Riding Tandem

00:00:00 - Speaker A
Welcome to Riding Tandem, a podcast about building businesses leadership and creating positive impact for our communities. I'm your host, Vivian Kvam, and I invite you to ride Tandem Works with me as I have candid conversations with inspiring business owners, leaders, and experts who are building on their dreams and creating impact. Get ready to be encouraged and learn practical tactics, help us build successful businesses, become incredible leaders, and have positive ripple effects.

00:00:30 - Speaker B
Let's go.

00:00:32 - Speaker A
Welcome, everybody to this episode of Tandem Works Works. And this topic today is just so applicable across the board for all entrepreneurs. And I think as we're diving did, which I just thought was so cool. And so there's been like a cosmic connection. I'm going to call it.

00:00:47 - Speaker B
Love it.

00:00:47 - Speaker A
Yeah. So we love you so much. So I'm excited to have you.

00:00:50 - Speaker B
I am excited to be here.

00:00:52 - Speaker A
It's like about time. We've talked about advanced Southwest Iowa a couple of times on the podcast. So it's about time we hear from you.

00:00:58 - Speaker B
Well this know full disclosure, my favorite thing to do in the world, be on the radio or be on in front of anyone listening, frankly. But I'll do it for you.

00:01:08 - Speaker A
Yeah. Very facetious comment there. Very you do a great job with it, though. And then Kelsey Stupfell, I've actually also known for a number of years and I think probably first got to know you a bit because of Rev pitches, which is what we're going to talk about today, or at least somewhat tied in with that. And Kelsey's also an awesome person and just a neat person here in the community, somebody that I admire, look up to, love when I get to interact with you. And I feel like you're just a champion for so many good things both through the bank, but just also on a personal level as well. So two rock stars here today. Excited to have you both. And I'd love to have you just talk a little bit about because you're from different entities, right? So we're coming at this as a collaboration, which is super cool. So who wants to go first? Tell us about we need to hear about Tandem Works rev. We need to hear about advanced southwest Iowa.

00:01:59 - Speaker C
You want me to start, Nikki? And then we'll just go in Tandem Works.

00:02:04 - Speaker B
That's what we do.

00:02:06 - Speaker A
I paid her $20.

00:02:08 - Speaker C
So Tandem Works is a small community bank in southwest Iowa. We have eight locations, and we really have a heart for just small businesses. We feel like if our communities are thriving, our small businesses will thrive. And so they kind of go hand in hand. And so this really started from the brainchild of our CEO, who loved the show Shark Tank. So we started this in 2015, and we just wanted to bring all those ideas that were in our own backyard and bring them to light and let other people see all these amazing successes and ways that they could really just thrive in our communities. And so that's where the love of this started. And we did it for about three years consistently, and then we took a little sabbatical from it, and then in 2020 is when we collaborated and partnered with Advanced Southwest Iowa. And it has really just kind of launched into another evolution and grown. And so actually, since inception, we are now up to $118,000 that we have reinvested and granted and gifted back out into local small businesses. And so the legacy of all those impacts for future generations is just going to continue and to see the circle effect of that is going to be really powerful.

00:03:18 - Speaker A
That is so cool. I didn't realize it was up to that amount.

00:03:21 - Speaker C
Now we did the kind of collective history of that when we were working on kind of like some collateral pieces and things like that. From our company's perspective of Tandem Works, our mission is to ignite prosperity in all the places that we serve, and we also give back 10% of our pretax profits back into the communities. One of the ways we do that is through nonprofits and our financial literacy efforts. But small business also has a special place in our heart and we love to be involved. We're really big volunteering. We actually offer 50 hours of volunteer time off for employees to be involved. And so Rev is just this great way to showcase that. I actually started as a banker, but I was never a lender, so I never got that opportunity to be like, all right, we're going to write this loan, make a dream come true. But Rev is like, that way that we can showcase that in a very live aspect and so people can be part of that experience and speak into that and see so.

00:04:14 - Speaker A
So what is your role with Rev?

00:04:17 - Speaker C
So my role is to really work closely with Nikki and help on the programming side and how we can help elevate that and get it into more circles of people to know about this opportunity. We also just love to help when it comes down to the applications. We love to help nurture and really network with those people, help them meet maybe the next person that needs to know for a center of influence or another investor that might be outside of our Rev circles. So that's the part that I love about it. Yeah, nikki and I work really closely together to make that happen jointly. So I think that's what I would love to share is, like, you can do things collaboratively, because this was kind of on our own as a company, as the bank. But then we saw if we want to take it to the next level, we have to bring more people in and bring more ideas to kind of take it to next level. So that's probably a great segue for Nikki to kind of talk about advance.

00:05:04 - Speaker A
Okay, so clarify real quick. The first two or three were just completely with Tandem Works. Correct. And then 2020, is that right? Was when the collaboration really started.

00:05:12 - Speaker B
It was probably like 2019. I was going into my role as small business entrepreneurship development manager, whatever it was at that time. And part of kind of assessing our local ecosystem, like, is this a healthy, thriving community for people to start up for entrepreneurship? And part of a healthy environment, so to speak, is having programming along with education and mentorship and so many things. Right. And so in my research, I'm like, what is this Rev? And where did it like, this is awesome. Reached out to I don't know if it was Melissa or Dave, and I'm like, Where did this go? And they were like, well, we've talked about bringing it back and it all just kind of organically happened. It was great, perfect timing. And we were super excited. And then COVID.

00:05:51 - Speaker A
Yeah.

00:05:52 - Speaker B
But we powered through and Pivoted like all other businesses have to do. And it was pretty successful. But we've grown a lot since then, changing what Rev looks like, still giving away the free money to awesome businesses and startups. But we've added some things and just made it a more public, front facing networking. It's just a cool event. So you should kind of mark your calendars now for November.

00:06:14 - Speaker A
Yeah, November 2.

00:06:15 - Speaker B
Yes, November 2. It's a Thursday night.

00:06:17 - Speaker A
Yeah, it's a fun event, for sure. And so, okay, I'm going to bring this full circle here. I've talked on the podcast before about previous company that I co owned with my ex husband. So we actually came out and filmed the first Rev pitches.

00:06:33 - Speaker C
We were at Western Black Box, part.

00:06:35 - Speaker A
Of that yeah, production. And I never came on any of those shoots. I just remember helping bring them together and schedule them and all of that, which I think I'm not 100% like your memory. You're like, I'm not that old, but goodness. I think that was the first I had encountered or heard anything about Tandem Works was because of that project. And I remember at the time thinking, what a cool project like to get to have small business owners, people who even don't own a business yet, just have an idea to be able to pitch that in front of people. It's just a really cool idea. I remember thinking that then fast forward 2019. Michaela and I actually applied and were accepted, and we pitched, and that was really cool.

00:07:16 - Speaker B
And it was awesome. You did a great job.

00:07:18 - Speaker A
Thanks. Yeah, it was a really cool experience. We ended up pitching during the COVID everything, and so it was all virtual. And what's really cool about the event now is that it's in person. And it was originally, too, but of course, everything was virtual at the time, but just getting the technology set up, that was probably the most jittery I felt was getting all the screens to try and come up at the right time and slides and things like that. But it was a great experience for sure, right?

