Hammond Meuer 0:00

When you get a a fifty year old or a forty five or even a thirty year old who's unhappy or who has been downsized multiple times and you ask them the question, What don't you want to be when you grow up? You get some really interesting answers. I don't want what my mom or dad had. I don't want a bad boss. I don't want a toxic work environment. I don't want an hour and a half commute. Whatever it is, I just need to get three hours of my life back. If you did, what would you do with your time? And the answer she has, and I was like, that's and that's why it's different than we're not corporate recruiters. We talk about things I say that will probably get you fired in a corporate interview because we talk about things like family and kids. And hey, tell me about your spouse. What does your spouse think you should do? And have you ever talked about possibly owning a business? And if so, what are the fears? What excites you?

Nathan Johnson 1:10

Have you ever had an experience where like you're watching your kid do something, whether it's it could be arts-based or athletics based, and they flopped horribly. And then like you make make your sale, you're make make yourself to the side and you're like ready for them the moment they come off the stage or anything, and you're just they just like collapse in your arms. Have you ever had those moments? We'll go back in the memory machine.

Hammond Meuer 1:32

Um, and that's one of the reasons I love sports, is because you get to practice failure. You know, you get uh, I think we talked about it when we first met, and there's nothing or others, I know it's a cliche, but it's like whether it is a grade or a performance, you're up on stage and stage fright hits you, or you missed a free throw when all eyes were on you, or you're on the pitching mound, and how or in the batter's box, and that's one of the reasons I just love use sports, is to because you can put an arm around them, there's still ice cream after the game, you know, there's still the enjoyment, and to see how kids respond and develop resiliency. And because I mean my kids have been through COVID. We had a house fire. I don't know if you shared that with you. And some of these, you know, when I was downsized, some of these real events that people go through every day. I mean, the unexpected loss of a loved one or whatever it might be personally or professionally, resilience and grit.

Nathan Johnson 2:36

I mean, it's important. So you watch them the first time and it's like, I want to quit. I'm gonna do something, and then you're like, you build them up, you give you the reinforcement, and then you watched that happen again multiple times. You're like, now I don't even have to be the one to reinforce the fact that you don't want to quit just because you failed one time.

Hammond Meuer 2:52

And um the older they get, again, I've got you know, now an 18-year-old and um coming off a sports season, and probably some difference of opinion, let's just say, with coaches. Um, there's gonna be that in life. You know, you're gonna work with or for people who you don't agree with, but you kind of got to figure it out.

Nathan Johnson 3:14

Do you think he's come to that realization of that chapter of his life?

Hammond Meuer 3:18

I don't think so. Yeah, I think it's one of those things where he's just gonna look back and be like, maybe, maybe like we all do, probably, right, with our parents, like, yeah, maybe this is what mom or dad were trying to try to tell me, you know, that this is whether it's a teammate, whether it's a game, a coach, your expectations, I mean, both for parents and kids. And it's it's just interesting how and coaches as well. And it's just one of the things I find interesting is how just the coaching, and and I'm all for it. You and I both do it, and I like to just simplify it. Basically the actions through words is how we approach it. And we can have a great dialogue, or I could be chatting with uh with a uh prospective client and give them some ideas or listen or ask questions and pull some stuff out of them. Say, hey, have you ever thought about X, Y, or Z? It's like, yeah, I thought about it. Well, would you be open to you know taking action or what's prevented you from taking action? And then clients will pull in the reasons why maybe they haven't. Usually it's a spouse, for example. And it's always interesting, the same things we sometimes prioritize in our life can be the reasons why people may not do something. Well, my spouse may not be in favor of it, or things like that, at least in the world of business ownership, for example.

Nathan Johnson 4:47

There's that guilt that can set in from wanting to even take action on those things, right? A lot of fear. But I like that intro. We're talking about your kids because like as men and then like business owners and all these aspects, like most of us are we have kids, right? And then like if either other men have experienced that same thing that you opened with, that topic of like, you know, I'm gonna have to help my kids through sports, and then when they're done, it's almost like yes, this part of the chapter is over too of their lives, but then like as parents, that part of their life is over as well as it helped them transition to the next part.

Speaker 3 5:19

Yeah.

Nathan Johnson 5:19

So I am Nathan with the Brotherhood Beyond Business. I'm here with Hammond today, and we're gonna get to know him a lot better and his business. So tell us, Hammond. After that great intro, like, who are you? What do you do? What is your drive?

Hammond Meuer 5:34

Yeah, absolutely. So well, thank you for having me. This is great. I've enjoyed uh our discussions thus far. My name is Hammond Meyer. I'm a career coach with the Entrepreneur Source. We have almost 300 coaches around the country. We started it back in the mid-80s, so over 40 years, and we help coach professionals basically figure it out, reach a point of clarity on what it is truly they want to do. A lot of the professionals we work with usually fall into one of two categories. They've either recently been downsized or they're currently employed but not happy. And I like to smile and say, you know, it's it's like a neck and neck race sometimes on which group is outpacing the other. But there are a lot of frustrated professionals out there and uh for a lot of different reasons. And uh we work with professionals who may be in their, I mean, I've worked with professionals in their 20s, mid-20s, all the way up to their early 70s. And they will say very interesting things, whether it's their their parents who may have been impacted by the 08-09 crash, for example. And they'll say things like, I don't want that to be me. I'll also talk to people in their late 60s or early 70s who say things like, I'm being forced to retire and get out of the workplace, but I still have gas in the tank. I still want to stay active and do so. So and everybody in between. Um, and we simply work with them to frankly establish some professional goals. What are we trying to do? What are we trying to achieve? In my corporate life, I love to coach. I think maybe we talked about this a little bit. I love to coach, but I don't like to manage.

