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She is sure, she is true, she is straw is straw,
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She is true, is true, she is praise, pray, she
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is she is you.
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Hello, everyone, welcome to today's Word of Mom Radio. Here
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on the Word of Mom Media Network. I'm your host,
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Dori Di Carlo. And you know we are here breaking
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those myths show after show, week after week at mompreneurs
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and business women, especially those of us building our businesses
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from home. You know that we're just dabbling in between
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bake sales and getting our nails done.
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We're not.
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We are smart, we are savvy, and we are sharing
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the wisdom of women in business and in life. And
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I'm looking forward to bringing today's guest into our Mompreneur
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Models show. Julie Ratuno is the CEO of mid Atlantic Packaging.
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A second generation leader, mother of two and wife of
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an Air Force veteran with a background in education, Julie
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is committed to mentoring teens interested in entrepreneurship. She joined
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the family business after teaching, working her way up through
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nearly every department before becoming CEO. Guided by her parents'
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entrepreneurial spirit and mentored by her mother, Julie helped transform
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the company shifting its focus from plain stock to custom
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packaging and establishing it as an industry leader. Julie's a
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self proclaimed packaging nerd with a mission to help businesses
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see packaging as an extension of their brand, whether it's
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a boutique, startup or established retailer. Julie emphasizes the role
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in branding, customer experience and sustainability, consistently driving innovation. Admit
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Atlantic Packaging and I could tell you more, but I'd
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rather bring her in. So with all that said, Julie,
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welcome to Word of mom Rendia.
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Thanks for having me, Dory, I am excited to be here.
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Oh I'm thrilled to have you, and I would love
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for you to take us on your journey and what
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you had to do to now become a CEO.
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If you ask my parents, they would tell you that
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as a teenager, it is not where I said I
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would be later in life. That is an ongoing joke
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now with my daughters when they talk about, oh, we're
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definitely not doing the family business, and my dad has
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told them that that is what I said as well
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as a teenager. So I got went to college to
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be a teacher and at the time, I debated between
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business and education, and with a person who actually mentored
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my parents and my dad, Norman Star, who helped them
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start the business. He had his teaching degree, he taught
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for a while and then went into business. So when
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I was juggling things, I was like, Okay, well that's
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that's what gave me the inspiration as far as how
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to go about it. And so I talked for a
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couple of years, and I loved my students.
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I did learn relative pretty quickly.
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That it wasn't exactly the world that I wanted to
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be in long term. My husband was getting out of
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the military and we got married right when I got
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out of college, and my grandfather got sick was in
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the hospital for four months, and I saw how while
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my parents worked so hard my entire life, my mom
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was able to have a little bit of flexibility during
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that time to be in the hospital with my grandfather,
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where when I was juggling lesson plans and going to
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the hospital after teaching all day, it just made me
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take a step back and think about, like, long term,
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where what I wanted to do.
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It's an amazing thing because when you become your own boss,
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it gives you that flexibility. On the other hand, as
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some it's been my own boss since nineteen ninety four.
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I fired myself twice. Fortunately I was compassionate enough to
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rehire me before I really had packed up and left.
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It is I talk a lot about like if you
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take the good with the bad, and the being able to.
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Create a life or a way of life.
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That you want, but also the amount of work and
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the breath level.
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There's that give and take.
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And so when I left teaching, there actually wasn't any
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openings at the company.
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But my dad had said, well, the whole the.
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Office needs to be painted if you need the income.
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Because my husband had gotten out of the military, we
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had bought a house, and so I did it and
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I that was And after that, about a month later,
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there was a job opening in purchasing and customer service,
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and that is how I officially started my career at
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midd Atlantic Packaging was with purchasing and customer service, and
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through the years, I any opportunity I had to learn
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more and to have a touch in other departments. I
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did till when I realized this is one hundred percent
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what I wanted to do. I want to be the
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CEO of mid Atlantic Packaging, and I know I took
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at least my father back. I don't know about my
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mom actually, but my dad was don't think was quite
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anticipating that. So my mom she mentored me for five
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years before she retired, and when she retired, I took
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over as CEO, and then two years later I took
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over as CEO. And currently my dad and my uncle
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work for me. And my uncle's about to retire the
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end of this month. He joined the company a couple
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of years after my parents founded it and became the
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third owner.
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And now so he's retiring. And my dad, I.
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Think he'll probably stay as long as he can, or
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as long as as he said I'll have him. But
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he likes to brag about how he's very proud of
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himself that he's worked for me for three years and
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I haven't fired him yet.
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I was going to ask, what is it like working
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with your family every day?
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I feel extremely blessed to have the relationships I have
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with my family now, And with that, I will say
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it's not always been sunshine and rainbows. It's also really challenging.
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You have strong personalities, you have mother daughter or father
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daughter relationships.
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My parents.
