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How I Built My Business With Absolutely Nothing

Nov 01, 2019

What's It About...

Let’s time travel!

 

In this episode, we are taking you back to the year 2009 - the year I decided to start my own business out of absolutely nothing.  

 

But before we even get to that moment, Eddie and I are going to explain some of the reasons why we had to completely reinvent ourselves and let go of some of our biggest dreams. Yea, you read that right - we had to walk away from some of our dreams.

 

Imagine that you’re starting a life with your partner in a new home, with a new baby, a recently acquired mortgage and you both going on their way up in the corporate ladder. 

 

Now imagine that the country is going through one of the worst financial periods in history and you both lose your jobs at the same time.

 

Now, you...

๐Ÿ‘‰ are struggling financially

๐Ÿ‘‰ you can’t afford your mortgage anymore

๐Ÿ‘‰ your relationship is being strained

๐Ÿ‘‰ and there is no other option for you other than staying home taking care of the children because you can’t afford childcare anymore. 

 

But, when you’re set up for success, your mind finds the most unconventional ways to put you back on the rails.

 

 Click play above or go to your favorite podcast app to find out how I started a brand new business out of nowhere.  

 

Key points discussed:

  • From climbing the corporate ladder to stay at home mom  (02:17)
  • Janelle starts reinventing herself (05:39)
  • I had a dream about my husband’s ex (09:12)
  • Finding my ideal business partner in the most unexpected way (15:17)
  • The birth of The cake mamas (18:20)
  • The importance of taking action on your ideas (21:53)

 

Where To Learn More...

 

Episode Transcript...

Disclaimer: The Transcript Is Auto-Generated And May Contain Spelling And Grammar Errors

 

Janelle & Eddie:

So the kids are like sweaty from playing. I remember they ran over out of breath and all three of them, they go. So we were thinking, you're both our mamas and if you're both gonna make cakes, you should just call yourselves the cake mamas. And there it was a boom. So I thought, wow, that's kind of catchy. That's kind of cool. So I go onto godaddy.com I search it, the domain is available and that, and I purchased thecakemamas.com. Welcome to The Push Podcast. Why Push? Because a nudge is just too friendly and friend, we're here to help you get your shit together. I'm Eddy and I'm Janell and we're the Copelands. We've got three daughters, two businesses, a mortgage and lots of responsibilities. So just like you were struggling to find that perfect balance of ambitious, go-getter hustle while still staying present, loving our kids and working on our relationship and doing the laundry, going to the course of the store.

 

Janelle:

Oh, and up together. Be mindful. Yeah, all of this stuff. So if you're juggling all the things, but you're also trying to get to the next level, guess what? You're in the right place. So get ready to be Pushed. Hey guys, welcome to you. Episode number five of The Push Podcast. Today we're going to talk about how I built my business with absolutely nothing, absolutely zero, right? Like scratch. Like when I say nothing, we barely had money to pay our bills. So yeah, nothing. Here's the key thing. I'm going to give you a little disclaimer. I don't recommend it like just straight up if you're listening because people hear that all the time and they're like, well, she built her business with nothing. I will tell you that was the absolute hardest way to build a business and it took me probably two to three years to just get enough money in the bank to where I could actually breathe a little bit. So I don't recommend it today. I'm going to give you some quick tips to help you chase that dream though. But I definitely think that you need to start with some capital.

 

Eddie:

Well, what's interesting is that there's so many, like really amazing stories of people who have done something from nothing and created a business or created this enterprise with from nothing. So it's possible, but it definitely,

 

Janelle:

well, I don't recommend it. And here's why. So let me set it up. In 2009 Eddy and I both had the same job. We had the same career, we worked for the same company. We both had a great six-figure income, both of us, right? So I'd say we were living pretty large. Yeah. We also had a very large mortgage payment. It was $5,000 a month. We had two car payments, we had credit cards, we had lots of things. We took vacations, we had our kids in gymnastics, they were playing sports. And just like that, boom, we lost our jobs. So our company went out of business and there were 13,000 displaced workers just in Los Angeles alone. So we're talking, our bosses did not have jobs. Our bosses’ bosses did not have jobs. So now you've got 13,000 people just in LA alone looking for work in the same industry.

