Episode 35: With Dignity and Respect - The Impact of the Padilla Family on the Bail Bonds Profession

Picture this: a family business spanning three generations, rooted in the heart of Sacramento, where empathy and integrity have been the guiding lights since 1979. That's the Padilla family for you, as we sit down with three generations of service to our community. Greg, Topo, and Brandon Padilla unravel the rich tapestry of their bail bond legacy. Topo sheds light on a misunderstood profession, correcting the myths and underscoring that bail bonds function as insurance policies designed to ensure court appearances. The Padillas' steadfast adherence to integrity and regulatory compliance shines through, creating a legacy built on trust and respect.

Our conversation takes a journey through time, tracing the evolution of a customer-centric business in an era before digital convenience. Discover how operating 24/7 in downtown Sacramento became a hallmark of their success, and hear personal reflections on connecting with clients and the unexpected familiarity of bailing out peers. Brandon shares poignant family values that infuse their work, emphasizing empathy at times when people need it the most. We explore the intricacies of their profession, including the important roles of indemnitors and the delicate balance of ensuring public safety while holding onto humanity.

As the episode unfolds, we navigate the challenges and triumphs of a generational transition in the business. From resisting a corporate takeover to rekindling their roots and embracing radio advertising, the Padillas' resilience stands out. Greg, Topo, and Brandon illuminate the strengths and challenges inherent in a family-run enterprise, reflecting on the power of legacy and the indelible imprint of compassion on their journey. Through their insights, we see a portrait of a family committed to building a legacy of empathy and respect, challenging misconceptions and fostering a deeper understanding of their profession.

To learn more about Greg Padilla Bail Bonds visit their website HERE.

To learn more about The Capital Region Family Business Center, click on their website HERE.

To learn more about the Capital Region Family Business Center visit our website HERE

Transcript

Steve Flemming: [00:00:00] Hi, my name is Steve Fleming, CEO of River City Bank, which was founded almost 50 years ago as a leader in a family business, myself and a longtime board member for the Capital Region Family Business Center. I understand firsthand how incredibly important family businesses are to our economy and the unique challenges they face in sustaining from generation to generation.

I think that you'll find this podcast series informative, entertaining, and even humorous at times. That's why our family business, river City Bank is proud to support this podcast. I hope you enjoy today's episode, 

Brandon Padilla: no matter with what they were charged with, no matter with what their situation was. And even when it comes to talking to a person that gets arrested for one of the most heinous things you can absolutely think of, at the end of the day, they're still a person.

If a person had broke into our house today and. They got [00:01:00] arrested, I'd wanna bail 'em outta jail because I wanna make sure that they show up to their court dates and they're responsible for it and they're still a person. They just made a mistake.

Natalie Kling: Hello and welcome to a Seat at the Table. Trials and triumphs of Family Business, brought to you by the Capital Region Family Business Center, helping family businesses to grow and prosper. I'm Natalie Mariani Kling, your host, and a fourth generation family business member. I am so excited to join you around the table for real conversations about what it's like to grow up in, become a part of and navigate the complexities of a family business.

Special thanks to another family business, river City Bank for their generous support of this program. Today we speak with three generations of the Padilla [00:02:00] family from Greg Padilla Bail Bonds about their legacy business. It's got all the tenants of a great story, starting as an underdog and becoming an industry leader, recovering fugitives, facing danger, selling your business to the big dogs, only to start it all over again.

But ultimately it's a family story about integrity, justice, respect, and second chances. Well, welcome everyone. We are so lucky to have three generations of the Padilla family from Greg Padilla Bail Bonds in studio today, so that our audience knows who's who. Would you please each introduce yourselves, share your name and your age, and how long you've been working in the family business, and we're gonna start with you Mr.

Greg Padilla. 

Greg Padilla: It's Greg Padilla and I'm 84 going on 85, September one of this year. And. The, I started in the business in August of 90 [00:03:00] 79 and been been around ever since. 

Natalie Kling: Perfect. Topo, you wanna go? 

Topo Padilla: Yeah. I'm Topo Padilla and 60 years old. Been a licensed bail agent since I was 18 years old. Uh, meaning I've had my bail license for 42 years and it's something, it's a license that I cherish and I have great respect for what we do that we'll get into later, but it's, uh, it's something I'm very proud of.

Fantastic. 

Brandon Padilla: Splendid. Brandon Padilla, 32 years old. Uh, been in the business since 2012. Got to my license right when I was 18 and yeah, haven't been anywhere else. 

Natalie Kling: Been climbing the ladder ever since. 

Brandon Padilla: Yeah, it's kinda like an escalator. You just, you get, you get so high and you just stay in the same spot. So it all works out.

Natalie Kling: Good. We'll get into that Brandon. 

Greg Padilla: And to interrupt now again, first, my wife also got licensed in 79, [00:04:00] grandmother and mother. So she's been licensed and has worked with us for years. 

Natalie Kling: Mm-hmm. 

Greg Padilla: Still has her license, still has, still has her license. 

Natalie Kling: Thank you Greg, for adding that. That's very important. So, Topo, I'm gonna start by asking you to please demystify for us and our audience, what exactly is a bail bond and how does it work?

Topo Padilla: Well, the way the, you know, the TV and everything else has, is that we are loan sharks. That we wear cowboy hats, we have neon signs, and we smoke cigars and we loan people money to get outta jail. And the fact is, it's the furthest thing from the truth. So a bail bond is an insurance policy that guarantees a person's appearance in court.

It has nothing to do with the merits of the case. Our job is not to judge guilt or innocence or even, you know, the crime itself. Our job is to ensure that if we bail somebody outta jail, that they will go to court when somebody's bail is set, it's set by a bail schedule, which is set by the [00:05:00] judges of each county, and when bail is set, they are given the ability to bail outta jail.

And that's when we like car insurance or house insurance or anything like that. We underwrite that insurance policy rather than inputting data in. It's a 2025 Chevrolet Suburban and I drive 15 miles to and from work. The data that we get is who are you, where you live, what's your criminal history? How long have you worked where you've worked?

Those kinds of things. And then we look for an indemnity to help us underwrite that bond to make sure that somebody will go to court, they go to court. The bond is insurance policy is never court, doesn't take any action. However, if they do miss court, we are notified and we have six months to return them to court.

If we fail to return them to court in the statutory time, we then me and my father, we're business partners pay that bond out of our pocket. We don't have an insurance policy that pays it. We pay it out of our pocket. The reason Full, full amount. Yeah. The full [00:06:00] amount of the bail bond. So if it's a $25,000 bond, we pay 25,000.

