Episode 101

In this episode of the SPX, Joe Hamilton interviews Lisa Speer Vickers, daughter of the prolific entrepreneur Roy Speer. Lisa recounts her upbringing in a household driven by her father's diverse business ventures, which ranged from a utility company and real estate to oil and financial institutions. She shares her early memories of her father's entrepreneurial spirit and the dynamic between her parents that fueled their family’s success. Lisa delves into her involvement with Home Shopping Network (HSN), remembering how the business evolved from local radio sales to forging a whole new business vertical. Lisa shares her current endeavors, including the Speer Dream Foundation. She discusses the foundation's mission to support transformational projects and community initiatives, emphasizing a strategic approach to philanthropy that aims for lasting impact. Lisa also touches on her successful real estate business, Realty One Group Sunshine, and its unique commission structure designed to support agents' growth. Throughout the podcast, Lisa reflects on the lessons learned from her family's entrepreneurial journey and how those principles guide her current work with her husband Brett in both business and philanthropy.

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Joe Hamilton

Joining me on SPX is Lisa Speer Vickers. 

Welcome. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Thank you. Nice to be here. 

Joe Hamilton

So we have a lot to cover. You’ve had a pretty awesome life thus far. So we’ll start, as we do, at the beginning.

You are the daughter of Roy Speer, who was one of the most incredible serial entrepreneurs I’ve ever come across. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Well, thank you. Yes, he was. It was amazing to be in the family and to be his daughter. 

Raised in the household, it was amazing. And it’s not just him. It was also my mother. 

My mother, the two of them made a fantastic team. She kept everything basically solid so he could go do his serial entrepreneuring. 

Joe Hamilton

That’s great. So let’s talk about this. What are your earliest memories? 

The list of businesses, I think, is so interesting that it’s worth repeating. Utility company, real estate, clothing, country and western music. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

A vegetable farm in Puerto Rico. He was in oil in Texas. He had financial institution over in the Middle East in conjunction with the financial institutions here in the United States. 

Gosh, I can’t remember them all. He had hair salons. He had a medical business. 

He had a vitamin company that was a multilevel. I mean, it wasn’t really anything he didn’t try. 

Joe Hamilton

So when you think about all these different businesses and them coming out of him and connections and things, how do you remember them? Were they just opportunities and they were seen as opportunities or were they experiments or what was sort of the general vibe he had when he was considering a new business? 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Well, I was a little young when he was doing a lot of the business. So when I got older, some of them were his ideas that he would come up with and try them and others were if you had a good idea and brought it to him and you could, I mean, he was a stickler for numbers and you had to have your plan and really show that it could work. But if you could convince him, he tried. 

He loved helping other people be successful. 

Joe Hamilton

That’s cool. And how was he with how much he needed to be a part of the business? So was he okay to be a minority shareholder or when he got in, did he want to run the thing? 

Lisa Speer Vickers

I don’t think he was a minority shareholder in anything. Yeah. 

Joe Hamilton

So he wanted to make sure that he had control of what he was working on. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Well, usually because he was the one putting in the money. And so he wanted to make sure that he wasn’t as much of a hands on. He let people do their job, but it was more of accountability. 

Right. And if you’re going to use his money, you had to be accountable. And he wanted to make sure that you had that you had to be accountable to him. 

And that didn’t make a difference if you were his daughter, son or an outside person. Right. 

Joe Hamilton

So he’d let you do your thing, but retain kind of a veto power if you needed it. Correct. Obviously, with entrepreneurial endeavors, it’s a it’s a numbers game. 

A lot don’t work. Some some work a little. Some work a lot like HSN. 

How does he handled the ones that didn’t work versus the ones that did? Did it kind of roll off his back or did they hit him pretty hard? 

Lisa Speer Vickers

No, they rolled off his back. He kind of had a philosophy that if you throw enough against the wall, he said, I’ll throw 10 against the wall and the the one that works will cover the other nine that doesn’t. And so he he never thought it is a failure. 

He always thought it as as just a learning lesson. And he had a lot of failures.

 Joe Hamilton

Yeah. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

I mean, he he wasn’t always successful. 

Joe Hamilton

Nobody is. I mean, that’s the nature of the piece. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Absolutely. 

