Business RadioX ®

BRX Pro Tip: Set Clear Expectations Upfront

by

BRXmic99
BRX Pro Tips
BRX Pro Tip: Set Clear Expectations Upfront
Loading
/

BRX-Banner

BRX Pro Tip: Set Clear Expectations Upfront

Stone Payton : And we’re back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, let’s talk a little bit about our experience in setting expectations.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, I think setting clear expectations up front is really critical, especially with new relationships. Getting that kind of clarity of communication is really important, especially in today’s day and age, where we’re not in person together a lot and everything is happening virtually over Zoom or email or text. So, most relationship problems come from unclear expectations. It comes from miscommunications or not having enough clarity.

Lee Kantor: A lot of times your client thinks they’re getting one thing, and you thought you were delivering something else, and now both of you are frustrated. So, to avoid this, it’s important that you’re crystal clear before you ever begin. Write out exactly what’s included, what’s not included, the timeline, the deliverables, what their role is, what your role is. Ideally, this would be in writing, some sort of document. It might feel too formal, but it’s really professional, and it’s important because it protects you and it protects them from these types of miscommunications.

Lee Kantor: At Business RadioX, every partnership we work with starts with some sort of a clear agreement about what success looks like, so there’s no surprises. There are less arguments, if any, and everybody understands what their role is.

Lee Kantor: So, before your next engagement starts, I would recommend sending some sort of one-page document that outlines the scope. What are you doing by when? What are they doing? What are they responsible for? What happens if things change and things will change? If you do this well, clear expectations are going to prevent 90% of future conflicts.

BRX Pro Tip: Document Everything

by

BRXmic99
BRX Pro Tips
BRX Pro Tip: Document Everything
Loading
/

BRX-Banner

BRX Pro Tip: Document Everything

Stone Payton: And we’re back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, as we continue to grow at the Business RadioX network, we’ve certainly been trying to live into this discipline, document everything.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. If you want to scale, you have to be able to delegate. And if you are trying to delegate, you have to have documentation on how everything happens.

Lee Kantor: If the way things are done only exists in your head, you become the bottleneck. So, start documenting all your processes. Nothing’s too small to start documenting. And especially with the advent of AI, this makes it easier and easier to do, to create kind of playbooks for all kinds of things.

Lee Kantor: How do you onboard a new client? Document it. How do you deliver your core service? Document it. How do you handle common problems? Document it. Write things down, record videos, create checklists. The more things that are documented, the easier it is to train someone else to do it.

Lee Kantor: And that’s your ultimate test on how well you documented your system is. Can somebody else just take your documentation and then do the thing? And when you do that now, you’ve just multiplied your capacity.

Lee Kantor: Documentation is not busywork. It is the foundation of scaling. You have to do this if you want to grow.

Lee Kantor: At Business RadioX, every aspect of our show production is documented. That’s why we can add new shows without everything falling apart.

Lee Kantor: So, pick your top three processes and start documenting them. Write things down. Have someone follow you around and write things down. If they can do it, that means it’s done well. It’s documented properly. If they can’t do it, keep refining it until they can.

BRX Pro Tip: Build Your Business Around Your Lifestyle

by

BRXmic99
BRX Pro Tips
BRX Pro Tip: Build Your Business Around Your Lifestyle
Loading
/

BRX-Banner

BRX Pro Tip: Build Your Business Around Your Lifestyle

Stone Payton: Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Stone Payton abd Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, especially in recent years, I may be the poster child for this one, but building your business around your lifestyle.

Lee Kantor: Right. This is something that a lot of founders aren’t really kind of thinking this through when they start. If you are kind of a solopreneur, a business coach, somebody who has a business that is your business, and you’re kind of the only person doing it or a part of a small team, and your business is, in essence, a lifestyle business, then you really have to kind of lean into that. Like, you can’t run a lifestyle business the way you would run kind of hypergrowth business that you’re trying to kind of dominate the world.

Lee Kantor: If you’re going to build your business around your lifestyle, make sure that you’re really building your business around your lifestyle. So, these are some of the questions you should ask yourself. What kind of life do you want to live? When you’re clear about the kind of life you want to live, then you just have to build your business around that, not the other way around.

Lee Kantor: If you want a lifestyle business and you’re working crazy hours and you’re missing your family time, and you’re hoping some day in the future things will slow down, that day is never going to come. So, if you’re truly building a lifestyle business, flip everything around. Mark off your lifestyle as kind of the non-negotiable areas where you’re not going to infringe and just fit your business in around that.

Lee Kantor: How many hours do you actually want to work? How many days do you want to have off? How much travel do you want to do? How much income do you really need to do those things? Then build your business that supports that.

Lee Kantor: Maybe that means taking fewer clients but charging more. Maybe it means hiring faster to build out a team that can do a lot of the work that you don’t want to do, or maybe you’re not really good at it. Maybe it means you should be automating parts of your business.

Lee Kantor: The point is that your business should serve your life, not the other way around, if you’re truly trying to build a lifestyle business. So maybe it’s a good idea to take an hour this week or this weekend and write out what that ideal lifestyle looks like, and then look at your current business and the current business model and say, “Is what I’m building fitting into my life? Or am I having to force-fit my life around my business?” And then, decide what needs to change.

Breaking the Mold: Why Recruiting Is More About Mission Than Just Filling Seats

by

GPBR-Brian-Fink-Feature
Greater Perimeter Business Radio
Breaking the Mold: Why Recruiting Is More About Mission Than Just Filling Seats
Loading
/

GPBR-Brian-Fink-banner

In this episode of Greater Perimeter Business Radio, host Adam Marx speaks with Brian Fink, managing partner at The Rework Group, about talent acquisition and authentic networking. Brian shares how his fraternity recruitment experience at the University of Georgia shaped his recruiting philosophy, emphasizing mission alignment and community building over transactional interactions. Together, they explore the importance of trust, preparation, and genuine relationship-building in both recruiting and networking. Brian highlights that true networking means contributing to communities rather than simply extracting value, closing with the reminder that meaningful connections are about supporting others during their lowest moments.
Brian-FinkBrian Fink is Managing Partner with The ReWork Group. For nearly two decades, he’s helped startups, scale-ups, and global enterprises find the people who build the future.

Whether it’s engineers architecting AI systems, marketers driving growth, or leaders defining culture, Brian specializes in recruiting top-tier talent that doesn’t just fill a seat. They raise the bar.

He’s led searches for companies ranging from early-stage ventures to Fortune 100s, partnering directly with founders, execs, and hiring managers to close hard-to-fill roles. Brian believes great recruiting isn’t just about pipelines and platforms; it’s about business acumen, storytelling, and knowing when to challenge the status quo.

Outside of work, Brian speaks on hiring trends, write irreverent essays about the recruiting world, and moonlights as his daughter’s biggest fan and loudest cheerleader.

Connect with Brian on LinkedIn.

Episode Highlights

  • Brian’s background in recruiting and talent acquisition.
  • Early experiences in fraternity recruitment and their impact on recruiting skills.
  • The importance of authenticity and mission alignment in the recruiting process.
  • Building trust and community within organizations.
  • Networking as a long-term investment rather than transactional interactions.
  • The fragility of trust and the importance of consistent positive interactions.
  • The role of deep questioning in understanding hiring needs and organizational problems.
  • Aligning personal passions with real problems in the job market.
  • The significance of community involvement and giving back in professional settings.
  • The ongoing nature of relationship building and networking in business.

About Your Host

AdamMarxHeadshotMay24Adam Marx is a networking & leadership consultant, speaker, startup advisor, journalist & the founder of The Zero to One Networker.

Formerly the founder & CEO of music-tech startup Glipple, Inc., and as a writer appearing in Crunchbase News, Startup Grind, Mattermark, & others, Adam draws on more than a decade of experiences in the music & startup tech industries to teach others how to cultivate powerful relationships using strategies of patience, consistency, authenticity, & value creation.

As a networking consultant and speaker, Adam has worked with numerous organizations, including Georgia State University, TechStars Atlanta, the Atlanta Tech Village, ATDC (through Georgia Tech), & Startup Showdown, where he’s advised & mentored founders on how to develop magnetic dialogues & long-term relationships.

Adam’s talks include those given at Georgia Tech and Georgia State University, with a keynote at Emory University’s The Hatchery and as a featured speaker for Atlanta Tech Week 2024.MinimalFontBusinessLogo4

In addition to advising & consulting, Adam sits on the steering committee for InnovATL, cohosts LinkedIn Local ATL, emceed the 2022 Vermont SHRM State Conference, and was a workshop speaker at South by Southwest (SXSW) 2025.

He is currently working on his forthcoming book.

Connect with Adam on LinkedIn and Instagram and follow Zero to One Networker on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Greater Perimeter. It’s time for Greater Perimeter Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Today’s episode is brought to you by 0 to 1 networker, helping founders, funders, and operators build the strategic relationships and access that move business forward. For more information, go to 0 to 1 networker.com. Now here’s your host, Adam Marx.

Adam Marx: Wow. Thanks so much, Lee. I’m, I’m, I’m super excited for this because the guest I’m about to bring on, we met, I think back in January, wasn’t it?

Brian Fink: We met back in January and Morgan made that happen.

Adam Marx: That’s right. The Evolve conference. Um, and we’ll talk a little bit about that. But before we jump in, I’m so excited to be here with Brian Fink, the managing partner.

Brian Fink: Managing partner at the Rework Group.

Adam Marx: Yeah That’s right.

