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Melody [: 00:00:00

Hello, Misfit. It is I, Melody, your lady of business. And today on the Business Misfits, I am talking to April Dodson. She's just one of my hero my business heroes. I've known her for a long time. You'll hear our backstory. And I just remember meeting her for the first time and just immediately looking up to this woman. And it's been a long time since we met, but she has launched and scaled 6 businesses, sold 3, still runs 3.

Melody [: 00:00:30

She has a beautiful family. She started in her twenties like I did, and she's definitely a fellow misfit. And what I love is that in the conversation, she talks about how she's working on being comfortable with deeper conversations, and she definitely went all in on that deeper conversation with me. I think it's one of the most fun conversations I've had. I think you'll hear that. So without further ado, I hope you enjoy my conversation with April Dodson. Hello, business human. Are you a misfit? A person who wants to make a difference in this business world? Are you one of the unconventional? The visionaries? The quiet innovators? The heart centered leaders? The purpose driven? The community builders? The givers? Then you are my people.

Melody [: 00:01:26

I used to think business was a secret formula to be discovered and followed, but now I know it isn't a set of rules. It's an exciting creative adventure, and I want to be on that adventure with you. I am your lady of business, Melody Edwards. Welcome to the Business Misfits podcast. Hello, April Dodson. Welcome to the Business Misfits. I'm happy to see you.

April Dodson [: 00:01:52

I'm so happy to be here. Thank you.

Melody [: 00:01:54

Yeah. The first question I always ask everybody is, do you think you're a business misfit?

April Dodson [: 00:02:00

Yes. I'm definitely a business misfit.

Melody [: 00:02:03

What does that mean to you? Like, what does that phrase mean to you? Or, like, how does it resonate for you?

April Dodson [: 00:02:09

I think that a lot of times when I talk to people and tell them what I do, they look at me like I have 3 heads. That's an analogy that I always use because I can tell. There are not many people that get me in the way that I operate, and I guess that's why I think I'm a misfit, which I really think most people in business are misfits.

Melody [: 00:02:33

Yeah.

April Dodson [: 00:02:33

And so, I love business misfits and what you're doing, and I like watching you on Facebook.

Melody [: 00:02:40

Oh, thank you. I think I'm not surprised it resonates with entrepreneurs. I think I don't know about you, but I always think of business in, like, a corporate sense or something. And I always and even though I am a corporation, or I own a corporation, I always am, like, untie the man in my head. Like, entrepreneurs are all about breaking the rules and doing things, like, quickly in the way we want to. And so, and even with that, I feel like there's so many ways that I don't like, there's just, like, such a disconnect, and people think I'm weird too. And they also say things like, I don't know how you do this stuff, and I'm like, what are you talking about? I just do it.

April Dodson [: 00:03:20

It's our normal, And I do think that I'm sure you've heard this before, but they say entrepreneurs have ADHD, and it's because when we hear ideas and we operate off of ideas, some we bring to fruition, and then others we stick in our back pocket, you know, and we talk about them to people, other entrepreneurs, and most entrepreneurs are all in on a lot of things.

Melody [: 00:03:47

Yes.

April Dodson [: 00:03:48

And does bring me to say one thing that I'm going to work on getting to no, N-O, not saying yes to everything. I'm working so hard on that because I say yes to too many things.

Melody [: 00:04:04

I don't even think about it. I'm just like, the answer is yes before you even ask. You could say, can I have your kidney? And I'd be like, of course. Yes. So, I'll go back to ADHD for a minute. I call it sparkly brained. Like, that's my sparkly brained creative visionaries and stuff. I was diagnosed when I was 30 as an adult, and it really shifted everything I understood about myself.

Melody [: 00:04:28

And so I've been on a journey of understanding my brain for the past, I think, 18 years now. No. 17, because I'm only 47.

April Dodson [: 00:04:36

Okay.

Melody [: 00:04:37

But I think the other thing that I do know about entrepreneurs is that there's a lot of trauma. There's a lot of underlying issues and trauma that we've had. We are very adaptable people, probably sometimes because it's just our natural state, or maybe we didn't do well in school. Maybe we had childhood stuff. Like, there's something underneath, and especially in the industry I met you in, like, god. I feel like all of those people came out with a chip on their shoulder and said, I'll show the world that I'm smart.

April Dodson [: 00:05:08

That's right. And it's interesting that you say that because I did just do a presentation, and I started out with, if I didn't make it happen for myself, it wasn't gonna happen as a child, as a teenager, as an adult. And I do have a lot of support now because it was a choice. Every single day, we wake up with a choice, and my choice was when I was 5 years old, I made a choice that I was going to not be like certain people, and I was gonna be so different that nobody would even understand where I came from, and I made that happen for myself. And so our motto in BidSlot is people of accomplishment go out and make things happen.

Melody [: 00:05:54

I'm not surprised that by your story because that's been, like, every story of a misfit that I talk to or the people that I connect with. Right? Like, there are a lot of people I think you're so unusual. I'll just start by saying how I even met you because we were just about to talk about it, and I was like, no. We have to stop.

April Dodson [: 00:06:12

Yes.

Melody [: 00:06:13

But, like, I met you what did we say? 2011 or 12 or something? And I remember that you walked in with your husband and your 3 little girls.

April Dodson [: 00:06:24

Yes.

Melody [: 00:06:24

And you projected so much confidence to me, and I was the opposite. It took me a lot of courage to be at that event to begin with. There were we, like, one of 2 women, maybe? I don't know.

April Dodson [: 00:06:37

Yeah. Yeah.

Melody [: 00:06:39

And so I was immediately in awe of you. You just were something special, and I was like, I need to know her. And I've looked up to you ever since. Well, you're just on a different level. You always have been. And just also being a mom when you were younger, I was a mom when I was younger. I did not have, like, people in my life who were business owners or entrepreneurs who were doing big things, who were also, like, raising children at the same time.

April Dodson [: 00:07:07

Right. So, and it's definitely not easy. It was hard because owning a call center, you cannot have kids crying in the background, and my kids were always with me whenever I was working. And so we did find some days were good, some good days were bad, and there were times where I just had to say, you know what? I'm sorry. I'm gonna have to call you back, and then just get off the phone and then do whatever it is that needs to be done. But I'm happy that I was able to have my kids with me. It was the only vision that I had was the kids being with me all the time.

