More Than Pizza: How Sonia Mani Built a Community Business | Business Spotlight Ep. 1

SPEAKER_03 0:00

And you know statistically you have absolutely already beat the odds as a business owner because most businesses fail in the first five years.

SPEAKER_02 0:06

I'm like lost sometimes, you know, when it comes to marketing. I'm like, oh my God, like how do I, you know, build this up? Like how do I arrange this? And I always have that guidance. And I feel like it's it's always a good thing. I did invest in child care when they were very young, like from age, you know, like one to five. I had a brilliant child care for my kids, but at the end of the day, it's not an expense, it's an investment. After COVID, we had a huge loss, even till today. We still haven't been able to catch up to where we were prior to COVID.

SPEAKER_03 0:36

They can make sure their families are failed. So tell me what it's like to manage people as a business owner and that responsibility of you knowing that, hey, these people, their lives always depend on me. Alright, welcome back to another episode of Financial State of Minds. And this is the show where I help you get to that bag, manage that bag, and grow that bag as best as possible as we discuss anything and everything to do with the almighty power of the dollar. And we're doing something a little bit different today. We're gonna call this the business interviews edition. And we have our very, very first guest in this new series that I'm bringing out. And we have Sonia in the building today. How are you doing today, girl?

SPEAKER_02 1:26

I'm doing great. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_03 1:28

Thank you for joining me for my first time doing this, and thank you for the free pizza. The free cider, the salad over there looking good, and your wine over there. That's what we're gonna be talking about.

SPEAKER_02 1:41

Wine, salad, pizza, beer. Everything. That's what we're about.

SPEAKER_03 1:44

Everything we need. I just want to get to know you even better. You know, you've been having me here three and a half years. We all get busy, we may forget a few things, but um, but most importantly, I want people to get to know you.

unknown 1:56

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:57

You're a staple here in in Hayward. We're right on the good old border of the Hayward City.

SPEAKER_02 2:02

Yep, yep. Um 1653 Industrial Parkway West, Hayward, California.

SPEAKER_03 2:08

Check it out. We're over here live in Straw Hat Pizza.

SPEAKER_02 2:11

Pizza.

SPEAKER_03 2:11

And uh, you know, I have been coming, we I have along with Suman have been coming here, and oh my god, pretty much since I met Suman.

SPEAKER_02 2:18

Yeah, yeah. I think it's been it has been three and a half years already. Three and a half years, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:22

Because we've been together yeah, three and a half years this coming July. We'll be part of three and a half years, and like literally like the first month.

SPEAKER_02 2:28

I was like, yeah already. Yeah, yeah. That makes sense, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:31

So uh first question I always love to ask my guests is who is Sonia? How would you describe yourself?

SPEAKER_02 2:38

Well, I'm a busy woman, you know. I am a single mother of two kids. I have a 15-year-old, I have a 13-year-old, and I own two businesses now. So I've got the wine shopper, which is why I have the wine, and then I have the pizzeria, straw hat pizza. I also have a dog, Lucy, I can't forget about her, but you know, life is busy, and I just started school again, just so you know. I'm I went back to Chabot and I'm trying to get my business management degree, and you know, just keep going. I'm gonna keep going.

SPEAKER_03 3:10

Two businesses, two kids going back to school. Yep, one dog. So I'm not even gonna ask how much free time you have, but people are getting it. Little to none, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:21

I gotta have a balance, you know, and that's that's what I'm trying to figure out is how to have that balance.

SPEAKER_03 3:25

Absolutely. So let's just take it back to the beginning, as they say. So um we're obviously here in Hayward, California. Are you from here originally or no?

SPEAKER_02 3:33

No, I actually moved to Hayward in about 2008, I would like to say, but I was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. And then my mom always lived in uh East Palo Alto, so I moved in with her back around uh 2001, 2002, something around there. Gotcha. So I've been here in the Bay Area since 2002, I would say.

SPEAKER_03 3:54

Okay, so okay, so you've been here about 25 years almost.

SPEAKER_02 3:57

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I was back and forth prior to that. I went to school here even for a little bit, but I mostly had my youth in Vancouver.

SPEAKER_03 4:05

Got you, yeah, got you. Okay. So what what brought you out here? You were in Vancouver the whole time, but like was there like for was it school? Was it for Straw Head? Like what actually brought you out here to the Bay Area?

SPEAKER_02 4:18

No, I would say that at that time my mom was here, and so I finished school in Vancouver, Canada. I actually did a flight attending certification thing too, you know. Yeah, yeah. So I finished school there, and then I moved back in or moved in with my mom because she's always lived here. I was living with my grandma. And so sh my mom needed some help out here, and she wanted me to come back, so I just was like, hey, you know what? I'll just come back. I mean, I had dual citizenship anyway, so it was easy to come back. But yeah, I've I just came back here to help her, and then I decided to stay at, I mean, I love Vancouver, Canada, but you know, I love it here too. Right. It's all about the Bay. It's Bay Area, so especially Hayward, you know. This is where my you know people are, my customers are great.

SPEAKER_03 5:04

Right.

SPEAKER_02 5:04

Uh family, every you know, I have everything here. This is all I know now.

SPEAKER_03 5:08

Right. So, okay, so you're here now, 2002. So when did Straw Hat enter your life? How did I get started?

SPEAKER_02 5:18

From my ex-husband's family, actually. My ex-husband's family owned his sister owned this particular straw hat, Bavita. And so she couldn't be here anymore, so she was trying to sell it off, and then you know, me and him had discussed it, and I went ahead and said, you know what, we're gonna go ahead and go forward with it. He was doing other things, you know, he had another job at the time, and he was also doing the arcade game business. So then in 2012, July 1st, 2012, I officially took over this particular location. We purchased it from Bavita, and then I was here. I ran everything here since 2012.

SPEAKER_03 5:58

Wow, so that's 13. So you've been in business if well, you've been in head charge in business now. We're in July sixth recording right now, so that is 13 years.

SPEAKER_02 6:08

Yes, 13 years right here.

SPEAKER_03 6:10

So you so you know statistically you have absolutely already beat the odds as a business owner because most businesses fail in the first five years.

SPEAKER_02 6:17

Oh yeah, yeah. I I realize that, you know, I mean, there's so many other small businesses around here, and every time a new business comes in, I feel like they're struggling, you know, and then they're gone. So it's been a it's been a challenge though. You know, we did a lot of remodeling, I did a lot of stuff here, built this party room, floors, you know, TVs, remodeling, and just a lot of marketing and advertising. It it's been a challenge, but now I feel like we're we're doing okay, you know, we're we're okay.

