essentials, comcast has connected more than six-million low-income people to low-cost, high-speed internet at home. i'm trying to do some homework here. so they're ready for anything. good morning. coming up a special edition of msnbc's your business which is focused on women entrepreneurs. she went from providing handyman services to selling storage units. a service business to owning a product oriented one. >> shares lessons she learned when taking airport security screening out of bankruptcy. how the movement is working to eliminate bias against women in media and advertising. when it comes to running a business, we have your back. that's all coming up next on this special edition of your business.

>> announcer: your business is sponsored by american express. don't do business without it. hi everyone. i'm jj ramberg and welcome to your business. the show dedicated to help your growing business. when we first started this program 12 years ago, there was not a lot of attention paid to female founders. fact is, there are many less of them than male founders. but women have built some extraordinary businesses and they're starting to get the attention that they, we all deserve. today we're dedicating the whole program to women in business. we kick it off with one owner here in new york. she started a service business and then decided to spin off a

second company. she was shocked to discover how different they were to run but figured out a way to make it all work. >> the handyman fear -- in a healthy way. she's not a tyrant. >> she has the mind of an entrepreneur. more dreaming, more planning. >> they couldn't have more different styles. but together they have the perfect chemistry to build a successful service business. >> pulls this old check out of her purse that was about a-year-old. lierk 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 checklist home services, a home

repair business. tasha owe fairly was her part-time bookkeeper. liz has spun off a new business, citi bin selling a trash can storage product she developed at checklist. >> had a lot of clients that needed custom carpentry projects. they were increasingly asking for trash enclosures. >> liz saw an opportunity for the trash can and closure requests. after careful market research, she founded citi bin to make and sell these high-end storage products. >> when we decided to make it a business and really product -- the service that we had been offering. we had a lot of experience. >> nevertheless, switching from an hourly home repair service to a manufactured product business turned out to be a way bigger leap than either of them had anticipated. >> i did not anticipate how the difference in cash flow would just impact the business. >> with the service business, the cash flow was very simple

and predictable. there were low startup costs and easy financials. >> the costs related to running the business get covered as the business runs. whereas, the hardware store purchase maybe cost $50. the inventory purchase can be six figures, easily. >> just to start up citi bin, she needed to develop a prototype. stock up inventory all before earning a single penny. this required a ten-year six-figure sba backed loan. >> i needed to put my house on the line to get that loan. literally, if my business fails, my house is on the line, which probably means my marriage would be on the line. >> liz was initially blind sided by the cash flow. on the other hand, she was happily surprised by thelogisti. >> you take it out of the inventory, put it in the truck and you deliver it. >> back at checklist, each client and each job represented

its own low gist calami-- low g calamine field. >> i want to know what the area of that plaster repair, do you need the paint, do you need a ladder, what shiez ladder. what materials do we need to bring. >> if you don't get the logistics right, it could be unprofitable. >> she credits her tactical mind-set for making that work. >> she started as a part-time bookkeeper, ended up being able to run the whole operation. >> moving on to the simplified logistics of the business, liz made a happy, unexpected discovery about herself. >> for my temperament, the product business is better for me. >> i'm very good at product development and very good at strategy. i'm actually not good at logistics. now i don't have to do a whole lot of it anymore. >> while cash flow and logistics are two key areas of difference

between service and product businesses, liz say they scale differently too. it's largely confined to 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, lot more variability involved. it primarily is a local business. >> she says this means that growth in a product-based business can have fewer limitations than with a service-based business. she likes that. >> not only can i scale the business in terms of geography, but i can scale it in terms of product. kek do add-ones and advair indications. >> using her creative juices and the modular design of her product, liz made a few tweaks to the original enclosures andee ated an entirely new product for a rapidly growing market. outdoor lockers to receive package deliveries. >> this is citi bin's latest product. this is a porch locker that helps reduce porsche piracy and

keeps packages safe. >> by moving away from the burden of logistics into product development and marketing, liz discovered her strong suit. she's running with it. >> we're in high growth mode. we've launched two products this year. we're really going to be focusing on marketing and scaling the business. >> going through airport security is a reality thanks to karen sideman becker. it almost didn't happen. becker is a big believer in biometrics, it's behind fingerprint and iris scans. she saw an opportunity and took a gam whble when she bought the company out of bankruptcy. it's a complicated private sector and she's on a mission to change the way we think about security. we sat down with karen at clear headquarters in new york to talk about a future where your wallet

may be obsolete. >> clear uses biometrics, fingerprints, iris images, we hope one day voice, to create secure frictionless experience this is a connected world. our view as you enroll one and once your identity or your credit card or health insurance card are connected to you, you are your wallet. you can use them in so many different places for more secure frictionless experience. i think this is the most awesome opportunity. this is where the world is going. there's no way to is i have a wallet full of cards in a decade. >> i didn't think it was gutsy to buy it out of bankruptcy. ignorance is bliss. i felt it was my calling. i'm a neurotic person about security. it felt like a no-brainer. when you believe in something so much, you go for it.

