September 7, 2023 • 31 mins
Ever wondered how to leverage your business to build personal wealth? Prepare to unlock the answers with us as we engage in a thought-provoking discussion with Maria Barrero, the brains behind Spaces to Love, a firm devoted to creating spaces that enhance lifestyle and well-being. Maria, in her delightful candor, will share her professional journey, her association with Communities Unlimited, and her tenacious commitment to her craft. We also have Dale Rutherford, Senior Management Consultant on the Entrepreneurship Team, who will enlighten us about the eWealth program and its role in assisting entrepreneurs like Maria.
As we navigate the intriguing world of entrepreneurship, you'll get a crash course on the necessity of structure for your venture and harnessing the backing of an ally like Communities Unlimited. Pay close attention as Maria offers insights into the multifaceted role of an entrepreneur and the importance of simplifying complexities to concentrate on business growth. Dale will stress the crucial role of a disciplined bookkeeping system and a master plan to drive well-informed business decisions. No burden too heavy, no dream too big, Maria's story is a testament to the impact of taking small steps towards giant leaps.
Lastly, we'll probe into Maria's first-hand experience in utilizing the right tools to gauge her business's health and plan for its future growth with a treasure trove of practical tips. You'll also discover the services offered by Communities Unlimited that enable entrepreneurs to thrive. This compelling conversation is a must-listen for every entrepreneur who dreams of transforming their business into a wealth-generating powerhouse.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
I'm very happy because I started with an idea
and right now I have a businessthat is running and is doing
well and I have still a lot tolearn.
But what I also appreciateabout communities and limited is
that commitment to long term.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
The e-wealth program is actually designed for clients
like Maria with.
They have a business andthey're wanting to leverage that
business to help them buildpersonal wealth.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Welcome to Small Talk with Communities Unlimited.
My name is Chris Baker.
Small Talk is the podcastdesigned to empower rural
communities, emergingcommunities, and part of what we
do at Communities Unlimited isentrepreneurship.
We have a whole team ofentrepreneurial experts and
we're going to talk today to oneof them and also a client who's
been involved with ourentrepreneurship program.
(00:56):
Let me introduce DaleRutherford.
Dale is our senior managementconsultant on the
entrepreneurship team.
Dale, hello, how are you?
Hello, and thank you for havingus today and I'm going to do my
best, maria, on this one.
Okay, I'm going to introduceMaria Barrero.
I'm bad at rolling my r's.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Barrero.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
All right, I appreciate you covering me.
Maria is the owner of Spaces toLove, based in Little Rock,
arkansas.
Can you tell us, I guess, aplace to start is what your
business is, what you do?
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Okay, hello everyone.
Thank you for having me here.
I am an architect, a designerand a house coach, and I am the
founder of Spaces to Love, andSpaces to Love is a firm of
architecture and we arepassionate about designing
spaces that improve lifestyleand well-being, and we do it
with a holistic approach.
We offer three primary services.
(01:44):
The first one is custom design,to design new homes and design
transformations of existing ones.
The second one is educationthrough workshops and trainings
to help people to get some toolsthat they can apply into their
spaces so they can improve theirlives.
And the third one is alaboratory of design and
(02:06):
creativity that is meant tobuild new ideas in terms of
design for our cities and ourcommunities, because there is a
lot to be done.
Spaces to Love's intention isto really cultivate really good
relationships with the clients,with our clients, and we try to
(02:29):
project their visions and theiridentity so that they can take
empowered decisions towardstheir environment and
sustainable and wholehearted.
We believe that we can build abetter world in Spaces to Love
by designing and really creatingbetter spaces for everyone.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
That's really cool.
How did you come to createSpaces to Love?
What's your background?
How did you get to where you'reat today?
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Okay, so first of all , I'm from Colombia.
I came here to Little Rock, toNorth Little Rock, arkansas, in
1994 as an exchange student.
I studied one year here andthen I returned to Colombia.
I studied architecture and Istarted my work path, since the
beginning Very passionate aboutdesign, about spaces, and later
(03:20):
on I happened to reconnect to afriend from high school and we
fell in love and I decided tomove back to Little Rock.
I never thought I was going tocome back, honestly, but this
place has been very special tome.
It has given me a lot ofbeautiful things.
When I arrived, I had a bunch ofplans to start my business and
(03:42):
the first surprise and challengethat I had was to get pregnant
at my 41 years old.
So I started with that bigproject and then for a couple of
years I devoted my life to mydaughter, to raising her, and
then I wanted to get out in theworld and start working, because
(04:03):
that's a dimension for me thatis very important my work.
I'm very passionate about whatI do.
So when I was ready, then COVIDhit, so there was another
incubation process and I get toexperience in my own space what
I was trying to teach or give toothers, like I had to use my
space to be in a better spotduring COVID, because we saw how
(04:25):
many homes and how many peoplewere getting crazy marriages
were, you know, getting splitand all these different
situations.
So I got to utilize my space tocultivate like a new mindset
for us as a family and to starttracing the line of where I
wanted to head.
At the end of 2021, I launched.
(04:48):
In September 2021, I launchedmy website where I had laid out
my first services.
I honestly, I never thoughtthat I was going to be able to
start as an architect.
So I also had a degree in housecoaching, which is interior
(05:08):
design with life coaching toolsto help people to live better in
their spaces from their heartand really connected to their
surroundings.
So my focus initially was moretowards that direction, but then
, with the time, I startedconnecting with people that
really was looking for thearchitecture part to designing
house, designing new spaces,which is something that lights
(05:30):
me up a lot.
So that's how I started.
Just, I have been connectingwith the right people, doing a
lot of networking, which isfundamental for you to get in
touch with the market and withthe place where you live.
So it was a very complexprocess, but I started first at
(05:54):
home and then moving outside andconnecting to people, basically
to start my business.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
You can think of connecting with us Communities
Unlimited as another networkingopportunity, right?
How did you come to connectwith Communities Unlimited and
the entrepreneurship team?
Speaker 1 (06:09):
So whenever I started my journey, I started with the
Rocket Lab and I did a course onbusiness just to lay out the
structure of my business.
But when that project finishedor that course finished, I was
very like, okay, let's go, whatelse can I do?
With whom can I enroll?
And in that moment I metDeborah Temple, which was
(06:33):
teaching some classes at theRocket Lab.