Melody [: 00:07:41

How old were you when you started the call center?

April Dodson [: 00:07:45

So we started bid slot in 2002, but I'm not sure if you know this or not. We only did BidSlot technique from 2002 to 2009 in our own company. In 2009, I launched BidSlot to the public as well. So other home service business owners and, you know, now.

Melody [: 00:08:09

Were you in your twenties?

April Dodson [: 00:08:11

Yeah. I was in my twenties. I will be 48 next month. So we're the same age.

Melody [: 00:08:16

Oh, we're twins.

April Dodson [: 00:08:17

Yeah. When is your birthday?

Melody [: 00:08:21

December.

April Dodson [: 00:08:21

Okay. Okay.

Melody [: 00:08:23

That's when I'll be 48. I keep calling myself 48 for practice all year.

April Dodson [: 00:08:27

Yeah. I do the same thing.

Melody [: 00:08:29

Also, because I don't remember.

April Dodson [: 00:08:30

Right after my birthday. I'm like, I'm Yes. Fine. Yeah.

Melody [: 00:08:34

And I, like, have to do the math a couple times a year because I've convinced myself I'm a year older always. It's a nice surprise, though.

April Dodson [: 00:08:41

Yes.

Melody [: 00:08:42

To find out I'm younger than I am.

April Dodson [: 00:08:43

You're like, oh, this is 48. Okay. We got this.

Melody [: 00:08:48

Totally. So I don't even understand how somebody like, okay. My experience was I was thinking I can do this thing, which was, at the time when I was younger, window cleaning, which, as we know, there were, like, no women doing that.

April Dodson [: 00:09:04

Oh, no. There's still really actually isn't.

Melody [: 00:09:07

Very few. Yeah.

April Dodson [: 00:09:09

That, like, I know of. Besides, I guess, Sheila Smeltzer. Sheila Smeltzer. Last name. Right?

Melody [: 00:09:16

No. You've got it. Yeah. And Carrie Gunther is somebody that I know who's been in probably a decade. So there are these weirdos one of that I've met and known. There are others too just through the IWC or whatever.

April Dodson [: 00:09:29

I'm sure there are. We just there's not many though.

Melody [: 00:09:32

Brand therapy. They're not. Like so that was weird in itself, but I didn't know it was weird at the time. I knew, but I didn't because it just been what I had been doing. But to me, like, how did you start? I guess it's because you did it for your business. Maybe it wasn't as scary.

April Dodson [: 00:09:49

Well, I'm a go getter. And in 2002, that's when I had just had my second baby, Alexine, who's now 22 years old.

Melody [: 00:09:59

Amazing.

April Dodson [: 00:09:59

Yes. Yes. And so Josh and I had looked into hood cleaning, like, 2 years before we started ours, but the 2 years prior, it was a franchise. And I went off about, I'm not giving anybody any part of my money, and I just kept going on and on. He's like, okay. Chill, April. We can buy a house. We need a new car.

April Dodson [: 00:10:24

I had a new one. You know, I was pregnant. He bought me a new car, but he was driving a car that he had to stick his hand out the windshield on the left side and do this if it was raining with a squeegee. So he could see. We are early twenties. And so, anyway, so hit our goals. We bought a house, and then we bought a new car, and then we made the phone call again.

April Dodson [: 00:10:49

And we're like, hey. We bought a house. We bought a car. Tell us all about it's called hoodcleaningschool.com, which I don't know if you know. I now own that. But this is the trainee.

Melody [: 00:11:02

Who was it?

April Dodson [: 00:11:02

Clark and Roger Gonzales. Roger Gonzales became a very good friend of ours.

April Dodson [: 00:11:07

He passed away a few years ago. And when he passed away, Rusty's vision was not in the school supply store and the association. He put it up for sale, and I was the first person that he asked. And so I do own the school that Josh went through in 2002. When Josh came home from being certified, at that time, CHDCA, that stands for Certified Hood and Duct Cleaners Association, their only marketing method was send out 3,000 postcards a month and wait for the calls to come in, and that's when BidSlot was born. Not sure if you remember years ago, we started out as only appointment setting. We did that for a long time, and then we grew into virtual office services because we were helping the companies we worked with grow so much. And so they all needed someone in the office helping with their task and bookkeeping and invoicing and everything that comes along with an office and operations, and that's where the virtual office and answering service was born.

Melody [: 00:12:18

You're so interesting to me because you and I are the almost the opposite kind of person. Like, I feel like you are just like, I'm just gonna try this out and just do it and see not like you just go in blindly necessarily, but I've always been impressed that you are not like, I just spent 3 of my years, actually almost 4, building home service VA in a recruitment model because I was afraid it wasn't good enough. And, like, you can't run a and that's been my whole life. It's like, I need it to be perfect. It would have been way better for me to start it and figure it out, but I don't like it when people are mad at me. So Yeah. That's, like, the driver of all of the things that I do. So I'm always very impressed that you are always switching things up, figuring things out.

Melody [: 00:13:03

And that's my impression of you, but I've also been around you enough. Like, we our companies do similar things.

April Dodson [: 00:13:10

Yes.

Melody [: 00:13:11

But it's indifferent, but similar.

April Dodson [: 00:13:13

Yeah.

Melody [: 00:13:14

But I've never felt like you were, like, a competitor of mine or something.

April Dodson [: 00:13:19

No. Not at all. Number 1, we're friends. And number 2, there's enough business in the world to make us both go round. And so I definitely value our friendship. I value, I really only pay attention to, like, what I'm doing and how I can get better, and I'm I think that people can get caught up, I think, in competition when competition isn't a real thing per se. Yeah. Because there's so much business out there, we can't even get it all.

April Dodson [: 00:13:50

You know what I mean? That it's what sets us apart that makes us different, and your model's a lot different than my model. And you and I could partner very well. You know what I mean? We jus need to have that conversation, really. You know what I mean?

Melody [: 00:14:04

Yeah. I have a question for you that I have no idea what the answer is, but deal with imposter syndrome, do you ever have that? Because you don't show it. And if you do, how do you handle it?

