Consider the Wildflowers
Consider the Wildflowers
122. From Stay-at-Home Mom to CEO: What No One Tells You About Starting a Business
Starting a business is one thing—figuring out everything no one tells you? That’s a whole different story. In this episode, I sit down with Amanda Ford, a stay-at-home mom turned CEO, who went from searching for a bounce house for her daughter’s birthday to launching a thriving bounce house rental business of her own.
We dive into the messy middle of entrepreneurship—the late nights, the financial risks, the unexpected sacrifices—and how she’s learning to balance building a business while being present for her kids. If you’ve ever wondered what it really takes to turn a passion into a profitable business (while still trying to keep up with laundry), this episode is for you!
WILDFLOWER SHOWNOTES : shannaskidmore.com/bounce-around-knox
02.446) Hey Amanda, bounce around Knox. I'm so excited we're doing this. Friends, this is such a fun show, because I have my friend and neighbor Amanda on the show. This is going to be fun. It's like chatting on our back porch.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (00:04.098) Hi, Shanna, how are you? I'm so happy to be here. 20.275) It really is. I'm super excited about this.
Shanna (00:23.38) Will you tell everybody what you were saying before, like in our very first conversation and I like, Amanda, tell me all the things about your life and business. You're like, who's this girl?
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (00:33.091) So, you know, funny enough, I'm pretty sure, Shanna, that we had had a bounce house that we had to bring home to dry out and it was sitting in the yard and your daughter saw it and she came running over and was like, yes, yes, come play. Because that's the fun part about having this business is when we do have to bring units home, our kids do get to enjoy them and how fun now to have neighbors that get to come over and play. And so you came over and we got to sit on the back porch and you were like, my gosh, so I'm just so curious. Like, tell me about your business. And I was just like taken aback for a second. Not in a bad way, but just because like no friends or neighbors really have ever like taken so much interest in it. And I'm like, well, we'll tell you what, like what part? And you're like, tell me everything. I'm like, well, you know, I'm a little sweaty. But like I'd love to share. then that was even I mean, Shannon, was this like week one of us living here? Because I didn't even know what you did.
Shanna (01:05.795) Yeah. 13.516) Yeah. Everything. From the beginning. 30.222) Probably. This is my job hazard.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (01:32.387) for work. Yeah. I was just like, wow, I love her. So yeah.
Shanna (01:38.83) She's a little bit, it's so funny. Sometimes I'm like, anytime I meet somebody that owns a business or even desires to own a business or says like, I'm a CPA, but I wish I was a chef. I'm like, tell me more. And then I have to really like catch myself because I'm like, this is truly just a hazard of my job slash just who I am. I guess I just really am like, if you want to do it, do it.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (01:52.109) Yes. Tell me why.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (02:02.376) huh. 06.553) Yes. Yes. Okay.
Shanna (02:06.59) So with that said, Amanda, tell us about your background. Like, what were you doing before starting a bounce house business? And then I just want to, like, how did this happen? How did Bounce Around Knox come to be? Like, so background, and then, hey, I'm going to start a bounce house business.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (02:16.654) Mm-hmm. 24.352) Okay. Okay, let's do it. I guess as far as without going way too far back, just like my work background is I used to work for a retail store called the Lizard Thicket Boutique and I started working for them back in Peachtree City, Georgia. Must have been like maybe 2012. And I very quickly worked my way up there. And when the owner of that franchise wanted to open up more franchises, she had kind of used me to find her manager replacement in the Peachtree City store and then moved me to Knoxville, Tennessee to open up this store here in Turkey Creek. Yes. So that was, Blizzard, I it was like my first baby. You know, I was single. I was like looking for a place in the world and that just really gave me like my, my boost and kind of showed me what I wanted to do, which was like customer service, managing people. So while working in the-
Shanna (03:05.996) I didn't know that. Aww. Okay.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (03:25.309) the Turkey Creek store, she had gone on to open up a store in Greenville, South Carolina. So again, I found a manager to take my spot to go to Greenville, South Carolina. But at the time I had met my husband Michael and he was here in Knoxville. And so that was like the first shift of like, okay, I think I'm actually gonna plant roots here in Knoxville. And so we sent that manager to Greenville.
Shanna (03:39.288) Okay.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (03:47.925) And long story short, after Michael and I had gotten married and wanted to start a family, he and I both were working jobs that were nights, weekends, holidays. Michael specifically, he would leave town for work for weeks at a time. And so we knew like we cannot have a baby working these schedules. And so I got a Monday through Friday eight to five banking job.
Shanna (03:56.536) Yeah.
Shanna (04:10.592) Yeah, you did.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (04:11.129) which is not my personality, but I wanted to be a mom. And Michael's career was absolutely thriving at the time. And he was working in pyrotechnics. so 4th of July, the fireworks at the football games, like that was all his company. So he was climbing the ladder there. So that was really important. When we had our son, it was December of 2019.
Shanna (04:15.437) Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (04:39.498) It was always my plan to go back to work. I knew banking long-term wasn't for me, but all we've ever done was work, right? So there just wasn't another thought, another option. Never, never. I mean, just work, work, work, work, work. That's what I do. And then I have this baby and he goes to daycare and I come home and repeat, right? So anyways, he was born in December of 2019.
Shanna (04:48.706) Yeah, yeah. You never thought I'm gonna be a say hi mom. Yeah, yeah.
Shanna (05:01.154) Yeah. Yeah. Right.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (05:07.099) And then when my maternity leave was up in February of 2020, we all know what happened back then. And the daycare that he was supposed to go to was like, I'm so sorry. We don't know what's happening with the world and we just aren't taking new kids. don't have a spot. World shifted. mm hmm. Okay. So, okay. I'm a mom and I'm okay with that. And Shanna, I put my entire energy life focus into being mom and it was
Shanna (05:20.428) Yeah. Yeah. You're like, OK. 28.342) Yeah. Yeah. 33.507) Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (05:36.883) The very best thing that has ever happened to me was not having the choice to go back to work, but to have to stay home. And I would never have had it any other way. But with, yeah, it's okay.
Shanna (05:40.504) Yeah. 44.685) Yeah. 48.43) Yeah. So, OK, you don't have to answer this, but I am curious. You were probably planning financially for you to go back to work. I mean, so did you when they're like, hey, you can't come to daycare. Did you try to find another daycare or were you like, did you just put in your two weeks notice? And what did you all do about financially? Were you just like, OK, reset budget?
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (05:56.551) Yes. Yes.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (06:11.866) Michael, long before he got, not long before, but right out of high school, Michael had actually started a lawn care company. He mowed yards. He did not want to go to school. And so he started a business and he mowed yards. has some John Deere mowers, all that. Long story short, he did end up obviously going to school and he graduated from UT and got his job. So he picked up mowing on the side to kind of make ends meet. We canceled.
Shanna (06:38.72) Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (06:41.569) cable, everything that we could, we just lived low. We also had then decided in those months, like, okay, we know that we want to have more kids. Let's have them quickly. And let's, you're going to be home, we're going to figure it out, and you'll go back to work when the kids go to kindergarten. And so we kind of had this five year plan. Yeah.
Shanna (06:42.902) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 51.99) Yeah. Yeah.
