Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Woodstock, Georgia. It’s time for Cherokee Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Renee Dierdorff: [00:00:27] Hi everybody. My name is Renee and I’m with.Amy.And we are with Kid Biz Radio. We are here to create conversations about the power of entrepreneurship and the positive impact that journey can have on kids. Today we are here with Bobbi Cowart and Andrew Reibly from Vibe Realty right here in Woodstock. Thank you for being here.

Andrew Reibly: [00:00:46] Thank you.

Bobbi Cowart: [00:00:46] Thanks for having us.

[00:00:47] Yeah. So as you know, we’re all about businesses and kids learning through being business owners. So can you tell us a little bit about your business and how you got started?

[00:00:58] Sure. Yeah. So I am originally just a custom builder and renovator, and when we had the recession back in oh nine, I decided to get diversified and become a realtor. So I still do both. And Bobby and I met at a previous brokerage and became fast friends and have done deals together, have been project partners and that kind of thing. And yeah, so that’s my story.

[00:01:26] Okay.

[00:01:27] Well, I was a banker in a previous life and when 2739 happened, I lost my job because I was a commercial lender for small community banks and had to regroup and figure out what to do. I had a ton of real estate knowledge through that, so real estate seemed like a natural path and I had a great mentor that encouraged me to get my real estate license. So I did.

[00:01:49] That’s great. Great. I know you said you do general contract work as well. So is that something? I mean, do you feel like that’s more full time or is it like which one do you do more often? Or is it really just.

[00:02:03] Really they’re both. Because the way I categorize it is it’s real estate services. I’m just a full service, real estate service company and guy. So I can help you buy a property or buy land and build on it and sell your property. So it’s just a full service deal that goes hand in hand.

[00:02:20] Do you feel like it’s really helped with your general contracting Business.

[00:02:24] Big time? I mean, great book to read, especially for your listeners and the kids is Who Moved My Cheese Say Wonderful book. It’s a very simple if you all heard.

[00:02:38] I haven’t.

[00:02:39] Trust me when I tell you. You all should read it. Yeah, everybody should read it. It is a wonderful book and it’s just basically about getting diversified, but it’s a very easy, simple read. It’s almost Dr. Seuss ish. Yeah, so. But it’s great. I think I wanted to have my business model that way. And so to answer your question, it was it’s diversified sort of within the same kind of industry. So I think it’s been phenomenally helpful.

[00:03:07] They complement each other.

[00:03:07] hey really do. My main revenue stream would be the building side, and then as a secondary is the real estate, if you want to kind of, you know, rank them or whatever. But they’re relatively close and it’s all tied together in terms of you also think of everybody, of course, initially thinks of revenue streams and stuff, but for the marketing aspect as well too, right? Because if I’m talking to you about buying and selling you guys house and the real estate side, I’m also a builder. Oh, I have somebody. Or maybe I want to do that. So it really is a great marketing tool for that.

[00:03:46] And you have the knowledge of what someone’s getting into and what to look for.

[00:03:51] That’s a huge deal on the real estate. A lot of my clients like using me because I think there’s better. Realtors like Bobby, I think is a better realtor, but people will use me because I’m a builder, so they’re like, I want your builder I on these projects. Or if it’s an investment deal, I do investments as well, like flipping houses and things. So they bring me in on that as well.

[00:04:14] So it’s a huge advantage for our brokerage to I. Most brokerages don’t have a general contractor who especially is an owner. And because he’s not just an agent, he’s an owner, he’s invested in this business. So our agents have access to a general contractor. So it’s huge when you get those scary inspection reports on a home, he they have someone they have a resource to come talk to, not just the inspector, but someone who’s actually renovating and building. So I think it’s a huge advantage for our agents and not ever, unless you’re with Vibe, you’re not going to have access to luxury paying.

[00:04:55] Nice marketing.

[00:04:56] I was going to ask if you guys leverage that in your general marketing that you do and you mentioned.

[00:05:01] It, but it’s certainly a value add for our brokerage. And and and it’s not just corporate speak, you know, it’s it’s actually in marketing. You know, of course, you become friends with people in the brokerage and they know they can come in any time and chat with me about, you know, what I think about this or that and is this serious? Not serious and happens all the time. And I think it is a great value add for our our agents in us for sure.

[00:05:27] That’s awesome. So you guys were talking a little bit about invest, sorry, investments and things like that. And our topic today is introducing kids to personal finances and budgeting. And I think regardless if someone has children or not, this is a lot can be added to the conversation because everyone has experience with money. Everybody uses money. You have your own childhood experiences and how you learned it or didn’t learn it for sure. And I think that all of the different perspectives and frames of references to where you are now can help other parents out there and kids learn.

[00:06:05] Agreed. Agree. Bobbi was saying beforehand she goes, well, I don’t have kids, so I don’t know, but she’s a banker, so.

[00:06:11] I know about Money.

[00:06:12] That’s a huge and as a value add to viability, being a banker and a commercial lender, she brings a huge part to the financial piece and to this to this conversation. I think she would be she’s super valuable as well.

[00:06:27] Maybe I’ve experienced some things like maybe with young like young buyers, maybe they’ve come through that they didn’t know and things like that. Just buying a house. I mean, that’s kind of part of the whole money. Talk to how it works, how credit works and all. I mean, it could opens up to a larger conversation. Our target audience around middle school is tend to be where we get a lot of interaction. And so. Trying to not dumb it down like it’s the worst word in the world or phrase in the world. But make it engaging for kids that age.

[00:07:02] And simplify.

[00:07:03] And simplify like you were.

[00:07:05] Have to be.

[00:07:05] Complicated, right? We’re talking about the move. My cheat who move my cheese being like I no one wants to read a textbook on that kind of thing. Right. For even for adults, it needs to be engaging.

[00:07:15] Absolutely.

[00:07:16] So.

