June 24, 2025 • 35 mins
Gina Schaefer shares her journey from building a multi-million dollar hardware store chain to becoming a professional speaker, offering insights on overcoming self-doubt and breaking barriers in male-dominated industries.
• No one thought Gina would succeed as a woman in the hardware industry, which created initial self-doubt that she had to overcome
• Branding is more than logos and colors, it's about what people think about you when you're not in the room
• Business development requires systematization, including targeting specific audiences rather than trying to appeal to everyone
• Successful entrepreneurs must be prepared to fail, look stupid, and make wrong choices as part of their growth process
• Understanding your value and charging appropriately is crucial, especially for women in business
• Recognizing and naming your fears (Gina named the chip on her shoulder "June") can help you manage them
• Play the long game, know what you want, create a strategy, be open to pivoting, and stay both hungry and self-aware
• It's essential to balance confidence with constructive self-criticism to grow professionally
To find out more about how Grit Blueprint can help you grow your business, check us out at our website, gritblueprint.com.
🎥 Watch the Video Version of This Episode
Catch the video version of The Grit Blueprint Podcast on my personal YouTube channel:
Stefanie Couch on YouTube
📧 Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Get exclusive updates and insights from Grit Blueprint:
Sign Up Here
✨ Stay Connected
- Website: GritBlueprint.com
- Instagram: @Grit.Blueprint
- LinkedIn: Grit Blueprint
💼 Follow Stefanie Couch
- Instagram: @StefanieCouchOfficial
- LinkedIn: Stefanie Couch
- Personal Website: StefanieCouch.com
🚀 What Is Grit Blueprint?
Grit Blueprint helps businesses in the building materials and construction industries grow through expert marketing, branding, and AI-driven tools.
📅 Book a Call
Learn how we can help your business thrive:
Schedule a Call
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Gina Schaefer (00:00):
No one thought I was going to succeed as a woman
in the hardware industry, and soI immediately started with a
lot of self-doubt, and I woke upevery morning thinking am I
good enough?
Is this going to work?
Am I going to keep my teamemployed?
What I really needed to hearwas that I could do it.
Stefanie Couch (00:13):
Having that hunger and that awareness of
where you're going.
It helps you stay on track, andespecially when it gets hard, I
think that's a message that Iwould give any person, but
especially women Know what youwant, know how you think you're
going to get there, know you'regoing to have to pivot, but stay
hungry and also stay aware ofthe feedback you're getting.
Gina Schaefer (00:33):
Be ready for anything, be ready to roll with
the changes, be ready to rollwith the punches, be ready to be
encouraged, insulted,challenged, overruled, all of
those things.
But then I would also tell herto not let any of that stop her
To remember that you know, ifshe's there, she's there for a
reason.
If she wants to be there, sheneeds to stand up for what she
(00:53):
believes in, not to be afraid tostand out, to stick out.
That all of those things willprobably work in her favor.
Really, I want it to be knownfor empowering women in the
hardware industry.
Just because the worldunderestimates us doesn't mean
our fate is pre-written.
Stefanie Couch (01:10):
Welcome to the Grit Blueprint podcast, the show
for bold builders, brandleaders and legacy makers in the
construction and buildingindustry.
I'm your host, Stefanie Couchand I've been in this industry
my entire life.
Whether we're breaking downwhat's working in sales and
marketing, new advances in AIand automation, or interviewing
(01:34):
top industry leaders, you'regoing to get real world
strategies to grow your business, build your brand and lead your
team.
Let's get to work.
Welcome to the Grit BlueprintPodcast with Stephanie Couch.
I am here today in WashingtonDC with my client and friend,
Gina Schaefer.
Welcome to the podcast, thankyou, Stephanie.
(01:55):
And we are here actually doingsome filming for some
promotional stuff and we figured, why not film a podcast while
we're here, why not?
So let's get started.
All right, we are working todayon some amazing content and
we've been working together fora little over six months now and
we found each other through aspeaking engagement, a women's
(02:16):
conference actually in Chicago,and we met.
You were actually in the lobbygiving away books and you are
somebody's pens and you signedmy book and I thought you were
fabulous and we have becomefriends and you've been one of
my clients.
Tell me a little bit about theexperience working together and
(02:38):
maybe some of the things thatyou've enjoyed or that have
helped you.
Gina Schaefer (02:41):
Well, after I was scared to death of doing
anything on my own, I was soexcited to find you because you
really laid out exactly one, howyou were building your business
and two, what you could help medo for mine, and that was
really important for someone tohelp articulate what my vision
was for my business too.
And somehow you, just you knewright away.
(03:02):
You also knew whatorganizational things I needed.
I can be a little flightysometimes when it comes to
checking the boxes.
I can make the list, but thenactually getting through the
list is important, and so westarted working together so that
I could build a speakingbusiness and methodically get
through all of those things thatneeded to happen in order for
me to look like a professionallook and be a professional
(03:24):
speaker.
Stefanie Couch (03:30):
And you are a CEO, so you've had this team of
people doing things, and I findthat a lot of times with
businesses in general, but alsowith people that are doing
something on their own, thathave had a big team, it is
really hard to go from beingable to have a person to do
these things, so you are theperson or you have to find
someone else.
So that's really what westarted working on was figuring
out what's really important andwhat could kind of wait and what
was a nice to have and what wasa must have.
(03:52):
What were the must haves foryou when we started working
together?
Gina Schaefer (03:55):
Well, I mean at the and it's very basic, I
needed a website and a businesscard.
I mean, One of my superpowersis delegation and so when you
talk about having a team, Iwould have just called someone
in marketing and said, hey, willyou make me a business card or
will you figure out what my newbranding should be?
We had to start really at thevery, very foundational levels
(04:15):
and people who don't understandhow important those things are
and I did, but I don't think Ihad ever seen them layered the
way you layered them, and thatwas really cool for me to watch
unfold.
Stefanie Couch (04:25):
Branding is a topic that I think most people
undervalue.
How important brand is forpeople and for companies?
Gina Schaefer (04:35):
Tell me what branding means to you.
Well, branding means a lot ofthings, like you said, I think,
for me.
Watching it happen, though, forme was knowing, for example, if
somebody asked me for a pieceof collateral, I could hand them
something that had theprofessional pictures, the same
colors, the same fonts.
I mean, truly branding isconsistency.
But then, across all of thematerials that you're going to
(04:56):
need for any kind of event and Icould it was like plug and play
.
After you put together mymaterials for me and I had never
.
I had never seen that happen.
I mean, I think it had happenedin my business so many years
ago that I had started taking itfor granted, but then, when it
was about me personally, Ireally felt like I was put
together.
Stefanie Couch (05:13):
Yeah, branding is something that people think
of as logos and colors and fonts, and that is a part of it, for
sure, but branding is reallywhat people think about with you
as a person or your business.
When you're not in the room yes, after they've done business
with you, maybe before they evenknow who you are that first
impression of like this personstands for this thing.
(05:35):
They do these things and youreally wanted to become a person
that was known for certainthings.
So tell me what you wanted tobe known for and what you were
trying to do, which is verydifferent than your career that
you had done for 20 plus years.
Gina Schaefer (05:49):
Yeah, it was.
So I think I wanted to be knownfor a couple of things.
Really, I wanted to be knownfor empowering women in the
hardware industry, anyunderrepresented, underestimated
group of people.
You know, the foundation for myvery first speech was just
because the world underestimatesus doesn't mean our fate is
pre-written.
And that meant a lot to mebecause I was very
(06:09):
underestimated in my hard workcareer when I got started and I
knew I could do it and I knewyou know I hire a lot of folks
from recovery.
I hire a lot of returningcitizens.
I talked to a lot of women intraditionally male fields.
I know they can do it and so Iwanted to be known, I hope, as
someone who was supportive inthose efforts for everybody else
.
Stefanie Couch (06:27):
Yeah, and building culture is something
you're very good at and youworked really hard to build at
your company, with your 13hardware stores and almost 300
team members that you have.
Tell me how you wanted to beseen as a culture builder, and
what you talk about is a littledifferent than the typical how
to build your culture.
(06:48):
What does that mean to you andhow did that story become what
you wanted to be known for?
Gina Schaefer (06:53):
Well, one of my one of my longtime heroes is a
guy named father Gregory Boylewho started homeboys industries
in LA, which is just thisincredible nonprofit.
And in his first book father Gsays even gangs have a culture.
And I remember being a youngCEO and hearing that and I kind
of wanted to say, well, duh,right, I mean, every group has a
(07:17):
culture.
But it had never reallyoccurred to me that that culture
could be as negative as itcould be positive.
