Learn about the world of entrepreneurship and the power of small businesses in the United States. In this episode of The Angel Next Door Podcast, host Marcia Dawood welcomes Congressman Aaron Bean to discuss his fascinating journey to becoming a member of the US House of Representatives. Congressman Bean's story is one of resilience and determination, as he talks about successfully building four small businesses, including a putt-putt golf business and a retail insurance agency, while also serving in various elected positions. As he shares his experiences, Congressman Bean emphasizes the importance of entrepreneurship and the role of government in supporting small businesses, making this episode a must-listen for anyone passionate about fostering entrepreneurship and economic growth. Throughout the conversation, Congressman Bean reflects on his journey from serving as a city commissioner and mayor to being elected to the Florida House of Representatives before becoming a member of the US House of Representatives. He highlights the challenges he faced, the victories he achieved, and the impact of his work on supporting small businesses. The episode dives into the role of government in creating an environment conducive to entrepreneurship, addressing regulations, and providing opportunities for private investors to support innovative ideas. Listeners will gain valuable insights into the intersection of politics and small business, highlighting the importance of engaging with government to foster an entrepreneurial spirit and drive economic progress. Congressman Bean's perspective offers a unique understanding of the legislative process and how it intertwines with the entrepreneurial landscape, making this episode essential listening for those interested in the future of small business and economic policies in the United States.
Learn about the world of entrepreneurship and the power of small businesses in the United States.
In this episode of The Angel Next Door Podcast, host Marcia Dawood welcomes Congressman Aaron Bean to discuss his fascinating journey to becoming a member of the US House of Representatives. Congressman Bean's story is one of resilience and determination, as he talks about successfully building four small businesses, including a putt-putt golf business and a retail insurance agency, while also serving in various elected positions. As he shares his experiences, Congressman Bean emphasizes the importance of entrepreneurship and the role of government in supporting small businesses, making this episode a must-listen for anyone passionate about fostering entrepreneurship and economic growth.
Throughout the conversation, Congressman Bean reflects on his journey from serving as a city commissioner and mayor to being elected to the Florida House of Representatives before becoming a member of the US House of Representatives. He highlights the challenges he faced, the victories he achieved, and the impact of his work on supporting small businesses. The episode dives into the role of government in creating an environment conducive to entrepreneurship, addressing regulations, and providing opportunities for private investors to support innovative ideas. Listeners will gain valuable insights into the intersection of politics and small business, highlighting the importance of engaging with government to foster an entrepreneurial spirit and drive economic progress. Congressman Bean's perspective offers a unique understanding of the legislative process and how it intertwines with the entrepreneurial landscape, making this episode essential listening for those interested in the future of small business and economic policies in the United States.
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Marcia Dawood
Well, Congressman Bean, welcome to the show. Excited to have you here today.
Congressman Bean
Marcia, what an honor it is to be on your show. I'm looking forward to it.
Marcia Dawood
Well, you have such a cool story. So you've successfully built four small businesses, which I can't wait to talk about. One, a putt golf business that you saved. But before we get into all that, you've held elected office at nearly every level of government. So I understand that you began your legislative service as a city commissioner and Mayor of your hometown.
Congressman Bean
Fernandina beach, named after a daughter of royalty. But it's a special for you. I can paint a visual picture for your listeners, and it is at the tippy top corner of the state of Florida, Fernandina borders. It's on the Atlantic Ocean. It borders Georgia. So the tippy top Florida goes up there. That in Nassau county is where I was born and raised and am still there.
Marcia Dawood
So even more north than Amelia island?
Congressman Bean
Well, it's on Amelia island, so it's north of Jacksonville, but we look across the river and can see Georgia. It's a funny thing, because when I started some years ago, I'm sure your listeners can Google and see exactly the numbers I'm talking about. But at the time in the. Was the youngest mayor ever in city history. And something happened two years ago, Marcia, some young whippersnapper ran for office, ran for mayor and beat my record by two years. And I've done some gigs with the mayor of Fernandina beach. And it's worse, Marcia, because he taunts me and lets everybody know that he is now the record holder. And, Marcia, we couldn't be more proud of him.
Congressman Bean
He's our son. So my son is now the mayor. He just turned 30, so he beat my record by two years.
Marcia Dawood
That is amazing.
Congressman Bean
Really proud of him. And it's fun to watch city. You wouldn't normally watch city commission meetings, but just to watch him run the meetings. And it's tough out there. Boy. I didn't have social media to worry about back in the day, but he does. And it's a lot going on, but nevertheless, it's good when we talk about businesses. He has also stepped up and has taken over some of the businesses that I've done as well as we've launched in a new direction for this congress thing.
Marcia Dawood
That's amazing. Okay, so you were the mayor, then you became Florida House of Representatives. Now you're in the US House of Representatives. So tell us all about how that came about.