Joe Hamilton

And so how early on were you able to start, you know, getting involved? Were you 15, 16 coming in and working with him? Or how did your your relationship with him business start? 

Lisa Speer Vickers

I started working. I did things with my mom on a small scale. And then as I probably in my later teens, I started coming in, working with him a little in the office.

And then it was really HSN where really we all came in and started working together. I did some with the utility company and the real estate company in the model homes, like I said, but HSN was really the catalyst of really where we all worked in and pitched in. 

Joe Hamilton

And being in that age and you’re you know, you’re down owning the company. You know, how was that? Did you feel extra pressure or do you feel any kind of where people like, oh, it’s the boss’s daughter or was pretty much just straightforward?

Lisa Speer Vickers

Yeah, a little combination of both. But because of his personality, that didn’t last very long, because if I didn’t do my job, they saw me get chewed out just as much as they did. It it it really I call it it was an unbelievable opportunity to watch a whole new industry, which you don’t even get that in a generation sometimes. 

And to watch that whole new industry go and him bringing it from nothing to the beginning, it was a true, I call it the first shark tank because we never knew what would work. And so we had a revolving door for that reason. And it was it was an amazing place to work. 

And it was really a lot of fun.

Joe Hamilton

Became huge. I want to dig into that a little bit. But first, I want to talk about your mom. 

And so kind of can you dig a little bit into the, you know, the dynamic and how they how she supported him and how he supported her and how that kind of work? 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Well, they had a wonderful marriage. They she was his safety net. And both financially and also obviously family and emotionally. 

She she had she created the foundation for the family, kept it strong and allowed him to go out and, you know, and fulfill his dream and do that and have a respite to come home to a place to come and reboot and get his strength back. And I was just always a big supporter of him and owns her. And then the big thing she did with the family is her faith. 

And she she wasn’t one of those that kind of hits you over the head with the face. She taught us to have a relationship versus a religion. And that really is what made the family so strong, I think, because that was the that’s the backbone of the family. 

Joe Hamilton

And that continues today. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Yes, it does. That’s amazing. 

Joe Hamilton

And obviously, you know, entrepreneurs in their in their DNA, they’re they’re used to the bucking Bronco and whatnot. Sometimes the people they partner with aren’t. So was she able to learn to take the ups and the downs and stride as well? 

Lisa Speer Vickers

She really was. I mean, she really worked well with the ebb and flow again. She was the safety net. 

So she was the saver. She was the one that kept things for the rainy day. So when we did come on times where things were leaner, mom stepped up and, you know, things were lean. 

And, you know, we we did our own yard work. We cleaned our own house. We did our stuff. 

And I mean, it was we were all taught that we were important part of the family and your job and everything that you did means that you were an integral part of it. Everything just wasn’t done for you. 

Joe Hamilton

That’s great. Yeah. And along those lines, you know, having what you what the opportunities that you had were were opportunities, but with them sometimes can come expectations. 

So, you know, how did you feel that played in your life as far as expectations for you professionally or following? And did you feel you could be free to go down a little rabbit hole into a completely different, unrelated career or what were your what do you feel? 

Lisa Speer Vickers

I have to say probably to be totally honest, young, you do you do feel a heavy expectation. It’s tough being in that world. You know, there’s nothing about my life he didn’t know because everybody couldn’t wait to tell him. 

So that there was difficult times. But as I was taught when I was raised, nothing’s free. And so that was that I had to there’s a payment I have to make for the for the benefits and the privileges that I have. 

And so I just learned to work within it. If I again, if I came to him with an idea, he didn’t have a set path. I had to go. 

The good the thing that I said for me, it was more opportunity than you have to do this. He just wanted you to do your best and to try your hardest. That’s great. 

And if you fail, get up. 

Joe Hamilton

So he was he was meticulous with the numbers, but not necessarily about setting a path and you have to follow it. He was really flexible and took opportunities as they came. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

No, because a person who was a lot like his business life, how he tried different things. He didn’t want to pigeonhole anybody into anything. 

Joe Hamilton

So let’s talk about the early days of H&M. It obviously turned into a huge juggernaut, completely invented industry. What are your earliest memories of it?

And how did it start?

Lisa Speer Vickers

Oh, the earliest memories. I remember when we used to sell things in the very beginning, I used to say that we sold stuff that they wouldn’t sell at flea market. Bud Paxton, it was pretty much his idea and then brought it to my dad and the two of them worked together. 