And then, as leaders, our rolewas to make sure that it was
nurtured and defined, and bynurtured I mean what does the
team want it to be and how canyou, as the leader, grow it?
I wasn't going to say these areour core values.
I wanted my team to articulatehow they wanted to be perceived,
what they wanted our values tobe, what was important to them,
(07:40):
and then my job was to helpbring that to life.
Stefanie Couch (07:42):
I think that leads into, pretty naturally,
the talk about value and what isvaluable to people.
And as we started looking atyour new business, really
figuring out, what was yourgo-to-market strategy, who did
you need to talk to, what wereyou going to talk to them about,
which we just kind of summed up, and then how are we going to
go about that process and that'ssomething a lot of businesses
(08:11):
really don't have is thatstrategy, which is something I
think is interesting?
You assume people have one andwe all kind of think we do, but
sometimes it's really big, like78 goals, and you just can't
accomplish that Right.
So I think, breaking that upinto a structure that's
digestible, that's doable, andworking through those things one
by one and we kind of did thatwith your system, and now we're
more into the businessdevelopment side of things,
because your brand is there andall those things are done what
(08:34):
does that look like for yougoing forward and what's
important to you as you start tobuild this, now that you have a
foundation?
Gina Schaefer (08:40):
Well, I mean, I think this is what you're
getting at.
There's a systemization when itcomes to business development
that I didn't understand before.
And working with you, goingthrough a public speaking
program that I went throughreally honing in on who you want
your audience to be, a lot ofus want to say I can talk to
everybody, I can be in everyindustry, I can talk to every
group of people, but that'sreally overwhelming.
(09:02):
And if I said to you, stephanie, I only want to talk to women
in the hardware industry and Idon't just want to talk to women
in the hardware industry, but Ineed a focus to start, sure,
you can hone in on and this isone of the things that you
really helped me do what are theorganizations that are having
events that need speakers andspeak to that group?
What are the companies thathave maybe an internal group for
the women in in their industrya tool company, for example,
(09:25):
that needs speakers for theevents?
That's the honing in.
That is really importantbecause, if you, I get very
excited.
I want to talk to everybody andthat's way too overwhelming.
So you really helped createthat.
And then I think one of theother organizational pieces that
was very important for me thatyou helped me with was creating
a CRM, implementing a CRM,making sure that I was again
(09:47):
methodically tracking where myleads were coming from, who I
could follow up with next yearthat might not have worked this
year.
Who they know that I can followup with.
I mean, it's all of the dottedlines from where I started in a
very, very systematized way.
Stefanie Couch (10:01):
Yeah, systems and data are powerful.
Yes, and sometimes for a smallbusiness or a solopreneur it's
almost impossible to get allthat together.
It feels overwhelming.
But if you start to take it atone at a time and then you start
to follow up on those things,it's really powerful.
We talked a little bit aboutvalue and it's really about what
is that customer find valuable?
(10:23):
Because we can build the mostvaluable thing to us, but if no
one cares about it no one wouldpay for it Then it's not really
valuable.
It's not valuable to yourtarget audience, and I think
figuring out your unique valuefor the perfect audience is
something that people strugglewith all the way up to the
enterprise business, because weall do want to sell to everyone
and help everyone.
(10:44):
You and I care a lot aboutimpact.
That doesn't just mean dollarsand cents.
That means really changingthings people, perceptions, all
those moments that we try to do.
And when you figure out whowould find your message the most
valuable and then you start toreally hone in and lean into
them, that's where you canbecome the most impactful.
(11:04):
In my opinion, and I think foryou it's starting in the place.
That is the person that youwere a few years ago, 20 years
ago, when you started in thehardware industry, what message
did you need to hear to reallyimpact your life?
What is that message for you?
Gina Schaefer (11:20):
Well, I mean, what I really needed to hear was
that I could do it.
My parents had said that to memy entire life.
But when I joined an industrythat was very foreign to me,
that I had no experience in, Ineeded someone to say it's OK,
you're going to be fine withenough determination.
And when I ask a millionquestions, I had to put in all
of the work.
But the flip side of that washearing people say you'll be
(11:42):
fine, yeah, you've got this.
Stefanie Couch (11:49):
You flip side of that was hearing people say
you'll be fine, you've got this,you can do this.
We talk about this a lot, and Ithink it's one of the biggest
lessons that I would tell anyperson thinking about
entrepreneurship.
Number one is you better bereal, sure you're super into
this, like for real.
This can't just be a wild ideathat you woke up with.
It's like this could be fun,wrong, no, um, you gotta have a
hunger for it and a real need toeither fix it, to impact it, to
(12:12):
build it, whatever you're doing.
And then, secondarily, you'vegot to be ready to absolutely
fail and to look stupid, to feelstupid, to just do the wrong
thing.
Like just you make the wrongchoice, you take the wrong path,
and I think that's somethingthat I would tell anyone, and I
know you've lived that for 20years now.
(12:34):
It's like you've had to closestores, you've, I'm sure, lost
money, you've hired the wrongperson.
You've hired the right personand done the wrong thing with
them.
I mean, I've done all of thesethings in my two years owning my
own business.
And you'll do them again,absolutely Over and over again,
but it's figuring out thatthat's okay, yeah, and that the
most successful people in life,but also in entrepreneurship,
(13:01):
even more so because you own somuch of your own destiny.
It's probably been a rocky road, you know, and having that
mentality up front is really theonly thing that's going to keep
you going.
Gina Schaefer (13:10):
I gave two speeches last year, and both
independent of each other.
Both CEOs said will you pleasefocus on where you failed, where
you really struggled?
And it was a really interestinglesson for me, because my glass
is always three quarters full.
I just everything's great.
I'm going to tell you therosiest part of the crappiest
day, because that's the partthat I want to remember, right,
(13:31):
and both of these CEOs said whenyou get up on stage, I want you
to tell my team that somethingbad happened or you had a huge
challenge and you still are thishappy and this positive and
this successful.
And it was a really goodexercise for me because it
really made me think about thestores that we had to close,
perhaps people I had to fire.
I said we hire folks whorecovery, people who went back
(13:53):
out, meaning they started usingdrugs again.
That was heartbreaking for me,but, damn it, I couldn't let it
stop me.
I had to still get up the nextday.
I still had people that wererelying on me and so, um, I have
to remind myself and we saythis often you can do hard
things.
I was doing the hard things, Ijust didn't want to talk about
it.
Stefanie Couch (14:10):
And that you probably should expect this to
be hard.
Oh yeah, I mean, why wouldn't?
Gina Schaefer (14:14):
I, I can do this.
My husband calls it the nextshiny object and like the 10%
rule, I'll, I'll climb.
I climbed Kilimanjaro with himand he said are you going to
train?
I'm like no, it's 90% attitude.
He's like get on the treadmillget on a hill.
Stefanie Couch (14:26):
You're not.
Gina Schaefer (14:28):
But I mean, I think you know that.
I mean it goes back tosuccessful entrepreneurs, I
think have that mindset like ohyeah, I can do this yeah, and I
think that's the only reasonthat anything like that ever
happens.
Stefanie Couch (14:40):
because we're crazy enough.
I think we can climb MountKilimanjaro without ever walking
a mile.
Gina Schaefer (14:45):
Yeah Of course we can do this.
I live in Washington DC.
It is a flat city.
Stefanie Couch (14:49):
I needed to find a hill to go up that mountain.
Gina Schaefer (14:52):
What?
Stefanie Couch (14:52):
would you say, is the thing that you would
spend all the time again forthat one?
Gina Schaefer (14:59):
thing.
What I would tell prospectiveclients is that you are going to
give, you will create theentire foundation for building
the business.
What I have learned, though,most specifically, is that you
can give me all the tools in theworld, and if I don't act on it
, it was a waste of money.
And so I really think that theone thing particularly when it
comes to branding you've said ifyou're gonna show up on social
media, you know, particularlywhen it comes to branding,
you've said if you're going toshow up on social media, you
(15:20):
show up two times a week, threetimes a week, four times a week.
You do not show up every othermonth, and I knew those things.
But when it came time to mespending my money to pay for
someone to help me build thisbusiness, I needed to actually
act on what I knew, and that'sprobably what I learned the most
.
First of all, I'm scared todeath.
She's going to be disappointedin me.
So if Stephanie said I need todo this, I'm going to do it
(15:44):
because it was a big commitment,and I think you probably took a
chance on me being your clientas much as you're getting paid.
But I could be a jerk, I couldbe unpleasant, I could not
follow through.
And I mean, maybe I've been allof those things at some point.
I don't think I have, but I dothink, as business owners, we
want people to do what we'reteaching them to do or what we
(16:06):
hope they do.
Stefanie Couch (16:06):
Yeah, you want to leave the engagement knowing
that it's not just like, okay, Igot a paycheck.
