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

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

Whether you're starting a business for the first time or you've already taken the plunge in entrepreneurship, it argues, helps to learn from the experience of others.

And that is what this show is all about.

We want you to be successful in your business endeavors, so we bring together those who have been there so you can find out what worked and didn't work in their journey.

Join us as we speak with these entrepreneurs and learn from their walk through the world of owning a business.

[♪♪] A major factor in starting your own business, or just running a business in general, is finding the right people that understand your vision and have that talent to bring that vision to life.

Well, David Darnell spent years in the business world seeing failures and successes associated with hiring personnel and he decided to start a business focused on helping companies recruit the right talent for the right job and help their business grow and thrive.

In today's competitive climate.

[♪♪] We're here in Cookeville, Tennessee, talking with David Darnell, owner of Entius.

David, a big welcome to the show.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

So we always start out with the basics.

Entius, what is it?

What do you all do?

Yeah.

So we're a talent solutions firm that specialize in placing highly skilled people across a multiple range of industries and companies and verticals and things of that nature.

So let's dig down into that a little bit further.

So what does that really mean to I mean you're working with businesses to go out and scout talent essentially.

How do you do that?

Yeah, there's a lot to it.

So there are there are in my space the common term is recruiting, right?

We do recruiting.

That's part of it.

But we don't do one thing.

So when people hear recruiting, they automatically assume staffing.

That's why I say talent solutions.

So talent solutions can be a number of things for us specifically, it means, like direct hire.

So people like a headhunter is kind of a common term that you've probably heard.

Managed services is a big one, consulting.

So we'll consult for companies and help them kind of figure out their talent acquisition or internal recruiting plans, and then a big push and kind of a lot of success.

We're seeing right now is what's called an RPO, which is a recruiting process outsourcing.

So that's where we embed ourselves into the company, and basically become their talent acquisition team.

So I gotta say, and I hope you take this as the compliment that it's intended.

This sounds incredibly complicated.

How in the world did you learn all of this stuff?

Much less create a business?

Yeah.

So two things.

One, I have failed a lot.

You've known me for a long time, and you've seen some of these other ventures that I've had, and I wouldn't say, you know, I've had complete failures, but there's been some failures along the way.

I've learned a lot from that.

I've also had the privilege of working for two of the largest talent solution firms in the world.

Had a lot of success with both companies and worked at a high level there.

And and now, especially since we formed Entius, I mean, I'm having so much fun.

So it sounds like obviously you've got a lot of passion for it paired with the knowledge you mentioned a moment ago that you're working 70 hours a week also.

Yes, we have been friends for quite a while, and I just happen to know that you have several kids.

You have a wife who's also an entrepreneur.

How are you making the balance between the 70 hours a week?

The kids, the wife, maybe having a little fun in between?

How do you do that?

For one, I could not do it without Ally, my wife.

I came to her in November of 24 and said, hey, I think I want to do this on my own again.

And she didn't even hesitate.

She was like, I got you.

And I was like, well, you understand what I'm saying?

Like, I'm giving up the salary.

It's a great salary, great comp plan.

You know, benefits the works and I'm going to go out on my own.

She's like, if you think God is calling you to do this, then yeah, I got you.

And I'm like, this is I want to make sure, like, you got to float the income like there's no income.

She's like, yeah, 100%.

If this is what you're being called to do, you should do it.

And so I did.

So a big part of the way we're able to balance this one is she's so supportive.

She sees what's happening with the business.

God has blessed us tremendously.

And, you know, I told her my goal is to retire her.

Right?

Like I want to retire her early so she can spend more time with the kids and do kind of some passion projects for her.

We'll see if we get there.

That's what we're working towards.

Like, we have a lot of momentum right now and she sees that and so we don't want to miss out on that.

So that's a big part of it.

But I also I get to the office early.

I try to not work until 6,7, 8:00 at night.

I have, but I was at the office at 430 this morning, so I wake up early.

She'll FaceTime me to so I can see the kids in the morning.

Or sometimes I'll run home to take one of the kids to school.

And then I just.

Man, I'm in the trenches and focused when I'm in the office.

So, you know, 12 to 14 hour days are pretty common right now.

But when you've got a supportive wife, it it feels like 8 to 10.

Well, David, clearly you have built something special here, love hearing the story.

So I want to take it back just a little bit.

You know, you've been a serial entrepreneur for quite a while.

