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- [00:00]
A
I was having these opportunities come my way and I was initially saying no because the question I would ask myself was, how am I going to do it? I didn't even know how to bake. So I was like, you should move here. You should start the company. I was just like, teach me how to help you. I really am grateful that I did it in this risk mitigated way because I kept my day job to fund it. Right. You know, like starting a business in the beginning, especially like so hard it needs cash.
- [00:42]
B
Welcome back to the BILF pod, where authenticity trumps authority. If you haven't already or you don't know, my name is Mara Doran and I am the host of the Bill Pod. So please take a moment to like subscribe, tell a friend, you know what to do. But today's guest, she is absolutely no stranger to hard work. She really is a bill. Like a true bill. She has a degree in law, went to the University of Miami, runs four successful businesses. I mean, today I am so excited because first of all, I have another baddie sitting next to me. So I'm always excited when I have like a really extremely successful woman. So welcome to the show, Ms. Lisa Sutton Gunderson.
- [01:22]
A
Thank you.
- [01:23]
B
Happy to have you here. I'm on location here in Las Vegas, so welcome to vilf.
- [01:27]
A
Thank you so much. And welcome to Vegas.
- [01:29]
B
Yes. Oh, my God, it's so cold here. I don't know what's going on. It's not like sunny Florida.
- [01:33]
A
I know it is chilly. But it'll warm up soon. Probably like February. Oh, February.
- [01:38]
B
Okay. So I'm not going to come back till February. Well, you know, I was talking to you before, like we were talking previous and our backgrounds are very parallel, so. Except you actually pursued a law degree. So you have a law degree. You practice law. But what I'm really interested in is how does one who has a very successful law career going on. I know you're practicing here during the 2010, which was great. And then you go and you own. Now I just want to talk about your businesses. You had Sin City cupcakes. So liquor infused cupcakes, which sounds amazing. Like, who doesn't want a liquor infused. Who does not want one of those ship Las Vegas as well as Liquid and Lace, which sounds like really cool. I love that. And then elite homes. And then we'll talk about your general partner of the the Veteran Fund, which I'm really excited to talk about and know more about. So let's start first from the beginning. So lawyer. Okay. You Come here to Vegas. You're practicing. And then how does one say, all right, I'm not doing this. I'm going to just become an entrepreneur.
- [02:37]
A
It was complete happenstance. So I was working my big girl job at the firm and was catching up with a girlfriend of mine, Danielle, who's actually from Miami. And we were just chatting. He like, hey, girl, what have you been up to? And she told me she had been making these alcohol cupcakes. And I'm like, that's genius. And also, by the way, like, that would crush in Vegas. You should move to Vegas. So I just. I was just so excited about it, and I was like, you should move to Vegas. I just bought my house in Summerlin. Like, move in with me. Like, you should just come here, and I'll help you start the company. And these are the things you do in your 20s, right? And so she moves across the country from Miami to Vegas. And that was in end of 2011. So we started the company in 2012.
- [03:20]
B
But did you have business, like, entrepreneurial experience prior or. This was like, hey, because here's one thing that I find, especially with women, is that a lot of women get ready to get ready, but they don't execute. So it takes a lot to finally just say, all right. Because you kind of transitioned out of your tradition. Traditional, like nine to five. So how did. With no. No business experience, no entrepreneurial skills, how did you just even have that confidence to even do that?
- [03:47]
A
Well, I didn't do it cold turkey, right? So there wasn't this, like, oh, I hate my job, and I want to stick it to the man, and I need to start my own endeavor. What is it going to be? Yeah, I liked my job. It was fine. I felt good about the work I did, and I liked the people I worked with. What I loved about the alcohol cupcakes was that I just knew in my bones it was just such a great idea. I loved it. I didn't even know how to bake. So I was like, you should move here.
- [04:12]
B
You should start the company.
- [04:14]
A
I was just like, teach me how to help you. Here's what we'll do. I keep my day job. I'm gonna fund this thing. You work it during the day when I'm at the law firm, working my day job. And then nights and weekends, I was baking with her. I was running deliveries. I was setting up events like, it was crazy. I ended up working seven days a week, Right? But. But it was so much fun. And ironically, weirdly, it actually kept me engaged on Both things. Even though I had two very, like.
- [04:45]
B
Right.
- [04:46]
A
Kind of, you know, time constrained things, it just made it so fun because they were so different.
- [04:51]
B
Yeah.
- [04:51]
A
And I mean, everyone was so supportive of it.
- [04:54]
B
That's so crazy. So no baking skills, no entrepreneurial skills. It's just something you had to believe. And you believed in yourself. Obviously. You believed in the whole. The. You believed in everything behind it. And here you had this successful. I mean, how successful did it become?
- [05:08]
A
So we had that company for 11 years, which is 11 years crazy to think about. Yeah. Because I don't feel like I've aged at all.
- [05:15]
B
No, no, you definitely. No, no. Definitely have not. You look so young.
- [05:18]
A
We had that company for 11 years, and then we were able to exit it to a national bakery brand. And, you know, especially when, I think when you start your first endeavor, unless you're some, you know, tech stars or whatever, like, we didn't start it with this goal in mind of, like, we're gonna build it and sell it. It was this just fun. Like, we were pumped. We were having so much fun doing it. We got to be part of, like, every event in Vegas. Right. You know, Derek Jeter's golf tournament, whatever. It was. Right. Ces just all the fun, cool things that come through Vegas. And of course, they wanted alcohol cupcakes because it's on brand in, so Vegas. And that company taught me, wow, I can have my own company as long as I team up with an operations partner. And I really am grateful that I did it in this risk mitigated way because I kept my day job to fund it. Right. You know, like starting a business in the beginning, especially, like, so hard, it needs cash. Right. And that's going to come from your sales, but it takes time to ramp that up. So where is that cash gonna come from? It needs to come from somewhere.
- [06:19]
B
Yeah.
- [06:20]
A
And so that was our arrangement. Like, I love that. Let me keep it fueled, you know.
- [06:25]
B
I love what you're saying.
- [06:25]
A
We'll keep growing.
- [06:26]
B
It makes total sense. I mean, I think for a lot of. Not just women, but people in general, it's. They have an idea. They're afraid to execute. But it may. I mean, I'm hearing you say a few things. You had. You had a vision, right. You weren't completely sold on jumping full, you know, fully in, but you were fully bought in, which I think is a difference. You have to be fully bought in. Can't be. You weren't. One foot in, one foot out. Right. You know, you had the capital, and you do need I mean, was it a lot of capital? I think people get scared because they think there's so much money involved when starting your own business.
- [06:56]
A
No, we literally started baking in my home kitchen.
- [06:59]
B
There you go. Yeah.