April Dodson [: 00:14:17

I don't have imposter syndrome. Not even a little not even a little bit at all, whatsoever. Every single day, I just wake up and try to do exactly what I'm supposed to do, have my schedule very, very, very tight and just get it done. And then I wake up the next day and I do the same thing, and I just always try to do my best.

Melody [: 00:14:41

Wow. How did you escape that? Like, that is, like, the norm, not only for, I mean, women and men as entrepreneurs. I'm not sure what it is, but it's, like, almost it's impossible in a way, and maybe it I don't know. Before social media, there was still imposter syndrome.

April Dodson [: 00:14:58

Yeah.

Melody [: 00:14:59

Of just never feeling like you're good enough. Maybe it is starting from the childhood place where you said, I am gonna be better, so different from these people that you won't even know where I came from.

April Dodson [: 00:15:13

And I still think those ways, you know, like, today, like, I just talk nicely to myself all day long. My message today in my yoga class was about not allowing people that do not deserve your energy be in your energy space. And so yoga really did change my life. I would say, actually, Melody, when I met you, I really was one of the most you don't even know this. I was, like, actually the most stressed-out person you probably even met there, but I didn't show it. Right? Yeah. Because I wake up, dress up, show up every single day.

April Dodson [: 00:15:53

But you do not know this in the hotel in New York, because if you remember, we were doing this little big trip. We went from South Carolina to DC over to New Jersey to Chris' and up to New York, and we were taking the girls to do all the fun stuff. I was so stressed out that when I woke up to go to Chris' that day, don't know if you remember this, it may peak a memory, I almost broke my neck from stress. I just turned my head one way. Something popped. I couldn't move. Do you know when I came home, it took me 3 months of going to a chiropractor and massage therapy to work that out? It was all stress in my neck.

Melody [: 00:16:32

Yeah. You're preaching to the choir. I just got back from the chiropractor. It's always all stress in my neck. So, April, tell me about the year 1981. What happened that night?

April Dodson [: 00:16:55

That is really hard. Like, really, really hard. I really haven't ever told anybody this but a counselor.

Melody [: 00:17:05

Okay. Before you say what you're gonna say, here's what I wanna say. Before we go before we when we were talking, you shocked me by saying, like I had said, you know, these conversations tend to go deeper than I thought they would. And then you're like, that's great. I'm working on myself because I love a 92nd conversation.

April Dodson [: 00:17:22

It's like my jam.

Melody [: 00:17:24

And that shocked me because I never got that from you, I feel like.

April Dodson [: 00:17:28

Yes.

Melody [: 00:17:28

So whatever you want to say or can say is good with me, but 1981.

April Dodson [: 00:17:36

So I don't know if I wanna put it, like, all out there. No.

Melody [: 00:17:40

You don't have to.

April Dodson [: 00:17:41

Okay. So I had a really, really rough childhood, and my mom was not around all the time. She did drugs. My dad did drugs, and the really, the only, like, security that I had was my grandma who was not always around. You know? She lived out in the country. We lived in town, grew up in a very small town. Never in my life as a child, like, ever got anything I wanted for Christmas. You know? Like, I got, like, dollar store stuff that, you know, you don't even want or anything.

April Dodson [: 00:18:19

I always felt bad because my mom was broke. Just to let you know, my mom is wonderful now. She has made up for that tenfold. I have literally forgotten everything about my childhood that was wrong, but it definitely shaped me. And so there's this one memory that pops out that's, like, very hurtful. That is the day I made the decision that I would never be like anybody in my family on a certain side. You know what I'm saying? I do have a wonderful family. Like, I have some wonderful family members. My mom is wonderful and everything now.

Melody [: 00:18:57

Yeah.

April Dodson [: 00:18:57

But I used to get up and walk to church when I was little. Like, it was like a mile across town, and I could remember I was wearing this dress that was way too small for me. It was my sister's when she was, like, 4, and I was, like, 5, 6 years old. And I was walking to church, and I got sick. And I had an accident and couldn't help it, and it was, like, cold outside. And so it was, like, just down my legs and things. And my mom was driving around with one of her friends, and I saw her, and she pulled over. And I was, like, crying because my tummy hurt, and I had to go to the bathroom again.

April Dodson [: 00:19:39

And she wouldn't let me in the car to take me home. She said, you can just walk on down. I'm not dealing with that. And, of course, I don't know why, but that's well, I think that's probably pretty traumatic. But at the same time, I've never forgotten the way that that made me feel. And one of the reasons why I used to always go to church was because everybody was nice to me. They always fed me food.

April Dodson [: 00:20:02

They would give me, like, all kinds of stuff. The women were kind and caring and would hug me, and I could tell that they liked me. Now as I got older, that changed a little. I'm sure I changed a little too, but that's probably actually, like, one of the that memory right there made me make a decision that I say changed my family stars. My family and the way that I raised my kids and the way that Josh and I have done things together, we've done everything the way we've done it started out with that memory. One of my first memories, and it was just very, very, very hard, and I still almost just ball, like, thinking about it. But I would, like, personally never want my mom to even know, like, I told anybody about that because she's so different and changed. She doesn't do drugs.

April Dodson [: 00:20:53

She's amazing. She's like, she should have been a long time ago.

Melody [: 00:20:57

Well, I feel you on this. I'm sure my parents will listen to this at some point. Maybe not this episode, but some episodes. This comes up a lot. Like and what I try to think of and what's helped me to heal is, like, I think of how young my parents were, first of all, and then I think about, like, what they grew up in and how that affected them. And then, like, I think of them as when we're kids, we think of them as being like God. Yeah. And they're just young, weak human beings who did not know what they were doing.

April Dodson [: 00:21:30

I think that's Yeah. A really good thing to add because so many things you just said. Like, my mom was 20 when she had me, 19 when she had my sister, and she was really into drugs. You know? Like, whenever I was young now, I didn't see her do them, you know, but, like, that we never had money because of it. So, like, there were times we did not have electric, we did not have water, our washing machine did not work, and that stinks. You know? And it was just, like, horrible. Like, I couldn't even imagine living like that. So I made a decision that would never be the way that I lived, and that has never happened to me.

