F3 Podcast - Faith, Family, and Finance
A Gaddis Premier Wealth Advisors Podcast.
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F3 Podcast - Faith, Family, and Finance
Stephanie Swicker | Episode 12 | Entrepreneurship, Community Spirit, and Small-Town Charm
Have you ever wondered how small towns keep their charm and community spirit alive? Join us as we chat with Stephanie Swicker, the dynamic Executive Director of Durant Main Street, who shares her heartfelt journey from Oklahoma roots to leading revitalization efforts in Durant. Stephanie reminisces about the warmth of having a "usual" at a local diner, much like the camaraderie seen in "Cheers," and the cultural richness of her childhood, marked by adventures and unique accents. From Oklahoma to New York, discover how her family's diverse entrepreneurial background laid the foundation for her resilient spirit.
Imagine flying spontaneously in a Cessna for weekend getaways or managing multiple family businesses, including a farm, gas station, bowling alley, and bar. Stephanie vividly recounts these experiences, painting a colorful picture of the challenges and triumphs her family faced. From dealing with a gas station robbery to transitioning into medical supplies, her stories are a testament to the power of adaptability and perseverance in entrepreneurship. These personal anecdotes highlight the vibrant tapestry of small-town life and the entrepreneurial spirit that keeps it thriving.
In our conversation, we also tackle the practical challenges of modernizing historic buildings and the vital role small businesses play in community success. Stephanie shares insightful strategies on balancing support for local enterprises with the occasional need for big box stores, emphasizing how each contributes to a town's ecosystem. From her initial job experiences to her current role in financial advising, Stephanie's journey is filled with lessons on resilience, community, and dreaming big. Tune in for an episode brimming with inspiration, personal growth, and the enduring magic of small-town America.
How magical is that? When you are in a district or you can walk to your restaurant and they know what your usual is, yeah, you get to pass people by with smiles on their faces, enjoying the day or enjoying an experience.
Speaker 2:Yes, I've waited my whole life to have a usual yes Right.
Speaker 1:I want my usual. I want my usual. You have made it. If you can walk into a place and they know that's right yeah.
Speaker 2:I agree, it's like cheers just being in the community where people know you and you are known, and I think that is like that. That's the magic that you mentioned from sort of the you know the, the atmosphere that you know we're trying to create in downtown Durant. Hey, everybody, my name is Derek Hines. I am a partner here at Gattis Premier Wealth Advisors. Thank you for joining us today, and today we have the pleasure of having Stephanie Swiker with us. She's the executive director of Duran Main Street. That's me so. Welcome to the podcast. Thank you for having me. Yeah, I really appreciate you joining us. It was pretty short notice, which is funny. So my wife my wife kind of dodged out of the podcast, is it? Yeah, she was supposed to be here, okay, but I saw the text message and she said hey, we had someone cancel. Would you mind coming in? I was like that's-.
Speaker 1:You're not supposed to tell on her like that.
Speaker 2:Well, we'll get her on here and she'll have a chance to redeem herself, get a side of the story that's correct. That's correct. So yeah, so I really appreciate it. I am genuinely excited because I don't really know you very well. Most of the people that we've had on the podcast are friends or people that I have a long standing relationship with, so this is gonna kind of be a new experience for me.
Speaker 1:Well good, I'm sure it will be fun Be a new experience for me.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Well, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Speaker 1:Well, I'm not native to Durant, I am native to Oklahoma sort of. I was born in Shreveport, louisiana, and I really used to think that was glamorous until I found out more about Cajun culture and I didn't realize that Oklahoma or Okie culture versus Cajun culture had a learning lesson there. So, regardless, I am from Sallisaw. I come from, I was born into entrepreneurship, which I know that's what your show is largely about. My grandparents both sides had their own businesses. We've lived in that as kids. My parents had their own businesses. Really didn't know anything beyond that. I've lived in Sallisaw up until gosh, I think we moved here in 2015. So my whole life was there, never moved year in 2015. So my whole life was there, never moved, moved here and kind of started a whole life and network with people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I'm curious. You mentioned the difference between, like, cajun culture and Okie culture. What were some of the big things that you noticed in differences in culture?
Speaker 1:Well, so here's the thing we used to travel. My parents traveled all the time and we went to like we spent a lot of time in New York. We'd go once a year to New York or up North to Washington, and my mother has a very, apparently a very thick Okie accent or Oklahoma accent, and so everybody loved it. When we come to New York, they love to hear her talk because of the way she sounded and I thought that was not as cultured as the New York accent. For some reason, a five-year-old kid or eight-year-old, however old I was. And so I found out oh, I wasn't born in Oklahoma, I was born in Louisiana. I was like well, I am not Uki, I am Cajun. And then they all laughed at me. They're like have you ever heard a Cajun person speak, heard?
Speaker 2:a Cajun person speak, so I found out real quick that that wasn't as glamorous as I had thought.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that the Cajun culture wasn't as glamorous their. Yeah, their accent is not any less than an Oklahoma accent.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, we have a, we have a partner, uh, this kind of from from that area. So so what? What took you guys to New York? Like, why'd you travel to New York so much?
Speaker 1:My dad, my mom and dad loved to travel. He gosh. They would pick us up from school on a Friday and just drive and then decide that we're gonna go somewhere over the weekend and we would go to Walmart and buy toothbrushes and pajamas and have a whole weekend adventure. Later my dad he became a pilot and he had a little I think it was a Cessna and so same thing. We would get in the airplane to fly and then all of a sudden we'd be in Branson, missouri, and decide that we're going to go to Sower Dollar City for the weekend. So they love to travel, they love the mountains, they love the cold weather we live in Oklahoma, so it's not doesn't get as cold here as they enjoy. So we just they spent a lot of their time, a lot of our growing up, traveling to different places.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I love the mountains as well. We actually just took a trip to Colorado and spent, you know, two or three days in the in the mountains, backpacking and we skied.
