hi there, everyone. i'm j.j. ramberg and welcome to "your business," the show dedicated to helping your growing business. a little competition never hurt anyone. knowing that other companies are out there trying to grab a share of the market can certainly keep you on your toes. but now switch it up. imagine you're the only game in town. how do you motivate yourself to evolve and get better? we go to alabama for some answers. that's where the team at the unclaimed baggage center is trying to improve their customer service experience even though they have the market cornered when it comes to lost luggage. >> we're world class and you can't just step into that arena and try to compete with us. we own the market. we're really good at what we do and we're continually getting better. >> there's no other business like unclaimed baggage center in the country. >> we stock upwards of 7,000 unique items to our sales floor every day at a discount. this is the lost luggage capital of the world. >> it's the definition of one of a kind and customers absolutely love it. >> i don't think anybody else is as excited as me to come here. >> i do all my shopping here. >> took everything in me not to spend all of my money. >> with 40,000 square feet of space, you just never know what you're going to find. >> unclaimed baggage center is the only store in america that buys and sells unclaimed baggage from the airline industry. >> his son brian bought it in 1995. >> we use the word guest because that's the way we want to treat the people that walk through our doors every day. we want to be engaging from the first moment that they show up. >> it all began with $300 and a ride to washington, d.c. in a borrowed pickup truck to buy the first batch of lost luggage. almost five decades later, if the store's open, people are shopping. >> we have dailies that come in. some of them will be in here once a day, some twice a day. we have weekly people that come in. everyone works hard to accommodate the guest to make sure everyone is taken care of. >> about a million customers visit from around the world every year. it's a bucket list destination. and they come for the thrill of the hunt. >> the thing that makes us unique is we don't serve a demographic as much as we serve a psychographic. we serve people who are looking for finds. >> there's no competition in the market, and that's not an accident. the airlines didn't want to get stuck holding lost luggage and unclaimed baggage had a solution. >> we do not disclose what airlines we deal with. at the end of the day, we say all major carriers but we won't call them out by name. >> the business has exclusive deals to buy all of the lost baggage from the airlines and the goal is to keep it that way. long-time employee brenda cantrell keeps contract terms close to the vest and won't show us behind the scenes. >> we work hard to get where we're at and it's a process we're not willing to share with anybody else. it's proprietary information. we keep it behind closed doors for good reason. >> this is how it works. if an airline doesn't reunite checked luggage with its owner in three months, unclaimed baggage buys it. once shipped to alabama, luggage is divided up. >> when we open these bags, obviously we're not going to sell everything we get. we actually sell about a third of what we get. but we donate about a third and throw away or recycle a third. >> the tablets, cameras, jackets, and books left in overhead bins or seat pockets are sold too. >> when you're overloading your arms with your camera and duty free items or your coat or eyeglasses or baby stroller and in the hurriedness to get off the plane you forget one of those, it's going to end up here. >> after being appraised and if necessary, laundered, clothes, shoes, jewelry, and more are sent out to the sales floor. zb back in the day, thrift store shopping wasn't cool. but it's cool now. there's good deals, great deals, and fantastic deals. we price from 20% to 80% off suggested retail. >> bargains aside, the operation is about more than just making the sale. unclaimed baggage is sensitive to the information they have access to. after all, you never know what kind of details are on a smart device. >> we handle privacy with the utmost level of professionalism. we go through the department of defense protocol to clear those items. those tablets, laptops, phones. as someone who may have lost their item, you don't have to worry about your information ending up on the dark web. >> as you walk around, you may be floored to find out what people travel with. a unicycle and even a mcdonald's arch. >> i've had a needle point book from the 1850s sitting on my counter next to me. you just go, that's just another day at unclaimed baggage. >> the company may dominate the market, but brian and brenda know exactly what they're offering their customers. since there's no e-commerce platform, you need to draw people in. one way they've done this is with something they call the baggage experience. >> people have always come in and wanted to say i wish i could open a bag or go into our processing and we've kind of extended what they can't do into