Yeah, because that actually isthe worst, guiltiest thing.
I think it's like if I don'tfeel like I helped you and your
business is exponentially betterand I brought you exponential
value, then I feel like it was afailure and I think that's how
I lived my life.
(16:27):
That's probably a little bit ofthat high achieving
perfectionist coming back out,but I do think that's what makes
an exceptional person in lifeand businesses.
If you want to absolutely knockit out of the park every time,
then you have a vested interestin that client and like we are
still helping each other.
I think that collaboration.
(16:47):
I also think for me, workingwith you, you had done something
in your business as a powerfulwoman very similar to me.
I mean, we have a prettysimilar personality in some ways
, different in other ways, butyou had done it and you built a
$50 million business with 13locations and you're a badass
(17:08):
woman and I was helping you dosomething that you had never
done before and you two lessonswere.
You not only reached out forhelp and allowed someone that
was younger than you, lessaccomplished in the monetary,
like climbing the ladder way.
You allowed me to help you dosomething you weren't sure of in
(17:29):
your newer business venture,but I learned from you.
Okay, this can be done.
I can do this because I've beenvery open about wanting to
build a hundred million dollarbusiness and I really want to
change the industry.
And both of those things arecrazy.
I mean, we know that.
Like, yeah, they're big goals.
Most people's businesses only Ithink, four percent of people
(17:50):
ever get to a million dollars.
That's people, not women.
Yeah, I think less than onepercent of women ever hit a
million dollars a year.
And I'm saying I want to hitnine figures.
Gina Schaefer (17:59):
Yeah.
Stefanie Couch (18:00):
And that's still going to be my goal, and you
have never you've been like.
You're going to do it.
I have no doubt, and there'svery few people that have that
resilience to actually do whatyou've done and then to be able
to tell me like you're going todo this.
You're going to do it.
Gina Schaefer (18:16):
It's going to be fucking hard.
Stefanie Couch (18:18):
Well, if you're going to do it, you're going to
get there and so that's thething.
I've learned from you the mostis learn from other people that
may be less accomplished thanyou in a lot of ways, but more
accomplished in certain areas,yes, and then allow that person
to inspire you to do things thatare impossible.
And find the people that havekind of already done the
impossible thing.
(18:39):
Get around them and learn fromthem.
Gina Schaefer (18:41):
Surround yourself with people that are bigger,
better, smarter, older.
All of the things, all of theerrs right, there are two.
When I started the hardwarestore, you'll appreciate this.
The nuts and bolts aisle hasthousands of items, thousands.
I didn't know what any of themdid and some of them have
multiple names.
There's a.
Molly bold, and there's ananchor and they're the same damn
thing I would.
(19:03):
The original store.
It was this weird skinny aisleand there was a doorway, an
opening.
I would stand in the doorwayliterally like a, like a block,
and I would tell the vendor whenhe was there.
I would say I'm not movinguntil you tell me what these
three things do.
And he, of course, waswonderful, he humored me the
whole time.
But if I was afraid to ask himwhat my items did, I would not
(19:23):
be able to sell If I was tooembarrassed to admit I didn't
know how to use them, and so wehave to be willing to ask for
help.
And there were three distincttimes, prior to working with you
, that I hired.
We hired a business coachbecause there were things I used
to say, probably still say itIs there an adult in the room
that can save me?
Where's the adult that's goingto come to my rescue?
Well, I was smart enough torealize I think 2005 was the
(19:45):
first time we hired a businesscoach that I could hire an adult
to help me out, and that alonewas worth every penny that we
spent.
Stefanie Couch (19:53):
And when you're starting in your business,
you're the, you're the one cause.
You don't have the money to paysomeone to help you do that.
Um, but here's the thing I willsay about that.
There are so many freeresources now YouTube, like a
miracle, um.
I mean, I make free content allthe time about how to do
LinkedIn, how to I talk aboutit's personal branding all the
(20:14):
time on on LinkedIn and speakingengagement, because I think
there's a lot of people thatcan't afford to pay me to do
this and I still want to help.
It doesn't mean they can't,shouldn't be helped.
That's exactly right.
And so then hopefully, thatfree help is so great that they
get to a level where I can workto get them to the next place
and they pay.
But that's not the point of allof this.
(20:35):
I'm going to be successful andhelp other people be successful
by giving value to everyone Ican help.
Yes's not the whole world, butespecially in our niche, and I
think every single person that Ican do that for I want to, and
that also feeds the fire, likeyesterday, I got a message on
LinkedIn from someone who was anemployee of a client I was
(20:58):
visiting this week.
She sent me an amazing message.
I showed it to you and we bothsaid I had said this to myself.
And we both said I had saidthis to myself and you verbally
said it.
This is what we do.
Gina Schaefer (21:07):
This is what makes it worth it.
Stefanie Couch (21:08):
And that's why you get on the plane to go to
the freezing place to do thething.
That's why you go to the speech, even though you're not really
getting paid as much as youshould to do that one thing, but
it's a cause you believe in.
Yes, that's why you help theperson who can't pay you, and
those people are.
The reason I'm sitting righthere is because someone did that
(21:29):
for me, yep, and they took thechance.
They gave me the shot, theyanswered the question.
That was super annoying becauseI'd asked it a hundred times.
They believed in me when Inecessarily wasn't the person
that could accomplish it, butthey let me try it anyway.
Gina Schaefer (21:47):
That's what this is all about.
I just got chills.
I mean it's the ripple effectyou help one person and they
could help 10 and it just, itjust keeps playing forward, and
forward, and forward.
I mean I hired folks in 2003who still call me or send
Christmas cards, who say here'swhere I am now and this is, this
is the foundation that I reallyfeel like I got from you or
your business that 20 yearslater, I've carried forward and
it's so impactful.
Stefanie Couch (22:08):
And you got to get out of your own way because
you're not going to be able todo all the things you need to do
to get to where you need to go.
You're going to have to figureit out.
I think that's the biggestlesson I've learned in
entrepreneurship.
Going back to the perfectionthing is like oh well, now that
I'm an entrepreneur, there is nosuch thing as perfection.
Everything I'm doing is new insome way, I mean.
(22:34):
And if it's not, then I'm notactually pushing myself, and so
I figure you know, with you atthis point in your you've sold
this business, you're doingsomething different, you're a
speaker, you're building a wholenew business from scratch.
To have that gusto and thathunger that's one of the things
I love about you the most, and Ithink that is a core value in
my intrinsic self is like I'm sohungry, I want to do something
(22:56):
I've never done.
You have that and we see thatin each other, and I think we
actually feed that in each other.
I think we do Make each otherhung and I think we actually
feed that in each other.
I think we do make each otherhungrier and push harder, which
I love.
And to have a clientrelationship like that, where
you're pushing me, though Also,I mean, a few times you'd be
like why are you still talkingabout this Like?
And then like five minuteslater I say the same thing.
(23:16):
You're like oh well, you toldme you're going to do that last
week.
Why are you still talking aboutit?
Why haven't I done it?
We don't beat it Like, we neverget to the point of where we
don't need that person in ourlife, and I think that's that's
the best client relationship.
I think it's where you'reactually making each other
better and you're pushing eachother up Mount Kilimanjaro.
Gina Schaefer (23:36):
You know it's lonely being a CEO because you
don't have a boss.
And sometimes you want a bossor you want nobody's going to
walk in.
Nobody would walk into myoffice and say, hey, you stuck
at this, or you should do thisbetter, or why.
Why are you no one?
They just they assume you havethe answers, or or they're
afraid to tell you when you'refalling short.
You need, you need that person.
(23:56):
And I think we were able tocreate that relationship with
each other at a point where yourbusiness was very new and I was
just doing something supergreen.
I mean, I wouldn't even call ita business, it's just well.
It is a business now, but atthe time, like it was a wild ass
dream that I had, like I can dothis but that's how everything
starts, Exactly.
Stefanie Couch (24:13):
That's one of the best businesses start in a
garage table exactly, you knowconversation somewhere where
it's like this is a good idea.
But I think that hustle andthat hunger is what keeps you in
it when the days do get hardand it does seem impossible.
And I'm two years in, you're 22, 21.
Gina Schaefer (24:33):
Yeah, yeah.
Stefanie Couch (24:34):
And you're still striving for more every day,
which I think is amazing.
Thank you, and also having alot of fun.
I'm having so much fun Doingtravel and all of those things
with it.
Yeah, what's the mostchallenging thing for you going
into 2025?
What do you, what problem areyou going to solve in 2025?
Gina Schaefer (24:50):
Well, a problem for my business problem.
Well, specifically, finding newclients right.
