Helping You to Help(Her)

Helping you to help her. Hey, Polk County, we're back for another episode of the Elevate Polk podcast. Hoping you're having a wonderful week. My name is Chrissanne Long and I'm here again with my co-host Nate the Great. I gotta bring it back. Kendrick.

Nice. I actually like that. I'm glad you brought it back. It's good to be here, Chrissanne.

It is so good to be back and having this great conversation. We're welcoming the amazing, incredible a wonderful human being that I love very much, Theresa O'Brien, to the studio. Thank you for coming.

Thank you.

Are you excited?

I am.

Are you a little nervous?

No, I'm a little pumped up. Oh, which is not normal.

Good. Well, we are going to use that pumped up-edness to have a great conversation today. So let's start with— I just want to kind of let you riff on the background, the story behind the story of Theresa O'Brien and how you came to be. Here in Polk County and all of the kind of things you want to share about the arrival of you here.

All right. I came from Virginia, came here to Southeastern College.

Before it was a university?

Yeah, before it was a university.

Okay.

Yep. And it was small and I loved it. I came from a very small town, so it was perfect.

What was the name of the town in Virginia?

Gloucester, Virginia.

Gloucester. How do you spell that?

G-L-O-U-C-E-S-T-E-R.

Yeah, that's one of those words that I would say like, "Glow sister" or something.

Yeah, yeah. So not many people know about it. It's near Williamsburg, a little bit like further down to Richmond, Virginia. So there you go. Then you know where I'm at. But I came here, majored in communications, and immediately the day I graduated college, I had an interview with the Polk County School Board. And got my dream job as a communication specialist and did that for 8 years. And then in that timeframe, um, my husband and I grew our family to having 3 kids of the same age through adoption.

Mm-hmm. Um, wait, but before you get to that point, we haven't met your husband yet. Where did you meet him in this whole process?

I've known my husband Kevin since I was 9.

Uh-huh.

Uh, in Virginia. And so we're high school sweethearts.

Listen, y'all, a real life high school sweetheart story. I love it.

I love it. Yep. So been together since I was 14 and he was 16.

So did he come to Southeastern with you? You guys go to college together?

You know, he came here first, but I had always wanted to go here, so I did not follow him, but I followed him. I don't like that, but that's how it looked at the time.

Theoretically, you were the leader of the idea. It was your idea.

Yes.

But he was, what, is he a year older than you?

Yep. Yep.

Okay.

So he, by age just got to come first.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah. And so, and we were, we dated for 5 years, so it was like, why wait? So we got married when we were really young. Don't recommend that to my children or anyone, but I was married at 19.

That's not that young.

Oh, that is so young.

I mean, it's young as in the trajectory of like 2021. Yeah. But it's not young in like the history of time of getting married.

Yeah.

Right?

Yeah.

That was just the traditionally 19, 20, 21. That was around when everyone was getting married.

Yeah. It's true. So married while we were in college, stayed, graduated, and in my mind I just always just thought, oh, we'll go back to Virginia. But we stayed, found people here that we loved and made this our home.

And we're so glad you did.

Yeah, I love Lakeland and it's grown so much. I mean, my freshman year I thought Memorial was Lakeland. 'Cause you weren't allowed to have a car as a freshman. And I worked on campus, you know, went to school. So I didn't really need to go out. But anytime I went out, we would go on Memorial. And I thought, what have I done? 'Cause I just thought that was Lakeland. Thankfully the next year when I brought my car down, I saw South Florida and figured out like, okay, it's—

There was a little bit more to Lakeland than just one road.

There was lakes. Like literally I never really saw lakes either. Wow. I mean, I saw the lake across from the school, but—

Right, from the school, yeah.

So, yeah.

So something you said, it has never come out this way in my head, but when you said, I love Lakeland, and I wanted to say, and Lakeland loves you back. And I feel like there's a tagline in there. Oh, like Lakeland, the city that loves you back.

It's true.

I think that's what we love about our city, right? Is like the people, the connections. And when you fall in love with the city, the city falls in love with you. Mm-hmm. It's just this mutual relationship. So, so cool. Well, I'm, I'm glad that you, decided to follow Kevin.

Yeah. Watch it.

And then I wanna just ask this question as we roll into the entrepreneurial side of the discussion. When you came and you, you got this job, the twin, the, the, the triplets, but they're not all twin.

No.

Talk me through the kids again.

Yeah. So we had our son, Cayden, and then when he was 2, we adopted Stefan. So they're 14 days apart. So we had 2 2-year-olds. And then a year later, 'cause I'm crazy and, but it worked out to be wonderful.

I think you're brilliant.

We adopted our daughter Rekia and she was, she was 3, they were 3, so 3 3-year-olds. So we had started off with 3 3-year-olds.

And when, when I first met you and you said you had 3 3-year-olds, or at that time it was 3 11-year-olds or 12-year-olds or how old, however old they were, my mind still wants to call them triplets.

Yeah.