 

Janelle:

With the same qualifications. And that was pretty tough. So we went through a period where mentioned we were going through the financial meltdown. So yeah, a financial crisis, the biggest one of our entire life. Right. So that's not a good time to start a business. But here's how it happened. So I was at home more than ever because now I didn't have a damn job. Right. So I'm at home, I'm making dinner every night for the kids, I'm cooking, I'm trying to do the domestic things. And I had never really been home during TV hours or like, and I didn't really watch a lot of TV, but now I have the TV on while I was cooking. And I remember there was a new show coming out called the cake boss. So we used to watch ACE of cakes every now and then. Didn't think anything of it, though it was cool.

 

Janelle:

And then now the cake boss comes on. So I've always been a Baker. I'm a really great cook. Not because I'm tooting my own horn, but I am. Right. Very good cook. I don't remember you always being a Baker though. No, I baked, um, whether it's magic cookie bars or cookies during the holidays, I always made something and I also was a scrapbooker. I also love to do anything creative. I used to make all of the girls, all of our Halloween costumes during the holidays, right? I would, so comforter sets and pillows and stuff. So when I had time away from my corporate job, those are the things that I would do. So it's no mystery that now that I'm not working, I'm trying to channel all of this. And also I was pretty fucking mad about not having a job and we were just trying to put one foot in front of the next, in order to keep our heads above water and just like figure out.

 

Janelle:
And I just remember us on the verge, we had to file bankruptcy. So all of a sudden we have no credit cards. We definitely had to take steps backward in life. And obviously now looking back it was probably the best thing, best blessing. But I remember the time where we had decided that you were just going to just not be a stay at home mom for. So to speak, but stay home, for the time being, is we were both applying for the same did. We were both on the computer and whatever the job sitting on the couch talking to each other. We were just applying for jobs send at the same time we had, what did you apply for and you said, I don't know, you said something, maybe it was 24-hour fitness. Right. We both hit send at the same time and we both had applied for the same job and I was like, okay great.

 

Janelle:

This is not going to work. Like they're going to get two applications from two Copeland's and it's not going to work. So we decided like how can we save some money right now? We decided we were going to take the kids out of daycare and I was just going to kind of suck it up and partially I had never been a stay at home mom. Remember going to work chasing my corporate dreams and also crying in my office because I missed Jordan rolling over for the first time. Or I missed really important milestones because I was at work and my sister was Jordan's nanny at the time. Right. So I thought, I remember us bringing home boxes to be able to pack up our home because we thought we were going to lose our house. And I just remember saying, God's not saying that we don't get to own a house in our lifetime, but God is saying not right now. Yeah. And so that's kind of how we just picked up the pace and just move forward. So what is he saying right now? He's saying move out of your beautiful home. Go get an apartment, suck it up. You can rebuild yourself. Your early thirties it's not a big deal. And so that's what we did.

 

Eddie:

But I think in the beginning I will tell you I, we thought this is the end of the world. Like it was like everything that we had and you heard in prior episodes we had kind of sped up to get to buying a house, having the kids, all the different things that happened so quickly was basically gone like that. And it was just like, Oh, okay, this life that you have, this comfort that you're living in now has changed. And so we had really come to terms with that. But I think we at one point just said, fuck it. It's gone.

 

Janelle:

Yeah. So here we are, I'm cooking dinner. I also, let me just also give you a disclaimer. I'm not the kind of person to just sit at home. So I was like, what could I do? You're shaking your head, right? Going crazy people. I need human adult interactions. So I went to the local community college, I enrolled back in college because I needed to do something with my life while the kids were at school during the day. And I strongly believe that when you just show up for yourself, you put one foot in front of the next, then the next opportunity is going to become available for you. So I remember they were like, wow, you haven't been to school in a while. Um, what do you want to take? I said, you know what, I want to take Spanish because I need to diversify my likelihood of getting hired somewhere.

