Our Community with Alfredo Diamond
The Heart & Hustle of IronGate Creative with Jeff Huffine, Co-Founder
Imagine a life where your biggest passion not only fuels your spirit but also powers your career. That's the reality for Jeff Huffine, co-founder of IronGate, whose artistic aspirations have shaped a formidable creative business. From his humble beginnings in a small Indiana town to the establishment of his branding and marketing firm, Jeff's narrative is a powerful illustration of how ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit can intersect to forge a successful path.
This episode is a deep dive into the heart of business acumen, with Jeff detailing the highs and lows of company growth, the intricacies of forming a resilient partnership, and the strategies that have kept IronGate thriving. It's an honest look at what it takes to run a business without conventional training, leaning into client relationships and adaptability as key elements. Furthermore, you'll hear about the legacy of a local bank campaign that's woven into the fabric of a community, and how Jeff's company's restoration of a historic building became a town talking point.
But more than business, it's the personal stories that resonate deeply. Jeff opens up about his life-altering heart attack, the recovery journey, and the overwhelming support from his family and community. His experience serves as a poignant reminder of the fragility of life and the importance of gratitude. As we explore the challenges and triumphs of Jeff's life, both personal and professional, the conversation becomes a source of inspiration and a reflection on the impact of our choices on those we hold dear. Join us for a story that's as much about the heart as it is about the art of business.
Imagine a life where your biggest passion not only fuels your spirit but also powers your career. That's the reality for Jeff Huffine, co-founder of IronGate, whose artistic aspirations have shaped a formidable creative business. From his humble beginnings in a small Indiana town to the establishment of his branding and marketing firm, Jeff's narrative is a powerful illustration of how ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit can intersect to forge a successful path.
This episode is a deep dive into the heart of business acumen, with Jeff detailing the highs and lows of company growth, the intricacies of forming a resilient partnership, and the strategies that have kept IronGate thriving. It's an honest look at what it takes to run a business without conventional training, leaning into client relationships and adaptability as key elements. Furthermore, you'll hear about the legacy of a local bank campaign that's woven into the fabric of a community, and how Jeff's company's restoration of a historic building became a town talking point.
But more than business, it's the personal stories that resonate deeply. Jeff opens up about his life-altering heart attack, the recovery journey, and the overwhelming support from his family and community. His experience serves as a poignant reminder of the fragility of life and the importance of gratitude. As we explore the challenges and triumphs of Jeff's life, both personal and professional, the conversation becomes a source of inspiration and a reflection on the impact of our choices on those we hold dear. Join us for a story that's as much about the heart as it is about the art of business.
Welcome back to another episode of Our Community. I'm your host, Alfredo Diamond, local real estate agent entrepreneur. Welcome. I've got today's special guest, Jeff Huffine of Iron Gate. Welcome, Jeff. Well, thank you. Thank you for being here. Appreciate it. Looking forward to this one man, we're going to jump right into it. Okay, Tell me where you're from. Well, I'm from Economy, Indiana. Okay.
Speaker 2:That's where I grew up. All right, and just a little bit about your background, like where'd you go to school, your experiences, yeah, so I'm a Hagerstown graduate and went to college at Heron School of Art, which is part of Indiana University. So, yeah, so I got my education there and then jumped into the business.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, which I want to know more about and look excited about that, so we'll jump right into that. So, jeff, tell me about your journey that led you to co-found Iron Gate and what inspired you to venture into that field.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's interesting. Well, I have to first talk about how I say that art chose me. Okay, because I was an art kid growing up. I don't know where it came from. It was from God my ability I could draw. It was from God like my ability, like I could draw.
Speaker 2:And you know, I think back on that, like in my home I never saw that was not like modeled, like I never saw anybody in my family drawing, or you know what I'm saying Like I didn't have that kind of influence in my family and so it was like something I could just do. Yeah, it was. You know, I like I didn't have to work at it and I didn't. You know, like I never really took art as a serious thing, um, until kind of later in my, when I was in high school. But it was, um, something I could do, like I could draw, and I did a lot, but it was always for pleasure. But I, it was never I could do like I could draw and I did a lot, but it was always for pleasure, but it was never like hey, I'm going to turn this into a career somehow. And so for me I say this a lot like for me, going to art school was like going to Mars, because that was such a foreign idea or a foreign thought.
Speaker 1:Growing up. Do you think that inspired you or motivate you to go further with art?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, what I found was I fell in love with it. You know, I fell in love with the idea of being creative. I fell in love with the idea of being able to get paid for my ideas. You know, it's very rewarding to get paid for your ideas. I mean, gosh man, that's like the ultimate.
Speaker 1:I love that and, from the entrepreneur side, just tell me about your experience like getting started to where your business is today. I mean, I would love to hear about that. I'm sure our audience would yeah.
Speaker 2:So well, first of all, I grew up in a large family and so I had like brother-in-laws and that were entrepreneurs, they had their own businesses and stuff, and that were entrepreneurs, they had their own businesses and stuff. And so I was always kind of around small business in the peripheral and I've always admired those people. I've admired my whole family but the entrepreneurs in the family. I've always admired them and in the back of my mind I thought, well, I've always wanted to have my own business. Yeah, you know, and I think it kind of comes from that. But, getting started, after I went to art school, I did an internship in a design firm and so, well, when I was in art school, you know, you have like these two different tracks. You go on and so you know, you either kind of go down the fine art side of it or you do what they would call at that time they would call it commercial art. Okay, and you have to remember, I graduated, or I went to art school in 1981. You know, think about that, about that, like, where were we in 1981? Yeah, there weren't personal computers, there weren't cell phones there. You know how we do business now.
