Ep. 73 with Leah Berend | Owner, Marrin Investment

Building A Table Of Your Own

What if private equity felt human, transparent, and unapologetically values‑driven? Kelly sits down with Leah, founder of Marrin Investment Partners, to unpack how she left the C‑suite, launched her own firm, and raised capital while raising two young kids—without sacrificing dignity or clarity. Leah explains private equity in plain English, then gets specific about buying companies deal by deal, structuring returns, and why she treats culture as a value driver on par with technology and operations.

You’ll hear how a paperweight question—What would you do if you knew you could not fail?—nudged a 20‑year plan into a one‑year leap, and how coaching helped her push past fear with a simple mantra: do it scared. Leah shares the realities behind the boardroom door: low‑trust environments, high‑stakes negotiations, and why radical transparency eases tension and accelerates deals. She breaks down her criteria—think EBITDA ranges, moats, customer concentration, leadership depth—and shows how a 50‑50 board composition can happen when you build your own table instead of waiting for a seat at someone else’s.

This is also a candid look at motherhood and ambition. Leah talks about the nanny who keeps the family rhythm steady, pancake mornings that anchor connection, and the five quiet minutes that sometimes count as self‑care. With a historic wave of baby boomer owners preparing to sell, she outlines the opportunity ahead and why leading with empathy can still deliver strong returns. If you’re curious about private equity, company acquisitions, or navigating entrepreneurship with young kids—and want a playbook that blends heart with hard numbers—this conversation will stick with you.

Enjoy the episode, then subscribe, share it with a friend who needs a push to “do it scared,” and leave a quick review to help more listeners find the show.

Connect with Leah:

• Website: Marrin Investment Partners
• Podcast: The Future of Private Equity 
• LinkedIn: Leah Berend

Contact the Host, Kelly Kirk:

• Email: [e-mail]

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• The Hue Drop Newsletter: Subscribe Here
• IG: @ryh_pod & @thekelly.tanke.kirk
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• CAKES Affiliate Link: KELLYKIRK

Credits:

• Editor: Joseph Kirk
• Music: Kristofer Tanke

Thanks for listening & cheers to Reclaiming Your Hue!

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:10):
Welcome everybody to Reclaiming Your Hue, where we
are dedicated to empoweringwomen to embrace and amplify
their inherent brilliance.
Our mission is to inspiremothers and entrepreneurs to
unlock their full potential andradiate their true selves.
I'm your host, Kelly Kirk, andeach week my goal is to bring to

(00:30):
you glorious guests as well assolo episodes.
So let's dive in.
Good afternoon, Leah.
Hello, Kelly.
So good to be here.
I am so happy that you're herefinally.
And by the way, I had to catchmyself because normally the
podcast interviews are happeningin the mornings.
So I'm like, make sure you saygood afternoon.

(00:53):
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon.
So I'm so happy that you'rehere.
And um, let's go ahead and divein.
Awesome.
I always like to start off withcatching the listeners up to
speed with how it is that thetwo of us know one another.
So do you remember whointroduced us?

unknown (01:15):
No.
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (01:17):
Uh so I know that Jennifer Miller was on your
podcast, who is a very dearfriend of mine.

SPEAKER_01 (01:23):
Yes.

SPEAKER_00 (01:24):
Is that who introduced us initially?
Oh.

SPEAKER_01 (01:27):
Yes.

SPEAKER_00 (01:27):
But then we know so many other people in common
who've also been on yourpodcast.

SPEAKER_01 (01:32):
It's so true.
But she will do a shout out toJennifer Miller because she was
the initial introduction.
And now it's totally escaping mehow I even got introduced to
Jennifer.
I don't even know.
That's so interesting becauseshe is not here locally.

SPEAKER_00 (01:48):
No, yeah.
Yeah.
And it's so, it's so funny thatsomebody all the way in Ohio, hi
Jen, would would introduce us.
And here we are.

SPEAKER_01 (01:57):
Yeah.
I know.
And here we are.
So that is how we know oneanother.
And it from there, it really hasblossomed into something quite
tremendous, in my humbleopinion.
Um, you helped push the needleforward for the podcast
anniversary event that I put ona few months ago.

(02:18):
And it was amazing.
It was absolutely incredible.
And I was so honored to have yoube not only a part of that and
in sponsorship for that, but tobe there and then to like honor
the fact that it was because ofour conversation.
Yeah.
Initially about just having youon the podcast and then these
bigger visions that I had aboveand beyond the podcast for this

(02:41):
community of Montpreneurs.
And you were like, how coolwould it be to get all of these
women in one room?
And I was like, funny that youmentioned that, Leah.
This is something I've beenthinking about tinkering about.
And you were like, well, let'sdo it.
You're like, do it.
I'm like, okay.
So what I initially thought wasgoing to be like later on in

(03:05):
2025, I ended up bumping it upto the middle part of the year
of 2025 and actually having itbe a part of the like honoring
the anniversary of the podcaststart.
And I'm like, it's soincredible.

SPEAKER_00 (03:18):
Well, I have this paperweight on my desk that my
husband gave me as a gift.
And it says, What would you doif you knew you could not fail?
And I look at that and itinspires a lot of what I do.
And so I need a paperweight forthat.

SPEAKER_01 (03:37):
I need that like in front of my face all the time.
Seriously.

SPEAKER_00 (03:41):
Literally, it has to be in front of your face all the
time.

SPEAKER_01 (03:43):
That it that has inspired me to go and get
something similar.

SPEAKER_00 (03:49):
I mean, and you have it, right?
It's surrounding yourself withthose reminders because we um
our inner dialogue often blocksus from those inspiring
messages.
And so the more we can keep themin front of our faces, the
better.

SPEAKER_01 (04:02):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaking of inner dialogue, thatis something that comes up quite
frequently on this podcast.
And so let's table that becauseI'd love for you to share with
the listeners first, and then wecan continue to dive into that.
What came first for you?
Was it motherhood or was itentrepreneurship?

SPEAKER_00 (04:23):
I was uh a very young career gal and very, very,
very motivated in my career.
And in my 20s, I would alwaystell people, I'm never gonna
have kids.
Um the funny part is that um Iwas always kind of an
entrepreneur in in the way thatI called myself because I would

(04:47):
see a meet a need in anorganization that I worked in,
and I would meet it and I wouldfind different ways to do it,
and it never mattered what myjob description was, I would
always go above and beyond.
So I was an entrepreneur in acompany, so I was an
entrepreneur.

SPEAKER_01 (05:01):
Um I love that.
Thank you for that explanationtoo, because I was gonna ask,
what does that mean?

SPEAKER_00 (05:06):
Yeah.
Um, and so that was alwayssomething in my heart, but um I
think that having kids hasdeepened my resolve to um even
more so be an example to themand show them um how how the

(05:30):
world should look at you, howthe world should interact with
you, and you get to set thoseterms.
And that was after having kidswhen I realized, okay, I I have
to jump, I have to do this on myown.

SPEAKER_01 (05:42):
All right, let's let's um share the in-between of
that sandwich, right?
So you were a career woman.
What was the inspiration for youto make a pivot into
entrepreneurship?
Was there a specific um for forsome gals who have been on the
podcast, there's a very likeresound moment where they're

(06:05):
like, I can't keep doing thisanymore?
And then sometimes it's kind ofthe slow edge.
So I'm curious what that lookedlike on your on your end.

SPEAKER_00 (06:15):
Yeah.
Um, and you know, it comes witha a preface in that in kind of
what I do, right?
I'm an investor.
I I uh founded a private equityfirm.
Um that you know couldn't havecome without the career
experiences that I had.

(06:35):
And I had the privilege ofworking for some amazing people.
Um and I had so I started uhkind of toward that goal um
about 10 years into my career.
Uh I worked for an alternativeinvestment due diligence firm.
When I first joined, I didn'tknow what an alternative

(06:56):
investment was, and I didn'tknow what due diligence was.

SPEAKER_01 (06:59):
Okay, so let's let's pump the brakes for just a
second.
In layman's terms, can youexplain for us average girlies
that don't have a real nicepulse on what it is you're
speaking to?
Can you put it in the layman'sterms?

SPEAKER_00 (07:16):
Yeah.
So we would do research oninvestments that were not traded
on the stock market.
That's all.
It's anything not on the stockmarket.

SPEAKER_01 (07:29):
And then in layman's terms for what you do now.

SPEAKER_00 (07:33):
We invest in companies.
Okay.
And we we buy companies outrightfrom um investors or from
business owners.

SPEAKER_01 (07:41):
Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 (07:42):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (07:42):
Okay.
We'll dive into that more.

