(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) - Hello everyone, time for Powerful Women Let's Talk.

Thanks so much for joining us today.

I'm Jennifer Moss, it is a pleasure to bring you today's powerful woman, Betty Burton Groce.

Betty has a long, powerful history in Grant Rapids, 30 plus years of experience in education, business, volunteerism and public service.

A former CEO of Wonderland business forms and elementary school teacher for nearly 25 years, and she currently continues her dedicated work in public service by working and committing time to young people at the Kent County Juvenile Detention Center, Walk's school residential program.

You're gonna find her there every Friday.

Betty Burton Groce, so happy to welcome you to Powerful Women Let's talk.

- Thank you.

- Tell me about this, you've been, you know, active in our community for so long.

You are a role model, even to myself, full disclosure, I've known Betty for many, many years and have been so impressed.

You're like family and it's an honor to be able to interview you today.

You have had quite a career and a community driven life basically, and at this stage, you're kind of retired, but you're still heavily involved in the community as we mentioned.

You're at, on Friday, we can find you at juvie.

Are you enjoying the journey at this point?

You've had such a, you know, stellar career and everything and now you're still continuing your work.

- Yes, I'm enjoying it.

I'm certainly moving at a slower pace and not doing as much as I once did, but the things that I am involved in keep me alert and uplifted, so that's a good thing.

- Absolutely.

Tell me how important is your work at the juvenile detention center?

Those kids kind of depend on you.

- Yes, I'm the grandmother figure there, the oldest one for sure.

But I believe if just one young person can learn something, gain something, change something, because I'm there, it's worth it.

One of the most delightful things is when I am like in a store or something like that and I hear a kid say, "Hey, Miss B" then that sends me the message that they want to see me and that they have made some changes in their behavior.

So that's exciting for me.

- Absolutely.

You know, as we talk about powerful women, have there been any barriers that you've encountered as you traveled along your careers paths?

Barriers, perhaps as an African American woman, or maybe even the difficulties of taking over your business and leaving your teaching career?

Those, I mean, all types of barriers.

What have you faced as you strolled along?

- Well, first of all, I have always considered myself primarily an educator.

And so when I did have to leave my classroom, I was devastated.

And I still try to find ways where I can be in the teaching mode.

Coming in to take over our business was the biggest challenge that I've ever had in my life because it was a thriving business, and my husband, my late husband, of course, that was his expertise and I had on the job training for sure, and depended heavily on the employees that were there.

They knew their jobs certainly much better than I knew them.

And so one of the things that I learned to do was to delegate and I grew with them as they did their work.

- And that had to be a challenging and kind of a daunting task.

The backstory is your husband passed away, and so then you kept Wonderland business forms going for as many years as you could.

And that has to have had its own little set of challenges in your life because you were trying to continue on a legacy of something that, you know, that wasn't your territory really.

- Yes, I would always say I'm not into numbers and fine print.

I was much more creative, I think I still am very creative and as I would tell my young children to use their imagination to move forward in their young lives, I did come up with some serious obstacles and it had to do primarily with being a black woman in a white man's world.

Some people were very subtle in their kinds of discrimination towards me.

Some were very obvious in it.

I will always remember going to one of the larger corporations in Holland with a gentleman who worked for our company who was a middle-aged white guy.

And so we were sitting in the chairs and the purchaser that we were meeting with actually turned his swivel chair and I saw his back the entire time we were there.

So.

- And you're the owner and he's talking to the other person.

- Yes.

Right.

And the salesperson kept saying, actually Betty is the owner.

But that was probably the most difficult, one of the most difficult experiences that I had.

Another thing, I was at a meeting with women and we were talking about all of the things that we can do in a collaborative way to move forward.

This was very much during the time that women and people of color were getting the push to move forward.

And this one young lady said, of course, like everyone here, I have a mentor.

And it occurred to me that I did not have a mentor, would not have a mentor.

The person who could help me could barely talk at that point and when I tried to share that with the other women, they were just astounded that that was my dilemma, and in a town and an area like West Michigan.

- No one else understood that or could.

- Exactly.

- Fathom that that was what was happening.

So, as you move forward though in that, how did you persevere because that's, you know, in powerful women we look to other women, that's the whole goal of this is to, you know, empowering and encouraging, you made it through and the business did do well for a period of time.

And so how did you persevere and stand up in all of that?

- I think it was just my basic character and personality from being a young person growing up in a large family up north and my mom and my dad always telling us, we are not quitters, we have to keep moving forward.

And so I didn't really have the notion that I could stop or say I give up or any of those things because that was not part of my dna.

And I, because I think being in education for so long, I was able to use my skills in creativity, my skills in management, organizational things, and depending on those that I worked with, it was not easy, but I made it through.