Right. Like it's just to me when you have 3 kids the same age, that's what they are. Are. But in your life, you, you kind of created your own family in such a beautiful way. You wove that together, and I just think it's gorgeous and amazing.

I've learned a lot. They've taught me so, so much, and I really— I'm so grateful for Stefan and Rekia and just our family because they've taught me so much just about who I am— the bad, the ugly, the gross, the good, you know, just— and just the world. And yeah, it's been, it was not something I ever thought, but that's the story of my life. I feel like me being an entrepreneur, never ever would've thought I would've owned my own business. So like, it makes me hopeful for the future to know that my dreams hopefully will be bigger and exceed more than I can dream for myself.

Than even what you've expected. Yeah. Yeah. So that's going back to, you got your dream job at the Polk County School Board. In this communications role, and that was your dream job. So in your world, that was it. That's what you wanted to do.

Yep. I thought I was gonna retire with the school board.

Okay.

So that was my plan.

But you didn't. So tell us what happened.

Because our plans never are what they think. So yeah, so we adopted and grew our family. And so because of that, adoption is not a fairytale, and there's, you know, lots of things with that. And one of our kids really needed, um, someone home more, separation anxiety, things like that. So, um, I decided to raise my hand and say, you know, I'll stay home with them. So I did the weird thing, which is I worked until they went to school, and when they entered kindergarten, I became the stay-at-home mom. Wow.

Okay.

Um, I knew it was the right choice. It was a really hard choice. I, I, I didn't want to do it, but I knew I needed to do it. And so, you know, I had this whole 8 years of my value, my paycheck, the using my skillset. I loved what I did. There was only 2 days in those 8 years that I did not want to go to work.

Hmm.

And what were those 2 days?

I'm not gonna tell you.

2 days in all that time. And it was, it was perfect other than those 2 days.

Yeah. I mean, I, So it was really hard, but it was like, okay, I, this is what we need to do for our family. Um, so that was probably a good, so at that time, ironically, Kevin, um, went to a conference and came home and said, for the first time, I'm letting myself dream and I think I need to start this business and I'm leaving a paycheck and he wants to start a business. Right. And I'm like, whoa. —But he was so passionate and so— it was so raw that—

He was so convicted that that was the thing he needed to do.

Yeah, so I was like, we have to do it. So I thought, well, I can use my skill set to, you know, help him produce. So he's a filmmaker. And so I thought, well, let me use my skill set to help produce and help you. And, you know, maybe we can make this work. And so thankfully it did.

Yeah, so there's been a role of you being a helper. Yeah. For a while now. Yeah. Okay.

I love helping people.

Planting that seed there.

Yeah. And I, I just love helping people. I love seeing other people achieve their dreams and try and encouraging them and cheerleading them on. Mm-hmm. So that's the part that as an entrepreneur is really hard cuz it's like I have to do that for myself.

Yeah. Yeah. Woo.

And that's, that's my challenge. But I did that. For like ever, it feels like. And, um, in that time frame, as the kids got older, um, I was surrounded by many entrepreneurs because he's an entrepreneur. And I just kept on hearing this repeated theme, which was, I need help, but I can't hire somebody full-time due to financial constraints. I can't hire somebody part-time because I don't have enough consistent work. What if I don't need them this week, right? But I do need them for this project or this event, or just, I need someone to check on me on Tuesday and say, can you run this errand?

And there's a trend before HelpHer came to be, the trend of the gig economy was starting to become prevalent. So people were getting used to going to Upwork or going to different websites and hiring a person to do a task, right? Task kind of based employment. So that wasn't just, you know, something you just wanted to go, oh, well, that's cool for them to do. Cause you were able to leverage that idea. Yeah.

So I just called myself a Tuesday girl and I convinced my friend who was an entrepreneur, she was really struggling to find somebody. She, she felt convicted. She was like, if I hire this college student, if I don't, can't pay her this week, she needs that money to pay for her food, you know? Mm-hmm. But I, so I convinced her, I said, let me do it because I don't need a certain income at this time, but I do want to feel valued. I do wanna use my skillset. And on Tuesday, if you don't need me, Great. Then I'll come back next Tuesday and I'll work for you. And so I did that for probably like 6 to 8 months with her. And I, I loved it. I felt like I was helping. My bucket was getting filled. I was getting a little pay, which I hadn't gotten ever. It felt like forever. And I just, and I was able to still volunteer as a guardian lion. I'm volunteer at the school. Like, so in that process, my husband was then selling his business. And what I like to tell people is, listen up guys, this, um, he asked me the most romantic question ever, which was, we were at brunch and he said, Teresa, what is a dream of yours that we can help you pursue? Oh, I love it. Yeah. And I was just like, oh, well, and I was afraid. Like, I was like, I have this idea, but I don't know if it's good enough. And Is it worthy enough? Is it gonna work? And he was like, it doesn't matter. What is it? So I shared with him Helper. Didn't know that's what it was called. Didn't really fully be able to like package it, but just explain like, what if there are other women like me who want to stay home still with their kids, but has a college degree and skills to use and wants to make some money and help other people, but also feel fulfilled and feel valued. Right. And I think in that timeframe too, it was like, I'm a planner and in this weird place in our family where the kids are all growing up at the same time, they're all gonna leave at the same time. Hopefully, like we always joke that one will be a loser and stay home with us. I don't think that's gonna happen. But, you know, I always blame Kevin. I'm like, this was your fault. This is what, you know, they're all leaving me. But, I've thought, okay, I do not regret staying home. That was a process. And that's another podcast of just me dealing through that. Right. Which a lot of women can relate. But in the end, I don't regret staying home. But I wondered who's gonna hire me? Like, what am I gonna do?