SPEAKER_00 (07:45):
We'll do a buildup because it's so cool.
It's so, so cool.
And nuanced, very nuanced.
Um so I had this idea once I wasat the alternative investment
due diligence firm, what a mouthmouthful.
I would see the fund managerswho were in charge of putting
these big investments together,uh, their backgrounds, what they

(08:07):
were doing.
And I got this idea in my littlehead.
What if that was me?
If that guy can do it, maybe Ican do it.
And it was just this little seedthat just stuck there.
I mean, nothing, nothing going.
I was like, okay, well, that'sinteresting.

SPEAKER_02 (08:24):
Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 (08:25):
Good.
I'm just gonna, you know, do mything and be a chief
administrative officer.
And that's the, you know, Ireally thought that being in the
C-suite was like all that in abag of chips.
Like I was so excited to just bein the C-suite.
Um, and then uh they thatcompany went through an
ownership change, and uh I wasable to jump to um a firm

(08:51):
represented on the board of thecompany that was sold.
So somebody um who was on the onthe board, really, he was there
as a favor to a buddy.
I don't think he had even beeninvested in the company.
He was just kind of guidingguiding them through the
ownership transition.

SPEAKER_04 (09:06):
Sure.

SPEAKER_00 (09:07):
And I went to him because I had been reporting the
financials um and in the in theboard meetings.
And I went to him and I said,Well, I don't love this new
situation.
What should I do?
And he said, Well, come work forme.
And and and what a privilege itwas.
Um, I was the chief financialand chief administrative officer

(09:29):
of a private equity firm here inMinneapolis.
Um, and I just got thisincredible um opportunity uh not
only to stand up some somedifferent functions and things
that I was good at, but getexposure to really direct
investing into companies andwhat that looked like.
Um, and it was just an amazingprivilege.

(09:52):
And that little seed uh in myhead that I had put there before
in the company, uh, before that,it was like, okay, well, wow,
maybe 20 years from now, I coulddo my own private equity firm.
And that was just, you know, setaside.
And it wasn't necessarily my ownfirm, but maybe I could be kind
of leading the deals on this.

(10:14):
Yeah.
Um, and I truly uh was more, youknow, just focused on building
out that organization.
And it was just kind of a dreamthat I set aside.
Um, and then through a series ofdifferent events and talking to
people and realizing theresources out there, um, and

(10:37):
then talking to Dr.
Brenda Brummond and having hercoach me.
Um, I realized, oh my goodness,20 years from now, it doesn't
have to be 20.
It could maybe be five, it couldmaybe be one.
And then sure enough, um, Ijumped off uh the deep end.

SPEAKER_01 (10:55):
It was not 20 years.
Matter of fact, it wasn't evenfive years, right?
That's right.
Yeah.
I love it.
I love it.
And um, real quick, let's justum share with the listeners
Brenda who you're speaking to issomebody who I got introduced to
just yesterday.
And I had to tell you about itbecause I knew that you had that

(11:16):
connection as well.
But could you share with thelisteners the importance of
Brenda in all of this, right?

SPEAKER_00 (11:23):
Yeah.
And um, so before Brenda, I hadmet with an industrial
organizational psychologistbecause I knew that there were
things that I was doing in mycareer that just needed to
change.
And um, so that was uh Dr.
Abigail, and I'm blanking on herlast name right now, um, but she

(11:44):
was phenomenal.
So I had gone to that, and thenI realized like I had never
really invested in personalcoaching or even therapy or
anything like that.
Um, I have a very likeindependent can do mentality,
and it has kind of stunted me insome ways.

SPEAKER_04 (12:03):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (12:04):
That you don't always realize.
Um, and so after after meetingwith Dr.
Abigail, and she's a straightshooter, and to the point I was
like, okay, well, I know I needmore guidance.
I can't do this alone.
Um, and then I was introduced toDr.
Brenda.
Um, and I, you know, coach,she's still uh my coach right

(12:27):
now, and how incredible that hasbeen to just awakening to my
inner self and who I really am.
Amazing.
Yeah, I love it.

SPEAKER_01 (12:43):
Yeah.
I would really like to dive intothe meat and potatoes, so to
speak, of getting your footingsof starting up the business.
Because I think that it's I dothink that there's important
relevance to the listeners whoare maybe in this beginner phase

(13:08):
of wanting to start a businessand to hear from different
perspectives, right?
Because one size does not fitall in terms of how you get
started and what your processlooks like.
But let's speak to what yourprocess did look like and
perhaps maybe something youwould have done differently in

(13:28):
that process as well.
That's a loaded question, isn'tit?

SPEAKER_03 (13:32):
It is.

SPEAKER_01 (13:33):
It is because I can imagine it it in deciding that
you're gonna do something withprivate equity, there's
different nuances that go alongwith that versus somebody like
myself that is like, I I want toexpand upon a community, I'm

(13:53):
gonna start an LLC, right?
And like, and then I I'll figureit out from there.
I mean, obviously there'scircumstances like that for in
your case, but above and beyondthat, it probably looked a
little different.

SPEAKER_00 (14:08):
Um, you know, it it didn't look too different than
that in that I knew I wanted tostart something and I had uh
started a little business beforeand failed miserably.
It was like it was like thislittle cleaning product thing.
And I'm I am not a uh retailproduct type person and had no

(14:29):
experience doing that.
So it was this like I I believethat you should absolutely
capitalize on on failures andlearn from them.
And I just love I love theopportunity to innovate.
Um, and and I just got thisreally good um start in seeing
different entrepreneurs.

(14:49):
Networking was a huge uhtrajectory um directing
direction setter for me, right?
Because when you network, youstart to learn what other people
are doing and what othercompanies are thinking.
And, you know, um that piece ofthe puzzle was exactly what I

(15:11):
needed to be able to reallyquickly test out ideas.
Um, there's this really greatbook, and it's called The Mom
Test.
And so for people who arethinking about yeah, starting
their businesses, it's not justabout a business idea that you
get approval for, but you know,your mom loves it because she
loves you, kind of a thing.

SPEAKER_01 (15:32):
Yep.

SPEAKER_00 (15:32):
Um it's really about market testing.
Yeah, I gotta write it down.
Oh, yeah, it's it's a greatbook.
Um, it's really about markettesting your business ideas.
And I had lots of differentoptions in front of me.
I mean, I have uh a CPA, so I'mum an accountant trained and
master's in organizationalleadership, and and so to me it

(15:55):
was like, okay, well, do I juststart my own accounting thing?
Um, and I just had that littleseed in my head that said, go
bigger, you know?
And so I did.

SPEAKER_01 (16:10):
I think I know who was speaking to you and that
this little seed, but um keepgoing.
Yeah, keep going because this isreally fruitful.

SPEAKER_00 (16:21):
Yeah.
Um, and so tested a lot of ideasthrough kind of just different
conversations, and I think theright conversations were put in
place for me to be able torealize that what my really big
dream was, that was that littleseed that had grown and grown

(16:43):
and grown, was the businessplan.
And I was trying to avoid it atfirst.
I was trying to play small.
And um I finally, you know, justhad the realization like, no, I
have something bigger to do.

SPEAKER_01 (17:00):
Oh, okay.
Did you do a like a formalbusiness plan for yourself?
You seem like the type of personthat would do that.

SPEAKER_00 (17:10):
But I could be wrong.
Um you're almost forced to,yeah, as a an entrepreneur.
And it may not be written downand it may not be in a in a
investment deck, you know, orsomething like that.
But at some the the process ofrefining the message has has

(17:30):
made me, you know, do that.
I don't, I don't think itstarted out um it didn't start
out much different than how I'mliving it out right now.

SPEAKER_01 (17:42):
Fascinating.

SPEAKER_00 (17:43):
Because the the general ideas of gosh, how do I
create an investment wherepeople can get a great return on
their investment, great returnon their money, and lives out my
values, lives out treatingpeople with dignity and respect,

(18:03):
and uh runs a business that withtransparency and um a good
ethos, right?
So living that out has not beenhard because it was what I what
was in my heart.

SPEAKER_01 (18:18):
Okay, I think this would be a really ideal time to
share what the name of yourbusiness is.
And then I would love for you toalso share how you landed on
your core values for thebusiness, also.
That's good.

SPEAKER_00 (18:32):
Um my business is called Marin Investment
Partners.
I named the business after mygrandma, it's her maiden name.
Um, so many private equity firmsout there, just because I've
been in the industry, a lot ofthem are like named after rocks
or rivers or trees or somethinglike that.

(18:54):
Really?
Yes.
Um great river capital,riverside, yeah, granite, you
know, all great names, all greatfirms.
Yeah, but um lots of trees, lotsof rivers, lots of streams.
And I just my focus is onpeople.
And so why wouldn't I want andand the the funny thing is, and

(19:14):
I was thinking about this theother day, um my parents had six
kids.
I was the sixth of the six kids,and uh my mom had us all at home
very crunchy granola upbringing,which is awesome.
Way to go, mom.

