Riley: [00:00:00] What is the difference between a fiddle and a violin?
Libby Rogers: Fiddle has strings. No, I did that backwards. Wow. A violin has strings and a fiddle has straangs
Riley: Strings. Oh my gosh. Okay.
Riley: Today is a special episode. I've got my very favorite daughter, Libby Rogers, on here, and she has, uh, just since she was a little girl, been our little entrepreneur in our family. And so I, uh, I invited Libby on here.
She's had some really cool [00:01:00] business ventures and some things going on in her world that are, uh, just something I thought our audience would like to hear. It's, it's, it's be a, a... It's, it's a bit of a milestone for the podcast. It's gonna be episode number 50 here. I can't believe it's already...
We're, we're less than a year into this thing, and we're already 50 episodes in. And, uh, Libby gave me the honor of joining us for the 50th episode. So welcome to the show, my dear.
Libby Rogers: Thanks. It'll be fun to be here
Riley: This is super cool. So we'll talk about you. Tell, tell everyone about growing up being a, a Rogers kid.
Libby Rogers: Um, I'm 22. I'm from Boise, lived here my whole life. Um, I started playing the fiddle when I was nine, and that's basically all I do now. Everything in my life somehow revolves around fiddle, so
Riley: Do you, uh, what, what got you into fiddle?
Libby Rogers: I [00:02:00] had a little neighbor friend that played, and I always thought it looked really fun, so I had her start teaching me. I think she was seven at the time, so wasn't anything official, but we would just play around. And eventually her aunt started teaching me, and then, yeah, I started taking actual lessons from her, and then have taken from a couple different teachers.
Just never stopped playing
Riley: Nice. Nice, and we'll talk about the, the fiddling more as we, as we go on, 'cause that, again, like you said, has been a huge part of your life, right? But, uh, as you grew up, you... We kinda raised you in a, I would say, entrepreneurial family, right? I've been self-employed my whole adult life, and so you kind of were born into that a little bit. Um, but you started to get a, a business interest pretty early on in your world, right? can you
Libby Rogers: Yep
Riley: Like, kind of what, where that started, and kinda where you got bit by the bug?
Libby Rogers: Yeah, Livy and dad's fishing worms. We would go outside at night. It felt like it [00:03:00] was the middle of the night to me, but it was just as soon as it got dark. We would go catch worms in our front yard, and I sold them to people. It was supposed to be for fishing, but the only people that bought them, it was for their compost.
And I only made $30 off of that. I was what? Probably six
Riley: Oh gosh, if that, yeah
Libby Rogers: Yeah, so I was little and I decided $30 wasn't enough, so I stopped that business. Started, I would set up a little table just in the front of our house on the sidewalk when kids were walking home from school, and I would make jewelry, bracelets and necklaces, and brownies and sell them.
Um, I made a lot more money doing that. And then
Riley: about that. He did well with that. Yeah
Libby Rogers: Yeah. I remember I think my biggest day I made $13
Riley: But when you're six years old, that's a big deal
Libby Rogers: Yeah, a lot more than I made off of worms.
Riley: Yeah.
Libby Rogers: Um,
Riley: Oh
Libby Rogers: eventually that turned into, I sold Rice Krispie treats [00:04:00] for a long time. Um, I would go door to door to different offices and businesses and just sell Rice Krispie treats to whoever would buy them. And yeah, I ended up doing that till I was probably 15. Yeah, did that for a long time.
Riley: That's,
Libby Rogers: I, I bought... Well, I saved up all the money from Rice Krispie treats to buy my first car and to buy my first fiddle. Um, but my first car was named Krispie, because selling all the Rice Krispie treats, so
Riley: I loved that. I thought that was so cool. Yeah. It's... So growing up in this house, so one of the things that we did as parents, right, is we didn't often buy you kids things. If you wanted a,
Libby Rogers: Mm-mm.
Riley: purchase or something you really wanted, taught you how to earn it, but we didn't buy it for you. know, sometimes, sometimes we had plans for that where we'd buy half and [00:05:00] if you, if you could put up the money for half.
But as, as a little kid, what, what was that like for you to... Was, was that encouraging or discouraging?
Libby Rogers: It just felt normal. It was weird to me when other people's parents would just buy them stuff 'cause we always had to work and save up. But I'm glad that's how it was, 'cause I think now seeing so many kids that just don't know how to work or aren't willing to put in work to get what they want, it's kinda crazy, 'cause that's just what I was always used to.
Like, if I want something, I have to work for it. And I think now it's made me feel like I can almost do anything, because if I work hard enough, I can do whatever I want. And if... Like, it could be just saving up enough money for something, or it could be, like, the fiddle contest. Like, if I want it bad enough, I can do it.
So-
Riley: Yeah, and that's something we're gonna talk about also is, uh, is your fiddle contest. But talk about the bicycles, right? 'Cause that was a big part of your[00:06:00]
Libby Rogers: I forgot about that one. Yeah, uh, my brother and I, we would buy bikes off of Craigslist and fix 'em up and resell 'em for a lot more than we paid for 'em. We did that for a long time too. I forgot about that, but just any random bike we c-
Riley: I remember this like-- Maybe I remember it different than you because for you it was like, "Hey, Dad, I think I found a bike." Like, it took some time, right? 'Cause part of that little venture was learning what bicycles were worth buying and fixing up and reselling, right? 'Cause
Libby Rogers: Yeah.
Riley: cheap store bicycle, you might
Libby Rogers: You can't sell
Riley: you can sell it for 12 even if you had
Libby Rogers: it. Right.
Riley: bucks into fixing it up, right?
Libby Rogers: Mm-hmm
Riley: So what do you remember about that, you know, the, the experience there?
Libby Rogers: Oh. I remember having a list in my head of what brands to look for. Um, yeah, and [00:07:00] then I know like Trek and Specialized, those are the only two I can think of, but I know those two I always wa- watched for. Um, yeah, I don't remember a ton of that. I just would always get on Craigslist and look, and then have you take us to go pick them up.
Riley: Yeah, I remember driving a lot and having to go
Libby Rogers: A lot.
Riley: a lot.
Libby Rogers: Yeah
Riley: are like, "Hey, Dad, can we, can we go to Emmett to
Libby Rogers: Yeah.
Riley: away or 45 minutes," you know, "one way."
Libby Rogers: Yeah
Riley: I did get a kick out of it. It was a lot of fun because I knew it would challenge you kids, right?
But
Libby Rogers: Right
Riley: uh... also, I remember some of those bikes required you to invest in, right? It wasn't...
Libby Rogers: Mm-hmm.
Riley: of them, it was like we brought them home, lubricated the chain, and washed them, and you could
Libby Rogers: Yeah, and that was it.
Riley: three times as much. But
Libby Rogers: Mm-hmm
Riley: them, it was tires or cables or that sort of a thing, and I think we probably still have pictures of you guys out there with your little tires and
Libby Rogers: Oh, I'm [00:08:00] sure.
Riley: how to do that.
Libby Rogers: Yeah. That's funny.
Riley: do you... When you look back on those times, was, is that fond memories for you?
Libby Rogers: Yeah, it is. It's always fun to think about. I forgot about the bike one, but yeah, all that kind of stuff is fun to think about
Riley: Do you remember having discussions with Danny about partnerships and when you guys would go on a bike together?
Libby Rogers: A little bit. Yeah. Just we would split, like we would each pay for half of it, and then I don't remember exactly how we did it. I think we probably just split whatever we had to put into it. Like, if we had to buy new tires or tubes or something, we'd just both pay for half and then split the money after we sold it.
That's probably what we did
Riley: Yeah, I think those were funny discussions as from a, from a parent standpoint, right? Listening to you guys argue about you were gonna split it and who... 'Cause sometimes there was, I remember, it seems like I remember one of them where you had a [00:09:00] few more bucks than Danny had, and so you paid for more of the, parts that you had to buy for s- a certain bicycle and then, but he wanted half. And you're going, "No, I just put, you know, 75% of the money and so I get 75% of the profit."
Libby Rogers: That's funny. Yeah, I don't... Nope, I don't remember that, but I'm sure it happened. It sounds like something we would've done
Riley: Yeah. Yeah. Do you remember learning any lessons about partnerships in that though?
Libby Rogers: I just always remember you saying it's stupid to have a business partner
Riley: Yeah,
Libby Rogers: That's the only thing I remember about
Riley: on, right? I have a-- I kinda stand on that pretty heavy 'cause I, I know a lot of crazy crap happens when there's partners and they have a falling out and all those kind
Libby Rogers: Right.
Riley: and
Libby Rogers: Mm-hmm.
Riley: yeah
Libby Rogers: Yeah. I never really thought of it as, uh, like he was a business partner. It's just something we always did [00:10:00] together, and so I never really thought anything of it
Riley: Well, I don't know. Again, you, you guys were pretty young when this was going on, so maybe your memories of it aren't quite as good as mine. But, um, one of the things, one of the conversations I remember you and him having was because you went in together on one bicycle, one point Danny had it in his head he was partners on all the bicycles now. And so that was part of the argument. Uh, again, do you remember that? Oh, it's so funny 'cause it was, uh, "Well, we're, we're doing this together." And, and then you guys had to have that discussion of, "No, we're partners on this bike, but this other one that I bought over here, you don't get a part of that one."
