In this episode, Brian is joined by Lori Cover, Isaac Hall, and Eric Reagan. Lori shares her journey from the television industry to working with pets. She emphasizes the importance of community involvement and giving back, drawing from her own experiences volunteering during the pandemic. Lori also explains the mission of Positively Max and Maggie, which supports small businesses that contribute to animal organizations. She highlights the value of networking and learning from others in the business world.
Isaac shares his knowledge and tips for success. He discusses the importance of building a strong network and collaborating with others. Isaac also emphasizes the significance of continuous learning and staying open to new opportunities. Eric sheds light on the benefits of supplemental insurance. He explains how it can provide additional coverage and peace of mind. Eric also discusses the importance of understanding different insurance options and making informed decisions.
Throughout the episode, the guests promote positivity, collaboration, and making a difference in the community. Listeners are encouraged to get involved, support small businesses, and contribute to causes they care about. The episode serves as a reminder that by working together, we can create a positive impact and make a meaningful difference in the world.
Lori Cover is the owner of Pawsitively Max & Maggie, a new online & pop-up pet boutique that focuses on giving back. Pawsitively Max & Maggie donates a portion of their monthly profits to area animal organizations and features products from fellow small business owners who all give back to animal groups across the country.
Cover is also an award-winning television producer who has earned 6 Southeast Emmy awards for various productions including “Lawmakers”, “Football Fridays in Georgia”, and Atlanta Falcons “Rise Up Weekly”.
Lori and her husband Chris reside in Kennesaw and have 2 adult children, Paris & Nicholas as well as three 4-legged members of the family Max, Maggie & Mo.
Isaac Hall specializes in individual health insurance. He spent most of his insurance career of almost 20 years with Aflac before opening his own agency. Isaac is passionate about helping people get the coverage they need for themselves and their family.
Born and raised in Dallas Ga, Isaac has been living in Bartow County for over 18 years. He’s happily married and has a total of 9 children. Isaac became a Christian at age 14 and has been in the ministry the majority of his life.
Currently serving as the Worship leader at Gracewalk Church in Cartersville, Isaac loves to spend time with his wife traveling and keeping up with all 9 kids.
Eric Reagan is a former first responder who spent a little over five years as a firefighter and paramedic for the city of Smyrna. He won Firefighter of the year in 1985 and Assigned Rescue 1, Engine 1 for 3 years. Awarded and assisted with strategic initiatives to transition from all volunteer rescue for the Smyrna citizens to the City Fire Services.
For just over nine years he was Director of Operations for Cobb County with Metro Ambulance. He started and ran his own ambulance service for seven years after leaving Metro. Eric then decided that he wanted to go into real estate and for the last several years has worked with families and businesses with their real estate needs.
He is now the Co-Owner of 22one Realty in Kennesaw. Eric has a passion for helping others and also does business coaching for small businesses. For all your real estate needs or if you need some help with your business, Eric is willing to be there to help.
In his spare time Eric love hanging out with his dog!
This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix
TRANSCRIPT
Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta. It’s time for Charitable Georgia. Brought to you by B’s Charitable Pursuits and Resources. We put the fun in fund raising. For more information, go to B’s Charitable Pursuits. Dot com. That’s B’s Charitable Pursuits dot com. Now here’s your host, Brian Pruitt.
Brian Pruett: [00:00:45] Good, fabulous Friday morning. It’s another fabulous Friday. We got three more fabulous guests. And if it’s your first time listening to Charitable Georgia, this is all about positive things happening in community. Our first guest this morning is Ms. Lori Cover from Positively Max and Maggie. Lori, thanks for being here this morning.
Lori Cover: [00:01:01] Thanks so much for having me.
Brian Pruett: [00:01:02] I just like to say who day although we need a little bit better but who? Day, who day. There we go. That’s our common bond and little bingles there. So you and I met during a I guess a couple of years ago and networking and we’ll talk about that a little bit. But you have an interesting background from TV and special gifts, and now you’ve got this pet thing going on. So why don’t you give us a little background about yourself and we’ll talk about positively Max and Maggie.
Lori Cover: [00:01:27] All righty. Well, I grew up in Ohio, obviously being a Bengals fan and learned very quickly I didn’t want to stay in Ohio, so went to college in Florida so that I could get some good weather moved here pretty quick after that. And I actually have worked in Atlanta sports television for 30 years since I moved here. I was very blessed. I moved here and got involved in local TV and they needed a short, spunky woman to boss people around. So I became the sports producer at WXIa for a long time. And, you know, I came into Atlanta at a really good time because I came in when the Braves started in the 90s. So I got to cover a World Series and championships, and that was amazing. Then the Falcons were doing well, went to a Super Bowl. You know, Georgia started to do well. We had national championships and Final Fours. And so that was my passion and it still is. I still am a passionate IT sports person. But then I decided to try and move into other areas of television. So I moved into working on, you know, parades and game shows and talk shows with Tyler Perry. And and my days just got longer and longer and longer and longer. And, you know, you kind of get to a point where you’re like, what am I doing sitting in a production truck for 14 hours a day? Um, I am I am married. I have a wonderful husband. He also works in the industry.
Lori Cover: [00:03:26] So fortunately we understood each other’s hours. I have two adult kids and then I have three, four legged kids, which is actually why. Positively. Max Mikey So. And I met you, Brian, because right before the pandemic, my mom passed away, and then we hit the pandemic, and it was like, Oh, my gosh, my world kind of got turned upside down. So I started working for a great company called Tate and Zoe. I was doing it on the side, still doing some TV stuff, but I wanted to do something that added a little sunshine, so to speak, to things because that was what my mom always was. She was an amazing person and volunteering was huge in her life and it still is in my father’s. But so I started doing Tate and Zoe doing gifts and gift baskets, and it was always something that I felt like I can donate these to, you know, auctions and events. And so that was kind of my way of feeling like I was giving back and doing stuff. And then, you know, there’s a saying I saw recently and it was well about the time I started Maxim positively. Maxim. Ag It said, If your schedule is full but your soul is not, then you’re filling your schedule with the wrong things. And that was like a smack upside my head. It was like I was so busy and but nothing was making me really happy. So that was kind of how I took a really hard left turn. So.
Brian Pruett: [00:05:21] Well, you mentioned it. You you graciously donated some baskets for some events that I’ve worked with in the non profits from golf tournaments and some other things. So I appreciate you doing that. But so other than getting involved with the sports and stuff like that, why is it important for you to be part of the community?
Lori Cover: [00:05:38] Because that is is where you live. That is the people who are there for you for good, bad or indifferent. Um, we have I mean, my kids, from the time they were little, we would go and, you know, we’d serve food at a soup kitchen. We’d go walk pets at a humane society. It was important to us. We’ve been given so much in our lives that we needed to give back during the pandemic. We rode school bus for must ministries who delivered food to all the Cobb County kids who didn’t have the normal breakfast and lunch they would get at school. So we rode in the back of the school bus and went to extended stay places just to make sure, you know, we still had food at home. We still could get out and get what we needed, but not all these people could. So it it’s that kind of stuff that has always been so important to me. And it comes from my parents because my dad, God bless him, he still is so involved in his community in Northport, Florida. And mom and dad always we have a lot. We should be thankful. We need to give back to others.