so the failure didn't scare us off. it was an opportunity to learn. so digging in and understanding why it failed made us more confident that it could be successful. restarting clear was hard but if it's easy, everybody would be doing it. we had an idea and a vision where we were ultimately going to be. we're still not there. we're getting there. if you do the right thing, you delight customers, you strengthen security, you create jobs. the technology was ahead of its time to the credit of the company who came before us. biometrics were not what they are now. the reception was quite negative by some people. now those people are our best partners because we've done what we said we're going to do. some people say, why did you keep the name? we think it's an amazing name. clear the way, transparency.

i always thought biometrics as bringing you safer experiences. airports were the best place to start. they are hardware identity and security and customer experience converge. if you can conquer airports and air travel, then you can bring clear to so many different locations. so about 50% of the fans were using it to get into a baseball game people who enrolled at the airport and using it to travel. so that's really exciting. the more value you can add, the more -- the better it is for customers and creating. people using it at baseball stadiums are learning about it. some of them are upgrading to the airport. so we love that. i think there is a lot of crossover. i do envision a world over the next decade where you are leaving home without your wallet and being able to transact in so many places. you are your health care card and frequent flyer card. we have the patent for the biometric boarding pass. >> you get stuck in a foreign

country, what do you mean, i'm me? you should absolutely be using biometrics. protecting privacy and securing data is our job. . one of the things when you buy a bankrupt company is rebuilding the integrity. we've been out in front of this for eight years. we do not sell or share people's data. we sell experiences by protecting your privacy. opt-in, transparent on the privacy policy. i think that was crucial to rebuilding this company and crucial to our future. 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 eliminate women and -- in the immediate yachlt the initiative called #see her. it calls for a 20% increase in the portrayal of women and girls by 2020.

the centennial of women's suffrage in the united states. jennifer da silva is here. nearly 20 years of experience working on brands. comcast is one of their clients. good to see you. >> good to see you. thank you so much for having me. >> this is so interesting. what's happening now. when dove came out with the real women campaign, it was a big deal and a lot of great brands have followed. ultimately, brands are only going to keep doing this if it increases their sales. i don't care how much you care about social responsibility, if your company goes under, your advertisers not working, it's irrelevant. i want to put up one of the companies that you workedw the ad that they have. this is crow mat, is it? >> tell us what they did. it's a swimwear brand. traditionally when you go to the

pool, they wanted to get rid of the preconceived notions of what beauty typically is at the pool. what we did is we cast a guard of individuals in the spot. very diverse. very inclusive. we redefined the pool rules to be about instead of being about no running or horseplay at the pool, it was about all abilities accepted. cellulite allowed. intolerance not tolerated. it worked. we saw a tremendous reception to the ad with the crow mat community. they loved it. they saw a tremendous increase of following of 15%. a 25% increase in sales for the brand from the campaign. >> wow. >> and this campaign was picked up in over 50 publications globally and got 90 million impressions with no paid media at all. >> that's a 25% increase in sales is the key number here. >> absolutely. >> what is it? do you think consumers -- just

say i'm a brand, right, i'm thinking about launching a campaign. in the past i would take the most kind of the stunning man, handsome man, stunning woman, put them -- is that not resonating anymore. is the aspirational advertising not as good as the -- hey here's the reality? >> no, i don't think it's resonating anymore. geena davis institute did a study on this. 85% of women were offended of how women are depicted in advertising, which is just shocking. people are dying to see realness and authenticity in advertising. you talk about the see her movement. there's another part of that movement, if you see her, you can be her. people feel that and want to feel themselves in the ads. connected to that. >> let's show the other example from olay. let's put that up here too. this is the if you see her, you can be here. all different kinds of women in

