Bold Moves Podcast

Episode 17: Breaking Barriers: How Erica Carpenter Turned Dog Poop into a Business Opportunity

• Mat Torres • Season 1 • Episode 17

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🎯 Key Takeaways

Core Points:

  • Erica Carpenter transitioned from nearly two decades in construction to founding Pet Waste Management, an eco-friendly pet waste removal service.
  • She emphasized the importance of networking among women in construction through her initiative, Build Hers, which promotes collaboration over competition.
  • Erica’s journey highlights the significance of following one’s passion and not being constrained by societal expectations or the opinions of others.
  • The concept of collaboration within industries fosters community growth and supports female entrepreneurs in overcoming challenges.
  • Both businesses aim for sustainable growth and community connection, with specific goals set for client acquisition and networking events.

🔍 Summary

Career Transition
Erica Carpenter shares her inspiring journey from a 19-year career in construction and general contracting to establishing Pet Waste Management, a service dedicated to eco-friendly pet waste removal. Feeling burnt out and underappreciated in her previous roles, Erica took a bold step by pivoting her career path. The idea stemmed from a light-hearted conversation with her husband years ago about dog waste removal, which ultimately led her to start her own business. She emphasized that working for others was unfulfilling, and she realized the importance of putting her efforts toward her own venture.

Build Hers Initiative
In addition to her pet waste management business, Erica founded Build Hers, a networking platform designed specifically for women in construction. This initiative aims to create a supportive community where women can connect, share experiences, and collaborate rather than compete. Through Build Hers, Erica has facilitated numerous events that foster camaraderie and networking opportunities among women in various trades, allowing them to learn from one another and build professional relationships. Her approach emphasizes that women in similar industries can benefit from collaboration, which ultimately enhances their businesses.

Overcoming Challenges
Erica discusses the challenges she faced in her transition, including securing clients and maintaining financial stability. She learned valuable lessons about managing her time and the importance of networking with other local businesses to create mutually beneficial relationships. By offering additional services and being adaptable, Erica navigated the early stages of her business effectively. She recognizes that success is not solely measured by monetary gain but also by the community impact and personal fulfillment derived from helping others.

Personal Growth and Advice
Erica encourages others to break free from limiting beliefs and societal norms. She advocates for being true to oneself and emphasizes that it is crucial to let go of concerns regarding others’ opinions. Reflecting on her experiences, Erica expresses pride in her achievements and the courage it took to follow her instincts. She inspires others to pursue their passions and assures them that with perseverance and community support, they can achieve their goals, regardless of their background.

Connect With Erica Carpenter:

