When Kayla Trent traded spreadsheets for smoked brisket, she wasn’t just changing careers—she was reclaiming her life. In this inspiring episode, Kayla, the founder of KatHouse BBQ in Oklahoma City, shares how she left a stifling accounting job to build a thriving female-owned barbecue business fueled by passion, grit, and community.
Like many new entrepreneurs, Kayla encountered unexpected challenges—such as learning about city regulations the hard way when she was reported for selling food from home just days before Christmas. Rather than throwing in the towel, she adapted, improvised, and pushed forward, eventually securing a food trailer to keep growing her dream while staying fully compliant. Today, she's carving out space in the male-dominated world of barbecue, proving exceptional food doesn’t need sauce—and neither does a determined entrepreneur.
In this episode, you'll hear how Kayla:
✅ Broke free from the corporate rat race to prioritize family and fulfillment
✅ Pivoted her small business after facing legal hurdles
✅ Navigated gender bias in the barbecue industry
✅ Built a loyal following of over 1,000 fans without a website
✅ Found her voice, charged her worth, and embraced uncomfortable growth
Whether you're dreaming of pivoting careers, starting a food business, or just need encouragement to take the leap, Kayla’s story will inspire you to bet on yourself—even when it’s scary.
🔗 Listen now and learn why not trying is the only true failure.
Kayla Trent: KatHouse BBQ, Founder & CEO
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathousebbq
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaylareshee/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kathouse_bbq
#KaylaTrent #KatHouseBBQ #SmallBusinessPivots #MichaelDMorrison #BOSS #OklahomaCity #BusinessPodcast #WomenInBusiness #FemaleEntrepreneur #BarbecueBusiness #BBQ #BBQBusiness #FoodTruckBusiness #CareerPivot #EntrepreneurJourney #SmallBusinessGrowth #SmallBusinessSuccess #WomenWhoGrill #WomenInBarbecue #OklahomaEntrepreneurs #BarbecueLife #FoodEntrepreneurship #StartupStory #LeavingCorporateAmerica #Mompreneur #SupportSmallBusiness #SmallBusinessOwner #BBQBusiness #BuildingAnEmpire #WomenOwnedBusiness #BusinessResilience
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
All right, welcome to another Small Business Pivots.
And today we have another veryspecial guest not too far down
the road from where ourheadquarters are in Oklahoma
City, and you are in for a treattoday.
But, as I always say every week, there's no one that can
introduce their name and theirbusiness like the business owner
(00:21):
, so I always let our guestsintroduce themselves.
I'll let you have the floor.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
First of all, thank you so much for having me on.
Whenever you approached me itwas, you know.
It was pretty eye-opening thatI have a story to tell.
So I'm Kayla Trent, the ownerof Cat House Barbecue here in
the Oklahoma City metro area.
I am a wife and a mom of fivekids.
We're an amazing blended familyand on top of that, running
(00:47):
this barbecue business.
Believe it or not, I actuallycame from a background of
accounting, with a bachelor'sand an associate's in accounting
and just left that nine to fivejob back in last February to do
this full time.
So it's been a wild ride.
You know, in the corporateworld you're told to stay in
your lane.
You're told to.
You know your voice is stifled,and so I have spent the last
(01:10):
year finding my own lane andit's been a wild ride.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Well for our listeners.
You have an incredible storythat caught my attention.
I don't know that we knew eachother before the story.
It just came through my feed.
So but first, I don't know ifyour full-time job is a mom or
the barbecue.
I mean, to me the barbecuewould be more fun.
But we'll get to that here injust a second after we introduce
(01:36):
the show, so we'll be rightback.
Welcome to Small Business Pivots, a podcast produced for small
business owners.
I'm your host, michael Morrison, founder and CEO of BOSS, where
we make business ownershipsimplified for success.
Our business is helping yoursgrow.
Boss offers business loans withbusiness coaching support.
(02:00):
Apply in minutes and getapproved and funded in as little
as 24 to 48 hours atbusinessownershipsimplifiedcom.
All right, welcome back toSmall Business Pivots.
As I said, you have twofull-time jobs.
One sounds a little bit morefun than the other.
I know we all love our kids,but come on, give me a break.
(02:23):
There's one that we have funwith and the other that's more
of a responsibility.
So let's talk about youmentioned kind of coming from
the corporate world.
Let's talk about a little bitof your upbringing.
Nothing too personal, justbecause I know for small
business owners.
We all think am I smart enough?
Am I good enough?
Do I have what it takes to be abusiness owner?
And what I find with businessowners is we all have trials and
(02:45):
tribulations growing up.
Most of us and for me myself, Iwasn't the book smart kind of
person, but I seem to be a goodbusiness owner.
So tell us a little bit aboutyour upbringing so we can get
caught up to date.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
So I was the book smart person.
I had the straight A's.
You know, that's where my dadalways his dream was to be an
accountant, but he never didthat, and so that's kind of what
instilled that into me was hislove for numbers and his love
for accounting, and so I reallywanted to make him proud, and so
, you know, let's go to schoolfor accounting.
(03:20):
Never in a million years did Ithink that I would be where I am
now, though, and so I movedhere by myself whenever I was 18
years old, from Arkansas andhave just kind of built a life
for myself, and it's led me here.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
It's always interesting how we kind of live
that facade, I guess you couldsay, of grow up, get a degree,
do this, do this.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
But we never really find ourselves and you mentioned
that kind of early.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
So let's talk about those accounting, because we
need to be reminded of every jobopportunity that we work in or
culture that we work in iscompletely different.
So what were the dynamics like?
What was the culture like inthat atmosphere?
Just so others can get a littlesense of the accountability and
(04:17):
the culture that you came from.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
So you know, in the corporate world you brought up
being a mom of five kids anddoing the barbecue.
You know, working in acorporate job, if my younger son
, if he needed me at school, youcan't just take off and go and
(04:40):
to be honest, if I did I wouldget the cold shoulder for the
rest of the day because I wasn'tpresent Whenever.
In all reality, my main job inlife is to raise these little
human beings, and so there wasthat.
And then you're always told ina corporate world to know your
(05:04):
audience.
Obviously I am fairly outspoken.
I'm not.
You know, sit in an officeaccounting world.
I was good at it.
I was a senior accountant, butthat obviously is not me and my
personality.
I don't belong boxed into anoffice.
So I was constantly told tostay in my lane.
(05:25):
Know your audience.
You just do what you'resupposed to be doing.
And especially, you know, inthe corporate world you've got
women.
That's another thing that I'vefound is outside of the
corporate world.
Women are so for each other.
In the corporate world you'rein competition 24 seven.
For each other.
(05:46):
In the corporate world you'rein competition 24 seven.
They're always competing withyou.
Coming out of the corporateworld, I told my husband the
other day.
I said never did I ever thinkthat I would have such a group
of amazing women that supportedme.
And he said neither did I.
And I was like, why do you saythat?
He said he said because youdidn't like women.
And I said it's because I wassurrounded by the wrong women.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Yeah, there's something to be said about
female entrepreneurs and thesupport they give each other and
all entrepreneurs.
It's a really big force toreckon with.
So, would you say, or whatwould you say, is the reason for
leaving the corporate world?
What is what is kind of likeone thing that you've learned
(06:28):
has been the best out ofeverything?
Speaker 2 (06:30):
That I get to make my own lane.
