Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 73: The Business of Giving Back with Jody Steinhauer
172 Plays5 years ago
We talk a lot about loving what you do—finding your passion and building a life around it.
Our guest on this episode embodies that philosophy in so many ways. Jody Steinhauer is a business owner who has built charitable giving right into her business model, and is helping other companies do the same. This is a wide-ranging conversation about her business experience and how she has built a life she can be proud of and grateful for.
As President and CBO (Chief Bargain Officer) of the Bargains Group, Jody Steinhauer uses her network of resources and leveraged buying power to aid every company and not-for-profit agency that she touches to maximize their buying dollar. Since 1988, Jody has grown Bargains Group from her apartment to a multi-million-dollar-a-year business.
Pioneering her belief of “giving back makes good business sense”, Jody is a tireless not-for-profit advocate, and the founder of the national charity, Engage and Change, and its two annual initiatives, Project Winter Survival and Project Water. Jody’s business has expanded to include a social enterprise wing: Kits for a Cause. With a focus on social impact, Jody has built a model for companies to support their local community.
what you will learn in this episode:- How to move on with confidence from a toxic work environment
- How to build giving back into your business model
- Why a pivot in your business can be the best move you can make
- Why you need to measure success by your standards, not someone else’s
- anaging your schedule, being where you need to be, and letting go of the myth of “balance”
- What it means to “broker” goodness
- How to find a cause your whole team can get behind
Recommended
Transcript
Defining the Uncommon Life
00:00:02
Speaker
Everyone dreams about living an uncommon life, but how we define that dream is very different for each of us. And for most, it's a lifelong pursuit.
Podcast Introduction
00:00:11
Speaker
Welcome to the Uncommon Life Project podcast. We're going to introduce you to people who are living that life or enjoying the journey to get there. We're going to also give you some tools, tricks, and tips for starting or accelerating your own efforts to live an uncommon life.
00:00:27
Speaker
A life worth celebrating and savoring.
Meet the Hosts
00:00:30
Speaker
Please welcome your hosts, Brian Dewhurst and Philip Ramsey. Hello and welcome, everybody, to another episode of the Uncommon Life Project, where I'm your host, Philip Ramsey. And I'm Brian Dewhurst. Gosh, it feels good to hear your voice. And we have got another episode for you.
Introducing Jodi Steinhauer
00:00:46
Speaker
Cannot wait to get, I'd say, Kindred Spirit on the show. Let's do the bio and then let's jump into it. But thanks for tuning in. Brian, you always got the best bios.
00:00:56
Speaker
I'm going to do my best because she's got a long one and I'm going to shorten it, but she's accomplished a lot and I want to do it justice. So we have the one and only Jodi Steinhauer in our studio today. Well, over Zoom really, let's be honest. She has mobilized her award-winning discount wholesale and promotional products
00:01:17
Speaker
company to revolutionize the business landscape. She is a Canadian female entrepreneur, so across the border. She's used that network and resource to leverage buying power to aid every company, and not only for-profit agencies, but also charities as well. She's got a multi-decade business, a multi-decade charity, and we're going to get into her social enterprise kits for a cause.
Investing in Passions
00:01:40
Speaker
With that, we welcome to the show Jodi Steinauer.
00:01:44
Speaker
Welcome, Jody. Thank you so much. Man, it's great to see you. I want to first pull back and just say, Brian and I, for the people who have never listened to this and probably our followers and avid advocates for Jody, Brian and I are financial advisors at heart. Ones that are uncommon and we really try to divest and I would say invest in our clients passions.
00:02:11
Speaker
And so the reason why we got hooked up with Jodi is she is passionate. If you know anything about her, she loves what she does. And that couldn't be more exciting for Brian and I. When we sit down with a new advisor or a new client, our first and foremost thing is try to figure out what they're passionate about. And when we get this thing, it sounds weird, but it's usually an hour and a half to two hours long because the client starts talking and getting excited about what they want their future to look like.
00:02:38
Speaker
It feels like maybe 15 minutes to the client because all they're doing is getting excited. But then our job is to then take their finances and help them step into that passion in a wise way. So that's us at Uncommon Wealth Partners. That is our company. We started this podcast, The Uncommon Life Project, because we wanted to interview people just like Jodi who are dominating in life. So Jodi, how did you get to where you're at?
Jodi's Upbringing and Career Beginnings
00:03:02
Speaker
Because it's kind of
00:03:03
Speaker
Interesting that we're shooting this on Black Friday right after Thanksgiving. And so it's shopping and bargain shopping. And this is like you. So tell us how you got to where you're at. Yeah, well, thank you. And I love that dominating. And that sounds wonderful. Yeah, my name in Canada is AKA Bargain Jodi. So I love that we're doing this on Black Friday.
00:03:26
Speaker
But you know, I've always been brought up to love what you do, figure out what your passion is and don't listen to anybody else. And that's a really lonely road for a lot of people. And not only is it a lonely road, not a lot of people get that advice. Who was giving you that advice and how did you get that mindset? You know, it's interesting. My father,
00:03:49
Speaker
was very much kind of the black sheep in a family of very, very accomplished doctors. And my grandfather was a superintendent of education in Canada. And he kind of went off the grid and became like an accountant by correspondence, which back then just wasn't being done. And he just said, I don't really care what you do, just do it, love what you do and you'll do it well.