I learned early on that I do have the ability to network and to make connections and that also was a big plus for me in the business.

- And you don't take that lightly because that part of that networking and, and being able to stand allowed you to win, was it the Michigan Foundation?

- Michigan Women's Foundation.

- Women's Foundation Award, which is huge because you told me that you were amongst a crowd of people that (laughs) tell me some of the people that also got that award that year.

- Oh, well I always remember Esther Berry, who is Barry Gordy's sister, and she is the one who created Motown the museum.

And I just read in the paper last week that she's being inducted into Michigan Women's Hall of Fame, so that's a biggie.

Also, getting the award that year was Florine Marks, who is one of the original owners of Weight Watchers and helped to develop that program nationwide.

And I was just totally overwhelmed and impressed with her.

And there were two other women from Grand Rapids as well.

Now understand, this was back in 1994, I believe.

So I'm kind of jogging my- - That's okay.

But it's still, it's quite an accomplishment.

And so you're amongst these women and other women who are doing great things and and that's a huge award, a huge accomplishment.

You also have something kind of exciting going on in your life right now as it relates to that personal history and your raising up north, your home in Manistee, Michigan, that's going to be designated as an historical site.

That's kind of exciting.

You've had a lot of things going on up there as they kind of document that history.

Why is that?

Why did they pick your home?

- Well, first of all, the house was built in 1868 and we were told that it was the town brothel, that the only hotel in town was immediately across the street from our home, which still exists today.

And my dad and mom bought that house in 1932.

They were the first property owners in Manistee, actually in Manistee County who were then Negros.

So that was very special.

My dad kinda grew the house as I grew, as our family grew in number because there were 10 children there in this little house.

And we have kept the home because it is so special to us.

And now, because of some of the uniqueness, my parents being there, first of all, the first black family to live in Manistee and actually we were the only black family for almost 50 years before anybody else moved in there.

So that in itself was one of the uniquenesses of it.

- [Jennifer] Absolutely.

- And my parents, little by little, because of their standards and values, actually changed the community.

Just little bit at a time.

- Mm hm.

- And so those things made- - Everyone knew the Smiths right?

That your maiden name, Smith?

- Yes.

Everyone knew the Smiths, and so hopefully soon there will be a marker, historical marker in front of our home, at which is being worked on now.

And we are working with Eastern Michigan University where we have a foundation there to do some of the making permanent, the authenticity of our home and putting values on some of the things that are still there and so forth.

So yes, we're the house at the bottom of two Hills and the only one on the block.

- Oh wow.

- So everybody knows.

- That's pretty exciting.

That is just amazing.

And you continue to inspire and encourage others and encourage them to stick their necks out too and we so appreciate that.

And so Betty Bergen Groce, I really enjoyed this conversation today.

Thank you for joining us.

- Thank you.

- We appreciate having you on Powerful Women Let's talk and thank you for joining us for another addition of Powerful Women Let's talk.

We'll see you next time.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) - Peaches McCahill is the president of the McCahill Group, a pioneer in the beauty industry.

Passion has led to much of her business success in the health and fitness world.

She speaks, she writes, she mothers, and she serves her community.

Plus I understand she's a master table scraper.

Ooh, welcome to our Powerful Woman Let's Talk, Peaches.

- Thanks so much.

Yeah, it's a table scaper.

- Scaper!

- Right.

So you create tables.

- Oh my gosh - Based on themes and specifically at Thanksgiving is something I do.

So every year everyone comes over to see what new table theme I have for Thanksgiving.

So it's a lot of pressure, actually.

- [Shelley] Yes, yes.

Well you probably handle it well due to your success, I'll get to the Table scaper, but first of all, I wanna ask you how the name Peaches came to be?

- Yeah, so everyone always says that to me.

First of all, I'm a Michigan peach, not Georgia.

So I wasn't born in the south, but my grandfather was the one that named me Peaches.

There were no girls in a a very, very, very long time.

And when I was born he said, "She's my peaches."

So that was where the name originates from.

- Wow.

So that's on the birth certificate.

- That what my legal name is, so.

And it's worked well in my business because, you know, doing health and wellness and it's easier to remember, too.

Many people call me "Peach" versus "Peaches" even.

But I like it.

- Nice.

Let's talk about you and your journey.

Has wellness always been at the top of your passion list?

- I would say yes.

I think I was one of those weird kids that used to go to the health food store early, maybe 12, 13.

I was a big swimmer, exerciser and I remember lots of times with my friends just, I would go over to my girlfriend's house and she had a pool, pretty big pool and I love to swim, and I would swim back and forth and while they would sit inside and eat french fries and so forth, I would be swimming.

I just haven't flicked the light when I had an hour out.

