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Search Results for: kids care

Customer Experience Radio Welcomes: Jaida and Amie Burke with Kids Care Organization

April 30, 2020 by angishields

CXRadio-Kids-Care

CER

Jaida-Kids-CareKIDS CARE was started by mother-daughter duo, Jaida and Amie Burke. An 8-year-old girl wanted the world to know that KIDS do CARE. One day she made an acrostic poem for the word KIDS.

Without any help at all, she created Kindness In Doing Service for the word KIDS. And after a delicious discussion on kid’s community service, the mother/daughter duo created the second half of their name, CARE, which stands for Connecting And Respecting Everyone.

KIDS CARE was then born and Jaida’s missions are being heard and supported so that she can lead the way to serve the community in a way that a kid wants too. And what better way to do this than with other kids, families, and friends. Lead on KIDS! Lead on!

Follow KIDS CARE on Facebook and Instagram.

Transcript

Intro: [00:00:01] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, it’s time for Customer Experience Radio. Brought to you by Heineck & Company, real estate advisors specialized in corporate relocation. Now, here’s your host, Jill Heineck.

Jill Heineck: [00:00:18] Welcome to this very special edition of Customer Experience Radio. I’m your host, Jill Heineck, and I’m a business owner, real estate advisor and customer experience enthusiast. We have two very special guests on the show today. They are incredible people that I’ve come to know and adore as I’ve been fortunate to work with them during their relocation to Atlanta six years ago. I’m super excited to have 10-year-old Jaida Burke and her mom, Amie, on with us today. They are the founders of the non-profit organization KIDS CARE that was started because Jaida wanted the world to know that kids do care. KIDS stands for kindness in doing service and CARE stands for connecting and respecting everyone.

Jill Heineck: [00:01:04] Q99.7’s The Bert Show got wind of the good they were doing with their new initiative called The Kindness Cards, and had them on the show in April of this year. And I was just so impressed with Jaida and her passion behind it, I just had to have her on. Hi, guys.

Jaida Burke: [00:01:22] Hi.

Amie Burke: [00:01:22] Good morning, Jill.

Jill Heineck: [00:01:22] I’m so happy you’re here, and I cannot wait to dive in and talk about the fantastic program that you have rolling here. So, Jaida, why don’t you talk to us just a few minutes about how this all came about? I think you’re just eight years old when you decided that this is something you wanted to do. And that was exactly two years ago yesterday.

Jaida Burke: [00:01:46] Yeah. So, we were actually driving in the car, and I’m homeschooled. So, actually, my mom’s like, “Hey, why don’t you make an acrostic poem?” And I’m like, “Okay.” So, I chose the word kids, and I made kindness in doing service. And she was like-

Amie Burke: [00:02:00] Yes. And I almost had to pull a car over immediately. She told me that in about two minutes, and I had to ask her, what does that mean to you? What are you thinking as an eight-year-old? What does that mean? And so, we had a really great conversation about it. And then, she talked about how she wanted to get kids together in a club, so that we could do community service. And she wanted to come up with the ideas, and she wanted other children to come up with the idea. So, like I said, I gave her a high five and I said, “Let’s do it.”

Jill Heineck: [00:02:29] I love it. I love it.

Jaida Burke: [00:02:32] And then, later on, I came up with care.

Amie Burke: [00:02:34] Yeah. So, yes.

Jill Heineck: [00:02:35] So, what was like one of the first projects that you did?

Jaida Burke: [00:02:40] We did a book drive. We had some people go around their neighborhood, and we actually went around our entire neighborhood, knocked on every door and was like, “Hey, can you give us some books?” We gave them to, I think, five organizations.

Amie Burke: [00:02:53] Yeah, we did. And we got over a thousand books. And we were not a nonprofit at that point. We’re just kind of a little group. So, it was after that, the success of that project that I was like, “It worked. But we’re going to keep rocking success here. We’re going to just become a non-profit, so that we can get and give easily.” So, then, in January of 2019, we incorporated and have been doing goodness since.

Jill Heineck: [00:03:18] So, are you now a 503?

Amie Burke: [00:03:20] Yes, yes. Starting in January of 2019, we are. Yeah.

Jill Heineck: [00:03:23] Fantastic.

Amie Burke: [00:03:25] Yeah.

Jill Heineck: [00:03:25] So, what’s been your favorite part so far, Jaida?

Jaida Burke: [00:03:28] Well, I’m actually liking this a lot. It’s really nice. It feels good.

Amie Burke: [00:03:36] Yeah.

Jill Heineck: [00:03:36] So, now, talk to us a little bit about the Kindness Card Program that you’ve been working on, particularly during this really hard time we are during the pandemic. And who are you trying to bring this kindness to?

Jaida Burke: [00:03:48] The story behind this is we are actually sitting in this room and thinking, “What are we going to do?” And I’m like, ‘Well, we already did our kindness cards for the military troops overseas.” So, I’m like, “We already know how to do cards, so why don’t we do cards?” So-.

Amie Burke: [00:04:07] Yeah. And we had talked a lot about quarantine, and staying at home, and what that means; yet, there were people that couldn’t stay at home. And who were those people and what were they doing? So, when we were discussing that, she was like, “Kindness cards, for sure. We can do that.” That is something that we can safely do at home. And I managed to get a hold of someone at Kennestone Hospital, and they ensured us that bringing cards to them was not a safety issue. So, we decided or I decided, I was like, “Well, okay. If we do a drive-by-and-drop-off program, people can really just stay in their car, drop it in the box, and then we quarantine it for 24 hours. And then, we separate the cards into the different frontline workers, and deliver them from that point.” So, that has been working out really well.

Amie Burke: [00:04:51] But really, what kind of sparked it was talking about those frontline workers and things that they have to endure about being away from family, working overtime. It’s a stressful period for them. And we said, “You know what? Jaida was right.” Right from her heart, let’s make smiles. Let’s just make some smiles. That’s easy to do.” So I said, “Yeah, it is. Let’s do it. We know how to do that.” So, this is kind of what we’re doing now is trying to create some smiles and just send moments of encouragement to those who are working on the frontlines.

Jill Heineck: [00:05:21] So, tell us a little bit about who has been receiving these cards?

Jaida Burke: [00:05:27] Well, we are sending about all the first responders and frontline workers. So, we’ve got not only one dispatch, we’ve got police, we’ve got a fire, and we have a Kennestone Hospital, which is nurses and EMS, so.

Amie Burke: [00:05:43] Yeah. We, so far-

Jill Heineck: [00:05:43] fantastic.

Amie Burke: [00:05:47] Yeah, we’ve delivered— do you want to tell them how many we’ve delivered so far?

Jaida Burke: [00:05:50] So, so far, we’ve given 293 cards.

Amie Burke: [00:05:55] Yeah.

Jill Heineck: [00:05:57] Wow!

Jaida Burke: [00:05:57] And then, from our last drive, we have 102.

Amie Burke: [00:06:00] Yeah.

Jaida Burke: [00:06:00] So, we’ve got about 395.

Amie Burke: [00:06:03] Yeah. Tomorrow, we’re going to go-.

Jill Heineck: [00:06:04] That’s incredible!

Amie Burke: [00:06:06] … deliver about 102. So, yeah, we’re close to 400 cards. And I know with talking with Jaida, we don’t really like to stick to a number. We just kind of— though people ask us what our goal is, and we can throw a number out there, but, really, what we can do from our own kindness hearts is the best that we can do, and we ask that of the community as well. Like, “Can we get people to step forward and write some words of encouragement, color some pictures. These are simple kindness acts that we can do that really make a difference in somebody’s day.”

Jill Heineck: [00:06:39] Fantastic. So, what areas of the Atlanta market or area are you delivering to at the moment?

Amie Burke: [00:06:47] Right now, we’re mostly in Cobb County. However, we had someone reach out in Jackson, Georgia. And she has a nonprofit, and it’s called it’s called the Life Enrichment Team. And so, they were really inspired by what we’re doing, and they’re doing it now in Butts County. So, anyone in Butts County can look on our website at kids-care2018. org, and there’s information there. But, also, we’ve got East Cobb, West Cobb. Just breaking news, we got two new places that are due to pick up, drive by, and drop off – one in Woodstock and another one in Marietta, so.

Jill Heineck: [00:07:28] Nice.

Jaida Burke: [00:07:28] And Carol Wilson Fine Art Inc has reached out to us, and they have donated some actual, like, not handmade cards but-

Amie Burke: [00:07:36] Greeting cards.

Jaida Burke: [00:07:36] … greeting cards. And we have like 69 of them. And she’s willing to— she’s got an email right here, and she’s willing to have anyone send her an email with the note that they want to put in, and she’ll handwrite it in a card and send it to us.

Amie Burke: [00:07:57] That’s right.

Jill Heineck: [00:07:57] So, she must have beautiful handwriting.

Amie Burke: [00:08:02] And she has beautiful greeting cards that her and Jaida went through and picked out specific cards for the mission. And it’s an incredible offer that she’s doing. And that information is all up on our website as well. But from that, I think Jaida’s point was as we have gotten messages from people from all over the state, actually, from that information being passed out on The Bert Show and, hopefully, today on your show, more beautiful people is sending some messages. They don’t have to leave their home. Those messages will get delivered. We’re going to try to spread the love a little bit more as we’re getting more cards. We’ve donated quite a few to Kennestone Hospitals. So, I think we’re going to move on to another hospital. Same with when we deliver cards to the police and fire, we try to pick different departments and hand them out that way. So, it’s kind of a spur of the moment thing. At first, it was all planned out with this, this one, this one. But Jaida, do you want to tell him about what happened last Wednesday when we had to pick up?

Jaida Burke: [00:08:57] Oh yes. So, here’s the story. So, we were sitting in Laurel Park and a prisoners’ transportation truck went by, and I was like, “Uh-oh, we’re in trouble.” Just joking around a little. And then, he turns around and pulls up and we’re like, “Uh-oh, I think we’re actually in trouble.” And he comes up, and we’re like, “We got cards for you.”

Amie Burke: [00:08:57] Yeah, we said, “We got cards for you,” because we had a bag of like 30 cards that we were going to deliver to the police department that day. We were just waiting for a few more. And so, we had a really beautiful conversation with him. And that really led to a magical day, actually. We were there for our drive by and drop off. So, Jaida and I set up our table. And then, we go hang out on a blanket and we wait. And he drove by, and he stopped, and he said, “This is just really awesome what you all are doing. Thank you so much. It really means so much to us.” So, that was really cool. And he wanted to give us a donation out of his own pocket. He was trying to give us his last dollar. And we were like, “No, no, we’re supposed to givng to you.”

Jill Heineck: [00:08:57] Right.

Amie Burke: [00:10:02] Nice moment. And then, he said, “I’ll be right back. How long are you gonna be here?” So, we said about an hour. And so, he sent an email out. And then, 15 minutes later, we had another police officer show up. And he got out of his car and was like, “This is just so awesome. Thank you so much. We love the cards. It means so much.” And it was really need to be able to talk to him six feet apart, of course. We spoke to him, and he really told us about how the days are stressful, the days are long. It’s hard at work and it’s hard at home because they are exposed.

Amie Burke: [00:10:35] So, they have to go home. And sometimes, they don’t have an opportunity to quarantine in a separate part of the house because maybe houses aren’t that big. So, being at home is stressful for them. Being with the public who is stressed out can be stressful. So, he said, “We can get some things delivered to us, but words of encouragement are so special and they go right to our heart. So, thank you so much.” So, that was magical. He left. And then, we had another officer pull in and do the same thing. And it was so awesome. You want to tell them about the foot fives?

Jaida Burke: [00:11:09] Yeah. So, instead of the elbow five, because that like makes contact and you have to get all close, we came up with the foot five. So, this is one person’s foot, this is the other, and high five.

Amie Burke: [00:11:18] And you lean away from each other when you’re foot-fiving. So, we’ve got some foot fives with the officers, and we made them smile. And it wasn’t just us. It was the people that made the cards because we had that bag of 30 cards. That wasn’t just us. We definitely add some cards in there, but it’s the community that’s coming out and dropping cards, drop a  handful of cards, drop in two cards. Every card makes a difference. It really does.

Jill Heineck: [00:11:44] It’s such a phenomenal program. I love it so much. So, what I wanted you guys to tell us a little bit more about, so our listeners can engage wherever that they can, tell us a little bit about how someone can get involved either from just a writing card’s perspective, or wanting to be a drop off or pick up, or how can we help? And what are your needs at the moment?

Amie Burke: [00:12:13] Okay. Do you want to start about these cards, Jaida?

Jaida Burke: [00:12:18] You go.

Amie Burke: [00:12:18] Well, we need people to make cards. That’s our first one. We talked about this before we got on air and we said, “We need people to make cards.” And Jaida wrote down a couple things that she wanted to mention.

Jaida Burke: [00:12:32] I wrote down all kinds of cards we’ve had. We had watercolors. We’ve had crayons. We’ve had colored pencils. We’ve had stick me in portraits. The opportunities are endless. I mean, we’ve got glitter ribbons, pipe cleaners, glue, sharpies, pencils, anything.

Amie Burke: [00:12:51] So, making cards at home is an awesome thing. And even if you can get your neighborhood to do it and just put them in a drop box at the end of your driveway, or if you can organize any bit of collection as far as a personal person wanting to volunteer and help out gathering cards is kind of the thing that we need right now.

Amie Burke: [00:13:08] Also, sharing the information like you are doing so kindly for us, Jill. Sharing the information, so that way people understand what’s going on, and how to get those cards to us, so we can get them to the first responders. As far as any businesses that might be listening and want to help, becoming a drop off spot is awesome because the more we can get on that front, the more people can participate without having to drive too far to drop off the homemade cards. Also, we ask that the businesses possibly help share the word as well because spreading the word is going to create more kindness cards.

Jill Heineck: [00:13:45] What a great way that we could kind of tie that in from a business perspective is to maybe find a few restaurants that are doing curbside pickups.

Amie Burke: [00:13:56] Agreed, agreed.

Jill Heineck: [00:13:56] And see if there is a way that we can double back, right, and help everyone.

Amie Burke: [00:14:03] Right, right.

Jill Heineck: [00:14:04] That would be a fantastic way to do it. So, we can explore that for sure.

Amie Burke: [00:14:08] Yeah.

Jill Heineck: [00:14:09] I just love this. So, what you’re saying, Jaida, is that I can just be sitting at my desk, and I can just pull out my Crayolas and a piece of construction paper, and make a card, and you’ll accept it?

Jaida Burke: [00:14:24] Mm-hmm. Uh-huh (affirmative).

Jill Heineck: [00:14:24] Okay.

Jaida Burke: [00:14:24] Of course! It doesn’t take very long.

Jill Heineck: [00:14:30] Oh good because that’s probably all I got.

Amie Burke: [00:14:34] It really doesn’t take long. And we are actually-

Jill Heineck: [00:14:34] So, are you having a lot of— I mean, I’m guessing that your neighborhood’s very fully engaged with this knowing that they have a rock star in the neighborhood.

Jaida Burke: [00:14:49] No, not really, actually, but-

Amie Burke: [00:14:51] Not as much as we’d like.

Jaida Burke: [00:14:53] We’ve tried to put the word out. Well, I only had a couple people reach out.

Jill Heineck: [00:14:57] Okay.

Amie Burke: [00:14:59] Yeah.

Jill Heineck: [00:14:59] Okay. I mean, it does take time.

Jaida Burke: [00:15:00] You know, we tried.

Amie Burke: [00:15:00] Yeah, but we had-

Jaida Burke: [00:15:00] It does take time.

Amie Burke: [00:15:01] We had other neighborhoods and we’ve had people show up with a stack of 50 cards that they’ve gotten from their own neighborhood. So, yeah, it’s-

Jill Heineck: [00:15:11] That’s fantastic. So, now, is there any other ways that you’re getting out to try to get more cards and to let people know more about this? What other channels have you guys been kind of talking about your program?

Amie Burke: [00:15:27] Yeah. Through social media, for sure, on our social media assets. Also, I’ve got to— I’m sorry, I keep saying that. We’ve got it on Patch and we’ve also got it on the neighborhood as well. And I think that’s about what we’ve got right now. We’d like to keep trying to spread the word. We’d love to get some teachers involved, some scouts, some churches, youth groups, neighborhoods, classmates. So, if the word could get spread around that way, even through social media, that would help us a lot because, like we keep saying, the more cards we get, the more smiles that we’re making for those frontline workers who are there for us, and they’re there for our family, and they’re there for our community, and they’re working hard and tirelessly. And that’s the whole important part of this.

Jaida Burke: [00:16:10] And not only the people who get the cards feel good. The people who make the cards also feel good.

Amie Burke: [00:16:16] Yes.

Jaida Burke: [00:16:16] They’re spreading that.

Jill Heineck: [00:16:18] That’s true.

Jaida Burke: [00:16:19] Everyone is better.

Amie Burke: [00:16:21] Right.

Jill Heineck: [00:16:22] Jaida, so, what is your vision for Kindness Cards down the line? So, we’re in this time right now, and we probably will see— we’ll probably be like this maybe for another four to eight weeks potentially. So what happens after that?

Jaida Burke: [00:16:40] We, actually, are thinking about doing another book drive. We’ve had a couple people who reached out, like, “Hey, let’s still do it. Hey, we have books.” So, we might do another book drive and-

Amie Burke: [00:16:53] Yes. We also are talking about doing a sneaker run. We’re kind of thinking about this thing, a project called the Sneaker Run, where we collect donated sneakers and give them to a non-profit called Eco Sneakers, and they recycle them, and give them back out to people who need them. So, we’re kind of kicking around some new ideas. But right now, we’re elbow deep into the Kindness Cards and really trying to stir up some kindness. It’s just such an easy, free project for people to do. And I don’t just mean projects like that, but really, really raising the vibrations for people around you. It also gives you something to focus on positively and to share that with the frontline workers to lift their spirits. It’s so important.

Jill Heineck: [00:17:38] I love this so much. I think it’s such a phenomenal project. And I think you’re talking about raising vibrations and giving out good vibes, it’s-

Amie Burke: [00:17:49] Yeah.

Jill Heineck: [00:17:49] I could feel it through the Zoom call.

Amie Burke: [00:17:53] Oh, good. Look, I’ve got a quote I’d like to read for you, if you don’t mind.

Jill Heineck: [00:17:55] Sure.

Amie Burke: [00:17:55] Okay. And I made this quote. But it’s something that came to me earlier on in the project. And I think it’s really important. So, I’m going to read it. It says that, “We are all powerful. Our words, our body language, our thoughts, our actions, our hearts, all knowingly and unknowingly impacting those around us. Please remember to power up some kindness to those around you. Take time to care. And thank you to all that do.”

Jill Heineck: [00:18:25] Oh, I love that. Thank you so much-

Amie Burke: [00:18:28] Yeah.

Jill Heineck: [00:18:28] … Amie and Jaida. Thank you so, so much.

Jaida Burke: [00:18:32] [Crosstalk].

Amie Burke: [00:18:32] Yeah, Jaida wants to share hers.

Jaida Burke: [00:18:32]  Will you please tell us where everyone can find you? So, give us any social channel handles, and email, and web addresses, and all that.

Amie Burke: [00:18:47] Yes, ma’am. So, our website, kids-care2018.org. And there is a special section on that website for Kindness Cards. It’s got a drop down menu. It’s got all the locations, times, dates. It’s got the Free Handwritings service from Carol Wilson Fine Arts. And it’s got everything you need. It’s got Google Map Link. So, go to that website. Facebook, you can find us on Facebook at KIDS CARE 2018. You can find us on Instagram, @kc2018org. And you can email us at kc2018org@gmail.com.

