Show Welcome And Sponsor Notes

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 Beasly Media Group. Entrepreneur, founder, author and financial advisor, Marc Bernstein helps high-performing business owners turn their visions into reality. At March Forward, Marc and his partners and associates think out of the box to partner with their clients in regards to their visions for their lives, their businesses and their legacies. And through his innovative work with the Forward Focus Forums, Marc connects entrepreneurs to resources that help to fuel their success. Founders’ Forum is a radio show and podcast where entrepreneurs share their journeys, revealing the stories behind their successes, and the lessons they’ve learned. Join Marc and his guests for a mix of inspiration, valuable insights, and a bit of fun! Now, let’s dive in...

Why Volatility Hits The Arts

Marc Bernstein 0:52

Good morning, America. How are ya? We're here in Philadelphia, and it's one of those kind of always sunny in Philadelphia days. And I'm here with our guest Victoria, who I'll formally introduce in a minute. But our topic of the day, just because I can't help but feeling it, is volatility. So as many of you know, I'm in the financial business and we talk about volatility in markets. We follow one of the indexes we've indices that we follow is the uh volatility index, but it's just it just feels volatile politically. There's wars going on at the moment, and there's just a lot of volatility. And I know it affects a lot of businesses in different ways. So, Victoria, I wanted to ask you about when you hear that word, what do you think of in your context in terms of what you do and where you live and all that kind of thing?

Victoria Abadir 1:40

Hi, good morning. Good morning. So um I think when I think of volatility, so I'm in the arts industry, and I think the arts can be um volatile um in many different ways. Um I think specifically when you're um thinking about volatility in the arts in a community in general, um you're you're you're thinking at how delicate um your arts districts, your arts community can be. And without enough attention and support from your local government, um uh the community in general, from the businesses around it, from your tourism, um, that delicate uh ecosystem can uh disappear in a moment. Um and in Lancaster right now, we're really experiencing kind of a growth and a lot of um uh attention towards a growing arts industry. So I think we're growing, but it it it can be it can be sensitive, and we have to make sure we're paying um enough attention to that in order to make sure that we have a really healthy industry and a really healthy um uh space for the arts to grow and to thrive.

Marc Bernstein 2:51

Very well done. You you I just have to say, because I'm very transparent on the show, while I'm messing around with headphones and the technical, you kept going and you did a great job, Victoria. So I really appreciate you carrying that for me.

Meet Victoria And Lancaster’s Comeback

Marc Bernstein 3:03

So I am back, and let me now introduce you to our guest today, Victoria Abadier, and she is the founder and owner of Lancaster Art Vault, a 15,000 square foot art gallery in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, featuring 24 resident artists alongside with rotating exhibitions. She's a Lancaster native, although she had left and gone to New York like many of the people I've met from Lancaster, and came back. And there's a lot of reasons to come back to Lancaster. She's a dedicated community volunteer with a passion for supporting and uplifting the city that she calls home. Having served on various arts and community focused boards, she saw an opportunity to transform an empty s an empty space into a vibrant hub that elevates and supports Lancaster's creative community. And I just want to say, before I officially welcome her, that this is part of a series, as you know, that we're doing on Lancaster, Pennsylvania, that is often rated, it's on all the lists as one of the best places to live in America now. Along with so I feel like it's a spiritual home of mine, even though I don't live there and it's not far from Philadelphia. Um along with my other uh spiritual home, which is actually a home of mine, Babcock Ranch, Florida, which is another one of the best places to live on the lists. So we're doing these series because it it's it's more than about the businesses there, it's about what's happening in these communities and how they're transforming and how how everybody wants to go there and live there and return there in the case of Lancaster. Um so I'd love to talk to you a little bit about that context. But in the meantime, welcome, Victoria.

Victoria Abadir 4:36

Hi, welcome. Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Marc Bernstein 4:38

Why don't we m well why we're on that? Why don't we talk about that? What brought you back to Lancaster and what do you find fulfilling about being there today?

