003 – $200 and A Dream with Claudia Johnson of EXCLAMATIONS! Gifts

Claudia Johnson of EXCLAMATIONS! Gifts

In 1993 Claudia Johnson founded her unique gift company, EXCLAMATIONS! Gifts with a two hundred dollar unemployment check and a dream. Her business has evolved into a thriving, full service, gift and gift basket company, offering an entire host of innovative and custom gift baskets, specialty items, and themed gift solutions for all occasions. In 2001 she purchased her 5,000 square foot building which features an inspiring showroom, gourmet pantry, offices, production facilities, shipping department and a photography studio.

Having been honored with many distinctions in the gift industry, Claudia’s accomplishments include: Guest Gift Designer for Nordstrom; in-house Gift Basket Instructor at JC Penny’s corporate center in Plano, TX; and voted First Place winner for “San Diego’s Best Gift Shop”. She has been featured in international trade magazines, on television, and has been a guest speaker at national level trade shows and conventions.

Claudia’s take on her success? “It’s achieved one client and one gift at a time.”

Motivational Quote

 

 

Business Inspiration

Claudia walked into a florist shop that was going out of business. She saw a beautiful burgundy and gold basket and a dream was born. [4:21]

A Candle Flickering Moment

The realization that the she could not build a business on solely the sales of her friends and family. She needed to focus on corporate business and success was up to her. [8:19]

Success Trait

She loves people and her company revolves around that interaction that comes so naturally to her. [17:10]

Productivity/Lifestyle Tool

Currently the native Notes app on her iphone and ipad but she’s looking into switching to Evernote.

Valuable BookFree Audio Book

In Search of Excellence by Thomas J. Peters

Contact Links

Website

Did you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe and leave a review in Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. That helps us spread the word to more makers just like you. Thanks! Sue
Transcript
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Gift Biz Unwrapped episode number three.

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Hi, this is John Lee Dumas of Entrepreneur on Fire,

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and you're listening to Gift Biz Unwrapped.

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And now it's time to light it up.

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Welcome to Gift Biz Unwrapped,

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your source for industry specific insights and advice to develop and

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grow your business.

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And now here's your host,

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Sue Monheit.

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Hi, I'm Sue Monheit and welcome to the Gift Biz Unwrapped

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podcast. Whether you own a brick and mortar store,

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sell online,

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or are just getting started,

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you'll discover new insight to gain traction and grow your business.

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Today I am thrilled to introduce Claudia Johnson.

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In 1993,

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she founded her unique gift company,

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exclamation gifts with,

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believe it or not,

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a $200 unemployment check and a dream.

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Her business has evolved into a thriving gift and gift basket

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company offering an entire host of innovative and custom gift baskets,

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specialty items,

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and themed gift solutions for all occasions.

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In 2001,

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she purchased her 5,000

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square foot building,

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which features an inspiring showroom,

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gourmet pantry offices,

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production facilities,

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shipping department,

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and a photography studio.

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I wanted to bring Claudia on today because she has so

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many fabulous distinctions within the gift in industry.

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Her accomplishments include guest gift designer for Nordstrom in-house gift basket

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instructor at JCPenney Corporate Center in Plano,

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Texas. And she was also voted first place winner for San

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Diego's best Gift Shop.

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She's been featured in international trade magazines on television and has

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been a guest speaker at the national level for both trade

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shows and conventions.

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Claudia's take on her success.

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It's achieved one client and one gift at a time.

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Welcome Claudia.

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How are you doing this morning?

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Hi Sue.

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I'm excited to be part of your show and doing great.

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Thank you so much.

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I've given everybody just a little overview,

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actually a pretty in depth overview.

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Would you care to add anything else that our listeners should

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know? I would say everybody,

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whatever they decide to do,

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do it with passion cuz that's what I've done along the

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way too,

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has just been very passionate about all the different things that

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we've done and it's really been a great journey.

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So that's just add the passion.

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Add the passion.

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Well, we're gonna get into some of these stories in specific

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Claudia, but before we do,

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our listeners know that we like to align this conversation with

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the life of an inspirational candle.

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Shall we light it up?

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I'm ready to light it.

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Let's get the,

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yay, let's get the torch going.

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How's that?

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All right,

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Perfect. The first thing you need to do is let us

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know what your inspirational candle looks like.

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What color is your candle?

