The Hero Effect

WEBVTT - The Hero Effect Ruby. The views, information, and opinions expressed during this podcast are solely those of the individuals involved and do not represent those of Into It QuickBooks or any of its cornerstone brands or employees. This podcast does not constitute financial, legal, or other professional advice or services. No assurance is given that the information is comprehensive, accurate, or free of errors, and the information presented is for information purposes only.

Into It QuickBooks does not have any responsibility for updating or revising any information presented. Listeners should verify statements before relying on them. Hey, everyone, Welcome back to another episode of Mine the Business, Small business success stories brought to you by Intuit QuickBooks and Ruby's Studio from iHeartMedia. I'm Jennie Torres, author of financially Lit, the Modern Latina's guide to level up your denetto and become financially Poderosa, and I'm also the host of the award winning podcast Yokio din Nero.

And I'm Austin Hankwitz, host of the Rich Habits podcast, co founder of Wits Ventures, and maker of many a TikTok videos about personal finance and investing. Super excited to be here for another great episode. So denis what are we talking about today? So we are talking about heroes, and I don't mean the kind that you find in comic books or big budget movies or web slinging through the New York City skyline.

I'm talking about the small business owners who become pillars in their community. Leadership at a local level is so important, and it just kind of makes sense that business owners who've invested their time and money establishing themselves as a part of a neighborhood would actually become emotionally invested on how well that neighborhood thrives, even beyond the walls of their own shop. Absolutely, that is why you see it everywhere in big cities or small towns. The backbone of karmerce are the local small businesses, right.

We are such an important part of our community. And when I branched out into my business, I was doing it to empower myself and take control of my life, of course, but I've also been doing it to empower my community, and I've used my services to help people in their journeys. Did you know that? According to a twenty twenty four Quick Books blog entry about small business and community, small businesses make up approximately ninety percent of all businesses worldwide, and seventy three percent of small business owners say that their community supports them.

That just warms my heart, jenis it's an amazing thing to be able to help other people even as you help yourself. You know, so as much good as we want to do a small business owners, the reality of things too is that things are getting more difficult and a November twenty twenty five quarterly survey of small business owners in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia found that more than half of small business owners say that rising costs is the single greatest challenge that they face.

And I think that really just speaks to the fact that community is more important than ever for small business owners and we really have to look to each other for support because I don't think it's going to get any easier. You know, I'm right there with you. I think there's nothing more important out there than going and if it's driving to your downtown, your local you know, community area, if it's a park, if it's whatever, find that small business owner, use that local barber, go buy from that baker, go to that restaurant.

Absolutely, you too can be a hero and Since we're talking about heroes in the community, we've got a whole community of heroes right here on the show. Okay, we don't have just one, not even two, but three business founders and all of our guests have been awarded by the into It QuickBooks and Mailchimp Small Business Hero program, which recognizes three small businesses doing big things in their community with twenty thousand dollars in grant funding and additional business resources to help them thrive.

Each quarter, QuickBooks. And Mailchimp select three small businesses to recognize for the positive impact that they've had in their communities from nominations that are submitted by the public. So if you know a small business that's doing big things in your community, that means you can nominate them to win a grant through the program too. You can go into it dot com slash Hero program to find out more.

And these three winners are truly incredible people. First off, from North Carolina, we've got Clark Merrill, who runs his restaurant, Dank Burrito. Clark's personal matra is work hard, take care of your community, and have fun doing it, and he's certainly lived up to it. From providing food and shelter in the wake of a hurricane, to giving discounts to Coast Guard members during a shutdown that affected their pay.

Clerk has shared his success with the community around him, and. We love to see it. Next up, We've got the Baby Pantry. It's a nonprofit founded by Colory Campbell that provides free baby supplies, postpartum care items, and essential gear to low income families in and around the Atlanta area.

The Baby Pantry operates with care and compassion and without red tape or judgment. And last, but certainly not least, We've got Victoria Chantell, who founded the Botanical Bar in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her business is far more than just a plant shop, it's a community hub. In addition to selling her own plants, arrangements, and other gardening items, Victoria also hosts and supports other small business owners.

She also hosts other year round workshops for the other plant enthusiasts out there, and she makes these workshops free for local youth. Victoria excels at running her own business while helping neighboring ones and investing in the community's future generations. What a fantastic trio of human beings to have here. On the show today.

