“Scale and proportion are extremely important in space planning and architecture… Anything you do in a house”
Are you a well-traveled, educated professional who knows what they want in a home, but don’t know how to get it? In this episode of Hustleburg, Brett talks with Gerianne Russell with Cross Keys Design to learn about how to design and decorate a fun, beautiful place to live.
Geri and Brett discuss her path through design school, assisting designers in the field, and getting her first client.
Design Your Dream Home
Create spaces that are both functional and beautiful with Cross Keys Designs:
If you enjoyed what you heard in this episode, please take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast on your favorite player. Each episode is available on its own post, with the entire catalog here. It’s available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast catcher. We listen to this show and our favorites on Castbox. It’s hosted by Podbean. We appreciate your attention, and we can’t wait to have you back for the next episode.
Hear Your Question, Answered, on Hustleburg
If you have any questions you’d like to have answered on an upcoming Q&A episode, please take a moment to visit beyondyoursidehustle.com/podcastquestion and ask there. If you’re a St. Pete businessperson who’d like to sit down for an interview, please reach out to us here.
Meeting face to face for interviews with local business owners has been tough amid the Safer at Home orders and a phased re-opening, as we figure out how to get back to business as usual. As a result, this episode of Hustleburg will be a “best of,” as I guide you in a walk down memory lane, featuring some of my favorite moments in the Hustleburg interviews thus far in this “best of” episode.
No Two Paths Are the Same
It’s no surprise that no two entrepreneurs are the same, and that their paths to owning a business would be the same either. In the next clip, you’ll hear from Sheila Lake from her interview in Episode 1, profiling Lake Law Firm, P. A., Kara Wright talking about her photography business, Kara Wright Photography from Episode 3, Sit Means Sit – St. Petersburg’s Elena Elwart from Episode 15, and Eric Olson from PedalPub St. Pete in Episode 17 sharing their stories about how they came to own and operate their respective businesses, ranging from a deep passion for the law to self-described “dumb luck”.
Admit What You Don’t Know
Running a small business on your own isn’t easy as Robynne Swanson of Red Hot Tiki explained in Episode 5. Sometimes you have to admit all that you don’t know.
Getting the Word Out
When you’re first starting out, getting the word out about your business and how you serve the community is often the biggest struggle. Hear a bit about that from FUSE Therapy‘s Amanda Grozdanic from Episode 9.
Franchise Vs. From the Ground Up
It isn’t only a struggle when you’re starting from the ground up, to make the community aware of what you do, as Peter Jaeger shared in Episode 7, as he talked about what it’s like to do so in the franchisee environment with Tread Connection Tampa Bay.
Networking – Online and In Real Life
Successful entrepreneurs know they have to network, both online and in real life. PedalPub St. Pete’s Eric Olson shares with us how he interacts with his fellow local business community to keep PedalPub in their mind’s eye from Episode 17.
The Power of Events
Elena Elwart offers her experience with community events and those centered around your industry in Episode 15, as she discussed her success with them as she started out with Sit Means Sit St. Petersburg.
Word of Mouth
Word of mouth is a powerful ally for new businesses. Scott Surridge from SPS Home Inspections shares his experience of creating a quality experience for those you work with and how it benefits your business in Episode 13 of Hustleburg.
Industry Referrals for the Expert
Referrals from within your industry can also help build your business, when you share your expertise with others. Sheila Lake of Lake Law Firm, P.A. shared in Episode 1 how she utilizes social media to add value to the local legal community and the rewards that’s meant for her firm.
Disciplined Routines
A disciplined commitment to routines that help build your business keep you motivated, and Trent Smith explained how he uses routines to continue prospecting for his real estate business in Episode 11.
Different Platforms Yield Different Results
Kara Wright found different platforms on social yielded differing results after moving Kara Wright Photography from the DC area to St. Pete, explaining in Episode 3 that even the locale matters when it comes to the same company using social media in two different locations.
Find Your Niche (and Your Tribe)
Finding your niche is a key to success, when you figure out who you serve and how you’ll serve them, as Peter Yaeger from Tread Connection Tampa Bay found. He shares in Episode 7 who he’s identified as a customer and how he can best serve them.
Creating a New Way of Doing Things
Sometimes that niche comes from creating a new way of doing things, as you see opportunities to get past the idea that that’s the way we’ve always done it. Hear from Amanda Grozdanic with FUSE Therapy in Episode 9 about starting her business by serving her patients in a new and more effective way.
Be Known for Something Specific
If you don’t find a new way of doing things, it can simply be a matter of being known for one thing in particular. Robynne Swanson of Red Hot Tiki explains how something she’s known for, the Scorpion Shot Challenge, works in Episode 5.
Your Reputation Matters
Scott Surridge from SPS Home Inspections shares his secret for sustaining his business in Episode 13… His reputation for providing quality service time and again. This may seem like a no-brainer, but many small businesses struggle with their reputation.
If you enjoyed what you heard in this episode, please take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast on your favorite player. Each episode is available on its own post, with the entire catalog here. It’s available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast catcher. We listen to this show and our favorites on Castbox. It’s hosted by Podbean. We appreciate your attention, and we can’t wait to have you back for the next episode.
Get Your Questions Answered on Hustleburg
If you have any questions you’d like to have answered on an upcoming Q&A episode, please take a moment to visit beyondyoursidehustle.com/podcastquestion and ask there. If you’re a St. Pete businessperson who’d like to sit down for an interview, please reach out to us here.
“These people are going to be bringing business to me…”
You’ve likely seen the 16-seat Dutch style bikes moving between bars as a rolling pub crawl in downtown St. Pete. In this episode of Hustleburg, Brett talks with Pedal Pub St. Pete‘s Eric Olson to learn about how the pedal-powered transport came to be a fixture downtown.
Eric and Brett discuss how he “fell into” the business, the process for having the bikes made, and how the tour between bars and pubs materialized in St. Pete.
If you enjoyed what you heard in this episode, please take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast on your favorite player. Each episode is available on its own post, with the entire catalog here. It’s available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast catcher. We listen to this show and our favorites on Castbox. It’s hosted by Podbean. We appreciate your attention, and we can’t wait to have you back for the next episode.
Hear Your Question, Answered, on Hustleburg
If you have any questions you’d like to have answered on an upcoming Q&A episode, please take a moment to visit beyondyoursidehustle.com/podcastquestion and ask there. If you’re a St. Pete businessperson who’d like to sit down for an interview, please reach out to us here.
Brett Bittner So these Dutch style bikes that are a mobile bar, why is that what it is you do?
