Make Family Your Core Business While You Can

 Make Family Your Core Business While You Can

Guest: Susan Koelliker

Shelley Hunter: You're listening to the Faithful Career Moves podcast. I'm your host, Shelley Hunter, and this is the place where we talk to people who have found the career they were born to do and recognize God's hand in the process. 

Thank you for joining me today on Episode 33, and I should also say welcome back. It's been several months since my last interview. As I've told you many times, I'm the tortoise. I can only do what I can do and have to trust that the pace I move at is just good enough. 

At the start of the summer, my daughter, my oldest, got married. At the tail end, my youngest left on a mission for my church, plus my middle went back to college too. I made the intentional choice to just work my full-time job and give any extra I had to savoring those last few months with kids at home, but alas, they're all off and I'm back.

Today, I'm excited to share this interview with Susan Koelliker. Susan is the CEO of Kore Baseball Products, spelled K-O-R-E. She's also a recent graduate of the Brigham Young University Executive MBA program and several other things that you'll hear about. I saw a post about Susan on LinkedIn when someone in my network commented on a post that Susan had written about going back to school.

It said, "These past two years, I have thought a lot about the hard things that were handed in life versus the hard things that we choose to sign up for. I would not be the person I am today without both kinds of challenges and without these amazing children who tutored me and told me I could do it." 

Well, that hooked me, so I reached out to Susan to see if she'd be willing to tell a more detailed version of that story. I start off by asking Susan what she does for a living.

Susan Koelliker: I guess the main thing you could say professionally, I run a small baseball business. It's a kids' baseball and it was invented by my husband and kids. He was a former college baseball player and coach, and they invented a fun backyard baseball. It would drive him crazy if they would go to a baseball game and a kid would have a tennis ball or something in their mitt.

They decided to figure out a hand-stitched real leather baseball with a softer core, a memory foam-type core. Then it also ended up helping them teach children to not be afraid of the baseball and the proper technique. A lot of kids would play Little League and then they'd get beaned by the pitcher, and then they were so done with baseball after that. It was kind of also for proper technique and pitching.

That is definitely my primary job. We've been in stores all over the US, including Nordstrom and J. Crew, but I also have a lot of hobbies or you might say side hustles. I currently serve as a member of the Sugar House Community Council and I also work part-time as a stylist at Nordstrom. I have a passion for investing and have recently started a women's investment group.

Shelley: Well, what drove you in all these different directions?

Susan: That's a really great question. I'm a mom of five children and I have three grandsons. I've been a widow for about three and a half years. My youngest just left on a mission a couple of months ago. I'm an empty nester, but my career journey or life journey, I guess, began a while back. Really, my life went all as planned for the first 20 years. I married my high school sweetheart. I graduated in elementary education and I taught school for three years.

Then when my husband went away for his dental school and residency, I substitute-taught, and then I also taught preschool. I really began a teaching career, which I loved. I learned so much. It taught me so much. As my husband finished school, we had a lot of young children. He decided to open a dental practice and it took so much work. He needed a lot of help. I focused my efforts on helping him with his practice and raising our children. I was primarily in charge of doing all the books. I was in charge of the billing, also did the marketing and decorating, and filled in for employees as needed.

Shelley: Everything. Everything else besides the dentist.

Susan: Everything, and we were very fortunate. He got really busy fast, but because he did, I thought, "Well, okay, I could do this part and I could do this." So much of it, I could do from home or on my own time. We were a great team and it really got up and running and was really fun. I found my niche and how I could help. He loved it when I would help and all of our children helped too if he needed.

They worked at his office at different times. It became a family thing, which was really fun. In the meantime, I also helped my children with their lawn-mowing businesses and their snow-shoveling businesses. We had one daughter and four sons and some of my boys would dread going to a dance recital or something. Then they decided, "Hey, we could sell flowers and get paid to go to Sarah's dance recital." Genius.

Shelley: Super entrepreneurial then.