It started on radio with H&M radio show. Yes. And then then they went on, I think Vision Cable was the first cable channel that they went on in Clearwater. 

And we used to have warehouses where you go to and everybody came to pick up their number and we had the bargo bucks that everybody new member got. You got five bargo bucks. You had to pick it up.

And it was it was all done by hand in the beginning. You know, I mean, I was there from I started from unloading trucks to putting merchandise together to packing them up for the customers to then watching turned into a an amazing machine all done by computers and and turning. We went from it.

He started in 1980 and by 1985, he was national. 1986, we were public. And then by now, I think don’t. 

But I think it was either eighty nine or nine. So we hit a billion dollars in sales. 

Joe Hamilton

And so in the beginning that it wasn’t there was a lot of shipping. It was in person. Correct. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

You went to distribution centers because it was only local. 

Joe Hamilton

Right. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

And so when we went local, you had the distribution centers. And so he had a distribution center in Clearwater, St. Pete, one up in Pasco. I don’t know if he had more than that in the beginning. 

I don’t remember because, again, I was young, younger at that time. But he did have multiple distribution centers and the members of the club would come in and pick up their merchandise. They’d order it on TV and they’d pick up the merchants. 

But we took the orders by phone, by hand, wrote them down. And then, you know, I was one of the ones that did this at night. You have to punch in the numbers of all the item numbers with the membership number. 

And then you send the report over and then put someone physically by hand, pull the merchandise, put the person’s name on it. So it was all done by hand in the beginning.

Joe Hamilton

That’s amazing. And, you know, obviously, a couple of sides to the business, a really heavy logistical side, which, you know, got bigger and bigger as you started shipping and going all over the place, but also a programming sort of sales and showmanship side where you really had this new space and the idea of these new shows where you had people on there presenting and selling. And so how did that, you know, I mean, obviously it’s somewhat of a straightforward path to just, you know, stand up and sell things, but HSN really had a unique flavor to how it existed.

It had a, you know, it had a position and sort of an energy to it. Do you remember how that all came about? 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Well, that was really Bud. 

Joe Hamilton

Yeah.

Lisa Speer Vickers

But Bud Paxton was the, he was the showman. He was the one that could sell anything. And I remember when, in the beginning, when we used to, wasn’t me, I was in there a few times, but when we’d interview show hosts, he’d give them a pencil and tell them to talk about the pencil for three minutes and try talking about a pencil for three minutes. 

I mean, and you have to sell it, you know, and you have to say, so he would take very simple, simple things and make them talk. And that’s how he determined how he got his first people. And they were just, it was, and they became a celebrity little with their people because they, because the fun thing was, for the first time, people were hearing themselves talk on TV. 

So the show host would talk to the customers and the members. And so they became friends with them and they got to know them. 

Joe Hamilton

That’s so many elements of that are a precursor to things that are just huge now. It’s a precursor to Amazon. It’s a precursor to influencers on YouTube.

It’s almost a precursor to social media because it’s people interacting with the content. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Right. And it’s, I mean, we were the precursor to the automated telephone. It was called 2D. 

And that was what we first had in the beginning. We’ve heard we’ve created the automated system. I mean, he created so many automated automations that are come about today. 

It’s just amazing. I wish he was alive to see some of them.

Joe Hamilton

Yeah. What’s exciting about it too, is it has a little bit of a lottery effect in that when you choose products, you know, some, I’m sure some just went crazy good and some did okay. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Right. 

Joe Hamilton

And so there’s always this sort of energy between, wow, we had just had a breakout and we just made a ton of money in an hour, you know, you know, versus one that did okay or whatever. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Well, he was a, he was a heavy risk taker. None of our products were on, were on contingency. All of them we owned. 

And there was a, when you saw the ticker in the early days, it, it was real, you know, and it, and the, it had to make, if I remember correctly, it was about 25 to $2,700 a minute. Wow. If the product didn’t make that kind of money per minute, it was pulled.

And that’s where our discount centers came from. We also started like the outlets. We had an HSN outlet. 

So if we had products that didn’t work on air, take them to the outlet, cut the price down, and we’d still sell them there. Wow.