And so we don't have an insurance company that pays that. The insurance company that we do have all bail bonds in California do have, is there that if we go defunct. On the state of California, they will step in and back the losses. So that's how that works. Okay. 

Natalie Kling: Okay. And one thing that I think is really interesting is, is that there is regulation around what you charge.

So it's not like you can go shopping to different bail bonds. So how do you guys differentiate yourselves? 

Topo Padilla: The way, the way we do it, I mean this is all static. Any one of the three of us can talk about it, bail bondsmen. Our insurance companies have filed rates with the California Department of Insurance.

So they're filed rates, they're approved. So when somebody calls us up, like our insurance company, there's a rate of 10%, 8%, and we have a 7% rate. And if somebody qualifies within those parameters, we can give them that rate and that's what they pay us. That's the insurance premium. That's how we, you know, [00:07:00] make our money.

And take the additional risks. Just like a lot of people don't understand insurance and how it works, and especially here in California. So back to us, we charge filed rates. We are not a discount house. We will not sit there and say, well, I'll do your bond for four and 5% and 3%. We have a business to run, we have to stay solvent.

And the only way we can do that is have a business plan set up to recharge our filed rates. We do extend credit and we make sure that, hopefully that people will pay us, but that's how it financially works. 

Natalie Kling: Okay, great. Thank you for that. Okay, so Greg, I wanna go back to the beginning. So you and you tell me where I might be inaccurate in this story, but as I understand it, you and three of your brothers were in the car business.

In 1973, gas had doubled. The car business really took a beating. There were even physical fights at gas stations, and then so many of the cars back then were big gas guzzlers, so they were hard to sell because the [00:08:00] prices were through the roof. And then six years later, in 1979, the riding was on the wall that this was gonna happen again.

Yes, two years previous, your brother Leonard, a fourth brother, had been working in bail bonds and in fact, Leonard had gone into a bail bond office asking if they would consider a bond that he could use to start his own business. The answer was no, but being the observant entrepreneur that he was, Leonard couldn't help notice a stream of, of people going in and out of the office.

And so decided at around 40 years old to work for the owner and learn the bail bond business. Is that all accurate so far? 

Greg Padilla: That's accurate. Very accurate. Okay. 

Natalie Kling: So in those couple of years that Leonard was talking to you, trying to kind of get you to come into business with him, what do you remember about that time?

Were you interested in the prospect of working in bail bonds? Did you want to stay in the car industry? 

Greg Padilla: I did want to stay in the car industry, but, but it's, I don't know. [00:09:00] I'm, I, I'm a person that it's, it, it's tough to open that door into another adventure. 

Natalie Kling: Mm-hmm. And 

Greg Padilla: I, I seen the bail business is another adventure, and the liability that is created by a bail bond company is, is incredible.

In other words, it's nothing to put on, uh, $20 million worth of liability in a month, 20, $30 million. So the liability I not haven't been into in the insurance business. Didn't realize. I, I didn't realize that. In other words, it's all liability, but a lot of it takes care of itself. So I, I, I wanted to stay in the car business, but it, it just got to where it was just wasn't feasible.

And so, so 

Natalie Kling: you go into business with Leonard? 

Greg Padilla: No, he had his, he, he and his wife actually had their business and we just came in and opened a brand new business. Okay. [00:10:00] My wife, my wife and I. 

Natalie Kling: Okay. And you were working kind of offices were side by side downtown Sacramento, is that right? 

Greg Padilla: Yes. The offices were on at eight 16 eighth Street, the bail bond building.

Natalie Kling: Okay, perfect. That was that. That was smart. That was a smart choice. 

Greg Padilla: Yeah. There was another couple of people that came on years later. But anyway, to begin with, my brother was in the building and, and there was another, an existing bail bond business that was also in the building. But anyway, they finally sold and.

Then my brother-in-law turned around and who had been in the car business with us. He turned around and purchased a business, a bail bond, existing bail bond business. And he started, he opened up in the same building. 

Natalie Kling: Okay. So you had mentioned that Leonard was smart and driven and he understood a very simple fact at the time that people that were being arrested were really treated as criminals [00:11:00] when they should have been treated with dignity and respect.

And your family adopted this value system of treating people as customers Yes. With, with dignity, is that right? 

Greg Padilla: Yes. It was a different kind of a bail business back when, when we got into it, the, the major thing, major change was we worked 24 7 before that the bail business operated from. 10 to say five or six in, in the evening.

Natalie Kling: And how, how many times do you think people were seeking bonds between 5:00 PM and the next morning of 10:00 AM 

Greg Padilla: That's what made us who we are. We put in the 24 7 and that's what, honestly, that's what brought us the business in that building. There was, you know, became the top producers in Sacramento because we just [00:12:00] took care of customers in the middle of the night.

Whatever time they called, it was not on our, our time schedule. You know, we're just gonna do it banker's hours, then you have to sit there and wait till I decide to get you outta jail. 

Natalie Kling: And so realistically, logistically, how did you do that in a time before cell phones and internet and all of that? 

Greg Padilla: It was, it was carriers.

It was tough. Carried pocket full of dimes.

And then, then it went to a quarter. But anyway, it was a pocket full of dimes and, and pagers. Yesterday we were talking to someone and anyway, they, they said, you know, these kids, they don't even know what a pager is. 

Natalie Kling: Brandon, you know what a pager is, right? 

Brandon Padilla: Absolutely, absolutely. Now for carrier pigeons, I've never used one of those, but back in his day, probably.

Topo Padilla: So my dad, for, for a long, long time, we used pagers. The pagers did the voice pagers, Motorola. So you would leave a message and it wasn't the greatest service in the world. So my [00:13:00] dad would leave a message. He says, Hey, Tobo, Tobo, can you gimme a call? Gimme a call. Gimme a call at the office. Topo, can you gimme a call?

Gimme a call at the office. Right? He would, he would do that. He did it for. Over a decade, if not longer. But anyway, to this very day, 2025, when he leaves you a voicemail, he doesn't, same content. He, Hey, Mike, Mike, can you gimme a call? Mike, gimme a call at the, uh, if you can gimme a call at the house. Call me a house.

He doesn't tell you. 

Brandon Padilla: He wants to call you about, he doesn't like give you any hints. It's just, call me, call me, call me, call me, call me, call me, call me, call me, call me if you want. I need you to call me. 

Topo Padilla: He just wants to make sure it's being heard. 

