The Entrepreneurs Radio Show _080_Julia Rhodes

THE ENTREPRENEUR’S RADIO SHOW

Conversations with Self-made Millionaires and High-level Entrepreneurs that Grow Your Business

Copyright © 2012, 2013 The Entrepreneur’s Radio Show Page 1 of 26

EPISODE #80: JULIA RHODES

In this episode, Travis speaks with successful entrepreneur Julia Rhodes. Julia is a former teacher

whose ingenuity and dedication to making lives better led her to the creation of KleenSlate. Now Julia's

grassroots business has now grown to a company that not only caters to offices and classrooms but

also the healthcare sector.

Travis and Julia delve deep into the philosophies and practices that grew Julia's business to a multi-

million dollar company. Julia also gave some tips on what entrepreneurs should do to grow their

business. Steps like getting a coach, not being afraid to ask, as well as joining organizations among

others are discussed in detail and would definitely help guide entrepreneur to the success they all want

to achieve. Julia also discussed the importance of nurturing relationships with vendors and suppliers

which can help in the growth of their business. These are just some of the things that Julia and Travis

shares to their listeners in this episode of the Entrepreneur's Radio Show.

Julia Rhodes – Five things to focus

on when growing your business

Travis: Hey it's Travis Lane Jenkins, welcome to episode number 80 of the Entrepreneur's Radio

Show, a production of Rockstar Entrepreneur Network. Today I'm going to introduce you to rockstar

entrepreneur Julia Rhodes. Now Julia founded KleenSlate during one of the worst periods to start a

business which was 2001, just around 9/11. I believe the day after or just on or very near that period.

Now the impressive part is the level of incredible success that she's had in building this business. Now,

if you're a whiteboard-type person that likes to think and plan things out then you're probably are

already a client of hers.

In this episode, Julia talks about the 5 things that she believes that you should be doing to grow your

business. And they come in an order that's not the common way of thinking about things, although I've

got to tell you, I completely agree with what she's saying. So be sure and stay tuned, we've got a lot of

great information in this episode. She's a fun person to talk to. Also, stay with us until the very end if

you can because I want to share some inspiration with you. Plus, for those of you that are new to the

show, I want to tell you about a contest where you'll have a chance to win $73,000 in cash and prizes

plus a Lamborghini. So be sure and hangout with me until the very end. Everything we do is about

helping you as an entrepreneur take things to that next level.

http://www.rockstarentrepreneurnetwork.com/




Now before we get started I want to remind you that there are two ways you can take these interviews

with you on the go. The first is if you're an iTunes person you can go to

rockstarentrepreneurnetwork.com and click on the iTunes button right there in the upper menu and it

will take you directly to the podcast on iTunes where you can subscribe to the show there. The second

option is you're a streaming-type person, while you're at rockstarentrepreneurnetwork.com you can

click on the Stitcher button and download their free app that allows you to stream all of the shows you

like anytime, anyplace. Plus they have a cool way of introducing you to other shows that you may like

based on your listening preferences.

So, now that we've got all of that stuff out of the way, let's get down to business. Without further ado,

welcome to the show Julia.

Julia: Thank you Travis, thanks for having me.

Travis: You're welcome, I'm super excited to have you here. You and I were chatting, we were getting

so caught up and talking I thought, "I better hit record here because we're missing a lot of great stuff

there." So, what were you gonna say?

Julia: I was just gonna say, that's what I love about this show. It's that spontaneity if you will. And it's

that entrepreneurial spirit is about being spontaneous sometimes and just going with it, you know.

Travis: Exactly, and who knows where it's gonna go, right?

Julia: Exactly.

Travis: Hey, I don't know how familiar you are with the format. Would you mind giving us kind of a

quick view or feel of how you found the level of success that you have now?

Julia: Well, I started, I was a teacher for 14 years, I taught 8th grade English. And I was spending time,

countless hours in my classroom, even on the weekends after school, grading papers just to find out

where the students were and if they were understanding the concepts that I needed to teach them to

get to the next level. And it was taking up all my time. And I was a mother and I had a lot of other things

I wanted to do. And so I just needed a quick assessment tool to be able to immediately assess where

are they today, are they getting it right here, right now. And there wasn't one. So I went about inventing

products for the classroom to help facilitate that process of [Unintelligible speech 00:04:21] formative

assessment. And it just took on a life of its own and I ended up inventing the KleenSlate, erasers for the

instant dry erase markers. And then sold enough erasers to make paddles and again, listening to my

customer. They wanted a dry erase marker that didn't smell bad when you opened it up because they

http://rockstarentrepreneurnetwork.com/


http://kleenslate.com/




were gonna be with children. So I really listened to my customer and I created products based on

solving solutions in the classroom, and then as we grew we realized we were in a lot of different

industries. We weren't just in education. The products were being able to be used across your

curriculum, you can use them in training, you could use them-- Actually, there's another story I could tell

you about. Have we found Hollywood and Hollywood found us, and we made a name for ourselves by

putting an eraser on the ends of the dry erase marker for them to clean their slates. And because our

name was KleenSlate but we spelled it KleenSlate. But they remembered it and so we were known in

Hollywood as the KleenSlate, you know. Like, "Get us some KleenSlates. So it was fun because they

use powder puffs in the make-up department for 20 years, and they would tape them on to the ends of

the dry erase markers. And I sent them the erasers and they started using them, and I'd get a call, "We

need 1,250 tomorrow, FedEx-ed overnight." I'm like, "Okay, this is a good business." We start just

erasers right?

Travis: Right.

Julia: And then I got a call about 6 months later and they were like, "We had a drastic decline in

powder puff sales. You're going to be a millionaire." I was like, "Okay, I can deal with that." So now we

sell to movie companies all over the world, just because of that connection made in Hollywood.

Travis: Oh, too` funny. I have those erasers, I love those erasers on the end of the markers, I love

them.