Joe Hamilton

Tell me your memory of the first time competition arose. You know, obviously there was a couple other, another network that ultimately became a buyer. And so do you remember when they first came up and how, how that sort of sent, did that send any ripples through the organization?

Lisa Speer Vickers

I don’t remember the year when it happened, but I do remember dad said, well, it’s not, replication is the best form of flattery, but yeah, yeah. 

Joe Hamilton

Mimicry is the best form of flattery. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Yeah. And his thing was, it’s a big world. There’s enough room for everybody. 

Joe Hamilton

So he had a corner of an abundance mentality too.

Lisa Speer Vickers

Yeah, absolutely. 

Joe Hamilton

And then ultimately they ended up purchasing. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Yes, they did. 

Joe Hamilton

Way later on. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Yep. They, dad sold it in, I think it was, it was 1992. Cause I remember I got married in 93 and they, he sold it a year before. 

Joe Hamilton

And how about when you went public? That’s such a huge thing in any entrepreneur’s life. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Would you remember that? It was, they, Wall Street called it, it was really phenomenal at the time. And they said, something had never happened. 

I remember my, both my parents coming home cause I didn’t go, but Bud Paxton and his wife and my mom and dad went there. And there was such a demand for the stock when it went live, they had to surround them with guards because they were being trampled. 

Joe Hamilton

Wow. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Yeah. And it was, it just, it was an amazing, it was, it was amazing day to watch. It really was an amazing thing to watch. 

And it was the first company he ever took public. Cause he had a, he also had a real philosophy of being responsible for other people’s money. Like he had a very strict policy in our company. 

You couldn’t take the company, we had company jet and I said, and even him personally, if you weren’t making more, you had to make more than three stops and have at least six people to be able to take the jet anywhere. Cause he had a very, his thought was, you know, I’m using other people’s money. So therefore I have to be responsible for every dime that I’m doing. 

Joe Hamilton

Makes a lot of sense. So it’s, you know, it’s good cause you have, well, I guess it’s a reflection of the business. You know, Walmart is always famous for the fact that they make their executives sleep two and three to a room and a coach and stuff, but they really were a completely cost-cutting logistical business. 

Correct. You had, you kind of had both sides of that. You had the cost-cutting logistical side, but you also had the, you know, a lifestyle side and a, so it sounded like he had a nice balanced pragmatism. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

He, and he grew it from being a less than Walmart in the beginning to where it was, where you could buy quality products and really good products. But in the beginning, it had to be that kind of stuff just because nobody ever bought anything on TV before.

Joe Hamilton

So somewhere in there, and all this, your mom started the foundation and.

Lisa Speer Vickers

Actually, my dad. 

Joe Hamilton

Your dad started the foundation, the Spirit Foundation. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

My mother has one too, but it’s Practical Christianity Foundation.

Joe Hamilton

Oh, okay. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

So she’s, they both have theirs.

Joe Hamilton

So it sounds like, you know, with, with your, with your, your dad’s respect for other people’s money, your, your, your, your, your family’s interested has always been interested in helping people. I think I read that, you know, he would meet people and that were in a spot and he would just pay for their education and things like that. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

He would meet people anywhere. And that was the thing. I actually said this at his funeral, that he had a lot of rewards in heaven because he did so much in private here. 

He would meet somebody, he’d meet a single mom or he’d meet somebody that’s, you know, that’s having a hard time. And he said, I’ll pay for your child care. I’ll pay for your schooling, you know, but, but you have to, if you tell anybody I’ll never do it again. 

And so he didn’t want other people to know. What do you think? Um, I don’t know if it’s because he didn’t want some, everybody coming to him or it’s what he was just, he liked to help people, but he didn’t like the big spotlight.

And I don’t want to say he didn’t have an ego because anybody who does what he did has an ego, but he didn’t want to show off. 

Joe Hamilton

Yeah. And I think there actually is a difference between having an ego and wanting to be in the spotlight because being in the spotlight can be a pain in the butt really. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Yes, it can.

Joe Hamilton

You know, it’s just a lot of unwanted attention and low quality attention. Right. Whereas, you know, if you can kind of stay, you want your interactions to be as high quality as possible. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

And, um, I think kind of like how I feel, um, and the rest of the family is, you know, he didn’t want to get the glory, you know, he knew his, his, his success and everything. Yes. He worked hard and we all did, and we put in the effort, but ultimately it comes from God. 