Let's welcome them all, Clark, Chlory, and Victoria. Welcome to Mine the Business. Hi, Hi, Hi, All right, y'all. So, since we have the three of you here, this is a very very special episode about a special topic.

And first I want to talk about why small businesses matter to people. So, Clark, how about you kick us off with your thoughts. Yeah, So I think small business and small communities they matter. Often people talk about small business being the backbone of America, and you know, as an entrepreneur, it's wanting to take these ideas and just kind of flush them out and just share them with the communities.

And it's just really cool to be poor to something. It's really cool to seed something and watch it grow. How about you, Chlory, when you think about small business, what do you think is unique about the experience. It definitely helps our ecosystem with creating local jobs.

Also, you have those businesses that are involved with community. I know, like with being a nonprofit, we benefit a lot from small businesses to help our nonprofit and then of course help us to give back to the community. What about you, Victoria, what are your thoughts? I would say that small businesses are important because it helps drive innovation, create jobs, help us with competition.

And I think that small businesses are the ones who really give back to the community which they operate, and so I think is really really valuable. I think, as Clark said before, like we are the backbone of America, and so we are the ones that are always driving new ideas, new products, and we're the ones that's giving back to the community. So I think that that's why we're very important. I totally agree with you, and I think at the small business level, you still have a connection with your community where you can really like experience the impact of the work that you do.

Right, You're not so far removed that you don't see the day to day impact of what you've built. Well, what's cool too, is that you can do things on a store level. You don't have to get permission from corporate or somebody higher up, right, like if you want to sponsor a Little League team or donate or have a toy drive or you know, we can just act as humans and kind of meet the needs in our community where they need to be met. Yeah.

I like to think that there's a little bit of a rebel streak in all of us that decide to do this. You know, you just maybe don't want to follow all the rules. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I think what's so exciting about being a small business owner is having the autonomy to make these decisions and how we plan to show up in our own communities.

All three of you have pretty heavy ties within your respective communities and the surrounding areas. So can you talk about what that dynamic begins to shape up like? For you, did your love of the community inspire you to create a business that gives back to it? Or did the business come first and then you fell in love with the community.

Victoria, Maybe we'll start off with you. Yeah. So I'm born and raised here in Indianapolis. I own the Botanical Bar.

We are a retail store, a plan shop, a shop, flower shop, and also we consider ourselves a third space. And I'll live downtown India. I'm very active in downtown. I go to local restaurants, I support local farmers' markets, I support other local cafe So our really was just adding to what was already here and what the community needed.

I was already very active, and then I built this idea that made me more in love with the community in actually provided another space for the community to be able to come and gather. So there's not a lot of black owned businesses downtown ending at all, and so I'm one of I think three, and so we consider ourselves very special in the space a space for people of color to come and not just buy a plant, but like we have events, workshops, we have a we have free events all the time.

You've celebrated our three year anniversary in our brick and mortar, but community is at the heart of literally everything we do. Congratulations on that anniversary again, clerk, what's your perspective. Did the love of the community come first and then you add the business on top? Or were you just all in on burritos and you said, you know what, my community ain't that bad too?

Yeah, good question. So it's one of those things we're growing up in the community. It wasn't like business first or community first. But you know, when you start seeing need when you're when you're operating your business and somebody says, hey, like will you donate a gift certificate of the hospital house?

Hey will you sponsor this? And you just start really, you know, realizing what the need is and you know as a small business owner, like, we can't fix everybody's problem, so we really got to kind of figure out like what a special to us and what impact we can make and how we want to make it, and that is that's pretty cool, right, So like everybody kind of has around little specialty. But I think for me personally, like being from this area which isn't a huge market, and being a business owner and business leader, like a lot of times that stuff just comes to me and the help and the need and then you know, we.

Just we put it out there. Chlorie over to you. Now, when it comes to your specific situation with the baby Pantry, was it more of your desire to you know, hey, I'm in love with this community, I need to fill this demand or were you all about sort of your nonprofit with the baby project? And then it fit well into the community.

So it's definitely a community first. When I very first started, well before I started the nonprofit, I served in our outreach department at my church, and so we clothe the community and fit the community, and I just kind of fell in love with it. It was around that time where there was a young mom that was reaching out on social media that needed some support. She didn't really have friends or family, and her baby came early and she just needed the help.

