Latest / Pillow Talk 2 Profit: Power Couples Build Empires / Building a Premier Brand Through Executive Experience | EP. 06

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Building a Premier Brand Through Executive Experience | EP. 06 · Pillow Talk 2 Profit: Power Couples Build Empires

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_04: We have a power couple in the house today, man.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_04: Jason and Jamonica Jamonica.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_04: How are you guys feeling?
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_04: We're feeling good.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_07: Happy to be here with the drinking chasing.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_07: Oh my goodness.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_07: Thanks for being on the podcast.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_07: Absolutely.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you for having us.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to the Pillow Talk to Profit Podcast, where couple-led businesses come to grow and build empires together while turning their pillow talks into profit.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_06: Welcome to the Pillow Talk to Profit Podcast.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_06: We're so excited because you know our whole mission is to expose more power couples who are building empires, right?
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_06: Because there's so many power couples out there and people don't see it.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_06: And so that's what we want to do.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_06: We want to showcase, we want to hear your story.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_06: But the first thing before we start everything, like we want to get to know you a little bit more, right?
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_06: So tell us a little bit more of what you do in different types of industries, the businesses that you have.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_07: Went on to work for DuPont for 20 plus years.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_07: COVID happened.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_07: Jason and I uh did some um some hard reconciling with our life and purpose and goals.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_07: And JB Premier Transportation was born two years ago.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_07: Oh wow.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_09: Uh from Baltimore, um Maryland Eastern Shore.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_09: So I graduated.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_09: I'm a degree in accounting as well.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_09: I also started my career at DuPont.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_09: I was then worked with a few banks, Bank of New York Mellon, uh PNC, Financial Services Group, and uh lastly Wells Fargo.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_09: Uh but similarly, we were in COVID, we realized that life is short.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_09: You know, we've seen a lot of individuals pass away, you know, uh we saw a lot of people climbing a corporate ladder and then listen to other side of that, perhaps retirement.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_09: A few years, perhaps, maybe, uh, but then death soon follows.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_09: And uh we didn't want to uh find ourselves in that way, and so uh we have purpose.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah, and uh, you know, leaving uh the safety net of corporate America uh to do things that would gratify us, that would fulfill us as what we wanted to do spiritually, uh volunteering from a spiritual perspective, uh, but lastly to do work that really uh gave us joy and purpose.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_09: And so we found our purpose with JD from there.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_04: I love that, I love that, man.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_04: You guys said purpose, and y'all took y'all took a risk, and I was um actually reading your guys' somebody did a story on you guys.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, technically, yeah.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_04: Saying that y'all left a half million, like when you put your guys' income together, half million that are left on the table to take a risk that you have to bet on yourself that you don't know if it's gonna work, it's not gonna work.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_04: That's big.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_04: Some couples would not do that.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_04: Some most most people won't do that, right?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_04: And your guys say Y'all chasing purpose, right?
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_04: Um, what was that decision?
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_04: Well, like what was that decision?
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_04: Like, what was that what that say no one, like that risk, like we're gonna take that risk?
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_09: Well, I'll say it's grounded in faith, first and foremost, and you know, that that purpose is critical.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_09: Um, you don't wake up one day and decide to to leave that comfort, um keeping things humble and a substantial amount of money.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_09: Um, but when you have a purpose, and we were both driven by a purpose, uh, for us it was our spirituality, and just wanting to do more in that regard.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_09: Um and again, just realizing uh that you know life is short.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_09: And so um, do I want to spend my time, you know, chasing something or uh adding value, um, living a meaningful, rewarding life?
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_09: And so we uh a leap of faith is scary, but we still jumped.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_06: Yes.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_09: That's a quote from uh one of the uh lyrics I know in Baltimore.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_09: Um but he mentioned a leap of faith is scary, um, but we still jump.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_09: Um, but you jump with a purpose.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_09: Exactly.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_09: Shout out to the Molly Man.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_06: Now I know for us with our dynamic, right?
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_06: Um, because when we think of power couples, we always think of couples that work side by side, but there's so many different dynamics.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_06: Two are power couples, right?
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_06: You can work side by side, one can stay home and one build a business, or both can have different industries.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_06: So there's so many different dynamics.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_06: So what are your dynamics?
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_06: Do you work side by side, or how does it, how does your dynamic work?
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_06: We are all in.
