How Mike Strong Built a 44 Year Rent to Own Legacy in Small Town America

What does it take to build a rent to own company that lasts more than four decades and still feels like a family business?

In this special Legends Series episode of The RTO Show, Pete Shau sits down with Mike Strong, along with Michael Strong and Angela Strong, to explore the growth of Mike’s Rent to Own and the leadership principles that helped shape one of the longest standing independent rent to own businesses in the industry. 

From sleeping in the back of the store during the early startup days to expanding into 14 locations across Kansas, this conversation covers entrepreneurship, customer relationships, employee leadership, rent to own operations, APRO advocacy, family business growth, and the future of the RTO industry. Listeners will learn how strong work ethic, community involvement, and customer first service created a lasting legacy in the rent to own space. 

What You’ll Learn:

• How Mike Strong transitioned from military service and corporate management into building a successful rent to own business
• Why relationship driven customer service became the foundation of long term RTO growth
• How family leadership and second generation ownership helped expand Mike’s Rent to Own from one store to 14 locations
• What the rent to own industry can teach entrepreneurs about resilience, customer trust, and operational growth
• How organizations like APRO, TRIB, and KRDA helped strengthen advocacy, leadership development, and industry collaboration

Episode Highlights:

• 03:44 – Mike Strong shares how he entered the rent to own industry after leaving Chrysler management
• 07:00 – What it was like starting a business during 18 percent interest rates
• 09:07 – The late night delivery culture that helped build the company in the early years
• 14:02 – The evolution from paper account cards to digital rent to own software systems
• 17:18 – The collapse of Curtis Mathis and the pivot that changed the company’s future
• 21:06 – Why products like Nintendo, laptops, and Apple devices transformed rent to own retail
• 29:15 – The advantage of serving small town and rural rent to own customers
• 34:35 – How attending customer funerals strengthened long term community relationships
• 46:34 – Why APRO and TRIB became essential to leadership growth and industry mentorship
• 01:03:06 – Mike Strong shares the “never give up” philosophy behind 44 years of success

Meet the Guest:

Mike Strong is the founder of Mike’s Rent to Own, one of the longest standing independent rent to own companies in the United States. Alongside his children, Michael Strong and Angela Strong, the family continues expanding the business while helping lead the future of the RTO industry through APRO, KRDA, and community leadership initiatives.

Tools, Frameworks, or Strategies Mentioned:

• Relationship driven customer service
• Rural and small town rent to own market strategy
• Family business leadership development
• Community focused customer engagement
• APRO and TRIB industry networking
• KRDA leadership and advocacy
• Employee first operational culture
• “Never give up” business philosophy
• Customer needs based product expansion

Closing Insight:

“Treat customers with respect, work hard every day, and never give up. That mindset built a rent to own business that lasted for generations.”

Transcript

Opening And Book Giveaway

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hi, I'm Pete Chao. You may know me from the Arch Go Show podcast, but today I'm doing something a little bit different. Apro and Wildbrands have launched a special project to bring the story of our industry to life like never before. They've asked me to sit down with some of the true legends of Red to Home, asking their stories, their impact, and their vision for the future. And now I get to share those conversations with you, right from the legends themselves. All of this we did something groundbreaking, though. A new book. The Red to Own Revolution, a definitive history of advocacy and to our access, written by April Studio Charles Futterman, and Wild Rand Studio Brian Kraft. The book explores the grassroots of RTO, the advocacy that has defined it, and the future that we're building together. Here's where you cover. We're giving away free copies once the book is released. Just head over to RTORevolution.com and sign up for a chance to receive a copy in early 2026. Don't miss the chance to be among the first to hold this piece of RTO history. That's rtoorevolution.com. Check it out and become a part of RTO History. Hello and welcome to the RTO show. I'm your host, Pete Chow, and today I gotta say, I've got Mike Strong here with this family. And this is the first time that I've had three guests on at one time. I've done two. First time I've had three guests with a legend and the family. I gotta say, it's it's awesome to see you guys here. How are you guys doing today? Great, doing great. All right. So when we talk about Mike's rent to own, I mean, you guys are one of the longest independent dealers in rent to own. It's 44 years this year, is that right? That's correct. Yeah. 44 years as a standing independent. And uh you got the family with you. You know, sometimes you you hear one uh somebody's following up, and sometimes there's family in the background, but you guys are like really in it as far as time. I mean, the whole family's a part of this deal.

Meet Mike Strong And Family

SPEAKER_02 2:06

Yeah, we've been um we've been real fortunate to be able to to to work together for a long, long time, and uh it's worked out really well for us, and it's been a lot of fun too. And I I think that all started when we were Angie and I were I don't I don't know what it was I when we moved here, was I six, seven years old?

SPEAKER_03 2:26

Eighteen.

SPEAKER_02 2:27

Eighteen. I think I think yeah, six six or seven years old. Angie would have been, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:32

I would have been a year old. Angie wanted so you had to be six.

SPEAKER_02 2:35

Yeah. And um, we've really grown up in the business. I mean, I mean, really, ever since we were itty bitty. So uh, you know, in a way it's what it's what we've always known, but also it's what we really love doing.

SPEAKER_01 2:48

Well, I can tell you rent owned is definitely in the family, and you guys show it. Now, to give credit due where it's due, the idea was to have Mike on. And then Mike Tissid said, you know, there's a lot of people to be had on there, and I I don't even know why I didn't think about that uh having you guys on at the same time was I'm grateful for the idea. I love the idea. But Mike, I want to go to you right now, and I I want to go back a little bit because this was this is the Legends series. We want to kind of know where you started, what what roots you had that kind of put you where you are today. So going back a little bit, you were in the military. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_03 3:23

I was in the military for two years, but I was out of the what branch were you in? Out of the army. I was a medic in the army. A medic? So this was in the Vietnam War? Well, that's when the Vietnam War was going on. I was stationed in a Tripler Hospital. Uh and you're probably not familiar with that, but it's located at Pearl Harbor over in Honolulu. Oh wow. It was I went in basically when they uh when the Tet offensive was going on, which you m a lot of people have heard of. But they they needed a lot of medics, not in Vietnam, but they needed at different uh locations where they evacuated the uh injured soldiers so they could take care of them. So that's where I went and and I saw a lot of things there I'd like to unsee.

SPEAKER_01 4:07

But I can imagine.

Army Medic To Business Owner

SPEAKER_03 4:08

It was uh it was it was a lot better than being in Vietnam itself. My brother was over there at the time, so they didn't send me over there.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

Well, I just want to say, I mean, we appreciate your service. Thank you for that. Now, after those two years, you ended up in Hutchinson, Kansas. Is that right? Uh no, that's not right. No. Okay, so we uh what brought you to Hutchinson, Kansas then?

SPEAKER_03 4:31

Well, me and uh and a guy named Fred Herman spent about a year looking into the uh rent-owned business because he was working for a dealer in Springfield, Missouri, that that had gotten into the rent-owned business, and uh he was a Curtis Mathis dealer, and so we well at the time Curtis Mathis was a real popular franchise. So uh they had two locations where you could open a Curtis Mathis franchise. And of course, Curtis Mass was was in the rent on business too. And one of those was in McAllister, Oklahoma, and one was in uh Hutchinson, Kansas. And we we went to both places and we chose uh Hutchinson, Kansas, and that's that's how I wound up here.

SPEAKER_01 5:09

So I gotta ask, uh, a medic in the army, you're in probably one of the most prolific wars that happened in the last, you know, century. What how how did you get from there, from being a medic in the military to opening up a rent-to-owned store?

SPEAKER_03 5:22

Well, uh, you know, when I got back from the military, I I've I finished my uh college degree, and then I went to I went to work in management for the Chrysler Corporation, which was in St. Louis. And I went to own up there and worked for about nine years. Uh that's back when Lee and Iacoka was the president of uh Chrysler. Anyway, it didn't take me very long to realize that if if you're working for somebody else, which obviously I was, you you could determine how much money you were going to be making 20 years down the road, because you could you kind of look at how much pay raise you got every year. Right. Well, the job I was in is for that time is very lucrative, but I didn't want to keep it, it just tied me down too much. And so when when Fred and I got enough money, we we decided to get into rental business because the guy he was working for was having pretty good luck at it. So we we we took what we had, which was a pickup, good credit, and a little bit of money, and we we moved to Hutchison, Kansas and got started. Well, quite a bit, because they uh at the time all we the only thing we offered for for rental was Curtis Mathis electronics. And uh so we had you know we had TVs, B CRs, and uh that type of stuff. We didn't have any appliances or any of that stuff, but but the Curtis Mathis brand at that time was really popular. And they had a they basically had a slogan of uh it's the most expensive TV in America and darn well worth it, which is a is a concept. Worked real well.

SPEAKER_01 6:46

And I remember seeing uh one of those commercials where the guy was sitting in front of the TV with the family, and I I think they had owned it for like 17 years or some ridiculous number. But uh, I mean it was it was great.