Speaker 1:We're snow skiers. I wanted to be a ski bum when I grew up.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, I had some friends that went that path in college, yeah, so tell me about you mentioned you kind of were raised by entrepreneurs, have a long history of entrepreneurship, so what are some of the businesses that your family was involved in?
Speaker 1:Well, even when my parents got married, they worked for their family. So my mom's side. They had a farm. She grew up in farming. I forget what it was that they did, but they had land, or they still have land, even here in Oklahoma. And then they opened a gas station in our small town of Sallisaw and so my parents ran that for a while, found out they got robbed one time, which was an interesting story. They had my dad's side of the family. They, let's see my grandfather worked for the post office for a while and then they have owned a bowling alley, they owned a bar, and what else did they have? My mind just went blank. There was a third thing that they had too, because my dad had a motorcycle and he would drive us to the bowling alley and we would get to get the chips because they were behind the counter, and we got to go behind the counter. And then my grandparents their bar. When it was after hours we get to get the soda thing from the little controller, which I thought was super cool.
Speaker 1:And then my parents, my dad, went into medical. He'd had a real passion, so he'd become a respiratory therapist, but to get himself through school he started a lawn mowing business. Him and my mom worked together. He worked for a hospital for a while. He did not like the way that his patients were treated when it come to respiratory therapy and so he decided to open up his own business and take care of them the way he wanted them to be taken care of. So that's where the DME came in, and so then I came on to that. You know, as kids gosh, they would get a call to deliver oxygen and talahina and wake us up and we get in the back of the truck and they give us McDonald's to make us happy and they go make the delivery.
Speaker 1:And my brothers got older and they didn't like medical, they liked computers, and so they decided they wanted to be computer repair men. And then that led into internet. And I'm talking back when dial-up was a thing and broadband was just starting to come on the scene, yeah, yeah. So then they got into internet, they got into broadband, they learned to climb towers. When Buddy and I met, he actually worked for somebody who had their own business in drywall and about six months after he came and started working for my family. So we did the medical together up until my parents um, ready to sell it, and then we just switched over to the internet side and so, like literally my whole life was in family owned business. My, my dad, wouldn't even let me get a job. My friend had a job at Brom's and I thought that was super cool and I really wanted to get a job at Brom's too. He was like no, so he put me to work at the medical supply. I started filing and doing forms and just grew from there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's awesome. So tell me about the gas station rob story.
Speaker 1:So they were young and they were held at gunpoint and they made them get in the freezer and like count. And my dad finally, I guess in the midst of their counting he was a little bit spunky back in the day, I'm told. Anyway, he decided he was going to leave the freezer and deal with the guy whoever was out there, and I guess by the time he went he had left. So yeah, they were robbed at gunpoint in Little Salisbury, oklahoma, back in like what the 60s or 70s I think, and 70s I guess.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's pretty wild. Well, good thing you didn't go out too soon.
Speaker 1:No, I know, I'm glad I wouldn't be here. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, those are some. Those are some pretty cool businesses. So bowling alley bar, medical sales supplies, like any good stories from the bar.
Speaker 1:I mean my, my parents.
Speaker 2:I was assuming that like bar, like there's, there's some Stardust Lounge Great stuff happened.
Speaker 1:I'm assuming that like bar, like there's some yeah, Stardust Lounge, Great stuff happened. Yep, Stardust Lounge. It was off of a small hotel in Sallisaw. Also, my parents were I mean, everybody knew my family, which I didn't realize that I'm a kid I didn't know that. But they grew up there so they have major roots and they love to have a good time and they had their circle of friends and they opened up this bar and ran it and I know my parents had to help them home a few times or help them get in the house after they closed up at night and they had. There was this one girl I forget her name, she had really long hair and she would come sing for them and they would dance at the bar. But the best part was is when as a kid we get to go in and visit and drink the soda, sit at the table, then play on the bar, because obviously as children we didn't ever get to see inside of that during working hours yeah, that's fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a yeah, that's a great entrepreneurial heritage that you have yeah, when they closed it, my parents had a, and so, like all the tables and all the dishes, I think we still have dishes from when they had the bar.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, that's, that's fun. So tell me a little bit about your um, just sort of your career path, uh things you've done before you, you know before you took the position that you have right now.
Speaker 1:Well, it's I. I say that I come from a very diverse background. Um, like I said, my dad, he would have been happy if we had our family business till the end of time. And of course, life changes that, economy changes that. So I never had, I had never been on an interview, I never had a resume. I didn't need it because I worked for them up until we, literally up until we moved to Durant.
Speaker 1:And then Buddy and I were thinking, I mean, we're very ambitious and we, I guess we dream big and don't know the reality of finances and economy. Right, because we've lived in this little bubble and so we're like, well, we'll just start our own business. Right, because if we start our own business, then you know, if you build it they will come, kind of thing. And so we did that. But it doesn't work that way. So we needed to get jobs, and so he, he would get a job, or I would go and get a job. And so I um, I think my first official job outside of family is I. I worked for a restaurant and I wanted to work.
Speaker 1:They put out an ad for someone in the kitchen and I love, like my favorite, like de-stress or me. Time is a glass of wine, turn on my music and then something I've never cooked before and and I enjoy it, like that's my, that's my special time, just for me. So I thought, well, this is great, I'll go work in their kitchen and and this will be the funnest thing ever, because I've never got to do this and I'll get do something that I really like, because I didn't like medical, it wasn't fun, it's. You know, a lot of crossing your T's and dotting your I's and sad, sad things because people are sick, and so this is a happy thing.
