Episode Transcript
Welcome back to Create wealth through Franchising podcast and Kim Daly tv. In my studio today, a former candidate, now rock star franchisee in a business he grew up dreaming about owning a painting company. I'm being sarcastic.
Please welcome to the studio, Ken Schoonover. Ken, welcome to the studio of Kim Daly tv.
[00:00:32] Ken Schoonover: Thank you, Kim. It's always a pleasure to be with you.
[00:00:37] Kim Daly: So fun. Because you probably listened to the podcast while we were working together to explore franchising, and now you're in my hot seat and you get to share your transition story. So that's always fun for my former candidates. Okay, so I want to go back without giving away why I've hand selected you. There's so many reasons, but I want you to go back to what was happening in your life, in your career, when you were in transition and started thinking, I want to do something different and maybe it's a franchise and you found Kim Daly.
[00:01:12] Ken Schoonover: Well, I'd actually started looking into franchising a couple of times in the past, So I spent 20 years in the Marine Corps, and I retired right at the beginning of COVID and kind of. It kind of popped into my head then that maybe that was something that I did. Did. I started looking at it and then made an excuse at that point to go away from it because I thought too many things were happening.
[00:01:43] Kim Daly: Went back when was a good time to go away.
[00:01:45] Ken Schoonover: Right, right.
[00:01:47] Kim Daly: There's way too many unknowns happening in the world.
[00:01:50] Ken Schoonover: Right.
And then looked at it again a few years later when I was in corporate America, realized that my finances didn't work there. And then I came back a third time, and when I came back, I went, I. I started coming back and talking to someone else, and that connection really wasn't there. Guy was a really good guy, but the connection wasn't there. And I started seeing your podcast, and it was like, she gets it. And so I called you up. I was like, hey, would you work with me? And you actually told me, no, I can't.
And I was like, oh, no. But no, you have to. You have to. I don't know if you remember that. I was like, you have to, because this, this, and this. And you're like, okay, I will.
[00:02:33] Kim Daly: Oh, because you came to me wanting to use both of us, probably, and I don't get involved in that kind of a mess. I was like, you got to pick one of us. I'm not offended if it's not me, but please do yourself a favor and both of us a favor. Pick one of us. And let's just go about it or not go about it.
[00:02:50] Ken Schoonover: Yeah. You said go back to the first guy. I said, I can't go back to him because there's just something not there. And it was actually the first time.
I normally normal Ken, at that point in time would have just acquiesced and went along with the flow, probably would went throughout the process and at the end found him some reason to say no.
But I stood up for myself and was like, no, I have to do this because of this reasons, whether you take me or not, I can't go back because there's something telling me that I have to do something different.
And then you said, okay, yes, I love it.
[00:03:27] Kim Daly: Well, that's good. So you, for those listening, you can find out I'm not a franchise consultant who just works with everybody. And I will absolutely say no if I don't think it's the right time for you or if you're working with another consultant. I'm not going to step on anybody else's shoes because I don't like it when they step on my shoes. So I, I prefer the loyalty. So I'm glad that that part of the story, Ken, actually. Okay, so I don't want to gloss over your military career because I love the idea that there are veterans out there right now in transition or thinking about leaving active duty and thinking about what's next because franchising speaks. So I mean, it's such a great fit for certain people, especially people in the military, because you're used to following a process. You're used to systems. You typically have amazing leadership skills, which all business owners need. Like, there's so many commonalities between investing in a franchise and coming out of the military that I really want the listener who may be in the military to kind of dive into your story a little bit more. So take us back a little bit about, like, what were some of the jobs you had over the years you were in the military and how you feel that that background has helped you be prepared for what you're now doing as a franchisee.
[00:04:49] Ken Schoonover: So I was a aviation maintenance officer and I did some recruiting. So, you know, I had a little bit of sales experience in the back from like, you're translating the skills.
But, you know, going back all the way to my first, my where I first landed at my first duty station.
I went on my first deployment and we ended up landing.
We were on the trail crew. I ended up landing with my team of 10 maintenance personnel and all our supplies. We landed In a base just north of Tokyo. And we had to get to Iwakuni, which was like a three hour train ride away.
And it was on me to figure out what we were going to do. I didn't know how to speak Japanese.