SPEAKER_03 6:57

So do you start there? The timing at that time is when uh you know, a lot of people today complain about the high interest rates. Well, when we s when I started in Menace back then the interest rate was eighteen percent. And that's that's what we that's to pay for to finance inventory. So, you know, when people complain about six percent, I some done that. It's kind of a bad timing on that, um, on that viewpoint.

SPEAKER_01 7:25

Totally. So, you know, there's a lot of people say that in in Kansas at that time there was a lot going on in rent to own. You had spotted this opportunity to decide to go with it. What was it about rent to own that kind of stood out to you more than any other direction that you can go in? I mean, you're you're doing Chrysler, you have the ability, you have a uh a degree, you've gone to the military. What made you decide this is the direction I want to go in?

SPEAKER_03 7:47

Well, it was like I said earlier, we spent about a year looking at the numbers, and so uh it we decided it was gonna it was it was more lucrative than than what we were in. And then we talked to the to the guy in uh Springfield that was in that business, and and we talked about a lot of the things we talked about today. It was kind of a it's kind of a relationship business with the uh customers, and it's it's never two days the same just back then, just like it is now. And uh and it's reasonably new. I mean, it's kind of a new business to get into. And so we we decided that that was the place for us, and uh we gave it a try.

SPEAKER_01 8:22

So then Hutchinson is the is that store number one? Yes, it is. And it's still there today, right? Oh, yeah, that's where we're that's where we are. That's where we're sitting. Oh, awesome. So from what I understand, I don't know how recent the count is, but it's up to 14 locations right now. Is that correct? That's correct. Absolutely. That's that's amazing. So getting up to this growth, you got 44 years, you're starting now, you've got one store, you're going to two and three. What were some of the hurdles when you're opening up a brand new location? You're really in an industry that's in its infancy at that point in time. I mean, you kind of helped pioneer some of that. What were some of the challenges getting into this industry that really a lot of people didn't know that much about?

SPEAKER_03 9:02

Well, to be honest with you, there wasn't the challenges weren't near as much then as they are now. The big challenge was basically uh politics and the IRS and things like that that caused you to lose a little sleep. But as time went by, thanks to to organizations like April, that all got worked out and we we just kept going. To start out, we you know, there was me and Fred and a couple of delivery guys, and we basically we we rented all we could. We we sold a lot of Kurdish nazis too. And we uh we would close at six o'clock, and after we closed, we went and delivered the product and started again the next day.

SPEAKER_01 9:36

So guys, now that you're sitting next to dad, how many late-night deliveries did you guys do?

unknown 9:42

Yeah.

Early Hustle And Store Growth

SPEAKER_00 9:42

Well, you know, I think the um ironic thing in the story that dad's telling you right now is um the first location that I was able to manage was our Newton location. Um gosh, I was probably 20, 21 uh years old right in there. Uh and it started out as a as a uh a pretty small rent-to-own uh location, uh didn't have any employees. And so that same mentality went bankrupt. Would you quit? But at that time I didn't there were no other employees. So it was that same mentality that it was like, well, you know, you're gonna work all day and I lived here in Hutchinson and you know, driving over, it's a 45-minute drive over there. You know, I ran the store over there during the day, and then in the evening I would, you know, find somebody from, you know, needed a kind of a couple hour gig and would come and help me do deliveries, or I would go do the deliveries myself until I could afford having a having an employee uh work with us. And that's just kind of the you know, the I think that you know, for my brother and I, that's something that my dad has really instilled in us is you know, the hard work and everything that that goes into being in a family business. It's you know, there's you know, obviously the the benefits of it, but it's it's something that um you have to work really, really hard at as well. And so uh I think the hard work side of it is something that dad really showed us from from early on.

SPEAKER_01 11:20

So talking about hard work, how young were each of you when dad pulled you into the business?

SPEAKER_02 11:26

I thought I don't I don't think I'm not sure he pulled us into the business. I I think it was more he tolerated us being down here. Okay. Uh but uh I I don't know, you you were I was pretty little.

SPEAKER_00 11:42

I was I was uh I was a year old when uh when dad opened and um but I can tell you um you know I used to sit on the the counter and you know I think I remember Shannon's talking about running the cards and everything was green bar and by hand and writing it all down. And um, you know, we remember those early days of him doing that, and obviously we're still here, but I don't think it was a matter of dad pulling us in. It was just life. This, you know, where we sit right now was really uh daycare in a sense for us. We came down here and um hung out with customers and you know, squirreled around with dad and Michael did deliveries.

SPEAKER_02 12:26

That's I remember you being sat on the counter and helping post post payments on on cards or uh and oh wow. I don't I don't know if you remember, Pete, when we you know, before we were using computers, we we had what I don't know what the two boxes were called, but we had a box of of cards that payments hadn't been made yet, and then we had a box of cards where they were made, and then she would help host the payments and then move the card to the net, you know, to the box where they've been paid, and then and then of course you had to alphabetize those.

SPEAKER_01 12:56

And um we used to literally call them cards.

SPEAKER_02 12:59

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:00

Yeah, we we we called them cards. I mean, I mean, you know, who paid, you know, how many cards you have left to to to collect or whatever the case was. And uh we we just called them cards. We kind of wrote on them any way that we could. Uh, we had a couple of guys that didn't know how to write very well, which was terrible. You didn't know when the next due date was. Dude, like you gotta get this right. But uh I mean it was good because as it as it went on, I mean, we took that information, we took that structure that it was kind of like no matter how this is gonna go down, we're gonna make it work. And eventually when the computers came, it made things so much easier. Now, Green Bar was the first thing that I went to after that, which was I don't know how much better that was, but you know, and on that Monday morning we would get there at 7:30 and just list everybody that was due from Saturday and just let it let it do its thing for a couple hours or however long it took. But, you know, I and I think I don't remember which legend we were talking to, but I mean that's literally what we called it forever, even after the green bar came, even after nowadays, I still call it, you know, sometimes cards. And the guys are like, What are you talking about? Cards. And I'd like to listen, I'll let it fool you, okay? We still need to get a number. But uh, you know, it's funny that you mentioned that. And as you go along, well, when did you guys first get digitized since since you guys were both a part of that? I mean everybody, when did mics first get digitized into a point where you didn't have to have the cards anymore?

SPEAKER_02 14:12

I don't I don't do you do you remember when we uh I don't remember when when they first got uh rent-to-owned software, but I do remember the first um do you remember that the first computer that we had that had that hard disk?

From Payment Cards To Computers

SPEAKER_03 14:29

So yeah, Fred set that all up on it was it was uh what day I don't know the name of that computer now.

SPEAKER_02 14:36

Pete this thing, there was there was a hard drive that was it was just a little bit smaller than an old VCR. And it was sitting, the whole computer took up a big card table or a big folding table. And when you would press enter or or whatever, save, that hard disk would start spinning and you could hear it sort of rotating, and there was a red light that would flash. And if if you bumped that table while that thing was spinning, poof. You would lose the end of the day. My gosh, remember that I was one of the first ones, and there'd be these, you know, that was that was that was one of those old uh the old original, you know, real wide dot matrix printer, and we'd be trying to print reports and that stuff would be flying out of there and it'd be all, you know, off a half-line and you couldn't read anything.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

Oh yeah. Oh God, I used to hate that. You know, when I first started, and it might not have been as far back as you, but when I first started, we were still using we were we were coming out of the cards, getting into the green bar, and we were using we had gone to high touch, and they had those uh floppy disks every night that you had to throw in there every night to make sure that whatever it was, you know, I just found out the other day, I really never paid attention to it. They're like five megabytes. I mean, we have pictures that take up that much information. And it's crazy how like you had an entire store that can close on one of those floppy disks and you can, you know, save it to start your business up the next day. It's it's crazy how it is nowadays because I mean our phones could have probably run the business better than than that back then. So it's it's just crazy how much it's come along. So, Mike, I gotta ask you, I I gotta, I got a question for you. As you're coming through and you're creating Mike's Rentone and you start going, um, what were some of the biggest changes that you've seen over the years? You know, as far as what you care? Now, obviously getting digitized was a huge difference from where it was to where it is now. Uh, you know, nowadays you took a look at what it whenever you want to, whether it's uh Versa Rent Revo, whatever the case is, and you see these things in there, I mean, completely night and day. But what were some of the issues, the the stepping stones that you s first saw going into the early 80s, the late 80s, the early 90s that you saw there were pretty big changes that had happened?

SPEAKER_03 16:47

Well, probably the f the the first big challenge I really had to face was we we had been in the Curtis Mathis business for several years. And then Curtis Mathis himself was flying to Cincinnati, Ohio one year. Of course, he was flying first class, and on that flight, every every passenger that was in first class died because of uh some kind of fire that started, and then the it started up in the first class area. I did not know that.

SPEAKER_01 17:13

I only know that he died.

