Celebrate our Freedom!

Episode 132: We have so much to be thankful for in our lives and as we have celebrated the independence of America, Vonda and Lori reflect a few that are very important to all of us as well as some you might not be aware of.  Did you know that it was only 34 years ago that women were free to get a loan? Join us to celebrate!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:05

This was in 1988. It was passed by Ronald Reagan. Thank you very much. And in 2018 became the 30th anniversary. So we're into 34 years now.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Welcome to the Business and Pleasure of Flowers. We're your hosts, Vonda LaFever.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

And Lori Wilson. And we believe that business and fun are a perfect combination. Kind of like us, Vonda.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Happy day after Fourth of July, Lori.

SPEAKER_02 0:43

Yes, yes, happy day after 4th of July. I want to share with you my morning plight. Okay, if you will. So you know how I always I have a smoothie every morning. You know, usually anywhere between nine and 10-ish. Well, I went in to get my morning, make my morning smoothie, and forgot I was out on my soy milk. We had no milk type beverage in the refrigerator. But I had already put my fruit in the blender. So because I am very adaptable and flexible, you know, it's part of my personality. I went to my pantry to figure out what I could use. And I remembered I had a can of coconut milk. I know you hate coconut, but hear me out. Okay. I have the most delicious smoothie right now. And I'm so excited. I don't know that I'll ever go back to the other stuff.

SPEAKER_00 1:47

Well, I'm glad to hear that. You know what I would have substituted the milk product for? What? Ice cream. Oh my gosh, that's a good idea. I'm like, hey, I got some ice cream in the fridge. Well, I would go. The problem with that is I ate all the ice cream. Okay. Okay. And I know it's not healthy.

SPEAKER_02 2:09

It's not well, I mean, it doesn't really matter. It was just filled. That would that would have been really good to add. And but I was like out of yogurt. I was out of, I really do like um adding like I buy the full fat because I'm just that kind of person, the full fat Greek yogurt. I usually add that it's time to go to the grocery store. Yes, it is. You better go. Yeah. So, but anyway, just wanted to pass that along. I'm loving my coconut. And the reason I have the coconut stuff is because when you and Ellie and I did that whole 30 a long time ago, long time ago. Ellie and I would use it because you again, you don't like coconut as creamer for our coffee. Remember that? Yep. And so who knows how maybe I poisoned myself. I don't know how old that candle is.

SPEAKER_00 2:57

I don't know, but it's you're you're gonna love it going down if you do. Really, it might not be fun coming up, but it's good going down. Well, today, since it's the day after the 4th of July, since this is launching, we thought it would be really great to talk about how grateful we are for our freedoms. And you know, when I look at the first one for Independence Day, is that we just have to be thankful for all of those who've served, fought, and died to preserve our nation and those who are serving now, the men and women who are putting their life on the line for us.

SPEAKER_02 3:33

Exactly. No, it is, and you know, my dad was um he was a paratrooper in the army, and my uncle, he was in the army reserve. He was in the army and then he went to college, but then he stayed in the reserve. Anyway, my point in telling you this is when you were telling me, hey, we should talk about you know freedom and the land of the free, home of the brave. I remember vividly um Desert Storm because my uncle had to go. But what I remember is I was in college, I remember writing him letters and asking him if he had there were any cute boys there.

SPEAKER_00 4:22

Oh my gosh, Lori.

SPEAKER_02 4:24

I was that was my I was really 19, you know, and I really didn't understand exactly what they were going because again, that was before social media, Vonda, and cell phones and all of those things. So, you know, now it's instantaneous, like people can go live over there and you can see what's happening in the Ukraine or wherever we are. But that's when you said what we were doing today, that's the first thing that popped up because I was like, ooh, who doesn't love a guy in a uniform? You know, anyway, it was funny, it was very funny, but then I also remember being there when they landed, when they were coming home. And this was a year later, I was actually dating the man I married, so I didn't find, but I remember what a big deal that was.

SPEAKER_00 5:18

It is a big deal here at our airport because I'm close to three Air Force bases, and it brings me to tears when I get off the plane because there are yeah, every time there are you know soldiers with me, whether it's Eglin Air Force Base, it's um Herbert Field or what's our Duke Field. So it's all of those, and then their families are coming to greet them when they come home. And I just their signs and their flags, and it's one of those things you just say thank you for your service.

SPEAKER_02 5:50

Yeah, so I think we we probably don't even say it enough. It's we say it on this day, and then we say it on Memorial Day to honor the the fallen. Um, we need to we need to remember.

SPEAKER_00 6:03

We we actually remember our prayers every day, you know, women and women I think it's because we're so close to it and we see yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:11

I mean, I've been at your house and I'm like, what's going on in the air?