Speaker 2:Um, then was completely different, and so, um, yeah, so this all is pre-computer. So a lot of it at that time depended on your hand skills. You know where now the computer is levelized, it's leveled, all of that. But anyway I say that. So I go out and I get an internship at a design studio in Indianapolis, okay, and then that you know it's like who you work for and who you know you know already I'm networking. And from that networking, you know, um, I get my first job, okay, right after I graduated college and my first job is for Indianapolis magazine, okay.
Speaker 2:And so I started out there, um small department putting out a monthly magazine and you had to do it in a month and this is all, remember, this is all pre-computer, so it's all by hand, right. It's like a whole building mechanicals, first, coming up with all the story ideas and doing photography, and you know it's like, okay, here's what we're doing this week, here's what we're doing this week, here's what we're doing this week. I mean, it was just like, um, very educational. I learned so much at that time, um, about how you know to work through all that process, you know. And then bam, you know, we're on to the next one. It was like exciting for me, you know, because it was moving, just constantly moving, and um so um. I did that for probably about a year and a half.
Speaker 1:Getting a lot of experience at this point.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was getting a ton of experience and trying to find my way, you know. And then, after that, I was married to my wife, stacy, and, you know, starting a young family, and I'm like, you know, that job, I didn't have any insurance, you know. And uh, so, um, you know, I always tell the story. So we had our first child, my wife. You know um was making, you know she was making more money than I was and she was, she, uh, her company, she had the health insurance, everything, and so we have our first child and, like her, first week back to work, I get, I get this phone call from her and she's crying, you know, and she's like I don't want to go back to work. You know, she wanted to stay home with her mom, with her baby and our baby. And of course, I'm like, um, honey, I'm sorry, but you make more money, you're the breadwinner, you're the breadwinner, I'm sorry, but're the breadwinner. I'm sorry, but you know, um, she got to stay home with the second baby.
Speaker 2:But you know, but so I um knew I needed to get to the. You know, take the next step Right.
Speaker 2:And so you know, maybe a job that has insurance pays better, and so you weren't at the level you weren't at the level, you weren't at the spot where you're thinking business at this point, right, I'm just like trying to learn what all this is about. Like you know, the idea of marketing and advertising and design and the commerce side of all of that. There's so much to learn, so, yeah. So then I was fortunate enough to like land a job at a ball corporation in Muncie Okay, was fortunate enough to like land a job at a ball corporation in Muncie Okay. So I spent nine, almost 10 years at ball corporation. At that time they were headquartered in Muncie. Now they're out in Colorado and so, um, that was a great job.
Speaker 2:You know, I've, you know, never had flown before and I was flying places with them and, um, just um, the exposure I got I've never had flown before and I was flying places with them Just the exposure I got. It really kind of became the measuring stick. Well, what I want to say here is that I had a mentor. This is really important, I think, for people when they're starting their careers. I had a mentor there. His name's Kerry Shaw and I worked for Kerry almost 10 years and he helped shape me as a person in a work environment. But what I got he modeled to me how to treat people right and it just went really far and gave me he put up with me right, like put up with my arrogance, my being full of myself, um, being patient, seeing you know, seeing the potential, then trying to help develop me and getting me there, he coached you, he coached me and it's like, um, still to this day, like I'm using things that he exposed me to that, you know, really made a difference.
Speaker 2:So, and I wanted to go back and also say that, um, so I'm in high school and I'm a sophomore and I'm in art class, and at that point I'm not really sure what I'm going to do. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, most of my family didn't go to college and so I figured I was probably going to get a factory job, yeah, but there weren't any. We were just coming off the head and I, you know, in the late 70s, with the gas shortage, you know, and all that, wow, um, there was a lot of layoffs, things like that, so there wasn't really a factory job and so, anyway, probably a sophomore in high school. I'm sitting in art class and, um, my art teacher, have you ever thought about going to art school? And, quite frankly, no. I'm like, what is art school? Yeah, yeah. You know, no one in my family has done that.
Speaker 2:You know, but it was just like that. Her name is Paula Richardson and Paula said what do you think about going to art school? And from that point on it put the spark Powerful, like people have influence and they probably don't even know how much influence they can have. So it's powerful and so, like, from then on I was all about learning about art school and I did a couple um visits and I went to Ball State, I went to Heron, I went um to Dayton University and looked and trying to figure out like what's this all about? You know, and um and so. But she kind of put me on that direction and all it was was have you ever thought about going to art school? Yeah, in your mind.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:No, it was powerful, though, but you know probably she probably doesn't know. That's why I wanted to say her name is because she probably doesn't know the impact she had.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know so yeah, but that was powerful. So, um, yeah. So I was at ball corporation for like almost 10 years. I love that job. I love that job because it was I think it was more about the culture, it was about the people there. It was, um, felt like family and of course I had a very strong mentor and so all of that. But you know it's like, okay, I need to. But you know it's like okay, I need to move on.
Speaker 2:You know You've outgrown it, I've outgrown it and so and I've gone about as far as I'm going to go here, because there were other people on our team and so I went back out to Indianapolis and I worked for at that time a company called USA Group and they're a student loan OK, Student loan industry.