Nathan Johnson 7:11

When did you realize you liked to help other people become great, great question?

Hammond Meuer 7:18

It's just um I come from a family of educators. Education's always been big. And it's not only maybe learning about what other people do, but it's and a lot of times learning a little bit more about ourselves and who we truly are and what were the experiences that maybe shaped us personally and or professionally. And those are some of the things we talk about. Because there's some very fascinating, impactful stories people have, not only about their professional journey, but sometimes even their personal. And I think that's why sometimes we've been our uh clients appreciate the personal touch we bring to a professional situation. Now, on the flip side, we represent companies who are looking to build and grow their brands, I like to say literally and figuratively, all over the map, continental United States. And we also have referral partners that we work with to simply help professionals gain clarity on what's next for them. The businesses we represent are franchise-based. And a lot of people think that's you know, fast food, burgers, and fries and donuts, and that might be one element, certainly, but a lot of the businesses we represent are service-based. They're in the trades.

Nathan Johnson 8:30

Okay.

Hammond Meuer 8:31

Or electricians, plumbers, mechanical, electrical plumbing, which is a little bit more on my background, but also these areas where certainly people need help. People, seniors, senior care, consultative type, physical activity, gyms, franchising, again, so a lot of people think it's there's a lot of assumptions too, by the way. But it's essentially the business in a box. I think I've maybe you and I chatted about the Lego set analogy, right? And for those parents, and even who if they still do play with Legos. Um, I always like to ask the question what's the most important piece in the Lego set? And uh sometimes we have fun with the question, and there's really no right or wrong answer, but at the end of the day, I like to say the the most important is the instruction manual. And it's just the idea of following a step-by-step to whatever it is you want to build. In the franchise space, professionals start to okay, grass. They like that a little bit more. Yeah. And that's just one form of entrepreneurial type ownership. But then there are individuals. The thrill is in the the beginning stages of figuring it out as you go, building a startup business. And uh, because I've met with a lot of business owners who have said, and again, with the benefit of time, go back and say, like, wow, I wondered if my business ever had uh an owner's manual or uh you know an instruction booklet to help me build what I want to build or continue building. And that's a really interesting discussion, sort of the dichotomy between a startup business versus a franchise business, versus you know, we're living in a day now where people are looking, they've gotten that maybe they've been downsized, they're looking to acquire an existing business. And that's a much different type of animal, you know, the startup which you've done, the franchise world which I live in. And we also work with business brokers to make introductions if someone was interested in to acquiring an existing business. The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in this country. Awesome. There's no doubt about it. Uh it's just um really given an opportunity to that professional to communicate and really what what got them started on a path, what maybe a goal or a thought or dream involve a significant other or a family member. I don't know if I've ever placed a client or I haven't met their spouse.

Nathan Johnson 11:10

Oh wow. Do you remember the first time you ever placed that first client? Whether it was uh, like you said, an unhappy professional or someone who'd been downsized, and then this is like when you first you stepped into the entrepreneur circle and you were like, I can do this, I can help people.

Hammond Meuer 11:26

Yeah. Uh it was actually it was actually this is where it was what's fun because you can kind of go from coach and cheerleader. Nice. Right? You don't want to micromanage, like I said, because usually once they go with their franchise, they have a coach assigned to them within that business. And they provide the day-to-day moving forward as they get their their feet wet and get established. And you know, I were chatting at one point about like LinkedIn and the power of LinkedIn. It's just I like to I try to keep things simple, mostly for my own benefit. But just connecting professionals with other professionals and whether it's a recommendation, I think that meant more to me than the placement. Placement is more, it's kind of like a graduation, right? I know it's like the culmination of the work done, but it's really that the continuation of their journey as an entrepreneur with a roadmap and a plan, which, again, depending upon one's age and stage, there's excitement. There's, yeah, maybe a little bit of fear, but it's more like nervous excitement. And I think one of the interesting things is the professionals that I work with are very confident in their ability to do a job. Like that's what's really cool too. Um, and it's just, you know, maybe helping them sort out some of the noise or confusion, whether it may be coming from an outside source or listen, I I'm I'm as guilty as anybody, overthinking something. You know, let's just we um we provide a disk profile, dominance, influence, stability, compliance. Just a behavioral tendency with all of our clients just to get a better idea on who they are, simply as people. Usually personal happiness dictates professional productivity. And I think that's one of one of the maybe secret sauces because again, at this at the same time, we represent organizations who are looking to build and grow. They want to bring the right individual into their franchiseur world who's going to, you know, enhance their reputation, who's going to be a performer, who's going to share in the benefits, the successes of that given brand. And those are those are some of the assumptions I think some of the people uh maybe have on franchising in general. I'm actually a franchise owner with the entrepreneur source. So all 300 of us, we represent the same brands, we have the same referral partners, we follow the same sort of step-by-step methodical playbook, if you will. But of course, we all have different backgrounds. We all maybe network differently. We all have different relationships within the community that we that we simply utilize to differentiate ourselves. But we've been through the franchise, franchise agreements. We have relationships and we know what it's like about you know the the fear factor, if you will. And helping to just relate to those clients who are seriously exploring those types of opportunities.