00:04:15
Speaker
And that was again very very rare. So I went to high school and in canada back then you had to go to grade 13 But if you wanted to go to college and in canada grade 13 is university Uh, you could go to college which was kind of like, you know, technically trade school if you want to call And you could leave at grade 12. So I graduated with a 97 average and checked out and went to fashion school
00:04:41
Speaker
which was kind of looked upon as my accomplished family as being a loser. And I went to a very, I got into FIT in New York and I got into, and I was very visionary in thinking like, okay, I'm gonna love what I do. I love fashion. I'm really great at sales. I'm gonna do this, but I might as well go to school in the country where I see myself living and building my network. So I wasn't gonna be in New York. So I chose the next best thing to the best school in Canada. I went through,
00:05:12
Speaker
I graduated the top student and when I got out of school, now remember all my friends were only in first year university, right? I had already graduated way ahead of them and I remember taking that first job
00:05:27
Speaker
And it was a very very, you know when you graduate number one The great thing is the school lines up five jobs for you and you get to pick what you want to do So I worked for the visionary of a company in the states and it was been called Lululemon, which is like the hot, you know, yoga Oh, yeah, I worked for him for a year or two
00:05:45
Speaker
But very quickly I learned that my morals and values which are really really important to me Um did not align with let's just say some of the unscrupulous things that were going on in that business And if the me too movement was going on, let me just say I would be in the news, right? Uh, so I left and at that time I was what like 20 years old and I was promoted I was making 50k a year which was big money back, right? Right. Yeah
00:06:11
Speaker
And I left because I was promoted and I just said, he's like, what are you talking about? You're my rock star. And I said, we're not on the same page, dude. Like, right. I got to find like, I love what I do, but it's not in alignment with, with mentorship. So I went to another company. Which is huge. I just want to start like the golden handcuffs is real. And like what he was saying is like, how are you going to get out the golden handcuffs? Like this is amazing. And that's totally what it was. And I, and, and luckily I had enough confidence to say like, I'm not,
00:06:41
Speaker
Like I think that first five, 10 years when you're at a school and I have five kids. So I'm in that point now where I'm advising them now. I don't give a shit what you do. Just love it, right? Just life is too short. You spend too much time in work. Absolutely not love it. And back then it was that whole like go work for the big department store, go work for the big company, all of that. I'm like, hell no. Right. So, so then I went to work in New York city for guest genes. Oh yeah. And, and
00:07:11
Speaker
all of the girl, I'm a great salesperson, because I'm really authentic. And I'll tell a buyer at Macy's, like, I'm supposed to sell you these jeans, but they fit like shit. So buy these ones.
00:07:21
Speaker
So the buyers left me because I was honest the companies didn't love me as much I sold a lot of stuff but they wanted me to push stuff that wasn't moving and I said it's my name on the line, right? So, um, I became their top salesperson in a matter of months and the other let's just say women didn't like me too much and stole my passport and put sugar in my purse Really really nice thing. So I thought like this was again not aligned with who I am I want to be around people who support my
00:07:50
Speaker
my efforts and my capacity to grow and do and make difference. So came back to Canada and took this crazy job. I thought this is undone. Took this crazy job with a discount company.
Finding Her Niche in Discount Retail
00:08:03
Speaker
Back then there was no discount. You know, there was no dollar stores. There were no TJ Maxx. There were no winners, guys like that. And I took this job at the ad said, looking for a person to purchase school supplies for a private school.
00:08:18
Speaker
I thought, right, I'm the best discount shopper around. I'm not going to deal with attitude from all these other people. Let me try it. And the headhunter looked at my resume. Back then we actually met with people. We didn't just do it over calls. And he looked at my resume and he said, how old are you? And I told him, and he said, okay, this is ridiculous. All you've done at 21, 22 years old.
00:08:39
Speaker
He said, I want you to meet somebody right away. I think I've got the perfect role for you and I'll never forget this. I went in his car with him and drove to a dilapidated warehouse a half an hour away, which I still can't believe I did.
00:08:51
Speaker
And I met this guy and he's like, oh wow, she'll do. And I started the next day and I was in the absolute opposite end of the spectrum. I was going, you know, I went from high fashion, like low fashion. And my first day, I'll never forget my dad said, how was it? I said, I sold 500 dozen underwear. Now imagine when you're selling like designer
00:09:12
Speaker
you know, clothing for $200 a pop wholesale. Someone's buying three pairs per store, right? Right. He says 500 dozen. That's incredible. Like how much was it? I said, it doesn't matter. 500 dozen. It was unbelievable. I can do it. Right. He kept asking me. I go, dad, like the wholesale was $600. It doesn't matter. Right. So he said, you found your niche. You're all about the action and the transaction. And I said, yep.
00:09:36
Speaker
And we didn't have internet. We didn't have websites. I mean, this was old school selling. This was pickup. Go to the local gas station, find the pages in the telephone booth, rip them out, and there's your call list for the next week. And I would be traveling all over. I made friends with a librarian. And every weekend, I would go down to the library with my handful of dimes and say, OK, this week, I think I'm going to go after children wear stores in Western Canada.
00:10:05
Speaker
She would, I would make friends with her and bring her coffee and she would pull out all the directories that were available. And again, there are my photocopied call lists. So I was like hardcore call people up, but then my story was really different, right? It was authentic. It was like, Hey, I don't know you, but I've heard about your store. And can you tell me a little bit about what you carry? How big's your store? I call it the Helen Keller sales pitch.