Speaker 1:What did you do there?
Speaker 2:I was in the marketing department. Ok. So a manager of design. So we had a large team. There was a large team probably all together probably close to 30 people. Ok, you know, we were doing all the marketing for the company and um, so I went into a man more of a management role. So, um, that was a good experience too and um, eventually that led to me starting my business.
Speaker 2:Because what happened was um usa group was sold to sally may and yeah, so I worked for sally may for a short time I know those guys yeah you know, and I had an opportunity to go with sally may like I could have gone out to uh rest in virginia where they were headquartered which is just outside of dc and um and thought about it, but you know it's like families got a hold of us. Like families is important to us, and it's just like we didn't want to leave family and stuff, and so chose not to do that.
Speaker 2:So there was duplication here. Like sally may had a big team, usa group has a big team of marketing people, and so, um, they're like well, we'll give you a severance package. Wow, you know, which was great. And so I said, well, I'm going to start my own business, I think I'm going to start my own business. And so they're like okay, we'll make you a contractor oh, wow, right, wow, so, um.
Speaker 1:So the severance package, how long? One quarter a quarter? Wow, it's all weeks.
Speaker 2:I didn't have to pay myself for one quarter. Now, you think about that, because when you start a creative business, you gotta find work. Yeah, you gotta, you know, do the work. Then you get paid, you know I mean, but in a nutshell, that's kind of it. And so sometimes it takes a while, you know, and I didn't have to, like, I didn't have money to go to the bank and get a line of credit and I was, you know, just really trying to get my career going, and and so, yeah, so I was able to. And you know, just really trying to get my career going and and so, yeah, so I was able to. And you know, there were three entities that spun out of all of this, you know so, and one of those entities I still work for today, this was been, this was a contractor.
Speaker 2:Yeah, 23 years ago. So the Lumina foundation, wow, which is the second largest education foundation in the United States, right behind the Gates foundation, and so the second largest education foundation in the united states, right behind the gates foundation. And so the lumina foundation, um, because the lumina foundation was kind of the benefactor of the sell of usa group, because usa group was a non-for-profit and so it had that all that 780 million dollars had to stay, had to stay as a not-for-profit, and so that's how the Lumina Foundation came out of that, and so I went to work for them still do some work for them, and what's interesting is, in 23 years, all the people that I knew at Lumina are no longer there. Oh, wow, you know, wow. So, um, that's interesting dynamic. Yeah, you know. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Um, but we still do some work for them. Um and then um, us, um, there was USA funds, which was the original loan guarantor of student loans. They spun back out. So we were working for usa funds, I was working for usa usa group and doing a little work for sally may too or so.
Speaker 1:So you, you start in a business, you come out the gate with income coming in still for at least another three months yeah then you come out the gate with your first client, which spins off into additional clients and they were all my peers, so like lots of relationships with them right that's what was so I was like it was.
Speaker 2:I was so fortunate. That's not how it probably works so that's where I was going.
Speaker 1:So you, I mean, have you had any challenges like running your business?
Speaker 2:I mean yeah, like how to run a business you know, I'm sure we could talk about that all day. I'm just like, yeah, you know, faking it and fake it till you make it.
Speaker 2:Um, you know, it's like when you're small, you can fake it more and as you start to, you know, add more employees and grow then that whole structure, um, you know, you got to try to figure it out, but you know it's like I did not go to school for business and so, you know, at this, at the same time, I'm trying to figure out how to run a creative business and take care of my clients, and and then, oh yeah, I got a bill and I got to worry about taxes. There's a great book that I read. It's called the E-Myth.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, and the E-Myth is a book that's about really this idea you're good at something and you, you're working for someone and you, um, you see that that owner, your boss, and you think, you know I could do this. I mean my boss, I don't think he's very smart or whatever. You know I could do this, right. And so you decide you think you're going to do it. Yeah, well, the problem is what you're really good at and what you're passionate about. You don't get to do that. Yeah, you know what. What really makes it for you?
Speaker 2:um, it's going to be like one third, because you have to do all these other things to run a business yeah and so um, and that's the books about that like trying to to understand where your strengths are and hiring and finding resources for the things that you're not good at. Yeah. Because that's the myth, right? The myth is I'm going to kill this, I'm going to be great at it because I'm good at this job, and then what you find out is now I'm a prisoner and I hate it because I don't get to do. I've lost the fulfillment of what I got to do.
Speaker 1:So there's a common thing that I get from other entrepreneurs and business owners and I've talked to. This topic's come up a couple different times with me in passing with other people this week, because this topic's come up a couple different times with me in passing with other people this week. So, e-myth, and then you know thinking that you can emulate your boss or your manager, but now you're a boss and you want things done a certain way. Yeah. How do you let go and trust that your staff is doing it how you need it?
Speaker 2:done. Well, at first I didn't have a staff, okay, and that was like, oh, my heavens, I've always worked in teams and so, okay, I start out, I rent a little space in hager. I'm gonna do this from hagerstown, uh-huh. And so I rented an office space and I'm like there every day and I'm lonely, it's just me, and I'm like, oh man, this is hard, like when the mailman would come in, I'd talk his leg off. You know, I'd talk his leg off, and, uh, that part was so hard. Um, so I was trying to take care of my, my three clients, and then I was already starting kind of to pick up some other work, and so, you know, it's just like, um, the isolation of all that, but also trying to. So here's here's what.
