What Mark Cuban’s money actually bought them

Howdy y'all. Welcome to the big idea. I'm Elizabeth Gore, co-founder, president of Hello Alice. And Gus is here, too. So, what's between the spreadsheets this week in small business, y'all? Well, we are approaching Veterans Day. And so, this week, there is real money available for veterans and military spouse entrepreneurs. And by God, do they deserve it. Hiring Our Heroes has opened applications for its 2027 small business grant program. Four veteranowned or military spouse-owned businesses will receive 10,000 and one will receive $25,000. Eligible businesses must be at least 51% veteran or military spouse owned and have between 3 to 20 workers generating less than 5 million in annual revenue. Applications close December 15th, so get to it. We got to get those out. When you apply, be specific. Explain what the money will purchase, what the problem is it'll solve, and measurable results it will create. So don't say it will help you grow. Say it will fund one piece of equipment, purchase inventory, or launch a specific product. So listen, don't be bashful like in my world. If you need a new tractor, just say I need a new tractor, not enhanced agriculture mobility or something. So let's do this, right? Y'all, if you want to apply for this, you need to go to hiring ourh herooes.org or and apply there. And thanks to the Chamber of Commerce for running a great program. All right, y'all. Let's cowboy up with a founder who turned the employment problem of military spouses into a thriving American manufacturing company. Lisa Bradley is the co-founder and CEO of Riveter, an Americanmade handbag company powered by military spouses. And I'm very proud because my grandma Opel was a Riveter in World War II and a military spouse. So Lisa and fellow Army spouse Cam and Cruz started the company in 2011 with approximately $2,100, two sewing machines, and an unfinished attic above their garage. Today, our River says it has produced more than 150,000 bags. It's about to be 150,000 in1 for me. And generated over 33 million in lifetime sales, all the while creating portable employment for military spouses around the country. Lisa Bradley, welcome to the Big Idea. So excited to have you. >> Yeah, so excited to be here. >> I've been dying to meet you. Um, and just watch this progress over the years. You're such a badass. >> It's been a journey for sure and we've been following Hill Alice for years as well. So, it's just really a full circle moment for me as well. >> So, Lisa, you are sitting in your home that and you just did your 15th move >> and tell us about the life of a military spouse. >> I grew up in a small town. there wasn't a military base around me and I didn't know what it was going to be like to be really married to the military and so our first move and then our second and I had part-time jobs along the way but when I really wanted to build a career that's when I found out how difficult it was going to be as a military spouse and I think a lot of military spouses have the same situation where when it's hard to find work you go back and you get education and you continue that education and then eventually you find yourself in a situation where you're potentially overeducated and underexperi And then in those interviews, you just see the employer really putting your resume at the bottom of the pile. And >> it was just really something that we dealt with a lot as as military spouses and knew that it really went beyond me and my co-founder. It was so many military spouses going through that. >> So tell me about that story. You got you got an attic, you've got $2,100, you got a big idea. Let's hear it. >> So another military spouse and I just really became friends over the hardship of not being able to find work. you know, it just it became really a joke at that point. Like, oh, so it was another interview that didn't go well. And so eventually we said enough is enough. Let's not just complain about it. Let's create a business model that can employ other military spouses and and ourselves along the way. And I had just read a book by Frederick Smith about how he came up with a completely disruptive idea of sending boxes in the wrong direction in order to create a hub system. And I thought, you know, what better way could we create mobile, flexible income for military spouses that really need a a different type of work from home opportunity? And this was back in 2011 when really at home, the only type of work was really leveraging your friends and family in direct sales. >> And so we didn't even know we wanted to make handbags, but we knew we were going to create a national network of military spouses who could plug into our remote manufacturing system. >> But why bags? like what what was the impetus there? We wanted a product that could hold a story and you know clothing you switch out every day but really a woman chooses a handbag to be a partner in life to carry her essential tools throughout her day whether she's going out to volunteer to go to work every day to be a mom you know we really wanted a product that could hold our story and it's a big story it's story it's a story of you know American women you know military spouses and really doing something in today's world from nothing and being able to reinvent yourself you you know, that's the story that we're telling every day when you carry an arter handbag. >> And just to give everyone an understanding cuz I want them to go buy all your bags. Um you you have what I would call benefit themes maybe. Um so the the you know the child of someone who's deployed, you've got the poppy thematic like talk through those cuz I just love those. It's really about telling that story. And so we have a lot of different product lines. We have the military child which is a dandelion. It's an embroidered flower a lot like what I'm wearing here. This is the peie for fight like Rosie which is you know