I get to do, I get to createmyself, I get to create my
family and what's best for meand my family, that's what I
would say.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
So for those wannabe entrepreneurs that haven't quite
taken that step, whatencouragement would you give
them to say you gotta do this ifit's meant to be?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
So I actually had a friend here in the very recent
future or past that she owned ashe does like the big balloon
garlands and she was like I wantmy business to grow, but she
was still working her full-timejob.
So I've become very much likeif you like, if you've got this
(07:23):
side hobby that is going amazingfor you and you want it to grow
, just take the leap.
It is so scary.
Whenever my husband said over ayear ago, just quit your job,
just go full time and barbecue,just do it, I was like I was the
one that was like that soundsreally scary because I'm very
practical, I need my, I need toknow that I have my safety net.
(07:44):
But whenever you make that leap, I promise you will make it
happen.
You will find a way because youknow that it is all dependent
on you and you will make ithappen.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Yeah, I can't imagine how difficult that would be for
someone that counts beans.
So you're saying for me to gostart my business, there's no
beans to count there.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Right, it was scary, but it has been the best
decision that we have ever madeand my husband even said
yesterday he said I love yourjob, so yeah, Well.
No, it's more of an adventurefor me.
There's been so many differentthings happen over the last year
(08:30):
and prior to all this happening, I was scared.
I was so scared of change and Ihave learned to so embrace it.
It's still scary, but that'sthat's actually been.
My mantra over the last yearwas do all the scary things If
(08:51):
it sounds scary.
Prior to leaving the corporateworld, I didn't do the
networking things.
I didn't get up in front ofpeople and talk.
You know, again my voice hadbeen stifled, I lost my voice,
and so finding my voice over thelast year has been pretty,
pretty amazing.
But to go back to do I thinkit's a job Now, every single
time that the other day, my songot bumped in the mouth.
(09:17):
My seven-year-old son gotbumped in the mouth on the
playground and the school calledme and said hey, gage is having
a really hard time.
Would you want to come up hereand just console him?
Hard time, would you want tocome up here and just console
him?
And on my way there I gotteary-eyed because what I'm
doing is enabling me to be ableto be there for all five of my
kids and for my husband.
So no, it's more of anadventure.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
That's amazing.
A couple of quotes as abusiness coach I often offer, as
encouragement is.
Discomfort means we're growing.
So you mentioned a couple ofthings about stepping out there
to the uncomfortable zone, andthen every day is an exciting
adventure, with problems to besolved and memories to be made.
That's my daily mantra.
So just keeping in fact thatwe're going to have some
(10:02):
problems here, so just get usedto it, enjoy the ride.
And so how did you get into?
Well, let me back up a littlebit, because you have this
really cool neon sign behind you.
For those that are listening,you can't see it, but YouTube,
you can Barbecue Cat HouseBarbecue.
So how did you get intobarbecue?
Female entrepreneur in thebarbecue world.
(10:22):
That's a story in itself.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Right.
So it actually began, like Isaid, over 15 years ago.
My ex-husband would kind ofdabble in barbecue and then we
started kind of again like aside hustle of barbecue.
He had his own eight to fiveand I had an eight to five and
we didn't do it nearly on thescale that I do it now, but I
(10:48):
just kind of watched him.
And then one day he was out oftown and we got an order for
several slabs of ribs and hecalled and he said do you think
you can take this on?
And I was like, well, I thinkso I've just watched you do it,
but let's try it out.
So a few days later, after thecustomer had picked them up and
(11:09):
eaten them, he called my husbandand said I don't know what you
did to those ribs, but those arethe best ribs you've ever made.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Bet that made him feel good.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Right.
So that's just kind of where itstarted.
And then after that I just kindof started taking on more and
more and so it was always tomake a little bit of side money
and then, especially whenever westarted going through the
divorce, I really stepped intothat to try to help support me
and my three boys at the time.
So that's just kind of whereit's led up to today.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
So self-taught.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Yes, very much self-taught yes.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
What advice would you give to those entrepreneurs
that have something in mind, orthose wannabe entrepreneurs that
have something in mind thatthey want to take it to the next
level?
What would you say has helpedyou, through the years, get to
the point where you are today?
Speaker 2 (12:01):
I mean really it was just having that hustle.
You know I was working thateight to five, but on the
weekends really pursuing thatside hustle.
You know I was working thateight to five, but on the
weekends really pursuing thatside hustle, and I mean never
did I think I'd be doing thisfull time, but that hustle every
weekend really led to thegrowth.
(12:22):
And I mean obviously socialmedia too.
You know you've got to get thatout there and build your
customer base and so, andnetwork and all those other
things you mentioned that makesyou uncomfortable.
Do all the uncomfortable.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
That's right.
Get uncomfortable, so all right.
So we're going to talk aboutthis year adventure.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
We're going to talk about it because, as a business
coach, I work with somebusinesses that's been in
business 10 years.
They're still doing things thatthey should have quit doing on
day one.
What are some things that youlearned when you first started
that you wish you would havedone different or would have
done more, would have donebetter?
Speaker 2 (13:05):
So definitely doing different, something that I've
had to learn.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
You're listening to Small Business Pivots.
This podcast is produced by mycompany, Boss.
Our business is helping yoursgrow.
Boss offers business loans withbusiness coaching support.
Apply in minutes and getapproved and funded in as little
as 24 to 48 hours atbusinessownershipsimplifiedcom.
(13:31):
If you're enjoying this podcast, don't forget to hit the
subscribe button and share it aswell.
Now let's get back to ourspecial guest.
As a business coach, I workwith some businesses that's been
in business 10 years.
They're still doing things thatthey should have quit doing on
day one.
What are some things that youlearned when you first started?
(13:52):
That you wish you would havedone different or would have
done more, would have donebetter.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
So definitely doing different.
Something that I've had tolearn is charging your worth,
and that's a really hard one,because whenever you get into
business, especially friends andfamily come out of the woodwork
and they're like I'm here, whatkind of discount do I get?
And so that was a really hardone.
Is not going broke trying tomake your friends and family
(14:24):
happy.
So I think that was one of thebiggest things that I've learned
is charging my worth andsticking to it.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Well, we try to be impactful for all listeners and
I will say, as a business coachthat has owned several
businesses, helped otherbusinesses, your last advocate
of your business will be familyand friends you need to go find
someone other than family thanfriends.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Yes, and it's so interesting and I've read
something.
It's because they wish thatthey were where you are now, so
you have that is true.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
That is true.
Darren Hardy, who's kind of amotivational speaker, he, he
uses the the crab.
I think it's the crabs, likewhen they scoop up the crabs and
the crabs try to crawl out andthe other crabs pull them back
down.
And that's true.
Whether it's intentional or not.
It just makes others feeluncomfortable.
And then other reasons could be.
(15:20):
You know, they think of you asmaybe Uncle Michael or Brother
Michael.
They don't think of you as anentrepreneur, you know.
So there's lots of reasonsthere.
What are some things that youlearned after you started your
business that you would offer tohelp other business owners?
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Giving up the tasks that don't bring you joy.
It's things that not only youcan do, so only I can do the
barbecue.
I can't have somebody else comein and do barbecue for me.
But saying, like posting onsocial media, you can hire
somebody to post on social mediafor you.
(16:03):
It wasn't bringing me joy.
So, things that are notbringing you joy within your
business, find somebody else todo that for you so that you can
focus on making the money.
It's going to cost you a littlebit of money to do that, but I
promise you you're going to makethat money right back up
because you have the time topour into your business.
So, for instance, I hired avirtual assistant to start
(16:26):
posting for me.