Victoria Abadir 4:44

Absolutely. So um spent some time, as you mentioned, in New York, where I met my husband. Um and after you know the growth of the dot com industry and working in um a small startup, um things had to change. Um we ended up coming back to Lancaster and to my family with the birth of our first child.

Marc Bernstein 5:02

So your husband's not from Lancaster, right?

Victoria Abadir 5:04

Nope, he's he's from New York.

Marc Bernstein 5:05

Right, gotcha. Yes.

Victoria Abadir 5:06

So we met him, uh I met him there, and we were both looking for a place that we could raise a family. Um, knowing my family was in Lancaster, um, we thought it would be a great move. And surprisingly, a move from Lancaster to excuse me, a move from New York to Lancaster wasn't that difficult. Um we lived in New York, we lived in Tribeca, in the village, very neighborhoodly areas very. I've lived in the village, it's a wonderful place to live here. It's fantastic. It's walkable. Yeah. Great restaurants, great diversity. Um Lancaster is very walkable. Um, it has great diversity, it has great food, um, it has really great art scene. And uh so we came back and found a little, you know, a a downtown home which we renovated and lived in the city, walking to market, walking to restaurants, and just kind of fell in love with it.

Marc Bernstein 5:46

Aaron Powell Little different pace, I would say though, right? Aaron Ross Powell, Jr.

Victoria Abadir 5:49

Definitely a different pace. Yes, absolutely. But but nice for a family.

Marc Bernstein 5:54

Well, I was gonna say, as you have a family, like I love New York and always thought I would live there again. Uh in hindsight, I thought I'd raise a family. I could I couldn't see that, you know. So uh so I get it. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

Victoria Abadir 6:04

Easy train trip right up to New York or down to Philadelphia, so nice and central as well.

Marc Bernstein 6:08

Aaron Ross Powell So I'm gonna summarize this quickly, but your background was actually had nothing to do with art.

From Empty Bank To Art Vault

Marc Bernstein 6:13

You're not an artist, right? And you worked in HR for a series of startups, so you had a nice career going. And I know then in Lancaster you got involved with developing community to a certain extent. But in terms of this business, you're what I'd call an accidental entrepreneur.

Victoria Abadir 6:30

Yeah, absolutely.

Marc Bernstein 6:31

So so t tell tell tell our audience how that happened.

Victoria Abadir 6:34

Yeah, so um there was a space in Lancaster, uh, right on the corner of Orange and Queen Street, which is uh one block from the convention center and the and the and the city square, one block up from gallery row, which houses a lot of um our galleries, and it was sitting there vacant. And um, as you mentioned, 15,000 square feet um on the first floor of this building. Um and it was also adjacent to Binns Park, which is a city sort of gatherings park. And it was just sitting dark. Um the bank that was there had moved out, um, and it was uh just this dark corner, and I kind of thought, what could be done with this? And we tried getting restaurants in there and a number of other businesses, went down to Alexandria, Virginia, and stumbled into the torpedo factory, um, which is a place where there's a lot of artists with individual studios, and walked around there and said, you know, I feel like I can do something like this here in Lancaster. And so I came back and just started walking the space, walking it over and over again and just sort of imagining. Called up a friend of mine, uh, Christiane David, who I've known for years. She is a uh long-term impressionist artist in Lancaster. She's had two galleries on Gallery Row, and I said, I have this crazy idea. What do you think? And she came down and she said, Yeah, you've got to do this. We need space for artists to work. We need space for artists to show. You need to do this. I want that studio. I'm your first artist on board, and let's do a pop-up in four weeks to test the market. And I said, No, I can't. That's crazy. It's November 1st, and you want me to open this December 1st? Somehow we pulled it together. We did a we did a pop-up for the month of December, tested the market, and it was really well received and it was a lot of fun. So we went from there.

Marc Bernstein 8:16

So how long after that did it take you to actually get the space ready and to open?