• 4:58
  unknown: Yeah.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_07: We are all in side, you know, side by side.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_07: I mean, even before the business came about, we were the best of friends.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_07: You know, we had a solid foundation for our marriage.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_07: You know, we had great communication, but we were best friends, and that has really just propelled us in our business to be able to successfully uh work together.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_07: So we are in sync all throughout the day.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_07: So our first year in business, we had one van, and I don't know if we guys told if we told you guys, but we transport vulnerable uh students back and forth to school.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_07: So this is your students with special needs, your homeless population, and your uh foster uh students across all three tiers: high school, middle, and elementary school.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_07: So we had one van when we took that risk.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_07: We took that risk.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_07: We had no contract, no commitments from any school district or anything, but we knew that we had purpose and we knew we wanted to leave uh corporate.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_07: We knew we wanted to leave our job.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_07: So we had one van, and some of our students at our that time last year required an aid in the van.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_07: So we were together all day, every day.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_07: And that was, you know, and now we have three vans, you know.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_07: So he drives, I drive, and then we we hired another uh driver.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_07: But all throughout the day, we're you we're still in sync to make sure that everything happens uh smoothly and timely and safely.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_06: Yes.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_06: It's a good thing that you said, you know, you said you you were friends first because I always tell everybody, if you decide to go into business together, like if there's any cracks in your foundation, trust me, the business will make it harder.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_06: For sure.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_06: And then people always say, like, we work side by side, like we're together 24-7.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_06: They're like, man, you don't get tired of being your husband.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, like you wake up, you go to work, you know, but I'm like, no, because that's my best friend.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_06: I enjoy being with him day to day, you know, and then we set boundaries when we at work, you know, it's work.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_06: When we're home, we're home, we're family, we're family.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_06: But it's like you have to be able to have that friendship too.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_06: Because not every day you're gonna be like, man.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_06: Like sometimes I don't know what you like.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_06: Sometimes the husband, the wife, they be like, man.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_06: Right, you know, friendship is what because you can just chill and know that this is my best friend and I have my back and I have the absolutely.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_09: I would say it's grounded in respect.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_09: So love is good.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_09: You gotta have love.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_09: Love is primary, right?
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_09: First and foremost.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_09: Um, but really respect is what it boils down to.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_09: Right.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_09: I think what makes uh what we have work is we have our lanes.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_08: Yes.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_09: You know, uh, she has her her powerpoints and what she does, her strengths, so to speak.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_09: Uh, and then I have mine.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_09: We recognize each other's lanes.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_09: I mean, she spent over 24 or 5 years in corporate America, as did I.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_09: Uh, we were professionals in our own regards.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_09: She is extremely strong when it comes to you know people and conversations and like building relationships.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_09: Uh, and then I have my strengths.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_09: We recognize that.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_09: And we stay in our lanes, it coexists, and it's a beautiful thing.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_05: And when one tries to drift over into the other, we be like, I got this.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_07: You know, I got this.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_07: You know, but it takes trucks, trust, right?
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_07: You know, understanding, like he said, each other's strengths.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_07: Let him do him, you know.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_07: So it's empowering each other, you know, to do our jobs without micromanaging the business or micromanaging each other.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, yeah.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_06: Exactly.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_06: And that was that was one of the questions, too, that we we were gonna ask you guys.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_06: Like, how do you separate the roles?
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_06: Because people always say, you know, when you're a couple-led business, like who really is the boss?
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_06: And it depends on who she's always the boss.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_09: She's always the boss.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_08: We only say that because we're on camera.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_08: No, seriously though.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_07: It's funny you should say that because he he he calls me command, you know.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_07: Um we we truly are uh on paper, we're we're we're 51, yeah, uh, you know, 49, you know, percent on paper, but it truly is a hundred-a hundred, you know, that both of us, you know, give.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_07: But um our strengths that we have suit the business for our lanes.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_07: Like he said, I'm more strategic focused, I'm more um people, you know, focused and driven, managing the relationships, um, managing, you know, where we are going as a company, how fast should we go there, you know, as a company, and making sure that we are uh, you know, a class act, making sure we're best in class out here.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_07: I focus, you know, on that.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_07: You know, whereas Jason, he is definitely with his internal controls background, operations background.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_07: He wants to make sure things are done, you know, by the book, you know, make sure our vehicles are maintained, um, uh dealing with the banks and finances and things of you know that nature nature, make sure everything is above water and everything is uh we have good hygiene accounting and finance hygiene for the company.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_07: You know, that's one of the one things that can cripple a company very quickly.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_07: So having that strong business acumen, it just it when you put the two together, we just explode.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_07: That's how it is.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_07: Right, right.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_07: I don't even want to be in his lane and he don't want to be in my I'm quite comfortable.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_09: You know, it's it's it's understanding your limitations, understanding, you know, where she excels.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_09: And that's not to say I don't reach out for advice from top of time.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_09: Right.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_09: You know, babe, should we do this?
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_09: Should we go this path?
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_09: What works well?
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_09: Um, it's not it's it's it's being humble.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_09: And uh understanding your role, but understanding too.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_09: She she was what, summa coon?
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_09: Summa coon?
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_09: I'm sorry, magnetum.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_09: So it's it's uh it's understanding um that that that intelligence is there, that that know-how is there, and uh not being, you know, not lacking in humility.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_07: Right, we can't yeah, right.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_07: We're not in competition with each other, right?
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_07: So we can't be intimidated by what each other, you know, do.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_07: Like, especially when it's we we have the same purpose and we're the our driver is the is the is the same.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_07: Our passion is the same, you know.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_07: So even though we have our lanes, we run everything by each other.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_07: You know, we do not operate in the bubble.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_07: He will not say, oh, I went to, you know, Dell One and took out a hundred thousand dollar loan.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_07: And I'm like, wait, why?
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_07: You know, he won't do that.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_07: So we run everything, you know, um, by you know, each other.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_07: I won't say, oh, I just accepted, you know, 10 new students from the school district without saying, hey, how does this fit with our routes?
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_07: Can we do it from an operations perspective?
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_07: Can we execute, you know, on it?
