This month, you can eavesdrop on a conversation between Terry and Nicky as they discuss everything Randolph-Sheppard. "
Intro Music (00:00):
Intro Music (00:16):
This is the We are Randolph Shepherd podcast, promoting blind entrepreneurship and Independence. And now here's the dynamic duo, Nikki Geicos and Terry Smith.
Nicky (00:26):
Welcome to episode 24 of the We Are Randolph [00:00:30] Shepherd podcast. And of course, we start off by thanking our sponsors, 'cause we couldn't do it without the National Association of Blind Merchants Southern Food Services, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola Sodexo. You selected Tyler Technologies, Anderson Food Services, RSA, management Group, fight Line, wealth Management, and Canal. Terry, how are you?
Terry (00:56):
I'm doing great, Nikki. And, um, you know, trying to [00:01:00] survive the cold weather and, um, uh, for, for, for, for Tennessee, we've had an extremely cold winter so far, and we're not, we're not, we're not used to that white stuff laying on the ground and these temperatures down in single digits, but I think we're coming out of it and, and, and, and, and looking pretty good. I know you guys got hit pretty hard up, up at your way, right?
Nicky (01:21):
We got floods. We got, it's like the coming into the world. It's coming to an end. And
Terry (01:43):
But three, three inches of snow is like Armageddon in, in, in, in Chattanooga. I, I, I'll just tell you that. So, um, Nick, I, I just wanna get right to it and go ahead and give you your kudos. I mean, come on, man. Uh, last, um, uh, in the fall we made our football predictions [00:02:00] for the, who was gonna win the National championship. And, uh, uh, I think we, we did note on the last episode that you had two of the four teams, uh, that you were, you picked to be in the Final Four. You picked Michigan to win it all the way back in September, and by George Michigan hit, and, and, and congratulations, uh, for, for, for, for that pick. And, you know, the, the, the bad news is that, you know, people may start believing we know what we're talking about, and, uh, you know, you're [00:02:30] ruining our reputation for being such bad pronos prognosticators. So, but congratulations. That was a solid pick.
Nicky (02:37):
Well, thank you. But, you know, they may take it away from 'em. You never know. And then people say, I see they took it away from 'em. But, um, yeah, I, I, I, you know, I, I liked Michigan for a number of years. Uh, I like to coach, um, good luck to 'em in, uh, LA or San Diego, their, you know, my Broncos division now. But, um, it was good to have that. And I, you know, we did much better in our pro picks too. I mean, I picked [00:03:00] Baltimore and Detroit, um, still wondering what happened to Detroit, but, um, and the fact that you had San Francisco and, um, Buffalo. So we had three out of the four teams in the, in the finals. And you have a chance to win it all with, uh, at least San Francisco, um, in the Final Four. I know you picked Buffalo, but, so we're doing much better. So all the, not all the stuff that we took, uh, last year about how bad we were, I guess, I guess we're selling people. Maybe we just know [00:03:30] a little bit more than Randolph Shepherd
Terry (03:33):
You know, it is funny how people, how, how many people pay attention to that. And, and, you know, I I I, we, we did catch a lot of flack with, with, uh, with some of our predictions last year. And, uh, you know, I was really, I, I mean, I thought you were gonna have both teams in the Super Bowl. I thought it was gonna be Detroit and Baltimore. I saw no way Kansas City was gonna go into Baltimore and win, and Detroit seemed like a team of destiny. And so I thought, man, that's gonna be great that [00:04:00] Nikki gets, uh, you know, both teams in there. And then, uh, man, I, I, I don't know what happened, but, hey. Um, but anyways, well,
Nicky (04:10):
Well, speaking of that, Terry, uh, it's Kansas City and s who you picking?
Terry (04:16):
Oh, okay. You put me on the spot. You know, I picked San Francisco to be there, and so I'm gonna stay with the 49 ERs since that's who I picked back in September. I, I picked 'em to be in the Super Bowl. I [00:04:30] actually, you, you're right. I picked Buffalo to win it all. Um, but I'm, I wanna stick with San Francisco, but I tell you, Patrick Mc Holmes is a, a, a magician out there. It, it, it's, it's so probably silly to bet against him.
Nicky (04:42):
Like you thought that, well, I'm going San Francisco, you know, being a Propo fan, I dislike the the Chiefs very much. And, um, I wanna see this, this run that there been on is phenomenal. Um, but I've had enough of Taylor Swift, I've had na enough of State Farm commercials, and, [00:05:00] um, and I'm going with the quarterback Brock Purdy, who 10 college quarterbacks make more money than he made. So, um, I'm going with, uh, Brock Purdy. I'm gonna ruper the 49 ERs.
Terry (05:10):
I just, I hope my wife's not listening to this podcast. When you say you're tired of State Farm commercial,
Nicky (05:16):
My wife, I like State Farm. I, I use State Farm. I like State Farm. I just don't like the commercials. Let's put, let's change the commercials.
Terry (05:27):
I tell you, I tell you, they, uh, you know, [00:05:30] but, uh, she is, she is a State Farm agent. And, um, um, you know, so we are, we are a State Farm family too. Uh, so
Nicky (05:37):
I think the world, I think the world of your wife. So it's nothing against her, it's just changing commercials.