[00:07:17] Well, and I’ll tell you and and really, you know, I think it becomes a it’s a self-indulgent for adults a lot of times. And I’m that way I’m very nerdy. I love to drill down. And I know I probably drive people crazy with data points. And I want to know this and listen.

[00:07:35] No, not.

[00:07:38] You know, it’s fair. And but the that’s just because I enjoy a self indulgent. I think I think we all want to feel like we’re smart and doing that. But listen, honestly, there there nothing in life has to actually be complicated. Absolutely nothing. And if you’re super smart, you can run down rabbit holes and all, but you can also then translate it to that. And I think what you all are doing is wonderful with kids and entrepreneur. Oh, yeah, because I’m obviously we’re entrepreneurs. I’m a serial entrepreneur. I love having my multiple businesses and I think it’s the absolute backbone of our country’s economics. And, you know, I can’t imagine ever being stuck in a corporate office and God bless people that can do it because.

[00:08:31] Right.

[00:08:32] We got to have them, too, right? I mean, they’re they’re like the old Wiley Coyote and Roadrunner where they clock in and clock out. It’s definitely not a thing for me, but I think it’s great that people can do that. But teaching kids to be entrepreneurs is phenomenal.

[00:08:47] Yeah.

[00:08:48] I think one of the biggest things that impacted me from like thinking about how I manage my money and especially savings is very important to me. I learned it because my parents didn’t do that. So any time there was an emergency or something breaks at the house, my parents were constantly scrambling, trying to figure out How do we pay for it? Can we get a new credit card? So that sticks with you. I learned by seeing maybe what not to do. So I’m not a parent, but I was a child, so I kind of saw some things that.

[00:09:28] That makes a difference.

[00:09:29] Yeah, it’s structured how I tried to live my life.

[00:09:32] Yeah, I.

[00:09:32] Think those lessons are just as impactful as.

[00:09:35] Absolutely.

[00:09:36] As, you know, what to do. In fact, I think those lessons are actually more impactful. You know, you can learn stuff, but we all know I used to when my kids were growing up, I coached football and softball for my daughter. And, you know, it’s one thing to tell a kid that you’re going to get hit and it’s going to hurt. It’s not going to kill you. You’re going to be fine. But until you actually get hit and have the wind knocked out of you or a ball hit you or something, you know, skinning your knee and then you figure out, okay, maybe I should not do that kind of thing. So I think that’s super impactful. I think seeing what not to.

[00:10:16] Do and being able to share that experience, you know, that’s what we kind of are wanting to do here is be able to share the things that you did learn. And I know some people learn through experiences, you know, have to learn the hard way. They say, Oh, absolutely, I’m not that person. There’s people in my life that are my husband is one of them. That’s, I think, why we work well together, because he just had the courage to try things anyway and learn that way. Yeah, but I was the one afraid to break the rules and I want to know what the rules were and that kind of thing. So I was like, Oh my gosh. I had to, you know, I needed to know step one, two and three. But yeah, being able to share the things because regardless of how prepared you think you are, there’s always something that life, a curve ball or something that life will throw you. So it’s not I just kind of wanted to jump into a topic because she and I both have I don’t know if you’ve heard of the green light card.

[00:11:10] I have not.

[00:11:11] It is a and I’m sure there’s other ones out there, but she and I both use these with our kids and they are debit cards that a kid can have that runs through your bank. But you have an app so you can pull money from your bank into your parent wallet and then disperse that money to the kids and they can save, spend, give that whole thing. But they see it digitally. That’s how everything’s done. I know when I was growing up, my mom gave me an old check register and we did my money that way and she would write me a check. And because that’s what that was, what it was. And the late eighties, right? There were.

[00:11:43] No portals.

[00:11:44] There weren’t. There weren’t. And so, you know, we’re just taking the same idea of. Teaching your kids money and good habits, etc., etc., and doing it the way it is today. I don’t know if you want to talk about the positive experiences you’ve had with it or.

[00:11:59] Yeah, I can. Absolutely. So I have three daughters and they each have a green light card and it’s been really beneficial because it’s a lot easier because I never carry cash, but to give them their allowance and they can see money coming in, they can order their own things on Amazon and see money going out. They can use them, they have PIN numbers, they can go to the store and use them. And so they each individually have their own businesses. So when they get a profit from our expose and have a really good day, we disperse it between spending and savings and they can see their savings grow versus and their and their spending categories. So I think for them it’s been really beneficial. It’s not just like because they can it’s visual, it’s not just like at the bank somewhere and they don’t know what’s going on. Yeah. So then seeing like, oh well my sister has this much in her savings and maybe I should catch up or whatever, you know, or like I have this much in spending and do I need to spend it all right now or can I transfer some? And so they they’re learning a lot through that. I think it’s been great.

[00:13:00] Makes them think twice before buying the thing at the store.

[00:13:03] Well, some one of them is very money conscious. The other two are like, let’s spend it now.

[00:13:09] Well.

[00:13:09] It’s cool that and I think that school and you were talking before about you and your husband, huge difference between boys and girls, how we do things and we talk about that a lot. And I think it’s I think it’s great to have both perspectives. You know, it’s yin and yang. I always say that girls are more smarter than guys. Exactly. But it’s not better necessarily. It just means you guys think about things more. And, you know, I know most guys like me are like, I want to think about it, but there comes a time. I’m like, we’re going to try to.

[00:13:42] Make a decision.

[00:13:43] And not get. In fact, we just had a mastermind where don’t get paralysis by analysis. And I think I think women are prone to do that a lot of times because of the security aspect. It’s like, that’s not safe. I got to do this. I got to protect my family. It’s just it’s just in you. And I think you have to account for that, you know, and those are smart deals, but to me, it can also be a little bit of a curse. Whereas guys, we can also be a little too dumb and quick. So there’s a sweet spot, I think. And I think Bobby and I work well together because we tend to do that. You know, I’m like, you know, let’s, let’s think about it for a minute, but then go. And she’s like, Wait, wait. I got to think. And I’m like, I just, you know, basically grab her hand and we’re.