Speaker 2:I do and this is what I say to everyone. You got to hire a good accountant, you know. Hire a good insurance guy person, hire a good lawyer, you know those three are so important to you as a team, for your kind of team of advisors, you know, like it's so real, it's critical.
Speaker 1:So like, do you let, so do you deal with those guys one-on-one? I just want to know for myself and maybe someone out there. Yeah, so do you deal?
Speaker 3:with these individuals one-on-one? I just want to know for myself and maybe someone out there?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so do you deal with these individuals one-on-one or do you collaborate, like will you send an email out that includes everyone when you've got an issue or a question? Yeah, it's a team.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I never did that where I pulled everybody together, but I did talk to each of those associates you know individually, each of my of those associates you know individually, and, and so, um, at the time, my um accountant was a tax lawyer.
Speaker 2:Okay, really helpful. We leaned on her pretty heavy, but so I'm trying to get all this work done and I'm working a lot like I'm working a lot Like I'm working 80 hours, oh, wow, I'm not exaggerating, I believe it Because I have all this commitment, all this work. I remember so I got introduced to my business partner, who's Jeff Richards, and so didn't know Jeff, a mutual friend of ours who was a printing salesman. I'd worked with him and Jeff was actually living in the community, but I'd never met him. I didn't know anything about him.
Speaker 2:And so we were introduced by a mutual friend and he was wanting to start his, a business similar to mine, and so I convinced him to like come down and rent a space beside me and that we would start. I had plenty of work. You know that I could give him to help him, because he was trying to. You know he was trying to find enough work to justify making this change, because he's going to leave a good paying job to do this Right. That's a big commitment. It's like it's very scary.
Speaker 2:And so he came on, pulled in beside me. He had a business, I had a business, we started working together and I was talking about so and we're like, busy, we're, so, we're busy, we've been blessed and we're busy, and I tell the story about, you know, we're, so, we're busy, we've been blessed and we're busy, and I I tell the story about um. You know we're working a lot, a lot of late nights, and I tell a story about my wife, stacy, where, um, I remember that we were like on a crunch on a deadline, trying to get something done, so we worked till I don't know two in the morning, something like that. You know, I come home and I go to bed.
Speaker 2:Well, then I get up ahead of her and you know I only came and slept for not very long, yeah, and four hours yeah, and I'm back up and I'm getting ready to leave and I remember her like kind of like leaning up and putting you know on her arm and she says where are you going? I said I'm going back to work and she says where are you going? I said I'm going back to work and she says why? She doesn't know. She doesn't know what we're doing, how the work has to be done. It's all deadline driven, so we have to perform and that's what it's like. But I like that too. I mean, I've always been an athlete and so there's like this level of competition. There's this, you know, the challenge, the challenge of winning it, doing it, all that kind of stuff delivering it.
Speaker 2:Yeah so, but you know we've always worked really hard. You know, yeah so, but you know we've always um worked really hard, you know, and but when you're doing it for yourself, you love it yeah you know it's like, not like work well, I've never treated it like work. To me it's a lifestyle yeah you know, yeah, it's a lifestyle.
Speaker 2:So jeff and I we worked together for seven years, you know. We rented a third room down there because we started collecting all this stuff. And I said to Jeff I'm like man, you know, between the three rooms that we're renting we could probably buy our own building, you know. And so we went to our lawyer and stuff and yeah, so we formed a little real estate like a little company, just to buy. We bought a building. Okay, we weren't partners yet, but we bought a building together which is Iron Gate now. So we bought it and then renovated it.
Speaker 2:Took about seven months and renovated it and went in there and so we worked there. That was probably about 2007,. About 2013. We were ready to. We had to do something.
Speaker 1:You started hiring people.
Speaker 2:Well, that was the problem. We needed to hire people. He had a business, I had a business. It was messy. We were trying to make our clients think that we're one thing that we weren't. And, on top of that, who hires? Who's going to hire here?
Speaker 1:So you're operating under two different entities, but you need to be one. How do you get?
Speaker 2:past that. Well, and the problem? The problem a little bit, was that we had an we were using. I talked him into using the same accountant that I had, which he did. Well, her philosophy was she didn't believe in partnerships Like she says. It's like they're like a marriage. 50% of them make it boys and she's like I was in a partnership, yeah.
Speaker 2:And she said I thought it was ironclad, they didn't make it, you know. And so, like, from her experience, she said don't do it now. She's already worked with us for seven years, you know. And finally, um, we're like, she held us off, I don't know, maybe a year or so, but finally we went back and just said, hey, we're doing this, we got to do this. And so, um, she's like, well, I want you to understand. And said I never thought about this.
Speaker 2:She's like going into a partnership is like getting married, and that means you have to be accountable about your finances to each other, right, like if you're going to buy something big, you got to tell your partner Disgusting, right. And she's like you'll resent the fact that you give up your financial independence, which I thought was great advice. And she also said you guys, your styles are different when it comes to money, right. And also, you know, I'm six years older. He, jeff, was, uh, even a little bit later by the time he got married and started raising children too. So my kids are almost already, you know, finishing through high school, starting college, all that. So she's like you're in two different places and so you need to consider all of that. I'm just trying to figure out how to get to work then, yeah, yeah, and to build this you know and we'll move on.
Speaker 1:But what makes you guys different? How do you make it work?