Shanna (07:01.078) Yeah, okay, wait. Okay, I love it. So did you know immediately when you were home with your little baby, were you like, I'm meant to do this? Or did you like, was there a period where it was still like, no, I want to go back? Like how long did you adjust into like stay at home mom life?
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (07:17.812) There it was. 21.618) It was more so a period, not of like I want to go back because while the banking job was great and the hours were great for what we had thought that we wanted for our lives, I knew that banking wasn't for me. It wasn't fueling a passion. Couldn't really climb the ladder into anything that was intriguing to me. And so it was more so like I felt like I needed to find work because income felt scary. But we had
Shanna (07:38.445) Yeah. 44.31) Yeah. Yes.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (07:49.09) Probably about three months I would say when when our son was about three months old and I was really diving into like, know He was getting fun and whatever and I was doing all my research at night and I felt such a like that was my job was to figure out like how I can support this baby and play with him and So that was I was like I'm so thankful to be home and that's when we I had said to Michael one night It was like I want to be home. There's nowhere for him to go. I don't want to go back to banking I don't know what I want to do
Shanna (07:56.654) Yeah.
Shanna (08:01.91) Yes. 05.325) Yeah. 08.876) Yeah. Yeah. 14.124) Yeah. Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (08:18.615) And he was like, I'm going to mow yards. It's the summertime now and we're going to figure it out. so we had had then our daughter very quickly after two under two, and that was our five year plan was we'll put away and we'll cut costs as much as we can and you will be home with our babies. And when they go to kindergarten, you'll go back to work, whatever that may look like. So very long. Yes. Hang on with these babies. Yes.
Shanna (08:21.654) Yeah. Yeah. 38.507) Yeah. Okay. So what happened from there? You're hanging with these babies. No, I love it. Hanging with these babies. And then how did Bounce Bounce Around Knox come to be? was there a point where you're like, I feel like I need to work or financially did you need to work? Like, how did the business come to be?
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (08:49.684) Yes. Mm-mm. 58.659) Do you ever feel like you when you're not looking for something is when you find it or when you're not ready for something and it gets it gets put in front of you and it's like, hey, are you going to do this or are you going to walk away from it? Michael and I love to throw a party. We are avid party hosts. If there is a football game on people are at our house. We love our kids and their friends running around our house. We always throw parties for our sons. First stop.
Shanna (09:26.21) the best ones.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (09:29.314) for our son's first birthday, we had actually bought him a little Tykes bounce house. It's like the ones that you put in the backyard. And so at his birthday party, we rolled that out. Every year after we roll out that little Tykes bounce house. When our daughter's first birthday come around, our son was then two and a half, almost three. And we very quickly realized for like one and three year olds do not belong in the same eight by eight bounce house together. Like it was like.
Shanna (09:55.596) Bounce House.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (09:58.818) WWE fighting, our daughter wasn't even walking yet. Like it was, and so anyways, with our son's birthday just coming up three months after that, Michael and I were like, we're going to rent a bounce house. So very long story short, Easter party comes around, we rent a bounce house. Halloween party comes around, we rent a bounce house. Our daughter's second birthday comes around and we find a white bounce house. And I'm super excited about this. When it shows up, we're like,
Shanna (10:01.058) Yeah. Yeah. 10.465) Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (10:27.702) this is beautiful, but this isn't as big as those traditional bounce houses and slides that we had been renting. Throughout this whole process, Michael's like the budget man, and he would just always casually mention every time we went to go rent one, like, man, I wonder how much these cost, like, let's just get one ourselves. Like, yeah, yeah, like quick Amazon search, I don't know, we'll just rent one. You know, quick Google search, we'll just rent one, and never pulled the trigger.
Shanna (10:34.978) Yes. 50.541) Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (10:54.914) So after our daughter's second birthday, when the white bounce house came and was beautiful but too small, we had said then, we're like, man, like, they've got to make these bigger, right? They've got to make them bigger. But in, yeah, in white, that was all that I knew had existed. That's all we had known to look for. But we had kind of just tabled it again, because our son's birthday was coming up and he wanted an obstacle course and we had already had that rented.
Shanna (11:06.988) Yeah. In white. Yeah. Yep.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (11:24.992) It must have been early October, his birthday's in December, and the company had emailed me and was like, we are so sorry, our obstacle course actually got damaged at a church event and we will not be able to make your reservation in December. And I had forwarded it to Michael and he called me and he's like, do not book anything else, this is it, I'm buying one. I was like.
Shanna (11:45.966) What? OK, and this is 2023. 2023. OK. OK.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (11:50.7) Three, yes, 2023. So just to know Michael's like, he's a very like go with the flow guy. He doesn't really like insert his opinions. But when he has an idea or an opinion and he speaks up, I listen. And so when he called me and he's like, do not find another company to rent from, I'm going to buy one. I was like, okay. So anyways, Shanna, I know I'm very long-winded, but.
Shanna (11:59.363) Mm-hmm.
Shanna (12:18.774) No, this is, are you kidding? I love it. This is everything I need to know.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (12:19.362) I know and we never get the time to chat like this, you know, with the kids running around and stuff. I know you're not. I know. like, I would love to win. So anyways, it just very happened very quickly in like a two week time frame. Michael's background is in logistics and supply chain. So he found a manufacturer and had come home like that night or maybe the maybe the next night.
Shanna (12:25.302) I know. And I don't want to be your nosy neighbor. Tell me everything, Manda.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (12:48.512) and we were chatting with the manufacturer and I found the white bounce house or whatever and they had passed us like our colors, their color swatches and said, you can customize this. And I found the most beautiful purple and I was like, you can make this whole thing purple. And she was like, yes, we can. Do you wanna slide? I was like, you can add a slide to that bounce house? My world has opened up.
Shanna (13:15.501) Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (13:17.268) So anyways, we had customized two units, one for our daughter and one for our son was the idea, because we were just going to keep them at home. We're just going to buy them. They were just for us. This was not. Yes. Mm hmm. Yes. For our son, just to have. Mm hmm. It was green. was a single green bounce house was the very first one. And I knew eventually I would want to create an obstacle course. And then for our daughter, we created our.
Shanna (13:23.446) You were just gonna buy them. Okay, so you're like, I'm making a purple one obstacle course with a slide and another color. Pink, yeah, okay, blue, okay, just a half, all right. 44.387) Mm-hmm.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (13:47.072) you know, purple with the slide in the ball pit. So we were just going to have them for ourselves. And we thought, you know, my gosh, like we throw parties, all of our friends come surely like they have birthdays too. They would want to use it. And Michael was like, yeah, but if we let somebody use it, we probably need insurance. huh. So in a two week time span, we're like researching, we're reaching out, we're like, insurance is extremely expensive. And I'm like, well, maybe other people will want to rent it.
Shanna (13:49.22) huh. I love it.
Shanna (14:04.81) huh.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (14:15.124) And so we were not on social media at the time, but I jumped on social media, created a new account and I was searching and I was like white bounce house Knoxville, pastel bounce house Knoxville. Didn't exist. Nothing. I had come across companies that do carry units like this in Arizona is a very strong market. California, Texas, huge. like, my gosh, businesses like this exist, but they are nowhere in East Tennessee.
