September 8, 2025 • 36 mins
When Charles Smitherman accidentally booked the wrong hotel for a Nebraska meeting, he stumbled upon what would become one of the most celebrated RTO World venues in recent memory. Omaha surprised everyone with its vibrant downtown, beautiful riverfront, and perfect convention facilities—proving that sometimes the best discoveries happen by chance.
This year's event brought together over 700 industry professionals and 100 vendors for what many described as the strongest educational lineup ever assembled. From standing-room-only sessions with industry veterans like Mike Tissot to fresh perspectives from outside speakers including former Nebraska football player Aaron Davis, the educational offerings created genuine value that participants could immediately apply to their businesses.
What makes the rent-to-own industry truly special—and what was on full display in Omaha—is the remarkable willingness of successful operators to share their knowledge openly. Unlike other financial sectors where competitive secrecy reigns, RTO professionals actively help each other succeed. This collaborative spirit creates an environment where, as one first-time attendee told Charles, "I came in feeling like I had a job, but after seeing all this, I know I have a career."
The conference featured several significant moments, including Dan Fisher's installation as APRO president and Charles Smitherman receiving the President's Award in a genuinely emotional surprise. Looking ahead, West Palm Beach will host RTO World 2026, while the crucial Legislative Conference in Washington DC (April 15-17) represents the industry's next major gathering. The Legislative Fellows program aims to bring 20 first-timers to experience advocacy firsthand—because if we don't tell our industry's story in Washington, someone else will.
Whether you're a veteran operator or considering your first industry event, these gatherings transform individual stores into a connected community with shared purpose. Check out the recorded sessions coming soon, and make plans to join us in DC this spring and West Palm Beach in 2026. Your business isn't just a job—it's part of an industry with deep roots and an exciting future.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hello, welcome to the RTO Show.
I'm your host, dean Schauff.
Today we're having Hello Omaha.
Now you guys know we do thissection every year right after
RTO World, because there's somuch going on, there's so many
differences, there's so many newthings going on and the things
that we want to talk about.
Because there's so much goingon, there's so many differences,
there's so many new thingsgoing on, the things that we
(00:27):
want to talk about, charlesSmitherman, the doctor that we
never call the doctor.
He's here with me, phd JD.
Charles.
Like I got to say and I'm goingto tell you I've heard this
probably 10, 12 times Omaha shotit through the like.
I had a lot of people tell wedidn't see this coming.
(00:49):
We didn't see this coming.
We didn't think it was going tobe like this.
We loved omaha.
We got to get that in the cycleand I was like, listen, I got
nothing to do with that part,but it was.
It was so good.
I mean, the nightlife was there, the city's absolutely
beautiful, the heat was down.
So you know, when you come downflorida sometimes there's a
heat index.
Not that I never wanted toFlorida, but it was just like.
It was just an amazing venuethe way, the shops, the people.
(01:10):
It was a great job, charles.
Where did that come from?
Where'd the idea of Omaha comefrom?
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I mean honestly it was an accident Planned out and
everything.
So I guess my two years ago myfirst year, really first few
months on the job I got invitedout to the Iowa-Nebraska Real
Doers Association meeting to beheld in Omaha.
It was the first time I hadever been and so I had kind of
(01:39):
the same expectations I thinkmost people did.
Well, I didn't look at theinvite that closely and it said
NBC Suites Omaha.
So I go online, book a hotel atthe room at the NBC Suites
Omaha and then I get to thehotel the day before the event
(02:01):
and look to see okay, what timeis everything starting?
How long is it going to take meto walk over to?
Speaker 1 (02:05):
the room.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
That kind of thing.
And I noticed the line said NBCSuites, omaha Wells, palmas or
somewhere that's 25 minutes awayfrom where I'm from.
So I was in the room and I'mdown here at this point and so I
got to enjoy downtown thatafternoon evening and I was just
(02:25):
blown away with it.
I mean I had the same ride aseveryone else did, right beside
that huge convention center ofthe hotel with the bridge
attached to it.
And so you know we've got kindof core things we look for in
venues and those two thingsbeing really important high up
on that priority list.
And then you add in the wholedowntown scene with all the nice
(02:49):
local restaurants, the bars,just kind of the general
atmosphere, the cleanliness ofthe city.
It checked every single box wehad and so that was the approach
from wherever I'm texting Lisaon our team and saying would we
ever thought about Omaha?
Why don't we look into this andthen, literally a month later,
(03:10):
we're back out there doing asite visit.
And it just turned, you know,checked every box we needed and
I think the show kind of showedthat in the end.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Well, I think Lynn Leach was happy that he didn't
have to travel.
We did something a little closeto home, you know, and then,
looking at it, the, the downtownspace was really nice.
We saw a lot, of, a lot ofwater right on the river.
If you guys haven't seen, it'sright there on the missouri
river and you kind of get tocross over to another state.
It has this bridge, uh, and notthe one that charles about, but
(03:45):
it has the bridge.
There's a convention center anda hotel and you got this bridge
, so there's that.
There's also the walking bridgeand at night it was lit up.
It was absolutely beautiful.
I took a couple of tours, Irode a couple of scooters, I did
a couple of things.
It was nice.
Now, the showroom was definitely, I should say the expo area was
definitely the right size.
(04:05):
It was huge.
It actually held the RTO Showpodcast live with Charles and
three different guests this year, which we were able to put out.
It's already on YouTube.
So if you guys want to checkthat out, check out the RTO Show
channel and take a look at whatwe had to say.
But really good guests on thereMike Walls was on there, jeff
Smith, andrew Hajduk.
We kind of covered a lot ofdifferent areas.
(04:26):
I mean, I think the best thingabout it I was excited just to
have Mike Walls on there.
Somebody from Aaron's was ableto come on and kind of really
talk to us about the advocacything that we really really need
right now.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Yeah, and Michael's one of the best.
Yeah, and Michael's one of thebest.
He's got just a ton ofexperience.
I enjoy getting to do thisstuff with him and learn from
him.
Really he's very good.
He's now on the APRO board andso we're lucky to have him and
his skill set and knowledge too.
(05:02):
It's exciting.
He was great on the show too.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
That was well planned .
So let me ask you a question,some of the things that we go
through.
First off, I did not get toattend a couple of meetings this
year.
I was kind of going back andforth and we have this really
big thing going on with theLegends this year, but we'll
talk about that in a minute.
How was the Women's Forum?
This is something that's reallyI look forward to it.
(05:26):
I didn't get a chance to attendit this year, but I look
forward to it from the timebeforehand and hearing about it
and afterwards, because theseare the people who are really
the salt of the earth, kind ofcoming in here, the women get
together and kind of show justhow valuable they are in the
rental-owned space and what weprobably couldn't do without
them.
How did that end up being?
(05:46):
I heard it was an amazing show.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Yeah, I think it was great this year.
You know, we're trying,particularly with APRO and this
is just a major place we can doit is to create that community
and even the communities withinthe community.
And so the Women's Forum is oneof those ideas of trying to
bring really just kind of commonideas, common causes together
(06:10):
and really create thoseconnections.
I mean we get really focused onthe education and the expo
portion of RTO World, but theconnection and the community
building, all the networkingthat goes on, is really the glue
that holds it all together, andso we're just kind of looking
for more and more ways to buildthat.
