The First Million Is Always The Hardest

Women Who Acquire: Confidence-to-Close Roadmap for Business Ownership

• The First Million • Season 3 • Episode 15

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Series: The First Million is Always the Hardest — ACHIEVE Series Sponsored by the Women's Business Development Center

In this ACHIEVE Series installment, host Bo Kemp moderates a candid, high-impact conversation with three women who didn't just dream about business ownership — they closed.

Linda Peddle, July Franco, and Megan Wenstrup break down the real roadmap from confidence to closing, sharing the mindset shifts, deal mechanics, and hard-won lessons that got them across the finish line. This episode is a resource for any woman ready to stop waiting and start acquiring.

Bo and the panelists explore:

  • Why acquisition is one of the most overlooked paths to wealth-building for women
  • The mental and strategic barriers that keep qualified buyers on the sidelines — and how to push past them
  • How to evaluate a business, structure a deal, and build the right team
  • What each panelist wishes she had known before day one

This episode is sponsored by the Women's Business Development Center — championing women entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey.

Because the first million is always the hardest. But for women who acquire — it starts with a decision.

SPEAKER_03

Do you get that knot in your stomach every Sunday night? You've checked all the boxes, career, title, income. But if you're honest, this is not the life you imagine. What if the problem isn't you? It's the design of your life. And Bo, I help high performers redesign their life for freedom, purpose, and real wealth. Join my master class and I'll walk you through the exact framework. Go to lifedesign.com. That's L-I-F-E-D-E-S-Y-N.com. Your new chapter doesn't start someday, it starts now. What if the fastest path to financial freedom wasn't building from scratch? It was buying something that already works. Today on the first million is always the hardest. We're bringing it fire with three women who didn't just talk about owning a business. They close. Linda Pettle, Julie Franco, and Megan Windsor are here to give you the real roadmap. I'm your host, O'Camp. This is the Achieve Summit series. Let's get into it. So I want to give you guys each a second to just give a synopsis of your backgrounds and the businesses that you currently own, just to kind of level set for everybody here what uh you guys have been involved with, and then we'll go into kind of a broader set of questions. I hope you had a chance to hear a little bit about what I said and how important we think that is. I'll add just one other thing, which is if you were to look right now at the largest percentage of new entrepreneurs since COVID, it's predominantly women. Um and that's important, right? So we should be putting as a country resources behind people who are actually the most likely to help solve a lot of our problems. And women right now are at that place. One thing I will say is that um in many instances in the work that we've done, we've had to convince women that they could, in fact, buy a business. They were very well qualified, easily to be funded by banks, but just weren't not sure whether or not they could actually acquire a business. And so we want to make sure that you get to see um the who you could be, right? People walk the things that they can see. These are women that are examples and testaments to what's possible, not just for them, but for all of you that are here in this room. So with that, I will start kind of in the inverse with you, Linda, um, and then to you, Julie, and then to you, Megan, just to give a little synopsis of who you are and the businesses that you currently have.

SPEAKER_04

Sure. Thank you. Well, it's a pleasure to be here and um, okay.

SPEAKER_03

We'll figure that out. We're we're recording this for podcast. Um, so um we're gonna try to run through this, but I appreciate the feedback.

SPEAKER_04

Um so my name is Linda Peddle. Um I am a rather new business owner. I closed on my acquisition of an existing 50-year-old company in December. So I just had my five-month anniversary of ownership. Um, my my company is a manufacturing company, and if you look at my background, you probably wouldn't look at me and say, it makes total sense that Linda bought a business. Um, I started my career in public accounting. Um, I spent a lot of years in commercial banking. Um, I then um when 2008 hit and commercial banking wasn't so fun anymore, I went into management consulting, and I did a lot of work with companies on their plant floor, uh, helping with process improvement, profit improvement, um, and uh then went into a sales role for a large uh consulting, accounting, tax firm supporting uh industrial companies across North America. I had a sales team of about 100 people, and um this opportunity came up and it aligned with me very well. I sit on the Board of Women in Manufacturing for the state of Illinois, and the company that I acquired had a female uh CFO and a female director of operations, and um it just felt like home to me. So um thank you.

SPEAKER_02

Thank you, Julie.

SPEAKER_06

Hello, everybody. My name is Julie Franco. Um I have told that there was a video this morning. Um so it's we just hit our sixth year mark. Um I am thank you guys. I am the president and founder of Franco Holland LLC, which is a construction and supplier company based out of um Bensonville, Illinois. We are a service-disabled veteran woman minority-owned certified company. Um I'm really happy and grateful when I was in the Marine Corps. I served in the Marine Corps for about 17 years, and that's where I obtained my logistic background. I love what I did. I love solving problems and moving cargo from one side to the other. I found it very interesting how it's important to do logistics to be able to, when you were in a war zone, right? How do you move one item to the other side of the world? So that was very interesting. During that time, my brother, who's my business partner, um, he was here in Chicago, Illinois, and he was um driving a dump truck. So it just made sense during COVID as well to join forces and we started working together. I will add that when I joined the Marine Corps, I was only 88 pounds. So when I went to boot camp, there was nothing that actually fit me. And for 22 years or so, I waited for somebody to create something that would actually represent the hard work it took to become a Marine and to have the representation for the rest of the women because women are re-enlisting 45% faster than men right now. And with that being said, that is where a year ago Gunny Gear became the first military-inspired holding brand, but through a woman's perspective.

SPEAKER_05

What'd you say 45% of women are in re-enlisting fast? 40 4 to 5% are re-enlisting faster than men. Than men. And what did you say 40% of women um 40% of new businesses are owned by women?

SPEAKER_03

Like I say, 49%.

SPEAKER_05

49%. Who runs the world? Yes. It's amazing. We know. Um my name is Megan Wenstrup. I am the owner of Height Cycle. Um at Height Cycle we um ride bikes indoors with dark light, with with in a room in a dark room with loud music, and we um explore the outer reaches of our potential. Um we have um a few members who accredit Height Cycle with helping them on their sobriety journey. We have a family that has lost over 100 pounds together riding at Height Cycle. And um, we have a 69-year-old old woman who is the mother of um three special needs children who rides three days a week and calls Height Cycle her happy place. So it is so much more than just a workout. I acquired Height Cycle through acquisition about four years ago. Um, previous to my fitness career, um, I was in sales, I sold technology, um, stayed at home for a while to raise my three children who are all young adults now and got really involved in the community and volunteering. And then when it was time to go back to work, I um followed my passion for fitness. And um, after 11 years and three failed attempts to open or buy um existing um fitness businesses, Height Cycle was born.