- [07:00]
A
Right. And then this is pre, like the ability to get a cottage license from the health department, things like that. Of course, all that came years later when we didn't need it, but we again, just looked for risk mitigated ways. So instead of going out and getting a commercial lease space on a standalone bakery, we went and did like a shared space kitchen, you know, just, just to find like low cost ways that weren't going to require a personal guarantee or some of these larger commitments, but would still get us in compliance with the health department, get us in the space we need, but we could grow really organically. Yeah.
- [07:38]
B
And then I hear the other thing you're saying is you had no fear of rolling up your sleeves and getting in there. And I think that's a big thing that people don't want to do. They would rather delegate and not understand. But I would say you, I mean, you're definitely more business savvy than I ever am going to be. But I would say that the number one thing is understand every aspect of your business. But number two, you can't delegate everything out. You have to. Maybe you're not proficient in every asp, but at least know almost every aspect of it. Have some common knowledge of the, of your business. You can't, I mean, you just can't hire for everything. You have to have some knowledge.
- [08:12]
A
Completely agree. And again, I didn't know how to bake when we started this bakery business. Right. I learned through the process, of course, but it was one of those things where it set a really easy goal of, okay, we need to get to a point where we can hire pastry chefs and people who have degrees in this that are going to be far better at doing this than I am. But worst case scenario, if every single person down the line calls in sick.
- [08:32]
B
You can do it.
- [08:33]
A
I can do it. Right. What am I going to do? Turn away business because I can't execute? Like, that's crazy.
- [08:38]
B
I love that. You're like a girl out of my own heart. It's so true. I say this too. If my team was taken tomorrow, you know, my whole sales team, could I survive? Right. 100%. I sold previous. That's how I even got into, you know, into the space that I'm in now and leadership is because I sold.
- [08:53]
A
Right.
- [08:54]
B
So, you know, lesson learned is that you have to know every aspect of your business because it could fall tomorrow.
- [09:00]
A
Yeah.
- [09:01]
B
So you never know. I mean, I love that. So now, okay, so then you sell that. You sell that now. Did you start another business while in there? Is that when you went into. So you did.
- [09:10]
A
Yeah. So while this is growing in tandem again, it just. It was like the scales fell from my eyes. Right. And I was like, wait, I can have my own company as long as I team up with an operations partner. So I realized I was having these opportunities come my way. And I was initially saying no, because the question I would ask myself was, well, like, how am I going to do it? And I needed to be asking, how are we going to do it?
- [09:33]
B
Yes.
- [09:33]
A
And I realized, okay, I can start saying yes to some of this stuff. If I'm very clear about roles, responsibilities, what am I bringing to the table? Is it the money? Is it the legal background? Is it all the documentation and paperwork and startup stuff and save us 10 grand right off the bat, what is it that I'm bringing to the table? What are they bringing to the table? And surprise, surprise, if we put that together, that turns into operations of the business. Ooh.
- [09:58]
B
I mean, you're such a smart cookie. I can't. I'm like. I'm taking notes mentally. So now you have this thriving business, and then you start something else.
- [10:07]
A
So we started Liquid and Lace. And so that's an online e commerce brand. Swimwear brand.
- [10:11]
B
Where did that come from?
- [10:13]
A
So we were talking about New York before we started filming. When I was still in school, in college and in law school, I did a little bit of modeling. I did, like, print modeling, like, swimwear and.
- [10:24]
B
Stop it. You're so pretty. Stopping.
- [10:26]
A
I wish I was, like, five' ten. Not the case. I thought I'd be Victoria's Secret Angel. Not the case. And so I did a little bit of modeling during the time I was in school, and it was awesome because I got to travel and meet so many people. One of the colleagues that I met just during those years ended up having an e commerce brand that he had out of the UK and he was looking for US distribution. And so he just hit me up out of the blue on Facebook, actually. He was like, hey, how are you doing? Haven't talked to you in a while. Let's catch up. And he basically told me about what they'd been doing over there, and they were crushing it. And he was like, we want to break into the US Market. We're trying to figure out, like, who and how and implementation and I was like, maybe that's something I can help with. Right. And so, yeah, we started that in 2014, and we sold that in 2021.
- [11:19]
B
And this was an online business.
- [11:21]
A
Yes, online E commerce. And so it was just a. Yeah, it was a. It turned into an international brand that we sold mostly through ig. We sold. Of course, we had, like, a Shopify website. Right. But we sold direct to consumer. And then we did. We were doing swimmer Fashion weeks all around, and we had an annual event that we would host here in Vegas, too, every summer.
- [11:41]
B
And you're still doing the cupcakes at this point. So how are you managing or how are you juggling your time between all of it? Because I'm assuming. Well, I'm assuming by this time the cupcakes are going. It's kind of moving.
- [11:52]
A
Cupcakes are going. Yep. The swimwear I just looked at, like, okay, can I fold this in to what I'm already doing? And strangely, I could.
- [12:01]
B
You could?
- [12:01]
A
Yeah.
- [12:02]
B
So especially in Vegas, right?
- [12:04]
A
Yeah.
- [12:04]
B
It's easy Gap. Who doesn't like swimwear and cupcakes?
- [12:08]
A
Cupcakes for, like, Encore Beach Club.
- [12:09]
B
Yeah.
- [12:09]
A
Right. You're like, oh, by the way, do you guys want to feature a swimwear line? Do you guys want to do some sort of special event? Like, how can we collaborate and work together? And I'm a former Miss Nevada. And so that was the segue of.
- [12:22]
B
Oh, by the way. I love by the way. By the way. Just saying.
- [12:25]
A
It was a long time ago, but it was amazing. That opened up this entire pool of, oh, here's all these women who. Young women and teens as well, like the teen category, who already are a brand ambassador. Right. They are already representing their public service platforms, the charities that they work with in their own communities, and they're representing the pageant. Why are we not utilizing them for the swimwear brand? And so what we did was we were the sponsor for the national pageant for, like, four years in a row. Like, it was a nice collaboration where pretty much everywhere I went, it was like, cupcakes, swimwear. Like what?
- [13:05]
B
I mean, it's so smart. It's absolutely genius. So basically, you're taking your brand and you're putting your business entrepreneurial hat on, and then you're taking all of your resources that you have. So, like, I want people to really understand this, that I think a lot of times we also feel very like. Like we don't have the resources, when, in fact, you know, if you write a list down, you will see how many resources and how Resourceful. You really are. And that's kind of what you did. You took all of your resources, you collab them, you put them together, and now you have two thriving businesses, which is genius.
- [13:35]
A
Yes.
- [13:36]
B
I'm about to steal your idea.
