Announcer: 0:00

The following programming is sponsored by Marc J. Bernstein. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of this station, its management, or Beastly Media Group. Entrepreneur, founder, author, and financial advisor Marc Bernstein helps high-performing business owners turn their visions into reality. Through his innovative work and the forward-focused forum, Marc connects entrepreneurs to resources that fuel their success. Founders Forum is a radio show and podcast where entrepreneurs share their journeys, revealing the lessons they've learned and the stories behind their success. Join Marc and his guests for a mix of inspiration, valuable insights, and a little fun. Now let's dive in.

Marc Bernstein: 0:40

Good morning, America. How are you? I hope you're having a better morning than I am. I'm serious. I'm having a lot of first-world problems this morning. Nothing major, but it's just one of those days. It's a gray and cold day in November in uh in Philadelphia. And for those of you who who are listening as a podcast, you may or may not know this is a live radio show. So both myself and Renee, who's my guest this morning, have had some issues getting here. So we kind of just ran in, and I love that actually, because it makes for a great radio. So good morning, Renee.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 1:16

Good morning.

Marc Bernstein: 1:18

So nice to have you here. We also, this is a long time coming for both of us. We were introduced, I don't know, over a year ago.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 1:25

Yeah, absolutely.

Marc Bernstein: 1:25

Yeah. And um so anyway, due to our schedules and everything else, we're finally here, and we're trying to I'm trying to utilize Renee in terms of her business, which I'll tell you a little bit about in a few minutes. And you know, and so I'm very happy to meet you and very happy to be here together. So uh the topic for today, I always start with a topic of the day, is clarity. And I am pretty clear these days in terms of my priorities and what I'm doing in the different aspects of my business and my life. But sometimes things get in the way, and this morning I I was having lack of clarity getting here because of another number number of different reasons. First of all, I have a self-driving car, and my self-driving car took me on a on a way that ended up being having construction and having delays and whatever. And so then I also needed to eat breakfast, and I was reaching in to take all my multiple um uh supplements that I take in the morning, and I was like, wow, these are really rough. It turns out I like just swallowed a bunch of nuts, which were supposed to be my supplemental. Instead of pills? Instead of pills or vitamins? Oh my gosh. So they're still floating around down there.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 2:41

Oh my goodness.

Marc Bernstein: 2:42

So anyway. So how does clarity occur to you these days? What is it?

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 2:47

Oh my clarity. I feel like if you're an entrepreneur, you get bits and pieces of it.

Marc Bernstein: 2:52

Right.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 2:53

Um silver linings here and there. Um, you know, I'm a busy entrepreneur, but layered with being a wife and a mom. Sure.

Marc Bernstein: 3:02

Got the balancing in it.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 3:04

The moments of clarity often come for me when I'm, you know, not focused on work, when I'm spending time with my family in that regard. But then clarity in my business is, you know, getting off a team call where everyone's smiling and happy, and maybe they had a ton of successful clients from weekend parties, or clarity might be looking at my P ⁇ L and saying, hey, I had a really good month. I didn't spend too much money this month. Um so for me, it's it comes in slivers, I feel like. Um, but there's definitely certain times of the year where I feel more clarity. Um right now we're in our busy season, so I feel really good and hopeful, but then you know, our numbers sort of drop in the beginning of the year, and that's when every year, I mean, I've been doing this for over 10 years, I have that panic like that.

Marc Bernstein: 3:50

Well, we haven't told people what you do, but you're a party planner. No, it's a let's stop for a second. We'll go back to clarity. So Renee Patrone Rhinehart is founder and CEO of Events by Renee and Party Host Helpers and a nationwide event staffing company, and Events by Renee is an award-winning wedding and corporate event planning firm. She is a natural connector, which I know that for a fact, and leader. She's known for making hosts feel like guests at their own parties while empowering her team across the country to deliver exceptional hospitality. Renee is a frequent um has frequent appearances on TV and speaks at industry events, inspiring others through her passion for people, leadership, and celebration. So now with that background, so so obviously January, February probably slower months for you.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 4:41

They are.

Marc Bernstein: 4:42

Right.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 4:42

So, but that's also a great time for me to strategize and look forward to the year and gain clarity in that regard.