Shanna (14:21.837) Yeah. 27.38) Nothing. Yeah. Yeah. 37.164) Yeah. Yeah. 43.158) Yes. Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (14:46.074) And I had called Michael while he was at work and I had told him this and he was like, you better really hope people around Knox want to bounce. And I was like, bounce around Knox. I was like, baby, we got a business. That was it. Yes. And so our two units just came to me like that. And so everything that just kind of fell into place over a simple conversation.
Shanna (14:55.331) Mmm. 59.796) You have got a business! It just came to you. Bounce around Nox. Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (15:11.522) Two units turned into five because the more units that the units are from overseas and so the more that you bundle together to put on a shipping container the better price you get. So we started with five units. I had created a social media account, started working on a website and the interest came flying in. I mean, immediately. My screen time on my phone, social media, Instagram, 100%. It was just like.
Shanna (15:19.788) Yes. Yeah. 30.614) immediately. How do people find you? Okay.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (15:42.274) I don't even know. Followers would just come in and we don't have a huge following. I mean, right now we're probably at like 600 something, but in like two or three days of opening right at a year, we just celebrated a year. So anyways, we were like, we've got something. We need more units. And so just a week or two later, we ordered five more. So we now carry 10 units. Yes. I'm sorry. Yeah.
Shanna (15:51.318) in less than a year, right at a year. Yeah. Yeah.
Shanna (16:03.372) Okay, okay, well, so 10 units, and you, this is all so good, Amanda. I'm glad we get to do this. I know, when you said, what were you about to say though about your screen time?
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (16:10.69) This is amazing. Yeah. the screen time on my phone because I was not on social media before. I was a very like hands on, intentional, try not to scroll, don't talk all day. My screen time since starting the business back in, I guess October, November of last year, in that one week, it jumped from an hour and 43 minutes a day to six hours a day. And I was like, that's when I knew though, I was like, I've got a job here. Like I've got a.
Shanna (16:18.892) Yeah. Yeah. 38.616) my goodness. Yeah. Yeah. 44.02) Yes. Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (16:44.711) business this is going to be 40 plus hours a week I know it
Shanna (16:49.218) Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (16:50.624) So that's something to kind of touch on later is the whole social media aspect and we're out with that now.
Shanna (16:54.58) let's go there. So at this point, we're like, we have a business. You got the URL. I mean, did you just figure it out all out on your own? Like, how did you figure out pricing and getting your domain name and starting an &A? Were you just like, I'm going to figure it out?
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (16:59.584) Mm-hmm.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (17:05.408) Mm-hmm. 08.896) Yeah. When the name came to us, Michael, I had told you previously, had had a landscape business before. So he knew like how to get a business license, how to make sure that the name wasn't taken, you know, kind of all that. And so he jumped on the Tennessee Department Government website and he took care of all that. So he secured our business license. And then once we knew that we got the name and the name obviously was already available on social media, you know, that's when I had jumped on.
Shanna (17:18.598) Right. Yep. 25.152) Yeah. Yeah. 38.977) Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (17:41.778) website Wix I believe yeah and
Shanna (17:44.406) Yeah. And did you just like make up your price? Like how'd you figure out pricing and like investing in all of this?
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (17:51.7) So as far as the pricing of our rentals, we just did like market research. We knew that we would be kind of considered like a luxury brand. We knew that White Bounce houses existed. And so I kind of had known their pricing because we had rented from White Bounce house companies before. And so we kind of took our traditional rentals of the bright colored units, know, the ones that you know, and price it a little bit higher than that.
Shanna (17:56.685) Yeah.
Shanna (18:08.952) Right.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (18:21.652) and we just kind of knew, we're like, this is how much a unit costs. This is how many times we'll have to rent it to be able for it to like pay for itself. We also need to buy a trailer and cleaning supplies and a dolly. There was just so much, Shanna. And thankfully, you know, because the units are from overseas, it took them about three months to get here.
Shanna (18:29.591) Yes. 34.891) Yes. 44.673) Yes.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (18:44.754) So even though we kind of launched and announced our business online and we're gauging that interest and taking deposits, we still had three months to kind of figure out exactly what we were gonna do. What was the, yeah.
Shanna (18:50.966) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Amanda. Okay. You have to tell me that. Okay. One year in what, what has gone well? Like, what are you like, wow, this went so well. And then I would just love to hear, I don't know, one to two things that you're like, huh, learned that. I mean, you had to go through it to learn it. Like, yeah. What didn't maybe go so well?
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (19:01.104) when you're in. 06.987) Ha ha ha! 13.222) Yeah. Yeah. How to go through it. Yeah. Well, first of all, I just want to say that the fact that we just celebrated a year of business like this interview couldn't have come at a better time because last night as Michael and I were kind of briefing ourselves on this podcast was the first time, Shanna, that we really sat down and just took in like, holy cow, it's been a year because we hit the ground.
Shanna (19:27.31) Yeah. 37.922) Yeah, you did it.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (19:42.386) absolutely running, truly had no idea what we were doing, but we knew that we were hard workers. We knew we had safety at the forefront. We knew we had fantastic units that people wanted. And so we totally learned the entire year. just learned hard things for sure would have been
Shanna (19:43.916) Yeah. 53.548) Yeah, beautiful. Yeah. 59.117) Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (20:07.04) The first thing would have been is that when I was so excited to launch the business, I wanted everybody to know about it. And so I very much like hustled and I was emailing like wedding venues and party planners introducing our units. And what does everybody want? Something for free. So a lot of, and we did a lot of traveling to very, very far. So to kind of travel to very far places, like an hour or two hours sometimes from home to deliver units, mostly for free.
Shanna (20:19.032) Yeah. free. Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (20:36.768) was definitely a learning experience. I do not regret it, but we now know our worth in our business, in our brand, in our units, because with a bounce house that we've now learned is when places have these events, like say like a business is celebrating their one or two, whatever you're in business, you know, they can post it online and people will come, of course they've got customers, but at any event and you say we will have a bounce house there,
Shanna (20:39.606) Yeah. Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (21:06.842) man, I mean, we're talking like 30, 40, 50 % more customers showed up because the bounce house was there than in previous years. So we know that now. And so things won't be for free. We also know that every time we set up is a liability. And so, you know, that part's really scary. So that was kind of like a learning curve. I don't regret it. It was hard. It was hard to leave my babies at home with a babysitter on the weekend.
Shanna (21:13.176) people. Yeah. 18.102) Yeah. Yeah. 26.285) Yes.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (21:36.478) pay that babysitter and spend two hours and gas in the car to set up for free and not make any money. The other learning curve was the water slides. And so just the fact of we did not know how much work that those would be. It's one thing just to set them up and fill it, you know, stick a water hose in and say have fun and they have the best time. But then when we go to pick it up, it's like, OK, so now we have to drain the water out of it. The units wet.
Shanna (21:41.76) Yeah, yeah. 58.604) Yeah.
Shanna (22:04.795) yeah. Yeah. Yeah, works out for us because we get them in the drying process. Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (22:05.792) So you can't just roll it up and say, you next weekend. It's like you have to then bring it out and then you bring it home. Yeah. For our neighbors to enjoy in the drying process, which of course is super fun, but it's like, okay, like we don't just get to tuck it away. Like we have to then bring it home, dry it out. Sometimes Michael will have to crawl in there with a shop vac to get the water out. And then we have to clean and sanitize all the units every time. So.