00:07:45 - Speaker B
And we learned, I think, too, from that first one. And again, aside from COVID there's always those jitters just to get up and pitch your baby to a panel. You don't know who's on there, what they like, whatever, what do they want to hear? And then the technical aspect, like, is everything going to play in my and so we started know, you learned we change and evolve every know, try to move forward and do things better the next year. And that's do. Kelsey and I will meet with every person who gets to the level to pitch and do kind of a run through and give a little we have zero say in who wins what money, but we will give a little bit of input. Like, you might want to shorten that up or get a little more detailed with that or maybe nix that from your slide. Trying to make it a little more simplified. So trying to make people feel prepared, giving them that run through so it's not just cold. I'm on a stage in front of a crowd, and it's not that scary. It's dark in there.

00:08:38 - Speaker A
Yeah, the lights are in your face.

00:08:40 - Speaker B
Someone who hates anybody. Yes.

00:08:43 - Speaker A
It's true, though. When I think about what comes up, when you think about, well, okay, a couple of things. One, a community being able to have something like this, and what does it take to bring that together? I definitely want to explore that topic for other communities that might want to do something like this. And then I want to also talk about just that pitching experience. Like, what does that look like? What tips and things might you have for people who are thinking about pitching in any format? Because pitching could be like this, where it's kind of an event and there's all kinds of startup pitches all over the nation that people can be part of, but pitching can also be, I'm pitching just one on one to a potential investor. Or I might even just be pitching to a family member that I want a personal loan from. In the end, we find ourselves in these pitching situations. So I want to chat about that. But before we do, let's talk a little bit about what do you think it takes for a community to create something like this? For people out there thinking, well, that sounds cool, I work at an organization that might be willing to be to spearhead that, or what would it take to get people talking about it? What does a community need to pull off something like this?

00:09:54 - Speaker C
That's a great question. What comes to mind first is that there was this unintentional or unspoken strategic effort. I felt like across community partners of we want to have a more healthy ecosystem of helping small businesses thrive here on this side of the river because sometimes a lot would go across the river or they would start up and leave. And so we really wanted to have the less hills, southwest Iowa area really flourish and kind of be our little own spot of the Silicon Valley, perhaps. And so I think there was already like that hunger and need and advanced. I think the timing just worked really great. I think if you have synergized strategic efforts, it's just kind of taken off for that. And then you bring in more folks that also have maybe they don't want to do the heavy lifting of that. They'll be like, but we love the cause of that. So we're going to sponsor or we're going to send this out to our five networks of different places and people that can apply. And so I think some of it was timing and maybe a little bit of hunger of like, there's a real need here. So I don't know. Nikki, maybe you can speak more to that.

00:10:52 - Speaker B
No, I agree completely. And there was a group, an unofficial kind of committee of different entities that were kind of in our own little silos, doing our own thing that came together to say how do we collaborate and work together to really have a core of what we need to have a strong ecosystem and to make it an easy place. I'm using that word very lightly because it's not easy, as you know, but making it easier and someone to hold your hand along the way. So that was kind of already in place when I came on board to rev. And obviously the money has to come from somewhere. And yes, Tandem Works is putting in a substantial amount of money advance nonprofit we're putting in for our budget substantial. But we could not do this just with Tandem Works in advance. So we have know, reach out to the community members, people who want to be a part of this or were entrepreneurs themselves once, and see the importance of this and what it can do for a business, buy into it. And all the money, with the exception of a food sponsorship and drink sponsorship, all the sponsorship dollars we get goes directly to that prize money. So that determines how much we can make a difference. And sometimes it's one person maybe, and sometimes it's five. How we're going to make the most impact and I can't say we because we're not the judges, of course, but it's how much money we bring in, really, which is awesome. And another thing we kind of changed, I guess in 2020 from the previous was, let's say 40 people apply, hypothetically, five get to pitch. So it was like, let's connect those 35 remaining people who maybe aren't quite there, or maybe it needs to develop a little more. Maybe they just need to work on a pitch deck period or their MVP, whatever it is. How do we get them to that next level and let's connect them with a Sue Pitts at the SBDC or let's connect them with a know, whatever it is, let's get them so they are ready to pitch next year. And then last year we added a people's choice which was kind of the honorable mention. Another five people that honestly make some great connections that might be worth more than even getting that big check in your hand. So it's just a really impactful day and you can meet other like minded people kind of going through the same thing and it's a cool thing. It's my favorite thing of the year probably.

00:13:05 - Speaker A
Yeah. And I love that point and I want to iterate on that just a little bit. The whole experience is where the value is at in my opinion. So no matter how big the cash pot is, right, it is nice that it is significant because I think that is a nice draw for people. Right. I'm not just pitching for $500, not to nick's $500 but 15,000, 5000, anything like that. I think having that significant dollar amount is important just to entice people to go I could really get my idea started or this would really seed something. So that I know was enticing to us when we saw it. We're like okay, this is worth the time and effort. There could be an interesting payout on it. Now that being said, having gone through the process, the most valuable piece was not the big check. We ended up coming in as like a second. They ended up splitting it our year and so out of the grand I can't remember exactly it was like 12,000 or 50,000, it was something like that 10,000 somewhere in there I think was the whole total. We ended up with 2000 and Mikayla was super excited to hold a huge check. Like bucket list was fulfilled. We were a little bummed that it was COVID we're like holding this big check with our masks on. It's like they're not going to know it's us.

00:14:21 - Speaker B
Picture is still on the website.

00:14:22 - Speaker A
Oh is it?

00:14:23 - Speaker B
We look awesome on Tandem Works's website.

00:14:25 - Speaker A
But it is funny where you're like I've always dreamed of holding a big was kind of a cool thing so that was cool. But we both said the most valuable thing was the process. Having to fill out the applications, having to think through things, having to really take an idea, see it all the way through, play it out, come up with a financial model. But then it was the connections, it was like you ladies are doing connecting with us beforehand and saying let's run through this, let's work this out. I know we talked with Sue Pitts and Jim over at Nebraska Enterprise Fund so you brought in so many great mentors and that I think was like the big payoff for us because what ended up happening was we took that idea that we pitched $2,000 for it. In order to make that idea happen, we needed a lot more money than that. But what ended up happening was because we'd built all these relationships, one of those partners came back and said, hey, I really liked that idea. I want to help you make it happen. And they ended up hooking up all these different things, and we worked with them. And so that $2,000 turned into, like, three figures, which was crazy, and it really spearheaded and launched a whole product that we now have and we use. Did not see that coming. Right. So I just wanted to point that out. When I think that gets downplayed, it's like all about the big check, which is cool, but there's so much more value there.

00:15:48 - Speaker C
I love that. I didn't even know that part of the story of Tandem Worksworks, so that's amazing. Yeah, that's really the essence of what we're wanting to do is to help kind of ignite where they need it right now is just kind of like sometimes it's like gap funding to where they're going next for where they're going. And there's kind of like two phases. So there's like the formal application phase. So for those that are listening and you're like, how much money am I going to be applying for? Here it is. $15,000 as of today. Right now, Nikki might be we might be getting some more sponsors.

00:16:20 - Speaker A
That's right. If you want to sponsor, get a hold of us now.

00:16:23 - Speaker C
Yeah.

00:16:24 - Speaker B
Call Nikki.

00:16:25 - Speaker C
So the big pot right now is $15,000, and applications are open now until September 10. And then there's an outside third party committee that goes through all those. We have anywhere between, like Nikki said, 25 to 40 applicants each year. And so those from all of those, they're narrowed down to the top five. And then that's when those five will pitch on Thursday, November 2, we're having at the Hoff Family Arts Center pace, as it's known in Council Bluffs. And so that's where the live pitches will happen. That's from four to 630 on November 2. At that event, too, we've added in some live elements. So those are all live pitches, so anyone from the public can come and watch that. You can bring your fan base of all your family and friends to watch you pitch. And then there's also a networking time in between that and before the finale of the grand reveal. And that was really helpful, I think, last year for people, especially if you have food or anything that's kind of tangible, people loved that. To kind of literally taste and feel like this product that you're bringing. Or like, we had a meat company last year, and so they brought samples and things like that.

