Celebrating Small Business Success: Strengthening #VetBiz Communities

Okay.

All right.

Okay.

Are we ready, Nicole?

Yes. Welcome to the event. It's begun. Take it away, Stan.

All right. Thank you. Thank you. Well, good afternoon. I want to thank everybody for, for taking time out of their busy day, getting ready for Thanksgiving. So I wanted to share this today some success stories. We have the SBA administrator on today, so we want to just kind of do an informal discussion and talk about some of these panelists, their journey and the resources they used. And so again, I want to welcome you. And with that, I want to turn it over to Tim Green, who is the Office of Veterans Business Development. He is the deputy Associate administrator. So Tim.

Yeah.

Thank you, Stan. I appreciate that. Again, my name is Tim Green, Air force veteran of 28 years, and I work for the administrator in the Office of Veterans Business Development. This webinar is really kind of culminating National Veterans Small Business Week where we celebrated the success of many veteran and military spouse entrepreneurs across the country. We held about 170 events or more and we're kind of wrapping that up now. And today we're going to hear is from three successful businesses that have utilized their military skills and SBA and other resources to get where they are. But before we begin, I want to introduce the administrator, Isabel Guzman. She is at the administration's Voice For Americans, 34 and a half million small businesses and growing and which includes almost 2 million veteran owned small businesses. She grew up in a small business family. She spent her entire career advising entrepreneurs, launching ventures, help helping small business navigate the government and creating policies and programs to help advance entrepreneurship and innovation. Currently, she is utilizing her vast experience and strong leadership to guide SBA and she continues to fight to help veteran and military spouse small businesses, helping them start, grow and be resilient. Please join me in welcoming one of the finest leaders I've ever known, Administrator Guzman.

Thank you.

I love that. Thank you so much. I really greatly appreciate that introduction. I always love when you introduce me because you have such poise in class and I know that you work so hard in your role, Tim, and your entire team is just amazing and delivering for our veterans. So this day is as much about celebrating the great entrepreneurs, but also celebrating the Office of Veterans Business Development and the great work that you've been able to achieve over the years and especially in partnership with me. I've enjoyed doing so much for veterans during, during my tenure here at the sba, which is why I wanted to do this. I know that it's no longer National Veterans Small Business Week, but I was really excited to lift up some of these incredible success stories who've been able to leverage federal resources, leverage the networks of veteran entrepreneurs to be able to take their business to the next level or and really deliver for communities. Because we know our incredible vet veteran entreprene, give back and support other veterans, they contribute into their communities. And really I'm always taken aback by not only the normal operations of like helping with food banks or funding little leagues across the country, but I find that veteran entrepreneurs, the stories that I've been told about, have really taken it to the next level. I mean, there are veteran entrepreneurs out there starting foundations to give back and contributing dollars and really providing helping hand, recognizing that we are communities that need to come together to really make our neighborhoods work. So I'm excited to just be here to celebrate our veterans, celebrate the strong entrepreneurships and contributions that they've been able to make to our country. And I'm looking forward to just having a more in depth conversation with the actual entrepreneurs that we're featuring as well. So I'm going to turn it back over to I guess Stan or Tim to, to kick us off into introductions.

Stan, I'll let you run the discussion. Thanks.

Thanks, Madam Administrator. And Tim. So we have some great panelists and the first one I want to recognize is Hyacinth Tucker. And so Hyacinth is an army veteran and she owns the Laundry Basket llc, which is a leading mobile laundry and dry cleaning delivery service. And she does that in the Greater D.C. area, Northern Virginia and all the way up into Canada. So it's going to be great to hear her journey. And so the next one down is Stephanie and Bryce Wine and they're out of Virginia beach and they have Pinup Coffee company. Now their business has really, really grown over the last year or so and both Navy vets and so they have a passion for coffee. Their business continues to grow. And so I'm, I know that you'll enjoy their story and, and I know you'll be looking forward to hearing their journey as well. And then we also have Kara and Matthew which run the project Victory Gardens and it's a agrotherapy, animal therapy, agriculture education program. They are in rural South Carolina and so they run a farm. Both retired sergeant majors from the army. And so they have a great story as well. And we did a success story video on them as well recently. So I know that you'll, you'll enjoy their stories. And with that said, I'll just kind of open it up with, you know, with Hyacinth you want to talk about how you got started with your business and what led you to that, how you got started and what. What are the resources that you used?