Speaker 1:But they wouldn't let me in the kitchen and they wouldn't even let me waitress because I had no experience. So they let me be a host. I am this middle-aged woman in their costume, standing and seeing people. So I did that for a while and then they ended up letting me be a waitress after I, I guess, proved myself that I could I don't know be an efficient. I don't even. I don't understand. I mean, listen, you have to be a people person in a restaurant, and that taught me how to come out of my shell. But beyond that, I wasn't sure what skill they were waiting to see from me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, so I just I laughed they would let you in the kitchen because you didn't have any experience.
Speaker 1:And until I left that restaurant I kept asking, and asking, and asking to be in the kitchen. Maybe we'll let you try next week.
Speaker 2:Never happened what restaurant was it, was it.
Speaker 1:It was. It's actually out in Mead, it's a resort in it and I don't. I think it's changed ownerships a few times, but it was the Sneaky. Tiki was the name of it.
Speaker 2:Okay yeah, yep, not familiar with that yeah.
Speaker 1:So I love. So tell me. So you're married to buddy. How'd you guys meet? Uh, my dad went to a function in Stigler and he and I had I had just turned 16. I did not want to go because it was like I think what it was at a 45 minute drive or something. I wanted to stay home and I just got my driver's license and I was like, please, please, let me stay here, you guys go and I'll be fine. He and he's like no, you're all going. And so walked into the room and there he was and like a little story, at 16 years old and I think he was 18, and our eyes met and we couldn't look away and it just kind of snowballed after that.
Speaker 2:That's awesome, and so how long have you guys been married now?
Speaker 1:28. We just had our 28th anniversary, wow, yep, I know I say congratulations, but I told him. I said it's kind of embarrassing to tell people how long, because now it's starting to age us Right Cause if you've been married that long, usually you're older than I want to admit that I am. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I didn't. Um, I almost asked you your age earlier, but obviously, like you're never supposed to ask a one their age, but you know when you're 16, married 28 years, so you can do the math, that's right. So I love how you mentioned that you guys, you like to dream big, like what are some of the things that I mean? What are some of the endeavors that you've? You know that you have barked upon because you've been big.
Speaker 1:Goodness, I always had. I didn't love again, I didn't love the medical industry, but we did it. So there were times when we would try to come up with ideas of things that we could do other than that, and one was restaurant. Again, I thought it'd be phenomenal. We had a whole plan we took before my dad or like we really think that we can do this. And we were all the way up to like putting a deposit down and somebody, everybody we talked to, they're like if you have a restaurant, you will live and die there, you will wake up and go to sleep. So after enough, people told us that we're like, okay, well, we can't do that because we just had, we had, our two girls and they were small and couldn't live in a restaurant. So we always had big ideas like that.
Speaker 1:For Buddy he really enjoyed woodworking and he started with woodturning and he did that because we had hospice and he dealt with a lot of death. He ended up basically building a cabinet shop on the side of our house and he would go out there and he would make trinkets and he would do odd jobs to make furniture for people, that sort of thing. And I think really just jumping off that when we, when my parents, sold the business, it didn't even dawn on us to go get a job from someone. We were just like, hey, people ask me to make furniture all the time and I love to design things and we'll just put those two talents together and we'll create this business. I love to design things and we'll just put those two talents together and we'll create this business. And so literally just jumped into it both, both feet into UE Design, which we did manufacturing jobs. We actually did a job for Ray Drummond for one of her products that she sold.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and we worked with a guy in Sallisaw who had some pretty big connections in the music industry. He did work for them. I think we did festivals. I know we've had my he Buddy had made a table with another friend. They were friends, but this friend was a metal artist and Buddy was a wood artist and it sits in one of the historic buildings in Tulsa. They and it was made. The metal part was made out of, I think, a bridge that they had to take down and then Buddy did the top out of wood. So we've had big endeavors like that, Like we aren't afraid to at least try to get in front of a big person or try to go after a big job.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I love it. One of not my favorite saying, but but a very applicable saying, is you know, a successful entrepreneur is the person who jumps off the cliff and then builds the airplane on the way down.
Speaker 1:That, yes, and if you, okay. So if you love that. Do you know the story of Hershey? No, the Hershey guy. Do you know that they built? I think, if I'm safe, I'm remembering it, remembering it right. He purchased the land, was it Hershey? It's the food that built America. That's the show. And then maybe it's not Hershey, maybe it was somebody else. But he had bought this land, made this astronomical investment and didn't even know what kind of business he was gonna make yet. So he bought the land and then he had to cut off time to like create this whole business and factory and it's like one of our main staples in America today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love it. Yeah, I love it, yeah, so, so can I apologize? How do you, how do you pronounce the name of your business, ue, ue, yeah, okay, so tell me about that.
Speaker 1:It was so Buddy had read an article about this man who he was taken prisoner and had like really horrible circumstances, but his name was Uwe and so it's like a European name and that's it's spelled U-W-E and we were trying to come up with a name. I think we were talking for weeks about, okay, what are we going to name our business? And he just came one day he's like I know he says it needs to be U W? E, you and we, and that it was perfect because it was a our business, was a collaboration, so we did custom design. So it is you and we designs, and that's how it happened.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and so you guys built like design tables, built tables, what, what, all kind of, and do you still do this, or Sort of sort of yes and no.