Brian Fink: We’re a technology, uh, uh, technology kind of consulting organization. We focus on making sure that individuals and organizations can kind of go next level when they’re hiring for their technical talent and trying to raise that bar.

Adam Marx: So. And so you’ve, you have a background in technology and recruiting and talent acquisition. How did you get started in that space?

Brian Fink: Well, Adam, uh, I am the eternal rush chairman. Damn. Glad to meet you. Um, I, uh, I like to think that everything I needed to know. I either learned in college through classes or everything I needed to know. I learned through my fraternity tops law info at the University of Georgia. Uh, had a really unique opportunity to be a rush chairman three years in a row. Um, I think that it taught me to have very personal conversations with people about what they want to do next and what they want to get out of an organization. Because look, when we’re in college, you know, it’s all about, uh, having a good time. We had the number one GPA on campus, right? That was a big anchor for parents, right? So there are different trade offs that take place in that. And I think that there are a lot of the trade offs that I learned how to emulate or have a conversation about when I was trying to convince a parent to let their child rush our fraternity, or convincing a young man that this would be the next lever to unlock his, uh, his individualism and through a collective action. Um, I think that that really brings together the best of recruiting. And I think that’s where I really got my feet wet. Um, I think that maybe I got my feet wet a little bit in politics, trying to get people on board with different causes. Um, but it really was that fraternity life and fraternity lifestyle trying to figure out what was important to people beyond just going to a party and, um, how we were able to make the next 4 to 5 years of their college career the best 4 to 5 years of their life.

Adam Marx: Well, you know, I love that because, um, I think that there’s a, a pervasive, uh, reputation is sometimes around fraternities, sororities, and similar kinds of organizations, maybe outside the academic sphere, where sometimes people may perceive those, um, clubs or, you know, groups as somewhat exclusionary. But, but and maybe some of them are or are not, but I do, I do love that your perspective on it is really about saying, okay, how do we find the people who are really looking to be a part of, of the message that we’re about and to be inclusive in a way, you know, I think that’s part of recruiting is saying this, this person is going to do really amazing things at this company, or this person has the potential to really click in very well with this team and what they’re working on. Um, how do we get away from like that kind of negative perception and, and look at, look at it through the lens of recruiting as this may not be the right fit in company A, but maybe you’re a rock star.

Brian Fink: Company B you know, Adam, I think it goes back to bringing your authentic self to everything that you do, whether it’s a community, like a fraternity or sorority, or it’s joining an organization, whether it’s public, civic, private that wants to do epic things. It’s about bringing your authentic self and speaking to that message and living your message out loud. I think that sometimes people think that they have to assume one identity to fit into another organization. Yeah. Um, and I think that what we’ve seen over the past six years, really since George Floyd, um, is that regardless of the political context, is that organizations are about retaining great talent.

Adam Marx: Yeah, absolutely.

Brian Fink: And if you want to retain great talent, you have to build some sense of community, you have to build some sense of ownership. And I’m not just talking about the ownership that comes with an equity stake in the organization. You and I are both in startup land. People love the equity stake that they get to have in an organization.

Adam Marx: Absolutely.

Brian Fink: But the reality of it is, is if they’re not married to the mission at the beginning of the journey, they’re not going to be there for the rocket ship ride.

Adam Marx: I love that you use the word mission. And here’s why, because I spend an obscene amount of time thinking about network building, relationship cultivation, partnerships, collaboration, really. I try to expand it out beyond the the typical connotations of the word networking. And I am so obsessed with the word mission and what the connotations of that word are and how they’re different than the connotations of networking. When I look at in front of Anna and you’re going to be polite and Anna is going to be polite and, and magnanimous and like, that’s the shoot your shot, right? Because you’re going to do it as a favor to me. And then if it’s not a 100% fit, you’re going to turn around and say, look, I, I did it, I did it, I.

Brian Fink: Did it on this person.

Adam Marx: Yeah, I did it as a favor to you. But like, maybe don’t do that again because, you know, now we’re making our relationship transactional in nature. And so it’s my job to turn around to that person and say, look, there are mechanisms here. You need to understand this is not about just getting in front of a person or a company just once, because you made your pitch may not land the first time. It’s about understanding how the framework looks so that you can really build out those systems to get in front of those people, those companies consistently, so that you understand how to go fishing. It’s not just give a man a fish, it’s teach a man to fish.

Brian Fink: So Adam, one of the things that I think is unique and is a corollary between what we’re doing, is that we try to operate with trust. Exactly. All right. Trust is a glass jar, and you fill it with little teeny tiny pebbles. Okay. And like, if, if you put the pebbles in there enough times, you build density and you build mass. Unfortunately, if a 15 minute conversation turns into a 20 minute nothingburger, you have launched a giant rock in that jar. That glass jar shatters. Have you ever tried to put a glass jar back together?

Adam Marx: No, I haven’t.

Brian Fink: Because nobody.

Adam Marx: Does. No, because it’s not CSI like.

Brian Fink: Well, this is not Kintsugi, right? Like, that’s not how this works. But like, um, no, you don’t. And then everything’s broken. And where do you start over? Well, you have nowhere to put the rocks. It’s all gone.

Adam Marx: It’s funny because my, my metaphor is the glass castle. It takes forever to build and you smash it and it’s gone in an instant. And this is what what we’re both saying is like, the trust is actually what moves that needle. Because when you are introduced to someone or you understand how to create those access portals, or you end up having that conversation, you end up in a scenario where, yeah, you want to put your best foot forward, but contrary to the shoot your shot mentality, and I understand that mentality. I’m a fan of it, but I think it it gets.

Brian Fink: I’m not a fan of it.

Adam Marx: Well, what I’m gonna say, I’m gonna say I think it gets oversimplified. What I’m a fan of is the, the nature that I think is behind it, which is get into the fabric of the conversation. Don’t stay on the sidelines.

Brian Fink: I agree with that.

Adam Marx: Here’s why I’m going to expand on it is because I think that the shoot your shot mentality, as a phrase, gets over watered down, oversimplified, because when you develop wonderful dialogs, wonderful networks and relationships, you never really have just one shot. You have the ability to go back to a person or an organization or a funding source or a mentor. Over and over and say, hey, look, we we listened. We collected more data. We have a new rock star on the team. We have a new product. We’ve identified a new market segment. You have the ability to show, hey, look, businesses evolve, trajectories go all over the place. And what didn’t work yesterday, you, you listened and collected more feedback and thought more about what the strategy is for tomorrow. It’s all about keeping those doors open. And so that’s why I want people to understand that I’m a fan of the get into the fabric of the conversation portion of that shoot your shot phrasing. But I’m not a fan of the oversimplification that I think a lot of people take away from it.

Brian Fink: All right. So about the simplification, and that’s where I take issue with this. Shoot your shot. All right. Who said shoot your shot? Was it Jordan?

Adam Marx: I have no idea.

Brian Fink: No no no. I’m going somewhere with this. Was it. Jordan. Was it Kobe? Was it Drake? Who was it about? Shoot your shot, right? Was it Eminem? Okay. Was it Jay-Z? All these people? Was it was it Taylor Swift? All these people practice relentlessly, right? So when it comes time for them to shoot their shot, it’s not an unnatural conversation that they haven’t prepared for. It’s a moment in time. Like you said, it’s a building block. It’s a Lego. It’s building that glass castle. Right? So my problem with shoot your shot is the fact that people are like dust off my shoulders. I’m not really going to prepare. I wore a good suit. Why’d you wear a good suit? Were you planning to do something in it? What? What were you planning to do? What? What’s going on here? Right. And it goes back to the same thing as building a community. If you’re going to a happy hour and your sole purpose is to collect business cards, you’re going to get a bunch of business cards, man. Congratulations. Business cards Discards everywhere confetti. But if you’re going to a networking event and you’re walking in with the intention to build one relationship with one person and share your vision and share your purpose, you won’t fail.

Adam Marx: And you and it’s about repetition, consistency. Like any of those athletes, any of those artists, they are spending an insane amount of time developing their talent, developing their craft. And that is something that gets left out of the the conversation when it comes to, I think, talent acquisition and recruiting and network cultivation, all this kind of stuff, it doesn’t just like boom happen just because you need it today. No, it’s it is, it’s the preparation and laying the groundwork. You know, it’s, there’s a lot that goes into the behind the scenes that affects the outcome like anything in life. So so let’s bring this back then to like, okay, a company comes to you and says, hey, Brian, we need to fill this position. Let’s say it’s a sales position or I don’t know.

Brian Fink: Technologist.

Adam Marx: Technologist or a finance position, right? How does that process work? What are some of the things that are kind of behind the curtain that are critically important for listeners to actually know about in that process, to make it the most successful for themselves?

Brian Fink: Just because you have a LinkedIn license doesn’t make you a recruiter, and it doesn’t make you a networker, it requires you to ask a deep question, what is the problem that we’re trying to solve? And why can’t you solve it with the people that are currently on your team? Mhm. Okay. That’s going to unfold a few things. It’s going to unfold. Yeah. What the problem is, that’s the surface level. It’s going to go one degree deeper and it’s going to say ask the question what’s wrong or what’s missing in the organization today that I can add that I can be a value add to. Yes, I’m going to solve this problem over here. But what happens 18 months down the line? Let’s have that conversation. So when I’m having a conversation with Mr. Client, that is the question I’m asking. Because if they’ve got somebody in their organization who can already solve the problem done and dusted, go about your way. What you need is you need to backfill for that individual. You don’t need a new holistic role. And if you’re a career changer or you’re making a shift in your career, what problem do you deeply want to solve? You talked about green tech. I know that’s important to you. I know you went to a conference about that five days ago over in Birmingham, right? Mhm. Okay. How are you helping people solve that problem? You’re doing X, Y, and Z. But if there is nobody who’s capitalizing upon that or nobody who says that’s a problem? What? What are you doing? You’re just burning calories. You’re like, running on a treadmill. No offense to running on a treadmill. I do it at Orangetheory. Shout out to Coach Hannah. I love running on my treadmill.

