We were lucky to catch up with William & Stephanie Kimbrough recently and have shared our conversation below.

William & Stephanie , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Any thoughts about whether to ask friends and family to support your business. What’s okay in your view?

I don’t ask friends and family for support. Why should I have to ask? You’re looking for disappointments asking some friends and family members for their support, and in this fast moving business you have to surround yourself around like minded people. The trick we use is this. You find someone who’s interested in what you’re doing, and also friends with your family or friend(s). Let them keep promoting your brand around family and friends and in most cases family and friends will come around depending on your company’s presence and popularity.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m William Kimbrough and this is my wife Stephanie Kimbrough. We’ve been married for 14 years and been together for 22 years. We have two kids, and also fostered 4 kids. Now that the kids are all grown and out of the house, that gave us a chance spread ourselves and start investing in low startups. In 2005 we started YOUR EXPRESS MOVERS & HOUSTON’S FAVORITE CLEANING SVCS.. Two companies that still provide revenue and also provide jobs for others. Well, when Covid-19 hit it shocked us all. The world shut down causing businesses to pause and some closed their doors for good. Although it didn’t shut us down, it slowed us down tremendously, causing us to cut back. Customers didn’t trust anyone anymore, and the workers was afraid to go to the customer. Only “essential workers” was permitted to make money. There was no hand sanitizers at any of the stores. Cleaning products was scarce and limited. I was so frustrated that I couldn’t find any hand sanitizer that I YouTubed, how to make hand sanitizer, and after few videos I went out and bought the products I needed to make it. After a lot of errors and hit and misses, and Stephanie telling that I used to much of this and not enough of that, I finally nailed it down to the science. I was so happy that I started joking around on the internet with a few friends telling them about my bootleg hand sanitizers that I had made. A few of them offered to cash app me for a couple of bottles. Then a few more people. After about 30 minutes or so I had sold about $300 worth of hand sanitizers. A couple of weeks went by and we was rocking and rolling until they put the sanitizers back in the stores. I said, welp that was that, and Stephanie said nope we’re going to keep going with other products giving birth to 1st GROUP PRODUCTS. We then hit the streets with Trish Ann Treats and B-Rich BBQ & Catering selling our products alongside of them. We also found a real love for PopUp Shops, Farmer’s Markets, and Festivals, for they have embraced us. We’re very proud to see repeat customers online or in person. Our unique customer pitches and our products packaging sets us apart from other companies.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Yes there are several books that we enjoy reading that helps us refocus.

Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink
Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale
48 Laws Of Power by Robert Green
The Holy Bible

We also enjoy audio books about Stocks, Crypto Currency, and Investing.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The lesson that I’ve had to unlearn was how the world & politics works.. Every since Covid-19 I’ve did extensive research on the world and how politics is played. The thing that was real before Covid-19 had showed itself to be fake and fraud. And the thing that appeared to be unreal before Covid-19 showed to have truth to it. The powers that be and politics shows to have unbelievable agendas. But God is real and unchanged. No weapons formed against us shall prosper.

Contact Info:

• Website: 1stGroupManagement.com
• Instagram: 1stgroup_products
• Facebook: 1stGroupManagement
• Linkedin: 1stgroupproducts
• Twitter: 1stgroupproducts
• Youtube: 1stGroup Management
• Yelp: N/A
• Other: We’re still upgrading our twitter and YouTube account so all activities are with Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and our website.

Image Credits
1stGroupManagement