[00:14:24] Doing this.

[00:14:24] And she’s like, Oh, God, here we go.

[00:14:26] And she you get a day.

[00:14:28] The only issue I have is a lot of times we’re jumping out of the plane and I’m still trying to put a pair of.

[00:14:33] Shoes on, you.

[00:14:34] Know, yeah, it’s going to happen.

[00:14:36] And I tell her, you have the rest of your life to put your parachute on on the way down.

[00:14:40] Oh, gosh.

[00:14:43] I’m an old paratrooper, so we’ll we’ll do airborne jokes sometimes.

[00:14:47] That’s okay.

[00:14:48] It is good to have someone, though, to push you outside of your comfort zone, because when you are ultra conservative, especially on a financial side, that can be very good, but it can also hold you back from making investments that can make you a lot of money. So yeah, sometimes it’s good to have someone that’s like, okay, we analyze the numbers. We’re like, Go, let’s, let’s do it.

[00:15:10] Go do it. Scared? Yeah, I think that was kind of my motto.

[00:15:13] That’s kind of how this brokerage was to a certain point, right? Like we talked about it, we talked about it years before we did it, and then circumstances were different for both of us. We were at the same brokerage again and not happy with certain things. So we started a discussion and I had to push him into the discussion. And then once I pushed him in, he’s pushing me out of the.

[00:15:36] Plane like a minute. Yes.

[00:15:39] So be careful what you wish for, then.

[00:15:41] Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s right. Yeah. Well, she and I work well, the yin and the yang, too.

[00:15:46] With this complementing different personality.

[00:15:50] Yeah, I think you come up with a process, right? And then both of those are valuable. I think our politics today could use that, you know? I mean, look what a mess that is. And people don’t even want to talk about it. And what a great subject that we all want to talk about. But then it gets too messy.

[00:16:05] Sometimes it gets.

[00:16:05] Too messy and it’s like, y you know, you need both sides of those things.

[00:16:09] Information.

[00:16:10] You need information. And you know, there’s a compromise to be found in the middle for everything. Yeah, I think there’s also seasons in lives. Like you guys have, you know, adolescent children, I guess you would call them or whatever. Your season is going to be much different, you know, now than it will be, as I am an empty nester now. So the way we look at things and manage money and how we teach kids and talk to kids.

[00:16:36] Mm hmm.

[00:16:36] I think it’s brilliant. Y’all are talking to kids about money and intentional. I think everything should be intentional about that like you guys are talking about doing. Because now I’ll tell you what’s wonderful is I talk to my. Kids who are grown. They’re 24 and 23. You know, he’s an Army Ranger and she’s a nurse. And I get to talk to them about what they do with their money and things. And they come to me for advice and.

[00:17:01] Did you do that when they were younger? Absolutely. You’ve just developed this relationship.

[00:17:04] Absolutely. And it changes as they grow. You know, I always believed in me and intentional. And, you know, it was raised and they were kids. I was raising adults. So I would talk to them like you guys do. I love the the green money card thing as a wonderful deal and saying you have to save because there’s things you’re going to have to pay that you don’t want to pay. And if you spend it all, then you’re going to be in trouble. And it’s amazing that a lot of adults don’t know that. You know, it’s tremendous. It’s like and I used to be harsher. I’ve gotten older. I’m I think I’m moving into grandpa mode, but I’m like, you know, how stupid is that? You know? And how how can they not know that? But they just really don’t know it. They’ve never been taught or trained or those kinds of things. And, and so I think, yeah, I definitely did it with my kids and said, you know, here’s the deal and you can save your money, you can spend it, give them the option, let them develop the thought process.

[00:18:04] How.

[00:18:04] They manage their money.

[00:18:06] See which direction it leads them like and what the good and the bad of that is.

[00:18:10] Yeah. And let them go through and skinned their knees sometimes.

[00:18:12] Oh absolutely.

[00:18:13] If they want to spend it all.

[00:18:15] Run out of money in that need.

[00:18:16] Yeah. And that ties back into where we are with our organization. Just teaching them these hardships now. You betcha. And they become lifelong skills in the long run, right. I love that we’re teaching them that. Yeah, you can mess up and you can make poor choices. You’ll be okay, but.

[00:18:32] You’ll be okay.

[00:18:33] And it’s better to do that now and understand that process in that journey rather than later in life when it’s a lot harder and there’s more factors, you know?

[00:18:41] Sure. I think it’s wonderful. Yeah. And and when they do, you know, they decide to spend their money, don’t bail them out.

[00:18:47] Right.

[00:18:48] If your other kids are eating and you’re like, Oh, I feel bad because they’re not don’t feel bad, you are teaching them the greatest lesson ever. The feel bad is yours is.

[00:18:57] Your problem, right? Yeah. It’s like your thing.

[00:18:58] It’s your.

[00:18:59] Thing. Yeah.

[00:18:59] Let them sit over there and go.

[00:19:01] You’re not doing them any favors.

[00:19:02] Doing them any favors. You’re making yourself feel better. Let them sit over there and hate that. And the next time I bet you that kid goes, You know what? I’ll save my money because I want ice cream with my brothers and sisters and friends next time. Just the greatest lesson you can teach them that is that we’ll give back to them for the rest of their life.

[00:19:21] It’s like you said, you’re raising adults. Yeah, the kids. Right. You need to guide them. And that’s your job as a parent is make sure they’re ready. And when you were talking about like kids that you’ve seen or just in general, like, how do kids not know this? It’s you want them to feel empowered. Sure. And have the resources that you need. And it’s about, I guess, having control in their life and having a plan. And, you know, yes, things go can go south, but you can talk about that as they grow up and just having real applications like with the way that we use the green light card and just through the experience of building a business and showcasing it at our expos and all of that, it’s all to give them something to because we were talking about, I think about kids and needing be engaging. Just telling them isn’t, you know, we’re just trying to provide.

