good morning. coming up we have a special edition of "your business." she went from handyman to running a storage business. the very dynamic karen sideman becker share as what she learned when taking airport security clearance clear out of bankruptcy, plus the #hashtag how to see her movement. when it comes to running your business, we have your back. that's all coming up next on this special edition of "your

business." ♪ hi, everyone. i'm j.j. ramberg and welcome to "your business," a show dedicated to helping your growing business. when we first started this business 12 years ago, there was not a lot of attention paid to female founders. the fact is there are less of them than male founders. they're starting to get the attention that they, we all deserve. today we're dedicating the whole program to women in business and we kick it off with one owner here in new york. she started a service business and then decided to spen off a

second product-based company. she was shocked to discover how different running those two wering but figured out a way to make it all work. >> the handyman tasha is healthy in a good way. she's not a tie ramt. >> this brooklyn based couple couldn't have more different style. >> she pulled a check out of her purse that was about a year old. she said, oh, i just found this. i was like, really. i can't fathom being ten cents off on my reconciliation, let alone losing an entire check for a year. >> in 2011 liz founded check list home services, a handy man

business. tasha is her part-time bookkeeper. today she runs it and liz has spun off for herself a new business, city bin. selling a trash can storage bin. >> we needed a lot of clients that needed customer products and they needed trash enclose euros. >> she saw an opportunity. after careful research she founded citi bin to make and sell these high end durable storage products. >> so when we decided to make its own business and productize the service we had been offering, we had a lot of business. >> never the le, switching from a home repair business to a product business turned out to be a way bigger leap than either of them had anticipated. >> i did not anticipate how different the cash flow would impact the business.

>> the cash flow was very simple and predictable and there were low start-up costs and easy financials. >> the cost related to running the business happens as the business runs. >> where the hardware purchase maybe cost $50, the invebtry business can be six figures. >> liz needed to start up a prototype, pay for factory tooling and stock up on inventory all before earning a single pen. this required a 10-year, six-figure sba-backed loan. >> i needed to put my house on the line to get that loan, so literally if my business fails, my house is on the line, which means my marriage is on the line. >> she was blind-sided by the cash flo. however, she was happily surprised by the simplicity of the logistics. >> once someone purchase as product, you take it out of inventory and deliver it.

>> each job represented its own logistical minefield. >> when a client says something as simple as i need plaster repairs, i want to know what's the area of the plaster repair. to you have the paint, do we have to provide that, do you have ladder, do we need to bring a ladder, what tools do you have, what tools do we bring. >> if you don't get the logistics right, it becomes unprofitable. she's amazing at logistics. she started as a part-time bookkeeper and ended up running the whole operation. >> liz said she made a happy unexpected discovery about herself. >> for my temperament, the product business is better for me. i'm very good at product vemtd and strategy, but i'm actually not good at logistics and now i don't have to do a whole lot of it anymore. >> why they're two key

differences, liz also says they scale differently, too, because service is largely confined the local market and product is not. >> it's much more difficult to scale a service business. there's just a lot more human beings involved. there's a lot more involved. >> she says this means growth at a product-based business can have fewer. >> not only can i scale the business in term of geography, but in terms of product. we can expand and do add-ons and do other variations. >> liz made just a few tweaks and created an entirely new product for what she sees now as a new market, outdoor lockers to receive packages.

>> this is a porch locker that helps reduce porch piracy and keeping packages safe. >> liz has discovering her strong suit, and she's running with it. >> we're in high growth mode. we've launched two products this year, and we're really going to be focusing on marketing and scaling the business. g the busis speeding through airport security is a reality, thanks to karen sideman becker and the clear lanes you see at your local airport, but it almost didn't happen. becker is a big believer in biometrics. the describe five movie technology with finger scans an she saw an opportunity where others didn't and she took a big gamble when she bought the company out of bankruptcy in 2010. now she's got several years of smoothly operating the business and she's on her way to changing the way we think about security. we sat down with karen at

headquarters in new york where we talk about the future and your wallet may be obsolete. >> they use biometrics, fingerprints, face, and we hope one day voice. our view is you enroll once and once your identity or your credit card or health card are connected to you, you are your wallet and you can use them in so many places for a more secure frictionless experience. there's no way you're going have a wallet full of cards in a decade. that makes more sense. i think ignorance is bliss. i felt like it's my calling. i'm a neurotic person about security but it felt like such a no-brainer that when you believe in something so much, you for