Like, I've been outta the workforce. Yeah. I don't necessarily have that much of a versatile, like resume to, to go in and walk in and say, hey, hire me. Cuz look at all these great things that I've been doing for the last, yeah.

You know, so many years. Yeah. But I have been doing time management with, I do, you know, I do meal planning, I do, you know, I, doctor's appointments, you know, like all the things I arrange, all these schedules for the family, you know, like there's so many, I use my skills every day, but it's hard, you know? Yeah.

So it doesn't, it doesn't always convey itself on paper.

Yeah. Right. Yeah. So I think that was part of me too, was just like, there's gotta be other women like me and we've gotta, I would love to build this community of women just to, I know I needed to hear it, which was, you are valued and you are seen and what you do matters. And don't freak out about the future, but be in the now. But what can we do now to still fill your bucket? Yeah. And so I was like, let me find those women. I want, I want, I have time now that the kids are more independent. Like I need to find this group of women. Yeah.

So, so I want you to say the question, the, cuz I want the listeners to remember, especially if you're male, the sexiest question, the most romantic question she's ever been asked was, uh, what is a dream that you have that we can pursue together? Yeah. Like that is a beautiful question. I wanna write it down and I want to, you know, put it on a, on a, on a sign in the window, right? Like just remind you that this is a dream we're pursuing together. Yeah. Wow. That's amazing. Yeah. Okay.

And I think because like, He was just so kind. Like he, he has always known, and I'm very grateful for this. I may never have gotten a paycheck from Journey Box Media, his business. I mean, there was lots of conversations of should we do that that way, but we didn't. But he always saw me that he was always kind to say, I could not have done this business without you because you hold, held the front for the family and so I could pursue my dreams. Yeah. And so when he sold that business, he said, okay, it's your turn. Yeah, it's your turn. That's awesome.

Yeah. I also think it's really cool too how when you were talking about your journey that led you into your business, you kind of almost immersing yourself in the MVP of your business and kind of getting that feel of, okay, like this is something that, that I can do, that I can be a part of. Because you're presenting it from a perspective I've never really thought about, about a lot of women that are choosing to stay at home, not because they don't have the skillset, but because they're holding down for their family. Yeah. They're making that decision.

Yeah. So, yeah. That's huge. And they want to still use their skillset. They still, they—

And they have so much value to bring. Absolutely. 100%, right? Like there's so many talented people working from home or staying home for their kids, but they have time like you did. Yeah. To do a Tuesday. Yeah. And that gives that person peace of mind to know that they, you know, that they feel valued, that they're needed, that they're, that there's something that they can contribute so that they don't forget that they're just a mom. Yeah. You know, they, they don't start to think that they're just a mom. And I use that in big, yeah. Heavy air quotes. Yeah. Because you start to imagine that that's all you are and that's, that is all you are because it's huge. Yeah. But it's not all you are. Absolutely. Because there's so many other components and facets to who you are.

Yeah.

And I think I think that I love the layers of what Help Her represents. Yeah. Because it's just like, it's, it's the internal spirit and soul of a woman, but also the contribution that they make in the world that brings out so much beauty that I just love watching you grow because I know you growing is cultivating the souls of other people and the businesses and different households and everybody that you're touching is just being impacted. And I love that.

Yeah, I do too. And I mean, I can't have a dream client every time, but my dream client is when they understand what they're getting out of Helper, which is, yes, we're checking off your to-do list, but you are helping her, you are helping another woman. And when that connection happens and both are grateful, then I feel like it's a perfect match. Yeah. And I can't get that every time. 'Cause you know, everyone's really busy and you know, but that's what, that's my dream. My dream is like that the client and the helper have this connection and that they realize that they really are helping each other. Mm-hmm. And I don't know, it's, it's—

So, so let's talk about the mechanics of HelpHer for those that are listening that haven't, have not heard. They hear, they hear that you have women who are helping people. Mm-hmm. Um, and, and they're doing that in certain different ways. So let's just kind of talk the, the business model, the, the way that it works. Works. You have people who do tasks and support people with their, um, their needs, but then you have the people who actually have a request. How do they all come together? How does that work in the HelpHer model?

