Business RadioX ®

Logan Lewis with Your Morning Drive

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Cherokee Business Radio
Logan Lewis with Your Morning Drive
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Logan-LewisIntroducing Logan Lewis, a marketing and podcasting professional.

When he isn’t working his corporate job, he dedicates his time to offering tailored marketing solutions for small business with his marketing company Hammerhead Creations, specializing in website development, social media management, and content creation.

Logan interviews a diverse range of individuals, including creators, business owners, musicians, professionals & anyone in between on his up-and-coming podcast, “Your Morning Drive”.

Leveraging Social Media and Video Marketing to Boost Real Estate Sales

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Leveraging Social Media and Video Marketing to Boost Real Estate Sales
Chamber Spotlight
Leveraging Social Media and Video Marketing to Boost Real Estate Sales
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In this episode of Chamber Spotlight, host Lola Okunola welcomes guests Johanna Stanley from Century 21 Connect Realty and Cam Jimenez from Social4Business. Johanna discusses her focus on the real estate market, particularly serving the Latino community and helping with relocations to Georgia. She emphasizes her commitment to community and personal connections in her work. Cam, a video strategist, explains the importance of creating targeted video content to help businesses achieve their goals on social media. The episode highlights the value of social media and video content in building relationships and marketing in the real estate industry.

Johanna-StanleyAs the trusted real estate advisor for her clients, Johanna Stanley understands that selling and or buying a home is complex and deeply personal. There is also a lot at stake financially and personally.

This perspective on the process and the responsibility felt towards her clients drives Johanna to truly commit and become better every day at what she does. Johanna understands the market, the players, and all the variables involved in a real estate transaction. She makes sure you feel supported and that you have a trusted advisor by your side.

As a seller, you want to effectively (and beautifully) market the home and then strategically negotiate to secure the highest/ best price, and cleanest term possible for the sale. As a buyer, you want a reliable, professional, and assertive partner to help you locate the right home, that will fulfill all your needs at the best price possible.

2019 was the beginning of Johanna’s real estate career, and she’s built her reputation by holding herself accountable and creating solid relationships with all her clients to assist them in the best way possible. Johanna and her team work hard to keep ahead of the curve, combining digital marketing, and innovating every time with all social media platforms, with the main purpose of keeping them up to date and always providing 100% effective service to you.

Connect with Johanna on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Cam-JimenezCam Jimenez is a video marketer with Social4Business. Social4Business is a video marketing agency located in Sandy Springs.

Established with a clear vision to revolutionize the realm of corporate video production, we specialize in crafting testimonial, promotional, training, and social media videos tailored for businesses. But we’re not just videographers.

We pride ourselves on being video strategists, seamlessly combining our expertise in both video creation and marketing to help business owners amplify their growth and solidify their social media footprint. Our mission?

To empower businesses with strategic video content that resonates, engages, and delivers results.

Follow Social4Business on Facebook and Instagram.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] 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: [00:00:29] Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of the Chamber Spotlight Podcast, proudly sponsored by CorpCare EAP. I’m your host, Lola Okunola, and today we have an exciting lineup of guests representing diverse industries. A big thank you again to CorpCare EAP for supporting our community. Now let’s jump into today’s conversation. Meet my guest, Johanna Stanley of Century 21 Connect Realty and Cam of Social4Business. We’re going to start with Johanna. Johanna, welcome to the show. I’m so excited to finally have you on.

Johanna Stanley: [00:01:15] Thank you Lola. For me, it’s it’s a pleasure. And it’s a it’s an honor to be here. Honestly, I cannot believe I need somebody to pinch me because this is exciting. Um, so. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for the invitation.

Lola Okunola: [00:01:29] Yeah. Thank you. I’ve been wanting to talk to you. I think everyone wants to know about the real estate market. I mean, we hear there, there’s so many realtors in town, but you do things a little differently, and I think, you know, you should share.

Johanna Stanley: [00:01:44] Yes. And that’s usually come out to be a very hard question because it’s like people is like, what do you do different? And honestly, in regards to, uh, business, there’s nothing different I do because it’s the same marketing, doing the same thing, filling out the same contract. But what would set me apart would be like always the heart for the community, the sense of community being there for people. Guide them, help them and just, you know, getting to know them. I feel like that’s the key to know what exactly they’re looking for. How can I best help them? It’s not making it all about me. You know, it’s my business and I’m doing this and doing that. No, it’s just how can I help them and to find their home? So yeah, a market is a little bit crazy right now. You know, with the interest going up and the whole market goes up. But you know, we’re coming into the season where, you know, people need to move. So it’s picking picking up a little bit more.

Lola Okunola: [00:02:39] Yeah we are getting into summer. So summer this is true. This people move mostly in the summertime.

Johanna Stanley: [00:02:46] Yeah. Yeah. Because I mean there’s a perfect time. The kids are out of school and they need to, you know, get the kids involved in the new school and stuff. So, um, we’re getting you know, Georgia is getting a lot of people that are relocating. They’re coming from out of state here. Yes. And, you know, it’s funny because for, you know, Georgia residents what it’s expensive for them a home here for them. It’s just like, oh my God this is so cheap, you know.

Lola Okunola: [00:03:12] Where are they coming from?