00:10:31
Speaker
Get someone to tell you what it looks like. And then I authentically would only recommend things that I thought would really do well if I own that store. But because I had expertise in retail, I would also offer them how to merchandise it, how to lay it out, how to price it, how to sell two fours, how to do gift with purchases. So they loved me because it was such a, you know, they only wanted to buy stuff, but, but they, I gave them so much more value than they ever asked for. So they're my customers for life.
00:11:00
Speaker
So that's kind of, I came at that. I would not travel. I did not do trade shows because I was also an efficiency freak. So if I could sit on the phone and talk to people for X amount of hours a day and through all the different time zones, right? So I could be on the phone 15 hours a day.
00:11:17
Speaker
And it worked and I loved it. Like I absolutely loved it. But this wasn't your own company yet, correct? Oh, I was working for somebody else. And when I was like 22, but my culture, how I'd be brought up was whatever you do, do it like it's your own and own it. So he ended up having chains of stores. I ran his wholesale division. I made him millions of dollars and then he made an error. He made a bad acquisition buying out an old partner for ego.
00:11:46
Speaker
And he said to me, I got a problem. I said, I told you not to touch it. The legal fields are going to kill you. And he said, I'm bankrupting the company, but I'm setting you up next door tomorrow. And I'm going to give you 10% of the profits. So I said, cool. But guess what? There was no staff, nothing. It was going to be me. And I said, well, like, listen, thank you very much. But I think I'm going to do it on my own because, like, I am the company. Thank you. Good. And I had no husband and no mortgage and no children. What did I have to lose, right?
00:12:15
Speaker
So we remained friends and I said, I'll help you through this bankruptcy. I'll do whatever you need to do. And I worked with receivers and then he did something really important. He screwed me. He screwed me out of the money he owed me. And I said to him, I don't call lawyers. I don't get mad. I get even.
00:12:33
Speaker
So he needed me to ship a shipment for across Canada for back to school, which a national department store had bought. I told the buyer the truth. She said, don't worry, we'll get him. We're going to reroute it backwards across the country and he's going to get fined $5,000 for every store that he gets shipped wrong. Oh, wow. And ever since then, that was the end of that relationship, which is really dumb. Like I always say to people, don't ever burn bridges. It's how you exit in life. It's not how you enter. Right.
00:13:01
Speaker
So I started my own company, Bargains, the next day. I was always doing it. And the entire clothing community, which back then was based mostly in Montreal, Winnipeg, and Toronto, heard the news. I had no idea how my reputation had really already been cemented in people. And they all called me and they said, Jodi, go sell whatever you want to retail stores. We'll ship it all to you. When you get paid, pay us.
00:13:27
Speaker
And I said, okay, thanks. And we're talking over seven figures of merchandise, right? Yeah, trust. And so I started my business with zero money.
Building Bargains and Charity Work
00:13:37
Speaker
All of my suppliers financed me because of my reputation, which is massive. And in the business,
00:13:43
Speaker
That doesn't happen. It doesn't happen. You know what the rate of return is when you have zero down? No. Infinite. It's infinite. And I was lucky. So my dad's background, he was CFO. So I learned about finance and accounting and I had
00:14:00
Speaker
You know, in Canada, we call it an RSP. I think you call it something different than a registered retirement savings plan. Oh, yeah. Like I think I was 12 when I started, you know, doing compounding into that. So I learned all that compounding, all that. So I was I was brought up. Keep all your money in your company. Don't ever pay yourself unless you have to write everything off and you'll and love what you do and you'll be great. That's kind of the mantra. And then but I dealt with every Sunday going to visit my grandfather.
00:14:29
Speaker
who was a very, you know, accomplished man. And every Sunday he would say, okay, Jody, so like, tell me about your week. Have you, and the next sentence was, have you thought about going back to law school or med school? And it was really demoralizing. And one day I said, I thought, what is motivating this? So I said, grandpa, how much money do you think, and I named my other cousins who were doctors and lawyers.
00:14:54
Speaker
And he told me how much they made very proudly. And I said, so what if I told you I made three times that last year? And he never asked me again to go back to school. Never again. So I continued along that journey. And again, I started at my own company and I had seven offices. It's funny where I am now, it's 32 years ago, this happened. I'm still within one kilometer of starting my company. I had seven offices.
00:15:21
Speaker
I won't go through the whole transition, but I was lean. My first office was a 10 by 10 spot in the back of someone's warehouse. Then I went to the next warehouse because they went bankrupt. Then I got another spot. My first five offices, I was shared. I didn't have the Porsche. I didn't have the marble. I didn't have all that. I didn't care. I was just hard working, founding the pavement, making it happen and stocking my money. I was a cash machine.
00:15:46
Speaker
And that's all I did and then eventually The accountants and everyone said like you got to start buying real estate like jodi You're going to make lots of money in socks and under I was selling only stores at this time And then I started to really talk about what like walmart came to canada, which really changed the landscape And it wasn't as fun anymore So what I did was I turned around And thought about what do I love doing and at the same time? I was brought up in a family that did a lot of volunteer work
00:16:14
Speaker
so we uh worked at homeless shelters right and I had this like one epiphany moment that changed my life and I was doing a very high-end fashion show for a 300 dollar pair jeans company and I was at the backstage and I met this woman in between models and I said like hey Mary what do you do and she said I work for XYZ homeless shelter
00:16:35
Speaker
And ignorantly I said, oh, so like you volunteer and you, she said, no, I run the clothing room there. I said, oh, like, so you dig through those garbage bins in the parking lots and pull out clothing and distribute them to the youth. And she was so insulted. She said, Jodi, I'm an employee. I actually have a job and I'm paid and I have to go shop for things like socks and underwear and things like that. And I said, oh, that's really cool. Tell me about that. And so she's told me a very long, very long story about where she bought them.
