Full Transcript – Tamara and Sean Turman – Wild Business Growth Podcast #218

This is the full transcript for Episode #218 of the Wild Business Growth Podcast featuring Tamara and Sean Turman – Co-Founders of PocketBook Protector. You can listen to the interview and learn more here. Please note: this transcript is not 100% accurate.

Tamara Turman 0:00
It was like the joy came right at that moment. You know some tears flowed from my eyes

Max Branstetter 0:22
Hello! Welcome back to the Wild Business Growth Podcast. This is your place to hear from a new entrepreneur every single Wednesday morning who’s turning Wild ideas into Wild growth. I’m your host, Max Branstetter, Founder and Podcast Producer at MaxPodcasting. And you can email me at to save time with your high-quality podcast. This is Episode 218 and today’s guest is actually guests today’s guests are Tamara and Sean Turman. They are the sibling, sister-brother duo who are the Co-Founders of PocketBook Protector, which as you can imagine, protects your pocketbook. It protects your pocket books, purses, handbags, all sorts of different bags from germs and bacteria from the floor or other surfaces out in public where you’re carrying your bag. This episode covers everything from the initial idea for the business through prototyping, formulating out, okay, what are these different marketing channels, distribution channels? How do we get the word out? It’s a real look at business from idea to real business. We also talk family business, the pros and cons of that. And also a little song from Tamara herself. It is teh Turman siblings. Enjoyyyyyy the shoooooooooow!

Aaaaaaalrighty we are here with the sibling duo behind PocketBook Protector which I got to say I love alliteration, so the use of you know P’s and B sounds and o’s and the business name. I already love out the gate but Tamara and Sean Turman, the fantastic duo behind PocketBook Protector. Thanks so much for coming on how you guys doing today?

Sean Turman 2:26
Hi, Max. We’re doing well.

Tamara Turman 2:28
We are good. Thank you for having us.

Max Branstetter 2:31
You are welcome. We’re super excited to get to the PocketBook Pocket Brooke, I can’t talk at all. The PocketBook Protector story. Maybe Maybe I don’t love his little alliteration as much as I thought but really, really cool business that I think came from just an awesome origin story. But before we get to that, so Tamara, I know you’re the older sister, Sean, you’re the baby brother. Always have love for family business. We have a sister-brother, combination of entrepreneurs, co-founders here. Was there anything in your past where you work together on business before or even, you know, started a lemonade stand together as kids, you know, something like that, that maybe foreshadow that you would go into business together one day?

Tamara Turman 3:14
Well, in our adult years, we just had this desire to always want to be entrepreneurs. And we’ve looked at other ventures. And you know, we just said why don’t we come up with our own idea and pursue it. And this made the most sense because of the climate that we were in and the fact that we weren’t even entertaining this thought prior, like five years ago prior to the pandemic. And so it just made sense to launch this product. But we’ve always wanted to be entrepreneurs.

Max Branstetter 3:52
And Sean, would you echo that sentiment? Is there something you can look back on that kind of spark that interest in entrepreneurship?

Sean Turman 3:59
Yeah, so I do echo that sentiment, we had started looking at different franchises before we we ventured out on this, this endeavor. We were trying to invest in a few different franchises, but it just never came to fruition. Most likely because we we had this, we had the pocket protector.

Max Branstetter 4:22
Where did that interest in potentially franchising at first come from?

Sean Turman 4:26
Well, we have a normal 9-5. And we always knew that, just working 9-5, it’s very hard to just retire based off of that. We always had a mindset of doing a little bit more on the side to secure a nice retirement, per se and to give back to the rest of the family as well.

Max Branstetter 4:50
It’s a good point. I think it’s a strong mission behind it. Did you have any idea when you were starting to look at business opportunities that you have be creating a product even remotely similar to what pocket book protector is today.