Speaker 1:We still have all the equipment. It's more of a hobby. However, we never say no to a job. I built the most ridiculous stuff because somebody would come in and say, hey, can you build whatever? And I'm like sure. And I'd be like four in the morning in the workshop in tears like why, sure? And I'd be like four in the morning in the workshop in tears, Like why, why did I say I could do this? I don't know how to do this, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:I love that attitude, though there really is just kind of a kind of a, a, get it done.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we figured out but we do.
Speaker 1:We do still have the equipment, I think for me. I've closed my store. I closed it in July and it was way more emotional than I thought it was going to be. Like I know it's the right decision even now, but I I miss it a lot and I know one day I want to do something like that again. And and even on the side I have, I have the laser. So I still do odd jobs here and there and think to myself that if ever I get my life in order, I'll start pushing it again and rebuilding it or I don't know, not rebuilding it, just take the pause button off, push play again.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, so you and you, you've done some really interesting things, uh, in your career training coordinator at REI. You own a small business, you know now you're the executive director at Dramain Street, so tell me about the training coordinator position that you had.
Speaker 1:That is. That's actually really cool. Like I, I would not have thought that I would want to do that but I need again found myself where I needed a job and that role came up and I had a friend that worked there and so I texted her and I was like, hey, do you think this is something that I would remotely qualify for? Because she kind of knew my background and she's like, yeah, she goes, she goes, put in your application anyway and talk to them and see, yeah, and so I did and had, I guess, had a great interview and it was a position that they were building. It wasn't I wasn't coming in behind someone, so it was kind of neat in that it kind of was being created. But they had gotten these contracts through SBA that required a person have this position. And so they managed the minority business resources from the pandemic.
Speaker 1:Sba was trying to find ways to help kind of close the gap that the damage that did to small businesses.
Speaker 1:And so my job was to like, outside the box, thinking what are resources that can help businesses kind of those that are still trying to build back, get them from building back to thriving.
Speaker 1:And so that was fun because I got to think outside the box and really network and learn about resources out there that a lot of people don't know exist that will literally make a you know, make it or break it decision in a business. And then I also the other contract I worked on was their 7J contracting that SBA had put out, and that's where you help small businesses contract with government, so there's literally billions of dollars that are allocated from the government to be used with a woman owned business, with a minority owned business, with businesses under you know X amount of workers, that sort of thing, and so just connecting those two people. And so I learned. I learned a lot and I also learned that I really have it Like. I loved it. I had a passion. I loved giving resources to people because I know what it was like having a business of my own and how important it was to have this free resource that I wouldn't have otherwise been able to make it as far as I did.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. I love your passion for small business and your experience in small business, so what are some of the things that you're focused on now as the executive director of Durant Main Street?
Speaker 1:Well, we were rebuilding it really we're rebuilding the program and because of the pandemic, many nonprofits closed their doors because of the toll that it took, just like small businesses, and so Durant was not. They weren't spared in that either. And so there's a lot of things that we've had to I don't know pivot or redefine or outside the box whatever we're talking A lot of the things that worked in the past for our district, for our community, for our main street, they don't work today because things have changed.
Speaker 2:Yeah and so-. So what are some of those? What are some of the things that have worked, that are not working?
Speaker 1:Well, like even some of our events used to like Dancing with the Stars was one of like their biggest fundraiser and because they couldn't fulfill that, it took a huge hit on them financially. But I think also it caused Some of the trying to figure out how to come back from that, caused some disconnect between the stakeholders in Main Street and also the businesses in Main Street, and so finding a way to come back from that and to build back those relationships with those who support our program and even within our business district, I don't know if I would say things don't work. I think things just have to be approached differently.
Speaker 2:Of course. Yeah, I mean, the pandemic changed a lot of things. You know we, even in our business. You know we just industry-wide. You know, historically we would meet a lot face-to-face, but now you know, clients are not opposed to meeting on Zoom or just having phone calls.
Speaker 1:And some prefer that now. And that's what's crazy, right? Because used to we couldn't wait to go get in a big room with everybody, or we couldn't wait to go sit down and have a meeting. And now we've seen the other side of not having to do that, and some of us prefer that. So it's like, okay, well, how do you create a draw to a district if people would rather just sit at home and order their food and have it delivered to their door and watch whatever's on TV, right? So how do we find an interest to get you back engaged in the community? So it's just trying, I guess, redefining that and finding out what does work.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you're trying to figure out, like, how do you draw people to a district or to an area to engage in business? Yeah, and I mean a district or to an area you know to engage in, to engage in business.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I mean obviously the pandemic took an effect. Economic or economic environment has changed, and so even for those who were able to support the program in a large way, maybe they don't have that, that ability anymore, and so now we're like you can't rely on one funding source. We have to be very diverse in how we are funded, how this program is funded.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so historically, how has the program been funded?
Speaker 1:It has.
Speaker 1:I mean, it's always been designed to be.
Speaker 1:They call it 30-30-30, but it's basically in three parts, and so one would be our partnerships, one is our partnerships and fundraising, and then we have our contract with the city, the support from the city, and then we also have grants, and so where we may have always had good partnerships or we may have always could count on certain grants, those things aren't available anymore. So now we're having to be aggressive in the other opportunities. So, like for me as a new director, one of the things is A finding the right value for our partnerships for people, because a lot of maybe people don't know this too about Main Street Whether you partner with us or not, it's our job to promote you. Our job is to build a thriving downtown district for our historical preservation and for our businesses. So then how do we add value to partnering with us if we're already promoting you? So we're looking and finding ways that brings value to those who want to buy into the historic preservation cause and who want to buy into what the Main Street program is about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So what are some of the things? I know we talked about it briefly before the podcast about the historical preservation aspect. I mean, what are some of the areas that you're focused on that, or how do you promote historical preservation?