Speaker 2:Well then she gave us this other piece of advice. She's like well, someone has to own at least 51%, right, because how do you make a decision? Yeah. Well, we didn't listen to her. We said 50-50. Well, we didn't listen to her. We said 50-50. And so if we don't agree, we don't do it right, if we don't agree, we don't do it. But how do we make it work? I think it's, you know. I call it dating. We dated for seven years.
Speaker 1:Yeah, chemistry, now you just know what the other one's thinking.
Speaker 2:and yeah, the other thing that she asked us to do too was like you each, I want you. So here was the best part. She kind of acted like a marriage counselor. She says, okay, you've worked together for seven years, so I want you each to make a list of what drives you crazy about each other. Right, all the things that drive you crazy. And then we're going to come together and talk about those things. Like we're going to put the issues on the desk, you know. And she said also, I want each of you to bring me a five-year plan for the vision for the company you know and what you think maybe a 10-year plan might look like. Yeah, so we brought all that together. We aired our kind of all of our what drives you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, put it on a table and stuff, and so she kind of just worked through it with us. So that was helpful too. And so then we formed Iron Gate and off we went.
Speaker 1:How many employees do you have now?
Speaker 2:So we have three full-time employees. In fact, we just made an offer this morning to a fourth, and then we have we have a couple contract employees that we use as well. So I mean, we have one contract employee probably gives us an invoice every week.
Speaker 1:So we technically yeah employee probably gives us an invoice every week. So technically, yeah, yeah. So when I met you, I think I believe we were talking- about like crm systems and things like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I imagine you do more than just that yeah what so tell us, tell me about iron gate yeah, so we're a branding marketing, um, digital marketing firm and um. We talk a lot about being growth driven. That comes from um hubspot. So hubspot um is a crm, it's a customer relationship management system and it takes and basically it it's about uh, it's um, it's a competitor of, like Salesforce, which is a much bigger operation, but HubSpot's pretty big and they're international, and so we became a HubSpot partner. So we sell HubSpot to our clients and then we also train and support it and then we also market with it and we build on it. So it's a platform where you can build a website on the platform.
Speaker 2:But it's um, it's also inbound. It's about inbound marketing. It's about you have a sales team. How are you tracking all that activity on a sales team? Right, and where's all that history living? So let's say, you're a salesman for a company and you have a book of business and then you leave that company. Where's all that history? Where's all those conversations and relationships and all the things, all that history, right, it can all live on hubspot, okay, you know so that and it's all. It's all. Where you're going to access it, you can see it. But also, if you have, uh, if you have customer service, and then marketing, and so this whole idea of like um sales funnel, yeah, lead generation, you know that's what we, that's what we're doing right.
Speaker 2:So that's what we do for customers now. Uh, so we kind of have two sides to our business okay um, yeah, so right after covid, you know, we had a client.
Speaker 2:We had a very big client. We worked for franciscan health hospitals. At that time it was probably 16 or 17 hospitals and we had worked for them for 18 years. Wow, you know, we weren't their agency of record, they had a big ad agency. But what we did was we came in and helped implement their brand and build down into their service lines and it was just, they have a very, you know, they had a very large staff and so it was great because we just we had work coming yeah you know, we had work coming and so we lost that.
Speaker 2:After 18 years that finally went away and so we were kind of at a crossroads. So we kind of had that. I call it to come to Jesus meeting where we're like well, what do you want to do? You want to quit?
Speaker 2:You know, come too far or where are we going, you know. And so we decided we wanted to. I feel like if you're not growing, then you're dying, right. And I said, well, I want to grow, I think we need to grow it. And so we were looking at HubSpot to help us start to try to do that. And so we did that. We adopted the HubSpot kind of methodology.
Speaker 2:We have two sides to our business now. We have the HubSpot kind of that side of it where we act as a marketing company or a marketing department for a company, just depending on what their situation is and their resources, and we do their kind of day-to-day activity for marketing and we do strategy and we build it all out. And so what we're talking about here is like automating the sales process. Right, we automate sales processes. We automate sales processes. We talk about really identifying buyer personas and who those target audiences are. They're very important to understand. And then also what that sales journey looks like. How hard is it for someone to do business with your organization? I mean, there's tons of barriers that keep sales from happening because of how hard you make it for people and missed opportunities, missed opportunities. So we talk about that a lot. Yeah, you know.
Speaker 1:So walk me through. So I'm a new prospective client for you. What is the process? So is there a consultation process? I may not be a good fit. You may not be a good fit. Yeah, I mean. So I'm a new lead for you. How does what's that look like?
Speaker 2:yeah, so that's kind of my job okay so you know, it's amazing if you think about, like, the bid process or writing proposals and things like that. So what we've learned over that time is, like, how do we align? So, for example, you hire an ad agency in Indianapolis and they're down on monument circle, they're downtown. Think about their overhead, oh yeah, right yeah, think about what it costs. So every business has an hourly rate. They know what their hourly rate is and what I mean is what they have to charge to be open, right, yeah. So that hourly rate is like taking into consideration all their overhead, all those salaries and stuff like that, so that all impacts what they have to charge, right, yeah? So if you're hiring an agency in downtown Indianapolis and they have a fairly large staff, think about what they have to charge.
Speaker 2:You hire us in Hagerstown, everything's cheaper, right, so we can be more competitive on the price gives us some flexibility. Be more competitive on the price, um, gives us some flexibility, um, and so there's that. So that it's this whole thing about a line. And I say that because I've had clients say, man, we know we were using this other place and, gosh, they were just so expensive.
