John and Connie: Hi, and welcome to another episode of Celebrating

Small Family Businesses where we celebrate passion in action.

Today we are celebrating Staged Right LLC, with Andrea and Ray Bryant.

Hi Andrea.

Hi Ray.

Andrea and Ray: How

John and Connie: Welcome to our podcast!

So we always like to, to start with like how you got here and.

Uh, you know, I think it's, uh, from what I've learned quite a, a, a journey.

So, but how did you get to Staged Right?

Andrea and Ray: Well, um, I was a second grade teacher for 20 years

and I kind of had enough of, um, teaching things I don't believe in

and ways I don't believe in, and just.

You know, kind of beating kids up with testing that I felt like

we were doing to second graders.

So, um, you know, Ray said, why don't you stop teaching and do something else?

I said, oh, you said it, you can't take it back now.

So I started flipping houses, and I, we did a few and they were okay.

It was kind of like this, make some money.

Oops.

Lose some money.

Oh.

You know, just kind of a little bit of a rollercoaster like that.

And the girl that was staging my houses when we flipped them, I was talking

to her one day on the phone and she said, Hey, I, I'm moving to Savannah.

I said, what are you doing with your business?

Because I knew she had enough furniture to stage 60 houses.

I said, whatcha doing with your business?

She said, oh, I'm gonna sell it.

I said, she goes, well wait a minute.

Why don't you buy it?

I said, me buy it.

I don't know anything about that.

I can teach kids how to read, but I dunno anything about that.

I've seen your flips.

They're beautiful.

You can do it.

It's not rocket science.

I was like, Hmm.

So I went into him and I said, um, he said, who was on the phone?

I said, oh, the stager who stages for us?

he, he said, what's she up to?

I said, well, she's selling her business.

And he said, why don't you buy it?

I said, well, you're the second person in 10 minutes to say that.

Maybe I need to think about it.

So I called her back and said, could I follow you around and, you

know, see, see what it entails?

And she said, sure.

So I followed around for a couple of days and I was like, oh.

This looks like fun.

This is a fun job.

Okay.

So I'm gonna buy it.

So I followed her around for a couple of months.

Um, we were gonna kind of end the year with my books and her books, you know,

make it a little easier on the books.

And so we, you know, I followed her around and I have to say she was maybe

the meanest person I've ever met.

I can attest to that.

She was just, just nasty and nasty to her employees and huh?

They couldn't wait for me to take over pretty much, right?

So we got near the end of the year and she said, um, she just

happened to say, oh, last week I sold $30,000 worth of furniture.

And I said, sold furniture.

I said, why did you sell furniture?

She said, because it's still my business and I'll do what I want.

I said, yikes.

So I came home and told him, and I called my lawyer and he said, the

lawyer's like, oh, I don't like that.

I said, me neither, because how do I know what else she was selling behind my back?

So I called her the next day.

Well, it took me two hours to call her.

I had to get up the nerve to call her because remember she's scary

called her and she said, what?

You don't want it anymore?

I said, I do want it, but I can't pay the same price.

If you know, if you're selling furniture.

And she said, well, the price is firm.

I said, okay.

She goes, okay, bye.

I was like, and he's like, oh, I bet she's gonna call you back.

You know, you spent two months with her.

There's no way she's gonna just let this die.

I said, I don't know about her.

She might just burn that furniture before she calls me back.

And she never did.

And I was, Hmm.

After I licked my wounds for a minute, I said, think I can do this by myself.

I don't think I need, you know, I think we can do it.

We, so that's what we did.

We started our own.

And you know, I always used to laugh his, I pull in the yard and his

truck looked like Sanford and Son.

He'd be singing the Sanford and Son song to me, because every his pickup truck

was always loaded down with furniture from here and there and everywhere.

And that's kinda how we started it.

It just, it was.

It's supposed to be a little differently, but it worked out great.

I'm, I'm thrilled with how it worked because I was gonna have to

pay her payments for three years and then I didn't have to do that.

I would've had instant customers, but.

This was better.

This was better.

And then, uh, one of her employees called me after I didn't buy,

and he said, what happened?

Oh God, what happened?