Good for you, yes, so I cantake that off my plate posting
for me Good for you yes, so Ican take that off my plate.
I don't have to stress about it.
You know she's going to be ableto make five posts in the time
that I would have made one.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
And she knows what she's doing.
Yes, just like you know whatyou're doing in barbecue.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
What are your plans for the future of the barbecue
business?
Speaker 2 (16:50):
So, what does that?
Speaker 1 (16:51):
look like.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
I actually have news for you, since last time we
talked, I know.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
You're hearing it here first, folks Right.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Actually a lot of people don't know this.
I mean they'll know it beforethis airs, but I actually
secured a food trailer last week.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Very cool Congratulations.
We are moving along yes.
Congratulations.
So you're the traveling cathouse barbecue.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
I am.
I still want to stick, I think,more to catering.
That's just where the money is.
You and I have talked aboutthat, but I'm not opposed to
pulling it out to events and Ilook forward to doing that and
it'll be a whole nother thingfor this year to look forward to
.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Very cool.
Well, I want to touch on thestory that grabbed my attention
not too long ago of you gotcaught.
We'll just say that I don'twant to give anything away, just
kind of share that story,because a lot of business owners
they think, oh my gosh, if onemore thing goes wrong, I'm
shutting down, I'm quitting andyou're like heck, no plow
(17:55):
forward, come on, troops.
So why don't you share yourstory and kind of the bits and
pieces of maybe some things thatyou had to push yourself
through, or maybe that mightgive some others encouragement
of you just got to do it andhere's why, and so I'll let you
share the story first.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Yeah.
So this last year, you know,we've just been kind of chugging
along and I've been gaining allthese new customers, gaining
quite a following on Facebook Imean considering where I was and
everything was going great.
And then comes, you know,november.
It got crazy busy, everybodyneeding their turkeys.
(18:34):
And then December had probablyat least like 15 caterings
within a three week period andit was four days before
Christmas.
And the next day I actually hadthe biggest catering I've ever
done and I was walking out to mycar with a pan of food and a
(18:57):
car pulls up and a man gets outand he says I'm with the city.
You cannot be selling food outof your house, so how did you
feel?
right, then you cannot beselling food out of your house.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
So how did you feel right then?
Speaker 2 (19:13):
I felt all the color drain from my face and like,
what do I say?
Speaker 1 (19:18):
You didn't drop the food, did you?
Speaker 2 (19:20):
No, no it's like.
But how do I get out of this?
How do I, you know, spend this?
And I said, well, not even forfriends and family.
And he said, well, yourFacebook for friends and family.
And he said, well, yourFacebook has been turned in also
, so we've seen everything.
Wow, somebody had intentionallyturned me in and turned in the
Facebook, and so that completelyobviously knocked me off my
(19:43):
feet.
You know, with it being fourdays before Christmas, five kids
, you know, I still had a coupleof Christmas presents to buy
and I'm asking myself do thekids really need those presents?
Do they really need that lastpresent?
Because what if I can't have?
I'm not going to have thisincome, because somebody was so
(20:03):
offended by my success that theywanted to hurt me and my family
so badly.
So I definitely had my pityparty for a good couple weeks.
You know, it really, reallyknocked me off my feet.
So I had my pity party.
I cried, talked to my husband alot about it and like, what am
(20:27):
I doing?
Like why, why am I even doingthis if people are going to try
to knock me down?
And then I realized that it'snot people, that it was only one
person I had built.
So all all these people I havethis huge circle now that
support me, and just because oneperson is trying to take me
(20:47):
down doesn't mean that I need togo down.
So that started the search ofthe food truck and it's taken,
you know, four months now toactually find that, but we're
finally getting there.
But it was really the hardrealization that it was just
(21:08):
that one person.
So we're moving along.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
That's awesome, as they say, you know, you know
you're doing something rightwhen you got somebody watching.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Yes, and you know, that's something that I've also
realized, because I was having ahard time pulling the you know
the plug on getting the foodtruck, and I realized it's
because I do have so many peoplewatching now that I'm afraid of
that one person or a few peoplegetting to celebrate in my
(21:41):
failure.
I mean, to me failure is not anoption.
I'm going to make it in one wayor another but if, say, the
food truck doesn't work out,that somebody gets to relish in
my failure, and that wasbothering me so much and I
finally had to realize who cares.
At least I'm doing what a lotof people aren't doing.
(22:04):
I took that step, I took thatleap and I'm doing it.
So if they get to see a failurehere and there, at least I'm
going for it.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Good for you.
We have more people approach usthat want to start a business
than have started a business.
It's scary, always envious ofthose that have and then
complain in the background.
You know about their success.
It's never about their.
Whatever it is, they're stuckin, but it's usually about
(22:35):
someone else going to that nextlevel.
That's interesting that you,you, you bring that up.
So today, what would you say isa life lesson you've learned
fast forward, from the day youstarted your business to today.
What is like the first thingthat comes to mind that says I'm
glad I did this, because oh man.
(22:57):
That's a that's a hard one,cause you'll go through
different seasons in businessand and that answer can
constantly evolve and change.
At first it was the freedom youknow which is most people while
you're thinking.
I want to share with them thatmost wannabe entrepreneurs are
usually thinking about the money, but after you start the
(23:18):
business it's like, wow, thefreedom I have.
I don't have to ask permissionto go see my child in the
daytime.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Yes, recognized here lately is the people that I'm
getting to meet and really theplaces that I'm getting to go.
That I wouldn't have done Ijust did a women's retreat for
women entrepreneurs and just thelocations that I'm getting to
go cater to.
That I would have never.
(23:49):
I would have been stuck in mybubble and accounting in my
office, you know, just sittingthere on a day-to-day basis.
But I'm getting to travel andI'm getting to go do these
things and meet all these peopleand I would have never thought
that I would have such a hugecircle at this point.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Yeah, that is truly amazing.
Say, as a female entrepreneuris one of your current
challenges and then also one ofyour current successes, so that
other female entrepreneurs cankind of feel the love.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Well, and obviously in a man's industry of barbecue,
it's kind of funny.
We'll go do a catering and myhusband calls himself the best
free help that I have and he is,he's amazing free help.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
He's probably the chief taste officer, right.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Yes, yes, along with the all the kids.
But it's so funny Cause we'llget to an event and the men
especially, we'll walk up to himman, this is really good, what
kind of wood did you use?
And he'll be like it's not me,I didn't do any of this.
And they'll like, they'llliterally acknowledge that with
like nodding their head andthey'll be like well, how long
(25:00):
did you smoke the brisket for?
And he's like you don'tunderstand, I had no.
He's like I literally helpedpackage it and that's about it.
So it's funny.
So, going into a man's world,they have a really hard time
acknowledging that I'm.
This blonde haired girl overhere is the one that that made
(25:21):
this food.
Yeah, and then what was thesecond question?
Speaker 1 (25:27):
So what would be the like a success that, moving from
day one, it was kind of thefreedom you have.
You recognized right away thatyou could go, you know, check on
your son.
What is something that you'veappreciated now, being a female
entrepreneur, that others needto know?
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Well, obviously, like I said, the support system from
women coming out of thecorporate world, it can be
really catty.
Corporate world it can bereally catty, it's.
It can not be a pretty scenesometimes and go home feeling
really down because you'reconstantly competing with all
these other women and to nowhave all this whole support
system that not only supports me, but I get calls all the time
(26:10):
that they are referring me topeople and people that I've
never even met before, and soit's become the weirdest thing
to me and I don't know if I'llever get used to getting phone
calls from people that I don'tknow, that I've never met,
asking me to cook food for themall because they've heard about
it from somebody else down theline and it's.