Johanna Stanley: [00:03:12] Usually New York LA ah. Which are those places that are you can find a one bedroom apartment or studio for a million, right. You know, you hear they can get a huge house, uh, decent house for, you know, 600,000 or something like that, depending on the location, of course. But yeah. So we are I mean, definitely, um, focusing a lot with relocation people that are coming from out of state. Um, and, um, yeah, I find that very, very interesting how, you know, like, for them, it’s just easier just to get it. I mean, Georgia has so much potential and so much opportunities for them as well that it’s just easy. Yeah. For them to make the decision. You know, weather is amazing. So I know.

Lola Okunola: [00:04:00] We do have good weather. So do you have a particular target market like is there is there do you have a niche. Is there is there someone you’re looking for in particular to help?

Johanna Stanley: [00:04:11] I do I mean, uh, my target audience basically, you know, like the Latino community, you know, I’m a Hispanic, I’m originally from Colombia. So I get, uh, very involved with them as well because, I mean, we have something in common, right? So that makes it easier for me. Um, although, you know, like, I’m able to help, you know, anybody that I built a relationship, anybody that trusts me, know me and wants to work with me, of course, I’m going to be more than happy and willing to help them as well. But yeah, I would say the Hispanic market, it’s a big, uh, target audience for me. Okay.

Lola Okunola: [00:04:46] That’s great. So what are the kinds of things that you would say are going on? Like, what are the hot topics in real estate right now other than the interest rate?

Johanna Stanley: [00:04:57] Well, uh, we said, um, yeah, the interest rate, the, the home price is going up. So. Yeah.

Lola Okunola: [00:05:02] Here in Georgia too. Right.

Johanna Stanley: [00:05:04] And then, um, you know, there’s a lot of room, a lot of things with, uh, um, with the lawsuit that was going on that now, the buyers are not they don’t have to.

Lola Okunola: [00:05:15] Pay the interest.

Johanna Stanley: [00:05:16] It’s not going to pay. No, no. The interest, the commission.

Lola Okunola: [00:05:18] Sorry. The commission.

Johanna Stanley: [00:05:20] The commission. So does that.

Lola Okunola: [00:05:21] Pass?

Johanna Stanley: [00:05:22] Like the, uh, I guess they got they got a settlement. They won a settlement. But then, um, they haven’t it’s not signed here in Georgia yet, but they are about in June. I think it’s in June. It’s going to take place. Wow. Yeah.

Lola Okunola: [00:05:36] So how will that changed your view about this profession?

Johanna Stanley: [00:05:40] Well, it’s been always that way. I mean, it never changed. The seller has never been obligated to pay us a buyer commission. Buyer’s agent commission. It’s never been obligated. It’s just never. I mean, it helped them to you get people into the house. So it’s it’s a strategy that has been used forever. So I feel like everything like, you know, it comes to a change. You know, it’s a, it’s a, it’s a, it’s a evolution, so to speak. Right? Where uh, just like corona when it came corona, there’s so many things happen. And then everything started going back to normal. So now we’re seeing this, uh, people talking. Oh, we’re not, you know, the, uh, buyer’s agents, how they’re going to get paid. They’re going to work for free. I mean, nobody works for free, right? So, uh, there is a strategies. There’s always negotiation. It’s opportunity negotiation when you find your buyer, your seller, and it’s just a mutual agreement. So and it’s always been that way, and I’m sure I’m 100% sure that it’s going to continue being the same way. So it’s nothing to fear. I feel like, you know, as long as you know your audience as you’re doing your work, marketing yourself, um, everybody’s, you know, you should be fine. Okay. Yeah.

Lola Okunola: [00:06:54] Great. Well, thank you. Thank you for sharing that. Um, I’ll come back to you again shortly, but we’re going to pivot to Cam of Social4Business. Cam is a video strategist, not to be mistaken with a videographer. He does videos differently. Cam welcome. Tell us about what you do. Cam does our videos. By the way if you follow us on social, all our cool videos are done by him. Cam welcome.

Cam Jimenez: [00:07:26] Thank you Lola for having me. It’s a pleasure to be here. Uh, so just to get started with that difference between a videographer and a video strategist. So a videographer is someone that you pay, uh, some amount of money to shoot a video. So you usually tell them, hey, I need this video. You pay them, they shoot it, they edit it, they give it to you, and off they go. As a video strategist myself, what I try to do is just to get as involved as possible with your business, so I can put together a strategy with different types of videos that are going to help you achieve your goals, whatever those goals are, whether you want to increase your awareness on social media, if you want to hire people, if you want to shoot email marketing videos like the ones that we do for the Santa Springs Chamber of Commerce, anything that you want, there’s a video that you can use to achieve those goals. So that’s basically what I do.

Lola Okunola: [00:08:19] Yeah. But you do you you not only, um, shoot the videos like, you know, what’s catchy, what’s going to captivate the audience about how long the video needs to be, where you need to stand, what you need to wear, what the lighting needs to look like. Um, and sometimes some of these videos, I’m like, I’m not going to do that camp. Like, that’s so cheesy. But I have to tell you, the last two videos that we did, we got the most views we’ve ever gotten. So you definitely know what you’re doing.