Julia: It was funny because when I started, my only competitor 12 years ago was the finger. It was this

black finger disease of the 90's. Everybody was using their hands because the eraser was never there

and I was like being a teacher, I did my homework and it was a $1.8 billion market business and not

one had an eraser. And I was like, "I could get a little piece of this."

Travis: Unbelievable.

Julia: And some might get the call, I'd--

Travis: Yeah, exactly. So when you went from being a teacher to opening this business, how long

before you started having a level of financial freedom that you didn't have to worry about paying the

bills?

Julia: You know it's interesting because when you leave a career where you have really a solid base,

you got insurance, you've got a retirement, you don't think about that. But when you could've launched

into this entrepreneurial world, you're taking a risk. It's really a leap of faith if you will that you believe






enough on this that you're going to put every resources that you have into it. And that's what I did, I

took my retirement, I refinanced my house, I did everything they tell you not to do. And I just went out

there and I started looking for other opportunities, what is the patent about, get that patent. Now, you

can go to the big office supply companies because you have a patent and you have protection. And so I

started selling I think in the Office Depot was one of my first large mass retailers. And then between

Office Depot then Staples came on, so then I had Office Depot and Staples and I'd play them against

each other.

Travis: Right, of course.

Julia: To get in to their stores. And so, it wasn't very long before the company really started paying for

itself early on. I'd quit teaching, I didn't really have a salary, but I was selling into this market. And

everything I had I put back in to the company to grow the line. But then, because it was a mass

marketable product and there were so many different industries we were in, it was an easy sale. It was

a simple, easy tool to use. It wasn't a huge learning curve, and there was a need, you feel the need.

Travis: Yeah. Pretty simple, straightforward, not a whole lot of education, right?

Julia: Right. It's like-- But there were a lot of problems in Dry Erase when that came on. So it was

understanding what problems your customers were having. They had the ghosting boards, they were

using chemicals in classroom that kids were having allergies, reactions with, and headaches. So I had

to research inks, I had to research surfaces, I had to research plastics because I wanted to make sure

that everything was compliant with the rules and regulations of bringing the product into the hands of

children.

Travis: Right.

Julia: So that was an experience.

Travis: So, what are we talking about, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, what?

Julia: I would say 3 years. And then that's when I really started feeling confident that I had done the

right thing, I was going forward. Interesting story at one point. I had this eraser for the instant dry erase

markers. And I would put on my dry erase clothing and I would go to the trade shows because I didn't

have enough money for a trade show booth. So I made dry erase clothing and I would go to the trade

shows. It kind of looked sort of a mod look in outfit and I had dry erase in strategic places on the

clothes. And I would write and erase on myself. And people would always come up and they'd be like,

"Oh my gosh, where do we get the clothes?" And I was like, "No, I make erasers." And then they said,




"Oh my gosh an eraser for the--" I said, "How much would you pay for something like that?" And so

they gave me a price, and enough people mentioned that same price and that's how I decided what to

sell it for at that time because I knew very little about business. And when you don't know a lot about

business sometimes it's-- because you do things that maybe somebody from Harvard Business School

would never do.

Travis: Right.

Julia: That's kind of the direction that I took. So then it just grew from there. And then finally I could

afford-- I had to sell percentages of my company at one time just to do things like afford a mold. And

the next step would be, "Okay, I need to file another patent." Need to get a trade show. So I would sell

percentages of my company with the stipulation that I could buy them back a later date.

Travis: Yeah, that's--

Julia: So that was friends and family.

Travis: Right. Hey, our connection's getting a little crazy. Hold on just a second because I don't want to

mess your flow up and I have some questions. I want to give some feedback about what you just said

there. Let me dial you back real quick, okay?

Julia: Okay, sure.

Travis: Yes, okay, that sounds nice and strong there.

Julia: Okay.

Travis: So you know, there is a lot going on when you're doing face-to-face sales that I think most

people don't realize. And most successful business owners that I've seen have had some face-to-face

sales experience because from that a whole lot of information grows. I don't want to say that that's the

only way to become really successful. But what you were describing there by asking people what they

would pay and you were being innovative, you were doing market research, right? And you were able

to instantly read on their face because sometimes people don't say what they think, and you can read

on their face what they're not saying.

Julia: Exactly.




Travis: Because that's how I started my first businesses. I didn't have any money to market so we went

door-to-door and knocked on people's doors. And so the people where I live 10 years later, we become

incredibly successful and dominated a city of 4 million people. And a lot of people loved that story, but

for me, I got so much information with that interaction. Now, I had to get beyond not wanting to do that.

I didn't want to do that but I had to do it, right?

Julia: Exactly. I think that at the end of the day, what I've learned is that relationships. It's all about the

relationship. It's not the eraser, the paddle, the spoon or the fork, it's the relationship that you create

with that person, with that customer, because without customers we have nothing.

Travis: Right.

Julia: They rule.

Travis: That's a great point. Now, when you're scaling to really big like you have, how do you maintain

that relationship? Are you talking about relationships with vendors, are you talking about relationships

with customers, how do you maintain that when you get to be a big company?

Julia: Well, I think both. I remember meeting Jeffrey Bezos, we were both sharing the stage at a

conference and with Senator Kent Conrad of the North Dakota at the time. And I was like, "Oh my

gosh, I'm sharing the stage with Jeffrey Bezos and I had all my whiteboard tie and my clothes. And he

was talking about Amazon.com. And he comes off the stage, and we're talking, and I'm like, "What is

your advice? I'm a new company, I'm just starting now." And he writes on my whiteboard tie with my

whiteboard marker, "Customers rule". He said, "That's it, that's all there is." And then I was like, "Well

you know this isn't gonna stay. I'm just gonna have to internalize it." But I remember that advice and

when you have those relationships with your vendors, you have to have those face-to-face, and you

have to keep in touch with them, you have to know who they are, what moves them, what they're

involved in. Just keep your pulse on who your vendors are and keep your pulse on your customer. You

can turn a negative experience for a customer into a positive and have a customer for life. If you just as

how you handle it, what is your attitude about it and how are you willing to stand behind your product or

your service. We get emails all the time saying, "We've never had such great customer service before."