Why didn't, why didn't you buy it?

well, I couldn't, you know, I told him the story.

He said, well, if you ever need help on the weekends, or, you know, when I'm not

working with her, I'm, I'm happy to help.

So my first, the first few houses we did, Ray and I, and, and Bobby

did the houses and, you know, the pickup truck and the U-Haul.

um, then she found out that he was working with me and she fired him.

So I was like, uh oh, we gotta get a lot busier because now

I'm responsible for Bobby.

So that's what happened.

So it lit a little fire under us, and that's how it, how it all happened.

John and Connie: So did when she didn't sell it to you, did she also not move

out of the area like she was planning?

Andrea and Ray: She'd already bought a house in Savannah, so

she was already planning to move.

And I've heard from other stagers that they, she asked them if they wanted

to buy things, but the problem was her furniture wasn't in great shape.

It was rough.

I mean it, and so they were like, they didn't want it either.

And then after I didn't buy it, people had said, you know,

she has a terrible reputation.

I'm glad you didn't buy her business, because I would've been

digging myself out of a hole.

I'm glad to have had zero reputation rather than a negative one.

So

John and Connie: So you dodged a bullet there.

Andrea and Ray: to.

John and Connie: Wow, that's cool.

So you started as a, basically as a customer of staging the,

the concept of staging right?

When you were flipping houses.

So you learned the value of it from the other side

Andrea and Ray: Absolutely.

It makes a humongous

difference.

John and Connie: Yeah.

And then I would think that would, did that make it easier to sell?

Andrea and Ray: What's that?

John and Connie: Did that make it easier to sell to your customers when

you, you could say, look, I've been flipping houses and staging made all the

difference, or whatever your story was.

Andrea and Ray: Absolutely, because my, the main customers of our business is

they're flippers and real estate agents.

Um, flippers.

Flippers are a hard sell because they, they are pinching every single penny.

I understand that.

And, and then I think when they call me and they understand,

oh, she's a flipper too.

She, she gets me.

I think that's really helpful, and I think I was in the right

place at the right time going.

I, I'd been, he, we'd both been going to meetings, real estate meetings and

real estate investor meetings and the, you know, a lot of the flippers already

knew they knew us, so they weren't Then when I said, Hey, I'm doing this, oh,

at first they'd say, oh, that's Foo foo.

What does putting some pillows in a couch in a house do?

Well, we, I said, you know what?

A couple of the.

Big players.

I said, lemme just do one.

Lemme do one for it really cheap.

Let's see what happens.

So we did it, and I remember one of them, the one, one guy had a

little condo over in Madeira Beach.

Couldn't sell it, couldn't sell it.

Ray and I staged it by ourselves.

I don't think Bobby was available.

Then we staged it by ourselves.

That was a chore.

The, the elevator upstairs could, the elevator couldn't fit the couch.

So three floors.

The good thing, I got muscles here, but three floors, the two of us lugging

couches, lugging everything up, that one sold for $10,000 over asking as soon as

we took new pictures and got it staged.

So that guy at every meeting was yelling from the rooftops, okay

guys, I said, this is foo foo.

I didn't believe in it either.

I'm a believer now, so that was helpful to have some of the big

dogs, you know, yelling from the rooftops because a lot of,

John and Connie: Yes.

Andrea and Ray: of flippers don't believe in it.

Well, they do now because it's, it's this time, this a time of real estate is tough.

It's hard to sell houses right now, so you have to pull out all your bag

of tricks, staging's one of them.

John and Connie: Mm-hmm.

Well, good job.

Yeah.

I mean, gosh, we could talk about the, the, the psychology of it is huge, and

both from the, the seller's point of view and from the buyer's point of view.

Right.

We used to watch all those, uh, shows on HGTV, you know, and, and

you'd see somebody walk into a house and look around and say, oh, and,

and we saw this in real life too.

I, I could never buy this house.

I don't like this color.

It's like, wait, what?

It's a, it's a, you repaint, it's it's a room.

Andrea and Ray: this.

John and Connie: Yeah.

But it, it just, that really impressed upon me how much people, they,

they lock into a first impression.

And so that first impression is, is pretty powerful and, and you

need to make it where they can imagine themself in your space.

