A First House Flip Funds A Juice Bar Dream

A lot of people talk about “multiple streams of income” like it’s a mood board. Ashley Lewis lives it, and she’s honest about the price. She’s the founder of BeatBox, a Richmond, Virginia juice bar and cafe, the owner of Melt Parlor, and she’s active in real estate fix and flip projects that helped fund her earliest moves as a business owner. 

We get into her backstory from Oakland to the East Coast, the early experiments that taught her margins and operations, and why she believes some entrepreneurs are born with the itch even if they do not recognize it right away. Ashley breaks down what it really looks like to build a food business where ingredients expire, labor is constant, and customer experience decides whether your brand spreads through word of mouth or dies quietly. 

Then the conversation turns to scaling: expanding square footage, getting a liquor license, and creating “Homegrown,” a bar and marketplace concept that uses BeatBox juices in cocktails while still fitting a wellness-forward identity. We also talk leadership in plain language, hiring the right people, the mess that happens when roles get tailored to personalities, and why firing decisions can spiral if you wait too long. 

If you care about women entrepreneurship, local business growth in Richmond VA, real estate investing, or what it takes to land an airport concession opportunity, this one will spark ideas and hard questions. Subscribe for more unfiltered founder stories, share this with a builder in your circle, and leave a review with the biggest lesson you’re taking from Ashley’s playbook.

Transcript

No Fluff Welcome

SPEAKER_02 0:03

Welcome to the You Can't Afford Me Podcast, where we skip the fluff and dive straight into the ground. Real entrepreneurs, real struggle, and the unfiltered journey behind today. Let's get into it. Hey guys, thanks for joining us on another episode of the You Can't Afford Me Podcast. So for me, at least what I'm seeing on my timeline is female entrepreneurs are it right now. They're all over the place. I think they're building businesses faster than any other demographic, in particular, females of color starting businesses. So we got a great one for you today. I met this young lady through Tim Hightower, football phenom. You guys know him, played for the Cardinals and the Redskins. And I'm looking very much forward to this conversation. So today we got Ashley Lewis on the podcast. How are you doing today?

SPEAKER_00 0:51

I'm good. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 0:52

Awesome. So give us a quick rundown of who you are and what you do.

SPEAKER_00 0:56

I am Ashley Lewis, owner of the Beatbox here in Richmond, Virginia. Also have a salon, Melt Parlor, also in Richmond, Virginia. And I do a little bit of real estate fix and flip right now.

SPEAKER_02 1:08

Beautiful, beautiful. All right, so I like getting people's backstory. So originally, where are you from? Where did you grow up?

Oakland Roots And Moving East

SPEAKER_00 1:14

Um Oakland, California.

SPEAKER_02 1:15

Oh, we got an Oakland girl. Oh absolutely. Dang, I should have came strapped today. I didn't realize. What was it like growing up in Oakland?

SPEAKER_00 1:23

Um, I love Oakland. Someone asked me the other day would I want to be from anywhere else? Absolutely not. It was very diverse. I feel like I spent an equal amount of time amongst different groups of people in different uh settings. So I think that that shaped me for being in any room.

SPEAKER_02 1:42

Nice. So when did you move from Oakland and make your way to the East Coast?

SPEAKER_00 1:46

Uh 2016.

SPEAKER_02 1:48

Oh, so you haven't been here too long. Ten years. Ten years?

SPEAKER_00 1:51

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:52

What brought about that move?

SPEAKER_00 1:54

Um, family. Short answer. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:59

What what was uh the biggest shock for you from moving? Because the West Coast is way different than the East Coast.

SPEAKER_00 2:04

The bugs.

SPEAKER_02 2:05

Oh, really? Yeah. The mosquitoes are only.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

The bugs here are, yeah, we don't have half as many species of bugs. What else? That's probably the biggest what were you doing?

SPEAKER_02 2:15

What was your career while you were in Oakland?

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Uh yeah, when I left the Bay Area, what was I doing? Stay-at-home mom. And I did that probably for the first four years I was here. So I really didn't come outside until COVID. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:30

So what so going from stay-at-home mom to you went straight into entrepreneurship from there?

SPEAKER_00 2:35

I did. I had been an entrepreneur prior to that. Okay, so I take that back. Uh in California, I had my first um endeavor was a it was like retail inside. My friend had a clothing boutique um in like a little prominent town. And I had rented space inside of there and opened up a shop inside of there. So that was like my very first taste of that.

SPEAKER_02 2:56

What were you selling?

SPEAKER_00 2:58

Uh accessories. So like purses, jewelry, lingerie, stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02 3:03

How did you so how in the world did you get into that?

SPEAKER_00 3:05

Because I love clothes. So, and then I shopped at the store. I became friends with the young lady that owned the store. And I was like, I kind of want to do something. I just had a baby and it was close enough, and she already had everything kind of set up with having the store. So I just came in and set up my own little shop

First Businesses In Retail And Towing

SPEAKER_00 3:23

in there. And then fast forward to moving here, um, I ran a tow truck company when I first so I said I was a stay-at-home mom. I forget parts of the story. When I first came here for the first couple years, um, I ran a tow truck company.

SPEAKER_02 3:38

Wow, like you started that?

SPEAKER_00 3:40

No. So my children's father had purchased it um along with another business. And the plan was that we were gonna come to Richmond for a year, which now that I understand more about business, that's impossible. Um we're gonna come here for a year, get everything going, and then we were gonna go back to California. So um I did, I did do that here.

SPEAKER_02 3:59

Let's go back to the to the boutique shop that you had. Yeah. Because I've always been a service-based entrepreneur. So up to this point, I think I've started about 10 or 11 businesses, but everything's been service-based. I think being an entrepreneur dealing with products is a whole nother level. So kind of talk us through that. Like, what were your upfront costs to get started with something like that? Like, how are you determining your price points? Because margins are a big thing when you're dealing with products.