Adam Marx: So given that very focused mindset that you take to take to the office when you are talking to a prospective client company, potential job candidate, etc., right. How does that then interact with my consistent message of go build networks? And not just that, it should be the job potential job candidates, people looking for jobs, you know, building a network because they want to get a job. I’m a very big proponent of, hey, big companies. This is an investment in building out your organizational infrastructure and understanding so that your whole company, from the sales team down to over to the technology, over to the copy editing. Understand that the very best talent acquisition and retention often comes from just conversations with people and being aware of people who are out there who may be right, what you need, exactly what you need, maybe in the market for a change, or maybe in the market for something that you’re working on. What do you say to a company that may have the mindset of, okay, you place person X, Y, Z with us, we’re done building our network. We’re now just 100% focused on sales.

Brian Fink: I asked this question all the time, what are you putting in? Okay, it’s not about what you’re extracting. Like sales is an extraction business, okay? It’s what you’re putting in. Um, I go to, uh, there’s a Slack channel that’s called, and there’s a community that’s called the tech talk Taqueria, and it is specifically for Hispanic and Latin professionals. Guess what? I’m not Hispanic. I’m not. I know I’m barely a tech professional. Right? The reality away from that joke is when I go to that community, I open up my office hours, my calendars to help people practice for their interview as they’re making their next career move. I do that Friday afternoons from 1 to 4 p.m. eastern. If you’re a career changer and you need help coaching, let me know. But that’s about building community. It’s putting something in, putting something in. So if you’re a sales organization, are you going into the city of Atlanta? Are you putting into public gardens? Are you building that or are you just putting your name on a sheet that says donated by. Donated by. That’s powerful. But showing up as your authentic self, putting those messages into work, putting your hands in the soil, putting your hand in. Not putting your hand out unless you’re going to help lift somebody up. Yeah, that’s that’s building community. The other sales, it’s extraction.

Adam Marx: Well, and I, I just, and I, I, I mean, we’re already running low on time, but I will say this, one of the things that I think about just, it’s like a daily obsession of mine is this kind of how networks spider web out and you don’t know, because I can track this conversation back to the relationship and dialog and friendship I’ve developed with Anna, which I can track back now a couple of years, which I can track back to, you know, LinkedIn local, which changed the branding on that because LinkedIn changed their rules. But looking back, all of the stuff here. And so now knowing a lot of people in the recruiting space, people who she brought to evolve, um, who maybe tangentially Connected to recruiting can all be tracked back years. It’s about continuing the conversation. It’s not like when she and I had our first dialog, it was, oh, okay, I’m having this conversation because I want to talk to Brian one day and have him on my show one day. Right. Which I. Which is, is just kind of a ridiculous concept. It’s you don’t know who you don’t know. And this is something that I think that I, I, I’m thrilled when companies of any size, whether it’s four people or 400 people, when the the company recognizes the more boots on the ground we have, the more conversations we can open up, the more conversations we can open up, the greater we can scale a network of access and a network of different voices.

Brian Fink: I agree with that wholeheartedly. I would say don’t hoard what you think you have. Give away what you think you got.

Adam Marx: And you’ll end up finding people who will absolutely value.

Brian Fink: It and run through walls for you. Yeah. Or want to run with you as you try to run through walls. It’s I.

Adam Marx: I don’t think there’s any better way to, to possibly close this conversation. I mean, the time just flew by.

Brian Fink: Oh, yeah. Yeah yeah yeah. Awesome.

Adam Marx: So we, we, we, we real quick.

Brian Fink: Yeah. For those people who are listening about the Evolve conference, Adam and I met at, it’s a conference for HR and HR and to professionals to exchange ideas. And what you’ve just listened to is an exchange between two people who come from two different walks of life. And I can’t think of a better way to amplify the message at evolve, to help people rise from where they are to where they could be. So, Anna, thank you for putting Adam on my radar. If you’re listening to this in the future on a on a rainy day in Atlanta, I want you to feel some energy.

Adam Marx: Well, and that’s, I mean, that’s just a perfect example because you you did the MC work right for the for the conference? And I did a speaking slot and it was filled with a ridiculous amount of talent and people with different life experiences and perspectives. And it’s just one. And it just it, it is marketed as far as I understand, like, you know, to professionals and recruiting, but just in that niche, the sheer amount of talent and the people who know other people staggering. And, and, and for me is like, I don’t consider myself necessarily a to.

Brian Fink: Your talent adjacent.

Adam Marx: I’ll tell you, I’m a talent, Jason, but this is a great example. I came out of it with so many wonderful friendships and connections and, uh, so yeah, shout out to Anna and Evolve conference and we’ll have to do that again next year. Um, so as we wrap up, tell everyone kind of where they can go find you, support you, what you’re working on, etcetera, etcetera.

Brian Fink: Okay. So hey, I’m Brian Fink, uh, you can find me on LinkedIn as Brian Fink. I will be the first person that comes up, right? Um, number two, you can find me on all major social networks and the peloton at the Brian Fink. And if you want a glimpse into what I’m thinking about and the forward motion that you can take every day to be a better person, go on forward motion D motion at Substack and check me out. And, uh, thanks to Adam. I’ve really enjoyed this conversation. I’ve enjoyed the renewed purpose of making sure that I’m making those viable connections and a viable connection. I’ll leave you with this thought. It’s not what the connection can do for you today, or what they can do for you tomorrow, but what you can do to be in their corner when they’re down in their lowest moment.

Adam Marx: I’m not even going to try and follow that. All right, Brian, thank you so much for being here.

Brian Fink: No no no no no.

Adam Marx: No no no no.

BRX Pro Tip: Boundaries

by

BRXmic99
BRX Pro Tips
BRX Pro Tip: Boundaries
Loading
/

BRX-Banner

BRX Pro Tip: Boundaries

Stone Payton : Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, let’s talk boundaries.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, I think boundaries are important in business. And now that everybody has cell phones and texts, people think that there are no boundaries that they can text and call you at any time they have a question or a problem or an issue, and obviously they can do that. There’s nothing you can do to stop them, but you can choose to not answer and not reply.

Lee Kantor: So you can’t do business on other people’s terms and expect to live kind of a happy, balanced life. You have to set clear boundaries. Are you available nights and weekends? Maybe you are, maybe you’re not. But you decide. Do you take rush jobs, or do you have just standard timelines? You decide. Is it unlimited revisions or a set number? You decide. These aren’t rigid rules. They’re frameworks that protect you and your time and your sanity.

Lee Kantor: When you have boundaries, clients respect you more. When you don’t, they take advantage of you. And all of a sudden, they start kind of creeping more and more. They’re going to want more and more from you. So you just have to be able to say no. And you have to let the client know where the edges are. Because if you don’t create the boundaries, then you are going to be constantly at their beck and call.

Lee Kantor: At Business RadioX, we are very clear about our commitments, and we are very clear about what we will and will not do and what the deliverables are.

Lee Kantor: If you’re a coach, coaching happens during specific hours. Replies happen in a certain amount of time. Just that’s normal standard operating procedure. This kind of clarity lets you serve better because you’re constantly not kind of jumping through hoops that other people are throwing at you for no reason.

Lee Kantor: So, define your boundaries. What are your non-negotiables? When you communicate those clearly, you’re going to attract clients who will respect them.

BRX Pro Tip: Annual Planning

by

BRXmic99
BRX Pro Tips
BRX Pro Tip: Annual Planning
Loading
/

BRX-Banner

BRX Pro Tip: Annual Planning

Stone Payton : And we’re back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, today’s topic: annual planning.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. Annual planning is something that every leader should be doing. You should, at least once a year, have some kind of goals that are a year-long. Obviously, you’re going to tweak and adjust things as you go on, and you should be checking on the progress of that throughout the year. But most professionals aren’t even doing that. They’re just kind of living week to week, month to month, quarter to quarter, reacting to whatever is urgently in front of them.

Lee Kantor: But when you step back and you plan annually, then you can start to become a little more strategic. In January, figure out what success looks like for the year, what revenue do you want, how many clients, what relationships do you want to build. What processes do you want to put in place that help you get to the outcome you desire? What skills do you want to develop? All of those things are important, but when you look at it through the lens of a year, you can kind of drop them in throughout the year so that you’re getting to where you want to go by the end of the year.

Lee Kantor: So sure, break things down into smaller milestones, maybe weekly, monthly, quarterly; weekly, monthly, quarterly actions that you’re going to take. And then you work backwards. So, every week, you’re working towards that plan instead of just putting out a fire that occurred yesterday. You’re going to feel more in control. You’re going to hit your goals more often.

Lee Kantor: This is something that doesn’t have to be super complicated. A one-page document with just kind of annual goals, quarterly milestones, and monthly focus areas is probably enough for most people. It’s probably a good idea to block off a few hours at the end of the year to do this, and a few hours month to month to make sure you’re on track.

Lee Kantor: So, if you don’t know what next year is going to look like, then maybe you should start planning for it today.

