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BRX Pro Tip: 4 Ways to Prioritize

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BRX Pro Tips
BRX Pro Tip: 4 Ways to Prioritize
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BRX Pro Tip: 4 Ways to Prioritize

Stone Payton: Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, I think maybe we created this Pro Tip for my benefit because it’s a growth area for me, but what are some ways to really get our arms around this business of prioritizing?

Lee Kantor: A lot of people struggle with this, and here’s some techniques that you can use that help you find the one that works for you. But this is a great kind of portfolio of ideas when it comes to prioritizing.

Lee Kantor: The first thing you have to do is kind of just do a brain dump where you just list all the the stuff you have to do and all those things that are kind of weighing on you and just get them all down on paper so you can see them all.

Lee Kantor: And then, here’s four different types of strategies to prioritize. The first one is the eat the frog. And the thinking behind that is you do the hardest thing first, what’s the thing that’s going to have the most impact, the biggest bang for the buck. Just work on that and make sure that gets done each day. The second strategy is the ABC method, where you take all the tasks and then you kind of in your head, you just go, “Okay. What are all the A, B and C tasks? Which are the most important, second most important, and third most important?” And then, just work on the A’s, and then you go through that and then the B’s and the C’s.

Lee Kantor: The third strategy is the Eisenhower or the Eisenhower Matrix, or the Stephen Covey kind of matrix, where you’re putting tasks in one of four quadrants. You make a box, put four boxes within that one box, and then you delineate between important and urgent. And that’s another great way to kind of sort through your list of things you have to do and decide which are the most important.

Lee Kantor: And then, the last thing – one of my favorites – is called time boxing. And this is you take all those tasks and you just pop them right into your calendar and you just put them directly into the calendar, just put a time. And then, when you have a calendar and I know I lean heavily on mine, I look at my calendar every day and I know I do certain things at certain times. So, when the thing is in your calendar, you’re more likely to do it. So, you just take your task and just put them in the calendar, put scheduled time for them, and then knock them out the time you’ve scheduled.

Lois Rusco with TurningPoint Breast Cancer Rehabilitation and John Jackson with Christian Brothers Auto

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Chamber Spotlight
Lois Rusco with TurningPoint Breast Cancer Rehabilitation and John Jackson with Christian Brothers Auto
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Lois-RuscoLois Rusco has been an entrepreneur for more than 20 years. She has started and operated three profitable businesses. Recently, she sold her virtual office company and has focused on philanthropic engagement.

Lois has a BBA in Accounting and an MBA in Marketing/Management. Her background also includes work with large consumer packaged goods companies in accounting, finance, sales, marketing/brand management, and she also worked in public accounting (former CPA), and business consulting with BDO.

Lois has served TurningPoint as a volunteer, Board Member, and Treasurer on the Executive Committee, on staff as director of development and interim executive director prior to being named Executive Director on February 1, 2024.

She has supported TurningPoint through prior sponsorships and believes in its mission as she has family and friends who have and continue to battle breast cancer.

Follow TurningPoint on LinkedIn and Facebook.

John-JacksonNo matter what he has done professionally, John Jackson has always been in the people business. For several years, he was a pastor.

Two and a half years ago, after several years as The People Officer in the C Suite of a successful West Coast Tech Start Up, John decided he was ready for a change.

He was looking for a small business to purchase that would allow him to install and protect the culture of the business. Christian Brothers Automotive was the perfect fit.

John left the tech community of Nashville and moved to Atlanta where he purchased the Sandy Springs location. CBA-Sandy-Springs-logo

Connect with John on LinkedIn and follow CBA on Facebook.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studio in Sandy Springs, Georgia, it’s time for Chamber Spotlight, brought to you by CorpCare, your Employee Assistance program partner. Caring for them because we care about you. For more information, go to CorpCareApp.com. Now here’s your host.

Lola Okunola: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Chamber Spotlight Podcast, brought to you by CorpCare, an employee assistance program company. I’m your host, Lola Okunola. And today we have two special guests, Lois Rusco, the executive director at TurningPoint Breast Cancer Rehabilitation Center, and John Jackson, the owner of Christian Brothers Automotive, here in Sandy Springs. We’ll be discussing their organizations, what makes them unique, who should be their customer or who needs them. And we’ll be exploring any potential synergies between the two businesses. Welcome, Lois and John.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Lola Okunola: So, Lois, we’re going to start with you. Um, please tell us about TurningPoint Breast Cancer Rehabilitation Center. What makes you unique? I’ve heard bits and pieces here and there. But tell us. Tell our guests today and our listeners.

Lois Rusco: Absolutely. We are a 501 C3 charitable organization, and we provide rehabilitative services to breast cancer survivors along their journey. We promote and provide evidence based services. And so we have doctors of physical therapy on staff who are specially trained in oncology, physical therapy and helping breast cancer patients to move their arms, help them with lymphedema, help them with chording issues, things like that, but really here to help them just improve their overall quality of life and improve their breast cancer journey for a better result. In addition to physical therapy, we also provide one on one counseling and group support, and that’s also virtual as well as in person. We do nutritional counseling. We also do specialty oncology exercise and massage therapy. So it’s really a holistic approach to our care so that we can help that person get back to where they were, or even better than they were before they were diagnosed with breast cancer.

Lola Okunola: Wow, that sounds really thoughtful and impactful. Like, how did you how did this come about? Like was someone maybe the founder? Did they have a family member or something? Like, how did you think of this?

Lois Rusco: Yes. What what happened was our founder, who’s Jill Binkley. She is a two time breast cancer survivor and a physical therapist. She founded our organization 20 years ago because on her breast cancer journey, she could not find the care that she needed to be able to get back to raising her arms to even get a plate off a shelf or, um, you know, just everyday activities or even cooking or gardening. And she just found that there was a huge void in that area. So she developed Turning Point to address those needs. She started in a one room location in Dahlonega, and, um, she and another woman started the organization with physical therapy and massage therapy, and it’s grown ever since, over the last 20 years that we are providing all these extra services to, to help them through their journey.

Lola Okunola: So now you said you’ve grown. Um, are you still based in Dahlonega or I’m assuming you’re now maybe closer to Sandy Springs? Or who do you. We are actually.

Lois Rusco: In Sandy Springs. We have a clinic here in Sandy Springs, just off of Northridge and Highway nine. Okay. Um, We recently opened a satellite clinic in Atlanta, uh, that opened last year, um, around end of August. And that has been put in place to address the underserved needs of the black and LGBTQ communities in downtown and south Atlanta. And, um, we’re just really excited to have that location open. And all the patients that we’re seeing there are really incremental to what the patients that we see in Sandy Springs. So we’ve had a lot of growth even within the last nine months.

Lola Okunola: Wow, wow. That’s really interesting to hear. So I mean, I’m curious and I’m sure our listeners are too. I mean, you said it’s the numbers are incremental. So are things getting worse or better?

Lois Rusco: Well, no. Um, I guess you could look at it either way, but I say they’re getting better because people are getting diagnosed with breast cancer much earlier. Stage one, stage zero. Because of all the, um, breakthroughs that have been made in research and diagnostic testing. So we are seeing more patients earlier, which is going to bring a better outcome longer term if we see them earlier in their diagnosis. So yes, we’re seeing the growth. But and yes, there’s more people being diagnosed, but it’s good because it’s earlier and they’re catching it earlier. So the outcomes are much better longer term.

Lola Okunola: Okay okay. Well that’s good to good to know. Thank you for that. Um, one of the many benefits of being a chamber member is, first of all, being able to be on this podcast and then also, um, getting, um, free ads in our newsletter. And I know that Turning Point always has something going on. I have noticed that every month. So do you want to share some of those things, some of the the events that you have, why you do them? It sounds like it’s a lot of fundraising, but it also sounds like really, um, you know, fun events as well.

Lois Rusco: Yes, we do, uh, have a number of events throughout the year. And yes, they’re all very fun and I think they are anyway. But but, um, we kick the year off with a gala in March, and that’s our largest fundraising event of the year. We usually have 350 to 400 attendees. And, um, the money there goes towards our specific programs exercise, physical therapy, massage, those types of things as well as our operational support. And then we follow that up with a golf event in June, which we just finished, which was very successful this year. It was our second year. And that tournament benefited the Our Georgia outreach program, which goes to rural Georgia. Many people in rural Georgia don’t have great access to quality cancer care, and it could take them a long drive. They may not be able to afford to get to our clinic. So we have an outreach program to provide financial assistance as well as virtual appointments, or we can provide transportation assistance to get them to our clinics. So that golf event supported that initiative. And then we also have a pickleball event for the first time this year. It’s coming up in September. So we do appreciate being able to advertise those through the chamber. So you’ll be seeing that one too. But that’s going to be at September 21st, which is a Saturday. And then we finish out the year with a final golf event that we partner with, toys for tots, and it’s actually in December. So the weather, you never know what you’re going to get. But we always have a blast. Um, and that’s a really great event. Um, the pickleball and the golf event in December, uh, we raise money to keep our operations open and to also fund our Atlantic clinic. So lots of fun times.

Lola Okunola: Yeah, lots of fun events, but for an amazing cause to.

Lois Rusco: Yes, very much so. Yeah. To to help these breast cancer patients is just it’s really rewarding. And to see them improve as they go through their treatments and therapies is just amazing.

Lola Okunola: Wow. Thank you. Thank you for all you’re doing. Um, Lois, we thank you for sharing that. Thank you very much. Um, now we’re going to move to John, and we’ll come back to you again, Lois. Um, John, thank you again for coming. Um, and finally, we’re getting to do this. I know you’ve been wanting to be a guest, and and I’m so happy that you can finally make this one. Um, tell us about Christian Brothers Automotive, Sandy Springs and what sets you apart. I mean, I don’t want to draw conclusions from the name, but I have a little idea. But I’m going to let you tell us.