Also check out: https://www.boldmovespodcastaz.com

Alrighty, so we are back with the Bold News Podcast. And I've got a really awesome guest. So I have Erica Carpenter. And Erica is kind of like, her story is pretty wild in the best way. So she spent nearly two decades in construction, restoration, drywall, general contractor work, you name it, like she's done it. But then she pulled the ultimate bold move. She walked away from it all to scoop dog poop, literally. But, but don't, I don't want that to fool you, because she is the founder of Pet Waste Management, which is an eco-friendly pet removal, like business. And that keeps yards clean and the noses of everybody in that yard happy. But it's, it's a really honored to have you on the show. I just want to thank you for coming on. And I'm really excited to hear your story. Oh, you're also the mind behind what we're talking about, which is build hers Build Hers. Right? Yeah, which is a women in construction networking event. So I'm really excited to have you on the show and start talking about this. Hi, thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm super excited to be here. Yeah, my story is an interesting one, to say the least. So yeah, I'm excited to share it. Very cool. I want to give everyone just kind of like a quick, how we how we met, because we just met today. Totally. Yeah. But you are friends with Afton, which is also who I know from BNI. And you're also now in BNI too. Not yet. Not officially yet. But I'm making my way around meeting people, trying to find a good chapter to join, because you know, you want to make sure you get a good chapter to join. Well, I can say the chapter that Afton's in is probably like one of the best chapters out there. I'm just saying like, I'm unfortunately like, you know, I can't go anymore just because, you know, like we've got two people from our office there and just didn't work out. But, and I'm not, I'm not doing sales anymore. I'm like, doing more tech stuff. But still, like, I love everybody in that chapter. And I'm pretty sure if you've seen the podcast, you've seen a lot of there's so many from there. I love it. Desiree is a close friend of mine. And Asia's awesome. So yeah, it's cool to be able to like, we know the same people. Yeah, those two are like a dynamic duo. Oh, they are. But awesome. So just so everyone knows, like, our show is about like, talking about bold moves that people take in their lives, you know, like, the good, the bad, the ugly. And, you know, we talk about, you know, what happened, we dissect it. if it was something that just totally went off the rails, we talk about what we learned from it. But on the flip side, if it was like a slam dunk, like a home run, you know, we like praise that and talk about that too. So how we got there. Yeah. So yeah, I kind of want to like kick things off and just kind of let you talk about like, you know, that that dramatic, you know, or pivotal moment for you that, you know, helped you or kind of sparked you to kind of like, take this this bold move in your life. Man, where to start? So yeah, like you said before, I have about 19 years in a construction restoration background. That's where I started right out of high school. I was not a college girly, I didn't want to go to college, I didn't want to go back to school. And I got a job at a restoration company. I had no idea homes could flood, no idea that water damage was even a thing inside of a house. So it was a big learning curve for me. And I loved it. Like I realized that I was very young, and I got into a kind of family-owned restoration company. And I grew and I grew and I made great money. And I realized that like, wow, females in this industry, women in this industry, can go leaps and bounds. And so I loved it. And I just continued to grow with it. So I at one point, I managed a drywall company for like a single tray drywall company for new builds. So I got to learn the new build process, all the builders throughout the valley, that was a really cool situation. And then I did typical like GC work, general contracting for commercial and residential. And after after 19 years, you get a little burnt out. There's there's definitely like a burnout phase. I think a big part of what pushed me to start my own company, because people told me like, oh, you're great in construction, you should start your own construction company. And I knew that I just wasn't prepared for that. Like I knew that I'm like, I don't know enough to be successful. And it's a super flooded market. The reality is, there's tons of people that do construction here in the valley, which is great. There's amazing, great companies too. I've worked for a lot of them. So it's, it's taught me a lot. But I realized that I'm working for all these companies, when I could do something on my own. And this in the same realm, you know, starting at the problem that I realized was that as I was like working for other companies, I had great ideas. And I cared a lot, probably more than I should have. And I realized that I was like, caring and putting all this time and effort into somebody else's business, and making them grow, which is great, because it all it all trickles downhill. But that's the problem. It is that I'm like, why am I working so hard to benefit somebody else when I could be working just as hard and benefit me and my family? And so I had, you know, I was doing business development for a general contractor. And I thought maybe by like, doing networking and business development, that I would enjoy that more than like running projects. And I just realized it wasn't filling my cup the way that it used to, I wasn't getting the same enjoyment out of it. I wasn't. The something's got to change. So I had a nice little, you know, come to Jesus meltdown with my husband. And, and what's funny, so about backstory, which is makes this story just even that much funnier. So about eight years ago, my now husband and I, he didn't have a job at the time. And he was kind of living off of some funds that he had saved. And he was like, Well, I need to get a job. But I don't want to work for the man like what should I do? And I go, you should go around and do like waste removal. And he's like, What do you mean? And I go like, go around and pick up like dog waste removal for dogs. And he's like, that's not a thing. And I go, Oh, it's a thing. It's 100% a thing. And I go, people make great money. And so he joked, and he's like, we'll call it poop, scoop and boogie. And I was like, Yeah, totally. So it was just like a dream, like a funny conversation that we had eight years ago. So this past year, because I just started in April, like March, April is when I got this up and running. I'm having a, you know, conversation with him. I go, Okay, what do I do after 19 years in this one field? Like, what do I do that will still make me happy that I'll still enjoy that I can still work really hard at and put my all into it? And he was like, you should start like poop, scoop and boogie. Fun fact, there is a gentleman in Prescott that already has the name. So we ended up with Pet Waste Management, which I actually prefer better. I like the name better. And I was like, you know what, at this point, I would literally rather clean up shit than be in construction anymore. And so that's kind of how Pet Waste Management started. To backtrack, as I was working for a general contractor, I had gotten into a B&I, we was in a B&I for a restoration company that I was that I was working with. And so I got to learn about B&I and networking and you know, the giver's and all of that stuff, which was really, really cool. So as I started meeting more and more people through B&I, I met tons of females in the trades, tons of women in the trades. And I'm like, Oh, hey, girl, we have Oh, you Oh, we all do the same thing. And we had the same pain points. And we had the same frustrations and funny stories. And so essentially, we kind of we put together a lunch. And we had eight women show up to this lunch. And then we're like, Hey, we should do a happy hour and invite other women like, Oh, I've got a friend that does this. And I've got a friend that does HVAC. And I've got a friend that does inspections. And, and so we're like, yeah, let's do so we started putting on happy hours. So our first happy hour was I think it's like 23 people or so. But it was all women in the trades. And then, you know, that happy other like, all right, when's the next one? When's the next one? And they just kept asking, like, when's the of 2024. And we started build hers Build Hers. And essentially, it's networking for women in construction. And it's grown from, you know, 1520 members to our June event, we