Interviewer (2:55)

How did you reach those women?

Mary Seats (2:58)

I think it's also telling the story, right? Telling the story of where you are. So right now, if I could be vulnerable, I am an amazing female founder that scaled several businesses, but I've had a chef my entire marriage, right? And so my now daughter is 6 years old and she's watching YouTube and she's like, mom, I want to cook. Like, I want you to cook with me. And so we're like making these simple meals like chicken Alfredo. And so I'm like, oh, my God. I need a community of moms that are considered successful or maybe still growing in their career, but now they wanna learn how to cook a full meal. So I'm giving myself a year to be able to learn, like, little meals, little meals, and then ultimately be able to cook my Thanksgiving dinner.

Mary Seats (3:42)

Right?

Mary Seats (3:42)

So 23, 5, I'll be cooking. So if I'm in my state now, I'm going to be open and transparent online on my social platforms, whether it's Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, and I'm going to be talking about my journey like, hey, as a female entrepreneur, I've been so focused on scaling my businesses that I just was like, oh, pay for peace, which is hire a chef, hire a nanny, hire whatever I need so that I can fully put all in on my business and really grow it. But now I'm at a point in my life where I can now say, okay, I wanna be able to cook meals for my family. And being that transparent and being that vulnerable, I'm gonna attract other people. To me, that's like, you know what, you're right. I wasn't in the kitchen early on with my mom either. I wanna be a part of your community. And we can start practicing spaghetti, and then we'll move on to fried chicken, and then we'll move on. So I think building a community is being vulnerable with where you are and allowing people to meet you where they are. And as you guys meet together, there's impact that happens and there's transitions that happen and there's key milestones that happen in everyone's success as they go along.

Mary Seats (4:53)

And that mom that joined the community.

Mary Seats (4:56)

Is now able to say, wow, I was able to do this and I was able to make this. And it now empowers the other people in the community to keep going. So that's what I've done my entire life, is where I am. I'm vulnerable about where I am, and I meet other people that are in my same position and we grow and use the resources and information to grow and continue to create milestones together.

Interviewer (5:19)

So do you have personal accounts as well as your professional accounts, and which ones kind of drive the most interest to the bakery?

Mary Seats (5:26)

I think it's both. So I have my personal business, and I would tell every founder that if.

Mary Seats (5:32)

You own any business, right, you should.

Mary Seats (5:34)

Have your personal brand.

Mary Seats (5:36)

And if people know you, they should.

Mary Seats (5:38)

Know about your businesses through your personal brand. However, when people go to the bakery's panel, it's not my personal brand.

Mary Seats (5:46)

So you rarely would see me on the bakery's page because it's my business, it's my community. I don't want people to think that every time I go to the bakery, I'm gonna see Mary. Right? I'm gonna be able to work with Mary.

Mary Seats (5:57)

I'll be able to co work with Mary.

Mary Seats (5:58)

That's not what it's about. But I want people to know when they come to my page, I want them to be inspired by what I've done. I want them to see the struggles of what I've done, the ups and downs of what I've done. So people should be able to learn and be inspired by you and your companies through your personal page. But on the business page, they should just be inspired and impacted by the business of where they want to spend.

Mary Seats (6:23)

Their money with the business.

Mary Seats (6:24)

They shouldn't. They don't need to go to business page and hear about my daughter or my husband or the cookies that I'm making, because it has nothing to do with the women that are being impacted by the co working space. So I think the businesses should have key pillars that are specific to the business that helps grow the revenue of the business. However, my personal brand is where you'll get to know me. You'll get to know my love for God and my daughter and my husband and all the other businesses that I have. And it pushes revenue to the business, but it's not based around the business solely.

Interviewer (7:01)

Interesting. Thank you for that breakdown. That's really helpful.

Mary Seats (7:04)

Yeah.

Interviewer (7:04)

Tell me about the team that you've built around the bakery and how they've helped you grow as well.

