(upbeat music) - [Narrator 1] Envista is pleased to support "Working Capital."

Switch to empowered.

Switch to Envista.

Learn more at envistacu.com.

- [Narrator 2] GO Topeka's Entrepreneurial and Minority Business Development is proud to support "Working Capital."

We share the vision to assist local entrepreneurs with growing their business.

- [Narrator 3] Additional funding is provided by The Friends of KTWU.

- Hello, and welcome back to another episode of "Working Capital."

At "Working Capital," we introduce you to people, places, and things that can help you start, grow, and sustain your business long term.

In today's show, we visit with two businesses that we think are pretty unique.

They are in totally different industries, and they are doing all the right things to be leaders at their craft.

So stay with us as we take another journey into the world of business.

It's all about business, and this is "Working Capital."

(techno music) - Hello there, and welcome to "Working Capital."

I'm Eugene Williams, your host.

In today's society, there seems to be so many things to be concerned about.

And of course in business, the concerns can sometimes seem insurmountable.

Our guests today work business-to-business and business-to-consumer to provide services and products that hopefully will make your life easier and help your business grow.

Concerns about the environment seem to dominate the national conversation at times.

Everything from climate change and pollution to resource depletion and global warming are being discussed.

What does this mean for you as a consumer?

And are there businesses out there to help you do your part to protect the environment in which we live?

Let's take a look.

(upbeat music) Founded in 2007, Good Energy Solutions is one of those companies that can possibly help each of us do our part to protect the environment in which we live.

Kevin and Shana Good have built a business that educates consumers on energy solutions that can best benefit their needs.

Welcome to "Working Capital."

- Thank you for having us.

We appreciate being here.

- Good to have you guys here.

So we'll start off with what I think is a relatively easy question.

Tell me about how the two of you met, and how you decided to go into business.

- Well we had a similar friend from college back in the early 90s, and we ended up meeting at a wedding and got married, and then after having kids, raising children, we were just trying to make ends meet, and came up with a great idea to start a solar kind of contracting business.

- So who's the entrepreneur in the family of the two of you?

- I would say we both have a bit of a entrepreneurial spirit.

Kevin is definitely more of a risk-taker than I am, and I'm more of a planner, but we both did venture out into sole proprietorship and myself working as a freelance graphic designer, and then Kevin, he did contracting work.

- Yeah, I worked as a carpenter and woodworker, and a remodeling contractor for very many years after being an engineer from schooling and this seemed to be a really good angle to go for business.

- Yeah, so when you guys were doing the research about, and I'm assuming that you did some time thinking through this, how did you come up with the idea of entering into this particular industry?

What was it that was so attractive about it for you?

- I was taking a contractor's continuing education class, and it was in solar hot water systems, and it just, a light bulb went off, this is the perfect type of business for my skill set.

Between contracting and engineering, and I really wanted to do something really positive with my life and raising children, and this turned out to be more of an educational experience and turned into an incredible journey.

And Shana had all those other skills to put out a website, and so between the two of us, we sort of put our heads together and came up with a plan.

- So as we were talking a little bit before we started doing the show, so you do some of the engineering side of things, you know, and you do some of the marketing side of things.

That's a nice little break in the business, right?

That kind of makes things work, doesn't it?

- I totally agree with you.

I think that we make a really good team.

And we were able to draw on our experiences and education in order to fit us together in order to create what it is today.

I feel really blessed that it has done so well.

I feel really particularly happy when we have happy customers that are enthusiastic about how much energy that they are saving.

I personally love having to see on our electric bill when there's a zero amount of energy used.

We're very fortunate to be able to have built what we have.

- When you start a business like this, okay, Energy Solutions, okay.

When you start a business like this I would assume that it probably costs a little bit to get into this industry.

It's not a real inexpensive industry to enter into, am I right about that?

- Yeah, actually, the cost to enter the industry is extremely expensive through more or less problems, issues, challenges.

We started from scratch with basically a little of our own savings and we did everything to start with and organically grew it as we had cash flows and built the business just one day at a time.

We started early, probably before the market was really there, and just sort of grew and grew.

- Now you said, I think you told me earlier that you guys have been in business for 13 years?

When you started the business, how many employees did you have and how many do you have now?

- When we started, it was Kevin and I on the couch.

- [Eugene] Yeah, just the two of you, huh?

- On the couch.

And then we slowly grew, growing in leaps I would say, but today we have 35 employees.

- [Eugene] Wow, wow, wow.

- Yeah, and when we started, we did everything.

Literally sales to the interconnection agreements, the pulling permits, the website, Shana putting all that together, and talking to the customers.