And I just thought that it was a needing the community as a way for me to give back. So with the baby Pantry, we kind of work on a dicty first model, so there's no barrier in place, and so families are able to come to the baby Pantry without shame, without being judged, and they're able to get the central supplies that they need. And so I think that when we were helping families, of course, were strengthening the community. You certainly are, okay, So we have discussed why people care about small businesses and the relationship that you guys have as founders with your community.

All right, Victoria, let's talk about third spaces right. First off, for those who don't know what a third space is or what it represents to folks, can you talk to us about the value of what that place represents when we think about the ability to hang out in a place that's not or home. Yeah, so typically yeah, like you said, a third space is typically someplace that's outside of your work or your house. So when I created the Botanical Bar, I always created events in the city so I was already very well known working with nonprofits and doing big events.

I worked in sports, I worked in food, So I've always had that connection to the community that I always was the girl that loved to do events. So like when I opened the store, events was going to be a big part of it in creating the space. So when you come into the shop, which I'm here right now, we have couches, we have chairs. Even though it is a plan shop, like, people come in here and they read you can buy a plant, you can buy like a little beverage, and you can sit inside, you can sit outside.

I think it's really important that it doesn't always have to be very transactional. When third spaces, I think a lot of times people think of cafes, which obviously you can't just go in a cafe and hang out for eight hours, at least you shouldn't without buying something. But that is my third space and digital spaces cannot replicate that. And so no matter what you do online does not replace you know, physical in person connection with people.

And so that is something that we really build our community on. And when you look at our workshops and when you look at our events, that's probably the most diversity you'll ever see. That is really important when we think about a third space, and so as we expand, that is something we can continue to consider, creating these story spaces where people feel seen and welcome. I love that.

You know you sign up to become a community builder when you started a business. Maybe you didn't even realize it. Yes, now small businesses show up for their community in a bunch of different ways, kind of on a spectrum. Right in times of crisis if it is, you know, some sort of natural disaster, but then also day to day right with everyone's got their own challenges.

We're all living our own lives here, and you know, being that integral part of a community is just so important. So Clark, want to kick this discussion off with you. If I'm not mistaken here, Dank Burrito did a pretty good job of feeding a couple thousand folks after some hurricanes. When Hurricane Florence came through, I think it was September of eighteen and we weren't really expecting it.

A lot of roofs got destroyed and all of that, so we were going to evacuate south and then we realized that they had a higher potential to come in south, so we wanted to go north. Well I don't know how or why, but my wife booked us an airbnb up on the water, just four hours north. So we load the kids up. And we have family and we go up there and the storm starts to hit and it's really close to our area.

Everyone loses power, you know, the storm wasn't even fully over. Power was out all of the things. And I had some phone calls from some pretty key people, just prominent community people, and they wanted to know when I was coming back that we had. Some people to feed.

And that's kind of again going back to the service heart of like, look like we'll figure it out, right Like, So my wife and the kids stayed up and I came back with one of my managers and we just kind of set up a camp at the dank breedy of parking lot. So what we ended up doing was pay what you can because I had a bunch of employees that I was asking to work that we're now out of work because we'd not power. So we set up the day burrito truck, I set up some smokers, we set up the hot dog cart, and it looked like a big like food truck radio kind of carnival circus going on, and we were really the only like game in town that was able to feed anybody.

So, uh, that was that was Hurricane Florence. And so then the following year, Hurricane Dorian hit Ochre Cook, which is the next island up from us, and same thing. It really like ravaged that little town, and it was the same thing. It was like, let's let's see what we can do, and we, uh, we took our truck, we caravaned over and it was really crazy and you know, the first hot meal in a couple of days, Like you just the amount of joy that just like a hot meal brings to somebody when they haven't eaten anything in a couple of days, you just can't even really, it's just so it's so cool.

And on that trip, everybody I brought was like volunteers, and they I put a volunteer kind of request out on Facebook and I just had so many people reach out, and man, it was just like a really cool feel and just just the people that receive that, they're just so thankful and to be able to like provide that opportunity. It's not to fulfill my own ego. It's just like it's what I would want somebody to do for me. Absolutely well, that's what we're trying to do here as small business owners, right is treat other people how we want to be treated.

