RTO World 2026 Highlights: Hello West Palm Beach!

If you think rent-to-own is just a transaction, RTO World 2026 proves it is a full ecosystem built on relationships, standards, and real community impact.

Pete Shau is in West Palm Beach with Charles Smitherman, CEO of APRO, for a candid recap of the event. They cover why networking is a competitive advantage for operators and vendors, what the APRO Legal Summit revealed about TCPA, texting, and shifting state laws, and why the Generative Knowledge Initiative matters now that AI and search engines are already explaining rent-to-own to customers, journalists, and policymakers. You will also hear about the Women's Forum, the Tissett Talk, vendor speed dating, the scholarship silent auction, a passing of the torch at the hot show, and an $80,000 giveback that put mattresses and furniture in the hands of young adults leaving foster care. Then Charles previews RTO World 2027 in Cleveland, including an experience party at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Subscribe, share this with someone in RTO, and join The RTO Newsletter at thertoshowpodcast.com.

What You'll Learn

• Why networking at RTO World is a real business advantage and how to use it
• How TCPA and texting rules create risk for stores that market by phone
• What the Generative Knowledge Initiative means for how AI describes rent-to-own
• Why tire and wheel, shed, and franchise operators belong at RTO World too
• How the APRO Charitable Foundation funds scholarships and disaster relief

Guest

Charles Smitherman, PhD, JD, MSt, CAE, is CEO of APRO, the national trade association for the rent-to-own industry, and a co-author of The Rent to Own Revolution. He leads APRO's legislative monitoring, best-practice development, and AI readiness efforts.

Tools, Frameworks, or Strategies Mentioned

• Protecting the Transaction Legal Summit: APRO's annual session on legislation, consumer protections, and best practices, now in its third year and aimed at building a self-regulating industry.
• TCPA and Do Not Call best practices: Guidance APRO is releasing on telephone, texting, and marketing compliance under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
• Generative Knowledge Initiative: APRO's effort to publish accurate, industry-authored content so AI and search engines describe rent-to-own correctly. Resources at rtohq.org/AI include the GEO toolkit, AI best practices, and an AI implementation playbook.
• RTO 101 Knowledge Base: APRO's digitized industry history, research, and customer and employee stories built for an AI-driven world.
• Vendor speed dating: Four-minute rotations that give service providers and new vendors face time with operators before the expo.
• APRO Charitable Foundation: Scholarship fund (about $1.3 million awarded to date) and disaster relief for RTO families. Donate at rtohq.org.
• LEAP program: APRO's on-demand education library for members.
• Recorded education sessions: All RTO World 2026 breakouts were professionally recorded and are available on demand to APRO members.

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Transcript

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Welcome From RTO World 2026

Pete Shau 0:07

Hello and welcome to the RTO show, the only award-winning podcast in the RTO industry. I am here with my guest, CEO, triathlon addicted, super push-upper, uh Charles Smith herman, CEO of APRO. Uh and guys, I want to tell you before we start today, I just want to make sure that you guys understand there is so much going on in RTO today. If you want to learn more, go to the newsletter. Go to www.therto showpodcast.com. Make sure you just scroll down a little bit, subscribe to the newsletter because we talk about things that we on there that we don't talk about here, some of the events that happened in the outside RTO world. And uh, if you want to be a sponsor also, you can go to the page and become a sponsor. Now we are at RTO World 2026 West Palm Beach. And this is hello, West Palm Beach. Charles, this was this, I gotta say, and I've heard this for several times from several different people. This went like a well-oiled machine. It seemed like it was just seamless. One thing right after the other, right after the other, right after the other. And I know we've said this on a bunch of previous podcasts, as we've covered RTO worlds in the past. It takes a lot to do that.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Yeah. So uh thanks for having me back. I'll I'll say uh this is two in a week. Well, that's pretty exciting.

Pete Shau 1:24

Yeah, oh, that's right. You know what? I'm telling you guys, he's a professional podcaster now. Look out because Charles Switherman is on the scene.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

But um We had a uh over-under on how long it would take for you to mention your award. I had two minutes, so I guess I missed that one by uh a minute and 55 seconds. Congratulations. I see it over your uh I guess your stage right shoulder.

Pete Shau 1:48

Listen, if you guys don't know, there is a new addition to the podcast, and uh it will be making its debut in this one here. But what I gotta say, you know, Charles, is the events went over really well. I think the city went over really well. But let's start at the beginning. There

Golf Outing And Networking Value

Pete Shau 2:03

was a golf outing that I I think everybody and their grandmother wanted to go to. How did that turn out?

SPEAKER_00 2:08

Uh it's great. You know, we had good attendance, a really nice course up on on the north side of uh Palm Beach, and you know, the participation was good. I don't know how great the golf was, at least with my my group. But uh, you know, it's always the I I love that. It's always a good way we always get together at the beginning of the event, uh just reconnect. Sometimes you haven't seen many of the people that are there for weeks or months, and uh just a great way just to kind of get things started off. Uh you know, the networking part of this event is really the important is is a really key and and critical part of the making the event a success. And being on a golf course with friends is a a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Pete Shau 2:49

Well, I definitely I you know what? I have to say that. You uh you you hit the nail on the head. It's not just the events, it's not just going to a buying event, it's not just the education, it's really the networking. It's seeing the movers and the shakers in this business, people who might be the first time that they're or the 50th time they're there. The networking is probably one of the most important things that I've got to say. Networking is so crucial in this business. It is one thing that I can I can tell you right now. If you have a question about legal, you have someplace to go. You have a question about sales, you got somewhere to go. You got a question about customer retention, employer retention, growing your business, changing businesses, selling your business to somebody. This is the place that you want to be. And it's so important because RTO World kind of covets everything under one roof. So, okay, let's say that we had a good golf out and we had a good time. Let's get to the nitty-gritty. There was something that uh that happens on the first day.

Legal Summit And Best Practices

Pete Shau 3:40

Now, there's registration on the first day, but you have the legal summit and then you have the woman's forum. Now, before we get to the woman's forum, I didn't make it to the legal summit, but what is the reason for having the legal summit during RTO World and what exactly is it that we're talking about?

SPEAKER_00 3:52

Well, I I think that's uh we were able to bring together just such a huge portion of the industry and representation from the industry over the course of these few days when we get together for RTO World. And the Legal Forum, this was our third year of it. Uh it's got various names, the Protecting the Transaction Legal Summit. I joke this year, this is what happens when you have let lawyers brand your thing. But it's it's really important. Uh, whenever you can get essentially the majority of the membership and the market in the same room to discuss what's going on out there in terms of legislation, in terms of legal developments. And really, I think what we've been able to do with this is turn this into a discussion about best practices. We are really working to develop this industry into a self-regulating industry. And the way that you self-regulate is that you're uh promoting these best practices, establishing standards uh about how to do things. And uh we're fortunate to have uh some great great attorneys in in the industry that are willing to, like everybody else in this industry too, is willing to share their knowledge and information. And so the summit really allows us, rather than doing like a just a breakout session that's very focused on legal, we're able to have a little bit more time, get into much more more you know broader topics uh with uh an interested group that allows everyone to come in to devote that time to it. So it's a great program. Like I said, third year. Hope we can continue to do it again because it's uh I I think it's hit, you know, it hit the hit the note that we've been trying to hit, and it gets seems to be getting better every year.