[00:20:11] Those living experience, feeling living.

[00:20:13] Doing totally the hurt and the the tiredness of being up, making your inventory, you know, up to midnight or whatever, all ready for it, you know, like you learn things and responsibility and then the pride that get afterwards is huge.

[00:20:28] So something that we see with a lot of realtors is that they don’t save for taxes, for example. So when you’re talking about these children as being entrepreneurs and building a business and then you talk about, you know, like your example was, well, now I don’t have any money because so I can’t have ice cream with my siblings. There’s also a business component in there that like, for example, for to make things simple for me with my budgeting, when I make money, I just do everything in percentages. So I move a certain percentage into savings, a certain percentage goes towards taxes, and then I figure out what you know. Then I have a percentage for all my expenses, right? So I think sometimes just breaking it down into like percentage categories.

[00:21:18] Yeah, makes.

[00:21:18] Sense. And that way they make sure they set aside. But that is one thing that we see. It’s a big.

[00:21:23] Problem for.

[00:21:24] Some, especially realtors, right? Because sometimes they don’t think of that as like they’re a real business and then they haven’t saved for their taxes. And then and.

[00:21:32] Then it’s a nightmare.

[00:21:35] For sure.

[00:21:35] A nightmare because, my gosh.

[00:21:37] Uncle Sam does not play when it comes to that.

[00:21:39] Right. So we want to help people before they get there. Yeah, that’s a great.

[00:21:43] Also with the green light card you can not that this is like just a commercial for green light but just. Something that I’ve noticed. You can categorize their savings portion. So we’ve broken theirs down into like just general savings and business savings because they know that Romney can’t be the sole investor in every single thing for their business. Like I’ll do the big stuff. But if there’s something else and you have money in that business savings account, guess where that money is going? You need to buy more supplies. So just like reiterating the breaking it down into different categories that you will have to reinvest in yourself and your business.

[00:22:22] Super smart.

[00:22:23] Yeah.

[00:22:23] Oh, those are huge. And, you know, like Bobbi was saying, I mean, she’s one of the smartest ladies with finances and all that thing ever.

[00:22:31] And and I do love it, actually. I’m a finance major also.

[00:22:36] Yes.

[00:22:36] So she numbers are your jam 100%.

[00:22:39] And she can go down a rabbit hole and get as complicated as you want. But think about what she just said. She just breaks it down. Simple, very, very simple.

[00:22:49] So otherwise I won’t do it.

[00:22:51] Yeah. Yeah, right. And your process, that’s the perfect point. As you’re, you know, know it, get as extensive knowledge as you want on it, but just have a very simple process. X goes to taxes for saving, X goes to reinvestment and X goes to play. Because I think that’s a huge part. We, we work to enjoy our lives, so make sure you’re intentionally doing those things. But I think it can be very simple. I think you want to study it and know it and get smart, but be intentional, make it simple, and if you follow that, it’ll keep you out of trouble for sure.

[00:23:29] So the reason I brought up green light was and the reason this whole topic came to be was because I get that I have one, but it’s in my Facebook feed ads for it. And one came up the other day and there the ad is for kids getting paid, doing chores around the house. That’s how they marketed it. In this particular ad, I went to the comment section and there were people just saying, You shouldn’t. This is like just dog in the whole concept because you shouldn’t pay your kids to do chores around the house. I think, you know, my ever so humble opinion that everybody’s family values around that can be different. And what I commented was, you know, think outside the box on how you can use this tool. It’s a tool to teach your kids. That’s the whole point of it. And if you personally don’t want to pay them, do chores, what else can they do to earn money? Right, because that pride part or delayed gratification, is there some sort of goal you can set because they want a bike, you can have them do certain things, whatever it is, because they’re just just writing it all off and you’re missing the whole point. So we kind of had a talk talk about the other.

[00:24:38] Day, right? I mean, you have to set like so from my kids get paid on their chores, but they also have their businesses where they make money, but it’s set up differently. We’re like certain chores are new, more things, you know, just like in the real world, look at it more like a commission rather than like an allowance or whatever, like that. What work you put into it is the rewards you get out of it versus like the amount of money that you get out.

[00:25:01] Oh my goodness, can I stop you there?

[00:25:04] And that is. Yeah.

[00:25:05] Because we have and, you know, this country is getting to be and it’s not I’m not going down a political rabbit.

[00:25:14] Hole.

[00:25:15] But we.

[00:25:16] Are we.

[00:25:16] Don’t have time for.

[00:25:17] That.

[00:25:18] Right. But but the country is becoming very socialistic and that and I think, oh, it’s such a foolish thing to not teach your kids that some things are more valuable than others. And look at the mess we’re in right now with college loans and all that. Oh, you got to go to college and get an art history degree and have $100,000. If you know business that is a terrible investment. Go to trade school, become a plumber. All of we said earlier, I was a builder, my electrician, my builder, I mean my electrician, my plumber, my HVAC man, my framers are all six figure people.

[00:26:02] That’s a trade.

[00:26:03] Yeah, because it’s trade is valuable now, you know, it’s not to denigrate anybody but jobs that aren’t as important. They are not going to get paid more valuable lesson everybody wants to this thing about participation trophies. No, the quarterback gets paid more. You know why he’s more valuable? He is. Don’t take it as he’s a more valuable person.

[00:26:28] But what he does, what he does, the whole thing, it’s different.

[00:26:32] People get it so messed up and it’s like, who?

[00:26:35] Right. I.

[00:26:36] I think everybody’s got 100% value, you know, as a person and individually.

[00:26:42] But when you put it into a work environment, it changes.

[00:26:46] It does. It changes big time. And that’s. Why Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, who is on Thursday night football last night, our billionaires, because they came up with something that was so super important and they get paid. That is a huge lesson to teach. I mean, it’s you know, it’s one of those things to wear. And if it’s your calling, then teach them. Oc Pastors, you know, generally don’t make that much money. It’s your calling, your values different, but you really better know how to manage your money because you’re going to make less.