BRX Pro Tip: 4 Things to Expect When Sponsoring a BRX Show

by

BRXmic99
BRX Pro Tips
BRX Pro Tip: 4 Things to Expect When Sponsoring a BRX Show
Loading
/

BRX-Banner

BRX Pro Tip: 4 Things to Expect When Sponsoring a BRX Show

Stone Payton : And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Stone Payton, Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, let’s talk about some of the things that you can expect when you’re sponsoring a Business RadioX show.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, this is something that I get asked a lot and they’re asking about the deliverables. What are the things that you get when you sponsor a Business RadioX show? And the number one thing I tell them is you’re going to get an easier way to meet the sales prospects and the people that are most important to you. There is no easier way to meet the people that are important to you than having a Business RadioX show. So that’s number one.

Lee Kantor: The second thing is you’re going to have a social media content factory. We create so much social media content in terms of audio, in terms of digital text, in terms of content that can be repurposed in a variety of ways. They’re just going to be – you’re going to have more social media content than you know what to do with.

Lee Kantor: And number three, you’re going to have an easier way to nurture relationships with your existing clients and people you already know and people that are important to you in that way. So not only do you get to meet new people, you get to serve and help the people that you already know, so that’s a great deliverable as well.

Lee Kantor: And lastly, you have an easier way to generate thought leadership from the executives of the organizations that you work with. So, facilitating these kinds of roundtables and these informational sessions where they can share how smart they are and be the subject matter experts that they are. So you’re going to be able to do that as well.

Lee Kantor: So, those are four things you can expect that we deliver on when you sponsor a Business RadioX show.

Stone Payton : Well, I’ll tell you, Lee, my clients here out of the studio that I help run and operate, they tell me too, that they get this, I don’t know what you call like a community halo, I’ll call it. Like, they’re just the good guy in the community now because they are providing that platform for people in their ecosystem to share their story, promote their work. So they just have a new aura around them as other people are approaching them in a variety of environments, anything from any other traditional community work that they’re doing or networking that they’re doing.

Stone Payton : And as part of that, one of the things that they experienced that they often don’t before they sponsored a Business RadioX show is people coming to them. Yes, it provides you with an easy way to go to people, but once you get a little traction with the Business RadioX show that is focused on a specific niche and genuinely serving that ecosystem, it’s not very long before people start coming to you, “What do I have to do to get on the show?” “Hey, I had a great experience on your show. Is there any way that we could bring so and so on?” They get to be very generous and they can provide people with an opportunity to not only for them to come on but also their causes.

Stone Payton : Like, I can’t tell you how many people here have come on to talk about their business, and then they’ve reached out about a cause that’s important to them. And, you know, I’m able to say, yes, do that. And my clients are able to do the same thing. And then something just came up today with a client show, and it was – and this is often articulated in the studio is how much – you become kind of this hub, of course, as you well know, and you just get to know everybody in the community and certainly in your niche, but also, you know, further out than that and you get to be the guy that knows the guy.

Stone Payton : So, those are some of the things you can expect as well that, I don’t know, maybe I’m not always good about articulating to people what all they can expect. I have a tendency to focus on the green-dollar ROI because that’s easily easy to show use cases and data and all that. But, yeah, there’s a lot of cool things you can expect from sponsoring a business radio show.

Nicole Vafadari: Balancing Leadership, Family, and Entrepreneurship Without Burnout

by

HBR-Doret-Consulting-Feature
Houston Business Radio
Nicole Vafadari: Balancing Leadership, Family, and Entrepreneurship Without Burnout
Loading
/

NJ-Vaf-1932-NicoleVafadariNicole Vafadari is the Founder & CEO of a healthcare technology start-up, where her entrepreneurial vision meets a deep expertise in both business strategy and IT.

She’s the kind of leader who can talk digital strategy with marketers one minute and dive into IT infrastructure the next. With a foot in both worlds, she’s built a career around bridging gaps, streamlining systems, and helping teams actually hit their goals on time and with intention. LogoTransparentBackground12-4-NicoleVafadari

From leading ecommerce rollouts to fine-tuning CRM setups, Nicole knows how to make tech work for the business, not the other way around.

She’s data-driven but people-focused, always looking for ways to connect departments and align on what really matters: smart growth, clear communication, and results that speak for themselves.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolevafadari/
Website: http://www.doretconsulting.com

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Houston, Texas. It’s time for Houston Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Trisha Stetzel: Hello, Houston. Trisha Stetzel here bringing you another episode of Houston Business Radio. It is my distinct honor and pleasure to introduce you to my new friend and guest, Nicole Vafadari, founder and CEO of Doret consulting, a healthcare focused consulting company dedicated to improving systems, communication and outcomes across the healthcare industry. Originally from Texas, yay! Now based in Wisconsin, Nicole brings a unique blend of business strategy, healthcare technology expertise, and values driven leadership. After stepping away from corporate America, she chose to build a company aligned with her personal principles, focusing on meaningful impact, authentic leadership, and sustainable growth rather than simply chasing scale. Nicole is also passionate about helping leaders avoid burnout while balancing business, family, and personal growth. From her annual Me Treat, reflection retreats to her people first leadership philosophy, she’s creating a thoughtful approach to entrepreneurship that prioritizes both results and well-being. Nicole, welcome to the show.

Nicole Vafadari: Thank you so much for having me, Trisha. I appreciate, I’m so excited to be here. And, uh, I feel back at home being on a Houston business, uh, radio channel.

Trisha Stetzel: Yay! I’m so glad. I don’t know why you moved so far away. We might have to talk about that. Not today, but we’ll talk about that soon. Yes, absolutely. Well, I’m so glad to have you on today, Nicole. Tell us a little bit about a little bit more about who you are.

Nicole Vafadari: Yeah. Um, so as you mentioned, um, born and raised Texan, um, and, uh, really focused on trying to, um, show up as a whole person and bring what I think will make industries better. Um, I am lucky enough to be a mom to two awesome kids who keep me on my toes all the time. Um, and I have a great supportive partner. Um, I’m also a big believer in being incredibly involved in my community. Um, I was a former school board member, city council member, and now, uh, my most important role, um, is mom and then very close second, um, is, uh, leader and, uh, coconspirator and peer to my amazing team at Doric consulting. Um, so yeah, very excited to have the opportunity to talk with another successful woman such as yourself, about the different kind of modalities and progress of career and how that fits into life.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, we do so much right? Nicole. We just do. There’s so many parts to it. So let’s why don’t we start here? Um, you made the decision to leave corporate America and build something on your own. So what pushed you to make the leap, and how did you know it was really the right time to do it?

Nicole Vafadari: Yeah. Um, so I did not know it was the right time to do it. It was, it was surrounding myself with a lot of people who kind of saw the, um, possibilities before I did actually. Um, so, uh, I was definitely, uh, at that time working with a career coach, um, which I actually, um, not as, not as fantastic as your podcast, but I did have my own podcast, um, called this could have been an email and, um, on that, I actually interviewed, um, this career coach who I had met to talk about like, what is career coaching? Um, and, uh, it was incredible, an incredible moment of kind of transformation. Um, and also at that time, I just didn’t feel really great about, um, the company that I was at in terms of where investments were being made. Right? There were decisions above my pay grade that led to me not feeling great about the ways that I had to show up, um, and work with clients in the healthcare space. Um, and so I really wanted the ability to like, um, kind of bring my best forward there. And then honestly, my, um, my husband was a great partner in saying like, it doesn’t seem like you’re super happy there. Um, and, and kind of taking the pause to say like, well, why don’t you just leave? And I said, well, what am I going to do? You know, I was used to being the primary breadwinner in our family. We had two small children. And so he was like, you know, you’ll figure it out. And so having somebody else who had the belief in me, um, gave me that permission and the incredible privilege, um, to quit my job with no plans ahead. Um, and then I took six weeks off, hung out with my kids, enjoyed the summer of Wisconsin, which is the part you want to enjoy. Um, and then did a lot of reflection and it was through that, that I decided, why don’t I just try this and see what happens? Because corporate America is always going to be there.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. And as you started to think about that new journey that you were going on, um, values really became a part of the decision making and building your company around your personal values and principles. So what is that value based leadership actually look like in your day to day business decisions now that you’re running your business.

Nicole Vafadari: Yeah. Um it is, it’s interesting how, um, the privilege of being the founder and getting to state these, it becomes pretty easy. Um, and, and not to like kind of overstate it or understate it. Um, but one of the key things that I wanted to, um, bring forward was offering a space, um, kind of focused on both what, what do my values mean to the clients that we serve, to the work we provide them and to the people that we bring on. Um, so with clients that we serve, um, my big piece there was, I didn’t really like working for like a software company. I didn’t like always having to toe the party line of like, oh, you have this problem. Cool. Our technology could solve it whether or not it could. Um, so I really wanted a focus of I want to have my key focus, be the advocate for the client and that’s it. And I don’t care if I have to say technology A is best, but actually technology B is cheaper and could meet your use cases. Um, in the vein of the work, I really wanted to bring an authentic place where I could say, yeah, this is where I’m actually super brilliant and my team is great at this. And this other problem you have that is not what makes my heart go pitter patter.

Nicole Vafadari: And that is not where I will bring the excellence that you client deserve. But a key partner over here does bring that. And so I wanted to create a space where we could bring in partners and be honest about like, yeah, that isn’t where we’re great, but we can bring someone to the table who is, um, and then in the focus of people, um, it also means bringing on people in the right roles who are not forced to make themselves small. Um, that was a key item that I was really struggling with when I left corporate, um, of like having to make myself smaller to kind of fit in, um, and not in the place of like blustering about, um, I think as women, we, we often default sometimes to being more humble to taking things on. Um, but, uh, you know, I had one employer, um, a couple jobs back who, you know, told me like, you’re not my ideal, my ideas girl, you’re my get it done girl. And like, I was very much put in a box and it was super frustrating. And so the people that I have on my team, I felt very strongly that I wanted them to be in a space where they could bring their skill set. And I didn’t set up a system that boxed them into anything.