Mary Seats (7:10)

Absolutely. I have a dynamic team. The model that we've built in our business is believe or leave. Right. Me being the visionary or. I always call myself the CEO. Right. The CEO of the company. I'm the visionary. And you have to believe in the vision. I consider myself the pilot of the plane. So getting on my plane, you have to believe that I'm gonna fly you to the destination that you want to be at. I don't want anyone that's kind of questioning or holding onto a parachute, like, should I jump out now? Should I jump out now? So our mission is believe or leave, where everybody aligns with that mission. Another thing about the people that I've hired, I want to make sure that there is a love for their role prior to coming to my company. So our event manager. Our event manager loved events, had a skill for events, had a database of clients for events before she started working with us. So when she's called on that Saturday to do an event at 9pm at night or 1am in the morning, her love for it outweighs the money or outweighs the opportunity or outweighs the fact that it's just a job and I'm on salary. My photographer that works for me for nine years loves photography. So even when I'm not there, the way that he shows up and commits to the job is because he actually loves it. And his name is on the line and his work is on the line. Right. It's not just someone that's like, I'm just here to do a job and at five o', clock, I'm off. Don't bother me. So I really built my team around people that actually love, love, love their role, and now they love their role and they love the idea of where I'm gonna take this company. And it just aligns so well. So we really have a dream team within the bakery. And in three years, we've been able to skyrocket the company. I mean, we're on the Inc. 5000 list. We're on. We were profitable in our first year. We have no debt. We've grown a team of 28 people that really love it and have worked for us for over three years. And so I'm super proud to be able to say that I'm growing at a company where people really love to come to work and they really love the people that they work with as well.

Interviewer (9:23)

With that growth, I know there can still be challenges, especially when that growth is fast. Tell me about what you might have faced there and how you were able to navigate out of that.

Mary Seats (9:33)

Absolutely.

Mary Seats (9:33)

I think the first thing was perfecting our business model when I sit in front of investors because we are in our seed raise of capital. So I think the first one of our challenges was capital. I bootstrapped this business. I funded it myself with no debt, no credit cards, really no lines of credit, was just from the marketing agency. I was like, this is a space where women need to go and need to thrive and they need this information. So I funded the business myself. But, but as we know in scaling in real estate, we need capital to scale really quickly. No matter how fast the business is growing, even if it's profitable, we need capital to really grow and scale the business. So I'm like, okay, I have to start raising capital and I'm sitting in front of these investors and the first thing they talk about is what about the wing? What about we work? What about blah blah blah blah. And I had to perfect my business model so that they can stop asking me those questions. One, I've already grown a marketing agency to $16 million in revenue and in nine years over $100 million in revenue. So you may have invested in founders that did not know what to do with the money. I've already bootstrapped several companies, grown them to be very successful companies with no debt and no investors. So you are investing in a great founder. The second thing that I had to prove was our business model. In investors minds, traditional coworking doesn't work. And especially with the pandemic where people were forced to be home, we have created six streams of revenue from our coworking space. So where if one revenue model is not performing, there are five other revenue models that are performing. If there's two revenue models that are not performing, there's still four other revenue models that are strong. We have an event space, a photography studio, our conference room, our coworking space, memberships, we have our cafe, all of those models we have done for you services. So for example, TikTok came into our facility and wanted to just use our space for a luncheon, right? And they had a budget of $2,500. But because they came in and said we actually don't have an event planner, we actually don't have anyone that does decor. We actually also don't have anyone that does catering. We were then able to sell them on a full done for you service and now cap out their budget completely with us. So our revenue model is so different and so unique because we have the marketing agency piece with it and the digital community piece with it that we now allow a one stop shop for our clients and they don't have to go out and search and seek other vendors. They can get it all within our company.

Sarah Lynch (12:16)

When we come back, I ask Mary about how she identifies her top priorities that drive growth. But first, a quick break.

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Interviewer (13:06)

Thank you for breaking that down. That's super helpful and interesting. In your role as leader, how do you make sure that you're prioritizing the right things in your day to drive more growth, not get weighed down by. I'm sure the many, many tasks that you could be doing that might not be as important to the business.

