July 28, 2021 • 22 mins
You are probably wondering how in the world we went from co-workers, to in-laws, and now business partners, right?! We are giving you the back story to kick-off our first episode!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ray Mayfield (00:04):
Welcome to the front runner podcast with your
hosts Ray Mayfield and TiaraJones to engineers more from
coworkers to in laws. And nowbusiness partners, creating a
safe space to be open and honestabout what it really takes to
start and run a business.
Tiara Jones (00:17):
We know it's easier said than done. But you were
built for this and you are notalone. Join us each week to hear
stories, lessons learned andstrategies from trusted advisors
and new and seasonedentrepreneurs on how to endure
the marathon ofentrepreneurship.
Ray Mayfield (00:30):
Peace Yall Ray is here.
Tiara Jones (00:31):
Hey, what's up?
It's the Tiara.
Alright, welcome to thefrontrunner podcast. Glad you
guys joining us today forepisode Numero Uno.
All right, let's get this going.
Ray Mayfield (00:41):
So as you guys always note here as a planner,
and I'm the you know, fly by theseat of my pants kind of guy. So
to put this nice. I got a niceoverview. Wow. So that's what
we're gonna do we just go telleverybody. Yeah, you know,
everybody has a script here forme to read from but guess what,
y'all?
Tiara Jones (00:59):
It's not a script.
There's points. Oh, by the turnof movie on my laptop, so I
don't see it now. This is us,y'all.
Ray Mayfield (01:09):
You know, it's here, I felt it'd be a good idea
for us to introduce ourselves,you guys reintroduce ourselves.
And I said, Yeah, sure, why not?
So hey, guys, I'll go firstgentleman first. So as me Ray,
you know, my background, UnitedStates Marine, through a radio
operator coupled towards acombat in Iraq, found the most
joy while in the Marines,learning how to be a good
(01:31):
leader. And helping people asmuch as possible. From from
there, you know, at my secondtour in Iraq, I was like, yeah,
this is enough for me, I need togo get more out of life. So I
got out, wandered around for ayear, went to school, figured
out what I wanted to do. Um,then ended up in Northern
Virginia, found a great gig uphere. Lots of opportunity in
(01:54):
this area for a guy with mybackground. So from from there
with the school, graduate atGeorge Mason University,
undergrads and graduate systemengineering. I'm pretty good,
comfortable life. And then I metTiara segway to TT.
Tiara Jones (02:18):
Alright, what's up, y'all? So I am Tiara. I am a pk.
It's kind of relevant to theconversations that we'll be
having. And how I grew up versushow I grew up. But yes, I grew
up in the church all the time, Ireally wasn't the one to like,
have a lot of outside activitiesbecause my outside activities
(02:40):
were the church. So other thanschool, so you play church to is
still everything church. Right?
Okay. So with school, I'm anengineer, electrical and
biomedical engineer. And myfocus has really been on the
books pretty much majority of mylife, I really wasn't into
sports or anything like that.
(03:01):
Yeah, you weren't, I wasn't, wewere different probably why? I'm
the more you know, analyticalplanning, type one, and you're
just like, oh, what's it'swhatever, I'll play what is
necessary. Okay? No, no, I planall the time, okay.
Ray Mayfield (03:14):
For the week, on Sunday night,
Tiara Jones (03:17):
whatever. So I went to school for electrical
engineering, because I justthought it was interesting in my
physics class, and all thedifferent things that we could
create as far as robots and allthat type of stuff that then led
me down the road to looking atmore things in the health field,
and how different electrical,different electrical components
(03:37):
and things can help in thebiomedical field. So then I went
to school went to get mymaster's in biomedical
engineering. And from there, Ikinda want to take a step back.
There's always more to thestory. So for electrical
engineer, my first job out waskind of working in a lab. And so
(04:01):
since I was so, you know, usedto being in a lab with working
in school, it was kind of likemy kind of safe zone to be in a
lab with my first job. And thenfrom there, I realized that
okay, this is interesting, but Ineed more than this. And so
that's when, you know, reallydecided to go and pursue my
Master's in biomedicalengineering because I just
(04:21):
wanted to see more, I was alittle bit more limited, just in
the job path that I was in, youknow, working in government
contracts and things like that.
And so I wanted to see what elsewas out there. So go into
school, get my master's inbiomedical engineering is what I
did. And it's been great eversince it's, it's opened up a lot
of different doors for me, I meta lot of people as far as when
it comes to different businessesdifferent, you know, startup
(04:46):
businesses, and how you canapply engineering and different
types of technology to all typesof different things. And so all
the way from looking at usinganalytics in the health field to
looking at actual devices. andthings like that. And so taking
it back to when Ray and I comeback
Ray Mayfield (05:05):
further, or back a little bit further, it's always
fascinating. Thank you. Oh, goahead. No, no, you
Tiara Jones (05:13):
want to tell the story?
Oh yea, so yeah, sure. So I'mTiara and I met, right. So like,
Well, my story stops were Tnifirst interface. So working for
a small government contractingcompany up in Northern Virginia.
We're doing some call it like,you know, looking at hardware,
right? So I do some hardwareanalysis stuff. And yeah, like I
(05:35):
was thinking at this point,we're on like, day and night
shifts at the job, and opted forthe night shift. I was still
going to school. So it'sconvenient for me to go like in
the morning and, you know, go towork and then go to class late
at night. I get to worksometimes. But anyway, so yeah,
I mean, we're working.