(26:32):
It's so amazing and so freeingfor it to get to that point.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Well, let's talk about that, because, coming from
the corporate world, where youdon't know anyone outside of
that box that you mentioned, howdid you step out there?
What kind of groups are there?
What's the best way to networkand sell?
Because, obviously, friends andfamily.
I, for most, most people, Ialways say don't start with
(27:00):
friends and family.
They're not going to pay youwhat you're worth.
They're not going to be youradvocate.
They think of you as the auntor the brother or the sister,
whoever.
But how did you step out there?
How did you find these groupsand then any kind of tips to
give people on how to networkbest?
Because I know if you've nevernetworked or sold, been in sales
(27:21):
before, you can take the wrongapproach and offend people as
well.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
So it's actually interesting.
Whenever I stepped out ofaccounting to start doing
barbecue full-time, I stillsecond-guessed myself.
I thought while I'm gettingbarbecue up and running
full-time, I need anotherrevenue stream.
So I started selling roofs witha friend.
That was pretty short lived buthe was doing a network group
(27:50):
called Gold Star, which is herein the metro.
So I started attending that andI very quickly joined with
under barbecue.
But that's really.
You have to get up every singletime and speak for 45 seconds
about what you do, and Iremember the very first time
that I got up my voice wasquivering like my.
(28:11):
I'm shaking, like I.
It's a terrible feeling andeach and every time it got
easier and easier.
So that was a weekly thing, sothat was almost practice every
week getting up speaking, andthen here in the Oklahoma City
metro area we also have anorganization called Mix and
Mingle which is where you and Imet.
(28:32):
But again you get up in frontof a room full of people.
You have 30 seconds tointroduce who you are, what you
do.
So it's a very short snippet,but again, can be extremely
uncomfortable in the beginning.
Extremely uncomfortable in thebeginning.
(28:52):
So but just keep on practicingthat and finding those
networking groups and there's alot of like after hours
networking groups where you canactually you have more time to
mingle and interact with people.
It's not so much the elevatorpitch right off the bat.
So just doing those over andover and over again has gotten
me to where I'm at leastcomfortable enough to come talk
(29:12):
to you on this.
So I would say that that's whatI did, but again doing the
uncomfortable things.
Because whenever I rememberthere was one meeting that I was
trying to talk myself out ofgoing, I didn't want to go.
I felt really uncomfortable.
It was like probably the thirdmeeting I'd ever been to.
(29:34):
I didn't want to go and I evencalled my husband.
I was like, well, I didn'teffectively talk myself out of
going because I'm on my way andit wasn't five minutes of being
in this room, I landed acatering gig.
It was making that consciousdecision to go do that
uncomfortable thing.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
That's a reward.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Yes, and then from that catering gig I actually got
another one.
So and so I.
I actually sometimes I like tosit and be like man.
This catering literally camefrom this and this and this and,
like you know, track it downthe line of like where it that
(30:16):
actually started.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
That's really cool.
I bet there are some peoplelistening to this.
When you talk about getting upand talking in front of people,
they're just shivering in theirboots right now going.
I can't even imagine.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
It's uncomfortable and it still makes me feel
uncomfortable.
But I've you know, some peoplewill get up and they have their
very set elevator pitch and youcan tell it's rehearsed and I
decided fairly early on thatthat wasn't me.
So I just kind of get up andI'm just me and I talk about
whatever I'm doing right then,because if you get too rehearsed
(30:44):
it doesn't sound authentic andit doesn't resonate with people.
People completely tune out.
I know I do that wheneverpeople get up and are rehearsed.
So I just try to be, try to bemyself.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Yeah, yeah, that's yeah, you're.
No, don't try to be the nextGoogle or, you know, amazon or
anything like that.
Just be yourself.
People buy from those they know, like and trust.
So anything in this past yearthat you would say you wish you
would have known how to dobetter or you would have done
(31:16):
better, or are you just goingwith the flow every day?
Speaker 2 (31:20):
I think I'm going with the flow.
However, I think timemanagement whenever you don't
have somebody else telling youthis, this and this need to get
done every day.
Whenever it's up to you for youto make your schedule, it
becomes like a whole notherthing.
So really, time management asan entrepreneur like making your
(31:42):
schedule for yourself andsticking to it every day, not
just waking up whenever you wantto wake up.
You know you actually treat itas as a job, but you even though
you still have that freedom.
So that has been probably oneof my hardest things to do is
time management making myselffollow that schedule, and I'm
(32:03):
getting better at it.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
So Well, I will tell you, having worked with so many
business owners, that's probablyall of our biggest challenges
the time management andprioritizing what really needs
to be done versus what's easy tobe done.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Well, how can people find out more about your
business?
Speaker 2 (32:24):
So I have a Facebook.
I have Cat House Barbecue andthen also Kayla Trent on
Facebook, and then I also havean Instagram.
You can find it at Kayla Trentor Cat House Barbecue Working on
a website.
I'm hoping that that andthat'll be like a one year goal
I think this coming year, butdefinitely needed to get some
other things up and going beforefocusing on that.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
So well, I will commend you on that, because it
sounds like you're prioritizingwhat makes sales.
I just had a meeting with afairly new business owner and
they're doing everything butsales.
So they're doing these websitesand this social and I'm like
you realize that's like along-term sell versus if I were
(33:09):
to just call somebody go to anetworking event.
So you're doing a lot of greatthings in the right order, so
kind of what makes your barbecuea little bit different than
everybody else's.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
on the catering side, so whenever I do cater you know
, catering barbecue isn't likethis, like it's not pretty.
I mean, it's a pan of meat, youknow so it is, and so I love to
set it up in a different way.
A matter of fact, I juststarted also doing graze boards,
(33:41):
also graze tables andcharcuterie boxes.
Yeah, so I mean, to be honest,what happened back in December
of being turned in has made methink of, like how can I branch
out?
Because the guy that came byfrom the city, he was actually
very, very nice and very helpfuland I've been able to talk with
(34:02):
him since and ask him for a fewpointers of how I move forward,
of how I move forward.
So it was basically just themeat I could not.
I can't post the meat until I'mlicensed in a food truck.
So it made me branch out to thegraze boards because you can,
you can do that.
So it that also made my mindsetchange of how I lay out the
(34:26):
meat and present it more pretty,more eye-catching, because
people eat with their eyes first, so I don't just set that pan
of meat on the table and so it'smore of a presentation for me.
I also make my own rub.
People ask me if I make my ownsauce and I don't, mainly
(34:50):
because I don't think that mymeat needs a sauce.
Speaker 1 (34:56):
That's like a good steak, doesn't?
When they ask for do you need asauce?
I shouldn't need one if it'sthat right.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
So I've really pushed back on making a sauce and I
know I need to cater to mycustomers and what they want and
what they're asking for, but Ihave a really hard time thinking
about people putting sauce onmy barbecue.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Yeah, no, I'm with you on that.
I am with you on that.
So well, what last bit ofinformation, insights, would you
give to other entrepreneurs,something you've learned along
the way?
It could be a quote, it couldbe a book, it could be anything
about life, doesn't even have tobe about business.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
I would say just take that leap, just do it.
It's scary, it's scary, but,like I said, if you take that
leap, you have no other choicebut to push yourself forward.
There's no going.
You can go back, but what'sthat going to get you?
