In this illuminating episode of “Spark & Ignite Your Marketing,” we delve deep into the heart of entrepreneurship in civic leadership with our esteemed guest, Mayor Laura Kropp. As the youngest mayor in the history of Mount Clemens, Michigan, and a trailblazer in both civic leadership and the business realm, Mayor Kropp brings a wealth of experience, insights, and visionary ideas to the table.
From Classroom to City Hall: Entrepreneurship in civic leadership
Beginning her career as a special education teacher, Laura transitioned into the business world as the sales director for her family business, Bakes and Kropp Fine Cabinetry. Her diverse background, combining education, business management, and now civic leadership, offers a unique perspective on tackling challenges and seizing opportunities.
Entrepreneurial Lessons for Aspiring Leaders
Mayor Kropp shares invaluable advice for aspiring entrepreneurs and leaders, emphasizing the importance of goal setting, strategic planning, and the courage to pivot when necessary. Her stories of overcoming obstacles, whether in business or as mayor, offer inspiration and practical lessons for anyone looking to make an impact in their field. As we look to the future, Mayor Kropp outlines her vision for Mount Clemens, including ongoing projects, future initiatives, and her hopes for continued economic and community development. Her forward-thinking approach offers a blueprint for other cities and leaders seeking to harness the power of entrepreneurship in public service
Book by Seth Godin:
This Is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn to See – Seth Godin
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Laura Kropp | LinkedIn
Watch on YouTube!
Entrepreneurship in Civic Leadership Podcast Episode Transcript:
Beverly:
Imagine the number of small businesses you interact with each week, including internet-based companies, contractors, plumbers, electricians, hardware stores, lumber companies, co-working spaces, healthcare needs, real estate, the meat market or bakery, the movie theater, lodging, hair salons, barbershops, boutiques, law firms, accountants. Specialists, repair refinishing shops, the bowling alley, liquor stores, gas stations, auto repair, the car wash, restaurants and bars. The list is long. Now imagine your community without them. Small business entrepreneurs offer communities economic sustainability and are not necessarily driven by passing national trends. They bring growth, employment opportunities to local residents and innovation to rural communities. They also generate revenue that converts local taxes into community improvements such as schools, parks, public transportation, and healthcare. The Better Business Bureau National Statistics show that when you spend a hundred dollars at a local business, roughly$68 stays within that local community. Today we’re excited to feature Laura Kropp, who wears many hats as the 41st mayor of Mount Clemens, Michigan, the youngest in its history, and a trailblazer for female leadership. Laura’s journey resonates with small business owners and entrepreneurs as she brings much entrepreneurial experience to her role from her roots in teaching special education to her position as director of sales at their family business Bakes and Kropp Fine Cabinetry. Laura’s entrepreneurial spirit has driven her every step of the way. Her insights into teaching sales and business management offer invaluable lessons for fellow entrepreneurs navigating their very own ventures. So join us today as we delve into Laura’s fascinating journey, her innovative vision for Mount Clemens and her dedication to uplifting small businesses beyond her civic leadership. Laura enjoys cooking and spending time with her family at their lake cottage. So get ready for an inspiring conversation with Mayor Laura Kropp where entrepreneurial flair. I like that word, Laura. Meet civic leadership. Welcome.
Laura:
Oh, thank you Beverly. Thanks for having me. I feel honored.
Beverly:
I’m so excited to talk to you and have this different unique spin on our conversation today about entrepreneurship and the civic side of things, and how you’ve gone from teaching special education, which requires a ton of patience and kindness to working in your family business, to now working in your community really strongly. Right? This evolution you’ve been on, please share a little bit about how that journey took place and, what had to happen to get you here.
Laura:
It’s, it’s definitely been an interesting journey when, if you would’ve asked me in college when I was picking my major, you know, do you wanna be the mayor? Someday I would’ve looked at you and went, what? In the world? No. But I do remember being a young girl. And thinking about being a teacher and knowing that, that was my path. But sitting, I remember in our auditorium at graduation and the superintendent being on stage and thinking, I’m gonna be that one day. So I do believe that I’ve always had that leadership type of tracked track, you know, and, and have always felt drawn to that role of being the person up there, making the big decisions and leading people. it’s just always been something I’m drawn to. I became a teacher and taught for 13 years in special education. All in the high school level. Loved it and, really felt as though I wasn’t using all my gifts. I. You know, it, it wasn’t, I wasn’t completely fulfilled and didn’t really know what I was going to do after, stopping the teaching thing. but it did evolve into me working for our company. And that was, a good change. And, and I say that by, it was a complete 180, right? So I was used to moving my life from with a bell, right? And so, and then I remember going in and working in our company and going, okay, my husband would give me like, okay, this is, you know, the role and this is what I want you to accomplish, and here’s some goals and, you know, all these things. And, and then I would go, okay. Yeah, great. I’m, I’m really pumped for this. And then like, not really understanding how to manage my time because nobody was ringing a bell. I would get lost in tasks. I didn’t, you know, didn’t know how to think big, um, because I was given a curriculum as a teacher and I was given, you know, not that all teachers can’t think big, but just it, it was a total mind shift. It was a real transformation for me in terms of going, looking in internally and saying, whoa, I have to operate differently in this. And really being self-aware and, and in order to be successful I had to really change daily habits and, and how I functioned. It was, it was interesting. So moved from and worked in inside the sales world and that was obviously. Pretty different from teaching, but was able to use some of those skills, believe it or not, in managing people learning what makes people tick. Mm-Hmm. And then using that in the sales world. It became a point in our business where my husband and his business partner were actually merging two companies and becoming one and, and forming Bake and Kropps. And, you know, it was just the point where it was like, okay, we are gonna sell the brand that I represented as the sales person, and did I want to go into the cabinet world and would that work with a business partner? And so we really felt like it might not, right? Because how can your business partner feel safe to give your wife feedback? And genuine feedback. Right. I didn’t wanna inhibit the growth of the company, and so I stepped back from a daily role. And honestly it was good. It was a really good thing for me in the sense that selling cabinets, selling countertops was not fulfilling to me. But
Beverly:
in the meantime, weren’t you doing some public service at that time too, with the school board Sure. And some other things.