Marc Bernstein: 4:49

So that was my question. So you're a planner. And I I find myself when I'm when I'm when I have planned, and I'm at that point right now, I need to relook at my plan, write it down, make adjustments, and that's when I have clarity. It sounds like similar for you.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 5:06

It is. So, you know, we set our goals for the year. I personally spent a lot of time creating a vision board.

Marc Bernstein: 5:12

Oh, great.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 5:13

Yeah. I know. I looked at mine recently, I was like, oh, I have six weeks to make this happen. Uh but a few things I did make happen. So this is a good idea. Yes. So I want this is a personal thing, but I there's a I have like a build out, I want to add a build out in my kitchen for a dry bar and some shelves. And my mother-in-law so kindly is giving my husband and I a lump sum for Christmas.

Marc Bernstein: 5:40

Oh, Merry Christmas.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 5:42

My husband said, Why don't we get a price on that? See if we can get that done. I said, Oh, that's on my vision board. Yes, let's do it.

Marc Bernstein: 5:48

So magic happens, see, when you when you envision something.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 5:51

Exactly. Yeah. And I put a big family vacation. We went on a Disney cruise this summer. I I hadn't even thought about that in January when I made the vision board.

Marc Bernstein: 5:59

So pretty amazing. It's amazing when when you have a thought and you visualize it and you focus on it, how sometimes things just by accident and by magic or by the universe or God or whatever you want to believe, it happens. Right? It happens. We did that together. That was nice. So, Renee, tell us your story. How did you how did you get into that crazy business?

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 6:22

Yes, and it is a crazy business. I'm glad that you recognize it.

Marc Bernstein: 6:26

I was a musician in bands. I played weddings for many years ago. Oh, so you get it.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 6:30

You see behind the scenes.

Marc Bernstein: 6:31

So I'll tell you later my most famous wedding I played at disaster that it was. No, not famous like famous people.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 6:38

Oh.

Marc Bernstein: 6:38

But a great story, an amazing story. Well, I'll just tell you real quick.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 6:41

Go ahead.

Marc Bernstein: 6:42

The band didn't show up. They were in an accident, a truck accident in high school. And we were still in high school. The singer in my band calls me, and you know, you didn't have cell phones or anything back then and says, Get the band together, we got a gig. Because he was he was working at the it was at a church, yeah. Church hall. So I got the band all together amazingly. We get over there. You'd think these people would be thrilled, but they were as drunk as anything. We were all upset because they had no band. And the father of the bride said, Of course you're gonna play Daddy's Little Girl.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 7:12

Oh, and you never played that.

Marc Bernstein: 7:14

We'd never, we didn't know if Daddy's gonna, it's not like today you can look it up on your phone and learn it in ten minutes. We were like, hey, in a nice way, we're trying to say, be thankful we're here.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 7:24

Yeah, that you're here.

Marc Bernstein: 7:25

But he was really drunk, got really upset, got into a fist fight with our singer. We and some of the guests had to break it up. The bride was crying. It was it it turned out well. The wedding turned out to be a lot of fun. But but you know, there was so much pent-up emotion because their band didn't show up.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 7:41

That's a horror story.

Marc Bernstein: 7:42

But anyway, but anyway, so let's so so that's how I know it's a crazy business, among other things.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 7:47

But sure. So I my first career was in PR and marketing. I worked at a small agency, but then I also, my first like real big girl job was at Mainline Today magazine, which I'm sure a lot of your listeners know. And I learned so much. I know, I know the owner we talked about. Yeah, Rob, yeah. Um, I learned so much those first couple years, really, the importance of networking that set the path for me going forward and just so many connections that I still am in touch with now, which is crazy, 20 years later. Um but then in 2007, into 2008, which I don't know if anyone remembers how bad the economy was that year, I had a business partner at the time and we started an event planning company. I was in my 20s. I thought, oh, I'll do corporate events. I don't want to do weddings. I had no idea what I was doing. The economy crashed, and I took what I could get, which was weddings because of my age and just you know, the people who I hung out with were all getting married and referring me. Um so I had events by Renee since 2007, and I didn't go full-time with it until 2015. And a lot of people don't understand that. Um, it takes time for an entrepreneur to build their business. Other wedding and event planners that were in the Philadelphia area with me, maybe they had funding from a family member or they were married, and I was a single girl, um, networking my butt off, working as a babysitter, working part-time at PR firms and still running my business. I remember at one point I had a medical meeting planning, full-time job, but but I'd go sit in my car on my lunch break to talk to the brides that I had that weekend, and it was just wild. So, fast forward a bunch of jobs. Um, I thought of the idea for party host helpers around 2013. Being an event planner, I had clients come back to me say, Hey, you plan my daughter's wedding. Um, I need a bartender this weekend. You know everyone. Who can you send me? And I thought, you know what, there is definitely an opportunity in the Philadelphia area to start a company like this. There were some competitors, but I had a different hold on the market, I feel. And I started it, and less than two years later, we were launching in other cities left and right.

