CEO Charles Smitherman on APRO and RTO World 2023

     APRO's own CEO Charles Smitherman talks with us about the benefits of being an APRO member, how APRO affects the RTO industry, and some of the perks the Association for Progressive Rental Organizations has like Scholarships and the Disaster Relief Fund. Also, we get Charles to give us a slight look at what we can expect to see at the RTO World Convention in San Antonio, TX 2023. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:07

Hello everybody, and this is Pete from the RTO show. Today we are talking rent to own with Charles Smitherman, the new CEO and big dog at Apro. How are you doing today, Charles? What's going on?

SPEAKER_00 0:20

Hey, I'm great, Pete. Happy to be here. Longtime listener, first time caller. Excited to be on the show.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

That's awesome. So listen, you had to come down a long road. You're part of a huge organization that means a whole lot to rent to own. And now a quick word from our sponsor. Listen, everybody, if you're looking for an electronics dealer that has what you're looking for, Dialectic is the one that you want to go to. Lewis and Keith have put something together. They have a little bit of everything. They've got generators, iPads to IMAX, Apple TV, Beats Audio, Grills, Gaming Consoles to Xbox, Sony, Nintendo, VR gaming, smart projectors, and a sidetrack monitor that you can mount to the back of your laptop. Listen, they have just a little bit of everything. Also, they are the sponsor of our giveaway for the R2O show free drawing that we're doing at the end of the month on 831 to win the 12.5 inch sidetrack monitor. These guys are amazing. If you want to reach out to them, you can reach out to Keith at Keith at Godialectic.com and make him a vendor and put something on your counter that's for one of the best vendors around. And now back to the show. And remind us again what does APRO stand for?

SPEAKER_00 1:27

The Association for Progressive Rental Organizations.

SPEAKER_01 1:30

So what does the CEO do? What did you do before you got here? And how did that culminate to them choosing you out of all the candidates that they could have taken to make you part of what we do on a day-to-day basis?

SPEAKER_00 1:43

Well, I have uh it's been an interesting road to get here. I've had I've been an RTO for about nine years, uh uh really on the vendor side. I I'm an attorney by training and profession and had worked uh private practice for a while, and then I went in-house uh as general counsel for a financial service company that provided a one of the club programs to a lot of the rent-owned dealers. And so I have been around in that capacity attending RTO World, TRIV, just industry events and legislative conferences and and that type of thing for the you know the past eight years and my work as general counsel, and then I kind of moved up into a vice president role and then eventually uh a COO role. And then, you know, this opportunity came up earlier this year and right time, right place, and you know, things just worked out really well. Uh, you know, couldn't be more happier with the way that it uh that it turned out.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Well, full transparency that Charles is new to the position, not new to RTO, but I did actually get to meet Charles at FRDA this year, what just happened last month, and it was a great opportunity to meet the new CEO of April because it really means a lot to the industry. And FRDA is the Florida Rental Dealer Association, so he came all the way down to Florida and you know, stopped by and we just had a great time. A lot of things were discussed and said, We got to, you know, chatted up with the vendors and kind of really get to know what's going on. Paul Mativier, president of FRDA, he just hosted a great time, and we really, really enjoyed what they had to say. Now, as far as when you took over the CEO position, when did that take place?

SPEAKER_00 3:25

So my official start date was on June 1st, so I've been in the position for now about two months. I I kind of had a a soft launch for you know the a good chunk of May trying to just get oriented to get the uh both figuratively and literally get the keys to all of the uh information and with the transition from the outgoing interim CEO. And so, you know, I I was just trying to get up to speed as fast as I could to hit the ground running because this is about as busy of a time of year as it gets for a lot of our people out in the industry and uh us included building up to RTO world.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

Now I know the RTO world is a huge part of the year. It's one of the biggest conventions that we have in Rent to Own. We always look forward to it. So now that you're getting ready for that, right? You got the keys of the kingdom, you've come in, you've got some background. Help me out here because some of the guys have been asking me, what exactly does a CEO do at APRO? What exactly is your mission to make happen at APRO?

SPEAKER_00 4:30

So that that's a great question. And uh, you know, fortunately I have a about a five or six-page job description that was given to me whenever I applied for the role. And bullet point by bullet point. I you know, I can tell you really the the the overarching part of what I what the job entails is really providing you know leadership and direction for for all of APRO's activities, from setting and guiding the mission statement and the mission of the organization to garnering and gathering input from our board members, from our dealers, from our vendors, and and the industry itself, and uh miscellaneous things including financial oversight and just responsibility of the of the staff in the organization. And so that's yeah, it's really kind of really three areas really member relations. You know, you and I met down in at FRDA in Tampa. That is is part of it, getting out, seeing people, you know, getting a pulse on what what's going on in the industry. We've got a large board with APRO, 16 members and two representatives from the vendor side. And I'm kind of the primary liaison between the board and the uh and the staff. We've got a great staff at APRO, currently just a just a great, great team. I think most of these people are really well known, have been out in the industry. Jen Trope does a great job. Ed Wynn, longtime general counsel, just a uh has been here since the industry started, just a wealth of information. Uh Talisha Wendell, again, another long-term staff member. Lisa Kravenhop, she helps with our and runs our meetings. Uh Eddie Forres, who's our data program specialist. We just hired two new people on board that just started yesterday, so we're we're excited to have them and hope people will get a chance to see them at RTO World, uh, Ayanna Cisneros and uh Benji Colegio.