Brandon Padilla: And when he hangs up, when he hangs up, he just calls you right back.

He, it's not like he waits for you to call him back. He just calls you back. Cold comes in a row. 

Greg Padilla: He used to say that we had the best, the fastest bond in town, because it eventually just got, it got so competitive. It got so competitive that, uh, if, if you didn't make up your mind, we [00:14:00] didn't have the, the time that a banker has to sit there and make a loan for a car loan or you're, you know, if you're buying a house.

It was, it was five minutes, you're gonna lose bond. 

Natalie Kling: Oh, that's interesting. So you didn't have time to do a bunch of background checking? No. You had to really just make a decision. 

Greg Padilla: You had to, you had to know the questions to ask. 

Natalie Kling: Yeah. Yeah. Right. Great line. And, and topo, just so people understand an indemnitor, who, who, who is that typically and what are you looking for?

Topo Padilla: Every bond that we get a call on can be written. It's just, are you willing to put in the effort to find that indemnitor, to find that person that, if this person does miss court, are they a gonna be able to help us and BB, will they help us And then see if they don't, and we can't find this person, are they gonna have the financial means to pay the bond?

Because we pay it initially and then we go after our indem. So you know, that's what we have to do. 

Natalie Kling: And those are typically people that the person seeking the bond would [00:15:00] recommend? Yeah, 

Topo Padilla: no. Someone in their life. I'm sorry. Yeah, to answer that question, yeah. It's typically a family member. An immediate family member.

I hate to say it, but I mean, you know, my dad will tell you, but when I was 18 and 19 years old and got my bail license, it was a real eye-opener. When my mom and dad were bailing kids out that I went to school with, they were like, holy. I remember them saying, oh my gosh, now we feel old. We're bailing kids that you went to school outta jail.

Same thing went for me. When I started bailing out kids that my daughter and my son went to high school with, it was an eye-opener for me that, holy smokes. So yeah, we're gonna look for a family member. A friend, somebody that's gonna stand behind them and make sure they go to court. It's somebody, 

Greg Padilla: in other words, when we get a phone call and the, the man, his job in jail is, is to get outta jail and he'll tell you whatever you want to hear, and it's up to you to sit there and figure it out.

[00:16:00] You know, if he's really, if he's real or not. But a co-signer is somebody, I always explain to 'em that, you know, the, we need someone that knows you longer than I've known you. I've known you for five minutes on the phone. I says, we need somebody that knows you a little better than me. And they, they finally get it.

They said, okay, now we understand why you need a co-signer. I don't need a co-signer. I'm true blue, and I'll do this and I'll do that. They'll tell you that they can walk on water, they can fly, they can leap tall buildings. And generally we get some, well, this is just some of the folks. They walk out of the jail and they'll fall face down on the, on the sidewalk in front of the jail, and they land on a grape and they don't bust it.

Meaning they're just 

Natalie Kling: so lucky. 

Greg Padilla: No, they're lame. They can't even bust a grape. But, you know, we've, we've convinced ourselves, we've convinced ourselves that we gotta help the guy. [00:17:00] 

Natalie Kling: Yep. I understand what you're saying. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I understand, Greg. That's good. That's, that's, 

Greg Padilla: and I, I've told that to the customers.

I says, you know, Hey, I'm, I'm serious. I, I really wanna get you out. But 

Natalie Kling: yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a, that's a very delicate conversation that you've probably mastered over all these years. Brandon, I wanna ask you, growing up in the business, did you, how did you see this value system of treating people with dignity and respect?

How has that influenced the culture of your company? 

Brandon Padilla: Um, well, well, I, I would say where it really started was. I don't know. I, yes, I was present there for it, but I don't exactly know from what time it was that I left the hospital when I was born, to the point in time that I ended up in the office with I, I know there's photos of it of all of our customers holding me in the office, but I don't know at what point in time that was.

But I mean, I've, I've been [00:18:00] there ever since it, ever since I was, yeah. A able to breathe, I guess. But it is just a different way of looking at people and, and, and understanding that. I was talking with a friend the other day. We were out. Golfing discussing, uh, hang on, hang on. Yeah, I, I, I was, I was off work.

Natalie Kling: Greg's like exactly what date was that and time exactly. How do you, how do you spell 

Brandon Padilla: that? Yeah. 

Natalie Kling: Yeah. Was that a weekday? No, 

Brandon Padilla: golf might have been, it was after, it was after five, but, but we were, we were talking and he was discussing about the people that we see in our office and I said, well, it's actually interesting, like out of everybody, you know, you can probably, yes, you won't exactly know the number of people that are around you that have been, been arrested or ever had a family member be in a, in a difficult situation.

But there's a lot, there's a lot more than you think. And, and it's not about everybody that comes into our office is, is a bad [00:19:00] person. People make mistakes. I mean, we are about giving chances. Yes, there's so many times that you can have a second chance, but at the same time, people are people. All, all we are there to do is of course, people just look at, oh, hey, you're just looking to get the person outta jail.

Well, it's not about just getting the person outta jail. It's, they have a right. And the fact of the matter is, is I trust with what we have and with what our business is and with what we stand by, is that we are going to make sure those people appear at all their court dates. If they don't appear at their court dates, we'll try to get 'em back into court.

If they don't want to come back into court willingly, then we'll go out, locate 'em and bring 'em back into, put 'em back into custody. But it's one of those things that we wanna work with people and, and, and people are people and they make mistakes. There's no such thing as a perfect person. 

Greg Padilla: I remember, uh, one night I was down there and with another agent anyway, I had him post a bond.

He was, he was outta the office and I had two customers that I was taking care of. And [00:20:00] anyway, this lady, she kinda looks in, she kinda looks in the door out of the hall. And so I go down there and I, I start helping her and. So halfway through the application, she looks down, she's still looking down at these other people and everything, and, and she's, she says, oh my God.

She says, you probably meet the most unbelievable people here, the scary people, and this and that and everything. I says, no, ma'am. I says, I meet some of the nicest people in the world here. I says, I met you. Yeah, 

Natalie Kling: Greg, that's so awesome. Yeah. And, and yeah, it is. Yeah, no. One of the things that really struck me about the way that you guys talk about your business is that it does really demand the stance for justice.

Justice as determined by our constitution, which is that you are innocent until proven guilty. And that's not really the way our culture likes to look at things. We like to put people in boxes, good guys, bad guys. Right? And, and I [00:21:00] think it's really it. It must take a lot of work. I know we kind of talked about one of the reasons people really wanted John Adams to be president was because he was able to do this.