Yes. Good afternoon, everyone. So, as you've already said, Stan, I'm the proud owner of the laundry basket. And it was definitely something that I didn't plan on. I went to visit a friend in July of 2022, and I walked into her living room, and they were clothes everywhere. And I literally mean everywhere. And she's telling me how stressed and frustrated and overwhelmed she is. And of course, she hates doing laundry. And I realized that she's buying new clothes instead of washing the clothes that she already has. So we start having that conversation like, well, you know, this is going to lead to more laundry, so that's not really helping the situation. And she says to me, I wish there was someone that can come and take all this laundry and do it for me. And I said, okay, I'll do it. And from that, we have grown so much in the past two years. So we're now a team of eight. We have a fleet of vans. We service Maryland, dc, Northern Virginia, Cleveland, and we have a footprint in Toronto. Thank you to the Department of Commerce and the STEP Program. And we've done a lot as far as getting into different areas. So now not only do we do residential clients, we do businesses. So we do universities, hospitals, spas, gyms, and then we also contract with the government on the state, local, and federal side, thanks to our SCORE counselor. So it has definitely been a journey. But I would also like to say that we do a lot for the community, so we work with local nonprofits, and as they get clothes donated, we launder them and we deliver them to our unhoused population. And we also have the Laundry Basket Institute, which is a workforce development program to help other individuals get into the industry of laundry and dry cleaning. So it's definitely been a journey over the past two years. And just glad to be here.

Thanks, Hyacinth. Just kind of a funny note. So Hyacinth was on a panel discussion, and she's always one to give back and always wants to give back and help other veteran entrepreneurs and military spouses. So I asked her to be part of this panel, and she gave that story. She had a standing ovation of over 400 people in the audience, and most of them wanted her contact information because apparently they don't like doing laundry either. So it was great. And I always applaud her. I'm surprised she still takes my calls so she has a great story and she always wants to give back. And so that leads me into Steph and Bryce, who are just, you know, just going gangbusters with their business and, you know, again, you know, talk about, you know, what gave you that idea to start this business and, and how you got started and then what resources did you use?

Sure. Hi everyone. Stephanie Wein. So we are the owners of pinup coffee company, Specialty Coffee Roaster in Virginia beach. And I'll talk a bit about how and why we got started and then probably let Bryce take it away from there.

But.

This whole thing was, is kind of my fault. I wanted to get in coffee ever since I had my first frozen coffee drink when I was like 15, 16 years old. So it was actually something I daydreamed about back then even, and kind of just tucked away for a long time. I worked a few different jobs, including for a craft hard cider company, which is really where I fell in love with the craft movement. So craft beer, craft cider coffee, those things that really bring a community together. Because how cool is it to go to like a local place instead of a, a big chain with your friends, joined the Navy. And then it was in the last couple years of the Navy that that idea kind of came back and said, how about we try this? So we started as just a small cottage law coffee roaster just from home. So that means that we just did like hand to hand and farmers markets. And that was while we were both still active duty. So we were very, very busy and trying to get everything off the ground and learn everything we could about business and coffee. Utilized a lot of mentors. So the vboc, the sbdc, I had a score mentor as well, which who was amazing at trying to learn all the financial documents and projections and stuff like that, that, that you need and get a grasp on what those mean and how to do those. Definitely could not have done it without the mentors. And we still keep in contact with our mentors, of course, and network a lot, especially now three, four years later when we're experiencing this really rapid growth phase. So that's something that will always be important from start to growth and beyond. So. And then you film in a little bit on the last year or so.

Yeah, we've, we've. I'm Bryce, by the way.

Everybody.

We've grown quite a bit. You know, we moved into this spot that we're in now. This is our roastery here. It's about 1200 square feet and we've outgrown this space quite a bit. We're actually about to move into a new space next door which is 4,500 square feet. In the past year, we've opened our first cafe. We just got approved yesterday for a large cold brew, canned cold brew program. So we're really excited about that. Our online presence is continuing to grow on a daily basis. We see first time customers daily. We've shipped to seven or eight different countries outside of the United States. We have a large wholesale program around the area here in Virginia and that's grown massively. We are a team of, let me think, 7. 7 as of yesterday. 7 just hired another individual yesterday. And then we continue to do. Steph alluded to farmers markets. We continue to do farmers markets. The season's coming to a close. We have our last one tomorrow, but we continue to do those because we really, really love community. It's a huge part of who we are and what we want to continue.

To do and the military and veteran community too. So I'm sure we'll get into Skillbridge here in a minute, but let you talk to everyone else first.

Yeah.