Marc Bernstein: 9:57

You still had your partner at this point?

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 9:59

No, the partner and I had split probably around 2009-ish. So it was just me going forward. And Party Host Helpers was the answer to a lot of you know life problems or life situations because I knew I didn't want to be on my feet every weekend as a wedding or event planner, but I knew I wanted to make money and I knew I wanted to stay in the industry. I had a passion, and I still have a passion for people and events, and party host helpers was a great way for me to create my next career path. So we are now nationwide party host helpers. We have 40,000 gig workers in our system who could work for us at any time, whether it's a bartender, whether it's a server, whether it's just a general helper who comes to your home, puts the food out. When I started this company, I thought that it would be just residential, mainline moms who needed some extra support on the maybe at their kids' birthday party, but we quickly had caterers hiring us to supplement their team. You know, hey, Renee, I need 20 or maybe 30 servers this weekend. Can you help? And then it turned into corporate business. Um, so now we're doing a lot of meetings in places like Scottsdale Convention Center or uh Vegas, where they need 10 to 20 of our people every day for a week. Um, we've done stuff with the PGA, Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus, Hermes, high-end fashion brands think of us when they need support at small or large events. So I still have events by Renee. We're still doing weddings and corporate events. I have a great team there, but Partius Helpers is really the national company that blew up after all my years of networking and praying and hoping for my entrepreneurial journey to just get better each year. And here we are.

Marc Bernstein: 11:40

It's amazing. So some of it it sounds like you fell into things, but I believe that that's never by accident. You at least have to be open to opportunities.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 11:50

Yep. I yeah, you have to be open, and it was a lot of scheming and dreaming and um getting other people's experience shares and opinions when I was starting this out and how to structure it.

Marc Bernstein: 12:01

So how many, how many employees do you actually have besides your gig workers?

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 12:06

So we have um about ten of us, and some are scattered all over the country, some are here, and they're managing the teams and the and the clients.

Marc Bernstein: 12:14

You you are I know you're a busy person. Um by the way, I'm gonna be in Scottsdale this weekend. You're not doing a corporate not a corporate nonprofit sort of conference.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 12:24

Oh, great.

Marc Bernstein: 12:25

At the um resort and spa, Scottsdale Resort and Space. Nice. You haven't done work there, have you?

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 12:30

I don't know. I'll have to look at our roster. We were at AAID this week, which is like a big dental conference.

Marc Bernstein: 12:36

In Scottsdale. Interesting.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 12:38

Yeah.

Marc Bernstein: 12:38

So um I assuming I can get on a plane, I think I'll be able to get it.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 12:42

I know I'm worried about it.

Marc Bernstein: 12:43

By the way, this is we're in the government shutdown right now for whenever you're listening to this. But it looks like it's over. It looks like the planes will be flying. But so um So what do you in the growth of the business? It sounds like this all happened magically, but as we right, as we say, and we know we're we also were um met through EO, entrepreneurs organization. And we know that entrepreneurs, you know, it's always a smooth ride, right?

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 13:08

Always.

Marc Bernstein: 13:09

So so you had challenges along the way. What kind of challenges on the way up do you can you can you describe and yeah?

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 13:16

I mean, thinking back and looking back, I think that I really learned a lot of grit and just kind of flying by the seat of my pants. Like I said, I didn't have a dad to put food on my table. He had died when I was in my early 20s. I was single until I met my husband in my late 30s. I mean, obviously dating, but you know, it's not like I had the stability. So I had to really be gritty and do what I could to make sure that I was paying my rent on time. And, you know, it wasn't quite dire um halfway through the you know, the adventure, I guess. But it's hard when you don't have that support. And it's really hard to strike it out on your own. And sometimes I think if I was doing this now as a 44-year-old woman versus a 27-year-old woman, I don't think I would have had the guts. I think I have guts now to do other things because a lot of my fellow um women, you know, business business women say they're like, Renee, you're so fearless. You just say yes and you go for it. I'm like, man, I was much more fearless in my 20s.