SPEAKER_03

That's wonderful. You know, one of the things that prevents all of us from moving forward is there are these five obstacles that typically stand in our way. Um the first for most of us, at least what we tell ourselves is time, right? We don't have enough time in order to do things. The second is usually money. Fear is an issue, doubt is an issue, but one that often gets overlooked is partner. And by partner, I don't necessarily mean just necessarily a spouse, but anyone that you have, that you know that the choices that you're making directly influence their life. So it could be a parent that you take care of, it could be a child, it could be a business partner, it could be a brother. Um and I really want to hear from each of you when you went through this calculus of overcoming all of those fears. How did you do it? And what were you focused on? And I'm particularly interested in your perspective around the partner. And I will just say this you know, um if you get a chance, you should go to the podcast, The First Million is always the hardest. There's a Christmas edition around these five objections you can hear. But one of the things that I talk about is that the goal isn't to get your partner to necessarily agree with everything you do. It's to inform your partner and be transparent about what you're doing so that they're not surprised by the decision and the choices that you make. Um I don't want you to focus just on the partner part, but that's an important element. But I'm interested in hearing how you overcame any and all of those five objections to move, and I'm gonna move it around a little bit so it's not as obvious. So I'll start with you, Julie, then we'll go to Megan and then to Linda.

SPEAKER_06

Um I think the biggest fear that I had was actually not following my purpose. So when you're in the Marines, um, you wear your uniform, you wake up every day, you have your mission, you know what you're supposed to do. Uh unfortunately for me, my military career kind of um ended abruptly overnight. Um I had an injury that stopped my military career. So during that time, the transition, I was lost. I didn't know who I was supposed to be. I knew I was a gunnery sergeant in the Marine Corps. Uh Gunnery Sergeant Franco, that was me. But now I had to have a new identity. I didn't know what it looked like. I knew, I always knew I wanted to be a business owner. I just didn't know what it was gonna look like. Um and my biggest fear has always been not finding and following the purpose. Um, the reason I still push forward despite of all of the obstacles, the fears, the unknown, you know, the partnerships and all that stuff is because I'm afraid that I'm not following my purpose. And I we spoke about it behind stage and we were saying these stories need to come out more. We're supposed to be here to help somebody inspire somebody to do follow their fear and know that it's possible. There's nothing different from you and me. It's what we do with those 24 hours that make a difference. So I didn't want to meet my creator and tell him I failed because I didn't follow my purpose. So that's what pushed me through through everything, and that's what pushes me through every morning when I am waking up with fear of the cash flow, the DAO. Am I good enough? And the answer is always gonna be yes, I'm good enough. God told me. So here we are.

SPEAKER_03

Well, I I want to ask you a little bit about your relationship with your brother. Yeah, um, because there are many people who say never do business with your family, right? Um I don't believe that. Um, but it's gotta be tough. How do you manage the relationship with your brother? And is he your older or younger brother?

SPEAKER_06

So my brother is four years older than me. Okay, so he thinks he's the youngest out of four, um, and it's the best thing for us. We completely respect each other's. Um we both bring different things to the business. Um, he is my boots on the ground and I'm operations. So we respect each other in the sense that the way we put it is I never tell my brother what kind of oil to put in the trucks, and he never tells me who I get to work with when it comes into the office space. And we're very respectful towards one another in that sense. However, we do know that we do have to listen to each other's input. At the end of the day, he's the manager of that side, I'm the manager on this side, and we come together to make the decision. Um, and yes, of course, you get frustrated just like any other job, right? But we step away and we always remember to be respectful towards one another. And honestly, I without my brother, I don't think I would be able to be here for six years.

SPEAKER_02

That's great. That's right. Linda.

SPEAKER_04

Um so the reason I ended up buying RPS engineering is because my husband was engaged to sell it. Um he was the business broker that was um hired by the seller. And um, as you can imagine, in that type of role and in my past roles, we talked about every deal that he was working on. And we talked aspirationally about should we buy a business or would this make sense, or you know, can we leave something for the kids? And um, so to say that I have always had his support would be an understatement. Um, he was the one who planted the seed, uh set the table, um, and has been the biggest cheerleader through and since. Um for those of you who have been through it or have witnessed it, it's not an easy process. You go through a lot of up and downs. Um, I walked away from the deal twice. Um, and you know, it's one of these things that without his support, it would be it would have been impossible. Um, and even post-close, um, he is doing a lot of work for me behind the scenes. He's working on our website, he's helping me with all the analytics that we're running through our private server so we can, you know, do pricing models. And um, it's it's really incredible um that he has been there like that. It's a little exhausting for me because I come home and then he's like a puppy dog, like, hey, I just ran this model I want to show you. But it's his support has been um unfaltering and really has uh been what started my path to acquisition.

SPEAKER_03

So one of the things that um I believe is that doubt is usually a function of a lack of evidence, all right? That you don't doubt your capacity to do things when you've got demonstrated evidence that you can. Um in your case, how did you convince yourself that you had demonstrated evidence to take the step forward to acquire this business and do what you're doing?

SPEAKER_04

Sure. Um, so first of all, I did I didn't mention this, but I've got four children. We had um four children in five years, and um that in and of itself is like running a small corporation every day with having a full-time career and everything else. Um part of my career I mentioned was management consulting, and we would be engaged by um companies much larger than the ones that I acquired to help them with um problems good and bad. They were growing and they needed help to plan um their supply chain, they needed to lay out their plan differently, um, they were having cash flow issues, how do we you know pull levers to um to get more cash or work with our vendors and things like that? And um, through all of those experiences where people were paying me to help them tactically solve um issues, I felt equipped that I could I could do it for um a company that I was an owner of. And um the you know, the biggest challenge for me right now is I'm in the phase, I'm only five months in, and I'm in the phase of what I would call information gathering. So I'm really trying to learn. Um, my the company's 50 years old. Um, the average employee has been there 20 plus years, and there's only one other person that's been there, or there's there's another person who just had their one year anniversary, and another gentleman who's been there six or seven, but everyone else is 10, 15, 20. My plant manager is 33 years. Um, so for me, I want to come in and I want to understand and I want to really ask questions, and I don't want to make assumptions about what they're doing or how they're doing it, because it's been a very successful business for 50 years. Um, my vision is I'd like to grow it by being women-owned, um, by being more um active in terms of um pursuing sales and uh looking at how we leverage our our plant operations to uh you know do more, plan better. Um so I, you know, you always doubt yourself. It's it's inevitable. And I think as women, we always question, am I doing the right thing? And should I do something else? And someone will always tell you you should do something else, and you question it. Um but you know, for me, it was I felt I felt like I had uh the right skills to make it work. And I I do have a very good circle of women um through women in manufacturing and through um what I would call my personal advisory board, people uh friends who have gone have bought businesses or um peers that have been around me for years that are in um positions where they can really give me honest feedback. Um and as I was going down this path, they were all incredibly supportive through the ups and downs. And um I I think there was a lot of support behind my belief that I could I could do this.

SPEAKER_03

The dynamic of you entering into a organization where everyone else is already kind of partnered up and they got relationships and you gotta jump into like double dutch and figure out like where do you fit in, we're gonna come back to, I think, because that's a really interesting dynamic. Um, Megan, um love to hear your thoughts about how you've overcome the obstacles. One obstacle for me, as I've heard part of your story, is that you had multiple times that you moved forward to try to acquire a business. And often the uncertainty of your capacity to get that done creates fear, even if the situation itself is not dangerous. You shouldn't focus solely on that, but I'm curious as to how you processed that um to go through and actually finally acquire height cycle and move forward. But all the other issues that I described, which ones ever fit for you?