Well, thanks. And again, you know, Steph and Bryce are always there to get on some of these panel discussions. They came to Washington D.C. last year during a huge conference, the national association for State Workforce Veterans Conference. They do every year. So they were a panelist there, told their story. So I mean, I'm surprised they're still taking my call as well, so. Because I know they're always busy but always willing to give back and we love that. So our last business, but not least is is Kara and Matthew, which have a great story. Their project, Project Victory Gardens. So, you know, take it away. Same thing. You know, how did, how did the idea come to you? How did you get started and what resources did you use?

All right. Good afternoon. Hi, I'm Matt and this is Kara Rudder. We are Project Victory Gardens. We retired in 2020 and I don't know, maybe a year before that, we were attending the Boost of Business with the VBOC run by the Bebop with Tim and we were talking about farming and we realized kind of how far behind we were in business planning and all of that. So we sort of doubled up a little bit on what we were doing and worked on this business plan and started looking for opportunities to test it and see if it was, you know, sustainable. So we applied for some grants in the state and didn't get them. But we did learn a lot along the way. Between that and retiring, Kara had to Take a trip to Kuwait. And while she was there, I went to tractor supply. I bought some chickens and ducks because those are the gateway drugs in the farming. And so the ducks lived in our. In our tub, in the bathroom for a couple of weeks until I could get a coop built because we were definitely not ready to be farmers yet. Then we retired into Covid and just started building fences. And we now have pigs and alpacas, goats, turkeys that we're processing for Thanksgiving tomorrow, actually, for the veterans in our area, and ducks, chickens, and I think that's it. And some livestock guard dogs. Along that journey, we realized that we really missed our, like, our cohort, our veterans. So we established a nonprofit, which is Project Victory Gardens. And with that organization, we use that to grow farmers. So our farm is designed as a model farm so that we can teach veterans how to farm and point them to the resources that are available for them. Do you want to talk about the grant and the sbdc?

Yeah. So we started doing, you know, we just kind of piloted a program we called Farmer Boot Camp. And from the very beginning, we've been, you know, very lucky to have the support of the VBoCS, both in Georgia and South Carolina. Small Business Development center, score. They're at all of our training events because we really feel like they are the cornerstone for being successful as a small business. And so we applied for a large grant from the usda, the Department of Ag, and we were able to get that. And so now we really focus on doing some of those entrepreneurial classes for veterans interested in agriculture. And next year we'll be launching an agritourism incubator program and SBDC and VBOC and SCORE will be with us every step of the way. We know. And then recently we've been doing. The VBOC of New England has started a farmer and rancher specific boots to business reboot program. And so we help out with all of those. And so that's been a really great experience as well.

Yeah, you all have a great story and, you know, and part of that, you know, you used usda, and I did share your success video that we did with, with you all with usda so they can. They can promote their program as well. But I know that you used a Skillbridge program, which is a Department of Defense Skillbridge program, which is really geared for transitioning service members about 180 days out from transition. And it's a great program for them to get in and work with employers and kind of get a feel for the civilian sector. In an area they may want to get into. So do you want to talk a little bit about that? And I know Steph and Bryce are into that as well. So we'll start with you, you all, and kind of describe on how you use that Skillbridge program.

Yeah, sure. So we developed a curriculum for the Skillbridge program, and that's very broad and very tailorable. And we tailor it to the veterans, individual needs, ambitions, like their. Their desires. And frankly, like, basically, if you are looking to do an agricultural internship in the state of South Carolina, we can put you just about anywhere. We have about 50 farms that we partner with. We've partnered with the Clemson extension and the SE State Extension, the Farm Bureau Farm Credit, the Palmetto Agribusiness Council. So no matter what side of farming you want to do, whether it's getting dirty and animal husbandry stuff or gardening, or you want to do the credit side and be, you know, working in the bank, we can place you in a Skillbridge internship. We thought that it would be, you know, something. Something small that we would do four or five a year, maybe six. I think in about maybe 20 months or so. I guess we're getting close to two years. We've placed just over 40, I believe. We love the Skill Bridge, and we like being able to take the veterans as they're leaving the military and help get them, like, on a better trajectory than, you know, then, just to make sure that they're going in the right direction. We like to see all the veterans in South Carolina thriving. We also think it's important that they could spend a couple of months on a farm and find out that farming is not for them. That's also success because they don't have to invest a half a million dollars in equipment and capital, you know, all this stuff, to find out that that's not what they want to do. So we have a pretty good percentage that stays with agriculture in some aspect, but we also have those that decide that they need to find something a little different.