You're just going to be stuckright in the same spot that you
were.
So take that leap, move forward, keep taking those steps and
(35:58):
you're not going to regret it.
If it does fail, at least youdid it.
You can say you tried.
So if you don't, you're nevergoing to know, and that's a
failure in itself you're nevergoing to know, and that's a
failure in itself.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
Yeah, that's, that's powerful.
Well, you're a blessing to manyand you've shared a bunch of
information that's going toimpact others.
Wish you continued success andI can't wait to come to your
next catering.
I'm ready for barbecue.
All right, have a good one.
We'll see you around.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
Thank you, you too.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Thank you for listening to small business
pivots.
This podcast is created andproduced by my company boss.
Our business is growing.
Yours.
Boss offers flexible businessloans with business coaching
support.
Apply in minutes and getapproved and funded in as little
as 24 to 48 hours atbusinessownershipsimplifiedcom.
(36:50):
If you're enjoying this podcast, don't forget to hit the
subscribe button and share it aswell.
If you need help growing yourbusiness, email me at michael at
michaeldmorrisoncom.
We'll see you next time onSmall Business Pivots.
All right, welcome to another Small Business Pivots.
And today we have another veryspecial guest not too far down
the road from where ourheadquarters are in Oklahoma
City, and you are in for a treattoday.
But, as I always say every week, there's no one that can
introduce their name and theirbusiness like the business owner
(00:21):
, so I always let our guestsintroduce themselves.
I'll let you have the floor.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
First of all, thank you so much for having me on.
Whenever you approached me itwas, you know.
It was pretty eye-opening thatI have a story to tell.
So I'm Kayla Trent, the ownerof Cat House Barbecue here in
the Oklahoma City metro area.
I am a wife and a mom of fivekids.
We're an amazing blended familyand on top of that, running
(00:47):
this barbecue business.
Believe it or not, I actuallycame from a background of
accounting, with a bachelor'sand an associate's in accounting
and just left that nine to fivejob back in last February to do
this full time.
So it's been a wild ride.
You know, in the corporateworld you're told to stay in
your lane.
You're told to.
You know your voice is stifled,and so I have spent the last
(01:10):
year finding my own lane andit's been a wild ride.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Well for our listeners.
You have an incredible storythat caught my attention.
I don't know that we knew eachother before the story.
It just came through my feed.
So but first, I don't know ifyour full-time job is a mom or
the barbecue.
I mean, to me the barbecuewould be more fun.
But we'll get to that here injust a second after we introduce
(01:36):
the show, so we'll be rightback.
Welcome to Small Business Pivots, a podcast produced for small
business owners.
I'm your host, michael Morrison, founder and CEO of BOSS, where
we make business ownershipsimplified for success.
Our business is helping yoursgrow.
Boss offers business loans withbusiness coaching support.
(02:00):
Apply in minutes and getapproved and funded in as little
as 24 to 48 hours atbusinessownershipsimplifiedcom.
All right, welcome back toSmall Business Pivots.
As I said, you have twofull-time jobs.
One sounds a little bit morefun than the other.
I know we all love our kids,but come on, give me a break.
(02:23):
There's one that we have funwith and the other that's more
of a responsibility.
So let's talk about youmentioned kind of coming from
the corporate world.
Let's talk about a little bitof your upbringing.
Nothing too personal, justbecause I know for small
business owners.
We all think am I smart enough?
Am I good enough?
Do I have what it takes to be abusiness owner?
And what I find with businessowners is we all have trials and
(02:45):
tribulations growing up.
Most of us and for me myself, Iwasn't the book smart kind of
person, but I seem to be a goodbusiness owner.
So tell us a little bit aboutyour upbringing so we can get
caught up to date.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
So I was the book smart person.
I had the straight A's.
You know, that's where my dadalways his dream was to be an
accountant, but he never didthat, and so that's kind of what
instilled that into me was hislove for numbers and his love
for accounting, and so I reallywanted to make him proud, and so
, you know, let's go to schoolfor accounting.
(03:20):
Never in a million years did Ithink that I would be where I am
now, though, and so I movedhere by myself whenever I was 18
years old, from Arkansas andhave just kind of built a life
for myself, and it's led me here.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
It's always interesting how we kind of live
that facade, I guess you couldsay, of grow up, get a degree,
do this, do this.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
But we never really find ourselves and you mentioned
that kind of early.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
So let's talk about those accounting, because we
need to be reminded of every jobopportunity that we work in or
culture that we work in iscompletely different.
So what were the dynamics like?
What was the culture like inthat atmosphere?
Just so others can get a littlesense of the accountability and
(04:17):
the culture that you came from.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
So you know, in the corporate world you brought up
being a mom of five kids anddoing the barbecue.
You know, working in acorporate job, if my younger son
, if he needed me at school, youcan't just take off and go and
(04:40):
to be honest, if I did I wouldget the cold shoulder for the
rest of the day because I wasn'tpresent Whenever.
In all reality, my main job inlife is to raise these little
human beings, and so there wasthat.
And then you're always told ina corporate world to know your
(05:04):
audience.
Obviously I am fairly outspoken.
I'm not.
You know, sit in an officeaccounting world.
I was good at it.
I was a senior accountant, butthat obviously is not me and my
personality.
I don't belong boxed into anoffice.
So I was constantly told tostay in my lane.
(05:25):
Know your audience.
You just do what you'resupposed to be doing.
And especially, you know, inthe corporate world you've got
women.
That's another thing that I'vefound is outside of the
corporate world.
Women are so for each other.
In the corporate world you'rein competition 24 seven.
For each other.
(05:46):
In the corporate world you'rein competition 24 seven.
They're always competing withyou.
Coming out of the corporateworld, I told my husband the
other day.
I said never did I ever thinkthat I would have such a group
of amazing women that supportedme.
And he said neither did I.
And I was like, why do you saythat?
He said he said because youdidn't like women.
And I said it's because I wassurrounded by the wrong women.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Yeah, there's something to be said about
female entrepreneurs and thesupport they give each other and
all entrepreneurs.
It's a really big force toreckon with.
So, would you say, or whatwould you say, is the reason for
leaving the corporate world?
What is what is kind of likeone thing that you've learned
(06:28):
has been the best out ofeverything?
Speaker 2 (06:30):
That I get to make my own lane.
I get to do, I get to createmyself, I get to create my
family and what's best for meand my family, that's what I
would say.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
So for those wannabe entrepreneurs that haven't quite
taken that step, whatencouragement would you give
them to say you gotta do this ifit's meant to be?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
So I actually had a friend here in the very recent
future or past that she owned ashe does like the big balloon
garlands and she was like I wantmy business to grow, but she
was still working her full-timejob.
So I've become very much likeif you like, if you've got this
(07:23):
side hobby that is going amazingfor you and you want it to grow
, just take the leap.
It is so scary.
Whenever my husband said over ayear ago, just quit your job,
just go full time and barbecue,just do it, I was like I was the
one that was like that soundsreally scary because I'm very
practical, I need my, I need toknow that I have my safety net.
(07:44):
But whenever you make that leap, I promise you will make it
happen.
You will find a way because youknow that it is all dependent
on you and you will make ithappen.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Yeah, I can't imagine how difficult that would be for
someone that counts beans.
So you're saying for me to gostart my business, there's no
beans to count there.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Right, it was scary, but it has been the best
decision that we have ever madeand my husband even said
yesterday he said I love yourjob, so yeah, Well.
No, it's more of an adventurefor me.