Cam Jimenez: [00:08:53] Yeah. So that’s one of the things that people start doing video themselves. Um, and they think they have an idea of how how it works, but they don’t know how it actually works. So just to give you an idea of what I told you that day. So we usually start the videos for email marketing, like, hi, my name is Lola and Sand Springs. And that’s fine because that’s email marketing. But when you’re doing social media content, the first five to 10s is the most important part of that video. So if you start that video with saying, hi, my name is Lola and this is what I do, you lost that opportunity, that window.

Lola Okunola: [00:09:29] Nobody cares.

Cam Jimenez: [00:09:31] They don’t care about with all the, you know, respect, but they don’t care who you are. Yeah. Until you show them what is that you have to offer. Yes. It’s a very.

Lola Okunola: [00:09:40] They want the value. Now give me five things that are going to help me right now. Exactly.

Cam Jimenez: [00:09:47] And then with social media content, I mean people’s attention span is like five seconds. Yeah. So you get to grab their attention right off the get go and and that’s. What I do. I try to tell people, this is how you should start your videos. This is how we script the videos so they have more engagement and people stay till the end of the video. The longer they stay while they’re watching your video, the better it’s going to do the algorithm and social media platforms.

Lola Okunola: [00:10:13] So who should call you? Like who needs you?

Cam Jimenez: [00:10:17] Pretty much any business owner who wants to turn strangers into paying clients. That’s the way I put it. So there hasn’t been a better time to create video content for social media because all of these platforms Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, they all want video content because it’s just what keeps people engaged on their platforms. The longer they can keep people on the platforms, the more they can charge to the advertisers. Mhm. So if there’s a business owner and they need to get people to see their content, you know, to get that know like you trust you factor kind of thing. Um that’s what we want.

Lola Okunola: [00:10:58] Okay, that makes sense. I know there’s been a lot of stuff in the news lately about TikTok being banned, and I. How does that? I mean, I see people are protesting saying, you know, this is going to be my livelihood you’re taking away and this and this and that. Like, how do you feel about that? Like, how does that affect you in any way?

Cam Jimenez: [00:11:19] It doesn’t because there’s a lot of platforms that you can always post in. Uh, so it’s not like you don’t if you’re someone who has older content on TikTok that might affect you, remind you. The CEO of TikTok said, we’re not going anywhere.

Lola Okunola: [00:11:34] Oh, okay.

Cam Jimenez: [00:11:36] And he’s sound very sure of it. So really, that’s going. But, uh, that’s one of the things that we tell our clients is like, always try to, um, just build a list of emails because, yes, if you’re relying on Instagram or Facebook or TikTok and for whatever reason, your account gets banned or it gets suspended or TikTok gets canceled, yeah.

Lola Okunola: [00:11:58] You lose everything. So have multiple, um, advertising. So if you.

Cam Jimenez: [00:12:03] Have an email list, that’s something that you’re always going to be able to control. And you can always send like email marketing videos and email, uh, campaigns to that audience. So it’s it’s very important to keep those emails.

Lola Okunola: [00:12:14] Okay. Well, um, so let’s I mean, I’m let’s talk together. I mean, I know Joanna, I mean, realtors use videos a lot. They use videos for marketing the property and then even marketing themselves, like, I’ve seen so many videos, whether it’s on LinkedIn or Instagram or wherever, where, you know, they’re giving tips and you know, about real estate and whatever it is, um, you know, how do you feel like you and cam could work together or like, you know, what are some things that you can, you know, offer to cam? Like I always try and see how we can all work together because at the end of the day, this is a chamber. And, you know, we’re all members and, you know, the the objective is to help each other so.

Johanna Stanley: [00:13:02] Well, definitely. Yeah. Like we I wouldn’t want to be a secret agent. You know, you have to market ourselves, go out there and just, you know, show our the best part of us, you know, like who we are. There’s no what what we do but how we do it. You know, uh, people wanted to get to know us and kind of build a relationship. And the more you market yourself through video, social media, I feel like people feel like they know you. Yes, they know you more. Yeah. And it’s not to make it all about the business, because really, in reality, people don’t really care so much. I mean, like, okay, you’re bragging a lot now, you know, um, it’s they wanted to know you. What do you do. Mhm. Um, what’s your value. What the value you bring for them. Mhm. Um they don’t really, they don’t care so much about your, my life or anybody’s life you know. So I feel like we can uh the best way of helping you know for me I will I need definitely sometimes like the um, you know guidance of what the strategy is because it’s, and it’s constantly changing.

Lola Okunola: [00:14:03] So this week, this hashtag might be the one or this keyword might be what you’re supposed to use. And then next week it’s something else. So it’s good to have someone to guide you, like you said.

Johanna Stanley: [00:14:14] Exactly. Like I, uh, a couple of days I learned about the thread thread, something like that. I mean, like thread. Yeah, threads. I’m like, what is that? Like, what does that do? I mean, another thing, you know, another app and it keeps going. So it’s like, and you.

Lola Okunola: [00:14:28] Have to be there.

Johanna Stanley: [00:14:29] You have to.

Lola Okunola: [00:14:30] Have a presence everywhere.