Brian Pruett: [00:07:11] So I want to go back to your your television days for a second. So you say you started at WXIa. I did. So, you know, I think it’s interesting. It was Jeff Hollinger there when you were there?
Lori Cover: [00:07:21] No, actually, he was at Channel five. That’s right. He was the sports anchor at Channel five. And then that was that was the early 90s because I had just gotten out of college early 90s. And Fred Kalil, Randy Waters, Sam Crenshaw, those and I still I still do high school football on Friday nights for Georgia Public Broadcasting because that is my love. I mean there is nothing better than a high school football. It really is. It’s awesome. And so I still work with Sam Crenshaw who is so involved in high school football, so still work with Sam. And Fred has since God bless him, got to retire back to Arizona.
Brian Pruett: [00:08:06] Randy was for a little while at Kennesaw State. I don’t know if he’s still there or not working.
Lori Cover: [00:08:09] He actually is doing color radio for Georgia Tech basketball.
Brian Pruett: [00:08:16] Okay. Well, the reason I ask about Jeff, because I just saw where he left 11 alive and now I went to GPB.
Lori Cover: [00:08:21] Yes. I just saw him on Tuesday. We do our, you know, our our check in for high school football on Friday. We are in East Coweta tonight. So I have a long drive ahead of me today.
Brian Pruett: [00:08:33] It is football season though, so it’s always good when you can be out in the football field.
Lori Cover: [00:08:37] So can’t hurt.
Brian Pruett: [00:08:38] All right. So tell us a little bit about Positively Max and Maggie.
Lori Cover: [00:08:41] So having had animals my whole life, they are the purest form of unconditional love. They just are happy. When you come home, it’s like, yeah, you’re feeding me. Yeah, you’re here. So I knew that that there was something that I wanted to do. You look at the pet industry over the last ten years has grown by more than $10 billion, but yet 4 to 6 million animals are surrendered to shelters every year. So there’s something kind of wonky going on. Um, Ozzie Albies, who Braves second baseman, has started. He started an amazing pet foundation and his and this had started kind of getting me thinking because he was like he grew up in Curacao where dogs were on the street all the time and people didn’t think a thing about it. He wanted to teach people, you know, hey, the there’s a reason that they’re here. Treat them well, learn how to take care of them, kind of learn at an early age. So he’s done amazing things. He helps bring dogs out of shelters and takes them to Braves games to get adopted. It’s adorable. And, you know, I don’t have that kind of financial backing, but I want I was like, I’ve got to be able to do something. So I started doing research and and I found that there are so many small businesses, women veterans, people, handmake collars, handmade water bowls, do all this stuff and a percentage of all of their profits go to animal organizations. And I was like, You know what? I’m going to make kind of an umbrella to help bring in other small businesses.
Lori Cover: [00:10:46] They can also will also give back. We choose a different animal charity each month to give back to. And most of these items are things that if you have a dog or a cat, you’re going to buy anyway. You’re going to buy a leash. You’re going to buy toys. You’re going to buy treats. Well, buy from a small business that not only you’re helping support a small business, but you’re also helping support different different organizations. And I’ve only been doing this since July, so I am still a baby at this. And I know I have so much to still learn, which is why being part of the Acworth Business Association has been really important because a lot of people there has. They have really helped me kind of learn. You know, I do that, Yeah, maybe you need to do more of that. And and I’m I’m very willing to learn coming from television. I don’t have a business background. I can boss people around all I want. But that doesn’t mean I know necessarily, you know, long term where, you know, I need to change this marketing strategy or maybe add this. And I know there’s a lot of other small businesses who I’d love to incorporate in the umbrella, but now that I’ve started the business, I’m kind of overwhelmed with, Oh my gosh, I’ve got to do this because we do pop up shops and we’re online. So we’re trying to spread the word, so to speak, about. Positively maximum.
Brian Pruett: [00:12:32] So I’m curious how the name came about.
Lori Cover: [00:12:36] My dog, My Pity Mix. His name is Max and my one of my cats is Maggie, because I wanted to do cats and dog and. My my daughter, who has her master’s in luxury branding. She was my person. And I was like, okay, I want to use Max and Maggie. And she’s like, Mom, it’s a long name. I was like, I know, But positively is the giving back part. She’s like, okay. So she she was very instrumental in helping me try and create it and she created my logo and all that.
Brian Pruett: [00:13:16] Good. Awesome.
Brian Pruett: [00:13:17] You know, we do that monthly trivia and last month we helped the Etowah Valley Humane Society. So we were able to get a hold of Brian.
Lori Cover: [00:13:23] I was. And they, we actually have our fundraiser for the Etowah Valley Humane Society on our Instagram page. We started. This past weekend and we’re going to continue through the month of October.
Brian Pruett: [00:13:41] So share about that. What what’s the fundraiser about? How can people get involved?
Lori Cover: [00:13:44] You can go to the positively Max and Maggie Instagram page. It’s listed on there. And we do. And what I tell people all the time, if they see us at a pop up shop and they’re like, Oh, I don’t have a dog or a cat, well, I always have the information. I said, That’s okay. You can just donate to the organization. And I’ve had I had a bunch of people walk by and hand me $5. I said, we’re doing money or we’re raising a percentage of our profits from all of our sales online and at pop up shops and people who want to just donate. All those proceeds are all going to the Etowah Valley Humane Society.
Brian Pruett: [00:14:30] Awesome.
Brian Pruett: [00:14:30] Do you know being in the broadcasting world, do you know Ray Baker? Rape used to be in the red. He was the one that started Kennesaw State’s radio station back in the 90s. And you know, he’s involved with Rockford rescues. Have you gotten in touch with him about that? I have.
Lori Cover: [00:14:43] Not. And that’s just it, Brian. I will be honest. The number of people we were at a pop up shop on Sunday and I wrote down four organizations. And that’s what I mean, where because I’m still so early in this process, I love getting names and connections because I think the most important thing is education, especially of young people, because when young people learn. How to take care of animals. Hey, let’s get them spayed and neutered so we don’t have, you know, a litter of puppies or kittens that then my third animal is Kim Wiggington from the ABA had come to a board meeting and said, Hey, we found a litter of kittens. It was in a storm drain in, you know, in downtown Acworth. Does anyone want one? The only one they could catch. And I was like, I’ll take it.
Lori Cover: [00:16:01] My husband of course, was rolling his eyes and turns out she has special needs and that’s why they could catch her because she has a brain injury. But again, it’s this, you know. I. She would not have made it if she had been there. But that’s just another one of those. Oh, my gosh. Here we have more feral cats and more so I would I think that to me, I want to get involved. I want connections and I want to. I really want to help with the process of, okay, what’s the best way to help? Not have 4 to 6 million animals surrendered every year.
Brian Pruett: [00:16:46] I’ll make that reconnection for you with Ray.
Lori Cover: [00:16:48] So that would be awesome.
Brian Pruett: [00:16:50] You know? And then in January, I’m going to have an expo at the Acworth Community Center that you can be a part of. So that’s going to help the Horizon League portion of those proceeds so you can come out and, you know, promote your stuff there. So……..
Lori Cover: [00:16:59] Awesome.