SPEAKER_01 6:30

So the first thing I hear is the meet and greet, right? You've got to go out there and you've got to see people, you've got to shake hands and kiss babies because you're the new guy on the block. And not only do you have April to kind of look after, you have to show everybody who you are and they've got to meet you and kind of shake hands. Uh do you see a lot of familiar faces uh when you go out there, or is it just, you know, you've been in the industry for nine years, but do you see a lot of familiar faces, or are there is this a whole new realm of different side of RTO when you when you see these faces as you're going out and kind of meeting everybody and putting your, like you said, putting checking the pulse of of the RTO at these meetings?

SPEAKER_00 7:02

You know, it it this is really one of the I think the perks of the job is getting to go out and just and see people, shake hands, you know, talk, you know, hear stories, hear how everybody's doing. And I think that, you know, it really uh my first really kind of trip was to MRDA back in July uh with the Missouri Rental Dealers Association and their Heartland expo show they put on. And you know, really kind of walking in on this side of it rather than you know, kind of my past position. Um it was just just great. It just I felt immediately comfortable. You know, this is such a relationship-driven industry where that's so important, and kind of having that those relationships already and being able to build on those and and develop new ones with new faces, people I might not have dealt with in the past. Um, you know, it was provided a really great platform to kind of step in and really really hit the ground running with this uh this new role.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

Well, I will tell you, if we're throwing some names out there, Jen Troke is my favorite hero down at Apro. I'm just telling you right now, she is my favorite here at Apro. I'm just putting that in right now. And uh, but it is nice to meet people. I because I saw the pictures from our MRDA. And let me tell you, those guys know how to have some fun. So it's really nice to be able to see that in the art because sometimes in the RTO industry we forget because we see the walls, the division of who are I don't want to say we're against, but we're in the same industry looking for the same type of customer, right? So you have buddies and you have rent centers, you have Aaron's, you have Premier, you have Eagle Rents, you've got uh Magic Reynolds, you've got Rank King, and we're all kind of jocking for the same thing. But then the end of the day, when you can let your hair down and you'd have something like MRDA or FRDA, where you can go and say, Hey man, how are you doing as a person? How are you doing as a business? And just kind of kind of let your hair down in a sense of a word. It's just really nice to see that. You know, I'll tell you right now, when I went down to FRDA, Kevin Silver came over and just like really I felt so humbled that this guy was so interested in the show and he knew us and he was he was just introducing me to a lot of new people, and I've really got to reach out to Kevin and just tell him, man, I we're we're gonna get together and do some work. But these guys are just amazing, right? The rent-owned industry is just so great. But so so now you're the CEO, you've been around, you're saying hi and hello for for the time that you can, right? So here's a question. Now that you're the current CEO, does that mission, that does that vision change any bit because you're now the new CEO? Does it stay the same? I mean, what what direction does Charles take April? Is is there is there a certain direction that you have in mind for us going forward?

SPEAKER_00 9:45

Well, uh, you know, that that's a great question. And you know, we the the really, you know, kind of the perspective I come in on this, uh I'm an attorney, you know, really practicing law in in some form or another for about 20 years. And, you know, part of the being an attorney, and really the the main part is is clients and client relationships and representing your client's best interest, uh being a zealous advocate for them. And what what's great about this role and kind of the you know the my background and preparation kind of coming into this is really having the the RTO industry being that client and that where I can be that kind of advocate for them, help provide input on you know the strategy and direction, uh, and really you know, have this wealth of resource that APRO has with all of the dealers, with great board of directors that we have, and all of that, you know, wealth of experience and knowledge and perspectives that really to drive that. So at APRO we have a uh strategic plan. And you know, one thing I'm kind of coming in on the uh on the back end of that, we're uh about two and a half years into that strategic plan, and that that culminates up in uh around April of next year. So we'll be assessing how we've done on that uh and then really developing a new one. And so, you know, a lot of what I'm doing right now is really trying to get out and you know, really listen and get a feel for what what what our members need and want from from April. What are the benefits that we can do and improve on? How can we make this a organization that you're proud to be a member of, that you're excited to come to and be involved in in the events and activities that we put on and sponsor and participate in, and really just drive a sense of pride of what the being a an APRO member. And so, you know, those are the things that are really, you know, that's uh on the agenda of really developing and you know the plan going forward.

SPEAKER_01 11:52

I know that you know it sounds like APRO has a lot going on, and it looks like it has a lot looking out for uh when it comes to the RTO industry. It looks like it's it's trying to do the best it can to fit this need of direction. And I, you know, I think we all can use that. If you're not a member of April and you're out there in the world, you're you know, let's say you're a new rental dealer, how do you become a member of April?

SPEAKER_00 12:14

Well, that's uh, you know, we we've got a fairly active marketing, you know, we we represent, I think one of the great things about April, I mean, we we are the trade association for the rent owned industry. Um and we represent, you know, a significant, overwhelming majority of rental dealers out there. And so, you know, part of that new membership is that yeah, we knowing who we are and being out there, and that's something we try to promote, be be active so that you know that it would be front of mind to hey, we should look at joining April, look at the benefits that we get from from being a member uh and how that we can help grow and develop our new company, uh, or our existing one for that matter. You know, that we've got that in a lot of just relationships of you know, relying on our current members and dealers to really, you know, sell the benefits of being involved, of of getting to come to our events like RTO World, uh legislative conference, uh, our education sessions, those types of things. And so that that's really the um the main parts. And we've got you know work to do on our end to really you know sell and promote who we are and what we do and uh how that we represent the industry and that being the whole industry. And whether you're a member or not, we speak for, you know, we call ourselves the voice of RTO, and that that's a something we take very seriously and you know is part of our mission for our existence.