this ad. >> absolutely. they did a tremendous job in cast thg ad. the whole notion of this campaign is that women are often -- to this or to that. you're too confident, you're too different, you're too vulnerable. they wanted to eliminate that. they had a very simple device in their advertising. this is one where you see all of them. it crosses out the two and says you know what, there's no such thing that says too vulnerable or different in this ad. it's incredible. what they're saying to women is own it. you can face anything. be your bold self. be same leshamelessly you. it's wonderful. >> in this moment of social media where what we really want to hear is from our friends. i like this product and that's what's working the best for companies. companies that have grown on instagram and didn't pay anything for advertising. >> right. >> but i saw my friend who is not perfect looking, right, and

has all their flaws and i know her for their flaws but she's wearing this lipstick and i really like it on her. >> absolutely. you want to connect with something you think you can see yourself doing or being or wearing. advertising is shifting to that. we see that with gen z. i talked to the girls in a group i'm a part of. they speak about this realness and this authenticity and that's the company they want to support and put their money behind. >> it's such a great initiative. i'm glad don't have to be so perfect. >> thank you so much. >> nice to see you. >> nice to see you too. the association of national advertisers launched the #see her campaign to ee limb nate bias -- eliminate bias against women. here are five programs to help women start their businesses. one, bumble fund. you probably heard of the dating app bumble. now they're launching bumble

fund committed to invest more than a million dollars into companies that primarily help women with a focus on female founders from diverse backgrounds. two. fite. the financial independence through entrepreneurship. it's available through determine logica. it has many benefits for any women yet to start her business. three, female founders fund. this venture capital firm has $27 million to invest in tech-related companies created by women. four, the tory burch foundation. this is about women helping women. the foundation offers up to $100,000 to help get your business launched. and 5, boss, bringing out successful sisters. a networking platform for primarily african american women entrepreneurs and professionals. they promote small business, spirit and professional development of the multicultural women. >> i'm here with elevator

pitcher susan. she's going to talk about her product. how do you feel? >> a little nervous but good. >> you know your business. have you gotten any money, raised any money? >> no. i'm self-funded. >> where did the money come from? >> line of credit and lot of shaky days. >> right. here's a chance to give your pitch. you'll be talking to two people. the first one is alicia -- she invests in people like you. first money in. she'll be great at giving advice. the second person is jennifer young, the coe founder of a company called out doorsy. she was where you were. started a company, saw a problem and has grown it tremendously over the past few years. let's see what these women think. hi. i'm susan. i'm a breast cancer survivor.

while i was undergoing cancer treatment, my daughter suggested that maybe all the plastics i have used in the microwave could be harmful. so i decided i'm going to switch to all glass. what i found were glass bowls with the plastic tops. so i invented and patented the cue shin a safe vented glass lid. not only are they splatter shields but they're steamers. when you steam your food, you less less watt toer retain the valuable nutrients. ecofriendly 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 on social immediate yachlt if you want to see it, go to my website. >> i love how you.

you're so storytelling when you tell the story. >> i'm italian. >> let me give you guys this. >> thank you. >> two numbers. one is what do you think of the product. and the second is what two numb. one is, what do you think of the product, and the second is what do you think of the pitch? one to ten. >> you being tell that you have been on television pitching your product before. i get the theatrics. nice job. >> alyssa. are you done? >> 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 is a product liability angle. so i need to know that it doesn't crack and i would probably just want to feel it and use it to make sure it is okay for elderly consumers, too. i'm positively inclined, but i need to know more there because

of the nature of the product. 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, and i loved hearing about the patents and the distribution and you were very clear with your funding ask. i think the only reason i was a little unsure is because i'm not clear yet whether this is a been-woman business that's lifestyle or whether you have a big vision and big market and lots of revenues that you're gunning towards. so i'd love to hear more, but overall i was positively inclined. >> thank you. >> nice job. >> all right. >> i also thought you did a fantastic job. i gave you a nine on product and a nine on pitch and for many of the same reasons. i hope it's not too repetitive, and on the product side i thought you did a fantastic job starting with a brand story which was such a moment of truth and why awe product will be so successful and maybe even pausing more and making that a

punctuation point where you started and also thought you could have spent more time sort of painting the -- bringing to life the customerl lick all of the womproblem and talking abou the use cases for them whether it's popcorn or quick meals. >> by the way, i can put that to life by just going into my microwave and seeing the splatters. >> yeah. exactly. >> and there are so many uses. i think it helps to highlight how large the total addressable market is here. so you can whet the whistle there. on the pitch side, i thought you did a great job. it was upbeat, very personable, and i felt like you could really connect with your customers and your audience. i think it is very important for all entrepreneurs and it has to be authentic and fit that way and it was consistent all of the way through. >> i would agree with the

