An end of an era

On April 17, 2006 Planet Cash gave out its first loan, and so began a love/hate relationship I had with our business. It was conceived from the very beginning that I would run the store for a year or so then we would hire a store manager and I would go off to do my own thing.

For 15 months I was at the store 6 days a week, 8 hours a day. During this same span Emily and I went on our little vacation and we closed Perfect Day. So, I was flat broke, heart broken and now beginning to be bitter that I was at Planet Cash 6 days a week. Granted, Planet Cash had nothing to do with my personal problems, it was just an easy target: it couldn’t fight back.

Around January 2007, after a pep talk from Greg, the CEO of the old corporate office, and a kick in the ass from Justin, I really began to work hard to making Planet Cash succeed. Up until that point, due to a miss communication, or a lack of paying attention on my part (most likely the latter), our collections had failed. . At least 50% of our checks that we deposit will bounce, and if we don’t call those people, we don’t get the money back. So, we have money going out and only 50% of coming back: see where this is a bad thing? Without good collections, a store will not make money. Once I realized this, I worked my ass to get our collections up, and with that, money in our pocket.

In August, 2007 we hired Herman, our current store manager. It was a huge sigh of relief for me. For the past few months we had grown so fast, that our collections had faltered again and without a second person in the store, there was no sign of it being fixed. We spend months training Herman and within a few months I was able to start taking off Saturdays, which I had not been able to do in almost 18 months: it was glorious! We hired 2 part time collectors during the holiday season because the store had gotten too busy for Herman and me to handle the customers and make collection calls. Starting around February, we hired a part time teller to help with customers as well, and I began to slowly back away from the store.

Currently we are growing at a rapid pace again and must have two full time employees there at all times and come this holiday season we will be in need of a part time collector again. So, after firing our full time teller Saturday, we were in need of another teller.
Monday morning Justin calls with the idea of him being in the store full time. For the past few months Justin and I have been taking life pretty easy. We have been splitting time at the store and our rental properties, and getting our new houses in order. We, honestly, have not had to work real hard.

The plan had been that I would finally get a full time job, which I have been looking for, and at that point, Justin would over sea the store with the two employees. With Justin’s idea that puts me out of the store and Justin in, and me with almost nothing to do: and it is odd. I have spend the past 2 ½ years waiting to be out of the store and when the day comes, it is a little un nerving. I got off the phone with Justin Monday morning with my mind racing. Now what do I do?

I was laying in bed thinking about the changes. The biggest thing that keeps crossing my mind is that it will not be My store any more. For so long I was the “store manager.” I handled all the day to day operations of Planet Cash The Manager Desk was labeled as my desk. It was my stapler, my caculator, my chair, my tape dispensor, etc. (Oh yeah, Justin, I peed on the chair; enjoy it).And it seems almost childish that this crosses my mind and but it does. To be completely honest, Justin will run the store much better and effectively than I ever did. Justin knows Pay Day stores. That is what he did for 8 years, he over saw around 44 stores and opened close to 15 of them. He trained the managers and area managers and helped write the loan software program that we still use today. I will miss running the store, miss the customers, miss hearing the daily soap opera of a life Herman leads. I think I am going to feel left out. My phone will be quiet during the day now that Herman can ask Justin the 20 mundane questions he seesm to have every day. BR>
So, my job search continues. I keep waiting for that perfect job to fall into my lap. This is the first time in my life that I have had to look for a job. I am luckily enough to still receive a check each month from Planet Cash. I know there are lots of people out there looking for jobs with no money to feed their families, so I should not complain at all. But, if you know of anyone hiring, let me know. ;-)

**A small disclaimer I would like to add. I do want to paint Justin as the partner who would make me stay in the store as he ate grapes all day. This was the plan and Justin had a full time job at corporate. Justin and I have a great business partnership and I feel that we compliment each other really well. We each have played a role in Planet Cash and its’ success and the store would suffer if any one of us quit doing our part. Justin was very helpful in the beginning stages of giving me a Saturday off when I needed to travel or a day off during the week for a doctor, etc.


I encourage all of you who read this whole blog to head over to Justin's blog, it explains the picture below and has a nice video of the dancing alien (just click the picture)

How does it feel to be married?