SPEAKER_01 13:46

Now, when you say the voice of RTO, Charles, we're gonna come back to that. I want you to know that we're gonna put a pen in that, we're gonna come back to that. But if you guys really want to know what APRO does, some of the other things that they do that you might not know of, number one that I wanted to talk about, April has a scholarship fund. April has a scholarship fund for rent to own. How does that work? What so that is amazing, and I think that's great that we're looking forward to the future, not only of the future, but the people who are in rent to own and their family's future. How does that work? How does a scholarship work?

SPEAKER_00 14:18

So yeah, I'm glad you brought that up. This is something that one of the things I find really exciting and rewarding about what we do. So APRO itself is a is a not-for-profit trade association. As part of that, we have what's called the APRO Charitable Foundation, uh, which is a registered 501c3 uh charity. And what that that does, it allows us to kind of you know accumulate donations. And as part of the charitable foundation, one of the main aspects of it is the scholarships we give out to members and family members, families of member, APRO members to uh for college. Um the charitable foundation was uh or at least the scholarship fund portion of it was founded, I believe, about 15 years ago. And to date, we have awarded over $1.1 million in scholarship funds to APRO RTO industry people. Uh those are employees of dealers, families of owners, anyone that's associated with the industry is eligible for to apply for a scholarship.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

So, according to what I've read so far, this APRO scholarship fund has gone to RPO RTO professionals and their families at 447 total scholarships at $1 million plus, because we're right over just a million dollars. I mean, well, let me give you that's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 15:49

Let me give you the update on that because we just announced 38 new scholarship recipients this week. And so that that that raises that total of 408 to 485 uh total scholarship recipients.

SPEAKER_01 16:02

So that's congratulations to APRO and the people who have been able to successfully use that scholarship, needing it to go and and further their education. That's that's amazing. But now again, we're talking about one aspect of it. So we're talking about the leadership, we're talking about how you can utilize that for new companies. Now we're using that APRO for what we would say the furthering of education through the APRO Scholarship Fund. But then we also have the ability to lean on APRO for times of need, and those times of need happen all the time. I I live in Florida, and I know that you guys out there listening, you have your own states and the things that happen in your own states, whether they're tornadoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, whatever the case is. But April actually has something for that. Now, we were talking about that a little bit earlier, and I and I find it so fascinating. But April also has an employee disaster relief program for quick assistance in financial situations for natural disasters. Talk to me a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_00 17:00

So the disaster relief fund is part of the charitable foundation, was begun around or well, in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina hit, and we had a lot of dealers and owners that were trying to pool resources uh to help a lot of the people that were affected by that. And so that's where this really originated, and it it's it's something that's continued on for that. What that uh we do, and we're pretty active in terms of watching the news, watching uh the you know kind of events that happen. We typically reach out to, you know, we we see that if there was flooding or severe storms or hurricane, and we'll reach out to our members in that area just to remind them, hey, look, if you've got an employee, you yourself have had some type of an issue or financial loss from this, whether that's uh you know, property, lost wages, any type of financial assistance that uh you might have or you might need because of the event, uh, we're here for you. And so we've got you know, we've got some criteria for it, we've got some valid verification process in place to uh to do that. But we are uh our April Board Executive Committee serves as the authorizing body for that. So we get an application in and uh these guys will turn around an approval really quick and we're able to get uh to get those funds out very, very fast to people that need it and uh you know in urgent, dire type situations. Since 2005, I think we have given been able to donate about $500,000 in disaster relief funds from that. And I would say that really, in terms of both the disaster relief and the scholarship fund, those are all funded by APRO members. When you get your dues invoice, there's a uh there are a few extra boxes that you can check to make donations. We've got suggested donations uh for for both, and that money gets pulled in to to distribute in those ways. Um, and we've also got an initiative called the Society for Tomorrow, and this is a a process that allows for kind of long-term giving at certain levels of uh for those donations, and it's an ongoing, continuous thing that we kind of facilitate. And that's really kind of the great thing about APRO. We we are this association that we're able to pull these donations to give out these scholarships and this disaster relief to coordinate with our state, our state associations who uh who do scholarship funds themselves or who may allow us to administer those and you know to attach their own criteria to that and with their own donations to them. So we really provide a really good clearinghouse and administrative option for for doing that and you know, particularly these really both of these really great causes.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

I'm gonna tell you what, Charles, I'm a little sour. In 2004, Hurricane Charlie came down to my town. I was working out of the very large, large town. I think we had a whole population of 500 people. We were in Wachula and Hurricane Charlie went up, uh, it was supposed to hit, you know, I believe it was Ponta Gorda, decided to make a turn and went straight up Highway 17 and absolutely leveled Hardy County. And uh I was working in RTO at that point. I didn't have the APRO to go to at that point in time, but I'm so glad that people do. I spent months, I actually spent nine months working out of an office trailer and uh running a rental center for that for that length of time. We actually had about four storage containers, and we would every day empty out of storage containers into the parking lot and set it up as a showroom and try to sell. And if you know anything about Florida, it rains every other five minutes. So 70% of my day was taking out furniture or putting it back in uh and or covering it up as best we could. But having gone through that myself, I can say right now that I'm so glad that there are things out there, such as APRO and these disaster relief funds, to help people who have gone through it. Because I'm telling you right now, as somebody who has gone through it, worked through it, and also had to have kind of we we had to stand in the FEMA line. We had to wait for water, we had to wait for food. It was it was really rough. To know that we have things in place nowadays in the current situation, that gives me a lot of hope for what we have going on in the future. Talking about hope, and we're talking about all these great things that are happening at April, we have somebody to remember. As far as I know, in it was in June, I believe June or July, we had somebody leave the April ranks by the name of Shelly Martinick. Can you can you explain to me or talk to me a little bit about Shelly? She was a director of education and meetings, and she looked like she had really left her mark on April, and we were really sad to see her go and not be a part of this uh RTO world this year or any in the future. Can you tell me a little bit about her and her memory?