(06:30):
And the Women's Forum is reallya good way.
You know this was the secondyear of it.
We take a very iterativeapproach to everything we do.
Where that we try something, wesee what worked and see what
didn't.
We evolve and we try more.
And so this was the second year.
I'm really looking forward tokind of some of the ideas that
(06:50):
are coming out of this one andhow we're going to make it even
better next year.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Absolutely Now talking about.
There were a couple of peoplethis year that were not directly
related with RTO, but they hadsome great messages.
We had a keynote speaker.
How did that go?
Who was that and what wasreally the message that he was
getting across in the keynotespeaking?
Speaker 2 (07:16):
For the opening session with Aaron Davis?
Yeah, so this is a process andwe're starting this now.
For next year, we're lookingfor a keynote.
We try to bring somebody,ideally someone local.
We alluded to last year aformer Disney guy when we were
in Orlando, so Aaron Davis is a.
(07:36):
That was a different view.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
If you guys didn't see that, that was a different
view.
There was a couple of slides onthere.
I was like, oh dude, this guy'swild, but it was good to see.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
It was really good to see.
Yeah, and Aaron was a local.
He was a former Nebraskafootball player.
He lives in Lincoln.
We saw his reel.
He just had the energy and themessage that we thought would
resonate with our group, and sohe was a great pick, a great guy
.
I got to spend a little bit oftime with him before he stuck
around and did a deep divesession, after which we're
trying to kind of do a littlebit more.
(08:12):
So, hey, if you didn't getenough from the keynote, you can
go spend another hour with themfor 45 minutes in the next
session and, you know, in asmaller, more casual space.
And so he, he was great, he was, I think everyone in the room
kind of left pretty pumped upafter his message and it was a
great start for that day ofeducation.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
I know there was one later on in the meetings and I
believe it was your innersuperpower.
I have to kind of get thattogether.
But it was also another greatlesson for people in RTO from
somebody who wasn't in the RTOspace, and I love that idea.
I love the idea of kind ofhaving these outside people come
in and help influence us in theways that we really need,
(08:57):
because sometimes we have a lotof ourselves kind of you know,
it goes around the table and I'mnot saying that it is.
Which you don't want is youdon't want an echo chamber, and
it's really great to hear thesepeople come out from outside and
say, hey, this is what you'redoing, this is how I can help
you, this is the mindset that Ican help give you, or the
direction or whatever the caseis that they do.
And it's really great to hearother people kind of discuss
(09:17):
what we're doing and how we'redoing it and how it's perceived,
and maybe just put something alittle bit on twisted or put it
on its ear and go.
You know, if you tried this andI love those ideas.
So for the people who might wantto be involved next year, how's
the process of of getting to beable to speak.
Now you had joe luxick there.
I love joe.
(09:38):
I I couldn't miss what he hadto say you.
You know, ryan Kras.
How do people get to the frontstage and say you know what,
charles?
I think I have something togive.
I would really like to presentthis.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
You know, in the past we've kind of done open calls
for proposals and that type ofthing.
This year we really kind oftried to create what we wanted
for the whole format and thenfound people to fill those
spaces.
This year we're going to havewhat I think is going to be a
(10:18):
pre-active education committeeto help put that together and so
, yeah, we're going to belooking for it.
I'm not sure if we're going todo like a call for proposals or
if we're going to do a call forinterest or something like that.
I think that you know, ifyou're listening on this and you
have something you want to giveand are interested in doing,
you know, reach out to me, reachout to Jen, just let us know so
we can put it on the radar.
For right now, I can tell youone thing that's a really high
(10:41):
priority for us is to get theseplanned well out in advance.
If you notice, this year and Ithink we've managed this the
past two years whenever you goin to register, you're going to
have a full schedule and you'regoing to be able to go ahead and
pick which education sessionsyou're going to be doing.
I think that's really neededand it helps a lot of you all,
(11:01):
particularly owners that aretrying to decide, hey, I'm going
to go bring one guy or I'mgoing to bring 10 guys or 10 of
my employees to what's beingoffered and what value is going
to come by it.
And so the education is just,it's an important day.
That's why we're kind ofbleeding over into the day
before with the Women's Forumand the Legal Summit too, and
(11:21):
you know we take this reallyseriously.
We're trying to do better andbetter every year.
Right now we're digesting thereviews from this year.
We've got some ideas on somenew tracks.
I mean, you know, I think we'realways going to be very much.
The strength of this industry isthe willingness of everyone to
(11:43):
interact, to give back, to sayhere's what's working for me and
to share that knowledge.
And that's just so unique Imean I say this all the time
that this is not go over some ofthese other finance spaces and
that is not the way this.
That's not normal, um, andthat's.
We're going to continue toleverage that because I think it
(12:03):
does make the industry better.
You get, uh, the lineup we wehad the best lineup I think
we've ever had this year.
I can emphatically state that,um, and you go and you see like,
uh, mike tisots, with the tisottalk we did on Thursday, it was
standing room only in a roomthat had seating for 120 or 130
(12:26):
people.
And so you know, you've got aguy like that.
That's been very successful,that captivates an audience
because they want to listen andhe's willing to share, which is
what's incredible.
He's willing to go in there andsay, yeah, I'll do this, I'll
take this on and I'll addressthis.
And we've got so many peoplelike that that have different
(12:47):
skill sets, different visions,different things that are
working, and we have just arange of that with our sessions
this year, and so we're going tocontinue to do that.
I think we do.
The idea of bringing in someoutside people just to get some
outside ideas.
I mean, you know, the concepthere is to provide as much of a
range where that you know, likeI said at the beginning of the
(13:10):
conference, like we're going tomake this really hard for you to
choose, because there's this isgoing to be the problem, and
I'm fine with that feedback of,well, there were too many
choices and I wanted to be inthree places at one time.
We've recorded it.
We're going to continue torecord it.
We're going to continue to getbetter with those video
productions.
They'll be coming out soon.
(13:31):
You're going to be able to goin and spend you know,
micro-learning spending a fewminutes a day on this.
You can go in and do a deepdive all day and really get the
whole experience of that entireday.
That's something we're going tocontinue to improve on and
evolve.
So kind of stay tuned for thatfull day of education and those
videos coming out really soon.
(13:52):
We're kind of working on it.
The RTO.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
World Sessions are coming to you.
I love that idea.
This is a new thing, right?
This is not something thatwe've done in the past, but this
is something that we're puttingtogether now so that we have
the ability, not only for thepeople.
Now, guys, I always tell you, ifyou can experience it live,
that's what you want to do.
If you can get a ticket, if youcan show up, if you can be in
that space with your fellowrental-owned industry people and
(14:14):
just kind of understand what'sgoing on, there's nothing like
it.
But if you can't make it,because listen, we also
understand the stores still haveto open, they still got to
function, we got customers totake care of, we got deliveries
to do so there's a fair share ofpeople that don't get to make
it.
But let me tell you there is adifferent world out there and,
as a matter of fact, I'm talkingto a few people this week about
(14:36):
how they have perceived goingto RTO World, how they perceived
going to some of the RDAs whenthey've never done it before and
going oh my God, there is aworld of rent to own that I just
did not know.