SPEAKER_00 4:25

Yeah, so retail is hard because you kind of just buy in at the wholesale price, and it's typically like double as what you can sell it for. So understanding the margins, it's more of like how are you gonna move it? And then as you see with closing, clothing, it all is like seasonal. So once it starts to get older on the shelf, you have to mark it down on sale, which that cuts in on your margin a little bit. But um it wasn't profitable, it was more so just something to do. And I think I probably started it with like $10,000 or $15,000. Again, my friend had the store, so I really just had to get the furniture, the decor, and then the initial order to kind of start making money. And the price point on the stuff I was selling, uh, mind you, it was it was a prominent area. So I would say anywhere from like $50,000 to like $700. Okay. So it just depends on what the product mix of what you're selling is.

Finding The Entrepreneur Path

SPEAKER_02 5:16

So, what initially prompted you to say, Hey, I want to go in business for myself? Because I think I tell people all the time, like you look at a guy like, you know, Michael Jordan's my goat. LeBron ain't even close. So let's get that out the way. Um Jordan had God-given ability, but he also worked hard at his craft. It wasn't just like he was the most gifted basketball player in the world and just walked on court and did his thing. He showed up to practice before everybody else, he stayed later. So I feel part of being an entrepreneur is just kind of built into your DNA. Like, if I could consciously choose to do something else, it's way easier for me to go clock in at a company and work for somebody nine to five, and then after I clock out, like I don't have to think about this anymore. Right. As an entrepreneur, this is on your mind 24-7.

SPEAKER_04 5:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:57

So, what was it for you that kind of pushed you into the entrepreneur world? Do you feel like this was something that you were born to do, or like you just discovered it through through relationships?

SPEAKER_00 6:06

Both. I think I was born to do it. I just didn't realize it. I had had many jobs, worked in different industries. Um, I had gone through culinary school before having my son, a few years before that. Um, and like halfway through, it was like a two-year program. Like halfway through, I was like, there's no way that I'm getting into the restaurant industry. Like, it's hard work, you don't get paid.

SPEAKER_02 6:31

Like that is the hardest business to work.

SPEAKER_00 6:34

Very hard. So I realized that. I still continued through with school, not knowing like where I was gonna get into the industry, and then ended up um But you're still probably nasty in the kitchen right now, though. Definitely, definitely that. Um, so I got into food styling. I had a friend that was doing wardrobe and costuming in Los Angeles. She connected me with like a really big food stylist there. I was able to go work with her on different jobs and shows. So celebrity chefs come on to shows and they say, Oh, we're gonna make this today, that whole thing. There's somebody that's actually doing that work. Um, I was not cut out for Hollywood, though. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:13

Well, what was that about that that didn't fit the mold for you?

SPEAKER_00 7:16

They were mean. And like, I think it's the only time somebody called me stupid. That's the only job that I ever had that I was like, hey, I quit and like left. Um it paid very well. So after that, I think I that was the last like job I kind of had. I was fortunate enough. Again, that was before my son. So I was pregnant, stayed home. Uh, I think entrepreneurship for me came out of like boredom of like, I can't stay at home, like I'm just bored. And I didn't have to have a job. So I had that freedom to kind of creatively be like, okay, this is what I want to do. And the B-Box kind of came

BeatBox And Real Estate Start Together

SPEAKER_00 7:52

about that way.

SPEAKER_02 7:52

How was the the transfer over from being a stay-at-home mom to going into the business world? Because like right now, my my wife's been a stay-at-home mom for last five or six years. Yeah. And she's joked around before, like, oh, I'm just gonna go get a job, da-da-da. Like, she worked in HR and like has all these skills. But I'm like, when you have that gap on your resume, it's not that easy just to jump back into the workforce. So, like, how was that transition for you going from being a stay-at-home mom back to being a business owner?

SPEAKER_00 8:18

Um, it was easy because I I wanted it. I was like, this isn't it. Yeah, I was forced into it in other ways. That's a different podcast, but um, yeah, I don't think it was a hard transition. And I was able to take my time. So with the beatbox, around that time is where I bought my first property to flip. So I wasn't opening the juice bar with the mindset of like, I have to get paid right away. Like, I know I'm gonna make money. Mind you, I already had that background knowing that restaurants were hard work and not a lot of money. So I was like, what's about to happen? Maybe this works out, maybe it doesn't. But um the real estate allowed me to foster that and just take my time for years and years. I don't think I probably started paying myself from the B-Box until like year three, four.

SPEAKER_02 9:04

Oh, that's what I say to people all the time. I say, don't even bother starting a business if you're not prepared to get paid for the first three years. So which one came first? The real estate or beatbox?

SPEAKER_00 9:14

They absolutely came at the exact same time, which is crazy. I bought that this house on the north side at the same time that I got into the beatbox, and then how did it happen? There were tenants in the house at the time.

SPEAKER_02 9:28

So perfect situation. Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:30

They were leave their lease was up in five months. So I was like, this gives me time to focus on the B box. I still was collecting a little bit of rent. And then um, when it was time for them to move out, I could work on it. Now I'm not actually like swinging the hammer and doing the work, so the amount of time is like more of like answering the phone and doing stuff and just stopping by when I had convenience. So it worked out, and then wait.

SPEAKER_02 9:53

So before we get to beat box, let's pause right there on the real estate side because you're making it sound way too easy. And I know it wasn't that easy.

SPEAKER_00 10:00

Well, it was the first one was though, and I made $100,000 off that very first flip I ever did, and I was like, okay, this is easy. Like, this is how it's gonna go. Fast forward to later down the line. It didn't always go like that. But that first one, I was like, okay, cool. Like, I know how to pick out tile and paint. I had a great contractor and a great realtor who gave me a lot of guidance, but it wasn't that hard. And that was just out of luck because I did meet properties later down the line

The First Flip And Learning Fast

SPEAKER_00 10:26

that were hard.