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My candle would be a shimmering gold.

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And why gold?

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I love the richness of that color and I love the

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way it sparkles and shimmers with light and sun.

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I think everything gold is is classy and rich and I

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love that.

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And what quote then would be on this candle?

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Well, it's sort of ironic that my quote that I live

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my life by is the golden rule.

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And I just really believe in the gold rule,

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which is comes from the Bible,

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which I love.

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And it comes from Matthew seven 12.

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For those that don't know it,

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it is so when everything due to others,

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what you would have them do to you.

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And I really do try and live my personal and business

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life by the golden rule.

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That would be my color and my quote.

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And that certainly has brought you success,

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that's for sure.

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Yes. Let's take this now way back to the beginning,

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Claudia, when you were first thinking you had that $200 unemployment

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check and you were deciding what you were gonna do with

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it, what sparked inside you to start the business that you

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have today?

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Well, it really is a truly,

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truly crazy story.

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I never really truly imagined having my own company.

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I did not have a business plan.

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I just had that $200 and it was a Saturday afternoon,

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my mom and I spent the day together and I was

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taking her back to my parents' home where I grew up.

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And there was a florist by their home that was going

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outta business.

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Cause it was in the early nineties when their real estate

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recession had hit.

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And a lot of companies are really struggling to stay in

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business. So they had the big sign out front of their

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floral shop and it said,

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going outta business,

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50% off sale.

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And I said to my mom,

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mom, I've never been into that florist.

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Let's go check it out and see what they have for

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sale. And so we walked into the florist and I walked

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to the left.

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My mom walked to the right and I was just,

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I walked right,

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you know,

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right upon an entire wall of wicker baskets.

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But the baskets weren't the traditional brown wicker.

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They were a burgundy with an accent of gold,

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which is sort of funny.

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I didn't tie that together with my candle.

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But the baskets had a piece of gold wicker woven through

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them and it made them very unique and different.

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And I just,

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I didn't even know I was a creative person.

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I have always worked for corporate America.

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The last time I was creative was when I was in

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Campfire Girls.

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But I saw these baskets and I said to my,

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and I went across the store and I said to my

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mom, mom,

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I wanna buy these baskets.

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I wanna start my own company.

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And of course she had no idea,

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and she's not a business lady,

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she was just a fabulous mother.

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And I,

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I, I bought them,

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I bought all the baskets I could put in my car

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along with some other floral enhancements and just stuff.

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And I went home and I told my husband that I

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was gonna start a business.

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I had been married just for one year.

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And so my husband was like,

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oh yeah,

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right. And it was a very,

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it's been an interesting journey,

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but that's really what inspired me was just that wall of

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baskets. And it,

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to this day,

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I kept one,

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one of the burgundy and gold baskets just to re remind

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me of how it all started.

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You know,

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that's so interesting because so many people decide that they wanna

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go on this entrepreneurial journey and they wanna start their own

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business. But the question is always,

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what is it?

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How do I know?

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And they go in search of that.

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And your story is so interesting because here you are,

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probably when you were walking right inside that florist's door,

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you had no idea what was gonna happen when you walked

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inside. And I think the message is be continuously open,

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everything that you're doing,

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if you're looking for what your passion might be to start

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a business,

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it could be as easy as walking into a store and

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seeing something there.

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Just like it was for Claudia.

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Your mom must have thought you were crazy.

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Oh, she was.

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And it was rather comical how it all just went from

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the kitchen table down to the hallway,

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eventually storing products in the bathtub.

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And then my husband realized,

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okay, you've taken over the guest bathtub,

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the hallway,

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the garage.

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He said,

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Claudia, that's enough.

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So you,

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you know,

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he said,

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you've gotta move your business outta the house.

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And so I did.

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I took,

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I got the yellow pages because of course this was long

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before there were computers and all this fabulous technology that we

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have today.

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And I got the all pages out and I found a

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business park.

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And so I did move into 500 square feet and that

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was my first,

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after a few years of working at home.

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And so it's really been great.

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My parents have always been most supportive and my husband too.

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So I'm very grateful And very successful as we continue to

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hear. But it always wasn't that way.

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You and I both know that as you're growing your business,

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there are some rough patches,

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things can get difficult,

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and that inner flame,

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that candle will flicker at times.