something they can do. we invied them to come down and go through this baggage opening process. it's a bag only one person has seen here on site. it came off the truck. all the original contents stay in the bag, so when they open these bags it tells a story. was it a man, a woman, on the way to the destination, after the destination. >> the true test for the business is whether or not they own the ride home. after all, scottsboro is not easy to get to. >> when they're going back to wherever they are from, they're talking about the people they met, the hospitality they encountered, the experience they got to be part of. >> the business only has one location and it's going to stay that way. there isn't enough lost luggage to go around. and that's just fine. >> that's the way it felt in 1995, that the possibilities were endless. and in 2018, that's the way i still view it. >> the team is always trying to build upon their success solidifying the niche that is definitively their own. >> there is a method to our madness and that's what keeps our store great and the quality being what it is. we're good at what we do and why change a good thing? we have to be better than good. we have to be the best always. danny trejo knows how to play a bad guy on film. as a young maen, he spent time in and out of prison. he turned his life around and found his calling. he's now a sought-out character actor in tv and movies. in addition, he took his passion for food and started a series of l.a. restaurants where he also gives others a second chance at life. ♪ actor danny trejo is known for playing a particular type of character. >> my career, like, took off from day one. i was inmate number one for the next five years. every prison move, gangster movie, whatever. >> with over 70 movie credits to his name, his very recognizable face is definitely associated with a certain kind of guy. >> and i remember the first time i was ever interviewed by some young lady. she said you're stereotyped as the mean chicano dude with the tatto tattoos. i said i am that guy so fine with me. >> now his famous face is entering a new territory. the food industry. with his business partners, he's making his mark on the l.a. restaurant scene one taco at a time. >> at the time i was making a movie with danny called "bad ass." you sit around, eat a lot. danny and i used to spend a lot of time eating talking about food. and then jeff and i separately were having this conversation about, you know, opening a food place. and it just kind of clicked. like, i'm sitting next to the most famous mexican in the country. we love mexican food. why don't we open a restaurant together? >> in 2016 they opened their very first location of trejos tacos in los angeles. >> i mean, it was just -- killed it. people were coming from all over. one of the things that i know is in the industry, the movie industry, it's like there'll be eight or nine people after a film and they want to go to a restaurant. inevitably somebody's going to say, you know, i'm vegan or i can't eat gluten or whatever. right? so we decided to make our menu more than just general menu. you know? and so we got vegan. we've got vegetarian. and if you want to bite into a cow, we got that. >> the trejo empire has rapidly expanded to include more locations. and even a seemingly out of character bright pink doughnut and coffee shop. >> the movie "tangerine" made this one iconic building on the corner of santa monica and highland. and ash who's a genius, he said hey that building's available. and i said wow, i'd love to see my picture on it. the first day we were open, we sold out by 12:30. >> when it comes to the restaurants, danny is not just a famous name and face. he's deeply involved. each and every item on the menu at every restaurant has to get the trejo stamp of approval. >> everybody will come and see a celebrity the first time to get a picture and autograph, right? but then if the food's not good, they're not coming back. so every one of these restaurants, you'll see me at every one of these restaurants. because my name's on it. so i stay on top of it. i like it. i eat here all the time. >> if you don't catch him in person, you can bet his face will be staring down at you. >> i was in maryland and i said where'd you get that t-shirt? oh, we were in l.a. and we had to stop by. so obviously, like, a picture says a thousand words. wow. >> danny became famous because of his face and so we want that to be the core of the brand. his face, his image. because really the identity of the restaurant is him. >> and that means every single aspect of the business will stay true to trejo's roots. even hiring. >> i've been given so much. and i started basically with a parole, you know? and by the grace of god, my life has taken an unbelievable turn, you know. right place, right time, good people. you got to give back. >> he's a guy that, you know, was in prison three times and really turned his life around. at one point in our first restaurant, i think our whole cook line were ex-cons. so we always look for people who have a passion for what they're doing. we do believe in second chances. not everybody gets it