Libby Rogers: That's so funny.
Riley: Oh gosh. Do you, uh... The, so fun story, but Libby's gonna tell it. The triathlon, talk about that
Libby Rogers: Um, man, I [00:11:00] barely remember that either. Um, I mean, as a kid we did a lot of races, like the Famous Potato marathons, 5Ks, all that kind of stuff. And I don't remember where I came up with the triathlon. I don't know if you did a triathlon right around then.
Riley: I,
Libby Rogers: Was...
Riley: know, that was
Libby Rogers: It seemed like it was after...
Riley: but
Libby Rogers: that's what I thought, so I don't know where I came up with that.
But the neighborhood we lived in, there was a pool there, and so I decided to put together a little kids triathlon. So I got together with all the neighbor kids, and we made little paper medals and, I don't know, uh, ribbons or something. And I think I probably made flyers or, like, little cards or something and passed them out to all the kids at church.
And a bunch of kids showed up whatever day I picked for the triathlon, and I, I don't remember what I did, but I just remember kids running down that little green ba- b- greenbelt path by the pool, [00:12:00] riding their bikes and-
Um, probably 11 or 12.
Riley: He was young, yeah.
Libby Rogers: Yeah.
Riley: It almost seems like it was before that to me. I don- I don't know why, but
Libby Rogers: I don't, I don't know 'cause we moved to that house when I was... It was right before I turned nine, then we moved out when I was 13, so it was somewhere between there. But probably, if I rem- I don't know, probably closer to 11 or 12. Like, closer to the end of that, so
Riley: Yeah. And that was your first, uh, kind of experience with organizing something, right? So this was...
Libby Rogers: You know what I actually just remembered?
Riley: for that?
Libby Rogers: No, I don't think so. Uh, actually, I probably did.
Riley: I, I was
Libby Rogers: Knowing myself, I probably did. I don't remember. Um, you know what I just remembered? Probably the first thing I actually organized was a business meeting
Riley: Oh my [00:13:00] goodness. Yeah, I barely
Libby Rogers: Yeah.
Riley: that one
Libby Rogers: I barely remember it either. I don't even know how old I was. We lived in Kuna, so I was like seven probably,
Riley: our
Libby Rogers: eight
Riley: We'll talk about
Libby Rogers: Yeah.
Riley: What,
Libby Rogers: Um, yeah, so it was, like, right around when I was first trying to figure out how to start a business. I don't know if I was doing the worms at that point or if that was... This was probably after the worms, probably when I was doing the jewelry and stuff on the sidewalk. I decided to put together a little class or course to teach my friends how to start their own business.
So I remember writing out, I made these little notebooks, and I had all these... I don't, I still have one somewhere. I should look at it, but I think I put the different topics that they needed to learn about, like, I don't even remember what was in there. Um, but yeah, I had this whole list of everything I was gonna teach all the kids who came to [00:14:00] my business meeting.
So then I had, I also got other kids from church to come to that, so I, it was only a couple of them that came, but we sat down and I taught them how to start a business.
Riley: Do you remember if any of them actually did it?
Libby Rogers: I have no idea. I doubt it.
Riley: So time has gone on, right, your, your, your businesses, and some of those we'll put them in quotation marks, right? Your businesses. But, but some of them have really become fruitful to you. And you, you, you mentioned the right... uh, the Rice Krispie treats, right? You would, would go door to door. You would sell these things.
And I remember even as a little girl, you had it very organized, right? And you even knew who your ideal customer was. You knew kind of how to put routes together, and you had, uh, different days of the week. You'd go to different parts of town and deliver these treats, right? you had order forms. I- Talk about organizing that and what was going through your [00:15:00] child head.
Libby Rogers: Um, I just, with the order forms, at one point I thought, "Well, it's kind of dumb to just go to door to door just hoping people will be there that wanna buy stuff." So I made a Google Forms thing and would email all my customers. Anyone who would give me their email address, I would add it to the list. And, um, so every week I'd send out this form, have a time set up.
At the end of the week, I'd go deliver all the Rice Krispies. Um, yeah, then I, I just wanted a way to know, like prepare ahead of time I guess, and know where I was going, um, and how many treats to make and all of that. So that's all I remember thinking was I just thought, "Oh, I could make more money this way if I have people pre-order."
And I did. I made so much more money after I started doing that. But I sold so many Rice Krispies.
Riley: Yeah, it was, it was like our kitchen was constantly full of Rice [00:16:00] Krispie
Libby Rogers: constantly
Riley: supplies, right? Our
Libby Rogers: Yeah
Riley: of marshmallows and rice cereal
Libby Rogers: I had, do you remember that black cabinet Grandpa gave me? I had that full of marshmallows and cereal and all the different ingredients for the different flavors I did and all that stuff
Riley: The butter that was labeled "Libby's, don't touch."
Libby Rogers: Mm-hmm. Yep
Riley: It's, always fascinating to me because I remember when you were really little, was a time, it was before the worms or, that time, you, you know, probably six years old. We were still living out in Kuna, you were playing with Excel spreadsheets. Do
Libby Rogers: Yep. Mm-hmm.
Riley: And, you know, we, we always label things all fancy in b- in business world where we'll have, you know, our kinda gross profit and our, our, uh, expenses and then our net profit. [00:17:00] And you had this little spreadsheet, and you had all these questions about how to make it do math for you and... But your columns, I still remember the columns you put in there as a, you know, six or seven-year-old.
It was, um, made, spent, and kept. And that's-- It's still-- I tell this story all the time because it was so perfect. It was like, that's what we mean when we say gross revenue or we say, you know, capital expenses or all these bullcrap terms that we use, you know, these real fancy versions of spent, kept.
Libby Rogers: Yep
Riley: D-did you 'Cause you still do that kind of stuff, right? It's just a big, a big girl version of what, what you were doing then. Um, you- you've, you've, you've become much more organized in your time. But as you, as you look back on the Rice Krispie treats and the lessons you [00:18:00] learned there, okay, how does that carry over to adulthood now?
Libby Rogers: Um, well, with the Rice Krispie treats, going door to door all the time, that with the fiddle contest now, I've had to do that a lot. So that I think prepared me and kinda taught me what to do when I go in, and how to talk to people, and how to do sales. Um, still not my favorite thing to do, but still have to do it, so.
But I think that helped. Um, even making the order form, I've had to make so many forms like that. I mean, that's really easy to do, but figured it out a long time ago. Um- Spreadsheets I use all the time now too, so
Riley: Talk about the door-to-door thing, 'cause I think, you know, business owners of all levels at some point in their, in their growth as a business owner had to... [00:19:00] They had to do that type of just guerrilla, we call it guerrilla marketing in the world. There's a book called Guerrilla Marketing that kind of got that term out there.
But that just going and getting it. Dave Ramsey calls it kill something and drag it home, right? Um, we started having you do that kind of stuff as a little girl. I remember your brother would go with you as your bodyguard. Remember that?
Libby Rogers: Yep
Riley: 'Cause we didn't, we didn't want our nine-year-old going in businesses all by herself, so we, we sent a seven-year-old with her to or six-year-old
Libby Rogers: to say? I don't remember Learning what door-to-door has meant to you, like, uh, to, to strengthen you as a, as a, as a business owner doing the hard things
Um, it pushes me out of my comfort zone a lot. Like, I have to go in and ask people for money and I hate doing that. So [00:20:00] um, but I have to... I mean, I have to really understand what I'm doing, like what my business is about, so that I can explain to whoever I'm talking to, going to door to door, why they should support me and why it's important, why it matters, which can be kind of hard to do with a fiddle contest, 'cause nobody knows what that is.
So
Riley: That's, uh... I always think about how often you get the question, "What's the difference between a fiddle and a violin?" What is the difference between a fiddle and a violin?
Libby Rogers: Fiddle has strings. No, I did that backwards. Wow. A violin has strings and a fiddle has straangs
Riley: Strings. Oh my gosh. Okay. So door to door, you're... As a kid, right, you, you had this [00:21:00] We used to call it selling cute, right? Do you remember that?
Libby Rogers: Yep. Yeah, because the day I turned 14, people stopped buying Rice Krispies for me
Riley: All of a sudden, all of a sudden it was like, yeah, you, you transition more into this, you weren't just this cute little girl doing it anymore. Now you're more grown up, and they would look at you different, you know? So talk about what, what that did to you or what, not did to you, I'm not gonna get victim or something, but what mindset change had to, had to change in you once that stopped?
Libby Rogers: Um I just realized maybe this isn't the best way to promote this specific business anymore. Um, yeah, so I tried to come up with other ways to keep doing Rice Krispie treats for a while. I remember going door to door again to different coffee shops or, like, little restaurants [00:22:00] to see if I could make Rice Krispie treats for them to kinda wholesale from me and sell at their coffee shop.
That never turned into anything. I think I was a little... I didn't want to make it too complicated and have to figure out the whole, like, commercial kitchen thing and, when I'm 15, like, um, so that never turned into anything. But it made me start thinking about other ways that I could make money with the same product, I guess.