SPEAKER_05

Um so if I could start, you had mentioned the partner and the support of the loved ones. Um so if I could start there. So um when my whole fitness career started, I was staying home with my kids and realized that um that's the hardest job I've ever had, and missed the um just the intellectual stimulation, if you of you will, of a career and a work environment. And so as I was looking to get back into it, I was really carefully weighing how I could still be around for my kids and have a have a um fulfilling career. And so that's kind of how this whole thing started. And I was like, I don't, you know, I I wanted to own the business because I felt like that was the best way that I could financially contribute to the fit to the to the family. And so that's kind of how like I went in at the beginning saying I want to own one of these businesses. It was right at the beginning of the um boutique fitness sort of explosion. Um and so I started teaching and then I started getting involved in another studio. I actually tried to buy a franchise of one of these businesses, and through some I mean, there's no other word to call it, just unethical business practices. I didn't get the I didn't get the franchise that I had been promised. So I ended up working at the studio. I learned all sorts all the different aspects of the studio. Um it's a really long story. I'm trying to condense it. Um then the studio was failing and the owner was moving out of state. So I tried to buy the business from her at that time and that didn't work out. And then um I tried to buy that business again, and that didn't work out. So I finally left in a blaze of glory over COVID and really thought it was over, and then was approached by Matt, who was just speaking over there, um, who I had met through um the Chamber of Commerce in my community about this um about the spin studio that was for sale, you know, 20 minutes south of my um of my home. And so I was like, this is like bringing crack to the addict because I've like tried three times and now now you're asking me if I want to buy a business. Yes, I want to buy a business. So I go home, I tell my husband, and he's like, get me the numbers. And so that started the whole process of buying the business. My husband has been 1,000% supportive from the very beginning. Um, he sees things that I don't, the way that it lights me up and the stories that we hear, and this amazing community of people that we've built. He's excellent at reminding me of um why what we're doing is worth it. Um, when I did go, when when we did buy this business, we sort of sat the family down because I had been at the beck and call of my you know three bosses for the last you know 12 years. And we said, you know, I I'm not you guys gotta like, you know, step it up and take care of yourselves. You can all drive. You're gonna have to figure this stuff out because mom's not gonna be around much. And um it was a huge learning curve for the whole family. Um, but never once has anyone said, you made the wrong decision. They're constantly, you know, patting me on the back and reminding me why this is worth it. Um they've definitely had more takeout in the last few years than they had previously. Um so, yes, um, my family support system has been wonderful. I could not have done this without them. Um, in terms of doubt that you brought up, um, there was a moment through this um sales process of acquiring this business. I can't remember if it was the attorney or um this accountant that we were working with who just said, look at what you've done up to this point and look at your track record of success. And what makes you think that now, after all these Years because you know I'm not a spring chicken. What makes you think you're gonna fail now? And so I did that, and I kind of look back. I'm like, I am a solid B student. Like I, you know, I I'm not an A plus player. I've never tried to be. Um, I definitely have some C's and D's in the mix, but when we average it all out, I am a solid B. So let's go give this, let's go get a B. Um and I think um I can confidently say we've done that.

SPEAKER_03

You know, I think that conversation about A, B, C is actually useful, and it's something that comes up in this whole issue about fear and doubt, which is many people think that to make a calculated decision, it requires that I have a hundred percent of the information. And it's almost certainty that if you wait to get 100 percent of the information, you've waited too long. Right? Almost every important decision is made between 65 and 85 percent. Yes. I've trademarked that. That's BoKamp's rational uh decision matrix. But but it's real, right? You just can't possibly know 100 percent. And if you're making decisions without enough information, 65 percent, it's probably a reckless decision not calculated. And if you're making one with 100 percent, it's too much. Um and I just think it's worth uh saying that you don't have to be an A to be really good and to be really wealthy. Many of us know some folks who've made some money that you question how they got there. But it's important to really kind of give through and think about a calculated versus a a reckless decision. Um one of the things that each of you hinted at in different ways, I think is important, it also gets overlooked in this process, which is um the idea around the legacy that you're leading. Um and I realize I've had my back to some of you, so I apologize to that. The legacy is important, and by legacy, it's not just generational wealth in terms of actual money, but it's also experience. As you described, your boys watching you become an entrepreneur has an impact on how they think about themselves, how they think about you as their mother, how they think about other women as potential entrepreneurs. Um, and I'd love to just hear from each of you when you think about the generational wealth that you were trying to pass on. What has been your inspiration? What are you most uh tied to in that process? And we'll start with you, Linda.

SPEAKER_04

Um so I I've always had a strong tie to my family. Um my father was an engineer and um took a lot of pride in his work and fixing and hands-on and all that. I think I sorely disappointed him when I went to college for accounting as opposed to engineering, but I sort of met him back in the middle when I um leaned into manufacturing throughout the the different uh jobs that I had in my career. Um, you know, for me, it's really interesting. Um there's a lot of um support. It's I I keep thinking back to like LinkedIn and my kids are all, I had four kids in college this year. My kids' friends are all friending me and you know, cheering when I post a video, or you know, they're over at the house for a barbecue and they're like, oh, Mrs. Pettle, this is so cool. And they're really taking an interest in it. And I think that um, as we talked about, it's like people need to hear these stories, and the more people that hear it, they realize that they're capable themselves. And so for me, um I I can't quite get to the STEM level, but I'm I'm sort of impacting the college kids now. And I think that that um perception of manufacturing is cool, manufacturing's valuable, manufacturing has a place for me. Um, you know, my son is desperately wanting to intern for me this summer. And um, you know, I might put him in the plant for a few weeks and see see how he feels about the manual labor. Um he's worked construction the last couple summers, so I know he's got it in him. But I I want them to be curious about it. I don't want them to feel like they have to come work for the company business, but I want it to be an option, and I want them to know that um there's a very big community that supports any job that it is that you want to have, you know, whether you're male, you're female, uh regardless of you know, race where you live, all these things. There is so much support out there to help you get through a process, a job change, uh uh industry change, whatever it is. And um, you know, for me, I'm I you know, the the concept of a legacy, um, I have to protect the legacy of a 50-year-old company that I purchased. Um, that is my first job, is making sure that I don't screw up a very successful business that um has its own legacy in place. Um, it in terms of generational wealth and stuff like that, I'm I'm sort of not really thinking about it. It I believe it will come, but it to me, this is more about um paving a path for my own personal satisfaction, quite honestly. Um showing an example for uh as many people as are willing to listen to the message and then helping be there to support them.

SPEAKER_03

Well, that's absolutely a legacy that's important. I will just note um I have four children as well, all four of which have worked for me. Every single one of my children I have fired. Some of them I have fired more than once. Um and there's some legacy that comes in that experience that um my daughter was very defiant that I owed her $150. I was like, baby, are you sure you want this $150? Um, but working with your kids is not easy. And having your kids change their circumstances with you may not be easy as well. Working with your family may not be easy because they view you in one way as well. But when you think, Julie, about the legacy that you are establishing um with you in your business, what are the things that really drive you?