about hope uh during cancer diagnosis. And you mentioned our our poppy as well which is you know at our company it is an all year round flower that we celebrate because it's really about remembering those who have really died protecting our freedoms. >> Absolutely. So, um, I want to go to our Riveter because I I don't know that everyone knows the story of Rosie Riveter, and I want, you know, we're we're filming around Veterans Day, and I I'm very prideful. My grandmother actually was a Riveter, uh, Grandma Opal, who is uh, my idol and yeah, raised me and my daughter's name is Opel. But, do you want to share the the Riveter story and why why you named the company as such? So Rosen Riveter was really a woman of the generation of World War II that went in to really fight for our country in a in a unique way, which was going into the factories in order to build the munition, the the ships, all all the tools that we really used during World War II to win that war. And so she wasn't necessarily a military spouse, although many of them were. Um they were really just women who didn't stand on the sideline. They said, "I want to be able to help my country, too." And that really meant so much to my co-founder and I when we were naming the company. Extremely proud of our husbands for their service, but we wanted to be able to do something uh to be able to help our American economy, to be able to help other military spouses. And so really, we're we kind of see ourselves as modern day Rosie the rotors and really carrying that torch. >> Let's just say, is this right? 150,000 bags, uh 33 million in lifetime sales. >> Yep. >> Hells yeah. Let's just let's just celebrate. That is hard, right? It is hard. It is super hard. You know, like running a business in today's world is extremely difficult. And not to mention handbags. It's an extremely saturated market. I think everybody that heard us back in 2011 saying, "We're going to start a handbag business really thought we were crazy because who goes into one of the most saturated markets ever." But, um, it's really been an amazing journey of helping women and and really like creating an a very emotional product. It is really something to be able to create a product that that invokes that that storytelling and being able to remember those who who've served our country. >> Well, I tell you who didn't think it was crazy, Mark Cuban and the folks on Shark Tank. How did that come about? >> We had the opportunity to to apply for the show and go on it. And we thought, you know, if you're growing a business, the last thing you should do is is say no. And but it really could have put our company under. You know, a lot of companies that go on there and don't present themselves in the right way or go on there and then can't scale, it really can be the beginning of the end for a lot of companies, but really for us, it was a national stage where we were able to tell our story. And then Mark Cuban's investment really gave us the credibility we needed in order to really be competitive against so many other main brands in the handbag industry. >> That relationship though continued. It was not just the show. He's had your back a long time. >> Yeah, he's had our back. I mean, just not even just from an investor standpoint, but he's also been a mentor for us and he's really growing a business for 15 years now. There's a lot that can go wrong and and along those lines and you know, we really shouldn't be here. We're a small company that is shipping parts and pieces across the country. And there's been a lot of people along the way that said this is never going to work, but there's a mission here and a group of women who would never let the mission die. And that's the reason why we still are here and doing as well as we are. Well, screw all them. They're wrong. So, let's just start there. Come on. >> Um, hey, tell me about the lows. I I want to make sure that you know people that aspire to build businesses know know the hard stuff too, right? Tell me by some of the low points. >> Yeah. You know, some of the most difficult hardships we've been through have been a lot of like our own our own ability to let something go. I think as founders, we have an idea and it's usually the first idea and we're like, it can't alter from this. Altering from this is failure. And I think that as founders, you have to get out of your own way. One of our first kind of like hurdles that we needed to get through is we were making everything out of upcycled military materials in the in the early days. You know, there was a pile of military materials in the in the corner of the garage which our attic was over and we made it we made our first handbags out of it and it it was phenomenal. Like it was a great way to be able to tell that story and it really gave us our beginning. But then when military spouses were telling us, you know, we can't have this material in our homes like I'm doing this at the kitchen table. But that was really like the first branch. We're like, "Okay, in order to grow, we have to let go of this original idea." We still have a line called our limited edition line that is made up of of entirely out of upcycled military materials. But then this became really that next chapter to be able to grow and be able to help other military spouses. >> Absolutely. And you you went from high revenue to really low at one point, is that right? And had to pivot. >> Absolutely. Yeah. A lot of companies have, you know, that that large growth. I think a lot of during the e-commerce era after 2020 but then you know that was another low is we we really grew a lot and then after 2020 when a lot of companies were kind of like right sizing after that e-commerce bubble you really have to get your expenses to match your revenue and a lot of times it's very difficult to make those hard decisions like we need to cut this or we need to reduce our our team size and when you're in a mission