Jill Heineck: [00:19:27] Awesome. I am so happy. I mean, this experience for our frontline workers is already very, very hard. And I think you’re making this a little bit easier for them. And it’s just such a special program. And I so appreciate you taking the time to talk with me about this. It’s very moving, and I love that you are so committed to it, and taking care of everybody around you. And I’m just honored to know you.

Amie Burke: [00:20:02] Yeah. Thank you, Jill. Thank you. It really is something positive for people to focus on. And it’s an easy action that people can do because a lot of people are still at home and we are at home, this is something we can do. This is something our neighbors can do. This is our families can do. And even if people say they’re in their family, and you have family members in another state, it’s something they can do as well actually. You can just drop the cards off and you can send them in mail. It’s just an easy program for people to participate, to feel good. And then, like Jaida says, it’s not just the one person making the card that feels good. It’s the people making it and the people receiving the card. It’s just a positive thing to focus on. And we all need to focus on positive and raise these vibrations in the spirits of everybody around us.

Jaida Burke: [00:20:51] And I’d like to say, my quote is everyone can be kind. It’s like having a superpower.

Jill Heineck: [00:20:51] That is fabulous. I absolutely adore that quote so much. I want you to send me an email with that quote in it, okay? I’m going to use that in every communication. And I’m going to quote Jaida Burke. You will, now, be famous. Well, again, thank you guys so much. And I just wanted to thank everyone for listening today and really taking the time out to hear about this fantastic program. I’m proud to share this show with you as these stories prioritize what people are doing in our community and helping to make this experience much more impactful for the frontline workers, as well as the people that they are serving. And this is really the heart of where our communities are. And we thank you so much. So, thanks, everyone, for listening. Have a great day.

Amie Burke: [00:21:57] Thank you.

Jaida Burke: [00:21:57] Thank you.

About Your Host

Jill-Heinick-Customer-Experience-RadioJill Heineck is a leading authority on corporate relocations, and is highly sought after for her real estate industry acumen and business insights. As a published author, frequent panelist and keynote speaker, Jill shares her experience and perceptions with people from around the globe.

Jill is a founding partner of Keller Williams Southeast, established in 1999, and the founder and managing partner of Heineck & Co. Her real estate practice specializes in corporate relocations, individual relocations, luxury residential, and commercial properties. Jill’s analytical approach to problem-solving, along with her expert negotiation skills and sophisticated marketing, deliver superior results to her clients. Her winning strategies and tenacious client advocacy have earned her a reputation for excellence among Atlanta’s top producers.

While Jill has received many accolades throughout her career, she is most gratified by the personal testimonials and referrals she receives from her clients. Jill’s unwavering commitment to the customer experience, and her focus on the unique needs of each client, serve as the foundation of her success.

Follow Jill Heineck on LinkedIn.

Revved Up Kids and Care4All Children Services

November 15, 2019 by Mike

Carla Simms, Veronica Guobadia, Tom Vooris, Alli Neal

Alli Neal/Revved Up Kids

It is the mission of Revved Up Kids to provide programs and safety resources that equip and empower participants to recognize and avoid dangerous situations and people, and to escape violence if necessary.

Revved Up Kids believes that the easiest target for a predator is a child who doesn’t know predators exist. It is their mission to teach kids who predators are, how they operate, and how to respond if they meet a predator. Their personal safety and self-defense training for children has been proven to change a child’s understanding about who predators are, improve self-protective behaviors and increase confidence in responding to a predator. Children have avoided and escaped attacks as a result of their training, and children have disclosed sexual abuse as a result of their training.

They work with private groups and child-serving organizations in the metro Atlanta area, training thousands of children every year. Visit their Programs Page for more information about our personal safety and self-defense training programs.

Veronica Guobadia and Carla Simms/Care4All Children Services

Care4All Children Services is licensed by the State of Georgia through the Department of Human Services – Office of Regulatory Child Care (DHS – ORCC) to provide placements and social services to children in foster care. The agency holds a contract with the Office of Provider Management (OPM) and partners with the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS).

Care4All Children Services recruits, trains and recommends families to OPM for approval in order to obtain a license to foster children in their homes. Once a home is licensed and children are placed for care, Care4All provides follow up social services to ensure that the basic needs of the children and parents are met.

As a Therapeutic Foster Care Agency, Care4All requires more training for parents initially and on-going. The agency also provides more support for children and caregivers. Treatment foster care is preferred over residential or group home-care because it maintains children in family settings, which in turn reduces incidences of trauma. To ensure the safety and security of children, Care4All’s intensive foster parent training includes crisis management and emergency response.

SCOTT-FOUNDATION THOUGHT AND SERVICE LEADERS Local Cave Creek Carefree ROUND-UP for Kids and Horses

June 26, 2018 by Karen

scott-foundation-thought-and-service-leaders-on-phoenix-business-radiox1

SCOTT-FOUNDATION THOUGHT AND SERVICE LEADERS Local Cave Creek Carefree ROUND-UP for Kids and Horses

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Listen in to this amazing ON AIR conversation with Scott-Foundation Thought & Service Leaders, Rosa & Autumn, President/Owner of Phoenix Business RadioX, Karen Nowicki, along with guests, Courtney Woods Olson, scott-foundation-thought-and-service-leaders-on-phoenix-business-radioxTriple R Horse Rescue Volunteer and Scott Foundation Vision Partner, Diane Bell as they kick off the “Kids & Horses” campaign. This is all about driving business into local Cave Creek / Carefree merchants this summer, as they work together to raise funds to support rescue horses.

Shout out to our friends at Rancho Mañana Resort who are graciously hosting the Hot Air Balloon Ball Drop taking place Saturday, September 15th.

Thank you too to Local Country Artist Shari Rowe, who has teamed up with Scott-Foundation foster kids and Owner/Chef Brett Vibber of Cartwright’s Modern Cuisine for a Benefit Concert & Dinner on Saturday, August 11th from 5:30 pm – 9:00 pm.

Scott-Foundation kids and their special guests will be on LIVE twice a month in a Phoenix Business RadioX segment to help promote their efforts and our support for the Cave Creek and Carefree business community.

Click here to learn more on how you can get involved to support Foster Kids helping Rescue Horses this Summer.

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ABOUT SCOTT-FOUNDATION

Scott Foundation has big aspirations and a different path for Arizona foster youth. They imagine a journey that changes the face of humanity and inspires their kids to be their absolute best today while making tomorrow’s world a much better place for all. They imagine an education and societal system focused on the power of community rather than competition; and they imagine a world where children are taught we are not separate, but instead, we are all a part of something much bigger than ourselves – we are one. 

Scott Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that invests in the future of Arizona foster youth who wish to make the world better than they found it. The foundation produces year-round experiential programming that highlights, inspires and educate youth on the importance of social emotional well-being, while mindfully developing their heart and purposeful career path.

WHAT DO YOU LEAVE BEHIND? What kind of person do you want to be? Life/Legacy Plan – What is the history of your future? How can you make the world better than you found it?

Motivated by tragedy, youth transform to find their true self and become self- supporting, successful, community-minded, “compassionate people”.

Colleen-Walski-with-Scott-Foundation-on-Phoenix-Business-RadioXColleen Walski, Former Intel Manager, turned entrepreneur, who’s founded a philosophical service learning organization that also serves the social emotional well-being of youth in the Arizona foster care system; free of charge.

Colleen’s soulful story of resilience and purpose began on her intended journey of re-building hope after her only son, Scott tragically passed. The transformative power of selfless service is revealed as she finds the Universe has oddly aligned the destiny of many to make an inspiring impact that continues to unfold and enrich the fortune of Scott’s legacy and her own!

Frustrated by traditional thinking of the nonprofit business model, health and crisis intervention statistics at an all-time high, a failing education system, and inadequate support for children’s social services, Colleen mindfully surrounds herself with present Thought Leaders, Change-Makers, Philanthropists and Executives that like to take action, and begins serving the market in a way that it’s never been served before.

Colleen is as a very results-driven and active community member, providing ongoing leadership in humanitarian services to local youth programs with ongoing commitment to increase awareness for peace and support of community partnerships.

Connect with Colleen on LinkedIn, and follow Scott Foundation on Facebook.

Atlanta Business Radio Interviews Brett Mancuso with Moe’s Original BarBeQue, Bill Doyle with Vytex, Britt Menzies with StinkyKids, Nadine Phillips with ComForCare and Yuki Oikawa with Happy Science

May 18, 2011 by admin

Today we shined the spotlight on Brett Mancuso owner of Moe’s Original Bar B Que.This award winning Southern Alabama style BBQ just opened so give them a try. They are located in the renovated Kool Korners Midtown Building near Atlantic Station.

Next Bill Doyle with Vystar came on to discuss Vytex NRL his allergy free latex product. This green product is just what the medical industry needs. If you are allergic to latex you must check out Vytex from Vystar Corporation.

Next Mompreneur, Britt Menzies shared the amazing success story of her StinkyKids dolls, clothes, books and more.All you moms with a great idea and a dream you must listen to this inspirational story. If you never assume no and battle hard each and every day you can be a success just like Britt, as long as you also have an awesome product like StinkyKids.

Next Nadine Phillips came on to celebrate the one year anniversary of her South Atlanta ComForCare Senior Services business. Her non-medical home healthcare company is providing great in home care service to the families in South Atlanta.

And we closed the show with Yuki Oikawa USA Chief Ambassador for Happy Science Center for Spiritual Growth and Meditation in Atlanta. Yuki explained the importance of meditation to lower stress and de-clutter your mind. He also invited all of our listeners to a free meditation seminar each Sunday at the Happy Science meditation center on Piedmont Road. Please go to his website for directions and m,ore information.

A special shout out to our new sponsor – the Business Marketing Association – Atlanta Chapter.  Please go to their website to register for their monthly events. www.bmaatlanta.com/events/

Also be sure to join the National Association for Business Resources on June 3 as they reveal the Top 3 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in Atlanta for 2011. Please visit www.101bestandbrightest.com/winners/2011/atlanta for more information

Also . . . if you know of a business in Atlanta that we should know about, please email Amy Otto at Amy@ atlantabusinessradio.com and we’ll invite them to appear on the show.

Carey Davis with Transworld Business Advisors

December 13, 2022 by angishields

Carey-Davis-headshotCarey Davis, with Transworld Business Advisors, grew up in the radio business as his family owned a successful midwestern radio station.

He moved to NYC in his early 20’s and ended up running ad sales as General Sales Manager of 1010WINS- the most listened to and highest billing radio station in the USA.

Carey joined Spanish Broadcasting’s FM’s Mega & Amor as GM and participated in the $600mm IPO to take the company public.

Connect with Carey on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • How Carey’s background running some of the biggest radio stations in the USA help him as a business broker
  • Hot category’s for small businesses
  • How the pandemic changed small family companies
  • How a business owner can get a company in shape before listing it for sale

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Buy a Business Near Me, brought to you by the Business Radio X Ambassador program, helping business brokers sell more local businesses. Now, here’s your host.

Stone Payton: [00:00:32] Welcome to another exciting and informative edition of Buy a Business Near Me Stone Payton here with you this afternoon. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast with Transworld Business Advisors, Mr. Carey Davis. Good afternoon, sir.

Carey Davis: [00:00:50] Hi, Stone. Good afternoon.

Stone Payton: [00:00:52] Man, it is such a pleasure to have you on the show. I’ve really been looking forward to this conversation. I got a lot of questions. I don’t know that we’re going to get to them all, but I do think a good place to start would be if you could articulate for me and our listeners mission purpose, What are you really out there trying to do for folks, man?

Carey Davis: [00:01:15] Well, I’m based in New York City and. And on the one hand, there is some things unique about owning and buying and selling a business in New York City, and in other cases, it’s like anywhere else. But one of the unique parts of New York is that we attract people from all over. So we’re making good deals between good people. And very often those people are from way different places. In fact, we’ve seen recently and this is raise my eyebrows over the past couple of months in talking with friends of mine who are immigration attorneys, the number of buyers of business in Europe who want to be in New York because of the war in Ukraine has increased dramatically. You see, it’s just not it’s not just a war in Ukraine. It’s a war in Europe. And just like previous generations, people want to come to the United States because of the strength of the economy here and the strength of opportunity here. So we have a lot of businesses. You take that increase in interest of buyers. Now, let’s talk about sellers. The pandemic stirred things up.

Carey Davis: [00:02:45] Their business. Their many business. Besides the sadness and tragedy of the health idea. But how did it affect small businesses? Many small businesses closed. Many businesses started new with lower rents. Right. Right. And and many people. Many people, mostly baby boomers. Sat there and said, What the heck am I doing running this business? My kids don’t want it. I want to sell. I want to go travel. I want to. So the pandemic really shook things up. So we have a lot of businesses that people want to sell because they they want to move on with their life. We have new buyers coming in. Because of the international situation. And we have through many places in the United States, of course, an increase in immigration. So we have a lot of multicultural buyers of businesses. So all of that, you know, there’s an old, old saying. Stone When when there’s change, there’s opportunity. Well, there’s a hell of a lot of change going on. And that means there’s a lot of opportunity for folks to buy, to sell and to franchise businesses.

Stone Payton: [00:04:12] So what’s the backstory, man? How did you find yourself in this line of work?

Carey Davis: [00:04:18] Well, I’m happy to tell you, as a brother radio person, I was in the radio business, radio management business for many decades. I grew up in the business. My family owned a very strong, successful small market radio station in downstate Illinois. And after college, I worked there for a while, but I had my eyes on the big city. I wanted to I just wanted to be in New York City. So I moved here and got a good job with news and talk radio stations and ended up working for KGW Newsradio in Philadelphia and then promoted to their sister station as general sales manager of 1010 wins, which is a powerful radio station in New York City and all news radio station, you kind of kind of the WSB of New York, I can relate to you in Atlanta there. So and then I made a move to be general manager of Spanish language radio in New York. So I’m I’m very, very aware of the multicultural situation in the country. So after. That leads us to about ten years ago when really the radio, the terrestrial radio business, I think, kind of moved on to a place that I didn’t want to go to. Through consolidation and downsizing and moving to Internet. I was from the days of strong, powerful AM and FM radio stations, and I just thought it was time for some new folks to come in. So I love business and I got to stay busy. So that’s when a bunch of us got together with Eric Strauss and Eric bought the franchise for Transworld in New York City. And so we have a great team of people who’ve known each other for 20, 30 years. So we just transferred from radio advertising, marketing to marketing and selling and helping people sell, buy and franchise businesses.

Stone Payton: [00:06:38] So do you feel like that experience base though, has helped you and in retrospect, really prepared you to be of tremendous service in this world? Was that background helpful for you?

Carey Davis: [00:06:51] Oh, absolutely. Because, for example, a secret of, well, let’s say let’s take a rule of radio. Tell him what you’re going to tell him. Tell him. Tell him what you told him. Right. It’s very. You keep the message focused in as you do in your program, Stone. You repeat the message, so you’re getting frequency of it, and then you’re reminding of the message. We have the same thing in selling of a business. There are strict steps that go in order. The first is the planning stage. Then there’s the search stage. Deal making and then closing. So there is a process into putting on a radio program, and that could be news or talk or what the playlist is at any type of music radio station. And there are rules involved in the steps to selling a business and getting a business prepared to be sold. Imagine that I’m talking about sales process, but if your listeners are haven’t listed their business for sale yet but are thinking, well, maybe I’m I’m five years away. That’s a great time to get started. In planning the process.

Stone Payton: [00:08:20] So what are you finding the most rewarding about the work, man? What’s the most fun about it for you?

Carey Davis: [00:08:29] Well, I think it’s helping. It’s. I’m meeting people who have. Created and worked. Very hard and their life. Who are their businesses, their baby. They have. Given everything. You know, this is many, many of these hardworking folks are like the, you know, the grocery stores or the corner store in the city where you live upstairs from the store. And and and it’s people define. I’m not saying that it’s the right thing to do. I don’t do it now, but I did use to do it. People define their life often by their work. Yeah, right. They put that much into it. So when you’re saying, okay, when when you built this baby up and top of my mind, I’m thinking of a moving company, for example. A client that we have emigrated here. From another country. He worked again, his first truck. He moved it. And 40 years later. He’s one of the largest moving companies in New York. And now it’s time to sell that business. That is his baby. Right. Right. So you have to get along with your broker, Right? You better get along with your broker because it is not easy. It is it is not easy to sell a business. And I wish I wish we could say that we sold all the businesses that we list. That’s not the case. It’s not nearly the case. I’d say we sell about on a national average, About one third of the businesses that get listed for sale actually sell. Why is that number so low? Some people think that’s a low number. Others told me they thought it was high.

Stone Payton: [00:10:42] It sounds low to me.

Carey Davis: [00:10:44] Yeah, it is low. And I wish I wish we could say it’s higher, but I’ll be straight with you. It is about 30% of the businesses that are listed for sale. Finally end up end up selling the biggest reason for not selling. Is that the seller? Has is asking too much money. And we have told people. We’ll give you what we consider a fair listing price when we’re talking about, okay, I want to sell my business. We’ll take a look at the trends the last year compared to the year before. What are the add backs, the employees that are staying on, etc. And I can go through that list, but after we review that, we will recommend a listing price and sometimes they’ll come back and say, Oh no, I was looking for $5 Million and let’s say we’re we’re recommending a listing price of $2 Million. We won’t take the listing. And so it’ll go unsold. We know this. The businesses that do sell. Have been priced appropriately. That’s a different way to look at it. If we look at the businesses that have sold and this goes everything from drugstores to dog walking services to nursing home maids to restaurants, etc., when you combine all categories and you look okay and Transworld is a big company and we sell more businesses than anybody else when we look, let’s say, All right, let’s take a look at the small businesses that have been sold. The thing that’s in common is what they sold. They were priced appropriately.

Stone Payton: [00:12:40] So you mentioned timeline a few moments ago. What is a prudent timeline? For example, I own 40% of a pretty successful media company. My business partner is Lee Kantor. He and I own the business radio network. How far out should we be preparing if we want to turn around and sell it to our studio partners or out on the on the marketplace? Because it’s not next month, right?

Carey Davis: [00:13:04] Yeah, no, I agree with you. Well, first of all, it depends. A couple of different answers to that. One of the first things a prospective buyer says to me and to the seller. If your business is so good, why are you selling it right? That’s a good question. It’s a fair question. What is the motivation for the sale? And when we look at. Again, we study all the businesses that have been have been sold or businesses that we have listed and we look under what’s the motivation for sale? We find. That when there is a motivation. Of sickness, divorce. Retirement. Those have a higher percentage of selling rather than. Um. I would just like to see what. What kind of response I would have. So when there is a. And I think one of the reasons Stone is to you and your partner should say, and other people who are listening, who are thinking about when do I sell my business? I would say, keep running your business as long as you’re you’re happy and healthy and profitable. You like what You’re doing. Great. Keep doing it. And there are things you can do to prepare for, let’s say, well, maybe things change and things can change in a day, but let’s say things. You’ll be ready in about four years. Well, there’s a lot you can do in the next four years to get a business ready for sale. A lot you can do. Don’t wait until that day comes. There’s a lot you can do to prepare for that. And here are some of those things. We look at the multiples, look at the sales price. Successful sales of companies have kept good records. Keeping historical records of your business is mighty important. It’s not just for your taxes. But when it’s time to sell, when the buyer comes in and here are annual reports that you’ve done. In other words, we’ve downloaded your brain. You’ve downloaded your brain every year with an annual report that’s valuable to the new owner coming in.