00:17:05
Speaker
in which I said, Mary, I sold the socks and underwear to that store that you just did that. I'm right here. I got you. Call me 80% less. I'll do it in a three minute transaction, not a three hour. And cheaper. And I'll give you terms. I'll give you 80% off. I'll give you donations. And she asked me if the goods were stolen. Wow. And then you were insulted. It was like a bad spot. Yeah. So it was like, well, anyway, and I did the first transaction. They called me. I sent them down, you know, a thousand pairs of socks.
00:17:34
Speaker
And she was like, she sent me flowers and a thank you note and asked me if she could pay me quicker than 30 days, right? So I was like, wow, this feels awesome. So I did it again. And then she asked me if she could tell other people about me. And then I asked her like, what else do you need help with? And then the people in my company said, wow, like what a difference between dealing with someone like this and dealing with a major department store who wants to beat you down and beat you up all day long.
00:18:01
Speaker
So we tried to figure out how can you do more of what you like and feels good, but we couldn't make a living selling homeless shelters, right? Like they only call you when they need you. Yeah. So we, we, we kept kind of trying to do re re-engineered case packs and different things in our company. We opened up a promotional products division, uh, because they wanted volunteer shirts for walkathons or different events. Sure.
00:18:26
Speaker
We just kept saying like what else building the relationship but while I was doing that my staff and the people I was hiring and Working with we're just getting better and better and loving it more because I was giving them the opportunity To volunteer and do what made them feel good during work hours, right? And when my mom when my mom brought me up moms didn't work. They volunteered all the time Yeah these days most of us work
00:18:53
Speaker
So if we can't volunteer in our workspaces, chances are we're not doing it. We're not doing it. Right. And, and now more than ever, does the world need volunteers. So that's kind of, that was kind of the, the journey to where we were. And then it broke my heart as I helped charity after charity. And they would give me this crazy list of, you know, I've got a thousand guys I serve and I've only got enough money for 200 pairs of underwear. Right. So, so I went out to colleagues of mine, the business community and said,
00:19:22
Speaker
I got a problem, but I got a solution. Will you come to my warehouse next Saturday with a hundred bucks and don't ask questions? And they trusted me. I got a bunch of CFOs in my warehouse and I brought a social worker in. She told a 15 minute story on what's going on and we packed these amazing kits. And that's how my charity was born. It was just a love project. It was called Project Winter Survival. And I only became a charity because we were having such massive impact that lots of people who had high net worth,
00:19:52
Speaker
wanted to donate and help, but they needed a tax receipt. They'd give me more money to help if I could get them a tax receipt. So we became a charity. Let me pull back here, because there's a core value at the Un-Commonwealth partners that we have that you just touched on. And it's the pivot, right? It's the pivot of, hey, I was doing something, and it gave me great joy for a time. And then I pivoted, which is so healthy.
00:20:20
Speaker
And I think a lot of people almost feel like they need to, or there's a shame there, there's a guilt there. But to pivot is like, if we're not changing and adapting, we're probably going to be stagnant at some point. And so the fact that you pivoted to this kits,
00:20:35
Speaker
was so healthy from our perspective that a lot of people have trouble doing as they've poured their life into something over, you know, a time for a long period of time. It's hard for them to pivot. And for you, I mean, it sounds like you just like, yeah, I see a need. It gets me excited. Let's do it. Well, at the time that we pivoted that you recognize, I still have my business and the pivot was more of like a hobby, right? Because it was a charity. I wasn't making any money. It just felt good.
00:21:05
Speaker
And then it was kind of like my whole philosophy of something feels good. You should do more of it because then it's healthy and then it's not work or it's not. Right. So. I like that you pulled in other people to, to the community part, because then other people take responsibility and then you get more excitement getting other people passionate about what you were excited about. Like there's so many things that are healthy there. Yeah. And people are so grateful. So then I learned, um, in Canada, there's like kind of like this famous bargain store.
00:21:35
Speaker
And this guy was called honest ads and he was like the the largest bargain imagine Century 21 in downtown New York City. Okay, so my favorite store in the world so Honest ads was the Canadian Century 21 and it was also a huge philanthropist on top of it and he was my mentor and he taught me how to do business and
00:21:58
Speaker
and how to do philanthropy. And every year at Thanksgiving and at Christmas, he had a Turkey giveaway and people would line up around the block who couldn't afford a Turkey for their family. And he had a party, but he taught me this, Jody, do you think I buy those turkeys? No, I get on the phone with my suppliers and I say, guess how much business we did with you last year. I would like a check for such and such because we are donating Christmas and Thanksgiving dinner to the less fortunate. And I'm counting on you to be part of that, okay?
00:22:27
Speaker
So he taught me, and I have a process at the bargain suit, my suppliers all know, they get a purchase order from the buyer in my company, and right after that, they get an ask. You know, thanks for that. By the way, you know, my charity's happening twice a year, hoping I can count on you for XYZ.
00:22:44
Speaker
Okay, and i'm very clear with them. I support people who support me. It's laws of reciprocity And I have a choice who I do business with And if you and another guy have the same product and even if you're nicer if you're not supporting my charity I'm going to support the guy or the lady who supports the charity because we're aligned from our cause perspective Right, but i'm transparent about it. Like i'm not I don't i'm not bullying them. I'm just saying hey, this is the way it is You guys know it you have a choice. You don't have to deal with me
00:23:12
Speaker
So that's how he mentored me through that. So I started building up I have an entire huge warehouse filled with donations and it got to be so many we couldn't give them away. Like what a great problem to have, right? Right. So in our company, we started a loyalty program called the Full Circle Donation Program. And the deal was every time a charity had a transaction at the bargains group, they got to open up this warehouse and choose a free case of donations that we would ship across the country.