SPEAKER_06

The only thing that drives me is my two kids. I have a 21-year-old son and I have a 10-year-old daughter. I love both of my kids, but the reality is that 10-year-old little girl, oh my goodness, my job is to ensure that by the time she comes into the workforce, I made it easier for her. Um, and I also, so for Franco Hawley and for the ones that don't know, I have a butterfly logo on the side of the truck inside of a construction dump truck. Why? Because it's a male-dominant world. That's the reality of things. Um, one of my goals was to work inside O'Hare Airport. That was extremely difficult. We finally executed in November, but maintaining that is still difficult, but we still strive to do it. The reason why I wanted to work inside the airport was so that whenever any little girl from any nationality in the world flies into the airport and they see that butterfly logo, they see that they're able and capable of doing anything and everything they set their minds to. It was extremely intentional, it's extremely important because I have that 10-year-old little girl. Um, I did a panel a few weeks ago and they asked me, well, you have a 21-year-old uh son. Do you make are you making him join the Marines? The answer is no. These kids can be whatever they want as long as it's legal. Um I'm setting up the path. Yeah, I'm setting up the path. Whether they choose to or not, that's gonna be completely up to them. But they are watching. Whether as parents, we're like, oh, they're little. Nope, they're paying attention, they're taking notes. My daughter, she's 10 years old, but my goodness, she is gonna give me a run for my money. She is cooler, tougher, and more driven than I am at 10 years old. So I'm just so excited to see what she's gonna do. Um, so my 21-year-old son, he's an HVAC technician. So I stepped back, that's what he wanted, that's what he got his degree in. So he did it for a year, and he finally came to me and said, Mom, this was great, but I want to go back to school. I want to be a business owner. And I'm like, hmm, definitely do what you want if that's what you want. I know somebody that can help you grow a business when you're ready for that. Um, and my daughter, every time I bring her with the machinery, she's like, I want that dump truck, I want that uh bobcat, I want all this equipment and stuff because she knows that she's tough enough to do it. And let's be real, the child is tiny, but her heart is huge, which means that's my legacy. Um, for generational wealth and all that good stuff, let's I have a life insurance policy. They're gonna be fine. Yeah. But what I leave in their heart is what's the legacy that I want to leave. Hopefully, be able to touch others and have that for them too.

SPEAKER_03

So the most important question here about your children doing what they want is if your son said, I'm gonna go to the Air Force, where do you stand on that time?

SPEAKER_06

I'm gonna be like, baby, you paid attention.

SPEAKER_03

All right, the job. My son is in the Air Force too, so so Megan.

SPEAKER_05

Um, legacy, that's a um uh I'm I don't know. I haven't thought about it a whole lot. I don't know what to say. I haven't thought about it a whole lot, but as you guys were talking, um, you know, as I kind of reflected back on my career and where I'd been so far, I guess I noticed um a pattern. Um I like getting people to do what I tell them to do. So, you know, I was in sales, that's about motivating people to make decisions and buy my products. Then I was, you know, a stay-at-home mom and I was like motivating my children to brush their teeth. And now I am in fitness and I'm motivating people to um, you know, reach new heights, as we say at height cycle. So um I recently heard um heard this um sort of analogy or whatever you want to call it from Arthur Brooks. He's a um a New York Times bestseller, he's done a lot of research on happiness. And he said um the gap between the person that you are today and the person that you're capable of being, that in that gap is in is where the meaning of life lies. And um I think that's what um is most what I'm most passionate about, and really what I hope to leave people with is that feeling that you're stronger than you think you are, that anything is possible, that doing hard things, despite how difficult they may be, are sure to teach you lifelong lessons and be rewarding and fulfilling in some way. Sometimes we don't know for years. Um, but if we move forward with a little trust and we take risks, um they end up, you know, making us better for it one way or another.

SPEAKER_03

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SPEAKER_00

Your listening to the first million is always the hardest. We are now returning to the show.

SPEAKER_03

Just out of curiosity, do you remember what you wanted to be when you were a little girl? What was your dream and aspiration when you were little?

SPEAKER_05

A mom. That's what I wanted to be.

SPEAKER_03

So you did that. Once you check that off, what else was there left to do?

SPEAKER_05

Um I just wanted to be financially free. That was the that was the second thing. Um I didn't grow up with we had enough, we did not have a ton. And um I just wanted to be um to not have that be to remove that barrier.

SPEAKER_03

We um I asked that question, which I'm gonna ask of both of you too, because um uh dreams, particularly childhood dreams, I believe are signals. Um they're not fantasies, and they typically may not be exactly what you want if you want to be a you know uh astronaut or you know, whatever, um, but they tick typically signal something that's actually intrinsically important to you that you identified at a time that you didn't do a bunch of rationalization as to why I like this. You just liked it. You got in a plane and you liked, you know, flying and you want to be a pilot or whatever it may be. Um I'm curious about that because what I found is that for many people, when they really go through an analysis about what their childhood dreams and aspirations were, they find threads that tie back to what they're doing today. Um and so I ask you, Linda, what did you want to be when you were a little girl? And is there any thread that you can tie to what you're doing now?

SPEAKER_04

Um I'm gonna go out on a limb and say no. Um when I was a child, I was a competitive ice skater. I grew up um outside of Buffalo, New York. And if you don't do winter sports, you don't have much of a life. Um so I started ice skating at a young age and was competitive up through high school. Um through that, I um would always design my outfits for competition. And um, when I was seven years old, I won a dress designing contest from a local uh store, a local clothing store that then my dress was manufactured and sold at Macy's at the holiday season. And so I didn't, you know, I've never really thought of myself as like that creative side of my brain, but it my whole life I sort of was pursuing or, you know, when I was behind the door of my bedroom, I was designing or drawing or coloring or you know, building maybe Legos or things like that. Um, I think that sort of translates into what I did just in terms of the level of curiosity I've always had and the level of um, you know, desire to make things pretty. Um, you know, like I love having flowers in my house, I love cooking. You know, it's probably not in my professional career as much as my personal life. Like to me to get home every night and like make a meal and like go through the you know the preparation and how does it taste, and um you know, maybe that is more present in my life than than what I'm doing for work.

SPEAKER_03

Um but I would challenge you a little bit on that. Yeah. Because the act of being an entrepreneur is one of the more creative things that you can actually do. Right. Right? You're you start with a white blank space and then you're creating from nothing. I you may not see it that way, but that's uh how I see entrepreneurship. And so maybe there's a closer tie to that creativity than you may recognize.

SPEAKER_04

Maybe. I'll have someone like read the tea leaves for me, but what about you, Julie?

