Hey there, listener! Thank you for checking out our older seasons! We're adding this note on the top of the show notes to keep you up-to-date with the show. Connect with Jen Amos and get bonus content when you subscribe to our private podcast show, Inside the Fort by US VetWealth, at http://insidethefort.com/

Last Updated: September 2, 2024

---

168: "None of us like failing. But failing is part of the business. With risk comes reward." Tory Hegrenes' Tiki Boat Business - Part 2 of 2

Jen Amos invites her guest co-host, Scott R. Tucker, for a two-part interview with VB Tiki Tours Owner and Boat Captain Tory Hegrenes. For this final interview, Tory shares his business plans such as expanding to more boats over time. He also shares his most recent success of being featured in local news and how that led to a surge in reservations. To aspiring entrepreneurs, Scott and Tory share networking tips, the importance of finding a mentor, and additional resources. Lastly, Tory turns the tables to ask Scott and Jen a business question.

This episode is also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/4RLjrvNJB4U

Connect with Tory Hegrenes and VB Tiki Tours

• Website: http://www.vbtikitours.com/
• https://www.instagram.com/vbtikitours/
• https://www.facebook.com/vbtikitours/

--

Check out our last newsletter for 2023: https://mailchi.mp/5f4af326864a/holdingdownthefort

Do you want to do more than “follow orders,” think outside of the box, and manifest your dreams? Then you’ve come to the right show! The award-winning podcast, Holding Down the Fort by US VetWealth, is returning for Season 7 to highlight motivational stories of personal growth, financial awareness, and autonomy in our military community. The show is hosted by Jen Amos, a Gold Star daughter, Veteran Spouse, and Entrepreneur.

Access our FREE PORTAL for bonus content: https://holdingdownthefortpodcast.com/portal

Season 7 is in partnership with The Rosie Network! Read more - CLICK HERE

Get the latest updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletter:  CLICK HERE

Our main sponsor US VetWealth is proud to offer a FREE Retiree Appraisal to help military retirees make a confident and informed decision on the Survivor Benefit Plan and Thrift Savings Plan. Get a comprehensive understanding and financial valuation of your time in service today by visiting: https://usvetwealth.com/usvw-appraisal/

In the Fall of 2023, Jen Amos was sought after by InDependent to co-host the 8th annual InDependent Wellness Summit™. In August 2022, Jen Amos' work on the podcast was recognized by Disney Institute and she was hand-selected as the only non-Disney employee to moderate the first Military Spouse Employment panel for the Veterans Institute Summit. March 2022, Jenny Lynne has voted the 2022 Naval Station Norfolk Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year. November 2020, Jen Amos was awarded “Media Professional of the Year” at The Rosie Network Entrepreneur Awards! The show continued to collect award nominations in the following years. In September 2021, the show made the Final Slate in the 16th Annual People's Choice Podcast Awards for the Government & Organizations category. In November 2021, the show was an Award Finalist for the 5th Annual National Veteran & Military Spouse Entrepreneur Awards. December 2021, the show was a Golden Crane Podcast Awards Nominee. September 2022, the show was a Finalist for the 13th Annual Plutus Awards presented by Capital Group for “Best Military Personal Finance Content.”

Holding Down the Fort has also been featured in multiple media outlets including Military Entrepreneur (M.E.) Magazine, MOAA’s Never Stop Learning Podcast, The Leadership Void Podcast, Lessons Learned for Vets Podcast, Sisters in Service Podcast, Get 2 Vet, Blue Star Families of Dayton & Southwestern Ohio, Legacy Magazine, U.S. Veterans Magazine, The American MilSpouse, VeteranCrowd Network, It's a Military Life, VirtForce, Military Veteran Dad Podcast, and much more.

Enjoy our show? Kindly leave us a 5-Star review on Apple Podcasts https://apple.co/30SJ7NW, Podchaser https://bit.ly/3dnCacY, or write a LinkedIn Recommendation for Jen https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenamos/edit/forms/recommendation/write/

Jen Amos 0:02

All right. Hey everyone. Welcome back to another episode here at holding on the Fords by us bet wealth season seven. I'm your main host, Jen Amos. And today I'm excited to be bringing back my husband slash business partner and co host for today. Scott Tucker Scott, welcome back to hold down the fort.

Scott R. Tucker 0:21

Well, thank you. It's great to be back.

Jen Amos 0:22

Yes, it's so great to it's so great to be in command at times. Because normally in our business, you are the face and dog and pony show of what we do. And so the good the fun part of having my own show was that, you know, I get to call the shots.

Scott R. Tucker 0:40

No, absolutely, it's, I'm glad that we get to do I think people enjoy our little banter, sometimes so, but also we recognize that we kind of grew to a point in our business that we were exploring are different skill sets and how it can be useful. And so I got now now it's worked, you know, it's bring it together and kind of relaunch you know, as it was meant to be. We were just exploring, you know how to do that individually a little bit.