Lori Cover: [00:17:00] I’m ready. I’m ready and willing to go just about anywhere.
Brian Pruett: [00:17:04] All right.
Brian Pruett: [00:17:05] Well, we talked about the networking and that’s how we met. So you not only network, but you’re involved with the ABA, you’re on, I guess, the board or you’re a committee member or whatever. So can you give us a positive story of how networking has benefited you and helped you honestly?
Lori Cover: [00:17:25] When I did the gift baskets, I was that was when I was like, I don’t know a thing about business. I need to help. So I went to the ABA. Never felt more like part of a family. Everyone was like, Oh, we’ll help, blah, blah blah blah, blah. Well, Dale Hoeflinger and Kelly Nagle, when I started talking about I think I want to do this with the pet business, they both took time out of their incredibly busy schedules, sat down with me and for an hour, let me go. Okay. These are some of the things I’m thinking of good, bad. And they both have been instrumental in just kind of giving me some guidance on ways to go. And I couldn’t I couldn’t have done this without them. And I am on the board. I’m in charge of the women’s luncheon. So and we’ve grown tremendously. So it’s been it’s been a great experience. And yeah.
Brian Pruett: [00:18:35] So you also help with the morning jolt?
Lori Cover: [00:18:37] I do.
Brian Pruett: [00:18:38] Can you share I mean, you don’t necessarily have to be a member of the ABA. I know people like to be there, but you can come to that. But can you share about the jolt?
Lori Cover: [00:18:44] The jolt is awesome because it it literally is one hour and that’s it. You have one hour come at 8 a.m. and you have a chance to share your business. You can meet people and it’s a great way to get your Tuesday. It’s the second and fourth Tuesday of every month, and it’s a great way to meet people. In fact, the people who are painting my house right now, I met them at The Jolt.
Brian Pruett: [00:19:14] There you go.
Lori Cover: [00:19:16] And I’ve made incredible connections and everyone can and it doesn’t cost you. Go in and grab a cup of coffee, meet a bunch of people. You’re in and out in an hour and you can make meetings.
Lori Cover: [00:19:28] It’s wonderful.
Brian Pruett: [00:19:28] Sometimes you get free breakfast too, depending on who’s sponsoring.
Lori Cover: [00:19:31] It’s true. Yeah, that’s true.
Brian Pruett: [00:19:33] So there are a ton of networking groups out there. There’s a ton of business associations, especially in Cobb County. So since you’re on the board of the ABA, which is the Business association for people may not know, can you share? I know they just had their monthly luncheon yesterday, right? Yes. Can you share a little bit more about them in case people want to get more involved?
Lori Cover: [00:19:52] The organization. Let’s see. Acworth Business org is the best place to check out all of the events. Taste of Acworth is tomorrow and that is a huge part of the ABA. It’s great function. And then we have, like I said, the jolt. Second and fourth. We have the Alive after five, which is another great event that you don’t have to be a member. You can come and it’s next week at Center Street Tavern on Thursday. And then the women’s luncheon is the last Thursday of the month. And that you do have to register for. But there are events you don’t have to register for. You can come. And then like with the two luncheons, you do have to register. But it’s a. There’s the golf tournament is also the 23rd. So it’s another one of our big events helping with the ABA.
Brian Pruett: [00:20:59] And so I know since you are part of the board and you do the women’s luncheon, I think it’s important because, you know, I’m part of the leadership team of the Cardinal Business Club. Don’t just come and network. You need to get involved because you know you can come and I don’t think you’ll get enough as much as you can unless you get involved. Would you agree with that?
Lori Cover: [00:21:17] Absolutely. And I have to say that was one of the things when I first arrived that I realized, yeah, you can just go to the jolt and to the alive after 5:00 and you’ll meet people, but you get so much more out of it if you get involved. And there is always a place to get involved there and it does help. Get to know people better, get to know more about people’s businesses. And you know what? The other thing is, you know, I may not. You know, like with my house, you may meet me at a jolt and you may not. You may say, Oh, she has business. I don’t have any pets. I don’t need to know. But then we have a conversation and you find out, Oh, wait, she needs this for her car or for her house. And it’s that getting to know people, having conversations. And that’s how getting involved makes all the difference in the world.
Brian Pruett: [00:22:23] And building that relationship, because that’s that’s the big, big part. So. All right. So since you are new into your own business, you said, what, July, June, July.
Lori Cover: [00:22:32] I’m actually three months this week.
Brian Pruett: [00:22:34] Three months. All right. So everybody that’s in here is a business owner and small business owner. So give some advice for somebody who might be listening, who’s thinking about starting a business.
Lori Cover: [00:22:43] Do your research. That, to me is the most important you now. And you must be careful. We all know the Internet is not infallible. But talk to people, do research. Make sure. One of the things I remember asking Kelly Nagle was, Why do I want to do something that other people do? Because, you know. I’m not alone in having a pet business. And she’s like, Find your reason, find your why, and say, okay, I’m doing this because I’m going to do it to help others in this capacity versus other. So know your why. Do your research and, you know, be willing to take one criticism. I’m not always really good at that, but be willing to take criticism and be willing to pivot.
Brian Pruett: [00:23:44] I also think what makes you stand out, too, because even though you’ve got other pet businesses, you may you have a special niche, you know, and so that make sure people know that, too. And also like what Bob Brooks talks about, we talk about the CBC to collaborate over competition. So, you know, there may be other pet businesses in there, but nobody everybody’s going to do the same thing. So. Right, right. Um, all right. So if people are listening, want to get a hold of you for your services, how can they do that?
Lori Cover: [00:24:10] Positive. Lee Max and Maggie at Yahoo! Dot com. And positively Max and Maggie. Hold on. What did I just say? Positively. Max and Maggie at Yahoo! Is the email address right? Positively. Max and maggie.com is the website and on Instagram and Facebook. So if you type in PR positively, Max, Maggie will pop up.
Brian Pruett: [00:24:43] All right. Awesome. Well, Laura, thanks for coming and sharing a little bit of your story. And don’t go anywhere. We’re not done with you.
Lori Cover: [00:24:49] Thank you so much for having me.
Brian Pruett: [00:24:49] All right. Now we’re moving over to Mr. Isaac Hall with the Isaac Hall Group. Isaac, thanks for being here. Thanks for having me. So you’re dedicated because you just drove back in from Orlando because you know you were going to be the star and you wanted to get here, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, you and I met, obviously, the Cartersville Business Club, and you have a passion for helping others. I think, like everybody in this room. But you chose a profession that’s really, I think, hard for people to navigate. And there’s a lot of, uh. I don’t know, It’s just weird. Anyway, so. But anyway, share your background, and we’ll talk into what you do. Yeah. Yeah, that’s a good word for it.
Isaac Hall: [00:25:27] Yeah. Where to start? I could go on for hours, I guess. I’m from Dallas, Georgia, not Texas. And I’ve been living in Bartow County, I guess the majority of my adult life. And I grew up around church a lot and at 14 become a Christian. And I know it’s business radio, but that’s fine.
Brian Pruett: [00:25:48] A lot of people share their testimonies, so go ahead.