Nathan Johnson 14:44

So when you so you mentioned like obviously like being a coach and watching those type of, you know, they go from coach to cheerleader. Yeah. Just wanted to touch base on that. So like, is that like almost the best parts of the job? Yeah, it's so cool. You're like, I I did a good job. Like I they are off and running now. It's like it's like a coach on the basketball team, right? It's like I practice, we run these things, and when it's executed beautifully, it's like that sense of a little bit of sense of pride and joy that comes from those.

Hammond Meuer 15:13

I I just got one yesterday actually from a gentleman who I met through just a mutual connection. Phenomenal guy, very uh, you know, interesting background. He's always had an entrepreneurial spirit. He um got a background in the financial world, and he has invested in an electrical contracting franchise in uh in this area, Northbrook, a little south of here, and then Barrington where I live. That's why I say you just go from coach to cheerleader, and uh, you always defer to their business coach at the brand, at least I do. But it's like quick, quick little questions on hey, I'm setting up this, or do you know anybody who can help me with that? Uh in his case, it might have been a lawyer or setting up his business account banking-wise, little things like that. It's just you never necessarily direct him exactly what to do, but just hey, here's some of the people either I use or I know other people who have used them. You might want to look at that, but that's just more of a you know, cheerleading, excited, being there, if I can be, because we do work with people all over the country, you know, whether it's a grand opening or but just the the excitement they have. I've always been the one to uh kind of stay back and uh let the spotlight be on them. I do not like the spotlight, I do not want the attention. Um it's really about the client putting them in a position, not only just them, but also the business. So they can kind of like the one plus one equals three. When the client has a point of clarity and they say, you know, this is an opportunity that I really think I can excel at. And I see myself as part of the succession of this business. We like I like to talk about culture leadership and succession as it relates to anything really a business. Because uh, you know, in my past life, I worked with a lot of independent startups. I worked in the manufacturing and the electrical world where I saw a lot of independent small businesses, whether it was one or two people or hundreds, if not thousands, culture, leadership, succession. And you really got to go three for three. It's not one of these things like you gotta go two out of three, or yeah, they got great leadership, but a questionable culture, yeah. And you know, questionable succession plan. Um, but these are the types of discussions I have with clients when they meet a brand and they truly see themselves as part of the succession. They want to carry the flag. I live it myself. You know, the other coaches around the country are as genuine and as just down to earth. We have a phenomenal culture with great leadership at the entrepreneur source, you know, engaging in peer advisory groups. You never feel like you're on an island, you know, even though most of us work for ourselves. We don't have employees, we don't necessarily have real estate, which are two variables that our clients learn about as they explore potential business ownership. Do I want real estate? Do I want employees? What type of investment? I always like to say, well, the real estate, like the mobile real estate in a service industry where the service goes to the consumer in the trades, whether it's a a van or mobile pet grooming or electrician or in-home gyms, in-home physical between the pandemic, the baby boomers, Amazon, no other any other lifestyle trend in there. Instacart now. Instacart, more and more people want that service coming to them and they're willing to pay for it.

Nathan Johnson 19:11

So yeah, they have the income. And then like someone's come to you being like, All right, I want to go down this avenue, and you kind of discuss with them, be like, well, you actually be best suited down this path. Or do you just kind of say, Okay, where if you want to go down that path, we're gonna do it?

Hammond Meuer 19:29

Yeah, usually uh always try to let the client dictate. And and we will in sometimes intentionally, or they say they say, Oh, I know I don't want anything in this area or the area. Maybe it's something in the trades. So it's a hard pass on the hard pass on the trades. Most of our coaches will show them something in the trades. And we do that just to be a hundred percent confident. And until the client can really, and I think this brings up uh another interesting point, give you a really concrete answer as to why. Why not? Or if it reconfirms what they initially thought. Um because a lot of times, sometimes it's it's easier to ask that question, what don't you want more of in your professional career? A lot of times the professionals are, you know, I tell the story sometimes in my at the time, 70-year-old father. I don't know if I shared this with you the first time, Pooh. Now, this goes back almost 15 years ago, because he's almost 85. Um, on the day of his retirement, he said, party. I'm at age 70. He goes, now I just gotta figure out what I want to be when I grow up. And I'm like, here's a retired educator 50 years, and he's making that comment, and he's kind of serious. And I was like, you know, when we ask these 18-year-olds, or they're getting off, you know, whether it's uh, you know, college or figuring out what they want to do or who they want to be when they grow up, it's so hard. But when you get a 50-year-old or a 45 or even a 30-year-old who's unhappy or who has been downsized multiple times, and you ask them the question, what don't you want to be when you grow up? You get some really interesting answers. You get some really I don't want what my mom or dad had. I don't want a bad boss, I don't want a toxic work environment, I don't want an hour and a half commute. Metaverne about a month ago, had an hour and a half, each three hours a day in Tampa. She's like, whatever it is, I just need to get three hours of my life back in.

Nathan Johnson 21:45

That's so much. I mean, you think about every week and then every year, how much of your time is this?