Victoria Abadir 8:20

And yeah. So we closed our doors right after Christmas and um started working on, you know, permitting and construction. And my goal was to open in September of 2024 with a soft opening in August. And the word got out, more artists started signing up. And I was about 60% full in April. And the artists were saying, You've got to open these doors. Like we we can't keep sitting here in this construct structure.

Marc Bernstein 8:47

This is like the opposite of what you hear of all startup businesses. Yeah. Because you ended up starting before your projected date.

Victoria Abadir 8:53

We we started before, and so we knew spring art walk was coming up. It's a great, you know, uh, a great event in Lancaster in in in the first weekend in May of 24. I said, All right, well, let's open these doors. We don't have any art on the walls. What are we gonna do? So we partnered with another nonprofit music for everyone, um, got some of the art they had in storage, had their pianos and their artists come in and opened for um spring art walk and um in May, and then just pulled together some exhibitions and made it happen.

Marc Bernstein 9:22

Ver very interesting. So you did it with not a lot of money. You got a grant up front, right? And a low interest loan, I understand. And if I might say this, I I I believe you're in the black after two years in business.

Victoria Abadir 9:34

We are. We are.

Marc Bernstein 9:35

Especially for an arts-oriented business. That's pretty amazing.

Victoria Abadir 9:38

Yeah, it's been really great.

Marc Bernstein 9:39

Aaron Powell So your model is I know that you have you have twenty-four resident artists, right? And then you also have other exhibitions that come in that rotate. May I ask, I assume that maybe the so artists pay rent.

Victoria Abadir 9:52

Yes.

Marc Bernstein 9:52

Right? Does that carry your basic expenses? So that's the idea.

Victoria Abadir 9:56

Yeah. The idea is that yes, the artists and and we don't say they don't say pay rent, they pay a membership fee. Gotcha. Because they're not tied into a long-term lease, which makes it really appealing for an artist. Exactly. Exactly. But it allows an artist to, if it's not working for them, to move on. Um and they're not tied into a year lease, which makes it very appealing. And it also it's a it's a low point of entry for them as well, which is great.

Marc Bernstein 10:19

Aaron Ross Powell Do they do do they move in and out or do most of them stay?

Victoria Abadir 10:22

Aaron Powell Most of them stay.

Marc Bernstein 10:24

That's what I thought.

Victoria Abadir 10:25

Absolutely. We've lost we've lost a c a very small handful, mostly because they've moved out of town, one to Seattle, one to Ecuador, and one to Georgia.

Marc Bernstein 10:32

Um because I have to think not only you have a nice space, reasonable subscription amount, but the

Membership Studios And Community Connection

Marc Bernstein 10:40

camaraderie and the synergies that are created, I gotta think, are pretty amazing.

Victoria Abadir 10:44

Absolutely. You've got you've got artists who are very well seasoned, like Christian David, who I mentioned, Peter Stevenson, as well as we also have a lot of new um uh emerging artists, and just that sort of communication and interaction between artists at every stage of their career is is really incredible. And everyone's saying, I need a little bit of advice, or what do you think of this, or where am I in this painting? Any advice you would have. And that sort of exchange of idea is what really makes the space exciting.

Marc Bernstein 11:12

Isn't this interesting? I just thought about this because the whole world is moving towards more remote work, right? And it's well it's kind of maybe retreating from that a little bit now. But in general, you know, we went from people working and collaborating in person, and artists are those people that usually worked alone and in isolation on their own and deeply involved in their art and that kind of thing. And you've created s the opposite of that. You're going the opposite direction where you're bringing people together and there's collaboration and there's camaraderie, they're probably much happier and they're probably more productive. And I gotta think it's more profitable because you have a space where people can come in and buy the art and see them at work and that kind of thing.

