Robert DiLella Jr.. Spend, we're talking about the interruptions in the watches and the texts, and to spend an hour or whatever amount of time with somebody where it's uninterrupted. There's no alcohol, we're not in a bar. It's not a social setting. It's literally just to get to know Some of the great humans that we have in our community.
Jennifer Johnson. It's having a conversation. It's the connection that we don't have anymore. As much as we're used to.
Robert DiLella Jr.. 100%, yeah. And it's a conversation, which can go anywhere too. So we'll only have it be any one way, but I'm just trying to get The soul of our community. I love that. Yeah, it's been a lot of fun. Zach's found some great, fun people, and I found him from, he was in college And sent out Resumes for an internship over the summer, and then I didn't answer the ad. I didn't answer him, he responded. I never responded, he just showed up.
Jennifer Johnson. That's the best way, right?
Robert DiLella Jr.. Yeah, yeah, that's right. That old school way, like I'm gonna go knock on the door.
Jennifer Johnson. I didn't answer, so I'm taking things into my own hands. Right, right. I wish more people did that.
Robert DiLella Jr.. Yeah, it really says something about them. It does. I do too, because I know we miss good people, and sometimes they're like, oh yeah, I applied there, it didn't work out well. If you really want, she keeps showing up. Like Your application could have got thrown somewhere, you could have met somebody at the desk, and I didn't know happened.
Jennifer Johnson. I think it's a lost art. I think it's something, I mean, if anybody that I was looking at, because we're always hiring I would be like, you got a job. I mean, you showed up, you took initiative.
Robert DiLella Jr.. Yeah, yeah, we have that same thing. We're always hiring, it doesn't matter what time you're here. If you're a great soul, we're gonna find a spot for it. Absolutely. Into the heart of it. So take me back to that, because this is the kind of the good people who've gone through hell, and come out the other side, and still remained a good person, and didn't go to the other side. Open your business with your business partner And find out on this day that she's opening up down the shopping center from you, taking the staff. You go home that night to your husband. What's that day like?
Jennifer Johnson. Oh, good grief. It was That's pretty much how it did happen, but I mean, she came to us at 10 o'clock on a Sunday night To my house With her husband And said, "I don't wanna do this anymore." And I mean, completely dump on it, because why? I mean, it was only a few months in. And so at that point, she's like, "I'm either gonna sell the business, "or you can buy it for me." Because going into this, I had the Knowledge to do the business, and she had the money. Because at that point, I had still owned my business up north. I was a wedding and event planner, and I had a bridal shop and all that. So he was there when that all transpired.
Jennifer Johnson. And she wouldn't sign a non-compete, which there was no way out of it, we wanted the business. He cashed out his 401k. And looking back on it, I'm like, "Oh my gosh, that's all it was." But back then, 15, almost 16 years ago, that was a decent amount of money. It's amazing how much inflation changes things. And Literally, a couple of days after We gave her the money, we found out that she signed the lease. And it was only eight to 10 store, I forget the count, but it was not many stores away from mine in the same plaza. Oh my gosh. And didn't know it at the time, the employees stayed working, kind of thing, and then all of a sudden they all left.
Jennifer Johnson. She took everyone except for one. Wow, wow. And so much was going through my head, like, "Where did I go wrong? I'm so silly for believing in somebody else, that they could be a partner with me." Because this had never happened. I've been an entrepreneur before, and this had never happened, so I couldn't figure it out. Well, sometimes greed Is the worst of all enemies, because she saw something that she wanted, and she just decided to do it. So I was scared that we were gonna fail immediately.
Jennifer Johnson. I'm like, "Oh gosh, this is it, we're done." And I hired an expensive consultant to come down, to literally pat me on the back and say, "You're gonna be fine Don't worry about it." And from that day forward I literally put blinders on. To this day Inside my planner, I have a picture of a white horse, with of course, pink blinders on. To remind myself to stay in my lane, and to stay focused On what I want. Because if you're out here, paying attention to all of your competition You're not staying true to what you want. You're reacting off of Your competitors, and everything that they're doing, and just reacting to them. Versus doing your own thing.
Jennifer Johnson. And so I learned a lesson, and just stayed in my lane, and put my head down, and just went to work.
