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Speaker 2
I either want this to be your dream job, or I want this to be the job that sets you up for your dream

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Speaker 2
it really is on me.

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Speaker 2
that failure is a part of the winning process in the long run,

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Speaker 1
everybody's just in this fear and panic mode, how do you put them at rest?

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Unknown
Welcome to start with a win where we unpack franchising, leadership and business growth. Let's go.

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Speaker 1
Ever wondered what sparks the journey from personal setbacks to entrepreneurial success? Today on start with a win. We're thrilled to welcome Amanda Bauer, fresh CEO of Enduring Legacy Company and a founder of Small Legacies with a passion for child development and family well-being. Amanda's ventures under the Enduring Legacy umbrella showcase her commitment to innovative solutions for parents and children alike.

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Speaker 1
So how did you go from an HR professional with a major personal setback to creating practical tools for families worldwide? Let's find out.

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Speaker 1
Amanda, welcome to start with the win.

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Speaker 2
Hi. Great. Thanks for having me.

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Speaker 1
You bet. You have such an inspiring story. And so many entrepreneurs and leaders have a major obstacle or major challenge. A, you know, something that is just absolutely tragic happened in their lives, unfortunately. And that's kind of the foundation for your story here. in the a climb out of that, that misery out of that hole and that, that desperation and difficulty.

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Speaker 1
And we look forward to hearing from you today about that. But I want you to give us a little bit about yourself. Tell us about your background, where you come from.

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Speaker 2
Yeah. I, am from Wisconsin and I, I live there currently. and my, my story kind of starts in 2017. I was a human resources manager for a large grocery store chain in Wisconsin, and my husband, Adam, was a sheriff's deputy. And, we had a one year old, and I was pregnant with our second. And, he unexpectedly passed away from a genetic heart condition.

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Speaker 2
And, of course, that was extremely devastating. And being pregnant at the time only compounded that devastation. but in hindsight, one thing that I really recognize now and, you talk about in your book a little bit, I recognize now that before Adam passed away, I had an external locus of control. And after he died, I don't know when that shift happened, but, there was a point that I realized, like, no one's coming to save me.

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Speaker 2
unless I kind of step up and do it. so in the, you know, switching to that internal locus of control, has been a really powerful thing for me, going through a traumatic event like that.

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Speaker 1
Wow. And how long? That was nine years ago.

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Speaker 2
Seven, seven years ago.

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Speaker 1
Seven years ago. Okay. Yeah. I mean, talk about, just a difficult situation, obviously, to, you know, be, a young parent pregnant with another child and have your spouse just suddenly and tragically pass away like that. I mean, what a horrible thing. I understand you, you did get some help from the sheriff's department. Is that is that correct?

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Speaker 2
Yes. they were extremely supportive through that. And, he he was we were at home the night he passed away. You know, it wasn't an incident that happened at work. but I got to meet with the, I remember very specifically going to meet with the sheriff's, department counselor the next day after he died. And I kind of had this feeling like, well, this this guy's in control in in a position of power.

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Speaker 2
Surely he can right this wrong. you know, he has the the power to to put this, make this issue right, even. I mean, I knew he wasn't going to bring Adam back, but I think it just highlights. I, I was looking to somebody else to kind of wave their magic wand and fix my life. that didn't happen, but they did provide me a lot of support, through that process.

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Speaker 1
Right. But you had to take the action then in order to, to, you know, move forward with this. I mean, we could and you're right, you know, external locus of control is where we're blaming everything else on the challenges that we face. Internal locus of control is we we own all the outcomes. So we actually take more control of our life in making that switch from external to internal locus of control.

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Speaker 1
And it's fascinating when you look at it because you go, I've heard it called going from a victim to a victor, and, I love that. In fact, I have one of my friends who's in charge of the, the wellness program at the sheriff's office here, uses that term quite a bit. And he's, he was shot in an incident and has gone through a lot of difficulty in his life.

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Speaker 1
But ultimately, it comes down to how do we own our lives now? And what was the what was that moment that made you take this? And, you know, obviously we have a grieving process and you have a Ted talk. so everybody, I encourage you to go watch Amanda's Ted talk. It's fascinating because she talks about this grieving process and the parallel of being an entrepreneur and a leader.