Shanna (22:32.99) Do you have a debrief when these things happen, like when you're learning in the process? There's some things you can't learn until it happens. mean, do you have to talk about pricing? Do you have to talk about travel distances? Who's getting what for free? How have you, I guess, adjusted from the things you've learned? What maybe have you had to change or adjust?
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (22:48.278) Mm-hmm. Yes. 55.137) Yes. A lot of conversation, Michael and I just kind of deciding what amount of mileage is worth our time and gas and money. And so we do have travel fees in place now. We did waive a lot of those in the beginning, but now kind of moving forward, we're like, you know, you're a little bit far out of our zone. And so there is a travel fee associated with that. And that's a very normal thing in the industry.
Shanna (23:25.228) Right.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (23:25.758) every time we rented we were charged a travel fee. So definitely those. And then moving forward, we're going to definitely shrink in our radius and there's just really no travel fee big enough to justify us kind of going too far out of our zone. And so kind of looking for the future, there's options there as far as what's next for the actual Bounce Around Knox brand. Are we going to?
Shanna (23:37.229) Yeah. 46.403) Yeah. 54.765) Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (23:56.096) you know, license out because there is a need and people do want these units. You know, are we going to wholesale them for somebody to be able to use at home? Probably not. They're much bigger than we ever anticipated. But if somebody was out there in those far enough away areas from Knoxville that would want to, you know, do a Bounce Around Knox brand and have these units for their area. That would definitely be something that we're looking forward to exploring.
Shanna (24:01.251) Yeah. 07.448) Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (24:23.872) for next year. So because we want everybody to experience having these units, it's just we cannot handle bringing them, you know, too far away. So.
Shanna (24:24.3) Yeah. Yeah. 31.938) Yeah, yeah. Okay, so your five year plan got fast forwarded a little bit. Like you're back to work earlier maybe than your five year plan. Tell me just about like moming and starting a business and how have you or how are you? Because I'm sure you're still figuring it out. I know you're still figuring it out. We're neighbors, hello. Like, huh.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (24:40.916) I'm back to work. Yes. 48.724) Mm-hmm. 57.388) We're neighbors, huh?
Shanna (25:01.154) Finding that harmony of loving being a mom, loving your business, obviously you make, kind of how are y'all figuring that out? How are you navigating it?
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (25:04.322) Yeah. 14.142) Ask me in year two. That is my, please do, please come over and sit on my back porch and ask me if my year two goals are going as planned because, and it's funny too that you asked that because I had, when we had celebrated, you know, or surpassed a year, we didn't really celebrate it. But you know, I made my announcement on social media about, you know, thanking them, thanking all of our customers, you know, for supporting us for our first year in business. And I had said year two is the year that we,
Shanna (25:15.758) I will. 23.394) Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (25:43.712) fine balance and coming back home to our babies. We really like their lives got turned a whole 180. It was a hard year personally, definitely. And so I just want to be home with them on the weekends, especially with our son. Like this is the last year he's home before he goes to kindergarten. And I'm sick to my stomach. Like I will be that mom at, you know, they go just two days a week to like a little part-time preschool, which we love, but there will be a
Shanna (26:02.604) I can't even think about that.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (26:12.902) pre-k graduation and I'm just like I stopped thinking about it like I wasn't I wasn't ready to stop staying home I'm gonna cry too thinking about it because it just all happened so fast but here's the thing and you and I have talked about this on our walks before is like I would never choose to go work for someone else the fact that I have now the flexibility
Shanna (26:16.874) I'm like about to cry Amanda. Let's not go there. I know. 25.41) Yeah. 30.915) Yeah. 38.39) Yes.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (26:42.388) to be able to bring my kids to school and if I want to pick them up for lunch or go to a doctor's appointment and I'm the one doing that, if I was working at the bank Monday through Friday, there wouldn't be that flexibility. And so even though we've really spent the last year, every single weekend, nights and holidays, just dragging our babies around in the truck, slinging bounce houses in the backyard, like it wasn't all fun.
Shanna (26:44.834) Yeah. 49.1) Yeah. Yeah. 54.754) Yeah.
Shanna (27:09.421) Yes.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (27:09.682) It was really, really hard. But I think that we've given ourselves now something better in the long run. Something better than I can have imagined, you know?
Shanna (27:12.536) Yeah. 18.624) Yeah. Yeah. I think that thanks for sharing that, Amanda. Like, I think it is so much mindset of because you're so right. Like, I think a lot of us, I know a lot of people listening, I'm sure feel very similarly. Like, we feel pulled in a lot of directions. And I think for you, even especially like, you know, you were just trying to buy some.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (27:26.497) Yeah. 35.393) Yeah.
Shanna (27:42.818) pretty bounce houses for your kids. And this business happened and I'm sure you never expected it to like go as big as it did. And I think, you know, finding that harmony and that balance is hard. And I think, you know, we're asked to do something. I don't know if our moms and grandmas were asked to do like, I told Kyle, yeah, I told Kyle just this morning, I was like, if I work during nap time, the dishes aren't done.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (27:49.3) never. Mm-hmm.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (28:03.304) Mm-hmm. To do it all, yeah?
Shanna (28:11.328) If I do the dishes during nap time, the work isn't done. Like which one goes? Which one do you pick?
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (28:13.73) Mm-hmm. Which one do you pick? And usually it ends up at nighttime after the kids are in bed, the house is a complete disaster, and then you still have three or four hours of desk work to do. like, so the two, I'm so good for neighbors. just want to hug you through the screen.
Shanna (28:19.576) Mm-hmm. 26.562) work. Yeah, yeah. I'm glad we're neighbors. I get you girl. Solidarity. But at the same time, it's like, but what a blessing. You know, I have to say this over to myself all the time. Like, I love the work I do. I think that's the thing. Like, I'm grateful for it. Also, though, and that's why I love this podcast. It's like,
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (28:46.806) Yes.
Shanna (28:50.306) this is a season you and I both have little people at home and so that it might be growing the business differently and like, and I'm just, it is a constant like, Hey, what's working? What's not? What can we shift? Yeah. How if y'all, again, share what you feel comfortable, but like financially, how have you set goals for the business where you like, we want to pay off our investment in the first year or
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (29:01.822) A lot of check-in. Yeah, I know. And a lot of guilt. Yeah. 11.106) Okay.
Shanna (29:18.23) especially now like after your first year and you want to slow down a little bit, how have you readjusted those goals? Like what role, I guess is my question, has money played into growing your business and like how much you make?
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (29:21.487) Mm-hmm. 26.213) Yeah. Okay. Yes. Okay. So, you know, our only income is Michael's job and a backstory about Michael's job is, I don't know if I mentioned, but he's no longer with the pyrotechnics. And so back in 2020, yeah, he actually was furloughed that summer and, very long story short, he now works, you know, for a logistics and supply train, company. and so his job is actually commission-based. His salary is not very big. He didn't know that.
Shanna (29:41.834) Mm-hmm. 2020. 58.466) know that. Amanda. Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (30:01.635) And so it's a blessing when it is, when everything's great, and it's really hard when it's not because his base salary doesn't pay the bills. So we, ever since 2020, since I didn't go back to work, since he was furloughed, since he got this commission-based job, that was the year where we really were like very disciplined. We're gonna save, we're not gonna be heavy spenders.