And for me it's the people that I hire, the people that are in my company that are the face of KleenSlate,

I mean, they go home and dream about it.

Travis: Right.

http://www.amazon.com/




Julia: They're so impassioned about it that when they answer that phone they know what to say, they

know how to handle it because I've empowered them. I'll say, "What would you do if you were me? Do

that."

Travis: Right.

Julia: And I think that if you can instill in your employees, really your associates. If you can instill in

them the value of those relationships, then they might be going with top tier vendors just on the phone

because they need something. And they already have that relationship so it's easy to pick up the phone

and call them if you need them. So, I think that's how we've been able to-- As we scale up, we bring on

people with similar values and keep that message going, I think that's really how it is. I really work for

people that work for me, you know.

Travis: Right. So it sounds to me like you've done something that-- I made a mistake early on but I

caught it and I got a hold of it. And a lot of business owners need to go through this. They internalize

negative feedback and take it as an insult when really it's just a helpful advice for improvement even if

the person is angry. They may be angry or upset about something. And so the delivery of it may not be

as kind and sweet as you'd like it to be. But you really have to look at this as an opportunity to refine

how you're doing business. And it sounds to me like you've taken that kind of attitude and you've

manifested that or you saw to it that the people that come on board within your company have the

same type of attitude that, "Okay, so we got this wrong. What do we need to do to get it fixed?"

Julia: Exactly, and we are the customer, I just put myself in the customer's shoes. What would I want?

Now, I know how I feel when I'm not treated well by a company and I know how I feel when I am. And

when you're treated well-- We've been a word of mouth company, we've been really grown grassroots.

We don't do a lot of advertising, we don't put ads in magazines. We just have always been very limited

with our resources and grew slowly but organically, and really let our customers be our sales reps. We'll

be at a trade show and people will come back and say, "Oh my gosh, we have this product at our

school and everybody's using it. We have to show it to you." And then they'll bring their principal back,

and then they'll bring their people back. And we'll be 5, 6 deep in people, but we tell them about what

we've done and the solutions we've created, and they're nodding they're their heads. And so, that's

when you know you're a success for me in my opinion, that you've won that customer over and they're

going your evangelist if you will.

Travis: Yeah, exactly. I completely agree with you. So, what's the age of the company Julia?

Julia: I started my company in September of 2011, so really the day of 9/11 I was driving down to San

Francisco to look at a packaging company and I was signing papers as a new business.




Travis: Wow.

Julia: So, it was interesting from there and then I grew the company at the time of-- It was difficult times

and doing the recession we continued to grow. There was never really a down for us. So that meant

that we really were in an industry that was holding pretty solid. And schools were losing money and

there weren't any budget. Being a teacher I did my homework and said, "Well, where is the money, let's

go there. Let's take our product to where the money is because we know our product is making a

difference in the classroom. Now you just have to find money to pay for it.

Travis: And so, well that's an interesting vein that we go down. So how did you do the research to

figure out where the money was?

Julia: Well, again, because I was an educator I understood that market. I understood education and

where the money was. I just said, "Okay, Title I moneys, they were always moneys from the federal

government for Title I and their product was a great fit. It was a teaching aid tool, a learning tool. So

there were certain terminology. And so we found that raise to the top moneys, what states were getting

moneys from the government for education. And so you go to those shows, the trade shows and those

states where you target those school districts. So it was more targeted if you will, so it was just doing

your homework and-- I'm a great researcher, I could've gone into research had I not started a business.

I love that.

Travis: How did you get into the Hollywood group?

Julia: That's a funny story. I just started this business and I had this dream that Martin Scorsese was

doing a TV commercial for me. And he was holding up the marker with eraser and he said, "These are

great, where have these been?" And I woke up and I knew that I had a friend in Hollywood who was in

the business and I called him, I said, "Look, I had this dream and I don't know where it came from. Who

uses dry erase markers in the filming industry?" And they gave me the name of a company called Film

Tools. And I sent the erasers down to Film Tools and then use them in the camera department to write

on their slate boards even though they had the digital coming out they're always re-using dry erase and

erasing just to mark scenes. So I got it down to that apartment and they started giving me calls, "We

need more 1,250 overnight it tomorrow." And I'm like, "Wow", hey and I was making these up in my

living room. Here's the hot glue gun and here is my eraser cap, and here is my felt. I had the football

team coming and we make up the erasers and send them off. And then we'd get another column and

another column. Pretty soon it was, 6 months later we had a call from Film Tools and they said, "We've

been using powder puffs from the make-up department for 20 years. We tape them on to the ends of

the dry erase markers and then that's what we've been doing." He said, "We've had a drastic decline in




powder puff sales since we brought your product on to the market. You're gonna be a millionaire." And I

was like, "Yes, fantastic." So that was a fun story. And here's another fun story about that. I was at a

yard sale in Santa Fe, New Mexico and it was a high-end yard sale. Obviously, he'd been in the movie

business, there were movie jackets, the leather movie jackets, and the designer girlfriend, the designer

sunglasses. And my mother was with me and she walks up and there's this pack of dry erase markers

and she said, "My daughter makes erasers for these dry erase markers." And he turns to her and says,

"Your daughter is KleenSlate?" And she said, "She's right over there." And he goes, "Oh my gosh, I've

got to get her autograph." He comes over and he gets my autograph and he goes, "You don't know

how hard it is to change the way people do things in Hollywood but you did. You've made a name for

yourself."

Travis: Wow, that's wonderful.

Julia: I know, I said, "You can rent some out and reuse some." And he goes, "No, we just throw them

away and buy more." I'm like, "Okay." And I was trying to make a quality product that wouldn't fall apart,

you know.