00:17:30 - Speaker A
And I think the Kombucha wasn't yes, last year.

00:17:33 - Speaker B
Fermented. Felon.

00:17:34 - Speaker A
Yeah. Which give us an idea, like, what are we talking about here? Types of businesses types of ideas, because I think sometimes people go, oh, my idea is not cool enough. 40 applications and this can apply for this pitch or anything they're applying for. I know, I get emails all the time like, you can apply for this $20,000 grant, you can apply for this and that. It's easy for us to go, oh, that's for somebody else, not for me.

00:17:58 - Speaker B
No, this is for anybody. I mean, unless a pitch competition, specifically, some are very industry specific or very innovative, tech based, this is not it. Anybody can apply. Whether you have a product, you are a Main Street business, a retail business, you are a beer company, you have a tech idea. Anybody like, if you're sitting there saying, oh, mine's not cool. Yes, it is. If it can move the needle for your company to help you grow, get to that next stage. And you're maybe not able to walk into a bank and say, here's my idea, give me five grand, whatever it is, think about it. Think about it. It's worth your time.

00:18:38 - Speaker C
And it can be from concept to startup to even existing. Maybe you're going to add a new company line of your existing company. So I think one of the examples we have is like a bakery, and they're going to add the deli now. So that's like a new line of business. So that's also an option. I mean, we've had an array of a small grocery store in Malvern to doggy diapers that people made, like doggy diapers in their living room. We've had folks that are trying to get patents, pitch. So like, Bex was an example of that. Lean waivers, they help in the construction field flightbrite, they patent something with the wait staff. And so when you would come and get a flight of beers or a wine, you were like, well, I like this one. It would help. You could just touch this. It was amazing. And they're really thriving. We have design, we have breweries. So, yeah, the sky's the limit, really, on what can be presented and pitched.

00:19:29 - Speaker A
Yeah. And to your point, you do want to look and see, what does this particular pitch that I want to do, what are the parameters? Right? So you're not spending a ton of time, but finding ones like this. And for sure, if you're in the area applying for something like this, since it is so open, you just got to do it. Even just the experience of filling out, like I said, the application, it makes you think, right? And that's important. It gets you out of the maybe you kind of feel like you're living on an island or you only talk with your business partner or you don't have a business partner, it helps you really start to talk through those things, think through them a little bit. And you can always find one of the most valuable things of that application process is I was filling it out, and I thought, I'm not 100% sure about a couple of these questions. And I think I reached out to someone at the bank, and they answered a couple of questions through Tandem Works. So don't be afraid to ask questions even on an application. It doesn't disqualify you because you don't know. And second, I reached out to a person I had worked with in the past that I really trusted and I thought would have some good advice. And that alone, just that conversation was huge. If we had stopped the whole process there, it was worth it. So again, I'm probably going to say it 18 times, like, the process alone is worth doing for sure.

00:20:46 - Speaker B
If you think about it for a second, like, Could I do this? The answer is yes. The answer is yes. Just do it. It's awesome. And again, the people's choice thing was super cool last year, too, for whatever. We don't know again what the judges are going to do, even in that initial committee. And those five people being able to showcase their product or talk about a pitch to a whole auditorium of people that were on happy hour going, so what does this do? Those relationships alone and just the public knowledge of I exist and this is what I'm working on, it's free advertising and honestly, just coming to the event, it's cool. Getting involved in our local community to network with other people that can help you or mentor you or are going through the same struggle you are. It's awesome.

00:21:34 - Speaker A
My husband came last year at the time, so he's embarking on the self employment thing now. But at the time, he wasn't. He was still employed with a fairly large corporate type of job. And he even said he was like, I had no idea. And it really inspired him in so many ways to think more about what are his dreams and what could that look like, and to see other people, he's like, they look like me. Get up and do that is really inspiring. But he also just brought up the other day, he's like, Remember that one? And I think it was a people's choice. Remember that one business we saw? I wonder if they ever got that off the ground. I should really look it up. And that's like, a year later, right? Which is really cool. Okay, so I want to talk a little bit about just pitching in general. What do you feel like if you were to be guiding somebody right now? What do you feel like makes a quality pitch? What are some of the elements of that, or what do they need to think about?

00:22:32 - Speaker B
I am definitely not the expert in pitching. That said, what I've observed and when talking to other funders, even outside of Rev, having a clear and concise ask, like, just throwing a number out of the blue sky and be like, if I had $10,000, my business would grow well, that's fabulous. Or I'd pay off debt that's not going to get as far as if I had X piece of equipment, I could increase productivity, blah, blah, blah, blah. Or if I won the whole thing, if I won $15,000, I could do this and an advertising campaign and all these things, or it would be a match for gap funding, whatever. But if I only had 1000, I could also move the needle for my business. Having an actual ask for something tangible and not like a thing, but like a specific reason and what is the return on investment seems to be the ones that have the most success.

00:23:26 - Speaker A
Yeah, it's clear, right. People want to give their money or award money if it's not their money to give, but if they're helping award that out to people who have a clear objective, an idea of where they want to go with right, right. Otherwise you're just kind of tossing money to the wind and exactly painting the impact, I think.

00:23:45 - Speaker B
Yeah.

00:23:45 - Speaker C
What Nikki just shared there and clarifying the ask, because no one's doubting the passion, because everyone loves to share why they started and everybody loves that storytelling part of, well, why did you go out and why does the world need what you have?

00:24:00 - Speaker B
Right.

00:24:00 - Speaker C
Everyone loves to answer that question, but since it's such a concise time frame that they have, that would be I would echo what Nikki just said to really make the ending part of your elevator pitch the most important part of the ask.

00:24:13 - Speaker A
That is interesting because you brought up storytelling. You brought up two of my favorite things. One, being strategic and knowing your numbers, and two, the storytelling piece. And I would say that definitely held true. And I've observed that as well with the pitches since then. It seems to be the ones where they come in very clear. They kind of hook you with a little bit of that passion in the story and the reason why I should even really be listening and not zoning out. And then they are very clear about here's my goals and here's how the money can be applied, what it would look like, and if not that money, then this money. So it does give you those options, which you go, okay, you have the numbers to back up your passion. That sounds viable. Now, I can ask a couple of questions about that. It does seem like those ones advance really well. I would also say, what about just from the pitch deck itself? Have you noticed anything? I know I've noticed a couple of things, but I'm curious, like just the visual AIDS that you're using, what have you noticed that either people do really well or maybe make mistakes at and you're helping coach them in that early process.

00:25:20 - Speaker B
I think making it maybe not super concise and I'm not saying a one pager, but where there's. So many slides, and maybe the slides are very, very wordy. And I know you want to share everything about your business like we want to hear it. They have the opportunity, the judges, to ask follow up. I mean, keeping it clean and easy to follow because you're in a room of however many people on a big screen trying to they get a little long sometimes. And then they're rushed at the end trying to and honestly, back to the pitching thing. Practice time yourself, for sure. Because it breaks my heart when you know somebody because we've sat through the run through with them and we know they have a home run at the end and then that time goes because they've just kind of went off course a little bit. So just know your material and keep.

00:26:12 - Speaker C
It clean, keep it sometimes less is more. Yes, with that and just high impact, either visuals that will just unpack all the bullet points that you want to say and then actual physical visuals. I think it's really especially since this is a stage setting, I think that's if you have that capability, I think that's really powerful too. And even if you can engage with the audience or engage with the judges somehow, for me, that's impactful as just a viewer watching and experiencing it, and.