Prospecting is a big deal forme, particularly if you're
afraid to make you know.
People think of cold calls, andit's certainly not cold calling
uh, what I'm, what I have inmind, but prospecting is just a
little terrifying, Um, and thenalso, getting paid what I think,
getting paid what I know I'mworth, Um, that is a challenge.
(25:11):
The speaking industry, uh, has alot of I mean just challenges
in general with what peopleperceive as the value for your
time on stage.
When I went through the classthat I took a year and a half
ago or so, one of the commentsthat stuck with me is that for
every minute of a speech, youpractice one hour.
And when I tell you if someonehires me for a 40 minute keynote
(25:33):
, I practice for 40 hours, I amnot lying, but when they want to
pay you 50 cents an hour, youlogically know that doesn't make
sense.
But you want to say yes, andI'm not doing this to make tons
of money, but I do want to valuethat those hours because I
could be doing something else.
Stefanie Couch (25:51):
And also, if you make tons of money, you can
choose what you do with itExactly.
You can give it away, which youdo a lot.
You can invest in someoneelse's business that they're
trying to get started.
Yes, you can get more reach,and so I think Even nonprofits
have to have money to continueto run, and you've got to have
that value of yourself as well,because that way people feel
(26:14):
like you're worth more.
Gina Schaefer (26:16):
If you ask for more and you own it.
Yes, and I know that I am and Ifeel like I'm doing the work to
get there.
I mean, there's a lot more workto do and I just need to
manifest that.
Stefanie Couch (26:28):
Yeah, absolutely , more work to do and I just, I
just need to manifest that yeah,absolutely.
We are both bold, brazen ladiesin industry that is male
dominated the hardware industry,the lumber and building
industry and we've come up witha lot of challenges in our
careers.
I know, and some of the timesthat I thought I couldn't do
something, you know I ended updoing it, but it was hard, it
(26:48):
was tough, there were a lot ofchallenges.
Tell me a little bit more aboutthe challenges that you've come
across and what you would tella young 20, 25 year old woman in
a place that's not necessarilybuilt for her?
Yeah, what would you tell herto do to be ready for, to know?
Gina Schaefer (27:06):
Well, I wish someone had had this
conversation with me when I was,when I was 30, right when I was
starting the first hardwarestore.
I would well, first I would say, be ready for anything, be
ready to roll with the changes,be ready to roll with the
punches, be ready to beencouraged, insulted, challenged
, overruled, all of those things.
But then I would also tell herto not let any of that stop her
(27:29):
to remember that, you know, ifshe's there, she's there for a
reason.
If she wants to be there, sheneeds to stand up for what she
believes in, not to be afraid tostand out, to stick out.
Um, that all of those thingswill probably work in her favor,
yeah, yeah.
Stefanie Couch (27:44):
I would also add to that.
I had a conversation a fewweeks ago with a woman that was
in a certain spot in her careerin a building industry role and
she felt really stuck and shesaid, well, they want me to do
this certain thing, and thenthat's the hindrance.
And she didn't really believethat was the hindrance, and so I
(28:05):
told her, I challenged her.
If you can get really honestwith yourself and you can truly
kind of take yourself out of thesituation and observe your
behaviors, what really isholding you back?
And I think we have to be openas women to say we do have
things we need to work on.
Sometimes we're not being heldback because we're a woman.
(28:27):
Maybe it's that we're not readyfor that role, we're not doing
a good enough job.
We're not being held backbecause we're a woman.
Maybe it's that we're not readyfor that role, we're not doing
a good enough job, we're notworking on certain things that
would move the needle for us.
You have to be truly transparentwith yourself and that is
really hard to do, especially ifyou believe in yourself and you
are confident.
It can actually be a hindranceto not look in the mirror and
say, okay, that wasn't the rightmove.
(28:49):
I screwed up there.
I could be better here, and Ithink it's a balance of that.
It's a balance of confidenceand of constructive criticism
for yourself or taking it onwhen others give it to you,
because I have seen some momentsin my career where I could have
done a lot better and I kind ofput that chip on my shoulder
saying like, oh, they're justdoing this because I'm a girl
(29:10):
yep you know it's self-awarenessis really important in these,
in these situations, for sureand you we've talked a lot about
chips on our shoulders, and Ithink it's okay to kind of have
that, because it makes you beable to like put, put it your
head down and grind throughsomething that's really tough.
But what is your perspective onhaving a chip on your shoulder?
Gina Schaefer (29:30):
Well, you know, I had a chip for years.
For for what?
The beginning?
And one reason like no one,thought I was going to succeed
as a woman in the hardwareindustry in a neighborhood that
was, you know, revitalizing, andso I immediately started with a
lot of self-doubt from somegroups of people, and so the
chip grew there.
But then, honestly, the chipmorphed into oh my God, the
competition's going to kill us.
And I woke up every morningthinking am I good enough?
(29:53):
Is this going to work?
Am I going to keep my teamemployed?
And I gave a speech a couple ofyears ago to a group of female
auto mechanics and you want totalk about bad-ass women?
3% of the auto mechanics in theUnited States are women, and so
I had the absolute pleasure ofbeing their keynote speaker.
And I decided, because theywork on cars, people name their
cars.
I was going to name the ship onmy shoulder and so I named her
(30:15):
June.
I don't know why, but I did,and I brought June to life to
try and relate to this audienceof women who worked on cars, and
it landed really well.
You know, it's always scarywhen it's kind of new material,
the way I was presenting it forthe first time, even though I
practiced a lot and it reallyresonated like, yeah, you can
personify things that freak youout, yeah, things that challenge
(30:36):
you, things that annoy you.
And I gave June a personalityand I wouldn't say I gave her a
burial.
She's still there a little bit.
I like to say that she's myfriend now.
Sure, um, frenemy maybesometimes, but you know you, we
need to own that kind of fear.
I also think, just to go backto your comment about
acknowledging and beingself-aware, we have to, we have
(30:57):
to know or understand thatthings don't happen overnight.
You might want uh, we'll justuse age, because it came up
earlier.
You might want a 21 to dosomething, but it might take you
until you're 30.
Like it did me, to really havethe guts and the chops and the
idea and the everything.
I mean, even then I didn't, butit's not going to happen
(31:17):
overnight.
Stefanie Couch (31:18):
That's a great point and I would definitely say
for me.
I learned that lesson sort ofthe hard way, cause, you know, I
was at a big corporation thingsdidn't really move quickly and
they definitely didn't movequickly enough for me, because
light speed is not quick enoughfor me.
And I got frustrated by that,you know, sometimes to my own
detriment, because I stoppedlistening to what was happening
(31:40):
and what was being said to me,because I was just like, well, I
should have gotten this jobalready or I should have already
been here.
And I think we often can playon a too small of a scale.
You know, there's a quote thatyou underestimate what you can
do in 10 years, but youoverestimate what you're doing
one year, right.
So there's somewhere in betweenthat and right now, where I'm
(32:00):
at in my life and my business is, I'm playing in a decades game.
So things that I want to do in10 years, where I want to be at
that certain mark and I want tofeel a certain way and be doing
a certain thing, it probablywill take me 10 years to get
there.
It might not, it might be seven, might be eight, but I'm okay
if it takes 10 because I have abig enough goal, but when you
(32:20):
don't have that plan and thatstrategy and the overall place
you're going to, I think it'seasy to get frustrated and quit
because you don't have thatplace you're pushing for in 10
years, seven years, six years.
But one thing that's helped meis to have a want list, and I
think it's okay for womenspecifically, but really for any
person, to have things that youjust want.
(32:41):
It's not something you need.
It's not like you have to havethis pay your bills or you need
to do this to eat or feed yourkids.
It is something where you justpurely want this.
I want to be a CEO, I want tohave my own business, I want to
hit a hundred million dollars,whatever.
I want to have this big impactand change the industry.
So I write that every single daywhen I'm at home and in my
normal routine I write down thesame list of wants.
(33:03):
Some of those things, over twoyears, have already been crossed
off.
I love it and having thathunger and that awareness of
where you're going it helps youstay on track and especially
when it gets hard and knowing,hey, if I really truly want this
thing, I'm going to have to fixthese other seven things to get
there, and that may take 10years, but I'm going to do that.
So I think that's a messagethat I would give any person,
(33:25):
but especially women, is knowwhat you want, know how you
think you're going to get there,know you're going to have to
pivot, but stay hungry and alsostay aware of the feedback
you're getting.
Where you can get better, canyou?
Gina Schaefer (33:39):
want a new hat.
I want a new hat.
Stefanie Couch (33:43):
It's unbelievable how many hats I
want.
Gina, I want a hat line is whatI want.
Gina Schaefer (33:48):
My own line of hats.