Yeah, we help individuals or small businesses, uh, with hourly help. So we learn what your to-do list is. It could be running errands, it could be phone calls, data entry, writing, editing. Creating content to doing laundry. We do a lot of laundry since COVID We do a lot of laundry. Wow. We fold. It's like, you know, when you were a kid and you'd come home from school and your laundry would be put away, it's that for the adults, you know, like they don't, they don't have to think about it anymore. We do meal planning and things like that. So what really, whatever is on your to-do list that you feel that you can give away so you can spend time doing more of what you love or spend more time with your family. We check that off. So we have women who are helpers, they're independent contractors. I know their availability, their skillset, and what they enjoy doing. That's the most important part is like, this is what they love doing. And we connect them and make it happen at an hourly rate.

And what I love, I wanna talk from the entrepreneurial side for a minute. When you say that you, you know, helping small businesses with the tasks and the things that they need. What I love, especially with that example you gave of your Tuesday, you, when you were the Tuesday girl. Yeah. We as entrepreneurs, as we're starting to grow and we're gaining some momentum, there's not necessarily consistency in the, you know, the revenue generating and the opportunities that are coming. But when they start to come, they come really fast. Right. And sometimes you need, you know, things to get done quickly because there's an urgency, a time, all of that. but then things kind of mellow out and things kind of get back to whatever they were before. Mm-hmm. And like you said, it's hard for a small business who's growing and knowing and sees their vision, sees, sees their po— their, their potential, but knows that they have so many milestones that they have to get to, to, to the point where they're ready to hire that first person. Right. The thing is that you're like, you're like a stopgap.

Yep. I'm right in between. In between that need.

And that what I love is that the hardest part for entrepreneurs often is to learn how to delegate. Yeah. Mm-hmm. And so going through that process is a learning process. Yeah. It's like, okay, I've been doing this all myself. I need somebody to do it, but I don't have a standard operating procedure written down to even know how to explain, to ask somebody to do it for me. Yeah. So you're helping them to be able to say, well, if you want to hire us, we need to know what you want us to do. Yeah. And that has to be written down or at least explained in some way. Yeah. And so standard operating procedures are a, you know, third or fourth level kind of business system that you need to think about because at the beginning you're just like, trying to figure out how to stay alive, how to keep the lights on and, you know, keep everything going. And so this is just really good for that momentum that a business is gaining so that they can continue to maintain it. Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, that's what I just love. Like, I want to see you succeed, you know? I want to see the businesses keep on going. And we are the pit stop. We're like, before you're about to, you know, hire that first employee, Well, here are some things that I can start doing so I can, you know, get my time back to focus on how to grow the business so I can hire the next, you know, my first employee.

Yeah, that's huge. It really resonated with me with this business in general, because I've heard about your business in passing, but as you've kind of talked about your business more in depth, it's creating awareness within me in saying how valuable your business is to the marketplace because of, to Chrissanne Long's point, when these businesses are starting to get momentum, a lot of these business owners have to realize to start to delegate and to start to trust. But that balance between, do I want to hire someone full-time as opposed to easing them into the process? And it's especially if it's local, it's close by as opposed to Upwork. A lot of times they're so far away. It's like, yeah, do I even know this person? they can, they can leave a whole bunch of comments about how great they are, but it's, it's one thing to say how great you are and another thing to actually bring the value to the marketplace. But one thing I wanted to, to ask is I'm really fascinated about your business model and I feel like it's like the chicken and the egg. You had to get the helpers, but simultaneously you had to get the businesses that needed help. How did you go about that process?

Yeah, that's a great question. Um, I, when I started saying, okay, this idea, I'm gonna pursue this idea, Kevin was really good at encouraging me just to tell everybody. And so, you know, go to a dinner party or, you know, anywhere, coffee with friends, and he would just nudge me and say, hey, go tell Tina about your idea. Hey, hey, do this, which, way, which I learned in my Business 101 class, um, that you have to start talking about what you do. You have to start, you know, how many people you talk to weekly about your business. Um, I didn't know that's what I was doing, but I've done a lot of things that I didn't know I was doing that's really worked out. Um, but, um, in that, I started deciding, okay, well, what would be a good person, a candidate for being a helper. Um, most of y'all are familiar with the Enneagram, so personality test, things like that. So Enneagram number 2 is a helper. Me too. Is that you? Yes. Yeah, through and through. Um, and so I was like, well, it would be really good when I talk to women to find out what their Enneagram number is so I can kind of identify like who they are. I mean, I definitely want 1s, like I want, you know, for certain tasks, you know, there's different tasks that I'm like, oh, I definitely want this certain Enneagram person, you know? Right. I mean, we're all different people and we can all be the numbers, but, um, I felt like that was a useful tool. But, um, I first went to, I mean, I was a stay-at-home mom, so I went to my stay-at-home moms just to see like, if I, you know, were to do this, like, would you be interested in just learning more? Mm-hmm. So started with that little pocket and of those that I really believed that would be really great and reliable. And available. And then I took Co-Starters at Catapult. Yeah. And through that process, I just, they were really good at sharing about who was in the class and things like that. And they did a Ledger spotlight of HelpHer.

Oh, that's awesome.