April Dodson [: 00:22:10

That will never happen to me. I work so hard every day to make it happen because if I didn't make it happen, it wasn't gonna happen for me.

Melody [: 00:22:19

Yeah. And you basically changed your, like, family history. Your girls' lives are so different than Way different.

April Dodson [: 00:22:28

They have the best childhood ever in the whole entire world. You know, 2 of my daughters work for me, and one of my daughters so they all 3 will have gone to SMC. Ashlyn graduated with her business degree. She also opened up her own business. She opened up a spa, but it focuses on those cranial massages and head treatments, and it's, like, amazing. And then she works for me as, like, a business consultant and business buildouts, like, you know, all the high-level stuff. We do a lot of high-level buildouts. And then Alexine, that's my middle daughter, and that's the one I was pregnant with when we went to school when Josh went to school, to become a hood cleaner.

April Dodson [: 00:23:11

She's my office manager, number 1, like, salesperson, like, may always the highest numbers be answering calls and doing all the tasks and things. And then I have Taylor, and Taylor is gonna be a schoolteacher, and I'm really excited about that. She does not wanna work for Josh or I at all, and she wants to do her own thing. And I'm so excited to have a teacher in the family.

Melody [: 00:23:36

That's awesome. And I love hearing that. It's also, like, I think about my kids and their journeys. And, of course, as parents, we're like, we want certain things for our kids, and it's usually the opposite of whatever we went through that traumatized us. And, also, at the same time, like, we do not get to control their whole journey, and that's painful. That's the hard part about having children, I guess. So I'm really grateful for my kids as well that they've been able to come out and that one of mine is still on her journey. One of mine is 15.

Melody [: 00:24:10

So it's like I they're still growing, but I'm always really proud of the direction that they're heading in, the values that they have. They care about people deeply. They're just good people.

April Dodson [: 00:24:24

Yeah. And I say the same about mine, and I know that you have wonderful kids.

Melody [: 00:24:29

Yeah. When they don't drive me insane, but yeah. Let's talk about the yoga journey because I didn't get through all of your timeline that I wanted to, but I'm also excited to hear how you went from stressed out and crazy and to being master of all Zen, which I know is a little bit of a joke. Also, yoga changed my life at a point, and I feel like, and I've gotten away from my practice, and I really wanna go back to it, and I need to. But it doesn't surprise me that you teach it because I feel like if I wanna trick myself into doing something, then I need to become, like, the person who's in charge of it.

April Dodson [: 00:25:07

Yeah.

Melody [: 00:25:09

Because that's how it's gonna be consistent and happening. We might be different in that way.

April Dodson [: 00:25:13

Yeah. So in 2009 was when I did my very first yoga class, and I really like hot yoga. Hot yoga is my jam. Like, I love it so much. Still, today, I have a hot yoga studio. And so I used to have to drive 50 minutes one way to do yoga because there was no I don't feel like there were good studios around where I lived.

Melody [: 00:25:41

Did you do Bikram when you were younger when you started?

April Dodson [: 00:25:44

So Bikram, yeah. So that was, like, my favorite. And we do power flow, hot yoga. We do hot vinyasa, hot yin, and then we have gentle non heated, and we do lots of workshops and things like that. So we just did an inversions class and things like that. But so I started offering BidSlot to the public in 2009 after being a stay-at-home mom for a while, and I was a lot different than I am today. And I say it's dealing with public because I used to really only do things with my church family, and we'd never really talked to anybody from the public is what I say. You know? Because, like, we just always had things going on, like, with our church and things like that.

April Dodson [: 00:26:33

And so when I started BidSlot and with appointment setting, I felt like well, not I felt. I would deal with some people that just flat out lied about things, and I have an example. And I didn't know what to do with it because I just didn't even see that coming. And there was this one time this was a long time ago, and our structure of appointment setting is way different than what we started out with. And so we're setting appointments for this one company in particular, and this is just one example of some many, like, types of disastrous stories, like, about appointment setting. So, anyways and we were setting appointments, and I personally did a lot of the cold calling back then. And I was cold calling for this guy in Texas, and he kept asking for replacement appointments. And I'm like, I set that appointment for you.

April Dodson [: 00:27:30

I'm like, what could have happened? It was like the best conversation in the world that I had with the person I set the appointment with. I remembered it and everything, and this was, like, maybe the 10th time this guy was calling asking for a replacement. And so I said, you know what? I said, Bill, I said, hold the line. I said, I'm gonna get this restaurant on the line. I'm gonna say I said, we're gonna figure this out right now. I called the restaurant. I conferenced him in, and I said, hey. This is April Dodson with whatever the company name is and, set an appointment with you for Bill to come in and give you a price for cleaning the kitchen hoods.

April Dodson [: 00:28:06

And he goes, oh, yeah. He said he stopped by today. He's cleaning on Tuesday. I said, hey, Bill. Did you hear that? He said, yeah. I said, thank you. And then I hung up with the restaurant, and I went back on the line with him, and I said, Bill. I said, do you have anything to say? And he said, no.

April Dodson [: 00:28:19

I said, okay. Let's get off the phone now. And we got off. And then at that time, I created a whole customer service department that was, like, verifying these people that request a replacement. Now there are obviously no replacements. We cannot control if Bob steps out, and he's the one that says yes to an appointment. You know what I mean? But this was, like, a long time.

April Dodson [: 00:28:41

I couldn't even believe that this guy was, like and we probably gave him, you know, a few $100 worth of replacement appointments, and it was horrible. So I was dealing with things like that that were, like, stressing me out to the max, because it's hard to make money if you're replacing appointments. And I just found this yoga studio that was about 50 minutes away, fell in love with it, did yoga, like, 2 to 3 times a week. That's a huge commitment, and the kids.

Melody [: 00:29:08

That is.

April Dodson [: 00:29:08

And it wasn't easy for anybody. But at the same time, I, like, had to get away and have a little time, and that when you do Bikram yoga, there's nothing else you can think about except for getting through it.

Melody [: 00:29:21

That's why I loved it. Yes. And that it's the same poses, the same everything. For my ADD brain, I loved the consistency and routine, which is weird, and I love that you can both it's like multitasking. You're meditating and also doing physical activity at the same time.

April Dodson [: 00:29:38

And you get better and better and better the more you do it.