based company sometimes it's the last thing you want to do. Um but that was hard lessons learned. Well, then the other thing is there was there was some litigation around Black Friday, right? >> Yeah. Yeah. We had a marketing company that essentially shut off our marketing list from us and so it was really difficult as a small company to not be able to reach out to our entire following list um on Black Friday of 2023. And so we really had to pivot and find ways that we could really restart our marketing. Well, and I want to find them and burn them to the ground. Just going to be really honest. Get out my crowbar. But yeah, I mean, we we talk a lot uh about there's just in business, you're going to get sued at some point or have litigation, you're have to fire somebody. I mean, these are just all tough stuff. You just happen to go through them all in like a six-month period, >> right? Exactly. Yeah. And then to follow that was really our building becoming structurally unsound and really a year's worth of remodeling a entire building around us. Uh so it's just a really difficult time where we really had to rightsize our expenses to our revenue and really get through some difficult times. Um and that was one of the things that I really learned is over the years I was constantly trying with especially with a co-founder. Um you know if you don't have that real clear leadership structure about who can go in and make a decision quick it can be very difficult on the business. And I was constantly trying to put in, you know, someone that was more senior than me, someone that had more experience in finance that could really like could really come in and make those those hard calls. But ultimately what I had to learn was that no one was going to hold the company more accountable than myself and that I was the person, you know, hell or high water that was going to have to do that. And so that was probably my biggest lesson is that, you know, it it it begins and ends with you. >> Absolutely. And hey, what is your advice to business owners when they have a year like that? When there's, you know, three or four, as you called it, business bad luck. I mean, how did you personally get through that? You know, I relied on my family to know that like I was not showing up nearly as much as a mom, as a wife, that I had to put in the hard time in order to keep the company going forward. Um, so personally I had to rely on my family in a way that I never really imagined putting them through. And then my team, I I think I truly believe that the reason the company got through that was because we are a mission-based business. And my team members were willing to put in the work and the time and really show up in a time that really was above the calling of their of their employment. I had a team in our manufacturing facility working with the lights off because they thought that that was going to help us. So I was like, I don't know that that, you know, is really going to make the biggest difference. But it was them taking that action in order to show up for the company when we were at our biggest need that really helped us rally together. It was every small action made a huge leap for the company. That's amazing. There's a word that is used a lot with military spouses and it's dependent. I I've always struggled with that. I don't I get it from a like technical term, but you know, you're it but you're like the opposite of that. I don't know. Um you know, have you thought about that term and maybe explain to folks what it means? >> Yeah, for sure. It was one of the first terms that I really heard as a young military spouse that again didn't know much about the military lifestyle and the army on paperwork, you know, check boxes, you know, all these things were was dependent and I thought that's a strange term to refer to military spouses and children. But really after those first couple of moves where I wasn't able to get employment to really, you know, from multiple standpoint, it's it's the second income that really helps young military families. It's having something for yourself. You know, I think that we all are want to be part of something bigger than ourselves, have a have a purpose. >> And so when you're not able to do those things because of the moves that military families face, you really do start to feel dependent on the military and your spouse. And there's some good things with that. But then there's also really a huge part of identity loss that goes with multiple moves and not being have your own your own income. How do you find your employees? The the women and men that are are working as military spouses in the company. >> The military spouses are are independent contractors that work across the country and they are making different parts and pieces to the handbag collection. Honestly, it's been a huge list that grew during Shark Tank. And then from that individual that came in and worked, usually they are the ones that are are finding somebody else that they want to work with. Uh, so it's been really a a network that's just kind of grown organically over the years. And honestly, we've had so many that have worked with us for so long that we don't have a lot of turnover in those in those roles. >> U, some of have been with us 10 plus years. >> So, it's it's pretty phenomenal to have these individuals that that it's not just for now. It's it's been a long-term thing for them and their families. and you get to know them on a personal level which has been really amazing to see and and see those relationships bloom. >> That is so cool. Is it is it true that you started doing book bookkeeping at 13? >> Yeah, that would be my dad. Um he made me start a QuickBooks for basically every small little thing that I started. So that was really difficult to understand debits and credits at that age. But like it was one of the most foundational aspects of growing a business that I really stuck with me