Terry (05:41):
Nicky (05:42):
Terry (05:42):
Well, I'll tell you, I'll tell you something funny. Um, our son, uh, who went to California to be an actor and, and, and, and, and was very successful and was in a lot of movies and, and, uh, a lot of, uh, TV shows. And, uh, of course he's now in radio, uh, but he, um, [00:06:00] uh, he, he, he did a commercial. He, he did several commercials, but one of his commercials was a Geico commercial. And so that was one commercial that my wife was not able to brag about to any of her State Farm people. Hey, my son is on the Geico commercial
Nicky (06:19):
Terry (06:20):
Uh, but, uh, you know, the crazy thing about it is, you know, I, I think he made more money on that little, uh, commercial, and he said one word. [00:06:30] And, um, uh, I think he made more money on that one commercial than probably most of his other roles he ever did. So it's, uh, you know, if you can get those things, you know, it's can be profitable. But, so Nikki, um, uh, uh, before we get into the Randolph Shepherd piece, and, and, you know, you and I are sort of, uh, doing this one alone solo, this, this, this month. And, uh, we're sort of clearing the desk with some stuff that, uh, uh, gonna talk about a little bit. But, uh, before we get into any of the, the Randolph [00:07:00] Shepherd stuff, every month we do the WhatsApp, and that gives you like 20 seconds, which turns into a minute or whatever. But, uh, tell us what's up, Nikki?
Nicky (07:11):
Well, what's up is that we're, uh, one day, uh, we're coming into February, and, um, we have Groundhogs Day, which kinda like Randolph Shepherd, things just keep going on and on and on and on, like groundhog. And then we have, uh, Valentine's Day, which I think is a great holiday. But also, I also think that more days should be Valentine's Day. Just, uh, you know, being in [00:07:30] a restaurant business back in the day, people would want to come and they'd buy flowers. And I, I think that, I think Mother's Day is every day, and so is Valentine's Day. It needs to be more in one day. And then we have President's Day coming up. Um, and do you remember what, what the real, so that we're celebrating Lincoln and Washington's birthday Mm-Hmm.
Terry (07:57):
I, I, I absolutely do. Uh, Abraham Lincoln is [00:08:00] February 12th, and George Washington's February 22nd.
Nicky (08:04):
Yep. That's how we grew up watching 'em and his kids today. When is Washington's birthday? The third Monday in February.
Terry (08:16):
Well, it's funny you had mentioned, uh, uh, the, the, the, the, the president's birthdays because, uh, I, you know, it is, this is the birthday month, and, uh, um, you know, I'm a shout out to my soon to be 9-year-old [00:08:30] grandson, Milo. Um, he will be turning nine in February on Abraham Lincoln's birthday. So you, you weren't gonna get me on that one.
Nicky (08:41):
That your birthday, Milo.
Terry (08:42):
So, uh, uh, we will be, um, headed over to South Carolina to celebrate his birthday, and we will have lots of Pokemon cards to take with us. And I tell you, you know, if, if we could, if we're investing as much in his fund as we were in Pokemon cards, uh, his, his college fund will probably be paid for, [00:09:00] but, uh, really into the Pokemon stuff. But, uh, uh, but, uh, happy birthday, Milo. And, you know, uh, February is the month that they, you know, all the smart people were born in. And, uh, you know, you got George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, uh, let's see, William Henry Harrison, Ronald Reagan, Thomas Edison, Charles Darwin, allborn Allborn, Terry Smith. Oh, wait, how did he get on that list?
Terry and Nicky (09:27):
Nicky (09:30):
[00:09:30] He's the only one. He's the only one alive on that list.
Terry and Nicky (09:32):
Terry (09:35):
True enough. But hey, hey, Michael. Jordan was born in February, uh, so I'm not gonna say he's the smartest, but so, so let me ask you, Jordan, LeBron or Kobe, who's the greatest?
Nicky (09:50):
Michael?
Terry (09:51):
Yeah. You know, I, I don't, I don't even like to hear the conversation. I hear people all the time, you know, who's greater, you know, Jordan or, or LeBron. It is not even a conversation. Come on guys. Um, [00:10:00] but yeah,
Nicky (10:02):
I mean, it's amazing that his age, that he still played at that level that he is playing at. I watched the game the other night that was double overtime, and they beat Golden State, and I was like, wow, look. And he wants to play until his son, who's a freshman at USC, um, gets into the pros so he can play with him. That's pretty remarkable that he is been in the league 20 year. But, you know, the, there's so many things I liked about Michael being a winner, coming back to win three more championships, and the, the fact that the way he played defense [00:10:30] and so many other things that he did on the, on the, on the court were just played. So that's, that's my pick.
Terry (10:35):
So I was, when I was looking up the president of the, the birth February birthdays, I had to Google that, see who, who I was born in February. A couple of little fun facts that I did find that more presidents were born in October and November. There, six presidents have been born in October and six in November, uh, which were the, the, the most of, of, of any months. And, uh, the least, which is a [00:11:00] shocker, is September only one president born in September. And September is the most popular, um, um, month for birthdays, but only one president born in September. Um, and the most common birthday, I, I, I don't know how, why I found this, but the most common birthday in the United States is, uh, September 16th. And [00:11:30] one of your board members, that's her birthday, September 16th, just so you know, you may have to remember that, say happy Birthday.