Melody [: 00:29:43

And it was a cult, which makes it more interesting and fun.

April Dodson [: 00:29:46

Yeah. It was, like, amazing. So okay. So I did all that, and then I still did yoga for a long time, but there was, like, lots of times I could do it once a week, and that was it because I had to give up driving 50 minutes one way. When COVID happened, the phones weren't ringing as much. I had a lot more free time. It was a lot easier to manage in the beginning when COVID happened. So I decided to take the plunge and sign up to be a yoga teacher, but I was only doing it for my own knowledge, never envisioned opening up a yoga studio in my whole entire life.

April Dodson [: 00:30:25

And we had sold the hood cleaning business in 2016, and I had this shop with a bunch of junk in it that we didn't need anymore.

Melody [: 00:30:35

Oh, can I tell you? I thought that you were doing your yoga studio also at the brewery or something.

April Dodson [: 00:30:42

So we do yoga at the brewery, but I have a yoga studio. I have a beautiful, beautiful yoga studio. Wow. Only 750 square feet, and it's in the shop part of my call center. So I literally push away from my desk and walk 20 feet over to the yoga studio, do my yoga, and then, like, normally, I get to go home after I'm done unless I'm doing a private lesson or whatever. But I did not know I was gonna open up a yoga studio. I didn't even know. I just, like, went out to the shop, and I was like, this is, like, trashy.

April Dodson [: 00:31:20

I'm tired of all this stuff being here. If the fire department comes in, we're in trouble because you can't see both doorways.

Melody [: 00:31:26

Right.

April Dodson [: 00:31:27

So I, started hauling away all the junk and then then started seeing openness and a beautiful roll up door and, like, all this stuff. And then before you know it, the walls were painted. I had my license.

Melody [: 00:31:41

Oh my god.

April Dodson [: 00:31:43

I just couldn't stop. And so now I have a yoga studio.

Melody [: 00:31:46

But you're living the dream. It's in your, like, right where you work. That's amazing.

April Dodson [: 00:31:52

That's like the whole thing is like, when I teach is perfect for my schedule. I teach, like, right around when I shouldn't be working, and I should be stepping away. And that's how I started.

Melody [: 00:32:04

Pushing yourself into doing this right.

April Dodson [: 00:32:07

But I like to go way deeper with yoga, though. So one of the things that was the most life changing was progressive relaxation. Setting your shoulders down, sitting back in your chair, and then just, like, breathing because almost all the time, like, we're holding our breath, like and you don't even notice it.

Melody [: 00:32:28

Literally. Yes. That's been my whole life's journey is holding my breath. Also, like, just so many bad habits. Yeah. And it's bad for you.

April Dodson [: 00:32:37

And so it helps me with all of that because there's no, like, shortcuts. It's either you do it and you get better, or you don't do it and you don't feel good. And so, like, the class I just taught, I queued because it's power flow, and it's hard to breathe and do power flow with the class. I do it sometimes, but not all the time with the class. So, anyways, today, I just queued it, and it was phenomenal.

Melody [: 00:33:05

What's a cue? You just

April Dodson [: 00:33:07

Cue is like where I'm like, yes, I lead it without doing the poses.

Melody [: 00:33:11

Right. I got it. You've got the lingo. Wow. So, like, that's like a very huge transition. I feel like, yeah, yoga has been a part of my life for many years, and it seems to weave in and out of it.

Melody [: 00:33:29

I will say I was very proud of myself because I did, and you might have done it to the Bikram 30-day challenge. Myself because I did, and you might have done it to the Bikram 30-day challenge that they had. But I'm the kind of person who was like, I was so disciplined about doing that 30 days in a row. Then the last day, I did it twice, and I was traveling during that time, and some would just find a studio and do it.

April Dodson [: 00:33:46

That's amazing that you're like, I'm gonna finish harder and better than ever by doing it twice a long day.

Melody [: 00:33:52

Yes. And it was so hard and it felt so good. And my yoga and to be honest, after that, I went and then I lost interest. Like, I didn't go the same way because it was the challenge of it all. I was almost like that chip on my shoulder. I'll show them that I can do this, even though, like, I'm not traditional yoga, but it changed my practice forever. It's like my body as the muscle memory of knowing exactly where it's supposed to be, how it's supposed to be aligned, because that's the great thing about Bikram.

April Dodson [: 00:34:21

Yes. And I don't know why you said what did you say? I'm not built that way or something.

Melody [: 00:34:28

Well, nowadays, I think we're it's more inclusive. Back in my early thirties when I did this, it was I felt like, okay. Here's why. Because one of my classes or 2 of them were in Las Vegas, and it was with the people who were training for the International Bikram World whatever.

April Dodson [: 00:34:47

Oh my.

Melody [: 00:34:48

It was also with, like, circus performers and, like, ladies of the show ladies. It felt like and that wasn't my experience in all of the places, but it was like, if anybody didn't belong there, I felt like I didn't belong there. So in the one hand, I hold that. I was like, I did it.

April Dodson [: 00:35:04

Yes.

Melody [: 00:35:05

On the other hand but, yeah, yoga is for everybody. I know that.

April Dodson [: 00:35:09

It really is. And yeah. So in my studio, we have all ages, all sizes, and we embrace it. And I do see where you could feel that way. Like, when I used to go to the yoga studio I went to in Greenville, it was very much like you would feel that way if you didn't look the part and wear the things and all the whatever. You'd be like a sore thumb. So I do get that. But in my yoga studio, it's much different.

April Dodson [: 00:35:40

We embrace food. We talk about, you know, like, all the things because it's not just one thing that helps you to get there at all.

Melody [: 00:35:50

Yeah. I totally agree with you on that. I think that's just like I mean, you and I have that similarity of kind of just doing things. Maybe I'm more like you than I think. I just do things sometimes, and I'm

April Dodson [: 00:36:02

I think you're, like, way more like me than you think and that it's more so, like, taking any type of credit. You need to give yourself a little more credit than you do because you're so smart and so beautiful.

Melody [: 00:36:17

Oh, thank you.

April Dodson [: 00:36:18

So all the things. And you've done so you've had some of the most amazing accomplishments ever in the whole world.