Sean Turman 5:05
Tam actually pitched the idea to me the concept to me when we were kind of falling out of one franchise idea. And, you know, we were kind of, well, I know I was I can’t speak for Tam. But I was a little disheartened, because I didn’t know what to do next. She said, why don’t we, I have this idea that’s been on my mind for a few years. You know, it’s a covering for the bottom of your bag, because you’re in areas, carrying your bag, to bathrooms and restrooms. And sometimes you have to put it on the ground, or between your feet and restaurants. And I’ve been looking at searching for a device that could potentially cover the bottom of my bag, and we just couldn’t find it. So she she came to me with this idea. And I said, You know what, that is a great idea. And you know, I need something like that. Because I had at the time, I had just had a newborn, and I was experiencing just the need for a device, like what we developed in a pocket protector.

Max Branstetter 6:23
So let’s get to that idea, which is now a full-fledged business. So first of all, congrats on going from, when at the start probably felt like a random idea to, hey, this is a real business and like we’re, you know, it’s like this is a real thing that, you know, we can put our lives and passionate to, Tamara was there like a single moment, as Sean alluded to, that really, really struck you of like, Alright, I’m sick of this, like, we need to create this product.

Tamara Turman 6:54
Well, Max, I have to tell you, Sean is my brother. But for him to be so excited about it. It just brought joy to my heart. Because, you know, I knew I needed it. And I knew that it made sense to me, but to have him be happy about it and excited about it. That’s all I needed. And then we talked about moving forward. And you know, the rest is history. However, going back to 2020, during the pandemic, that single moment hit me so hard, probably about September 2020. And so going back then, just remembering the time is now tomorrow, the pandemic is here, we’re all in the midst of, you know, feeling very highly sensitive to germs bringing germs home, so uncertain about what was going on in the world. To give you some background, I had this idea like Sean said, prior five years before the pandemic, saying I used to always joke about it, we need something to cover our bags, because just being out, like Sean said, in restrooms, not having any hooks to hang my bag, you know, now I’m searching around, where am I going to put my bag and then going to a restaurant sitting across from my husband sitting there saying there’s no way to put my bag and I don’t put my personally I don’t put my bag on the back of the seats, because I’m always scared, someone’s going to walk away with my bag, you know, or somebody’s going to have their hands in my bag. So, you know, putting it between my feet on the floor trying to hold it up on my feet, it was just uncomfortable. And you know, trying to have a bigger size bag or a larger sized bag in my lap while I’m eating. It’s just uncomfortable. And so it became like this ongoing joke. We need this to cover our bags. And that was the aha moment sitting there around September, October of 2020. In the pandemic saying the time is now we have to move on this. And so when I started the ball rolling and really searching how do I invent a product? And then I went to Shawn and lo and behold, we met our consultant after that when I was on a woman’s empowerment session listening in and that’s where we met met. Excuse me. Lisa Ascolese I gave her a call and Sean and I had a call with her. We really was enlightened intrigued and her insight was beyond measurable. So we knew this was the right person for us.

Max Branstetter 9:33
Yeah, shout out Lisa just forever a huge fan of Lisa and she actually put us in contact in the first place. And they call her the adventurous for a reason because she, I mean, she’s invented you know, like a million products of her own. But also she really really knows how to take something from idea to reality and then the marketing and distribution and sales side of it as well. So I’m so excited that you too are partnering with her so Shout Out. Lisa, I know you’re listening. Thanks for listening as well. But I think one of the most exciting things about your product is, it can be so relatable because, yeah, of course, over the past few years, there’s been, you know, extra attention to germs and cleanliness. But I think anybody has been in a situation where they have a bag, like in a bathroom or in a public place, or somewhere where it’s like, oh, do I just do it put this on the ground? I don’t want to put this on the ground way hanging this up? Do I like what? How do I What’s the right way to do it. And, you know, I didn’t even think of like the possibility of having a product like yours that could have could have been there and served a great purpose, I actually have a bit of an extreme example for you, because I actually broke a previous laptop because it was in my backpack when I was at a hotel one time, and I hung it up on a hook in a bathroom, and it fell in a backpack. And it literally, like, I look in the screen was broken. And you know, it’s still somewhat usable. But like it was, it was enough that I needed to get a new laptop. So like, that could have been totally solved and prevented had I had pocket book protector back then because I would have just used it and just sat on the ground and protected. So that’s there’s an extreme case study for you.

