The Accidental Entrepreneur: How Rhea Lana Riner Built a Children's Consignment Empire
In this episode of Mom to MORE®, Sharon Macey welcomes visionary entrepreneur Rhea Lana Riner, founder and CEO of Rhea Lana’s Children’s Consignment Events. What began as a small clothing swap in her living room, born out of financial need, grew into a national franchise with more than 120 locations, rooted in motherhood, generosity, and community.
But the journey wasn’t simple. Rhea Lana shares how stay-at-home motherhood shaped her leadership, why creative problem solving is a mom’s greatest superpower, and what it was like to endure a nine-year legal battle with the U.S. Department of Labor that reached the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. It’s an honest conversation about resilience, risk, and leading with courage when everything is on the line.
Tune in for a candid conversation about courage, values-based leadership, resilience through adversity, and why saying no might be the most important business strategy of all.
[00:00] Introduction
[02:42] Family roots and entering the grandmother season
[04:10] Why choosing stay-at-home motherhood shaped her future leadership
[06:21] From financial strain to a living room consignment event
[12:36] Turning a small gathering into a growing movement
[17:48] Stepping into franchising without a roadmap
[22:33] A government challenge that threatened it all
[28:57] Delivering hard news and earning lasting trust
[30:50] Leadership through fire and building a no-drama culture
[31:09] Advice for moms afraid to start
[32:34] Boundaries, integrity, and leading with principle
[33:41] Fitness, resilience, and managing stress
[35:15] Building teams and defining her next chapter
Meet my guest, Rhea Lana Riner:
Website: rhealana.com
Consult link: https://www.rhealana.com/podcast/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhea-lana-riner-84874035/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rhealanas/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RheaLanas
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Keep an eye out for episode #59 of the Mom to MORE® podcast where Sharon is joined by Dorothy Cascerceri Simone, Host of That Greenwich Life Podcast. Coming soon - you won’t want to miss it ♥
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Sharon Macey (01:01)
welcome back to a new episode of Mom to More. Before we jump in, are you feeling the itch for something more? I've got you. Grab my free guide, six ways to reinvent yourself beyond motherhood at momtomore.com. The links in the show notes too. Okay.
My guest today has an origin story we can all relate to. And what she did with it is incredibly mind blowing. Rayalana Reiner is a visionary entrepreneur and CEO, best known as the founder of Rayalana's Children's Consignment Events, a national franchise with more than 120 locations across 26 states.
What began as a simple clothing swap in her living room has grown into a multimillion dollar company built on the values of motherhood, family, and community. And I love that. Through her business, Rhealana has empowered thousands of moms by providing affordable, high quality children's merchandise while offering a flexible path to entrepreneurship through consignment events and franchising. A mentor and leader at heart, she continues to champion women
as they juggle the many hats of motherhood and step confidently into their own success as business and community leaders. And no surprise here, Raylana was also a stay at home mom. Well, welcome to the show. I'm so thrilled you're with me today.
Rhea Lana Riner (02:24)
Bye Sharon, it's just a pleasure to be here.
Sharon Macey (02:26)
Thank you. Thank you. Well, let's jump in because I have so many things I want to talk to you about. I like to start my interviews with what I call my essential mom question, and that is, how many kids do you have and where did you raise them?
Rhea Lana Riner (02:38)
love that essential mom question. have three children. I have two daughters and a son in the middle
were born in Oklahoma and Texas and then ended up raising them in Arkansas.
Sharon Macey (02:49)
And I understand that you are now also a nona, AKA grandma, to that is my next stage of life since our son just got married. What is that like?
Rhea Lana Riner (02:59)
Yes, and actually we call it nonnet because it rhymes with real Lana. it's and yet it's so fun and it is life changing. It is absolutely life changing. I remember before I was a grandma, I was worried that I wouldn't be a good grandma because I in my vision, grandma's,
Sharon Macey (03:01)
Nana?
