This is Rodney landscaping with Zebra scapes. We're here to talk about starting a business with a family. I am extremely blessed with a wonderful wife and four wonderful girls. When I started this business, it was back when the economy was down and it was work, work, work, and what I my kids were young, so I just thought their memory about me. I'm just gonna grind and I'm gonna work very hard to get this thing off the ground to the I mean, I would go to I would come home at six o'clock, be on the computer, eat supper while I'm on the computer, go to bed at nine, get up at 230 and start all my quotes over again, and the cycle went on day after day. And I had a wonderful wife that was just heavily involved in the business, and she still is not as much. She would work with the kids, do all the school homework. I'd go to bed at nine. She'd go to bed at 230 do all the book work, and we would literally get up. I would get up before she goes to bed a lot of times. And that was our time passing. That period of time lasted about in the busy season, probably about seven years only in the busy season that went on, but through that time, it was just a lot of people. Was like, We got to balance work and life, work and marriage, work and family. It's not like you're juggling it. Zebra scapes was is part of our family. Zebra scapes was created in our family. Zebra scapes is like a child of ours that you don't say, I got to balance it, and it's just it's part of it. And the point is that without zebra scapes, I don't have a family, and without the family, I don't have zebra scapes. So we, I truly believe that's how we look at it. And yes, you you understand your family's very important, just as your employees are and your customers are. So you put that in the same thing as life. Our two oldest daughters, they got the privilege to blowing yards, and they're 13 years old, big backpack blowers, raking leaves all the way to their 16 when they got their license, they didn't like the job, and they quit. They thought they were getting they weren't. They're worth more, but now they're back in the business. But that's they worked all the time right after school, on when school was out in the summer, they helped, and they were heavily involved in the company. We were definitely family operated, and I don't say to a default, but it was every breathing moment, even dreaming about landscaping, customers, clients, issues, how we're going to fix them, all the moments that go on in day to day life, and growing a company with a family is extremely difficult, but it's also, I believe, what has created very hard work ethics and wonderful character in our daughters. Our oldest daughter, we have a father daughter, construction. The second one down has Lighthouse coffee, and another two are still in school, where they learn hard work, they learn discipline, they learn importance of customers, they learn quality, and they learn long hours of hard work, and they understand what it takes. The blessings of that is they gave me advice like, Well, when I would be stressed out at home and talk about things we would talk about all the time. You know, it got to the point after quite a few years, just don't ever mention the word landscaping. Don't ever mention the word zebra scapes. You know, I burned it out of that part. But running a business in a small town of Prescott is such a blessing, not only to our family, to our but just to our that we can be huge, involved in the our city, our town, and be involved in the community of every aspect that is so exciting for watch my girls to be involved in the community, be involved in agape housing, be involved in the Fauci all these stuffs they're involved in, and able to do it because of this business is Is true joy to us, and we're very grateful. I'm extremely thankful, and do not take it for granted for how much God blessed zebra scapes who were able to do this, to go take this journey with our girls. As we grow older and more stabilized in business, after 17 years, I'm finally able to step away and get my hours down to 50 hours a week instead of literally 100 and so that's unhealthy, for sure, but it does take to do that, and that's what it's American Dream. American dream was built off family owned businesses and created just like it was done. And we live we're living the family American dream, and we're extremely blessed. Next question,

biggest challenges faced, balancing fatherhood and entrepreneurship I did. How did you stay connected and present with your daughters while building a business? I. Yeah, one thing is very important is staying connected with the family, my daughters and my wonderful wife, Denise, while you're running a business, and it's difficult to be honest with you. Remember their daughters and you know, I'm a male, and it's just letting them trying to hit their interest and what they're interested in. I don't want them to lose their interest, but I also want them to understand the difficulty, so I share with them the complexity. I share with them, customers and issues, and even like like other parents, kids that I talk to and just what I've learned. And don't be like this person and or be like this customer was amazing. This is what we need to be like. We went there. Set an amazing example. We need to remember to do this. When we have someone come to our place, that they understand it, what it is and so and I also listen to my daughters closely of what their interests are like. What do you enjoy doing? Is it marketing? Is it videos to keep that interest? It's extremely critical. And the society that you don't lose heart of your daughters, you don't lose heart of your kids that you don't, that they don't, they go, they follow your example. Because if they don't, wherever they're with, that's going to be their mentor, that's going to be their their role model, and that's that's nerve wracking to me. That's why I want to keep that relationship and enjoyment. And I'm very blessed to be able to do that now. I'm thankful we were able to turn the corner and get away from work like from 100 hours a week to 50. So I'm grateful to have a lot more time on my hands to build that, keep that relationship with my daughters and find out what they enjoy doing. And I want to relate to them about everyday life, the challenges of life, that what people look at, what the difficulties and enjoyment of life. You know, honestly, I want them to be very successful, not in like finances, have a lot of money, but to succeed to their dreams, whatever it is, if it's being if it's being a doctor or being a missionary, whatever it is, you know, give my kids the opportunity and the roadmap that can help them to fill those dreams. And that's not only with me. It's my employees also. I mean, I sit down with our guys and be like, where do you want to go in life? If I can help you to get there, great, if I can't, I'm sure I know someone. But I'm only looking at ones to help that are hungry, willing and have a long desire to change their future. And that comes with hard work, that comes with, like, just grinding and and I I truly enjoy watching people transform their life anywhere from there, from bad habits to just good habits and a great upbringing to take it to the next level, to be able to be an operational manager, a general manager, even own your own company. I have