Mary Seats (13:24)

I as the CEO, I have now perfected my role to to do two things right. I always tell my team do not bother me if it does not affect the two Cs and the two Cs is cash flow and customer experience. I want to focus my work ethic, my time around things that are actually grow revenue for the business and I want to also focus my time on.

Mary Seats (13:52)

Things that are that are making our customers experience better. We've grown the bakery with no paid.

Mary Seats (14:00)

Marketing so we're not running ads, we don't have any digital billboards. We've literally grown it from our customers telling everyone on Facebook and on social.

Mary Seats (14:09)

Media how amazing our space is and by our programming. That's it. So the things that matter the most to me is cash flow of course. And then secondly our customer experience. When our customers are having amazing experiences.

Mary Seats (14:26)

They are more likely to bring in three customers to our business than me.

Mary Seats (14:30)

Doing a paid ad.

Mary Seats (14:32)

It is proven like we've done focus.

Mary Seats (14:34)

Groups, we've done so much beta testing around different co working spaces and how much they're spending around in paid advertising. Paid advertising is great, but hearing it from someone that they know, like and.

Mary Seats (14:47)

Trust is going to bring in three more customers over a paid ad.

Interviewer (14:51)

You've obviously created something that really works. You know, in Atlanta when it comes to opening up that second location.

Sarah Lynch (14:57)

How are you thinking about that?

Interviewer (14:59)

And I imagine it's not just a copy and paste situation. Right. It's going to be a whole new ball game. What's your strategy there?

Mary Seats (15:06)

Yeah, so I was really big on.

Mary Seats (15:08)

Building a model that existed without me.

Mary Seats (15:11)

Building a model that existed without my team because ultimately our long game is to franchise. So I wanna open three locations that.

Mary Seats (15:19)

We own, corporate locations that we own.

Mary Seats (15:21)

To show people that this works no matter where you are in the world.

Mary Seats (15:26)

This simple, easy model works and it is profitable.

Mary Seats (15:32)

I did it in Atlanta. I'm going to do the same exact thing in Houston, and then we're gonna do the same exact thing in another city and then we'll open up franchises. So it is copy and paste.

Interviewer (15:42)

Okay.

Mary Seats (15:43)

Yeah.

Mary Seats (15:43)

Like one thing that I spent the whole first year doing was soping and KPI on everything. We have a full database. Like if a franchisee was to come into our company. Now we have every single question, like, okay, what color is the paint? How does a member get off board? And how does a member get onboarded? If a member comes and they're overstanding time in the conference room and there's another booking, what do I say? There's literally a SOP and a training guide for every thing in the bakery that someone would have a question about. So it is a copy and paste. The only thing that will be different that I'm excited to explore is we're rolling out an app. So essentially virtual co working and virtual done for you services will be done on our app. So I'm super excited to explore building this app and building this tech portion because I think that what women get when they actually go into a co working space and they meet other like minded women and that energy and the power that they feel when they're like, wow, I've been looking my whole life for you. It can also happen on an app. It can also happen with technology and AI, but it hasn't been built yet. And so that's what I'm excited to build.

Interviewer (17:03)

Awesome. What would your advice be, Mary, for another entrepreneur who is in the midst of their own growth journey? What did you learn that you would want to share with them right now?

Mary Seats (17:14)

Oh my God, it's so much. I would say first, a slow rise to the top is better than a fast fall to the bottom. That's my first thing that I would say. It is so much better when you understand your process and you take that slow ride. Because I know that there's people that jump and grow their business so fast and then they crash and burn because they didn't learn the lessons along the way. Because they were just like running around like a chicken with their head cut off, trying to just catch up to the growth of their business. But ultimately, when we think about the companies like Disney, when we think about the companies like Apple, it's a slow Amazon slow grind, slow rise to the top. And that's what's creating those legacy companies that grew from garages and basements and bedrooms. It's because it was that slow. Okay, we're going to perfect it here. Like, for example, Amazon was like, yeah, our stuff isn't getting fast enough to our customers because we're dependent on you ups. We're dependent on usps. Let's cut that out. Get our own trucks, and then we'll get. Our Amazon trucks will deliver on a Sunday. Our Amazon trucks will deliver. We never had a company that would deliver to us on Saturday or Sunday or the day before Christmas.