right the first time. as long as they're honest and work hard and care, especially in this business. because so many people who come and go, those are the three qualities we look for. >> and you can bet that as the brand continues to expand, his iconic face will always be front and center. >> to me danny is l.a. hopefully we can take this and say we're going to bring -- whether it's texas or new york or the far east or europe. it's like, we're bringing california. >> from convict to icon. the year is in full swing and there are a few business tech trends that are already gaining traction. here are five things to keep on your radar. one, mobile payments continue to go mainstream. we're a long way from being a cashless society. but the rise of apps like google wallet, venmo, and apple pay have made consumers more comfortable with cardless and cashless transactions. number two, robots hit the road. despite pushback from advocacy groups and the board of superviso supervisors, delivery robots are being tested in major cities. three, the net neutrality repeal takes effect. although there's no guarantee consumers will see any changes in their internet service, some experts protect that big internet providers will begin to test their customers' reactions to slower feeds. four, if the recent breach has taught us anything, it's that our companies should be doing everything they can to protect information. and five, ar trumps vr. virtual reality was to be the next big thing by 2017. but the success of pokemon go and ikea's augmented reality app suggested that companies may be better exploring augmented reality. when your customers love your company because they love you, what happens as you grow and one person can no longer handle all the demand? this is exactly the issue which faced one phoenix-based wedding photographer. she had to find a way to hire people to care about her company as much as she did. and to get her customers to trust them as much as they trusted her. when christine and santino flores started planning their wedding, they knew the one thing they couldn't compromise on was hiring the perfect person to capture the moment. >> we allotted probably a majority of our budget besides the ceremony space on our photos. and we really wanted to make sure that it was the style that we wanted. something classic. >> they came across phoenix-based melissa jill photography. she began her business in 2003 as a solo-preneur. >> i never intended when i started my business to branch out. i thought i was going to be shooting my own weddings for the rest of my life. just a small boutique business. >> but soon with growing demand came a growing need to think bigger. >> i was starting to get some inquiries that were saying, you know, we love your work but we can't afford you. do you have anybody else you would recommend that is similar style but lower priced? i was happy to refer those out to my photographer friends in the area. i realized maybe i should take advantage of these leads that i've been generating with my brand and bring on some other photographers to shoot for my company at lower price points. >> learning to trust others to carry on your brand isn't easy though. >> when i send a photographer out to shoot for me, it's not their business so it's not as much of a personal investment as it is for me when i'm shooting a wedding. and so trusting somebody with that is scary. >> so melissa found a formula to find the right people to bring on. first, since perspective customers are drawn to her customer because of her portfolio, she hires photographers who don't stray too far from her own personal aesthetic. having them shadow her before doing weddings on thundershower own al -- their own ensures the styles match. >> they see me and what shots i get. as i go through their photos, i give them feedback. >> another factor is making sure the job is a good fit for all parties. for full-time mom mary jordan, working as an associate photographer is the best of both worlds. >> i get to do the fun stuff without all the business side. i don't really care for the business side of it. i just get to go be creative and take beautiful pictures of beautiful people at beautiful weddings. >> and for melissa, taking on photographers who have zero interest in owning their own photography business is practical and cost effective. >> as a business owner, i want to be bringing together a team of people who want to invest in my business for the long-term. >> key to their success is making sure the client knows exactly what they're getting. >> how does it look if you put your hand in your pocket? >> the company's website highlights not only melissa's work but also that of her associate photographers. >> there's a portfolio for each of them so they can click through and see actual weddings they photographed. so i think having all of those things right there online really helps people to see that they can trust, you know, the brand and they can trust the photographers that are a part of that. >> the final step is probably the most important to make sure that clients get a product that's befitting of the melissa gillibrand. post