Eric Olson It’s kind of dumb luck. Okay, actually, it started in back in February 2006. I got an email from a fellow homebrewer lived in Minneapolis and part of the Minnesota home Brewers Association he saw one in Belgium actually took a picture of it. And it was more of a joke email, you know, hahaha would this be fun? As a club vehicle for events, parades, things like that, why song is the thing? That’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. All right, zoomed in, I could barely make up a name. Yes cafe, did a Google search for that and found this Dutch website, the kind of website where you press a button and that translates and it’s kind of packed that you can figure it out what they’re saying, sure, like, but I could figure out their email address. So I clicked on that send an email said, Hey, would you guys like to give us directions on how to build one? The homebrewers Club might want to put one together for events and parades. And they write back No, no, we’re not gonna do that. Okay, so how much would one cost if one were to buy one said well never shipped one to the US before, but including shipping to be about $40,000 Whoa, well, my cheap Best Buddies in the beer club now. Look, it’s just in beer club. You try to make the best beer for the lowest cost, right? So that’s just part of the fun of it. Well, they’re not about to kick out that much money for a parade vehicle. But I was a business professor. At the time at normandale Community College and, and I’ve been in business for myself, you know. So it’s not that I didn’t think it would be that difficult. So I started reading together a kind of a proposal, kind of a business plan, some pro formas, it was difficult to do, because there’s no historical data to go off of. And if you start a pizza place, you can find historical data. This is how much you should be paying for sauce. This is so much lower labor that how much rent, your market size should be this big, that kind of thing had none of that because nobody had ever done it before in the United States. And but I started putting some numbers together, got a hold of a couple of guys that I thought might be good business partners. And one of them said, you know, let’s go to Amsterdam and go meet those guys. So I flew to Amsterdam, and while we were there we met here and Hank Fennell are their brothers is here as a truck driver. Hank was a welder. Their dad was a welder, just blue collar guys. And they dreamed this thing up on the back of a bar napkin in Amsterdam. Wow. Yeah. And the bar owner saw what they were drawing and said, Hey, you know if you get that, ready for The Queen’s Day Parade, which evidently is like the hugest thing in Amsterdam. Okay, I’ll pay for the parts. And that’s how they had to develop the first one, four or five years prior to us stopping there. While we were there. They said, Would you like to be a US distributor? Well, that’s what we wanted to do. So it took about six months to work out the international distribution agreement, because even though we have the kind of the same common law base, there’s a little different than ours. And you know, what governing law are you going to use if there’s a dispute, things like that? We got the first one delivered in March of 2007, in Minneapolis, and opening day, the first of these in the country, actually, on April Fool’s Day 2007. Did all the tours me and my business partner for that first year, and the next year, we had to hire somebody to do some of the tours. Then we started, people started noticing us across the country and we just so we’re operating a distributorship. Okay, nationwide distributorship, as well as retail operation and in Minneapolis and Things started going really well, Minneapolis and more people started asking us about, you know, how do I start this business? So we wrote up a nice business manual. And we sold that along with the bikes. And we ended up doing that selling those these bikes into 38 markets across the country sold over 150 units. I sold out of that business two years ago. Okay, and now I’ve got this pedal pub, I got pedal pumps and P offices. So that’s the that’s the story.
Brett Bittner So who is it that’s wanting to get? What is it? 123 12 to 15 other friends to bike around?
Eric Olson It’s mostly birthday parties, okay, bachelorette parties, and just friends on the town. Okay, I break it down when people are are checking out and they’re about to pass. That’s one of the required questions. Okay. Yeah. A little over almost 70% fall into one of those three categories. Wow. And there’s other ones too and that, you know, it might fall into, like a charity event or corporate out I guess that would be fourth out of the out of the West we do a lot of businesses where they’ll they’ll rent out two, maybe even all three of the bikes because I can put 48 people on board. Okay, bikes, each bike called 16. And then we got to be careful where we pick where we’re going to go because there’s some places we would overwhelm with 40 people, but we do that all the time. We got the Chamber of Commerce ambassadors coming on next Thursday, their rent to bikes, and it’s just a hell of a lot of fun. Yeah.
Brett Bittner So do you have like a predetermined route? Or is it just kind of the places that they want to hit in a bike like Pub Crawl? It depends on private tours. Yeah,
Eric Olson if you rent it, I say you Brittany’s wherever you want to go, as long as it’s back in two hours because that’s the time limit. I don’t really care. Usually on private tours, they got one ideas like we really want to stop at first, or really want to stop at avid or wherever someplace in this area. on public tours where people rent by the seat. We pick the stops. Okay? Because we can’t have people trying to you know, we got a bachelor party of six in the town of four and their time, well, where do we go? And now I’m public tours, which are about half of our tours, we set exactly where we’re going to stop. Okay? Actually, my drivers do that at the time of the tour.
Brett Bittner So today, your businesses where it is, where do you want to be taking it? And what is it that you’re doing to get it there?
Eric Olson Well, as this business has been here for we started in, I started in 2012. So it’s, this is our beginning of our eighth year, okay. And what I want to do is maintain stability and sales because what happens and has happened has happened across the country in all these all the other markets, all 38 markets is about your six or seven, is that when that’s when sales start to come down a little bit in that plateau, because all locals have done it. Okay, you know, three or four times some of them right and in a lot of places you don’t have any kind of tourist business going on. Sure. So I’m not looking to grow beyond these three bikes because I don’t there there isn’t gonna be that much demand for it I can’t stir up or create more demand for it. So yeah, that’s where we’re gonna keep the three bikes full. And and kind of stave off that seven year. Yeah, it’s fine or plateau, kind of inevitable. The cool new thing first few years are real struggling right just about when under a cup in first few years almost seems to keep on tossing money at something saying well, maybe we can get it to work. Okay, right. It’s good. Can you do with a used car? Well, I fixed transmission but now the engines going on. Right? You know, the sunk costs situation. So the first several years, three years make any money then it starts taking off pretty good, and now it’s flat towing, but we’re plateauing at a good level.
Brett Bittner So what are some of the things that you’re doing to try to make sure that you’ve got butts in the seats for all three bikes as much as you can possibly tour?
Eric Olson i’ve tried a lot of different thing, okay, I tried. I mean, nothing against creative loafing but I put an ad in there that was a complete waste, okay? Something called my area network, which was supposed to get in touch with people in the area. That was a waste of money, crunch fitness, sign up with them, did some marketing through them, that didn’t do anything. Okay, the only place to spend your money now is Facebook. Now next year, I might give you a completely different answer. Okay. But right now that’s where it’s at.
