and an exclusive encore performance by kelsea ballerini following the show on xfinity x1. the acm awards. live on sunday, april 2nd 8/7 central on cbs. good morning. is the plan to replace the affordable care act good for owners of businesses. this inspiring down drsyndre woman starts her own company. we go undersea taking people swimming with sharks with no cage.

he, everyone. welcome to your business. if you need a dose of i understand separation this morning. listen to this. down syndrome may have prevented her from getting a job. did not stop her from starting her own company. her cookies. her mission is to grow her business and hire capable people with disabilities like herself. that makes her our small

business hero. today everyone in business is rooting for her. she's a graduate of clemson university, hard working and fiercely independent, but 26-year-old just couldn't find a job. >> every interview she went on, people loved her. they kept her there for hours. i mean, even she would come home and say that was a slam dunk, i definitely got a job. to find out later, wasn't a good fit or wasn't a great culture for her. very obvious what they were saying. >> the elephant in the room. she has down syndrome. >> it was frustrating to see. it was us from stating for her to see the reason why. >> interview, i didn't get a job because of disability and i know

how that feels like for people with disabilities in them. it's hard to find a paying job. >> she channelled that le jury selection and decided to take matters into her own hands. if no one would hire her, she would create her own job by starting a business e. >> what was just amazing to me about this story was here's a woman who had a passion for baking and immediately was able to turn it into a business with the support of her mother, her sister, and the community she lived in. >> the product that launched her cookies was a killer chocolate chip cookie recipe she had been working on and perfecting for years. it's called the amazing cooky. i don't know what it is, but it's perfection. every single one she makes. >> my recipe is a secret but i really can tell you what are in

the ingredients is about love. from the heart. >> like many entrepreneurs, she started small. baking batches of cookies at home and selling to friends and family. it kind of came her main focal point. it made her feel good and there was no rejection there. >> feeling comfort in the quality of her amazing cooky, she approached her local boston supermarket, the golden goose and asked if they would sell her cookies. >> she was a customer of ours and she's a nice girl so we said, yeah, we'll sell your okies. >> with a smalltream of orders and shelf space, the cookies was now a real business with paying customers. >> at this point making three or four dozen a week for the market. then we built her a website and she started selling website with people. she was doing mail orders, but not much. then everything changed. >> she hit the local news here

in boston. we got thousands and thousands of orders. everybody that came in here found the shelf empty because we couldn't keep on the demand. with such a large influx of orders, the golden goose offered her use of the kitchen. rosemary and blake helped out. she has a couple college kids working for her and she usually comes in around 3:00 when our employees are gone for the day and she's there from usually 3 to 11:00 at night making cookies. >> practically overnight went from having a small cooky company to having a rapidly growing business and thousand os of orders, employees to jug and will a large kitchen to navigate. >> they were able to turn the orders around. they were coming in tens of thousands. she was historically thinking in tens of dozens. quite an adaptation they needed to make. >> people were deeply inspired

by her story. >> that's when blake said, i'm going to build her a social platform. i'm going to start at the cookie and go up to you. >> social media is just fascinatie ining to me. it's global. everyone is on the same platform. the stories that were being shared locally. i made little pages for her on twitter, instagram, facebook, all the information that was already out there i just put on those page. >> once blake did, everybody kept building on the story. not only did they share the story, they keep circling bake to see the progression of her growing her company which is really amazing. >> that's when the lightbulb really went off. it was an opportunity to showcase the capabilities of the person with developmental disabilities. >> they're seeing all these things she's accomplished and saying wow, okay, look what she's done. >> as a woman entrepreneur with down syndrome, she now has a big

dream that is very personal. >> i want to do a cook company is to hire people with disabilities. >> her goal is to grow her company so she can create thousands of jobs pr people like herself and her sister blake thinks she is just the person to make that dream a raeeality. >> she's got perfect traits of entrepreneur. she's driven. loves everybody, but she's sassy. she's smart. she's so smart. there's a platform now right in front of us to change the fact that a lot of people with disabilities are not employed or have entry level jobs or are not being paid. we're not able to step in and really make a difference which is incredible. another boston teenager survived surgery for a tumor at the base of her brain and then