Originally, it was it was fourof us, five of us there. And
then we had like an influx, wehired a bunch of people and tear
(05:56):
was among the bunch. You know? Idon't know. I think that's,
that's, that's how we met.
Yeah, well, it was a little bitmore than that. Because we since
he was on night shift, I was onday shift. We just don't happen
to share each other's debt. Ilet her use my workstation.
Okay, sure. Even though that'sher company that set the seating
(06:17):
arrangement up, but Okay, soyeah, so I'm there. It's my
first day, you know, I'm reallytrying to get the hang of
things, getting my projects andthings like that. And so, you
know, being first dropped out ofschool, you know, I'm nervous.
I'm the only girl there onlygirl, her son, all these men
military minute that. So youknow, trying to find? Yeah, very
well, trying to find my way in.
And I'm packing up my stuff orwhatever. Of course, me being,
(06:41):
you know, trying to be theoverachiever.
First though yet is your firstday. All right. Yeah. Well, so
Well, let's go back your firstday. I think I was going to
classes some guys aboutPhotoshop or something. And you
were you were saying you weresitting there just looking into
the abyss. I was like, man, likeI was like, I was like, she
looks she looks she looks verynice, meaning like a real cool
(07:01):
person. And as like, she has asmile on her on her face. She
has no idea what she's gottenherself into. back. So then the
next day, facts,
Ray Mayfield (07:08):
go for it
Tiara Jones (07:11):
So here, I am about to clean up for the day. And I'd
stay later than I should haveknown that night shift was
coming in. And I can feelsomething behind me. But I was
you know, kept doing what I wasdoing. And I turned around and
here's this dog guy looking atme like, Hey, get up your seat.
And I'm like, Oh, I'm so sorry.
I apparently like rushing to putit on. He's like knob doesn't
know my exact words. Ah, you'relike, you're messy. That's
(07:33):
pretty much get your issue andget out my seat. Yeah, it's
probably what's that? Yep. Youknow, keeping it g for kids. But
God, God, God's helped me grow.
Here's step by step. So yeah,that's pretty much where this
first started with Breanna. Andit was really just, you know, I
(07:53):
was the guy that he was the guythat I was sharing, you know, a
desperate. And, you know, hehelped me out a lot with
learning, you know, how to dothe job, how to navigate, you
know, different relationshipswith people in the job, work
relationships with people.
salutely Absolutely. You did?
You know, I wouldn't let youknow that. But But she did.
(08:13):
Definitely do it. So it's kindof like a, you know, big brother
mentor type of thing, in a way.
And so from there, um, therewere times when he would come
in, you know, in day shift,because certain things, you
know, things got really busy.
And they would always used totalk about like, Hey, we're
going out, you know, later atnight, you know, just to go get
something to eat. They wouldalways have weekends. We're
(08:34):
working weekends for a while,right. When we were a couple
months. Yeah. And so so they wascars, their lunch break, it
would pretty much be dinner, andthey would go grab food and
stuff like that. And they werelike, We have to work. How about
we all just get together likeday shift and night shift. And I
had mentioned my sister to them.
And they were like, just bringyour sister be cool. And I'm
like, I'll pick up I'll seey'all all the time. I mean, no
one want to go.
Ray Mayfield (08:59):
Knock on players.
So we were going out. We've beenworking hard weekends for a
couple of months in a row andmeeting so many guys. Night
Shift, went out a couple timeson Friday night, hung out, have
dinner, you know, whatever. Andthen there was a Saturday that
came and we're like, Hey, man,we're going to go out tonight.
Let's invite everybody. So thisis the second time we invited
tear out a couple times withthis. So let's let's be clear.
(09:19):
She always said no. I was like,Yeah, whatever. So this time, I
was like, Hey, man, you want tocome out with this. And I was
like, bring your sister you talkabout it all the time. So bring
them with you, whatever, just tomake her feel more comfortable.
So she wasn't just hanging outwith a pack of wolves. So
anyway, um, you know, fastforward to the night they wanted
that they were available tocome. Like I said, we live in
Northern Virginia. So we'regoing out to a place in DC just
(09:39):
to hang out. They were bowlingor some I don't know. And Tiara
is like, hey, my, my sister'sboyfriend has a spot in DC that
he owns we can go to I was like,oh bed perfect. I'm thinking I
have free free free drinks. So,you know, we might have up to DC
we get there and uh As usual,I'm like, hey, t we're here. Oh,
(10:01):
we're just leaving the house.
Oh, got it. Okay, cool. So, youknow, we're in DC there and
they're out a little furtherwest and Virginia. So it's gonna
take them probably an hour toget there. Fast forward in time.
You know, we've we've we went toa couple different spots by then
and then they said they'rethere. So we went back to the
spot was supposed to meet hersisters boyfriends bar. And, you
(10:23):
know, we're sitting
Tiara Jones (10:23):
It was really her boyfriend, but they were just
friends. But, okay, continue.
Ray Mayfield (10:27):
All I could do is I'm recalling the story you told
me.
Okay, so your sister's boyfriendso
Tiara Jones (10:31):
as you were,
Ray Mayfield (10:32):
thank you, we get to that spot. And then they you
know, she's like, hey, well comeon upstairs. Now my God calling
my backs to the door when theguys are going. There's tiara.
So I'm like, Hey, what's up tglad you can make it also sounds
like she's my sister. Nicole islike, Hey, what's up, girl, give
her a hug. She said I love you.