Tamara Turman 11:19
But it is a case, right? It is a situation and we find ourselves in the situation and we we try to do something makeshift and hope that it doesn’t fall a hope that it doesn’t break and you know, off of the hook. And a lot of times, that’s the case, you know of what happens to you or our bags wanting to falling and we’re just totally disgusted with it. So

Sean Turman 11:43
exactly. So the same thing happened with me, Max. I was in the restroom with my my daughter, trying to change her. And as soon as I took her out of the stroller, I had the diaper bag hanging on with the mummy hook on the back of the stroller and the weight of it tilted the whole stroller and it ended up on the floor. Oh, man. So yeah, so we ended up you know, spraying it down with Lysol and Clorox wiping it, but had I had the product at that moment. could have just been a simple, okay, we can take this off and throw it away. You know?

Max Branstetter 12:22
I think the moral of the stories is, sometimes gravity is not your friend.

Tamara Turman 12:28
Exactly. That’s a good way to put it. That is a good way to

Max Branstetter 12:32
thank you very down to earth. Pun intended. So you have the idea. You’re connected with Lisa, which obviously can you know, she can be a huge spark ignite to bring this to reality. But what were some of those early steps to actually create this product?

Tamara Turman 12:50
Well, thanks for asking, you know, first off, creating the business, right. And so we had to start with creating the business and right away getting the name for the product. So naming it I didn’t even think of you know, a name at the point. And then we just said, why don’t we call it what it is. It protects the bottom of your bag. It’s a pocket book protector. So we named it because branding is everything. And so we started off right from the beginning thinking about how are we going to brand this product, then next step is creating a prototype. So taking this idea out of our heads, and now seeing it come to life in some kind of form. It didn’t have to be perfect. But Shawn and I had no idea on how to even so how to create a prototype of what we were thinking. We just had the concept, the idea and what we wanted it to look like we it became definitely a project. And so we hired someone to draw it out for us because we were not good at that. And then we had someone sew it together for us. And in the beginning, we didn’t know anything about non disclosure agreements either. And so we had to get those created so that you know a document just to sign so anyone that came into contact with our idea or thought or what we were trying to accomplish had to sign that before we even moved forward. So that was really crucial in the beginning steps. And then when we saw our product, the prototype, which was just put together but we actually saw it leave our head and create it. It was like the joy came right at that moment. You know, some tears flowed from my eyes.

Max Branstetter 14:51
Well deserved here.

Tamara Turman 14:54
So yeah, so that was like the beginning steps. I can let Sean go from there too.

Sean Turman 15:00
getting in contact with Lisa was the best thing we could have done because there were so many different aspects to starting a business that we had no idea of, including finding a manufacturer. So once we had a concept piece or the prototype, we then needed to get that over to a manufacturer who would build upon that idea. And through various iterations, we would then develop it into what it is today, a lot of going back and forth a lot of additions that became the final product. But not just that it was building out the design for the box, the packaging, and the website, and just various pieces that go along with running the business.

Max Branstetter 15:47
Which of those different elements would you say was the steepest learning curve at the start?

Sean Turman 15:53
For me, it was web design, because I knew nothing about it. And I would also say, the manufacturing process, it was hard to understand the niche market that we were entering, and what the consumer would actually lean towards from colors to size. And being a little unsure of just those things, those dimensions.

Max Branstetter 16:21
It’s a completely foreign world, especially when it’s first time like creating a product or thinking something, creating something that needs to be produced large scale like this. There’s, there’s so many questions and, and so so many things to learn there. On the prototyping side, how many iterations would you say it took until you got a prototype that you felt pretty good about actually going to market with,

Sean Turman 16:47
we have two different versions of the product are disposable and reusable. So the prototypes, I would say no less than 30. It was a lot of iterations, and a lot of back and forth. But thank God for Lisa, up late at night, with the manufacturer being 100% transparent with us. And from the beadwork to the size of the ribbon in the length and the width and the height. And in the fabric of the material. It was so many iterations.