This is going to be the way foryou guys to go out there and see
exactly what we do inside ofspace, who we're talking to, how
the networking happens and,more importantly, the subject
(14:58):
matter that they're covering,that you can take back to your
guys and say, hey, listen, thebig guy didn't just hear about
this, I got to see thisfirsthand your guys, your
drivers, your delivery everybody, your salespeople, your
collection people and see whatthe future coming out of this
show is and what the thoughtprocesses are.
I love the idea.
I love the idea.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
The thought processes are.
I love the idea.
I love the idea.
I would say to that too thatyou know, being at the show it's
so easy, like you know where weare would kind of get in our
own little environments and you,you know, you don't.
This show offers theopportunity to see the industry
on full display and everyone inthe industry that, uh, there, I
(15:40):
mean we bring in, uh, themajority of the dealers that are
represented there.
Uh, you know, we had over 700people there this year.
We've got a hundred vendors.
Uh, you bring in and you seethat whole experience.
I have one person come up to me,um, uh, and said you know, uh,
before, uh, he had never been,never been before was a manager
(16:03):
in a store.
He said, you know, when I cameinto this, I was excited to come
to the convention, whatever,but I had, you know, I felt like
I had a job.
I had a job at my store, had ajob in rent zone.
He said, after seeing this,I've got a career, I'm all in
this industry, what it is, andthat's a huge value, just kind
(16:26):
of the pride I think that youcan have by coming in and being
in this environment, beingaround, what this show does,
what it brings, and just thegreat energy that was just there
, the whole from the day weopened until the tour down on
Thursday.
Uh, and you know that's a.
I don't think that's unique toOmaha, I think that's a.
(16:47):
There's a, there's a magicthere that we're trying to fine
tune and enhance and createevery year, and I'm, I'm sure
that, um, west Palm is going tobe even better.
Uh, and we're you've got a lotof people concentrating and
working and committed to makingthat happen right now, and we're
already starting looking atnext year as we close the page
(17:09):
on this or turn the page on thisone.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Well, rto World 2026 is coming down to Florida again.
I really, I really love it whenthey're in Florida.
Listen, I know, I know thatit's because of where I live,
but I enjoy it because it's niceand sunny and hopefully no
hurricanes.
But I can tell you right now,west Palm Beach.
I am so looking forward to that.
So if you guys didn't know,2026 RTO World they're going to
(17:34):
be in West Palm Beach and sowill you hopefully Get your
opportunity to come down here,enjoy the beaches, enjoy sunny
Florida and get your educationon.
And part of the whole experiencereally is not only to learn.
It's not only to meet thevendors face-to-face and say,
hey, let me build a relationshipwith you.
(17:54):
It's to meet the giants of theindustry and this is something
that really kind of changeseverything To hear that somebody
values it so much to say theywent from a job to a career.
You want to know why.
Because you get to hear peoplewho have done this for 30, 40,
almost 50 years, where they havethemselves in it.
They have a second line that'sin it.
(18:16):
They have people that haveworked with them for 20, 25
years.
When you hear Gary Fairman andhis son kind of taking over.
When you hear about Lynn Leachand his son, when you hear about
what's going on in the world,what doesn't work, you know what
Doesn't work over here.
Well, you know what it worksover here.
Try this, try that.
(18:36):
And, truthfully, in any otherindustry, everybody I want to
say everybody's against eachother, but it's like, hey, it's
a race, okay, this is NASCAR andmy job is to do one thing and
that's beat you.
True, but in the RTO industry,as they're winning, because
everybody here wants to win,they will look back and tell you
you need to try a differenttire size, you need to try this,
you need to try that.
Well, how about this?
(18:57):
Have you put this in the frontdoor?
Have you tried emailing thesepeople?
Have you tried this salesapproach?
Let go of what doesn't work andwork on what does.
This is coming in the nextcouple of years.
Let me forecast to you this andhow it works.
And hearing it from people isone thing.
Hearing it from people whoactually do it every single day,
people that have tried and true, been successful over the years
(19:20):
.
They're forecasting what'scoming and right now they're
involved.
It's something to behold, talkabout right now.
There were some changes.
There were some things thathappened on stage.
Number one Dan Fisher is nowthe president of APRO.
Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (19:35):
That's right yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
One of my favorite people, dan Fisher, is now the
president.
He is the most calm, laid-backguy.
You wouldn't think that he'd bepresident, but he is and he's
going to do a great job I knowhe will.
So you had Michael Bennett whokind of stepped back.
You have Fisher who decided tostep up.
That was a process.
That happened there.
That was great.
That also happened there.
That was great that alsohappened there.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Somebody else got an award there, charles.
Why don't you tell me aboutthat, tell me about your award
and where that came from, anddid you really not see it coming
?
No, I didn't, and I'll behonest, I told my staff after.
Well, I got it.
I've got so many touch pointsfor the reviewing things, the
involvement in the process, evenfrom helping run the awards
committee that selects these.
We kept it secret from the guywho's on the awards committee.
That's what I told him.
I'm really impressed that youkept it secret and managed to,
(20:31):
but I'm really kind of worriedalso that you managed to do that
.
So, no, I, I know, I think my,you know, my, my reaction
probably belied that too, but itwas, yeah, I mean it was, it
was emotional, I mean I, likeyou know, I, I, I really enjoy
what I do and to kind of have athat.
That kind of recognition andacknowledgement was at that
(20:54):
moment too, with particularlybeing just kind of out of
nowhere, a surprise, but wasvery special and it really did
mean a lot to me.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
So for everybody listening, what was the title of
the award that you got?
Speaker 2 (21:11):
So it was the President's Award, the next one
Every year the board presidentgets to choose him or him
herself gets to choose thataward.
And so you know, it was reallyspecial with Michael
particularly.
I mean Michael was, he chairedthe hiring committee, that that
(21:32):
that ended up hiring me.
So he was the, he was the phonecall I got whenever I got the
job.
Michael I had been involvedwith Buddies going back years
and so I've known Michael for along time and I've had a good
working relationship with him.
And so, you know, to me justcoming in with him particularly,
(21:52):
there were so many things likewith this role that and that was
kind of the case that I made tothe hiring committee.
It was like we've got so muchalignment here of what you need
and what I can bring, and thatwas, you know, with the two of
us being able to really hit theground running.
You know, running like runningan association like APRO, where
(22:17):
the the board president and, uh,the CEO or executive director
that's sitting in my seat,you're kind of co-pilots of a
plane, uh, and there's so muchof a partnership that really uh
helps and Michael's just been,you know, just an incredible
friend and uh, uh, mentor for meover the past.
(22:38):
Uh, you know two well, going onthree years that he took on
that role and he had stayed init.
Really, as part of that, Ithink that you know he inherited
a tricky situation whenever,with the resignation of the
former director, and got tobasically spend most of that
(22:58):
first year of his presidencyworking on the hiring process,
and so he wanted to stick aroundfor the fun part and so it was
great just having him, havinghis guidance and being able to
bounce ideas with him and comeup with solutions, and so, yeah,
it was very special thatgetting that award from Michael,
(23:19):
that he chose this moment as hewas stepping back and he's
still around.
He just got reelected to theboard and he's still serving as
past president, so that meanshe's on the executive committee.
We've got it for a couple moreyears, I'm sure.
