The Grind-Cast “Special Guest Bergen Giordani”

Count money, man.

Money that grits is fine.

I told trying to told him I'm a beast.

But what's up gang?

Welcome to the grind cast.

Stop it.

There he is here.

Get ready.

It's a new day.

New day.

What's up gang?

Welcome to another episode of the grind cast.

Get ready.

It's a new day.

And today we have my friend, Bergen Jordani, from One Hot Cookie.

She is a female business owner, Boss Lady Beast.

It's not just a cookie store.

If there's anybody listening in the Pittsburgh area,

you got to check out One Hot Cookie.

I mean, these things are like, it takes every ounce

of discipline in my body to drive past your spot up there.

We should not have that discipline.

And I break often.

And these cookies are amazing.

I don't know what you put in those things.

But it ain't a normal, whatever you got going on,

ain't a normal cookie.

So why don't we start out and tell us about your journey

where you're from and how you got started.

I know you were a single mom and had a daughter, a young age.

And yeah, so we actually started in 2013 in Young

Sound of Hyle.

So we go kind of back that way to the 4 4 5 0 3.

I was working full time at the for a nonprofit organization

in town that did economic and business development.

And then I was also working on the side bartending

slash wait you're saying at the Royal Oaks.

Oh, wow.

Yeah.

OK.

So I was doing that on the side working full time.

I had my daughter.

I just learned this today.

OK.

That you wrote the Royal Oaks.

Come on, I grew up around a corner.

I know that.

Yeah.

So you know.

Yeah.

I know.

It's a lovely place.

Everyone who's listening has not been there.

But no, it's great.

So I was working there.

I'd put myself through school after I got divorced.

And was working two jobs to provide a life for my daughter.

And I she was 15, she just turned 15 turning 16 at the time.

And we'd started always had an entrepreneurial spirit.

My father owned his own business when I was growing up.

And then what was his business?

He owned a business that manufactured

weightlifting equipment.

So like bench benches and dumbbell racks.

And that's where things go.

Yeah.

But he got out of that along the way.

Anyway, the so working two jobs, trying to, you know,

cobble together a life and realize

and there's got to be a better way.

Also having the entrepreneurial spirit

and also loving to eat cookies.

So we had always had enough money, but it was never enough.

Does that make sense?

Yeah.

So one of the things that Morgan and I, that's my daughter,

we always did was we'd go out for dessert.

So and we like to joke because there was a Brewsters near us.

And they do the raining or snowing.

Second scoop is free.

So we'd be like sitting there and she'd be like,

it's snowing.

Let's go.

We have to go get ice cream.

So we kind of going to dessert became our thing.

We'd eat dinner at home, but there was a lot.

I broke down and went to handles yesterday.

I blame it on my daughter.

We went to, we went to go see Aladdin.

Oh nice.

And just her and I, she'll be four.

Is there one down here?

A movie theater?

No, a handle.

Oh, girl.

Yes.

Yes, there is.

Right in, right in Mechanis.

Oh, okay.

So about 10 minutes from your shop.

I do know where it is.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So I broke down and had four big Oreo cookies.

Scoops on a waffle cone.

So that's my thing.

Once I go, when I decide that I'm going to do it,

it's extremely.

You're going all in.

When I come to your place, you know, I'll get a couple boxes.

And I'll say, well, I'm bringing some of these back to the office.

But really, one box is like for me.

And the other box goes to some of the people from the,

once I start going, it's like I got to eat seven of them.

You know, we don't judge.

So it's fine.

I appreciate that.

And we appreciate the enthusiasm for all sweets.

So, so yeah, so dessert was kind of our thing, baking was kind of our thing.

And then I ran into someone who I, when I don't need to bore everyone with

Youngstown history, but you're familiar with the redevelopment that was going on about

that time in downtown Youngstown, the Erie terminal building.

Yep.

So the Erie terminal building was, or is, was, was a former train station and it's been

redeveloped for first floors mixed use retail commercial.

And then the floors two through four or five are about 35 student housing apartments.

So kind of the perfect building right on the steps between downtown Youngstown, the

business district, the entertainment district, and campus of Youngstown State University.

So kind of had this plate, had this building.

And I ran into the people who were developing it and I said, hey, I was out and I saw this

cookie shop.

You need to, it was an insomnia cookie.

I'm not sure if you're familiar with insomnia, but they only thing before you, before yours

that I can remember in Youngstown like that was the, was it original cookie?

Yeah, in the mall.

In the mall.

This was, this was out of town.

Okay.

So it was like, hey, I saw this.

They don't sell franchises though.

So you're going to need to contact them directly, but you need to put one in Erie terminal.

Like who wouldn't want to have cookies late night?

This is great.

And the guy pulled out his phone was like, well, you can do that.