00:23:42
Speaker
So suppliers loved it because they could get rid of product that they had to pay to go for landfill. Maybe it was a huge brand. They didn't want to end up in a discount store. Say I would quietly get rid of their stuff in an upcycling, environmentally friendly way. And for my charities, they're thrilled. And believe me, I'm not warehousing crap at Toronto real estate prices, right? It's all gold. So that's been a huge thing. And if you're a human being and you just want to do a donation to a charity or your church,
00:24:12
Speaker
when you buy something for your program, you also get access to that warehouse. So, so we dealt that that's become a huge thing for us. And then the last piece was about, uh, I started winning about 15, 18 years ago, every award you can possibly imagine. And I had like the imposter syndrome. Why are they giving me all these awards up, you know, with the, the president of Dell and the, the president of these massive companies, right?
00:24:38
Speaker
And I realized because I was bold and I was not afraid to mix business and philanthropy, right? And as an entrepreneur, the really cool thing is nobody could fire me so I could do whatever I wanted. But people actually thought I was crazy. They said, why aren't you building a billion dollar company? Why are you spending so much time on giving back?
00:24:57
Speaker
and building and doing so much charitable work. And I said to them, why wouldn't I? Right. Right. Like what's. Why are you? And what's that number for you that is success? Success to me isn't a bank account or investment portfolio. Right. It's a 360 view of, of, of being proud and happy and every day waking up feeling grateful, right? It's all about gratitude and every day looking and saying, wow, look what I'm doing.
00:25:24
Speaker
and feeling good. So the last piece, what happened about five or so years ago was I started getting calls off the hook.
Social Enterprises and Success
00:25:32
Speaker
From companies who said my company is doing a corporate social responsibility event or we're having impact day or You know something like that and oh my gosh, we can't find anything to do. No charity will talk to us They won't take us on we don't know what to do, but we found you through your charity. That's what we want to do We want to build kits and do something. Can you help us? So of course i'm a salesperson
00:25:57
Speaker
And if they were in Toronto, I'd say, come to my two events, Project Winter Survival in the winter, Project Water in the summer. It's a thousand bucks ahead. You'll have a five star, rock star, philanthropic, engaging experience. You'll never, ever leave after you've done it once. But if they were in another part of North America, they couldn't come. But they all had money. And I was like, this is crazy. I deal with charities all day long who are broke.
00:26:22
Speaker
And I've got people over here who are dying to help. I got to figure this out. So I created a social enterprise copying my own charity. It's all about ripping off and replicating, right? And I'm the best at doing this. Why not? And Kits for a Cause was born as a social enterprise just under two years ago. And within a year and nothing but Google, it did seven figures in its first year.
00:26:47
Speaker
That's crazy. It's a matchmaking. We match charities and people who want to help causes. Right. And it's great because the whole thought of not worrying about the profit is so foreign to many people. Absolutely. I'm totally going to edify my son. He's 11 years old. We were talking about somebody winning the lottery. He was like, do you want to win the lottery? And I was like, oh, buddy. I was like,
00:27:11
Speaker
I want to say that I never want to win the lottery because there is this thought process that if I have enough money, I will be happy. And what people find when they do win the lottery is they realize that money doesn't make them happy and they're 10 times worse. And he looks at me, he's like, yeah, it's kind of like when you're thirsty and you drink salt water. And I'm like,
00:27:31
Speaker
Who are you? Like this is the most amazing analogy. That's exactly right. But like when you find your passion and you're starting to pour out to other people, it drives other parts
Business Pivot During COVID-19
00:27:43
Speaker
of your business. And now that's true satisfaction when you get to serve other people at a bigger level and impact more people. And I do like technically I sit here and do like volunteer work all day long. And you know, when, uh, I know we're taking this, but in March of this year when COVID hit,
00:28:01
Speaker
I got a call from the government and this was really cool. And they called me and they said, Jodi, you're like the queen of supply chain in Canada. We need your help. There's this thing called COVID coming and nobody wants COVID. And they said, so we're going to need you for the first six weeks because we've got no supplies in Canada. So we're going to need you to supply first responders, long-term care facilities, homeless shelters and jails.
00:28:23
Speaker
How cool is that? I'm like, okay, cool. Can you explain to me what COVID is and what do I need? They gave me my shopping list and bargain Jody went out and literally cleaned out the marketplace before the prices went crazy because it was happening. Brilliant. I pivoted again and I'm really good. Listen, I've been in business for 32 years. I pivot all the time and we became the sole source. Not only that, the government and all the bodies were advertising for us, sending everybody to us.
00:28:52
Speaker
So for six weeks of covet Um, you know, I have an incredible team and we were just morning noon tonight We I had all my kids working taking poke calls. We had people remote It was insane but you know what we stabilized our country and as canada went We did a really good job with covet and I and i'm very proud of what we did now other parts of my business shut down overnight But that's okay, right? Like they they've all come back
00:29:19
Speaker
And now once supply chain got stabilized and I saw crazy stories that I had bodyguards walking to warehouses with cash to try and secure product because it was so dirty and people paying off
00:29:33
Speaker
You know korean companies and and people at the board. I was bringing in things from all over global It was crazy crazy times, but we did a great job and my people were proud And the people who weren't proud were really weren't invested which I have a little had a little, you know Your bnc employee list great news. They left the company right, right? They couldn't handle it
00:29:54
Speaker
Yeah. Let's talk through this because I think this is important. Like it sounds like you're always going. Always going.