Yeah, it's. It's a. It's a phenomenal program, and it continues to grow. And I did share your success story where you talked about Skillbridge, and I did send it to my contacts at the Skillbridge program, so they can also promote that as well. So. So, Steph, I know that you went through Skillbridge as well, and you had a great experience. Now I think you all are involved with the Skillbridge program as well, right?

Yep. So we. We're Skillbridge providers now as well. But my. My Skillbridge Experience. I, I did one for myself on the way out of the Navy and I feel very lucky and fortunate to have had that opportunity. So I did mine at a. Another local business that focuses on E Commerce. And I told them I was fully transparent. Hey, I have this business too, and I want to work on this. But also I'd love to learn E Commerce, marketing, different strategies and stuff like that. And that's exactly what I got. And I was really grateful for that. So as soon as I was out, I was applying to try to get our company to be a skillbridge provider. And that did take a while, but we are now provider as well. And we're on our fourth person.

Not on our. Keep it smaller, not on our 40th. But you know, we just started and you know, our, our space isn't, isn't humongous, so we don't have quite as much room to take on a lot of people. But we, we pride ourselves pretty heavily when it comes to our skillbridge program. I don't want to say that we're selective, but we really like to, to try to find those that will find value in what we offer in our Skillbridge program. You know, our curriculum is kind of multifaceted in that, you know, those that want to start their own business, we really look, we attach ourselves to them or they attach, you know, to us, I guess, because kind of what you alluded to, Matt, it's a good way for them to see if they want to do a small business a lot, come in, you know, hot and ready to start a small business, and they see the things that, you know, maybe we'll turn them off from a small business or a big business, you know, but we pride ourselves on, on showing them what the real, real world after the Navy or sorry, the DoD looks like, you know, kind of introducing them to civilian world at the same time giving them the space and the grace to take care of things that they need to do to get themselves ready for civilian life. You know, things like, yeah, VA appointments. Our last skill bridge was a command master chief from Hawaii that was bringing his family over here to Virginia. And so obviously they need some space to get their lives in order. You know, there's the day to day tasks that we, that they participate in to get used to what a small business is. But then we also, you know, when the work is done, we open up a lot of space to allow them to ask questions. And we've found a lot of value actually for us in that, you know, them questioning why do you Guys do this in this particular way. You know, what is it, you know, what does it mean to run QuickBooks? What does it mean? We open up every single part of the business for them to learn. You know, wholesale deliveries, wholesale interactions, online, sort of, you know, transactional things.

We really.

We enjoy it. We get a lot out of it. They get a lot out of it. And so we've really enjoyed having skillgrid with us.

Yeah, it's great. Thanks for sharing that. So, Madam Administrator, I just wanted to check with you and see if you had any questions for the business owners or any words of wisdom.

Yes.

You know, I'm so glad to Stan that you've been able to cultivate these relationships. You know, I know I've seen you firsthand, live in the community, community, leading sessions and meeting with business owners, and I can see why they all call you back. You're exceptional. So thank you. Thank you for working with these businesses. I'm always taken back by a couple of things. As I said, as these veteran entrepreneurs demonstrate, giving back to the community is always top of mind. And number two, though, the wealth of resources that the SBA offers are have their nuances and differences, and you see that they're being leveraged across the board. Everyone's mentioned Small Business development centers, the SBDCs, as well as the VBoCs, as well as the SCORE partners. And we intentionally have this incredible network built around because we know that there shouldn't be a wrong door, that you should be able to walk into any of these centers and get the offerings that you need. And they all have different unique sets of tools to provide to you. They have different advisors. And I would say that you keep on finding that mentor or advisor that feels right for you, that understands your business that you can relate to, and that can really help inspire you to keep on taking your business to the next level. And I find it's just like trying to get a loan from a bank. You know, you're. You might have to go through a couple bankers before you find that banker who really sees your vision and can understand you and really get you the capital you provide. It's the same with any of our advisors or networks. And that would be the first thing I encourage. And then the other thing is that, you know, we've seen in this economic recovery, really strong consumer spending throughout, which has been perplexing for. For so many in terms of, you know, what's happening in our economy. But the underlying push as well has been in digital E commerce, with that consumer spending, online Sales continue to rise. And not only that, but online sales, connecting you to 95% of the world's consumers that are outside of the United States is. Is really an incre. Incredible opportunity. So I love that, you know, so many of these businesses as well, if you have that model that can be taken online, have been able to do so and leverage, you know, SBA step grant those, you know, state trade export promotion programs. Those are grants to go to trade shows abroad and internationalize your website. And so I really admire that you've been able to really expand your business, grow your businesses online and in community, really leveraging these resources. But what I would ask as well is that with, you know, we always like to say that you can't do it alone. You need a team, and the SBA is here to be part of your team. When you work with these centers, I want to make sure that everybody understands that, you know, what the experience was like. And if you. If you have any tips in terms of how they should go about finding an advisor that they can relate to and work with.