- [13:37]
A
Well, and then we overlaid the real estate, right? So roll it back to 2013. Cupcakes are going. I'm still working at the firm. And we had clients that were coming in with real estate needs because they were filing BK or whatever it was and they had to offload the real estate. And we were just referring it out to these kind of Yahoo agents. And I was just like, come on. I was like, how hard can this be? I was like, well, I don't have the time and bandwidth to be running around as a buy, sell agent, but clearly there's a pipeline of business here. So I teamed up with a full time broker, right? And we started a team at Sotheby's that we had for five and a half years before I started my own brokerage. And that was the proposition, right? Again, you look at like what you have with you. So I had no real estate experience. I'd never, I bought my own house. But like, I'd never like bought and sold on behalf of others. But I said, look, I've got a pipeline of business. We should team up.
- [14:33]
B
Plus, you were the lawyer on it, so you can look at all the contracts. Yeah, exactly. So smart.
- [14:37]
A
So I was like, we should team up. Right? Until we did. And so, you know, we, we had, we had crazy. We had like full Maloof's penthouse. We had like crazy listings that like, guess what I had Kettle one vodka cupcakes at the open house.
- [14:53]
B
Now you have the sexy swimwear. There's a swimwear fashion show?
- [14:57]
A
Yeah, like in the open house. I mean, just crazy, right? But you can, the point is like, you can collab and combine everything that you're doing in some way. And like, that's really the benchmark of like, how can you get involved in these different endeavors? And it's if they can like kind of patchwork together.
- [15:11]
B
Yeah, you're making my wheelhouse spin right now. Like you and I don't think we realize that a lot of the time. You know how we. I think a lot of people fall short of trying to understand how to utilize their resources and put it all together. And you just did it in such a creative way by bringing everything that you had to the table. I mean, look, you do have a one up though. The law degree is like, come on.
- [15:32]
A
No, well, and Working in business litigation and business bankruptcy. Right. I think knowing bankruptcy is a powerful background and just realizing, especially for businesses when they're filing, you know, business bks, it's a tool. Right. So it's like really, you kind of reverse engineer. You're like, how did you get here? Right. Like, you're a smart person and yet you are in this position now. What happened? And you reverse engineer. And sometimes it's because six months into their business, they didn't do a good operating agreement with their partner, they didn't lay out roles and responsibilities. And then fast forward 10 years later, after they've made millions of dollars together, they can't get along, they can't communicate, and now they're suing each other.
- [16:17]
B
Yeah. I was gonna ask you what's the number one reason that you think that businesses fall to bankruptcy?
- [16:23]
A
One just mismanagement of cash. Right. It's almost like an overspend problem. And so I equated it to like, if, if you are overspender in your personal life, you will be an overspender in your business. Right, Right. Because every opportunity is going to sound good. You're gonna be like, oh, we should try that marketing person. We should try this, we should try that. And like, you're not clearly tracking what's worth.
- [16:46]
B
So you're saying KPIs, track your KPIs, your ROIs. I mean, really understand what's going in, what's going out, and what that looks like as far as revenue and returns.
- [16:54]
A
But start it with yourself on a personal level.
- [16:57]
B
Yeah.
- [16:57]
A
Right. If you are not capable or don't have the discipline to just do it for yourself on a personal level, you're not going to do it with the business too. You're too busy.
- [17:05]
B
Yeah.
- [17:06]
A
Or.
- [17:06]
B
Yeah. Or you can't duplicate it.
- [17:08]
A
Yeah. You're just. You're not going to do it with the business. And all of a sudden you're going to be like, sweating, like when payroll time comes or something like that, or when the rent's due. So, like, that's the baseline is just cash flow issues. Right. But then I would say right under that, it's founder or business partner miscommunication. Yeah. Disagreement. Exactly. And oftentimes it's like so simple. This is not because someone was stealing or, you know, like these things that sometimes Egos.
- [17:35]
B
Yeah.
- [17:35]
A
It's just straight up, like, I assumed you were gonna do X. You assumed I was gonna do Y. We never talked about it, and now we're like mad at each other that you didn't do what I assumed you were gonna do. And I'm like, you know what I mean?
- [17:48]
B
And then the business falls. It implodes.
- [17:49]
A
And then the business suffers because you guys can't even. You guys, meaning the partners. Right. Can't even communicate about what you thought the other person was going to be doing. How are you going to communicate about anything else in the business?
- [18:02]
B
Makes total. I mean, that makes total sense. And I think all your advice and everything that you're saying just puts everything into clear perspective for anyone that owns a business. And one other thing that you said that you went into this. So a big thing that I always say, and I heard this from one of the gentlemen that I worked for, you know, income is the outcome, not the objective. So when you go in there, it's not. You can't go in there for thinking right away. Maybe. I mean, maybe you knew, but. Yeah, you know, maybe you do know. But you have to go in there for another objective other than the income. You gotta love what you do.
- [18:30]
A
And there's infinite ways to make money.
- [18:32]
B
Yeah, right.
- [18:33]
A
There's infinite ways to make money. So if you're not committed to something else other than just the revenue, you're never gonna stick to anything. Yeah. Because you'll get this shiny object syndrome. Like, oh, I should. I should try to flip houses. I should try to do that. Like, whatever's popping up on your Instagram is like, the next way to make money. That's what you're going to grab it to.
- [18:51]
B
Yeah. And then finally. So, okay, so now you have all of this going on. Then when did it finally. When did you get into the whole veteran funding? Where did that come from? Like, how did you even, like, put that into it? Because that seems, like, totally left field from everything else. Like, I understand the real estate, the cupcakes and the swimwear. That all does make sense. It does. But then how. Why did you go into that Is like a service piece? Is that something that was, like, really near and dear to your heart? I know your dad was a vet, so your husband.
- [19:16]
A
Yes.
- [19:17]
B
So how did that all come into play?
- [19:19]
A
So I had been angel investing for about seven years, and now this is 2021. I'd been angel investing for this period of time, and I knew I wanted to get into venture capital in a meaningful way. I just wasn't sure what that was going to look like. I had no desire to actually just start my own fund because I was like, I don't know any. I don't know what to do. And As a founder of my businesses, I had never raised outside capital or VC funding. I had just self funded and bootstrapped and grinded it out. And so I was like, I know I want to get into venture, but I just, I'm not sure what that looks like. So I started looking at different firms that I could LP into that I could invest in. And there was a firm that I got into pretty deep due diligence with. I flew out to Park City and met with their general partners. And it was just one of those things where, you know, it was like eight gps. They all were former Goldman guys and they all had the pedigree, right of check, check, check. And I remember asking them, I said, what else are we doing for these founders besides writing checks? And no one had a good answer. And I was just like. And I remember flying back from Park City to Vegas and I was just like, maybe that's venture. Because I don't know. I was like, maybe that's venture. Because their whole thing was like, yeah, it's kind of like a 99.1 model where we're gonna expect 99% of the portfolio to fail and the one company's gonna hit it big and return the fund. And you're just like, so you just let them fail? You know, like, I was kind of frustrated.
- [20:49]
B
Yeah, what happened to the 99%?