Melody [: 00:36:26

Does it feel like I don't know. In your daily life, you're like, wow. Look at all the things I've done. I don't feel like I've done a lot of things even though I have. I have started to embrace it a lot more because the more years go by, the more I'm like, oh, wow. I did do a lot of things. Like, I had a coffee shop one time, and I did the lights. And I've done so many weird things like you and Josh have, and I don't know.

Melody [: 00:36:51

It's part of the journey. But I've never felt like I was different or special in some way, and yet I think there is something special about entrepreneurs. Now it's not better because we need people who wanna work jobs. My husband's an engineer. We need engineers. He has no desire to start a business, and we need people like us too.

April Dodson [: 00:37:11

We do. And I agree. And that's why, like, you know, I thought I could talk Taylor into working for me, and I wanted her to work for it so bad because I know she'd be so good on the phones, but, like, she's like, no. That's not my thing. She tried the brewery, working in the kitchen. That was not her thing. She still can't eat red peppers, and she only works in one summer. You know? She's like, never again.

April Dodson [: 00:37:33

You know? And I like that about her. I'm I like that she, like, knows exactly what she wants and how she's gonna do it, and she gets good grades. Yeah. Just all those things. And I think that it definitely we can't all be entrepreneurs. No. I do think that some people need to be engineers just like you said and different things.

Melody [: 00:37:53

Yeah. And people can come to it later too. Like, I look at my son and daughter. My daughter has the entrepreneurial mindset. When she wants something, it's gonna happen and she'll find the way, my son too. And he is definitely made for that because he's dyslexic. He's ADD. Like, we see I'm like, oh, he's sparkly brained.

Melody [: 00:38:12

He's creative. He's already had 10 businesses, quote, unquote, as we all did when we were kids. Right? Yeah. And I just see it in him, but I try not to push it on them because then they definitely I don't know. That doesn't work in my family. We're all contrarians over here.

April Dodson [: 00:38:30

It doesn't work in my family either. So I am so thankful that, like, let me say this. So, Ashlyn, when she graduated with her bachelor's degree in business from SMC, we had a going away party for her. You know? Like, we love you, and thank you so much, and all that. And I just slipped a little, hey. You know, like, I don't know what you're gonna do or whatever, but I know you wanna take a 2-to-3-month break from everything because you worked so hard to get here. But if you wanna work, you know, just a few hours a week, I'd be open to that, and here we are.

Melody [: 00:39:06

She's still working for me, and she's able to start her own business, get it to where she wants it while still working for me, and it's been working out well, you know, like, really well because she has talent that we don't have in the office because of her degree. You know?

April Dodson [: 00:39:25

From all the math stuff she had to do and all the figuring out all those she puts together all my presentations perfectly, and all I have to do is talk to text and say, she knows the way I think. She thinks better than I do. She is not ADHD. She is like Josh. Josh is very focused when he has a task at hand to where he does it well and he does it right, and Ashlyn is just like him.

Melody [: 00:39:56

That's great. She's the integrator.

April Dodson [: 00:39:57

Yes. And it just works out, like, amazing.

Melody [: 00:40:00

That's so cool. Yeah. I'm wondering. So because there are people who will listen who aren't maybe as confident. It's really hard to get started is what I will say. What do you wish that you had known or that you could impart to people at the beginning of your business journey from where you're standing now?

April Dodson [: 00:40:20

Nobody is gonna treat you the way that you treat yourself, and that is a mindset that most entrepreneurs, that's why they wanna start. Somebody really upset them with something they did or even they had, like, a friend or family member that worked for someone for 30 years, should have had a good retirement, and it was pulled away. That happens a lot here where we're from. So that's one thing. And at the time, I was not okay with anybody telling me, like, that I needed to be somewhere, not with my kids. And so for me, it was all we and it still is today all about our time and how we only get so much time. And it's where are you gonna spend your time? But, also, it's always an uphill battle.

Melody [: 00:41:10

Oh, god. Yes.

April Dodson [: 00:41:12

That doesn't change. You know, I've been in December, it's gonna be 23 years that I've been doing this thing. And with that being said, it's always an uphill battle. You never know what you're gonna walk into, but that thrills me and makes me excited every day. That's why I get up and dress to the nines. It's one of my favorite things. I come in, and I mean, other people are wearing like sweats and a T shirt or like, you know, like they can wear whatever they want here.

Melody [: 00:41:40

Yeah.

April Dodson [: 00:41:40

And I come like, you know how I am. You've seen and you've been with me before.

Melody [: 00:41:45

You dress to impress, yourself.

April Dodson [: 00:41:48

It's one of my favorite things, you know? And so, yeah, but those would be a few of the things that I would definitely say is it's always an uphill battle. Being an entrepreneur, you are in charge of your own time, and no one's gonna treat you the way you're gonna treat yourself.

Melody [: 00:42:05

Can I ask so I call my I say I'm an entrepreneur because I'm an optimist with a bad memory, because I would definitely probably not start all these businesses if I knew how hard it was gonna be even though I know how hard it's gonna be? My mind is like, oh, no problem. I'll just do this thing. It'll be fine. And then it is. Every day is like, you can solve 10 problems, and that is the fun part. Like, I love that I get to solve complicated problems and issues most of the time, And I love creating systems that I won't follow, but other people will. And, like, all of that stuff is fun, quote and quote. And to anybody else, it would sound, like, insane that that would be fun.

Melody [: 00:42:48

Like, give me some problems. I'm gonna solve them today. You know? But there's also, like, people I love, like, leading and inspiring and just building people up and putting them like, making them better for the next place that they end up. Like, I want them to always be better. Coaching, like, employees and mentoring people, like, that makes me so happy, and then making clients happy is, like, the best feeling in the world.

April Dodson [: 00:43:15

Definitely. You say it wonderfully. Like, those are all of your qualities. You have so many good qualities, and they shine in your work. People definitely love you, and I like that you think things through the way you do. Everybody can't be like me where, you know, it's like Yeah. I have no problems getting started, but I get stuck in the middle sometimes.

April Dodson [: 00:43:41

And that's not a good feeling to go up, up, up, and just stay like this for a down, up, down, up. It's hard. And being a entrepreneur for this long, we've definitely had successes and failures, and the failures hurt the failures hurt bad, and it depends on, like, where you're at too. Like, you can be making one sort of income, and then something happens, and you are not making that income, and you have that lifestyle of the higher income, it's hard.