Um, yeah.
Riley: Do you remember... So when you, you talk about the commercial kitchen, right? 'Cause that was an obstacle. That was, that was something that was like, you did have to weigh whether or not, uh, the, the ju- juice was worth the squeeze, as they say, right? is it worth having to rent a place or try to f-
Libby Rogers: Hmm
Riley: this out in order to stay within like, uh, what's not FDA, but the health department guidelines and stuff, right? So, so [00:23:00] you, you decided that wasn't worth it, right? then where did, where did things take you from there?
Libby Rogers: Um, after that I started nannying a lot, or kind of in the middle of that. So I did that all of high school and then a little bit afterwards. Just babysat as much as I could. Like every single day and every single night, babysitting some crazy kids sometimes too, but
Riley: Well, okay. So through that you learned some lessons too though, right?
Libby Rogers: Yes
Riley: So talk about that because, you know, one of those things was ideal clients. I think that was
Libby Rogers: Mm-hmm.
Riley: you, you probably got some of that during the Rice Krispies timeframe, right? Dur-during that. But as you moved on and you became a nanny, there were... I just can think of some families that you, that [00:24:00] you watched their kids that, that didn't last too long for various reasons.
So, so talk about that, that kind of process of deciding who was fit
Libby Rogers: Um
Yeah, I think I just figured out... Well, at first I just said yes to anyone who ever would ask me, and then after doing that for a while, I realized I'm sick of watching bratty kids that won't listen to me and scream all the time. So I kind of started to be more selective about who I would say yes to. Um, I remember being really frustrated with some of the kids sometimes, but other than that, I don't really remember doing much than, like, I would just be a little more picky about who I would say yes to
Riley: If you, um, If you had to write down, 'cause I know like in, in, in our mobile [00:25:00] oil change company, right? I have four written qualifications that a customer has to meet in order for me to keep that person as a customer, you know? Um, and I'll give you an example. I, I don't even know if you knew this was a thing, but they have to pay their bill on time. They can't extend us out, right? They have 10 days to pay a bill. Um, if they go over that more than a couple times, we fire them as a client
Libby Rogers: I'm surprised I'm still your customer
Riley: They have to show up on time, right? They have to show up... 'Cause we- we're mobile, so we take a truck out to wherever they tell us that their, their truck's gonna be, and so they, they have to do, they have to be where they say they're gonna be when they, when they're gonna be there. and then if they're ever jerks to, you know, just if they ever scream at one of my employees, you know, scream and yell and get up in their face about something, um, I'll fire them pretty instantly for that.
It's like, if there's a problem, call us and tell us there's a problem, we'll come fix it. But you don't get to yell at people. Um, and I'm trying to think what the... Oh, the other one [00:26:00] is going by our, um, our recommendations. So if we have a product that we're installing in that vehicle that is designed to last a certain amount of miles, and that customer decides they wanna go farther than that, we won't service them because and things like that, right?
We don't wanna be responsible for their stuff breaking, so, um, or have our name associated with it. So we have these, these written rules about if a person can't abide by this, they can't be our customer. Um, did you have those or anything like that, that you kinda had as, as things you looked for in a, a, nanny customer?
Libby Rogers: Not written out, but I just knew if I went and watched Arcade and hated it, then I didn't wanna go back. That was about all I had.
Riley: Yeah. Well, you've, you've had some experience with that, right? So in that situation it was, it was bratty kids. Um, or, or, or sometimes it was... I remember one family, it was more the parents who didn't really... The [00:27:00] kids were fine, the parents were kinda hard to, hard to deal with.
Libby Rogers: Yeah, I don't remember that.
Riley: You don't remember
Libby Rogers: No
Riley: the parents were just very, um, oh, what's the word? Permissive with their children, and so if
Libby Rogers: Oh, yeah. I guess there were a couple of those. Yeah. That was rough.
Riley: is the friendly way to say it.
Libby Rogers: Yeah.
Riley: Um So current day, you're, you've, you started, what, four years ago probably teaching fiddle? Is that, that sound about right?
Libby Rogers: I think six years ago now.
Riley: been
Libby Rogers: It was in 2020. Crazy
Riley: Okay. So talk, talk about what that is, what it looks like, and what challenges you faced with the logistics of teaching fiddle.
[00:28:00] [00:29:00]
Libby Rogers: Yeah.
Riley: parts
Libby Rogers: yeah, there's a lot to it. I love it. It's so fun, and I love my students. Um It's, I feel like I still haven't figured it out yet, though. It's been six years. There's still so much stuff I'm trying to figure out how to do. Um, I mean, teaching is so different than just playing, and, like, being a good fiddler is so different than being a good teacher.
So I've been trying to just learn how to actually be a good teacher. Um, and then you have all the business side of it, too, like keeping track of, have my students all paid me for the month? Or, um, managing my schedule, and every once in a while, someone will show up on a day they're not supposed to. Or I'll have to deal with kids that [00:30:00] won't listen or kind of the same thing as babysitting and nannying.
It's, you're also dealing with people's kids and sometimes dealing with crazy parents. I've had a couple of those.
Riley: Yeah, most, most are great, right? But
Libby Rogers: Most of them are great. Yeah
Riley: we'll talk about that. So when, when things do go wrong, right? 'Cause every business, every organization experiences that. They, they go through this time of having someone who just is not a fit and, you know, they wanna pay you money, but at the same time not a fit. W- what, what do you have to say about that?
Libby Rogers: Yeah. I mean, it's, I guess it depends on the situation. One of 'em, I had one a few years ago that I was about ready to tell them I just wasn't a good fit for them, like they should find a different teacher. Um, it was more of just a personality thing. Like, I just didn't really... This student was great, but it was the, one of the parents was [00:31:00] kind of crazy and um, was hard for me to deal with.
So, um, I was just about to tell them that, like, "You should go find a different teacher. This is not a good fit." Um, and then they quit, so that kind of took care of itself. Um-
Riley: Kind of things were going on there. What, what were the parents doing that was
Libby Rogers: Oh.
Riley: you the wrong way?
Libby Rogers: Um, just lots of drama about everything. Like, all of a sudden the schedule that we picked didn't work for them anymore. Multiple weeks in a row it was... she would come in, just so much drama about, "We have to change the time," like, "This doesn't work," and kind of panicking, and that, I'm not okay with that.
Like, I'm fine. I, my schedule can be flexible if I, well, if I like you, my schedule can be flexible. And, and if you're easy to work with or if you're, like, reasonable, not [00:32:00] coming in, like, screaming that this conflicts with something else in your schedule that you knew about before you picked the time. I mean, that wa-
Riley: When you say s- like panic and drama and screaming, describe this because again, business owners deal with this kind of thing, right? It's, uh,
Libby Rogers: Yeah
Riley: who, again, they wanna pay you money, but at the same time... And they want
Libby Rogers: It's
Riley: slot in the schedule they want,
Libby Rogers: Mm-hmm
Riley: of what your schedule had to, has ins- you know, what gaps you have in your schedule
Libby Rogers: Yeah. Um Yeah, it was just kind of demanding. Like, "We can't do this, so you have to give us a different time." And that's not in my lesson policies that you can get whatever time you want. It's I only have so much time available, and when I have another job too, like, that limits it. Um, yeah, so you can't be [00:33:00] demanding or...
Like, I can work with people if they just come to me and are like, "Hey, this time's not gonna work anymore," or whatever, or, "This thing's not working. Like, can we figure something else out?" That I'm fine with. But when it's demanding, and drama, and panic like, "Ah, we can't come anymore," like, "You have to get us a different time," I don't deal with that very well.
Riley: So, talking to you, it is funny 'cause I, you know, have a lot of insight into your world 'cause I'm your dad, right?
Libby Rogers: You hear my rants after every bad lesson
Riley: not so much... It's, it's that, it's watching you learn to create boundaries, right? Um,
Libby Rogers: Mm-hmm.
Riley: that people experience, business owners especially, is that blocking out of certain times, right?
So you mentioned you have an, a separate job, which I kinda wanna talk about too. That's a, it's a cool story. But the, the point [00:34:00] is you, you have this timeframe that you have to block out because you have this other job. easy. That's an easy decision, right? It's like, "Well, I'm, I'm at work." But sometimes, and in some of your schedule, you don't do lessons on certain full days because you need a break once in a while.
You need a day off, right? But it's easy for a customer to come to you and go, "Hey, I... can we schedule on this date?" And you go, "Well, I'm really not doing anything." And you almost feel guilty about not scheduling during that day you've got blocked out. But talk about that. How is it, how important is it to keep that date blocked as a, as if it's an actual appointment?
Libby Rogers: Yeah, that's so hard for me, 'cause part of me, I don't wanna lose students, and so I don't wanna... If they really can't come any of my other times, then part of me wants to open up another spot. But, I mean, I have to have time to even just do, like, laundry [00:35:00] and normal life things that I can't always do. And just with fiddle too, like, a lot of weekends I have stuff going on, and so I don't get weekends off a lot.