Brett Bittner Well, you’re speaking my language, you know, I actually have something coming out all the will have come out by the time this airs, but it’s talking about the single most important platform for any small business. And it’s Facebook because that is where the people are. Yep. But I’m looking forward in where we can get some underpriced attention and some of the things that we can be doing from in a digital marketing space. I’m looking at like the swipe up ads on Instagram as a possibility. And one thing that’s really cool is the viral nature. of tic Tock if you’re not if you’re familiar with that video,
Eric Olson no,
Brett Bittner that one’s 15 to 60 second videos. But the cool thing about it is you don’t have to have a following. You don’t have to build anything. Because of the way the app is designed to give you the for you page where it serves videos that it thinks you will like. And you don’t have to follow that page. You don’t have to follow that account. So you have the opportunity to go viral from literally nothing from your very first post. So there’s some really cool new kind of underpriced attention things.
Eric Olson Well, you know, Facebook has it right now. Yeah, just that’s where all the people that are where it’s at. And I will guarantee in five years, that’s not going to be the correct
Brett Bittner Oh, absolutely! Now, you know, people are going to catch up to the, you know, they’re going to figure out that it’s priced right. And it’s going to be too expensive for a lot of small businesses and they’re going to have moved on. So is there anything that you’re reading, watching or listening to, to help you grow or stave off the plateau?
Eric Olson No. Okay, I used to read a lot of textbooks, business textbooks, I taught business classes for 15 years. And right now, I’ve watched some videos on how to do your own Facebook marketing, right type of thing. But not not a whole heck of a lot of that. Okay. You know what I do to kind of keep abreast of what’s going on in town. I love St. Louis and St. Pete is really the coolest damn town. Absolutely. And, you know, I go to things like entrepreneur, social club, great people there. There’s another one called ruin a business where, you know, network and drink beer, which is totally that’s right up your alley. Right, you know, and I keep abreast of what’s going on in town. I, I talk to the local business owners here and you know, say NC Hey, who’s moving in? There’s a whiskey distillery that’s going to be moving in down the street here. So I, I stopped there, American Freedom distillery. And I think the girl’s name was Melinda. And it doesn’t matter what her name was, but that’s good. That’s huge. Gonna be Huge, I met a gal that’s working for the, you know, the State Theatre at six seventh and central and but they cleaned it all up and that’s gonna be really nice event space, they’re gonna be remodeling. they’re gonna be hopefully opening in April. Okay, that’s the that’s the goal that’s gutted and they’re working on the insides now. But that’s, that’s going to be popping open soon. And I just keep abreast of things by just being out talking to other business owners and other people around town.
Brett Bittner So when you aren’t working on pedal pub, and when you aren’t giving tours, where can we find you doing? What in the St. Pete area?
Eric Olson You could find me at the gym? Okay, and don’t try to go to the gym every day. Sure. You will find me. Well, it’s it’s kind of a weird blend my life because I don’t I don’t think of it as work but I do go to all these local places and bars and restaurants and make sure okay, is this going to be an appropriate stop for my tours? Who are the people that work here? You know, are they nice folks that type of thing? And other than that, you see me? Well, yeah, you probably see me around town a lot. Now think about it.
Brett Bittner Okay, what is one of your favorite completely unrelated to work activities to do around here?
Eric Olson unrelated to work activities to do around here? Yeah, festivals. There’s there’s some live music plan, though see the black honkies of those guys. You know, I’ve been to Janice live a couple of times. I think that’s a great venue. Okay. I’ll go over here real close to three daughters, and they’ve got a venue there. And that’s it’s kind of unrelated. It is unrelated to work, but I still I still have always I ended up for Okay, should we stop here? How is the surface? What are the prices like, um, you know, what I, I pretty much never stopped thinking about business. Okay.
Brett Bittner So how much of your time would you say that you’re working on your business in those kind of activities versus in your business, actually doing tours and doing the day to day operations.
Eric Olson I don’t do tours anymore. I’ll fill in. I want my people, my employees to do the tours, I certainly swoop in and take one thing I want to do that tour owner that not going to do that. So I’ll fill in on tours, as far as the day to day stuff, you know, I’ve had to make a bunch of copies of some biking tour logs that I’ve just brought down here, working on workers comp, odd and all that fun stuff that goes on behind the scenes. Yeah, employees and nobody here thinks about riding the ride in the bike. So I you know, that’s what I do working whether that you consider honor in I don’t know. But that’s what my days are spent doing is figuring that kind of stuff out.
Brett Bittner So you said this is the eighth year that you’ve been in business here in St. Louis. Is that about the time that you transitioned from Minneapolis or was there some time where you weren’t pedal pub? In St. Pete, but you were already here?
Eric Olson was starting to move with you. And that was a very kind of a strange start. There was a gal named Krista who had sent an email to me and my business partner who has since bought out and said, Hey, I’m moving to St. Pete, my husband’s being transferred down here. I think that this pedal pump thing would work down there. Well, that time we’re going okay, fine. We’ll sell you a bike in the businessman a well, we didn’t want to open up any kind of satellite operation. She was very persistent. So we said, well tell you what, if you can get it approved by the city. We’ll send a couple bikes down there for a season to see if it works. And it did. She initially we started efforts, she was showing the the information to to mark Ferguson for and he just said, Okay, I get it. He’s very smart guy, good businessman. And he just said, Okay, fine. I’m gonna clear on a space in the back. You guys will start near tours right there. Because he can figure it out like that. That okay? These people are going to be bringing business to me three or two people. You know With multiple bikes or falls, he did that real quick. So that’s where that’s where we started out. And I had, you know, I came down here and met with her and saw St. Pete and St. Pete was pretty nice. Yeah, at the time. And it wasn’t until about three. I mean, it was here a lot. But it wasn’t till about three years ago that I bought a condo. And I’ve been living there full time for the last year and a half so far. Because turns out that dumb luck, and an email from a gal named Krista and I found a place that I really love. That’s awesome. St. Pete’s fantastic, man.
Brett Bittner Very cool. What events do you have coming in the second half of 2020 that we know that you’re going to be a part of where people can find out more about you or they’re going to kind of see you guys around town or that they you know, you’re going to be a part of None? None. Sorry. That’s okay. Hey, man. Lots of times. It’s just about the business that you got going on. I wasn’t sure if there was anything In the area that that you guys might show up to, yeah.
Eric Olson Nothing planned right now. Okay.
Brett Bittner So where can people find out more about pedal pub, St. Pete website, Facebook, Instagram, all the social media stuff.
