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For a lot of people in this industry, Washington DC exists somewhere in the background — a place where policy gets made while operators focus on customers, staff, and the day-to-day grind of running a business. But spend a few days at LegCon and that changes. Pete Shau sits down with Lauren Talicska, Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Arona Home Essentials, right after she returned from LegCon 2026, and the energy she brought back says everything.

Lauren walks through what APRO-led advocacy actually looks like up close — and why the experience is more accessible than most people assume. It's not reserved for attorneys, executives, or political insiders. Through the fellowship program, store managers, marketers, and operators are getting in front of legislators and telling the rent-to-own story in their own words. Lauren explains how the days are structured, how teams find their rhythm in those meetings, and how keeping the message focused — sometimes down to a single economic impact sheet — makes all the difference.

What stands out most is the power of a customer's own words. Lauren describes using Google reviews as a form of written testimony — reviews where customers talk about a rent-to-own purchase being the first furniture they've ever owned. The conversation also gets into what the alternatives actually look like for someone with limited or damaged credit: the uncertainty of marketplace transactions, the long shadow of credit card debt, and how rent-to-own provides a level of service and protection those options simply don't offer.

The episode rounds out with a broader look at leadership development, the women's forum, mentorship inside the industry, and why the relationships built in this space tend to outlast everything else.

Subscribe, pass this episode along to someone on your team who could use a reminder of the bigger picture, and leave a review to help more operators find it. What part of the rent-to-own story do you think deserves more attention?

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