Stone Payton: [00:15:48] I’ll bet it is. So. So there’s you helping an organization sell their their business. But then there’s also you have to attract new clients. Have you kind of cracked the code? The whole sales and marketing process for you attracting new clients?

Carey Davis: [00:16:09] Well, I yes, I’m a strong believer in networking. Hmm. A strong believer in networking and. And. And talking to people. One. My, my, B and I networking group. And if your listeners are not familiar, that’s Business Network International, which is a strong networking group. Ours happens to be the largest in the country. And we refer $1,000,000 every month to fellow members. We have 85 people in the chapter, and I’ve been in this group for ten years, and some of my strongest leads come from people in the chapter. Hmm. And for example, I we’re all plugged into each other. I will say, like I did in our meeting yesterday, I’ll say, Who fixes your car? If you know, a car repair. Body work or gas station owner who’s a baby boomer. Please introduce me. And guess what? You know, out of 85 people, three or four. Know somebody. Yeah. You know, they’re close to their their car repair guy and he’s. He’s, you know, is a baby boomer and is thinking, you know, he wants to move to Florida next year. That’s a perfect introduction. So. It’s different than a big difference between a real estate broker and a business broker. Is that the real estate ad is public. The business saying of a business is confidential, so you don’t hear about business brokers that much.

Stone Payton: [00:18:00] Yikes. Yeah. That really right? Yeah. So that’s got to be that’s a whole different ballgame, isn’t it?

Carey Davis: [00:18:06] Exactly. I can’t tell you that. It’s the. That’s the body shop at Amsterdam and 103rd Street that’s for sale. I’m not going to say that publicly.

Stone Payton: [00:18:17] Yeah.

Carey Davis: [00:18:18] I’m going to say there’s a gas station in Manhattan. For sale with a great lease. You know, you have to have a good lease if you’re going to have a successfully sell a business unless well, I’ll get into that later. But you have to have a. The ad is confidential, so we only give enough information publicly. So those buyers interested, really interested, will contact us. Then they will sign the legal document of a non disclosure document and then we’ll. And then we’ll give them the top line a little more detailed information. So who The buyers of businesses. Let’s take that example of a car repair place that’s doing. Who? Million dollars a year, you know, some big some big numbers. And they’re taking, you know, 500,000 to the bottom line. This is not a small business. Some car repair businesses are doing great. Imagine. The supply chain issues going on with new cars that are not being delivered. Car repair businesses are booming right now, so they can’t get out of the way of the businesses. A lot of people, except for a lot of immigrants, are not moving into the business. So you have a lot of young folks from other countries who are very well qualified to own this. And you can get good SBA funding for those people who qualify. So. Who are the types of buyers for businesses? Again, we use the example of a car repair business. Number one, there could be a car repair business on the other side of town and they’re interested. So they would have two locations in your city, right?

Stone Payton: [00:20:23] Hmm. Yeah.

Carey Davis: [00:20:24] Next would be, let’s say there’s a body shop nearby that could be now turn into a body shop and car repair. Third. And here’s here’s an important one again during the pandemic. There will be buyers in other industries or foreign buyers, for example. We’ve got people from Wall Street in New York calling us all the time. They want to get out of that business. They want to own something. They may not know the pool business or elevator service business or moving business, but they want to own that type of company. What makes them a possible owner and could make a sale successful is that if that company’s number two employee. Not the owner, but the number two employee would be staying on. Ah, right then. Someone from outside of the business. Could could buy it. So there’s the another reason why you don’t want to tell people your business is for sale. You’ve got to keep it to yourself. Keep your mouth shut. Pick a broker. May not be me, but pick one. Give them the exclusive listing and then at the appropriate time. When a deal is made, there’s going to be an that’s when you talk to the top employees, because we have this strange thing in America of when a company is sold, people think they’re going to be laid off, when in fact, though, we hear horror stories like Elon Musk, etc.. But normally buyers want the employees to stay on. They don’t want them to leave. They’re desperate to have them stay on. Yeah, right.

Stone Payton: [00:22:28] So tell me a little bit about deal structure. I bet you’ve seen a lot of different kinds of deals and it’s not always here’s a check, Here’s the keys, right? I mean, sometimes even the owner might even hang out for a while, Right, to help them transition.

Carey Davis: [00:22:44] Well, Oh, absolutely. When we hear that the seller is willing to stay on as an employee or as a consultant. But at their own hours, the hours they choose, that can be the key to a successful sale. Hmm. So. Absolutely. I’m trying to think of a of a business right now that I don’t want to divulge anything.

Stone Payton: [00:23:18] But that’s okay. But they could also but an owner might even be able to finance a piece of the deal, too, right?

Carey Davis: [00:23:24] Yeah. Seller financing is very common. Very common. Let’s let’s just give an example on this, okay? Let’s say business. Let’s say a shoe store. Take a shoe store there. The owner puts in her pocket 250,000 a year. That’s what we say. She puts in her pocket $250,000 a year. Mm hmm. A listing price, maybe 500,000. Now. Maybe she won’t. Maybe she tells us, Oh, I want $1.5 Million. And we said, Don’t sell, don’t sell the business then. But a decent listing price would be 4.99, even like at 1000 under that. For a company that’s 250,000. And we would say a buyer could come in. Put down 200,000. And then they would pay a certain amount every month over three, four or five years. Add an interest rate. This is a loan. Maybe 6% interest rate. Mm hmm. And so you would have seller financing available. And that’s often the case when it may not be qualify for an SBA loan, for example. So seller financing is one. Or somebody we see deal structures happen where let’s say it’s listed the the business this the seller is putting 250,000 a year in her pocket. She’s listed the business at 500,000. She’s motivated to sell. And. A buyer comes in and I’ll say and says. I’ll pay 300,000 cash. And maybe a quarter on the right day. And she accepts because she was highly motivated.

Stone Payton: [00:25:40] Right before we wrap, I’d like to leave our sellers in particular. I’d like to leave them with a. With a few pro tips for helping them get their company in shape before they even listed for sale. You touched on a couple of things earlier, but just some things for people like Lee and I to be thinking about because we’ve got to get our ducks in a row if we’re going to get the top dollar and the deal we want. Right.

Carey Davis: [00:26:08] Right. Well, all right. So what are the relevant facts? What is the reasonableness? Does it pass the smell test? Does it make sense? Have you kept good records? What’s the profitability of the business? And here’s one stone. Somebody buys a business because of the upside potential they see. Now, what they pay for it is how you have performed. But the reason they buy the business is because of the upside potential. So you even though you’re not taking it there, they’re going to the buyer is going to take it to that point. You should know where that upside potential is of your business. Hmm.

Stone Payton: [00:27:01] Right, right, right.

Carey Davis: [00:27:03] Keeping good records. Get those personal expenses out.

Stone Payton: [00:27:10] I resemble that remark.

Carey Davis: [00:27:12] Right. Get those. Get those personal expenses out of there. Keep great records. What’s the growth potential? How’s the equipment, the location, the lease. The staff is very important. I consider this. I consider your key staff members assets to the company, not costs. Because if somebody who’s not from the radio industry comes in, or even if they are from the radio industry, if you’ve got a great number two person working there, then that’s an asset for the company.

Stone Payton: [00:27:50] Oh, absolutely.

Carey Davis: [00:27:52] Right. What’s the competition doing and what’s the overall management? And this may sound strange, but the less the owner does in the business, the better. Because when we list a business that we can say absentee owned, Oh man, do we have a lot of people interested in that?

Stone Payton: [00:28:17] Yeah, no, it makes perfect sense. But you’re right. At first it sounds a little bit a little bit counterintuitive. All right, man, if our listeners want to reach out, have a conversation with you about any of these topics, what’s the best way for them to connect with you?

Carey Davis: [00:28:30] Oh, please email me. And it’s C Davis. At T WorldCom. C Davis. A t, WorldCom.

Stone Payton: [00:28:42] Carrie, thank you so much for sharing your story with us and investing the time to share your insight and your perspective. This has been incredibly informative and you’re doing good work, man. We sure appreciate you.

Carey Davis: [00:28:56] Thanks, John. And the best to you and your staff and your partner and your listeners for the new year.

Stone Payton: [00:29:03] Thank you. All right. Until next time, this is Stone Payton for our guest today. Carrie Davis with Transworld Business Advisors. And everyone here at the Business Radio X Family saying we’ll see you next time on Buy a Business near Me.

Executive and Career Coach Terry McDougall

September 26, 2022 by angishields

Terry-McDougall-Coaching-logo

Terry-McDougall-headshotTerry Boyle McDougall is an Executive & Career Coach and CEO of Terry B. McDougall Coaching.

She helps high-achieving professionals remove obstacles that keep them stuck so they can enjoy more success and satisfaction in their lives and careers.

Before becoming a coach, Terry was a long-time corporate marketing executive where she led teams, developed strategies and advised senior leaders to drive business results.

She is the author of Winning the Game of Work: Career Happiness and Success on Your Own Terms. She is also the host of two podcasts: Marketing Mambo and Winning the Game of Work.

Connect with Terry on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • How to expand the overlap between professional success and personal happiness
  • Why Terry wrote “Winning the Game of Work”
  • Why Terry refers to work as a game
  • Her opinion of the “no pain, no gain” approach to getting ahead at work
  • Some of the biggest challenges or blindspots that Terry helps her coaching clients with

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for high velocity radio.

Stone Payton: [00:00:15] Welcome to the High Velocity Radio show where we celebrate top performers producing better results in less time. Stone Payton here with you this morning. You guys are in for a real treat. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast executive and career coach, author speaker with Terry McDougall Coaching, the lady herself, Ms.. Terry McDougall. How are you?

Terry McDougall: [00:00:40] Stone I am great. It’s really good to be here. Thanks for having me.

Stone Payton: [00:00:44] Well, it’s an absolute delight to have you on the show. I got a ton of questions. We won’t get to them all, but maybe a good place to start. If you could give us a little bit of an overview, mission, purpose. What are you and your team really out there trying to do for folks?

Terry McDougall: [00:01:01] Well, we’re really there to help people not only be successful at work, but be happy and satisfied at work because way too many people are paying too high a price for their what I call quote unquote, success, because they may look successful on paper, but a lot of times they’re crying on the inside and it doesn’t have to be that way. So I’m here to help people be successful and happy at work.

Stone Payton: [00:01:28] So I don’t know if the right word is balance or overlap or integration, but I’d love to get your perspective on this relationship, this dynamic of professional success and personal happiness.

Terry McDougall: [00:01:44] Yeah. You know, for a lot of high achievers, which is typically the people that I work with, they have been, quote unquote, successful by paying attention to what everybody else expects of them. And overall, after time, they actually get addicted to that external validation and basically forget to actually check in with themselves. They kind of lose that connection with their own inner wisdom. And I believe that once once you can pay attention to what other people want from you. I mean, that’s what we need to do to be successful, successful at work, but also check in with ourselves to realize like, okay, is this what I want to be doing? Is this the best way to be doing it? Should I be speaking up, you know, really leaning into what they actually know and what they’re really about? Because I think for many of the people I’ve encountered and I would say that this was me for a while as well, that they can be so connected to what other people want that they lose themselves. And that’s a very sad place to be. So you’ve really got to pay attention to what other people want, but also be connected with yourself and your own purpose, your own wants, and your own authentic authenticity.

Stone Payton: [00:03:06] So this book, and I think it’s your most recent winning the game of work, what compelled you to commit these ideas to paper and and get this book out? There was was there a catalytic moment for you or was this kind of part of the plan all along?

Terry McDougall: [00:03:23] Well, I suppose that I had a little seed planted in the back of my mind many years ago that maybe I had a book in me. But it wasn’t it wasn’t something that happened overnight. It was really a reflection of my own career. I come from a blue collar background. My dad was a union guy, but I was put myself on. My parents wanted me to be on a different track going to college, and I wanted to work in more of the corporate world. And I can remember in my first job calling my dad and saying, Dad, you know when to ask for a raise. I don’t know how to do it. And he said, Well, I don’t know what to tell you because the union negotiates my raises. And I was like, okay, I guess he’s not going to be helpful. So I just started paying attention to what was going on around me and trying to figure out how do I advance here in the workplace. Because I’d been a good student and I just kind of thought when I went into the workplace that I’d just do the same thing at work that I did at school. And I just found that I wasn’t really moving ahead.

Terry McDougall: [00:04:23] And so it just occurred to me that there’s some unwritten rules of the workplace that honestly, nobody really tells you. And if you go into it thinking like, Oh, I’ll just, you know, I’ll be a good girl, I’m going to keep my nose clean, my head down, do my work naturally. They’ll they’ll see talent and they’ll all advance. That’s not how it works. And it took me a while to figure that out. And I actually was lucky to have some great mentors. And I also at a couple of key junctures in my career, I hired coaches and it really helped me a lot. And I started as I got into leadership, mentoring and coaching people under me so that they weren’t basically like banging their head into the wall, that they were like stepping back and saying, What’s going on here? How do I want to navigate? And so I really wanted to share those unwritten rules that I had learned the hard way in my book. And so that’s that’s really what it’s all about is just what are those unwritten rules of how you get ahead at work that nobody ever tells you?

Stone Payton: [00:05:28] So what is the the framework, the structure of the book? How did you choose to to lay it out? What kind of journey did you create for the reader?

Terry McDougall: [00:05:37] Well, basically, we start with the goal. You know, what’s your goal? You’re never going to get there unless you get clarity on what the goal is. And then once you have a goal, you start to think like, Well, okay, what are all the ways that I can get there? What’s the roadmap look like to get ahead? I mean, and I use the analogy, you know, if you’re in Georgia and you want to go to California, you know, at least you need to head west, right? But you can map, map that journey out in a number of different ways. And so really starting to imagine what are the different ways that you can get to that goal. And then a lot of times when we’re putting the roadmap together, we discover like there’s things that we don’t know, right? There’s skill gaps. Maybe there’s we need to know different people. So putting a plan in place to fill in those or bridge those skill gaps. And then really also and really importantly, shifting the mindset to not a fixed mindset, but more of a possibility mindset because. If we have a goal and we don’t believe it’s possible, it will not happen. Period. And honestly, like whatever it is that you think you want could land in your lap. And if you don’t believe it’s possible, you’ll just brush it off and keep complaining about how you never get what you want. So, you know, to me, I feel like. Getting clarity on the goal, believing the goals possible and starting to take action like even little baby steps. I’ve seen amazingly miraculous things happen in an amazingly short period of time with a lot of clients I’ve worked with when they’ve gotten those things in place.

Stone Payton: [00:07:25] So I’m sure the framing was a was a conscious choice to use the term or the phrase game of work. Can you speak more to why you made that choice?

Terry McDougall: [00:07:36] Yeah, because I think that a lot of people look at work and they’re like, well, I know what work is. I mean, we’re surrounded by quote unquote work. We go into a store and people work there. You go to the doctor. The doctor works there. We think we know what work is all about. And the reality is most people never really ask, what’s the objective like for the business they know for themselves? Like, I’m going to go give them some of my time and I’ll get money in exchange. But the reality that there’s a lot more to work and I guess if you get right down to the the basics, there’s really only three ways to add value at work. You’re either helping them make money, save money or reduce risk. And many people don’t look at work that way. They just are like, hey, I showed up, I was here, my butt was in a seat, where’s my paycheck? And then they get upset when they’re not advancing or they’re not. And I’m not trying to be negative about this or anything, but nobody ever tells you like you are here to create value for the organization. And if you can really look at and even if you’re emptying the trash cans or answering the phone, if you can put it in the context of how am I adding value, that’s going to give you clarity about how to keep advancing and keep winning the game of work.

Stone Payton: [00:09:01] So did the experience of writing the book itself. Did some of it come together real easy for you and then other chapters or other parts, more of a struggle or what was that like?

Terry McDougall: [00:09:13] Well, it’s funny because I left my corporate job in 2017 and right around that time, I mean, that’s a big that’s a big transition. I had been working in the corporate world for 30 years and to decide to take that big leap out of the airplane and hope that your parachute is going to work, it’s a little bit scary, but I guess that just got me thinking about all the lessons that I learned. And I actually started blogging and I blogged pretty much, I think like every other week for close to two years and just different ideas, you know, little, you know, 500 to 1000 word blog posts. And somewhere along the line, somebody opened my eyes up to the fact that if I if I downloaded all of those, that I might have enough for a book. And so and then I guess this is serendipity, but a friend of mine called and said, I just joined a book writing program, and I put two and two together. And I was like, I have all these blogs. My friend joined this book writing program, so I decided to join that too. And so I had a lot of content, but there’s still a lot of work that goes into thinking like, okay, I’ve got, I think I had. You know, 40 or 50 blog posts and like, how do you put those together into a narrative and, and put a framework in place that that was kind of hard. And I also think that I know that it’s a little bit scary writing a book because, you know, you worry that like you put so much effort into it and you hope that it’s going to be helpful to people and you don’t you’re not doing it for naught. So I’d say that probably one of the hardest things about writing the book was just overcoming my own fears about, you know, whether I had something valuable to share or not. And it’s been received well. So I think that it was worth me fighting those demons to get it out there.

Stone Payton: [00:11:13] All right. So let’s talk about the work itself a little bit. The the practice. What does it look like? Maybe paint the picture like someone like me if I, you know, I’m listening to this or I do read part of the work. And I think, you know what? I think I might want to work with Terry, particularly like in the early stages of that relationship. Can you kind of paint that picture for us? What does that look like?

Terry McDougall: [00:11:37] Well, I mean, first of all, we we always start out I do a free exploratory call with people, you know, just to hear them out, to hear like, okay, what’s going on right now? What’s working? What’s not working? You know, are you clear on what it is that you want? And honestly, I’ll tell you, a lot of times people aren’t. And that’s okay, you know, because part of working with the coaches is helping get clarity on those goals. But I have a questionnaire that I give to people. Will We’ll spend that first session just getting to know each other me like really delving in more to learn more about them. And then we basically use that framework that I talked about. I’d say that sometimes people may feel unhappy in their job and really they they know they want to stay in it, but they want to develop the skills to be more successful. They want to be more effective and not be on the verge of burnout. That’s that’s one type of person that I work with. I’d say the another type of person that I work with is one that I call should I stay or should I go? Like that old Clash song and where they’re like, I’m not sure if this is a fit anymore. And I’d say that once we start working together and we really focus on that goal, I’d say about half the time they decide, Yes, I want to stay here.

Terry McDougall: [00:13:00] And it moves over into that. Like I need to develop the skills and the mindset to be successful in this, this role or look for other opportunities within this company. That’s a good fit for me. And about half the time they are like, No, I’ve outgrown this place, or I’m starting to see it clearly. It’s just not a good fit for me. And then and then the third group of people are people that know that they want to leave, or maybe they’ve been laid off or they’re rejoining the workplace. And I’ll just work with them to help get clarity on what’s the right fit for them, help them develop those skills, really start getting them networking to to see where they can get help in looking for a job. I know for so many people like LinkedIn and indeed those are those are great places to go to look. But, you know, way too many people spend too much time expecting that, hey, if I perfect my LinkedIn profile, that the perfect job will fall in my lap. And that ain’t the way it works. You know, people hire people. And the more conversations that you have and they don’t, it doesn’t have to be calling somebody and saying, hey, do you have a job? Are you hiring? It’s really about, hey, I’m starting to look at the next chapter in my career.