Rhea Lana Riner (03:15)
did lots of crafts and.
you know, gray hair. I don't know, I just had this vision maybe because it's what my grandmas look like. I don't do crafts. I work a lot. And so I didn't know if I could be a good grandma. And then I've just learned that we all can be whatever we want as a grandma. And so my grandchildren don't live in the town where I live. And so I do have to travel to go see them. But I love taking us on trips and spending time with them. And my oldest is now eight and just now getting old enough to really build that long term relationship where I know she's going to have memories. And so it's just the best.
Sharon Macey (03:47)
That is so sweet. I'm looking forward to that next stage of our lives. That's for sure. Okay, so you made a choice to step away and lean into family life for many years. What did that season of motherhood give you that you think laid the groundwork for everything that was to come next?
Rhea Lana Riner (04:06)
It absolutely did. I tell a lot of anyone who asks, say being a mother to three children under the age of four, I think was harder than being a CEO. I mean, I remember those days vividly and I kind of felt like I was dodging the landmines every day, know, just helping, hoping one child didn't throw a temper tantrum, you know, and in your, but you're, you're juggling so much, your creative problem solving
Sharon Macey (04:16)
Hahaha
Rhea Lana Riner (04:29)
anyway. I just absolutely believe that those years as a stay at home mom.
gave me the skills that I need to do what I do now.
Sharon Macey (04:37)
And why was that important for you to lean into family life and to dial back what you might've been doing before?
Rhea Lana Riner (04:42)
I think some of it probably comes from my own
own parents both worked a lot and I found myself probably not as connected when I was young and sort of handed off in lots of different directions, probably didn't have that close relationship. And so I think that's where it started as I just wanted to try to be more present to my own children than probably my parents were to me. so.
And at the time that's kind of weird. Because I have a college degree. It's honestly not a very useful degree, like being a teacher or a nurse. And so that's kind of part of it too, is there just wasn't anything really practical that I could do so that my husband could also have his career. So it just, worked for our family.
Sharon Macey (05:22)
Got it. And you know what you just said about wanting to do things differently from the way you were raised. I've heard that a lot before. And I think
that's obviously very personal, but very powerful. So thank you for that. Okay. So way before you became a CEO, you were a garage sale and consignment clothing junkie to clothe your kids. And I'm raising my hand here because it's something that we can all relate to, right? The kids need clothes.
They're just going to outgrow them in a few months. We do not want to spend a lot of money on clothes. So we had a group of friends and we would say, I'm done with this size. Do you want them? And we would go back and forth like that. And clearly you had that going on, which I loved. So take us back to your very humble beginnings with the piles and piles of clothes and a living room full of moms and the simple idea that really started to take on a life of its own.
Rhea Lana Riner (06:17)
Well, it really started from a place of financial need. My husband had left the corporate world at this point and had gone into nonprofit work, which meant we took quite a nosedive in our family income. And to be honest, we were struggling to get one paycheck to make it to the next paycheck. So I did love the deals, but I also had a real need I was trying to meet for my family. And then I also really loved cute kids clothes. And I think moms do. Our self-worth is really wrapped up in how our children look.
and I was that mom, I wanted my children to be dressed beautifully and high quality things. And so that was the motivation. And I had always loved the thrill of the hunt. Like you said, know, trying to go to garage sales and what could I find? This great brand. then, because the good thing about buying a great brand is once your child was finished wearing it, you could resell it. And sometimes the goal was to sell it for the same price you bought it, you know, and then you, it's all about,
coming out even.
And so I loved it. And so when my youngest one was headed off into preschool and I knew I had a few mornings to myself, that was when I felt like I had some bandwidth to try this little thing. And we didn't have much money. So it wasn't like I could risk a lot of money. And it really didn't start off to be a business sharing. It really was just moms helping moms and helping each other. so I just hosted this little event in my living room. We moved the furniture out into our bedroom so that I could have this little space. rented three.
Sharon Macey (07:38)
I bet your husband loved
that.