I don't think he's goinganywhere anytime soon.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
So Well, it was one of those moments that it felt
real because it was and I knowthat sounds kind of crazy, but
sometimes you see those momentsand you're like that almost
seems scripted, like they're notreally surprised, you know,
like, and it doesn't take awayfrom the moment in the sense
(23:57):
that it's not important, butwhen it has that real, genuine
feel, somebody gets caught intheir feelings on stage.
Now, the reason I'm saying thateverybody is because, listen,
taken back, I don't see.
I don't see how charles didn'tsee it coming, considering how
many touch points he does have.
But he didn't.
So he's on stage and he kind ofgets you you know for lack of a
(24:18):
better term side blinded aboutyou know, about this award that
they actually hid underneath thetable.
So they're on stage kind ofgetting it out.
And and you know it's gotta behard, I mean you gotta, you
gotta understand guys, this isthe CEO of April.
It's kind of hard to say youcan't, you can't know about this
, but the genuine feelings thatcame out of it, you know the
(24:42):
speech, it was great to see, itwas really nice.
Charles, congratulations againon the President's Award.
I think you deserve it.
If you guys don't know anythingabout what's going on.
In the last two years, april hasdefinitely changed course.
Now it's not that we're goingin a whole different direction.
I just think that we went froma steamboat to a real
streamliner whole differentdirection.
I just think that we went froma steamboat to a real
streamliner and things havereally kind of caught up.
I want to say I don't want tosay that it's been, you know,
(25:04):
getting modernized, but there'sjust so many different aspects
of it.
There's so many different waysthat it's coming out.
There's so many differentthings that are happening, like
being able to see the showafterwards, like being able to
be a part of these sessions,like bringing in people who
aren't from rent to own to kindof talk to us about things that
we can.
We can kind of get better anddo better.
That's what we're talking about.
(25:25):
Great venues Listen, omaha, outthe park.
I mean we had everybody saygreat job.
West Palm beach next year.
I love the idea.
It's nice.
It's going to be sunny Guys,I'm telling you to bring your
sunscreen and wear shorts butit's going to be a blast.
I'm looking forward to it.
The RTO show is going to bethere.
Listen, because of our sponsors, we have had a better show
(25:49):
every single year, this nextyear actually planning on being
even better, and then this kindof rounds out what's happening,
right, this kind of rounds outour year as far as April
concerns, and then we get readyfor DC next year.
Is that the next really big,you know April event?
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Yeah, I mean that's our, you know our yes, the
legislative conference April15th through 17th.
We're already planning andlooking forward to that and you
know just kind of it's ourannual visit up there to
advocate and promote for RedZone.
(26:32):
If you've never done this, theexperience is potentially
life-changing, or at least lightor eye-opening as to what being
involved, seeing what thatprocess actually looks like In a
lot of ways, just seeing howyou kind of have this perception
that these guys and women at DCknow everything.
(26:55):
I'm a senator, I'm arepresentative, I'm a
representative, you know I'm onthis elevated knowledge of
things they don't.
I mean they don't the you knowwe don't have many that have had
experience with our industry.
You know, have many that reallyknow much about it other than
(27:21):
what a simple Google search andwhat's a simple chat GBT search
that's happening now would tellthem.
And you know that we've got to,we've got a duty.
I mean it's an obligation.
Not only is that, I mean that'sour mission for the association
, but I think it's to promoteand protect the industry of
sharing that message, because ifwe're not up there doing it,
(27:42):
someone else is telling it andno one's telling our message and
our narrative the way we are,because we know it, we live it,
and so it's just an importanttime.
I can tell you one thing I'mreally excited about and, just
if you're listening, I wouldreally encourage you to consider
this.
We're really hoping to expandour legislative fellow program
(28:04):
this year.
Our goal is to bring up 20 newfellows this year.
We started with 10.
We had 15 last year.
20 is the next step.
But this program is reallydesigned for people that have
never been before.
It provides basicallyscholarship funding.
(28:26):
We pay for your hotel andregistration.
It helps a little bit on thetravel around DC cost of it,
just to bring you up there tohave experience of it.
While RTO World and beingaround that environment really
opened your eyes to how big thisindustry is and how important
it is.
Dc is kind of just a differentlevel of being able to be that
(28:49):
hands-on involved on navigatingfor what we do, and really not
only it used to be about thesurvival of the industry.
I think it's about the thrivingof the industry.
Yes, I agree, and uh, thatthat's the message we're trying
to trying to put out.
Uh, so, yeah, april, uh, 15ththrough 17th next year uh, we'll
(29:10):
be back up there.
Keep an eye on the fellowshipprogram if you be a first timer
and have interest in going.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
April 15th to the 17th.
Guys next year, put it on yourcalendars.
You need to go.
Do you want to know howimportant it is to us?
I've got two pictures here, andI think Charles does too.
Listen, guys, I think you'vegot a few back here.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
Yeah, you've got a few up there.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
Well, I've only got two because I only went to two,
but I will say that listen, guys, it is that important.
It's great to see you, it'sgreat to network, it's great to
learn, it's great to meet thevendors, but this is what it's
all about right here.
Get yourself ready to go to DC.
We need as many of us aspossible.
Listen, the fellowship programhas been great.
(29:55):
The fellows program it's great.
Let's make it bigger this year.
If you guys can add to yourlist, please do.
If you know anybody who wantsto come on and be evolved when
that opens up, go to rtohqorg,be available, take a look at it
and see who can you know.
If you know somebody who arekind of on the fence, get them
to sign up for the fellowsprogram.
It only makes it better.
(30:17):
It only makes it better.
Listen, charles, I appreciateyou being on the show.
It's been a great God everytime, every time our tier world
comes around.
I love the hello series.
I love kind of coveringeverything we do, just kind of
saying guys, get to the show,get to see what this is about,
turn your job into a career, getto see the people that have
(30:38):
really helped shape thisindustry and learn from them
directly.
You can watch Charles on stageand get all kinds of things that
he didn't know he was going toget.
You can see the RTO show live.
You can also have the abilityto kind of see what it is that
they put together every singleyear just for the RTO industry.
And it is that they puttogether every single year just
for the RTO industry.
And it is amazing.
Also, every year coming up,we've got DC.
(31:02):
So the legislative conferenceis the other part, the other
side of the year that APRO putsthings together to win in the
advocacy.
And it would be great to notonly see you at RTO World but to
see you in DC.
I always keep it PC here andI'll tell you guys.
You know that there's a lotgoing on in DC.
It doesn't matter what side ofthe fence you're on.
We're probably falling throughthe crack somewhere.
(31:25):
Somebody's probably not talkingabout to rent, to own the way
they should, because of what'sgoing on over there.
And every issue is important.
So is yours and so is ours.
Let's be heard together.
So, charles, I appreciate youbeing on the show this morning.
I appreciate you being able tokind of share with us that
momentous, heartfelt occasionthat you had to go through and I
(31:49):
look forward to what's going tohappen in 2026 at West Palm
Beach.
I can also tell you, guys, weare working on a legends program
.
April has got some stuff goingon.
It is going to be monumentouscoming the beginning of next
year.
You don't want to miss it.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
Charles.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
I appreciate you being with us.
And is there?
Is there anything that you gotto say leaving Omaha, going to
West Palm?
Speaker 2 (32:15):
I'm just excited.
I think we're on a reallyoperating on a really high level
right now Our, our partnershipwith trip group and Dennis and
his team.