Susan: Exactly. Then my boys sold flowers at their sister's recital and I also did a small boutique business with my daughter. I guess you could say we have a very entrepreneurial family. We still do. All of my children have a little business going, which is fun to watch. As I told you, my life went really according to plan for 20 years. Right after my husband's 40th birthday, he noticed a little tingling on his left side and thought, "I better go check this out."

We have a neighbor and a close friend that's a neurosurgeon and he talked to him. He said, "Oh, yes, just come in for an MRI. We'll just see what it is and don't stress about it." Next thing we knew, we were at his house that night talking to him and he said, "You have a brain tumor. You need surgery right away and your life is going to be shortened, but we don't know how long. Take five years and enjoy it and see where you go."

We were devastated and really numb. You think, "Wait, this is something that happens to other people. Not to us," but it was us. That's, I think, when I got on the road less traveled or got off that main road. After that surgery, we knew our life would never be the same. If we had five years left, we needed to make the most of them. When you face death, you learn to really live. That is what happened to our family.

All of a sudden, someday was right now. You can't say, "Oh, someday, we're going to do this," or "One day, we want to do this." All of a sudden, it's like, "If this is what we want to do, we're doing it now. Don't put it off." It is a great way to live. Definitely, everyone should live that way and, hopefully, not have to learn the hard way. We went on lots of trips. My son and husband wrote a book where all the proceeds go to brain tumor research. That's been a really great experience.

We've spent a lot of time together. Some of my married kids, they moved in to help us. We helped some of our friends open up an ice cream shop that employed people with disabilities, and that was really a fun experience. One of the many things we did was manufacture the baseball. It was one of those things, "Oh, someday we'll do it." We're like, "No." Next thing we knew, we had 6,000 baseballs come onto our porch that we're like, "Okay, now, what do we do with these?"

[laughter]

Susan: We just got a big delivery of baseballs. We had no packaging. It's like, "So now what?" We also didn't know how long he would be able to work in his profession. Not only could the baseballs maybe be a source of income, but it could provide a really great experience to our children about starting and running a business. One of them helped name it. They helped with the logo and they helped with packaging. It's fun to see how they all were able to contribute, but it was really a happy time for us. My kids will always look back and go, "We were all happy." We all commented on how happy we were. It was a great way to live and time together and doing all the things that we wanted to do someday.

Shelley: It sounds like your husband was feeling well enough to participate in all of this stuff.

Susan: He definitely was really well for a good five years. During that time, he had two surgeries, felt well, was able to work, didn't miss anything, didn't miss any of the kids' things, coached all their teams, went on every scout camp. He was amazing, did everything. To them and everyone else, those five years had kind of gone away, which is a really great way to live too.

Shelley: First of all, I'm sorry. It sounds so tragic, and yet I'm listening to you and thinking, "What a gift this time was to your family?"

Susan: It definitely was a gift. Our family is so close together. The last two and a half years, I became a full-time caretaker, which I relied on my kids and extended family so much and I am forever grateful. There were plenty of times they were getting their dad dressed for church or they were feeding him or putting him to bed, or I would have to send out a text, "Who's available to come help me get dad into bed?" They would drop what they were doing and be right over. I thought, "This is not a normal high school experience."

I had my youngest two in high school at that point when he was dying, but it was amazing how they would drop everything and anything and take their dad places or help him with whatever he needed. It was definitely a very sweet time in our home. After his first surgery, he came out and just kept saying, "It's all about love. It's all about love." I don't know what kind of out-of-body experience he had, but to him, that's what definitely life is all about. It's all about love and there was so much love.

Shelley: What a bittersweet time for your family.

Susan: Yes.

Shelley: Wow, okay. Let's go back to the business side of this story for a minute. You have this dental practice. Your husband's health is declining. Did you sell the business or what happened with that?

Susan: It was quite amazing. He actually met someone that knew someone looking for a partner. When he was at the temple, that's where he was able to find someone to partner with him and eventually sell his practice too.