SPEAKER_00 6:16

Military base over there. Maneuvers going on, yeah. Maneuvers. So but it is actually very cool. It is, yeah. So very thankful for that. And then interesting that I looked online to see, okay, what are some of the freedoms that people were celebrating, you know, recently? And there was something that said in 2021, Americans actually felt they lost a lot of their freedom due to the lockdowns in COVID and the regulations that were happening. So it was almost a negative last year at this time. But the flip side of that that said yet, others found new freedoms because they were starting new careers, they were starting new businesses, they were embracing a more fulfilling lifestyle. Yeah. So it was like one side was saying, Oh, I'm so locked down, I'm not happy, I'm not, I don't feel free. And the others are like, This is so freeing.

SPEAKER_02 7:09

So well, I think, and I feel like we did a pod couple podcasts on this at the beginning of the pair pandemic, um, because we were hearing from a lot of our members, business owners, um, and flower click, like panic because they're not free to stay open or they can't have employee, you know, all of these things. But sometimes that's not always a bad thing because we all, including you, as an owner of Flower Click, we had to pause a minute, right? Right. And we've never really been forced to pause in your business and and maybe rethink strategy or rethink, do I love this? Or did I get into this accident? Like, what is it? Um, I think that's in our industry at least, we saw shop flower shops close down because of the pandemic, and flower shops thrive because of it. And I think it's not that those business owners that closed down were bad, they just pause and maybe realize uh this is not they took their freedom, right?

SPEAKER_00 8:28

Exactly. They said, wait, I'm free to close my business if I want, I'm free to continue to build and thrive.

SPEAKER_02 8:37

So again, could come down to that freedom that because I think we don't allow ourselves, and some people don't allow themselves to pause. Um, but we just we have a shop owner recently who has decided to just close down just because she realized when she really thought through it, she's like, this is more of a burden than a joy and a passion, right? She kind of inherited the business, which is great, but she she didn't find joy in it. And I think you have the freedom to close down when you own your own business and move on, no matter how old you are, right? You can always try something new.

SPEAKER_00 9:26

That's the beauty, right? Yeah, that's the beauty. As an American in the United States of America, we can start new businesses. And when we were looking this up, I mean, we were like, okay, so let's look at women. We're an all-woman business, Lori. And we looked back and it was like, it was in 1920 that women were given the right to vote. I know.

SPEAKER_02 9:48

Well, it's shocking, and what shocks me more is 30 years ago, Vonda, you would not have been able to get a loan to start a business.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

I know without a man. A man! Just to co-sign a loan. I mean, you were digging into this, and we were both just like jaw-dropping because it was like 1988. I mean, you think of that. I was in college, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:19

No, it's it's crazy. And the more I was reading about this, so let me give a little backstory.

SPEAKER_00 10:28

What was it?

SPEAKER_02 10:29

Yeah, um, so a lot of people don't believe it because it's hard, it is a hard fact to believe. Um, there were no laws specifically prohibiting loans to women entrepreneurs, but but the fact showed that business loans were just not issued. So there was no law, but it was like an unwritten rule, right? You go in and you try to get a loan, they're like, I'm sorry, I'm not gonna be able to do it, unless you can your husband or can your father or can one instance a woman had to have her 17-year-old son co-sign alone, right? Which just blows my mind thinking of when my son was 17, both either of them. No way. So it wasn't until 1988 that began that people began to take notice that women business owners couldn't contribute to the economic growth of the United States. As a result, the study and ultimately new laws were drafted and enabled women to receive loans for new businesses that they wanted to finance. So this was in 1988. It was passed by Ronald Reagan. Thank you very much. And in 2018 became the 30th anniversary. So we're into 34 years now. Um, it is HR 5050, the Women's Business Ownership Act of 1988. They refer to it as WBOA. This was an act, it was introduced by a man named John Lafalse, which was a former New York congressman. He was trying to help with the success of women business owners. The passing of this act recognized how women could change the entrepreneurial landscape and allowed women for the very first time to take out business loans. This is the first legislation that recognizes the importance of female entrepreneurs to our nation's economy. Wow.