It's it's showing each, each ofthese, and so we're just going
to continue to make it betterand better, and I can't wait to
to do it all again.
I know If you guys don't knowbehind the scenes it's a rat
(32:39):
race.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
He's really, really busy.
It doesn't show.
He kind of puts on a good face,but it's a lot of work to put
this on, but we do appreciate it.
Charles, thank you for being onthe show.
Listen, guys.
I want to tell you if you guyswant to reach out.
Please, pete atTheRTOShowPodcastcom, hit me up
on the email.
You can also go to the websiteat TheRTOShowPodcastcom.
Hit us up on the DMs.
We've got Facebook, instagram,linkedin and YouTube where
(33:05):
you're going to see this.
Don't forget to subscribe.
Make sure you go online, buysome swag from the show.
That always helps out Sponsors.
We, we do love our sponsors andI will tell you guys, as always
, get your collections low toget your sales high.
Have a great one.
Thanks, steve.
Hello, welcome to the RTO Show.
I'm your host, dean Schauff.
Today we're having Hello Omaha.
Now you guys know we do thissection every year right after
RTO World, because there's somuch going on, there's so many
differences, there's so many newthings going on and the things
that we want to talk about.
Because there's so much goingon, there's so many differences,
there's so many new thingsgoing on, the things that we
(00:27):
want to talk about, charlesSmitherman, the doctor that we
never call the doctor.
He's here with me, phd JD.
Charles.
Like I got to say and I'm goingto tell you I've heard this
probably 10, 12 times Omaha shotit through the like.
I had a lot of people tell wedidn't see this coming.
(00:49):
We didn't see this coming.
We didn't think it was going tobe like this.
We loved omaha.
We got to get that in the cycleand I was like, listen, I got
nothing to do with that part,but it was.
It was so good.
I mean, the nightlife was there, the city's absolutely
beautiful, the heat was down.
So you know, when you come downflorida sometimes there's a
heat index.
Not that I never wanted toFlorida, but it was just like.
It was just an amazing venuethe way, the shops, the people.
(01:10):
It was a great job, charles.
Where did that come from?
Where'd the idea of Omaha comefrom?
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I mean honestly it was an accident Planned out and
everything.
So I guess my two years ago myfirst year, really first few
months on the job I got invitedout to the Iowa-Nebraska Real
Doers Association meeting to beheld in Omaha.
It was the first time I hadever been and so I had kind of
(01:39):
the same expectations I thinkmost people did.
Well, I didn't look at theinvite that closely and it said
NBC Suites Omaha.
So I go online, book a hotel atthe room at the NBC Suites
Omaha and then I get to thehotel the day before the event
(02:01):
and look to see okay, what timeis everything starting?
How long is it going to take meto walk over to?
Speaker 1 (02:05):
the room.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
That kind of thing.
And I noticed the line said NBCSuites, omaha Wells, palmas or
somewhere that's 25 minutes awayfrom where I'm from.
So I was in the room and I'mdown here at this point and so I
got to enjoy downtown thatafternoon evening and I was just
(02:25):
blown away with it.
I mean I had the same ride aseveryone else did, right beside
that huge convention center ofthe hotel with the bridge
attached to it.
And so you know we've got kindof core things we look for in
venues and those two thingsbeing really important high up
on that priority list.
And then you add in the wholedowntown scene with all the nice
(02:49):
local restaurants, the bars,just kind of the general
atmosphere, the cleanliness ofthe city.
It checked every single box wehad and so that was the approach
from wherever I'm texting Lisaon our team and saying would we
ever thought about Omaha?
Why don't we look into this andthen, literally a month later,
(03:10):
we're back out there doing asite visit.
And it just turned, you know,checked every box we needed and
I think the show kind of showedthat in the end.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Well, I think Lynn Leach was happy that he didn't
have to travel.
We did something a little closeto home, you know, and then,
looking at it, the, the downtownspace was really nice.
We saw a lot, of, a lot ofwater right on the river.
If you guys haven't seen, it'sright there on the missouri
river and you kind of get tocross over to another state.
It has this bridge, uh, and notthe one that charles about, but
(03:45):
it has the bridge.
There's a convention center anda hotel and you got this bridge
, so there's that.
There's also the walking bridgeand at night it was lit up.
It was absolutely beautiful.
I took a couple of tours, Irode a couple of scooters, I did
a couple of things.
It was nice.
Now, the showroom was definitely, I should say the expo area was
definitely the right size.
(04:05):
It was huge.
It actually held the RTO Showpodcast live with Charles and
three different guests this year, which we were able to put out.
It's already on YouTube.
So if you guys want to checkthat out, check out the RTO Show
channel and take a look at whatwe had to say.
But really good guests on thereMike Walls was on there, jeff
Smith, andrew Hajduk.
We kind of covered a lot ofdifferent areas.
(04:26):
I mean, I think the best thingabout it I was excited just to
have Mike Walls on there.
Somebody from Aaron's was ableto come on and kind of really
talk to us about the advocacything that we really really need
right now.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Yeah, and Michael's one of the best.
Yeah, and Michael's one of thebest.
He's got just a ton ofexperience.
I enjoy getting to do thisstuff with him and learn from
him.
Really he's very good.
He's now on the APRO board andso we're lucky to have him and
his skill set and knowledge too.
(05:02):
It's exciting.
He was great on the show too.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
That was well planned .
So let me ask you a question,some of the things that we go
through.
First off, I did not get toattend a couple of meetings this
year.
I was kind of going back andforth and we have this really
big thing going on with theLegends this year, but we'll
talk about that in a minute.
How was the Women's Forum?
This is something that's reallyI look forward to it.
(05:26):
I didn't get a chance to attendit this year, but I look
forward to it from the timebeforehand and hearing about it
and afterwards, because theseare the people who are really
the salt of the earth, kind ofcoming in here, the women get
together and kind of show justhow valuable they are in the
rental-owned space and what weprobably couldn't do without
them.
How did that end up being?
(05:46):
I heard it was an amazing show.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Yeah, I think it was great this year.
You know, we're trying,particularly with APRO and this
is just a major place we can doit is to create that community
and even the communities withinthe community.
And so the Women's Forum is oneof those ideas of trying to
bring really just kind of commonideas, common causes together
(06:10):
and really create thoseconnections.
I mean we get really focused onthe education and the expo
portion of RTO World, but theconnection and the community
building, all the networkingthat goes on, is really the glue
that holds it all together, andso we're just kind of looking
for more and more ways to buildthat.
(06:30):
And the Women's Forum is reallya good way.
You know this was the secondyear of it.
We take a very iterativeapproach to everything we do.
Where that we try something, wesee what worked and see what
didn't.
We evolve and we try more.
And so this was the second year.
I'm really looking forward tokind of some of the ideas that
(06:50):
are coming out of this one andhow we're going to make it even
better next year.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Absolutely Now talking about.
There were a couple of peoplethis year that were not directly
related with RTO, but they hadsome great messages.
We had a keynote speaker.
How did that go?
Who was that and what wasreally the message that he was
getting across in the keynotespeaking?
Speaker 2 (07:16):
For the opening session with Aaron Davis?
Yeah, so this is a process andwe're starting this now.
For next year, we're lookingfor a keynote.
We try to bring somebody,ideally someone local.
We alluded to last year aformer Disney guy when we were
in Orlando, so Aaron Davis is a.