That was the, the, the big thing I, I learned, we learned about decluttering

from, again, life experience.

His, his mother is selling her own house, selling woman had

a 10,000 square foot house.

Oh my God.

It was packed to the gills.

Andrea and Ray: Oh boy, my gosh, that's a

John and Connie: Yeah, she, she was a collector.

She, yeah, she was a collector and she was really proud of

her stuff, and, and that's,

Andrea and Ray: got

John and Connie: know, yes, she was.

I called her the keeper of the dead people stuff.

Andrea and Ray: Well, that's the problem.

Once the people die who

John and Connie: Yeah.

Andrea and Ray: keeps their photo albums and their yearbooks, you feel bad

throwin' it away, but, but guess what?

You didn't feel that bad, did you?

John and Connie: Yeah, no, I, you know, it was quite, uh, it was quite liberating,

but when you're, when you're buying it, looking at a house to try to decide if

you want to buy it, you, you know, you see a bunch of, you know, a wall of

family photos of somebody else's family.

It's, that doesn't work.

It's off-putting.

Right?

Yeah.

Andrea and Ray: Exactly.

You have to be able to picture your own family in there.

Even we tell people, 'cause we also do a consultation that we'll

go in when somebody's staying in the house, not just a vacant.

A house that we do all the furniture, but when people are staying in the house

and going to live there during the sales process, we'll go in and tell them all the

things they can do to get more money for their house and you know, sell it faster.

And even when people have a big S on the wall for Smith or

whatever, like we don't want them thinking of the Smiths living here.

We want them thinking of the Joneses living here.

So take all of that down and, and

John and Connie: Yep.

Andrea and Ray: hard for people to understand that like, oh, people can

John and Connie: Mm-hmm.

Andrea and Ray: that.

John and Connie: No, they can't.

Andrea and Ray: time.

John and Connie: No.

People have a hard time seeing past this right here.

That's right.

Well, and even his mother on the second house that we sold for them, same thing.

I finally had to get the realtor in there going, you gotta save me here

because I can't get her to do this.

And she finally looked at her and said, look, it's not gonna sell

unless you do this, this, and this.

Andrea and Ray: And that's

John and Connie: I had the U-Haul truck.

Andrea and Ray: the bad guy.

Yeah, we could

John and Connie: Yeah.

Andrea and Ray: guy for you.

Let us

John and Connie: Yep.

Mm-hmm.

Andrea and Ray: the things like that.

They listen to

John and Connie: Yep.

Andrea and Ray: says stager, so they think that I know more about it than a

realtor, whatever gets them to do it and

John and Connie: Doesn't matter,

Andrea and Ray: this.

John and Connie: right?

Andrea and Ray: Yeah.

John and Connie: I didn't care.

Andrea and Ray: when they do it once, say they're happy.

John and Connie: Right.

I didn't care how it happened because it, it needed to happen and because we

did that one so well, the people that were buying it bought all the furniture.

Andrea and Ray: Oh really?

John and Connie: Mm-hmm.

Andrea and Ray: That

John and Connie: Yeah.

Andrea and Ray: bunch of problems, didn't it?

John and Connie: It did it.

I mean, they kept everything in the kitchen and air.

It was like, whoa, I like this.

Because they were moving in with us, so we, we had, so it was good.

Yeah.

Andrea and Ray: That was win, win, win.

John and Connie: Yeah.

And an extra $10,000 in their pocket.

Andrea and Ray: Triple, quadruple win.

John and Connie: Exactly.

Exactly.

So, so this is gonna be one of those questions that's not on our standard

list, but Ray, you very quickly said to Andrea, why don't you buy it?

What did you know about her that made that, you know, come

outta your mouth so quickly?

Andrea and Ray: Well, I mean, she's, she's a super hard worker.

She's always been a really hard worker.

Um, and when she taught, um, her and her girlfriends, the teachers

would come around and that they just complained all the time.

It was always complaints about the kids and the teachers and the Yeah, they just

all seemed like, all, but they all seemed like hated in their own way and, um.

