Latest / Why Not Today? with Leslie Kane / The Why Not Today? Podcast - Season 2 - Episode 18 with Jennifer Stansbury, The Benchmarking Company

Transcript

The Why Not Today? Podcast - Season 2 - Episode 18 with Jennifer Stansbury, The Benchmarking Company · Why Not Today? with Leslie Kane

• 0:00
  Hello, this is Leslie and I am the host of the Why Not Today podcast.
• 0:06
  This is a podcast to celebrate people who have been courageous and said, why not today?
• 0:11
  I started this podcast in honor of my father, Patrick Hayne, who often did say why not today.
• 0:15
  I'm based in Reston, Virginia, playing in the community right outside of Washington,
• 0:19
  D.C. and thanks for joining us today.
• 0:21
  So I'm excited today.
• 0:22
  My guest is Jennifer, I can talk, Stansbury and I met Jennifer recently and I always
• 0:28
  talk about how we connect, how we meet.
• 0:31
  Before we do that, I wanted to just share one thing about the podcast.
• 0:34
  So the podcast name is Why Not Today and it really talks about doing courageous things
• 0:38
  and just doing it, just starting.
• 0:40
  So if you've listened to many of the podcasts, I don't edit them.
• 0:43
  They are as they are.
• 0:44
  So Jennifer and I were just talking about dogs at my bar and you know what, that's life.
• 0:48
  And I think that's one of the beauties of this podcast is it's not perfect.
• 0:53
  And we're figuring it out as we go.
• 0:55
  And you know what, sometimes you just need to get started and say why not today.
• 1:00
  So a little side now.
• 1:02
  So Jennifer and I met, gosh, just a little over a month ago.
• 1:07
  As most of you know and listen to the podcast that I am a sales director with Mary Kay.
• 1:11
  And I was in D.C. on Capitol Hill for Mary Kay's 60th anniversary and they had a reception
• 1:19
  at this organization sponsored and I met Jennifer there and started talking and we're like,
• 1:25
  well, we live right near each other and had lots of connections of course.
• 1:28
  I love to make people sweet coffee and she got lots of cool things going on.
• 1:32
  So I couldn't wait to share her story here and what she's got going on, not only with
• 1:36
  her business, her courage, but also giving back.
• 1:40
  This episode is coming out in the fall of 2023.
• 1:45
  And as we approach the holiday season, you know, people always ask, how can you give
• 1:49
  back?
• 1:50
  How can you, how can I help?
• 1:52
  And I think that's such an important thing and a gift and Jennifer, you're doing it right
• 1:56
  and passing it on to your kids.
• 1:58
  So I don't want to take away your thunder from the podcast episode, but why don't you
• 2:03
  introduce yourself, put facts about you and then share something, a fun fact.
• 2:10
  All right.
• 2:11
  My name is Jennifer Sandsbury.
• 2:13
  I've lived in Virginia for 31 years when my dad literally put me on a plane and said,
• 2:18
  you're leaving California and you're going to school back east.
• 2:20
  No, you live in California.
• 2:22
  I grew up in California in San Diego, which I've been trying to get back to ever since,
• 2:27
  but I married a Texan.
• 2:29
  So this is our compromise.
• 2:30
  Okay.
• 2:31
  I have three kids and in 2014, a long-term colleague of mine and I bought a friend's
• 2:40
  company and started the benchmarking company.
• 2:43
  So we're a market research firm for the beauty and personal care industries.
• 2:47
  Yeah.
• 2:48
  And a fun fact about me, given that I'm from California, my husband is from Texas.
• 2:54
  We got married on a golf course, him and cowboy boots and me and foot flops.
• 2:58
  Oh, fun.
• 2:59
  Love that.
• 3:00
  So yeah, I love that your business ties into the Mary Kay and does these panels of products,
• 3:06
  which is really kind of cool.
• 3:08
  It's great.
• 3:09
  I mean, people get to try new products and be the first to try them before brands put
• 3:13
  them out to market.
• 3:14
  So it's really fun and it's very female focused and it's about beauty and empowerment.
• 3:21
  So I love what I do every day.