Marc Bernstein: 14:14

Right.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 14:14

So I'm thankful for that girl I was to be who I am now. Um, but another hardship was obviously COVID. And I hate talking about it, but it really knocked down my industry. Both my businesses had no business. I was from the events by RNA side, uh, you know, we're doing outdoor weddings with like 10 people, we're canceling vendors left and right, we're moving things around. I know my fellow Philadelphia wedding vendors had it really rough too. Um, and then party host helpers, I mean, there literally was no business. And I don't tell a lot of people this, but I was newly married, we were trying to get pregnant, trying to buy a house, and I think a part of me, a part of it was to make a little extra money, but a part of it was also just to keep myself sane. Um, I went and got a couple part-to-jobs for a few months. Um I was a babysitter and I worked at the wine and spirit store in Westchester. And, you know, I got pregnant while I was working there. We signed on a great house.

Marc Bernstein: 15:12

Humbling too, it's a good thing. It's very humbling.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 15:14

It's very humbling from going, you know, from being um running a million, almost two million dollar company at that point and being my own boss. And but that I think that that I look back now and I'm proud of my character because it shows that I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty still. And I do what I had to do for my mental state and yeah, my family.

Marc Bernstein: 15:35

And also that risk taker that you were in your 20s. For I'm sure you found that person again in a lot of ways. And I'm sure you will again when when you need her. Yeah, that'll come again. By the way, this is we have to take a really quick commercial break. Great. We'll be back in 60 seconds and see you in a minute.

Announcer: 15:51

The Satell Institute is the leading CEO member organization dedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility. Under the vision and leadership of its founder—entrepreneur and philanthropist Ed Satell—the Institute brings together CEOs in Philadelphia and other cities to support the Nonprofit organizations that do heroic work in our communities. The Satell Institute believes that “community is every leader’s business.” SI’s members-only meetings and private CEO conferences give members the opportunity to hear from world-class thought leaders on crucial topics like AI, education, corporate philanthropy and more. In addition, CEO members get the opportunity to share ideas and experiences with their peers— like-minded CEOs who believe in the importance of giving back to the community and who understand the benefits companies get from embracing Corporate Social Responsibility. The Satell Institute charges no dues or fees — in order to join, member companies simply make a long-term commitment to the nonprofit of their choice. To find out more about membership, —and why so many leading companies are now part of the Satell Institute — visit the organization’s web site at satellinstitute.org. As Ed Satell says, “Think WE, not just me.”

Marc Bernstein: 17:09

We're back on Founders Forum with our guest today, Renee Petrone Reinhardt. And Renee, we were just talking about some significant challenges you had in business. What what strengths do you think you you came out of all that with?

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 17:23

Oh, I think resilience, and I think also just a bit of a reality check that things could change tomorrow.

Marc Bernstein: 17:30

Yeah.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 17:31

I mean, we're seeing it not necessarily in my business, but I know AI and offshore help is changing a lot of businesses. I don't think there'll be robots serving food anytime soon, but you know, nothing is permanent. And nothing with COVID, it's just to see how much change could happen so quickly. So I think that the spin on that is just to appreciate everything.

Marc Bernstein: 17:54

Well, I see I'm going to use a word that was used a lot that I think describes you, and tell me if it does. And and we've heard a lot of it on the show, but you also learned to pivot.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 18:03

Oh, I know. Right. You know, don't you hate that word? No, I'm just kidding. As entrepreneurs, we heard it every day, all day. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

Marc Bernstein: 18:10

Of course, and it's been overused, but but it's true though.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 18:13

It is. And you know, post-COVID, our business really skyrocketed because there was so much backlog of clients. Right. And then our caterers needed support because they had gotten rid of all their staff, and now we're sort of even evening out and I'm ready to get to the next level in 26 and 27 again. But yeah, it's been an interesting ride.

Marc Bernstein: 18:34

I'll bet it has. Let's talk about the future. Because I know you're you're someone who looks ahead. If this is November of 2025, if it was November of 2028, and you and I, let's say we're sitting here, we have a catch-up show in three years, right?

