1 00:00:02,470 --> 00:00:07,330 Come join us, explore the impact of small business here in rural Arkansas. 2 00:00:07,330 --> 00:00:12,970 What challenges would you face? Who can help you meet those challenges? How do you get in touch with others like you? 3 00:00:12,970 --> 00:00:18,460 This is CREATE BRIDGES Arkansas, and we invite you to come cross these bridges with us. 4 00:00:18,460 --> 00:00:22,000 Thank you for joining us on another episode of Small Business, Big Real Impact. 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:30,790 My name is Hazelle Whited over here at the Ozark foothills, and I am here at the Thirsty Cowgirl in Ash Flat with owner Wendy. 6 00:00:30,790 --> 00:00:34,180 And we're here to talk about all the fabulous things that she is doing here, 7 00:00:34,180 --> 00:00:41,860 as well as how she got through covid and opening the second store here in Ash Flat and then the great, amazing employees that she has. 8 00:00:41,860 --> 00:00:45,410 And so we're just going to dive right into it. Wendy, thank you so much for joining me this morning. 9 00:00:45,410 --> 00:00:53,050 Girl, you're very welcome. Yeah, great. So I know you've been in this Ash Flat location for probably about two, three months now. We opened May the 13th. 10 00:00:53,050 --> 00:00:57,160 And this is not your only location? No, ma'am. And you started in Melbourne. 11 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:00,910 Started in Melbourne. Yes. Which I love because Melbourne is part of our region that we cover. 12 00:01:00,910 --> 00:01:09,520 So Izard, Fulton, and Sharp Counties. So I'm excited that you have developed this business plan within our Ozark foothills footprint. 13 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:16,240 And it's an amazing story. I am going to tell you, it is so amazing. I have this little punch card that the girls always punch for me and it's almost full. 14 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:22,540 So I hear way too often that's our goal every day, daily usage and we won't tell anybody. 15 00:01:22,540 --> 00:01:26,920 Well, no. And what's interesting is I come in here and there's some of the same people that come in. 16 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:30,220 So you actually have a regular following already here in Ash Flat. 17 00:01:30,220 --> 00:01:37,460 I'm sure you have the same in Melbourne. Yes, yes, yes. And so really quickly, so this is a like a nutritional store. 18 00:01:37,460 --> 00:01:41,890 Yes, it was. Tell me a little bit about your store. Yes we do is teas and shakes. 19 00:01:41,890 --> 00:01:48,820 Everything is great for diabetics. If there's anything that has any sugar in it, we definitely let our diabetics know. It's stevia based. 20 00:01:48,820 --> 00:01:50,800 It's detox, low calorie. Great 21 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:57,880 if you're on keto trying to find a, you know, an alternative not to go out and eat at a fast food restaurant or make a bad decision, 22 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:05,740 come in and get a shake, we can hook you up about two hundred and fifteen to two hundred and fifty calories but only 13 or 14 net carbs. 23 00:02:05,740 --> 00:02:10,660 So in our teas are amazing. They are absolutely amazing. We work really, really hard on them. 24 00:02:10,660 --> 00:02:15,250 And there's so many flavors. I remember walking in the first time and I looked at the board. 25 00:02:15,250 --> 00:02:20,740 Yeah, Baskin Robbins and there are 31 flavors, has nothing to you guys. I know and we even made it simpler. 26 00:02:20,740 --> 00:02:24,700 We didn't even put all of our teas on the board. So then we have our menu that is there. 27 00:02:24,700 --> 00:02:31,600 And you could also look at how we usually do each customer and this is how we build our customer relationships is, that is overwhelming. 28 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:38,410 I hate going into a place and you see so much that you're like, oh, I just want to order something and then you don't like it. 29 00:02:38,410 --> 00:02:42,610 So the first thing when like, if you were to come in your first day, hey, what is your favorite flavor? 30 00:02:42,610 --> 00:02:45,370 What's your favorite flavors? Well, I like this, but I don't like this. 31 00:02:45,370 --> 00:02:50,770 Well I like this, but so then we kind of base it on our customers and then you're like, oh, I love this. 32 00:02:50,770 --> 00:02:55,030 Well, then try this. That's one reason that we started our Tea of the Week. 33 00:02:55,030 --> 00:02:57,250 It is highly this is very it's discounted. 34 00:02:57,250 --> 00:03:02,830 But I kept thinking in the back of my head, how can I have all these ladies trust some of our favorite teas? 35 00:03:02,830 --> 00:03:06,670 And if they didn't like it, they're not out a lot. 36 00:03:06,670 --> 00:03:12,040 So that has been a hit. It works. So now you know that if you like that tea, there you go. 37 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:18,940 Yeah, no. And it's great. And I will tell you, I think what has really impressed me about coming here is your staff, 38 00:03:18,940 --> 00:03:22,090 because I didn't meet you until maybe three or four visits in. 39 00:03:22,090 --> 00:03:26,200 And I remember, Erica, one of the things that she did is she asked me, what do you like? 40 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:28,610 What flavors do you like? Is there fruits you don't like? 41 00:03:28,610 --> 00:03:36,550 And we just started going through and after, you know, it was not even a couple of minutes, she had a tea that was just absolutely amazing. 