John Jackson: Yeah, well, first of all, thank you. It’s a privilege to be able to have this opportunity. So thanks for having me. But the I think the brand distinctive. We’re a 40 year old a little over 40 year old nationwide brand about 300 locations nationwide. We’re a premium aftermarket, uh, auto repair service. So I think the thing that when people always ask me, okay, there’s repair services everywhere. What makes you guys a different. Um, the brand distinctive is you’ve already identified a little bit that it is a Christian brand. So we base it upon treat your neighbor like yourself. And I tell everybody that works in our team. Whoever walks in that door to our mother, brother, sister, father, we take care of their car like it was a family member. And that’s a little bit unique in our industry. I think most people walk into a car place, feel like I’m about to get screwed. Yeah. So their their defenses are up and all of that. And we work hard every day to deal with people with honesty, transparency and integrity. And I think that’s reflected. Now. We’ve got a 4.7 on Google with over a thousand views. If you go to look at that, most of those comments are about how they’re treated, the transparency, the honesty that we deal with people when they walk through the front door.

John Jackson: So we try to build relationships with people, not just fix their cars. And by doing that, build a relationship of trust that the perfect partner for us is somebody who truly wants to take care of their goal. And we become a partner with them in that of not over prescribing repairs or things like that that they don’t need, but providing for them good maintenance, good care for their cars. We’re all holding on to our cars a little bit longer, it seems these days with the pricing of cars. And so you want that car. I know you want that car last. And so we’re trying to do is help people as economically as possible to, to extend the life of their car, make sure that car is safe for them and their family as they’re driving in it. So that would be the huge brand distinction for us, is that we really do try to treat people the right way, treat them fairly, and do this industry in an honest and straightforward way.

Lola Okunola: That is so refreshing to hear. I mean, I the first time you told me about it, I was like, wow, that’s amazing. Um, we all I mean, in Atlanta, you cannot not have a car. I mean, right, so I mean your car and with the pricing of cars, as you said, I mean, it’s this expensive machinery. It’s an asset that you it has to run and you have to fix it. And that breaks down. It’s just nice to know that there is a company out there that’s really looking out for you. Are there any particular cars that you service or do you service all cars?

John Jackson: We service everything except we don’t do the EVs yet. The Teslas and things do work on the hybrids, but we don’t do the full EV components yet. That’s a whole nother category that we have some brands out in Colorado that are test marketing this, but so we’re working on the conventional parts.

Lola Okunola: Well, I mean, the EV discussion is probably another podcast.

John Jackson: That’s a whole nother podcast for sure, because.

Lola Okunola: I’m reading and seeing that a lot of car manufacturers are kind of dialing back on their EV. Um, production.

John Jackson: Yeah, I won’t even dive into that. But let’s schedule another call and.

Lola Okunola: Wow.

John Jackson: All those reasons on another call.

Lola Okunola: Yeah. Well, tell us, um, tell us exactly where you’re located. And just maybe a few tips, you know, for car owners. Like what? What are the things that they should pay attention to? You know, some people are really good with maintaining their vehicles and some people are really bad. Like they wait for the check engine light to come on. I don’t think you’re supposed to do that. Right. So, like, what are those key. Give us some quick things that people need to to do and know when to call you.

John Jackson: Okay. Well, first of all, location. We’re we’re on the north side of Sandy Springs. We’re about a mile south of the Chattahoochee, where it goes into Roswell. So we’re at the northern end of Sandy Springs, um, up near the north exit that, uh, Lois referenced. So we’re not each other, uh, I found. And secondly, I think the main tip is change your oil. You’d be amazed how many people just kind of ignore that every thousand miles. It’s not that expensive. But that is the lifeblood of your vehicle. And then the other thing is, is it’s all about your authority and your position on your vehicle. But understand these are regimes and that they run and they there’s multiple fluids that go through that, those engines and components and those things wear out over time. And if you just drive them until it breaks, it’s probably going to be a more expensive repair if you maintain it like you would your home, or so you know. We look at this as like for many people, this is probably the second most expensive investment you make in life.

John Jackson: You’ve got a home and then you go to your car. So it’s something that we feel like, um, you would want to take really good care of. And that’s where we can partner as the experts, the guys out that are able to step in. And we always, when you come in to do an oil change with us, we’ll give you a courtesy inspection and tell you about a life of all those fluids. We’ll check your filters for your brakes, your wipers, all those things that are just kind of nuisance maintenance issues that people don’t really address until they break. Um, we can tell you about where they are in the lifespan of those issues. So that would probably be one of the bigger things. You just kind of stay aware and maintain slowly along as you go, instead of waiting for the massive breakdown that then you go, oh my gosh, it’s going to cost this much money to repair my car. Yes, it’s expensive to do that. So it’s it’s cheaper actually to maintain it than, than it is to do the big repair.

Lola Okunola: It’s a great tip. Thank you so much for sharing. Um, so now I want to talk about, first of all, I see that given, you know, your respective businesses, I can already point out some similarities and you might not see it, but everybody has a car. I’m gonna assume everybody in Atlanta has a car. Everyone on this call has a car. Most of our listeners do. And then on, fortunately, everyone knows someone that’s dealing with or that has dealt with breast cancer. Um, you are both very passionate about doing things the right way and caring for people. Do you see any way that you could potentially work together? I mean, being that you’re close by Lois and them need turning. Turning point. Um, need some, you know, funding. And, you know you are all about good causes. Is there any way that you could work together? Potentially. And sometimes, you know, on these calls there really isn’t any real synergy. But sometimes we find synergy in places that we didn’t even expect. You know, maybe it’s some sort of drive that you help promote, um, John or something that you, that turning point does with, um, Christian Brothers? No pressure. But do you see anything?

Lois Rusco: I actually do.

Lola Okunola: Okay.

Lois Rusco: I do. I passed by your building every day on the way to the clinic.

Lola Okunola: Oh, wow. Look at that.

John Jackson: Why haven’t you stop, Lois?

Lois Rusco: Because my car just now has 3500 miles on it. So I will come in and get an oil change.

John Jackson: Okay.

Lola Okunola: I was going to say she’s waiting for the check engine light to come on.

Lois Rusco: No, I actually don’t do that. But anyway, I see some synergies, honestly. Um, I’m a faith based individual, and the reason I’m here at Turning Point, I believe, is because I was led here. I was always in an entrepreneur or consumer packaged goods. And so I just thought it was interesting when you were the one on the call this morning, I’m like.

Lois Rusco: Somehow we’re being brought together, but I think there’s a synergy just because of how you want to care for your customers. We want to do and provide the best patient experience. And I think there’s a huge synergy there, just how you treat people and how you want to work with others is really how we want to do that as well. So I see that as a synergy. And of course we can always use funding. Um, one of the things that we’re looking at now is getting a little more creative with how we fund and doing more corporate partnerships, and we’re just kind of kicking this off. But we’re looking for people to be a transportation partner. For example, we pay for folks to get here, Although many people have a car, we do have a lot of patients in Atlanta that don’t. And or they’re they’re not able to drive. So we provide transportation assistance through Lyft or Marta to get them to our facility and to get them back home. So that could be a way that we could partner. Um, I don’t know. That was just one of my thoughts, but, um, I just think you’re from what you explained with your organization. I really think that we kind of have the same mindset and want to, um, lead our organizations in the same manner.

John Jackson: Absolutely. First of all, I love that because I agree, not every organization is committed to excellence. So it’s really kind of a bright, shining star when you’re finding other people that are that are really making that attempt day after day. Yeah, I love that part of it. Um, but I think the faith component drives who we are as well. Um, we as a brand. And I don’t have a date for you yet, Lola. But in November, our brand nationwide does what we call a national day of service. And we reach out to organizations like Turning Point, like churches, like other area ministries that have qualified people who are kind of at risk. And my guys come in and volunteer their day. My vendors donate parts, and we do free service on cars for women, single moms, people who are at risk in the community.

Lola Okunola: That is so amazing.

John Jackson: Yes, it’s an annual event once a year and I’ll get you the date when we lock on it in November. Another thing we do, we’ve actually I’m going to say this very carefully because one of our owners said it on the news recently and everybody started calling, we’re the free cars. We don’t have a ton of free cars, but we do frequently, um, people will donate a good used vehicle. It’s got some mileage on it, it needs some repair and things like that. They’re moving on to a newer vehicle, but it’s not a junkyard car either. And we will invest from our foundation in the repairs of that vehicle. And we have in the last year, given away two free cars to moms who, um. And I’ll just this is one of the more moving stories for me. Um, a church in down in Atlanta was rescuing a woman that had been sex trafficked, and she was trying to get out of that. She had a couple of small kids, and she got a job. She’s getting her life together, and her engine blew up. And these guys call me and said, can you help? And I said, I don’t have anything on my life.

John Jackson: Let me check. So I sent an email. There’s 17 of us in Atlanta to, uh, the other owners around town. And one of the guys said, you’re not going to believe this. We just finished working on a car. The lady we’re going to give it to, circumstances changed you and made it within 24 hours. We handed that woman a key to a brand new car. Not a brand new, but for her, a new car that she was able to continue at her job, take care of her kids, and keep getting her footing in life where it needs to be. So it’s fun for us to be able to not. We don’t want to be a garage in the community. We want to be a light in the community. So it’s not just fixing cars with people. It’s, um, looking for opportunities, our brand distinctive is called the nice difference that we try to find ways to not just fix your car, but help you, uh, and as you come across our path, if there’s ways that we can be of assistance, we try to go the extra mile to help people that way.

Lois Rusco: That’s wonderful.

Lola Okunola: I am blown away. That is amazing.

Lois Rusco: It’s amazing what you’re doing. That’s great.

John Jackson: I love to hear from Lois. In November, she started up a couple of ladies for me that need some free service on their car, so.