We sat down a couple of timesand she went through my project
and my website and she was veryinterested and she told me, or
referred me, to Dale, and weconnected through an email and
then we had a meeting with Dale.
He invited me to be a part ofthe eWolf program.
(06:53):
I am very devoted to mybusiness and I want to be
successful on it, so I was readyto go and that's how I met him
and we started working.
It has been a very enriching, avery enriching project.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Awesome, maria.
That's a great story and a goodtransition into asking Dale
what the eWolf Health program is.
Explain this to me.
I've heard it, I worked there.
I kind of know, but give me thebirds eye view.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Well, the eWolf program is actually designed for
clients like Maria with.
They have a business andthey're wanting to leverage that
business to help them buildpersonal wealth.
But a lot of businessesstruggle, especially in the
early stages.
They work really hard butthey're getting nowhere and part
of it is you have to step backand the business owners realize
(07:45):
that they're the owners of thebusiness and work on the
business, not work in thebusiness.
Obviously, like Maria here,she's the architect and she's
the main employee of herbusiness, but she's realized
that she has to step back andmanage that business, setting
some goals and objectives tostart scaling and growing the
(08:05):
business.
But the other big part of theeWolf program is that we're with
the clients on a long term.
We're not just there to solveone particular problem.
We want to help move thatbusiness through the different
phases of the business lifecycleand help them grow.
They've got to buildentrepreneurial capacity, learn
new skills and learn how toassess their health of their
(08:30):
business and know how to makedecisions.
What information do they needfrom their business to make
decisions?
This is where we work with theclients on a long term basis.
We don't do it for them, weteach them how to do it for
themselves, and we coach themalong the way.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
So how do you do that ?
Do you do that through a lot ofdifferent tools?
I know there's like onlineclasses.
Is there some personal?
I mean emails, phone calls howdo you do it?
Speaker 2 (08:55):
First of all, we have to consider the not every
businesses at the same point intheir business life cycle.
So we do an assessment, whichis the first part of this.
We assess where are they attoday.
Then we have conversations withthe client to figure out where
do you really want to go withthis business, what do you want
it to do for you?
Then we get basically this gapanalysis to say this is where
you're at, this is where youwant to be to achieve your goals
(09:18):
, and then we start trying tomap out a plan on how to get you
from point A to point B.
Some of that involves financialplanning from a business
standpoint, looking at yourfinancial projections.
But in order for your businessto be successful and sustainable
, there's certain components youhave to have.
Like, you need to have anaccounting system, a bookkeeping
(09:39):
system, so we can capture thefinancial transaction in your
business and assess the healthof the business and then, based
on that, know what parts of yourbusiness that you're
contributing to either yoursuccess or maybe lag behind what
you plan to do.
So we start teaching theseskills In the E-wealth program.
(10:01):
We have three basic requiredcurriculum that we work with.
Part of it's an onlineself-paced learning program.
Then part of it is virtualworkshops that we work with
clients, and then the thirdcomponent is a one-on-one that
we work with the clients.
Some of it's the core elementsthey all have to participate in,
and then the rest of it istailored toward that individual
client's needs and where they'reat in their business.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
And Maria, when you engaged with Dale and the
entrepreneurship team, what kindof stuff were you looking for
to learn?
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Well, basically, all the financial aspect is very
important and it's verydifficult for you as an
entrepreneur starting yourbusiness to be able to develop
all the different dimensions ofyour business, especially the
financial aspect, because Iwould just like have an Excel
file with a lot of differentsheets and trying to keep up
(10:54):
with the accounting system.
Definitely I was looking forsome structure that would help
me to have that part of the jobwell done, because as an owner,
I cannot hire a lot of differentprofessionals for the different
tasks.
I have to also be willing tolearn and to manage myself the
(11:16):
most crucial information, thatis that one, the financial.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
So you mean you can't be an architect, a finance
director, a bill collector, youcan't be all of that at one time
.
Yeah, you have to.
Well, I mean you can't comeinto it with all those expertise
, right?
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Yeah, I know.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
An entrepreneur.
You got your business, you gotyour passion.
Now we need to make you abusiness operator right, a
business owner.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
A legal business owner.
Ah, yeah, yeah, because that'sone thing is to run a business.
But to run the business knowinglike, what permits do you need,
what licenses, what structureneeds to support that business
to be run, that's also adifferent thing.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
So are you happy with where you're at in this process
?
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Yes, I am.
I'm very happy because Istarted with an idea and right
now I have a business that isrunning and is doing well, and I
have still a lot to learn.
But what I also appreciateabout Communities Unlimited is
that commitment to long term.
That is not something that youdo for six months and then you
(12:20):
forgot about it and maybesomeone else can help you out of
the way.
But you get to know the peoplethat you are working with and
then they get to know also yourneeds, your desires.
So that is crucial becausethat's how we evolve building
those relationships and gettingto know in depth how to work
with it.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Yeah, and I would imagine Dale has been official
to know some history, as opposedto just coming in and being a
contractor on a singular problem.
I don't know how to create anExcel spreadsheet.
How do I do that?
Speaker 2 (12:51):
See you later, it's not like that, no and Maria
brings up a good point in thesense that a lot of small
business owners you have to weara lot of hats, especially when
you're first starting out,because you don't have the
abundance money to hire a CFOand a CEO and you name it
bookkeepers and accountants, andso you have to wear a lot of
(13:12):
hats and small business ownerscan become overwhelmed with just
looking at that.
So one of the key things thatwe try to do with clients is
step back and all right, whereare you at now and what is it
you need to know right now toget you moving in the right
direction?
We'll add on, we'll continueyour education and your
development as you move intothese different aspects of your
(13:35):
business.
So we try to break that down,that complexity of all these
different things you gotta do,and say, all right, let's just
focus on this right now.
You get this and then we'lltake the next thing and
hopefully then Maria can tellyou whether that's been
beneficial to her or not.
To me that's paramount becauseyou still have to run your
business.
It's as an architect.
She still has to design or doher interior designs and
(13:56):
designer buildings, as well asrun to the bank and make
deposits and send out invoicesand things of that nature.
We try to keep that in mindwhen we're tailoring our scope
of service.
What are we gonna focus onfirst?
Get that and let's move to thenext thing.
Take that out of that, we moveto the next thing.