Eric Olson The best places is our website PedalPubStPete.com And same thing abbreviated. Of course. The stuff that I put on on Facebook is just generally fun local funding local stuff. Yeah, I just, you know, I put up stuff on there because it’s funny, and it usually has to do with the weather because what the weather or beer does, that’s we have to deal with. If it’s a thunderstorm, right, go out. Okay. Absolutely. You know, you’re not gonna get hit by lightning and resting in. It’s not anything to worry about. But yeah, we got thunderstorms. Okay. Yeah, I mean, look, if we can’t dress for our weather, who can write we got ponchos if you get wet. You know, there’s a certain time of year round here Where? Yeah, it’s gonna rain pretty much every day. But you’ll see us out on the street On CENTRAL AVENUE. range goes from about 50 to about 31st. Okay, about four or 548 on East and punk east on the west. We stay cut pretty tight within that but, you know, around Central Avenue, Grand Central District, a little bit into the edge district as well.
Brett Bittner Very cool. Eric, I appreciate you taking the time to talk with Hustleburg and I can’t wait to see what’s next. Alright.
“[Dogs] have to learn the motion first. Then, apply the word to it.”
Do you have a new four-legged addition to your family? In this episode of Hustleburg, Brett sits down with Sit Means Sit – Saint Petersburg‘s Elena Elwart and her dog, Junior.
Junior is listening with you!
Brett and Elena discuss different types of dog training, red flags when it comes to picking your trainer, and what to expect when you embark on a training program for your dog.
If you enjoyed what you heard in this episode, please take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast on your favorite player. Each episode is available on its own post, with the entire catalog here. It’s available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast catcher. We listen to this show and our favorites on Castbox. It’s hosted by Podbean. We appreciate your attention, and we can’t wait to have you back for the next episode.
Hear Your Question, Answered, on Hustleburg
If you have any questions you’d like to have answered on an upcoming Q&A episode, please take a moment to visit beyondyoursidehustle.com/podcastquestion and ask there. If you’re a St. Pete businessperson who’d like to sit down for an interview, please reach out to us here.
The below transcript created automatically by Otter.ai
Brett Bittner In this episode, I have the opportunity to speak with Elena Elwart from Sit Means Sit in St. Petersburg.
Elena Elwart Thank you so much for having me.
Brett Bittner Oh, glad to have you. And we have a special guest Jr. who if you saw some of the stuff that we did, prior to the episode, you’re going to see him featured as well. So Elena, why dog behavior?
Elena Elwart It’s actually a very personal story for me. So I started out owning my first ever dog as a gift to myself coming back from deployments. I’m a veteran, and it was my, hey, you’re doing great, you’re making some good money. Now you’re gonna have to occupy your time with something else. So I got grace and I tried two different training programs that didn’t work. She’s a very Alpha Dog, okay. Which I did not understand at all.
Brett Bittner Some people have no idea what you’re talking about when you say something like alpha.
Elena Elwart Yes. So alpha dogs, just to give you an idea, they want what they want when they want it, and they will find every loophole possible to get their way. And when you have a tiny little dog that’s about six pounds on half an acre of land trying to get them to go inside it gets very frustrating. So I found sit means sit, and they had actually been a successful Business prior to joining second set, which is a franchise, and when I was a client, my trainer was also a veteran. So he was able to kind of see some of the behaviors that grace was doing that is not typical of dogs. And she ended up becoming my service dog. Totally unplanned. But because of that, I kind of dove into the whole realm of how dogs help people how people’s psyche as well as physical body can be benefited from just touching a dog. And then I saw the difference between myself in when I interact with my dog and when I interact with people, and it was totally different. So grace really kind of started the path for me and three months in my trainer said, Hey, why don’t you open a franchise since you’re getting medically chapter out of the army? And I said, Don’t know a thing about training. So I spent eight months internship with him. So while I was still full time I did part time with them. Then I became a trainer with them because I was taking longer to get out of the army than anticipated. And then after working with them, I finally moved to St. Petersburg and got my certificate as a franchise owner in a color trainer and then opened up my business come April of 2012.
Brett Bittner So a lot of the folks that we’ve talked to haven’t been franchise owners. Tell me what that looks like in the sit means sit world when we spoke with Peter Yeager, I believe that was Episode Seven of Tampa tread connection. He was our first franchisee. What does that mean? In the sit means sit world.
Elena Elwart So with that being said, it means that we get a brand. We also have continuing education. So a lot of trainers once they graduate from a class they think they know everything. And that really makes them stagnant in the dog world because dogs evolve, training evolves, everything needs to be continued to keep updated. So with set means set, we have both, like the business owner aspect of it for continuing education as well as the training aspect of it as continuing education. So we both opportunities each year for us to go to and attend. They also have the branding, they help us with non competes and contracts with clients. We’re also able to reach out to other franchise owners and trainers and if we don’t know how to fix something, we can ask for their opinion what worked for them and different strategies that we haven’t tried yet or haven’t thought of trying yet.
Brett Bittner So here in St. Petersburg, who is it that you’re working with the most what kind of dog what kind of people come to Sit Means Sit generally?
Elena Elwart I actually train just about any dog out there. My biggest clients right now is dogs that are struggling with behavioral issues that people call aggression, but it’s really just a reactivity out of fear. And then I also have people that want their dog to become a therapy dog. And I had started the Florida chapter of the Go Team therapy airport and crisis dogs. So I trained a lot of dogs to be able to go through that as well.
Brett Bittner Okay, so who’s your ideal client?
Elena Elwart My ideal client is somebody that wants to take their dog anywhere in everywhere in St. Pete. Okay. St. Pete is trying to become the most dog friendly city in America. That’s great. And we are getting there. We have so many dog friendly restaurants and breweries, and we even have a dog bar and we have a another dog that or another bar that has dog park in it. So there’s all kinds of different places that you can take your dog. So I want to build a relationship between the handler, the owner, the parents of the dog, and get them to a point where they feel like they can literally do anything with their dog.
Brett Bittner Awesome. What should a puppy parents be looking for when they’re actually out there looking to find a trainer for their dog.
Elena Elwart My biggest advice to everybody when I talk to them is asked to view training. If a trainer won’t show you how they train or they won’t invite you to group classes to view or come view a private lesson. That’s usually a red flag. Everything I do is out in public. I do group classes in public. I do a lot of private lessons at public parks or at people’s homes. I like to train as we live, not in a bubble. So I do all the time. Training out in public. So I am visible everybody. I have nothing to hide. And so if a trainer has something that they feel like they have to hide, big, huge red flag. So now what kind what types of training do you do? Obviously, you said you work with every kind of dog. Are we talking obedience for the very beginners all the way through? You mentioned something called e collar training. I know what that is, but I don’t know that everybody else does. But that’s certainly a more advanced off-leash training than what you’re seeing in the group classes, private lessons, obedience stuff.