So when we were gonna buy her business, the money we were gonna put down for

that, um, you know, then after being with her for, I was only with her for

a day and I told her, I said, I can't, I just can't be around her the way she

talks to me and I'm, we're trying to buy her business and the way she was

talking to her employees, I said, I just can't, I just can't be around her.

So I told her for, for the money we were gonna pay down, we could have bought

our own furniture and done it ourself.

So, um, so that's why I was like, why, why are we doing this?

And, you know, to stroke her a check for three years, that she

was gonna have her hands in it, um, and just be the way she was.

I just, it wasn't the route I wanted to go, and I don't, she didn't either.

So, um, so it really worked out well, you know, um, doing it that way.

I think teaching, you know, you, no matter how hard you work, you're making

the same money, so that gets a little, a little annoying after a while.

Yeah.

He's like, I'm, I'm working so hard and not making any more money.

Right.

Your own business is nice because you, the harder you

John and Connie: Yeah.

Andrea and Ray: the more money you make.

It's,

John and Connie: Right.

Andrea and Ray: yeah.

And she's much

John and Connie: But financing it or buying it from.

So buying it from that other person would've, would that have been sort

of like staying on and teaching?

Sure.

Andrea and Ray: Well, I, I, I don't, well, she, I don't think she would've

stayed on teaching, but I think it just would've, um, it would've

killed us to, to write her a check.

Just knowing, um, that for three years.

She was always gonna be kind of meddling in the business.

so, um, just to, just to do that, I'm like, let's just do it

ourselves and, and cut her out.

John and Connie: So how do you two work together?

What's the division of power, so to speak?

Andrea and Ray: So I still have a W2 job.

Um, so I still, uh, I still insurance.

We need insurance somewhere.

Yeah.

I've been with my company

25 years, so, um, you know, I'm, I'm kind of established and not going anywhere.

Um, for now.

Um.

Uh, but I, you know, on the weekends or at nights, I mean, a lot of times after work,

she'll just, the other night she needed to go do something at a house and her and

I ran and, you know, move some furniture.

Did, did a couple things.

So I help her on the weekends and, um, other ways I can, um, and around the

house and, you know, things like that.

John and Connie: So you listen real well.

Andrea and Ray: Yeah, try.

I

John and Connie: Good job.

Andrea and Ray: ruler and hits me all the hand, right?

The ruler.

I gotta get that teacher ruler out.

John and Connie: There you go.

So did you have, uh, kids still at home, uh, during the, when you started,

you know, made the transition from teaching into this business or, or from

Andrea and Ray: I

John and Connie: flipping into this?

Andrea and Ray: I have a 17-year-old.

He has a 28-year-old, and so he's out and be adulting, but yeah, my

17 year old's still here, so, yeah, and it was an interesting time.

It was COVID, it was, you know, starting a business during COVID is a little wacky.

John and Connie: Wow.

Andrea and Ray: but it all, it all worked out.

It all fell into place the way it was supposed to.

John and Connie: Nice.

So what have you learned that you wish you had learned before you started this?

Andrea and Ray: I wish I would've done this a long time ago.

John and Connie: Mm-hmm.

Andrea and Ray: I, I didn't, it's funny when I told my dad I was

gonna be a teacher, he didn't talk to me for three months.

He was so mad.

He is like, oh my God.

You are working.

My dad has his own business.

My mom has her own business.

Like this is not what we do.

I'm from Pennsylvania.

I don't think teachers have a great reputation.

They're always striking.

They're always this, they're always that.

And they kind of have that feeling of them.

And I just thought he knew, oh God, so you're gonna be stuck.

You're gonna start making 25,000 a year.

And I was making 50,000 at the end of 20 years of teaching after

20 years of experience, 50,000.

I knew he knew I could do more than that.

Um, and and is it a wonderful profession?

Absolutely.

Do I have really good, warm, fuzzy feelings from it.

Um, he always tells a story when I, we go out to eat and the server will be.

I think you were my second grade teacher and now they're grown up and

it's, that's lovely, lovely to stay

John and Connie: Hmm.

Andrea and Ray: that I did teach in.

So I do have wonderful feelings about it, but I just aren't, it just, it,

it got it, you know, it kind of has gotten not the same as it used to be.