Lois Rusco: I’m sure that we might have some of those that would really, really appreciate that. And, you know, we can always use volunteers. We have all these events that we do. We’re always looking for volunteers. So there could be some synergies there as well. But I would gladly tell people about your service. And um, and if there is an opportunity, if we hear about it, we could maybe refer to you and just see what could happen there. Awesome.

Lola Okunola: Yeah, um, John, please, if you, I would love for you to share that information with me. I would love to put it out there, if that’s okay with you. Um, just, you know, so we can partner with you and help you in any kind of way. That’s really amazing.

John Jackson: Like I said, we don’t have a date yet. We we normally always do it late Fall, something like that. So I will definitely be in touch with you about it.

Lola Okunola: Yeah. See? Look at that. We always think there are no synergies and then we find it.

John Jackson: Breast cancer recovery and garages. Whoo!

Lois Rusco: Yeah, I know.

Lola Okunola: Who would think?

Lois Rusco: One of the other things we may be able to work on as well is we are. We need awareness. We need people to know that we’re here. We’ve been here for 20 years, and the first thing people say is, I’ve never heard of you. So if there’s a way that we could just get our information to your employees that might benefit in this area because we do, um, treat in Georgia, but we also have that virtual program where we’re licensed in Tennessee, North and South Carolina as well. If you have, um, locations in those areas, it might be beneficial. Um, for the folks within your organization. Either they might have it or may have a family member that could benefit. So if there’s something there just to get the word out, um, to folks, that would be great too. Awesome.

Lola Okunola: Okay, well, is there anything else? I mean, I want you to to take this opportunity to, um, give out your contact details, your address so people that are listening know exactly where you are and you know how to how to get more information. Just before we wrap up, Lois, do you want to….

John Jackson: Lois, do you want to go first?

Lois Rusco: Sure I will.

Lois Rusco: Yeah. We’re, um, our Sandy Springs clinic is located at 8010 Roswell Road, and we’re in suite 120, and that’s Atlanta. And then my email address if people want to contact me for any more information, it’s l r u s c o at my turning point. Org and then our clinic phone number is (770) 360-9271. And we’re open Monday to Friday 730 to 630.

Lola Okunola: Awesome. John.

John Jackson: Okay, uh, we are at 8630 Roswell Road, right down the road. Did not realize this. Um, and my email is John J. Owen Jackson at CB auto dot net. Uh, you can reach us at the office here at (770) 992-0906. And I think it was that it we just given info.

Lola Okunola: Are you open every day?

John Jackson: Great question. We’re open from 7 to 6, Monday to Friday. Uh, we are not open on Saturday or Sunday. We believe in work life balance for our team.

Lola Okunola: I’m not surprised, John. I’m not surprised.

Lola Okunola: Wow. It has been such a pleasure. Thank you both so much for joining us today. Um, thank you for sharing your incredible work. And I mean that like, incredible work. Thank you to our listeners. Thank you for tuning in to the Chamber Spotlight Podcast, brought to you by CorpCare. Until next time. Take care.

John Jackson: Thank you.

Lois Rusco: Thank you.

 

BRX Pro Tip: 5 Free Courses to Upskill Your Online Marketing

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BRX Pro Tips
BRX Pro Tip: 5 Free Courses to Upskill Your Online Marketing
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BRX Pro Tip: 5 Free Courses to Upskill Your Online Marketing

Stone Payton: And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, today’s topic, upskilling your online marketing.

Lee Kantor: This a great time when it comes to learning. There are so many opportunities for folks to get more skills when it comes to, especially, online marketing. Here’s five places to go where you can get some more classes, you can learn more, you can get certifications. These are all things that can help you, especially if you’re young and you’re trying to kind of change careers or just get deeper into a marketing career. But here’s some places you can go.

Lee Kantor: Number one, Google has an Academy. Google has some learning online classes where you can learn about AdWords, you can learn about all kinds of Google things. So, you can go to Google and they have free courses. Meta, which is Facebook and Instagram, they also have free courses you can take. LinkedIn has some courses, some of them are free, some of them you have to pay for.

Lee Kantor: Four, TikTok Academy, that’s another one where they have a bunch of classes to be good at TikTok that will help you kind of up your TikTok game. And lastly, and probably most importantly, is HubSpot, which is a great tool, that allegedly in talks with Google to be bought. But HubSpot is another place where you can go, and they have a ton of free courses where you can become a ninja at HubSpot, and then you can use those skills to get more clients depending on what your career is.

Lee Kantor: So, those are five places you can go. There’s a lot of other places. A lot of the email marketing or email marketing automation tools have free courses that you can take to become a ninja in them, so you can check that out as well. But these free courses typically have some sort of certificate or certification of completion. And then, you can put that, add that to your resume or add it to your skills on LinkedIn, and it’ll help you maybe get hired.

Lee Kantor: So, those are places I would look if I was in marketing, especially, and/or if I wanted to get into marketing, I would start kind of stacking some of these skills and some of these certifications in order to make myself more marketable.

Leadership, Creativity, and Inclusive Branding, Celebrating Women of Color Business Owners

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Women in Motion
Leadership, Creativity, and Inclusive Branding, Celebrating Women of Color Business Owners
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In this episode of Women in Motion, host Lee Kantor interviews Crystal Whiteaker, founder of Crystal Lily Creative. Crystal discusses her journey from a corporate background to becoming an inclusive branding and leadership development consultant and photographer. She explains how her business helps brands and organizations create inclusive environments through brand messaging, photography, coaching, and training.

Crystal shares insights into the challenges her clients face, the importance of core values, and her aligned values framework. She also introduces her book, “Brave Leadership is a Choice,” as a resource for inclusive leadership.

Crystal-WhiteakerCrystal Whiteaker (she/her) is the Founder and CEO of Crystal Lily Creative, and Author of Brave Leadership is a Choice: An Inclusive Guide to Creating Belonging.

Crystal is a photographer by trade and an Inclusive Branding and Leadership Development Consultant who helps mission driven brands and leaders create values-aligned human-focused environments.

Crystal brings 20 years of practical, creative, relational, process driven experience across multiple industries. She is a self-described “corporate trained, creative hippie” who puts a strong focus on core values to help people connect, communicate and lead with belonging in mind. Crystal-Lily-Creative-logo

Recognized as the 2024 Empowerment Leader of the Year by BRA Network, Crystal cares deeply about diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging and is an advocate for leaders and organizations that provide resources and support for healing.

Beyond her work, Crystal enjoys spending time at the beach, connecting with people, and exploring new places.

Connect with Crystal on LinkedIn and follow Crystal Lily Creative on Instagram.

Music Provided by M PATH MUSIC

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios, it’s time for Women in Motion. Brought to you by WBEC-West. Join forces. Succeed together. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here, another episode of Women In Motion and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, WBEC-West. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on Women in Motion, we have Crystal Whiteaker with Crystal Lily Creative. Welcome.

Crystal Whiteaker: Thank you. Hello.

Lee Kantor: I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about Crystal Lily Creative. How are you serving folks?

Crystal Whiteaker: So, I am an L.A.-based inclusive branding and leadership development consultant, photographer by trade, and what I do is help brands, leaders, and organizations create inclusive, values aligned, human-focused environments through their brand messaging, photography, coaching, consulting, and training.

Lee Kantor: And what’s your backstory? How’d you get involved in this line of work?

Crystal Whiteaker: So, I have a corporate background, as many entrepreneurs tend to do, and I originally started a photography business. I had spent about a decade in corporate and decided that I really wanted to pursue more of a creative passion and built a very inclusive photography business, and initially worked in the wedding and event space.

Crystal Whiteaker: And people started asking me questions about how I was able to cultivate such a diverse representative photo business and I started working with other business owners and leaders to help them cultivate inclusive businesses as well. And I started getting invited to speak and host workshops, and it kind of snowballed from there. And given my intersectional identity, it really felt like the most aligned work that I had ever done, so I bundled everything together to create my consulting business.

Lee Kantor: Now, when folks come to you, what is kind of the challenge they’re having where you’re kind of the right person to help them?

Crystal Whiteaker: The number one reason that people usually come to me is because they want to make sure that they are creating an inclusive business, or if they work for organizations, that they’re creating inclusive environments that are aligned with their core values and really create space for everyone to find that sense of belonging.

Crystal Whiteaker: And there’s two reasons that folks will come to me. One reason will be because they’re wanting to be proactive and making sure that they are doing that from the outset. And then, the other reason is usually because something has happened where someone has been harmed or offended in a way, and it is detrimental to the reputation of the leader of the organization and they are looking to course correct.

Lee Kantor: So, what are some examples of an inclusive environment?

Crystal Whiteaker: Examples of an inclusive environment are environments where people are seen, heard, and understood. Their humanity is honored. They are able to be whole in their humanity and their diverse lived experiences are recognized.

Crystal Whiteaker: And especially when we think about within workplaces and organizations also accounting for accessibility. So, what does accessibility for people with disabilities look like? Is your organization inclusive and accepting of the LGBTQ+ community? Is there a zero tolerance policy for things like bigotry and racism? So, really being mindful that most organizations are usually a melting pot, and making sure that everyone is able to bring their whole selves to work without worrying about how they’re going to be treated because of how they present.

Lee Kantor: So, if somebody comes up to you and says, “Crystal, we need some help in this area,” what does that first kind of meeting look like? What are some of the questions you’re asking them and what are some of the questions they’re asking you?

Crystal Whiteaker: Sure. So, the questions that I am asking them is, first and foremost, what is the reasons that you’re wanting to bring someone in to do this work together? What work has been done up to this point? You know, even if it’s as simple as reading books or reading articles, things of that nature. I will ask about the demographics of the organization. What does the leadership look like? What is the leadership team comprised of? I will also ask about values. What are the organization’s values?

