This program was made possible by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you.

It's Your Business with Michael Akins is brought to you by WCT, PBS, and the Tennessee Tech Center for Rural Innovation, with funding provided by the Rural Reimagine Grand Challenge and the Tennessee Rural Development Fund.

Welcome to another episode of It's Your Business, where we hope to encourage and equip those with the dream of starting a new business, or those who have already taken the plunge and want to make their business thrive.

There are many resources in the Upper Cumberland that can help make the journey to entrepreneurship less intimidating.

And we're here to connect you to those resources, as well as bring you advice and tips from entrepreneurs across our region.

So let's get started.

Generally speaking, I believe we all hope to make a positive impact on the world around us.

And to Phillips, founder and CEO of ATS innovations, found a way to do just that with a compassion to help those suffering from joint issues like arthritis and tendinitis.

She used her engineering skills to create the Metta Flex Therapy Glove, which has helped people all over the world find much sought after relief from their joint issues.

We're here in Cookeville, Tennessee, talking with Tia Phillips, founder of ATS innovations.

Taya.

Welcome to the show.

Happy to be here, Michael.

Well, we certainly are happy to have you on the show.

So let's start out with the basics ATS innovations.

Tell us about it.

What is your business?

ATS innovations is a company I founded when I was studying mechanical engineering at Tennessee Tech University for the purpose of bringing the metal flex, grip strengthening compression glove to life.

So this is something that we made, to help people manage arthritis at home.

Compression and grip strengthening are two of the most recommended therapies for improving symptoms of arthritis pain, mobility, function, and grip strength.

But no one had put them together before.

So we put it into this.

Really breathable wearable.

So it's got a really gentle compression, adjustable resistance bands.

And the idea is you go about your day and you're working against these resistance bands to strengthen your grip.

And it's been helpful for, a wide range of people that don't even have arthritis, which is really cool because it helps to like stretch, which is good for Dubin Trend's trigger finger.

Like, half of my customers are sleeping in the glove.

Everybody knows somebody with arthritis.

Maybe they have arthritis or, like you said, trigger finger or many, many things.

What you all have done really as a identified that problem and made something completely innovative.

And you said you did this while you were a student.

Yeah, yeah.

When I was studying mechanical engineering at Tennessee Tech University, me and my co-founders, Ashley and Sergio, had this idea, developed prototypes and had the opportunity because Tennessee Tech has Eagle Works pitch competition, which is like Shark Tank for students.

And we went in we worked really, really hard for months and months.

We use resources like Jeff Brown at the Foundry, you, of course, and Angela Curtis Carr and, just everyone.

There was a whole community of people that were dedicated to, to helping us plan out this business, strategize it, and figure out if it would work.

Of course, my grandma had really bad arthritis.

And so for me, it felt important, like something I was responsible for doing.

Once we had the idea and realized that it was possible to make and we could really, like, get it out there and help people.

All of this really kind of came to fruition in 2018.

Well, we're sitting here filming this six years later.

Yeah, I understand you've done some pitch competitions and all that and you've won.

You've done a really great job.

But tell us a little bit about what is that entrepreneurial journey really been like from when you started back in 2018 to where you sit right now?

I'm going to start by saying everyone has a different journey.

Mine was 2018.

Well, really 2017.

I started talking to my co-founders about it.

2018 we made prototypes.

We created the plan, we brought it to life.

And also in 2018 I graduated college and I graduated without any money.

And with a really great job offer.

So I worked as an engineer at Y-12 National Security Complex, which was fantastic.

I loved that work that I was doing.

It was so impactful, and I felt good going to work every day.

But, I had this and I had a responsibility to bring it to people.

And so once I saved up, once I felt ready three years after, 2018 and 2021, late 21, I quit my job, started working on this full time, got it registered.

But the FDA efforts to get the right manufacturing on board, that took way longer than expected.

And it's just been an incredible journey and an incredibly difficult journey and also really rewarding.

And finally, in 2023, after years and years and years of hard work, I got this on the market.

I started with my website, I built my website, I did everything bootstrapped.

And yeah, it's just been an incredible, incredible journey.

So where do you think this sheer determination comes from?

Is it personal?

Is it business?

Where where does your motivation where does it come from?

I watch my, my grandma scrape and innovate and make new things and find ways to like, make money to support her family.

And I watch my dad make new things and innovate and invent things.

I always felt like I was meant for something and I couldn't see what it was.

And when I had the opportunity to create Meta Flex, I realized like, this is this is it.

This is what I'm meant to do.

So, you know, clearly you've done so much on your own, right?

You are a true entrepreneur.

You're a startup.

But, you know, luckily here in Upper Carmel and we have so many resources, we're sitting in the Biz Foundry right now.