• 3:23
  Yeah, that's awesome.
• 3:25
  And you can tell.
• 3:26
  So let's talk about courage.
• 3:28
  What does courage mean to you?
• 3:30
  To me, courage and character go hand in hand.
• 3:34
  And this is what we always tell our kids.
• 3:37
  Character is always doing what's right, even when it's not popular or doing what's right
• 3:41
  when people aren't looking and sometimes that takes, you know, an amazing amount of courage,
• 3:46
  especially when everybody else around you is doing it differently.
• 3:51
  But courage is really taking risks and being comfortable taking risks being comfortable
• 3:56
  failing and being comfortable with the success that comes with it.
• 4:01
  Yeah, love that.
• 4:03
  It's just, yeah, we got to start and do it do it the right way.
• 4:09
  So let's talk about your journey with getting your business started.
• 4:13
  And I know it has an interesting little beginning and then a little bit about the business and
• 4:18
  the courage there.
• 4:19
  And then let's talk about getting that and how you've gotten involved and gotten your
• 4:24
  kids involved, which I love that.
• 4:26
  And how old are your kids?
• 4:27
  So I have a 16 year old junior, a 14 year old freshman and an 11 year old who's in sixth
• 4:34
  grade.
• 4:35
  Okay.
• 4:36
  So build a molding agent.
• 4:37
  Interesting.
• 4:39
  My dad always told us as kids, get involved, get involved.
• 4:42
  And, you know, when we were younger, you were much better at portraying that than my dad
• 4:46
  was because we didn't really have any interest.
• 4:48
  But now interesting, my sister and I are all into nonprofits and events and giving back
• 4:55
  and volunteering and all those things.
• 4:58
  I mean, and I think that that's you learn that from your parents, right?
• 5:02
  So, you know, my father passed away after a 14 year battle with cancer.
• 5:07
  And it was standing room only at his funeral.
• 5:11
  And every person that got up to speak talked about his generosity.
• 5:16
  So he was an entrepreneur and not always a successful one, but it didn't matter if he
• 5:24
  had money or didn't have money.
• 5:25
  If there was somebody that was more in need, my dad always wanted to give back and to help
• 5:31
  people.
• 5:33
  And so I think a lot of that was something I just grew up with.
• 5:38
  And in terms of courage, both my parents had an extreme amount of courage.
• 5:41
  My dad started this business would never give up on it.
• 5:46
  And it's hard running a business is hard.
• 5:49
  And after my parents split up, my mom, who hadn't had stayed home to raise us went back
• 5:55
  to school and got her doctorate and became a practicing psychologist.
• 6:00
  And that was, you know, that was risky.
• 6:02
  That was hard.
• 6:04
  So I always saw my parents taking risks and some of them worked and some of them didn't.
• 6:09
  But they approached everything with a positive outlook.
• 6:13
  And that's what my husband and I try to give our kids is, you know, you're not always going
• 6:19
  to be perfect.
• 6:20
  Things aren't always going to work out the way you want them to, but there are so many
• 6:24
  ways to solve a problem.
• 6:26
  And so you can't look at life linearly.
• 6:29
  You have to look at it from different angles and you really have to find what works for
• 6:35
  you.
• 6:36
  Yeah.
• 6:37
  And so, yeah, so starting our business, my business partner and I had worked together
• 6:43
  in several previous jobs.
• 6:46
  And we had a mentor who was the founder of a public relations firm.
• 6:52
  And that's where my business partner Denise and I met.
• 6:56
  Our mentor went on to buy and sell a business and then she started another business, which
• 7:01
  was previously called the beauty company.
• 7:04
  She had an opportunity to move to Germany with her husband and she was going to sunset
• 7:10
  the business.
• 7:11
  And so literally at my dad's funeral, she was telling Denise and I that she was going
• 7:18
  to sunset the business or sell the business.
• 7:21
  And at that point right there, we decided that we would buy the business and I kind of
• 7:26
  felt like it was divine, you know, divine intervention.
• 7:29
  What a godwin.
• 7:30
  I was like, do it.
• 7:31
  What a godwin from your dad.