(07:36):
That was a different view.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
If you guys didn't see that, that was a different
view.
There was a couple of slides onthere.
I was like, oh dude, this guy'swild, but it was good to see.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
It was really good to see.
Yeah, and Aaron was a local.
He was a former Nebraskafootball player.
He lives in Lincoln.
We saw his reel.
He just had the energy and themessage that we thought would
resonate with our group, and sohe was a great pick, a great guy
.
I got to spend a little bit oftime with him before he stuck
around and did a deep divesession, after which we're
trying to kind of do a littlebit more.
(08:12):
So, hey, if you didn't getenough from the keynote, you can
go spend another hour with themfor 45 minutes in the next
session and, you know, in asmaller, more casual space.
And so he, he was great, he was, I think everyone in the room
kind of left pretty pumped upafter his message and it was a
great start for that day ofeducation.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
I know there was one later on in the meetings and I
believe it was your innersuperpower.
I have to kind of get thattogether.
But it was also another greatlesson for people in RTO from
somebody who wasn't in the RTOspace, and I love that idea.
I love the idea of kind ofhaving these outside people come
in and help influence us in theways that we really need,
(08:57):
because sometimes we have a lotof ourselves kind of you know,
it goes around the table and I'mnot saying that it is.
Which you don't want is youdon't want an echo chamber, and
it's really great to hear thesepeople come out from outside and
say, hey, this is what you'redoing, this is how I can help
you, this is the mindset that Ican help give you, or the
direction or whatever the caseis that they do.
And it's really great to hearother people kind of discuss
(09:17):
what we're doing and how we'redoing it and how it's perceived,
and maybe just put something alittle bit on twisted or put it
on its ear and go.
You know, if you tried this andI love those ideas.
So for the people who might wantto be involved next year, how's
the process of of getting to beable to speak.
Now you had joe luxick there.
I love joe.
(09:38):
I I couldn't miss what he hadto say you.
You know, ryan Kras.
How do people get to the frontstage and say you know what,
charles?
I think I have something togive.
I would really like to presentthis.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
You know, in the past we've kind of done open calls
for proposals and that type ofthing.
This year we really kind oftried to create what we wanted
for the whole format and thenfound people to fill those
spaces.
This year we're going to havewhat I think is going to be a
(10:18):
pre-active education committeeto help put that together and so
, yeah, we're going to belooking for it.
I'm not sure if we're going todo like a call for proposals or
if we're going to do a call forinterest or something like that.
I think that you know, ifyou're listening on this and you
have something you want to giveand are interested in doing,
you know, reach out to me, reachout to Jen, just let us know so
we can put it on the radar.
For right now, I can tell youone thing that's a really high
(10:41):
priority for us is to get theseplanned well out in advance.
If you notice, this year and Ithink we've managed this the
past two years whenever you goin to register, you're going to
have a full schedule and you'regoing to be able to go ahead and
pick which education sessionsyou're going to be doing.
I think that's really neededand it helps a lot of you all,
(11:01):
particularly owners that aretrying to decide, hey, I'm going
to go bring one guy or I'mgoing to bring 10 guys or 10 of
my employees to what's beingoffered and what value is going
to come by it.
And so the education is just,it's an important day.
That's why we're kind ofbleeding over into the day
before with the Women's Forumand the Legal Summit too, and
(11:21):
you know we take this reallyseriously.
We're trying to do better andbetter every year.
Right now we're digesting thereviews from this year.
We've got some ideas on somenew tracks.
I mean, you know, I think we'realways going to be very much.
The strength of this industry isthe willingness of everyone to
(11:43):
interact, to give back, to sayhere's what's working for me and
to share that knowledge.
And that's just so unique Imean I say this all the time
that this is not go over some ofthese other finance spaces and
that is not the way this.
That's not normal, um, andthat's.
We're going to continue toleverage that because I think it
(12:03):
does make the industry better.
You get, uh, the lineup we wehad the best lineup I think
we've ever had this year.
I can emphatically state that,um, and you go and you see like,
uh, mike tisots, with the tisottalk we did on Thursday, it was
standing room only in a roomthat had seating for 120 or 130
(12:26):
people.
And so you know, you've got aguy like that.
That's been very successful,that captivates an audience
because they want to listen andhe's willing to share, which is
what's incredible.
He's willing to go in there andsay, yeah, I'll do this, I'll
take this on and I'll addressthis.
And we've got so many peoplelike that that have different
(12:47):
skill sets, different visions,different things that are
working, and we have just arange of that with our sessions
this year, and so we're going tocontinue to do that.
I think we do.
The idea of bringing in someoutside people just to get some
outside ideas.
I mean, you know, the concepthere is to provide as much of a
range where that you know, likeI said at the beginning of the
(13:10):
conference, like we're going tomake this really hard for you to
choose, because there's this isgoing to be the problem, and
I'm fine with that feedback of,well, there were too many
choices and I wanted to be inthree places at one time.
We've recorded it.
We're going to continue torecord it.
We're going to continue to getbetter with those video
productions.
They'll be coming out soon.
(13:31):
You're going to be able to goin and spend you know,
micro-learning spending a fewminutes a day on this.
You can go in and do a deepdive all day and really get the
whole experience of that entireday.
That's something we're going tocontinue to improve on and
evolve.
So kind of stay tuned for thatfull day of education and those
videos coming out really soon.
(13:52):
We're kind of working on it.
The RTO.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
World Sessions are coming to you.
I love that idea.
This is a new thing, right?
This is not something thatwe've done in the past, but this
is something that we're puttingtogether now so that we have
the ability, not only for thepeople.
Now, guys, I always tell you, ifyou can experience it live,
that's what you want to do.
If you can get a ticket, if youcan show up, if you can be in
that space with your fellowrental-owned industry people and
(14:14):
just kind of understand what'sgoing on, there's nothing like
it.
But if you can't make it,because listen, we also
understand the stores still haveto open, they still got to
function, we got customers totake care of, we got deliveries
to do so there's a fair share ofpeople that don't get to make
it.
But let me tell you there is adifferent world out there and,
as a matter of fact, I'm talkingto a few people this week about
(14:36):
how they have perceived goingto RTO World, how they perceived
going to some of the RDAs whenthey've never done it before and
going oh my God, there is aworld of rent to own that I just
did not know.
This is going to be the way foryou guys to go out there and see
exactly what we do inside ofspace, who we're talking to, how
the networking happens and,more importantly, the subject
(14:58):
matter that they're covering,that you can take back to your
guys and say, hey, listen, thebig guy didn't just hear about
this, I got to see thisfirsthand your guys, your
drivers, your delivery everybody, your salespeople, your
collection people and see whatthe future coming out of this
show is and what the thoughtprocesses are.
I love the idea.
I love the idea.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
The thought processes are.
I love the idea.
I love the idea.
I would say to that too thatyou know, being at the show it's
so easy, like you know where weare would kind of get in our
own little environments and you,you know, you don't.
This show offers theopportunity to see the industry
on full display and everyone inthe industry that, uh, there, I
(15:40):
mean we bring in, uh, themajority of the dealers that are
represented there.
Uh, you know, we had over 700people there this year.
We've got a hundred vendors.
Uh, you bring in and you seethat whole experience.
I have one person come up to me,um, uh, and said you know, uh,
before, uh, he had never been,never been before was a manager
(16:03):
in a store.