You know, I would like to.
I would like to be arepresentative, a model, that's
not the, an ambassador for aglasses company.
Well, that's what I'mmanifesting.
That's a good one.
Stefanie Couch (34:00):
And as many glasses and hats as we've
purchased, we probably our P&Lwould look a lot better if we
could do that.
Gina Schaefer (34:08):
I need yeah if the hats and glasses were less
expensive, maybe.
Stefanie Couch (34:11):
Yes.
So if you're listening to thisand you can make those realities
happen for us, we are alwaysopen to opportunities.
Gina Schaefer (34:17):
Those are our dreams.
Stefanie Couch (34:20):
That's it for this episode of the Grit
Blueprint Podcast.
For more tools, training andindustry content, make sure to
subscribe here and follow me onLinkedIn and other social media
platforms.
To find out more about how GritBlueprint can help you grow
your business.
Check us out at our website,gritblueprintcom.
No one thought I was going to succeed as a woman
in the hardware industry, and soI immediately started with a
lot of self-doubt, and I woke upevery morning thinking am I
good enough?
Is this going to work?
Am I going to keep my teamemployed?
What I really needed to hearwas that I could do it.
Stefanie Couch (00:13):
Having that hunger and that awareness of
where you're going.
It helps you stay on track, andespecially when it gets hard, I
think that's a message that Iwould give any person, but
especially women Know what youwant, know how you think you're
going to get there, know you'regoing to have to pivot, but stay
hungry and also stay aware ofthe feedback you're getting.
Gina Schaefer (00:33):
Be ready for anything, be ready to roll with
the changes, be ready to rollwith the punches, be ready to be
encouraged, insulted,challenged, overruled, all of
those things.
But then I would also tell herto not let any of that stop her
To remember that you know, ifshe's there, she's there for a
reason.
If she wants to be there, sheneeds to stand up for what she
(00:53):
believes in, not to be afraid tostand out, to stick out.
That all of those things willprobably work in her favor.
Really, I want it to be knownfor empowering women in the
hardware industry.
Just because the worldunderestimates us doesn't mean
our fate is pre-written.
Stefanie Couch (01:10):
Welcome to the Grit Blueprint podcast, the show
for bold builders, brandleaders and legacy makers in the
construction and buildingindustry.
I'm your host, Stefanie Couchand I've been in this industry
my entire life.
Whether we're breaking downwhat's working in sales and
marketing, new advances in AIand automation, or interviewing
(01:34):
top industry leaders, you'regoing to get real world
strategies to grow your business, build your brand and lead your
team.
Let's get to work.
Welcome to the Grit BlueprintPodcast with Stephanie Couch.
I am here today in WashingtonDC with my client and friend,
Gina Schaefer.
Welcome to the podcast, thankyou, Stephanie.
(01:55):
And we are here actually doingsome filming for some
promotional stuff and we figured, why not film a podcast while
we're here, why not?
So let's get started.
All right, we are working todayon some amazing content and
we've been working together fora little over six months now and
we found each other through aspeaking engagement, a women's
(02:16):
conference actually in Chicago,and we met.
You were actually in the lobbygiving away books and you are
somebody's pens and you signedmy book and I thought you were
fabulous and we have becomefriends and you've been one of
my clients.
Tell me a little bit about theexperience working together and
(02:38):
maybe some of the things thatyou've enjoyed or that have
helped you.
Gina Schaefer (02:41):
Well, after I was scared to death of doing
anything on my own, I was soexcited to find you because you
really laid out exactly one, howyou were building your business
and two, what you could help medo for mine, and that was
really important for someone tohelp articulate what my vision
was for my business too.
And somehow you, just you knewright away.
(03:02):
You also knew whatorganizational things I needed.
I can be a little flightysometimes when it comes to
checking the boxes.
I can make the list, but thenactually getting through the
list is important, and so westarted working together so that
I could build a speakingbusiness and methodically get
through all of those things thatneeded to happen in order for
me to look like a professionallook and be a professional
(03:24):
speaker.
Stefanie Couch (03:30):
And you are a CEO, so you've had this team of
people doing things, and I findthat a lot of times with
businesses in general, but alsowith people that are doing
something on their own, thathave had a big team, it is
really hard to go from beingable to have a person to do
these things, so you are theperson or you have to find
someone else.
So that's really what westarted working on was figuring
out what's really important andwhat could kind of wait and what
was a nice to have and what wasa must have.
(03:52):
What were the must haves foryou when we started working
together?
Gina Schaefer (03:55):
Well, I mean at the and it's very basic, I
needed a website and a businesscard.
I mean, One of my superpowersis delegation and so when you
talk about having a team, Iwould have just called someone
in marketing and said, hey, willyou make me a business card or
will you figure out what my newbranding should be?
We had to start really at thevery, very foundational levels
(04:15):
and people who don't understandhow important those things are
and I did, but I don't think Ihad ever seen them layered the
way you layered them, and thatwas really cool for me to watch
unfold.
Stefanie Couch (04:25):
Branding is a topic that I think most people
undervalue.
How important brand is forpeople and for companies?
Gina Schaefer (04:35):
Tell me what branding means to you.
Well, branding means a lot ofthings, like you said, I think,
for me.
Watching it happen, though, forme was knowing, for example, if
somebody asked me for a pieceof collateral, I could hand them
something that had theprofessional pictures, the same
colors, the same fonts.
I mean, truly branding isconsistency.
But then, across all of thematerials that you're going to
(04:56):
need for any kind of event and Icould it was like plug and play
.
After you put together mymaterials for me and I had never
.
I had never seen that happen.
I mean, I think it had happenedin my business so many years
ago that I had started taking itfor granted, but then, when it
was about me personally, Ireally felt like I was put
together.
Stefanie Couch (05:13):
Yeah, branding is something that people think
of as logos and colors and fonts, and that is a part of it, for
sure, but branding is reallywhat people think about with you
as a person or your business.
When you're not in the room yes, after they've done business
with you, maybe before they evenknow who you are that first
impression of like this personstands for this thing.
(05:35):
They do these things and youreally wanted to become a person
that was known for certainthings.
So tell me what you wanted tobe known for and what you were
trying to do, which is verydifferent than your career that
you had done for 20 plus years.
Gina Schaefer (05:49):
Yeah, it was.
So I think I wanted to be knownfor a couple of things.
Really, I wanted to be knownfor empowering women in the
hardware industry, anyunderrepresented, underestimated
group of people.
You know, the foundation for myvery first speech was just
because the world underestimatesus doesn't mean our fate is
pre-written.
And that meant a lot to mebecause I was very
(06:09):
underestimated in my hard workcareer when I got started and I
knew I could do it and I knewyou know I hire a lot of folks
from recovery.
I hire a lot of returningcitizens.
I talked to a lot of women intraditionally male fields.
I know they can do it and so Iwanted to be known, I hope, as
someone who was supportive inthose efforts for everybody else
.
Stefanie Couch (06:27):
Yeah, and building culture is something
you're very good at and youworked really hard to build at
your company, with your 13hardware stores and almost 300
team members that you have.
Tell me how you wanted to beseen as a culture builder, and
what you talk about is a littledifferent than the typical how
to build your culture.
(06:48):
What does that mean to you andhow did that story become what
you wanted to be known for?
Gina Schaefer (06:53):
Well, one of my one of my longtime heroes is a
guy named father Gregory Boylewho started homeboys industries
in LA, which is just thisincredible nonprofit.
And in his first book father Gsays even gangs have a culture.
And I remember being a youngCEO and hearing that and I kind
of wanted to say, well, duh,right, I mean, every group has a
(07:17):
culture.
But it had never reallyoccurred to me that that culture
could be as negative as itcould be positive.
And then, as leaders, our rolewas to make sure that it was
nurtured and defined, and bynurtured I mean what does the
team want it to be and how canyou, as the leader, grow it?
I wasn't going to say these areour core values.
I wanted my team to articulatehow they wanted to be perceived,
what they wanted our values tobe, what was important to them,
(07:40):
and then my job was to helpbring that to life.
Stefanie Couch (07:42):
I think that leads into, pretty naturally,
the talk about value and what isvaluable to people.
And as we started looking atyour new business, really
figuring out, what was yourgo-to-market strategy, who did
you need to talk to, what wereyou going to talk to them about,
which we just kind of summed up, and then how are we going to
go about that process and that'ssomething a lot of businesses
(08:11):
really don't have is thatstrategy, which is something I
think is interesting?
You assume people have one andwe all kind of think we do, but
sometimes it's really big, like78 goals, and you just can't
accomplish that Right.