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_07: You know, so staying in constant communication with one another and not being intimidated by each other, you know, like we're here, we're we're part of this the same team, we're teamboardly, you know.
• 12:13
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• 12:17
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• 12:22
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• 12:28
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• 12:35
  SPEAKER_04: You don't compete with each other, you complete each other, right?
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_04: Um my wife always we always say that um we always take uh this analogy, um um uh the basketball, like everybody is there to win a championship.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_04: So it doesn't matter who touched the ball, right?
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_04: We are here to win a championship.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_04: That's right.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_06: Um and and uh um how do you say like the like like the analogy?
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_06: Even like the person, like even like you know, people because we're Warrior Fire fans.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_06: Okay, okay.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_06: So even if it's Stephen Curry that's going out there, like I'm like, I always tell him, like, yo, even if I'm just sitting on the bench, I'm the water boy, or whatever.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_06: I'm part of the team because when the team gets a ring, I get a ring.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_06: Right, you know, so I don't sometimes we think about, you know, as a team, like I'm not getting the spotlight.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_06: Like, you know, a lot of the spotlight's going to him, a lot of the spotlight's going to her, but like how you said, there is no competition because when he shines, you shine.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_06: When you shine, you shine.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_06: And at the end of the day, it's a collective of like, how can we make this business grow?
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_06: For sure, you know, as a team.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_06: And a lot of people don't see it that way.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_06: And I think that's how sometimes too, because there's a statistic saying that most uh there's a lot of divorces for in couple-led businesses.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_06: Because I think like some somewhere along the way, people start seeing not seeing each other as a team, but start seeing each other as competitors.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_06: And then you for you forget that you're a couple.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_07: Exactly.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_07: You were you were a couple first.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_07: The idea should always be to protect the marriage.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_07: Exactly.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_07: Protect the husband and wife partnership.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_07: If anything ever came in that I felt like was going to um interfere with the business, you know, or interfere with the marriage, husband and wife, the business can go bye-bye.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_07: You know, because uh the vows were taken as husband and wife before God, not JB Premier.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_07: We were Jason and Jamonica taking vows before God, right?
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_07: And I think people, and and it and it's natural because it's it's stressful to be entrepreneurs and own your own business.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_07: And sometimes that can overtake the whole situation to the point where you are competing with each other, you're not working as a team, and you forget the love that you have for each other, and you forget the purpose, you know.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_09: For us, it was doing this business was the outcome of um a desired purpose.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_09: Right.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_09: A purpose to, you know, gain our time back first and foremost.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_09: Right.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_09: Um, we would like to spend time doing other things theocratically, spiritually.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_09: So the why we are here is purpose-driven.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_08: Right.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_09: And so if that purpose is primary and you remember why you did it, uh, then the little things that happen, uh, you keep that in order.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_09: You know, it keeps you humble, keeps you focused when you remember the purpose, the why behind how we got here.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_07: And we started it because of COVID.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_07: We were home, he was working um downstairs, I was working upstairs, but we enjoyed being home together.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_07: We enjoyed the midday hugs, we enjoyed eating breakfast together, eating lunch together, being at home for dinner at the same time.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_07: So we don't want to go back to what it was before that, right?
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_07: So when you keep that purpose in mind and we want to stay together as a couple, the business should strengthen what we have, you know.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_07: It should strengthen what we have.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_07: That's not gonna say it's not always gonna be uh easy, you know, but it should strengthen what we what we have, you know, and it should not um break us apart but bring us stronger together.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_06: Now you talked about this came about in COVID during 2020, right?
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_06: And a dynamic that we always see in couples, there's always like a risk taker and there's an implementer.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_08: I know some of you I love this.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_09: Awesome.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_08: I love that.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_08: Go ahead, stop it.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_09: You understand why I'm sure.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_06: I want to know at the beginning, like who was the one that who was the risk taker and said, you know, let's do it.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_06: Like the book.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_07: Total risk taker.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_07: Total, let's go on vacation.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_07: I want to go skydiving.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_07: I mean, um, I want to go scuba diving, I want to do this, I want to do that.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_07: And I'm like, oh, I'll watch you from the boat with a life vest on.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_07: Oh, motorcycles, had one of the fastest motorcycles that existed.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_07: You know, never rode a motorcycle then is like before a higher boosa motorcycle top of total risk taker.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_07: Me, I'm the I'm the executor, I'm the implementer.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_07: Once you convince me to take the risk, oh, I'm all in.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_07: I'm in execution mode after that.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_07: But stepping out, mm-mm.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_07: Mm-mm.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_07: I'm safe.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_07: I am safe, safe, safe.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_06: I'm safe.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_06: I'm safe.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_06: So is it safe to say that he was the one that's like, let's start.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_06: It was definitely him.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_07: So I left corporate thought.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_07: Yes, I left corporate in 2022.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_07: I left corporate in 2022 during COVID, and I went to go work for um a small minority-owned business.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_07: And I wanted that, you know, you come from a big corporation like DuPont.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_07: I wanted to work for a small business, you know, and I really wanted to see how a business is run from beginning, you know, to end.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_07: So I left in 2022 and then fast forward to 20, the beginning of 2024, you know, um, Jason is like, yeah, this it doesn't fit anymore.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_07: You know, as you start to grow spiritually and as you start to grow as a couple, you just you try to force it because you you enjoy the money, you enjoy the perks and things like that.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_07: But then you just realize you're trying to put a square into a circle, a circle to a square, and it doesn't, it just doesn't fit anymore.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_07: You know, um, but I was okay with it because he still was making a lot of money.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_07: And I was I took a half a paycheck um for what I was making when I went to the minority-owned company, but I wanted the experience.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_07: But he was holding us down.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_07: So in 2024, when he came and was like, uh, yeah, no, I want to do something different.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_07: I'm like, wait, hold up.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_07: Like, you're our main brand winner here.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_07: What you mean you want to do something different?