And so he wanted the glory to go there. Not just to him.

Joe Hamilton

Wonderful. So let’s talk about the foundation. Um, you know, it’s, it’s gone on a journey. 

Tell me about how the foundation started, how it evolved in the, and try to bring us up to where we are today. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Well, he started it as the Roy M. Speer Vickers Foundation while he was alive and did, you know, and a lot of things for just a smaller organization, smaller donations. When he passed away, uh, he left it, left a significant amount to the Speer Vickers Foundation. 

And my mother was amazing. She, um, cause we have to give away so much every year. What she did is keep 50% of that. 

And then came to my brother and I and said, uh, to my brother, I want you to take 25% of the foundation and go make a difference in your city and came to me and said, I want you to take 25% and go make a difference in your city. And it, it’s been, it’s been a learning journey. Uh, you think it would be easy. 

It’s not, uh, when you have to give away, you know, the amount of money we have to give away every year. It’s hard because you want to make sure you give it to the right places and the right and the right people. And our big thing is to make sure the organizations that we give it to, it goes to the people that it’s supposed to help, not those that are, that abuse the money. 

Um, and so I, we worked, I worked with the, you know, I did the Speer Vickers Foundation for 10 years and really made it, you know, help make an impact. I think in the community learned a lot on how to do it, uh, and what the philosophy that we want to do. And we didn’t want to do things that were just an instant fix. 

We wanted to do things that would bring hope and change. And then, uh, about two years ago, um, the family just decided because my brother’s in Nashville and I’m here, it just made it too difficult sometimes to do things together. So we decided to split the foundation and, uh, I came up with Speer Vickers Dream Foundation. 

And so we just started the Speer Vickers Dream Foundation a couple of years ago and took us a year to get everything all together. And then we just had our first distribution this year, which was 2.3, I think it’s 2.3, maybe 2.4. Yeah. I’m one of those numbers. 

Joe Hamilton

That’s great. It makes a lot of sense. You know, obviously it’s nice to work, uh, you know, under one umbrella, but you know, you have very specific local knowledge. 

He has very specific local knowledge and it does make a lot of sense that you just, you know, you can get fully saturated into what you know. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Right. If you don’t live in the community, you don’t really fully know what the needs are. You know, you, and you can see it from a high level, but not the lower level where you really can make this serious impact.

And that’s what I want to do with the Speer Vickers Foundation.

Joe Hamilton

And I had the opportunity to interview the executive director, Tim Whipple not too long ago. And I was really impressed by the breadth of, of what you’re, you know, putting your money into. Um, you seem to be fearless and, you know, you can go to the very high tech side, to the very grassroots side. 

Um, and you know, one thing he, he had mentioned and I had seen in reading a little bit about you was you, you like to go where others can’t or won’t. Can you talk a little bit about that philosophy? 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Um, we like to try new things. I look at the foundation, some of it like a business and an entrepreneurial, uh, philosophy. It’s like what we do with St. Pete college with the certification program. They came to me and said, you know, we want to do scholarships. And I said, no, everybody does scholarships. Let’s do something different. 

And together we came up with this idea of the certification program, and it can really make a huge difference in someone’s life because those that can’t take the time or have the ability to spend two to four years to go to college, or just don’t want to, this gives them not just a job, it gives them a career and it gives them a path and it gives them hope. And that’s the thing I, um, I’ve worked with so many underprivileged, um, young men especially. And I constantly heard there were two ways out drugs and, and sports. 

And I want to be that third hope.

Joe Hamilton

That’s amazing. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

I want to be a way, another way out.

Joe Hamilton

Yeah. And it, you know, and the nature of college is changing too. So I think you’re a little bit of ahead of the curve on this one as well. 

And that these types of certifications, uh, you know, there’s a lot of industries. I know we have a tech team and what we’re building. And I don’t know that I would hire someone with a four-year degree because it’s just too slow.

Right. And a lot of these, you know, a lot of these careers you’re in and out in a year and then you’re learning on your own or on the job. And that’s just, you know, that’s the right way forward now. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Absolutely. And with the, the, like you talked about the community wise, we’ve, we’ve kind of stressed so much college that we’ve lost track of the trades. And so sometimes those people can make more than the others and it can really help to be a lifelong career. 