Um, so I kind of have to have certain spots in my weekdays to just get normal things done. And then also running a contest, like, I have to have days to plan that and go get sponsors and do everything that comes with that. Um, so far it hasn't been too big of a deal. Um, I kind of have... I mean, I know that I like to have...
I don't like teaching more than maybe two hours without at least a 20 or 30-minute break between lessons, so I try to keep those, like, them separated a little bit. Um, and I know that I don't like to have huge gaps in my day. Right now, I have... It's changing for the summer, but for a while I've had, on Thursdays, [00:36:00] one lesson in the morning, like mid-morning, and then nothing else till afternoon.
So that is kind of awkward. And so, like, I don't have very much time to actually go get anything done either of those times, like, before or after the lesson. So I think I need to be more strategic about how I set that up, um, and not offer those random times because I'm not doing anything and I'm free, so I might as well take a student right there.
Like, so yeah. I don't know if that even answered what you were asking, but
Riley: it does. It does because I, I do think-- know that once a month I'll, I'll schedule what I call a clarity break day, right? And it's a day where I like to go out, I'll sit in the coffee shop, or I'll sit up on the, the back of my truck in a lawn chair, and I'll take notes, and I'll just sit and brainstorm, just kinda brain dump. I get ideas outta my head, and, um, when I get 'em outta my head on the paper, it makes it [00:37:00] s- clears out my mind, right? And I can be more creative in the, in the meantime. But uh, it's, it's one of those times, it's, it's, it's on a Friday generally. It's the first Friday of each month. And I, I do struggle with that time out and saying, "Nothing else gets to go there." You know, 'cause somebody may call and say, "Hey, I need to meet you for this," or, "I need to-- I wanna sit down and talk to you about this other thing," and, "I wanna do a phone call," or, "I wanna do a podcast," or whatever it happens to be. And I'm like, "Oh, I need to block those days, and I need to protect them as if they're... if I'm legitimately not available, and then make myself legitimately not available," right? okay. It's, uh, it's something, again, it's okay to do, but we feel almost silly or almost guilty about it.
Libby Rogers: Yeah, I think it's hard having, in a way, having such a flexible job because it is hard to set those boundaries. And I just always think, like, [00:38:00] "Oh, there's this one thing that maybe I don't have to actually go anywhere. Like, I just have work to do on my computer, so I can do whatever during the day. Like, I can meet with people, or I can teach or do whatever, and then I'll just do whatever on the computer in the evening."
But then I am up till midnight working instead of just getting it done during the day. And yeah, so it, it's hard to set those times and not, also not get distracted, especially when you're just working for yourself and no one's holding you accountable. You just like, "Oh,
Riley: What kind of
Libby Rogers: I can do that later." I have not figured that out yet.
Sometimes I'll go sit at a coffee shop and work on my computer. That helps 'cause then I don't have anything else around me that I can do. Like, I can't get distracted, like, cleaning something or playing instruments or I just kinda have to be stuck right there and [00:39:00] get my stuff done. But
Riley: Multitasking, do you, do you find that is a, a thing that you can legitimately do or is it just screw up everything?
Libby Rogers: It depends on who you ask. 'Cause if I ask you, no, if I ask you, well, I would say I can multitask, but then you always complain about how my eggs are always burnt, so
Riley: Okay. That's my, that's my proof that you can't multitask 'cause in there trying to do something in your room wh- while your eggs are on the
Libby Rogers: I have eggs cooking and then I decide, oh, I'm gonna go get dressed or brush my hair or something, and...
Riley: Take a shower
Libby Rogers: No, I don't do that. I mean, I take showers, but not while cooking eggs.
Riley: Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. so here a couple years ago, you get this, uh, bright idea to put on [00:40:00] a fiddle contest, right? Um, talk about what it is. What is a fiddle contest? 'Cause you said, you know, nobody knows what, what that is, what, what the fiddle world looks like. But there's a, there's a big following there, and there's this, um, there's this whole fiddle underground that most people don't know about.
So first of all, talk about that, what, what your
Libby Rogers: What is
Riley: and what the, the fiddle world is.
Libby Rogers: Um, okay. That's hard , So fiddle contest I feel like you have to actually go to one to really experience what they are or really understand what they are. Um, and not just go to one, but, like, actually be involved in one. Um People go to fiddle contests.
There's, I mean, there's fiddlers all over the country, all over the world, but people travel to contests all the time. Um, I think, and I might get some of the background or history wrong, but I think they mostly started [00:41:00] off in Texas. I don't know when, but started off in Texas, and so there's the whole, we call it Texas-style fiddling.
That's what you play at contests. Um, and it's a lot of hoedowns and reels, horn pipes, that kind of stuff that nobody knows unless you play it. But, um, so yeah, I think they started in Texas, so it's Texas-style fiddling. And a big part of it is a lot of the music is just learned by ear. Um, most, not... Maybe not most.
A lot of fiddlers don't read sheet music, or maybe they can, but at least for this music, we don't really have it. Um, and so yeah, you learn all these tunes. Also, if you go to a fiddle contest, they're called fiddle tunes usually, not songs, because songs have words and tunes don't. So don't accidentally call it a song when it's not a song.
It's a tune. Um-
Riley: And do not call a fiddle a [00:42:00] violin.
Libby Rogers: Do not call it a violin. Nope. So you learn all these tunes, go to a contest. Um, everybody plays in the first round. Most contests, there's more than one round. Um, everyone's split into different age groups, and then there's always a category called either open or champion or something like that, where anyone can enter.
It's not based on age, it's just if you think you're good enough to go compete with the best fiddlers there, then you enter that division. Um, you go up on stage, you play three songs, sometimes less, sometimes you only play one or two. Usually it's three songs, tunes. And then there's a few judges that listen and then write down a score for you.
I mean, some contests do it different. You don't get scores all the time, but, um, you get judged, and then you wait to see if you get to play again or if you got cut from the next round. Then there's awards at the end. Um, it doesn't sound like it's that big of a [00:43:00] deal, but when you go to one, it's amazing.
It's so fun. And, um... Oh, were you gonna say something?
Riley: Well, the, it, you know, the, you, you talk about you play three songs, right? But there's a lot going on because it's three songs in a specific order of song type, right?
Libby Rogers: Right
Riley: um, generally the first one, if I remember right, is a hoedown, and then you do a
Libby Rogers: Yep.
Riley: and then you
Libby Rogers: Mm-hmm.
Riley: tune,
Libby Rogers: Mm-hmm
Riley: kind of pick from a variety of different Texas-style
Libby Rogers: s- yeah, they say a choice tune's anything but a hoedown or waltz, but really there's also kind of a set list of choice tunes.
Riley: Yeah.
Libby Rogers: But so it doesn't really mean you can play anything, but
Riley: in some contests there's time limits, right?
Libby Rogers: Yeah. So you have to fit all three of those usually into four minutes. Sometimes you have five or six, but usually four minutes to play three songs. And then you also have accompanists. So you get to the contest, you have to find guitar players to play with [00:44:00] you, make sure they know your songs. Um, also a lot of people just don't have chords written out for any of the songs.
So if you're a guitar player, you just have to hope you know the songs or whoever you're backing up will give you chords, which doesn't always happen. Sometimes too, like when I was backing up a bunch of people a few weeks ago, um, people would ask me as they were walking on stage to back them up, and so I didn't have any time to practice with them.
So a lot of times you just kinda get on stage. You don't even practice with your guitar players. You usually try to, but usually you just get up and wing it.
Riley: Well, there's a lot of that 'cause y- you talked about what's behind the scenes, right? And there's, there's this, hate to call them groupies, but they're groupies that just hang out with, in a fiddle contest. They travel all over the nation,
Libby Rogers: Yeah
Riley: some of them aren't necessarily there to fiddle. Some of them are
Libby Rogers: Mm-mm.
Riley: and, um, or they'll play, uh, a bass or a cello in the background.
You know, they, [00:45:00] they've got other instruments that accompany, banjos sometimes, right? uh, what's the, what's the other one? You, you see the mandolin,
Libby Rogers: Oh.
Riley: they'll, they'll jump in
Libby Rogers: Yeah
Riley: little accompanying instruments
Libby Rogers: Yeah. A lot of times mandolin and banjo you don't really see at Texas fiddle contests. Those are more like bluegrass or old time, I think, is when you see those more. It's kind of... I'm pretty sure I've seen some contests where you're not allowed to have a banjo as an accompanist. Like, that's actually a rule.
Yeah, that's a thing. There's banjo jokes. Um, you'll see tenor guitars, too, sometimes, which I've, I don't even know where those came from. Nobody knows what they are that I know. Like, I don't know anyone who knows what they are outside of the fiddle world. But it's just a four-string guitar tuned the same as a cello.
But those are really fun. If you get a good tenor guitar player, those are so much fun
Riley: So you, you started out competing, right? And
Libby Rogers: [00:46:00] Mm-hmm.
Riley: your way kind of through the ranks of, of the fiddle world, and have met a lot of people in there who have
Libby Rogers: Mm-hmm.
Riley: in business speak, have become your network, right? Um, talk about that and just what, what that takes, right, and the, the relationships you've developed over the years.