Balancing Family and Career
00:30:01
Speaker
How many children do you have? Five. Right. How do you raise children and run businesses like you do and make sure that you're keeping all the plates spinning on the stage? Well, you know, there's no such thing as balance. Right. Um, I'm a juggler. Uh, I have, I have a blended family, so two of the kids are mine.
00:30:23
Speaker
And then, uh, you know, six, six, seven years ago, I, I, I left my husband and I said, like, I'm going to go find my soul mate. Cause I wasn't there. I was like, and he was a good guy, good guy living like, but just was, we were, we were in a very, you know, what people call a boring marriage. So I went out to find my soul mate who has three kids. And now we're this unbelievable, you know, Brady Bunch blended family. And it's just about, I'm really, really great at time management.
00:30:53
Speaker
And figuring out how to connect, right? I am not the most present mother ever. I like in the last six months I haven't been home. If I came home before 10 o'clock at night, my kids would be like, what's wrong? Why are you home? But I'm connected to them via text, via FaceTime. You know, I've got two in university across the country. One just graduated.
00:31:15
Speaker
He just started with me a month ago, my oldest. Oh, that's cool. Congrats. Proud of him and killing it, right? Big, big kudos to you. Like sometimes when we see people being so driven, their kids want nothing to do with the actual business. Well, I actually thought that for most of them. And I have four boys and one girl.
00:31:38
Speaker
So my daughter who's a little me Um during covid said mom like I got to get in there and help you and I was like wow She never paid any interest towards my company and was on the phones Like i'm gonna do more orders than you mom. I'm really I'm really good, you know, so she's right into it My son's now here
00:31:55
Speaker
And tomorrow, for example, we're packing up orders for all the shelters, because we can't keep up with the demand for Christmas and shelters. So I've got the other three in the warehouse tomorrow packing up orders. So even though they're not around, I'm that mom who delegates really well. I've got four boys who are hockey boys. We're in Canada, so hockey's a big thing here, right? So I'm usually at a rink four to five days a week. So what I do is I make sure that I have either a nanny who drives,
00:32:25
Speaker
and or people on the team who like me. And I always get my sons always driven to the hockey rink. And I show up two minutes before puck drop. I don't have an hour and a half to race before, but I always drive everybody home. And the people know that like, like they respect that I'm doing the work, but I'm at every game. I don't miss a game. You know, I don't miss, you know, the nice thing is I can make my schedule. I can be where I need to be when I want to.
00:32:51
Speaker
but I'm that mom who flies in at the last 30 seconds. I'm never late, but I'm always just about late. Um, but I'm present where I need to be. And you know, before this call, I've sent a note to the family. I'm offline for an hour. I'm doing a podcast deal with life. And my kids are really independent because of it, which is just awesome to see how they're coping with everything. But, um, I'm also,
00:33:16
Speaker
I'm not, you know, I got criticized for my mother, my type of mothering. And for the first couple of years, I went back to work after three days of giving birth. And in Canada, you get nine months of maternity leave. After day two, I was bored out of my mind. And I just said to my husband, look, this isn't working for me.
00:33:35
Speaker
they don't do anything for the first eight months. I'm getting a nanny, I'm bringing them to the office when the child when the baby wakes up, I'm there. And when the baby's sleeping, what do I need to be sitting around? So I built a nursery for all my kids in my office. And a it worked great for me, I got to do what I love and be my nanny was ecstatic. Well, she was happy. She was with people all day. She wasn't doing laundry and cooking and doing nothing. So
00:34:01
Speaker
But I got criticized a lot. And I think the big thing is not listening to the noise and going against the societal norm, which is what you guys preach. Right. That's the biggest problem. Right. You know, going against what what is common and becoming uncommon. It's lonely. Right. A woman on top of it.
00:34:21
Speaker
Preach it. Yeah, you know and and I laugh because a lot of these women who bad-mouthed me all the time a bunch of them work for me now because guess what they checked out for 10 years I went on and then they were bored about their minds and then their husband said Jodi Can you hire my wife and we joke about it all the time? They were the one I call them the you know, the Starbucks chicken poos and all those girls, right? Yeah
00:34:44
Speaker
What advice would you give to our clients doing entrepreneurial stuff? I think we're actually candidly in that space too. You know, seven, eight year firm and then Philip and I just read a book recently, it's called Call to Create and about weaving business and missions and charity together. What advice would you give entrepreneurs and to us about stepping into that and how to do it practically, you know?
00:35:08
Speaker
figure out what you're passionate about and figure out, you know, I teach people all the time how to leverage philanthropy and, and cause and, and kind of align it with your business. So for example, practical example kits for a cause when a company say you called me and said, Hey, we're really interested in doing this for our Christmas party this year. We'd really love to pack kits. And I go great. So I tell you how it works. I tell you the model in 10 minutes. And then I say, you know what, Brian,
00:35:36
Speaker
I don't want you to just do this for this event. It's not like let's go axe throwing or bowling or build kits I want you to build this in and you know, I want you to call this the the uncommon um community care kit program because once it's called a program it's into your dna And then you can engage your staff for your clients to do it several times a year and just pick a different cause But then the model's built in so then you can market it
00:36:03
Speaker
from employee recruitment and retention from client. I mean, listen, if, if somebody wants to buy a logo t-shirt that can go anywhere, but if they know me, I can even, I'm not that I do, but I can charge them any price I want if they know what I stand for and what I believe in. So I teach people like authentically built talk about it. People don't talk about giving back. It's okay to talk about it. And if you talk about it, it's going to raise the bar.