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_07: I left and put my trust in you, you know?
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_07: Now you wanna leave.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_07: I was like, uh, yeah, no, you know.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_09: But it wasn't blonde, though.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_09: It was so um my training, you know, when I when I growing up through my college experiences, uh, you know, we're we're the master of our fate, we're the captains of our souls, like we control what we do.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_09: Um and so we got to a point where what we were doing wasn't what we wanted to be doing.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_09: Um the money was fantastic, phenomenal.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_09: Um but my joy wasn't there, you know, satisfaction wasn't there.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_09: Um, and then you start to see things.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_09: And so I'm a I'm a spiritual person, so I made it a matter of prayer.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_09: Um and then a lot of things that were happening in 2023 and 24 started to align.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_09: Specifically in 2024 from a spiritual perspective.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_09: Um, and so like my prayers were being answered right before me.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_09: And the challenge was how badly do you want it?
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_09: Right.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_09: It's almost as if uh Jehovah was saying, show me, right, and then I'll show you.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_09: Right.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_09: And so we did just that.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_09: Like she said, we didn't have a contract, uh, we had relationships that we were building, right?
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_09: Um, but it was that leap of faith.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_09: And I tell you, days after taking a leap of faith, in comes the business.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_09: I'm serious.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_09: Um it was a Monday.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_05: It was the Monday that you resigned.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_05: Resigned like five o'clock in the morning.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_05: And Wednesday, the school digit.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_05: Right in the morning, it was like 4 30 in the morning.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_05: It's like 3 30 in the morning.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_07: Right.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_09: Uh and that was on a Monday after a long weekend with family.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_07: Right.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_09: On Wednesday, as I was at lunch with my team, farewell on the uh, I got a call.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_09: Right.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_09: And that call was a call that put us, positioned us for our first year, and and now um we've, as Germanica, almost 300% increased.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_09: So it was a leap of faith.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_09: And it was almost as if, you know, you gotta get in the car and start moving.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_09: Right.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_09: And then God will help you in the direction.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_09: And so that's that's really what we did.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_09: We just put forth uh that faith.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_09: We took that leap and everything else, you know, it's taking care of itself.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_04: That's amazing.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_04: That's amazing.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_04: That's amazing.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_04: I could just think of while you say while you're saying that, like I'm just thinking about over almost like a decade ago when we both left our job.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_04: Uh um, and I was the restaker.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_04: He was.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_04: I was the restaker, and I remember the day that I said, you know what?
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_04: I'm done.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_04: I'm I'm I'm done.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_04: I gotta do something better for us, better for our family, better for our legacy, um, and like you say, purpose, knowing the why, knowing the vision.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_04: And when you ask God for something, you've been praying for something, God's gonna give you the sign.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_04: Now it's up to you now to make the first step, which you which you guys did.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_04: If you guys didn't make that first step, we would not have this conversation.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_04: And a lot of people are afraid to make that first step.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_04: You know, because you don't know, like you're taking a big risk, you don't know if it's gonna pay off.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_04: But if you don't make that first step, you'll never know.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_04: Never and fake.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_04: There's a quote that I wrote It said, My faith in God creates success in me.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_04: Because if it wasn't for faith, everything that we achieve, everything that we have, we want to have it if it wasn't for God.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_04: It started with faith.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_07: It all starts with you know, it all starts with uh with faith.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_07: And I what were you just what what you were listening to one of the podcasts in the car or something?
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_09: What was that quote that it said your dreams I won't hit it, but it's yeah, your dreams are on the other side of the risks you're afraid to take.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_07: I said, oh my goodness, that is our life.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_07: Like that is I'm like, oh my goodness.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_07: So when I see your shirts, dream chasers or risk takers, like I I love that, you know?
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_06: Because this is the I promise you, this is the most risk I ever took in my life.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_06: See, see, you're see you because you you said something.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_06: You said that once you were convinced, right, you know, you went in execution mode.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_06: And I'm the same way too, because I wish I couldn't be like one of those people who said he came to me and said, yo, let's, because we we quit everything.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_06: And at the time, my son was about one, no, he's about one year old, and I was pregnant with my daughter.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_06: And and he had a lot more at stake.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_07: We don't have any children.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_07: Like y'all, y'all had a lot more at stake.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_06: So I was like, what do you mean?
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_06: And I was a supportive wife, and I was like, oh yeah, that's great.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_06: Because I was like, you know, because he he comes with all these ideas.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_06: I wanted support you.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_06: I didn't know it was for real.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_06: You know, like I'm dead on it.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_06: And then it wasn't until he got like the basis license and everything, I'm like, yo, we really doing this?