Pete Shau 5:30

Well, uh, you know, if you guys don't know and you don't get the newsletter from APRO, it comes out every Tuesday. And so you've probably heard me mention New York quite a few times, but there was actually several other laws that's being watched by APRO. And, you know, the reason I want to say this is because I always say, hey, they're the legal watchdogs that look over this industry, but you might not know exactly what's going on. Go to that newsletter because there was like three other laws that was being watched. And, you know, some are good, some are bad, some are worth it. Some are just for you to know, especially when you're in this business, you don't want to be taken by surprise when somebody walks into your store and says, hey, you're not doing this the right way. And here are the legal ramifications of that. So being a part of the legal summit is huge. And and being a you know, understanding from the legal standpoint of this is how it can affect your business, this is how it does affect your business, whether it be how you do credit card services, because I know that was, you know, there's a part of that, you know, whether it's New York and saying that we're going to reclassify this transaction, or whether it's just something simple, the legal summit is something to look forward to. And if you haven't gotten to that point, go to the newsletter. If you are an APRO member, make sure that you you you take it out of spammer wherever it's going, make sure that you're reading that because every was it, is it once every month, there's a legal section that comes out and says, hey, this is what we're covering.

SPEAKER_00 6:41

We do a special edition each month that shows what we're watching. And we're we're very fortunate. We've got uh a great law firm with Hudson Cook and our friends Justin Hosey and Daly Wilson that uh they really do a lot of legislative monitoring and providing advice to us on this. And so what we've been able to do by by really having this firm is really we can watch the RTO statutes. That's what we've been doing for uh we helped pass them and now and we've spent years watching the statutes. We've got a the kind of breadth now to be able to um really look at what's affecting a business because it's not just about the disclosures that need to be in your lease agreement and the consumer protections that we've we have there and and promote. It's it's just as much about credit card processing fees. That's an issue for running your business. You know, wage an hour, employment issues, uh OSHA issues. There are all types of things that just just being a business, whether it's a small business or you're running a multi-state operation that that affects us all, just uh, you know, being customer service focused and forward. So we're able to really encapsulate a lot of that and uh really watch that and help advise members on uh what's happening and what we're what we're seeing and how to adapt to it. And and importantly, to to really develop and promote best practices to for the industry as a whole. Like we're seeing this from these things, and this is what we need to be doing just as an industry to provide those consumer protections and adapt to the realities of modern business and this ever-changing era that we're we're in right now.

Pete Shau 8:15

I feel like every time I turn around, there's something new coming around the corner that's gonna fundamentally change how we do things. But I do have a question, talking about you know, the agreement, because we mentioned that on the live podcast, and we've mentioned that before, and it seems to be the hot point topic that's come up recently is if you haven't had your agreement or your rental agreement looked at in your state to solve whatever problems happen in your state as far as the laws that they have, has there been something that come up with AI, number one? And I know that there's a lot of laws right now that are coming out saying, hey, we're regulating the way calls are being made. We don't want, you know, spam calls. We don't want people being harassed. You have the ability to put it on a blocking list. Are those some of the things that are being covered in this legal summit?

SPEAKER_00 8:57

Yeah, and we and we touched on a lot of those. I mean, any in any type of marketing, uh, and you've got to think, here's the problem. Like a lot of these statutes, telephone TCPA, Telephone Communications Protection Act. It says telephone in it, right? Well, whenever it was written, they weren't really envisaging what you could do with this telephone. Yes. They were envisaging the roll dial type of thing. And so it does create a lot of uh uncertainty and confusion for businesses. Like it, you know, are parts of this covered how you market is a text message uh part of that. How do how is that regulated? And so it's a very evolving issue. You don't not only do have federal you know oversight of it through the FTC and the CC, you've got uh state level statutes and then you know law that's being made through lawsuits and judicial decisions. And so there it's a it's a large amount that that that's out there that we have to be conscious of, just for just running a business and how you communicate with your customers, much less market to to do ones. And so that was a big topic uh of discussion and it's something we're actively working on right now. Uh we'll have some best practices coming out very soon on uh TCPA and uh do.call registry.

Pete Shau 10:10

You know, and now that I think about it, I think I would love to have those two on a podcast and just get really granular on some of the legal issues that we can and do come across in this business because we are not out of the woods. Guys, it happens all the time. If you have any questions, you should reach out to April and find out what it is that we're doing right and what it is that we could do wrong, and make sure that you guys don't do that. So

Women’s Forum And Belonging

Pete Shau 10:31

then moving on from that, on first day, day one, there's also the woman's form. The women get together and they put on something, and it's not just 30 minutes or an hour, it actually has a little bit of length to it, and there's a lot of depth into it, actually. They were asking me some questions, and Charles, I just felt like I didn't have a really good answer, things that I've never really asked myself before. Uh, and I thought it was amazing. And I want to say there was a there was a panel up front. It was being led by Lauren Talisca, but I know that there was other like very, very successful entrepreneurial women there that were kind of giving their their thoughts on, you know, being a mother in the business. How does it, how is it to be a woman in the business, period, uh, whether you're married to somebody, whether you do it on your own, whether you're a family, and how that all works and culminates in the way that they see it. What was the idea behind the women's forum and and and how to can how do we make it grow? How do we how do we expand on that continually?

SPEAKER_00 11:22

So again, this was in one this was the third year of it. Uh and and I could tell you, like, as with everything that we do, our approach is to try and it's an iteration, and we get better and better. And I think this was hands down the best one yet until next until next year. Uh but we you know, the the idea was simply like we're we are the networking is such an important part of this event, and it's because that that it's relationship building. I mean, this this whole business is about relationships. And so we're looking for ways that we can help with you know, create senses of sense a sense of community and belonging. Um and so this was just one area that uh we we we kind of looked at and thought that that had the idea. Uh Jen Troke, I'll give her a lot of credit, uh Trisha Fisher particularly, too, the two of them, you know, brought in Lauren, we had Candace Hill this year, Teresa French. I've had several people on the panel in the past before just that help with this. So it it's it's just a way to I think anytime you can share common experiences and know that you're kind of not alone and maybe seeing or or experiencing things, legal summits, a good example of that. You know, oh I'm dealing with this thing in my business, and to hear, well, everybody's kind of dealing with this or someone else's, uh, you make that connection. I think the women's group is a another way that we're trying to use what RTL world's about in bringing people together and just developing those sense of inclusion and uh relation building relationships with each other. So it's it's really exciting. I think it's continuing to get better, and uh this year was no exception.