SPEAKER_01 (19:31):
By the way, I was just out for a friend's
birthday, and a vast majority ofthe ladies that were there were
stay-at-home moms.
Yes, and shout out to the Psalmsof the world because you deserve
many hand claps.
But they one of them was like,Yeah, I'm a little crunchy, and
I was like, what does that mean?

(19:52):
I had never heard of that.
Granola.
I'd heard of granola, but I waslike, what does crunchy mean?
Now I know.

SPEAKER_00 (19:59):
Oh, yeah, crunchy granola.
We were we were all born athome, not in a hospital.
Okay.
That kind of crunchy granola.
Oh my gosh.
My mom made her own granola.
I love it.

SPEAKER_01 (20:10):
This is just that's the cherry on top of the cake
for me.
Scalding.
Um gosh, I don't even know how Igot on that point.

unknown (20:20):
I don't know either.

SPEAKER_01 (20:22):
Um, we were talking about the name of the business
and um, so so six kids, crunchygranola family, all born at
home.

SPEAKER_00 (20:32):
My mom was convinced that I would be a boy.
She was convinced that she wascarrying a boy when she was
pregnant.
She even made a yellow blanketbecause she was somewhat certain
that she was gonna have a boyand not a pink blanket for a
girl, right?
Um, anyway, so I was supposed tobe named David Marin.
And my dad would always bringthat up because he loved the

(20:53):
name Marin, because that was hisgrandma's maiden name.
So intrinsically, I've alwaysloved the name Marin.

SPEAKER_02 (20:59):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (21:00):
Uh when I married my husband, I was like, oh,
wouldn't it be fun to have achild named Marin?
Yeah.
But my last name, married name,is Baron.
So I would have had a MarinBaron.
Yeah.
And that didn't work.

SPEAKER_02 (21:12):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (21:15):
So I've I've had this name in my heart.
And and Grandma Ruthie lived insouthwest Minneapolis.
She never learned to drive.
Uh, she had a very privilegedupbringing.
She grew up with a chauffeur.
Um, and her life was very cushin a lot of ways.
However, um, later on in herlife, she went through a lot of

(21:36):
hardship.
And uh, she had seven kids andall throughout and was a
stay-at-home mom to seven kids,which is a huge job in and of
itself.
Um, but she lived her life withdignity and grace.
And you would never know thatthe the horrible things that she

(21:57):
went through in her life.
And um I appreciated herelegance and her grace
throughout all of that.
And so that's how I want to livemy life, and that's how I want
to conduct business with a lotof elegance and grace and not
getting fancy about things, butjust how how do you treat people

(22:18):
with that dignity and and yeah,appreciating everybody's
intrinsic grace and elegancethat they can they can bring to
the table.

SPEAKER_01 (22:27):
Okay, so let's fold in the core values.
Yeah.
Because I heard a lot of reallyphenomenal words dignity, grace,
people, person, just uh and andan a bit of an elevation to how
you approach it.
It's not it's not super likeover the top by any stretch of
the imagination.
But there when you want to treatpeople with dignity and grace,

(22:50):
that puts you a cut above therest.
In my opinion.
Yeah.
Because I that's not typicallythe case.
Frankly, I could maybe that'sjust my opinion.
And I I think coming from adifferent um career path where

(23:12):
it was very transactional, thatto to now see a different side
of like how you can provideservice and provide it through
dignity and grace.
I mean that I would we wouldn'tuse those words in our real
estate business, but yeah.

(23:33):
Okay, so the core values for youfor Marin Investment.
Let's talk about it.

SPEAKER_00 (23:43):
A lot of it has to do with my wonderful parents and
how they raised me.
Um, a lot of just principled umupbringing and learning about
life through those those umlenses.
Um what really guides me is ummy dad.

(24:08):
Uh he passed away in 2017 uhfrom cancer.
He was a furniture salesman.
And he had probably 500 peopleat his funeral because he was so
well loved.
Because um he brought so muchjoy to his day, and that's not

(24:31):
an easy thing to do when youhave six mouths to eight mouths
to feed at home, right?
Six kids, a wife who stays athome, uh, a furniture, you know,
sales job where things can beup, down, and in between.
Um, but he um his example ofworking so hard for the family

(24:53):
of his just I mean, he would hewould whistle throughout the
furniture store.
You always knew where he was.
He was the best.
Um but that was the kind of liketone that was set for me growing
up.
And I feel so privileged becauseum so many people don't realize

(25:14):
the effect they have on others.
And I think my dad reallyunderstood his role as the
leader, uh leader um in hisworkplace, in his home, in his
community, in his church.
And um so much of that dictated.
Um and and he was a man of deep,deep faith.

(25:36):
And so I think that just reallyum set the tone for for me
growing up that there is a veryhigh standard to which somebody
can elevate themselves throughthe way that they act and
through the way that they treatother people and the way they
see themselves.
And he was a prime example ofthat.

(25:58):
Um and so it's not necessarilythat I have a list of 10 core
values that I have, um, but it'smore of just like, well, how
would how would my dad treatthem?

SPEAKER_01 (26:10):
Oh, I love this so much.
That is so incredible.
Okay, I love that story.
I love it.
It's just so it's so sweet andjust so simple.
Really, and I love that you justdo this reflection onto all
right, how would my husband ormy husband, pardon me?

SPEAKER_00 (26:34):
My husband's also great.

SPEAKER_01 (26:36):
We'll get to that too.
How would my father have led inthis circumstance?
And and that's that's reallyquite simple.
So that's amazing.
When did you officially liketake off with Marin Investments?
What year was it?

SPEAKER_00 (26:53):
Last year, February of 2024.

SPEAKER_01 (26:56):
Was it?
Oh my gosh.
So then you had had all of yourchildren by that point, yes,
right?
And how many do you have?

SPEAKER_00 (27:02):
I have two.
Two?
So my son was born in 2020 andmy daughter was born in late
2021.
So they're about 20 monthsapart.
Yeah.
Oh my word.
Two COVID babies.

SPEAKER_01 (27:11):
Yeah, oh my word.
Yeah.
And so they're, I mean, they'reboth still relatively young, and
you're you're harmonizing thisalongside starting a business as
well.
We're gonna dive in.
Here we go.
Here we go.
Okay, so it the world ofinvestments, it it for somebody

(27:35):
like myself, I look at that andfeel like, wow, it's it's
intimidating.
It's really intimidating.
And correct me if I'm wrong, butis there more men in that world
than there is than there arewomen?

SPEAKER_00 (27:50):
Yes.

SPEAKER_01 (27:52):
Do you know the percentage?

SPEAKER_00 (27:53):
If you don't, like I'm putting you on the spot
right now, but no, I don't knowthe percentages, but to give you
a flavor for the the world ofinvestment and raising capital,
which is you know, basicallypeople investing in you.
Um, and this is a venturecapital statistic, but I would I
would bet that it's probablyeven worse in private equity,

(28:14):
uh, that 3% of all the capitalraised goes towards women or
people of color or you know, anykind of diversity.
So um we're clumped in there uhand it's pretty, pretty low.

SPEAKER_01 (28:28):
All right.
So not only are you starting abusiness within the past year,
but then also you're not evengetting your feet wet anymore.
Like you're in, you're in thedeep end now with the sharks.
You're you're also in in a uh anindustry that's primarily men,

(28:52):
yeah, too.
Yeah.
I think of a lot of the uh womenfinancial advisors that I've had
on or wealth advisors,especially in that in that you
know, particular landscape.
It's I mean, still to this day,it's vastly men versus women.

(29:16):
So let's talk about you.
I'm giggling because I am likewow, there's a lot to unpack
here.
So you've got two kiddos underfive, and you've started a
business where you'reoutnumbered.

(29:41):
And what are the ways that youhave sort of um elevated through
that, for lack of better words?

SPEAKER_00 (29:53):
I don't know if you're gonna like this answer,
um, or the or our listeners, butum.
Look, the statistics are whatthey are.
It's not great if you're tryingto work your way up in a private
equity firm as a female.
It's not great.
There's a lot of juniorassociates that are women.

(30:14):
I think the future is gonnachange how many women are in
private equity.
But I built my own table.

SPEAKER_02 (30:21):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (30:23):
I didn't get a seat at the table, so I built my own
table.

SPEAKER_02 (30:27):
Oh, I love this.
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (30:30):
And so uh whether there are men or not in private
equity now, to me, it's likegreat, good for them.
Um, they have advantages incertain respects, and I have
advantages in certain respects.

SPEAKER_02 (30:44):
Totally.

