Transcript
Anthony Codispoti (00:00)
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast, where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired by how they've overcome adversity. As you listen today, let one idea shape what you do next. My name is Anthony Codaspodi and today's guest started in marketing and operations consulting business in 2008.
and then spent the next 16 years running someone else's company at the same time. Not as a side project she was winding down, but as a parallel track she kept alive through a COO role at a fast growing real estate firm and a string of senior positions across four different industries. What made her finally go all in our own thing is the kind of decision that looks obvious in hindsight and terrifying in the moment. The story of how she got there
and what she built on the other side is worth hearing today. She is Christy May, owner and lead business consultant at J &E Business Group, a business brokerage and consulting firm in Pennsylvania. Now, Christy helps service-based entrepreneurs buy, grow, and sell their companies, and her clients regularly exit for 3X, three times their profit. As a consultant, her clients saw revenue growth of 40 % or more.
She is a Ramsey Solutions Master Financial Coach and a licensed Pennsylvania real estate agent. Credentials she earned before acquiring the business brokerage J &E Business Group in 2025. Now, before we get into all that good stuff, today's episode is brought to you by my company, Adback Benefits Agency. Listen, if you run a business, you're likely stuck in the cycle of rising insurance premiums. You're paying more, but your team is getting less and many people can't afford coverage at all.
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The consultation is free, imagine being the advisor that delivers over the top value by introducing this to your clients. See if they qualify today at addbackbenefits.com. All right, back to our guest today, owner of J &E Business Group, Kristy May. Thank you for making the time to share your story today.
Kristi May (02:33)
Thanks so much, Anthony. Thanks for having me.
Anthony Codispoti (02:36)
And I'm going to tell you guys how awesome Christie is. We just recorded about 20 minutes of the interview or thought we did, but the record button hadn't been pressed. And so here we are doing it again. And she's been nothing but smiles and giggles and she's ready to tackle those same questions. So thank you for being so terrific, Christie. So take us back to the beginning. How did you get started with this consulting business and walk us through how it kind of evolved?
Kristi May (02:40)
You
Yeah, so like you said, I did decide to start consulting all the way back in 2008 alongside other companies that I was working for. the LLC that I have didn't get started until about 2014. And I thought at that time I might go all in and start consulting full time. I didn't. I ended up working, like staying on and working for some other companies.
And you know, over the years there have been like non-competes where I couldn't consult or do anything like that. And so it just kind of continued to exist. But fast forward to 2024, I decided to get married midlife and moved to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. And I told my husband.
when I was about to do that, that I was not going to be looking for a job, that I was gonna be starting my own consultancy. So he really supported me. He's been nothing but a strong rock for me and a strong support. ⁓ And so that's how I got started. It's just deciding to go all in for myself.
Anthony Codispoti (04:14)
what was behind that decision? What was it about that time period where you're like, I'm in on Christie.
Kristi May (04:19)
Yeah,
I think that I thought I would never get another opportunity kind of to reset and decide what I wanted to do. ⁓ Like that, you know, I was relocating, we had dated long distance and I just figured if I'm going to be new in an area, let's just let's do it. Yeah, let's do it. And I, you know, I really believed in myself. I knew that I had the capability to run a company.
Anthony Codispoti (04:37)
be new in everything. Let's just hit the reset button.
Kristi May (04:48)
⁓ and to work for myself and be proud of the clients that I worked with. So that was kind of what I wanted to do.
Anthony Codispoti (04:55)
And I'm guessing part of that confidence came from the fact that you had become the COO at a real estate brokerage firm. Tell us about that experience.
Kristi May (05:03)
That's right.
Yeah, yeah. So I came in as the marketing director there back during the during COVID, I remember. And I was brought in kind of the the controller had actually looked for me ⁓ because he needed help understanding different marketing spends that they had and kind of
know, analyzing the budget. And so we did that together. Shout out to Jean Cruz, if you're watching Jean. ⁓ And so I came in as the Director of Marketing and ⁓ pretty quickly became the Chief Operating Officer. You know, we started out with one team, the Philly Living Real Estate Team. And then we slowly grew the company over time ⁓ in three states. So Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Florida.