It was slow at the beginning, but then we ended up adding on to our electrical division in 2014, and just one thing has led to another and we do energy storage, with batteries.

- Okay, all right.

- [Kevin] It's evolved as time's gone by.

- Well let's get into some more of that, okay, in just a minute, all right?

It's time for our first break.

When we come back, we'll continue our discussion with Shana and Kevin about the environmental and energy solutions.

We'll be right back.

You're watching "Working Capital."

(upbeat music) Welcome back.

We're talking about the environment and business opportunities now and in the future in the energy sector.

When we left to go to break we were talking about kind of you guys growing in huge little chunks over the last 13 years or so.

Let's talk about the industry.

How large is the industry, and how large do you think it's gonna be?

- The last I've heard, we were at something around 250,000 people in the United States, generally speaking, but it's growing so fast right now, it's like the largest growth of jobs in the country.

So it really is an opportunity to put people to work with really well-paying jobs, the technology continues to grow with energy storage, the electrification of the automotive industry, we literally drove up on sunshine here today to the studio.

- So I'm taking that you have a car that is green as well.

- We have a Volt that we can charge from our solar-generated electricity.

- I like that.

I like that.

So not only are you a... production agent of this type but you're also a consumer.

- Absolutely, yeah, we believe in what we're doing.

This is a very positive step for reducing the carbon in the world.

- Do you find that most of your consumers are really environmentally conscious?

- I'd say we have two types of consumers.

We have the one that is really concerned about environment and then we also have the consumer that is interested in cost savings.

- Okay, yeah.

So how do you market yourself, then, since you've got those two types?

- Well, we pretty much explain, we're commercial and residential installers, and we can, anybody that uses electricity can utilize this technology.

- And we'd say also that it's the big piece of the marketing, is education.

We're educating on how you could help the environment but also, at the same time, reduce your energy costs.

- And that's the main reason that I, I did some research and I wanted to make sure that we had you guys on the show, because most of us know very little about this.

I mean, we hear a lot of things, but most of the stuff that we hear, it's coming from either, you know, environmental groups, or coming from politicians, you know, and there always seems to be some kind of little bit of friction that exists there.

And we don't get a chance to hear from folks who do the product and also use the product.

- Yeah, the whole idea of the green idea, I'd say most of our customers are more interested in the green than the other environmental... - Really.

- [Kevin] And for businesses, it really is a great return on investment, and it establishes a consistency in their energy costs.

- All right, now, when you go in to do a residential, okay, give me just a real quick idea as to how long it might take from you know, meeting with the potential customer to figuring out how many panels, and all that stuff might actually end up going on a house.

- Yeah, we can put together a residential proposal literally in a day's time.

But we just need to have the energy bills and then to design, once people have decided they want to go ahead and move forward, we can finance it if they have no capital, or if they have money to invest they can just pay for it upfront.

But about a three-month period of time from start to finish with design, permitting, interconnection agreements, procurement, and then scheduling the install, and then finally getting it turned on.

There's a lot involved.

- That's really fast, though.

- It's not too bad.

I mean, we fluctuate different times of the year.

Right now, people are trying to get their tax benefits.

Uncle Sam pays for about 25% of the costs of the system right now, through a tax credit, so this time of year everybody wants to get their system turned on So we very busy this time of year, every year.

- Very quickly, you guys have a very broad geographic area that you cover, I'm assuming that's by design?

- It was by necessity.

- Yeah.

- When we started there wasn't much solar out there and we would travel to wherever the jobs were just to keep the lights on as far as that goes.

But commercially we travel probably three, 400 miles for residential, about a 200 mile radius.

- I think it is important if somebody is interested in solar that they do their due diligence because in the advertising space there's a lot of people marketing.

Lead generation companies marketing for solar, and it's important to know it's such a big investment, that it is important to know who's installing, who's designing, because you wanna have the optimal performance of your investment.

- Gotcha, gotcha.

Well, it's great to have you guys on the show.

Really appreciate you coming and talking with us about this.

- Yeah.

- Thanks you too.

- Yeah, it's a great topic.

Great topic.

- And we are happy to be here.

- It's time for an extra break.

When we return, we'll talk with a Bluetick communications and marketing agency that's all about community engagement.

You're watching "Working Capital."

Welcome back.

Our next company actually started as a CULT.

No, not a real cult but as an acronym for Create, Uplift, Learn and Teach.

And after a somewhat tragic start to the business, the company is now known simply as Create Uplift.

Let's take a look.

(upbeat music) Joining me now are Tobias Harvey and Marcelino Gonzalez from Creative Lift Marketing Agency.

Welcome to "Working Capital" guys.

- Thanks.

- Thanks, Eugene.

