Business Innovators Radio - Unleashing the Power of Pink: Nicole Mann’s Journey to Building a Thriving Glass Company in Las Vegas

Starting point is 00:00:01 Welcome to Vegas Business Spotlight, the podcast that brings you the brightest minds and success stories from the bustling business scene in and around Las Vegas. Join us as we journey behind the neon lights and uncover the strategies, triumphs, and insights that shape the entrepreneurial landscape of the city of lights. From visionary startups to industry titans, get ready to be inspired by the stories of those who've turned dreams into reality on this iconic stage. And now, your host, Tim Nifton. Hello and welcome to another episode of Vegas Business Spotlight, sponsored by RSVP, Las Vegas. I'm Tim Nifton, your host, and I'm thrilled to hear with us today as we continue our journey through the vibrant world of Las Vegas entrepreneurship. Before we dive into today's conversation, I want to extend a warm welcome to our featured guests. joining us today is Nicole Mann with Glass Vegas.

Starting point is 00:01:04 We're honored to have her on the show today to share her experiences, insights, and wisdom. She's gained on her remarkable journey to success. So without further ado, let's get right into it. Nicole, welcome to the Vegas Business Spotlight. We're delighted to have you here today. How are you doing today? I'm good, Tim. Thank you for having me on the show.

Starting point is 00:01:24 I really appreciate it. Well, let's jump right. We'll start by hearing a bit about your journey of the incredible work you're doing here in Las Vegas. So go ahead. I always like to get started with a 30-second elevator pitch or your commercial about what you are and what you do. Okay, well, so I'm Nicole with Glass Vegas. I'm the owner-operator of residential and commercial glass company here in town. It is woman-owned.

Starting point is 00:01:57 We do, again, residential commercial. We do anywhere from a broken picture frame to custom home. Your buildups on commercial, TIs, shower doors, mirrors, wine rooms. If it's custom, we do it. If it's not custom, we also do it. Perfect. That's amazing. So we were talking a little bit before we got started today.

Starting point is 00:02:22 Can you tell us a little bit about your early days or your start two years go about being an entrepreneur in Las Vegas? Yeah, so I've been in the glass industry for 18 years. I moved from California to be able to have a better opportunity, better quality of life. I worked for a company out here, and two years ago, I decided I was going in another direction, and I was blessed to be able to start my own company. So from there, I was able to actually build a business what I wanted to take all the things that I've learned in the past and kind of put them towards the culture and the atmosphere

Starting point is 00:03:03 that I wanted to have here at Glass Vegas. And so I started off by, you know, I really wanted to promote women-owned. So it's on all of our vans. My guys wear pink shirts. Our vans are pink, hard hats pink, every single down to our safety shoes are pink. We have non-penetration steel toe shoes that are also pink. But I'm able to, you know, start a culture here that, you know, people actually like coming to work. And, you know, if they don't, they have, you know, it's an open door policy where they can come and feel comfortable. So we can all be happy and be able to give that service to the community and actually have

Starting point is 00:03:44 people show up that really like their job, that take pride in what they do. And, you know, you can always get somebody to answer the phone, even if it's just to say, hey, I don't have an answer for you yet, but let me give you a call back. Right. Las Vegas is known for its vibrant and unique business landscape. How is being based in this city influence your business strategies and decisions? I think this is an, it's an amazing city to actually have a business in because there's so much going on all the time. All the time.

Starting point is 00:04:20 There's something being built on the strip. There's something being torn down. And there's buildings that are there that the entire thing is gutted. And you just get like a clean slate where you can kind of do anything. And everything's bright. And everybody wants glass. Everybody wants mirror. Everybody wants lighting in the mirrors.

Starting point is 00:04:40 So it's really fun. It's really, really fun. So I love it. I don't see myself doing a business anywhere else because I don't know that it would be as exciting for me. So I love the design aspect. to where I can be like, hey, let's add a little bit of color here. Hey, can we do this? And just be able to throw ideas where people are like, hey, yeah, I think that might work there.