Terry McDougall: [00:14:22] What you’re doing looks interesting or reconnecting with people that you’ve worked with in the past. And, you know, I can’t tell you how many people I’ve worked with where just a little outreach, a conversation results in a new job. It’s amazing, you know, because people hire people and they they typically like to hire people that they know, like and trust. And if you’ve worked with somebody, you’ve gone to college with them or you grew up next door to them, they know you. And a lot of times we’ll put in a good word. Or they may even be the hiring manager. So. Yeah. Just, you know, I’m all about encouraging people to believe that what they want is possible and start taking action. And it is honestly, really incredible what can happen when when people do that. You know, I’m not magic. You know, I just. I just encourage people. Like, I believe that the people that I work with totally have it within them to accomplish their goals. But sometimes it’s hard to see that. I always say you can’t read the label from inside the bottle, and I hold the mirror up so that they can see themselves more clearly and gain the confidence to do the things that they’re totally capable of doing.

Stone Payton: [00:15:45] This must be and I don’t mean to suggest for one moment that your work doesn’t have its own set of challenges. I’m sure it does, but it must be incredibly rewarding work.

Terry McDougall: [00:15:58] It is very rewarding when people get it and they start moving down, moving down the path. It can be a little frustrating, but totally understandable. I’m not complaining at all. You know, when when people are are stuck in that fear loop, right, where they just keep hitting the same brick wall and and, you know, when when people when all of us, any of us are thinking negatively or thinking like, oh, I’ll never get the job. Or, you know, I work so hard and I’m not getting promoted no matter what I do. Like, that is very natural. All of us do it and we do it to try to protect ourselves from disappointment. And, you know, it’s okay to do that for a little while. But the bottom line is that, you know, when we’re all cocooned up in our safe little place of like, I’m never going to get what I want, nothing’s going to happen there. Right. So when we. You know, find the courage to take even a baby step outside of our safe little comfort zone. That’s when things get set in motion. And it’s really it’s really, really cool. I mean, I’ve worked with people that there was one woman that I worked with and we had eight sessions and I would say probably six out of the eight sessions. We were really working on the mindset thing. You know, she had had some a lot of very, very tough things happen in her personal life and had also been working in a pretty toxic situation at work. And she really wanted to get out of it.

Terry McDougall: [00:17:47] But it was hard because there was so much pressure in her job. And when she finally shifted to. You know, believing, okay, maybe this is possible and started taking action. She literally got a job. Well, she had a job interview before our last session, so we only had two more sessions left. And then within like two weeks of that, she had a new job and it was just such a perfect fit for her. And I mean, I will tell you honestly, sometimes I’m even shocked and how quickly it can happen. But I think the most important thing really is believing that it’s possible. And, you know, a lot of times when people have disappointments, they start internalizing it and thinking like, oh, I’m not good enough. And, you know, oh, maybe I’m just not cut out for management or whatever it is. And that’s a lot of times what holds us back. Right. And but it’s like I said earlier, that also is sort of like a coping, self-protective mechanism. But if we can just take some little baby steps, a lot of times, you know. It connects the dots. Not to get woo woo. But, you know, the universe will step in and, you know, like your old friend from college will call you and be like, hey, my company is expanding. We’re hiring. I mean, it’s just crazy. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it happen. It’s and I’m always, like, amazed and grateful that this does happen. You know, we get things in motion and and we get a little help along the way.

Stone Payton: [00:19:34] Well, I bet you do see some patterns evolve with as you continue to work with more and more people. Are there some things that maybe you don’t articulated out loud? But as as you’re beginning to build that relationship, get to know the client, you’re thinking to yourself, Yeah, I’ve seen this before.

Terry McDougall: [00:19:53] Oh, my gosh, yeah. Not only have I seen it, but most of the time I’ve experienced it personally as well. And, you know, I tend to work with these high achieving people. And one of the patterns that I see is that they’re they’re smart and they’re strong and they’re hardworking. And, you know, that’s fantastic. As an individual contributor, you know, they become like a superstar at work and they get promoted and then they move into a leadership position. And a huge pattern that I see is that they have a very, very difficult time delegating. And, you know, a lot of times what they contact me about is that, oh, my gosh, I I’m, you know, dying under the strain of this job. I wanted to be promoted, but I didn’t know that it meant that I was going to have to work 50% more hours. And, you know, I think that a lot of times, particularly high achievers, have a hard time mentally promoting themselves and realizing like, oh, I’m in a leadership position now. And, you know, the people reporting to me, the budget, the systems, all of this is within my control to use the way that I see fit. And, you know, it’s hard for them sometimes to recognize that maybe the people reporting to them aren’t as hardworking or maybe they don’t know as much. And and to learn how to develop their talent and then also delegate train them. They’re, you know, people on your team who are not you are not necessarily going to be as good at what you do right off the bat.

Terry McDougall: [00:21:31] But if you learn to delegate, learn to give effective feedback, you know, I’ve seen this personally that, you know, a lot of times what will happen is the people that report to you actually get better at the things that used to be your job than you ever were. And that’s a fantastic place to be, right? And then you’re like, okay, good. I can fully delegate that. I don’t have to think about it, and I can elevate myself to what my own job is because, you know, if you don’t stop doing your old job, if you try to do your new leadership job and your old job because you’re afraid to let it go, you’re going to be in a very unhappy place. And not only that, the people working for you are going to be unhappy because they’ll feel like, Oh, they don’t trust me, they’re not trying to develop me. And it just it becomes a vicious cycle, you know, because if you believe that you’re the only one that can do something perfectly and then guess what? That that’s going to be part of your job. And then everybody else is going to be sitting around twiddling their thumbs. And so anyway, that was a long way of saying that a lot of high achieving people have a hard time delegating. And that’s that’s something that I teach. It’s it’s not something that is typically taught, but there is a whole process of how you begin to delegate in a way that is not overwhelming for the subordinate, and it’s not anxiety producing for the leader either.

Stone Payton: [00:23:01] So do you find that at least early in the coaching relationship, a lot of these high achievers, they’re trying to move up in the organization. It’s almost like they’re in the gym. Like with this no pain, no gain. Got to just, you know, work harder. I mean, do they have that mentality sometimes coming into the conversation?

Terry McDougall: [00:23:22] You mean just naturally that you know, they’re going to. Yeah, yeah, I, I that’s actually a good analogy because I mean, probably any good personal trainer would, would say that rest and nutrition is just as important as the workout in the gym. And I, I think about energy and energy out and what I see a lot with people that I work with these high achieving types is that, you know, they’re going to meet the goal no matter what. And it doesn’t matter if they have to work 12 hours a day for weeks on end. And then they wonder why they’re feeling they’re getting sick or why they are getting in arguments with their significant other, or they’re feeling exhausted and can’t get out of bed on Monday morning. So it’s very, very important to be aware of what your own needs are. You have to refill your tank. You know, it’s like driving your car and never stopping to get gas or never stopping to get your oil changed or your tires filled. Eventually it’s going to break down, right? You’re going to get to your destination quicker if you maintain your car. Right. And that that is the same with ourselves.

Terry McDougall: [00:24:44] Right. We need to get enough sleep. We need to go out and have some fun. We need to spend time with, you know, with significant others. We need to eat. We need to drink water, not just coffee. 24 seven. You know, and for most people that I work with, too, I mean, they’re not they’re not on an assembly line making widgets. These are people that are doing knowledge work, right? So creativity, innovation, all of these things are important. And, you know, a lot of times you can find a faster, more efficient way to do things. If you’re fresh, you know, you can come up with the great idea while you’re out on a hike on Saturday or, you know, hanging out with your your kids at the soccer game after work or something like that, you know. So I think just really valuing yourself and realizing that you’re more than just like a robot that has to go into work and be seen singing and sitting in the office, just working constantly. You know, you’re human and you’ve got to really appreciate that and value what you can bring to work. Beyond just, you know, your body being there.

Stone Payton: [00:26:08] Yeah. So how does the whole sales and marketing thing work for a practitioner like you? Like, how do you get the new clients?

Terry McDougall: [00:26:19] I have a number of different channels. When I first started my business, my all my new clients came from my own network. I worked for a long time and and I blogged. And then whenever I let people know that I was doing coaching, a lot of people, I mean, even I had a client that that I had worked with at my very first job. I met her when I was 22 years old, and she’s now a university professor and she was running into some stuff political. It’s funny, I haven’t ever worked in academics, but I’ve I’ve learned that it’s very political and academic environment. But she needed some help, just kind of figuring out what was going on there. But a lot of my early clients came from my own personal network. I am affiliated with a number of different businesses that will go into companies and like sell large contracts. And so I’m sort of like a coach in their stable and they’ll match me with people that, you know, a lot of times people like to work with somebody that has a similar background. So I work with a lot of people in financial services because that was my background from an industry standpoint. And then I worked in marketing, so I’ve worked with a lot of people in marketing and advertising. I also get a lot of referrals from former clients and then of course being on podcasts, right, I’m getting out there, people are getting to know me and I do post a lot on on LinkedIn. I’m a member of some networking groups. I’ve gotten a number of clients that way. So it’s when you’re an entrepreneur, it’s all about the hustle.

Stone Payton: [00:28:00] Well, and I think my experience has been one of the best selling tools on the planet is just doing good work.

Terry McDougall: [00:28:09] Yes, absolutely. When people say, hey, you know, I. I couldn’t have done it unless I had worked with Terry. Now I you know, I do not take credit for my client success. It’s 100% their success. But if I can be along on the journey with them to help them maybe see some things that they didn’t see. Unfortunately, I cannot pick people up and carry them to their goal, but I can be their wingman as they go on that journey.

Stone Payton: [00:28:38] So speaking of podcast, you have your own radio show. In fact, I think I might have written where you have two radio shows. Speak to that a little bit. What’s what’s that like? And how do you how do you operate that?

Terry McDougall: [00:28:52] Well, yeah, I have two podcasts and they’re on all of the platforms. The first one is Marketing Mambo, and I started that at the end of 2020 because I’d spent so many years in marketing and I kind of missed talking with the creative, strategic marketing professionals. And I just realized, like, well, I can I can make that happen. You know, I kind of did it because I thought I would enjoy it. But also I do coach a lot of people in marketing. And so I thought if they understood it could hear me and know what I’m about, that some people might say, Hey, you know, Terry might be a good coach for me. So that’s all I call it what we do. We I talk to chats with marketing movers and shakers from around the globe, and it’s on all different topics around marketing. And then not sure why I decided to start this one second, but I have a podcast that I started earlier in the summer called Winning the Game of Work, and it is all about tips around how to be more successful at work, how to win the game of work. I. I recently completed a kind of like a mini series that I partnered with somebody on about how to deal with bullying and the toxic workplace. And I can’t take credit for for getting the guests together. That was my partner, Lisa. Lisa Edmonson. She’s she’s kind of got a mission of eradicating bullying, bullying in the workplace. But she identified a number of fantastic guests, a couple of professors.

Terry McDougall: [00:30:36] One teaches at Harvard Business School, another one teaches at Columbia University. People who are trying to get the laws changed. A lot of people don’t realize that, like the only kind of harassment in the workplace that’s protected by law is sexual harassment. You know that that’s illegal. Just regular harassment in the workplace is not illegal. And there’s a lot of people that are being bullied and abused in the workplace. And there’s nothing illegal about. So we just talked about a lot of that sort of thing and then a lot of tips about how to how to deal with toxic workplaces. Why maybe for more senior leadership, what they can do to recognize bullies and and get rid of it. Because a lot of times, unfortunately, what happens is that the people at the very top of the house think that, oh, this guy’s a guy or gal is a high performer, and the people underneath of them are like, oh my gosh, this person’s nightmare. Because a lot of times bullies and and toxic bosses can really mask what they do from the people above them. So anyway, we we talked all about that, but I actually just posted something earlier this week about that little voice in your head that hold you back. I call it the gremlin, because for so many people, they you know, their self-talk is is very negative and it can be exhausting. And it is a lot of times the thing that holds us back from being happier and more successful at work.

Stone Payton: [00:32:12] All right, let’s leave our listeners with some coordinates that they would like to reach out and have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on your team. Let’s make sure that we can make it easy for them to get their hands on this book and access the the radio shows, whatever you feel like is appropriate. I just want to make sure people can access this information and connect with you. So let’s leave them with some coordinates.

Terry McDougall: [00:32:39] What I would love to. Stone So my book, Winning the Game of Work is available on Amazon. My podcast Winning the game of work is on Apple, Google Play, wherever it’s every place, or you can also go to Game of Work podcast dot com. If you’re into marketing marketing mambo is also on all of the platforms or you can go to marketing mambo dot net. And finally, if you would like to set up a free exploratory call with me either to work with me as an individual or if you would like to talk to me about how to improve team dynamics at work. I also do some workshops. You can go to Terry B MacDougall dot com and set up a free exploratory call on my website.

Stone Payton: [00:33:28] Well, Terry, it has been an absolute delight having you on the show. Thank you for investing the time and the energy. It’s I found it informing, inspiring. And you’re doing really important work. And we sure appreciate you.

Terry McDougall: [00:33:44] Well, Stone, I appreciate you. Thank you so much for having me on. I really appreciate the platform.

Stone Payton: [00:33:51] Well, it is my pleasure. All right. Until next time, this is Stone Payton for our guest today, Terry McDougal and everyone here at the Business Radio X family saying we’ll see you in the fast lane.

 

Workplace MVP: Robyn Smith, Jackson Healthcare

August 25, 2022 by John Ray

Jackson Healthcare

Workplace MVP: Robyn Smith, Jackson Healthcare

Robyn Smith, Executive Vice President of Human Resources for Jackson Healthcare, was the Workplace MVP on this episode. Robyn detailed the challenges Jackson Healthcare has faced throughout the pandemic and those that are ongoing, and the steps her company took to support the mental and physical well-being of its associates. She and host Jamie Gassmann discussed the creative solutions Jackson Healthcare has implemented, including virtual events, in-person events when they returned to the office, support for the challenges associates may be facing, the need for empathy, and much more.

Workplace MVP is underwritten and presented by R3 Continuum and produced by the Minneapolis-St.Paul Studio of Business RadioX®.

Jackson Healthcare

The Jackson Healthcare companies provide healthcare systems, hospitals, and medical facilities of all sizes with the skilled and specialized labor and technologies they need to deliver high-quality patient care and achieve the best possible outcomes — while connecting healthcare professionals to the temporary engagements, contract assignments, and permanent placement employment opportunities they desire.

Headquartered in metro Atlanta, they’re powered by more than 1,700 associates and over 15,000 clinician providers covering all 50 U.S. states.

Their mission is to improve the delivery of patient care and the lives of everyone we touch. This includes the patients, clinicians, and healthcare executives they work with through their companies every day, as well as their communities, the nonprofit organizations they support and each associate who is part of their family.

Company website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

Robyn Smith, Executive Vice-President of Human Resources, Jackson Healthcare

Robyn Smith, Executive Vice-President of Human Resources, Jackson Healthcare

As executive vice president of human resources, Robyn Smith brings more than 25 years of experience to her role leading Jackson Healthcare’s corporate HR team. In her position, she sets strategy for talent acquisition, benefits, training and development, career pathing, succession planning, compensation, reward programs, and workplace policies. Since joining the organization, she has been a driving force in expanding its extensive associate professional and well-being offerings. During her tenure, Jackson Healthcare became Great Place to Work certified, has appeared in consecutive years on Fortune’s Best Workplaces in Healthcare and debuted as a Best Workplace for Women and Best Workplace for Millennials.

In 2020, Robyn received the “Great Place to Work For All Leadership Award” – and on the speaker circuit, she addresses wellness and culture topics at various events each year. She serves on the board of Connections Homes, is active in Peer 150’s Human Resources Group and Atlanta CHRO leadership, and volunteers with Open Hand Atlanta and Junior Achievement.

Robyn joined Jackson Healthcare following a successful HR career in the enterprise software space and in national healthcare and staffing firms. She is a graduate of Kennesaw State University and serves on the board of Coles Business School.

LinkedIn

About Workplace MVP

Every day, around the world, organizations of all sizes face disruptive events and situations. Within those workplaces are everyday heroes in human resources, risk management, security, business continuity, and the C-suite. They don’t call themselves heroes though. On the contrary, they simply show up every day, laboring for the well-being of employees in their care, readying the workplace for and planning responses to disruption. This show, Workplace MVP, confers on these heroes the designation they deserve, Workplace MVP (Most Valuable Professionals), and gives them the forum to tell their story. As you hear their experiences, you will learn first-hand, real-life approaches to readying the workplace, responses to crisis situations, and overcoming challenges of disruption. Visit our show archive here.

Workplace MVP Host Jamie Gassmann

Jamie Gassmann, Host, “Workplace MVP”

In addition to serving as the host to the Workplace MVP podcast, Jamie Gassmann is the Director of Marketing at R3 Continuum (R3c). Collectively, she has more than fourteen years of marketing experience. Across her tenure, she has experience working in and with various industries including banking, real estate, retail, crisis management, insurance, business continuity, and more. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mass Communications with special interest in Advertising and Public Relations and a Master of Business Administration from Paseka School of Business, Minnesota State University.

R3 Continuum

R3 Continuum is a global leader in workplace behavioral health and security solutions. R3c helps ensure the psychological and physical safety of organizations and their people in today’s ever-changing and often unpredictable world. Through their continuum of tailored solutions, including evaluations, crisis response, executive optimization, protective services, and more, they help organizations maintain and cultivate a workplace of wellbeing so that their people can thrive. Learn more about R3c at www.r3c.com.

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TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting from the Business RadioX Studios, it’s time for Workplace MVP. Workplace MVP is brought to you by R3 Continuum, a global leader in workplace behavioral health and security solutions. Now, here’s your host, Jamie Gassmann.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:00:23] Hi, everyone. Your host, Jamie Gassmann, here and welcome to this episode of Workplace MVP. Since early 2020 and now into 2022, the workforce and work environments continue to experience shifts and changes. And that shifting and changing, for some, continues at a rapid or frequent pace. And some industries, such as healthcare, are experiencing shortages of staff and a limited candidate pool. While other industries are experiencing a delayed great resignation or, as some have called it, a reshuffle.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:00:56] Disruption has become a constant in our workplaces, resulting in leaders having to take a closer look at the support and resources they’re making available to employees. The workforce is not the same as it was pre-pandemic. Their view on work-life balance has shifted. Their expectations of their employer have grown. And what they need for support from their work life is different than what they would have needed pre-pandemic.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:01:22] How can employers keep up with the changes and move to a work environment employees can thrive in? How can they be creative to ensure the resources and tools they are making available to employees feels a value and appreciated?

Jamie Gassmann: [00:01:34] Well, joining us today to share the out-of-the-box resources and tools her workplace has put into place for their workforce is Workplace MVP and Executive Vice-President of Human Resources at Jackson Healthcare, Robyn Smith. Welcome to the show, Robyn.

Robyn Smith: [00:01:50] Great. Thank you. It’s so wonderful to be with you today, Jamie. Thanks for having me.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:01:55] Yeah. We absolutely appreciate you being on. And I just want to start out by having you kind of walk us through your career journey, share with us how you got into H.R. and kind of that journey you’ve taken to becoming the Executive Vice-President of Human Resources at Jackson Healthcare.

Robyn Smith: [00:02:11] Sure. So, when I graduated from college, I always knew that I wanted to be in human resources. My mother was in human resources, and I loved people, so I thought that would be a great career for me. So, I started out my career in the staffing industry, and then I moved from there into the medical field and worked for a large physician group here in Atlanta doing a lot of merger and acquisition work. And then, I moved to an international publicly traded software company, and I had a large international team and we were in 17 different countries, so that was a wonderful experience.