Victoria Abadir 11:51

Absolutely. And I think that's what really makes us different in what people really love. Even if the artist is not in studio, their doors are open. So I guess can come in and go into studio and see what's on the easel, see their palette of paints, see what they're working on. Um, the studios also act as an extension of the gallery, so it gives the artist an ability to showcase more work. Um and and I think you're right, you know, um, as a gallery, we can we can sell artists' work, but nothing sells a painting or a or a drawing or a piece of artwork more than the artist itself. When you're buying a piece of art, you're connecting to the art, but you're also connecting to the story behind it, you're connecting to the artist. And so having the artist in the space really allows our guests to understand and to connect and come home with something really special. And I think that's really unique.

Marc Bernstein 12:40

Other than the Torpedo Factory, are there many other places like that around the country? I I assume it's growing.

Victoria Abadir 12:45

Yeah, there are. There are. There's other models locally. There's the Goggle Works in Reading, um, Banana Factory, which um they've changed, yeah, they've changed their name up in Allentown. Um, there's a great new place down in Baltimore. The name escapes me, but they took an old school and they actually have residences for artists as well. Um, so it's affordable housing along with studio space, which is really cool. Um of course Asheville has a ton. So it is a model um that is growing. Philadelphia has the Cherry Street Pier. Um it's a model that's growing and um i in both large and small communities.

Marc Bernstein 13:19

I would think there's an opportunity there to connect with all these other places and maybe bring their artists as visiting artists to each other's galleries and that kind of thing. Is there is there any kind of collaboration like that going on?

Victoria Abadir 13:31

Um I wouldn't say we have any formal collaboration there, but there are a lot of artists that we pool, especially from the Goggle Works, that show their co um show their work in Reading and they come down and see our work as well.

Marc Bernstein 13:42

Fairly close by.

Victoria Abadir 13:43

Fairly close by. Um we like to try to keep our artists somewhat regionally. Um we have so much talent within the Lancaster area and surrounding. We don't feel that we need to pull too far away. Um we, you know, we did have an artist come in from LA, um, but he was originally from Lancaster, so that tie is there. And uh about Philly.

Marc Bernstein 14:02

Is there not far from Philly? We have it.

Victoria Abadir 14:04

We have a number of artists who come in from Philly, a great artist, Michael James. Oh my goodness, he's young, 23 years old, he's fantastic. Um yeah, we pull from the Philadelphia area as well.

Marc Bernstein 14:13

So interesting. I never usually hear of Lancaster as Philadelphia, as the Lancaster surrounds, but it is, you know, it's pretty cool. Yeah.

Break And Lancaster Art Vault Spotlight

Marc Bernstein 14:21

Uh with that, we're gonna take a really quick break because it's that time, and we'll be right back on Founders Forum with Victoria Abedier.

Announcer 14:28

Discover creativity, community, and culture at Lancaster Art Vault in the heart of downtown Lancaster. Lancaster Art Vault is a contemporary art gallery and working artist studio space featuring 24 resident artists creating and exhibiting on-site. Guests can explore what’s currently on the easel, meet the artists in their studios, and experience the creative process firsthand. Showcasing local, regional, and emerging talent through inspiring exhibitions, events, and community programming, Lancaster Art Vault offers something for collectors, art lovers, and curious visitors alike. From vibrant opening receptions to ever-changing artwork and experiences, there’s always something new to discover. Visit Lancaster Art Vault in downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and experience Lancaster’s thriving creative community. Follow them on Instagram at @LancasterArtVault and learn more at www.LancasterArtVault.com.

Startup Challenges And Learning On The Fly

Marc Bernstein 15:28

We are back on Founders Forum with our guest today, Victoria Abadier, who is founder of Lancaster Art Vault, a really interesting business and business model. You're, as I mentioned before, you're an unlikely and kind of surprise entrepreneur, kind of popped out of nowhere, and it's kind of like it sounds like instant success, but I know we do a show about entrepreneurs that is not just this uh instant and it's a smooth ride. So I know you had some challenges along the way. What kind of challenges did you face?