SPEAKER_00 21:53

Yeah, I mean, you know, Shelly was and there are a lot of people that have really, when you look Where this industry is today, you look at APRO, you look at just uh you know the existence of how things are done and the the success that this industry has had has had, you can look at people that that contributed to that, and it's really hard to understate the role that that Shelley played in that. Uh, she was the longtime uh director of education meetings. She joined APRO in 1989 uh and was with us at APRO until 2019. So 30 years of uh dedication and work for the association and for for the members and the mission that we have in delivering these programs and and improving the industry in these multiple ways that we we go about doing that. So she was a you know the outpouring of you know support and memory uh for her over the the past few weeks since uh uh since her passing was was announced, uh has been really uh just really great, just a really good you know, testament to what that she was able to do. And for that 30-year period, and really with that legacy continuing on to RTO World Today, that was her her major contribution of being organized in these great meetings, and uh they were you know known this legacy of this timely, you know, very well organized, very well run, and uh just you know incredibly fond events as well.

SPEAKER_01 23:31

She looks like she's left quite an impact on APRO. I wish I would have met Shelly uh at the time. I wasn't a part of the meetings and and the discussions and and the R tier worlds at that point in time in my career, but I really wish that I would have met uh Shelly and and kind of just gotten to know her a little bit. It seems like we have lost a star at APRO and and her memory is gonna live on. We do appreciate you being able to talk about that. Now, talk about memorization, talking about making something, because you know, when we talk, right, they say when it goes out into the internet, it's on the ether. But then sometimes that happens with magazines, right? You got the magazine covers and you put something in writing and it sticks. April has a magazine called the RTO HQ. So rent-to-own headquarters is what I'm thinking that it stands for. And it keeps the industry up to date, right? You send that out every uh is it quarterly, right? It's a quarterly publication?

SPEAKER_00 24:24

It it's twice a year, and it's uh that is uh you know largely reflective. It's expensive to run a to run a magazine and it's in print now, but we do uh and that the twice a year really allows us to to capture a lot of those important things uh that are going on and and spread that word. So yeah, I love that magazine and what it does, and just how important it is to really, you know, what we try to do at April, and we've got a lot of different, you know, hats to wear, but that storytelling aspect of, you know, we've got like a there's a great story in this last one on Jerry Marshall, uh Buddy's franchisee up in Virginia, you know, telling the stories of how the people that make up this industry, how they got into it, what their involvement is, uh, you know, it just some really great things. I think that's that's one of my favorite things about this industry are these just these origination stories of how people got into RTO and how they're started off with this type of business and then found you know what's out there as being a really important and high consumer demand for this type of this type of list purchase option and and how the the the ingenuity that's gone into filling that role and providing nice things for nice people that uh RTO does. So magazines are a very important part of that, both internally, for we can send it out to all our members and you can flip through it and look for your photo and uh see if someone capture you at an event, and then both externally too, because it tells our story to the people outside of the industry of what we are and what we're not, uh, and how that this industry is so important uh and how it affects you know just so many, so many people across the country with what we do and uh how we do it.

SPEAKER_01 26:13

Well, I will tell you, it affected me when I got one. I was actually in one, Danny and I, from the last time that we were at RTR World, and believe me when I tell you, it's actually sitting in my office. Uh I do cherish that. I you know, it's it's because I again, I mean, I think there's no doubt that the world is going digital. But there's a reason why analog lasted. And sometimes just having that in your hands, being like you said, being able to flip through the pages and look for what you have, there's nothing like that in the world. You can take that home, and it doesn't matter where you are, it doesn't matter what you're doing, you can thump through that, and you don't need any power, you don't need any lights on, you can dump through that, and it's really just one of those memories that you can kind of take and and and hold with you. So I'm not gonna say anything. I would love to see maybe one day the RTO show advertised in the uh RTO HQ magazine. I'm just wanting it out there, you know, forward forward projections.

SPEAKER_00 27:04

I'll tell you, we've got a uh and we've got a it's a really high quality magazine. We've got a great uh a great person that's out there that writes their n Kristin Card. If you've looked at the table of contents, you will see her name appear multiple times because she is our our writer, layout, just the uh the real that both the brains and the creative artistic provider for this. And so but yeah, it's a great thing. And we'll we'll we'll see what we can do about the promoting the RTO show in a future.

SPEAKER_01 27:37

I'm gonna I'm gonna have to pay Kristen a visitor next time I next time I go to RT, I'm gonna have to say, hey, how are you doing? But I tell you what, so the magazine is on point. If you guys haven't had a chance to see the RTOHQ magazine, it is absolutely phenomenal. Like Charles said, it's it's very robust, it's a very nice, well put together, very serious magazine that kind of just sheds light on every part. If you have something going on, make sure you let Apro know because I would love to see whatever you guys are doing out there in that RTOHQ magazine. I know that I loved it when I was in it, and I hold that and I cherish that till this day.