⁓ So I was responsible for helping to start those teams and also oversee the staff and oversee the marketing as well.
Anthony Codispoti (06:08)
And so the consulting business that you had been running on the side prior to you meeting the folks at J &E, which we'll get to in a moment, what kind of consulting were you providing and to whom?
Kristi May (06:18)
Yeah,
marketing and operations consulting for a variety of businesses over the years.
Anthony Codispoti (06:26)
Like what does that mean? Like you're helping them set up their ad campaigns or?
Kristi May (06:28)
Non nonprofits. Yeah.
Yeah. Anything. know, my approach is a little different. I like to look at the financials. I always like looking at the financials to understand what's happening. You know, what is their marketing spend? Is there one? lot of small businesses don't spend in terms of marketing. Then it's things like, do they have their procedures outlined in standard operating procedures?
what's working, what's not working. And I can really understand those things through the numbers and through their procedures. So I like to look at all of those aspects to understand the big picture and the direction that the company should be moving in.
Anthony Codispoti (07:12)
Gotcha. Okay, so I'm hearing a lot of growth, marketing, operations, financial, lots of different hats for you to wear. And then tell us about what happened with the meeting with J &E.
Kristi May (07:24)
yeah, so I immediately had success in terms of working with brokerages out in Lancaster County. I'm very fortunate to that. I was doing a lot of networking, meeting people, building a consultancy. And then I got connected with J &E Business Group, the owners, and they did ask me if I would be open to considering buying their company.
And they felt that I had the exact right background. I had a real estate license which comes into play when you have real estate attached to a business for sale. I had the ability to manage people, manage a team, manage a process, ⁓ especially when you're working with buyers and sellers and you wanna create a smooth process through to the completed transaction.
⁓ So they just felt like from a marketing operations, financial background, right? Doing valuations. I understood the financials and the things that went into valuing a business or listing the business, telling the story of the business through marketing. All of those things are really crucial to being a strong business broker and owner.
⁓ In fact, we were talking before and it's kind of ⁓ what I look for in other buyers that might be a good fit for a potential seller of mine ⁓ is looking to see if they have marketing and operations and financial background. You know, it's really if you're going to be an owner operator or a strong owner of any business, I think having a strong understanding of those three areas will really ⁓ help someone to do well.
Anthony Codispoti (09:10)
Okay. ⁓ We mentioned in the intro, let me go back to it a Ramsey Solutions Master Financial Coach. What is this?
Kristi May (09:19)
Yeah, so ⁓ I did, I got ⁓ that certification, ⁓ let's see, I guess it was more, probably a year and a half ago. ⁓ And that was really, I noticed that a lot of people that I knew were struggling with their financials and coming to me for help. And, you know, they come to maybe business owners or people who, like for me, I was the COO at the time and
⁓ you know, agents were coming to me with financial related questions and I just felt I really wanted to ⁓ understand how to help them best. So I did get certified as the Dave Ramsey financial coach. And you know, it's because I want to help people make wise financial decisions. I want them to be profitable ⁓ and I want them to be wise in terms of their finances.
Anthony Codispoti (10:13)
So, okay, the folks at J &E were like, hey, we think you'd be a great fit here. Will you buy the business? You're like, yes, I'm this fits in this aligns with everything that I, you know, want to do and I'm looking forward. And tell us about how that transition took place. Was it smooth? Was it bumpy? What was that handoff like?
Kristi May (10:31)
Yeah, yeah,
it was pretty smooth. I mean, with any business transaction and transition, you know, you have to know what's going to go into it. ⁓ You know, we worked together for several months to outline what me taking over would look like. ⁓ I am the sole owner. I do, you know, take care of all the financials for the business. ⁓ And, you know, it's been great. I I'm really proud of the fact that
⁓ My 10 associates, soon to be 11, are still with me and we work collaboratively. In fact, the former owners are still on board. They love just still referring clients to us and so I'm really proud of that. ⁓ Yeah, but there's a lot of thought that has to go into something like that with a business transition, for sure.