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Speaker 1
And it's it's fascinating because nothing is in a straight line. So, I mean, what what gave you that realization of. Okay, time for me to take control? I'm in the driver's seat now. I got to move forward. Or was this a gradual, realization?

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Speaker 2
It was definitely a gradual realization. But, in the beginning, at least, when I was kind of looking to other people, to, I felt like I. Somebody should give me a handbook on what I was supposed to do after your husband dies. And there isn't one. I've looked so, I at a certain point, you know, several weeks after he died, I realized, you know, no one there.

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Speaker 2
They're just looking at me, like, with a confused look on their face saying, what are you going to do? And I realized, oh, it really is on me. And it and that was scary. But also it's incredibly, empowering because you, you're you're in charge of your life and, you not not everyone has that, mentality. built in to them when they were growing up.

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Speaker 2
So.

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Speaker 1
So you found some clarity in your grieving? Yes.

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Speaker 2
Yes.

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Speaker 1
And after that, you decided you were going to create a legacy. And I think that's, you know, what your company is called also.

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Speaker 2
Yeah. So fast forward to the beginning of the pandemic. I was newly remarried. I had I was a stay at home mom by choice, but quickly realized that is not the, the job for me, because that requires a tremendous skill set that I do not possess. I started making these wood banks in my garage in honor of my late husband, Adam.

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Speaker 2
And they had they have three compartments for give, save, spend. And I engrave my kids names on them. And I thought, if there's my. My late husband, Adam, was really, passionate about financial literacy. And he liked helping the other deputies, you know, manage their finances and get out of debt. And that kind of thing. And so I thought, you know, if there's one thing I'm going to teach my kids about their their dad in heaven is, you know, that he was really passionate about this finance stuff, and I wanted to set them off on the right foot and have them learn from the beginning about giving, saving and spending their money.

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Speaker 2
So anyways, I just made these in my garage because I wanted them for my kids, and then my new husband encouraged me to to list them online, and they blew up from there. and became super popular to the point now that, you know, it's, it's expanded into our, our other businesses. But, that's kind of that's how it started.

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Speaker 2
It was this desire in my heart to carry on my late husband's legacy. but it it's expanded from there.

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Speaker 1
Interesting. And so tell me about the business then. So you're, because I know you also have, like, award paddles or something like that. Some other woodworking items. I mean, do you have a woodworking shop now? Is it?

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Speaker 2
We do. Yeah. So, we with the banks, they were getting so popular and we built out our own woodworking shop. But then we also realized we are never going to be able to grow this business. If my husband and I are only able to make banks all day. so we found a wood toy manufacturer to make the the wood part of the bank for us now, and we engrave them on top, the names on top, and send them out from our wood shop.

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Speaker 2
But then we were left with this wood shop that now we didn't really need as much of it anymore because the banks were being, made by someone else. And, there was another small business in Wisconsin called Navy Paddles. And the husband and wife were ready to retire. And, we took over operations of that company, obviously, with the name Navy Paddles.

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Speaker 2
The original owner was a Navy veteran, but we saw a lot of parallels with, you know, them wanting to honor, military achievement, retirement, you know, awards and things like that. It was the same desire I had in the beginning to honor my late husband's legacy. And I felt like, okay, we can really add to that cause and, be able to provide a really awesome product to the final end customer.

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Speaker 2
so we, we now have a few woodworking things going on, and then, and we, we were actively looking for a woodworking company to acquire when, when we, no longer had to make the banks ourselves. but then a week after we closed on the purchase of Navy paddles, there was another small business in our area that became available for sale.

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Speaker 2
And when I say in our area, it's two minutes away. It's a quilt shop that, has built, a fantastic reputation over the last 25 years. And I myself am a serial crafter. And, we felt like we could really add value and serve that community. really well. So we also took over operations of the quilt store, last year.

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Speaker 2
So we have this, now team of ten, you know, woodworkers, quilters, teachers who work on all of our projects, under the same umbrella.