Okay, well, thank you.

Oh, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead.

No, no. Good.

So I will say that I've had such a great experience, and I don't know if it's just fortune or blessings, but each time I've gone to, like, my local vboc, like, the person there and at my wbc, they have been so helpful. Like, they have just embraced me, everything. And what I'm always looking for as a small business owner is a skills, because sometimes you don't know what you don't know. And then opportunities and then, of course, some exposure. And I've been able to get all three from my local, you know, VBOC and wbc. So they've been able to say, well, Hyacinth, what are your needs? What is it that you, you know, you know, there's a weakness in your business that we can help you with that we can put you in a program. So you bought a workshop. They have, like, open doors, you know, opportun when you can come in and you can get that information. You know, they've, you know, given me opportunities to have exposure, whether it be speaking or a table. You know, my. My local WBC nominated me for something, and then I got a governor's citation. You know, it was just like. But that's what they do. It's like they became like that trusted partner for me, where it's like, I know I can go there and I can ask questions and I can really get the help that I need. So it has been an amazing experience for me, and I've had it since day one. And they still email me, like, and just like that personal touch. So sometimes, you know, I get the automated stuff, but I get the, hey, hyacinth, how are things? You know, and that means a lot for me that it's like someone really cares and really wants to see my business succeed. And they'll say, I saw this opportunity and I thought about you. And it's funny, for this, my local VBOG person was like, have you seen? And I was like, I'm already on it. She was like, okay. I just wanted to make sure that you knew about this opportunity. So it's been a great experience.

That's great. Thank you. I think, Stephanie, you were going to say something.

Oh, sure. Yeah.

For.

For me, I used the entire list of resources, and I do have to say, even the. The video recordings and the webinars, and I signed up for all the email newsletters, and every week webinars come out on payroll on every topic under the sun. I did utilize those a lot, you know, took notes and like I said, just continuing to use those resources and ask questions is huge. Like, we hired our first employee. I had no idea how to do payroll and the different taxes and the different things that you have to do. And then there's this, like, sneaky little litter tax thing that no one tells you about. And I wouldn't. I wouldn't know about any of these things without our mentors. And I think the SBDC mentors I've really enjoyed a lot. The SCORE mentor that I had was just so, so valuable for making, like I said, any type of projections or Excel documents, anything having to do with numbers, like cost goods, making it just as detailed as entirely possible. And having someone put another set of eyes on stuff, someone you can trust is so valuable. So valuable. And I was so. I would just recommend everyone continue to use those resources for the lifetime of their business.

Right. Thank you. Well, and I don't know if. Matter, Cara, if you have anything to add as well.

Yeah, I would just say, I mean, we've. We've kind of worked with the full suite of folks from, you know, the time we walked into Boots to business with Tim Craig, who I see on here, who's amazing, he introduced us to the idea of SCORE and, And small Business Development Centers. And we work very closely with the SBDC through our training process. And in South Carolina, we're lucky enough to have someone who specializes in agriculture and food systems. So Jim Johnson does an amazing job of focusing on more of those USDA type opportunities and grants. And so kind of finding that person who speaks the language that you speak. And that's the great thing about score, is that you can get someone in your industry, in your area that that knows those things and can lead you to the right places. But, you know, in South Carolina, they're all connected. SBDC people and VBOC people. They all, you know, they all know each other. And it's pretty easy to find the right door when you just walk through the first one that's closest to you.

That's great. That's great. No, wrong door. I love it. Okay. Well, you know, Stan, I appreciate it. I, you know, for me, I learn a lot about our entrepreneurs and the work they do. It's not only the inspiration, but what distinguishes an entrepreneur from someone with just a great idea is that risk taking, jumping in and deciding to move forward in it. And the fact that you've been able to ally yourself with so many people who want to help you succeed at the SBA really heartens me. And I hope that these resources continue to be supportive for you as you continue to grow and double the number of countries you're visiting. For example, Stephen, Bryce or Matt and Kara being able to train even more farmers all across the country. These veterans who are getting into farming at such high rates. And Hyacinth, I don't like to do my laundry either. So I'm with all those people who are using your business. But truly, it's just been an honor to be able to hear your stories and especially as we go into Thanksgiving. And, you know, we're all thankful for everything in our lives. I have great gratitude for you entrepreneurs who are creating jobs and really advancing our country. So thank you so much. Off to you, Stan.