Jen Amos 1:10

Absolutely. And if anyone is watching us via video right now, we both have matching microphones. So army cute. Designed for that. Okay, anyway,

Scott R. Tucker 1:19

I was pointed out, jeez, yeah. Well, without

Jen Amos 1:22

further ado, I am incredibly excited to be bringing on our guest here today. We have Tori with BB Tiki tours. And I'm excited to I actually met him in person a couple of weeks ago and found out that he actually read a lot of your books, Scott. So so let's go ahead and bring them on here. Tori, welcome to hold down the fort.

Speaker 1 1:45

Jen. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Scott. Thanks for having me. And I love the banker. Trust me. It's fine.

Scott R. Tucker 1:50

Thanks. Tori. Real quick. How do you pronounce your last name? I don't think I've ever asked you that.

Unknown Speaker 1:55

It's hyperness. hungriness,

Scott R. Tucker 1:57

Hegedus. What's the background of that name?

Speaker 1 2:01

Yeah, I grew up in Minnesota. So it's a good Scandinavian Norwegian name.

Jen Amos 2:08

Very cool. So Tori hyperness. Awesome. Yeah, I was asking. I was asking offline. I was like, just Tori. I was asking Tori if he wanted me to say his last name or not. But I think anyway, there it is. Now. Now it's out there. We know his last name, so y'all can find them online.

Scott R. Tucker 2:23

You gotta be I mean, we got to know the name of the business, but also the man behind the business. So eventually, it's gonna come out. Oh, yeah.

Jen Amos 2:28

Yeah, absolutely. And we're definitely gonna dive into that today. Before we do, I do like to open up with an icebreaker question. So I didn't prepare any of you for this. So here's the question of the day. And the question is, what? What is the last thing you splurged on? And why? So Tory? Does something come to mind for you? When I asked that question,

Speaker 1 2:49

I tell you what, I've never owned a boat, nor have I wanted to own a boat. And then with his business, I would say I splurged on a tiki boat. A lot more than I wanted to buy now. It's great. But I would say that's the last thing. I never thought I'd buy it. So

Jen Amos 3:04

there you go. Yeah, that is a very random thing to splurge on. And I know we'll get into more of that. And more into that shortly. Scott, I always get surprised with your purchases, because usually you don't run them by me. But what does that Does anything come to mind for you in regards to big splurge is as of late,

Scott R. Tucker 3:23

considered, I got two giant boxes of beef today. That cost like $350. But yeah, I just got shipped. Locally Sourced grass fed beef there. If I found this website that does bulk ordering from local farms. It's a Virginia based thing. And so but I got a whole beef tongue, and I wasn't expecting that. So I don't know what to do with that. But

Jen Amos 3:52

I would imagine that beef tongue is I'm assuming it's gonna taste like liver, but we'll find out.

Scott R. Tucker 3:59

Yeah, no, no. So that was exciting. But good question. Yes, but I know the boat. But I like how it's like, you can think of a splurge. It's like imagine somebody splurge and I got a hot tub, but I'm monetizing it. Right.

Jen Amos 4:14

Yeah, sounds like you're just getting a tiki boat for yourself. Right? It's like he's actually it's actually an investment in his business. And I'll just say that my recent splurge, which is not really a splurge, but it's just it's more like an upgrade. I got new rollerblades. But the kind of rollerblades that you can, like take on almost any terrain. So I'm really excited about it. Because Scott actually got this brand before I did. And I've been like, like low key jealous that he's been like, he uses these skates and I feel like he can go further than me. So now I have the same brand. And I'm about to show him up when we go rollerblade again, so that's my purchase. But uh, yeah, thank you for indulging me in that question. You know, Toria as I mentioned, I we did I did meet you for the first time a couple of weeks ago. And I just remember that calm association of, you know, you having read Scott's books. So let me open up with that question like, how, how did you meet Scott or know of Scott to begin with?

Speaker 1 5:09

Sure. Yeah. So I was about six months to a year from retiring from the Navy, and someone recommended Scott's book to me. And I read it cover to cover in about probably a week. And, um, it was great, I needed something to give me some direction or like, really tell me how it's gonna be two years from now, let me know it's gonna be okay. Or what should I expect? And Scott's book really spoke to you on many aspects of that. And I told Scott a couple of weeks ago, you know, the one thing I took away from that is, you can go and you can, you know, retire from the military, after following orders and continue to follow orders, you know, for another business or someone else, being your boss or whatever. Or you can maybe be your own boss and take a chance. And I really took that from Scott's book, like, it's going to be a rich, it's going to be a grind. But you can do it and you know, working for yourself and that entrepreneur mindset that that inspired me. I never thought of that before reading Scott's book. So that was a great read to me. Anyone that's getting ready to retire, I recommend looking through it, read it cover to cover i It really helped me a good message, I would say.

Jen Amos 6:21

Yeah, well, thanks for sharing that. Oh, go ahead, Scott.