Hammond Meuer 21:51

And it's like if you did, what would you do with your time? And the answer she has, and I was like, That's and that's why it's different. Different than we're not corporate recruiters. We don't like we talk about things I say that will probably get you fired in a corporate interview because we talk about things like family and kids. And hey, tell me about your spouse. What does your spouse do? What does your spouse think you should do? And have you ever talked about possibly owning a business? And if so, what are the fears? What excites you? Have you ever, I mean, again, these are a lot of professionals, they might have had a side gig or experiment, maybe a the jam and jelly at the county fair on the weekends when they were growing up, or some entrepreneurial itch that they either haven't scratched, or I like to tell people I was involved in a nonprofit in my hometown and was like to think pretty successful in that, doing the right things for the right people.

Nathan Johnson 22:54

Is that where you got started with this? Because you really care about helping people find their dreams. And not like I'm talking about like not the employer that helps their boss achieve their dream. I'm talking about like you, you know, laterally help other people achieve their dreams while you're achieving yours at the same time.

Hammond Meuer 23:09

Yeah, I think I've always looked at it as like kind of serving others, whether it was more about education or I think maybe I shared the joke with you about the basketball nonprofit where the coach said, I'll tell you what, he was a young coach, he's a great coach, 30 years of age, just really good the X's and the O's on the court. And our joke was he's like, Well, if I handle the X's and the Y's on the court, you handle the X's and the O's off the court. You deal with the real problem. And I wish I would have known, like and he was so right. And that's that's another cool thing. It's learning from, and he's actually an entrepreneur, he's he owns his own practice, basketball, training, development, and he's now invested in a gym. And in his own gym is down in Naperville, and he's built it out. And um, and he's when you talk to a parent about their kid, and whether it is academics or athletics, you know, as you and I have just even just just today we're sharing, enjoy the time with the children, enjoy those car rides, enjoy those because they won't necessarily come to an end, they'll just be different. And if there's a lesson you can take from, you know, the competition or the experience that you can apply to your next chapter, you know.

Nathan Johnson 24:29

Right, because as a as a dad right now, of like the five and two year olds you talk about like I am, especially her, you know, their mom and I, there we're their whole world. Right. Absolutely. And there's gonna be a time when you know it becomes ninety-nine, ninety-eight, ninety-seven, ninety-six, and we're just gonna see it continually trickle down, but we're less and less of their world, and it's gonna be like, oh my gosh, this is hard.

Hammond Meuer 24:51

90% of your child's time is spent with you up to age 18. 90%? The time you get with your child, and like 90% is up the f you know, is up to the age and 18. And then they leave the house, like and I'm like, wow. And then we're fighting for time after that. And that that's exact those are the types of themes and topics that come up with our clients. And again, generally speaking, the two things, right? Most people want more of time and money. And the younger in general, the younger the professionals we talk to, they'd say, like, I just want to make money, money, money, money.

Speaker 3 25:34

It's like, okay.

Hammond Meuer 25:35

Let's talk a little bit more about what that means to you and why. And um then some of the you know, more experienced and older will just simply talk about the time and the time they have left. They say things like, I need a little more of a purpose in what I do. Like, I need to know that I'm making a difference in somebody's life. We just again, not to oversimplify it, but we just say, Well, let's maybe go on a journey. Let's go out and learn about maybe the people who need help out there. Because there are a lot of people who need help out there. But let's also learn about maybe some of the problems that need to get fixed. It's kind of like a lot of what you do. I mean, there's a lot of people, whether it's their physical, mental, well-being, and even spiritual, well, but helping them to feel better about themselves, directly solving a problem, but also helping people. And is it, you know, this is not to get too philosophical, but like every individual may struggle with something much different and unique and have their own set of variables that they're bringing to you and the gym and that they're trying to reach their goals. And at least on the professional side, uh there's there's a little bit of that going on too, but never want to ignore what's going on personally in in the life, because it's real. I mean, I've had clients who have had passing the death, unexpected death of like a spouse, a client who had an unf very unfortunate child take his own life while we were working together. And it's like, how can that not impact any of us? Um, and it's like so to stick your head in the sand or not ignore that, or to ignore that and not have that, I mean, again, that's why I say we're not therapists, not counselors, but we do it's not uncommon for personal things just to come up in terms of who's their circle of influence, who is their board of directors in wanting them to succeed should they pursue business ownership.

Nathan Johnson 27:46

Right. And they're and as your coach, right, they're perhaps confiding in you a little bit. They've already informed you of this horrible thing that's happened in their life. And so there's that level of trust that you've created with them. Why why here? Is it because the family's here?

unknown 28:00

Yeah.

Hammond Meuer 28:01

Yeah. Family's here. I married a girl from the Northwest Bergs. I say it's not the weather or the sports teams while we live in Chicago, but I'm from the area. I went to school out east. I worked out west. I relocated back here about a right around 9-11 back in the early two quarter of a century ago. Yeah, it's kind of like that.

Nathan Johnson 28:20

Maybe it sounds like too much. That's all right.

Hammond Meuer 28:23

I I can share with people my age because I'm 50 years from age, and I I see you know those 25 met a young 25-year-old, and I I mean it's just so fun to hear their stories and the things that have impacted them. And maybe I shared the story of a 22-year-old college graduate who just invested in a franchise like out of college, and he's now on his third contract with them. He's in his late 30s and he's doing great.

Nathan Johnson 28:47

Is he doing a trade? Because you mentioned your specialty is trades. Why do you think that's your specialty, or did you want that to be your specialty?

