198. Buying Back Our Time With Revamp Athens | The Moment You Knew Pt. 2

Melissa: Can we ask you something? When did you know you'd made it?

Corey: Not the version with the revenue screenshots, not the one people clap for on Instagram, but the real one.

Melissa: This summer, on the business reboot Podcast, we're asking entrepreneurs one question and letting their answers redefine what success actually looks like.

Corey: Because more often than not, it's not what you think.

Melissa: This is the moment you knew, and we have a feeling it might have you looking at success a little differently. Hello, my friend, and welcome back to another episode of the business reboot podcast. We are so excited because we are starting a new series. Uh, this is going to be for the summer, and it's going to be amazing. And we are calling it the moment you knew where we are going to interview entrepreneurs that we know and love and ask them when they knew they made it. Um, today we have some very, very special guests who are near and dear to our heart, and they are involved with us in every facet of life because they cannot escape seeing us in person because they live in my town. Um, please welcome Vanessa and Eduardo Serrano. They are the owners of Revamp Athens, and they have been like, friends, clients, like colleagues, all the things over all years. So, you guys, welcome. Welcome to our podcast. Hello.

Corey: Hello.

Eduardo Serrano: What a pleasure. What a pleasure.

Melissa: This is not the first time they've been here, so you're probably going to hear Eduardo and be like, wait a minute, we've heard him.

Corey: Please.

Melissa: Yes, yes. Okay, so tell us a little bit about your business and a little bit about where it's gone, um, from. From the time it started till now. And then. Then we're going to ask you the. The big question, but we want a little background story so that everybody can get to know you the way we know you.

Eduardo Serrano: All right, well, um, I'm Eduardo. I. I've been doing electrical work for 16 years. I, uh, started out in 2009, got my license about 10 years later in 2019, which is kind of crazy. Um, and then we did it, uh, essentially. Now, this is going to sound crazy, but it was because of Christ. I mean, I'm just reading my Bible, and he's like, hey, you need pay your taxes and stuff. And I'm like, what? But, you know, I could get it. I don't want to get in too deeply into that. But, uh, essentially, that's where it all started. So, um, I got my license, and then we got into just serving customers, customers, uh, that I had built over time. And Vanessa, uh, she was just watching me like a hawk, making sure. That the business itself did not corrupt me, uh, or my character. And essentially, you know, three years after 2019, which is at 2022, she hops on the revamp train and boy does she. She just blasts it off. I mean, I'm good with technical work, I'm good with customers. I am not good with numbers. She is fabulous at numbers. And essentially that's where we are now. We have, we've essentially grown our business and uh, serving a lot of customers now. Uh, Vanessa has as she's jumped on, she's simply put numbers in front of me so I can, you know, hit those targets. Um, and you know, we're, you're, you're. Vanessa, you're here, you're now, you know, part of the team officially for three years.

Vanessa Serrano: Yeah, we've been working together for the past three years. Um, every year that we work together, we've doubled our revenue. Work well together because you never know how people work together. And I've actually been able to fully leave. I'm a registered nurse at the hospital and I've been able to go from full time to part time to prn. And then last year we made the jump and I decided to leave my job completely to work with Eduardo and be home with, with the babies.

Melissa: I love that.

Corey: Gosh, what a success story, guys.

Vanessa Serrano: Roller coaster

Eduardo Serrano: this is, guys.

Corey: We have been on it with you, um, for the last several years and it has been such a gift and a joy to watch. Like to, to go back and think about our first meeting and then to, to watch then every iteration, um, and all the wins and successes and cheering you guys on along the way like it is, it has been such a joy and a gift. So we are, we are so proud to call you friends first, um, but also like Melissa said, to call you colleagues and to, to watch the business grow like it has grown and, and defining success. So Melissa, do you want. Because, because I hear all the success threads wrapped up and the description that the two of you just gave. So let's get into that.

Melissa: Okay, so we're going to ask you one question. Uh, and it's going to have a follow up question. So it's like a part A and part B. But, but the question is what is the moment? If you can pick one moment that you can think of, um, that you knew that you'd made it, that you knew that that's the thing, that's the definition of success for me. I have made it. When or how did you know that you'd made it?