Curtis Mathis Collapse Forces Change

SPEAKER_03 17:14

Yeah, everybody in first class died. And wow. They uh it's a bad deal. And he so uh anyway, he he died, and they his his wife, which was about I think she was in her twenties, a lot a lot younger than him and and knew nothing about went home and nothing about building TMEs. So she she hired the uh the guy that was president of uh General Electric and he took over and he made some really unfortunate changes. And so it was not long after that Curtis Matthews went bankrupt, and we had to find another another brand, so we went with Xenith. So that that was just a really large change, and it took took us a while to get over that. So, but anyways, it turned out to be a good deal. When we switched to Xanush, we we added we added appliances and furniture and all that, and it turned out turned out to be really good.

SPEAKER_01 18:06

You know, going through some of these Legend series, I'm starting to find out that as they were growing, right, you're finding new products to put on the lineup. Furniture, actually, which I thought was going to be the easier one, seemed a lot harder back then. The lines were a little bit more, you know, dedicated to the retail sector. They wanted to have their fancy names on it and want to make sure that, you know, they kept that true to the nature of their retail sale. Who was it that came on first with with mice rent to own that you were able to land and say, this is worth me putting in my locations? You talking about products? Furniture product.

SPEAKER_03 18:40

Like a vendor. Oh, we've well, we uh we were fortunate there's a guy named Dennis Rice, who's not alive anymore, but he lived here in Hutchinson, Kansas, and and we we would go down to the uh furniture market in uh can't think of the name of the town in uh Tupelo, Mississippi. And we'd go to that furniture market and we you're right, some of the some of the some of the lines were just not feasible for rent on, but we'd go down and we'd find whatever we could and and uh we'd get it shipped up here and it worked quite well for a lot of years. I think not too long after that that that market closed. But it's uh we had we had really good luck with that. And then of course we sourced some furniture. There was actually a a a little well swear Angie opened her that store up in Newton, there was a a bedding factory there, so we bought we bought mattresses from them, so we had furniture and mattresses and coffee and end tables and all that stuff, and that that worked real well for several years. And uh, and then as of course, as time went along, a lot of the a lot of the vendors realized they were kind of missing some opportunity with rent owned and we got to where we get a lot better, a lot better furniture, a lot more furniture, a little more reasonable price. And and so here we are.

SPEAKER_01 19:48

You know, it's it's a crazy story because there's always that one, right? You go in there and everybody's got their door shut. And that one person opens that door just a little bit to rent to own, and all of a sudden it's like, wait a minute, we've been missing the boat for how long? And and then it's like if you if you would have just given me the trust from ahead of time and just, you know, this is a business transaction, I will buy it regardless of the situation. Money's money, right? So, you know, you invoice me, I'll take care of it, and let me sell it on the on my end and offer great products to our customers. I d I never understood that. That was something that I as I came in, we really didn't have those issues. I think everybody was willing to sell the rent-on depending on the situation.

SPEAKER_03 20:25

I'm glad that we have you go to some of those shows and and if you told the uh the vendor represented that you were you're in the rent-on business, they'd hardly talk to you. And they that's gotten a lot that's gone away now, but that's kind of what you had to deal with back then.

SPEAKER_01 20:41

Well, nowadays we would just want to make sure that uh we got the great styles that we need nowadays, right? I mean, we don't want anybody to fall behind. So as you're going through the years, what are some of the product categories? And the three of you guys can chime in on this, what are some of the product categories that you thought were a little bit different or kind of created that I would say viral. It wasn't viral back then, but you know, you brought something in, you're like, that was a hit. That was something that really kind of changed the way vendors looked at us, that was changed the way customers kind of walked in a store. So you have one of those. That's what I'm talking about. I like that. And and what were some of those things that you guys can remember starting off and until now?

SPEAKER_00 21:17

I I think and like the very first thing that that would have been initially when dad was had gone from Curtis Mathis over to Mike's Rent to Own. Uh, he had a movie club. Um and that came along with VCRs and camcorders. The camcorders, you know, the game systems, I think was right after that with like a Nintendo 64.

SPEAKER_02 21:40

Well, the original, the original Nintendo, yeah. Before that.

SPEAKER_00 21:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:44

Um that was a big deal.

SPEAKER_00 21:47

You know, then kind of pushing the envelope forward a little bit, providing access to customers for game systems, um, of course, tires, cell phones, things like that. That um has been has very beneficial, not just for us, of course, but for the customer as well.

SPEAKER_02 22:07

I remember uh the first time that we got laptops in the store. And I remember a conversation that that we had about laptops and renting them, and somebody said, which you've hear you'll hear other people talk about this too, but somebody said, Well, gosh, you're gonna rent to own a laptop, they're gonna put it in their car and drive it around. I mean, that's not like a sofa. Right. We said, really, Dad, you said, I think, well, gosh, but what happens if they rent it from us and they don't do that? What happens if they rent it and they pay us and it works great? And I I just now imagine, like we're so far past uh computers now. I mean, that's that's just a normal thing. But imagine if you didn't have those kinds of of products in your rent-to-one store now. It's it's just a now it's just a normal every of course we have that. Of course we have Apple, of course we have, you know, whatever gaming computer you you want. Of course we have the PlayStation. It that you know, uh I don't I don't know how many years ago it it is now, but there was a time where that was not normal. And we we really figured out fairly early on that you know, it was really more about what the customer needed and what the customer wanted, you know, instead of, well, this brown sofa, this brown recliner, this blue recliner, those are rent-to-owned products and nothing else is. It's it's a basic washing machine, it's a basic refrigerator, for example. We we figured out early on that our customers wanted nice things. They didn't want the basic, you know, brown sofa. That's not what they wanted. Right. And and when we started focusing on what they were telling us, that made a big difference, whether it was a laptop or or different kinds of furniture or step-up appliances or what whatever it was.

SPEAKER_03 23:59

I think something helped us a lot back in those days. We and I don't know what year it was, we started running a running a commercial. It basically said, Yeah, you rent anything, you know, tell us what you want, we'll get it for you. And uh distinctly remember running this commercial that said, you know, we'll rent anything if if we don't have it, we'll get it for you. And if we can't get it for you, you don't need it.

SPEAKER_01 24:22

Well, you know, going off subject a little bit to stay in staying where you're at. I remember seeing a social media, uh, a couple of commercials on social media with you and Angela kind of talking about the Black Friday deals and what's going on. And that was a little bit, I was a little bit off the cuff, but it was it was great. It was like kind of just showing your personalities and and what you guys offer. And I think you said that exact thing. It's like if we don't have it, you don't need it. Uh I love, I love the kind of I love that tagline, by the way. Just wanted to just wanted to say that. You never know what what Mike gets said. You know, Michael, talking about things that stood out to me during that time frame when we were trying to figure out what would work and what wouldn't work, because there was a lot of things out there that, you know, even as being the entrepreneurs that that rent to own had, there were questions like if I put it out there and it's not something that's nailed down or something that, you know, two people have to carry, where is it gonna go? And I think the first product that came out that I was really like into trying to figure out and how would it stick. And I hope I don't get it wrong because I don't remember. I believe it was an iPod, like an iPod Touch. It kind of came out with that that big wheel and it basically just had a black and white screen that you can put like a million songs on. And back then that was just like, oh my God, I can't believe that I have this. But you know, I was, I was worried. We carried like the big one, the iPod, and it was like the the iPod, uh, there was a smaller one and there was like a nano or something like that. He's really small. And so when they came in, I the first, I'm not gonna lie, I was on that boat and I was thinking, oh my God, you know, somebody's gonna, they're gonna rent this and I'm never gonna see them again. And then actually, the crazy part of that is, like you said, the other side of that was it sold so fast, which is something that I I never saw coming. And at the at that time, Apple wasn't the Apple that we know now. I mean, Steve Jobs was still alive, but it was like an iPad or an iTouch, not the same thing. I mean, we're talking about their infancy and it took off. And like we were trying to get all the weird colors that they started carrying and all the, and it was like everybody didn't know where it was gonna land, but it took off so fast that you know, eventually we started getting into the iPods and then the iPhones and all, and it was like, how do we even question that this was a good idea? You know, when your customers want it that bad, it's just a move that you've got to make. So, you know, I've got I've got a question because you mentioned Tupelo. Did you guys ever go to Tupelo with dad?

SPEAKER_02 26:29

No. We didn't we didn't start start traveling to shows until I don't know, it was quite a quite a while after that. I don't you know, we were just we were, you know, for quite a while, Pete, we were still trying to figure out where the light switches were and just just how to operate. We didn't need we didn't need to go anywhere and and and he probably needed to go somewhere just to you know get away from us for a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 26:53

Well was Tupelo like Mike, was Tupelo like going to like let's say North Carolina, like High Point? Was it like that?

SPEAKER_03 27:00

Well, there's a lot like Las Vegas. I I never did go to uh uh North Carolina, more like Vegas. Yeah. Uh not as big as Vegas, but the thing about uh Tupelo, you you you know, we drove down there, it's like a 10-hour drive from here, and you'd pull in and you'd see like probably 15 or 20 Curtis Mathis uh tractor trailer trucks lined up out in front of it. And and it's it's you just basically go ahead and walk around. I I I bought a lot of mostly furniture down there uh a long time ago. But then then I I think I think it went out of business when Las Vegas opened. And so it's just uh it I assume it's not there anymore. But mainly the thing that seemed uh, you know, not to change the subject, the thing that seemed to help me the most was, you know, I started going to April and Trib and and and you almost every show I went to, I would I'd learn I would learn one or two good ideas. And and a lot of times it some of the time anyway, it wasn't necessarily just about what you would learn. A lot of times you'd learn about you'd learn what to do, but sometimes you'd learn what not to do.