Hammond Meuer 28:53

Uh, I think it found I think it's kind of a little bit about both. I mean, first of all, there is such a need. And then this isn't about uh the first time I bring it up as a potential with somebody, you know, just hey, you know, Nathan, what do you think about the trades? Just keep it in just oh, I mean, and that was, you know, the gentleman just recently I'd worked with. Um, and this isn't about, you know, a lot of times some of these assumptions are, oh my gosh, I need to go back to trade school or learn how to turn a wrench. No, no, no, no, no, no. This is about leading the team. This is about hiring those technicians to do the work. But someone's got to read the KPIs. Somebody's gotta own the business, you know, communicate with, you know, the franchise or build, grow, develop everything that, frankly, most of them have done in the in the corporate world in some cases. Um, and again, are very confident in their ability to do that. But the trades are in such need. I think we're going through a little bit of a just a little bit of a redefining in this, especially post-COVID, where more and more people are spending time at home. They're working from home. Maybe the baby boomers aren't planning on selling their homes, at least any time in the foreseeable future. But guess what? Stuff still breaks. Stuff still breaks, and whether it's reactive, water heaters, plumbing, HVAC, or proactive. Oh, grandpa, grandpa just bought a new Tesla and need needs a charger in the garage. That installed. Got to install it, absolutely. And that those are the types of, I mean, these this is a lot of them I like to say are boring, predictable, but profitable type businesses. These aren't it's not the next semiconductor factory going up, you know, in Libertyville or anywhere. These are these are businesses that everybody needs, but to what degree it may align with what somebody wants to do, that's a different question.

Nathan Johnson 30:56

So you're just looking for leaders to lead and then like to explain to them, hey, let the technicians be the technicians. Yeah. Right? A lot of there's maybe a lot of people out there that are really, really good at their trade that don't want to distress of owning the business. Exactly. That's a great point.

Hammond Meuer 31:10

Right. That's a great point. And those are the types of that's the type of information and education because we make the introduction. So we'll represent franchise businesses, and then usually three we'll introduce. Once we get to a certain point with a client, we'll introduce three. I'm meeting with uh a couple virtually a little later today. She's uh an educator, she's not happy. He's been out of work for about six months. And one of the maybe in the second or third call, she brought him into the call after about our second call together. It just started out you and her, and then she's very I gotta get out of it, and this is really interesting because I am talking to a lot of people in the healthcare world or education who will say things like, I got into this profession because I wanted to take care of people in healthcare. I wanted to educate a kid. However, over time it's become about something else. I didn't change. I almost feel like you know, they'll say things like the industry changed on me, or it became more about flipping beds or state test scores or workplace politics. Absolutely. And those are very valuable, like those are nuggets. It's like, what if we took your same desire to help somebody or educate a kid and we just pivoted a little bit? We just pivoted 45 degrees, and we were to introduce you into an opportunity like senior care. What do you mean? Well, you know, by 2030, the entire baby boom generation will be over the age of 65.

Nathan Johnson 32:51

Yes.

Hammond Meuer 32:52

Right? I mean, that's a fact.

Nathan Johnson 32:53

We don't know that that's for the anytime the baby boomers do something, there's a new trend there. Yeah, absolutely.

Hammond Meuer 32:59

It's something that's fascinating in and of itself, and whether, you know, now now my parents, they're a little older, they're in their mid 80s, but when you look at things like companion, and now they're they're they're lucky, and we're all lucky that their kids are still in the area. But there's a lot of families who are not. They're hundreds of miles away, but there are businesses like seniors helping seniors, which is a it's a franchise where people in their six roughly help people in their eighties. But that's a business. I mean, that's a concept. But there's also medical, there's non-medical. Um, there are business opportunities, senior proofing homes going into something. Absolutely. And it's a franchise. They figured out the mind, and this is what's so interesting, and I guess it's one of the not only do I get to meet great individuals and entrepreneurial uh professionals as well, but learn about these businesses. And it's not just what they do, but it's how they do it. And that's what I think where franchising comes in with the playbook, because what they do is they send in an occupational therapist first to assess the house, to follow the discharge instructions from the medical. So whether it's the grab bars or the ramp is installed to and that you know, so you send in the occupational therapist first to the house, to the residents, because usually it's not the patient who needs it who's calling, it's their loved one, it's the spouse, the adult children. So once the occupational therapists come in, then they send in the contractor to do the work. Those types of business opportunities, they're not going anywhere.

Nathan Johnson 34:39

Yeah, they'll explode in the next 15 years then. Explode from now on. Absolutely. Because 65 to they're probably gonna live to their 80s. Absolutely.

Hammond Meuer 34:46

They're getting here because they're seeing people like you, and they're gonna want to, but they're gonna want to do it. We know this, they're gonna want to do it when they want to do it on their terms. In their homes. In their homes, absolutely, and for the for the for the businesses that acquiesce. Sure. And that's what and I I've heard of this is a cool one. Actually, my parents have that, you know, just senior senior chef just coming in, preparing meals in your own in your house, like leaving you with, you know, a week or two weeks worth of meals in the freezer for and like these meals.

Nathan Johnson 35:19

What do you want me to cook you? Exactly.

Hammond Meuer 35:21

Just comes in, uh, interviews, gets an idea of what people want, and yeah, it's a franchise. And people say, Well, the franchise, it's like, why can't I just start that myself? You could. You absolutely could. And most people sometimes forget that all all franchises started as successful startup businesses, and they just evolved, and the owner wanted to develop the instruction manual.

