaker 5 (14:36):
It always I say in the home that I'm in right now
it was an extra room.
Was it a garage?
It was an extra room.
It always I say in the homethat I'm in right now it was an
extra room.
The home I was in prior Iactually had a shelf in my
kitchen, but I always hadproduct.
I was always told you couldn'tsell anything from an empty cart
, and so we were alwaysencouraged to have inventory.
You don't have to haveinventory, but I chose to
because when somebody called meand say, hey, I need a cleanser,
(14:59):
do you have one on hand, Iwould say, oh, yes, I do.
And so they would, you know,come to my home and pick it up,
or I would deliver, and so, uh.
But when I moved into my newhome, um, I had an extra room
and so I expanded, went intogift basket you know doing gift
baskets and things like that butwhen you make it part of your
home, then you get the taxbenefits from it as well, and so
(15:23):
you're able to take part ofyour light bill and your and you
know your homeowner's insuranceand different things like that,
because it's part of my homeand it's under my roof, and so
the tax cut was another great.
I want to say that it was agreat plus when you have your
own business and it's a homebusiness, like Mary Kay.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
And Mr Bob was looking at me like he had
something.
Did you want to add somethingto that?
Speaker 4 (15:50):
Yeah, what I'm hearing more than anything else
and that's the advisor in me,the mentor in me but what I'm
hearing more than anything elsefrom her is that what made her
successful.
She had the passion.
She had passion for the productand then she developed passion
for the business because she wasjust looking at the product.
That's what drew you in.
So my idea is oh, I have aproduct or I have a service and
(16:13):
you got all this passionateabout that, but then you learn
to love the business as well,because the business is what's
going to sustain you.
Speaker 5 (16:22):
And the second.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
Thing is you had persistence.
You're going to get up in themorning in the dark, on the way
to the bathroom to get yourcoffee, and you're going to hit
the door.
You're going to trip and youjust want to get back in bed
someday, but you have so muchpassion for what you're doing,
oh absolutely, and the passionwas not just for the product,
not just for the business, butfor being successful and sharing
(16:44):
it with other people.
Speaker 5 (16:45):
Yeah, I felt like I was doing a service for others
as well, because it was a needand I just loved it.
I loved the mingling with mycustomers who became my friends
and naturally, some of them werestill family and you have to
(17:06):
love what you do and do what youlove.
Speaker 4 (17:10):
Three P's Passion, persistence, people.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
That still falls.
True, I like that.
That's okay, that's still falsetruth.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
I just threw that at you.
I like that.
Speaker 5 (17:15):
That's okay.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
But look, I want to segue because, speaking of need,
you know we all need to go, andyou know, get dolled up every
now and then get our hair done,and so we couldn't do that
without the Codys of the world.
So, Codys, tell us a little bitabout your business and then
how you transitioned it even toa bigger profit during COVID.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
So I've been in the world of hairdressing since 2012
.
So it's been a while now, butit's evolved so much.
I had worked for commissionsalons and during COVID I had a
lot of time on my hands.
It wasn't a fun, and duringthat time I was able to sit down
(17:59):
and curate this idea that hasnow been in business for five
years and that's my salon suite,Lair Salon.
I'm located at Emerson SalonSuites off of Corsi.
There's, I want to say, about20 other businesses in there
with similar goals to work forthemselves and to be there for
(18:19):
their community.
Yeah, I did not know I would bethis far along.
I think that profit and makingmoney is great, but just being
able to open that door every dayis just as amazing, Because not
a lot of people in thisindustry, in the cosmetology
world, make it even two yearsafter school.
(18:39):
Or maybe they work for a largesalon and they get discouraged
because of some of the optics inthat setting.
But I love working for myself.
I'm a little bit of a controlfreak, but I've been able to
make money because I believe inwhat I'm doing and I think my
(19:02):
clients see that I trust inmyself a whole lot more than I
did working for thosecommission-based salons and I
wanted it a lot.
This kind of goes back to whatwe were talking about.
You know passion behind whatyou do.
You have to want it more thaneveryone else.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
So you mentioned there's like that two-year
threshold, because there arelots of talented individuals out
there that love hair, makeup,beauty, the whole nine yards.
But you mentioned a two-yearthreshold and obviously here it
is.
You're 10 plus years in thegame and you're steady growing.
Tell us what it is that youthink you did right, but at the
same time, what are some thingsyou think you would do over if
you had to start all over again?
Speaker 3 (19:45):
things you think you would do over.
If you had to start all overagain, oh, my goodness, if I
could do a few things over.
Let's start with that.
Okay, I would prepare myselffor those lean months.
Look at what happened with thesnow week we had.
Whenever you're self-employed,especially in a service-based
industry, your strategic pricinghelps you have steady income,
(20:09):
but I was not prepared for thesnow.
If there's an increase in mygoods, I might not be prepared
for that.
Thank, God, you don't use eggsright, right, but if I could do
a few things over again, itwould be preparing for those
lean months, making sure thatyou are aware of your budget,
like Mr Bob was talking about.
You need to have a plan forthose moments and in setting
(20:33):
myself up for success withthings that self-employed people
are sometimes pretty bad atmaking sure they have health
insurance, they're taking careof their business is a success
on paper as much as it is inperson.
And then what I feel I've doneover time is create excitement
for hair.
(20:53):
It's not just about making abeautiful blonde come to life
and putting it on Instagram.
There's a story behind everysingle photo.
A few months back, I made ahardcover lookbook.
A few months back, I made ahardcover lookbook and it really
is a time capsule of 10 plusyears of looks and clients and
family and friends, and I'mproud to have stories behind the
(21:17):
work that I do.
You have to be personal.
You can't just have someone sitin a chair and take their money
and go home.
Clients remember how you makethem feel.
It's like 60% how you make themfeel and 40% hair, and in my
line of work I think that's veryimportant to make sure that
(21:39):
you're offering a different typeof environment, making them
feel comfortable.
They come back, they're able torefer people to you.
I always say I'm the peoplestylist.
My clients can reach me anytimethey want.
I love to be there for them,show up to events, whether it's
a baby shower or a birthday, andI think that's been a huge part
(22:03):
of my success being believableand putting in that hard work
and it being seen by others.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
Let me have a question for you.
Are you in the salon businessor are you renting the space, or
both?
Speaker 3 (22:14):
So I'm a single owner LLC.
I rent a room under my landlord.
They have a large space with 20different rooms.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
It's like micro salons or micro businesses,
because it's not just salons,and you rent those spaces
yourself.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
I only have one room, so it's just me in one room.
It's a 10 by 13 room.
It sounds small but, trust me,I make it work.
It is exactly the way I'veenvisioned it and it's the
perfect amount of space and it'sthe perfect amount of space.
Now we do have a shared washhouse area so we can feel
motivated to be social andmobile and not feel constrained
to the room.
(22:52):
But I'm not renting the spacesfor profit or for anything like
that.
That would be their businessangle.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
It's almost like businesses within businesses.
Right, that's right, but Ididn't know which one you were
in, or both?
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Yes, no, I've been asked is the big salon down the
pipeline or do I dream of asalon suite?
And for right now, we're goingto put that on the back burner
and focus on my salon suite,which is Lair Salon.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
So you think really being that people person is what
has been your success.
So you think really being thatpeople person is what has been
your success.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Yes, I feel as if, if I wasn't Cody, I would not have
the success on paper at least,like the profit and the clients
on the books and everything youknow I'll.
I'll tell you a little story,and it's not a negative story,
(23:51):
but I'll never forget it.
I was once told that I wouldnot be a success and that people
would only come to me becauseof my personality, and I'm
assuming they were saying maybeI wasn't talented or I didn't
have the skill set to do whatthey did, and it stuck with me
for a really long time.
You have to believe in whatyou're doing.
You have to not lose part ofyourself in what you're doing,
(24:13):
because people are showing upfor a reason they see who you
are and in my world, I want toshare everything with them and
hopefully give them a wonderfulexperience, build their
confidence and have them comeback time and time again.
If I believe in myself, maybethey can believe in themselves.
They'll have that amazinghaircut for that job interview
(24:35):
or something of the sort.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
So really have to be authentic.
Okay, so, as a stylist, whatare the most important things
that you think up-and-comingstylists should know to be the
success that you are to havethat level of success?
Speaker 3 (24:48):
First, it kind of goes back to what I was saying.
Your salon owner can't want itmore than you do.
Your spouse can't want it morethan you do.
You have to go to bed thinkingabout it and you have to wake up
thinking about it.
This can't just be somethingyou daydream about at a red
light.
It has to be on your mindconstantly and there's a good
and a bad, you know, way oflooking at that.
(25:10):
I don't want someone to have itconsume their entire life.
I think that can be negativetoo.
There's burnout, but burnoutessentially means you haven't
found a system that works foryourself.
You need to take time and bewith your family or go to church
or whatever it is that you wantto do.
So the stylist or the personseeking employment in
(25:33):
cosmetology they need to reallybe immersed in it.
You need to be prepared foryour back to hurt.
You need to be prepared to missthose fun events with family or
friends to build that clientelewhen you are out of school.