it. so the failure didn't scare us off. it was an opportunity to learn. digging into understand whieg it failed made us more confident that it could be successful. restarlgt clear was hard, but if it was easy, everybody would be doing it. so we had an idea and a vision where we were ultimately going be. we're still not there, right? we're still getting there. but if you do the right thing, you delight customers, strengthen security, create jobs. the technology was ahead of its time to the credit of the company before us. buy metrics are not then what they are now we had to go to airports who were awn gri they hadn't seen clear since it shut down and the reception was quite negative by some people and now those people are our best partners because we've done what we said we were going to do. they ask why we kept the name. customers know the name.

it's clear. clarity. clear the way. i always thought of buy metrics of bringing you safer experiences by so many different vehicles. the airport is a good place to startism if you can conquer airports and air travel, then you can bring clear to so many different location, so about 50% of fans with using it to get into a baseball game or people are using it to travel. that's really exciting because the more value you add, the more we can add. people who are using it as banl stadiums are lerning about it. we love. think there is a lot of crossover. you are your health care card, you are your frequent flyer card. we have the frequent metric boarding pass. you are your ticket. you're stuck in a foreign

country and they won't let you back. you are your human passport. what do you mean? you are me. you should absolutely be using biometrics. i think one of things you do when you buy a bankrupt company is you use your integrity. we do not sell people's data. we sell experience by securing your data and protecting your privacy. 100% opt-in. i think that was crucial to rebuilding this company and crucial to our future, and so it is the foundation of everything that we do. we're in the middle of a cultural shift. the association of national advertisers along with a group of major brands are trying to limit women and ads. the initiative is calle called #seeher. the centennial of women surf raj

in the united states. here to talk more about the role of women in ads and its impact is jennifer sova. she's worked with fortune 500 brands. with full disclose u, our parent company comcast is one of her clienls. i remember when dove came out with their real women campaign. it was such a great deal and great brands have followed. ultimately brands are only going to keep doing this if it increases their sales, right? >> right. >> i don't care how much you care about social responsibility, et cetera. if your company doesn't sell, it's irrelevant, so i want to put up one of the companies that you work with. this is cromat. tell us what that is. >> it's a swimmer brand. traditionally you feel

uncomfortable in your someowims. what we did is cast a babe guard of individuals in the spot, very diverse, very inclusive, and we were policing it. instead of it being no running at the pool or horseplay, it was about all the ability, cellulite allowed, intolerance not tolerated. it worked. we saw a tremendous increase with the ad. they loved it. there was an increase in following. this campaign was picked up in over 50 publications globally and got 90 million imprelgss with no paid media at all. >> but the 25% enkraes wt was it.

in the pacht i would take the most stunning man -- stunning woman, handsome man and put them in situation probably most of us would not be in. is that not resonating anymore? is the aspirational advertising not good, hey, here's the reality? >> no, i don't think so. geena davis institute did a study on this and 85% of women were offended with how they're depicted in advertising, which is shocking. people are dielinger dying to see realness. you talk about the see her movement. if you see her, you can be here. people feel that. they want to be connected to the ad. >> let's show the other example you have of the ad from olay.

this is a if you see her you can believe her. >> the whole notion of this, the women are like, you're too this, too that, too different, too vulnerable, and they wanted to eliminate that. they had a simple device in their advertising. where they see the individual they say there's no such thing as too vulnerable or too different in this ad. it's incredible. what they're saying to women is own it. you can face anything. be your bold self. beshamelessly you, and that's pretty wonderful. >> and it looks like it works best on social media where people say i like this best. they're on instagram and didn't pay anything for advertising but i saw my friend who's not

perfect looking and has all her flaws and i know her, but i see she's wearing this lipstick and i really like it on her. >> absolutely. you want to connect with someone you see yourself being or doing or wearing. advertising is shifting to that. we see that with gen z. i talked with girls in a group. they speak about this realness and authenticity. that's the companies they want to buy from and they're going to support and put their money behind. >> that's great not to have to be so perfect. nice to see you. >> nice to see you too. the association of national advertisers launched the #seeher campaign. in celebration of women entrepreneurs, here are five programs to help women start their businesses. >> one, bumble fund.