Robert DiLella Jr.. Well you didn't do what a lot of people would do, which is just sort of, "Well I am never gonna let that happen to me." I'm never gonna expose myself to anything like that again, I'm never gonna, or live with a lot of resentment, a lot of regret, a lot of, just I opened my soul up to you. My whole passion, my whole vision was in you. I gave you everything I had, and you're just showing up at 10 o'clock on a Sunday night.
Jennifer Johnson. It's hard to not be cynical. And I probably was for a little while, but then you learn, because There's something I have learned in business, in life, in everything. Things happen for us. They do not happen to us. And it's a little tweak In how we think about it. Because if you think to yourself, "Hmm, why is this happening for me? "What am I supposed to learn here?" You're gonna open yourself up to the message, and you're going to become more aware of it faster. What am I supposed to learn? And in that case it wasn't to learn to, oh well you just can't trust anybody There was a lot of lessons that came out of that.
Jennifer Johnson. And I'm thankful for the fact that it did happen, because I wouldn't be who I am today, and my business wouldn't be where it's at today, if that wouldn't have happened. Because then you see loopholes, you see areas that are like, "Oh, well, what can we do to shore that up? "What can we do to make that better?" And you find again, why it's happening for you. What is the lesson?
Robert DiLella Jr.. You didn't think that came to you, or were you already in that mindset, like, "Oh gosh, this is a blessing that's here." Oh gosh, no.
Jennifer Johnson. Absolutely not. It was much like how I reacted during COVID. Which is very interesting now that I'm thinking about it. During when COVID happened, I literally laid on my couch for a week, exactly a week, in the fetal position, crying, not eating, doing all the things. It was like a grieving process. And after a week of COVID, I got up and went, "What in the heck are you doing?" And then I got mad at myself. I got mad because I wasted an entire week, where I could have been trying to figure out what was next, and trying to figure out how we were going to continue the business. Much like when I had the partner situation.
Jennifer Johnson. Both were very parallel If you will, kind of situations. And I reacted kind of the same in both. So I learned a little bit from the first situation, and I learned even more when COVID happened.
Robert DiLella Jr.. I think that's what makes An entrepreneur an entrepreneur is not the good times, it's those times, and how you adapt, and how you adjust, and that just makes you stronger, it makes you better. How do you grow in ways that most people would say, "I'm gonna go back to the security of somebody else "being in charge and all that. "Just give me my check and let me leave at five o'clock, "and I'd have to think about it after that.".
Jennifer Johnson. And those are the times that make us. And it's kind of funny because I've had people ask me the question, "Well, has there ever been a time "where you just wanna throw in the towel "and say, "I want a regular job?" And I can probably only say in my entire 25 plus years of being an entrepreneur, there's only been a couple. I think that's pretty good. I mean, like, there are gonna be times, and there's nothing wrong with it, where you're just like rethinking your decision to be an entrepreneur. But it's only a fleeting thought because you realize, "Well, I wouldn't have the freedom." And now, again, owning your own business, as, is not all butterflies and unicorns.
Jennifer Johnson. There's a lot of hard work, and you're usually the first one there and the last one to leave. But all of the other things that it gives you is just a gift.
Robert DiLella Jr.. Yeah, I get it. I understand what you're saying. A lot of people don't understand when you say freedom. It's not freedom that I'm going into Haiti and living on the beach for a while while the checks roll in. It's never done at all.
Jennifer Johnson. It's not that. It's a different kind of freedom, exactly. But I don't know, but if someone has ever not, if you've never been in business for yourself, it's hard to look at Being an entrepreneur and understand that. Because they only see, "Oh, you're going here, "you're going there."
Robert DiLella Jr.. They don't see the rest of it. Yeah, they don't see the 10 o'clock conversations. Somebody's sticking a knife in your back. Exactly, exactly. Yeah, that's the side of it. But there is a certain Way about people who choose this, about yourself being an entrepreneur, that You are, that makes up who you are. Because it's not for everybody, and you have to have that ability to say, well How did you say that? It's not what happens to you.
Jennifer Johnson. It's what happens for you. It happens for you. Yeah, it happens for you.
Robert DiLella Jr.. It's such a powerful place to stand or a place to be.