SPEAKER_02 10:26

But where did you develop the skill set to even learn about real estate? Because everybody's like, you know, I want to own properties, I want to be a landlord, I want to flip houses, da-da-da-da. Like HG TV is just glamorized this whole process. Um, first one may have been easy, but like as you said, it there were situations where it got difficult. Did you find a mentor? Were you reading books? Were you listening to podcasts? How did you get into that space?

SPEAKER_00 10:47

I think my realtor served as a mentor. Um, yeah. I think I was connected with him and he taught me a lot just about the process. And then working closely with him and the contractor, and they would like walk through. They were very good about explaining everything to me. So now that I'm into other projects of like a much larger scale with this build of like what we're doing with the airport, uh, everybody doesn't take their time to explain those things. So I'm glad I have some knowledge. I have never, this is my first commercial project that I'm embarking on now. But um, yeah, they just would go through and like show me like this is what it looks like when the termites eat the wood. And then I started like I have OCD a little bit. So like I can walk in somewhere and be like, no, check the joist in the floor because it doesn't feel flat. And just starting to pay attention and but definitely with the guidance and the mentorship of um those two people.

SPEAKER_02 11:37

So it's something that you just kind of found an act for. Now I'm interested. Who is the realtor?

SPEAKER_01 11:41

Rob Ransom.

SPEAKER_02 11:43

I'm gonna do this live. That name sounds super familiar. I gotta know that guy. Rob, shout out to Rob. Shout out to Rob. You still working with him to this day? Yes, we work together still. Rob Ransom. All right, I'm gonna look that up. No, that ain't him. I'm gonna have you show me a little bit later. That name sounds super familiar. Um, all right, so you got that. Let me ask the question: why did you choose to flip the property instead of long-term rental? Because like when I look at my real estate portfolio, I'm about, I want to hold this thing for the next 10 to 15 years. I want somebody else paying the mortgage off, I want to collect between the $400 to $1,000 profit per month that I can make. I know for a lot of people that's not the style because you don't want to get those dumb phone calls in the middle of the night if you don't have a um uh company that you're working with to manage the property. What was the decision there?

SPEAKER_00 12:35

Um, I think, I mean, if I'm being honest, the need for the money.

SPEAKER_02 12:38

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 12:39

Yeah, I was a so a lot of things shifted in my life all at this same early part of 2020. So obviously COVID, which we were all going through. But um, I became a single mother at that point. Um, and yeah, it kind of just all happened at the

Building BeatBox Locations And Menu

SPEAKER_00 12:54

same time.

SPEAKER_02 12:54

So walk us through beatbox. So you're almost at the same time, you're starting real estate. First of all, that's a lot. It's a lot. Yeah, to start a whole retail business and be flipping a property, but you said you had the five months in there. Um, what talk to us about the research and why you thought this was an idea that would take off for you.

SPEAKER_00 13:17

So, truth is, did I even do any research? I'm like very impulsive, and I'm like, okay, cool, I have an idea. Like, I can bring this to life. So uh my gift is like the vision of it all. Did not have a plan.

SPEAKER_02 13:30

Um, so I'm glad to hear you say that because when I started my company, I didn't really have a plan either. I was just like, this gotta be better than whatever else I'm doing. Like, let's roll the dice. Let's see what happens.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

But again, it wasn't about the money at that point for me because I was already making money doing something else. So I was allowed to just build it out. I um used to work out at a gym that's next door to there. I had a trainer there. He actually had the space and he was like, I want to open up this juice bar. All he had was a space. He didn't have a name or any recipes, and he was making juice out of the back, which was a smoke shop prior to it having been converted to a juice bar. So he had this juicer in the back and he was like selling the juice on Facebook. So I came in, I was like, all right, we can turn this into a business. I know enough about it. I enjoyed the branding part of it. Um came in and did that. I think started in like May and opened by October. Okay, so now I'm tapped in with contractors and stuff, so it's like, okay, cool, we need to do this, we need to do that. Um, that was one of my first commercial build outs. I wouldn't even call that a commercial build-out though, because our Carrie Street location is in an actual like house.

SPEAKER_02 14:42

Gotcha. Now so you guys are business partners?

SPEAKER_00 14:46

We were. Um up until I think the first by the end of the first year, he was like, I need to get paid. And I was like, Yeah, that was not in the cars. That's yeah. So um, yeah, it was amicable. He wanted to leave. I was like, cool, I can do this. Uh so I bought him out. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:05

I like how you roll.

unknown 15:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:06

I like how you roll. Let's just get stuff done. So break that model down to me with B box. So give us your whole business model. What do you guys sell? Like, what are the products? Give us all the good stuff.

SPEAKER_00 15:19

Um, yeah, we are a juice bar cafe. Our first location was at Carrie Street. Um, we sold coal-pressed juices, aseebos, wraps. Uh, we had been vegan up until April, and we now sell chicken, which is a little different.

SPEAKER_02 15:34

Um at your boy, let's get that protein.

SPEAKER_00 15:37

Exactly. Um, yeah, and then from there at our Carrie Street, we've kind of expanded the tenant that was next door to us left. So that gave the opportunity for us to open up the wall and take over the other side. So now we have like seating, bathroom, event space. Nice. Um yeah, and then from there, I wish I knew my years better. I'm gonna say 2022. So we opened that October 2020. About 2022, we were approached to go into the Hatch Local Food Hall that they built over on Hole Street. Are you familiar with that project?