Laura:
Yep. Yep. I was on the school board when I, when I was teaching, I was on the school board in our community. I taught in a different community. when I stopped being on the school board and was working for our company, I thought I missed that piece. Right? I really missed that public service. There was a juncture when I stopped working for our company where we said, you know, we want to make this investment in our community. So, you know. And it was really important’cause there’s, there’s zero money in, public service. It was not because of monetary reasons. I make$3,500 a year as mayor. Wow. That being said, and it’s not in all, every community, but here it is. We really felt passionately about being able to make this impact in our community by, you know, our gift to the city of being my time and my effort. Mm-Hmm. I ran for city Commission and I was in that role for four years. I did one term as a city commissioner and. Then felt as though I could serve the city as mayor, and I went for it. And, it was a tough, tough election. I had Unseeded, a woman who had been mayor for 14 years and she had been on the commission or mayor for 30. So she was Wow. Pretty well known figure in town.
Beverly:
What was the difference between being the commissioner versus the mayor?
Laura:
A city commissioner is similar to what a city council member is. Okay? Right. There’s six commissioners, they make up of the board, and then the mayor leads the board. The role of a commissioner is to be a part of that, legislative body that makes ordinances and things, that sets the vision of the city to move it forward. The mayor’s job is to be the liaison between that board and then the city administration. So, it’s a little different. and I think it’s a perception that the rest of the world, I would say, but the rest of our community has that I’m a, a powerful person. Right. I’m the leader.
Beverly:
But you have this definite group of people who are doing a lot of the things for the city as well.
Laura:
Oh, absolutely. So many people are, you know, you couldn’t function on a daily basis. The, the streetlights would not come on if it was just up for the mayor, and that’s not how it works.
Beverly:
There’s a lot of people who are participating in governments and City Pacific service to make the cities run. Yes, yes. Yeah.
Laura:
I was gonna say the difference between, I think what I’ve realized in, being a leader in a business role and then being a leader in a municipal role, is that the municipal role, I mean, not that a company only does one thing that’s never. Right. They don’t ever do one thing, but a municipal role, you have to become these experts in so many different facets, right? We have a water filtration plan and we have to make decisions on a former dump site that we had, or, you have to be an economic planner and, you have to be a business retention person and attraction person. You have to dabble in so many different things, and that, that becomes,, you know, you have to really focus, learn to focus on, how to manage all that.
Beverly:
You have to do podcasts.
Laura:
Yeah. And next month I will be busy, going to classrooms, uh, doing March’s reading month everywhere. Oh, lovely. Right.
Beverly:
Or the, the rotary next month I’m doing junior achievements, so I’ll be talking about community and government, so I’ll be doing kind of the opposite of that. That’s funny. Right, what drives your passion for helping the community? If you only make$3,500 and you, this is something that’s so important to you, what is driving that passion? Laura?
Laura:
I wanna say everyone wants to feel as though their work will make an impact in someone else’s life. And I can honestly say that the work I do influences or impacts 16,000 residents in Mount Clemens. And hopefully my work goes, past Mount Clemens. But I can say that, and that’s a tremendous responsibility. But it fuels me. It fills me up knowing that I can help and make a difference in those lives really. I think it’s the intrinsic accomplishment of knowing you’re serving others. And it really does motivate me a lot.
Beverly:
Serving 16,000 people, plus all the people who work for the city and somehow interact with the city every day, right? Somehow they come into shop or work or whatever. What are some of the key challenges you’ve had to overcome or lessons that you’ve learned along the way?
Laura:
I was elected in November of 2019, and so four months later the world shut down. But honestly, it lent itself to be an advantage in my journey. And I only say that because it paused everything and no one else had the playbook. So it wasn’t as if the township supervisor next door to me who has been the township supervisor for, I don’t know, almost 30 years. Who, knows so much more than I do as a mayor for four months. He didn’t know what was going on either, right? I mean, it was just such a level playing field and so equal. I were, yes, totally. I knew I did. I wasn’t causing Mount Clemens any harm in that sense of not having the playbook. So that was helpful. And it also, I am a huge, huge believer. It’s partly with the influence of, from my husband, but, we would’ve never accomplished what we have in our business if it wasn’t for my husband’s incessant need for goal setting and strategic planning. Honestly. I mean, we even we’re such geeks about it that, at the end of every year, right before New Year’s, we go out on a date. And we have dinner, and it’s both of our responsibilities to show up with our five personal goals. And you don’t have to necessarily set five, but we try to do, personal goals, family goals, professional goals. Hmm. And and then we discuss and we talk and we, you know, formulate a plan for the year. We really do live it, right? The strategic planning. So when there was no strategic plan when I became mayor. Nobody believed in goal setting. Some years of struggle with that. I do feel like now we’re on this really great path of that, but it took a long time. So that was a huge hurdle. But I do think Covid helped that we could kind of pause and,’cause when you first become elected, you’re drinking from a fire hose. Yeah. You know, there’s just so much stuff going on and you have to learn so many things. So, it did give me that pause to say, okay, while we’re all sitting at home, let’s strategically plan even if it’s over zoom. It was great and that did help a lot. but it was a big barrier. And I would say the culture, city hall. As a workplace was completely different than I was used to from our company and even from my teaching. You know, when I taught at Utica schools, I taught at a school called Utica High, and they were completely family oriented. Everyone felt as though if something happened to me personally, I know I knew that the, my coworkers were there. It just, it was a really great nurturing environment. Our company is all about really taking care of people. So everyone who works for us, we have to go from all of that collaboration to an entity that was basically, everyone hated me.’cause they liked the person before me. Right. It was a real doozy.