42 00:03:36,550 --> 00:03:42,070 So I really love that customer service. End of it. Absolutely. I was listening to me and then she put something together. 43 00:03:42,070 --> 00:03:46,630 Amazing. And so I really love that you have trained your staff to, you know, 44 00:03:46,630 --> 00:03:51,580 kind of challenge themselves into making something that they know that their clients walk away and say, 45 00:03:51,580 --> 00:03:54,490 you know what, I need to be back and try something else. Absolutely. 46 00:03:54,490 --> 00:03:58,910 And we're very fortunate because most of our girls are under twenty one, not saying that is fortunate. 47 00:03:58,910 --> 00:04:01,240 Not that we wouldn't hire anybody that is over twenty one. 48 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:09,730 I'm just saying you don't really see that with younger people that are so outgoing because they're so attached to their phones to have that customer. 49 00:04:09,730 --> 00:04:16,120 Hey, what are you doing. Where are you going. Unless you're in the service industry. So we have been blessed in both stores with our employees. 50 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:20,920 I have one over here working from Melbourne because Erika decided to be a good I did take a week off at the beach. 51 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:27,190 Erica, if you listen to this, I hope it rains one day. But no, we have been very blessed with our girls. 52 00:04:27,190 --> 00:04:31,370 And but I also think it comes for me and Britney over at the other store. 53 00:04:31,370 --> 00:04:35,140 We come from a service industry. So we both worked in the F&B business. 54 00:04:35,140 --> 00:04:39,790 My grandmother had a restaurant. My mother worked at a restaurant. We've both been bartenders. 55 00:04:39,790 --> 00:04:42,910 So I think that that helps build the rapport with our clients. 56 00:04:42,910 --> 00:04:48,490 One thing we started at Melbourne and it was a huge success and we're going to start that over here and pay it forward board. 57 00:04:48,490 --> 00:04:52,450 Like if you come in and you've had a bad day and someone said, I want to pay a tea, 58 00:04:52,450 --> 00:04:56,170 I want to buy a team for the next person or this person, we pay it forward. 59 00:04:56,170 --> 00:05:00,760 And that has been wonderful over at Melbourne because not everybody comes in, is having a good day. 60 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:03,680 So we love our pay it forward. We'll start that over here at Ash Flat when school. 61 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:09,740 starts, I mean, and I love that idea of being able to get the community kind of involved in helping another community member, 62 00:05:09,740 --> 00:05:13,850 because you're right, I may come in one day and the girls are like, you are having an awful day. 63 00:05:13,850 --> 00:05:17,720 And guess what? Someone's already paid it forward. And to do this for you, don't worry about it. 64 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:23,390 It is fine. And so what a way to cheer up your customers and that could come back for you. 65 00:05:23,390 --> 00:05:28,160 I know. I know. There's always a method to my madness, guys. Always a method to my madness. 66 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:31,460 And I wanted to talk about that method because we spoke about them. 67 00:05:31,460 --> 00:05:36,080 I swear, it's almost like a million teas and combinations of flavors on the boards. 68 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:40,530 And so you told me earlier that on Sundays is your like tasting day. 69 00:05:40,530 --> 00:05:46,190 So are you always creating new flavors? We tried to come out at least when we first came out. 70 00:05:46,190 --> 00:05:53,930 We knew, I mean, because this is a very competitive market. So when you go to any other nutrition shop, everybody has just about the same base. 71 00:05:53,930 --> 00:06:02,420 Everybody has like a Captain America or a bob and weave or bad and boujee or, you know, they'll have the same name. 72 00:06:02,420 --> 00:06:07,640 But I was like, wait a minute, we've got we've got to do something to set us apart. So we started our specialty teas. 73 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:15,710 There's nobody that has our specialty teas. If anybody asks, we'll tell you what the flavor is, but we won't dove into everything else that's in it. 74 00:06:15,710 --> 00:06:21,250 And we work very hard on those. And that's where we went into the stores on Sundays and we sat down and we started with our bass. 75 00:06:21,250 --> 00:06:26,360 Some would be like, oh, this is good. Oh, no, this is horrible or no, this is great. 76 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:32,210 Oh, this can make it better. And like I was telling you, when we start our weekly teas by the third day, 77 00:06:32,210 --> 00:06:35,620 it might not taste the same because I figured out a way, oh, this would taste better this way. 78 00:06:35,620 --> 00:06:39,320 And my girls like, hang on a second, you've changed this Wendy, but it tastes better. 79 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:46,820 So we're always trying to create something that's better for you guys and that sets us apart from everybody else. 80 00:06:46,820 --> 00:06:53,840 Yes. Well, and that helps, you know, I mean, as an entrepreneur, you have to do something that's just a little bit different every time. 81 00:06:53,840 --> 00:06:58,370 And let's face it, I mean, the teas and in themselves, I mean, they're not the replacement. 