Robyn Smith: [00:02:56] Then, the opportunity at Jackson Healthcare came up and I just thought, what a great match for me having the staffing industry experience, having the medical industry experience, and then having software and high tech experience. So, to me, it was the perfect marriage.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:03:15] Yeah, it sounds like it. And so, talk to me a little bit about what Jackson Healthcare does. What does it provide your clients with?

Robyn Smith: [00:03:22] Jackson Healthcare is a family of highly specialized healthcare, staffing search and technology companies. The mission is to improve the delivery of patient care and the lives of everyone we touch. Our companies provide hospitals and healthcare systems with the labor and technologies they need to deliver high quality patient care and achieve the best possible outcomes, while also connecting healthcare professionals to employment opportunities that they desire. Each year, we help thousands and thousands of healthcare facilities serve more than ten million patients across all 50 states.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:04:04] Wonderful. And so, looking at kind of the conversation you and I had before, your organization, you’ve seen a lot of growth over the last few years, even before COVID. And I think you’ve even had some even more growth since COVID. So, can you talk a little bit about what that growth has looked like and the impact that’s had in your role at Jackson Health?

Robyn Smith: [00:04:27] Sure. You know, being in the healthcare industry, the needs have been more and more, especially over the last two years specifically. And our business continues to grow. And I’ve been blessed to work for an organization that continues to grow. Since I’ve been here, Jackson has tripled in size. And so, what it means for our people, it’s just wonderful to see them grow and learn new things and new skills and prosper and share that. And we’re continuing to grow because healthcare is not going away. And if anything we’ve learned in the last couple of years, is, it’s at the forefront of everything.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:05:13] Yeah. And, you know, when I start these conversations with a new guest, I’m always looking at areas that really inspire passion and get you excited about the work that you do in kind of driving these conversations. And when we were talking in our pre-show call, you talked about being really proud of the work that your team has done. And there’s a lot of great work that you shared, and we’re going to be touching a lot on it as we kind of move through the show. But tell me a little bit about the work that you’re most proud of with your team. Let’s talk a little bit about that.

Robyn Smith: [00:05:50] Sure. I am unbelievably proud of our people, and our clinicians, and our physicians that we put to work each and every day. A lot of our associates and clinicians worked around the clock. And our people worked to deploy physicians and nurses to the frontline. They were actually saving lives. These were unprecedented times. And they continue to go above and beyond to help the physicians and the clinicians get to where they needed to be to help their coworkers. Everyone leaned into the process and they worked quickly to pivot from what maybe their normal day to day job was.

Robyn Smith: [00:06:34] We found new ways to meet ongoing needs and growing needs. A few examples of this is that we had receptionists, and because the business closed for a couple of months, we cross trained them to credential clinicians and put more and more clinicians out to work on the frontlines. And other associates took on multi-specialties in the healthcare arena so that they could ramp up quickly and get more clinicians to work to care for more patients.

Robyn Smith: [00:07:09] And then, our frontline workers, they were just amazing. They worked shift after shift, overtime, just helping when the pandemic hit its peak. Not complaining. They are our unsung heroes and we owe so much to them.

Robyn Smith: [00:07:31] Our mission is to improve patient care and the lives of everyone we touch. We met our mission on patient care and pivoting to saving patient’s lives each and every day. And during COVID, we really saw the impact of all this great work that was going on.

Robyn Smith: [00:07:49] Some of the things we did, we were first to set up an emergency department outside of a hospital in the epicenter in Georgia, which the outbreak was in Albany. We set up the World Congress Center for Overflow from hospitals for more patients. We set up drive-thru vaccine centers. All of these things have never been done, so we are learning and deploying and executing at real time each and everyday.

Robyn Smith: [00:08:20] The word proud does not do it justice for all of our people and everything that they have done. Their unyielding dedication and commitment to taking care of patients and saving lives has been unprecedented.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:08:35] Wow. That’s just really impressive. And the innovation, and the project management, and the kind of forward thinking and the immediate thinking that you had to do during that time to pull that off is is absolutely impressive. I can see where it’d be something you’d be proud to say you were a part of and able to support. That’s incredible.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:08:58] And so, looking at it and in addition to that, I mean, all the great work that your employees were doing as an organization, you were all so heroic in being able to put some amazing benefits in place to support your employees so that you could keep them helping with that by giving them aid for the school.

Robyn Smith: [00:09:22] I think you said that you brought in some tutors for the children for the schoolwork. And then, you had daycares that were shut down. Can you talk through the educational and childcare resources that you did put in place for your employees, that support that you gave them to kind of lift that strain off of them as they were navigating that so that they could stay focused on supporting patients.

Robyn Smith: [00:09:51] Sure. Sure. You know, when the pandemic first started, things were changing daily, sometimes hourly. And we realized very quickly that we really needed to lean in and help our associates and their families.

Robyn Smith: [00:10:07] So, what we did is we added part-time and drop in hours at our onsite childcare center. We had some extra space available, so that’s where we set up little pods so they could bring in tutors to help. There was a cluster of three or four or six students that they could learn, of course, social distancing. But the cubes were set up enough that they could do that, that they could help each other.

Robyn Smith: [00:10:39] We deployed teachers into associates’ home from our childcare center, which had never been done in the history of that company. So, we really worked hard to get that done because we needed to continue to deploy clinicians and physicians to the frontline. Our people still needed to work but their kids needed to be taken care of. We reserved spots at distant learning centers for older students so that they could continue to learn and be in a safe environment.

Robyn Smith: [00:11:10] We did Zoom calls to engage children who were home. There were stories that came out of this. We did story time. We did arts and crafts. We did kids yoga at a specific time every week so the parents could learn to depend on that time that their children would be occupied. So, if they had an important call to be scheduled or something along those lines, that would take care of it for them. We waived tuition and offered reimbursement for added virtual school costs.

Robyn Smith: [00:11:47] You know, nobody could have anticipated any of this. So, our workforce is 70 percent female, so we have a lot of families. And so, it was really important to us to pivot and come up with creative, out-of-the-box ways to think about things and think about it differently.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:12:06] Wow. I know when we talked and I’ve shared this with you, you know, I have school-aged children and I was that working mom juggling. And, of course, my spouse was home as well. But juggling that schoolwork, and learned very quickly that was not my calling to be a teacher. I do have a whole new level of appreciation for that job.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:12:31] But just the thought of having that lift, it brought back memories to me of navigating that. And then, I teared up just thinking of how wonderful that had to have been for the employees to be able to have that lift off their shoulders and they could just focus on their work. So, kudos to you. I think that’s absolutely impressive and amazing.

Robyn Smith: [00:12:53] Thank you.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:12:54] So, additionally, in your tenure at Jackson Healthcare, you had a clinic put onsite. So, I know you talked a little bit about the clinical resources that you’ve had onsite, but you put a clinic onsite, how did that help with supporting your employees during the highest point of COVID outbreak? And even now, what are you experiencing by having that clinic put onsite? How does that come to fruition of this support system that you probably maybe didn’t think of when you initially had the idea of putting that onsite?

Robyn Smith: [00:13:24] That’s absolutely correct. We put the clinic in a few years ago, and the onsite clinic, it provides both primary and preventive care to our associates and their families. So, as we pivoted into COVID and not knowing what we were dealing with everyday and, not only finding it difficult to get into the hospitals, but some doctor’s offices even closed.

Robyn Smith: [00:13:52] And so, we made a conscious decision early on that we wanted a safe place for our associates and their families to come that was non-COVID, if you will, so they could continue to get their prescriptions filled for their maintenance meds. If they had something other than COVID, they could come and they could be treated. And they were familiar with the staff. And so, even when the office closed for just a couple of months, the utilization on the clinic stayed up around 85 percent, which is just unheard of. And so, those clinicians came in everyday to serve our population.

Robyn Smith: [00:14:37] We also offered 24/7 telemedicine services. The clinic had to pivot to some telemedicine services, and they would do COVID diagnosis over telemedicine so that they could keep seeing the other patients in the actual clinic itself. And this allowed the associates and their families to connect with the physicians from home. And so, I think it really propelled the telemedicine journey forward.

Robyn Smith: [00:15:13] We were very purposeful not to provide COVID testing in the clinic. I bet I got that question everyday, why don’t we have COVID testing. And once again, it was because we wanted a safe place for our associates and their families to get continuous, ongoing care during the time when options were very, very limited.

Robyn Smith: [00:15:35] And then, when the vaccine came out, we started offering the Moderna vaccine to associates and their families, as well as the boosters. So, that was the only thing that we pivoted on with COVID is to help them, because in the early days, it was hard to get the vaccine. So, we were constantly looking at different things that we could do to provide more services to our associates and their families.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:16:03] And has putting that in place and kind of keeping it as a clinic that people can go to that’s non-COVID, has that helped to keep your utilization of it up at this point now too? I mean, did it create kind of knowledge of it?

Robyn Smith: [00:16:22] Yes. Yeah. So, it stays around 80 to 85 percent. It’s probably one of the number one benefits that we have here on campus, because there’s just such value. And we have a partnership with a local pharmacy, so if the physician or the clinician write a prescription, they can get a same day delivery of their prescription. So, it’s not like they have to leave work and go out and pick it up because that takes a lot of time to do that. And sometimes if they’re really busy, they’ll deliver twice a day so that they’re getting the medications that they need.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:17:06] Wow. So, there’s been other creative and out-of-the-box measures that you’ve put in place to show support for your people. So, can we talk about some of those approaches? I know some of them was like therapy dogs, counselors onsite, a COVID response team. You also were prepping your managers. Can you dive into a little bit of some of these other out-of-the-box measures that you’ve done?

Robyn Smith: [00:17:30] Sure. Sure. So, we also have an onsite fitness center, so we reopened that as soon as we possibly could with limited availability and COVID-19 protocols put in place to provide the associates with the opportunity to safely exercise. Because if you think about it, everything was shut down. And so, part of our philosophy is mind, body, and spirit, and working out is part of that as well.

Robyn Smith: [00:17:59] We added some emotional wellbeing webinars, and we broke it up. We did one for the associates to talk about what issues they may be addressing. We had our onsite counselors actually do this via Teams call and answer any questions that they might have. And then, we also had a session for the managers. Because these were unprecedented times, how do you manage through all of this? How do you support your associates? And so, the counselors really speaking towards that and helping them.

Robyn Smith: [00:18:40] And we also did recorded webinars with local and national experts on topics ranging from stress management and emotional wellbeing tied to nutrition and physical health. And how parents can help their children receive better emotional support and health during this pandemic.

Robyn Smith: [00:19:02] So, there were multiple layers in there, and we just kept our pulse on it through spot surveys and kind of seeing how people were actually doing to see if we needed to add more sessions or we needed to pivot to a new topic.

Robyn Smith: [00:19:20] The executive team, we met every morning to talk about, “Okay. What’s going on today? What do we need to address today?” We also reimagined our Jackson Healthcare University, which included traditional professional development, leadership training, networking, and cultural awareness, sensitivity curriculum to better serve our associates during the pandemic. So, we moved everything to virtual and on demand. And we saw participation rate increase of up to 16 percent compared to other years. So, they were hungry for the knowledge and so we just needed to pivot and get it to them in a means that they could digest it.

Robyn Smith: [00:20:06] We also recognized the need to help our associates stay emotionally connected during the physical separation. We — our traditions. We launched virtual events and activities. We had a virtual Halloween costume contest, and we judged it, and gave away awards that we later sent to people’s homes online. We had virtual holiday decor. We did Zoom pictures with Santa, that was very creative. So, we were constantly looking at what was in our normal DNA and how could we adapt it to our associates.

Robyn Smith: [00:20:54] Also, our associates worked diligently from the onset of the pandemic to help ensure that our healthcare professionals were mobilized nationwide to provide critical lifesaving care for patients suffering from COVID-19. We looked at ways to say thank you and show appreciation for one another. And in recognition of the work our associates were doing to fight against the pandemic, we mailed a COVID-19 response team item to them. They can have a hat or a t-shirt or some type of memorabilia. And it was neat because on a lot of the Zoom or the Teams calls, they would be wearing their memorabilia very proudly that they were part of that COVID response team.

Robyn Smith: [00:21:43] We held town hall meetings with one of our physicians, the medical director from our onsite clinic. And he answered a lot of the science behind COVID because things were changing rapidly, you know, when we were thinking about coming back. Why do we have to wear masks? What’s the purpose of a mask? Why do we have to quarantine? And then, when the vaccine came out, well, what’s the best vaccine? Why do we need the vaccine? Which is constantly ongoing, whatever the flavor of the week might have been. So, we were just trying to educate and adjust for their needs and to help get the latest and greatest out to them. And our medical director was on the frontline. He was also practicing. So, he was giving real life examples of what was going on.

Robyn Smith: [00:22:44] We also decided to set up a privacy officer to report exposures or cases. And we hired a registered nurse to do this because we wanted to take it out of the hands of H.R. or managers because we’re not medical professionals. We actually wanted the nurse making those decisions. So, by August of 2021, we had over 6,000 COVID questions or inquiries that had been answered by the nurse, and she was amazing from that.

Robyn Smith: [00:23:21] Some of the other things, we talked about the Halloween costume contest, we also had an online pumpkin carving contest. So, we just tried to think about things that we could do differently. And this year, we added onsite pet therapy. So, they bring in the dogs and that’s to support the mental and wellbeing of our associates.

Robyn Smith: [00:23:47] Our company also signed the Global Mental Health Pledge through the Society for Human Resource Managers and Thrive Global, reaffirming our long standing commitment to mental health and wellbeing of our associates. And that’s really taken off.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:24:03] Wow. That’s a big list. You’ve done a lot. That’s impressive. In looking at them, you mentioned spot surveys to kind of get a gauge of employees response to that and really identify if there’s other areas that you might need to be looking into. So, how have your employees responded to that support and the continued support? You know, what are you seeing amongst your employees?

Robyn Smith: [00:24:30] Yeah. So, I’d say from my observation, for the most part, it’s been welcomed and positive. You know, when we first started to come back on campus, there were still some fear factor around that. Because, listen, some people had some extenuating medical conditions, and for those that were still unsettled, we made accommodations. There was an accommodation form they had to fill out for the nurse. And if the nurse needed to ask more medical questions, which was totally confidential, we did not have any of that information. Then, the nurse could make a proper call on what they needed.

Robyn Smith: [00:25:09] But we really tried to meet people where they were and what they were experiencing. Because then, all of a sudden, you might have had other family members living with you, other people other than your children that you were having to take care of. So, we were constantly adapting.

Robyn Smith: [00:25:28] But once we got started coming back on campus, we heard more positive feedback because they just missed each other. They missed that connectivity, that human interaction. And our campus was built around collision points just to have an impromptu conversation or an impromptu meeting. And so, a lot of that started to come back after that.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:25:59] Wow. I know. I’m in the office today and I generally am working from home still myself, but being able to be around people, it does make a difference. You know, we had lunch together. It was fantastic. I haven’t done that for a while. So, you really see things that you appreciated about that in office setting when you’ve been out of it for a while.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:26:19] So, we’re going to take a break here and hear from our sponsor. So, Workplace MVP is sponsored by R3 Continuum. R3 Continuum is a leading expert in providing behavioral health support to people and organizations facing disruption and critical incidents. Through our evidence-based interventions, specialized evaluations, and tailored behavioral health programs, R3C promotes individual and collective psychological safety and thriving. To learn more about how R3 Continuum can help your workplace make tomorrow better than today by helping your people thrive, visit www.r3c.com today.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:26:59] So, I know in talking with you in our pre-show call, you talked about a mix of employees, some working from home and some who have come back into the office. And this has kind of just shifted and changed kind of throughout the pandemic. What does your current office mix look like now?

Robyn Smith: [00:27:16] Well, it’s still a mix. So, we empower the presidents to make the decision for each one of their companies. And it’s a mix, and I would say most people are in the office Monday through Thursday. And we see a lot of uptick probably Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. But I think in this day and age, it’s always going to be a hybrid model from this point forward.

Robyn Smith: [00:27:50] But, you know, back to those collision centers, they rely upon each other to get their jobs done. And when you’re credentialing a physician or a provider to go to work, there’s multiple steps, and you’ve got to find housing, and you’ve got to get their credentials done. And so, it takes a team to get that done. And so, they are really enjoying being connecting, but then they still have some times that they can work from home as well.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:28:22] So, what’s interesting about the hybrid model that we’re seeing today or the remote work versus people in the office, if you think back to before COVID, so many workplaces were strictly in the office. There was no remote work. There were no hybrid. But then, you had some where it was like, “Okay. These people can work from home because they live in a different state” or “You’ve been here a while, we’ll let you work Fridays.” You know, the reality is similar to a lot of things, I think that this was already probably something that was coming our direction and that COVID just expedited the implementation of it, really.

Robyn Smith: [00:29:00] Yes.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:29:00] I’d be interested in your thoughts on that, because we’ve already kind of had some of that happening before and this just, like, basically, you didn’t have a choice but to get comfortable with it, really.

Robyn Smith: [00:29:13] Yeah. And I think you’re right, I think it accelerated everything. But, you know, we got really good at it because we had to in a short period of time. And so, we’ve continued to refine it and perfect it, if you will. And I think you’ve got to meet your people where they’re at and you’ve got to listen to them as well. It’s important.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:29:39] Yeah. I mean, I think that the generation of workers now across the mix, if you look at people in work settings, in a lot of cases, they’re not even going to apply for a job unless they’ve got that flexibility because they know they can go somewhere else to get it. So, it’s definitely become a different work environment.

Robyn Smith: [00:29:58] Yes. I think you’re right on that. And, also, what we’re seeing is that you either have some people, to your point, that want 100 percent remote. But then, there’s a lot of people on the flip side of that that want that connectivity and need that human interaction. And that’s a real thing.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:30:17] Absolutely. And so, kind of this leads into my next question. You know, you made a comment in our call earlier, and I loved the comment, because you mentioned that we need to think out-of-the-box that this new workforce is not the workforce of pre-COVID. So, we had to look at it, kind of think out-of-the-box of how we approach that. So, can you share your thoughts and perspectives around that?

Robyn Smith: [00:30:55] Yeah. I think it’s a new day. What worked three years ago or two years ago is not working now. And to get people to return to the office and make it an enjoyable and easy experience for them, we started a Better Together Campus Connection event. And when we first came back, we did a family reunion. And we set up tables and it was all outside. And we had food and a band just to start to reconnect. We had a photo booth that they could use the different things and take pictures with people that they hadn’t been together with in a long time.

Robyn Smith: [00:31:49] We’ve done other events where we’ve brought food trucks onsite. We have a not-for-profit partnership fair that we did. We did it outside in the atrium so they could just go from place to place and ask about the nonprofits and see if they wanted to partake and volunteer there. We have done a celebration for a great place to work. We brought back Family Fun Day, which was like a carnival onsite and everybody could bring their families. We’ve done things for Earth Day and Farmer’s Market.

Robyn Smith: [00:32:31] We’re having ongoing focus groups. We listen to our associates, what they want, what’s changing, what needs to make their transition easy. And that’s one of the reasons we started with the therapy dogs, too. We just started that this past May, and now it’s a permanent fixture once a month. Everybody loves when the therapy dogs are coming.

Robyn Smith: [00:32:58] I think I talked a little bit earlier about we do pulse surveys just to see what’s going on. We do skip level meetings to see how people are feeling. We also recently launched a new initiative to help associates that are facing unexpected financial hardships. It’s called the LoveLifts Associate Relief Fund, and associates can contribute to that fund to help their fellow associates in their time of need.