Nicky (11:36):
Uh, well, and, and why other thing? There's two presidents born in September, because I'm a September baby
Terry and Nicky (11:42):
Nicky (11:46):
And when, and when you, when you hear that's Bruce Springsteen's birthday, you know, it's mine. So you can remember it that way.
Terry (11:51):
Yep, exactly. The least common birthday would be the obvious, which is leap year, February 29th. But, but if you take leap year out of it, new Year's Day [00:12:00] is the, is is, is the fewest. Babies are born on New Year's Day of any day of the year. So, you know, I thought that was just, just a little, just a little trivia to throw out there about February birthdays and, uh, again, happy birthday to my grandson. And then we go into March, and I have another one in March to sh to shout out. So, so Nikki, uh, let, let's get into, um, um, you know, some, some talking about some stuff. And I know, uh, are you back from Washington? You're back from Washington in the Washington seminar, the NPS Washington seminar. Right?
Nicky (12:29):
I am [00:12:30] back, and it was a, a terrific turnout. It was great to see so many people and friends, uh, that I hadn't seen in a while. Um, but the, the highlight of it was that, uh, Congressman Aguilar from California, uh, was a guest speaker. Um, we got to Max Duarte, uh, uh, who's used to is from his district and used to run the same, um, courthouse that Congressman Aguilar's grandfather, who was a blind vendor back in the day, and raved about the Rand [00:13:00] Shepherd program, who was a veteran from the Korean War, and came back and started losing his sight to rp, um, and became a vendor in the Rand Shepherd program, and basically kept them from being homeless. And 90% of Congress, van Aguilar's talk was on Rand Shepherd, which was great to hear that. Um, in fact, you know, when he talked about things that we need, he'll be there for us.
(13:26):
It was there for him as a kid, for his grandfather. Um, [00:13:30] and, uh, another tribute, they met Michael Colburn when our second vice president, his mother worked in that building, uh, in that courthouse that Max Duarte and Congressman Aguilar's grandfather ran too. So a a lot of tribute there, but it was great. Um, and I, you know, I saw some other blind vendors there, uh, Harold Wilson, Raj Meta, Michael Armstrong, uh, Giorgio Vicars. Um, and so it was good to see some blind merchants there. The crowd was great. It was energetic. [00:14:00] Um, it was celebrating the 20th year of the National Center. Um, and so it was, it was great to be there and do that. And, um, on top of that, we're heading to Washington again next week, every next Tuesday.
Terry (14:14):
Yeah, we are. Uh, and before, before we leave, uh, Washington Seminar, you know, Congressman Aguilar, you know, that, that that's a great tie in, uh, to, to, to have somebody whose grandfather was a, was was a blind vendor, and, uh, um, IG gotta give them credit. When we were going for the innovation [00:14:30] money, uh, a year, a year ago, a year and a half ago, we were trying to get the money for the, uh, uh, the states to, to, to, to buy equipment and, and things like that. Congressman Aguilar's office was, was, was a big help. And I think, uh, you know, we, we got it to the finish line, and it wasn't, wasn't their fault that we didn't get it across the finish line. Uh, but, uh, you know, certainly appreciate, uh, that relationship and, and, and, and the help that he has. Uh, uh, he, he has, [00:15:00] uh, provided us to, to, to this part.
(15:03):
And, um, and, and, and next week, and we're, we're recording this on the last day of January. Uh, so it should be out on February 1st. And so next week we will be in Washington, DC and we'll be telling you a lot more about this in a, in, you know, a later podcast. But, uh, we are meeting with, um, the Assistant Secretary of Osers. We'll get to meet the new commissioner of RSA, uh, we're gonna be meeting with, uh, some of the, [00:15:30] uh, higher ups at and as, and the Randolph Shepherd staff, uh, at RSA. And we're gonna do a full day, uh, list, what we're calling a listening session. And, uh, it's gonna be an opportunity to, for us to go in and share a lot of information, uh, about, uh, you know, how the program operates, um, when, uh, the, the, the, you know, out there where the boots hit the ground.
(15:53):
And, um, you know, it's easy for the Federal Fed Federal Agency to sort of, uh, you know, none, none of them have any experience [00:16:00] out, out, out, out in the Randolph Shepherd world. So, uh, and it's not their fault that they don't. And, uh, so we're gonna go in and, uh, try to give them some, some, some really good information that they can use. Because, you know, the thing is that RSA is in a position to, to really change the lives of blind people. And, uh, you know, we want them to take that role seriously. And, and, and so they, they need to hear from us. So we're gonna have, um, state agency people there. We're gonna have blind vendors there. [00:16:30] We're gonna have our attorneys there, we're gonna have teaming partners. Um, so, um, um, and, and, and really do 1, 1, 1 good day, half a day on DOD stuff, half a day on non DOD stuff. And, uh, we're even gonna have, uh, nama come in and do a little industry update to let them know on, you know, what's going on in the industry as a whole. So, looking forward to that. And I know you are too, right?