SPEAKER_00 28:11

Yeah. And if I could add to that, yeah, if you don't mind if I could add just on that, like, yeah, if there if there's news, if there's some story that you want uh to get out there, you know, reach out to us. We're we're constantly looking for content for both the magazine, uh, with the articles that we do, and you know, in in our weekly newsletter too, that goes out from you know, events, recaps of FRDA, MRDA, whatever it may be, births, marriages, we we throw it all in the newsletter. And that's uh so if there's content, something that you want to get out there, reach out to us and we'll we'll see what we can do.

SPEAKER_01 28:49

I think it's a great thing to do. And uh, like Charles said, don't be afraid, reach out, let somebody know what's going on in your neck of the woods because nobody knows what's going on in the world until we shed some light on it through the ArchTOHQ magazine, and that leads us to the biggest question. I keep on saying it. I've got to get the shirt. I'm gonna get a shirt, Mike, I promise you. The biggest question is what's going on at RTO World this year, and what can we expect from RTO World in San Antonio 2023?

SPEAKER_00 29:20

Well, I you know, I'm extremely excited about what's coming up here in the couple of weeks. We this is gonna be, I think, one of our biggest and best shows ever. I mean, one, we're in San Antonio, which is just a you know phenomenal place to to hold a convention. We're right down on the river walk, you know, all of our activities around that just really cool and great, great area. I can tell you we have we've officially sold out of our vendor or the expo space. So we're going to have a full house in the vendor show portion. We have as of as of this morning, we've got almost 700 attendees, which I think is you know a great turnout for um for RTO World. The one thing, you know, we're really RTO World's really focused, and I think our our what we drive to do with with this is really three things relationships. It's so important to the industry, uh, and we provide that forum of lots of networking opportunities, receptions, you know, with the highlight being our experience party, which will be at a location down on the Riverwall on that Wednesday night, the 23rd. Also, the just the innovation and solutions aspect, and that's really the trade show of getting people in that same room to see all these new and cool things. Uh, one thing I think APRO really tried to do and has done very well in the past is that, hey, this is a show that if you've got some new product and you want to that you want to try out, see how it fits in the industry, try to garner that that support or just interest, we provide a really good forum to be able to do that because the the RTL world, you you need to be, if you're a trib member, you can exhibit, but you don't have to be a trib member, and that allows kind of new people to really test the waters in in rent zone. And then if they really, if it's something that works, then they can apply to be a trib member and and do the do the show, the trib meeting and mind show in the late winter, early spring. And so you've got those things, and let me just mention the the the other part of it, really the ideas and collaboration, which is our educational content. Uh, we've got 15 educational sessions and you know, five different tracks from product, product testing, legislative and technology, customer service, uh, sales and marketing staffing. Got a lot of great presenters. Uh, there one one really familiar name popped up on the list as I was reviewing it earlier. Do you do you happen to know anybody that's presenting at RTO World this year? I actually do know a couple people, including myself.

SPEAKER_01 32:03

Um I'm glad you said that, Charles. So I will be doing a presentation at the RTO World, and I don't want to give it all away because I want you guys to show up and let you let you guys know what's going on. We're gonna show on how to stand out. And that's gonna be one of the things that I definitely want to talk about because I feel like there's a passion behind it. And I was talking to Jen about it, Jen Troke, and I was like, you know what? I I hope that I can, if I can do anything, is that if they can get that 50 minutes, sit down and walk away with just one thing that they'll they'll never forget. If I can just change them for one time, that one thing that they won't forget when they get back home, when they get back to the job, when they get back to RTO, then I've done it right. So that is the goal, guys. That is the goal. That familiar name is Pete Shao. He's definitely gonna be part of that lineup, including some other people that I'm really excited to hear. I don't know how many people are gonna be speaking at the same time, I will, so I might miss out on some of my favorites. But I will tell you that I am going to as many as I can go to before I have to get up on there. I've got some surprises coming. I will not say anything else than that. I got some surprises. But the the convention is absolutely huge. It's the biggest convention of the year, especially when it comes to April, when it comes to RTO in general. Everybody looks forward to RTO World. Was that the original purpose behind RTO World? Was the the education? Was it the vendors? Was it the camaraderie? What what was the actual reason that they started this? And have we lived up to that? Has the RTO world been that arm of April that has been heading in that same direction and has gotten bigger? Has it has it kind of turned and veered over the years? Or or or I know I'm saying that because you've been doing this for literally two months, and I do apologize, but you know, is is it fair to say that I mean it's kind of grown with the industry, or was that what it was created to accomplish?

SPEAKER_00 33:45

Well, I I I think it it is it is adapted to the needs of both our member dealers and our vendors, uh, and the people we really sponsors that we really rely on just tremendously to put on this uh the show. You know, traditionally it was, and this is APRO's part of a part of RTL World is APRO's main meeting of the year. And that's where we do our educational sessions, we'll do our you know, our general session, we'll do our business meeting, uh, our annual awards uh launching, it really our board meeting, uh, you know, a number of these types of things that we do that's part of our association. Um, the trade show aspect of it is something that we really began and when we partnered with TRIB, and I believe it was about five years ago, uh, whenever you know there were just kind of these multiple polls. We were doing an expo attached to RTL World. Trib has their meeting and their association meeting with their expo in in the winter, early spring. And then there were another ones, a number of other ones coming up. And I I think that there was a consensus at that point with with us and Tribb of like, look, we need to have two two main industry events a year and uh two expos and two attempts for or chances for for dealers to come in and buy product and see what's out there and what's going on. And and so it really developed into that partnership with Trib to hold this meeting. And they, you know, Dennis and Shields and his team just do a great job with the uh the expo portion and getting that organized, helping us sell sponsorships. And you know, it's been a great partnership for us, and we were able to, you know, facilitate a space where you know our common membership and our common vendors, we can all come together and be there for our educational sessions, be there for this great trade show, and and more than anything, just be there for this for the networking and just this relationship building, building and you know, fostering that really goes on with just part when you get it, you know, more than a couple of RTO guys together. And so that's it's just a great, great event, and that that's really kind of how it's all developed to where it is now.