Scott R. Tucker 6:24

Yeah, I was just gonna say no, thanks. It's like I didn't, I actually wrote that book kind of more for myself to myself, I was just saying, alright, what are what are the things I wish somebody would have told me about? You know, stop falling orders? Like, how do I give myself the permission to finally make my own choices and decisions, because it was so many years before I realized, like, I've been self employed this whole time, and I'm still not, I'm still waiting for somebody to tell me what to do. It's like, it was such a weird, it was so hard. I was always waiting for some sort of SOP or whatever. So I just recognized that, hey, there are people out there like me that aren't going to be a good fit for just getting in the corporate world. And, you know, there's a whole bunch of this

Speaker 2 7:12

new opportunities, whether it's small startups, or starting your own thing, or just being a salesman, you know, for you know, being an independent, you can do a lot of things, even just being a realtor is, is that so there's just a lot of new opportunities these days. And I just didn't see anyone explaining that it was possible yet. You know, I was looking at the Internet and just seeing all these veterans on whether it's YouTube, or podcasts, or just successful entrepreneurs, or private equity or whatever, they weren't doing it, they weren't doing anything that was being recommended at the service academy career conference, or the transitions is not again, again, glad those things are all there. But why did we feel bad about thinking outside the box? So, you know, that's what I was right to so glad it sparked, you know, I'm not the only one that saying, Hey, you can go start a business or buy a franchise, it's, we realize it's not, you know, anything new, but I think I was just trying to speak to the, you know, it's available. And, you know, we kind of need to do it, it to some extent, at some point if we really, truly want to have autonomy. So I appreciate that was useful to you, man. Thanks.

Speaker 1 8:23

Absolutely. Yeah, I wish I could remember the two or three pages that really hit but it was great.

Jen Amos 8:28

Right? Yeah, no, that's great to hear. And, you know, the the content and the books and all the marketing messaging that Scott and I work on throughout the years, like, it's always great to hear feedback, because I'm sure you understand as an entrepreneur to like, put yourself out there, you really don't know what will stick, you know, just throwing spaghetti on the wall and seeing little stick. And so to know that his message and his book really resonated with you to the point that you actually start your own business. It just means a lot knowing that we were able to serve you in that way.

Unknown Speaker 9:00

Yeah, so thank you for sure. Absolutely.

Jen Amos 9:03

Yeah. Well, with that said, let's go ahead and get into Vbi Tiki tours. I'm very excited to hear about this. I think this is the the first business I've heard at least in doing this show that involves rented renting boats, right for people for like tourists or anyone who wants to rent boats, I think during the summertime, so tell us a little bit about your business.

Speaker 1 9:24

Yes, I was. I was stationed in Key West my last couple of years in the Navy and I saw these Tiki boats going by all the time. And I was like this looks absolutely awesome. People are gonna drinks food music in paradise. I'm going to blast and I knew when I retired I was probably going to move back to Virginia Beach and when I got back here no one was doing anything like that on the waterways and then by the water I see the boats going by. You know you Google stuff to do and a tiki boat tour doesn't pop up. So about a year ago this time is when I really got serious and started doing a lot of work. Search. And I made it happen. I got a business going. And we started six weeks ago with paid customers. And it has been going great. Before that I did some soft openings. Just a huge reception like, Man, I wish I would have talked about this, or I would have done this. I wanted to do this two years ago, but COVID head and I couldn't. And it's just been a blast. I'm really looking forward to what's next on that.

Yeah. Go ahead, Scott.

Yeah, I was just cuz it reminds me, I was over in Europe for a long time, both during and after the military. And that's the first time I saw the whole bearbeitet concept of and, and those things just popping in and then and then they had them in the States, but you couldn't drink beer, ironically, in states, you could just ride around and pretend. But but you know, there's and there was always these franchises that whether, you know, Ben reminds me almost a vending machine models, or there was ice cream truck carts, like you could, you know, this is like the the name that the the idea here would be something you could expand out in franchise whether, you know, locally or otherwise. But you know, as big as you want to take it, but the idea of just getting a boat to get started, like, you know, that's that is kind of a big hurdle to climb in and of itself. But did you ever were you already thinking like, bigger to begin with? Are you just thinking, hey, just one vote at a time? Like, how do you how do you approach this stuff to finally make a jump like for me, I had to see a bigger picture to go, wow, I got to think big to be able to even start the baby steps. So I'm just kind of thinking where you might be in that process.

Yeah, great point. So I don't know if I started with the end in mind, like Apogee supposed to name but I bought one and saw how it was going. And I was thinking, Wow, maybe we could put it on the water over here. Maybe we could get to here. Maybe I could get more people on the boat, maybe I could rent it in this way for an exclusive party, or whatnot. So um, I originally just started as a side hustle, just something to do on the weekends and after work, and then honestly, five, six weeks into the reception. You know, I kind of want to keep it going more during the day and weekdays and whatnot. Um, know what the future holds. As far as a franchise. There are other areas. I know there is competition, other cities and stuff. And there's actually competition here now, which is good. I think competition is good. It brings up not only their business, but my business. So yeah, we'll see where it goes. I'm good with one now and seeing where we could get at least through the next you know, year and a half.