And you know, throw a loaks everyone's having a great time.

So I'm like, yeah, of course I can do that.

I can open a business.

Not a big deal at all.

So, roll a loaks for those of you guys out there that have no idea what, you know, what

that is.

They've had to be around.

They're the oldest bar in Youngstown.

On the years?

Yeah, they were the first liquor license after prohibition.

Okay.

So yeah.

Yeah, and it's like cheers, you know, it's, it's, it's kind of in the hood.

But yeah, it's all good.

It's, you know, people have been coming there for years.

You got people that have been coming there for 50 years.

Their parents went there and it's like a staple in the, in the area right before you hop

on a freeway.

So.

Correct.

So we're there.

And he's like, oh, you can come look at it.

I got 400 square feet.

It'll be perfect for you.

And I'm like, yeah, I can do it.

And he pulls his phone.

He's like, Tuesday at four.

And I'm like, yeah, Tuesday at four.

I'm there.

So I'm like, what am I doing?

But I don't really think too much of it.

And then I show up and walk through the space.

I'm like, this is perfect.

I can figure this out.

And then, you know, who knows what will happen.

So I went home after that meeting and I wrote a business plan.

And I took every thing that I had in savings, which at the time was $2,000, which is, you

know, not a lot of money.

But yet a lot of money.

To me, at the time.

So, and I thought, you know what, this is not life changing money.

Like so I can, if I blow it, I blow it.

I can say I tried.

And if not, you know, we'll see what happens.

But it turns out $2,000 was life changing money.

Because that's what we use to start the business.

And so is that where you're located now?

Yes.

We have a location.

We're in Eerie Terminal.

That was our very first location.

We've been there for six years.

We're right on the corner of Phelps and Commerce.

So Phelps is kind of the burgeoning entertainment strip there.

And so we're right there at the bottom of the steps where all the students and faculty

walk down to hit the downtown for lunch and evening stuff.

Awesome.

And so how long since that one has been over?

That was 2013.

April of 13.

So six years.

Six years?

Yeah.

All right.

And then so you went from there and now you have two other ones?

Now we have.

And no, Bourbon was the most recent.

Actually, no.

Wexford was the most recent.

Wexford was the most recent.

Yeah.

Okay.

We've been in Bourbon four years in October.

Okay.

All right, gotcha.

Yeah, we started to kind of.

We went there to Bourbon.

Kind of got some legs.

And then we started trying out some different opportunities.

So we did Ross Park Mall.

We did the Grove City Outlets on these temporary deals.

And realized that we really liked this Pittsburgh market.

And we needed a larger space.

So the opportunity came up in the plaza right in front of North Algane High School.

So.

Love it.

Yeah, we jumped on it.

So before we move forward, why don't you tell us a little bit about.

I come from single mom.

There's a couple of things that in my vision of looking ten years ahead.

What would I like to be involved in from a non-profit standpoint, charity standpoint?

I think that's been a, I don't know if you call it a gift or a calling or what.

One of the things that I've liked to do that I've felt some some success in is.

Is helping to get some non-profits moving and off the ground.

And it's much needed.

It's much needed work.

So.

And but you know one would, you know, for me, I'd like to be a part of down the road would be something for single moms.

And in a transitional phase because I come from that.

And so my mom had me at 19 years old.

You know, we were in welfare lines in McGuffee Plaza.

We live with my great grandmother.

She was 80 years old on the east side of Youngstown.

And you know, my mom worked at the southern park mall.

She worked multiple jobs.

She did three jobs.

Night school at Youngstown stay.

You know, all of it just grinds.

Am I your mom?

A grind.

Well, you know what?

You look young enough to be my mom because my mom looks like she's 30.

Yeah.

So, you know, so yeah.

So why don't you tell us a little bit about, you know, that, you know, about, you know, any encouragement, any, you know, for somebody that may be going through that.

And I think, you know, I think that I've always had a kind of a work ethic and a mindset.

And I can figure it out in a very independent streak.

And one thing I do remember is when I was, like a pregnant one, I was 17.

And I was attending a Catholic high school.

So all of the stereotypes, all of the situations.

And I remember I called one of the local agencies.

And I granted this.

Where was you going?

I went to Kennedy, Christian.

Okay, yeah.

Now it's Kennedy Catholic.

Yeah.

But I called one of the organizations.

I granted this is 1996, 1997.

So it's before the internet really, like was in your homes and was a thing.

And I called someone and I was Catholic charities.

Some organization and I was like, hey, I'm pregnant and I'm in high school.

Can you help me?

And they were like, we can give you some pamphlets on adoption.

And I'm like, well, I don't need some pamphlets on adoption.

Like I need a path.

I need a path to figure out how to graduate high school.

Yeah.

And like how to get much of money and a job and to like provide a life.