Thank you, Madam Administrator. You know, at this time, we've heard their stories and I want to thank the administrator again. So I'd like to kind of open it up for questions. You know, people in the audience. What are your questions to these great business owners or maybe even the administrator? And so, Nicole, if you, if there's anybody that has questions in chat or somebody, just raise your hand and ask those questions.

Stan, I just wanted to find out, maybe Steph and Bryce, what? How do you manage quality control as you grow? I've noticed that with some coffee places I've visited in the past, like, once you start growing, you know, that it doesn't seem like the maintaining that quality is still there. And then also I'd like to hear about, you know, are you hiring veterans yourself? Or you, you know, or is that part of your formulation when you do hiring about, are you looking at veterans? Thank.

You.

So I'll speak to the quality control. I think it starts from having strong core values and a strong mission statement that you can bounce everything off of. You know, for us, it's, you know, is, is what we're doing here at the packaging station, you know, is that, is that meeting the approachability that we, that we like to maintain, is the way that we're approaching customers or is the way that those baristas that we have are the way that they're receiving customers? Is that, you know, are they displaying the core values that, that we, that we've set up from the very beginning? You know, SOPs, we took those from the Navy. Those are wildly important. We have an, you know, an entire cabinet full of sops for different things. And so everyone's on the same page about what we're doing. And, and frankly, you know, we look at, to your point, we look at what other businesses are, are doing or are not doing rather, and look at those as opportunities to fill that gap. You know, I, I already kind of mentioned the approachability aspect of what we do. We see a lot of those in the coffee sphere kind of moving to this almost, you know, it's, it's a little cheeky, but this, this peaky, pinky out kind of thing where it's a niche and if you're not in the club, then, you know, you're not with us sort of thing. And, and that's not what we do. We're approachable in, in every aspect, with every single person. The offerings that we have, you know, we have everything from good introduction coffees, you know, those, those blends that people can fall in love with, all the way to stuff that people can explore. And so, so yeah, we do that. And then. Do you want to talk about hiring veterans?

Yeah, yeah. And I just want to reiterate, like Bryce said, for us, maintaining our quality as we grow is just really our commitment to our values of being like, genuine. The best specialty coffee we can find. Single farmer lots where farmers are paid well for the product that they're producing. And just being so committed to what we do that our quality stays high. And then when it gets, when it gets tricky, there is machinery that can help, you know, when it comes to sorting and stuff like that. But for us, we're so committed, we're never just going to get A lower quality green coffee to roast because it's easier. We don't have time. That's just. That's not what we're going to do. And then when it comes to hiring, yes, we do look for veterans for Skillbridge. We have a Skillbridge that, that we absolutely love. That's another person we would consider, you know, who fits the team really well and understands our values. And we are also V3 V3 certified. Right. So anyone who's a veteran or a military spouse, we do look for those people as well.

And we have, we have a couple of our team members that are veteran spouses. The higher yesterday is spouses too.

Yep.

Yeah. Active spouses. The higher yesterday. He's a veteran. So we definitely, we definitely try to keep that as something that we do. It's close to us.

Yeah.

Thank you.

I didn't want to monopolize. Stan, did you have any other questions come in?

I didn't see any. Again, you know, opened up for questions, but I do have. I was thinking about this, you know, so we, we have people on the call today and they may be thinking about starting a business and they're hearing your great stories. So I know it's not always great. There are some challenges. So, you know, what would be your advice to somebody who. And even to the Skillbridge folks, you know, what, what advice do you give to them when they're thinking about starting a business? What advice do you. Would you give them? And I'll just open it up to anybody.

Yeah, I can tackle that one if you want me to. So when we teach, teach our ag education courses, we like to use the old military adage that no plan survives first contact. And so our business plan, we re look at it often, it should not be written in stone. It needs to be written in like, something erasable so you can change it. And so that's kind of what we talk about when we're talking about establishing a business is being receptive to those opportunities and identifying them as an opportunity so that you can pivot your business or move in a different direction or however you're going to grow it. But really, it's just being cognizant of the fact that no plan is going to survive first contact and being open to opportunities and recognizing them and then taking those opportunities and the risk that goes with it.