had about 130 women show up to our event. Yeah, it was really cool. Yeah. So in the midst of all of that, that's also something that I divide my time into. Wow. So you're doing like your own business with the pet waste management. And then you're also doing like this networking event, like group that, right? That's like, those are like two full time. Oh, they are. They are for sure. Yeah, it's been fun. It's I'm super busy. But the reality is I, I love it. Like the joy that I get out of bringing these women together and teaching women how to how to network with each other how to and what's cool about it, that's a little bit different than like being is only one trade, one category, one person. What's cool about this is we'll have five roofers show up, we'll have three or four general contractors show up. And what's great. And even when I did general contracting, I had another general contractor call me and say, hey, I have a job on the west side. I don't want to go over there. Do you want to do it? Yeah, girl, let me let me have it. And we took care of it for her. So it's cool. It's like, even though we do the same thing, like, I tell these women all the time, like, trust me, you can collaborate and build together over this competition aspect of it. And so that's kind of what our group is really about. It's about collaborating with other industries or other fields that you might not think that you would have combined interests or power partners with. But it's we have a little hashtag, it's community or collaboration over competition. And so yeah, so it's been really cool to like, just bring these women together and help them work with each other and grow their businesses. Yeah, that's that's a really good hashtag, like motto collaboration over competition. Yes. I don't know how many times I've heard it said, but like, there is plenty of business out there to go around for everybody so much. Like if one person they can't take on the entire, right. It's just like, even like in the insurance industry, we work with other insurance companies. 100%. You know, it's just wild. Yeah, that's a really cool concept and a really cool idea to bring all of those in that industry, all of those people together and you can kind of like cross talk. Yeah, yeah, it's really cool. We've had women come that have been in like the electrical unions, welder like welders that are learning how to weld and they're in the welder union. Like it's been so cool, the dynamic of women that we've gotten and it's grown to so much more than just construction. Now we have like supporting industries, we have realtors, we have bankers, mortgage, you know, we have we have some estheticians that show up some girls that do lashes and massages and I'm like the reality is these business owners are not taking the self-care goes out the window when you own a business a lot of the times and so I'm like, hey, if I can put you in front of somebody who you're like, Oh, yeah, I'd be comfortable with letting you do that or Oh, yeah, I do need that service. Okay, well, let's figure it out. And then, you know, I just made those connections. They've made connections, they've grown each other. Like, it's just it's a cool circle, giving circle. Yeah. All right. So is it like, are you? Are you like making money from it? Like, is it profitable? Or is it like a not yet quite there? I mean, eventually, I would love to, um, because I, you know, like, yeah, I spent a lot of time and a lot of money putting this putting them on together. We've actually started because we've grown to such more like we've I've put together kind of a sponsorship pitch deck to be able to offer to companies that want to sponsor certain things or get their name out there. We just hit 1000 followers on our Instagram page. I think on Monday. Yeah. So we're growing the community. And so it's a it's a great way to kind of get some advertising out there. And now you're in a network of all these women. And we know how much women like to like converse and work with each other and everything. So it's been beneficial when it comes to that we haven't, we haven't done any like exchanging of monies. I haven't gotten paid on it. We've had talk about, you know, do we do a membership? Do we charge per event? Do we do, you know, and there's a lot to look at when it comes to that, because my biggest fear is that like, I don't want to charge a membership and then lose companies that might not be able to pay the membership, you know, I'm a starting new business, like paying $1,000 to a networking event seems astronomical right now, you know, but if it's, you know, hey, if it's 50 bucks for a year, and you get to come to all the events and you get access to all the all the trades and the contractors and everybody that's in the group is that that, you know, does that bring value to it? You know, would pain per event or come with that bring value to you? So there's a lot of things to like kind of digest and figure out what would be the best way to still bring value and then also still bring value to me. So yeah, okay. So man, like 20, almost 20 years in construction, how did you get into the construction business to begin with? Funny story. So back when I was I was right out of high school, I was looking for a job. This was back before smartphones and Google and everything was online. So a lot of our we looked through jobs through like Craigslist, back page, random ads like that. And so I, I found a ad for a restoration company called dry force dry That's important for the rest of the story. So I get a call and they're like, Hey, we need you know, we're looking to hire a dispatcher. Can you come in for an interview? And I'm like, Yeah, great. So they tell me the name of the drive force Dry Force. So I'm thinking it's like a car company, a rental car company, something in the realm of driving, maybe like a logistics company, something like that. But again, we didn't, it's not like we had Google to like, look up these companies, we barely had a website at that time. And so I go into the interview. And that's when I learned that about restoration and that homes could flood or that, you know, when a house when a house catches fire, you can actually repair it, not just tear the whole thing down and start over. And so I got to this interview, and I realized it has nothing to do with cars or driving. And I was like, Okay, all right, well, and I am a firm believer in fake it till you make it. And I just went along with the interview. And I'm like, Yep, okay. And the reality is, it was just a dispatch position. It was in taking calls and finding the right technician and sending them out to to address a flood or water damage. And so it was super simple. It was an easy job. To me, it felt like a 911 dispatcher, like I felt like I was saving the world. But it was great. And so that's essentially how I got started in construction was, I thought I was going for a driving or a driver car type of company, and it ended up being a restoration company. And then I realized that like, I made great money, I learned a ton. And there was a lot of these companies that are usually husband and wife, or just the guy that's running them. And he has nobody in the office to help. He has nobody to handle all the admin stuff, handle the phones, handle the paperwork. And so I learned very early on, you know, 20,21 years old, that I'm like, Okay, this is this is where it's at. Like, this is where you make good money. Like, screw college, I, I can do this, you know, kind of thing. So, you know, it's so true. Like, I, so I didn't, I went back to college, like, when I was old. So like, when I first went into school, I was like, I don't know, right at high school, you know, and I failed all my classes. I dropped, I mean, I dropped out after like a year and a half. And I went to like, go work for the sheriff's office. Oh, there you go. Detention officer, you know. yeah Yeah. But then, you know, and I come back, you know, 10 years later, and I go back to school because I want to do like military stuff. And so I'm like, driven because like, in order to get like, where you want to get that you have to go to school. Yeah. So I think I got my degree. And if there was underwater basket weaving, I would have taken that. I like I did interdisciplinary studies, okay, which is basically kind of like a meld of like all these courses that was like, Okay, I like that. Yeah. And so I, I started out like music ed. And then I got like some business classes, I just kind of like pieced them all together. There you go. It worked. But it's so funny, because like, I don't use my college degree, like for anything, you know, it's like a piece of paper, right? And it's like, I