Robyn Smith: [00:33:30] Unfortunately, we had an associate that passed away very unexpectedly, and they’re using that fund to help pay for some of the funeral expenses because they didn’t anticipate that. And a lot of that was feedback from our associates and what they wanted to do and what they needed.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:33:49] Wow. Like a work family and taking care of each other and really reconnecting with each other. That’s like if you go to your first family get together. You know, I can just visualize it. I bet that’s a lot of fun.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:34:05] Listening to all the different things that you’ve put into motion, a lot of your out-of-the-box thinking, for organizations, for leaders that might be listening to this who don’t have an exponential amount of resources or the finances that are available to put some of those ideas into motion, what would you say they could do at an absolute minimum, you know, that is maybe a lower cost or lower resource intensive that would be your recommendation for where they can even start to do some of that out-of-the-box ideas?

Robyn Smith: [00:34:39] There’s a few things that don’t cost any money. Listen to your people and follow through. If there’s an ask, follow through with the ask. Be authentic on your core values of your organization, that’s the lens that you view everything through. Lead with empathy. I mean, you just don’t know what that person is going through personally. You’re only seeing parts of it.

Robyn Smith: [00:35:12] Some of, maybe, the tactical things that you can do, flex the work hours or the work day. Write handwritten notes of affirmation or thanks. Giving them opportunities to connect to something bigger, like volunteer work. Give them some time off to serve at a charity of their choice. So, there’s quite a few things that you can do if you don’t have money in the budget. And lead with kindness also.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:35:44] Yeah. Kindness and empathy. I just saw a post on LinkedIn, somebody had the picture of an iceberg of leading with empathy and the importance of that. And it shows the top of the iceberg is what you can see. But what’s down below is all the things you don’t know that your employee might be going through. And just being really aware that there might be a lot of things they’re not willing to share with you.

Robyn Smith: [00:36:08] Absolutely.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:36:09] So, you’re hitting spot on with a lot of what I’ve seen other leaders really kind of honing in on, especially recently. I mean, a lot of people are still navigating interesting challenges that are kind of lingering as we continue to move into this. You know, we’re halfway through 2022, but just some things that still continue to peak for people.

Robyn Smith: [00:36:32] And then, looking at your opinion, what is the impact if you have a organizational leadership team that isn’t focusing on their work environment or monitoring that emotional state of their teams, what is the impact that they’re likely to face in today’s current kind of work environment?

Robyn Smith: [00:36:53] Yeah. Listen, the pandemic changed everything for employers and employees. And monitoring your people’s mental wellbeing is mission critical more now than ever. They’re dealing with so much more and we need to give them ongoing tools in their toolbox to be able to maneuver work, life, everything that is going on. And as the workforce is shrinking overall, we need to continue to monitor the wellbeing of employees. I think that’s going to set you apart and be a differentiator and that’s what people are looking for. I think it’s a huge miss and they’ll go seek employment elsewhere if you’re not looking out for their mental being.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:37:44] Yeah. And they’re not even holding back anymore with that. You have people just resigning without anything in place so that they can make that move. And then, along with that, you kind of touched a little bit on it, you know, the benefits to a workplace of being conscious and intentional about caring for their employees. You mentioned that you become like an employer of choice, and it really is a differentiator for you. What are some of the other benefits? I know that you’ve probably experienced from all the great work that your team has done.

Robyn Smith: [00:38:16] Yeah. So, when you focus on it, everyone reaps the rewards of those actions and those behaviors. It’s the right thing to do. A little caring goes a long, long way. And it does help you become and stay at a great place to work, which is advantageous for your associates and your customers. So, the whole ecosystem benefits from all of that, you know, from all the caring that you do.

Robyn Smith: [00:38:47] And I’ve seen it throughout the years. I’ve been in H.R. for quite a few years, and the people who have always benefited most, and even more so after the pandemic, is those that lead with the empathy and the kindness and the caring. I think that is spot on what we all need to be continuing to do ongoing.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:39:11] Yeah, absolutely. And so, if a leader is listening in, you know, looking at this constant continued disruption and challenges that workplaces are facing, what piece of advice would you give them about this new workforce that they need to be aware of or intentional in supporting?

Robyn Smith: [00:39:31] I would say, be intentional about how you lead. Servant leadership is what people are seeking. Be open to listening and really hearing what your people are saying. Look for the verbal and the nonverbal and what they mean. And lead with empathy. Your people are the most important part of your organization. Ensuring they know that you care about them and you care about them as a leader, you cannot go wrong with it.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:40:10] Yeah. Great words of advice. This has been such a great conversation, Robyn. If our listeners wanted to get a hold of you or get more information about some of the great kind of ideas and resources you’ve put in place for your team, how can they go about doing that?

Robyn Smith: [00:40:28] Thanks, Jamie. It’s been my pleasure. They can reach out to me on my email, it’s rsmith@jacksonhealthcare.com.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:40:38] Yes. Awesome. Well, again, thank you so much for being on our show and letting us celebrate that great work that you and your team have done through the pandemic and even into today. There’s just some great ideas and wonderful out-of-the-box thinking that I know I appreciated listening and learning from. But I’m sure your employees very much appreciated that level of support that you give and continue to give. So, thank you for being a part of our show and being a guest.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:41:05] And we also wanted to thank our show sponsor, R3 Continuum, for supporting the Workplace MVP podcast. And to our listeners, thank you for tuning in. If you’ve not already done so, make sure to subscribe so you get our most recent episodes and other resources. You can also follow our show on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter at Workplace MVP. And if you are a workplace MVP or you know someone who is, we want to hear from you, email us at info@workplace-mvp.com. Thank you all for joining us and have a great rest of your day.

 

 

How to Talk to Your Kids About Gun Violence

May 26, 2022 by John Ray

How To Talk to Your Kids About Gun Violence

How to Talk to Your Kids About Gun Violence

In this public service announcement, Dr. George Vergolias, Chief Medical Director of R3 Continuum, offers guidance on how to talk about gun violence with your kids.

TRANSCRIPT

George Vergolias: [00:00:00] Hello. My name is George Vergolias. I’m the Medical Director for R3 Continuum. I am a forensic psychologist and a certified threat manager with 20 years of experience, specializing in workplace violence and school violence. Most importantly, I’m also a father of a 14-year-old daughter and a 12-year-old son.

At R3 Continuum, our primary and passionate mission is to help organizations adjust to, manage and navigate through difficult disruptive events, including violent incidents. Last week, we collectively witnessed the heinous hate crime in Buffalo, New York, with the killing of 10 black community members at the Tops grocery store, most of them elderly. And we barely absorbed that event, until yesterday, once again, we woke up and bore witness to the attack at an elementary school in Texas, resulting in the deaths of two adult teachers and 19 children – second, third and fourth graders.

There are few words that can capture the outrage, the emotional reaction, the despair that comes with these events. Although we, at R3, can’t change these events having occurred, we can offer tools to make a positive impact. And towards that goal, I want to offer five tips for speaking with children about gun-related violence.

The first tip is that you should talk to them about their worries and concerns openly. Ask open-ended questions to understand what do they know, what are some misconceptions they have, what do they understand about the event. Express feelings about the event. Get them to open up about that, and express their feelings and thoughts. And then, you should also share your feelings as well. And you want to adjust that to their developmental age.

Secondly, adjust your dialogue to what you think they can handle emotionally. Kids at different age ranges and even kids at the same age range with different maturity levels will react differently to these events. Kids that have been previously traumatized may have a more difficult reaction, and you need to adjust that dialogue and that discussion accordingly.

Number three, reassure them about safety. These attacks are high impact, but they are low probability events. They’re unlikely to occur in any given school or any given school district. It’s also important to remind children about all the wonderful and exceptional measures that schools have taken to develop threat management teams, threat assessment, and reaction protocols and security protocols. In total, schools are a pretty safe place to be for kids and one of the most safe environments for them to be in the aggregate. And it’s important to remind them of that.

Four, reduced exposure to media and social media. This is not the time for information overload, particularly information that may not be accurate or may have been created simply for sensationalistic purposes in order to get clicks or additional views. We want to be cautious of exposing them too much to that. Ideally, you would want to titrate their exposure to those situations and that media over time, so they’re not overwhelmed.

Many of our kids, including my 14-year-old and 12-year-old, have their phones. It may be very difficult to get their phones back from them at this age with how much they’re involved in activity and social media. So, rather than trying to completely take the phone away, what you may want to do is some of the older teens where that might be more difficult, you want to at least check in with them periodically – once a day, twice a day – about what they’re hearing about these events, what they’re seeing online, what they’re being exposed to. And the goal there is to be able to correct any misinformation and give them an avenue to digest the information and talk it through. It’s really important to give them that opportunity.

Five, maintain regular routines and model healthy behavior. This is really important. Our kids will look to us for normalcy, as well as when something is not normal or off. And by maintaining regular habits, that becomes critical because these habits are are behavioral anchors to what is normal, and routine and comfortable in our life. And we want to model that and continue to show that in our daily interactions with them. To the extent possible, we want to continue those as much as we can. We can be sad, we can express outrage, we can express anger. Those are human emotions and they’re very normal in response to these events, but we also want to model a proper and productive way of managing those emotions and coping well through those events. And we want to be able to show our kids how to do that effectively.

This list is not exhaustive, but these are very easy take-and-used tips that you can utilize talking with children, and preteens and teenagers about gun violence, about the recent events in the last few weeks that hopefully can get them to express and open up a dialogue and be productive. Thank you for listening. Take care of yourself and take care of those you love.

  

About R3 Continuum

R3 Continuum (R3c) is a global leader in workplace behavioral health and security solutions. R3c helps ensure the psychological and physical safety of organizations and their people in today’s ever-changing and often unpredictable world. Through their continuum of tailored solutions, including evaluations, crisis response, executive optimization, protective services, and more, they help organizations maintain and cultivate a workplace of wellbeing so that their people can thrive. Learn more about R3c at www.r3c.com.

R3 Continuum is the underwriter of Workplace MVP, a show which celebrates the everyday heroes–Workplace Most Valuable Professionals–in human resources, risk management, security, business continuity, and the C-suite who resolutely labor for the well-being of employees in their care, readying the workplace for and planning responses to disruption.

Connect with R3 Continuum:  Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

Jud Waites With Waites Law Firm and Josh Nelson With Nelson Elder Care Law

March 21, 2022 by Jacob Lapera

CherokeeBusinessRadio_TrustedAdvisor_031722_pic2.2
waites logo
WaitesWhen life takes an unexpected turn for the worst, you need an attorney with experience and compassion to get you through those tough times. You will find those things at the Waites Law Firm. Jud Waites has been helping people since 1992.
Mr. Waites has always had a passion for justice and has developed a reputation for standing up for the rights of those who are treated unfairly by corporations, insurance companies, and even the government.
Mr. Waites attended college at Wake Forest University, where he was on the Dean’s List, a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and a defensive back on the varsity football team. He then attended law school at Mercer University, where he was on the Dean’s List. He has been a member of the State Bar of Georgia since 1992, and a member of the State Bar of Alabama since 1993. Mr. Waites is a member of Due West United Methodist Church. Mr. Waites is also a member of MENSA, a member of the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce, and Vice President of the Blue Ridge Bar Association in Cherokee County.
nelson-logo
Nelson

Josh Nelson is an Attorney and Alliance Architect for Nelson Elder Care Law. He specializes in finance, banking, and insurance to compliment his specialty in elder law.

Josh is active in the community, building relationships with people and key businesses in the areas. He has developed strong alliances in the community to provide holistic solutions to our clients in order to secure their future and protect their loved ones.

He has a passion for protecting the assets of the people he serves through effective tax and financial strategies.

 

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Woodstock, Georgia. It’s time for Cherokee Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Stone Payton: [00:00:23] Welcome to this very special edition of Cherokee Business Radio. It is time for our Trusted Advisor series, and today’s episode is brought to you in part by the Cherokee Business RadioX Community Partner Program. If you resonate with our mission and you are anywhere nearly as committed as we are to supporting and celebrating local business and community leaders here in Cherokee County, I hope you’ll consider becoming a community partner. If it’s an idea you’d like to pursue. Just shoot us a note at stone at Business RadioX dot com. All right. You guys are in for a real treat. Please join me in welcoming back to the Business RadioX microphone with Nelson Elder Care Law. Mr. Josh Nelson. How you been, man?

Josh Nelson: [00:01:10] Absolutely amazing. Thanks for having me back. Stone It’s always a pleasure to come down here and see you.

Stone Payton: [00:01:14] Yeah, we have a lot of fun in these conversations, so I can’t imagine anyone within the limits of Cherokee County not knowing Josh and not knowing about Nelson Elder care. But you know what? Let’s cover our bases, give them a little bit of an overview and a primer. I will say this, I was doing my extensive pre show research. As you know I am known for I love just right. As soon as you go to your website just front and center, protect the ones you love. I love a great job.

Josh Nelson: [00:01:42] You are too kind. But what we are is a law firm that specializes in helping people plan for their future and the future of their loved ones. We primarily work with people that are a little bit older, so generally 55 and up kind of our focus. And what we do is really walk everybody through not only what happens to you while you’re healthy and alive, but how that transitions to your spouse, your kids. Making sure that not only do you have a pretty binder on your shelf, but you have a plan that really works.

Stone Payton: [00:02:08] Marvelous. And you brought someone into with you today. Who did you bring with you?

Josh Nelson: [00:02:12] I did. I have a good friend and a fellow attorney here, Judd Waites, from the Waites law firm. He’s right here in Cherokee County, very active in the small business community. And what he brings to the table as far as knowledge on small business matters and also what we call civil litigation, is just mind blowing. So I wanted to bring him down here with us.

Stone Payton: [00:02:31] All right. Welcome, Judd. Weights, weights, law firm, delighted to have you. Now you are practicing law in a very different discipline than Josh and his team. Yes.

Jud Waites: [00:02:40] Yes. First of all, thank you, Josh, and thank you, Stone, for letting me join in today. I’m excited to be here. Yeah, I have a passion for fighting bullies, and that became a passion of mine when I was a kid growing up. I guess we all had those moments where we got bullied at some point in time, so it became my passion to help stop bullies because I like people and like people to be nice to each other. And I decided that that might be a good profession to get into. How can I make that a profession? So I became a trial lawyer where I can help make sure that fair results are obtained when there’s a dispute or disagreement, and I hope try to make sure that there’s some fairness to the to the end result. That’s the overview of why I became a trial lawyer so.

Stone Payton: [00:03:14] Well, let’s hear a little bit more about the back story. Did you like play lawyer while everybody else was playing cowboys and Indians, or was there a point in the development of another career that you took? A little, little different path?

Jud Waites: [00:03:24] Well, I’ve always been big into sports, and I was always fascinated with knowing the rules of the games so that I could try to get some kind of advantage that the other kids didn’t know about knowing the rules better than they did. So that became a fascination for laws as I got older. And so that kind of led into fed into my passion for making sure people treat each other nicely. And so it just became a natural pathway to law school for me.

Stone Payton: [00:03:46] So what are some kinds of cases or some types of challenges that your clients have that would give us a good window into what you what you do?

Jud Waites: [00:03:56] Yeah, I do three different areas of law. One of them is is very business oriented. But the other two areas first, I do a lot of work with personal injury and wrongful death cases, car wrecks. I’m a former motorcycle rider, so you’ll have a lot of motorcycle wrecks also. That’s a passion for mine. As a former former motorcyclist, slip and fall cases helping folks make sure they get compensated when someone else is negligent and causes them to be injured or, God forbid, lose the life of a loved one. A secondary I do a lot of work in is criminal defense, mostly misdemeanors, DUIs, traffic tickets, drug possessions, just making sure that they’re not punished unless the government proves their case, like the Constitution says they’re supposed to. And then the third area, which is very heavily involved in business, is contract and business disputes and can be anything between companies, individuals, employer employee non-compete agreements, collect and pass through accounts and this crazy real estate market. Now, I’m doing a lot of work for folks who have had a real estate purchase go south. And so they’re fighting over return of earnest money or they’re fighting to force the sale specific performance. So those are some examples of contract disputes that I handle.

Stone Payton: [00:05:01] So the name of the series is Trusted Advisor. I’d like to hone in on this idea of trust a little bit, and I’m going to ask both of you to maybe field some questions or participate in this part of the conversation. But I’ll start with you, Judd. It occurs to me that if I have some sort of problem in any of the areas that you describe, the level of trust. You must have to endear with a potential client. It must be incredible. How are you able to to engender that level of trust all the way from the sales and marketing communication all the way through to the early part of the relationship? What insight, if any, can you maybe offer on that front?

Jud Waites: [00:05:42] Yeah, it’s a great question.

Stone Payton: [00:05:43] In order for me, you know, I thought it was fantastic. It took me a minute to get it out, but I thought it was a marvelous question.

Jud Waites: [00:05:49] Well, for lawyers to do their job well, as Josh can attest, we have to know everything about you and your situation, which is why, you know, there’s attorney client privilege, right? It’s a statute that says what you tell your lawyer stays confidential. That way it increases the chances of the person actually being willing to share everything about the situation so that Josh can draft the proper estate documents for them, for example. And I can play in the proper trial strategy for them in my areas that I practice. So that trust is very important how you develop it. There’s really no magic formula for it. You just make sure you’re competent what you do. You make sure that you convey that to them when they come to you for advice. One thing that helps develop that trust faster is when someone’s referred to me by someone else that they know and they trust and that person knows me. And so by giving my name to to the person who needs some help, there’s already some built in trust there because they’ve been referred by someone that they trust as well. But having that trust is very important to not only put the client at ease, but also making sure that I do as good of a job for them as I can.

Stone Payton: [00:06:50] Yeah, I don’t think from my perspective, we can overstate how much gravity a referral in these situations means. If I’m already working with some some other professional advisor, or either just even someone I really know and trust well, and they say, Oh yeah, for that you need to talk to the judge, that that carries an incredible amount of weight. And I think sometimes those of us in the small business arena, sometimes we forget that.

Jud Waites: [00:07:15] But might well, you see, you know, people advertising for their businesses, which is which is fine and good and it should be done. And lawyers are not different. You see the billboards and the TV commercials and radio commercials, and that’s fine. But at the end of the day, when someone is needed in need of legal assistance, are they going to hire someone that they don’t know and that they have not heard about from someone else themselves that personally does know that person? Are they going to call the stranger behind the commercial or the billboard and hire someone that they’ve never met? So I always encourage folks, even when they call me and ask me for assistance, I always encourage them to contact other lawyers. Also, before you make a decision on who to hire. So you find someone that you feel comfortable with, whether it’s me or someone else, and they should do that regardless of who they get referred to, whether the personal reference or through a commercial, it’s important to make sure that you check out the options and find what’s best for you.

Stone Payton: [00:08:07] Wow. My my first instinct was to say that’s awfully gutsy. But then, as you’re saying that now, I trust you a little bit more just because you were willing to do that.

Jud Waites: [00:08:15] See, it’s working, isn’t it?

Stone Payton: [00:08:17] It is working. So, Josh and I expect there probably going to be some parallels in your answer, but how do you approach you and your team approach this whole this whole trust thing?

Josh Nelson: [00:08:26] I think we start with just the idea that nobody likes attorneys. Let’s just start from that base. Level.

Stone Payton: [00:08:33] For for my publishing team. That’s the caption. That’s the title of the episode.