Nicky (16:54):
Oh, absolutely. You know? Yes. Yes. Because we, we need to have this meeting, [00:17:00] and we need help from RSA, and it's always been my contention that the things should be better working relationship instead of, you know, it's, I I tell the story, Terry, it was three years ago that we did a call with the White House and the, uh, department of Transportation where they needed the Department of Education to make a ruling that an EV charger was a vending machine, three years. And what, what do White House tell us? 60 days, RA is gonna have an answer for us. And [00:17:30] that's just unacceptable in this day and age where, you know, we're dropping number of vendors, um, you know, people aren't back to work like they used to. Federal buildings are still not open. So this is huge. And, you know, um, we we're gonna go to Congress, you know, we have the thing with Aguilar, and the other thing that came outta Washington seminar was that Congressman Hank Johnson from Georgia gave a big shout out to Michael Armstrong being a committee chair of the blind vendors from Georgia, which is also huge.
(17:59):
So we have two blind, [00:18:00] um, two congressmen that mentioned Randolph Shepherd in big ways. And, you know, we we're part of our, which we're gonna talk about next, our innovation conferences that, you know, we're, we're talking about innovating Rand. She, we need the help now. That's why Tuesday's meeting's important. It's important too, that the attorneys will be there, um, and to talk, to hear about this stuff of the help that we need. And that, you know, the next step is that if, if we get the help that we need from them, that's great. [00:18:30] And if we don't, then we we're gonna have to go to Congress. And, uh, it's not a threat. 'cause Greeks don't threaten they prophesize. But that's what we're gonna have to do. Um, and hopefully RSA will be, will, will be in, engage with us and know that they have to do this. And we know we need some help with regulations, we need some help with, uh, you know, the, you know, we're gonna sue AFEs, which we've been talking about, which is getting, could be done by the time this podcast. It could be any day now, but they could get involved with that and help us too. [00:19:00] So I'm, I'm going in positive. Um, but I also know that what the solution is, is that if they help us, great. And if they don't, we know what the solution is. So,
Terry (19:09):
And Nikki, you mentioned, um, you know, the Congressman Johnson and the Michael Armstrong connection, um, which, you know, tho those are huge, tho, tho, I mean, I don't think people understand just how important those kind of connections are. And, and if there are other vendors, uh, that are listening to this podcast, [00:19:30] you know, if you have those kind of relationships with, uh, WW with your member, you know, please let us know. And, you know, we'd, we'd like to involve you in meetings and, uh, uh, you know, especially if they're on the right committees, uh, when, when we're try, when we're trying to get things done, you know, we're still toying around the idea of a flying, and I don't know whether that'll happen this year or not, but we got a lot of issues to talk about. Uh, but if you've got those kind of relationships, um, you know, we need, we, we need to know about [00:20:00] it.
(20:00):
But, uh, uh, Nikki, the, you mentioned the innovation and the, the, the conference that's coming up. And, you know, I, I want everybody to know this is, you know, this was Nikki's brainchild, and I was, I'm just gonna tell you, um, in early December, we were talking about having a, um, a small invitation only, uh, meeting for about 20 people to talk about innovation, to talk about the future. Um, and it has turned into [00:20:30] a huge conference, um, that will be the largest Randolph Shepherd Conference. Um, you know, that, that, that we've done, you know, probably in the last six or seven years, it's, it's gonna be bigger than, uh, Atlantic City. Uh, it won't be as big as blast. But, uh, our, our, our full blown blast. Uh, but, you know, we're gonna, we're gonna probably end up 250, 300 people at this conference in Orlando, a [00:21:00] conference that we put together, uh, you know, basically in just a couple of weeks.
(21:05):
And, uh, because, uh, you know, you had the idea that, that, that we need to really start emphasizing innovation, and we need to, to, to get out there and take the lead in it and, and start talking about it. And so that's what we're gonna be doing in Orlando, and we got a, a, a great lineup. And, uh, kudos to you for, uh, you know, pulling this off. Uh, I, I, in full disclosure, [00:21:30] uh, when you, when you started talking, I said, oh, no, Nikki, please not
Nicky (21:46):
Well, I am, because like I said, we need to do something and we just can't talk about it. We need to do it. I wanted to do this, and I'll be very honest that I had, you know, last year when I was in Florida, I said, let's do a sage blast. Um, and we wanted to do it in [00:22:00] conjunction with the other conference, and they basically never answered this and turned this down. And I said, do people wanna see this new innovative equipment? And, um, you know, so we're gonna have, uh, robo Burger and, um, and, uh, a robotic vending, uh, uh, micro market and just new equipment scan and go from USI and a number of equipment and new, uh, fist Star and Red Bull and Coke and Pepsi will be there with new innovative products, because that's what you need to be selling in your ven [00:22:30] vending machines.
(22:31):
And I apologize to the states that we didn't get it out sooner, but the numbers are coming in phenomenal. Every day. It goes up by 10 or 12. Uh, there's a great agenda, thank you, Terry, for putting that together. We were gonna start on just a reception on Monday night, and now we have pre-conference. We're gonna have power technologies that runs all the commissaries in, in, uh, Tennessee there to talk about other states and how they get involved in, in commissaries. RSA will be there live, maybe not after our meeting [00:23:00] on Tuesday, but we hope that they'll still come, um, and, and speak about innovation with RSA and talk about the meeting on the, the 6th of February, what happened and where we're gonna go from here. Um, so a, a lot we'll be talking with Laura McCarney will be there, um, and a number of our different, different things.