 

Janelle:

So I signed up for a Spanish class and then I said, um, they said, well, you need PE, PE, what the hell? So PE in college is like a gym membership. And then I think it was like four times a week I had to go scan in and then beyond the treadmill, right. So I've got these two classes, I'm watching cake boss start. Literally, it was the first episode. It was the pilot that was like only two or three episodes. So it would come on and I remember stopping in my tracks, cooking dinner, thinking I could make that. There's nothing special about that. So I went out and I bought some fondant. I made a cake and I can make some stuff.

 

Eddie:

What you were watching that, I don't know why I thought you were watching ace of cakes.

 

Janelle:

Well, we used to watch the ACE of cakes and then this was the new show, but his new show was out. Okay. So I made a couple of cakes just for fun. Got some fondants started. I remember I sculpted a little monkey. Cute. I bought a red fondant. I bought red. I don't know, but I'm playing around with it and I'm like, this isn't like something that I couldn't do. I just don't know how to do it yet. Right. So then I'm doing this stuff, just normal mom stuff playing around with cakes and stuff. And then one night I have a dream about Fabiola. If you missed the previous episode, that's the girl's mom. So, Jasmine and Kayla, I've been in their lives since they were three years old and nine months. And their mom's name is Fabiola. We'll bring her on for a future episode.

 

Janelle:

But Fabiola was in my dream and I remember waking up telling Eddie, Oh my God, I had a dream about fab. Remember? Yeah, that was a weird, right. And I was like, we owned a bakery together. We were in, I don't know what happened, but we owned a bakery. She was in there, we were working together and the kids were there after school and they were helping with, you know, boxes and customers and money and just like, we were just like getting along and it was amazing. So fab and I had not got along, but we really didn't have a great relationship only because prior to that we had these corporate jobs and we would have the kids, Eddie would go get the kids from her on our days off. We would keep them for our two and a half days and then Eddie would take them back home.

 

Janelle:

Right. So I didn't see her, I didn't interact with her a lot. However, do you remember when we were leading up to getting ready to lose our jobs? Yeah. I told him you need to have a conversation with her because we were paying child support and him, Oh my God. Avoided it. Like the freaking play. So what's your side of the story on that? Because I thought you were procrastinating. You know, back to our previous episode, you don't like to approach conflict very often. You want to avoid the conflicts that you thought was going to happen.

 

Eddie:

Yeah, it was, to be completely honest, I know that this is about like birth of a business and stuff like that, but I will tell you that two things, one conflict wasn't really happy about that. I didn’t want to jump into that, but to the responsibility and the obligation to that was tough for me to say I couldn't do, we never talked about this. Yeah, so like I am a person that's big on. If I say I'm going to do something, even it's to my detriment, I will try to follow through and get it done.

 

Janelle:
Right. So people let me explain something to you. For at least 60 days we knew that we were not going to have a job. Imagine telling your husband you need to call the baby mama to let her know that we are going to be unemployed, which means we will have no money coming in to support our household and we won't be able to give her any money until we get back on our feet for a few months. And he refused it and it was causing friction in our relationship because I felt like, what the hell is he picking his ass for? Why are you dragging your feet? Right? Yeah. So one day I still her phone number out of his phone and I call her myself because sometimes wives, you got to take matters into your own hands. So call her. And I was like, Hey fab, it's Janelle.