Josh Nelson: [00:08:38] That’s the thumbnail right there. But just in general, our profession is thought of as scary. Most people, their first interaction is divorce, a DUI, some kind of tragic event. And so the way that we really build trust is by trying to knock down some of those barriers of intimidation that people have whenever they come and they think it’s going to be expensive, they think that they’re going to be talked down to. They think that we’re going to use words or laws that they don’t understand. And so what we do is always say, hey, no money down to get started with us. Let’s just sit down and talk, have a conversation, sort of like what we’re doing here and then talk to them in a way that you talk to a friend, explain principles to them that, yeah, they might be complicated, but how do we do that without using jargon or fancy words? A lot of lawyers want to puff themselves up and feel like the smartest guy in the room. And I think that goes to some of the distrust, because if you’re not communicating in a way that people understand, how are they going to make an educated decision? And so we want to allow people to make those decisions.

Josh Nelson: [00:09:43] We don’t really make decisions for people as lawyers if we’re doing it right. We want to make sure that people are making their own choices, their own decisions based on a complete picture of information. And so often, especially like in the small business owners world, whenever we Google something and we guess at it or whatever, we ask a friend of a friend, we just don’t know that that answer fits your situation. And then you don’t find out until a lot later that it’s wrong. I mean, we deal with so many people, unfortunately, on the probate side of things where they thought they had a plan in place and then it just wasn’t signed the right way or it didn’t have the right words in it. And it was. Your family’s thousands of bucks on the back side, whenever for a couple of hundred bucks and a conversation to start with. It could have just changed their whole legacy.

Stone Payton: [00:10:31] So this begins to sort of bump up against a conversation around the other aspect of the title advisor. There is some art and science and I suspect some best practices in how you provide advice, how you provide counsel, the way that you frame it, where you you create that that level of ease that that I think you’re apparently able to pull off.

Josh Nelson: [00:10:55] I think that’s why Judd’s not afraid to send his prospective clients to the competition first is because there’s a reason lawyers have the reputation they do. Unfortunately, it’s not always that advising. Sometimes it’s talking down to people. I mean, we have friends that do bankruptcy law that unfortunately look down on people that file bankruptcy. And it’s like, that’s crazy for that to be your calling and you to judge your client like that. A lot of times it’s medical stuff. A lot of times it’s just a bad hand of cards. But how do we go ahead and make sure that whenever people come in, they’re feeling like we’re on the same level and that they’re getting the truth and the confidence to make those right decisions.

Stone Payton: [00:11:35] So I’m sure you see a lot of patterns. What are some of the the gaps that you see over and over, even from maybe a couple comes in and they’ve got some version of some will or something written up or typed up or whatever. Are there some some gaps that you’re almost always know you’re going to see before you even walk into the conference room?

Josh Nelson: [00:11:54] Almost always the biggest thing we see is a lack of a plan, even in the presence of tools. So people think of an estate plan as a will or a power of attorney. I won’t throw anybody under the bus on your show here, but we just had a client that has a $5 million business come in. Two weeks ago, she had another attorney that gave her this big, beautiful, pretty binder full of legal stuff. And it wasn’t even signed right with the attorney, but not even that. It didn’t work with her business. It didn’t work with her finances. Her bank had never seen any of this paperwork. Her financial advisor have never seen any of this paperwork. And this is probably my pet peeve or the most common issue that I run into is people that thought they had a plan. And it was just a really poor plan because it doesn’t incorporate the people, the finances, it’s just paper in a book. And that’s probably the biggest issue we see.

Stone Payton: [00:12:55] Yeah. How about you? Do you do you see some of the same things over and over when alone your first initially beginning to get to know a client and then understand their situation? I don’t know. Misconceptions, myths, some holes that you just almost always are going to have to plug pretty early in those conversations.

Jud Waites: [00:13:11] Well, I guess focusing on the the business side of what I do with the contract disputes and all, I’ve been doing this this law thing for 30 years. This year, my 30th year.

Stone Payton: [00:13:19] Wow. You’ve held up well.

Jud Waites: [00:13:20] Well, well, you know, Flintstone vitamins are amazing, big proponent of Flintstone vitamins. But some of the things I see, I see a bunch of things, which is why they’re coming in to see me. But in contract disputes, it’s amazing to see how poorly drafted the contracts are upon which they’ve based this big, you know, financially huge deal or partnership or transaction. And yet they didn’t spend any time on having a contract drafted to cover all the possibilities of what could go wrong and how to address it if it does go wrong. I had a trial several years ago in Gwinnett County, where it was $1,000,000 lawsuit. My client was being sued for $1,000,000 in a business deal that went south, and it was short story. They were going into business together to basically try to sell to the country of Saudi Arabia, to be their representatives in front of the Olympic Committee and try to convince the Olympic Committee to award the Summer Games to Saudi Arabia some years down the road. So the plaintiff sued my client, the defendant. The plaintiff was the one who had the connections with Saudi Arabia. My client was one that had the money and access to the markets that could get the job done.

Jud Waites: [00:14:32] My client signed a check for $1 million to the plaintiff, his business partner, and they had a falling out. I had a disagreement about whether or not the plaintiff did what he was supposed to do in exchange for that $1 million to part of the sharing of the fees and all the deal went south. They did not get retained by Saudi Arabia, so the plaintiff tried to cash that check anyway, even though he had not done what he was supposed to have done to earn that $1 million. My client canceled stop payment on the check and a lawsuit ensued. We had a trial, so my client came in to see me and I said, Where’s the copy of the contract you guys are fighting over? He said, I don’t have it. I said, Well, does the plaintiff have it? He doesn’t have it either. We’ve lost it. I said, Did you have an attorney draft this for you? Said, No, we just scratched out some things on a piece of paper over dinner one night. Oh, mine. So, you know, and so my my catchphrase is you had a contract on a bar napkin, basically, is what we’re talking about here. So we had no no contract in writing to prove whose version of the events was correct, but.

Jud Waites: [00:15:31] The plaintiff had a copy of the check, so he had something in writing to show the jury. So we were very, very worried about. The only thing in writing that we know for sure is my guy was going to give him $1,000,000 if he did something. But we we did some good work preparing for the deposition of the plaintiff. And we took his deposition and asked him the tough questions. And we were able to get out of him during that deposition, his confirmation that, yes, I did do three things for that money. And then we were able to go back and show how he did not do those three things. And we got a verdict in favor of the defendant at that trial. But to answer the question, contracts that are poorly drafted or lost is a very common problem. And like Josh said a moment ago, if they had spent a few hundred dollars on the front end doing things properly, they could have saved themselves thousands of dollars later trying to resolve it. So I’m a big fan of the online forms that you can go buy for $25 because they’ll make me thousands of dollars. Later. When they have to go litigate over those poorly drafted contracts.

Stone Payton: [00:16:28] It reminds me of the I saw a billboard somewhere. I think it was here in town somewhere. We fix thousand dollar nose jobs or Something like that.

Josh Nelson: [00:16:36] There’s an overall Five Bells Ferry. There’s a break place that always puts up the sign right next to it. Just breaks that says we fix $99, break jobs directly across the street from the place that does $99 break jobs. And it just makes me chuckle every time I go.

Jud Waites: [00:16:51] By location, location, location.

Stone Payton: [00:16:54] So in some of these other disciplines, domains, I don’t know what the right word is, but there’s the personal injury stuff. Do you do in those cases? I’m operating under the impression that the answer is early or is better than later, but when should you reach out to get professional representation? But pretty quickly.

Jud Waites: [00:17:13] Yes, absolutely. When someone is injured or, you know, someone has lost the life of a loved one, if you’re injured, the first stop should be obviously getting some medical help to stop, start the healing process and trying to get better as best you can from the injuries you sustained in, let’s say, motorcycle wreck. So it’s very important to make sure you take care of you and your health first. But once that’s done, then yes, the next call should be to to an attorney who knows what they’re doing and can help advise you through the process of making sure that that evidence is preserved, that you have not been asked questions by the opposing person who may have caused the wreck or their insurance adjusters who are investigating it, or really anyone that may be asking questions about it while you’re in a state of pain and recovery. A lot of people who are not lawyers will say things that they think means A, B and C, but in fact, under the law it means X, Y and Z, and that can determine whether or not you win or lose your case. So getting counsel early on can help you avoid those potholes that you may not know. Are there?

Stone Payton: [00:18:13] Well, no, that’s a great pro tip, right? Because I suspect that you have had clients or potential clients come to you that have already done some things they hadn’t should not have done yet. And it makes your job that much harder. And yeah, you see that sometimes, right?

Jud Waites: [00:18:28] Absolutely. And for example, in a in a motor vehicle wreck, whether it’s car or truck or or motorcycle, if the injuries are significant, then the amount that the injured person who was not at fault may be entitled to that amount that they’re entitled to get maybe more than what the insurance coverage is for the person who caused the wreck. So then they have to hopefully they’ll have uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage on their own policy, which will kick in additional amounts to the injured person from the from their own insurance policy, as if it were insurance for the person who caused the wreck. So I always advise clients, get you in coverage added on to your own policy. So that will act as if it’s the insurance for the other driver who hits you one day and they’re at fault. It can pay you additional amounts. But I had a case where a client came to me after they had already tried to settle with the other driver’s insurance company on their own and didn’t want to incur attorney’s fees, which I’m a big fan of saving money too. I use my coupons like everybody else, but they tried to save having to pay an attorney to make sure they got top dollar. By doing so, they settled with the driver’s insurance company that caused the wreck in such a way that it prohibited them from being able to collect the additional amounts that they were entitled to on their own. Um, policy. So they cause himself a couple hundred thousand dollars because of trying to save some money and do things on their own in the front end.

Stone Payton: [00:19:47] And they probably didn’t even realize it. But by taking that action and signing off on something that precludes them from taking some further action.

Jud Waites: [00:19:55] And it’s not a matter of of the person not being a smart person. It’s simply a matter of that. These are complex legal questions that are governed by laws that change. Every time Georgia legislature gets together, they can change some laws and revise them. That’s why we have to go to continuing legal education every year to stay on top of these changes in the laws. And every day there are new cases that are being interpreted by the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Georgia. That may be a different interpretation today than it was yesterday. So it’s not a matter of a person who’s injured in a wreck saying, I’m a smart person, I can handle this on my own. It’s not a matter of intelligence. It’s a matter of being on top of the changes that occur. On a regular basis and attorneys that know what they’re doing and do it the right way or on top of those things and can help you avoid, you know, signing a release that now prohibits you from getting additional moneys from your own insurance coverage on top of what you got in the first time.

Josh Nelson: [00:20:45] I want to go back to one thing that he said, though, because I think he glossed over the the uninsured motorist coverage. He came and spoke to my team and one of the ladies on my team took what he said to heart. She loves her insurance agent. He’s a great guy. But because of some cost prohibitive that she had, she was saving like six bucks a month by not having this coverage. And after Judd came and talked to her, she got it literally a couple of months later, she ends up getting hit by a guy that’s got no insurance. Wow. And without this, she would have just had her car totaled out, like, I mean, because she didn’t have full coverage, but she had this to kind of pick up the slack and it changed her life. And it’s not that her insurance guy wasn’t good. It’s not that he wasn’t doing what he was supposed to. But it’s just this simple stuff where you don’t know what you don’t know. And if your advisor isn’t telling you a stone, it’s worth the six bucks to make sure you got this covered. You’re like, Oh, well, I’m saving 72 bucks a year.

Jud Waites: [00:21:46] I love happy endings. I’m glad to hear that. And you in coverage is so dirt cheap. The main chunk of money you’re paying for auto insurance coverage is for the liability coverage when you’re at fault and cause the wreck. But to add on top of your own auto insurance policy, you know, the additional coverage is like, um, coverage. It’s so cheap. Everybody should have at least minimum 100,000, um, coverage, add on type coverage.

Stone Payton: [00:22:09] Holly That’s my wife. If you’re listening, please pull the insurance file. We have got to go look at it. It’s wonderful to to collect this kind of insight from people who this is their specialized expertize. And so if you ever want to get just just tons of great free consulting guys, get your own radio show, start, start your show and just invite people that know that know stuff. Speaking of education, I’ll ask you both. I’ll start with you. Josh, as you were deciding to pursue this path as a career, did it ever give you pause that that you were going to have to go get all this additional education because it’s quite a bit bit more education, right?

Josh Nelson: [00:22:48] Absolutely. I mean, I think that the problem is whenever you first start down the path, you don’t see how high the summit really is. And so I started in tax law. That’s really where I was passionate about and I loved doing it. But at the same time, what I didn’t realize was average people can’t afford to really hire an attorney to fight the IRS. It’s too expensive. Yeah. And so in order to help people, I had to transition. And that’s where I joined Cindy Nelson, my mother at Nelson Elder Care Law. And that was a whole shift of years of extra learning, a lot of extra courses. And sometimes it’s just going to the court and finding out. Unfortunately, what we do is pretty Google Proof. You can’t just type in to even like Google Scholar and find out this is what happens whenever you want to protect your assets for Medicaid. And so even up to last week, we’re back in the courts doing trials and testing the strategies that we do to make sure that these work for people. And so we’re undefeated in Medicaid cases taking a trial, and we do pretty aggressive plans. A lot of people will tell you if you don’t plan five years in advance, you’re going to lose everything. And we have some people that are able to save 60, 70, 90% of their stuff, even whenever they only know a couple of months in advance that their loved one’s going to the nursing home. And the only way we learn that is by having the fortitude to take it to trial.

Stone Payton: [00:24:19] I can see now clearly competency, if that’s the right word. It’s a moving target in your fields. I mean, you guys have got to consistently be up to date with all of these changes, and there’s no way the layperson could even begin to do that. I don’t think.

Josh Nelson: [00:24:36] Or want to.

Stone Payton: [00:24:37] Or want to. Amen. Amy No, I just mailed a tax package off because there’s no way I’m going to fire up one of those tax programs. No, it’s not going to happen. How about you? Did you take any pause at all before you just you went to this whole law school thing on the front end?

Jud Waites: [00:24:52] No, because I have a high tolerance for pain, apparently. But I come from a background of of, you know, learning and sports has been a big part of my life growing up. So you always learn, you know, a lot of life lessons from from being in sports, you know, and times get tough. You suck it up and you stay in there and you keep your nose down and keep to the grindstone and you keep working and you just you tough it out until you get to the to the end zone. But so, yeah, it wasn’t a daunting task for me because I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I had a passion for it. So after high school, four years of college, three years of law school. But but, yeah, as you said, it’s a it’s a continuing obligation to be competent at what we do to stay on top of those changes in the laws. And that’s why when people call me and say, you know, Judd, I need to have a well done and a special needs trust and there are different types of trusts out there as a legal term. And that’s not my area of law. I So you need to call Josh for that kind of expertize because there are more different areas of law than there are different areas of medicine. So you just you can’t be good at all areas of law. So. Right. So, you know, you can you can be on top of, you know, three or four areas, I feel like, you know, and stay on top of those changes, especially if you’ve been doing as long as I’ve been doing it, you can keep up with those types of changes. But if you start trying to be the master of all trades, then that’s a recipe for disaster for the client and and for the attorney trying to do that.

Stone Payton: [00:26:12] And just you had I think you mentioned earlier in the conversation you had Judd came in and spoke with your staff.

Josh Nelson: [00:26:18] Yeah. So we have a pretty big team right now. We’re up to about 30 people. And so we let other professional advisors, other people come in and kind of speak with our team. He works a lot with our marketing department just because, unfortunately, whenever you have like a wrongful death case or somebody that’s passed away, especially if they don’t have a plan in place in advance, they’ve got to go through a probate process to get access to those funds even after they win.

Stone Payton: [00:26:43] That’s the ugly word, right? Probate. We don’t we don’t want any more of that than we have to. Right. Or is it true?

Josh Nelson: [00:26:48] It’s something you definitely want to avoid. But even whenever somebody doesn’t pass, maybe they’re disabled to the point that they can’t work any longer. And so they qualify for some government benefits to help subsidize their cost of living. And then all of a sudden they get a settlement check that will take away those benefits if they don’t plan for it. And so we work a lot with Judd and different people that are trying to just get what’s just and sometimes those rules and regulations just aren’t written so that the normal person without some planning can make that happen.

Stone Payton: [00:27:19] Yeah. So how does and I’ll ask you about this, how does the whole sales and marketing thing work for a firm like yours? Do you do the billboard thing? Do you have people out there sort of shaking the bushes a little bit or is it, you know, folks like Judd steering people in the right direction or a little bit of all of that?

Josh Nelson: [00:27:36] I hear people tell me that radio’s the avenue to go.

Stone Payton: [00:27:39] Oh, absolutely. Particularly the kind we do hear business radio.

Josh Nelson: [00:27:44] But in all seriousness, we do all kinds of things. I mean, it’s everything from trying to advertise on social media and Facebook to going out in the community. We work with a lot of not nonprofit charities that help seniors in Cherokee County, like we don’t participate in like the big ALS Alzheimer’s Foundation stuff because the money doesn’t stay here local. So instead we work with like the Volunteer Aging Council who just recently rebranded and we were able to give them like thousands of rolls of toilet paper. Then they give to the community because even in a county like ours that has a median home price of over 300 grand, there’s people living in just despair and poverty. And unfortunately, a lot of them are seniors.

Stone Payton: [00:28:28] I got to say. Five Star Review on Nelson Elder care law involvement in the community, at least here in my backyard. Someone on your staff, Janet? I can’t begin to pronounce her last name, so I just call her Janet P. But any time I’m anywhere around town at any function, Janet’s there and she’s she’s not there dancing around and saying how great Nelson elder care law is. That’s not she’s she’s not. No. Oh, sorry, Janet. No, she represents you very well. And it’s very clear to everyone there that you guys are genuinely invested in the community.

Josh Nelson: [00:29:05] We aren’t trying to be a statewide firm. We don’t go down into Atlanta. Really, what we help is people from Cobb County, kind of that 75 up 575, 515 corridor. And that’s where we put back our resources. And so whenever we can give back, whenever we can help, we do a lot with veterans, even with different organizations that help seniors. They’re just always in need. I mean, it’s crazy to think that food stamps for a senior is 17 bucks a month. What are you going to buy for that? That’s just crazy.

Stone Payton: [00:29:40] Yeah. No, I had no idea it was that low out.

Josh Nelson: [00:29:43] Because you hear in the news that it’s like hundreds of dollars, and it’s just not for seniors.

Stone Payton: [00:29:48] I have a commitment to myself. I don’t watch the news. I’ve stopped.

Josh Nelson: [00:29:54] We find that by putting time back into it, rather than just going and spend it on billboards and things like that, we can get a better drive in the community with the kind of people we want to work with are the kind of people that appreciate that kind of return to where we live.

Stone Payton: [00:30:08] Yeah. Yeah. How about how about you, Judge? You’re not a billboard lawyer either, are you? Or is there a billboard or two around town?

Jud Waites: [00:30:16] No, there’s not a billboard or two around town. I’m it’s a it’s a moving target, you know, and lawyers are business owners like every other business owner. Yeah.

Stone Payton: [00:30:25] Above and beyond everything these guys were talking to you guys about, they have to run a business.