And I felt like there was no resources out there.

So when you're talking about starting a nonprofit, I think that they're,

and not granted, that's 20 some years ago.

But I can't imagine that that need has been filled that quickly.

Yeah.

So it's a place to turn.

I'd have to imagine, you know, from that point to, you know, 2013,

you know, there had to be a, you know, a little bit of a, of a grind.

Sure.

There's, you know, at, you know, at our life, you know, and it took my mom,

you know, till we were, you know, I think I was 16 years old.

We moved to Campbell.

And, you know, I thought we had made it.

I mean, we bought a house.

We sold our house for 11,000.

We bought one for 30.

We painted it.

It was one bedroom, one bathroom.

Mine was upstairs.

We made the attic into my bedroom.

I blamed that on, on me being short because I had to, you know,

I had to fit up there.

And, and, and so, you know, I, I look at how long it took her to, to dig out of,

you know, the obstacle.

Yeah.

I don't know the call of the hole because anybody with kids knows it.

I mean, you know, I know the way that her and I relationship is, you know,

we wouldn't have had it any other way.

And I know the way that I feel for, you know, for my kids.

I don't want to say it's a hole, but it's definitely a challenge.

You know, that other people don't have to deal with oftentimes.

Well, I think that there's a baseline challenge anytime you're raising children.

And then when you take socioeconomic conditions and you add them on there,

it's just like sandbags on your shoulders pulling you down.

So you're still walking that line that all the parents are, but it just becomes a little bit more sluggish.

Yeah.

And so you, you get out of that and as you get into the transition of, okay,

I'm working at the Royal Oaks and doing it.

And now I'm going to own my own business.

Yes.

So for a while, Simon, I was actually grinding it out and I was working three jobs essentially

because I was still bartending on the side trying to get this business off the ground

and still working full time.

So who was helping with your daughter?

Well, at that point she was driving.

So I made her get a job.

So not a good job.

She had to come work in the business.

So she actually tells the story that she had to go on an interview for college

and it was her first actual interview.

She'd interviewed people, but she'd never actually been.

Ben, yes.

Ben interviewed by anyone.

So what an experience.

Now did you end up finishing college?

I did.

I graduated in three years while working full time.

So yeah.

I'm a nerd.

Beast mode.

Beast mode.

Full time.

Or another word that's nursing the bee.

Three years.

But yes.

Single mom.

Yeah.

So.

Wow.

No excuses.

No excuses.

And at that point, I just wanted to get it done because I was a non-traditional student.

I started in 2006 and thought at that point, I'm in it, we're just going to finish.

Like, get it fucking done.

Right.

So.

Yeah.

So you got it done.

And so then in the transition you went from the Royal Oaks to your first space at a-

Yeah.

And then we actually were approached by the Mahoney County Public Library and to do-

because they're trying to do some unique cafes and to really get children involved in the library.

And they had an opportunity and said would you like to be the cafe in one of our libraries in Austin?

And we said, yeah, sure.

So that was like a nice one year deal.

And we at that point, we kind of- I call it the tipping point.

If you read enough of those business books, that point where you actually like tip and become a business-

Yes.

For a while, because we would be like, oh, we own one hot cookie and people would look at us like, you know, we don't-

They don't know what we're talking about.

Yeah.

And then it went to- we're sitting at dinner and people across the bar are talking about going to one hot cookie.

We're like, that's us.

That's us.

That's us.

Like look at us.

Yeah.

So we-

How long was that?

So it was about 10 months because you know Youngstown is a small community.

Yeah.

They're very loyal.

We're travel-

Loyal.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

So I'd say about 10 months, and then the library hit and we kind of did that.

And that gave us an opportunity to determine are we just going to play around with this or do we want to-

To give this a go is a viable business.

So-

The thing that you learned, you know, going- it's first thing that sticks out to me is-

Is, you know, you took the chance to say, okay, here's my $2,000, you know, which at the time was-

Was maybe close to a life savings.

I mean, yeah, I think that's what you had.

It was like, that's what we had.

No, so, you know, I tell people you can't steal second base which are foot on first base.

Absolutely.

People wish they could.

It's like so often I think people get analysis paralysis.

You know, they're just analyzing everything and, you know, they're just paralyzed by analyzing instead of just-

Just go, just-

But I'll tell you with that mindset, every time-

Every thing we do now is harder than that first time because the first time no one knew who we were, no one knew what we were doing.

It didn't matter to an extent.

Yes.

But now when we come out of the gate, we have to come out at this-

Coming.

At this very high peak.

Keeping your brand.

So now I feel like I have the paralysis more than I did six years ago when it was kind of like, we'll see what happens.

This will be great.

Whereas now I'm like, oh, how is this going to affect everything else?

And, you know, that sort of thing.