Vanessa Serrano: It's so funny that you asked this question, because I do believe that moment was last month, actually. And I remember I went to a Korean bath house in Atlanta called Jeju, and I left early in the morning.

Melissa: My mom loves that place, by the way. He loves that place.

Vanessa Serrano: It is amazing. It's a naked bathhouse, by the way.

Melissa: I know. She's like, you don't got to wear no clothes or nothing. Yeah, but they get.

Vanessa Serrano: But I went to the. To Jeju in the morning. I dropped the kids off, and then I had our wonderful nanny Shannon, watching the kids, um, basically for the whole day. And I went and I sat in the saunas, and I got a massage, and I got a body scrub, um, and I had lunch there, and I just got to. To relax. I just got to relax without feeling guilty, without feeling bad. If you. You guys know this, but I grew up really poor. And when we started business and we started making money, I felt so much guilt buying things, buying nice things. Um, and so to be able to go, uh, last month and just relax and do something for myself after working really hard the past few months. We've had some really busy months, um, while my husband is working and somebody's taking care of our kids, and I get to do that. I mean, it really just felt so luxurious. Um, and it made me feel so special to think that we could build something that would allow me to have that type of time for myself.

Melissa: I love that. Edward, what about you? Do you have a different moment, or what's sending her to the spa also your definition of success? Which, by the way, I highly, uh, regard as. Yes, that's it. That's a moment.

Eduardo Serrano: Sometimes I hear her stories or I'll hear Vanessa talk, and I'm like, man, am I the man that's leading this. This family in this business? Uh, it's just sometimes I'm like, man, this is cool. But I think, yeah, for the moment, that's the question. It was, um, well, you know, it has to do with golf. I took up golf a year ago because Vanessa, uh, sent us. Sent, uh, me to go golf. And, uh, it was part of a nonprofit sponsor sponsorship for our local high, uh, school. And I think that that was. That was like a two. A two for one. Like, I go to this golf event, and I see all these guys there sponsoring the local high school, um, basically the high school kids to support their. Their sport. And I went to that high school. I went to Cedar Shoals High School here in Athens. So it was, like, the first time where I saw it come full circle where I'm now a contributor, uh, to the kids. I was once that kid, and it was just. It was mind blowing. What I didn't know that day is how much I would enjoy golf. Uh, I thought, like, just growing up, kind of like Vanessa, I. I didn't grow up super rich. I didn't grow up super poor. I mean, one day we were talking about it, and Vanessa says, yeah, I grew up poor than you, but I didn't look as poor as you did. Like, what in the world. Anyways, I'm not. I thought. I thought only rich people play golf. Well, that's not true. Uh, you can play golf, and it's not super expensive. But the. The. The key thing I took away there was, like, man, I get to go and enjoy, you know, nature, beautiful landscaping, and try to hit a white little ball in the way that I want, which doesn't really happen much. But I'm out there having a great time with people I love to hang out with. And last Friday or two Fridays ago, you know, like, Vanessa mentioned, for her, it was last month about the juu. I thought she was going to say it was last month because it was the very first month where we got really serious about hitting our numbers. And if we hit our numbers, then that's all we need to do. And if we go over, great, that's even better. Uh, but now we can free up some time. And I went to go play on this golf car course called Arrow Point Head, um, on the. On the lake, and it was just amazing, you know, and it's just like, man, is this. Is this for real? So I think that that was a big moment. Um, and just to be able to be good stewards, uh, that was just a big deal.

Melissa: Okay, so how has this version of success shifted since you first became entrepreneurs? That's the follow up. That's the part. B. Because, I mean, when. When we were working with you guys to begin with, there was a lot of just wanting to make ends meet, just wanting to connect. But now we're. We're beyond that. We're in the thriving stage. So how do you feel like your shift of what success looks like to, um, has changed? We remember years ago when, um, we were talking about, like, setting these parameters, setting these numbers that you're going to hit. Like, if you hit the numbers, what do you. Eduardo, what do you do when you hit the numbers and you still have days left in the month? What do we do? We bow back our time. Back our time. So how has how has your version or your idea of success for you guys individually shifted since you started this business?