And, um, we used to be able to do, when Gasparilla time came, we would

do make Pirate Punch and we'd turn it into a math lesson and do fractions

and all of that kind of went away.

It, it's, uh, if we catch you doing fun Friday, don't do Oh.

God, it's the last 45 minutes on a Friday.

They're seven.

They're seven.

Like if they, we, I felt like our job as second grade little kid

teachers, we make them love learning.

Then

John and Connie: Mm-hmm.

Andrea and Ray: and it gets harder, they already have the love of learning.

If are beating them up in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade, guess what?

They're never gonna love it.

John and Connie: Oh.

Andrea and Ray: I felt like.

I was like, I'm part of the problem.

So yeah.

So I feel like I, that's what I learned.

I really wish I would've done it earlier.

I wish I would've had the nerve.

I had girlfriends that were not in teaching and, and I'd complain

about it he said, they're like, why don't you do something else?

I go, there's nothing else I can do.

I am a teacher inside of me.

I am a teacher and that's all I can do.

And they're like, no, you can't.

You can be a corporate trainer.

You can be.

I was like, no, I can't do any of that.

Like that's, other people can do that, but not me.

I'm a teacher and that's it.

So that's the big lesson.

I wish I would've more confidence in myself, um, to, to branch out and do it.

So, but I

John and Connie: Well, at the right time.

At the right place.

Andrea and Ray: Yeah.

John and Connie: That's That's right.

Andrea and Ray: Yep.

John and Connie: Another question we'd like to ask is, so what's something

you've learned about the other person?

You guys have been together for a while, you've known each other a long time.

What's something you've learned about each other from the staging business working

together that you didn't know before?

Andrea and Ray: Well, for me, I, I always knew she was a hard worker.

Um, but since she's got her own business, I mean, she is

like really a gritty worker.

Um, and I tell people, I mean, she, she gets out there, she'll lift couches.

She doesn't just fluff pillows.

She's in there at night, uh, giving bids.

And I mean, she really is a hard worker.

Um, I really haven't seen a, another female like that work as hard as she does.

Aw, thanks.

She really is.

Um, I come from a long line of coal miners in Pennsylvania.

Like my, everybody was a coal miner.

They're, they're hard workers and she does correct me when I don't spell things.

And that's one of the things she liked about when we first got together.

When I was texting her.

She goes, your spelling is one point.

I know he was a good speller.

I like that.

Yeah.

John and Connie: Sometimes it's those little things, isn't it?

Andrea and Ray: Right.

I didn't have to get my red marker out and circle

anything.

Uh, what I

learned about him, let's see.

So I really appreciate how much he'll help me and like, you know,

anytime things come and he'll help me.

You know, like the other night when we, didn't feel like after

work going to a house and moving things around, but he still did it.

So I'm, I'm very appreciative of, of how much he'll chip in, um, when I

need him to, so it's, it's awesome.

Very giving and, and considerate of me and I appreciate that.

John and Connie: Cool.

What would you tell a a another couple that was either considering

going into business together or already in business together?

What advice would you give them about the, uh, you know, working together, balancing

the family and, and the business?

Andrea and Ray: It's hard, hard to balance.

It, it, it's, I mean, for her

John and Connie: Mm-hmm.

Andrea and Ray: her son's younger.

Mine's older.

I mean, but I, you know, I love Chase, like he's my own.

Um, um.

And, and we work well together with that.

But, um, it's, uh, you just have to, you just have to work together

and have a very good balance.

You like balance, you know, trying to, it's, it's hard to have a

balance having your own business.

It's, it's

John and Connie: Hmm.

Andrea and Ray: I'm kind of, my plan isn't to do this forever.

It's to go balls to the wall for like as long a few years and then sell it.

I'm not planning to work like this forever.

I kind of just, I feel like I have catching up to do since I

didn't make a lot of money so I can catch up, sell the business,

and start doing some other things.

So I. And do something you love.

I mean, like I said, you know, the, the house flipping was, was fun times.

'cause we were like, oh, we make good money, then we lose money.

But doing the staging for her, um, she loves it.

I'll try to throw my 2 cents.

Like, what about this picture?

She's like, no, it doesn't match.

Looks good.

