Hi, so today we are celebrating
John:Damien and Matilda Relyea of
John:the Relyea Insurance Group.
John:Hi guys.
Damion:Hi.
Damion:How's it going?
John:We're happy to
John:have you here with us.
Connie:Yeah, thank you for joining us.
Matilda:Thank you.
Damion:Thanks for having us.
John:Our theme is family, celebrating
John:family businesses, small family
John:businesses particularly, and you guys
John:I think fit that pretty perfectly.
John:So how did you get started
John:in family business?
Damion:Yeah.
Damion:Yeah.
Damion:I mean, do you want to start with
Damion:a little bit of our back story?
Matilda:Yeah.
Matilda:So my, my background was I was
Matilda:pursuing medicine at the same time.
Matilda:I sort of got into real estate and
Matilda:that ended up being the route that
Matilda:I stayed on a little bit closer.
Matilda:So I sold real estate.
Matilda:I recruited real estate agents.
Matilda:Damien's background was sort of
Matilda:varied starting in, started in
Matilda:plumbing, did a couple of things.
Matilda:And we were introduced.
Matilda:To to business, I guess by
Matilda:connection in New York, which is
Matilda:where we're from upstate New York.
Matilda:And that those kind of
Matilda:business connections originally
Matilda:actually not an insurance.
Matilda:They ended up bringing us to
Matilda:Florida and about six months
Matilda:after we moved to Florida.
Matilda:Having spent some time working in the
Matilda:insurance realm, we decided to start
Matilda:our own insurance business together.
Matilda:I should say he convinced me to
Matilda:work in an insurance business with
Matilda:him because that's a little bit
Matilda:more what it was in the beginning.
Matilda:But since then, about a year and a half
Matilda:coming up on two years, actually, I
Matilda:would say we've been insurance business.
John:Congrats.
John:Yeah.
John:Did either one of you guys come from have
John:a family business in your background?
Damion:No.
Damion:So both of our families are pretty
Damion:job minded, I guess you would say.
Damion:Your dad's an RN, your mom's a
Damion:accountant, my mom is a English teacher.
Damion:Yeah.
Damion:So we don't have really any background
Damion:as far as learning from someone as
Damion:running a small family business.
Damion:No.
Matilda:My uncle had a pizza shop.
Matilda:How's the piece of shop that I worked
Matilda:in a little bit, but, but our, our
Matilda:lineage is not really entrepreneurship.
Matilda:Well, congrats for stepping
Matilda:out and doing that.
Matilda:Yeah.
Matilda:Cause that is scary.
Damion:Yeah.
John:Any, any particular reactions
John:from family were, were they cautionary
John:about you when you decided to do this?
Damion:Not really.
Damion:We've always just kind of been.
Damion:I guess you would stay hardheaded
Damion:pretty straightforward.
Damion:Like we're going to get
Damion:this done no matter what.
Damion:So maybe a little bit.
Damion:But we also didn't really consult with
Damion:them because none of them own a business.
Damion:So we weren't going to ask other people
Damion:who didn't own businesses, what they
Damion:thought about us starting a business.
Damion:We talked to other business owners.
Damion:But yeah, I mean, obviously parents
Damion:always want the best for you.
Damion:But we've always just
Damion:kind of been that way.
Damion:I've wanted to own a business since I
Damion:was probably 15 or maybe even younger.
Damion:I had small variations of my
Damion:own businesses, I guess you
Damion:could say, in high school that
Damion:weren't technically on the books.
Damion:But yeah, they're, they're pretty
Damion:supportive.
Matilda:Yeah.
Matilda:Yeah.
Matilda:And I think, and to your point, we
Matilda:learned from business owners, we're
Matilda:really fortunate actually to learn from
Matilda:other business owners really early on.
Matilda:Like, don't take advice from people
Matilda:you wouldn't trade places with.
Matilda:Yeah.
Matilda:And that was a big deal
Matilda:because I love my parents.
Matilda:You love your parents, but we
Matilda:wouldn't trade places with them.
Matilda:In fact, a lot of what we do is for them.
Matilda:So you, you can't take advice from
Matilda:the same people you want to help.
Matilda:Even though we have so much respect,
Matilda:we've learned so much from them.
Matilda:Absolutely.
Matilda:That's a writer
John:downer right there.
John:Wow.
John:Very good.
John:Very good.
John:So what do you guys love
John:most about working together?
Damion:Yeah.
Damion:I think it's that phrase, just
Damion:being able to work together.
Damion:When we were working jobs, we
Damion:weren't in the job market or I guess
Damion:sphere, you could say very long.
Damion:We didn't pray for other people very long.
Damion:But we just hated being apart and
Damion:we were also building somebody
Damion:else's business all the time.