SPEAKER_03 6:46

So you being in business and particularly this location, 13 years Straw Hat. I grew up in Hayward. I've literally been in Hayward all my life up until recently.

SPEAKER_02 6:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:59

I don't know if you remember. The first time I came here and I had your pizza, I said, this tastes better than the average straw hat pizza. So from your from your POV, what makes your straw hat unique compared to maybe other not only straw hat franchises, but other pizza parlors and pizza businesses in general? Because yours is a bit unique.

SPEAKER_02 7:24

Yeah, I mean, I am a foodie. So I will tell you that everything has to be fresh, high quality ingredients. You know, sometimes what happens is during the struggles after COVID, a lot of people try to get like, you know, the easy way out, like buying, you know, different types of of meats or or cheeses or whatever just to save the extra money. But you know, the flavor is in the brand, so you know, the authenticity, and you just have to kind of stick to the proper meats, the proper cheeses, the dough has to be exactly what you know is given to us by the franchise, which is perfect. Like I I love it. You know, we are all a big part of what we choose as a franchise, as all of us choose what type of ingredients can go on the pizzas, what type of pepperoni we use, what type of sausage we use, you know, what type of dough we use, and and you know, we we're really uh good with our and especially our salad bar, like everything has to be locally sourced. We get a lot of organic items too in here, you know, everything has to be fresh, and I really push for high quality ingredients, you know. That's that's just it. I mean, I I'm a foodie, so if it doesn't taste right, I'm upset. I have to make sure that everything is up to date, 100%.

SPEAKER_03 8:42

And absolutely, guys. You guys, you you guys will see in the in the b-roll footage, this beautiful pizza, and Sonya knows you don't even have to ask me no more. She already knows what I want. She wants I want my meat lovers' pizza, and I get it quick, it tastes good, hits the spot every single time. But again, I I pizza is one of my favorite foods. So I have eaten a lot of pizza throughout my life, and I've eaten a lot of pizza at Straw Hats throughout my life.

SPEAKER_02 9:05

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:06

And again, I I like I mentioned earlier, I was like, this tastes a bit of above the you know, the cut of grade, you know. It's above the other ones that I've had. So I know your straw hat, we know straw hat as a franchise.

SPEAKER_02 9:19

It is a franchise.

SPEAKER_03 9:20

So let's actually focus on that. It's a franchise. You you are a business owner of a franchise, of a single franchise. So talk to me, in your opinion, what makes that unique and some of the unique challenges that you have as a franchise owner of a business.

SPEAKER_02 9:36

You know, I actually I mean, I enjoy it because we get guidance and support when we need it. Uh and we're so involved with everything that we serve, which is amazing. It's a smaller franchise now, there's not too many locations out there, so we're we all know each other. It's almost like having family in in this particular business, you know. I mean, whenever I need something, I could reach out, and somebody is always gonna be there to help me. You know, if something doesn't taste right, if I don't like it. I mean, you know, we've had incidences where the wings were too small, you know, and I was like, what is up with these wings? You know, why are they so tiny? I'm not serving this to the customers. So, you know, we we all work together as a team to bring in the greatest quality of food items, and it really helps because when we order things or when we're marketing things, you know, we have assistance with somebody always helping us build flyers or you know, make the advertising material for social media. Or, you know, if if an item number is not uh there for like if pepperoni's out, there's always a different item number that's recommended. And these are all coming from you know the franchise and what they can do for us and what we can do with them. You know, we have to be the ones to kind of taste the food, serve the food, and they're the ones that listen to our feedback, and everything is corrected, you know, everything is corrected based on what we like, and I feel like it's great, but you know, we have a lot of freedom too. Like, for example, the beers that we get, like I have a lot of craft beers that I serve.

SPEAKER_01 11:07

Right.

SPEAKER_02 11:07

And uh, you know, a lot of ciders, and I'm really into what I serve to the customer because initially the customer is where it's at, and the franchise doesn't usually get in the way of that. You know, they're not like, hey, you can't do this, you can't do that. I mean, obviously the fresh quality ingredients will always come amongst all of us, but you know, there's certain freedom that we have, like we show UFC, they don't, you know, right, they don't mind with what how we run our place. It is more like a sports bar.

SPEAKER_00 11:35

Right.

SPEAKER_02 11:36

And uh, you know, we have birthday parties, team parties, fundraisers, and these are all supported by them. You know, the franchise supports us, they build flyers for us, they will market our fundraisers, and you know, we have they build our web page, and it's it's really nice to have that extra help, especially, you know, somebody like me who's a single, you know, mom, single woman, and I'm like lost sometimes, you know, when it comes to marketing, I'm like, oh my god, like how do I, you know, build this up? Like, how do I arrange this? And I always have that guidance. And I feel like it's it's always a good thing. Like if somebody's trying to get into this particular field, I mean, franchise is something that'll get you there. You don't have to be in it for the long run if you don't want to, just because you always have to pay them the royalty fees or whatever. Right. And uh not royalty, I'm sorry, loyalty fees, but when we are doing we are starting up, if you want a small business or a restaurant, a franchise will always give you that extra step to stand on and they'll help you out. And then after that, if you want to move out and do your own thing, because a few of owners have done that, and you know they found success in it, and I feel like it's you're trained to kind of know now what you need, what you need to do, and and that's where I feel like it does help.

SPEAKER_03 12:49

Uh, and you you answered the question I was gonna ask you. I said, as a as a business advisor myself, I always do kind of let my clients know, hey, owning a franchise may be a good idea, especially if it's your first business, because the franchise does assist in so many things, so you don't have to do everything from scratch. You kind of have a base baseline that you can just go off and kind of trampoline off to success. Do you feel that like if you were talking to somebody who was considering opening up a franchise, like would you kind of tell them, like, hey, like this was being my first time in business, this was a really good first step for business? Like, do you think that was really helpful?

SPEAKER_02 13:30

Yeah, yeah. I mean, most definitely, because a lot of new business owners struggle to find their way through, you know, they don't have the guidance, they don't have the support. I mean, some of them come from a very good background, they start their business with that background, and I feel like that's what the franchise is about. It's almost just like getting started with the background, you know, it's like starting a new job, but you kind of like own the place, but even then, like you're still working for initially the franchise because you have to make sure that you're presenting what you know they what they push for, which is quality, you know. And so for me, like quality is really big, and I'm so involved with what the franchise decisions are, and you know, I I always put in my opinions and and share my thoughts, and everything is regarded, you know, everything is always regarded, and it's almost like not the for this particular business, Straw Hat Pizza, it's almost like not being part of a franchise, even though you are one. Because you everybody hears your opinions, everybody shares their thoughts, and we all listen to each other, and it's great because the guidance is the support that we need when you first start a business, any business.