I was like I said, Excuse me.
She said what she said my nameis Nicole was like, okay, ya
(10:53):
know? Love you. Hey, helps meall the time. I don't know about
you. But I haven't me all thetime. So I guess you'd like
like, you know, a lot of womentell me they love me. So we got
to find your place online. Thisthe life I was living back then.
So, um, you know, the night goeson? We're still hanging out at
work. I was talking to herboyfriend's bar. And we're just
(11:17):
kicking out the being orderedsome food and had had, you know,
some adult beverages. beveragesbecause yes, me and my sister
were even Wilder, we invited herto a bar and she's like, yeah,
we're fasting. I was like, Whoa,this is gonna be interesting. So
you get the plan. Okay. Yeah,you guys. And honestly, this
(11:38):
this, that night taught me a lotabout you and your sister. But
we'll get to that. Maybe fivepodcasts from now. So we get to
the other spot was like a gamingroom? You know, is? Are we
allowed to say the name of theplace? I don't know it was
darts. It was you know? Yes. Thegame room I'll tell you the name
of if you want to know the nameof the DMV, I'll tell you. So we
(12:00):
went down to the undergroundgaming room. Also, we're down
there hanging out. It was a clubwas music going. But we were on
the side where the adults hangout who play like pool and throw
darts. So some will call thosenames. So like we're hanging out
chillin and throwing darts andterrorists. Their system goes
like, Hey, I know how to playdarts. And then she's ready to
(12:22):
get right to a dart with a guysent up there by the target is
like, Hey, man, probably not agood idea. Probably Wait, he
moves so you don't hit him. Soyou know, she didn't know how to
play. So I was giving her sometips on how to how to shoot
darts. And she became better.
Because everybody that I helpbecomes awesome at whatever they
want to be. True story. Here wego. So night goes on midnight
hits Sierra and assists to takea toast of cranberry juice with
(12:45):
this was a cranberry juice. Itwas Southern we're water out.
Yeah, it was juice on water.
Yeah. And then that's prettymuch tonight.
Tiara Jones (12:56):
And then from there we go. Long story short. From
there. My sister becameinterested in Ray. And there
were multiple other outings thatwe went on. And pretty much the
rest was was history when itcame to that to that point. So
my co worker, Ray and then cobecause at one point Ray became
kind of my boss, and not really,but I guess he was like the
(13:17):
Quality Manager,
Ray Mayfield (13:18):
If I said get here you got here
Tiara Jones (13:23):
So yeah, so my coworker and the person
that I shared a seat with a deskwith, okay, my boss, and then
ended up being my brother inlaw. Crazy, crazy, crazy, it's
still blows my mind to this day,sometimes about it, whatever. So
we've had many different levelsof our relationship when it
comes to you know, religiousbeing on a strictly work
(13:44):
relationship. And then himseeing me at home in my element.
And yes, it is night and day
Ray Mayfield (13:51):
back then back then Tiara Tiara was a little
more jagged and issues now.
We're going to school, as youknow,
Tiara Jones (13:58):
it was a stressful time in my life.
Yeah. Yeah. You were younger,too. So you know, there's
there's always that so not me. Imean, but you know, you always
been cool, man. Yeah, so like,you know, as we went on separate
paths, and our professionalgrowth, you know, tear going one
way but kind of still staying onthe technology, technology
(14:21):
cutting trends. And as I'm onthe side of, you know, system
analysis, system development forthe Department of fence. You
know, I was like, Hey, man, likeif you ever need Neptune you
haven't even want to change inwhich don't eat like hot. Let me
in like slash say, No, we see weworked but we always saw each
other after work was, you know,of course, our sister was in
(14:42):
love with me. And I was in lovewith her sister, too. So yeah,
we're married at this point. Soyou know, we're, it's family was
hanging out. Never a dullmoment. And then I think, you
know, Tiara, Tiara, hit herceiling and ready to do
something different and hit meup and I'm grateful. You know
that I was working for a guy Iwas looking for talented people
(15:03):
and wanted to hire a young blackwoman. And we had the
opportunity to do so. And Tiaracame on board. Yeah. started
working together again. Yep.
This time I was again her boss.
But then I said, Hey, you knowwhat? We're on the same level.
Ray Mayfield (15:17):
Cool, its cool.
Tiara Jones (15:18):
each other bosses you don't had to call me sir
anymore? It's cool. But yeah,and then from working together
in a department offense, anotheropportunity presented itself to
start a company.
Right. And I mean, at thatpoint, both of us were kind of
over working for other people,we both had a lot of things that
we wanted to do. But we werekind of limited to do that,
based on who we were working forat the time. And so we started,
(15:42):
you know, looking at otheropportunities. God started
opened up a lot of doors, and wewere like, Well, you know, what
if we do try to just try thisthing and start our business on
our own, because we have talkedabout it before, but I was
always the one like, have yougot to learn more about that
Ray Mayfield (15:58):
So if I know anything about Tiara Tiara is
next episode?
not a risk taker. Tiara Tiarahas to she's like she said
before she's she's theanalytical side, Tiara is
breaking down the, you know,down to the micro detail about
decisions that she makes plantsoff to you the world, the world.
Part of reason, you know, theworld is so great is because
(16:19):
people like you, right? Otherparts because he liked me.
Because I was like, Yo, I'mtired. I'm making a move. Go.
Tiara Jones (16:27):
Yep. And that's where you have this balance of
how we started strategicconsulting still, to this day.