82 00:06:58,370 --> 00:07:03,410 They're kind of like a meal replacement in my mind. So, I mean, you're talking ten to twelve dollars and some of these teas, 83 00:07:03,410 --> 00:07:08,300 which I think if someone was just expecting like a sonic drink, thinks that that's expensive. 84 00:07:08,300 --> 00:07:16,520 But when you kind of realize what's in it, your your collagen beauty boosters and your proteins, I mean, so probiotics, your vitamin C. 85 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:20,900 Absolutely. Yes, absolutely. And so you have to have kind of like how do I differentiate this? 86 00:07:20,900 --> 00:07:26,090 Because you are investing into yourself by spending this kind of money for tea correctly. 87 00:07:26,090 --> 00:07:29,660 And so I love that, that you are constantly evolving that. 88 00:07:29,660 --> 00:07:35,540 And I'm guessing at some point you'll purge some of your old flavors. Maybe, I don't know are our specialty teas. 89 00:07:35,540 --> 00:07:38,930 I kind of guard them like. Well, people come in and say, hey, can I take a picture of a menu? 90 00:07:38,930 --> 00:07:44,960 And I'm like, oh yeah, but not this one. And they're like, wait a minute, I'm kind of like that mama bear. 91 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:50,420 Hold on a second. Don't take a picture of that. But even on our board, it says specialty teas and it still doesn't give everything. 92 00:07:50,420 --> 00:07:52,790 Just let you know the base flavor so you'll know whether you like it or not. 93 00:07:52,790 --> 00:07:57,650 But no, we work really, really hard and we have a great team in Louisiana and those guys in Louisiana. 94 00:07:57,650 --> 00:08:01,670 They kick it up a notch. So I'll call down there. I say, All right, Lee, what are we doing this week? 95 00:08:01,670 --> 00:08:04,820 What's going on? She'll say, well, try this. And I'm like, Oh, no, you try this. 96 00:08:04,820 --> 00:08:09,500 When we came out with the orange dreamcicle, the honest truth, I was in Texas, 97 00:08:09,500 --> 00:08:15,260 wasn't even a shop that's affiliated with us with what lines that we do, went into the store. 98 00:08:15,260 --> 00:08:21,080 I tried this tea and I was like, I can make this tea. In five days, 99 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:27,860 I mean, I was down there writing and five days I came back, I had that tea. I wanted forty four ounce cups found where I could get 44 ounce cups. 100 00:08:27,860 --> 00:08:31,850 There's not another shop in Arkansas that them had that to specialize. 101 00:08:31,850 --> 00:08:35,360 And thank God it's a little bit better. And I was like, I'm going to do this tea. 102 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:41,720 That's what I do. I go to a store who I can do that tea. But it wasn't affiliated with what we do, but it was just a tea shop. 103 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:45,920 And I called him down there, said, this is an amazing tea. It's amazing. I'm in love. 104 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:51,920 Oh, it was so good. It's like an orange push pop. Oh, girl. Well, and so in your flavors are amazing. 105 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:55,670 So but now I want to switch gears into talking about the business itself. 106 00:08:55,670 --> 00:08:59,720 So again, you had the shop in Melbourne since September. 107 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:03,470 Since September, it will be a year this September. So you both of your stores are less than a year old. 108 00:09:03,470 --> 00:09:07,910 Yes. Oh, my goodness. Now, and really quickly, I want to jump into your background before we get into that. 109 00:09:07,910 --> 00:09:12,380 Yes. Because what I saw at the front door is the Preifert. 110 00:09:12,380 --> 00:09:17,360 You're actually a sorter. You do rodeos. Yes. Well, I sort, I team pin. 111 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:22,610 I don't team pin, I sort, but they call it team pin or sorting. I play at it. 112 00:09:22,610 --> 00:09:26,780 I don't I'm not proficient by any means. I just go have fun. Yes. 113 00:09:26,780 --> 00:09:35,210 Well, and that's important because that speaks to why your personality you have a very I want to say loud, but that's not quite. Oh, I'm loud. 114 00:09:35,210 --> 00:09:38,540 Ask my four kids, ask my employees. I was pretty loud this morning. 115 00:09:38,540 --> 00:09:44,780 Yeah. No, but I love it. It is very vibrant and it's infectious and it's just like something that people want to be around. 116 00:09:44,780 --> 00:09:50,810 And so but I think a little bit that you have to be that way. I think if you're going to be on a horse and sorting cows. 117 00:09:50,810 --> 00:09:55,460 Oh, yes. So I love to have that background. And why the name now Thirsty Ccowgirl makes? 118 00:09:55,460 --> 00:10:02,380 Oh, well, we have farms and we have cows, and I'm pretty much of a spitfire. 119 00:10:02,380 --> 00:10:06,820 My husband, unfortunately, has to work off because we do have farms and we do have cattle and everybody that 120 00:10:06,820 --> 00:10:10,750 has cattle knows that you're not going to make a you might make a hard living at it, 121 00:10:10,750 --> 00:10:18,970 but we've got some we've got some goals that we're trying to do. So I come from a farm background and I love to ride. 122 00:10:18,970 --> 00:10:23,560 I got into riding hard about four years ago, and I've loved it ever since. 