Damion:And there's nothing wrong with that.
Damion:We worked with great people.
Damion:We still have great
Damion:relationships with them.
Damion:We just got sick of
Damion:being apart all the time.
Damion:It just didn't really make sense for us.
Damion:So now we're together all the time.
Damion:We're building something
Damion:together for our family.
Damion:And it's just so much more fun.
Damion:It's so much more fulfilling.
Damion:I think people and us included, we
Damion:kind of went through the motions.
Damion:We were just showing up collecting a
Damion:paycheck and then, you know, that was it.
Damion:And now we're actually building something.
Damion:We're on an adventure.
Damion:Yeah.
Matilda:And I think that to your, to
Matilda:your point as well about having more
Matilda:freedom and choice, like when you were
Matilda:working, when Damien was working at an
Matilda:insurance agency, you have a ceiling.
Matilda:And that's, I mean, that's true of
Matilda:anything, like when you're working
Matilda:for somebody, you have a ceiling
Matilda:because you have opposing interests.
Matilda:Their goal is to pay you as
Matilda:little as possible and get as much
Matilda:value from you, which is fine.
Matilda:That's their business.
Matilda:And your goal is to make
Matilda:as much money as possible.
Matilda:And in some people's case, do
Matilda:as little work as possible.
Matilda:So you really are kind of at odds.
Matilda:And he just saw the opportunity of like,
Matilda:I can do everything my employer is doing.
Matilda:All he's doing is buying, you know,
Matilda:insurance and buying me leads and
Matilda:making me come and sit in an office.
Matilda:And I can do those two things by myself.
Matilda:And so he's like, he made it that simple.
Matilda:And I think that was key, honestly,
Matilda:at first for insurance, just
Matilda:making it that simple and saying,
Matilda:Well, I can do this stuff myself.
Damion:Yeah, I think one of my
Damion:skills is explaining things like I'm
Damion:explaining it to a fourth grader,
Damion:because that's how I operate.
Damion:I'm like a fourth grade level, so I
Damion:can break things down pretty simple.
John:That is huge.
John:Simplicity.
John:Simplicity is an art.
John:I don't, have you ever heard of
John:the physicist Richard Feynman?
John:No, he is well known.
John:In fact, it's called
John:the Feynman technique.
John:And it's basically, if you can't take
John:something and explain it to an eight
John:year old, you don't understand it.
John:You're right up there with
John:a brilliant physicist.
John:So is there, is there any challenge
John:that you've overcome together in
John:your journey that other couples
John:might benefit from hearing about?
Damion:Yeah.
Damion:I mean, I'd say so the first
Damion:year in business, the first
Damion:couple of years in business for
Damion:most businesses is pretty tough.
Damion:You're investing a lot.
Damion:You're not necessarily always seeing
Damion:the return that you want to see.
Damion:In the beginning, it was very much
Damion:separating work from not work.
Damion:Because we started off
Damion:in our small apartment.
Damion:It's a very small apartment.
Damion:We've worked from home.
Damion:We did everything from home,
Matilda:everything,
Matilda:desks in the living room.
Matilda:Not a good idea.
Matilda:It was fun.
Matilda:Like
Damion:it was a grind.
Damion:It was fun.
Damion:It was the beginning.
Damion:But it got to the point where it
Damion:was like, man, this is not healthy.
Damion:Cause when you're sitting down
Damion:relaxing, you can see your desk and
Damion:you're like, wow, I should be working.
Damion:And it's like nine o'clock at
Damion:night and you should not be working
Damion:because you've worked all day.
Damion:So yeah, just one learning
Damion:how to work as a couple.
Damion:But also learning how to separate
Damion:that when it's not business, you're
Damion:spending time going to dinner, not
Damion:talking about, Oh, Hey, we need to
Damion:buy this and we need to do that.
Damion:All right.
Damion:What's the P and L look like just being
Damion:able to spend time together and separate
Matilda:it.
Matilda:And I mean, for most people in new
Matilda:to business, I mean, your number
Matilda:one problem is cashflow, like at the
Matilda:top of pretty much everyone's list.
Matilda:And so we were, we were profitable our
Matilda:first year in business, I would say.
Matilda:That business was making money, but
Matilda:we were not making money which is
Matilda:the case for a lot of people because,
Matilda:you know, even in the beginning when
Matilda:you're succeeding, you know, we're
Matilda:like, Oh, yes, like, this is great.
Matilda:Look at our profit margins.
Matilda:And then we're like, Oh, but we have
Matilda:bills and expenses and all of that.
Matilda:And so it was cool to come out of.
Matilda:You know, that phase but I think
Matilda:that's kind of the big, a big challenge
Matilda:and it can cause a lot of stress.