00:26:38 - Speaker B
You can give it a gook. There are recommendations for length in a normal setting, for having your pitch deck even outside of rev of how many slides you should have, how much time you should be able to spend on each slide. And just as a rule, so look that step up or call me and I'll dig it out and send it to you too.

00:26:56 - Speaker A
Yeah, I had shared with me once from a mentor, I guess I'd call him a mentor who did a lot of pitching in front of really big brands. And his rule was ten slides. If you can't say it in ten slides, he's like, then either you don't have anything to say and you're just kind of BSing, or you haven't figured out really the one thing you want to say. And he had something else, and I might botch it here, but it was called your whoop. So, like, what's your wish? What outcome do you want? What obstacles are going to get in your way and what's your plan? I don't think I boshed that. I think I got it right.

00:27:32 - Speaker B
I love that. That sounds good.

00:27:33 - Speaker A
Say that one more time. I'm like, okay, that was pretty good. I know. I'm like can I say it again? So it's what's your wish, what outcome do you want? What are the obstacles, and what's your plan? And I always think about that with pitching type of situations or even just going into a meeting where because, gosh, we pitch all the time, don't we? Like, we pitch to our partner what we are hoping to do for the weekend, and we pitch. This pitching just happens all the time with clients and everything. So I often will go into things like that. I remember using that with the pitch as well. Like, okay, there's like five or six things we could try to drive home, but what's the one wish that we have and what would that look like?

00:28:15 - Speaker C
And I would also say show up as like, your authentic self. You don't have to be someone else up there on stage. You don't have to be the salesperson. I've heard this phrase this last week and I was like, oh, it made me think of Rev. It's called emotional wake, and it's that emotion that you leave with people when you leave. What is that? And so that's different for everybody. And I wanted to present that to people that are up there presenting, because you might have this idea of like, oh, I need to be grandiose, but.

00:28:42 - Speaker B
That'S not always the case.

00:28:43 - Speaker C
So I would just say, bring your authentic self and what that looks like, and that's going to come out and everything you were going to say.

00:28:48 - Speaker A
That really leads to a great question that I do have. From what you have observed with the pitches over the years, what about language and nonverbal cues or just your stage presence? Right? Because this particular pitch is from a stage, unless you're during COVID and then you've got to really figure out how to bring it online. You're like, here, we'll mail you a package and you open it. We should have thought of that. Dang it, Michaela probably did think of that, now that I mentioned it. But what about, like, you want to show up authentically, but the fact is, you are on a stage, it does make you appear smaller than you like. There are some things like that. I just know that coming from a theatrical dance background, there's a stage presence. What have you noticed?

00:29:34 - Speaker B
I don't know. I can say for Rev, again, the authentic and the preparedness, because there are people that get up there, there are people that have won that have been very like, well, they're me up there, even hate this with a bloody passion, but they win. And I think that's where the authenticity and knowing your statistics and I know what the research says and that this is solving a problem or whatever, being prepared, someone that has won. And then we've had people up there that could do a Ted Talk, they just have that showmanship and they could sell anything to anyone. Not win. And obviously, I can only speak to Rev, but I think, again, that it is just that authenticity and being comfortable, being yourself. Like, if you're a T shirt and jeans type of a person, you don't have to show up in a suit. No one's going to judge you, be comfortable. Whatever makes you feel most at home or most in your own skin, do it.

00:30:32 - Speaker C
And if you need note cards, bring the note cards. Yes. Sometimes there's two folks that are sharing rehearse, like when you're going to hand over, do the baton, practice that because.

00:30:45 - Speaker A
That'S I mean, that's a transition and it's time, which we haven't talked a ton about that, but often for a pitch competition, there's a time limit. You want to know that and it goes fast.

00:30:58 - Speaker B
It goes very fast.

00:30:59 - Speaker A
Yeah. What's the time limit with the rev one?

00:31:02 - Speaker B
Is it ten minutes? And then there's a Q and A after. So if there are follow up questions from the judges, just and we have.

00:31:09 - Speaker C
A timer so they can also see it. So we have a countdown for them, too, to help. Kind of prep.

00:31:14 - Speaker A
Yeah. I wonder. Some people get up in front of a crowd and they talk really fast.

00:31:19 - Speaker B
Guilty.

00:31:20 - Speaker A
Yeah.

00:31:20 - Speaker C
Ditto.

00:31:21 - Speaker A
But I feel like usually people run out of time. The different pitches I've observed over the years, I feel like to your point earlier, they run out of time and you're like, oh, dang it. Because you knew that there was something on the end there. Yes. With the practicing, for sure. And maybe practicing under the kind of different circumstances. I don't know, practice while your kids run around the house and demand dinner. Right?

00:31:44 - Speaker C
I love it.

00:31:46 - Speaker A
So talking about questions afterwards, I think that's one of the scariest parts. After you get it all figured out, you're like, yes, I have to stand up in front of people, but what freaking curveball are they going to throw at me at the end? When the judges ask questions, I remember trying to be prepared for everything, like, well, what if they want to know? And of course, I go down into deep rabbit holes about the nitty gritty on the numbers, and Michaela's a little more like, I don't think they're going to ask that, but I'm glad that you've got it in case we need it. We got quite a mix of questions. We had a little bit of that, but not everything. Any advice for just preparing for the questions? And what if I get a question and I'm like, I don't know, I.

00:32:26 - Speaker B
Think if it was me not having to be the one to do it, you know your company, you know your plans, you know the data behind it, hopefully that's where that preparing thing comes in. So most of the time you're going to have the answers or at least enough to not go, oh, no, where? Maybe, I don't know. Can you practice saying, well, this isn't exactly I'm going to shift a little bit. We're still a little bit on topic and kind of pull the politician way, I guess. Not going to directly answer that question, but I'm going to get really close. But what I do know a lot about is this, and maybe it ties not that's, honestly has not been the scariest part that I've observed. Sometimes they don't even ask much.

00:33:07 - Speaker C
Yeah, no one's, actually, I was thinking when you're talking about that, Nikki, like a sandwich, like you started with, like, this is what I know. Here's maybe my question. Then I sandwich it with something else I know of, like really mean, but if you don't know, I would not lie.

00:33:20 - Speaker B
Or.

00:33:23 - Speaker C
Like, that's something we're still researching or I haven't gone to that part of my company yet, or whatever that might be.

00:33:28 - Speaker B
So it's okay not to know everything in life in general. Take that advice. You don't have to know everything. It's okay to say I don't know it, but I'll find out who does.

00:33:37 - Speaker A
I think that's really valuable, and I've heard that before with pitches and those questions, especially when you're pitching in front of the investor, the ones who are deciding in that kind of like Shark Tank, right? Like, I'll take you, I'll be your partner, kind of thing, that often they're not looking for do you have the right answer in your pocket? Some of them, a little bit, but those are usually, to your point, pretty basic. Like, you know, your company they're looking for are you going to lie? Right. They're kind of looking for that character thing.

00:34:07 - Speaker C
I was like, integrity.

00:34:08 - Speaker A
Integrity comes to mind. I like that. That's exactly what they're looking for. And how do you handle a difficult situation? Because I don't know if you knew this, but when you run a business, it's constant. Difficult situations.

00:34:20 - Speaker B
No, right.

00:34:21 - Speaker C
No, just life in general.