And the organizations that we partner with are those that, okay, you, you’ve taken your first certification. You come in, if you stay with the company, there isn’t a path to move up and the company will pay for your further education as you move up in the company. 

Joe Hamilton

Yeah. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

So it’s really a career.

Joe Hamilton

Yeah. So you can get the ball rolling and then the career takes over. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Absolutely. 

Joe Hamilton

Makes a lot of sense. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

And you know, it’s the philosophy is given a fish or teach them to fish.

Joe Hamilton

Where’s that come from? 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Yep. 

Joe Hamilton

And you mentioned sort of the pressure that you have to give away this money because you have a, you know, an amount you’re sort of mandated to give away. And even though we have a lot of nonprofits, it, you know, it can be, if you have somewhat exacting standards, it can be hard to find you know, especially with the amount of due diligence you have to do with each one, you know, to find the right ones to, to give the money to. And to that end, it sounds like you’re starting to look at how you can help level up nonprofits in general. 

Cause Tim had talked about doing some roundtables, talked about helping even some capacity elements as far as like creating content with the new podcast studio and things like that. So you know, on the one hand you’re giving directly to nonprofits, but on the other hand, you’re looking at leveling up, you know, the, some, you know, the whole nonprofit existence in the community. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Yes. One of the things that Tim brought to my attention, and I thought so too, is that there’s not a centralized organization where all foundations can talk to each other and we can’t be everything to everyone. And, but if we can work together or if an organization comes to us, but they’re not, they’re not in our mission, we can say, Oh, you know what? 

We’re not in ours, but we’re going to introduce you to somebody who is. So, and that, and that way everybody works together for the benefit of the community instead of just us being the only ones. 

Joe Hamilton

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And so how, how will you, what are some plans to activate that?

Lisa Speer Vickers

We’d like to do it within the next year. We’ve talked to probably about 10 different foundations and, and the, the response has been great with all of them. All of them would love to be part of it. 

And we just feel like we’re, our first thought is just going to be to get all the foundations together, tell them what we’ve been doing, like, especially with St. Pete college and some of these other ones where we have, we’re trying to do certain things where we can prove success by the numbers. And then we can say to the other foundations, how would you like to partner with us? Cause we can’t fix this problem just all on ourselves. 

But if we all partner together and make this big contribution, we can pop, we can maybe, maybe change the community, be city changers and be really, really make an impact. And so that’s what we’re planning probably in the next year to be able to do that. But we want to have multiple areas where we’ve have proven success. 

So we can show that right. Numbers wise, again, looking at it as a business. 

Joe Hamilton

And the other thing I really love that Tim mentioned was that you love transformational projects, which can mean big changes or deep and lasting changes. So talk a little bit about what’s draws you to want to make transformational changes. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

One of the biggest ones we just did was the YMCA there on 62nd Avenue. That was a seven-year project. And I lived in that area.

I grew up, my children grew up there. I looked at it as a facilities deficiency area in St. Pete, kind of a forgotten area. And I just knew it was going to be transformational to that area.

And that’s what it has. And that’s what we’re looking for. Things like that, where it’s good. 

What I loved about the Y is it being used by everyone and then partnered with the school. So it’s multi-purpose, which makes it different. Instead of just a single-use facility, it’s a multi-use facility. 

And it services young, old, families, singles, everyone. And those are the kind of things we really enjoy. Making an impact, look at it from both the use of people, and then if it’s an organization, what they do. 

And try to help. We do it on both sides. I’ll give you an example of what I did during COVID. 

A lot of the small nonprofits I knew because they couldn’t do their galas. And the galas is where they get their money to be able to pay the small administrative fees they have, just that they have to eat too. And I found that they couldn’t do it.

Well, I went to a lot of these nonprofits and I said, you give me what you made last year at your gala, we’ll give you that amount this year. And so it really kept a lot of them that were going to go under, it kept them alive. And so it’s meeting the needs both on a very basic level and then something like the YMCA that’s huge and transformational.

Joe Hamilton

And that fits because you’re one of the few foundations that makes a point of saying, we don’t mind supporting operations. Correct. And so many people are like, we’ll support this book, getting books to kids.