Crystal Whiteaker: Because the way in which I work with people is helping to cultivate inclusive environments and experience through the lens of core values, because that tends to click with people a little easier, because it should be something that is intrinsic to the organization, not just an add-on, a box that has been checked of we have diverse hires, we have diverse leadership in place. But, really, how is inclusion showing up through the overall values of the organization? Meaning, is inclusivity embedded in your systems and your processes, not just the front facing checkbox items that people typically go to first.

Crystal Whiteaker: And people usually ask me what my approach is, what they can expect in terms of time commitment, and how they need to prepare themselves or their team if they have a team, and we go from there. It’s usually an initial conversation of about half-an-hour, and I’ll send them a proposal, they’ll get time to review it. And we usually have a follow up conversation to answer any clarifying questions and determine if it’s a good fit.

Lee Kantor: And what would a deliverable be?

Crystal Whiteaker: It varies. It depends on the organization. So, if I were to work on a longer term consulting project with a client, the deliverable could be as in-depth as reviewing and refining all of their messaging and their processes from things on their website, what’s happening on their social media accounts if they use social media, what messaging happens even down to their newsletter communications, internal processes, organizational structure. What processes are in place for your overall operations and management? And what is the process for my client’s clients from start to finish, what does that look like? And how can we make sure that’s being done with an inclusive lens? That’s for a larger scale full scope project.

Crystal Whiteaker: And because of the photography component that clients are able to add-on if they want to also take it a step further to ensure that their visuals are also inclusive, then they have the option to include custom brand photography.

Lee Kantor: Is there a story you can share maybe that illustrates how you came in and helped an organization? You don’t have to name the name of the organization, but maybe share the challenge that they were going through and how you were able to help them get to a new level.

Crystal Whiteaker: Sure. So, actually, I’m in the process of wrapping up a project right now with a client who they came to me in more dire circumstances. I want to make sure I’m not identifying the client, being respectful of them. They were in a situation where they had made some decisions that ultimately ended up being perceived as blatant disregard for people in the Black community and were perceived to be racist.

Crystal Whiteaker: And they needed support to really review their overall practices, their decision making, refining their values, and really doing a deeper examination of their leadership and how they were making decisions, and their overall awareness of harmful belief systems and policies really disrupting and identifying implicit biases so that they could ensure that who they were at the core, they were not a racist organization. They made some really poor decisions that reflected as such.

Crystal Whiteaker: So, really helping them to make sure that the decisions and the messaging that they are putting out moving forward is reflective of who they are at their core, and that they can take space to pause and really evaluate the decisions that they make before choosing to move forward with certain events or activities.

Lee Kantor: Now, why was it important for you and your organization to become part of WBEC-West?

Crystal Whiteaker: For me, I wanted to be a part of an organization where women business owners are uplifted and supported, and there are opportunities across a range of areas from support with funding to expanding business, and being able to connect and network with other like-minded folks. Because business ownership is hard enough, and being a very values-centric, more human-focused business owner, it breaks a little bit from the traditional norms of business. So, wanting to connect with people who may have those same like-minded ideals.

Lee Kantor: Now, you mentioned values, can you explain your Aligned Values Framework?

Crystal Whiteaker: Sure. So, this is a framework that I developed to support clients, and I use at least a component of it in all of the services that I offer. And this framework is really designed to take clients through six core steps.

Crystal Whiteaker: So, the first step is to help folks really clarify inclusion around language messaging and help them identify shared language in their own businesses if they want to make sure they are being mindful of through that inclusive lens. Then, really helping them to connect to who they are as leaders and how they expect others to connect in the environments that they are participating in, help them get rooted in their core values so that they can not only lead through their values, but also build relationships that are in alignment with their values, so that as their businesses and their brands grow, they’re in a space where they’re not expected to sacrifice their boundaries or anyone else’s, and really get them to a space where they can manage discomfort as they examine and identify any implicit biases. And we work on bias in three different levels, personal, professional, and community bias.

Crystal Whiteaker: And then, the last two steps are embody, so how can they embody a leadership style that is reflective of their core values. And then, the last piece is create, how can they create messaging and environments that are reflective of their core values through written, verbal, visual, and behavioral.

Lee Kantor: Now, is there an ideal client profile you have? Is there a niche that you serve?

Crystal Whiteaker: Not so much a niche, but what I do know is that the clients who work best with me and my framework and my approach are people who are detail-oriented. They often identify as highly empathetic and they sometimes identify as neurodivergent clients as well. And they want to make sure that they are cultivating spaces that are inclusive and trauma informed.

Crystal Whiteaker: So, a lot of the spaces that my clients work in are people who are creatives. They’re empathetic, curious creatives themselves. They work in mindfulness spaces. So, I’ve worked with a lot of therapists, florists – which is really interesting – and other coaches, specifically coaches who lead through a trauma informed holistic lens. And, also – I’m trying to think. There’s one other area – planners, people in the events space, and also people who work in other diversity, equity, inclusion spaces.

Lee Kantor: And what was the impetus to write your book, Brave Leadership is a Choice: An Inclusive Guide to Creating Belonging?

Crystal Whiteaker: People asked, and I also wanted to create an accessible, digestible way for people to be able to utilize and apply my frameworks and teachings for those folks who maybe couldn’t work with me directly.

Lee Kantor: So, is that a good place to start when they’re learning about you and your firm to go to the book and maybe buy the book and read that to understand a little more?

Crystal Whiteaker: Yeah. I would say that’s definitely a good place to start.

Lee Kantor: So, if somebody wanted to learn more and have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on the team, what is the website? What is the best way to connect with you?

Crystal Whiteaker: You can visit the website, which is crystallily.co, and that’s C-R-Y-S-T-A-L-L-I-L-Y.C-O.

Lee Kantor: Well, Crystal, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Crystal Whiteaker: Thank you for having me.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Women In Motion.

 

BRX Pro Tip: 6 Strategies to Market Your Podcast

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BRX Pro Tips
BRX Pro Tip: 6 Strategies to Market Your Podcast
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BRX Pro Tip: 6 Strategies to Market Your Podcast

Stone Payton: Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, today’s topic, effectively marketing your podcast.

Lee Kantor: I think if you’re going to do the work to create a podcast, it’s important to kind of make sure that it gets out there to as many places as possible so people can find the content.

Lee Kantor: The first thing I would do when it comes to marketing the podcast is make sure that you’re distributing the podcast to all the platforms, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, Amazon, iHeart, et cetera. Make sure you’re submitting them to all of them. Or if it’s one of the podcast platforms that scrape, make sure that they have the right RSS feed to scrape from you.

Lee Kantor: Second, make sure you have good episode titles. You want to have episode titles that say something about the content. So, you don’t want it to be Episode Number 106. That’s not a great episode title. A better episode title is Six Ways to Market Your Podcast. That’s a better episode title.

Lee Kantor: Third, transcribe each episode. Make sure that you get all of those words digital text in the post so it can be found through all the search engines. Because the search engines right now don’t do a great job scraping the audio, so they need the digital text, and if you transcribe it, you will have it.

Lee Kantor: Number four is create some show notes and make sure that that includes the contact information for the guest, because you want the guest to be found and you want them to be found on your podcast.

Lee Kantor: Number five, make sure your guests are sharing valuable information and advice. If you’re not teeing up your guest to share valuable information and advice, they are not going to share the content. So, the more you can put the spotlight in a positive way on your guest, the more likely it is that they will share the episode on their socials.

Lee Kantor: And finally, number six, make sure you do share the content on your socials. Pick a social channel that you and your prospective clients use and post there regularly, post snippets, post the entire episodes, highlights, things like that. But make sure you’re choosing a social channel that your clients or potential clients are using, that is the one you should be using.

Winning with Diverse Talent Solutions, Celebrating Women of Color Business Owners

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Women in Motion
Women in Motion
Winning with Diverse Talent Solutions, Celebrating Women of Color Business Owners
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In this episode of Women in Motion, Lee Kantor interviews Kenida Lewis, founder of The Adinek Talent Group, a talent acquisition and staffing firm. Kenida discusses her firm’s services, including professional search, temporary help, and unique screening for corporations. She offers insights for employers and job candidates, emphasizing skill development and market trends. Kenida also highlights the benefits of being part of the WBENC community and shares her firm’s success in industries like hospitality and government.

Kenida-LewisKenida Lewis is a noteworthy talent acquisition and recruiting leader with a passion for helping companies connect with skilled, diverse talent. As founder and CEO of Adinek Talent Group, a firm that specializes in recruiting and talent acquisition and recruiting strategies, Kenida is able to bring her passion to fruition.

Recently noted as the Top 10 most influential people in Executive Hiring by CIO Magazine, Kenida leads Adinek Talent Group, by partnering with companies to provide a range of custom talent solutions, from recruiting executive talent, high volume sourcing/recruiting to RPO concepts.

Based in Las Vegas, NV the firm focuses on developing talent acquisition and staffing strategies to help organizations win with talent. Before launching Adinek Talent Group in 2020, Kenida served in various capacities in professional services, finance, hospitality and entertainment, including positions at M&I Bank, PNC Financial Services, Accenture and MGM Resorts International.

Follow The Adinek Talent Group on LinkedIn.

Music Provided by M PATH MUSIC

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios, it’s time for Women in Motion. Brought to you by WBEC-West. Join forces. Succeed together. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here, another episode of Women in Motion and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, WBEC-West. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on Women in Motion, we have Kenida Lewis with The Adinek Group. Welcome.

Kenida Lewis: Thank you so much. I’m so excited to be here.

Lee Kantor: Well, I am excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about your firm, how you’re serving folks.

