All right. Awesome. All right. Ashley, dig in.
Okay. So before founding Growth Bones Technologies,
what does your career path look like? I've been
in IT since probably before it was called IT.
I started when I was 14 at a local computer store.
and just kind of was in that field ever since.
And leading up to this, the majority of my experience
was either a freelancer, I was kind of a one
-man show doing a lot of things, or at different
points in my career, I worked in IT leadership
in different places, in schools, in government,
in a few different places. But basically during
the pandemic, I decided it was time to try to
do something that was bigger than I could do
as a one person corporation, try to build something
with a team and really try to create some good
jobs and do some good stuff. And that's where
Growth Mode Tech came from and how we got here.
Okay. Awesome. Was entrepreneurship always a
part of your plan or did it happen kind of unexpectedly?
I don't know that I ever really thought about
it that way, but yeah, I would say, I mean, I
started my first company when I was 18, so I
think it's fair to say that that was sort of
part of my plan. Like I said, I don't know that
I ever called it that, maybe until recently.
But yeah, I started my first job at a local computer
store. Started with a guy who built that business
and that really inspired me and taught me so
many things that I still stick to today. And
that's probably, like I said, the inspiration
for that and just the way I saw it. the only
way to do it. Okay. And growing up, you just
kind of mentioned that, but growing up, were
there people like family members, mentors, business
figures who shaped your mindset or approach to
work? Yeah, absolutely. So like I said, my first
boss, his name is Joe, probably taught me more
about the professional world than anything else.
But even before that, you know, when I was a
little kid, My parents bought a home computer
when I was five years old, which at the time
in 1985 was not super common yet. I'm like those
old people. We were the first to have a color
TV. We were the first to have a home computer
on the block. And that sort of definitely helped
set my nerdy path from that stage forward. Understandable.
Was there a moment or experience in your life
that made you realize you wanted to build something
of your own? Yeah, I mean, lots, right? First
and foremost, I'm probably not a great employee.
I don't necessarily work well for other people,
depending on the people, but in general. And
I think that's one of the biggest things that...
is the inspiration, but also you look around
and you see that the only way to really achieve
the things that you want is to do it yourself.
And that's how I've come to be here out of pure
necessity. Yeah. Okay. What inspired the launch
of Girl Folk Technologies and how did the idea
first take shape? Yeah. So, like I said, I had
been an IT freelancer for the majority of my
career. Um, but the problem is that sort of,
you know, that's, that's, you are your own business
and in your own boss in that situation, but it's
really just a matter of creating a job for yourself.
Um, where I wanted to build a company and I wanted
to be able to, um, you know, kind of, kind of
live my values, which is to, to help people and
build jobs and, and things like that. And I thought
rather than, uh, screaming on the internet, Hey,
you should pay people and treat them well. So
let's, let's prove it. Right? And start an organization
that is designed to create good paying jobs and
demonstrate that, um, if you treat people well,
you can be successful and knock on wood. That's
exactly what's happened. Is there like a certain
experience that made you like start thinking
that way? Uh, not really. I think just overall
life, you know, um, kind of seeing what's, what's
happening in society and, and things that I'd
like to change or have a different way. And like
I said, at some point you sort of realize that
nothing will happen unless you make it happen.
So that's what I've at least attempted. I think
you're doing a good job. How did you identify
the opportunity or market gap that Growth Mode
Technologies now serves? Yeah, so that's a great
question. So like I said, Growth Mode Technology
primarily is an IT company. And I've worked over
the years in sort of multiple capacities, right?
So what we do primarily is provide IT services
to businesses. We are their IT company or their
IT department, rather, instead of typically having
internal employees. And I've worked with companies,
I've brought in folks like me, and I've worked
with other organizations like me to provide these
services. So I've got a really good idea of A,
the need and also what everybody else in town
is providing. And there is a massive gap and
it's kind of a mismatch. And that's kind of been
the area that I've tried to fill is to do things
a little differently than everybody else in town
with a strong focus on getting people what they
need more than anything else. Awesome. For someone
who has never heard of the company, how would
you describe what Girlfriend Technologies does
in simple terms? Yeah, technology services for
business is the shortest description. And probably
the most accurate, honestly. We used to say we're
the computer guy. Nobody really uses those terms
anymore, but yeah. When did you officially start
the business and what did the earliest version
of it look like? I started, let's see, it's going
to be four and a half years ago now, Growth Mode
Tech. The earliest version, first few months
started out with me just working out of my house
by myself. And then after landing some business,
we rented a small office in downtown Syracuse
where you could rent literally by the room. And
that was kind of our first real business location
and in the spot where I brought on the first
I think two or three employees, and then we move
to this location. What is unique about Growth
World Technologies compared to their competitors
in the IT and podcast media space? Yeah, so a
couple things. In the IT space, one of the things
that really stands out with us is we do everything
as a sort of all -you -can -eat service. So what
that means is our clients pay us a flat monthly
fee, and for that, they get everything they need.