Libby Rogers: Um, yeah, going to contests, you just end up meeting a bunch of people. Um, and there's so many fiddlers and guitar players at these contests that, I mean, in my opinion, are some of the best musicians in the world, and you get to just meet them and hang out with them and camp with them and jam and, um... So that's really fun, 'cause you get to hear some really, really good music.
Um, and it's fun, too, when you get to the point where you can start to jam with them, too. It's just, it's the best feeling ever to get in a good jam where all the rhythm is [00:47:00] lined up exactly, and it's so much fun. Um, but yeah, you meet all these really cool people. Some of them are crazy, but that's kinda what makes it fun, 'cause I always come home from contests with crazy stories of either just funny things that happened with my friends or thing, crazy things we saw people do.
Um, yeah. So that's always fun. And then everyone's so nice, though. Everyone's like a big family. Like, we always... We don't really say, like, "Oh, we're just going to a fiddle contest. Like, these are our friends," or whatever. It... People sometimes will call these contests a family reunion, because everyone just feels like family, and everyone really cares about you.
And, um, yeah, it's really cool. It's... I love being part of the fiddle world, and
Riley: It's, it's cool to me because I, I, I think it caught me off guard 'cause I, you know, I get to go hang out at jujitsu competitions and stuff once in a while and, and there's a little bit of that camaraderie there too, right? But when it's come [00:48:00] time to compete, man, guys are trying to hurt each other, right?
It's, it's, it's a whole different level of people... I don't know how to do it. There's, th- or how to say it, but there's, there's like more, more maybe trying to intimidate your opponent or trash talking or, you know, there's a bit of standoffishness between opponents. Um, that's not uncommon to see in the jujitsu world.
But in the fiddle contest world,
Libby Rogers: It's so different
Riley: guitarists. You guys are, if, if somebody breaks a string, you're giving them a string. If somebody, know, broke their bow or something, you'd loan them yours and, you know,
Libby Rogers: Mm-hmm. Yeah
Riley: It's not like there's any rivalries there. It's, I've, I've just never seen that in that fiddle world
Libby Rogers: Yeah, it's really cool because, yeah, like, there's so many contests, especially when you're in the open division, and most people in that division will play guitar really well and fiddle really well. And so you'll just see, like, one fiddler plays, and then they set their fiddle down and grab their guitar [00:49:00] and back up someone who was just playing guitar with them.
So,
Riley: Yeah
Libby Rogers: um, it's... Sometimes you see the same four people on stage for multiple people's turns because they just all back each other up, and, like, no one's trying to... Like, no one's that competitive that they won't back up or support whoever, 'cause we're just all friends and, like, a giant family. Um, yeah, it's really cool
Riley: you first started competing because I remember of the, one of your competitors, you were asking her to back you up on the guitar, and that freaked me out. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm sitting there going, "How do you know she's not gonna just play really terrible and make you sound worse?"
And, you know, I didn't understand that part of it until years in, I'm going, "Okay, these guys all just, they're, of them are that competitive
Libby Rogers: Mm-hmm. Yeah. It is cool. I think every once in a while you'll... There's, I mean, in any group [00:50:00] there's always somebody that's kind of crazy or isn't always the nicest. So every once in a while there's, you'll run into someone like that. But I haven't, like, the people that I hang out with and know, none of them are like that.
They're all amazing
Riley: I've always joked around with your students when they're in competitions and I tell them, I'll, I'll look over at some other girl that I know is in their division and I'll say, "Hey, is, are you competing with her?" And they'll say, I think so." And I'll go, "Okay, you need to take her out back and kick her in the leg. Go full Tonya Harding on her." And nobody knows, at that age knows who T-
Libby Rogers: Uh-huh.
Riley: was, but
Libby Rogers: Yep.
Riley: they always look at me all strange like, "What do you mean?" Doesn't,
[00:51:00]
Libby Rogers: I heard someone else say that recently at a contest. I don't remember who it was or what contest, but I heard someone else say that. I was like, "Oh, my dad always says that."
Riley: Do you know who Tonya Harding is?
Libby Rogers: Yeah
Riley: Okay. Oh my gosh. So you've got this contest, and you've been to so many of them over the years. Now we're going back into business conversation, right? But you've seen ones that have run well and some that aren't run very well, and I want you to talk [00:52:00] about what lessons you've taken from, from that, right?
'Cause some, some lessons are like, "Oh, I'm gonna, I'm gonna use that idea. That's a great idea." aren't so good. So talk about that
Libby Rogers: Um, yeah, part of the
Riley: have for your own contest?
Libby Rogers: Yeah. Um, I've always kind of wanted to start a contest, and I just had the chance to last year, or I guess it was the summer before when I started planning. But, um, I decided to just try it, and I've been to so many contests. I go to probably at least one almost every month. And so I've been to a lot, and so I've seen how a lot of them are run.
Um, and I've gotten to know a lot of the people that run contests, and so I can kind of hear some of the behind-the-scenes or even ask them for advice, um, or just, yeah, see how they do things. So then when I decided to start one, I was able to just take [00:53:00] things that I liked from each contest and put them...
or, like, use that stuff in mine, and then also find the things that I don't love about some of them and change that about mine. Um- Yeah, a lot of contests are not very well organized. Some of them are great, but some of them just behind the scenes there's not... I- they just don't, they're not that organized.
And so sometimes you'll get to a contest and it's supposed to start at 9:00 AM, and it doesn't start till 9:30 or 10, or it's supposed to be done at 9:00 PM and you're there till midnight. Um, or people aren't ready to go on stage when it's their turn, so then you have to sit there for 10 minutes and wait, and so then it throws everything else behind.
And, um, that's a thing at like every contest just about. So when I started mine, that was one thing that when I was first putting it together and [00:54:00] putting the schedule together, I wanted to start right on time, and I wanted to be done right when I said I was gonna be done. And I mean, you have to have a little bit of wiggle room, but 'cause you are dealing with people that sometimes aren't always ready when you need them to be, or you have to go find them or whatever.
But, um,
Riley: But, but you
Libby Rogers: w-
Riley: things to kinda help with that, right?
Libby Rogers: right. Yeah, so a lot of contests, they... Most of them have a time limit. Um, and if you go over that, you lose points. Um, so I have a time limit that's pretty strict, I would think. Um, and then I just did the math to figure out if each contestant is on stage for... I mean, it was different depending on what division, but, um, if they're each on stage for...
They have four minutes to play their round. Well, I'm gonna say they're probably on stage for five minutes between walking up there, playing their songs, and then leaving stage. So then I figured out, well, I have this many hours between now and now, [00:55:00] like between when it starts and the lunch break, and so I can fit this many contestants there.
And so then I just capped it at that. Like I think this time it was I could fit 40 contestants or something like that between when we started and lunch. And so then I didn't let any extra people enter after I hit that 40, which I didn't actually have more people. I didn't have to turn anyone away thankfully.
But, um, I knew exactly how many contestants I could fit, and then I enforced the time limits. Um, and I gave like the MC, the person who's kind of making sure everything's going along with schedule, I gave them a really detailed schedule of this is what time this division needs to start and this is what time it needs to end, just so that we end for the lunch break or dinner break or the end of the night on time.
Um- And as far as I know, a lot of contests don't do that. And to me, that seems like just a really basic, simple thing. Like, I wanna respect everybody's time, and I hear [00:56:00] people complain all the time at contests about, "Oh, my gosh, this is going so late. I'm exhausted. I just wanna go back to the hotel or go jam or whatever."
And so I didn't want mine to be that way. And I- it's not always gonna be perfect. Like, even this year, we, there were some problems the first night, and it got done later than I expected it to. But, um, not that much later though, because I put a little bit of extra wiggle room in there just in case. Um,
Riley: Did you also
Libby Rogers: yeah
Riley: in charge? 'Cause it seems like there was someone running around rounding up those stray musicians that
Libby Rogers: Oh yeah. I had two people all the time that that was their job was to go... It's mostly kids, and so they're kind of off playing, doing whatever. Um, so go find the kid and have them come line up, and have a couple of them lined up at a time so that as soon as whoever's on stage is done, the next kid can just walk right up there, and then we're not having to wait on anybody.
That helped so much too,
Riley: [00:57:00] Yeah
Libby Rogers: 'cause that's something that happens all the time is they call the kid's name and then you just have to sit there and wait, or someone has to go find them, and it adds a lot of time.
Riley: No, it does. It does. There's, and there's... It's funny because there's some, I don't wanna call it misconceptions in the fiddle world, right? Where years, people around you would discourage you from doing a contest. And part of that was because they said, one was you were too nice, right? Talk about that
Libby Rogers: Some people have said that running a contest can be really hard because, I mean, it's a lot of work. That was another thing was it was just so much work that... And it's hard to actually make money doing it and even keep the contest sustainable because it's just so hard to get money to put towards [00:58:00] it, and it costs a lot of money to put on, too.
Um, so that was one reason is it's so much work and just really hard to pull off. And then also you can't always please everybody, and people were worried that I wouldn't be able to handle if someone was upset at something that happened at the contest and... Which so far I've never had anyone upset. Even this year when there was a couple things happen that people could have easily gotten upset about, everyone was super nice.