And so it was just on to the military. It was just like, all right, hey, this is what we're going to do. I had 10 people looking at me, and it's like, all right, let's march out. We went out to the train station. I tried to communicate as best as I could to the.
To the person working the booth to get the tickets. And we got the tickets. We ended up making it. But, you know, those types of experiences are the experiences that you're going to get in the military because you're naturally put into leadership positions and have to make decisions. And when you translate that to business ownership, it's all about making decisions and solving problems.
You know, I was never a big shot in any type of company. You know, I was a regular manager when I got into corporate America. But the skills that you learn as, as in the military, the leadership, you know, managing people, the decision making, you know, the logistics, those are all the skills that really translate over into being a good business owner.
[00:06:44] Kim Daly: I love that. Okay, perfect. So now let's talk about when you first thought about franchising, what the attraction was and why you didn't feel the time was right unless it was. I guess we've already talked about it being Covid, but if there's anything else in there. And then take us to when you found Kim Daly and why, what was different and what was different about maybe my working with me, that also helped you say, this is the time I'm going to follow through, at least to get all the information before I say yes or no.
[00:07:19] Ken Schoonover: So when I was initially in the initial phases of exploring the franchises, I, you know, I kept coming back to you. I was like, well, it looks like a good idea. The numbers sound right, and I think that I could do this.
But then at the end of the day, it was just like, I don't know, is that you hear all the horror stories, the franchising of, oh, you know, that they could take your money and you lose money. And so I really just.
Those previous times gave in to the fear when I met up with you. There's a couple of things. So when I was recruiting, we were big on, you know, daily numbers. You have to hit this, you have to do this, and by that, at
[00:08:03] Kim Daly: the end of the day, what kind of numbers Were you big on the daily plan?
Sorry, I'm so annoying.
[00:08:14] Ken Schoonover: But so that kind of resonated with me when I initially started listening to your videos.
And I was like, all right, I get that. I understand that.
And so where typically I would draw back to fear, I was like, I need somebody that understands that and can help lead me to make that, make that leap. Then when I started working with you and started getting into the Z Suite is all about mindset and your favorite book, which has now become vastly. One of my favorite books, is the Strangest Secret.
Really just kind of put everything together. I think it was the kind of the last missing piece that I needed to start down that road to really make that leap.
[00:09:05] Kim Daly: Oh, my gosh. I love hearing that and I love the timing because I was working with Ken at the time that I was just getting ready to launch the Z Suite to the franchise community back last fall. And so when I had opened the doors to the Z Suite, I had offered a 90 day free, free trial. And Ken was right at the end of his exploration, getting ready to kind of say yes. And it was like the perfect timing for him to take advantage of this free resource.
And hearing that, that helped you, like, get you over the edge. I mean, that's Kim Daly living her. Her greatest dream right there, which is so, so satisfying. So I'm glad you said that. Thank you so much. And I'm so happy that my favorite book is now your favorite book, everybody's favorite book. If you own a business and you haven't read A Secret or you read it years ago, only one time, I highly encourage you to pick up that book and make it a part of your weekly, like reading. You don't have to read the whole book. Just open it and read one or two paragraphs. There's so much wisdom in that book that your thoughts are things. And everything that you're creating in your. Your life is directly correlated to the repetitious thoughts that you have going through your head. And until you change your thoughts, you cannot change business results.
Like, it's. That's the fundamental message of the Strange Secret. So. But it applies to everything in our life, not just business ownership. So. Oh, Ken, this is just like a big hug fest right now because I love all these things for you. Now I want to go to the conversations that we had when we involved your wife because you've mentioned that you had some fear, and I respect that you are brave enough to admit that.
But I also remember us bringing your wife in to get her on Board, because we needed everybody to feel confident with this decision, and there was some risk aversion there, which is very normal. And that's why I'm bringing it up, because, again, I want the listener out there to identify themselves in this conversation, because these are not Ken problems. These are human problems. That's what Kim Daly is always trying to help everybody make the connection to the things you struggle with in business ownership are not necessarily specific to your franchise, to your marketing plan, to your territory, to your competition. They are human problems that every single franchisee feels at some point in their life. And I'll raise my hand because I'm a franchisee, including Kim Daly. So take us back to how the conversations when we brought in your wife and how that started to translate to what you were talking about, the two of you were talking about, and just having her support, what that meant to you in terms of, like, being able to continue to persevere and move forward.