Exactly. Exactly.
Ray Mayfield (16:36):
It works well, though.
Tiara Jones (16:37):
So yeah, I mean, we've been two years strong. And
our second year in was kind ofwhen COVID hit, you hit the
pandemic hit. And we startedkind of in the summer, we took
advantage of the extra time thatwe had, being at home, and we
started doing what we called thefront runner live. And so we
went Yep, Facebook, Instagram,we went live every week, there's
(16:58):
going on at this point, nothingwas I know, we talked about
things being scripted and thingslike that, but it really isn't
scripted. But that was that waspretty much just a really free
fall.
Yeah, we had, like we were wewould do is like get a topic
like that day. Put it up onsocial media by Hey, come join
us the day before, beforetypically when we do it, but I
(17:21):
found it to be quite quiteamazing. Personally, because
like I think that really showedme like a lot we got to like a
lot of love, like our friendsyou know, saying like, like
cattle with the high schoolwhich was in the military with
friends I met up here working ina professional environment,
people like robot like it was itwas amazing to see them come on
and give support and then alsobe engaged in a conversation. So
(17:41):
I was pretty dope.
Yeah, it was. And so I mean, wekept up with that. Every week
from I think we had maybe one ortwo breaks, because it was
family birthdays. And you know,that famous important for us. So
we took a break. We did thatfrom July to December. And then
we say you know what, you know,things are starting to pick up
with, you know, our, you know,kind of nine to five jobs or day
(18:01):
jobs and things like that. Andwe said we still want to keep
this up, but we can't keep it upin this capacity. And so we kind
of switch gears and we startedthe front runner packet.
Yay, all Tiara's I did. I like Ilike the Facebook Live. But I
think the podcasts gonna be justas cool to let me go still do
live. So I sawYeah, most definitely can do. I
just knew with me, I like to beconsistent and being consistent
(18:22):
with everything that we hadyesterday that her name is
Sierra sheduled Oh, I findwhatever shedule If it was up to
Ray, he would have been like,oh, we'll do the lads when we
get to. And I'm like, No,
Ray Mayfield (18:39):
no, no, no, we would continue doing the lives
every Wednesday, I would admitaway so like so like, you know,
with with me being back, like ata nine to five grind. My My days
are ridiculous. And, you know,my, my amazing wife, my two
beautiful daughters. And thenthe next thing you know, I blink
my eyes. And it's the next dayin the morning, my alarms went
off. So they the days go bypretty quick for me. But I would
(18:59):
have did everything I could toshift and make it work. But no
worries, we're here so
Tiara Jones (19:03):
and we were kind of to go on the path of let's not
try to overwhelm ourselves. Anddo you know too much when we
don't have to learn. And soyeah, we're still learning how
to manage a nine to five ratemanaging 95 with a wife, kids
and she has her you know her ownbusiness as well. And so as a
boss, we were we found in ourfounder and our group. And I
think this is going to work outpretty well. In addition to
(19:25):
doing the lives you know, whenwe can work. And so you know,
from this story, which I'm surenot a lot of you were probably
expecting. I could say this.
Just don't resist any of the Godordained curveballs that comes
your way because if you wouldhave came to me and said, Oh
yeah, you're going to be goinginto business but your brother
in law that you've met when youfirst started working, I'm gonna
(19:46):
like you're right, that soundsinsane. But God had a plan from
the very beginning because Iactually had a different job
that I was going to go to and itwas actually what I thought at
the time was kind of my dreamemployer and I turned it down.
Kind of mostly because of thecommute. And it just I wasn't at
peace with it. But I see nowthat this is the reason why I
wasn't at peace with it becauseGod wanted me to be at this
(20:07):
particular job in order to meetRay and other people that I met
her to get to this point rightnow. No,
yeah, absolutely, I think Ithink we can all look back at
what we in our fleshly body seea disappointment. And then once
we mature a little bit and say,you know, it was God's plan, you
know, me, so it's as awesome asawesome. Everything happens for
(20:28):
a reasonit does. And it's all bigger
than you. And so just get out ofyourself and just, you know,
stay in the will of God. So, sofrom us, as you can see, with
this first episode, you're goingto just get us as exactly how we
are, we're not planning toreally do a lot of editing or
nothing, just you're just gonnaget this right. How was the
sheer conversation and talkingjust with the lives but we're
going to have, you know, more ofan overview of what we're
(20:51):
talking about up, it's gonna bemore prepared, you're still
gonna get how we are?
Yeah, yeah, no doubt, no doubt,like, we're gonna give you guys
great content. I think you guyswho for those who follow us on a
live, we're engaged in aconversation, solid stuff, we're
the direction we're going tothings we talk about, you know,
our background. You know, whilewe do that, outside of
(21:15):
academics, our background is inthe tech sector is in helping
companies grow. Whether you owna small startup yourself, or
you're working for a smallstartup where you have an idea,
or, you know, we come from abackground where we help
companies grow, we've helpedcertain initiatives and
technologies to grow intosomething big. You know, so we
bring that that perfectcombination of things to the
(21:37):
table. You know, we're lookingat program management, you know,
you're looking at best hiringpractices you're looking at, you
know, how do I start my companyand product development,
development, and you're lookingat how to bring a creative and
fun and joyful environment toyour organization. Those are
things we can definitely assist.
Yeah, absolutely.