Nathan Johnson 35:43

So you mentioned like they're like, oh, franchise, like what is the most misunderstood you thing you think about, like with your business and then starting up a franchise?

Hammond Meuer 35:50

Yeah, that's that's yeah, you have some really questions. This this one I think if if if I could hammer one point home because and I and and we chat with our clients about this. Yes, the biggest assumption is probably a franchise just wants me because either I have money or I'm interested, and then they're just gonna like get me to sign, and then they're yeah. And it couldn't be further from the truth. I mean, these franchises didn't get to where they are by just bringing any anybody on. And I always like to ask people, have you ever researched what it took to own a Chick-fil-A? And it's one of the most well-known now, games a lot of what we represent is non-food based or whatever, but everybody knows the Chick-fil-A name. And if you just Google search it and you look at the requirements of what it takes to own that and whether it's forget the investment financially, it's the time. And it really is working in that place for months over a period of time. But boiling it back down to one of the biggest assumptions when I introduce a client to a brand or multiple brands, I've had clients get really individuals get really excited about the business. And they'll be like, I could really see myself doing this. And here's why. And my spouse is excited, and they start thinking, and they just had one or two calls. On that third call, the franchise comes back and says, We're sorry. No, no, you're not a cultural fit. And the individual is like blindsided, they're like, What? What are you talking about? And a majority of the time it's because not a cultural fit basically means you were coming in and trying to tell somebody how to rerun their business. And that's that's not what they want, right? It's can you you don't I like to say you don't tell Mrs. Fields how to remake her cookies, she's not interested in that. She's interested in more selling more cookies, right? And now, the good news is we talk about that stuff before we even introduce them, but it is why we do talk about culture in leadership. And um, and I think it's another maybe misnomer, because I even do it with the entrepreneur source is you're still part of a group that does want to continue to get better and build and grow and maybe do some new and different things and be part of an advisory group, or be part of uh, you know, a coach, coaching quorum that is looking at a new way, a new software, you know, using AI in our business, or however, what whatever trends might be going to still explore. You can still be a part of that, but there's still at the end of the day a basic playbook to build and follow and grow your respect.

Nathan Johnson 38:44

I mean, it to be honest, it's it's it sounds like obviously it sounds like opening a business, but the difference is is like for you, it's gonna start with you, and then they're gonna start with the actual business coach, like you mentioned earlier, from the actual business. And so it starts where you let's say we're like we're doing climbing a mountain, for example, where you are leading them first, right? They're following in your footsteps as it goes along the way. And then eventually, maybe it's more of a walk side by side.

Speaker 3 39:09

Yeah.

Nathan Johnson 39:10

And then you mentioned like the cheerleading side where you're now kind of watching them on, watching them climb and going, Yes, yes, you got this, and then finally they make it.

Hammond Meuer 39:20

And everybody's got a different path. I sometimes use the toy story or the toy store, the toy store sort of analogy. And again, I I've had clients say uh swimming pools or wading into uh a pool with swimmies or jumping into a the deep end, and there's I love all sorts of them. But at the end of the day, pursuing a corporate type of role is much different than an entrepreneurial, and a startup is much different than acquiring an existing, and which is much different than a franchise. And if we were in, you know, a toy store and we were looking down the W-2, that's over there. And we encourage that because the more you can compare and contrast opportunities, especially when they say things like toxic work environments or bad bosses or commutes, okay, well make sure you get answers to those questions. But if you were to start your own thing, how many business owners do you know? And how many business owners do you know who've started their own thing and been successful at it? And go talk to one. And then they're gonna come back and compare and contrast. Now, this aisle here, this is sort of like the franchise Lego. Because every one of these businesses that we look at, at the end of the day, they all have the operating instruction manual. But that's much different than this one over here, because I got a referral partner who would love to meet somebody who's interested in buying an existing business that maybe that retired baby boomer wants to sell. Because there's some of those, but that is a much different, that's you have to put dollars on everything, but those are usually half a million to a million dollars on those types of opportunities, which is a step up than the tire kickers in the franchise world, which are usually start at you know, six figures up to about half a million. But depending upon real estate, employees, operating capital, right? That can go up. Which is much different than the blood, sweat, and tears you put in building your business, right? Where there was no, but you you wrote your own instruction manual, which is much different than the corporate rap.

Nathan Johnson 41:32

Right. The kid that builds the Legos without the instruction manual. They build their own. Yep, yep. They don't build their own capital. So here, which aisle are we So how has owning this part of the business changed you like as a man, changed your family aspects? Like, what has it done for you and your family? How does it show up at home?

Hammond Meuer 41:49

Yeah, I would I I just like to say my my five to nine drives my nine. Okay. The time with your family motivates your work. Yeah, that's what he was like, uh, because I guess when I was asking myself the question, what don't I want more in my I was like, I don't want to be stuck at an airport or traveling while either my kids are growing up or you know, my parents, my in-laws, my in-laws' family, my wife's family uh is in the area. You know, they're still and those those are the types of things that, you know, we don't get the time back. Um whether it was post-COVID or an opportunity to sort of shoot your shot while you had it, yeah.

Nathan Johnson 42:27

So you mentioned like two different bubbles, right? The money making bubble and the time bubble. Yeah. Are you in the time bubble then?