00:34:22 - Speaker A
I think so I've heard that before of kind of like you're saying, Kelsey, of just say, I'm not sure. But you can always qualify it with I really like that question, or that's a question I haven't thought of before. And I could see how that would be valuable. I'm going to find out more shows that you're teachable, you're coachable, which is important for somebody who's investing in you as well, 100%. Because if you come in, all know it all, a lot of investors don't like that.

00:34:49 - Speaker B
Right.

00:34:50 - Speaker A
Because they want to be somewhat involved, depending on the type of investor.

00:34:55 - Speaker B
And you have to with any business, as you know, I wish there was a different word for it, but what you think your idea is, what your business starts as on that napkin, or maybe the first time you call me and say, I need help with this. Who can you connect me? Or it's usually like, I need $50,000. Who is our grant?

00:35:12 - Speaker A
Can you write me a check now?

00:35:13 - Speaker C
Answer is no. Niki.

00:35:14 - Speaker B
No.

00:35:14 - Speaker A
Is that something you do?

00:35:15 - Speaker B
No. Yeah, for sure. I can write on one of those big ones.

00:35:19 - Speaker C
Are there any angel investors out there?

00:35:21 - Speaker B
Yes.

00:35:21 - Speaker C
Please contact us.

00:35:22 - Speaker A
That's right.

00:35:23 - Speaker B
And yeah, we can find you those connections. For sure. We can try. But what you initially think of or what you initially think your company is going to look like, or even your retail business on Main Street. What you're going to sell, it will probably change. That's a given. Things are going to change the market. What they want, what you think they want, are going to be two different things. So you have to be prepared to say, maybe I wasn't 100% right on that, and I am willing to change and listen to the people or my money or whatever it is, and you're going to be told no a lot, and that's okay.

00:35:55 - Speaker A
Yeah.

00:35:56 - Speaker B
Stay in it.

00:35:57 - Speaker A
I think that's the soul crushing side of it. All right. Where you've got five and only one, or sometimes they split it up, but usually not everyone's a winner as far as the big check. But going through that does help build character. It makes me think of my grandpa. Puts hair on your chest. I don't know if I want hair on my chest, Grandpa, but thank you for that. But it is a huge value because you are going to get knocked down. Not everyone's going to love your idea, and you're going to think it was amazing. And it is a good exercise to go through and be like, okay, I'm going to have to figure that out and handle it with grace and congratulate other people and makes me think of team sports and kids, all right, go shake their hand.

00:36:42 - Speaker B
Maybe we should give participation medals or something. But yeah, we've been wrong too. There's times Kelsey and I are like, oh, this one's awesome, and then they don't get anything and we're huh, we were know. So you just never know what the judges or one investor would say over another investor. Be prepared for that. No, but keep doing what you're doing.

00:37:03 - Speaker A
Well, and I've definitely heard it said before, if you're not getting no's, you're doing something wrong because you're not asking. Right?

00:37:09 - Speaker C
What is it, like 15 to one ratio? It's like 15 no's, you get one.

00:37:12 - Speaker B
Yes.

00:37:13 - Speaker A
Yeah. So if you've only pitched once and you get a no, get back out there, for sure, you got to do it again. But let's talk some of the success stories. What have been some of the success stories? What have you heard either? What are the types of businesses that have been awarded? What have you heard they've done since then? Just paint us some pictures there.

00:37:34 - Speaker B
Sure.

00:37:34 - Speaker C
So last year's winners were just nesting grounds. It was a coffee shop, kind of more of a gathering place in Underwood, Iowa, I think. They brought half the town of Underwood, I think, which was great. So when they won, it was like very like, flood the stage.

00:37:47 - Speaker A
It was good. There was a lot of energy.

00:37:48 - Speaker C
Yes. And since then, so that's Kvam and Jody. So two gals own that. So we loved that. There was actually a lot of female entrepreneurs last year that applied in the last several years. And so they've done a lot of community collaboration. They actually just did a collab with Dusta Charm, who's also the owners from Underwood. They do a lot of gifting back to their teachers in Underwood. We even went as a bank. We wanted to engage our employees with folks. And so we did kind of like a cash mob. And we just went one day, and that's fun. Going to do a coffee run in Underwood.

00:38:20 - Speaker A
Yeah.

00:38:21 - Speaker C
So they were the winners of $10,000. And then do you want to talk about Fermented? Felon? He won $4,000.

00:38:28 - Speaker B
Yes. And he was out of Bellevue, I believe. And it's a Kombucha line, which I thought would be awful and prepared to do the fake face. It's good.

00:38:37 - Speaker C
I took a whole case home. I'm like, how much more is there?

00:38:40 - Speaker A
And they had, like it's in your.

00:38:41 - Speaker C
Local high bee, by the way.

00:38:42 - Speaker A
Local high V. Local high V. They had, like, a root beer one, didn't.

00:38:45 - Speaker B
Yeah, like a true cola and so many things. But yes, it's good stuff. And then obviously, we all love if you're local to the Midwest, our full fledged brewing company here that we have in Council Bluffs, they have obviously available also in Hyvey and many other places across Iowa, Nebraska, their beer line, they won some money. Was that 22 21? I can't 21 21 for their canning the machine to help them can their products and be able to get it out and wholesale it.

00:39:16 - Speaker A
They took our first place.

00:39:18 - Speaker B
Oh, that was your year, wasn't it? Oh, my gosh, you're right. It was. I remember the virtual pitch.

00:39:23 - Speaker A
Now it's all, which I was really bummed that we didn't get to hear the other pitches because I was really fascinated about all was and that's a.

00:39:31 - Speaker B
Lot of the feedback was originally getting other pitchers to be able to hear the other people in the room. And then how do we make this public with also protecting people's private information? So we've come a long way.

00:39:44 - Speaker C
Viva Fitz. Another girl, and she's just everywhere she is. I think Chef Girl on the Block is doing the pop up this Friday, but the next one in September, maybe August. Then August.

00:39:57 - Speaker A
It's her pop up over at the Performing Arts center.

00:39:59 - Speaker C
Yes at pace.

00:40:00 - Speaker A
She's actually catering an event that we are facilitating tonight.

00:40:04 - Speaker B
Oh, awesome.

00:40:05 - Speaker C
Very cool. Yeah, we love that. We also did, like, a behind the scenes there, too, with her, and she did, like, a cooking demonstration.

00:40:10 - Speaker A
Oh, cool.

00:40:12 - Speaker C
You could just see the passion come from that.

00:40:14 - Speaker A
She's doing a great job on social media, too.

00:40:16 - Speaker B
Oh, she is awesome. Would that be time to talk about.

00:40:20 - Speaker C
Kitchen Council and how we could it's.

00:40:24 - Speaker A
All a good time.

00:40:25 - Speaker B
It's always, obviously, if you're local a local listener, that we do have the kitchen Council or kitchen Council, which is our food incubator. So if you are a food startup or you're working on a jam or a sauce or you just cater things and want to kind of take it to that next level without maybe investing in a brick and mortar. You can talk to Holly over at Kitchen Council, and she will get you set up, get you through the licensing, all the things. And you can have that state of the art space to work out of it and test your market and test your product and work amongst other food entrepreneurs and learn from each other. That's what they will tell us, that their community over there is huge, almost as much as the facility itself. So great thing if you're an entrepreneur in general in southwest Iowa, Potawami County specifically in my end. But I'll find you again. Yeah, she will. I will connect you with the right person. Talk to me. I mean, I would love to find you the people, whether it's funding or mentors or the resources, you've even connected.

00:41:22 - Speaker A
People out of state.

00:41:23 - Speaker C
Right?

00:41:23 - Speaker B
Because I think everybody needs that. That's huge. I mean, more than the $50,000 grant money.