Shanna (30:10.242) Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (30:25.195) So that year definitely had kind of led us to this. And so our five year plan of me staying home, being on that one income, when Michael has a good month, commission wise, know, X amount goes and we put that away. And so we had this little savings account at the time that the bounce business happened. And it just literally so happened. And this is why I just feel like it just happened because it was supposed to. It was sitting in a CD at the bank that was
Shanna (30:29.965) Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (30:55.159) coming due October of last year. It was $35,000 and so we took that $35,000 when we bought our first round of inventory. Expenses obviously came after that with the trailer and stuff so then we opened up a business credit card and there was an introductory thing I think it was six or seven months of zero percent interest. We put $29,000 on that credit card. Scary.
Shanna (31:07.852) crazy. Yeah. 19.384) Yeah. Mm. Yep.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (31:24.323) So anyways, our first goal was to hustle, hustle, hustle, and get that credit card paid off before interest accrued. Interest, was October was our month that interest was going to start coming. And in August of this year, we made our final payment on that credit card. So we still owe ourselves. Thank you, Shanna. It's a very expensive business to run.
Shanna (31:28.621) Yeah. Howdy, girl. 43.308) That is a huge deal. 47.852) Amanda, that's amazing. 53.996) Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (31:54.201) But we did not feel like, Shannon, we did not feel like we could just start with five units and load them in the back of a truck and go. We had to have the operations. We wanted to do it right. If we were doing it, we were doing it right. We bought, we created a logo, branded gear. We got insurance, paid it for the year. So anyways.
Shanna (32:02.157) Yeah. 06.572) Yeah. Branded gear. Yep.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (32:16.183) Funny enough then, so in August we paid off the credit card, but then we knew that our insurance was going to renew as far as the website was going to renew. Our business license was going to renew in October, November. So then we got to thankfully operate all of our rentals from that time went to go then pay and renew that. So now we're in November and we bought new inventory. So we did.
Shanna (32:22.147) Yeah. 25.76) Yeah. Yeah. 34.381) Yeah. 42.114) You did? I didn't know that. I'm so excited.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (32:46.667) I can't wait to show you. So all of our rentals, like we're, everything's going back into the business. There's five new units that we want to have by spring and summer of next year. So every rental, everything that the business makes will go to fund those new units.
Shanna (32:53.815) Yes.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (33:05.517) And then hopefully by next spring, we'll start to pay ourselves back our 35 and then hopefully year three will pocket our first dollar. But within that too next year, we do want to start slowing down personally. And what that means is bringing in employees. so financially, I'm scared because the business barely floats itself right now. There's yes.
Shanna (33:10.081) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. 20.386) Yeah. Yeah. Breakdown. Yeah. 30.37) Yeah. You're in that like figuring out pricing to cover expenses, figuring out how many customers you need to, you know, I feel like that's such a, and you're right at it. Like I think that one year mark, I think it takes that year to like, okay, what does it actually cost? You don't have a model you're going on. You don't have anybody to, yeah, you can go and compare it to other people in the market, but it's like, well, your bounce houses are bigger.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (33:38.811) Mm-hmm. 44.697) right there. Yeah. Mm-mm. No. 55.877) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Shanna (33:58.552) They're not the same colors. They're, know, and so you're gonna just adjust that the pricing to cover your breakdown crew. And I'm pumped about it. So you can go camping.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (34:06.787) And you know, I'm not the... Breakdown crew, I know. I'm ready. I'm ready for employees. Thinking back to, I mean, Michael and I were managers for many, many, many, many years and Michael still is in a management position. And I think that that's a lot of like what fueled me is I love to create spreadsheets and to-do lists and systems and train employees to do so. So I love to teach. And so I'm really excited to kind of find our team.
Shanna (34:20.674) Yeah. 28.11) Yeah. 34.53) Yeah. Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (34:41.253) team.
Shanna (34:42.136) Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (34:43.001) and make them like our family. You know, this can be really fun. It can be a great job for high schoolers, college kids to do with their friends on the weekends. It could also be a really great job for a dad that needs some extra money. You know, so there's so many options and I'm really excited to get into that. And I think we can scale more if we have a team and a truck and Michael and I still love to deliver units and do them. You know, we can do more. So that's
Shanna (34:44.652) Yeah. 53.389) Yeah. 57.56) Yeah.
Shanna (35:02.509) Yeah. 09.676) Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I'm excited for you, Amanda. I think I'm interested if people who listening like I love getting to interview so many different types of businesses, but a lot of the businesses that we've had on the show or that I work with personally either like service base. So they are, you know, selling a service or providing a service. They do website design or they're an interior designer. And so it's such a different look. You all are investing in.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (35:12.925) and I'm looking forward to. 30.351) Right. Yes.
Shanna (35:38.964) large scale inventory. you have a trick, like your business has assets. And I think it's a very different, not very different. There's obviously tons of businesses out there with a similar model, but you know, I hear a lot in my world, people think it's normal to not turn a profit in your first year business or to like reinvest all of the money back into the business. And it's like for your business, yes, that, but for so many people know it's like,
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (35:43.163) Yeah. Yes, yeah.
Shanna (36:07.542) you're selling a service, you make profit, you you sell a, you make money immediately. And so I'm so glad you're here sharing your story for anybody who has a product or has invested, you know, like flower farmers buying farm, you know, like it, it's hard to make that big investment and then to like, you have a five year plan, whereas other people might go out on a day one and turn them money, like make money, you know? I love that so much, Amanda.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (36:08.835) Yeah, immediately. Yeah. Yeah. 21.089) Yes, yeah, big expenses to make it work. 32.397) Right. Right.
Shanna (36:36.586) I love having you on the show. Thanks for sharing.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (36:37.725) I'm so excited. It's cool to share my, you know, our story. We've never shared it. mean, customers will ask all the time when we go to drop off like, wow.
Shanna (36:42.573) Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (36:47.599) They're just so amazed like wow, this is so much more beautiful than ever thought in person. Like how did you guys find this? Like how did you do it? And we always say is like we literally don't know. We're just doing it. It never was supposed to be a business. Like this is my daughter's bounce house that you're using basically. And so it's just super cool. We're really proud of ourselves and we're just so thankful for the Knoxville community of moms, especially that just want to have a big beautiful
Shanna (36:49.55) Yeah.
Shanna (37:02.466) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 13.026) Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (37:17.533) clean, sanitized bouncer at their kid's birthday and we get to provide that for them. So it's just super cool.
Shanna (37:20.47) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 27.77) I just love being your neighbor, obviously. And I also love getting to share entrepreneurship with you. you're in this just, I feel like the first few years of business, it's this interesting, it's hard, it's so hard. And you probably have learned so much. mean, just even about sanitizing your, maybe some other bounce houses. You don't know. then you have to figure out how to be a marketer and say, yeah, our prices are more, but here's why.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (37:30.199) You 39.109) Yeah. 44.751) Yeah. bright. Yes. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Shanna (37:55.886) and all of the things that come along with being a business owner. It's not just like, love beautiful bounce houses. We'll provide one. You know, it's like, there's like, okay, how do we transport it? Do you get insurance? And like, I just love your story. I love what you're doing. I love being your neighbor. There's so much we could talk. I know it's fun. I just want to, there's so much more we could chat with about, but I do have one.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (38:02.957) Let me drop it off for you. I know. Right. Yes. So important. I love you so much. Like this is such a blessing. Yeah. 21.539) I know. We could go on and on. Ugh.