We’ll pay for the books, but we won’t pay for the shipping or we won’t pay for the humans that need to go drive the books for the kids.

Lisa Speer Vickers

Well, the operations we know is important. We want to keep it at a certain percentage so that it’s not being abused. But like I said, I mean, the people that run it, they have to eat too.

They have a family to support and they can’t do it all for free. And so it’s very important to have that staff that you need.

Joe Hamilton

Yeah. And not only that, I mean, they can’t attract the talent they need as a business if they can’t pay them. It’s just so hard for people to expect people to take half the salary to come work for a nonprofit that they could get somewhere else.

Lisa Speer Vickers

And that’s some of the problems they’re having today.

Joe Hamilton

And I will note, again, this is just another in an ongoing thread of really innovative things is that this partnership, the Y in a school is unique and people are already starting looking at because it’s such a fantastic facility. So more innovation. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Yeah. And it’s wonderful to be a part of it. And I also want to say that to make this point, we were able to be the naming and the catalyst to be able to start the fundraising.

But the community, so many partners in the community and individuals in the community made that happen. And I mean, because it was a huge project. So it’s nice that it was really a community based effort to make it to get it done.

That’s wonderful.  Yeah. It’s a beautiful facility. We take swim lessons there and go there, you know, a couple of times a week, and we love it. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Oh, that’s great. You know, they, they, they’ve gone over 10,000 members. Sorry, I think so. David, I just actually met with David; we hung out a couple of days ago. He said surpassed the, uh, the Gibbs location. Oh really? Yeah. In memberships. 

Wow, that’s fantastic. Well, I knew it was great, and they surpassed any expectation I had.

I mean, I walked in and blew my mind; you know, I mean, I thought of the otherwise, I never thought it would look like that. And it’s just amazing for everyone to use. 

So for all the, uh, the praise we gave your dad for being a great entrepreneur, uh, you and your husband and Brett have a pretty darn successful real estate business of your own. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Thank you. Yes, we do. Realty One Group. Yeah. Realty One Group. Sunshine. 

Joe Hamilton

So, talk a little bit about how that started and how then the journey thus far. Uh, the reason it started is I’ve been in real estate. My father was also in real estate, as you know, and I’ve mostly been on the development and buying side.

Lisa Speer Vickers

And about five or six years ago, I got my license and I started going around to other brokerages. And again, looking at it from a business point of view, I’d walk in and I’m like, you want? What percentage of my commission?’ And so, um, I just kind of thought. There was a lane missing in real estate. You had your boutique brokerages that offered a hundred percent commission, but really no tools or nothing for the agent. Then you had your big box that offered all the tools, but took 20, 30, 40% of the commission. And so we found a reality one. We were going to open our own and found Realty One that had everything that we were looking for. And what’s wonderful about it is it’s a transaction-based brokerage where we are national international, have all the tools, the CRMs.

Everything. Everything an agent needs to run their business, but we only take the transaction fee instead of a commission. So kind of like HSN, we are built on volume and production, and it allows the agent. I’ll give you an example. Let’s say an agent, let’s just say they’re paying $5,000 to their broker as their commission. They can take what I say: ‘With every transaction you do, if you have, um, let’s say you take half of that, put it in the bank for you. Take the other half.’ And if you farm every single area, every single sale or buyer that you just had, how many more transactions could you do in a year? And it’s just because you have the money now to expand your business. And that’s what we were truly here for. 

What I did with what we not just me, my, my husband, myself, and then Sandy, who is our, our managing broker – our philosophy is: we’re here to serve. We’re truly here to serve the agents, build their businesses.

Joe Hamilton

 I have to note that you were your mom and your dad there. You said, ‘Take, put half away, and save the other half and grow, grow, grow.’ Right? I mean, that’s your mom and your dad. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Yes, it is. And that’s the philosophy I grew up with. And if you, you know, you can, cause if you save, then you can also get through the lean times, which is another philosophy I learned, you know, lean times are going to come and you have to prepare for them so that you’re not dying.

You don’t die during that time. So you’re just crossing what? Hundred and 30. 130. Agents. Agents, which is 130. 138 agents. 

Joe Hamilton

So that’s pretty substantial. Yes. Um, what’s, what’s the trajectory look like going forward? 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Uh, we’re just, we’re getting ready to open Tampa in, in September and, um, probably we’re looking probably going to grow to about, I would say two to 50 is where we will grow to. 