Rhea Lana Riner (07:39)
looking back, he was actually a pretty good sport. I can't, kind of can't believe we did it. And how in the world the two of us moved our sofa and crammed it into our bedroom. have no idea. But anyway, the things you do when you're young.
so I rented these three empty clothing racks and I sent postcards out to anybody I could think of. My husband had told me if you can get, mail a hundred postcards, you can get bulk rate. So I was just trying to think of a hundred people that I knew from
preschool and church and the neighborhood and the community. And I remember just being so thrilled when 11 moms let me sell their clothes for them. Yes, and so I had 11 consignors and that was that very first sale. I washed everything. I wanted it to be perfect. I tend to kind of be a perfectionist at heart. I ironed them and we had these little string tags that I used to them that I still use now because in my heart, I really wanted to create a boutique. Like I just didn't want it to feel like a garage sale.
and as moms were juggling so much and I really wanted to create this special secondhand experience that really was not out there at the time.
Sharon Macey (08:43)
So you were really atroblous when it came to clothing consignments as well.
Rhea Lana Riner (08:49)
Yeah, really at that time, this was in the 90s, it was a while ago,
Sharon Macey (08:51)
Mm-hmm.
Rhea Lana Riner (08:52)
and it started honestly when I lived in a town in Texas where my husband was working as an engineer, and in this little small town, all you really had was Walmart, and Walmart clothes at that time, if you washed them one time, they fell apart
or you had the expensive boutiques in town, and there were two, but a onesie even then cost like $100, and so the only time I could afford to shop at those expensive boutiques,
was when they had their 75 % off sale. And I still remember just not really feeling valued. Like I remember one time, again, I think I had two, maybe three kids, and I went in to shop in one of these boutiques. It was during the regular sale, regular day, know, things were full price. And I remember thinking, okay, the only way my kids are gonna sit still is if I bring them a McDonald's Happy Meal. And so I brought them into this little play area and they're sitting there eating and I'm thinking, okay, I have 15 minutes, I'm gonna go shop. And
The lady who owned the boutique there, she was so unkind to me. She walked up and she said, your children may not eat their McDonald's Happy Meal here, and so you'll need to leave. It was just this very shameful experience. I already was stretching myself
and I think it's those experiences that I know moms feel. We're trying to do our best to get our small little humans to behave. You can't even have an analytical conversation with a three-year-old.
really was.
Sharon Macey (10:08)
Cause they're going to win.
Yeah.
Rhea Lana Riner (10:10)
They are, they absolutely are gonna win,
So there just was this thing in my heart that I really was trying to help moms feel special, especially during those years when you're raising your kids and life is just tough.
Sharon Macey (10:22)
I love that. That's such a beautiful message and comes from such a beautiful place in your heart. So did it start to feel bigger than maybe this wasn't just a neighborhood swap anymore? And I also love that you called yourself the accidental entrepreneur.
Rhea Lana Riner (10:38)
Well, it definitely was an accident. I my family didn't do business. I don't have a business degree. I didn't know that I liked business. I'd never done business. I've never sold anything. I really am an introvert by nature. So it wasn't my nature to really even think about business. But I did realize that I loved it. And so the first sale, was all by hand. Everything we
tally the little tags and did everything by hand. But after that first sale, we actually wrote our own software.
And my husband did that as a pastime. And he is the one that said, Rihalana, you should computerize this. And I admit that I told him he was crazy because at that time moms like me did not have computers in our homes. like people had to go to the library to use the computer. It feels so different, you now that we all carry phones in our hand and that are mini computers.
so we computerized it, that second sale. And that really helped
meet our goals of wanting to have this excellent experience because
I'd always wanted things to be guaranteed. Another experience I'd have in the years before this is when I would consign things in a consignment store. There were consignment stores for adults back in those days. But when I would take things, I never knew what sold and for how much. And I kind of just felt like that it fell into a big black hole. And I was committed to always giving a report to my consignors. And so that first one, I just did it all by hand. But I wanted them to know exactly how much sold and exactly for what.
so that they would trust me with their high quality things. And so once we began to computerize things, we could guarantee, which means if we lose something, we're going to pay that consigner for the price of that item. And so that helped us to build this really high quality trusted experience that didn't exist yet. And then the other thing that we did that was special is that it's an event. You know, it wasn't a store. I never wanted to have a store. I just wanted to have an event.
