Carolyn: Welcome back to another episode of Uniquely Small Biz by Selective Insurance, a podcast for small business owners to share their inspiring stories. I'm Carolyn McCardell, and we are so excited to be bringing you another round of insightful conversations with small business owners who are as unique as their ventures.
Today, I'm speaking with a few people, actually, first of all, the co-owners of Good Judy Garage, Faith Haug, and CC, as well as their coworkers, Sophia and Tyler, and their dog, Nandor. We're going to talk about how Faith and CC established their exciting small business, how they're changing the way people view trades, as well as the power behind being a shop that not only offers exceptional work but where all are welcomed regardless of orientation or a presentation. Later, I'll be joined by the Assistant Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Employee Engagement at Selective Insurance, Gloria Ellis. It's time for Uniquely Small Biz, brought to you by Selective Insurance.
Carolyn: So, my first question, which I think is the obvious question, you guys. What is a Good Judy? Explain the name, and what it is, and the history and all that good stuff.
Sophia: So, Good Judy's a reference to Judy Garland, and she was a prominent advocate when LGBTQ rights weren't enacted. So, talking about a Good Judy is, you know, referencing to a good ally, a good friend of the LGBTQ+ community. And so it's just kind of a stuck name, I guess.
Faith: Yeah, it's kind of code-speak for someone that is a safe place for the community.
Carolyn: I love that. And who doesn't love Judy Garland? Like everybody loves Judy Garland. So tell us what you do, exactly. What is your business about?
Faith: So we are an automotive service and repair shop. We do mechanical repairs on just about any kind of auto.
CC: Yup – automobiles, we do some stuff with motorcycles. We've done some scooters, done some motor homes, all kinds of stuff.
Carolyn: Where did the idea come from for the garage?
CC: So my background is in the sort of automotive industry, automotive world. It's been a huge passion for years, and I grew up working in shops. My background, as far as education is, I have a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, been around in various manufacturing industries, maintenance industry, managed a couple of machine shops, some stuff like that. And always just wanted to sort of open a shop on my own, and then at the same time, when I was thinking about transitioning, like, you know, where am I going to find an awesome shop to work while I'm going through that part of my life? And so, you know, we were kind of talking about it, and we're like, you know, why don't we just open our own place and run with it? And so that's sort of where the idea came from and the rest is kind of history.
Carolyn: Okay. So, you’re CC. And Tyler and Sophia and Faith - how did you connect with CC to open this business? Did you guys kind of have the same passion when you were younger or were you all friends and you - and CC had that idea? Or how did this come to be?
Faith: Well, I married CC about seven years ago. So we kind of did it together and then if you want to tell them how you guys came around?
Sophia: So, I graduated with a bachelor's in psychology May of 2020, amid the height of the pandemic. And I kind of saw a way out for myself of doing a regular nine to five, just wasn't what I was into. And I really wanted to work with my hands. So I did some blue-collar work here and there, and then I moved to Denver. Good Judy Garage followed me on Instagram, and I messaged them and asked them if they were hiring. And they said eventually, yeah. So I kept up with them. And here I am.
Carolyn: Wow. That is very cool. So, Sophia, if you don't mind me asking, what kind of blue-collar work did you do?
Sophia: So, before this, I did let's see, coffee machine maintenance. I did welding and fabrication, and I also did plasma cutting.
Carolyn: Wow. So, no auto?
Sophia: No auto. And that's how they, I told them straight up that I didn't know anything about auto and they were like, you know, that's totally okay. We want to kind of mold you, teach you and have someone in the queer community really be raised up and learn automotive stuff.
Carolyn: That's when you know you're working with and for good people when they're trying to raise you up. That's awesome. Tyler, how about you? How did you come to know these guys?
Tyler: So, my background is in human services and mental health. So, I've worked with children. I've worked with older adults on Medicaid. I've worked with people with developmental disabilities. And then got kind of burnt out on that and went into a tech startup and decided that wasn't for me either and took a break to figure out what I wanted to do. And started learning Reiki with a Reiki master, and Faith and CC hired this person to come do a space clearing on the shop. And I got invited to go and connected with Faith and CC and applied when they opened the job.