So yeah, I was always that way and I was fortunate enough to take that passion and build a business around it.

- Didn't you also start like working at age 10 too?

- Yeah, so it's a kind of interesting story because I really didn't need to, I was, I had no need for any monetary, growing up in terms of that.

My family was very, very well, but I had this interest in just kind of being independent.

So my first venture was my candy store and so I made a candy store out of my, my dad had given me a big doll house and I decided that I was going to do something with it and all my friends were too lazy to go get candy at the store.

So I would bring it back and open it up and up the price.

And so that was actually my first entrepreneur venture.

So, it was successful too, and it was fun and I would keep thinking back, why did I wanna do that?

I still come back to the need to feel independent, the need to be able to take care of myself.

And that kind of goes all the way through my life.

- Hmm, nice.

Inspirational.

So did you study the art of entrepreneurship?

How did, business, how did you get to today?

- No, I think, no, I didn't study that.

I actually grew up in the, you know, sixties and seventies and at that point my father would say, "I want you to be a nurse so you can marry a doctor so you can have the life you need" And I went to nursing school for a year and a half and I didn't like nursing, so I went back to Michigan State.

I got my undergrad degree in recreational therapy working with primarily physically impaired adults.

I came to Grand Rapids, I got my master's after that.

And my master's was really on what we would call now corporate wellness or at the time it was industrial recreation.

I had this idea that in, you know, across the seas in Asia and so forth, they were work hardening, getting people exercising, moving.

And we were just starting that here in the states.

And so I was kind of a pioneer in that if you want to think of something different.

And I was able to eventually get a job in my twenties and design the first wellness center for steelcase.

So just got really lucky Shelly, really lucky.

Right place, right time, you know, and then always looking for relationships and part of it is truly luck with people, being in the right place at the right time.

- You mentioned your father a couple of times.

It sounds like he had some, maybe a dad that talked, you listened, or?

- No, I don't actually, I think it was my mother.

My mother was the one that really inspired me to be independent and she inspired me primarily because in those days my dad would give her a check and say, "This is the money you use each week to buy the groceries, take care of the kids."

- [Shelley] Which was not unusual.

- Totally normal, right?

And so my mother would show me that check and she'd say, "Whatever you do, make sure you can buy your own lipstick."

Which is really part of the premise of the book that I've been working on, which is to teach women, no matter what happens to you, make sure you can take care of yourself.

It's critically important 'cause you don't know what's down, you know, what's down the path of life.

- [Shelley] Hmm.

Well let's talk more about how you got to where you are now.

You spent a lot of time in the beauty field.

- So kind of what happened was, when I was doing my entrepreneur, before I got the job with Steelcase, I was doing retreats for women, again, having massage, facials, exercise, you know, it's all kind of works together inside out.

And so I think it's, I can't remember, it was Suzanne Summer who said, "Never underestimate the value of a great haircut" because we are a visual society and so people like to look and feel good.

So it kind of goes together.

And since skin is the largest organ in our body and really is a reflection of our health, it makes sense that it goes with, you know, health and wellbeing.

So I kind of do both.

So I've done many, many wellness properties, wellness centers, built them, design them.

And I've also done quite a few spas.

So it was kind of a natural, you know, movement for me to get into that industry.

So I'm doing both now.

- Hmm.

And yet I introduced you as a mom extraordinaire.

Where did this come into play, and obviously the balance here, how does that work?

- Yeah, well I always wanted a big family.

I mean, I was a big, I always had a lot of dolls, some girls, and not one of my girls like dolls.

It just amazed me.

Maybe I got luck with one of my granddaughters but not one of my girls loved dolls and I loved dolls.

I used to love to dress them up, bring them to the table.

- [Shelley] Did they know you loved dolls?

- They did, but they didn't have any interest in that.

So, and I think that was the thing.

I liked to mother my dolls and I loved mothering.

Matter of fact, in high school I got world's greatest mother award because I was just a mothering kind of person.

- All this comes back to you doesn't it?

- It does, it does.

And so I, at that time, knew I wanted to have children and that was very important to me.

At the same time I talk about independence.

So how do you do that balance?

It's a tough one.

And so I intentionally kept my business relatively controllable and not so big that I couldn't go to school and read a book or attend a birthday party or something like that.

So that was important to me to be able to do that.

And you know, I ended up with five children and eight grandchildren now.

So, a really important aspect of my life 'cause family is everything to me.

- Talk to me more about the passion that is evident.

How do young women find their passion?

Does it have to start at age 10 or can I reinvent later?

- No, I think the thing I'm learning every year is I don't know what I don't know.

I have to think about who I am and who I'm not.

And I don't know if we do that enough to really identify that or we just take a job just to get a job or think what really rocks me, what gives me, like for you, you love to exercise, it rocks you.