And you know, Chlorya, I want to I want to toss us over to you too, because I think you do such a good job of this right, which is like being so non judgmental and being able to cut through the red tape. Talk a little bit more about how the Baby Pantry is meeting people where they are in your community. So we meet a lot of families where they are and a lot of them come in from just all different walks of life. You have some that are transitioning from homelessness, you have some that are still homeless that are you know, at shelters.

We also work on lock with the hospitals here in Atlanta, and one of the specific hospitals that we work with is Grady and so we work with a lot of the moms after their discharge from the hospital. But a lot of those moms at. Their they have their babies, they don't have car seats to come home, so we allow them to come in to get car seats to get their babies home, and so you know, we're meeting families where they are. We do have appointments for families just to kind of depending on what program they need, but we just kind of listen, we assess their needs, what their needs are, and then we would try to make sure that we're able to fulfill those needs.

You do have families that are in shelters that may not have a place for their babies to sleep, that may come in to get a crib, and then we also allow them to you know, get the baby food, the formula. Some of them just cannot afford to get a pack of diapers, they may have lost their jobs, and so just you know a lot of different stories as to a variety of backgrounds that we kind of see at the Baby Pantry, and so we just want to help to continue to feel those needs and continue to make greater impact here in Atlanta.

I think what's so cool about what you just laid out about the baby Pantry here is you're not over here like what happened here? What's going on. It's like, listen, this baby needs food, this baby needs diapers, this baby needs place to sleep, and we're going to provide that, so I appreciate that walkthrough. Finally, to you here, Victoria, I.

Would say the potentical bar is meeting people where there are by providing the products that are helpful for their lifestyle. I think one of the things that we do here we do a lot of free workshops as well. We partramed a lot of corporations to do workshops for young kids, and we do some for seniors as well. So giving back to seniors is one of the areas that I'm really passionate about.

I was really close to my grandmother before she passed away, and so I always want to be able to give back in her spirit. And so when you look at seniors, they often don't have access to green spaces and things like that, and so they have limited activity. So we just think that providing these workshops is a really great tool to be able to put their hands in nature. A lot of them probably are more experienced in that than me, but it's always good to be able to give back and give them an activity that will help with mental health and also just provide a little bit of greenery in their space.

And we also focus with kids as well, so letting them know how plants and nature can help with mental health, how one little plant can be the gateway for that and reducing stress. And so those are just some of the areas that we focus on as far as giving back, and for this year too in particular, that we really wanted to support more people. So we're raising money and collecting donations for a local pantry here as well, and partnering with other plant shops in the city to be able to give back and reference to so they get a discount of people come in, they bring in donations and we'll give them a discount.

But we try to meet community needs as much as possible. Obviously it's a small business. It's not attainable to do everything, but we try to show where we can and support other nonprofits or other small businesses. There's a lot of other small businesses that open that reach out to us and say, hey, you mind donating something for our grant opening things like that.

So we always try to meet people in that sense where they are, if it's a small business, if it's a community member, things like that. So those are just some of the areas that are important to us as a brand, and so I think meeting people where they are can be relevant depend on what the community need is, but as right now, there's a lot of needs. So we're trying to think about as a brand moving forward, how we can be able to meet needs of the community while also trying to be a sustainable business as well.

That is absolutely incredible, and I just get so excited talking to people like you all who have built these relationships with your community during times of crisis like with Clerk, and then during times of day to day like with obviously Victoria and Chlory here, and so just being able to listen about these examples I think is it's just so inspiring and I commend you all so much, Thank you. Thank you. All Right, so obviously you guys aren't here for no reason. You are actually all grant winners from the into It, QuickBooks and Mailchimp Small Business Hero program, and so I would love to talk about what the impact of that recognition has had on your business and how you are investing the funds, And I'll start off with you Victoria.

Yeah, So first, I was so excited to be able to get recognized by quick Books, a tool that I actually used all the time. So I say that how we're going to invest in funds is really just trying to keep the business sustainable and healthy over time and scale and grow. Our goal was to be able to open up other shops in other cities and then also expand into a cafe and wine bar. That's why it's called the Botanical Bar, because our concept was always for it to be a wine bar and a cafe, creating another third space for us.

