Mary, my Hero of the Week from our Saturday Entrepreneur Show

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We have a new Fox Business show for entrepreneurs. It airs LIVE every Saturday from 1-2PM EST (10-11 PST for the mathematically challenged). I would love to have you and everyone you know join us every week. Dani Babb and I kick butt and take names every Saturday with live call-ins, emails and twitters from viewers who want to take back control of their own lives.

I don’t mean entrepreneurs like Bill Gates or Warren Buffett. they are already wealthy. I mean REAL entrepreneurs that start companies in their kitchen and struggle every day to survive.

Our message is simple. We need to stop waiting for the government to bail us out or some big company to offer us a job. We need to get off the couch, light the blue flame, and do it ourselves by starting and growing our own businesses.

Yesterday we had a ton of calls from people fighting to survive in the tough economy. It breaks my heart to talk with a man running a shower door company, like we did yesterday, who is trying to decide who to fire because he can’t make next week’s payroll or pay the rent. But I admire these people so much that we have to try–and sometimes we can find a way to help.

Every week there is some person on the show that really gets to me. These are my heros. So far my all time champion is Terry–tell you about him later. This week my hero is Mary from Arkansas.

Mary called in to ask us if we thought she was crazy that she is thinking about starting a business.

Mary is 70 years old and has no business experience. But she has developed a dipping sauce in her kitchen that her friends all say is so good that she ought to be selling it. She had 2 questions. Was she crazy at her age to think she and her family could do this in their own kitchen? And how can she get started?

Crazy? Are you kidding, Mary? It is you, and people who have even half your energy, that built this country in the first place. I am humbled by your example. Go get ‘em girl.

Mary’s questions were good ones. Does she need any special equipment? (No) Can she start it in her own kitchen with her family? (Yes. That’s the best way.) Does she need a bigger pan to get started? (she only has a 5 quart pan) (No. Buy a bigger pan when you make some money.) Should she start selling the first (5 quart) batch or wait until she has made a lot more of it? (Waiting is for tourists. Start NOW.) And how can she find customers (lots of ideas including using local restaurants and gift shops, a card table by the road, going on local (free) radio and TV, and friends and family.) I told Mary I would take a jar of her sauce with me next trip to China.

Later in the day I got emails from people all over the country who were inspired by Mary to get their businesses going too. Working on a way to connect the mini entrepreneurs into a virtual marketing network they can each help the other sell into their local markets.

I may be a simp, but Mary gives me hope. I hear so many people whining every week about what they don’t have that I am uplifted to talk with a 70 year old woman in Arkansas who is ready to kick some butt.

Mary, you are my hero.

JR

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Comments

4 Responses to “Mary, my Hero of the Week from our Saturday Entrepreneur Show”
  1. Oledi45 says:

    John, Mary’s story just brought tears. We are amazed on a daily basis as to how many can work and don’t, yet the Mary’s of the world do give us hope.

    Good luck with the show. We’ll be watching.

  2. Tom Snyder says:

    We cheered out loud for Mary. We thought it was such a shame that Mary didn’t catch the entrepreneurial bug until she was 70, but we realized that we didn’t catch the entrepreneurial bug till we hit our forties ourselves, and age has nothing to do with it.

    There’s that bad rap out there that slams successful entrepreneurs as somehow being lucky. But we’ve realized that when you have an idea, a passion and the willingness to follow it, you are in the right place at the right time, whether you’re 20, 40 or 70. And the powers of the universe have conspired to put you in the unique position of creating your own luck.

    Mary: You go girl!!!! And thanks John and Dani for being there at the right moment to help her see that.

  3. Mike B says:

    Vaguely reminiscent of Harland Sanders …. started cooking at the roadside at 40, but didn’t get around to franchising KFC until he was 65, reportedly with his first Soc Sec check. Hope she has as much sucess.

  4. roblafave says:

    Hi John, I was recently talking to one of the small, independent food producers who sells with us on Foodzie, and he mentioned that you recommended Foodzie as a possible venue for Mary to sell her dipping sauces. I wanted to thank you for thinking of us, and also reach out to you in hopes that we could help Mary to pursue her dreams of bringing her dipping sauces to market.

    - Rob, Foodzie co-founder

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