Speaker 1:I think that we have several business owners in the district. Some of our buildings are being refurbished, some of them aren't, because there's just not money there to do it. There are loads of funding opportunities that the government rolls out, that private investors roll out, that the government rolls out that private investors roll out, that advocacy groups roll out, that our building owners may not know about, and so it's me being educated, our board being educated, in what's available and then how to connect those building owners and not just connect them and walk away and say have a good day, but really help them walk through the process and get from the start point to the finish point.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's fantastic. So what are some of the areas that are available for funding?
Speaker 1:Well, I know, like, oh gosh, you would ask me that what I just came from, select Oklahoma, and they were talking there's an energy initiative and they will pay for like. And they will pay for like, gosh, a large percentage. Like to update your air conditioning and heating, to put what is that? The pink stuff? Just like new insulation, insulation, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:You heard RAC unit, like we actually had a guy come try to work on it and he said I'm pretty sure there's one of these in a museum somewhere, but in old buildings that's what you have. We could apply for that. Yeah, yeah, you could absolutely apply for that. And it's expensive.
Speaker 1:Yes, it is Incredibly expensive to put a new piece back and as a small business owner, you can't just pull out you know what $40,000 to put in a new unit for your building. Yeah, so there are resources, and that's just one of many. That's my mind's blank. Now that you've asked me if it's all like left my head, that's usually what happens.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But there's a lot of things out there that people don't know exist, that we need to be telling people about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I think that's fantastic. You know I share with you a little bit about my experience with Main Street in my hometown, their focus on historical preservation, you know, encouraging business owners and building owners to, you know, restore facades and a lot. They brought a lot of those facades, you know, back to the original brick and it's just, it's just beautiful. You know, we, my hometown, I mean it's, it's just, it's pretty standard Americana. Like in the middle of the square is the courthouse and the library and there's four stoplights. All the businesses are right around the square. Every year there's a parade that goes around the whole square and so it's just it's really cool to see what that kind of initiative can do for a community.
Speaker 1:It is, and I think I one of one of the things that I learned when I was with REI and stay with me, cause this will make sense. I got to be exposed to the native American culture and I guess I never really got to to this degree and their heritage and their roots are, like, so solid. They know where they came from, they know why they wear what they wear, they know all these things. Our downtowns are kind of like that they preserve these roots, that if it wasn't like I'm looking at the pictures behind you that you have of historic Durant and you still see some of those elements today and that does something as a community and I think, even just as people, just as people that it gives you roots and it's a memory and it's you know where you came from and you know what was there. So it's just it's important and it's almost kind of magical when you keep that history intact or you reveal it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I agree, we get so much of our identity, our individual identity, our collective identity, by knowing where we come from, what's been done in the past. I think history, growing up in school, history was probably one of the subjects I struggled with the most. Yeah, and so I really didn't gain, you know, a strong appreciation for history until I got a little older.
Speaker 1:I was exactly. I'm like why do I need to know this? I'm never, ever gonna need to know this. But now, like I hate that I did not pay more attention because I'm fascinated by it. As a store owner, one of my favorite things is when people would come in and tell me what used to be there. Or you know, oh, this used to be a jewelry store and my father bought me my very first watch here. And I'm sure you probably feel the same thing. If people walk in here and they tell you about what used to be here, their experiences, it's just, it's phenomenal and it just gives you this, it gives you an attachment a feeling of attachment that I don't think you can get in a different way.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I agree. Yeah, this, this building in particular, Uh, so my, my wife's grandparents were both professors at Southeastern and they retired long time ago. Um, and her grandfather was telling us this used to be an old hardware store. Like, the first thing that opened up in here was was a hardware store. Yeah, and then of course, you know it's, it's an old building, so it's got tons of character. Yes, Right, yeah, Like the whole. Like probably you can't see on the camera, but the hole behind you goes to the bank. You know this, there's a, there's a little entryway right over here that goes over to the Massey building. So all of these buildings were connected. And then, you know, the bank used it for their C-suite and it's just kind of, you know it's. It's been used for all kinds of all kinds of things.
Speaker 1:It's like, okay, I think I want to say it was Tiffany, she used to work with SBDC and so she was a resource that helped our business. And she said a business is like a person, like you have your infancy stage. Then they, you know, they become a toddler and they become, you know, adolescent teenager, an adult, and that's that's our history, right, we see how it starts out, how it grows, how it changes, and that's like just watching this person.
Speaker 2:Yeah, are you familiar with? I think it's. Les McCowan wrote a book called Predictable Success, I don't think. I have heard. So it's. It's almost exactly what you just described. So it's all the different phases that a business goes through. Most businesses they don't. They don't run the full life cycle.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but you know the the first stage. Uh, I forget what the name of the first stage is, but it's like you don't, you don't, you don't know if you're going to make it or not. So you know, like you and your husband have taken, you know you've jumped, you've followed big dreams, and like you know what that stage feels. Like you know, and so you're. You're making tables at four o'clock in the morning, crying, probably wanting a glass of wine, and listen to music, just de-stress, you know, wondering what have I just done? Yeah, so that's the first stage, right? And so anyone that that has ever, you know, engaged in an entrepreneurial endeavor has felt that, yeah, it's stressful, you don't know if you're going to make it. And then the second stage is fun, right. So you, finally, you know you're going to make it. And then the second stage is fun, right. So you, finally, you know you're going to make it. The bills are pretty much going to be paid and you're just having a good time, right. So there's the first stage and then the fun stage. I've got some guys that listen to this podcast are probably going to really give me a hard time for not being able to list all these stages.