And in fact, he represented the, the British soldiers that started the Boston Massacre because he believed in a fair trial. And I think. That is not something we really talk about as a culture. And I think that you guys are right at the, at the pinnacle of what that means to people. And I wonder if you might share what you, the work that you do, how is it, how is it sometimes seen in unpopular ways and how do you navigate that?

And are there specific examples of something you could share with us? 

Topo Padilla: We all have a story and I will tell you, growing up in this business, I remember law enforcement did not like our people. They didn't like us. And I don't wanna go too far into that one story, but they didn't like us. They didn't, they thought you're, I'm busting [00:22:00] my butt, risking my life going out, putting this person in handcuffs, putting 'em in jail, and then you are getting them out.

You know, I can't believe you're doing this 'cause they didn't understand. And we really work hard to get these people outta jail. That's 'cause we have a business to run. They have a right to get out. And I will say. Proudly that my father and myself have worked very hard to develop relationships with law enforcement, with judges, with district attorneys, and educate them on what we really do.

And today, I can tell you, dating back to when Glen Craig was the sheriff of Sacramento County, we've had a, a stellar relationship with every sheriff, all the way up to our current sheriff, Jim Cooper. And that's because these sheriffs, my generation, understood what we did. So they, they got over that stigma.

Uh, judges. My dad, one of my dad's favorite things to say, and I'll say it because I witnessed it. If there was a judge walking down the street and they saw a bondsman walking [00:23:00] down the street on the same side, God is my witness, they would cross the street. So not to have to interact with this bondsman, 

Greg Padilla: my brother actually changed that to where we were.

We were respected. We were respected here in Sacramento and still are. 

Natalie Kling: What was the key difference, Greg? What were you able to educate them on? That it just, they couldn't get their heads wrapped around before. 

Greg Padilla: Well, like he said, the mentality, the mentality was they must be guilty, otherwise they wouldn't have been arrested.

So it carried, you know, through the whole system, you might say. But we just appearance, we'd, we'd go into court and, you know, we, we were proper, we were, I remember the attorneys had to wear a tie, so, you know, we finally got to where we were wearing ties too, and interacting with the judges, you know, catching them and, and talking to 'em and about, not the cases so much, but back in the day, I remember [00:24:00] they used to have on-call judges at night and these people would, these people at down at the legislature would think that you, we were crazy or bad, bad businessmen.

But we used to call, I used to call at night. People would get arrested, they'd call me up. I'd get a whole list of who they are and what they are, you know, and, and I'd tell the story to the judge and get their bail reduced. I didn't need to write a $50,000 bond on the man if he didn't have the money, but he had a family and he needed to get back to work and he this and that and everything.

I would sit there and pitch this to the judges and we'd get the bail reduced and get these people outta jail and, and save their jobs. Everybody says, what's the big deal about a Jo job? Well, you know, they, they were grateful. The customers were actually grateful for it, and that's why they just brought us repeat business.

They brought us repeat business. They brought us more business because of, of the help that we did. [00:25:00] And like I said, I knew we had won the fight with the, I really won the fight with the judges. When I remember getting a phone call from a judge one day, he says, is uh, Topo busy? I says. No, what do you need?

He says, I need him over here in my office. I says, okay, you'll be over there in a second. He comes back, I says, what's, what? What do you need bail explained to him. Wow. And not just that judge, it was many judges who would call and say, I need to c topo. I need to talk to him about something. 

Natalie Kling: So Greg, you had it in you to really, to, to, to humble yourself and, uh, against these, these people who had these ideas that you guys were maybe on the same side as the people getting arrested.

Yes. To really be able to, to, to humble yourself, to take a step back and to, to understand the way that they were thinking so that you could speak to them and help them understand really what was happening and, [00:26:00] and how you were there to actually bring, make sure they got to court. Is really what you're doing.

Greg Padilla: I was in Texas, myself and another young man were in Texas, and we met with the cops and we picked this guy up. He says, you know, I, I, I can't imagine that you came all the way from California to tell us where this guy's at. He says, we've been looking for him for a year. And so we pick him up and he had a warrant out of San Diego.

They take him to court and they said, Hey, you can have him as soon as we run in there, run him into court. You can, you can have him, you can take him back to California. Said, okay, no problem. And so then we were work working with the city sheriff came out there, a lieutenant and four deputies, and they came out there and they said, you know, you're here for so and so.

Yes. You can't have him. You're not gonna touch him. You're not gonna have anything to do with him. You're gonna leave town. I says, without my man. Yep. And I says, but I, I gotta, I gotta pick him up and I gotta take him back. I says, I've been charged with that. And he says, [00:27:00] if you touch him. If you grab him, if you do anything to take him back to California, he says, you're going to jail.

Do you understand that? I says, okay. I says, but I've got a judge that says I need him and I want him, Greg. And I says, so I guess I'm gonna go to jail. And about that time, they let the young man out the back door of the courthouse and I just happened to see him and I says, Hey, I says, I'll be right back.

And I, I went down there and it took me about 45 minutes to sit there and talk him and to come back with us. Walked back up to the lieutenant and I says, Hey, looks like the judge won. Judge is gonna get to see this man. And by the way, Lieutenant, I says, did you notice I didn't touch him? 

Natalie Kling: Wow, Greg. I mean, that's really skills.

Yeah, but that, that's Brandon. Tell me about that. I mean, 

Brandon Padilla: that wasn't around for that one. That was 

Natalie Kling: No, no, no. But tell me about just watching the two generations ahead of you. Be able to speak to people in such a way where they can be [00:28:00] so influential. And also without being aggressive, without being scary, without being, you know, pulling these levers of, of fear and what you would see on tv.

You know, I mean, you guys to be able to do that, it's incredible. So tell me your perspective, Brandon, and how it's influenced you. 

Brandon Padilla: I would say that, I mean, my dad, my grandfather, just, they, they have always treated people as people. I will say one of the number one people that also helped us with where we are and, and stuff along those lines, and especially with the business and also teaching all of us also with treating people as people was my, my dad's sister.

Theresa and grandfather's daughter, she passed away, but she, she treated every single one of our customers as a person, no matter with what they were charged with, no matter with what their situation was. And even when it comes [00:29:00] to talking to a person that gets arrested for one of the most heinous things you can absolutely think of, at the end of the day, they're still a person.

And, and, and our, yeah, our job, we have to deal with people at their worst, but don't, I guess the mis misconception of it is, is like when people watch TV and they watch these things about bail bonds, man, and fugitive recovery and all this, and all this propaganda, but what they don't understand is it's not just those type of people that are getting arrested.