And honestly, because of that, then a little bit of Lakeland caught on and they, I had some people that I just never would've met before reach out to me and say, hey, I wanna hear more about your business that you're building. And then through that I started with 12 helpers. Oh wow. So, and out of the 12, I knew 5. Wow. So that was exciting and scary, you know.

And the 7 that you didn't know? Yes. Came as referrals from the, the 5 or from just other, other people in the groups or?

Other people in the groups and the Ledger Spotlight. And then also because of that Ledger Spotlight, I had ABC Action News call me and the week that I launched Helper, they came and did a piece on me. And I was like, whoa, okay. And that was like fire.

So, so let's talk about Kevin for a second because I think he's the original Helper. Right? Like, he's the original helper. What is the idea that we can grow and help you launch together? And then he's navigating you through conversations, giving you the space to talk about it.

Yeah.

Because as an entrepreneur, you don't wanna be pushy. Yeah. You don't wanna be obnoxious. You wanna be like, hey, here's my business card. Let me tell you all about what I'm doing. Yeah. But when someone opens the door for you to start that conversation, that is the hugest gift that you can give to a person because you're not introducing it yourself. You're answering the question. Someone wants you to tell the story about it. And so I love I love that he helped you kind of do that unknowingly, you know, just intuitively. He was— he knew that you needed that door to open and those conversations to start and the more people for you to say it. Because I believe, um, especially for me, I mean, I'm an Enneagram 2 as well, and I, I know sometimes my desire to help can sometimes, um, overshadow helping myself. Yeah. And that's really the challenge of a help— of an Enneagram 2 is I want to be able to fill my own cup, but I get empty.

Yeah.

And so that gift that he's giving you is like, oh, let me step into this. Let me speak about it. Let me, let me ask, you know, if anybody, if I can make an introduction, right? Or any, whatever that is, whether Kevin did it or other people are doing it. And I, and then I think what ends up happening is what you're describing. When you open the door for another entrepreneur and they are walking through those, those doors And, and the world is their oyster. Yeah. Like suddenly you're getting the press, you're getting the, the familiarity. People are like, this is great. What you said earlier, Nate, was like, to me, really, really important because this is all local economics. Yeah. This is all supporting local families, supporting local businesses, supporting local paychecks. All of that is here 100%. And there's not a lot of businesses that do that. Mm-hmm. And so we have to do our job. Yeah. To help celebrate that as much as possible. Absolutely. Because there is there is no money flowing out other than maybe some of the vendors that you have for your website or different things. But the reality is everything is staying here.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I knew that I needed to have helpers. I knew if like people were gonna start asking for help, well, we have to have people lined up ready to help. So it was like, okay, I've gotta push this message, but I also need to make sure that I've got a good baseline of, and that's where we're at now. Right now we are a year and a half in. And I feel like it's the same thing. We're continuing to grow and we're expanding now, which it's wild. Again, I don't let myself dream as much as I should, and I'm working on that. Um, but you know, we're in Tampa now, and I know, I know, it's amazing. It's crazy. It's wonderful and amazing. And I've— one thing I've learned, I've learned a lot of things that I need to Write them all down, but you gotta go with your ebb and flow. Mm-hmm. COVID for sure, ebb and flowed. I thought that Helper was gonna really help small businesses because that's who I was around and I, my, my heart was for them to help them. But COVID led me to help families, which were specifically women, women working, working business women working. That were like, I can't do this anymore. I, I can't do everything. My kids are home, I'm home. And on the weekends I wanna spend time with my kids and not do this laundry. Mm-hmm. And so it was really empowering to see like women stepping up and saying, I'm not gonna do everything. And I am gonna say it's okay to ask for help. And, you know, 3 hours I can get a lot of things done for $75 and have the weekend with my kids.

And, and we spend $75 on coffee in a week. Yeah. Or, on, you know, things that are just trivial and insignificant. And this is that time that you get for yourself that is so necessary to be healthy and to have, you know, a fresh, you know, a fresh mind, you know, to be able to just, poof, I don't even have to think about it. I love, I love, love, love. I wanna speak for a second about being your client, cuz I know that's an additional revenue stream for you that didn't come out of your original game plan. Yeah. Um, as I have a, I have hired a, person that came through a referral from you, because that is what a lot of people are doing. People are coming to you and saying, hey, do you have somebody who I can hire? Yes. Like as a full-time employee. Yes. Because you are vetting these people and you know them and you know what they want and you know what they're trying to achieve. And you know that if it's maybe they're doing the helper gigs at this point in time to get through a period, but they really ultimately are looking for a position. Yeah. And so I think that is another piece. So working with you, as a busy business owner thinking about the fact that I had a person that I needed to hire, you're the first person I thought of. And then you're going through your Rolodex in your mind. I mean, almost your, your like text message back to me was something like, let me think about it. And then a few hours later you're like, I have a few people. Do you want me to connect you? And then I got resumes and then we set up the process. And I will tell you, going out on Indeed or going out on GLATT, wherever those places are that you can, Monster Jobs or whatever is out there anymore. Monster Jobs is gone.