And as you get through that,maria, you've been in the
(14:17):
program what?
14 months now.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Yes, correct.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
And so now you can look back where you were 14
months ago and it's easy to seehow far you've come.
But we took it baby steps,right.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Yeah, correct.
Yeah, what you said is totallytrue.
You can become overwhelmed bylooking at all the different
aspects that you have to developin your business.
Like, luckily, as a designer, Ialso face that fear in my
clients when they feeloverwhelmed.
They wanna design something andthey feel overwhelmed about the
thousand different decisionsthat they have to take in order
(14:51):
for them to have that desiredoutcome.
So that part is crucial for metoo to be able to see the total
scope of your business but alsosee the part where I'm working
at and knowing that I have tolearn that part, incorporate it
well, in order for me to moveinto the next phase.
So it is a kind of likestep-by-step process that leads
(15:16):
you towards bigger outcomes andbigger dreams.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
When you start something and you have a dream
and you have an idea, you wannaget to that end goal as quick as
possible and, just like youwere saying with your design,
sometimes that's not the bestway to execute it.
You have to build a wall brickby brick.
What would you say?
Some of those bricks thatyou've experienced in this
process of working with Dale andthe entrepreneurship team at
Communities Unlimited have beenwhat kind of stuff have you
(15:42):
worked on that you would like toshare with people that they
know is available to them?
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Well, first of all, it's important to see, as I said
, not just like the littlepicture, but like the big
picture.
Where are you heading to?
Have that like in your masterplan.
Have a master plan somehow soyou don't just like focus on
something very little, that whenyou achieve it there is nothing
else to do, like you always canexpand more and more when you
(16:10):
have a big vision.
The second one that has beenvery clear and crucial is to be
able to manage and have, likethe bookkeeping system where I
can introduce organically myinformation, to be able to have
those financial statements thatare required for everything in
(16:32):
your business.
So that has been also key forme to be able to do it myself.
That will really help mybusiness in every aspect.
Also, just knowing differentaspects of the business and
knowing how to utilize theinformation for you to take
(16:53):
solid decisions in terms of yourbusiness.
Also, to see my business not asa different part of my life,
but as a component more of mylife, to generate wealth all
over across my life.
That is not my business, is notjust a different part of me,
(17:13):
but is an integral part of mylife.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
I want to pause here for just a second to remind
everybody that they're listeningto small talk with communities
and limited.
Our podcast meant to empowerrural and emerging communities,
our entrepreneurship team.
We're speaking with DaleRutherford, the senior
management consultant at MariaBarrero.
She is the owner of Spaces toLove, based in Little Rock.
Dale, she was talking about thethings that she's learned as
part of the program with you.
(17:39):
Is that the kind of stuff youwant people walking away with?
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Yes, and you know, when you look at the statistics
of the business failure rate,you can boil that down and you
can back up and find out what isthe root cause of that.
Really, okay, many of thethings that they report in the
business failure are superficialor symptoms, not really the
problem.
But Maria hit on is about theplanning process and knowing
(18:04):
where you're going, because whenyou start scaling the business,
you can't just go from zero to60 in 2.6 seconds.
You have to manage that growthand there's a lot of businesses
that go belly up when they'reexperiencing unplanned or
unexpected growth.
You have to manage that growthin line with what your resources
are.
She has to worry about manpowercapacity.
(18:25):
Right now she's, you know,chief cook bottle washer in the
business, so she's only got somany hours and day.
And then when you're justtrying to finance growth and I
use that term specifically, youfinancing your growth you have
to know how much money can youinvest in that and what you're
expected return on that growth.
We've had clients that workedfor 20 years in their business
(18:47):
and were being profitable andhad growth and all of a sudden
they saw an opportunity thatthey thought was too good to be
true and you jump on thatopportunity without really
understanding that it's adifferent business model and
different financial requirements.
You go from a business that'sbeen profitable for 20 years and
all of a sudden, six monthslater, you're bankrupt, and this
(19:08):
is what can happen if you don'thave a handle on your
financials.
And Maria, now she's startingto learn.
I'll let her explain, but shestarted to learn how to run
these financial reports andanalyze the health of her
business.
She can determine where her upsand downs are in planning.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
Well, it's a perfect example, though, because of what
you're talking about, becauseyou learn the right program to
use for your financials.
You learn the right inputs, thenumbers to put in there, and
then you're able to read what'scoming out and then know what to
do with that.
It's building that processright.
Is that kind of a good analogy?
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Yes, and what you wanna be proactive.
You wanna be able to see what'scoming in the future instead of
trying to react to what'ssomething that just hits you.
I mean, there's alwayssurprises in the business.
You know some of those thingsyou can't really plan for.
I don't know what you can tosome degree, but ultimately,
what you wanna be able to do islook at your financials and say
(20:10):
here's where I'm going and thisis my next objective.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
How do people get involved?
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Well, they can, number one, go to our website,
which is communitiesuorg, and goto the entrepreneurial section,
and they can hit the link torequest assistance and sign up
for that.
We have an email that you canemail us at
helpmybusinessatcommunitiesuorg.
(20:38):
Tell us that you're interestedin talking to somebody and we'll
have somebody get back with you.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Maria, I have a question for you and I don't
want you to look at Dale or that.
I work at communities unlimited.
Okay, would you recommend thisto other business owners?
Speaker 1 (20:56):
I already have.
I already have recommendedcommunities unlimited to several
people that I've met along theway, People that are trying to
reach to others for informationor for help.
How can I do this?
Because it's a big task.
Like you, literally, you have adream you want to have a
company, a business, and thenyou have a lot of different
(21:17):
legalities and activities thatyou need to have checked in
order for you to continue withyour business.
I have recommended communitiesunlimited because I have found
tremendous value For me.
It was like it was hardsometimes to think about
learning about all these skills,and it's not like I have to
(21:39):
study to become an accountant orthat I have to learn a lot of
different things that will takeme out of my path.
It's just really like learninghow to use certain tools that
are very valuable and accuratefor you to organize your
business and just look at theinformation that is pertinent to
look in the right moments.
(21:59):
So it's really like saving me alot of time but also allowing
me to be present on that process, not out and have to give it to
someone else for that person tounderstand what is going on
with my own business.
So it has allowed me more toolsand more precision and
structure, to understand and togrow and expand and understand
(22:24):
the language of the business.