SPEAKER_01 36:08

So when we talk about these big events and we talk about the trib, I just want you guys to know the current president Mike Tissett is a is an amazing friend of the show. Um, I would love to say he's a amazing friend of mine, but he's got he's got so much going on, but he's been so good to the show, and he did come on. And uh, you know what? I think that Trib is is doing such a good job at really kind of just exposing the industry to a lot of different things, and those meetings are important. So it's nice to know that APRO and Tribb have kind of just kind of set these leading ways down these paths to give somebody guidance, to give these new guys guidance, to give us vendors that who really, really understand RTO and want to serve this industry. And of course, I love the leadership and experience and the classes that we have to make us better at what we do. I love that. I think it's a great thing. But when you talk about people who are paying it forward, you've got to talk about PayT and Ashley, right? They're the two biggest sponsors, so I hear, of the RTO world this year. And PayT has teamed up with the RTO show. And what we've done is we've actually done a release on the information of what they're breaking, which is gonna be a huge electronics collections platform at RTO World. Do you know about this? Did they tell you that, hey, we're gonna break this over there, or they're just like, hey, we're just gonna do our thing and then it's gonna announce this? Are you part of that?

SPEAKER_00 37:25

Well, I mean, you know, Richard at Payda has been and in that company has, as you said, they're they're one of our top sponsors, or they are our top sponsor, along with Ashley and Mike Case and his team. Um, and you know, so they they've come in with kind of known little bit tidbits of hey, that they're you know, they're planning something. And I was uh I was excited to listen to uh to your last episode where he he really finally exposed some of those details about what was what was coming. Um I listened to your episode last night. It's a it's a sounds like a really cool product and you know potential game changer that's out there that you know what a lot of the vendors and what the these services that are trying to provide of hey, you know, taking care of some of this menial administrative type task and letting the dealers get out and and sell and that's and and run their business. And so I I'm excited about what what Richard and his team have developed, and um particularly excited because he is leading a session at RTL World where I understand they're gonna actually demo this uh this new platform for everyone at the at the session.

SPEAKER_01 38:36

Now, I want I'm telling you right now, I want to see that demo. I want to see what's going on. You know, talking to Richard Formo, like like he really kind of put everything in perspective. And he kind of he kind of laid down this clear, distinct idea of what this new collections automation platform can do. And I'm gonna tell you, it's a lot. This is definitely something that the RTO industry, in my opinion, can use. And I'm gonna see, I know I'm gonna see a lot of people going to this within the next few months and to the next year. I I I know it's gonna be big. For them to be able to do this and make it such in such a way that somebody who's been in the industry for for almost two decades, I'm running to this. I want to see it happen. If he does something where he can kind of showcase this and debut it and really talk about it, then I I've already told him, and I'm gonna tell you, Charles, you might have to have somebody watching him on a stage. I think they're gonna rush up there and really really try to find out what's going on with RTO2, which is probably one of the biggest things that I've heard come out in a long time. And I'm so glad that he was kind of able to get with you guys and he can kind of launch it out of RTO World Cup. I mean, where else would you launch it, right?

SPEAKER_00 39:44

Well, that's just it.

SPEAKER_01 39:45

April's event.

SPEAKER_00 39:46

I mean, it has to be. Well, and that that's you know, one thing we've we've always tried to facilitate is to be that you know, that launch point. And so it's incredibly exciting that Richard has uh has picked this as his as his launching point. And you know, the uh I'm excited about the session. Our you know, uh board president Michael Bennett's going to be uh on that panel with him as they present it. And you know, it's just a really uh it's a really cool product. And I you know, just uh having listened to the podcast, and then I'm excited to poke my head into that session and really see see what this thing can do because it sounds like it could do a lot of everything.

SPEAKER_01 40:23

So it's really exciting for it's absolutely the the way I think of it is you know, every time that there's a shift in an industry, you can almost feel it. And I I feel like that shift is coming. Is it gonna all unfold within the next couple of months? Probably not, but I think they're gonna have a big jump. They're gonna turn a lot of things around. And as word gets out from people that are gonna jump on it right away and take advantage and utilize this software, I think it's just gonna be a domino effect. I think it's just gonna happen and keep on happening until it's fully integrated into this, into the RTO industry. And I don't I and I'm just being me, you know, I'm not professional in that realm, but I can say that I've been here long enough to see where things are going. And I can definitely say an automated platform that can do collections and some sales is something that people are looking for. They're trying, they need a breath of fresh air. I think Richard and his team can do it. Now, Ashley being an absolute great sponsor, they're always there for us anytime that we need them in the RTO industry and out. So we're talking about people who are there and things that are there for us. What role does APRO play in the ability for rent to own as an industry to stay solvent? The legislation part of the RTO engine. You mentioned that a couple times already. How important is it for APRO to be a part of the legislation in the RDO industry and how does that work? Do we have bodies that sit there and kind of let us know when things are on the on the rise, the things that we need to worry about? Or are we how often do we get together to go there? Is it once a year to go and get everybody together and kind of talk to our representatives about how important the RTO industry is?