No, no, I'm just agreeing. I'm agreeing with you.

Yeah, yeah. I was like, am I dating myself? Is a wild, wild west goose chase. Like, it's just crazy. You're going to spend time responding to emails, looking at resumes, doing all this stuff, having tons and tons of— and you just were like almost like a laser-focused path for me to find the right person. And she's amazing. And everybody who comes into the office loves Alexis. So it's just one of those. Really, really great opportunities for me to just shine that light back at you because yes, you're doing Helper and you're helping all of these other things and these are other, other value adds. Yeah. That you include in the business too.

Well, two things. I believe in connections. Yeah. My whole life has been that. And that's one of the sure things that I knew that the reason why Helper would thrive is this is what my whole life has been. I've, You know, I meet Nate and then a week or two weeks I meet somebody and I'm like, you should meet Nate. Mm-hmm. So I did that my whole life. And maybe it's just because I love meeting people. I don't mind talking to people. I put my foot in my mouth all the time as I did with Nate last week, last month. Um, I, I don't mind just talking and, and we'll, you know, we'll go from there.

And, um, I love your authenticity, so don't change that. Yeah, absolutely.

But, um, I knew I, there was just, there's just been too many coincidences in my life that I'm like, if I meet somebody, I feel like I can find a way to connect you to somebody. Mm-hmm. And I hope that doesn't come off arrogant. It's just, mm-hmm. I feel like if we have the right, you know, trust and light and all that, like it, it works out. Mm-hmm. It just always has. And I've been very grateful just to be able to see that. Um, So one of the great things— there's been so many great things through Helper and in Lakeland that have helped me succeed. Right before I launched Helper, though, I was launching Thursday. Monday, I was asked to go and have a meeting with Don Salvage, who runs SHR Recruiting and is a long-time standing past city commissioner, right? You don't know. And so he asked me to come see him and he was like, share with me about what you're about to launch. Share me your business, share me your website, show me what's going on. Um, and he was like, Teresa, there's a part of your business that I think you're missing and you need to really tap into this. And I'm like, I'm about to launch my website on Thursday. What do you, what do you mean? What's gonna happen? What are, what are you talking about? And he said, you are going to be, um, in the midst of a community of women who, just like you, have a college degree, have skills to use, and eventually their kids are going to grow up and they're going to want to go back in the workforce. And he was like, and I am continuously being told, you know, I'm looking for this person for this job. And he said, you're going to be in this community of women that you need to collect their information, you need to advocate for them, you need to you can help them find jobs. And I was thinking just hourly jobs. And he was like, no, part-time, full-time jobs. So I was like, well, tell me, tell me, what should I do? You know? And he was like, so just collect their information, their resumes, and, you know, keep your ear out. And he was very wonderful to partner with me and say, you know, if I get any leads, I'm gonna, I would like to partner with you and let's, let's find these women jobs.

Figure it out. Let's figure out how we're gonna do that together.

Yeah. Yeah. And so thank God for Don Savage because I was able to place, I think around 3 or 4 women jobs immediately. Mm-hmm. Right when I launched and then COVID happened and that was what paid my bills for quite a while. But when I said ABC Action News, so I, ABC Action News, I mean, their main demographic is Tampa. Mm-hmm. But I was able to ask all these women, like, send me your resume. Mm-hmm. You know, like, let me advocate for you when the time comes. And so I've been able to do that. So in 2020, I don't have my numbers for 2021, but 2020 I placed 14 women in jobs. Wow. And that was not even a business concept for helper for me. Right. Until that Monday before I launched that was like, no, add this into your, your business plan.

And I'm so glad that you did.

Yeah.

Because, and, and that's, you know, I think I'm an advocate for business planning, but I'm also an advocate for business visioning, right? And, and not closing your mind to what's on the piece of paper for the business plan, but being, maintaining an open mind to whether, what other opportunities you might need to be considering. Yeah. 'Cause you can't consider it all. Yeah. You know, but, and you also can't pursue it all, but just keeping that line going down and you, you're starting with your why. I think you have a very strong why. Oh yeah. Yes. And a very strong vision.