SPEAKER_01 28:04

And so isn't that just as valuable?

SPEAKER_03 28:06

Yeah. Oh so if it wasn't for it wasn't for Tribb and April, and for sure Trib, I've you know, I'd probably be here today. I mean, I've I've learned a lot of those shows. And and of course, as time went by, I've I got lazy, so they go now. But uh and you know, sooner or later, you know, I've I remember the first time I went to Las Vegas, it was really exciting, but after you go there, I don't know how many times I've been there, too many. And uh so I I don't get that excited about it anymore.

Trade Shows That Shaped Strategy

SPEAKER_01 28:31

But the last time that I went to the Las Vegas winter market, it was uh it was an opportunity to see a lot of things that I hadn't seen in Rent to Own. I don't know if I would bring all of it into Rent to Own, but you know, then I go back to what you said, Michael. Is that the idea that kept us from growing, right? So I definitely wanted to go and see a lot of the things that they had over there. And let me tell you, I I saw some amazing things. I did see some of our old friends, you know, Ashley was there and a lot of the other uh groups that we have were there, but I absolutely loved it. It's crazy to see furniture in that many. I mean, there's floors and floors and floors of furniture. I I mean it was just the most mind-boggling thing that I've ever seen uh as far as furniture goes. So I I actually I I absolutely loved it. It was a great time. You know, talking about big towns and little towns. You guys have seemed to really been able to dominate medium to small towns. That's that's what I mean, you have these amazing stores, and are are are any of them in really big cities, or have you just stayed in more rural areas where you know how to really maintain the rent out?

Winning In Small Town Markets

SPEAKER_00 29:33

Well, I think um, I mean, I think you're in Florida. We're in Kansas. I don't know if you've been to Kansas before, but um most things in Kansas are rural and small. We don't have a lot of big cities to compete. But um, you know, the uh the mainly, I mean, like we when when dad opened, he chose a town that was fairly small. And we've really made a conscious effort to keep our footprint where we can have quick, easy access to our customers as well as our uh co-workers and made it something where it's you know a 30-minute drive, a 45-minute drive kind of max from each one of our locations to make it very simple. And that just happens to be the footprint where we follow along, happen to be small to medium-sized towns, really.

SPEAKER_01 30:26

Is that part of the success, would you say? Keeping it very close and personal to the people that that you your clients?

SPEAKER_00 30:34

Sure. Absolutely. I don't think that the the size of the town specifically or how large the town is is, you know, can be correlated with the with the success of rent to own. I think the majority of the people in our industry, you know, whether they got into the business via family, we're all extremely tight knit with our customers. It's as you know, a relationship business. And the majority of our customers are, you know, we see generation after generation come through our stores. Some of them have watched my brother and I grow up, and some of them we're watching them grow up as well and have gone through relationships with them. And so I think it's more, more that. I think it's the personality, how you treat your customers. I think that's more the success of it and really giving our customers a place to come, whether they're they're coming to just kind of hang out and chit-chat, because some of them still do that, or they're coming to a place that, you know, you're not gonna tell them no. You're gonna find a way to rent to them. Unfortunately, a lot of them are are used to hearing the word no. Fortunately for us, we get to be the ones to tell them yes. So I think that it's more that as opposed to the size of the town.

SPEAKER_02 31:47

Yeah, you know, another thing about that and being being told no, no a lot for a lot of our customers is that if when they're in a a smaller town, they're they're already underserved. A lot of them don't have, you know, they don't have they don't some of these tiny towns they don't have a grocery store to go to. What are they gonna do to get a refrigerator? And we're able to help them get a refrigerator or a TV or a PlayStation or or what whatever it is they want, or whatever it is that they they need for their house. I mean, if you if you live in a rural part of the state of Kansas, you don't you don't drive right down the street, stop at your Starbucks, and then go to the you know, the big box store to pick out your refrigerator. You you come and see us. And uh and the reason why they come see us is because of the the relationships that we've worked over the years to build and because we treat them right and because, like Angie Sam, we we say yes and we find ways to get them what they need.

SPEAKER_01 32:41

Well, the reason I bring it up, and I agree with you 100%, Michael, I I 100% agree with what you're saying, and Angela. I think you guys are making a great point. Uh I do know that in Florida we have some big cities that are suffering. They're not doing as well as they could have been uh in and different or other time frames as they are now. 2025 has has been a little hard, the end of 2024, going to 2025. Uh, and you know, I'll just say it out loud, post-COVID years were not as easy as it was before. There was a huge increase in in sales and customers, and then afterwards it's ended up a little hard. I've actually seen a few stores close this year, unfortunately. Well, where I've seen that the larger areas, the city areas that have kind of declined a little bit, they're doing a lot more consolidation. So you instead of seeing two or three stores, you'll see one larger store. But then in the rural areas, they've actually managed to grow through 2025 and maintain very well. And I I've I've met a couple of young-minded entrepreneurs that are like, I don't know if I want to open in the city right now. I think finding those niches out there and being closer to the customers, like you're saying, if there's a big drive between where you are and where you need to be to get what you need, and we can kind of interrupt that, and we can intercept that where we don't just have one thing. I mean, there's the appliance side, there's the electronic side, there's the computer side, there's the furniture side. There's a huge place to put your foothold right in between where they're going and where they are. And not only that, the relationship, like you said, when you build that relationship, what are they coming back for? Well, pretty much everything at that point. I mean, we have game systems to refrigerators, whatever you need, like Mike says, if we can't get it, you don't need it, right? Or just one of those situations where I I love that statement because it's exactly true. So that's why I bring it up. I mean, I think some of the cities would kind of fare better. Maybe we they need to watch this episode and find out what's going on.

SPEAKER_03 34:34

But so you mentioned being close to your customers. You know, when when you business when you've been in business this long, and you you have you get developed a lot of pretty close friends. Well, once in a while, unfortunately, one of them passes away. And so if it was somebody I was pretty close to, I'd try to go to their funeral. And I'm mentioning that you would you would be shocked probably that how many customers I've gotten from just going to somebody's funeral and they see me there, and they they come in and say, Boy, I really appreciate you going to my dad's funeral. And and that's happened more times than I care to remember, but it's that's the kind of relationship we you develop with some of these customers.

SPEAKER_01 35:12

Well, we're hoping that they're gonna respect us. And in return, you go ahead and do something like honoring their family by not going over there and and and handing out business cards, but just saying, hey, we're here to to support you in your time of need. That speaks volumes, right? In return, where are they gonna go? They're gonna want to pay back in kindness, so to speak.

SPEAKER_02 35:31

Well, really, really what it what it is, well, what he's what he's really saying there is that it's it's about how you treat the customer as a person. And the better you treat them and show them respect, now that's just coming back to you. Exactly. Absolutely. In a lot of cases, unfortunately, some of our customers don't get that. And I don't like that. You know, I like that we do a great job of that, but I don't like when I hear that customers of ours go somewhere else and don't don't get the same respect that they deserve. One of the things I think that um I learned a long, long time ago from my dad was that every person that walks you encounter that walks into your store that you deal with wherever you, you know, their their dollar bill is the same color as yours. And they they they have to work very hard to get it just like you do. And if if you remember that, you know, you're gonna treat them the right way. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 36:29

You know, talking about community, talking about the people in our communities, from what I understand, you guys are very involved with the communities that you serve. There's something called stuff the trucks. How does how does that work?

SPEAKER_00 36:44

Trucks is something uh the you know, we have some fun doing where it's a matter of parking uh one of our delivery trucks at the Walmart doors and really stuffing the trucks with canned goods and food. Um wow. For uh the food banks. Additionally, I think that you know, one thing uh I think maybe you brought up COVID a little bit ago that I really noticed during COVID was a lot of the long, like the long lines that were around some of the schools, the elementary schools around here of people that were lining up just to get food. And that was something that really resonated with me.

SPEAKER_01 37:22

Oh yeah.

Community Support And Stuff The Trucks

SPEAKER_00 37:23

You know, the the amount of kids that go to school and they're getting, you know, a free lunch at school. And then on the weekends, you know, people are they're sending food home with them so that they're sure to have food for the weekend. That's something that um, you know, we've we've done a lot in our communities of just trying to give to to our local food banks for sure.

SPEAKER_01 37:43

That well, I I gotta say, guys, that's amazing. I mean, just the thought alone of being able to be out there and just give back to the communities that we serve. You know, it goes back to what you said, Michael. You respect the customer, you give them that respect, you show them that respect. And it's not always about, you know, you shop with me, so let me, you know, then I'll do this. It's just a respect all the way around. You respect the community, the community will come back and serve it. I love that idea. So as you're doing this, where did the ideas come from? Mike, was it from you that you wanted to serve the communities? You wanted to give back? Is there other things that you guys do as well?