Victoria Abadir 15:57

Yeah, definitely not an instant success. Um, but uh a lot of work along the way. I'd say probably our biggest challenge was really at the beginning, um trying to get the space ready. I I really didn't know what I needed to do in terms of permitting and licensing and all of those things to get the space ready. Um and you're always held up as you are in any sort of uh uh start of a business to get those things done. So we were behind the ball a little bit there. Also, quite honestly, as you mentioned, I don't have a background in art. I literally had no idea. Yeah, I literally had no idea what I was doing. Um and so biggest challenge was just trying to figure it out as I went without a partner, um without a mentor, and making a lot of mistakes, but really, you know, pivoting, giving it a try and learning from those mistakes.

Marc Bernstein 16:45

Also, I mean, this is art is very subjective, of course, but you have to pick good artists to want have people want to come in and keep coming back.

Victoria Abadir 16:53

Yeah.

Marc Bernstein 16:54

And were you an art fan, or how did you determine how you would pick the best artist for the for the situation?

Victoria Abadir 16:59

Aaron Ross Powell Yeah, I was an art fan, but without a whole lot of knowledge. Um and and that was definitely um some growth as well, especially when it came to pricing. Um, you know, I kind of followed the lead of the artists, and I'm getting a little bit better now of figuring out what our market is and what's going to sell. Um, really making sure that the art I was picking um was different, um, so that there was always a different sort of medium or style throughout the gallery, making it engaging. Um one thing that we also do is we actually do a community call aligned with every single show. Each of our shows are themed. And so that brings in, along with our guest artists that show full series, um, some really uh a new dynamic for the case. No, so so for example, our current show is called Imaginary Spaces, which is Abstracts and Dreamscapes. So we have four, we have five artists that are our guest artists to fill the space. But we have a lot of space. So we actually put a call out to the community so additional artists can submit one to three pieces, and from there we do a blind sort of selection. So we'll bring another like twenty to thirty pieces. How do you get the word out?

Marc Bernstein 18:06

Social media.

Victoria Abadir 18:07

Social media, website, newsletters, all of those things word of mouth. And um it it just provides another opportunity for artists within our community to showcase their work in our in our space.

Marc Bernstein 18:18

So now you're getting either even more like, let's say, beginning artists or less known artists in the door that way as well.

Victoria Abadir 18:25

Aaron Powell And we're sourcing artists that way. There's great artists that we'll find through the community call that we'll then invite in to be a guest artist, uh a headlining guest artist.

Marc Bernstein 18:33

I guess some of those could be future resident artists if you have the space for them.

Victoria Abadir 18:36

Absolutely. It's a great feeder and it's a great way to discover.

Marc Bernstein 18:39

So through the things you had to learn, what what would you say, what strengths have you built?

Victoria Abadir 18:44

So I'd say the the biggest thing I've learned is, as you said, I'm an accidental entrepreneur. I've always been very careful and just you know giving it a try, just doing it. Because if you don't do it, it's not going to get done. And that sort of happened when we opened early. I said, okay, well, we're just gonna do this. So um giving things a try, pivoting if it doesn't work, learning and listening, listening from to my artists, taking their ideas. There's been more times than not when an artist has come to me and said, I don't think this is working. I said, Well, this is the way it is. I take 24 hours, I come back to them, we discuss it, and oftentimes my my mind is changed. Um listening to the community, hearing what their needs are, what they want, um, realizing that we have a need for uh lower, uh lower cost studio space for emerging artists, making that happen. Um so really giving things a try, pivoting when they don't work, and adopting new ideas and listening.

Marc Bernstein 19:38

You just said the word I kept thinking about the pivot. Yeah. The art of the pivot.

Victoria Abadir 19:41

Yeah.

Marc Bernstein 19:42

Important for entrepreneurs. We talk about that on the show a lot.

Victoria Abadir 19:45

Absolutely. Yeah.