SPEAKER_00 (30:44):
And um, we balance each other and it's awesome.
Our our board for the mostrecent acquisition we did is 50%
men, 50% women.
I didn't even try, it justhappened naturally.
Um yeah, it was beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 (30:59):
Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 (31:01):
Actually, I'm sorry.
No, it's three women, two men.
Never mind, majority woman.
Sorry, guys.
Um, but the thing with withprivate equity is that you're as
a as a managing partner of aprivate equity firm, you're in
the driver's seat.
And so you set the tone for howan investment is going to go.

(31:25):
And if you live to a higherstandard and you live to values,
all of a sudden the deals thatused to drain you because of the
games that would be played orthe lies that would be told are
now you move you remove all ofthat.
Yeah.
And you have these transparent,wonderful deals where you're

(31:47):
building trust and you'rebuilding relationship with
people.
And yes, things get really,really hard because there's
negotiation, there's feelings atat play, there's economics at
play, there's control at play.
Um, so it is very, verydifficult.
But when you remove all thegames, a lot of the time it

(32:08):
works out a lot better than itused to.

SPEAKER_01 (32:11):
I remember when we had our phone conversation, and
you mentioned that this wassomething that was highly
important to you was thattransparency piece when when in
negotiations of uh acquisitionsor um, you know, what whatever

(32:31):
the circumstance at hand is, youwere like transparency is of
utmost importance in all ofthis.
And then everything else cankind of fall um behind it,
right?

SPEAKER_00 (32:44):
Yeah, we live in such a low trust environment.
So low trust.
I mean, our our culture does nottake people for face value,
right?
Um and so at Marin, we make surethat we are doing our financial
due diligence, our legal duediligence, insurance,

(33:07):
everything, technology, people.
We're looking at andscrutinizing every level of this
business.
And it's it's a lot for abusiness seller, somebody who's
ready to sell their business,who will only do it once in
their whole life, yeah, to havesomebody come in and the kimono

(33:27):
is open, right?
I mean, we know everything thathas gone on in your business.
For us to say, to try tomanipulate or lie or deceive or
not be a hundred percenttransparent about our own
process and what it's going tolook like.
It how is that gonna go?

SPEAKER_02 (33:46):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (33:46):
Right?
It's like lying to your spouseon your honeymoon.
How's that gonna go?

SPEAKER_02 (33:52):
Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 (33:54):
It's it's a marriage.
Like business relationships area marriage, and and Jennifer
Miller actually, shout out toJennifer again.
She used to say signing acontract with someone is not
just like binding yourselvesover a piece of paper.
It's like a it's like a a a bondon a lot of different levels.
And so that transparency is sovery important in like, hey,

(34:19):
like just in terms of the paceof the deal, how you doing?
Right.
Because if you're not feelinggood about a term in our in our
legal documents, like let's talkabout it.
We don't have to walk away froma deal just because you didn't
like one term.

SPEAKER_03 (34:34):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (34:35):
And so there's things like that.
There are other, like totallyuh, you know, uh other stories
where I can say, yep, I walkedaway from that deal because that
did not feel right or that wasnot the right, that was not the
right setup, that was not theright deal for me.
Um fair enough.
But when there's like a a trustbuilt and a a vision alignment

(34:59):
and mission alignment and greatbusiness story, all that kind of
stuff, let's work together,let's collaborate.
And and that takes transparency.

SPEAKER_01 (35:09):
100%.
Okay.
How are you doing this with twolittles under five right now?
What does the landscape of thatlook like for the Baron family?

SPEAKER_00 (35:21):
Yeah, we've had a lot of conversations about that.
Um, I think it's gonna ebb andflow right now.
We have this amazing nanny uhwho we're so grateful for.
She is in our home every day.
Um, and it's a total gamechanger.
Um, we did the Montessori schooldrop-off every day, and it was

(35:42):
really just oh my goodness,unsustainable.
And um, you know, we've talkedseveral times about this just
between my husband and I,because he has a very steady job
that he loves.
He's been there nine years anddoesn't have any intentional
leaving.
Um, but I mean, it's it's thatsituation where if you have two

(36:04):
career people in your familyboth driving hard in different
directions, it's totallyunsustainable.

SPEAKER_01 (36:12):
And so that's how we've we've managed and shout
out to the nannies of the worldsupporting families.

SPEAKER_00 (36:21):
Thank goodness for you.

SPEAKER_01 (36:22):
Seriously.
So, how long have you had her orhim on board?
I shouldn't assume.

SPEAKER_00 (36:27):
Yeah, um, we've had Clarissa for three years with
our with our family.

SPEAKER_01 (36:32):
Yeah, that's incredible.

SPEAKER_00 (36:34):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (36:35):
So then are you are you pretty regimented with your
schedule and your routines?
Um, because I have to think thatthere's you know, part of the
reason that the nanny is inplace is so that you can get
into your flows too as Leah.
Because Leah is Leah, but thenLeah is mom and Leah is business

(36:58):
owner and has wears all of thesehats.
So I have to imagine that um youknow the the decision behind
bringing on a nanny was becauseyou wanted to be able to get
into a rhythm and a flow.

SPEAKER_00 (37:12):
Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 (37:13):
A different kind of rhythm and flow.

SPEAKER_00 (37:14):
Yeah.
I mean, there was no way that Icould have done this without the
support.
Um I would say that my husbandis super regimented, my nanny is
super regimented, the kids havea great schedule, and my life is

(37:35):
chaos.

SPEAKER_01 (37:38):
Okay, tell us more about this.

SPEAKER_00 (37:40):
Well, it's entrepreneurship, right?
I mean, who entrepreneur isgonna be like, yes, I have two
hours of flow time every day,and then I go into my structured
meetings.
No.
Uh uh.

SPEAKER_01 (37:51):
So did it did the schedule with your nanny
particularly, did that shiftwhen you decided to go full on
with Marin Investments and andsay goodbye to more of that
corporate setting?
Um, or did it stay the same?

SPEAKER_00 (38:09):
It stayed the same.
And you know, luckily I take thekit, I take the kids in the
morning.
I'm I'm kind of like, I'm thepancake mom.
Like I will make pancakes for mykids every single morning, and I
love that time with them.
Um, and then my husband has beenso great about being flexible at
night when I'm at a networkingevent or something like that.

(38:29):
I do try to limit it as much asI can, but it's hard when you're
trying to grow a business.
Um and I travel and and so thatthrows a wrench in things,
right?
I'm not always there to bepancake mom.
Um, but I I just treasure thattime so much.
And so I really try to protectit as much as I can.

(38:50):
But yeah, you know, my husbandsand and kids will often say,
like, mom, can you put down yourphone or can you put down your
computer?

SPEAKER_01 (38:58):
And it's like, yeah, and sister those friendly
reminders.

SPEAKER_00 (39:02):
Exactly.
We all need those.
And and you know, you gotta pullyourself out and say, Okay, I'm
gonna, I'm gonna block thistime.
Otherwise, it doesn't happen.

SPEAKER_01 (39:11):
So yeah.
It's pretty interesting,especially when you are so
aligned with what it is thatyou're doing in your business.
You want to be able to pour intothat, but also understand the
tug and pull on the other endwith family too and the kiddos
primarily.

(39:31):
It's like, okay, I think theseare primitive, these are like
pretty incredible years forthem, especially these younger
years.
And I love that you're likewhat's important to me right now
in this season of life is that Iam there in the mornings and
that as much as humanlypossible, given the travel

(39:54):
schedules, to make thembreakfast and send them off to
school.
And like that's your time withthem.
What does time for Leah looklike?
Uh the beauty of just havingaudio is that the listeners
cannot see facial expressions.

(40:15):
But I'll let I'll let your wordsexplain the facial expression
that I just saw.

SPEAKER_00 (40:23):
The silence is golden as well, right?
Ooh.

SPEAKER_01 (40:28):
I am I am curious though, because it looks
different for for everybody,first and foremost.
But second of all, most of thetime we gravitate towards like
self-care is a manicure, apedicure, going to the spa,
getting a massage, but there'sso many other ways where we as

(40:54):
females can provide thatself-care for ourselves.
And so uh you're shaking yourhead like, okay, I let's talk
through this.

SPEAKER_00 (41:03):
Self-care can just be looking out the window and
breathing for like five minutes.

SPEAKER_01 (41:09):
That is incredible.

SPEAKER_00 (41:15):
Sometimes that's it, that's all you get.
Right.

SPEAKER_01 (41:17):
It's incredible.
It really is because there wassomebody else who I had on on
the podcast that had mentionedum sometimes I just need to go
out into my car for 15, 20minutes because it's just like
nobody can disrupt me.
And I piggybacked off that and Isaid, sometimes when I get home,

(41:40):
I'll sit in my car for an extrafive minutes.
Sometimes you can tell if if acar is pulled into the into the
garage, but most of the time no.
Yeah.
So I was like five minutes, 10minutes, 15, 20 minutes just to

(42:02):
be able to have a little bit ofpeace and calm.
Yeah.
Can really do the body good.