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Had because as family, in some ways, you have higher
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expectations of people Because of that. Sometimes people tend to
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think that people have it easier, and maybe, like in
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other families, that's the case, but in my family that's
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definitely not the case. It comes with higher expectations and
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having each other's back. It can be definitely challenging trying
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to juggle that working relationship and then when you're having
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family events or the holidays meals together. Juggling those dynamics
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is something that you definitely have to be aware of
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and try to work to work at because I don't
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think it would come. It doesn't come easy to any anyone.
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As you say, juggling. It's so funny because you know,
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people talk about the work life balance and it isn't balanced.
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It is a juggling it. So how are you dealing
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with motherhood and being a CEO? I mean, it's a
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snow day, kids sick, all of those things.
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Some days I feel like I'm doing it better than others.
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I my husband and I we have been married, will
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be married twenty years. So we got married when I
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was right out of college. We met when I was
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in college. He was in the military. And deployed a lot,
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and so that him and I had built a really
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strong foundation because of that, and so now as parents
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and being both of us entrepreneurs, it has allowed us
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to know like that we can get through the ups
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and the downs, and him definitely being a partner of
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mine when it's so that I can run this second
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generation company, that I can go after my dreams, and
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for him to be able to step in when needed
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with the girls, and then for me also to know
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I can't do which can be hard, but I can't
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do everything in acknowledging that and just knowing what are
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the things that matter the most. And for example, I
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want to make sure that I'm there for the girls
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for their sporting events. My oldest is fifteen, she's a
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sophomore in high school. My youngest is twelve in seventh grade.
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They both play sports, and I arrange my schedule during
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sports seasons to be there for their games. And if
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that requires me to have to go in extra early
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or to work in the evenings once I get home
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or on the weekends, then that's what I will do,
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and I will.
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Make those sacrifices.
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Sometimes my girls don't fully un understand that and so
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my husband and I remind them that in order for
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us to be able to pay for them to do
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sports or you know, to go on that family vacation
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or things that requires us to work and make money
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to pay our bills. Sometimes it's scary when you are like,
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oh my gosh, this is dej al du of what
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my parents used to tell me.
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It's amazing how life comes full circle. I can remember
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being at my son's baseball game one time and I
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was working on a proposal for a client and had
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my laptop, and in between innings, I was working on
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the outline so that I could go home and flesh
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it all out, and I was keeping the stat book
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for the team at the same time, and people in
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the stands are looking at me, going, you are out
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of your mind. I said, hey, I have a client
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I got to get this done for and I need
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to write out this outline.
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And trust me, while this game is.
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Going on, all of this is germinating in my and
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if I don't write it down, I'm not gonna remember it.
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You know, you go with your strength, But it is true,
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how all of a sudden, you know, I'll hear my kids.
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I have two grandchildren now, and I will hear them
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say things and then they'll just kind of look at me.
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It's like, God, oh, yes, for sure.
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So that is something that It's something I'm continuously working on.
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It's something that with my mentor my business mentor that
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she works with me on. It is an ever evolving
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journey because those of us that are successful in life,
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we have really we go hard, we have a big drive,
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and a lot of times we also are really hard
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on ourselves and have very high expectations. And I have
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bulldozed my way through things before where I eventually hit
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that brick wall and.
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Ran in.
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You know, was done for for a little bit because
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I was just pushing myself too hard, working on learning
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from those mistakes and just doing the best the best
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we can, which is how especially that's how motherhood definitely
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is us trying to do the best we can.
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On the note, think of what Julie is talking about here,
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We're going to take a quick break and say thank
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you to our supporters and we'll be back here in
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just a moment.
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Onward of mom Radio.
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She is brave, she is bold, she is you, and
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we want to tell your story. Are you ready to
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share your journey with us on Word of Mom Radio.
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Go to wordommradio dot com and register as a guest.
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We want to tell your story because when you win,
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we all win.
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In twenty seventeen, Unsilenced Voices was formed to help survivors
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of domestic abuse and gender based violence worldwide. The organization
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currently serves Siri Leone, Rwanda, Ghana, and the USA. In
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twenty twenty two, Unsilenced Voices gifted over thirty three thousand
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dollars to survivors in the USA and in Siri Leone,
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there are over twenty six young girls who have been
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rescued from sex trafficking and domestic abuse and now going
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through vocational training school in order to better their lives.
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We need your help. Donations are critical in order for
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us to continue our work. We also need volunteers to
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help with research and development. Please visit Unsilenced Voices dot
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org for more information.
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And we're back here on Word of Mom Radio.
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We are talking to the CEO of mid Atlantic Packaging,
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Julie Ratuno, and I love what you just said because,
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let's face it, as moms and especially as people, I mean,
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you're in a family business. You're a business owner, you're
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a CEO. We are so tough on ourselves, it's amazing.