- It's gonna be fun to have you on the show cause I get a chance to kind of hang out with you and some meetings and things around town.

And so I always get a chance to kind of tease you a little bit.

- Yeah, though we have built a great friendship over the last few years.

- Let's talk about your agency and specifically kind of how you got started because as entrepreneurs, you know, especially with you as kind of the founding member and stuff a little bit of a rocky start.

So tell me about the organization, how it got started.

- Yeah, we definitely had a rocky start.

CULT as it initially began, started in 2013 when me and a couple of friends, Jermaine Adams and Chris Parti launched the company in March of 2013 and CULT originally launched as kind of just a platform for other creators to kind of showcase their work.

It was more so a blog, digital platform and things like that.

There really wasn't much of a clear direction of the business.

- Okay.

- And slowly over time it's went through a lot of ups and downs and morphed into what it is today.

- Yeah, so when you guys started this, the three of you, you really didn't think in terms of having a full-blown business.

- Yeah, a hundred percent right.

At the time, so CULT was kind of my idea that I had pitched to my friends and I had a lot of creative friends and I was a creator myself and I really just wanted a platform for all, that to kind of exist on.

And that's what CULT was originally supposed to be was just kind of a creative platform for other people and their creativity through music or art or clothing and things like that.

So, yeah - Let's talk about this name, all right.

And then I've got some questions for you too, Marcelino.

- [Marcelino] No problem - But, Create, Uplift, which is about learning, teaching, and all that type of stuff.

Why did you come up with that name?

- The name CULT that was actually something originally thought back when I was in high school.

So, you know, the roots go back even further than that, but yeah.

So CULT was just the acronym.

That was the name kind of had like a street wear, street clothing, brand appeal to it.

'Cause our main demographic was hip hop communities and urban communities and things like that.

- Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha.

And when did you two guys get together?

When all this happen?

- I don't remember what the year was.

- It would've been 2016.

- Okay, yeah.

- Yeah, so a few years after.

So just to touch on, you know, the following years unfortunately my close friend and co-founder member, Chris tragically died in a car accident traveling to Oklahoma in 2014.

And so after that, you know, I personally had to kind of pivot a lot and we went through me and Jermaine kind of, you know, things kinda started to fell apart after that.

And we ended up actually closing the business, you know, the legal entity down.

And then I had moved away and ended up moving back.

And that's when things kind of started to resurge and come back around.

And that's kind of when Marcelino comes into the picture.

- Yeah, tell me about the business today, Marcelino?

- Oh, well today, besides focusing on artists and other creatives, we actually started switching over to local businesses.

Starting with arts connect, that was kind of one of our first clients.

And then that kind of grew from there meeting other local businesses outside of that.

So, yeah.

- Yeah, yeah.

Talk about getting that very first client, especially since when you started this thing kind of way back in high school, you know, it was just for these creatives and there wasn't really a business plan in place.

What was it like when you get the very first client?

- It was strange because, you know, I never intended to start a marketing agency and I would never liked the plan.

And so that's kind of when we morphed over from that CULT brand to what is now Create Uplift which is a more professional sounding and looking entity.

So, it was a big pivot to switch from total disorganization, running this online platform with CULT and then just through trial and error, finding out more about business operations and things like that.

- Yeah, yeah.

Tell me about your personal experiences as it relates to marketing and advertising and all that stuff, Marcelino.

- Well, from before when we first started out we were mostly in the music scene and learning from the music side of things to the business side of things was a little bit of a difference.

But then not so much of a difference as we got more into it.

So from marketing artists to marketing business kind of in the same way with photo, video, graphic design work.

- Were there are some specific things that you had to figure out once you lived with the business aspect.

- Yes.

- What were a couple of those things and then we'll go to break.

- Different meetings, going to meetings is a lot different compared to a local business and artist.

So that's a little different.

So that was kind of a little bit of a challenge but got more situated, comfortable.

- It became more business-like... - Yeah.

- As opposed to the creative shots of things.

- Yeah.

- Okay, all right.

Well, I'm gonna take a break here and we'll come back and we'll talk about a number of other things, okay?

- All right.

- It's time for another break, but there is a lot more to come.

We'll be right back.

- Welcome back.

Creative Uplift has a passion for community and they apply their creative talents to uplifting businesses and brands in our area.

You guys started doing all of this kind of, I guess hip hop stuff and things where young artists and things like that.

- Yeah.

- Now you move into kind of more structured stuff with businesses.

That's kind of where we left the last segment.

How has that transition worked for you?

- A large pivot.

So yeah, used to doing stuff with my friends.

Then we switch over to the boardroom meetings and things like that.

But we still really stay connected to like the roots of the business, which is built on creativity.