Travis: Right. Yeah, there's a lot of industries to where they actually do the opposite of that is they'll try

to make sure that a product falls apart after a couple of uses so that it does become a disposable

product, right?

Julia: Uhm hmm

Travis: To increase consumption.

Julia: Exactly. And I had problems with that because I'm definitely aware of the environment. And as a

teacher I had limited resources and I needed tools that were gonna be durable, they're gonna hold up

because my money was coming out of my own pocket most of the time. And so that plan

obsolescence was not part of my MO when I created products. So it was interesting because people

did ask me. They go, "How are you gonna make any money? Because people are just gonna keep

them around forever." And I'm like, "Oh I'm so delighted, my website will be on there too." I have stories

about people calling me that found some of my original erasers when I couldn't afford to put the extra

penny to put the logo on it. I would make a label and tape them on to the erasers. That's how low tech

we were and they were like, "I finally found your website. I found I have this eraser with your little taped

on logo." And I was like, "Oh my gosh, that's like 3 years old."




Travis: Hey, I was thinking about 1 thing. Number 1, I'm thinking about your business model as I'm

listening to your story. One thing that you said that I don't think you realize you said, you said you

started in 2011, I think you meant 2001, right?

Julia: Oh, I'm sorry 2001, 9/11 is--

Travis: 9/11

Julia: Yeah, 9/11/2001.

Travis: Yeah.

Julia: So that was 12 years now.

Travis: Hey, let's not cut 10 years off, no.

Julia: I know. Well, you know what happened was what I did do, because going back to your question

about building products. I wanted that-- So I realized that I had created some products that were very

durable, gonna be here tomorrow. But certain things can happen to whiteboards. People use chemicals

on them. Actually, the whiteboard companies sell chemicals to clean your whiteboard that actually take

the surface off your white boards. And so they're creating that idea, "Okay, now you got to go buy

another one, now you go buy another one."

Travis: Right.

Julia: So I decided I was gonna make replacement parts for my paddles. So I did replacement

surfaces. If anything happened you go buy surfaces. Teachers were buying markers 3 times a year. I

wanted them to come back to KleenSlate to buy the KleenSlate markers because the points didn't push

in, it has low odor, non-toxic. So as I built my-- I wanted to be that teacher's pet in the classroom with

our products. So I created really the business model, sort of like the Gillette business model. I had a

great eraser and these were the blades.

Travis: Yeah. Now, one thing about your business model, it requires a lot of cash for inventory, right?

Julia: Uhm hmm

Travis: And so, that's one of the challenges with scaling, right? Especially in the beginning when you're

cash poor.




Julia: Oh my goodness, I could tell you stories. But that just in time inventory. You almost have to have

the orders before you get the containers to come in.

Travis: Right.

2; And that's what's happening now, but it took a long time to get there in that idea of, "Okay, what can

we do to reduce holding certain inventory?" We just actually launched our new Clean Sleeve on our

KleenSlate paddle where you could change out templates, because we were holding inventory-- We

have a handheld whiteboard and it's sort of like a whiteboard on a handle, so it's a paddle. So it was a

product that had every child raising their hand if you will. So you have that engagement going on in the

classroom. And teachers would say, "Well, we want graph and lines because we could customize it.

We want blank and blank, or, we want [Unknown word 00:27:46] and music. I was like, "Oh my gosh, I

was holding all these different kinds of inventory." So if I had a sleeve and I could slip in different

templates into that clear sleeve, then I wouldn't be holding so much inventory. So I sort of went towards

standardization. So here's a classroom set of 12, you can buy them in sets of 12. How many you could

build from there? So those are the kinds of things that I ended up doing down the road.

Travis: Clever. So how long do you carry inventory, is it 45, 90 days, or what?

Julia: Oh, this is interesting. Also, in carrying inventory, you have to work out better terms with your

manufacturers as well as your suppliers. And that's one thing I learned early on because if you're

buying product, it's overseas, and a lot of times you have to pay for that product before it ever leaves

the shore. And then you're on the ocean for 3 weeks before you ever get it to your-- 3 to 4 weeks. So

you've got 2 months where it cashes out. So you had to make terms for everybody. And I would pay 30

days after I received the product to the warehouse, and that really helped free up my cash flow.

Travis: Right.

Julia: Doing creative things like that is having your manufacturers as your partners. It's getting

everybody who's working with you as your partner.

Travis: Yeah. Well, it goes back to what you mentioned early on is if you have good relationships with

your vendors, you can set-up net 45's, net 60's, net 90's. Where just like you're saying, you can delay

the amount of time before you have to pay them. But vendors look for consistency, if they know on a

regular basis that they can count on you for a couple of things, not just payment, but who you are as a

person, that you operate with integrity, that you deal with problems when they arise, and that you're fair.




All of those things normally will make a vendor very conducive to working with you. At least that's been

my experience, do you agree?

Julia: Exactly. And that's what it is, again, those relationships. It's like our relationship with Staples, we

have a great relationship with Staples, and when they did their did their due diligence on KleenSlate

they said, "We're not in business to put companies out of business. We've researched you, we've seen

your record, we want to do business with you." So that says a lot. You put your business in place, you

put your house on order and you show up, you participate, you give back, all of those things that you

have to do to stay in front of your vendors and your customers.

Travis: Yeah. I don't hear that being discussed very often. And I've seen businesses that torment their

vendors because they buy a lot of stuff from them and the vendors dread dealing with them. And I've

wanted a vendor, when they see my number coming up, I want a smile on their face, right?

Julia: That's what my patent lawyer says.

Travis: Oh yeah?

Julia: Because I love talking to you, because I always leave smiling. And he goes, "That doesn't

happen all the time."

Travis: There you go, right. Because there's a lot of people that are business owners that want to reign

terror on everybody and you can get away with that but you'll pay for it in the long run.

Julia: Right.