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Can you tell us about a story of some point along

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the way when you just weren't sure that you were gonna

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be able to continue on?

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Well, it was more,

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more challenging in the beginning of the business because I remember

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just sitting in the guest bedroom,

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that's where I had my little home office and I was

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sitting at a TV tray,

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which was my desk,

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and I thought,

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gosh, I know a lot of people,

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so I'm gonna start calling my friends and family and I'm

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sure they'll order all their gifts from me.

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And I just thought,

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oh, I'll be so busy.

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And I didn't even know how to buy wholesale at this

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time. It was remarkable that I,

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I am where I am today.

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I still can hardly believe it,

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but I just really was depending on friends and family for

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my success.

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And so what I would say to everybody is,

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don't depend on your friends and family.

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I had to stop and look deep inside myself because I

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realized that they weren't gonna be buying all their gifts from

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me. And if they did,

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I'd be grateful for what they did.

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But I knew that for me to become successful,

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I had to dig deep down inside.

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I didn't believe in myself.

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And then I had to realize that I want to capture

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the corporate market.

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That's where the mega orders are,

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and just the companies that have the budgets.

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So I immediately,

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you know,

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after a couple years I realized this,

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and that's really the best information that I would give to

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people is just really believe in yourself.

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You have to make it happen.

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It's your business.

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It's not your friends and your family's business.

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That was one of the biggest struggles because I was taking

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it personally when friends and family didn't order from me.

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But really,

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you know,

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a lot of my friends and family like to go shopping.

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They like that whole art of going shopping.

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So you know what,

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that's what they do.

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That makes sense.

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And I think,

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you know,

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it is good,

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especially when you start a business to be able to count

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on and kind of run through your systems with acquaintances.

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But acquaintances alone will not a business make,

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they're not gonna be able to continue to buy from you,

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certainly in the numbers that you need to sustain a profitable

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business. Exactly.

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So, and that speaks to having a business plan too.

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You know,

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you kind of pivoted midway through saying,

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okay, it's not gonna be my acquaintances.

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I wanna go corporate.

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And then it sounds like you created a plan.

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I've been very blessed with people finding us.

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I've never really sat down and had a plan.

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I always had a great product and I always had great

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customer service and a great attitude.

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And so people enjoy buying from us.

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They like the entire experience.

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So I ha I'm always honest and I never really had

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a concrete plan.

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I guess I still call myself the Queen of Hope marketing.

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I hope I get an order and I do.

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And I hope I,

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this works out and it does,

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and I hope this person will call.

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And it's crazy.

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They usually do.

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So I call myself sometimes the Queen of Hope marketing because

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it hasn't been like the traditional business plan.

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And I,

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you know,

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I'm a graduate from college and I had a business degree,

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I know better for some crazy reason.

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I've been very blessed.

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What would you recommend to our audience if they're getting started

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and they,

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you know,

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have some friends so they can get a little bit of

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income coming in,

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but what would you recommend to them to be able to

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attract the business and start building a solid customer base?

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Really research your,

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your clientele and your,

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your community.

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Because if you wanna build on your community or do you

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wanna ship and have an international basis,

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but do your homework.

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And I would advise everybody in today's society to have,

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what I would say is to write and research and have

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a traditional business plan and know your client base and know

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exactly what you're doing.

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I think it's so risky because of the internet and trends

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have changed and people are shopping online and people are now

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going to shop more mobile.

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So I really think that in 1993 when I started my

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company, those were the good old days where I could be

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the queen of Hope marketing and I,

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and I could just sort of just do it.

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But now I think you really have to be very planned

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and organized and really have milestones set to be successful.

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Think about your business today,

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Claudia, and what types of things have you done that have

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been successful?

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Like have,

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has there been a certain promotion or certain event that has

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helped boost business over certain periods of time?

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We've had open houses and they've been a lot of fun

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and people love when we do that.

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But I realized the return on investment,

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which is ROI really in business wasn't there for us.

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So we would spend lots of hours decorating and making little

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gifts and just having gorgeous things.

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And then I would bring in extra staff to staff the

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open house and everybody had a lovely time and it was

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fun, but it really wasn't profitable to spend that kind of

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time getting everything ready when we could spend that kind of

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time scouting out corporate clients and making a lot of money.

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So it depends on what you wanna do and how big

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you want your company to grow.