And so, I felt like that's what moms could handle. We could clean out twice a year. Yeah, it motivates us.
Sharon Macey (12:32)
We need events. Yeah. That's so true. We need,
you're right. You need something to look forward to. You need something where you're like, this is when it's going to happen. I have a timeframe that I need to clean the closets out by. And it gives you like motivation
It gives you a goal to get there.
Rhea Lana Riner (12:47)
Yes. So that's how it started really. And you asked how it took on a life of its own. Well the interesting thing is each season it grew really all on its own. I didn't know much about marketing and it just took over another room of the house. It took over the kitchen and my daughter's room and the garage and then finally the neighbors complained because there was too much traffic, too much going on and that's when we moved out of our house and then we're trying to figure out how to secure locations.
And so then I was beginning to learn about business because then I had to pay rent
and then we needed more equipment and I had to learn about expenses and you got to have profit at the end. So just basic business principles.
Sharon Macey (13:24)
You know what I love about the story, Ray Alana, is that it's such a great example for other moms because so many times we feel that we need to have everything all worked out and it's this big global idea, but no, it starts so tiny.
I know what you have done is such a great example of really starting small and going baby step by baby
take an idea just from its little baby inception and really grow from there. So thank you for that.
Rhea Lana Riner (13:52)
think it gives women a chance to figure out if they enjoy it. Because we don't know. We need some chances at the bat, like in baseball. You need some chances at bat. so it gives you a chance to try some things out without risking the family farm. we just, think, because we were in a financial position, that I couldn't risk a lot. I needed to just dip my toe in it a little bit at a time. And then it gave me a chance to also grow with it gradually. And so that's why I like the idea of.
Sharon Macey (13:55)
Exactly.
Rhea Lana Riner (14:20)
starting and then you're not stuck. You if you go big then you're stuck. You know got to make some really big decisions.
Sharon Macey (14:23)
You're stuck, yeah. Yeah,
yeah. And also if you start small, there's always that opportunity to pivot, which you did, right? Time after time, you outgrew one space, you had to look for another space, you started learning about business, you started learning about all the systems,
within a business. It's just such a great example. Okay, so you and I both know that motherhood is a master class in multitasking. So whether it's logistics or patients or diplomacy, damage control.
So which of those mom skills, and I know there's a million that I didn't mention, do you now see as your business superpowers?
Rhea Lana Riner (14:56)
That is an amazing question. I think that our business superpowers, if I could wish that every woman out there had it, I think it's creative problem solving. I think that I do see a lot of folks who just kind of give up their hands, they wring their hands, they want to gossip or complain or whatever or blame it on something. If they would sort of just not do those things and just kind of own the problem,
and figure out, okay, what's gonna be my A, B, C, and D? And that's what we do as parents, right? I mean, every day
we're constantly creatively solving problems. We don't know how the child's gonna react and every child is a different personality and a different age and we're growing with our children just like we grow with businesses. So I love all the things that you said, diplomacy and so many things, but
creative.
problem solving is to me is the superpower that moms have that carry over so well into business.
Sharon Macey (15:55)
That is a great answer. Thank you for that. Okay. And were there any habits from your mom life that really helped the business or maybe you had to reframe once you became a CEO?
Rhea Lana Riner (16:08)
I had my three children close together. And so I did have to be very organized. And back in the day, you just had paper and pencil. But I pretty much have always woken up every day and had my to-do list. And what was the most important thing I was going to accomplish that day. And so I think that that is what I did as a mom with my children. And I still do that today as a CEO, really.
is something that I see that people struggle with.
is just prioritizing the most important things because oftentimes the things that are the most important are the hardest. And so we just procrastinate. And we're never going to accomplish anything if we are always procrastinating. And so you've got to have some systems in place that you push yourself to get the hardest things done and to get the things done that are going to either take care of your family the way you want to take care of your family or then once you own a business to take care of your business and help it to grow.