SPEAKER_03 14:40

Absolutely, and and transitioning a little bit, one thing I know is that kind of like you hinted earlier, you do take insight into the community, you do take insights to the customers. Like you say that, but I can, you know, let's just give an example. There's a customer of hers named Alex that I went to high school with. And he I think he was like he saw a picture of us, and he's just like, Oh, wait, you know Sonia? Like, I know her. I've been in Straw Hat a couple of times, I've met her before, and like that was just it. I didn't have to ask her anything. He just he just that's just what he said. So, like, that's kind of cool. Like, we don't we don't hear that a lot of like the customers actually knowing the owner, having a conversation with the owner, and having that interaction. So I know that's one of the unique things about Straw Hat is that you you have that tie to the community. Can you kind of explain this some of the stuff you've done with the community or for the community?

SPEAKER_02 15:31

Oh yeah, yeah. I we do so many events for our community and with our community. I mean, you know, we do fundraisers, we do part like sponsorships for teams, little leagues, we have car shows here, we have uh trunk retreats, we are we have the NFL Sunday ticket, and that's how I actually uh always see Alex because he is a 49er fan. Right. And you know, we have a huge uh 49er following here because the the Northern California Hayward chapter, Raul Sosa, he is the president of the club, but they all come in here for all the Niner games, and this, you know, they book the party room on the huge projector screen, and all the Niner fans are welcome to watch it. And so that's where Alex comes in, you know, he's always coming for all the sporting events that we show. And you know, it it's it's expensive, you know, it costs a lot of money to show these things, but you know, legally you have to order it the right way, right? And it brings in a the community, and you hope to, you know, get everybody in the door so that you can at least make it back, you know, and it works out here. You know, it works out. We for the fundraisers, like we do so many fundraisers. I just did one with Fearless Path, which is really Lancaster. She is the president of that particular, you know, nonprofit organization, and we did make music bingo here, which was really successful. You know, there's a lot of people here. We raffled off a lot of you know, good items, gift items, and so it's you know, fundraisers like this, we do it all the time. You know, it's it's nonprofit organizations, we've done it for funerals, we've done it for teams, little leagues. So that brings in a lot of the people in the community. And then, you know, we also have like the toy drive, which is you know, we get the Santa Caravan coming in with Eden Youth. Uh we work with Jose from Eden Youth, and he you know brings in a lot of the kids, and and he pairs up with other nonprofit organizations with like with RIA, and so they come in every year. We do a toy drive for them, and then we do a toy drive for the NFL alumni. Right. So that's Dave. Uh, I'm sure you've met him before, and so he organizes toy drives here, and NFL, you know, players will come in and we'll have like a meet and greet, and it's a community loves it, you know, they love it. And then, of course, we've got the UFC, pay-per-view UFC, pay-per-view boxing. And generally, we don't charge cover for UFC because you know, we're already contracted in, and so a lot of people come, the whole community comes in and watches UFC. It's a family place, so it's not like you're 21 and over, you know, we allow kids to come in, we have a game room, arcade room, so they come in, they can still watch you know all the sporting events, and their kids can be comfortable here, you know.

SPEAKER_03 18:19

Absolutely, absolutely. And that leads me to the question: where did you get the brilliant idea of essentially turning this into a sports bar? Because literally, that's like I never seen a straw hat basically be a sports bar.

SPEAKER_02 18:33

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:33

Like, where like did you like was that from the franchise? Is that just one of your brilliant ideas?

SPEAKER_02 18:40

Yep, yep. It was definitely my brilliant idea. I was the first one to show UFC actually, and I feel like I don't know if anybody else was showing it in the Bay Area because at that time I didn't do the research, but in 2012, I this place needed a lot of help. So, like the furniture was outdated, the floors were outdated, the party room was not, you know, a theater room, you know what I mean? Like everything was just kind of falling apart. So initially, when I did take over the place, you know, adding the TVs and and the projector wall, and you know, uh revamping the furniture and the floors and and making the party room look nice, all these things were like ideas that I had in my head, you know, but to put it together, you know, it takes a lot of time, effort, and money. You know, so you're like, okay, where do you start? So I basically did bits and pieces. So I started with the TVs, because I feel like the TVs people will come no matter what.

SPEAKER_01 19:34

Correct.

SPEAKER_02 19:35

You know? So if I'm showing NFL Sunday ticket and it costs almost five to six grand for the whole entire NFL Sunday ticket just for those couple months or a few months that they have it, you gotta make sure that the place is presentable.

SPEAKER_01 19:47

Right.

SPEAKER_02 19:47

So in my head, I'm thinking like, okay, we can do whatever we want with our interior. We don't have to worry about that. You know, we don't have to worry about the like making changes in here. So those things come generally from from us, you know. So we I decided to do a lot of changes in here. And of course, I'm I'm a beer fan, I love wine, so you know, that is something that we don't have a hard liquor license, which is beer and wine. So for me, having craft beers, because football player uh football fans love beer, you know, UFC fans love beer. I mean, you know, boxing fans love beer, and you know, people love wine now. Wine is a new thing. So these things all came together in like a big plan, and I just put it together, and you know, yeah, that was it.

SPEAKER_03 20:33

Yeah, no, that was brilliant. Like I said, I've I've been again been eating pizza all my life. And uh haven't been to a pizza hut that there's someone serving wine, or I've been to, you know, another straw hat or even a round table that is just clearly like sportsmobilia, like it gives you that vibe of absolutely this is a sports bar.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:51

Um, so I I thought that was brilliant. And the other thing that I thought it was brilliant is you do sell wine.

SPEAKER_02 20:58

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 20:59

You do sell wine, you have your own like second business selling wine. So tell me a little bit about your second business. And yes, people, I don't want to hear how you can't do one. Your second business where you're selling wine. Tell me about the wine shopper.

SPEAKER_02 21:15

Okay, so the wine shopper is my second business, and I just woke up one day and I I love wine, and I've always went wine tasting for as long as I can remember. You know, it's been over 20 years. I've been doing wine tastings, I've been going to events where they have, you know, wine and dine nights and and all kinds of things. And you know, I I had I don't know, I just woke up one day and I said, you know what? I think I want to get a little side business going by serving wine and food, wine and food pairings. You know, mostly like what I do right now with the wine business, it's just I don't have too much time to focus on it, so I'm still trying to like really bring it up, but it's just a Of getting together your paperwork. I mean, you know what you want to call it. You know where to go. Like I went down to Oakland to get to file the paperwork, you know, to trademark the name and and then City of Hayward to get the business license. And that's that it's a lot of steps, but it's easy. Right. It's not hard at all. So to get the business going, it's not that hard, you know. But then what's harder is to actually start the business itself, you know, because you're like, oh my God, like, well, now where do I start? Who what customers do I go for?