Kenida Lewis: I am serving people by serving them with talent. We help organizations win with talent. We’ve been in business since 2020, although my experience spans almost 20 years if I can really say that, it’s kind of crazy to say, in talent acquisition and staffing and contingent workforce planning and also just workforce planning as well.

Kenida Lewis: So we started at the height of the pandemic. I knew I wanted to do some consulting work. I was unfortunately furloughed, probably like 90% of the U.S. And I was fortunate enough to pick up a client and they were in the essential worker space and they needed some help identifying people because of the churn because people would get sick and they would have to replace them and have to be out. So I was very instrumental in helping them to stay afloat, the operation to stay afloat. And I just kind of took it from there.

Kenida Lewis: So, the Adinek Group was born. We reincorporated in the great city of Las Vegas, in the state of Nevada. And we offer clients an array of services, so from professional search to temporary help to large-volume staffing. We were very fortunate recently to be a part of Super Bowl LVIII and provide staffing to some of the events that were there in the Las Vegas area. So that was very exciting. So that continues to forge forward our event and large and high-volume staffing segment.

Kenida Lewis: And then we also provide a unique screening service as well for corporations because as you know, unfortunately, it’s kind of a 50-50 workforce mix out there now. Just as many people as you see are getting hired and getting new roles, just as many are, conversely, being laid off. So, there’s a lot of great talent in the workforce right now.

Kenida Lewis: And so when you see a pretty exciting role that’s posted, there could be over two, 300 applications for just one role. I mean, just by my background and understanding of some of the pain points in the talent acquisition and recruiting space, we can go in and help screen those candidates very efficiently and effectively, pass them over to the recruiting team so we’re only trying to support or augment. We’re not trying to come in and eliminate anyone’s job. We just want to help.

Kenida Lewis: So, we’ve been fortunate to receive accolades for our successful work and for the placement. So, we hope to continue to do that. And I’m glad to tell people more about that today here on this podcast.

Lee Kantor: Well, let’s start giving some advice to both sides of this coin here. From the corporate side, what are some ways that you can make yourself attractive to candidates? How would you recommend a company kind of put the word out there when they’re trying to attract the right talent for their organization?

Kenida Lewis: Yeah, that’s a great question. And one of the first things I would do, the first things that happen is kind of the job description as well. I’m sure that you’re aware of. And, you know, what you can do, really, is to make sure it’s very inviting. Job descriptions have changed, and it’s not so much the standard format where there’s so much narrative that it’s very hard to get your – get a handle on. Now, it’s really exciting jargon and just really upbeat and positive narrative that today’s talent can identify with and, you know, they can understand and not be intimidated to comply with.

Kenida Lewis: Also, I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of a stat from a company’s perspective that men will look at a job description and they can only have two or three of the requirements that are on there, and they will apply. Women will look at the same job description, and they will feel like they have to check every single box that is on there before they apply. And I just want to make employers or corporations aware of the wording around job descriptions as well to make it inviting and attractive and unintimidating for candidates to apply. And that will broaden your talent pool as well.

Kenida Lewis: And the last thing I would like to make them aware of is that social media is such a powerful force. Way back when people started to incorporate a role called in the recruitment marketing space. So that was really to make sure that the jobs were viable, that they were plentiful, that they were being advertised on the right channels. Now, social media is just such a force to be reckoned with and how people interact with it. So some people or corporations may feel like LinkedIn is just the place to be. Maybe Facebook, really Instagram and TikTok and how you can get really creative with talking about a day in the life as it relates to the jobs that you have is just super important. It’s so relatable, and it brings such a great candidate pool to your organization.

Lee Kantor: Now, what would you say to the candidates out there that are struggling? Like I hear a lot of folks that are they apply for hundreds of jobs. They don’t get any interviews, or any kind of encouragement at all. They wonder if they’re even being kind of seen. Is there anything a candidate could do to stand out, or is it kind of a – is it even worth applying when there’s one of these mass job postings? Is it better to just use your network and kind of work your way into an organization that way?

Kenida Lewis: Very good question. Again, I would say both. You know, knowing someone is probably 60, 70% of the battle to be able to rise your skills and qualifications to the top of the pile. Now, what you do with that opportunity from there is completely on you. You probably hear this term going around now called nepo babies and, you know, people thinking that they’ve been given opportunities. Well, sometimes that’s what’s required. You know, not to say that we’re trying to, you know, I guess mull over anyone else that is any just as qualified or, you know, look over anyone else. But, if you do, if you are able to leverage your network, that is the number one way in order for you to rise to the top of the pile, specifically in today’s market.

Kenida Lewis: I would also say that applying for the job is also very necessary because a lot of times, specifically in roles that require very unique skill sets, you know, could be in engineering or something and technology, that, you know, they will look at every application that comes through. A lot of these large organizations have a pretty large recruiting team, and their job is to identify talent, and they’ve put metrics around the timeline that it takes from someone to apply for them to actually be in seat because as long as that position is open, it’s not making them any money. So that’s another thing that’s going on now that there are a lot of metrics that are being put in place around recruiters and that team to be able to identify the best talent in the most time-efficient way as possible.

Kenida Lewis: So I would say, number one, please leverage your network as much as possible. But please know that it’s still on you to shine during the interview process and take that very seriously, which I know most candidates do. And then, I would also encourage you to apply and be mindful. This is one trick as well that I try to – people that come to me and have questions about applying for jobs or, you know, I’ve looked everywhere and, you know, I can’t find what I’m looking for.

Kenida Lewis: If you apply, if a job has been opened for two weeks, let’s say that, the recruiter will go into that ATS, which stands for Applicant Tracking System, which is what you apply through online. And there is a list of applications. And typically what they will do is the first ones that they will look at are the first ones that come in. So if you apply two weeks later, you know, yours is kind of at the bottom of the pile. So they may have identified someone that has great skills, five or six people that have great skills that applied within the first two or three days. And so because they’re on a timeline or they have other things that they’re working on, they will move those five candidates through and one of them may get hired. So it may have nothing to do with your qualifications or anything. It could just all be a timing issue and just the massive amount of people that come through the requisition. So just be mindful that, you know, it is not their intention to ignore people. It just could be a timing issue. And they could have found some of the candidates that they’re looking for in that first stack of applications.

Lee Kantor: Now, what are you seeing from a trend standpoint? Are companies hiring more full-time employees? Are they going more contract? What is kind of the job market look like through your lens?

Kenida Lewis: You know, that’s – I would say I’ve been – you know, this is a very interesting time. So let’s just start there. I would say that what I’m seeing from a trend standpoint is that companies are still hiring in full-time capacities, let’s say that. But what I’m seeing as I’m scrolling through LinkedIn, I’m on there consistently, all job boards, professional organizations, is that people are finding new opportunities, but they aren’t what the traditional companies that we’re used to hearing like the Coca-Cola or the Pepsi’s or the Twitters or things, Microsoft, or Clorox or, you know, different – you know, you’re used to some household names. They’re very different names that I’ve never heard of, of companies. So some of these startups that have come to be years ago are really coming to fruition, or some people are branching off and doing very different things to be able to compete or take advantage of AI or all of the things that come in through with factory automation and, you know, engineering, those types of things.

Kenida Lewis: So what I am seeing, though, is on the flip side of that are the traditional or nontraditional candidates as I would like to call them, they are a lot more open to contract work, a lot more. I see a lot of candidates or employees that are looking now to transition out of some of the full-time roles because it’s very siloed. You do one thing, one job every day, which is great. It builds a specific skill set. You definitely get experience. You move through the organization, or at least that’s the hope. You get promotions and raises and those types of things.

Kenida Lewis: However, I’m seeing a great need for people and a hunger for them to diversify their skill set because there’s so much opportunity to be able to get new opportunities through social media and some of these other networks or, you know, the Amazon Marketplace. I was on a call today. Walmart has a marketplace where you can get on and sell products.

Kenida Lewis: So, individuals are definitely looking to be able to accept or identify more contract work because it gives them more work-life balance. It gives them an opportunity to diversify their income, and it also gives them an opportunity to expand their skill set beyond just a traditional role. And that’s a challenge for corporations because they still have somewhat of a very traditional model. You go into the work office every day. This is a full-time job. You’re, you know, 8 to 5, 7 to 5, whatever it is. You have after-work events, team building exercises, and then you have this candidate base that is definitely looking for remote work, work from home, and then also contract. So, very interesting times as far as employment trends.

Lee Kantor: Now, how important is it for candidates to just continuously update their skill set? For example, like AI is so popular that you can’t – every day some companies talking about it. Is it something that, if you’re a candidate, especially a young person, that you should be taking advantage of all these kinds of free certifications? Like from the, you know, LinkedIn or HubSpot or Google or Amazon has all these certifications you can get in all these different kind of skills. Is that something that should be just part of your – like, if you’re looking for work, is that should be – that should some of those activities be part of your workweek of just getting and acquiring more of these certifications?

Kenida Lewis: You know, I think it just depends on what the candidate is looking to do. If they feel a little bit unfulfilled in the work that they’re doing, or they feel like they want to do something a little different, I think that that is very important. There are a ton of opportunities for people to be able to tap into, to be able to expand their skill set.

Kenida Lewis: You know, Google has that. There’s coding opportunities. There’s things with AI. There’s also things with social media that you can get certified. You know, Amazon has classes. They have the – I’m going to lose my train of thought as to – AWS services that they have. They’re just tons of things. But it just all depends on what the candidate is interested in pursuing.

Kenida Lewis: What I’m seeing from a standpoint, as far as the certifications are concerned, honestly, is that people, the skills that they have, they’re deeming that those are enough because there are so many opportunities, you know, outside of the traditional workplace. And I think the traditional workplace has a significant amount of advantage as well. But there are so many opportunities outside of the traditional workplace that, you know, leverages, you know, marketplace, network marketing, social media, selling online, those types of things that are pretty easy and intuitive to pick up.