Max Branstetter 17:22
So once you actually have the product, what what are the steps that you guys have taken, or are taking I mean, this might even be real time to get the word out and focus on marketing the product.

Sean Turman 17:34
Currently, we’re on a website. So we try to drive traffic to the website through any type of mouth to mouth interactions or in person interactions. We also have a Facebook, Instagram, and a YouTube channel, which the links can be found on on the website as well. We also do a different convention shows and podcasts such as yours, Max.

Max Branstetter 18:01
This is true again, a little meta here, which I love. Yeah, there’s, I may be biased, but I happen to think that podcasts are a fantastic way for people to to learn about your story. Tamara, how do you view your target customer? Because you’re in an interesting space? Where theoretically, when you think about it, the target market could be so huge, because so many people have bags in your pocket books. But you need to focus somewhere, how are you approaching that side of things?

Tamara Turman 18:30
Yes, and Sean & I we’re actually thinking about this during our stage of development, because who is our target audience and our brand. And so, Shawn and I, our background is in marketing as well. We have our degrees MBAs actually. So the business side and handling strategy and target market was very important to us, because we knew we had to build our brand, and getting it out there. And so first, we said, anyone that carries a bag, and that’s concerned with germs and carrying it back home to their personal space, the bottom of their bags and germs. And then you know, we had to narrow narrow it down. And so what we find is that actually, from a age group, right, if you want to say that and we’re not just now in it down to women, because like Sean has a child too, that’s, you know, a toddler that he’s concerned with carrying those germs as well. Back home. And so we said our target market is those that carry bags that you know, are adults, obviously, from that age group within 30s to 50s 60s. You know, that carry that bag that’s worried about germs, but it really is anyone then we extended our reach as well because we’re going to broaden it it to book bags and in the schools. So we haven’t narrowed it down to a specific age group now, because we’re expanding our brand. And so those that are carrying book bags, those children are going into schools. And sometimes they need to not sometimes all the time, they need to cover the bottom of their bags, when they’re placing it on the ground, you know, any time that they can. So we’re exploring those ideas as well. So we don’t have a specific age group now. Now that we’re branching out, but we just want our brand to be an experience of, you know, avoiding carrying those germs back home to our personal spaces,

Sean Turman 20:51
we actually have a friend who opened up a gym, gymnastics gym, they had a lot of powder. And he approached us about supplying some pocket protectors for his his gym, for parents, as well as the kids with bookbags. So that he could avoid having the chalk on their on their items when they leave. So the brand is actually expanding into demographics that we hadn’t even thought of.

Max Branstetter 21:23
Yeah, yeah, that’s cool that now my ideas are flowing, because I think back to like, you know, playing baseball growing up and like just how the dirt gets everywhere. And like, I feel like the sports as a whole and like areas like construction, or, like that show Dirty Jobs, the micro sports and I guess Dirty, dirty jobs or, or industry sectors like that, I think are really, really exciting opportunities. Because it’s like, the germs and dirt are at an extreme there. So anything you can do to, to protect there. And often, you know, with sports, the athletes, sometimes even their parents, like are always carrying, you know, bags with them full of you know, equipment and accessories, gear, stuff like that. So yeah, that’s a really, really exciting area.

Sean Turman 22:15
Absolutely. Actually, one of our other friends, she, she has a reusable, which comes with a drawstring. And she she works in healthcare. And she when she comes home from work, she takes her shoes off and puts it in that reusable as a as a way to keep it from spreading germs. So it’s has multiple, it’s not just for bags.

Max Branstetter 22:41
Yeah, right. Yeah. And also things like kind of the hotspots could be industries that are where there’s already extra attention, for safety and, and cleanliness, like the medical world. So that makes a lot of sense. On that note, what’s kind of the split so far, you’re seeing of how much customers are liking the disposable product versus the reusable ones.

