Legal Help Opens Doors for Small Businesses like this Teen Entrepreneur’s

Episode Notes

Transcript

Marlene Elliott:

Don’t forget, small business serves as a great catalyst for community wealth building, and it not only gives people an additional source of income, but it also gives them autonomy and how they make their income and how they build their lives.

Announcer:

Equal access to justice is a core American value. In each episode of Talk Justice an An LSC Podcast, we’ll explore ways to expand access to justice and illustrate why it is important to the legal community, business government, and the General Public Talk. Justice is sponsored by the Leaders Council of the Legal Services Corporation.

Lee Rawles:

Hello and welcome to Talk Justice. I’m Lee Rawles, longtime legal journalist and your host for this episode. Today we’ll be talking about civil legal services for small business owners. We will learn about a program that helps Missouri entrepreneurs overcome red tape so that they can more easily and responsibly start their own business. And we’ll get to hear about one of the program’s successful participants, a teenage entrepreneur from St. Louis whose products were just selected to be sold in Walmart stores. So joining us today, we have Joshua, Dan Rich, the 16-year-old entrepreneur behind Mr. Fresh, a line of oil-based air fresheners for cars and homes. He’s accompanied by his mother and business partner, Shay Dan Rich. And also joining us is Marlene Elliott with the Legal Services of Eastern Missouri who works in community economic development and is the managing attorney for the Micro Enterprise Program. Thank you all so much for joining us.

Joshua Danrich:

No problem. Thank you for having me.

Lee Rawles:

So Josh and Shay, congratulations on your success with Mr. Fresh Joshua. Could you tell us about how your brand came to be? How’d you get the idea?

Joshua Danrich:

So first off, I’m going to introduce myself. So my name is Joshua Danish, a k Mr. Fresh, and I’m a 16-year-old founder of Mr. Fresh, which is an air freshener and deodorizer company. And I’m the youngest and I’m the only kid in the world with my own air freshener company in the world, and that’s in Walmart. And how I got started is I started with my love and passion for cars. I love cars, and I wanted to own my own luxury sports car dealership at 10 years old. And then I asked my mom and she was like, no, Josh, you can’t own your own luxury sports car dealership at 10 years old. And since I love stem, which is science, technology, engineering and math, I asked her, can I formulate my own luxury sports car, air fresheners? And then she said, yes. And because I love Bugattis and Maseratis and Lamborghinis, all these different cars, I asked her, can I formulate my own luxury sports car, air freshener? And then took it from there and I turned my business into that dream, into a passion into a business today.

Lee Rawles:

So Shay, you were unreasonable about the 10-year-old owning a luxury car dealership, but this air freshener took off. What kinds of challenges were you having with the business that led you to seek legal help?

Shay Danrich:

Well, what happened was this is that the business took off so fast to where he called the national attention. And in the process of catching national attention, he was actually on Good Morning America. He was live on Good Morning America. So we had the opportunity of meeting Michael Strahan, Kiki Palmer. So we were actually in New York. And once that brand with national, I knew then that we really actually needed assistance to trademark the brand. So him going to Good Morning America and then the brand going nationally before I actually had it trademarked let me know that we needed legal assistance.

Lee Rawles:

And how did you know that legal services of Eastern Missouri would be a good place to turn for support?

Shay Danrich:

Well, interesting enough, we actually googled it back to where a lot of our research came from, where we did a lot of research and Googling. So I didn’t really know exactly where to find legal help. So I started googling different legal services for and programs that could be offered to us. And particularly that same week when we had just came back from New York, we Googled and legal service was having an event at a particular place and we went there and that’s how we connected.

Lee Rawles:

So Marlene, that brings us to the micro enterprise program. Can you tell us all about how legal services of Eastern Missouri launched this? How did it come to be?

Marlene Elliott:

Well, first I want to say thank you for having us here to talk about not only Josh and his incredible invention along with his mom, but with our program. So Micro Enterprise came about in 2011, our pioneering managing attorney at the time, Lori Harbor, decided that she wanted to help entrepreneurs and she spearheaded the launch of this program and she just wanted to help start up businesses with getting formally set up, get their contracts done, get their contracts drafted, and help with trademarks and copyrights and also commercial lease issues. So she started to dream and here we are in 2025.

Lee Rawles:

Now, I would hazard to guess and say most entrepreneurs who are launching small businesses don’t have access to their own legal department. But what are some of the common legal hurdles that people can run into?

Marlene Elliott:

The most common I see are even just with the setup of the LLC, A lot A of people, they may decide they learn about the LLC through somebody and they’re like, okay, I’ll just form it and then I move on. But if they try to get a bank account or get a bank loan, the banks will ask them, okay, where’s your operating agreement? So they don’t know that they need an operating agreement that’s required by law, so they don’t even know what it is. So we help educate them on what it is, and we actually draft them for ’em. Also, I see a lot of issues, questions about trademarks and copyrights. What’s a trademark? What’s a copyright? What’s the difference between the two? Why do I need it and when should I get one? And so we do a lot of educating and assisting with those applications.