Johanna Stanley: [00:14:31] Absolutely. So definitely that would be the benefit for me from com would be yeah. What’s coming up. What what’s new. What’s trending. What. How can I present myself. How can I be less boring. Because yeah, you cannot be like you say when you say, oh, my name is Joanna. I mean, really, your name is on the top of your page. You don’t really need to say your name. They most likely they already know you. So it’s just, how can I start? What’s the best word? The catchy word. Yeah. So, yeah, I need sometimes ideas for that. It’s. Yeah.

Lola Okunola: [00:15:03] Just hard, like you would think someone looking for a property they want to know. Okay, where is the best school district? Right. If they have kids. Yeah. That that helps them to determine where they want to live. So maybe tips on schools, you know, or just a video on, hey a list of 1 to 10 here. Here are the schools in Georgia for instance. And here’s how they rank.

Johanna Stanley: [00:15:27] Usually as a realtor, we are not allowed to kind of steer our clients to certain area. That’s really.

Lola Okunola: [00:15:34] Yeah, that is just I never knew that.

Johanna Stanley: [00:15:37] Yeah. We’re not we’re not allowed. Yeah. You’re not allowed to stir people to stay in certain area. So what I would do though, I will give them the website where they can go and do their due diligence, their research. Interesting. They got to go and they find something with crime. I cannot tell them, okay. You cannot go to this certain area because it’s not I’m not. That’s just not.

Lola Okunola: [00:15:58] Oh, that’s. That’s a good thing for us to know.

Johanna Stanley: [00:16:01] No, no. For us. Yeah. So we usually we can, you know, give them the sources, you can find yourself, and then you can make a judgment for yourself, you know? Okay. Um, and they tell us what to do. I mean, they so that’s different when they, uh, he’s hiring me to help them find their job, their home. But, um, I cannot steer them in any directions at all. So yeah, okay.

Lola Okunola: [00:16:27] That’s good to know. But I’m sure cam knows how to get around all of that and how to, you know, other ways that are legal and ethical for you.

Johanna Stanley: [00:16:36] To exactly as long as it’s within the parameters, you know, illegal, then it’s not going to affect my license and stuff or get me in trouble for sure. Okay. That’s something that I’ll be open to. Yeah, absolutely.

Cam Jimenez: [00:16:50] So that’s something that we’ve talked to, we’ve worked with I mean, I don’t know how many realtors in the Atlanta area. There’s been a lot of them. And that’s something that comes up like when we tell them, okay, let’s do a video about crimes and, you know, like different school districts. And they always say that not allowed to say that because like Joanna just said it, you cannot tell them where to go. Like you’re going to help them fight the find the house but not tell them exactly where to buy. Uh, so, like Joanna mentioned, there’s things that you can say, like in the first few seconds of the video, are you thinking about relocating to Georgia or Atlanta specifically? Here are a couple of resources or websites that you should check, and then you can do some due diligence. You know, just do some research and that’s going to help people. So what we want with these videos is for people to like them, comment on them and share them or save them. Yeah, that’s what’s going to tell the algorithm okay. There’s something good in here. Mhm.

Lola Okunola: [00:17:44] People like it.

Cam Jimenez: [00:17:45] Show this to more people.

Lola Okunola: [00:17:46] Yeah.

Cam Jimenez: [00:17:47] So that is it. And going back to the threads that Joanna was saying and that you were saying like you have to be everywhere. One thing that I tell people is like don’t try to be everywhere, just pick a couple of platforms. Mhm. And just be really good.

Speaker5: [00:18:01] Really.

Lola Okunola: [00:18:01] Active there.

Lola Okunola: [00:18:02] Okay.

Cam Jimenez: [00:18:03] Because if you want to be active on Twitter threads, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, I mean you need to have a huge marketing team.

Lola Okunola: [00:18:11] Yeah it’s a lot.

Cam Jimenez: [00:18:13] And and every platform needs some type of different content and the format and it’s different. So just pick a couple, master those. And once you grow in those, those platforms then you can try to, you know, just segway into your platform.

Johanna Stanley: [00:18:28] Yeah. Because like you got uh, as a realtors, we got to use each platform as a, as a source of, uh, you know, like follow up as well. We cannot just have the we have to have a purpose behind each video, whatever we are promoting. Um, we got to have a strategy so we can follow up with possible clients, you know, um, and stay, uh, very top of mind for, for the people that we are in touch with them with in a daily basis. So it’s not just like, oh, I post a video and that’ll do it. No. You got to also comment on people follow up like send a text message and hey, how’s it going? You know, just keep that relationship going. Because at the end of the day, it’s not how much what you say, it’s just the relationship, the trying to build what really makes. Because you really don’t know people, don’t they? Right now that so many people don’t need a home, but things change the next day or next week. Maybe it’s their.

Lola Okunola: [00:19:27] Neighbor, maybe it’s somebody else.

Johanna Stanley: [00:19:30] So that’s why we really has to be, you know, on top of mind of, you know, for them, um, whenever they need, they’re ready.

Lola Okunola: [00:19:37] You want to be that person when they need that service. You they you want them to think. Joanna, I just saw her yesterday on online talking about real estate or something. I get it, that makes sense.