SPEAKER_03 38:15

Well, we we do a lot of things. Of course, I I think I mentioned earlier weeks, I don't I was always I was always getting some kind of an idea from Tribb or April. And you see, I used to be a dealer out in western Kansas. He's he's retired now. The Kenny Spaniards, probably a lot of a lot of guys know who he is. I'd go out and we'd talk and I'd I'd see him at shows. We get a lot of good ideas. Of course, he's he was in a town smaller than Hutchinson, and so we'd we just come up with different ideas as and you know, some of them work, some of them didn't. But we, you know, we did a lot of things with us with the schools, and uh, you know, I think each Christmas we'd come up with a bicycle for different kids and and uh that type of thing. And it's it's just something that pops in your head once in a while and you you try it out. You know, some of some of the stuff we did year in and year out, and and they and they expect you to do it. And of course, you you know, a lot of high school kids come in for donations to their to whatever they're having, and we always try that. So it it uh it comes it comes back to to help you out. And uh and it doesn't cost you a lot of money, really.

SPEAKER_01 39:17

So you know, I've heard you mention April a couple of times, and I know that we're gonna kind of get into the back everybody's background here because uh we're kind of I mean, it's at that point. You're a 40-plus year member of APRO. I mean, even your membership is a legendary status at this point in time. You've mentioned it quite a lot quite a lot over four decades. You've been involved in TRIP, you're involved in the Ken Kansas Rental Dealer Association. Can we start there? What how important to you and to you guys is being a part of the Kansas Rental Dealer Association?

SPEAKER_00 39:50

Well, thank you. Thank you. Thanks for asking. Well, listen, obviously, like you mentioned earlier, rent to own really got its start in the state of Kansas over in Wichita, Kansas. And so I think having the ability to kind of carry that message on and more so at state, uh, state level is pretty darn cool. I'm very grateful to uh continue the to be the president of the state rental dealers association. But more so, you know, dad mentioned Kenny. And I think that in speaking about our state rental dealers association, um, and really regarding the the political side of it, um, we're really blessed in our state to be very close to um a lot of our uh uh state senators, but more so is Jim Brown. Jim Brown is somebody, he's retired probably what, two, three years ago, not very long ago, but Jim Brown was really somebody who, you know, I numerous times would call and make sure that I knew when the legislative conference was going to be happening, make sure that I was calling um, you know, on our congressmen, um, making donations, you know, doing anything and everything uh that all of us could to have a positive relationship with them and make sure that they really understood um the truth about rent to own. I think that there's a lot of um, you know, things that are out there that are mistruths about our industry, which is obviously additional why we're all kind of here today is to to kind of lay some groundwork and some background as to, you know, what we are and what we can provide for not just our communities, but one another as well. Uh, but Jim Brown has been somebody that's been a huge part of our industry.

SPEAKER_01 41:43

Well, you know, kind of talking about April and talking about the Kansas Rental Dealer Association, you play a lot of roles in that. But what made you decide that as you were growing up you wanted to stay in rental? Because you you actually went out to do something else, right? Are you did you go into nursing? Is that is that right?

Advocacy Through KRDA And APRO

SPEAKER_00 42:02

Yeah, I went into nursing, but I, you know, I got a phone call from my brother. Um it was a very uh pivotal uh moment for me. Um that he really, you know, said verbatim, you need to really consider coming back under the family umbrella. You know, I I tried, we both tried to not do rent to own, not because we didn't love it, but more so because it seemed like it was the easy way out. You know, it would be like, okay, we really didn't go out and try to experience something else. But um, you know, we came back at a at a a young age, you know. And um, I mean, honestly, like it's the best job in the world, right? To be able to come to work every day and be able to work alongside my dad and my brother. You know, we're pretty lucky to be able to do so. Um it's uh, you know, I continue and so does my brother. Uh, we continue to learn something about rent to own, about how to handle something, or um, you know, bouncing ideas off of dad every single day. Um, and so I think for that in and of itself, it's not work for us. It's fun. We have fun. Um, and every single day is is different.

SPEAKER_01 43:29

All right, Michael. So what happened? What was behind the phone call that you were like, hey, pants on fire, let's get come, you gotta come back. No, I'm just kidding. But what I mean, what what was behind the phone call that that that made such a difference?

SPEAKER_02 43:41

Well, I mean, I'm I was ahead of her because I'm I'm a couple of years old. Five, five years old. Five years older. I gotcha. And so I first came back, I went out and tried a a a bunch of different things and and really learned a lot about uh I learned a lot about business. It's funny when you said earlier learning some things what not to do. I learned a lot about, you know, from places that I I had worked about what what doesn't work. And then I also realized really quickly that I didn't want someone else to be responsible for my success. I so I live I live in Wichita and uh there's a you know a lot of aircraft manufacturing there, for example. A lot of people, you know, go and and and work in those factories and then they show up to work one day and they're like, yeah, we're laying all you guys off. And then, you know, they're on a layoff for, you know, whatever, three months, and then it's you know, then they're back again and everything's great. I I just knew that I didn't want to do that. So I I came back um first and and started started started working, and we opened up a store. Uh, and then I don't know how long I did that before I called, I I called you, but that's when I sort of, you know, I figured out that you know, this can work and we can't there there there was a lot of opportunity here, but but we needed we needed help. You know, really is what it was. And Angie uh at the time, uh, I don't know, were you living down in Oklahoma?

SPEAKER_00 45:15

Yeah. Yeah I mean it was it was pretty uh you know, I think at the time we wanted to be able to grow our business um and made it a little difficult to do so if you didn't really have the people. Right. And so at that time it was it was Angie's kind of like a last resort, is that what she is?

SPEAKER_03 45:37

I mean, I didn't want to say that.

SPEAKER_00 45:39

Wow, and now it's just out there out there on the RTO podcast.

SPEAKER_01 45:44

Okay, so let's find out. When you called her to come back, and and Angela, when you came back, how many stores were there compared to what there is now?

SPEAKER_00 45:53

There were three. And so, see, Pete, what happened?

SPEAKER_01 45:56

So, so 11 stores later, here we are, right? So I don't know. I think it was a good call. I think it was a good call, Mike. You're gonna reach out and phone somebody and they come back and help to help the family business. You know, Dad has got 40 plus years in April. He's mentioned it three or four times. With you, Angela and Michael, how important is April to you guys as far, I mean, Mike has seen the importance. He's seen, you know, the camaraderie, the ability to go and see people that, you know, hey, I don't understand her, so I need help with this, or maybe offer some kind of, you know, there was in 40 years, I know Mike, that you know a lot of things that maybe other people didn't know that maybe you were able to help them. How is it important to you guys now to be a part of April? And have you seen the same benefits that Mike has?

SPEAKER_00 46:40

Yes. I think that the, I think that, you know, really April and Tribb, in my opinion, they share, I mean, really a lot of the same membership. And I think that the, you know, we we talked earlier a little bit about our customer side of it and how we have, you know, generation after generation coming through our stores. The people that that Michael and I have been introduced to from our dad at the April shows, at Trib, at meet like an RTO world type of an event, they've become our family. It's, you know, I think that that's something that more most people say something about that in our industry. We're all very close. You know, like I we were just on the phone earlier with Dan Fisher. We've we've talked to Mike Tissett today, Sean Rush. Like we're all just very Kevin Silvers.

SPEAKER_01 47:35

Who doesn't talk to Kevin Silvers, right?

SPEAKER_00 47:38

But like it were just a very tight industry. So a lot of the people that, you know, dad would come back and mention, you know, I heard, you know, Chris Bolin mention this, Len Leach mentioned that. Like he would mention those names to us. And then here we are going to shows and we're surrounded with those people, we're having conversations with them, bouncing ideas off of them. And so I think for me, some of those names and some of those people in our industry are people that, you know, instinctively being, you know, a daughter, my dad mentions a name. Therefore, they're on a pedestal in my head, and and rightfully so. So I think we're able to learn so many things from from those primarily men outside of, you know, Cynthia.

SPEAKER_01 48:29

Well, I'm glad you said that because we're gonna we're gonna talk about you in just a minute being one of the I wouldn't say few females, but one of the one of the females in the rent-home industry because it is a highly dominated male industry, and I'm I'm I'm glad to see you here. You know, talking about family, Mike, be honest. You can tell me the truth. What is it like? What is it like working with your children? What is it like working with them and watching them kind of go up through the ranks and you know, making a phone call and popping out 11 stories later? Like, what is that like? How is that feeling? If it's bad, you can't you can't my fault. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 49:03

We can edit this by long. Yeah, somebody had to do it. No, you know, I I really feel like I'm fortunate because there's a lot of dealers out there that uh, you know, not too far down the road, they're gonna want to get out of this, out of the business. Even Jim Brown, when he got out of the business, there was nobody to take it over, so he he basically just sold it. So I'm fortunate that I have somebody that, you know, I I let them run this business now for I don't know how many years, quite a while. But I I just quit going to the shows and let them do so they know what to do. And so it's it's it's I'm really fortunate I have somebody can take it over when I decide to retire. I retire every night, but I get that question a lot. But uh it's uh you know, it's it's like any family. Sometimes you have some disagreements and sometimes most of the time everything runs real slow. So it's it's been it's been good. It's been uh like I say, I've been fortunate.