Yes, you've invested the money,but you kind of start with a
clean slate.
There's nothing there.
You have to want it, you haveto go for it.
You have to be eager, and ifyou're not eager, you might not
(25:55):
get as far along.
I've been around stylists thatare happy folding towels and
answering a telephone.
Well, that wasn't me.
I wanted to make money and Iwanted to make people happy and
I wanted to get somewhere.
And if they want to get to thenext step, they just have to be
willing to put in the work.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
And I'm going to switch back to Deidre.
It's been 40 plus years.
What do you contribute to yoursuccess?
And you know you started outsaying hey, it was going door to
door phone calls.
Obviously, we have all thistechnology now where you can do
emails and social media.
How have you embracedtechnology and has it made a
difference in terms of yourlongevity?
Speaker 5 (26:35):
Yes, and no Technology.
For those that were not techsavvy and you had to learn it,
that was an obstacle.
But no technology has made somethings easier.
It also has brought in negative.
You can't not unsee that,because with a business like
Mary Kay, we're not supposedyou're one of the things in your
(26:58):
contract.
I'm going to call itbootlegging.
On eBay and Amazon and all ofthese other sites, you're
supposed to only get the productfrom a Mary Kay Beauty
consultant.
Yet there's people out therewho have done that and it goes
against your contract, and sothe company does step in because
(27:22):
it's against your contract.
But you've got to use thetechnology and make it a
positive.
You know, send out those emails.
You can now do your orderingthrough the website.
Consultants have theopportunity to have their own
website through the company sothat when you hand out that
(27:43):
business card, you can punch inmy web address and see my
profile and say, oh, that's myconsultant, that's who I want to
do my business with.
You know, or you could stillchoose not to have it, but still
call people and send emails.
Do your order.
Send out the lookbooks.
(28:03):
Do your order?
Send out the lookbooks.
I mean, there's things thathave made it really simpler, but
there's still some people whochoose not to.
As far as technology isconcerned, you've got to embrace
the changes from the colors,the fragrances.
I mean I've seen a lot ofchanges through Mary Kay.
(28:26):
And when you choose to have aninventory, you know that's
another risk.
Although you can't sell from anempty wagon, like I said
earlier, you can't interchangewith people and make sure that
(28:48):
there was a need and a want.
And why did you order it?
Because if you order it and youdidn't sell it, then it becomes
dead stock.
That becomes another problem.
So then you either still haveto find that person who needs it
or you know that becomes partof your profit.
(29:08):
You don't want that to happen.
You can't be discouraged by thechange.
You have to embrace it.
You have to still roll with thepunches and you know I want to
say it take it and make apositive out of it.
You have to.
You always have to see thepositive.
(29:30):
You know, like when somebodycalls and they want a specific
color and the companydiscontinued it, you have to say
I remember those days.
You remember those days.
Huh, you know.
You have to say oh, I'm sosorry, miss Kim, you know that
downtown brown is not with usanymore.
It may come back and then youshow them the new colors that
(29:51):
has taken its place and ninetimes out of 10, they like the
new color.
But you can't get discouragedwith that.
You have to know that this is abusiness that I'm working for
and that is my business that I'mworking for, and that it's my
business, that I'm working formyself, and let your customers
(30:12):
know what the changes are sothat they can embrace those
changes with you.
Very fortunate, I'm joyfullyand excited to say that I've got
customers that have been withme from day one and have stuck
with all of those changes, justas I have.
You know so, but it's it's awork in progress.
(30:35):
It always is.
If it would stay the same, itwouldn't be exciting either.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 5 (30:42):
It would.
You know who wants the samethings in our oatmeal every day.
You know I'm like you have tochange it up.
You know who wants the samethings in their oatmeal every
day.
You know I'm like you have tochange it up.
You know you have to, but no,mary Kay has always done a
beautiful job of staying withthe times, because there are
other competitions out there,but you want your customers to
stay with your competition, youknow.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
So having your own business definitely comes with
its own challenges.
Definitely there are going tobe some highs because that's why
you do it right and theredefinitely been some low moments
.
So I want each of you to tellme about maybe your you know
most prideful moment in beingyour entrepreneur.
You know that day when youstepped back and said I did this
.
You know what was that day like, if you can remember, but also
(31:24):
what was maybe one of thegreatest obstacles in your many
years of business that you hadto overcome to basically
encourage some of our listenersto say, hey, you're going to
have those obstacles.
Here's what my story lookedlike, but I was able to overcome
it.
So we'll let Cody go first.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
Okay, so one of my proudest moments was seeing my
vision come to life.
I made a dream board.
If anyone knows about thisbinder, they know what I'm
talking about.
There's a binder in my salonsuite and it was my startup.
It was my business plan.
Like Mr Bob was talking aboutEverything from numbers, but
also visual elements, to whatthe wallpaper was going to look
(32:01):
like, what the retail shelf wasgoing to look like and it's in
your shop, you said you're notbringing it, I know, I know you
didn't put it in the shelf.
Speaker 4 (32:09):
once it's done and forgot about it, it's in the
salon.
I love.
Speaker 3 (32:13):
I love mood boards.
I had a meeting at my previoussalon this was a while back,
several years ago and the mentorcame in and had us make dream
boards and everyone thought itwas kind of silly.
But I love, like you know,magazine cutouts, like making a
little vision board.
Every single thing on thatvision board came true a few
years later.
So one of my proudest momentsto go back sorry was seeing
(32:37):
everything in real life.
It's not just a picture, it'snot just an idea, it is in front
of me and I was having, youknow, like this dopamine effect,
when you hit a goal you want todo it again and come out with
something new and somethingexciting.
I think if you start small, youcan go even bigger one day.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
Sky's the limit.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
You know, salon limit now, I'm sorry, salon limit,
Salon suite now, but maybesomething larger later, we don't
know.
But obstacles, let's see.
I mean, I was a commissionedstylist.
I didn't know anything aboutthe Department of Revenue.
I didn't know anything about anoccupational license, what
(33:21):
website to go on, because thereare very random websites out
there that want to tell you thatyou need to submit something,
and it might not even be thelegitimate website.
Fortunately for me, I had somefriends that were going through
a similar process and we wereable to cross-check with each
other.
This is the list we need to gowith.
We need to do our Secretary ofState first and then follow up
(33:41):
with this and that and the other.
I always tell people theresources are there.
You just have to know where togo and find them.
Like, if you go to theDepartment of Revenue office,
there's a packet that they cangive you with a lot of items you
can check off of your list.
(34:03):
It's not just you sitting athome on YouTube and finding a
blog or a Reddit, like, thereare offices to help you.
It seems a little intimidatingwhenever you're starting fresh.
So I thought that was anobstacle, but it wasn't anything
that I couldn't overcome.
I had friends to ask for help.
A lot of small business ownersdon't want to ask for help.
There's too much pride in whatthey're doing and they feel like
it's a weak thing to ask forhelp.
And I think that it's amazingto ask for help the Like it's a
(34:27):
weak thing to ask for help and Ithink that it's amazing to ask
for help.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
The only stupid question is the one that's not
asked.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
So I would have preferred, like you know, to be
um finished with all of thatlike in one night, but I was
able to do that in time.
Make sure all of my eyes weredotted and my t's were crossed.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Um so so I'm gonna let miss deidre answer.
But I know, bob, because that'sright up your alley right,
getting those eyes dotted andt's crossed.
But let's let miss deidreanswer real quickly in terms of
that, that moment, you know,that proudest moment you may
have had and maybe the biggestobstacle.
And then we'll kind of wrap up.
We'll let Mr Bob talk aboutthose legalities, you know,
those different resources andmaybe how a mentor can be very
(35:06):
beneficial for somebody tryingto start up right.
Speaker 5 (35:09):
Um, some of my proudest moments was, uh,
sharing the business with otherpeople who decided that they
wanted to try the Mary Kayopportunity, just like Cody said
.
Vision boards, I mean you poston there that you want to become
a Red Jacket, you want tobecome part of Queen of Sales or
Queen of Recruiting, and whenyou do those things and you win
(35:31):
the prizes and you getrecognition for it, that always
seems to be great.
But when you help somebody elsebecome successful with it, it
also makes you what they callpaychecks of the heart.
You know it makes you feel good.
The obstacles are somewhat inthe same line, because some of
those same people that you sharethe opportunity with they find
(35:52):
out along the way that, no, thisis not for me.
You know, and it can bedisappointing sometimes, but you
know what?
My dream is not your dream andmy success is not going to be
the same as your success,because we all envision
something differently.
You know, along with the changesof the company and you know
those different obstacles, evenwith technology, like you were
(36:15):
saying, and just learning thedifferent I want to say the
different aspects of a company,you know, you have to wrap your
mind around it.
You have to.
You have to know the rules, youhave to know the regulations.
You have to fill out the rightpaperwork.
You still have to do the taxreports.
You know and file your taxesand reports.
You know and file your taxesand you know.
(36:38):
Report your sales and yourincome.
You know you just can't not dothat.
You know when.
You know you became a businessowner.
But oh yeah, some of thoseproud moments you know and you
still.