SPEAKER_00 42:03

Well, I you know, I'm glad you brought this up because this is really, you know, RTO world, the programming education, all of the stuff that we do, this is secondary to what our really core and main mission and focus is, and that is protecting the RTO industry. And what we go about it it is a 24-7 continuous everyday 365 service that we we provide as part of what we do. Ed, our longtime general counsel, Ed Wynn, wrote an article in RTO HQ a few years ago, uh, and he really likened it to that. We are the antivirus software. Uh we're constantly running in the background, looking, monitoring laws, regulations, bills, activities by regulators, where the winds are shifting, uh, what those priorities are. And that is uh that's something that's really important that we we are constantly doing. You know, the I I think it's kind of almost in that same going on that the antivirus software metaphor there. You get your alerts sometimes when your your virus is running or your virus software is running in the background. And sometimes it said, hey, we've prevented this attack, or hey, look, this is happening right now. And we've got functions like that. We we send out whenever there's like a bill that affects affects the industry. Most of the time, this is on the state level where there's a proposal or there's something that we're we're keeping an eye on and we want everybody to know about. We we send out an RTO alert uh that goes out to all the membership. And then you know, if the if these things start to advance, we've got a number of of playbooks out there as to how that we react, typically in a lot of ways, involving our state associations who are really on that ground level grassroots area to react to to. get in front of the legislative committees and and the the legislators when these things are happening. We've also got and I you know I cannot just be even I cannot express how important our government relations committee is at APRO. And this is really composed of we've got three of the best attorneys in RTO that provide leadership for that Brian Prochesky at Renda Center, Rachel George from Aaron's, and Christine S. from Progressive. They're all April board members and they just do an incredible job and an incredibly important job really kind of being at the forefront and really working alongside our our our general counsel at Wynn to be out there and monitor it because that that's really what we're here for. And that it is we've got our mission statement but our the underlying focus of our mission statement is to prevent bad bills and to to keep our APRO members solvent functioning and to promote this industry where it's going to continue to grow like it has done over the past 50 years.

SPEAKER_01 45:06

Now when you say it happens usually on a state level is there any any other federal is there a federal level threats that we have to worry about as well or is it is it primarily at the state level that things arise?

SPEAKER_00 45:17

Well I you know the federal level is the big one and that you know with the states it's really you know we got 50 states to worry about 49 really if you kind of discount one in particular but you know we we do a lot on the federal level one of our big events at least with APRO is our annual legislative conference. We were able to resurrect that this year and this is a chance for for all of our APRO members to come to DC we'll have a we'll have a meeting we will you know get scheduling and then all walk up to the hill and walk the halls of Congress and go meet with our our representatives and our senators and really just uh to convey who we are and who who we're not and I think that's really the big thing that we've got to worry about is really being locked in with a lot of of what we're not and uh you know this is really a a good a good chance for for all our members to go up and really promote the industry and to really give a face to it of to go up there and say hey I am you know so and so from this state and I own this number of stores and we employ this many people and we service these several hundreds of customers that uh in this district and what we do is important. What we do is in demand and needed and uh we provide a great service and an alternate form for good people to get good products. And so yeah that's a uh that's one of our important things we're hopefully looking forward to doing that again this year. We kind of got set back with the pandemic and then the just kind of restrictions on visitor access and in the halls of Congress over the past couple of years. And so that's a just a really important thing and that I've you know strongly encourage everyone out there to to get involved and go up there because I I can I can tell you it's times like this that we don't we're not there asking for things or you know asking for a bill or asking for for for favors or any action on their part. We're just up there to build relationships and to put a face to this industry that with these guys up in up up in DC and so it's just incredibly important function of what we do with APRO and and part of that legislative function of really monitoring our legislation and really having a direct impact on that. And related to that we do have a PAC this enables our members to kind of contribute to the APRO PAC and then we can distribute those funds out to and we do to two legislators and two campaigns and to try to have you know input on that level as well.

SPEAKER_01 47:57

What it sounds like is April is the voice of Rentona we're looking for the face right and the face is every one of you guys out there who are listening to the RTO show in RTO land in this industry putting a face to the voice of RTO and April allows us to to make things happen to protect the industry and to help it succeed and grow in the future. So I like that I I like that we have that ability and I like that April is looking forward to getting everybody together and putting these things together so that we can talk to our legislative body and say hey don't tread on us we're here to uh we're here to serve the community and and I think that sometimes people forget that that the main focus of these FRDAs and MRDAs and APROS is that we get together as a unit we get together as an industry we get together as a family and we go up to uh legislation and wherever whatever state you're in wherever you are and and say hey we we serve our community and we serve it well and we want to continue to do that with your help because we aren't asked for anything but the ability to serve our community. So I think that's amazing Charles and I you know circling back to it I did say I know that April is the voice of rent to own I'm not even going to argue with that.

SPEAKER_00 49:05

I'm just thinking like maybe like a side note or maybe like a a second voice you know but anyways yeah I you know what and this is really kind of going back to that storytelling aspect and I I I love what you do with this show because I think it is a you know we've got the magazine that's our print piece and then having this digital unique format with the podcast and you know the the interviews that you do and the stories that you're able to tell through this medium to really you know highlight what this industry does and how important and significant it is you know to our economy and to the the the customers that are out there and our owners and our employees and just the number of lives that the this industry touches uh you know what what you do is so important with this in that facility and doing that. So so yeah if we need to figure if we need to figure out a way to uh to rebrand that then let's talk.