unknown 12:42

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 12:43

And it was only 30 years ago, Vonda. Yeah, wow. It's just crazy. So it goes on to say prior to that, you had to have a male relative. When this went to Congress, they had women testify about like um, I had to have my 17-year-old son. The one that just burned me was even when it passed at the beginning, a woman went to get a loan from a bank, and the banker, before she even went into a thing, patted her on the head. Can you imagine if that was an Ellie? Think about Ellie if someone patted her on the head and saying, we don't give loans to women. So, anyway, um, as a precursor to it, a study was conducted that involved multiple agencies to determine the state of affairs for women as business entrepreneurs. The study included findings such as women seeking to start a business must meet a high. So this was 10 years later, they did a study on how's it going, how's it, how are they contributing to the economy. It included that in order to start a business, women must meet a higher standard of personal net worth and offer greater security than men to obtain even smaller loans. So, an example of this was a woman. She was a nurse, she had 20 years background as a nurse. She wanted to open a nursing home, which I love. I love the heart in this person, in this woman. She was advised by a bank, she needed 25% down and a gentleman co-signer, still. Okay. Um, nine months later, she was given the loan, but only obtaining it from the United States Small Business Administration. Thank God for the SBA, right? They're right, they're they're huge advocates. They are at that same time she was attempting to get a loan for this. Uh a male counterpart, another nurse, he had like half the years of experience. So he's let's say he's been nursing for 10 years, he wanted the same thing. He got his within six weeks. He only had to put 10% down, and he had no cosigner. Of course, he was a male. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And I mean, you know, you and I were talking a little bit about this before we hit the record button, but what I keep I keep going back to my because again, 30 years is not very long ago. And what makes me sad, not sad, but thinking, I was so unaware that this was a thing. Like in my memory of childhood, the dynamic between my parents is so very different than yours. We've we've chatted about because my parents were both teachers. Well, my dad was an administrator, my mom was a teacher, but I remember my mom having my dad would have to, his name was on the credit card. She was allowed a credit card, but she didn't have her name on it. Um, and I just remember growing up no thinking, oh, okay, so men are in charge of money, women are just spend it. So I mean, like, I don't know. And I didn't know it was right or wrong, it's just how it was. That was your model. That was my model, that was my business model, and you know, it's interesting because you go, I that's kind of who I assumed the the man I married. Oh, he does money, I do all this, and I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but I didn't know it was because my mom couldn't get a loan for the house.

SPEAKER_00 16:47

But that's so interesting because it's so different than my parents, right? Right, right. My mom and dad were entrepreneurs, and I guess you know, dad must have signed all the paperwork, but my mom did all the finances, she was the one who was the bookkeeper, she wrote the checks, she took care of payroll, she took care of my dad, she took care of our finances, she signed checks, both names were on the checking account. So I truly was clueless. I mean, because you think this was 30 years ago, yeah, I mean, I was 20 years old, 30 years old when this happened. Yeah, that's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 17:25

It is crazy, and I would love to know. Um, because you know, we have a lot of flower shop owner, women owners that have, oh, I've had it for 40 years, or I've had I hear I would love to sit down with them and hear their story. Yeah, like do you both own it or did you do you remember this because it wasn't that long ago?

SPEAKER_00 17:49

No.

SPEAKER_02 17:50

How long ago did you own flowers, etc.?

SPEAKER_00 17:53

1990. Okay, okay. We went in business 1990, is when we yeah, but it was it was a partnership, so bud and I own that together. Yeah, so he was on there, so it was not ever wasn't ever a problem, but I don't ever remember that anything with my parents, and I think it was because they bit owned the business together, so there was no question she mom was signed, dad would sign. So they were both yeah, so yeah, at the time, you know, there was a male signature, yeah, my mother never made a big deal about it. That's what I think we didn't know what we didn't know.

SPEAKER_02 18:31

But what I mean is I don't think your parents felt it or my parents discrimination against no, they didn't know that's what it was, but from my mom's perspective, especially because she, you know, I I would think if she was a small business owner, you know, and that she might be a little more in tune with Phil's law, but she was a kindergarten teacher, you know, and she just um anyway. So the hearings back then, 1988, and days and days of evidence, which I was like, I was just saying, the two people that talk about the support for greater equality for women in business and support for women entrepreneurs seeking to open a business, obtain loans, lease equipment, just rent a space, like they had to co-sign the hearings, which were the most extensive ever held by Congress, and keep in mind this was a partisan is they both sides were in agreement, so that's a good thing. We're not talking politics here because both sides recognize this is a thing, um, but it's the most extensive ever held by Congress on women-owned businesses. Um, ultimately, they were they called it the rise of women entrepreneurs. The conclusion of this was women-owned businesses may well provide the cutting edge and the American advantage in the worldwide economic competitiveness. So again, 4th of July, thank you for our freedoms. We you make up a high, a pretty good percentage of women business owners. Um, they projected back then that from owning less than 5% of the nation's business prior to the 1970s, and that 5%, I want to remind you, or just let you know, was typically inherited from parents. So yes, you own it, but somebody else is still on the loan, like somebody or there's not a loan. Right, right, exactly. There's no loan. You inherited the business, right? From owning less than 5% of the nation's business prior to the 1970s, women now have come to own approximately 30% of American businesses. This is in 1988. They are starting businesses at over twice the rate of men and could well own and operate 50% of the nation's businesses by the year 2000, which that was 22 years ago. But I think that's interesting because he goes on, the the judge goes on to say it's impossible to overestimate the social and economic importance of this new economic reality. Yeah, that's great.