123 00:10:23,560 --> 00:10:27,460 I love it. I love to be on the horse. I love doing the farm. You will see me. 124 00:10:27,460 --> 00:10:31,280 I will be dressed for work and it never fails. I'll be dressed for work and I'll come to work. 125 00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:34,270 Have changed my tennis shoes or my shoes because they'll be stuff on my shoes 126 00:10:34,270 --> 00:10:38,440 that I don't need to bring it to the shop because something always happens. So I'm just from that background. 127 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:44,140 I'm from, this weekend I sprayed. I was in the tractor, spraying and had a catastrophe with the calf. 128 00:10:44,140 --> 00:10:47,890 I mean, it's just that's just my background. I don't know how not to work hard. 129 00:10:47,890 --> 00:10:52,270 Yes. I mean, at two o'clock in the morning, I'm on my phone trying to figure out what I need to do. 130 00:10:52,270 --> 00:10:58,570 But I also think that comes from a military background too. My mom and dad were, bless their hearts. 131 00:10:58,570 --> 00:11:05,080 They they told me you had to work hard for what you wanted in life. And when I went into the military, that just kind of was one step over. 132 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:10,270 And then when I got out of the military, I was like, thank heavens I went in because I needed a little bit more structure. 133 00:11:10,270 --> 00:11:15,850 So structure, farm work. And I think it just led into being successful at business. 134 00:11:15,850 --> 00:11:21,340 Yes. I mean, does that make sense? Absolutely. OK, and first, I want to say thank you so much for your service. 135 00:11:21,340 --> 00:11:25,960 We very much appreciate that. And I didn't know that about you. So appreciate you saying that. 136 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:30,490 Yes. So not only is the military, but the farming background is so important. 137 00:11:30,490 --> 00:11:35,080 Those are skills that you have to have when you have your own business, because something's going to happen. 138 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:40,180 Something's going to go wrong every day. And, you know, things are thrown at you and you have to be able to respond to that. 139 00:11:40,180 --> 00:11:44,920 And business owners that are not able to rise above adversity, they won't make it. 140 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:48,850 It just they won't and so it's hard. And covid has been hard on everybody. 141 00:11:48,850 --> 00:11:53,710 Yes, well, let's talk about COVID, actually, because September was you're still in the midst of it. 142 00:11:53,710 --> 00:11:58,270 We jumped right in the middle of it. Girl, I told my husband, I said, I think I'm going to buy this business. 143 00:11:58,270 --> 00:12:01,390 And he was like, what? I was like, yeah, I think I can make it work. 144 00:12:01,390 --> 00:12:05,260 So we looked at the numbers and he goes, well, if anybody can do it, you can do it. 145 00:12:05,260 --> 00:12:09,640 Of course we had the restrictions, but in today's society, we do have our phones, 146 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:14,500 we've got Venmo, we've got Facebook pay, we've got PayPal, we've got Apple Pay. 147 00:12:14,500 --> 00:12:23,980 So we were able to have our storefront and do contactless delivery and mask up and, you know, glove up and be able to start that. 148 00:12:23,980 --> 00:12:32,590 And I think we live in an area where sometimes people don't think things will affect us, but they do. This sense of being secure and not being secure. 149 00:12:32,590 --> 00:12:36,220 Does that make sense? Because nothing touches us on the outside world that it really does? 150 00:12:36,220 --> 00:12:42,250 Yes. But I think that they saw us being careful. So that brought us business, if that makes any sense. 151 00:12:42,250 --> 00:12:47,650 Yeah. So we really didn't maybe there wasn't covid the numbers would have been bigger. 152 00:12:47,650 --> 00:12:53,500 But I loved our numbers and I still love our numbers. Everybody asked me if this new wave is, you know, our numbers are down. 153 00:12:53,500 --> 00:12:57,610 July's usually kind of slow for everybody, but it's been it's a blessing. 154 00:12:57,610 --> 00:13:01,360 Our customers are a blessing. You guys do not understand that. 155 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:08,650 I cannot. And when we came to Ash Flat, it was like I had a goal of what I wanted to make a day, blew it out of the water. 156 00:13:08,650 --> 00:13:13,690 I called my husband is like, you're not going to believe this. There's there was no one in this plaza in Remington Plaza. 157 00:13:13,690 --> 00:13:18,070 There was not enough. There was the church and the chiropractor's. That was it. 158 00:13:18,070 --> 00:13:24,460 And then the nail salon came in and I was like, oh, bonus. And then we had the Lemon Tree has always been there, but we had the lemon tree. 159 00:13:24,460 --> 00:13:29,770 And then we have Miss Caitlin, who's moved in next door. And I was like, God's blessing me a little bit here. 160 00:13:29,770 --> 00:13:35,140 So I need I need to be very thankful for what we've got. So the community has brought us in with open arms. 161 00:13:35,140 --> 00:13:41,650 Absolutely. And Remington Plaza, I mean, that is what was is interesting is that except for the lemon tree, there wasn't anything retail here. 162 00:13:41,650 --> 00:13:46,880 No. And all of a sudden you just had a slew of retail shops that came in that are women oriented. 163 00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:50,710 Yes. Let's face it, your business is going to get a little bit more towards and then to the men. 164 00:13:50,710 --> 00:13:55,180 Yes. So all of a sudden you have this customer base of people that are like flocking over here. 165 00:13:55,180 --> 00:13:58,840 Yes. And I think the nail salon has been doing fabulous as well. They've done it right. 