Pete Shau 12:59

Well, I agree with you. I think some of the names you you mentioned were definitely some heavy hitters. I also saw Heather Cleek in the room. I've seen a lot of people there that really, you know, as you're going through, as you go through the halls of history with RTO and everything that it's been through, I just saw some names in there. I saw some people in there that are just like they have really helped shape this industry one way or another. If you haven't been to the women's forum, I'm gonna tell you now, you've got to take time to go look. And if you have somebody in your life, in your business, in your part of the world that can that can add to that, by all means, make sure next year they go to the women's forum because it is so empowering to watch and to see and to hear all their stories of how they got there, what they do to be successful, and the extras that they they the extra things that they have to take on as who they are to be in that successful situation. And I and it was absolutely great to see. I'm glad that I was able to take part of it this year. So going into that, then you have the regular night and the registration. Now,

Education Tracks Plus AI And SEO

Pete Shau 13:56

next day, we've got the educational piece. Now we've got, is it was it four, four classes at three a piece, or was it three hours at four apiece? I couldn't remember.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

Yeah, we uh you know, we always struggle with this because you don't want to do too much and you don't want to do too little. So this year was basically three breakouts time sessions uh with four separate classes, four separate classes in each of those sessions. And then we had you know the with kicked it off with the keynote, we then and then we concluded it up with the TISTA talk the following day. Um I I think that's the you know, with the education stuff, it's there's core things that we always need to talk about. It's rent and collect. That's the at a base level. The bread and butter. What's what the cool thing is, like we can pull legal summit, we can talk about legal issues on the front end. Uh we can build community, particularly like the women's group, we can pull that out. And then Tuesday, uh we're we can really get into you know the bread and butter of of rent and collect and the things that are affecting both of those both of those things, whether it was you know AI with the session that uh Ryan Krass and I did, or you know, specific things like gaming or Amberly Benayo on our team and uh Mark Williams did another AI session. You know, we were able to kind of really uh you know uh pull from that center, but that's really the core things, and then we really get into on that on that main day of education.

Pete Shau 15:18

You've probably asked your favorite AI question lately. So have your customers, and increasingly, so have journalists, policymakers, and people trying to understand rent-to-own. That's why APRO launch this Generative Knowledge Initiative, a nationally recognized and award-winning effort to make sure that when AI talks about rent-to-own, it has accurate, credible, industry-authored information to learn from. APRO is building a stronger digital foundation for RTO through industry research and data. The RTO 101 Knowledge Base, decades of digitized industry history, customer and employee stories, and resources designed specifically for an AI-driven world. Why does it matter? Because if we don't define our industry online, someone else will. But April can't do it alone. Every member website, customer story, piece of local content, and accurate explanation of rent to own adds another credible voice to the digital conversation. Ready to get involved? Visit rtohq.org forward slash AI. There you'll find April's GEO toolkit, AI best practices, AI implementation playbook, and more practical resources built specifically for rent to home. That's rtohq.org forward slash AI, your starting point to help make sure the future of RTO is informed by the people who know it best. Us. I hear there was only standing room only in your in your group, and it was really packed out. You guys had a full house talking about what you were talking about, whether it be the GEO, the SEO, how AI affects your business and all that. And so, with that, if you want to see Charles on there, I hear that April is going to be able to have this uh playback of all of their educational sessions so that people who are invested in April, the members of April, can go back and watch this. Am I right?

SPEAKER_00 17:05

Yeah, and and this was something, you know, it was uh I said we've always got the problem of like how do we balance it? And I and I I said this at the beginning before we broke out to the group of yeah, we're it's gonna be impossible for you to choose. I mean, our education committee worked for a year to line this up and to develop tracks, and we sent we put symbols on, you know, this one's for owners, this one's for managers, this is for marketers, this is general. We really tried to provide something for everybody. And I hope the criticism we get was there were too many other options. And so, in in anticipation of that critique, we recorded it. We made a pretty big investment. I've I've seen that some of the videos already, and they were really well done, professional videos. And so we're we're getting ready to, we're in the process of getting those set up, and I'm guessing probably beginning of next week will be have those out for anyone to view. So on demand, go back and if you couldn't make it into my room because there was no place to stand, you can watch it.

Pete Shau 18:03

You know, I I'm gonna say this because you know, the way that RTO is, some people can go and some people can't. If you haven't been to an RTO world, I'm telling you, you're missing out. Now, I'm not only saying that because I was there and networking is super important, on top of the educational piece, on top of the recognition, on top of the buying show. But if you haven't made it, you don't want to you don't want to substitute one for the other. But if you can't make it to RTO world, this is the second best way to do it. And on top of that, I in in my personal opinion, I think I saw more cameras in this RTO world than I have in previous ones. I don't think there was a part of the uh of what happened in these four days that wasn't covered. Tell me if I'm wrong. Is this has this been the most you know covered as far as video is concerned, RTO world that we've had?

SPEAKER_00 18:47

Yeah, uh, you know, we we recorded professionally recorded all of the sessions. That was important. You kind of hit on it. I mean, there's an element here. This is such a cool event. There is an element we want to create some some FOMO here. Uh you probably, if you were watching any of our socials, you saw we were releasing, you know, day recap videos uh coming for the videographer team. So we we've had that uh, you know, a lot of that and a lot of things we're doing right now is about storytelling, as you well know, and you're doing this as well. But that's you know, we could talk about laws and statutes and consumer protections and things like that all the time, but uh when a customer can tell the story, when an employer employee can tell their story of the people that they help and uh the role that RTO has in their lives with their jobs, those are the best ways that we can promote the industry. And so having this huge gathering gave us a good opportunity to to continue to work and lean into developing that storytelling aspect. And uh so we had cameras to do that. Uh they were they were following around building these kind of montages and recording things that hopefully they weren't too noticeable. We told them we're black, uh, but they kind of blended in uh for for the most part. But then they walked we're around the showroom floor doing uh kind of the same thing, doing these testimonial videos. So so yeah, we had it was a lot, uh but it was there there was a a lot of intentionality behind it and strategy behind it. And so I'm really excited for what's gonna be coming out over the next trickling out over the next several months uh as we make use of what we were able to do there.