Travis: It's much better if someone gets a smile on their face when they see your number come up.

You can get away with calling on a Sunday, or calling on a Saturday, or calling after-hours and saying,

"Hey listen, I'm in a bind. Can you cut this turnaround from 3 weeks to 5 days?"

Julia: Oh, definitely.

Travis: Right? And that's a critical part of building a business from a little infant to something that's

bigger, and even scaling it on a very large scale.

Julia: Sure.

Travis: Agree?




Julia: I totally agree. We had a bit coming in, a quote for a bid. They wanted 1 to 3 million markers and

I'm like, "Oh my gosh, that's the biggest quote we've ever gotten from markers with erasers", couldn't

get the markers with erasers. And so I was able to call, I thought it was my inside person form Staples,

and I'm like, "Did you put this in?" he go, "I didn't have anything to do with it", he said, "I'm boards.

Boards and markers are 2 different people." I said, "Do you have any suggestions on how to bid this?"

And he goes, "Be very aggressive" And I was like, "Oh, that's all I needed." But they were willing to tell

me. "I don't know anything about it but I can tell you, be aggressive." And then so we went in there

being aggressive and saying, "We want to win it", how much do we want to win it, what are we willing to

compromise, how low can we go and still win this bid?

Travis: Uhm hmm

Julia: And so, I think we were the lowest bidder that we know. But it happened during the shutdown so

now we're waiting to shut down, kind of shut down a lot of things.

Travis: That's funny.

Julia: But it was exciting to know that we have those relationships that we could call and ask those

questions.

Travis: Right. So is your business still privately held or public?

Julia: Oh, private.

Travis: Private? You're gonna keep it private?

Julia: Yeah.

Travis: You don't want anybody telling you how to run your business?

Julia: Well, it's not that. We're so busy growing right now, I think if we were gonna go to that point, we

would have to probably be a lot larger than we are. We're still in those growing changes. I think we're

always just launching into the health care industry. Very exciting stuff we're doing with health literacy

and giving-- Right now we give every student a voice by giving them a handheld whiteboard that they

can respond and every child in class raises their hands. So they're engaged and responding, and

they're communicating. And in the hospital setting, there was a need for a tool for the patient to

communicate with. Maybe they intubated, they're coming out of surgery. So we went in to this health




care and they actually found us. And then from there spawned a whole new initiative of teaching the

children health literacy. Because then as we did our research we found that there was a huge need to

teach health literacy in our society because people don't know how to read medications, they don't

understand what's going on. You get to the doctor and there's white coat brain erase and you forget

everything. So here was a tool that maybe if we could teach the children then the children could go

back and teach their parents, and that would be the way to raise the literacy level in our country. And so

that's kind of what we're doing right now, it's like a whole new thing for us, we're very excited.

Travis: Do you share what your revenue levels are publicly?

Julia: No.

Travis: I don't want to overstep boundaries here.

Julia: No, we're doing very well.

Travis: Good.

Julia: Yeah. We're paying for ourselves.

Travis: What's that?

Julia: We're paying for ourselves, we don't have a lot of debt which I think is good.

Travis: That's good. So, let me ask you, in scaling up a business that's had the level of success that

you've had, what have you learned? If you were to boil it down to the 5 things that you feel like

someone should focus on in building a business, what would they be?

Julia: I would say, number one, especially if you're just starting off, you want to make sure that you

have, maybe you have coach. I think is coaching is critical, when I first started it I joined a program

called Big Fish Nation. It was a year-long program, coaching, mentoring, developing a community, a

network of people that you could go to. And that mentorship really helped me understand about

business. So really understanding the business that way and help them by being mentored from others

that have already been there with like-minded folks.

Travis: Right.




Julia: And it helped me become more focused and taught me how to use my time better and use my

resources better. So really working smarter not harder.

Travis: Right.

Julia: And those kinds of things that you can get from a really good coaching program. I think another

thing that really helped me again was not being afraid to ask. No doesn't mean no, it just means not

right now. And so, don't burn any bridges because you never know when maybe that competitor might

become your partner down the road. And I would say definitely do your homework, not only do your

homework but turn it in, so you'll follow it all the way through.

Travis: Spoken like a true teacher, right?

Julia: That's right. Because that will understand who your competitors are, understand the market. You

don't want to go into a meeting with somebody and have them ask you questions you can't answer. You

need to let them know that you understand their business, that maybe you can solve a problem that

they don't even know that they have because you've done your research on it. I think join organization,

and that I became certified as a well-known company way back in 2002, because I was looking for

mentors, I was looking for women in business. I had a very difficult time, I was an inventor, and all of a

sudden launched into this entrepreneurial world and then business world that I knew nothing about.

And so, that enabled me to meet people. I think I remember meeting Bob Gonzalez from Frito-Lay at

one of the meetings and here I was, I was just an eraser. I don't know what kind of gall I have but I said,

"Do you use dry erase in your corporation?" He said every room has dry erase. And I said, "Who do

you use as your office supplier?" And he said Office Depot. And I said, "Would you be willing to go back

to Office Depot and request my product?" So it was really going in through the backdoor and he did.

And then I ran into Office Depot at a trade show and there I was in my white board clothing, I walk up, I

handed them the product, they go, "Yes, we've done our research but there's a patent on this product."

And I said, "I'm the patent." They go, "Really? And you're a certified woman on business, okay." So

really that supplier diversity angle helped me get in the door. I had to do all the work but at least I got in

the door. And then I was able to sell myself. There were times that I would go to these meetings and

they were all men. And I was sitting there, and they're like, 'Well, where's the guy that's supposed to be

with you?" And I pull up my whiteboard paddle with a little face, drill a guy, go, "What do you think about

this? [Unintelligible speech 00:39:18]."

Travis: Do you agree?

Julia: Try to make fun, you know. They didn't think it was as funny as I did.




Travis: I think it's funny.