Starting point is 00:05:03 Yeah, let's do it. Can you share some specific ways in which the local environment has impacted your business? Have you worked within Cinos or any large development? We, like I said, we're fairly new. We've only been open for two years, so we're still getting our feet wet. We've got a lot of presence out there. So we've done work in the casinos. I can't think of any particular names.

Starting point is 00:05:33 But we work with a lot of builders here in town. We work with a lot of contractors here in town. But I don't have anything specific. I wasn't prepared for that one. But I would say, you know, we doubt a little bit of everybody. So, yeah. What advice do you have for those who are just starting out? God, it's rough. It's hard. If you think it's easy and you think, you know, oh, hey, I want to start my business because I don't, you know, I want to work for myself and make my own schedule. Well, your own schedule is 24-7. You're working constantly. You're grinding. You're, you know, everything is about work. Everything is about building your company. You're going to have long nights, early mornings, a couple of cries.

Starting point is 00:06:29 a couple cries home. You're going to have times where you have no money in the bank and you just got to figure it out. And it's not easy, but it's worth it. So just I would say for anybody just starting out, when you get to that point where you just want to throw your hands up and quit, that's the time that you're going to have a breakthrough. So do not quit.

Starting point is 00:06:54 It's only pushing you to show you how far you can go. So don't, just don't quit. Don't quit because a lot of people are easy to say, oh, you know what, this isn't going to work. And there's going to be a lot of people that will tell you that it's not going to work or that, oh, you're crazy. You're crazy. You're going to start that. How are you going to make money?

Starting point is 00:07:11 You know, how are you going to feed, you know, don't worry about any of that. Just go and do it with passion and do it and give with your heart. And don't give with that with expecting anything back. If you just do the right thing, it will come back to you. And if there's something in your gut saying, Don't do it. Don't do it. No matter how many, oh, it's fine. We'll find out somebody's going to know, you know, like that. Me, they're going to know. Well, they are. There's somebody. So just do the right thing and don't give up because it's going to be a lot of hard work. But it's worth it. Because if it was easy, everyone would do it, right? Sure. Absolutely. Yeah. Can you share a pivotal moment or lesson from your own journey that might inspire others? Oh, yeah, a pivotal point. I would say doing some self-growth. So as I started this, you don't really realize this really opens up your eyes to all of your faults. So all of, you know, everything that you can work on that you might not have known before you started doing a business.

Starting point is 00:08:29 your communication with employees, your communication with customers, just your drive, your tenacity, it opens up everything that is flawed. And so I got to see some of those moments for me and I feel like it was a blessing in disguise because I was actually able to say, hey, you know what? You know, I had an employee leave. And I reflected on that and I asked, hey, well, why did you do you do mind me asking why you left. And it was because of my communication. It was, you know, I didn't, I didn't understand how to talk to people in the right way sometimes when it was a heated moment. And I was, you know, for that, that was a pivotal moment because I was able to look back and see on myself, hey, you know what, I'm, I'm right there with them. I'm not, you know, just because something

Starting point is 00:09:22 happens doesn't mean that it has to be a bad thing. So it was a moment for me to see that any that, you know, something doesn't get measured right, something doesn't get ordered right, I don't need to get upset about it. I just need to take it as a learning, you know, a learning aspect and just say, hey, you know what? Let's get it fixed right now. But let's figure out what happened. How do we not do that again? So I think that was a pivotal point in the company to be able to say, hey, you know what? Just because something goes wrong doesn't mean you have to get fired up. it just means take every, take every failure as a win. Because without those failures, there's no growth.

Starting point is 00:10:07 So that's, so that was, you know, a pivotal moment where I could actually go to my team and say, hey, you know what, guys, I messed up. And I feel like as a boss, that's, that's really important to show your team that you're just as human as everybody else. Like, I'm not above anybody. I made a mistake. And I'm sorry. And thank you for your feedback.