SPEAKER_06

Um I always knew what I wanted to do. Um when I was a little kid, I think I was in middle school, I had a book report I had to do. So I went to the library with the class. I pulled a book with a Marine, a male Marine, running through the desert with his M16 across his back with the German Shepherd. And I was like, that's freaking cool, that's what I want to do. There was no pictures of women in there, but it didn't matter. Didn't mean I couldn't do it. Um so yeah, I always knew I wanted to be a Marine, and they do have the best uniform. Sorry, you're not sure.

SPEAKER_02

No question about that. No question about that.

SPEAKER_06

And um so when I was 17 years old and everybody was talking about prom and who what they were gonna do, what they were gonna wear, I was like, I was already enlisted in the Marine Corps. Um I wanted to graduate high school and graduate college and one day buy a house. So check, check, check. Um, but I also knew that my mind doesn't stop, and I do have a creative mind, and I wanted to work one day for myself. I had zero idea that I was gonna be in a dump truck business, but I knew I was gonna be an entrepreneur, so I just prayed about it, and the opportunity came and I was ready and I took it. So that's how uh Franco hauling started. But through all the Franco hauling and everything that I do and the different uh speaking engagements that I go to, I got fortunate enough that I got invited to the White House. So that was pretty big, pretty exciting. Um, and somebody saw that, and that led into hey, if you ever need help with anything, I'm here. Um, I'm here, let me know. And I was like, hmm, question. What have you done about women representation in the military? And that led into, you have an idea, don't you? I'm like, sir, I've been waiting 22 years for this. So that's where Gunagier started. So now I know those are my two things. I don't want to do anything else. I just want these babies to keep growing and continue to leave a legacy, fulfillment.

SPEAKER_03

So what's really interesting to me about each of your stories is that you all have a documented experience of success in various parts of your life that actually did help you overcome doubt, right? Because you could look back at that evidence and say, actually, I have done this and I have done this and I can do this sort of thing. And that kind of pushes you forward in a very positive way, even though it may not be obvious that that's the dots that are kind of moving you uh forward. Um I want to change gears just a little bit. You know, many times when we have these sorts of presentations where we're talking about whether it's veterans or we're talking about women or other things, it's perceived that that is a deficiency that you're overcoming, right? But what I'm interested in hearing is what are the advantages that you've had as a woman-owned businesses that separate you from other businesses? So I'll start with you, uh uh, Megan.

SPEAKER_05

I think in my case, um there's there's an inherent um nurturing that um women um excel at. And to um listen and hear these people's stories of the people that come into our studio and grow and nurture this community um with the heart of a woman and the experience of a woman made me uniquely qualified to do this. I I feel like um that's something I hear and feel a lot, um, not only with our members, but with our staff. Um young women for whatever reason they they feel really comfortable around me. Um we talk um, you know, very there, it's a really positive environment. And to see them light up when they're told, you know, you're doing a good job, you're doing this great, you're doing that great, you need to work on this, it's really inspiring to them. And um I think that just it's a it's something that we could all use a little bit more of. So I think that was kind of one of my superpowers.

SPEAKER_02

Julie, what about you?

SPEAKER_06

So when I pitched Gunny Gear to a specific story that I can't name yet, um, they were like, oh my gosh, this is such a great idea. Why didn't I think of it sooner? And I'm like, no offense, sir, but you're not a woman. Superpower. Um we get to experience things differently, we see things differently, we have different lenses. We are, you know, we want to take care of people and we want to improve, we want to elevate, and we want to build teams that continue to motivate and inspire one of us to give us the hope that listen, yes, the baby is sick, yes, you have to take the other child to the doctor's appointment. But you know what? We have each other, we understand each other, and everything's gonna be taken care of. We're gonna lose it a little bit one day, but that's okay though. We have each other to keep growing. So, but yeah, the superpower was being a woman. I mean, a lot of people ask me, what's the hardest part about being a Marine? Being a woman. Yeah, we overcame it though. And here we are telling a story.

SPEAKER_03

Did they just make you eat all day? Did they just yell at you eat, eat, eat? Actually, yes.

SPEAKER_06

I'm sure they gave me a package that I think was like literally nothing but oil and fat. And I had to drink it every morning before I went out and I had to weigh in. Um I had to sp sign a special waiver to say I wasn't gonna sue the Marine Corps because I was so little and everything was so much heavier. Um my pack was about 150 pounds.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I was gonna say you're running an M16 is probably like 20% of your own.

SPEAKER_06

Oh my god, it's like down to here.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06

But it's my favorite weapon to shoot, so don't get her mad.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, right. Linda.

SPEAKER_04

Um, you know, I think I think I've always been in male-dominated industries, you know, banking and um consulting and manufacturing. Um, and I just think that there's a different level of listening and warmth that I bring. I think that um, so I just I just got back, I was at a woman's wellness retreat for the last three days, and it was almost like going to Kairos where people wrote you letters and stuff, and you, you know, got to hear people's perceptions and everything. And I just one of the things that resonated that people said is that they felt um seen and listened to by me. And I just think that's something that's so important that we do with our employees, with our peers, with our, you know, neighbors, our children, everybody is to listen. And not immediately give advice or say I'd do this different, or you know, it's sometimes it's just to be there and say, I hear, I hear you. And um I think that's one of the powerful things that I I bring to um this this 50-year-old company. I think it's something that I bring to women in manufacturing and um the communities in general that I'm part of is um that openness and um giving everyone a chance. I say everyone always has a clean slate until they don't deserve to. Um, but I I want everyone to know that um I am I am here and I want to know you and understand you.

SPEAKER_03

You know, I um I was really fortunate. Um I had a very close friend. She started this business about 20 years ago, and her business specifically was only um providing consulting services from women who had been out of the workforce for 10 years or long or more. So she recruited those women. Many of these women had run law firms and then took time off and had children or had done all these different things, and then when they got back into the workforce, had difficulty getting into positions that were anywhere equivalent to where they had left. And she realized there was this opportunity to get these women together and actually have them offer services and to do it in a way that um accommodated their current lifestyle and leveraged their background. And for me, this was about 25 years ago, it was the first moment that it went off in my head, like, oh wow, you know, there's a category of how you might target people who can work with you that are being overlooked that you can take advantage of if you're kind of quiet about it. We're no longer gatekeeping that, so I just shared that to the world. But I asked the question about the advantages because it was the first tangible example for me of an advantage that wouldn't have been obvious until this person kind of exposed me to this. Um and it's something that I would encourage all of you to think about. That's one of the reasons we also think that women are a particularly strong target for potential acquisition, right? Because there are people, a lot more people, that have these experience sets that actually can be leveraged into the world of entrepreneurship. And our hope, and this is a shameless plug for the Southland Development Authority, is we can foster that effort. Um I I want to ask you one more question, um, a little bit about kind of where your future state is for your business, but then I'm gonna give you guys a chance to ask each other a question before we give the crowd a chance to ask questions of you, right? So a little previewing of where we're going with this. I'm curious when you think about what your future leads to. Are you thinking about more acquisitions? Are you thinking a little bit about building an empire? Are you thinking about eventually selling the business? And there's no judgments about any of these decisions. I will just say for the crowd, for any of you who know me, you know, you don't you don't make any money until you sell generally, right? So the idea that you build a business to sell is not a negative thing. That's how people usually extract their wealth. It's not the only way, but it is one of those ways. But I I say that just as a caveat in case your answer is I'm gonna sell my business and make a lot of money. There's nothing wrong with that. So um your thoughts first, uh, Megan, around what you think your future looks like for your business.