Beverly:
So not only did you have,’cause you know, as entrepreneurs we often have like the fear of failure. We have the fear of success. Yeah. Sometimes we even have like imposter syndrome’cause we don’t know if like, we really should be here. Yeah. I gotta believe you were struggling with all the things. I’m just trying to help, but yet I don’t know a lot and I need you guys to help me and yet you don’t like me. Right. And because I took that your friend’s job. Yeah. Yep. And it was rough. Yeah. I gotta imagine. You had this to overcome all of this kind of situation where there was this imposter, I would feel like I was an imposter. Literally. I did. And some days I still feel that after being 48. I’ve overcome a lot of that. But when I first started out with my business, I certainly felt like, who wants to pay me to say anything? Like, who cares? Who am I versus somebody else that,
Laura:
and you get this, like you get this job, this title, right? Like you’re the mayor of a city and people stop calling you your actual name. Like people say, mayor now, like when they see me at the grocery store, like, oh hey Mayor, good job or what? Or Hey mayor, you know, I have a problem with my grocery. It’s this weird, so you have this like, okay, wait, who are you talking to?’cause my name’s Laura. I was to called Mrs. Kropp for a long time as a teacher, obviously. So it’s, there’s a significant adjustment in that. And then also, it’s politics. Of course this is a non-partisan position, thankfully. because that can get real dicey. But also we’re in Michigan, during Covid there was this whole, notion of they were gonna kidnap the governor. I dunno if you remember that. Oh, yes. So then a woman leader. And even our sheriff was like, we need to keep tabs on you because everyone’s really hyper aware of women in leadership, in elected official roles because of this stuff that was happening with the governor. Oh,
Beverly:
I think it’s also interesting, that you lost kind of your personal identity in the sense of like your name when you took this role.
Laura:
Well, and I was reading Lean In Right. By Cheryl Sandberg. Yes. And, and you know, the, I mean, her, her, I, I had been cooking for the fire department. Right. I would take over a pot of soup or whatever, and I, I told them, listen, this gravy train will stop if you tell anyone I can cook. And they’re like, what do you mean? I’m like. I read it in Cheryl Sandberg’s, if you wanna be the top, you wanna be the, you can’t be seen as maternal or a homemaker. You don’t bring things to the potluck. You pay, you bring the cups. That’s what the CEO or the men would do. Right? So I, exactly. So I lost a lot of me at first.
Beverly:
And you love to cook. That’s one of your passions.
Laura:
You follow me on, on social media, right. So you see all my Right, right. Plus
Beverly:
what your husband does essentially revolves. Well that too, right? Of course. Right. Even more so. Yes.
Laura:
Yes, exactly. And so it was really, and then even for him, you know, we would go to dinner in town and they’re like, oh, how’s it, how’s it to be married to the mayor? Oh, now you’re the first man. It was like, emasculating, right? So like. Yeah, there were challenges that you just didn’t, it’s
Beverly:
a very interesting like yeah. Switch of things that had to like, you kind of had to like just kind of handle as it came up, but still, yeah. You don’t think about that, like unintended. We’ve gotten do a little bit better. We kind of understand your journey, where you’ve come from, some of the challenges and lessons you’ve kind of overcome along your path. Sure. Can you highlight a moment or experience that maybe sparked a unique journey? I know you talked about a conversation, but was there something that was a spark or a unique thing that happened that you were like. No, this is what I’m supposed to be doing..
Laura:
There were a lot of those moments, especially considering the trajectory I thought I had and then what I, where I’m at now, you know? And, and feeling as though, but I will say there was a moment actually in our personal life with my husband and I and our business that during the recession, like the super recession, right, in 2009, like
Beverly:
2008. Yeah. Yeah. 2009. Yep. mm-Hmm. Housing crisis.
Laura:
Yes. There was no building going on. We were a small, small business at that point. I think we had less than 10 employees. It was very, we were significantly small and it was a difficult storm to weather. And I remember at one point my husband coming to the, point where thankfully I was still teaching, so we had my teaching salary to fall back on. But we were at the point where we’re like, this is it. We’re not gonna be able to make payroll. We’re not gonna make, you we need to lay people off. And you knew you were laying people off to an unemployment where they were going to an unemployment line that was so long and there were no jobs out there. and we had a closing date. And I remember my husband saying, well. Two things. I’m going to either go and work for someone else or I’m going to, be a handyman. And I remember saying to him, and it was really not the nicest advice I ever gave, but I remember saying to him, one, I’m not gonna be married to a handyman because you’ll be miserable. And two, you can’t go work for someone else because you’ll just tell them how to run their business and they’ll fire you. Everyone is going through this. It’s not like you’re a bad business person. It’s that the whole world, the economy is practically collapsing. Right. We have to just hang on. I know you know how to retool and figure this out. And, And he created this wood countertop line and opened up the market of, you know, instead of being a very small niche type of product, then, you know, instead he created this wood countertop line, which then snowballed and, ended up introducing us to our current business partner. It really saved us. And, I think I remember that conversation being a real pivotal moment of, he just needed a kick in the butt, you know? And Mm-Hmm. he’s an amazing business person. I mean, honestly, he’s the guy like, who’s created so much.