Joe Hamilton

And is that a, do you feel like that’s an intentional cap or do you think this is a natural cap? 

Lisa Speer Vickers

No, I, I’m, I’m really not sure. Cause it’s yeah, unfortunately right now the business, fortunately or unfortunately the business is changing a lot.

And so I don’t, we’re not really going to cap it, especially now that we’re going to be opening Tampa. Um, I’m just kind of thinking with the realtors that are around, it’s more realistic and, uh, um, and it’s a, it’s, it’s, it’s a difficult business. I’ll say it’s probably the most difficult I’ve ever had. Um, but it is a fun business. And it’s a business where you can really, really provide a service. If you do it right, and it’s more of – I’m not saying we’re not going to make money because we will, but we’re not going to – it’s not going to be an HSN, but it really is providing a service for agents, your agents, to really grow a nice business of their own and grow it as small or as big as they want to.

And really, with the transaction fee-based business, that should benefit from some of the changes that have happened. 

Joe Hamilton

If I understand them correctly, as far as the way the commissions are being kind of attacked and whatnot, you’re not in that necessarily. 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Right. We’re not – right. And it’s in – ours makes it very simple. Right. It’s the sale, and it’s a number for the sale. I mean, ours starts at – house that’s up to $200,000, it’s $350. Yeah. And so it’s – and then it goes up $100 for every $100,000 after that. So it’s a very small percentage, and so it doesn’t really make – it doesn’t really make a difference if you’re the listing agent or the buyer’s agent. And so it really – it really gives, again, money for agents to grow their business because, you know, unfortunately, agents give so much, they don’t have anything left to really build their business. You don’t punish an entrepreneur at all. Correct. Yeah. That’s what it comes down to. Absolutely. It makes sense coming from an entrepreneur. Thanks. I never thought about it that way, but that’s a good point.

Joe Hamilton 

All right. So, you know, let’s – I’d love to finish up just talking about – first, I want to know if we’ve missed anything. I mean, we kind of talked to some of the specifics with what you do philanthropically. Can you just, you know, summarize what it means to you and the feeling – the hope that you have when you support the community and then when you know it works, what that feels like? 

Lisa Speer Vickers 

Well, the biggest thing is, you know, too much is given, much is expected. And the community has given so much to us. And we have had the ability of this amazing success. And so, to be able – I really want to give back.

And I know everybody says that, but I want to give back in ways that help change people’s lives, not just their lives for the moment, but their lives for the future, which is hope. And our philosophy as a family is to make sure that we pass this on to the next generation. And so, I’m Gen 1. And then, I have my children who are Gen 2, and then, their children. And we’re – the nice thing with the foundation, if you run it right and you watch your expenses and then you keep your expenses onto what you give away every year, this can go on for generations and generations to come because you never touch the principle.

And so that’s what, you know, that’s what we’re hoping to make is an impact for multiple generations to hopefully help change the community and give people – people who possibly otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity, an opportunity for real success.

Joe Hamilton

 So with that, if people want to connect with the Speer Vickers Dream Foundation, how do they do that? What are your goals? How do they interact with you? 

Lisa Speer Vickers

Our goal really is to truly uplift the community and continue to create positive change. And I’m sure that every individual has the opportunity. And we want and encourage people to get involved, everyone to get involved, to spread awareness, to volunteer. Also, if you know of a really good organization, you can always call us. Tim’s available, Lisa’s available, Heidi’s available, and I am too.

And so, we’d love to hear from anybody. You can visit our website at theSpeer Vickersdream.org and see all the organizations that we support. You can follow us on social media and learn more about the organizations that we work with. And we’re just interested in really working with anybody who wants to help make positive change in the community. 

Joe Hamilton

That’s wonderful. I’ve enjoyed the conversation. Thanks so much for sharing your journey. It’s really neat. You’ve had a good run.

Lisa Speer Vickers

 Well, thank you. We’re just beginning. And so, I’m hoping to have a lot more runs. Maybe come back later on and see the differences that we’ve made and talk about the successes of the different programs you’ve had. That would be wonderful.

 

Joe Hamilton

Great. Lisa Speer Vickers Vickers. Thank you.