166 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:03,160 They've done great. And when the men do come in, they don't over the shoulder of the butterfly kisses, 167 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:08,140 they're like they want like I need the Captain America, but I really want the butterfly kisses. 168 00:14:08,140 --> 00:14:10,210 But would you just say it's Captain America, please? 169 00:14:10,210 --> 00:14:16,930 Now, do you think some of the the growth and the excitement over what's here is because of the new shops, 170 00:14:16,930 --> 00:14:22,180 or do you think it has to do a little bit with industry moving in across the street, or is it just 171 00:14:22,180 --> 00:14:24,820 growth in Ash Flat, I think is just growth in Ash Flat. 172 00:14:24,820 --> 00:14:30,670 I just can't believe how much is growing like you've got you've got the new coffee shop that's coming in down the road. 173 00:14:30,670 --> 00:14:35,350 You've got, you know, the new restaurants that are coming. I'm just like, whoa. 174 00:14:35,350 --> 00:14:40,240 And then you got Emerson. That's going to have how many employees? A whole bunch in there, right across the field for me. 175 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:43,600 They can see my building. Just come on over and get your tea. Come on. 176 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:49,950 Come on. They should, a little energy boost and now, I know, I'll even walk it across and feed the little geese as I go. 177 00:14:49,950 --> 00:14:54,540 Give them some bread over there and hook them up to. And so I can tell that you were excited. 178 00:14:54,540 --> 00:14:59,260 Ash Flat was an opportunity that you saw, you know, was a potential that you really needed to jump in. 179 00:14:59,260 --> 00:15:04,070 Absolutely. But I am wondering were you concerned about finding employees for the store? 180 00:15:04,070 --> 00:15:10,850 Yes, I knew I had Erica. She was over at the Melbourne store and she is fabulous, fabulous. 181 00:15:10,850 --> 00:15:15,800 And I was like I knew Erica was going to come over and help here. And Payton my daughter, who is. 182 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:17,990 Oh, heavens, she's she's amazing, too. 183 00:15:17,990 --> 00:15:25,760 But I knew of all four of us, if me, Brittany, Payton and Erica could dig ourselves up between the stores, that we would be OK. 184 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:31,040 And then Little Miss Kaitlin walks in Melbourne one day and she's like, she's bubbly. 185 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:35,540 And I was like, hey, you need a job. And so poor Miss Kaitlin. She got a job. 186 00:15:35,540 --> 00:15:39,800 And then Bree walks in your local hometown girl. 187 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:43,790 Over here it's Hofmann, It's Bree Hoffman. I don't want to hammer her name. 188 00:15:43,790 --> 00:15:48,920 She walked in once and got a tea. The second time she walked in I automatically offered her a job and she 189 00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:52,970 just looked at me like I had just fell over and she would just look at me like You don't know who I am. 190 00:15:52,970 --> 00:15:58,700 I said I can see her soul. She just you can't be in a bad mood 191 00:15:58,700 --> 00:16:02,720 when Bree's in the room. If you're in a bad mood and she's in the room, something's wrong with you. 192 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:06,320 Yes. And she knows every one of y'all over here. 193 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:10,850 There's not a person that walks in that Bree doesn't know in my shop. I absolutely hate that she's going to college. 194 00:16:10,850 --> 00:16:16,400 And I have, Come see Bree. She's only here till the tenth, I begged her not to go to school. 195 00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:21,230 Please come to work for me forever. But no, like I said, that's that's how we're blessed. 196 00:16:21,230 --> 00:16:25,730 Yes. Yes. And, you know, it's encouraging to me. So Bree and my son, actually, they went to prom together. 197 00:16:25,730 --> 00:16:31,850 You told me and you came in and I was like, so. And it's exciting to see those kids. 198 00:16:31,850 --> 00:16:35,180 You know, they're moving. They're going to college. But guess what? They're working for us over the summer. 199 00:16:35,180 --> 00:16:40,340 And I think that's an important part of our plans as business owners is to find those kids are getting ready. 200 00:16:40,340 --> 00:16:46,190 Juniors and seniors work them over the summer. They're going back to school then they come back and see you over the summer, because guess what? 201 00:16:46,190 --> 00:16:52,610 You still, for the college kids, you may have two or three more summer. So. Absolutely. And that's for us here is one of our busier times. 202 00:16:52,610 --> 00:16:56,030 I mean, I'm not suggesting that you're not going to be busy when they go back to school. 203 00:16:56,030 --> 00:17:05,160 The fall winter, certainly. But it is nice to have them here. And you get to help them groom their skills as good workers down the road. 204 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:11,140 Yes. Later on, I'm sure Bree will remember her experience here and say she was awesome. 205 00:17:11,140 --> 00:17:15,950 Hope so. Maybe not today, guys. Today is one of those days. It was it was definitely a Monday to day. 206 00:17:15,950 --> 00:17:20,060 No. And it's the same. We're losing Haley over at Milburn's. 207 00:17:20,060 --> 00:17:27,560 She's going to go to school, too, and she's one of our strong employees. Payton will stay with us, but we call them our bigs and our littles. 