Starting point is 00:10:27 make it better. Yeah. That's wonderful. Thanks for sharing that. Yeah. And nobody ever wants to say that, you know? Nobody ever wants to say, hey, you know, nobody left because of me or this or that.

Starting point is 00:10:39 We're really just being just being 100 with yourself. And it definitely helps your growth. And it makes your team so much better. Because if they see that you can take that accountability, they're going to want to take the accountability at the same time. Yeah. It happens to everyone in business. Somebody leaves.

Starting point is 00:10:56 So, you know, it's like, I wish we could have done better. Absolutely. So building and sustaining a successful business often requires adaptability. Can you tell us about a time when you have to pivot or make a major change in your business model? I don't think I've had to yet because as I started, when I started, I kind of had these goals in mind as far as how I wanted the company to be. And it's, I would say it's, I haven't had that pivotal moment because everything's been going slowly where I'm kind of working on one at a time to say, okay, this is, this is how we want to be. And let's work on that. Okay, now let's, now how about let's work on this. Okay, great. Okay, now it's, I'm kind of just using it as a checklist. So, um, I haven't gotten through my entire checklist to, to pivot. So. Yeah. That's good. That's great. you're not sure in the owner if a lot of times, you know, or 24-7, you know, have to be available when the work's there and needs to be done.

Starting point is 00:12:06 So how do you handle the work-like ballics, but professionally in your personal life? Lots of coffee. I try to incorporate my family, but I learned to schedule everything, literally everything. I sketch. I schedule taking my daughter to school. I schedule picking her up. I schedule spending time with them. So I have an 18 year old and a 13 year old, two girls. And that's one thing that when I started before I was just really involved in the other business that I was a part of. And so when I did this one, I really wanted to focus on quality of life. I'm building this business, not only for me, but for my team, because without them, I'm nothing. Right. So I wanted to really focus on that. and make that kind of the center of everything that was going on.

Starting point is 00:13:02 And so it's really kind of having that plan to know like Nevada Day, right? People not, we're in construction. You don't close down, right? I chose to. And that was a choice as a business owner that I made. And I got, I got slack from some of the contractors. You're closed? Why?

Starting point is 00:13:21 You know, and I'm like, because my employees have families. And that means that their children didn't go to school. I want them to be able to spend time with their family too. And anybody who wanted to work had that ability to be able to come in. But, you know, that to me is really important. So as you're, you know, as I was building this, it's really kind of incorporating everybody and knowing that everybody's important. And, you know, they say you make time for what's important to you.

Starting point is 00:13:46 So if you're building this business for your family and you're not spending the time with your family, then what are you doing? You know, sometimes my girls stay late. And I'm like, what are you doing here? Go. Go hold. go home. It will be there. You know, if we, we've had a couple of deaths going on. I had a death in my family. One of my, a couple of my employees had debts in their family. And it was, you know, it didn't matter what was going on.

Starting point is 00:14:09 The work they'll come. And if my customers can't understand that something that tragic is going on and we have to let our employee take the time off, and those aren't the customers that we want. So, like I said, just incorporating everybody and knowing that everybody has a place, including your team, not only, you know, because in my family life, you know, I try to go to the gym at three o'clock. I'm up at three o'clock in the morning. I hit the gym. I get back. I try to do it all every day, but it doesn't always work. But so three o'clock I'm waking up. I'm at the gym. I get home. I make a shake. I get ready. I'm in the office. I try to be in the office before the girls because that's my quiet time. I can get all this, all this mess arranged and taking care of and check some emails. And then I, like I said, I take my daughter to school if her friend doesn't come to pick her up. And then I come back here. Then I plan my day. There's only specific days that I'll go out. But it's really for my mindset as well. I only want to go into the field one to two days a week

Starting point is 00:15:16 because I can stay focused on the other days. Pick my kid up, spend some time when I'm If I got to come back to the office, make dinner, hit the office or go to the home office, play a game, do something that makes my mind not think about work. And then in bed. But it's a lot, I think a lot of balance is going to be scheduling. It's got to be scheduling. You've got to schedule. I tell people, anybody that wants to talk to me, anybody, even personally, personal friends,

Starting point is 00:15:49 I say, hey, send me a calendar invite. Hey, I want to have dinner with you. Send me a calendar invite. I'll be there. If you don't send me, it's not on my schedule. It doesn't exist. Because how else can I manage it? So that's, I think that's the key to balance is actually putting it on the schedule.