launched a wildly successful ice cream brand, all while finding time to help children with cancer. nbc an thompson has her story. >> by any measure, she is an extraordinary 17-year-old. >> i am the ceo, cfo, coo. i pretty much do sglefrg everything in her own ice cream company, little g. >> i put a lot of stuff in. >> churned in boston's commonwealth kitchen where startups launch. her made from scratch treats born out of a difficult time two years ago. >> grace was diagnosed with a tumor on the base of her brain. it was operated on, had it not been treated, she would have died. >> wshe wa lying there, she was seeing this business. >> after just a year, grace is turning a profit selling nationwide online and in eight boston area grocery stores. as many as 1500 pints a week. >> is this how you've learned to

cook. >> yes, definitely from cook books, the internet and cooking show sgls shy about telling her own story, she now shares the ice cream that helped her heal with patients in boston hospitals. >> i yususually let the ice cre do the talking. >> with mom at the wheel for deliveries so grace with work. this is a quasi family business. >> have you had to fire anybody. >> my grandfather. >> you fired your grandfather. >> he's used to being the boss and i have to be the boss in the kitchen. >> this high school senior plans to go to college after an ambitious gap year. >> i want to be in grocery stores nationwide and take over the ice cream market. >> you got the scoop here first. an tompson, nbc news, boston. the republican led effort to replace the affordable care act has generated both support and concern from many different groups and constituencies.

the american health care act, which the gop hopes will replace obamacare. has the blessing while the office says it could result in millions of people losing coverage. what hasn't been addressed very much is the plans affect on small and medium businesses. both those with over 50 employees and those with less. we thought we would take time to dig into the numbers. founder and ceo of small business majority and advocacy group. director of relations with independent businesses known as nfib. specializes in health care and health insurance issues. so good to see you both. >> good to be here. >> thanks for having us. >> i really appreciate you taking the time so we can die sect this to understand how this affects small and medium sized business owners. to start that off. let's go backwards. before obamacare, one of the big

issues that people were afraid of was that it would slow down growth. that companies would not hire the 50th employee. so now that we are many years into obamacare, and we can look backwards. i would like to get both of your takes on that. did indeed that happen. did companies not hire the 50th employee because of the mandate to provide them health insurance, john, i'll start with you. we don't have any evidence there was any real affect having the 50 threshold. most businesses over 50 employees offered coverage before the act was passed. what's really important is under the aca people were able to start businesses, grow businesses, hire people. even if they didn't offer group coverage because they didn't have to worry about health care. that's at jeopardy here if this gets repealed. >> i want to get to kevin's take on this also. did you see any evidence of slower growth because people didn't want to hire the 50th

employee and comply with the mandate. >> the 50 employee figure was certainly an impediment. remember that mandate was such a problem it was delayed once, revised upward again and this year was the first time it was fully enacted. the evidence might not be there yet. it certainly could be in the near future. what percentage of companies who have 50 employees right now don't provide health insurance because that's really the number of people that are going to be affected, right? >> prior to aca it was only 4% of companies over 50 employees that didn't offer. as kevin said, it hasn't fully taken affect. we expect that number to actually close and have very tiny percentage of companies over 50 not offering. >> got it. if we're not talking about growth, but just talking about companies that are sort of in the position of having to provide health insurance and it's 4% or higher, kevin? >> that 4% figure is probably

accurate. think about this, that's 70,000 businesses. not only the nonoffering businesses. it's the businesses that offer, but perhaps the coverage is unaffordable. in addition to that, it's all businesses with over 50 employees that must deal with compliance as well. really adding no value to any employer. >> can you speak to the compliance and how that hurts. most businesses that are over 50, they have some kind of hr structure. they've been having to provide, they've been having to follow laws that already exist both federally and in their states. we don't expect nor have we heard from any businesses they're going to be any significant business compliances because a very small percentage are going to have to offer what they're offering before. >> let's talk about one thing that is new and a bit complicated. how many full time equivalences you have. i know i have 50 full-time employees. i have to provide them health insurance. can you speak to that and how

that has been hard or not for businesses to comply wl. that's part of the compliance burden i described earlier. it's a very good point. you're certainly doing new arithmetic. never before did anyone devise and calculate full time equivalent employees and it's those businesses had to do it with fewer than 25 employees to see if they qualify for a temporary limited tax credit. the real stick was 50 or more. it's not easy, you have to do it on a monthly basis. if you outsource it, it increases compliance cost. if you do it in house, it's not an easy task to do either. >> john, what to you think about this. >> we're talking about a very small percentage of businesses. the rule has to be set somewhere. it's not that complicated to figure out how many employees you have that are working more than 30 hours a week.