Carolyn: This is such an incredible story to me because you all came from such different places in your life, yet you all somehow found each other in these random ways. Like Sophia, you were saying they started following you on Instagram, and then you went from there, and I have to ask about that.
Faith, I’ll ask you. When your garage started following Sophia on Instagram like, was there a reason behind that? Was there a purpose when you started following or was it a random follow that turned into this?
Faith: I can’t say specifically that I remember exactly. But before we opened – we opened the shop in December of 2021, but we had started the Instagram and social media pages in about August. Just kind of to see if there was interest in the community in something like this and just kind of already have name recognition, and top of mind awareness before we even opened.
Carolyn: How has business been? Because that was, you know, we were still in the pandemic at that point and that is a very obviously risky time to open a business, but for automotive and automotive repair, how did it go?
CC: So, like Faith said we had kind of started pre-marketing a little bit just through the Instagram page, social media type stuff. We had the LLC and the name, but we didn't originally, as when we started that we didn't have the physical shop together yet.
So we were in the process of acquiring equipment, looking for a space to lease, those types of things, to actually put the shop together. We got it all set up and put together, and announced that we were opening. We wanted to get it up and running before the end of 2021.
Faith: When we opened up our schedule and we allowed our customers to book online, we opened December 19th and we were fully booked for the first two weeks solid.
Carolyn: Whoa!
Faith: Pre-booked before, you know…
CC: Before we actually opened the doors.
Carolyn: And do you think that's because of your social media?
Faith: Yep, absolutely.
Carolyn: That’s incredible!
Faith: So we kind presented it as, you know, a new business coming to Denver in fall of 2021. We originally started the Instagram and came up with the idea for the business in July of 2021. I started the Instagram, I started a Facebook, and just kind of teased it for a while. I didn't have an opening date or anything, but we would do, you know, updates on like, oh, we looked at a building today or, oh, we bought this piece of equipment or whatever, you know, kind of thing. And then once we had a location, we would, we were posting, you know, like pictures of the remodeling we were doing and all of that stuff.
And then when we announced that we were actually going to open on the 19th, we did that about two weeks before the actual opening and allowed people to start prescheduling. And so we went into it with full books for about two weeks out, and then it just kind of kept going.
Carolyn: Did that surprise you?
Faith: Yes.
CC: I think we said originally, we had thought, you know, maybe have to hire an office person in four months, six months, something like that and by the last day of December, we were like, yeah, we need to hire people.
Faith: Oh yeah. Before that, I mean, it was in the second week we posted. Gut we were only going hire one person at that time. I have another full-time job, I'm not here at the shop all the time. And so the idea was that CC would kind of run it as an owner-operator, you know, single person for as long as possible. And that ended up being about four days before we realized that wasn't going to be possible at all.
So we posted the next week we were intending to hire one person. And we had two really awesome applicants in Tyler and Sophia, and we were like, well, let's just bite the bullet and hire them both. So we did.
Carolyn: Yeah, here's our family. Awesome. That is a crazy story. And there was something that you mentioned that really spoke to me, and that is, and CC, you were saying that you shared sort of your journey along the way with we're going to open in two weeks, now we've got the space or, well, it would be the reverse order, but we have the space, we're going to open in two weeks.
CC: Yeah. So while we were putting the space together, once we signed the lease and throughout that whole process, I was still running the machine shop, basically during the day. I was working that job from 5:00 AM to like 5:00 PM, four days a week was the schedule I worked there.
And so then I would get done there, go get something to eat, and then come over here. Paint and work on remodeling and assembling equipment and installing equipment and all of that stuff until 9 or 10 o'clock at night. And so, you know, we'd take pictures of everything as we went along and stuff.