So thank you for joining us onthe first episode of the front
(21:59):
runner podcast. Until next time,
Ray Mayfield (22:02):
Peace yall
Tiara Jones (22:03):
Stay solid
Welcome to the front runner podcast with your
hosts Ray Mayfield and TiaraJones to engineers more from
coworkers to in laws. And nowbusiness partners, creating a
safe space to be open and honestabout what it really takes to
start and run a business.
Tiara Jones (00:17):
We know it's easier said than done. But you were
built for this and you are notalone. Join us each week to hear
stories, lessons learned andstrategies from trusted advisors
and new and seasonedentrepreneurs on how to endure
the marathon ofentrepreneurship.
Ray Mayfield (00:30):
Peace Yall Ray is here.
Tiara Jones (00:31):
Hey, what's up?
It's the Tiara.
Alright, welcome to thefrontrunner podcast. Glad you
guys joining us today forepisode Numero Uno.
All right, let's get this going.
Ray Mayfield (00:41):
So as you guys always note here as a planner,
and I'm the you know, fly by theseat of my pants kind of guy. So
to put this nice. I got a niceoverview. Wow. So that's what
we're gonna do we just go telleverybody. Yeah, you know,
everybody has a script here forme to read from but guess what,
y'all?
Tiara Jones (00:59):
It's not a script.
There's points. Oh, by the turnof movie on my laptop, so I
don't see it now. This is us,y'all.
Ray Mayfield (01:09):
You know, it's here, I felt it'd be a good idea
for us to introduce ourselves,you guys reintroduce ourselves.
And I said, Yeah, sure, why not?
So hey, guys, I'll go firstgentleman first. So as me Ray,
you know, my background, UnitedStates Marine, through a radio
operator coupled towards acombat in Iraq, found the most
joy while in the Marines,learning how to be a good
(01:31):
leader. And helping people asmuch as possible. From from
there, you know, at my secondtour in Iraq, I was like, yeah,
this is enough for me, I need togo get more out of life. So I
got out, wandered around for ayear, went to school, figured
out what I wanted to do. Um,then ended up in Northern
Virginia, found a great gig uphere. Lots of opportunity in
(01:54):
this area for a guy with mybackground. So from from there
with the school, graduate atGeorge Mason University,
undergrads and graduate systemengineering. I'm pretty good,
comfortable life. And then I metTiara segway to TT.
Tiara Jones (02:18):
Alright, what's up, y'all? So I am Tiara. I am a pk.
It's kind of relevant to theconversations that we'll be
having. And how I grew up versushow I grew up. But yes, I grew
up in the church all the time, Ireally wasn't the one to like,
have a lot of outside activitiesbecause my outside activities
(02:40):
were the church. So other thanschool, so you play church to is
still everything church. Right?
Okay. So with school, I'm anengineer, electrical and
biomedical engineer. And myfocus has really been on the
books pretty much majority of mylife, I really wasn't into
sports or anything like that.
(03:01):
Yeah, you weren't, I wasn't, wewere different probably why? I'm
the more you know, analyticalplanning, type one, and you're
just like, oh, what's it'swhatever, I'll play what is
necessary. Okay? No, no, I planall the time, okay.
Ray Mayfield (03:14):
For the week, on Sunday night,
Tiara Jones (03:17):
whatever. So I went to school for electrical
engineering, because I justthought it was interesting in my
physics class, and all thedifferent things that we could
create as far as robots and allthat type of stuff that then led
me down the road to looking atmore things in the health field,
and how different electrical,different electrical components
(03:37):
and things can help in thebiomedical field. So then I went
to school went to get mymaster's in biomedical
engineering. And from there, Ikinda want to take a step back.
There's always more to thestory. So for electrical
engineer, my first job out waskind of working in a lab. And so
(04:01):
since I was so, you know, usedto being in a lab with working
in school, it was kind of likemy kind of safe zone to be in a
lab with my first job. And thenfrom there, I realized that
okay, this is interesting, but Ineed more than this. And so
that's when, you know, reallydecided to go and pursue my
Master's in biomedicalengineering because I just
(04:21):
wanted to see more, I was alittle bit more limited, just in
the job path that I was in, youknow, working in government
contracts and things like that.
And so I wanted to see what elsewas out there. So go into
school, get my master's inbiomedical engineering is what I
did. And it's been great eversince it's, it's opened up a lot
of different doors for me, I meta lot of people as far as when
it comes to different businessesdifferent, you know, startup
(04:46):
businesses, and how you canapply engineering and different
types of technology to all typesof different things. And so all
the way from looking at usinganalytics in the health field to
looking at actual devices. andthings like that. And so taking
it back to when Ray and I comeback
Ray Mayfield (05:05):
further, or back a little bit further, it's always
fascinating. Thank you. Oh, goahead. No, no, you
Tiara Jones (05:13):
want to tell the story?
Oh yea, so yeah, sure. So I'mTiara and I met, right. So like,
Well, my story stops were Tnifirst interface. So working for
a small government contractingcompany up in Northern Virginia.
We're doing some call it like,you know, looking at hardware,
right? So I do some hardwareanalysis stuff. And yeah, like I
(05:35):
was thinking at this point,we're on like, day and night
shifts at the job, and opted forthe night shift. I was still
going to school. So it'sconvenient for me to go like in
the morning and, you know, go towork and then go to class late
at night. I get to worksometimes. But anyway, so yeah,
I mean, we're working.