Pete Shau 20:17

Well, uh you know, I was gonna say that because I mean if you if you just take the amount of classes that April put on right now, that is more than a day's worth of viewing material, right? I mean, you're talking about different subjects handed down by different people, different aspects, different viewpoints, different levels. You've got the 30,000 view, you know, guys like Dan Fisher and them, then you've got something more like 10,000 view, then you've got the five, you know, five foot view. You've got basically everything. You've got AI, you've got all these subjects. And because they're about 45 minutes long, you have a lot of subject material to cover. And on top of that, I think there wasn't a part of the uh the show floor or any other floor that wasn't covered. Now, you know, I will tell you guys this. If you go to my YouTube channel and you look up my highlight video on the YouTube channel for the RTO show podcast, you will see probably a couple minutes in it that Charles is doing the push-up contest. I know that I said I would have it on my last one, but I have it on this video. So if you guys go check that out, which was great, the keynote was absolutely fabulous. I loved his energy. I love the way he was talking. I and you know, I think charisma is the unsung hero. I say that all the time. I mean, just seeing somebody and embodying that and saying, hey, this is what we were up against, this is what I was up against, and be able to overcome that. He did a great job. Yeah, it was Alex, right? Alex was his name.

SPEAKER_00 21:34

Yeah.

Pete Shau 21:35

And and you know, so he did he did a great job. I thought it was I thought it was amazing. I love the skit. Honestly, I'm gonna tell you because I've mentioned it three times already. I love the skit. I'm not gonna tell you who won. You're gonna have to go see the video for that. But Charles and I have matching uh awards, that's all I want to say. So it was really good. On top of that, we get around. And uh there was also in involved was a tiss it talk.

Keynote Energy And Tissett Talk

Pete Shau 21:56

Now, I gotta ask, what does it take to get my name on one of these stages? I mean, you you got a name like Michael Tissett. Mike Tissett has uh an hour to talk, and it's usually never enough, but so much information, so much good information. What was the idea behind Tissett Talk? Where did that come from?

SPEAKER_00 22:12

Well, I I I mean, if you've ever heard Mike talk, one, he he's an incredible speaker. I I think it's not only just his presence and his the energy that he brings. The the the cool thing about Mike is he he's really well read. And everything he talks about is stuff that he's not only thought about and kind of developed, but it's stuff that he's doing. And so there's you you know, he he's had a lot of success in the industry. He's well respected. And so he when he talks, people want to come in and listen. And so we've tried to facilitate that. This year we we moved him into the ballroom, so we made sure we he was standing room only last year. And I and and I think there were 150 seats in that.

Pete Shau 22:51

I was uh yeah. I was standing in the back.

SPEAKER_00 22:54

I sure was so we made sure that did not happen again this year, and we we put him in the main the main ballroom for that had seating for 500. So yeah, he he did an excellent job. It's always good to hear him talk. And uh just you know, it's the cool thing about this event, you get you get people that are one, just passionate about the industry, and two that have something to share. And three, they want to. I mean, we have people ask to do these sessions. We are not out hunting, you know. This is a it's it's a it's a privilege to be able to come and do it. I think both uh and I could say that being haven't been able to present for the past couple of years, it really is, you know, to be able to do that and communicate something that you know and is special and that can be utilized uh in the industry is really cool. And I think, you know, watching Mike do it, uh I always joke with him. I'm I'm always taking notes about just his his presence and persona, like of how he does his delivery. But the content that he provides is just is just great. And so I, you know, we're gonna we're gonna trademark Tissett talk going for I think he I think he's stuck doing it again next year.

Pete Shau 24:00

Well, it was it was definitely a good, you know, as you sit down and listen, you're listening to not only somebody who's done it, not only a person who's been involved in some of the Legends series because he did work with his father. His father was a legend of the series, then he's taken over what his father's done. You're talking about a guy who can literally be in the business from the top all the way to the bottom. I mean, I've seen him do Facebook Lives in stores all the way to having a TISSID talk or RTO world. I mean, it it he does all aspects of it. And I think that's part of listening to somebody because you feel like you can dial in, no matter if you're an owner, whether you're a multi-unit, or whether you're a GM, you can feel of what he's talking about because there's a passion and an understanding for the business that everybody can kind of cling on to. And and I I think he had 29 touch points, which I know he had to get through them pretty quickly because one hour just was hard. But in those touch points, it it was for everybody. There was something for everybody. It didn't exclude one type or one person, not a multi-unit, multi-unit, owner, non-owner, whether it's an operator. I think there was something for everybody. And I think that's what makes what Mike talks about just so good. Now, talking about that, now let now we get into the nitty-gritty. We

Awards Night And Industry Momentum

Pete Shau 25:06

we're talking about all that. We had an award show, and I'll tell you right now, it was it was always it's always beautiful to see. Second to none. I'm gonna say, Charles, though, I did not know that there was a contest for videos. So now, if there's anything that happens next year, we're gonna have to do it. Listen, the strong said absolutely like the way it was cut, the way it was presented, probably the best video I've seen in a year. That was hilarious the way it went. But the strong's video, amazing. WoW brands love the video. That was that was great, you know, and just watching these uh the way that the industry is growing, the way that it's maturing, the way that it's kind of, you know, you give somebody an inch and they they've been they really make it their own. And it was great to see. It's always great to see, you know, an outpouring of love from you know April to the industry and vice versa, because I mean those people earned it. They they really do a lot to earn it. And then, you know, to see, I'm gonna say it, to see my face up there, if that was something, that was something special. You know, I would tell every listener that has the show, you know, I might have said it in the beginning, but I don't take it lightly. I really do appreciate getting that recognition. The Legends series was no easy feat. I mean, you're talking about people scattered all over the country and and now in some cases doing other things. You know, it just you're talking about Kevin Quinn, who's kind of done his own thing. You're talking about uh and I I love Edwin. He's retired. He came back to do that specific show. You're talking about Chris Korse, again, who has been out of the business, coming back to have conversations with us. You know, there's been a few of them. There's been a few of them. And and whether you're talking about former directors to Tribb or whether you're talking about guys who helped literally run April and the industry at the same time, you know, it's it's wonderful to see the recognition. It's wonderful to be a part of those people and and and just say, you know what, we're we recognize because every year it's people who really earned it. It's people who love the industry and who've been a part of it. So that was great. And I'm gonna say again, uh, you know, if you're looking over my shoulder, there is there is the award that's gonna be there for the it's gonna be there for the remainder of the podcast and probably for the remainder of the podcast forever. So I'm just saying that.

SPEAKER_00 27:12

So uh I would say that that if uh with you know the cool thing about the awards, and you're a good example of this, we it spans so much time. You had the Strongs with with Mike Sr. who started his business, I think 40 yep, 45 years, they were 1981, 82. You know, you've got that, you've got Talisha that's been on the APRO staff for 36 years, 35, 36 years. So, you know, you've got all of that, but then you've got like you that has nobody knew what a podcast was in 1980. Right. Developed that. I think what Ryan Krass and the Wild Brands group have what they the way they it leaned into SEO and now GEO and the and the tech piece was you it's just a really uh Bill French too. Bill French been around for a long time being inducted into the Hall of Honor or the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Hall of Honor. So seeing the span, I I think the just the group of people that were recognized and honored this year was just really it was really special. But I think it was, you know, I think people felt it uh that were in that room and got to be a part of it. It was just it's one of the most special ones I've been able to be a part of.