208 00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:31,970 And so our older girls could be a year older, but we still call them our bigs. 209 00:17:31,970 --> 00:17:35,480 So our littles are wonderful too. Our littles can count money back. 210 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:39,230 Yeah. That they didn't learn it in school. They can put a face to face. 211 00:17:39,230 --> 00:17:42,800 I mean when they they're not and I'm not saying about being on your phone is a bad thing. 212 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:48,370 I'm just saying that they're having to make conversations with adults when they come in and say how are you doing? 213 00:17:48,370 --> 00:17:53,540 And I think it's building skills for them. So when they do have to go out in the job market, they could be like, look, 214 00:17:53,540 --> 00:18:01,340 we just dealt with thirty women between six and seven o'clock that want their teas before they go to school or they go to work and they want it now. 215 00:18:01,340 --> 00:18:07,700 Yes. And it's not a drive through. So they have to come in the store. And so they're getting that like I am right in the face. 216 00:18:07,700 --> 00:18:09,620 Here it is. Ready, set, go. 217 00:18:09,620 --> 00:18:20,650 I can honestly say in almost a year we've maybe had five customers that has not been happy, you know, something was wrong or we couldn't make right. 218 00:18:20,650 --> 00:18:26,570 I had nothing to do with that or neither did Britney. It comes from our girls because we float stores. 219 00:18:26,570 --> 00:18:28,490 So when I'm out there, they're here. 220 00:18:28,490 --> 00:18:33,260 When I'm here, I mean, it's just like so if they call me, there's a problem nine times out of ten, they can handle it. 221 00:18:33,260 --> 00:18:37,640 Yes. And we're very fortunate because Mountain View has opened. We've got a store underneath this one when 222 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:41,270 Mountain View opens. Oh, my goodness. Calico Rock should be open in September. 223 00:18:41,270 --> 00:18:45,740 Salem should be open before school starts and Mammoth Spring should be open before school starts. 224 00:18:45,740 --> 00:18:55,940 Oh, my gosh. So my job I feel with doing this business is to help other people create this business so they can help support their families. 225 00:18:55,940 --> 00:19:04,100 So this organization has helped me do that. And I'm praying that I can get my husband home off the road and he can be home and deal with the cows. 226 00:19:04,100 --> 00:19:08,510 So you got to do battle. I have to do it all the time. Yes. I just want to be that kind of girl goes out on the ranger. 227 00:19:08,510 --> 00:19:12,320 Oh, yeah. Here's a pretty little cow. Oh dang. I got to pull the calf again today. 228 00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:18,260 Well, I am really excited about your business and we're really excited to see all the growth in this area. 229 00:19:18,260 --> 00:19:25,430 Absolutely. And again, I really am impressed with your girls and I'm more impressed because they are the one they're seasonal ones. 230 00:19:25,430 --> 00:19:31,250 And there's always a complaint about seasonal employees. You know, you you just kind of get a body and your girls are not bodies. 231 00:19:31,250 --> 00:19:35,000 No, they are. You know, they're definitely customer service oriented. 232 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:39,740 They care about their clients and they really try hard to please. 233 00:19:39,740 --> 00:19:43,100 And I love that you give them an opportunity to kind of work it through themselves. 234 00:19:43,100 --> 00:19:48,500 So that ability to problem solve these are skills that they have to have. 235 00:19:48,500 --> 00:19:51,500 These are life lessons. These ARE life lesson. Yes. Yes. And so 236 00:19:51,500 --> 00:19:57,560 I really feel it's a responsibility as business owners to give that to to those to the people in the workforce. 237 00:19:57,560 --> 00:20:02,000 And the younger the better. Oh, absolutely. It makes us more successful. 238 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:04,790 And we can depend on employees because you can't be everywhere at once. Oh, absolutely. 239 00:20:04,790 --> 00:20:09,650 Well, now, like right now, I was thinking I really need to go get that sprayer filled up and go spray those two fields. 240 00:20:09,650 --> 00:20:15,440 I didn't get done yesterday. Like, seriously, I'm going I really need to go get on the tractor today. 241 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:20,480 Is the sun going to stay out? Is it going to rain. Oh yeah. Oh, we got 14000 cups coming in and lids. 242 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:20,570 Yeah. 243 00:20:20,570 --> 00:20:29,030 We got to get that, always. I have to tell you, I'm sure Wendy's head as she's trying to focus and talk here, her mind's already on other parts of the business. 244 00:20:29,030 --> 00:20:32,990 Oh absolutely. Which I do appreciate. You worked really hard and the store is beautiful. 245 00:20:32,990 --> 00:20:37,700 Thanks for painting in here. Yes. I got to finish. This is what I get in the mood to paint is like move. 246 00:20:37,700 --> 00:20:43,010 I won't let the girls do the trim work. So yeah, that's been what I've got to get it done. 247 00:20:43,010 --> 00:20:48,740 I just told him, I just told Caitlin I'm going to bring the ladder from the farm up here tomorrow and I'm going to finish painting. 