Anthony Codispoti (11:24)
And so you said you've got 10 or 11 associates, what are those folks doing? What's their role?
Kristi May (11:28)
Yeah, so they're bringing new listing opportunities and sometimes buyers. So we work collaboratively. ⁓ If somebody has a listing and someone else has a buyer, we'll work together to bring a smooth transit transaction.
Anthony Codispoti (11:43)
Is that typical or do ⁓ brokers typically work on their own?
Kristi May (11:46)
No.
Yeah, brokers definitely ⁓ typically work on their own. So we're kind of like a real estate team in that regard working together. ⁓ And that's the way I like it, right? ⁓ It brings a greater buyer pool when we we agree to collaborate. So that's something that we can offer our sellers.
Anthony Codispoti (12:08)
Okay.
And what do you think the brokers get from this? Why do they love working with you?
Kristi May (12:15)
Other brokers? Yeah, because I handle the financials for the business and it's not for the faint of heart. ⁓ You know, you might sell a couple of businesses and there's a long, it's a long game, right? So for a seller, for example, it might take several months to find the right buyer.
Could we find one sooner? Yes, absolutely. In fact, ⁓ this past December, I was able to find ⁓ a buyer in less than 30 days, I think it was. ⁓ And that one was very, very smooth and very, very quick. But that doesn't always happen. It could take several months, because if you're talking about a couple of million dollars, it's not every day that somebody wakes up and immediately says, hey, I think I'll buy that business for $2 million. ⁓
They're going to be very cautious and they're going to want to understand everything that goes into that. And so there's going to be a strong due diligence process in place. They're working with attorneys to ensure that everything is legal. And there's a lot of questions that go into that whole process. So it can take several months.
Anthony Codispoti (13:36)
Are you, is most of your business representing on the seller side or the buyer side?
Kristi May (13:40)
Seller side, I would say in 2025, we launched buyer representation because there had been so many people asking us to help them find a business to buy or saying things like, hey, if you ever have, you know, a laundromat or a landscaping company in this area, would you let me know? And so we start, launched buyer representation to help them find a business like that and then help them analyze it.
you know, give them a smooth transaction.
Anthony Codispoti (14:14)
Why do you think there's been such an increase in interest from people who want to buy businesses for the first time?
Kristi May (14:19)
Great,
great, great question. ⁓ So I think that there's a lot of fear right now around AI and it disrupting companies and jobs. And so we are getting calls, emails on the regular about people wanting to buy a business to kind of take control and be able to make decisions for themselves. ⁓ So yeah, I think that there's.
You know, there's a lot of sellers, there's a lot of baby boomers ready to retire, and there's a lot of buyers, which is the perfect storm. It's pretty exciting to help people, you know, find the right thing for themselves and be able to transfer their business to the next generation.
Anthony Codispoti (15:06)
⁓
Are you finding that there's certain industries that you're working in more than others?
Kristi May (15:13)
Yeah, ⁓ we tend to work in the trades, landscaping businesses, HVAC companies. ⁓ So we've had a lot of ⁓ experience there, restaurants, ⁓ and then service-based businesses. So those are our two main areas of focus.
Anthony Codispoti (15:33)
And these are primarily the sellers that are coming to you with those styles of businesses, the buyers, are they looking for like, what do they come to you?
Kristi May (15:41)
all
kinds of businesses and all kinds of backgrounds, corporate experience, not corporate experience, people who want to continue doing what they have experience in and other people who want to explore a job change almost or through company acquisition. ⁓ So it really runs the gamut.
Anthony Codispoti (16:04)
And if somebody's listening today and they're thinking, huh, I'd kind of like a change in my life and be interested in buying a business, but I don't know if I've got the funds to pull that off. What would you say to them?
Kristi May (16:15)
Yeah, there are so many different ways of buying a business, whether you get a loan from a local bank or you do what's called an earn out where you work in the business and acquire it from the owner. So it doesn't necessarily just because you don't have the funds doesn't mean you can't come up with a way to acquire a business. There's also the Small Business Administration. So an SBA loan, which is slightly different than just a local local loan.
There's hard money lenders who will sometimes invest in individuals. ⁓ So yeah, don't let that be your limiting factor.