So, because, you know, probably I just want to, you know, from owning businesses, you

know, you have, you get it to a point where you put in a lot of work and you get it to

a point where it becomes profitable and sustainable.

And, you know, the pressure never really goes away, but the pressure that you started with,

you know, maybe goes from like a 10 to an 8.5.

And so 8.5 seems like a 2 because you're used to carrying a 10 pressure.

Yep.

And so, you know, the thought process becomes, you know, do I now take what, you know,

it's comfortable and start to reinvest that and take that money out as a risk slash investment

and know that now my pressure is going to go back from an 8.5 to a 10.

I always like to liken it to riding a bike.

So you can ride a bike and you're pedaling and when you first start out, you're peddling

like hell.

You're peddling, peddling, peddling.

And then at some point, you can take your feet off and coast a little bit, but then

you want to do something else and you got to start peddling again.

Or you get that, you just get that boredom or that spark and you're like, man, I just want

to go faster.

Great analogy.

So, yeah.

What were some of your biggest challenges in obstacles, you know, would you say in the

first few years of starting your business?

So on a funding is obviously we did not, the first couple years we did not take on any

outside loans or funding.

So we were very cautious.

My whole thing was and my friend, Dave Rubino, has a sign company and he was like, hey,

I'm going to put a sign up and I'm like, no, I can't pay you.

And he was like, it's cool.

You can just make payments.

I'm like, no, dude, I'm not going to owe you money for something that might be in my

basement in five years, like as a joke.

So when I can write you the check and I, what was it, $1,500, $2,000, I'm like, when we

can pay for it out of the proceeds, then I'll get the sign and he was like, you're a fool.

So now, you know, how many stores later, he's like, remember when you didn't want to buy

a sign?

And I'm like, yeah, I remember shut up.

Like, it's fine now.

So funding was the was the yeah, funding is always tough.

Would you say the workload, you know, you were used to working three jobs.

Did you work in three jobs?

I did.

So you were still working a couple jobs and then you opened up the.

Yeah, I actually continue to work full time outside of the business until last winter.

So.

Wow.

Okay.

So so you're working full time outside of the business.

Yeah.

So and I you'll appreciate this.

My daughter graduated from college in June or May of last year and I did not want her to

take on any student loans because one of the things that I incurred as a non-traditional

student was student loans.

And I thought if there's one thing I can do for her is to set her up without this.

Start her up with that.

What a head start.

So it's been great.

Where's your graduate from?

Young Soundstay, baby.

Go penguins.

Yes.

Go penguins.

Love it.

So you went you were still working a full time job and running and running a business.

Yeah.

And I also said that even how did you pull that off?

I mean, do it with just being able to do that.

Opening a business, typically opening a business, you know, takes a lot of hours.

Even if it's not hard hours, the mental hours of planning preparing who's on the schedule

who's because if you ain't there, somebody got to be on the schedule.

Absolutely.

This one's sick.

You know, who's going to cover that one?

You know, in churrens and, you know, flat tires or, you know, whatever.

So the amount of hours, hardcore, you're that you're there, then there has to be some

behind the scenes hours that you're thinking.

Sure.

Absolutely.

What did that process look like?

I mean, so it's all about balance.

And I feel that, you know, you run multiple businesses.

So I just kind of approached it with that mindset.

Like there are 24 hours in a day.

And at first, I was trying to juggle like, oh, well, so from this time to this time, I'm

only going to focus on this.

And then these hours will just be dedicated to cookie.

And then it took me about a month, maybe two.

And I was like, there's no, this isn't working.

Blend.

So yeah, it's all in all day long and whatever needs the most attention at that point in time,

that's what rises to the top.

So, yeah.

You know, as a business owner, you don't count hours really much.

No.

But could you think about, you know, when you were working a full time job and running

one hot cookie, you know, if you had that, you know, I mean, I'm not sure if you had

to add up the hours.

You know, what amount of hours would you say you were putting into working?

I mean, I feel like I, so I felt like I was always working at some point in time.

And I feel like when you, you know, own a business, they don't really sleep.

It's like having a baby.

So you're always kind of in the back of your mind, thinking about what's the next move,

what's going on.

I mean, last night in young's time we had some terrible flooding.

Fortunately, none of our businesses were affected.

But I know there were other neighboring businesses and neighboring residences that had major

issues.

You know, we're making calls, we're checking camp, like we're seeing what's going on.

You know, it's 10 o'clock at night.

Do you want to be in bed?

Sure.

Or reading a book or watching, doing whatever.

But instead, we're, you know, dialing in to make sure everything is going on this morning,

North Allegheny, senior high school doesn't have power.

So it's, oh, does our plaza have power?

Yes, we do, fortunately.

So we're open today, everyone.

But, uh, but yeah, so like I think there's always that in seed in the back of your mind.