SPEAKER_05

So um because it took me so long, and because I am not a spring chicken, I knew when I bought the business that it was a five to eight year plan. And um I just said I'm gonna hustle and run like hell as fast as I can until I can't, and then we'll figure out what to do. And so when I bought the business, um, I did do a lot of that. Um and so I guess the whole point is that um I I I was I built the business to sell it.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. What about you, Julie?

SPEAKER_06

Um so when I started Franco hauling, I was very adamant, like, oh my god, it's mine, it's my last name. My son, I actually, I'm like, son, should I stop doing this? Because my children live in Texas and I my business is here, so I do travel back and forth a lot. Um and my son's like, why would you sell it? Isn't our last name on the side of that truck? Why did I make you smart? Um, but it's it's been uh it's been very challenging, it's been really hard. I knew nothing about the business besides I bought a big truck. Um I enjoy it. I enjoyed everything that it has given me. It's given me a platform and um work for me and my employees. But I know that one day I'll step away from it because I'm not gonna lie, Gunny Gear is my heart, it's my passion. I love hearing stories. Um really quick one. So when I was active duty in North Carolina, there was a gentleman I serve with. Um, he now lives in Wisconsin, I believe. And my first event for Gunny Gear was last year, July 4th, in where I did the Benson Parade and I set up my booth, and we were selling t-shirts and hoodies and all the good stuff. Merchandise was going crazy, which you know that's the goal, um, to spread the awareness. It's about building a community. Uh, Gunny Gear is about, you know, representing everything you've earned. Why earn? Because once you earned it, nobody could take it away from you. So make sure you remember that. And it doesn't matter, they're like, oh, well, I'm not a veteran. I'm like, do you re do you support us? Did you earn something? Waking up is an earn, right? So we win already. So that's what Gunny Gear is about. I love it. Um, I sold a t-shirt that July 4th, and months later I get a message saying, What are you, an influencer now? I'm like, I didn't say that, you did. Um, but the point of the story is he's like, I just want you to know that last week I went across the street and I shook the a gentleman's hand. I'm like, okay. He was like, I shook his hand because I want you to know that I am so proud to let him know that I serve with you, um, active duty in the Marine Corps in North Carolina, and thank you for supporting my friend. So he was wearing my t-shirt up in I haven't seen him in 20 years. I knew nothing. I just sold a t-shirt and it already went all the way to Florida. Um, two days ago, when I was like, oh my gosh, I'm like struggling, but I need to keep going. I got another email from one of my friends in Texas, and she was like, I just want you to know that you're a bad um, and I'm so proud of to call you one of my friends. Um, I saw your t-shirt at Walmart out here in Texas.

SPEAKER_02

That's thank you.

SPEAKER_06

And that's what I'm really excited about is that we're building a community and people are understanding and recognize that yes, we all have a community of representation, and I'm so happy about that. So um I really want to focus with Venigar.

SPEAKER_02

That's great. Linda.

SPEAKER_04

Um I am, I guess I'm a little bit of an outsider on the stage here. I have um I'm five months in and I have no intention of selling. It was so hard to get here. Like honestly, um, I have so many plans and aspirations for things I want to do with the business in terms of um further reach, in terms of employing more women, in terms of um, you know, professionalizing. Um, we still do handwritten time cards in the plant. Um, we don't really lean into technology. There's not formal production planning or sales efforts. So I feel like I have a lot on my plate that I want to accomplish. Um, and there's a lot, again, we have like 24 nieces and nephews. I think there's a lot of opportunity for family to get involved if they so desire. But um, you know, other than being women-owned and and thinking about that as a potential obstacle to selling, um, I I have no desire at this point, and I really look at this as um, you know, something that I want to be not just a Linda legacy, but a family legacy with all the different last names and extended um family that we have across the country.

SPEAKER_03

Well, I'm gonna open this up now, and any one of you can ask a question of the other um just because I think in this process as you learn from each other, you probably have questions about each other. So I figure we should start here and then we'll open it up to a few other folks to ask questions from the crowd. So no pressure, but if you don't ask a question, I'm gonna co-call somebody.

SPEAKER_04

I'm gonna ask um Megan a question. So you're involved in the fitness industry. A lot of people think of that as like how they unwind and they get their their centering back. How do you um because I'm assuming being in the studio and everything probably isn't the same level of tension release that we get when we go.

SPEAKER_05

So what do you do to uh that's a great that's a great question and something I've actually been focusing on quite a bit. I will say that to go into my studio and take a class is still um is still a good thing for me to not have to teach it and to just kind of sit in the back row and take class. I always say I get my best ideas on the bike. So um it's not the best way to relax, but I still do do it. Um and you know, if I'm being fully transparent, the best thing I can do is sit at the on my couch and watch TV. It's the only thing I can do that really like turns off my brain. Um and so, you know, when there's a new show that comes out that needs to be binged, I I I I find time to do that.

SPEAKER_03

90-day fiance right now. It's not me. It's terrible. It's such trash.

SPEAKER_05

Um I actually have a question for Linda, so sorry, Julie. I'm so curious. You had um sort of expert eyes looking at businesses throughout your entire career. What was it about this one that made you finally say, and it's a big one. It's like a big business with a it's it's a lot. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Um, so a couple things. Um uh I lost my job. I was part of a Riff at um at RSM, and um I needed to figure out what I wanted to do next. Um, from a timing standpoint, all four of our children were going to be in college. And I felt like I finally had time for me. Like I had time to put what does Linda want to do? What is gonna make Linda more happy? What is gonna challenge Linda um, you know, in every way. And um then this company comes across that is um a bit under the radar. It's a necessary product in terms of protecting food, protecting water supply. Um, I thought my thesis around buying it um really started with the fact that there were two strong women in leadership. The seller lived in Florida six months a year, so I knew these women were actually running the place. And that sort of excited me. Um, but for me, it was it was a little bit of timing and um a little bit of um what else would you get more satisfaction out of? And I finally thought, you know what? It's gonna take like every dime I've ever saved, and it's gonna challenge me. And um, I hope I don't financially bankrupt our family, but um I feel like I am a thousand percent willing to bet on me, and it's time to bet on me. And I'm running forward with that sword every or I'm whatever, 16 every day, ready to make my employees' lives easier and better and serve our customers and um hopefully be a role model to other um young men, women, whoever might be inspired by manufacturing.

SPEAKER_05

Awesome.

SPEAKER_02

Any other questions? Should we open it up?

SPEAKER_06

I have one. So Hector and I finally established a rule. We do not talk about work on Sundays because I will pick up the phone at 2-3 in the morning if he's calling me about work. I don't care except Sundays. So, do you guys have like a role that you guys implement? Because both of you guys have your husbands that are supporting you. So I don't, and I probably should.