Originally, it was it was fourof us, five of us there. And
then we had like an influx, wehired a bunch of people and tear
(05:56):
was among the bunch. You know? Idon't know. I think that's,
that's, that's how we met.
Yeah, well, it was a little bitmore than that. Because we since
he was on night shift, I was onday shift. We just don't happen
to share each other's debt. Ilet her use my workstation.
Okay, sure. Even though that'sher company that set the seating
(06:17):
arrangement up, but Okay, soyeah, so I'm there. It's my
first day, you know, I'm reallytrying to get the hang of
things, getting my projects andthings like that. And so, you
know, being first dropped out ofschool, you know, I'm nervous.
I'm the only girl there onlygirl, her son, all these men
military minute that. So youknow, trying to find? Yeah, very
well, trying to find my way in.
And I'm packing up my stuff orwhatever. Of course, me being,
(06:41):
you know, trying to be theoverachiever.
First though yet is your firstday. All right. Yeah. Well, so
Well, let's go back your firstday. I think I was going to
classes some guys aboutPhotoshop or something. And you
were you were saying you weresitting there just looking into
the abyss. I was like, man, likeI was like, I was like, she
looks she looks she looks verynice, meaning like a real cool
(07:01):
person. And as like, she has asmile on her on her face. She
has no idea what she's gottenherself into. back. So then the
next day, facts,
Ray Mayfield (07:08):
go for it
Tiara Jones (07:11):
So here, I am about to clean up for the day. And I'd
stay later than I should haveknown that night shift was
coming in. And I can feelsomething behind me. But I was
you know, kept doing what I wasdoing. And I turned around and
here's this dog guy looking atme like, Hey, get up your seat.
And I'm like, Oh, I'm so sorry.
I apparently like rushing to putit on. He's like knob doesn't
know my exact words. Ah, you'relike, you're messy. That's
(07:33):
pretty much get your issue andget out my seat. Yeah, it's
probably what's that? Yep. Youknow, keeping it g for kids. But
God, God, God's helped me grow.
Here's step by step. So yeah,that's pretty much where this
first started with Breanna. Andit was really just, you know, I
(07:53):
was the guy that he was the guythat I was sharing, you know, a
desperate. And, you know, hehelped me out a lot with
learning, you know, how to dothe job, how to navigate, you
know, different relationshipswith people in the job, work
relationships with people.
salutely Absolutely. You did?
You know, I wouldn't let youknow that. But But she did.
(08:13):
Definitely do it. So it's kindof like a, you know, big brother
mentor type of thing, in a way.
And so from there, um, therewere times when he would come
in, you know, in day shift,because certain things, you
know, things got really busy.
And they would always used totalk about like, Hey, we're
going out, you know, later atnight, you know, just to go get
something to eat. They wouldalways have weekends. We're
(08:34):
working weekends for a while,right. When we were a couple
months. Yeah. And so so they wascars, their lunch break, it
would pretty much be dinner, andthey would go grab food and
stuff like that. And they werelike, We have to work. How about
we all just get together likeday shift and night shift. And I
had mentioned my sister to them.
And they were like, just bringyour sister be cool. And I'm
like, I'll pick up I'll seey'all all the time. I mean, no
one want to go.
Ray Mayfield (08:59):
Knock on players.
So we were going out. We've beenworking hard weekends for a
couple of months in a row andmeeting so many guys. Night
Shift, went out a couple timeson Friday night, hung out, have
dinner, you know, whatever. Andthen there was a Saturday that
came and we're like, Hey, man,we're going to go out tonight.
Let's invite everybody. So thisis the second time we invited
tear out a couple times withthis. So let's let's be clear.
(09:19):
She always said no. I was like,Yeah, whatever. So this time, I
was like, Hey, man, you want tocome out with this. And I was
like, bring your sister you talkabout it all the time. So bring
them with you, whatever, just tomake her feel more comfortable.
So she wasn't just hanging outwith a pack of wolves. So
anyway, um, you know, fastforward to the night they wanted
that they were available tocome. Like I said, we live in
Northern Virginia. So we'regoing out to a place in DC just
(09:39):
to hang out. They were bowlingor some I don't know. And Tiara
is like, hey, my, my sister'sboyfriend has a spot in DC that
he owns we can go to I was like,oh bed perfect. I'm thinking I
have free free free drinks. So,you know, we might have up to DC
we get there and uh As usual,I'm like, hey, t we're here. Oh,
(10:01):
we're just leaving the house.
Oh, got it. Okay, cool. So, youknow, we're in DC there and
they're out a little furtherwest and Virginia. So it's gonna
take them probably an hour toget there. Fast forward in time.
You know, we've we've we went toa couple different spots by then
and then they said they'rethere. So we went back to the
spot was supposed to meet hersisters boyfriends bar. And, you
(10:23):
know, we're sitting
Tiara Jones (10:23):
It was really her boyfriend, but they were just
friends. But, okay, continue.
Ray Mayfield (10:27):
All I could do is I'm recalling the story you told
me.
Okay, so your sister's boyfriendso
Tiara Jones (10:31):
as you were,
Ray Mayfield (10:32):
thank you, we get to that spot. And then they you
know, she's like, hey, well comeon upstairs. Now my God calling
my backs to the door when theguys are going. There's tiara.
So I'm like, Hey, what's up tglad you can make it also sounds
like she's my sister. Nicole islike, Hey, what's up, girl, give
her a hug. She said I love you.
I was like I said, Excuse me.