SPEAKER_04 16:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 16:12

Um did that. That did not pan out for me or anybody else that was there. Um, but learned a lot of lessons. Um, so yeah, those only lessons. Right. So that was our second location technically, and then in 2025, what what are we in?

unknown 16:31

March.

SPEAKER_00 16:32

2025? Last year, yeah. It's because it's been about a year and a few months. We opened up at our Churchill location.

SPEAKER_02 16:38

Nice. So let me ask you just in general, because like, especially in certain areas and people of our hue, like it's often been said, like, you know, we're not looking for the healthy options. Like, you know, you go to these food deserts and there's nothing but liquor stores, McDonald's, Church's chicken, um, which is ultimately killing our people, and that's why our life expectancy isn't as long as as others. Um what was it that you saw in terms of like the healthy menu? Because like a lot of people say, I want to be healthy, right? But they don't actually go out and purchase the items that are gonna give them that lifestyle. What did you see with this industry in in terms of healthier options versus like the quick, fast food, fatty, saturated stuff?

SPEAKER_00 17:19

Yeah. Um I think understanding ingredients is helpful in that things don't have to be bad for you to taste good. And then just introducing it in a way that feels relatable to people. I think our customer is like the healthy-ish person, so not like the hard, like everything organic. I don't do this, I don't do that. And more so just the person that is trying to incorporate better choices into their lifestyle, which is most of us.

SPEAKER_02 17:45

Yeah. Especially once you're at a certain age, it's like I look at a milkshake now, my waistline grows two inches. So, like, yeah, you gotta be careful with what you're putting in your body.

SPEAKER_00 17:54

Smoothie's definitely a better option than a milkshake, but they can taste the same, is the point, right? So it doesn't have to be that. So, yeah, just trying to teach and show people through that way, which I think that we've done a great job at that.

SPEAKER_02 18:04

So, even the expansion piece. So, you you referenced several times, like, you know, the real estate is what's kind of kept everything rolling for you, and and the funding piece. Um what came across your mind financially in terms of like making that expansion? Because that's again another huge leap of faith. With opening the second location, or no, extending the first one. You said when y'all knocked down the wall when that other tenant went out, you guys were able to extend

Homegrown Events And Airport Plan

SPEAKER_02 18:30

over.

SPEAKER_00 18:30

Yeah, um being able to monetize, okay, so all right, let's get all the way into it. So at the time of that, we had already planned on going into the airport, like that was already in motion. The ask with the airport was is two different spaces, one of them being a bar marketplace. We're a wellness brand. So it's like, okay, how are we going to introduce alcohol, which is not good for you, to these customers that were like trying to make better choices? Um, so that's how homegrown came about. And homegrown is going into Richmond Airport this fall and Concourse A, and it will be a bar and marketplace. So the bar, the cocktails are made with B Box juices, but contain spirits. Um I forgot the question.

SPEAKER_02 19:19

No, you about uh expanding that first location. Oh, right.

SPEAKER_00 19:23

So, okay, we got a liquor license at Carrie Street. So with opening that other side, we would now be able to monetize it by these homegrown events at nighttime separate of. So like we don't sell alcohol at the beatbox during the daytime, but we do have the ability to host different things. Um yeah. And then the second space was gonna allow us larger kitchen space, larger prep space, which would help us expand our catering model.

SPEAKER_02 19:48

So how did that, how did you see that affect the business? Was it a slow roll or like immediately once you got your liquor license and you're able to expand things?

SPEAKER_00 19:56

Did you see a big slow A slow roll? Um, yeah, no, not immediate.

Leadership Challenges With Employees

SPEAKER_02 20:03

Well, what's the most difficult thing? I'm fascinated with people that are in the food space because I'm like, y'all crazy. Because it's like y'all gotta deal with like food spoiling, you gotta get it sold before a certain amount of time, like da-da-da. Like I can leave a camera on the shelf for the next five years and I'm good to go.

SPEAKER_03 20:17

Right.

SPEAKER_02 20:17

Um, what do you think is the most difficult thing about owning that type of business?

SPEAKER_00 20:24

Um, I the same thing I think is the most difficult thing about any business, which would be tow trucks, which would be the salon, anything is employees is probably for me. I'm someone who yes, I had jobs, but I never worked in leadership. I think naturally I'm a leader, but like don't didn't always have the skill set to lead other people in an organized, structured way, I guess. So um So how did you make that transition?

SPEAKER_02 20:50

Because it's one thing, because I wrote that same road that you did. Like when I first started this company, it was just me. Ain't no big deal. Then I gotta add my first employee on.

SPEAKER_00 21:01

And now you have this beautiful office.

SPEAKER_02 21:04

I appreciate it. Yes, but then being able to figure out like it took me a long time to learn that I had to learn my team's love language. Everybody is I can't go talk to one person the same way I can talk to another. Some are motivated by, all right, man, if I get this bonus, you juice me up for another six months.

SPEAKER_03 21:22

Right.

SPEAKER_02 21:22

Some just want that acknowledgement and that pat on the back saying, you know what, you just did an amazing job. Some want more responsibility. Hey, man, you got interns coming here. I'll be the one to train them, or I, this new division you're starting, I want to be ahead of that. How did you figure out how to communicate with your people and lead them?

SPEAKER_00 21:37

Yeah, I think I'm still figuring that out if I'm being honest. Um, like what you're saying, learning their love languages, learning what motivates them, how to communicate with them, um, who's good at what. But now I found myself in a sticky situation because I feel like I have tailored jobs to people instead of saying this is what. The job is. So now there's all these gaps and areas where I'm like, we're falling short here. And is it this person's fault because this person, this job is made around this person, or is this my fault because this is what I've allowed? So um shifting that now because at the level of or the rate that we're scaling is just not sustainable.