SPEAKER_01 22:30

Right.

SPEAKER_02 22:30

How do I market this business? Where do I I get people to come in to know that we have wine here now? You know, wine nights. So we started doing wine Wednesdays. Right. And that's how I kind of started marketing the wines, you know, wine Wednesdays, and then we did like wine and paint nights, and then we did like, you know, wine tasting nights. We did wine uh tasting with fundraisers, and then we did, you know, comedy shows with wine nights, you know, we did all kinds of things. So I'm like, you know, I'm gonna I'm just gonna keep going with this wine business, you know. But then I kind of started to to market it more to like uh corporate corporations around the area. So I poured wine for an actual business for the first time about four years ago during their happy hour because I have my uh catering license and I also have my serving certificate. So he this client owns a business and they wanted to have like a wine, wine and beer happy hour. So they hired me as a server and they purchased the wines from me, which was great. So that was my first real gig outside of here with the wine business, and uh we loved it. The customers loved it, and after that, this particular customer hired me maybe another handful of times and referred me to you know 20 other businesses where I was just now what I do is I'll I'll I'm a one-stop shop with the wine business. I have my own table, my own glasses, my own wines, my own beers, everything that they ask for. They don't even have to have one thing. I bring everything, I set it up, I pour the wines. Generally, I'll have a helper, and you know, we we go there, and it's it's really great, you know. It's just like I don't know, it it's fun.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:14

Because I love doing it. So, you know, there's that saying like if you love what you do, you never have to work a day in your life, you know. So it doesn't feel like work. So and you just you have to have that that drive and motivation to go out there and and advertise your business, market it, talk to people, you know. Uh you have to go to those events. Hayward Chamber has events, and I'm part of the Hayward Chamber of Commerce. So, you know, you have to go to the uh they call them like the mixers, you know, networking mixers. And it's a it's a great way to advertise yourself and your business. You know, and then people will know you, they'll they'll know you by face, your personality, who you are, and they'll want to come and support your business, you know.

SPEAKER_03 24:54

Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. So speaking of wine, I see my little blindie, but I can see one right there. You wanna uh describe, you want to talk about that wine on the table right there?

SPEAKER_02 25:06

Yes, actually, this wine was given to me by Suman for my birthday. It's also a woman-owned winery, and I haven't been there yet, but we're gonna taste it together today because I have not even tried it yet. But this is something that I love, women-owned businesses. I'm a big supporter, and you know, if we like it, we go back, we talk to them, we make a deal with them, we can get cases from them, we can serve it, we can sell it because I have the seller's permit, you know. So this is from Livermore, local-owned winery, you know, not far at all. And it's great because it's also woman-owned, and I feel like we all support each other in this in business, you know, we all are here for each other.

SPEAKER_01 25:47

Right.

SPEAKER_02 25:48

So we try the wines, we make a partnership with each other, and you know, we all make money. So that's that's the way to do it. Yeah, so I am gonna try this wine today, you know, and we're gonna and Suman is here, so we're both gonna try it and let's see how it tastes, you know.

SPEAKER_03 26:02

Absolutely. So you hinted at this earlier when you started. I'm a mother of two kids and I own two businesses.

SPEAKER_02 26:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 26:12

There's a lot of people, not just mothers, but there are a lot of people that would say, because I have kids, or because I have this commitment, I don't have time to open up a business, or I don't have the funds to open up a business. So clearly you're doing it, clearly an example. So what would you tell anybody, but especially mothers, single mothers, what would you tell them to do to kind of or what would you just say to encourage them that this is possible? What would you say to them?

SPEAKER_02 26:47

Oh, absolutely. I I am I have a lot of single mother friends, and we always talk about the struggles that we have being a single mother, you know. Um I don't have too much help with the kids, so it's all me almost, you know, which is even more harder because uh, you know, they're with me full time. But my kids have known this business since day one. You know, they come here when I was pregnant, they would be in my belly coming here, and then they, you know, they're bored. I had a little toddler in the back, you know. There nothing can stop you if you have that drive and motivation. I mean, yes, I would say that you should have a little bit of a savings to start a business because that's how you do start a business. You have to save some money, right? You have to have a plan in mind. You know, I mean, write things down because I am a firm believer of whatever you put on paper with a pencil or a pen, you manifest it and it will happen. And you have to just, you know, it's not like a lot of people, a lot of mothers, I feel like feel like childcare is expensive, they can't afford it, you know, and if they don't have the assistance they need. But I I did invest in childcare when they were very young, like from age, you know, like one to five. I had a brilliant childcare for my kids, but at the end of the day, it's not an expense, it's an investment. And I live with that saying that you know, anything that you want to do for yourself, it is not an expense, it's an investment that you make in you, and you believe in yourself, and you can absolutely do it. And if you have to bring your kids with you, everybody, the community will always understand.

SPEAKER_01 28:24

Right.

SPEAKER_02 28:25

You know, the community will recognize you as a mother, they'll recognize you're a hard-working mother, they'll see your kids. It's it's a whole different feeling when the community sees you with your kids at your own business because they're like, oh, you know what, she is a mother too, you know, because most of the community are parents, you know, they have kids, and that is a huge thing for the community to see that you're doing this and they will support you. Right, they will always be there to support you, and you'll have the help that you need, you know, if the community is there and and they see that you're starting your business. And I I do feel like it's you know, don't worry about it being an expense. You know, it's it's definitely not an expense to have childcare or to you know have a babysitter or to bring your kids to work. It's you're investing in yourself.

SPEAKER_01 29:14

Right.

SPEAKER_02 29:14

And if you don't invest in yourself, nobody else will invest in you.

SPEAKER_01 29:18

Right.

SPEAKER_02 29:18

You know, and you will you will never get started.

SPEAKER_01 29:20

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 29:21

You're just gonna be where you are, contemplating, talking about it, and you know, not making a move, and then you're gonna be out, you know, you're gonna be it's gonna be a loss.

SPEAKER_01 29:31

Right.

SPEAKER_02 29:31

So the it's it's almost like like when I was showing when I first started showing UFC, it was expensive, and I had babies, you know, because this was in 2012. My kids were young. My son was only two, and my daughter was in my belly, you know. But I would bring my son here, and I was I'm a huge UFC fight fan. I I love boxing, UFC, football, soccer, I love it all. And so for me, I was like, I'm gonna do it, you know. And even at that time, I would bring my son here, and you know, I would we would I had staff, I would pay them, you know. The staff is great. You have to have at least some help in your business. And showing the UFC, yes, it was expensive, and I was paying for child care, and I was paying for all kinds of other things by myself. But at the end of the day, like I said, it was not an expense, it was an investment, and it actually brought a great return.