Jennifer Johnson. Because I've learned That if you look at it the other way, you can go somewhere and you can have all these bad things happen to you, and you can sit back and go, "Oh my gosh, why is this happening? "Why is this always happening?" You're playing the victim. Do you get anywhere playing the victim? Typically not. So as entrepreneurs, we're wired differently. We are completely different. Seeing the opportunity Is so much better than playing the victim. Because if you play the victim, it's a loop. And you just, you go nowhere. But if you see the opportunity, there's the way out. And it's a beautiful thing.
Jennifer Johnson. But I think so many people have to, you have to go through something in order to Be able to see that and realize it. Well, what do you think it
Robert DiLella Jr.. Was about your Grew up on a farm in Minnesota?
Jennifer Johnson. In Minnesota.
Robert DiLella Jr.. Yeah, where you had real winters.
Jennifer Johnson. It was serious there. We don't joke about our winters.
Robert DiLella Jr.. I learned that going there in the winter one time. When I saw that you had Heaters at the bus stations. That was the straightest thing. Yes. Wow, they don't mess around there. No, it's cold. So What was that like growing up on a farm? What was your role with five siblings?
Jennifer Johnson. Yes, I was the second oldest of six.
Robert DiLella Jr.. Oh, second oldest, okay. And what was that? What was your experience growing up?
Jennifer Johnson. Well I did help out on the farm a lot. We grew up very poor. And part of the reason for starting my resale business is because I have fond memories of going garage sailing with my grandmother. Saturday mornings, because here's the thing, I loved fashion. There was no question about it. I've loved fashion since I could read, before I could read. And we could never have new clothes. And I remember, if any of your listeners are old enough to remember this Sears, Montgomery Wards, JCPenney's, their catalogs that would come in the mail. Big fat, yeah. Especially at Christmas. Those were my favorite. But I would sit and look through those catalogs all the time.
Jennifer Johnson. I specifically remember making lists of all of the things that I wanted out of the catalog. And back then, we didn't have any internet. So you had to physically pick up the phone. We were just having this conversation about, the old corded phones. Pick up the phone and call the operator To order something. And I remember pretending to do that. I would do that. I would play with Barbie dolls. I would play with paper dolls. I loved fashion. But I grew up on a farm In a very small town. There were 750 people in my town. So I felt a lot of, I guess, isolation from the world around me because we were one family unit.
Jennifer Johnson. All of my siblings were younger than me, obviously, with the exception of one. So I did a lot of taking care of my siblings. We did a lot of work on the farm, whether it was in the garden or bailing hay. Yes, bailing hay, I did that. Or feeding the cows or picking up eggs from the chicken. But It was my dad who really set an example, I think, that's been ingrained in me forever. And even my mother taking care of all of us. I mean, my dad would get up at five o'clock to go and melt the cows. Seven days a week, 365 days a year is because Just because it's Christmas, doesn't mean the cows don't need to be milked.
Jennifer Johnson. And this is back in the day where it was not anything, nothing was automatic. You were doing this by hand. Five o'clock in the morning, he'd go out and melt the cows. He'd come back in and have breakfast. He would go out on the farm, work all day long, whether it was heat, whether it was cold, never complained. My mom never complained. She had to feed us, she had to take care of us. They worked together to make this all work. And he would come in and have what we called supper up north, which was our dinner. And he would go out and melt the cows again, sometimes not come in until nine, 10 o'clock at night.
Jennifer Johnson. And I didn't realize at the time what he was doing for all of us, because you don't really realize. You realize it in retrospect. He was setting an example for us of hard work and a good work ethic. And that's What I remember. And that's how it's affected my life in the best possible way. You know, I Work hard, I work really hard But I do it out of a place of love. And I do it out of a place of remembering how they worked so hard to provide for us every day. And out of anything, that's what I feel, it created such a great foundation For my entire life.
Robert DiLella Jr.. And You've found this way to, it's because you're passionate about what you do. Which I love, and it's infectious. You've also found this as another venue to express a higher level of that, it seems like, too. Because aren't you starting another, something in a week from now, are you starting another Education? Tell me about that. Sure.
Jennifer Johnson. For about the last four or five years, I have been able to step outside of my store and work on my personal brand. My personal brand encompasses my podcast, which is actually going into its fifth season next year. It encompasses my professional speaking business. I travel all over the country speaking on stages and doing workshops and things like that. And I'm also an author, so it's part of that as well. And then I also coach small businesses. And my aim right now, what I have kicking off in a week, is the power of your voice. It's a coaching program, it's a seven week coaching program.