Trisha Stetzel: Love that. Okay. We’re going to circle back to that part of the conversation. But first I want to know more about Doric Consulting. What do you do in your business?

Nicole Vafadari: Yeah. Um, so at Doric Consulting, we work with um, healthcare clients, um, to help them improve the digital experience of patients. And we work mostly within the CRM space, um, with either, um, marketers and outreach to also improving access and helping with call centers, um, and things like that. Um, and so, uh, the work that we do is both in the strategy and consulting space, that technology implementation space, and then the actual execution and getting it done and running day to day. Um, and we really like to tailor our services, um, whether it’s, um, helping stand up a Salesforce environment for the marketing, CRM capabilities, or setting up your new call center instance of epic. Cheers. Um, so we like to tailor our services based on what the client needs. So awesome. You have a great IT team that’s fully staffed and you have a group of marketers. You don’t want us to touch a keyboard, but you want us to help you think through what tool is right for the job and how do you plan out your approach. That’s awesome. We don’t need to make a space for ourselves that you already have staffed. So that’s kind of what we what we hope to do and, um, bring the full scope, um, of the healthcare experience. That’s, uh, our name comes from a Persian phrase, which means let me encircle around you. Um, so it’s this idea of like a very holistic approach of, um, yes, you could market and bring patients into your system, but if you don’t have an immediately available appointment for them to grab. That’s super frustrating. So why why would you solve this without solving this problem as well?

Trisha Stetzel: I love that and thank you for the the lesson on the name, because I was going to ask you and you probably knew that was coming, I love that. Um, all right. If there are listeners who already want to connect with you and learn more about what you’re doing, what is the best way for them to find you?

Nicole Vafadari: Yeah, we, we love to nerd out with people in our space and chat. So you can either visit the website at consulting.com, um, or you can even email me directly, um, at nicole@consulting.com.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay. Very easy. That makes it so easy. And of course, you guys, I’ll put this in the show notes. So if you’re sitting in front of your computer not driving, then you can just point and click to get the information that you’re looking for and connect directly with Nicole. All right. I want to go a little deeper here because you and I had a really great conversation. Um, pre-call. And it has a lot to do with being a woman moving from corporate into business, having kids, having partners, having, giving, giving, giving all the time. So talk about the experience as someone, as a woman in corporate America and how that really played into your decision to move into entrepreneurship.

Nicole Vafadari: Yeah. Um, it was a, it was a, a kind of leap of faith. And I was, uh, talking with a group of, uh, female entrepreneurs, um, at the University of Wisconsin a couple weeks ago. Um, and we were talking about the, um, the, the fact that permission is a lie and the idea that if you wait until you’re completely ready, you’re never going to start anything. And if you’re waiting for the perfect time, you’re never going to start. And so that was kind of the, the process. Um, and when talking with my career coach, um, one of the things I brought up was, hey, you know, my kids are, I think at the time, three and six, like, I want to be a present parent. I, I don’t want to put my business first. I want to do all these things. And, um, I called her coach Nicole. Um, she, she brought up this idea that she said, yeah, I get what you’re saying, but also what is your energy being spent? Um, and do you really think as an entrepreneur, you’re going to spend that much more time and energy? And she brought up this concept of like time versus energy. And so yes, as an entrepreneur, there are some times where, you know, I’m like, okay, well, this project needs to get back on track. I’m going to be spending half of my Saturday doing this. And, uh, huge shout out to my mother and stepdad who are in town. Um, and really all of our family that helps chip in. Um, but there is a difference between hours spent and getting recharged from that work that you actually believe in and being able to say, hey, I’m able to bring on this person and, um, help coach them.

Nicole Vafadari: And that is like almost selfishly filling my cup back up or the work that I do with clients at Durrett. We don’t work with any, for example, pure payers in the health care market. So any pure insurance companies we don’t work with because we want more tied to actual care. So health care systems that have their own health plan, we love working with them because they are what we believe is going to bring America closer to value based care, right? Treating the whole person within health care. And so those type of ability to kind of pick your clients or pick the projects you work on, um, even though some, some weeks it is more hours. It’s crazy how I feel easily able to detach from work and I don’t spend as much time spinning on like, well, why can’t this person approve this investment in this product? It would help our clients so much. Um, it’s a little nice to say like, yes, I approve that investment in that product. Um, it’s, it’s so crazy to be able to be the one to do that. And it’s, it fills my cup up, um, to use an overused expression a lot more than it takes away time from my family so I can come back. And when I’m with my kids, when I’m with my partner, when I’m with my community, I come fully energized and fully ready to engage because I just feel so fulfilled in my day to day work.

Trisha Stetzel: Mhm. When you get to do what you love, it makes a big difference. Absolutely. Uh, burnout is still real. Yes. Even in entrepreneurship. Right. So the, the reality of balancing being a business owner, being a leader to your team, being a mother, being a good partner, and just in general, being a giver in life. What, what do you think women leaders especially need to hear right now about burnout and trying to do it all?

Nicole Vafadari: Yeah. Yeah. Um, I think that, you know, one of the things that I’ve started doing, um, on a, on a yearly cadence that you and I kind of chatted about was, um, I take an annual me treat. Um, so I take a retreat with just myself. Um, and I spend time, um, I bring a similar outline that I think through, I choose my, um, my word of the year. Um, I have a couple exercises that are kind of reflective on the past year and then prioritize the next year. And um, this past year, um, I almost canceled it because I was like, oh, we’re growing so fast. Um, year over year door has grown 400%.

Trisha Stetzel: Congratulations.

Nicole Vafadari: Thank you, thank you. And it’s one of those things that you kind of are like, you feel like you can’t complain about it because you don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth sort of thing. Um, you’re like, whoa, people really love what we’re doing and they want to work with us. Um, but it is, It is hard, but so necessary to prioritize. What led to that? What led to Dora? What led to these pieces was me taking six weeks off to challenge, to think, to be introspective and reflective. And so if you keep pushing and you don’t take I can’t take six weeks off every year, but I can sure rent a cabin in the middle of the beautiful Wisconsin woods during the fall, which is my favorite time in Wisconsin. Um, and I take a yoga mat. I take, uh, all the snacks I don’t want to share with my children. I love my kids. Sometimes I just want to pack a gushers to myself. Trisha.

Trisha Stetzel: Oh, you know what, Nicole? We all hide treats, and we always do.

Nicole Vafadari: Oh, and then they give us that face, like, how dare you take those snacks from me? And you’re like, I was just for me. Okay. Um, yeah. So I think we as women sometimes Think of time for ourselves as taking away time that we could be giving to everybody else. And really, it couldn’t be further from the truth. Um, and so I think, you know, if women listening to this and even if men listening to this, right, I, I am lucky to have a husband who, um, at one point I was talking about needing to make lunch for my son, uh, for my daughter in front of my son. And I said, oh, gosh, I have to get Cora’s lunch ready. And he said, oh, that’s a daddy job. And it was crazy that my five year old son thinks that preparing lunches for my kids is a daddy job, because it’s just a role reversal in our house. And so, um, I have now encouraged my husband to take a me treat every year as well. And you just come back so refreshed and so ready to bring a fully composed person, um, to the table. And yeah, I would love everyone to start taking annual me treats.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that and it is scary. It’s scary as the president, CEO, trash can liner changer, the person who owns everything in the business to step away. But we all need to do that in order to come back refreshed. You’ve talked a lot about community and a good partner, and surrounding yourself with the right people and having the right people on the team. Tell me more about how you choose that community and why it’s so important to have it.

Nicole Vafadari: Yeah. Um, it is, it is so important because to your point being, the president in the trash can liner changer, I’m going to steal that. Trisha. That was awesome.

Trisha Stetzel: You can have it.

Nicole Vafadari: That was awesome. Um, in entrepreneurship, it can feel so lonely. Like even in, you know, when I first started, uh, I, the first deal I signed like it. I was celebrating with my golden retriever like it was just me and my dog and one other friend who was working with me part time. And I was like, this is a weird celebration. Um, and so I think, um, some key ways that you can kind of keep the energy up is finding those people that you can connect with and kind of protecting it viciously. It feels vicious. It feels like very, um, I don’t know, sometimes it can feel a little choosy and picky, but it’s kind of what you need to kind of preserve your energy and to be incredibly authentic and return that energy to the people who are in your community. Um, so one of, one of the key areas, wherever you are. Um, I’m sure Houston being the fourth largest city in the United States, there is quite a bit of this community as well. Um, I, I found a group in Madison called Merlin Mentors where it’s a bunch of like retired, some currently active entrepreneurs from a bunch of different industries that form a mentorship team. And I like had five mentors from different walks of life, different ages. And I fell in love with all of them. And I will still text them and be like, hey, um, we’re looking at a PEO to manage our HR as we grow. Like, do you have any thoughts on that? Um, just having a sounding board is so incredibly important.

Trisha Stetzel: Mhm. Yeah, absolutely. And you have to be choosy who you allow in your room. It’s so important, uh, to have the right people in the room with the right support in order for you to take care of yourself. Uh, and I hear that through, uh, through the journey and the story that you’re telling. So you said something earlier that struck me, and I’d like to circle back around to it, which is people putting you in a box or expecting a certain have a certain expectation of what you do or the performance that you have in a particular position. So whether people, the folks who are listening, whether they’re in a leadership position in a bigger brand or they carry their own brand, what would you say to them if they feel like they’re boxed in doing this one thing, when they really feel like they should be either doing something else or have a bigger role?