do I do like tech stuff coding, which I wish I would have gone back and did like a computer science degree or something, but and gotten Yes, but I mean, I've just been self-taught and taught everything like now with YouTube, like you can get a whole degree on YouTube, pretty much you can learn literally anything, anything. It's crazy. But yeah, no, that's funny that you said that, because it just made me think about that. Yeah. So that's cool. Like, that's, that's, very that's, that's that's wild how you kind of like got that intro into general contracting. And you just kind of like, just ran with it. Yeah. So I learned I learned a lot. I was there at that first company for eight years. And I realized there was so much more, there was the rebuild side of it, there was not the emergency services, there was, you know, packouts, there's contents, there's so many things to it, that it was such a world that you could get into. I'm curious, like, was there anything that was like a catalyst for you that kind of like, pushed you to like, okay, I gotta make a change, like, I need to go like, do something else, or I'm gonna go do this? Like, was there anything that just kind of like, sets you over the edge? Like in the beginning, when I got into it? Or when I started pet waste management? When you started pet waste management, because, you know, you went, you were in it for like 20 years. Was there something that just like, that was the straw that broke the camel's back, I'm doing something else? Oddly, I think it was a couple things that contributed to that. I think a lot of it was, I realized that I was working for people that were taking shortcuts, I think is the best way to put it politically correctly, was taking shortcuts with their work, and their customers and their clients. And it had been an ongoing, unfortunately, it's kind of an ongoing thing in that industry. And it was frustrating to see that I cared more about the outcome than the owners of these companies. And so when I realized that I'm like, you know what, if so and so can chat GPT, a full reconstruction estimate, I can manage to start my own business by myself. Like, I can figure that out. If I've done it this long, I'm resourceful, I can figure it out. You know, and it's, nobody teaches you how to do this, you literally have to figure it out on your own. And I think, I think a big drive to starting my own business and making this big jump was seeing other people do it that didn't have enough skills that I did. And I was like, I know more, and I can accomplish more. But I'm being held back by XYZ. And I'm like, you know what, let's not, let's not be held back anymore. And it was really cool when I realized that like, when I started my business, I could market it however I want. I could discount however I want. I could change my structure of the services that I offer. You know, I don't only just go around and pick up dog poop. But because I have a construction background, I can also install waste stations, and service waste stations for communities and HOAs and commercial properties, hotels. I realized that there's so many other little outlets that I knew and could capitalize on. And that's where I was like, all right. And you know what, and here's the thing, if I fail, I only have myself to blame. But I was kind of sick and tired of putting my livelihood and my living and my hobbies and my dreams and my goals in somebody else's hand for them to mismanage. And so I was like, all right, we're gonna, we're gonna do this ourselves. And we're not gonna mismanage it. And if it fails, then that's on me. And if it succeeds, that's all me. So that's kind of how it got started was bad leadership pushed me to start my own thing. Do you ever watch or, or listen to the podcast, The Diary of a CEO? No, I haven't seen that one. Yeah. So it's, it's really good. Like, I forgot who his name is. But like, you'll probably recognize it. Like, he's like a British guy. And then he talks to like, a lot of a lot of big name people. Like, I forgot what his name is. But he had this one guest and we're talking about, he said, this guy, like drew a circle on a table. And there was like a little, a little spider in it or a bug. And the bug would like, not go beyond the circle. Because even though they could, yeah, they wouldn't. Yeah. Yeah And then like, he started drawing a smaller and smaller, and the spider would like, not go. And then when he we drew it small enough to where he had no choice, but to go beyond it, then it was like the bug realized, Oh, hey, I can go beyond it. And no matter how many times I had to draw the circle, like it would not stay because it now knew. It was just kind of interesting. Because like, when he talked about that, he related it to like, in our own, like mind, we put these circles around this, or we can't go beyond that. I'm not this. So I can't do that. Yeah. And it's just kind of like, wait a minute, like, why are you putting your own, like limiting circle? Like, you know, just go beyond and, and like, once you go beyond it, like, there's no stopping, like, there's no stopping. Yeah, it's and it's 100%. Like, it's so true. Because like, when I first started, my biggest thing was, I was like, well, all these, all these scooping companies have websites, because they, you know, they need people to go to to see their pricing. So I started reaching out to people that build websites, I've never built a website before, I have no idea. I don't even know code, nothing like that, right? It wouldn't even know where to start. The fact that I even bought a domain was like, good job, girl, you made it that far. And so I started reaching out to companies and figuring out and I mean, I got quotes from $8,000. And it would take six to eight weeks to, you know, $2,100 for three. And I realized, I'm like, there's got to be a better way. There has to be a quicker, more efficient, cost budget friendly way. And so I started googling, you know, doing my research. And I realized, like, I built my own website from a template. And so I pay like a small fee to like, use their template. And I was able to learn. So you're right, like, the reality is that you don't know what you don't know. But when you're pushed to that point, those circles aren't containing you anymore. Like now, now I can actually say I know how to build a website, not really. But you know, and so what's cool about that, though, is like, now I don't I don't rely on anybody else to change anything on my website, I now get to go outside the circle of my whole business. And I can touch anything on it, which is very empowering, for sure, is that you're not tied to somebody else's knowledge or skill set to get your job done. Yeah. So I'm curious, you got me thinking, because like, I'm, I'm a tech techie, like I've started building websites when I was like, in high school, like, I wish I would have known you three months ago. But I'm like, curious. So what did you like, what did you use? Like what platform? So I think it's called card. It's C A R R D, I think if I'm spelling it correctly. And essentially, they just have like templates. So I tried to find a template that would fit in reality, all my website needs is what we do, our pricing, and how to contact us. So it was super easy. And when I realized that, like, talking to these companies that build websites, they're like, yeah, we can make this and this and this. And that's $600. That's $400. That's 250. That's this. And I was like, dang, I don't need that much. And what's cool now is that like, now I can go in and edit it, I can change if my pricing changes, or if I want to start offering a discount, now I can update my website to offer that discount. Same day, kind of thing. So it's been, it's been efficient. I like it. I haven't, I don't know any other, so. Yeah, no, I've used card before. Like, they're super cool. It's easy. Yeah, I really like their, their stuff. Very user friendly. With, with me being like, you know, I like to get in the weeds and everything. Like, obviously, like, when I know what I want, and it needs something beyond that, then I'll go do like something else. But like, if it's something super simple, like you can spin something up in like a minute. It was fun, because then you got to like, you could bold that I figured out how to do, you know, bold certain words and how to change the color and you get, you know, you do all the coding with the parentheses and the hashtags. And I was like, man, this takes me back to my MySpace days. But like, dude, I remember like, tricking out my MySpace page, like your top eight. The people who had music, oh, man, that was something else. When you figure out how to get the music from LimeWire to