Shanna (38:23.8) question before we go into a quick fire. Would you say that, you you talked a lot about like you and Michael have sat down, you've looked at your finances, you figured out your budgets, you've, would you say that like money is something that has come easily, like understanding money, creating a budget, like is something that you feel like has come easily for you or has it been more of like a learning?
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (38:25.915) Okay, let's do it. 43.226) Okay.
Shanna (38:53.486) process of like, yeah, staying on a budget. Do you know what I'm saying?
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (38:55.739) Yeah. Yes. Definitely learning 100 % and always changing. feel like, you know, like I said back in 2020 when there was that stint of like, just holy cow, we cannot not make it.
Shanna (39:15.02) Yeah. Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (39:18.167) It was huge learning. were forever humbled. We will forever live with that mindset, I think. Now, Michael might tell you otherwise when I go to Target and come home with, you know, quite a few bags of stuff that probably was unnecessary. You know, or if I'm swinging through the Chick-fil-A draft or too many times just to get an ice cream cone. But it was definitely that shifted our mindset 100 percent on saving.
Shanna (39:28.214) It's Target's fault. 37.656) Yeah. 43.244) Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Just to think more. So what would you say? Yeah. Yeah. I love it. Yeah. What would you say through all of that? Through starting your business, through funding a huge chunk of it yourself, through like losing your both of your jobs and all your child care, like all in one year and having a baby. Ha ha. Here you go. Life's easy. What would you say is the best thing that you have learned about money?
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (39:46.361) Yeah, just to think more about it and plan and always have a backup. 57.295) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (40:03.701) Yeah 14.457) The best thing I've ever learned about money is that unfortunately we have to have it. But there are a lot of things in life and daily life and social media is, ooh, a tricky one for that. But you do not have to have everything. You don't have to have... And just kind of...
Shanna (40:31.735) Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (40:36.973) I don't know, Shanna, that's a really hard one for me to learn about money. You have to have it, but there's a lot of things that you also don't need. And so just to always make sure like that emergency fund backing it up as much as you can. That's hard.
Shanna (40:40.066) Yeah. Yeah. 46.605) Yeah. 52.652) Yeah. OK, wait, speaking of social media, I can't leave without asking this. How do you feel like how how has life shifted since starting a business, primarily marketing on Instagram? And I think what you were saying with like the money situation, Instagram can make you feel like you need more. And it's not it's not just Instagram's fault. It's like our culture, influencer culture, going to Target. It's cute stuff.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (40:56.803) Yes. Because you know this, yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (41:07.758) Yes. 11.799) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah, Yes, our culture, yes, 100%. I know.
Shanna (41:23.232) how have you navigated or how are you in the future going to navigate this like increase in social media and maybe not letting it play, know, putting it in a place that you feel comfortable.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (41:35.299) Yes, yes, yes. I'm very thankful that it exists because especially for the type of industry that I'm in and a lot of these new businesses, social media is your main market, I think, especially starting off. But what we've learned is, is once we deliver a unit, especially to like a birthday party, we're more so getting more business through word of mouth.
Shanna (41:59.383) Yes.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (42:00.468) which I'm so thankful for is once they see that our units and our system is same or better as shown on social media and they have a good time and they're beautiful and we become a reputable business then we just get passed along our contact information and that's how we're getting our business. I would love to step away personally myself from social media.
Shanna (42:17.632) Yes. Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (42:25.731) just because beforehand I was on and off social media for years at a time. It's very hard for me personally. I don't like to be on my phone.
Shanna (42:33.036) Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (42:35.385) I'm just like old school, I think in my mind. And Michael's the same way. And that's why I love you so much, because I've never met somebody I related to so much, because we're young Shanna, and we are fun and cool, but we don't have to post everything that we do on social media. But the business that we do have is a very, it can be a very social media.
Shanna (42:35.98) Yeah. Same. 44.75) Yeah. No, we are.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (42:59.077) branded business because it is for big, giant birthday parties where we love to see the pretty pictures online and post and tag all the vendors. And I do love to see that. And I love that my units are part of parties like that. And I never want that to stop. But I think me actively being the one running the social media, it's not good for me. And so whether that means maybe passing that off eventually down the road to like a marketing person, there's social media managers and stuff that can run operations.
Shanna (43:00.407) Yes. 06.968) Yeah. 21.708) Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (43:28.857) So yeah, that's how I see it changing. But for right now, what I'm doing is I don't really spend time scrolling social media. If I have pictures, I collect pictures over the last couple weekends of birthday parties, and then I'll just go and post that. And anybody who knows how to operate social media is probably cringing because my algorithm is always jacked up. I'm the one, I'll go on there and I'll post like two or three feed posts at a time.
Shanna (43:44.375) Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (43:55.575) And something might get 96 likes and the next thing's gonna get 13 and that's just the way it is, but I'm okay with that, okay? But just not spending time on it and focusing more so now, especially on year two, I have a fantastic customer base.
Shanna (43:59.53) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (44:12.795) And so focusing more so on redelivering to them and their birthdays as their kids are getting another year older and then hoping that we continue to build a good reputation to be able to spread the word. I hope that all my customers know that if anybody was to ever ask for like a recommendation or a reference that they can send my personal number because that's how I operate when we are delivering and so on and so forth. And so I always just want that open line of communication. But
Shanna (44:24.888) Yeah. Yeah. 40.514) Yeah. I love it. love. Thanks for sharing that. know because it is one of those things that has opened doors for a lot of small business owners. And then I also love your mindset about I have never enjoyed being a boss, ironically different than you. Like I was never trained as a manager. I can just sit in a spreadsheet, not talk to people all day. You know this. have to introvert for a while.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (44:42.083) I hope to 49.539) Yes. 58.745) Yeah. Yes.
Shanna (45:04.62) But it's like, no, you can use, utilize a platform in a way that works for you. And I love that you're like, yeah, maybe that's a social media manager one day. And that's something I've been thinking about in my own business, mean, 11 years in. It's like, I know that our audience is here. I personally do not use social media, but maybe the brand can. And I think that's cool to recognize. It doesn't have to be all or nothing.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (45:07.717) Mm-hmm. 13.773) Right. 21.049) Yeah.
Shanna (45:32.76) but finding a way that works for you. Okay, that was a tangent.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (45:33.903) That's a cool way to say it. I love it. Always on a tangent. Yeah. Let's do it. Okay. Get ready.
Shanna (45:37.334) I was on a tangent. Let's quick fire before we send this thing off. This has been, you did amazing. Is this your first podcast interview? Your first of many.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (45:47.023) This is my first one. listen. Shanna, thank you so much. The opportunity when your team reached out to me, I immediately was like, no way.
Shanna (45:49.484) You did incredible. Way to go you.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (45:59.171) And then I was like, you know what? I've never gotten to share our story. And we just came across a year and I have learned so much. I'm so proud of the brand that we've built in the business. We have our goals for next year and I'm ready. And so it felt so good to be able to sit down and talk about it. Thank you for having me. All right, fire me. Let's go. Okay.