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So for us,

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the biggest event,

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it's not really a traditional event,

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is purchasing my main competitor in San Diego.

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They're known as pleasant surprises.

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And what I would encourage all business owners to be is

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to be very cordial to everyone,

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be cordial to,

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of course,

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to your clients,

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but also to your competition.

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Because you never know when that opportunity may arise and may,

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you may be able to,

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you know,

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purchase them.

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So I've really seen that when I purchased my competition,

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it was a huge surprise for me.

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It was a pleasant surprise.

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And then of course it's really been great for our company

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just to bring in extra revenue.

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So I think it's like you were saying Sue earlier,

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you never know exactly when or where something could come your

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way, but you have to be ready and you have to

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be open.

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I was just really grateful.

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I think that's,

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that was our best event that could ever bring us more

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business is,

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is just being polite and cordial to the competition.

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And then of course,

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when things changed in their life,

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they called us first.

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I'm so grateful for that and just really appreciate that respect.

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You know,

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that goes back,

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I, you know,

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I'm really liking this talk because the whole theory of the

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golden rule is just kind of weaving in throughout this whole

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conversation. So there's really no question in terms of what you

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stand for.

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And the interesting part with that is it has led you

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to big things,

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finding the ability to grow your business out of the house

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into another facility,

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eventually buying a facility.

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And now the way you've been working with customers and also

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working with other people in your community,

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i e your competition,

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you've also positioned yourself where now you have purchased them,

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so your company's gonna only grow bigger.

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And it's not through selling and getting the most dollars out

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of customers,

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it's through relationships.

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So let's talk about that just a little bit here on

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the customer service end.

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Can you give us any advice on how you make your

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customers feel valued and unique and how we can do that

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for our customers?

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Well, from day one,

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we've always listened to each customer and we might not always

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like what we hear,

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but we listen and then we serve them absolutely the very

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best we can.

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We like to treat each and every client as a five

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star v i p client.

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We will,

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you know,

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just truly bend over backwards to accommodate their needs and their

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desires. But we also will set boundaries because I remember when

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I first started my business,

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I would do all my deliveries for free and I'd of

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course personally deliver everything,

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and that was really fun and I really enjoyed it.

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Then of course,

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as the business grows and everything changes,

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you can't do everything for free.

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So we have really just implemented great delivery service.

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We will do what we say we'll do.

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Our clients always feel valued because they know that we care

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and we deliver a fantastic product.

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And each step of the way it's service,

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service, service.

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So we have all of our systems in place.

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So I think that you have to keep your company really

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grounded and organized and have systems in place so that when

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your clients call or come over,

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they're not like going,

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Ooh. They're like,

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wow, this is a great place.

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Everybody that walks into my shop loves it,

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and it's sort of an experience for them where it's unexpected.

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They think they're going just to a business park and maybe

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gonna walk into a garage.

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But really I've created just a lovely environment with all the

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different areas that you shared in the beginning,

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Sue, but it's a whole customer experience.

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So whether they're calling us or they're coming over to our

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shop, we just want to give them the five star v

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i p treatment.

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That's Great information.

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We're gonna turn now and go into our reflection section.

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Claudia, what is one natural trait that you have that has

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helped you succeed?

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One natural trait.

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I mean,

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the first thing that comes to mind,

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Sue, is I just love meeting people.

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So I have a very outgoing personality and I've been told

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many times I've never met a stranger.

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So I just think,

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honestly, it's being open,

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like we said earlier,

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and then just being very outgoing.

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What tool do you use regularly to keep productive or to

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help create balance in your life?

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The tool that I use regularly for productivity,

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and I guess at least to balance too,

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is my iPad and my iPhone.

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I just love,

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love, love having those two tools.

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I keep all my lists and just everything organized on them

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to be focused and organized.

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And also if I'm away from my shop,

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then I know exactly what I can ask my team and

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know what they're working on.

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And it's just great communication.

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So it's really simplified my life cause I don't have to

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walk around with a big tote bag,

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briefcase, clutch anymore.

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I just have my iPad and my phone and I can

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pretty much get my business done wherever I am.

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So you have a walking office?

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Exactly, yes,

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I have a remote office.

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Is there one specific app on the iPad or iPhone that

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you would recommend?

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You know,

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I'm, I'm looking for,

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to really embracing Evernote.

