Seven years ago, two moms bring their baby girls to the community YMCA for swimming lessons. Neither knowing who the other was; one new to town, the other born and raised here her whole life.
An event, by any other standards, that would seem unremarkable.
Fast forward 3 years later and these two moms, with their toddler girls now joined by their one-year old siblings, show up to the same studio for the girls to begin dance classes.
Never realizing they had met two years prior.
And that is where it all began. Being dance moms brought us together, but our similarities are what sealed the deal on becoming the dynamic entrepreneur duo we are today.
Where it all began
For the last 13 years, Judy has held many roles in accounting and financial management at the corporate level. She loves numbers, balanced checkbooks, and solving problems. But more than that Judy loved working with other departments within the corporation to find out how they tick and how the finance organization can help them. She learned that to be a good accountant you must know and understand the company as a whole to give good sound financial advice. With this knowledge Judy learned everything she could about other departments. She got her feet wet in everything from Human Resources to Supply Chain Management, and with the newly gained knowledge realized that she wanted to start a business to help other companies become well rounded and successful.
Jill’s career started out with eight years in project management in printing, marketing and advertising. She loved her career but was faced with making a change when her second child was born with health problems. Jill quickly became a stay at home mom, needing a creative outlet while she lived with her daughter in the hospital. Jill started her life as an entrepreneur, opening three successful companies over the last 5 years. As the daughter of two entrepreneurs she always felt it in her blood; the desire to be more than the jobs she was bound too. We have the unique opportunity to build our own custom career paths. Being an entrepreneur has given Jill the space to make a living doing what she loves most, being a creator and helping grow our community.
While their kids started kindergarten together, and spent afternoons and weekends in the same activities, Jill and Judy found themselves daydreaming about what their dream jobs would be. Friends and acquaintances would look to Judy for advice on managing finances and budgeting for both their personal and professional lives. Jill spent time helping friends build their businesses, set up their social media accounts and give them advice on how to connect with the community to advertise their business.
Together, we became the team that friends, family and business owners would turn to for advice and help. We utilized our experiences to help struggling businesses on the brink of closing keep their doors open and thrive. We helped new entrepreneurs start and open their new companies so that they, like us, could chase their dreams. We linked new customers to existing local shops through open house and sponsored events, fundraisers, and other grassroots marketing initiatives.
In 2017, our energy and focus shifted. It went from having two different careers and a common hobby, to wanting that hobby be our career. The light bulb came on collectively – we both decided, “this is what we want”. And the rest is history.
Building our business has been a fun and enjoyable process. Every step of the way we have agreed on the vision and goals for Ricker Duval. From the first day we knew that what we wanted to do and offer was exactly what business owners need. We knew we wanted to put our blood, sweat and tears into helping businesses with all their necessities. To turn their business into a brand.
Those who have been fortunate enough to be touched by a stroke of serendipity know exactly how lucky we were to have crossed paths. We were brought together by our families. We are driven by our common passion to help others. We succeed through our unique experiences and knowledge. And we thrive on our love for this community.
We want to help take your business to the next level; to be profitable, recognizable… this is our jam.
This is what we are meant to do.