And like it said, you know, sort of post little teasers, like, oh yeah, look, you know, we got our lifts in today and we got, got our waiting room together and got new furniture for the waiting room. And this is what we're going to have, and this is what it's going to be like. And so sort of, you know, got people interested in what was going on and kind of got a buzz about it that way.
Carolyn: And then you found Tyler and Sophia, which is awesome. Is it the four of you then? Are there any other employees or is it just you four?
CC: At the moment it's just the four of us.
Faith: It's really the three of you. I'm here once a week for an hour or two anymore. Honestly, like I, you know, CC and I started the business and, you know, laid it out and all of that.
And like I say, I have a different career that I do, but, it's really these three that run and operate this place anymore. I’m kind of…
CC: You help with the books and the business and you still do a lot of the marketing and the social media stuff.
Faith: Yeah.
Carolyn: You're doing a lot, still, Faith. More than you realize, I think.
Faith: Yeah, I think so, but I, you know, I don't want to take too much credit for all the good stuff they've got going on here. These three are the ones that are here every day and making the customers happy and all of that. So, we got lucky
Carolyn: Well, you can definitely tell from just the short conversation we've had that it's definitely a team effort and I get the feeling that no matter who's got what job that you all care equally, which is awesome. It's like, that's the perfect team.
Sophia: We’ve turned into a family.
Faith: Yeah, we're so lucky to have gotten two really invested and capable and competent and awesome employees right out of the gate. And they, you know, these two have really helped us build this business and they’re as responsible for, I mean, they've been here since day eight, so, you know, they're as responsible for the success of this garage as CC and I.
CC: Yeah. And that's, I mean, that kind of, it ties back to that. I mean, you know, when you like asked Sophia about not having background in the automotive industry and stuff, it's sort of that, how we approach this shop with a different management strategy than maybe a lot of shops do. And the goal was to sort of be a family like that and to work have people that are, have the right heart and the right attitude, that really want to take care of the customers that really want to develop and learn and help be a part of what we're doing here. That was more important to us maybe than even some of the technical abilities because I can teach people the technical skills there. There's a side of that that you can't really teach though, in terms of how they interact with people, how they approach the world. And so we got really super lucky and I've really sort of stuck to that plan in terms of sort of having that tie together as a group and really caring and really taking care of people because that's kind of ties into the business model. And it's, it's sort of, you know, what we were going for in terms of the whole package.
Faith: Yeah. It was important to us too to be an employer for queer people. I mean, obviously, we can't market ourselves as only employing queer people. But, you know, from the standpoint of when we decided we were going to start looking for employees, you know, we wanted to make it clear that we were a safe employer for people in the queer community.
And now that's kind of just been really our dream. We came up with the idea and decided open the shop is that we would be, hopefully, you know, if circumstances allowed, we would be a fully queer-operated auto shop as well.
Carolyn: There are so many things that you guys have mentioned that are so great about what you do. So, because this podcast is called Uniquely Small Biz, what would you say the most unique thing is about your business. It's tough for me to choose. I was going to suggest, but there've been so many unique things. Like, what would you say the most unique thing is?
Faith: I think there's a couple of things. I think that the way that we just structure our business and the service we provide is unique in the automotive industry. We serve a very unique demographic and because of that we're structured a little bit differently. But also, not just wanting to be a good business, but also being good employers and being a safe space for employees is probably just about as important to us as it was to be a safe business for patrons as well.
CC: That was really one of the, I mean, that was sort of the main inspiration was when, like I said, when I was looking at myself and transitioning myself, it was like, where could I go to work that's going to be a safe place? That's I'm not going to be harassed. You know, not have any problems with those kinds of things and so when we decided to do this, sort of ensuring that it's that way for the patrons, the employees, for everyone is always just kind of been definitely a top priority.
Carolyn: And I think also with when it comes to this business in particular, not your business, but the business of auto repair, there's also the issue of - that is an industry as a consumer where you're a little bit worried, when you go to a shop - am I being taken advantage of? I don't know how to fix a car, so my biggest worry is where can I go to find that honest mechanic that I can trust? So, just in talking to you guys, I can tell that you're honest people.