Anthony Codispoti (16:55)
So can I realistically think about buying a business if I don't have any cash to bring to the table?
Kristi May (17:01)
I would say talk to us and see what's possible first.
Anthony Codispoti (17:03)
Okay.
And you mentioned an SBA loan is different than a traditional bank loan. How so?
Kristi May (17:10)
⁓ So the SBA loans, they're going to be pretty ⁓ specific in terms of what they're looking for. Like for example, a business for sale that basically the SBA lender has to qualify that business for an SBA loan. And there's a lot of different things that they look for and it's industry specific.
But they will take the buyer through a process ⁓ as well where the buyer has to do a business plan and where they have to outline all of the financials. So there's a lot that goes into it. It's pretty regulated and pretty serious.
Anthony Codispoti (17:54)
Okay, so Christy, big picture, present day, walk us through all the services that J &E Business Group offers.
Kristi May (18:02)
Yeah, so like I said, we launched buyer representation in 2025 so we can help people buy, grow or sell. So we're helping those who want to acquire a business to analyze the business and to walk them through that process of acquisition. We are helping companies that are not ready to sell to grow and focus on their assets.
that strengthen the business such as standard operating procedures. We are optimizing their website, things that are going to bring them growth ⁓ so we can help them in all kinds of ways. We typically do that through reviewing their financials and consulting with them on their business. And then thirdly, ⁓ our main avenue is, ⁓ you know,
working with sellers to list their business. We first provide evaluation for the seller to understand what they could likely sell their business for. And we're working with them to list their business and manage all the aspects that come with selling a business.
Anthony Codispoti (19:13)
Okay, so is it kind of a two part engagement when they want to sell a business? Like is there a, hey, before we actually list the business, let's spend X months together actually getting the business ready to sell or is that like an optional part?
Kristi May (19:28)
Yeah, so we,
yeah, no, we typically like to look at their financials first and ⁓ we do take them through a process to understand aspects of their business ⁓ fully, yes. And then we agree on the valuation if we were to list the business. So we do have a conversation with them on that.
You know, some things like if they don't have standard operating procedures in place, we can help with that. It really depends. But we are outlining, you know, what they have in terms of the assets of the business. And ⁓ because, know, we'll need to know those things for the buyers that that are interested in their business. So, yeah, we are walking them through a process of understanding ⁓ everything that's at play in their business.
Anthony Codispoti (20:19)
Okay. As I understand it, Kristi, you mostly work with companies that are in the three to $12 million range.
Kristi May (20:29)
Yeah, on the consulting side, that's been my experience is the three to $12 million range. Those individuals are typically looking towards growth and towards scaling their businesses. so historically, those have been the ones that, ⁓ you know, have the funds to hire me as a consultant, I would say. ⁓ We in terms of business brokerage, we are willing to work with small businesses.
And some of those we have listed for 100,000, you know. And then, you know, on the high side, I would say 6 million.
Anthony Codispoti (21:06)
Okay. And when we talk about that three to 12 million range in terms of the consulting side, are we talking about their annual revenue or their valuation? Okay. Gotcha. Okay. So let's say I'm a company and I'm in that three to $12 million band and I come to you and I say, Christie, I want your help with growth. What is the first 90 days that engagement look like? What are you doing with me?
Kristi May (21:15)
Annual revenue, yes.
That's great. ⁓ So I think we were talking earlier about, you know, I always look at the financials right away. That's where I start because I'm able to see so much about a business from the financials. You know, the numbers never lie, as they say. And
And so I'm looking at the financials. I want to see things like, are they spending on marketing? Because a lot of smaller businesses don't. They maybe built their business on word of mouth and never invested in terms of marketing. I want to understand if they know their numbers and if they are careful about their expenses and they're really overseeing the financials. Because sometimes I will see a business where
you know, those financials have not been managed well. And so I'm just looking for various aspects. Can we save the money? Can we cut the budget? Can we grow the budget? Those types of things. And then from there, I can understand, OK, what is the marketing plan going to be? How can I improve their marketing going forward? Or their team, do they have standard operating procedures in place?