Pete Shau 28:18

Well, I'm gonna just congratulate. Oh, thank you. But I I I I gotta say the touch point of the videos was great. I I think it did help out the process. And not only that, it it gave them, and again, I didn't I didn't know it was gonna be like that. I'm gonna have to work on it next time, Charles, but you know, to be able to put their flair that you know, just to get to know them just a little bit better for the people who don't know who Mike Strong is, for the people who don't know, so you know, Bill French, God, he he's so instrumental on what's happened to our work and the industry in all these years to be able to say, oh, well, that's a little bit about Bill, that's a little bit about this, it's a little bit about that. And and you know, I thought it was a great touch. I really do. Yeah. Talking about great touches, something that I actually got to witness this year was the vendor speed dating. Guys, if you don't know what that's like, that was something different. So you've got to imagine huge round tables where people sat at, usually with their company, their peers, their colleagues, and you have the vendors that are going around with I want to say it was a four-minute time frame to run over and say, hey, this is what I got, this is why it's important, this is why you should use me, and then I'm gone. How did that end up in, you know, how did that come into fruition? Whose idea was that?

SPEAKER_00 29:28

You know, this was uh I'll give Jen Troke some credit here again. She kind of came up with the idea. You lad we tried this last year. If you were there, we were in a room and we kind of the tables probably weren't everybody's running into each other. We had some things we could improve on. And I think we did. I think this year was just it was great. It went really smooth. Uh there were a lot of participation with it. I think the idea was, you know, we do the hot show, and you really need a product there. So we've got kind of an issue there. We've got a lot of service providers that don't, you know, you you can't put in your service at a hot show deal price. So you're kind of excluded from that. Uh so we were trying to find a facility or a way to to involve service providers. Then there's also, you know, the thing with new a new vendor coming into the space, you know, the the challenge, it we're a very relationship-driven industry, and and the challenge for a vendor is to get in and and start, you know, making those relationships. That's the networking part's really important for that. And so we're trying to find ways of, okay, we've got how do we connect new vendors, people that have maybe not been around for too long, service providers, give them a give them a few minutes. The idea is they've got four minutes, but the idea is to get them to go down and spend some more time with them at the booth the following day. Um and so that were, I guess, uh a couple days later, but that that's the idea. And I think it's worked. I mean, we had uh we had 10 10 vendor tables, they were all full this year. And so uh so it's exciting. It was really uh I think it was really well developed, and we've really you know continued to improve on it. So uh again, another one I'm excited about bringing back next year. And uh now everybody knows what to expect and see if we can grow it, continue to grow it and get more people involved in it, because I think it really did it helpful. We're gonna try to measure too, like what was the impact for some of these vendors in terms of their booth traffic uh during the expo time, because that's really the kind of the main goal that we were trying to trying to achieve

RTO’s Future AI And Advocacy

SPEAKER_00 31:23

there.

Pete Shau 31:23

Well, you know, something that I want to add to that, and this year with going on to RR Tire Express, there's been a whole new part of Rent to Own that I actually haven't been a part of. I'm I've been traditional for the last 20 week, 20 years. So my 21st year, which I will be completing in November, is all R Tire Express. If you if you understand how this is, you know, we had a mid-year event come that Sunday, and that mid-year event was talking to the franchisees and trying to find out different things, different ways that we, you know, we had some great roundtable talk, we had an update, and we just got together and really meshed as a team, as a as an industry, you know, the tire and wheel part of it. And we talked, well, if you think that that was great, which it was, I'm gonna tell you guys, it was great. There is a lot of RTO world that you can actually participate in that has nothing to do with the furniture traditional side and more to do with just rent to own, because we are two sides, but of the same coin. So in those situations, I would encourage anybody at R to, you know, become a member of April if you're not, number one. And number two, all those educational pieces that we were talking about, those 12 courses, that has everything to do with rent to own. That is everything to do with customer retention, employee retention, knowing on and understanding AI, the legal summit. Listen, we might be selling a different thing, but we sell it the same way. Your agreement is going to read the same as mine. All those features, benefits, and situations that are super important that come down from our legal, our legal counsel, it affects you as well. Those things are very, very important. The women's forum, listen, I have seen some female GMs at R and R Tire Express that can can outsell and outpace some of the guys I've had on my own team in my life. So let me tell you, that's for you as well. So it's not just, hey, you know, this is a little bit more for the, you know, for the traditional side, so I'm gonna stage left. If you guys have the opportunity to make it down to the, you know, any RTO world, whether it be in your state or whether it not be, especially if you come down for the mid-year, and I love that they were able to tie it in kind of to the same time frame. Please, by all means, visit because you can get something out of it. Now, maybe the vendors are a little bit different, but you know what? I've seen routing vendors sometimes in there with deliveries, routing. Maybe that helps. I don't know, but I unless I checked, everybody has customers that they got to go visit, maybe knock on some doors. There is some, you know, like RG Co. RG Co isn't specific to the furniture side. RG Co is specific to what they do as CPAs, and they understand rent-to-own very, very clearly. That affects, again, the tire and wheel and the traditional. So if you think that there's not something there for you, you might be pleasantly surprised. Now, especially, especially, and I'm gonna say this because I know this is real. If you want to just go for the R2O World Live podcast, you can go just for that because it's definitely worth paying just to go see that. I gotta say, I had the most fun. I was sitting there and I was reviewing some of the uh some of the footage, and it seemed like every time something was talked about, every time something discussed, that was another bit of information to be taken out of it. I mean, there was no fluff in that piece. If you guys haven't seen the RTO World podcast, you have got to go again. Go on to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, you can go to YouTube, take a look at it. You're gonna hear me, you're gonna hear Charles Smitherman, and you're gonna hear Adam Sutton, the CEO of R Tire Express, kind of talk about a lot. And none of it was specific to just one brand or the other. It was really the entirety of the rent-owned industry. And sometimes I think we forget about that. Sometimes, even before I got into this, I forgot about it. There is a huge, huge industry out there, and it's not one side or the other. Soon we're gonna get some shed guys going in on this, and we want you guys to talk about it. But the whole RTO show podcast that was done live was amazing. We were able to bring in a producer, so it not only was the quality better, but we really got to sit there and have a great discussion about the industry and what's going on, whether it be AI, whether it be the culture. I think that you yourself, Charles, mentioned, you know, you're talking to legislators about the difference about what we do and what buy now pay later is and what creditors are and what we are not. We also talked about something that we're going to keep on talking about, guys. The book, the RTO Revolution. It is out. And guys, if you haven't read it, trust me when I tell you, it's worth the read. I know that it can be a little hard at some times, but that is exactly the way we structured it because it was made to give everybody the information they need on the RTO industry from the very first beginnings all the way to what we're doing with AI. It is in that book. You want to take a listen to it. Charles being one of the people who wrote that book, being one of the authoritative figures that got it down. Charles, how many times have you signed books? Who, who, I mean, people are people coming up to you and lining up saying, hey man, sign my book. Is that what we have now? I've signed a cut. You know, if you want Charles's signature, you got to make it down to the next RTL world or or you can see Charles in DC. Coming up next year, and we'll get into this a bit later, is the DC legal. It's, you know, Ledge Con is probably one of the most fun times I have of the year because, you know, I get to see people who might not make it down to one or the other, but these are the guys who are literally walking the halls of DC fighting for us and letting the legislation know we are regulated, we are here to stay, and this is what we have to offer to our community, our people, and our employees. I mean, it's just huge all the way around. And I think you said it, one in 20 households are being affected by rent-to-owned because that's how often we show up. And then, guys, I'd be honest with you, if we added tire and wheel and shed into that, you're probably gonna be a little bit less. You'll probably be to like 18, 17 households. And when you talk about those kind of numbers, Charles, it's so important to have the representation. You know, we're talking about, you know, you know, the how the legal summit goes and what that's for. Well, this is a culmination of that in real time. So I don't want to say, you know, anything that's gonna be crazy, but I tell you, you're gonna have a good time. Not only do you go, you get to see your legislators in person. You get to see how this works in person. You don't want to miss out on that. But talking about something a little bit quiet, let's talk about the silent auction.