 

Janelle:

I'm so sorry to call you randomly, but here's the situation. We lost our jobs. We literally will have no money coming in and the next probably 30 days and we are going to lose our house. We're in the process of filing bankruptcy, bankruptcy. And she started crying and I thought, what the hell was he so worried about? Like she has a heart. She's like, what can I do to help? And it was great, right? So I told her, we decided that I was going to stay home for a little while until I can find a job. With that said, we can't afford to have the kids in childcare, so I'm going to pull them out and I'll have them every day. We establish what days she would have them, what days we would have them. And we agreed that going forward, her and I would do more of the communicating because we needed to cut Eddie out. Right. So that was great. So I know. So all of a sudden I must've had the dream because all of a sudden I'm interacting with her more. Right. So I wake up, I tell him about the dream and he said, did you know that fab was a Baker? And I was like, what are you talking about? What did you say?

 

Eddie:

Yeah, I said that she, since high school had been in a bakery working at a bakery for many, many years and wanted to actually take over that same bakery at one point. It just never really worked out. But that was something that she was willing to do and really knew her way around the baking industry.

 

Janelle:

So we just happen to half the kids that night. They wake up and I'm doing their hair in the morning, that morning in the bathroom. And I was like, Hey, I had a dream about your mommy last night and we owned this really cool bakery and we made cakes and cupcakes, like what you see me doing, you know, throughout the day and on TV and people loved our stuff and you guys were there. And I remember they got all excited. They lit up and they were like arguing over, I wanna work on the cash register. No, I wanna work on the cash register. So they start bickering and fighting. We had a really great conversation about who's going to be frosting, the cupcakes and all that, and it was just fun. So I didn't think anything of it. I send them to school and they came home later that day we had dinner, we did homework, and now it's time for Fabiola to pick them up, right.

 

Janelle:

So she comes to the door and I'm like, guys, your mom's here, we're exchanging at the door, book bags. I'm telling them about the homework. And then the kids start kinda tugging at me. Janelle tells my mommy about your dream. And I'm like, Oh God, this is embarrassing. I got to tell this woman that I had a dream about my husband's ex, right? So I said, Oh, it's not a big deal. I downplayed it. I had a dream last night. Tell her about the bakery. They're all excited. And I said, I had a dream that we owned a bakery last night and she likes lit up and she said, Oh my God, did you know that I'm a Baker? And I said, well, I did an actual, but Eddie told me. And so she goes on and on about how she's worked in a bakery since she was 15 it was like her only job, her only passion.

 

Janelle:

And she said, I wanted to buy the bakery when it was going out of business, but I didn't know how to run a business. And I only knew what I had seen. And obviously that didn't get the business very far. So I, I let it go and I was like, wow. Well this conversation you guys turn into a four-hour conversation on my porch about my business background and about how I bake and she bakes and we're seeing all these similarities and things in common. So the kids are running around in the front yard and I'm talking to her for four hours on my front porch. And I remember at some point I said, would you like to come in? And I remember their little eyes like looking up at me with so much excitement. Like, Oh my God, my mom, my mom is going to come in the house and it warmed my heart and I still get the chills about it to this day.




Janelle:

So I said, yeah, would you like to come in? So they look at me, they're like, my mom's going to come in. Oh my God, can I show her my bedroom? And it turned into this really beautiful thing. And so I'll never forget that. So they come in, we start talking and I tell her like, you know, I've been playing around with fondant. I'm actually pretty good at it. We start talking about that and then it's like, well I wonder what other bakeries are around here. I wonder who's doing what we see on TV. I wonder blah blah blah. So she winds up leaving and then the obsessive part of me kicks in and I say, Oh

 

Eddie:

well mind you, like I get a phone call. Like, oh, I was at work. I had a great question. And I said, Oh well that's good. He goes, yeah, she was here about four hours. I was like four hours. She came in the house she gets, Oh she came to that. Oh, okay. Right. And then just to, not to take it too far back, but I will tell you for those that are maybe listening right now and you're in blended relationships or you have separate families, I can tell you the reason why Joseph, that was a beautiful thing is because that was like the first step of bringing our lives together in a beautiful way for the kids. And like their excitement of seeing their mom come into this world that we had in our house was like, I think that was the inspiration to keep that going because I think that was, that was something that meant a lot to them.