You sit on that and youreminisce because you just never
know when somebody else isgoing to ask you what like what
(36:58):
you're asking me, you know what.
Why, why are you successful?
Why do you love the company somuch and love what you do?
And it all comes back to you.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
So we got to go to Mr Bob and so you know, tell us
about dotting those.
I's crossing those T's dotting,i's the paperwork in terms of
LLC.
Speaker 4 (37:17):
I want to go back to what Cody said.
Okay absolutely Because he saidyou know so many small
businesses hate to ask for help,and that is true and I think
part of that is they may ask thewrong people.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Because if they're, not.
Speaker 4 (37:29):
in business, people are going to be naysayers.
You know, when you went intobusiness about 40 years ago, you
had a lot of naysayers becauseof the type of business that
it's in.
But in your type of business,like I, deal a lot with
franchises as well.
But it's kind of like that,because you've got competitors
in the same organization, I mean, but at the same time they're
(37:52):
supportive of you, so you havesome people you can go and talk
to.
When you have an idea.
You might not want to do itlocally, you might talk to
someone that's in Dallas orsomething where it's the same
thing.
I mean you want to talk to othersmall business people or people
that have been in business theydon't have to have been in the
salon business, but theyunderstand business and where
you are as opposed to somebodyjust out on the street.
Speaker 5 (38:16):
It was like going back in time, Like you asked,
Cody if you would go back intime and change something.
One of the things that I alwaystell people in change, don't
worry about what other peoplethink.
Don't worry about what otherpeople think.
The younger me did at one pointNow, how they say that some
will, some won't.
So what?
Speaker 3 (38:35):
Look, let me tell you , it's always the people that
aren't directly involved thathave the most to say about what
you're doing, isn't?
Speaker 4 (38:42):
that funny?
Oh yeah, yeah, oh yeah.
And now that we got Facebook,we got millions of people next
door.
Speaker 3 (38:48):
I want positive critiques and I want negative
critiques too, but going throughthe beginning stages of your
business it's tough likedrowning out that noise.
It is Because a lot of them arelike you're not going to be a
success doing this.
Why are you doing this?
Speaker 5 (39:02):
But you know, like you said, failure.
But without failure there is nosuccess.
That's a driver to you too.
Speaker 4 (39:07):
I can hear you brought it up three times.
Somebody told me because Iremember being in high school
and talking to the counselor bycollege and he says you're not
college material and I'm likethat's why the coach is out in
the hall.
I'll growl on that one.
I want to know what he's doingtoday.
But anyway, that was a driverfor me a thousand years ago,
(39:27):
yeah.
But both of these people, justin everything they're saying,
knows their product.
They know and have passionbeyond what and what you.
You know it and maybe don'teven know it because you keep
saying you sell a product andyou don't.
You're selling a service,because they can buy that
(39:48):
product everywhere.
It's good you can, callingyourself a counselor and you
obviously you know you sell herebut I mean it's not, but that's
I sold in the computer business.
I sold hardware, I sold softwareand I sold service.
It was all packaged as aservice.
I mean they didn't know,particularly back in those days,
(40:11):
what they needed, what acomputer could do for them.
Okay, but you have to.
So when we go back to the veryfirst thing I said is we need to
research and we need to plan,and part of that, of course, is
the numbers.
That's a whole different game.
But really understanding whatit is that you're selling, and
you did it wonderfully when yousaid you know if people might
(40:33):
ask me what, what do you sell ina total computer systems?
When you started that business,what did you sell?
Well, you would obviously thinkwell, hardware, software, just
what I said.
No, what I sell is success tosmall businesses.
I help small businesses be moresuccessful through the proper
use of technology.
Now, what does that mean?
I sell hardware and software inservice but, I understood, as
(40:57):
you did, 60% of what you sell ishow they feel and only 40% is
the skill and the same thingwith your product.
So you understood that.
So when I'm helping someonewith a small business plan, I
tell them about 80% of it ismarketing, because everything
and anything and everything andeverything we do in the business
(41:19):
is marketing, even theinvoicing, even taking the money
we got to make it easy for thecustomer.
There are six steps undermarketing.
What is your mission statement?
My mission statement was whatTo sell and to help small
businesses be more successfulthrough the proper use of
technology.
And I do that.
So what's the second M?
(41:39):
Who is our market?
Who is our market?
What are they?
You know where do they live andwe're going to meet them where
they are.
And then the third now that weknow what we sell, we understand
what we sell, we understand ourmarket.
Now we can create the message.
What's the message we want togive?
Now we know that we have amessage that we need to get out.
(42:00):
We go to the fourth and we can,we can find the method.
Is it going to be?
If I do a seminar on socialmedia, I'll fill up the room.
I mean it'll fill up the room.
(42:25):
The first question they ask tellme what you sell and who do you
sell it to.
And they really can't answerwhat are you here for?
Why do you think social mediais even going to work for you if
you don't know what you'reselling and who you're selling
it to?
Okay, so then you go the method.
Then you have to you know,monetize that.
What's your budget you're goingto spend?
I work with franchises, okay,and I want to tell you the one
(42:46):
thing they do more than anybodyelse is they they market, they
spend money on marketing andthey make more money than small
businesses.
We can show the numbers there.
So I'm not trying to sellanybody, I'm not trying to
convince anybody to go intofranchises, but if we've got the
statistics and the numbers toprove what they do works, why
(43:08):
don't we try to do that more asa small business person?
And the sixth and last M ismanage it.
I mean, you know, keep your eyeon the money.
So you've got this big matrixof ways that you're spending
your money for marketing andthis one's not working.
This one is working.
Move that money over here.
So try a lot of differentthings.
So six M's is what is yourmission, what's your market?
(43:30):
What's your message?
What's your method?
How much money are you going tospend and manage it?
Money you're going to spend andmanage it.
Speaker 2 (43:36):
So, before we wrap up , tell them how SCORE can help
them.
Somebody that's sitting outthere listening wanting to know
I need some help, I need amentor.
Tell them about how SCORE, whatSCORE does, and then we'll wrap
up and we'll let Cody andDeidre just kind of give out
their best pitch and sell tosomebody that's sitting on a
couch wanting to start abusiness.
And they need that motivation.
You two are going to be leftwith the task of giving that
(43:59):
motivation, so go ahead, mr Bob.
Speaker 4 (44:00):
Yeah, well, scoreorg, and of course, with the
technology, it knows where youare.
You can put SCOREorg slashBaton Rouge, but it's going to
know where we are.
I don't know the magic in thecomputer Technology.
So we have a national group andtons of resources to start with
on that website, tons and tonsof sample templates for business
(44:24):
plans.
But the most important part iswe've got workshops.
I do a simple steps for startingyour business a two-hour online
seminar on the last Tuesday,the last Tuesday of every month,
from two to four.
Go to score.
Look under workshops and you'llhear a lot of what I've said
(44:45):
today, but a little bit more indepth.
That is the five series course.
So we go into marketing for thenext two sessions.
We have how to fund youraccount and how to finance more
about financing.
So we've got a lot of seminarsonline and what I suggest is, if
(45:07):
you need help, you go, and,particularly if you're starting
the business, take that firstcourse that I just told you
about.
Take that first course business.
Take that first course that Ijust told you about.
Take that first course.
Then go find a mentor andcontinue to take courses, but
have someone that you can calland lean on and work with as you
work.
And what are you working toward?
Starting a business?
(45:28):
No, you're working on thebusiness plan so we can get to
the and start the business.
Speaker 2 (45:33):
All right, all right, cody.
So what's that motivatingstatement?
What are you going to tell ouraudience, our listeners?
Speaker 3 (45:39):
How much time we have .
It's going to be hard, it'sgoing to be very difficult to
stay in that headspace, likebeing on 100% of the time, being
on stage, as I call it.
When I'm with my guests, I'mpresenting a character, I'm
selling a product, I am theproduct, and it kind of goes
(46:02):
back to saying your body willhurt, you're going to sacrifice
your weekends, but if you put inthat effort, it is going to
come back to you 100%.
We never learn anything in lifewhen things are perfect 100% of
the time.
I've never learned somethingwhenever I was having a blast.
So you're going to go throughsome difficult times.
(46:23):
You're going to doubt yourselftremendously, but it's about
waking up and putting thoseboots on again and going out
there and fighting that fightand standing up for yourself and
what you want to do, becausethere's going to be a lot of
people that say you can't do it.
They could be your partner.
They could be your partner,they could be your friend, they
could be your competition.
Take that as a motivator to getto the next step.
I love my journey.
(46:44):
I love sharing my journey.
It's so awesome to be in thispredicament.
This is a very full circlemoment for me and I would love
other people to take that riskor lose the chance.
Speaker 2 (46:58):
Absolutely.
And before we switch over, howcan you be reached if they want
to come and have?
Speaker 3 (47:02):
some of that quality service and hair care.
So I have lairsaloncom.
That's L-A-I-R saloncom.
That's how you can find so muchmore about me.
There's the digital look book Iwas talking about earlier and
online booking.
I'm located inside Emrys SalonSuites.
That is on American Way.