Brett Bittner So tell us a little bit about each of the types of training that you do.
Elena Elwart So I actually have a unique training system. So for I have a puppy class that uses treats so it helps new puppy owners learn how to be with their puppy and get them on a leash and get them started and proper introductions with other dogs etc. And then once they’re past 16 weeks old, they can go straight into the E collar training. So I use e collar training as a template. So that way they can learn to focus on their handler, no matter where they’re at and what the distractions are. Even though the dogs are young, we still want them to know proper boundaries, what’s expected of them in different situations. So we actually teach the dog how to act in each situation, instead of just teaching them sit, stay, walk in a circle and then become buddies with everybody in class, right? Our group classes actually our maintenance program. So it is not your typical class. We do very advanced things. We do lots of food refusal, advanced distraction work, distance work, off-leash work, hand signals, directionals, whistle commands and fun games as well.
Brett Bittner Wow, that’s a lot. Yes. So when somebody finally has secured training for their dog, what should they expect? What what are they going to encounter when they show up the first day with their dog.
Elena Elwart So the first day, we actually are able to start teaching the dog how to focus, how to sit with attention, do something called a place command, as well as come command, and that is your foundation of training. And if they don’t have that foundation, you’re not going to progress. So we really make sure that our clients understand the importance of those commands. And then we use that as our building blocks. And each client is very individual, I do a free consultation because I don’t train each dog being exactly the same as other dogs, because each dog has their own personality, their own way of communicating their own needs. And so it has to be very individualized especially when different families want different things from their dogs like one family may want to go camping with their dog, whereas another family just wants a great dog to go running with.
Brett Bittner Have you ever encountered an untrainable dog?
Elena Elwart Twice. and they had medical conditions. Usually it’s not a behavioral thing. Yeah, it’s usually medical.
Brett Bittner So, what was it that made them untrainable?
Elena Elwart One had cancer and one had a brain tumor.
Brett Bittner Okay, that would definitely do it. Yes.
Elena Elwart Usually when a dog becomes, quote, unquote untrainable it’s because of some sort of medical issue. Okay. I actually have a friend who was a trainer whose dog she rescue was this great demo dog. She’s cute, spunky, very friendly, and then all of a sudden, she started to become aggressive towards people. She couldn’t understand that she did lots of training. She’s a trainer so she knows what she’s doing. She reached out to everyone took her dog into the vet, the dog had brain cancer. So it’s always a reason why a dog is behaving a certain way. And behaviors are always manageable, but you can’t change a dog’s DNA. So I always tell people like if your dog does not like other dogs, it’s Okay, I don’t like other people all the time, right? And that’s okay.
Brett Bittner What’s something that most families don’t know about their dog?
Elena Elwart Oh, that’s a good one. Usually they don’t know about the proper form of communication. So everybody thinks that dogs just automatically understand when you tell them sit that it means put their butt on the ground, right. And that’s not true. They have to learn the motion first, and then apply the word to it. So I tell clients, you could use Google OSH as their sick command and it would mean the exact same thing. I actually have a client who says that her next dog in a few years, she wants to teach the sit as a down and a down as a sit and come as a stay. Oh, wow. And she has two other dogs. It will be confusing but it just shows that you can use any word for the The motion that the dog does, it’s just being consistent with the exact same word and having it small. Not a huge, long sentence like why are you barking so much? I just don’t understand.
Brett Bittner They don’t understand English. No, they they’re getting maybe 60 words if they’re really, really smart, so I totally get that. So what is it that you’re doing now switching a little more to the business side of things to keep a full calendar?
Elena Elwart Well, I’ve actually for two years, I didn’t do any advertising because I’ve had so many referrals. It’s just me. I’m on the business owner and the trainer. So my calendar has always stayed very busy or solopreneur. I love that. But now I have added in some Google AdWords, right. I used to do a lot of events, but I just don’t have the time for it anymore. It’s very time consuming, but from new business owners best way ever To make networks, get involved in the community, get your name out into the community. I did a lot of rescue events, I did home shows, races, all kinds of festivals, anything and everything that could get my name out there.
Brett Bittner Awesome. What is it right now that you would like to do better or more of in that same realm that you think that could really bring you some business?
Elena Elwart I actually think I found the sweet spot. Okay, I’m almost eight years into my business. Yeah. So I have dabbled in just about everything in terms of advertising. I don’t want to be one of those people that work 60 hours a week, right? Because I love my dogs and I want to do stuff with them. No, of course. So I i limit how many clients I actually take in and right now with the influx from the Google AdWords, I can’t do anything more, or I’m going to be too overwhelmed.
Brett Bittner I understand. What is it that you’re watching or reading or listening to? that’s helping you keep up with the latest in dog behavior and or helping you grow to grow your business so that you’re not necessarily always working in it. But you’re working on it.
Elena Elwart Yeah. Working on it instead of in it is always the hardest. I feel like for business owners Yeah, we’re very particular we want…
Brett Bittner No one does it as well as we do.
Elena Elwart our business. So that’s the biggest struggle for me is I have gone through many employees. And I know I’m difficult to work for because I have a very particular way of treating clients treating clients and dogs. I view that every client’s dog should be treated as my own. And a lot of trainers just want the easy Fast Money and not put the work in. And it is work. You’re not just sitting there petting puppies all day. Yeah, you have to walk them and potty them and feed them if they’re staying with you and make sure they’re groomed properly and on top of that work on the obedience that they came to you for. So there’s a whole nother level to it that a lot of people just don’t understand. They think dog training, get to hang out with dogs all day, right? while you’re on your feet a lot. You’re at parks a lot. So you’re outdoors, a lot, all kinds of weather. And so you have to keep an eye on the weather things that you normally wouldn’t have to worry about worrying about. Is it too hot? Is it now too cold because with our fluctuations and winter, the dogs sometimes they aren’t able to handle it as well as some other dogs. So just being able to find someone that does it the way that I do it, okay is always gonna be a struggle for me.
Brett Bittner All right. So what are you doing to keep up with what’s happening in dog behavior then?