There's been so many differentthings happen over the last year
(08:30):
and prior to all this happening, I was scared.
I was so scared of change and Ihave learned to so embrace it.
It's still scary, but that'sthat's actually been.
My mantra over the last yearwas do all the scary things If
(08:51):
it sounds scary.
Prior to leaving the corporateworld, I didn't do the
networking things.
I didn't get up in front ofpeople and talk.
You know, again my voice hadbeen stifled, I lost my voice,
and so finding my voice over thelast year has been pretty,
pretty amazing.
But to go back to do I thinkit's a job Now, every single
time that the other day, my songot bumped in the mouth.
(09:17):
My seven-year-old son gotbumped in the mouth on the
playground and the school calledme and said hey, gage is having
a really hard time.
Would you want to come up hereand just console him?
Hard time, would you want tocome up here and just console
him?
And on my way there I gotteary-eyed because what I'm
doing is enabling me to be ableto be there for all five of my
kids and for my husband.
So no, it's more of anadventure.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
That's amazing.
A couple of quotes as abusiness coach I often offer, as
encouragement is.
Discomfort means we're growing.
So you mentioned a couple ofthings about stepping out there
to the uncomfortable zone, andthen every day is an exciting
adventure, with problems to besolved and memories to be made.
That's my daily mantra.
So just keeping in fact thatwe're going to have some
(10:02):
problems here, so just get usedto it, enjoy the ride.
And so how did you get into?
Well, let me back up a littlebit, because you have this
really cool neon sign behind you.
For those that are listening,you can't see it, but YouTube,
you can Barbecue Cat HouseBarbecue.
So how did you get intobarbecue?
Female entrepreneur in thebarbecue world.
(10:22):
That's a story in itself.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Right.
So it actually began, like Isaid, over 15 years ago.
My ex-husband would kind ofdabble in barbecue and then we
started kind of again like aside hustle of barbecue.
He had his own eight to fiveand I had an eight to five and
we didn't do it nearly on thescale that I do it now, but I
(10:48):
just kind of watched him.
And then one day he was out oftown and we got an order for
several slabs of ribs and hecalled and he said do you think
you can take this on?
And I was like, well, I thinkso I've just watched you do it,
but let's try it out.
So a few days later, after thecustomer had picked them up and
(11:09):
eaten them, he called my husbandand said I don't know what you
did to those ribs, but those arethe best ribs you've ever made.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Bet that made him feel good.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Right.
So that's just kind of where itstarted.
And then after that I just kindof started taking on more and
more and so it was always tomake a little bit of side money
and then, especially whenever westarted going through the
divorce, I really stepped intothat to try to help support me
and my three boys at the time.
So that's just kind of whereit's led up to today.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
So self-taught.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Yes, very much self-taught yes.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
What advice would you give to those entrepreneurs
that have something in mind, orthose wannabe entrepreneurs that
have something in mind thatthey want to take it to the next
level?
What would you say has helpedyou, through the years, get to
the point where you are today?
Speaker 2 (12:01):
I mean really it was just having that hustle.
You know I was working thateight to five, but on the
weekends really pursuing thatside hustle.
You know I was working thateight to five, but on the
weekends really pursuing thatside hustle, and I mean never
did I think I'd be doing thisfull time, but that hustle every
weekend really led to thegrowth.
(12:22):
And I mean obviously socialmedia too.
You know you've got to get thatout there and build your
customer base and so, andnetwork and all those other
things you mentioned that makesyou uncomfortable.
Do all the uncomfortable.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
That's right.
Get uncomfortable, so all right.
So we're going to talk aboutthis year adventure.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
We're going to talk about it because, as a business
coach, I work with somebusinesses that's been in
business 10 years.
They're still doing things thatthey should have quit doing on
day one.
What are some things that youlearned when you first started
that you wish you would havedone different or would have
done more, would have donebetter?
Speaker 2 (13:05):
So definitely doing different, something that I've
had to learn.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
You're listening to Small Business Pivots.
This podcast is produced by mycompany, Boss.
Our business is helping yoursgrow.
Boss offers business loans withbusiness coaching support.
Apply in minutes and getapproved and funded in as little
as 24 to 48 hours atbusinessownershipsimplifiedcom.
(13:31):
If you're enjoying this podcast, don't forget to hit the
subscribe button and share it aswell.
Now let's get back to ourspecial guest.
As a business coach, I workwith some businesses that's been
in business 10 years.
They're still doing things thatthey should have quit doing on
day one.
What are some things that youlearned when you first started?
(13:52):
That you wish you would havedone different or would have
done more, would have donebetter.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
So definitely doing different.
Something that I've had tolearn is charging your worth,
and that's a really hard one,because whenever you get into
business, especially friends andfamily come out of the woodwork
and they're like I'm here, whatkind of discount do I get?
And so that was a really hardone.
Is not going broke trying tomake your friends and family
(14:24):
happy.
So I think that was one of thebiggest things that I've learned
is charging my worth andsticking to it.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Well, we try to be impactful for all listeners and
I will say, as a business coachthat has owned several
businesses, helped otherbusinesses, your last advocate
of your business will be familyand friends you need to go find
someone other than family thanfriends.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Yes, and it's so interesting and I've read
something.
It's because they wish thatthey were where you are now, so
you have that is true.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
That is true.
Darren Hardy, who's kind of amotivational speaker, he, he
uses the the crab.
I think it's the crabs, likewhen they scoop up the crabs and
the crabs try to crawl out andthe other crabs pull them back
down.
And that's true.
Whether it's intentional or not.
It just makes others feeluncomfortable.
And then other reasons could be.
(15:20):
You know, they think of you asmaybe Uncle Michael or Brother
Michael.
They don't think of you as anentrepreneur, you know.
So there's lots of reasonsthere.
What are some things that youlearned after you started your
business that you would offer tohelp other business owners?
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Giving up the tasks that don't bring you joy.
It's things that not only youcan do, so only I can do the
barbecue.
I can't have somebody else comein and do barbecue for me.
But saying, like posting onsocial media, you can hire
somebody to post on social mediafor you.
(16:03):
It wasn't bringing me joy.
So, things that are notbringing you joy within your
business, find somebody else todo that for you so that you can
focus on making the money.
It's going to cost you a littlebit of money to do that, but I
promise you you're going to makethat money right back up
because you have the time topour into your business.
So, for instance, I hired avirtual assistant to start
(16:26):
posting for me.
Good for you, yes, so I cantake that off my plate posting
for me Good for you yes, so Ican take that off my plate.
I don't have to stress about it.
You know she's going to be ableto make five posts in the time
that I would have made one.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
And she knows what she's doing.
Yes, just like you know whatyou're doing in barbecue.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
What are your plans for the future of the barbecue
business?
Speaker 2 (16:50):
So, what does that?
Speaker 1 (16:51):
look like.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
I actually have news for you, since last time we
talked, I know.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
You're hearing it here first, folks Right.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Actually a lot of people don't know this.
I mean they'll know it beforethis airs, but I actually
secured a food trailer last week.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Very cool Congratulations.
We are moving along yes.
Congratulations.
So you're the traveling cathouse barbecue.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
I am.
I still want to stick, I think,more to catering.
That's just where the money is.
You and I have talked aboutthat, but I'm not opposed to
pulling it out to events and Ilook forward to doing that and
it'll be a whole nother thingfor this year to look forward to
.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Very cool.
Well, I want to touch on thestory that grabbed my attention
not too long ago of you gotcaught.