your MySpace. Now we're going back. Oh, yeah, yeah. Like, I used to tweak the HTML code and like, do all kinds of crazy stuff and everything. Oh my gosh, I love it. And Tom was always on your... Always, always. That was the only picture ever. I'm like, does anybody ever know who he was? Like, did anybody ever meet him? Like, do we know if that picture was like, actually him? I don't know. I think it was. I feel like if you, and I feel like if you show that picture to like kids nowadays, they would just be like, yeah, but if you show it to like our generation, we all know. Hey, Tom. Yeah, it's so funny. He was like everybody's first friend. Oh man, that was smart, man. Yeah, that's funny. I wonder like, gosh, like MySpace would like was so different now. Like Facebook is completely. Oh, it's yeah, it's taking its own realm on that. It's crazy how much it took over. Yeah. Yeah, that's pretty wild. Yeah. No, like I always get like when someone talks about website stuff, I'm always like, oh, yeah. OK, what'd you do? What'd you do? Yeah. Now, if you want to go down a rabbit hole and start going into AI and websites with that. Yeah, like it is so easy now for somebody to to build a website like card is just like one piece of it. But if you look at all the other aspects of it, like here's one. If you go to this is a pretty popular one called lovable, lovable dot dev, I think. And it's just like chat GPT. But you can go on there and you can say build me a website that does this and it will build you the website. Like it's insane. Yeah. And that's insane. And if you want like complicated stuff, it can do that. And then I'm just barely touching the surface of chat GPT. Then I'm not even getting into the weeds just yet. Holy crap. That's what I do day in and day out. Oh, my gosh. I stuff. And it's just like mind blowing. Yeah. So I can I can go off on a tangent, but I will say that we'll do lunch and then you can teach me all the things that I need to start doing with my chat. Yeah, it's crazy. Um, what are are some of like the like the challenges that you faced early on in this transition? And like, how did you overcome them? Or were there any challenges? Oh, definitely. There's definitely challenges. Um, I think a lot of it is obviously like getting clients. Getting clients is the biggest part of it. But I think, um, there were things that I learned very early on, like allowing myself enough time to do one time services, because I realized those take a long time. I had, you know, I had a customer that signed up for weekly reoccurring, I did one service took forever. And then the next week, he canceled on me. And so I was like, dang, I don't have any safe holds against things like that. So as I started it, and as I started getting clients, and certain things came about, I started to learn, you know, you don't know what you don't know. And so those all taught me great valuable lessons. Um, I've learned, you know, kind of how to network with power partners, and like turf cleaners and landscapers and pest controls and stuff like that. And in the beginning, I always say like, when you're starting a business, you still have to keep the lights on, you know, you still got to have bill money. So to speak. So I think that's been like the hardest part about it is just keeping the lights on during this process, for sure. But I also do, I was trying to do, like, kind of contractual or like side work, you know, like I do a lot of social media stuff. So I offer that to people, I'll do add on services, I have this sweet lady that she got, I do her scooping services. And she's like, I got half the yard moan. And I was like, Okay, no worries. And I get out there. And I was like, let me offer to like, do an add on and I'll mow the rest of her yard kind of thing. And so I like send her a message after I left. I was like, Hey, I'm always trying to find ways to help and hustle. It's hot out. I go for you know, for this much. Do you want me to mow it the next time I you know, finish mowing the next time I come by? She goes, if I can't get my kiddos to do it, then yeah, I'll let you know. And I was like, Okay, great. Sounds like a plan. So it's so I'm always trying to find different random side hustles just to try, you know, keep the lights on, as I say. So I think that and I'm sure I'm, I guarantee I'm not the only one in that realm of that, that pain point of just like, all right. And it's funny, as I've met, small business owners and other business owners, almost nine out of 10 of them are like, Oh, no, no, I have a whole other nine to five job. This is just, and it's, it's crazy, like the economy and what we've gotten into where the fact that we have to have, you know, a corporate nine to five style job on top of like trying to start our own business just to get that freedom just to, you know, break those chains. So it was definitely like a hard break to do that. And it's any I know, I always tell people, I'm like, I have 19 years of construction experience. So I, you know, I tell a lot of contractors, I'm like, hey, if you need admin help, you need help with your books, or you need help with your, you know, putting notes in uploading files, like stuff that you're too busy doing, like, hit me up, I'll help you out. So I do a lot of that stuff for people and kind of thing. But I think that's probably the biggest like pain point of starting your own businesses, keeping the lights on and keeping keeping food on the table during the process. Yeah, the like side hustle economy has like really like taken off. Oh, it's insane. I think I think 2020, like probably sparked a lot of 100% totally, I would agree with you on that. Like even just with like the door dash situations, you know, well, and I and I joke, I'm like, man, I'm about ready to go do like some random door dashes just to like just to bring some extra funds in, you know, day to day. It's like you got to bring in 100 bucks a day. How hard can that be kind of thing. But yeah, and the hustle on the market here, though, is is huge for that. And everybody knows somebody, which is great, because it's like, oh, I've got somebody I can help you do that. Or I've got, you know, so it's cool. I like that aspect of this. Yeah, that's wild. Yeah, it's like, you know, you got to, you know, like, especially like building a business a lot of times, you know, takes a while for it to become profitable. It does. So gotta eat. So gotta eat. I had I had one client that, bless her soul, like gave me the greatest break of my my small business career, if you will. But she I met her to be and I and she was like, hey, I need your services. I just remodeled my backyard and I have two dogs and I can't get out there. And it's just taking, you know, like I'm just I'm too busy. And I'm like, yeah, I got you. No worries. And she's like, I don't want to have to think about you or your services. Can I just pay you for the year and be done with it? So she paid me up front for the year, which allowed me to it covers all of my expenses. In reality, what she paid covers my accounting and covers all of my little random fees for my domain and my Google voice and all of these things for my small business. And I'm like, that was such a big break for me. Like, so I think a lot of I know a lot of small businesses get maybe one or two of those and it it just goes leaps and bounds. And I'm like, I'm forever grateful for her for that. And like, she's my favorite. She's my favorite client right now. Don't tell anybody else. But no, it was it was cool. Like stuff like that is really awesome. So it's like if I can train, help other people and other small businesses in that same way. Heck, yeah, I'm going to try because it just brings so much like joy to people. Like I walked out of there like. And then I cried because I was like, thank you. Yeah, that that's a big relief when you have like that client that just says, OK, here's like, you know, I trust you. I got you. And in reality, it was it was for her. She helped her more than anything. Now she doesn't have to think about it. She doesn't got to worry about it. And she knows that I'm going to show up twice a week and make sure her yard's all clean. Yeah, that's cool. What's like the wildest yard that you've seen? Like, has it been like pretty, pretty crazy? So I haven't had anything, oddly enough, like my years being in construction, I saw way worse scenarios. Like I had to do a roof inspection one time and I couldn't even get my ladder. Like I couldn't set my ladder down without like setting it in something. And I remember that house. And I'm being like I and I didn't know anybody at the time that did pooping, scooping at the time. So I couldn't even refer to anybody. But it