No, well tell tell me. Sorry. Here a little echo, Jen.

talk again. Okay, hear the echo two? For now. Tori. You and I let's mute ourselves and then we'll unmute when we're talking. I think that might help.

Okay, all right. Yeah, I'll do that.

Okay, let me know if you still hear the echo, Scott, when you talk?

No, I don't think so. Okay, cool. Well, they're gonna ask, Oh, well, let's get into a little bit about your actual military retirement. And then we can kind of come back to you know, how that translated into you get into the boat business, like, what were you thinking about prior to your military retirement? And I know, we, again, Mike Wallace, you know, you went through a transition program, you know, at some point, whether it was through him or just going through it anyways. You work? You're employed through a corporation stuff? Correct right now, right. So you got out and did that and started the tiki bows on the side, like you just said, so just want to kind of hear your general thought process prior to retirement. And you know, as because this is all still very recent. So, you know, one way or the other, it's, it's happening. I mean, I know you just launched six weeks ago and started a year ago, but, you know, some was probably brewing in the back of your mind to be able to start a business, you're probably thinking one day, I want to work for myself to some capacity. So yeah, tell us tell us that part of the journey.

Oh, let's see, I would say fear the unknown. And networking are two of the words that come to mind. Going through that. So knowing what's next and not how to go about getting a job. What's next. And you know, not only just getting a job, but it's what about my healthcare? What about my retirement? What about a VA, all the other unnamed and ancillaries that go along with just getting a new career, your career progression? You know, that easy button for a lot of people, especially 20 plus years is you're networking with people you've served with and they're probably at another defense. contractor, another corporate company, and you talk to them, and you see what they're doing and your skills, kind of naturally translate to the defense contracting, well, would you buy other full time job right now, I would say that's kind of the easy button. And then, you know, you mentioned in my, you know, his one day cohort, best thing I did, really, this is what you need to know. And this is how you go about it, and then just get it out to him with his network, meeting you all and meeting people like you, and me and other entrepreneurs. So that was kind of the fear of the unknown. And that was really tapped down after I'd kind of went through that process. And then the other word in retirement that comes to mind is networking. I was looking for job offers with my old instructors, with my own commanding officers, with people who asserted with the gada before me that we're doing stuff, I'm finding that network was huge show, I'd say, when you're in the military, you want to be a good person and build your network, because you might need to leverage that and you will ever see that later on in life. And then, you know, just this thing, do this business by myself. I know what I was thinking that okay, I did my 20, almost 21 years I, every day I answer to someone else, I followed orders, but now it's my time to do something I'm passionate about, you know, and I didn't want to just spend the next 20 years as a government employee and get a second retirement and, and not do what I'm passionate about. I went to school, to college and to be a teacher and a basketball coach in high school, I met my military recruiter the day before I graduated and ended up on this path. But no teaching is always something maybe I want to go back to coaching especially I love working with our our young men and women on the athletic field and building mental toughness, but physical toughness, and I love competition. So that's, you know, another passion of mine. And then, you know, this small business, I had some great mentors, and I needed something else to be passionate about, I couldn't be passionate about flying anymore, could be passionate about, you know, the reading room or your camaraderie because you don't have that, like you're gonna have it. I needed something to put in my passion, my energy might have hurt. And it had been my own business and you know, whatever medium your own businesses, mine's a tiki boat. It doesn't really matter. You know, you got yours on patio and on. And that's something you continue into and grind every day and something that you don't have your military passion, but now you got something else where you can really bring what you learned in the military that hard work ethic towards I think I found that running my own small business. Well, it sounds

like the passion is is the networking. Are you have you always been a people person?

Actually on those, those tests you take like the Myers Briggs, I'm actually an introvert. But I met when I got the topic, I'm passionate about it, someone else, you know, shares that it's way easier to talk?

Well, honestly, yeah, we're the same way. But Jen and I, both introverts and people laugh at us, they know you're not you're always out in purpose, like no, we

were introverts with extroverted skills, we had to learn it.

And I run it, it's so you know, we use your various activities to, you know, fill that cup, so to speak. And sometimes it has to do with our business, obviously, we're doing a lot of networking here, you're trying to be useful for each other, it's better for us to network with other self employed people. So what are you going to talk about, obviously, our businesses in one way or the other? That's, so we find that being useful, but then at the same time, you know, we are on this military community, you know, we try to get people together, whether it's networking events, you know, Mike does that, you know, a great way. But your business itself can be that gathering space. For not just obviously the people that hire you, but even for yourself, just to kind of stay, you know, tied in to the local community. And, you know, I think we were we were talking a little bit before about, you know, how might you network your business, and I want to hear your i Sorry, market your business, I want to hear your ideas and kind of what you've been doing so far. But, you know, I was thinking immediately, like, you know, inviting all the influencers on the tiki boat and just keep throwing parties with the people who knew all the people or locally and sooner or later, you're just going to be the guy to know, just a great networking opportunity. Just the business itself is great.