Nicole Vafadari: I think the key thing to kind of think through in that situation is, am I being boxed in because I’m allowing it, or because I’m actually in a space that is enforcing it? And so are there opportunities where you could say yes more, or you could say no, but I’d love to try this. Um, I think that challenging perspective of who is drawing the lines of that box and have you challenged it if it’s not serving you? Um, because that was a question I had to seriously ask myself as well. Um.

Trisha Stetzel: So thinking about, and I know you and I talked about this offline when we were first getting to know each other, um, thinking about being strategic in the way we show up or the visibility of the work that we’re doing, I think is so important. Many of us, Nicole just work harder crossing our fingers, hoping someone’s going to notice that we’re working harder. So what are your thoughts around the opposite of that. How do we strategically show the work that we’re doing to the right people?

Nicole Vafadari: Yeah, I think that you’re you’re so spot on. Trisha. And I do feel like we, we both bonded when we were talking about that. Um, I think being a strong self advocate and drawing to, um, this is a little tactical, but drawing to the outcomes of your organization is so very important. Um, and it’s actually a lot of the work that we do with our clients. Um, we often work with healthcare marketers, um, who a lot of organizations think, well, if I just open another clinic, they will come and, uh, they often then these marketers have to fight for every single dollar that they’re being given in their budget. And we actually work with clients to build Dashboards to say, hey, of the control group of people I didn’t talk to. Here is the amount of encounters, amount of appointments, amount of revenue recognized, and the amount of in in the journeys that we can. Hey, we ran a mammo screening journey and we early detected cancer in X amount of women. Those are my favorite stories to tell. Um, but we, we are able to compare and contrast when my work wasn’t applied. Here are the outcomes when my work was. Here are the outcomes and look how much more impact I could have. I think making sure you’re aligning to your organization, even if it’s something as simple as, hey, I am a janitor at X, Y, and Z hospital and, uh, I run the best janitorial shift there is.

Nicole Vafadari: Okay. What KPI or what metric could you draw to? Is there a way to state that, hey, I’m looking for a promotion to janitorial staff manager. When the staff was on my watch, the amount of MRSA, the amount of airborne spread diseases, the amount of X, Y, or Z. Right. And I think the interesting thing is that could seem really intimidating to somebody. But you will be shocked if you just take the time to like, get to know somebody and nerd out with them. People want to help people and people want to help you. Like, who is that person in it? Or who’s that person in your data informatics team that you can go talk to and say like, hey, if I wanted to look at X, Y, and Z data so that I can make sure my team is doing the best job we can, how could I find that data? That’s the cool thing about healthcare. Like everyone’s really in it to help people. Um, but I think in a lot of industries, that’s the case. I worked at American Girl, we were in it because we wanted to bring joy to girls and make them really cool dolls. Right. So I think double clicking on how can you tie your work, no matter how removed from a key organizational goal, and then talk about it quite proudly, um, to the people in the positions of, of leadership, um, that you’re looking to progress to.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. And we have to, and it’s not self-promotion, it’s not bragging. It really is about being strategic and delivering the data that people need to see that you’re actually making a difference in the organization, no matter what role or position you play in that organization. All right. Our time went by way too fast and we could just talk for another hour. However, we don’t have another hour. So one last question for you. If someone listening today feels disconnected from themselves or overwhelmed trying to balance work, family, leadership, a business. What’s one small step they can take this week to reconnect with what actually matters to them?

Nicole Vafadari: I love that that’s a great that’s a great question. So my favorite activity on my retreat that is very executable in, in a week’s time frame, uh, I do a reflection of how, what are some of the things that not that I did last year, but what are some of the ways that I felt and what were some of the words that described me? And you kind of circle the ones that really speak to you and you underline or highlight the ones that you don’t like, that you’re like, I hated that. I felt anxious and stressed all of the time. And then reflecting on, okay, what then led to that? Um, those items that I didn’t like that I could potentially reduce. And what led to the items that I love that I could increase. And I think that can lead to a whole bunch of thought processes around like, wow, actually, I can do a decent amount within my control to reduce the things I don’t like and increase the things I do. Or wow, it’s kind of outside of my control and the things I wish I felt are totally in a different industry or are in a different role, or look like me getting involved in my community in this way. Um, it’s like one of my favorite exercises to do and it makes it so plain and obvious for me at least.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that I’ve never heard anyone say that before. So instead of focusing on what you did or what you accomplished, how did you feel about it? That’s fantastic. What great advice. Nicole, this has been so much fun. I really enjoyed our conversation. Thank you for taking the time.

Nicole Vafadari: Thanks, Trisha.

Trisha Stetzel: All right, you guys, that’s all the time we have for today. If you found value in the conversation that Nicole and I had today, please share it with a fellow entrepreneur, veteran, or Houston leader ready to grow that needs to hear what we talked about today. Be sure to follow, rate and review the show. It helps us reach more bold business minds just like yours and your business. Your leadership and your legacy are built one intentional step at a time. So stay inspired, stay focused, and keep building the business and the life you deserve.

J.J. Hollie: Leadership, Service, and Building Strong Business Communities

by

BTU-Insperity-Feature
Beyond the Uniform
J.J. Hollie: Leadership, Service, and Building Strong Business Communities
Loading
/

J.J. HollieJ.J. Hollie is a Business Performance Advisor at Insperity, Army National Guard veteran, and former President and CEO of The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce.

With a career spanning military service, telecommunications, chamber leadership, and business consulting, J.J. has dedicated his life to helping organizations grow through people-first leadership, strong relationships, and strategic business performance.

Raised in a military family that lived around the world, J.J. developed a global perspective and deep appreciation for adaptability, service, and community. Throughout his career, he has championed servant leadership, guiding businesses and nonprofit organizations to build stronger cultures, develop high-performing teams, and create lasting impact. insperity-logo

Today, J.J. partners with business leaders to strengthen organizational performance while fostering workplaces rooted in purpose, resilience, and connection. His passion for leadership, community development, and service continues to inspire entrepreneurs, executives, and leaders across Texas and beyond.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/j-j-hollie-pmp-iom-b789602/

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Houston, Texas. It’s time for Houston Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Trisha Stetzel: Hello, Houston. Trisha Stetzel here bringing you another episode of Houston Business Radio. I’m so excited to introduce you to my guest today, J.J. Hollie, Business Performance advisor with Insperity, past president and CEO of The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce. Army National Guard veteran and long time advocate for business and community leadership here in Texas. Raised in a military family, J.J. had the unique experience of living around the world while growing up, including time in Holland and Japan, before beginning a career that would span public service, military service, telecommunications, chamber leadership, and business consulting. Over the years, he’s become known for building strong business communities, developing leaders, and helping organizations grow through people first leadership. Today, through his work with Insperity nonprofit leadership and community engagement efforts, he continues helping businesses improve performance while staying connected to purpose and service. He is also a certified project management professional and an Ironman Texas finisher, and someone deeply passionate about leadership, veterans and creating meaningful connections in the communities he serves. Jj, welcome to the show.

J.J. Hollie: Wow, Trisha, that was a phenomenal introduction. You said you made me sound a lot better than I really am.

Trisha Stetzel: Thank you. That’s not true. Not true.

J.J. Hollie: I try to live up to it all.

Trisha Stetzel: So, JJ, tell us. Tell us what else you want us to know about you.

J.J. Hollie: Gosh, uh, a couple of things that came to mind is, uh, I not only were we living in Holland and Japan. And one thing I really love about my parents in the whole military background was wherever we were at, we didn’t just stay on base or stay in the living room. They got out. We were even stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas one time and we thought, oh, there’s nothing there. What were we wrong? I mean, we just drove all over. We saw Custer’s last stand. We saw, you know, Mount Rushmore. We just kind of use it as a base to go all around. And one of the places we went to was Alaska. And I actually went to high school up there and, uh, loved that. Probably the most spectacular place, you know, anybody could ever see with the glaciers and the mountains and neat stuff.

Trisha Stetzel: Oh, I love that. So how do you think that experience growing up with that military influence has really led you to where you are today?

J.J. Hollie: I think in a to a large extent. It’s sort of molded my personality where I’m more extroverted. You know, I had somebody define introvert versus extrovert to me. And, uh, they said introverts get their batteries recharged by being alone and kind of relaxing and just being solitary. To me, I will fall asleep if I do that. You know, I’m so glad we’re meeting here at, you know, 245 on a Monday afternoon because you’re you’re charging me up. And that’s what it does to extroverts is when they’re talking to people and engaging with people, that’s when they get their batteries charged. So you’re having that Monday afternoon just go a lot better. So thank you.

Trisha Stetzel: We’re recharging. We’re recharging your batteries right now. If only we had 3 or 4 more people in the room, it would be.

J.J. Hollie: Yeah, yeah, that probably is lightning out of my ears or something.

Trisha Stetzel: So taking that experience and thinking about that extroversion and how you recharge your batteries, um, how do you how does that all play into the way you think about leadership and community and adaptability?