• 7:32
  Yeah.
• 7:33
  And at that point, I was pretty risk adverse.
• 7:35
  But I was like, you know, I kind of feel like this is a sign and we should jump in with
• 7:41
  two feet and we did.
• 7:43
  And the first couple of years were hard because, you know, you're literally building something
• 7:49
  from scratch in a lot of ways.
• 7:53
  And we figured out how to do it and it's, you know, it's been a great business.
• 7:57
  We now have employees.
• 8:00
  We've had no attrition and we go to work every day loving what we do.
• 8:05
  But, you know, it's kind of hard in the beginning, you know, we kind of have to fake it till
• 8:09
  you make it.
• 8:10
  Yeah.
• 8:11
  Yep.
• 8:12
  I was talking to one of my team members this week and, you know, she's trying to figure
• 8:15
  out the Mary Kay thing.
• 8:17
  She's like, I've been in education for 30 years and my brain doesn't think this way.
• 8:21
  And like fighting a lot of the ideas and things like I just don't know if I can do it.
• 8:26
  And I'm like, what would you tell your kids?
• 8:28
  She goes, you have to learn and figure it out.
• 8:30
  And I'm like, exactly.
• 8:31
  And it's not going to be perfect.
• 8:33
  And I think that's the big message of this podcast and the message of why not today is
• 8:37
  you just got to start.
• 8:39
  It's not perfect.
• 8:40
  Yeah.
• 8:41
  And I think a lot of people are crippled by the fear of failure or the fear of judgment
• 8:46
  or the fear of making a fool of yourself.
• 8:49
  And you know, what I have learned in the course of building this business with my business
• 8:52
  partner is people are genuinely kind, right?
• 8:56
  There's nobody really out there to get you.
• 9:00
  People like to see other people be successful and to help them in their journey.
• 9:05
  And so, you know, as long as you're really open and honest about, okay, this is outside
• 9:10
  my wheelhouse or I don't know how to do it, but I want to help you solve this problem,
• 9:15
  but I have a little more forgiveness there.
• 9:18
  And it allows you to be much more collaborative, whether it's with a client or somebody else.
• 9:23
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 9:24
  Yeah, people are kind and they want to help.
• 9:27
  And I think all the stories we make up in our head about what people are thinking are
• 9:30
  so untrue and they're just stories in our head.
• 9:33
  Yeah.
• 9:34
  I think it comes from our own insecurities, right?
• 9:36
  So, absolutely.
• 9:38
  So tell us what, and I love the concept of the pink panel and what you guys do and how
• 9:43
  that works and the people want to get involved.
• 9:46
  Yeah, so the pink panel is our testing panel.
• 9:49
  These are women who sign up to test beauty products and they usually get paid for it.
• 9:55
  It's an extremely active community.
• 9:57
  We have an active community on Facebook, on Instagram.
• 10:00
  So it goes just beyond that beauty.
• 10:03
  You know, we talk about empowerment and positivity and loving you for yourself and feeling beautiful.
• 10:09
  And that doesn't mean necessarily always wearing makeup.
• 10:12
  You know, it's being comfortable in your own skin.
• 10:15
  You know, we, every year around, you know, it's kind of a nice segue, every year around
• 10:19
  Thanksgiving, my business partner and I do a campaign.
• 10:25
  It's called Click for a Cause.
• 10:26
  And so you can either visit our Instagram page, read an article that we've written.
• 10:30
  And for these clicks, we will donate to a charity that is often selected in a poll by
• 10:36
  our panel.
• 10:39
  And so it's a nice way to give back.
• 10:41
  It's a nice way for our panel to feel like they're contributing even, you know, even
• 10:45
  without having to outlay cash.
• 10:48
  Because both my business partner and I feel very strongly about giving back to our communities.
• 10:53
  We both, you know, she has a foundation.
• 10:58
  My kids are very involved with St. Jude Children's Hospital as are my husband and I.
• 11:05
  And then my kids have worked with Yellow Ribbon Foundation as founding members of a kids initiative
• 11:11
  to get back to know them.
• 11:12
  So let's talk about that.