we haven't heard anything from small businesses about this problem. what we've heard about is the fact millions of businesses and employees are about to potentially lose coverage. unfortunately we have to stop it here. i thank you both for diving into the details with me. i appreciate you staying focused how this affects small and medium business owners. i'm sure we'll be talking again within the next little while. thanks again. >> thanks. >> thank you. my name is matt. this is my lovely wife and model. i used to be a waiter at chart house and i used to get pedicure done, but i get sick from the traditional salon with all the

smell. so i thought maybe we'll open a salon with no chemicals. so we're the only one. then i start creating my line. everything made in america. vegan, very safe for pregnant woman. people with asthma, allergy and little princess. i want you to try one of those. this is the one with lav dender this is tea tree. no acetone. regular remover, you cannot take the cotton ball in the garbage can. this one we can. we are in whole foods. going be doing a quarter million this year. doing another 400,000 this year. >> what is your best seller. >> lavender nail polish is number one.

selling also on amazon. >> how much money are you looking for and what are you going to do with that money. >> looking for $250,000. 10% return. going to be go up to 440 whole foods. >> do you wholesale your product. >> we do. >> this is topical. >> she's ready to keep asking questions. >> from this pitch and what you see so far. what do you think of the product, 1 through 10. and what do you think of the pitch. i'm going to smell as you where i your number. >> amazing. compared to nail polish remover which you feel is trully, i don't know if it is, but it certainly smells toxic. i would highs my nails right now. >> made and bottled and labeled all in america. >> okay. let's start with you angela who own as spa and has created products. knows the space very well. >> i would say product a seven and pitch was eight.

so the product i didn't honestly try your nail polish yet. i think it smells lovely. ting packaging could go to the next level. the pitch was great. loved the fact you used what's all the rage right now is toxic fire rescue, cruelty free, keep emphasize sizing what it's freeze of. that's what the consumer wants to hear. >> that was the pitch. >> i was so confused. ive thought the product was a ten. i know this is a hot button topic. not only for the people getting the manicures, but the people giving the manicures. we know there's been health problems around people working in spas having to deal with toxic chemicals day in and day out. i love the product. the pitch, just giving me the data up front because then i would have been more on vince pd

about the pitch. that said there's no doubt you piqued their interest. good luck with everything. if any of you would like to come on your business and pitch your product or service, listen up. the best way to do that is send us a video of you doing your one minute elevator pitch. make it either an mp 4 or wmv or post it to the youtube page and send the video or the link to you tube page to us at your business msnbc.com. a small business own e we met in hawaii does that everything sing i day. there's no tank. when she says sharks, she's not talk about investors. she's talking about the ones with big dooet and fins.

former model and current conservationist had an idea to introduce people to the animal she loves. today she's got a thriving business. the idea of being this close to a shark might be a nightmare for most people. for ocean ramsey, the co-founder of one ocean diving, it's a dream come true. ocean is a conservationist focused on sharks. she's been called the shark whisperer. she's been called crazy. look at this photo. that's ocean swimming with a great white. >> i get to see them on a day-to-day basis. i get to see the reality of them. how incredible they are. it really inspired me to speak up for them. >> world class researcher, ocean and her partner created a nonprofit called water inspired to study sharks. that i have quickly learned they needed to do more. came up with a plan. start another company.

a for profit venture which takes people like me and my fellow adventurers swimming with the sharks. notice, there are no cages. unlike most shark swimming tours, with this one, you are up close and personal. >> so crazy. you're on the boat. you see that iconic picture of the fin. >> right. >> and you think instead of running away from this, i'm about to dive into this. goes against every single thing anyone has ever told me to do. >> exactly. ocean and juan figured giving people this experience and having them come away with it with all their limbs intact would do more to help sharks than any research they could accomplish. >> do you feel differently about sharks than you did before you went down there. >> can't go diving with a shark. find out how amazing they are and not do something to try to help them save them. i see that change in people every single day. the fix from fear to

fascination. >> but shark attacks are real. ocean spends the entire boat ride out to the site explaining the rules. she says if you follow her instructions, the sharks will not bother you. that most sharks attacks are a case of mistaken identity. sharks believe your pray because of the way you see them in the water. you should factor in and play by their rules. ocean and juan have been say have i about the way they get the word out. their marketing expenses today. almost nothing. >> we don't have a budget for marketing. i know through another girl in our conservation group. social media is an extremely powerful tool. juan is an award winning photographer. when you're a customer, you get photos too and ocean encourages people to share them. >> do you get the people who come on your trips to united states lyse their social media. >> we ask them if they post to