248 00:20:48,740 --> 00:20:52,850 You just mentioned something that we talked about earlier because you talked about giving back to the community. 249 00:20:52,850 --> 00:20:58,250 Absolutely. You were telling me about a program that you're going to be starting. In fact, that is already in existence in Melbourne. 250 00:20:58,250 --> 00:21:02,330 Oh, yes. Pay It Forward program. We love this because you get the community involved. 251 00:21:02,330 --> 00:21:04,670 Absolutely. In this process. Would you tell me again a little bit about. Yes. 252 00:21:04,670 --> 00:21:10,040 So I'm just going to do for instance, I had a lady that walked in the store one day and she said, 253 00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:14,300 I want to buy fifteen teas of the day of the week and I want to pay for it. So we write it on a board. 254 00:21:14,300 --> 00:21:17,750 We've got fifteen teas and or someone will come in. 255 00:21:17,750 --> 00:21:22,640 I want to give Sally a tea, Mary Beth a tea and then they walk in to get their tea. 256 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:25,940 It could be a horrible morning. You're late, you're dealing with your kids, 257 00:21:25,940 --> 00:21:29,870 you know you've got one that doesn't have their shoes or their backpack and you 258 00:21:29,870 --> 00:21:33,530 walk in and your tea's paid for free, Or your shakes paid for free our pay it forward. 259 00:21:33,530 --> 00:21:37,610 And we're going to start that over here. When school starts, we'll have a board up. 260 00:21:37,610 --> 00:21:40,940 You walk in, you want to pay it for somebody else. It's on a board. 261 00:21:40,940 --> 00:21:46,370 We will say hey got it. The girls know it and it's marked off. Can be your name or could just be anonymous. 262 00:21:46,370 --> 00:21:52,430 And I love the idea of so so the girls are seeing someone walk in the door and is just having a horrible day. 263 00:21:52,430 --> 00:21:57,720 Absolutely. And so would they just say this tea, your tea is paid for, is paid for. 264 00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:03,800 And we had one this morning. I was over because I get to Melbourne before I come over here and a young lady walked in and she's like, 265 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:07,430 and wanted her tea. And Britney looked at her, said, your tea is paid for. She goes 266 00:22:07,430 --> 00:22:12,050 who paid for my tea? We're like, we cannot tell you that, but it's paid for. Will you tell them thank you. 267 00:22:12,050 --> 00:22:16,850 I mean, that makes everybody feel good. Yes, absolutely. And there's days we will be in a store and just look at you and go 268 00:22:16,850 --> 00:22:20,840 Oh, girl, this one's on me. Or if I feel if I don't make something right. 269 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,680 Oh no. You take that. You take it. Absolutely. I mean, that's just customer service. 270 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:29,750 Yes. Well, customer service. And that this program allows, again, other people to just say, look, I've been blessed today. 271 00:22:29,750 --> 00:22:34,010 I have to take care of somebody else. Absolutely. And and just what a motto that is to walk in. 272 00:22:34,010 --> 00:22:41,030 And you feel that when you walk into your store, it it's just this. Yeah. I can't tell you enough about coming in to the thirsty cowgirl. 273 00:22:41,030 --> 00:22:43,790 And is it named that also in Melbourne. Um no. 274 00:22:43,790 --> 00:22:50,600 It's Katz, KatzHub. It's Bearcats, but we shortened down to KatzHub to make it a little more edgy. 275 00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:55,370 It changed our picture out a little bit. Our little cat's like same colors that are Thirsty Cowgirl's. 276 00:22:55,370 --> 00:22:59,930 Pretty. Yeah, it's pretty wild. We love it. We're kind of spicy girls. 277 00:22:59,930 --> 00:23:04,850 We kind of get. Oh yeah. There days you come in and we cannot we try to tone it down. 278 00:23:04,850 --> 00:23:10,910 Sometimes I'm sure our neighbors are like, oh heavens to Betsy. Could these girls calm down a little bit because we get a little loud in here too. 279 00:23:10,910 --> 00:23:16,220 Sometimes we have some clients that come in and I really don't know if they come in for the tea or they just come in for the show. 280 00:23:16,220 --> 00:23:22,490 I mean, seriously, because there's something every day I'm telling you I need my own reality show. 281 00:23:22,490 --> 00:23:26,690 Well, I'm glad on those days you have your girls to do. Oh, heavens to Betsy. 282 00:23:26,690 --> 00:23:33,170 Yes. Yes. I mean, just like I leave we leave the 12th, 13th and 14th to go ride in Texas. 283 00:23:33,170 --> 00:23:38,450 And I never I don't worry about the stores. I do not. Yeah. So I'm really bucking for my own reality show. 284 00:23:38,450 --> 00:23:42,600 So you could be in it that would be fabulous. I know they like all these girls, are crazy. 285 00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:49,340 I was going to say, I don't know if they could handle us on TV. I'd get some beeps. There would be some beeps. Like you should be very happy. 286 00:23:49,340 --> 00:23:53,900 There's no beeps having to happen right now. Yeah, there be a couple of beeps. Well, Wendy, 287 00:23:53,900 --> 00:24:00,170 is there anything that you would like to share with other business owners specifically on maybe trying to find employees for their businesses? 