We'll just say that I don'twant to give anything away, just
kind of share that story,because a lot of business owners
they think, oh my gosh, if onemore thing goes wrong, I'm
shutting down, I'm quitting andyou're like heck, no plow
(17:55):
forward, come on, troops.
So why don't you share yourstory and kind of the bits and
pieces of maybe some things thatyou had to push yourself
through, or maybe that mightgive some others encouragement
of you just got to do it andhere's why, and so I'll let you
share the story first.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Yeah.
So this last year, you know,we've just been kind of chugging
along and I've been gaining allthese new customers, gaining
quite a following on Facebook Imean considering where I was and
everything was going great.
And then comes, you know,november.
It got crazy busy, everybodyneeding their turkeys.
(18:34):
And then December had probablyat least like 15 caterings
within a three week period andit was four days before
Christmas.
And the next day I actually hadthe biggest catering I've ever
done and I was walking out to mycar with a pan of food and a
(18:57):
car pulls up and a man gets outand he says I'm with the city.
You cannot be selling food outof your house, so how did you
feel?
right, then you cannot beselling food out of your house.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
So how did you feel right then?
Speaker 2 (19:13):
I felt all the color drain from my face and like,
what do I say?
Speaker 1 (19:18):
You didn't drop the food, did you?
Speaker 2 (19:20):
No, no it's like.
But how do I get out of this?
How do I, you know, spend this?
And I said, well, not even forfriends and family.
And he said, well, yourFacebook for friends and family.
And he said, well, yourFacebook has been turned in also
, so we've seen everything.
Wow, somebody had intentionallyturned me in and turned in the
Facebook, and so that completelyobviously knocked me off my
(19:43):
feet.
You know, with it being fourdays before Christmas, five kids
, you know, I still had a coupleof Christmas presents to buy
and I'm asking myself do thekids really need those presents?
Do they really need that lastpresent?
Because what if I can't have?
I'm not going to have thisincome, because somebody was so
(20:03):
offended by my success that theywanted to hurt me and my family
so badly.
So I definitely had my pityparty for a good couple weeks.
You know, it really, reallyknocked me off my feet.
So I had my pity party.
I cried, talked to my husband alot about it and like, what am
(20:27):
I doing?
Like why, why am I even doingthis if people are going to try
to knock me down?
And then I realized that it'snot people, that it was only one
person I had built.
So all all these people I havethis huge circle now that
support me, and just because oneperson is trying to take me
(20:47):
down doesn't mean that I need togo down.
So that started the search ofthe food truck and it's taken,
you know, four months now toactually find that, but we're
finally getting there.
But it was really the hardrealization that it was just
(21:08):
that one person.
So we're moving along.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
That's awesome, as they say, you know, you know
you're doing something rightwhen you got somebody watching.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Yes, and you know, that's something that I've also
realized, because I was having ahard time pulling the you know
the plug on getting the foodtruck, and I realized it's
because I do have so many peoplewatching now that I'm afraid of
that one person or a few peoplegetting to celebrate in my
(21:41):
failure.
I mean, to me failure is not anoption.
I'm going to make it in one wayor another but if, say, the
food truck doesn't work out,that somebody gets to relish in
my failure, and that wasbothering me so much and I
finally had to realize who cares.
At least I'm doing what a lotof people aren't doing.
(22:04):
I took that step, I took thatleap and I'm doing it.
So if they get to see a failurehere and there, at least I'm
going for it.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Good for you.
We have more people approach usthat want to start a business
than have started a business.
It's scary, always envious ofthose that have and then
complain in the background.
You know about their success.
It's never about their.
Whatever it is, they're stuckin, but it's usually about
(22:35):
someone else going to that nextlevel.
That's interesting that you,you, you bring that up.
So today, what would you say isa life lesson you've learned
fast forward, from the day youstarted your business to today.
What is like the first thingthat comes to mind that says I'm
glad I did this, because oh man.
(22:57):
That's a that's a hard one,cause you'll go through
different seasons in businessand and that answer can
constantly evolve and change.
At first it was the freedom youknow which is most people while
you're thinking.
I want to share with them thatmost wannabe entrepreneurs are
usually thinking about the money, but after you start the
(23:18):
business it's like, wow, thefreedom I have.
I don't have to ask permissionto go see my child in the
daytime.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Yes, recognized here lately is the people that I'm
getting to meet and really theplaces that I'm getting to go.
That I wouldn't have done Ijust did a women's retreat for
women entrepreneurs and just thelocations that I'm getting to
go cater to.
That I would have never.
(23:49):
I would have been stuck in mybubble and accounting in my
office, you know, just sittingthere on a day-to-day basis.
But I'm getting to travel andI'm getting to go do these
things and meet all these peopleand I would have never thought
that I would have such a hugecircle at this point.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Yeah, that is truly amazing.
Say, as a female entrepreneuris one of your current
challenges and then also one ofyour current successes, so that
other female entrepreneurs cankind of feel the love.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Well, and obviously in a man's industry of barbecue,
it's kind of funny.
We'll go do a catering and myhusband calls himself the best
free help that I have and he is,he's amazing free help.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
He's probably the chief taste officer, right.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Yes, yes, along with the all the kids.
But it's so funny Cause we'llget to an event and the men
especially, we'll walk up to himman, this is really good, what
kind of wood did you use?
And he'll be like it's not me,I didn't do any of this.
And they'll like, they'llliterally acknowledge that with
like nodding their head andthey'll be like well, how long
(25:00):
did you smoke the brisket for?
And he's like you don'tunderstand, I had no.
He's like I literally helpedpackage it and that's about it.
So it's funny.
So, going into a man's world,they have a really hard time
acknowledging that I'm.
This blonde haired girl overhere is the one that that made
(25:21):
this food.
Yeah, and then what was thesecond question?
Speaker 1 (25:27):
So what would be the like a success that, moving from
day one, it was kind of thefreedom you have.
You recognized right away thatyou could go, you know, check on
your son.
What is something that you'veappreciated now, being a female
entrepreneur, that others needto know?
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Well, obviously, like I said, the support system from
women coming out of thecorporate world, it can be
really catty.
Corporate world it can bereally catty, it's.
It can not be a pretty scenesometimes and go home feeling
really down because you'reconstantly competing with all
these other women and to nowhave all this whole support
system that not only supports me, but I get calls all the time
(26:10):
that they are referring me topeople and people that I've
never even met before, and soit's become the weirdest thing
to me and I don't know if I'llever get used to getting phone
calls from people that I don'tknow, that I've never met,
asking me to cook food for themall because they've heard about
it from somebody else down theline and it's.
(26:32):
It's so amazing and so freeingfor it to get to that point.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Well, let's talk about that, because, coming from
the corporate world, where youdon't know anyone outside of
that box that you mentioned, howdid you step out there?
What kind of groups are there?
What's the best way to networkand sell?
Because, obviously, friends andfamily.
I, for most, most people, Ialways say don't start with
(27:00):
friends and family.
They're not going to pay youwhat you're worth.
They're not going to be youradvocate.
They think of you as the auntor the brother or the sister,
whoever.
But how did you step out there?
How did you find these groupsand then any kind of tips to
give people on how to networkbest?
Because I know if you've nevernetworked or sold, been in sales
(27:21):
before, you can take the wrongapproach and offend people as
well.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
So it's actually interesting.
Whenever I stepped out ofaccounting to start doing
barbecue full-time, I stillsecond-guessed myself.
I thought while I'm gettingbarbecue up and running
full-time, I need anotherrevenue stream.