SPEAKER_00 (42:11):
And um, I was I was guest speaking at a university
and talking a little bit aboutwhat I did, and one of the
students uh raised their handand was like, what you're saying
about your schedule soundsunsustainable.

SPEAKER_01 (42:28):
Fascinating.

SPEAKER_00 (42:30):
I was like, Thank you, 18-year-old.
Yeah, but I I responded bysaying yes to an outsider, it
would probably seemunsustainable, but it's amazing
when you are just crazy aboutwhat you do, how easy it is to
just absolutely throw everythingyou have at it.

SPEAKER_01 (42:52):
It's so true.

SPEAKER_00 (42:53):
And so I do have to, I mean, I'm like the kind of
person who needs to be remindedto eat lunch that bad.
She's that girl.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (43:03):
She's that girl.

SPEAKER_00 (43:05):
Um, and and if I didn't have that type of
personality, I probably wouldn'tbe doing what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_01 (43:11):
It's you're just in a very different work landscape.

SPEAKER_00 (43:16):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (43:17):
Than than say myself, where I'm hosting a
podcast, working in real estatewith my husband, and have the
flexibility to be able to comehome and make myself lunch.
Exactly.
Because our office is fiveminutes down the road.

SPEAKER_00 (43:29):
That sounds nice.

SPEAKER_01 (43:30):
So, you know, it's we've created a very cushy
environment for ourselves, Leah.
Um, and I realized howprivileged we are to be able to
do that, right?
Because that is not always thecase for other people who are
navigating into the world ofentrepreneurship from a
corporate position.

(43:50):
There's also a lot of undoing,peeling back the onion layers of
what you had been doing in acorporate setting versus when
you transition intoentrepreneurship and
understanding the beauty offlexibility in your schedule,
but also understanding the thenegative byproduct of having

(44:10):
flexibility in your schedule,too.

SPEAKER_00 (44:12):
Well, exactly.
Exactly.
Um I would say too, it dependson you know, the season that the
different businesses that weinvest in are are at.

SPEAKER_01 (44:29):
Sure.
Can you give an example?

SPEAKER_00 (44:31):
Yeah.
So a business that is goingthrough, you know, still kind of
residual supply chain issues andhasn't come out of the woods in
some some of that respect andhas faced challenging financial
times, that is a very differentday-to-day business than a
professional services firm thathas only grown, right?

(44:55):
And so the story behind what'sgoing on and and whether it's a
distressed investment uh where abusiness can be in distress and
you can invest in it and thenstill have to climb your way
out, and it's probably a lotmore work.
Um that's different than aprofessional services firm
that's only ever seen growth andhas had an amazing trajectory

(45:16):
and is only going to keepgrowing.

SPEAKER_01 (45:18):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I'm sure too, and maybe thisis exactly what you're speaking
to.
So just, you know, let me knowif that is the case.
But in those different seasons,it probably provides seasonality
for you too, and how you spendtime with your family and how
you how you have um time foryourself as an individual as

(45:41):
well.

SPEAKER_00 (45:41):
Yeah, right?
Yep, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 (45:44):
Oh okay.
These like I I am so fascinatedwith in terms of having a year
under a little over a year andpeak under your under your belt.
Um, let's talk through the peaksand valleys so far.

(46:07):
Let's start with valleys.

SPEAKER_00 (46:11):
Oh man.
Um there have been a lot.
Um, I cannot say it's been justlike this rosy thing that
everything's gone perfect.
Um, there've been some reallyhard decisions, um, some
unexpected things that have comeup, whether it's in the business

(46:32):
or just market environment, um,that have just kind of drown you
for a little bit, right?
I mean, um, so it hasn't ithasn't been easy.
Um, and then raising capital onsome of these deals has been
really hard because it was amuscle that I had not used

(46:55):
before.
It was a new thing for me toreally raise capital uh for for
three acquisitions that we'vedone now.

SPEAKER_02 (47:03):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (47:03):
And man, art is each business unique and special in
its own way and commands adifferent story and commands a
different uh investor for eachone.
And so you're almost startingfresh because we're not, uh just
to clarify, we're not a fund.
So we don't raise capital andthen buy businesses.

(47:25):
We find a business, raise thecapital for it, find a business,
raise the capital for it.
So we're a lot we're lean andmean in that respect.

SPEAKER_03 (47:32):
Incredible.

SPEAKER_00 (47:33):
Uh we don't charge our investors like this
management fee on our on theirmoney uh while we're kind of
deploying capital.
It's just we find the business,we put the money right into it,
and then we go on and kind of doit again.
So um it's it's harder to dothat because you don't have the
luxury of being able to justsign a document that you're

(47:57):
gonna buy a business and thenwrite the check.

SPEAKER_01 (48:00):
Okay.
Um, so from start to finish, um,average timeline for a business
acquisition?
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (48:09):
Oh, that differs so much.
Um it can be very quick.
Um a lot of the time, though,you're wanting to build the
relationship, some kind ofrapport, some kind of
understanding about the businessin a more long-term way.
Um we buy businesses through aseries of different avenues.

(48:30):
Sometimes it's direct to theseller, and then sometimes it's
brokered through a through aninvestment banker or a business
broker.

SPEAKER_03 (48:38):
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (48:39):
Um and so it depends on that timeline because if
somebody is like brokering thedeal, they want to, you know,
move it along.
Yeah.
Uh, whereas a direct businessrelationship with somebody who's
thinking about selling theirbusiness could take years,
right?
Sure.
Of just building therelationship over time and
chatting and you know, kind ofshooting, shooting around ideas.

(49:00):
Um, so it depends on thebusiness.
Um we can close on a business inas as little as 60 days, okay,
depending on the size, dependingon the scope, all that kind of
stuff.

SPEAKER_01 (49:12):
Okay.
Okay, so I want to talk aboutraising the capital.
You've spoken to this a fewtimes now.
That's particularly differentthan a lot of what I've talked
about with other entrepreneurson this podcast.
I would love to hear because youhad mentioned too, Leah, that

(49:34):
this was relatively new, a newpathway for you in terms of how
you were operating yourbusiness.
So, what has that looked likefor you?
Like how you approached the thebuilding of that, raising the
capital to acquire thesebusinesses.

SPEAKER_00 (49:55):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (49:55):
So um forgive me too, because I'm very naive to
these processes.
And so it's uh purely out ofcuriosity on my end, but I I can
venture to think that a lot ofthe listeners are either they're
scratching their heads going, Idon't understand, or they are
following along and probably areeager to learn more too.

SPEAKER_00 (50:18):
Raising capital, um, so so just to clarify, so I had
been familiar with that process.
We um when I was at my formeremployer, we would look at a lot
of investment opportunities.
And so I was very familiar withother people raising capital for
things.

SPEAKER_02 (50:37):
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (50:38):
And then um my background, even from there, was
okay, just getting morecomfortable with how people go
about raising uh equity and debtfor their for their businesses.
Um, and so I kind of knew theprinciples around it, but I had
never gone out with anopportunity and raised capital
myself.
And so it took, um, I have apartner, uh, Tim Olsen, who I

(51:01):
brought on.
He's our Ridge Nations partner.
Um, so he will help me finddeals, we'll vet them together,
um, and then sit on the board.
Um he has a lot of relationshipsas well.
And so through our network, itwas, you know, just kind of the
first three.
Um each one was so unique inthat respect.

(51:26):
Where it was, it's just I'll goback for a second.
You know how my dad soldfurniture, he was a sales guy,
he was really good at it.
Yeah, my whole career, I wastrying to avoid sales.
I was trying to avoid thatprocess.
I was scared to death of puttingmyself out there and being
rejected.
I st I studied accounting,right?

(51:48):
Because I was like, I would justwant a nine to five job.
Like, don't put me in front ofpeople all the while I'm doing
theater and like lovingpodcasting and all this kind of
fun stuff.
But sure enough, I was justscared.
Um my whole theme for the firstyear of being an entrepreneur
was just do it scared.
Yeah.
Um, and so I did.

(52:09):
And and so um, you know, thewhen you're raising capital for
a business or your own business,you have to have as much science
as you have art.
And it's both sides of yourbrain.
It's the analytical part aboutwhat are the margins for this
business?
What's the return that I thinkthat I can get out of this
business?

(52:30):
What, what is the economic um,you know, what are the economics
of the deal?
Uh, how are we structuring this?
All the analytical stuff thatyou need in the the left brain
stuff.
Yeah, but then you need theright brain stuff, you need the
creativity, you need thecompelling story, you need the
marketing and making it lookgood.