Cam Jimenez: [00:19:50] And it’s the same thing with email marketing. So a lot of people say like email marketing is not as effective because people are getting hundreds of emails every single day. But going back to what you just said, when you get to that point, like, hey, I need to buy a house, or I know someone who needs to buy, hey, this girl Joanna has been hitting my email every single day. I might not read all of your emails, but I know she. But I.

Lola Okunola: [00:20:12] Know she’s out there and she’s doing it every day.

Cam Jimenez: [00:20:17] So you’re like top of mind.

Johanna Stanley: [00:20:18] Yeah. That’s that’s that’s that’s the goal.

Lola Okunola: [00:20:21] That’s the goal. And cam certainly makes sure that you’re top of mind whatever industry you’re in. Wow. Well this has been a great conversation. Um thank you. Thank you so much for coming. Um, with that we’re going to close out the show again. I’d like to thank Corp Care for being the sponsor, and I’d like to thank you, cam, for sharing all of your information about, um, social media strategies. And thank you personally for what you do for this chamber. And, Joanna, thank you for all that you do in the community and all you’re doing with real estate. We’re really happy that you came to share. Um, yeah. Your websites, give us your websites and how can people contact you? Okay.

Johanna Stanley: [00:21:07] So yeah, my website, it’s Joanna stanley.com. Okay. And uh, my social media, I don’t know you would you how do you have a way to share it.

Lola Okunola: [00:21:17] And we will share it in the email. But go ahead and say for those that are listening, huh?

Johanna Stanley: [00:21:22] Joanna Stanley G a realtor that would be my. I, um, Instagram. Okay. And for my last Johanna Stanley, um, realtor g a realtor. It’s for my Facebook as well. Okay. And my phone number (203) 687-9038. I know it’s from Connecticut. A lot of people is like.

Lola Okunola: [00:21:43] You’re gonna have to get a 404 or A77 0 or 6 seven eight something.

Johanna Stanley: [00:21:47] I don’t want it. I can’t, because then I will lose all, you know, like the people that already know me. You know that. So it’s like, I feel like that’s, um, more, you know, how do you say it’s like. It’s, um. I. They already know me. That’s my story. I don’t want it, you know, change it for unless I have to. Um, but, I mean, I mean, it works. So far, it’s been working. So I’m going to keep the 203.

Cam Jimenez: [00:22:11] And get a second phone and slowly transition into the 404.

Johanna Stanley: [00:22:16] Maybe, I don’t know, I just like, you know, it’s funny because my mom I don’t know why she has two phones and I’m always like, what are you think you’re a president or something? Why do you have so many phones? They have.

Lola Okunola: [00:22:27] Apps now where you you can have a whole nother line.

Johanna Stanley: [00:22:31] I guess. So, I don’t know, I have to think about that.

Cam Jimenez: [00:22:35] Google voice.

Cam Jimenez: [00:22:37] You can get a phone number and it’s free. Yeah.

Johanna Stanley: [00:22:39] See the thing is like, I feel like there’s for us as a realtor, we have so much to handle and platforms and stuff like, I feel like my direct phone number is the best way for me to stay in communication with my clients. I know for a fact that I’m going to reply and, you know, like reach back to them if I miss a phone call. So that’s why for me, like it don’t bother me, like call them later or if I if I can pick up at the time, I will do it. So it’s just I need to have that. Maybe that control. Okay. Sorry. That’s not bad.

Cam Jimenez: [00:23:13] That’s fine.

Lola Okunola: [00:23:13] Cam, how can our listeners reach you?

Cam Jimenez: [00:23:16] Um, so I’m on Instagram and my handle is at my social fourbis. So that’s going to be the number four. Okay, guys. So it’s the short form for business. And my website’s my social for business. Com.

Lola Okunola: [00:23:33] All right. Thank you again. We’d like to thank our sponsor Corb Care for supporting this podcast. And to our listeners, if you’re interested in becoming a chamber member or have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Stay tuned for future episodes where we’ll continue to shed light on our chamber members businesses and create opportunities for growth and collaboration. Until then, stay connected and stay well.

BRX Pro Tip: Appreciate What You Have

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BRX Pro Tip: Appreciate What You Have
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BRX Pro Tip: Appreciate What You Have

Stone Payton : [00:00:00] Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, this topic’s, I guess, it’s more around mindset or framing your reality, but there really is some wisdom in appreciating what you have, man.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:18] Yeah. A lot of times we feel like we’re on this hamster wheel and then we just are not making any progress. And it gets frustrating and you get burnt out and you’re kind of angry at the world and you get into – sometimes people get into depressions over this stuff. But it’s important to just periodically take a moment and just appreciate all that you have and that you’re – a lot of times you’re not really understanding the – you’re not giving yourself the perspective that it takes to understand all the stuff that you do have and just start appreciating.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:51] You know, if you start listing everything that you have, all of the good that you have, you know, from food on the table to having clean air, clean water, your family, all this stuff that you have, people that care for you, you realize you have plenty. And especially in America, we’re such an affluent country that we forget that we do have so much and that we don’t – you know, we see all these other people who have more, and we think that we’re falling behind that we’re not achieving enough.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:21] And then we moved the goalposts. You know, if you think back to when you were younger of what you wanted out of life and then what you have, you know, a lot of times you have more, way more than you could even imagine and wanted as a young person. And obviously, there’s always new mountains to climb. And you want to just, you know, obviously be the best you can be.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:43] But if you don’t appreciate the journey and your progress, you’re never going to be satisfied no matter what you’re doing in life. So, it’s important to just appreciate what you have, and life is hard enough so just start appreciating things.