You mentioned earlier in the interview you said that you've been through some failures, and I think that you would agree.

In our world, failure is not necessarily a bad word.

So if you could talk through, you know, maybe not necessarily what those failures were, but moreover, what you learned from them and really how they propelled you and and prepared you as an entrepreneur to where you're at today.

I think the biggest thing was how I was presenting myself, right?

Like I was presenting myself as an entrepreneur.

I hadn't done anything yet.

You know what I mean?

Like...Silly.

I'm not proud to say that.

But like, I was doing it, but I was more focused on the image of what I was doing and looking like an entrepreneur than actually being an entrepreneur.

Don't get me wrong.

I was working.

We were doing things, but the focus, it just wasn't there.

And granted, we had a lot of stuff going on personally, like the family went through a bunch of stuff.

My business partner went through a bunch of stuff that played into a lot of it as well.

But I agree.

And like they, they were failures, there's no doubt.

But man, I learned so much from that, right?

Like I wouldn't be where I'm at today without a combination of those failures and what I learned by going back into corporate for about 3 or 4 years in between and then jumping back on my own.

Right.

Like that combination really teed me up to dial this in, because what people don't understand as entrepreneurs is it can get lonely, right?

So like right now what I miss is like going into a conference room and solving a problem together, right?

I don't have a conference room.

I sit in a very tiny office in the back of my wife's salon and getting back into corporate environment.

I'm like, oh, this is what I was missing.

I'm missing the people to bounce ideas off of and get the motivation.

And I know that not everybody needs that, but like, that's what I need.

I was missing that.

And then surrounding myself and putting myself into groups that are going to help lift me up and learn and be better.

Thinking about entrepreneur David, what is entrepreneurship mean to you?

What is an entrepreneur?

I mean, if you had to put it in one word, it'd be freedom, right?

Like the freedom to choose, the freedom to to to be right.

Our family loves Disney World, right?

I don't have to ask anybody when I can go.

Now.

I'm going to work on the flight there right and Ally is going to take care of the kids.

I'm going to wake up at four in the morning and go sit in the lobby and work for 3 or 4 hours.

But I don't have to ask to go to Disney World.

So talk to the other David Darnell's of the world that are watching this and thinking, you know what?

I can strike it out on my own.

But man, for whatever reason, I just hadn't crossed that fence yet.

What would advice would you give to them?

I might change this answer six months from now.

I might change it six years from now, I might not, I don't know, but I'm starting to find that there are entrepreneurs and there are employees.

Right.

And you got to have both, and both can be very successful and both can make a lot of money.

Whatever the opposite of risk averse is that that's what I am.

And it's got me in a lot of trouble over the years.

And it's, it's done me a lot of good over the years.

You've got to understand what your risk tolerance is.

I would say you start sooner than later, but it's never too late to start.

So I really like what you said about your risk tolerance.

Obviously that's going to be wildly different for everybody is going to be wildly different depending on the business.

But there is at the end of the day, there is a risk tolerance that you're going to have to be willing to have to accept.

There's also, I would imagine, a substantial amount of stress that goes along with it.

Nobody, you know, to grow the business, to get the next client and the next customer.

But also you got to put food on the table.

Now, you said Ally doing a great job.

She can, you know, she took care of you in the beginning, obviously.

But again, you've got to really be able to manage that stress.

How do you deal with your day to day stresses of not only the business, but also balancing it with family needs?

Being the dad?

There's several things.

This is a big part of my life.

I mean, I'm wearing a WHOOP band.

I track my sleep, my stress.

I can tell how many steps I've walked today, how long I've been in the stress zone, and what stress and at what stress level.

So I'm very meticulous about that.

For me, it starts with prayer.

That's very important to me.

I pray every day, and pray for peace and comfort and guidance and vision and wisdom, all these, these important things.

So there's it's a combination of things.

But I'm, you know, last week, man, it was high stress for me.

I just, you know, I had to center myself again over the weekend.

Hey, the business is not going away, right.

It's still here.

This is what we're supposed to do.

And, you know, I showed up Monday and there was still plenty of work to do.

Well, David, the future certainly sounds bright.

Thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule and telling us today.

I really enjoyed your story.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

[♪♪] Although many people flock to the advantages and conveniences of streaming music online and listening to playlists on their favorite platforms, for many others, they are still drawn to experiencing the nostalgia of listening to their music on vinyl or compact disc.