• 11:14
  You know, I'm so impressed that your 16 year old son said, who's started a nonprofit, working
• 11:19
  with a nonprofit.
• 11:20
  So talk about, talk about what you and your husband are involved in and then how your
• 11:24
  kids got involved and how you're passing it along and what they're doing.
• 11:28
  Sure.
• 11:29
  So my husband and I have always been very interested in St. Jude Children's Hospital.
• 11:32
  It's a great organization.
• 11:34
  I think the majority of people know what it is.
• 11:37
  To help kids and families who are battling cancer.
• 11:41
  The hospital will pay for all of the parents to be at the hospital and all healthcare is
• 11:50
  complimentary to these kids who are struggling through cancer.
• 11:53
  I love that.
• 11:54
  And the question I asked you when we met when you told me that is, did you get involved
• 11:58
  because you had to because you had an incident?
• 12:00
  You said no, which most people get involved or a lot of people get involved with nonprofit
• 12:06
  charities after something happened.
• 12:08
  And I was thinking after my dad passed away starting a nonprofit, I'm like, why don't
• 12:11
  we start and I just did a guy with somebody whose son passed away.
• 12:15
  I'm like, why aren't we doing things for people that are alive?
• 12:19
  And like doing like you're getting involved.
• 12:21
  You didn't need it, but yeah.
• 12:25
  And the reason we got involved was literally every day we look at our kids and we say we
• 12:30
  are so blessed to have healthy kids.
• 12:32
  Right.
• 12:33
  We're very fortunate.
• 12:34
  And not everybody is as fortunate.
• 12:37
  And so, you know, we kind of feel like that's our, we need to give back to a cause that
• 12:44
  will help somebody else because I can't imagine any worse pain than seeing your child being
• 12:51
  sick.
• 12:52
  And so that's one of the reasons that we got involved.
• 12:56
  And so by virtue, we pulled our kids into some of the initiatives that they can participate
• 13:01
  in for St. Jude's.
• 13:03
  So our kids decided to be a team lead for the St. Jude's walk and run, which will occur
• 13:10
  next weekend.
• 13:12
  And they were charged to raise money, get team members to sign up.
• 13:17
  And so they out of 1300 teams, I think they ranked number 13 in signing kids up and soliciting
• 13:26
  for funds for the charity.
• 13:31
  You know, they've also participated in the St. Jude's golf tournaments where they donate
• 13:35
  their time to help set up or work with the participants.
• 13:41
  And you know, that's a big national organization.
• 13:45
  You know, in terms of a local organization, my friend started Yellow Ribbon Foundation.
• 13:51
  Her dad.
• 13:52
  And what is that?
• 13:53
  I know you explained this to me the other day.
• 13:55
  So it's an organization that supports military families, specifically that either have members
• 14:02
  that are on high deployment cycles or who have lost a military family member, either
• 14:07
  as a result of war or issues that occur after they come back from deployment.
• 14:15
  And so she had started that foundation and she and her family said, you know, we really
• 14:20
  need a kids initiative.
• 14:21
  We need kids to be able to get involved in this initiative.
• 14:25
  And so there were a group of local high school kids, including my children, her children,
• 14:31
  some kids from Ashburn, who started this initiative called Mission to Unite.
• 14:37
  And the kids get together several times a year and then work throughout the year.
• 14:42
  But the purpose is to increase literacy and to support children whose parents are on high
• 14:47
  deployment cycles or who have lost a parent in their military service.
• 14:53
  And so the first year we built fewer than 300 backpacks.
• 14:59
  So we raised money, we bought backpacks, we bought all of the materials to fill the backpacks.
• 15:06
  The kids got together, filled all these backpacks and then delivered them to a military base
• 15:11
  to be distributed to the kids prior to school starting.
• 15:16
  This year they are able to raise more money and build more backpacks, which has been really
• 15:23
  fun to watch.
• 15:24
  And then around Christmas they do a large scale Christmas party for the military families
• 15:30
  and the children.
• 15:33
  And then the Mission to Unite initiative at that event is a reading corner.
• 15:39
  So they do book drives at their schools.