So other than the mental, you know, knowing that you're always quote on call.

I'm trying to, I'm trying to get a picture, you know, to speak everyone's language, you

know, so you know, number.

Yeah.

I mean, I'd say 60, 70 hours a week and that's, you know, 12 hour days.

Yeah, whatever, like kind of whatever it takes.

Six days a week, five days a week.

I mean, so we run a seven day a week on business.

So it's not like we have the luxury of saying, like, oh, we're closed today.

So we can just kind of take a mental rest day.

Yeah.

So weekends are also our busiest times in this industry.

So when people are not at work, we're busy.

So yeah, so there's that.

That's, you know, that's something that's big.

You know, I think people see the perks of being a business owner and, uh, but they don't

see what comes with the process.

No, and there's a million means and a million graphics that really show that, you know, the

struggle where you're on top of the mountain, but you don't see the legs kicking down below

or something similar to that where, you know, it's not what, what you see here is not

our day to day.

Right.

How would you, how would you encourage yourself, uh, in that process?

You know, was there anything mentally that you would do to handle the pressure of everything?

Was there an outlet?

Was there, you know, anything that you would do yourself or that you would suggest to

others when you're dealing with the stresses and pressures of having, you know, three business

babies, you know, three, you got three, three businesses.

Those are three babies.

Absolutely.

And there, and you got to be on call, you know, all the time.

It's a 24 seven, you know, deal.

You're probably waking up to it.

You're going to bed to it and it becomes your life, you know, to do it the right way.

It just becomes a part of who you are.

Right.

You know, how do you deal with that pressure?

I mean, I think you have to, you have to take some time for yourself.

You need to, you know, work out exercise or find whatever your release may be.

So, um, for me, it's planning.

Like, I always, I work best off a plan.

So, um, when my anxiety rears its head, if I can put some things down on paper, like that

helps, that's a calming method for me.

Um, meditation is great going for walks.

Um, my daughter and I have this thing with our dogs.

So, like we, like some quality time with the pups.

I know it sounds cheesy, but it's whatever, whatever you can do to kind of kind of make it

work.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I, um, you know, when, when you talk about scheduling, it's funny.

And you say that I was, I'm planning here in a couple hours.

I'm going to be doing some mentoring with a group of people.

You know, I've learned in, in the phase that I'm in, in the growth mode that I'm in, you

know, we have 13, 14 losing track because we're open in one, uh, locations in five, soon

to be six states.

But the, the plan on paper is to double over 24 months.

Talk about babies.

You know what that brings.

And so in order for that to happen, there's some people that are, you know, lower level

managers, uh, that need to step up and be ready to run.

Yeah.

And so behind the scenes, I'm personally working with a group of, you know, leaders and,

and up and coming managers that behind the scenes, no one's watching this happen, but

I'm working with them one on one or in a group setting.

And I was just planning today, what am I going to talk about today?

And so the, the, our business, you know, my main business, the insurance business is

an entrepreneurial business by nature.

So, you know, even if you're starting out in sales or your management or you're running

in office, it's all entrepreneurial.

There's things that you can invest into to grow yourself, to grow your business.

It's, it's very, it's not a clock in clock out there in a five deal.

And so I'm, I'm planning today to be working with them on the, the two key things before

I open it up to questions is how to properly schedule your time and how to properly manage

your money.

And I think those are two things as an entrepreneur that people struggle, you know, with that

that's not a strength that I try to.

Have you tried the time blocking?

Are you familiar with time blocking?

No.

So I just got, I read, I read, I read voraciously business books and all that.

Come on.

Me too.

But, um, so time blocking is, and I, I just use my phone like the Outlook calendar.

You schedule blocks of time to do specific tasks.

So instead of making a list like today, I'm going to do X, Y and Z, you actually schedule

time for it.

So then when it pops up, that's what you're doing.

So it's, people who are task oriented really work well.

And then you can not get buried down in the, oh, well, it's, it's really easy for me to

do these six, nine simple things.

But I really need to do this because this is going to drive the business.

If you can time block it out, to me, it just is kind of a no brainer and it makes me follow

a plan better.

So it might be something you want to take a quick peek at and talk about.

That's, that's 100% of what I'm going to be going over.

Yeah.

I mean, it's crazy.

You say, that's, that's what I do.

Yeah.

My whole, I mean, I get from family members, they joke with me about, oh, Simon, you

know, he, when he goes at a bathroom and scheduled, you know, I mean, literally my whole

life is scheduled that way, you know, and, and from, you know, when we're going to work

out to the drive time.

I, the drive time is huge.

I plug drive time.

You do.

You drive to, yes.

Drive to what people don't account for that because you got to work backwards.

Absolutely.