Shanna (46:07.362) Yeah. Yeah. 13.932) Yeah, that's perfect timing. Okay, I'm glad we did it. I love this podcast. Okay, let's quick, let's quick fire. One thing you would be embarrassed if people knew.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (46:24.015) Business or personal? gosh, well, I mean, I'm just a walking embarrassment personally, but it's funny. Business-wise, let's do that.
Shanna (46:29.164) Either one.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (46:41.111) Now let me just preface this and I'll keep it really quick. We've learned a lot, okay? We've learned a lot. But in our months of learning, there was a unit that we had set out to deliver. And a little backstory is, is the weekend before the unit was out and there came a rainstorm during pickup. We had already cleaned the unit on site, rolled it up. And so when the rainstorm came, we were on the dolly walking it back to the trailer, but it had rained. And so what we didn't know at the time is that even though the unit was rolled up and it got wet, we had thought, we're good. It's rolled up. It's not wet. Let's just put it in storage. When we go to deliver that unit the next weekend, I shouldn't even say this, but I am. It's fine. It's a learning experience. OK.
Shanna (47:15.479) Right. 19.352) you
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (47:26.425) We go, we're like talking to the customer, we're setting it up, we hit that power button, the unit comes up covered in mold. It was blowing up. You know, they're like waiting for their moment. They're like, we rented this unit, we've been looking at it, we're so excited, covered in mold. And I think in mold.
Shanna (47:34.054) No, it was blowing up and there was mold on it. 45.612) covered in mold, because it's plastic and it was just rolled up. mean, yeah. Were you mortified?
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (47:49.627) Yeah, it's like a PVC material and so, you know, I don't even think I spoke words. I ran to the trailer and I grabbed,
Shanna (47:57.761) Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (48:02.211) you know, some cleaning supplies. And I was just like, I knew the customer saw it. I knew the customer was watching me. I didn't even have the words to say until afterwards. And I was like, how did this happen? And I had remembered the weekend before because with our water slides in the summer, you know, they get wet and we know we have to bring them home to dry them out because they will mold. Never imagined. But now we know and it will never happen again. But yeah, that was the most embarrassing moment.
Shanna (48:13.517) Yeah. 19.68) Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You have to learn. I think anybody listening who owns a business has had that. run, I'm a finance person. I do finance. I do, I do finance. One of my very first big clients, and this is my second year of business, asked for a different payment plan than what we normally do.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (48:32.821) Mm-hmm. Yes. You do numbers, yeah. 47.843) Okay.
Shanna (48:49.39) She wanted to structure her payments differently. And I was like, okay, you know, I was trying to be accommodating. Anyways, got six months or so behind on my bookkeeping. And when I finally caught up, realized I had never invoiced her for one of her payments. And this is when like we were buying groceries off of Kyle's tip money. I mean, we were, we were scraping by.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (49:05.99) no. 15.69) Mm-hmm. We know, yeah.
Shanna (49:15.918) to put it, we were riding bicycles. We had sold our cars riding bikes because we couldn't afford our payments. And I had just skipped one of her payments, which for us was about, I think it was like 1500 or $2,000. It wasn't like nothing. yeah, mean, hello, especially back then, especially like in, that was 2014. And so it's one of those moments, very humbling to be like, yeah, I do book.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (49:31.674) Yeah, I mean that's a mortgage payment, you know? Yeah. Yes. Mm-hmm.
Shanna (49:44.088) keeping like CFO services. I help people with their CFO work or their bookkeeping or their financial coaching. And yeah, I was six months behind and therefore learned I didn't pay like charge. I mean, it's hard. So we all have those moments, Amanda. Just know and it's like, I think sometimes because you learned that the hard way, it'll never happen again.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (49:44.948) You 55.216) Yeah, it's so embarrassing. Ooh, yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (50:03.742) Yeah. It will never happen again. Thanks for asking, I guess. Ooh. Yeah. That's right. Yes.
Shanna (50:06.403) Thanks for sharing that. I bet you were mortified. And now we get the benefit of hanging out on the drying out bounce houses. Any regrets or wish you could do over a moment?
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (50:21.384) This year was really hard. It was a learning curve. We jumped all in. My regret, I think, would be personally just for my kids, you know, leaving them with a babysitter or having them ride around in the truck until 10 p.m. and then loading them back in by 7 a.m. to run routes. I... I regret not having a better plan in place or expecting to be as busy as we did. But I do think now looking back and there, you know, their life completely shifted. We moved in the middle of all of this and everything, but I see how happy they are now and how proud they are of those bounce houses, especially when we get to deliver them to like their friend's birthday parties. And they're like, this is my bounce house and you get to use it for your birthday. And this is how we zip up the sides. And don't forget to take your shoes off is what my son will say. And I watched them do that.
Shanna (51:19.372) Yeah. Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (51:22.518) I'm like, okay, I think it was okay. Like we will not do that again to our family or to you guys, but that was really hard and I regret not having a better plan in place and I regret saying yes to so many things, but we had to, I think, at the same time. We had debts to pay off and I'm looking forward to pocketing that first dollar and knowing it was all worth it, know?
Shanna (51:24.78) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 41.388) Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. That's going to feel good. Paying off that credit card, I'm sure felt good. I mean, I think that's so, thank you for sharing that. And I think, you know, it is so interesting what we see as work. I've been thinking about this a lot with the girls and, you know, because they see me work. I work from home. I mean, I'm doing it. And I'm like, I can either, I can either be like, I'm sorry, I have to go to work.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (51:52.372) I'm so retarded. 58.964) Mm-hmm.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (52:03.731) Yeah.
Shanna (52:10.222) Or I can be, and I'm trying really hard to be like, I'm proud of the work that I do. And I continually ask myself, what is the amount of work I feel comfortable with? And just, I don't know, it's been a reframe for me. And I love how you said like, they probably love, right? They probably will have so many amazing memories of riding around with y'all. I mean, you know, and so I think it's so, I'm grateful that you shared what you're, how you're navigating that.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (52:10.324) Yeah. 15.053) Yes. 20.076) Yes. Yes. 28.812) Yeah. 37.784) Thank you for saying that.
Shanna (52:38.126) and figuring out the right like how much is too much and because I think for kids they're probably like okay let's go you know yeah
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (52:44.6) I know for the most part some of our best memories were those 10 p.m. Pickups this summer because my kids I was very structured very you know on schedule mom 7 p.m. Those kids were asleep and then all of a sudden summer comes around we started business They're jumping on a bounce house at 10 p.m. In the dark I mean they were living the good life some nights and I do remember some of those pickups for Michael and I just kind of stood there and we were watching the kids and we were like Okay, it isn't so bad, you
Shanna (52:50.423) Yeah. 54.85) Bedtime, mm-hmm.
Shanna (53:04.152) Yeah. Yeah. 11.949) Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I love that. Always navigating. Big win or pinch me moment.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (53:15.236) So thank you for saying that. Always navigating those sweet babies. Ugh. Mmm! 26.806) I don't know so much about a big win. I don't think just yet, but definitely pinch me is now recirculating a whole year. Is these moms that used us for their kids' birthdays that are calling us again for next year? I'm like, yes, like I get to redeliver you. Some of them are renting the same exact unit. I'm like, girl, we got 10. Pick a different one, but they love the one they got so much. And that's what their kid remembered is, I want my green bounce house again.