And that is the reason behind Flat Foot Records in McMinnville, Tennessee, where customers can experience touching and feeling the music again with great classic songs or even brand new music as well on classic formats.

[♪♪] We're here in McMinnville, Tennessee, talking with Josh Wanamaker, the frontman for Flat Foot Records.

Josh, a big welcome to the show.

Hey, Mike, how are you doing?

I'm doing great.

So glad to be here.

Really interested to get into this conversation.

So let's start out with the basics, okay.

Flat foot records.

What are you all.

What do you do?

So Flat Foot Records is a record store mainly.

We wanted to make sure we had a strong identity.

So we have records and it kind of goes from top down on that.

We wanted to have different materials, so we have cassettes and CDs and things like that, but we also have different pop culture memorabilia, shirts and all kinds of different things.

So we kind of get lost on the journey in here kind of thing.

You know?

On the hunt.

So I really want to start out first and foremost with I find it really interesting that in this day and age, you're able to sell vinyl, you're able to sell CDs.

There's cassettes on the walls, there's even eight tracks.

Yes.

Why do you think that this has been so popular right now, especially with streaming and digital and all of that?

Why is there a niche in the market for this?

Well, I think people do miss the tangible physical connection with things, and you're using your senses quite a bit with physical media.

So I think over time, maybe people you know, you kind of have these like subsets of people that kind of get very tired of streaming or disconnects, especially if you remember what it was like to have any other experience at all.

And so, yeah, it is a deeper experience.

And I think that people do still crave that, even though we have gone, you know, for heavy digital and all that, I think there's still a place for that.

Yeah, there's absolutely place for it.

You know what I will say too is, you know, I was born in the 80s, grew up in the 90s.

And one thing that I really miss is the artwork.

You know, being able to take out the CD sleeve and look through it, look at the artwork, look at all the lyrics.

Absolutely.

So you mentioned something you said, you know, some of our customers are nostalgic for this, but also, you know, I'm willing to bet that there's customers that are much younger and, you know, were even born in the digital age.

So walk us through just a little bit who's walking through these doors?

Yeah.

So it is, it's kind of a spectrum and it is sort of hitting on what you said.

Right?

You have people who are wanting to find the experience they once had, and then you have people who are being taught what the experience is at all, regardless of what age you are, whatever your parents handed down to you and stuff like that, you kind of have a craving for something you don't know, and that's what that is for them.

Even though it's kind of crazy because like, I mean, I, I bought CDs, I had plenty of CDs, but you know, for them it is a new experience and that's exciting, you know?

So it's kind of like a cyclical wheel maybe a little bit, you know, so obviously you're selling the vinyl CDs, all of that.

Can you talk us through a little bit of, you know, not only what genres of music you have here, but what do you see and what are some of the trends in genres right now?

We started really strong with 60s to maybe mid 80s vinyl.

I think we have a really strong rock section that's behind the cameras over here, and we have other genres as well that kind of play with like the area as well, like country and things like that.

So we're seeing all kinds of things we're seeing we're trying to support the pop that people still want, you know, so they can come in and get something that they've seen or heard on a commercial or something like that.

But you also have the old, the old rare finds that you're trying to find as well.

So we wanted to be a place for everybody in the sense of pretty heavy collectors and also people trying to get into that for the first time.

You know, turntables, they really kind of embrace the future, too.

I mean, there's they've got Bluetooth and other means.

So you can really integrated this into an existing setup.

Absolutely.

I think it's incredibly customizable.

So the vinyl itself, if you could tell us a little bit about, you know, some tips and advice to, to really protecting your investment.

So a lot of modern turntables will have the ARM automatic.

So it'll lay it on the first just beginning of the record for you.

So and if you're starting a record you're pretty safe there.

But if you're trying to jump around between tracks you just lift, be gentle, place it down gently, pretty much directly down.

Right?

So you just don't want to drag it across.

I've seen plenty of records that have just deep grooves, scratches because somebody may be removed to very quickly.

So beyond that, you've got the actual piece of the physical material.

So you've got things these days, like you've got sleeves, you can, you know, nicer sleeves.

We do that too.

Here we have like high five sleeves, anything that's used, we take it out, we put it in an extra sleeve for you to kind of we wanted to have kind of a personal touch with that.

So you can do that to keep like it's kind of like dust cover essentially.

Yeah.

If you don't have it in a tighter high-five sleeve, it can bow out.