Yeah, and it's fun, right? I like being around other people who are somewhat younger, you guys a little younger than me, but but you have a passion to devote so much to their own business and get out there and make a difference. That's, that's fun being around other people with the like mindset as well. But I've been super lucky. I've had some really good groups on my boat. In fact, I was on the local news last Friday night, and I just happen to have one of the local anchors on my boat and I mentioned to my Hey, Phillip, maybe you want to do a story? And he's like, Absolutely. I'll be there next week. So Once that news article hit around the clip, once I think that's Friday, my phone has blown up. reservations have blown up. I've had almost 70 reservations the last 96 hours, which is amazing.

You're gonna have to get into the boat.

It's been crazy crazy, but

Oh, yeah. Okay, so that Well, good.

Yes. Yes. I had another realtor reach out. And we did a clip on our national TV show. It's called the American dream. That's gonna be on Fox, and it's streaming on some other services in about six to eight weeks. So people just kind of come to me on that. And, and who doesn't like a tiki bar with some refreshing drinks in paradise? So it's been working good. Wow.

Yeah. I am curious to know, you know, Tori, you were saying the one of the key things that you learned in your post military career is to, is to is to network. And this this word has come up quite often in our conversations. And so but I don't know, I don't I feel like it's the how to network is doesn't come as easy as it's almost like an easier said than done. So I'm curious to know, in your experience for people who are hearing this word network, like everyone keeps saying, networking, but what does that look like? Can you give examples of what networking has looked like for you?

That's a really good question, Jen. Oh, it's more than just meeting people. And I think even Mike says it's a context for it, but it's going outside of your comfort zone, to learn about other people, I think, and to learn what they do, and how they can help you, but at the end, how you can help them it's a matter of just kind of lifting everybody up, I think, um, but if I was very quiet, reserved, and then take you out of my comfort zone to these events, or just strike up a conversation and alive, like, hey, you know, what do you do and stuff like that. And it's so interesting to get to know people, just the diversity of what everyone does and how they think. It's been, it's been great in that respect. But it's, that is a great question on networking, what is it but I think it's, you know, good summary, how you can help them and how they can help you and they just get another friend or someone to go out and have drinks with their happy hour. And learn from for that for that aspect as well.

How have you been using social media now? Compared to what you're doing coming out of the military? And are you seeing yet some of the skills you wish you would have known, you know, kind of the new social media skills that you need to use to start a business that's like, Oh, what if I had done this when I was trying to get out of the military? Then I can, I'm trying I was trying to get get guys to understand treat yourself like a business, whatever you're trying to do. You know, anyways, yeah.

You're telling me the military, I, you know, it's 2021 I'm 22 When I got out, we're still using paper and folders, and not electronic stuff. But um, it's, you know, I got an Instagram account. I've never had that before. I got another Facebook account, and then LinkedIn as well, from the professional aspect, but stuff I wish I would have done three, four or five years ago, still indefinitely, and not just playing catch up now that I need to, you know,

are you using LinkedIn yet for the business?

I'm not but that is my next step that's on my to do list. Yeah, that is definitely my to do list.

Because that's, that's where I'm, I'm thinking, you know, I mean, I think one of the value ads in these conversations is to recognize we're talking to military retirees or just thinking or initially think LinkedIn is just a place to put your resume with an extra photo and and that's where the HR people send you the the messages. But you know, what, your Tory's probably doing or going to be doing here locally is you might as well just connect with all the other business owners real quickly, like every in your business owner wants to connect with new people because they're looking for new customers. So, you know, I'm always surprised this is why I always mentioned the synapse, the networking groups, I was always surprised that military retirees aren't getting connected with the community members who are looking for connections. You know, realtors are an easy one. Realtors always want to connect with people, they always know somebody, I'm not saying to abuse the relationships, but it's, you know, everybody wants to help and but if they don't know where to find you, then you're just in the same box with just more military retirees. You know, we got to force ourselves out of that box a little bit has this business opportunity, kind of showing that like, you know what I'm talking about like,

absolutely facto, I made a little presentation on, on how to give how to how to start a business in Virginia Beach that I'm willing to give. And one of the things I put And then one of my bullet points is, when you walk up to someone new, no one knows if you're a uniform, no one knows that what you did in the military? Or how can we write a band or how long you spent, I actually wrote, you're just another chucklehead walking up to him, saying hi introducing yourself. Yeah. You know, a lot of people, you might have been an admiral or a sergeant and you're high up in rank, whatever. A lot of people in the business world, they respect it, but they don't necessarily care when it comes to business wide. So some humility as well, you know, and just being grateful that you're, you're able to do this type of thing, I guess.

I'm curious to know, Tori, what is it? How have your loved ones responded to you? Pursuing VB Tiki tours?

Yeah, so my girlfriend Elisa absolutely loves it. She's my official, but unofficial director of marketing. She's had a blast and hurt, you know, the network thing, her network is fast in this area. So she's really helped me. And my parents, um, they just think it's cool. And my cousins are reaching out relatives, and a lot of my friends from hell want to make a trip out here. And, and they're just embracing it. They're like, this is great. Good for you. You know, I never thought when I knew them many years ago, or met them, that this would be something I'm doing. So they've been very supportive everybody.