00:36:30
Speaker
for the people around you and they're gonna be like, it's almost like peer pressure. Wow, they're doing that great stuff. Maybe we should be. And are like, you guys are in the States, we're in Canada, we're broken.
00:36:42
Speaker
You know, there's no money. COVID's killing our economies. Who's going to pay for that? Surely it's going to be our government. So we have to take back our community as entrepreneurs and business people, and we can do it and let all that extra money from the government go back into health care and education and things.
00:37:01
Speaker
can do it. It's just a pivot and a flip. We're creating a kits for cause of movement, a brokering goodness. What those kits for cause, I just want to be candid, like what are in the kits so people can like kind of get a grasp of what that is?
00:37:14
Speaker
Sure. So I mean, depending on what your cause is. So a lot of times it's Christmas coming up. It's cold outside. Uh, people think about, people are much more empathetic and compassionate about homelessness, right? Wherever you are. So at this time of year, it's usually like a winter warmth kit. So it would have gloves and a toque and for those people in cold climates and socks and then all four products.
00:37:39
Speaker
for homeless people, right, correct? Okay. Well, if that's your cause, but if it's cancer is your cause or kidney dialysis is your cause, the contents are going to match what your cause is. We're doing senior care kits now. That's great. We can make a kit for any kind of cause. Alzheimer's, you know, what are you passionate about? That's what's important because if you're passionate about it or really what I say to people is forget you. What is your team passionate about?
00:38:09
Speaker
Because how many times have we said, oh, we're supporting, you know, the Cancer Society, which is a wonderful organization because our chairman's wife had cancer. Your team, I can guarantee you, you know, companies aren't potentially passionate about what the chairman's passionate about. Right. Yeah. Trying to align the reason I say put it into your company as a program is because then you can allow your employees to have a voice.
00:38:33
Speaker
Yep. Totally. And like, if there's somebody of our employees has a type one diabetic daughter, like maybe that's it, right? Like there's passion there. And there's, there's through our process that kits for a cause we offer, we offer really easy tools to survey your people. So the engagement starts from there, not from just packing the kits. Right. That's really cool.
00:38:54
Speaker
So it's really, you know, we're, we're, it's really exploded. It's a movement. It's changing the way people do active philanthropy and volunteerism. People don't trust, right? Nobody trusts. So nobody wants to write a check anymore to a charity.
00:39:09
Speaker
They want to do they want to roll up their sleeves. They want to do something But they won't tell you is they really don't want to do it for more than an hour because their attention span And they're really busy but they want to feel like they've climbed mount kilimanjaro Your cancer together an hour for maybe like a couple hundred bucks, right? Yeah, so we figured it out That's really what kits for causes
00:39:31
Speaker
I think, you know, I don't want to get political on this podcast, but I think it's refreshing to hear you say like we as entrepreneurs can solve this and we are the best allocators of capital, in my opinion. No, not the government, you know, and the government can do good and all those things. But, you know, it's really on us to to be on the front lines. I think you're one of those persons, especially in retail, you know, you're on the front lines of commerce and business and what's good and what's bad and what's selling and what's not selling.
00:39:58
Speaker
And to weave charity and mission work into that is just is incredible It's power and we also do really cool stuff like disaster work So when you know, there's a in Canada a couple years ago There was this you guys have lots of fires too, right? so when there's fires and you have to evacuate people bargains group is the company that gets called by the Red Cross the Salvation Army to deploy all the supplies and
00:40:23
Speaker
Wow. Because I have millions of dollars worth of inventory sitting in warehouses that I can turn over right away. How many employees do you have? We only have about full time, about 25. Okay. But we have a huge flex group that we can pull in at any time.
00:40:40
Speaker
Right. I want to talk about something because I know that it's been instrumental in where you're at currently. It's your divorce. How did that shape who you were, who you are?
Personal Growth Post-Divorce
00:40:50
Speaker
And I mean, I would say, you know, all trials produce endurance and character. I think at this point, you're sitting on the other side of it, like I'm better as I'm better now than I was. But just I want to talk. I want to have a little bit of time just to talk about it for you and just to be able to kind of reflect on
00:41:06
Speaker
where, where you came from and how, I mean, you've had to come and overcome some obstacles. Yeah. I, um, you know, I woke up one day and I just said, and I'm really about always, uh, you know, growing as a person, right? And I think if you're not growing, you're, you're, you know, you're not doing any justice. So pivoting growing. And I woke up one day and I just said, like, I'm not happy.
00:41:31
Speaker
And I was having some health issues. And I'm a pretty energetic, happy person. And the doctor said to me, you're actually suffering from massive depression. And I said, you got someone else's file there? I'm like the happiest person everybody knows. And she said, no, Jodi, you're the busiest person everybody knows. And then that was like life changing. And she said, you're gaining weight. All these things are happening to you. We've checked everything. There's nothing wrong.
00:41:56
Speaker
Think about it. You're suffering from depression." And I was like, wow. And then I thought about it and I thought, you know what? I'm kind of just putting that part in my life. I had a decent marriage. I have what most people have, a six out of 10, right? And I'm not a six out of 10 kind of girl. So I said, one of my life goals that I wrote at 25 was when I turned 50.