00:41:30 - Speaker C
One thing we've talked about is, like, having more of, like, an alumni winners or even those that applied or even just pitched, but made it and win money.

00:41:39 - Speaker A
Right.

00:41:39 - Speaker C
Like, I was thinking about the very first year in 2015. Jenna King was her name. I still remember her. And she had, like, this all natural popsicle stand.

00:41:47 - Speaker A
I remember this pop.

00:41:48 - Speaker C
So she would do farmers markets, she would do employee events, and she won $6,500, but you would have thought it was, like, 100 grand. She was just emotionally overwhelmed, but that's all she needed to kind of get to the next spot. So we're like, Well, Jenna, the next year, when you come back, can you tell us a testimony of where you're at, where you're at now? And so with that, she was able to quit her day job in the insurance world to do this full time. She was running space in the Kitchen Council so she could double her freezer space and double her sales, and then they adopted a baby that year. And so it was just, like, really cool to be, like, a little blip on her timeline and her radar and her journey to see and that's what Rev is about.

00:42:25 - Speaker A
Yeah. So don't miss the pitches, friends, because that tiny blip can turn into way bigger. We've heard a couple of stories of that, our own story. That one of, like yeah, so you pitch it's one night, you spend X number of hours putting this together, and it can really change your life, quite literally. Like, not to be overly dramatic, but she literally changed her entire life. That's pretty cool stuff, which is pretty cool that you guys get to do that.

00:42:53 - Speaker C
Yeah, that's probably our favorite part.

00:42:54 - Speaker B
I know.

00:42:55 - Speaker C
We're smiling if you can't if that I know.

00:42:56 - Speaker A
I'm like that's not coming across issues, man. It's cool stuff, which is my favorite thing about just business ownership in general, that you do get to make choices that sometimes you can't make in other roles. Not always, but you do get to kind of craft that. And one of those things is to step out and do something scary because it can change everything. Right. And that's just an important thing to remember. And pitches can be scary, but they don't have to be for sure.

00:43:24 - Speaker C
If your dream is not big enough, dream bigger. Start before you're ready. All those good entrepreneurs and people want.

00:43:29 - Speaker A
To just give you money.

00:43:31 - Speaker C
So that's a thing with no strings attached.

00:43:33 - Speaker A
With no strings attached.

00:43:34 - Speaker B
Right. That's what he wants.

00:43:37 - Speaker A
There is no investor behind it. Right. With this particular pitch. Which means then you're not giving kind of like company sourcing. Yeah. Have you heard at all? I'm just curious about are there investors who ever go to a pitch like this? Because I know other types of pitches. Sometimes there's just investors floating around. They're not the judges, they're not official, but they'll kind of hear something and they'll approach somebody later a little bit like what happened to us? Where they came back and said, hey, I really liked that. Outside of this whole pitch thing, can we help make that happen? Does that ever happen?

00:44:08 - Speaker B
I'm sure it does. Again, we just went to this level of public in the last year, year and a half, really. Last year, I think was the first time. And the people that it's getting more traction in the community, people know. So I think that will change. We obviously as far as one of our sponsors is Nebraska Enterprise Fund. They also have a Southwest Iowa fund. They're our local CDFI. They have a little more flexibility in their lending than say, a bank would and can help you kind of get to that next level and help with a number of things. And they're a sponsor and they have worked with people that didn't even get to the pitch level. This is where finding those resources come into play. And obviously, as you know, I have connected other entrepreneurs to you just because I'm like they just need someone like Vivian Kvam to kind of brainstorm with them or help them change their way of thinking and get it's those connections that we really want to happen. And yes, I can imagine that there have been conversations and really great things that have come out of some of those conversations just during the happy hour. And I think that's just going to grow from here.

00:45:16 - Speaker A
Yeah. One of the questions I wanted to wrap up with before I have some rapid fire questions for you ladies.

00:45:22 - Speaker B
Oh, gosh, boy.

00:45:22 - Speaker A
Oh man.

00:45:23 - Speaker B
Nightmarish.

00:45:24 - Speaker A
But okay. A big, in my opinion, misconception. But I am curious what you've heard or if this comes across any of your conversations when you're talking to people. Well, I don't want to share my idea in case somebody steals it all the time.

00:45:38 - Speaker B
No, yeah. That's everybody's concern, for sure. But statistically, if you I like that.

00:45:45 - Speaker A
She'S pulling out stats. This is good.

00:45:46 - Speaker B
Look at how often that happens. It doesn't happen as much as you'd think, and that's a lot of work. Like, look what you've put into this idea. And honestly, if you have an idea for a new business or something that's going to solve a problem like something innovative, you probably aren't going to want to come to Rev and just say, here's the problem. This is how I'm going to fix it. I'm going to build an app. Maybe not go in that early. Maybe that's where you need to have conversations with mentors and start talking to people and building a team. And maybe it is something you have to look at protecting before you would go there's people that can help you get the trademarks and start working on patenting and all that, and it's a process, so buckle up. But most of the time, I tell.

00:46:34 - Speaker C
People, don't, if you have the ambition and the strategy, your idea will take off, and no one can steal the sweat equity from you. If you really have both the ambition and the strategy, kind of to do.

00:46:46 - Speaker A
It, I always think of it makes me chuckle when I go to craft fairs. I went to a lot of craft fairs as a kid. My mom and grandma and aunt just love craft fairs, and I think they're kind of fun, too. And the sign on the table that says, yeah, you could make it. But Will, you right, because you see those things, and I can't tell you how many times I walk through, oh, I could make that. Oh, I could make that. Oh, I could paint that. Oh, I could crochet that. I do crochet, by the way.

00:47:11 - Speaker C
I want to see your pinterest board.

00:47:12 - Speaker A
Right, exactly, I could do that. Right. But will you right. And I love that. That woman just had that sign out there, and I think I've seen it a couple of times since then. Like, yeah, go ahead and steal it, because you're probably not going to plant these beautiful succulents and teacups that I went all over the countryside to find and then crocheted a thing to go under it and drilled holes and glued. And it was like, yeah, you could, but you're probably not going to.

00:47:34 - Speaker B
You're not going to. You're going to buy the teacup. And that's as far as you'll get.

00:47:36 - Speaker A
That's far as you get.

00:47:37 - Speaker B
Yeah, but I mean, honestly, so many you have no idea in this world. I mean, yes, there are some, but when you look at the next things, they all came from solving a problem. Maybe someone else already solved that problem. Maybe it's a similar solution. But what sets you apart from that other thing out there? I mean, look at MySpace and then Facebook made it better. Most of the time, you're not going to have a completely original idea, and there's not something already out there. But what makes you better or what makes your product know? Because someone could come and do the same thing to hard there are some things that are very hard to protect. And honestly, if you look at certain things that are out there that have no trademarks on them because that makes it public. When you look at what was the example I was given recently? Oh, the KFC seasoning. The eleven herbs and spices. No one knows because it's not trademarked. Because then you could copy it. Sometimes it's better just to you don't have to protect it.

00:48:38 - Speaker A
It's a mystery.

00:48:39 - Speaker B
Yeah.

00:48:40 - Speaker A
I love it.

00:48:40 - Speaker B
Coca Cola.

00:48:41 - Speaker A
Yeah. Right? Oh my gosh. So I just read Blink. I know. I'm way behind. That's Malcolm Gladwell, right? Did I get that right? I'm terrible. I should like famous people and no, no sure don't. But I just read Blink and he wrote The Tipping point. I know. Everyone's listening. They're like, Vivian, everybody knows. He just did the whole or he taught he didn't do it. I just read the chapter about the whole Coca Cola Pepsi thing and how they were trying to one up each other and the advertising and the taste tests and how they're actually not that different, but they actually are crazy different.