SPEAKER_02 22:21

Yeah. What is what's harder for you? Hiring the right person or firing the wrong person?

unknown 22:32

Hiring the right person.

SPEAKER_02 22:33

Firing the wrong person.

SPEAKER_00 22:34

Hiring the right person.

unknown 22:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:36

How do you what are your signals for identifying? Because I think I had to go through so many bad employees to understand what the green flags were and knowing what questions to ask during that interview process.

SPEAKER_00 22:47

My favorite green flag is did you play competitive sports going on? That's my favorite green flag.

SPEAKER_02 22:53

Why so?

SPEAKER_00 22:54

I don't know. There's just something, and I didn't. Both my kids do and compete at that. And I feel like they are efficient human beings because of it. Um, but I don't know. There's just something with maybe it's the working with the team or the just the discipline of wanting something at a competitive level and understanding like sense of urgency. I think there's a lot of things that tie into that.

SPEAKER_02 23:16

So I'm not sure if you know Enterprise, the rental car company, they exclusively go after former college athletes because of that concept. They feel that people that played a team sport end up working better together in the corporate environment.

SPEAKER_04 23:31

You're not wrong.

SPEAKER_02 23:32

Yeah. What let's talk about the firing part. Because to me, that's to me, that's the harder part. And I know the mistake I've made in my businesses along the years is I personalized each person too much and I took on like their personal life. It's like, oh man, this dude about to get married, like I can't let him go. Like he's about to get the wedding, or hey, he just bought a house or they're about to have a baby. Like, I'm gonna be a jerk if I let someone go. But then now looking back, first off, a mentor taught me the second you are thinking about firing somebody, you probably should have done it six months ago. And then recognizing that nobody's above the brand. I'm not above the brand. Like, if I need to remove myself and bring somebody else to properly run this organization, that's my favorite line.

SPEAKER_00 24:14

Nobody's bigger than the program. Yeah, it's true.

SPEAKER_02 24:16

Nobody's bigger than the program. And I saw some great people end up leaving my organization because I kept the wrong ones. Um, so how have you dealt with that? Have you dealt with situations where you know you kept somebody on too long and that kind of filtered throughout your organization?

SPEAKER_00 24:31

Oh, yes. To the escalation of court and lawyers. Yeah, I've been there too.

SPEAKER_03 24:36

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:38

Um, all right, now let's talk about going into the airport because that is a big deal.

SPEAKER_04 24:44

It is.

SPEAKER_02 24:45

So when you and I had chatted before, I told you uh when I had my vending machine business, I was looking to um set up spot in there and the fees they were talking about. I'm like, Lord Jesus, I must set a lot of Reese cups in order to cover this margin. Um, first off, why did you decide that that was uh a good location for your business?

SPEAKER_00 25:06

I mean, it's a good location for pretty much any business. So that wasn't a question. It was more so of how are we going to get into here? And when we first opened up in 2020 at Carrie Street, I was sitting outside talking to a friend of mine on the on the deck, and I was like, man, it would be cool if we could get into an airport, not realizing that like I was saying that, and then fast forward to five years later, that opportunity actually became available.

SPEAKER_01 25:32

But power of the spoken word.

SPEAKER_00 25:34

Man, yeah. Um so uh knowing the airport and knowing that I I traveled through there, there's not a lot of options. I you know, this would be a good fit. They also reached out to us, they had some kind of like event where it was like drop stuff off or something. I don't remember specifically.

SPEAKER_02 25:56

I think I remember that at one point, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:59

Yeah, that was in 2024 probably. So we did that, and then we through that we made some connections. Um and I think that the airport wants us to be there. I think that there were people there that advocated for us, and they obviously selected our RFP for whatever reasons, but um, I think there's a need for it. One that healthier options and things that taste good.

SPEAKER_02 26:22

Yeah, no, for sure. How how much more conscious are you do you think people are? Like, I'm sure as the the years have gone by and the business has grown, it's been more and more prevalent that people are more conscious of their health. More so, in fact, like, you know, I'm in my early 40s, so of course I'm thinking about these things. But it seems to me that people in their 20s now are more observant of what they're putting in the body, even so much to the fact that like alcohol um sales have been tanking because like our generation was the last generation that like we like to have a little cocktail, then they these kids are like, you know, I'd rather vape or take a gummy, then I don't have to worry about a hangover, like I have to worry about X, Y, and Z. It's not destroying my body the same way alcohol.

SPEAKER_00 27:04

Vape is terrible.

SPEAKER_02 27:06

We don't know what there's not even enough studies to know how much that's destroying the inside of somebody's body. Let's take vaping out. I'll say the gummies.

SPEAKER_00 27:12

I can yeah, I can live with that one.

SPEAKER_02 27:13

Yeah. Are you seeing a lot of the younger demographic that are patrons now, like coming into your locations, or is it more people around our age?

SPEAKER_00 27:23

For healthy options, not alcohol. Yeah, definitely. Definitely. Um, I was sitting out on the deck yesterday, all these kids out for summertime. Uh, we get DMs from kids. They're like, I asked my mom to bring me up there. Um kids like it. My son, who is 11, drinks green juice and he loves it. He's got a little pineapple in there, but you know, it's it tastes good. Smoothies, you can throw some spinach in there and disguise it with a bunch of other stuff. So, even smaller children, I mean, our customers are two years old. Wow. All the way up to that high school, college age of kids who just want something good.

SPEAKER_02 28:02

Nice, nice. All right, so you got that. First off, congratulations on the the airport.

Launching Melt Parlor From Scratch

SPEAKER_02 28:08

I know that's a lot of red tape that you probably had to go through to make that happen. Um, you got the real estate. When did the tanning and hair salon?