Congressman Bean
Right? No, I had a chance leaving Fernandina beach city commission. There was a seat opening up in the Florida House of Representatives. Everybody said, marcia, there's no way Aaron Bean can win. He's a nice guy, but he just can't win. The numbers don't favor him. So in 2000, I was a Republican. Still am. The numbers back then, it was 60% Democrat.
Congressman Bean
The seat that I ran for, it was five counties, 60% Democrat, 30% Republican, 10% independent. And good thing you don't listen to the naysayers. And I bet some of your angel investors don't listen all the naysayers either. But when you listen to the naysayers, you never go down that path. We went and went door to door and worked our tail off, and we not only did we win, but we won really strong numbers, 55% to 45% that we beat the heads on favorite. We became the first Republican to win that seat since the civil war for 160 years. Fast forward some years later when we ran for the Florida Senate once again. The naysayer said, bean's a nice guy, but because he comes from little, teeny, tiny Nassau county, no way he could win.
Congressman Bean
Because that seat when we ran for the Florida Senate was 15% Nassau county, but 85% big city Jacksonville. And so there was the favorite son of Jacksonville at the time, or so he claimed to be. And once again, not listening to naysayers, we went out and we won 60 40 in that race. So we served that ten years in the Florida Senate. Did a lot of small business things in the meantime. And see, here's the caveat, Marcia, is the Florida legislature pays $29,000 a year, and it's nearly a three quarter full time job. So 29,000 will not feed a family of three hungry boys and a hungry family. So we had to hustle on the side, do some side hustles, and create these small businesses, including putt, the high energy auction company.
Congressman Bean
We also launched a retail insurance agency as well. That did very well, and I ended up selling it as we went in a different path into. So that's why we got really good at these side. We're leaving. We are leaving the Florida Senate two years ago, in fact, two years ago this month, it was March of 2022, where a new seat had opened up, had plans to launch another business, a consulting business for small business and for those that wanted to lobby the legislature. I was going to coach people how to lobby the legislature, and lo and behold, a new congressional seat opened up. It was going to be a very fast election. I remember talking to my bride Abby, who's been a great partner in politics, a great life partner, my best friend.
Congressman Bean
And we already had some great things lined up with that business. But I said, hey, you want to go make a lot of money, or let's go save the world? What do you want to do? And she said, let's save the world. And we went out and in 90 days, won the congressional seat. At least we won the primary. And then we went on to win the general. So we've been here. We got sworn in, what, 14 months ago. I used to say I was a baby congressman, but now that I'm 14 months in, I'm a toddler congressman.
Congressman Bean
And we've had a great run so far. We get better every month. It is totally different from the state legislature, but it's been quite a ride.
Marcia Dawood00:06:20 - 00:06:25
Marcia, so what did prompt you to run originally in the state?
Congressman Bean
So that's a great question. I have something that I'm not supposed to say. This. My wife says, don't say it like this, but I'm going to say it. She's not here, and she'll get me later. But it's almost like an addiction to public service. It's a brain that continuously seeks to improve what can we do better? And my brain is, if I'm involved in anything, what can we do more efficiently? What can we do that will serve more people? How can we do it in a better fashion? And so I was student government president in my college. I went to Jacksonville University.
Congressman Bean
And so it's always been a. I always knew I would run sometime. I just never knew when life happens and then the next. I got married and then had babies, and I just always thought I'd run for Congress one day, but you just never know. And I guess it's almost like starting a small business. Sometimes there's never a good time. You just got to pull the trigger and go. Pull the trigger and go.
Congressman Bean
And that's what we did with Congress. And certainly it's been, like I said, we've had a great time. We've had a great time. It's more work than you imagine. It's much more work than you imagine. It's almost like running your own small business, too. Sometimes you're the first to the office. You're the last one to leave with small business.
Congressman Bean
You are the last one to get paid. And so for everybody out there that is running one or is thinking about doing it, come on in. The water's fine.
Marcia Dawood
I love that. All right, so you successfully built up four small businesses, including the putt, which apparently all of your colleagues really like when they come visit you from. So, like, tell us how, being a congressman now, how can you help the entrepreneurial dream, the entrepreneurial spirit to continue throughout the US? How do we get more people to be angel investors to help these companies? Tell us everything?
Congressman Bean
Well, Marcia, those are great questions. And just know that. Right. Well, in Congress, too, sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes you get lucky without planning. And I didn't know what I didn't know. And when I came in, I got a call from Roger Williams, who is the chairman of the small business committee. I didn't even know about it, and said, bean, you got a great background.