[00:12:06] Ken Schoonover: First, I have to say that I want to give credit to God, you know, because he was the one that started changing me and I think started changing her, you know, before he changed our circumstances.
As we were having some of these conversations, weird things started happening, Just crazy things. So we would sit down and we'd have a conversation, and then we would, all right, hey, let's go out to dinner. And then we'd go out to dinner.
I would go into the bathroom, you know, and above the urinal was. This was this whole story. And it was exactly kind of what we were talking about.
It's linked back to what you were talking about in the Z suite. I'm, like, taking a picture, and I take it to her. And I was like, look, you will not believe this urinal, of all places. I know, right?
[00:12:59] Kim Daly: God can use anything to get the message across, right?
[00:13:02] Ken Schoonover: And then we would have another conversation, you know, when we get to a sticking point.
And she went to the library, and she was walking in the library trying to find a book, and she's like, man, I need answers to these questions. And she looked down, and there was a book that was something titled, like, Answers Within.
She's like, that's weird. And she opened it up, and she started reading it, and it was on the topics that we were discussing. So everything, I think, kind of played together, which led her to being more open to the idea.
And when it came time to make the decision, she's like, I'm fully behind you. Let's do this.
And so we. We did it.
[00:13:52] Kim Daly: I love that there's nothing better than spousal support in these big, big decisions. And I also love the story of the magic, right? This is the part where people are like, oh, it's too woo woo. Kim Daly. I'm like, because there's an element of magic when we talk about the work we do in the Z Suite, but what it actually is is alignment.
The reality is all of our lives should feel like that where like you think something and then it happens. You think about a person and they text you. Like, life should be happening and unfolding like that every single day for all of us. It's not magic, it's not woo woo. It's alignment with actual true life.
But when we live in these intellectual, strategic, logical, data driven minds of ours, we cut ourselves off from hearing that voice, from seeing that, those synchronicities, from even being aware.
So the work we do in the Z Suite is the work to undo all of this humaning that we do in our intellectual mind and stepping into a deeper level of mind that is the true life inside of you, the thing that beats your heart without you waking up to do it. That thing, that life, it knows the answers to all the problems you believe you have, but you gotta let go of the intellectual mind long enough to allow the answers from deep within to bubble up and then be open enough to hear them. So, and what's so great is that, I mean, we're both Christians. We had this immediate connection, Ken and I did. And then the Z Suite, while it's not, you know, a Christian academy, I'm teaching spiritual law, right? Like it's quantum physics and spiritual law, it's Einstein meets Jesus. So we had it strengthened our connection even as consultant and candidate in the process. And the timing was just so, again, so beautiful because of that free trial. And he was able to step in and really learn and grasp some of the concepts before he even opened the doors of his business. So, so let's get now to opening your doors at the time of the recording. We are in early August of 2026 and he's been open for about eight months. So let's share a little bit about kind of just the how things have unraveled and how the particular business you chose, like why it spoke to you along with the things you've learned from the Z Suite and how that's helped you.
Let's kind of bring all of that home.
[00:16:31] Ken Schoonover: Okay, so first I'll kind of tackle like why I, I chose paint Easy.
And I think it goes back in college. I was, I was big into Volunteering and volunteerism.
And then when I moved to, into the Marine Corps, they, one of the first things that you learn is the, the core values of, of Marines and you, you get the nice little core value card and you take that with you every, everywhere and it just defines like over 20 years in as being a Marine. You know, your values are for the, the, you know, the, the things that you know, your integrity, your values are the things that nobody else can take away from you and it defines your identity.
So as we started looking into different franchises, franchise Paint, Easy, JD and the crew, they, they didn't start talking about their franchise like selling me on what they, what they were, they sold me on who they were, their values. And they led with their values and it just made such a deep connection.
And then you saw it in their actions that there was in, in my process of evaluating them. I was trying to get a hold of J.D. the owner who created it and it was his, my child to create pain Easy.
It took him a day to get back to me and he's like, I'm sorry I wasn't able to get back to you.