(23:18):
And, and, and, and basically we'll be talking about business, and we'll be talking about where it goes. I mean, I just did a call with NAMA board meeting today, and they talked about how office coffee and pantry services [00:23:30] dead, but micro markets are flying out, and that's something that we've talked about for years. We're still not anywhere close to where we should be with micro markets and states. And, um, you know, what's the next thing? And not a lot of these things are the things. So, um, you know, uh, it, it's funny when we put this together, Terry, I said, I think we're gonna go for a hundred rooms. He goes, no, no, 60, 65 cops. That's all we'll get. And I think we're up to 180 rooms now each night for the Monday and Tuesday. We're excited [00:24:00] for about, because like I always said, when blind people get in a room with our partners, good things happen. Some good ideas will come out, and that will be good because we know the numbers are down. Terry, I, you know, I know the RSA fifteens are in and being counted, and you know, what, what are the numbers you're hearing on that?
Terry (24:19):
Well, you know, that's
Nicky (24:22):
Funny, or you're thinking about, or you're thinking about,
Terry (24:24):
Yeah. I think the funny thing about, about, about that is, and, and, and you're right, uh, you know, the states filed [00:24:30] their RSA fifteens. I've been looking online. I, I, you know, and I, I'm one of the few geeks that gets on there and looks at that and compares numbers and, and, and, and looks at what's happening. And, and, and the numbers, you know, if you look at this year, one year versus the, and I've not gone through every one of them. I don't have that much time. Uh, you know, I've randomly selected some states and you look at, um, uh, at the numbers and they're gonna be down. Uh, and it, you know, last year, you know, we started the pandemic at around 1800, I think last year. [00:25:00] We were down to, uh, 1550. And, you know, I still remember, Nikki, you and I, uh, you know, making the, uh, comment or prediction or, or prophecy as you say, that, um, you know, when it, when everything clears and all the, everything's done with the, you know, with the pandemic and, and everything else, and we're gonna be down to, uh, 1300 or fewer vendors.
(25:23):
Um, you know, I don't think we'll be down that, that low this year, but, uh, you know, you, you did such a good [00:25:30] job with your Michigan pick. I, I want, I wanna, I'm gonna give you an over under, so when, when, when the numbers are finally in, and it'll be a couple of three months and, uh, you know, or, or, or, or maybe RSA will be able to give them to us when they're in Orlando. The over under is 1,425. We were at 1550 last year. So when the final numbers in, do you think we're gonna be over or under 1425?
Nicky (25:57):
I am gonna say just over. [00:26:00] Just over. That's my predict.
Terry (26:03):
Okay. I'm, I'll take the, I'll take the under. And, uh, and, and, and the thing that, you know, the, the thing that really still, uh, the reason I still think that 1300 number is, is, is still valid, is that we know you and I know vendors who are, you know, barely operating. Maybe they have a couple of machines or, um, you know, they have one building when they used to have five. And, and, [00:26:30] and they're still being counted as a vendor. And so, you know, I think it's still gonna take a little time for, for, for all of those to shake out. I still think the 1300 prediction is, is accurate. So I will take the under on the, um, uh, 1,425. And, uh, but, you know, the, the bottom line is, you know, it gets to your point, is that numbers are going down.
(26:54):
And if we do not innovate, if we do not reimagine this program, [00:27:00] if we do not rethink the future, then, you know, the 1300, we'll be looking back in a few years thinking, wow, I wish we still had 1300, because the numbers will be even, even fewer than that. And, uh, you know, I, I don't mean any disrespect, but we've got a lot of folks out there, uh, who are older, who aren't looking to the next generation so much. And, you know, it falls on us to, to do that to some extent, to, to make sure that we still have this program available for the next generation of blind people. [00:27:30] And then that ties back to what we're talking about in the innovation conference. We're gonna have great speakers. Uh, I'm really excited. We've got Jimmy Newsom coming out in New York. Uh, he is a, he, he, he works globally in, uh, working with small businesses.
(27:44):
And he's gonna talk about, you know, not just innovation, but winning at innovation. We have a innovation, uh, guru, so to speak. Uh, that's gonna be our kickoff speaker on Tuesday that's going to, you know, be talking about, you know, what [00:28:00] is innovation and what, you know, how, how, how do you make it work. Um, and so we're really excited about that. But the, you know, the most important thing may be the last hour and a half of the conference where we're gonna sit down and we're gonna start brainstorming and coming up with ideas of how to reimagine the program. So I hope people aren't booking early flights and, you know, planning on getting outta town, because we need you there. We need your input. I went back, uh, just, uh, uh, this week, and I looked back at the 2010 conference. You [00:28:30] remember that conference that RSA sponsored in Washington?