So I started selling roofs witha friend.
That was pretty short lived buthe was doing a network group
(27:50):
called Gold Star, which is herein the metro.
So I started attending that andI very quickly joined with
under barbecue.
But that's really.
You have to get up every singletime and speak for 45 seconds
about what you do, and Iremember the very first time
that I got up my voice wasquivering like my.
(28:11):
I'm shaking, like I.
It's a terrible feeling andeach and every time it got
easier and easier.
So that was a weekly thing, sothat was almost practice every
week getting up speaking, andthen here in the Oklahoma City
metro area we also have anorganization called Mix and
Mingle which is where you and Imet.
(28:32):
But again you get up in frontof a room full of people.
You have 30 seconds tointroduce who you are, what you
do.
So it's a very short snippet,but again, can be extremely
uncomfortable in the beginning.
Extremely uncomfortable in thebeginning.
(28:52):
So but just keep on practicingthat and finding those
networking groups and there's alot of like after hours
networking groups where you canactually you have more time to
mingle and interact with people.
It's not so much the elevatorpitch right off the bat.
So just doing those over andover and over again has gotten
me to where I'm at leastcomfortable enough to come talk
(29:12):
to you on this.
So I would say that that's whatI did, but again doing the
uncomfortable things.
Because whenever I rememberthere was one meeting that I was
trying to talk myself out ofgoing, I didn't want to go.
I felt really uncomfortable.
It was like probably the thirdmeeting I'd ever been to.
(29:34):
I didn't want to go and I evencalled my husband.
I was like, well, I didn'teffectively talk myself out of
going because I'm on my way andit wasn't five minutes of being
in this room, I landed acatering gig.
It was making that consciousdecision to go do that
uncomfortable thing.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
That's a reward.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Yes, and then from that catering gig I actually got
another one.
So and so I.
I actually sometimes I like tosit and be like man.
This catering literally camefrom this and this and this and,
like you know, track it downthe line of like where it that
(30:16):
actually started.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
That's really cool.
I bet there are some peoplelistening to this.
When you talk about getting upand talking in front of people,
they're just shivering in theirboots right now going.
I can't even imagine.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
It's uncomfortable and it still makes me feel
uncomfortable.
But I've you know, some peoplewill get up and they have their
very set elevator pitch and youcan tell it's rehearsed and I
decided fairly early on thatthat wasn't me.
So I just kind of get up andI'm just me and I talk about
whatever I'm doing right then,because if you get too rehearsed
(30:44):
it doesn't sound authentic andit doesn't resonate with people.
People completely tune out.
I know I do that wheneverpeople get up and are rehearsed.
So I just try to be, try to bemyself.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Yeah, yeah, that's yeah, you're.
No, don't try to be the nextGoogle or, you know, amazon or
anything like that.
Just be yourself.
People buy from those they know, like and trust.
So anything in this past yearthat you would say you wish you
would have known how to dobetter or you would have done
(31:16):
better, or are you just goingwith the flow every day?
Speaker 2 (31:20):
I think I'm going with the flow.
However, I think timemanagement whenever you don't
have somebody else telling youthis, this and this need to get
done every day.
Whenever it's up to you for youto make your schedule, it
becomes like a whole notherthing.
So really, time management asan entrepreneur like making your
(31:42):
schedule for yourself andsticking to it every day, not
just waking up whenever you wantto wake up.
You know you actually treat itas as a job, but you even though
you still have that freedom.
So that has been probably oneof my hardest things to do is
time management making myselffollow that schedule, and I'm
(32:03):
getting better at it.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
So Well, I will tell you, having worked with so many
business owners, that's probablyall of our biggest challenges
the time management andprioritizing what really needs
to be done versus what's easy tobe done.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Well, how can people find out more about your
business?
Speaker 2 (32:24):
So I have a Facebook.
I have Cat House Barbecue andthen also Kayla Trent on
Facebook, and then I also havean Instagram.
You can find it at Kayla Trentor Cat House Barbecue Working on
a website.
I'm hoping that that andthat'll be like a one year goal
I think this coming year, butdefinitely needed to get some
other things up and going beforefocusing on that.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
So well, I will commend you on that, because it
sounds like you're prioritizingwhat makes sales.
I just had a meeting with afairly new business owner and
they're doing everything butsales.
So they're doing these websitesand this social and I'm like
you realize that's like along-term sell versus if I were
(33:09):
to just call somebody go to anetworking event.
So you're doing a lot of greatthings in the right order, so
kind of what makes your barbecuea little bit different than
everybody else's.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
on the catering side, so whenever I do cater you know
, catering barbecue isn't likethis, like it's not pretty.
I mean, it's a pan of meat, youknow so it is, and so I love to
set it up in a different way.
A matter of fact, I juststarted also doing graze boards,
(33:41):
also graze tables andcharcuterie boxes.
Yeah, so I mean, to be honest,what happened back in December
of being turned in has made methink of, like how can I branch
out?
Because the guy that came byfrom the city, he was actually
very, very nice and very helpfuland I've been able to talk with
(34:02):
him since and ask him for a fewpointers of how I move forward,
of how I move forward.
So it was basically just themeat I could not.
I can't post the meat until I'mlicensed in a food truck.
So it made me branch out to thegraze boards because you can,
you can do that.
So it that also made my mindsetchange of how I lay out the
(34:26):
meat and present it more pretty,more eye-catching, because
people eat with their eyes first, so I don't just set that pan
of meat on the table and so it'smore of a presentation for me.
I also make my own rub.
People ask me if I make my ownsauce and I don't, mainly
(34:50):
because I don't think that mymeat needs a sauce.
Speaker 1 (34:56):
That's like a good steak, doesn't?
When they ask for do you need asauce?
I shouldn't need one if it'sthat right.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
So I've really pushed back on making a sauce and I
know I need to cater to mycustomers and what they want and
what they're asking for, but Ihave a really hard time thinking
about people putting sauce onmy barbecue.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Yeah, no, I'm with you on that.
I am with you on that.
So well, what last bit ofinformation, insights, would you
give to other entrepreneurs,something you've learned along
the way?
It could be a quote, it couldbe a book, it could be anything
about life, doesn't even have tobe about business.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
I would say just take that leap, just do it.
It's scary, it's scary, but,like I said, if you take that
leap, you have no other choicebut to push yourself forward.
There's no going.
You can go back, but what'sthat going to get you?
You're just going to be stuckright in the same spot that you
were.
So take that leap, move forward, keep taking those steps and
(35:58):
you're not going to regret it.
If it does fail, at least youdid it.
You can say you tried.
So if you don't, you're nevergoing to know, and that's a
failure in itself you're nevergoing to know, and that's a
failure in itself.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
Yeah, that's, that's powerful.
Well, you're a blessing to manyand you've shared a bunch of
information that's going toimpact others.
Wish you continued success andI can't wait to come to your
next catering.
I'm ready for barbecue.
All right, have a good one.
We'll see you around.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
Thank you, you too.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Thank you for listening to small business
pivots.
This podcast is created andproduced by my company boss.
Our business is growing.
Yours.
Boss offers flexible businessloans with business coaching
support.
Apply in minutes and getapproved and funded in as little
as 24 to 48 hours atbusinessownershipsimplifiedcom.
(36:50):
If you're enjoying this podcast, don't forget to hit the
subscribe button and share it aswell.
If you need help growing yourbusiness, email me at michael at
michaeldmorrisoncom.
We'll see you next time onSmall Business Pivots.
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