Because, no, there's nothing worse than sitting there and having the tingo off in your

fight, you know, you need to be there in 10 minutes, but you're 40 minutes away and

embroiled in another project.

So when you see it on, on, I don't want to say paper, but when you see it on your phone,

you see it on your calendar, it says drive time and it's in blue.

Yeah.

And you have it like today, I got to be in Youngstown.

So I'm meeting boom, boom, man, senior today at four o'clock at Michael Albert Reemys.

Nice.

I'm glad I already have in there drive time.

Yeah.

I'm out of this morning because I knew I needed to leave.

I couldn't be late.

Drive time.

You know, and then it's blocked off for how long I think that's going to be has drive time

back.

And so I think as much as you can schedule of your life, the better it's going to be.

It also puts it in perspective, I think, when you have a day with a lot of goals and a

lot of things you want to accomplish, what's feasible in a day?

Because, you know, like you said, you don't really count the hours, but there are only

so many of them.

24.

So, you know, the way that people manage, you know, I heard somebody say, you know, the way

that people manage 24 hours is kind of like, if you could imagine two suitcases.

And you know, my wife packs better than I pack.

You know, I'm learning from it.

But one of the things I learned is she'll like roll up my shorts and t-shirts.

And I noticed versus me folding them, if you roll them, I could fit more in that suit.

If you properly put them away the right way, you can fit more in a suitcase than somebody

that just throws a bunch of stuff in there.

And so, you're scheduling is that exact tag?

Is how much stuff can you fit in your suitcase?

What can you fit in your 24 hours and stay, you know, organized?

Another thing that I do, I don't know if you do this, I try to always look in advance.

Like I'm not getting to Wednesday looking at my Wednesday schedule.

I'm looking at it at least.

I'm looking at that Sunday.

I'm looking at Wednesday.

I have Sunday night 9 p.m.

A weekly planning session schedule.

Come on, that's what I do.

This is what it takes.

Yeah.

Come on.

I mean, you have to be, it sounds obsessively organized.

It sounds nerdy, but it's the only way to get through.

Sunday night and o'clock.

Yeah.

What that stuff people don't see.

Yeah.

They want one hot cookies.

They want a business.

Yeah.

They don't want to plan at 9 o'clock on a Sunday.

No.

Sometimes I don't need their butt.

Sometimes I don't need their butt.

No, I don't want to do half the shit that I got to do.

Right.

I mean, about what you want to do.

Right.

You know, it's about what you got to do.

You know, you don't want to work three jobs.

No.

No one does.

What you got to do.

Yeah.

Right.

So you got to do what you got to do.

All right.

So any more tips on scheduling.

Looking at your stuff in advance, I think this is a huge one.

Yeah.

Underestimated, super.

You know, it's like when you start looking at sports, the stuff that's not sexy and fun,

you know, it's like what's going on on the line.

Sometimes the rocking.

Right.

Or the stroke training that goes on behind the scenes.

All the stuff that don't get the highlights.

This is the stuff that don't get the highlights.

And when you, you know, how do you do that?

How do you, how do you say that you have this, you know, you have a daughter, you have three

businesses, you're still finding time.

It's about the balance.

And well, how do you make that all work?

What's the scheduling?

Because there's 168 hours in a week.

The way that you manage those 168 determines on, you know, time is money.

Yeah.

You know, time is time is money.

Yeah.

Time is money.

Time is something that we can't get back.

So if I'm not spending it on the business, I'm scheduling out.

I'm going to Aladdin with my daughter yesterday, pick her up from school, Aladdin all booked

out, all planned out.

So nothing was in that block.

Right.

So but people see that you're at the movies at three o'clock on a Tuesday and they're like,

oh, must be nice.

Lucky running the business.

That's how it goes.

But they don't see the nine o'clock on a Sunday or the 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning when you

started your day in order to take that to steal those two hours, if you will.

Up at four yesterday in order to make it happen.

So start to work in at five.

Yeah.

And then what happens?

So all right.

So moving past the scheduling, how about any tips for a new entrepreneur?

Any especially when we talk to some females out there, you know, in an entrepreneurial

businesses, challenges, how to overcome those challenges, tips on on reinvesting into

the business?

I think it's all about bully.

And I think that this kind of this one is kind of universal across the sex is, you know,

you have to find something you're passionate about because like we've just spent the last

20 minutes talking about is it's your baby.

You have to love it.

So don't go into something half-ass that you think you're just going to make money at.

You know, did we think that we were going to make money selling cookies in downtown

Youngstown in 2013?

Not really.

To be honest with you.

But it was something that we cared about and it checked off a couple different boxes

that we were looking for.

Personally, you know, something that my daughter and I could do together.

Something

that was reinvesting back into our community.

You know, being part of something that's bigger than us.

Those were all things that we wanted to do.

Making money is great.

Everyone needs to do it.