Shelley: You sell the practice and you start working on Kore and the family's pitching in, but there's a book going on. I know exactly the experience of having a product land on your doorstep and thinking, "Wow, we were working on this, but now somehow we have to sell these things."

Susan: "Now what?"

Shelley: Right?

Susan: Right.

Shelley: What did you do?

Susan: It was really interesting because we were all very self-taught in our business. We got these baseballs. I had an idea how I wanted to package them. We had another neighbor that helped us with the design, so we did get packaging. We had another neighbor that's a movie producer. He helped do a little blurb for our website, which was really fun that the kids and my husband are in.

It was interesting. We started reaching out to some sporting goods companies. A lot of them were not that interested because to them, this is hand-stitched. It's genuine leather and so it costs some money. There's no machine that can stitch a baseball. It has to be done by hand. We are in no competition with Rawlings, right? We're in no competition with a plastic baseball that has no overhead.

We definitely have some overhead with this ball. When he reached out to some sporting goods, they didn't seem that interested. Kind of a funny story. My daughter had a few things in this local boutique that she was selling that she had made. I said, "While we're waiting, I'm going to put these baseballs in and see how they sell." They sold out and we had to keep putting more in. It was kind of funny.

In the meantime, because I work super part-time at Nordstrom, I reached out to a buyer, showed them to him, and he's like, "These are really awesome. When you get packaging, I want you to reach out to me." My husband and I got the packaging and flew out and met with him at the Mothership in Seattle, which was quite amazing. He ordered a whole bunch and then they sold out, ordered more, ordered more, but it was a fun and funny shift.

I think they thought these were all going to be in the sporting goods stores and were ending up in Nordstrom and J. Crew and every toy store in the US, all over different places, but it was super fun. We'd go on vacation somewhere and take the balls and the store would say, "Yes, we want these. Put them in," and then they'd go to another. It was fun to watch my kids, how they would sell them.

Our first order for Nordstrom, we had packaged all over our kitchen and have fun that they were shipped off. We have a picture of our daughter on our mission holding up a ball at the San Diego store or different places that our kids would see the balls. Not only it is a really great product, but it is such a fun memory and story with my children. They love it and something they did with their dad.

Shelley: You know things like this don't just happen, right? [chuckles]

Susan: They don't.

Shelley: It did happen to me when I had my--

Susan: It's really quite funny. I also have to say, my son has applied to a very popular TV show, which we were accepted on and had to be cut last minute, which we were so sad about. Looking back, it was the exact time that my husband went downhill. It would've been way too much pressure on us to do anything, but it is fun to have the email welcoming us on the show.

Shelley: Yes, and I don't want to pry into your finances, but is this supporting you, Kore?

Susan: It is not supporting. I feel very blessed that he did have insurance. I was worried that he was going to cut off a finger or something. I was never worried he was going to have a brain tumor and die. He was the most healthy person I knew. He could be anyone in a race. He was in excellent health. I am fortunate he had taken out disability probably to not soft his fingers, but we used it for something else. He did have insurance for us. What I will say, it's been an invaluable business in what it has taught my children and how it has helped them get jobs, get into school, and the memories. It's invaluable.

Shelley: Are there any of the other business ventures that you are involved in currently that you would like to talk about that you think would be helpful for others to know about?

Susan: Part of my journey the last two years, well, after my husband died, I definitely had the rug pulled out from under me, everything that I was planned on. I was going to grow old with my husband and go on missions and be grandparents together and had so many plans. I would listen to a lot of podcasts and read books and listen to talks. One of the books I picked up was Option B by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant. It talked about post-traumatic growth.

When you lose someone, it says you can have PTSD and depression and anxiety, or you can get back to where you were or you can have post-traumatic growth. I felt like right after my husband passed away, well, in that month, I became a widow. I turned 50. I broke my foot. I had my 28th wedding anniversary. I had my first colonoscopy. I think I have officially bottomed out.

Shelley: [laughs]

Susan: I need to remember this. What am I going to do now? I always thought I might go back to school. My oldest said, "I'm going to go get my MBA next year and you should go with me," so my kids talked me into getting my MBA.