 

Janelle:

Right. Also, I grew up with a stepmom and a stepdad and I thought from the moment I married you, I would love to have a great relationship with her because I know how it feels to be on the other side where the two moms or the two dads don't get along. Right? And so it warmed my heart like nobody's business when she came into the house. So she leaves and I become obsessed. I'm like Googling to see how many bakeries are within a 50-mile radius. I'm looking all through the LA area to see does anyone even create stuff like this? And the answer was no. And so I put together this PowerPoint presentation basically. And when she comes back the next day I was like, Hey, so I did some research, do you want to come in? So she comes in, we talk about this again, the kids are playing around and I tell her like there are no other bakeries that do what I'd like to do.

 

Janelle:

And I really love the art. And we start talking about just like how cool it would be to have a community bakery in our local community and blah, blah blah. Right? So the kids hear us now for a total of eight hours. I know you guys are sitting there going, what is happening? Right. And I was just going with it. And so is she. So the kids are like sweaty from playing. I remember they run over out of breath and all three of them, they go. So we were thinking, you're both our mamas and if you're both going to make cakes, you should just call yourselves the cake mamas. And there it was a boom. So I thought, wow, that's kind of catchy. That's kind of cool. So I go onto godaddy.com I search it, the domain is available. And that night I purchased thecakemamas.com so by the time fab believes on the second day, we now agree that we're going to do this part-time

 

Eddie:

a website and we have a name

 

Janelle:

right? And we agreed that she would work her normal day job. She'd come over and we would try it for a couple of weeks and just see, let's make cakes in my kitchen. So that's what happened. That's how the cake mama started.

 

Eddie:
And so then I'm at work and I get a phone call that says saying, Oh Hey, fab came over again today. I think we're going to start a business and I already got the domain. Everything's okay. I'll get business cards pretty soon and we're just going to start it. And I remember just standing there going, what? What the heck is happening? And I think I went to someone at work and said, I think my ex and my wife just started a business. And I did. And they looked at me like, what? Why would they do that? And I was like, I don't know. I'm, I'm not there. I have no idea.

 

Janelle:
My easy-going husband doesn't say anything. Are you crazy? Nothing. Right. So fast forward the very next day, let's say that that was Monday and Tuesday cause I definitely think it was Monday and Tuesday that this took place. Right? So then Wednesday comes along and guess what? Janelle has school cause I'm back in community college. So I'm sitting in Spanish class and I'm super annoyed that I'm even in Spanish class. Cause all I can think about is I gotta find a graphic designer. I've got to hire somebody to make business cards cause we have a business. I already bought a website, I need somebody to build a website. So I'm sitting there, super zoned out in Spanish and this woman to my left taps me on my shoulder and she goes, you look like you have a million other things going on in your head. And I've got work to do.

 

Janelle:

Like I don't have time to be here. And I said, Oh my God, I just started this business. I need to find a graphic designer like I need somebody to make me business cards. And she goes, I'm a graphic designer, her name was Jessica. And I was like, shut up. So I, this is what I need. We start chatting. By that evening, Jessica had made me the first version of the cake mamas logo. By the next day Jessica met me and gave me the first printed business cards. So then what are we at? That's Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday I go to school cause I'm in school and I got to go to PE today. So I'm at my PE class AKA or working out at the gym. I'm on the treadmill running on the treadmill and all of a sudden this girl gets on to my left and then her friends, so they get on the treadmill and they're talking and they're walking and they're like, girl, I got to order a cake cause this weekend is my son's birthday and this and that. And so I hit stop on the treadmill and I'm like, Hey, I heard you mention that you need to order a cake. I just want to let you know, I own a baking business and I'd love to give you my card and I'd love to be a part of your son's special birthday. And she goes, no way. And so I give her the cake mamas business card that I had just got and she became my first order.