• 15:42
  And then they sit and read to the kids at the event as well as hand out books.
• 15:49
  We also solicit local celebrities to be a part of this event to help raise awareness.
• 15:56
  That's awesome.
• 15:57
  Where is the event?
• 15:58
  It's usually downtown.
• 15:59
  DC.
• 16:00
  Last year I believe it was at the Ritz in Arlington.
• 16:05
  But yeah, it's organized through Yellow Ribbon and the military bases.
• 16:11
  That's awesome.
• 16:12
  Yeah, side note remind me to mention somebody that might be a good guest for you.
• 16:18
  Yeah, that would be great.
• 16:19
  I've got someone to be a great guest.
• 16:23
  So yeah, I love how your kids just get involved and do things.
• 16:26
  And I think the kids these days, I don't know if you've noticed this, do want to get involved.
• 16:32
  And the younger generation starting working, they're looking for companies that give back
• 16:37
  and have a hard time and not just chasing a paycheck, which a lot of us were grown up.
• 16:45
  You got to have that steady job.
• 16:46
  I was not because my dad owned his own business, but that steady job and the insurance and
• 16:51
  work for the government, which is so stable, which really isn't.
• 16:55
  Not right now.
• 16:56
  No.
• 16:57
  Yeah.
• 16:58
  I mean, I think it's also really important, at least it was for us to get your kids involved
• 17:05
  early.
• 17:06
  And parents are like, Oh, I have to get my kids into community service to get them into
• 17:08
  college.
• 17:09
  And it shouldn't be about that.
• 17:11
  It really should be about this instilling this is the value in your kids from a very
• 17:15
  early age.
• 17:17
  I think my son was maybe in sixth grade and we had the opportunity to get involved in
• 17:23
  an organization called touching heart.
• 17:27
  And it's really cool because again, it's another kid initiative where you have a kind of a
• 17:34
  guidance host and they work with the kids at the local school to say, okay, you guys
• 17:40
  pick the charity, you guys host an event and you decide where this money is going to go.
• 17:45
  So yeah, when they were in six, when my son was in sixth grade, he participated in touching
• 17:51
  heart and him and five of his classmates did an event called graffiti for good.
• 17:59
  And so they were in charge of raising all the money, getting sponsors, putting together
• 18:03
  an auction and selecting the charity.
• 18:06
  And so they chose to take all that money and donate it to an organization that helps
• 18:12
  kids who are aging out of foster care and providing them with basic needs as they go
• 18:17
  into apartments or college.
• 18:19
  And so these six kids single handedly raised over $13,000.
• 18:25
  Wow.
• 18:26
  And you know, as a sixth grader, understanding your impact in your community is huge, right?
• 18:33
  That makes an impression.
• 18:35
  And I think that that just kind of sets you on a path to say, you know, I always want
• 18:39
  to give back.
• 18:40
  This is just part of who I am.
• 18:41
  This is part of my life ethos.
• 18:44
  And you know, and it brings up awareness too.
• 18:47
  I can't tell you how many adults I've met and living in Reston and Fairfax County right
• 18:52
  outside of Washington, T.C.
• 18:53
  It's a very fluent area.
• 18:55
  Absolutely.
• 18:56
  It is me.
• 18:57
  Like there's section eight housing in Reston and people have no idea.
• 19:00
  There is food insecurity issue in Reston.
• 19:03
  People have no idea.
• 19:04
  Like when I share that with people, they're like, not here in Reston.
• 19:07
  I'm like, seriously?
• 19:09
  Like what rock do you live under?
• 19:12
  You know?
• 19:13
  Yeah.
• 19:14
  Yeah.
• 19:15
  And especially, like you said, especially where we live, like, you know, I drive through
• 19:18
  the kids' school parking lots and there's not a car in there that, you know, isn't close
• 19:24
  to $100,000.
• 19:25
  So, you know, this becomes their every day.
• 19:28
  And this is what they see.
• 19:29
  And so, you know, some of these kids have, like you said, have no idea that there are
• 19:34
  people less advantaged than they are.
• 19:36
  Yeah.