00:49:14 - Speaker B
Oh, it's different.

00:49:15 - Speaker A
It's so it is.

00:49:17 - Speaker C
So I'm up right now.

00:49:18 - Speaker A
So hold up. Coca Cola or we I should have asked before I asked you on know.

00:49:25 - Speaker C
I'm a Diet Coke.

00:49:26 - Speaker A
Diet Coke.

00:49:27 - Speaker B
I am a Dr. Pepper person.

00:49:28 - Speaker A
First and up. You're one of those. Where Dr. Pepper?

00:49:33 - Speaker B
If I had to choose between Coke and Pepsi or Coke Zero and Pepsi Zero, it's going to be Pepsi every time. However, if I have to go diet, it's diet Coke over. Diet Pepsi? So I am just a freak anomaly. Everybody's.

00:49:46 - Speaker A
Yours is just so am.

00:49:47 - Speaker B
I am.

00:49:49 - Speaker A
She can't kick me off this podcast. I fit in anywhere.

00:49:53 - Speaker B
This is sponsored by Coca Cola. I'm actually very indecisive.

00:49:57 - Speaker A
That's probably I think it's Dr. Pepper, actually.

00:50:00 - Speaker B
Always.

00:50:01 - Speaker A
Well, that's awesome. Well, this leads really well into I have some rapid fire questions for you. Don't overthink it. Just go with whatever. For both of you. What do you think the biggest misconception is about owning a business?

00:50:13 - Speaker C
That you can't do it? Self doubt. I think all those questions that keep you up late at night, no one else has what you have to offer to the world. So I say do it. You got a lot of fans behind you.

00:50:25 - Speaker A
I love it. This is what I love about Kelsey. She's like like I said, she's a champion. Eternal beginning, eternal augment.

00:50:31 - Speaker B
She's cheerleader awesome.

00:50:33 - Speaker A
Yeah. You need cheerleaders around you.

00:50:35 - Speaker B
Oh, for sure. For the doubters, like myself. Not that I'll doubt you. I think your idea is the greatest ever.

00:50:41 - Speaker C
I want everyone to be the best version of me.

00:50:43 - Speaker B
Let's make it happen. That self doubt is real and. Don't think you're going to have it takes time. Yeah, just do it. But that it's. Quick gosh.

00:50:54 - Speaker A
Thanks for saying that, especially today, because Michaela and I were putting together our one year picture, three year goal, tenure and all that stuff, and we're just like we literally wrote down ten years. And Mikayla looks at me, she goes, how old will we be in ten years? And we both went, so young. And then we were like, we got.

00:51:10 - Speaker C
To make this happen faster. One mountain at a time.

00:51:14 - Speaker A
One mountain at the time. I know. We ended up leaving the ten year box empty because we're like, that's just too far. We just can't do it right now.

00:51:21 - Speaker C
Well, what is that? Like, people overestimate what they could do in ten and underestimate what they can do in one, and then like, five is kind of in between.

00:51:26 - Speaker A
I haven't heard that before.

00:51:27 - Speaker C
Yes. I don't know if I have it exactly right, but you can actually accomplish a lot more in shorter one year.

00:51:33 - Speaker A
Terms than you think.

00:51:34 - Speaker C
Than you think.

00:51:35 - Speaker A
I believe that we will often roll through. We actually did it today. We just rolled through kind of like, okay, what have been the big wins for the year and what have been the hurdles for the year so far? Because we're a little past the halfway point and we were listing things out and I was like, Dang, we've done a lot in here, which is crazy. Okay, back to rapid fire questions. I wasn't supposed to go off here. What's a piece of advice that you've been given and you like to actually apply in your life, any kind of advice?

00:52:00 - Speaker B
Probably not to overthink things and take people at face value. And it's still a struggle. Still a struggle for me, but yeah.

00:52:10 - Speaker C
That'S good, I think. Show up. No one else can be you. And the world needs more of what you have to offer, and you're uniquely made for how you were to show up.

00:52:23 - Speaker A
Yeah, I love it. So, with that in mind, what would you tell your 18 year old self, knowing what you know about life now?

00:52:31 - Speaker B
I feel like I say that all the time, so it's all the time. I'm coming up with things I should have told myself, but don't take yourself too seriously. Enjoy the ride. I guess this too shall pass. That's the other thing. Everything seems like the end of the world when you're that you have to know all the answers. And I go through that with my son now, where everything's like, it's okay, it's okay. You're not supposed to know everything at 1819 years old. You'll figure it out. And the hard times pass.

00:53:03 - Speaker A
And buy stock in Dr. Pepper.

00:53:05 - Speaker B
Yes. Always.

00:53:07 - Speaker C
Don't let the sun go down on your anger. The sun's going to come up tomorrow and just be one degree better the next day than you were yesterday.

00:53:14 - Speaker A
Yeah, those baby steps, huge and to your point, when you're 18, it is kind of like you're trying to eat everything at once, right? The whole elephant, not one bite at a time. Okay, we kind of covered this, but maybe it's changing a bit here. What's your favorite kickback and relaxed beverage? We know your coke preferences, your soda preferences, but what would be just a kickback and relaxed beverage for you?

00:53:40 - Speaker C
Old fashioned.

00:53:42 - Speaker A
Me too.

00:53:43 - Speaker C
With an orange and good cherry. Expensive cherries.

00:53:46 - Speaker B
Yes.

00:53:47 - Speaker C
I'm giving you, like, high five.

00:53:48 - Speaker A
High fives. And then I love it when there's an actual ice cube in it.

00:53:53 - Speaker C
Oh, yes, like the square one.

00:53:54 - Speaker B
Oh, my gosh. I feel bad not being able to say an old fashioned. I have been drinking Malibu coconut or any coconut rum. Okay, really? Since I was 21. And I am old. I could not be a 40 under 40 like my friend Kelsey over here. Yes. So that's my go to. But there are other things too. Mules, especially if they have like, a lavender or blueberry or something.

00:54:22 - Speaker A
That's good stuff too.

00:54:23 - Speaker B
Anything with alcohol that isn't the stuff that drink.

00:54:28 - Speaker A
Got it.

00:54:28 - Speaker B
Your old drink.

00:54:29 - Speaker A
Is there a song, a book, or a podcast that you just feel grabs you right now inspired by have to tell everyone about?

00:54:38 - Speaker C
I just reread emotional, healthy spirituality, and it's really just helped me think through things just with a different season of my life as a wife, a mom, a coworker, a friend. And so yeah, that's kind of been on my heart lately.

00:54:55 - Speaker A
Yeah, I've heard that title. Haven't read it yet though.

00:54:58 - Speaker C
It's good.

00:54:59 - Speaker A
Are you reading it or audiobook?

00:55:00 - Speaker C
What's your oh, actually, this one I did both.

00:55:03 - Speaker B
Really?

00:55:03 - Speaker C
I had both because I had it like I probably read it ten years ago, but I've really been on the audio standby. And also I was going to ask, do you guys do your podcast two times?

00:55:12 - Speaker A
Speed.

00:55:13 - Speaker C
What's your speed?

00:55:14 - Speaker A
I do often speed certain ones up, but there are certain voices that I can't speed up because I can't understand.

00:55:20 - Speaker B
Same.

00:55:21 - Speaker A
So I'm more at like a 1.2 to 1.5 speed on almost everybody.

00:55:28 - Speaker B
Unless I, by accident go to like 1.5. And I'm like, this sounds yeah, faster.