Jennifer Johnson. We meet once a week, and I help you learn how to speak, not just from stages, but how to speak when you're having a one-on-one conversation about your business, or how to speak in public about your business, or about you. We all need to be able to Use the most powerful asset that we have, and that's our voice. And that's what that aims to do. But There's two things I love. I love fashion, and I love speaking. I know people look at me sometimes when they say that, and they're like, "You all right?" Because it's like one of the biggest fears people have besides death is speaking in public. And I've never understood that.
Jennifer Johnson. And I think it comes from way back in high school, I wanted to be a TV anchor. And still to this day, so anyone hearing this, if you're hiring, I'm available. And I had a scholarship for that. And I gave it up for a boyfriend who was abusive. So this is my way of still doing something That I love, and also teaching other people. So it's gonna be a really great program. It's the first cohort kicking off on July 20th. That's awesome.
Robert DiLella Jr.. So by the time this airs, it will have long strike. Whenever Zach's gonna roll this out, it will be officially out.
Jennifer Johnson. It'll be officially out, and then there'll be more cohorts coming after that. After the seven weeks, we'll roll into another cohort. So it'll be available.
Robert DiLella Jr.. Do you think there Was another one of those circumstances in your life where this boyfriend suppressed you, suppressed your self-expression, suppressed who you wanted to be? Absolutely. It gave you whatever you needed to Be where you are now. And contribute to others in a way so that they don't let that boyfriend hold them back.
Jennifer Johnson. You know what? In the moment, in the heat of the moment when you're going through something, you don't realize all the stuff that you're supposed to be learning. And my takeaway from that is core values. And many, many other things. But back then, I was young, 17, 18 years old. Didn't know what I stood for, had no idea. And when you don't know what you stand for or what you're about, nobody else around you knows either. So then you start attracting the wrong people. And once you learn that, for me, many, many, many years later, then that light bulb goes off. And I think, again, things happen for you.
Jennifer Johnson. And that happened, again, I could have sat back and said, "I'm a victim, I'm a victim, oh my gosh." Would I be where I'm at today? Never. So now what I find important, I do speak about this topic on stages as well, is domestic violence and sexual assault. So many times, and I don't do this for myself I do it for the impact that it has on other people. Because so many times, if I had somebody come up to me afterwards and say, "Thank you for sharing your story." This happened to me and I never got help. In fact, I remember to this day, this was several years ago, I was at the store one day and I get a phone call. Before the store had opened.
Jennifer Johnson. And there was a lady that was sitting in our parking lot. And she said, "Is Jennifer there?" And I said, "Well, who's calling?" And she gave me her name. And she said, "I read all about you "and I need to talk to you." Okay, so I let her in. And we sat in my office and we had a long conversation. And she told me that this has not happened to her once. But three different times. And she'd never gotten help Anytime. Because she had the typical thought process that a lot of people have, stereotypical, "Well, it only happens to people like this." And she says, "I didn't want to be that person." And then I read your story.
Jennifer Johnson. And you're a business owner, you do all these things, but it happened to you. And in that moment when I read that, I didn't feel like I was Stereotyped into that mold of it only happens to these people. It can happen to anybody. And I want to have a conversation with you. So she sat down, had a conversation with me. She started the healing process. She went and she got help. She started getting counseling. And it doesn't always have to be in the moment. Like right after something happens, it can be something that happened to you years ago. That you never got help for, so you've never healed. So I share my story. I'm very, in my book, my first book, I'm very open about it.
Jennifer Johnson. I'm not ashamed about it. There was a time that I was. But why? Again, that's hiding behind the victim mentality. If you keep doing that, you're not gonna be able to help someone else. And isn't that why it happened? So that it can maybe prevent it from happening to someone else. Or if it did happen to them, I could help them. See that it's okay. We can talk about this. It's not an easy subject. Nobody wants to talk about it. I get it. Again, going back to rainbows and butterflies and all the cute puppies and kittens, it's not that kind of a subject. But it's important. It's very important.