Starting point is 00:16:08 Even my, even my gym is on the schedule. Everything is on the schedule. Yeah, that's great. There's happening. Yeah. And I'm with you. If you know, you know, you know how to daily. plan or you don't have a schedule.

Starting point is 00:16:23 You're just helping good things. Yeah. And like, oh, you don't need that. And I was kind of that one. Like, it's fine. I don't need it. And then I was like, oh, wait, do I have that meeting? Oh, wait, didn't I? You know, it's, it's all the stuff in here needs to be put on paper or in a calendar, you know, somewhere. Otherwise, you're the only one that's going to remember.

Starting point is 00:16:43 What happens when you forget? There's nobody to hold your account before. Say, hey, you got to go. You know. I wanted to go back to something. you said earlier. It's a business seminar mindset. Can you tell me? My mindset. Since becoming an owner, my mindset is, I feel like it's like a mom. It's like a mom again to where I worry about everybody else but myself. So, and I don't know if that's even the right thing to do, but I feel

Starting point is 00:17:14 like it is. My mindset is really like I've got a hustle because I've got, and that's the reason why I never started a business because I was always afraid of the money not coming and me running out of money for payroll, you know, stuff like that. So my mindset is always on my people. I know some people are going to say it needs to be on your numbers. I need to be this. But mine is on my people. Because now I think of I just gained nine families. Might be 10. So that's what I've gained. And it's my responsibility as the head of the family to make sure that every single person is taking care of. So my mindset is hustle to make sure that every single one of these people has a paycheck. Hustles to make sure the lights stay on.

Starting point is 00:18:06 So it's like I said, it's kind of like that, you know, head of the household mentality. That's how I can justify it because I'm not really a numbers person. So I'm not justifying it on the numbers. I'm justifying it on my heart where, you know, if I'm doing it. the right thing and I'm hustling so my team has has a job has the paycheck everything else will come like I said I don't know if that's I know that's the right answer but it's working for me I lead with my heart and it's just you know if it feels right keep going you know and just it'll it'll come back to you money will money will always come money will always come the way you make

Starting point is 00:18:48 people feel is irreplaceable. Absolutely. Las Vegas is known for its diverse industries. Can you share any insights into how you tapped into or leveraged that diversity in your business success? Well, I'm actually, so I'm getting certified for the woman owned and minority owned business. So once I actually have those, I'll have a lot more doors that open for me because that's

Starting point is 00:19:16 where the diversity comes in is they want to be able to give. opportunities to these specific categories. So I haven't been able to dive into the diversity yet. If that's what we're talking about. Perfect. Networking is often crucial for business growth. Can you share some tips on building meaningful connections within the Las Vegas business community?

Starting point is 00:19:46 Yeah, go to everything. When you're just starting your business, post about everything on on your social media. Don't listen to people who say, oh, it's got to be perfect. No, absolutely not. Post everything. People want to see the good, the bad, the ugly. They want to fall in love with you. Right. So that's part of the networking. And it's funny because a lot of people know who I am. And it's very surprising to me. I show a place and they're like, oh my God, it's Nicole. She's a bad. And it's just like, oh, you know, but it's really getting myself out there. and I feel like Instagram, I'm not on TikTok, but I'm sure TikTok is as well, but it's just got

Starting point is 00:20:28 me so much recognition. We've been voted best in Las, best window company in Las Vegas. I've gotten multiple awards from Deluxe magazine. We've been published in Deluxe magazine. We were the Small Business Showcase for the Raiders. We were one of their finalists on that. So I feel like with this network. it's really important. Building these relationships is, is key. Because if, you know, even if I, when I'm doing

Starting point is 00:21:01 this, I really go into it. I'm not selling anything, really. Like, just, hey, how are you? You know, how's, you know, just getting to know them. And then, hey, if you ever, you know, a lot of people, hey, I have a glass company. I'm like, no problem. You know, but if you ever need me, I'll be there. because not everybody's, you know, nobody's perfect. No company is going to be perfect. There are going to be people who drop the ball. I, we drop the ball sometimes, you know, but, and I want to be that person to pick up the ball for them and say, hey, you know what, here you go.