Kenida Lewis: So, I would just encourage anyone that there are tons of resources that are out there for you to upskill if that’s what you’re interested in doing. But then, you know, the resources and the ways to diversify income that are out there now are rather intuitive and it will definitely walk you through to just a new plethora of opportunities for you to take advantage of.

Lee Kantor: Now, when you’re looking for talent, is that part of the service you provide? Like do I, you know, work with you and you coach me? Or is it something that you’re just out there, like you work for the corporations and then you’re out there just kind of scouring LinkedIn and all your variety of places you go to find talent?

Kenida Lewis: We always say that we have three clients. We have the candidate, we have the organization, and then at the same time, we also have, you know, the hiring manager. I think in traditional recruiting, the client has been solely focused on the organization that’s paying the bill. We don’t feel that way. We feel like our product is people, and we take that very seriously.

Kenida Lewis: So we do take the time to do coaching as far as industries that they should be looking in if their resume looks presentable because we feel like that is also a reflection of us, and we also just think that it’s a great service to be able to coach individuals as to how they need to show up. Most people do a very good job with that, but just subtle things may make a difference that we may suggest. And also we have intimate knowledge of our clients. So anything that we can do to make them show up better, we will let them know that.

Kenida Lewis: What I have been getting a lot of now that I’ve been in business, people see me active on LinkedIn and the community and in other places, I just get a lot of people that say, you know, go talk to her. She’s great. Go have a conversation with her. You want a new career, you’re looking to do something different, you want to change, you want a new job, go talk to her.

Kenida Lewis: And I never really considered myself a career coach. But I just figured just through talking people as of late, talking to people as of late, and all of my experience, the nuggets that I give them are very valuable. So now we’ve turned that into, I would say, a mini product or service. So if someone has sent my way and they’re looking for suggestions around career coaching or next steps or new job opportunities, where should I look? I do provide a first consultation for free. That’s anywhere between 30 and 45 minutes for us to get the ball rolling.

Kenida Lewis: Then if you feel like this is something that you’re going to benefit from, we’ll talk about future sessions and what that looks like in hour increments. But as a complimentary service, we do resume review if we’re working with you and actively submitting you for one of the jobs that we have to our clients. So, any of the recruiters on my team or with my organization can help you show up so that you look your best and you have your best foot forward.

Lee Kantor: Now, can you share why it was important for you to become part of the WBEC-West community?

Kenida Lewis: Yeah. WBENC is an amazing organization. It is just filled with women entrepreneurs and, you know, corporate leaders that are championing for other women or all women to be successful. I had the opportunity to go to the WBEC-West procurement conference in Tucson last year, and I literally met people that I had been trying to connect with via social channels for months with no success. And I was like, oh, you know, there’s so and so working right there – by there. She’s a VP of procurement for this hotel company. And you get to network and talk with them. They also have a matchmaking session.

Kenida Lewis: So all of the services that you provide through the state and local government are assigned a NAIC code, if people are familiar with that, and they can match you with employers that are looking for your services. So you can go there. They have tables set up, and you can talk with people that are actually looking to procure the services that you have. They have just a plethora of events that thrust you in just a world of opportunity for your business to be successful, whether that comes from additional certifications if you’re looking for financing, if you’re looking for other resources, you know, operational channels. It’s just a wealth of information. And then also just the database that they have on file.

Kenida Lewis: So if you’re not in front of people or at a conference or at a networking event sponsored by WBEC-West, you can hop in the database and you can type in if you’re looking for someone at Hilton and all of those people will come up. And it’s almost like it’s a warm introduction versus just reaching out to someone on LinkedIn because you’re in this amazing networking group or organization and enterprise that people champion and really believe in. So it’s been nothing but a great resource for me. And I encourage anyone that is considering the opportunity to take advantage of it.

Lee Kantor: So what can we be doing for you? What do you need more of and how can we help?

Kenida Lewis: I would say at this point, it would behoove me to continue to try to take advantage of the opportunities to garner contracts. That’s what everyone is really looking for. Some people say, I need financing, I need this. Well, sometimes if you have the contracts, you know, financing becomes less important. So, really, we ways for people to continue to connect and continue to have great conversations with decision-makers to be able to garner contracts that are in, you know, my area of expertise so that I can continue to grow and I can continue to help other people.

Kenida Lewis: Our mission is people purpose placement. So we place people for and with a purpose, and we would like to continue to do that. And being exposed to other organizations that have great cultures would be amazing for us to connect with, to be able to place some of this amazing talent.

Lee Kantor: So is there a niche or a sweet spot or an industry that you work in or do most of your work in?

Kenida Lewis: We have been very successful in hospitality manufacturing. We’ve placed a ton of engineers, project managers, and engineering and manufacturing and construction hospitality across the board so that’s professional-level positions as well as high-volume positions. And then we’ve also been working in state and local government. And then most recently we launched our sports and entertainment high-volume division. So any of those areas would definitely benefit us.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on your team, what’s the website?

Kenida Lewis: It’s www.theadinekgroup.com. And just for humor, I know that The Adinek Group is a mouthful and people ask me how do you pronounce it? But actually, it is Kenida spelled backwards. So, just want people – some people pick up on it right away, and some people are just kind of like, what is it? And, you know, some people kind of mull over it. So that’s an easy way.

Kenida Lewis: We’re also on all social channels. We’re on Instagram, @theadinekgroup. We’re on LinkedIn as at The Adinek Group. We have a full page with our mission, vision, posts, resources, all those things in addition to the website. And we do have a small presence on TikTok. We could do better and we will, but you can find us in all of those places. So once again, it’s www.theadinekgroup.com.

Lee Kantor: Well, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work, and we appreciate you.

Kenida Lewis: And I appreciate you having me. It’s been such a pleasure. Thank you.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Women In Motion.

 

Janis Thornton with JT Fitness and Golf

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High Velocity Radio
Janis Thornton with JT Fitness and Golf
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Janis-ThorntonJanis Thornton loves to play golf and has been playing for over 20 years. She also has a passion for how our bodies move and wants everybody to age backwards. Janis is greedy, she wants all golfers to play golf well into their 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.

Janis owns JT Fitness and Golf, LLC, an online personal training company that specializes in Golf Fitness.

Janis worked in sick care for 25 years working in cardiac rehab and the pharmaceutical industry. Now she happily works in healthcare with her online business.

Janis has been featured in Golf Digest, has written a Golf Fitness Course and is working on a Golf Fitness book for Golfers. JT-Fitness-and-Golf-logo

Connect with Janis on LinkedIn, Facebook, X and Instagram.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Stone Payton: Welcome to the High Velocity Radio show, where we celebrate top performers producing better results in less time. Stone Payton here with you this afternoon. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast with JT Fitness and Golf. Janis Thornton. How are you?

Janis Thornton: I am doing great. Stone. Thank you so much for having me on.

Stone Payton: Well, it is a delight to have you on the show. I got a ton of questions. Janice, we probably won’t get to them all, but I think maybe a good place to start would be if you could share with me and our listeners kind of a broad perspective mission, purpose. What are you and your team really out there, out there trying to do for folks?

Janis Thornton: Well. So JT fitness and golf is all about helping people age backwards. I love working with golfers, especially since I am an avid golfer myself and being in my mid 50s, I want to be able to play golf well into my 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. So I want to help my fellow golfers be able to do the same thing. Because Stone, quite honestly, I’m going to admit it. I’m actually really greedy. I want to have friends to play golf with as I get older, and so if I can keep them healthy, that’s what I want to do.

Stone Payton: Well, based on that pursuit, I got to believe golf is a part of the answer. But I got to ask, what? What is the back story? How did you get into this line of work serving these kinds of people?

Janis Thornton: So I actually spent 25 years working in sick care, meaning I spent ten years working in cardiac rehab. I spent another 15 years working in the pharmaceutical industry. Therefore I saw a lot of illness. And quite honestly, I got tired of it. And I’ve always been, uh, working in with strength training, with being a personal trainer and just wanted to take my get out of sick care, start my own business. So that way I could really focus on working on the wellness side of things, because now I truly believe I do work in the wellness side of things instead of sick care.

Stone Payton: Well, what was that transition like? Was it were there some surprises, at least early on, making that transition from that world into this entrepreneurial world where you were doing completely your, your own thing?

Janis Thornton: Well, yeah, there definitely is challenges that go along with starting your own business. Uh, because when you go, at least I will speak for myself, starting working in working in corporate America and always kind of having someone guide you along because you always had a boss to becoming your own boss. I will say that was the hardest thing is just like learning how to truly build your own business has been challenging, fun, but challenging because there’s so much to learn about actually starting a business.

Speaker4: Absolutely. Well, now.

Stone Payton: That you’ve been at it a while, what are you finding the most rewarding? What’s the most fun about the work for you?

Janis Thornton: For me is when I can truly help someone make positive changes in their life. When they send me an email and they tell me how they’re able to do something that they weren’t able to do six months ago, or that they saw improvement in their golf swing or their hitting the ball farther down the fairway, or they can walk 18 holes now when they couldn’t. That makes my whole day knowing that I’ve just truly helped someone be better, healthy, healthier, wise and that they have a stronger mental attitude. Just it brings me great joy.

Stone Payton: So I, uh, I’d love to hear some more specifics about the work. And I will confess, I’m not a golfer, with the exception that I do play in a lot of these things where they where they have to let me hit the ball once on each nine for a fundraiser.

Janis Thornton: Yeah. Scramble.

Stone Payton: I love the environment. I love hanging out. I just never have invested the time and energy to get good at all at at golf. But I’m interested in in the, in the work and specifically like are there some unique challenges maybe to people in the golf world that are different above and beyond, or just different than maybe fitness challenges and other domains?