BRX Pro Tip: Before Your Next Big Decision

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Breaking the Stigma: Uniting for Mental Health in the Workplace

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Breaking the Stigma: Uniting for Mental Health in the Workplace
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In this episode of Association Leadership Radio, Lee Kantor talks with Kristen Petillo and Rob McKinney about their collaborative efforts in the Georgia Mental Health Alliance. Kristen, from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, discusses the mission to save lives and bring hope to those affected by suicide, while Rob, of AGC Georgia, talks about addressing mental health in the construction industry. They explore the underreported issue of suicide, the importance of prevention resources, and how associations can unite to provide a broader range of support, emphasizing the need for a workplace culture that encourages seeking help.

Kristen-PetilloKristen Petillo, Area Director with American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

AFSP (American Foundation for SuicidePrevention) is a national non-profit with chapters in every state across the nation.

Our mission is to save lives and bring hope to those affected by suicide.

Rob-McKinneyRob McKinney joined Associated General Contractors of Georgia in October 2022 and has been involved with the organization since 2001, including serving as chair of both its Safety Committee and Technology Shared Interest Group.

The Decatur-native grew up in Augusta, went to high school in Snellville and now calls Clarkesville home. Rob earned his Construction Risk and Insurance Specialist designation in 2015.

He is a proud founding member of the “ConTechCrew Podcast” featuring interviews with many fascinating construction technology experts, thought leaders and industry partners, such as Mike Rowe and Diamond Dallas Page.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:02] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for Association Leadership Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:20] Lee Kantor here another episode of Association Leadership Radio and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show we have Kristen Petillo and Rob McKinney. Kristen is with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and Rob is with AGC Georgia. Welcome, both of you.

Kristen Petillo: [00:00:39] Thanks so much.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:41] Well, before we get too far into things, why don’t you lead off Kristen and tell us a little bit about yourself and your association?

Kristen Petillo: [00:00:47] Yes, sure. So I am the area director with American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and I have the privilege of serving the state of Georgia in that capacity. And our focus while in a national nonprofit, we have chapters in every state. So I am, as I said, leading things off for Georgia with a mission to save lives and bring hope to those that are affected by suicide.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:11] And, Rob.

Rob McKinney: [00:01:13] It’s good to be here. Lee. My name is Rob McKinney and I am the Director of Safety Services for the AGC Georgia, which is also referred to as the Associated General Contractors. So we’re a local trade organization that represents general contractors, trade contractors. And my role is to help lead our safety efforts for improving the workplace on safety. And as we’ll talk about a little today, trying to bring a little bit of light to the mental health issues in our industry.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:40] And speaking of those mental health issues together, I guess you’re working on the Georgia mental Health Alliance and a specific initiative of nurturing the mental health of Georgia workers. Can you talk a little bit about that, Rob?

Rob McKinney: [00:01:56] Absolutely. It’s an honor for the AGC Georgia, to participate in this alliance. My understanding is the alliance was originally created between the local OSHA offices and the Georgia Department of Public Health. They started this back in the pandemic days, believe it or not, and it’s grown quite a bit since then, where organizations such as Dillon Christian is coming from. At the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, we added four new signatories, I believe, on Friday, along with the AGC, to try and bring different parts of the industry together. It’s hard to talk about what’s sometimes considered a dark subject, but we’re trying to bring positivity and light to that so people can kind of look at the issues in a new way, but more importantly, provide resources and tools that hopefully can help people that might be in need, if that makes sense.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:49] And is this an example of a way or ways that associations that have obviously different kind of objectives, but they can come together when there are kind of issues or circumstances that can benefit both. I’d like to get Kristen’s kind of thoughts on how maybe she plugs in with other associations because her association is so specific in its mission.

Kristen Petillo: [00:03:14] Yes. So interchangeable alliance association in this conversation, if you will. And so the idea here is if, uh, other entities or businesses are, uh, have complementary programs or services, resources that they can offer to kind of lock arms and address an issue that there is there’s strength in numbers and more power behind that. Um, and maybe, um. Sometimes there’s not crossover within those offerings. So together we have a much more broad offering to be able to address and reach and affect change as a group.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:54] Now, Kristin, what are some of the resources that maybe other associations aren’t aware of that the Afsp has and that other that you’d be kind of willing to share, or to at least collaborate with other groups?

Kristen Petillo: [00:04:07] Sure. So from the vantage point of American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and a number of the other alliance partners as well, uh, leading with prevention related resources, um, that we can deliver on site and in a workspace to help, uh, those that are, whether they’re employees or employees, uh, to realize these programs and operate with a vantage point where we all understand to a degree what the signs or symptoms of suicide might present as the behaviors to speak, uh, compounding factors around risk and how to have that lens so that we’re keeping everyone safe. And so we want to lead with those programs and work to normalize the conversation around mental health being a part of the broader overall health of of a human being.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:01] And, Rob, how did suicide prevention, uh, come up as a priority, that this is something that your association should be kind of getting involved with?