So creating things and less of the analytical marketing things.

Like creativity was always still gonna be at our core.

And now we're just introducing the more professional aspect of marketing and analytics and stuff like that.

- You guys talk a lot about community and all the meetings that I've been in with you and with you.

I mean, you guys do a lot of things for, as you say, you know, local artists, a lot of things for the community.

Why is community so important to you?

- Well, growing up, people don't like speaking that much.

And I always thought that was very negative and like why I don't like the people.

And I kind of wanted to change that with photos and video to showcase the cool side of Topeka.

So that kind of puts a big thing that I really wanted to push as we went forward with the company.

- Yeah.

- Does that work well for your businesses now that you're working with so many different businesses and stuff?

The whole idea of trying to change the brand of Topeka and that's what you're attempting to do.

- A lot of that stems from him and his efforts, but yeah I would say so, and we're pretty hyper-local focused company.

And that enables us to work closely with our clients and closely build closer relationships and stronger relationships.

But yeah, I think it is essential to the things that we have done.

And we're very fortunate to have been operating this business during this time when Topeka is in such a renaissance of implementing new things and new businesses.

We must've seen dozens of businesses open in the time that our business has started and we've been fortunate to work with a lot of them.

- When you sit down with a...

I'm gonna call it a business partner, can you start talking about branding and community and stuff like that.

Where does that conversation begin?

And typically, how does it end?

- It typically starts with sort of like an audit or an overview of the client and their current marketing schematic and campaigns and things like that.

And then we try to be really clear with the client and understand their goals.

It's very clear to establish their goals, what they need, and then blending that with what we believe that they need based on our professional opinion.

And then just trying to build a long-term relationship with each client.

And it's hard to adjust from... 'Cause all of our clients are very different.

- Sure.

- But marketing is a challenging thing because one day you might be working on something for a dog and the next day you're working on something for or maybe it's in the same hour that you're doing these things.

So you have to kind of really learn and understand each client and each brand at a really in-depth level to the point where you just become part of that company.

- Is it just the two of you or are there more people that work with Create Uplift?

- Mostly just us two right now.

There's some people who volunteer or freelance some things for us as well, which would be a numerous of different types of creative people outside of our realm of certain things.

So which would be maybe another photographer, an illustrator, a digital illustrator too, as well.

Some things that we can't do alone or by ourselves or more of a collaborative effort with some other people.

- Yeah, definitely like to spread and share the campaigns that we work on.

So we partner with other creatives, other agencies and things like that.

But for the business structure is currently just us two.

- Yeah, yeah.

For other entrepreneurs out there that are kind of like in your age group and stuff like that.

What's some of the direction what's some of the advice that you might provide to them.

- Okay, you can go first.

- Okay, great.

What's really cool, well, would I like to tell people that we are both self-taught.

We never went to school for any of this.

We didn't go to college at all.

I might have went for like a year, but decided that college wasn't the route I wanted to go.

- Sure.

- And I picked up a camera and just started learning everything that I could with my camera and then learning different programs and whatnot via YouTube.

So I went to college of YouTube and so, you know, getting out and doing things, not being afraid, not being shy in trying things, 'cause you never know who's gonna like what you create out of the knowledge that you have.

- That's interesting.

That's very interesting.

Your thoughts.

- The best advice I can give is one don't be afraid to fail.

- Yeah.

- Do not be afraid to fail.

You will fail a lot.

And then something I learned semi-recently is definitely focused on the day-to-day.

- Sure.

- A lot of entrepreneurs try to make grand business schematics and plans.

And you know, we're constantly shown images of great success and that's just not gonna happen unless you're really focused on that 24 hour period that you have in the day.

So definitely focusing on that day to day versus that long-term plan is essential.

- Gotcha.

Great advice.

Okay, that's our show for now.

I'd like to thank to Tobias and Marcelino for being here to talk about the aspects of using their business to create an uplift other businesses.

I'd also like to thank Kevin and Shana for being with us and providing us with some good energy solutions.

I hope you have enjoyed watching.

And that you've learned a few things about their businesses in this process.

And as always, if you know that unique business or unique management technique, we wanna hear from you.

So give us a call or drop us an email.

We look forward to seeing you next time.

(upbeat music) It's all about business.

And you've been watching, "Working Capital."

(upbeat music) - [Narrator 1] Envista is pleased to support "Working Capital."

Switch to empowered.

Switch to Envista.

Learn more at envistacu.com.

- [Narrator 2] GO Topeka's Entrepreneurial and Minority Business Development is proud to support "Working Capital."

We share the vision to assist local entrepreneurs with growing their business.

- [Narrator 3] Additional funding is provided by the friends of KTWU.