Celebrating Small Family Businesses: A Conversation with Matilda and Damien Relyea
Matilda and Damien Relyea, founders of Relyea Insurance Group, speak about their journey in running a small family business. They detail the challenges they faced such as navigating financial hurdles and attaining a work-life balance. They also discuss the importance of self-reliance, lessons learned from other family business owners, and provide advice to aspiring entrepreneurs. Damien and Matilda emphasize the need to surround oneself with successful and experienced business owners for guidance and advise those considering starting a business to simply ‘just do it’.
00:00 Introduction and Welcoming the Guests
00:26 Starting a Family Business: The Backstory
02:09 Challenges and Reactions from Family
03:26 The Joy of Working Together
05:47 Overcoming Challenges in the Business Journey
06:08 Balancing Work and Personal Life
06:52 Financial Stress and Its Impact
09:03 Creating a Healthy Work Environment
10:49 Lessons Learned and Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
14:02 The Power of Being Debt-Free
14:45 The Dangers of Comparison and the Importance of Choices
15:36 The Trap of Living by Default
16:36 The Addiction to Materialism
18:14 The Changing Dynamics of Family and Business
21:00 The Importance of Networking and Learning from Others
22:43 The Value of Earning Your Place
25:04 The Power of Resilience and Self-Confidence
28:39 The Importance of Teaching Financial Responsibility
30:50 Closing Thoughts: Just Do It
You can find them at www.relyeainsurancegroup.com which will forward to https://usabg.com/DRelyea
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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John:kinds of health insurance.
Matilda:So anyone who is under 65, we
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Matilda:oftentimes business owners.
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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.