Robert DiLella Jr.. I see how it all fits together too, because you're in the fashion business, which gives women or people self-esteem or has to feel good about themselves. And you give them an avenue to do it that maybe some couldn't do it, because there's another way for them to have access to things that they don't. Absolutely. And then what you're creating for people and how you're sharing your story with people. What a blessing or a gift for All people. That's awesome. I love that. What Makes your business Be as successful as it is, what it is, versus other There are hundreds of people who try to do what you do, but you're never gonna know when to do it on your level.
Robert DiLella Jr.. That's the greatest here.
Jennifer Johnson. I think the magic sauce is the people. At the end of the day, that's what it is. And it's interesting, how We hire Is according to core values. And some people can say that and it means nothing. It's just empty words. For us, it's a real thing. So what we do when we do our interviewing, we hire according to some questions that we ask that are based off of our core values. Because we need to know that you're going to fit with our team That you are in the right place.
Jennifer Johnson. Because if you don't have empathy or you're not humble or you're not willing to go the extra mile for somebody, or you're not willing or able to do the right thing, even if someone's not watching Then we don't think that you're a good fit. We want people who fit with our core values Because that's how you create a great team. And that is how you create a great business. It's the foundation of everything. I could sit here and tell you it's the processes that we have because yes, that's part of it. But it's not the secret sauce. The secret sauce is in your people.
Robert DiLella Jr.. How are you able to Whatever task job or role there is in the business, there's nobody who can do it better than you.
(Laughing)
Robert DiLella Jr.. How are you able to let go of some of those areas where You've had your handle on for a long time and, for you to grow, you gotta let go of some stuff. How do you do that?
Jennifer Johnson. So I learned, it's a newer lesson for me, meaning over the last five years My own way, and I was in the way I Got the input, honestly. Why didn't Sankel impact myYes or every person of that experience? "I should not dream about it?" And I could do that with the scaredness The other thing is you have to have the expectation that nobody is going to do it. Like I'm, talk to anybody, I'm like lightning. I'm here, there, everywhere. I am fast at everything that I do. If I can expect that my team is going to do it 80% of the way, that should be good. What's your level? What's the level that you're comfortable with?
Jennifer Johnson. No one is ever going to be 100% of what, how fast you can do it, how great you can do it. Don't have that expectation for your team that they're going to be 100%. What's the number that you're comfortable with? So to grow it, I had to, the light bulb came on one day. I don't remember what it was doing, but I went, "Oh my gosh, I'm in their way." And once I started exiting stage left Started delegating, things started moving. But I think it's at your own pace. It's how, it just has to happen for you. And that light bulb has to go on.
Jennifer Johnson. I can tell you and sit here and have a conversation with you all day long about the things that you need to do and how you make this automated and how you do it. But until you actually feel it It's not going to work.
Robert DiLella Jr.. Well, if I could say that, I was I was in their way. I was the one in the way because I have experienced that myself and later took a long time where I thought so much, I don't know what it was, whether it was self-importance or whatever, but I remember Being in a business meeting with a CPA, an accountant that is also a business consultant who I met through COVID because he was having conversations on his YouTube channel about how to navigate PPP and everything. He was in Oklahoma And I was on the couch like you were crying to myself at two o'clock in the morning trying to figure out what was going to happen in my life.
Robert DiLella Jr.. And he was making these videos for his 10 clients and YouTube happened to put the algorithm, thankfully the algorithm, I put it in front of me. It's happening for you. 100%. I sent him a message at two o'clock in the morning and said, "What do I do? My life feels over. I don't want 50 people to have paychecks next week." He Was one Of the greatest humans in my life because he wrote me back. I'm not his client. He wrote me back and we started this dialogue together and became great friends and he guided me through as he did many.
Robert DiLella Jr.. He ended up, his YouTube channel has like over a hundred thousand, which he, but out of that he had 10 during COVID, but he just kept coaching people and just giving away his secrets, just sharing what people needed to do completely. Just gave his soul. And we became great friends and he started this council of people who met across the country from that. I was sitting in a meeting with them and he was talking about growth and we're talking about how to grow. And I said, "Well, I can't do that because I don't have the People for that.
Robert DiLella Jr.. I have to do that." He said "What about Marina who's been here 25 years and knows more than me about everything in our business than I do?" And He said, "Give that a try." And the minute I Let go of everything I saw somebody blossom, who was already blossoming, already in great space, but really saw how much further and how much more she had so much to offer that I was suppressing, just getting in her way. It's beautiful. Oh, it was, yeah, it was amazing. And it's like, wow, I didn't know, I didn't know. I didn't know what I didn't know, which is profound. It really had such a huge impact on me.