I think, too, I don't know, maybe I'm just not far enough into it to have, like, for there to even have been a chance for anything to happen. But, um- There can be with some people in the fiddle world, just like anywhere else, there's some people that just hate each other. Um, most of us don't. Most of us love each other, but yeah, there's...
Sometimes you can get just a grumpy person. Um, but I feel [00:59:00] like my goal is to just be nice to everybody and friendly to everyone and not just because one person I know has something bad to say about someone else, I'm not gonna hold that against them.
Riley: You're not taking someone else's beef
Libby Rogers: right. And I think even just that has helped because even people that Some people have told me shouldn't be part of the contest or shouldn't even compete, I have let them come and it hasn't been an issue.
And, like, I'm just friends with all these people, and I think that helps a lot, like, just being friendly to people. 'Cause I think most people, if you're friendly, they're gonna be nice back
Riley: Yeah. I, think you're right in that. I think that's been cool to watch you kinda have to deal with because there's-- That's a-- That's been a lot of... That's happened more than once where someone's come at you and said, you know, it's, it's kinda gets to be this gossip thing, you know, where [01:00:00] somebody's going, "Hey, you shouldn't allow this person in 'cause I don't
Libby Rogers: Right
Riley: or whatever.
And, and you've really done well at resisting that and just going, "No, they're, they're my friend too, just like you are, and I'm sorry you guys have a beef, but they're coming. They're gonna be here." So, um, yeah, and you haven't had to be too harsh about that, but you've, you've had to be, um, kind of insistent that this was, uh, something you were gonna do. one of the things you mentioned was people have told you for years that you can't make money doing a fiddle contest, right? And I feel like you've bucked that little trend too or, you know, just figured out that that's not true.
Libby Rogers: Yeah. Um,
Riley: Ish?
Libby Rogers: yeah, I'm working on it. I have some ideas of ways to help it make some more money that I haven't sat [01:01:00] down and thought it through all the way yet, but I have some ideas I wanna start thinking through. Um, it is really hard to make money for a contest though, because most contests are funded just with sponsors, and so that's why I've had to go door to door so much to businesses and just asking people to sponsor the contest.
Um, which that's kind of hard to do when people don't understand what a contest is. I just sound like this hillbilly redneck that says, "Hey, I'm putting on a fiddle contest. Can you give me $1,000?" They're like, "Why? That's stupid." But then if you go to one and actually experience it, then you realize like, oh, this actually is a bigger deal than it sounds.
Um, yeah, so most of the contests are just funded by sponsors, and that, like, the amount of hours it takes to get a sponsor, even a $100 sponsor, is crazy. It takes so much time. [01:02:00] Um, yeah, you don't make money if you do it that way.
Riley: So you're realizing that some changes have to be made to the business model.
Libby Rogers: Right
Riley: year of your contest, you walked away with some profit
Libby Rogers: Yeah, I did. Um, yeah, I got plenty of sponsors and lots of people donated, um, or even donated raffle items, and so I had a big raffle and made quite a bit off of that and sold merch like stickers and water bottles and bags and whatever I could think of. Um, and then entry fees for the contestants. Um, but yeah, I'm trying to come up with some more ways to fundraise for it that don't take so much of my time and...
or maybe they could take as much of my time, but I get a lot more money out of it because I just always think about eventually when I have my own kids and my own family, I can't spend [01:03:00] 20 hours a week going door to door to businesses just to get sponsors. Like, my time's gonna be more limited and so I'm gonna have to figure out something else.
But I want it to be sustainable and I don't wanna have to stop doing the contest because I can't get money for it. So I wanna keep it going, so I'm just trying to think of any little thing I can to make extra money
Riley: uh... You've, you've come up-- So I'm not gonna reveal what you've come up with, but there's some pretty creative things you've come up with that I think, you know, again, I'm biased 'cause I'm dad, but I think are gonna really change, um, they're gonna change your contest for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it, other people to use, uh, you know, some of the stuff you've come up with. so I'm excited to see how that pans out, right? Because I, uh, on that, you, you really have come against that idea that you can't make money doing a contest. can't the way people have done [01:04:00] it forever, but there's, there's other ways, and you're really being creative in that. And I, uh, kinda wish we could talk more about it, but I'm gonna keep that a little close to the vest for now of, uh, some of the ideas you have 'cause I think they're good, but I think they could be stolen if you don't if we talk about them here.
So, one of the other things that we've had in-depth conversations about was the whole nonprofit discussion,
Libby Rogers: yes
Riley: 'Cause that's a misconception. I, I feel like it's a complete misconception that in order to run something like this, you have to be a 501[c][3] nonprofit, right? Can you talk about that?
Libby Rogers: Yeah. I've had so many people, like it feels like everyone I talk to tells me that I need to be a nonprofit in order to get sponsorships or donations. That has not been true at all. Like, I've gotten both years somewhere around 20 sponsors, and I'm not a nonprofit. [01:05:00] I mean, it's work to get them, but it's not, I mean, it's not hard.
It's just you have to put in the effort.
Riley: Yeah
Libby Rogers: Yeah, I think, yeah, people just don't understand that you really don't have to be a nonprofit. A lot of people have told me, "Well, businesses won't give you any money, or they won't sponsor if they can't write it off on their taxes." But they can though, because they don't have to count it as a donation.
As far as I know, they can count it as an advertising expense, because part of sponsoring the contest is I advertise like crazy for them.
Riley: Correct
Libby Rogers: sure why people think that way or think that I'm gonna be way more limited because of me not being a nonprofit, but so far that hasn't been true.
So
Riley: lo- I love it because I, I think that's-- It's fun for me to watch again as dad because I, I get to see these things that we... [01:06:00] Your whole growing up, this was the thing that your mom and I would talk about, right? Was everyone else does things this way. We're gonna do things this other way. You know, we're not gonna go with the flow of what everyone else is doing.
We're gonna do it different, taught you guys that from early, early on to if it makes sense to you and the math's out and it, it just-- it'll work. You can do it however you want. You don't have to be stuck in this conventional way of doing things, right? I I always laugh 'cause you kids thought it was normal for dad to work from home your whole growing up, right?
Libby Rogers: Yeah.
Riley: And
Libby Rogers: Yep
Riley: yeah, this-- it just goes along with the whole theme of our life, uh, as a family. It's like, you know, does dad have to go get a job? No. 'Cause dad always thought that having a job meant [01:07:00] you had one customer. If that customer ever, ever stopped using your services, that's what's known as being fired, right? So your dad just went and made a job, which meant having two hundred customers, that the likelihood of all those two hundred customers firing him in one day is pretty low. So it's more job security, where hear over and over again "Oh, I'd, I'd go on into business on my own, but it's too risky." I'm like, "You're kidding me?"
Like, it's way less risky than having a job,
Libby Rogers: Mm-hmm.
Riley: you guys were raised. You know, do, do you, uh... I don't know how often we said it that way to you, but that's the
Libby Rogers: Yeah
Riley: you, you lived under
Libby Rogers: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I think too, having a business, kind of what I said earlier about how... I think it was when we were talking about how we would always have to save up and buy whatever we were wanting with our own money, um, and how it [01:08:00] kind of made me feel like I can do whatever I want if I work hard enough.
I feel like that's how business is too. You can do... You can have whatever kind of business you want. You just have to put in the work, and you can be just as successful as you want to if you're willing to put in the work
Riley: So well said. If you're willing to put in the work, right? Um You've had to do that so many different ways in your childhood, right? There's, there's all these little things that we kinda think are all so cute little kid businesses, but they were learning experiences that, that really got ingrained in your child heart, right?
And just grown with you. And so it's cool to see you moving on to this new ventures, 'cause that, this, this fiddle contest has been a big deal, and it's in the fiddle world. know, we're sitting there as we come and help you with it as volunteers and doing the stuff, but we just get to constantly hear [01:09:00] how well run this thing is, you know?
And, but that started back there when you were selling worms and had to make your first little spreadsheet, right?
Libby Rogers: Yep.
Riley: all that stuff that culminated into this, this thing where now people are noticing that, yeah, um, g- girl learned some stuff over the years, right?
Libby Rogers: Mm-hmm.
Riley: Let me talk about, Talk about when you're, when you're in this thing and you, you're a competitor as far as the instrument goes and, and playing in competitions, but now your business also has competitors, right? And you're trying to set yourself apart from the other contests that are out there. So talk about, um, maybe even, maybe even as far as a fiddle teacher, you- there's other, there's other music, [01:10:00] uh, teachers out there, right?
That maybe you looked at as competitors, and what do you do to set yourself apart from, from other ones?
Libby Rogers: Um, well with the contest, I just have tried my best to make it, I mean, I kind of already said, but just take all the things that I like from certain contests and get rid of all the things I don't like. Um- And I want it to be a really fair contest because there's-- I've been to some contests that afterwards there's talk about how it wasn't fair or the judges were biased or things like that.
So even just being really picky about who I ask to judge. Um, also a lot of contests only have three judges, and I had five. And that, as far as I know, and this might be wrong, but I think that used to be more standard. Maybe it's usually just three. But, um, I feel like I [01:11:00] used to hear of five judges more often.