say something nice about sharks sgls utilizing hashtags and optization. even our business card has suggestive hashtags on them. how they get most of their business. right now, too much business to keep up with. as they grow, they hope to expand their team, but for now, they both people everything they have to do is worth it. just to be out there. >> i can get up at 5 in the morning and go to bed late at night. it's my way of giving back to them. i think it's successful because we are so passionate about it and willing to work hard for it. it's our life. when you love what you do it doesn't feel like work. when we come back, what you need to know. why competition is actually good for your company.

will your business be ready when growth presents itself? american express open cards can help you take on a new job, or fill a big order or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. find out how american express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open.com. how do you manage awaring other businesses. what integration challenges have you faced. knowing when you know now, would

you do it again. >> i've only bought one small company. i've been in business groups for years and watched a lot of other businesses buy companies. i would say the first thing to do is make sure this is a company that's smart to buy. i've looked to buy companies and when i saw what they were about and they're employees and how they manage them, i realize this would be a nightmare to try to integrate it with my company. i have high stands and i understood that from the way this person was managing that probably half his people would quit after we took it over. i would say the first thing is do a lot of prep work to make sure this is going to be able to be, you know, integrated and two if you decide to do it, you need to have a lot of meetings and flush out what you're all about and how you operate and make sure everyone knows it before they get there. it's easier to do that than fix the problem after they're coming in. we now have the top two tips you need to know to help your business grow.

founder of saver beauty and saver the success. serial entrepreneur of clothe and company both back with us. good to see both of you. >> a tip for growing your business. you both started your business from nothing to actually one funded. this new one. let's start with you. what's one tip. >> my tip right now is just be nimble. we're in a world where everything is changing so quickly. especially in my consumer retail world. you need to be ready to move, run, stop, re-evaluate, but constantly. not a lot of rules anymore. the rules we used to go to sort of fundamentals don't apply a lot anymore. i think be as nimble as you possibly can. >> how do you create a team you can do this with without getting whiplash. >> it's a very good question. i think that has to be the sort of as i start to hire for this new venture i'm working on, that has to be a conversation we have upfront. i need athletes on my team this

time. people willing to take the sprint with me and be nimble in thought process and be open to all the new ideas that are going to come at them in this kind of retail cycle. >> right. all in irony. >> yes. so don't be afraid of competition. i think competition can be so healthy for you because it really forces you, inspires you to really articulate your unique value proposition. so, example. when i first launchedly organic skin care, i was one of the only ones. now everybody has launched an organic skin care brand. it's not special anymore. i've taken the competition and it's forced he to articulate, find and communicate with the unique proposition is. a lot of it is brand history. we've rebranded come out beauty. that positions us in a very different space so i wouldn't have gone through that exercise had there not been the healthy

competition. >> also it helps you grow the market. now you have a lot of people's marketing dollars creating market for something new. just have to make sure you're in position to capture it. >> absolutely, yes. >> this week's selffie comes frm curt alexander. vertical landscape ig. mission to bring nature to urban environment. do really neat stuff there. why don't you help grow your business. taking a selfie of your and your company. e-mail to your business at msnbc.com. or tweet it. we love love seeing your photos. don't forget to include your name, name of your business and location. use the hashtag your business selfie. thank you all so much for joining us today. we love hearing from you so if you have any questions or you have comments or want to get in touch, e-mail us.

we ready every single e-mail we get. you can also go to website. open forum.com. your business. we put up all the segments from today's show plus a whole lot more. also don't forget to connect with us on all of our digital and social media platforms as well. we look forward to seeing you next time. until then, remember, we make your business our business. will your business be ready when growth presents itself? american express open cards can help you take on a new job, or fill a big order

or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. find out how american express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open.com. if you are one of the millions of americans who called your member of congress or went to a demonstration or vigil or made a sign or screamed your guts out at a town hall to try to save the affordable care act, for you this is a very happy friday indeed. 24 million americans are not going to lose their health insurance because the republican plan to get rid of obamacare failed today in a quite ignominious way. tonight we have the senior most democrat in washington, the top senate democrat chuck schumer here with us this evening to talk about what is just an epic