Sean Turman 23:06
It’s an even split, a lot of people bought the reusable for the deluxe Deluxe kind of look of the material with the beads and little blinged out, but they still bought disposable as well, due to the fact that sometimes you just want to go you need, you need something that you can take off and just toss. Whereas other times, you know, you may have more purposed interaction where you know, you’re going out to a restaurant, you know, you’re gonna need some place to put your bag. And in those occasions, you can carry the the reusable. And then once you’re done, put it in its nifty pouch, take it home and hand wash it.

Max Branstetter 23:50
I love how you guys have multiple options that you’ve created, because I can, it just seems like it really depends on the person and style and kind of what their day to day life is like, whether disposable or reusable would be right for them. When you look back on this journey so far, which is really cool. Tumeric because it as you mentioned, this idea is like was something that was brewing in your head, you know, for years before you started the business. So really, it’s like kind of like the lifetime of the business goes back even there’s like the pre period as it’s multiple years before you get to official business. But when you look back overall, what would you say has been the the number one approach you’ve taken that has, you know, turned into actually growing and building the business.

Tamara Turman 24:43
You know, well we look at Sean and I and our partnership together as siblings and understanding first of all how to operate a business together. Aside from the PocketBook Protector just run it succeed. as fully, we had to let each other strengths shine. And shine is great at things. And then I’m great at other things. And so working that sibling duo partnership of the business, it really has really brought us such close together. And we were already close. But now it’s like we’re talking almost every day and trying to just run the business successfully. And we are just to where it is today, we’re just so happy from where we started with just the concept in terms of pocketbook protector, just looking at the different colors that have been produced the idea behind it, and how successful it has become in terms of people wanting it. And so we knew that we could use it, but the fact that we were able to come up with a solution to a problem. And now you know, other people aren’t excited about it. And now we have a customer base, just seeing how that has developed over time. And so developing our brand behind it, and really just opening to all possibilities. And now just branching out and getting our name out there. And once people see it in action, and and their curiosity peaks, because they’re like, where has this been all my life. And I said, I said the same thing. So you know, it just lends itself to conversation. And then further from there, build in our customer base. So we’re just thankful to where we started and where we are and where the product is going.

Max Branstetter 26:42
To merit read my mind about siblings, I have just a few questions on that. But before we get to that, let me try to read your mind. And I think you’re, you’re probably not thinking of, of signing up for the Podcasting to the Max newsletter right at this moment. But now you are because I spoken into existence. You can sign up and MaxPodcasting.com/Newsletter That is your place for all sorts of podcasting tips, whether you’re looking to produce a podcast host a podcast, or just be mildly entertained by some puns in the podcasting world. And of course, there’s behind the scenes stories from interviews, just like this one. That is at MaxPodcasting.com/Newsletter. The Podcasting to the Max newsletter is what it’s called. Now, let’s tee it off for some family dynamics and family business dynamics between Tamara and Sean. Well, you could not have teed that off better because I literally the next question that I wanted to ask you was about the roles as as siblings and how you guys work together and, you know, divide and conquer and everything there. So let’s switch gears a little bit. Let’s get to inspiration, creativity, kind of how you work as a team and start to get into kind of you guys on on the personal side. But that sibling duo you speak about? So when you’re working in the business slash on the business? How do you at the time of this recording? divide those roles like Tamera? What’s kind of your specialty and Shawn, what’s your what’s your specialty in terms of focus,

Sean Turman 28:20
I like to take on a project management role. And then I also help out in web design and website management,

Tamara Turman 28:29
in terms of strategy. You know, looking at the emails coming in paying attention to the administrative stuff, you know, having the communication we both have the communication with Lisa, but really just making sure that all of our T’s are dotted and I’s are excuse me, that’s the other way around. Excuse me, t’s are crossed the eyes?

Max Branstetter 28:53
No, this isn’t a grammar test. I wouldn’t notice it anyway.

Sean Turman 28:59
The main thing is the connection with Tam. She is She sells a lot because she has the forefront connection with a lot of the women who are our customer base.

Max Branstetter 29:13
You hear time and time again, the power of a strong network. And I can only imagine how much that helps in the early days.