Elena Elwart I actually part of I don’t know how many groups on Facebook I am part of therapy dog group pages, a service dog group pages, because the service dog world is rapidly changing for the better, good. And then I’m also on a whole bunch of different Florida dog trainer groups, Florida dog business groups, Florida marketing groups, dog training marketing groups. So basically I spend at least a half an hour every day going through different posts, seeing what other people are struggling with. Because sometimes you don’t realize you’re struggling with something when you’re in the middle. Right? Yes. So I kind of learned from other people as well as put my own input in there as well. There’s so much information out there on dogs that it can be hard to keep on top of things. So I always try to make sure that what I’m reading is the most up to date and current, okay, because there’s still things out there. floating around from research back in 2001 or 2020.
Brett Bittner So when you’re not training dogs, what is your favorite thing to do in or around St. Pete?
Elena Elwart Go somewhere with my dog. Okay. I love to go to dog beaches. I like to go to the dog bar. I like to go to breweries that are dog friendly. restaurants have patios for dogs. Everywhere I go, pretty much I bring a dog with me.
Brett Bittner So looking forward through the rest of 2020. Are there any big events that you know that you will be going to? I know you’re cutting back on some of those because you got all of the value you needed out of them? Is there anything where we can run where we’re gonna run into you?
Elena Elwart I actually have my group class come to the ASPCA walk the 3k walk that they have. I use that as a really big distraction. There’s hundreds if not thousands of dogs that come to those walks and then There’s also the service dog group in Sarasota. Okay. And yeah, dogs Yes. Then they also put a walk on Okay, that I do as a group class as well. So you could if there’s a dog Walk of some sort, you can most likely find me there with a group of people.
Brett Bittner Alright Elena, we’re at the end. Where can people find out more about sit means sit here in St. Pete. websites, social media, phone number, whatever you want to give where people can connect with you?
Elena Elwart Sure. I have all of it. My website is StPetersburg.sitmeanssit.com. And on Facebook, I’m sit means sit dog training St. Petersburg. You can also call me at 727-537-9721
Brett Bittner Anything beyond Facebook, social media wise?
Elena Elwart I am on a What is it? What’s the new one?
Brett Bittner Which one? TikTok? Are you talking about Instagram? Snapchat?
Elena Elwart Instagram. Yes.
Brett Bittner Awesome.
Elena Elwart I’m not very tech savvy. Okay. I’m on Instagram. Yeah. I don’t know if everything posts the way it’s supposed to. Yeah, but I am on there as well under Sit Means Sit St. Petersburg.
Brett Bittner Awesome. Elena, it was fabulous talking with you. It was great meeting Junior. He did a great job here. We’ve had plenty of distractions as we recorded outside in Abercrombie Park. Thanks so much for coming on.
“Get a Home Inspection… It’s Worth the Investment”
To follow up the last interview episode, it seems fitting to hang out in the real estate realm as Brett sits down with SPS Home Inspections‘ Scott Surridge. No matter where you are in Tampa Bay, Scott can offer the peace of mind you need when purchasing your next home.
Brett and Scott discuss what most people don’t know about their own homes, the craziest thing he’s found in an inspection, and what’s so important about inspecting the home you’re about to purchase.
If you enjoyed what you heard in this episode, please take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast on your favorite player. Each episode is available on its own post, with the entire catalog here. It’s available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast catcher. We listen to this show and our favorites on Castbox. It’s hosted by Podbean. We appreciate your attention, and we can’t wait to have you back for the next episode.
Hear Your Question, Answered, on Hustleburg
If you have any questions you’d like to have answered on an upcoming Q&A episode, please take a moment to visit beyondyoursidehustle.com/podcastquestion and ask there. If you’re a St. Pete businessperson who’d like to sit down for an interview, please reach out to us here.
If you have a question about marketing, building your brand or operating your small business that you’d like to have answered on a q&a episode, please visit beyond your side hustle comm slash podcast question to submit it. In this episode, I have the opportunity to speak with Scott Surridge from SPS home inspections. Enjoy.
Brett Bittner Tell me a little bit about why it is that you are a home inspector what is it that got you into that line of work?
Scott Surridge Well, I first started building houses when I was 17. And I’m 57 now so it was a natural progression from time that I finished building homes to go into some sort of profession where I’m more of a counselor or advisor and Home Inspection seems to be the next step to go.
Brett Bittner So not swinging the hammer anymore. You wanted to be more of somebody who’s guiding someone through that home buying home selling process to make sure that the house was ready for them to either move in or sell to somebody else, right?
Scott Surridge Correct. Yeah, I am the go between for the buyers and sellers and making sure that the buyer is purchasing a product that is that is secure and sound.
Brett Bittner Okay, who is your kind of ideal client? Are you mainly working with buyers? Are you mainly working with sellers? Is it a mix of the two or are you just coming in when a real estate agent that has you listed as the two or three inspectors to check out?
Scott Surridge It’s all three situations… sellers, buyers and realtors. I’ve been in the business for eight years inspecting only and building houses for 40. But for the past eight years, it’s a referral business I’ve never advertised and never had to. And buyers are the mainstay, whether they’re a referral from a friend or whether they’re a referral from a realtor. We do get sellers I will knock on sellers doors for for sale by owners and ask them if they would like a home inspection done to understand what they might expect in the sale of their home. And that is a very good way to help the seller out but I like working with buyers and making sure that they’re understanding what they’re purchasing with a major investment.
Brett Bittner So you talked about having a background in construction previously, you’ve been solely in the home inspection business for the last eight years. What else do you bring to the table? What kind of education In addition to the construction background?
Scott Surridge Well, as I mentioned, I started building houses framing houses when I was 17. I’m from way upstate New York near Rochester area. And when I moved down here 30 years ago, I continued to build build homes and mainly waterfront homes in Mira Bay and mocha Sega Bay, and we also started Chevelle. So I’m used to the larger custom homes. So I was involved in the total process of building those homes starting as a framer and then working up to be a superintendent and project manager. So over 40 years I’ve gained a lot of experience in understanding the home from the ground up. Now is there any kind of education training certification that comes that somebody who is looking for a home inspector should be looking for, there are certifications from the state it is mandatory if you are a home inspector that you’d be licensed by the state There is a state test that needs to be taken for the individuals who don’t qualify for being grandfathered in I, I was grandfathered in because of my experience. However, I’m also a member of the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors, which does require that you do take that state test for where you’re located, and that you pass that test with a 75 or better. I got a 99.
Brett Bittner Oh, there’s that one question, isn’t there? Always one there’s always one, of course. Now, if you’re a homebuyer and you’re entering the home inspection process, what is it that they should expect in that in that whole thing from choosing a home inspector, getting the inspection done, understanding what it is and what it means? Like, walk us through that whole thing, because that’s something that I imagine especially first-time homebuyers, and probably even first-time home sellers have no idea about this.