Sharon Macey (17:04)
Right, so let's just call procrastination that little devil that sits on one shoulder and
the angel on the other that is promoting you along in a positive way
we all have that. I deal with that right now. It's like, I know I need to do X, Y, Z, but this is easier, so I'll just get that done. So that, thank you for that.
Raylana, when we first spoke, you mentioned that you had read Franchising for Dummies, which I love, because that's just so classic mom. And that really takes guts to do what you did. So what made you think, why not me? Like, I can do this. And...
What was the biggest mind shift you think you had to make to scale from being a mompreneur to a CEO?
Rhea Lana Riner (17:44)
Well, the thing that precipitated reading Franchising for Dummies First was that in our family, my husband had decided he was going to stay in nonprofit work. I had always kind of thought he'd go back into the corporate world with all the benefits and all the things. And so to be honest, that was part of it, as I was beginning to go, okay, I'm thinking about my family, you long-term. And I was watching this little model, my events, kind of take off.
And it just felt like we were really meeting a need.
and I'm a person of faith, I felt like this is kind of a gift that God had given to our family. And it kind of felt like I needed to be responsible, you know, a good steward. And so I just kind of thought, well, I should try franchising. And I didn't know much about it. I knew I didn't have the money to hire a consultant. And so I just knew that I needed to dip my toe in it. I saved my own money that I was making from my events to kind of pay for the.
franchising documents to be drawn out by an attorney. so I think I just, it wasn't that I had a lot of confidence because to be honest, I've always struggled with self doubt, with imposter syndrome. And I do think a lot of women do, know, at least the women that I have met through the years. So I do feel like I'm a very average person. I came from a very average family. My dad was in the military. My mom was a teacher, but I do think I didn't want to fail. You know, I've always been pretty competitive and I've been a pretty hard worker.
And I've always said, I might not be as smart, but I'm gonna outwork anybody I know. And so that's kind of always been my own philosophy is I'm gonna at least work hard and I'm gonna give it my best shot. So that's kind of when I decided to franchise. thought I'm just gonna try it. And against like we talked before, I didn't bet the family farm. Like I didn't know if anybody would buy a franchise. And so I just, we just sort of took it a little bit at a time.
And then the mind shift that you asked about,
I really did have to begin to see myself as a leader.
I was never, you know, the loud person in charge that, you know, made everybody laugh. I was the quiet one in the background doing the hard work.
was a tough shift for me because I was definitely more comfortable in the background. But I...
knew that I wanted to succeed. And so each step of the way, I was willing to make the personal changes that caused my business to grow and take the next step.
I needed to be able to speak publicly and to do the things that it took for me to continue to grow personally so that I could have a chance at building a business.
Sharon Macey (20:05)
you don't have to be loud to be a leader. You don't have to be loud to be successful. You're leading very much like a mom. You're leading with your heart and your soul and your brain.
Hey, Rhealana, we are gonna take a quick break. And when we come back, we are going to talk about your challenges.
and one that took you to the halls of Congress. So folks, do not go away because you are not going to believe this. Be right back.
Hey, we're back with Ray Alana. ⁓ Challenges and struggles.
I'm one of those moms, and I can tell that you are too, who embrace this challenge because they help us grow. Oftentimes by forcing us to grow because groundbreaking work is not easy. But in the middle of growing your business,
You also had a years long fight, a legal and regulatory battle with the Department of Labor, and it reached all the way to the halls of Congress. What the heck happened? Please share that with our listeners.
Rhea Lana Riner (22:29)
Well, Sharon, it was terrifying, but it was an experience that just catapulted me in that personal growth journey that we were just chatting about.