Yeah, that that is a that's beautiful to hear. Because, you know, coming from your military background and making this pivot into Tiki tours or into your boat is, I imagine that I would have imagined that there had been some, I don't know, just skepticism or anything. But it sounds to me that, you know, your loved ones have been really supportive, which is really great to hear.

Tory, we often hear about the benefits for all the veterans getting into business and stuff out there. And I'm curious if you tapped into those resources yet, but first, I want your thoughts on how did having a military pension and perhaps VA disability know those extra kind of even GI Bill, you know, some people leverage that to get special training for starting a business or whatever. You know, I see that as the opportunity that, you know, many military retirees forget about because, yes, it's not enough to retire on. But, you know, starting a business takes risks. And you know, sometimes that means you're not going to have income for a while. And but if you're a retiree getting a pension, you know, in your 40s still, that helps a little bit. And so, but so if you recognize that as as a helpful tool, because it is not it's not as much as we think it's going to be unfortunately.

Yeah, Scott, that's a great point, I would say, um, that lowered my risk of doing this, because I knew if it failed, I still had income coming in through my pension. Right. I knew if I failed, the worst I had was a low how to vote basically. So, um, with that, did that help me make a decision to go into business? I wouldn't say yes, it did. You know, it just it was a safety net for me.

It played well. Yeah. But let me ask you that, but you, but you kept your sec. So this one, I always encourage you guys like don't just don't not get a job and just try to start a business. Don't do it. I did. Like I I don't have a pension, I didn't retire. I didn't do the full retirement, nor did I ever get a job and then start this on the weekend, I went all in. And also, all self employment can always be part time. And so, but we get stuck with the Hey, I don't have enough time to be able to start and then you just never get out of it. And you've you've done the real smart thing. Have you started off part time and can build it from there. And now you have full control. I know people that have businesses for years and still are government contractors. It's like, I don't need to do more to it. It's runs itself, you know, so. So really, you know, having that stability. I applaud you for doing it the real smart way.

Yes, I want thing I gave especially, you know, young, you know, kids just out of college or high school kids or middle age or like yourself is the risks you know, you take a risk and you know, with risk comes reward. Right. But um, it is risky going into business. You know, you heard in the military, you know, people fail all the time, and none of us like failing, but almost failing is kind of part of this as well. But it's I have so much respect for small business entrepreneurs than I did six months ago. It's it's great.

What so have you had a chance to check out? I mean, there's a plethora, I love using that word of veteran resources for entrepreneurship, everything from you know the bunker up, we work with the Rosie network, you know that It's where we went through. We were graduates of their program. And then there's all sorts of there's bunker labs. And then even there's groups that give loans and all that kind of stuff. What sort of and local veteran small business associations and that kind of stuff? I, you know, because we're an online business, I haven't even tapped in locally as much as I'd like to should. And so maybe, maybe I need to follow up with you on this offline, or we should tag team it. But you know, what resources are you aware of and have used so far?

Oh, absolutely. I'll start out with, there is so many you can make a full time job just trying to find the resources to help you start a small business. You see, that's

where I get paralyzed, right? Yeah,

exactly. They're everywhere. Um, what I did personally, is, I stayed more local. So the city of Virginia Beach actually has a really good small business webpage. And then that leads you to the national score, Mentor Program, if you've heard of that. That's not necessarily veteran focus, but just small business focus. And then Virginia Beach also has the hive, which is in town center, and it's specifically for small startups to go there. And, and learn how to run a business. There was some great workshops, I thought, I'm aware that I use at a workshop. And then as far as the veterans goes, if you Google it, it's everywhere. The VA website has stuff. ODU actually has some veterans, webinars and seminars that I looked at, you know, even if you go to like your local VFW or Legion, there's always resources there. I know Northfolk, they have 757 startup studios, again, not necessarily veteran focused, but a couple of Google searches and some clicks of the mouse and you are overwhelmed. And all the people that want to put the ladder down for veterans, it's, it's a lot.

Yeah, I think the 757 group, it might be working with the new bunker labs coming that's supposed to be coming here. So we'll keep you in the loop. If we hear any new info that we went to a meet up a few months ago, just kind of to introduce the idea here locally, right, Jen?

I don't remember. What

the bunker labs, their announcement

that oh, yeah, that was months ago. It was like last year. Well, that's what you're talking as I was like, last week or something I was, like

I said, I said months ago, sorry. months ago. But anyways, that they were launching it here. So it'd be interesting to see kinda more that goes, but

Yeah, wonderful. Well, yeah, well, you know, Tori, I, I feel like I, I at least asked all the questions I wanted to ask you about your journey. And I just want to commend you for what you've been able to do in such a short amount of time. And I especially like how, you know, you planned this out over a year ago, and then you turned on your business about six weeks ago. And then already, you're on the news. And already you're, you know, booked out, you know, 770 reservations, as, as you mentioned, and, you know, I just want to, you know, wish you continuous, you know, good fortune and luck and growing this business. And it sounds to me that, you know, you really hustled in regards to networking and seeking out those resources, and just doing something different, you know, for your post military life, like, I think, you know, very often Scott and I talk like we work with military retirees quite often and it's always special for us, when we run into retirees who go the path was taken, you know, obviously nothing wrong there. Obviously, the people have the reasons if you want to continue taking government job, like you know, people have families, we completely understand that. Also, it's just, it's just that when we do run into people like you, it is very refreshing. And it's inspiring for us because we we are business owners ourselves and we like knowing that you know, coming out of the military, or knowing that in the military community there are people like you who just want to turn things around for yourself and have a different identity in your post military life

fiction it's been great and I found a new passion outside the military and it's it's absolutely awesome.