I'm not knocking that.

But if that's your main reason for going into business,

you're going to fail.

True.

Because you don't care enough.

True.

Yeah.

So I think that you have to be passionate about it.

You have to love it.

And I think as women were frequently told, oh, I'm a mother.

I can't do that.

Or oh, I'm doing this.

So I don't know that I would have time.

Or I'm too stressed.

Or it would be too hard.

It is hard.

But anything that you really want is hard.

So I feel like you need to just jump in with both feet

and give it a go.

Because there's always going to be something.

There's always going to be dinner to be made.

There's always going to be something else that

can pull your attention away.

So you just need to.

And I don't want to say think like a man.

But sometimes I think you need to jump in

and think like a man.

Be like, no, I'm sorry.

Your husband can take some time off

to take the kids to the doctor.

Or if this is what you want to do,

then you need to find that person, that partner

that's going to support you.

Hey, man.

And if you don't have it, you need to figure it out.

And I don't mean to say that casually, like figure it out.

But no excuses.

No excuses.

So when we first started out, and any time

you're starting out of business,

there were always stumbling blocks.

Or like, there's just not a process.

Like now, six years in, we've got a process.

We've got a file.

We've got a way to do it.

But the first couple of years, people were calling.

I'd be like, figure it out.

I don't have the answer.

What do you think is best?

So the joke we came, whenever we have this giant office,

the quote on the wall is going to say, figure it out,

because that's what you need to do.

So I feel like as, you know.

Powers people too.

Yeah, as aspiring women entrepreneurs,

you need to figure it out.

Like, if that's what you want to do,

figure it out a way, because it's 2019,

there is absolutely no reason that you

can't do what you want to do.

Hey, man.

So one of my top, actually our top sales person

out of 250 employees that we have that are in sales right now

is a female with four kids.

God bless her.

I've watched the same situation where people make excuses.

I can't do this because I have a kid or I can't do this

because I have two children and not

grand at three of those four are high school and older.

And don't get me wrong.

It does get easier as they get older just from a time.

And right now sometimes I feel like, you're just

the carpool.

You might as well have Uber on your car,

because all you're doing is driving those kids around.

So all your moms out there and dads, it does get easier.

They can drive eventually.

I promise you.

What about the mental talk?

You talk about those obstacles.

And I think a lot of people listen too much

to what others got to say.

I think your biggest critic and your biggest

hater at times can be yourself.

What goes on in your mind when you have those obstacles

that arise in business, be it in the beginning phases

where you didn't have all the answers or there's a flood

or you have one location that works

and the other one didn't work.

And we have to open up somewhere else.

Those are points where people start to give up.

You know, I think instead of saying up,

well, this one didn't work.

We'll just put it over here.

You know, this one then we're going to put it over here.

What people see is it's like to casino.

You hear people screaming, you see the person's wins.

Or someone that bets on football here to what they want.

You don't see how many that they lost.

For the 14 offices, you know, I've had to move a couple

of those that weren't working in an area.

And I think part of that.

I think we've had to close two stores along the,

you know, at one point we had five.

Now we're down to three.

You know, two just two weren't worth they needed to do.

And I mean, you've been yourself up out.

And there may be a point where you end up with 10.

Yes.

But you had to go from five to three to 10.

And I think that's where people start

to lose the mindset, the mental battle.

You know, how do you win those mental battles

if you're coaching someone?

Well, I think it's hard, but I think you also have to look at it.

And they say you're on an airplane.

You know, it's going down.

You got to put your own oxygen mask on first.

So you need to look at these other, like that was my,

that was how I got through it was you had to look at the other

stores. And if we're putting all of our focus on, you know,

something that is just not working, you know,

round peg square hole or square peg round hole, it's just not working.

So you got to put your own oxygen mask in.

So we knew that we had to close stores in order

to save the whole franchise or the whole thing was going down.

So I mean, I think that's one way to get it.

Sounds like a lot of pressure.

I mean, yeah.

So how do you, you know, what is your strategy?

Sometimes you get so good at something

that you don't think about how it's actually happening.

And but you have to go, that's why they say sometimes people

get better when they start teaching others because it

makes you focus on the small things that you were doing,

that you didn't realize that you were doing.

So if you had to coach somebody on that, you know,

you had to coach an entrepreneur or you get into a consulting position,

you know, and you're coaching somebody, you know,

how did you handle the mental aspect of, oh, shit,

if we don't do this, the whole ship is going to go down.

Correct.

I mean, that's part of the juggle, you know, that people don't see.

And I think that that's the ongoing struggle that entrepreneurs have

is that identity of I am my business.

And I think you have to look at it that I'm not my business.

So like you can joke and be like, oh, she's one hot cookie.

And yeah, that's true.

But a lot of times I've walked in drooms and people have been like,

this is burgundy says, one hot cookie.