SPEAKER_04

Thank you for giving me that valuable idea, Julie.

SPEAKER_05

Yes, yeah, yeah. Boundaries is something that I'm just learning about now. So I wish I had those and I'm working on it. It's an excellent point.

SPEAKER_04

I um I'm starting to set boundaries more about my time and how people are um suggesting that their idea for how I spend my time is more important than how I would like to. And um, I recently had a post on on LinkedIn where I I have a big, I've got a hundred-pound Akita, and she comes to work with me some days. And um, she's gotten comfortable enough where she'll walk around the office and everything, but she sort of sits at my door, and anytime anyone walks in, and she's super friendly, but she's a guard dog by nature. Anytime anyone walks in, she picks up her hat and she growls. And so I call her my literal gatekeeper. Oh, that's fabulous.

SPEAKER_03

I just want to take a moment to say thank you. Thank you for listening, for letting us be a small part of your day, for joining in in these conversations that matter. This podcast isn't just ours, it's yours. We'd love for you to subscribe so you can never miss an episode and join our community where you can share your own journey, your wins, and your lessons. And if there's someone whose story you think we should hear, tell us.

SPEAKER_00

Your listening to the first million is always the hardest. We are now returning to the show.

SPEAKER_07

Zabdi Highlander, we just met a couple of minutes ago. Um really interesting conversation that you all shared um and really interesting themes to see connected from the last uh event, Achieve Summit, this theme of how families pass on generational um wealth through storytelling and experiences that are lived in with family or at home. And I think a lot of just a side note for for folks here for um who are in source or EDCs, VSOs, I think a lot of that economic development data is missed, right? And how we impact um our transgenerational knowledge and skills and the conversations that happen at home about how those things are not measured, right? Um but what I wanted to say is um I I I it really caught my attention that some of you were focused on you know exiting business, some of you were focused on generational wealth mean, you know, therefore capital or generational wealth, but also meaning um values or time shared with family, right? Values given to the family. Is that kind of does that sound kind of right so far? Yeah, uh well. This is leading into my question. Uh I come from a culture that is very long term, right? We plan um 50 years, 100 years, 200 years, you know, what could future generations look like. And so whenever I think of an idea, I think of it from that lens. Um I would be really interested to know for those of you who are thinking of holding or even exiting, um how uh how might you be thinking about um coordinating with uh other organizations, other resources to develop that, you know, 100-year, 200-year plan, what that could look like. For example, Linda, Linda, you working with Julie, for example, right? Uh offering that as a benefit, maybe to some of the employees that are working in this manufacturing company. Um I just wanted to know a little bit more about the ecosystem work that you're doing, and if you're holding these companies, you know, for a hundred years, two hundred years, if you're thinking of doing ecosystem work as well.

SPEAKER_04

Um I'm five months into my acquisition, so I'm trying to survive right now. So I I'm not quite there yet, but I I appreciate the thought. And I do want there to be something that is a legacy, and there is something that is there. Um, you know, when I think about um like how I want to grow, um, I am all about leaning into other women-owned businesses and um that type of connection. Um, I'm about pulling people up. Um, we have a uh temp to perm candidate right now that has a felony history that um, you know, again, um I want to help change his life, I want to give him a home. Like everybody who uh came with the company at the close of the acquisition, everyone starts with a clean slate. And I'm looking at him as um having that clean slate with us and um creating opportunity um and being known as that um fair and safe place is something that would mean a lot to me if that's what survives me.

SPEAKER_01

I had a question Megan, okay. I'm looking at the Megan. I'll I'll say the mic place. Yeah, okay. You bought a business that was existing, right? Yes. Okay, and with membership. Yes. And Julie? I'm Julie. Okay. Julie, you started a business from scratch with your brother. Correct, right? Okay. And Megan, no, I'm sorry, Linda, you bought an existing business with employees. So all of all three of those are very different models of entrepreneurship. My question is one with the memberships. Are you like how you said you had a business for four years now, right? One, I'm gonna talk about sales is what I want to talk about. Okay. How well like what's what should been your strategy and how did you grow your business to where you increase membership? And then I'll say military lady. Uh uh. Right, Julie? Okay. Yes, I think. You mentioned you were operations, your brother is driving the truck, so who does sales? And then you mentioned, I think earlier that your video said you had a two-year contract with United or somewhere at O'Hare Airport? At O'Hare Airport, yes. How did that happen? And then how do you divvy up sales? Like because you're operations and he's uh driving the truck, so where did that come in? And then you bought an existing business with employees and you said and you're like, I'm five months in, but uh obviously the business was making enough to kind of keep it sustaining, and now you want to grow it. So, what would be your strategy uh make employees feel better? Do the do your employees get incentives for selling the product? Uh have you, you know, considered that, or are you just still soaking it all in? I just want to talk about sales and what your strategy is for growing just today to keep your business, you know, so that you get to a point where you sell it or keep it.

SPEAKER_05

Should I go first? Yeah, go first. Okay. So um fitness is a small local business to start with. So they say that no one's gonna travel more than like seven to ten miles to take a class. So um when I bought the business, um, there were people that were there that were very um loyal to this business, but they were selling class packs. Um, so I don't know how familiar you are with all of this, but you'd buy a five-pack of classes or a 10-pack of classes, and then when it expired, you had to buy another five or 10-pack of classes or 12-pack or whatever the case may be. So she was selling these class packs that were severely underpriced. And so what I did is I went in there and I allowed everyone to finish the, you know, the people that were riding there, allowed everybody to finish the class packs they were on. And as you can see, that's that's like a lot of churn, right? You're constantly selling and asking people to buy more stuff. So we did that, and then I introduced a 10-pack of classes that was, you know, 20% more expensive than what she was selling at. So I took the business over in February, and we kind of did that until May, and I can't remember the exact date, but at that point we did a grand reopening where we introduced our membership model, and we sold founder membership founding memberships where they got these really great deals to be members, which are a monthly recurring charge. And we have unlimited memberships, we have eight times a month, so you can take eight classes a month or four times a month. So that's what I did is I switched the model from these class packs to these memberships, which are then recurring revenue, which then um allows the business to run um and you know, set budgets and just be more stable, right? Um, so then in terms of growing the business, um, it was just a whole lot of guerrilla marketing, which I giggle because I took a marketing class in college and got like a C. And um and it was all about one of the assignments I remember was like, give me 50 ways that you can market your business. And I was like, uh, I don't know. And it's like, you know, flyers, water bottles, t-shirts, but like all that stuff that I couldn't come up with when I was 19 years old. So it was a lot of going to events, kind of like this kind of thing, not this exactly, handing out business cards, handing out flyers, putting flyers on um on car on car windshields, um lots of social media. Lots of social media. Um so that's how I It and then just this last year, so you know, three years closer to four years in. I started in January, I just paid for my first ads in January, and we're running our first ad campaign um through Meta and Google. Um, so that's how um we attracted um people to the studio. I also will say I spent a lot of time and actually consulting dollars on um a sales process for the for the studio and and training my employees um to sell memberships. Um so I hope that answered your question. Okay, great. Now it's your turn.

unknown

Thank you.