(28:32):
The, you know, the, the, uh, modern, the Leadership and Modernization conference. You remember that? I do. Yep. And, uh, I remember, I mean, I, I was still with the state at that time, and NABM did the trade show, and what a trade show it was, it was fabulous. And, um, uh, I went back and looked, and there were 129 recommendations that came outta that conference. And, and some of them were off the wall stuff, you know, but, uh, that, you know, they say there are no bad ideas. Well, there were some bad ideas, [00:29:00] you know, that people threw
Nicky (29:42):
Well, as, as I told, as I told you earlier too, Terry, um, when the idea floated many years ago about military dining, there were people in the room, and it was all blind vendors that were in the room that said, oh, that will never go, oh, that will, digital would. And I said, why not? Why can't it go? Let's think about that. [00:30:00] And here we are with, you know, if that coming outta that room, I mean, it may have happened later, but coming outta that meeting, um, you know, became the most successful, um, you know, Randall Shepherd facilities that we've ever thought about. Um, and, and that's where we're hoping with this conference, because, you know, we're, we're down number of vendors, and you're right, that, that, um, some locations are open three days a week, 60% of the building, 40% of the building, that type of thing.
(30:29):
Um, [00:30:30] but we may be about equal with locations. 'cause some people have taken over two vending machines here, you know, made a little route outta something. But how, how do you do that with technology nowadays? Instead of going up into the building and seeing how many sodas and waters you need, are you using the technology that tells you what the machine is selling? Are you using the farmer's fridge? Are you using all the new partners that we developed? And that's what gets me excited, because there's ways to make money for us out there, and, and we need [00:31:00] to be part of that. And like you said, um, many of the, um, of, of the, of micro markets is, is innovation. Well, you know, um, the company outta Chattanooga, five star just opened their 4000th micromarket. So that's something we gotta think about. And I think that that's something
Terry (31:21):
4,000 micromarket, and we still have vendors who refuse to even think about it. And, uh, you know, if, if, if the private sector is, is [00:31:30] is investing that kind of money there, there, you know, there's profit being made somewhere. They're not for every place. I get that. But, uh, you know, the, the reality is, you know, that, and, and, and the reality is that we still have people thinking that's innovative. It was innovative 15 years ago, years ago. A micro market's not innovative now. And we still have states, uh, that, that, that aren't doing it. And, and Nikki, I wanna mention one last thing about innovation before we, we, we move on. A couple other things we wanna discuss. But, um, you, you know, [00:32:00] when we talk about innovation and, and, and a thing to think, remember at this conference is that, you know, there's innovation on three levels that we, that, that, that, that we, that we have to consider.
(32:10):
First is the vendors themselves need to be innovative in how they're running their businesses, okay? So it innovation doesn't just fall on the state agencies or the federal government or anybody. You know, our vendors need to be innovative in the way they're doing their business. And you just threw out some of the things that they need to be considering. Secondly is their state agencies need to be innovative [00:32:30] in some of the things they are doing. Just as we got ready to hit record on this, this, uh, uh, podcast, I got a text from a state director asking me, you know, they were considering going after a lawn care co, uh, contract and wanted to know could they use, um, uh, could, would they be allowed to buy the lawnmower equipment if they, if they do that? Well, the answer is yes. Uh, but, uh, you know, it needs to, uh, uh, you know, we need to be thinking states need to be innovative and, and, and, and, and thinking about things like that. And third, [00:33:00] we have to reimagine the national program. And, um, you know, I think the model is broken that we're, that, that we're now operating on. Um, so, so we need to get innovative, uh, in, in that as well. So it's the vendors, it's the states, it's the federal government, and, uh, you know, it's just, just, just, just not one of one of those.
Nicky (33:19):
And, and Terry, I agree with you and for blind vendors and, and when we talk about innovation, it's not always about the technology or the new equipment. It's, it's a major, uh, change just in putting different products in your [00:33:30] vending machines. You know, we've, we've heard numerous times lately over this past six months about how the larger bags sell better than smaller bags. How five ounce bags of of Swedish fish sell more than two ounce bags. That's innovation. But, you know, we have so many vendors about is the way I've been doing it. This is the way it is. And, and, you know, life has changed. One of the things I wanted to do, and maybe try to do it maybe for blast in Nashville, whatever, is to bring in some of, of the [00:34:00] Milos of the jasmines of our grandkids, of that age groups or college kids who's gonna be in the workforce in the next eight to 10 to 12 years and say, what do you buy out of, uh, out of a vending machine?
(34:13):
And let's hear from them, because that's what we have to start looking at as we make plans. And that's the innovation. What is the workforce gonna be looking at to buy? Are you using the same products? Are you changing something simple by just instead of a one ounce lays bag going to a 1.5 or the XVL bag that's starting to [00:34:30] sell like crazy? Are you selling more of the debatable programs to bring in more money for your business? It's as simple as that. And, you know, we scared a lot of people. We talk about innovation, they say, oh, I'm not the tech guy. Well, it's not about tech. It's about changing your style. And, you know, I told you my biggest fear is that we witness AFIS contract and will SLAs help purchase equipment and, and, and to, to do this? And we'll make sure they do do it, because there's still issues with SLAs that we're gonna talk about here in a [00:35:00] second. But the bottom line is innovation is making 'em change. A change in your attitude, a change in your customer service, a change in, in the products you sell. And the same thing with SLAs and the national program. It's, it's broken. We need to fix it. And that's why we're, this is the year of innovation. It starts here in, in February, and it ends, um, with, with our big blast in Nashville, November 19th through 22nd.