SPEAKER_01 49:53

And uh Well, let's turn that around. Let's flip that over. Guys, honestly, what is it like working with dad? Not not in the past, right? We've all we've all kind of grown up, we've kind of got to where we are now. What is it really like to work? And I I I wish I could say this. I honestly could. How is it like working with somebody that has been in the business for over 40 years, that has had the ability to start something and then maintain it over a long period? I mean, I know Fortune 500 companies that haven't lasted this long. So it's a it's a testament to the fact that it's gotten this long, it's grown to where it's at. What is it like working with dad? Good, bad, or indifferent? What is it like working with dad?

Family Succession And Working Together

SPEAKER_02 50:31

We always look at each other like I don't it's it's it's it's it's great. Uh we have a lot of fun and we are we are terribly fortunate that we get to do it every single day. It's also, I'll tell you, it's a lot of pressure because he started and built a you know, he sort of he sort of covered up or or glossed over some of the getting started stuff here. When when they when they first got got started, not only were they doing deliveries after we closed, but for the first few months, they were sleeping in the back of the store. It was like they couldn't afford a a place to stay. Starting a business from zero, from nothing, very hard, and uh, and he has built a uh what we consider to be a great business. We don't want to uh we don't want to screw it up for lack of a better way to put it. So there's a little pressure there. But I you know, over the years, he's taught us really, really, really well. And uh maybe in spite of some of us sometimes not really doing the best job picking up what he's saying, but we finally, we finally figured it out eventually eventually. But it is it is uh there's a lot to be said for getting to go to work with your with your with your family every day. Um and you know, also I I work with my sister every day. You know, that's that's great too. Uh it's it is hard sometimes because from time to time, from time to time, he is wrong.

SPEAKER_00 51:57

That does not happen very often.

SPEAKER_01 51:59

Well, that was gonna be the third question is what is it like working with a sibling? Because it's not the same as working with dad or or somebody that, you know, a paternal or maternal somebody. This is a this is a sibling here.

SPEAKER_00 52:12

It is a sibling, and thank you for pointing that out. That I am the younger sibling, Pete. And uh, but really what dad meant to say was between the three of us, and Michael left out was that I am the humor. I bring the humor the tinyest of the bunch, but I think in all seriousness, it's it is uh an incredible amount of pressure, I think. Like what Michael said to be able to continue on what dad has built. Um but at the same time, I let's redundant, continue on as we continue. Thank you. Uh continue. Dad was already built, but I I also think that you know, if I was gonna have somebody, there are there are people that that do the same thing that we do, um, that that their you know father has left them the business, if you will. Um and it can be very lonely to not have somebody to really bounce ideas off of. And it can be very uh an incredible challenge. Thankfully, you know, the partner that I get to have is somebody who I grew up with. Uh, we know each other's flaws, we know each other's strengths. And, you know, that can that can be both positive uh and negative. Uh, but I think it the the good thing about it is that I wouldn't I wouldn't want to have, you know, if if if dad wasn't here, I wouldn't want to have anybody else be my partner uh in growing the business. Um we we work very well off of one another. Um and you know, it's we're very open and extremely blunt with one another, with our with our opinions.

SPEAKER_02 54:00

Well I'd say, sorry, Pete, is that is that, and I think Angie, you mentioned it earlier. We genuinely love coming to work every single day. Like, like, I mean, we are at work, but this is what we love to do, and we want to figure out how to make make this work or fix this or see what we can do with that. And and both of us, I I think, I think that comes from being raised in a in a true entrepreneur, you know, mindset from the time we, you know, certainly as far back as as I can remember, um, which which is really, really what uh that's where this business really comes from, right? Is is him or or other rental dealers deciding, hey, I'm gonna go off on my own, I'm gonna see if I can make this work. And and being an entrepreneur is hard. Starting a small business is hard, but you know, there's a reason why we do hard things. And we both love coming to work and seeing what we can do. I mean, we just we just love it. So we are very, very fortunate that we get to do it, but we have a we have a really good time when we do it. Well, I got to say half hats off to you guys.

SPEAKER_01 55:06

Because I think if me and my brothers were all in a room and we were the ones leading the company, the only thing I can say that would come great out of that situation is that working with a sibling, regardless of whether you agree or disagree, you have the trust. And if they're saying something that you don't agree with, it's not because I don't like you. This is stupid. It's more like I really believe that there's something here that either doesn't, it does, you know, one plus one doesn't equal two at this moment, or I really would need you to see it from this point of view because it's it's a real thing. It's not just an ego thing. It's not just a, hey, I don't agree with you because I don't agree with you. It's really a, hey, let's get our minds together because I I really see this in a different light. Let's work on this better. Mike, you never told me that you spent the nights in the back room of this thing. You kind of left that out as we're thumbing through the legend series here. How did that work? I mean, what what was what was happening at that point that you were like, hey, I'm uh, you know, I mean, it it speaks volumes to say this is not going to beat me no matter what. But what was going on then that you had this you had that going on?

SPEAKER_03 56:04

Well, we you know, we we moved to Hutchinson and we left we basically left our our family in St. Louis and Fred left his family in Springfield, and and we we came out here and we we got started a little quicker than what we planned, and we and we didn't have a we hadn't rented an apartment and and then as time went, you know, in the first probably three months, we for us we spent a lot of money. And and then and the the building we rented had had an upstairs and a uh you know shower and a washer and dryer, all that kind of stuff. And uh that was a decision we made because we we basically needed the money. And then after uh, you know, probably four or five or six months, uh there was an a a pretty nice apartment building, believe it or not, right next to our store. And there was a uh there was a pretty good suit from right across the street. So we rented one of those apartments next door and we just kept going from there. And then sooner or later, we of course we had more money, and we bought a house and uh and and just went from there.

SPEAKER_02 57:07

Tell Pete what the mortgage rate was on your house because we talked about it earlier.

SPEAKER_03 57:10

Yeah, the mortgage rate on our house at that time was 14.7. I always remember the first very first payment I made on that house. I think the payment was$500 and some dollars. And I made the payment and four dollars of that five hundred and some.

SPEAKER_01 57:27

You know, I've got to say that there are a lot of blessings that have been passed down through the years. I can tell you that I somehow lucked out. I'm out of 3.5% on my house, and even you know, even that is like a miracle. I see some of the guys now that are getting into like seven percent, and I'm going, oh my God, 14%. But you know what? It's things like that is you know, I I was talking to Whalen Russell and and uh or Russell Whalen, and he said that you know what's worse than that, having no money at all, not having the ability to do it, right? So you take what you you know at the time, you take what you can. If you really want to build it, you're gonna take what you can, you're gonna make the most of it. And in the end, 44 years later, 14 stores later, two airs later, you kind of show up when you need to show up for work later. I mean, it's that because you've earned that. You've worked your way to that point. That's not something that's, you know, it's it's not, it's easily said and very, very hard to do. And, you know, going through that, it's one of those things. I mean, to say that you've been able to accomplish so much to keep it going, to have it in the family, to be well known in the communities, to be a part of April and Trib for as long as you have, to be able to literally sit here with you know, and and I'm not saying that all the legends can't do that, but I haven't had any legends that have their, you know, their children or siblings sitting together. It it they don't. I mean, that is a testament to how Mike's Rentone has made it throughout the years. But I do have to ask a question, and I I don't mean this in any way, but I do want to ask, where did the name Mike's Rentone come from? I see Renison or I see I see your own eyes. Mike's just like, hey, this is my spot, right? Is that is that how it happened? This is Mike's Rentone. That's the way it is.

SPEAKER_03 59:14

Well, I think uh I can remember what what happened is we when Curtis Smath was filed bankruptcy, they they uh they sent us a rather rude letter and said, Hey, you gotta take all these signs down. And uh, because they were they were selling what was left of it to uh someplace in China, and uh we had to come up with a name real quick. And uh and I'd been to a couple of marketing seminars and stuff, and the concept was you need to keep it, you don't need to advertise the name Curtis Mathis like we had been. You don't need to advertise Zenith, you need to advertise something that's a little more personal to the business. So that's what I came. I I put a lot of thought into, and that's that's what I came up with.

SPEAKER_01 59:52

Uh I love it, I love it. Nobody's gonna forget that. Nobody's gonna forget that. You know, talking about you guys, so I gotta know. When you come together and you guys make decisions as you know who you are in the business, how do you settle the disagreements? When Michael, you say it's green, Angela, you say it's red, how do we settle those disagreements? Do we call dad? Is it is it like, hey, let's put on the gloves, go in the next room? Like, how does it work?