SPEAKER_01 50:01

Hey you know I I'm just saying I just love to be a part of it. But I I think it I I always wanted to because I've worked at a couple of different rent owned companies and I think that the passion is always there. We always do the same thing a little bit different but there's passion. There's passion in this industry and I've met people years and years and years ago and I I I was talking to Paul Mative not that long ago it was a couple days ago and I mean I met him during that crisis uh in 2004 when Charlie kind of destroyed everything and you know what he was there and then here I am you know almost 20 years later and there he is and you know it's always putting out a hand to the people in need and I want everybody to know about rent to own. I want everybody to know that there is something more out there than what you see it's not just a sign. It's not just four walls. It's a community and uh it not only is it a community but it's an industry that's looking to always help the communities that they're in always help the people that they work with and like you said get nice people nice stuff. I think Mike said that I I it's nice to hear you say that.

SPEAKER_00 51:01

That is Mike's line I stole it. Yeah I was gonna say I stole Mike's line sorry Mike.

SPEAKER_01 51:06

We just want to get nice people nice stuff and and I really appreciate the fact that there are some people willing to come out here and and take their time and put their knowledge and what they do in a form that other people can listen to when they have an opportunity. You know Mike has done an amazing job with what he does at Trib. You know Paul's doing an amazing job with what he's doing at FRDA we're gonna be able to put this on before RTO World in 2023 San Antonio. They're gonna be able to hear Charles they're gonna be able to know what's going on with APROL and what's the direction the ability of of what we have to put together for the scholarships and the disaster relief and the classes that we want to we want to teach these next generation of of RTO individuals whether it be in a further education or whether it be right here homegrown in our industry where what we're doing with you know the legislation and making sure that everybody's on the same page I think RTO world is amazing. I love APRO and I'm so glad that everything's going on but I will say this one more time Jen Troke is amazing. She's my hero and everything that I do I do because she allows me to she helps me through it she she got she always has a kind word for me. She always has a smiling face and she always does it. Not that anybody at APRO else isn't doing a great job everybody else is doing a great job and in memory of Shelly listen guys if you guys don't know wonderful wonderful job and a lot of time and energy that she put into APRO we are so happy that she has been able to be memorized the way she has in these last few weeks and these last uh few days so shout out to the family we do appreciate everything that she's done Charles I'm so glad that you were able to be on the show I I know that you're new at this you got two months behind the belt and you're still kind of swinging for the fences so I'm so glad that you were able to kind of take some time and talk to us a little bit the unofficial voice of Rentone right now and uh just talk to me and share a little bit of news with me. And I want to tell you I can't wait for RTO World San Antonio 2023. Yeah well hey look I I really appreciate the opportunity to be on the show and I'm glad we had a chance to to be down in Florida and that you uh you you asked me to be on and I probably owe Kevin Silvers uh and Robbie Tyson a beer their their agency work and trying to promote me to get it get me on so absolutely listen those guys are amazing I I love those guys they're they're always there every time we go to a show every time we do something those two are there they're very solid individuals if you guys need any printing done or if you need anything from them please reach out to Kevin but let me tell you they are some upfront guys and they will take care of you Robbie Tyson as well they're just amazing. RTO family wants you to know we can't wait for RTO World 2023 San Antonio from APRO. There's going to be a lot going on expect a ton of great information to be had there the educational classes and the most amazing shout out to pay it.com paydot has got the biggest platform going on you guys do not want to miss what they have to say at April their convention's set up and I am afraid that I think and I think I talked to Jen about this I don't know if I could change it but I think I'm talking at the same time that Richard is talking. So I'm gonna gotta figure out a way to work that out. But if you guys are coming in and you guys see me let you know we're gonna have some fun for those 50 minutes and we're gonna make it happen. Charles again really appreciate your time and I really appreciate what April is doing for us. I want you to know I can't wait to see you except the RTO world we're gonna we're gonna make sure we have some fun.

SPEAKER_00 54:19

All right well thanks Pete I really appreciate it and I'll I'll look forward to seeing you in San Antonio.

SPEAKER_01 54:23

Thanks Charles and I want to tell you what you get a shirt I won't be able to send it to you before I get there. So Charles I will have a shirt for you when I get there because at some point in time you've got to show love to the RTO show right we got it we all got to show a little bit of love.

SPEAKER_00 54:38

I will hold you to it if you have my shirt then I'll have to come down to Sampa to find it.

SPEAKER_01 54:43

I'm gonna try to bring a few shirts I probably owe quite a few shirts I keep saying that I'm gonna owe more shirts than I've got but I definitely want to make sure you have one thank you so much for being on the show and we'll talk to you at San Antonio RTO World 2023. All right great thanks Pete appreciate it and you tell everybody over there we appreciate the work they're doing. Thanks Charles we'll do thank you and just like that that's our conversation with the CEO of APRO and let me tell you he's got his hands full he's got a lot going on but we do appreciate everything that he's done so far everything that APRO's done and is doing for the RTO industry. And listen guys if you guys have any questions please hit me up at Pete at the rtoshow podcast dot com. That's our email you can go to our website and hit me up through that at www dot therto show podcast dot com and listen guys if you want to look us up you don't want to go to the website you can see us on Facebook and Instagram you can look up the RTO show podcast the RTO show on Facebook and the RTO show on Instagram have a lot of different things going on. We do that for you because we want you guys to know that we care about it. We want to be invested and we want you to be invested in the show. You want any swag go to the website we have some shirts available they are changing a little bit so we're gonna get a little bit of a different format on the shirt so whatever we have left we're gonna start doing a discount pretty soon and if you want to be a sponsor of the show please go to the website hit the link on a sponsors page and find out how you can sponsor the show. Listen it's it's not easy to do what we do but we want to do it for you. We want to shout out to the sponsors and let them know how much we appreciate them. Thank you so much we'll catch you next time