Terry (35:26):
So Nikki, let's, let's change gears a little bit. I, I, I wanna tell you a little bit [00:35:30] about, um, uh, a call that I was participate on last week, um, with RSA and, um, uh, one of the state agencies. And, uh, you know, I don't wanna throw anybody under the bus. Uh, and I'm not gonna get into detail. Some of the things that were said on that call were absolutely jaw dropping. Uh, and you know, I'm not gonna get into all of those, uh, but a state had, uh, requested technical assistance from RRSA. They sent in a letter with a series of questions that they, that [00:36:00] they needed answered. And RSA set up a call and the state wanted me on the call. And so I, I, I, I got on the call and, and, and, and there, there, there was a, there huge revelation made that, uh, if true, uh, is certainly gonna change the way RSA functions in the future.
(36:20):
Um, the RSA told this state that they could not respond to the request for technical assistance because [00:36:30] they could not provide answers to the questions because they, if there was not a law, a statute that they could cite in support of the answer, then they could not answer it. And, uh, they said, you know, that you have to go to your attorney general, your, your attorney general. If they say it's okay, there's nothing RSA can do about it. Uh, which is shocking in itself, uh, that, that, that we would hear that. But the fact that they're now saying they cannot answer questions [00:37:00] from SLAs unless they can tie it to a statute, uh, is, is, is, is a major shift in what they, what they're, what they're doing. Because I can tell you a lot of their technical assistant circulars now, they cannot tie back to, um, to, to a statute it, and it, and, and I'm, they didn't say it because I don't think they even realize it.
(37:25):
Uh, but I think this, uh, relates back to the Loper [00:37:30] Bright Enterprise case. We've talked about that on, on here. Uh, and I think we were the only ones talking about it. Now. It's getting all this coverage on all the mainstream ME media, CNN's, NBC, all the, all, everybody's now talking about this case that's before the Supreme Court, which is saying that federal agencies have overreached their authority and that they, and, and, and they are going to basically, uh, tie the hands of the federal agencies that they can only regulate [00:38:00] what Congress has specifically told them to regulate. And this case goes back, it's a New Jersey case. Uh, Cape May, uh, I know that that's in, that's your neck of the woods, but this, uh, Loper Bright Enterprises, um, you know, they are, uh, you know, they sued the, uh, national oceanic and, and, uh, atmospheric, uh, administration because the law said that, that, that, that Noah would have, uh, monitors on the ships and, uh, to check to, you know, to to, to monitor what they were [00:38:30] doing.
(38:30):
And so, no promulgated regulations saying, to pay for these monitors, you're gonna have to pay these fees. Well, Congress didn't say you had to pay these fees. So they have sued and they're gonna win. The Supreme Court is gonna overturn that case. I think it's already a foregone conclusion. And when I go back and I start looking at the Randolph Shepherd regulations and how much of those regulations that cannot be tied back to a specific statute, I think it's gonna, it's gonna be a game changer for RSA now that, [00:39:00] you know, that's not necessarily a good thing. Uh, but, uh, I think it, I think it's gonna be, I think it is gonna be a, a, a huge, uh, uh, game game changer. It's gonna put more responsibility back on the states in terms of how they promulgate the regulations. And, uh, you know, there's gonna be more in the state rules, um, and that you're not gonna get as much, um, support from, um, uh, from, from RSA.
(39:27):
So, um, you know, that is, um, uh, [00:39:30] I'm, I'm anxious to see how all of that plays out. And, um, so we'll see. We'll see, we'll see what they do. But, uh, if that's gonna be the, the way of the way of the future, then, uh, you know, we're not gonna get much interpretation from R RSS A now, you DOD vendors, or, or, or if any of you, any of the, any, any of the DOD folks that listen to this, I don't think it's gonna impact that, because the re the law is very clear. They give full authority to the secretary to promulgate regulations on cafeterias. So I think they still have a lot [00:40:00] of latitude there, but there's a lot of other stuff in the regulations that, um, you know, are not, um, um, you can't be tied back to law. So, let's see, let's see where that leads. It's gonna, it's, it's gonna be in interesting times. And, uh, you know, maybe this will come up in our meeting next week. I, you know, I don't think we'll get an answer, but, uh, but once that case comes out
Nicky (40:26):
It's, it's worth trying. It's worth trying. Yeah. So, and [00:40:30] speaking about SL SLAs, Terry, I said, um, you know, you know how upset I am about Fort McCoy in Wisconsin. Uh, tell us a little bit about what happened in Arkansas.
Terry (40:39):
Well, I think we had the same thing. I know, I know we mentioned that Fort McCoy, that Wisconsin passed on it, uh, Randol Shepherd priority, it was in there, Randol, she propriety applied, and Wisconsin just didn't submit a bid. Uh, and, and, and, and missed an opportunity. And, and, uh, and, and now we understand that state of Arkansas, uh, did the same thing, [00:41:00] uh, at the Little Rock Air Force base. There was a solicitation out, and they just chose not to bid on it. And, uh, you know, when you have state agencies that are passing on opportunities like that, uh, then it is, um, uh, you know, it, it, it's, it's frustrating.