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I've heard from many professionals that that is their note,

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their preferred note taking app,

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and that is something that I have downloaded and started reading.

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And I'm gonna switch over to,

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because right now I just use the notes in the iPad,

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but I think Evernote is gonna even like drill down and

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make it even more simplified.

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But I have a really great note taking system in my

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iPad, which of course is synced to my iPhone.

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So I have one or the other or both,

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and it is just really,

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really convenient.

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So just my notes and of course the cameras.

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I, I love taking pictures of things and for inspiration and

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it's just a great tool.

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What book have you read lately that you think our listeners

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could find value In?

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The book that I've read lately is,

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it's called In Search of Excellence and it's an older book,

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but I really like it and I like to go back

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to it.

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It really does lay an ideal foundation for everything that my

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company stands for.

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Just as you're listening today to this podcast,

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you can also listen to audio books with ease.

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Get an audio book like the one Claudia's,

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just a recommended for free.

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All you need to do is go to gift biz book.com

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and make a selection.

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That's gift biz book.com.

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All right,

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Claudia, we are entering into my favorite section of our conversation,

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and that is the Dare to dream question.

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Mm, drum roll.

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Drum roll.

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There you go.

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I would like to present you with a virtual gift.

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It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.

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This is your dream or goal of almost unreachable heights that

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you would wish to obtain.

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Please accept this gift and open it in our presence.

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What is inside?

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Wow, Sue,

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what's inside?

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I'm opening my gift,

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but I don't have any,

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I wish I had something to make some noise with for

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you, but inside my magical box would be another box,

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but it's a big,

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big, big,

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big, big box before you open the inside.

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The big,

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big box comes with a golden key,

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and the golden key would be the key to the front

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door of the building right next door to my building,

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the building that I already own.

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My dream would be to buy the building next door.

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Also, I would love to buy my neighbor's building if they

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ever move away.

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It'd be really exciting just to take over this entire part

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of the business park.

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That would be my dream,

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and it would certainly take my company to new heights.

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What would you put in that other building that you don't

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already have in the current one?

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I Have some ideas for growth and expansion,

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and it's something that I don't want to even talk about

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during this discussion,

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but we might go back to that if I ever,

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if my magical box ever comes true.

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Okay. I like that.

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It's different.

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You're gonna leave us in suspense now.

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I'm gonna leave you in suspense because I have a vision

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for another avenue for my company,

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but to compliment what we're doing because I love what we're

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doing, so I'm gonna keep what I've got going,

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but if I ever wanted to grow to new heights,

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I have an idea for that.

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But I'm happy with what I've got.

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I'm grateful,

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and I know I've been certainly blessed beyond measure.

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Again, I love this answer because when you're building a business,

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you keep putting another goal in front of you,

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and then when you reach that goal,

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then you think of something else that you wanna obtain.

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I think that's just the nature of people who are business

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owners. So Claudia,

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how could people get in touch with you or be able

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to take a look at exclamation gifts?

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How could,

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how could they see your business?

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Go online to my website,

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which is exclamations gifts.com,

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or you can also visit my new company,

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well, it's not really my new company,

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but it's a division of Exclamations gifts,

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which is pleasant surprises.com.

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This Is the one that you just purchased?

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Yes. Okay.

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Gift Biz Unwrapped listeners,

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as you know,

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you can jump over to gift biz unwrapped.com

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and check out all of Claudia's show notes.

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It'll give you all the information that we've talked about here,

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the links and how you can reach her and everything you'd

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like to know about this show.

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Claudia, thank you so much for all of the wonderful insight

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that you've given us today.

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I really appreciate your taking the time to be with us,

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and may your candle always burn bright.

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Oh, Sue,

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thank you so much.

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It's really been a delight and honor,

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and I hope and pray that your candle always burns bright

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too. Thank you for including me in your business.

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I so appreciate it.

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Thanks, Sue.

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Thank you,

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Claudia. Bye-bye.

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Bye. Learn how to work smarter while developing and growing your

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business. Download our guide called 25 Free Tools to Enhance your

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business and life.

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It's our gift to you and available@giftbizunwrap.com

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slash tools.

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Thanks for listening and be sure to join us for the

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next episode.

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Today's show is sponsored by the Ribbon Print Company,

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1 Comment

  1. judy on April 28, 2015 at 3:11 pm

    Interesting

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