SPEAKER_00 28:19

Not hair, waxing. Waxing, I'm sorry. Yes, melt. Uh that came about, so Labor Day of 2024. A friend of mine called me and she was, she was my waxer actually. She's like, Would you ever open up a wax? We were friends at this point because I see her so often.

SPEAKER_04 28:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:36

She's like, Would I ever open up a waxing salon? I'm like, why would I open up a waxing salon? Um, and there was a huge salon in town that had closed their doors abruptly. So there was a bunch of clients that didn't have places to go, and a bunch of providers that didn't have work. Um again, construction came in handy. So that was Labor Day. So we're talking about early September 2024. We were open by November and like did a build out of like a space. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:08

Dang, you don't wait on nothing. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 29:11

That's crazy. No, true story.

SPEAKER_02 29:12

Um, which I also think is the number one skill of successful entrepreneurs is they don't we don't dilly dally, we make decisions quick.

SPEAKER_00 29:20

Well, gift and a curse, because I'm impulsive. So it's like, hey, do you have a plan or are you just doing this?

SPEAKER_02 29:26

Yeah, but I'm like, if you're gonna fail, fail fast. Like, let's get the lesson, let's move on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:32

Um so yeah, just and then learning the salon industry. I had only ever been someone that received services, never been a provider. So um teamed up with a bunch of very wonderful and talented people, and they showed me a lot of things, and I was able to provide a space and do the branding piece, which I enjoy. Um, work with some great creatives on that. And yeah, how it came about.

SPEAKER_02 30:00

What's the first thought going into an industry that you have no experience in?

SPEAKER_00 30:05

Um, understanding the costs involved. So it's like, all right, does this make sense? If I can charge this amount, this person gets paid this much an hour. This is how much time it takes. This is how much. And then mind you, coming from the food industry where you need a straw and salt and pepper and garlic and kale and all of this stuff just to do one thing. You like this thing. And it's like, we need wax, we need uh some sanitizer, some oil, gloves, sticks, like whatever. It's a list of maybe like eight things.

SPEAKER_04 30:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:37

Like that to me is like very straightforward. Understanding the cost, doing the math. Um, there's just a lot less involved. I think once you've been jarred by the food industry, you understand whether things come a little quicker.

SPEAKER_02 30:52

Where does the no fear element come from? Because it seems like Oakland. Shout out to Oakland. Um, you just that like I know you're saying you're impulsive, but like I'm not hearing much hesitation in these decisions you're making in terms of like a lot of people. So I found out for me, like when I do have business partners, the best I'm more in line with you because I'm the visionary. I can see five, ten years ahead. I'm like, oh, this is why it's gonna work. Here's how we're gonna market it. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. My best business partners have been the guys that are like, uh, I'd rather just sit in the background. Hey, let me put this spreadsheet together, let me figure out the numbers, let me find the insurance rates, all that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_00 31:29

Need those people.

SPEAKER_02 31:30

Yeah. But it sounds like you're a slight mix of no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_00 31:35

I know what I don't know. So I know when something doesn't sound right or look right, now I may not be able to figure it out, like especially, I'm not an accountant.

SPEAKER_01 31:44

Yeah, no, no.

SPEAKER_00 31:46

So um, I do understand the fundamentals of all the pieces that someone would need to make this make sense and help me make sense of it. So I'm helpful in that way. But yeah, I'm not an Excel user or spreadsheet. Never got video.

SPEAKER_02 32:01

I can work my way around AI, I can edit videos, I can do all that, but you put a blank Excel spreadsheet in front of me, I have no idea where to start. Like, that ain't me at all. Me either. Yeah. So you truly feel like like your no-fear mentality is like because of where you're raised.

SPEAKER_00 32:16

I mean, I'm fearful of some things. I just know that it's gonna be okay. I've had a lot of um, I guess, traumatizing experiences throughout my life that I've overcome and survived. So if I can get through that, then what's the worst that's gonna happen?

SPEAKER_02 32:31

Yep, it's the right way of looking at it.

SPEAKER_00 32:33

Also, I move with kindness and good intention. So I think that I'm a big believer in that. So, why would bad things be happening to me unless that is what I'm putting out into the universe? And I don't know. Most people would say that the same thing about me.

SPEAKER_02 32:48

And you said you said something about um like the kids were coming there, like, you know, so-and-so's told them about your spot, like different sorts of things like that. What do you think? What do you think that you've done branding-wise to create ambassadors for your brand?

SPEAKER_00 33:06

Hmm. Okay, so we pull the customer sometimes through like a survey, right? And the number one thing you're gonna hear on there is Instagram or word of mouth. And I think Instagram is obviously speaks for itself, but with word of mouth that speaks to the customer service, the quality of the product. I know we have a good product. Um who would our competition be here in town? Like a tropical smoothie, which I don't think compares to what we do.

SPEAKER_02 33:31

Yeah, um, but enrichment is one of those towns we we really like to support local businesses. Absolutely. If we have the choice between a chain and a local business, most people are going local business.

SPEAKER_00 33:40

Yeah, I'm not a chain person that much. So um but yeah, I would say word of mouth, especially with the young people. When I said I was sitting out on the um the deck yesterday, there was these two girls. They were probably like 20 and 19 or younger. And um, that's around my daughter's age. They're like, Yeah, this girl I know's friend's mom owns this place. And I like tapped up, or I was like, Hey, I was like, it's me, I'm the friend's mom. So it's just funny that word of mouth really does travel that fast.

SPEAKER_02 34:12

No, that's awesome.

Word Of Mouth Branding That Travels

SPEAKER_02 34:13

Between the two businesses, the tanning and hair removal, and the juicing, which do you think is a more difficult business to run? The juice bar. Just because of the the costs and all the elements the margins are tighter.