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_06: But in the beginning, I was not on board, but then he kind of he convinced me, and then like how you said the prayer and the purpose, too.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_06: Like, I was content with knowing that every two weeks we had something coming in.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_06: That part.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_06: It was never enough.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_06: That part.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_06: Right, yeah.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_06: But at least I knew that, you know, two weeks, something gonna happen.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_06: We can get little groceries, you know, we're three months behind on a light bill, like we can catch up one month.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_06: Right, right, right, right.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_06: So, but he was like, babe, we because the whole first, we want to leave a legacy for our kids.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_06: That was the whole reason we want to do everything.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_06: And he's like, let's bet on ourselves and let's do it.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_06: And and after I was convinced, let me tell you, baby.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_07: Baby, I listen, like, I'm telling you.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_07: Very similar, very, very similar.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_07: I was not on board because he he he always has great ideas, you know.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_07: But once I see that he put he put the action behind it, I was like, oh, okay, like you.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_07: I'm like, oh, he's serious about this.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_07: I'm like, oh, he's serious about this.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_09: Here's the thing.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_09: So whether we know it or not, like we're we're not in control anyway.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_09: Like God is the one behind it all.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_09: Right.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_09: So once you realize that as a fact, like we, I mean, in your own mind, you can convince yourself that I did this.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_09: Like, I've been moving up this ladder and I've been making these career moves that have been have been working out for us.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_09: But God's behind it all.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_09: One of our friends said this after we did what we did.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_09: He said, I'm glad that you guys put yourselves in position to need God and to see God.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_07: Because then you get the uh It was the scripture that says, you know, taste and see that God is good.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_07: But sometimes when you went, everything is, you know, going good, you know, right, right, right, yeah, right, right.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_09: But we we we really put ourselves in a position to need Jehovah.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_09: Right.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_09: Yep, yes.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_09: And once we did that, almost as if if he doesn't respond, what are we gonna do?
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_09: Right.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_09: And then he responded, and not only did he respond, um, humbly speaking, we're we're almost better off now than we were.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_06: Yep, yeah, right.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_09: When we were, you heard the quote, you read the article.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah, right.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_09: Um I'm trying to keep things mild and humble here.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_09: Right.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_09: Um, but we're almost better off now than we were, but we are better off because we're doing what we wanted to do spiritually.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_09: Right.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_09: And you know, monetarily everything's great.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_09: You haven't missed a beat.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_09: Uh we're still doing the things that we wanted to do, but we own our time.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah, that part.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_07: And that's what we were serious about, owning our time.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_06: Yes.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_06: Yes, yeah, that's right.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_06: That's right.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_06: Now, I know we talked a lot about faith, you know.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_06: Um, like in your business and your relationship, and as I can tell, like, how has faith played a huge role in what you do as a couple in your business?
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_06: Because there are times as business owners where, like, am I gonna make payroll?
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_06: Am I gonna get the client?
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_06: And you wonder about these things, all these things are in God's hands, but how has faith played a huge role in your business, in your life, in your marriage?
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_07: So, so um, for me personally, um, Ecclesiastes 4.12 says, you know, a three-fold cord cannot be easily torn apart, right?
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_07: So having that as our foundation for together, you know, dictates and guides everything, you know, that we do, whether it's our personal life, whether it's theocratically, whether it's our business, you know, you can speak to any person that knows us at any walk of life, and I promise you, you're gonna get a consistent story.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_07: You're gonna get a consistent story, and that's because Jehovah God is that third cord in our marriage, right?
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_07: So, with that being said, you know, when we uh run our business, you know, we're very ethical in everything that we do.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_07: Um, we're very professional.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_07: Um, we run our business with empathy, with uh compassion, uh, with dignity, with respect, respect for each other, respect for the students that we draw, respect for everybody in the district that we deal with, you know.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_07: And it's been times that we're like, oh man, we don't know how this is gonna happen.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_07: And that's when that faith comes in.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_07: Yes.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_07: As soon as that prayer goes up, it's like, oh my goodness, like, you know, did that just happen?
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_07: Like, yes, you know.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah, it's definitely the ethical piece.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_09: It's a it's faith is like an anchor.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_07: Right.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_09: Um, we we listen, as I mentioned, we didn't get here on our own initiative.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_09: Uh Jehovah was definitely there.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_09: We saw his hand at every turn.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_09: The things that happened for us, I couldn't tell you.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_09: You will you would say, Jason, stop lying.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_08: Right.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_09: If I told you how things happened, if I broke down month by month how things happen, it's unbelievable.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_09: Um, but when he shows you his hand, it gives you the confidence, you know, um, that accuracy and that consistency, him showing up for us, it gives us every confidence that that'll that'll continue to be the case when we do things ethically.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_09: Right.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_09: Uh, when we make decisions that aren't greed-based, right?
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah, right, yeah, right.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_09: So that's how it is.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_09: We're trying to be content and we have our our focus and our goals spiritually, and we're making, we're hitting those marks, and uh, we have no reason to doubt that he won't continue blessing us.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_09: So that's how faith is a it's an anchor for us.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_07: Right.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_07: It is the anchor.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: What you wear should say something before you ever speak.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_01: Owig Apparel was created for the dream chasers, the risk takers, and the ones building something bigger than themselves.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: From our signature hoodies, tees, jerseys, and jogger sets.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_01: Every piece represents a mindset.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_01: Use code Risk Taker for 10% off your first purchase at OwigApparel.com.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_01: Now, back to the episode.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, what is your guys' greatest investment, right?