Matilda:Like financial stress can
Matilda:leak into your personal life.
Matilda:So, yeah, I think we were blessed
Matilda:to have really good influences just
Matilda:in our personal life of how to have.
Matilda:you know, a good marriage.
Matilda:And that's something that's a continual
Matilda:work in progress for everybody.
Matilda:But if you can't separate that, like
Matilda:the financial stress, it can like
Matilda:really, you know, be hard on a marriage.
John:Yeah, I agree.
John:I want to call out something you just
John:said that kind of slipped on by, which
John:was the idea of financial stress can
John:leak into the into the relationship.
John:I think it's A much stronger
John:statement would be appropriate.
John:I think what I've read is like the,
John:that's one of the biggest problems
John:that couples in business together
John:face is that is the financial
John:stress stresses the relationship.
John:Yeah.
Matilda:And I mean, number
Matilda:one cause of divorce.
Matilda:As far as I know, it's financial stress.
Matilda:You guys can correct me because I, you
Matilda:have your, you have your facts straight
Matilda:a lot more than I do, I think, but but
Matilda:yeah, that financial piece is big, even
Matilda:for people who don't own a business.
Matilda:So when you own a business and it's like
Matilda:suddenly everything, you know, the way
Matilda:you say is like, you have to hunt and
Matilda:kill and everything you're going to eat.
Matilda:That's the most, how it feels.
Matilda:That's kind of like a primal
Matilda:example, but like when you're right.
Matilda:Deal by deal, commission by commission.
Damion:That's what it is.
Damion:There's no taking it easy today.
Damion:Cause you're out, you're
Damion:literally hunting.
Damion:If you don't kill, like you don't
Damion:eat, like you gotta, you gotta
Damion:put in work, make sure it happens.
Matilda:Well, and being together
Matilda:24 seven is another stressor,
Damion:right?
Damion:Yeah, I mean, we love it.
Damion:Like we're, we, we understand that.
Damion:Yeah, we've done really good at it.
Damion:But we also got to the point
Damion:where I got an office space.
Matilda:We learn our,
Matilda:we learn how to navigate
Damion:it.
Damion:Yeah, yeah.
Damion:Because we'll distract each other.
Damion:When we're together all the time,
Damion:we won't get as much work done
Damion:because we're just hanging out.
Damion:We want to have fun.
Damion:We want to talk.
Damion:So I ran, we ran a small office
Damion:space for me to go to during the day.
John:So one of the ways you
John:figured out to work more effectively
John:business wise was to create a
John:little separate physical separation.
Matilda:Yeah, 100%.
Matilda:When he's home like today he came
Matilda:home from the office early and he
Matilda:says, Oh, I'm coming home early.
Matilda:I'm like, Okay.
Matilda:I'm not going to get anything done.
Matilda:And I know that.
Matilda:And that's, you know, obviously
Matilda:I can work if I have something
Matilda:booked, you know, it's easy.
Matilda:Cause I, it's booked.
Matilda:I can be there.
Matilda:But yeah, I think we do our best work
Matilda:separately and it's fun to be together
Matilda:all the time, but we did have to kind of
Matilda:find that, you know, balance, especially
Matilda:because for us, some couples maybe can
Matilda:sit there and work together for us.
Matilda:The majority of our work
Matilda:is done over the phone.
Matilda:So you can't really have, you know, Two
Matilda:conversations, phone conversations going
Matilda:in the same, same small space, same room.
Matilda:So that does make it a little tough.
Matilda:So we did have to kind of work
Matilda:that out and get another space.
John:Okay.
John:Yeah, we actually are similar position.
John:Connie's computer is, desk is right there.
John:And so if we both wanted to be on the same
John:zoom call, we would have problems with
John:echo and you know, all that kind of stuff.
John:So hence we sit next to each
John:other for, for coaching and, or I
Matilda:moved my computer
Matilda:into the, into the dining room.
John:Yeah.
John:No, they're into the house.
John:Yeah.
John:Well, there's not a problem.
Matilda:Yeah, absolutely.
Matilda:And we've done
John:that too.
John:Is there anything that you, anything
John:about being, working together in a
John:family business that, you know, now that
John:you wish you'd known when you started?
John:I know it's kind of, you're
John:kind of new in the game yet.
John:I mean, yeah.
Matilda:I think, and I
Matilda:think we've said this before.
Matilda:I think if we knew, I don't want to
Matilda:say, I don't want to use the word hard.
Matilda:I don't really like that word hard.
Matilda:We work on changing our vocabulary
Matilda:and having the right words coming
Matilda:out, but I think if we had known.
Matilda:Certain things we maybe
Matilda:wouldn't have started.