- [20:52]
A
They're zero. They go to zero in the portfolio. So you're like, okay, maybe, maybe that's venture. Not even two weeks later, I get a call from a friend of mine, Justin Nahama, and he's a GP in the fund. And he's like, hey, I've got something that I want to run by you. I teamed up with two buddies of mine, Ryan and Mike, I want you to we put together a fund. I want to talk to you about it. Let's grab some time on the calendar. And so we do a zoom meeting because the guys are in California. We do a zoom meeting and they pitch me on the veteran fund to join as an lp as an investor. And I'm like, I love this. So their thesis is investing in veteran led companies that are building technologies on the national security side. Like, basically you've got the bucket revenues of direct to consumer and then you've got selling to the government, right? So if you can like kind of like corral all of that together, you've got multiple streams of revenue coming in to the company. And this totally made sense to me. They were like, we're going to back veteran founders because these guys and Gals already have the mental grit that it takes. Yeah, right.
- [21:59]
B
Makes sense. Makes total sense.
- [22:01]
A
It was like light bulb, right? And I'm like, I'm in. Take my money, I'm in. Right. So I joined as an lp. Two days later I call Justin back and I'm like, what is it going to take for me to be a gp, a general partner? And he's like, it's not really how it works. He's like, we can't just turn every LP into a gp.
- [22:20]
B
Wait, what?
- [22:21]
A
Yeah. And I'm like, hear me out. I was like, you know, I really think I can.
- [22:25]
B
And what's the difference between the LP and gp?
- [22:27]
A
So the LP is a limited partner and this is an investor into the fund. They invest their money and they have the option to kind of either be totally passive, where it's like, here's my commitment and keep me updated.
- [22:42]
B
But you want to be fully involved.
- [22:44]
A
Yes. So the nice thing with being a general partner is that you do have to be on the actual management side. So you're participating, actively participating in investment committee, you're actively participating in portfolio construction, you're actively participating in helping the founders that you're investing in. So it's not passive by any means. You are rewarded for that extra management work. Right, by being on the general partner carry. And so I said, look, I was like, I think I can add a lot of value to this fund. I'm a founder myself, right? I've built seven and eight figure companies, so I know how hard it is, I know what it takes. So I'm willing to stand alongside the founders that we invest in and like, give them advice and mentor them. Whatever I need to do, I know I can bring in other LPs. I have an incredible network. I have people who trust my judgment. So if I tell them I invested into this, there's a chance they're going to be open to investing, right? And I'm in it for the long haul. I'm willing to be on a multi decade journey with you guys. So I will take less in Fund 1, but then we'll talk about Fund 2, Fund 3, Fund 4, as we continue to grow. And he was like, you're not gonna let this go, are you? And I was like, yeah. I was like, just let me fly out and meet the guys, you know, like, let's all get together. And so I flew out to San Diego and met Mike and Ryan in person. We had obviously met over zoom, but that was my first time meeting him in person. And we worked Out a deal.
- [24:11]
B
I love it.
- [24:12]
A
So that was 14.
- [24:13]
B
And it's something that you obviously are passionate about too.
- [24:16]
A
I looked at it as like, this is something that again, like I could see myself being on a multi decade journey, not only in this endeavor, but also alongside these people.
- [24:26]
B
So do you think all of your other endeavors, like, really kind of led you to where you're at today? Gave you all the experience, gave you all the knowledge, it allowed you to really put everything that you had brought to the table like this just kind of meant to be.
- [24:38]
A
Yeah, absolutely.
- [24:39]
B
So you feel like you kind of found effect. Yeah, right.
- [24:41]
A
I mean, look at, look at everything built in the last, you know, 12, 15 years. Right. And all the lessons you've learned and like all the things. Right. So it's like knowing that it's a constant work in progress, like there's no doubt that, that the decisions we make today are far better than the ones they're more, you know, informed at the very least.
- [25:01]
B
Yeah.
- [25:01]
A
Right.
- [25:02]
B
So did you have any failures in any of this? Like what? You know, because we talk about all the success a lot of the time, but I would say that the most successful people have failed many, many, many times. So what about, like, where did you. Where do you feel like you failed in any of the ventures?
- [25:17]
A
Y. There's. There's a venture. So we'll talk about the ventures that are no longer around. Right.
- [25:21]
B
See, we don't. And a lot of people don't talk about it. You only talk about what's in your trophy room. But in reality, there's so much on the back burner or so many things that have happened that I think are building blocks to success. I never think that they're like mistakes or, you know, they're failures, but really the building blocks. So tell me about some of them. Tell me.
- [25:37]
A
There was. There's a company. It was like embellished flats. You know, I'm not a flat sheet kind of girl, but I loved the designer. I loved the designs as well. And they were beautiful. They were like ballet flats. And it was all embellished. Right. With the stones and pearls. They were super girly. Yeah. And so I was like, if I were to wear flats, I'd wear these. Right. The shoes were beautiful. It was just the operator that we were gonna put in place. She ended up having life stuff happen, like four months in after we launched. Yeah.
- [26:08]
B
Then you already know.
- [26:09]
A
It made it hard. Yeah. It made it too hard. And we cobbled it together for like a year and then it was just three Partners. And so we all kind of looked at each other and we were like, are you going to run this? Because if you're not going to run that, like, you know, how are we.
- [26:21]
B
Going to do this?
- [26:21]
A
Unfortunately, that's no longer around, but it was lovely. I thought it.
- [26:26]
B
So would you learn what was your takeaway from that one?
- [26:29]
A
Of course there has to be an operator. Right. And oftentimes, look, I, I don't mind rolling up my sleeves and getting in there and doing.
- [26:35]
B
I just can't be the operator. I can't be the CEO because I. I just can't. That's just not me. Yeah, I'm not. I'm more of like the visionary. The one that, you know, I'll bring the hype, I'll build the culture, but I'm not the one with the I' Good on processes or systems. That's just not me. Or like the accountability. It's not me. I can bring every other things to the table, but that's not. Yeah, I'm not the operator. Definitely not.
- [26:57]
A
Yeah. So I, you know, I was like, hey, like, this is not going to work out long term. So, you know, we need to cut our losses on that. There was a company, it was like light emitting plants. It was like, it was cool. And then they had the IP on it. Right. It was like they started. The first iteration was with a tobacco plant, actually. And it's because tobacco plants apparently are the easiest to genetically modify.
- [27:20]
B
Right.
- [27:21]
A
And so they were taking like, you know, glow in the dark, like marine bacteria basically, and genetically modifying these plants. And then it was. They glowed. So it's like. So let's say it was here. They turn off all the lights and so it was glowing like emitting.
- [27:37]
B
That sounds good.
- [27:37]
A
Okay. It's beautiful. And so it's just.
- [27:39]
B
So you have to water them.
- [27:41]
A
Yeah. It's like a normal.
- [27:43]
B
I'm not good with plants.