Tamara Turman 29:21
And that will say Max. So Sean, he’s very good with analytics. So I’m good with sales. So yeah, open my mouth and we’re good. We’re you know, explaining the product getting someone excited about it, because I’m excited by and we both are. But Sean’s really good with the analytics behind the scenes.

Max Branstetter 29:42
We’re at the start when you kind of when you when you agreed to come into business together and you were laying out what this would actually look like. How did that process look like of of saying that you’re going to focus on those things that you kind of just ran through there.

Sean Turman 29:56
Honestly, we just fell into the role we kind of divide and conquer Because honestly, we didn’t realize, we knew we had a product, we knew we wanted to get the product produced. We didn’t realize everything that went into running a business. And that’s the eye opener that we just had to hit the ground running and show up.

Max Branstetter 30:22
Always so many surprises. How was your relationship? And kind of the sibling bond or or sibling rivalry, whichever you prefer? How has that changed? Since starting the business together? Like it outside of work?

Tamara Turman 30:38
Well, no matter what, what brother and sister and we’re very close, so nothing is going to get in between that. Do I agree with everything? No, Sean, I agree with everything. On my end, no, but we come to a happy medium, and compromise and learn to work through it. But the best part of all, is that we communicate. So we just try to keep our communication open. Like Sean said, we fell into the roles. And so we know what each other is good at. And we just respect each other’s qualities and what we bring, and I family support. So that means everything to us, as well. And so that’s how we lead with God first, and the business takes care of itself with us communicating and just being dedicated to what we are trying to accomplish here.

Max Branstetter 31:32
It’s fun to think about and can often be scary, I think when you’re starting a business of like, okay, I know, you know, my business partner and I are like, there’s going to be some key decisions that we’re just totally don’t see eye to eye on. I think you’re right, I think any way you slice it, the more you the more you communicate, and kind of explain your background and why you’re thinking what you’re thinking. I think that’s where the compromise happens. And that’s where decisions get made and the business moves forward. So that’s really exciting to hear. Let’s get a little bit unusual. Let’s get to a seven called the unusual. So this is you know, pet peeves, quirks weird talents and this is more just to learn more about you know, both your personalities and totally doesn’t even have to be tied to the business but it can if you want to, but so pet peeves, quirks weird talents, I’ll say that I’m kind of planning this for for you guys each to answer it about yourself. But obviously if if somebody’s holding back on a big obvious one, feel free to jump in and call them out for it. So first one, pet peeves. We’ll start with you tomorrow. What’s your biggest pet peeve?

Tamara Turman 32:46
My biggest pet peeve is complaining without a solution. So all you hear someone complaining, complaining, complaining, but either not coming up with the solution or not even taking the time to put into thought process what they want to see different or how it can come about.

Max Branstetter 33:11
I could complain about that all day. Now. I totally agree about your shop.

Sean Turman 33:16
Right now. My pet peeves are the scammers you know it’s inevitable, but I think working with a consultant having that network is invaluable just to avoid scams.

Max Branstetter 33:29
Yeah there by the way, how are you getting this to like I’ve seen I mean obviously for a long time now there’s been you know, spam emails and spam calls and now I’ve seen more than ever spam tech spam, WhatsApp, spam, Facebook messages, spam DMs everywhere. Like it’s it’s over the top. It’s unbelievable.

Tamara Turman 33:50
Yeah, every day. Every day, it’s like, it just wears on you. It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous.

Max Branstetter 34:01
And shout out another mutual. Lisa Scalise contact another entrepreneur that I know she’s partnering with and has been on the show before Gogie Padilla who started Answer Sure who literally started you know started a business around spam calls and especially focus on older and much younger people being spam. So there’s a whole business around that too. So everything goes back to Lisa basically. Shawn, how about cork, something a little quirky about your personality that maybe Tamara or your daughters somebody calls you out for but it’s who you are. It’s part of the personality.

Sean Turman 34:40
I’m goofy.

Max Branstetter 34:42
Love it. Same.