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_04: As being in business has been as a couple.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_04: What is your guys' when it comes to investment?
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_04: Could be it could be in the business, it could be in life, and uh in your guys' relationship.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_04: You're looking at it.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_09: We got other, right?
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_09: We we are our greatest asset.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_07: Yes.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_09: So we bet on ourselves.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_09: Oh, that's our greatest asset.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_07: We are the brand.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_07: We are the investment.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_07: I wish I had a mic so I can put you on the office.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_07: Anybody can run transportation, right?
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_07: Like anybody can get a van, transport, you know, this, that, and the other.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_07: But we we are the brand, you know.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_07: We we we are the ones that show up with the business.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_07: So when you do business with JB Premier, you're not just doing business with an ordinary transportation company.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_07: You are getting the the brand.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_07: You are getting Jason and Jermonica Bortley.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_07: So we we are the investment.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_07: You know, someone told me long ago that people don't um buy products, they buy people.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_07: Yes.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_07: Yes, very true.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_07: So we are the investment.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_07: You buy into Jason and Jermonica.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_07: You get that JB experience.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_08: Yes.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_07: Yes.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_06: Oh, you want to add job.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_03: My job.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_06: Now, as you know, we we we have the podcast called Pillow Talk to Profit, right?
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_06: Because we know as couples, a lot of our ideas come through that pillow talk, you know, and we're just laying there and we're just throwing ideas and just having that vulnerable talk, right?
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_06: So we want to know like what have been some of your pillow talks lately, whether it'd be in business, vacation, whatever.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_06: Because one of our pillow talk lately is vacation.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_08: So I'm telling you, I'm like, yo, I'm tired.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_06: I don't know, Greg.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_06: So we're talking about vacation and when we wanted that to look at what have been some of your um pillow talk lately?
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_09: I would say growth.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_09: Growth is uh is our topic.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_09: Um we're we're positioned well and we're ready to grow, uh, but we want to do it responsibly.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah, from a business perspective.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_08: Right.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_09: So that's one, that's one of the points of pillow talk.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_09: But then growth in ourselves, yeah.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_09: Physically, you know, we want to uh be good for each other for the next two.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_09: For the long term, right?
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_09: So physically, you know, doing things differently, whether it's our diets, uh our mobility, working out.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_09: Um but then most importantly, and I should have started with this, but spiritual growth.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_09: Uh the whole reason why we're here is because of that desire to grow spiritually.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_09: Right.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_09: And so that that piece there, making sure that the time that we freed up doesn't get reinvested into something futile.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_09: Right, but goes to exactly what we wanted it to go to, and that's our spirituality.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_07: So now don't get it twisted.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_07: We we sprinkle in some of the funny stuff too.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_07: Always we are roadrunners.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_07: We uh we love to travel, and um, our favorite thing is to actually do road trips, you know.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_07: So some of the things that we also have discussed is, you know, because we support the school system, that means we get time off the summer.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_07: So where we going, you know, vacations on deck.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, right, but right, but it's it's it's mainly just been about, you know, growth.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_07: How do we continue to be the best version of ourselves uh personally and then for each other?
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_07: Like we want to keep showing up for each other every day.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, you know, and I think, you know, for us, that's also, you know, been uh such an integral part of our marriage is that, you know, we we we continue to try to find reasons on a daily basis to say that, you know, you're still my person.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_07: Like I choose you, I choose you.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_07: You know, even when we have challenges and disagreements or whatever, like I still choose you.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_07: You know, it might be with a side eye, but I still choose you.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_07: So to be able to do that, you know, we have to grow spiritually individually.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_07: You know, I have to understand my my role as a as a as a wife, you know.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_07: I have to understand, you know, his role as a husband and being, you know, in submission, you know, uh to him, you know.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_07: So it's like, you know, it's just it just, you know, it just it just guides, you know, everything when when we just try to better ourselves and just grow.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_07: Like growth is is is is um identified to me, or you know, when I think about growth, I just think about, you know, when you think about yourself the next day, the next week, the next month, the next year, yeah, you know, how are you different?
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, you know, and it don't have to be big growth, you know what I'm saying?
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_07: But how are you different?
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, you know, we still moving like we was moving last year, like that's a problem.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_07: You know, um, so that's my prayer every day, you know, to God is that like help me to be a better wife, a better friend, a better Christian, a better daughter, a better sister, a better niece, a better cousin, you know, whatever it is, and whatever, a better entrepreneur, you know, whatever it is I can do better, like just help me do it, you know, just help me, you know, help me do it.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and I'm glad that you say growth, because we always say that growth is part of it's part of the process, right?
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_04: Part of the process.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_04: And you don't want to grow each other out.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_04: This is where you your marriage, your business is in danger, where you growing and he's not.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and I'm glad that your guys growing together spiritually, yeah, physically, um money-wise, right, business-wise, right?
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_04: Um as a couple, right?
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_04: We could talk about all the success that your guys have, right?