⁓ Does their team know all of the procedures in place? A lot of times if you work on those, it's strengthening your business, right? And so you're gonna have a well-oiled machine and that's what any company that wants to scale and grow ⁓ is looking to have.
Anthony Codispoti (23:06)
Gotcha. Now, in my experience in talking with business owners, a lot of them think that the hardest part of selling a business is gonna be just finding the buyer. True or false? And what do they typically get wrong in terms of understanding what goes into the process before the buyer shows up?
Kristi May (23:26)
Great question. So I would say, first of all, any seller needs to have great communication. And that means what is the buyer buying, right? And are they ready to sell the business? Is it transfer ready? And what I mean by that is like, you know, if you had a buyer, are you going to have to train them? Or do you have those standard operating procedures that you could hand off? ⁓
So a lot of times the seller isn't quite ready. ⁓ And they might not know how to articulate all of the things in their business. So being ready to sell your business and being able to communicate ⁓ aspects of your business and just communicate in general once we do find a buyer, ⁓ that just makes ⁓ for a smooth transaction, one that doesn't fall apart.
So if you're, ⁓ and along with that, the clean financials is part of being ready to sell your business as well. So if you've got clean financials and you're able to tell your business story well, those are the transactions I think that are smooth and ⁓ where you have a buyer and seller who are just really happy to work together.
Anthony Codispoti (24:47)
How do you find your clients or how do they find you?
Kristi May (24:50)
Yeah. So I was very interested in J &E and inquiring J &E because they've been long known in the community through ⁓ the owners. ⁓ so, you know, over 10 years of doing business as a business brokerage, people do call our phone line and do visit our website. So there is value in that. But we market our business through various listing ⁓ systems.
and through social media and podcasts like this.
Anthony Codispoti (25:25)
So let's talk about some challenges here. Take me to a moment in this work where you felt most tested.
Kristi May (25:34)
In work. Okay. That's a great question. ⁓ One that came to mind is, you you have to be on the same page as your clients, I think. And that's really, really important. So ⁓ working with sellers, making sure they're comfortable on the valuation price, right? Things like that. ⁓
Anthony Codispoti (25:35)
and work.
Kristi May (26:02)
You know, on the marketing side, I've had sellers who, or sorry, business owners who will say, you know, they are really comfortable with a marketing spend, but you find out maybe they're not so much or they're expecting immediate results and that's not how it works. And I would say that's not how it works for anything, even business brokerage, right? So setting those expectations.
making sure they know it is going to be a long game. Whether it's marketing and a marketing spend because ⁓ it takes several months to generate results ⁓ and similarly it takes several months to sell a business typically.
Anthony Codispoti (26:46)
Okay. So you've watched a lot of business owners go through big transitions, sales, know, exits, acquisitions. What are the ones who come out well have in common?
Kristi May (26:56)
Mm-hmm.
Great communication, like we were talking about earlier. That they've been transparent about their business. ⁓ Transparency and communication, mean, that's so crucial in any business, isn't it?
Anthony Codispoti (27:19)
Have you ever gotten yourself into a situation where you've been engaged to sell a business and as you start digging into the financials and the details, you find that maybe everything isn't as advertised.
Kristi May (27:36)
Yes.
Yes, ⁓ absolutely. I have been in positions where maybe I've noticed that they're not honest on their taxes and things like that. And honestly, I have turned down those opportunities. It is not worth it. It's not worth it to me. ⁓ you know, integrity is really, really important to me ⁓ because I don't want to I don't want to be involved in helping to sell a business where I have to
put a buyer in a situation where they have to figure out if this, financial situation is what I think it is, you know, and my job is to give them an accurate valuation that is honest and fair. And so, yeah, I've turned down opportunities for sure.
Anthony Codispoti (28:28)
What are some of the red flags that you've seen in the past?
Kristi May (28:32)
in terms of business valuations.
Anthony Codispoti (28:35)
Yeah, business valuations or just anything that would give you pause and say, I'm not sure that this is somebody that I want to represent.