Matilda:So I actually think that that
Matilda:phrase ignorance is bliss
Matilda:and that can come off wrong.
Matilda:We're very glad for the decisions
Matilda:we've made, but I think if you know too
Matilda:much, it can actually be a detriment.
Matilda:So we, we talk to people a lot who,
Matilda:I mean, they want to start a business
Matilda:or maybe they're, they're doing what
Matilda:they're doing and they want to have
Matilda:something else or other things going.
Matilda:And it's like, The main thing that you,
Matilda:you just say a lot is just do it, like
Matilda:stop talking about it, just do it, because
Matilda:if you, you can't research it all the
Matilda:way, you can't explore it all the way,
Matilda:like, one, the more you know, could be
Matilda:detrimental to you, you just, potentially,
Matilda:and two, it's never going to happen.
Matilda:Yeah, no for sure.
Matilda:You're never
Damion:going to get all the answers,
Matilda:right?
Matilda:No, no.
Matilda:And if you get them all,
Matilda:you might not want them all.
Matilda:So you might as well just go
Matilda:through it until you have the
Damion:result you want.
Damion:Yeah.
Damion:Yeah.
Damion:I mean, we'll have people who ask
Damion:us you know, whether it's family,
Damion:whether it's friends, cause like we
Damion:haven't done a lot yet, but we've
Damion:been self employed for almost two
Damion:years now, fully the both of us.
Damion:Like that's an accomplishment.
Damion:And they'll, they'll just act
Damion:like, okay, I'm going to do this.
Damion:I'm thinking about that.
Damion:And I'm like, Just do it.
Damion:Like there's nothing
Damion:else I can say to you.
Damion:Like until you start going through
Damion:the action we're not going to
Damion:be able to have a conversation
Damion:cause you just don't get it.
Damion:And that's not to be offensive.
Damion:That's not to be rude.
Damion:But when you're talking to another
Damion:business owner, the conversation is just.
Damion:There's more depth.
Damion:There's more conviction.
Damion:There's more relatability.
Damion:So you just have to start.
Damion:Or it's just never going to happen.
Damion:Yeah, yeah.
Damion:And we don't know what you don't know.
Damion:Right?
Damion:Yeah, like,
Matilda:yeah, exactly.
Matilda:And that's like.
Matilda:Like again, like that's actually a gift
Matilda:for the first, you know, a little bit,
Matilda:because if we had known like some of the
Matilda:stressors or some of the things that we
Matilda:would encounter not say that we wouldn't
Matilda:have done it, but would we have been as
Matilda:excited or like as ambitious about it?
Matilda:Maybe not like you never know.
Matilda:Maybe we would have been like, Oh,
Matilda:well, if we can foresee, we're going
Matilda:to encounter this financial stress.
Matilda:Maybe we shouldn't invest so much here.
Matilda:That's not how it works.
Matilda:You don't get to.
Matilda:look down the road and feel like, Oh, I
Matilda:should do this or I shouldn't do this.
Matilda:You just have to do it.
Matilda:And we're just really thankful
Matilda:we had the influences.
Matilda:To help us set ourselves up right
Matilda:and make the right decisions.
Matilda:You know, for us starting a business,
Matilda:we were fortunate to be debt free.
Matilda:That was an important thing for us,
Matilda:because when you're investing a lot of
Matilda:money, the lower your cost of living,
Matilda:the better, and we see people around
Matilda:us who sometimes they don't have those
Matilda:influences, or maybe they haven't listened
Matilda:to the same voices and, you know, we're
Matilda:just thankful that we did because we
Matilda:set ourselves up in the beginning.
Matilda:Had we not done that...
Damion:Cause if we had, you know, two
Damion:car payments, a truck payment, I think
Damion:the average car payment in America
Damion:right now, I just heard the other
Damion:day, it was like $600-$700 a month.
Damion:Like that's insane.
Damion:That's a lot and there's nothing wrong.
Damion:Like if you want to do
Damion:that, we're not against it.
Damion:We are for our family because
Damion:we know being debt free has
Damion:created a lot of options for us.
Damion:We don't owe anybody anything.
Damion:So we can take that $700 and turn it into
Damion:$2, 500 by investing in our business.
Damion:So yeah, again, I think.
Damion:I'm never one to, we're kind
Damion:of going off on a rampage.
Damion:Yeah, it's, I don't want to.
John:No, that's, that really comes
John:back to my previous, you know,
John:question about, well, what would
John:you, you know, is there something
John:you'd tell other business owners?
John:And that I think managing debt and keeping
John:your debt as low as possible is a huge
John:you know, wisdom, point of wisdom, I'll
John:say that, that a lot of people just
John:don't get in our culture of payments?