• 19:37
  And they do the backpacks.
• 19:38
  My mom helped with the filling backpacks for kids.
• 19:41
  And one of the most affluent areas in Reston had the highest percentage of backpacks for
• 19:45
  kids being packed for weekends.
• 19:47
  So they have food on weekends when they're not getting fed at school.
• 19:50
  Yeah.
• 19:51
  And I think a lot of communities were really hard hit with COVID.
• 19:54
  Yeah.
• 19:55
  Absolutely.
• 19:56
  With the school shut down.
• 19:57
  Yeah.
• 19:58
  So that's awesome.
• 19:59
  I love how much you give back and teaching the kids and getting involved.
• 20:03
  And, you know, people are always asking, how do you get involved?
• 20:06
  You know, just started asking people.
• 20:08
  Yeah.
• 20:09
  I know some years ago I was honored with the Best of Reston Award because of all the things
• 20:13
  I've done.
• 20:14
  And people stopped me all over all the time.
• 20:16
  They're like, well, how do I get involved?
• 20:18
  And just ask somebody and somebody, and once you get involved in kind of that world of
• 20:22
  giving back somebody else will direct you to somebody else.
• 20:25
  And then, you know, find the cause, Google it, look up, you know, what are you passionate
• 20:30
  about?
• 20:31
  What do you want to get?
• 20:32
  And bringing the kids along.
• 20:33
  We did, I was working with a nonprofit and we did, this was a ton of fun, but for the
• 20:41
  Thanksgiving parade, Christmas parade at Reston Town Center, we were the balloon handlers.
• 20:45
  You know, those big huge balloons like Macy's Day parade balloons, we had to hold those going
• 20:51
  through the parade.
• 20:52
  That's great.
• 20:53
  It was such a cold day, but I have so many grandmothers.
• 20:56
  I think I remember that parade.
• 20:57
  Yeah.
• 20:58
  Like, I think I remember how cold it was.
• 21:00
  Oh, it was so cold.
• 21:01
  Like, we were freezing.
• 21:04
  But we had our, you know, kids there, my friends' kids helping and just the fun.
• 21:10
  And, you know, they'll remember that.
• 21:12
  And so, you know, doing it as a family activity.
• 21:15
  Right.
• 21:16
  And that's the thing.
• 21:19
  It is fun, right?
• 21:20
  When it's different than just writing a check, you're involved, you see how your hours make
• 21:27
  a difference in somebody's lives.
• 21:30
  These events are fun.
• 21:31
  It's fun to be a part of a community of people who are giving back that do come from different
• 21:35
  walks of life, who are there, you know, for not selfish means.
• 21:41
  They're there to help others.
• 21:43
  And so it gives you and other people exposure to the why, the how, the how can we make a
• 21:50
  difference with the team.
• 21:53
  And us owning businesses, you never know who you're going to meet that can connect to help
• 21:57
  you this.
• 21:58
  Not that I can do those things saying, I'm going to go to this event to meet somebody
• 22:01
  in my next customer.
• 22:03
  But it always happens without even trying.
• 22:05
  And it's like, okay, God's going to bless you and put the right people in your path.
• 22:09
  And, you know, even I feel blessed that I met you.
• 22:13
  And you were literally, I was walking out the door.
• 22:15
  Yeah.
• 22:16
  I think Uber had just shown up.
• 22:19
  Yeah.
• 22:20
  I exchanged cards and connected.
• 22:21
  And I'm so glad we did because there's lots of things I think we can do together and
• 22:26
  giving back and helping.
• 22:27
  So one of the things I do through the Mary Kay world is an adopt a mom program.
• 22:33
  And I spun, I partner with fish, which is in Reston and Herndon.
• 22:37
  And it's called friend stands for friendly instance, synthetic health.
• 22:42
  And they have a thrift shop.
• 22:45
  It's called bargain law.
• 22:48
  But also they offer assistance to people and they all doing for Christmas and Thanksgiving,
• 22:54
  they do food baskets.
• 22:55
  Now they're going to give cards.