[00:27:18] Of it, right? Yeah.

[00:27:19] Yeah. You can still find your passion in what moves you.

[00:27:22] But understand.

[00:27:24] You have to understand the value and where your money is going to come from and how that’s going to impact what you’re doing or if that is going to impact what.

[00:27:31] You think it teaches. Get like chores, for example, when they’re younger, I think it teaches them to that. When you are out in the real world doing your job, you’re going to be tasks that you love doing and tasks that you really hate doing or dislike very strongly. But you still have to do them, do it, earn the money, right? So I’m sure cleaning toilets is on the bottom of the list where, you know, maybe wiping the countertops off is not so bad. Right. But I think that that’s important to understand, that that’s part of life and it’s going to be part of your work. I love being a realtor. There are parts of my job I do not like. I love being a brokerage owner. There’s parts of that I do not like to be.

[00:28:17] Could that be partner related?

[00:28:19] There has to be uptown.

[00:28:21] I’m kidding.

[00:28:23] Yeah, of course. Yeah, I will brag on my daughter or my oldest daughter who’s in the room with us. She’s 13. And so her skill set is going to be different than her seven year old sister. So she cooks dinner for the family twice a week. That job gets paid more because that’s a skill set that she has that her sisters don’t have.

[00:28:41] Right?

[00:28:42] Perfect. But does feeding the dogs get that’s a daily menial task, right? That doesn’t get the same. Amount or commission or whatever. So.

[00:28:50] But do you guys talk about all of that? It opened a conversation with her.

[00:28:54] Yes, it has opened up that conversation and just learning because she’s always like, why do I have to do it if she can do it, too? Or, you know, like the same thing. But it’s the concept of, well, that is part of the household. That is something that you can handle, you know, and things of that nature. But. And do you have to keep your room spotless? No, but you have to. You know what? I’m trying to teach you to be an adult at some point. Like there are things there are things that you have to.

[00:29:18] Do.

[00:29:19] Whether you want to or not.

[00:29:21] You may hate me for saying this, but I think there could also be some negotiation skills learned in the chores, even amongst siblings.

[00:29:30] Because, oh.

[00:29:30] Let’s say your one of your chores is cleaning the toilets. Well, you could negotiate with one of your other siblings.

[00:29:38] They do it.

[00:29:39] Anyway to keep a portion of the money for it.

[00:29:41] That inspires absolutely.

[00:29:43] Them to do it.

[00:29:45] I think so far, not as much negotiating as maybe conning their sisters to help or to do more.

[00:29:51] Robberies not allowed. So let’s say negotiate.

[00:29:54] Call it negotiation. Absolutely. Yes. Learning how to do that.

[00:29:58] I think that’s brilliant. You know, and if you find a kid that’s getting paid X and pays them less to have their little siblings do it, I think.

[00:30:06] Right.

[00:30:07] That is next level.

[00:30:08] It’s management, right.

[00:30:10] It’s just some parents that listen to this are going to be like, who is that? Bobby said she had no children.

[00:30:16] Why she. No, I think that’s eye opening.

[00:30:19] It’s management. You’re still teaching them life lesson 100 years and the things are still getting done 100%. So if there’s another way to do it that everybody, quote unquote, wins problem solving, it’s problem solving skills.

[00:30:31] Yeah.

[00:30:32] I’m brilliant.

[00:30:33] I’ve probably just caused a lot of no children.

[00:30:37] I think you opened eyes. I don’t think.

[00:30:39] No, we talked. I mean, the whole thing was thinking outside the box, you know, like it brings that conversation to the forefront. And, you know, you get to have these, you know.

[00:30:48] Different perspectives, like there’s no one way.

[00:30:51] I am so impressed with what you guys do in this whole deal. Oh, I think it’s phenomenal. I think it is definitely a part of our solution to society. You know, I always say millennials get a bad name, probably well deserved in a lot of cases. But I’ll tell you something, they’re just people like everybody else and somehow have locked into a misguided idea, you know? But what you all are talking about is people will just teach their kids these basic things. They will go forward and they will be fine. You know.

[00:31:27] You know, something I think that you guys do is extremely important in the age where most children are behind a screen of some sort, is teaching them people skills and the fact that you provide networking opportunities with their peers. So I was reading on your website about the things you provide.

[00:31:44] Yeah.

[00:31:45] And I think that that is essential because there’s always going to be a certain amount of communication in most jobs with like human interaction. And if the children don’t have a chance to learn how, learn those skills in a business setting like they’re doing this.

[00:32:01] For sure.

[00:32:01] For themselves. Yeah. Like I think that that’s a wonderful opportunity you provide.

[00:32:06] We notice to like at our expose so these kids who may not have a lot of experience talking with adults outside of their family or even their peers in general, just that physical communication, they come out of their comfort zone because adults are taking interest in what they’re doing. And it that you see that sense of pride and confidence grow because they’re engaging like and it gives them that power back like, yeah, this is my business, this is what I do, this is my passion and I want to talk about it. And adults are like, Please tell me all about it. Why did you choose this is it’s a different environment than you would say, like a regular vendor market where it’s just adults that are just there selling. You don’t really do that engagement with. It’s not expected because it’s not expected. But these kids, people want to know like this is in different it’s different and it’s like you’re curious and all of that. And so people are adults are engaging and it gives that the kids this power in that confidence and it it comes back to that communication like our kids have learned how to communicate with adults and it’s that’s huge.

[00:33:11] It is a it is a huge deal. And I’m very nerdy, my degrees in sociology. So I’m a builder with a sociology degree and a minor in history. So one of the most successful there was a study done so for for the most successful people in life, they were kids that would talk to adults. And that is a direct correlation of how they were raised. So, you know, it used to be in the older days, don’t speak until you’re spoken to and all these things. And they and they they showed where kids that were allowed to. Be engaging were ultimately more successful. And because something also like from the biological standpoint, their brains are being wired. Yes, they are. Until they’re 24, their frontal lobe is not developed yet. So when you’re teaching them these things, it is wiring their brain to be successful and to have processes and do things. That’s amazing. And so there’s there’s that component to it, which you don’t even know you’re doing it. But I think the part that pays benefits is you bonding with your kid and other.