SPEAKER_00 34:29

Um you're dealing with a different type of employee. You're dealing with uh volatile things like food, which is safety, sanitation, expiration, um, customer service is huge in that industry because people value. Um there's just a lot more to consider and have to work around. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:53

Where does um, in terms of building your brand and and building these businesses, where does like relationship building and mentorship, networking, all those things come into play?

SPEAKER_00 35:04

Yeah, um, that's on my list of things to get better at, which I feel like goes along with the leadership stuff that I was saying earlier. I would love a mentor. Um they're hard to find. Okay, are they? Which is maybe why I don't have one. I also don't take the time to look. Networking, definitely something I could get better at. I'm not even from here. I feel like I know a good amount of people, but I'm not like someone that you probably see out often. Uh, not a social climber. I'm just to myself a little bit, which I don't think that helps anything. I it's definitely something that I want to work on.

SPEAKER_02 35:41

I was gonna say it's interesting. This is why I love entrepreneurship because like people can be completely different, have different makeups, like different personalities, and like we can all ultimately get to the level of success that we're looking at doing it completely different. Like me, I'm insanely extroverted. Like, I'm always out shaking hands, kissing babies. Like, there's a networking event going on. I need to be there. It's a big reason why I picked up golf, just so I could network more and do different things like that. Um, but it's interesting when somebody can navigate that world. And because one of my best friends, he's a financial advisor, and he always talks about like, hey man, this guy in my office, he don't make no posts on Instagram and like this dude's net worth is $10 million. Like, you ain't always got to put it out on a but I'm like, yeah, that's me though. This is yeah, this is our role, like this is my brand. Um, and he gets that, but it's it's always interesting how people can navigate these worlds a little bit differently.

SPEAKER_00 36:28

Definitely, yeah. It's not, yeah, what's for you is for you. Everybody goes about it differently.

Next Five Years Airports And Hotels

SPEAKER_02 36:35

So, what does the next five years look like for you? Oh what's the main focus? Is it a real estate play? Is it expanding the businesses? Is it some business that you're not even in right now? I have a feeling you might have something else coming down the pipeline.

SPEAKER_00 36:50

I don't have that feeling. I think I have enough on my plate right now. Um, that's a great question. One that I'm asked way too often to not have a legit answer. Um, I do love real estate though. I enjoy that. If I had to say, like, what am I most passionate about? It's it's that.

SPEAKER_02 37:08

Um and it's all flipping. You're not doing rentals or Airbnb's or anything like that.

SPEAKER_00 37:13

No, I I do have rentals too. I've never gotten to the Airbnb space. Um, but yeah, I would like to do some new construction. I would like to do some commercial um as it pertains to the juice bar. I have some ideas around that. Probably not in five years. I want to open up a hotel. That's on my list of things. Not in five years, though. A little longer than that. Um our contract with the airport is 55 with a potential five-year rental on that. So we're gonna call it ten years. Um so yeah, I think once I get into that space, I would like to get into other airports in the next five years for sure.

SPEAKER_02 37:55

I gotta get I'm gonna say it here for you right now so I don't forget. Um talk about expanding your network and looking at some stuff. So there's this conference, it just happened this past April in DC. Uh, there's this conference called the Black Wealth Summit.

SPEAKER_03 38:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 38:08

Um it's it's run by one of my mentors, Cedric Nash, multi-millionaire. Like, this guy is a genius when it comes to business. Um, he always has a guy because they have like different breakout sessions and topics and stuff like that. I've been going for the last three years, and every year he has a hotel investor come and speak and do a training. So like I'm definitely gonna get you the info on that conference because they they hype that up and talk about it big time. Me, I'm like, that seems too complex for my little brain. I was like, uh I like the real estate, like my real estate play is like I normally just go out and get dirt. Yeah, like I'm just like, I'm just gonna get the land. You know, my taxes aren't like 50 bucks a year. I pay a guy a couple times a year to come out and cut the grass. That's a simple thing for me as I'm like scaling these other companies. Yeah, um, but I definitely think there's there's something to be said there on the on the hotel play because it's crazy how like those uh rates can change. So like in less than 24 hours, you can go from a room being $200 to $600 based on the activity that's going around. Like wow, the type of income. But then you got maid service, you got the front desk. Overhead, yeah, overhead. It's a lot of things.

SPEAKER_00 39:14

It wouldn't be big. It I don't bed and breakfast size, I don't even know how many rooms it would really be. I can see it in my mind and all the things, but I haven't.

SPEAKER_02 39:23

Well, it seems like when you put stuff out in the universe, it happened. So let me let me get the discount on that first room.

SPEAKER_00 39:28

Definitely.

The Scariest Money Moments

SPEAKER_02 39:29

Uh, this is a question I ask every entrepreneur that comes on this show. Um, what was the hardest moment for you as an entrepreneur and how did you overcome it?

unknown 39:39

The hardest moment for me.

SPEAKER_02 39:41

Like when you thought, because I feel like oftentimes as entrepreneurs we have imposter syndrome. I can't tell you how many times I've stopped and thought, like, am I really qualified to be leading this people, to be running a company? Like, am I that dude? Um, and you have like those loads. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:56

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think uh in the beginning, I was having to cover things out of my own money. And I was like, what am I doing? Like, am I getting this back? What are we doing? What are we doing? Um, so I think I went on for a long time not being clear of like, because yes, it's a business. Yes, I like to make money. I feel like people get mad when you say that.

SPEAKER_02 40:17

No, we're all trying to make money. Well, you can do you can do good in the world and make money.

unknown 40:22

I know.

SPEAKER_02 40:22

There's nothing wrong with that. Um, I think it's the black Baptist side. Like, my dad, I'm a PK. My dad's been a pastor since I was born. And in black Baptist churches, for some reason, we give this connotation that like you're holier if you're poor and you come to church every Sunday. Like, no, I can help more people if I have access to more resources.