SPEAKER_00 21:27

Yeah, we did look it up, and in 2021, um, women business owners were at 31%. So you know it's a strong, it's a strong number. It's it's not what they projected, but we do know that the power of women in businesses.

SPEAKER_02 21:43

Right. And then what I do love, you know, it says thankfully the report was bipartisan, the report documents acknowledge great progress. It also recognized significant barriers that went remained for women achieving full and equal status in the American. Economy.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

And that you know, went on to go with more rights, women's rights. Oh, sure. Right. Right. Right. Right. Anyway, it was it was very eye-opening that you said it was very eye-opening.

SPEAKER_02 22:13

This last little part, it she was a wit, her name is Esther Shapiro. She was speaking as a witness as to why women need this. She said, women, by virtue of their management of the family, like your mom, household budget, and moral values of the home were already halfway to becoming good business managers. They just need an organized training program to help them market their ideas, their products, and skills, and to deal with cost structures, cash flows, and the complexities of business life.

SPEAKER_00 22:47

Interesting.

SPEAKER_02 22:48

Very interesting. Because I I don't think I think a lot of women have that part too.

SPEAKER_00 22:55

Now they do. But again, that's not had never been given the opportunity, it wasn't something that you would look at.

SPEAKER_02 23:02

Yeah. So anyway, it goes on and on and on. And there were, of course, clauses in there. Um, banks did push back. Like, okay, you can pass it, but we're still not gonna do it. And of course, thank God that has changed.

SPEAKER_00 23:19

Well, it changed also because more women went into banking at the time. There were exactly bankers, and the women were the cashiers.

SPEAKER_02 23:27

I remember that, you know, the positions that were held that had any kind of merit to them were men, and so as women were allowed to have those type of positions or were hired into those positions, then yeah, it does go on to say, you know, of course, 30 years to now there has been progress. Um, but all business owners, irrespective of gender, know that having some sufficient money to grow your business when necessary uh is very necessary. Um, when you're hiring, when you're marketing, when you're gaining further investor interest, all of that stuff, right? Takes money for overall growth of the while women are getting loans without cosigners, there is still disparity in the amount they get. Um, thankfully, in the last 30 years, there's starting to be more of a paradigm shift for that. So, anyway, uh, you know, I think as with anything, there's always room to grow. Um, but I, for one, and incredibly grateful that our government, which I know people love or hate, but our government in 1988 passed that.

SPEAKER_00 24:42

Yeah, absolutely. And we, especially as a floral industry, because there are so many women entrepreneurs in our field. And so just having that has just been something that's accelerated that even more. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 24:56

Exactly, Vonda. Well, this has been great. This is part of, you know, we talk about the business and pleasure of flowers. And we thought this was going to be more pleasure, but I think it's kind of business structure. There's a lot of business in that one.

SPEAKER_00 25:08

A lot of business.

SPEAKER_02 25:09

It's it's I think the bottom line is yes, the day after 4th of July, we are just a reminder, number one, about our freedoms, and just be grateful, right? That people are out there advocating for for women and children and just all of this stuff.

SPEAKER_00 25:31

Yeah, you know, we need all to be thankful, just like you and I both do. We wake up every day being grateful for something like coconut milk.

SPEAKER_02 25:41

I am grateful I had coconut milk this morning. So, all right, Vonda, before we leave, I have to ask, what's inspiring you?

SPEAKER_00 25:52

I'm still inspired that at this time when people are listening, I will be at AID Symposium with my oral family. So I'm super excited.

SPEAKER_02 26:00

Yeah, no, I I'm I'm inspired by pretty much that same thing. That's that's my motivating factor because I want to be there and I want to see everybody. I'm already seeing, you know, on social media, uh, everybody who's going. I was like, oh my gosh, I can't wait to see them, or I can't wait to see them. And it's it's gonna be fun. Thank you so much for listening to our podcast. We hope you enjoyed spending time with us because we enjoy spending time with you. If you did, make sure you hit that subscribe button or add the business and pleasure of flowers to your Google morning routine or your flash briefing on Alexa. We look forward to seeing you next week.

SPEAKER_00 26:41

So please come back and join us and discover how a bit of knowledge and one small change in your mindset can take you to new levels in your life and business.