I have no doubt in my mind that if I brought my car to you, you would be completely honest, but I think that, and I would hope you would agree, that loyalty plays into this a lot. You're very supportive of the LGBTQ community, for sure, but then there's the loyalty aspect from your consumers. I would imagine for that and from just being good, honest people.
Sophia: Absolutely. I think that people come to us to get honest work done and they continue returning. I've seen some people come through four times for different things just because they know that we're not going to, you know, beat around the bush with them. We're going to be straightforward. And if they want an explanation, we'll give them an explanation. It's not just trying to throw big words at them and expect them to, comply. It's them wanting to understand their car because they actually care. And knowing that we will give them that.
CC: It's sort of been my two fold approach to it, as we kind of developed it and stuff, it was like, yeah, one, it's going to be a safe space and we're going to be LGBTQ+ friendly, all of those things. But the other side of that is always on my end - I look at it and say everything we do needs to be technically correct. Like we need to have the best equipment. We need to have, you know, great employees. We need to provide a real, legit service that's correct. You know, otherwise everything else kind of loses its value, at least to the customers. And so to try to maintain both sides of that has been super important to us.
Faith: We're trying to be, you know, we're fully transparent as well. I mean, our customers are welcome back here in the shop area, if they want to see what's going on there. They're welcome back - we're not hiding anything, you know, back here.
So, you know, CC has had customers that have booked time just to learn how to work on their own vehicles. And so, you know, there's a lot of people that have wanted to learn more about their own vehicles, but haven't had the opportunity or felt safe doing so. And so we're also a place where people can ask questions that maybe they'd be embarrassed to ask somewhere else.
Carolyn: I think that would bring you a lot of loyalty as well with, you know, you actually bringing them back and teaching them how to work on their own cars. Who does that? Nobody does that. I was going to ask you, what's unique about your customer service experience or about the customer service experience, but you kind of just answered it.
I know that you also have a really fun waiting room, right? So, that's one thing and a community store. So can you talk a little bit about both of those things?
Tyler: Yeah, so we have a very nice waiting area. We've got really comfortable couches. We've got wifi, we've got coffee, and then we also have our shop where we have a lot of, mostly like local queer folks. So like different art things or like stickers or pins. And it's really neat to like see people from the community, be able to like share their art and stuff here. And it's really fun to have people buy it and like have that community.
Carolyn: Yeah. Do you have local artists that will come in and say, Hey, I know you sell local art. Can I, like, I don't need my car fixed, but can I sell my art in your store? And you just take a percentage or however you work it out with them.
CC: Yeah, absolutely. So, now that was another thing that kind of stemmed from the Instagram as we were putting the waiting room together and talking to some friends and some people we know that are artists and things like that. They're like – we kind of collaborated with them - and they're like, yeah, we could sell some of our stuff there, like provide you with a little gallery sort of space and potentially sell some of our stuff. And so it kind of became, an idea to be like, we put it out there. Hey - any of our followers, any of the people that are watching our social media, if you're an artist or you're a creator, you have little things like this that we can put in our space and help you out by giving you a physical place to sell it. As opposed to a lot of them had just been sort of doing it online, we wanted to give them that opportunity and so that kind of took off and that's sort of where that came from.
We don't really make any money on it on our end, particularly, but we do it as sort of a, you know, give people as a space for their stuff to be seen in. For their works and their art and all of that to be seen and sold. And it's been a lot of fun and met some cool people and…
Carolyn: That's awesome. You guys are such good people. I just love all of you. You're so nice. And you've done so much for the community, it's just awesome. It's so good to see. I'm so glad we got to do this today. I mean, you probably know the answer to this - have you gained new clientele from artists that have had the intention initially just to come in and display their art or sell their art? And then while they're there, they're like, you know what? You guys are pretty cool letting me do this. I'm going to start bringing my car to you.