Speaker 2:And then, somewhere in the mix, you know, you hit whitewater. Which whitewater is? It's just there's a lot. It's a time of like tumultuous things. So you know you're not big enough to be out of whitewater, but you're not small anymore and so you you can't go back to fun. You wanna go back to fun when everything was good, but then you but you've outgrown it, that's right, you outgrow it. And so during that whitewater stage you really work on developing systems and processes and hiring people, and that gets you to a stage of predictable success and that's kind of the apex of the cycle and you try to stay in the predictable success. And once you get out of predictable success of the cycle, and you try to stay in the predictable success, and once you get out of predictable success, on the back end, you know, then you run risks of. I think the final stage is called like death rattle. It's like you just use death. You know, it's like this death rattle to the end of your business cycle.
Speaker 1:But yeah, no, and I like I can go back and think about my parents, and that I mean I but yeah, no, and I like I can go back and think about my parents, and that I mean literally live that journey with them, and that's exactly. That's a very accurate description of how that works.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I would love I know, um, I would love to hear some of your, some of your thoughts on, uh, different struggles that small businesses are are experiencing. You know things that you, uh, that you want to kind of help them through. I know, even talking about the business life cycle, I know a lot of. You know some small businesses that they never make it out, they never make it into the fun stage. Right, it's always. You know they don't know if they're going to be able to make payroll or have enough sales, you know, to really get to that, to that fun stage. And you know, I just see so many, so many small businesses that don't they have a passion point around something. So this is horrible.
Speaker 2:The first thing that came to mind was like accounting, which I don't know who has a passion point around good keeping and accounting. There's people out there obviously it's my wife, it's my wife, okay, who is that? But you have a passion for music or for food or for account or for anything, and so you think, well, I'm going to start a business doing that, not really having solid understanding of just exactly of what it takes to run a business, and so you end up sort of just kind of chasing your tail and obviously you run the risk of that thing not being fun anymore. Baking cakes is probably a good one. I think that's an example in one of the books that I've read. You know some of them. They really enjoy baking cakes, so they're gonna open a bakery and then by the time they're done they don't really even enjoy baking cakes anymore.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it takes the fun. It took out this passion that you had and just wished it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so what are some of the things, like you know, being sort of entrenched in the small business community, like what are some of the struggles that you see that they have?
Speaker 1:I mean, of course, money is always a number one for anybody, and for a small business to compete with a big box store is it's not, you can't Like, there's not even like. Just take that idea out of your head, because you are not going to walk into a small business and get a better deal than if you walk into a Walmart or a Lowe's or whatever.
Speaker 2:And so I think- I'm really passionate about that, yeah, well by the way, yeah.
Speaker 1:It's the impact of small business. The big picture that small business serves in a community is huge. People don't realize that. They think, oh well, you get a better deal from Walmart or Walmart makes more money. But the community will make more money if they keep their small businesses there. Yes, obviously small businesses are struggling with that Materials. Even today, since the pandemic, it's hard to get materials Shipping gone up. I mean, my goodness, the stamp just went up to what 78 cents? Is that right?
Speaker 2:I'm a partner. I could tell you what it is, but I can't.
Speaker 1:But it went up.
Speaker 2:It's expensive.
Speaker 1:Almost 20 cents or maybe 20-something a significant amount. So now imagine being a small business who needs to ship out a $10 item and what you're going to have to pay in shipping. So money is hard, and so you have to think outside the box. You have to be vulnerable with people, because when you go into a small business, you're not there to buy a product, you're there to buy their story. You're there because of their story or because of them, and so that's how you add value to the shirt that you sell or to the box that you make or whatever.
Speaker 1:So, and the other thing I think for our district that I see is getting it's it's this really hard balance that we we need people to come down to the district. We need that consistency so that we can stay open. But we have to stay open so that people will come down to the district. It's like, how do you and, being a small business owner, I'm a one man show, I have children at home, I have a house to clean, I've got parents that I'm spending time with, so I can't just be at my store until nine o'clock at night every night. But I also need to be at my store until nine o'clock every night because I need the customers to be able to feed my family and do this, so that's a huge struggle I think that all small businesses are facing, and I know our community faces.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's very much a double-edged sword man. So you know this is an unfair question, but I am very curious Do you know what like the the dollar impact is in a community for spending money at a small business versus like a big box store?
Speaker 1:I have done research. Actually, I was probably in. I was probably a seminar, maybe a workshop, and they they did compare that I I couldn't tell you. If I told you I'd be lying, but I can tell you that it is a significant amount. I can come back and tell you, but I don't. I don't remember what it is, but it was like the city budget would thrive if we had more small businesses than we had box stores.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, we can pull the trumpets. Huge, huge, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean the the whole big box thing. I'm I'm not and that's I don't. I don't want to get shut down by like Walmart or something, but I'm not a huge fan. I mean, I guess, and maybe that's just because of my roots with small business, but you know small businesses, you know they really do have to think outside of the box to because they have to be competitive to some degree. It can't just be a huge price difference. But you're right, you have to understand like you're not buying, you're buying their story, like you're supporting their family and you know their endeavors and the endeavors of the community. And when you spend money at a small business, like it's going directly back into that community, you know that family is going to take that dollar and spend in the community and so there's got to be yeah, maybe we'll have to have you back on to see what those numbers are. There's gotta be a multiplier.
Speaker 1:I want to say it's like a dollar goes eight times farther in a small business versus in a big box farther in a small business versus in a big box, so it's something like that.