I mean, I, I got actually one thing here at the house that's like, it's

my flavor and everything else is hers.

So I'm like, whatever, whatever, whatever you want.

But you know, just a couple that, you know, just find something

you like to do, uh, and do it.

And work hard at it, it does make our lives a lot easier when I'm happy.

I was pretty grum grumpy with teaching.

Pretty grumpy.

So, um, yeah, it, this is,

John and Connie: And exhausted.

Andrea and Ray: Exhausting.

Yes.

I mean, you know, I get to go to Home Goods and shop and, and it's a write off.

John and Connie: There you go.

Andrea and Ray: yeah, it's fun.

This is definitely a fun profession.

And, and it's funny because every woman, he always says that every time

we go to yard sales, because I'm a big yard sailor, thrift shopper, all that.

Um, every woman I tell, tell what I do like, oh, that sounds

like the most fun job ever.

John and Connie: yeah.

Andrea and Ray: They really, if I had a quarter for every time, oh yeah,

I'd be retired by now, because it really, it, and it's, it's a blast.

Like, you go in and you help people get their houses sold faster, they're happy

John and Connie: Hmm.

Andrea and Ray: you know, making more money on their house.

And, and it's great.

I, I love it.

John and Connie: Well, and you also not just do it for sales purposes.

Correct.

You also help, like if somebody has been in their house a while and can't seem to

get what it is, their vision out of their head into their room, you help with that.

Correct.

Andrea and Ray: Yes.

That's kind of a new thing that came from lots of realtors would, when

we'd go in and do those walk and talks and tell people what to do.

The realtors, a couple of realtors afterwards would say, um, I'm not

moving outta my house, but can you come over and do that for my house?

And I'm not even leaving.

I'm like.

Yeah, I guess I could.

So we, and I have other stagers that do it too, and so they, yeah,

everybody's loves that too, so I'm kind of starting to spread the word about

that, that it's a fairly new service.

But yeah, people sometimes just have a hard time.

They just, well, staging, they can't figure out, like if it's a blank

John and Connie: Mm-hmm.

Andrea and Ray: cannot do it themselves.

They just don't have the imagination to figure out

John and Connie: Mm-hmm.

Andrea and Ray: to put it.

They're good at other stuff.

Let handle this.

Just tell you what to do.

She also does, uh, she probably won't tell you, she does, uh,

some work with some charities.

Um, like the Joshua House.

She gave some furniture and, and

John and Connie: Great.

Andrea and Ray: of that, the woman's shelter.

So, um, which is, I think that's really dear and dear to her heart.

Do some charity work.

Yeah, that makes me happy to do that.

Yeah, because

John and Connie: Sure.

Sure.

Andrea and Ray: you know what Joshua House is.

It's a children's home in Lutz.

That

John and Connie: Yep.

Andrea and Ray: You know, the, the worst of the worst has happened to these kids.

They've been taken out of their homes for a million different horrible reasons.

And so when I was teaching in Lutz, the kids that went to Joshua

House would come to our classrooms.

So, you know, they'd leave with a garbage bag full of their stuff,

and that's how they would get there.

I really always felt good about helping those kids.

And then now I'm like, oh, now I can still help them just in a different way, bring

them dressers and beds and, and whatever.

So, um, that really makes me happy to be able to help them in some way

rather than just decorate houses, but make their lives, um, a little happier.

Because they've never probably had furniture that matched or

had maybe not even a comfy bed.

So now they do.

John and Connie: No.

And their own space.

Andrea and Ray: Yeah.

John and Connie: Yeah.

That's awesome.

And I, but I, I also wanna bring up something that you said, uh, on the

business side of things recently.

I, I heard you at a meeting that we both attended where you introduced what

you do, and you were proud, rightfully so, that, you had just this year, this

summer, been able to take a month vacation away from the business, out of state,

and the business ran fine without you.

And, and first of all, I wanna celebrate that and salute that.

That's huge.

There's an author, in case you or our listeners don't know.

There's an author named Mike Michalowicz, who wrote a book called Clockwork.

And it's one of a series of six books that he's written about

in entrepreneurship and, and in Clockwork, one of the things that he

gets business owners set up to do is they put it on the calendar

plan for that four or six week vacation and then make it happen.