That is definitely like themath behind and the numbers.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
A lot of business.
When you're first starting outit's real tough and in that
process it's a lot of times youquestion is it really worth it
or, geez, am I doing the rightthing?
I perceive a value in havingsomebody you can work with, that
you can trust, that you can.
At any given time, you can pickup the phone or email and say,
hey, look, I'm having this issueor whatever.
(22:50):
Can you help me?
How does that help you in termsof business owners?
Stay in the course, staying onthe path and following through.
Is this valuable to you?
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Of course, sometimes you think that you're going to
get crazy with it, but, yes,staying on the path is
definitely the solution for me,because I know what's the life
that I want.
I don't want to be an employeefor anyone else.
I want to build my business andI believe in my work and in the
power of the work that I do.
So, yeah, finding such a solidstructure in terms of a team
(23:26):
where you have expertise in manydifferent fields, it's very
comforting to know that.
Okay, if I have a question and Idon't know how to do this, I
can write Dale and Dale willconnect me with the right person
.
That can also help me collapsetime in learning all those steps
and all this kind of differentinformation that you might need
(23:49):
to have.
So it's having the possibilityto reach out to the
professionals that you need toget in touch with, for you to
solve your problems, for you tomaybe don't see a hurricane
where there is not a hurricane.
It's just a moment that youneed some orientation, that you
need some help and just keep onworking, because it's a
(24:11):
day-to-day work and it's also anattitude and a mindset.
So, as professionals, asentrepreneurs, it's not just the
business, it's about us and howwe train ourselves, and we
train our minds and our thoughtsand the daily input that I put
in my work.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
It's empowering right .
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Yes yes, and you know , one of the things that really
like for me it was a huge jestis when you, dale, were
describing like the purpose ofCommunities Unlimited, that it
was like to help entrepreneurssucceed in their business and
see them succeed in theirbusiness.
So there is a big commitmentwith the clients that they get
(24:51):
and that deep desire to reallyhelp them and to see the outcome
.
It's not just like sayingsomething and chow, chow, six
months, good luck.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
I don't think I've ever heard Dale say chow, but he
might.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
I'll add that to my vocabulary.
Call him Dale, or somethingthat's awesome.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
I'm glad that you feel that way.
End of the day, I love hearingthat story that you have found
the interaction with our E-team,or entrepreneurship team,
valuable, because it feels goodto us too, you know, and that is
our mission.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Yes, it's a beautiful mission because also, when
you're starting a business, youneed help.
You need help and there are somany resources and people do not
know about those resources itlike for me it was just like
really my desire to keep ongoing with my business that
connect me to the right people,but it's not evident and it's
(25:46):
not easy to find thatinformation and those resources
unless you're really looking forthem.
And also there are many othergroups and entities that are
helping.
But this long term commitmentis something that for me is
crucial, because that's how I amalso with my own project.
When you get to work with aperson and get to know the
(26:08):
intentions behind and the wholepicture, then it's easier for
you to also show what it isthere, you know and work through
it.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
I want to give kudos to Maria, because you know we
work with a lot of differentclients and unfortunately we
don't get the same level ofcommitment from everybody.
We're only half of the equation.
What you get out of it isdirectly proportional to your
commitment that you have to yourown business.
We work with the clients.
We don't do it for them, We'lldo it with them and I think,
(26:41):
Maria, you can kind of speak toif you have other business.
You've worked, you'veassociated with it.
Maybe they're not making thesame level of progress.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Yeah, for sure.
It's just.
Of course you have to investyour time and your energy, and
some parts of it are notnecessarily super attractive,
you know, like having a meetingon a Wednesday at seven o'clock
at night when your daughter isyelling and the other one is
screaming.
But you have to get the timeand commit to that, because at
(27:12):
the end of the equation we weregoing to have an outcome and
that outcome has been veryrewarding for me and also I got
an economical incentive that itwas a great deal for me just for
doing my own work.
So sometimes we need to washthe dishes.
You know things that are notvery pleasant, but at the end,
(27:35):
if you don't do those basicthings well, you will have a
messy life.
So it's the same with yourbusiness.
Some things are not necessarilythe most attractive, but once
you get to know what you have todo, what are the minimum things
that you have to put in order,then you see the outcomes and
you see the structure and yousee how it benefits you in the
(27:57):
long term.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Awesome Dale.
Tell them what they need toknow about it, what you guys
want to do and how people canbenefit from it.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
I guess Well, the ultimate goal of the E-wealth
program and truly all of ourwork that the entrepreneurship
team is.
You know we can say we want youto be successful and
sustainable, but ultimatelywe're trying to help business
owners build wealth.
Because you got three basicpaths to wealth.
(28:25):
You can probably stretch thatto four, but you know one path
to wealth is you go out here andyou get a job and if you really
want to create wealth, you gotto go to school and get a degree
and spend all that money to geta degree and that time and then
you got to join the workforceand it's going to be years
before you get to a point thatyou're actually creating enough
(28:45):
revenue.
You know income to contributeto your wealth objectives.
The other alternative is you goout here and either you inherit
the wealth from a wealthyrelative or you win the lottery,
which for most people that'snot an option.
So the other alternative isthat you create wealth through
entrepreneurship.
Wealth through entrepreneurshipis that you don't necessarily
(29:06):
have to have a business degreeor a degree.
Maria's got a degree and she'sleveraging that in a
professional field.
Maybe you're a welder or yourcarpenter, or you make crafts or
whatever.
I don't care what it is.
There's a lot of businesses outthere you don't necessarily
have to have to have advancededucation for.
But if you work hard and youput that toward a certain right
(29:29):
kind of business, you can scalethat business in three to four
or five years that you'reactually contributing to your
wealth and that's probably themost lucrative process.
Let's just use Maria, forexample.
She's got a degree inarchitecture.
She should go to work for afund, but how much money she
makes is going to be dependenton how much they're willing to
(29:50):
give her to do the work In herbusiness.
How much she's going to get outof this business is how much
she's willing to put into it togrow this business.
So in the eWealth programthat's what we focus in.
We're trying to help businessowners, entrepreneurs, take this
concept and develop theirbusiness so that they can scale
it to a point that is helpingthem create wealth.
(30:11):
And that's not easy.
You've got to put in thateffort and that's why I was
giving Maria a kudos, becauseit's a commitment.