Vanessa Serrano: We have so much more financial freedom and responsibility because when we meet the numbers and then there's more, which as a business we should be profiting, um, well, now we have gotten to the place where we're profiting. So we looked at each other and we said, well, what do we do now with this? You know, there's so much responsibility that we have with it, but also remembering that we, the business is for us. Like, the business is meant to serve us and our family. And if we can buy back an afternoon to take the kids out, if we can buy back that type of time with our family, then we want to do that. And we want to enjoy that type of freedom and also be able to use, um, our business for other people, for the community. Like right now we have a high school intern with us that we're able to take on and work with. We have just different. Let me see, how do I say this? Just, um, different things that we're able to do now. Whereas before it was just hustle, hustle, hustle. Let's just try to get the numbers. And now we're entering into a place where we have more room to breathe and to come up with fun ideas and things and places we can go with the business.

Melissa: I love that.

Eduardo Serrano: Yeah.

Melissa: Corey, will you mention the thing that you like, had said, said with Chad about scaling? Like, you'll get to a place. Something about you'll get to a place where you won't personally make more money. But anyway, you explain that.

Corey: Well, Chad and I were talking. Chad, for those of you who are new here, um, is our cpa and um, I was talking to him when I had my text meeting and he's.

Vanessa Serrano: He.

Corey: We were talking about like the growth of the business reboot and where it was, where it currently is and what he always is asking us, like, what's next? And so, you know, we always ask our clients that too. And so we were talking about it and he was like, here's what I'm going to tell you, is that you guys just looking at numbers, you are at a place where you are good. Like, you're, you're really good. You're really, really good. Um, and I'm really like, proud of you. Friend to friend, really proud of you. He was like, but if you look to grow, like, uh, like there are, there are points of the business to where you are growing and you have extra money, there's profitability there, and you can do all kinds of really amazing things. And he was like, the next push to the next level is going to require more money from you, but it doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to make more money in your paycheck because in order to get to that next jump, and he's, again, it's a big jump because of where you guys currently are. You grew really, really, um, fast and exponentially. He was like, but to go to that next level, um, is going to require some financial backing. And he said, so you definitely can. But just know that in doing that, the sacrifice is your paycheck because the, um, business will need the money in order to grow. And I was like, okay, okay. He was like, so you really have two options. Get on board and push the, the time and the money behind it to get to that next level. But also I want to, I want to challenge you guys. Why? If you're really happy with where your paychecks are now, why would, why do, do you want and need to do that? Because sometimes it's a vanity metric. Sometimes it's just like we got to this X amount and like we got to seven figures. Okay, great. But, but what did that actually look for you, look like for you personally for time investment and financial investment? And I was like, okay, you're blowing my mind right now. Because part of me goes, you know

Vanessa Serrano: what, I think we're probably good.

Corey: I said, you know, there's another half of me has a say in this conversation. But it was, it was really eye opening to hear him say that. He's like, because I'm looking at it just purely by the numbers. And so we have really started looking at that and going, is, is it worth the jump to try to chase the next thing that everybody tells us is the right thing to check to chase? Because. And what love and I want all of our listeners to, to hear what Vanessa and Eduardo said was that when we asked them, what, when do you know that you made it? It was not a number. It wasn't a number. And I think that online, you know, in the business world, it's always a number, six figures. And then it's. Once you hit six figures, well, now it's seven figures. It's like once you're cha. You're that dog chasing at the, at the track, like you, you've, you've gotten, you're chasing this specific metric or number or goal, and then you're. Then it's onto the next one. You're not even enjoying the fruits of your Labor. And what I am really proud of, and I know Mel, too, because we talked about this, is that you guys are enjoying the fruits of your labor along with continuing to grow and to look at what's next. And what do we do now with this profit margin? Um, how do we reinvest it in buying back time for us and our family, which it sounds like you're doing. Also, there may be a time when it's time to reinvest some of that profit margin back into the business to do something, Go. Go to that next level to do something else. And so that's.