288 00:24:00,170 --> 00:24:02,360 Is there like a magic dust formula, 289 00:24:02,360 --> 00:24:07,580 or is it just like I can feel it in my soul when I see them walk through the door and I'm not going to let anyone else take them. 290 00:24:07,580 --> 00:24:12,860 Absolutely. I always go with my gut and then I treat my girls the way that I want to be treated. 291 00:24:12,860 --> 00:24:17,180 And it's like I said this morning, this is one today was one of those days. And I said, you know, not mad. 292 00:24:17,180 --> 00:24:18,860 I'm a little aggravated, but I'm not mad. 293 00:24:18,860 --> 00:24:25,580 So let's just so I try to do it because I've been on the other end where I've had a boss that you just walk in and you're on eggshells. 294 00:24:25,580 --> 00:24:33,470 You're just like, oh, I don't want to do this. So I talk to my girls the way that I would like to be talked to from somebody else. 295 00:24:33,470 --> 00:24:37,070 You just have to really know what you're gearing towards. I know. I know. 296 00:24:37,070 --> 00:24:42,330 I mean, it's your personality. Well, and you just said something right now and you said, you know what your goals are. 297 00:24:42,330 --> 00:24:45,650 And I know that your staff knows what those goals are. Yes. 298 00:24:45,650 --> 00:24:49,470 So there's no misunderstanding that you are all going towards the same goals. 299 00:24:49,470 --> 00:24:55,610 And that's what makes it tough, I think, is when a business owner has a set of goals and the employees don't understand what those goals are. 300 00:24:55,610 --> 00:24:59,930 And so there's that mismatch and miscommunication. Absolutely. Sure. We're not going towards the same thing. 301 00:24:59,930 --> 00:25:03,270 But you I, I. Firmly believe it, because I know I can see it. 302 00:25:03,270 --> 00:25:06,990 They speak the same way you do, maybe just not as robustly as you. 303 00:25:06,990 --> 00:25:14,520 Yes, but they do have the same mission that you do. And I always make sure that I show them appreciation always. I always want to make sure 304 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:18,780 that I'm showing them how much because I couldn't do this business if it wasn't for them. 305 00:25:18,780 --> 00:25:21,360 I mean, I would be here 13 hours a day. 306 00:25:21,360 --> 00:25:28,140 So I have to I have to make sure I let them know how much that they're appreciated because I do appreciate them and they're like my kids. 307 00:25:28,140 --> 00:25:33,660 Yeah. I mean, I come in do this weekend. I know I'd better not have done this weekend, you know, kind of 308 00:25:33,660 --> 00:25:38,580 because we're all we all know each other because I have my son who's now 16 or just turned 17. 309 00:25:38,580 --> 00:25:43,680 So I kind of know what everybody kind of does. I'm like, OK, let's talk what's going on? 310 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:48,480 And sometimes they'll tell me, oh, Miss Wendy let me tell you what happened this weekend. I'm like, oh, do I really want to know? 311 00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:51,180 But no, they're good kids. Well fabulous. 312 00:25:51,180 --> 00:25:59,880 Well, I think if I absolutely love it, I love the model I love again, it's just walking in here in between the staff and you. 313 00:25:59,880 --> 00:26:03,720 It is just a pleasure to walk into the store, I think, let alone the teas. 314 00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:08,100 The teas are almost secondary. You I'm telling you we're a bartender with no alcohol. 315 00:26:08,100 --> 00:26:15,090 I love that. Yeah. And just wait, we've got a couple of things up our sleeves for back to school for everybody to make a grab and go kind of good. 316 00:26:15,090 --> 00:26:21,480 Get better choices for everybody. We're working pretty hard on those. So yeah, I got a little surprise up our up our sleeves in both stores. 317 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:25,860 I love it. Always coming up with something inventive, being, you know, innovative. 318 00:26:25,860 --> 00:26:30,210 And if you ever need a tester call me up, just call you. It's not about doing that on Sundays. 319 00:26:30,210 --> 00:26:34,170 We really have Sundays after church, everybody coming in and doing a little taste test. 320 00:26:34,170 --> 00:26:38,670 Some stores do. They have little tasters. But yeah, we might do that. 321 00:26:38,670 --> 00:26:42,270 Hit me up. I think we're going to do a grand opening. I think we're going to a big grand opening. 322 00:26:42,270 --> 00:26:50,910 And we do that will have some stuff out. Excellent. So if you're ever in Ash Flat, you need to come see the really great staff at the Thirsty Cowgirl. 323 00:26:50,910 --> 00:26:55,560 And if Wendy's here, you won't you'll absolutely know she's here. You'll hear me. 324 00:26:55,560 --> 00:27:03,810 You'll hear me, So well thank you again. Very welcome. And I appreciate all of you listeners on this next episode of Small Business Big Rural Impact. 325 00:27:03,810 --> 00:27:07,410 I love editing. There you go, girl. 326 00:27:07,410 --> 00:27:12,270 I need a new tea. We will get you six teas to go. Catch you next time. 327 00:27:12,270 --> 00:27:14,040 Thank you. Bye bye. 328 00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:22,380 For more information about this or any CREATE BRIDGES podcast or more about CREATE BRIDGES in Arkansas, visit 329 00:27:22,380 --> 00:27:29,150 uaex.uada.edu/createbridges. The Create Bridges Small Business Big Rural Impact podcast is made possible by 330 00:27:29,150 --> 00:27:33,270 a Wal-Mart grant to the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, 331 00:27:33,270 --> 00:27:49,464 Cooperative Extension, Community Professional and Economic Development Unit and White River Now Productions.