Scholarships Silent Auction And Relief

Pete Shau 37:33

This year we had a killer siler auction. If you guys didn't see some of the stuff that was being uh auctioned off, man, I saw everything from a Kobe Bryant picture with the rings on his hand to vacations and getaways. You got Charles, explain to the guys a little bit, explain to our listeners a little bit what was the silent auction and then what was the purpose behind the silent auction?

SPEAKER_00 37:53

Well, so you know, every we've got the April Charitable Foundation and uh the scholarship fund. I think we hit $1.3 million in scholarships that we've given out in the past several years since its inception. So every year we're trying to, we're the demand's going up each year, and so we're trying to, you know, sustain that, replenish the the funds that go out to the to the families that uh are in the industry, because that's what it's for. If you're part of the RTO family, if you work for a company, you're you've got a uh a child that's going on to pursue higher education, trade school, uh, that's what it's for. And so the demand's going up, and that's great. And we're trying to meet it. We've tried to do fundraising things, I don't know how fun they were. I had to sing one year, uh, I got thrown into talking balloons uh last year. And so the idea was not to have to sing or not have to go get wet. And so the we came up with this one, and I and I say that really we wanted to be a little bit, I mean, really quiet, literally, in this case, not not as like making this a highlight or take it distracting from anything else. And so this was something we've seen at other conferences. This group kind of comes in uh and they do a good job, they balance out. We we collect donations, and we had a lot of members uh that that really stepped up and donated, you know, vacation homes, uh cigars, bourbon, wine. There was a uh a shirt with my face on it that Kevin Silvers, of course, Kevin Silvers would supply that.

Pete Shau 39:23

Kevin, we love you. I appreciate that. By all means, we appreciate that. I'm sure that that's got quite a few uh bids on it right there, Charles.

SPEAKER_00 39:30

I'm sure I'm so that was the idea. It was just that we uh so we had a lot of donations from our members to put in for that, which was which was great. And uh so that yeah, it it's cool. It gets exhibited, we put it right there right in front in front of the exhibit hall for people to walk by. Uh all done on all uh online. So go in, scan a QR code, put an item number in and bid on it. So pretty, you know, it took a lot of the administrative time off of our hands to be able to to do it that way and uh for us to try to raise some more money each year. So that and that's kind of the goal. That it's it's for a great cause, and this was a really cool uh I keep saying this was I mean, we had so many cool things at this, and they're uh you know, this is one thing that that I really love about the industry and love, you know, I talk all the time about do we are we known for what we want to be known for? And I think everything that we do through the April Charitable Foundation, whether it's disaster relief or families affected by uh, you know, events or natural disasters, those things, uh we're able to get money to them quickly to help help them out in a time of need, or in this case, scholarships for you know, just higher education development, you know, being job ready. And so this was a really uh just a great way. We found I think we had really good success with it. We'll be reaching out and trying to get more participation from our members next year if we do it again. And yeah, it's just a cool, cool thing we were able to do.

Pete Shau 40:54

So was it a success? Do we would we say that it's a success? Did we raise enough money to say that we're gonna help out definitively in the communities that we're helping out?

SPEAKER_00 41:02

Yeah, I mean I I've not gotten the final numbers on it, but I know we grossed about $20,000. So we'll we'll take home a good portion of that and able inject that into the scholarship funds that go out. Uh uh they're going out right now. We're sending out checks right now. We approved our scholarship when we open up our scholarship process, I believe, kind of in April, May. Uh, and then we in it's a it's an inter there's an interview process, an essay, and then we announce the recipients in July. So we'll start that process all over again in 27. And uh it's always good to have these contributions uh to be able to facilitate that and make sure we've got enough to meet the demand that that's there.

Pete Shau 41:42

So you know, on this podcast, I don't just talk about any company. So when it comes to rent-to-own, we talk about what works. If you're an RTO retailer and you're still running your marketing and your CRM like it's 2020, you need to talk to WoW brands. I've had their CEO, Ryan Krass, right here on the show. And what his team has built is the real deal: a full digital ecosystem made specifically for rent-to-own. Websites and e-commerce that actually convert. A CRM built for our industry, not just bent to fit it. Vendor inventory management that keeps your ordering and pricing dialed in. WoWBrands isn't a general marketing shop dabbling in rent-to-own. This is their whole world, just like it's ours. Head to WoWBrands.com and tell them the RTO show sent you. That's WoWBrands.com. Well, I will say, if you did not get a chance to go to RTO World 2026 and bid on anything that was amazingly great in the site on auction, you can still visit rtohq.org and you can go through and navigate, and you can also deliver some type of help, some type of relief to the disaster relief fund through that. Don't feel like we're ever neglecting you. You always have the opportunity to help, and we appreciate it because the truth is, you know, anytime that you help others, especially in our situation, we love to help our rent-to-owned brother and our sisters. It it's one of those things that we have to look out for who looks out for the industry. And who better than April to do that? If you guys have any questions or you have a concern about where to, you know, supply some funding to, go to rtohq.org. I mean, you can definitely and I forgot what page it's on, but if you go into the search bar and hit that, a funding page will come up, and then you can be part of the solution to some of the people's problems and some of the needs that they have. And we really appreciate that. And then as we go past that, as we get through the silent auction, there's a dance party at the end of this. We get a little crazy, have a little fun, have a look, hello. And I gotta say, the food was great this year. There was a lot of food everywhere, really enjoyed it. But uh, you know, there's an experience party. If you haven't been to an RTO World 2026, they always like to thank everybody with the experience party. And we'll talk about some uh some other gatherings. But the experience party was great, loved it. Unfortunately, it rained a little bit, so we got all really intimate and got kind of close on the inside and And if you guys don't know, uh, one thing that RTO people love to do is networking after hours. It's just a good time to be able to let your hair down, talk about some of the events that happened, and you will find out that if you think that you're alone in some of the things that happened in RTO, you are not. Uh it it it's gonna really take something wild and crazy ridiculous so that somebody can say, I've never heard of that. I mean, it's usually like I I I did. And always the question is, you did? How did you get through it? And they will love to tell you that story. And and and part of that is the camaraderie, the networking, being around colleagues. It's it's so great to see people from around a country gather and get together and be able to, you know, enjoy just being around other professionals who understand what you're going through. Again, whether you're an owner, an operator, a multi-unit, or whether you're just a GM, it's great to kind of get that knowledge out and really just talk on your own terms. So, you know, if you if you if if you don't do it, you really should come down to RTR World. I don't know if that if I'm trying to get that point across yet, but you really should go to RTO