Rob McKinney: [00:05:12] So our national art, the AGC of America, they have a safety and health committee that’s been looking at this topic for several years. And as they were researching the numbers and really understanding the magnitude that we were talking about, they started creating an effort and an initiative that has been spread out to the different association, the local association. So here in Georgia, for example, and the numbers that I’m referring to, if people haven’t seen these numbers in the construction industry every year, unfortunately there’s generally around a thousand accidental deaths. That is where there’s something that wasn’t meant to happen. It didn’t have the right training or PPE. It was a complete accident. As they look at the numbers and they’re getting the data from the Department of Bureau of Labor Statistics, the BLS, they’re realizing that the suicide overdose rate is around 5000 per year. So nearly 5 to 1, as our industry is coming to terms with that and realizing, you know, that severity is where, again, the national organization has started to create resources, training materials, videos. They are sharing those with the chapters. So in our case, the chapters picking up those resources, and we’re trying to share those with our members also working with other associations locally and trying to help provide knowledge and training where we can, if that makes sense.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:36] Now, Kristen, is this, um, is suicide one of those issues that, um, I don’t want to say this in a crass way, but people aren’t aware of the magnitude of the problem here because people aren’t, you know, talking about it like there’s not as many headlines from a suicide as a murder or something dramatic like that. Is that something that that some people don’t see it, so they don’t think it’s a big deal. And then but it is a big deal and it affects lots of people way, probably way more than the average person understands.

Kristen Petillo: [00:07:11] Yes, I would say, um, across the nation, uh, suicide numbers are underreported or misreported, uh, sometimes reported. And, uh, a cause of death is may be named an overdose or something else. And then also, there’s a lot of shame and stigma around losing someone by suicide. Thoughts of what did we miss or we should have known or, uh, a lot of shame in that. And so sometimes the response is that we are going to tell everybody, because now we’ve had to we’re, we’re dealing with this very dark time and we maybe never saw it coming. And now we’ve got to tell others with the idea that we want to reach out to save someone else. But the other side of that is sometimes when someone is lost by suicide. Maybe a family is dealing with it, or maybe an employer is dealing with it. A university is dealing with it, and sometimes they don’t want to be associated with it. And so it’s again normalizing that this does happen sometimes. And um, to see yourself in it in the way of operating from a prevention lens. And, and really it’s every employer’s responsibility to be leading with these resources and making sure that they’re opening and having an inviting environment where people can reach out if they are struggling, and having those resources on hand and making it safe for people to raise their hand if they’re having a struggle.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:43] Now, Rob, you mentioned that, uh, suicide was five times the amount of deaths, uh, than just kind of workplace injuries and accidents. When you saw that number, were you like, that can’t be right. Like, that seemed like we spent so much time on safety. And how are we just not spending the same or five times the amount of time on this other area? Was that something that you were surprised by?

Rob McKinney: [00:09:09] I was definitely surprised to see that number. It’s it is a stark contrast in the numbers, and it’s hard to really think through that amount of people are in that much pain and not seeing the world the way other people do, you know? Well, we talk about OSHA compliance. We talk about normal occupational health and safety. We’re very focused on process procedures, equipment. We work through engineering controls and best practices and all the way down to the last line of defense of PPE, such as boots and hard hats, where we’re very focused on the body. But by them. The mind side of this, the mental side of this, that is definitely where it is. You know, it’s a gray area and it’s it’s a struggle for the industry to kind of look and think, how can we approach this in a new way? As the numbers are kind of showing, it’s not exactly going the way we would like to see it. So yeah, there was definitely some sticker shock of seeing those numbers and starting to talk to more professionals and really understanding the magnitude of of that number, without a doubt.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:12] And then how do you kind of turn that shock into action? Like what were some of the the ways you were looking at kind of triaging this and get that number lower? Was that where these alliances and these kind of partnerships came in?

Rob McKinney: [00:10:31] From the agency Georgia. Absolutely. It was trying to understand who were professionals that study this and practice in this area, because it is definitely, you know, for most safety professionals, they learn OSHA regulations and worker compensation laws. They’re studying something totally different. And so in the last couple of years, we’ve had to really look around our community, at least, let’s say in Georgia. And we’re lucky we’ve got one tremendous member, uh, a gentleman named Mike luster, who has a business. He has been a clinician for a couple of decades. And so he is a resource that’s been helping us understand the nature of what we’re talking about, how to talk about it because we’ve had to back up a little bit and kind of look first of, well, how do we talk to companies about this at the management executive level and really help them understand what their culture looks like for this? And one of the things that Mr. Luster helped us try to understand better is how to create a culture that it is okay to seek help. And not be such a stigma. So we’re working with companies at the the highest level, the leadership, the management, but also at the same time of putting materials in place that are out on job sites, that any worker on a job site or an office trailer, how can they access things a little more freely and easily? So, you know, some technology like QR codes is a great thing that we can make posters, we can put QR codes, people can send emails, they can do things where we kind of put the information and easy to find places. So there’s there’s the cultural side of this at the company as much as at the worker level, that we’re trying to really approach it hand in hand and distribute that knowledge. Both both directions.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:15] Now, are your members, um, kind of grasping, grasping the severity of this and saying, oh, thank you. You know, where have you been? This is great? Or are they kind of reluctant to apply some of these things?