production, one person handles all the editing of the raw images. >> even though a number of different photographers are photographing different events, we want to make sure all of our work is very cohesive looking and the style is very cohesive and true to the melissa gillibrand. >> while finding a way to hire employees while keeping checks and balances in place to ensure her brand is never compromised, melissa jill has found a way to extend her business's reach. >> it blew me away the way it actually came out. it really fit everything that we were looking for stylewise and the look and the whole feel. the most important thing is they really captured us. i'm here with this week's elevator pitcher tara fitzpatrick. you come bearing pants. this is your company. >> twig pants, yes. >> how old is it? >> about two years old. >> got it. so you're still in the thick of the beginning here. all right. how do you feel about going to pitch? >> i'm a little nervous, but i've been rehearsing. >> all right. yoga breath. got that? you ready? let me tell you who you're going to be pitching to. neil vogel. great experience. he knows what he's talking about. and also kat cohen who started just like you did. a founder with an idea 20 years ago. her company now works in 43 countries around the world. now let's see what the think. >> okay. hi. i'm tara fitzpatrick, founder of twig pants. think school date to dinner date. twig pants are chic, comfortable pants made for women of all sizes with fabulous fabrics all from europe. my inspiration was my daughter. i'm a mother. i'm a former model and fashion is really important to me. my daughter had elastic pants that were trendy, adorable, but easy. and i said us busy former mode fashion is really important to me. my daughter had elastic pants that were trendy, adorable but easy. and i said us busy women need these two. it creates a movement of style and comfort. where you design your own pant online. so you can have is elastic waist with or without a tie, straight or gathered waist. we give back. pants are about $110 to $175. my ask is $100,000 to expand our marketing for 10% of the business. >> all right. good job, tara. you're going to get me out of a yoga pants that i'm wearing cop assistantly. i'll take your pants. they look fabulous on you, neil. you started this how long ago? >> two years ago. >> and how is it going so far? >> it's tough. it's going well. getting super duper feedback. all positive. everybody loves them. since i came from film to fashion, i'm learning the trade. manufacturing has been my challenge. >> you're starting from scratch. neil, let's start with you. >> i'm going to give the product a 6. i'm obviously not totally your target market but my wife most definitely is. it is a lot like some things that are a lot more expensive in her loss et that she likes and things that can transition. she likes fabrics that are very nice. it is very stylish for today. i think it looks great. there's challenges in there is not a lot of proprietary apparel. you will have to really build a brand that means something. the pitch aimed at building the brand. your back story is interesting, being a model and mom, and the inspiration is interesting. for something like this to work and really catch on, your story has to resonate with people, or the story of the product has to resonate. or it's one of a million pairs of pants that somebody can buy on amazon. >> understood. >> i gave the product a 4 and pitch a 6. for he me, looking at it and touching it, to me it feels a little bit like pajamas. and i'm not sure, for example, i would put on a pair of these and drop off my kids at school and then go to work. i don't know if they actually go through the whole day. and the other thing about the product that made me rate it a little bit lower was the cost. i think the cost is high for what this is. it's a very simple design. much though the fabrics are coming from europe, i just found it a high-cost product. and i don't know that i would spend that much on these pants that feel sort of like sweat type pajama type pants to me. >> okay. >> the pitch i gave a 6. i loved your back story, hearing about your personal story with your daughter. i think you have to think about why you're calling it twig. i didn't understand the connection between the name of the brand with the pant. if you want to think about women all over of all sizes, twig did not resonate with me. and also with your cause, as you said, you are empowering women in education, and i didn't see how that connected. but then begin i loved hearing your own back story. >> i think this is so helpful. because you have something here. and i think these guys need to get it more. you need to hone that pitch down to answer cat's question. why would you wear this all day long in a way that captures their imagination and talk about the brand more. so fantastic advice both of you. congratulations on how far you have gotten so far out of nothing. and best of luck to you. >> thank you. >> when we come back, where should you focus your attention when your company starts to rapidly grow. and the man who founded okay consumed. sam on why