Hot Show Traditions And Cleveland Next

Pete Shau 45:02

World. Now, there was another gathering, and I want to say there was a passing of the torch for a sold, sold, sold all the way down to the second generation. Are we ever gonna see Lynn Leech do it again? Was this the this is the last time?

SPEAKER_00 45:17

This was the swan song, so that was it. He was uh he was presented with a a special microphone to commemorate his uh final passage. And uh so Ben has stepped in. Ben has been Lynn has been training Ben for I I think going on at least a year and a half or more. And uh the I sa I saw Lynn after, and he was you know, I kind of did a double take because he was standing at the back of the room and Ben was still right there doing it. I kind of looked at him, I was like, What are you doing here? I hear you up there. And he said that was, you know, I I told him I was like, I did I couldn't distinguish, I thought you were still up there. And I think for him that was uh, you know, just uh that was that passing of the torch and being able Ben for everybody to carry that really special talent to do uh to do that one, but to carry Lynn's energy that he brings to it and make it as memorable as he does. It was kind of a special moment seeing that that being passed on. And I know Lynn was really, really enjoyed that and appreciative of it.

Pete Shau 46:17

Well, I want to I just want to paint this picture for everybody. If you don't know what we're talking about, there is the hot show. So you have the pre-hot show, you walk around, you find out what are the goods that are gonna be taken to the next level. And when I say that, these are the really the best buys of the entire show. Now, not the only great buys, but these are some of the some of the best buys that you can get at the show. Well, then they actually do the hot show itself. So the hot show is you have a paddle, you hold it up, and they will call your number and you tell them how much of that product that you want because you're never gonna see those prices again. Well, every time and the years and years and years that we've been doing this, well, Lynn Leach has been on that stage and he has been directing that traffic. And you know, he's just he just has a way of being. And the actual sold, sold, sold was created by Lynn as as a way to say, we have got to the end of this particular product, we're going to the next one. So they are sold, sold, sold. Now, Ben Leach, his son, who is now the CEO of uh Ace Rent Own, has taken that over. So not only is he taken over the mantle because Lynn has decided to retire from Ace Rent Own, he's also taken over that particular job when it comes to the hot show. And you're right, it was hard to tell the difference. I mean, he did an amazing job. He kind of stepped up and really, really did that. So it was it was hard to see him not up there after a while. It was it was one of those things like we know it's time, he said it's time, he's very okay with that. We spoke a little bit at the show, and he was like, you know what, this is this is a time where I know this is where I need to be. Ben is where he needs to be. We've gone and done this the last couple of years, and now it's all his. And I, you know, I see that, you know, Charles, and in coming to these RTO worlds and seeing a lot of these owners, I think that that time is coming for a lot more where you're gonna start seeing some of the passing of the torches because now rent to own is, you know, 45, some in some cases 49, 50 years old, depending on who's been doing it. And it's gotten to that point where it's time to pass that torch. It's time to get on to the next level. And guys, I can't tell you how important it is to understand what you're getting yourself into. AI is so important right now, being online, having your presence, and and kind of adding the new spin to what we're doing right now, making sure that the guys that are doing it right after us understand we have been here first and we do it best. And not only that, we are regulated. We don't have to run into any more regulations. We've been regulated for the past, depending on what state you're in, 20 to 30 years. I mean, it's just, it's just right to do. And so watching that pass along is just one I feel of many coming down the pipe. So stay locked into the RTO world and you'll start seeing different people. But I love going there and uh kind of just seeing the guys that I've seen, whether it be from the last show or whether it be from a year ago, it's always great to catch up. It's always great to kind of, you know, pat the guys on the back, catch up and find out what's going on. Now, we've had uh, I I gotta say, if you don't know, Old Rourke has been doing an amazing job. God, they only had they almost had their entire row for everything that they're starting to supply right now. And uh thank you to Ashley Furniture who who came around and was did a great job. Also, Fox Populi coming through and being a major sponsor of RTR World 2026, guys, visit them. Make sure that you take care of our sponsors because they take care of us and they make those things happen. And then I've got to say, I know that we've talked about in the past, as we're looking to other cities and other places to go, it's always a year or two years in advance, but at least we know now we're gonna be in Cleveland next year. That's right. Are you ready? Are you ready for Cleveland? Isn't that the rock and roll hall of fame?

SPEAKER_00 49:51

Yeah, this is gonna be an exciting one. And we're, you know, we we've got very specific criteria we look for for for host cities. I I think West Palm was was a great fit size-wise. We had a lot of attention. Move in was great, the commission center was great to work with. So we kind of look for those things, and then Cleveland is, you know, one, we also look for unique places that not everybody's been to. I mean, there are only so many times you can you can go to Dallas or even Atlanta or places while they're convenient close to airports, they don't really have the same kind of charm that a and I could say this with Omaha. That was one not many people have been to, and a lot of people said, why? And think people were very pleasantly surprised of of being able to go out there. Uh West Palm was a new place, and so when you look at the heat map for rent to own, the heat is really in that Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania. Uh there's so much of rent to own going on in that area. And so we always try to to bring it back to the uh you know to the Midwest at some point, Ohio's Midwest, but that's the uh the idea is to bring it there. And so we looked at several cities, uh, really kind of you know, from from Cincinnati to Columbus to to Cleveland, and uh Cleveland was is is just such a great fit. The facility is gonna be great. We on the site visit, and this was an unusual thing, but we signed to host the experience party. We signed the contract for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to have it there before we signed the convention center and the hotel deal. So uh that's gonna be a big centerpiece. And uh I you know I feel very confident to say that's gonna be the most memorable experience party that we'll we'll ever have. It's it's gonna be just an incredible, uh, an incredible night once we get there next year.

Pete Shau 51:41

So, you know, I I'm I am curious, is it I mean, RTO world technically, and I will I'm gonna say four and a half days because we did have a Sunday get together uh and we'll talk about your 6 a.m. walk in just a minute. But in in the situation where they do it, is is it stretched over four days because there's just so much content that you need the time frame to do it in? Is that is that the idea?

