We were lucky to catch up with CJ and Shari Rodgers recently and have shared our conversation below.
CJ and Shari, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?
It takes a strong belief in your cause and purpose, unwavering faith, humility, strategic partnerships, hard work, and staunch commitment to service.
CJ and Shari, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
We’d like to start off by letting everyone know that we are childhood sweet-hearts who have known one another our whole lives. We grew up in Chicago, and lived right next door to one another. My wife and I are both educators and have a strong belief in the power of education. In our journeys of working in schools and with families and communities, we understand that the besides the content knowledge, students learn so many other life long skills in schools.
In our careers we’ve worked really hard to make school a memorable experience for every student, parent and community that we serve. We know that this is done by not just focusing in on the content that students should learn, but by providing learning and memorable experiences that students A) will never forget and B) helps them continue to sharpen the life-long skills they will need in their lives.
While our family business is running a state of the art Mobile Video Gaming Truck, we stumbled upon this idea while serving our school community. We brought a Mobile Video Game Truck out to our school a few years back, and the sheer joy and enthusiasm the Video Game Truck brought on our campus was one that students continue to enjoy, and still talk about to this day,
After the seeing the impact this experience made on our campuses and in our school community, my wife and I knew that we’d like to own one so that we could continue to spread that joy to many more children and families.
Because of the lesson learned, enjoyable experiences, and the thousands of inspirational people we have met as educators, we wanted to make sure that our business value proposition was rooted in providing people memorable experiences that help them ultimately find their true passions and purpose.
There is nothing more special than seeing the face of a child and the excitement that erupts when game truck pulls up for their party.
Lastly, as business owners, the Mobile Video Game truck provides us with the opportunity to provide opportunities to the teens in our community who are looking to learn more about entrepreneurship, relationships, or video games. Our most enjoyable experience is spending time with and training the next generation of entrepreneurs.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
In business, it is implied that you must make money, and money is the most important thing. The stress and pressures that come with that is one of the main reasons why businesses fail. We had to unlearn this idea that businesses are designed solely to make money. What we’ve found is the relationships that we’ve been able to form and the people that we’ve met, have made this tumultuous journey worth it. Because we’ve led with purpose, stayed true to our Value Proposition, and put a huge focus on exceptional service, we’ve been able to meet and connect with some extraordinary people who are doing exceptional things. From the PTO president who will do anything to make sure her school’s students are well taken care of to the physician who just wanted her daughter to have the birthday parties she never could have, the people that we’ve met have been phenomenal and their stories so inspirational.
Lastly, I’ll say is that as entrepreneurs there’s this notion that you must know everything when you are starting a business. Well that could not be further from the truth. What we’ve learned is it is not how answers you have, it is do you know how to find the answers. Therefore, we’ve learned that the greatest skill to have is problem solving and critical thinking, not being the smartest.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
We’d be remised if we did not thank our close partners, Optimum Mobile Gaming (OMG). Partnership has been a huge part of our resilience story. Partnering with like-minded businesses like OMG has allowed for us to continue to grow in ways we never knew possible.
The OMG team allowed us to shadow them before we officially launched our business. Moreover, just having a thought partner is critical in this business as the market continues to shift and change.
For example, in February of 2022, we were having serious troubles with our truck. The truck would randomly cut off in the middle of parties, essentially not allowing for us to deliver on our promise to our clients. We tried everything, we went to at least 10 mechanics, but the problem continued to persist. Meanwhile, we had commitments from clients who had booked parties months in advance.
We never want to cancel parties because we understand we are servicing people on their special day, but cancelling was looking more and more like the only option. Because of our partnership with OMG, we asked them to cover the parties, and we were still able to meet our clients’ needs. In addition, when trying to find a solution, it was important to be able to problem solve and plan with someone who knew exactly what you are going through. From sending one another potential party recommendations, to spending hours on the phone problem solving, it is important to not go at this journey alone.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.innovationgamestation.com
- Instagram: igshtx
- Facebook: Innovation Game Station
- Twitter: igshtx
Image Credits
Houston Angels