Shelley: Wow.

Susan: That's what I really focused on a lot the past couple of years, which was a huge career shift and jump. I feel like I've been in the business world for so long and was so self-taught that it would benefit me in everything I am doing to have more knowledge.

Shelley: Maybe even to just focus it.

Susan: Right. I felt like, "Okay, I don't have a plan anymore with my life. What do I do now?" I have been working on a lot of businesses. I would like to know more about business. I thought I could be a social worker because I talk to a lot of people because a lot of people will call me going through hard things, which I love, but I'm like, "I love doing that anyway, so maybe I should do this and just see where it takes me."

Shelley: Where did it take you?

Susan: Well, I applied six months after my husband passed away. I ran into a lot of friends at the right time, had a person that said, "You need to apply for MBA school and do the BYU executive program and you will love it. I've been doing it. This will be perfect for you." Of course, I thought, "I don't know any of this. I'm an elementary-ed teacher, who's just done a lot of businesses with my family, but I don't know any of this." She's like, "No, you can do it. You need to apply." I'm like, "Okay, I need to apply," but then I secretly thought, "Well, hopefully, I won't get in."

[laughter]

Susan: I know that sounds so bad. Maybe I won't get in and that would be just great with me. I remember when I got the call that I got in, I was like, "Oh, no."

[laughter]

Susan: As the pandemic started, I just got a laptop. Luckily, my kids were living at home and they tutored me in these primary classes. The next thing I know, I was sitting in the classroom with 84 top executives, doctors, lawyers wondering how I got there, how I'd live, and how this was ever going to work out.

[laughter]

Susan: I have worked a lot on my business and my other things. In the past couple of years, I also have dug into school quite a bit and so have not grown my business as much as I have wanted to or will. It was a really great experience. I do remember thinking a lot, "Okay, I just got through the three hardest years of my life that I never signed up for, and then I just turned around and signed up for two really hard years. What was it that I'm paying for? Not only did I sign up, but I'm paying for it. What was I thinking?"

My other businesses, I feel like everything has been really manageable and maybe they're just more hobbies. I joined our community council because we had no one representing us, my friend and I, and we've been doing it now for five years. It's really great, the people that we've met, and that we can represent our neighborhood. Being a stylist at Nordstrom, it's probably been my outlet. You go where it's just fun and things don't matter. It's not a big stress to find a new outfit.

My women's investment group, I can't tell you how many women have come up to me and say, "How do you know these things? Can you teach me how to do this? How do you buy a stock or how do you know all your finances?" which has been a shocker to me how many women don't know much about finances or what's going on or, "How are you living? How do you do all this?" I've always enjoyed investment. My dad has taught me. I've pulled together this group of speakers. That's been really rewarding and fun as well.

Shelley: I get the feeling that the story is not even close to over yet.

Susan: Definitely, I agree. I just graduated and I've got all these ideas and things I want to do. I'm making lists and lists and trying to figure out how I can be the best mom and grandma and make my life super meaningful in a way that I can help others. I'm excited. I could be really sad right now that all my kids have just left. I feel like a part of me is like, "I just got laid off from the best job in the world, or at least laid off to part-time losing all my children that don't need me full-time anymore." At the same time, I'm like, "Okay. Now, I can write my story. I can do anything I want." I'm super excited about it. I have so many ideas that it's hard to narrow down or say what's going to be the best for my next chapter.

Shelley: I imagine you're still grieving and you were grieving during MBA school.

Susan: I was. I know. Someone said to me when we were about to graduate, "Do you feel like you've just been busy doing all of this and that you're going to deal with it afterwards?" I was like, "Oh, my gosh. Please tell me no." I'm hoping I have. I think I have. I read a quote. It's like, "A rock, always in your pocket. Sometimes it's heavier than other times." Definitely, I am grieving.

Shelley: Can you tell me a leap of faith you had to take to get where you are now?