Nicky (41:18):
I think. I think one other thing that we're working on that we'll probably talk a lot more on the next podcast is that we've, um, we've engaged with the SBA, again, on a national level. Our friend, uh, Nick Ari [00:41:30] and Pam Manion, about how do we get blind entrepreneurs in the Rand Shepherd program, a check mark when they want to bid on something, because we're finding that, uh, some agencies get tax credits if they hire somebody that's, you know, a woman owned business, disabled owned business, but not a blind vendor. But the law says they gotta hire a blind vendor. So I think that that's, uh, thank you, Terry, for writing that letter to Nick. And he's been re responsive. He responded again yesterday. [00:42:00] Um, and I think that that's huge. I know in Florida that there's a special, uh, certificate that they get for the airports, for the vending as a disabled, uh, owned vendor. But you have to be in the r She program. The state holds the permit, and I think we need to make sure that we, we get that in each state too, that we can go after more locations, uh, using the priority of Randall Shepherd, but also the fact that we're disabled owned business. So that's something to look forward to.
Terry (42:29):
Well, if you're hearing [00:42:30] the noise outside my window, I apologize. I don't know if you can pick, it's picking it up, but it's, uh, they're the wind, uh, leaf blowers or weed eaters or something, but they're having fun out there. But, uh, um, uh, Nick, I, I do wanna say one thing. Um, you know, you, you, we need to be careful what we say on this podcast. Um, you know, it sort of started out with just, um, uh, you know, us sort of having fun talking about all, all this stuff. And, [00:43:00] uh, like we were just, you know, talking to our, our, our vendors. But, uh, you know, we're hearing that a lot of different people are listening, uh, to this podcast, including our friends in the Department of Defense, including some contracting officers who are, who are listening to this. And, uh, so that's, uh, you know, it's sort of exciting and it's, you know, that, that we are, that we're able to communicate with them through, through this podcast.
(43:25):
I wanna do something really unusual. If you're, if you're [00:43:30] a DOD, if you're one of those contracting officers, we'd love to have a conversation with you. Uh, reach out to us. You can, you know, reach out to, to, to me atTerry@merchantshyphennfb.org. Or you can reach out to Nikki at president@merchantshyphennfb.org. Um, you know, we'd, we'd love to talk with you. I think I, I'm a firm believer that, you know, a lot of the problems with, with, with, with our, with DOD and a lot of the, the conflict [00:44:00] is something that could easily be avoided if we communicated and if we sat down at the table, uh, I believe the regulations could be massaged. And, you know, if, if, if the consumers and DOD agreed on some changes that could be made, that would, that would make the program more palatable, we're already working on the, uh, issue of, uh, being able to get credit, uh, for, as a small business, uh, on, on their quotas, uh, that they now, they get, they now get dinged that they [00:44:30] give a contract to a agency because they have to have so many, uh, so much go to their, uh, to eight a contracts.
(44:36):
And it makes it very difficult for 'em to meet their quotas if they have to give it to a state agency. So we're trying to, we're, we're working on that and, you know, and wanna work with them on that. So, um, we, we would love to sit down and, and, and have some conversations and we'll prob we'll probably be reaching out after, you know, talking to Congress and, you know, maybe try to facilitate some of the, some of those meetings. But, uh, really excited [00:45:00] that, that, um, you know, that, that we've got folks like that, that are, that, that are interested enough in Randolph Shepherd that they would take the time to, to listen to this podcast.
Nicky (45:12):
And I'll tell you, one step forward, if you're listening and you'd like to come to blast February 26th to the 28th, you can register online, come and join us. Come and meet us. Come and meet blind entrepreneurs, um, get to know us better. I think that that helps when you're building a relationship. Um, but reach out to us, come to blast. We're, [00:45:30] here's your personal invitation to anyone listening to please come. And if we want in innovation, please come and, and, and be part of that with us. So come to blast, get in touch with us and keep listening. Thank you.
Terry (45:45):
Okay, Nikki. Um, you know, this has sort of been fun. I mean, I, I, I like having the guests, but it just, this, this one was sort of more like people just listening in to me and you talking to each other. 'cause these are the conversations we always have, you know? Yeah.
Nicky (45:58):
Yep. Yep. I hear you. But Terry, [00:46:00] um, um, it's time for us to get off and get some work done and, um, I'm sure we got a couple other calls today and, uh, we got a lot of work coming up with our meeting next week in Washington, and we'll let everybody know how that goes. And of course, register for blast Rooms are going fast, and this week will be the last week for cutoff for our room block. Um, so please make your room reservation. You can always cancel that if you can't come. But we'd love to see you. Let's hit 300 people and let's talk about making change and making it work. Terry, I'll talk [00:46:30] to you soon.
Terry (46:30):
Thank you, Nikki. And thank you Josh Harper for, for putting all this together and making us sound good. And we will talk to everybody next month. Goodbye.
Nicky (46:39):
Bye.
Outro sponsors (46:41):
The we are Randolph Shepherd Podcast. Would like to thank our sponsors, the National Association of Blind Merchants, Coca-Cola,
Outro sponsors (46:51):
Pepsi, Sodexo, you selected Southern Food Service, Tyler Technologies, Anderson Food Service, [00:47:00] RSA Management Group, Siteline Wealth Management, and Cantaloupe.
Speaker 8 (47:06):
If you would like to support the We Are Randolph Shepherd podcast, we would love to have you on board. Corporate sponsors may contact nikkiJacobs@nikkicolorado.netscape.net. Individuals who would like to support the podcast may do so by donating to the National Association of Blind merchants@www.blindmerchants.org. [00:47:30] We would love to have your support.