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We would never be this tough on somebody who works
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for us. And sometimes, as I said earlier, I mean
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I fired myself twice, but I was a good enough
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employer to realize.
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Hey, single mom, three kids, give her a break. Think
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gets exhausting.
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And trying to do it all and keeping all those
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balls in the air is something that is just remarkable.
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And let's face it, you have two daughters.
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What an amazing job you are doing modeling for them.
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How you can do this all? And as somebody whose
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kids have worked with me at different points in their lives,
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are you kind of hoping that they might realize, oh,
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this would be something that could be fun for us
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all to do.
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I will answer in this one.
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Growing up my parents, obviously at the dinner table, I
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was surrounded by the conversations about the business.
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However, for my sister.
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And I, it was always about what did we want
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to do in our lives and the importance of getting
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an education.
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That supports what you want to do.
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But it was never pressed upon us as far as
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taking over the company.
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My parents said that that was what they wanted to
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do with.
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Their lives, and so my husband and I we've talked
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about that, and that is what we want for both
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of our girls.
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Is of course, if.
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They decide to go into business or at some point
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join us in the journey, that would be incredible.
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However, we really.
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Want them to find what makes them happy and excited.
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I love what I do. I love my team, I
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love going to work. I call myself a packaging nerd
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because I truly nerd.
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Out on what I do. I love it.
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I love working with other entrepreneurs, and so I deeply
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want my girls to find that and to thrive in
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their lives, like with whatever career that means. And so
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I do we do present like we talk to them
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about business. We have those conversations because we feel that
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it's a good foundation matter what they end up doing
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in life and understanding the dynamics and everything. But I
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don't I don't know yet. My fifteen year old, she
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definitely she's still trying to figure out understandably, so like
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what is it that she wants to do? And my
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twelve year old is twelve. She's taking a business class
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and she's loving it in middle school.
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But I will see what they decide.
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What for you makes packaging so exciting.
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What it stands for behind, like the story behind it.
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I love getting to know other entrepreneurs, other business owners.
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So therefore other retailers and what is their story?
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What I used to answer the phone, you know, customer service,
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take orders. I would see their name and wonder, oh well,
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I wonder what their business actually is, or like, what
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do is it that they.
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Sell in their store and their retail store, bakery or whatever?
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And now learning about how packaging supports that it study
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after study it shows how it does help with the
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customer experience, getting a customer to buy your product or
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come back again. And we know that retail is therapeutic,
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it is emotional, and having the packaging that goes along
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with it, it truly supports that. So I feel blessed
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to be able to not just myself with my whole company.
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I tell everyone, we get.
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To be a little piece of their journey, of their dream,
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of their success. And so that's what I love about
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packaging is because of what it packages and the story
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behind it.
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Love that answer, I do. How are you working in
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mentoring students and helping them become entrepreneurs.
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With my girls being teenagers now, it gave me the
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opportunity in there during seventh eighth grade, they have career
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field day like career days, and I wanted to make
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sure that entrepreneurship was represented when they have those career
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field days because it matters. It's important to think of
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all the people in the United States that are entrepreneurs
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that start their own businesses or take over a family business,
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and I wanted to make sure that that's represented when
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when these students are learning about different job opportunities. And
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I loved it and it is a piece of as
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me as a teacher, like as a former teacher, it
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still gives me.
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That space to be able to still partake.
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And now I'm also involved with the high schoolers and
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getting to judge them when they go to do debates
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or they're going to do presentations.
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I got to do one for.
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The education program at my daughter's high school. I got
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to be a judge for that as far as determining
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for it's called ed Rising and they go to states now,
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so I got to do the judging for representing Smyrna
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High School. And then I'll be doing the same thing
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in their business program in the winter, and I just
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I love getting to see our future and what they
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have to bring to the table.
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And I am always.
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Taken aback and surprise in a positive light when I
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do these things, because they are impressive, and I know
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I wish I had the confidence in myself as a
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high schooler that I do now. And so if I
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can just help build that up a little bit or
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show other people like, hey, this is a possibility in
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your life, this is an opportunity, then I really enjoy it.
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What do you say to the mom out there that's
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looking to start a business and hoping it becomes family owned.
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Go for it, right, go for it it, Just go
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for it, put the blinders up, have your your plan
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of how you want to go about it.
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Find a mentor or someone that you can lean on,
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or a group. There's so many different groups out there
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now with LinkedIn or with social media, local ones and
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that you can lean on for support or for help
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for different things, and just go do it.
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People ask me, what's a good time now, Because if
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you're waiting for all your ducks to be in a row,
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trust me, they swim off. Ever never it's like, when
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are you ready to be a parent never but just
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go ahead because it's not what you think it's going
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to be or anything else. So, as we're kind of
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closing out here, Julie, what do you want to say
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to our listeners and how may they reach out to you?