Thanks, Matt, Bryce, Stephanie or Hyacinth, any words of wisdom that you would give.

My words of wisdom are always about surround yourself with community. So find organizations, people that support and encourage and motivate you, because it is a journey and there are some great wins and there are some losses dropped away. And if you don't have that support system to kind of get you through both, because sometimes you, even with the wins, you need that encouragement, that slap on the back, that high five. But definitely when things don't look the same way because we have to really stay strong and, you know, in this journey, so definitely surround yourself with those people. Always look at your cash flow. We build these businesses, but we want them to be sustainable and we want them to still be here two years, three years, five years, 10 years later. So make sure that you're looking at your cash flow. If you're not familiar with, like, financial documents, you know, take a class, learn how to do that, get the people around you who can help you with that, but your cash flow is, is very important.

Bryce or Steph.

Yeah, I can completely agree with what Hyatt Hyacinth just said as well. For sure. Like the people you surround yourself with and the, the mentors and everybody that you need along the way. Other advice would just be learn everything you can. For me, I tried to learn everything I could about business and coffee, but I did start that early. I started that two years before I got out of the Navy. So I had myself a little bit of time. But so I guess that would be be prepared, learn as much as you can, and know the amount of dedication and work ethic is very, very high. That's needed.

And the things that I would add to that are just to piggyback off of hisin. What can be measured can be changed. So to her point about knowing the numbers cannot be stressed enough. You know, being a small business, we surround ourselves with other small business owners. It's something that we love to do. And I can't see, I see all the time those that don't know their numbers and they don't know where their money is. And so they're, they're unable to make informed decisions on taking those, you know, those opportunities that Matt talked about. And then to, you know, Matt's point about opportunities, those opportunities also include things like this. You know, no, no meeting is too small or too big. You never know who you're going to run into. And you never know who could offer you a fantastic relationship, partnership, or another opportunity.

Thanks. Thanks for that, Bryce. I do see we have a question from Richard. Richard, what was your question?

It had to do. I'm the director of VBOC out here in the west in Montana, and I had a question Because I keep running into an issue that's always unique in the startup business and I open it up to anybody. Because you've talked about it to some degree about community, but what about the balance in the relationship? Because you can't shut off opening a new business. And when you go home at night, what's the key to you about the maintaining the balance and making sure that you're both together on moving forward. And Hyson, even if you know that makes it even more difficult if the other partner is not involved in the business. I'm just curious about balance, how you see that and how it works for you.

We just forgo any idea of balance. You know, it's one of those deals where if you get Matt, you get Kara and vice versa. And, and we speak for each other and we understand that and I think that that's important if you're going into any kind of business arrangement with a spouse or a significant other or just a friend or business partner, you know, we know our roles. Matt's the big idea guy. He's the guy who is up doing chores and sends me texts and I buy domain names, but I'm the one who buys the domain names. And so we, we kind of know our roles and, and understanding that relationship. But realistically, when you're starting a new business, there probably isn't a balance for a while and that's part of it. And that's one of the things that we hope our Skillbridge folks and the folks who attend our programming understand is especially with farming, it's a seven day a week, 365 day a year job. And you know, your fences don't break in 75 degree weather, they break in a hurricane. And so understanding that and setting those expectations before you go into it, and it might not be for everybody, but we love it and we're passionate about it. And you know, that's the biggest thing when we talk to people interested in entrepreneurship or, you know, service members transitioning out of the military for a long time, we've done what we were told and we've been where we were told. And this may be the first time in your life where you can do whatever you want to do. So find out what that is, find your passion and just go do that. And the rest of it, you know, will come along the way thanks to the amazing team that you have behind you of SBA resources.

Thanks, Matt.

Kira, I will piggyback and say something very similar. So, yeah, I don't look for the balance, but I look for the alignment. My husband is our operations manager, so he's always out in the field making sure everything is running smoothly. But what we try to do is that. And even when I tell, like, my children that I may not be present, you know, my presence may not be, you know, be. I may not be present for everything, but I make sure that my presence is. Is felt, you know, so that we are here, you know, that she knows that, you know, we are here and that we're. We're doing things together. And I try to include my family in most of the things that I do. So when I travel to do something or opportunity for the business, they come along too. So it's kind of like I make sure that we still, you know, have some type of balance between, like, the work and the place. So that it's not just always work that, you know, they see opportunities for that. Like, my daughter, she helps fold stuff, you know, she does, you know, stuff like that. She tells little friends and she helps, you know, some social media stuff that I'm like, I'm too old to understand all that, and she'll help with that, too. So I just find little opportunities for them all to just kind of take a role in the business as well, and it works for us.