Susan: I think my leap of faith has always been to just trust God and know that things will work out. I have shown God that I do trust Him through lots of little things. He has shown me that He trusts me through lots of little things. I think I've been blessed that things just make sense. I could not have written that I would have had to deal with cancer for 10 years and then get my MBA after that. My story that I wrote has changed too differently. I feel like everything in my life has been a leap of faith, but I've seen so many tender mercies in my life. I know God has put so many people in my life and I am so grateful. I don't know the meaning of all things, but I do know my Heavenly Father loves me and He loves His children.

Shelley: What is an unexpected blessing, something you just couldn't see for yourself in embarking on this business or even going back to school?

Susan: I think there's been so many unexpected blessings, but probably the biggest blessing is the closeness I have with my children. They are my biggest support. It was so cute how proud they were of me at my graduation. My other unexpected blessing is my parents and what a support they have been to me in my life. I think the blessing of the angels that we have on earth and the angels there are in heaven. There is so much good in people. I've been able to see that because I've been taken care of by so many.

Shelley: My final question, which you've answered multiple times, but I'm going to ask you again is, how have you seen the hand of God in your career?

Susan: I feel like God has never left me. I do know He has a sense of humor, which I appreciate. There's definitely times I've had to barter or bargain with Him or say, "Now what? Where am I? What's the plan?" My prayers, they've always been answered, but maybe not always the way I've wanted them answered, but He's given me the courage and strength that I need.

There have been times in my life where all I've wanted to do is kneel at my Savior's feet and weep, knowing that He's the only one who knows exactly how I feel and what I'm going through. I vividly remember those times to this day, and so I feel like I'm so mindful of many others feeling that way too. I know everyone has that. When I can't quite make sense of things, I just go back that God loves His children.

I choose a different model every year from the Scriptures. The one that jumped out at me, I was like, "Okay, the kids are all going back to school. I'm starting empty nesting, so what is it now?" As I was reading through my Scriptures, I read in Alma 37:47, "See that you look to God and live," and I thought, "That's exactly my motto this year. I don't know where I'm going on my career path necessarily, what I'm doing. I love that if I just look to God and live, I'm doing something and living, it's going to all work out."

Shelley: Thank you for sharing your testimony and your story with me here today. I really appreciate it.

Susan: You're very welcome. Thanks for having me.

Shelley: At the close of this interview, Susan worried that she talked too much about her husband's cancer and not enough about her career for this audience. I don't think that's true because I don't think we can separate the various pockets of our lives. When I say God is in the details, I mean all aspects, and career just happens to be one of them. As Susan said, there were no more "somedays" for her family.

Her husband's diagnosis served as a catalyst to take trips, start businesses, and work together in many ways. It almost doesn't matter what they built together. It was just the fact that they did it and have so many lasting memories as a result. I'll link to the many businesses Susan mentioned in the show notes. If you have more questions about that, please go there. If you enjoy hearing these stories and have a moment, please leave a review wherever you get your podcasts. Doing so will help others find these stories.

Finally, a thought. I truly believe that God knows exactly how much money we need to make to support our families and have the life we're meant to have. Not every business is about landing a big deal or making a fortune. Some simply help the people involved to develop their talents, increase their sphere of influence, have the experience needed to apply for MBA school, or just bring a family together.

Some do actually need to provide financial support. I don't know. All I do know is that if you feel prompted to do something, you should. There will be a leap of faith, there will be unexpected blessings, and you'll see the hand of God guiding you if you involve Him in the process. I imagine Kore Baseball will be an even greater success as Susan applies her new knowledge to the business. If not, the family business was still a massive success by other standards.

One last thing. Make sure you have life insurance and disability insurance too. What a gift that was for the Koellikers to be able to enjoy those last days with their dad. Thank you, Susan, for sharing your story, and thank you for listening. Thank you for listening to the Faithful Career Moves podcast. If you want to know more about how to connect your natural talents and abilities to job opportunities and business ideas, then visit our website at faithfulcareermoves.com.

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