Martha My Dear Rentals

Martha Sanabanda dives into how she started her business, Martha My Dear Rentals, as a hobby before realizing it was everything she wanted in a full-time job. You’ll hear how she dealt with internal and external skepticism about becoming an entrepreneur and how she’s found her place in the industry along the way.

What’s in this episode:

Martha’s path from social work to event rentals.
Turning a hobby into a business.
Protecting your business dream from the skepticism of others.
Having family members as co-workers.
How to make space for creative work.
Policies and processes which have fueled business growth.

Quotes:

“Well, I actually find that most of the clients that come to us, they appreciate that our farm tables are made with real wood. […] It just has so much character to it. And so our target bride loves that.” – Martha Sanabanda

“Well, and it also gives you a point of view, right. This is not just any old table. It’s a table created here from the point of view of this place. It’s unique in that way, too. I think it’s really a beautiful way to add to your collection to be hyper local.” – Allison Howell

“We don’t have a business background. We’ve never done this before…It was an idea I just couldn’t stop thinking about.” – Martha Sanabanda

“Whenever I felt like I wanted to give up, I just told myself: ‘This is the course.This is how it is when you start a business.” – Martha Sanabanda

“So in the beginning, it was really tough for me to not be at every delivery and every pick up. And even though physically I couldn’t because I was pregnant, I think I realized that he can handle that. And it allowed me time to kind of dream a little bit about our business. And it gave me energy to do that.” – Martha Sanabanda

“We used to deliver two chairs all over town for an event. We definitely put in place some rental minimums. And that was a bit scary at first. We thought we would lose business. But if anything, I think it’s helped us gain more business.” – Martha Sanabanda