Isaac Hall: [00:25:50] Yeah, so everything I do is, you know, because of that. And so I really take that into business and what I do. So I started at 18 doing landscaping and did that for a few years, and then I did some electrical work. I’ve done roofing, I’ve shoveled horse manure for money. So I didn’t really know much about being a business guy, if you will, you know, dressing up during the day. And but I got into insurance at 24 and with a little company called Aflac in South Georgia. And so I did that for many years, I guess almost 17 years with Aflac and the supplemental side and didn’t really want to do anything else. You mentioned how it’s just kind of weird and confusing and so but so I got into individual health insurance the last couple of years and it’s been phenomenal. People don’t which we can get into, but people don’t really understand how how much is out there to be able to get covered. And so big on helping families. Again, being in the ministry. I lead worship at my church at Grace Church in Cartersville and so love to help people. And I’ve got a lot of kids between me and my wife, we have nine kids, six boys, three girls. Our oldest is 21 and our youngest is eight.
Brian Pruett: [00:27:01] So you almost doubled the Brady Bunch.
Isaac Hall: [00:27:04] Yeah, Yeah. People say it’s like The Brady Bunch. I’m like, well, we’re bigger. So it’s we stay busy busy with with the kids. So like we went to Orlando, we just took the two youngest. We’re, they’re getting older now, so we’re kicking them out as soon as we can. So we’re kind of getting there. But yeah, love what we do. We big in the community now, obviously again with trying to help out at the church there. And so it kind of goes hand in hand with what we do. And so, so now I’m full time started the Isaac Hall Group in the last couple of years and really got into more of that in trying to help out people in the health insurance side now than than on the Aflac, too. But but I do both.
Brian Pruett: [00:27:43] We’ll get into that just a second. But I want to talk a little bit more about your your giving back and your passion for helping others because you jumped aboard and helped us with All in all Ministries fundraiser back in June. And we’ve brought Kevin actually was my first two time guest because since he was on the first time, there was a lot happening with his ministry. And because you were a part of that, we were able to waste $10,300 for his ministry. So that was awesome. So you’ve also helped in ways where you necessarily couldn’t come to trivia, but you bought some tickets for maybe some other folks to come and be able to participate in the monthly trivia. So I appreciate that. So why are there being in a ministry and just kind of the your Christian walk, why is it important to be part of the community?
Isaac Hall: [00:28:26] Well, I mean, she mentioned it a while ago when it comes to helping people and we say it a lot in the business club, but it sounds cliche, but it’s really true. The more you help people, the more you help, the more it comes back. I mean, you know, as a Christian, the Bible says you reap what you sow and when you put it out there, it’s going to come back. And so and two, I tell people, I say this a lot as far as being a Christian is when I was 14, I became a Christian. You know, I say, you know, the Lord changed my forever and there’s just not anything more exciting than that. And so to be able to help people, whether it’s in a natural sense of helping people recovery, we’ve helped Kevin out on another event recently downtown, and it’s just so cool to get and you see people that are really down. You know, they’ve been through some stuff, I’ve been through some stuff. We’ve all been through some stuff. Some of our stuff is out in the open more than others. And so I went through one of those moments where it was out in the open. And, you know, people judge and they do these kind of things. So it’s really cool to meet people in that setting, to be able to love on them, you know, and say, I promise it’s going to get better, you know, to give some hope.
Brian Pruett: [00:29:33] So And I love it because, Lori, you were talking about the why. And that seems to be a theme this week, Eric. But it is about your why because you can go into a job and have a job, but you’re not going to be happy unless you know your why. And it took me a long time to figure out my why. One of these days I’ll share my why on the air. But I shared a little bit yesterday with Eric and some folks. So. All right, let’s so let’s talk about the Isaac Hall group and your insurance. You mentioned that it’s the personal health, right?
Isaac Hall: [00:29:58] It is. It is. And it’s funny. I’ll tell you real quick on the why. When I started Aflac, like I said, almost 17 years ago, Joe Harris, junior in Cartersville, was my boss. And I’ll never forget, we sat there for like two hours and wonderful guy. We got to talking and he asked me for like two weeks when I was working there, you know, what is your why? And I knew he was looking for something different. I wanted to be like, laughing kids, we got to buy groceries. You know, I’m trying to make a living. I don’t know. But I’d already told him my story, and I just didn’t put two and two together at that age. But my cousin went through cancer in mid 20s and he fought it for a year and a half. Worst case scenario. And they had Aflac through Cobb County government, his parents, and so financially changed their life. They were able to be with him for that year and a half. And so it was like a commercial. And so my story for years selling was just, Hey, this is what happened, you know, And if you need it, it’s amazing. If not, it’s insurance. It’s a necessary evil. I know people hate insurance, but so I got into the individual health part a couple of years ago and I had somebody actually very thankful for her that she begged me to get into it for like five years.
Isaac Hall: [00:31:05] And I’m not really I hate health insurance. You know, nobody likes it. It goes up every year and there’s just network problems and all this. And I said, I’m good. And so a couple, like I said, almost two years ago, she came to me and said, you really got to do this. So I met with some folks and it’s really changed since 2009 when the Affordable Care Act happened. And so now there’s so much out there. And I specialize in that because typically when we talk about our perfect referral, it’s not just somebody who needs health insurance, it’s those that think they can’t afford it. So if they’re low income or they have their own business and they they’re good with their taxes and they’re able to look, you know, pull their adjusted gross income, there’s a lot of different ways within the the setting that you can get affordable, truly affordable health insurance, which is a big deal because obviously dealing with what we do, we even talk about the animals and having care. I mean, it’s that way within yourself, whether it’s your job or your family, your mental state, everything that goes on talking about recovery, there’s help out there. And if you don’t know to get it or you think you can’t afford it, it affects your whole life, you know? So it’s it’s it’s pretty cool.
Brian Pruett: [00:32:16] So so people who dread going there and trying to find the health insurance and you know, some of them just say, the heck with it, I’m not going to get it, you know, and they pay out of their pocket what sometimes can be a little cheaper, but give some, I guess, advice on other than talking to yourself, you know, to you, but give some advice for somebody. First of all, looking for insurance and then what’s what’s what do they need to look for?
Isaac Hall: [00:32:40] Yeah, well, it’s funny you say that, too, thinking about what we do versus if somebody goes on the Internet and tries to search for it, it can be very overwhelming. There’s tons of options. People go, What is the deductible? A deductible? What’s an out-of-pocket expense? You know, is it in-network out-of-network? What’s a specialist and those kind of things. So obviously trying to find somebody who knows what they’re doing. I tell my all my kids all the time. I say, if you want marriage advice, talk to somebody who’s been married for 30 and 40 years. If you want money advice, talk to somebody who has money. And so if you want advice and insurance, talk to somebody who’s done it. They know what they’re doing. Yeah. And it just really looking for the need. I heard one of your shows recently. I think we’re talking about some insurance and everybody’s different. I don’t go to the doctor very often. I had a brother who had a heart transplant. So obviously we need two totally different health plans. Mine’s totally different than his. So getting with someone and trying to figure out how much coverage do you really need where it doesn’t break the bank. A lot of people say I’m over insured, I have too much insurance and I say, you can never have too much insurance.