SPEAKER_03 30:27

Love it, love it. Yeah, let's talk about staff. So, one thing that makes let me let me roll back a little bit. Let's talk about staff. Now, there are business owners, they're business owners, but really they're self-employed people who just have jobs that they own, right? Yeah, and then there's business people or entrepreneurs who actually have a staff. They actually have employees that the employees depend on them, or the the employees depend on us as business owners to make sure that they get a paycheck.

SPEAKER_02 31:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:01

So describe that because in layman's terms, what I'm saying is, girl, you a boss.

unknown 31:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:09

That's what you are. Like you're not just running around doing all this by yourself. You are doing this with a team, like you mentioned, and you cutting checks to the team so they can make sure their families are failed. So tell me what it's like to manage people as a business owner, and that responsibility of you knowing that, hey, these people's, they these people's their livelihoods depend on me. Tell me what that experience is like.

SPEAKER_02 31:31

Well, you know, we've had bad days, so I'm not gonna say that everything is is great and dandy. You know, after COVID, we had a huge loss, even till today. We still haven't been able to catch up to where we were prior to COVID. So COVID took a really big turn on us. So during COVID, my staff, I realized that unemployment was paying you double at that time. Right. So the good thing is that I told them, for now, go ahead and take advantage of these benefits. When it runs out, we'll figure it out, you know. The staff has been with me, most of the staff has been here for years. You know, I have a couple, like one one of my employees, Vinay, he's been here for almost like 10 years, you know, Denise has been with me for like five, six years, you know, Ayanna's been with me for you know, five, six years. I mean, we have, you know, we have a great solid staff. And you know, my opener Sean, like he's like I've he's been here for off and on for ten years, you know. And my thing is that if you treat your staff well, they'll never leave, you know. And even if they leave for a better opportunity, which I always encourage because it's a pizzeria, you know. I mean here the management gets paid very well because they take care of me, I take care of them. I respect them, they treat the place like it's their own. They really help me out when I need it, especially as a single mother. And now I've started school again, so it's like I'm my time is so divided, and I highly rely on my staff for this. And for me, they like I said, they're not an expense, it's an investment that you make, and I will pay them before I pay myself any day.

SPEAKER_01 33:09

Right.

SPEAKER_02 33:10

You know, if they're if business is slow this month or next month, the staff never has to worry about it. You know, I make sure that they are taken care of. I am very good with the books. If I have to cut hours, I will talk to them in advance, like, hey guys, it's gonna be a little slow this month because summer is here, you know, after, for example, after the World Cup, you know, it might get a little slower because everyone's on vacation, people are out of school. And so that's when I tell them, like, if you guys ever want to take time off, now is the time to do it. You know, we I encourage them to spend time with their own families and do things outside of here as well. So I I do talk to them in advance. If anybody wants to take any time off, let me know now. And usually there is, you know, one or two people that'll say that, you know, so we kind of balance everything accordingly. But for the most part, you know, the struggles they know about it. We talk about it, I talk to them about everything. Like if there's inventory shortage, or you know, if there's uh like slow days where somebody has to go home early, these things. So now we changed our hours a little bit on you know, Sunday, I mean Monday through Thursday, we close at nine instead of ten. So it kind of helps out, you know, doing little things like this still helps out, and they're still working, they're still getting paid. But you know, little things like, for example, the PGE bill, you know, the oven's off an hour earlier, so the PG and E bill is lower. The PGE bill can get expensive here, you know, it's a big building, but then you got payroll to worry about, PGE, you know, and then just keeping the doors open just costs money.

SPEAKER_00 34:44

Right.

SPEAKER_02 34:45

But the staff is very good about everything, they communicate with me when something's if it's slow, they'll say, Hey Sonia, it's slow today. Like, can I take off early? Sure, why not?

SPEAKER_01 34:54

You know, right.

SPEAKER_02 34:56

Um and then when it's really, really busy, they know they have to stay, so they they kind of balance it out themselves because we have our days, you know. Like with this Saturday, we have UFC, McGregor's back, which is crazy, you know. And it's gonna be, you know, McGregor versus Holloway, too. So we're hoping to have a a really nice crowd for that, you know. So everybody knows they have to stay, they have to work, so it evens out for them. They balance it out and they're comfortable, they're happy, you know, they make good money on tips, and and they, you know, their payroll is good, they always get paid on time. We've never had any issues about that. Good. So I think you know, to run a solid business, you have to have a solid staff.

SPEAKER_03 35:35

Absolutely. And and and how many people do you have under you at this point?

SPEAKER_02 35:38

Right now I have about eight employees. Okay. Yeah. I mean, a few of them are part-time, so they only work a few hours. My son's working with me now too, Dylan. So, you know, he's he's busy. My daughter will help me out, you know. She will make boxes, you know. We we kind of we all divide our times accordingly, and and we do we do have a good amount of staff, but they're they're such great workers.

SPEAKER_03 36:01

Yeah, no, the staff here is great. It's it's it's like honestly, like a little family. Yeah. Like a little family. Like I noticed that with your staff. It's like, yeah, I don't get the sense like, oh my god, I have to be here for another two hours. I can't wait. Like with that look. Unfloatings.

SPEAKER_02 36:18

I feel like unsloadings is okay. I'm gonna I'm gonna take off, you know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:21

Yeah, but they they just they still don't put out that energy. Like, I know basically they don't your staff, what's great about your staff in you is there's no one who works here that puts out the energy of I don't want to be here.

SPEAKER_02 36:32

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:33

Like, I don't want to be here. Like we we all understand whether you're on the business owner side or the employee side, like there's gonna be times where it's gonna be slow, there's gonna be times where it's gonna be busy. But the fact that you actually put that together and they have the professionalism to not put that energy out, it's amazing. It's it's again how I'm sure you've been able to build up your client base in your community as well. Yeah. So I want to personally commend you for that. And speaking of community, one of your events that probably is my personal favorite of yours of mine's that you do is the comedy shows.

SPEAKER_02 37:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:08

So comedy and pizza.

unknown 37:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:12

How did that come about?