Beverly:
we all need somebody sometimes to like, yeah, center us.
Laura:
Yeah. Right. And it, and it was the weird way of being the cheerleader, I guess. I think there were moments where it’s like, sure. It would’ve been easier. Right. It would’ve been easier to just say Yeah, sometimes. Yeah. Because it was like starting over, you know? Mm-Hmm. We were at this level, but we were in the basement level, uh, after that, because to then rebuild, but it was what needed to happen in order to, now they’re like the second largest manufacturer of luxury cabinets in New York. They are opening their second show, well, they’re opening a new showroom in Manhattan. They’re going from like a thousand square feet to almost three. Yeah. Nice. So if you could, there, you can make it anywhere. Right. I mean, so And who would’ve dreamt that from Right. Laying off everyone during the recession.
Beverly:
You know, I’m sure he decided to be a handyman. He would’ve been successful at that too. For my listeners who aren’t local to Michigan and Detroit area, the housing crisis devastated the area and a lot of small businesses struggled to stay alive and then had Covid not very long after. Right. So you have this like, yeah, I think the fortitude of the Michigan entrepreneur is pretty incredible and very admirable. I obviously I was raised there, so I feel very strong kinship to the area. I have a lot of clients that I work deal help with marketing in the area, and I just think they’re extraordinarily resilient for sure entrepreneurs,
Laura:
We should probably write a book, I think, and I think that
Beverly:
a most good books start with a challenge like that, right? Like it’s either like, it’s either make it or break it moments that I think define who we are, define our business. And I think what he did was what he did and, and maybe with your help, right? He had to look at how do I keep this alive as opposed to just closing it. By reframing, it caused him to have to find a way. And when you have to find a way, boy, do people get creative. that, I think’s a very defining
Laura:
Moment. That’s, I think that’s the entrepreneurial spirit, it’s born out of the absolute need of there’s really not a choice to fail. There’s just, because there’s no safety net. There’s, there’s no, I mean, you can’t fail, right? There’s just way too much at stake. And I kind of feel as though, the challenges that we talked about when I first became mayor. The people that did occupy the downtown had put their heart and soul and had so little in return at that point that, I mean, I just could not fail those people. That was just, and then with Covid, I’m like, we are going to survive. And we did. Mm-Hmm. And now we’re at less than 30% of our downtown is vacant. And, that’s still not an acceptable number, you know, until I have Mm-Hmm. Single digit. A hundred
Beverly:
percent. A hundred percent, ideally. Right,
Laura:
right. Of course. I think that that that spirit and that drive, and Paul always says it’s, if it was easy, everyone would do it. I also think that everyone’s capable, but it’s okay to not wanna do it either because being in a leadership position or having your own business is not a nine to five gig. You know, when, I mean, when we are not actually at work. We have to make a very conscious decision to be present for our kids or be present for the other aspects of our life, because it could be all life consuming and it was for many, many years. Now we have the privilege because we have this incredible team at the city and at our business. We have incredible team members who help alleviate some of that. But even when we’re out on, out of town or you know, we, we love to travel and, there’s still that check-in and I mean, it’s just, it’s, there’s never a complete disconnect. I don’t think there can be.
Beverly:
It’s part of our DNA just is.
Laura:
Yeah, it is. Right.
Beverly:
And we care. So we want to like, make sure everything is good and
Laura:
yes it is. Yeah. I don’t mean it to be in a. Like in a negative or cumbersome kind of way? Sure, yes. I mean, sometimes I’m like, okay, you know, we all need a break.
Beverly:
We all need a break. There’s no question. Right, right,
Laura:
right. Absolutely.
Beverly:
So how do you identify and capitalize on emerging trends and even. The economics of it all right. The opportunities for the city of Mount Clemens and small businesses.
Laura:
I would say, so one of the things that I started with as soon as I became a commissioner I became the rep for our regional organization in terms of government so I became, we call in our region, it’s called em, cog, Southeastern Michigan Council of Government. Being a part of those larger organizations where you network with, other communities or, you know, and in business, obviously it’s networking groups and things, but like staying on top of it in that way, knowing what other people are doing. So that it’s not necessarily that I have to come up with this. Amazing. Completely new idea. It’s just knowing when I should not be resting on my laurels, and saying, okay, you know, we know the trend, for population is a population decline. in most states, and learning the data so that you can, you can adjust your community to meet the needs of people. And I think that’s, that’s key. So paying attention to these organizations that help you feed that or, and learn.
Beverly:
And that’s no different than like me, I’m paying attention to what’s happening in the market industry. I’m looking at the trends on social media. I’m looking at what is people, what are people consuming, like I, yeah, I am, I am doing the same thing as a business. You have to do the same thing as the mayor, right?