We're opening a franchise in Reno. They have a lot of, they have a lot of technical laws to get passed the certification. And I drove down there and took a four hour test to get them certified so that way they could do it. And now I'm back to you apologize for the delay. And it's like, my goodness, like if he's willing to do that then he is going to be willing to, you know, support us. And you know, they haven't really even talked about that yet. You know, they are just talking about who they are and what they believe and how they believe in taking care of the customers.
[00:18:42] Kim Daly: I remember that story. I remember how much that story touched me because I to hear that a founder is that concerned with franchisees success that after awarding the franchise they learned that there was a license requirement. He didn't stick it to the franchisee and say good luck, go figure it out. He literally went and sat for the test himself so he could hold the license for the franchisee. Like. And so the reason I started the podcast the way that I, I did, saying, oh yeah, he woke up, you know, dreaming about the business he's now in. Like, I want to drive this point home. If you follow Kim Daly, you've heard me say it time and time again. Franchising is who not what. You cannot use Entrepreneur 500 to select the best franchise for you. You cannot use AI to select the Best franchise for you, I should say you can, but the, the results you're going to get are not the way that I'm going to raise my hand if you're watching the video. An experienced franchise consultant with over 20 years of helping people, over 5,000 candidates walk down this path. A thousand to become franchise owners like Ken. Through my process alone, I'm here to tell you. Hear ye, hear. Yeah. Franchising is not about what.
It's always about who you want. What, go be an entrepreneur, go be an inventor.
If you are becoming a franchisepreneur. It's about finding people that you are in alignment with. Did you hear what he said?
They didn't leave with, lead with. They're a painting company. They led with their core values.
We're humans doing business with other humans in franchising, and that's where you're going to find the alignment. So if you're out on the sideline, just asking your franchise consultant, because you're not using Kim Daly for more companies and more companies because you don't like the name of it or you don't like what the business does, the reason you're asking for more companies is you're not doing proper due diligence.
Because due diligence is on people, not widgets, not what the business does.
At the end of the day, it's the people driving the widget that determine the effectiveness of the widget, the sustainability of the widget, the competitiveness of the widget.
So it makes sense then to explore the people and keep your mind open, because there are so many ways to make money in this world, it will blow your mind. Right. I've been sitting over here looking at franchise opportunities for 24 years. There are three thousands and thousands of companies, all with a different twist and a different spin on a different type of customer. You know, premium value, luxury value, you know, value, the value brand. There's. There's just all kinds of opportunities. And so to think that, you know, if you've never explored a franchise, what the right franchise is for you, maybe you do, but that's why franchise consultants exist.
And with over 20 years of experience and knowledge and relationship that you get to leverage for free if you pick Kim Daly to be your guide, that's a lot to leverage.
And I'm going to bring this message, I'm going to nail it into you. It's who, not what. It's who, not what. And this man said it and he worked with Kim Daly. So thank you for saying that, Ken. Okay, so you Pick paint. Easy. You find alignment with the people you love, what they're about. You're bringing in Earl Nightingale on the strangest secret and how your thoughts matter and the clarity of your goals. So let's talk about that now as you launch your business and how you believe those tools, those mindset tools have helped you launch to what I believe is a pretty successful first eight months in business ownership.
[00:22:41] Ken Schoonover: Yeah, it's. It's kind of crazy how everything kind of flows together because everything goes in stages. And as a business owner, you're responsible for everything. But you have to, like, you can only work on one piece at a time because one problem will be your main problem and your main driver.
And then you fix that, and then that's fixed, things are going good, but then that causes another problem somewhere else. And so you have to then go down and. And fix that.
And what I found through the. The entire process is you kind of said it kind of hit it is that you have to sit long enough with, you know, understanding and that to. And the good, sewing the good stuff and letting it come up.
But the. I don't know if you said it, but the. The one step after that is once it comes up, you have to have the faith enough to act.
And bingo.
[00:23:50] Kim Daly: Faith, courage, boldness, we'll use all those words.
[00:23:54] Ken Schoonover: And so if you don't act in faith, then you'll never end up realizing what you had. So initially was the issues with, all right, hey, I've got this business now. I've sold jobs, and now I need people to do the jobs.