Jud Waites: [00:30:30] It’s a business. So we have the same concerns as every other business owner about overhead and marketing and so forth. So it’s, it’s it’s constantly being something that I always evaluate and reevaluate and come back to. But I kind of see it as a two, two sided coin. I want to, you know, get the name out there and grow my business like everybody else wants to grow their businesses as well. But I also want to give back to the community like like Josh and their firm do a great job of that. So by putting your heart in the right place and focusing on giving back, you get paid back just because of that effort. You impress people with your giving back and that’s not why you want to do it. But you get paid back nicely with referrals and people have who rely on you and trust you to help them when they have legal questions. Those those come about organically from just doing the right thing and trying to give back. So I’m active with fundraising each year for the Cherokee County Family Violence and Violence Center, and they do motorcycle rides to raise funds, and I’m a sponsor of that. Also try to stay involved professionally as well. I’m the current vice president of the Blue Ridge Bar Association, which is just what most folks would call the Cherokee County Bar Association, a group of lawyers and judges. And then I’m also heavily involved in the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce. So I try to make sure I have a good mix of pure business entities to help myself and other business owners. We share experiences to grow together, but also giving back to those in need in the county.

Stone Payton: [00:31:56] That reminds me we’re going to have to come up with a different name for our bar association because it’s a different I know every bartender in town. And.

Stone Payton: [00:32:04] We probably have to come up with a different name.

Jud Waites: [00:32:06] Your membership dues may be a bit higher. Than what we’re paying. I’m just guessing.

Josh Nelson: [00:32:10] Either trying to structure it the same way. So once a month you run out of space, you get great food, have a couple of drinks.

Stone Payton: [00:32:16] There you go. I like it. I like it. I know it’s clear both of you really enjoy practicing your craft. You appreciate the the relationships that you build in doing your work and in serving the community. What are you finding that you enjoy the most at this point in your career? What what are you finding the most rewarding right now?

Jud Waites: [00:32:36] It really hasn’t changed since day one of you know what I call fighting the good fight, you know, trying to get what’s fair from my client. And a lot of people have this mindset. Unfortunately, over the past 20 years, especially, you know, we’ve heard the phrases, you know, tort reform. We need to change the laws regarding ability to go to court and stop people suing for no reason at all and just, you know, trying to be greedy. And that’s that’s just a misconception. There are already statutes and procedures in place that have been there since day one of our legal system that allow judges to see this case has no merit and then throw it out. And lawyers, you know, and I believe that most people and most professions are good and do it for the right reason and do a good job at it. But we all have those bad apples. But I believe that most attorneys are good people trying to do the right thing. So we ourselves ferret out and, you know, throw out those cases before they ever get to a courtroom. I’ll get a lot of phone calls from folks that are good people.

Jud Waites: [00:33:36] They just don’t know the answer to the questions. And when I give them the answer now, I understand why you’re upset about what you’re going through. But unfortunately, the law does not allow you to recover for that type of case. So unfortunately, I will not be able to help you out. So there’s already a great weeding out system in place that we’ve had since day one. So when people say, you know, oh, I don’t want to be the one that sues people in court, I’m not that type of person. Well, it takes two to tango. The reason you’re going to court is because the plaintiff and the defendants were not able to agree on what they thought would be a fair number to compensate the plaintiff, the injured person for what happened. So it’s not that the plaintiff is making us go to trial and drag people in to serve on a jury. It’s both sides of the case are causing people to have to come in and serve on the jury because they can’t agree on it. So we’re going to trust you, 12 people here in our community to decide it for us.

Stone Payton: [00:34:25] So now there’s a perspective you don’t get at the barbershop, right? You get it? Well, we need tort reform, but less than informed opinions, probably. Right.

Jud Waites: [00:34:34] And I’ll tell you, my barbershop.

Josh Nelson: [00:34:36] If you’re. I was using the word tort that’s. Blowing mine out of the water.

Stone Payton: [00:34:40] That’s automatic deaky right there. What’s the most fun for you, Josh?

Josh Nelson: [00:34:45] I think the biggest thing is just seeing the impact as we grow. And so our farm structure is a little different where we’re purposely trying to grow not just for revenue and profit, but we always measure our success and what we call number of families helped. And so inside of our firm, we don’t talk about revenue per month or revenue per year. We talk about how many families did we help this week, how many families are we going to help this month? Whenever our marketers go out, what their key performance indicator or KPI is, is how many people did we convert to help their family? We really do live and die by that idea of protecting you and your loved ones and doing it the right way. So rather than pushing just revenue, which is like put everybody in the most expensive plan possible, we get a lot of people that we do a lot of good for that pay us a couple hundred bucks. Sometimes all you need is somebody to walk you through something for an hour. You don’t need 1000 plan or a multi thousand plan. A lot of people do, and we need to make sure we educate them the right way. So being sure that as we grow we still feel small, that every family feels like they’re the only family we care about is probably my biggest win right now.

Stone Payton: [00:35:59] I got to tell you, man, that’s the metrics that matter. That’s that’s the phrase that comes to mind for me. The number of families served. I love it.

Josh Nelson: [00:36:06] Yeah. I think as business owners, we always struggle with what’s your what’s your one thing that matters, right? Like, how do you say at the end of the day, we did a great job. And so right now it’s really tracking how many families did we help? And so it’s not just the people. It helps culturally so that we’re not saying, oh, we brought on this many cases this month, right? It’s like now we worked with this many families this month.

Stone Payton: [00:36:31] So let’s go there a little deeper. Let’s kind of back to the business side of this conversation. It’s one thing for Josh Nelson to have this ethos, this value system, this behavioral pattern and judge as well. But when it comes to recruiting, selecting developing people, man, that’s got to be a hard row to hoe. How how do you inculcate that with your team?

Josh Nelson: [00:36:56] Absolutely. I mean, so even right now, whenever people are struggling to stay fully staffed and bring people on and let me not downplay the fact that we are as well. We brought on a lady who has years of experience just working with what we call people and culture. And so she’s truly her title is the director of People and Culture in my firm. We go through and make sure that we’re taking care of our team so that they can take care of the families because that’s where it all starts at. And whenever we hire people, we hire people based on their core values, aligning with our core values. And I think that sounds easier than it really is. Just determining your business’s core values is pretty hard. And yeah, we took up what’s called iOS or the entrepreneur operating system.

Stone Payton: [00:37:42] I’ve heard of that.

Josh Nelson: [00:37:43] And it has been transformative for us, where before we had some turnover, just because we were getting just like butts in the seat, we’d have people that, you know, your front desk person, your intake people, they all need to live and die by your core values. And we probably didn’t always execute on that. We had a lot of turnover just because we were like, Oh, I just need you to answer the phones or I just need you to seat and greet people whenever they come in. And once we started getting more particular about that and making sure that we had somebody on the team that was doing personality tests, so we do Colby tests for everybody that comes in. It’s a lot more expensive to hire somebody that way, but they last so much longer. And whenever you get people that know what they’re doing, that have been with the firm for a year, three years, seven years, it makes a world of difference in the client experience.

Stone Payton: [00:38:37] So it’s really expensive. Maybe not to hire them that way. It’s another way to look at it, right?

Josh Nelson: [00:38:41] I think it really is. And that’s why we look at like families health is our number one metric rather than revenue or profit. I tell you, I’ve made less money in the last two years than I did any of the years before, even though we helped more families. But I feel better about it because we helped more families.

Stone Payton: [00:39:00] John, I’m so sorry I asked Josh first. I don’t know how you’re going to follow that, but I’m willing to bet you have some insight on this front, too.

Jud Waites: [00:39:08] Well, when you have no good questions, you just tell the judge I don’t have for other questions for this. This may please, please dismiss the witness from the trial that I have. I’ll sit down now. No, that’s a great answer. As far as you know, I guess my law firm’s vision. I like staying small. I don’t want to grow and become, you know, the next big law firm that’s that’s not in the plans, at least not for right now. I’m a family first guy, you know, Jesus and kids. And then lawyer of the order of the. The things that mean the most to me. So I like the flexibility that being self employed, I own my own law firm, keeping it small. I like the flexibility that gives me to be able to go to kids games and take it in practices, you know, or go to this, you know, take the kids to this church camp or what have you. And so I’ve been vetting my cases more than I have in years past and not taking all the cases that I used to, which is scary. As a business owner, I’m going to say no to some business that I used to take. But by focusing more on the more severe cases, the more severe injuries or, you know, the more, I guess, long lasting relationships with companies that have unfortunately contract disputes come up a lot or fortunately want to have a lot of contracts reviewed because they’re doing a lot more business and they’re smart and they’re doing it on the front end. Just review this contract before we have to start carrying and executing it and before problems arise. So I’ve been focusing more and being a little bit more picky than usual than I used to be on who I am willing to take on as a client, because it allows me to give the same quality service I’ve been giving to my clients, but also maintain the flexibility that I that I want to have as a business owner and a family man.

Stone Payton: [00:40:45] So have you had one or more mentors along the way? And or do you find yourself sometimes mentoring other people, either in your discipline or in business in general?

Jud Waites: [00:40:58] Yeah, I met an attorney when I was in college who was a family friend, and he did real estate closings actually in South Georgia. But we we became friends. And I told him of my desire to go to law school one day. And so he was greatly encouraging me and telling me that you really should do that. And so he he was able to well, he went to Mercy Law School down in Macon, which is where I ended up going. So that tells you how much influence he had.

Stone Payton: [00:41:27] No kidding.

Jud Waites: [00:41:28] But I really enjoyed the experience down there going to Mercer Law School, smaller towns. Sometimes I wasn’t distracted, away from studying as much as I could have been in a bigger city. Right. But but he was a big mentor for me, Frank Horn, Junior. He had served in the legislature in Georgia for ten plus years, I think, back in the day. So he was one of the ones that helped really kind of add more fuel to my to my passion to want to go to law school. And this sounds corny, but it’s true. You know, the book To Kill a mockingbird. And then there’s the famous play, which I think Henry Fonda was in the movie 12 Angry Men. Those are stories about lawyers that really, really impacted.

Stone Payton: [00:42:10] Me early.

Jud Waites: [00:42:11] On in my life. And they’ve stuck with me. As a matter of fact, when I’m asked to speak at different engagements, I like to do a little who is paying attention and ask a question and whoever gets to answer correct. First, we’ll get a free copy for me of the play 12 Angry Men. Nice. But but those those, you know, those books really kind of impacted me as well. As far as me being a mentor to others, I like to think I’ve been a mentor to others, either by beating them in court and they learned how to do it the right way or tongue in cheek. Laugh out loud or by folks that may have been junior associates that were working underneath my supervision back in the days when I was working for law firms before I went solo in 1999. So hopefully I’ve been able to and I learned from other attorneys too, by going up against them. I see where I could have done something a little better on that issue or that motion. So it’s it’s kind of sharpening your your blade by constantly being in battle type type situation.

Stone Payton: [00:43:03] Yeah. How about you, Josh, mentors in your life or are you finding yourself doing some mentoring whether.

Josh Nelson: [00:43:10] Or not I’m a big fan of the idea of modeling. So finding somebody that can do or is that where you want to be at and just copying how they got there. Like you don’t have to figure out your own roadmap to get there. Yeah, it’s always been a big fan of like Tony Robbins and that kind of aspirational modeling that he does. So I work with a couple of coaching organizations as well that are nationwide ones actually based out of Atlanta here, once based out of Miami. And we go do like quarterly events where they help you just develop different business parts. So making sure that whenever you run your business, it’s by the numbers that you understand what the capacity is so that you’re not asking your staff to do crazy stuff and they’re burning out. And then ultimately our people and culture directors really helped us develop our own team. Not everybody’s going to be with you forever, and I think that’s an important thing for business owners to grasp. Let’s have a real conversation that if this isn’t your career path, how we can help move you in the direction. So I have a great young woman on my team right now who wants to get into politics. And because of the connections that we have with some of the nonprofits we do just being a lawyer in general and kind of our ties to the regulators, we can introduce her to people that will move that career path forward, even though right now she works as an admin on my team.

Josh Nelson: [00:44:30] And so helping people really have that conversation of don’t just surprise me with your two weeks notice. Let’s know that you’re leaving and leave on great terms and leave with you having a path. You know, I have a lot of people that start as like right now, I have a front desk person that wants to be in H.R.. Well, I have a two person HR team right now. I can help get her some experience so that whenever she wants to grow into that HR role, she’s going with a resume that shows definable real things that she’s done. So not just that resume fluff, but, hey, here’s what it’s like to put a job posting up. Here’s what it’s like to prep for an interview question. Here’s what it’s like to review those based on a rubric. If somebody came to that, even though they might not have been an HR person, but they have experience doing that, it’s going to give her an entry level HR job above any other candidates that are just coming, even like fresh out of school. I mean, we all know that sometimes school doesn’t set you up for the working world, right? And so that’s been one of the biggest things over the last year, is just making sure that we’re having those blunt and honest conversations about what people really want to do and then helping them go there.

Stone Payton: [00:45:36] So when you’re not lawyering, where do you go to to recharge? Is it reading? Is it travel? What what do you enjoy doing to kind of refresh yourself?

Josh Nelson: [00:45:46] I wish it was riding a bicycle and exercising, but that’s not the truth. I love working on cars, so I work on pre-World War Two Fords. So like right now I’m putting together a 1938 Ford business coop and just going and building it from the ground up, doing the mechanicals, doing the body work. I love painting cars. I know that it’s like cancer in a bag, but it’s it’s just been my hobby for over 20 years now.

Stone Payton: [00:46:15] I am so glad I asked that question. What? You just you never know what you’re going to learn about someone. How about you, judge.

Jud Waites: [00:46:22] That’s going to take away from today? Cancer in the bag. That’s catchphrase. It’s going to be at that song. I can’t get out of my head now. Thank you, Josh.

Josh Nelson: [00:46:27] Well, if you look at like all those auto like even like the aircraft paint remover used to be sold on the shelves and it’s not even sold anymore. It was always funny because on the back of it it says do not use on aircraft because it corrodes aluminum, but they don’t even sell it anymore because the it there were some mass tort cases where you find out it causes cancer.

Stone Payton: [00:46:48] But yeah. Yeah. So on that pleasant note, Judd, where do you go to recharge, man?

Jud Waites: [00:46:54] Let’s see. I like to I like to be with my kids and do things with my kids. So we’ll go outside and play sports together or go to the movies or I like to go out on the boat, you know, in the summertime and do some boating and all and spend time on the water. But I try to set aside time for myself, you know, at least once a week for just, you know, my time. And I find that hitting a tennis ball really hard helps take out some of the frustrations I may have had that week. So I’ve been playing tennis now in these different leagues they have available for the past year and a half or so. Before that, I was playing in a men’s baseball league, men’s senior baseball league Mzbel, which is a lot of fun. But as I got older, playing the game once a week from April through August in my thirties, I had lent for two days after the game. In the forties I lent for four days after the game. And then when I got to my fifties, I was limping for six days after the game. So really we felt good on the next game day. So I just said, I need to find a new sport where I’m, you know, you know, hurting my hamstrings like like this. I’m just not the man I used to be. So but getting outside, spending time outside with the kids and then playing some sports is fun for me.

Stone Payton: [00:47:54] How many kids do you have?

Jud Waites: [00:47:56] I’ve got two. I’ve got a ninth grader. She’s in lacrosse and a sixth grader who is finally convinced daddy using his excellent, lawyerly, persuasive argument skills to let him play tackle football this coming fall. So am I. So he finally won the arguments?

Speaker5: [00:48:09] Yeah.

Stone Payton: [00:48:09] How fun. All right, before we wrap, let’s if we can, let’s leave our listeners with a few basic tips in each of your domains. And, I don’t know, some some do’s and don’ts or, you know, just some things that they can what they need to do is get on the phone with you. But but, you know, short of that, what are some things we ought to just keep in mind are definitely do this or don’t do that when it comes to to your area?

Jud Waites: [00:48:34] I guess my three areas, maybe some quick bullet points would be in the if you’re ever injured because of someone else’s negligence or someone has lost their life, that’s that’s a family member. Just make sure you do what you need to do to get better physically and follow the doctor’s advice. A lot of folks out there have questions sometimes. Judie, you’re the lawyer for me. Should I go see a chiropractor or should I go see a special? Should I not? That’s not my field. You just follow what the medical experts are telling you and make the decision on what you think is best for you and and just get better. You focus on getting better. And let me worry about the legal issues and getting compensation for what happened to you. They try to handle too much and they ask great questions, but the answer is you just focus on getting better and let me handle the rest. As far as criminal defense is concerned, don’t break the law would be a good. Good tip they should do.

Jud Waites: [00:49:25] Or if you’re accused falsely of a breaking the law, you know, call me and I’ll help help you in that situation. But since we are on you a business radio some some tips real quick on the business side of it. I’ll have a written contract even when you have a family member that you’re doing business with. You should really have a contract even more so because of that. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen family businesses go south and one of the members has come to me for representation. And it’s it’s nasty. It gets sick, and it doesn’t just ruin the business relationship, but it also ruins the family relationship as well. So just get whatever deal you’re going to be doing with someone, get it in writing and sign off on it. Have a lawyer, look at it first to make sure it says what you want it to say and all the t’s are crossed and I’s are dotted. If you can’t get a written contract done, then at least confirm in writing what the agreement was. For example, let’s say you, Stone, and I had a deal where I was going to cut your grass. It was verbal. We did it. We talked about it in the street, you know, by the mailboxes. You’re going to pay me 20 bucks to cut your grass once a week. It’s not in writing. I’m going to send you a text or an email that says, Hey, Stone, great seeing you today by the mailbox. Listen, I really appreciate you letting me cut your grass once a week for 20 bucks signs. Just at least you have that as a writing, email, write or text. You can print that out and show the judge and jury if it’s ever a question. So at least send a confirmation letter, email or text confirming the terms of your agreement if you do not have a full fledged signed contract at least.

Stone Payton: [00:50:52] Excellent. All right. So if our listeners would like to reach out and have a conversation with you or someone in your circle, let’s leave them with some points of contact, whatever you think is appropriate. Website, email. What’s the best way for them to reach out?

Jud Waites: [00:51:04] Yeah, sure. Two things the website WW Dot Waits, dash law.com. It’s just my last name. Y t s law.com or my office number is 7704206566 and I’m in court half the time so it forwards automatically to my cell phone when you call me. But it does not accept text messages. I prefer email for various reasons, but 7704206566 will get me as well.

Stone Payton: [00:51:34] Fantastic. All right. Leave us with some tips. Josh, you got anything? We ought to just be thinking, have kind of in the front of our mind when it comes to this whole business of planning and.

Josh Nelson: [00:51:43] Absolutely. So first things first. I come from a family business. I’ve had plenty of entrepreneurs in my family. And so I just want to reiterate what Judd was saying there. Make sure you have it in writing. How many times other family businesses come to me and my mom and are like, How do you guys keep doing this? Through all the ups and downs is because it’s written out. It’s always better to make that agreement whenever things are good, because if you can’t get it agreed upon when things are going well, it’s not going to work whenever things are going bad. And then lastly, just a point from like the estate planning side where our focus is, make sure that you check your beneficiaries, that your life insurance, even your bank accounts like your checking account, have what’s called a pod or payable on death. Any deposit account you can skip probate with just by going and talking to your bank. Make sure that that beneficiary on your IRA doesn’t say the estate of Josh Nelson, that it actually says your wife, your kids, whoever you wanted to go to.

Stone Payton: [00:52:42] Excellent, excellent counsel from both of you. All right. This has been an absolute delight, incredibly informative and inspiring for me. Thank you, gentlemen, both of you, for coming in and hanging out with us and sharing your insight and perspective.

Josh Nelson: [00:52:56] Thanks so much for having us.

Jud Waites: [00:52:57] Stone Thank you.

Stone Payton: [00:52:57] Stone All right. This is Stone Payton for our guest today, Josh Nelson and Judd Waites and everyone here at the Business RadioX family saying we’ll see you next time on Trusted Advisor Radio.

 

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