Scott Surridge Very true, but what you want to do is to be able to check the background of the home inspector that you’re choosing ask them questions. Are they licensed in that state? What is their experience in building homes? Were they a handyman where the electrician were they an actual contractor. I myself do still have my building license for the state of Florida. But I don’t use it. It’s on a voluntary hiatus, I guess you’d say okay, but the buyers should always ask for references and do background checks and make sure that they understand who the person is that’s going to be doing the inspection. They should expect their inspector to go through the entire home be in the attic, lock the roof. Take the air conditioning system apart, look at the coils take the cover off of the electrical panel, make sure the wiring inside his proper check outlets, windows, everything that’s accessible. They should be testing you Looking in cabinets, under under everything, and if you have to move a couple of things in the hall to be able to be complete, move a couple of things. Now, how long should a process like this take when they’re actually doing the inspection? It depends on the square footage of the home. I mean, an average home here in Florida somewhere between 1500 and 2500 square feet. smaller ones are generally an hour and a half, you can go you know, two hours, I myself generally take about two hours for 2500 square foot home. I work alone, so it’s just me. If you have two people, sometimes it takes a little bit less, but there’s no reason to spend four hours and have a 60 page report for a 2500 square foot home.
Brett Bittner You mentioned a number of pages in the report. What’s the average that you would expect to see for a home that’s ready to be to be closed on essentially?
Scott Surridge Well, in general like a 2000 square foot home somewhere between 25 and 35 pages of information. Okay, that includes photos and descriptions of everything that’s going on with it. Written in layman’s terms, mainly, but enough technical term that the licensed individual that has to do repairs understands what’s going on.
Brett Bittner Now following a home inspection, what is that home seller going to have to go through?
Scott Surridge The seller is going to talk to the selling agent and the buyer agent talk back and forth and the buyer will make requests of what might they want fixed, and then seller, depending on the contract that’s written, seller may have to fix certain things, but generally the safety issues are what the seller should have to fix. Now in the state of Florida, you do not have to bring the house up to current code when you’re selling it. However, if there are safety issues, even if you haven’t, as is contract, generally the seller should fix those items.
Brett Bittner So, we’re talking major things like an electrical issue or a wiring thing where it’s obvious that someone safety is going to be in debt in jeopardy. Correct?
Scott Surridge Yeah, there’s certain electrical panels that insurance companies won’t insure. Sylvania established federal Pacific. specific names that insurance companies have deemed unsafe. Different types of electrical wiring are supposed to have gfcis in certain wet areas. Certain years they weren’t required, but I still suggest they put them in. Same thing with smoke detectors and bedrooms. It’s very common that you don’t find smoke detectors in bedrooms. In older homes that are 90s or earlier. I always suggest that you put those in.
Brett Bittner Okay. Now what are you doing currently to ensure that you have a full calendar of inspections?
Scott Surridge Mainly, I have a Facebook page that’s SPS on inspections, LLC. And my business is word of mouth and referrals so I don’t generally advertise because I’m just so busy. I mean I’m doing 10-15 a week on average. In 2017, I did 449 inspections Wow. And in 2019, I did 432.
Brett Bittner Okay, so you’re keeping pretty busy.
Scott Surridge I’m very busy. Yes sir. What it shows is that if you’re good at your profession, the referrals come.
Brett Bittner Yeah. You’re adding value to somebody’s transaction, correct?
Scott Surridge Yeah, I’m when I’m when I’m being referred by a realtor especially. Now I’m an extension of that realtor.
Brett Bittner Right. So, your reputation is not the only one on the line. There’s is as well.
Scott Surridge Correct.
Brett Bittner That’s awesome. I’m glad that you see things that way because a lot of people are in a transactional mindset and not realizing how much relational, even when it’s generally a one-off service because I mean, how often are you going to have a home inspection done maybe two, three times in your lifetime.
Scott Surridge Correct Yeah. I mean, it’s, it’s essential that you have customer service in this business and you make sure you have a conversation with the buyers, and they understand exactly what they’re getting. And when there are items that need to be corrected, they understand why they need to be corrected and how they should be corrected.
Brett Bittner Now, what is something that you’re looking to do to help grow? I mean, you seem pretty busy. Is there anything that you can foresee utilizing to help either maintain or increase how busy you are?
Scott Surridge Yes, I’m always looking for new ventures. But I originally started over in Hillsborough County. Over in the south shore area and moved over here with my wife to St. Pete Beach, last year, April and I’ve been marketing myself In the local areas, there’s a lot of real estate firms over here and I go and talk to realtors and slowly moving you know things in this area and tend to do more work on the Pinellas side of the bay.
Brett Bittner Okay. What, if you had to estimate, is the biggest surprise that you found when performing a home inspection? I mean, we’re talking like an alligator under the house kind of a surprise like suddenly you completely did not expect.
Scott Surridge Nothing like that. Couple of rodents underneath homes here and there snakes but you know, nothing drastic. But the surprise item that I found was a garage slab in a house that had collapsed in one corner and there was no structural damage on the exterior walls. There was no tree roots in the area, no plumbing in the area. It ended up being that the material underneath the house was not compacted properly in the in the garage, floor sink. That was from an engineer.
Brett Bittner Okay, what is something that a homeowner probably doesn’t know about their home when they’re selling it that your average home inspector is going to find?
Scott Surridge Electrical panels and aluminum wiring over here and St. Pete and St. Pete Beach area homes that were built in the 70s. Due to the Vietnam War, they stopped using copper because they needed to copper for bullets. So they started using aluminum wire, and it’s it was very prevalent in the late 60s, early 70s. You do not need to completely rewire the house you need to have corrections made with the aluminum wiring connectors, licensed electricians would complete that service.
Brett Bittner Okay. Now, is there anything that you are reading, watching or listening to to help you in business and to grow your business?
Scott Surridge I get a monthly newsletter from the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors, and that has a lot of good information in it. I’m doing a lot of research online for four codes, like to go to sleep at night. So break out the codebook. And read that a little bit.
Brett Bittner Oh, you mean, that’s not what you’re reading on the beach?
Scott Surridge No. But there’s always information with some of the pages on the on websites for the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors, there’s conversations going on. So you learn a lot by reading different things the inspectors will put in Well, I have this problem and what’s the what’s the remedy? So there’s a lot of learning there. And also we have to have recurring credits for our license. So we always have to take new courses and keep up to date on.