Laura:
The only difference really for municipalities is that most likely what I’m doing, like for example, what, what Paul’s doing right now in his growth mindset that he has right now, opening showrooms and, and uh, expanding the workforce. They study the market, they decide where they wanna go, they make decisions, they can make these things happen. And they usually happen within what, a six to 24 month period Where. In my world, lake Cruiser. You know, I mean, it’s different right. In that sense. Mm-Hmm. That has been a struggle at our house too, because, you know, to go from entrepreneurs and they’re like, oh, what? We’ll just make it happen And I’m like, okay, so I have to convince six other people to vote yes. And, you know, Mm-Hmm. That’s a very different world. So, um, it’s a different world. For sure, for sure. And then, you know, the funding, I mean, in a business you’re much more in control of revenue, right? In theory. A little less in the, in the municipal world. So, and there are challenges, we’re the county seat. The capital of Macomb, we’re in Macomb County, we’re the capital of the county. Well, that’s great and all except that every government building that’s within our city limits is non-taxable. That’s where our revenue comes from, is property taxes. We’re actually a pretty small city. We’re only four square miles. We’ve got this like real robust downtown except that we have all these county buildings. And so we’re, 48% of our land is non-taxable. I have to do everything that a regular city does with half the budget. No problem. Right.
Beverly:
Is it a three year term, four year term? How does it work with the
Laura:
mayor? No, it’s terrible. So it, it’s different in every city. but in our city it’s every two years.
Beverly:
Wow. Yeah. So you’re essentially always, having
Laura:
toing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Beverly:
You don’t get any kind of breather
Laura:
in there. I have though. I’ve been super fortunate because I had that big election, the first one. Right. And then the last two, two elections I’ve run unopposed. I. So, oh, wow. No big deal. Right? It does help. It does. Yeah. Yeah. So that’s been amazing. Now will that continue? Yes.
Beverly:
But mm-Hmm. That’ll probably be another Laura who wants to change. That’s right. That’s great. Come up at some point. Right, right. Yeah. What advice would you give to entrepreneurs who are looking to find their unique opportunities? Yeah. In the market for
Laura:
themselves? Write a business plan. Step one. Have goals. Have goals. Write a business plan. It will change a million times as your journey continues, but if you don’t have that vision of where you want to go, then when you come to a city to look for, property or you know, the perfect space for your bill, for your business, or, you know, if you cannot, uh, if you really can’t pass that message on what you want and what you really see your business doing out in the market, then we can’t help, right? Because we have to have a clear picture of where you’re going and what you’re doing and how that can fit within our community. So that one, and then two, I would say for entrepreneurs, well know the market of course, but that’s part of business planning. But then also you have to have a realistic, idea of how this will impact your entire life. I have. Uh, we have had businesses that have come to Mount Clemens who, you know, think that they can make it by saying, well, we’re only gonna be open. We may be a retail store, but we’re not gonna be open on the weekends. Or, it’s a beautiful summer day, so we’re gonna go out on our boat and, uh, you know, hang out. it’s like, well, if you’re not open, then you’re not making money. you have to be realistic about what that means and how it impacts your life, and are you willing to make those sacrifices? And it’s okay to say, I’m not, it’s okay, but you have to be realistic. and then of course, reach out to your governmental agencies. There’s a lot of things out there for business support. but you have to be educated and to know what those are. And, and there are people that can help connect you. so find the connectors in your community.
Beverly:
What are some things that you, the government can help with small business?
Laura:
if you have a downtown development authority within your community, a lot of times they offer programs that, uh, help you either, find space in a community, or a physical footprint or they can help you connect with. Things like chambers, chamber groups or business networking groups. we offer things like a, a building facade grant, right? You want, we wanna promote upgrading your, the facade of your building, because then it obviously upgrades the entire city, right? So we offer these small grants, and just letting people know, like, I love listening to our small businesses then, and them telling me all of what they wanna be doing in the next six months and what their growth plans are. Because then I hear all kinds of opportunities out there. Mm-Hmm. It’s grants, maybe it’s, and this person’s looking for a job. That’s one of the biggest roles that I enjoy as mayor is being that connector and being that person that can say, oh wait, this person’s looking for that and this is what you need, you know? Mm-Hmm. You know, that’s my greatest joy is when I get to make those connections and it works out. I mean, we had this, this poor, oh, I felt so bad. This woman who, she was renting some space. She had been in town for I would say almost 15 years. Her name was Jennifer. She had this great salon. It was awesome. The building owner decided that she needed to be out in 45 days, I think in the end. She, yeah. And she had a clientele who had been with her for 15 years and she had, I think at least 10 women working for her. And she was gonna be gone in 45 days she had to find a new space. So we got her, she found a space. We were able to, she connected with our, count some people at our economic development office at the county. And we found a grant for her and were able to get her$25,000 for that new space in the build out. Wow. And she said it was, you know, and it was just. Real serendipitous really, because now it’s like this amazing building that she’s at, and it’s just this beautiful salon, and it’s so much more than I think she could have ever even dreamed. But to have that little bit of influence and help with that was when I walked in, I thought, wow, it’s, it was transformative for her. Mm-Hmm.