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Speaker 1
Wow. So what do you what do you look for in a small local business when you go to make an acquisition of that, what key things do you look for?

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Speaker 2
There? Reputation. number one, like the, the business that they've built for themselves outside of I mean, obviously the numbers, the financials matter. but what do people on the street say about that business and what have their interactions been? If there are any employees, what do the employees have to say?

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Speaker 2
And, yeah, that, that those, those, like, intangible things to me were so much more telling and a, piece of information. I wanted to know so much more than just the financials of the business.

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Speaker 1
Gotcha. And what what's the first thing you say when you go into one of these businesses, to the employees that exist? How do you. Because everybody's afraid as soon as your business gets bought, everybody just in this fear and panic mode, how do you put them at rest? How do you put them at ease to say, all right, I've got a great future.

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Speaker 2
Oh yeah. well, they have to, know, like and trust you. and that takes time. And, you know, I think if you go in knowing that it's going to take time to develop a relationship. But if you are, you know, if you're honest about your plans for the future of the company, and, and have them be a part of that decision making process when appropriate as well.

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Speaker 2
so, yeah, it takes time and, it's a work in progress always. But also just being open and honest about it.

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Speaker 1
I love that honest. I mean, building the trust, building the confidence of the employees, letting them know. I mean, first of all, that, you know, you can be the best that you could possibly want to be here. And it's fun because, a friend of mine who's just a serial entrepreneur or one of the greatest entrepreneurs I've ever met, has told me that we become an entrepreneur to create an environment where people can be as successful as they want to be.

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Speaker 1
And that's really what it comes down to, is, is an environment there? How do you how do you focus on keeping that environment and not letting it kind of slip away because we just get so busy?

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Speaker 2
Oh, I love that. one thing I tell my team all the time is, I either want this to be your dream job, or I want this to be the job that sets you up for your dream job. Because I realize that, you know, not everyone's going to stay with me forever. but I want to. I want to be that, like, stepping stone that helps them land the gig that they really want.

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Speaker 2
And I think when I keep that front of mind for everybody, you know, it helps kind of frame, everybody's roles a little bit better. The one thing that we focus on, too is, you know, everybody has tasks that they don't really like, but we try to fill up our, our, day with tasks that really bring us joy individually and that looks different for each person.

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Speaker 2
so that is always kind of a work in progress to, you know, no one person gets bogged down with the crummy jobs.

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Speaker 1
Awesome. And a lot of your your leadership, your entrepreneurial base is built around willingness to try and talk to me about that phrase, because I've heard you say that in some of your talks.

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Speaker 2
Yeah. I think that willingness to try is something that is missing from a lot of people. I don't know if it's just the younger generations, and I don't want to generalize about a generational thing, but, that there's a, there's a spark that is missing at times from people. And if if they were just willing to put themselves out there or, be willing to fail.

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Speaker 2
because I think if you go into, you know, you have to you have to try, but also you have to be okay with the outcome that you might fail. and you have to know that failure is a part of the winning process in the long run, too, because, Michael Jordan didn't become Michael Jordan without missing a lot of shots along the way.

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Speaker 2
So I think about that a lot.

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Speaker 1
Right? It's only failure if you keep trying. Right?

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Speaker 2
Right. Exactly.

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Speaker 1
So, okay. So you've you've gone from a tragic situation. You, you kind of put some of your effort into a legacy item and found that a lot of people like it. By the way, I love the financial literacy piece. I think that is amazing. I encourage everybody to, to check out, Amanda's and Amanda's website and where you're selling these, by the way, what is what is that website?

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Speaker 2
So everybody. Oh, yeah. So we have a couple different company, but you can see us all on Enduring Legacy coca. and then we have links to Small Legacies, which is the, the bank, the piggy banks for the children and, navy paddles and, and our quilt shop so you can see us there.

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Speaker 1
Awesome. Did you guys start on Etsy or anything or.

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Speaker 2
Yes, I started on Etsy and still a huge fan of Etsy.

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Speaker 1
awesome, awesome. So we've we've got this particular desire, this drive that turned into a business. there are a lot of people out there whose dream is they want to become businesses. What advice do you have for them on that?