She said what she said my nameis Nicole was like, okay, ya
(10:53):
know? Love you. Hey, helps meall the time. I don't know about
you. But I haven't me all thetime. So I guess you'd like
like, you know, a lot of womentell me they love me. So we got
to find your place online. Thisthe life I was living back then.
So, um, you know, the night goeson? We're still hanging out at
work. I was talking to herboyfriend's bar. And we're just
(11:17):
kicking out the being orderedsome food and had had, you know,
some adult beverages. beveragesbecause yes, me and my sister
were even Wilder, we invited herto a bar and she's like, yeah,
we're fasting. I was like, Whoa,this is gonna be interesting. So
you get the plan. Okay. Yeah,you guys. And honestly, this
(11:38):
this, that night taught me a lotabout you and your sister. But
we'll get to that. Maybe fivepodcasts from now. So we get to
the other spot was like a gamingroom? You know, is? Are we
allowed to say the name of theplace? I don't know it was
darts. It was you know? Yes. Thegame room I'll tell you the name
of if you want to know the nameof the DMV, I'll tell you. So we
(12:00):
went down to the undergroundgaming room. Also, we're down
there hanging out. It was a clubwas music going. But we were on
the side where the adults hangout who play like pool and throw
darts. So some will call thosenames. So like we're hanging out
chillin and throwing darts andterrorists. Their system goes
like, Hey, I know how to playdarts. And then she's ready to
(12:22):
get right to a dart with a guysent up there by the target is
like, Hey, man, probably not agood idea. Probably Wait, he
moves so you don't hit him. Soyou know, she didn't know how to
play. So I was giving her sometips on how to how to shoot
darts. And she became better.
Because everybody that I helpbecomes awesome at whatever they
want to be. True story. Here wego. So night goes on midnight
hits Sierra and assists to takea toast of cranberry juice with
(12:45):
this was a cranberry juice. Itwas Southern we're water out.
Yeah, it was juice on water.
Yeah. And then that's prettymuch tonight.
Tiara Jones (12:56):
And then from there we go. Long story short. From
there. My sister becameinterested in Ray. And there
were multiple other outings thatwe went on. And pretty much the
rest was was history when itcame to that to that point. So
my co worker, Ray and then cobecause at one point Ray became
kind of my boss, and not really,but I guess he was like the
(13:17):
Quality Manager,
Ray Mayfield (13:18):
If I said get here you got here
Tiara Jones (13:23):
So yeah, so my coworker and the person
that I shared a seat with a deskwith, okay, my boss, and then
ended up being my brother inlaw. Crazy, crazy, crazy, it's
still blows my mind to this day,sometimes about it, whatever. So
we've had many different levelsof our relationship when it
comes to you know, religiousbeing on a strictly work
(13:44):
relationship. And then himseeing me at home in my element.
And yes, it is night and day
Ray Mayfield (13:51):
back then back then Tiara Tiara was a little
more jagged and issues now.
We're going to school, as youknow,
Tiara Jones (13:58):
it was a stressful time in my life.
Yeah. Yeah. You were younger,too. So you know, there's
there's always that so not me. Imean, but you know, you always
been cool, man. Yeah, so like,you know, as we went on separate
paths, and our professionalgrowth, you know, tear going one
way but kind of still staying onthe technology, technology
(14:21):
cutting trends. And as I'm onthe side of, you know, system
analysis, system development forthe Department of fence. You
know, I was like, Hey, man, likeif you ever need Neptune you
haven't even want to change inwhich don't eat like hot. Let me
in like slash say, No, we see weworked but we always saw each
other after work was, you know,of course, our sister was in
(14:42):
love with me. And I was in lovewith her sister, too. So yeah,
we're married at this point. Soyou know, we're, it's family was
hanging out. Never a dullmoment. And then I think, you
know, Tiara, Tiara, hit herceiling and ready to do
something different and hit meup and I'm grateful. You know
that I was working for a guy Iwas looking for talented people
(15:03):
and wanted to hire a young blackwoman. And we had the
opportunity to do so. And Tiaracame on board. Yeah. started
working together again. Yep.
This time I was again her boss.
But then I said, Hey, you knowwhat? We're on the same level.
Ray Mayfield (15:17):
Cool, its cool.
Tiara Jones (15:18):
each other bosses you don't had to call me sir
anymore? It's cool. But yeah,and then from working together
in a department offense, anotheropportunity presented itself to
start a company.
Right. And I mean, at thatpoint, both of us were kind of
over working for other people,we both had a lot of things that
we wanted to do. But we werekind of limited to do that,
based on who we were working forat the time. And so we started,
(15:42):
you know, looking at otheropportunities. God started
opened up a lot of doors, and wewere like, Well, you know, what
if we do try to just try thisthing and start our business on
our own, because we have talkedabout it before, but I was
always the one like, have yougot to learn more about that
Ray Mayfield (15:58):
So if I know anything about Tiara Tiara is
next episode?
not a risk taker. Tiara Tiarahas to she's like she said
before she's she's theanalytical side, Tiara is
breaking down the, you know,down to the micro detail about
decisions that she makes plantsoff to you the world, the world.
Part of reason, you know, theworld is so great is because
(16:19):
people like you, right? Otherparts because he liked me.
Because I was like, Yo, I'mtired. I'm making a move. Go.
Tiara Jones (16:27):
Yep. And that's where you have this balance of
how we started strategicconsulting still, to this day.
Exactly. Exactly.
Ray Mayfield (16:36):
It works well, though.