And they'll throw out the highest score and the lowest score from the judges. And then one judge can't throw the whole contest because that's something that you hear about happening sometimes. And, um, so just trying to do any little thing I can to make people feel like, oh, this is a good contest and it's gonna be judged fairly, and I don't have to worry about anything crazy happening.
Um- Yeah, and then just being creative with even this year, or I guess both years, a lot of contests they just give out trophies for prizes. And I mean, I've gotten so many trophies from different contests, and you really don't even have to be that good to get a lot of trophies. And so it doesn't really mean that much, and then they just sit on a shelf and you can't do anything with them.
So even just being creative with having awards that aren't trophies, um, I th- that's one thing that... There's are some contests, there's a couple I've been to that [01:12:00] do really fun, creative prizes, and I always loved that about those contests. And so, um, that's one thing I've tried to do
Riley: creative prizes that are not trophies
Libby Rogers: Last year I did Christmas ornaments. One of my friends hand-painted these wood slices. Right. And they turned out really fun. Um, and then I had my aunt and uncle laser engraved my logo and everything on the back of them. So those turned out really fun. This year I did little prize baskets, and everything in the basket was based off the name of a fiddle tune.
So I don't know, do you want me to go in detail about it?
Riley: Sure
Libby Rogers: Okay. Um, I had... There's a song called Red Apple Rag, and so I made... I found fabric with red apples all over it and made these little cloths that you can clean your fiddles with, and so it's literally a red apple rag. Um, there's a really famous or popular fiddle song called The Orange [01:13:00] Blossom Special, and so I got...
One of my friends makes candles, and so she made me some orange blossom-scented candles. Um, out in Weezer, Idaho, it's just this random little town, um, it's actually where the National Fiddle Contest is. So there's a candy shop there that the guy there, it sounds like he's a big fan of the contest and, um, really supportive of it, the guy that owns it.
So he donated a bunch of little chocolate fiddles wrapped in gold foil, and there's a song called Golden Fiddle Waltz, and so that one went or those two kind of went together and, um, it seemed like there was something else. Oh, there's another song called Peaches and Honey, so I did peach tea and honey sticks.
So that was all in a little basket for awards this year. So that was really fun and unique and different. There's... I had a table that, um, out in the lobby just selling merch and, um, there's a song that like [01:14:00] pretty much everybody plays called Dusty Miller, and that's also a kind of plant. So I got Dusty Miller plants and potted them, made them look cute, and had those for sale.
So it's fun to be creative and just do random little things like that, like little details that people wouldn't pick up on unless they played or were part of the fiddle world.
Riley: Yeah, it means something very different to people who are around that stuff, right?
Libby Rogers: Mm-hmm.
Riley: Yeah. I love how you've,
Libby Rogers: Yeah
Riley: know the culture so well that you're able to do those kind of things where someone from outside of that just would, they just wouldn't understand, right?
Libby Rogers: Mm-hmm.
Riley: Man.
Libby Rogers: Yeah
Riley: Well, listen, at this point in the podcast, I, I go into these, um, lighter questions, and you've listened to some episodes of this, and so sort of kinda know what's coming.
But these are some get to know Libby questions. Some of them are light and fun, some of them are maybe a little, little heavier than others. But, it's called the Go Earn Your Salt [01:15:00] podcast. When you hear the term go earn your salt, what does it mean to you?
Libby Rogers: [01:16:00] Just go work hard and, I mean, I've already said it, but if you want something, you just have to work hard enough for it. That's pretty much all I think of.
Riley: Yeah. So I'm gonna ask you what your favorite ti- pastime is, and I'd love to say than fiddle,
Libby Rogers: Yeah, that's...
Riley: know if there is another other
Libby Rogers: There's not... I love just jamming with my friends any chance I can get. Going to fiddle contests or staying up all night just playing music, that's my favorite
Riley: up all night, you literally mean staying up all night, right?
Libby Rogers: Yeah, when I go to Weezer and camp, it's... I don't know if I ever went to bed before 2:00 AM.
Riley: I remember a 4:00 AM there some- at some point
Libby Rogers: Oh, there was a 6:30 also a couple times.
Riley: I don't know how
Libby Rogers: But hey, one of the guys there, he always
Riley: all night and then you go try to compete the next day. Just, I don't
Libby Rogers: And I feel like sometimes you play better when you're sleep-deprived. But there's a [01:17:00] guy in Weezer that his quote that I always remember is, "We don't go to Weezer to sleep." So
Riley: There you
Libby Rogers: it's true.
Riley: It's
Libby Rogers: Like, why go all the way there just to sleep when you could be jamming? Mm-hmm
Riley: Oh, man. Libby, what's something quirky about you that people don't know?
Libby Rogers: Oh, we were just talking about this the other day. Um, that people don't know?
I really should have thought through this one better.
Do you have any ideas?
Riley: What are your dating qualifications?
Libby Rogers: Oh, that's a good one. I won't date a guy who puts creamer in his coffee. You're
Riley: Why?
Libby Rogers: man if you put creamer in your coffee. If I can drink it black, the man should be able to also
Riley: Oh, I love it. I love it.
Libby Rogers: Yeah.
Riley: you're, you're, uh, are you that way with soft handshakes too?
Libby Rogers: [01:18:00] Yeah, definitely.
Riley: The dead
Libby Rogers: Yeah, that's gross
Riley: Oh my gosh. What is your, uh, your favorite naughty food
Libby Rogers: Um
That's a really good question. Depends on the day
Most of them?
Riley: Most of the naughty foods
Libby Rogers: Uh, I mean, chocolate is always good
Riley: Chocolate's
Libby Rogers: Reese's.
Riley: yeah, just
Libby Rogers: Yeah.
Riley: top on my list. It's so good.
Libby Rogers: Mm-hmm
Riley: You must be related to me.
Libby Rogers: Mm-hmm.
Riley: do you have a nickname?
Libby Rogers: I have a couple. Flibby, that one.
Riley: Flibby with the flut- so every contest, if, if Libby, when she gets on stage, or in, in fact, it can be at church, it could [01:19:00] be at a, at a contest, but I always
Libby Rogers: I don't think you've done this at church, have you?
Riley: I have done it at church. I say, "Go Flibby," as loud as I can possibly say it to, you know... My goal is to embarrass you, but it always just gets that big smile. Um, scariest moment of your life
Libby Rogers: I feel like I haven't really had that many scary moments, thankfully. Um
That's a really good question
Riley: Do you remember that car accident you and I saw?
Libby Rogers: That's, yeah, that's the only thing I can really think of. That was horrible That's probably it
Riley: tell that story a little bit so, so people can kinda
Libby Rogers: [01:20:00] Mm-hmm.
Riley: what happened
Libby Rogers: Yeah, we were driving to Montana for a fiddle contest, and we were on this highway, and it was... Wasn't it two lanes going each way, and then there was the big
Riley: was Interstate 15, yeah
Libby Rogers: Mm-hmm. So we're driving, he's driving, and I was sending a text to somebody, so I wasn't watching the road. Uh, well, and I wasn't driving, so it doesn't matter.
But I was looking down for just a second, and you're always super calm, and you just panicked, and you, like... You didn't scream, but you kind of were... There was a little more drama than I'm used to from you. You were like, "Look up, there's..." And yeah, I don't remember what you said, but basically, like, "Look up."
And when I looked up, there was a car flipping. And I'm pretty sure you said, by the time I looked up, it al- it had already flipped a couple times, and then I saw it flip a couple more times. Um, [01:21:00] and this car, he landed upside down. It was just this little, like, what, a Honda Civic? Like, a little car. He landed...
Riley: I think it was
Libby Rogers: Yeah, he landed upside down off in the weeds, like, off the road. Um, but he was coming towards us. And
Riley: It was
Libby Rogers: so we pulled over. Yeah, he was on the other side. So we pulled over. You jumped out of the car and ran over to go help him, and I called 911. And we were in the middle of nowhere. Like, we had just passed...
Where was it? Where were we?
Riley: Dubois,
Libby Rogers: Yeah. Um, and we had just passed the exit, what, probably a couple miles back.
Riley: Yeah
Libby Rogers: but it was in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing out there. And so I called 911, and a couple other cars stopped and, um, went over there to help him. I waited in the car until I got off the phone.
Um, and then I went over, and the guy... When I... I think it was when I got over [01:22:00] there, the guy crawled out of the car, and he came out of the passenger door. So, like, I don't know how he got out, but... And the car was upside down still. Um, he came out, and he looked rough. Like, really rough. Um, but then an ambulance came super fast, which w- And well, was it the...
I don't remember if it was the police or ambulance that came first, but whichever one came super fast, but the opposite way of the town we had just passed, or the exit. Um, and it, they told us that four miles down the road from where this accident happened, there was another rollover accident that they had just finished up at, and so they came to us right after.
Um, and those p- other people had to get life-flighted. Um, but that was so scary to watch
Riley: Yeah, I remember as we watched that, like again, you were, you didn't see the very beginning of it, but it-- what turned out was the guy fell asleep doing 80 miles an [01:23:00] hour down the freeway, and he, he went into the median and
Libby Rogers: Didn't he just hit...