And so those funds will help us be able to be a little bit more sustainable versus just living in survival mode as a small business, especially right now and this economy is insane, but right now we're going to you know, invest it in our business, new products, and really just think about how we're going to be able to scale. But over the recognition has been amazing to be able to be supported by such a big brand like quick Books for small businesses. Twenty thousand dollars is a lot of money for a small business, especially at this time.

QuickBooks was also in town with their AI tours. Recently they recognized me there and bought products. So it just continues to be a blessing. And so that has been so amazing for us at the Botanical Bar because it's just validation for me knowing that I'm on the right path and I'm doing the things that I'm supposed to be doing that someone else outside of myself is being recognized, and so this is just one of those moments that I'm truly grateful for.

That's fantastic. I love to hear that, Chlory. I'm sure twenty thousand dollars can buy a lot of diapers, right. Yeah.

What's the impact of being a grant warner been on your business and how are you investing the funds? Well, first, I'm just super grateful to be recognized by into it. It's definitely been helpful at a time kind of like during a transition. But the funds are definitely going towards our operation and it's also helping us to build more sustainability.

We are launching a new initiative to expand diaper access and so that's going to be through our diaper hub programs, and so we want to have create diaper hubs, and so the funds will be used to help us to be able to do that. We've kind of already. We have a new pilot program with a local YMCA community center here in Atlanta, and they were very excited about it, and so the funds are being used to help us to do that. Yep, that's fantastic.

Thank you. How about you, Clark, what is the grant money going to be used for and how's that recognition impacted your business? Yeah, the recognition has been great, you know, just just like the other two years. I was really shocked to kind of speak of the funds.

You know, I think we're going to be. Using that to relaunch one of our Dank Burrito and just kind of provide opportunities for employment for some of the folks that had that kind of taken away. We had a situation where we had to modify one of our stores, but it's going to enable us to get that store kind of back up and roll and then just bring the teams back together and continue to employ and operate and run our small business. So we're very thankful for that.

Yeah. I love that, you know, and I think it's a good reminder that there are resources out there for small businesses. Right. A lot of the times, I think folks have the same mindset where it's like, well, nobody's ever going to pick me for this, or what's the point when there's like you know, hedge funds and all this stuff investing in billion dollar companies, and you know, I think the impact of these types of programs can be really, really life changing.

And so congratulations to all three of you. You're doing incredible work, and obviously it is being recognized. Thank you, thank you. Thank you guys so much.

For sure. Well, as we wrap up the interview, I would love to get a closing statement from each of you in a response to the question what does community mean to you? Victoria, I'll let you kick us off. Community means to me belonging a place where you feel seen, heard, safe, I'm supported.

But also I think community also means share responsibility, Like it's not just take take take. As a business owner, I also give, also show up for other business owners. I also support other business owners. I don't just expect everyone just to come and support my business.

I think it's a share responsibility for all of us to support each other and to support small businesses, because if you don't, you will not see them. And so I think it's really important that it's not just one issue, it's a community issue, and so I think all of us have to take part in that and participate in community, but overall, community means belonging. What a powerful answer. What about you, Chlory?

So, I think that community is kind of you know, creating safe, nurturing spaces and it's just you know, coming together to help one another, you know, with the baby pantry, it's kind of like what we have like our own community where a lot of the moms they're connecting with one another and also share resources with one another. So I think that that's what creates community. How about you, Clark, Well, yeah, so what does community mean to me? Like?

Community is very dynamic, but I do think that community has a heartbeat and I feel like community you have to participate and there are so many people that are part of what they think is a community, but they always want to take. And I think that it's important to give more than you take and to just really kind of be present and we all have our unique skills and our own unique abilities and how can you like serve other people. That's community to me. I love that, Clerk.

Absolutely incredible answers from all three of you. I am I'm so inspired after talking to you while you are actually incredible just you know, key stakeholders in your own communities, and I really commend you all for being that to your community. Chlory, Clark, Victoria, thank you all so much for joining us on this episode of Mind the Business, Small Business Success Stories. Thanks for having us.

Yeah, thank you for having us. Thank you. I don't know about Eugenie, but I could absolutely smash a burrito right now. Oh my gosh.