Something as simple as when you’re running your business, sometimes you’re offering a service or you want to, let’s say you’re catering an event or something and you don’t really have anything in writing, and it’d be nice to have your own company’s contract that you can work with for your customers. So we help with those. So I mean, it’s a wide range of issues wide, and I think one of the heaviest areas is commercial lease. Commercial leasing when they are trying to rent a space for their business and not really understanding what kind of agreement they’re signing before they sign the commercial lease.

Lee Rawles:

So Joshua and Shay, you went through the micro enterprise program. What was your experience like participating in it?

Joshua Danrich:

I feel that with the experience that I’ve had, because my mom has also dealt with Ms. Marlene for a very long time, but my experience is that Marlene is just our main lawyer, 100%. And I feel that her information and the information that she gives, the knowledge she gives about what we should know is very important and it helps me to be educated to what I should know about legal services and what I should know about LLC and things of that nature. And how has it helped you?

Shay Danrich:

Same here. She’s been very informative and critical in a lot of things that we’ve done because as she stated as well with our operating agreement, even though we have formed the LLC, again, like I say, we formed the business, did the LLC, but we did not have an operating agreement. And so they were critical in making sure that once we came with them, that the operating agreement was put in place as well as the trademark. Because again, like I said, we went national way before our time, before we knew what to do with the legal aspects of what we were doing. And so they were pivotal in making sure that the brand was trademarked and everything was going to be secure and protected. So that was really truly amazing. So they made sure they got everything in the correct order that we needed and make sure our hand was held all the way through the trademark process from beginning to end. So that was very, we were truly grateful for that, that he actually is a trademark brand, so that’s amazing. And that also helped us with everything that we’re doing.

Lee Rawles:

And Marlene, I love what Joshua said about the education portion of this. You’re empowering these small businesses kind of evening the playing field for them and creating this increased opportunity in your local community. So I would love to hear what other types of businesses, local businesses, legal services of Eastern Missouri has been able to help through this

Marlene Elliott:

Program. Well, I have a long list. I’m going to try to pick a few. So one of my favorite clients, we just wrapped up working with her. We finalized her trademark and everything, but she started a custom perfume fragrance bar, and her business is thriving and growing. She went from starting a business on the side with perfumes to now she’s operating her business alone. She doesn’t work anywhere else. She works for her business

Lee Rawles:

Well, and I love that idea. You can be allergic to a very common ingredient in most commercial perfumes. So yeah, she could make you one without any Aris root, for

Marlene Elliott:

Example. Exactly. And we are also helping another mom and son duo. Their focus was education, and they came up with a really creative way of teaching math through a specific type of art. And that’s been really cool to see them grow and try to get out there to teach other kids how to learn math in a more fun way. We also have a business who a woman is training pets for people. If you have a new pet and you want it trained, she does that. And then she just also wants kids to be able to love and learn how to deal with pets. We’ve helped makeup artists, we have entrepreneurs that make their own cosmetic products like soaps and body butters and cleaning products. And the last one I want to mention is an entrepreneur who has started her own lemonade business. Does she bottle? Yes. So that’s what we were helping her with. So amongst other things, we’re getting ready to start the trademark journey for her, but she’s come up with her own brand of special lemonades and she’s to branch out and make mocktails on top of that. So she’s just really, really cool and really awesome.

We get all kinds of businesses coming our way.

Lee Rawles:

Well, let’s talk again about Mr. Fresh. So Joshua, can you tell us what it was like to pitch your products to Walmart at 16 and find out that your products were selected

Joshua Danrich:

Now with Walmart? This is groundbreaking news. This is history in real time, and these are things that have never been done before. Less than a hundred teens are in Walmart. And I one them, I went in with my product, a dream and a whole lot of passion. I believed in myself. I sealed the deal, I pitched my products, and now my products are Walmart stores. And when we got the golden ticket right after I pitched, I was so excited. And when we actually went back into, so with Open call in Beville, Arkansas, there’s two different parts. They have a part where you pitch in the main building, then they have another part in the other building, in the second building. So from the second building, we went from the second building to the main building. We went back in and we got a clapping ovation, and they clapped for us because this is history, 15-year-old kid that pitched to Walmart to three different apartments was picked up by Walmart. So that right there in itself was truly amazing. And my air fresheners are in Walmart in the automotive department.

Lee Rawles:

Oh my gosh. So this wasn’t just a meeting at corporate, you were basically on Shark Tank.

Shay Danrich:

Yes, yes,

Joshua Danrich:

Yes.

Shay Danrich:

He had to do his own sell pitch, and that was truly amazing. He was actually the only team there.

Joshua Danrich:

I was the youngest person there, the only team there, the only 15-year-old

Shay Danrich:

There. And there were actually 700 companies. And he was chosen out of 700.

Joshua Danrich:

Yes.