Julia: But it was funny. And you have fun and you try to be memorable, again, back to those

relationships. But one thing I think really is important in business, since starting out in business, you

have to show up that face time, that's so important. Show up, you have to participate. Maybe you're

sitting on a panel, maybe you're donating products for a good cause for their foundation. You're doing

something to give back. Maybe you're sitting on one of their committees or their boards. And then you'd

have to, you give back. Where is your give back to the world if you will. It's not just about you, it's not

just about your business, and it's a share the wealth philosophy if you will. If it's not money, it's time to

give back on inventors calling me. And I always give them at least a good direction to go. I'm not in the

business of making money mentoring inventors. But I'm always able to say, "Hey, here's some things to

look out for, take care of this. Here's some connections." I can always send them on the way. But that's

sort of my give back, I go into the classrooms and talk to kids about innovation and do inspiring talks to

college groups that are just going into business, things like that. That's what I give back.

Travis: Well, you know Julia, from my perspective. One of the things that I see about you is you're in

constant action.

Julia: Yes.

Travis: And so, that's a key part of success. It's funny, when you start pushing on the same thing in a

multiple of directions, that same thing being a business on multiple of directions. They start all

connecting dots with one another and things really start coming together. I'm gonna back over this and

make sure I did a good job of listing. So the first one I got was, number 1, was get a coach. I love that

advice, and the reason why I think it's so valuable is it allows you to get a perspective from someone

that doesn't have a vested interest in your business or what you're doing beyond being a coach for you.

So they can be impartial and maybe they don't allow you to gloss over the things that you're glossing

over and they get you to focus on the things that you're missing, obviously. Do you agree with that and

is that why you feel like a coach is so important?

Julia: Exactly. And for me, sometimes it was just the terminology. I had no idea what ROI meant or

EDI. I was coming from this bureaucratic PTA, we're all in to the EDI, ROI world. And so having the

coach help me how to like role play this conversation I'm gonna have with Office Depot or with Staples.

And just having somebody to be there, to listen, and how do I price a product, all of those things come

through that coaching.

Travis: Right. Yeah, definitely agree. Don't be afraid to ask. Now, that's being bold enough to press

several buttons and live with whatever can go wrong or whatever does happen, right? And to me that's




how being bold enough to ask this very high up guy with Frito-Lay that embodies what you're saying

when you say don't be afraid to ask, correct?

Julia: Exactly, because if you don't ask how are you gonna know. We can always say no but then that

leads to that next one, and they'll lead to [Unintelligible speech 00:43:28] yes down the road

sometimes. But going back to the Frito-Lay and Bob Gonzalez, one thing I thought was also, I met him

a few years later after I had gone in to Office Depot and we were successful there. And I said, "I just

have to tell you, that opening the door that you did for me, that helped change my business that helped

change the direction we were going", and he came back, "You know, nobody ever comes back and

says thank you. That really means a lot to me." And that's how the importance of saying thank you to

those people that help get you there because everybody who you meet along the way really is going

with you on that ladder of success. Go on, number 3.

Travis: Yeah, you know, I heard that Oprah quit doing the Book of the Month Club because no one

ever showed any appreciation.

Julia: Interesting.

Travis: And anybody that ever got recommended through her book of the club become an instant

bestseller. And for years and years and years-- So yeah, it's interesting that you say that. Number 3,

don't burn your bridges. I see that's a mistake often. The person doesn't need you, or they don't need

this vendor, or they don't need so and so anymore. So the way that they exit and the way they handle

things is done with such a lack of thought planning or care that it disintegrates or greatly reduces the

chance of them ever going back and reviving that relationship, right?

Julia: Exactly, because if you think it's about the money you're wrong. Again, it goes back to those

relationships, you know. If you're the one that has to take a hit but you keep that relationship and you

do it with grace and style, then that is what's going to take you to that continued relationship. You have

the opportunity to, the next day, maybe come back in again. There was an example of that with one of

my large vendors that they want some private labeling done, we did it. We didn't really know about that

at the time, we learned through it. And they ended up pulling the product from the market for another

reason and we got stuck with a lot of inventory with their name on it. It's like, "Okay, how can I turn a

bad into a good?" My mother always said, "You can take a bad and turn it into a good, that's how you

approach it." So I was like, "Okay, let's give all these products to feed the children who then will help

children in schools, and then we'll take the financial hit." Not that I could, but I didn't really have much of

a choice. But I could've been very angry about it, I don't want a business with you, and I was like,

"Okay, we'll take that hit", and we became the only company that continued with this very large vendor

that today we're still in business with them and growing every day.




Travis: Great example. So do your homework. Now, I really like this, you did a brilliant job of coming up

with this stuff off the top of your head. Do your homework, for me it ties in a little bit with get a coach

and I'll tell you why. Because let's say that you are gonna go present to a group of people. If you don't

have the vocabulary and the vernacular to speak to those people, and they will pick it up.

Julia: Oh yeah.

Travis: So, when I see people talking business numbers, when they aren't using the proper vernacular,

then that tells me that they're not an astute business person, right?

Julia: Exactly.

Travis: And so I want to drive home the importance of not having-- So, in important situations if a

person has done their homework, they understand that vernacular. And sometimes you can't get it just

in doing homework, you need someone that's been there before that can say, "Listen, when you go in

there this is gonna happen and this is how you handle it."

Julia: Exactly. You need that champion, that person that's gonna stand there, and like you said, that

coach that you can go back to and they say, "You know, when you get there, make sure you know this,

this, and this."

Travis: Right.

Julia: And here's where you can go find some of these information, you know. Exactly. I can't say

enough about the importance of having a coach.

Travis: Yeah, and so is that along the lines of what you were thinking about when you said do your

homework also?