Starting point is 00:21:32 Help you out. Other glass companies call me and say, hey, Nicole, I got this. I need some help. And I'm right there to, you know, to say pretty much, I got you. You need the help. I, you know, I've got you. Hey, Nicole, I need this. Okay, no problem.

Starting point is 00:21:45 If I've got it in the shop, it's yours. You know, I need this for a job. okay, and it's another glass company. No big deal. I got to be, of your window company is calling me. So, you know, it's getting, getting known. So I'm also part of Contempal Windows and Doors, which is a Nevada company, or it's, we build windows here in Nevada. We're actually a manufacturing company here in Nevada. We're the only ones who actually manufacture in Nevada. And they're a hybrid windows. And with that, we've had the mayor come. We've had, Like all the government people come and that's all that's about is building those relationships

Starting point is 00:22:24 because you never know when you're going to need somebody. You know, you never know when you're going to need somebody. Like I said, whether it's a glass company, construction company, a stucco guy, you know, an advertising person, you never know when you're going to need somebody. So building these relationships is key. Going to all these networking events, even if it seems like it's a waste of your time. If you haven't been to that one, those people don't know who you are. So go. go to them, see, meet people. Shake hands. I always say I'm the best at shaking hands and kissing babies because those are things that I'm really good at. I'm really good at people just, they gravitate towards me. I don't know why, but people gravitate towards me and I, that's just,

Starting point is 00:23:09 it's, for me, it's fun. It's fun. I love going to these events. We had an event last week with Tilesores. It was a little block party and there's so many people that, you know, if you haven't met a person, you never know who that person knows. You know, that person knows, you know, that might need you in the future. So no matter what it is, if you make business cards, if you, you know, redecorate people's offices, if you declutter something, you never know who might need you. So tell everybody and anybody about your business, wear it proud. I'm always wearing a Las Vegas shirt, no matter where I go, wearing the contempto because it's Halloween. So I'm actually in my big farm.

Starting point is 00:23:49 Really, just thinking about, you're a walking billboard. You're a walking billboard. So I give my shirts away to everybody. And now they're my walking billboard because you never know who you're going to meet. You never know who's going to see you. Every day is your debut. Yeah. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:24:07 So as a successful business owner, I'm sure you have a mission for the future. What are your goals and aspirations for your business? my goal is and aspirations. When anybody seems pink in this town, the first thing I want them to think of was breast cancer. The second thing is Las Vegas. Well, that's Harvard. No, she's good. She's all new.

Starting point is 00:24:30 She had her movie. She's good. But, yeah, that's my goal. So my goal is to build this company out to where everybody wants to work here and they're to line out the door. You know, that's that. I built such a good culture and I'm going to fail. You know, I'm going to, I'm going to bring myself up and I'm going to come back. There's going to be so many ups and downs, but again, that's growth.

Starting point is 00:24:54 But I want to, I want to learn from all these things to be able to build that culture that I want. Like I said, to have employees line up at the door and say, hey, someone just, I want to, I want to be there. But again, and have, you know, every, I want to be that glass company that everybody thinks so that everybody wants to be like, you know, and that they know that they know that. they can call for help. And really, I want to expand. I even want, you know, I want my employees to be able to own part of the company as well. I really, I want this to be an employee owned company. I want to be able to have them buy in.