SPEAKER_02 37:13

You know, so I would tell you that that I met um Sue Joy, who is at Chabot College. He's like a professor at Chabot College that does, you know, he also has he runs the podcasts and the and the you know television department and stuff like that entertainment. So he I met him through Dr. Ross, who was a guy that he's he's part of the the Hayward Chamber of Commerce. That's how I met I met both of them here at a mixer. We had a mixer here. And so they introduced me to Eddie Hazard, who was doing the talent shows. He wanted to do talent shows in this room, and I loved that idea, and I was like, Yes, let's do it, let's do it, let's do it. So Eddie started doing talent shows, and some people would do comedy, and you know, then Eddie Eddie would he did a couple of comedy shows here, and it was very successful. I bought a mic and a speaker, I invested in it, not an expense, an investment. So I purchased a mic and a speaker, and you know, I revamped the room, all the seating and everything like that, and so it worked out just wonderfully. And then we decided to do like prizes for like first place, second place, you know, we would make like gift baskets and things like that. And then Eddie ended up passing away from cancer. Right, yeah. Very tragic, but I was able to meet Norman Hazard, who is Eddie's brother, through Eddie as well. And so Norman and me discussed it, and he said, Hey, you know, I do comedy shows already, and so he's already doing comedy at various different locations throughout, you know, San Leandro, Hayward, Oakland. And I said, you know, yeah, like I'm really interested in doing it here. So now it's become a thing where once a month, every month, we have comedy shows where Norman is the host, you know. I provide the food, drinks, venue, and you know, we'll get together prizes for people or giveaways, and and it's it's fun, it's very fun. Local comics that come in, you know, trying to get their name out there, and we it's we have open mic too, so people can walk in, they can sign up, they could do the skit, you know. And then other comedian other comedy hosts found me. I they reached out to me, they wanted to do it here as well. And then it became like a great thing, you know. So now I'm welcoming all kinds of, you know, comedians and hosts to come in, and and I wanted to start doing the talent shows again. I just, you know, I've never I haven't done it since Eddie passed away, but yeah, it's become like I want to focus more on the entertainment venue. So that is my initial goal right now is to have entertainment provided here, live entertainment, you know, and comedy is amazing for the community because it makes everybody laugh. You know, everyone comes together, they're having a great time, they're laughing. It is 18 and over, though. So that one's not a family event. It's not a family event. So it is 18 and over because you know there is cursing and and a little bit of dirty talk, but it's it's I feel like it's working out pretty well. You know, sometimes it's it's crazy busy, sometimes you know, we have a few people, but everybody gets together and we all have the grandest time.

SPEAKER_03 40:27

Yeah, I know it's uh we're me and Simon here are are here every time, almost every time, pretty much. If we're available there, I'm like, babe, we we gotta go. I need to see my stand-up comedy.

SPEAKER_02 40:37

So yeah, and I love that.

SPEAKER_03 40:39

Yeah, and um, yeah, it's a it's a nice crowd in the comments. Like just seeing that like up and coming crowd of comments, like some of them are just hilarious. Oh, yeah, absolutely hilarious. And then because it's you know such an intimate venue, you know, you have an opportunity or a higher opportunity to have that crowd, uh, crowd work action. And you know, there's been plenty of times. I think it was the last time I was here, I got I got made fun of or something like that.

SPEAKER_02 41:03

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:04

Yeah, so it's it's always it's always a blast. It's always a blast. And that's just kind of the the vibe that you have here, that you've built up is that it's you come in here and it's a reliable source of comfort, whether that's from the food, whether that's from the wine, whether that's from the comedy, the the sporting events. There's always a sense of comfort that you've been able to build up here. So I I I highly respect you for that. You've you've done great.

SPEAKER_02 41:31

Thank you, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:32

So I don't want to take up too much of your time, but I do have a couple more questions.

SPEAKER_02 41:35

No, no, no, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:36

So, again, this the people who are gonna be listening are people definitely that I hope who want to aspire to be um business owners because I am one myself, you are one yourself, and you know it is hard work, but there's great payoff with what we do.

SPEAKER_02 41:50

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 41:51

So I want you to tell me from your POV if you have to pick three things that have made you successful at what you do, what are those three things?

SPEAKER_02 42:03

Aside from me, myself, and I, I would say So that's very simple.

SPEAKER_03 42:07

I'll give you three more. So three, four, five, and six. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:11

I mean, you know, I would say the community events are very successful. Trunk retreats, you know, car shows, toy drives, these just being involved with all the community, even fundraisers and and sponsorships, these things are very huge for the community. So obviously they're gonna come in, especially if they find out that I'm doing it, they're gonna all wanna do it with me, partner up with me to do these kind of things. And that is number one community is everything. Number two, the sporting events. NFL Sunday ticket, expensive, very expensive, but investment, not an expense. Same thing with UFC and boxing, you know. I feel like those three things put together have really helped me here. Uh aside from obviously remodeling and and continuing to do a lot of remodeling here and there, whatever I can afford to do, I'm gonna do it. But those three things is what brings what brought in a lot of the customers here. You know, you have to have something for them to want to attend, you know, they want it, they you want them to come in, you know.

SPEAKER_00 43:24

Right.

SPEAKER_02 43:25

And then of course, you know, if I go on, the entertainment started a little bit later, like the talent shows and comedy shows that came in later. But you know, in the initial beginning when we were struggling, when this place was like completely dead, you know, no not many customers coming in.

SPEAKER_00 43:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:41

When I decided to show the UFC, I feel like gradually that started building the crowd, and people started knowing that I'm a sports bar now and and I'm showing these sporting events, their pay per view, and all these things. But you know, and then the community events also came. The community events actually I started doing immediately. You know, like fundraiser sponsorships and uh the toy drive came a c like a year later when after I had met Dave from NFL and you know, trunk or treat uh with uh you know Mateo, he's uh the guy that you know he's one of our guys that I pair up with to do trunk or treats and car shows. And these community events really, really bring in families, individuals, sporting fans, because your reach should be vast. You know, you have to reach out to if you're living in Hayward, you have to kind of see like what kind of clientele you're you know promoting to.

SPEAKER_01 44:39

Right.

SPEAKER_02 44:40

And here I feel like there are a lot of sports fans, you know, a lot of you know football fans, a lot of soccer fans, you know, and uh those things always bring in the community, and that's what keeps us going.

SPEAKER_03 44:55

Absolutely, you guys hear a theme. I think the theme of the episode is community. Yeah, community, and and and uh I want to put the spotlight on you because we hear I want to break the stereotype of the business owner, the business owner of oh, we're just here for money and we're trying to be gritty and we're trying to, you know, nickel and dime the customer, nickel and dime the employee. And that's part of the reason why I want to start this series is like you're a fixture in the community. Like people love you as a person as equally as much as the business owner of Straw Hat Pizza. You've built up a client base in a community that repeatedly comes back, including me. I'm one of them. I wanted to go, hey Sonya, let's have an interview. I want to put a spotlight on you because you've earned it. At the end of the day, you've absolutely earned it. So I do want to thank you again for doing such a great job. 13 years in business. That's what I'm trying to be. I'm only in year three. Yeah, yeah. So I'm I I I'm trying to be where you're at 10 years from now. And one um one of the final questions I want to ask is um 13 years, like I mentioned. That's a long time period, let alone in business. So I want you to kind of, you've you've brought it up throughout this conversation, but I want you to focus on it. Like 13 years. This was not overnight. I want how how do you I want somebody who's listening right now for them who's like, hey, I I want to do business, but you know, especially with the younger generations, they're so impatient and they want everything now, now, now, fast, fast, fast.