several employees that quit that own, their own company, and we're good friends, and there's no hard feelings that they're not our competition, the devil and the government's our competition. And so that's how I look at business. I don't look at our competition as our competitor, our competition. We're family surviving, and that's that's how it is, and that's a joy if you have that mindset and you do what Zig Ziglar said, when they're around, the ones around you're successful. You'll be successful. Never forget that. And that's what I I always try to do, is get the ones around me to be successful, let their light shine and let them just spread their wings and grow that Paul, our general manager, talks all the time. We never clip wings at Zebra skates. We never say this is all you can max out. This is the only place you can go that's not us. We want you to soar and to live life that is at a level you never dreamt you could get there. So that's what we strive for. And part of our business model, we used to say we're a family owned business. Is all about family. But the more I've been thinking about it, we're a team. Team has your back. There is no favoritism, there is no it's all about working together, collaborating together, and going toward the goal to be have the best culture, the highest integrity, and the best environment there is here at this company, and I thrive to do that, and it's still, still in our family and kids. I look back at our girls and see what they what I see in their life, and what they learned from me. Our oldest one Trinity, Father daughter. She definitely works very diligently. She's a grinder. She's very works long hours and does everything she can to get the company going where it is today. It's going very well. And you could see the how that kind of came from her parents, Denise and I, and I'm very, very grateful one thing I had. Seen across all our girls is they. They all appreciate what Denise and I have done, hard, hard work ground and not take any no handouts. I definitely distilled in them. There is no favoritism. There's no I earned this. It's all everything is worked for at a very difficult level to get where you are for life. Her other daughter, Kylie, she her her heart's desire is just helping the community and making an impact in community, not community, nonprofit or whatever it is that is exciting. All those things are great traits, and there's not one above the other. But the most important thing is that I was still in our kids a work ethic, a high integrity ethic, one that is up, stand up, holds, everything else is respect other people at the highest of levels. And I'm extremely blessed. I feel like our girls are are living that life, and I'm super excited about it, where they're going, but all that happened through setting the example and then working with us. There's so many customers I talk to that they work so hard, and they had that disconnect from their kids. And I listened to them over and over again, and I've learned I'm not going to do that. And so it's very important. One of the things growing up was just, you always heard the word success. They're successful. He's successful. He's very successful. What is the definition of success? Be honest with you. Success is simple. It's just being happy and being excited where you are. You know, at the end of it in Ecclesiastes, it talks about just enjoying what you have, enjoying your job, enjoying what you created. And if you don't enjoy going to work, if you don't enjoy going home, if you don't enjoy the food you're around, you, that's all that matters in life, is the enjoying the journey of life and being and spreading joy, spreading the opportunity of a brighter day, that day and the day to come, way outweighs money, way outweighs possessions, all that stuff. I've seen very wealthy people just lonely and discouraged. And is it worth it? I seen people with very, very little, and the happiest people you ever want to be around. You're drawn to them as a magnet. And those are the things I've learned in life. When I was grinding, I had one thing in mind, put food on my table for my girls, and I'm going to work very hard at it the older I get. Does it all matter? It comes down to a family of love, a business of enjoyment, of integrity, of culture, where people say, I feel safe and I love becoming to work. And I have to say we're on the right track. We're definitely on the right track. We're supposed to start at seven o'clock at 530 people are sitting in here drinking coffee and visiting, waiting for seven o'clock because they enjoy coming here. They would rather be here. And it's exciting. It's very exciting because it's a magnet and draws more that is our desire in life. It should be that way everywhere, not only at Zebra scapes and at father or daughter, but in your family and your relationship with your friends, be a magnet, Shine the light and be just gravitate. And when you're under a lot of pressure and a lot of stress, which I have been for many, many years, it ain't shining, but you build a group around you that can take that pressure off you. And my daughters and family have seen it, and it has been just incredible how much our family has changed, and also this business where it is today. How do I support my How do I wish I was supported as starting a company, had no family out here, nothing. I had no support. I had no coach. I did it the bad way. So I look back when I ran a company, the advice I got, I didn't get a coach. I was foolish. I didn't get had advice. I literally just worked. And I look back at what I'm able to help Kylie and Trinity do, is, is incredible from my experience. Experiences is incredible, is very is the most education you ever can get, but it will support my daughters and understanding contracts, understanding difficulty, understanding clarity, understanding the importance of employees, understanding the importance of

of processes and SOPs, all that stuff, I believe, is just shot a father or daughter so quick to the higher level. It's exciting to see how fast that thing took off and well oiled, and how it's going so smooth. And same thing with Kylie's coffee shop. My knowledge of learning Well, I'm able to pass that on. And that just it's so exciting to see what I've learned, able to pass it on. But what's most exciting. My daughters to embrace it and be like I didn't realize that, and and then they make the change. To understand numbers are very critical. To understand relationships are very critical. To understand quality is extremely critical that you can't pass up on these things and the watching them put it in place. I'm excited about whether a company's gonna go and what's gonna happen, but that all happened at a very, very young age, and them seeing it and where they got to go today, and that can happen with you. And I'm just excited to see that from employees to daughters to even seeing other people, friends and family, just to take it to the next level. Is that brings me the most joy is watching something go from nothing to something great, and that's what we do at Zebra scapes, not only in the culture of zebrascapes, but also in people's backyards and front yards, and creating an incredible place, amazing place, not only as possessions, but also the culture that we bring. Thanks for listening and any put your comments below. Yeah.