Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to CJ Harris. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

CJ, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear your thoughts about family businesses.

I believe entrepreneurship was handed down to me and my siblings by our parents. We learned about remote work, sales leadership and providing excellent customer service from our parents. Our parents owned small businesses and worked full-time. As we got older, they would recruit us to seal envelopes, clean the house, answer calls or follow-up with customers, etc.

I share this to say, I’m a huge believer of family businesses. It can be fun and exciting working with those you love. My husband and I have invited our children to work with us to learn our business. The real gain is that they get a chance to see us as entrepreneurs working with our clients and creating new exciting services/products.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I’m an IT professional by trade. I graduated from the University of Houston with a degree in Information Systems Technology. After 15 years of working at IBM, I decided to transition to a career in human resources. I used my knowledge in talent acquisition and learning development to start a talent consulting company called Brickhaus3. I used my coaching skills to assist people who felt stuck with their careers or businesses to help them see different perspectives to launch new careers or new areas of their business. Some folks call me the Life Change Coach. I celebrate with all of my clients and I’m so proud of the accomplishments I assisted them in making. It makes my day every time I see one of my clients add a new role or promotion to their LinkedIn profiles. I’m most proud of my client who launched Red’s Smoke Shop. The owner was thinking of opening a cigar lounge. Through my coaching and strategic thinking sessions, I had him consider a mobile cigar shop versus a brick & mortar cigar lounge. He loved the idea, drafted a business plan, and launched it on July 16. The business has gone beyond selling cigars. He celebrated his first year in business by launching a business expo with over 15 vendors. His success lead to him asking me to partner with him. Our business relationship blossomed into a wonderful friendship, then a marriage proposal! By the time this article is published, we will have wed and he will have operated Red’s Smoke Shop for almost 2 years. This year we are expanding to allow me to lead our learning and development phase of the business! I’m so excited.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

I believe the most effective strategy for growing our clientele is serving our community by giving back and teaching individuals about our products/services. In doing so, we build relationships and we get referred to others. We appreciate each and every person who refers their friends and family to us, because ‘word of mouth’ can be a very powerful marketing tool, especially in this age of social media. We now have clients in Hawaii, North Carolina, Florida, New York, and Georgia thanks to our Texas clients sharing how they enjoy our cigars, CBD products, and services on social media.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Our mentors have significantly impacted our entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy. We have mentors for each of the industries, which has been a blessing. Their insight has given us leads, resources to use, and advice that prevented us from re-creating the wheel. My husband and I are both avid readers as well. We have read a number of books in regards to the tobacco industry, marketing, selling and training/presenting. We also researched other entrepreneurs that had businesses similar to ours. Their stories were inspirational. My hope is that our story will inspire others as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.redssmokeshop.com
• Instagram: @redssmokeshop
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRedSmokeTeam
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoPNLD4Txx8HlGlL_jZXLkw

Image Credits
Image credits: Red’s Smoke Shop and Charmed Life Photography