Speaker 2:You know, I'm thinking well, did you ever consider that we're all not equal? Yeah, and did you ever consider why they have to charge that? Yeah, you know, and it's just business, but it's like trying to understand those economics and making sure that you are in alignment. So now what I have to do is like, when we get referrals or we're starting a conversation, you can have hours in talking to people and writing proposals. We like to get it on the table fast, and that is listen, no offense here, but here's what it's going to take to work with us. A minimum, okay, now we don't know what your budget is and maybe you didn't have any idea or an expectation, but this is what. Just let's get it on the table. Let's don't waste each other's time, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, and no offense here, I mean I'm not trying to be offensive's, let's just get it on the table. So we let's you know.
Speaker 2:That's the first hurdle yeah so we try to get it on the table as quick as we can. You know, and you know, and people have said you know, we don't want to spend that, but we appreciate the fact that you come out and you said that you know, and so and I'm like, okay, cool, you know. It's like no hard feelings and not taking this, and it's always hard to have that conversation, but we've learned, that's what we have to do. Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you kind of walked yourself into this one. So what are some? Unique challenges you face working in a small town like Hagerstown, indiana, compared to larger cities.
Speaker 2:And I've thought about that a lot because you know opportunity, maybe you know just to share a of um opportunities or businesses that you that are around you in a large community like indianapolis, or um columbus, ohio or cincinnati, or you know um that whole thing, the perception of being in a small community or um. And then our other challenge too is, I just told you, you know we're hiring, yeah, um, it's you know, finding people.
Speaker 2:Sure, you know, finding talented people, that um want to, you know, want to work in Hagerstown, that you know that's COVID's taught us that we have to. You know that we can do remote, you know, but we still want to build a culture. Right, we want to build a culture and so I got this building, you know, and yeah, so those are some of our challenges. I think that they're out there.
Speaker 1:So could you share a project or campaign you're particularly proud of and the impact it had on your client?
Speaker 2:Yeah, locally here, first Bank, richmond, I love my bank campaign. Gosh, we've been working on that campaign now for years 15 or 16 years, maybe longer, I don't know but that's been really impactful because I never expected that campaign to still be living. You know, first Bank always talks about how they still have customers that are asking to like to be on their billboards and stuff. You know it is and it's like and also first I love my bank kind of became a catchphrase. You know like, yeah, it is, and it's like and also first I love my bank kind of became a catchphrase. You know where people would say I love my bank. You know, and um, which was really cool, but um, just that legacy that's, it's still there. Yeah, and um, we take a lot of pride in it. You know, um.
Speaker 2:You know, first bank, they have a like a big training facility at their headquarters. That's a big open room like I think they can kind of like partition it off if they need to and stuff, but they've hung each one, each one all the way around. Now you think about all the years we've been doing it and there's a body of work there. It's just incredible. Yeah, you know like, um, I love going in there because it's like my monument to a legacy, and I have to kind of take my hat off to First Bank and Gary Clear and to Susan Richwine, who's their marketing director, for continuing with it, because a lot of times what happens is a company will get tired of something that you're doing, thinking everybody else is probably tired of it too, right, yeah, but in reality it's not that way, because everybody else is not seeing it or living it. You want that consistency, right, and you want that consistency and that came out of um.
Speaker 2:You know, we did brand research for them many years ago. Um, we did interviews, we did some focus groups and stuff and that was like a legitimate thing that came out was that first bank I love first bank because of their involvement with the community, how they support the community, how they support the arts, how they support all these things that I love, and that was powerful. That was like making a super strong connection to a brand. That was authentic and true, and so I love my bank, I think, why it's resonated so long? Because it's true, you know what's?
Speaker 1:what's the address of your location with iron gate over there in Hagerstown?
Speaker 2:Yeah, 35 West main street. We're right on, right on main street in Hagerstown and you know we bought that building. It was in a sheriff's cell. Okay.
Speaker 2:So you, you know, being in real estate, we looked, probably for over a year and we looked at other communities, like we came over here downtown richmond, we looked at this couple buildings here we we were very, yeah, very serious about moving here. We also looked in cambridge city. So we were working our our agent pretty hard, you know, yeah, and we got, and at one point, um, I kept saying to her, listen, these buildings, they got to have character, like if they don't have bones, I don't want to see them. Because she would like call and say, hey, I got this building, I want you to go look at it. And I said, where is it? And she'd tell me, I'm like I, you know, I'd say no, we're not going to go see that. And she's like, why not? I said, because I told you, it's got to have that building has no character. And she would say, well, you put the character in it, right, and I'm like that is true, but it's got to have some bones to it, right, like something there that's got some character.
Speaker 2:And yeah, so I'm driving by this building, which I've driven by literally thousands of times and never gave it any consideration, and it had a big sign out front that said Sheriff's Cell. You know, for sale Sheriff's Cell Places like all run down Condemned. I mean you could just walk in it, right? Yeah, you could just go in. And sure enough, we walked through it and fell in love with it and so we bought it out of a sheriff's sale you know, got it pretty cheap.
Speaker 2:But then we turned around, popped a bunch of money into it, you know, to bring it back and, like I said, it was probably a good solid seven months of renovation and doing it. But what was also cool was the town of Hagerstown gave us a low interest loan. They use, you know, if you're in their business district, they will give you edit funds. So edit funds are tax dollars for business development, you know. And so what they do is if you're going to create jobs, you can apply um to the town for a low interest loan. It was like one percent. I think we got like a thirty thousand dollar loan. Now, you know we were doing this project regardless, but it was a really nice gesture. Yeah, I think we had 10 years to pay it off, you know.