John:You know how much...
John:subscription model; everything's
John:a subscription today.
Damion:Yeah.
Damion:Yeah.
Damion:No.
Damion:And I think one thing that I would add
Damion:is just comparison is the thief of joy.
Damion:That's what we've heard.
Damion:One thing we did during that, I completely
Damion:cut out social media for a time period.
Damion:Because when you're looking at
Damion:Instagram, when you're looking at it,
Damion:like, are there some people on there
Damion:that probably live that lifestyle?
Damion:I think absolutely.
Damion:There's probably some,
Damion:but most of them don't.
Damion:I think it's too easy for people just
Damion:to post what their life looks like.
Damion:And you're like, man, why are, why does
Damion:it feel like we're hemorrhaging money?
Damion:And there's other people who are out there
Damion:living a lifestyle that we want to live.
Damion:So just like doing what you need to
Damion:do, I think too many people think
Damion:it's easy to start a business now
Damion:when it really is like, it's one of
Damion:the hardest things that you will do.
Matilda:And I think you could
Matilda:probably make more sense of
Matilda:this in the psychological realm.
Matilda:But we, we talked recently about
Matilda:like, there's this mindset of.
Matilda:Like just this life path that people
Matilda:follow almost by default of like,
Matilda:you go to school, come out, you get
Matilda:a job, you meet a guy, or if you're,
Matilda:you meet somebody, you get a dog.
Matilda:You get a house, you have a baby
Matilda:and like we see people who, and
Matilda:there's nothing wrong with that path
Matilda:at all, like, but we see people who
Matilda:they don't actually make choices.
Matilda:They don't by not making a choice all
Matilda:of their life choices happen by default
Matilda:and happens to follow that same model.
Matilda:And I'm like, wow, I'm so not that
Matilda:there's anything wrong with those things.
Matilda:I'm like, I'm just so glad that we
Matilda:took a step back and like evaluated
Matilda:some things and chose to make a couple
Matilda:different choices along the way.
Matilda:And we just see so many people who
Matilda:follow and some of those people who
Matilda:even say they want to own a business,
Matilda:but there's, there's still making
Matilda:all those other this cascade of
Matilda:decisions that's preventing that.
Matilda:Maybe there's some psychological
Matilda:explanation for that.
Matilda:I don't know.
Matilda:But it's interesting to see.
John:I'm not a psychologist.
John:Yes, but I would agree with you.
John:There's a lot there that, you know,
John:living by default those, they're addicted
Matilda:to it.
Matilda:You know, they're addicted
Matilda:to a new car every year.
Matilda:They're addicted to, you know, whatever
Matilda:that they're, they're going out for
Matilda:dinner three or four times a week.
Matilda:And, you know, the fancy alcohols
Matilda:and the things like that.
Damion:Yeah.
Damion:And it
Matilda:becomes an issue That they get
Matilda:locked in to where they're they're at,
Matilda:instead of pulling out like you guys
Matilda:did and saying, no, we don't need all
Damion:that.
Damion:Yeah.
Damion:Yeah.
Damion:And I don't think there's anything wrong
Damion:with those things about once you've for
Damion:a period of time for a period of time.
Damion:Yeah, exactly.
Damion:Yeah.
Damion:It gets so radical.
Damion:And maybe that's not, maybe that
Damion:gets people a little upset, but if
Damion:you, I just heard it the other day.
Damion:I don't remember what it was, but
Damion:if you want to win, you better be
Damion:radical at whatever you want to win.
Damion:Cause when you're, it goes
Damion:back to sports, right?
Damion:Like if you want to win the super
Damion:bowl, you're not going to win the
Damion:super bowl by playing golf part time,
Damion:like during the season, they are
Damion:obsessed and radical with winning.
Damion:You have to do that.
Damion:You can't have your cake and eat it too.
Damion:You have to cut it out
Damion:for a period of time.
Damion:And then once you've reached a certain
Damion:point, you can probably bring those things
Damion:slowly back in or back in completely.
Damion:Yeah,
John:it's, it's it's kind of an
John:impatience at getting, reaching the goal.
John:You know, I, I want to have this
John:lifestyle or this, you know, I will
John:eventually want to achieve this.
John:And, and the mountain that they've
John:got to climb to get there seems,
John:just seems to get bigger, so then
John:they start trying to take shortcuts.
John:"Well, I'll just buy this now."
John:And I instant, gratification.
John:Yeah.
John:We're in such an instant
John:gratification world.
John:Yeah.
John:Interesting that you mentioned the, you
John:know, the kind of the, the cultural models
John:of, you know, like go to, go to school,
John:get a job, have a baby, all those things.