I gotta find the right people.
And so just going through the process of finding the right, you know, the right people.
And there was. I remember one time, one of my first jobs that I got.
I got the subcontract crew there. We walked through the whole. I. I sat down with them the night before, walk through the job, walk through everything. They said, yep, they're good. We got there that next day, walked through the whole thing that they were good. And they're like, we can't do this, and drove away.
And, you know, your heart sinks. You're like, oh, okay.
And so you just have to pivot and, you know, find that next. Next answer. And at that, as that was going through, I had a Bible study. And that Bible study is on James. And the James. The big thing of that study was count it all as joy.
So the good times and the bad times that you run into is all joy.
And it was because even though I lost that subcontractor for that project, and it caused some, you know, issues that I had to solve down the line.
I end up learning what I needed to look for, what did I need to change for the next time.
And, you know, and it just. It put me in a stronger position, you know, so when the next problem came, you know, I would be more apt to, you know, be better able to deal with it. And then if I solved the subcontractor problem, that went on to where my next big problem that I ran into was.
I started getting uneven lead flow.
So one week I would be doing five, 10 quotes.
The next week I would be doing very little quotes because I was doing jobs of the ones that I sold. And then everything got uneven. So then I was like, stop. Let me call time out.
[00:26:13] Kim Daly: I remember that. I think we had a brief little interlude at that exchange. I do remember that moment in your life. Yes.
[00:26:19] Ken Schoonover: Let me call Kim daily because I need to make sure that I set my daily plan.
And so I said, all right, let me level set. I'm going to do five quotes. No more. I'll sell two of them.
I'll get in a good rhythm.
And so I did that for two months. I got into a really good rhythm. Things were going really well. But then I had a little tap on my shoulder saying, hey, look, you're screwing up here because you could be doing more. And I was like, you know what? I could be doing more, but I'm the problem. I was intentionally holding myself back because I was concerned that, all right, I got my subs safe and aligned, and I had my team, and I was comfortable with that team, But I needed to create more of a team so I could handle more volume.
And so I was just like, oh, okay, I need to do that. And guess what? Another Bible study came along and says, guess what? Giants must fall. The giants of fear and being, comfort and rejection. And I was like, all right, Giants gotta fall. So I started out July, and I'm like, all right, not only am I doing five. Five quotes a week and selling two, but I need to, you know, make sure I line up my jobs, that I'm. I'm doing a certain volume every week.
And I did that. I end up doubling our revenue from June to July.
And so every time, you know, I've created now a new problem that now I have to solve.
[00:28:02] Kim Daly: Welcome to business ownership.
Kind of like owning a home, you're never gonna get it done. You're never gonna get it 100, but you're just gonna keep moving forward. What I love this just to kind of wrap this up is you take this military guy and the story that you started this con about, you know, getting to Japan and like not speaking the language and needing to move 10 people and you have to be nimble and adaptable and figure out the problem, figure out the answer without all of the details, right? And you take that. This is why I think military men and women can do so well in franchising. Because you learn those skills like in the middle of life and those are the skills that create the emotional resilience. That's the word I want to put in here because that's what that is. I mean Ken has an incredibly strong mindset because he's rooted in God and in his Christian faith. And I talk about in the Z Suite, you know, in my franchise wealth accelerator course in the very first module I posed the question what does faith have to do with, with becoming a successful business owner? And it's a 12 module course and I answer it in module number 12. Spoiler alert. Faith has everything to do with becoming a successful business owner. Not faith in God or faith in religion. Faith in you, faith in you because you are a co creator with the life inside of you. And that's where your success is, comes from.
The failure in business ownership is from too much humaning, too much in that intellectual, logical, data driven, strategic mind that can only use the past to predict the future. Well, if you've never owned a business before, how do you look to the past in a franchise? You can look to other people's performance, but it's not equivalent to your own because they're not you and you're not them.
So then your mind tells you you've never done this before. And therein lies the fear. Therein lies the story that keeps us stuck.