It's not those type of people that are the only ones that are in that position. I mean. We bail out politicians, politicians get arrested. People that work for the government get arrested. People that work for law enforcement, fire departments, doctors, nurses, everybody does. It's, it, it's, it happens. But in the end of the day, it was a [00:30:00] mistake.

And people are people, I mean, people look at a person that kind of a, one of the most common arrests out there is DUI and they look at a person, they're like, oh my gosh, how could you go get a DUI? Well, yes, there's a bunch of ways out of it now these days in the sense that you can use ride share and stuff along those lines, but at the same time, it's a mistake.

It's an accident. It's not like a person's doing it on purpose. But as, as for my dad and my grandfather, I mean, they've really shown me how to treat a person because of course, I mean, if, if, if a person had broke into our house today and they got arrested, I'd wanna bail 'em outta jail. Because I wanna make sure that they show up to their court dates and they, and they're responsible for it.

And they're still a person. They just made a mistake. I mean, we had a, we had, a number of years ago, I had this local guy around our neighborhood who had broken into my truck. He had stole some stuff outta my truck, and we [00:31:00] found him, and we went and talked to him. And I go, I go, Hey, why'd you steal this? Why, why'd you break into my truck?

And he goes, Hey. I was just, I was on hard times and I was just, I, I just, I just needed some money quick. And we're like, okay. All right. That's fine. That's as, as long as you just talked to us and let us know with what you need. We can try to help you out. But at the same time, you understood with what you did was wrong.

Yes, I understood. And won't do it again. And honestly, I mean, he's just a person and he's just, you have your ups, you have your downs. I mean, we were just, my dad was just up in, I. Up in Northern California just the other day and 

Topo Padilla: Eureka 

Brandon Padilla: up in Eureka, and there's a gentleman up there who we would deal with a lot, I mean a lot.

And he, we would always talk with him every single time we would go up. And we had taken him back into custody once or twice before. But it was one of those things that who he is today is polar opposite of who he was. And he was [00:32:00] really in a bad, bad way with himself a long time ago. But by just talking with us and just communicating with us and seeing us all the time, every single time we were up there in Humboldt County working, he just understood that, you know what, I, maybe I do have people that are backing me.

Maybe I do have people that can help me point me in the right direction to try to get that help. I mean, so I just, I, I, I, I, I thank my dad and my grandfather for the person that they've made me. And, and I, and I basically, like I said, people are people. Estates are made. 

Topo Padilla: And I want to say something about that story 'cause it's my 42 years is one of the most gratifying things.

You know what Brandon's saying? He's painting a a beautiful picture. What we're not is not saying, oh my God, the police are out here arresting people. And why are they doing that? We're, we are literally the furthest thing from that. We want public safety. We want our good community. And the thing we do, our entire [00:33:00] profession does it from coast to coast.

I just sat as the president for two years as the professional bail agents of the United States representing bail agents across this country. And I'm proud of every one, darn one of us. We hold people accountable in hopes that there will be change in their life if criminality is involved in their life.

And this, this gentleman that I went to visit, I, I went to visit him 'cause I, I, I talked to some cops the night before. I said, Hey, have you seen so-and-so around? And they said, yeah, hey, he's been cleaning sober for over four years. He's working at the hotel. He is got another job. I've got the chills and I went and I tracked him down like we do Sandra, that works for us.

Sandra's worked for us for 38 years and she, she tracked him down, to be really honest with you, and I went and visited him, knocked on the door. This guy had a serious fentanyl and heroin problem, star athlete up in Eureka. Star, star athlete, but he got hooked on them after painkillers of an accident he had [00:34:00] and knocks on the door.

And I little kid goes, daddy, somebody's at the door. He's like, shut up. I was like, perfect. And my buddy was with me. He was just, he just wanted to go along and hang out. I was up there umpire in baseball. He opens the door, he sees me, and we both froze and we hugged and it brought us both to tears. I had my dad on FaceTime when this happened and he, we hugged and hugged and hugged and I said, man, I hear you're clean and sober.

He says, yeah, almost five years. And he looked at my dad on the phone and he said, Hey Pops, what's going on man? We got done talking to him and I put Brandon on the phone and him and Brandon are just two years apart. And to see that man change, God is my witness. That's one of the top reasons I have stayed in this business and I want my son to stay in this business, is to help people change, to help our community be safe [00:35:00] and public safety.

We're not running around here bastardizing the cops or anybody like that. They've got a job to do and God bless 'em. So I wanna make sure that that's perfectly clear. 

Greg Padilla: When we see that it's, we won, you know, we, we won for God and Country. In other words, it isn't gonna benefit us that he went straight. It's gonna benefit the community.

We have a lot of those stories and it's just when you run across somebody you haven't seen for five years and. When he showed me the, his picture and they, and he said, how you doing pops? I knew he'd been clean because he was just all muscled up. He was just, he used to be just, you know, kind of scrawny.

You'd know you won When you see him healthy like that. 

Natalie Kling: That's so beautiful you guys, I mean, really that's putting the humanity in an, in a, in a quote industry. I know, Topo, you're right. It's not, probably not an industry, but that pe the way that people think about it, and I mean, for example, let's bring up the word bounty hunter.

Okay. So you [00:36:00] guys, a, a big part of your job is, is the administrative piece of giving people the, the bonds, but then there's this, this bounty hunting piece. So tell me about how much of your business is that? Is it sensationalized? How do you guys, what's your perspective on that piece of it? 

Topo Padilla: First of all, the word bounty hunter does exist.

It's a word that is now used to demonize us. It's just like when the people that wanna eliminate bail, 'cause there is a whole movement to eliminate bail across this country. They use the word cash bail. 'cause cash is evil. And they use that word and they use the word bounty hunter today as an evil, a word to make people uneasy with us.

And part of my job as a bail bonds is to go apprehensive when you bring 'em back. Now today, because of the laws that exist on the books today from about two years ago, we are licensed California Fugitive Recovery Agents. So when somebody mentions that, I say, no, no, we're Fugitive recovery agents. We're licensed fugitive recovery agents.

'cause that's what we are. We've mitigated the way we [00:37:00] write bail because I'm lessening that part of what we do in our business. And I'll make less money, but we can all three go home and rest the night. We still go out and chase Fugees. We still do it. I remember the day my dad didn't like to fly. I was, when I was about 21, Mike Glacier, who's my best friend, worked for us.