[00:34:20] Right.

[00:34:20] When I coached, I love talking to kids and when I would let them be involved in engaging, you know, like, for instance, a kid, I’d say, I want you to go here and hit that hole with the ball and go to the outside. And do you think that will work? Because, first of all, they’re on the ground. You know, it’s like troops, boots on the ground kind of thing. And they’re like, well, I think I should go this way. Does a couple of things probably successful because they know better than me standing over there coaching. But also it gets them to engage with you. So when you’re engaging with money and having it’s wiring their brain to develop processes on how to have relationships with people and listen, it’s such a trifecta of things that are good doing these things, being intentional, right? You know.

[00:35:07] Yeah, one of the before I lose it because I do that like my thoughts here. But when you were talking about engaging with them, it does develop that. But it also. Teaches them that what they have to say is valuable and that their opinion matters. You bet. And then that gets them thinking even more, because if they’re always shut down, then they’re just they might go into themselves and not really think that what they have to say matters so true. So I think that’s.

[00:35:31] If you think about how many things have been invented, like all the technology, all the tools, all the things that we have in this world. I personally think it’s going to take kids because their minds work so much different than adults to come up with the next business ideas. I mean, they’re super smart adults that do that too, but their minds don’t work the same as a child.

[00:35:52] That’s true. That’s so.

[00:35:53] True. Having the generation that grew up only using it is they’re going to find a way to utilize it into something else.

[00:35:59] Which we.

[00:36:00] Didn’t, which.

[00:36:00] We have. No. Yeah.

[00:36:01] So when you were talking about we.

[00:36:03] Are older millennials, so.

[00:36:05] We were born in 83 and.

[00:36:07] Just insulted our hosts.

[00:36:09] Yeah. No, I get it. I think it’s.

[00:36:13] A soft way.

[00:36:15] No, we don’t. It’s funny.

[00:36:16] We are more similar to Gen X than an actual millennial because we’re on the cusp.

[00:36:22] Identifies Gen Xers. Yeah, yeah.

[00:36:24] Because we’re on the cusp.

[00:36:25] We’ve talked about it before. It’s like 82, 83, 84. You know, my brother’s born 86 and we don’t necessarily we’re just, you know, we just think differently. Sure. But I was doing like pagers in high school and Facebook didn’t happen until the end of college. And, you know, so we were we had our childhoods without all that, but we were young enough and willing enough to adapt to what was new.

[00:36:46] For.

[00:36:46] Sure. It’s just weird.

[00:36:48] Yeah. We’re right in the middle of.

[00:36:50] This way, I have to.

[00:36:51] Say. It’s a tool for us older folks, you know, and I’ve embraced it, but I’m 53, so I’ve had to embrace it for business and but also think it’s cool. I’m, you know, embrace it. And I don’t want to be old, you know, too old build or a guy. I try not to be that but you know, I think it it’s it’s tools for us. Right. And even y’all. So that’s how it came along with this new generation, which I dig the portal and the green light card and all that. There’s tools you have to meet them on their level with because they’re, like Bobby said, their brains are wired that way. They know they’re not tools to them. They are just things in life that.

[00:37:30] Right.

[00:37:31] You know.

[00:37:31] Normal day to day thing. Yeah. Everything is through your phone now. It doesn’t matter like that.

[00:37:36] It’s not it’s.

[00:37:37] Not a cool innovation.

[00:37:39] It’s like new.

[00:37:40] Yeah. This is just what life.

[00:37:41] Is, right?

[00:37:42] So, yeah.

[00:37:43] Doing electronic banking and anything like that makes way more sense than pulling out a checkbook ledger. Like, you know, like, there’s no point for sure, unfortunately. But there.

[00:37:53] Isn’t. I agree. Oh, great. Yeah, I think maybe. Maybe I’m just having this slide, having the experience we’ve had up till now and being those elder millennials that we all elders.

[00:38:06] It has put coined a new term.

[00:38:08] We have put maybe that has put us in a great place to do this organization because we have the perspective of both and can value both.

[00:38:18] Our kids are growing up in it.

[00:38:20] Yeah. Yeah. And just, you know.

[00:38:22] You have, you have the wisdom, you know, that’s the cool thing about the next generation and not growing up with it as you have wisdom to know what it was without it as well as what it is.

[00:38:33] Benefits.

[00:38:34] And you know, if you’re grown up with it, you don’t know what the benefits were without it. So how do you sort of marry it and find the sweet spot for sure?

[00:38:41] And I know one of my favorite shows is Shark Tank, and my favorite ones that come on are the ones where kids have invented something or come up with something. And I think that they were able to do that because usually their parent is there and has supported them and has encouraged them to like follow their dreams and go with what they find.

[00:39:03] A new path.

[00:39:03] Yes, follow their passion. And I have a very good friend of mine that’s been a friend for a long time. Well, him and his wife both. And they have three children, one son and two daughters. Well, their son does not play any sports or anything because they’ve allowed him to do what is his natural ability and passion, which is music nice. And they encourage him in every way possible to follow his passion. The girls do other things, but I think it’s wonderful that they let them be who they are and encourage them to go after their goals.

[00:39:37] And you almost have to because it’s just they’re not going to be their authentic self as an adult if it’s your path for them, not their own path for them.

[00:39:45] Such a great philosophy right there, you know, and I don’t know how it was my life. It had to.

[00:39:51] Be my wife.

[00:39:52] Yes, I will go with that.

[00:39:53] Yeah, that’s.