If it was easy, everybody bedoing it or everybody be
successful.
But that's not really the case.
You need to come to us with acommitment and then we're
committed to work with you tohelp you achieve these goals.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
Gotcha, it's Dale Rutherford.
He is the Senior ManagementConsultant on our
Entrepreneurship Team atCommunities Unlimited.
Maria, what is your website ifpeople want to see what you do?
Speaker 1 (30:40):
My website is spaces to lovecom with number two.
Speaker 3 (30:45):
Okay spaces, the number two lovecom.
Thank you for joining us today.
I appreciate you telling yourstory and telling about your
interactions with us atCommunities Unlimited and Maria
again appreciated and we'll seeyou guys in a couple of weeks.
I'm very happy because I started with an idea
and right now I have a businessthat is running and is doing
well and I have still a lot tolearn.
But what I also appreciateabout communities and limited is
that commitment to long term.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
The e-wealth program is actually designed for clients
like Maria with.
They have a business andthey're wanting to leverage that
business to help them buildpersonal wealth.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Welcome to Small Talk with Communities Unlimited.
My name is Chris Baker.
Small Talk is the podcastdesigned to empower rural
communities, emergingcommunities, and part of what we
do at Communities Unlimited isentrepreneurship.
We have a whole team ofentrepreneurial experts and
we're going to talk today to oneof them and also a client who's
been involved with ourentrepreneurship program.
(00:56):
Let me introduce DaleRutherford.
Dale is our senior managementconsultant on the
entrepreneurship team.
Dale, hello, how are you?
Hello, and thank you for havingus today and I'm going to do my
best, maria, on this one.
Okay, I'm going to introduceMaria Barrero.
I'm bad at rolling my r's.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Barrero.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
All right, I appreciate you covering me.
Maria is the owner of Spaces toLove, based in Little Rock,
arkansas.
Can you tell us, I guess, aplace to start is what your
business is, what you do?
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Okay, hello everyone.
Thank you for having me here.
I am an architect, a designerand a house coach, and I am the
founder of Spaces to Love, andSpaces to Love is a firm of
architecture and we arepassionate about designing
spaces that improve lifestyleand well-being, and we do it
with a holistic approach.
We offer three primary services.
(01:44):
The first one is custom design,to design new homes and design
transformations of existing ones.
The second one is educationthrough workshops and trainings
to help people to get some toolsthat they can apply into their
spaces so they can improve theirlives.
And the third one is alaboratory of design and
(02:06):
creativity that is meant tobuild new ideas in terms of
design for our cities and ourcommunities, because there is a
lot to be done.
Spaces to Love's intention isto really cultivate really good
relationships with the clients,with our clients, and we try to
(02:29):
project their visions and theiridentity so that they can take
empowered decisions towardstheir environment and
sustainable and wholehearted.
We believe that we can build abetter world in Spaces to Love
by designing and really creatingbetter spaces for everyone.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
That's really cool.
How did you come to createSpaces to Love?
What's your background?
How did you get to where you'reat today?
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Okay, so first of all , I'm from Colombia.
I came here to Little Rock, toNorth Little Rock, arkansas, in
1994 as an exchange student.
I studied one year here andthen I returned to Colombia.
I studied architecture and Istarted my work path, since the
beginning Very passionate aboutdesign, about spaces, and later
(03:20):
on I happened to reconnect to afriend from high school and we
fell in love and I decided tomove back to Little Rock.
I never thought I was going tocome back, honestly, but this
place has been very special tome.
It has given me a lot ofbeautiful things.
When I arrived, I had a bunch ofplans to start my business and
(03:42):
the first surprise and challengethat I had was to get pregnant
at my 41 years old.
So I started with that bigproject and then for a couple of
years I devoted my life to mydaughter, to raising her, and
then I wanted to get out in theworld and start working, because
(04:03):
that's a dimension for me thatis very important my work.
I'm very passionate about whatI do.
So when I was ready, then COVIDhit, so there was another
incubation process and I get toexperience in my own space what
I was trying to teach or give toothers, like I had to use my
space to be in a better spotduring COVID, because we saw how
(04:25):
many homes and how many peoplewere getting crazy marriages
were, you know, getting splitand all these different
situations.
So I got to utilize my space tocultivate like a new mindset
for us as a family and to starttracing the line of where I
wanted to head.
At the end of 2021, I launched.
(04:48):
In September 2021, I launchedmy website where I had laid out
my first services.
I honestly, I never thoughtthat I was going to be able to
start as an architect.
So I also had a degree in housecoaching, which is interior
(05:08):
design with life coaching toolsto help people to live better in
their spaces from their heartand really connected to their
surroundings.
So my focus initially was moretowards that direction, but then
, with the time, I startedconnecting with people that
really was looking for thearchitecture part to designing
house, designing new spaces,which is something that lights
(05:30):
me up a lot.
So that's how I started.
Just, I have been connectingwith the right people, doing a
lot of networking, which isfundamental for you to get in
touch with the market and withthe place where you live.
So it was a very complexprocess, but I started first at
(05:54):
home and then moving outside andconnecting to people, basically
to start my business.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
You can think of connecting with us Communities
Unlimited as another networkingopportunity, right?
How did you come to connectwith Communities Unlimited and
the entrepreneurship team?
Speaker 1 (06:09):
So whenever I started my journey, I started with the
Rocket Lab and I did a course onbusiness just to lay out the
structure of my business.
But when that project finishedor that course finished, I was
very like, okay, let's go, whatelse can I do?
With whom can I enroll?
And in that moment I metDeborah Temple, which was
(06:33):
teaching some classes at theRocket Lab.
We sat down a couple of timesand she went through my project
and my website and she was veryinterested and she told me, or
referred me, to Dale, and weconnected through an email and
then we had a meeting with Dale.
He invited me to be a part ofthe eWolf program.
(06:53):
I am very devoted to mybusiness and I want to be
successful on it, so I was readyto go and that's how I met him
and we started working.
It has been a very enriching, avery enriching project.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Awesome, maria.
That's a great story and a goodtransition into asking Dale
what the eWolf Health program is.
Explain this to me.
I've heard it, I worked there.
I kind of know, but give me thebirds eye view.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Well, the eWolf program is actually designed for
clients like Maria with.
They have a business andthey're wanting to leverage that
business to help them buildpersonal wealth.
