You Might Also Like: The Unshakeables

**Stevie Baron** (0:08)
We've heard about a lot of small businesses on the show.
Some start off really small, then slowly grow. Others hit the ground running. Today's business, Flying Lion, was the former. A drone company based in Southern California. Founder Barry Brennan and his partner Steven Katz were mostly operating in what they called stealth mode.

**Barry Brennan** (0:26)
That was the point where Steven and I weren't making tough money on the little things we were doing to really have a salary out of it.

**Stevie Baron** (0:33)
Then they won their first big contract. The city of Tula Vista wanted to hire them for Drone as First Responder program.

**Barry Brennan** (0:41)
That was a big, big thing for us. We needed it to survive.

**Stevie Baron** (0:46)
They celebrated, then reality dawned on them.

**Barry Brennan** (0:50)
Holy crap, this is going to triple our size from a staffing standpoint. It was seven days a week, 12 to 13 hours a day.
And to manage that, do it properly.

**Stevie Baron** (1:02)
And for the first year, they did do it properly.

**Barry Brennan** (1:05)
We didn't have a call out. We had people that were dedicated to it. And then we had five people leave.

**Stevie Baron** (1:12)
But the work still had to get done. In emergency response, coverage is essential. Steven and Barry had to figure out how to fill those gaps and fast. It could be a matter of life or death.
Welcome to The Unshakeables from Chase for Business and Ruby Studio from iHeart Media.
I'm Stevie Baron, CEO of Chase for Business.
Small businesses are the backbone of our communities. Every day I hear from owners who are not only fueling our economy, but creating jobs across the country. This show is for the people behind the scenes, the ones who take the leap, bet on themselves, and keep going even when everything feels like it's on the line. And it's also a place to be honest about the challenges entrepreneurs face and what it really takes to grow a business. Access to capital, time, talent, but most of all the right support. In each episode, we'll talk with real business owners and experts, plus we'll share resources that may help along the way. One is JP Morgan Chase's American Dream Initiative. Focus on expanding capital and coaching, supporting smart policy solutions, and building services to help you run your business end to end. Our goal is to make it easier for more than 10 million small businesses to get ahead. Your stories matter, not just to us, but to your customers, your employees, your families, and your community. So whether you're just starting out or trying to expand, we're glad you're here.

**Kathleen Griffith** (2:44)
Stevie, welcome.

**Stevie Baron** (2:46)
Thank you.

**Kathleen Griffith** (2:46)
Welcome to the show. This is our first podcast episode together.
You and I were chatting a little bit before this, and you had shared that both of your parents were small business owners, especially mom.

**Stevie Baron** (2:59)
Yes.

**Kathleen Griffith** (2:59)
So I'd love to start there so everyone else can have the benefit of like, this is in your blood.

**Stevie Baron** (3:05)
Yeah. My mom decided to own and operate a home accessory store in Miami where I'm from originally, and did that for a number of years, successfully sold that business, and then went into interior design, and was successful in that business and just retired a couple of years ago.

**Kathleen Griffith** (3:20)
I think you actually have a really interesting vantage point because you've seen that and now working with so many small business owners and at the branches, you also get that side of it too and can bring that to bear.

**Stevie Baron** (3:30)
I've been at JPMorgan Chase for 20 years, and I just love the passion that small business owners have. I feel like every time I talk to a small business owner, I learn so much. I mean, the energy that they have to talk about their business, I just eat that all up and I love it.

**Kathleen Griffith** (3:46)
I love that too. What are you looking forward to most being in this chair?

**Stevie Baron** (3:51)
Just learning. Just learning from these operators, their entrepreneurs, they've all had challenges. Obviously, the ones we're talking to have had success as well, and hopefully the listeners will know that they're not alone with the challenges that they face every day and that there's solutions and there's ways forward and hopefully we can help them along their journey.

**Kathleen Griffith** (4:11)
What I love is all these businesses really seem to run the gamut. You've got small, mid-sized, everything in between, cross so many different categories, but you've got this connective tissue where they're all united by this unshakable spirit.