So your record, you know, your actual sleeve can start to do this, kind of like that envelope thing.

So yeah, there's all kinds of things to just be like mindful of it, of your favorites, you know?

So bringing it back to the business of Flat Foot Records.

So a couple things that I'm always interested in I'll start with marketing.

How are you getting the word out?

Social media is incredibly important.

We are thankful to be a kind of a family of businesses, right, with Topz and Cumberland Biscuit Company as well, next door to us.

And so we're able to kind of like synergize a little bit with that.

I think it's definitely not one answer.

We do everything we can, but you know, you can't do it without the social media, but you can't do it without physically being here.

And, you know, everything kind of hand in hand a little bit.

Yeah.

So the second thing I'm always really interested in is inventory.

How are you managing?

How do you know what records do you have.

How do you you know, not only keep them on the shelves but understand also, you know, what are those trends?

What are people looking for?

So how do you deal with your inventory?

First thing that hit me when you said that is that we have everything in inventory.

So that was important to us.

There's certain things like cassettes and CDs that we do still have to lightly hunt for, especially if they've been thrown out of alphabetical order.

So the hunt is still there, but for the most part, we can look up and find anything and sort of that you want.

So yeah, we do have a pretty large inventory, but if you're looking for anything specific, we can absolutely help you.

We want to be sort of like a library.

You can call find the thing and we can help you take it home and play that day.

What does it mean to you all to be here in McMinnville?

I mean, you could easily, quote unquote, go to Nashville, have a lot more customers, probably.

But you all decided to really stake it out right here in McMinnville.

What does that mean to you?

And, you know, really, what does it mean to the community?

We have a heart for this community, and that's why we stick it out here, because this is our home and we we love it.

I mean, not to be too, you know, generic with it, but yeah, we wanted to give something to the people here that they didn't have.

Somehow the other side of that is that with the people, we don't have a record store and things like that, and it could have who knows what the alternate timelines are, so to speak.

If we had another record store here or another music store, this might have not happened in the same way.

So I got to say, this is a really cool looking place to, you know, in addition to all the vinyl and everything you see, you see the the LEDs, there's great interior design.

Walk me through other thought on how you all actually got here.

Absolutely.

So I work with two people that are wonderful people they're my bosses Matt and Anna Sands.

And so Matt did most of the interior design with thoughts on me and Anna being, how do we put this and make it real within the room, the color specifically lend themselves bit by bit.

So we kind of started with a blue and then we kind of we found these lights and we had this setting called Nebula that had a little purple on it.

And so we kind of fell within as maybe generic is the answer is it's it's an organic approach for sure.

Let's look forward to the future.

What are the plans here at Flat Foot Records?

Would you have a listening area up here on the stage?

It's, to my left currently.

And, so that's just if you want to test your records, right.

You can bring in your records if you also want to test your own.

But typically what we have is someone wanting to buy something or something they haven't heard.

So they're going to test it out.

But later on this month, we'll have our first music event and, we will take that listening center and we will remove the two chairs in the stations.

And we'll have live music.

Maybe about five in, like, kind of a serious type thing.

And we're going to call it live at Flat Foot.

We want to play well with the community and listen to what the community needs.

So we're going to have band equipment both for actual high school bands, middle school bands, things like that.

We have valve oil reeds, but we also have guitar picks, strings, straps, and we want to move into having instruments later on as well.

Well, that's a really interesting way to one like we've been talking about with the community to get involved with the community, but also, you know, diversify what you're selling.

Yeah.

And be able to respond to the needs of the community.

Yeah.

So at the time of recording, you've been open for about six months, give or take.

There's a lot of things, I'm sure, that you all have learned.

Absolutely.

So right now, knowing what you know right now, what do you wish you knew then when you first opened?

So one of the things is like when you're when you're a creator and you're in a creative position and you're doing something, you know, other people are going to enjoy it, you can get in your head about it, you can overthink it.

And I think that that was an easy thing to get into is just knowing that perhaps we were being a little hard on ourselves.

And as you go, you learn that you're kind of with people.

You're not, you know, you're not under people.

You're with people.

So.

Yeah.

Well, Josh, this has been a great conversation.

Kudos on the store.

This is super cool.

Hey, thank you all so much for taking the time out to be on the show today.

Yeah.

We appreciate you being here.

Absolutely.

[♪♪] I'm Megan Choate director of economic development at the Upper Cumberland Development District.