SPEAKER_02 46:31

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:32

Like, explain to them what I mean when I say you've been in business 13 years. Talk about some of the challenges, talk about some of the risks you have to take, talk about some of the trials you have to go through over the span of 13 years for you to get to this place.

SPEAKER_02 46:45

Yeah, for sure. I mean, I feel like when new business owners start a business, they do want everything fast. Nothing comes overnight. It takes years to build a business. I mean, you have to worry about your finances, number one. What can you afford? What investors can you get to invest in you? You know, how are you gonna run this business without using little to none of your savings? You know, these things always will matter because what I've noticed that some people do is they'll rush into a business and spend all of their savings in a business, and then they find themselves broke and they can't run their business anymore because they don't have the funds to do it. And that is that's a normal thing to happen nowadays, you know, because you don't know the business frequency anymore. You don't know, you know, if you're gonna be busy, you don't know if you're gonna be slow, you don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow. So you always have to know that slowly baby steps, you know, don't use your savings to run your business. You know, if you can get a loan or if you can get some type of, you know, a bank, your bank can provide you with personal loans or business loans, whatever you get, try not to use your own funds. Right because that is a big no-no. I mean, some people will say, Hey, I've saved, you know, this much money, and I'm gonna I'm gonna do this, this, and this. But then it's like, what do you have left at the end of that? You know, and then you need a loan, which then you cannot pay off anymore. Right. And so that that is number one. I have seen that happen so many times, and people are drowning in debt now, you know. So basically, I would say you have to have a savings set aside for at least two years survival for your business. You know, if you have that savings, don't use it. Try to get the loan from your bank or an investor or some other kind of funds because they'll see your assets and they'll say, Okay, I'm willing to invest in you.

SPEAKER_01 48:45

Right.

SPEAKER_02 48:46

And you know that as you run the business, you know, you will know what you need in that business. If you have a restaurant, you want to make sure that it looks nice, you know, it's clean as it has entertainment or TVs or whatever your focus is. You know, uh I've been into some restaurants that don't have any TVs.

SPEAKER_01 49:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 49:03

And you know, they're still successful, they're still doing pretty good, you know. And I'm like, wow, like I I'm a sports fan, so for me, I'm like, I want to watch sports, but when I go there and I try their food and their wines and their service, I don't even care about the TVs anymore, you know? So you have to have that.

SPEAKER_00 49:23

Right.

SPEAKER_02 49:23

So that's another thing. So like when I first started, obviously the service that I provided for a lot of the people, you know. When I first started, I was losing, I wasn't making money the first year, you know, because the business was already losing money. I was doing like five dollar pitchers, you know what I mean, just to just to get the name out there because nobody would come in to watch football, you know. So it's like, but what that's what you have to do to lure people in. You know, the customers have to come in for some type of incentive. So I was doing, you know, five to eight dollar pitchers of beer, you know. So yeah, am I losing money? Pretty much, yeah, because you know what? The but this is what they're coming in for because then you're realizing that they need to eat, they're gonna order food. You know, you're you know, you they they'll you'll still make the money back in other ways. So you kind of gotta find that little niche to like, you know, be like, okay, you know what? I'm gonna do a five dollar, you know, pitcher with a large pepperoni pizza. Something like this will always help you, you know. And people loved it, you know, they're like, oh dude, they got five dollar pitchers, we're gonna go there to watch football, you know. And that's when all the football fans started pouring in, you know, before they used to go to other sports bars that were doing great, you know. Now I'm like trying to get them in here. Like, how do you, in a very competitive market, how do you reach out to these people to come in here? So these sound like struggles, but initially you have to be smart about what you're giving away. You know, you gotta get something in return.

SPEAKER_01 50:49

Right.

SPEAKER_02 50:49

So if you're giving, you know, a large pepperoni pizza with a five dollar pitcher, you know, you're technically giving them like 15 bucks off or something like that, right? Which is okay. Like it it you could still make a good profit margin off of this, you know. It's you gotta think about your profit margins and what what does your business need. But yeah, in the beginning it was a struggle because the business was already going down, it wasn't making too much money, and and there was barely any sales happening. So, you know, that's when you start you have to make money first in order to invest the money in yourself.

SPEAKER_01 51:23

Right.

unknown 51:23

Right.

SPEAKER_02 51:24

You got you know, I can afford to get like five TVs right now, but next month I added, you know, four more. You know what I mean? Because you you have to gradually get there. You can't just say, like, I'm gonna pour it in there, and then suddenly you're not making it back right away.

SPEAKER_01 51:38

Right.

SPEAKER_02 51:38

So you gotta make some money in order to spend the money.

SPEAKER_01 51:41

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 51:41

And that's where and then that's when you do like little things like the projector wall came after. This used to be like doors here, you know, and then we put a wall up, painted it white, you know, then the floors came when we save more money, you know, changed the floors, then the tables and chairs came after, you know, you save money for that. And then, you know, just little things like you know, the beer taps, like you know, we had to add in, we had to install the whole entire bar, and that came after, but everything is baby steps, you cannot go in there, like just dive right in there. I mean, you see beautiful businesses that are so nice inside just going out of business, right? Because they can't you're like, oh no, they can't get nobody in. They can't get nobody in because they spent all their money building this beautiful business, and it looks so nice inside, and and you know, you love the interior and the decorations, but then it's like there's nobody in there, you know. Yeah, so you gotta kind of take baby steps, like you gotta you gotta get people in. That should be your main focus is how are you gonna get in people in a competitive market.

SPEAKER_01 52:38

Right.