Marc Bernstein 19:46

Um so very good. So let me ask you this. Um I I mean you've had I I think it's phenomenal. I know it was not without challenges, and I didn't mean to say like overnight success. Yeah. But two years is pretty quick to be turning a profit, particularly in an art-based cut type of business. So congratulations on that, first of all. Um what do you see for the future?

A Bigger Vision For Lancaster Arts

Marc Bernstein 20:08

If you look if we looked out, we like to talk about three years from now. So if this is uh 2029 in May, and you and I are talking, we're looking back on the last three years, what would have had to happen, Victoria, for you to feel like that was a successful three-year period in your business and or your life?

Victoria Abadir 20:24

Yeah, I think um just continuing the growth of the vault, especially through our events and through education. So we have a workshop room. Um, I think there's a lot of opportunity there, um, both for artists to teach and for um community to take workshops. Um, I'd also think I'd expand it beyond just the Lancaster Art Vault. Um, Lancaster in general is going through a sort of resurgence of the arts. Um, there's a lot new more galleries that are coming in, and there's actually a big economic um impact study occurring right now, not just within the visual arts, but performance and culinary and everything.

Marc Bernstein 20:56

Well, I was gonna say food, music, yeah, all of it. Theater, everything is going on, and it's amazing in Lancaster what's happening.

Victoria Abadir 21:02

It it really is. And what I'd love to see in you know, three years is there to be a really um uh significant growth there with an art council. Um, and perhaps more um galleries or spaces that are doing what we're doing, more studio spaces for artists, more community gathering space for artists and the community, um, just more space for the arts to be uh and for collaboration to happen among the arts. So not just visual, but also bringing in poetry, spoken word, theater, dance, all of those things and um spaces for artists to be able to grow, to create, to market, to sell.

Marc Bernstein 21:38

So what do you what challenges do you see in accomplishing that vision over the next year?

Victoria Abadir 21:42

Um I think you know, kind of going back to what we said at the beginning is the volatility aspect and making sure that the attention is there. Um I think the challenges are always um sort of money and budget. Um so making sure that there is money, there is budgeted items, that there is an organization. Sort of behind it to make sure that the growth continues to happen. The attention is there. And the intention is there as well. Not only attention, but the intention of growing that this community, growing Lancaster as an arts-based community, and spreading the word regionally and nationally. We've seen it before.

Marc Bernstein 22:20

And I think from a financial perspective, you know, it used to be that if you're in the arts, you can look to grants, you could look to the I mean they're still out there, you you had received one, but it's getting harder and harder. G government is tightening up and getting out of the art space. So you have to be more financially self-sufficient in these projects. Which sounds like you're doing. Um and you're so this this to me is a story of and you're not you weren't you didn't spearheaded this because you've just been doing it two years two uh two years uh ago you started, but you were involved in it, because I know you were involved in the Lancaster community. And really Lancaster has been on a revitalization kind of path, a community entrepreneurship path, because there's a lot of there's a lot of uh entrepreneurs and we've had many of them on the show already. There's a lot of creative innovation going on, and and you're right in the thick of all that, I think.

Victoria Abadir 23:18

Yeah.

Marc Bernstein 23:19

Do you see that slowing down in Lancaster?

Victoria Abadir 23:21

I I really don't. Um Lancaster City is filled with um owner businesses, and it is um it's incredible the amount of growth that's occurring. The restaurants are popping up uh everywhere. Um, you know, we're we're we're rooted in history. Um we've got a ton of history, but yet we're so much growth. And people who come to Lancaster from all over, they're returning to Lancaster, they're coming to retire, they're coming for an art scene, they're coming because they want to be able to have a walkable, really dynamic city. And I think with all of that, we're just gonna continue to grow. Um and uh, you know, we have a we have a great new mayor who's who's really excited about the growth. And I I I I'm really excited to see where we are in in that three to five year time period and and how the city will have expanded. It's it's exciting.