Tyler: I think it started with people that were coming in for their car stuff and then saw the art and asked to sell their art there. But I know some folks have shared those space with their friends who are artists and like brought them in that way.
Carolyn: That’s cool. It's like a big community hub.
CC: Yeah, and in terms of our customer base and stuff in general, I mean, it's kind of a lot of that networking type, whether it's through the social media stuff or whether it's word of mouth within the community.
We've had a ton of referrals from other customers, people that are like, oh, you know, my neighbor brings their car to you guys. And they said we're not actually LGBTQ or anything, but they said you're a great shop that you guys are friendly that you're – you know kind of like you said - we're looking for a trustworthy, honest place. And so we have customers that fall into that demographic, just kind of across the board. It's been a lot of fun
Faith: Yeah, vendors become customers.
CC: Yeah. Some vendors have become customers.
Faith: People in the commercial complex we're in here have become customers. So, yeah.
Carolyn: That's neat. What would you say your demo is?
Faith: You know, I'd have to run some data on that. I would say that our majority of our customers are probably in the queer community. Probably, what do you think? 20 to 40 years old? What do you guys think? You'd see more than I do.
Sophia: I'd say 80% of customers are probably in the queer community, between 20 and 45, I'd say and then everyone else, you know, people within this neighborhood, referrals, neighbors of people who've been here before, and then just people that find us online randomly sometimes.
Carolyn: Yeah. Well, you guys have had a lot of five-star reviews. I noticed, and you've done press, you're doing this podcast. You're definitely out there and getting in front of, you know, people that can deliver your message or help you deliver your message. Obviously we've talked about your social media, which is incredible. So, what is your approach to marketing? Do you do any marketing aside from just kind of what I listed or is there more to it?
Faith: I haven't done a whole lot, you know, we've had a lot of media interest and so we've pretty much done everything that comes our way. I mean, we've done the local news. We've done PBS, we've done newspapers, podcasts, a couple of magazine interviews. Mostly we do social media. We have a marketing analyst, I guess is the best way is I guess what he's called that, does kind of our SEO and our website stuff and make suggestions for us on things we can change. And there's been a lot of success in that.
Sophia: We did First Friday art walks.
Faith: Yup. We've done some community events and we’re going to do some more community events in June. We have some friends that own businesses that, you know, put up our stuff there, you know, they've got like our little stickers and stuff on their doors or whatever. Anything else you can think of?
CC: I think that, I mean, that pretty much covers it.
Carolyn: I mean, that's a lot.
CC: Yeah. A lot of that stuff is anytime we can, we try to do, if roll marketing ends sorta with a good cause kind of like you mentioned about the First Friday art walk thing up here. Or, you know, any time we can get involved with any kind of the charitable things and stuff like that. We usually jump on that. Truthfully, we don't really do a lot of like traditional advertising in any way, as far as, you know, running print ads or, you know, billboard ads or anything, any of that kind of stuff. It's all mostly been mostly been online.
Sophia: Also word of mouth is very powerful for us.
CC: That's been a huge one, you know, especially within the community, People go to a social event or go to a bar somewhere and they're talking to their friend and, you know, somebody is like, oh yeah, my car broke today, and this and that. And they're like, oh, have you heard about….
Carolyn: What a great segue.
CC: That's been a huge one.
Faith: We don't do a lot of paid advertising, I guess is the point. We haven't really had to yet.
Carolyn: I mean, you guys are doing all the right things. And I feel like there's a common thread with these small business businesses that I talk to on Uniquely Small Biz. The more entrenched you are in the community, and you have that capability being a small business, the more success you have. Once you get that loyalty, you get in front of your community and they believe in you and you want to help them.
I mean, how great is that? No matter what kind of business you have. So it seems like you guys, I mean, I'm no expert, but it's just definitely a common thread that just popped into my mind while talking to you that all of these small businesses have is community is key. That sounds like you guys have mastered that. So congratulations.