Isaac Hall: [00:33:45] You can have too much premium that you have to pay. So obviously you can’t be over insured, but you can be over premium every month. So, you know, that’s kind of the gist behind that in my opinion. But it is a necessary evil. But like you said, I give an example. One of my sons had a car wreck last December. He was in the hospital three days and it was almost $60,000 bill. And so doctor visits won’t make you go bankrupt, but that could. So it’s worth looking and and finding again, I go back to scripture. The Bible says you have not because you ask not. And I’m like, I got to do is find out, you know, it takes two minutes to get a quote. And I love what I do. I. Tell people I’m very open when it comes to what I do is I get paid the same from the carrier, whether you pay zero a month or a thousand. And so you try to find somebody who’s in it to say, Hey, look, whatever’s best for you. You know, it’s a lot of numbers. We talk to enough people and people sign up and it helps them. So yeah, really, again, doing research, making sure you get what you need, you know?
Brian Pruett: [00:34:42] So if you caught that, he did say zero month that you know which it is a thing which is pretty incredible. All right. So other than because you also worked for Aflac, why is it important to possibly have a supplemental insurance or do you do you agree with that?
Isaac Hall: [00:34:57] 100%. So I love Dave Ramsey because we shouldn’t be in debt. But I also I don’t agree with his lines of he doesn’t like supplemental insurance. Well, if everyone’s a millionaire and your debt free, you don’t need supplemental insurance. But 86% of Americans are paycheck to paycheck. So in my opinion, you know, my line with Aflac for years has been, you know, if you’re sick or hurt and you can’t work, can you buy groceries? Can you pay your mortgage? Can you handle paying for nine kids? It’s hard to do with a paycheck. So to me, supplemental insurance is it’s a no brainer unless you can go without a paycheck for a long extended period of time or you have that 8 or $9000 put back for deductible. And a lot of people do, but most people don’t. So yeah, I think both kind of fits your health insurance to pay doctors and hospitals. Again, you know, for me, I’m okay with having a high deductible because I’ve got plenty of Aflac. My son, who spent three days in the hospital, Our deductible was $8,600. My Aflac pay me 10,000 bucks on an accident plan. So it just kind of fits together. And but also it’s whatever’s affordable to you. So I tell people we’re here to pay you cash when you need it, not break you in the meantime. So you can’t live in fear. So you pick and choose what’s best and what’s affordable so you can keep it. But if you can afford it, it’s definitely worth it.
Brian Pruett: [00:36:15] That’s what I was going to ask, because a lot of people are thinking, Well, that’s great and everything, but I can’t really afford that stuff. So I guess really you guys just need to sit down, even with not with Isaac, but just sit down and talk to somebody so you can find out what’s going on and what’s good for you. So. All right. So you and I met at Cartersville Business Club. You were new to networking, if I’m not mistaken. How long have you been networking? Now?
Isaac Hall: [00:36:39] So I think I’ve the first time I came was towards the end of last year, but really heavy the last several months trying to go every week.
Brian Pruett: [00:36:46] So can you share a positive story since you’ve been networking?
Isaac Hall: [00:36:50] It is phenomenal. So and I’ll say this real quick, when I started Aflac, all I knew was low numbers. So when I used to do landscaping, I would I was that guy that put stuff on your mailbox before it was you get in trouble. And so and it was like, hey, if I hit a thousand houses and I get 1% success, I’ll make 11. I did that with Aflac. So I knocked on businesses doors and I was that guy. It is not fun for anybody, but it works. Lord numbers. And I was working for the Ducks, you know, so I knew it would would work. And that’s how I taught people for years. And then I came to the networking in Cartersville and it was so cool. My biggest thing is I hate going in a room with salespeople and you feel like you’re just trying to sell and they’re trying to sell it. Nothing is fun about it. I hate it. And it was totally different there. I mean, I’ve never seen anything like it, like a family and people genuinely. What can I do to help? Can I get a one on one to see what you do? And so I started doing that and I really picked up on that. And I’m at a place where it wasn’t like when I started a commission only job at 24 and I was broke.
Isaac Hall: [00:37:53] Thankfully, I’m not at that point. So I was more relaxed as well in the networking and it is so phenomenal. I was on a call this morning and I was telling the guy, I said, I literally I don’t remember the last day that I’ve not gotten a referral about health insurance. I don’t remember. And tons of it come from networking because you’re genuinely going in. What do you do? You know, I’ve dealt with small businesses for years, so when we’re talking to real estate or lenders or painters or whoever and I say, Look, I’ve got like all these small businesses I deal with, I can definitely put you in front of somebody and you send that first referral and boom, it just starts coming. And so I told my wife the other day, I said, I really messed up when I started at 24 and didn’t understand what it was to get together with people. All I did was cold call and I said it could have been a whole lot different, you know? So I genuinely love it. I tell everybody, I know you’ve got to get in there and just get involved and get to know people and it just comes, you know?
Brian Pruett: [00:38:51] Well, you talked about, you know, not knowing at 24, anybody who doesn’t know networking, I don’t care what age you are, you go in, all you want to do is sell. And that’s not it. You got to build the relationships. And it takes it takes a while, you know? And I think getting involved and having the one on ones and building those relationships is what what does it you know, and it’s funny, people say, well, you need you need to know Brian he knows everybody. Well, I don’t know everybody, but it is scary how many people I do know because I’ve networked Atlanta for almost 30 years and it’s crazy when I sit down and. How many people actually do know good or bad, you know, and the networking groups, There are several out there and there are some that are better than others. But it’s true. Laura, you got to come to Cardinal Business Club because it is really like a family. It’s more than just a and I’m not knocking the Acworth Business Association, but it’s definitely you come in and you’re going to be open armed. I mean, and I would say, I don’t know. You might. Probably 40% may not even be from the Bartow County area. They come there. Would you agree? I mean, that’s how people and it’s so accepting for, you know, people. It’s just amazing. So. All right. So, um, since you’ve started your business, give some advice for somebody who’s listening, who might want to start a small start their own business.
Isaac Hall: [00:40:04] It’s tough. It’s funny. All I’ve ever done is own my own business, you know, insurance or landscaping or whatever. I love doing that. It’s not what people think about. I’m the boss. I don’t have to do anything. You work harder than everybody else, but it’s very rewarding and couple of things I guess. She mentioned time while ago management. Oh my gosh, you’ve got to figure that one out, calendar it out or it will run your business. It will run you instead of you running your business for sure. But you can definitely take advantage of doing that and be able to work for yourself. Build time Again. Like this week I was able to go to Orlando with the kids and wife and didn’t have to worry about Can I take off those kind of things? But really just being steady, getting after it just every day, every day is is activity, activity, activity. I guess that’s in any business. And insurance they drilled it in our head. But just talking to people, networking, talking constantly, it’s just whatever you’re doing, you’re passionate about it. You talk about it all the time. Be that guy in your business.