is like if you're going to start anything, start it to grow. You know, right? >> You if you create the foundation for growth, then when something picks up and takes off, you already have that foundation. >> So, um, we've talked a lot about challenges, but um, one of the terms we use on the show is dirty unicorn. And it's what is what is a mistake in you made in business that we can all learn from? I think the biggest thing that I wish I could go back and and do is just make decisions quicker when I already have the gut instinct that it needs to go that direction. And so whether it was making those hard decisions to rightsize our expenses to revenue, you know, I think that is the one area where if I could go back and not constrinate over it or bring in somebody else's third party opinion again, it would just have made those hard decisions faster. And like I said, no one can do it better than the founder or the individual that can really like begin and end the the discussion. >> So, we we love to shout out other small businesses um here on on uh the Big Idea. I'm curious if you have one that you're in love with right now. >> Um [clears throat] I think like a a company I would I would shout out to is Busy Baby. It's a it's another Shark Tank company. And >> I love Busy Baby. >> Yeah, she Beth is amazing. She's been become a personal friend of mine. Um, and that's another piece of advice I'd say is like find another business that's your size or a little bit bigger. I think sometimes we try and find a mentor that is massive and we want to aspire to be that size, but find a company that's in your same really growth area and share what's working, what's not working. And that's something that Beth and I have done over the last year and it's been phenomenal. I found better ways of doing my ads u a better bookkeeping company. Um, so it's been amazing really just getting to know her and I'd love to shout out her business. >> Okay. And can I give a double backup shout out to her for you? So, she also really fought on behalf of all of us around small business tariffs and she was I just thought one of the best advocates and spokespeople for all of us as business owners. So, double triple shout out to Vy. I love it. Oh my god, I love it. Um, [clears throat] so first of all, if we all want to order your handbags, what's the best way to do that? >> Yeah, you can go to our website at rriveter.com. You can also follow us on social at riveter bags and really just be able to read about all the women that go into making a single handbag. From the parts and pieces, every single Riveter bag comes with a part that's made by a military spouse. And then you can send in a material that means a lot to you. The majority that we do are military uniforms, but we've done Letterman's jackets and wedding dresses and a grandmother's sweater. You know, I think that we all have materials that we have memories attached to, and being able to get them out of the closet or out of the attic and into our daily life, and being able to tell those stories is really at the center of our heirloom program. >> That is so awesome. Um, and you you call it opportunity, not charity, which I love. >> You know, I think a lot of military spouses, they don't want charity. They want just opportunity to do well and to be able to put their their purpose to use. Um, and that's the reason why we have riveter stamps on every part that we make u from the military spouses that make a liner or a small leather piece. They stamp their riveter number in it. And it's really about taking ownership and really just believing in in that opportunity that's been given to us. Well, I'm going to get on and buy my bag today and I challenge everyone else to do the same. And I want to Lisa give you a a thank you. I I try to find quotes that are meaningful for our guests. Um I also wore my superhero jacket cuz I think military spouses are superheroes. >> But this is from Barbara Bush Senior and you know she was a very young military spouse um when uh George HW Bush was serving in the Navy and this is actually at the Bush Library. She said believe in something larger than yourself. Get involved in some of the big ideas of your own time and I think that's what you've done. Thank you. That's that's really good to say that I've been a mirror to that. You know, you actually wanted me to bring an artifact from my office and this is actually being >> or it's been in on my desk since we started. It was actually up on the wall in the attic and it's really well behaved. Women rarely make history. And I think that that's exactly what she's saying. It's just about taking maybe the path of that others haven't traveled first. So a lot of times I say I'm paving a path. someone that's going to come after me that is going to do it a lot better than me. But if I can at least create a new path for somebody, that's really what I think this this sign really represents. >> And you have Lisa and you've done the hard things and all these people said it didn't work and wow were they wrong. And so let me just say around Veterans Day, thank you for your service and all the military spouses in our great country and thanks for building in an awesome business and coming on the big idea. >> Well, thanks for having us on. It's it's great to be able to tell her story and be able to tell military spouses stories as well. So, I really appreciate it. >> Thanks again to Lisa Bradley for joining me this week and I want to thank all the military spouses out there serving our country and give a shout out to AMZ and Warriors and Quiet Waters on two organizations that you might want to think about benefiting. And thanks to all of you for tuning in. I'll see you next time with more stories and insights to help your small business succeed. Till then y'all come say hi to me and Gus at any of my social channels at Elizabeth Gore USA. And as my grandma always said, hold your head a pine, Gimhill.