Julia: That's part of it and the other is when you walk in, let's say you make a presentation. Like we're

doing a presentation this week and we're going into a hospital, and we're talking to them about what

we're doing with this teach the children program. And instead of using QR code, we're talking about QR

codes that's one of my hot new buttons right now. I'll talk to you about that in a second, but we make

sure that QR code was a QR code from the hospital. When they scanned it, it would take them right

back to their website. So doing little things like that, that personal bit of information that you know about

a company. What is their buttons, those kinds of things can help you in that, doing your homework as

well. So make sure that when they look at your presentation, you're talking to them about something




that they done, a word they've won that's let them know that you care enough about them to have done

your homework. Like you said, you using the right vernacular, you understand their business, you're

using your personal information about them, makes them feel like, wow, everybody likes to know about

them, hear something good about themselves, right?

Travis: Right. An example I have people that--

Julia: That's sort of what I meant.

Travis: Yeah, I have people that want to be on the show and they know absolutely nothing about the

show or not very many specifics. And if you really want to get on someone's platform and share your

information, you should know what you're referring to. It's naive, right?

Julia: Exactly.

Travis: Okay, so number 5, join organizations. So for me, I think a business owner should be in a

multiple of organizations for a variety of reasons, the different people you meet, the different angles of

what they're teaching, the relationships, do you agree with that?

Julia: Definitely. Because the more organizations you're a part of, the more connections you have, and

you never know when you're gonna meet that person. Sometimes it's just that one person you might

[Unintelligible speech 00:50:56], it might be 300 people in a room and all you need to do is just meet

one.

Travis: Right. Now, entrepreneurship can be a very lonely venture, right?

Julia: Uhm hmm

Travis: And so for me I found organizations allow you to, at least entrepreneur-type or based

organizations allow you to get together and speak with people that are going through the same things

as you. And for me I prefer to be surrounded by entrepreneurs more often than not, are you the same?

Julia: Exactly. I think that entrepreneurs are so inspiring. I love that, I love being around them, they're

exciting, they're people that are taking action on ideas. And it always fills me up again after spending

time with them.

Travis: Yeah, they're creative, they're action takers, you've got to be pretty brave to put things on the

line. You're constantly gambling with your future.




Julia: Right, and a good rule of thumb for me is when you do show up at the events is being more

interested than interesting because people like to talk about themselves.

Travis: Right. Really good point, I agree.

Julia: So let them, and then let them [Unintelligible speech 00:52:24], yeah, I think important. But it

does open up a lot of opportunities when you join organizations.

Travis: Yeah. We're running a little long on time and I did send you 3 questions because I wanted you

to be able to think about them for a little while. So are you prepared, did you jot those down on your dry

erase board?

Julia: You're so funny. But yes, I did think about those 3 questions and go for it.

Travis: Okay. So are you ready?

Julia: We sort of covered one when you asked what book or program made an impact on me.

Travis: Yeah, so what book or program made an impact on you that you'd recommend?

Julia: I recommend, again, it goes back to a coaching program, any coaching program that I think is

reputable and has what you're looking for would be recommended. But I did Big Fish Nation, it was a

year-long coaching, mentoring and community program and it provided that goal setting, know where

you're going, action-oriented activities. It taught me to stay focused, spending more time and better use

of my time and resources. Kind of combines business development with self-care because if you can't

take care of yourself you're not gonna be good for anybody and that's really important. So there's that

integrated, spiritual approach to business development. So there were big fish retreats, kind of kept

doing track-grounded and help me maintain that perspective and energy, I put energy into what I

wanted to grow. So having a vision with intention, giving bold actions and really a supportive group of

like-minded business people.

Travis: Right. So, now is that business bigfish.com, or what was it?

Julia: It was Big Fish Nation.

Travis: Bigfishnation.com

http://bigfishnation.com/




Julia: Uhuh, I think it is .com, Lauren Beller, I can shoot you the email after with the contact.

Travis: Yeah.

Julia: And I've kept in touch with those ladies over the years, and some, one of the [Unintelligible

speech 00:54:43] in my book, I sent you a book in that package that you haven't gotten yet.

Travis: And so is it a group for women or men and women?

Julia: Men and women.

Travis: Okay.

Julia: This one was for women.

Travis: Okay.

Julia: The one that I joined at the beginning, but there are men that are involved and we read books,

and business books, and things like that. And we keep journals, and there's a lot of writing going on

and goal setting, and vision really, where do you see yourself 10 years from now. And how about some

living, breathing document, you're always working with it, you're always bringing it back out because

things do change. You do things and you move on. So that has been very instrumental in my approach

to business.

Travis: Right, wonderful, great resource, thank you for that. What's one of your favorite tools or pieces

of technology that you're recently discovered, if any, that you'd recommend to other business owners

and why?

Julia: Well, this is really exciting for me because I'm in a low-tech business, right? I'm the dry erase

paddle, marker, eraser, we don't need batteries.

Travis: Right.

Julia: But we do know that there's a need for how are you gonna connect with the digital world. And I

found the QR code, do you know what a QR code is?

Travis: I do.




Julia: Okay, that quick response code, it came out of the bar code. It was used for retail and record

keeping. Nowadays, you scan everytime you buy anything at the store, you've got a bar code on there.

But the QR code allowed you to capture images and convert information, whether a coupon, a business

card, you could launch an email, you could link to social medias. I think I sent you a couple of little ones

we just created. You could launch how to videos. In my world that's a big thing. So anything you can

think about, you can put on to a QR code. So we're just kind of discovering that and how we could use

that in education, and we can print a bar code on our material that goes in the dry erase sleeves I was

talking about that would link you back to wherever you want them to go. Maybe it's the how to apply,

how to maintain your whiteboards, maybe it's a coupon where you can buy a classroom set for

Christmas for somebody, you know.

Travis: Yeah.

Julia: So there's so many opportunities. We're using it now with the health care. You can have a bar

code that sits on your-- And it's really a smart phone, and you get a phone, everybody's having phones

these days. And you scan it and it downloads information and it pulls it right up. It can even call a

hospital, it could connect your doctor. And it's you getting away from the paper because paper can be

overwhelming sometimes.