data is the key to success. thank you so much. thank you! so we're a go? yes! we got a yes! what does that mean for purchasing? purchase. let's do this. got it. book the flights! hai! si! si! ya! ya! ya! what does that mean for us? we can get stuff. what's it mean for shipping? ship the goods. you're a go! you got the green light. that means go! oh, yeah. start saying yes to your company's best ideas. we're gonna hit our launch date! (scream) thank you! goodbye! we help all types of businesses with money, tools and know-how to get business done. american express open. what are some of the challenges or things we should be thinking about as a company who is rapidly growing? we're focused on sales, growth, but what else should we focus on to make sure our businesses continue to thrive? >> a lot of entrepreneurs think about sales only or revenues and they forget about the customer and the customer experience. i think one of the most important things is how the customer feels from all the way from acquisition to all the way through the whole experience of whatever they're doing. if they're purchasing something or going through a service with you, buying a widget. and even after they go through that experience, what are you doing with that customer? ultimately they're going to be a rereferral source for you. that creates loyalty. they will come back to youment so that's key. we now have the top tip you need to know to help you grow your business. let's introduce our guest and get his advice. you have done a lot. you have been on the high of highs. you had to close one company. you ran a huge company. you have done it all. so one piece of advice. >> the most important thing a ceo has to do is set the right culture throughout the different companies i've been involved in running, i have found that getting people to think the right way, whether that is using data in new ways to make decisions, whether that is willing to fail or thinking differently about their business during disruption and innovation. that has to start at the stop. organizations are designed to maintain their momentum and protect themselves from outside threats like change. and so you as the ceo have to be the one who comes in and sets the culture. it's okay to fail. we have to think differently. >> what have you done in the past when you realizeed your culture was veering off course and you need to write it. >> i require the executives who report to me to quantify their failures in their annual reviews. so i need to know how much have your failures cost the company in actual dollar terms. once you get people thinking that that's okay, in fact, it's required that you make mistake throughout the year, i found it changes the way people act entirely. >> do they do that with their direct reports also? >> yeah. and the types of failures change and hopefully the numbers get smaller. but i once made a $50 million mistake when i was running the match group. i was very open about that. and i said it to my direct reports. just being able to model that made everyone say if he's willing to talk about that kind of failure, i can talk about mine and take chances. most people get to success in a company by not failing. as you sort of build that throughout your career you take fewer and fewer risks, and i wanted to change that. >> so good to see you, sam. >> thank you so much. >> this week's your biz selfie comes from danielle fleming of scranton, pennsylvania, founder of note fragrances, a custom perfume boutique. she has a psychology background and studied the effects of aroma on mind and body and became what she called a scentologist. now, it makes good sense to you to take a selfie of you in your business and send it to yourbusiness@msnbc.com so we can share with our audience. include your name, the name of your business, its location and use the hashtag your biz selfie. thank you for joining is us. one of my favorite things is hearing from you, our audience. e-mail us at yourbusiness@msnbc.com. go to openforum.com/yourbusiness. we put up today's segments, plus a whole lot more for you. and connect with us on our social and digital media as well. and our podcast business there. built that. i interior view the most interesting founders and ceos and business decisionmakers. i promise you will be entertained awe whole lot. i'm jj ramberg. until then, remember, we make your business our business. so that's the idea. what do you think? i don't like it. oh. nuh uh. yeah. ahhhhh. mm-mm. oh. yeah. ah. agh. d-d-d... no. hmmm. uh... huh. yeah. uh... huh. in business, there are a lot of ways to say no. thank you so much. thank you. so we're doing it. yes. start saying yes to your company's best ideas. we help all types of businesses with money, tools and know-how to get business done. american express open. morning glory, america. i'm hugh hewitt. this is the week trump decided this week to let trump be trump. rex tillerson is out. larry kudlow takes over as chief economics adviser. more changes designed to make the president confident his agenda is being implemented. it is an old-fashioned article 2 pres.

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