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 18:48

Yeah.

Marc Bernstein: 18:48

And you're looking back on the last three years, what would have had to happen in your life, and you can talk about personally, business-wise, professionally, anything else, you know, um philanthropically, whatever comes to mind, what does that look like for you?

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 19:04

I think professionally, I would love to continue my personal brand as the owner of these two companies and the event expert. So that means that I get to be out of the everyday minutia of my company and I get to do things like this that I'm doing with you. Um, being on the Today show has been on my vision board the last 10 years of my life. I'm often on local stations like Fox 29. I'm going to Houston next week to do a Fox segment. I do a lot on our social media and just continuing that and growing my presence because I do think that that helps build my business. More speaking engagements. I speak about relationship marketing as well as my aversion to saying no and how that got me to where I am now. Um, and also building the brand internationally. We get a lot of inquiries from places like Australia and England and Canada, and that's always next level for me. And then personally, I would love our family. To buy a beach house. That's been on my vision board for like 20 years. No, it's been at least 15. So just you know, continuing to have a profitable, profitable business so I can get some fun extra things for our family.

Marc Bernstein: 20:15

So you're a Philadelphian, so you're gonna buy a shore house. That's what we think.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 20:18

I guess.

Marc Bernstein: 20:19

Yeah. What town? Do you know what town?

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 20:21

I mean, we love we love Sea Isle City.

Marc Bernstein: 20:22

I thought I knew you were gonna say Sea Isle.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 20:24

Yeah, we love Sea Isle. Before that, before I met my husband, I did shared houses for years in Avalon. I was the house mom, you know, way too much fun back in the day. Um but now we love going to Sea Isle and but I love Cape May too. We spent a lot of time in Cape May in the offseason. So we'll see.

Marc Bernstein: 20:41

So these challenges, building your brand, you being the expert and leaving the rest of the business to I'm sure you'll still lead it, but of course. But having other people with I call it unique abilities in place to be able to do those things.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 20:53

Yep.

Marc Bernstein: 20:53

What what challenges do you see in getting there?

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 20:56

Yeah, so for us, you know, technology has come a long way since I started this company. And but we still have hiccups. We're looking for sometimes new providers, then we realize, oh wait, the one we have is maybe a better fit. Um so it's kind of like making those decisions, but the my industry has also changed with party staffing. There's a lot more competitors on the scene that are much more app-based and have a ton of silicone valley money behind them. So for me, it's finding that sweet spot where we're still growing and using the technology to help propel us and just fine-tuning processes. I mean, we've streamlined so much in the last two years with technology and just different processes, like even just, you know, phone systems and things like that. So I my COO is constantly finding new platforms for us to be more successful.

Marc Bernstein: 21:48

Aaron Ross Powell Will you need to develop your own apps, let's say, to do it.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 21:52

So we have an app for our helpers. We don't have an app for the clients.

Marc Bernstein: 21:55

I was going to say for the gig workers, that would be right.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 21:57

We do have an app for them, yes. So they check in and out when they're there. Um you know, in EO, a lot of times I'll talk to some fellow members about getting um because I have no outside funding for this company. And to possibly next level get funding to get custom technology, but that might not solve all of our problems either.

Marc Bernstein: 22:17

Aaron Ross Powell Well, technology doesn't solve everything if you can help, but it doesn't solve. Yeah. And it sometimes creates others, as you as you said.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 22:24

Trevor Burrus, Jr.: I think even taking the time like we talked about earlier in 2026 just to really map out my vision a little bit more intricately than I have in the past, and I recommend that to all other CEOs. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

Marc Bernstein: 22:36

Do you um what kind of things do you recommend to other leaders in your position? Because I know you're an EO, I know you share ideas.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 22:42