J.J. Hollie: I think I’ve been really fortunate with the leaders that have been both good and bad examples for me, if that makes sense. Uh, I think sometimes when you, you don’t have the best experience with leaders and you’re like, I don’t ever want to be that way when I’m in that position. And I think, uh, one of my, well, I’ve got my first professional experience was working for a guy named Charlie Wilson, who was a US congressman in East Texas. And, and they wrote a book about him called Charlie Wilson’s War. And he’s kind of, I don’t know if I’d say famous, but definitely infamous for, uh, you know, his nickname was good time Charlie and Charlie’s. Uh, I think his being a congressman, I think we’re all sort of, you know, negative about politicians and stuff. And, uh, one thing about Charlie that struck me was how genuine and authentic he was and how much he cared about us as the staff, and then also how much he cared about, uh, my constituents in the Second Congressional District and beyond. I remember, you know, I graduated college and I was 21 years old. This is my first job. Of course, I thought I was the best thing since sliced bread. And, you know, I had to learn some humility, which I still struggle to learn, I think. But, um, it was just Charlie and I, it was my job to kind of drive him around the district in, in this for travel motorhome. And, uh, and he was given a speech and, uh, you know, anybody from Texas? No, it’s not, it’s not Woodville, it’s Woodville.

J.J. Hollie: And he said this what I thought was just a line. And he said, you know, before Social Security and senior centers, uh, people just sat on their front porches and waited to die because they had no activity. And they, they were. It wasn’t a healthy way to be, you know. So they they were just not nothing to do board, you know, unless they had some family members come visit them. You know, how are they getting regular meals, different things like that. And, and we and I thought when you said that that’s a great line that’s really going to, you know, be emotional, emotionally impactful. And we got on the bus and I had only worked with this guy for maybe, I don’t know, 3 or 4 weeks and just him and I in the bus. And I said, Charlie, that was a great line about people sitting on their front porch waiting to die. And he looked at me. He was mad. I mean, I remember this like it was yesterday. And he was like fire coming out of his eyes. And he said, JJ, that is true. They really didn’t have, uh, they didn’t have food, they didn’t have services, they didn’t have any engagement. And I thought, oh, wait a second. This is a different ball game. And that was just a great leadership lesson. I think you gotta, you know, care about your people. I think the one you know, when we’re military experience, the ones that have the, you know, you got the best leaders when they really care about you.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. So let’s dive a little bit into that human interaction connection. I know the last conversation that you and I had had a lot to do with that. And, um, I value that as well as you do. So I would love to hear from you. How important is this intentional relationship building for leaders today?

J.J. Hollie: You know, one of the things that, uh, I’ve always enjoyed about any stage of my political or not political professional career is I get to always talk to people, uh, and whether it’s people that I’m working with in the same company or organization or office or, uh, whether they be voters or Are vendors or prospects or clients is. I love this line in Ted Lasso about you should always be curious and believe, you know. And. And I think if you have a genuine curiosity and I love sitting down with businesses or anybody really, and I, I love hearing about their stories and where they come from and what they did. And, you know, where they went on vacation and what they liked about vacation and, you know, what kind of food they ate and you know, how many kids they have and all that. People have such interesting, um, interesting lives and it’s really kind of cool to get and listen, sit and listen to people and kind of get that background on what the, what they’ve done.

Trisha Stetzel: What would you say to those that are listening today that don’t fit the extroverted personality? They like to recharge their batteries Alone. What would you say to them about networking and being curious and always be curious.

J.J. Hollie: Uh, you know, I think you’ve got to know yourself, right? And I know that, uh, when it’s 3:00 on Monday afternoon and I’m a little, you know, droopy eyed or something, because maybe I haven’t talked to anybody. Uh, I pick up the phone and call somebody or I get on a podcast, you know, something like that. And, um, I think if you know yourself, you know, hey, that I’m, I’m not outgoing. I feel uncomfortable, uh, you know, being in a business reception setting and go, you know what? I’m just going to have to be uncomfortable and it’s going to be okay. And hopefully you find somebody who may even be like you and you go and, you know, stand next to them and go, hey, do you hate being here as much as I do? You know, and if they say yes, then you’ve already you’ve already made a friend and you guys can be your own little support group, you know? And Another thing I like about business is I think the more people you know in business, the easier business is. Um, it’s so relationship oriented, getting to know somebody who they are, what they do, who are the people in their network? Who are the people in your network? How can you get them together? And, and just, uh, it’s just nice when you are doing business with people that you know and you trust and you like, and especially if it’s a win win win situation, then, you know, everybody makes money. Everybody gets to serve their customers and customers the best way and everybody’s happy.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. And if a room full of people is not for you, then go to a smaller room, right? And just get started.

J.J. Hollie: Yeah. There are so many. And of course, I’ve, I’ve spent ten years at a chamber of commerce. And one thing we tried to do was create different avenues for different Businesses, types of businesses, types of people. Sometimes we even have, you know, Zoom calls or something or smaller committee meetings. So you’re not in a room with 100 other people at, you know, 530 in the afternoon and try to make it a little bit easier for everybody to find a way to get involved where they can be. I’m not going to say comfortable because sometimes you got to I’m still trying to work on that. How do I kind of get out of my comfort zone and not be in a rut and do things better and different? And, you know, just being curious, but help them to, you know, get comfortable being uncomfortable, I guess.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, I’ve heard that a time or two and there is something for everyone. And what I heard you say that I think is so important is we have to be part of a community. We can’t sit as a business owner or business leader on an island all on our own, and expect to be as good as we want to be. We’ve got to get out and we have to build that community.

J.J. Hollie: Um, I had an older friend of mine, I think he, by the time I met him, he was already in his 80s. And, uh, he said, JJ, if you want to be successful and live a long, productive life and be healthy, he says, you’ve got to. What is it that he said? He said, you’ve got to socialize, you’ve got to exercise, and you got to have a purpose. And if you get out there and do that, you know, are you going to be all right.

Trisha Stetzel: Socialize, exercise and have a purpose? I love that so much. Um, tell me, tell me more about being the business performance advisor at Insperity.

J.J. Hollie: Well, this is just another continuation of something that I love to do, which is go and meet businesses and sit and talk to them about especially smaller businesses, you know, if they’ve got 20 employees, 30 employees, um, they started this business, maybe they just started it or it’s 5 or 10 years old and it’s like you’re talking to them about their baby. I mean, they started this because they had a passion for, um, doing something that they were really good at. And then how did they, it takes a lot of guts not to just, you know, work for another organization, but go out on your own and do your own deal and kind of build your own universe. And I love hearing, hearing people say, uh, you know, how they got the idea, how they started it? What are some of the peaks and valleys that, that they go through? Uh, I’ve got one great friend. His name is Josh Sherry. He’s a serial entrepreneur and he has this psychological timeline that is just hilarious because you waffle between, wow, we’re making so much money, we’re going to take over the world to, oh, no, we can’t pay our bills on Friday, you know, and there’s just all this up and down. It’s such a, uh, psychological game ish. And if you’re not prepared going in that a, you’re going to have it happen to you, and B, that happens to everybody else.

J.J. Hollie: Everybody I’ve talked to that started a business. And, you know, I’ve had that in my professional career that there are these. Success is not a linear. Nice straight line where it just goes up. There are these huge swings and there’s so many different reasons for those. And, um, as what they tell me the other day that you have to be resilient, uh, in the position that, I mean, you have to be resilient. You know, if you’re talking to people and you’re trying to, you know, get them to sign a contract with you, you’re going to have to get some no’s. And then you’re like, why are you telling me no? You just described every reason why you needed this. And at the end of the day, if you really are, you know, look, I want to help you. I want to find a way to where we can take some of the stuff off your plate so you can focus on the things that you got into business for in the first place, You don’t want to spend your time doing timesheets. You don’t want to spend your time, you know, managing HR policies and handbooks and things. You want to do your business.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. Do you do what you got into business for and let someone else do the rest? Okay, so I know people already want to connect with you. Jj what is the best way for folks who are listening today to connect with you or learn more?

J.J. Hollie: Probably the best way is my email address and it is J period j period Hollie hollie@insperity.com.

Trisha Stetzel: And of course, you guys, I’ll put that in the show notes. If you happen to be sitting at your computer, you can just point and click and send that email over to JJ. I am sure he would love to have that conversation with you.

J.J. Hollie: Mhm.

Trisha Stetzel: I was, as you were talking about, the support that you give to small businesses and the work that you’re doing with Insperity. I was reflecting on all of the, um, the journey that you’ve been on and how you’ve been in public service, military service, corporate leadership, nonprofit work, and now business performance advising with Insperity. What are some of the lessons that you’ve learned around leadership as you’ve moved through your journey?

J.J. Hollie: Um, wow. There are so many mistakes I’ve made. Okay, so I’m not going to try to cover them all because we’d go into tomorrow. Uh, I think one of the things that I learned is that I think I’m communicating clearly, but this is all for us. This is personal and professional, right? I think I’ve said the most clearest thing in the world to my significant other. And then something completely happens differently. And I thought, well, wait a second, that’s not what I said. And somebody taught me one time, I think it was I think it was actually a leadership seminar. And they said, I want everybody in this room to take out a piece of paper, take out your pen or pencil and draw a bow. And so we all did that and drew a bow. Some of us drew a bow like a bow and arrow. Mhm. Some of us drew a bow. Like on a Christmas present. Mhm. And he said, look, I very clearly communicated to you, right. Obviously to draw a bow, but look at what all you did. And so you’ve got to have kind of that feedback loop. And I think that’s another kind of lesson in leadership is that you’ve got to make it okay for your people to come talk to you and go, I think I understand what you said, but I want to make sure. And you want it to happen naturally and in an authentic way to where people feel like they can come talk to you. But when I was CEO of the chamber, one of the things that they knew they could really, you know, annoy me with, um, and we picked on each other all the time.

