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The Todd Family Is A Little Crazy

The Todd family is a little crazy, to be honest. Steve, Liz, Lynette, Dan (me), Rob, Wendy & Julie (7 of us, and we aren’t Catholic—we are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) were raised by parents who inspired us to be independent. All of us at a young age were expected to get a job, buy our own clothes, and work our butts off to have what we wanted. “Spending money” was never asked for from our parents. I think they would have laughed in our faces. Financial independence was an expectation in our home. I am so glad it was.

Most of us have started businesses of our own, just like Mom and Dad did. Dad has his insurance agency (ABT Insurance that my sister-in-law bought and is crushing it) and my mom started buying and selling cars. She founded Autoworld Superstore and owner-financed people in downtown Atlanta.

Funny story: Mom financed a car for this one guy and because he didn’t pay, she had to repossess it. She went to his house right in the heart of the city, in the middle of the night, in front of his friends, looked up at this massive, tattooed, 6′ 4″ scary guy, stuck out her hand and just said, “Jim, hand over the keys—now.” He hung his head, pulled out the keys and handed it over, and then gave her a hug and apologized. My mom is a 5′ 4″ redheaded fireball that people both love and respect. You know the type? She has no fear, except when she lets me behind the wheel of a Corvette she just fixed up to sell.

Our parents taught us that reputation is the most important thing. Respect others’ money and time, and they will return that favor. Dad’s business motto at his insurance agency for 23 years was, “Our reputation is built upon finding you the lowest rate possible.” Reputation is everything.

I wanted to develop something to help maintain a high public reputation and give our clients’ customers a way to voice concerns without killing the overall reputation. I also wanted something that each one of us kids could use in our businesses that was affordable and easy. This is how Red Rate was born.

It took about 2-3 years of debate on how the concept would work and then a couple years of development, but we got there. All with zero invested money or any debt. Seriously. Bootstrapped it just like Mom did with her car lot.
All of us have been blessed with success because we have been taught to work hard, be independent, and if someone else has something we want, we need to get off our cans and work for it. Red Rate was designed for the professional who wants to grow their business by improving their reputation one 5-star review at a time.

Thank you for giving Red Rate a chance. I’d love to hear your family story or feedback if you have any.

– Daniel Todd | dan@redrate.com
Eagle Scout (my mom did most of the work) & Founder of Red Rate
(Oh, I am the annoying brother in the middle of the top photo, reaching over 3 people to smash Wendy’s hat down)