John:I mean, yes, there is a, there's an
John:assumption in, in, in the culture
John:of, of what, or has been for a long
John:time of what a family looks like
John:and what an ideal life looks like.
John:And when I was, when we were growing up.
John:You know, the idea was to have a pension.
John:You work for the same, you want to work
John:for the same company for 40 years and
John:get a pension and the company would
John:fund that, you know, pension for your
John:rest of your life, for your retirement.
John:And that all went away.
John:Yeah.
John:There's so many things that
John:we've seen just go away.
John:And, but, and talking about family,
John:as we discussed doing family
John:businesses for, for this podcast.
John:We've also got to expand our
John:model of what is a family.
John:It's a traditional you know, look of
John:a family and has been you know, they
John:oftentimes the, the founder, the person
John:that runs the business is the male.
John:And you know, there was a, a cultural
John:expectation of subservient females
John:in the, you know, fifties and
John:before, and all of that has changed.
John:And so, you know, we've, we got to embrace
John:the, the variety that exists today.
John:Yeah.
Matilda:And I think I, like we talked
Matilda:about this a little bit when we, when
Matilda:we met previously that there's different
Matilda:models of a family business for us because
Matilda:we are You know, I guess you would say
Matilda:a first generation family business.
Matilda:We don't have the same dynamics
Matilda:that maybe a second and third
Matilda:generation business would have for us.
Matilda:We just have us.
Matilda:So it does come down to that.
Matilda:Like, like you said, there are
Matilda:some preconceived models and, and
Matilda:some of those things are good.
Matilda:And some of those things are not
Matilda:some, some work, some didn't.
Matilda:And it's just like, how do
Matilda:you, how do we have the best?
Matilda:highest functioning team.
Matilda:And that's something that we talk about
Matilda:because there are times where we have
Matilda:to shift and be like, okay, if your,
Matilda:if your plate is full and mine's not
Matilda:that I need to take something off your
Matilda:plate and to be able to kind of make
Matilda:those shifts and acknowledge when,
Matilda:you know, I have to acknowledge just,
Matilda:just by the virtue of the way our
Matilda:business runs, Damon does our sales.
Matilda:I focus on recruiting
Matilda:and building our team.
Matilda:So he does have.
Matilda:More of that stress at this
Matilda:point in our business, just
Matilda:by virtue of where things are.
Matilda:And so yeah, we definitely have to be kind
Matilda:of conscious of that dynamic and making
Matilda:sure things are moving fluidly because it
Matilda:can be really easy for one person to be
Matilda:bogged down more than the other for sure.
Matilda:And that's going to happen
Matilda:anyway in a, in any kind of
Damion:relationship, right?
Damion:Yeah,
Matilda:absolutely.
John:So do you network with any
John:other family business owners?
Matilda:Yeah, I would definitely say so.
Matilda:Yeah.
Matilda:We are big internet, we decided pretty
Matilda:early on in our business and every
Matilda:model is different, but our business
Matilda:is pipeline built, built upon leads.
Matilda:So we decided we wanted to buy
Matilda:higher quality leads and network.
Matilda:That was kind of our, our goal of how
Matilda:we wanted our business to be built.
Matilda:And we've done that pretty successfully.
Matilda:Now there's still phone calls
Matilda:involved sometimes, but.
Matilda:That that network of modeling we do we
Matilda:did join a couple of networking groups
Matilda:and we've had to evaluate over time what
Matilda:works and what doesn't, but networking
Matilda:has been really successful for us.
Matilda:And I would say that there are probably
Matilda:several family businesses among
Matilda:people that we, yeah, that we work
John:with.
John:Any, any specific lessons or takeaways
John:that you've gained from having that
John:interaction with those other businesses?
Damion:Yeah, I wouldn't say
Damion:necessarily as far as like owning
Damion:a family business on that side.
Damion:But one thing that we're really good at
Damion:is getting around other people that are a
Damion:lot better and more experienced than us.
Damion:So I mean, countless.
Damion:Yeah.
Damion:Countless lessons.
Damion:The only reason we have what we
Damion:have and are going to continue
Damion:to grow is because of the people
Damion:we've surrounded ourselves with.
Damion:Yeah, so that's, yeah,
Matilda:that's the other
Matilda:piece of advice we would get.
Matilda:That's that you say that that's, that
Matilda:should be the only piece of advice
Matilda:that we give to business people
Matilda:who want to own a business, gather
Matilda:around people who own a business.
Matilda:Don't go to the bar happy hour and say,
Matilda:Hey, to your buddy at your corporate job,
Matilda:Hey, you know what I'm thinking of doing?
Matilda:I think I want to start a business.
Matilda:Yeah.
Matilda:Yeah.
Matilda:They're gonna be like, Oh,
Matilda:right now it's Friday night.