And I'm like, I also like to read and I love to spend time with my dog.

Like I am not just this business.

So when things are failing, it's not just,

it's not me personally failing granted in the back of my head.

Like, that's what you're thinking, but you got to coach yourself out of that.

And you have to say like, it's not me, it's the business.

And yes, I may have made that call, but that was the information I had at the time.

So what are you going to do?

And I feel like as someone who grew up with challenges and obstacles

and I feel like you're probably coming from the same place.

Like shit happens.

And you just have to, you have to roll with it.

So I think that kind of coaching through that you are more than your business.

It is part of you, but it's not all of you and you're not all of it.

Right.

You're still a person and a human and you're going to make mistakes.

And it's from those mistakes that allow you to grow and to have different opportunities.

And are you, you mentioned reading?

Is that something that you do often?

Do you, do you read?

I do. I read a lot.

My friend and I, we decided that this year we were going to read 52 books a year.

So books a year.

Which average top CEO reads?

Did you know that?

No, but did you know that George Bush, when HW when he was president,

read over 200 books in a year?

Crazy.

Who has the time?

Yeah.

So they, there's a statistic out there that I've read and heard multiple times that your average,

you know, fortune 500 CEO reads 52 books a year.

Yeah.

One book.

So my dad and I trade off book lists, but he's very snobby.

He'll only read hard backs.

I'm like, oh, I read this book.

Do I have to send it to you?

And he's like, is it a paperback?

Don't bother.

I'm like, come on.

And he's like, I like it on the shelf and I like to reference it later.

I'm like, whatever.

So you're running three businesses?

Yeah.

And so I read like a nerd all day long.

And you're rocking and you're doing some reading.

Yeah.

So, um, I don't find the time.

You make the time.

So I try to excuse us.

I try and do, um, you know, some more of the business,

the inspirational reading in the morning.

Because I feel like that's where I'm a little more dialed in.

And then the lighter fluff.

So you do some stuff in the morning.

And then I'll read like at night.

See, this is what I do too.

And then I'll read more fluff stuff.

Because if I read the business stuff at night,

I get too, too loud.

You can't go to sleep.

And I can keep you like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm like making lists and sending out crazy emails.

Like a lunatic.

Yes.

So at night, I'll read like the lighter fluffier

chick lit kind of stuff.

So.

Yeah.

All right.

Love it.

So any closing, first of all, congratulations on all your

regrets to you.

I mean, I feel like your story is, you know,

deserve it.

And I'm excited for you.

Thank you.

And, you know, I got it, I got addicted to those, you know,

cookies.

So I was excited.

You were one of our first customers that first week we were open

to meet you.

And I said, hey, you're from Youngstown.

I know you.

Yep.

You spotted it.

Yep.

And I was so pumped to see you guys.

I couldn't believe it.

I'm like, what?

Right around the corner.

Yeah.

That's a blessing and a curse.

You know, for me.

So we're super happy.

My daughter and I are from Western Pennsylvania originally.

So it feels like coming home.

So we're happy to be back over here.

And we love the community.

Love it.

So in case somebody's listening in their in Pittsburgh,

where exactly?

Sure.

We're on Perry Highway.

10339 Perry Highway right in front of North

Allegheny Senior High School in the Moz Plaza is the best way

to describe us about a mile from Whole Foods.

Yep.

And anybody that knows where my office is,

anybody listening from the agency, it's

right across the street.

You know, around Perry Highway, you could get there less than

less than a minute.

So we're awesome.

So thanks so much for having me on today.

I appreciate it.

I appreciate all the love and support.

Love the week team up on charity events, benefiting both causes

here in the area and back home for us.

So awesome.

Similar, similar, minor, similar hearts.

Yeah.

You know, I'm rocking for those of you listening

not watching this.

I'm rocking the it was all a dream T-shirt that she gave me

from one hot cookie.

And when you gave it to me, I was all excited because I

have a shirt like this that not from my agency,

but that I found somewhere and I wear it all the time.

And any time that I was able to win awards for our company,

actually, this last month, when I had the opportunity

to go on stage and get a trophy on behalf of the people

in this agency that I got to represent,

I always go up to it was all a dream.

Yeah.

That's what I mean, that is my thing.

I love it.

When I go up and you hand me this T-shirt.

So it flows with my belief system and my attitude.

And I know what this means.

Yeah, absolutely.

It's more than a shirt.

So I'm excited for you.

Thank you for your time.

I know how much time goes into making stuff like this happen.

Absolutely.

We got to go because we're both scheduled.

We got to go grind it out.

Let's go.

I appreciate it.

All right.

Thank you.

All right.

I'm out money, man.

Money, man.

That gritch is fine.

I'm trying to talk to my mom, Beast, but.