It rocks you to do these triathlons.

So you have to find whatever that is inside you.

Now, maybe it's not your career, but at least as a passion that you should have.

And as I mentioned earlier, women should always keep their hand in the game.

Make sure you're always doing something so that you've got something to fall back on.

And always a passion too.

Some people will find a passion in sewing and they end up with a sewing business or they find a passion in something else.

And so it's important to kinda, I say it slow down to speed up, look at your life and say, okay, what do I really want?

And what really rocks me?

- [Shelley] Yeah.

- Not what rocks my friends, what rocks me.

- All right, Peaches.

Table scaper, expand?

- Table scaper, yes, it's one of my many hobbies.

Actually, as I mentioned earlier too, it's kind of gettin' to be a pressure, you know, how many Thanksgiving themes can you do?

So I've done everything from like a, oh, kind of a Victorian theme and I got everybody plates that match them or you know, certain, you know, like maybe a deer hunting theme or whatever it might be.

And then I end up spending a lot of time developing those and I don't know how many tablecloths I have.

I actually buy my fabric at Maryanne Fabrics and then I cut 'em and all that stuff, so.

- [Shelley] Goodness.

- It's kind of a crazy thing.

But I know I started a long time ago and now there's pressures.

So I'm hoping now that my oldest daughter has a new house that we can move it to her instead of me and she can carry on the tradition.

- Family's important to you.

All right, I'm to ask, did you bring the red licorice and how do Doritos fit into a wellness plan there, Peaches?

- Yeah, so, well I think that I'm a human being and as I said earlier, I make mistakes and I have a couple things I like to treat myself to.

One of them is red licorice, which I've always loved and I didn't bring you that purposely today.

And I like Doritos, I'm so sorry, but I do.

But I think that comes to moderation life, right?

So when we talk to people about, they're looking at their nutrition intake, we don't want them to just totally eliminate everything that they love.

If you want a piece of cake on a birthday, eat it.

You know, it's the point, you don't need to eat the whole cake or eat cake every day.

So I think that's that balance of life, are they good for me?

Probably not.

But is it a nice, simple pleasure?

Yes.

- Does your business of wellness touch emotional and mental health?

- Well that's a big piece of it now Shelly, you know, you know, again, we're saturated every day with so much negative information, negative noise, and got a lot of comparisons with social media and so forth that I think it's hard for us to, what I said earlier, look in the mirror and go, "I'm awesome."

"I can do this."

You know, I think we have to kind of be looking at that and thinking of how taking better self care, self love and that will make us, you know, I think that kind of falls in suit with us being better, more healthy individuals.

- [Shelley] Yes.

- And there's a lot of initiatives that we do in our organization dealing with the mental health side.

We have a lot of health coaches, people that work.

We also know when to baton it to someone that may need some assistance beyond our capacity.

- What is the first step to one who's either young or young and heart to begin their journey of wellness?

- So I do a lot of speaking, and the speaking is really how do you start, and people often ask me that question, "where do I get started?"

And I say, - [Shelley] 'Cause it's never too late.

Right?

- Never too late.

So, I say, think of one thing that you know you shouldn't be doing and stop doing that.

So that should be doing, maybe I'm sitting too much, I'm not drinking enough water, I'm drinking too much wine.

Whatever I'm doing that I know I shouldn't be doing.

And just start with that.

Start with one little thing.

And if you haven't read the book Atomic Powers or Atomic Habits, that's a really good one, 'cause he talks a lot about going one percent forward every single day getting better one percent.

- Great.

Leave me with a motto, get me fired up.

- [Peaches] Oh, didn't I fire you up yet?

- (stutters) Just, - [Peaches] I say this is.

- [Shelley] I want extra credit.

- Okay.

On my house, I, and this is a fun thing for people to think about doing.

I have a big chalkboard that I always had when you walked in my door and there was always something on it, you know, statement on it.

And I often use this one when people would get all negative and stuff, I say "Become the most positive, enthusiastic person you know."

And I put that on a board and I remind myself 'cause people need positivity, people need, individuals they gravitate towards positivity.

So if you can start working on that, remove that negative statement or the negative thought from your mind and move forward as positively as you can.

- All right.

And you get your eight hours of sleep?

- No, I don't sleep eight hours.

- Okay.

All right.

- I tell everybody how to sleep properly, but I wake up and watch Netflix at least once a week, so.

- I knew I'd find your one mistake.

- Oh yeah, there you go.

- Peaches, McCahill, thank you for your inspiration, your positivity, passion and energy on this.

- I appreciate the opportunity.

- Yep, talking to Peaches McCahill on this edition of Powerful Women Let's Talk.

Thanks!

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