But a lot of businessesstruggle, especially in the
early stages.
They work really hard butthey're getting nowhere and part
of it is you have to step backand the business owners realize
(07:45):
that they're the owners of thebusiness and work on the
business, not work in thebusiness.
Obviously, like Maria here,she's the architect and she's
the main employee of herbusiness, but she's realized
that she has to step back andmanage that business, setting
some goals and objectives tostart scaling and growing the
(08:05):
business.
But the other big part of theeWolf program is that we're with
the clients on a long term.
We're not just there to solveone particular problem.
We want to help move thatbusiness through the different
phases of the business lifecycleand help them grow.
They've got to buildentrepreneurial capacity, learn
new skills and learn how toassess their health of their
(08:30):
business and know how to makedecisions.
What information do they needfrom their business to make
decisions?
This is where we work with theclients on a long term basis.
We don't do it for them, weteach them how to do it for
themselves, and we coach themalong the way.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
So how do you do that ?
Do you do that through a lot ofdifferent tools?
I know there's like onlineclasses.
Is there some personal?
I mean emails, phone calls howdo you do it?
Speaker 2 (08:55):
First of all, we have to consider the not every
businesses at the same point intheir business life cycle.
So we do an assessment, whichis the first part of this.
We assess where are they attoday.
Then we have conversations withthe client to figure out where
do you really want to go withthis business, what do you want
it to do for you?
Then we get basically this gapanalysis to say this is where
you're at, this is where youwant to be to achieve your goals
(09:18):
, and then we start trying tomap out a plan on how to get you
from point A to point B.
Some of that involves financialplanning from a business
standpoint, looking at yourfinancial projections.
But in order for your businessto be successful and sustainable
, there's certain components youhave to have.
Like, you need to have anaccounting system, a bookkeeping
(09:39):
system, so we can capture thefinancial transaction in your
business and assess the healthof the business and then, based
on that, know what parts of yourbusiness that you're
contributing to either yoursuccess or maybe lag behind what
you plan to do.
So we start teaching theseskills In the E-wealth program.
(10:01):
We have three basic requiredcurriculum that we work with.
Part of it's an onlineself-paced learning program.
Then part of it is virtualworkshops that we work with
clients, and then the thirdcomponent is a one-on-one that
we work with the clients.
Some of it's the core elementsthey all have to participate in,
and then the rest of it istailored toward that individual
client's needs and where they'reat in their business.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
And Maria, when you engaged with Dale and the
entrepreneurship team, what kindof stuff were you looking for
to learn?
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Well, basically, all the financial aspect is very
important and it's verydifficult for you as an
entrepreneur starting yourbusiness to be able to develop
all the different dimensions ofyour business, especially the
financial aspect, because Iwould just like have an Excel
file with a lot of differentsheets and trying to keep up
(10:54):
with the accounting system.
Definitely I was looking forsome structure that would help
me to have that part of the jobwell done, because as an owner,
I cannot hire a lot of differentprofessionals for the different
tasks.
I have to also be willing tolearn and to manage myself the
(11:16):
most crucial information, thatis that one, the financial.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
So you mean you can't be an architect, a finance
director, a bill collector, youcan't be all of that at one time
.
Yeah, you have to.
Well, I mean you can't comeinto it with all those expertise
, right?
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Yeah, I know.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
An entrepreneur.
You got your business, you gotyour passion.
Now we need to make you abusiness operator right, a
business owner.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
A legal business owner.
Ah, yeah, yeah, because that'sone thing is to run a business.
But to run the business knowinglike, what permits do you need,
what licenses, what structureneeds to support that business
to be run, that's also adifferent thing.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
So are you happy with where you're at in this process
?
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Yes, I am.
I'm very happy because Istarted with an idea and right
now I have a business that isrunning and is doing well, and I
have still a lot to learn.
But what I also appreciateabout Communities Unlimited is
that commitment to long term.
That is not something that youdo for six months and then you
(12:20):
forgot about it and maybesomeone else can help you out of
the way.
But you get to know the peoplethat you are working with and
then they get to know also yourneeds, your desires.
So that is crucial becausethat's how we evolve building
those relationships and gettingto know in depth how to work
with it.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Yeah, and I would imagine Dale has been official
to know some history, as opposedto just coming in and being a
contractor on a singular problem.
I don't know how to create anExcel spreadsheet.
How do I do that?
Speaker 2 (12:51):
See you later, it's not like that, no and Maria
brings up a good point in thesense that a lot of small
business owners you have to weara lot of hats, especially when
you're first starting out,because you don't have the
abundance money to hire a CFOand a CEO and you name it
bookkeepers and accountants, andso you have to wear a lot of
(13:12):
hats and small business ownerscan become overwhelmed with just
looking at that.
So one of the key things thatwe try to do with clients is
step back and all right, whereare you at now and what is it
you need to know right now toget you moving in the right
direction?
We'll add on, we'll continueyour education and your
development as you move intothese different aspects of your
(13:35):
business.
So we try to break that down,that complexity of all these
different things you gotta do,and say, all right, let's just
focus on this right now.
You get this and then we'lltake the next thing and
hopefully then Maria can tellyou whether that's been
beneficial to her or not.
To me that's paramount becauseyou still have to run your
business.
It's as an architect.
She still has to design or doher interior designs and
(13:56):
designer buildings, as well asrun to the bank and make
deposits and send out invoicesand things of that nature.
We try to keep that in mindwhen we're tailoring our scope
of service.
What are we gonna focus onfirst?
Get that and let's move to thenext thing.
Take that out of that, we moveto the next thing.
And as you get through that,maria, you've been in the
(14:17):
program what?
14 months now.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Yes, correct.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
And so now you can look back where you were 14
months ago and it's easy to seehow far you've come.
But we took it baby steps,right.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Yeah, correct.
Yeah, what you said is totallytrue.
You can become overwhelmed bylooking at all the different
aspects that you have to developin your business.
Like, luckily, as a designer, Ialso face that fear in my
clients when they feeloverwhelmed.
They wanna design something andthey feel overwhelmed about the
thousand different decisionsthat they have to take in order
(14:51):
for them to have that desiredoutcome.
So that part is crucial for metoo to be able to see the total
scope of your business but alsosee the part where I'm working
at and knowing that I have tolearn that part, incorporate it
well, in order for me to moveinto the next phase.