I was barely above a stay at home mom. We had just been franchising for a few years and, we were growing. And I ended up being in the cross hairs with the federal department of labor.
and they did an audit and I'm part of a small industry, there is an industry of children's consignment events and they had been operating and we were sort of just the Cadillac.
we were just kind of raising the level. I kind of like to say it's what Walmart did. Before Walmart there was Sears and Kmart and Walmart just took everything up a level and so that's kind of what we did in the children's consignment event industry.
what I've learned with the Labor Department is they'll kind of pick one business and sort of make them an example When they're actually targeting the whole industry so long story short it had to do with some practices that we had they said that we had violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and I found myself in a position that if I had complied with them I would be out of business and I had about 90 franchises at the time and
thankfully I had a lot of smart people who supported me who said, Rielani, you're not violating the Fair Labor Standards Act and we think you should fight. And so Sharon, I actually sued the federal Department of Labor. I sued the government and you don't grow up hoping that someday you're going to sue the government. It was terrifying, but my back was against the wall. And I do think sometimes we find ourselves in those positions in life where our back is just against the wall. We don't really feel like we have a choice.
And so really that's where I was and it started this nine year journey of it was a, it was a, it was a long journey, but through that I just learned a lot. And it was, I was sort of in the laboratory of leadership really. And, and how do you lead a company while you're also trying to still grow as a company. And I was at the size where I may have had three full-time employees. And so, you know, it wasn't like we were some huge
Sharon Macey (24:09)
my gosh, nine, that's crazy.
Rhea Lana Riner (24:32)
you know, huge company. And so was wearing a lot of hats
but part of that journey did take me to the halls of Congress. We ended up having a bill in Congress for the children's consignment event industry that almost got passed. I testified before the Senate, I testified before the House of Representatives, and it really was a great lesson for me
I learned a lot about our court system and politics and business and just the overreach and over-regulation of government. And so,
Probably the neatest thing about it all is it actually made it to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. That's one step down from the Supreme Court for those who don't know. And we won the first time, which was incredible. Like basically a stay at home mom from Arkansas won the first time. And so we were really thrilled. I know.
Sharon Macey (25:05)
Mm-hmm.
Woohoo! Yeah.
Rhea Lana Riner (25:17)
And the other thing I do have to say is we were blessed to be supported by a nonprofit legal group out of DC. We could never have afforded what it would have cost to fight the government. That's the hard part is it just it's so crazy expensive. But they did a wonderful job of supporting us but we ended up losing in the end. That was the hard part about it. But
during those nine years, the great thing is I had these women franchise owners that were having a chance to grow as business women. We were so small in the beginning. We were a fledgling company with lots of small businesses, kind of fresh business women. Well, now they were seasoned. And so it gave our business a chance to really just mature. And also during that time, we were building trust because I was being very honest. I wasn't trying to hide anything.
I think that's the neat thing when you operate by a certain set of values you build trust, that's another thing that gives you a chance to grow because then you build trust with those that are working with you.
Sharon Macey (26:13)
And they were also on your team. And so they knew what you were going through and they were
behind you and supporting you and cheering you on. But what a
terrifying and lonely situation.
That is just really an incredible story,
Rhea Lana Riner (26:26)
Well, thank you. And I love what you said about that it was lonely, because it was lonely.
but I did have to learn that's part of leadership. You know, I had to figure out how to be okay with that. And I think that's where being a parent sort of ⁓ correlates with this. You know, with our kids, we kind of choose what we tell them, what's going on in the family, right? Depending on their age and what they can handle. And as the kids get older, you share more because they can handle more and you're trying to prepare them for adulthood.
Sharon Macey (26:45)
Yes.
Rhea Lana Riner (26:53)
Well, that was exactly how I felt about my franchise owners. Like I'm going to share what they need to know, but I don't want them to be so terrified that they're stuck. Like I want them to trust and have hope. And so it was this journey that we did together. And what's interesting is that although I was representing an industry, everyone else in the industry was too afraid to
that's a whole nother kind of part of this is I ended up being the one and, and, and it was disappointing.
Sharon Macey (27:20)
Interesting.
were other companies brought up or just you, but you were the one who's like, I'm going to fight back.
Rhea Lana Riner (27:23)
Well,
what's interesting is
on us. everybody else was...
Sharon Macey (27:28)
Why do you think so?