00:55:33 - Speaker A
Today, but all my audiobooks are the same way. I was trying to figure out how to speed up YouTube the other day. I don't know if there is a button. If there is, I've missed it. So if someone knows where the button is, could you please email me? Because I was like, just talk faster. Especially with the intros.

00:55:48 - Speaker B
Right?

00:55:49 - Speaker A
Yeah, anything for you.

00:55:51 - Speaker B
Well, I don't want you to think I'm a psycho, but I read every now and again. Big movies, love music, whatever. But my favorite way to unwind and sound like a complete nut bag is true crime podcasts. All day, every day. I have a long drive in longer, and it's my time not with I have three kids and a husband. So it's my time. So I like to fill that with scary things and hate scary movies with a bloody passion. But give me some true life documentary.

00:56:24 - Speaker C
I knew you were going to say true crime.

00:56:26 - Speaker B
Yeah, that is my thing. I have a whole rotation of ones that I've listened to almost weekly.

00:56:31 - Speaker A
I feel like you could be a character in a true crime movie.

00:56:34 - Speaker B
Okay. As the bad. That's a I don't know, like a.

00:56:39 - Speaker A
Documentary because that's kind of like Nancy Drewish.

00:56:43 - Speaker B
I do love a good mystery and I like to learn. So maybe that's mystery solving part. But yeah, I mean, if you want.

00:56:50 - Speaker A
To be the villain, by all means. But I was thinking more like it's not my wheelhouse.

00:56:54 - Speaker B
I always say when I get old, I say if, but when I get old, you hear sometimes that people that, God forbid, have Alzheimer's or whatever go for being the sweetest person. Not that I'm the sweetest person to being, like, very angry and mean and whatever. I always tell my kids and my husband, I'm like, that's going to be me. I'm going to be a mean old lady because I've kept it all in for so long. I guess it's better than being on Snapped or one of those shows. I'm not a violent person.

00:57:19 - Speaker A
I feel like we have to have another whole podcast here and delve into personalities with old fashions and Malibu.

00:57:24 - Speaker B
I love it.

00:57:25 - Speaker C
Working genius disc. 16 personalities. Yes, all of them.

00:57:29 - Speaker A
We should take the tests and then have a podcast.

00:57:31 - Speaker B
I take a crime. Podcast are comedy based, so that sounds even crazier than saying I love scary.

00:57:38 - Speaker A
I love scary horror podcasts where people die, but it's funny.

00:57:43 - Speaker B
Yeah.

00:57:44 - Speaker A
Got it.

00:57:46 - Speaker B
Sounds bad.

00:57:46 - Speaker A
It's all good.

00:57:47 - Speaker B
Contact me if you want my list.

00:57:48 - Speaker A
Troy also loves them and we'll listen to them a lot. We like to camp. We travel.

00:57:52 - Speaker B
Oh, that's scary.

00:57:53 - Speaker A
That's the thing. We get to a point. And so we sometimes drive, like 14 hours and we'll listen to one after another. And I'm like, they all start to run together. Everyone just dies. It's all horrific. They don't know what happened, stuff like that. And I get to a point where I'm like, I have to listen to something else now because can't do it.

00:58:09 - Speaker B
I feel like mine aren't that dark. It's not a lot of the details, but there is one called Park Predators that I wrote occasionally does. You know that one?

00:58:15 - Speaker A
Oh, we listened to it as we drive.

00:58:18 - Speaker B
I couldn't do it. I'm like, can I camp anymore? After listening, all I can imagine is.

00:58:23 - Speaker C
The Parent Trap and you're just out there, like, clicking the stick.

00:58:26 - Speaker A
Terrible for the bears. All right, ladies.

00:58:29 - Speaker B
Okay. We digress.

00:58:31 - Speaker A
I know. Oh, there's still more. This is the chattiest. Rapid. Okay, here we go. What excites you the most about the.

00:58:38 - Speaker B
Future when it all slows down? I always say after this week. After this week. And I don't think it'll ever happen. And I think, yeah, just when you can enjoy life and travel and I don't know. Does that happen? Probably not.

00:58:54 - Speaker A
It's good to look forward to it.

00:58:56 - Speaker B
I'm going to look forward to it. I'm going to manifest it.

00:58:58 - Speaker C
I guess I have hope for our young people. I think that's just maybe my hurt right now with my kiddos and their friends and seeing what this next generation is going to look like. We're made for the time that we're in. And I see a lot of the silver lining of hope.

00:59:11 - Speaker A
That's cool.

00:59:12 - Speaker B
A great answer. I believe the children are our future. No, but for real, they're incredible and they're super smart.

00:59:18 - Speaker C
Running for governor.

00:59:20 - Speaker B
But no. Yes. That was good.

00:59:22 - Speaker A
And cut to governor commercial. Okay, what's something people often get wrong about you that you're running for governor?

00:59:31 - Speaker B
I don't know.

00:59:32 - Speaker A
Were you making an announcement?

00:59:36 - Speaker C
I love to rally people, and so I think sometimes that can come off a little extra. But it's mostly because I care so much about people and I love to help rally around a positive cause that I want you to be passionate about. Sometimes I have to stop to listen and just listen before I give any insight.

00:59:55 - Speaker A
Sure.

00:59:56 - Speaker B
I don't know, you tell me. I'm pretty face value, but.

01:00:04 - Speaker A
I would say that people think you're outgoing.

01:00:07 - Speaker B
I'm very outgoing. In a small group or once I get to know you, but yeah, I've.

01:00:12 - Speaker A
That extroverted that you like getting up in front of people every day. Every day, yeah, because you do it well.

01:00:19 - Speaker B
I disagree.

01:00:19 - Speaker A
So I think people would get that wrong about you because I know that it's not your favorite thing.

01:00:23 - Speaker B
It's my least favorite thing with a passion. Public speaking.

01:00:27 - Speaker A
Okay, last one. What do you think business owners can do that makes the world a better place? Donate money to rev?

01:00:39 - Speaker B
Yes. Pay it forward.

01:00:42 - Speaker A
That's right.

01:00:42 - Speaker B
No, honestly, I think when it looks looking at business now, big companies, small companies, philanthropy and giving back to their communities seems to be a pillar of so many companies now. And looking again, children are our future. That next generation. The next generation of workforce, the next generation of entrepreneurs, they demand it. They demand socially responsible companies. And so I think being willing to give back, whether that's the huge amounts that like a Tandem Works gives back of their revenue, great. If it's something small like giving your time or putting advertising for a know, whatever it is you're doing, just do what you can to give back.

01:01:27 - Speaker C
I think fill the gap where the gaps need filled and help pay it forward, whatever that might mean for them. And whether that's mentorship or paving maybe a path that's not yet paved.

01:01:38 - Speaker A
Yeah. I love it. Well, thanks, ladies. We went all over the board, like true crime podcast, old fashioned pitching things getting over being nervous. And I think too, just to bring home again, if this doesn't exist in your community, make it happen for sure. Get it going in your community. If this exists in your community, you live in this community, you need to be part of it. I think that's just really important.

01:02:02 - Speaker B
Absolutely.

01:02:03 - Speaker A
Get in there, get involved, and know.

01:02:05 - Speaker B
There are things out there. If you don't, again, get to pitch, build that network. Some people hate the networking. You have to do it as a small business owner. The people you meet, the collaborations, completely unrelated business. It's just get out there and there are people to help you get to that level.

01:02:22 - Speaker A
Yeah, I agree. Well, thanks again.

01:02:24 - Speaker B
Thank you again.