Jennifer Johnson. And sometimes we need people outside of our business to look in and say "Did you think of doing this? Is this something?", I have a thing actually, the personal board of directors. Okay? What I mean by that, you found this gentleman who became a consultant for you. So he's someone that you pay. So your personal board of directors should be, yes, you're paid professionals, you're accountant, you're a lawyer, you're consultant. But then you have other people in your life who are more like mentors. People that you've met along the way that you have a rapport with.
Jennifer Johnson. And you know if something were to come up, you had questions, you can pick up the phone and you can call them or send them an email or a text. Having that personal board of directors around you is so important for your business. Because you can draw on the knowledge from other people because we're in our businesses. For us to look above at the 10,000 foot view is very hard for an entrepreneur to do. But for somebody else that you have on your personal board of directors, they can look in and say, "Hey, you have these people that you're under utilizing." And then you see them grow because you're giving them, you're entrusting them with something.
Jennifer Johnson. And they feel honored that you even asked them to do it. It's wonderful. I love that for you.
Robert DiLella Jr.. Yeah, I can see how that, because there is no There's no other layer to go to typically. The buck stops with you and have Somebody who, a group of people, share the Things that I don't see. And we're so good, I'm so good at Masking it all. Like, "Oh, I've got, I'll figure that out. I got this." Putting on the great face. The martyr. The optimist. We're always martyrs. Right, right. We're just surrendering for a moment and say, "You know, what else is there? Yeah, I love that. It's great. Good to have this conversation for me in a lot of ways. Thank you.
Jennifer Johnson. It just, it just opens up your mind because you're receiving it. You're open. We, as individuals, not just take out the business part of it. We have to be open to receiving things and looking at, being willing to looking at things differently sometimes.
Robert DiLella Jr.. What Books or podcasts have had an influence on you or that are in your regular rotation? Oh my gosh.
Jennifer Johnson. There's one that was very monumental, The Power of We by Kyle McDowell. It talks about teens. And then The Power of One More by Ed Millett.
Robert DiLella Jr.. Oh, amazing.
Jennifer Johnson. Amazing book, because I realized that I was that person. Oh, let me just do one more. Let me, it's a call, whether it, whatever it is, The Power of One More, compounding the fact that you just stay and make one more phone call to us prospect, or you just stay and do one more thing. How that all ends up at the end of the year. Just Phenomenal book. Those are two books that will always be on my bookshelf. Yeah.
Robert DiLella Jr.. Ed Millett, I know the other one, say the name again.
Jennifer Johnson. Kyle McDowell, The Power of We. It's all about the whole thing that, you would never ask somebody to do something that you're not willing to do. And you need everybody. You all need to work as a team. It's a great book.
Robert DiLella Jr.. Okay, good. I got to continually feed my mind with good stuff because my mind drifts to Negative or bad stuff automatically. So I've always got a podcast.
Jennifer Johnson. And I mean, that is complete human nature. And we just have to rewire that again, the whole happening for me, not to me. If you just keep saying that over and over and over, eventually that you still may think the negative at first, but then you go, wait a minute, hold on. Let me, let me figure this out. You need a neon sign that says
Robert DiLella Jr.. Wherever I turn, I see that
Jennifer Johnson. But it takes, it's not an overnight thing., it definitely not. It takes a while to learn it. I'm not perfect. I mean, I have the saying, you have to think about for a second after I say it, I'm sure. Because everybody's like, Oh, now I get it. Whole buddies. No, perfect. Instead of nobody's perfect. Whole buddies. No, a very good friend of mine said that to me. My first real job. She, she had that on a, on the side of her computer, on a bookmark. And I've never forgotten it. And I use it now because I'm like, yeah, whole buddies are perfect.
Robert DiLella Jr.. There's another one. Exactly. Any Podcasts that you regularly listen to?
Jennifer Johnson. Oh my gosh, I listened to so many. Yeah. And, gosh, what is one that I've been listening to? I listened to Tony Robbins a lot. I listened to Mel Robbins a lot, but I don't, yes, I don't, I like to listen to shorter. Podcasts typically, but because I just, we all have the TikTok attention span. So those are the two right now, but that changes. I'll discover another one. Social media marketing is one that I also listen to because they do some with AI. There's a couple of AI ones that I listened to as well. I'm really tuning in and have over the last years to AI. And so I'm a perpetual learner.