• 22:58
  And then for Mother's Day, I partner with the subsidized daycare facility and customers,
• 23:04
  friends, family and anybody listen, you want to adopt a mom, it's $15 to adopt a mom.
• 23:08
  I say, mom's not coming to clean your house.
• 23:12
  But you make that donation.
• 23:13
  I provide some kind of a Mary Kay product, pampering gift for a mom.
• 23:18
  It's not makeup, but it's something and wrapped beautifully.
• 23:22
  And they tell me when the moms pick up the gifts, they're like, can I wait till Christmas
• 23:25
  morning?
• 23:26
  This is probably the only gift I would.
• 23:27
  So that is an organization.
• 23:29
  We'd be happy to donate.
• 23:31
  And okay.
• 23:32
  So you partner with them and you know, it's just, and then I've pulled the kids in and
• 23:39
  gotten them that need service hours to come wrap gifts with me.
• 23:44
  For Mother's Day, I should provide the gifts to the daycare with the wrapping and each
• 23:48
  kid gets to pick a gift and the wrapping to wrap them on skit.
• 23:52
  Well my kids are also involved with Saxon service at Langley High School.
• 23:56
  So one Thursday a month, the kids are looking for community service activities and hours.
• 24:03
  So I'm sure you and I could partner and maybe use a whole army of high schoolers to help
• 24:10
  you out.
• 24:11
  Okay.
• 24:12
  We'll take you up on that.
• 24:13
  So yeah, lots of ways to give back.
• 24:16
  Just get involved and start.
• 24:17
  And you know what?
• 24:18
  You'll make friends.
• 24:19
  You'll feel good.
• 24:20
  I know somebody's going through a yucky divorce and just lonely and sad.
• 24:24
  I'm like, what can you do to give back?
• 24:26
  You know, I know when I had a bad day, it's like, what can I do for somebody else?
• 24:33
  You don't realize how your bad day is not so bad.
• 24:37
  Right.
• 24:38
  So how would you encourage or what would you share to encourage somebody else to be courageous?
• 24:44
  Say why not today?
• 24:45
  Why not now?
• 24:46
  Just do it.
• 24:47
  I mean, I think you just have to jump in.
• 24:50
  You know, I was terrified to start this business and it has given me so many blessings.
• 24:56
  It's, you know, allowed me to use my brain in ways I hadn't used in a long time.
• 25:02
  I've met incredible clients and people along the way.
• 25:06
  And you know, the worst thing that's going to happen is you fail and you're no worse
• 25:10
  off than you were before you tried.
• 25:13
  So yeah, just jump in.
• 25:16
  Why not today?
• 25:18
  Why not now?
• 25:19
  Yeah, so tomorrow, that's the other thing, you know, you'll find that it, you know, anything
• 25:29
  that's worth it takes work, but you know, as soon as you get started, you build this
• 25:35
  momentum and you know, before you know it, you're having a great time.
• 25:40
  And you know, we find the time.
• 25:42
  We say I don't have time, but we waste time doing so many other things.
• 25:46
  Very true.
• 25:47
  Yeah.
• 25:48
  Very true.
• 25:49
  So I always try to connect the discussion back to my dad, how you can connect to my
• 25:55
  dad.
• 25:56
  And I took tons of notes because I think your dad and my dad are hanging out in heaven.
• 26:00
  I didn't know they were eating hognos, but that was my dad never wanted ice cream.
• 26:08
  He just took our ice cream and he smoked a pipe for a lot of his life and ice cream
• 26:13
  and enjoying.
• 26:14
  He'd take a bite.
• 26:15
  I'm like, no, it's like I eat my dad.
• 26:19
  I mean, we could literally have no food in the house.
• 26:22
  And the one thing he would treat himself to once a month was Hagi Doss vanilla Swiss
• 26:27
  almond ice cream.
• 26:28
  So when we go to visit his grave site, we always bring a pint of Hagi Doss vanilla Swiss almond
• 26:36
  ice cream and leave it for him.
• 26:38
  Yeah, my dad was famous for his martini.
• 26:40
  And so when my brother and his wife were moving out west, they went to see my dad and brought
• 26:47
  martinis and sat and hung out there with martini.