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Speaker 2
start, try.

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Speaker 2
You will learn. You know, you learn so much that you don't even expect to learn.

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Speaker 2
You sometimes, you know, you don't have to know five steps ahead. You just need to know 1 or 2 steps ahead, and then you can kind of survey the landscape and plan your next move. but yeah, just just try just put yourself out there and and try.

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Speaker 1
Awesome. Yeah. I mean, a friend of mine wrote a book that's called They Can't Eat You. And, I mean, that's what he keeps saying. They're not going to eat you, you know? You sure? You might not get it right at the beginning, but you get the opportunity to do it again, or you get the opportunity to pivot to something else.

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Speaker 1
And for some people, maybe being an entrepreneur is not what they're cut out for. But we those of us that have started businesses all know you're going to fail a few times before you find some the right way. So you just got to get those out of the way.

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Speaker 2
Absolutely. Yep.

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Speaker 1
So what do you what are you working on next? Any any more businesses coming down the road for you or what do you think.

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Speaker 2
Oh, definitely. I mean, right now I am still kind of recovering from last year and still, you know, getting things settled. And we still have a lot of work to do. but I definitely hope there's more brands, and more companies in the future. and just kind of I will keep an open mind and an open heart and we'll see what kind of comes our way.

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Speaker 1
Awesome. Biggest, okay, biggest realization of becoming, I mean, kind of a a CEO by accident, almost. I mean, obviously there's a lot of intention in everything that you did. But what's your biggest realization? And, you know, now being responsible for ten families and multiple businesses and getting product to customers, things like that.

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Speaker 2
I have I love it, I, it's in my blood to be an entrepreneur, but I also, wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. and it's it's so fulfilling and so hard at the same time. And,

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Speaker 2
And I love it, but, but it's hard, and I don't know that it's ever going to get easier, but that's okay. and, you know, one step at a time.

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Speaker 1
Right? Well, I, I mean, I've been running businesses for a while. I can tell you it never gets easier. We just get a little bit better. So, it's really kind of a cool concept when you think about it. we seek challenge as entrepreneurs and as leaders. And we don't want it to get easier because if it was easier we would get bored.

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Speaker 2
That's true.

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Speaker 1
So all we do is we just keep getting better and understand. All right. I'm, I might have a bigger failure, but it's going to make me a better leader. and it's a lot of fun when you look at it that way. Because again, it goes back to that or that internal locus of control. I own everything that happens to me.

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Speaker 1
And I'm proud of my failures and some of them, my go, you know, I'm more proud of others, but I wouldn't do that one again. But I learned something from it. It's, you know, the school of hard knocks is the, the best education, but the most expensive education you'll ever get, that's for sure. And that's what you go through when you start a business.

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Speaker 1
When you run a business, when you're a leader, is the school of hard knocks. Amanda, this has been an amazing conversation with you. And, you know, we appreciate all that you've done. And I really admire you for pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and moving on. And carrying forth that legacy of your late husband. I do have a question for you, and that's a question I ask all the leaders on the show.

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Speaker 1
And that's how do you start your day with a win?

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Speaker 2
Oh yeah. I, get cranky if I don't get enough personal time. So I, will I wake up an hour before my kids so that I can have at least a little bit of time in the morning to do whatever I want. And sometimes I scroll on my phone. Sometimes that's workout, you know, it's whatever I want to do that day.

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Speaker 2
but it makes me happy to at least get, like, a little nugget of time on the chaos.

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Speaker 1
I love it. You got to have some me time. I, I do the same thing. I have my me time first thing in the morning before I give everybody else my time. And it's it does great things to get your your motor running in the morning. Amanda Bauer Frisch, thank you so much for being on start with a win.

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Speaker 1
Thanks for all that you do. Everybody make sure you go check her out at those websites that, we, we talked about earlier and, if you need any, financial literacy help, the bank sounds like a great idea. I wish it was something like that, that we had when my kids were little, but, anyhow, everybody has the opportunity right now.

00:20:38:11 - 00:20:41:14
Speaker 1
Go check it out. And thanks for being on. Start with a win.