And it's that very point that the Z Suite meets every single franchisee. That's why I created this business. To clearly demonstrate not why two franchisees can own the same franchise with the same systems and the same technology and produce two different results. Because that's the question that's always thrown around in franchising. But to say how does the same franchisee go from 8 years average performing to 13 years legendary history making, that's my story. Now I've got about 50 paying students who all started at some level of demise or some level of frustration or despair, who are no longer there using the same systems, the same franchise, in the same territory, the same crappy marketing plan, whatever it is they were blaming their stuck point on.
It Almost always is a mindset issue. And so to throw it back to Ken, he's got a very, very strong mindset because he came from that military training and background and learned how to be resilient and think on his feet without all of the information. And he's carrying that into business ownership. He came at the right time in Kim Daly's life when I had opened the doors to the Z Suite, and he was blessed to enjoy a little bit of that for the beginning of before he launched his business. And he's using what he learned, because knowledge alone doesn't change your life. Reading a book doesn't change your life.
Putting it into action is what changes your Life.
Knowing your KPIs doesn't change your life. Waking up and intentionally working to create those KPIs changes your life and your business. Having goals that you inspire you and keep you motivated, that changes your life.
So this is such an awesome, awesome episode, which I knew it would be for so many reasons. I think you're so inspiring, Ken. I think the listener out there, it's a very human story. I love that you're courageous and you talked about your fear. I love that we're able to talk about your wife and getting her to be fully supportive of this. I love that you openly talk about your faith and how you use it to build success in your business.
Because we all have faith in something.
If you're failing or struggling in your business, 100%, you have faith.
You just have faith in what is not going right, and that's why it continues to not go right.
All it takes is a small shift to believe in possibility, in the. In the face of what you're seeing.
And that possibility, as small as a mustard seed, can grow and become the successful business that you're looking for. So this is that call to action. If you're out there and you own a franchise and you are stuck somewhere, whether it's actually stuck, your bank account is low, you don't know what to do next, or you just stuck in your mindset and you're tired and you're ready to do something to make a change, I want you to on focus, follow the link in the description below right now, because I'd love to meet you right there. Not to talk you into joining the Z Suite, but to counsel you through that moment, to help you understand why you're there using quantum physics, but also how to get unstuck. Not by selling your franchise or asking your franchisor to be different, by moving your thoughts to a new place. And if you're out there and you want to be the next Ken Scootover who's was on the sideline kicking the tires of a franchise and actually get in and start living your life as a business owner so you can build cash flow you own and control, so you can build wealth and the life of your dreams. That's what we're doing here. Predictable, sustainable revenue that we own and control.
That's what we're after. Nobody wants a franchise. The franchise is the vehicle providing that outcome.
So if that's you and you're ready, you also should follow the link in the description below because you absolutely know that I want to be your franchise consultant. So, Ken, thank you so much for sharing your story. I absolutely want to welcome you back maybe in another year, when you've got another year under your belt, because I want to see how you're going to continue to use faith and move mountains and keep shifting and keep solving problems and keep that emotional resilience getting stronger and stronger, because no doubt you're going to end up somewhere truly amazing if you keep doing those things. So maybe we can make it a daily double in about a year. What do you say?
[00:34:54] Ken Schoonover: All right, I'll look at that. I would welcome that. And I just say one thing, is that in the beginning, when I started it, I didn't have really any of the answers.
I'd never run a business.
I. I didn't know a lot of things, but I had faith in myself that I could do things and I could make decisions.
And I got that from a lot of that from being in the military.
And I had selected a good team that I thought would be able to support me, that had the systems that I could rely on.
And times where I think that I've assumed gone astray is when I haven't relied on those systems. I always have to bring myself back and say, no, let's stay and stick with the systems because it works and that's what you paid for.
But you have the faith and then you just take that step. And I will say there's nobody better than Kim Daly that will help you walk, walk you through that mindset and get you straight and right.
And then the rest of it is up to you to take those actions, those daily actions to get where you need to go. And it may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but if you consistently walk in faith and do the things that you need to do and follow the system, you have no choice but to be successful.
[00:36:28] Kim Daly: So true. So well summarized, so well said.
So if you're out there and you're ready to take your daily step per Ken, follow the link in the description right now and thank you so much for watching this episode until the end. If you enjoyed it, please don't forget to like and subscribe. Share it with someone you know.
And always remember that my name is Kim Daly and I want to be your daily coach.