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_04: When it comes to the failure or the lesson, along your guys' journey, what's your what's your greatest failure?
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_04: What's your guys' the lesson that y'all learned by taking that big lit or fate at rest?
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_04: Because you're gonna have some challenge, you're gonna have some failure, you're gonna have some lesson.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_04: What was that for you guys?
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_04: And how y'all guys overcome that?
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_09: Our biggest failure.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_09: Taking the lead or prior to the leader.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_09: Whatever.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_09: Oh man.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_09: Um, I would have done some things differently, career-wise.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_09: Um, I would have made different decisions.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_09: Um, but I don't view it as a failure because to me, it's a life lesson.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_09: And quite honestly, had it not been for that situational little circumstances, um, my nudge to do something different wouldn't have been there.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_09: So uh failure, that's that's that's hard to classify it that way.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_09: Um but definitely life lessons.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_09: Uh we we've definitely capitalized off of life lessons.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_09: I would do some things.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_09: Actually, I wouldn't do anything different.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_09: Uh because we're here today.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_09: Maybe not from where you are.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_09: So um I think I think failure is good, for sure.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_09: Um, but fortunately we haven't failed.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_09: Uh it's only been as you asked your question, I was trying to think to myself, have we failed?
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_09: We really haven't.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_09: Done, you know, we haven't taken a false step, to my knowledge, to date.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_07: And and and that's another testimony of how I feel like God has been directing this for us because I feel like we almost I feel like we've almost created some failures, or we almost created some we almost created some false steps, but we prayed.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_07: We prayed, we prayed, we prayed.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_07: And when I tell you, in the 11th, the 11th hour, we were prevented from you know, taking those false steps of the failure, we were saved.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_07: So we have thinking about them.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_07: You know, he's thinking about them, you know, things that really, really would have negatively impacted our business.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_07: Like truly, you know.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_07: But we thought, you know, we were making the right decision.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_07: And then in the 11th hour, I said to Jason, this don't feel right, you know.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_09: She was so hard to write.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_07: Right.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_07: I said, This does not feel right.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_07: Something in my gut tells me that we don't need to go down this path, you know.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_07: And I started doing some research and this, that, and the other.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_07: And I took it back to him, and he was like, and he still was trying to reason on it, you know.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_09: He was still we talk about the the whole trying to do things correctly and operationally.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_09: Right.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_09: And she raised a question, it was about the size of the vehicles.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_09: Right.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_09: Right.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_07: It's a state law for Delaware.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_09: And we see other companies doing it doing it.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_09: However, us wanting to do things correctly, and Jamonica exploring the letter of the law, and then me putting on my compliance hat, and operationally, I'm like, yeah, we probably shouldn't.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_09: So it was a, it was a we were, we were four days before the start of the school year.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_09: Earlier this in 2025.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_09: Right.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_07: Four days before the right.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_09: Right, right.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_09: In search of larger vehicles.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_09: Right.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_09: Heck, had left money on one or two of them.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_09: Right.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_09: And then she said, this doesn't feel right.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_09: We came back to Square One, came back to Delaware without purchasing either.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_09: And oh my goodness.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_09: We scrutinized it.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_09: I mean, I I'm I'm I'm, you know, outside of calling my lawyer, just like trying to figure out can we make this work?
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_09: And the answer was no, no, no, no.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_09: So then I went to work and we procured two of the same vehicles that we have today.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_09: Now we have three.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_09: Uh, but overnight, I mean, I woke up in the middle of the night, she's in tears, because the clock is ticking.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_07: Right.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_07: We already accepted the kids.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_07: We already accepted the students for the school, right?
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_09: And so, and that probably, I think it was a Saturday, school starts Monday.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_09: Right.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_09: On Saturday, we picked up the two vehicles that got us in position to deliver the service that we're delivering this year.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_09: But we almost, I mean, we almost, we were days away from signing the deal on these larger vehicles.
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_09: So that would have been a sound right, right.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_07: But we we we once again talk about that threefold core, you know?
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_07: You know, we were making decisions, you know, based off of our understanding.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, you know, that I'm like, uh, this don't feel right, you know, and then including God into that, you know, and then the answer just became bright as day.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_08: Oh my goodness.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_07: And we have not like, you know, we we it it would have negatively impacted us if we would have gone down that path, you know, um, versus, you know, going with what we already had and you know, still being able to increase our capacity and fulfill what we had already committed to.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_07: So that's amazing.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_07: And it goes so we've had almost failures.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_06: That trust and respect that you guys had, you know, because she was able to bring it to you.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_06: You weren't afraid to bring it to him, you know, and you were able to come together and have those hard conversations, you know.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_06: A lot of people, they were like, nope, this is it.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_06: And so, but that's that's amazing.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_09: And we talked about it earlier, being able to consult, exactly, trusting, exactly.
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_09: And and I'm listening.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_09: I also told her that she's the boss.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_09: Yep.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_09: So when she bought it, you know, I was all ears and we scrutinized and scrutinized, but we we ended up making the right decision.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_06: That's amazing.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_06: Now, what advice would you give to couples, right, who are thinking about maybe we should go to business together, but don't really know if that'd be a good fit?
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_06: Or couples who have been in business together, what advice would you give them?