Congressman Bean
We'd love to have you sit on the small business committee. And he said, he goes, you want to make a difference to Main Street America? The small business committee is the one to do it. And I said, okay, I'm in. Who doesn't want to be wanted? And when somebody recruits you, I'm all in. And that's turned out to be a surprisingly, just a very lifting, uplifting committee, because the people who testify are small business owners who tell us all the time, get government out of the way. And we're seeing right now, Marcia, more red tape and more regulations than we have seen in the last 40 years that they have continually piled on more red tape and regulations. It's totaling over in the trillions of dollars of what we have to go through. And it gets worse every day, from this administration's war on energy to gas stoves to pushing this false narrative that everybody has to drive an electric vehicle, which does so many things.
Congressman Bean
Only rich people can afford them. We have to subsidize them, meaning we all have to help the rich people buy the rich car. It empowers our adversary, China, with the battery aspect. It emboldens child slave labor that has to mine the unique materials necessary to build these things. So what we need to do, Marcia, is get government out of way, unleash small business. It's what made America great. It's what continues. Put America on top with our innovation and technology.
Congressman Bean
And, boy, when you unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of Americans, there is no limit to what they can do. That's why I love watching shark tank. I love watching what's new, what's next. I love watching the sharks. When they know a good idea to let them fight over it. That's exciting. That's what has made America truly great. And if we are not watching it, if we're not careful, then we're going to snuff out that american spirit, and America will become less safe, less secure, less enjoyable.
Congressman Bean
Our quality of life is based on what small business can do.
Marcia Dawood
I completely agree with that. And I love what you're saying about this entrepreneurial spirit across America. And I would love to see more people actually getting into the game of becoming the, well, we call them dolphins, not necessarily sharks, because us little angel investors, we're trying to help at the earliest of stages, and we're trying to give the mentorship as well as the capital. But what are some of the things that would have to happen where government could get out of the way to help there be more people who would want to invest in the changes that they want to see in the world?
Congressman Bean
Well, let me tell you, Marcia, I was a banker. I ran a bank for eleven years. I worked with a small regional bank in the southeast for 13 years, eleven of which I was city president. I made loans. And let me tell you, for the investors, for the dolphins, for angels, you can beat a bank silly, because you can do it faster, quicker, and for many instances, we heard from some venture capitalists that say, and the people running them, that it's been so hard to deal with banks lately. And it's also because the banks are getting their hands tied by regulations, too, of things they have to ask for, which I think is none of their business, that they had to ask for on behalf of the government as well. So these are things that create a great opportunity for private investors to step in and to give the lifeblood to these businesses and people with an idea. People with an idea.
Congressman Bean
So anybody listening, if you have an idea, maybe that's something you need to explore. And if you're like me, this is how I start my week and also my days. I've got a yellow pad. I'm looking at mine. There it is over there. It's right underneath my desk. But what do I want to accomplish today? What do I want to accomplish this month? And if there's a project that I wanted to do, okay, here's my bullet points of things that I need to focus on if I'm going to lift this business or this idea off the ground. And it should start with how are we going to have capital, how are we going to get it financed? And for anybody listening, boy, a private investor certainly would beat the pants off some of these big banks that just are, in many instances, just take way.
Marcia Dawood
Too long to make decisions for sure. So I sit on the SEC's small business capital formation committee, advisory committee, and we talk a lot and have talked a lot, especially in the last couple months, about the accredited investor definition and how, if that starts to be. Well, if it starts to be restricted too much by putting too many limitations on it, we will hurt the number of people or limit the number of people that we could actually have to be angel investors. But we've proposed, or we're proposing to the commission right now, that we would like to see a level of sophistication that would include an educational component. And I think that could be amazing to help people learn a little bit more about what they can do, because I talk to people all the time, and some people don't have the financial means to help an early stage company, but they certainly have expertise or mentorship that they could. And then I meet other people who have a lot of wealth and could help, but they just don't even know where to get started or how to do that. So what are your thoughts on all that?
Congressman Bean
No, jump in. I know we had a handful of folks when I was in the bank. We referred people to score, which is retired executives, business executives that would volunteer to help. We had, in Florida, we have the small business development centers located at state universities that also would help review and help write business plans, to give people how to shape their ideas and to really put pen to paper, pen to your notepad of what it would take and what you need to do. So any and all of the above, there may not be one specific method that meets the help that some small business needs, if you have an idea or thought to go forward. But I worry you've already mentioned it. There goes Biden again. There they go again, wanting to change the definition of what an accreditation investor is, an accredited investor.
Congressman Bean
So there you go again. Their decision making and rule changes. See, the thing is, we never voted for this. We never voted this. And it's these executive orders and rules that the administration just makes up out of the blue that the change really have a drastic effect on our economy, which is devastating. I know we're not supposed to talk politics here, but, boy, do we need new leadership in the White House. The executive committee that we battle every day, just them making up rules that really make life harder for Americans and make our country less just. I'm fresh from a briefing on the border, and that's gotten me fired up because of how dangerous it is and what we've allowed into our country unchecked.