It may take a year, it may take 18 months, but, but put it on the

calendar and then that's the goal.

And you mentioned selling your business.

The reason I'm bringing this up, 'cause you know, one of the things that, you

know, I hear business brokers talk about, I've, I've read books about it.

It's if you wanna sell a business, it's gotta be able to run without you.

If you are the business, you can't sell it.

Right.

'cause you can't sell yourself and leave.

Andrea and Ray: Yep.

Right.

John and Connie: Yeah.

If you're the keeper.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You become the bottleneck.

So being able to do what you did, I mean, that's like a huge step

towards building that; showing that that business can, can run,

Is saleable.

That you've, you've set up systems and so forth.

So, uh, is, is there anything that you would share about how, how you made that

happen that others could learn from?

Andrea and Ray: Sure.

Um, I am definitely still working on those systems.

I didn't go and never get a call.

I, but I definitely could go on a hike and I didn't have to worry

that things were falling apart.

So, I have been working really hard to get things in place.

Now, do I have an incredible team?

Oh my God, absolutely.

Bobby that I stole is still with me, you know, almost five years later and

he tells me he is not going anywhere until, you know, they're putting them

in the ground, is what he tells me.

And he's 62, so he's not super young, but he is still, he, he loves it.

We have a great time.

He's a graduate too, for sure.

Yeah.

Um, so yeah, I, I definitely had to get a lot of things in place.

I had to that, that's it.

The number one thing was that great crew that I could depend on you know.

And I don't really stage myself much anymore.

The crew goes every day.

I send them the list, take this furniture outta this house, put it in

here, and I don't even really check to make sure that that dining room

table will fit in the next house.

My crew looks at the house they're taking it out of.

They make sure everything's good.

Then they make sure that the, you know, if they have to stop at the warehouse

and get a smaller table or a bigger table or whatever, they handle all that.

I don't have to micromanage them.

I don't have to do any of that.

They're real live adults that handle it, and it's absolutely wonderful.

Um, I definitely wanna get a lot better at automating things.

Uh, you know, I've kind of.

Listen to podcasts and things like that, that say to, you know, get a, a answering

service that'll answer the calls.

I don't think that's the best idea for me because I feel like when a new flipper

calls me and I, they tell me this is their first flip and they found me on Google,

I'm like your first flip, good for you.

I'm so excited.

Like I make a big deal outta it because I know it's a big deal.

John and Connie: It is

Andrea and Ray: an answering service is gonna care about that.

John and Connie: no.

Andrea and Ray: then I tell them, Hey, do you know about some of

the investor meetings in town?

They're like, no, I haven't gone to any of those.

I was like, well, I'm gonna send you a list.

I have a list of investor meetings I send to them.

So I feel like that kind of stuff, I feel like I just need to answer the phone.

I don't think I can farm that one out.

which is fine with me because I like that.

I like talking to.

You know, the realtors, I, I like the whole real estate,

wild, wild west of real estate.

It's a crazy world and I like it.

So, um, yeah, so I, I, I've gotten some things in place.

I'm still, well, every business is a work in progress, right?

That we're all, we're all trying to get the right systems in place.

So I'm, I'm now expanding and doing more of those walk and talks.

I'm kind of thinking about expanding it a lot, like Sarasota,

Orlando kind of get that.

So I definitely need to get things in place to have that, because I

can't answer every call for that one.

So, yeah, so I'm, I'm, a work in progress

John and Connie: All right.

It sounds it, it

Andrea and Ray: big

John and Connie: sounds like the big piece of that was you trained

people so that you could trust them.

Andrea and Ray: Yeah.

John and Connie: I mean, you must have hired trustworthy people, first of all.

Or figured out a way to, you know, manage that: who stays and who goes.

But then you're trusting them, you're turning it over to

them and letting them do it.

So it's not, you're not a micromanager.

Micromanager.

Andrea and Ray: Nope.

Right.

I I'm definitely not.

They handle

John and Connie: had a lot of those in our lives.

Andrea and Ray: They're trying to control every single little thing that's hard.

That,

John and Connie: It is hard.

