Sandy Ferrera:

So what’s odd is we launched the franchise concept of the property management company in one of the worst economies of the century. And it’s very interesting because one of our largest growth spurts was during that time. You couldn’t get any funding. I mean there was no such thing as a second mortgage or an equity line or getting a small business loan from your bank, I mean that had all washed away. And yet here we were growing at a time when most people were really struggling. And it was a great time. In some ways it was more fun than maybe where we are now. Some of my greatest franchisees – although they’re all great – came during that time because they were displaced out of corporate America, they had lost their jobs, they had been downsized, their pay had gone down, and they really were looking for something that was going to provide them with a future that was going to be reliable, that nobody else could take away from them.

And so it’s interesting. Did we go as fast as we wanted to go? No, we’re still growing. But what we learned over that period of time was how to build a successful base. For some of those individuals, they gave me their last pennies. I was their Hail Mary pass, and Scott and I took that really seriously. It’s not only inspiring but it is a huge responsibility when you know you’re taking a family’s savings and this is all they have and it has to be successful.

So it was an incredible time and we love all those guys and it’s been very beneficial to all of them. And now as we move almost 10 years later, we’re getting close to a decade, seeing how some of those individuals have incorporated their family into the business, I think that’s really cool. And we’re seeing that the trend is going to continue and I think that’s a neat aspect.