- [27:44]
A
Normal plant. But like. Yeah, so I was just like, this is so cool. And it was like a niche thing. There was like, there's like a Reddit. There's a.
- [27:51]
B
There's a whole group of plants. There's a whole, like gardeners. Gardeners. I know.
- [27:56]
A
There's a whole. There's a horticulture.
- [27:57]
B
Oh, yeah, they. Oh, I know. They have conventions and everything.
- [28:00]
A
Yes.
- [28:00]
B
They have a whole culture themselves. Yes, I know.
- [28:02]
A
That's why I was like, this is. This is. This has legs on it. Because there was like hype around it already, you know, like. And then the next iteration was petunias. And so it was like, this could have legs. What if you could put this into trees? I mean like we had this like long vision on it. Again, it was like an operations issue and we teamed up with, with an educational institution in New Orleans because the R D was so expensive. It was like $600,000 for every iteration of a new plant. And I was just like, you guys.
- [28:32]
B
Like, yeah, we're not doing it.
- [28:33]
A
You know, like two plants are over a million dollars.
- [28:36]
B
We're not doing it yet.
- [28:36]
A
Yeah, like how are we going to do this? So, yeah, like I think that could have been really cool, but it just, it didn't work long term.
- [28:43]
B
So what was the takeaway?
- [28:45]
A
I mean, again, just, you know, one expensive R and D. Right. So unless you are venture backed, like I've learned this now, right. Like, unless you need to, if you need to grow fast and you have like expensive R and D like that.
- [29:00]
B
Right.
- [29:00]
A
That's where venture funding is good. Because it's going to eat up your equity as a founder. But you need that cash. Where else are you gonna get $600,000 every time you need to iterate a new plant? This is crazy.
- [29:12]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's not gonna work. No way. You can't put your own capital on that. Especially for two plants. You're over 1.2 million. It's not gonna work.
- [29:19]
A
Yeah, exactly. This is, this is not real life. You know, like you're just like.
- [29:22]
B
So you also raise. So you obviously raise money too. So what if. Okay, so how would you, what advice would you give to somebody that has like a great idea? They have capital, but they need a little bit more and they need to raise money. Where. Where would one even begin to do that?
- [29:36]
A
I would say one. So first off, open up your phone because your first anchor round are gonna be the people who know you and believe in you.
- [29:45]
B
Yeah.
- [29:46]
A
Hands down. Right. That's literally why they call it the family and friends round. The anchor round. Right. It's literally gonna be people that you are calling and texting, telling them about what you're building, showing them your traction and asking them for an investment. The next layer after that, you gotta get things dialed in right. Whether it's your pitch deck, your data room. Like firms want to see that you.
- [30:09]
B
Are organized and you know, yeah, you have your shit.
- [30:11]
A
We're not expecting profit. We get it. Like you are early stage. Right. But show us some traction. Right. If you've got an app that you're asking people to download for free and you're just giving away the free version right now. Then tell me how many users you have. Right. How many people do you have on the subscription list? How many, you know, all these things. I don't care that you're not charging for it. I want to hear that you have, you know, 200,000 downloads. Yeah.
- [30:35]
B
And interest people that are interested.
- [30:37]
A
Exactly.
- [30:38]
B
So that's important to know. I mean you don't think that you can even. I would say as a small business owner, I've never gone and raised money, but I mean it makes sense now. If you have a project or you have a venture that's doing that has potential, you've already onboarded people. It's always, would you say a good idea if you know that it's going. If you believe, not know. I don't think we ever know. But if you believe it's going to go somewhere and it's going to be a multimillion dollar, you know, venture, would you tell people to go and raise money? I would say if they don't have the capital.
- [31:06]
A
If you need money to iterate fast. Right. And that's why tech is so big on raising, because they need the money to iterate quickly. Right. If you're starting a bakery, if you're, you know, starting a real estate business, like I don't know necessarily that, that you certainly don't need to go get like venture backed funds. No.
- [31:23]
B
Roll your sleeves up.
- [31:24]
A
Yeah, totally. And, and maybe you can do enough with just your family and friends around. Right. So that way you're not giving away all your equity because that's what you have to remember. All these firms are taking equity for their investment. It's not a grant. This is not charity. It's not for free.
- [31:39]
B
Right, right.
- [31:40]
A
They're going to take equity in and they're going to fight for the valuation that is going to make sense for them because they have to justify the investment to their investment committee.
- [31:49]
B
Now how long did it take you to walk to exit on each company? How many were acquired?
- [31:57]
A
I've had two exits.
- [31:58]
B
That's crazy. I mean that's something to be proud of that says so much. And I just love it because you're just such a business woman entrepreneur. I love it. So two exits. And you already said you built seven Eight figure Inc. So I'm not even gonna ask you what you exited at. But I mean it's, I just want people to know that it is possible. And the idea like you know, your idea is never a stupid idea. There's always a niche for something. But how long did it take you for each of those companies to exit?
- [32:22]
A
One took seven years and that was a 2x exit. And then one took 11 years. That was a 3x exit.
- [32:28]
B
Wow. Incredible.
- [32:29]
A
That takes time sometimes, you know, that isn't.
- [32:31]
B
And Right. So tell me what you have going on now. You still have the real estate?
- [32:35]
A
Yes. So we acquired the Engel Invokers brand in 2022 and that's been awesome. Yeah, it's. It. We actually have like really strong women who work for us and I love, yeah, I love that. It's like a really supportive environment. They're all hustlers. They're all like just. Yes. Like they're smart, they're capable. I actually love recruiting ladies who have a sort of like service background. Right. Whether it's like high end bottle service, whatever it is. Because you know, we do too.
- [33:05]
B
That's what we like in. Because you know they'll hustle. You know that they're going to hustle.
- [33:08]
A
They will hustle. Right. If, if they were working Encore Beach Club this summer, you know, they're going to be in wedges from 9am to.
- [33:15]
B
6Pm they got the grind. Yeah, they're going to do it.
- [33:19]
A
They're going to get running around dealing with every drunk asshole with a credit card.
- [33:22]
B
You know what I mean? Yeah. That's why I like gym people too because you know of people that have competed before, you know that they have the grind. Yeah, I love people from the. I recruited a ton of agents right out of LA Fitness.
- [33:32]
A
I love that.
- [33:32]
B
Yeah, got banned. But yes, I mean it makes, it makes sense though. You hire for, for what's going to work in your business and anyone that's competitive in a grinder, you're bringing them. I love that.
- [33:41]
A
Yeah, exactly. So, so, yeah, love that. So the real estate's been going really well and you know, it's one of those things where, especially with our agents too, we always tell them, look like you will get rich helping other people buy and sell real estate. You will build wealth if you own real estate. So we're really, we push them hard on like if they don't already own their home already. Some do, you know, if they don't already own like own your home. Right. Buy an investment property, buy an investment condo. Like it doesn't need to be something that you would live in. Yeah. Like you can. So we have condo towels here in Las Vegas and actually I think in Orlando as well as like an asset class. And I like them because. So we own, we own seven of them. I Like these condotel units as an investment class because. So this is like Palms Place, mgm, Signature Trump, Vidara. These are units that are inside a building that operates like a hotel.