Get involved, get involved, get involved. I've always been the type of person, and maybe I learned this from my mom, who was always involved, whether it was in high school and I was in youth group or I was in Girl Scouts in middle school. I mean, we were out every night. Sports, Girl Scouts. And being an only child, I think that was important for my parents to make sure that I was doing things like that. Um, and I married an only child, and we have an only child. So I value that now as a mom, but I've always gotten involved. I've always sat on committees and boards. So currently I am on the board for EO. And then I'm highly involved. I'm really involved in National Association of Women Business Owners. It's NABO for short. And I'm currently the president elect of our South Jersey chapter. So in July, I will be inducted in as the president. Nice. Um, and I'm so thankful for that. Congratulations on the Yeah, we have some great corporate sponsors, all the hospitals in the area, and it's just a really wonderful group. Um, this weekend is our big March of Dimes Gala. I sit on the executive leadership team for that. It's at the four seasons. I've done a lot of just running around, running the auction. Um, so I'm excited to see that unfold on Saturday. But for me, it's like if you're an entrepreneur, you have to give back and you have to get involved because no one will know who you are. These are things that come naturally to me, and then business naturally flows because of my relationships and I mean years and years of networking and just having a strong network. And for me, it was always like, what can I do for you? Not what can I get from people that I was meeting. Um, and I think that that attitude of being a servant of service has helped.

Marc Bernstein: 24:22

Yeah, I I find the same thing. I know you were in a come, but we started our family.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 24:27

I know I wanted to ask how it was, yeah.

Marc Bernstein: 24:29

Well, it was great. And some of the comments I got, and I don't really think about this, is that boy, you really want to help us grow.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 24:36

So nice.

Marc Bernstein: 24:36

And I I do do that. And some, you know, and I'm in the financial services business. I've not been good in the two and a half years I've had the show of promoting what I do for a living because I'm so involved in trying to help everyone else. But we're starting to work on that now. In fact, we're working on our branding around that. And we did introduce that at the event, and people were Awesome. And we're meeting with a number of the people that are interested in us helping them as a company. So it's but I I I hadn't really thought about it, which is crazy. Yeah. I did this because I was focused on this. I'm passionate about it and I love to do it. I knew somehow it would help my business, but I wasn't quite I didn't have clarity when I started about it, you know. So it's kind of interesting. I know you must be a reader because I can tell by what comes out of your mouth that you've read a lot. What kind what are your favorite kind of books to read?

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 25:23

So I know I should say business books.

Marc Bernstein: 25:25

No, you shouldn't.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 25:26

You should say I have a really hard time focusing on reading the business books. So often I'll do audio or audible. That's okay. Um apparently there's an app that my EO uh Katie told me about. I need to download it where it kind of condenses things and and uh gives you that. But I love Elon Hildebrand books, um, just good summer reads. I don't know if you know her. All of her books take place.

Marc Bernstein: 25:48

I read about her, I've never read it.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 25:50

Yeah, a lot of her books take place in either Nantucket or um The Virgin Islands. I love the beach, I love the vibes. So I can tear through those books. And for me as an entrepreneur, it's like my brain needs that break. Yeah. And to be involved, not to be involved is probably not the right word, but to dive into a book and not look at my email or my text and just read, it it helps my brain a lot.

Marc Bernstein: 26:15

You know, I've spent my life reading a lot of business and leadership and personal growth books and all that, and I still love them, but lately I've found exactly I'm reading novels now. Because you just to give your mind a break and uh and it and it helps your imagination, helps your stimulate creativity, and I'm seeing a lot of and it's relaxing.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 26:35

It is like you said, so it's yeah, take it's sort of t transports me. Um I mean, I listen to podcasts, I love Mal Robbins, and I I honestly in this day and age, we're so used to scrolling that some I get that information just by like on Instagram on certain motivational speakers and business people that I like, so I get tidbits there.

Marc Bernstein: 26:52

We all we all do. And little little bites now.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 26:55

That's where the little bite I don't know how that I don't know if that's good for our brains long term.

Marc Bernstein: 26:58

One last question we have less than a minute.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 27:00

Okay.

Marc Bernstein: 27:01

Um if you could speak to your younger self, what advice would you give you?

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 27:04

Don't get so stressed. I feel like I've I I know I said that I was adventurous before, but I definitely let the weight of financial burdens affect affect me back then.

Marc Bernstein: 27:16

And read Hildebrand.

Renee Patrone Rhinehart: 27:18

And and El Elin, yeah. Elon Hildefront. Yeah.

Marc Bernstein: 27:21

Yeah. Well, some you gotta do something to relax. To de stress. Yeah, de-stress. Renee, it's been such a great pleasure. I'm glad we finally got to do this. Thanks for being here. Thank you all for listening, and we'll see you next week on Founders Forum.

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