you probably heard of the dating achlt they're willing to invest money in companies primarily made of women with primarily diverse backgrounds. two, fight. it's available through determine logical. the program offers loans, vocational training and other benefits for any woman who has yet to start hers by. through. it as what $27 million to invest in tech. the torey burch foundation. they offer up to $100,000 to help get your business launched. and, five, boss, brunging out successful sister they promote small business, fear, and professional development of multi-cultural women.

i'm here with this week's elevator percher. she's here to talk about her item. how do you feel. >> fwritd. >> have you raised in me money yesterday? >> no. i'm self-funded. >> what does that mean? >> line of credit, shaky days. >> here's how the pitch goes. you going talking to two people. one is alicia, she's the founder and ct o'. she'll be great at giving advice. the second is jennifer young who started outdoorsy. she saw a problem and grew it over the past few years. these women are great. >> hi. i'm susan. i'm a breast cancer survivor and

while i was undergoing cancer treatment my daughter suggest thad maybe all the plastics i had used in the maeve could be harmful, so i decided to switch to all glass, but what i found were glass bowls with the glass tops so i invested and patented the cuchina safe lids. glass is eco-friendly and it doesn't harbor bacteria like plastics can. i'm looking for $500,000 to take me above my current online sales of amazon, grommet, hsn, and qvc. i'd like to get into big box stores, the international market and grow my mean ya. so if you want to see the cuchina safe lid in my recipes,

go to cuchina.com. >> i love how you tell your stories. >> i'm italian. >> i'm going to give you this. two numbers. one is, what do you think of th think of the pitch? one to ten. >> you could tell you have been on television pitching your problem before, theatrics throwing that bag, really, a nice job. are you done? >> yes. >> start with you. >> you're shaking a little. >> okay. >> product? >> so on the product, i liked a lot of what i heard. you're clearly on trend with being eco friendly and health conscious. what i want to know more about is, because it's glass, there's a product liability angle. i need to know it doesn't crack and would just want to feel it and use it to make sure it's okay for elderly consumers, too. >> right. >> i'm positively inclined but i need to know more because of the nature of the product. >> okay. >> on the pitch front, i gave you more points, because you are

an old hat at public speaking, and i can tell. i loved hearing your personal story. i loved hearing about the patents. i loved hearing about the distribution and you were very clear with your funding ads. the only reason i was a little unsure is because i'm not clear yet whether this is kind of a one-woman business that's lifestyle or whether you have a big vision and there's a big market and lots of revenues that you're gunning towards. so i'd love to hear more but overall positively inclined. >> okay. thank you. >> nice job. all right. >> i also thought did you a fantastic job. >> thank you. >> i gave you a 9 on product and a 9 on pitch, and for many of the same reasons so i hope it's not too competitive, but on the product side i thought it was great. i thought you did a fantastic job starting with the brand story, such a moment of truth in your life and a fabulous endorsement why the product will be so successful. maybe pausing more and making that a punctuation point when you started.

also i thought you could have spent maybe a little more time sort of painting, bringing to life the customer. the women in all of the houses and it's not just one product one time. i know you do a couple different sizes and shapes. talking about the use cases. popcorn, quick meals or -- >> by the way, ice c can put tho life going into my microwave and seeing the splatters. >> exactly. so many uses. it helps highlight how large the total addressable market is here. just wet the whistle a little there. >> and on the pitch side i thought it was a great job. i thought you did a great job. upbeat, very personable. i felt you could really connect with your customers and audience, which i think is really important for all entrepreneurs. it has to be authentic and feel that. really nice job. >> i agree with all the recommendatio

recommendationses. >> good love with everything. thank all of you for your advice. when we come back, advice why you need to do your homework both on the business and the person you are pumpin ipitching and thoughts and sacrifices entrepreneurs have to make. don't forget that the past can speak to the future. ♪ ♪ i'm going to be your substitute teacher. don't assume the substitute teacher has nothing to offer... same goes for a neighborhood. don't forget that friendships last longer than any broadway run. mr. president. (laughing) don't settle for your first draft. or your 10th draft. ♪ ♪ you get to create the room where it happens. ♪ ♪ just don't think you have to do it alone. ♪ ♪ the powerful backing of american express. don't live life without it.