was crazy. So luckily, mine hasn't been too terrible. I think the heart I think my hardest one was like I did a one time service and I couldn't start until one o'clock. And it was in the middle of June. And so that was like a rough one. But just because it was 115 and by the end of it, I was 20 pounds lighter and water weight and, you know, sweating like crazy. But oddly enough, like it's it's very chill. It's very easy. My clients have been super great understanding, you know, and they're like, I don't really ever have to like deal with their dogs. But sometimes like I've got a couple where, you know, the dogs don't get put away and they don't like me in the backyard. So but it's so I'll always text me like, hey, you've got a really sweet guard dog back here that doesn't want to let me in. But in reality, it's I've been very great, like blessed so far with not anything too crazy. So I don't have any like crazy fun stories just yet. I haven't fallen in a pool yet. That's good. I haven't let out any dogs in a gate yet. Knock on wood. You know, that's what I have insurance for. But yeah, so no, we've we've been very we've been very good. We're going to keep it that way. Are you like doing it all yourself or like a team or so? I do it all myself right now. I will say so. My son just turned 16 in June. He has his permit. And so I tell him, I'm like, all right, once you, you know, once you get your license, probably buy it because he's he just started school. But I'm like, by next summer, like you're going to have a fun summer job. And he jokes because he won't even pick up the dog poop at our house. And he goes, I think I'm going to get a job at Harkins instead. Like, you do you fine, fine. And he's like, well, I get free movies and discount on snacks. And he's like, I don't get that with you. I was like, he's got, you know, he's got a point. So now I know as a future boss that I now need to like movie tickets are a requirement. Maybe quarterly movie tickets are expected. You know, so now I know like, you know, bosses like, all right, here's how we incentivize our employees. That's funny. My first one, not my first job, but when I was 16, I worked at Hollywood video. I remember Hollywood video. Hollywood video was cool. And then when I turned 18, I was able to work at Blockbuster. Oh, yeah. Because Blockbuster, they had an age limit. Blockbuster was a big deal. But man, that was like my dream job. Because like for a kid, you know, right. Oh, I get free movies. Right. I'm like, dude, like, and on top of that, you got to get the movies that were coming out the next week. Before. Before everyone else, you can take them home. Like kids nowadays. You'll never know. You'll never know what that's like. You'll never know what it's like to be like, beg your parents to go to Blockbuster on a Friday night with you and a friend so you can pick out a movie to rent. And like that was the place. Like I'm like, I'm sure that you had a great time working there just because you knew that the weekends were like all of your friends were coming in. Like it was like the hangout. Like you. That was the Starbucks back in the day. Yeah, I, I would go and I would just like walk the wall and just kind of see what movies were out there. Like just to check it out. Like, all right. What else we got? Yeah, exactly. Oh man, good times. Yeah, it's so funny. Like, and I, I remember like there would be a movie that would just come out and it wasn't in. It was all checked out. And I would like wait by the drop off bin. For somebody to bring it back. Yeah. I would wait there like hours. Like I'm a big techie, a Star Trek nerd. Yeah. Hold on a second. I don't know why this stopped. Okay, it's still going. Yeah. So like, I'm a big techie. And like there was when, when one, like the Star Trek movies came out and it was like checked out. I was a kid and I would, I would like wait like hours for, for this movie. And I remember like I was probably like eight or nine or something like that. And it was at the Fry's video store. Cause our Fry's had a video store. Yes. I remember the little like side by the pharmacy. And I would go in there and the lady at the counter like knew I was waiting for this movie. And I remember like, I was just like waiting. My mom was shopping and I was just waiting and it finally came in. And I remember she came up to me and she's like, here you go. And I was like, like all excited. And she was like all happy. Cause she was able to give this kid a little movie, you know, she just made your whole day. I love it. That's so cute. And then me and my brother, we would fight because my brother liked video games. Okay. And it was a rule, like one movie, one game. We would always try to convince each other. Like just use your video to get a game or no, use your game to get a movie. And it's like, never, never. Yeah. How far apart are you guys in age? Uh, I think we're about like three or four years. Okay. That's not too bad then. Yeah. So yeah. But man, my, my kids, they're, they just go on Netflix or whatever. And just like, it's there. Like, do you remember when Netflix used to mail you like the envelopes? Like, I'm like, I thought about that the other day. I was like, holy crap. Do you remember when Netflix used to like mail you DVDs? Like that was, that was a weird time. And it wasn't even that long ago. That was like less than 20 years ago. Like, yeah. And that was weird. That was weird. I was like, you're just going to send me like a movie. And then I mail it back. Yeah. Odd. Very odd. Well, and the, the interesting thing is, um, blockbuster, like had the chance to like acquire Netflix and they were just basically like, yeah. And then boom, they're done. That's wild. Yeah. Like you kind of think about like, man, what, what would have happened if like, that would have been that had continued. Yeah. Yeah. Like alternate reality type thing. Yeah. It's like, like, where would the world be right now? Yeah. But anyway, blockbuster shaped the world. Yeah. So anyway, I don't, I don't blame your son for wanting to go to Harkins because I kind of have to agree with him, you know, I am inside air movies, snacks. All right. Yeah. Yeah. I remember I had a, I had a friend who, uh, when they were, they were working at Hollywood video, like they would, you would wear like the white shirt and the cummerbund, you know, it was like, to me, like, I was like, Whoa, that's cool. You had a uniform. The things that we used to, that we cared about, like that, that meant something to us back then, you know? Yeah. Good stuff. Yeah. Oh man. People, yeah. Never won't understand. You know, yeah. Where the world has come today. Yeah. Like, I mean, I, I appreciate it. Like, I don't hate on it. Like it's, I mean, it's funny now, now it's, it's so funny. Like you were now starting to see that trend of the generation going back to like flip phones and like getting rid of like smartphones and things like that. It's so funny how it really does come full circle and these trends are. And like, I've noticed that recently it's like more and more people are like, Oh no, I don't have my phone with me or no, I'm putting my phone away. I don't have it on me or anything like that. It's that's like, it seems wild to me, but at the same time, like I get it. Like there's times where I had to tell myself, put your phone away. Like it's so hard. It is. It's like we're all addicted. We are, we are addicted. And it's like, I think about it and I'm like, yeah, I've got my phone everywhere I go. And then it does everything for us. Like I run my whole business through my phone. Like ever it's like, it's crazy. If you were to take away all the benefits that you use from it, where you'd be back in the stone age. Like the reality is, you know, when I was in construction, I was talking to a lot of the, uh, when I did drywall, I would talk to the new build superintendents a lot. And there was one guy that I talked to and he goes, he's like, you don't even understand. He goes, when we had to call trades, he was like, we had like a bag of like quarters. And he's like, we went to the payphone and we wrote our list of all the people that we had to call. And he goes, we called subs and trades from a payphone to like schedule things. He's like, there's no email, there's no fax, there was no. So when you think about like running a construction site back in the eighties and the nineties, before cell phones, before you had connection communication in the palm of your hand, what did we do back then? Like, what did they do? Like it was just so much harder, like it was lengthier, harder. So interesting. Yeah. I remember my, my parents, my mom, she would drop me off at the movie theater and then like