Tyler: Yeah. I think too, especially as a queer person, safety is so important. There are so many places I've walked into with my partner that doesn't feel safe and to have somewhere that feels safe and being able to share that with friends and the community is huge to be able to go somewhere in a space that doesn't typically feel very safe or comfortable and to know that you can come here and feel safe and seen and heard and show up just how you are is really big.
Carolyn: Yeah.
CC: Especially in this business. I mean, and it's like, you had kind of touched on it. I mean, getting your car repaired and stuff like that is something that causes anxiety for people, no matter what demographic or background they are. And so to be advertised as a safe space and be a safe space and sort of be open ourselves, kind of gives people that comfort level. I think that that helps take the edge off that.
Carolyn: Absolutely. Absolutely. What would you say is next for you guys? Are you happy with one location? Do you want to expand, do you have goals, or are you just happy where you are? Which is a totally okay answer.
CC: I think overall, I mean, we kind of have a long-term plan. Initially right now, we're still trying to utilize the space we're in the best possible way. We still have some overhead for growth here and some opportunity here in terms of the amount of business that we can turn through the shop, and sort of our efficiency levels and some of those things. But we do also, you know, eventually we're looking to hopefully have at least one more location here in the metro area, potentially a few other things. It's something Gaith and I kind of talk about and sort of work on and discuss. You know, we're always looking to the future, always looking forward, looking for new opportunities and those types of things.
Carolyn: Well, the community loves you. Keep up the good work you guys. Yeah, it was really nice talking to all of you today. Thank you for your time
Faith: Thank you!
CC: Absolutely!
Carolyn: Now joining us is the Assistant Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Employee Engagement at Selective Insurance, Gloria Ellis.
So Gloria, first question I have for you is: the Good Judy Garage used social media to find potential employees that they thought would be a good fit for their business. So, I want to know what advice you would have for other business owners when it comes to inclusive recruiting
Gloria: Yes, I was very excited to hear Good Judy - their plan. So, their plan was, they went out with her social media prior to actually opening their business. And they really targeted those businesses that they knew were going to be the demographic that they were going to market to. And I think that's a great strategy. Understand who your customer is. And so, for business owners that are looking for employees, I think it's important to identify those places and spaces that you haven't been, and that may perhaps would even push you outside of your comfort zone.
Right? So what I like to say within Selective is let's do things differently, right? If we want to bring in diverse employees, for example, and create these inclusive spaces, we need to make sure that we're bringing in individuals that aren't identical to us, right. That have a diversity of thought we like to say.
And I think it's important for you to identify and then go to those places that you haven't historically knocked on their doors, whether it's through digital and social media or even in person. I still think that human touch is very important. So again, I think it's about stretching yourself, challenging yourself, challenging your biases as well. We all have them. And we all like to work with people that are very similar to us, right? But it's actually - research has shown that the more diverse the teams are, then the better the business outcome is. So, I like to share that little bit of tidbit to business owners, because it really is about making sure that you're positioning your business within the community for sustainability.
Carolyn: Well, and I absolutely, without a doubt feel that the Good Judy Garage has a business model that has been built on inclusion, right. So, what types of things can other businesses do if they want to create a similar environment?
Gloria: First and foremost what a name, right? The name itself really aligns with their commitment to being inclusive. And when they explained how they landed on the Good Judy name, and I think your comment was who doesn't love Judy Garland? Which I was like, absolutely. So, I think you show your commitment first, if it's not in your name, perhaps in a mission statement or maybe publicizing what your values are as an organization, have those core values that align with inclusion.
You'll hear me speak about commitment to building these safe spaces as what the Good Judy Garage they spoke about it often. About, it was very important to them to build these safe spaces for customers, as well as employees to come in and be their true, authentic selves and to feel just safe.
And so I think their story is one that should be celebrated and emulated, hopefully, for other small businesses who are truly committed to building those safe spaces and being inclusive as far as their employee, within their recruitment, and as well as their customer base, not only for those that identify with the community that they are targeting, but also for the allies.