Isaac Hall: [00:41:08] Because the deal is if you’re passionate about it, whether it’s animals, it’s insurance, it’s real estate, whatever it is, if you’re talking about it, you’re doing it to help other people. And so when it comes across that way, it makes all the difference in the world. I give this last example. I’ve hired people through the years where I really thought they were going to just knock it out of the park in the business, but they were a little too slick. And so you just can’t be that way if you own your own business. Obviously you’re in sales and they’ve got to see you care. I talk about it in leading worship at church and I say, you know, if we’re up here and we’re not smiling, we’re not excited, we’re not passionate about what we do, they’re not going to get excited either, and they’re not going to come back. So everything we do in life, you know, I think is kind of that mentality. But definitely if you’re going to do a business, you’ve got to be passionate about it. And if so, you put in the time and effort. It’ll it’ll work.
Brian Pruett: [00:41:58] Well, you talked about the sales and and Laurie and Eric. You guys didn’t when you started your business, you came from TV background. You’re a first responder and we’ll talk about it in a second. But you and I were in the sales part of it, and it’s a lot different selling for yourself than selling for somebody else and a lot less. The stress is different. Yeah. You put yourself you put the stress on yourself.
Isaac Hall: [00:42:20] Yeah, I was going to say. And then you’re the guy or the lady, you know, if something happens, they are calling you, right? So, you know, my cell phone is out there, my email is out there, my name’s out there. And so it another cool thing about the referrals, I mean, when you really genuinely doing the best for that person, whether you make the sale or not, I’ve made sales where I didn’t make that particular sale and they referred me to someone else because they truly saw, Hey, he’s trying to do what’s best. You know, there’s been times where I’ve looked at people and I said, you know, individual health is not the best for you. I deal with small businesses, too, and I say, You used to stay with group health and I don’t do group health. And so we just refer it to someone else, you know. So but if you do that, it’s definitely a different stress because, you know, when I worked for Aflac, it was the brand, it was the duck. Everybody knew it’s Aflac, you know, even me. There was people that would have me in their phones as the Aflac guy. They didn’t know my name. In this case, my name is in the group as a call group, you know, So something happens. They know who to call. So it’s a it’s a big deal to do what you say.
Brian Pruett: [00:43:19] So I got another networking story that I’ll share about you that you and I did talk about but you probably didn’t think about. So when you helped with Kevin’s thing, right? And you had a booth and everything and we were putting everybody’s logos out there, you didn’t have a logo, right? And so Anna made you one just out of the blue. And it was like, yeah, you know, And that came from networking with the group, right? Yeah.
Isaac Hall: [00:43:40] And it was so cool because I have a meeting with her on Tuesday, and again, I got into this and I didn’t have to worry about marketing before because it’s a multi-billion dollar marketing with the duck. And so I’m just going and it grew so fast. I don’t even have a logo. And it was so cool because I’m in the print out of the book and I’m like, That is such a cool logo. And I’m like, Oh, that’s mine. And she did that for you guys and for me. And so now I went back to her and I said, Hey, I would love to pay you for that so I can have that. And so we’re meeting on Tuesday to go over. She’s going to do all my marketing. Awesome. Something she did for free to Help Me helped you. And now we’re in business together.
Brian Pruett: [00:44:20] So that’s awesome. That’s awesome. All right, so if somebody is listening and wants to get a hold of you for your services, how can they do that?
Isaac Hall: [00:44:26] She’s also going to help me with a website.
Brian Pruett: [00:44:27] There you go.
Isaac Hall: [00:44:28] So for now, I give up my cell phone like crazy. But it’s 404 3911936. 404 3911936. My email is Isaac Hall group at gmail.com and fortunately again with a background of Aflac, Just Google, Isaac Hall, Cartersville, I will pull up because of that. So but coming soon, I’ll have a website. So all right, biggest thing, cell phone, email. And then again, you can just Google Isaac Hall, Cartersville and I’ll pull up.
Brian Pruett: [00:44:57] Awesome. Well, Isaac, thanks for sharing a little bit of your story. Again, don’t go anywhere because we’re not done. So now we’re moving over to Mister Eric Reagan, even though he’s wearing a roll Tide shirt and hat. Lori we got to stick together because we’re obviously and it’s not even Georgia. It’s Alabama sitting over here. That’s why you like Aflac, Isaac because Nick Saban’s doing Aflac for you.
Isaac Hall: [00:45:20] It is ironic, right?
Brian Pruett: [00:45:22] Yeah. So, Eric, you and I met again, networking, obviously. And you’ve got an awesome background as far as helping people because you started out as a first responder firefighter, then EMT, and you had your own ambulance business for a while as well. And now you’re doing something with helping people with real estate as well as just announced some ad agency stuff. So if you don’t mind, share your background.
Eric Reagan: [00:45:45] Uh, grew up in Smyrna, so I’m a local guy. Um, to a single mom. Uh, never knew my dad. So. A lot of my talking about community. My dads were my coaches. That’s where I got my male influence and some in the church back during that time, you know, to be a single mom out of wedlock was frowned upon. So my family, even my mom’s family didn’t really. Have a lot to do with us. So it was the community that helped support us and take care of us.
Brian Pruett: [00:46:39] So talk about your firefighter days.
Eric Reagan: [00:46:43] Well. I. I was about 13, 14 years old one night, and there was a wreck. It was a rollover. And I didn’t know the people in the car, but I ended up getting pulling a guy out of his. A pretty bad wreck. Car caught on fire, pulled the guy out. And later on I found out that I went to school with his sister. So that was a. Uh, gave me a good feeling, you know, that I was able to affect somebody’s life. So, uh. Got a job with the Smyrna Fire Department and worked there for, I think, eight years, something like that. Got my EMT license and then my paramedic license. Started working for Metro Ambulance And. That was he. That was my father in law. Worked two full time jobs, fire department and the ambulance service. He sold the. The ambulance service. At that time, it was becoming more of a business where used to be. It was a community of helping people. You knew who you were going to work with every you know, you vacationed with the people you worked with, and it was just an awesome time. And then it became just a business. But I ended up starting my own ambulance service. I worked for them for about six months. And like I said, they they weren’t in the business of helping people. They were in the business of making money. And so I started my own ambulance. Gold cross ambulance and had it for probably ten years and ended up selling it.
Brian Pruett: [00:48:48] So again, you have a passion for others. But I want to go back for a second and ask this question for people who are listening and may not know, share the difference between an EMT and a paramedic EMT.
Eric Reagan: [00:48:59] They can do basic stuff. A paramedic is more invasive. They can give cardiac drugs. They can do intubation, which is you stick a tube down people’s throat when they’re not breathing and be able to. You’re basically a nurse, pa in the street and basic EMT can start IVs and do basic stuff like that. But as far as giving, you know, drugs and stuff like that, that’s you have to have a paramedic license. It’s a lot more school, you know, more hours, more clinical hours in the hospital. Learning stuff, you know, hands on stuff. So.
Brian Pruett: [00:49:49] And that industry, I mean, any first responder, you have to have tough skin as well, because not all days are going to be, you know, happy. I spent a little while as a 911 dispatcher for the city of Kennesaw, and I can remember taking a phone call and the woman who was calling was in the middle of having a stroke while on the call. And it was sad because the the while we’re trying to dispatch the police there and get her, she actually wound up dying and they could see her through the window and they just couldn’t get to her in time. So. But you shared a little bit of the story when you were, what, 14 years old. But do you have a story, another story that’s really kind of drove home when you were a firefighter or a paramedic about, you know, just helping helping folks.