Beverly:
That’s amazing. That’s so cool. I love those kind of stories. I feel like when I help a client, I’m, I’m affecting their lives in a lot of ways. They know that, that building a business is an American dream. Right. And I’m, it’s very much an honor to be on the journey with them as they built their businesses. You’re they’re paying for college from their business, for their 18-year-old. They’re buying the lake house, or they’re getting the boat, or they’re, whatever it looks like for them. Yeah, you’re helping their dreams,
Laura:
we have a woman in town who told me the other day, I have healthcare for the first time, she can go to the doctor when she’s sick. Like that’s a huge life altering thing. That’s huge. Right? Mm-Hmm. So, yeah, and it’s because, you know, small efforts every day, it’s not like it’s just because of one stroke of a pen. These are all little things that cumulatively add up and
Beverly:
build something for that family, that community, when I talk about the statistics at the beginning of the show, is how important these small businesses are to us. Community and what that looks like and like$68, 68% of what Yeah. A business makes and what that looks like for the community. That’s significant. As a mayor, I, I’m gonna kind of flip this too a little bit. How do you, what’s your most effective way to promote Mount Clemens? I’m gonna talk about marketing, but that’s my Mm-Hmm. I could totally nerd out. Right? So as the mayor, you’re the face of the brand. Yeah. And you help to help promote businesses to come to you guys, you have to promote. So you’re doing a lot of self-marketing in that respect. Sure. As as if Mount Clemens is like a business and you wanna attract customers or your constituents. Tell me about what does Mount Clemens do to promote themselves from a marketing perspective?
Laura:
So during that whole Covid craziness, when I said we got to pause, we really took the time to rebrand the city. So that was step one, I should have had an example for you, but our old logo, I, I always used to tease that it looked like something that from the 1970s version of like Star of David, it was such a weird, yeah. It was like the best way to describe it. So, you know, that doesn’t really lend itself to a logo for our city, I wouldn’t think. But it was a strange brand and so we didn’t really know what we wanted to be when we grew up, we’re a 200 year old city, 200, and we were 18, 18, 207 years old or something. We really had to do some surveying of our community members and trying to get that buy-in. And then we did this whole rebranding of the city and so now, you know, obviously that’s much more than a logo, right? Mm-Hmm. It’s the whole notion of having a mission and a vision and really understanding where you wanna take your organization. And so all of that was part of it. I was really proud of that initiative. And so everything, from our city trucks that used to look like jalopies, driving down the street with these old logos, I mean, it was just terrible. We really were just projecting this image of old and tired. And so, and we really kept getting that kind of feedback from communities outside of us. And we want to be the downtown of our county, right? Because we are the capital. So, and we have this wonderful, walkable, amazing downtown. We had to learn. To freshen up and give a much more fun image so that people wanna come and visit us. So we did that. And so using now, social media, we did hire a marketing firm that does our social media professionally because we had someone, who thought they were decent at Facebook on their own personal account as an employee, was doing our Facebook. And we were all, you know, everyone was scratching their heads at why we didn’t have much engagement. we finally bit the bullet and hired a professional company. That’s been a really great return on investment. And, and then, my, my contribution, I would say personally is doing things like this and talking about. How the things that we’re doing and getting that message out there that we’re evolving as a community and really trying to, and we want people to come to us. We’re an inclusive community that just says, Hey, come, come see what we have to offer now, and talking about all these new businesses. And I think when you have this, you know, influx of new coming in, all these new businesses coming in and they’re doing all their own marketing initiatives, then you can help support those, and we do that through our downtown development authority., we have a lot of different initiatives going on, but they’re all now pushing this consistent message right through our branding process, which is, uh, very powerful. instead of just these little pieces, that weren’t making much of an impact.
Beverly:
In the messaging creates the brand. So, yeah, and it, it doesn’t happen overnight. It, it is a concerted effort as it has to be consistently put out there. But that over time, that brand becomes extremely important to, to immediate awareness of who you are and what you do, and why people should either buy from your company or come to Mount Clemens or whatever that looks like for the brand. One thing I, I always ask everybody on this on the, episodes and I think the reason why I ask this is because everybody does this. Whether you are a husband, a wife, a child, a parent, we use storytelling to connect. To each other. Yeah. And so I always ask, how do you use storytelling to connect with your community? Because I think even sharing stories about the hair salon to me, those stories are the people. It’s not a statistic’s, it makes it real for all of us to understand. Yeah. So how do you use storytelling? Because you are out, you’re doing the, the grand openings, you’re doing the, like, as the mayor, you’re the one that’s there seeing all of this. So how important has storytelling been been to you in your job as mayor?
Laura:
Oh, absolutely. It’s, it’s exactly what you’re saying is it is a tool to really help people connect and have, if people don’t have a connection with Mount Clemens, then there, then we’re just another one of the 26 communities of our county. There’s so much competition around us of places to go eat, places to go see a show, places to, so if people don’t have an emotional connection, and, and like you said, storytelling is a huge way to do that, to get people to see how, what your story is what’s the feel of your community. What I would consider an ambassador to the city, right? That’s really what my job is as mayor. I take every opportunity I have to just make sure I, I have a story that will connect or hopefully connect, and it’s knowing the stories. So I spend a lot of time really just being with the people in my community. I have lunch in downtown several times a week and obviously it helps that I live here and work here, and I, you know, so I’m, I’m immersed, right? But also I make an effort to stop in at places that I know I’m gonna see a wide variety of people and connect with them. We have this little coffee shop in town that’s amazing. And ev it’s like town square in there, I’m a frequent visitor because I love the coffee, but also because I know I’m gonna make those connections and I’ll hear what is everybody up to and checking in and, and it’s important, you know, you, that’s where you really gauge the health of your community. I think. I think
Beverly:
listening is probably one of the most important things that a brand can do too. And I think if you. Can listen to your customers, your constituents, hear what they’re saying. And I think even when you rebranded, like doing the survey, talking about what people are, what their perceptions are, what do they want to be known for, things like that, and including them. And it all is part of the buy in at the end of the day. Certainly however, you, you can’t just randomly make those decisions. Like you have to be informed so that you can make the right decision. Because rebranding is no joke. Like that is a laborious process that is, well if you do it right, it’s very well thought out, right? And it’s a big process. So yeah, I think it is a big process and it’s an important part of the process, right?