- [34:36]
B
Right.
- [34:37]
A
But the whole building is already zoned as short term. So you don't deal with like the Airbnb logistics headache of oh well, you have to be a thousand feet from someone or you feel like they keep changing their restrictions. The whole building is already zoned short.
- [34:51]
B
Term, so makes it a lot easier too.
- [34:54]
A
And you net the most doing third party like Airbnb. Or you can just enroll the unit into the building's hotel program and they rent it out like a normal hotel room.
- [35:05]
B
Right.
- [35:06]
A
And then they just cut you a check or they ach you.
- [35:08]
B
I love that. Okay, real question on. Okay, so I'm, I'm actually struggling this with myself. Okay, so there's the BRRRR method, right? I know there's. And then there's. See I'm like, I'm getting good.
- [35:17]
A
Yeah, yeah.
- [35:19]
B
So I got it over here. So I know there's really two methods. Right? There's the BRRRR method. So for, for people that want to buy real estate, because I know you're really involved with the real estate and then you can buy in cash. So what would that. I mean, they have money or whatever, they have money to invest. Would you. What's your preference? The BRRRR method or the total cash?
- [35:38]
A
So there's a few different factors. One, like if you are a high W2 earner. Right. Like had I stayed in my job at the law firm. Yeah, right. Then I'd be, you know, writing checks to the government for 37% of my income. Right. Real estate is a great way to reduce your taxable income while obviously still building up this asset that will keep paying you and continue to pay you. It's also a personal risk tolerance. There are out there who just like, it gives them anxiety if they have payments on something or if they owe debt on something. So also something to consider. But ultimately, you know, for example, like I said, even with like the condo hotels, right. These are units that if the strip is busy, the Las Vegas Strip is busy, your unit's filled. And it's like whether we have F1.
- [36:22]
B
Or Super bowl and it's always busy. So it's like a low risk. It's low risk.
- [36:25]
A
Well, and the weekdays, you have conventions here. So there's always. The point is like, there's always opportunity for it to be filled. Right. This is not like some rental in the Midwest that Relies on.
- [36:37]
B
You're constantly getting your money back or your money back. Your ROI on it.
- [36:40]
A
Yeah, absolutely. And so, you know, I think those are kind of general factors to look for. But ultimately, if you can diversify out your assets, right. If you can have investments in real estate, if you can have investments in businesses, if you can have investments in your own businesses, there's a really nice, I think, very relieving sense about it of knowing that you have different money coming in from different places. And so you don't have to sweat it when it's like, oh, real estate's seasonal. You know, it's December, it's gonna be quiet, whatever it is. Right. Like, you don't have to sweat it because my mailbox stores are in the middle of holiday shopping.
- [37:14]
B
Oh, we forgot to even talk about that. So you also have mailboxes. Is there anything you don't miss Nevada Beautiful. I mean, cupcakes, swimwear. Like, is there any. Anything you don't do? So we didn't even talk about that. So mailboxes as well?
- [37:25]
A
Yeah, yeah. I love the business model. So it's mailbox rental, pack and ship stores. Think like a UPS store, but independent.
- [37:32]
B
Okay.
- [37:32]
A
And so you service UPS, FedEx and the Postal Service. I started those in 2018. And it's low maintenance, low overhead. I knew after, like, starting a bakery, I was like, I don't want to have a Periswell product again. I don't want to have something that's like high staff, like, high equipment cost. Right. Like, you're talking convection ovens and walk in fridges and walk in freezers and.
- [37:53]
B
Right, yeah, no, no, it makes sense. And you're a huge fan, obviously, of passive income and multiple. Multiple streams of income, which is really important for women because a lot of times we get caught up, you know, we get married or whatever. And these are all you, Right?
- [38:06]
A
This.
- [38:06]
B
I'm sure you have some. Something with your. I don't know if you do with your husband, but this is all you prior to your husband because you just got married in 2024. So this just goes to show that. Not that anybody. Obviously, you have the brains and you. And you have built an amazing portfolio for yourself, but it does show that you can be an individual woman and have individual assets on your own, which I do think is really important. I think it's super important.
- [38:28]
A
I do, too. Because, like, actually, if you look at the data, women in our 20s, like, when we get out of school, Right. If you compare us peer to peer to men in their 20s same education level, same. Maybe even same job, same sector. We actually outperform them when it comes to income level. Where it starts to, like, drop off is because in our 30s, we get married.
- [38:50]
B
We want to get married.
- [38:51]
A
Yes, we get married.
- [38:52]
B
That's the problem with our business. Why women don't last, because then they have this biological clock that takes.
- [38:56]
A
And then we.
- [38:58]
B
Right.
- [38:59]
A
And so that we either plateau or we start doing this. Meanwhile, dudes have been working this whole time, Right. So they're working, working, working. And that's why their income's going like this. Ours either. We were literally like this. And then it start. You know what I mean?
- [39:12]
B
Yeah.
- [39:13]
A
And so that's why, like, it's okay for you to build and grind and then have it. Right.
- [39:19]
B
I agree 100%. And one thing that we didn't talk about, you also are a mom. So I don't want any of the viewers to think that, you know, she's just out here by herself, living up in Vegas. She's not. She's Marri. Yeah, but you were grinding. It doesn't matter. You're grinding. It doesn't. You know, and now you're a wife and you're a mom and you're a business owner, so you can have all three things. I was reading, I was actually on threads today. I'm like, trying to get into threads, this whole thing. So I was like reading this, this thread from this. I guess a mom that says how to moms, you know, go to the gym, get up at 5.30am, cook breakfast, do this. I'm thinking to myself, this is my life. What do you mean? How do you do it? You just do it.
- [39:54]
A
Yeah.
- [39:55]
B
There's no excuses. You just do it.
- [39:57]
A
Such great, like, executors. Right? That's why we're such great operators. Because we're already doing. We're already. We just do it, you know?
- [40:04]
B
Yeah, I. I 100% agree. And you don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow. And it's the way that I was brought up. My father died when I was very young, and my mom, I'm also an only child. My mom raised me alone. And the one thing that she instilled in me is you don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow. So you have to prepare and make sure that you can financially be stable on your own, no matter what happens.
- [40:25]
A
Because you never know.
- [40:26]
B
You don't know. You have. No. And it's not about I.
- [40:30]
A
It's not.