Sean Turman 34:45
I’m just a goofball. I love to laugh. I love to be silly. But a lot of people think that I’m I’m super serious. And I’m not.

Max Branstetter 34:56
I love how you laughed right after saying the word serious. So I think There’s a proof right there.

Tamara Turman 35:02
How about you, Tamara saying they were growing up with Sean. He was always doing something to me. That was goofy. But for me, no, they will tell you that I am bossy and from when I was small, I always said, You’re so bossy I like what I like, you know, no. Follow me. And it’s not in a negative way now, though, but it’s just, I wouldn’t say bossy now, it’s just I’m sure of myself.

Max Branstetter 35:44
There we go. Alright, so we got a goofy and bossy business, Goofy. And then tomorrow, what about, I call them weird talents. But this could be like a party trick. It could literally be something around the house, or like a memory trick, but something that you’re just really good at, but it has no really meaningful impact on your business.

Tamara Turman 36:07
So I would like to say that I can sing really good to my dogs because they’re the only ones that really love my three bully breed pitbull dogs, and they just aren’t in love with my sing it. My husband will tell you. It’s only you. But that is the truth in my world. And I’m going to leave it like that.

Max Branstetter 36:38
Perfect. Well, you got you got a diehard audience there that gets exclusive access to lots of unreleased songs. That’s great. And then how about you, Sean? What is a weird talent or party trick? Yeah, I don’t really

Sean Turman 36:58
have anything in particular, I say trying to imitate some of these TikTok dances.

Max Branstetter 37:05
Oh, there you go. Wow. Okay, so. So as if you weren’t enough of like a business-building sibling duo. Yeah. You’re singing and dancing sibling duo as well. Inspired by TikTok and your dogs.

All right, well, let’s wrap up with some Rapid-Fire Q&A. You’re ready for it? All right. All right, let’s get Wild! Sean, you mentioned that really you know, both you started building this business when you had a newborn Sean which obviously is huge impact, you know that one of the biggest, life-changing things in your life, no matter what else is going on in your life, but I can’t imagine you know, like starting a business on top of having a kid at the same time. What is one tip you can share for anybody that has like multiple major life moments going on at once.

Sean Turman 38:01
Don’t sweat the small stuff, take it as a learning lesson if you’re gonna make mistakes, get your rest Drink plenty of water.

Max Branstetter 38:12
Always good. And then totally up to you if you want this on the record or not but curious for the designs of your product going forward. You know, have you brainstorm any sort of special patterns or you know licensing with you know, major brand or sports teams logos or anything like that you can touch on

Sean Turman 38:30
and that yet we haven’t reached out to any any specific vendors yet. But we do have some some in mind that we would love to reach out to some sports franchises as well as Tam, I’ll let you I’ll let you tell

Tamara Turman 38:48
so we’re looking to be featured in magazines as well. As you know locally, what they’ve been doing we find is that they want to put their logos on our pocket protectors and present it to parents school boards and things of that nature. So it’s been a nice as a gift. And so during this December timeframe, we have been between the conferences and people thinking about this is such a giftable item. We have been selling like crazy, which we’re thankful for because it’s a specialty unique item. That is the only one on market and by the way, we have our patent and trademark our name so we’re just excited decided for that. But in terms of other venues that we’re looking to reach out to QVC moving forward as well as Essence magazine. If we can be featured in there that would be like great. And just some other magazines that Black Enterprise that we’re looking to get into some other well known magazines out there. You know we will I’d love to be featured in so as well as the retail space. So we’re slowly but surely making our way into contacting buyers and moving forward with that.

Max Branstetter 40:10
That’s awesome. It felt like it’s such an exciting time for your business because you, you’ve like, gotten over that initial hump and like the initial, like, oh my god, we have to do so many things just to like, get this business, you know, into a real business and off the ground. And now it’s the fun part of like, alright, what you know what marketing and distribution channels and you know, PR opportunities can we put together so that’s awesome. Also, you can probably tell I’m terrible at this pace of Rapid-Fire Q&A. So it’s just questions. All right, what is besides once you’ve listed already today, what is the most surprising or interesting use case? You’ve heard of a customer with a pocket book protector?