Janis Thornton: Well, golf is a one sided sport, so when you are playing golf, you can actually you really increase your risk for injury because you’re swinging right handed or you’re swinging left handed and you’ve got 100 swings, maybe on just one side. And over time, that puts a lot of pressure on your body and stress on your body. Uh, so when it comes to training for golf, you do have to make sure that you train both sides. And not that not everyone doesn’t need that. But we need to make sure that we reduce our risk for injury. And that’s where strength training really comes in. Um, to that golf or to that person. Now, I will say this, though, I feel like every individual should actually train like a golfer because in golf it’s a very rotational sport and we have to do rotational exercises. However, the general public, we sit a lot. We are riding in a car a lot during the day. We’re at the desk eight hours a day and we need to be training, like I said, training rotationally because think about it. Have you ever been working in your yard, or have you ever been just working in the house? All of a sudden you reach for something and your back tweaks? Oh yeah. You’re like, Holy crap, all I did was reach for something. Guess what? When you train rotationally and get rotational exercises into your workout routine, that’s going to reduce your risk of having that happen.

Stone Payton: Okay, it’s my show. So let’s talk about me for a minute.

Speaker4: Okay? Let’s talk about you for a minute.

Stone Payton: So I’ll be 61 next month. I haven’t played golf. I’m I think I’m reasonably fit. I walk around a lot in this little town that I, that I live in. I get some some exercise, hunting and fishing and that kind of thing. Uh, but if I were to come to you and you tell me if I just wouldn’t even be a viable candidate, but maybe I come to you and say, look, I want to continue to get fit. I want to find other ways to get and stay fit. Or maybe I just want to be better at these scramble tournaments or play a little customer golf. Can you kind of walk me through what our what our work together would look like, particularly in the early stages?

Janis Thornton: Yeah. So first of all, to get better at golf, you actually need to hire a PGA teaching instructor to help you hit the ball better. So I will preface that I do not give golf lessons. However, I’m sure you have a local PGA instructor that would happily help you with that. So yeah, I actually don’t. I do meet with people who are, uh, non-golfers as well. Um, and working with me is different than so when you work with me, it is all still on your time. So I have an app that you download onto your phone, and I push you workouts to that app so you’re able to do workouts at home or at a gym. Now the nice thing is, I have all how to videos that go with all of the exercises, so you’ll actually know what to do with each exercise. I find that a lot of people just want to be told what to do, and not necessarily that I want to meet you at 1:00 on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Uh, because a lot of times people say, oh, work got in the way, or my kids, I had to run them to the doctor.

Janis Thornton: I need to cancel. Well, this way I take out that excuse of whatever your excuse is that you can’t meet me for the day, but I still provide you with the workouts, and you’re able to schedule it into your schedule that best fits you. Plus, like, for example. Right now, you and I are three hours different. Well, let’s say you wanted to work out at 6 a.m.. Well, I hate to tell you, I’m not getting up at 3 a.m.. Sorry to work out with you. However, you would still be able to work out at 6 a.m. because you’ve got the workout that you want to do. Now, bonus! I’m always available to you once you’re my client. I’m available, so if you have questions, you need modifications, then that happens. And of course we do a fitness assessment at the beginning. And if I feel like you need some actual one on one time with me, we’ll set up zoom calls there. I will set up for about 5 to 10 sessions, just to make sure you feel comfortable, to be able to move forward into my app.

Stone Payton: I really like that. It sounds like you get the best of both worlds, where I can, on my own time, when it’s convenient for me, begin to implement the discipline, and I’ve got the access to sounds like videos and information that will help me on my own, but I can tap in and have conversations with you directly, even though, to your point, you know, I’m I’m two time zones away.

Speaker4: Right.

Speaker5: Yeah, exactly.

Stone Payton: I, I gotta believe well, this is true in my business, in the media business at the Business RadioX network. And it was certainly true in the training and consulting arena back when I had something closer to a real job. But there I got to believe that there are probably some myths, some mistakes, some misconceptions that maybe even a pattern that you you see over and over again. Are there some common myths, mistakes, misconceptions in your arena?

Janis Thornton: Well, definitely. When it comes, I think there’s a myth of strength training for a lot of people, and especially women, that will feel like, oh, if I do strength training, I’m going to get big and bulky. However, what people forget is as we get older, some of the things that we lose so much of is muscle mass. We lose balance. We lose strength, mobility, flexibility. Well, we need all of those things in order to age gracefully and age backwards. And that’s what my programs create for you and give you, is that you will increase your muscle mass, which is a good thing because it increases your metabolism. Because as we get older, that slows down. You’re going to increase your flexibility and mobility because I provide class like follow along videos for that, um, for you to do. Also, I improve your balance. And if you ever notice older people when they walk, look at the people who actually shuffle. So that means that they are scared, number one, and they don’t have the balance that they need to actually take steps or the strength. But guess what? When you do strength training strength, that there’s so much power in strength training, it’s crazy. And I just can’t express it enough how important it is to get strength training into your workout sessions. And my business loves to help you be able to do that easily.

Speaker4: Well, I’m glad.

Stone Payton: You’ve brought that out because I feel like I’ve had, um, females in my life, friends, family that were a little bit shy about the idea or had the wrong idea about the the impact, and apparently the very positive impact, if done properly, of females engaging in strength training.

Janis Thornton: Yeah. You don’t have to lift super heavy weights. I’m saying you’re not going to just lift three and 5 pound dumbbells, because guess what? Your groceries weigh more than that. Or your grandchild that you want to pick up weighs more than that. Um, however, you don’t have to be lifting 50 and 80 pound dumbbells either to get a great workout. There’s so many different ways that you can increase your strength that it’s, you know, you have to get away from that bodybuilder mentality. And that’s what I do because like I said, I love to train for golf. I feel like you do train a little bit differently. And my workouts, I make it fun. Uh, quite honestly, because it’s not all just strength training. I improve your strength with using, um, a swing trainer. I help increase your thoracic rotation with a device called the True Turn Pro. And all of these devices truly help your spine, help your joints, help your mobility and flexibility. So it’s just a lot of fun.

Stone Payton: Now, did you know right out of the box, or was it even part of the initial business plan? If you don’t mind sharing to to lean on technology, to have the app to have the virtual access?

Janis Thornton: So I will say it was because one of my friends that I had met who was a personal trainer, she had an online business and at the time I was creating mine and I was thinking, oh, this online thing will be great because she goes, genus, your clients can be anywhere and then you’re able to actually work from anywhere. And at the time I was traveling a lot with my husband and I’m like, what business can I have that I can travel with my husband still and still serve clients and online I can I’m able, I can be anywhere, they can be anywhere, and I’m still able to serve them.

Speaker4: So when.

Stone Payton: You. Yeah, absolutely. Congratulations on that. It sounds to me like you’ve cracked the code for exactly, uh, what you, what you wanted to do and how you wanted to to serve. So have you had the answer to this is certainly got to be. Yes, but I’m going to ask anyway. Have you had the benefit of one or more mentors as you’ve gotten your business up and off the ground and running to kind of help you navigate new terrain?

Speaker4: Oh yeah.

Janis Thornton: I try to have a lot of different mentors in my life. Uh, just because and from different avenues, not just in the fitness world, but like, right now I’m part of a mastermind group and have some great mentors there, just helping me guide how to create, really create this business and make it successful. I’m fortunate enough that, you know, people that I play golf with, some of the women that I play golf with are retired from corporate America, or they still are. They’ve starting their own business. And like one of my friends, she’s really good at operations, so she helps me out a lot, or just getting ideas from all these other people. It’s always fun. I have a bouncing. I’ve, like my board of directors, are all my golfing friends because I’m like, okay, I need my board. Help me with what do you think about this or this idea? You know, what should I do? And so it’s nice to have a lot of mentors and people in my life that I can bounce ideas off of.

Speaker4: Well, there’s.

Stone Payton: A pro tip right there. Establish a board.

Speaker5: Exactly. And you don’t.

Janis Thornton: Even have to pay for them to if you get the right people, which is nice, just play golf with them.

Speaker4: So, uh, how.

Stone Payton: Does the whole sales and marketing thing work for a practice like yours? Do you find that you are out there shaking the trees a little bit, or are you kind of getting to the point where it’s more inbound and sort of coming in over the over the transom or. Yeah, how do you like. The reason I’m asking is, I mean, this conversation you got me sold. Uh, you know, I don’t even play golf. Great. But how does the whole sales and marketing thing work in your world?

Janis Thornton: For me, it’s all about I do a lot of networking, so that way I can just meet people to share what I do with my business and then doing speaking engagements, doing this kind of thing, you know, getting on people’s podcasts, doing a lot of social media. Uh, I really do stick to LinkedIn, though, uh, for my social media. And then, you know, I try to write like a LinkedIn article or, for example, I have a e-book on my website that people can download. And then if you’re on my email list, you know, you can learn, get fitness tips, you know, 3 to 4 times a month. I promise I don’t inundate people with emails, uh, because I know some people do. Anyway, um, you know, I try just different ways to show my business and showcase my business.

Stone Payton: So what was that like, writing a writing a book? Did some parts of it come together a lot easier than others? I’m interested to hear about that experience.

Janis Thornton: So I’ve written a golf fitness course, um, for personal trainers. So I will say that was a task I did last year and it took me. I’m going to admit, it took me a good three months to really kind of plan out what I actually even wanted. And then I went into coming up with, okay, what do I want in it? What videos? And then it was just the process of shooting a videos that go into this course. And what content do I want to have in there? How do I want to make this course different than other golf fitness courses that are available to personal trainers to take? Uh, so it was it was fun, a lot of work. And now I’m going to take that course. And this year I’m actually going to be writing another. Well, I’ll be writing a book just on general golf fitness for the average person. So that way they can start incorporating more golf fitness into their lives.

Speaker4: Oh that’s fantastic. Yeah.

Janis Thornton: So I can’t.