Speaker 1:But I mean everybody has their place and I think that's something too like. I mean we do need Walmart, we do need Lowe's, but we also need our boutiques and we also need our local lumber store. Everybody has a spot to fill, and I think that's, too, is finding your lane and then really just advocating for that space and success can come your way.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, no, I agree. Yeah, I always try the true value first and then sometimes, unfortunately, if it's up, I'm. We had a funny one time we have. We live on a farm too, and we live on a farm like things happen. Animals do things, they break things, and it's not in between nine and five. So if I've got to run somewhere at midnight or not, I don't know if the Lowe's is open that late, but you know, it's good that we have those stores as well. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they all have a place, they all serve a purpose.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I had a horse kick like kick a spigot one time. I had a fountain like a fountain in my front yard and it's like, well, we can't, we can't wait for that, nope, no, yeah, there were some kids involved, it was, it was. It was quite the, it was quite the ordeal and the kids ran to the house screaming and crying and of course my wife was pretty, she didn't know what was going on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like chaos.
Speaker 2:Chaos.
Speaker 1:Chaos ensued. It was chaos.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so where do you want to pick up from here? I know I'm missing this in the email, but do you have any questions for me or any?
Speaker 1:I think what brought you to finance, what made you decide you wanted to open up a finance? I don't know. Firm yeah, is that correct? Yeah, financial firm.
Speaker 2:Yeah, duran Oklahoma. So Duran Oklahoma was not necessarily the chosen destination whenever we first started chosen destination whenever we first started. So my wife and I we met in college moved to New Mexico. We spent probably nine years in New Mexico. Yeah, it was a very fun time of life. It was really good for us to just get away.
Speaker 1:That's a very different feel than other places, Very different very different culture.
Speaker 2:So we lived in sort of Northern New Mexico. You know, there's a lot of Native American tribes where we lived and there's a lot of Hispanic and Spanish culture, a lot of like Pueblo Indian influence as well. So lived in Northern New Mexico right on the border of Southern Colorado. Yep, I had always been interested in finance. I got my finance degree from OSU but didn't really know what I wanted to do. I worked at a bank for a short period of time, which I saw that you, you actually worked at a.
Speaker 2:I worked at a bank for a very, very, very short period. Yeah, I think I got you beat. You said five months. Was it five months? I thought that's what LinkedIn said. Mine was a solid like maybe two and a half or three. Linkedin may have lied to you.
Speaker 1:Okay, I think I'm probably right with you, yeah yeah, it was not a good fit.
Speaker 2:I like banks, we need local banks and, honestly, we still bank at the bank that I worked at. Um, it was not a good fit. Uh, you know, really, small office suit and tie every day nine to five, yeah, no deviation, nothing, yes. So you know, whenever, whenever my wife graduated, we both got job offers from ConocoPhillips, so a big oil and gas company. It's like let's go. So we went to new mexico. We got married, actually just right across the street here at the first baptist church.
Speaker 2:The guy that married us made us agree to take, uh, dave ramsey's financial peace university. Okay, so we couldn't find anyone. We couldn't find a class. So this is a testament to my wife's character and I threw her under the bus earlier, but we'll try to redeem ourselves here. So couldn't find a class. So she said, well, we should probably coordinate a class. I was like that's a novel idea. So the church we were going to at the time, I say we coordinated a class. She really coordinated the class and you'll meet, I've got a finance degree.
Speaker 2:My finances are a wreck, you know. I moved to New Mexico a little earlier than her and it's kind of an entrepreneurial thing Like you just jump, yeah. So you know what did I do? Well, I got two credit cards, bought a brand new pickup truck oh no. And moved to New Mexico. Does that make sense? Why not? Yeah, exactly. So I told her, which I think this is. I think God, this is proof that God has a sense of humor. I told her, I said, well, I'll come and I will help you, honey. You know, if anyone has any really hard questions about money, like, I'm going to be there, I'll be there for you, I'll back you up, I'll answer the hard questions. But, like, 13 years later, I'm the one that is a partner in a financial firm and I do this for a living.
Speaker 2:Um, so, kind of fast forward a little bit. Um, you know, I I worked as a, like a surface land man. So I like negotiated, negotiated, um, negotiated surface leases in the oil and gas industry, okay. And then I transitioned it to a job that was called tribal liaison, okay, so I was the main liaison between ConocoPhillips and all the tribal tribes in the area, so Navajo Nation, southern Ute, ute, mountain Ute and the Hickory Apache. And then that morphed into a job. It was called the Director of Stakeholder Engagement, so it was all public relations for the entire state of New Mexico and Southern Colorado.
Speaker 2:Wow, I bet you had some adventures. Yeah, it was a fun job, but that kind of morphed into a lot of just a lot of policies and procedures. And I completely understand large companies, they need policies and procedures, they need handbooks, mm-hmm. But corporate communication and those handbooks, it just it wasn't really a good fit for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And so at that point I decided to retire my wife my wife is, she's a wonderful, uh, encourager or enabler in some degrees and so we had done the Dave Ramsey thing, so we'd paid off all of our debt besides our house, and we were, in our probably in our early 20s, very fortunate in the jobs that we had, so we didn't really need both of our incomes. And so I was like, well, I think I want to quit. She's like okay.
Speaker 1:I know I'm like I'm looking at you. You don't look like you're old enough to tire.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I went back to work shortly after but it took me a while and you mentioned, like the, the, the resume of an entrepreneur. Yeah, yeah, I I've never really um I, because I went the entrepreneur, I never really had to cover it up, but there was about a year there where there was nothing on the resume. I had some passions and some interests and so I followed those. I ended up consulting in the oil and gas industry, which that was really just a way to get some money coming in the door. And then I can't remember. I'm kind of challenged from a calendar perspective. I don't really remember dates and times in the past very well, so probably about the eight or nine month mark. You know, I really got to a point where I really had to find something I was passionate about and that I could make money. So I had a finance degree. We'd been doing the Dave Ramsey thing very consistently for quite a while and I was like you know, carol, I think people like make a career of financial advising. So I started into research. I started just like cold calling other financial advisors, which I realized that's not something that people really do. I got connected with a firm out of Denver. I was able to sit and take my tests, got licensed, but again, as you know, like with an entrepreneurial endeavor, like I, didn't make any money for a long time, so slowly started building my clients, you know, learning how to do financial planning.