Hammond Meuer 42:33

It's really it's interesting. I mean, I uh this is something I've heard from others, and and maybe you've you've heard the same is there's people who have used their time and one portion of their careers to make money or or maybe build wealth. Then what people are starting to do is I want to use now my time. Or use my wealth to make more time. And then use that time to build more wealth. So then it becomes okay, well, how do you define wealth? And that's a question that you ask. And you get a lot of really interesting questions. People will talk about, well, my portfolio, or people will talk about you know, certainly their family or real estate. And I think business ownership is on a path in this country very similar to what real estate was a generation ago.

Speaker 3 43:23

Okay.

Hammond Meuer 43:24

All right, so a generation ago, and I know you you and I are not exactly the same age, but you know, and I'd love to hear your kind of take on this, but you know, my parents bought a house to raise a family. Correct. That was really it. And they're educators. One's from Boston slash Indiana, the other one's from South Dakota. Farm boy from South Dakota. Couldn't be more different. Could be more different. And um, I promise he wasn't thinking about wealth diversification at age twenty two when he was right off the farm or out of school. And moved to Chicagoland and became like an art teacher. But over time, he realized the value of real estate and started acquiring little bit by little bit. And now fast forward, you can't turn around where somebody doesn't own a piece of property or a real estate investment, whether it's a VRBO or a lake house at a beachfront condo as a diversification of wealth. Right. So that's another form of wealth. But we're at the maybe some will say we're at the precipice. Some will say we're already there about business ownership. And at the end of the day, owning your own business, what's the objective? What's the goal? And if it's to sell the business or if it's to pass along to the next generation, there's no right or wrong, but at the end of the day, it's to provide options. It's to provide options in that succession planning that some people do, but some people don't, right? And it's a lot of times we see, again, rewinding a generation, the tradesperson who started their business to put food on the table and move over the head. And they made a really nice business to it. And now, now that they're in their 60s or wherever, and they're ready to maybe move on, it's what's the succession plan? All right, well, I guess I'm gonna start figuring it out. In the franchise world, it's actually one of the first questions a franchisor will ask a prospective franchisee. Okay. What's your end game here? Is your end game to expand? Is your end game to sell? Or is your end game to bring in the next generation? And it really sometimes catches people off guard because this isn't about just a job. That's why we call these are careers. This is career coaching. This is right, and if it's if it's about diversifying your wealth or in the form of tax benefits, or uh is this a real estate play in addition to the business? How would we value the business? Because even a handful of things, right? You can do with the business close it, sell it. What's that? Just pass it on. Right. And um, I've had clients who say, Yeah, we're gonna pass a franchise. They signed with them. Said, yeah, we're gonna pass it on to our kids. Okay, great. Well, we need to interview your kids at the time because they need we need to make sure your kids pass our standards at the time. So just don't assume we got through it. It was all, but it was one of those things like, you know, you can't just give it to your kids. And you need the franchise or will say things, well, we want to make sure they are up to our standards when the time comes. And it was a quick little addendum or anything like that. But it's one of those things where it's just being clear on the expectations on both sides, and that really helps strengthen.

Nathan Johnson 46:57

How do you get through those moments when, like, say a franchise or tells the franchisee, no, you're not a fit?

Hammond Meuer 47:04

Getting wise, understanding why that is, you know, usually it is the cultural. Um, and a lot of times it's back to maybe why the franchise or would be a fit for the franchisee. Like, oh, I can't see myself doing that. One of the things I like to ask clients is if you could rank these five things for order of importance, how would you rank them? Time, health, family, money, purposeful work. And you ask them that question, you get some pretty interesting, and there's no right or wrong either. Like some people will say, you know, my time is important or purposeful work is more important, or I just want to make the money, and say, okay, well, if we show you something that is, you know, financially driven, you know, where you have an opportunity to ultimately grow and you know and build a nice business, particularly in the trades, or in senior care, and then they'll come back and they'll say, I don't want two dozen employees. Okay. Well, that's what it's gonna take to make what you kind of want to make, but at least we know that. So it's like, well, what if we don't want two dozen employees? What if we half a dozen? Exactly. Where's your happy place both in any of those categories? Okay.

Nathan Johnson 48:15

So inside of your business, like you've done it for now for what? Would you say like thirty? Yeah, two and a half, almost three years. Yeah. So how do you buy speed, or what would you have done to like buy speed or to get to where you're at right now quicker?

Hammond Meuer 48:28

Uh it's what it's one of the reasons I do kind of like the franchise route is because I can lean on coaches three to five, five to ten, ten to twenty years who've been doing it. And what's interesting is we kind of learn from each other. Right? We learn about, you know, I'll I'll I'll talk to coaches who have been doing it 10, 15 years, and we'll say they well, we never had anything like late then. We never had anything. We had callers or we used resumes. Right. Papers, documents.

Nathan Johnson 48:56

Yeah. So you're like a testament then to these people who are like, I'm too old to get out and do it on my own now. Like, it's there's no such thing.

Hammond Meuer 49:03

I will say, and we we do talk about age, it's one of the reasons I bring up that someone will say, Yeah, I do you mind me asking how old you are? Oh, I'm uh they'll say, I'm 57.

unknown 49:12

Right.

Hammond Meuer 49:13

Well, you know what they say, I'm 57. 57's the new 47. And there's no question that people are working longer because they have to.

Speaker 3 49:20

Don't get me wrong.