Sean Turman 40:52
Yeah, Janet Jackson, not the singer but our friend.

Max Branstetter 40:58
Wait, you have a friend named Janet Jackson?

Sean Turman 41:00
Yes, we do. And her husband is named Michael Jackson. Seriously? Oh, my gosh.

Max Branstetter 41:08
Wait, hold on. I have to. I have to stop you right there. Because I just had on episode number 217. We had on Paul McCarthy, which sounds like Paul McCartney. So I was asking him about that. And he was like, I was at a bar once. And the bar owner or the manager’s name is Eddie Murphy. So I don’t know what is up with all the names lately. But sorry, but go ahead. So what’s up with Janet?

Sean Turman 41:39
No, she’s our friend who actually uses her PocketBook Protector to cover her shoes. It was an awesome idea. Because he’s able to pull your strings and actually use them as handles. So it was interesting to us to see that that was an interesting use.

Max Branstetter 41:58
That’s amazing. And last one. So speaking of Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson. Tamara, what is your favorite song to sing to your dogs?

Tamara Turman 42:10
I told you I make songs up.

Max Branstetter 42:14
Oh my god. Wait, wait, wait. So then how do you say can you give us example like how do you make songs?

Tamara Turman 42:21
This is so embarrassing right now I told you I’m the only one that knows that I can sing.

Max Branstetter 42:27
You don’t have to sing if you don’t want of course if you do if you know if you do want you’re welcome to

Tamara Turman 42:32
It’s called “My Doggies.” So it’s my doggies, My doggies if it’s morning time in the morning it’s about how it’s a great day. If it’s evening time I go into the evening. It’s a song that I make up on the spur of the moment, but I’m singing too.

Max Branstetter 42:55
I like it. It’s got a ring to it. That could be the official PocketBook Protector song. Awesome. Well, Tamara and Sean, thank you so much. This has been an absolute blast really, we love what you’re doing and just really appreciate you sharing your story and everything from the early stages to to get the word out there to the hit song, “My Doggies.” So thanks so much for coming on. Where’s the best place for people to to learn more about PocketBook Protector and get one if they want as well as if they want to connect with either of you online.

Sean Turman 43:34
So you can connect with us on our website, PocketBookProtector.com or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube. Links are on our site. Also, you can contact us directly at .

Max Branstetter 43:51
Perfect. And then last thing, Final Thoughts The stage is yours. It could be a quote, a line, just kind of words of advice from an entrepreneurial entrepreneurship space and entrepreneurial space. It could be either one of you, or whoever wants it sent us on here.

Tamara Turman 44:06
I heard something from the late Chadwick Boseman. And he says sometimes you just need to feel the pain and sting of defeat to activate the real passion and purpose that God predestined inside of you. Basically purpose crosses disciplines. And so with that, it just said, this is ignited in us. And so we had to do this and bring it to fruition because of the passion and the desire that we had to see it through and to continue to see it through. So it’s not just a business for us. It’s not just something that we just wanted to throw together. We wanted to create an experience for our customers as well as a solution to a problem, but also to show our children and leave a legacy To show that it can be done.

Max Branstetter 45:05
Done it can be. Thank you so much, Tamara and Sean, for coming on the podcast sharing your PocketBook Protector Phenomenal story I put an extra P there. And thank you Wild listeners for tuning in to another episode. If you want to hear more Wild stories like this one, make sure to follow the wildebeest center like a robot there but I’m rolling with it. Make sure to follow the Wild Business Growth Podcast on your favorite podcast app and tell a friend about the podcast and then try out PocketBook Protectors with them in any place you want. You can also find us on Goodpods, where there are fantastic podcast recommendations and podcast people. And for any help with podcast production, you can learn more at MaxPodcasting.com and sign up for the Podcasting to the Max newsletter that is at Max Podcasting.com/Newsletter that slash newsletter not slash you guessed it. Until next time, let your business Run Wild…Bring on the Bongos!!