Carolyn: One thing that you said that really stood out just now that I want to highlight, because I think it is so important for any business is be yourself, be the real you, and that will come back to you twofold. And this is a business, it's obviously a small business, and a very tight-knit community. And I think that them just continuing to be themselves is going to work out so well for them going forward in the short term and long-term.
Gloria: Absolutely. And I think sharing your story, I think is really important. So, as small business owners go out into the community, we all have a story. We didn't just land and we're how we show up successful. I think it's important - they have such a unique story - for them to share that story. They've done a great job as far as utilizing social media.
Carolyn: Very well said. You know, the Good Judy Garage uses social media to connect with the LGBTQ plus community to drive customer loyalty. That's obviously huge for them, but if I'm another business, how can I connect with both of them in my community and my community allies?
Gloria: Very good question. I think the Good Judy utilizing social media, even before they launched was a definitely great model for them. I think that every business owner really has to look at their business plan, who their target market is, know your customers. Right. Do they utilize social media or would it be better?
I think what I heard from the Good Judy Garage is that they don't use a lot of the traditional advertisement. But, perhaps if it's a community-based small business, perhaps some of the local, like a local paper, you know, most of those have went digital or, you know, there's typically some type of community newsletter that gets solicited at you know, Saturday morning farmer's market.
So, again, it's really understanding who you're trying to target and how they best want to receive their information. And that goes into some understanding of the customer experience and that's the same for every community, whether you're targeting a specific demographic, a specific gender. I think it's important just to understand sound business foundations, and then to utilize those from a business standpoint.
So it's very important for small business owners to understand where their opportunities may lie. And if it's in the technology area to bring someone in and to help them establish what that presence is that they want and what platform they want to be on, they don't have to necessarily be on all platforms.
Carolyn: I also loved that, I had never heard of any business doing it, but I feel like do a good job of this, how they have the local artists display their artwork right in the front of the shop. So, if you're walking past their garage, you can see this display of art, and that catches your eye. What a brilliant way to not only give back to the community and let artists showcase their work, but you may get business out of that. I mean, they, they made a point of saying like, you know, a lot of the customers are like, oh, I can display my artwork here? This is awesome. So I really liked that aspect too. I thought that was so creative and so smart.
Gloria: I like the way they're connecting with the community, through the artists. So, again, I applaud them for their model and for their innovation.
Carolyn: I do too. And I feel like CC could repair anything. Like after talking to them, I'm like CC knows all.
Gloria: I know. Absolutely.
Carolyn: So the team at Good Judy, they estimate that 20% of their business comes from outside the LGBTQ plus community. So, what advice would you have for a business that serves a particular community?
Gloria: That's a really good question. I believe that you market to all people, right? And then the spaces that they're building within their organization have been very specific to create those safe spaces for a very specific problem.
So, I think their model is excellent. I think it's understanding that really it's about inclusion, right? So, including all people, knowing that the business will be very successful as they continue to broaden that 20%, they're going to build their customer base. But they've done it the right way because they understand it's not just the community, but their allies as well.
Carolyn: We kind of touched on this earlier, but I want to revisit it if it's okay with you Gloria. You know, one of the, I think, the most unique things about the Good Judy Garage is how real they are and how true to themselves they are. I think that's a very unique characteristic for some business.
Gloria: Yes, absolutely. And what I heard from not only the owners, but was also the two employees, that on day eight, that they reached out and hired, is that they feel very comfortable with bringing their authentic self. Showing up and being their real person, you know, who they are. I think that's really critical to creating that inclusive environment and safe spaces.
Carolyn: Thank you for sharing. The Assistant Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Employee Engagement at Selective Insurance, Gloria Ellis. Thank you so much for being on with us.
Gloria: Well, thank you for having me.
Outro:
Carolyn: Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Uniquely Small Biz with Good Judy Garage and Selective’s Gloria Ellis. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave us a review in the podcast store and tune in next month for more inspiring stories from real small business owners. I'm Carolyn McCardell and this has been Uniquely Small Biz from Selective Insurance.