Unlimited tech support, remote and in -person,
cybersecurity protection, their Microsoft licenses,
their phone service, laundry list of things for
a very, very affordable price, but one that doesn't
nickel and dime. And that's one of the places
that I think really stands out. There are still
a number of organizations in town that do things
hourly. So they bill you by the hour like your
lawyer. And it's a horrible situation for both
parties. It can be expensive. Companies can suddenly
get a bill one month for five times the amount
that they had been paying just because something
occurred. And for the IT provider, if they're
good at something, they get penalized when you
charge by the hour. If I can solve a problem
in 15 minutes that most people takes them three
hours, I'm going to be paid less than all those
people. That doesn't make any sense. And what
happens is it drives organizations who have good
people to then, I don't want to say overbill,
but purposely spend more time than they might
need to on things. And at the same time, when
you're billing by the hour, you get to pick and
choose. So a lot of times companies will go,
I don't know if I want to spend five hours on
you addressing this problem. I don't know if
that's a super urgent problem. When in reality,
that's the kind of like basic maintenance that
can save you massive amounts in the future. So
it's a big deal to be able to offer people just
like I said, everything they need for a flat
price that works out to be less than they pay
from other people. Yeah. Do you have like that
same mindset when it comes to growth mode content,
like the podcast? Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. So
growth mode content, just to give you a little
background on that, that started at the beginning
of this year here, just in the beginning of 2025.
And the idea there was first and foremost, I
grew growth mode tech, I grew my IT business
by making podcasts and content about the business.
Well, what would happen is I would make content
and then I would get some business and be too
busy to make more content, right? So I needed
some help. At the same time, I had a couple of
friends in business who saw what I was doing
with that one to do the same thing for their
business. And the idea was I'll start a co -op,
so to speak. Basically two or three of us business
owners will split the cost of one person who
can do this editing and the basic stuff so we
can crank out content. I started talking to it
to more and more people and I finally put it
out there and people came out of the woodwork.
And suddenly we had more than a co -op. We had
a full on business, um, and enough clients to
support a full team now. So that kind of popped
off immediately. Uh, but to your original question,
um, yes, I do kind of take that same mindset
to that, where we try to provide more value than
anybody else possibly would. for the price you
pay. So, for example, most of our clients are
on a package where we shoot a podcast for them,
take that and create 30, 60, 90 pieces of content
that we distribute for them on their social media
and manage all those different things. And it's
really probably a suite of services that in many
cases people pay three different parties for.
um, and ended up spending three times the amount
of money. Uh, and that's, you know, it's that
type of thing that, like I said, I guess is always
my philosophy is, um, yes, I can provide a high
quality service, but nobody knows that until
you can work with them. And the best way to work
with them is offer them as much value as possible.
So it's a no brainer. Yeah. Very true. Who did
you talk to, research or learn from when evaluating
the idea early on? That's a good question. Um,
really just other people doing it first and foremost,
which there aren't many. And that's one of the
things that sort of led me to this. I saw great
demand, but not necessarily a huge supply, which
to me as the entrepreneur is immediately ringing
bells, hey, this is a great place to be. And
that's really kind of where I did it. I had a
background in the content business for quite
a while, actually. I opened the first content
studio in Syracuse over a decade ago as part
of another venture that I was in. At the time,
nobody knew anything about a podcast and the
social media stuff that we do now with the clips
and the reels and the shorts, that didn't exist
at that time. So it was a different world and
it was not a successful business at that time.
But I had been in it since then and worked with
a lot of people and done a lot of things in that,
and that gave me a really strong background in
these things. That's what helped me leverage
that initially to initially grow the IT business
with content. And we've just sort of taken it
from there, you know? Yeah. I don't know if that
answers your question. Yeah, yeah, it does. What
are some of the first, you kind of like touched
base on this, but what were some of the first
concrete steps you took when launching the business?