SPEAKER_03 1:00:19

I don't remember having a disagreement.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:21

Yeah, that never happens. The short answer is uh there um, you know, there a hundred percent are disagreements. It's it happens um, you know, every once in a while. But no, I mean it if Michael and I have a disagreement uh you know, in dad's office as an example, um, dad's not really he doesn't really chime in, uh, as most parents kind of don't. They just, you know, we figure it out, we talk through it, and it really kind of boils down to there are moments that we can actually both be right. And we tend to find um that middle ground pretty easily. Of course, it I mean it obviously it depends on what the discussion is about, but for the most part, we we really are able to find uh find the middle ground for sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:16

No, Michael, she's said several times she's the younger sibling. Now, have you ever pulled out the I'm the older brother, this is how it's gonna go.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:24

I'm just curious. I'm just curious. Well, I I try to not uh remind her of of my she did she does a good enough job reminding me that I'm older, is I is I guess what I would say. But no, we we don't we do have disagreements and we do uh uh you know really butt heads on I don't I don't know what the what the topic would be, but but really what we're doing there is figuring it out and trying to find the best way forward and and and and the best decision. And what we have figured out over the years as as we've been as we've been doing this is that you have to have that discussion and you have to have those disagreements to really find the right answer in a lot of in a lot of respects. If it's if it's just continually, yeah, we're just gonna do this and there and there's no discussion and there's no real serious thought to it, you can get in the weeds really quickly. And then I would also say that every now and again when we are, it's not it doesn't happen so much when we're we're talking something through and we're trying to come to the right answer. A lot of times when we're both on the same page and we're really coming up with something that's a really bad decision, which every now and again happens, every now and again, you know, dad will say, Yeah, maybe we ought to think a little bit more about that. That's what we'll get. Uh so so really, you know, he he lets us let us, you know, make all the decisions, do what we feel like we need to do, but he's certainly there in the background when he needs to be to keep us from doing something that maybe we shouldn't do, which, you know, has happened from time to time.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:02

Well, Mike, this is something that I gotta know. You've done it for 44 years. You have great people, family taking over the the, you know, driving the reins now. But what is the secret sauce that you can you can and it doesn't have to be one thing, but what is that secret sauce that you say, you know what, starting this many years ago, kind of going through the ranks, the differences, the Henry B. Gonzalez's, you know, everything that's been going on, the high interest rates, what is the secret sauce of making it, the longevity, getting through it? Is it bringing family on and making this a family affair? What it what is your go-to to say, do you know what, this is what I've held on to for the last four decades that has helped bring me to this point?

The Secret Sauce For Longevity

SPEAKER_03 1:03:48

Oh, I think it's I don't think I know. It's mainly you gotta have a good work ethic. And then the other thing I've always gone by, uh I tried to stick to is basically a phrase that says, never give up and do the best you can. In fact, I have that tattoo on my shoulder here. I got in the military, but you know, do the best job you can and and go home at night satisfied you did the best you could, and then don't don't be afraid to say you're wrong, and don't for sure don't be afraid to take somebody else's advice. So don't give up and just just keep plugging along. Next thing you know, it's 44 years.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:23

Well, let's talk about some of the accomplishments that we've been able to secure as far as being the patriarch of the family and who's been following. Angela, you are the president of the the Kansas Rental Dealer Association, is that right?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:35

That's that is a fact.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:37

That is that is factual. What does that mean to you to be the president? Like I know we talked a bit a little bit about it earlier. What does it mean not only to be in it, but to be president in the state that dad opened up his first rent to own and now you have 14 other locations or 13 other locations?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:54

Well, I I think it's more the people that I get to surround myself with, you know, on our board. When I first uh was asked to be president, um, you know, Gloria Holmeyer was over there, dad was there, Jim Brown and Sean Rush. Sean Rush really took me under his wing and really kind of guided me through all of that. He's a fellow Kansas University Jayhawk. I'd like to point that out just in case John Cleek Jr. is watching. And we beat them just recently. You don't need to edit that part off, Pete. But back to KRDA.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:31

John's gonna give you a call on that one.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:33

Yes, you and I both. I hope so. Anyway, it is important. It's it's nice to be able to be the president, but also, you know, once COVID kind of happened, we we'd kind of like what you're describing. We have some dealers that have have really kind of disappeared or they have retired. But we are an incredibly tight knit state. Uh, all of our dealers, we, you know, we talk. quite frequently uh with with the majority of them, um whether it's emailing or see them at the show. Um and we don't uh we don't have very many, very many issues in our state. It's it's pretty nice to be able to uh be the president, but more so the fact that I think I'm I think it might just be me and uh Sandy Fry. I think we might be the only two female presidents. I think that might be be true. So I I I take pride in that aspect of it. Given the fact that we're in a male dominated industry, that's something that I I do take a lot of pride in.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:42

Well I I see also you helped found the LEET program. You were mentioned in the women's forum as far as APRO goes extremely doing extremely well as far as representing the female leadership in the RTO industry and absolutely appreciated. But Michael is not to be outdone just so that you know he didn't just say you know Andrew's gonna take the wheel on this one. You're currently serving uh on the APRO board Michael is that right? Yes. So you're currently the is it a vice president of this you were you were the second vice president though, correct? Second vice president this year, yeah. Absolutely making it happen. What is serving on the board, you know, dad holds April in high regard I don't know if you know that, but he has mentioned that. You are now serving on the board of April. What does it mean to you, to both of you, to to have your son on the board of April and also for you, Michael, to be on that board.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:35

Well I'll go, I'll go first. I think it's um first of all April is very, very, very important to us as you just mentioned because of everything that it's it's done to help our family and to help our family's business. It's also very important to our industry. So it is is is something that I just just really uh wanted wanted to be a part of if I could that that's why I I originally got on the board. The other thing about being on the board is that it's it's made up of of a great group of people that really want to do whatever they can to help the rent to own industry. And those are people that I like to be around and that I want to surround myself with. So so really um it's it's uh I'm really and and especially now with with with Charles you know running running Aid Pro that's that's been a a big a big positive change and uh he's he's really doing a lot of a a lot of really really great things for the industry and and uh I'm really really close with Dan Fisher for example John Cleek Jr.'s on the board now uh it's just a really good group of people and and so I think I think it gives me an opportunity to in some way give back to you know an industry that has frankly given me everything and so that's something that I'm gonna can continually be interested in doing.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:58

Well Michael I think you're doing a great job kudos to you I will say that every time I see the April board I feel like I'm surrounded by the heads of state as I kind of feel like you like these guys were people that I didn't have my dad to talk to but the my managers, my regionals, my directors, my VPs, you know, they would mention these names in passing I have no idea who they're talking about. And to actually go and see these people firsthand to be able to talk to them to hear how they've handled the industry for so long their ideas moving forward what it was that they brought to the table it I mean it just I leave dumbfounded all the time. Talking about prestige you won the Heritage Award. You were awarded the Heritage Award, right? Mike, how does that feel to have your son presented with the Heritage Award?

SPEAKER_03 1:09:40

That feels great. And as far as April is concerned I think it's again I think that's great too because it it's I think it gives gives both of them a better opportunity to keep the business running after I move on. So that's just a good thing. And uh I I wish I'd have done more of that but I I I convinced myself I didn't have time. But uh yeah I think that's uh that's really commendable.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:03

Well Mike I wouldn't sell yourself short you you have a legacy sitting right next to you so I think you've done a really really good job. I just want to say that you know you guys have done an amazing thing. What you have is bold. It's unique to the fact that you have your business that started from literally nothing without telling everybody that you slept in the back room to, you know, you have somebody on the board of April you have your daughter who's the president of KRDA you yourself are a legend in this business. You guys are doing amazing work. I mean I want to tell you in closing like you guys have are really the superstars that are taking this forward and and Mike I'm glad that you're able to kind of head that and be able to pass the reins off. It's been amazing to really kind of say I get you guys on one podcast altogether. I love that I I think it's amazing you know if you have because you're because you're there usually I ask this and nobody's nobody's sitting next to them what is the one bit of advice Mike that you would want us if you had that wall up and you couldn't see them right now, what is something that you would say to each one of them this is something you know they're gonna get the business. They're obviously doing a great job taking care of that right now. But as you do what you want to do whether it's play golf every day whether it's you know whatever it is you want to do moving on to their success, what's something that you're gonna say to them this is what I believe you do this and it's gonna be golden.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:32

Well I I would probably not probably I would basically say look you know what to do you know what you know what what's got us where we are which is treating customers like they should be treated a good work ethic and uh you know this is not going to sound real exciting but uh continue to do what you're doing and you'll be just fine.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:50

Well sometimes you know that's not necessarily simple advice because I think sometimes we as human beings want to perfect something and we try to change it. We try to make it better. But sometimes that core is really what makes you successful. Stick with it. Work hard learn to do what you do very well hone that blade make sure that you're doing what you did that got you here. Now you always want to be thinking in the forefront you know maybe there's a better way maybe this is a new way to do it. But you don't want to stop the work ethic and what got you to exactly where you are guys so asking kind of everybody on this one where do we see Mike's rent to own in five years 10 years 20 years? I I think I'm gonna you know what I think I'm gonna go along the line Mike where do you see Mike's rent to own in five years? Five years I would say instead of 14 stores we'd probably have 20. Wow that's that's nice okay Angela 10 years from now where are we at? Where's Mike's rent to own in 10 years?