Eric Reagan: [00:50:31] Well, it is a very stressful job. Back when I was in the midst of it, I want to say the life expectancy of a paramedic was like seven years. Just because you could not handle the stress and. A quick story. Ran a call. There was a rape call. I was relatively new, maybe six, eight months on the job as a paramedic. And the the girl that was raped when I peeked in. You know, you got to be real careful when you’re a male in that situation because they just got abused by a male. And I just kind of peeked my head into the apartment and I couldn’t she recognized me. I couldn’t recognize her because the assailant had broke a beer bottle by beating her in the head. And her face was so swollen that I didn’t recognize her. She ended up being a nurse at one of the local hospitals, and she recognized me. Almost got out of the business. Um. But, you know, you so many things happen to kids and, you know, it’s not their fault. And. You take him to the hospital, you care for him and. The next call comes in and you’re riding down the road, you got to go deal with somebody else. And over the course of their shift. You know. Two weeks later, you’re riding down the road and person’s face will pop into your mind and you’re like. Whatever happened to them? How can I be so cold to not remember, you know, what happened? So I get emotional. No, because people are, you know, I like helping people. Right. And that’s why the life expectancy is seven years because you can’t deal with the stress.
Brian Pruett: [00:52:50] Right. Wow. Well, you’ve taken that passion into the business side of helping others and also the real estate side. So I think it’s really cool because you’re name of the real estate agents 20 to 1 share about why why it’s the name of that 20 to.
Eric Reagan: [00:53:04] 1 is comes from Proverbs 22 one which is a good name is to be desired over wealth. And so that’s my family. We owned the brokerage. It’s a boutique brokerage. I’ve primarily been handling the commercial and the land aspect of it. And, you know, we we like helping people because that’s financially the biggest investment that most people will make in their lifetime. So.
Brian Pruett: [00:53:34] So somebody might be listening that’s thinking about maybe needing some commercial property. Can you give me any advice on what to kind of start looking for? Obviously dealing with getting with somebody like yourself who who can help them navigate that way. But what kind of advice can you give somebody Maybe we need some commercial property.
Eric Reagan: [00:53:53] Know what your your you know, if it’s relative to your business, know what the zoning is. Find out what the you’re able if you, you know, find a place that you would like to to set up shop, so to speak. And when it’s commercial, you know, it’s all about location, location, location. So know what the zoning is, Know what the process is. Find out what if you have to change zoning, Know how much square footage you’re going to need for your business and find out, you know, what what you’re going to expect to pay per square footage and rent. So a lot of times it makes more sense for people to buy if they have the capability, you know, to buy. That way you’re the landlord and you maybe can rent out part of it, part of your your business, part of your building.
Brian Pruett: [00:54:53] Is it different in different counties as far as what they look for?
Eric Reagan: [00:54:58] Yeah, they all each, each municipality has their own zoning regulations. And and then there’s, you know, of course, the state and federal stuff that you have to be aware of.
Brian Pruett: [00:55:10] Also, we’re all can you work working people working you help some people for.
Eric Reagan: [00:55:15] Well I’m I’m all over you know metro north metro Atlanta and even as far up I’ve helped people in Chatsworth, you know north Georgia. So but yeah it’s. It’s a it’s a fun business. I like being out and I don’t like being stuck in a office, so to speak, you know? So I’m I like being out and about.
Brian Pruett: [00:55:44] So, Lori, he might need you because he’s got a dog that rides with him everywhere. And currently his dog is mad at him. So he is.
Eric Reagan: [00:55:51] I just had him neutered.
Brian Pruett: [00:55:54] So he might need some gifts for you from you. So, um. Well, you’ve also taken that passion and turned a little more because. Yeah, go ahead.
Eric Reagan: [00:56:02] I was going to say, I did help another lady, Anne Reid, in Kennesaw doing the same thing you did. This was probably 4 or 5 years ago. She bought a building and there every time I go by it, they’re crazy. They come to the Acworth. I won’t say the name, but they come to the Acworth business meetings too, So.
Brian Pruett: [00:56:28] Yeah.
Eric Reagan: [00:56:30] It makes more sense sometimes to to buy it because they’re, you know.
Brian Pruett: [00:56:35] Right. Well, what I was going to say was you’ve taken your passion and really kind of because you, you and I sat down and I learned just how passionate you are of people just in business because you also offer some business coaching or would like to and a lot of wisdom. Was in Eric’s head. But no, he just I mean, he really takes the time to listen to you and share things you might need. And he encouraged me to do some things which I’ve now done for my business. And I’ve actually formed a board and Eric is my first board member on that for that business. So you’re very passionate about being at events that I do and helping in that way as well. And. It was funny because you actually helped start another networking group too, in Emerson, and I like that group because it’s very small and intimate, and some of those groups can be more of what you need than some of the larger ones. And I really like. Plus, we’re at a really good place. Dogs, you can’t beat that food. So. But you had said something a few weeks ago that really sparked me, that talking about when people go into business, they don’t do a lot of research. They don’t know what they need. They don’t even know if you need a business license. And I was like, Oh, shoot, I don’t have a business license. But I was told a couple of years ago or a few years ago that if you ever worked out of your home, you didn’t need one. And so when I actually emailed my CPA and she’s told me that she’s like, Oh, no, you need one. So I got hit with some pretty heavy fines, but I got one now, so thank you for that. Um, but you have jumped into a new adventure with a buddy of ours, Jeff Stone. Share about that.
Eric Reagan: [00:58:12] Well, talking about the real estate business, I purchased some leads and, you know, and basically, everybody that we talk to that’s in business would love to have more business, love to have more leads, purchase some leads. I won’t say the name. They were awful. You’re fighting ten other agents, too, you know, and basically it was we want to take your money and we’re going to send you these leads and that’s you’re on your own. And so Jeff and I, Jeff is very passionate also about helping people. And we decided that, you know, I was trying to figure out a way I could get more leads for real estate. And we decided we did some research and came up with a place that actually gave I went through a coaching and some instruction as far as setting up leads and different ways to to provide people with leads for their business and getting reports weekly and being able to actually pimp as this working. No, that’s not working. Well, let’s change something, you know, and it’s you know, a lot of it’s through Facebook, social media, Facebook, Google, TikTok. We do billboards, TV. Now, when I say TV, it’s not like you know, TV that’s going to broadcast to hundreds of thousands.
Eric Reagan: [00:59:51] They actually have it now where you can target specific neighborhoods and demographics. So you’re not you’re not targeting people that you don’t need to target. So it’s a lot more economical for a business, too. And that’s another thing. We we come from a background of, you know, my business coaching and being able to actually find funding for businesses. A lot of small and medium businesses don’t have the ability unless they’re coming out of their own pocket to buy leads or to purchase new business. And that’s kind of kind of scary, actually, you know, when you’re thinking, you know, you need to market because you got to get get your name out there, the branding and and that kind of stuff. And so we started our our business lead lab magnet is the name of the business. And we’re just trying to we’re taking on a few businesses as case studies to, you know, not really make any money. We’re just going to do it at cost and just get in hopes that people will, you know, we’ll get them business and they’ll use us, you know, in the future.