Tiara Jones (16:37):
So yeah, I mean, we've been two years strong. And
our second year in was kind ofwhen COVID hit, you hit the
pandemic hit. And we startedkind of in the summer, we took
advantage of the extra time thatwe had, being at home, and we
started doing what we called thefront runner live. And so we
went Yep, Facebook, Instagram,we went live every week, there's
(16:58):
going on at this point, nothingwas I know, we talked about
things being scripted and thingslike that, but it really isn't
scripted. But that was that waspretty much just a really free
fall.
Yeah, we had, like we were wewould do is like get a topic
like that day. Put it up onsocial media by Hey, come join
us the day before, beforetypically when we do it, but I
(17:21):
found it to be quite quiteamazing. Personally, because
like I think that really showedme like a lot we got to like a
lot of love, like our friendsyou know, saying like, like
cattle with the high schoolwhich was in the military with
friends I met up here working ina professional environment,
people like robot like it was itwas amazing to see them come on
and give support and then alsobe engaged in a conversation. So
(17:41):
I was pretty dope.
Yeah, it was. And so I mean, wekept up with that. Every week
from I think we had maybe one ortwo breaks, because it was
family birthdays. And you know,that famous important for us. So
we took a break. We did thatfrom July to December. And then
we say you know what, you know,things are starting to pick up
with, you know, our, you know,kind of nine to five jobs or day
(18:01):
jobs and things like that. Andwe said we still want to keep
this up, but we can't keep it upin this capacity. And so we kind
of switch gears and we startedthe front runner packet.
Yay, all Tiara's I did. I like Ilike the Facebook Live. But I
think the podcasts gonna be justas cool to let me go still do
live. So I sawYeah, most definitely can do. I
just knew with me, I like to beconsistent and being consistent
(18:22):
with everything that we hadyesterday that her name is
Sierra sheduled Oh, I findwhatever shedule If it was up to
Ray, he would have been like,oh, we'll do the lads when we
get to. And I'm like, No,
Ray Mayfield (18:39):
no, no, no, we would continue doing the lives
every Wednesday, I would admitaway so like so like, you know,
with with me being back, like ata nine to five grind. My My days
are ridiculous. And, you know,my, my amazing wife, my two
beautiful daughters. And thenthe next thing you know, I blink
my eyes. And it's the next dayin the morning, my alarms went
off. So they the days go bypretty quick for me. But I would
(18:59):
have did everything I could toshift and make it work. But no
worries, we're here so
Tiara Jones (19:03):
and we were kind of to go on the path of let's not
try to overwhelm ourselves. Anddo you know too much when we
don't have to learn. And soyeah, we're still learning how
to manage a nine to five ratemanaging 95 with a wife, kids
and she has her you know her ownbusiness as well. And so as a
boss, we were we found in ourfounder and our group. And I
think this is going to work outpretty well. In addition to
(19:25):
doing the lives you know, whenwe can work. And so you know,
from this story, which I'm surenot a lot of you were probably
expecting. I could say this.
Just don't resist any of the Godordained curveballs that comes
your way because if you wouldhave came to me and said, Oh
yeah, you're going to be goinginto business but your brother
in law that you've met when youfirst started working, I'm gonna
(19:46):
like you're right, that soundsinsane. But God had a plan from
the very beginning because Iactually had a different job
that I was going to go to and itwas actually what I thought at
the time was kind of my dreamemployer and I turned it down.
Kind of mostly because of thecommute. And it just I wasn't at
peace with it. But I see nowthat this is the reason why I
wasn't at peace with it becauseGod wanted me to be at this
(20:07):
particular job in order to meetRay and other people that I met
her to get to this point rightnow. No,
yeah, absolutely, I think Ithink we can all look back at
what we in our fleshly body seea disappointment. And then once
we mature a little bit and say,you know, it was God's plan, you
know, me, so it's as awesome asawesome. Everything happens for
(20:28):
a reasonit does. And it's all bigger
than you. And so just get out ofyourself and just, you know,
stay in the will of God. So, sofrom us, as you can see, with
this first episode, you're goingto just get us as exactly how we
are, we're not planning toreally do a lot of editing or
nothing, just you're just gonnaget this right. How was the
sheer conversation and talkingjust with the lives but we're
going to have, you know, more ofan overview of what we're
(20:51):
talking about up, it's gonna bemore prepared, you're still
gonna get how we are?
Yeah, yeah, no doubt, no doubt,like, we're gonna give you guys
great content. I think you guyswho for those who follow us on a
live, we're engaged in aconversation, solid stuff, we're
the direction we're going tothings we talk about, you know,
our background. You know, whilewe do that, outside of
(21:15):
academics, our background is inthe tech sector is in helping
companies grow. Whether you owna small startup yourself, or
you're working for a smallstartup where you have an idea,
or, you know, we come from abackground where we help
companies grow, we've helpedcertain initiatives and
technologies to grow intosomething big. You know, so we
bring that that perfectcombination of things to the
(21:37):
table. You know, we're lookingat program management, you know,
you're looking at best hiringpractices you're looking at, you
know, how do I start my companyand product development,
development, and you're lookingat how to bring a creative and
fun and joyful environment toyour organization. Those are
things we can definitely assist.
Yeah, absolutely.
So thank you for joining us onthe first episode of the front
(21:59):
runner podcast. Until next time,
Ray Mayfield (22:02):
Peace yall
Tiara Jones (22:03):
Stay solid
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