the last ten years i put a lot of time and sacrificed a lot for my business. what have you had to sacrifice you regret? >> a great question, but i tend to look at the world in a different way. i tend to not have those regrets, because i think if you make a decision and it's right for you at the time, then it's the right decision, and if you're making a trade-off for your business and really love your business, then that's the right trade-off. how much, where i have failed horribly at certain times is prioritizing certain things. for example, for me i love to exercise. it's really important to me. mentally and physically, and there are times when people said, oh, well you sacrificed exercise for your business. really i didn't make a

sacrifice, i just did a poor job prioritizing it. i would say, don't have regrets, but do focus on that art and that science of making priorities really important to you, and getting those done, and not worrying about things that are sacrifices. we now have the top two tips you need to know ho temperature you grow your business. back with us once again, start with you. you've been helping so many women entrepreneurs with yo your .25 initiative. on behalf of women, first, thank for everything you're doing, but give us a tip. >> sure. my top tip is to make sure that you do your homework on both the business that you're pitching and the person that you're pitching, and what i mean by that, all too often we go into business pitches and are consumed how do we get them to buy the products? what are are the pros and cons? how do i get that message

across? and we forget to do the research on the person we're pitching. people diligence bp by that, search the web, go to linkedin pshgs who do you know in common, where did they go to school, where have they worked? what are they really proud of? end of the day, relationships matter. if you get to know the person first and have a connection with them, doing business next is so much easier. >> incredibly true. quickly scan their office, might have a diploma up, went to the same school or a picture with baseball and you may love baseball. connect with anything. makes it easier. >> yes. >> and you started your business from nothing, incredibly successful, matchmaking rv owners with rv renters. very, very successful. what have you learned along the way? >> go where your customers are.

that's how we started it at the inception to be able to figure how to build the largest and most trusted rv rental and experienced marketplace we had to understand what was important to rv owners, to renters, the camper van, travel camper or suv with a roof top vent. we spent eight months living in an rv. went to you a the parks and learned -- >> before or after you launched? >> while launching it. sort of like building an airplane while you're flying off the grand canyon. >> the point, get in there. get in their shoes. >> nobody will tell you anything more important than the people you're trying to market the products to. we spent thousands of hours listening to all of the stakeholders within the market, renters and owners and that informed what would make a great customer experience for us onand off-line. >> that's in the beginning. right? once an established company, launching a new product, you're

lucky. you don't have to seek those people. you have them in your database. congratulations to you both. thank you for all you've done as a role model and really practically for women, especially talking about it throughout the show. >> you, too, j.j. >> thank you. and owning alpha custom clothiers in chesapeake, virginia. i love the picture. looks like someone is missing a head. makes custom suits and shirts. pick up your cell phone and take a selfie of you and your business. send it to us @msnbc.com. we love seeing the pictures. include your name, the name of your business and where you are. thank you so much for joining us. we love hearing from you. if you have questions or just want to say hi, e-mail us to "your business" @msnbc.com.

also check out other website. msnbc.com/yourbusiness. we put up all the segments from today's show plus a lot more with you and connect with our digital and social media platforms too. one last thing. check out our podcast called been there, built that. download for free from apple podcasts officer wherever you get your pod cast. until next time, remember, we make your business our business. don't forget that the past can speak to the future. ♪ ♪ i'm going to be your substitute teacher. don't assume the substitute teacher has nothing to offer... same goes for a neighborhood. don't forget that friendships last longer than any broadway run. mr. president. (laughing) don't settle for your first draft.

or your 10th draft. ♪ ♪ you get to create the room where it happens. ♪ ♪ just don't think you have to do it alone. ♪ ♪ the powerful backing of american express. don't live life without it. hey there, i'm david gura. this morning it ain't over yet. the stunning twist. >> we can have a short pause and make sure that the fbi can investigate. >> in what's been a wrenching week. # #. >> i was sexually assaulted and nobody believed me. >> i didn't tell anyone and you're telling all women that they don't matter. >> the federal bureau of investigation has one week to try to find out the truth. >> i've never sexually assaulted anyone. >> brett kavanaugh, did he do what he is accused of doing?