- [40:30]
B
It's just something Life. Life can happen. And you Know, building your own thing. I mean, yeah, I think it's important to be married, but I also think it's very important to have individuality. So, like be Mara outside of my husband Seth. And yes, we have things together, but I also like to have my own individuality and do my own thing and venture on my own thing. And I think it's really important as a woman that something that's not spoken about, that should be spoken about is, yes, it is important. I do believe that to have a family and, you know, get married. I do believe in gender roles at times, but I believe that having your. Keeping your own individuality and your own, you know, your own identity is very, very important for anybody.
- [41:09]
A
Absolutely. It's, it's your sense of purpose, it's your personal interest. These things that, like, you know, there's. I feel like with women especially, like we're, we're used to self sacrificing. Right. Like we're used to falling on the sword and like, whether it's for family, whether it's for our teams, whatever it is, you have our girlfriends, like children.
- [41:26]
B
Using our own bodies, you know, literally.
- [41:28]
A
Right. Like we're used to doing it and maybe we're biologically predisposed to do it. Yeah, I get it. But to your point, like, if for some reason, like, you know, it doesn't feel aligned with you or you feel unfulfilled or all these things, maybe it's because you aren't pouring enough into yourself. Yeah.
- [41:46]
B
And I don't think that makes you selfish. I don't. And I think a lot of women would disagree with us. But I do believe that I have to have my tank full before I can fill anybody else's. And my purpose has to be far greater than who I am. And I don't, you know. No, no, no shade to the at home moms. That's their purpose. That's just not my purpose. And I don't feel guilty that I run a business and I have three kids and I travel. I don't feel guilty at all. Zero.
- [42:10]
A
Yeah.
- [42:10]
B
I am unapologetically a mom, a businesswoman, but I'm also unapologetically Mara. So. And I don't feel guilty about it.
- [42:17]
A
And it, at least for me, like, it makes me feel like I show up better.
- [42:21]
B
I agree.
- [42:22]
A
I show up better for my husband and your kids are watching my son.
- [42:25]
B
Yeah, your kids are watching. Like, my daughter's about to, to go to school. Right. She's. I just told you she's going to pace right and my daughter. And if you ask any of my kids, like have you ever been upset that mom wasn't home? And all three of my. Maybe the little one because he guilt me. He's learned this guilt thing now. But my big ones will always tell you no. They watch the grind. So my daughter is on her grind. She wants to go to school, you know, for business. She knows business marketing with a focus on content creation like and, and she has watched it from the way beginning. And that is what, that's the Persona I want her to see is that I've never slowed down. I've had divorce you. We've had downfalls. But in all of that I've never forgotten who I am. And I didn't plummet, I kept going up. And that's important.
- [43:06]
A
I think that's super important because they're looking to you as the example. Who else are they going to get the example from?
- [43:11]
B
They're not, they're not going to. And with the society right now is hard and it's hard, it is tough out there for kids. But they have to have a very stable example and somebody that is leading from the front and that is you. So having this conversation with you is just, it's, it is so refreshing to find somebody that really understands that yes, being a mom is important. Yes, being a wife is important. But also being Lisa is just as important, if not more totally.
- [43:38]
A
Yeah. It helps me show up better.
- [43:39]
B
I agree.
- [43:40]
A
Everyone else in my life.
- [43:41]
B
Yes. Can you? I, I cannot imagine just being home. I, I couldn't do it. I don't think I. First of all, I'd be a terrible at home mom. So I do give a credit to all the at home moms. But I do have to have something outside of that that identifies me as me. So I think that's really important as well.
- [43:56]
A
I hear you.
- [43:56]
B
So today, okay, so today you are running.
- [43:58]
A
Let's talk.
- [43:59]
B
So now today you have the real estate. Estate. Real estate funding.
- [44:02]
A
Yeah. The VC fund. Yeah. So we did a $20 million fund one and then this past summer we announced a 50 million, $50 million fund two. In fund one, we have 25 investments and they're kind of all across the critical technology spaces. So in our portfolios we have 3D printed drones, 3D printed satellites, cybersecurity, a lot of very technical, fast moving, national security led types of businesses which clearly that's not my personal background. Right. I didn't build businesses in 3D printed satellites or anything like that. But I know what it takes to build an eight figure business. And I know what it takes to hire. Right. I know what it takes to put in systems. So it's just so much fun to get to be part of that journey with these founders. Because these are elite founders. Like, you know, so we invest in veteran led companies and it's not like you're run of the mill guys and gals.
- [45:01]
B
I love that it's veteran run.
- [45:03]
A
Yeah.
- [45:03]
B
Because you hear so many terrible stories about how, you know, veterans will come out and they're not supported.
- [45:08]
A
Right.
- [45:08]
B
I mean, you are a specific company that really, that you invest in veterans. I love, I just love that you do that.
- [45:14]
A
Well, they're elite. I mean, we invest, we say we invest in elite founders, right? And if you look at, we looked at 3,000 deals to invest in 25. And these founders, I mean, they're former Navy SEALs, they're former Green Berets, former Army Rangers. Like, these are people who are so elite at operating again.
- [45:30]
B
People that are grinders. Like, you know, they're in the Green Beret, you know, they are taking this to the next level. You already know exactly.
- [45:36]
A
Like, they will work eight days. You know what I mean?
- [45:38]
B
Like, they're dying.
- [45:39]
A
Yes. They will work eight days with no sleep and, and there's no, oh, I'm too tired, or like, oh, no, they're.
- [45:46]
B
Getting up, they're showing up, you know. They are. Yes.
- [45:49]
A
Because the amazing thing too is like, like look after everything they've been through on like the technical side, right, Whatever they're building, it is not life and death. It is not life and death. So it actually is so smart for them on like a mental capacity side because it helps minimize all the drama we have in business. Right. Everyone has drama in your business. Things happen, fires pop up.
- [46:11]
B
They're probably like, whatever.
- [46:12]
A
Yeah. Like this is not even a big deal. They're like, this is a problem. They're like next, you know, like, they move on quick. Structure, they compartmentalize, they move on quick, they iterate quickly. And that's half the battle, right?
- [46:24]
B
That is, everybody's getting ready to get ready. But I'm sure they're executing like that. They're structured and, you know, they're timely. You know, everything is organized, it's already there. All the cliches, everything that you're looking, consistency, hard work, sacrifice, all the stuff that we talk about in business, this is what the ideal person is. And it's always, they do, they do well in our business too, because they come from, they come from a structured background. They already know that they're going to grind. Even for us, it's leads. So when the leads are, you know, hard or shitty, they're never complaining about it. And typically they do very, very.
- [46:54]
A
A lot of the cleaners.
- [46:55]
B
I love that we have complainers all the time. I love the complainers. They complain constantly about everything. It's not the leads that suck. It's, you know. But yeah, they do very well in our business as well. Same thing because they're just, I mean they're structured people and they. And they are results driven in.
- [47:10]
A
Yes. Yeah, exactly. It's great.