So I think, breaking that upinto a structure that's
digestible, that's doable, andworking through those things one
by one and we kind of did thatwith your system, and now we're
more into the businessdevelopment side of things,
because your brand is there andall those things are done what
(08:34):
does that look like for yougoing forward and what's
important to you as you start tobuild this, now that you have a
foundation?
Gina Schaefer (08:40):
Well, I mean, I think this is what you're
getting at.
There's a systemization when itcomes to business development
that I didn't understand before.
And working with you, goingthrough a public speaking
program that I went throughreally honing in on who you want
your audience to be, a lot ofus want to say I can talk to
everybody, I can be in everyindustry, I can talk to every
group of people, but that'sreally overwhelming.
(09:02):
And if I said to you, stephanie, I only want to talk to women
in the hardware industry and Idon't just want to talk to women
in the hardware industry, but Ineed a focus to start, sure,
you can hone in on and this isone of the things that you
really helped me do what are theorganizations that are having
events that need speakers andspeak to that group?
What are the companies thathave maybe an internal group for
the women in in their industrya tool company, for example,
(09:25):
that needs speakers for theevents?
That's the honing in.
That is really importantbecause, if you, I get very
excited.
I want to talk to everybody andthat's way too overwhelming.
So you really helped createthat.
And then I think one of theother organizational pieces that
was very important for me thatyou helped me with was creating
a CRM, implementing a CRM,making sure that I was again
(09:47):
methodically tracking where myleads were coming from, who I
could follow up with next yearthat might not have worked this
year.
Who they know that I can followup with.
I mean, it's all of the dottedlines from where I started in a
very, very systematized way.
Stefanie Couch (10:01):
Yeah, systems and data are powerful.
Yes, and sometimes for a smallbusiness or a solopreneur it's
almost impossible to get allthat together.
It feels overwhelming.
But if you start to take it atone at a time and then you start
to follow up on those things,it's really powerful.
We talked a little bit aboutvalue and it's really about what
is that customer find valuable?
(10:23):
Because we can build the mostvaluable thing to us, but if no
one cares about it no one wouldpay for it Then it's not really
valuable.
It's not valuable to yourtarget audience, and I think
figuring out your unique valuefor the perfect audience is
something that people strugglewith all the way up to the
enterprise business, because weall do want to sell to everyone
and help everyone.
(10:44):
You and I care a lot aboutimpact.
That doesn't just mean dollarsand cents.
That means really changingthings people, perceptions, all
those moments that we try to do.
And when you figure out whowould find your message the most
valuable and then you start toreally hone in and lean into
them, that's where you canbecome the most impactful.
(11:04):
In my opinion, and I think foryou it's starting in the place.
That is the person that youwere a few years ago, 20 years
ago, when you started in thehardware industry, what message
did you need to hear to reallyimpact your life?
What is that message for you?
Gina Schaefer (11:20):
Well, I mean, what I really needed to hear was
that I could do it.
My parents had said that to memy entire life.
But when I joined an industrythat was very foreign to me,
that I had no experience in, Ineeded someone to say it's OK,
you're going to be fine withenough determination.
And when I ask a millionquestions, I had to put in all
of the work.
But the flip side of that washearing people say you'll be
(11:42):
fine, yeah, you've got this.
Stefanie Couch (11:49):
You flip side of that was hearing people say
you'll be fine, you've got this,you can do this.
We talk about this a lot, and Ithink it's one of the biggest
lessons that I would tell anyperson thinking about
entrepreneurship.
Number one is you better bereal, sure you're super into
this, like for real.
This can't just be a wild ideathat you woke up with.
It's like this could be fun,wrong, no, um, you gotta have a
hunger for it and a real need toeither fix it, to impact it, to
(12:12):
build it, whatever you're doing.
And then, secondarily, you'vegot to be ready to absolutely
fail and to look stupid, to feelstupid, to just do the wrong
thing.
Like just you make the wrongchoice, you take the wrong path,
and I think that's somethingthat I would tell anyone, and I
know you've lived that for 20years now.
(12:34):
It's like you've had to closestores, you've, I'm sure, lost
money, you've hired the wrongperson.
You've hired the right personand done the wrong thing with
them.
I mean, I've done all of thesethings in my two years owning my
own business.
And you'll do them again,absolutely Over and over again,
but it's figuring out thatthat's okay, yeah, and that the
most successful people in life,but also in entrepreneurship,
(13:01):
even more so because you own somuch of your own destiny.
It's probably been a rocky road, you know, and having that
mentality up front is really theonly thing that's going to keep
you going.
Gina Schaefer (13:10):
I gave two speeches last year, and both
independent of each other.
Both CEOs said will you pleasefocus on where you failed, where
you really struggled?
And it was a really interestinglesson for me, because my glass
is always three quarters full.
I just everything's great.
I'm going to tell you therosiest part of the crappiest
day, because that's the partthat I want to remember, right,
(13:31):
and both of these CEOs said whenyou get up on stage, I want you
to tell my team that somethingbad happened or you had a huge
challenge and you still are thishappy and this positive and
this successful.
And it was a really goodexercise for me because it
really made me think about thestores that we had to close,
perhaps people I had to fire.
I said we hire folks whorecovery, people who went back
(13:53):
out, meaning they started usingdrugs again.
That was heartbreaking for me,but, damn it, I couldn't let it
stop me.
I had to still get up the nextday.
I still had people that wererelying on me and so, um, I have
to remind myself and we saythis often you can do hard
things.
I was doing the hard things, Ijust didn't want to talk about
it.
Stefanie Couch (14:10):
And that you probably should expect this to
be hard.
Oh yeah, I mean, why wouldn't?
Gina Schaefer (14:14):
I, I can do this.
My husband calls it the nextshiny object and like the 10%
rule, I'll, I'll climb.
I climbed Kilimanjaro with himand he said are you going to
train?
I'm like no, it's 90% attitude.
He's like get on the treadmillget on a hill.
Stefanie Couch (14:26):
You're not.
Gina Schaefer (14:28):
But I mean, I think you know that.
I mean it goes back tosuccessful entrepreneurs, I
think have that mindset like ohyeah, I can do this yeah, and I
think that's the only reasonthat anything like that ever
happens.
Stefanie Couch (14:40):
because we're crazy enough.
I think we can climb MountKilimanjaro without ever walking
a mile.
Gina Schaefer (14:45):
Yeah Of course we can do this.
I live in Washington DC.
It is a flat city.
Stefanie Couch (14:49):
I needed to find a hill to go up that mountain.
Gina Schaefer (14:52):
What?
Stefanie Couch (14:52):
would you say, is the thing that you would
spend all the time again forthat one?
Gina Schaefer (14:59):
thing.
What I would tell prospectiveclients is that you are going to
give, you will create theentire foundation for building
the business.
What I have learned, though,most specifically, is that you
can give me all the tools in theworld, and if I don't act on it
, it was a waste of money.
And so I really think that theone thing particularly when it
comes to branding you've said ifyou're gonna show up on social
media, you know, particularlywhen it comes to branding,
you've said if you're going toshow up on social media, you
(15:20):
show up two times a week, threetimes a week, four times a week.
You do not show up every othermonth, and I knew those things.
But when it came time to mespending my money to pay for
someone to help me build thisbusiness, I needed to actually
act on what I knew, and that'sprobably what I learned the most
.
First of all, I'm scared todeath.
She's going to be disappointedin me.
So if Stephanie said I need todo this, I'm going to do it
(15:44):
because it was a big commitment,and I think you probably took a
chance on me being your clientas much as you're getting paid.
But I could be a jerk, I couldbe unpleasant, I could not
follow through.
And I mean, maybe I've been allof those things at some point.
I don't think I have, but I dothink, as business owners, we
want people to do what we'reteaching them to do or what we
(16:06):
hope they do.
Stefanie Couch (16:06):
Yeah, you want to leave the engagement knowing
that it's not just like, okay, Igot a paycheck.
Yeah, because that actually isthe worst, guiltiest thing.
I think it's like if I don'tfeel like I helped you and your
business is exponentially betterand I brought you exponential
value, then I feel like it was afailure and I think that's how
I lived my life.
(16:27):
That's probably a little bit ofthat high achieving
perfectionist coming back out,but I do think that's what makes
an exceptional person in lifeand businesses.
If you want to absolutely knockit out of the park every time,
then you have a vested interestin that client and like we are
still helping each other.
I think that collaboration.
(16:47):
I also think for me, workingwith you, you had done something
in your business as a powerfulwoman very similar to me.
I mean, we have a prettysimilar personality in some ways
, different in other ways, butyou had done it and you built a
$50 million business with 13locations and you're a badass
(17:08):
woman and I was helping you dosomething that you had never
done before and you two lessonswere.