Vanessa Serrano: I would.

Corey: I would like to hear your take on that.

Eduardo Serrano: Well, I mean, when it comes down to the. Right now, what we're seeing is we really need to build, uh, some stability with, uh, just emergency funds. Uh, so that's what we're gonna do right now. Um, and it really is for just prudent motives, you know, just being ready for a, uh, storm and, um, just continuing to, I mean, keep the character. You know, uh, one of my favorite sayings is, don't let your talent take you where your character can't keep you. You know, like, for. For me, what success was is still essentially the same. Like, I. When I started serving customers out of the business, I'd always. I mean, I'd always just pray and just simply say, you know, is this the right price to charge? Um, and you go through different, uh, learning lessons on what value is and how you can add value and where that price point is. But now what has shifted is how do I treat others as I want to be treated from a employee standpoint, from a secretary standpoint. Am I being clear with my communication? Um, am I being good with getting on to folks when they're not doing the right thing? Because essentially that's what they need. They need. Correction, um, happened this morning. And it's something that I want to continue to do. So success has shifted to, hey, how do I treat people the way I want to be treated and still do? Well, in terms of not being too extreme with it in certain areas. And I just. I mean, I'm. I'm just. I'm excited, you know, I'm excited because a lot of this stuff, you know, is. Is like you said, Corey, you can get caught up in what. What, you know, business. Uh, um, communities say, hey, you want to chase the seven figures and this and that. Well, if you chase the seven figures, at what cost? Yeah. And, like, out. What I want is a successful business. Yes. But what I want more is a Wife that loves me, and I love her. And the children, they love me, and they don't see the business as a. As a culprit to our relationship, as a. As a thief to our. Our time together.

Vanessa Serrano: Yes.

Eduardo Serrano: And there's balance to that, too. But the character is always. Is always right in my face. You know, it's like, what you doing, man? How you doing? You know? And I'm like, I'm trying, man. I'm trying, man. Get up off you.

Vanessa Serrano: We started the business in 2019, and our first son was born. Our son was born in 2020. We've had three children in four years while building, uh, a successful business, and I am still madly in love with you. I mean, that alone is probably.

Eduardo Serrano: That's right there, y'.

Corey: All.

Melissa: Check the box. I love that. I love it. Well, this is so fun. Thank you guys so much. Look, we hope that everybody that hears this episode, um, is able to look back at the work that they do and say, um, I don't want to do things that cost me my character. And also, I want to count success on the things that are important and valuable to me. Do not believe the lies of the Internet. It is smoke and mirrors that you have to have your name in lights. And everybody's got to know who you are and what you do in order for you to have enough clients to. To be sustained. And the truth is, is they don't. Like, you need the people that are meant for you. You need to be able to pursue the job, uh, in a way that you love, and you need to be able to, um, enjoy the life that you're working so hard for. Because if not, like, what is the whole point? I mean, if you can't run into your friend at the Taco bell sometimes at 9pm for white people Taco night, like I said, have a screenshot of, um, his car in front of me, and I was like, a. White people Taco night ain't so bad tonight, is it?

Eduardo Serrano: Mexican descent, okay? And all my ancestors, they are not happy with me, y'. All. The truth will be revealed.

Corey: You were in the Taco Bell line. That's the truth. That is right.

Vanessa Serrano: Awesome.

Melissa: Well, thank you guys so much for joining us. Look, we have got an entire summer full of episodes just like this one, where we're going to be asking entrepreneurs all over the place, when is the moment that you knew? When. When did you know you'd made it? We love this success story, and if you want to follow along, we wish that you would, you can leave us a review by listening to our podcast on any platform that's available. You can contact us on Instagram. Just drop a Note in our DMS at Business reboot or, uh, visit our website@thebusinessreboot.com we will see you next week for another episode of the Business Reboot Podcast.