Speaker4: Wait. Well, and I’m.

Stone Payton: Sure it’s a marvelous resource, the one you’ve already written and the one that you’re working toward for the reader. Did you also find that investing the time and energy to commit your ideas to paper did it? Um, I don’t know. Did it help you crystallize your own thinking and solidify, like, even equip you to be that much better in your counseling coaching support role? Did it make you that much better, a practitioner, having taken the time to kind of get it all down and lay it out like that.

Speaker5: I’m gonna say.

Janis Thornton: Absolutely. There was a course that I took and it was actually for a Pilates instructor course to become a mat instructor. And one of the lines that the lady that Tanya said in there was, if you want to become an expert, teach. And I thought I let that resonate for months in my head. And that was one of the things that really got me motivated to actually write the golf fitness course. I’m like, you know, I want to be better at what I do. So what did Tanya say? She said, teach, so why not create this course? And then I and then, you know, God works in mysterious ways, because then all of a sudden, last year, I had this physical therapist that I met on LinkedIn. He approached me and said, he goes, I’ve been following you on LinkedIn. You should write a golf fitness course. So I’m thinking, okay, this is just a little weird. However. And then in my mastermind group, they’re like really big on writing a book, writing something, publishing yourself. I’m like, okay, here we go. So to me it was like, this is meant to be. This was definitely meant to be.

Stone Payton: Now, you mentioned a little earlier in the conversation speaking, and that’s another area I’m kind of fascinated with. Was that daunting at first or were you a natural? Did you learn did you learn something about like mechanics of delivering a keynote or how did that all work for you?

Speaker5: Well, I will tell you.

Janis Thornton: If you knew me back in high school and college, I was incredibly shy. Quite honestly, I’m actually still kind of shy. If I’m in a room full of new people, I’m that person who likes to just sit back and observe and let everyone else do the talking. Uh, but once I get going, I’m good. Um, but I will say it still is daunting to me. I have to I’m an introvert. I have to gear up when I do a talk and get myself pumped up to really do it. However, I also know that I am the expert in the room and the information that I have is really good for people and they’ll be excited about it. So that’s what I focus more on to get me through, because I will give a secret away, because there might be someone else out there who’s like me, um, I get red and blotchy when I get really nervous. And so public speaking, I really have to gear myself up because I’m in front of a big group of people. It’s can be very daunting to me.

Stone Payton: So I don’t know when or how you would find the time, but I’m going to ask anyway. Interests, passions, pursuits outside the scope of this work that that you enjoy. You have a tendency to nerd out about that are kind of outside the scope of this fitness work. Like a lot of our listeners know that I like to hunt, fish and travel.

Speaker4: Mhm.

Janis Thornton: So I will say I definitely love to travel. And the deal is I’m married to a man who loves to play golf as well. He’s he’s more addicted to it than I am. So every vacation is around golf. I do play a lot of golf. Uh, because again I feel like I need to play golf. And so that way I can keep promoting what I do. Uh, but, you know. Sure. I love to go hiking. I love to, you know, be by the ocean, those kinds of things. Also, um, like I said, I do love to travel, so everything will be most of the time, though, centered around golf. That might sound boring, but I don’t want to injure myself trying downhill skiing or, you know, even hiking. I do love to hike. Um, however, I don’t do anything crazy just because I’d be really sad if I tripped and fell and broke a leg or hip or arm. That would be sad, because that means I won’t be able to play golf and I would be unhappy.

Speaker4: So what’s.

Stone Payton: Next? What’s on the horizon? You’ve mentioned pursuing this other book. Uh, any designs on continuing to scale the business or serve a different niche or anything like that? What’s what’s in the near future?

Janis Thornton: So I well, I’m really glad you asked that question because I’m about to launch five new courses, uh, which is very exciting. So they’re based around like if you have neck pain, there’s a course for that. If you have shoulder pain, I have a course for that. If there’s if you have back pain, there’s a course for that. If you’ve got hip or knee pain, I’ve got courses for that as well. And then I’ll even be coming out with a 28 day mobility challenge. And you do not have to be a golfer to take on any of those courses.

Speaker4: Well, I love.

Stone Payton: That you’re drilling down on these specific, uh, areas of challenge for people because it sounds like that you can really you can help specialize or even the, the individual, to some extent, with the right coaching and direction from you can can really personalize your fitness program and your specialized knowledge and expertise to address the exact challenges that they feel like they’re facing.

Speaker5: Mhm.

Janis Thornton: Absolutely. That’s what’s fun. So yeah I’m putting everything together right now. I have the neck course almost finished, almost ready to go. And then I’ll be working on the other four. And so hopefully in a few weeks they’ll all be finished.

Speaker4: Wow.

Stone Payton: You got a lot of irons in the fire Miss Janice.

Janis Thornton: I do, but it’s fun and it’s I love being able to be creative and just be able to help. I want to be able to help a lot of people and just be able to make them feel good. And again, as we get older, sometimes it just gets hard. However, when you do exercise on a regular basis and take care of your body, it’s amazing what it can do.

Speaker4: All right, before.

Stone Payton: We wrap, I’d love to leave our listeners, if we could, with 1 or 2 actionable pro tips. And look, gang, the number one pro tip is to to reach out and have a conversation or go tap into into Janice’s work. And that’s the number one pro tip. But sometime between now and then, if there’s something they can be doing, not doing, reading, thinking about, let’s leave them with a couple of pro tips as a result of just having kind of eavesdropped on this conversation.

Janis Thornton: So the first pro tip is to find movement that you enjoy. That’s you’re going to do on a regular basis, whether it’s with me or someone else or you love group classes, you love to hike outside. Whatever it is, find something that you would love to do each and every day. Because our body craves movement, the more you move, the better you’re going to feel. For those of you tip number two, for those of you who do have a desk job, please make sure that you get up from your desk every hour. Do walk around for even if it’s a couple of minutes, get some water. Make sure you’re filling your water glass each and every hour so you stay hydrated during the day. But get up. Do some stretches. You even do five squats at your desk something, but get movement throughout the day because they’re saying now sitting is the new smoking and it’s deadly to you. If you just sit all day because of it, then you’ve been you slept all night. You and might. If you lay on your side, you’re kind of in a fetal position. You sit in your car to go to work, then you sit at work. You sit in that. Car again to come home, and then you sit some more once you get home. So our bodies are made to move. So let’s get moving.

Speaker4: I am so.

Stone Payton: Glad that I asked and both tips are incredibly valuable for me. It makes me feel better, even more encouraged about, you know, like I, I really enjoy moving in the woods, so traipsing through the woods. While it’s something I thoroughly enjoy, it’s also getting me out there and moving. So. And that’s so yeah, that find something that a way to move that you enjoy. That’s a that’s a great tip. And you’re you’re so right I guess I hadn’t really thought about it. We I guess as a population we sit a lot more than our, our parents or our grandparents did.

Speaker5: Oh, absolutely.

Janis Thornton: And just to your point of view, hunting out in the woods. So here’s the other great thing that’s happening is you are out in Mother Nature. You are getting to just be because I have a feeling when you’re out there, you love being out there that it just brings calmness to you, that you’re like, this is the best. And that’s just something to, you know, appreciate when you’re driving down the road and you get to see a bunch of trees or the flowers or let’s say you’re hunting for that deer. You see it off in the distance. They’re cool. I mean, it’s great to be out in Mother Nature, so we all need to just slow down, stop and smell the roses and enjoy what’s around us.

Stone Payton: Amen. All right. What’s the best way for our listeners to tap into your work and connect with you?

Janis Thornton: The easiest way is going to be to go to JT fitness and Golf.com. And on my website you can schedule a call with me. You can go ahead and just check out my website and we can connect that way.

Stone Payton: Janice, it has been an absolute delight having you on the broadcast. Thank you for your insight, your perspective. Thank you for your enthusiasm. It just comes through over the airwaves. You are doing really important work and we sure appreciate you.

Janis Thornton: Well, Stone, thank you so much again for having me on. I greatly appreciate it.

Stone Payton: My pleasure. All right. Until next time. This is Stone Payton for our guest today, Janice Thornton with JT Fitness and Golf and everyone here at the Business RadioX family saying, we’ll see you in the fast lane.

 

BRX Pro Tip: How to Find a Mentor

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BRX Pro Tip: How to Find a Mentor
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BRX Pro Tip: How to Find a Mentor

Stone Payton: Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, I know in a lot of the interviews that I do in my studio, I will often ask if people have had the benefit of one or more mentors to help them navigate new terrain. What’s the best way to go about getting a mentor?

Lee Kantor: Finding a mentor is tricky, and a lot of people would like a mentor, but they don’t know how to go about getting a mentor. And it’s one of those things where you just can’t wait to for someone to go, “Hey, do you want to be mentored? I’d love to mentor you.” That’s just not going to happen.

Lee Kantor: So, you have to be proactive when it comes to finding a mentor. The first things you have to do is kind of do your research. Who’s doing what you want to do and they’re doing it in a manner that you respect and value. So, kind of get a list of potential mentors going, and then jump on LinkedIn and see if anybody knows that person, or if you know that person, try to get a warm introduction from somebody you know who is connected to them.

Lee Kantor: Then, get on Google, Amazon, Spotify, research all about them, read their books, articles, listen to podcasts are on. And then, remember that even if you never get to meet them or they don’t want to mentor you, you can still be mentored by them by reading all their stuff and listening to their content.

Lee Kantor: Something that Business RadioX operators have kind of a cheat code on is that we have the ability to invite potential mentors or potential people we want to partner with or work with as a guest on a show to learn more about them and build a relationship that way, so we have kind of an advantage when it comes to mentors or any other type of thought leader. We have the ability to invite them on a show and learn all about them and begin a relationship so that maybe one day we can do business together or maybe work together or mentor.

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