SPEAKER_00 40:41

I would agree with you. Yeah. But I guess uh when you tell people like your why, like if you're money motivated, I don't know. Some people frown on that.

SPEAKER_02 40:50

Money makes the world go around.

SPEAKER_00 40:52

It does. It does.

SPEAKER_02 40:53

If people are hungry, who's gonna feed them?

SPEAKER_00 40:55

Exactly. Or how am I going to have this business that offers this great thing for the community if so I think in the early stages to answer your question, it was probably having to put money into the business, not knowing if I was gonna ever get it back out.

SPEAKER_02 41:10

Yeah, yeah. It's a scary, scary moment.

SPEAKER_00 41:13

Because it's like, what am I doing? I could be because I know how to do other things that I know that will make me money, right? So it's like kind of like blindly being like, all right, we're gonna do this and

Being A Female Founder And Advice

SPEAKER_00 41:23

see what happens.

SPEAKER_02 41:23

So actually, I'll lie, that's not my last question. Last question's this. Um what what or if any hurdles have you faced being a female entrepreneur? Because I think there are different levels to this. So like I'll I'll admit it, I don't think I've ever said this on my podcast. Um, my first three businesses, I had uh business partners, all white guys. Okay, because I knew that there were certain doors that were gonna get shut in my face because of the way I looked. But if I had this guy standing next to me, they would at least crack the door opening and give us an opportunity. Um I think especially for, I mean, because women didn't end the workforce till like 70s and stuff like that, and rights to vote and all that kind of stuff. So obviously it's been a male-dominated space.

SPEAKER_03 42:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:08

Did you receive a lot of kickback or flack or anything when you went into business for yourself? Did you see people discriminating against you because you were female?

SPEAKER_00 42:18

No, but honestly, think of what the time that we were in of 2020, COVID, and it was like cool to be black for those few, however long that was, and everything. Oh, it was still cool. To everyone. The news was perpetuating it a lot more, and I think Black Lives Matter came about at that time. So I think people were going, honestly, I felt in the very beginning, people were going out of their way. Like I would get emails, or people would be like, no, I'm intentionally want to buy a hundred shots from you because you are a black woman.

SPEAKER_04 42:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:49

So um, that was my experience then. I would say now entering into um this airport space and dealing with contractors and architects and people like that. Yeah, I definitely feel like people, I don't want to say they treat me like I don't know what I'm talking about, because partially I don't know what I'm talking about. So, and I'm happy to admit that. But yeah, it definitely feels a little different being a woman. You feel a little more like but I do have men allies who advocate for me and they'll be like, okay, I can I'll do this for you. Like, let me, and I'm okay with that. Because if it's if it's getting the right results, I don't I don't need to have the badge of honor, like I'm the smartest person here or whatever.

SPEAKER_02 43:36

So What's the number one piece of advice? Say, say right now there's a young female that's about 25 years old and she wants to start her own business. What's the number one piece of advice you'd give to her?

SPEAKER_00 43:48

Have a plan. That's the first piece of advice. Yeah. And just feel good about it, make sure it makes sense. Nice. Um, I've meet a lot of people who are like, I'm a starter, and it'll just be like something. I'm like, okay. And not to sound like I don't like to tell people their ideas aren't good. Yeah. But sometimes I think to myself, like, how is that about to work? And like, ask yourself this, ask yourself that, without making people feel like you're talking down on their idea, but that's kind of hard to do. So yeah, just make sure you're asking the right questions and understanding why you're doing it and does it actually make financial sense.

Where To Find BeatBox And Melt

SPEAKER_02 44:23

Yeah. And if somebody gets offended by that piece, what I tell them is you're not built to be an entrepreneur.

SPEAKER_00 44:28

Anyway, right.

SPEAKER_02 44:29

If you can't take some criticism, I want before I waste my time, waste my money, I want someone to put I have people I specifically go to when I have an idea on something because I know that I'm not, I'm gonna tell them the idea. They're not just gonna go along with it. They're gonna be like, all right, man, that's cool, but like, what about this? What happens if this happens? Oh, I love those kind of people.

SPEAKER_00 44:47

I love those kinds of people.

SPEAKER_02 44:48

You have to have that. Otherwise, if you just have a bunch of yes men around you, like doesn't end up working out well for most people in that situation.

unknown 44:56

It's necessary.

SPEAKER_02 44:57

Well, this was awesome. See, you were nervous before. This is you know, you forgot the cameras are here and everything.

SPEAKER_00 45:04

So yeah, good practice.

SPEAKER_02 45:06

So give, I want you to shout out your companies, uh, tell people where they can go to find you guys online, locations, all that good stuff.

SPEAKER_00 45:13

Absolutely. We are at beatboxrba.com. Uh, that's our all our social handles as well as our website. We're um on Carrie Street, we're in Church Hill, we'll be in Concourse A at the Richmond Airport.

SPEAKER_02 45:27

And when's that when's that supposed to be happening?

SPEAKER_00 45:30

The fall.

SPEAKER_02 45:31

Okay. I see uh political you were there. The fall.

SPEAKER_00 45:36

Uh so yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:37

And then uh your other business?

SPEAKER_00 45:39

Oh, I'm sorry. Um, Melt Parlor. Meltparlor.com, and we are Melt Parlor RBA, I believe, on social platforms.

SPEAKER_02 45:48

And you said that business isn't just clientele with women, they're men with a few.

SPEAKER_00 45:51

Yeah, men's waxing is a huge industry that not a lot of waxers service because it's intimate. Um, but yeah, we see a lot of male clients. So yeah, hair removal.

SPEAKER_02 46:03

All right. Y'all hit her up. Appreciate you being on the show today.

SPEAKER_00 46:06

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_02 46:07

Absolutely. We'll see you guys on the next episode.