Lee Rawles:

Oh, that’s amazing. So Shay, you have been a businesswoman and you’re obviously fostering the same kind of drive in your son. And I think there are listeners out there who either want to create a business or inspire the young people in their life, but are kind of afraid to start. So I would love to get some advice from you.

Shay Danrich:

Well, my advice is just to start always, as Joshua always said, is to start is that with our children, he’s been around me being an entrepreneur for many years. So I knew he was going to have that entrepreneurial spirit. But it doesn’t even matter if children were not around that. Our children are very creative, they’re very smart, they’re very inquisitive. And so I say that if you see your child doing something as, and I’m going to do gaming for instance, when it comes to gaming, I know that a lot of the children actually gain, that’s something that in this era that a lot of children do, and it’s actually boys and girls. But when you look at that aspect of them gaming, it’s not that they’re just gaming, there is actually something intuitive in their brains that likes to see what they’re doing, the different phases of going through the games, how you unlock the different doors, the keys to different things.

So I say that when you’re looking at that, don’t just look at the child as gaming, start getting some type of them into a coding program or robotics or something of that nature because they are actually intuitive in what they’re doing that if you actually help cultivate what they’re doing, it will show them more than what they’re doing. They just don’t understand it’s coding, but that’s what they’re doing. It really takes a lot of time and patient and what they do in actual gaming. So for them to actually break through the different levels and go level upon level, they are actually achieving a milestone. And so if you take that and divert that energy and put it into coding or robotics, that would help them. So you have to figure out what it is that they’re doing and then actually turn that as a parent into something that’s creative from them, and then you can figure out what their passion is from there.

Lee Rawles:

Oh, I love that. And I love all the education we’re talking about. I know that in speaking to a lot of legal professionals in general, they’re concerned about the level of civics, education, information, getting to kids about the legal system. So I just have to ask Joshua, as a young person, is there anything about the legal system you think elementary and high schools could be educating kids about that you learned and working with Marlene?

Joshua Danrich:

I feel that one main thing, one main thing that I feel that I should just touch on because with legal services and things that are legal, it definitely is a very, I would say, challenging topic subject or I guess place to get into just for teens in general. But one thing I think high schools and elementary should be talking about is one, first to tell us as a youth, we should start businesses now and about a business, teach us about the LLC, teach us about the operation of a business. Teach us about how to run a business or how does it work in the legal department? How can you get your business certified? All these different aspects that we should know, because I feel that there’s so many subjects in school. You have math, you have science, you have this subject, you have that subject. But then when you go to college, you’re like, what do you want to do? Then you start learning about business. They should be teaching us elementary, they should be teaching us that in high school way before we get to college. And then we’re kind of just thrown off into a huge world, but 100% LLC and about a business for the first start.

Lee Rawles:

And Marlene, do you have anything to add about your work?

Marlene Elliott:

Yes, I do. The micro enterprise program, a rare program in the legal aid world, especially with legal services. There’s not a micro enterprise program at every legal services in the nation. And actually, I’d like to see more funding going to micro enterprise programs because there are a lot of small businesses out there, and especially among women and minorities, and they need legal help. They need legal education, they need guidance. Don’t forget, small business serves as a great catalyst for community wealth building. And it not only gives people an additional source of income, but it also gives them autonomy in how they make their income and how they build their lives. So it’s really important, and I feel like there should be more assistance out there for small businesses and nonprofits as well.

Lee Rawles:

Yeah, you and I were talking earlier, there’s a lot of conversation in the access to justice world about really dire problems like people facing evictions or having family law issues or really critical healthcare problems. And it is vital that we get civil legal services to them. But I love that we’re getting to talk about this community building, this wealth building aspect as well for small businesses. When you talk to other lawyers, is that something you emphasize? Does it get people excited?

Marlene Elliott:

Yeah, they do. It is just something that they don’t think about unless just because it doesn’t come across their desk, it’s not something that they often have to think about. But every once in a while, one of my colleagues in the family law department or consumer department, they’ll be like, Hey, Marlene, one of my clients needs help. They’re talking about starting a business. Can you help out? And so that’s when it comes to mind like, oh, we have a resource for them, because they just weren’t thinking about that. They were focusing on whatever area they’re focusing on. And I think it’s something that people don’t realize. They need a really strong legal foundation to really make a business grow. And I think that’s really important to emphasize. And I think, yeah, the more funding to help us, the more we’re able to help small businesses and we’ll have more joshes out there and more shades and more fragrance bars. No more, just more because there’s so many talented people out there and they have dreams and they have ideas that can help other people, and we want to be there to support them.

Lee Rawles:

Well, I want to thank Josh Shay and Marlene for sharing this great success story with us today and shining a light on how legal services organizations can benefit their communities. And thank you to the listeners for tuning in to this episode of Talk Justice. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode.

Announcer:

Podcast. Guest speakers views, thoughts and opinions are solely their own and do not necessarily represent the legal services corporation’s views, thoughts, or opinions. The information and guidance discussed in this podcast are provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as legal advice. You should not make decisions based on this podcast content without seeking legal or other professional advice.