Rhea Lana Riner (27:30)
Well, we did learn that the government incentivizes ⁓ government employees. And so someone in Arkansas had sort of turned us in like, here's a kind of business you should look at. And it was an employee of the government.
then as it turns out,
were doing the same best practices that were being done in our industry. And so
others, they just wanted to hide out in the weeds because they were afraid of, because I honestly did have millions of dollars in fines that were hanging over my head that I had to just continue to operate and move forward. And it was, it was definitely ⁓ sad. there's another company in our industry that's much larger than me and they,
kind of said they would come along and then they didn't. Anyway, that's kind of a whole nother story, but it's part of leadership and you can't be too distracted when things aren't fair. It's kind of like we told our kids, life isn't fair,
Sharon Macey (28:21)
And now mom can really share that example of why life isn't fair. So what do you think was the biggest lesson you took away from this fight? And do you lead differently today because of that?
Rhea Lana Riner (28:25)
Right, right.
There was a time when I had to announce to my franchise owners that we had lost the case. And crazy enough, but it was during our annual franchise owners conference. I got the news the morning that I arrived and what I wanted to do Sharon is to lay on the floor and cry. But you can't do that when you're an adult woman, a CEO.
Sharon Macey (28:50)
Yeah, can't.
Rhea Lana Riner (28:53)
so I got with my team and I decided we're gonna go ahead and we're gonna present conference because these women have paid money to be here. It's when they are encouraged and we celebrated. But I waited until the last day in the final session and I stood up on the stage, my husband and I did, and we shared with the company that we had lost the case. And to be honest, as a woman, I don't know if you feel this way, but I try really hard not to cry in public because that's kind of a sign of weakness, you know? So I think it's what we do.
Sharon Macey (29:21)
It's not weakness, I think it's because we're emotional and we care deeply.
Rhea Lana Riner (29:21)
and ⁓
Yes,
you're right.
but I stood there on this stage and I had just these tears are just pouring out. And I just was so disappointed in myself that after all those years, I hadn't been able to win the fight. And I will still remember that one by one, these women out in the audience, my franchise owners, they stood and they gave me this standing ovation.
And you know, they could have, they could have sued me. They could have sold their walked away. They could have, they, because we put us into this place of unknown. And then not only did they do that, but then we spent the next probably six weeks where we had to pivot our way to do some major changes in our model that nobody was doing in the industry and for our next event season. And so then they also just fell in line behind me and, they were strong women who could help me solve the problem. So that's where we've been able to change. You know, we've, we've been through fire.
because the year after that we went through COVID. And so that's what happens when you do go through fire and when you go through the hard things, your capacity increases. And so now I do feel like I'm leading a company with women who've been through the fire. And so then as other younger women join our company, hey, we're a group of women, we don't do a lot of drama, we don't waste our time with trivial gossip. We're here to leave a legacy, to bless our families.
to bless our communities and focus on the big picture, not on the trivial things.
Sharon Macey (30:46)
Right, incredibly, incredibly powerful. Okay, so there's gonna be a lot of moms listening that have that spark. They have that idea, a product idea, a side hustle, a dream, but they hesitate because of fear or simply maybe life just feels overwhelming. What would you tell a mom about starting small and staying faithful to your vision?
Rhea Lana Riner (31:05)
I would encourage her to do it. Now, I do think you've got to carve out time for it. And so I do think that sometimes, moms, there's some things we could probably get rid of in our lives. So think through what are some time wasters or what are some things that maybe aren't getting you to where you want to go? I know for me,
when I was raising my kids and raising the business, I said no to a lot of things. I wasn't the PTO president and I wasn't in charge of a million things.
because I wanted to do a few things really well. So that's what I encourage moms is really figure out what you want to do well and carve out some time so that you've got some space in your life and in your schedule to test some things out. I honestly taught tennis lessons for a while and I ran a whole summer camp, Sharon, and at the end of the summer I lost money. Like, I don't know how I did that, it was terrible.
but I needed some chances to.
to try things and fail, and we all do. We all need chances to try things, to fail, to figure out what we're good at, to figure out what's in our heart.
Sharon Macey (32:05)
great advice. And I was going to just ask you, there any non-negotiables that guided you when things got tough, but you said one of them, and that is the power of saying no. And so often as moms, raising my hand here, we feel that we just do not deserve to say no. We can't say no. What do people think if we say no? But yes, we can say no. Are there any other non-negotiables that you had?