Matilda:We're gonna, this is not the
Matilda:right person to talk to you.
Matilda:Get around those people.
Matilda:But I think in family business,
Matilda:I mean, from the ones that we've
Matilda:observed, and I think it's just
Matilda:important for the second generation
Matilda:to have to work for it and to, to earn
Matilda:their own, like dignity and respect.
Matilda:And I'll, I'll be, I'll be non
Matilda:specific cause I don't want to say
Matilda:anything specific, but for the second
Matilda:generation to have to come into
Matilda:their own and maybe not just to.
Matilda:I don't know fall into
Matilda:the family business.
Matilda:I guess just that's something that I think
Matilda:from the ones that we've seen I think is
Matilda:helpful, you know, because then you really
Matilda:can truly have a respect dynamic, as
Matilda:opposed to maybe just tension or feeling
Matilda:of subservience or something like that.
Matilda:So I think that that's something
Matilda:should we, you know, have.
Matilda:In the future, even like our kids, some,
Matilda:someday far down the road in business with
Matilda:us, far down the road Connie understands.
Matilda:You get this.
Matilda:Then, yeah, I think that
Matilda:would be like our main thing.
Matilda:We would want them to, to go through
Matilda:their own pain and their own, their own
Matilda:growth and let them suffer a little bit.
Matilda:For themselves so that they
Matilda:respect themselves and so that
Matilda:we can have a mutual respect.
John:Yeah, that is actually one of
John:the, the main pieces of advice that
John:that we see over and over, you know, in
John:various levels, you know, we're again
John:focusing more on smaller business, but
John:the through all levels of the family
John:members that come in as a second or later
John:generation, they need to earn their place.
John:Nobody is served by somebody just being
John:given a job because they're, yeah,
John:having, especially if they're unqualified.
John:And the experience of going out
John:and working in either the same or
John:a different industry, but going out
John:and getting that business experience.
John:Ideally in the same industry, working
John:for a competitor that brings out, you
John:know, they learned so much and they see
John:what worked and what didn't work there.
John:And then they can bring the best into
John:the family if they choose to join.
John:But then they're coming in they're much
John:better informed, you know, they're,
John:they've got their eyes wide open
John:instead of just, well, you know, Mom
John:and Dad have always taken care of me.
John:And I'm
Damion:speaking from experience.
Damion:Yeah.
Damion:When you get your own teeth kicked
Damion:in, it's a little bit different.
Damion:Yeah.
Matilda:And I think that's
Matilda:something that we talk about.
Matilda:We're really thankful that,
Matilda:you know, we didn't have.
Matilda:That the fan even even stepping
Matilda:away from the business structure
Matilda:of us kind of coming up and then
Matilda:getting into business for ourselves.
Matilda:We're really thankful that we
Matilda:didn't have that kind of backdoor
Matilda:of family financial support.
Matilda:You know, like.
Matilda:Nobody bought either of us our first car.
Matilda:Like nobody, my parents paid for
Matilda:half of my associate's degree.
Matilda:So do the math.
Matilda:I, I was putting myself through college
Matilda:and I don't complain about that at all.
Matilda:In fact, I'm like thankful for that
Matilda:because I knew walking around that
Matilda:campus, I had, it gives you like a
Matilda:little bit of a pride of ownership.
Matilda:I knew like, I'm paying my way.
Matilda:And, you know, same thing for you, you
Matilda:buy vehicles and starting business.
Matilda:Like, yeah.
Matilda:All that stuff.
Matilda:And I don't want to make it sound like
Matilda:we, you know, walked uphill both ways.
Matilda:We didn't like we had, you know, we were
Matilda:really blessed with the families we have,
Matilda:but to the same point, like they didn't.
Matilda:give us.
Damion:And I can, and I'm so
John:happy.
John:Yes, that is, we call
John:that self-confidence.
John:There is a distinction between
John:confidence and self-confidence.
John:, that you were able to take those
John:experiences and internalize
John:them as self confidence.
John:Basically, I did that.
John:I did that.
John:I know I can do that.
John:And that gives you a a strength,
John:a resilience that a lot of people
John:don't have doesn't come otherwise.
John:And so yes, kudos to you.
Connie:You got to have
Connie:skin in the game, right?
Connie:You gotta
Connie:put in your time and you
Connie:gotta put in your effort.
Connie:What was it that we, we also, the
Connie:whole thing about if we stop somebody
Connie:from having the experience where,
John:oh, yeah, it's that very wise
John:person said to me the cruelest thing
John:you can do is to prevent somebody
John:from experiencing the consequences
John:of their choices, or their actions.
Matilda:We can point time and
Matilda:time again that we had to kind
Matilda:of go through things on our own.