Our team's mission is to serve the needs of the region's businesses to help ensure the Upper Cumberland economy continues to grow and thrive.

We strive to accomplish this by providing community development, technical support, and financial support for our small businesses.

Finding the right funding partner for your company is a critical component in the success of your small business, whether it be the startup expenses, cash flow needs, or financing an expansion project, you need the right funding partner.

One of our objectives at the Upper Cumberland Development District is to help you connect with that partner.

The Small Business Development Center arm of our operation has a network of lending institutions across the state and nation that can provide a variety of funding supports, including accounts receivable financing, federally guaranteed loans, economic injury loans, traditional loans, and more.

When none of these sources fit your needs, the Upper Cumberland Development District is here to step in and fill the gap in financing your project.

We operate a revolving loan fund in-house to provide gap financing for small businesses in the Upper Cumberland.

We are able to lend to almost any type of business, from the pet groomers to the large manufacturers.

Our loans typically range in size up to around $300,000 and can be combined with loans from other financing institutions.

These loans can be applied for through the Upper Cumberland Development District, where our staff will walk with you through the application process and partner you with the Small Business Development Center team for support documents such as business plans, financial statements and projections.

Several years ago, we identified a need among startup businesses for a micro loan program.

This program is designed to allow us to take on more risk and make less secured loans to businesses just starting, or in their first year of operation.

When traditional financing is most challenging.

Our micro loan program has a separate and dedicated committee, comprised of regional representatives who advocate for small businesses and their success.

To be eligible for the micro loan program, a business must work with the Small Business Development Center or the Biz foundry, our entrepreneurial partners, for technical support.

By pairing financial support and technical support, our goal is to create the strongest position for your business to succeed.

The Upper Cumberland Development District also manages a small farm loan program funded by the State of Tennessee Department of Agriculture.

These loans, up to $25,000, can be used for a variety of farm equipment and facilities.

No matter your need, we will work with you in a holistic approach to find your financing solutions through our programs.

As well as programs across the state and nation.

Business development is our passion and we want to help you start or grow your small business.

Contact us and let us be a part of your business's development.

[♪♪] My name is David Allen and I'm the president of the Tennessee Rural Development Fund.

Our purpose in life primarily is just to serve as a a vehicle or a conduit for financial resources, products and services in support of community and economic development across the state, as well as helping small businesses.

The way we do this is twofold.

First of all, a lot of folks that call in our office talk to us about, what their needs are financially for their businesses or for their projects.

And, and if we're able to help them directly, we do.

But if not, a lot of times what we do is we just we pair them up with other resources that are available.

A lot of folks don't have the knowledge of of what's available with SPA or with HUD or, what is a business and industry loan guarantee through USDA or, or what is a tiff or how can we structure this deal?

And we try to put them with the folks that are the professionals that that have access to these resources, that can help them with their projects.

The second area that we add value is as a community development financial institution.

We're certified by the United States Treasury Department as a CDF, or community development financial institution.

And what that does is that allows us to bring additional incentives and resources in to partner with other financial institutions like your bank's, to further support economic and community development.

It helps our, our banks for their Community Reinvestment Act points and credits, as well as some tax incentives and other credits that they're able to take advantage of to reward them for, for investing in our local communities and our economies.

They already do this, but this helps us even more so with projects that might need a little bit more help or projects that, that may need a little help with the cash flow.

Or it can be any number of things, but it allows the banks to participate even more than they're able to normally, through the use of some of these incentives that are only available through city of, so we work with them to provide financing to industries across the spectrum.

We deal in health care, we deal in manufacturing, distribution.

We've dealt in retail.

There's really no project necessarily that's too large.

No project is too small.

Really and truly is just fun and unique ways to take, the resources that we have to try to, provide, attractive financing measures and to make things happen within companies, within our region, within our state, to help them to be more successful so that they can reinvest more back into our community and our state, reinvest more back into the people that are working for them.

And again, at the end of the day, it's just to improve the overall quality of life in our communities across our state, and we believe that it's a great tool to be able to do that.

And we're very fortunate to be able to just, participate.

Thank you for joining us yet again for another episode of It's Your Business.

Hopefully, you've learned that there are plenty of great resources right here in the Upper Cumberland to help you achieve your dream of starting your own business.

If you would like more information on today's topics, please visit the WCTE website and to learn more about free small business resources and expert assistance, please 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 WCTE, 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.