I think really just the basics, right? So setting
up the website, setting up the right resources
so that when we announced we had things there,
the thing I didn't want to do and the thing I've
seen others, the mistake they make is put too
much out before it's ready. And then you go,
hey, I got this great new thing. And people go,
ah, cool. I want to check it out. I'm like, oh,
the web's nice. It's not ready yet. It's not
cool. So, you know, it was those basics, some
business cards. I'm a big fan of swag of all
sorts, so I likely ordered some of the company
shirts and hats and mugs pretty early, if I remember
correctly. But it's those basics, really, to
get things going. And then it's a matter of finding
clients. Yeah, makes sense. And on the basis
of ordering stuff, did you require funding in
the beginning? If yes, how did you secure resources?
If not, how did you sustain the early stage?
So I luckily did not. A, because I had enough
of my own revenue from everything else that I
could sort of float that to some degree. Also,
we really came out of the gate with a full suite
of clients. And that's one of the things that
I was able to do is sort of pre -sell. So I think
we had over a dozen on the day that our team
started. And I've always... tried as much as
I can. I've never actually had investors or loans
or anything in any business I've done. It's always
been bootstrapped. And it's a matter of finding
enough business to pay for the resources. And
when you find more business, you can get more
resources. I'm not necessarily saying that's
the best way to go about things, but that's what
I had available and that's how I've done it.
Awesome. All right. I kind of talked to us a
little bit with Amanda, but did you vote the
team right away or gradually? And how did you
decide who to bring in and what? Yeah, so gradually.
Really, again, like I said, because we've been
completely bootstrap, it's a matter of as soon
as we can afford it, right? We didn't necessarily
start with a bunch of capital where we could
grab folks before there was business to support
them. So it was just, you know, kind of naturally
that way. In the IT business, The first position
that we needed to fill was a tech, another person
to go do the work, right? And I got incredibly
lucky that I found our guy Anthony who's running
around here somewhere. And like I said, it was
incredible luck because he's been an incredible
experienced member of the team. And the fact
that he was our first hire is one of the reasons
we've been so successful. And again, from there,
it's just kind of continue as we have the need
and the funds to add folks. I believe in, you
know, paying and treating people really well.
So that also factors into it. It's not a matter
of do we squeak every penny to get one more person
as first and foremost, as everybody else who's
here taking care of. Um, should we give them
more before we do something like that? That's,
that's always a consideration. Um, but other
than that, you know, uh, in the IT world, what's
unique about us as well is, um, I hire folks
for their personality as much as their technical
skills, because what we do, um, as much as we
kind of play the role as the IT department, we're
not their IT department. We're not employees
and we are a contractor. And at the end of the
day, it's our job to provide customer service.
And so we need technical people who can speak
to the computers and the humans, which is a little
bit rare. But like I said, I've been lucky enough
to find a number of folks who have those skills
and that's really been everything for us. Yeah,
true. What were the biggest real challenges you
encountered early on and how did you overcome
them? I think the biggest challenges are just
a matter of having those resources when you need
them. So when we get to the point where we need
three people, do we have the funding for three
people? You know what I mean? Those sorts of
things. And luckily, we were able to grow at
a rate to where that wasn't too big of a deal.
But I would definitely say those are always the
biggest challenges. Yeah. Have there been any
moments where something didn't go as planned
that taught you important lessons? Yeah, nothing
goes as planned. I mean, that's the lesson in
all honesty. Nothing goes as planned and everything
takes longer than you would expect it to. And
if you just sort of accept those realities, it
gets a tad less stressful. It's just nothing
you can do about it. You just have to accept
that. Okay, this is also a question I was wondering
too. How do you balance your personal life and
the demands of entrepreneurship? That's a great
question. Some would say I don't. But the reality
is I do. So I constantly am making time for family
and for even myself to do nothing whatsoever.
