Running a single Good Company is one thing … running several is a whole other story.
The best part of this tale? Not only is there a beginning and a middle – no end yet – there’s also an important lesson mixed in.
For the Wichts in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, running several local businesses has become part of who they are, and they say they’ve learned a lot.
It started in 2015, when this pair of mental health professionals launched The Cornerstone Group, which provides mental health services.
To broaden the scope of their offerings, in 2020, just ahead of the pandemic, they opened Alley Cats Axe Throwing Company. Now, in 2021, their most recent endeavor, Category 5 Smash Room, is also open for business.
“One of the most important lessons that we’ve learned, and that we continually learn, is that you need relationships to be successful,” explained Wade Wicht. “Before we started any of these businesses, and particularly the most recent because of coding and zoning in a basement off an alley, we decided to talk to our mayor. So that’s what we did.”
Cultivating relationships over the years – and helping out their community in assisting with downtown revitalization and job creation – has tremendously helped the Wichts.
“Our success isn’t just credited to us; through building relationships, we’ve been able to remove obstacles,” Wade Wicht said. “With the City of Hattiesburg serving as an important relationship with us in business, they have helped ensure our success because our success helps the success of the city.”
In recognizing the importance of relationships in their businesses, the Wichts prioritize building and growing new connections along the way.
“We rise by lifting others and I think that has been vital to our businesses here,” said Ramona Wicht. “From donating the wood for our targets at the axe throwing business to the Southern Mississippi art department, to keeping menus of local restaurants available for food orders rather than having a kitchen of our own, we do really try to lift one another up.”
It’s because of relationships that this story will continue to work its way toward a happy ending.