Speaker 2:And when we paid it off, I mean there was some criticism in the community. Why are you giving those people a loan they don't need? You know they're a business, they don't need a loan. You always get that. You always get some kind of somebody speaking up. So when we paid off the loan, I went back to them and I gave them a list. I said here's what your money bought you. Here's what your money did.
Speaker 1:And you revitalized I'm sure you renovated that building exactly community with that we renovated a building that was going to be tore down.
Speaker 2:This building is 1853, saved a piece of history. It's one of the oldest buildings in hagerstown. Wow, you know, it's got so much um history. It's just amazing.
Speaker 2:Um, there's one part of our building that goes supposedly back to 1839 that was like a separate building that was up on the sidewalk and then moved back. They moved it back and then built this, the rest of the house around it right, and so when you go underground and look at it, like that part's on a crawl space, it's the the floor joists are, um, they're logs with bark and the darn thing is setting. It's setting on a tree stump like for support. It's all filled stone and it's like um, we had, we had some people come in and do some work on it and they were telling us they're like the wood in this, uh, in this part is so old, like it probably predates. It's probably dating back into the 1700s, maybe older.
Speaker 2:The wood is Because, they said, you can tell by the hardwood, the grain is so tight, like you can't get wood like this. Wow, you know, and so it's really. It's pretty old, but we're really proud of that. We were able to do that. So I went to the town when we've paid it off and I said here's what you did with your money. First of all, you got a building right downtown renovated. Now it's a showpiece.
Speaker 2:Then on, top of that, we've hired three employees that are educated, they've bought houses here, they're raising families here. That's what you did. Yeah, you know, and we're going to continue to grow and continue to do that, and so that's pretty powerful. Yeah, you know.
Speaker 1:Just amazing story. I'm so glad you're here Again. I appreciate you being here today, so we'll take a deep dive and get to know you a little bit better. What's a typical day like for you outside of work? Any favorite hobbies or activities?
Speaker 2:Well, I ride a bicycle.
Speaker 1:And so Road bike, racing bike, road bike, road bike okay.
Speaker 2:And so I've done a lot of bike riding. Okay, that's probably one of my pleasures, I I say biking can be like golf. By the way, I suck at golf.
Speaker 1:So do I. Do you want to club? Do you want to club I have? Do you know how many times no pun intended. Do you want to club, do?
Speaker 2:you know how many times I get asked to go play golf. I wish I could play golf, because I'm missing all kinds of great opportunities. You know yeah.
Speaker 2:But I just can't hit the darn ball. Yeah, all, yeah, it's like uh, so I've got all kinds of golf stories. You know I could talk all day about that, but um, so I still play a little bit. But yeah, started riding bikes and I love it. You know, um, and you know. But I say biking can be like golf because it's very intimate, like you can ride with someone and talk if you can breathe but talk with them and, um, you know, if you're just kind of casually writing and stuff like that, and I mean, I write with some people that wanted they want to draft, like nascar, you know, they want to draft oh you're, you're a writer for real, so so what's the most amount of miles you've written in one day?
Speaker 2:I've done the rain ride so across the state state of indiana what is? 168 miles. I think You're a bad boy. I did it twice and in between it I had a heart attack. What yeah? Yeah, so, yeah, I've had a heart attack. Well, I called it a minor heart attack. Okay, that's scary, but the nurse says, hey, man, a heart attack is a heart attack, right? So, uh, yeah, so, but yeah, I had a. I rode two years back to back, had a heart attack in between and I was back the next year writing.
Speaker 1:So oh wow, you are a bad boy. Well, I don't know, maybe dumb, I don't know.
Speaker 2:But, um, but um, I I like to ride, so, um, that's probably my um, one of my kind of personal pleasures, and you know, it's like I also go down and do the Hilly 100 down in Bloomington. Okay, that's a pretty ride. I think there might be close to maybe 5,000 people that do that, 4,000, something like that.
Speaker 1:I'm not ready for that.
Speaker 2:But you know, what's really neat about it is like I can go somewhere. But what's really neat about it is I can go somewhere and it's like in any kind of thing where I can talk to anyone, no matter how different they are from me, because we all have something in common. We all can talk about biking, we're passionate about it, and that's where it starts. It's a way to connect and always have something that we can talk about, which is really cool, and then that's how I can get to know someone.
Speaker 2:Build a rapport, build a rapport. So those things are when we talk about communities and trying to find ways to bring people together. Finding those kinds of connections I think are so important. But biking's one, and then I'm a grandpa and so I have five children and then I have five grandkids. Oh wow, four children. Sorry, I'm getting my math wrong. Four children, five grandkids so far.
Speaker 2:So we're like baseball's coming just finished basketball so we'll be on a field somewhere watching you know sports yeah I love my kids and so that and that's why I started my business in hagerstown and that's why I kept it there is because family is very important that's why you didn't go to dc well, listen, you know, when I was working in indianapolis and I commuted from hagerstown every day and that's like living two lives right, and it wasn't healthy and I didn't want to do that.