Kristi May (28:43)
Yeah, ⁓ so we have sold businesses that are not growing, ⁓ ones that are distressed. I would call them distressed businesses where they are in the negative. ⁓ And that has worked when the business ⁓ has strong assets. ⁓ Maybe there's equipment, maybe there's a great location. And we were able to do that just recently, actually.
⁓ But typically, I'm not able to always sell a service-based business that is not profitable. So that is something that not every owner understands. ⁓ And I don't necessarily want to get in the habit of doing that. So it's worth the conversation at times. We might know somebody who is willing to acquire a business that is not profitable under the right circumstances.
⁓ But that would be the first one noticing that the business is not profitable or finding out that they might have two sets of books for sure.
Anthony Codispoti (29:52)
and why would somebody do that?
Kristi May (29:55)
So they want to save on in terms of taxes, they want to put more money in their pocket.
Anthony Codispoti (30:01)
so they're finding more expenses.
Kristi May (30:02)
But then,
yes, and my job is really to only value what is on the tax return and what is honestly reported, right? And so it becomes ⁓ a difficult balance, right? If I have any question that the tax returns are different ⁓ than the actual business. And so, you know, I'm sure you can understand the position that would put a buyer in. ⁓
and they don't want to overpay for a business ⁓ and be unsure of whether that business can actually bring the revenue that someone is claiming.
Anthony Codispoti (30:41)
Yeah, makes sense. I'm gonna shift gears on you, Christie, we're go back to a challenge. What's the hardest thing you've ever had to overcome personally?
Kristi May (30:52)
⁓ I would say the end of a relationship that was pretty significant for sure and yeah, was the most challenging time in my life that I'll probably ever, ever experience.
Anthony Codispoti (31:06)
Are you comfortable saying more about that relationship and maybe what the failing of that relationship led to in a positive way down the road?
Kristi May (31:17)
Absolutely. It's been ⁓ probably about 10 years since that end of relationship. ⁓ And I learned that I will never quit on myself, even if, you know, it's possible for other people to quit on me. ⁓ But I will never quit on myself. ⁓ And I will never quit on the people that are in my life. And so I have learned significantly even now as a business owner.
that I am not gonna quit. ⁓ I will get the results and what I plan to do, I will accomplish that. And that, yeah, that comes from not quitting, for sure.
Anthony Codispoti (31:59)
And what or who did you lean on during the difficult times following the end of that relationship?
Kristi May (32:08)
My family, I would say God, my faith pulled me through without a doubt. ⁓
Anthony Codispoti (32:15)
Yeah, any
advice you would offer to folks who are maybe going through something similar now?
Kristi May (32:21)
Yeah, there is sometimes a point where you feel like, you know, you're not going to make it or there were for me, there were a lot of different facets of play, you know, financially, my health wasn't good. ⁓ And and I just like there was a breaking point moment where I had to decide, like, am I going to give up? am I going to give up or am I going to am I going to make it? And I
chose to make it and, you know, to really focus on, you know, healing and growing as an individual and getting the help that I needed emotionally to overcome that. So just pushing through. And I would say it translates to business, right? Because there are so many things that you have to oversee and work on.
you know, business relationships can fall apart, clients can fall apart, like deals can fall apart. ⁓ But if you're really committed to both your employees, your contractors, your ⁓ clients, you know, anything is possible.
Anthony Codispoti (33:36)
In the role that you're in now, Kristi, what do you most want to be remembered for?
Kristi May (33:41)
Being somebody who cares, ⁓ who really, really does care, wants to help people make wise financial decisions, whether that's buying homes, because I am a real estate agent, or buying businesses. ⁓ I want to see great things happen there for people.
Anthony Codispoti (33:58)
Well, where do you see the business going in the future?
Kristi May (34:03)
You know, my goal is to be profitable, stay profitable, just continue growing. People have asked me, how big do I want to grow? I am able to help people nationally and I do have some contractors coming on board in other areas. So I'm excited about that. So we'll see. But I'm excited to have a team that is just excited to collaborate and help more sellers.
Anthony Codispoti (34:31)
Yeah. And ⁓ so you got through the rough part of the relationship. ⁓ You found yourself, you got your health back and paint the happy picture for his present day. Anybody in your life?