He said, you know, when I cameinto this, I was excited to come
to the convention, whatever,but I had, you know, I felt like
I had a job.
I had a job at my store, had ajob in rent zone.
He said, after seeing this,I've got a career, I'm all in
this industry, what it is, andthat's a huge value, just kind
(16:26):
of the pride I think that youcan have by coming in and being
in this environment, beingaround, what this show does,
what it brings, and just thegreat energy that was just there
, the whole from the day weopened until the tour down on
Thursday.
Uh, and you know that's a.
I don't think that's unique toOmaha, I think that's a.
(16:47):
There's a, there's a magicthere that we're trying to fine
tune and enhance and createevery year, and I'm, I'm sure
that, um, west Palm is going tobe even better.
Uh, and we're you've got a lotof people concentrating and
working and committed to makingthat happen right now, and we're
already starting looking atnext year as we close the page
(17:09):
on this or turn the page on thisone.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Well, rto World 2026 is coming down to Florida again.
I really, I really love it whenthey're in Florida.
Listen, I know, I know thatit's because of where I live,
but I enjoy it because it's niceand sunny and hopefully no
hurricanes.
But I can tell you right now,west Palm Beach.
I am so looking forward to that.
So if you guys didn't know,2026 RTO World they're going to
(17:34):
be in West Palm Beach and sowill you hopefully Get your
opportunity to come down here,enjoy the beaches, enjoy sunny
Florida and get your educationon.
And part of the whole experiencereally is not only to learn.
It's not only to meet thevendors face-to-face and say,
hey, let me build a relationshipwith you.
(17:54):
It's to meet the giants of theindustry and this is something
that really kind of changeseverything To hear that somebody
values it so much to say theywent from a job to a career.
You want to know why.
Because you get to hear peoplewho have done this for 30, 40,
almost 50 years, where they havethemselves in it.
They have a second line that'sin it.
(18:16):
They have people that haveworked with them for 20, 25
years.
When you hear Gary Fairman andhis son kind of taking over.
When you hear about Lynn Leachand his son, when you hear about
what's going on in the world,what doesn't work, you know what
Doesn't work over here.
Well, you know what it worksover here.
Try this, try that.
(18:36):
And, truthfully, in any otherindustry, everybody I want to
say everybody's against eachother, but it's like, hey, it's
a race, okay, this is NASCAR andmy job is to do one thing and
that's beat you.
True, but in the RTO industry,as they're winning, because
everybody here wants to win,they will look back and tell you
you need to try a differenttire size, you need to try this,
you need to try that.
Well, how about this?
(18:57):
Have you put this in the frontdoor?
Have you tried emailing thesepeople?
Have you tried this salesapproach?
Let go of what doesn't work andwork on what does.
This is coming in the nextcouple of years.
Let me forecast to you this andhow it works.
And hearing it from people isone thing.
Hearing it from people whoactually do it every single day,
people that have tried and true, been successful over the years
(19:20):
.
They're forecasting what'scoming and right now they're
involved.
It's something to behold, talkabout right now.
There were some changes.
There were some things thathappened on stage.
Number one Dan Fisher is nowthe president of APRO.
Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (19:35):
That's right yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
One of my favorite people, dan Fisher, is now the
president.
He is the most calm, laid-backguy.
You wouldn't think that he'd bepresident, but he is and he's
going to do a great job I knowhe will.
So you had Michael Bennett whokind of stepped back.
You have Fisher who decided tostep up.
That was a process.
That happened there.
That was great.
That also happened there.
That was great that alsohappened there.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Somebody else got an award there, charles.
Why don't you tell me aboutthat, tell me about your award
and where that came from, anddid you really not see it coming
?
No, I didn't, and I'll behonest, I told my staff after.
Well, I got it.
I've got so many touch pointsfor the reviewing things, the
involvement in the process, evenfrom helping run the awards
committee that selects these.
We kept it secret from the guywho's on the awards committee.
That's what I told him.
I'm really impressed that youkept it secret and managed to,
(20:31):
but I'm really kind of worriedalso that you managed to do that
.
So, no, I, I know, I think my,you know, my, my reaction
probably belied that too, but itwas, yeah, I mean it was, it
was emotional, I mean I, likeyou know, I, I, I really enjoy
what I do and to kind of have athat.
That kind of recognition andacknowledgement was at that
(20:54):
moment too, with particularlybeing just kind of out of
nowhere, a surprise, but wasvery special and it really did
mean a lot to me.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
So for everybody listening, what was the title of
the award that you got?
Speaker 2 (21:11):
So it was the President's Award, the next one
Every year the board presidentgets to choose him or him
herself gets to choose thataward.
And so you know, it was reallyspecial with Michael
particularly.
I mean Michael was, he chairedthe hiring committee, that that
(21:32):
that ended up hiring me.
So he was the, he was the phonecall I got whenever I got the
job.
Michael I had been involvedwith Buddies going back years
and so I've known Michael for along time and I've had a good
working relationship with him.
And so, you know, to me justcoming in with him particularly,
(21:52):
there were so many things likewith this role that and that was
kind of the case that I made tothe hiring committee.
It was like we've got so muchalignment here of what you need
and what I can bring, and thatwas, you know, with the two of
us being able to really hit theground running.
You know, running like runningan association like APRO, where
(22:17):
the the board president and, uh,the CEO or executive director
that's sitting in my seat,you're kind of co-pilots of a
plane, uh, and there's so muchof a partnership that really uh
helps and Michael's just been,you know, just an incredible
friend and uh, uh, mentor for meover the past.
(22:38):
Uh, you know two well, going onthree years that he took on
that role and he had stayed init.
Really, as part of that, Ithink that you know he inherited
a tricky situation whenever,with the resignation of the
former director, and got tobasically spend most of that
(22:58):
first year of his presidencyworking on the hiring process,
and so he wanted to stick aroundfor the fun part and so it was
great just having him, havinghis guidance and being able to
bounce ideas with him and comeup with solutions, and so, yeah,
it was very special thatgetting that award from Michael,
(23:19):
that he chose this moment as hewas stepping back and he's
still around.
He just got reelected to theboard and he's still serving as
past president, so that meanshe's on the executive committee.
We've got it for a couple moreyears, I'm sure.
I don't think he's goinganywhere anytime soon.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
So Well, it was one of those moments that it felt
real because it was and I knowthat sounds kind of crazy, but
sometimes you see those momentsand you're like that almost
seems scripted, like they're notreally surprised, you know,
like, and it doesn't take awayfrom the moment in the sense
(23:57):
that it's not important, butwhen it has that real, genuine
feel, somebody gets caught intheir feelings on stage.
Now, the reason I'm saying thateverybody is because, listen,
taken back, I don't see.
I don't see how charles didn'tsee it coming, considering how
many touch points he does have.
But he didn't.
So he's on stage and he kind ofgets you you know for lack of a
(24:18):
better term side blinded aboutyou know, about this award that
they actually hid underneath thetable.
So they're on stage kind ofgetting it out.
And and you know it's gotta behard, I mean you gotta, you
gotta understand guys, this isthe CEO of April.
It's kind of hard to say youcan't, you can't know about this
, but the genuine feelings thatcame out of it, you know the
(24:42):
speech, it was great to see, itwas really nice.