(52:51):
Yeah.
Everything.
And private equity, uh, whenpeople ask me about like what is
it that you do?
Everything.

SPEAKER_01 (52:59):
Yeah.
And but this is also the worldof entrepreneurship.
Yeah, exactly.
Like anytime I mean, I had aanother interview, very rare
that I have two interviews inone day.
Um, but the interview that I hadthis morning, uh, this is the
wall she's bumping into rightnow is the marketing aspect of

(53:22):
it because she has growneverything over the last few
years organically.
Yeah.
What a blessing.
Amazing.
By the way.
Everything has been organic, butnow that she has brought people
on to the business, she's like,I have mouths to feed at my own
house, but I have mouths tofeed.
Yeah.
Right.

(53:42):
And so, so, like, how do we getthis word out?
And then also she's bumping intoI wish I would have known about
you sooner, circumstances andresponses from individuals.
And so it's kind of twofold forher where she's like, marketing

(54:04):
is so important, and it's justan avenue that I otherwise
haven't had to like exercise.
She's a physician, she's aphysician, she hasn't had to do
anything with business becausethe healthcare system took care
of that for her initially.
So it's just it the world ofentrepreneurship is just
incredible, unique, scary.

(54:26):
Leah says, do things scared.
Yeah.
And that couldn't be more truein every single like pocket of
what it looks like to build abusiness.

SPEAKER_00 (54:36):
Right.
And at the same time, though,you know, the unique thing for
um Marin is that I had theprivilege of knowing what it
looked like, you know, and andnot everybody does.
And so when I can go in with acapital raise and say, yep, we

(54:58):
do financial due diligence, wedo legal due diligence, we we
have all of the vettingcriteria, we, you know, filter
it through our our idealcriteria, and we have a you
know, a set of parameters thatwe're looking for and be really,
really clear on those.
It really has helped the theprocess of getting official um

(55:23):
quickly and and being able tokeep the pace, right, with
another private equity firm whowould be doing something else.
And it's it's really affirmingbecause I've gone in and I've
talked to professionals who workin and around the private equity
world, and they're like, Yeah,you're legit.
Like, really?
Because I've only been doingthis for like a year and a half,

(55:44):
man.

SPEAKER_01 (55:45):
I know, but to your point about how you had all
again, referencing the theinterview I had this morning,
she had mentioned, and I knowthat this is the case for you
too, all of the leading factorsof what she did here in that
moment of time, and what she didhere in that season of life, and

(56:09):
what she did here in residency,all of that has built her up for
this entrepreneurial role thatshe's in now.
And you you brought that upearlier in our interview.
Like, I've I've got theexperience.
It was just taking the lid offof myself and going, I can I can

(56:33):
home run this too.
Like I can do it.

SPEAKER_00 (56:35):
Yeah, yeah.
And and understanding that umthe the cool part of
entrepreneurship and of gettinginto something where you are
uniquely suited, uh, you havethose moments of thinking, wow,
everything in my life has beenpointing me to this.

SPEAKER_01 (57:00):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (57:01):
It's a miracle.

SPEAKER_01 (57:03):
It is.
I have two more follow-upquestions, and then we're gonna
start to land the plane.
I can't believe it because we'vecovered a lot of ground in less
than an hour, and I'm impressedbecause normally these
interviews go longer.
But who knows?
We might have we'll see.
How do you feel like in intaking the leap into

(57:23):
entrepreneurship, taking the lidoff as I just mentioned?
How that is modeling for yourchildren at home.

SPEAKER_00 (57:34):
Oh, it's so fun.
I call them my assistants.
Um they I the beautiful partabout how we're setting up our
life is you know, the nanny cancome with us and and I can bring
my kids with on business trips.
You know what a kind of likeblessing and privilege that is?
Um, I love to teach them aboutthis stuff.

(57:55):
I would love it if they workedin my business one day.

SPEAKER_01 (57:57):
I think legacy.
Totally.
We talk a lot about legacy inthis house and how we're, you
know, we're and I just recentlycame on board to the real estate
side of things.
This was only this pastSeptember, but I feel like all
right, we're 50-50, let's go.
We're building, right?

(58:18):
And we've got three kiddos.
One of them has to probablythink, like, maybe I'll want to
take over this book of businessat some point or another.
Maybe who knows?
But it's so cool to be able tomodel and to show them.
And and on the other side ofthat too, it's like, how do we
model for them how we areharmonizing that for ourselves

(58:42):
too?
Right.
I know that you're like notwill, but sometimes you have to
experience those speed bumps inlike that's a boundary I don't
want to cross anymore, right?
Like, okay, I I've I've had myfamily tell me, like, hey, could

(59:06):
you be here in the moment?
And I'm speaking to myself, bythe way.
Like, I have had that momentwhere my husband's like, here,
here, here, like, be here rightnow.
And I'm like, I'm just emailingone of my guests.
What is the big deal?
And then I remind myself, like,did it need to happen in that

(59:27):
moment?
For me personally, probably not.
Sometimes you have to hit thosespeed bumps or hit that that
boundary and go, all right, I Idon't think I want to continue
to move in that directionanymore.
And you pivot.

SPEAKER_00 (59:43):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (59:43):
And you pivot.

SPEAKER_00 (59:44):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (59:45):
Okay, so that was one of my questions was the
modeling aspect of it.
And now I totally am drawing ablank on what my other question
was.
But I have another question toreplace it.
So the pod.
Itself is called Reclaiming YourHue.
And I think when we spoke on thephone, I mentioned the whole

(01:00:06):
story behind like why I startedthis podcast, which was I I lost
a sense of myself when I had mydaughter and was still balancing
that with the mortgage pipelineand the mortgage business.
And I was like, how are otherwomen doing this?
And I came across a social mediapost.

(01:00:30):
I don't remember where whichplatform it was on, but it was a
flaming like a picture of aflamingo.
And and it the story told abouthow when flamingos have their
babies, right, they lose all oftheir coloring and then they
regain the color back and so onand so forth.
And I thought that is how Ifeel.
That's how I feel.
I feel like I have lost theessence and the coloring of who

(01:00:51):
I am, the soul of who I am.
And I'm starting to slowlyregain it back, but it's not
there.
It's not that vibrant, that oncevibrant pink color that it used
to be.
Interestingly enough, it's adifferent shade of pink now and
even better.
And I love it so much, but I'mcurious what this has looked

(01:01:13):
like for you.
Whether and and I don't alwayswant to go with just the theme
of like this podcast andmotherhood and entrepreneurship,
and if it happened during thetransition into
entrepreneurship, maybe ithappened sooner for you.
Is this the case?

SPEAKER_00 (01:01:34):
It it was difficult.
Um, you know, with with havingkids.
I was fortunate in that ithappened at a time where the
whole world was on maternityleave with me during COVID.

SPEAKER_01 (01:01:48):
That's true.

SPEAKER_00 (01:01:49):
So I was very privileged in that respect that
the world kind of hushed and Iwas able to focus on like, okay,
I'm a mom now.

SPEAKER_02 (01:01:57):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (01:01:57):
And and there's been definitely challenges to that in
terms of like, okay, who am Inow?
What are my hobbies?
Hobbies question mark.
Do I have any?

SPEAKER_03 (01:02:08):
Um, do you have any?
I really like to bake.
You knew I was gonna ask.

SPEAKER_00 (01:02:13):
I really like to bake with my kids.
It's like the most fun thingever.
Yes.
So don't mind the mess.
No, not at all.
Not at all.
Um, we have a lot of fun, andand I think those those meal
times are just really special tome.
Um but goodness, seeing the joyin my kids' face, like just in

(01:02:36):
especially through this age whenthey're young and just amazed by
everything, it's been so fun toexperience life a second time,
right?
Through their eyes.
Um and it's immensely hardbecause, you know, the the
freedom that I have because Ihave a nanny and a really

(01:02:59):
supportive husband.
Um, I can go on business tripsor I can go to a business
dinner.
I don't take that lightlybecause I understand that other
people are bearing the burden ofhaving to be, you know, the
responsible adult in the roomtaking care of the kids, right?
And so it's one of those thingswhere it's like that balance of

(01:03:21):
driving forward and makingconnections and driving the
business forward, but then alsorealizing like, wow, how how
precious life is and howfleeting it is because now my
son is like tall and not a babyanymore, right?

SPEAKER_01 (01:03:40):
Oh, I know.
Is your son the oldest?
Yes, yeah, okay, yeah.
I I mean, I completely empathizeto that in with you about
Maddie's growth and the growthspurt.
And I'm like, I had a moment theother day where I was like,
you're not a baby anymore, likeyou're a full-fledged little

(01:04:01):
girl because she's talking likestringing words together into
sentences, and she's two and ahalf years old, and I'm like,
this is wild.
This is wild.
Like every morning waking up andhaving her go like say a
sentence to me, and I'm like,Did you just say that?