as soon as it was done, I'd use the payphone to like come pick me up, you know, no cell phone. Nope. Yeah. Or it was like, you be here at this time. This is where I'll be. And if you're not here, you got whooping. Yeah. You don't want to know. You ever see that commercial back in the day where this guy is calling collect and the dad answers and then he's like, who's calling? He says, we ought to baby eat some boy. Yes, yes, yes. We had a baby. It's a boy. And then who was that? It's like, Oh, it's Bob. They had a baby. It was just that and then he hung up. I do remember that. Man, it's good times. Um, where do you see your, where do you see your businesses in the next five years? Like where do you see the, the pet waste management? And then where do you see the, the build hers organization? Like, Oh man, where are those going to the sky, to the, to the top of the world? Um, no, I actually, I would love to, my goal for pet waste management is to get 200 reoccurring clients. So whether that takes me a year, six months, two years, that's like my number one goal is I want to at least get 200 reoccurring clients. We live in a huge Valley. That's completely doable. Um, so I'm hitting a ton of networking events and trying to just grow that build hers. Ah, it's so interesting because I never, never in my wildest dreams thought that I would be running an organization like this ever, ever. Um, and then to have it flourish and grow so big. And it's so interesting. I get, every time we have an event, I have women reach out to me or they'll message me the next day and they'll be like, last night was amazing. It was so much fun. The energy is so different there. It's, it's inviting. It's engaging. It's energetic. It's, you know, there's just something palpable about it. That's the right word. And, and it's so, so it's really cool. I would love to grow it to essentially be like a job for me because I do enjoy, like I, I like bringing the women together. I like going and meeting new people that we can host events at, that we can bring value to their business by bringing, you know, a hundred plus women into their showroom kind of thing. Um, so build hers. I would love for it to just continue to grow. Um, if I were to make a full time living off of that, heck yeah. Um, but right now, like I kind of, I just want to build it. I want it to be an outlet for women to, and in reality, it's not even a matter of like, Hey, let's grow your business. Hey, come and make friends, come and have camaraderie. You know, we all have the same pain points. We all have the same frustrations. Like, and when you realize that like so-and-so standing right next to you is the same problem with Bobby that you have with Jimmy, you're like, Oh, instant best friends, you know? And so it's, it's been really cool to be able to provide that. And I, that's my biggest thing is I want to be able to continue to provide that and just bring more women into it and have it be like a safe space for them to network and market and make friends and do business and grow themselves. Um, a lot of these women that come, cause we offer, we give them an opportunity to bring like a door prize, like a spotlight raffle prize. And if they bring a prize, they get to get up in front of the women and do like a little commercial, kind of like a 32nd little B and I commercial kind of thing. And it's cool to see the women that have been coming since October and to see how far they've grown in their presence when they're speaking, you know, in October, they, in November it was, Hi, I'm so-and-so and I'm just here doing this, you know, and now they're here and they know half of the women that have been coming. There's new women that are coming each time. And, you know, by June, July, they're like, Hey y'all, I'm so-and-so I do this. I'm looking for this blah, blah, blah. And you see just the personality and the character come out. And like, that's, that's what gives me joy. Like money aside, that's why I've continued to do it this entire time. Like I haven't made money doing it since October, but that's why I continue to do is cause I, like, I love being able to provide that and seeing that outcome, like gives me the warm fuzzies. That's cool. So it's a real confidence builder, like having that opportunity to like, you know, speak in front of people, share your, you know, your commercial or whatever it is that you want to share. That's really cool. I used to be the same way. Like I was not an energetic, outgoing, talkative person. Like I never, I thought that was very sales-y and I like shied away from it. And then when I realized it, I'm like, no, be proud of what you do. Be proud of it. You know, I'm like, I'm proud that I pick up shit. Yeah. It can sound like if you're not genuine, it can sound like really sales-y. And I think that's the difference is I think that a lot of the women that have found Build Hers are looking for that genuine, true, like real woman connection. Unfortunately, there's a lot of fake women out there and the vibe is just different. Yeah. And it's cool. It's a cool situation. Well, what's cool is like the more that you're with like more genuine people, like the more you're around and you see what like actual genuine people, like how... How they care and they want to help you. Then you can like spot the fakiness like a mile away. A mile away. Okay. Yes. And it's cool because then you're like, cool, I know that I want to work with you, might not want to work with you. And the reality is like, they'll still do business. They'll still come to the events. And I would just tell people like, hey, if there's somebody that you don't like, you just, you don't have to do business with them. You get to pick who you do business with, you know, still be a human being, be nice, be polite. But, yeah. But you know what? The great thing is sometimes those fake people don't really know they're being fake. Sometimes. Unfortunately, yeah. And then they, I think the more they're around your, you know, group of people who are not, they start to realize like, oh. I don't have to be this way or, oh. And it's like, it turns into a character change almost. Yeah. And I'll say when I first started doing like networking stuff, I was kind of fake because like I didn't know how to network. You just don't know how to do it. You don't know how to be genuine or how to not be salesman-y. Yeah, I would agree. I probably was like that in the beginning too. Like very. Yeah. Sales-y. Yeah, yeah. You're just kind of like, oh. No, it's okay, honey. You'll get there. What would you tell your younger self? Like, would you give your younger self any advice, you know, knowing what you know now? Like if you were to go back maybe 20, 30 years or even like, you know, further? That's a good question. Honestly, I would still tell her to get in construction. I still think that was a great outcome. I think I could have humbled myself in my like late 20s, early 30s more and learned more. I would probably be in a different position now if I had done something like that back then. And so like, you know, self-reflection, I think is a big part of like, yep, if you had done something a little bit differently, you might be in a different position today. But the reality is that I'm very grateful that I've been true to myself and that I've stood up for what I care about. And I haven't ever backed down to companies or men or things like that in situations. I've always stood up for myself and I've always stood for what I care about. And so if anything, I'd be I'm I'm proud. I think that my younger self would be proud of where I'm at today. I think I've learned a lot more than than I would have if I was in the same if I was in the same position I was five years ago to right now. Even, you know, if I had changed something, you know, as little as five years ago, like I think that, yeah, I think that she would I think she would be proud. I think there's some I think there's some things where she'd be like, girl, you crazy. But yeah, some quick fire questions here. So what's your favorite book, podcast or resource that inspires boldness for you? So in true transparency, I haven't read all of it, but the Let Them book is a huge one. And I think it's adapting that lifestyle to your every day. People are going to do whatever they're going to do regardless of your influence. So let them if they're going to explain, you know, if they're going to be a certain way, let them let their actions dictate how they are in your life. And I think that once you let go of the control that you can't control everybody, you can't control outcomes to certain things. And once you understand that and you like, let it be. I think the world for me, I just