Absolutely. And you know, not to mention the fact that I think this was just such a powerful reminder of the power of community, right and just like how you identifying that there's no burrito spots in your neighborhood, or there's a lack of resources for new moms, or there's not somewhere that folks can go and hang out without having the pressure to like buy something. I mean, this is the core of entrepreneurship. It's identifying a problem and solving it for people.

It's incredible. It is absolutely incredible. One dred percent agree with you. You know, we ended the conversation with that final question of what does community mean to you?

Victoria, Chlory and Clark did such a wonderful job answering it, But I'm curious, in your own words, genius, what does community mean to you? You know, I have really felt the impact of my community when I've hosted live events, And there is a word that comes up often when folks speak to me about the power of the community that I've built, and it's representation. So I've heard so many folks say, you know, I didn't know that, as a first generation Latina that I could invest or start a business or be the change maker that my family didn't even know that they needed.

And so for me knowing that just me showing up here on the internet and telling people about money has like changed their lives, I mean, I don't think I'll ever get used to it. I love that answer, genius. I think that is an incredible perspective. And I need to come to one of these live events.

Where's my own fight? Oh absolutely, We're planning one for twenty twenty six, So join the newsletter. I will say, you know, what does community mean to me? After thinking about it for a second, I think community means free information and no gatekeeping, right, And that can be across any anything you think of here.

But I mean, if it means having a wonderful conversation at the Botanical Bar, if it means having a you know, encouraged conversation over burrito. If it means sharing your perspective with a newborn child with someone else at the baby pantry, it's just no gatekeeping collaboration. You know, information is free type mentality, and the more we know as a collective, the more information, the more data, the more experience we can share with those around us as a collective, the better off we'll all be.

And I think the Internet, this podcast and everything has done such an incredible job of helping disseminate information so quickly, and I just think the freedom of information is what community means to me. Yeah, you know, Austin, We're very lucky to have these jobs, you know, But sometimes I think there just are not enough minutes in the episode to really describe how inspiring our guests are. I know exactly what you mean. Now, for more information on our guests today, you can follow their social media and for anyone who wants to nominate a business for the into It QuickBooks and Mailchip Small Business Hero Program, they can visit into it dot com Slash Hero Program.

Good luck to all. Of our current and future Hero grant winners out there. And speaking of heroes, what do you think about giving our listeners some heroic. Homework of their own.

Let's do it. Okay, So, in the next couple weeks, challenge yourselves to survey your neighbors and customers to get a feel for what people think of your own business. And be sure to check out those Yelp reviews and local social media pages to see what the cultural footprint of your business really looks like. Identify areas you can impact locally and run the numbers on pros and cons.

For example, would funding a little league team be worth the advertising opportunities? Try to find at least three examples of this, and if one or more are doable, then go for it. Next, find a local cause for celebration and champion it. Maybe decorate your store in the local sports team's colors, whether it's a pro team, minor league, or a little league team that's local to you.

Or maybe it means congratulating the local school's graduating class with a sale or a discount. Or maybe embrace a local cultural icon like a mascot. I mean, yeah, we have flamingos I think here in Tampa that's kind of the local mascot. Also, get to know your customers if you haven't yet tried to memorize names of loyal customers.

Try to do that and get to know their interest in families because when customers feel welcome, they tend to spend more money. So everybody wins, everybody wins. That was mentioned in the episode. We're going to emphasize it here.

Everybody wins as the best way to run your business. Well, and everybody actually won on this show, right because they're grant winners, So I love that for them. And again, make sure that you check out this awesome opportunity to potentially get funding for your business. That's right into It dot com slash hero program.

Well that's it for today's episode. You can find me on social media at Jochierrodinto podcast. And you can find me at Austin Hankwitz. You can follow Into It QuickBooks on all social media at QuickBooks.

To get the tools you need to start, run and grow your business, head to QuickBooks dot com slash mtb today. Don't forget to follow this show wherever you listen to podcasts so you can stay up to date on future episodes. We also want to hear from you, so be sure to leave us a rating and a review. See you next time.

This podcast is a production of iHeartRadio's Ruby Studio in Into It QuickBooks. Our executive producers are James Foster and Ryan Martz. Our supervising producer Meredith Barnes. Our writer is Eric Leeja, and our mixing engineer is Eric Zeiler.