He, I met him through a mutual friend. He got his license and he wanted to be a cop. My dad put Mike and I, God is my witness at 21 years old on more airplanes than you could ever imagine. Chasing fugitives all across this country and bringing them back. My dad did at, I was 21 darn years old. He did that and I was honored.

But I remember when Brandon, first time Brandon ever went out by himself without calling me and telling me he was gonna go chase a skip. And he did it. And I was so upset and I kind of yelled at him and I got off the phone and I felt [00:38:00] so bad 'cause I said my dad trusted me and I have all the faith in the world and Brandon to go do his job and execute it safely, but I don't have faith in some of the people we're chasing.

Sure, yeah. I could 

Natalie Kling: see that. 

Brandon Padilla: We still have a job to do and we will still stand up for With who? Who we get out and with what we do. I mean, it's, it's hard to. I have, we have other friends who have companies who, that's all they do is fugitive recovery. And it's difficult living on the road, but we have a job to do and we have an order to the court that, or we have a duty to the court that we are going to return these people back into court or back into custody.

And, and it's all about, like I said, initially, when a person misses court, it's all about calling 'em, getting ahold of 'em and getting 'em back into court. But if a person doesn't wanna do it that way, then there is other routes. And, and I will say is that one thing that my [00:39:00] dad and my grandfather have really done a lot of work on is that making those friendships with law enforcement because it's, it's one of those things when we go out and look for a person, we all have the same common goal to come home at the end of the night.

And it's not about always about grab getting your, getting your guy, because there's been plenty of situations of plenty of places and. Times where it wasn't the right time to go in and do it, even if the person was there, wasn't the right time. But at the same time, at the end of the day, we do have a job and we do have a duty to the court that we just need to, that we have to sometimes go out and take care of certain business and, yeah.

Natalie Kling: Brandon, is there, is that a maturation thing? I mean, when you're young, especially being a young, you know, 18-year-old guy, is that, is it, is, does it seem more exciting? Was there more of a draw to kind of do that and, and then does it lessen as you mature or, or no. Tell, tell us your perspective. 

Brandon Padilla: I would, I would say that if, if you, if [00:40:00] you took all, took the percentage of, of us going out and, and locating somebody, it's probably only maybe 10 to 15% of actually field work.

The majority of the work is done in the office. The majority of the work is done by making those phone calls and doing your research. Because it, it's, it's one of those things that when a, when a person wants to hide. They can hide and I mean people hidden in the craziest places that you're just like, where in the heck did you figure out to hide in this place?

I mean, we had this one guy who hid in a super, super, I don't even wanna consider it a town, because it all had, was a post office box. And, and the, and the funny part about the guy is, is that we actually missed him the first time we went out to go get him. 'cause we didn't know that he was next door digging a hole in a field.

And we actually drove past him as we were going out to like go to look for him at this house. And we had learned later on, later on in like two hours later, Hey, actually he was just cook. [00:41:00] He was just digging a hole in the field. And we're like, crap. So we left, we left and we told him, Hey, we're completely outta time.

We're done. We're going home. Sorry. Well shucks, that one got away. He came back out there at 4:00 AM the next morning and just put on a, not a spectacle, but we went around and looking for this guy and this guy said that he, he goes, you know what? I hid out in the, out in the hills all night long and came back in at like 3:00 AM because he said he was so cold.

Natalie Kling: We need to have another episode where it's just stories from the field. 

Greg Padilla: We had a gal, they called me and said, we've got this gal and we've got to go find her. We're out of time. And it was in Vallejo. But anyway, so we go over there, we meet with the police, we have to check in with the police when we're doing this.

And so police said, oh yeah, we we're looking for it too. Said, well, I got an address. So we, we went to this apartment, sergeant and I went up to the door, surrounded the apartments with this other [00:42:00] police and my partner. And anyway, we, we go up to the door, he says, no, she's not here. She's the guy. Said, no, she's not here.

She's not here. Well, can we search a place? He says, well, you know, geez, you know, and he sat there and he kept stalling us. So finally he turned around and he says, okay. Okay. I gotta tell you, says I've got a, a girl in my bedroom and it's not her. So the sergeant says, no problem. Okay. So they go in there and they search the place and they go in to see this other gal in the bedroom.

And Sergeant comes out there, he says, Greg, she's not here. She, she's not here. He wouldn't have another gal in here if, if she was here. And I says, okay, Sarge, can you do you mind? Just keep talking to him for a little bit and let me go search. So I started searching, didn't search the bedroom where the, where this other gal was.

And so anyway, I finished with the bedroom and bathroom and all this stuff and everything. And I came out all the, opened all the doors, drawers and everything. [00:43:00] I don't care. I will search everywhere. So I turned around and started opening the cabinets and all this stuff. Get down, get down below the stove and opening the stove.

And I turned around and you know what a lazy Susan is in the corner. And I opened the door and I. I seen some toes do this. I seen some toes and I just shut the door and I said, Hey, Sarge. I says, what do you think? You wanna come over and look? And so he goes over there and he goes like, oh my God. It took a couple officers damn near an hour to get her outta there.

No, she pearled up in that lazy suit curled around there in 

Natalie Kling: the corner cabinet 

Greg Padilla: of the kitchen, in the corner cabinet. Oh my God. Oh my God. You wanna 

Topo Padilla: know where They'll hide anywhere. We've seen some of the greatest contortionists in our lives. Trust me. 

Natalie Kling: I bet you have. I bet you have. Well, thank you guys.

We're, we're gonna wrap up here in a couple minutes, but I do have a couple family questions I wanna ask you. First of [00:44:00] all, Topo and Greg, you had worked together for how many years before when you decided to sell your business to a, to a bigger bail bond business. Tell us just briefly about that and, and what led to that decision, and then what made you.

Start your business again. 

Topo Padilla: So in when my dad, we have an insurance company, and that insurance company, uh, had what's called a general agent. And, and my dad really and truly, he's been married to my mom and only to my mom for 66 years. Five, it'll be, it'll be 64 in September 64, that was close. My dad is very loyal, and so we had this one insurance company and the gentleman who owned that insurance company came and, and said, Hey, would you, you know, we would like to do something with you guys.

I'm like, I'm like, I'm not interested. I'm not leaving my dad. My dad owned the business. I worked for my dad. I'm not leaving him. Well, we'll pay you this. I, no, no, no. So one day they flew up and we went to dinner. My [00:45:00] mom and dad and my wife and I, and and this gentleman, and we were sitting down at the firehouse and before they even brought water out, they slid a napkin across the.