You mentioned Biz Foundry Center for all of you and several others.

How does the Biz Foundry help?

And you know why, as an entrepreneur, did you decide to go with them?

The This foundry started helping me in 2018, when Jeff Brown came to Tennessee Tech and started teaching people about business plans and, and all of the things that go into it.

And I just bugged him constantly, and he was always there to answer my questions.

This community wants to invest in its people, and I'm just so lucky to be one of its people.

And I've just found so, so many resources around here and so much support.

And everybody lifts me up and I try to lift others up.

It's a great place to start a business.

I started my business here, I moved away, I got back into it and then I came back to Cookville because of the community.

You know, you said community a lot and I love to hear that.

And that's one of the reasons that we do the show too, is we have so many resources, such an uplifting community.

You know, one thing that I usually like to ask you can be in an urban environment and probably have more customers, but you choose to do it right here in rural Upper Cumberland.

This community has given me so much, and I just want to give back to it.

And I just love being here.

And I'm happy to be here, and I'm happy to be a Tennessee girl, and I'm from Shelbyville, and we're not too far from, like, where I grew up and was raised.

My whole life.

And then I was educated at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, and then my first engineering job was in Tullahoma, Tennessee.

And then I, got another one in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

And the community is thriving, and we're all coming together and figuring out how to lift each other up.

And it's just a it's a beautiful place to be, you know, people watching the show, maybe thinking about, you know, I'd like to start a business, but for whatever reason, they haven't crossed that fence yet.

What would you specifically tell to somebody that's thinking about it but just hasn't?

There are parts of it where it's like, this is this is amazing.

I'm having a great time.

I love setting my own schedule, all of this stuff, but it's hard.

You get knocked down and it's ruthless.

So make sure that it's something that you love doing something that's worth it.

So don't just start any business to make money.

You know, selling trinkets.

Unless it's some trinket that like you're making by hand and you love to make and you're like, your passion is to create this beautiful thing.

Make sure it's something that you're passionate about because it's difficult and most businesses fail.

And there are a litany of reasons, and most businesses fail.

Finance management not being able to, to handle the stresses of it, but also just people giving up because they don't like what they're doing.

So make sure it's something that you love doing every single day.

Thinking back to when it all started, 2018.

Yeah.

To right now, what do you know now that you wish you knew then?

Nothing.

Yeah.

I love the process of learning, and I feel like every choice I've made has, has led me in this direction.

And I've made the wrong choice over and over again.

I wish I had started sooner on it, even though I love what I was doing when I wasn't focused on flex two, I knew what I was getting into and I, you know, tried to run from the responsibility a little bit and focus on being an engineer and making money and all of that stuff.

And then I, you know, felt the tug of the responsibility and like I needed to do it.

There have been so many things that I've learned, but I'm a lifelong learner, and I love the process of trying and failing and then getting it right because it's really rewarding.

What does the future hold for ATS innovations?

We're looking to help our military to help our service people, to reduce hand injuries and come out of service with less injuries.

We're already helping our VA medical centers.

But next year we're also releasing two new versions of the Metal Flex.

I've got like, six more in my notebook.

So, it's just innovation.

It's growth and just trying to help as many people as we can.

We'll tell you it looks like the future is nothing but bright for you.

Your motivation is second to none.

I've loved talking to you today.

Thank you so much for coming on the show.

Yeah, thanks for having me, Michael.

There are some people who dream of owning their own business and set out on a path to make that dream come true, but there are others who are thrust into the world of entrepreneurship without much warning at all.

Larry Nabors was the latter, and when his father fell ill, he found himself inheriting the family business without really knowing how to proceed.

But after more than 20 years, the business is thriving, and Larry proudly carries on his father's legacy.

And.

We're here in Cookeville, Tennessee, talking with Larry Nabors, owner of Nabors I-40 service.

Larry, welcome to the show.

Thank you.

So tell us a little bit about your business.

What do you all do?

I do everything from mechanically related to cars.

We do towing 24 hour towing.

Got the full service mechanic shop, anything from a flat tire to an engine overhaul which is going on out there now.

So you've been in this business for quite a while, I believe.

Tell us a little bit about how you got into it.

A long time.

My dad started the business in Cookeville, I've been told early 1952, late 51, early 52.

And at that time he was contracted with Mobil.

And when it was in a mobile gas station, one time truck stop is on the property now.

He ran a station there until 1982.

And, and we kind of went out into a private mechanic shop setting and moved around several places, and we finally landed here.

And so how did you get into the business?

You know, his family business?

Father owned it.

Now you own it.

Tell us a little bit about that.

My dad.

Well, I've worked with him all my life.

I probably started I was 12 years old, I think, when I started, graduated high school, took started working with him and his health started failing in, 88, 89, 1988, 89.