Shanna (53:44.812) Yes. Yeah. Yeah. 53.738) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Shanna (54:01.112) Hmm.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (54:01.116) And so like, and now I get to go to your house and you're like my friend now, you know? I just want to hug you and your baby is going to be a whole year bigger. Pinch me, I get to do that?
Shanna (54:05.24) Yeah. 08.674) Yeah. Yeah. That is cool. Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (54:11.92) How cool is that? Like how special? And then events too, like we just got booked for year two for next spring for a school Easter event that we did last year. And I'm like, their experience was so good that they want us back. Like pinch me, I'm just a nobody mama out here with bounce houses. They were once in my garage, they're in a warehouse now, you know? But I'm like, they're just in my garage, you know? But like, it's so cool. And I'm so thankful. Thank you.
Shanna (54:26.028) Yeah. Yeah. 30.51) you 35.086) Yeah, yeah, it is cool. Hold on to that, Amanda. Hold on to that feeling. Because yeah, it's so easy to lose. I think it's easy to get into the highs and lows and messy middle of growing a business and forget that this is pretty awesome. That I just get to, mean, yeah, there's stuff we got to figure out. And yeah, we're tired and trying to pay these bills. All right, best advice or just really
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (54:41.879) It's so cool. 48.815) Yeah. It is pretty cool. Meow. So tired.
Shanna (55:04.642) good advice that you have received.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (55:10.832) Not all business is good business. Learned that. That's all I got to say. We let it lie. And that's, you know, it is what it is. And I had to be okay with that. It was to learn. You know, there were a couple times where we went.
Shanna (55:19.254) Yeah. Yeah. We'll let that lie. Yeah. Yeah. And that's hard. Yeah. Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (55:33.473) and somebody had just told me, hey, not all business is good business. You don't need to take it all. I'm like, you're right, I don't. I'm okay. Yeah, or make a good impression and yeah, this isn't a side gig, you know? It's not a side gig, it's a business. I need it to operate and pay my bills, you know? So, I know, good one.
Shanna (55:37.73) Yeah, yeah. And it's hard when you're trying to pay your bills and trying to pay back a loan. I get it. Yes, yeah, yeah, that's a hard one. Good advice. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. What are you working on now? Or one resource that you would like to share. And it can be what you're working on now is your new Okay, what are you working on now or one resource you would like to share?
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (56:06.46) Okay. When is this going to air? In the spring? I guess maybe. Okay. I mean, it's okay. It's not, it's not a secret. It's just like super exciting. So, we are, ordering our next round of inventory and, the first two that we just purchased, two weeks ago is two new watersides.
Shanna (56:10.55) I don't know, I think in the spring. Yeah. 30.285) my goodness.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (56:30.755) Yes, one of them is our, you know, our purple unit. That one was not originally made to be with water. And so now it'll be a water slide and this slide on it will be steeper. So it'll be better for bigger kids. It'll be amazing. And it'll still look just as beautiful as the original. And then in that same unit, we're doing what everybody has requested is an orange color for Go Falls.
Shanna (56:40.376) fun. 48.108) Yeah. 55.711) Yes, girl, go Vols!
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (56:57.905) But here's the risk, okay? And I hope everybody loves it. I do, I think it's beautiful, it's gonna be fine. But it is a risk because everybody wants orange, you know, for GoVol's Go, but we have to stay in our pastel unit. So it's gonna be like this very beautiful muted peach color. It is beautiful. I'm so excited. Yes, it's good to go. And my balloon girls are gonna be all over that. Yes, the muted peach.
Shanna (57:06.274) Yeah. Yes, yeah. 14.178) I'm excited. Add some orange ball color balloons and that is balls all the way. Yeah. I would rather it be that color pastel and then add the like, have you seen, have you seen the blind side with Sandra Bullock? And she says, I will not wear that Gotti orange that is not in my color palette. I don't think that all the time.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (57:31.457) Yes! 35.293) It's not the right orange. Yes. Yeah. It is. It is bold. It is a statement. Yes, I know.
Shanna (57:40.07) My sister is always like, Shanna, that is not Tennessee Balls orange. I'm like, I don't care. Like you can get a pop of the orange if anybody who knows Tennessee Balls orange is strong. And it's a bold color palette. Listen, we can have a pop of that with some balloons. that you're like, not in our color palette. I'm so excited. This is gonna be fun.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (58:00.627) I know, it will be peach, okay? But it is fabulous and it's gonna be amazing. So, super excited. So, new units. Shanna, it was an honor, seriously. Okay.
Shanna (58:09.56) Tennessee's gonna love that. Knoxville's gonna love it. Amanda, thanks for coming on the show. This is so fun. Let's send it off with looking back one year ago when Michael was like, let's just not get these for our kids. Let's just order them and hope, what do you say? Other people, other moms wanna bounce around Knoxville.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (58:21.61) Mm-hmm. 30.1) Yeah. is like you just better really hope that people around Knox want to bounce. Mm-hmm.
Shanna (58:38.262) Yes, and looking back now, what would you tell yourself about this year long journey?
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (58:49.546) continue to trust the process, it is going to absolutely tear you down and build you back up. And then, I mean, it just completely shifted our lives personally. And it wasn't all fun and games. It was really, really hard. But just keep pushing through because you're going to be a year later in the trenches wanting to give it all up. But there's just no way. It's too good. It's too...
Shanna (59:01.368) Yeah. 15.971) Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (59:18.824) really really proud of yourself. Really glad that we did it. I wish I knew a year ago where we would be today. I mean we still don't have a dollar, you know, it's not about the money. It never was. But it was when it was really really hard and we kept going just because that's in our blood to work hard and to fulfill our commitments, and I both like.
Shanna (59:20.824) Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 33.623) Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (59:47.048) I wish I knew that I would be sitting here today on my closet floor talking to you in a neighborhood where my kids have friends. Yes. Hi. It's just such a blessing in disguise and we put in the work and we did it. And so we're here. Mm hmm. Yeah. What is it?
Shanna (59:53.442) Hi from across the street. Yeah.
Shanna (01:00:00.012) Yeah. Yeah. And I will tell you, not that you ask. 10.791) I think the hard moments, like you have the power to navigate through them. I'll get teary-eyed over here because you know we're friends. But it's like, it is, it's probably way harder than you ever expected it to be. But also like, I think I keep challenging myself. If something's not working or if you want something, you get to do that. Just like you said, if you had to show up at your job nine to five, you wouldn't have that choice. And now it's like, and so,
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (01:00:18.998) Don't. 25.354) never imagined. 36.886) No.
Shanna (01:00:39.094) Yeah, just keep molding it to be how you want it to look. That's what I would encourage you. 11 years into business, keep molding it to look how you want it to look. Yeah.
Amanda, Bounce Around Knox (01:00:44.148) Man, that's the best advice I've ever received, Shanna, right there. Keep molding it to how you want it to look because we get to do that. This is, yes, and what a blessing, you know? I'm so, thank you for letting me share the story of Bounce Around Knox. Yeah, I just wanna, I'm gonna hug you after this.
Shanna (01:00:53.216) yourself. Yeah, that's the beauty of entrepreneurship. Yes, it is. Yeah, this has been fun. Thanks for coming on. Yeah, I'll see you later.