- [47:12]
B
Every, anyone that I know that's a vet has done very, very well. You know someone, they just done really, really well in sales because they're just not giving up. Even if they're like the shittiest salesperson, they're still getting it done. Yeah, they're still trying. Doesn't matter. They're still going and eventually they get it done. So it works out in every way. So what is next for you? What's your next venture?
- [47:32]
A
Well, you know, I'm, I'm really excited like I said with, with the Fund 2 that we have launched because it's so. It's the same investment thesis but it's awesome because it'll allow us to really just support in a larger way. We'll be able to write bigger checks, basically. So in fund one, we were investing either $250,000 or $500,000 and saving some for follow on as well. But with fund two, we'll be able to write a million dollars into a company. Right. And get that allocation and really like get them, give them the shove. Right. Of like, okay, let's go then. Right. So we're really excited about that. So that's really kind of been the main thing that we've been focused on. So we it this summer and so we were like in the middle of the raise and we started to look at companies now and just this kind of new journey. Being a mom, right?
- [48:18]
B
Yes. Are you, is there more on. Are you having more or like. We're just staying at the only child thing.
- [48:23]
A
I'm good with the. I'm an only child, right. I'm good with one. But it's just been such an incredible journey to just have this small little human who is like developing right before your eyes.
- [48:36]
B
I love my kids more than. I would never change it.
- [48:38]
A
Incredible.
- [48:38]
B
It's.
- [48:39]
A
It's so amazing. So it just, yeah, I feel like it just, I guess, you know, adds more color to everything that I'm I.
- [48:46]
B
Would say it's a transition, though, because I'm an only child. So it's very funny that I have three children and two of them are boys because I'm a girl. Like, I'm a girly girl.
- [48:53]
A
Oh, I just assumed I was gonna have a girl.
- [48:55]
B
Yeah, that's. That's. I thought I'd have all girls, so I have one girl that's exactly like me, which is probably not the best thing. And then I have two boys, so I'm also. Yeah, I'm a boy mom. Yeah.
- [49:05]
A
And three kids, which is a difference. Yeah, it's.
- [49:07]
B
It's crazy. So not only do I have three kids, but two of them are boys. But I would not. I'm obsessed with my children. I mean, they are first and foremost in my world. I love them so much. So no matter what's going on, and they're a blessing. I love sitting down at the dinner table, especially during holidays, and just looking at and be like, I made that. I made that. That's me. Yeah, I love that.
- [49:28]
A
So it's.
- [49:28]
B
It is fun. I would definitely tell you to have more. I, Like, I. I. I wish I had more. I love my kids that much. They're so much fun. Yeah, no, it says I convince you More. More kids.
- [49:38]
A
I mean, my husband is. He's totally down. He's down for more kids. I'm like, you're.
- [49:42]
B
I don't know. Your son's still little, though. He's only nine months, so just enjoy that. And then.
- [49:47]
A
I know. I feel like he's already. He's, like, big. You know what I mean?
- [49:50]
B
Like, wait till they're 18. I know, but it's fun. Yeah, it is fun being a mom. It is. And then you just add more to your brigade, and then it's just like, a whole fleet of them. I just love everything about. So people want to find you. Where would they find to you on.
- [50:05]
A
Social at Lisa Song. Sutton. So it's still under my maiden name. I haven't changed my handles. I changed, like, my name right on the profile. But, like, I haven't changed my handles over. And I don't know. I think I'm just, like, I don't want to, like, maybe I'm, like, mourning the loss. Right? Like, I'd spent all that. I've spent my entire adult life, like, building this personal brand.
- [50:27]
B
Listen, I agree. I did not want to take I. Even today, I'm like, I don't identify as Adorn. That's my last name. Like, I just want to Be Mara. Like, not Mara Dorn. I just want to be Mara, you know, I spent a long time building me, so I. But no, I did. I actually did go with the Dorn thing.
- [50:44]
A
Yeah, yeah. My legal name, you know, my driver's license. Right. I've got Gunderson on it. But it's enough, you know, I don't know.
- [50:52]
B
I'm with it. I get it. I get. Do you do any. I saw you do some classes, too. Do you?
- [50:57]
A
Yeah. So the mailboxes. Actually, I have a program that just came out of nowhere, like, happenstance, literally. I was getting people who were, like, cold emailing me or DMing me or calling my stores, asking how they could open up their own store in, like, San Diego or wherever they lived. Because they saw me talking about the stores, like, on social media, and I was answering these, like, one off emails, which was not sustainable. Right. It was, like, inundating. And I was like, I don't want to, like, ignore these people. How am I gonna do this? And so I ended up putting everything into, like, one platform. Like, all. We took all our SOPs from the stores, like how we run day to day, threw them onto a platform, and then now it's, like, turned into a thing. So over 100 of my students have opened their own store all around the country.
- [51:45]
B
I love that.
- [51:45]
A
I know. I love that for you in Puerto Rico, too. We have a store in Puerto Rico, which is crazy.
- [51:51]
B
I love that. And you're helping. I mean, you're helping people every day on top of that. So that's what I think. That's really the true. You know, the true mission here is helping other people. And you've done that. You've. I mean, it is. It has been incredible. I can't like you. You like, my wheelhouse is just turning. Just talking to you. I love talking to other women, especially ones that are entrepreneurial and they get it. So it has been such a pleasure. You're us. You are a breath of fresh air. You're beautiful, smart, a true bill. You really are it. The conversation is just. I can go on, like, I could sit here all day with you.
- [52:22]
A
Yeah. I'm like, cocktails.
- [52:25]
B
We can go after and have a drink. Oh, my God.
- [52:27]
A
It really, really.
- [52:28]
B
You are such a breath of fresh air. You have. When I come here, I'm definitely gonna hang out.
- [52:31]
A
Please. Yes.
- [52:32]
B
I'm going to.
- [52:33]
A
There's so much here.
- [52:33]
B
Like, yes. And then you'll have to show me, like, all the cool stuff.
- [52:36]
A
Not the strip here.
- [52:38]
B
Maybe not. No. I'll come more. Okay. We're just. Yes. You know, today's. Today's episode was so special. And for the women and men, but especially the women that are out there, I really hope that you see that Lisa is a true testimony that you can do and become anything that you want. So I have a challenge for you. I actually have a 21 day challenge. Right. Because it like 21 days to change any habit. Right. And a big part of my purpose is living with intention and purpose. You have to, you have to be structured in some kind of way. So I'm not completely organized, but I would say I'm pretty regimen. So for those of you that really want to challenge yourself, challenge yourself by seeing my 21 day challenge. I will put everything in the, in the notes below so you'll be able to see that. I'll post it on my website. But go ahead and think outside of the box. And for those of you that have not done so already, please, please like subscribe. Lisa, tell all of your friends. And if you like my conversation with Lisa, check out my conversation with Julia Hart and many other women that have been on the Bilfpod. Until next time. Thank you very much. It's been such a pleasure.
- [53:39]
A
Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you.