(01:04:23):
And like so clearly, it's it'sto your point, fleeting.
Like time, time goes by soquickly, but then sometimes it
goes by very slowly slowly aswell.
So um Leah, what is my problem?
Forgetting okay, I I remember itnow.

(01:04:47):
So, because I've had I have likeall of these questions that are
floating around, and then I alsohave like the baseline questions
that I send over, right?
Those are just my guiding posts.
And I all all of a sudden I'mlike, what about this?
What about this?
What about this?
So this is something that I hadbeen thinking about earlier that
I'd I'd love for you to shedlight on, which is what is like

(01:05:08):
your niche for the business?
Like, who's your ideal avatar?

SPEAKER_00 (01:05:14):
Goodness.
Um, it it comes through a lot ofdifferent uh uh aspects of of
what we do because we're aninvestment firm, so we are um
kind of the middleman in a in avery crass term, meaning we
invest money into thesecompanies, money that isn't

(01:05:38):
always our own, sometimes it is.
And and so it's you're beholdento the mandate that you've
basically set.
Like you're the one who's like,okay, this is what we're going
to do.
We think we can do this withthis business.
We raise the capital and then weput it into the purchase of a
company.

SPEAKER_02 (01:05:58):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (01:05:58):
And so you have a lot of different people that
you're dealing with in order toget that done.

SPEAKER_02 (01:06:04):
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (01:06:04):
So I would say that our target business has about
two million in earnings.
Um, that's EBITDA.

SPEAKER_02 (01:06:12):
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (01:06:12):
Um, or earnings before interest tax depreciation
and amortization.
That's what that stands for.
Mouthful.
I know amortization.
But rest of it.
Got it.
So net income plus adding backsome things, right?
Okay.
Basically.
Yeah.
Um, and so generally we'relooking at businesses between

(01:06:34):
two and ten million of eBITDA.
Sometimes we'll go smaller inthat respect because we find an
opportunity, right?
That's the fun part.
Um, and and we get to investkind of through that criteria.
So we invest in manufacturingcompanies, distribution
companies, B2B companies.
We have a med spa that we are uminvested in.

(01:06:56):
Um, and so through that lens,we're um we're building out the
team and the community aroundthat business to make sure that
it thrives.
So we put a board in place withreally tenured executives who
who can strategically help thatorganization in some way.

(01:07:17):
Uh, we're then working withservice providers, a lot of
lawyers, a lot of accountants, alot of, you know, a lot of
resources around how do we makethis business, whether it's
employee benefits or umgoodness, software or just sky's
the limit in terms of theoperating uh rolladex that you

(01:07:37):
have to have in order to makesure that your business has all
the resources that it needs tothrive.
Um, and then it's the investors,right?
So we have people who have comealongside of us and said, hey, I
think that the value that youput on employee culture is the
way of the future, and I'm gonnainvest with you.
We don't take that lightlybecause um you could be

(01:08:02):
investing in the stock marketand getting a pretty predictable
return.
And while no investment has aguarantee of success, you have
some of it is risky and some ofit is not risky, right?
I mean, you can de-risk a lot.
Um, when you are investing withan emerging manager, which is
what my title would be in theinvestment world, yeah, who's

(01:08:24):
just starting out and justproving a track record, you have
to see that your money is goingto get a return, right?
And so there's a lot of pressurein that respect.
But then also, you know, we'rebuilding out that community
around that business that we arede-risking our investment

(01:08:45):
because of that.

SPEAKER_01 (01:08:46):
Okay.
Fascinating.
So it really there isn't anyspecific, like because you have
so many cooks in the kitchen, soto speak.
Especially at this point,because you're 18 months into

(01:09:07):
the business.
Time will tell, though.
Oh, yeah.
Time will tell what you start togravitate towards versus what
you start to lean away from.

SPEAKER_00 (01:09:17):
I would say, too, our niche and what makes us
different than any other privateequity firm is the value that we
put on the employee culture andhow important employees are to
businesses and making that apriority and making sure that
that doesn't get lost in theprocess.

SPEAKER_02 (01:09:34):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (01:09:35):
And so that's really what our niche is.
And then when it comes to thebusinesses that we invest in,
yeah, it can be a manufacturingfirm with a great financial
trajectory, but not a reallyhealthy culture.
And we see value in taking thatand saying, okay, how do we
enhance the employee culture?
Just like we would take a firmand say, how do we enhance the
technology?

(01:09:56):
Yeah, how do we enhance theoperations?
It's just, it's just one valuedriver of very many that we can
add in our portfolio ofinvestments.

SPEAKER_01 (01:10:07):
How do you determine there's an evaluation process?
And are there specific bucketsthat you look at for these
businesses where you go, I Ilike to think, okay, I'm gonna
back up.
In terms of us as people, wehave like a wellness wheel,
right?
Like we and and what we try tofocus on is how do we create the

(01:10:30):
wheel that's moving and inmotion to be as balanced as
possible, right?

SPEAKER_00 (01:10:37):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (01:10:37):
So I'm gonna shift that over into this world of
investing.
What are those areas that youlook at and evaluate in order to
understand like what do we needto focus on?

SPEAKER_00 (01:10:52):
Yeah, I love that question.
I actually have a course thatI've built out and I don't have
it live right now, but it'scalled How to Think Like an
Executive.
And it goes into 10 differentaspects of value creation.
Um, you'll hear this a lot inlike investing lingo where it's
like you're talking about amoat, like a moat around a
business is like how easy it isto replicate and start your own

(01:11:14):
business.
That's exactly like that, right?
So we look at a moat, right?
Okay.
Meaning um, you know, how easyit is for new competitors to
come into the space, um, howeasy is it is it to get started?
Obviously, that's a lotdifferent for a manufacturing
firm than it is for aprofessional services firm,
right?
If you just wanted to start astaffing firm one day, you just

(01:11:35):
go out and do that.
You might want to prove out atrack record, a little bit of
some solid staffing placements.
But other than that, there's nota lot of barriers to entry.
Yeah.
And so that's valued a differentway than a manufacturer that has
put five million dollars intoequipment for their business,
right?
Because no Joe Blow can just gostart that unless they have five

(01:11:55):
million plus dollars, right?
And so, or 50, which is probablymore realistic.
So there's moat.
Um, I mean, every aspect of abusiness, marketing, sales,
people, technology, technologymentioned, um their
profitability.
Yeah.
Um, if they have a clearmanagement team, or if the

(01:12:19):
organizational chart is more ofan idea than a written-down
thing.
Um, so whether it's a smallbusiness versus a medium-sized
business, a medium-sizedbusiness is is de-risked, quote
unquote, because it is bigger,because it makes more revenue.
Um, so there's things like thatthat you you dive into.

(01:12:40):
So it really is all encompassingof what are the different
aspects of the business, eveneven down to intellectual
property.
Do they have any patents?
Do they have anything thatdifferentiates them where they
have a niche or some kind ofspecialty?
Do they have one customer?
And if that customer goes away,there goes the business, or do

(01:13:02):
they have many customers, right?
So you're looking at all sortsof different metrics.

SPEAKER_01 (01:13:06):
Interesting.
Okay.
I'm glad that I asked thatquestion.
Um, okay.
What does the future of Marininvestments look like?
Like put your CEO hat on andtell me what is the ideal
picture of where MarinInvestment is going.

SPEAKER_00 (01:13:26):
Oh, I love it.
I love that question.
And I have a big smile on myface as you ask me that because
I know it's big.
Um we're just getting started.
We're we're here for a while.
I got a nice long trajectory infront of me.
Uh, should my health keep up,right?
Yes.

(01:13:46):
Um, and I'm I'm so thrilled atthe amazing lineup of operating
partners in our pipeline.
And I am so excited about thecompanies that we have in our
pipeline that are coming.
Um, and the investors that we'retalking to.
Um, wow.

(01:14:07):
Um, this is a crazy time inhistory.
The baby boomer generation isselling businesses, and
businesses are changing hands ata record amount that's probably
not going to be seen for quite afew decades.

SPEAKER_02 (01:14:21):
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (01:14:22):
So it's a crazy time.
And one of the reasons why Istarted Marin Investment when I
did, because I realized thiscan't wait 20 years.
Oh, the opportunities now.

SPEAKER_01 (01:14:35):
Yeah.
That what an incredibleforesight to have and just to
see what's coming down and tohave that understanding and that
knowledge.
And I I did hear this somewhereelse, and it wasn't too long
ago.
I want to say maybe, maybe itwas even when we talked on the
phone.
Maybe that's where I'mrecollecting this conversation

(01:14:56):
from.
Um, but how cool to understandthat that was part of the
decision making to do whatyou're doing.
And then also that there's thispipeline that's continuing to
build up and build out.
So I'm excited to from a year ayear from now to see what is

(01:15:17):
happening with Marininvestments.
It's so cool.
We're gonna start to land theplane.
Do respect your time too,because I know that we're gonna
have to get out of here prettyquickly.
What is a piece of advice thatyou would give a younger version
of yourself, a younger Marin,knowing all that you know today?

