Katie: Welcome back to The BusinessMakers Overtime Show heard here and online at theBusinessMakers.com. This is your hostess Katie Laird and I am still here at the amazing co.lab and Primer Grey Loft Opening Party Extravaganza (Laughter) and I'm so excited to be here. I have with three amazing guests, Miss Monica Danna of co.lab Marketing, Mr. J.R. Cohen of Smart Meals and SLGT, and finally, certainly last but not least, Mr. Brian Truax with Kinetic Energy and a Houston community passionate supporter and SLGT as well. Guys, welcome to The BusinessMakers Overtime Show.

Monica: Thank you.

J.R.: Thank you. Thank you for having us Katie.

Brian: Thank you.

Katie: Well we're so happy to have you here. So tell me about really what in my heart and in my mind is very much a new movement, you know, this SLGT - the Support Local Grow Together. J.R., what is that all about?

J.R.: Well, I mean really if you break it down it's not about what I'm doing, it's about how we're helping you to help the next person, to help the next person. I mean of course there was like the movie Pay It Forward, but that was a movie. What we're doing here is a reality.

Katie: Aaaaah! Okay, and so I mean, go a little bit more into that. Like Pay It Forward, like I'm gonna do something nice for a stranger and then businesses are gonna grow; or like what happens?

J.R.: Well let me let Brian talk about it a little bit because he's on the Board of Directors and you know, he's got a strong participation in SLGT, and so let me give him time and let him now.

Brian: So you know, what we're talking about really is what Yes magazine calls "the local multiplier effect". It's really great. These numbers are from 2007, so a little outdated; I would assume that they'd be a little higher now, but every dollar invested in a local business. So if you go to a local coffee shop for example and you spend a dollar, 45 cents of that stays in your communities. So 45 percent of all of the money invested in local companies stays in the Houston community -

Katie: Wow.

Brian: - and any community around the nation. These are standard numbers. And if you go to a corporate chain, not that I have a problem with them, but only 15 percent of that money stays in a community.

Katie: Fifteen, 1-5!

Brian: That's right.

Katie: Oh my gosh! And not to mention the impact that that has on these, you know, mom-and-pop small business owners.

J.R.: You said it there. I mean I grew up where my mom was single and had three kids. She started a business out of her living room.

Katie: Wow.

J.R.: And out of that living room she had a full-time job as a teacher and then she continued to work when she got home selling, you know, like skateboards or gift baskets, and really like just made sure that we had security, a roof over our heads, food on the table, and took care of us. So that same ideology that I grew up, that you do whatever it takes for the family, we're applying that to the community.

Katie: That is wonderful. Now Monica, you've run co.lab Marketing -

Monica: Yes.

Katie: - and I mean, and that doesn't just encompass marketing. I mean we're talking a lot of event planning; and honestly, I can't think of any person that I see more often absolutely everywhere that I go. (Laughter) Like you are everywhere with them, this Houston community, and beyond. What is your take on the way that things are going in the PR and marketing world? I mean how is that impacting your business right now with the Support Local Grow Together movement?

Monica: Sure. You know, I'm a born and raised Houstonian so I've been in Houston for 31 years now, and always been a huge fan of Houston and always been a big fan of spreading the great things about Houston. And a couple years ago when I got involved with some local companies who have gotten together and really banned together and said, "You know what, this Houston community, there's something special about it."

And you know, I would say there's a handful of cities in the country that function like this. Boulders is kind of one of them and San Francisco's kind of one of them where technology is kind of infused into our community; and we've taken that and done good with it. And I think that with SLGT, has taken that one step further in saying, "You know what, let's make this an organized manner."

You know, for three years or so a lot of us have been working together, going to the same events, boosting up each other, supporting each other events, you know. And I always like to say there great publicists in town you know. I'm not the only publicist in town. I mean we all support each other. I mean you know, I think that in the Houston area, with specifically with what I do with public relations and marketing, I don't feel a competitive nature in any companies.

I mean a lot of the companies that are members of SLGT are competitors you know. There's a couple of different Web companies, there's a couple of different PR firms, and you know, as hokey as it sounds, it really kind of is this one big hug. There's business to go around and we're all better.

Brian: It's helping each other, yeah.

Monica: Exactly. We're all better together you know. I mean collectively we do more good for the city. I think what's really important about all the groups that I've come in contact with with SLGT is that everyone really, number one, has a passion for Houston and that's really what it takes. It's not has a passion for being the best in business or making a lot of money. Their number one goal that puts people together is wanting to show off what Houston has -

Katie: Excellent.

Monica: - and I'm for one just extremely proud to be even associated with SLGT. Like I said, 30 years in Houston and the Primer Grey guys who I office with, who while we're here today, my office in their office. Chris Valdez, who is one of the principles in that company, and I have been working together for about four years. And we just got together and said, "You know what, we wanna do some good."