Rhea Lana Riner (32:30)
think you do need a set of values to operate from and I think when you have those, it just makes the decisions easier. So, know, one of mine is honesty. I'm going to be always honest to the best of my ability, even when it's tough. And so sometimes that makes my life harder, but I'm going to be honest. I'm going to treat people right.
the golden rule is one of the things that I've tried to live by where you put yourself in that person's place.
And I think when you do that, you treat people better. So to me, I've just always tried to treat people well. Another probably non-negotiable is just generosity. I've always wanted to be generous. Our franchising model is set up different than any other, but it gives more back to our franchise owners. I just think when you have some principles like that and you are consistent with them, then you see some long-term growth that builds on that foundation.
Sharon Macey (33:22)
Fabulous, fabulous. All right, we're gonna pivot for a quick moment. You and I share a love of fitness. So how does moving your body keep you grounded, especially when you're running a business and a family and something that is literally changing the world in such a positive way?
Rhea Lana Riner (33:37)
I think that fitness is better than medicine. So I love this question. Through the years, definitely my journey has been stressful. I'm gonna be very honest. It's been very stressful. I felt like I was out of my league. I didn't really know anybody like me, especially where I live. And so for me, fitness has been a stress reducer. if I, whatever it is, if I could move and move my body and get in the sunshine, it just helps reduce stress. And so then as you get older, I'm...
I'm a little ahead of you, I'm 61, so it does change. I can't do all the things I used to do, but I just think if we can move our bodies, it helps our brain, it helps our emotions. And in my early years, I honestly also did struggle with some depression,
there's a place for medications where we need, but if we could take care of ourselves,
holistically first, then I think it just puts us in a strong position to just be in control of our emotions and just sort of see things from a more
way.
Sharon Macey (34:36)
think moving your mind, your body, your spirit, all plays in together and it's so powerful on so many levels and also so many ways that you can't initially see or feel, but it's there. So thank you for that. I love that we have that in common. gosh, unfortunately our time is coming to an end. I could talk to you all day because this has been so enlightening. have a question.
that I ask all of the amazing moms that I have the privilege of interviewing. And that is, since this is the Mom2More podcast, Rhea Lana, what is your more?
Rhea Lana Riner (35:11)
Sharon, my more is I now know how to run children's consignment events. That's the thing I've done for all these years. I can kind of do it in my sleep. The more for me is building out our corporate team. It's where I live and work every day. I come in to work with amazing young women and I'm enjoying pouring into them and creating a place that women can build a career but have balance for those who are moms. Some are single, some are married, some have children, but I'm enjoying.
building out our teams and we also want to still grow. We have about 119 or 20 franchises. We'd love to have 150. My More is also just continuing to bless other families with our events, with our brand and just leave a joyful impact.
Sharon Macey (35:57)
love that. Thank you for that. Please tell our listeners where they can find you online and folks, everything is going to be in the show notes.
Rhea Lana Riner (36:05)
Yes, well, realana.com slash podcast. It's R-H-E-A-L-A-N-A. And we don't have a podcast, but there is a form there where you can fill out if you'd like to do a 30 minute consult with me. We can just talk about leadership. We can talk about your next step of what you would like to do personally or maybe about franchising. I'm on LinkedIn and also Instagram, Facebook. And thank you for including
all the links in the notes there Sharon.
Sharon Macey (36:29)
Got it. it.
Wow. Raelana. mean, massive growth from teeny tiny origins, your tenacity, your courage, your generosity. ⁓ What an extraordinary example of literally growing one step at a time and all of your amazing mom wisdom. So I thank you for that. Thank you for your time today.
Rhea Lana Riner (36:50)
Thank you for having me and what you are doing is amazing. Thank you for encouraging moms and I love what you're doing. Moms, I think, are the secret power to making the world a better place. Moms have so much capacity and I would love for them to feel encouraged and empowered to take the next step.
Sharon Macey (37:01)
We are.
Absolutely, moms can change the world.