You not only reached out forhelp and allowed someone that
was younger than you, lessaccomplished in the monetary,
like climbing the ladder way.
You allowed me to help you dosomething you weren't sure of in
(17:29):
your newer business venture,but I learned from you.
Okay, this can be done.
I can do this because I've beenvery open about wanting to
build a hundred million dollarbusiness and I really want to
change the industry.
And both of those things arecrazy.
I mean, we know that.
Like, yeah, they're big goals.
Most people's businesses only Ithink, four percent of people
(17:50):
ever get to a million dollars.
That's people, not women.
Yeah, I think less than onepercent of women ever hit a
million dollars a year.
And I'm saying I want to hitnine figures.
Gina Schaefer (17:59):
Yeah.
Stefanie Couch (18:00):
And that's still going to be my goal, and you
have never you've been like.
You're going to do it.
I have no doubt, and there'svery few people that have that
resilience to actually do whatyou've done and then to be able
to tell me like you're going todo this.
You're going to do it.
Gina Schaefer (18:16):
It's going to be fucking hard.
Stefanie Couch (18:18):
Well, if you're going to do it, you're going to
get there and so that's thething.
I've learned from you the mostis learn from other people that
may be less accomplished thanyou in a lot of ways, but more
accomplished in certain areas,yes, and then allow that person
to inspire you to do things thatare impossible.
And find the people that havekind of already done the
impossible thing.
(18:39):
Get around them and learn fromthem.
Gina Schaefer (18:41):
Surround yourself with people that are bigger,
better, smarter, older.
All of the things, all of theerrs right, there are two.
When I started the hardwarestore, you'll appreciate this.
The nuts and bolts aisle hasthousands of items, thousands.
I didn't know what any of themdid and some of them have
multiple names.
There's a.
Molly bold, and there's ananchor and they're the same damn
thing I would.
(19:03):
The original store.
It was this weird skinny aisleand there was a doorway, an
opening.
I would stand in the doorwayliterally like a, like a block,
and I would tell the vendor whenhe was there.
I would say I'm not movinguntil you tell me what these
three things do.
And he, of course, waswonderful, he humored me the
whole time.
But if I was afraid to ask himwhat my items did, I would not
(19:23):
be able to sell If I was tooembarrassed to admit I didn't
know how to use them, and so wehave to be willing to ask for
help.
And there were three distincttimes, prior to working with you
, that I hired.
We hired a business coachbecause there were things I used
to say, probably still say itIs there an adult in the room
that can save me?
Where's the adult that's goingto come to my rescue?
Well, I was smart enough torealize I think 2005 was the
(19:45):
first time we hired a businesscoach that I could hire an adult
to help me out, and that alonewas worth every penny that we
spent.
Stefanie Couch (19:53):
And when you're starting in your business,
you're the, you're the one cause.
You don't have the money to paysomeone to help you do that.
Um, but here's the thing I willsay about that.
There are so many freeresources now YouTube, like a
miracle, um.
I mean, I make free content allthe time about how to do
LinkedIn, how to I talk aboutit's personal branding all the
(20:14):
time on on LinkedIn and speakingengagement, because I think
there's a lot of people thatcan't afford to pay me to do
this and I still want to help.
It doesn't mean they can't,shouldn't be helped.
That's exactly right.
And so then hopefully, thatfree help is so great that they
get to a level where I can workto get them to the next place
and they pay.
But that's not the point of allof this.
(20:35):
I'm going to be successful andhelp other people be successful
by giving value to everyone Ican help.
Yes's not the whole world, butespecially in our niche, and I
think every single person that Ican do that for I want to, and
that also feeds the fire, likeyesterday, I got a message on
LinkedIn from someone who was anemployee of a client I was
(20:58):
visiting this week.
She sent me an amazing message.
I showed it to you and we bothsaid I had said this to myself.
And we both said I had saidthis to myself and you verbally
said it.
This is what we do.
Gina Schaefer (21:07):
This is what makes it worth it.
Stefanie Couch (21:08):
And that's why you get on the plane to go to
the freezing place to do thething.
That's why you go to the speech, even though you're not really
getting paid as much as youshould to do that one thing, but
it's a cause you believe in.
Yes, that's why you help theperson who can't pay you, and
those people are.
The reason I'm sitting righthere is because someone did that
(21:29):
for me, yep, and they took thechance.
They gave me the shot, theyanswered the question.
That was super annoying becauseI'd asked it a hundred times.
They believed in me when Inecessarily wasn't the person
that could accomplish it, butthey let me try it anyway.
Gina Schaefer (21:47):
That's what this is all about.
I just got chills.
I mean it's the ripple effectyou help one person and they
could help 10 and it just, itjust keeps playing forward, and
forward, and forward.
I mean I hired folks in 2003who still call me or send
Christmas cards, who say here'swhere I am now and this is, this
is the foundation that I reallyfeel like I got from you or
your business that 20 yearslater, I've carried forward and
it's so impactful.
Stefanie Couch (22:08):
And you got to get out of your own way because
you're not going to be able todo all the things you need to do
to get to where you need to go.
You're going to have to figureit out.
I think that's the biggestlesson I've learned in
entrepreneurship.
Going back to the perfectionthing is like oh well, now that
I'm an entrepreneur, there is nosuch thing as perfection.
Everything I'm doing is new insome way, I mean.
(22:34):
And if it's not, then I'm notactually pushing myself, and so
I figure you know, with you atthis point in your you've sold
this business, you're doingsomething different, you're a
speaker, you're building a wholenew business from scratch.
To have that gusto and thathunger that's one of the things
I love about you the most, and Ithink that is a core value in
my intrinsic self is like I'm sohungry, I want to do something
(22:56):
I've never done.
You have that and we see thatin each other, and I think we
actually feed that in each other.
I think we do Make each otherhung and I think we actually
feed that in each other.
I think we do make each otherhungrier and push harder, which
I love.
And to have a clientrelationship like that, where
you're pushing me, though Also,I mean, a few times you'd be
like why are you still talkingabout this Like?
And then like five minuteslater I say the same thing.
(23:16):
You're like oh well, you toldme you're going to do that last
week.
Why are you still talking aboutit?
Why haven't I done it?
We don't beat it Like, we neverget to the point of where we
don't need that person in ourlife, and I think that's that's
the best client relationship.
I think it's where you'reactually making each other
better and you're pushing eachother up Mount Kilimanjaro.
Gina Schaefer (23:36):
You know it's lonely being a CEO because you
don't have a boss.
And sometimes you want a bossor you want nobody's going to
walk in.
Nobody would walk into myoffice and say, hey, you stuck
at this, or you should do thisbetter, or why.
Why are you no one?
They just they assume you havethe answers, or or they're
afraid to tell you when you'refalling short.
You need, you need that person.
(23:56):
And I think we were able tocreate that relationship with
each other at a point where yourbusiness was very new and I was
just doing something supergreen.
I mean, I wouldn't even call ita business, it's just well.
It is a business now, but atthe time, like it was a wild ass
dream that I had, like I can dothis but that's how everything
starts, Exactly.
Stefanie Couch (24:13):
That's one of the best businesses start in a
garage table exactly, you knowconversation somewhere where
it's like this is a good idea.
But I think that hustle andthat hunger is what keeps you in
it when the days do get hardand it does seem impossible.
And I'm two years in, you're 22, 21.
Gina Schaefer (24:33):
Yeah, yeah.
Stefanie Couch (24:34):
And you're still striving for more every day,
which I think is amazing.
Thank you, and also having alot of fun.
I'm having so much fun Doingtravel and all of those things
with it.
Yeah, what's the mostchallenging thing for you going
into 2025?
What do you, what problem areyou going to solve in 2025?
Gina Schaefer (24:50):
Well, a problem for my business problem.
Well, specifically, finding newclients right.
Prospecting is a big deal forme, particularly if you're
afraid to make you know.
People think of cold calls, andit's certainly not cold calling
uh, what I'm, what I have inmind, but prospecting is just a
little terrifying, Um, and thenalso, getting paid what I think,
getting paid what I know I'mworth, Um, that is a challenge.
(25:11):
The speaking industry, uh, has alot of I mean just challenges
in general with what peopleperceive as the value for your
time on stage.
When I went through the classthat I took a year and a half
ago or so, one of the commentsthat stuck with me is that for
every minute of a speech, youpractice one hour.
And when I tell you if someonehires me for a 40 minute keynote
(25:33):
, I practice for 40 hours, I amnot lying, but when they want to
pay you 50 cents an hour, youlogically know that doesn't make
sense.
But you want to say yes, andI'm not doing this to make tons
of money, but I do want to valuethat those hours because I
could be doing something else.