It is a side street off ofCorsi, so right here in the
(47:24):
heart of Baton Rouge, so easy toaccess, and I look forward to
meeting anybody that comes inand has a service with me.
Speaker 2 (47:33):
Awesome, and we're going to give you that final
word.
Tell us something motivatingfor our listeners out there and
then how they can reach you ifthey want to be willing to take
the plunge, you know if it'syour dream, it's your passion.
Speaker 5 (48:01):
You're never going to know until you try.
There's never success withoutfailure.
And then and I'm like youthere's there's many failures
and many slow times, but you getup and you keep going.
Whether it's a home business,um, whether you're selling
something consumable like I wasalways, you know, was always
(48:23):
taught that if you're going tosell something and people want
to come back, like you want, youwant your people to come back.
Like cody says, you got to sellyourself and uh, and it makes
you feel good.
Don't any, don't let anyoneever steal your joy, you know.
It's just.
You got to remember that youstarted this business because
(48:45):
you loved it and you want toshare that passion with someone
else, and I think that's whatI've always tried to do.
And even though they may havenot wanted to start a business,
they wanted to come back to yourbusiness because of the service
that you gave them.
Speaker 2 (49:07):
So how can?
Speaker 5 (49:08):
they reach you.
Well, I'm from St James Parish,I live in Gramercy.
They can always come to my home.
I'm going to give you mywebsite though.
That way they can always dothat as well.
But I live at 171 North Isidorein Gramercy, louisiana.
My website is wwwmarykcom slashddottier, and so where you can
(49:30):
go online and you can see allthe products, call me Samples to
try, but more so.
Come over so we can have a cupof coffee and we can start a
friendship.
Speaker 2 (49:43):
All right, that's.
Speaker 4 (49:44):
South Louisiana.
Start with the coffee.
Speaker 2 (49:47):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (49:48):
Love it.
Speaker 2 (49:49):
Thank you to my phenomenal guests.
There you have it.
If you are on the shelf, if youare thinking about starting a
business after listening to this, how can you not make that next
move?
So, until next time, have abusiness.
After listening to this, howcan you not make that next move?
Speaker 4 (50:01):
So until next time, have a great day.
After this I'm going to gostart another business.
I think both.
Speaker 5 (50:05):
Thank you, Kim.
Speaker 3 (50:06):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (50:09):
It's time for Blueprint Building Blocks Small
changes that lead to bigfinancial wins.
Let's stack up for success.
Speaker 2 (50:20):
Do your research, check out resources like SCORE
you heard it right here.
The Small BusinessAdministration is also another
good resource and, of course,local business development
centers.
All of these can be really,really helpful.
Choose the right businessstructure, decide if you're
going to be a soleproprietorship, an LLC or a
partnership what fits you bestand again, places like SCORE can
(50:42):
help you with that.
And then start small, but stayconsistent.
You don't have to quit your jobright away.
Test the waters and scale asyou grow.
Speaker 1 (50:52):
That's a wrap on today's Blueprint Building
Blocks.
Stay on track with yourfinancial journey.
Subscribe to the Money Matterspodcast and visit
neighborsfcuorg slash financialwellness for more tools to help
you build a strong financialfuture.
Welcome to Money Matters, the podcast that
focuses on how to use the moneyyou have, make the money you
need and save the money you want.
Now here is your host, ms Kim.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Chapman.
All right, welcome to anotheredition of Money Matters and,
like you heard them say how touse the money you have, make the
money you need and save themoney you want.
Today, we're going to betalking about entrepreneurship.
Do you have an idea, Do youhave a passion that maybe you
can actually turn into a profit?
You don't know how to getstarted, you don't know what to
do, or maybe you've gottenstarted but you're stuck.
(00:34):
Well, today we're going to talkabout how to make it a success.
I've got three phenomenal guestswith us.
Mr Bob Rowe you've probablyseen him before.
I mean, he knows everything, heworks for SCORE and he's going
to be able to tell you how toget started, at least the legal
logistics about it.
And then I've got some justlocal, talented, sensational
(00:55):
entrepreneurs that have turnedtheir businesses into a success.
We've got Ms Deidre Bro.
I've known her for what?
Over 20 years ago, when Istarted buying a little Mary Kay
lipstick, and I tell you I waswowed, because most people sell
their Mary Kay what out of alittle suitcase, out of a trunk.
She turned her whole what wasit?
A garage into a storefront, andso whatever you need, she's
(01:18):
definitely got it.
And then we've got Cody howmany of you are out there and
you can do something.
You're creative and you can doa good hairstyle.
I probably should have had himmeet me in the room before we
got started and do a littletouch of work.
But not only is he a stylist,but he also does those rentals,
and so he's going to talk abouthow, during COVID, rather than
sitting around being bored, heturned his business idea into a
(01:41):
profit.
So welcome, everybody, Welcome.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Ms Kim Happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Thanks for having us.
Absolutely so, mr Barbro.
Definitely we're going to startwith you.
So there are lots of peoplesitting out there, especially
the beginning of the year, thatmay be that delayed new year's
resolution.
You know, I want to start abusiness, I want to work for
myself.
Where do I get started?
I'm talented and that's one ofthe things I'm always promoting
when people come in and they'relooking for how can I earn more
(02:08):
money.
And I think about think aboutyour talents, think about your
skills and maybe you can turn itinto a business.
But obviously that is easiersaid than done, or is it?
You tell us how can you getstarted?
Speaker 4 (02:25):
started.
It's magic.
All right, it's easy, it'sreally easy.
No problem at all.
No, I think the first thing youneed to do is, as you said, have
an idea.
You need to have a dream, butthen you've got to do some
research and then you've got tomake a plan.
So people will get so tired ofme when talking about the
business plan.
But if you come looking toborrow money here or anywhere
else, what do they want?
They want a business plan.
(02:46):
And do they need that businessplan for what?
To see that you've got anexecutable idea.
You know, first of all, that youcan actually execute the
business plan.
So many folks just don't wantto do the business plan.
They think it's a lot of work,that's going to be the easiest
thing that you ever do, and soyou know you do the business
(03:09):
plan.
They think that's a lot of work, that's going to be the easiest
thing that you ever do.
And so you know you need abusiness plan.
You need to research and youneed to research.
And you need to research beforeyou go out and risk everything,
because, as everybody knows, ifyou're in small business,
you've got everything on theline.
So are you willing to do that.
Do you have what it takes to gointo business?
Speaker 2 (03:23):
And if somebody is listening saying business plan,
that's exactly where I'm stuck.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
Tell them how you and SCORE might be able to help
them with that process.
The business plan is not thathard.
As I said, that's probablygoing to be the easiest thing
that you ever do.
But I understand that becauseeverybody is so afraid it's as
if that you were carving.
Whatever your ideas and yourplan is into stone and it can
never be changing.
But a business plan is a livingdocument that you can use to
get that viewpoint of.
(03:51):
Here's my idea, here's myskills, here's how I wanted to
put it to work.
Now let's put it on paper anddetermine how it works.
If it doesn't work on paper,it's not going to work in real
life and it can be daunting andit can be hard.
That's why SCORE mentors arethere.
We're all experienced executives.
(04:12):
We volunteer, We've been there,We've done that and so we know
some of the pitfalls.
We've been in the pitfalls.
We have been tripped.
We haven't had all goodsuccesses.
I had my first foray intobusiness.
I bought a business and itfailed in 18 months.
That was great.
(04:34):
That was better than my collegeeducation.
I can tell you right now.
I learned more from thatfailure and so two years later I
was back in business andstarted a computer company and
started with a business plan.
I did not have score I wish Idid and learned quite a bit in
the next 25 years running thistechnology company.
(04:57):
Technology company that didn'thave these types of cameras and
these cell phones that we had in1983 when I got started.
So now that there's also video,you can see I'm an old guy.
I don't have to tell you that Ihave been around a while.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
So you mentioned pitfalls.
What are some of those pitfallsthat are common to a new
entrepreneur?
And then, what are some ofthose myths that are having
those people just hesitate aboutputting their foot in the water
?
Speaker 4 (05:26):
They don't do a plan, they don't do the research.
They take their idea and theyrun with it and they think they
can do.
It Might be as an example thatI use.
You might be an electrician,you're working for the man, so
you've got him riding around inhis trucks using his tools and
you've got the skill to do itand you say, hey, why am I doing
this for him when I can do itfor myself?
And so they quickly might gobuy his own tools, get his own
(05:49):
equipment.
But he doesn't realize that hedoes know the work of the
business.
He knows how to do theelectrical work, but there's so
much more that comes with thebusiness.
You've got the accounting,you've got the budget, you've
got to have cash flow.
You're going to need help.
So when you're going to go intomanagement, all of that's going
(06:09):
to come from out of nowhere ifyou haven't planned.
So planning is absolutely thekey.
Now, while I've still got themic, I might suggest it can be
super easy to do a business planif you just use AI, and it
could be the worst thing thatyou've ever done.
I have got two or three sittingon my desk that you can tell.
(06:32):
All they did was go to AI.
And I just told you I'm fromthe technology world, so I'm not
anti-technology.
I believe that AI, you know, isa great tool, but it's just
that it's not going to think foryou.