Travis: Right. And paper turns into just data islands that's in some box somewhere, right?

Julia: So the QR code, really it's data matrix code and it can be any color. It used to be only black and

white but now they can do all kinds of things with it.

Travis: Very cool.

Julia: And they're fun and they're free. You can go on an create your own data matrix code for free,

and then you have it. And you can stick it out on your business cards and all kinds of fun stuff.

Travis: Well, you're becoming the techie aren't you?

Julia: I know. So all of sudden hi-tech meets low-tech. Very sexy.

Travis: So, what famous quote--

Julia: They're dating.

Travis: What's that? They're dating. Hi-tech and low-tech are dating.




Julia: Yeah.

Travis: What famous quote would best summarize your belief or your attitude in business?

Julia: I thought about this one a little bit. And I think it goes back to again, it's about those relationships,

and there's a quote by Sam Walton, and he said, "There is only one boss, the customer. And he can

fire everybody from the CEO down simply by spending his money somewhere else."

Travis: Very true.

Julia: That was just one because it really is about the customer in any business you're in and you have

to know who they are and understand them or you don't have a business.

Travis: Yeah, I agree 100%. How do people connect with you?

Julia: Our website, where easy to connect them, I'm just [email protected] for my email and our

website is KleenSlate.com and that's Kleen like Kleenex. And I chose the name KleenSlate because I

love to smile. And when I said KleenSlate Concepts I was smiling, I was like, "That's it, that's the one.

I'm starting myself with a KleenSlate", and I was a play with words, being an English teacher I was

having a lot of fun with that. And I ended up with KleenSlate, and I just loved the name.

Travis: So spell that just to be sure.

Julia: It's KleenSlate.com

Travis: Easy enough.

Julia: And we have a Facebook page, and our QR codes, I'll send you those. You just scan them, send

you right to us.

Travis: Wonderful, I appreciate you giving us a peek behind the scenes with your business and kind of

your journey as an entrepreneur, and the things that you've learned and the resources that you

mentioned. This is important in helping people deconstruct success and reconstruct it for themselves,

right?

Julia: Right. And it's definitely a journey. You've been there, I love your story too and your continued

venture and journey into the entrepreneurial world and into the minds of the entrepreneurs.






Travis: Thank you.

Julia: It's very inspiring, so I wish you great success there as well and keep in touch.

Travis: Yeah, definitely. Can you hangout like 2 more minutes?

Julia: Sure.

Travis: Excellent. So listen, I want to remind you that you can find all the links to the books and

resources mentioned in the show in the show notes section. Just go to

rockstarentrepreneurnetwork.com. It's a new site that we've been building out that's completely focused

on giving you the resources to help you grow your business. Before I close the show today, I want to

remind you that building a profitable business is a formula, right Julia? It's a formula

Julia: Yes it is, definitely.

Travis: And as you apply that formula it becomes very predictable and it starts building long term

wealth. That's the by-product of constantly applying that formula. Now this is what moves you in the

position to help others which I believe is the responsibility of entrepreneurs ultimately since we're the

leaders in our community. If you haven't reached that level of consistency yet with your business and

you'd like to learn how it's done, we've put together a free program called the Business Breakthrough

Sweepstakes where we focus on teaching the formula in simple, step-by-step format. This is a formula

that I've used to build several tiny little businesses to multi-million dollar businesses.

Julia: And you said on rockstarnetwork.com, is that where we find it?

Travis: Yes, rockstarentrepreneurnetwork.com.

Julia: Oh, rockstar entrepreneur network, okay, thank you.

Travis: Yeah, right. Also, I to add a little fun and excitement to the program, if you join the

sweepstakes, you'll have a chance to win $73,000 in cash and prizes and my personal Lamborghini.

And it's just a way to have some fun and get excited about things. So again, go to

rockstarentrepreneurnetwork.com, .com and click on the sweepstakes promotion. My quote for today

comes from William Durant, and it's funny, I pick these quotes out before I do the interviews and a lot of

times they align with what we talked about in the interviews, it's crazy.







Julia: Well, the universe is never late, remember.

Travis: Yeah, right. So the quote reads this, "Forget past mistakes, forget failures, forget everything

except what you're going to do now and do it." I love that.

Julia: That's great.

Travis: Yeah, this is Travis Lane Jenkins signing off for now. To your incredible success, you want to

say goodbye Julia?

Julia: Yes, goodbye and thank you for letting me be a part of your show today.

End of Interview

Travis: Yeah, you've been wonderful. Take care.




How We Can Help You

We know that finding someone that you can trust online today is hard and that so many “so called

gurus” are self-‐appointed and have never really even done what they teach you to do. That’s exactly

why we created the Double Your Profits Business Accelerator. This is an exclusive offer for our fans at

a fraction of its normal cost..

Here's what to expect. We'll Schedule a 'One on One' private session, where we'll take the time to dive

deep into your business and tell you what is missing, so that you can have your best year ever!

We'll do this by performing a S.W.O.T. Analysis. This tells us your Strengths, Weaknesses,

Opportunities and Threats within your business.

This will be an eye opener for YOU, for several reasons, however some of the most common reasons

are.

As the 'Business Owner' it’s difficult to see the big picture of your own business because you’re in the

middle of a daily management.

And you are too emotionally involved to completely impartial.

This is a common problem for EVERY business owner. It doesn’t matter if you are a one-man army, or

an army of 150, the problem is still the same.

Travis Lane Jenkins

Business Mentor-Turn Around Specialist

Radio Host of The Entrepreneurs Radio Show

“Conversations with Self-made Millionaires and High-level Entrepreneurs That Grow Your Business"

http://www.rockstarentrepreneurnetwork.com/biz-accelerator

http://theentrepreneursradioshow.com/

The Entrepreneurs Radio Show _080_Julia Rhodes

Documents