Speaker 2:I wanted to start my business, I wanted to put it in a community where my family was, and you know, and I wanted to flex, and that's why we didn't come to Richmond, believe it or not. We were working a lot of hours and we said, listen, if we put our office in Richmond and we're living in Hagerstown, we're not going to come back at night, I'm not going to drive the 20 to 25 minutes or half hour to get downtown to my office. Now, if I'm in Hagerstown, four blocks from where I live, to my studio, you know I'll go home, I'll eat dinner, I'll spend time with my family and then I'll put them to bed. I'll come back to work. Yeah, if I. You know, I know it sounds crazy, but that's what we did. Yeah, and we didn't want to jeopardize the willingness to be able to do that Because, like I said, it's a lifestyle for us.
Speaker 2:It wasn't like a grind, it wasn't a job. So my activities really are around my family and bicycle riding. Other than that, I don't have a lot of time. To be honest, you know cause I used to be on like a lot.
Speaker 2:I did a lot of volunteering, like I was on um, you know, town, um on on the town, um, um, I just I just lost it on the uh like a town hall, on the um, the, the management of the city, and then, um, I was also like on the uh library board and um, I was in road, I was a rotary president and I was doing all these different things and um, I, you know, was this what happens you can like overextend and then you're no good to anybody, you're just showing up. It's like you don't have time, you can't prepare because you, you know, and um, and I just, like you know, by having this is terrible, but by having a heart attack, I was able to like say no to everyone and just step away, right and see, I want to backtrack a second and talk about that because, because I hear a lot of myself in in you and then also maybe you can help someone.
Speaker 1:Yeah, can you do you care to talk about your heart attack and like what attributed to it and then how your life has changed since then?
Speaker 2:yeah, um, well, I've always been pretty athletic and I've always been very active, running um, biking, um. So it was kind of a surprise to me, you know, Um, and I didn't have like a um. You know, there's guys, you know, sometimes you hear about people that like ignore the symptoms of possibly having a heart attack. Like I didn't have like a big chest pain kind of thing. You know, for me it was like pain in my arms is like where, and I was actually downtown, you know, walking downtown to a client, and I started having like pains in my arm and I had at that point, you know I didn't do something about it.
Speaker 1:So you were having this, you were feeling this ongoing for a while.
Speaker 2:Yeah, in my arms and they were starting to increase in my arm and I got really lightheaded. I felt like I was going to pass out and I was afraid I was going to do it on the street. So I just walked into a building that had security officers in the lobby and just said I think I might be having a heart attack or getting sick here, and so they called an ambulance for me you know, and so that's how that, all you know.
Speaker 2:Then I they tried to put a couple, they tried to put a stint in, and they said that the blockage was kind of at the bottom of my heart and, um, the blood vessels there were um where they were trying to do it were too small, they couldn't put a stent in, and so they said my heart would correct itself like it would grow around that so they put me on medication and I went through some physical therapy. That's scary. Yeah.
Speaker 1:How have you changed since then?
Speaker 2:Well, I'm more appreciative of what I have. I'm also, you know, I'm more human, I guess. You know, it's like you know I think that it kind of grounds you or centers you a little bit. You know it made me more thankful. You know I'm religious and so it tied me to that more.
Speaker 1:So Certainly inspiring. Hey the message out there make sure you're taking care of yourself. Yeah, work a beat air.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:Make sure you're taking care of yourself, because without you, then you know yeah. So take heed to that. Yeah, absolutely, Jeff. Do you have a personal motto or philosophy that guides your work and life decisions?
Speaker 2:That's a good question. I was just singing yesterday. I guess I was singing out loud. When I came into the office, jeff, my business partner said I was singing, don't worry, everything's going to be okay, it'll be all right. I'd heard that song earlier and I was singing that to him singing it. My other one probably is we Walk by Faith, not by Sight. 2. And I?
Speaker 2:have that like on my wall. So I just say a lot, that I'm handing this over to God. There's so much I don't have control of, and so he, it's up to him. I'm going to give it everything. I got, and so, man, it's up to him. I'm going to give it everything I got, and so, man, it's been a pleasure.
Speaker 1:Is there anyone out there that you would like to give a shout out to your staff family?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, I have a lot, a lot of people, um, to my family, my wife Stacy, and um, she, you know, she's been by my side the whole time. Um, yeah, you know, super supportive. He's been by my side the whole time. Shout out, Stacey, yeah, you know, super supportive.
Speaker 2:Like I was going to go into a partner when I first got out and I was telling you, I don't know, I was at one point I was thinking about going into business because I had this book of business right, like I was telling you about. Like I got these three clients and so I had a book of business and so there was somebody I really admired in clients and and so I had a book of business. And so there was somebody I really admired in Indy and I was going to go into a part possible partnership. You know, and she's like, you know, and I was doubting it and, um, she's like, well, I always want you to know I got faith in you, so go for it. You know you don't need a partner and do it yourself. You know, at that, at that time, she's like, you know, but she's always been super supportive, been, you know, been a rock for me, and so you know it's like when you do this, like your family is impacted by it.
Speaker 2:You know, like if you're going to be in a business, your family is totally impacted by what you're doing, you know, and the time and commitment that you have to do and the sacrifices sometimes you have to make. You know, and so they're all in it too. You know, and they're, and it's it's impacting them and affecting them. So my family. So I shout out to all of my kids and and my wife and you know and them allowing me to be able to do it.
Speaker 1:Well, jeff, I think you're an amazing man and inspiration. I just want to thank you again for being here. It's been a great show, thank you. I wish you continued success. My friend, I appreciate it.