Jennifer Johnson. I mean, because I didn't get my degree back when I graduated high school, I graduated from FGCU in December with my degree. Thank you. And I continue. I'm a lifelong learner. I love to read business. I don't ever, the only fiction books I read are by Mitch Albom. The Tuesdays with Maury, those, those books. Otherwise it's all business books. I mean, lifelong learner. And I think that we all should have that aspect in us somehow. That opens your world. It gives you other perspectives to consider. And You can enjoy yourself reading, but learn from it too.
Jennifer Johnson. Maybe you don't like to read, read, then listen to it on audiobook because we can learn so many great things by picking up a book. Yeah.
Robert DiLella Jr.. How about when you're Not in that mode, your decompression time, or you got music on in the car, what's playing?
Jennifer Johnson. Country, always love country music. It's everything. I do listen to some Christian music, but country music is my jam. I love Nashville. We travel to Nashville many, many times a year. So don't be surprised if at some point, there's a fashionistas in Nashville But country music. Absolutely.
Robert DiLella Jr.. And so I have a Spotify playlist from all the guests. What are a couple artists or a couple
Jennifer Johnson. Of, right now, LL Langley is everywhere. She's definitely on my playlist. Kenny Chesney is a crush of mine. So Kenny is always on there. And there's another one. He's pretty amazing. Riley green. I've seen him so many times and he's actually coming to Naples as well. Really? And love, love, love everything about Riley green. So those would be the three that are on right now, but I just, everything about country 90s country is the best.
Robert DiLella Jr.. All right. They were good. We'll add those segments there. I see. Is that gotcha. Do you have a hidden talent?
Jennifer Johnson. Oh my gosh. I don't know about a hidden
Robert DiLella Jr.. Talent from a farm in Minnesota.
Jennifer Johnson. I have one that I can't do. Does that qualify? Well, it's here. I can't swim. Really? And I come from the land of 10,000 lakes and I live in Florida. Now I cannot swim. So there's one thing I can't do.
Robert DiLella Jr.. Like doggy paddle
Jennifer Johnson. Nothing. In fact, water gets up to my chest and I will hyperventilate. I have to wear it. My friends pick on me all the time when we go out on the boat. So they call it going about, I will go and we have a boat. My aqua socks. So there's shoes for the water because if I go in the water, I have to be able to touch the bottom and there's no way in a hack that I'm touching the bottom of anything. So I have shoes. It's, it's just really funny, but You know, going back to hidden talent, I do have a hidden talent. I can walk into a store and find the only paint garment in that store. Pink is my favorite color. In fact, I laughed because a friend of mine, I was at a conference.
Jennifer Johnson. It was in Tallahassee and it was going to be cold out. And I didn't know that we had to wear really casual stuff with tennis shoes and everything. And I had brought all dressy clothes and she said, let's just run over to Target really quick And find something. I, she goes, I have never seen somebody walking to a store in and out in five minutes. You literally scanned what you wanted. It was pink. That's my shocking, shopping hack as well. literally go into a store, find it. It's pink. I'm out. So that's my hidden talent. I will find pink anywhere. That's great. In fact, so much so people know me for that. They'll text me. They'll be like, look at, I found this pink house.
Jennifer Johnson. There's a pink door. There's a pink car. It's quite funny.
Robert DiLella Jr.. Well, I certainly appreciate, your business and what you bring to the community because, my wife is a fashion. She loves, she's a doctor, but fashion is her other passion. She's just fashion and design. And you've helped us with that because she can rotate her wardrobe on a regular basis. And even our furniture too, even our, our sofa was sold there. Yeah.
Jennifer Johnson. That's why we exist.
Robert DiLella Jr.. Yeah. I'm grateful for that for sure. I love, I have to have you back so we can have some more time together. Cause I could see this going a million different ways I learned a lot from you. So I really appreciate that. I know Zach's giving me a signal. I always end with this one question and I think you've kind of answered it in some ways, but What is it that you love about your life?
Jennifer Johnson. Everything about it. At one point in my life, I probably wouldn't have