Katie: Excellent!

Monica: So last year, left both of our corporate jobs and took the leap, and honestly I just wrote a blog post about this two days ago and I said, "The number one thing that has impacted me over the last year is my community. I could not have done what I did, taking a leap, no job, just gone out there without" -

Katie: Just following your heart.

Monica: - people like Brian and people like J.R. and people like you -

Katie: That's so nice.

Monica: - that have supported me to get me there. And I think that all the organizations within SLGT could say the exact same thing that I'm saying.

Katie: We've talked a lot about the Houston community and businesses supporting each other. Is SLGT - is that limited to just this city or what are the plans for this?

J.R.: Oh no. I mean we - you know, of course we wanna make an impact in every city. It's important for us to mention one very, very crucial fact. It's about In-Sourcing and not Out-Sourcing.

Katie: In-Sourcing.

J.R.: Yes. It's about utilizing who you can in the community to grow and work together -

Katie: Excellent.

J.R.: - and that's exactly what we're about, is how - you know, other small businesses can utilize each other in their day-to-day operations and work together so we can grow as a community. It creates creativity, it creates more jobs, and at the end of the day, it creates sustainability. What I am looking forward to, and I know you are Katie, is we both have beautiful daughters and we want them to grow up in a great community.

Katie: Absolutely.

Brian: And you know, I think that at the end of the day what it's about, your question is, "Can this expand to other economies?"

Katie: Yeah.

Brian: That's really what we're talking about, other cities. You know, creating resilient local economy is so easy to do when businesses work with one another. You know, going back to the numbers of that, if 45 cents of every dollar is spent at a local business stays in that community, if everyone is doing that, spending all of their dollar or striving to, think about the multiplication effect that goes. The economies would scale there, where it really creates a resilient local economy and it can be done in every city. I mean I think we're at the advent of a new age of business where we're no longer competing with one another. It's co-opetition. You know, we're cooperating, but competing at the same time. You know, it's okay if I lose out to a friend. I don't mind that. It's healthy competition, it's good for my economy, and it's good for my business personally.

J.R.: Yeah, but it's also bringing the attention to the Monica Danna's that are out there in the communities as well. You know, we need to make sure that people know these big corporations that are here stationed in Houston, they need to help the small community, you know.

Katie: Absolutely.

J.R.: It's not about just them, it's about, you know, helping with the small business that surround them and the families that support them, and help the other families that work for the big corporations.

Brian: Absolutely. I think there's a big difference between - you know, there's a lot of companies out there that they give lip service and I feel like the SLGT companies like Smart Meals and co.lab and Kinetic Energy. We don't give lip service, we give real service to the community.

Katie: Aaaaah.

J.R.: Well said Sir.

Brian: And we're really reaching out.

J.R.: Well said.

Katie: Okay, excellent. So I'm excited. I feel like this has been like a vocabulary lesson today. We've talked about co-opetition, we talked about In-Sourcing. I mean these are really revolutionary ideas because I know occasionally I'll hear people being concerned about, you know, supporting local businesses because sometimes you have to pay a premium. The price is a little higher. But being able to see the big picture and how it helps me personally, you know, my family, any other small business that I patronize in Houston or any city.

J.R.: Right, but if we all work together Katie, those premiums will come down.

Katie: They will come down! Exactly.

J.R.: Just like you know, Smart Meals right now is utilizing local farmers. It costs us. Right now the whole idea of our new store being built right now, the investor has said - he goes, "If it costs us just another percentage more to get small businesses to be utilized in our build-out, I'll do it."

Katie: Okay, excellent.

J.R.: Now if everybody could be encouraged and do the same, those prices will come down so that way can all utilize the great talents in this community.

Katie: Exactly. Well Brian, J.R., and Monica, this has been a most enlightening and completely positive discussion, and I know that our small business owners and entrepreneurs have learned a whole lot, so thank you for being here. I love it.

Brian: Thank you.

J.R.: Thank you. Thank you for having us.

Monica: Thanks.

Katie: You've been listening to The BusinessMakers Overtime Show heard here and online at theBusinessMakers.com. Check us out on Twitter at Twitter.com/OvertimeShow. And now we have a beautiful Facebook page.

Esther: We love it.

Katie: We love it. Facebook.com/OvertimeShow. I'm your host Katie Laird -

Esther: And I'm Esther Steinfeld.

Katie: And this has been a fantastic live episode at really one amazing community-focused business event.

Esther: That's right. A lot of collaboration between a lot of very powerful businesses coming together, supporting each other.

Katie: Absolutely.

Esther: Co-opetition.

Katie: Absolutely.

Esther: Phenomenal.

Katie: We hope that you inspired and completely ready to rock the world with everyone in your community. We'll see ya next week.

Esther: See ya next week.