Charles, congratulations againon the President's Award.
I think you deserve it.
If you guys don't know anythingabout what's going on.
In the last two years, april hasdefinitely changed course.
Now it's not that we're goingin a whole different direction.
I just think that we went froma steamboat to a real
streamliner whole differentdirection.
I just think that we went froma steamboat to a real
streamliner and things havereally kind of caught up.
I want to say I don't want tosay that it's been, you know,
(25:04):
getting modernized, but there'sjust so many different aspects
of it.
There's so many different waysthat it's coming out.
There's so many differentthings that are happening, like
being able to see the showafterwards, like being able to
be a part of these sessions,like bringing in people who
aren't from rent to own to kindof talk to us about things that
we can.
We can kind of get better anddo better.
That's what we're talking about.
(25:25):
Great venues Listen, omaha, outthe park.
I mean we had everybody saygreat job.
West Palm beach next year.
I love the idea.
It's nice.
It's going to be sunny Guys,I'm telling you to bring your
sunscreen and wear shorts butit's going to be a blast.
I'm looking forward to it.
The RTO show is going to bethere.
Listen, because of our sponsors, we have had a better show
(25:49):
every single year, this nextyear actually planning on being
even better, and then this kindof rounds out what's happening,
right, this kind of rounds outour year as far as April
concerns, and then we get readyfor DC next year.
Is that the next really big,you know April event?
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Yeah, I mean that's our, you know our yes, the
legislative conference April15th through 17th.
We're already planning andlooking forward to that and you
know just kind of it's ourannual visit up there to
advocate and promote for RedZone.
(26:32):
If you've never done this, theexperience is potentially
life-changing, or at least lightor eye-opening as to what being
involved, seeing what thatprocess actually looks like In a
lot of ways, just seeing howyou kind of have this perception
that these guys and women at DCknow everything.
(26:55):
I'm a senator, I'm arepresentative, I'm a
representative, you know I'm onthis elevated knowledge of
things they don't.
I mean they don't the you knowwe don't have many that have had
experience with our industry.
You know, have many that reallyknow much about it other than
(27:21):
what a simple Google search andwhat's a simple chat GBT search
that's happening now would tellthem.
And you know that we've got to,we've got a duty.
I mean it's an obligation.
Not only is that, I mean that'sour mission for the association
, but I think it's to promoteand protect the industry of
sharing that message, because ifwe're not up there doing it,
(27:42):
someone else is telling it andno one's telling our message and
our narrative the way we are,because we know it, we live it,
and so it's just an importanttime.
I can tell you one thing I'mreally excited about and, just
if you're listening, I wouldreally encourage you to consider
this.
We're really hoping to expandour legislative fellow program
(28:04):
this year.
Our goal is to bring up 20 newfellows this year.
We started with 10.
We had 15 last year.
20 is the next step.
But this program is reallydesigned for people that have
never been before.
It provides basicallyscholarship funding.
(28:26):
We pay for your hotel andregistration.
It helps a little bit on thetravel around DC cost of it,
just to bring you up there tohave experience of it.
While RTO World and beingaround that environment really
opened your eyes to how big thisindustry is and how important
it is.
Dc is kind of just a differentlevel of being able to be that
(28:49):
hands-on involved on navigatingfor what we do, and really not
only it used to be about thesurvival of the industry.
I think it's about the thrivingof the industry.
Yes, I agree, and uh, thatthat's the message we're trying
to trying to put out.
Uh, so, yeah, april, uh, 15ththrough 17th next year uh, we'll
(29:10):
be back up there.
Keep an eye on the fellowshipprogram if you be a first timer
and have interest in going.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
April 15th to the 17th.
Guys next year, put it on yourcalendars.
You need to go.
Do you want to know howimportant it is to us?
I've got two pictures here, andI think Charles does too.
Listen, guys, I think you'vegot a few back here.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
Yeah, you've got a few up there.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
Well, I've only got two because I only went to two,
but I will say that listen, guys, it is that important.
It's great to see you, it'sgreat to network, it's great to
learn, it's great to meet thevendors, but this is what it's
all about right here.
Get yourself ready to go to DC.
We need as many of us aspossible.
Listen, the fellowship programhas been great.
(29:55):
The fellows program it's great.
Let's make it bigger this year.
If you guys can add to yourlist, please do.
If you know anybody who wantsto come on and be evolved when
that opens up, go to rtohqorg,be available, take a look at it
and see who can you know.
If you know somebody who arekind of on the fence, get them
to sign up for the fellowsprogram.
It only makes it better.
(30:17):
It only makes it better.
Listen, charles, I appreciateyou being on the show.
It's been a great God everytime, every time our tier world
comes around.
I love the hello series.
I love kind of coveringeverything we do, just kind of
saying guys, get to the show,get to see what this is about,
turn your job into a career, getto see the people that have
(30:38):
really helped shape thisindustry and learn from them
directly.
You can watch Charles on stageand get all kinds of things that
he didn't know he was going toget.
You can see the RTO show live.
You can also have the abilityto kind of see what it is that
they put together every singleyear just for the RTO industry.
And it is that they puttogether every single year just
for the RTO industry.
And it is amazing.
Also, every year coming up,we've got DC.
(31:02):
So the legislative conferenceis the other part, the other
side of the year that APRO putsthings together to win in the
advocacy.
And it would be great to notonly see you at RTO World but to
see you in DC.
I always keep it PC here andI'll tell you guys.
You know that there's a lotgoing on in DC.
It doesn't matter what side ofthe fence you're on.
We're probably falling throughthe crack somewhere.
(31:25):
Somebody's probably not talkingabout to rent, to own the way
they should, because of what'sgoing on over there.
And every issue is important.
So is yours and so is ours.
Let's be heard together.
So, charles, I appreciate youbeing on the show this morning.
I appreciate you being able tokind of share with us that
momentous, heartfelt occasionthat you had to go through and I
(31:49):
look forward to what's going tohappen in 2026 at West Palm
Beach.
I can also tell you, guys, weare working on a legends program
.
April has got some stuff goingon.
It is going to be monumentouscoming the beginning of next
year.
You don't want to miss it.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
Charles.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
I appreciate you being with us.
And is there?
Is there anything that you gotto say leaving Omaha, going to
West Palm?
Speaker 2 (32:15):
I'm just excited.
I think we're on a reallyoperating on a really high level
right now Our, our partnershipwith trip group and Dennis and
his team.
It's it's showing each, each ofthese, and so we're just going
to continue to make it betterand better, and I can't wait to
to do it all again.
I know If you guys don't knowbehind the scenes it's a rat
(32:39):
race.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
He's really, really busy.
It doesn't show.
He kind of puts on a good face,but it's a lot of work to put
this on, but we do appreciate it.
Charles, thank you for being onthe show.
Listen, guys.
I want to tell you if you guyswant to reach out.
Please, pete atTheRTOShowPodcastcom, hit me up
on the email.
You can also go to the websiteat TheRTOShowPodcastcom.
Hit us up on the DMs.
We've got Facebook, instagram,linkedin and YouTube where
(33:05):
you're going to see this.
Don't forget to subscribe.
Make sure you go online, buysome swag from the show.
That always helps out Sponsors.
We, we do love our sponsors andI will tell you guys, as always
, get your collections low toget your sales high.
Have a great one.
Thanks, steve.
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