[00:39:54] What I said earlier. Yeah, you all are smarter. But I think letting kids be who they are and whatever their God given talents are, everybody’s different. But I think what you do instead of teach them to make money, do what your passion is. But if you’re a musician, fine, you’re going to need to be really sharp. On your financial.

[00:40:18] Skills or somebody that can do that.

[00:40:20] For you.

[00:40:21] Delegation’s another topic. But. But yeah. Just teach them how to. Hey, chase your dreams. But understand this. There’s not a lot of money in it. You just learn to live on what you make and how to manage it well, but do your passions. And to me, that’s the sweet spot. I mean, my generation and the one before was like, what do you do to make the most money? Yeah, I don’t care if you like it. Or in fact, there’s an old saying. There’s no army saying in an old saying that says you don’t have to like it, you just have to do it. And I think things have changed to where we want our kids to follow their passions. Well, there’s nothing wrong with that. But just understand, I think I think where people get off track is they don’t teach their kid that your passion doesn’t pay much. That’s fine. Just manage it well and just know you’re not going to. And don’t be bitter upset because you don’t make what your brother who’s an engineer or a lawyer or something.

[00:41:16] I think it comes from a place of as a parent of concern, like you want your kids to be happy, but you don’t want them to be unstable, you know? So.

[00:41:25] But it’s it’s hard.

[00:41:26] It’s a hard balance. So, yeah, follow your passion. But you’re not going to have any money. You know?

[00:41:31] You’re gonna live.

[00:41:31] In my basement forever.

[00:41:33] Forever, never leave.

[00:41:34] Like the whole thing. Where if you if you try to monetize your passion and you end up hating it so you could just have a job of some kind where there’s a bartender or something because you make good money doing that and.

[00:41:45] Then you just.

[00:41:46] Catch it. You know what I mean? For sure.

[00:41:47] So but that’s ways to do it. It comes with the life lessons that.

[00:41:50] You.

[00:41:51] Need to instill.

[00:41:52] Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, sometimes it’s important to keep your passion. Your passion and not try to.

[00:41:57] It’s a good point. It’s a good point.

[00:41:59] I think, depending on what it is.

[00:42:01] Yeah, for.

[00:42:01] Sure. You know, but there are options that are out there to monetize certain things. Should that make sense, like art, maybe selling it, that kind of thing or influencers?

[00:42:10] Yeah, yeah. I can’t believe I’m going. That’s a job. Like, how do you and they make tons of money from doing this, right?

[00:42:18] Some influencer, it’s kinda like it’s kind of like artist or something.

[00:42:22] It’s right.

[00:42:22] It’s still, it’s something amazing to me.

[00:42:27] But that is, you know, it ties into entrepreneurs and that like there are so many paths that we never had the thought, sure. You know, you could do literally anything with technology now and turn it into a business.

[00:42:41] Because that’s so big for sure. We’re trying to let this help become something that can help it be more structured.

[00:42:47] So we can focus.

[00:42:48] Yeah. So that it can help kids realize that, you know, it’s not one, two and three. You’ve got these other things that you can do here.

[00:42:55] But just think about them, right? And be intentional about.

[00:42:57] What you do. Right. Smart about it, right? Yeah. Because there’s resources, because there’s all these resources and just trying to make it like a package. And, you know, the parents like obviously this is you know, we want to have resources for the parents. That’s where it all starts. And you just need to they may have kids that are entrepreneurial minded and they’re not so sure. You know, they just they’re like, I don’t know what to do with this kid. They have all these great ideas. I want them to follow their path, right?

[00:43:23] So they bring them to you guys. That’s what they.

[00:43:25] Do. Try to start an outlet, give them the tools to have conversations. And this is where you get started. And I think our first place Facebook post today was like 30 ideas for you to start up your a kid business or whatever and they can just talk about it, you know, because somebody is like, I want them to but I don’t know.

[00:43:41] Where to.

[00:43:41] Begin. Do Right. And so we just want to have that.

[00:43:45] And don’t get paralysis by analysis. Just pick.

[00:43:47] Something.

[00:43:48] Try just going to say.

[00:43:49] Great minds think alike.

[00:43:50] I think that kids need to be encouraged to not be afraid to fail. If they haven’t a business idea, it’s okay if it ends up not working out. Absolutely. You want to encourage them to take it as far as they can and see what happens. But I think some of the most successful people in the world share stories about how many times they started over because they had this idea and that didn’t work, or they just had to enhance what they were doing. Like it wasn’t pivoted this way. So now we’ve got to do.

[00:44:19] This and all those critical thinking skills and problem solving that comes from that. But imagine starting that at 12 and not 25 for.

[00:44:26] Sure, but not being afraid to say this didn’t work or I’m just going to have to scrap it and start over if that’s the case. Like I think to let them know that’s okay. That’s not a failure, that’s a growth.

[00:44:39] Nothing to do with your worth as a human. Right. It’s it’s separate from that.

[00:44:43] Oh, that’s so.

[00:44:43] So and so smart.

[00:44:44] Example of that within our organization. So my middle daughter, she essentially started all of this because she is my free thinking.

[00:44:53] Yeah.

[00:44:54] And she wanted to rule the world with cotton candy was her goal. And we did it for a little while and that’s what got her sisters involved and so on and kind of like snowballed into all of this. But cotton candy is harder than it sounds. Stinky it’s a mess. But when you break a couple of toy cotton candy machines and then also a commercial grade cotton candy machine, you kind of have to pivot to something else. So she learned the concept of rebranding and that’s awesome. Why we need to try something different that we’re not going to ruin Mommy’s house. A But also that it is just more feasible and it makes more sense and it’s easier for all of us because we’re all the ones doing this. So now she does gourmet popcorn and that is a much easier avenue for her.

[00:45:48] Easier, but I think it appeals to more people.

[00:45:50] And it is more appealing. Yeah, she’s.

[00:45:52] Made more money.

[00:45:52] Though, so she’s learned a whole lot in that concept of, like, almost failure or you know what? Growth going from one to the other.