Future Growth And Next Gen Advice

SPEAKER_00 1:12:49

Well apparently we are going to be at 20 stores. I think that that uh you know we have a tendency to really we it's not only our dream to to continue to grow the business. We want to be able to not only grow the business but we want to be able to be in the markets and the places where we currently aren't and to be able to provide for customers. Additionally we want to be able to provide jobs for more people. Those those kinds of things are really important to us but I think to kind of make it very simplistic um has to continue to be fun for us. Right now we are having a blast doing what we're doing. So if we can make it very simple of just to continue to grow and provide not only for our coworkers but also for the communities that we're in, I think that that would be all we could really ask for.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:46

All right Michael you're the one in the hot seat now 20 10 you know five 10 20 years I see is the, you know, you're the visionary here what's going on where are we at in 20 years? Where is is there going to be a point where you and Angela are kind of having this you know this sit down again with somebody else with with maybe your children or or somebody else and and and kind of doing what dad's doing right now? I mean what what do you see in 20 years?

SPEAKER_02 1:14:13

In 20 years I would say uh we are still we're still right here plugging away yeah I'm gonna be a couple of years older 20 20 years older to be exact right if it's 20 years from now.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:27

That would be true.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:27

That'd be 20 years. I would be really excited to see Pete um how much we've grown there will certainly be growth between between now and then but I would be really excited to see how many employees we have at that point and how many people we're working with. That would be really what I would be thinking about looking 20 years out.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:49

Very har very hard to even even comprehend that but but 20 years from now I would say we have a whole bunch more uh people that we're working with and that would that we we'd be that 20 years from now I'd be uh yeah it's that's a long time nothing about how about how about I throw you guys something a little bit easier and I know that we've been kind of going back and forth Mike I I you're the legend here so I don't want you to think I'm leaving you out but there are there is it's it's never you know I never get the opportunity to speak to a family uh the way I have and I know that your legacy is sitting right next to you what would you guys Michael and Angela say to some of the up and coming second generation owners that are out there you guys are already in the spot. You're kind of doing it now. What would you say to some of those people that are starting to come up for instance I had Ben Leach on a Friday uh the Black Friday special he's now coming into it. He doesn't have the uh the same time frame in the business as you do he's had a younger and he's you know he's starting to see oh now but what are some of the things that you would say to these second generation possible owners in the future that you kind of know right now?

SPEAKER_02 1:16:00

Well I would say first first of all I would say Ben Leach has uh you know somebody to rely on specifically that's uh one of the best to ever do it and uh he's doing great things now and he's gonna continue to do so. For for other people that are that are just just coming into this business I I would say that you have to remember the most important things are taking care of your customer and taking care of your employee. And as long as you focus on those things and then use what our dad has been talking about, which is just simply to never give up and have good work ethic and just come in every day and try to make it a little bit better and you're gonna make it. But it's called work for a reason and uh it's gonna be hard. But doing hard things, you know, are what we should be doing. Uh so I would I that's that's what I would say about it is is uh just you know jump in with both feet and uh and give her a whirl and it'll come out okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:57

Travel road less travel take care take care of your family take care of your friends take care of your customers take care of your people. Angela what would you add to that?

SPEAKER_00 1:17:06

I think that I obviously would echo that we're we know Ben and you know for for for those of us that are second generation we kind of um you know our it's like a little club it is a little it is a little cool kids club kids club um but I think that I think in addition to that I I would tell somebody that's just coming into it to that it's okay to fail as long as you're failing forward that it's okay to screw up you're gonna screw up you're gonna make mistakes and it's gonna be okay but I think that I would really encourage them to be a member of Trib, be a member of April and come to the shows because that's really where you're gonna learn the most and to be able to rely on um you know the you know whether it's uh Chris Bolin or Dan Fisher you're gonna find those people wandering around and they're all of them are very open Mike Tissett they're all very open and willing to give you any advice answer any question that you have. So I I think that that would be my first and foremost. But then the second part of that is gonna be to you know if you really sit there and focus on it for a moment, you really know exactly what what at least for Michael and I, what our dad's goal was and it and it's not about the money. It it it really isn't and it's really about who's uh who's Mike Tis um really about taking care of taking care of the customer at the end of the day and you know treating your people with respect. Um and I think that as long as you're doing those two things you're you're gonna be just fine. And I would also say just continue to have fun with it. It really is just the absolute best industry uh that's out there.

Closing, Contact Info, Sponsor

SPEAKER_01 1:19:01

Well I I will tell you this uh I give you guys a little nugget before we leave two people that stand out to me. Not everybody is is spot on. I mean there's nobody that you mentioned and there's so many that we haven't mentioned that are amazing in this industry but two people that really have helped me with what I've done in the podcast and moving on. And that was Dan Fisher you mentioned him Michael and you know Mike Tissett that you mentioned Angela so Dan Fisher was one of my first interviewees and it was off camera, it was off script it was literally on a phone I was trying to record what he was saying on this little recorder because I didn't have anything at that point in time. But you know he gave me a lot of great advice and a lot of things that we talked about and that stood out to me because at that point in time he didn't know me from Adam. And yet he took out the time to sit there and talk to me and really do you know a little bit of mentorship kind of like your father does with you guys and just kind of give you that advice and some of the things that I really didn't even think about. I didn't know about and he really sat down and talked to me about that. And then I will say the first time I had a partner you know in the first couple seasons of this and and you know he had decided that he was going to go a different way and and kind of do something different. And I had no idea where I was going to take the podcast from there. Because we we we were cross banter it was like you know that's what it was. And the idea of having somebody on the show was daunting because I really wasn't I didn't know what I was doing then. I didn't know these big people that it was you know I wanted to talk to like you know he said Angela these guys are up there. And the first person that said that he would be on the show was Mike Tissett. And in our world guys if you don't know this landing Mike Tissett on your first recording is like you know Johnny Carson pulling somebody out of the air it was like I didn't know that you know he would do it but it made such a difference to the podcast and how it was welcomed and I'll always appreciate him for that. And that Mike, I wish it was you. I'm sorry that it wasn't you I didn't know you back then but I wish I'd have had you on the show we could have done a three with Mike but you know some of the accolades that I want to get into before we go Angela you're doing a great job you're the vice president currently at Mike's Rentone isn't that right so the vice president kind of doing your thing as the president of the KRDA helping find the uh the founder of the Leap program as you know with you and others amazing job Michael kind of running the business with your sister April board member heritage heritage award recipient KRDA member as well you've helped developed a couple of other things as far as that's called the intro the intro to RTO is that something that you you you you kind of helped get with and then we've got Mike who sits quiet over there he's very quiet but done an amazing job in this world in the RTO industry founded in 1981 in a small town in Kansas and then all these stores later you have a family you have a legacy kudos to you you know over a hundred employees just to say that alone small business is so important in this country right now to say now that you've taken it from where it was to a hundred employees not so small anymore but that's amazing and I and I really appreciate that you've even been able to take some time to be on this Legends podcast doing the stuff the trucks uh you know and and I I love the name it's uh it's really right on the nose but then that's what it's about right getting straight to the point and making it happening with the people that are we you know the communities that we serve and now being on part of which I appreciate the Legends series here with you guys you know Angela Michael really glad that you guys had the time to come out here bring dad along with you you know can sit down and have a good old time and talk to me for a little bit I want to say I do appreciate it. Guys what I will tell you is we thank everybody especially you guys for watching the Legends series is so important to kind of share their stories where they've been where they're going and what's going to happen. The leaders in the industry if you want to know more hit me up at the show Pete at the rtoshow podcast dot com you're also going you can go to the website at www dotrtoshowpodcast dot com. Welcome to look in there buy some swag we can use it get down there put your name in there I will reach out to you if you have that you can see some of the shenanigans uh shenanigans that I've been able to get into some crazy stuff some videos that I've been in we are on Facebook and Instagram LinkedIn and YouTube where you're gonna see this guys I really appreciate you being a part of the show thank you so much for being here and I want to tell you guys as always get your collections low to get your sales high. Have a great one thank you hey you guys you guys are amazing I appreciate hey everyone it's Pete Chow here from the R2 Show podcast and I want to tell you about a company that's making a real difference in the rent-to-owned space WoW brands I've seen firsthand how they approach marketing and let me tell you it's not just about ads. WoW brands build complete digital ecosystems designed specifically for the rent-to-owned industry their e-commerce and lead generation strategies are built to bring qualified leads and did I mention that they are actively working with the rent-town industry while also being members of April and Trib? Listen these folks are passionate problem solvers they don't just slap something together they design build and scale the kind of digital retail tools your business needs your customers actually want. So if you're serious about growing reach out to WoWBrands at wildbrands.com i trust it and I think you will too