People might be surprised to know the amount
of TV that I watch. Um, and it's because I'm
up all night, but, uh, I need to do things like
that to disconnect and just take a couple hours
to be mindless and play a video game and, and,
uh, you know, take the family out of town for
the weekend and things like that. And, um, I
am likely answering emails and texts as I'm doing
all of those things. Um, but at the same time,
that's what I signed up for. So, um, this isn't
a job. Uh, this is, this is everything for me,
uh, out of necessity and passion, right? So,
um, you know, it's, it's, it's not quite the
same. Uh, when you're an employee, you talk about
work -life balances as an, as an owner. You know,
like I said, this is really, uh, unfortunately
my whole life or fortunately maybe, and that's
what I've signed up for. So, um, everything I'm
building is for my family and they get that.
My kids are a big part of the business. My adult
kids both work in the business. My younger ones
are Determined to take over one day. Yeah You
know, so That's the balance is this it's what
we do Amazing how do you think about innovation
and staying ahead in tech plus media? Yeah, great
question You 100 % have to do that in both counts,
right? And the crazy part is both move rapidly
fast and it's incredibly changing. IT, they used
to say, reinvents itself 100 % every six months.
And that stat was from years ago. It's before
the days of AI. So it's more likely doubled.
You know what I mean? The way to stay on top
of it is to be plugged into the communities,
right? So whether... you're going to industry
conventions, you're part of even online forums
and things like that for people in the industries,
networking with other folks. I don't really believe
much in competition. I think there's more than
enough business for everybody in all these fields
and we can only get better when we sort of collaborate
and share news and things like that. And that's
just kind of what you got to do. You got to just
have to try your best to stay on top of these
things. And it's, it is a challenge, but it's,
you know, it is a big part of the game. Yeah,
that's definitely big. When you look back, what
is something you wish you knew at the beginning?
That everything takes longer than I would expect
it to and nothing will go right. Yeah. Yeah.
And what advice would you give to someone starting
their own business to that? That's a wonderful
question. You know, it all depends on what they're
doing. My biggest advice, and I guess I would
just say generically without real context, is
to A, make sure you're not over -leveraged, meaning
I really... just personally don't like businesses
like restaurants or retail where you have to
have a large amount of inventory and equipment
and a lot of things just to do business is not
my game. And there are folks who love that and
they do great in it, but just kind of have a
plan is the biggest thing. And that doesn't mean
it needs to be an MBA style business plan. But
you need to at least have some semblance. You
know, everybody says chase your passion. And
I agree with that. But, you know, just because
I'm passionate doesn't mean I'm going to make
money, right? You really have to understand how
to put those two pieces together. We had yesterday
on the show, we had the musician and producer.
And that was one of the things I asked him, how
do you take the artist and then learn the business
piece of it? Because it's a whole other world.
Yeah. But it's something that you have to figure
out how to meld together. Definitely. What do
you think separates successful entrepreneurs
from those who give up? They didn't give up.
In all honesty, right? So that's, perseverance
is the biggest thing. And some might even say
it's a matter of how much shit can you take?
Because there will be a lot. And business ownership,
entrepreneurship is like a, it looks like your
EKG chart where it goes like this, right? One
day you are on the absolute top of the world
in the next day is the worst day of your life.
And repeat every other day forever. That's kind
of how it goes. And for a lot of folks, they
don't want to deal with that and it's completely
understandable and they bail. The ones that make
it are the ones who sit through all the, make
it through all the horrible pieces and still
want to do it. Yeah. Okay. And we'll add it off
with looking to the future. Where do you see
growth -mode technologies in the next few years
and what excites you the most about that direction?
Yes. So what really excites me is that both of
our businesses, both growth -mode technologies
and growth -mode content are growing rapidly
because we're in high demand spaces. You know,
every company on the planet, um, not only needs
IT, but it is now probably one of the most important
things. Technology is what drives every business
from the oldest traditional company to, you know,
a modern app. Um, so there's no shortage of that.
Uh, and then, you know, when we come to the content
business, social media marketing, content marketing,
uh, is clearly not going anywhere. And it's something
that's booming and still there is a small number
of agencies like ours that are dedicated to just
that. And so I feel like we've got a wide open
market in an area that's high demand. And then
you mix in all the fact that central New York
in general is on a massive upswing. You know,
this area is booming. It's one of the top places
in the country that people are moving to. And
that's because massive businesses are expanding
and opening up. And we talk about Micron, but
there's just one of many. So as a company that
provides services to other companies, we're in
a great town. Yeah, definitely. Okay. Awesome.
That was all my questions. Awesome. Thank you.