Riley: going off the
Libby Rogers: Yeah, I thought he hit the rumble strips or something and it woke him up, and then he over-corrected and then started flipping.
Riley: off the, past the rumble
Libby Rogers: Oh, he did?
Riley: his, his car started
Libby Rogers: Oh.
Riley: in
Libby Rogers: Oh
Riley: he came back up and crossed back over the freeway to the outside,
Libby Rogers: Mm-hmm.
Riley: it caught and started to roll, and it just was flipping. Like, it was in the air, you know, 10,
Libby Rogers: Yeah.
Riley: feet off the ground just spinning, and I... was
Libby Rogers: so scary
Riley: But m- as a dad, you know, 'cause you were what, 17, 18 at the time, something like
Libby Rogers: Probably 17, yeah
Riley: Yeah. I remember thinking... 'Cause we, we didn't know it was just, uh, one guy in the car.
Libby Rogers: Right.
Riley: I
Libby Rogers: Yeah.
Riley: "This could be a family, and
Libby Rogers: Mm-hmm
Riley: to go find is, could just be gruesome," you know? And I, so I didn't know what to do as far as do I leave you in the car?
And it's ki- I did tell you to stay there and call [01:24:00] 911 and don't come over here yet because I didn't know what we were gonna find.
Libby Rogers: Right? And I must have seen the... Maybe the guy got out of the car and started walking over to where you were before I got out of the car. Maybe I wasn't over there yet, so maybe that's why I got out and went over, 'cause I mean, if you would've told me to just stay in the car, I would've stayed. But, so maybe I saw, like, okay, he's out.
It's not this crazy, like I'm not gonna see something horrible
Riley: have to tell you to... Maybe I waved you over or something, but
Libby Rogers: Yeah
Riley: um... Yeah. Anyways, that, that was a kind of a freaky time, 'cause that, that guy ended up, he was okay, but he was, he was, had a pretty good concussion, and his
Libby Rogers: His ear was
Riley: ear was hurt pretty bad, kinda hanging a little bit funny, and then
Libby Rogers: Yeah. Well, it was so, so swollen and all purple,
Riley: Yeah
Libby Rogers: and the glass had cut him. Like, he had all these little tiny cuts all over and, like, a gash in his head.
Riley: Yeah.
Libby Rogers: It was crazy
Riley: but it was, it was, [01:25:00] it, it looked like it was probably gonna be a fatality crash, and that's what I was
Libby Rogers: Yeah, that's... Yeah
Riley: yeah. Yeah, wild story there. Um, okay.
Libby Rogers: Mm-hmm.
Riley: What would you say in your life has been your most valuable learning experience? Maybe a
Libby Rogers: Hmm
Riley: you've learned or just a valuable lesson you've learned
Libby Rogers: Um
I feel like we've kind of already talked about it, just all the business stuff and what I've just had to figure out just by trying it. I don't know if I can think of a specific moment or anything where I remember, like, something clicking or having to... I mean, I've obviously had to learn some things in life the hard way, but I, yeah, I don't know.
Nothing really stands out[01:26:00]
Riley: That's, um, I mean, you have talked about it quite extensively in the episode here about just lessons you learned through the little, ventures you had as a kid. So, um In your life, can you think of maybe what the best advice you've ever received?
Libby Rogers: That's even harder.
Riley: I'll give you an example why you think, right? 'Cause it was some- w- for me, one of the, one of the best pieces of advice I ever received that always stands out to me was my dad when I was, when I was 16, I got my driver's license, and two days later, I was driving my sister's car and I wrecked it. I rear-ended a guy in the back. Anyways, I was out on the freeway and car cut him off and he hit his brakes and I hit him, and it was, uh, it was a [01:27:00] bummer 'cause I totaled my sister's car and it was, you know, this, this kind of thing. But I, I remember the police officer did not, fault me for the accident. He faulted the car that over and did an illegal lane change.
And, and so in my 16-year-old kid head, I'm thinking I'm scot-free. You know, I'm-- it wasn't my fault, right? So walking away from this thinking I got nothing to learn from this because it's not my fault. But my dad said to me, and he kinda said it in passing, and it stung when he said it, but he said, "It's, it's always your fault." And I took that... I think at first I took it wrong 'cause I took that like he was blaming me for everything ever bad that ever happened in the world, you know? "It's always your fault." not what he was saying. He was saying, you know, and later after I had some time to sit and cool off, he was saying, "There's always something you could have [01:28:00] done that," right? And as I got thinking about it, it was true. In this situation, I was a little tired. I was driving and I, I was kinda getting almost a little drowsy, so my reaction time probably wasn't right. I probably should've pulled over and taken a nap, but I didn't. Um, I also was following the guy a little too close 'cause I was 16 and been driving for two whole days and,
Libby Rogers: Mm-hmm.
Riley: And so in hindsight, I was just too close to the car in front of me. So when something bad did happen, I didn't have time to, to stop. So I started being able to list all these things that, yeah, yeah, I could have probably prevented it by just backing off a little, by maybe pulling over and taking a nap, by, you know, not thinking I should drive ten miles an hour over the speed limit. And, you know, there was, there were several things there that in hindsight, after I got a chance to cool off and think about it, "God, it was good advice. It was really good advice." And I, [01:29:00] I've taken that in my whole life, you know, and been able to run with it and go. That moment, that thing he said was probably the most valuable thing that someone's ever said to me is, "There's always something you could have done.
It was... it's always your fault."
Libby Rogers: It's like there's not... I guess when people give me advice, I don't always like sit and think, "Oh, they're giving me advice." It's just like little things people will tell me. So it's not like anyone's ever sat down and been like, "Okay, I have all this advice for you." So I just, I guess I don't think of it that way.
Riley: Libby, what's something that's on your, uh, bucket list? Something in the-- do in your life that before you kick the bucket
Libby Rogers: Um, well, get married and have a bunch of kids. That's probably the biggest one. Um, I think it would be cool to... It'd be cool to win Wheezer one year or win a division in Wheezer. That would be pretty cool.[01:30:00]
Riley: That's a, a, that's a challenge, right? You got the best in the world show up there
Libby Rogers: It's crazy. Be really hard, but be pretty cool.
Riley: Yeah
Libby Rogers: Um, yeah
Riley: a, do you have a favorite book of all time?
Libby Rogers: No, I don't read. So if I read, the only thing I ever read is the Bible, so
Riley: So the Bible.
Libby Rogers: Yep.
Riley: Okay. What's next for you? Where are you, where are you going from h- from here?
Libby Rogers: Um
Like, what do you mean? What's,
Riley: What's the next challenge?
Libby Rogers: like
Riley: thing you're gonna do?
Libby Rogers: More contest planning, um Hopefully keep that going for a long time. Um, yeah, that's basically, like, my only real big goal right now is just, [01:31:00] yeah, making it a good contest every year
Riley: I keep meaning to ask you, are you, um, are you... 'Cause you expanded that contest, right? The first year you did one day to this year it was
Libby Rogers: Oh, yeah. Mm-hmm
Riley: on expanding that any further?
Libby Rogers: Um, probably a little bit 'cause I didn't do two full days. We didn't start till 4:00 the first day,
Riley: Mm-hmm.
Libby Rogers: I'll probably start a little earlier the first day this time. I have some ideas too of maybe some extra divisions I wanna add, so that would... I'd have to add some more time for that, but
Riley: Mm-hmm.
Libby Rogers: see. I haven't quite thought that far.
It's been three weeks since the contest, so
Riley: the contest
Libby Rogers: I haven't really started planning for next year yet, but have ideas
Riley: Great. I'm excited for you. I think that's a cool thing. So where on the social medias can you be found?
Libby Rogers: Um, Western Idaho Fiddle Contest. That's Instagram and Facebook. That's [01:32:00] just all of my contest stuff. So
Riley: Yeah. Do you
Libby Rogers: yeah
Riley: a personal Instagram?
Libby Rogers: Yes, I do. It's Libby... I think it's Libby.ellyn, I think. But I had to spell Ellyn E-L-L-Y-N because everything else was taken. I couldn't get any combination of the way I actually spell my name, so
Riley: You had to spell your name wrong, huh?
Libby Rogers: Yep, I did
Riley: I love it. All right. Well, hey, thanks for coming on episode number 50. It's been super cool. It was, it was
Libby Rogers: That was fun
Riley: something special needs to happen here, and to talk to you about this stuff for a while, and um, it's so fun watching you grow up and just become an adult and start doing your own things and, you know, it's fun because there's, there's things that you do way better than I do, and I, you know, I sit and I look at all the years of business I've had and the, [01:33:00] you know, I can organize things fairly well and I'm-- that's kind of a gift of mine.
But at the same time, the things you do to really organize something as chaotic as a fiddle competition, uh, it blows my mind 'cause I'm like, "Gosh, man, I never thought about that. I should steal that for my business." And so, you know, you've taken that, I think, to another level past where, where even I can, you know?
And so I'm impressed by it and I love you, and thanks for coming on and
Libby Rogers: Thanks. Yes, that was fun.
Riley: All right. Go Earn Your SALT, Flibby.
Libby Rogers: Okay.
[01:34:00]