It's a tool, it might bethinking for you later on, but
today you can go to it and say,hey, I'm thinking, I want to be
(06:56):
an electrician, what do I need?
And and write a business plan.
You know, do it and I'll giveyou no specifics and it's not
going to ever fly at the bank orwith me or anybody else,
because I got, as I said, two orthree sitting on my table now
that I'm viewing and I'm pushingback to them.
But you could go to it and saywhat do I need?
(07:18):
And it'll give you a list ofthings that you need to think
about and there's going to bebullet points, so they'll show
you where they got thatinformation.
Go back and read thatinformation.
That's the beginning of yourresearch.
And then you might say, okay,here are the bullet points,
here's what I've gathered fromwhat you've given me and here's
what I want to do based on thatand put it in and it will help
(07:41):
you, just like a score, mentoror others will help you, but
it's all in the details.
You've got to go in and put instep-by-step, detail by thing.
I call it a two-step.
The first step is the businessplan to make sure we can get to
that.
Can it, can it happen, can itbe successful or not?
Once we do that and we decidewe're going to go into business,
(08:01):
then change it somewhat and wecall it a strategic plan.
We put more detail on it.
If I'm you know what's everystep of the way, I'm the
electrician I need to.
What do I need?
Make a list of all the thingsthat I need and then start right
where you're going to do thatin the basic business plan.
(08:21):
Then later on you're going towrite job description.
I can go on for an hour and ahalf, two hours.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
We got two other guests I know we're going to let
them chime in just a little bit, so I want to switch gears.
You know Mary Kay is awell-known name and I imagine it
probably comes with its ownbusiness plan decided that this
was something that you weregoing to venture out into and
tell us a little bit how it hasgrown into that beautiful space
(08:47):
that I saw over 20 years ago.
That just kind of wowed me.
Speaker 5 (08:51):
Oh, you're quite right.
Mary Kay actually started in1963 and it started in a
basement of a building with anidea and Mary Kay Ash and she
took her idea and started herbusiness on a Friday, the 13th.
So she you know no superstitionthere, but she does.
(09:12):
This business has its plan thatif you stick with the plan you
can be successful.
You have to work your business.
It takes time.
You can't just jump in andthink it's going to happen
overnight.
You have with us, it's aconsumable product and so when I
was asked 40, over 40 years ago, because I started in October
(09:36):
of 1984.
So it'd be what that's 41 yearscoming up, if I'm my math is
right I was asked at a party youknow this was something that
was geared for women and alsofor men to become consultants
and to um, to uh, come intosomeone's home and to share the
products.
(09:56):
And when you fell in love withthe products and you believed in
the products, and then you wereshared the opportunity, and
then you will ask so tell memore.
Well then that's when they gaveyou the plan and you know the
things that that Mary Kay had tooffer, whether you wanted to do
this part-time or full-time,you know the sky was the limit
(10:21):
and I think that's what that'swhat inspired me, because you
could.
You could come in and you couldtake your time with it.
You didn't have to come in andyou know it's a.
It's a tier company where youhad to recruit all these people,
uh, to be higher on the ladder,you know, to be a director, to
be, you know, the.
(10:43):
I want to say that the personwho recruited the most people,
the person who sold the mostproducts, you know, you be part
of it and still raise yourfamily because it was based.
What triggered me, as far aswhat I fell in love with, was
(11:04):
that it's a company based on Godfirst, a family second and
careers third, and so and that'swhat, anything.
When you put things inperspective like that, the
perfect business plan.
It's the perfect business planand success.
And so, yeah, you're offeredthe opportunity to go to all
these training seminars whereyou learn about money management
(11:28):
, inventory, recruiting, beautytips, the product, on and on and
on.
And it's your choice.
If that's what you want to do,you do it.
If not, then you still have totake a back seat and say, well,
if I'm going to grow thisbusiness, I still need to know
(11:48):
something about it.
You just can't sit there andsay, here's my business card,
here's a book.
No, you still have to knowsomething.
So you have to build a business, you know, with the products
that you're selling, and I wasalways told that if you were
going to start a business and itwas something consumable and
the person who bought it likedit and you had it on your shelf,
(12:12):
they were coming back forbusiness with you.
Um, but I always take pride inuh, you know, building that
relationship with my customer,which is where me and Kim come
in to play because youremembered me and I thank you
for that.
I take pride in that I really do, Because I think over the years
(12:33):
I just didn't.
I wasn't making just a customer, I was building a friendship.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Absolutely.
So take us back because I'msure, like many other Mary Kay
consultants, you started outwith that little suitcase, you
know, selling it on the go.
We definitely didn't have allthat good AI technology and
social media wasn't as big, itwasn't as dominating back then.
So tell us, how did you grow itfrom just that little suitcase,
you know, going from door todoor selling, to now you have a
(13:02):
storefront?
When was the change?
When did you know that this wasgoing to be something that you
needed to grow and expand intoyour home?
Speaker 5 (13:09):
Well, you're saying that I, literally it was.
It was a suitcase and you wentdoor to door and pretty much you
know you, you met someone.
You showed them the product.
If they liked it and loved itlike I did, well, then they
shared it with their family andfriends and then your business
grew from that.
You know you had to get on thephone and make calls, you know,
(13:35):
calling that customer, potentialcustomer, saying Hello, my
name's Deirdre Detelier, I'm aMary Kay Beauty Consultant.
Kim gave me your name and shethinks that you would love, you
know, to sample these productsand tell us what you think.
And so from there, you hopethat they would fall in love
with it like you did, and wouldcall you because they fell in
(13:56):
love with the lipstick or thecleanser or what you know, the
perfumes and everything that wehad to offer and word of mouth,
passing out the business cards Imean it was.
You know you did.
Your time is how I said it tosome other people.
You know you got to put thetime in.
You know it doesn't comeovernight.
You know you buy your products,you're making some phone calls
(14:21):
but then you're not doinganything else.
It doesn't work that way.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
So how long had you been, I'm sorry how long had you
been in a business before youactually decided to grow that
product stash and actually turn?
Was it just an extra room?
Was it a garage?
It was an extra room.
Speaker 5 (14:36):
It always I say in the home that I'm in right now
it was an extra room.
Was it a garage?
It was an extra room.
It always I say in the homethat I'm in right now it was an
extra room.
The home I was in prior Iactually had a shelf in my
kitchen, but I always hadproduct.
I was always told you couldn'tsell anything from an empty cart
, and so we were alwaysencouraged to have inventory.
You don't have to haveinventory, but I chose to
because when somebody called meand say, hey, I need a cleanser,
(14:59):
do you have one on hand, Iwould say, oh, yes, I do.
And so they would, you know,come to my home and pick it up,
or I would deliver, and so, uh.
But when I moved into my newhome, um, I had an extra room
and so I expanded, went intogift basket you know doing gift
baskets and things like that butwhen you make it part of your
home, then you get the taxbenefits from it as well, and so
(15:23):
you're able to take part ofyour light bill and your and you
know your homeowner's insuranceand different things like that,
because it's part of my homeand it's under my roof, and so
the tax cut was another great.
I want to say that it was agreat plus when you have your
own business and it's a homebusiness, like Mary Kay.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
And Mr Bob was looking at me like he had
something.
Did you want to add somethingto that?
Speaker 4 (15:50):
Yeah, what I'm hearing more than anything else
and that's the advisor in me,the mentor in me but what I'm
hearing more than anything elsefrom her is that what made her
successful.
She had the passion.
She had passion for the productand then she developed passion
for the business because she wasjust looking at the product.
That's what drew you in.
So my idea is oh, I have aproduct or I have a service and
(16:13):
you got all this passionateabout that, but then you learn
to love the business as well,because the business is what's
going to sustain you.
Speaker 5 (16:22):
And the second.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
Thing is you had persistence.
You're going to get up in themorning in the dark, on the way
to the bathroom to get yourcoffee, and you're going to hit
the door.
You're going to trip and youjust want to get back in bed
someday, but you have so muchpassion for what you're doing,
oh absolutely, and the passionwas not just for the product,
not just for the business, butfor being successful and sharing
(16:44):
it with other people.
Speaker 5 (16:45):
Yeah, I felt like I was doing a service for others
as well, because it was a needand I just loved it.
I loved the mingling with mycustomers who became my friends
and naturally, some of them werestill family and you have to
(17:06):
love what you do and do what youlove.
Speaker 4 (17:10):
Three P's Passion, persistence, people.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
That still falls.
True, I like that.
That's okay, that's still falsetruth.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
I just threw that at you.
I like that.
Speaker 5 (17:15):
That's okay.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
But look, I want to segue because, speaking of need,
you know we all need to go, andyou know, get dolled up every
now and then get our hair done,and so we couldn't do that
without the Codys of the world.
So, Codys, tell us a little bitabout your business and then
how you transitioned it even toa bigger profit during COVID.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
So I've been in the world of hairdressing since 2012
.
So it's been a while now, butit's evolved so much.
I had worked for commissionsalons and during COVID I had a
lot of time on my hands.
It wasn't a fun, and duringthat time I was able to sit down
(17:59):
and curate this idea that hasnow been in business for five
years and that's my salon suite,Lair Salon.