I took the business over and, just picked it up where he left off.

I've been doing it ever since.

So when you took that over, what did that really mean to you?

To be able to carry that business out?

What was pretty scary, to be honest with you, it was, I hadn't expected that.

I expected to work with him to we both that that didn't work.

Of course my dad was still there.

He did.

He passed in that thing 93.

So I had a few years there of consult with him and figured out.

And then from then on, it was just fly by the seat of your pants and learn it.

So that's what I've done.

And so far it's it's work.

Well, it's worked well, I mean, here we are in 2024.

It's still going still going strong.

I can't help but think too.

You know, there's got to be some sense of pride and being able to help people.

Sure.

That was what my dad always used to tell me.

He said, if you treat people right, no matter the situation, they will remember it.

And he's not wrong.

He's not wrong.

Talk to me a little bit about your management style, because not only are you, you know, going on rides on town, you've got to run this business.

You've got to be a leader.

You got to be a manager.

You know, to these employees.

Tell me about that.

I kind of let my guys do their thing.

You can't you can't slave drive somebody into mechanic business.

It doesn't work.

You got to be able to get away from that job.

Two of my guys do to win also.

So it's kind of if they're panicking on a car or having a problem, I can send them on a tow, let them clear their head, start, come back, start fresh.

You got to get away from it.

You got to leave work here.

And and when you go home at night, try to leave it here.

But it's hard to do.

It's a full time job just doing that.

Well, you know Larry, y'all are out there when you're towing.

It seems to me like this could probably be a dangerous situation.

You're on the side of the road.

What would you tell the people watching to know about when they see a tow truck?

It's not hard to tow a car.

It's hard to recover a car.

You can get somebody hurt or killed real quick.

Tow truck drivers get killed every day on the on roads in the United States.

A lot of it is because people will not move over.

They won't give us room to work.

And we're laying on that white line on the road, sometimes as little as six inches from the strap, and cars won't move over.

You're you're 18in from getting hit when car goes by every time.

So I guess my best thing I could say to the people is please move over, give us room to work.

We were talking before the interview.

Your family man, you got five daughters, you've got multiple grandchildren.

15.

Talk to me about being a business owner and also balancing that with family life.

How do you do it?

It was tough.

Like I say, I had I raised five daughters.

They all played softball.

I had five daughters playing on three different teams and two travel teams at the same time.

And I was coaching two of those teams.

I learned early on, sometimes you just have to say no.

You just have to tell somebody, look, I'm sorry I've got this going on.

I can't help you till tomorrow.

People respected that.

I think there are times that you have to make exceptions.

And I had to leave.

I've had to leave middle of several ballgames because something happened that had to be done.

The kids understood that they.

They knew.

They knew early on what was going on and why that had to leave.

I just I tried to balance it as best I could and stay with the kids and do what they wanted to do.

So we're right here in Cookeville in the Upper Cumberland.

What does it mean to you to be a small business owner?

Right here in our community?

I grew up in this area.

I've seen the have seen the community grow.

I would love to say for the best a lot over the years, but we have it has it's it has its drawbacks.

With growth comes that stuff.

But I enjoy what I do right here.

I wouldn't I wouldn't be anywhere else.

So for the people that are watching this show, some of them are thinking, you know, I'd love to start a business, but for whatever reason, they just haven't done it.

What would you tell them?

What advice would you give to an aspiring business owner?

What I have found in Cookeville, people like the small businesses.

I found that to be true in my business.

I mean, they're bigger guys.

They're smaller guys.

I would advise them to take a chance, because if you've got a product and a service that people need, they will visit you.

If you think about the toe in business mechanic business, obviously a lot of positive things.

Some things you said pulling your hair out, right?

What word or phrase strikes fear into a business owner like yourself?

Change, change.

Tell me about that.

There are some changes that were made this year that really impacted the little guy financially because of some of the changes that they did to policies for towing and whatnot, abandoned vehicles and those things.

And it made it tough.

We got through it.

We figured out a plan and and implemented it and it works and it's not over.

And that that will change more next year.

I've been told I don't know exactly what they are, but there is more change to come.

And that makes it tough because you get in a you get in a rhythm of things and you're doing things and everything's going well.

And then the curveball comes.

So here you go.

But like you said earlier, you know, smart business owner can address that change.

And make changes.

I guess you have to as one of my mechanics says, you have to adapt and overcome.

You have to figure it out, figure out what they want and make your business do what has to be done for that long.

Right.

And it's it's it's tough when it changes.

When you've done it one way for 40 years or so.

But we've we're in the groove.

We'll figure it out.

Yeah.

Definitely.

So thinking back 1999, you took the business over.

What do you know right now in 2024 that you wish you knew then?