SPEAKER_06

Um so Franco Hauling is service mostly. Um I am now a supplier. Gunny Gear is an actual product, right? So two different things. But once you learn, you learn both. Um so with Franco Hauling, what I ended up doing, and your question was is how did I obtain the contract at O'Hara Airport, right? Yes. So I will say again, it goes back to one of your questions. The biggest thing is remember who you are. When I started my business with Franco Hauling, I am the majority owner of the company. My brother is also an owner, he's a vice president. I'm the president and founder, and he's a vice president. So the first thing I would say is get that business certified. A lot of people don't talk about it and don't really know what that means. But but yes, there's so many different certifications. Um, but certify your business. So Franco Holland, um, and it's going to be a long process. People are like, oh, I submitted my application yesterday. I'm not approved yet a week later. No, honey, it's gonna be months. They're going for me, because I was a woman in the construction industry. Um, I had actually people come to me and tell me in my face, like, there's no way you could be the one running this. You're a woman. What do you know about this? Okay, but you forgot that I'm also marine. You know, so we have that. Um, but you know, I had to jump through hoops, I submitted an application, they told me to withdraw. But I am resilient and I am persistent, and I know I am I qualify for these programs, and these programs are in place for people like us. So I went back to actually ran my first um half marathon, and I'm like, what am I missing? And they're like, try again. So I tried again, and my business finally obtained not just one certification, but all three. Because yes, I am a service disabled veteran, I am a veteran, I am a woman, I am a minority, I'm a person with disability. Check, check, check. So once I had all that, I used what she said, which is a flea free platform, right? Social media, LinkedIn. You talked about LinkedIn, LinkedIn's amazing. So I started a LinkedIn page, Franco hauling. Uh we haul all this, you know, construction hauling, dirt, aggregates, sand, material, all that good stuff, gravel. Um, we're women-owned, we're certified. Put those hashtags there, that's what they're there for. And when um, and once you are certified, also, a lot of people don't know this, but once you're certified, your name goes into a database, and your general contractors who you're looking to get hired by, those general contractors go into this database and they type in women business enterprise certified. Well, when they click that button, my name already populates because I'm already certified. I took those steps to get to that platform. So then from there, I get a bunch of different emails saying, hey, we're doing this job at O'Hare Airport. If you're interested, submit a proposal. So I put my numbers together and I submitted a proposal, but you don't stop there. You call and you let them know, hey, I'm here, I'm available, did you receive my quote? Um, and then one thing we also talked about is partnership. When I work with somebody, it's a partnership. Yeah, I could work with just about anybody. But if so, once they say, hey, here's a proposal, I submit it, I have a conversation with them, I go and I sit with them and I meet them in person to know whether or not it's gonna be a good fit. Because not every person's gonna be a good fit, and that's okay. Um and Walsh Construction took a chance on me. So I am very grateful, but I know that, and just so you guys know, everybody's like, oh, I'm certified, so now I have all these contracts. No, that's not how it works. Being certified is the first process. Then you have to do the legwork, like I said, get discovered, get found, make the introductions, pass out the business cards, follow up, don't forget your capability statement and all that good stuff. Um, but then you still have to perform. So if you're not performing, you could lose a contract and all that stuff. So um let's pray that doesn't happen. Um, but yeah, that that's the whole process with uh Franco Holland. Now, as far as gunny gear, I took the exact same model. LinkedIn is still free, TikTok's still free, Facebook and Instagram. So we're in all these platforms, and I will make the reels. I know one of these ladies are like, oh, I'm too shy. I'm like, I'm over being shy. I am here to work, I am here to provide for my kids. I'm doing something that's honorable, I work hard, and I'm not doing anything illegal like I told my kids, so let's shine, right? So I started making the videos like, hey, I am Julie Franco, I am the president founder of Franco Holland, I'm the president founder of Gunny Gear. This is what we're about. And I post it here, I post it there. And now it's global. There's so many different places that people find me. And I actually, the the gig that I have for California, which is October 8th, if anybody wants to go, um, it was found on LinkedIn. They found me on LinkedIn, they're like, hey, we have this opportunity. Are you able and are you willing to come to uh Palm Springs? Uh the answer is always gonna be yes. This gig today was offered to me two days ago. And you know what I said? Yes. Just send me the address.

SPEAKER_03

This is not quite Palm Springs, but but it's a beautiful environment.

SPEAKER_06

I get to be here with you guys, I get to share the story, and then I get to go home and go to work. So I'm happy. So that's how I do it.

SPEAKER_02

Linda?

SPEAKER_06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Um, so for RPS, um they um their sales function was not what I would call very mature. Um, they have a very good reputation, it's a very good quality product. We're one of the few manufacturers in the United States that does this product in a variety of materials in terms of the water treatment, the covers for water treatment. Um, we are the only manufacturer that provides several different styles. So there's, you know, one competitor that just does sort of um flat covers, there's another one that does just the radial covers, there's another one that does just the domes in um fiberglass, there's another one that does aluminum domes. We do it all. Um we have uh um relationships with sales reps for our wastewater treatment um projects, and um I'm working on a couple things with them. Um A, a lot of them have had relationships with the company for many years, but they've never been trained on our products. They might know one thing that they keep calling us for, um, but they they don't know the variety, they don't know um how much we customize our our product, every product that we make is custom to order, and um it really differentiates us in terms of what we're willing to do and how we can help people be successful in their projects. Um, but a lot of people don't know that. Um, I just had lunch with one of the sales reps and um she said, not to hurt your feelings, but your product's not that special. And I um I said, well, you know, it may be sort of a commodity part of your project, but I'm gonna let you know why RPS is special and it's gonna help you be successful. And it has to do with that ability to customize the, you know, we figure it out, we custom engineer. Um with respect to um providing training, we have a lot of uh industrial customers that um I was told this business was custom and it's gonna be very difficult to continue to have uh consistent revenues and whatnot, but we have a lot of companies that every month, three, two weeks order, order, order for their customers. And I feel like for these big customers, I want to go out and do training for them too, where it's making sure that they know our capabilities, the variety of materials, um, the variety of industries that we serve, and helping them understand again why we are the right partner for them. Um, and my background is sales. Like I'm sitting here, I can't wait to put my foot on the sales pedal. Like, there's so much I want to do in terms of like I get a list every day of who visited our website, and I, you know, I've got tools set up that tell me are they a customer, are they not a customer? Do we have a bid outstanding? How long has it been since we've done business with them? It can we find out what project they're calling us for? Like, I am like a like I can't wait to put my foot on that sales pedal. Um, I you know, I want to level the playing field a little bit just in terms of tools and capabilities within the team, but um we are going from um being very fortunate to to have a very good reputation to where I'm going to um make us well known for all of that and women-owned and um the ability to to try and find a way to say yes to you for your project.

unknown

I'm gonna go.

SPEAKER_03

Well, this time I will say thank you all very much. This was fantastic. I really do appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02

Thank you.