Melody [: 00:44:11

Yeah.

April Dodson [: 00:44:12

And we've all had ups and downs in business, and it's not easy to tolerate.

Melody [: 00:44:17

I think the common theme is though that we have a lot of grit. And so especially when big things, like, if it's if I need to find the money, I will find a way to find the money. If I have a problem that it feels like so crazy that it could like, I think COVID was one of those problems of, like it was the first time I thought, I don't know if my business will survive, and I'd never ever questioned that before. And yet it did survive. Like so I don't know. It just makes you, I think I'm confident that I understand how to be a business owner now, even though I don't always know how to solve the problems. I know how to find the people who can help me solve the problems. Yeah.

April Dodson [: 00:44:59

All about connections.

Melody [: 00:45:01

It really is.

April Dodson [: 00:45:01

Yeah. And that comes with growth, and it comes with years and time of doing this, you know, because we've been connected for a long time. You and I, we've hung out with Thad and Chris and all of the people that are widely successful, and we have for a long time. Chris Lambertinis one time I asked him, like, his top three tips in business. I remember 2 of them. I'd have to listen to, like, the Facebook audio from a long time ago. But one was, like, don't spend all your money. Keep your money in the bank because you want all the new things. Like, you want all the new things, but don't spend all your money. And then another one was every single employee that you have comes due with at least 3 problems per day.

April Dodson [: 00:45:45

So times that times the number of employees you have, and that's, like, low case scenarios. And if it's not a problem and I'm not saying a problems bad. I'm saying, like..

Melody [: 00:45:56

Yeah.

April Dodson [: 00:45:56

I logged into my extension, and my password's not working. Or, like, you know, like, well, how do you do this? And it's like, there's a video. You know?

Melody [: 00:46:06

Right.

April Dodson [: 00:46:06

That's what I'm saying where it takes some direction, you know, type things. And so 3 problems per day, like, it depends on who you hired. Right?

Melody [: 00:46:15

That's right.

April Dodson [: 00:46:16

So I think that connections and, like, who you're connected with, and all of those things make a big difference.

Melody [: 00:46:23

I think one of the things that I've really come I think you've seen this with me online. The industries we've worked in, there are a lot of takers. Like, your story about the guy who was, like, kinda scamming you on your appointment setting. Like, I've experienced that. I'm a giver, so I'm, like, giving all the time. I want people to be happy. There is a lot of takers, and I didn't recognize that until I heard, like, Joe Polish speak at a Tommy Mello event. And I was like, he put it in the way frame that I could understand finally, because he's all about protecting givers so that they can give more in the world.

Melody [: 00:46:59

And so that's kind of why I've changed who I wanna work with is more like, I want purpose driven entrepreneurs because those are the givers, and they should be more successful. Like, they should be, but oftentimes, we're giving so much that we get burnt out. And so, its kind of, like, my experiences with it have made me really clear on who I love working with and who I want to who I want to help, like, change the world, essentially.

April Dodson [: 00:47:29

Yeah. And I couldn't agree more. It was really eye opening, and I have shifted industries before because of it. I have just found, you know, like, there are certain industries that are just rough, to work with. You could be working with someone that really gets it. And so there's been a few times where I let someone go because I didn't want. When everybody in your office comes in and they don't they can't stand working for that person, it's time to make a decision. And that's happened a couple times, and it's not easy to make that decision, especially when they have all the money in the world to drop every month.

Melody [: 00:48:09

It's easy for me. I have a no jerk policy in our contract. It says no jerks allowed, literally.

April Dodson [: 00:48:16

So that's amazing, and I need to add that language in there. But because we've been doing it so long, we have been able to be more selective. And the one thing that I've done, and so you know me, I wanna sell everybody everything.

Melody [: 00:48:31

Yes.

April Dodson [: 00:48:31

And I am all about it, and I'm working on that. I'm trying not to hard sell as much as I have before. I'm trying not to oversell and under deliver. I'm trying I'm working on those things because if it were just me doing it, oh, yeah, we're gonna do it. But listen, I got people that help me do it. They're good, but they're not me. You know what I'm saying?

Melody [: 00:48:57

They're never us. We should coach each other because I have the opposite problem. I don't sell enough, and then I over deliver. I'd rather just sell just the right amount, sell to people just the right amount, and deliver and over deliver, I guess.

April Dodson [: 00:49:14

One thing that I've done, and I really have just started doing this, like, kind of this year. There's a couple things I've done, and you can't do it all the time, a free trial. And I literally met with this guy who could be a ginormous appointment setting campaign, like, big. And we had a meeting, and we were talking about his business, and it is a hard sell, but we've done things like this before. I gave him several examples of successful campaigns that we did, and it was along the lines per se as difficulty level. And, he wasn't sold. And I'm like, you know, I was like, how about I just give you, like, 300 calls for free? You try it out, and if it's a good fit, then you can pay me. So what he did was he said, if I sell anything from any appointments you said, I'll give you the commission off that, and the commission's pretty big.

April Dodson [: 00:50:10

And so it's actually more than what he would pay for a cold calling campaign.

Melody [: 00:50:14

Interesting.

April Dodson [: 00:50:15

So I decided to do a free trial. There's another thing that I've done to shift to not put all like, sell it all because we work with small, medium, and large companies. And so we are talking with some, like, larger companies. I don't want them to offset everything all at one time. That would be a disaster. We could do a little of all of it, but, like, all of it at one time, and then trying to manage that, which I've done it before and it didn't work. I'm like, okay. Let's start with just this.

April Dodson [: 00:50:48

And then when we show you what we can do and we have a good working relationship, we can do this. And that is so we put together a plan instead of, like, all at once onboarding your entire office. We're more so like, okay. So you want cold calling. Which one do you think is more you know, like, which one should we start with? Answering service virtual office or, like, cold calling? You know, like, which one? Facebook, blah blah blah. You know, like, all the things we sell. Because sometimes we have people that are all in, and when they're all in, trying to do it all at one time, it's too much for them, and it's too much for us.