Patience.

I've had to have a lot of patience through the years.

I thought it was all going to be fun and games, I guess, you know.

Cool.

I got my own business.

But when you're dealing with the public, you have to have patience.

It's.

You can't.

You can't let them get to you.

They will.

I guess patience is the biggest.

The biggest thing I wish I had thought of back then and grown.

And I have.

I try to do like my dad said, you try to treat people right from the beginning and it'll it'll work.

And so far it has.

We'll look into the future.

What does the future hold for you all?

I don't know, I hope I hope several more years of this.

I enjoy what I do.

I've done it all my life, raised my family doing it.

And it's it's it's been it's been good.

So hopefully, hopefully another another 40 years maybe.

But Larry I really appreciate you being on the show.

No problem.

Thank you.

I'm Jeff Brown, president and CEO of the Biz Foundry, the regional entrepreneur center for the Upper Cumberland area in Tennessee.

The biz Foundry is really a nonprofit started by entrepreneurs, led by entrepreneurs to help people start and grow a business from an experience standpoint, how do we help you solve all the problems?

You don't really learn entrepreneurship any other way, than to start doing it and getting mentors, coaches, people that have been there before and help you work through issues.

We do what we do to try to build a regional economic development ecosystem for entrepreneurs.

So entrepreneurship is a major leg of economic development in any area of the United States of the world.

And so how do we build a system that helps serve those people that are working on that idea, trying to launch a business that can build companies that provide jobs, grow wealth in the area, and really help our area thrive economically.

One of the things a lot of people don't understand is starting a company from scratch is very different from building projects for large companies.

So working for a large company, you have almost unlimited resources at your disposal.

And when you're starting out, you and your best friend in the basement, why do things have to be done?

So we help you figure that process out.

We're part of the launch Tennessee Entrepreneur Center Network, which is kind of interesting compared to most states.

Launch working along in partnership with the Tennessee Department of Economic Development, there are eight entrepreneur centers across the state.

So this network, we're all connected.

So while we may operate a certain way in the Upper Cumberland, we also have access to the other seven entrepreneur centers to get you the help you need.

If we don't have the expertise or whatever it may be that you need, for your business or your idea, we have locations in Cookeville, McMinnville and Sparta.

We also do co-working at all three locations.

So we do co-working place for entrepreneurs to get started when they need an office or at least a spot to work out of.

Also do a lot of remote workers there because in building this ecosystem, we need more tech workers here, which are generally remote workers, and then they can become a part of helping you with your next startup.

And so, you know, we really cover the entire region.

It's doesn't mean that we don't have a location there.

We won't help you, will come to you, you come to us, we'll make it work for you.

You know a lot of people, this is a scary process.

So again, we're very entrepreneurial, friendly.

We do a lot of counseling and then try to lead you down the trail of does your idea have legs?

Is it something people will buy all those kind of things before we jump into the nuts and bolts of formally forming a business, we call it customer discovery.

We're really going to work a lot with you on that.

Businesses normally don't go out of business because they run out of money.

Well, that may be what happens, but they run out of money because they never get enough customers to break even.

So we really work in that phase where we're kind of the two bookends.

We do a lot of work with you up front to flesh the idea out, so you know how much money you need to raise or borrow or whatever that may be.

Then kind of on the other end is the higher growth businesses that you have some technology, some intellectual property, whatever that may be.

So how do we help you get set up?

And then on that other end, just how do we help you raise investment, larger loans, all those kind of things that it may take to get you up and going or certainly growing.

And so really, part of, you know, a big part of what we do is working on how do you access capital in the region.

So we spend a lot of time working on that, not only our educational type programs, but a lot on how do we build the capital stack in the region that you, you don't see in most rural areas compared to a bigger city?

Just go to the website.

There's a process there.

We do an intake meeting, which is very informal.

We just meet with you, get to know you a little bit, tell you about us, make sure you're comfortable.

And then, you know, kind of try to get some idea of your idea.

What help you think you need.

And then, of course, we do a little powwow and on.

What do we think we could bring to the table that help you, be it training programs?

Introduction.

Can we introduce you to a customer, a mentor or a coach that can help you move along and try to make the journey easier?

Thank you so much for joining us.

And we hope that you've learned that entrepreneurship doesn't have to be a scary venture when you have the necessary resources for success at your fingertips.

If you would like more information on today's topics, please visit the website.

To learn more about free small business resources and expert assistance, visit the Business Resource Collective website.

Until next time, I'm Michael Aikens.

It's Your Business with Michael Aikens is brought to you by ZTE, PBS, and the Tennessee Tech Center for Rural Innovation, with funding provided by the Rural Reimagine Grand Challenge and the Tennessee Rural Development Fund.

This program was made possible by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you.