Andrea and Ray: fun for anybody, not fun

John and Connie: No,

Andrea and Ray: not fun for the

John and Connie: no,

Andrea and Ray: fun for anybody.

John and Connie: no.

So that was never a challenge for you to, to overcome that, that

tendency to, to, it's my business.

I need to have my hand on everything.

Andrea and Ray: A little bit at the beginning when I was stewing

all the staging, it was two movers and me, two movers and me.

Um, and then, you know, I'm a big universe believer and it, I think at

the exact right time a girl came to me that I was actually buying something

from her on Facebook marketplace.

I, when we were going back and forth and she told me where she lives, I was like,

God, that's like a half an hour away.

I said, do you ever come over by the outlet mall?

I live right there.

She goes, oh yeah, my son lives around the corner.

I said, can I pay you $10 extra and you bring it to my house?

She goes, yeah, sure.

So I had, I, I went to the door, got it.

And I had my shirt on and she said, are you a stager?

I said, yeah.

She goes, I just retired and I would love, do you ever need any help?

And she's been with me now for three years.

so you just never know where the exact right

John and Connie: Exactly.

Andrea and Ray: the universe is gonna bring them to you

at exactly the right time.

And

John and Connie: Mm-hmm.

Andrea and Ray: is fantastic.

I am, oh God.

So, so lucky to have the people that I have.

yeah, I, I, the hiring, I don't, didn't even seek out the people.

They kind of came to me like, like magic, but

John and Connie: because you are open and you were, and you're

willing to work with people.

'cause a lot of people, they wanna be the boss instead of

it being a, A collaborative.

Yeah.

Andrea and Ray: yeah, no, I'm good with not.

They, they are so wonderful.

I don't need I, feel like I am kind of controlling.

But

John and Connie: that also special way.

Andrea and Ray: you see, I didn't say a word.

John and Connie: Well done, Ray.

See, right there is a trick, right?

There is a secret observe if somebody's listening to this on audio.

Andrea and Ray: They've proven that they can do it and I don't need to be there

John and Connie: Exactly

Andrea and Ray: So

John and Connie: right.

Andrea and Ray: know, probably a little bit of me and a little bit of them.

We, we all just, we all just really click very, very

John and Connie: Right.

Andrea and Ray: It's a great crew.

John and Connie: Good.

Good job.

Andrea and Ray: Thanks.

John and Connie: job.

Is there anything you, you would like to pass on to somebody that's

either considering being a stager or just having their own business?

S

Andrea and Ray: Um, I would say you can do more than you think you can do.

I think that was my big thing was, darn it, why did I not think I could do this?

And I could, and so.

John and Connie: Mm-hmm.

Andrea and Ray: Yeah, and you get, I think your over your lifespan,

you're taught to be a good worker, pay taxes and they don't really teach

you to kind of be an entrepreneur.

So, um, I think

John and Connie: No,

Andrea and Ray: in her, she had it, um, and just the opportunity

arose and then she just took it by the horns and ran with it.

My dad knew I had it, but.

I didn't know I had it, so

And luckily, I feel like my son has it too.

He's, he's working on buying laptops.

He fixes 'em up and flips 'em and flips 'em, and I'm like, right, he's gonna be,

John and Connie: Fabulous.

Andrea and Ray: footsteps.

I'm really excited about that too.

Yeah, I

John and Connie: Good job.

Andrea and Ray: in his eye, I guess.

Really excited about it.

So

John and Connie: Oh, that's wonderful.

Good job.

Something else to celebrate.

Awesome.

Well thank you so much.

Yes.

Thank you for spending this time with us.

This has been great.

And uh, we.

We will make sure that we put, you know, contact information in our show notes for,

you know, how to reach you if somebody's local or, you know, if I, I don't know,

you could wind up going into consulting if somebody called you from outta state

and said, Hey, I need some help with this.

Andrea and Ray: If I have to fly there and help them, I'll do it.

John and Connie: Yeah.

You know,

and, and I could go along with you and carry your bags.

Andrea and Ray: I might need help.

I might need

John and Connie: Here we go.

Andrea and Ray: Okay,

John and Connie: right.

Glad we got that settled.

That's right.

Thank you so much.

Thanks.

We appreciate it.