As long as you know, that's what I feel. I feel like as long as you know your why and I certainly do, then it propels me forward. But then I'm also just really listening to the client and listening to my helper. And making sure that I'm ebbing and flowing that way. Mm-hmm. I do feel like I'm a different kind of businesswoman in the sense that my why is so strong that, and recently I just told this to my helper, that I unapologetically, how do you say it? Unapologetically. Thank you. Unapologetically. I, I am, I'm here for my helper. Mm-hmm. So I, I have my helper's back and I hope that I can continue to do that as I grow. It will be challenging, but in the end, I'm, I'm making sure that she is feeling valued and she is doing what she, she can and wants to do. Mm-hmm. So the client event, that client will be happy. Yeah. Um, yes, I want clients. Yes, I wanna grow. but I'm okay with the pace to make sure that my helpers are, you know, at the pace that they need to be. So everyone, like, if they're happy and they're good, then we can be good. Yeah. Mm-hmm. And so I'm just, I'm constantly making sure that I'm trying to build this relationship with them. That's been the, probably the biggest surprise for me is, and maybe not, Cause I mean, I just kept on saying in my co-starter class, I just wanna empower women. I just wanna empower women. I'm empowering women. And they're like, okay, but what does that mean? Mm-hmm. But I'm continuously having these conversations with my helpers of, I need you to be honest with me. You are not gonna hurt my feelings if you tell me I don't wanna do this task. If you do not feel valued, you know, to do that at the rate that I pay you. So example, somebody was asking us to clean their patio on the, on Fridays to get it ready for the weekend. Mm-hmm. It only took 2 hours. They were just sweeping and cleaning the patio area, wiping down windows and just getting it ready. But I had an older helper doing that, an empty nester, and she was like, you know, it's Florida, it's hot. Mm-hmm. I don't know if my rate is really worth that. And I'm like, awesome. Like, I need you to be honest enough to tell me like, this is just not the right fit for me. Mm-hmm. So I've been really giving the helpers a voice and I didn't know how much I needed to do that. And that's just been really awesome just to empower them to speak up and say what they wanna do and what they can do. So, um, I think I think that's, I don't know. I, I pride myself in that. I feel like that's, I feel like a good leader. I feel like a good boss. Um, during August was really crazy with COVID numbers. Yeah. Here in Florida. Mm-hmm. And I had a helper that was gonna make phone calls for this client and her son came home to, um, be quarantined, didn't have COVID, but had to be quarantined. And she was like, I didn't realize how much I was gonna have to do schoolwork with him at home. And I'm not gonna make these phone calls, but maybe if my husband comes home on a lunch break, then I can call on those hours. And I said to her what most business people would be like, what are you talking about? I said, if you're gonna have your husband come home for a lunch break, maybe you should be resting and not working for Helper. I said, it sounds like you're really exhausted this week and I can find another helper to do this. And you need to give yourself grace and a break and You didn't know this week was going to happen the way it did. And so I'm just like, I want to cultivate a place where we can speak up and we're looking out for each other.

Yeah, 100%. I see it. I love it. And kind of breaking some of the constraints of traditional ways of understanding business. It's so rigid. Yeah. You know, it's so factory, you know, it's a box and you have to fit inside of this box. And I don't think everybody can anymore. Like, I think that that was part of what was missing. We didn't have such a spice in life when we were living inside of boxes. And now we're all kind of saying, well, what if I don't do it the way that everybody always has done it and try a new way? And this is this innovative perspective that you're bringing to this concept, which I absolutely love.

I wanted to ask, I feel like you have a lot of different opportunities with HelpHer and how it could grow in different aspects of the business. In the next 3 to 5 years, where do you envision the business being and kind of the direction of where you're wanting to take it?

Well, I am launching an app. Oh, awesome. Um, yes. So It's been, it's like building a house. It takes a little longer, but November it will happen. Woo! Um, November it will happen. So I feel like it was one or two choices. It was either I'm gonna bring in an employee, just like all the businesses that I talked to of like, what are you gonna do? So it was like either I'm gonna bring in an employee to help me build Helper, or I can build this app and reach more people because I can only do so much. Yeah, sure. Um, so that is exciting. That makes me feel like I can, um, well, I know it's going to take so much of me working in the business and be able to dream and think and find, you know, have thought process more than I, you know, get now and automate a lot of the processes that you have. Yes, everything. But like I said, we are, we're moving to Tampa. I did not think we would move that fast, but I'm, I'm going for it. And so I really, I want to do that. And then, you know, it is a dream of mine. I'm like, why can't Helper, you know, go in other cities and, and keep on growing? Going global, baby. Yeah. So Sarah Blakely from Spanx. I just adore her. I adore her. I, her story, she makes me cry. Like just anytime I hear her talk, I just, I just, it's just so inspiring. Yeah. So I just watched a video. That's why I think I was pumped up today. Like she just sold her business. She started with a red backpack in college going door to door asking questions and doing her thing and Yesterday she sold her business and it's just so women-led and she knows her why. Mm-hmm. And I'm not saying I can do this, but she just announced, like, I got to watch the video and she just like gave, um, every employee 2 round, 2 free round, um, flights to anywhere in the world they can choose. Wow. And $10,000 to enjoy that trip. Wow. Wow. And Wow, that seems like crazy. Talk about breaking convention, right? Exactly. And like, that's what I want. Like, I just want to give women a voice. I want to show them that they're valued, and I, I want, I want to just bring them up. Um, so, and then, you know, the other thing, I don't know if this really answers the question, but something that I've been sharing recently with people that I just feel like is so important, and I need to figure out how to share this more. Um, like I said, there was a lot of things about Helper that I thought that I was going to be doing to help people, because that's what I enjoy. And I thought that, um, if I lift people up, then I would succeed. I didn't realize how much they were going to lift me up. I, I just didn't add that to the equation. And a perfect example, I'm a white girl, and diversity means so much. Our family is very diverse. Um, I, you know, I have a Black son, a Black daughter, um, and they have taught me so much about the world that I thought I saw and that I thought I knew and that I didn't know. Um, it was really important. If you go to Helper's website, um, I have a fabulous commercial about my husband that wrote and directed it. Um, it was very important for me to have the spokesperson. Um, I chose the actress Amanda Jackson and she's a Black female. Hmm. I, what I did learn in producing is when we elevate and bring people to the table, like it's my job as I feel as a white female to bring other people up that, you know, don't look like me. Um, and so I put Amanda Jackson as my actress in my commercial and my kind of my spokesperson for, you know, some photos and stuff. I didn't— I intended it thinking I just don't want it to be another white face and I want to just elevate this. What I didn't realize was what it was gonna do was open my world to meet so many successful Black women. Mm-hmm. It's been the best gift. I have so many friends in my circle now that I never would have met. Mm-hmm. I think because if I didn't elevate that look. Mm-hmm. I mean, there is something about that, that I don't want people to think I'm trying to say that I'm a Black woman business owner, you know, that, that part kind of scares me. Yeah. And, and I, I never intended that, but what it has done is, is just, you've opened up the conversation.