• 26:52
  So my dad was from California, moved to the East Coast after an accident in high school
• 26:59
  and went to Notre Dame.
• 27:01
  So moved out east.
• 27:03
  His funeral was absolutely standing room only.
• 27:05
  He touched so many lives, very much like your dad.
• 27:08
  He was an entrepreneur owned his own business.
• 27:10
  And yeah, they were ups and downs.
• 27:12
  My mom's told me recently that it seemed like whenever it was one of our birthdays that
• 27:18
  it was a downtime and she had to scramble.
• 27:21
  And also just like your dad, I've heard stories of my dad giving back to people that were
• 27:26
  having a hard time.
• 27:27
  He didn't, you know, his was up and down business just like I'm saying.
• 27:33
  And you know, was always, I've heard so many stories of him doing things.
• 27:37
  What else did you share?
• 27:39
  Oh, solve a problem.
• 27:41
  Like that's my dad's, you know, there was no solve problem that was not solvable.
• 27:45
  You'll figure it out.
• 27:47
  You know, he never said no to anything.
• 27:50
  And just, you know, giving back.
• 27:52
  So yeah, so many similarities.
• 27:55
  So love this.
• 27:56
  And I love how, you know, God just puts these people on our path and connects.
• 28:00
  And as I said, I was literally walking out the door and grabbing my friend and started
• 28:04
  a conversation.
• 28:05
  Yeah, I completely agree.
• 28:07
  I believe in that wholeheartedly.
• 28:09
  Yeah.
• 28:10
  So if people want to find you and be part of the pink panel or want to get involved and
• 28:16
  give back or help have kids that want to get involved.
• 28:19
  I'm going to share your contact information on the show notes, but how do you get involved
• 28:23
  with the panel?
• 28:24
  That's kind of a cool thing.
• 28:25
  It's super easy.
• 28:26
  You just join at pinkpanel.com on that webpage.
• 28:33
  There's an FAQ so you can understand a little bit about what we do and who we are and the
• 28:37
  brands that we work with.
• 28:39
  You click the join here button and you fill out some information.
• 28:44
  We're going to ask you questions about, you know, your name, your address, your age, your
• 28:49
  skin type, your hair type, some questions that relate to beauty products.
• 28:55
  And then we will send out testing opportunities as they come up and people can apply.
• 29:02
  And then if selected, they'll be given sent an email with all the instructions as to how
• 29:07
  to test your beauty products and get paid.
• 29:09
  Okay.
• 29:10
  And do you do everything like they send them to you when you do them or is there any live
• 29:13
  events?
• 29:15
  So most of what we do is in-home use testing so people can actually use the products at
• 29:20
  home as they would normally use beauty and personal care products.
• 29:24
  We also test supplements and wellness products.
• 29:27
  From time to time we do user groups and focus groups which are in-person opportunities.
• 29:34
  And some brands would like for us to do before and after photography so that would be in-person
• 29:39
  as well.
• 29:40
  Okay.
• 29:41
  Sounds good.
• 29:42
  So, all right.
• 29:43
  Well, I'll share your show night info.
• 29:45
  Right.
• 29:46
  In the meantime, if you like to podcast share with a friend, like it, review it.
• 29:50
  We have Why Not Today swag.
• 29:52
  I actually have my Why Not Today t-shirt on.
• 29:53
  I love it.
• 29:54
  And we have cups and we're doing some fun different things, gathering community.
• 29:59
  I know we have listeners all over the country.
• 30:03
  Actually I've had, I think, 26 countries.
• 30:05
  But locally.
• 30:06
  That's great.
• 30:07
  And we have some community events and gathering women and doing some fun things around that.
• 30:11
  So be on the lookout for new things around that coming forward.
• 30:15
  So Jennifer, thank you so much.
• 30:16
  Love talking to you.
• 30:17
  Thank you for having me.
• 30:18
  We could talk forever.
• 30:20
  But remember everybody, say why not today?
• 30:24
  Just never know where it can go and just be courageous.
• 30:28
  So thanks again, Jennifer.
• 30:30
  My pleasure.
• 30:31
  Bye.