Stefanie Couch (25:51):
And also, if you make tons of money, you can
choose what you do with itExactly.
You can give it away, which youdo a lot.
You can invest in someoneelse's business that they're
trying to get started.
Yes, you can get more reach,and so I think Even nonprofits
have to have money to continueto run, and you've got to have
that value of yourself as well,because that way people feel
(26:14):
like you're worth more.
Gina Schaefer (26:16):
If you ask for more and you own it.
Yes, and I know that I am and Ifeel like I'm doing the work to
get there.
I mean, there's a lot more workto do and I just need to
manifest that.
Stefanie Couch (26:28):
Yeah, absolutely , more work to do and I just, I
just need to manifest that yeah,absolutely.
We are both bold, brazen ladiesin industry that is male
dominated the hardware industry,the lumber and building
industry and we've come up witha lot of challenges in our
careers.
I know, and some of the timesthat I thought I couldn't do
something, you know I ended updoing it, but it was hard, it
(26:48):
was tough, there were a lot ofchallenges.
Tell me a little bit more aboutthe challenges that you've come
across and what you would tella young 20, 25 year old woman in
a place that's not necessarilybuilt for her?
Yeah, what would you tell herto do to be ready for, to know?
Gina Schaefer (27:06):
Well, I wish someone had had this
conversation with me when I was,when I was 30, right when I was
starting the first hardwarestore.
I would well, first I would say, be ready for anything, be
ready to roll with the changes,be ready to roll with the
punches, be ready to beencouraged, insulted, challenged
, overruled, all of those things.
But then I would also tell herto not let any of that stop her
(27:29):
to remember that, you know, ifshe's there, she's there for a
reason.
If she wants to be there, sheneeds to stand up for what she
believes in, not to be afraid tostand out, to stick out.
Um, that all of those thingswill probably work in her favor,
yeah, yeah.
Stefanie Couch (27:44):
I would also add to that.
I had a conversation a fewweeks ago with a woman that was
in a certain spot in her careerin a building industry role and
she felt really stuck and shesaid, well, they want me to do
this certain thing, and thenthat's the hindrance.
And she didn't really believethat was the hindrance, and so I
(28:05):
told her, I challenged her.
If you can get really honestwith yourself and you can truly
kind of take yourself out of thesituation and observe your
behaviors, what really isholding you back?
And I think we have to be openas women to say we do have
things we need to work on.
Sometimes we're not being heldback because we're a woman.
(28:27):
Maybe it's that we're not readyfor that role, we're not doing
a good enough job.
We're not being held backbecause we're a woman.
Maybe it's that we're not readyfor that role, we're not doing
a good enough job, we're notworking on certain things that
would move the needle for us.
You have to be truly transparentwith yourself and that is
really hard to do, especially ifyou believe in yourself and you
are confident.
It can actually be a hindranceto not look in the mirror and
say, okay, that wasn't the rightmove.
(28:49):
I screwed up there.
I could be better here, and Ithink it's a balance of that.
It's a balance of confidenceand of constructive criticism
for yourself or taking it onwhen others give it to you,
because I have seen some momentsin my career where I could have
done a lot better and I kind ofput that chip on my shoulder
saying like, oh, they're justdoing this because I'm a girl
(29:10):
yep you know it's self-awarenessis really important in these,
in these situations, for sureand you we've talked a lot about
chips on our shoulders, and Ithink it's okay to kind of have
that, because it makes you beable to like put, put it your
head down and grind throughsomething that's really tough.
But what is your perspective onhaving a chip on your shoulder?
Gina Schaefer (29:30):
Well, you know, I had a chip for years.
For for what?
The beginning?
And one reason like no one,thought I was going to succeed
as a woman in the hardwareindustry in a neighborhood that
was, you know, revitalizing, andso I immediately started with a
lot of self-doubt from somegroups of people, and so the
chip grew there.
But then, honestly, the chipmorphed into oh my God, the
competition's going to kill us.
And I woke up every morningthinking am I good enough?
(29:53):
Is this going to work?
Am I going to keep my teamemployed?
And I gave a speech a couple ofyears ago to a group of female
auto mechanics and you want totalk about bad-ass women?
3% of the auto mechanics in theUnited States are women, and so
I had the absolute pleasure ofbeing their keynote speaker.
And I decided, because theywork on cars, people name their
cars.
I was going to name the ship onmy shoulder and so I named her
(30:15):
June.
I don't know why, but I did,and I brought June to life to
try and relate to this audienceof women who worked on cars, and
it landed really well.
You know, it's always scarywhen it's kind of new material,
the way I was presenting it forthe first time, even though I
practiced a lot and it reallyresonated like, yeah, you can
personify things that freak youout, yeah, things that challenge
(30:36):
you, things that annoy you.
And I gave June a personalityand I wouldn't say I gave her a
burial.
She's still there a little bit.
I like to say that she's myfriend now.
Sure, um, frenemy maybesometimes, but you know you, we
need to own that kind of fear.
I also think, just to go backto your comment about
acknowledging and beingself-aware, we have to, we have
(30:57):
to know or understand thatthings don't happen overnight.
You might want uh, we'll justuse age, because it came up
earlier.
You might want a 21 to dosomething, but it might take you
until you're 30.
Like it did me, to really havethe guts and the chops and the
idea and the everything.
I mean, even then I didn't, butit's not going to happen
(31:17):
overnight.
Stefanie Couch (31:18):
That's a great point and I would definitely say
for me.
I learned that lesson sort ofthe hard way, cause, you know, I
was at a big corporation thingsdidn't really move quickly and
they definitely didn't movequickly enough for me, because
light speed is not quick enoughfor me.
And I got frustrated by that,you know, sometimes to my own
detriment, because I stoppedlistening to what was happening
(31:40):
and what was being said to me,because I was just like, well, I
should have gotten this jobalready or I should have already
been here.
And I think we often can playon a too small of a scale.
You know, there's a quote thatyou underestimate what you can
do in 10 years, but youoverestimate what you're doing
one year, right.
So there's somewhere in betweenthat and right now, where I'm
(32:00):
at in my life and my business is, I'm playing in a decades game.
So things that I want to do in10 years, where I want to be at
that certain mark and I want tofeel a certain way and be doing
a certain thing, it probablywill take me 10 years to get
there.
It might not, it might be seven, might be eight, but I'm okay
if it takes 10 because I have abig enough goal, but when you
(32:20):
don't have that plan and thatstrategy and the overall place
you're going to, I think it'seasy to get frustrated and quit
because you don't have thatplace you're pushing for in 10
years, seven years, six years.
But one thing that's helped meis to have a want list, and I
think it's okay for womenspecifically, but really for any
person, to have things that youjust want.
(32:41):
It's not something you need.
It's not like you have to havethis pay your bills or you need
to do this to eat or feed yourkids.
It is something where you justpurely want this.
I want to be a CEO, I want tohave my own business, I want to
hit a hundred million dollars,whatever.
I want to have this big impactand change the industry.
So I write that every single daywhen I'm at home and in my
normal routine I write down thesame list of wants.
(33:03):
Some of those things, over twoyears, have already been crossed
off.
I love it and having thathunger and that awareness of
where you're going it helps youstay on track and especially
when it gets hard and knowing,hey, if I really truly want this
thing, I'm going to have to fixthese other seven things to get
there, and that may take 10years, but I'm going to do that.
So I think that's a messagethat I would give any person,
(33:25):
but especially women, is knowwhat you want, know how you
think you're going to get there,know you're going to have to
pivot, but stay hungry and alsostay aware of the feedback
you're getting.
Where you can get better, canyou?
Gina Schaefer (33:39):
want a new hat.
I want a new hat.
Stefanie Couch (33:43):
It's unbelievable how many hats I
want.
Gina, I want a hat line is whatI want.
Gina Schaefer (33:48):
My own line of hats.
You know, I would like to.
I would like to be arepresentative, a model, that's
not the, an ambassador for aglasses company.
Well, that's what I'mmanifesting.
That's a good one.
Stefanie Couch (34:00):
And as many glasses and hats as we've
purchased, we probably our P&Lwould look a lot better if we
could do that.
Gina Schaefer (34:08):
I need yeah if the hats and glasses were less
expensive, maybe.
Stefanie Couch (34:11):
Yes.
So if you're listening to thisand you can make those realities
happen for us, we are alwaysopen to opportunities.
Gina Schaefer (34:17):
Those are our dreams.
Stefanie Couch (34:20):
That's it for this episode of the Grit
Blueprint Podcast.
For more tools, training andindustry content, make sure to
subscribe here and follow me onLinkedIn and other social media
platforms.
To find out more about how GritBlueprint can help you grow
your business.
Check us out at our website,gritblueprintcom.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.