00:42:16
Speaker
I want to be with a partner that I want to spend the next 50 with. And I'm going to kill myself and work as hard as I can. And then once I hit 50, I'm going to start traveling and doing everything I really wanted to do, working still and doing more charitable work, but really enjoying. And I re-engineered my career. So when I started to feel that way, I started a new business. I do a lot of speaking.
00:42:37
Speaker
And I figured here's a great way. Most, you know, lots of families, you have kids, you're busy, you kind of separate really common story. So you either quit or you try and get back together. And I'm not a quitter. So I decided, you know, people want to hear me speak all over the world. They're going to pay me lots of money. Pretty cool. We can travel. We got lots of points for airline. Why don't I get four or five gigs a year and my husband can come along and we can rekindle this great relationship.
00:43:04
Speaker
And I put together websites and videos and did everything you have to do. And guess what? Got all the speaking gigs and at last minute for four or five times, he didn't show up. He canceled. OK, and that was like an epiphany. So I thought about it one day. I woke up and said, this isn't cool. Called my best friend in Michigan and said, I'm coming to see I need a girls weekend. I'm done. And she's like, what? Get him over here. So I'm getting ready to go. And the night before he says to me,
00:43:33
Speaker
I have a really odd feeling that you're gonna come back and tell me that our marriage is over. And what do you say? Like you've already heard from me, I'm pretty, I'm not gonna lie. And I was like, shit, this is not the way I wanted this to go down. I'm like, you're right, we're done. Like I'm going over to figure it out.
00:43:49
Speaker
So what started off as being like hey, this is like we can do this really great You know, I I was like i'll look after your investments. I'll I'll plan everything for you I'll do your laundry. I'll whatever you want man. I'll do it for you. You got two awesome kids Let's just make this nice. We had a prenup should have been the easiest divorce ever And he said yeah, no problem. I I haven't been a great I get it. He was okay unfortunately He had a very powerful wealthy family who didn't like them
00:44:18
Speaker
that I held the assets. So they went after me for over six years and tried to wear me down, crazy stories. And my poor ex-husband, who's a really decent guy, hasn't worked since. He's rolled up in a ball and he hasn't worked since. So they've destroyed his life because of greed and money.
00:44:37
Speaker
Okay, and I fought through it and I could have very easily just give them half my assets But even he said joni, you're the one who puts the food on the table. You're the one who's done everything Wow, and and I wasn't fighting him I was fighting a very powerful team of lawyers and people so great news is When you're when you're good and you work hard and you're a good person things good things happen I so I don't want to say I won because nobody wins, but I've kept everything Right. I have everything
00:45:05
Speaker
No problem. And then I decided halfway through, I didn't leave this to be alone. I left this to find my soulmate. So I had to figure out how to figure out how to date in between all of this craziness. Right. And if you've ever been through a divorce about, you know, 10 hours a day, I had a personal assistant her entire day was documenting crazy. Right. And I found my soulmate online. Great story. And, uh, you know, like I was just, I never knew I could be so happy and we got married, uh, just over a year ago.
00:45:36
Speaker
And we put the families together. I mean i'm not going to tell you there were Challenges, but like matt we wake up every day and say how grateful we are um and to show you like i've had my My last two years have been my best years i've ever had in my life Not only business wise. Um, i've wiped out any debt. I had uh from the divorce i've moved forward
00:45:57
Speaker
Um, I feel better i'm happy Um, like everything in my life is a 10 out of 10. I mean covet's really tough But regardless like i'm grateful every step step of the way and when you're happy And it's up to you to be happy. I always say nobody will make you happy They're hard choices and people who know my story. It was ugly ugly, right police bodyguards crazy They say to me do you wish you didn't go through with what you did? I said, are you kidding?
00:46:27
Speaker
Like look what I have like it was worth I don't wish it on anybody and if you can save your marriage It's like an investment. You got to work on it do it But if you're not happy like get out if you're not happy with your job If you're not happy how many people do I know that aren't happy with what they do, but they're getting so much money They're terrified to walk out. You'll make double the money if you figure out what you love to do, right? so
00:46:54
Speaker
You know, you guys are the same. This is what you preach, but I'm just opposed to it.
Closing Reflections
00:46:59
Speaker
100 spirits. 100 spirits. Indeed. Jodi, you are a rock star. I am so grateful we got paired up. And I'm so grateful that you're not only thriving what you're doing, you're impacting other people. And that to me is truly uncommon. And the biggest thing for me about this whole podcast
00:47:17
Speaker
was just how important it is for parents and grandparents to instill these core values in people right away because I mean look at how much you've been able to impact others by just the sheer advice of like
00:47:33
Speaker
Find your passion and grow in it and learn from it and start a business and try to figure out, be okay to pivot. But at the end of the day, let your gauge be your temperature and getting through what you want to get through. And so, wow, what a great interview. Thank you so much. I can't wait to keep in contact with you. And you've been listening to the Uncommon Life Project. I'm your host, Phillip Ramsey. And I'm Brian Dewhurst. Tune in next time. Until then, go be in common. Thank you. Thanks, everybody. Bye-bye.
00:48:01
Speaker
That's all for this episode of The Uncommon Life Project, brought to you by Uncommon Wealth Partners. Be sure to visit uncommonwealth.com to learn more about our services. Don't miss an episode as we introduce you to inspiring people who are actively pursuing an uncommon life.