I'm located at Emerson SalonSuites off of Corsi.
There's, I want to say, about20 other businesses in there
with similar goals to work forthemselves and to be there for
(18:19):
their community.
Yeah, I did not know I would bethis far along.
I think that profit and makingmoney is great, but just being
able to open that door every dayis just as amazing, Because not
a lot of people in thisindustry, in the cosmetology
world, make it even two yearsafter school.
(18:39):
Or maybe they work for a largesalon and they get discouraged
because of some of the optics inthat setting.
But I love working for myself.
I'm a little bit of a controlfreak, but I've been able to
make money because I believe inwhat I'm doing and I think my
(19:02):
clients see that I trust inmyself a whole lot more than I
did working for thosecommission-based salons and I
wanted it a lot.
This kind of goes back to whatwe were talking about.
You know passion behind whatyou do.
You have to want it more thaneveryone else.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
So you mentioned there's like that two-year
threshold, because there arelots of talented individuals out
there that love hair, makeup,beauty, the whole nine yards.
But you mentioned a two-yearthreshold and obviously here it
is.
You're 10 plus years in thegame and you're steady growing.
Tell us what it is that youthink you did right, but at the
same time, what are some thingsyou think you would do over if
you had to start all over again?
Speaker 3 (19:45):
things you think you would do over.
If you had to start all overagain, oh, my goodness, if I
could do a few things over.
Let's start with that.
Okay, I would prepare myselffor those lean months.
Look at what happened with thesnow week we had.
Whenever you're self-employed,especially in a service-based
industry, your strategic pricinghelps you have steady income,
(20:09):
but I was not prepared for thesnow.
If there's an increase in mygoods, I might not be prepared
for that.
Thank, God, you don't use eggsright, right, but if I could do
a few things over again, itwould be preparing for those
lean months, making sure thatyou are aware of your budget,
like Mr Bob was talking about.
You need to have a plan forthose moments and in setting
(20:33):
myself up for success withthings that self-employed people
are sometimes pretty bad atmaking sure they have health
insurance, they're taking careof their business is a success
on paper as much as it is inperson.
And then what I feel I've doneover time is create excitement
for hair.
(20:53):
It's not just about making abeautiful blonde come to life
and putting it on Instagram.
There's a story behind everysingle photo.
A few months back, I made ahardcover lookbook.
A few months back, I made ahardcover lookbook and it really
is a time capsule of 10 plusyears of looks and clients and
family and friends, and I'mproud to have stories behind the
(21:17):
work that I do.
You have to be personal.
You can't just have someone sitin a chair and take their money
and go home.
Clients remember how you makethem feel.
It's like 60% how you make themfeel and 40% hair, and in my
line of work I think that's veryimportant to make sure that
(21:39):
you're offering a different typeof environment, making them
feel comfortable.
They come back, they're able torefer people to you.
I always say I'm the peoplestylist.
My clients can reach me anytimethey want.
I love to be there for them,show up to events, whether it's
a baby shower or a birthday, andI think that's been a huge part
(22:03):
of my success being believableand putting in that hard work
and it being seen by others.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
Let me have a question for you.
Are you in the salon businessor are you renting the space, or
both?
Speaker 3 (22:14):
So I'm a single owner LLC.
I rent a room under my landlord.
They have a large space with 20different rooms.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
It's like micro salons or micro businesses,
because it's not just salons,and you rent those spaces
yourself.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
I only have one room, so it's just me in one room.
It's a 10 by 13 room.
It sounds small but, trust me,I make it work.
It is exactly the way I'veenvisioned it and it's the
perfect amount of space and it'sthe perfect amount of space.
Now we do have a shared washhouse area so we can feel
motivated to be social andmobile and not feel constrained
to the room.
(22:52):
But I'm not renting the spacesfor profit or for anything like
that.
That would be their businessangle.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
It's almost like businesses within businesses.
Right, that's right, but Ididn't know which one you were
in, or both?
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Yes, no, I've been asked is the big salon down the
pipeline or do I dream of asalon suite?
And for right now, we're goingto put that on the back burner
and focus on my salon suite,which is Lair Salon.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
So you think really being that people person is what
has been your success.
So you think really being thatpeople person is what has been
your success.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Yes, I feel as if, if I wasn't Cody, I would not have
the success on paper at least,like the profit and the clients
on the books and everything youknow I'll.
I'll tell you a little story,and it's not a negative story,
(23:51):
but I'll never forget it.
I was once told that I wouldnot be a success and that people
would only come to me becauseof my personality, and I'm
assuming they were saying maybeI wasn't talented or I didn't
have the skill set to do whatthey did, and it stuck with me
for a really long time.
You have to believe in whatyou're doing.
You have to not lose part ofyourself in what you're doing,
(24:13):
because people are showing upfor a reason they see who you
are and in my world, I want toshare everything with them and
hopefully give them a wonderfulexperience, build their
confidence and have them comeback time and time again.
If I believe in myself, maybethey can believe in themselves.
They'll have that amazinghaircut for that job interview
(24:35):
or something of the sort.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
So really have to be authentic.
Okay, so, as a stylist, whatare the most important things
that you think up-and-comingstylists should know to be the
success that you are to havethat level of success?
Speaker 3 (24:48):
First, it kind of goes back to what I was saying.
Your salon owner can't want itmore than you do.
Your spouse can't want it morethan you do.
You have to go to bed thinkingabout it and you have to wake up
thinking about it.
This can't just be somethingyou daydream about at a red
light.
It has to be on your mindconstantly and there's a good
and a bad, you know, way oflooking at that.
(25:10):
I don't want someone to have itconsume their entire life.
I think that can be negativetoo.
There's burnout, but burnoutessentially means you haven't
found a system that works foryourself.
You need to take time and bewith your family or go to church
or whatever it is that you wantto do.
So the stylist or the personseeking employment in
(25:33):
cosmetology they need to reallybe immersed in it.
You need to be prepared foryour back to hurt.
You need to be prepared to missthose fun events with family or
friends to build that clientelewhen you are out of school.
Yes, you've invested the money,but you kind of start with a
clean slate.
There's nothing there.
You have to want it, you haveto go for it.
You have to be eager, and ifyou're not eager, you might not
(25:55):
get as far along.
I've been around stylists thatare happy folding towels and
answering a telephone.
Well, that wasn't me.
I wanted to make money and Iwanted to make people happy and
I wanted to get somewhere.
And if they want to get to thenext step, they just have to be
willing to put in the work.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
And I'm going to switch back to Deidre.
It's been 40 plus years.
What do you contribute to yoursuccess?
And you know you started outsaying hey, it was going door to
door phone calls.
Obviously, we have all thistechnology now where you can do
emails and social media.
How have you embracedtechnology and has it made a
difference in terms of yourlongevity?
Speaker 5 (26:35):
Yes, and no Technology.
For those that were not techsavvy and you had to learn it,
that was an obstacle.
But no technology has made somethings easier.
It also has brought in negative.
You can't not unsee that,because with a business like
Mary Kay, we're not supposedyou're one of the things in your
(26:58):
contract.
I'm going to call itbootlegging.
On eBay and Amazon and all ofthese other sites, you're
supposed to only get the productfrom a Mary Kay Beauty
consultant.
Yet there's people out therewho have done that and it goes
against your contract, and sothe company does step in because
(27:22):
it's against your contract.
But you've got to use thetechnology and make it a
positive.
You know, send out those emails.
You can now do your orderingthrough the website.
Consultants have theopportunity to have their own
website through the company sothat when you hand out that
(27:43):
business card, you can punch inmy web address and see my
profile and say, oh, that's myconsultant, that's who I want to
do my business with.
You know, or you could stillchoose not to have it, but still
call people and send emails.
Do your order.
Send out the lookbooks.
(28:03):
Do your order?
Send out the lookbooks.
I mean, there's things thathave made it really simpler, but
there's still some people whochoose not to.
As far as technology isconcerned, you've got to embrace
the changes from the colors,the fragrances.
I mean I've seen a lot ofchanges through Mary Kay.
(28:26):
And when you choose to have aninventory, you know that's
another risk.
Although you can't sell from anempty wagon, like I said
earlier, you can't interchangewith people and make sure that
(28:48):
there was a need and a want.
And why did you order it?
Because if you order it and youdidn't sell it, then it becomes
dead stock.
That becomes another problem.
So then you either still haveto find that person who needs it
or you know that becomes partof your profit.
(29:08):
You don't want that to happen.
You can't be discouraged by thechange.
You have to embrace it.
You have to still roll with thepunches and you know I want to
say it take it and make apositive out of it.
You have to.
You always have to see thepositive.
(29:30):
You know, like when somebodycalls and they want a specific
color and the companydiscontinued it, you have to say
I remember those days.
You remember those days.
Huh, you know.
You have to say oh, I'm sosorry, miss Kim, you know that
downtown brown is not with usanymore.
It may come back and then youshow them the new colors that
(29:51):
has taken its place and ninetimes out of 10, they like the
new color.
But you can't get discouragedwith that.