Starting point is 00:25:29 I want, you know, because at the end of the day, I couldn't do this by myself. I couldn't do this without my team. I couldn't do this without the people who started with me. My office manager, Jessica, she started with me and my Jeep. We were literally driving around. in my Jeep, making calls, going to see customers and hidden job sites, and I wouldn't be able, you know, to do any of this without her. So, you know, that's, that's one of my dreams for this company is to be able to have these people understand that they're not just a number because

Starting point is 00:26:03 they're not in my eyes. They're a part of the team and without them, I'm nothing. So to, to be able to have them own a piece of the company is my dream. And of course, making money, But, you know, like I said, if you're doing the right thing, money will come, right? So being one of the biggest glass companies that people are like, oh, there's Nicole, you know, that. And it's funny because I've had those moments or older glass companies who have been around town and older people who are very established, notice me. And they say, Nicole, I see what you're doing out there. It's like, oh, you know, I had one guy that I, you know, it's really big here and he wanted to have lunch with me. And I was like, me?

Starting point is 00:26:43 Little old me? Well, it's, it's, it's, it's definitely an honor to see that I, I'm definitely making some waves here in Las Vegas. And, uh, and my, you know, I want my team to be a part of that. So I want to be one of the biggest glass companies in town and everybody know when they say, when they, when they see pink on a job site, they know it's me. Oh. And like I said, it'll force money, but, you know, that'll come. That'll come and go.

Starting point is 00:27:12 Can you share any upcoming projects or initiatives you're excited about? Some projects. I've got, I'm building a couple, or I'm building a house at the moment in Askaya. And that's, it's a fun project for me. It's really cool. I'm literally doing everything from the windows, the doors, the showers, the railing, the wine room to the mirrors. I'm doing everything in this house, which is such a blessing. We've got that coming up where it's already in the works.

Starting point is 00:27:45 We've got a couple of commercial properties that we're building as well. And again, with this window company, you know, that's, I feel like that's going to be a big one. We literally opened January. Yeah, we opened January and it literally brand new facility. So we're trying to get that off the ground. Like I said, it's the only Nevada or, you know, it's the only one. one in Las Vegas that we're actually manufacturing and getting people jobs. It's an amazing window. So we've got, you know, that I'm really pushing because at the end of the day, you're looking at these windows.

Starting point is 00:28:26 And yeah, you can get them for cheap, but they're going to yellow. They're going to melt. And these windows are pharmaceutical grade. They won't yellow. They're not going to be the windows that people are taking out in three years and replacing because now those windows are just taken out are now in a landfill. You know, so we're also, you know, helping out planet Earth. Like, let's actually preserve this or children's children have something. So that's what we're trying to push right now. You're reflecting on your journey. What's one piece of advice or mantra that you carried with you? Stop and spell of flowers.

Starting point is 00:29:11 No matter how busy you're getting. And I try to do that sometimes. I'll just pull over and just sit there and look. If I'm coming home at night, I'll just pull over where I can see the strip and just enjoy the moment. Enjoy the moment. Because I was actually driving this morning and I was like, gosh, if I would have asked myself four years ago, right before I came to Vegas, where, you know, if I ever thought I would be in this position and it's like, no. And so I hold that with me. Just be, you know, grateful for every moment because it can change in an instant.

Starting point is 00:29:45 So just enjoy the moment. enjoy the moment. Well, thank you so much for being on today's Vegas Business Spotlight. This is Nicole. I'm Tim Nefton, and we'll be back next week with another podcast. Thank you for joining us on this episode of Vegas Business Spotlight. For more inspiring stories and insights from the Las Vegas business community, be sure to subscribe to our podcast on your favorite platform.

Starting point is 00:30:17 And remember, you can catch new episodes each week at Vegas Business Spotlight.com. where we keep the spotlight shining bright on the entrepreneurs who make Las Vegas thrive. And don't forget to like and subscribe. See you next week.

Business Innovators Radio - Unleashing the Power of Pink: Nicole Mann’s Journey to Building a Thriving Glass Company in Las Vegas

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