How does it feel to be married? Does it feel any different? The first time I was asked those questions was on the limo after the ceremony heading to the reception with a beer in my hand. The only thing that felt different at that point was the ring on my left hand. That following week we combined our checking accounts, and that made it a little more different and then today Emily officially changed her name to Emily Tyler and got her new driver’s license: that was exciting. Those are the physically things that have changed in our lives. So: that is the broad answer to what is different. But, how do I feel, what is different with me is a much bigger answer.

These past few weeks I have been thinking about what it means to be married, to have a wife, to take those vows that we took. It means so much more to me than just the ring on my finger, having a combined checking account and sharing a last name. (It means she has half my stuff). Stan, who leads the bible studies that I attend, told me that when you get married that is when you become a man. Now, for those guys who don’t get married you are S.O.L. ; you will stay little boys forever. But I think there is a certain about of truth to his statement. I don’t think marriage made me a man; it just made me a different man; a man with whole different set of priorities and a different outlook on life. Emily is no longer just a roommate who I share a bed with, she is my wife, and that takes on an entirely different light. She is the future mother of our children** , someone who stared me in the eye and promised to love me until death do us part. When I stood up there, in front of my closest friends and family and as God as our witness told Emily that I will love her until death to us part, it took on a whole different meaning on seriousness and commitment. I feel very blessed to have found a woman that is willing to and apparently wants to; spend the rest of her life with me. And that is something that I never want to forget nor take for granted

John King said during the ceremony that he wants to take the time to encourage us separately, and that will be the last time we are encouraged separately, we are one now. What I do affects Emily and visa versa. And that is a thought that never really crossed my mind before, although maybe it should have. It is not just Josh and Emily out there, it is the Tyler’s, and if the team doesn’t move together, it will fail. That is the profound difference to me: We are a team and we must move together. We no longer make decisions that are good for Josh or Emily, but for Us. And once we figure that out, this whole marriage thing will be a breeze!


**for those of you wondering when we are going to have kids: We are going to “talk” about it in a year. Not have kids in a year, just sit down and talk about it.**

Wedding Pictures

Click the picture to see all the wedding pictures courtesy of Dana Rose Photography.

User name is Emily&Josh and the password is 14599

The Wedding Dance

Thank you to Marino Video Productions for the video of this dance

Thanks again to all those who made this day possible!!

Ahhh...married life.

Well, as most of you now know: We made it!! The wedding went off without a hitch. We really feel that it could not have been more perfect. Norah did such an amazing job as our flower girl, John King brought tears to people’s eyes, Justin speech at Rehearsal was, as expected, great! I have been trying to reflect on the whole experience of getting married, the preparation, the build up, the Rehearsal, the ceremony and then the reception; and I think the best thing that sums it all up was precisely what we were going for: Simple, yet Elegant.
The anticipation and the stress of everything caught up to me on Thursday night at Rehearsal and I got sick. I was nervous about my speech, which is odd, being a communication major and in sales most of my life. What made me nervous was: 1. not wanting to cry and 2, making sure I said everything that I wanted to say to Emily. I felt this was my one shot to publicly build up Emily and let her know how amazing I think that she is. I think I accomplished what I sat out to do, but I did tear up at the end.
I think Mom and Justin did a fantastic job on Rehearsal! It went with the whole theme, it was very nice, yet people were able to have a good time. Fanny Pack Elvis was a great thing that set the tone for the rest of the wedding. Thanks so much Mom for everything that you did, you just don’t know how much it means to Emily and I!
Emily asked me what was on my mind when she first walked into the room. I was really thinking all about her and what she was thinking. This is the moment that she has been waiting for. The music starting, everyone stood up and for 2 minutes, all eyes were on Emily, and only Emily. She looked absolutely stunning walking down the isle. I was so taken by that moment that I forgot to go down and get here. John had to nudge me.
I have said it once, and I will say it again: John King really made the wedding special. To have someone who means so much to Emily and I marry us, I can not think of a better person. It was worth all the hard work to find a place that would let us bring in John King.
After that point, I know we said I do, and then it was a blur of talking to people. Our dance, which was 5 minutes, seemed like one minute. Months of hard work and it was over in 5 minutes. The band was amazing. Trilogy band if anyone is wondering.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who made the trip to St. Louis, who helped with the wedding, reception, rehearsal, or were just there to help out and make sure Emily or I didn’t loose our damn minds!
As soon as we get some more pictures, I will post them up. Check out the new survey and vote.