At dinner table said, Greg, we wanna buy your business and we wanna bring Topo on as an executive and we wanna hire your entire staff. And my dad and I went in the bathroom. And when, you know, to all the family business out there, you say, my business isn't for sale. That's not for sale. That everything's always for sale.

And it wasn't the money that they offered him as much as that it was, they were gonna relieve him with the liability. He'd been doing it for 20 years. So he started in 79, this was in 1999. You know, I'm not speaking for him, but we went in the bathroom of the firehouse and it's not that big. Just looked at each other and I said, dad, what are you, what are you gonna do?

And he says, I gotta sell it. 'cause of all the things that came with it, they're gonna bring everybody to work. It was gonna be a big corporation. So we did that. And this is critical for the people listening. We did [00:46:00] that. And they said, you're gonna be able to work for us to, you're gonna be a senior vice president and.

You can do whatever you want to do in the business. All your employees, you know, my sister, who Brandon talked about earlier, who's by far the greatest bail agent I have ever worked out. She's a better bail agent than I am. 'cause women are mama bears and caring and compassion more than you know men.

That's the truth. There are more licensed female bail agents in the state of California than there is men. Just to tell you that. That's interesting. That's a fact. So we did that and as we went to work for this corporate America, we just saw some things that didn't match up to who my dad was. They were a good company.

They're really, really good people. They paid their people well, but they didn't have the personal compassion that we did and it was hard for us to watch. So it was five years later that, you know, the honeymoon was over, I guess you could say with them. And the owner came to us and he was very gracious and he just said, I think we're done.

I. And we said, yep, we're [00:47:00] done. And we walked away with diplomacy. There was never no hard feelings and it wasn't. But 15 days later, February 14th, it was Valentine's Day 2004, we established Greg Padilla bail bonds and 'cause it used to be called Central Valley Bail Bonds. We established Greg Padilla bail bonds and we were partners in the business.

And it's been a, it's been a great ride. I will tell you this, that we had to start all over and we got a jumpstart because we started advertising on the radio. 

Natalie Kling: Mm. And we started 

Topo Padilla: telling our story on the radio. And we have been on the radio since 2004 and we have never, ever one day gone dark on the radio.

We don't turn our ads on and off month after month. Even during the bad times when they were trying to get rid of bail, we kept advertising. 

Natalie Kling: Wow. Fantastic. Brandon, how do you, do you, what do you think about marketing your company? Do you, do you still see the value in in radio? Do you have other ideas? [00:48:00] 

Brandon Padilla: I mean, I mean, of course there's always other ideas, but in the end of the day, I mean, if you don't have, you don't have internet service, you can always turn on the radio and that.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Stations are there. The AM stations are there. I mean, we find it quite interesting. There's this one station that we, they, that they ever advertise on and that station's here in Sacramento. But when we go up, when we go up to go hunting up in Idaho, this one little super, super small town gets that radio station there clear as a bell.

It's all, all clear as a bell all the way up in Idaho. But it's one of those things that advertising's helped out so much with the radio that, that people, it's not about just the radio or people like seeing TV ads. 'cause yes, TV ads can be impactful. But it's, it's, it's also the other side where my dad can just be, he, he was in Asia and some guy goes, or some, some lady [00:49:00] goes, you're the bail bonds guy from, from, from California, right?

And he goes, yeah. How do you know that? Oh, I, I recognize your voice from the 

Natalie Kling: radio. Wow. Wow. 

Brandon Padilla: So rather than a person doing ha having a business and then having somebody else do an overlay of someone else's voice for their ad, IFI find it so much more beneficial for him to do it. And just the ads himself, I can't really do it.

I mean, he tried, he's, he's tried to get me a read, like four or five different commercials and it, it can't happen. Not for you, Brandon. Not, I'm not a tro at all. 

Natalie Kling: Wait, one more question I wanna ask the three of you, and I'd love for each of you to answer is, what do you see as the strengths, the biggest strength and the biggest challenge of being a family business?

Greg Padilla: That's a good question. Good answer. The strengths, knowing that someone's got your back all, all the way and every anything and everything that you do. More than [00:50:00] anything. I see these other businesses, you know, and they're fractured, so we're all on the same page. If anything happens, anything comes up with anything, we're on the same page.

I, I sit there and I've listened to him, talk to the customer. That's exactly what I'd have said to the customer. 

Topo Padilla: So for me, the strengths are along the same lines. We can, none, none of us are gonna steal from each other. We are, you know, when we do something and we put liability on, we know that, um, our family, not just my dad and I, our family could suffer the consequences if we do something wrong.

And the challenge is, I will tell you this and, and I can speak to this better than either one of them that I grew up. Watching my dad's work ethic. He had one pair of gloves, one jacket grew up working in the fields and farms. His work ethic is, I will never, ever be able to work as hard as he has or does now, [00:51:00] not even now.

So I watch his work ethic. And so when I came aboard, I tried to be a little bit smarter with things and get rid of the ruler and the pencil and show my dad a radio shack, TRS 80, and a printer instead of a typewriter. And I tried to advance what we were doing to make his life easier because I watch how hard him and my mom, and my mom has been left out of this conversation all too much.

My mother worked her tail end off, she used to drive my dad all over because my dad had been working 16, 18 hours and my mom would drive so he could sleep, get an hour or two hours sleep and, and do that. And so. Watching the different generations. And now the one thing that is totally unfair to Brandon is my dad and I have our challenges because of, I'm trying to do it this way 'cause I wanna make it better for him and easier on him.

I don't want him to work. He's 84 years old and it's what keeps him going. So it keeps him alive. [00:52:00] And then for my son, it's not very fair for, 'cause he's got two of us scrutinizing the way he does things. And I want him to know this as much as everybody out there listening, he's got two of us scrutinizing the way he does things.

'cause we're like, why are you doing it that way? Why are you doing it that way? The secret sauce is he's trying to do what I did to my dad. Well, he's trying to do it for both of us and I recognize that and it's, it's heartwarming. 

Natalie Kling: What do you think about that, Brandon? 

Brandon Padilla: No, that's pretty, pretty spot on. I think.

I think the definite thing that's helped all of us, interestingly enough, even though it's, it's very difficult. It is. You have your apps, you have your downs working with family, but having us be so close, um, even though I know I didn't get my name to be Greg, but, but it, it's, it's still one of those things that it's, you're, you're gonna have your apps, you're gonna have your downs.