got happier. I realized that I was like, cool, it's something that I don't have to worry about anymore. Let them be them. I'm going to continue on my path, continue on my growth and my goals and let them be, you know, Is that by Mel Robinson? I believe so. Yes, yes. She and she has a really cool podcast. Like she has she has one episode on her podcast that really was essentially actually probably a big push as to why I pushed to start my own company was the being stuck, the stuck feeling. And they say that, like, everybody goes through this. Everybody goes through that, like, stuck phase. And I just remember being, you know, waking up every day and I'm doing the same thing over and over and I'm working for people I don't like. And I'm doing jobs that I don't like and I don't like the people that I'm dealing with. And nothing about my life was going the way that I wanted to go. And I was like, why, why do I feel this way? Why am I stuck? Why am I what has to change? And so I went down a whole rabbit hole of like, all right, why am I stuck and how do I fix this? And so her one of her episodes about that was huge. And realizing that like, hey, you're, you're up here, you break the circle, you can go outside and it's the paper, the circle with the spider, like, you can go outside the circle, I promise you, it'll be okay. So yeah, that's crazy. I, it reminds me of when I was, I was like, 19, worked for the sheriff's office, I was a detention officer. And like, I was did for like a year, but I want to know more about that. I remember I would go in every day. And we'd have a little briefing, get on the elevator, go up, go to my do my thing, and then shift over, get on the elevator, calm down, go to my car. And I remember there was this one moment, because, you know, after a year, you've been doing the same thing. There was this old guy, and he was probably in his, like, you know, 50s, 60s, you know, as a 19 year old, that's old. And he and he'd been working there that entire time, like 40 years or whatever. His whole career was there. And I think, I don't know what he said, he said something was like, yep, you know, never gets old or something like that, or saying, well, say no. And I just remember in that moment, sitting there, I'm like, just like, I was 19. This cannot be it. And I'm like, I don't want to be doing this up and down, like, for the rest of my life. So and then I just, I just, okay, I'm out. And I think I did drum corps, and I'm just like, yeah, but it was just like, I don't want my life to be like the same. You see it. And you're like, uh, like, our generation, our parents, you know, our parents taught us to you get one job, you stay at that one job, and you're happy and you work it until you retire. And, and it's funny, like, you know, my in laws, they've worked at the same job since they started, you know, and it's, it's funny, because I'm just like, I go, how is like, that's what we're taught. And so when you break these generational norms, by starting your own business or starting, it's terrifying to them. Like, I, my grandmother was like, I'm just so scared for you. And I'm like, you know what, it's okay, though. Like, and if anything, if you're scared for me, you know what you can do? You can tell all the, all your sweet friends in Sun Lakes that I can come pick up their dog poop, you know, like, and so it's, yeah, I would agree with you on that. It's, that's a fun one. You realize like, I have to get out of this. Something has to change. Yeah. Well, and I think now too, like, the, the norm is not to be at the same job. Like even employers, they actually frown upon that. Like they like, oh, you've been here for how long? You're kind of stale, you know, like, right. They want to see like, upward, like growth, you know, like, okay, what other challenges you take on? Oh, you're bored? You want to come work for me? Okay, let's do it. What can you know? Yeah. So different. And it's so weird. But like, that's kind of the thing now. You know, it's just so strange. Yeah. The way the world's changed. What's the best piece of advice you've ever received? It's not from anybody one specifically, but I think, I think a great piece of advice that I've received over the years is to continue to just do you and not worry about the opinions or thoughts of others. I think a lot of times we get held back by the opinions of others. You know, I have a very courageous career in construction for almost 20 years. And now I pick up dog poop. The reality is like, I'll gladly tell somebody who has had 40 years in construction, yeah, no, I'd much rather do this than what you're doing. And so I think a lot of it is ignoring opinions, ignoring thoughts, or, you know, disingenuine comments by other people and shooting for the sky and doing you and keeping your goals and everything in mind. In one word, how would you encourage someone to be bolder today? One word. Oh my goodness, man. These are good questions. Holy crap. All right. Thesaurus time. One word. Okay. Repeat the question one more time. Let's hear it. In one word, how would you encourage someone to be bolder today? I just want to be like, go for it. But that's not one word. It's a boy. We had a baby. It's a boy. Go for it. Man. Breakthrough. Okay. I think breakthrough would be a decent one on spur of the moment spot on, you know, right now because I want you to break through the norms. Oh, that's good. A big part of like what I'm about is, you know, I'm a woman that was in construction for 20 years. That's not the norm. And the reality is I did great. And all the women in construction do great. So I'm a big advocate for that. I want it. So I would be like breakthrough. Breakthrough and just show the world what you can do. I like it. That's cool. Okay. Is there anything that you wanted to share with, you know, the audience, with me, anything before we wrap up for today? One, I just want to say thank you for having me on here. This is really cool to talk about kind of stories and hopefully I can inspire other people that might be feeling stuck or burnout that, you know, hey, you can, you can do anything. You can start your own business, but the sky is the limit. Very cool. Yeah. No, thank you for coming on the show. I think your website, I want to make sure I get this right, petwastemanagement.us, right? Correct. Okay. So we service Valley wide. We offer sanitizing deodorizing options. We even, I even have a few homes that I do cat litter for too. So if there's people that are looking for that, I offer that. And then, like I said earlier, I do manage and can install the waste stations that you'll see at neighborhoods, communities, parks, and things like that. Oh, that's cool. I didn't realize that. Yeah. I think I did see that on your website. Yeah. That picture. That's smart. So it's cool with my construction background, like I know how to install those correctly with the correct footing to make sure that they don't get pushed over or fallen over or anything like that. And so I've actually had a few people with like HOAs and community managers reach out to me and be like, hey, come service, come install and service it every week and then do your sanitizing and deodorizing in the turf areas that we have. And so I worked out a pricing plan for them specifically. And so I do more than just pick up dog poop. I work with a lot of different like premier companies that need it. That's really good. Like I never thought about that, but that is a need because a lot of HOAs that have these little park areas that need those little... 100%. Even like business complexes, like business complexes. It's like everywhere. And the reality is people take their dogs everywhere. So then I also and I also offer first response veteran and senior discounts and then service dogs like legit service dogs. I have a huge discount for those as well because it's my way to give back to the community that I'm like, hey, you have a service dog for a reason. Let me help you with this. If you need Erica's services, I definitely highly recommend checking out petwastemanagement.us. There's a lot of cool stuff on there. You're going to find all the prices and all the information on how to get in contact with Erica to get your pet waste taken care of. That's cool. I didn't realize the cat stuff because I have cat and or cats and that would be helpful. Very cool. Well, I thank you for coming on the show. Thank you. I'm glad everyone got a chance to talk to you. And yeah, until next time, that is it. But yeah, until next time, we are out.

People on this episode

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Mat Torres

Host
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Erica Carpenter

Guest