Laura:
Yeah. Yeah.
Beverly:
And I, they call it the heart and soul of your business. So if you don’t do it, if you don’t have the heart and soul, people want to do business with humans, and if you don’t have a heart and soul, you take Away you’re human humanity. So that’s not at all powerful, right. So, exactly. Yeah. It’s so interesting to make the tie in from the business level to the government level, and some of that has been really intriguing to me. Yeah. Uh, I knew there would be connections,
Laura:
When you just said that, no, that’s good heart and soul thing and storytelling. One of the things that I did, quite often during covid and during, then after, but haven’t done lately, and I’ve been getting complaints actually, that I haven’t been doing them. So it makes me think that they were even more impactful than I thought. But I would do these, you know, how information was changing daily, right. Uh, in the, during the pandemic. And so the, this initiative was born outta that because we had to get information out to people very quickly and it was really difficult to like write it out and get it to people and expect them to, read it. Especially when it was daily. So I’ve been, I would, the governor would come on usually midday Mm-Hmm. And she would have a list of things that, topics to address. And so after she would do that, I would sit down with our city manager and we would formulate how did these impact Mount Clemens and what did we need to adjust and what information did we need to get out to the public? And then we would end the day with that. And normally I would be going home and my kids would be still either, doing homeschooling because they were, you know, off of school, they were still quarantine. Mm-hmm. And, most of the time I would be like chopping vegetables and getting ready to make dinner. And I was sitting, standing at my kitchen island doing it. And I noticed that when I was in my kitchen, I think that it was really, and uh, people have been asking me like, when are you gonna do those videos again at home? I’m like, well, there’s no like daily briefing crisis.
Beverly:
Thank, there’s no crisis,
Laura:
God, and don’t wish that on me. But, you know, we were talking about how maybe I can implement that in a different way, but, still could you do
Beverly:
like a weekly update? This what, this is what happened in Mount Clemens this week, or something like that, where people can just Yeah. You know?
Laura:
Yeah. Or even if it’s, after a commission meeting like the next day or something. I don’t know. I don’t know what it’s gonna be, this next evolution of it, but I’m going to resurrect it because everyone was really, they seemed to connect with it. So, but it was interesting. That was not anything that was. It was really just that born out of pure necessity,
Beverly:
Well, it was very authentic. Part of it was authentic to you. Yeah. It was a patient to your life and it made you human. Like everybody el everybody chops, vegetables. Right. To get ready for dinner and all the things. So there was a real human element to that. That, and you, there was a peek into your life. I’m gonna move us into the lightning round. Yeah. don’t be afraid of the name.’cause I feel like everyone gets really nervous about the name. Oh, no, no. It’s eight questions. Yeah. I just want you to answer. We’re not gonna really talk about it, but I just want you to answer it. Okay. Got it. Yep. Rapid fire. but just uncover your favorite business insights, tools, and what inspirations for you. Okay. Are you ready? Yeah. Perfect. What is your favorite way to connect and network?
Laura:
Uh, my coffee talks.
Beverly:
What is your favorite business marketing book?
Laura:
Anything by Seth Godin.
Beverly:
Okay. What’s your favorite podcast?
Laura:
Anything by Seth Godin. No. Smart list.
Beverly:
What’s your favorite business tool or app?
Laura:
Uh, I guess my notes app on my phone, honestly.
Beverly:
What’s your favorite way to stay focused or like relieve yourself of stress at work?
Laura:
A lot of our offices right now are on our river, and so oftentimes I’ll just like go and take a walk by the river. Mm. If you see me on a walk, I might need the five minutes from myself.
Beverly:
What is your favorite marketing tactic for the, for the city?
Laura:
I think, I think our, right now we’re gonna do these new like commissioner, spotlights, and so they’re gonna introduce all our new people. And I think giving people an opportunity to see that authentic, you know, the person behind the position. I like that. Anything organic like that. Right. Personable. Mm-Hmm.
Beverly:
What’s your favorite source of inspiration? Who inspires you or what inspires you?
Laura:
Just taking a walk downtown and talking to the people on the street,
Beverly:
If there was somebody listening. Well, I’m, I’m assuming there are gonna be lots of people listening that either need inspiration Mm-Hmm. Or are feeling overwhelmed by their, by owning a, a business or don’t know what their next step is gonna be. Yeah. Or they’re just starting out. Right. So they don’t, so you said get a business plan, but business plans can be a little bit complicated to put together. Is there something easy that they could do today that could help them with their unique opportunity or ignite their journey to their business?