Yeah, that's great. Richard, did I answer your question?

Absolutely no balance. Yeah, I think any of us that started up a business know that, but I've always been looking for it.

So, as Richard had mentioned, he is our veterans business outreach center in Montana area. Correct.

Right.

And so, you know, one of the things when we talk with military spouses and the VBoCS do set up and coordinate all the boots to business classes is, you know, if that transitioning service member is thinking about entrepreneurship, thinking about starting a business, that military spouse really should be in that class as well. Right. So kind of going back to your point, Richard, you know, that balance started off with both of them going through the class, both of them picking up different things, thinking about the roles they're going to play. So that was a great question. Nicole, any other questions that had may have popped up or anybody in the audience that has a question for a great panelist?

Nothing in the chat at this time, but yes, feel free to drop one in.

Timothy.

Yep.

Tim, our old friend, Tim Craig. Tim, how are you, ma'?

Am?

So you couldn't stay away, could you, Stan? Tim Green. I was your man of the ministry. I was your former director, VBOC for Georgia, South Carolina, for the past five years.

Years.

Five, six years, matter of fact. Before South Carolina got their own vboc. So I actually met Matt and Cara in Augusta, Fort Gordon. They came to the booster business class as they were getting ready to transition out and we became friends in addition to just working to help them kind of navigate their post military life. We've done a couple things together. I've attended a couple of their events and so I wanted to make sure that I was here to just continue to recognize and to serve, support them for all the great things that, that they have done, that they are doing and that they will do. And of course to applaud all of the veteran success stories that are on here today. So all the skills that I learned from my time in Georgia, South Carolina, VBOC director, I'm actually using those skills down here now in Valdosta, Georgia. I'm the director of business development for this particular area and I'm constantly talking about veterans. How can veterans have their seat at the table? How can veterans be highlighted? How can all the great veteran benefits be utilized for the veterans in this area? And I'm honestly always in meetings with the SBDC with score, with GT Apex Accelerators. So my, my heart is always for veterans. I do everything I can to highlight benefits for veterans. So I'm just thankful to have heard about this and to be here. So thank you, Stan. Thank you Tim. Thank you Nicole in the background. So she actually and I attended the success story with Mad and Kyra and we talked about chickens having fresh chickens. So she knows that that's all about. And again, thank you Madam Administrator, for your leadership for the time that I was up under that as a VBOC director for Georgia, South Carolina. So thank you very much, Tim.

It's always great to see you and thanks for logging on. And that just really just illustrates my point about the Vendors Business Outreach center for the people on the call, if you're thinking about starting your business, you really should look into the veterans business outreach centers. And Nicole, if you could put the link in the chat so it would take people to that link and find out the closest VBOC in your area. And I'll go on to say if you're moving from one base or military installation or just moving somewhere else in the country, there's always a VBOC at the other end. And it's a very tight community, as Richard would tell you. And Tim, it's a very tight community. We talk a lot, we do bi weekly calls and all the VBoCs are very close and so they give that warm handoff from one bee BOC to another to help that client, that veteran military spouse client, get established in other areas of the country. So, Tim, I want to thank you for that and Richard. And so if there's no other questions, anything that popped up in the chat or anybody else that has a final question, and if not, I will turn it over to Tim to kind of close this out today. And again, I want to thank you all for jumping on. I know you all are busy with your businesses and, and thank you for continuing to pick up the phone when I call you. I don't look how long that's going to last, but, but I appreciate that. But you're always answer the call and so you're always willing to give back. And that was illustrated on today's call as well. So I want to thank you again, wish you a happy Thanksgiving. And with that, I will turn it over to Tim.

Yeah, I, I just wanted to say I could tell the administrator was extremely impressed with all your stories. She had to jump off and go back to work, but she wanted, she stood as long, she stayed as long as she could. So she really appreciated that. You know, Stan, thanks for putting this together and Nicole and others that helped with the technology. And then I want to thank the panelists especially that your stories are great. When I get down to Virginia Beach, I'll probably be stopping in for coffee just to check it out. And yeah, so I just want to thank everybody for the time and the participants for jumping on. And like Stan said earlier, this, this information will be shared with, through social media and likely on our website. So thank you so much for sharing your story and, and spending time with us today. It was truly awesome. So thank you very much and have a great day.