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Being a mom being an entrepreneur a lot of the
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same characteristics are a piece of both. And with the
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love and the passion, the emotions that go behind it,
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the work ethic and the willingness to not want to fail,
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there are so many characteristics that.
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Are the same.
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And so don't second guess yourself as far as if
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you're capable of.
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It or not, because you will never know unless you try.
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And just like in motherhood, how it's such a gift.
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It can be so so hard, and we can question
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ourselves all the time about it as far as if
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we're doing the right thing, but it's still amazing and
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I would never change my decision of being an entrepreneur
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and taking over my family's business. And so if you
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would ever like to have a conversation or pick my
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brain about something, or if you have are looking for
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a group and maybe I can point you in the
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right direction, or if you are in the need of
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packaging for your company.
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You can find me delyver to Know on LinkedIn.
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My company's website is mid Atlanticpackaging dot com and you
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can also find us on Instagram and Facebook mid Atlantic Packaging.
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All of Julie's links are going to be live on
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Word of Mom Radio, and I really encourage you to
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reach out into the moms out there. I really hope
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you heard what she said, because so many women, Oh,
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I've been home for decades taking care of kids. I
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can't run a business. Oh my gosh, you are the
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CEO of your house, time management, budgeting, conflict resolution, scheduling,
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transportation organization.
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You name it. You are built to run a business.
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You really are, because I really think that so often
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women we're still selling ourselves short when it comes to
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what it takes to run a home and how you
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feel like you are not bringing skills into the workforce.
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It's amazing to me.
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Excuse I agree, I I one hundred percent agree we
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undersell ourselves, Like all the time and all that you
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do in your home and raising your family and all
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those those pieces, you just need all kinds of skill
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sets that as the exact same as it takes to
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have a business.
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Absolutely, and you know, and I have to say mom,
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as a mom, the opportunity to mentor your child is
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so cool. You know, my daughter did photography for me
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for one of my businesses. My son did marketing for me,
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and then my middle son never really worked in our business,
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but he's the one that would take the trip with
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me to go pick things up and just take the
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ride and just have fun that way. There's a lot
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to be said when your kids get involved in what
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you're doing. So I know your parents have to just
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be over the moon. And I love that your dad
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is so happy that you haven't fired him.
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Yes, that has to kind of be fun. Well not yet, dad, but.
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Yes.
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And there's times with what I do around the company
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that's very different than how he ran it that he's like,
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it's definitely not my company anymore like we just did.
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You could go on our Instagram and see it.
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We do a decorating competition in the office every holiday
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season and the different departments they go huge with decorating.
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And then we have voting and we do like a
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customer toy so and people can vote online for their
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favorite and so that's definitely not something my dad.
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Would have would have done, but he likes to partake.
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It's so funny because that reminds me of nine to
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five when they had them tied up and then the
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women took over and how festive everything is. We definitely
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have that different attitude, but it really does make coming
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to work.
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For all of the employees.
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That mom touch, that really does kick things up, and
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I think that our customers appreciate it. They really do,
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because then it becomes that family that even though they're
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not your family, family, they are a family because you
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all work together building a business.
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So good for you, Julie.
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I am so thankful that you had the time to
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come and share your journey with us today. I'm Word
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of Mom Radio.
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Thank you, thank you for having me. It's been wonderful.
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It's from my.
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Absolute pleasure and for all of you tuning in, thanks
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so much for being here. We're gonna close out with
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our fabulous theme song from Smith's Sisters and the Sunday Drivers.
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So till next time, this is dor Di Carlo saying,
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go out and create a marvelous you. Bye for now.
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She is sure, she is sure, she is strong, she
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is strong, she is true, she is true, She is
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braz bray, she is boul, she is she is you,
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she is you, she is you, she is she is sure,
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she is sure, she is strong, she is strong, she
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00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:42.759
is true, she is true, she is brave, bray, she
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is bold, she is she is you, she is you,
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00:27:45.799 --> 00:27:49.079
she is you, she is you. Sure of herself. Yes,
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she takes care of his powerful and strong. Yes, she
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knows who she is has integer eddy woman, strong and true.
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You know her by name. See this woman is you.
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She is sure, she is strong, he is strong, she
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is true, is true, she is brave, she is she
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is you, she is she is she is sure, she
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00:28:14.359 --> 00:28:19.079
is strong, is strong, she is true, is true, she
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is brave, she is she, she is you.
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She she is.
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Adds value and hope, has proved to be brave. See
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it's never too late, never time to behave Reaching for
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dreams doesn't matter. The age believes in herself, unleash from
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her cage. She is sure, she is sure, she is strong,
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is strong, she is true, is true, she is brave,
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she is bold, is.
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You, she is.
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She is sure, she is true, she is strong, she
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is strong, she is true, is true, she is brave,
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is brave, she is bold.
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She is youay