Melody [: 00:51:24

Yeah. And learning how to because I am like that. Like, the saying it's not saying no, but it's like setting the pace almost. Yes. Because we are in control of what we do for people, but we forget as business owners that we actually have control.

April Dodson [: 00:51:39

Yeah.

Melody [: 00:51:40

Because it's it feels like an illusion, but it's actually not. It's just a practice that we have to keep doing.

April Dodson [: 00:51:45

Yes.

Melody [: 00:51:46

So yeah. That's really cool. And I love that you're creative. Like, that's what I love doing is figuring out creative ways to just test things, see what's working, what's not for people. That's, like, what I love about business, innovation.

April Dodson [: 00:51:59

Yes. Yes.

Melody [: 00:52:01

So I expect nothing less from you. I could talk to you literally for hours.

April Dodson [: 00:52:05

I know.

Melody [: 00:52:05

I guess you could. You will have to come back, but I wanna do the last part of the episode, which is actually fun. And it's called the misfit minute, and you're just gonna answer some questions and you have 90 seconds, not a minute. And it doesn't matter because I just say that you'll either win or but you'll also just win because you're just answering the questions. I'm not good at competing, so I haven't figured out how to make it more competitive.

Melody [: 00:52:32

But you're going against yourself. So that's the competition.

April Dodson [: 00:52:34

Okay. I hope these are not hard questions.

Melody [: 00:52:38

They're not to me.

April Dodson [: 00:52:39

Is it like, are you smarter than a 5th grader?

Melody [: 00:52:43

No. No. No. No. These are like, what's the first thing that pops in your head? Think if they're either or questions.

April Dodson [: 00:52:49

Okay. Okay.

Melody [: 00:52:50

Okay. Ready?

April Dodson [: 00:52:51

Yes.

Melody [: 00:52:51

Sending and go. Early bird or night owl?

April Dodson [: 00:52:56

Early bird.

Melody [: 00:52:57

Introvert or extrovert?

April Dodson [: 00:52:59

Extrovert and a little introvert.

Melody [: 00:53:01

More time or more money?

April Dodson [: 00:53:04

More time.

Melody [: 00:53:05

Type A or type ADD?

April Dodson [: 00:53:08

Both.

Melody [: 00:53:10

Staver or spender?

April Dodson [: 00:53:12

Spender.

Melody [: 00:53:13

Workaholic or Recovering Workaholic?

April Dodson [: 00:53:16

Recovering workaholic.

Melody [: 00:53:18

Adventure or relaxing?

April Dodson [: 00:53:21

Adventure all day long.

Melody [: 00:53:22

Yeah. Things or experiences.

April Dodson [: 00:53:25

Experiences.

Melody [: 00:53:27

Phone calls or texts?

April Dodson [: 00:53:29

Depends on what I'm doing. I think they both have their place.

Melody [: 00:53:33

What do you like?

April Dodson [: 00:53:34

If it is when I'm off work and I'm trying to touch base with someone, it's a text. I'm not calling people for hours, 90 seconds or less.

Melody [: 00:53:43

Yeah. Call is never my answer. Yes. Okay. Plan ahead or go with the flow?

April Dodson [: 00:53:49

Go with the flow.

Melody [: 00:53:50

Hands on or delegate? It's a practice.

April Dodson [: 00:53:54

I'm really good at delegating.

Melody [: 00:53:56

Yeah. Compete or collaborate?

April Dodson [: 00:53:59

Both depends on what I'm doing.

Melody [: 00:54:02

Sweet or savory?

April Dodson [: 00:54:04

Savory.

Melody [: 00:54:05

Quick thinker or overthinker?

April Dodson [: 00:54:09

Quick.

Melody [: 00:54:09

Yeah, you won. The time is fun. Yeah. And we even talked in the middle of it. You're a winner. Yes. They weren't that hard.

April Dodson [: 00:54:20

No, it's good.

Melody [: 00:54:21

I think so. And it, like, it's hard to answer some of those because I am type A when I'm hyper focused on a project, and I'm type ADD when I'm looking at everything as a whole and working. And so there's like both answers seem to be true in some respects.

April Dodson [: 00:54:36

In different scenarios.

Melody [: 00:54:38

Yeah. I have loved this conversation so much. I will definitely be having these conversations with you again in the future if you will come back. And, also, we should be connecting. I have so much to learn from you. I always forget how much I wanna learn from you because everything that you do naturally, a lot of these things are very unnatural to me, and I always feel like I'm always learning and growing how to do it better.

April Dodson [: 00:55:03

Oh, I can't wait to connect with you again for sure. We I could learn so much from you. I've seen all of your growth through everything that you've been through. I love your transparency. It's not easy. It's being vulnerable is never easy. It's great.

Melody [: 00:55:19

It gets easier. That's one thing.

April Dodson [: 00:55:21

That's awesome.

Melody [: 00:55:22

I like to say I'm finally in fashion. Now that vulnerability and authenticity are the fashion. I'm finally in fashion. It's the only time I will ever be in fashion. Because otherwise, my clothing is not a true indicator of fashion when it comes to me. It's usually in the pants.

Melody [: 00:55:40

You're right. I do have a style when I'm out and about.

Melody [: 00:55:44

But well, it was such a it wasn't even a pleasure. It was just so fun. So thank you, April.

April Dodson [: 00:55:48

It was fun. Oh, thank you so much. Okay. Well, take care.

Melody [: 00:55:52

Bye.

April Dodson [: 00:55:52

Okay. Bye.

Melody [: 00:55:57

Listen, Bizfit. If you believe in the mission of this podcast, I need you to like and subscribe right now. Pause this. Go find the podcast you might already be there, which is easy. Just go like and subscribe. And if you really, really believe in it, and you want Bizfits to unite and change the whole business world, please rate it. Rating is the best way to get the word out to attract more like minded misfits like you and me, so that we can overthrow the takers of this world who currently dominate the business universe. Now, I know I sound like I'm some courageous lady of business.

Melody [: 00:56:28

I am not. I can't do this alone and I don't want to. I need you, and we need a coalition of fellow Bizfits. So do it now. The quicker we take action, the quicker we can change our business world. Now let's go do great things and I will see you next week.

April Dodson [: 00:56:48

I'm a misfit.