SPEAKER_02 52:38

And I would go out, like I would go to like you know, other sports bars around my area, and then it became even more competitive when the other bars started showing UFC, you know, like Buffalo Wild Wings, and and then we got chaplains, and then we got O'Sullivan showing the fights, you know. And then you're like, okay, now I got competition, so now what can I do to set me apart, you know? Right. And then you gotta plan it all out, you know, pizza specials, beer specials, you know, prizes, giveaways, freebies, I don't know, anything, you know, to bring in people. But it, yeah, you gotta have that mind. Like my mind never sleeps. I feel like it's jogging like 300 miles an hour every day. Like, what am I gonna do today? Like, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that. But that's the beauty of having a business because for me, like, I love it. You know what I mean? It's it's my passion, so I I can do it. You know, if somebody brings in a new idea to me, I love it. Like one guy came in one day and he's like, Hey, I want to do live music here, and then I suddenly start doing live music, and I'd pair it up with wines, you know, wine, dine, and live music. And then that's I I love new ideas and I love to support even up-and-coming talents. You have to, you know, trust the community, what they're gonna bring to you. If you don't make if nobody shows up, it's fine. You did it anyway, you know. And some days hundreds of people may show up, you know. Some days you have like two people there. Right. You know, we have those nights still, right? Like we'll have a comedy show, and today we have like four people sitting here, you know. That happens, and you can't be hard on yourself, right? You know, you you gotta know that there's better days ahead, and this is today, like, okay, what's going on? That's fine. You know, you gotta be positive. Right. Always stay in a positive state of mind because I feel like negativity really drowns a lot of business owners.

SPEAKER_03 54:25

Absolutely. Oh, that's yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. It can be dark. It can be dark sometimes.

SPEAKER_02 54:30

Yeah, it's very dark, you know. But you have to know that like you gotta get ideas, you gotta brainstorm ideas, you gotta put them together, and you have to make it happen. A lot of people will brainstorm and they don't make it happen.

SPEAKER_03 54:43

Yeah, that's true. You gotta execute.

SPEAKER_02 54:44

Yeah, you have to execute, yeah, just do it, you know, especially if you already started your business.

SPEAKER_00 54:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 54:50

If you haven't started the business, then you gotta, you know, find a business. I mean, I would say find a location that's already there. Because to find a shell or like a place that's just not like just building right now, it's gonna be so expensive.

SPEAKER_03 55:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 55:05

And those owners, the property owners, they don't put nothing into the business. Oh, yeah, of course not. They'll expect you to do everything electrical, plumbing, bathrooms, all this, this, and that, and that's so hard. Yeah, you know, and I and even with that, you can request for tenant improvement money. So they'll give you a certain amount of money and a certain amount of months for free lease in order to, you know, get the building, the place started, but you have to know how to talk to them. You know, you gotta be like, hey, listen, I'm starting the business right here, but I need your help as an owner, you know, invest in me because this is your place and I'm investing in you too. So these things, you know. But if you find a fully established business or at least an established business with all the stuff in it, go for that because that is where you spend the very least amount of money to build it up, and you just gotta take baby steps from there. Like, okay, I need tables and chairs, I need TVs, whatever, you know, these things.

SPEAKER_03 55:59

How do you balance personal life with business life? Because you clearly is this is your life. So how does it how do you balance it if there is a balance?

SPEAKER_02 56:10

You know, it that's the hardest part. That I'm still trying to find a balance sometimes, but sometimes what I do because I I'm a morning person, so I have trained myself to get up super early in the morning. I'll get up, I'll do my you know, the working out in the morning helps me prepare for my whole day.

SPEAKER_03 56:27

Amen. In that, yes.

SPEAKER_02 56:28

So that is something that I can hands down say, like some I've heard people tell me that they cannot, they do not have time to work out because they have to be at work at like 6 a.m. or or 8 a.m. But initially, like they come back home exhausted, they don't feel productive, they feel, you know, drained. But to get that adrenaline going early in the morning, all the thoughts come to you and you're working out, whatever you're doing, you know, either you go for a walk or a run or go on the treadmill or do some weights or yoga, whatever it is that you do, that is what helps you find inner peace.

SPEAKER_01 57:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 57:04

Burns off all of the, you know, the negativity, the anxiety, the the you know, the stress, and then you're feeling like, you know, your heart rate pumps, and you're you're basically, you know, allowing yourself to build those, what do you call it, endorphins or whatever, you know, and then you feel like, yes, like I I know what I'm gonna do today, like this is what I'm gonna do, and then you you think about it, but you have to have that balance. Like you have to have a set schedule. You know, I know some people are not a lot of businesses are not mourning, business owners are not mourning people, like especially the ones that run restaurants and bars. But you have to have that that schedule, like get up early, you know. Uh that way you can plan those few hours for yourself. Some people just get up, get ready, and take off to work. Right. That's that's not good. That's not a balance, you know. You gotta get up early, no matter how tired you are, make a schedule. You know, set a schedule for yourself, make sure you stick to that schedule. And that's where I find my balance. Like, I I'm like, okay, I'm gonna get up at 5 a.m. today, you know, I gotta be at work at 9 30 a.m., you know, or I have those few hours, you know. Then I when the kids have school right now, they're on certification, thank God.

SPEAKER_01 58:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 58:12

And then you gotta worry about dropping them to school, and then you're like, okay, they gotta be at school by 8 30, and then you gotta figure it out. You have that extra hour there, but then you're rushing, you know. So I feel like getting up early and setting a schedule will give you the balance you need for the first part of it. But sometimes I do find myself overworked, exhausted, you know, drained, and you'll have those days, you know, and then you that's when you gotta take at least a day or two to yourself and do what you need to do, you know. Take make sure you take vacations.

SPEAKER_01 58:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 58:44

And like I said, it's not an expense, it's an investment in you, yeah, because you need to be mentally stable and you know, you not too much anxiety or stress. So you have to have that.

SPEAKER_03 58:57

Absolutely. Well, thank you so much, Sonia, for your time. This has been so great to chat with you and learn more about how you got here and your journey. And um, the floor is yours. I'm gonna let you, if there's anything you want to promote, any social medias you want to throw out there for the listeners.

SPEAKER_02 59:12

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um you can find me at Strawhat Hayward. That's my Instagram page. And then the wine shopper is my wine shop page, which is on Instagram. I just recently opened up a TikTok account, which I'm like trying to get my way around, but I think it's the wine and pizza girl. So that's that's me on on TikTok, you know. But I post all my events on social media. Everything goes on there. Any upcoming events that are happening, any previous events that happened, you could find everything there. But that's me, and once again, 1653 Industrial Parkway, Hayward, California.

SPEAKER_03 59:49

That's where we're at, you guys. So thank you so much for your time.

SPEAKER_02 59:52

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

SPEAKER_03 59:54

We've been here, Darren, financial state of minds, your money counselor, and uh peace, kings and queens. I'm out of here. I'm about to eat this pizza. I'm out of here.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:01

Cheers.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:02

Cheers. Let's hold it up. Cheers. Cheers. Thanks again.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:06

Yes, thank you.