Hammond Meuer 49:21

There's no question. But there is a large number who work longer because they want to. They want to stay mentally sharp, they want to stay like I was just talking to a gentleman, uh, an estate planner. We actually talked about this saying because he's dealing with wealthy individuals at the time of retirement and what that looks like for them. And he was educating me on the amount of alcoholism. Yeah, people who essentially retired didn't have a plan and sit home and uh the alcohol consumption's on the rise, and it's just not leading to very healthy lifestyles. And I was like, I had no idea. And he's like, the importance of a plan and understanding whether it's it's if it's gonna be strawberry dockeries on the beach, like they think it is. He's like, well, that you know, there's consequences to that. Sunburns and alcohol, I guess there's his point. But it's it's you know, he was looking at it from you know, the 60, 70-year-old perspective, which is, and again, he's he's like he's dealing with wealthy individuals who have built you know multimillion dollar estates.

Nathan Johnson 50:34

And professionally everything was and purpose disappears a little bit as well with that job. Personal struggles that were becoming what was like that was like almost worse than when people come back to Nestor's. Like rather it's like big retirement's almost worse. Yeah. What do I do with my time?

Hammond Meuer 50:52

And that was worried retirement and just what it means to people. You know, and it's some sometimes these are the questions we ask. You know, if you had a couple extra zeros in the bank account, or you had ten years, or you know, that person who had that crazy commute, three hours a day, hour and a half each way. If you had those three hours in your day left or back to you, what would you do with them? And whether it's and people give me really interesting answers. And three hours.

Nathan Johnson 51:21

Like I think about myself like before I had kids, I was like, oh my gosh. If even if I was productive, I was such a time waster, right? Because every time you get home from work to the time you go to bed, those are hours to be like used and prioritized. I was like, oh my gosh, like five hours a night is an eternity to like a young entrepreneur who doesn't use kids. Yeah, that's like so. Gosh, it's crazy to think about. So, what would you want people to say though about you as a business owner? Or hope they say about you as a business owner. It's more about a per as a person.

Hammond Meuer 51:55

You know, honest, ethical. I mean, I well, in even in our disc profile, it's kind of funny. The results come back natural versus adapted. Okay. You know, when we know who we are as people, and of course we can all adapt where we are in certain situations, but uh you know, our circles as we get older become so much tighter. You know, we're we're, you know, it's just kind of my opinion. But again, I'm seeing it on both both sides. But um that's why I love I love coaching, but cheerleading as well, and just being a trusted resource for somebody to go to when they have a problem. When they have because there are a lot of professionals out there who are going through challenges, who are not sure what the next chapter holds. Um, and they've got very interesting stories up until this point. And just learning more about what inspires them, what motivates them, their kids, you know, their spouses, their extended families. And I think that's one of the reasons we pull them into our uh conversations when we can't.

Nathan Johnson 53:02

So not only that you're available, that you actually care to get them where they need it.

Hammond Meuer 53:07

A lot of times, isn't that nine times out of ten, business ownership is not for them. Okay. And we'll we'll absolutely tell them that. Or they'll they'll realize it on themselves. And whether it's the timing back to those same things, the same things we prioritize time, health, money, family, purposeful work. Usually it comes down to those same things we prioritize are exactly the reasons why it's not a good fit.

Nathan Johnson 53:31

So if you were to give like a fortune cookie advice, right, to a young entrepreneur, let's say there's a young man who's like, he's Yeah, he's they're miserable, right? They they like I cannot keep working. It's called the boss. I cannot keep working for the man. Right? I need I want to be my own boss. I want to work to accomplish my dreams. You could you give a quick fortune cookie type advice thing for that?

Hammond Meuer 53:52

Love to know what the dreams are. And a lot of times they're sometimes a little more simple than whether they're time, those five hours, being present, those five hours for the family, for the young kids. Like if that's the dream or that's the goal, okay, that's a great place to start. Let's start at looking at something that's nine to five, right? But has maybe an after hour, which is again another reason why the trades are becoming a call center who can answer a call and you can hit a couple buttons and still be heard versus, but you know, the dreams, the the goals, you know, more people spend time on figuring out what they are having for dinner on a menu than they do on their life goals or plans or how they define wealth. But I think for the people who are frustrated out there, knowing why they're frustrated or what they don't want to be growing up is very impactful and helpful and utilize that as a potentially a catalyst to open whether we're problem solvers and or people pleasers, or some combination of their up because with the baby boom generation and or the amount of opportunity in this country in the playbooks that exist, uh I'm I'm very confident that we can virtually help out any professional. So know your why. It's never too late. It's never too late. In fact, but that's part of the interesting is there's a lot of I don't want to say noise, but it's getting close to noise. There's a lot of talk about you know, professionals getting aged out of at least the corporate world. And that's kind of a fun little fact about franchise oars. Franchis oars love fifty year old, experienced hard work hardworking, they've got a battle scar or two from a corporate world. They understand their their clock is ticking, right? So they'll say things. The average age of our clients are really between 45 and 55. But they're getting younger. They're absolutely getting younger, and um because they're realizing the families, their own timelines, the clock is ticking, whatever that whatever their timelines are. Maybe they want to build something by a certain age, sell it, and then on to the next thing.

Nathan Johnson 56:18

That is awesome. Hey, thank you so much for jumping on the podcast today. This was awesome.

Hammond Meuer 56:22

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