I've opened the conversation.

I've opened the door just to meet women I never would've met before. Mm-hmm. And help them succeed and be successful and, you know, check off their to-do list. So that's just been something that, has been an aha moment that I feel like I need to just share more. Just like if we bring people to the table and if we in our business do more with people that maybe that we are not with as often, it's, you think that you're helping them, but they're really helping you. Yeah. You know, you're changing inside. Yeah.

So I like that. I like that perspective. You're really kind of flipping it. Flipping things on their head in the business world. And, um, really kind of resonated with, with me what you said. I'm a huge fan of Sarah Blakely. I love her a lot.

How can you not be? What a great story. What a great human being. She's just so different.

She's always thought outside the box. Uh, how I built this podcast that I love, she was one of the first— she was, she was the first on how I built this and talked about her story. So it, it really resonates with me that you're— that, that you resonate with her story and it And the way that I've kind of seen your business from afar and now seeing you up close in the way that you're presenting yourself, it's showing that you're being different. You're saying, hey, look, this is the way that we've done things, but why don't we do it this way? Right.

Standing in your principles, what you believe, and not feeling— well, probably feeling like you have to explain it, but not bothering if it doesn't make sense to stop and go, well, sorry, you don't understand. Let me try and help you understand. No, this is just what I believe. I'm going to stand in this.

And what's awesome is the market, the market, We're in a place now where the market decides and the market is saying, yes, this is, this is what we need. Yeah. Love that.

Love that. Yeah. I had two men tell me, and they've been my little fire, like, this isn't gonna work. You're, you know, why don't you just get a group of women and y'all just do this, right? I was like, that's okay. They didn't even hear me. That's fine.

You know, or thank you for sharing.

Yeah. Or your business model is upside down. Your women didn't ask to get paid that much. Um, why would you pay them that much? You know, it was a big value system for me to make sure that I paid the women well, my helpers well. Um, when I did my survey of, at the very beginning of saying, okay, what does a helper look like? You know, and who would they be in Lakeland? You know, in my circle, when I would ask them like, what would you like to get paid? Or, um, what was your last paid job? Um, It was very low. And if I asked, what would you like to get paid? Nobody would talk. Mm-hmm. It, it got quiet and on the phone and I would say, okay, well, would you like to get paid $15 an hour? And they're like, oh yes, absolutely. But we can do less. We can, you know, and I'm like, no, we're gonna, we're gonna start at this baseline. Mm-hmm. And so I was told, you know, that's bad business model. Nobody, you know, but I'm like, no. Like this is—

That's how I'm going to have people who are going to stay and be there and be consistent. Yeah. And bring their best selves and not feel like they're being cheated out of something. And, and just, that's just beautiful. Yeah. So keep doing what you're doing. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. Absolutely. Well, I'm gonna go ahead and wrap up. Do you wanna kind of tell people how they can find you and where the best channels are on social media to follow you? Yes. And all of that fun stuff?

Yeah. We're on Instagram and Facebook at My Help her. Um, and then my website is myhelpher.com. And then in November you can download our app, um, on Google Play or, you know, iPhone. It's very exciting.

Keep an eye on this one. She's going to go tons of great places and I want to keep you in my sights because I want to keep following you and supporting you and cheering for you and encouraging you. So thanks for all you do for the community. Thanks for being on the show today. Thank you for the opportunity.

Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for sharing your story. And that's a wrap.

Thanks for listening to this week's show. If you'd like to help us get the word out about this podcast, check out the post on our Facebook page, share it, or better yet, comment with your favorite part of the episode. We're looking forward to learning what you loved about this conversation. We love Teresa. We know you did too. So let us know if you have some ideas for upcoming episodes. We'd love to hear from you. We'll see you next week, Polk County. That's a wrap.