Well, what what I think is cool is just the proof just say guys, it's possible not that it wasn't, you know, hard work. But in a sense, you know, a year ago you saw an opportunity. You put a little motion action in your free time. You put yourself out there it which allowed you to recognize an opportunity They got you on the news. And then then boom, you know, quickly, you're you're seeing success, we'll see where it goes, you know, it's going to take a lot of work to, you know, you know, keep keep that up, because obviously, you're gonna eventually have to have more people to drive the boat. How many reservations, then you're dealing with people that of course, you know, is is potentially, you know, an extra challenge. But you know, that's, that's what makes it fun. Because then you're, you know, maybe you're hiring veterans and things get really interesting in that way. So I just say, as anybody that's, you know, ever got it in your back your head? Well, you know, what would success look like? Well, like VBT, keto, you know, it's possible that that doesn't have to be huge. But it can be life changing in a way, and just I'm excited to see that, you know, started off so well, for you, man. Like, the news thing is perfect. Because, um, you know, I actually do, do you have clips of it?

I do. It's on our Facebook and our Instagram, and I can send it to you as well.

Yeah, no, that's great. Yeah, I know, I was just thinking, and I know that we've been kind of firing all these questions your way, Tory. So after this next question, or next comment, if you have any questions for us feel feel free to ask that next, because I know we've been just been hyper focused on you here. I, it's interesting hearing how your business model, you have a very, the way that I would describe it is a build as you go, you know, because we were asking earlier, oh, what does the future like? What does it fall season going to look like? But like, I like I like that. I like that approach of build as building as you go. Because, you know, in our work, Scott is very futuristic minded, he's always 100 steps ahead. And even even once we are kind of halfway there, as a team, he's already like, another 50 steps ahead. And the thing is, like, it's it is very important to have someone you know, to have a visionary like Scott on our team, where for me, I'm very much like building blocks, you know, one brick at a time kind of thing. But it's like, how do I build these bricks if he's already trying to build another building, but I think it's, it's good like for us to like, at least for Scott and I to be able to have that push and pull with each other. I think it's what's made our business survive at this point. But I think I mentioned that also, because I think it's good to highlight the different approaches to business like that is the beauty of being self employed, or being an entrepreneur is you can take it at your own pace, you can, you know, work as a partner like Scott and I, or you can, you know, do it on your own, or I know, in this case, you're working with your girlfriend. So I just wanted to highlight, like, the way that you are building out your business so far.

That has been read for it. Yeah. That's interesting. So you're kind of like build as you go. But I like that, because you definitely need to have someone looking long, right? Otherwise, you're gonna miss something, or something's gonna sneak up on you that you didn't think about. And that's actually was gonna be my question for you guys. We're What do you guys kind of see, I know, you got your second book. But what do you guys kind of see your business in a year? 510 or 25 years from now?

Hillman? Scott, you should answer that. I'm not thinking that far.

No, I mean, for the, for the life insurance and financial side of it, you know, what we can be is a solution that other financial professionals you use, we're a provider, we can be a third party, consultant and work that way be educators and consultants, for, you know, unique kind of solutions. And that's common in the financial industry. It wouldn't be a program that would get hired by DOD as a contract or like take over the old program or something like that. Now, we'd be more boutique in the financial industry. But what I think where we'd like to go with this is to be more of to teach people kind of how to do some of the publishing and the public, you know, the video, whether it's video, or writing books, or whatever, like, hey, successful veteran, small business doesn't have to be veteran, small business or military spouse, small business, but the ones that do have success, that start, you know, hitting whatever success means to them, sometimes that means, you know, millions of dollars or whatever. But eventually, they want to tell their story, or they need to tell their story, to be able to market themselves better. And there's a lot that goes into it. And there's a mindset part of it. There's in some regards, you know, there's financial part of there's even health part of it, in some cases when people want to put themselves out there. So, you know, just learning to do that. I've been playing around with it for 1015 years. And so I always thought, you know, that's where that's where I like to give financial advice because the highest paid people in any business or any industry, or those were the most well known. So, it's like, well, you don't have to become famous and The more you just have to be sort of well known for the people who want to be the most useful for Tory, he'd be his most well known guy and in wherever, wherever somebody's within driving distance of a tiki boat, then, you know, be known amongst those people, like I'm trying to be known amongst military retirees, currently. But I think at some point that might expand into other areas, you know, we're kind of open to that we just want to be, you know, follow on our passions, as well, which tends to be this learning how to do you know, communication and teaching online? And in written form, to some extent?