Of course, we know we won't, neither [00:53:00] of us will, none of us will screw each other over, over anything. And then we'll make the, try to make the best decision possible. But at the same time, it is difficult working with family, living on the same street as family. And, and, and, and you don't just get to talk about the work stuff at work.

You're talking about it at home. You're talking about it while we're over changing a tire on a tractor. And I'm like, what are we talking about work for? But as for the work ethic, the work ethic for people my age and my generation has greatly diminished compared to a. My dad's, my dad's generation, my grandfather's generation tenfold.

I mean, this guy's out in the, out in the summer heat, and I'm like, uh, I probably should go inside before you pass out. He's like, oh no, back in 42. I'm all like, back in 42. But it's, it's, it's, it's really been great. And, and honestly, I I, this is the profession I want to do and I don't want to, and hopefully we can continue it on my, [00:54:00] when I have kids one day, hopefully they can come into this also.

But, but yeah, no, I just, I really enjoy this a lot and hopefully one day I can try to take things over and do it their way, plus my way. 

Topo Padilla: Yeah. 

Brandon Padilla: So we'll see. 

Topo Padilla: And if I could say something that I'd really like this to be a memory of my sister. Mm-hmm. Uh, she died in 2017 and she'd be sitting right here. She was in this business since she was 18.

Worked her tail end off, as I said, was by far the greatest bail agent I have ever been around. Mm-hmm. And it's one of those things where we've got a great family doing, helping other families and for all the family businesses out there, you know, I know like Brandon just said, he said it twice, maybe even three times.

We have our ups and downs, but at the end of the day, we're all here to do for each other and to take care of each other. 

Natalie Kling: That's a great place to wrap up, Topo. Thank you so much. We do, we do have one last question we ask everyone, which is, do you think that [00:55:00] your success thus far has been due more to hard work or luck?

Greg Padilla: It's been through hard work. You know, it's like you said, my wife, Glenna Glenna used to, she'd drive me to Orville to post a bond. She'd drive me here and there and everything because I'd call her up and I says, Hey, I've got a bond in Yreka that's, you know, four hour, four hour drive. And I'd been up all night.

So I'd sleep all the way to, I'd sleep all the way to Yreka. She'd get in there and do the paperwork with the customer. And I would sit there and post a bond and, and everybody wonders. You know, I remember people used to wonder, why, why do you clear the table? Why do you rinse the dishes off for, for Glen?

I says, 'cause she drives me all over hell creation to post a bond. I says, that's the least I can do for her 

Topo Padilla: and for me, I, I'm gonna tell you, 95% is through the hard work where luck does come into play when we're looking for a fugitive. You can't find a fugitive sitting on the couch or sitting on a bar [00:56:00] stool or sitting in your boat.

You have to be out in the field to catch 'em. And I will say we have had some luck in finding people luck, meaning we just got lucky and found them. Yeah, we were out there and our paths crossed. So that part, there is some luck in that. But there is some skill, there's some great skill in what we do as fugitive recovery agents.

So that's the only luck I'm gonna claim to our success. How'd you find 

Greg Padilla: me? That's the number one question that's is asked of us. How did you find me? 

Natalie Kling: A lot of hard work and a tiny bit of luck. 

Brandon Padilla: Mm-hmm. 

Natalie Kling: Yeah. Would you agree, Brandon? 

Brandon Padilla: Absolutely. I mean, you gotta, there there's, there is a lot of skill that comes into with what we do, whether it's failing a person out or it's out trying to locate somebody.

There is that skill of having that knowledge, but at the same time, there is that little bit of luck and the stars line up. Yes. Very, very, very much so. Especially when you're in some of [00:57:00] the craziest places you can humanly imagine, which, just like, why would a guy be out here? 

Natalie Kling: Hmm. 

Brandon Padilla: I'll tell you this much.

Just I, I know, I know we're right at the end, but when we caught this one guy in this really, really rural place. The only reason we caught him, I'm gonna tell you this much, is 'cause we found out his favorite soda was grape soda. We went and bought from the only convenience store, a 12 pack of grape soda.

We found him less than 30 minutes after we bought that grape soda. And he gets in the car, he goes, soda, you want a soda? He goes, yeah. I'm like, he's like, I want, I'm like, you want a grape soda? He goes, yes. No you didn't. You handed him a soda. I handed him a soda and he goes, oh, grape soda. It's my favorite soda.

I was like, yeah, I know. 'cause we just bought it less than 20 minutes ago. 

Natalie Kling: Unbelievable. You guys. 

Topo Padilla: The part of the story he left out is that there's four of us in the car. Another guy, Jeff that works with us, Brandon went into the store, didn't tell us he bought the grape soda. No, he had worked for that information.

He is literally turned into one of the best skip [00:58:00] tracers that exists. He found out from the little shop girl in there, 'cause she was batting her eyes at him that that guy had grape soda. So he bought the grape soda, put it in the back of the SUV, did not tell us. And when the guy was sitting in the backseat.

Between Brandon and my dad. He said he wants something to drink. He said, yeah, yeah. He, he, the guy was handcuffed, so Brandon had to tilt it in his mouth. He goes, gosh, I love grapes. So that's my favorite. None of us, me, my dad, nor Jeff knew, and all three of us at the same time put it together. We looked at Brandon and I go, he withheld information from us.

Natalie Kling: Brandon, you earned the right you, you're earning your, your seat. That is so cool. That's very cool. Well, you guys, thank you so much. What a great. Amazing legacy business that you, you're building and how, what I really appreciate it is the, this whole take on humanity and empathy that has to be a part of the job you do, which is, which is really [00:59:00] misunderstood and, and just not really understood by, by probably the majority of Americans.

So you put yourself in harm's way to, to stand for justice and that's very honorable and even more so that you're doing it as a family. So thank you for sharing your story with us. You bet. 

Topo Padilla: Thank you. Well, thank you so much.

Natalie Kling: Thank you for listening to a Seat at the Table trials and triumphs of family business. If you like what you heard today, please be sure to subscribe, post a positive review and share with another family business owner. For more information about the Capital Region Family Business Center, visit cap family biz.org.

That's Cap family BU s.org. You can also follow us on Facebook at Capital Region Family Business Center and on Instagram at Cap Fam Bizz, BIZ. If you know of other family businesses that have a [01:00:00] story to share, please contact the Family Business Center at info@capfamilybiz.org. That's BUS. We're grateful for the support from River City Bank to make this program possible and special thanks to Guy Roz from how I built this for a wonderful closing question that's become one of our favorite