Brett Bittner Okay. When you’re not on a ladder, shining your flashlight, carrying your clipboard around, inspecting a home, What’s your favorite thing to do here in St. Pete?
Scott Surridge Being on the water. My wife and I are very much salt water people and we take the boat out go to the sandbar have a couple of beers and just relax and watch life go by.
Brett Bittner That sounds awesome.
Scott Surridge So that’s a great reason to have left upstate New York to me down here and enjoy the 300 plus days of sunshine that we get and works for me every weekend.
Brett Bittner Awesome. So where can people find out more about you and SPS Home Inspections online? Is there a phone number that they can call? This is your opportunity to plug yourself so people can find you and hire you to inspect their home.
Scott Surridge The best way to reach me is my phone number is 813-245-6088 or you can go to my Facebook page which is SPS home inspections, LLC. There’s different areas there where you can contact me and also make an appointment. You can read the reviews and I look forward to Talking to new people every day.
Brett Bittner Is there anything else you’d like to share with the audience of Hustleburg?
Scott Surridge Not at this time except make sure if you are getting a purchasing a home, get a home inspection. It’s worth the investment.
Brett Bittner Awesome. Scott, thank you so much. I really appreciate you appearing on Hustleburg.
Scott Surridge I appreciate your time, sir. Thank you.
In this episode, Brett talks with eXp Realty‘s Trent A. Smith, a real estate agent here in St. Pete, helping you make sense of the real estate process.
Brett and Trent discuss his tips for buying a home, selling a home, and even a bit of real estate investing.
If you enjoyed what you heard in this episode, please take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast on your favorite player. Each episode is available on its own post, with the entire catalog here. It’s available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast catcher. We listen to this show and our favorites on Castbox. It’s hosted by Podbean. We appreciate your attention, and we can’t wait to have you back for the next episode.
Hear Your Question, Answered, on Hustleburg
If you have any questions you’d like to have answered on an upcoming Q&A episode, please take a moment to visit beyondyoursidehustle.com/podcastquestion and ask there. If you’re a St. Pete businessperson who’d like to sit down for an interview, please reach out to us here.
In this episode, Brett talks with FUSE Therapy‘s Amanda Grozdanic, a licensed and registered occupational therapist, working in aquatic and outpatient therapy, primarily for children with disabilities. FUSE Therapy focuses on the direct needs of the child, emphasizing nature and recreational activities to address any and all limitations.
Brett and Amanda discuss who might need occupational therapy, how she can help with sensory processing for autistic children, and what about her approach sets her apart. Her focus on aquatic recreation in the community is also discussed. A hiking day to celebrate the launch of FUSE Therapy is scheduled, weather permitting, for March 14th.
If you enjoyed what you heard in this episode, please take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast on your favorite player. Each episode is available on its own post, with the entire catalog here. It’s available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast catcher. We listen to this show and our favorites on Castbox. It’s hosted by Podbean. We appreciate your attention, and we can’t wait to have you back for the next episode.
Hear Your Question, Answered, on Hustleburg
If you have any questions you’d like to have answered on an upcoming Q&A episode, please take a moment to visit beyondyoursidehustle.com/podcastquestion and ask there. If you’re a St. Pete businessperson who’d like to sit down for an interview, please reach out to us here.
In this episode, Brett meets with Peter Jaeger of Tread Connection – Tampa, a mobile tire and wheel service, serving Saint Petersburg. In addition to installing tires and wheels at your home, office, or anywhere in between, they also provide mobile flat repair, wheel balancing, and nitrogen fill services for your car’s tires and wheels.
Brett and Peter discuss how operating a franchise is a bit different than building from scratch and how much things are the same. They discuss challenges in marketing a small business, even with a national brand name behind you, and their upcoming appearance at the 33rd Annual Mustang and Ford Roundup on March 14, 2020.
If you enjoyed what you heard in this episode, please take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast on your favorite player. Each episode is available on its own post, with the entire catalog here. It’s available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast catcher. We listen to this show and our favorites on Castbox. It’s hosted by Podbean. We appreciate your attention, and we can’t wait to have you back for the next episode.
Get Your Questions Answered on Hustleburg
If you have any questions you’d like to have answered on an upcoming Q&A episode, please take a moment to visit beyondyoursidehustle.com/podcastquestion and ask there. If you’re a St. Pete businessperson who’d like to sit down for an interview, please reach out to us here.
In this episode, Brett sits down with Robynne Swanson of Red Hot Tiki, a spicy gourmet market in Gulfport, just south of Saint Petersburg. With over 1500 spicy products, such as hot sauces, pepper extracts, pickled products, jams, jellies, jerky, and spicy snacks, there is surely something to attract your spicy side.
Brett and Robynne discuss her journey from the corporate world to becoming a solopreneur, running the tiki filled to the brim with hot sauce, selling in the retail space in 2020, and how she’s moving to add a direct to consumer web component to her business. They also talk about the shop’s Scorpion Shot Challenge, an activity for those ready to tackle some of the hottest peppers on earth.
If you enjoyed what you heard in this episode, please take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast on your favorite player. Each episode is available on its own post, with the entire catalog here. It’s available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast catcher. We listen to this show and our favorites on Castbox. It’s hosted by Podbean. We appreciate your attention, and we can’t wait to have you back for the next episode.
Want to be on Hustleburg?
If you have any questions you’d like to have answered on an upcoming Q&A episode, please take a moment to visit beyondyoursidehustle.com/podcastquestion and ask there. If you’re a St. Pete businessperson who’d like to sit down for an interview, please reach out to us here.
In this episode of the Hustleburg podcast, Brett Bittner meets with Kara Wright, photographer and owner of Kara Wright Photography. Kara Wright Photography focuses her lens on weddings, engagement shoot, and real estate photography in Saint Petersburg and Tampa, Florida.
Brett and Kara discuss her photography business in its infancy after a move from the DC area, her favorite shoots, and how exciting it is to find the perfect angle for every shoot.
If you enjoyed what you heard in this episode, please take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast on your favorite player. Each episode is available on its own post, with the entire catalog here. It’s available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast catcher. We listen to this show and our favorites on Castbox. It’s hosted by Podbean. We appreciate your attention, and we can’t wait to have you back for the next episode.
Get On Hustleburg
If you have any questions you’d like to have answered on an upcoming Q&A episode, please take a moment to visit beyondyoursidehustle.com/podcastquestion and ask there. If you’re a St. Pete businessperson who’d like to sit down for an interview, please reach out to us here.