Matilda:And then we can look at somebody else
Matilda:who, you know, maybe we are close to her.
Matilda:We have a lot of love for, but they didn't
Matilda:have to go through that on their own.
Matilda:I think of our first year in business
Matilda:and we went through some, you know,
Matilda:financial challenges like it sounds
Matilda:better if you say cashflow problems.
Matilda:So that's what business owners should say.
Matilda:Right.
Matilda:But no, no, no.
Matilda:We went through.
Matilda:Yeah.
Matilda:You know, financial challenges.
Matilda:And in that time, like you have a
Matilda:choice, you can look around for help.
Matilda:You can try to get somebody
Matilda:else to bail you out.
Matilda:Or you can be like, you know
Matilda:what, I'm going to dig in and
Matilda:I'm going to get really gritty.
Matilda:And I'm going to do things that
Matilda:people don't really like to
Matilda:talk about and find a way to.
Matilda:Plug the gap and go make some extra cash.
Matilda:And nobody likes to talk about
Matilda:that because they have an ego.
Matilda:They don't want to talk about
Matilda:door dashing on a Friday night.
Matilda:Well, I'm a, I'm a business owner.
Matilda:What do you mean?
Matilda:I'm at networking groups and I, yeah,
Matilda:I address, but it doesn't matter if
Matilda:you're losing money and it doesn't
Matilda:matter what the appearance is.
Matilda:So, you know, we're really thankful
Matilda:that we went through some of those
Matilda:times where we got gritty and coming
Matilda:out of that, like you said, that self
Matilda:confidence so much higher as opposed to.
Matilda:Being like, Oh man, I'm so glad mom and
Matilda:dad come through with 500 bucks for us.
Matilda:Like that doesn't, then
Matilda:you, you feel the opposite.
Matilda:You feel shameful.
Matilda:You feel guilty because we know people
Matilda:who do have those situations where
Matilda:they're constantly going and going and
Matilda:constantly getting, you know, that relief.
Matilda:And it's, it's.
Matilda:Detrimental in the long run.
Matilda:Yeah.
Matilda:So yeah, a
John:hundred percent.
John:Well, I, I'm confident that if you
John:have a second generation, join your
John:business, they're going to be in
John:good hands and well, so I think
Matilda:I'm to the extreme.
Matilda:I'm like, I don't want
Matilda:to buy our kids cars.
Matilda:They can pay for their own college.
Matilda:Like, I don't, what do they need that for?
Matilda:Like, yeah, I think
Matilda:that's a little extreme.
Matilda:I think, you know, maybe
Matilda:we'll soften up, but I'm like.
Matilda:No, if we have, if, and when we have
Matilda:kids and it's like that whole thing of
Matilda:like, you're not rich, mom and dad are
Matilda:rich, like they make sure their kids
Matilda:know that you don't have anything like
Damion:in a positive way, like
Matilda:very uplifting, but but
Matilda:yeah, I think I'm a lot, you're really
Damion:seriously, you
Damion:don't have anything.
Damion:Yeah, pretty much like
Damion:we're joking, but we're not.
Damion:Yeah.
Damion:Yeah.
Damion:Awesome.
Damion:No,
John:it's true.
John:It's true.
John:And that's it's, it's not only a good
John:perspective for the, that child to
John:have, but then that child can also
John:communicate that to, to their friends,
John:for example, that, that, you know, are
John:thinking that because their parents
John:have money that they can just, you
John:know, it's a free flowing thing.
John:Well, and they're always asking them for
John:stuff, you know, my parents have money.
John:I don't have money.
John:I
Damion:go to school.
Damion:Yeah.
John:Well, this has been wonderful.
John:Thank you so much, guys.
John:How can people if they're looking
John:for so you guys, you know, want to
John:give you a short commercial here.
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Matilda:And, you know, they're
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Matilda:Business owners, especially small
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Matilda:So that's our specialty.
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John:All right.
John:Perfect.
John:And I'll make sure I put that in the show
John:notes when we get this on posted online.
Connie:Is there any other words
Connie:of wisdom that you'd like to
John:close us out with?
Connie:Yeah.
Damion:Just do it.
Damion:Nike has the best slogan ever.
Damion:I didn't appreciate it
Damion:until we owned a business.
Damion:Just do it.
Damion:Stop talking about it.
Damion:No one wants to hear it
Damion:until you've done it.
Damion:So just do it.
Damion:Yeah,
Matilda:that's good.
Matilda:I'll leave it at that.
Connie:Perfect.
Connie:Right.
Connie:Love it.
John:Thank you guys.
Connie:Thank you for joining us.
Damion:Pleasure.
Connie:We appreciate it.