J.J. Hollie: So they would do this and they’d be like, well, you know, you’re the CEO, so we’ll do it your way. And I said, oh my God, if you’re relying on me to do that. No, no, no no no. Uh, if I’m the smartest guy in the room, then we are all in the wrong room. Mhm. And, you know, sometimes you have a new employee and they’re going through those rough patches early on as they figure you out, you figure them out, they start to, you know, the honeymoon period is over. They start to face some real challenges. And I would always say, look, we we picked you, we picked you, uh, to come in here and bring your history, your intellect, your, uh, your, your creativity, all the stuff that we liked about you in the interview process and came, you know, gave you an office, Gave you a computer? Gave you a phone? Everything. We did that because we picked to you. And by the way, you’ll make a mistake. And that’s okay too. I’d rather you make an effort mistake than not do something. And that was, um. You know, I was told that before and it just gave me confidence to go out and give things a shot. You know, I remember one thing from my army days we were up for, for this, uh, uh, this, uh, OCS candidate class. And, uh, you know, some of these guys, they have identity infantry training or stuff. And we were, we set up this ambush for them and they just, uh, we started to, you know, shoot at them with blanks and, uh, they just froze.

J.J. Hollie: And just every one of them, you know, we let all of them up, all the laser tag things go off, all the beeps. You know, you’ve all heard that if you’re been in basic training and, uh, it was, it was bad. That. And, uh, and we had the, uh, the, ah, you know, the after action report afterwards and we’re meeting there and our platoon sergeant said, you guys don’t say a thing. You know, he’s a little stronger language than that. If I hear somebody giggle, you know, you’re all going to get smoked. And, uh, I remember one of the things that the instructor said to these guys is said, the worst possible thing you can do in an ambush is stay where you’re at. Mhm. In fact, the safest place to be is to charge into the ambush and get on the other side. And maybe doctrine has changed since then because that was 25, 30 years ago. But one lesson I took away from that is you. When you’re faced with something, you can’t just freeze. You’ve got to figure out, okay, what am I going to do differently? Maybe I’ve not been successful right now. What can I do different? Who can I talk to? I don’t care if they’re younger or older, more experienced, less experienced. Who can I talk to and learn something new and go, okay, you know, I’m going to give that a shot. And maybe it makes me uncomfortable, but you gotta try it.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. Okay. I see this theme coming through everything that we’re talking about today, being in the right room, finding the right people, asking the right questions, and getting comfortable with being uncomfortable sometimes and learning lessons. Right. Sometimes we are going to make mistakes and we’re going to learn from those things. Um, I, you and I talked about this in our last conversation as well about supporting veterans in business leadership. What strengths do you think, um, veterans bring to organizations that business owners are sometimes overlooking?

J.J. Hollie: I think it’s discipline. Yeah, that’s the big thing. I mean, if you’ve gone through basic training and you’ve made it through and you’ve gone through it and all that and you’ve done, you know, getting up at 430 every morning, um, and you’ve done this and you just understand that, uh, sometimes you gotta do things that you know, you don’t want to do, uh, to make things happen. And I think you can just always count on a veteran.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. We know how to get up, get dressed, and go to work.

J.J. Hollie: Mhm.

Trisha Stetzel: We may not know what to wear unless you tell us.

J.J. Hollie: No, it’s funny you say that. I remember, and I was in the National Guard. I didn’t do active duty. I wasn’t in, you know, in in, you know, the regular army. Uh, but I remember getting out of basic training after eight weeks of basic and then five weeks of eight for infantry school at Fort Benning. And I remember getting home and I remember looking at my closet and going, wow, look at all those colors in there. It’s not green or brown or black. There’s there’s reds and blue.

Speaker 6: Like, what do I wear? Uh, I had no idea.

J.J. Hollie: What to wear. Yeah, I was, I didn’t know, I had no idea what I was like, I’ve done the same thing for, you know, four and a half months. I don’t know what to do.

Trisha Stetzel: That’s right. Well, you did serve in the military, so thank you for your service. And it’s not it’s not thank you. Not not the real army anyway. Okay. Um, we I’d like to, if it’s okay, maybe just take a little turn here because, uh, another thing that came up when, when we had our conversation before is this idea of work life separation or integration and intentional living. I’d love to hear your take on what does that look like for you and what would you tell everyone else when thinking about living intentionally?

J.J. Hollie: Uh, I think that’s the key word is you’ve got to be intentional about it. Um, I think, you know, when, when we have jobs, like, you know, what we do, there’s, there’s always a, um, an element of it’s always there, you know, it doesn’t matter if it’s nights or weekends or whatever. And it’s not like, you know, I was whining one time to my dad, who’s going to be 88 this year. He grew up sharecropping in Mississippi, you know, and that’s a part he went into the army so he could have an easier life, you know? And then I was complaining to him one day about, uh, you know, how difficult, quote, unquote, my life was because I had a dinner one night and a breakfast, and the next morning I was tired and being whiny. And he said, he said, that sounds really tough, you know, and and, uh, where’d you go to dinner at again? And I said, well, you know, I had to meet some people at True Love, which is, you know, this five star steak restaurant. And then breakfast was somewhere else nice. And he said, well, that sounds really, really difficult. This is what’s great about parents is, you know, perspective. He said, let me know how many bags of cotton did you pick today? Yep. That’s what I did. I thought, okay. And to a certain extent, yeah. I mean, that’s a physically demanding job, right? I mean, you’re out there in the heat and you’re picking cotton.

J.J. Hollie: Uh, And these are more mentally demanding positions. I think that that you know what I’ve got now. So you’ve got to give yourself, you know, my commute is 20, 30 minutes home. And I try to use that to kind of okay, package everything up, make sure I’ve got a plan for tomorrow so that I am not sitting at home and at dinner thinking about what I’m supposed to be doing so he can be present where you’re at, and talking to people and talking to your family and your significant other and going, okay, you know, how was your day and how was school? Um, another one, my, one of my buddies that I work with, um, last year, he was very, very busy and he neglected to take a vacation. And this year he fortunately had a good talk with his wife, and she made it very clear that he was not going to, you know, skip vacations. And they were going to do vacations even on their own And you have someone you know, grandparents come and take care of the small kids. So he’s already had, you know, three kind of mini vacations, uh, this year and, you know, just long weekend type stuff. But he said it is so refreshing and so much more connection because you can look up, you know, and we’ve all had relationship issues. And sometimes that happens whenever you look up and you forgot to maintain a connection.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. And for those of you who are listening, who are thinking to yourself, gosh, I really need a vacation, this is where an organization like Insperity can come in and help give you some time back. So as we wrap up, JJ and I know our time has gone by so fast, I would love for you to tell us who, if somebody is listening and they don’t, they’re not sure if they’re a good client for Insperity or if they’re a good in a, in a a position to have a conversation with you. How would you describe your clients?

J.J. Hollie: And thank you for that, Trisha. I would tell people that are in a business with, uh, you know, an employee size is important, but it’s not important. Um, that’s what I was going to start, but I think I’m going to start instead with saying it’s really more about a mindset and a culture than it even is a type of business or a size of business. But if you, if you really make your, your employees your priority, um, if you really are, have a growth mindset, if you really, uh, want to improve, if you really see the value and going, you know what? I’m not, I’m not the best at that. I’m going to, I’m going to give that piece of our business to an expert that is going to be supportive and going to help us grow, and is going to deal with issues that they deal with every day, not once or twice a year, but they’ve, you know, dealt with it every day. Yeah. And the nice thing is, is now you can take that vacation and instead of getting a, a call on Saturday morning, that call can go to Insperity and that call, you know, that employee can talk to the, the person that’s assigned to them, that knows them, that knows their business and goes, oh, yeah, yeah. Here’s, here’s the answer to that in, you know, ten minutes, 15 minutes, they’re done. And you don’t even know about it because you’re on vacation and enjoying yourself and recharging and reconnecting. So then you would get back. You’re ready to work.

Speaker 6: Yes.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that. All right, so for those of you who are listening and you, you are ready to take your vacation, you should reach out to JJ and have a conversation. I promise it won’t hurt. He is a lot of fun to talk to. So tell.

Speaker 6: Give.

Trisha Stetzel: Us your email. Give us your email address one more time.

Speaker 6: Jj it’s j.

J.J. Hollie: Period J period Hollie hollie@insperity.com.

Speaker 6: Perfect.

Trisha Stetzel: This has been so much fun. Thank you for joining me today.

Speaker 6: Yeah, we.

J.J. Hollie: Always have fun conversations. This is really nice. Thank you for giving me the opportunity, I appreciate it.

Trisha Stetzel: Absolutely. All right you guys. That’s all the time we have for today. If you found value in this conversation, please share it with a fellow entrepreneur, veteran or Houston business leader ready to grow. Be sure to follow, rate and review the show. Of course, it helps us reach more bold business minds just like yours and your business, your leadership and your legacy are built one intentional step at a time. So stay inspired, stay focused, and keep building the business and the life you deserve.

Our Mission

We help local business leaders get the word out about the important work they’re doing to serve their market, their community, and their profession.

We support and celebrate business by sharing positive business stories that traditional media ignores. Some media leans left. Some media leans right. We lean business.

Sponsor a Show

Build Relationships and Grow Your Business. Click here for more details.

Partner With Us

Discover More Here

Terms and Conditions
Privacy Policy

Connect with us

Want to keep up with the latest in pro-business news across the network? Follow us on social media for the latest stories!

Business RadioX® Headquarters
1000 Abernathy Rd. NE
Building 400, Suite L-10
Sandy Springs, GA 30328

css.php