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_07: Well, I would first say being in, first of all, marriage isn't for the faint of heart.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_07: But being in business together, which I'm trying to make really isn't for the faint of heart.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_07: You know, really isn't for the faint of heart.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_07: And I would just say, you know, we talked about couples that are already on shaky ground that may want to explore these things.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_07: I would say like stay where don't don't take the risk just yet.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_07: Fix your marriage.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_07: Yes.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_07: You know, understand the underlying issues that's in your marriage, whether it's communication, whether it's finances, you know, uh, whatever it is, like understand what that is, because those things just get magnified when you're in business together.
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_07: You know, those things don't don't, you know, don't fix themselves when you get into bad business together.
• 42:21
  SPEAKER_07: You know, if if anything, more challenges present themselves that can draw an even bigger wedge.
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_07: So my my my my advice would be go forward, but timing is is everything.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_07: Be intentional about it, but still make your marriage the priority.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_07: You know, stay in your situations a little bit longer until you can work through whatever your your marriage is because it takes, you know, more than just love, you know, to successfully run a business, you know, together.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_09: Um, so we've been married for 23 years and Maggie.
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_09: Wow.
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_09: Congratulations.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_09: Thank you.
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_09: Congratulations.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_09: A lot of practice, uh a lot of you know, trial and error, working through things.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_09: You know, you tired of me.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_09: Go take a nap.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_09: You heard that?
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_09: You saw that?
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_09: You thought of it.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_09: I mean, I told her every day.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_06: Every single day.
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_09: I'm going nowhere, you're going to be aware.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_07: Right, right.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_09: Um, so so to Jamonica's point, perfecting or trying to uh make what you have solidified, strong, uh unbreakable.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_07: Right.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_09: Um, and it takes more than love.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_09: I think you mentioned that also respect.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_09: Um, a lot of other things, communication is going to be.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_09: Patience.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_09: But I would say if you're on that path, if you're on that path and you're you're you're looking to start your business or you're already doing your business, enjoy the ride.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_09: Enjoy it, dude.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_09: Because things happen.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_09: Um, businesses grow, some fail, but just enjoy the ride because you got your partner with you.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_09: Yes.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_09: Um, and and none of us are promised tomorrow.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_07: Yes.
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_09: So enjoy what you have.
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_09: Uh enjoy the ride, but do it, you know.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_07: That would be my biggest, that would be my biggest piece of advice.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_07: Have fun.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_07: Have fun with it.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_07: Have fun with it.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_07: We we have fun every day.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_07: You know, we're joking on each other.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_07: I mean, like, we're I mean, like, even when we're not in the vans together, we're in the vans together because we're on the phone, you know?
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_07: Like, you know what I'm saying?
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_07: In between schools.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_07: So, to your point earlier, when someone was saying, like, don't you ever get tired of him?
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_07: It's like that separation anxiety.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_07: We're together so much that when we are apart, it's like, oh my goodness, like, what are you doing?
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_07: Like, what did you have for lunch today?
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_08: Like, what are you doing?
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_07: You know, but have fun.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_07: Have fun.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_07: Have fun.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_04: How can people get to know your guys' business, get in touch with your guys?
• 44:40
  SPEAKER_04: Like, uh, we're gonna put all the description website in there, but how can people get in touch with you guys?
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_09: We got a social media presence, right?
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_09: Um, but um, email uh J Bortley at JBpremere Transportation.com.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_09: That's probably the best way to get in contact with us.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_06: What's your social media handle?
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_09: Uh we got so we hired a social media person to handle that for us because I have a social media presence, she has a social media presence.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_09: Right.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_09: We'll make sure it's on the link.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_09: Right, right, right.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_07: I know the Facebook is JB Premier Transportation, but I was trying to think the Instagram, what the act where do we land on?
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_07: What the JBT.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, I don't worry about it.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_07: Okay, we don't get it.
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_04: Right on there.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_04: We put it down there.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_04: Uh any last word, any last thing that you guys wanna say that's people that's watching, that's listen.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_04: Uh any last thing.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_09: Chase your dreams, take the risks.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_09: Uh, we didn't get here um by not doing that.
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_09: And so uh we enjoy the ride.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_09: It's it's been well worth it.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_09: Uh, but don't let your fears hold you back from chasing your dreams.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_07: Right.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_07: And I guess I would just say believe in yourself first and foremost, and surround yourself around other people that believe in you and support your your vision.
• 46:03
  SPEAKER_07: If you're around a bunch of naysayers, you know, a shoulda, coulda, woulda, you know, type uh generational crowd, I would just say, you know, like try to surround yourself around people that genuinely believe in you and support your vision and your dream is as well.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_07: All right.
• 46:21
  SPEAKER_07: And thank you guys.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_08: Thank you guys are amazing.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_08: Yeah, thank you, thank you.
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_03: There you have it, ladies and gentlemen.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_03: There you have it.
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_03: We'll see you guys on the next episode.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_02: That's it for this episode of Pillow Talk to Profit.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_02: If you're a couple building something together, this show is for you.
• 46:41
  SPEAKER_02: So make sure you're subscribed and leave us a review.
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_02: It helps more couples find this show.
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_02: For more information, email us at teams at owingmultimedia.com.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_02: Until next time, keep turning your pillow talk into profit.