Absolutely, that's awesome. But

it's, but it's, you know, make it up as we go, because everything's changing next to me, no, AI is just gonna make videos and everything for us. And then I don't know what we're supposed to do at that point.

Yeah, I want to, I want to add to what Scott is saying, you know, my vision, we talked about this recently, like, my vision for our business is, you know, just like how realtors have a market for military families and VA loans, we want to be able to franchise our messaging for other financial advisors who want to who wants to serve the military community, because actually, this is part of the reason why Scott started our business to begin with, is because traditional financial advisors typically work in the civilian world, and don't necessarily tailor their services to our military service members. And so we have that niche. And we have that messaging, and we have the content. And, you know, as as we continue to build, it's my hope that we create some kind of franchise model or even like a, like a packet of sorts to be able to give the financial advisors who, who want to speak about the importance of privatizing your pension or, you know, really making a confident and informed decision about their Survivor Benefit Plan. You know, we think that's incredibly important. And, you know, I know that we've talked, we've talked to financial advisors in the past who said, Oh, wow, that's a, that's a great idea, like, you know, how can we for business your way? And I think, for us, it's like, continuously having a dialogue on how do we systematize that or how do we communicate with them on how they can communicate our messaging to our clients. So I would say that's, that's part of the long the long term goal, because, you know, for Scott and I, as much as we enjoy being on video, and being on the microphone, we also want to live our lives. And we also want to, you know, share the opportunity with other people who want to be in this space. Because I think that is really the success of the business as it is if it grows beyond you, so. So that's my answer for you, Tori.

No, that's, that's awesome. Jen. Yeah, bring them along, and thinking big. I love it. That's great. Yeah,

thanks for asking. Yeah.

Ah, well, I think this was a great conversation. I mean, Tori, if you don't have any other questions for us, like, I feel pretty good. But yeah, any any final things you want to ask us or, or just anything else you want to share about your journey that you want to impart to, you know, our career military families and military retirees?

You know, I will, I will say, one thing I haven't said yet is the importance of a good mentor, someone who's done this before someone you trust, and someone who you can bounce ideas off of. So when you can ask questions, someone who will keep your thoughts private if you need to. And someone who's been there done that I've had three people that have really helped me, teach me what a business is. I mean, they've sat down with me for an hour every other week. And here's how you run financials. Here's how you your board of governors should work. Here's how you do whatever. If I didn't have that I would be floundering and with my hands and probably drowning off my Tiki boat at this point. So find a mentor. As you go through this process, someone who's been there. That's really helped me to I didn't say that earlier. But mentorship is huge. I think,

is that how you score or did you also find just someone locally or

score does give you a mentor of mine was mine was okay, we didn't we just met once and never really followed out. But they do have mentors on the business world, but I just found some old friends or commanding officers I've trusted who are in business. Okay, why? It's it's great, but there are other other generic Metro programs out there if you will.

And you know, and honestly, that's, that's a big part of networking that people forget about is network to find the mentor. You know, I even struggle with that, you know, to forget I'll tell I told my

second that like, oddly enough, like I think it's because you and I work together that we kind of turned to each other but you know, you're right. Tori, I for a while. I can't say that I have a mentor. And it's funny because I have, you know, friends who are aspiring entrepreneurs, and they they kind of want me to mentor them, but I feel like, but I feel a little like, uneasy about it because it's like, Well, should I charge for my time? I remember this or something. And so I think I think because of that thought process, it's hard for me to like, want to get a mentor that's just like, willing to give, like in that kind of information because it's out of the kindness and goodwill of their heart. So I don't know, I'm gonna put it out there in the world. And if anyone wants a mentor, Scott and I one good luck, and two, we'll be happy to entertain it. That's awesome.

Yeah, no, no, I appreciate you sharing that because that is a great point. And, again, good for you for you know, finding you know, that were the right help quickly to get you off the ground. You know, moving smoothly. So now we're just real proud of you man. And happy to meet you. And you know, whether or not you I don't know if you ever linked up with it, you know, synapse that we've talked about. It's like, you don't even need it. You get all the connections already. You could just host your blog post all the meetups on your thing. So now just just real real cool that your successful local business and Yeah, happy to get to know you.

Absolutely. Thank you, buddy. Great. People get to know personally and professionally and and again, you know, the your books got really that couple of pages I read good inspire me to take a risk on my own. So glad I read that. I would recommend that as well. So

Thanks, Ben. Cool. All right. Well, I Tori, it was such a pleasure having you on our show. Thank you so much. And Scott, thank you for CO hosting with me. Appreciate

it. Yes, ma'am.

Awesome. And with that said, thank you so much for our listeners for joining us today. We hope you got a lot of value out of this conversation. Just stay tuned for the outro for information on how to get a hold of Tori. And until then we'll chat with you in the next episode. Tune in next time. And then just give me one second guys