 

Eddie:
Now I hope you guys like following this, right? Because this is craziness, but like this is what happens. And when you get like a seed planted in your brain that you want to do something and sometimes it comes through a dream. And I will tell you that this woman is crazy when she gets ideas. But the one thing is, is that she puts him into coming into action immediately. Oh, I always take action. And so if you were taking anything from the story, a few things from the story. One is like, don't ignore those ideas. Like they come to you for a reason and sometimes they come to you in a form that you did not know that. Like it's not, you don't recognize it as, did I have a dream about your act? Right? Or why was she going to be the partner? Like sometimes you see those things and you go, Oh no, that's, that's definitely not how it's supposed to go down. But leaning into it, something really beautiful can happen.

 

Janelle:

Yeah. So, well, I mean I leaned my ass off because we at the cake mamas trademark

 

Eddie:

are thinking about starting your business and you have been thinking about it for a long time, but you're like, Oh, I need to do this. I need to do this. Like this woman is sold up to this lady a Katie had not even made one really yet. And I had made cakes but not like she didn’t have any photos or anything like that to show off. I just

 

Janelle:

had a business card out, a business card. I have the desire and I was willing to do whatever. So I stopped my treadmill and told her and I closed that sale and she goes, well, how much is it going to be? I said, you know what? We're just getting started. I'll do it for $40 a totally crazy. But it was my very first one. So I figured that you can be 40 bucks. Your expectations can be that high. Right? Well, it wound up being a pink castle cake. It's just, I just remember that's what it was for Josh's birthday first one that took, took a long, a long time. So I call fab and I'm like, Hey, we got first order, make sure you don't have any plans this weekend because we got our first order. She's like, you what? So there we go. We made our first $40 so she comes over that weekend and I remember we were working super late and I just remember like the first couple of times that Eddie comes home and he sees his ex in our house and then make eye contact and she's like, hello Eddie. And he's like, hi, why are you in our house? And it was so fun to just like to see everyone kind of interacting. But I remembered the kids were so happy.

 

Eddie:

Yeah. Like they, they like staying in the living room, played like they like I, it was a complete joy. And so that was one of the most beautiful moments to kind of see all that kind of come together. But it was very strange at the time. But that strangeness is what I think. Now we look back and say, wow, that gave birth to a beginning of a brand and a brand story that I think resonated with people and it really gave life to the cake mamas.

 

Janelle:

Absolutely. And I think people that have blended families or people that don't, they really sat with that message like, wait for a second, they would come into the bakery and say, wait for a second, one of you is the X and one of you is the new wife. Like what in the world? How does this happen? And people would come in all the time and they would just pour their hearts out about how the baby mama hates them or they're having a really tough time with their stepkids or whatever the situation was. And so we had the opportunity to share our story with many people and that was really something that I was proud of.

 

Eddie:

Yeah. And I think that when you talk about starting something from nothing, I think you have to have a story. You have to have something that's, it gives you an image, gives you a brand that gives you something that attracts people. And that dynamic was the perfect thing at that particular time. Now, do you have to have a blend of the family? Do you have to have these ideas, ways of living your life? But no, I don't think so at all. But you do have to have a story. And so as we talk about like building a company and building a business, I think at first starts off with, if you don't have any money, at least have a story.

 

Janelle:

And boy, do we have a story?

 

Speaker 3:

Yes, we do. Thank you for listening to The PUSH Podcast. Hey, we want to hear from you. So if you have a question or there's a particular topic that you want us to tackle and you want us to help you Push through, you've got to do something for us. You gotta go to Apple Podcasts and you've got to leave a rating and a review. And in that review, go ahead and lead that question with your Instagram handle so that we can shout you out when we actually answer the question and we'll talk about that on the podcast and make sure that, Hey, this particular podcast is made for you. So leave a rating, leave a review, leave your handle, and until next time, Push through.

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