Marc Bernstein 24:10

By the way, you mentioned the history. So growing up, you know, outside of Lancaster in the Philadelphia suburbs, I experienced Lan Lancaster as the home of the Amish, Dutch Wonderland, yeah. Hershey was nearby, and that was about it, right? That's what you thought of. But there actually is a lot of history that I've learned recently that if you go to Lancaster, you find out very closely connected to the birth of the nation. This goes way before all that. And people are starting to highlight that, and there's little organizations are starting to highlight it. And a lot of the um organizations that I'm or the people that I'm meeting um are aware of that and are building on that history and building on the culture that's always been there, but it's really kind of just come out of come into its own, I'd say, over the last 20 years, maybe 20, 30 years, something like that. And it's doing it on a big basis. We met through Deb Brandt, who has Fig, and she has these big uh launch parties every quar every quarter for Fig magazine, which I'm gonna say again, I think is the best city magazine I've ever seen. It's it's high quality paper. It's really, really done well, and it does a great job to showcase Lancaster, and now she's in other cities as well. And um it you it's it's something special. Like if you haven't been to Lancaster, you gotta go visit and you gotta go check this out and just listen to our series, a podcast, and you'll find out about a lot of the entrepreneurs. You can get good good wine, good food, good art, good you can experience a lot of great things by going there. Let me ask you a couple other questions.

Surprise Questions And Taking More Risks

Marc Bernstein 25:41

Let me ask these are surprise questions because you didn't pick them. Usually we let our guests pick them in advance. Uh oh. What what kind of music do you like to listen to?

Victoria Abadir 25:49

Um so I really like all music. Um I don't really have a specific genre, but I'll be honest with you. When I'm driving, I'm I'm a big reader. So I'm constantly reading a book and I'm listening to a book. So I'm a reader, I'm a podcaster, and so um, there's usually like two books on my nightstand, two books on my audible.

Marc Bernstein 26:07

You're a podcaster. You're you're listening to podcasts. I like listening to podcasts. You don't have your own podcast.

Victoria Abadir 26:11

Correct, correct. Yeah.

Marc Bernstein 26:11

You should know. We should we could talk about that. If you'd like to have your own podcast. You would be good at it. So podcasts. So listen, that's not unusual, and that's a great answer. Thank you very much. Do you have a favorite movie?

Victoria Abadir 26:22

Oh gosh, a favorite movie. Oh, I really wish I could think of it.

Marc Bernstein 26:27

I'm going to let you off the hook on that one if it comes to you before the end. Let me ask you one other question. If you could speak to your younger self, what would you encourage yours about to yourself to do?

Victoria Abadir 26:36

Um I would encourage my younger self to take risks. Um I did a little bit after uh after college, but I think I was really careful sort of growing up. Um and I think I would just sort of be confident in myself, take more risks in high school, expand um a bit more, um, and then a little bit after college as well. Just take the risks. It's the only time you can.

Marc Bernstein 26:58

Well, we're out of time, so I'm not going to put you on the spot about

Lancaster Love And Episode Closing

Marc Bernstein 27:01

the movie again. So thanks so much for being here, Victoria. Get back to me. We'll talk about it. Thank you all for listening. It's a pleasure to have you here on Founders Forum, and we look forward to speaking with you again next week.

Announcer 27:12

Founders’ Forum was brought to you in part, by March Forward, LLC. We partner with entrepreneurs like you to assist in accomplishing your future vision. Your life. Your business. Your legacy. Comprehensive wealth planning that starts with you -- not a product. We hope you enjoyed your time with Founders’ Forum and that you found something of value to take with you throughout your day. Join us again next week for another episode of Founders’ Forum on WWDB 860 AM Philadelphia, or on your favorite podcast streaming service. Securities offered through DFPG Investments, LLC (“DFPG”) Investment Advisory Services offered through Diversify Advisory Services, LLC (“Diversify”). DAS and DFPG are affiliated entities. March is unaffiliated with DAS and DFPG. Member FINRA/SIPC The information provided in this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be interpreted as investment advice. The views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of Diversify or DFPG.