SPEAKER_00 (01:15:44):
I think uh one thing that's coming to mind, and it's
not that I didn't know this, butit's the weight of it that uh
with great power comes greatresponsibility.
And I think um quite humbly, Isay, because I've been humbled

(01:16:06):
through this process, thatinvesting in privately held
companies is sure, you couldcall it sexy, private equity is
a sexy term, right?
Um man will it grow you, andsame with entrepreneurship, but
I I feel like with with um theinvestment world, I've met a lot

(01:16:30):
of hardened people in theinvestment world, and I didn't
really know why because I'm anoptimist, yeah, and I like to
smile and I like joy.
Um but there's a lot of reallyhard things that go on behind
boardroom doors and a lot ofweight and a lot of pressure.

(01:16:53):
And man, I just it has given mesuch an empathy and such a sense
for people who have taken theentrepreneurial entrepreneurial
journey or the businessleadership journey and have have
wanted more for themselves andhave landed themselves in
businesses and now they're atthe helm.

(01:17:17):
And it's humbling because youdon't always do it right.

SPEAKER_02 (01:17:21):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (01:17:22):
Um, and you want to so badly, right?
Yep.
And it's so easy.
One word can ruin yourreputation.

SPEAKER_01 (01:17:34):
Wow.
Very interesting.
You mentioned I loved how youphrased that with uh great
power, great power, greatresponsibility.
And I think of God and thecircumstance with the great
power and the greatresponsibility that he has over
all of us.

(01:17:54):
What has faith looked at?
I this is this was the questionthat I had been wanting to ask,
and and then was like, oh, Ihave that question to kind of
piggyback off.
But I can't not ask thatquestion in this interview.
So I would love to hear from youbecause what you just spoke to
with hardened hearts, that'schallenging, right?

(01:18:18):
Especially I I hear you, I seeyou as also somewhat of an
eternal optimist and veryhopeful um person.
When you come across people likethat, it's tough.
But there is a way to kind ofenter in.
And so I'm I'm curious howyou've been able to do that, but

(01:18:41):
then how has faith played a rolein what you're doing with
American investment?

SPEAKER_00 (01:18:46):
It's everything, it's everything.
Um, I I have never uh raised myhands or cried so much in church
because it's it's living it out.
Oh my goodness, have have I beenthrough the firestorm of

(01:19:07):
testing, right?
And it's hard, and you areleaning on grace and and faith
and and understanding like youcan only do so much.
And um wow, I mean, the lessonsaround turning the other cheek
around um that I mean everyevery proverb I grew up hearing.

(01:19:34):
Oh my goodness.
Yeah, it's it's been it's been Icouldn't do what I'm doing
without that.

SPEAKER_01 (01:19:42):
It's something that you and I bonded over in our
phone call too.
I just, I have to say, thatconversation lit me up in such a
different way.
Of course, I mentioned and thelisteners know this now, like
you were you were instrumentalin the pushing the needle

(01:20:03):
forward for that event.
But I was like, Leah is so cool.
Like, she's so cool, and I wantto be her friend, and I want to
be like her when I grow up too.
But we had such an an incredibleconversation around our faith
and what that looks like for useach respectively, and I'm so

(01:20:26):
glad that I asked too how thatplays a role in what you're
doing.
So thank you for sharing that.
What's a piece of advice youwould give a woman?
You know, interestingly enough,because you're really in the
thick of this right now, butsomebody who's who's in that
zero to two year mark of theirbusiness, and um you you have I

(01:20:52):
would love to hear a piece ofadvice you'd like to give them
that you wish you had had whenyou first started.

SPEAKER_00 (01:21:02):
Oh, that's such a good question.
And I don't know that I know theanswer to it because every
entrepreneurial journey is sounique, right?
Some people start out a businessbecause they already have five
customers lined up and they'reready to go, and it's easy,
right?
And they just go from being a,you know, W-2 employee to having

(01:21:23):
their own business and it goesgreat.
Um, others you make decisionsand then you realize the
consequences of those decisions,and you've done everything you
can to try to set yourself upfor success, and the one thing,
you know, tips you over theedge.
So um, man, I think I thinksurrounding yourself with good

(01:21:49):
advice, and and I I sought to dothat a lot, um, and not letting
yourself be in an echo chamberof everybody's gonna think that
your idea is great because theylove you already, right?
Yeah.
And it's that's not markettesting.
Um that's good.

SPEAKER_01 (01:22:09):
That's so good.
Okay, so I heard you loud andclear.
Don't put yourself in an echochamber.
Ooh, I love it.
All right, who would be a goodconnection for you?

SPEAKER_00 (01:22:20):
Oh, wow.
Um, somebody's uncle who hasn'tsold his business yet and
probably should be because heneeds to retire and he and he
doesn't have a clear successionplan.
We're always looking to speakwith business owners who are
ready to make that jump.
Okay, and and maybe really careabout their employee base and

(01:22:40):
just want somebody who is gonnatell them tell it to them
straight and try to try to makea deal work.
Um, and it's it's not, you know,not every business is built for
private equity, but the onesthat are, um it's it's amazing
to be able to create value whileliving out your values.

(01:23:05):
And that's what I seek to doevery day.
And I'm so lucky that I I havethe opportunities that I have to
do that.

SPEAKER_01 (01:23:12):
Love it.
I might have a good connectionfor you, by the way.
It's not the uncle, it'ssomebody who might know the
uncle though.
Okay.
How can our listeners getconnected to Leah and um learn
more about Marin Investment?

SPEAKER_00 (01:23:30):
Oh, I have so many resources.
Okay, so Marininvestment.com isour website.
Uh, my podcast is called TheFuture of Private Equity.
Uh, so listen to that.

SPEAKER_01 (01:23:41):
No, you had a podcast.
When did this happen?

SPEAKER_00 (01:23:44):
Oh my gosh, it's just um, I've had it for a
while.
Um, I had an earlier versionwhen I was at my former private
equity firm, and now I have uhthe future of private equity.
That's why the people of privateequity turned into the future of
private equity.
Um and um yeah, so so listen tothat because it gives you really

(01:24:04):
good resources and insights intothat world.
It's really opaque for a lot ofpeople and they don't understand
it all the time.
Yeah.
Um, and so it's just I try tobring the veil back a little bit
and just kind of show who arethe players, who's involved in
this, what, what does this mean?
So it's it's growing.
I mean, there's 8,000 differentprivate equity firms in the in

(01:24:24):
the United States, and I meanthat's more than the public
companies that are out there.

SPEAKER_01 (01:24:29):
Fascinating statistics.

SPEAKER_00 (01:24:32):
Yeah.
So it's a very prevalent pieceof how businesses operate and
and are owned.
And so it's it's really worth itto take a look, especially if
you're an entrepreneur and youthink that one day you'll want
to get something for yourbusiness.

SPEAKER_01 (01:24:50):
Beautiful.
Awesome.
Okay, so um, website and thenthe podcast anywhere else.
I just want to make sure that II'm dropping all of that into
the show notes.

SPEAKER_00 (01:24:59):
I do a lot on LinkedIn.
Come connect with me onLinkedIn.
I would love to connect um LeahBaron.
Um yeah, would love to connectwith you on there.

SPEAKER_01 (01:25:09):
Beautiful.
Leah, I will make sure to havethat in the show notes so they
can click on it directly to goto your LinkedIn website, the
website, and your podcast aswell.
So how can they find like canthey access that off of all
podcast platforms?

SPEAKER_00 (01:25:23):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (01:25:23):
Okay, wonderful.
Leah, such a pleasure.
I feel privileged to have hadthe opportunity.
I'm glad that we were able tonail down a date to get you here
to even if it meant theafternoon.
Here we are.
And we we did it.
And so I'm so grateful that ourpaths have crossed to have the

(01:25:45):
opportunity for listeners tohear your story and um learn a
little bit from you as well.

SPEAKER_00 (01:25:51):
It was my my honor and privilege.
Thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_01 (01:25:54):
I hope you have a great day.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Thanks for listening.
And if you enjoyed this episodeand know of any inspiring mamas
who are powerhouseentrepreneurs, please help
connect them with myself and theshow.
It would mean so much if youwould help spread this message,
mission, and vision for othermompreneurs.
It takes 30 seconds to rate andreview, then share this episode

(01:26:18):
with your friends.
Until the next episode, cheersto reclaiming your hue!