recommendations. >> congratulations and good luck with everything and thank you for all of your advice and we can't wait to see how this goes. thank you so much. >> i want to thank all of you who have had a chance to listen to our podcast. it's called been there, built that, and we just launched the third season and we continue to commemorate women in business and i sit down with julie, the ceo of lightweight food. at the age of 26 she became the youngest ceo of a publicly held firm when her father died. it is an incredible story. i hope you get a chance to listen to it. when we come back, why you need to be doing your homework on the business and the person you are pitching and some thoughts about the sacrifices entrepreneurs have to make. the meeting of the executive finance committee is now in session.

and... adjourned. business loans for eligible card members up to fifty thousand dollars, decided in as little as 60 seconds. the powerful backing of american express. don't do business without it. for the last ten years i've devoted so much of my time, energy and so much of my family's time on building and growing my business, and i've had to sacrifice a lot. so one of the things you have had to sacrifice that you regret? >> so this is 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 mack a decision and it's right for you at the time, then it's the right decision, and if you're making a tradeoff in your business and you really love your business then that's the right tradeoff.

however, where i have failed horribly at certain times is prioritizing certain things. for example, for me, i love to exercise and it's important to me mentally and physically and there are some times when people said you sacrifice exercised for your business and i didn't mack a sacrifice. i did a poor job prior tiedzing. i would say don't have regret, 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 to help you grow your business. al y alissa and jennifer are back with us. you have been helping so many women entrepreneurs with their initiative which gives women advisers, mentors and sometimes funding. on behalf of women, first, thank

you for everything you're doing, but give us a tip. >> for 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 is all too often we go into business pitches and we're consumed with how do we get them to buy the product? what are the pros and cons? how do we get the message across? we forget to do the research on the people that we're people and go to lingeredin and fiend out who do you know in common? where did they go to school? what are they proud of, because at the end of the day relationships matter and if you get to know the person first and you have a connection with them then doing business next is so much easier. >> it is so incredibly true. >> even if you're going into somewhere cold, quickly scan their office, right? they might have a diploma up or you went to the same school and you also love baseball and you can just connect on anything it

makes it easier. you started your company from nothing, incredibly successful, match making rv owners to rv renters and congratulations to one thing you've done. what's one thing you've learned along the way. >> go where your customers are, and that's where we started outdoorsy at the inception and we figured out to create the largest rv rental marketplace and we needed to find out what was important to rv owners and renters and whether it was the renter van, or the suv with the rooftop tent. my partner and i spent eight and a half months living in an rv. we bought a denali truck and airstream and we went to the rv parks. >> this is before you launched it or after you launched it. >> this is while we launched it. like building an airplane while

at the grand canyon. and we spent thousands of hours listening to all of the stakeholders within the market and the renters and owners and what would make a customer user experience online and offline. >> once you have a established company and launching a new product, you're lucky because you don't have to seek those people. you have them right there in your database. congratulations to both of you. again, thank you for all you've done as a role model and practically for women especially if we're talking about it throughout the show. >> you, too, j.j. >> thank you. this week roxanne smith owns alf accustom clothiers in chesapeake, virginia. she makes custom suits and shirts. why don't you pick up your smartphone and take a selfie of you and your business and send it to @yourbusiness @msnbc.com

and using the #yourbiz and do not forget to include the name of your business and where you are. thank you for being with us. we love hearing from you and if you have questions or wanted to say hi, email us at your business@msnbc.com and check out msnbc.com/your business and we put up segments from today's show plus more, and don't forget to connect with us on the digital and social media, as well. check out the podcast, been there, built that and download it for free or wherever you get your podcasts. we look forward to seeing you next time. until then, i'm j.j. ramberg and remember, we make your business our business.

you're in the business of helping people. we're in the business of helping you. business loans for eligible card members up to fifty thousand dollars, decided in as little as 60 seconds. the powerful backing of american express. don't do business without it. ♪ ♪ good morning, everybody. i'm david gura and this is "up." just about two weeks away from the midterm elections and up and down the campaign trail, we are seeing the ghosts of campaigns past. >> it's all about donald. it's not about anything else. >> joe. sleepy joe biden. we call him 1% joe. senator bernie sanders is out on the trail taking on presen