Kristi May (34:46)
yeah, so I might have mentioned this, but I have a fantastic husband who's just so supportive. I would say he is, I mean, he really helped me make the difference, reminding me not to give up on myself, you know, constantly. Anytime that he thinks I'm discouraged about something, he is always encouraging me to just keep going, slow and steady, or whatever I need to do. ⁓
So I'm super, super thankful.
Anthony Codispoti (35:16)
And how did you meet?
Kristi May (35:18)
Facebook dating. Yeah, it works. It definitely works. Yeah, we we we dated long distance and yeah, now now here we are. So
Anthony Codispoti (35:20)
Okay. Yeah, it works. And here you are today.
Okay, fun stuff.
What's your favorite thing to do outside of
Kristi May (35:36)
that's a great question. It's been, you know, obviously I've been focused so much as a new business owner. but my husband and I just love to have fun. We like to play games. We like, he loves hockey. I like going along with him to hockey games. I used to ice skate myself, so I do enjoy it quite a bit. ⁓ and I love art and interior design. So I like seeing homes that, you know, are beautiful in the area.
Anthony Codispoti (36:04)
want to go back actually to something that we were talking about earlier on, ⁓ because you're seeing this big influx of folks that want to buy businesses. And everybody talks about the the silver tsunami, you know, the retiring baby boomers, tell me like what you're seeing kind of happened at this intersection.
Kristi May (36:15)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, definitely. ⁓ I'm seeing like a lot of business owners and they might not know that they can sell. That's the thing that drives me crazy. I want to help more small businesses ⁓ with selling their business, but a lot of them don't know who to go to. ⁓ They might go to a real estate agent and ask and a lot of them are like, I don't know, right? So,
So I'm seeing a lot more business owners who are ready for retirement ⁓ and who are ready to sell, not know that they can list their business for sale, but I'm also seeing, you know, the younger generation just being wanting to be business owners and wanting to buy an asset. And, you know, that stays in the local economy when you help ⁓ transfer a business from one owner to another.
⁓ that helps your local economy. And so that's another reason I'm pretty passionate about it.
Anthony Codispoti (37:28)
Love it.
Christy, I've just got one more question for you today. But before I ask it, I want to do three quick things for the audience. First of all, anybody that wants to get in touch with Christy May, we've got a few options. In the show notes, we're going to have a direct link to schedule an appointment with her. You can get a free consultation, learn more about what she can do for you. ⁓ You can also email her directly, Christy, K-R-I-S-T-I at
j-e-businessgroup.com and we'll have that in the show notes for folks. Kristy at j-e-businessgroup.com and their phone number. Yes, people still use their phones today, folks. Pick up the phone, call or they'll talk to you. 717-435-8348. 717-435-8348. And again, that'll be in the show notes, but 717-435-8348. And if you're enjoying the show today,
A quick comment or review on your favorite podcast app goes a long way towards helping others discover our podcast. So thank you for taking a quick moment to do that right now. And as a reminder, if you want to get more employees access to doctors, therapists and prescription meds that as paradoxical as it seems, actually increases your company's net profits, reach out to us at addbackbenefits.com. So last question for you, Kristy, a year from now, what is one very specific thing that you hope to be selling?
Kristi May (38:53)
growth. Absolutely.
Anthony Codispoti (38:56)
Say more, be specific. What kind of growth do you want to see? Where do you want to see, like new clients, new services?
Kristi May (39:02)
Yeah,
new clients and new services, just more listings, more opportunities for people. I want, you know, I have great associates who are just excited to help people. I really want to see them do that. So, yeah.
Anthony Codispoti (39:18)
That's awesome. Christy
May from J &E Business Group. want to be the first to thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us today. I really appreciate you being here.
Kristi May (39:27)
Thanks so much. This was so much fun.
Anthony Codispoti (39:30)
Folks, that's a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories podcast. Thanks for learning with us. And if one thing stood out, put that into action today.
Connect with Kristi May:
Website: jebusinessgroup.com
Email: kristi@jebusinessgroup.com