So it is a kind of likestep-by-step process that leads
(15:16):
you towards bigger outcomes andbigger dreams.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
When you start something and you have a dream
and you have an idea, you wannaget to that end goal as quick as
possible and, just like youwere saying with your design,
sometimes that's not the bestway to execute it.
You have to build a wall brickby brick.
What would you say?
Some of those bricks thatyou've experienced in this
process of working with Dale andthe entrepreneurship team at
Communities Unlimited have beenwhat kind of stuff have you
(15:42):
worked on that you would like toshare with people that they
know is available to them?
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Well, first of all, it's important to see, as I said
, not just like the littlepicture, but like the big
picture.
Where are you heading to?
Have that like in your masterplan.
Have a master plan somehow soyou don't just like focus on
something very little, that whenyou achieve it there is nothing
else to do, like you always canexpand more and more when you
(16:10):
have a big vision.
The second one that has beenvery clear and crucial is to be
able to manage and have, likethe bookkeeping system where I
can introduce organically myinformation, to be able to have
those financial statements thatare required for everything in
(16:32):
your business.
So that has been also key forme to be able to do it myself.
That will really help mybusiness in every aspect.
Also, just knowing differentaspects of the business and
knowing how to utilize theinformation for you to take
(16:53):
solid decisions in terms of yourbusiness.
Also, to see my business not asa different part of my life,
but as a component more of mylife, to generate wealth all
over across my life.
That is not my business, is notjust a different part of me,
(17:13):
but is an integral part of mylife.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
I want to pause here for just a second to remind
everybody that they're listeningto small talk with communities
and limited.
Our podcast meant to empowerrural and emerging communities,
our entrepreneurship team.
We're speaking with DaleRutherford, the senior
management consultant at MariaBarrero.
She is the owner of Spaces toLove, based in Little Rock.
Dale, she was talking about thethings that she's learned as
part of the program with you.
(17:39):
Is that the kind of stuff youwant people walking away with?
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Yes, and you know, when you look at the statistics
of the business failure rate,you can boil that down and you
can back up and find out what isthe root cause of that.
Really, okay, many of thethings that they report in the
business failure are superficialor symptoms, not really the
problem.
But Maria hit on is about theplanning process and knowing
(18:04):
where you're going, because whenyou start scaling the business,
you can't just go from zero to60 in 2.6 seconds.
You have to manage that growthand there's a lot of businesses
that go belly up when they'reexperiencing unplanned or
unexpected growth.
You have to manage that growthin line with what your resources
are.
She has to worry about manpowercapacity.
(18:25):
Right now she's, you know,chief cook bottle washer in the
business, so she's only got somany hours and day.
And then when you're justtrying to finance growth and I
use that term specifically, youfinancing your growth you have
to know how much money can youinvest in that and what you're
expected return on that growth.
We've had clients that workedfor 20 years in their business
(18:47):
and were being profitable andhad growth and all of a sudden
they saw an opportunity thatthey thought was too good to be
true and you jump on thatopportunity without really
understanding that it's adifferent business model and
different financial requirements.
You go from a business that'sbeen profitable for 20 years and
all of a sudden, six monthslater, you're bankrupt, and this
(19:08):
is what can happen if you don'thave a handle on your
financials.
And Maria, now she's startingto learn.
I'll let her explain, but shestarted to learn how to run
these financial reports andanalyze the health of her
business.
She can determine where her upsand downs are in planning.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
Well, it's a perfect example, though, because of what
you're talking about, becauseyou learn the right program to
use for your financials.
You learn the right inputs, thenumbers to put in there, and
then you're able to read what'scoming out and then know what to
do with that.
It's building that processright.
Is that kind of a good analogy?
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Yes, and what you wanna be proactive.
You wanna be able to see what'scoming in the future instead of
trying to react to what'ssomething that just hits you.
I mean, there's alwayssurprises in the business.
You know some of those thingsyou can't really plan for.
I don't know what you can tosome degree, but ultimately,
what you wanna be able to do islook at your financials and say
(20:10):
here's where I'm going and thisis my next objective.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
How do people get involved?
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Well, they can, number one, go to our website,
which is communitiesuorg, and goto the entrepreneurial section,
and they can hit the link torequest assistance and sign up
for that.
We have an email that you canemail us at
helpmybusinessatcommunitiesuorg.
(20:38):
Tell us that you're interestedin talking to somebody and we'll
have somebody get back with you.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Maria, I have a question for you and I don't
want you to look at Dale or that.
I work at communities unlimited.
Okay, would you recommend thisto other business owners?
Speaker 1 (20:56):
I already have.
I already have recommendedcommunities unlimited to several
people that I've met along theway, People that are trying to
reach to others for informationor for help.
How can I do this?
Because it's a big task.
Like you, literally, you have adream you want to have a
company, a business, and thenyou have a lot of different
(21:17):
legalities and activities thatyou need to have checked in
order for you to continue withyour business.
I have recommended communitiesunlimited because I have found
tremendous value For me.
It was like it was hardsometimes to think about
learning about all these skills,and it's not like I have to
(21:39):
study to become an accountant orthat I have to learn a lot of
different things that will takeme out of my path.
It's just really like learninghow to use certain tools that
are very valuable and accuratefor you to organize your
business and just look at theinformation that is pertinent to
look in the right moments.
(21:59):
So it's really like saving me alot of time but also allowing
me to be present on that process, not out and have to give it to
someone else for that person tounderstand what is going on
with my own business.
So it has allowed me more toolsand more precision and
structure, to understand and togrow and expand and understand
(22:24):
the language of the business.
That is definitely like themath behind and the numbers.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
A lot of business.
When you're first starting outit's real tough and in that
process it's a lot of times youquestion is it really worth it
or, geez, am I doing the rightthing?
I perceive a value in havingsomebody you can work with, that
you can trust, that you can.
At any given time, you can pickup the phone or email and say,
hey, look, I'm having this issueor whatever.
(22:50):
Can you help me?
How does that help you in termsof business owners?
Stay in the course, staying onthe path and following through.
Is this valuable to you?
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Of course, sometimes you think that you're going to
get crazy with it, but, yes,staying on the path is
definitely the solution for me,because I know what's the life
that I want.
I don't want to be an employeefor anyone else.