Laura:
I think I’ve, there have been moments in my life when the, when the path forward has paralyzed me, it’s too much. It’s too much. There’s moments in the day. Our city manager, we unearthed so many things here of like, oh, can you believe this is happening? Or, you know, all this. And sometimes I say to him, you know,’cause he’ll come in and say, okay, are you ready for this one? And I’ll say to him, can you save it for tomorrow? It’s okay. Know everything right now, but it’s not okay to do nothing. Right. And I have, I will say that Mel Robbins really inspires me on this one because she’ll say it’s okay, right? It’s okay. It’s okay if you’re not, if you’re not, don’t have it all figured out. But it’s not okay to do nothing. And so even if it’s writing a list, write the list, you know, and then give yourself some credit for it. If it,
Beverly:
if it seems like a really big thing, try to break it down for yourself, right? Yeah. It’s a manageable chunk. Right. And so just I can do that. I can cross that
Laura:
off. Right? And I think that’s, you know, people feel as though they have to have it all figured out, all right? Now, and I tell that to my son, who’s, you know, he’ll be 17. He is going to, he is trying to figure out, you know, what do I wanna do with my life? And it’s like, you can’t know it’s 16 or 17. You just have to try to put yourself on a path that, that path will lead you to good and better things, right? I mean, but otherwise you can’t know everything right now. You’re not a mind reader and you can’t make everyone happy. Yeah.
Beverly:
I, I say that you, as long as you work hard and you take it, the opportunity is presented to you. Mm-Hmm. All good things are gonna happen, right? Like, you’ll learn, even if you mess up, you’re gonna learn. You know, it’s okay. For sure. It’s okay.
Laura:
For sure. Exactly. And just being open to opportunities is so, so important, right? I mean, you have to be open. Do you know
Beverly:
anybody who knows everything? All of us are learning. And if, if you’re doing it right, I feel like this, that’s part of our journey is just to learn and continuously grow and be open, like you said, to those, to whatever comes your way. And even when something is presented to us that maybe we don’t know how to solve. Make the list, make a connection. Yeah. That maybe knows more than you.’cause there are people who are incredibly smarter than I am. Right. And, and, and ask for help capitalizing on, on those relationships. Yes. Right. And say, I need help with this.
Laura:
Exactly. Yeah. I think the people that, that I respect and I admire the most are the ones who are one good listeners and two, really have an idea of what makes them happy and makes them, and they know how to balance their life to, to meet the needs of, whatever organization they’re leading, but then also what makes them happy and that it translates into their work. You have to be, a person who is confident in order to lead. Right. So how, how you find that confidence. You know, I think is just as important as what, what position you think you want in the future.
Beverly:
All good stuff. When I first started out with this podcast, this is my second podcast. I had a podcast back in 2007 though, before it was cool to podcast. Okay. But what I’ve always found is I have an intention to teach others. Yeah. And then I learned so. Right. And it’s not like it’s brand new stuff, but it reminds me take the time to really talk about the things that I think make people successful and bring the joy this journey. We’re all honest. Just be a cute, good human. Yes.
Laura:
I call it the don’t be a jerk ordinance. Actually. I don’t call it, I call it, I don’t know if I can be explicit, but I call it the A word. Don’t be a don’t be an A word’cause if we could have an ordinance that said, don’t just be a good person. It would, it would, you know, take out your trash and put it at the curb and follow the rules. How do we find them being a good neighbor?
Beverly:
Well, even as customers, like a lot of times don’t be a jerk as a customer. Be Yes. The, the person who’s running that business or behind that cash register is a human being. And have to certainly, they have to be kind as well and all those things, but they’re all human too. And we all have moments. We’ve all had moments and a little bit of grace and forgiveness can go a long way. Yes. Mm-Hmm. Especially with like social media, people can just be mean. So like that hiding behind the keyboard and not looking into a human being’s eyes is very
Laura:
emboldened in politics. That’s a whole other podcast.
Beverly:
Oh, I can imagine. I can only imagine what that looks like for you. Before we go, please Yeah. Share with our listeners Okay. How they can learn more about Mount Clemens and keep up with your latest projects.
Laura:
Well, if you are looking to visit us here in Mount Clemens, you can find out all the information about our great downtown, including restaurants, retail, and entertainment at downtown Mount Clemens. And Mount is spelled all the way out downtown Mount clemens.org. You can also visit our city website, which would be any kind of municipal needs you may need, uh, which would be mount clemens.gov. And then if you are a, uh, business owner, an entrepreneur, or you are, are a developer, then we are, we have information for [email protected].
Beverly:
All kinds of fun stuff. I’m sure you’re on social too, all over the place.
Laura:
Congratulations on your podcast and the new book. It’s amazing. It’s, I can’t wait. I’m, you gotta order my copy today thanks again for having me. It was really a pleasure.
Beverly:
Well, this has been really insightful, Laura, I appreciate it. I’m gonna call you Laura and not mayor in my closing. I feel like I’ve been left inspired by your journey and your unwavering commitment to your community. You really exemplify the spirit of innovation and leadership from your pioneering role as the youngest mayor in Mount Clemens history to your entrepreneurial endeavors with your husband. In the sales and business management side of things, we’ve gained valuable insights in Laura’s approach to civic leadership and her dedication to fostering a thriving environment for small businesses. Her passion for entrepreneurship shines through serving as a beacon of inspiration for aspiring business owners and entrepreneurs alike. As we conclude, I’m gonna go back. I missed a whole as we conclude, I wanna thank Mayor Laura Kropp for sharing her wisdom and experiences with us. Join us next time for another engaging episode featuring entrepreneurial leaders making a difference in their communities. And until then, stay inspired and keep pursuing your entrepreneurial dream.
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