Speaker 2:And then we got pregnant with our second child and that's when my wife decided she wanted to make the transition to stay home with our children. And we were still in New Mexico. We owned some land here in Oklahoma and this is where my wife is from. So my wife grew up in just outside of Durant, I grew up in Northern Oklahoma and so at that point it's like I'm not really making any money so we should probably move back closer to somewhere where we have a support system. Yeah, and I got to know my partner. He had an office in Ada and Durant. We lived kind of in between and Duran is usually just where we settled. And so fast forward again. We merged with another firm out of Denison, texas, and that's and here you are too. Yeah, started our own and we changed sort of the structure of our firm a little bit, started our own RIA, just kind of moved down that path and it's been a fun, fun adventure.
Speaker 1:You've been here how long?
Speaker 2:Let's see, my son is eight, so I've been in Durant eight years.
Speaker 1:Oh, I'm too far behind you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we moved in 2016, you moved in 2015. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So I know a lot about retail, the retail space. I know a little bit tiny bit about the restaurant space, but like, do you have challenges being a small business in in the downtown historic district?
Speaker 2:You know, we, a lot of our clients, don't come from the district, so a lot of our clients are not. Um, there's not a lot of street traffic with what we do. You know most of what we do we market through things like this. We get a lot of referrals from our clients, so a lot of our stuff is like relationship based. So, yeah, I don't know if that does that answer your question.
Speaker 1:Well, it helps me see what is valuable for your business to succeed.
Speaker 2:Yes, so I think um, thriving community is valuable for our business. You know a lot of the things that, uh, that we do, um, it would definitely. You know a lot of the things that you've mentioned. As far as adding value, you know you're thinking about how to add value to all the partners of Main Street, all the businesses in the district. We very much have that same perspective with our clients. We want to do the best we can to add value and I firmly believe if we add enough value, we will be successful.
Speaker 1:That's true, because I mean, if everybody says it, the rising tide and ships, right that rise. Yeah, if everybody's doing well, you're going to automatically do well. That's right. Yeah, so do you enjoy having your office Like, is it just that you enjoy being downtown, or this opportunity just opened it and you jumped?
Speaker 2:on it. Well, we did. The whole story behind this building is pretty cool. Um, we, I, I enjoy being downtown, like I, just I like being downtown. Um, I love being able to walk to wherever I want to go eat. See, that's what I want to do, yeah, and so we got. I mean, you know, coffee is less than a hundred yards away and we've got Mexican food, italian food, barbecue food, you know, steakhouse burgers. I mean, we need a Chinese restaurant downtown.
Speaker 1:Well, we have our hibachi.
Speaker 2:Our hibachi. There you go.
Speaker 1:So see, that's the charm of downtown and why we need districts like this. Because if you were in a high rise which I mean so the bank I worked at is in Oklahoma city and it was in a high rise or whatever, whatever the technical word is for that so when I wanted to eat lunch, I either brought it with me or I'd have to, you know, drive 30 minutes round trip to have a one hour lunch break, and so that's not. I mean, it's not healthy to eat in 30 minutes. Right, this is not a fun experience. The day is not fun.
Speaker 1:But when you're downtown and you can go, walk into your local coffee shop and they already know what you want. Usually they already have it there for you. I've got the order. Yep, when I had mine, that was one of my most charming favorite things is I could walk around the corner, or a buddy would walk around the corner and he would just say, hey, will you make coffee for Stephanie? And they knew what it was. He didn't have to tell them. And so, like, how magical is that? When you are in a district or you can walk to your restaurant and they know what your usual is, you get to pass people by with smiles on their faces, enjoying the day or enjoying an experience. Yes, that's why that's the cause that you buy into when you partner with Main Street or with Durant Main Street, you know, with us too is that we have a place like that for the community to go.
Speaker 2:Yes, no, I love that. You know I did a lot of work from Opera House this morning, so you walk in and I've waited my whole life to have a usual yes, right.
Speaker 1:I want my usual. You have made it. If you can walk into a place and they know that's right, yeah.
Speaker 2:I agree it's like cheers. It is Back to the bar, the bar story. Yeah, I mean it really is just being in the community where people know you and you are known, and I think that is like that's the magic that you mentioned from sort of the you know the, the atmosphere that you know we're trying to create in downtown Durant.
Speaker 1:It's just, it's very necessary and everybody wants it. Everybody wants to have that in the town that they live. I agree.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, have that in the town that they live, I agree.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. Well, stephanie, it has been. It really has been a pleasure getting to know you. I know I love I just can't tell you how much I enjoy. You know just some of the things you've shared about dreaming big. You know taking the jump to be an entrepreneur. All of your life stories, your history of you know entrepreneurship and I am really excited for all the things you're gonna do with Duran Main Street. I think we're partnered with you. I think you are. If we're not, we will be shortly.
Speaker 1:Well, I thank you very much and I'm so excited to have this opportunity for our community. And, look, I'm gonna be selfish for myself because the things that I'm getting to be selfish for myself, because the things that I'm getting to experience and learn are just a once in a lifetime.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's awesome. Thank you everyone for joining us. We really appreciate it. If you like this podcast, please do not forget to like and subscribe.