I want to build my business andI believe in my work and in the
power of the work that I do.
So, yeah, finding such a solidstructure in terms of a team
(23:26):
where you have expertise in manydifferent fields, it's very
comforting to know that.
Okay, if I have a question and Idon't know how to do this, I
can write Dale and Dale willconnect me with the right person
.
That can also help me collapsetime in learning all those steps
and all this kind of differentinformation that you might need
(23:49):
to have.
So it's having the possibilityto reach out to the
professionals that you need toget in touch with, for you to
solve your problems, for you tomaybe don't see a hurricane
where there is not a hurricane.
It's just a moment that youneed some orientation, that you
need some help and just keep onworking, because it's a
(24:11):
day-to-day work and it's also anattitude and a mindset.
So, as professionals, asentrepreneurs, it's not just the
business, it's about us and howwe train ourselves, and we
train our minds and our thoughtsand the daily input that I put
in my work.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
It's empowering right .
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Yes yes, and you know , one of the things that really
like for me it was a huge jestis when you, dale, were
describing like the purpose ofCommunities Unlimited, that it
was like to help entrepreneurssucceed in their business and
see them succeed in theirbusiness.
So there is a big commitmentwith the clients that they get
(24:51):
and that deep desire to reallyhelp them and to see the outcome
.
It's not just like sayingsomething and chow, chow, six
months, good luck.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
I don't think I've ever heard Dale say chow, but he
might.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
I'll add that to my vocabulary.
Call him Dale, or somethingthat's awesome.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
I'm glad that you feel that way.
End of the day, I love hearingthat story that you have found
the interaction with our E-team,or entrepreneurship team,
valuable, because it feels goodto us too, you know, and that is
our mission.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Yes, it's a beautiful mission because also, when
you're starting a business, youneed help.
You need help and there are somany resources and people do not
know about those resources itlike for me it was just like
really my desire to keep ongoing with my business that
connect me to the right people,but it's not evident and it's
(25:46):
not easy to find thatinformation and those resources
unless you're really looking forthem.
And also there are many othergroups and entities that are
helping.
But this long term commitmentis something that for me is
crucial, because that's how I amalso with my own project.
When you get to work with aperson and get to know the
(26:08):
intentions behind and the wholepicture, then it's easier for
you to also show what it isthere, you know and work through
it.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
I want to give kudos to Maria, because you know we
work with a lot of differentclients and unfortunately we
don't get the same level ofcommitment from everybody.
We're only half of the equation.
What you get out of it isdirectly proportional to your
commitment that you have to yourown business.
We work with the clients.
We don't do it for them, We'lldo it with them and I think,
(26:41):
Maria, you can kind of speak toif you have other business.
You've worked, you'veassociated with it.
Maybe they're not making thesame level of progress.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Yeah, for sure.
It's just.
Of course you have to investyour time and your energy, and
some parts of it are notnecessarily super attractive,
you know, like having a meetingon a Wednesday at seven o'clock
at night when your daughter isyelling and the other one is
screaming.
But you have to get the timeand commit to that, because at
(27:12):
the end of the equation we weregoing to have an outcome and
that outcome has been veryrewarding for me and also I got
an economical incentive that itwas a great deal for me just for
doing my own work.
So sometimes we need to washthe dishes.
You know things that are notvery pleasant, but at the end,
(27:35):
if you don't do those basicthings well, you will have a
messy life.
So it's the same with yourbusiness.
Some things are not necessarilythe most attractive, but once
you get to know what you have todo, what are the minimum things
that you have to put in order,then you see the outcomes and
you see the structure and yousee how it benefits you in the
(27:57):
long term.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Awesome Dale.
Tell them what they need toknow about it, what you guys
want to do and how people canbenefit from it.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
I guess Well, the ultimate goal of the E-wealth
program and truly all of ourwork that the entrepreneurship
team is.
You know we can say we want youto be successful and
sustainable, but ultimatelywe're trying to help business
owners build wealth.
Because you got three basicpaths to wealth.
(28:25):
You can probably stretch thatto four, but you know one path
to wealth is you go out here andyou get a job and if you really
want to create wealth, you gotto go to school and get a degree
and spend all that money to geta degree and that time and then
you got to join the workforceand it's going to be years
before you get to a point thatyou're actually creating enough
(28:45):
revenue.
You know income to contributeto your wealth objectives.
The other alternative is you goout here and either you inherit
the wealth from a wealthyrelative or you win the lottery,
which for most people that'snot an option.
So the other alternative isthat you create wealth through
entrepreneurship.
Wealth through entrepreneurshipis that you don't necessarily
(29:06):
have to have a business degreeor a degree.
Maria's got a degree and she'sleveraging that in a
professional field.
Maybe you're a welder or yourcarpenter, or you make crafts or
whatever.
I don't care what it is.
There's a lot of businesses outthere you don't necessarily
have to have to have advancededucation for.
But if you work hard and youput that toward a certain right
(29:29):
kind of business, you can scalethat business in three to four
or five years that you'reactually contributing to your
wealth and that's probably themost lucrative process.
Let's just use Maria, forexample.
She's got a degree inarchitecture.
She should go to work for afund, but how much money she
makes is going to be dependenton how much they're willing to
(29:50):
give her to do the work In herbusiness.
How much she's going to get outof this business is how much
she's willing to put into it togrow this business.
So in the eWealth programthat's what we focus in.
We're trying to help businessowners, entrepreneurs, take this
concept and develop theirbusiness so that they can scale
it to a point that is helpingthem create wealth.
(30:11):
And that's not easy.
You've got to put in thateffort and that's why I was
giving Maria a kudos, becauseit's a commitment.
If it was easy, everybody bedoing it or everybody be
successful.
But that's not really the case.
You need to come to us with acommitment and then we're
committed to work with you tohelp you achieve these goals.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
Gotcha, it's Dale Rutherford.
He is the Senior ManagementConsultant on our
Entrepreneurship Team atCommunities Unlimited.
Maria, what is your website ifpeople want to see what you do?
Speaker 1 (30:40):
My website is spaces to lovecom with number two.
Speaker 3 (30:45):
Okay spaces, the number two lovecom.
Thank you for joining us today.
I appreciate you telling yourstory and telling about your
interactions with us atCommunities Unlimited and Maria
again appreciated and we'll seeyou guys in a couple of weeks.
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