Brian Pruett: [01:01:20] So we talked about Jeff. Jeff’s been on the show. And actually, Isaac, you met Jeff. Jeff is a former soccer player, played for the LA Aztecs. I had joked with him the other day when we talked about the Aztecs. I thought they were in Mexico. So super nice guy, though. So you guys combination is awesome. So another thing that I’ll just mention real quick is you also are, whether you know this or not, you’re a story of inspiration to people because you’re currently going through some things that are aren’t good, but you’re just kind of rolling through them and things and you’re and I just think it’s it’s great to see when somebody when there’s adversity. Because a lot of people will just say, oh, the heck with it and just give up. So I want you to know that you’re a story of inspiration for some folks. So, um. All right. So give some advice again on your end of starting a business. If somebody listening wants to start one.
Eric Reagan: [01:02:11] Um, have a vision. I, through my years of if you can write your vision, even a vision board and dream big, don’t you know don’t be afraid to dream. Um, but. Put it on a board and put that board up somewhere where you’re going to be able to look at it and see it and keep that vision and then set up tactics. That will help help you reach goals as you go. I’m a big proponent of a 12 week year. And basically, you know, people set goals. They do you know, the there now people are currently getting their goals ready for 2024 and January rolls around and you know you got the holidays. You’re coming off the holidays. It’s cold. Things are slow. And next thing you know, it’s June and you haven’t done any of your goals and you think, well, I’ve still got the end of the year. Well, if you think about a 12 week year, you have an ability to see what works, what’s working and what’s not, and then you can adjust for the next 12 weeks. So but a big thing of that is division and know have your vision of what you want to accomplish and what your your business is going to do. Whatever business that is, if it’s rescuing animals or, you know. Helping people with insurance, have a vision and stay focused on that vision.
Brian Pruett: [01:04:04] So we also talked about the networking piece that you actually helped start another networking group. Can you got a positive story you can share with the networking?
Eric Reagan: [01:04:11] Yeah, just getting to know people. We’re a community and, you know, you can know somebody or thank, you know, somebody, but when you really get to know them and talk with them and spend some time with them, then you really start finding out, you know, you you have the people that want to come in to a networking group and they want to get the business and they want to, you know, they just want to come in and get the business. Well, they see. For instance, my situation is real estate. Well, under the current situation, you know, you have a lot of mortgage lenders and real estate agents that are going to these networking groups and back to the collaboration over competition thing. Learn from other people who are in the business and you know. Be yourself, things that people might be doing. Might not work for you, but at least you know that that that’s out there. And that’s a a choice that you can make if you want to try and do it or not. But, you know. A pause. I think, you know, just getting to know you and being a part of your charity. You know, I think it’s great what you do. I fully support, you know, coming out and I want to be a sponsor with our new business for what you do. We’re just not there yet.
Brian Pruett: [01:05:47] Right. Well, so I’m going to give a shameless plug, even though it’s not really a shameless plug because I help. I like helping people myself. So and for those of you who don’t know, I do a monthly trivia and I rotate charities. So it’s 12 charities that just in trivia alone that’s helping this year, I’ve already got next year’s lined up and ten of the 12 charities are changing for the trivia. But Eric, you come every month. Just share a little bit about about, you know, because it’s different from somebody who comes versus me talking about it.
Eric Reagan: [01:06:12] Oh it’s it’s an awesome time. I mean it’s and it doesn’t take a lot of time. It’s not like it’s going to be 3 or 4 hours. You know, you go and the food is fantastic. It’s a buffet. And, you know, so you get plenty of food. All the food, pizza, wings. And they’re not just little dinky wings. These are big, you know, healthy wings. And it’s just fun having I mean, I’ve never won, you know, but I’ve never came in last either. Right.
Brian Pruett: [01:06:46] But there you.
Eric Reagan: [01:06:47] Go. It is fun. And you learn you know, you learn some interesting things.
Brian Pruett: [01:06:51] That’s what I tell people. Get ready for some useless knowledge.
Eric Reagan: [01:06:53] Yeah, it’s fun, though. It is a lot of fun. And it’s for a good cause. I mean, from, you know, the the Humane Society to the food pantry, you know, it’s it’s good stuff. I mean, that’s what we should all be doing. Like world would be a better place if more people had that. Vision of wanting to help and be community oriented and not. We’re all so focused on our phones and our own little world and we don’t want to interact. And so.
Brian Pruett: [01:07:25] Yeah, so that leads me to this month. If you guys like having fun, not that the other trivias aren’t fun because they’re just said they were, but this month we’re going a little more fun. October 18th is this month’s trivia. We’re helping the Red Door Food Pantry, which is the group in Cartersville who helps Bartow County feed the homeless and those in need. We are doing a Halloween themed trivia and a costume contest. So, Isaac, I expect to see your costume that night. So, um, but you can register, go to B’s. That’s B Apostrophe S Charitable Pursuits Facebook page because all the links on there as well. My website is B’s charitable. That’s B’s because Google and websites don’t like to be apostrophe, but you can see a calendar and all that as well. So all right. As we wrap this up, I like to do this. I like for you guys each to share a positive quote nugget word for those listening to finish the rest of today and the rest of 2023 and beyond with. So, Lori, what you got?
Lori Cover: [01:08:23] Well, I think the the quote that is stuck with me, I said it earlier, if your if your schedule is full but your soul is not, then you need to think about what you’re filling your schedule with and make sure that what you’re doing is filling your soul.
Brian Pruett: [01:08:47] Isaac.
Isaac Hall: [01:08:48] Oh, that was unexpected. I could give a thousand. I was thinking, though, he was. You were talking about him going through some stuff. This one scripture. But it’s just one thing where if you read over and over and over in the Bible, it says, and it came to pass, it never says it came to stay. And so I just thought about that. I don’t even know what you’re going through. But but I mentioned it earlier about being there when people are broken and they need something. So whatever it is, whether it’s business, it’s personal, it’s whatever, this too, shall pass. It came to pass. There you.
Brian Pruett: [01:09:18] Go. Eric, before you share yours, I forgot to ask you if somebody listening wants to get Ahold of your services and get a hold of you, how can they do that?
Eric Reagan: [01:09:25] Lead lab magnet.com email. Eric at lead Lab magnet.com. If you’re looking for real estate, it’s 20 to 1 on E 22. The letters I mean the numbers actually two two on E realty.com.
Brian Pruett: [01:09:46] All right. All right. Let’s now give us your wisdom.
Eric Reagan: [01:09:49] I would say. All right. I’m going to give two short ones. Okay. Uh, the Bible says, do not fear. 365 times. That’s one for each day. Don’t fear. Fear is a liar. The other one is. I think it was Zig Ziglar. If you if you help others succeed, you will be successful.
Speaker4: [01:10:20] Yes.
Brian Pruett: [01:10:21] All right. The other thing that I like to do is the thank you as a lost art these days. So, Laurie, thank you for what you’re doing for the pets now. And also being a fellow who day and, you know, not many of us down here. So Isaac, thanks for what you do for the folks on navigating the insurance because it is a weird all kinds of weird stuff going on with that and just being able to help people with that. And Eric, thank you for what you first of all, your service that you provided and now helping the people in their business and everything. Everybody out there listening. Remember, let’s be positive. Let’s be charitable.