Congressman Bean
So being said, Marcia, we need entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams, and we need investors to help them.
Marcia Dawood
Absolutely. So, speaking of elections and it being an election year, and you're going to be running to keep your seat as an incumbent. With so much outside noise, what is the message you're hoping to get across, and what are some of the things you're hoping to accomplish?
Congressman Bean
Well, yeah, getting reelected is in the back of my mind. But I have a theory that if you're a member of Congress and you're doing your job, if you're engaged, if you'll let me show your calendar and I can show you mine, we are visible, we're engaged, we're accessible, we're transparent. We're trying to be out there. I think if you're doing your job, then your likelihood of success is really high. Really high. I tell people with my race, I'll just outwork anybody that wants to jump in and go toe to toe. People say, oh, there needs to be longer terms. And our founding fathers had it right.
Congressman Bean
Two years. It's part of the deal. It's what I signed up for every two years. But you know what? I do have an opponent this fall and, of course, qualifying changes. So it could change. There could be more people getting in, which is fine. Let's have a debate. Remember, we talked about what's best of going forward.
Congressman Bean
But I wanted to be a congressman that my district would be proud of, a congressman that was accessible. We've got three offices now in three counties. Every county that I serve has an office, and we're there to answer phones. And I tell my team the whole time, when they're nice to people, I'm nice to people. When they drop the ball, then I've dropped the ball. So we don't want to drop the ball. We want to serve the people that put us there, because if we don't, they're going to get somebody, Marcia, that will.
Marcia Dawood
Yeah, absolutely. Well, I absolutely love the way that you do your goal setting with your yellow pad, because honestly, with all the technology that we have nowadays, sometimes the yellow pad is just the best technology you can get. So if we look ahead into the future five years from now, what are some of the things that you will have hoped to accomplish?
Congressman Bean
Well, there are two things that will destroy our country from within if we don't make changes now. One is our border. We've kind of already talked about that. We have somebody that's willing to defend and shut our border down. We don't have that person in the White House right now. So I've got somebody in mind that is perfect for the job that we'll talk about on a future podcast. So that is, boy, it's scary. But the other thing is spending any small business would destroy itself if they continue to spend more money than they take in.
Congressman Bean
Our government is heck bent on just spending itself into oblivion right now. So my job and what I told my people that sent me here is I will give time and energy to doing all I can to a slow the rate of growth of government spending and then eventually work to have a balanced budget. I just left a briefing today. It's called the Republican Study Committee just published a budget that we had input on, and we actually gave input of thoughts and ideas, particularly what works in Florida to add to that budget. They printed a budget that in seven years, balances and checks in seven years. And it's taken us over 28 years to get into $34 trillion in debt, and it's faster and faster in debt every year. So it takes us a little while to get out. But when we are strong, when we have money to go forward, then we can solve problems.
Congressman Bean
If you've got money, you can solve problems, but if you don't have money, it's hard to solve those problems. And, Marcia, they say on the airline, put your own mask on first before helping others. They know if you pass out trying to help everybody else, you don't have the resources. And so we need to take care of ourselves first, make sure that our budget balances first before helping people around the world and other things. So that's the message I'm trying to do. That's what I want to accomplish in the United States Congress we're working on. There's other races, too. There's a race to get to Congress, but there's also some jockeying for position to serve on the higher committees.
Congressman Bean
I love small business, but the ways and Means committee is what controls the IRS, Medicare spending, Social Security. That is in an arena that I believe will have the most say in balancing our budget. That's what I'm trying to get my fellow congressman to hopefully give me a chance to serve on that committee where I'll have a greater voice in getting the United States back on track.
Marcia Dawood
Well, I love all that, and that sounds amazing. And we are lucky to have you in Congress. So, Congressman Bean, thank you so much for being with us today. Really appreciate you being here.
Congressman Bean
Marcia, you have got it going on. I'm just delighted you spent a few time with me. Hopefully you'll be in DC sometime soon. I didn't tell you I'm coming to you live from the Longworth House office. Building right across the street from our nation's capitol. I was just there a few minutes ago. We voted on some things. We're about to go.
Congressman Bean
In an hour, they'll ring the bells again. We'll go vote again. And so it's an exciting place, and I just appreciate you taking an interest in it. If we don't take an interest in it, folks, then our government, tell you what, our government does so much better when they know that you're watching, you're listening. And for anybody associated with a small business, we need you to jump in the ring, help protect us.
Marcia Dawood
Absolutely. Well, thank you.
Congressman Bean
Go get it, Marcia. Thank you.