SPEAKER_00 52:03

You know, when the the August show used to be an April show, and it legitimately used to be stretch over four or five days of of content uh and education and banquets and all types of things. Uh you know, a few years ago when we partnered with Tribb on this, we we've kind of tried to keep a consistent cadence going. I think we're part of why it's a little bit longer is we've got a full move-in day for our vendors. We found that one, that helps just the flow, the stress, the it takes the the compressed time frame off of the vendors of having to get in there and get their business set up. And so we've added that. Uh and so by having that day, that's allowed us to really pull out the legal summit and the women's group and put them on a separate day where we're not bundling everything in. You know, it it's weird and kind of funny to say that we've got, you know, it it really is kind of stretched out over four, four and a half days, and then you find that there's really not enough, there's so much going on, there's not enough time. And you mentioned a 6 a.m. walk. Well, we couldn't find any other time to do it.

Pete Shau 53:08

There was there wasn't. There really wasn't other time.

SPEAKER_00 53:11

That was it. If it was going to be, it was going to be at 6 a.m.

Pete Shau 53:14

Well, I've I've said, guys, that he is the he is the healthiest CEO I know. Well, this triathlon guy had everybody up at 6 a.m. walking around, and it was great for what again, what? Networking. It was probably one of the best networking times. Not only do you get to stay fit, but you get to find other people, and literally you have an hour just of their undivided attention kind of going around and seeing how beautiful West Palm Beach was. So I gotta say, that was amazing.

Local Giveback And Final Resources

Pete Shau 53:40

You know, going into this final stretch of it, Charles, there was something that I really wanted to touch on because you had mentioned the APRO disaster fund. You had he had mentioned all of that, but there was also another fund that we helped take care of. And as a matter of fact, some of the people in April, some of our people got involved in that. So talk to me about the Boys and Girls Club and how did April affect them.

SPEAKER_00 54:01

So this was something we worked, we worked on with Tribb and with Dennis, Shields over. We kind of have a thing. So like we we bring all of our vendors bring all this product in. We have 50,000 square feet of product, mattresses, furniture, uh appliances. And for a lot of vendors, it's it's just more it's too expensive to box that stuff up and ship it back. And so we usually part of kind of the deal, Dennis does a great job with this of facilitating the sale of the showroom samples. And so I when we kind of get off and kind of kind of the the extremities of the country, I guess, and in this case being down at the tip of Florida and West Palm, it becomes a little bit more of a challenge to sell the samples. Uh, we ran into that a little bit in Omaha last year where we had some stuff that was left over, and uh we kind of had the idea then of why why can't we facilitate some type of a of a give back program? There's someone that can use this mattress, there's someone that can use this sofa or this refrigerator and that that's not going back or has not been sold. And so we started exploring this. Uh, Aaron's uh Michael Walls on our on our board. Uh they do a lot with the boys and girls clubs across the country. And so we had a good contact with him. We started some outreach knowing we were going to have a good amount of product uh that didn't have a was not gonna have a home after the show. And so uh we were able to make an arrangement with them uh for a lot of like the furniture. We have a had a lot of mattresses and and bedroom pieces, and so Boys and Girls Club didn't really have a need for that, but we found another organization called Vita Nova. It was Palm Beach County nonprofit. They help young adults that are coming out of foster care. So essentially when you turn 18, you kind of get kicked out of the foster care system. And so this nonprofit exists to help facilitate that, that transition uh from foster care into really adulthood and being you know self-sustaining with a job and a place to live. And you know, we we we talk about this with the industry, like, you know, it's not a mattress, it's a good night's sleep. And to really be a functional employee, to be a part of a functional part of society, having a nice mattress and getting a good night's sleep is just so important. It's something we all kind of take for granted. And so this was just a really, a really great thing. We were able to facilitate. We had a lot of help. Tribb, uh, errands, West Palm Beach uh had kind of a give back program. And so we're all these things kind of came together where that we had, I believe it was about $80,000 uh worth of worth of goods that were donated. We had really 12 uh companies that stepped in. Uh Ashley gave their entire booth, Almo, Cordres, Corsicana. I'm gonna list all these because they deserve uh Cordres or Corduroys, uh, Corsicana, Global Furniture, Jamison Betting, Living Essentials, Million Dollar Rustic, Navair, Simply Buckbeds, Sutherland, and Temper Seedley International. So $81,000. And it was it I stayed around for to see the trend, you know, the transfer happen, seeing the move out of that space, just all the forklifts and people everywhere boxing stuff up and moving them out to the trailers. They the Vita Nova sent the some of their their execs and their board members came in and just seeing you could just feel the impact that those mattresses were gonna have. So this was just such a great way that we were able to kind of help the local community really kind of get back. They hosted us and we were able to leave something positive for them. And so hopefully it's something we're gonna be able to continue going forward. It's uh I think this industry does a lot for for our communities that we're involved in at home. And so it was a cool thing to be able to go in and be hosted by West Palm Beach and to leave a positive impact. Uh well, I completely agree.

Pete Shau 57:58

If you guys want to help out, remember, go to rtohq.org. You can go on there, you can help out the disaster relief fund or any other fund that we have. Make sure that you donate there. Always, as always, I'm gonna tell you guys if you have any needs, anything you want to talk about, reach out to the show at pet at the rtoshowpodcast.com. You can find us on any, and I want to say any, but any social media platforms, especially YouTube, where you're gonna see this. Charles, it's always great to talk about what we're doing at RTO World because there's always something new and it's always so important to the industry. I appreciate you being on the show. I appreciate you taking out time, you know, and in all that you do to be on here. And guys, if you don't know, Charles is literally flying 52 weeks of the year. So him being able on the show is is just amazing. I want to say this is your seventh or eighth time on the show. I love it. I love being able to talk to you. You go, you are a built-in regular. So if you guys have any questions, again, feel free to reach out to us. Remember, go on the website www.thearchuspodcast.com. You get to order swag like this. You can become a sponsor and you get the opportunity to subscribe to the newsletter. Charles, I appreciate you being on the show. Thank you so much. Just so we can get you guys to remember, we also have a LEAP program that's coming out very soon. And if you guys haven't seen any of the leap programs, if you are a member of Apro, go to Leap, find out what everybody's talking about. You can see a lot more Tissa talking just about everybody else who's been involved in the LEAP program, and they've got a lot of good subjects, topics that you don't have to be worried about crowded outside the room. You let you get to sit down in your own living room or your workspace or while you're running or while you're jogging, whatever. Listen to those leap programs because they are full of amazing information, you know, stuff that you just won't hear anywhere else. Charles, I appreciate you being on. I appreciate everything that APRO does. And for the award winning podcast, I will tell you guys, as always, get your collections low to get your sales high. Have a great one. Thanks, everybody.