You have to know that this is abusiness that I'm working for
and that is my business that I'mworking for, and that it's my
business, that I'm working formyself, and let your customers
(30:12):
know what the changes are sothat they can embrace those
changes with you.
Very fortunate, I'm joyfullyand excited to say that I've got
customers that have been withme from day one and have stuck
with all of those changes, justas I have.
You know so, but it's it's awork in progress.
(30:35):
It always is.
If it would stay the same, itwouldn't be exciting either.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 5 (30:42):
It would.
You know who wants the samethings in our oatmeal every day.
You know I'm like you have tochange it up.
You know who wants the samethings in their oatmeal every
day.
You know I'm like you have tochange it up.
You know you have to, but no,mary Kay has always done a
beautiful job of staying withthe times, because there are
other competitions out there,but you want your customers to
stay with your competition, youknow.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
So having your own business definitely comes with
its own challenges.
Definitely there are going tobe some highs because that's why
you do it right and theredefinitely been some low moments
.
So I want each of you to tellme about maybe your you know
most prideful moment in beingyour entrepreneur.
You know that day when youstepped back and said I did this
.
You know what was that day like, if you can remember, but also
(31:24):
what was maybe one of thegreatest obstacles in your many
years of business that you hadto overcome to basically
encourage some of our listenersto say, hey, you're going to
have those obstacles.
Here's what my story lookedlike, but I was able to overcome
it.
So we'll let Cody go first.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
Okay, so one of my proudest moments was seeing my
vision come to life.
I made a dream board.
If anyone knows about thisbinder, they know what I'm
talking about.
There's a binder in my salonsuite and it was my startup.
It was my business plan.
Like Mr Bob was talking aboutEverything from numbers, but
also visual elements, to whatthe wallpaper was going to look
(32:01):
like, what the retail shelf wasgoing to look like and it's in
your shop, you said you're notbringing it, I know, I know you
didn't put it in the shelf.
Speaker 4 (32:09):
once it's done and forgot about it, it's in the
salon.
I love.
Speaker 3 (32:13):
I love mood boards.
I had a meeting at my previoussalon this was a while back,
several years ago and the mentorcame in and had us make dream
boards and everyone thought itwas kind of silly.
But I love, like you know,magazine cutouts, like making a
little vision board.
Every single thing on thatvision board came true a few
years later.
So one of my proudest momentsto go back sorry was seeing
(32:37):
everything in real life.
It's not just a picture, it'snot just an idea, it is in front
of me and I was having, youknow, like this dopamine effect,
when you hit a goal you want todo it again and come out with
something new and somethingexciting.
I think if you start small, youcan go even bigger one day.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
Sky's the limit.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
You know, salon limit now, I'm sorry, salon limit,
Salon suite now, but maybesomething larger later, we don't
know.
But obstacles, let's see.
I mean, I was a commissionedstylist.
I didn't know anything aboutthe Department of Revenue.
I didn't know anything about anoccupational license, what
(33:21):
website to go on, because thereare very random websites out
there that want to tell you thatyou need to submit something,
and it might not even be thelegitimate website.
Fortunately for me, I had somefriends that were going through
a similar process and we wereable to cross-check with each
other.
This is the list we need to gowith.
We need to do our Secretary ofState first and then follow up
(33:41):
with this and that and the other.
I always tell people theresources are there.
You just have to know where togo and find them.
Like, if you go to theDepartment of Revenue office,
there's a packet that they cangive you with a lot of items you
can check off of your list.
(34:03):
It's not just you sitting athome on YouTube and finding a
blog or a Reddit, like, thereare offices to help you.
It seems a little intimidatingwhenever you're starting fresh.
So I thought that was anobstacle, but it wasn't anything
that I couldn't overcome.
I had friends to ask for help.
A lot of small business ownersdon't want to ask for help.
There's too much pride in whatthey're doing and they feel like
it's a weak thing to ask forhelp.
And I think that it's amazingto ask for help the Like it's a
(34:27):
weak thing to ask for help and Ithink that it's amazing to ask
for help.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
The only stupid question is the one that's not
asked.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
So I would have preferred, like you know, to be
um finished with all of thatlike in one night, but I was
able to do that in time.
Make sure all of my eyes weredotted and my t's were crossed.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Um so so I'm gonna let miss deidre answer.
But I know, bob, because that'sright up your alley right,
getting those eyes dotted andt's crossed.
But let's let miss deidreanswer real quickly in terms of
that, that moment, you know,that proudest moment you may
have had and maybe the biggestobstacle.
And then we'll kind of wrap up.
We'll let Mr Bob talk aboutthose legalities, you know,
those different resources andmaybe how a mentor can be very
(35:06):
beneficial for somebody tryingto start up right.
Speaker 5 (35:09):
Um, some of my proudest moments was, uh,
sharing the business with otherpeople who decided that they
wanted to try the Mary Kayopportunity, just like Cody said
.
Vision boards, I mean you poston there that you want to become
a Red Jacket, you want tobecome part of Queen of Sales or
Queen of Recruiting, and whenyou do those things and you win
(35:31):
the prizes and you getrecognition for it, that always
seems to be great.
But when you help somebody elsebecome successful with it, it
also makes you what they callpaychecks of the heart.
You know it makes you feel good.
The obstacles are somewhat inthe same line, because some of
those same people that you sharethe opportunity with they find
(35:52):
out along the way that, no, thisis not for me.
You know, and it can bedisappointing sometimes, but you
know what?
My dream is not your dream andmy success is not going to be
the same as your success,because we all envision
something differently.
You know, along with the changesof the company and you know
those different obstacles, evenwith technology, like you were
(36:15):
saying, and just learning thedifferent I want to say the
different aspects of a company,you know, you have to wrap your
mind around it.
You have to.
You have to know the rules, youhave to know the regulations.
You have to fill out the rightpaperwork.
You still have to do the taxreports.
You know and file your taxesand reports.
You know and file your taxesand you know.
(36:38):
Report your sales and yourincome.
You know you just can't not dothat.
You know when.
You know you became a businessowner.
But oh yeah, some of thoseproud moments you know and you
still.
You sit on that and youreminisce because you just never
know when somebody else isgoing to ask you what like what
(36:58):
you're asking me, you know what.
Why, why are you successful?
Why do you love the company somuch and love what you do?
And it all comes back to you.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
So we got to go to Mr Bob and so you know, tell us
about dotting those.
I's crossing those T's dotting,i's the paperwork in terms of
LLC.
Speaker 4 (37:17):
I want to go back to what Cody said.
Okay absolutely Because he saidyou know so many small
businesses hate to ask for help,and that is true and I think
part of that is they may ask thewrong people.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Because if they're, not.
Speaker 4 (37:29):
in business, people are going to be naysayers.
You know, when you went intobusiness about 40 years ago, you
had a lot of naysayers becauseof the type of business that
it's in.
But in your type of business,like I, deal a lot with
franchises as well.
But it's kind of like that,because you've got competitors
in the same organization, I mean, but at the same time they're
(37:52):
supportive of you, so you havesome people you can go and talk
to.
When you have an idea.
You might not want to do itlocally, you might talk to
someone that's in Dallas orsomething where it's the same
thing.
I mean you want to talk to othersmall business people or people
that have been in business theydon't have to have been in the
salon business, but theyunderstand business and where
you are as opposed to somebodyjust out on the street.
Speaker 5 (38:16):
It was like going back in time, Like you asked,
Cody if you would go back intime and change something.
One of the things that I alwaystell people in change, don't
worry about what other peoplethink.
Don't worry about what otherpeople think.
The younger me did at one pointNow, how they say that some
will, some won't.
So what?
Speaker 3 (38:35):
Look, let me tell you , it's always the people that
aren't directly involved thathave the most to say about what
you're doing, isn't?
Speaker 4 (38:42):
that funny?
Oh yeah, yeah, oh yeah.
And now that we got Facebook,we got millions of people next
door.
Speaker 3 (38:48):
I want positive critiques and I want negative
critiques too, but going throughthe beginning stages of your
business it's tough likedrowning out that noise.
It is Because a lot of them arelike you're not going to be a
success doing this.
Why are you doing this?
Speaker 5 (39:02):
But you know, like you said, failure.
But without failure there is nosuccess.
That's a driver to you too.
Speaker 4 (39:07):
I can hear you brought it up three times.
Somebody told me because Iremember being in high school
and talking to the counselor bycollege and he says you're not
college material and I'm likethat's why the coach is out in
the hall.
I'll growl on that one.
I want to know what he's doingtoday.
But anyway, that was a driverfor me a thousand years ago,
(39:27):
yeah.
But both of these people, justin everything they're saying,
knows their product.
They know and have passionbeyond what and what you.
You know it and maybe don'teven know it because you keep
saying you sell a product andyou don't.
You're selling a service,because they can buy that
(39:48):
product everywhere.
It's good you can, callingyourself a counselor and you
obviously you know you sell herebut I mean it's not, but that's
I sold in the computer business.
I sold hardware, I sold softwareand I sold service.
It was all packaged as aservice.
I mean they didn't know,particularly back in those days,
(40:11):
what they needed, what acomputer could do for them.