[00:46:04] And so. Yeah. Well, smart, right? I mean. Well, how how amazing. Pivoting is a huge deal in business, you know, and teaching kids to do that, that, like you said, if they fail, they fail. Good. Lot of lessons learned. Let them skin their need. That’s a great thing. And they’ll remember it forever. But sometimes you do have to pivot, you know, in business, you know.

[00:46:26] Just think about 2020.

[00:46:27] Yeah, right. Pivoting was.

[00:46:30] Crucial.

[00:46:30] Either you pivot or you’re different.

[00:46:32] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:46:34] Yeah.

[00:46:34] And a lot of the businesses that failed me, you know, that mindset isn’t there, unfortunately.

[00:46:39] Well, most of them, you know, like Facebook, it’s been through lots of iterations from when it was they were at Harvard or wherever they were doing it and just to meet kids. And then it grew and they had to pivot and do this and monetize and blah, blah, blah. I mean, that’s just part of life. Life changes for sure. So be embrace the change, you know, be happy about that, you know, and that’s yeah, that’s the growth. Not a failure for sure.

[00:47:04] Yeah. You’re growing your I mean, like the fact that maybe instead of like if they’re adults and they’re something’s not doing well, it’s like I’m going to pivot to make like you’re testing the product, you always a product or service. That’s how you can always think of it and then you’re just trying to make it better. Yeah, you know, it’s not really failing at all.

[00:47:23] I think that’s an important.

[00:47:24] Lesson.

[00:47:24] For kids to know when they’re becoming entrepreneurs.

[00:47:27] Rethink your your thought process can have different words. Words are powerful and sure.

[00:47:32] And, you know, kids are so great at social media, I think that it’s a good idea to let them watch the social dilemma. It’s like the Netflix documentary about social media and the power of it.

[00:47:45] And have you guys seen that?

[00:47:47] I haven’t. I haven’t keeping.

[00:47:48] In mind how that works for business. Like I had people, friends who told me about it before I watched it and they were like, Oh my God, you have to watch. Like, now I just want to shut down all my social media. But when I watched it as a realtor and business owner, I was like, Oh my gosh. Like, I’ve got to learn how to harness the power.

[00:48:03] Right? The same response. Interesting. Okay. And I think.

[00:48:06] Children who already understand social media so well, if they could see the power and the impact that could have on their business. Yeah, absolutely. They already know how.

[00:48:16] They know how to do it.

[00:48:17] Yeah.

[00:48:18] No, don’t be. It’s like, don’t you know it is. I mean, you can look at it when you’re watching it. It’s sort of scary. Yeah, but it’s like anything, you know, once you sort of when you realize the boogeyman under your bed ain’t really the boogeyman, and then it frees you up from that fear of things. And yeah, I was the same response as Bobby. It’s like, I just need to harness this monster and not let it harness me.

[00:48:43] Yeah, it’s a tool to use.

[00:48:45] Don’t let it take over your life that figure out how you can leverage.

[00:48:49] The control of it. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I think that’s a lot of the lesson to today is, you know, having control and having a plan and being in charge of your own destiny sort of, you know, I mean, knowledge is power, but I think that we are coming to the end of our time together. But I just wanted to thank you both for being here.

[00:49:11] Thanks for having us. Yeah.

[00:49:12] How can people find you online?

[00:49:14] Well, we have a Facebook page. Imagine that you do viral TGA. That’s how you will find us. Or we have a website viral and we’re located right in downtown Woodstock, right behind Mad Life at 790 Market Street. So stop by the office. We have a bar, have a drink with us. If you don’t drink, we have soda and coffee. Hey.

[00:49:38] Show.

[00:49:39] Oh, this is for the pain.

[00:49:41] The parents are listening.

[00:49:42] Yes, yes, it’s real life.

[00:49:44] Okay. We also want to take a moment to shout out. Thank you so much for your sponsorship of our expose. That is huge. Being a501c3, we rely heavily on the community involvement and getting behind us, so we appreciate that.

[00:50:00] You’re welcome. I think it’s a wonderful thing what you’re doing. Thank you. Having an area where kids can learn more about business and like you said, if they don’t have. Parents that are entrepreneurs having a resource to help them navigate that.

[00:50:12] And also knowing that we solely are not that resource, like having these network connections with community members and business owners to provide those resources is, is mostly our goal, you know, like making a network of that. So there is a go to source, we just want to facilitate it.

[00:50:31] Well, I hope we can be partners with you guys going forward. We would love to continue to contribute in all ways.

[00:50:38] We’re sponsoring the October one.

[00:50:40] To you, so that is. Yes. Thank you very much for that as well. Our next vendor, Kid Biz Expo Market is October 1st and we are in an CRABAPPLE market, so that is 12 650 Crabapple Road in Milton, Georgia. And we will be there Saturday, October 1st from ten to to.

[00:51:00] Come out and see us and take a look firsthand at all these kiddos. We have over about 50 kid vendors that are going to be out there. Awesome. So and, and it’s the same day as Crabapple Fest. So there’s going to be a whole lot going on and it’ll be.

[00:51:13] A time event. Large event.

[00:51:15] Yeah.

[00:51:15] Oh, come on, get some of that popcorn.

[00:51:17] It’s good.

[00:51:18] Oh, it’s good. She makes some interesting flavors.

[00:51:21] Yeah, well, thank you again. We appreciate you being here. And we look forward to maybe getting you guys in a workshop one day. Love to.

[00:51:28] Yeah. Teach some lessons.

[00:51:30] Love to.

[00:51:31] To a roomful of kids. Yeah. All great.

[00:51:33] Well, thank you so much. And if you guys want to follow Kid Biz Expo, you can find us on all of our socials at Kid Biz Expo.

[00:51:40] We’re Kid Biz Expo dot com.

[00:51:42] Thank you. Thank you.

[00:51:43] Thank you.