Mary Seats (18:27)

Right.

Mary Seats (18:27)

And they figured it out as they went along, slowly and surely. The second thing that I will say is while some people are praying for it, other people are paying for it. Some founders are sitting around saying, like, God, help me grow. Other people are paying for mentorship. They're paying to get in the right rooms. They're paying for masterminds. They're paying for the ads. They're paying for the visibility. They are paying their way to that next level versus sitting around and just praying for it. And so those are the two pieces of advice that I would give any founder. A slow ride to the top is better than a fastball to the bottom. And some people are praying for it and other people are paying for it.

Interviewer (19:10)

What are some of your biggest dreams when it comes to how the company can grow from here? Obviously, like you said, you can picture this expanding to any location. What do you see, you know, in five years, for now, from the company?

Mary Seats (19:21)

So I would hope for myself to grow the company within the next year to very large numbers. Like, and then I want to be able to partner with or exit with a strategic. So like an industrious or like another.

Mary Seats (19:39)

Space that can grow the real estate.

Mary Seats (19:42)

Much further than I maybe can grow it.

Mary Seats (19:45)

Right.

Mary Seats (19:46)

Like, I want to see this like a wework in the standpoint of the.

Mary Seats (19:51)

Locations, because I feel like there are so many women that need what the bakery has to offer. We make it easy for women to.

Mary Seats (20:00)

Find information, resources, and capital. So I want to grow that model. And some of the models that I.

Mary Seats (20:06)

See expanding is our membership model and our programming.

Mary Seats (20:10)

I want people to be able to take a class from Taraji P. Henson.

Mary Seats (20:14)

On how to get into acting. I think that there are so many.

Mary Seats (20:18)

Iconic people that have not taught the bases. Imagine Taraji doing a workshop for 1,000.

Mary Seats (20:28)

Women on what to do and not to do in acting or launching your acting career or Beyonce stage presence. Right Like, I think that there are so many people that are doing amazing things. Sarah Blakely, How I failed, right? Like, 10 ways to fail faster. So you can get, you know, like, that type of programming would attract women.

Mary Seats (20:53)

From all over the world that are.

Mary Seats (20:54)

Starting these companies and messing up over and over again and starting their acting.

Mary Seats (20:59)

Career and messing up over and over.

Mary Seats (21:01)

Again when we have someone that has already done it before and you can.

Mary Seats (21:05)

Literally come into the bakery, cowork, learn.

Mary Seats (21:07)

From them, you know, so that's ultimately.

Mary Seats (21:09)

What I want to do.

Mary Seats (21:11)

First is like, enhance our programming, and then the second thing is enhance our done for you services. How often is it where you as.

Mary Seats (21:21)

A founder, have to find the photographer, the makeup artist, the wardrobe stylist, and the graphic designer?

Mary Seats (21:27)

All of the pieces to put to your puzzle to ultimately bake your dreams here at the bakery?

Mary Seats (21:32)

We have it all for you.

Mary Seats (21:34)

So you just walk in, you tell our team exactly what you need, and it's all provided for you.

Mary Seats (21:39)

You just show up to the photo shoot. You have the models, you have the photographer.

Mary Seats (21:43)

You have everything there. And now you can really be the creative that you desire to be. You can really go and grow the business. And you're not in the weeds of, like, at Target the day before trying to pick out clothes for the photo shoot, right? And so, yeah, that's what the bakery is there for.

Interviewer (21:59)

Mary, thank you so much for sharing all of your insights with us. This was great.

Sarah Lynch (22:06)

That's all for this episode of youf Next Move. Our producers are Blake Odom and Avery Miles. Editing and sound design by Nick Torres. Executive producer is Josh Christensen. If you haven't already, subscribe to your Next Move on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, your Next Move is a production of Inc And Capital One Business.