Okay, but you have to.
So when we go back to the veryfirst thing I said is we need to
research and we need to plan,and part of that, of course, is
the numbers.
That's a whole different game.
But really understanding whatit is that you're selling, and
you did it wonderfully when yousaid you know if people might
(40:33):
ask me what, what do you sell ina total computer systems?
When you started that business,what did you sell?
Well, you would obviously thinkwell, hardware, software, just
what I said.
No, what I sell is success tosmall businesses.
I help small businesses be moresuccessful through the proper
use of technology.
Now, what does that mean?
I sell hardware and software inservice but, I understood, as
(40:57):
you did, 60% of what you sell ishow they feel and only 40% is
the skill and the same thingwith your product.
So you understood that.
So when I'm helping someonewith a small business plan, I
tell them about 80% of it ismarketing, because everything
and anything and everything andeverything we do in the business
(41:19):
is marketing, even theinvoicing, even taking the money
we got to make it easy for thecustomer.
There are six steps undermarketing.
What is your mission statement?
My mission statement was whatTo sell and to help small
businesses be more successfulthrough the proper use of
technology.
And I do that.
So what's the second M?
(41:39):
Who is our market?
Who is our market?
What are they?
You know where do they live andwe're going to meet them where
they are.
And then the third now that weknow what we sell, we understand
what we sell, we understand ourmarket.
Now we can create the message.
What's the message we want togive?
Now we know that we have amessage that we need to get out.
(42:00):
We go to the fourth and we can,we can find the method.
Is it going to be?
If I do a seminar on socialmedia, I'll fill up the room.
I mean it'll fill up the room.
(42:25):
The first question they ask tellme what you sell and who do you
sell it to.
And they really can't answerwhat are you here for?
Why do you think social mediais even going to work for you if
you don't know what you'reselling and who you're selling
it to?
Okay, so then you go the method.
Then you have to you know,monetize that.
What's your budget you're goingto spend?
I work with franchises, okay,and I want to tell you the one
(42:46):
thing they do more than anybodyelse is they they market, they
spend money on marketing andthey make more money than small
businesses.
We can show the numbers there.
So I'm not trying to sellanybody, I'm not trying to
convince anybody to go intofranchises, but if we've got the
statistics and the numbers toprove what they do works, why
(43:08):
don't we try to do that more asa small business person?
And the sixth and last M ismanage it.
I mean, you know, keep your eyeon the money.
So you've got this big matrixof ways that you're spending
your money for marketing andthis one's not working.
This one is working.
Move that money over here.
So try a lot of differentthings.
So six M's is what is yourmission, what's your market?
(43:30):
What's your message?
What's your method?
How much money are you going tospend and manage it?
Money you're going to spend andmanage it.
Speaker 2 (43:36):
So, before we wrap up , tell them how SCORE can help
them.
Somebody that's sitting outthere listening wanting to know
I need some help, I need amentor.
Tell them about how SCORE, whatSCORE does, and then we'll wrap
up and we'll let Cody andDeidre just kind of give out
their best pitch and sell tosomebody that's sitting on a
couch wanting to start abusiness.
And they need that motivation.
You two are going to be leftwith the task of giving that
(43:59):
motivation, so go ahead, mr Bob.
Speaker 4 (44:00):
Yeah, well, scoreorg, and of course, with the
technology, it knows where youare.
You can put SCOREorg slashBaton Rouge, but it's going to
know where we are.
I don't know the magic in thecomputer Technology.
So we have a national group andtons of resources to start with
on that website, tons and tonsof sample templates for business
(44:24):
plans.
But the most important part iswe've got workshops.
I do a simple steps for startingyour business a two-hour online
seminar on the last Tuesday,the last Tuesday of every month,
from two to four.
Go to score.
Look under workshops and you'llhear a lot of what I've said
(44:45):
today, but a little bit more indepth.
That is the five series course.
So we go into marketing for thenext two sessions.
We have how to fund youraccount and how to finance more
about financing.
So we've got a lot of seminarsonline and what I suggest is, if
(45:07):
you need help, you go, and,particularly if you're starting
the business, take that firstcourse that I just told you
about.
Take that first course business.
Take that first course that Ijust told you about.
Take that first course.
Then go find a mentor andcontinue to take courses, but
have someone that you can calland lean on and work with as you
work.
And what are you working toward?
Starting a business?
(45:28):
No, you're working on thebusiness plan so we can get to
the and start the business.
Speaker 2 (45:33):
All right, all right, cody.
So what's that motivatingstatement?
What are you going to tell ouraudience, our listeners?
Speaker 3 (45:39):
How much time we have .
It's going to be hard, it'sgoing to be very difficult to
stay in that headspace, likebeing on 100% of the time, being
on stage, as I call it.
When I'm with my guests, I'mpresenting a character, I'm
selling a product, I am theproduct, and it kind of goes
(46:02):
back to saying your body willhurt, you're going to sacrifice
your weekends, but if you put inthat effort, it is going to
come back to you 100%.
We never learn anything in lifewhen things are perfect 100% of
the time.
I've never learned somethingwhenever I was having a blast.
So you're going to go throughsome difficult times.
(46:23):
You're going to doubt yourselftremendously, but it's about
waking up and putting thoseboots on again and going out
there and fighting that fightand standing up for yourself and
what you want to do, becausethere's going to be a lot of
people that say you can't do it.
They could be your partner.
They could be your partner,they could be your friend, they
could be your competition.
Take that as a motivator to getto the next step.
I love my journey.
(46:44):
I love sharing my journey.
It's so awesome to be in thispredicament.
This is a very full circlemoment for me and I would love
other people to take that riskor lose the chance.
Speaker 2 (46:58):
Absolutely.
And before we switch over, howcan you be reached if they want
to come and have?
Speaker 3 (47:02):
some of that quality service and hair care.
So I have lairsaloncom.
That's L-A-I-R saloncom.
That's how you can find so muchmore about me.
There's the digital look book Iwas talking about earlier and
online booking.
I'm located inside Emrys SalonSuites.
That is on American Way.
It is a side street off ofCorsi, so right here in the
(47:24):
heart of Baton Rouge, so easy toaccess, and I look forward to
meeting anybody that comes inand has a service with me.
Speaker 2 (47:33):
Awesome, and we're going to give you that final
word.
Tell us something motivatingfor our listeners out there and
then how they can reach you ifthey want to be willing to take
the plunge, you know if it'syour dream, it's your passion.
Speaker 5 (48:01):
You're never going to know until you try.
There's never success withoutfailure.
And then and I'm like youthere's there's many failures
and many slow times, but you getup and you keep going.
Whether it's a home business,um, whether you're selling
something consumable like I wasalways, you know, was always
(48:23):
taught that if you're going tosell something and people want
to come back, like you want, youwant your people to come back.
Like cody says, you got to sellyourself and uh, and it makes
you feel good.
Don't any, don't let anyoneever steal your joy, you know.
It's just.
You got to remember that youstarted this business because
(48:45):
you loved it and you want toshare that passion with someone
else, and I think that's whatI've always tried to do.
And even though they may havenot wanted to start a business,
they wanted to come back to yourbusiness because of the service
that you gave them.
Speaker 2 (49:07):
So how can?
Speaker 5 (49:08):
they reach you.
Well, I'm from St James Parish,I live in Gramercy.
They can always come to my home.
I'm going to give you mywebsite though.
That way they can always dothat as well.
But I live at 171 North Isidorein Gramercy, louisiana.
My website is wwwmarykcom slashddottier, and so where you can
(49:30):
go online and you can see allthe products, call me Samples to
try, but more so.
Come over so we can have a cupof coffee and we can start a
friendship.
Speaker 2 (49:43):
All right, that's.
Speaker 4 (49:44):
South Louisiana.
Start with the coffee.
Speaker 2 (49:47):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (49:48):
Love it.
Speaker 2 (49:49):
Thank you to my phenomenal guests.
There you have it.
If you are on the shelf, if youare thinking about starting a
business after listening to this, how can you not make that next
move?
So, until next time, have abusiness.
After listening to this, howcan you not make that next move?
Speaker 4 (50:01):
So until next time, have a great day.
After this I'm going to gostart another business.
I think both.
Speaker 5 (50:05):
Thank you, Kim.
Speaker 3 (50:06):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (50:09):
It's time for Blueprint Building Blocks Small
changes that lead to bigfinancial wins.
Let's stack up for success.
Speaker 2 (50:20):
Do your research, check out resources like SCORE
you heard it right here.
The Small BusinessAdministration is also another
good resource and, of course,local business development
centers.
All of these can be really,really helpful.
Choose the right businessstructure, decide if you're
going to be a soleproprietorship, an LLC or a
partnership what fits you bestand again, places like SCORE can
(50:42):
help you with that.
And then start small, but stayconsistent.
You don't have to quit your jobright away.
Test the waters and scale asyou grow.
Speaker 1 (50:52):
That's a wrap on today's Blueprint Building
Blocks.
Stay on track with yourfinancial journey.
Subscribe to the Money Matterspodcast and visit
neighborsfcuorg slash financialwellness for more tools to help
you build a strong financialfuture.
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