Rob McKinney: [00:12:30] I’ll be candid. It is. It’s a tough subject. We have some members that are leading the way tremendously, that have put a lot of effort into their programs. Uh, one one that I can give a shout out to is Holder Construction. Last week at our signing ceremony, they had donated some funds for creating the image and the logo for the poster for the campaign. You know, that’s a company that’s been leading in a lot of a lot of ways, and it’s tremendous to see it. We’ve got a few other members that are doing a lot of amazing things, and it’s kind of like a lot of topics. I would say that there’s a little bit of an arc, you know, you’ve got those on the one side that see it, they’re understanding it. They’re trying to help make the situation better. We’ve got members that are still kind of scratching their head of coming to terms with it. Uh, because when you really look at the fabric of our industry, we’ve got people working in this industry from their 20s to their 60s. We’ve got men, we’ve got ladies. It’s. It’s an interesting topic to ask any individual construction and see how it’s going to land with them. And, uh. We are doing the best we can to make a positive effort forward, shall we say.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:42] And then, Kristen, is there any, um, advice that you can give to organizations that want to, um, you know, first just bring the awareness to, uh, to the fore and then also some specific, uh, things that they can be doing to improve the situation.

Kristen Petillo: [00:14:04] Yes, I, I I’ll reiterate that suicide prevention is everyone’s job. And, uh, to make the resources plenty and available in public and private places where people can seek them, uh, confidentially, if need be. Um, also to keep in mind that someone who is a risk for a suicide. There’s no face for what it looks like to be at risk. Um. Suicide. Someone who is struggling may walk around in the day to day with a smile. And so, um, to get informed about what those subtle other things may be that might indicate that a conversation is warranted, and to make sure that everyone is researching and accessing these resources, that all of these organizations that are members of the alliance have these programs, and they’re all free. And so make it part of the wellness offering. Um, if there are CEUs that are required or internal, uh, in-service hours that are required to to fold it in so that people are taking these trainings and getting refreshers and normalizing that it’s part of consistent conversation. We’ve gotta all show up in this and it’s got to be a top down. Conversation and acknowledgment.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:30] So it has to be just like you keep using the word normalization in the sense that if we talk about it freely, there’s less shame and stigma. So then it’s more okay for someone to go and get help or ask for help.

Kristen Petillo: [00:15:46] 100% and the way we speak about it. American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and likely a lot of these other alliance partners do too, is that, um, just as if you’re having an issue with your back, you might need to go have a tune up with your chiropractor. Sometimes in your mind, when when you might have a physical condition or you’re having a relationship strain or you’re not getting enough hours at work, and then there’s a there’s financial strain, your mind can go places. It gets dark. And so when all those factors are converging, that is when someone gets into a place where they might not be able to see beyond that dark period. And so it’s allowing them to have permission to raise their hand and say, I’m struggling. And to be seen in that and and be met with resources so we can help them through that dark time. Um, knowing that there’s hope and help available.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:41] And so it doesn’t spiral and they don’t feel like this is their problem only to solve.

Kristen Petillo: [00:16:49] 100%.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:51] Now, Rob, are you seeing now that this has, I guess, been started and is now, uh, going? Are you seeing the impact of it yet, or is this too early?

Rob McKinney: [00:17:03] I don’t think we’ve seen the impact yet. Uh, honestly, I think we’re in the awareness stage that as Kristen was talking about, we’re able to talk about this openly now. We’re not whispering about it. You know, in our safety committee meetings, we’ve spent a good year actually addressing it and talking about it. We’ve scheduled classes for education. We’re sharing resources. I still think we’re really in the awareness phase again, to be able to talk about it, to be able to see impact, I think will take a couple of years to see if that number trend, does it continue to rise for our industry? Ideally, it’s going to slow down and reverse. That’s going to be the real tale of the tape because we can put. Posters everywhere, and we can talk and we can do a lot of action. The tale of the tape is going to be the results of what? What does this number continue to do? Does it continue to rise at an alarming rate? Does it slow down? Ideally it flattens or it drops. That’s Christian. You may have a better insight on what those numbers look like of when do we think that we would see a significant impact on the numbers from all of our collective effort?

Kristen Petillo: [00:18:23] It’s a good question. You know, I think as I said, as we lock arms and try to infiltrate, if you will, and lead with these programs. And, um, I think my hope is we’ll see a change. Right. And so some conversation rather than no conversation is a start. Right. And so, uh, at Afsp, we lead with the idea that talk saves lives. That’s the name of one of our programs. Having that conversation, reaching out to somebody you are worried about. The research literally shows that talk, that very conversation, can quite literally save a life. And so as we look at a calendar year and what transpires in May will have Mental Health Month, right. And so you’ll see, uh, an increased program delivery at that time of year. And then in September, it’s suicide prevention month. So I’ll imagine in May and September we’ll see a ramp up of specific program delivery. And then the rest of the year, the idea is the resources are around, and then maybe we can look at some other programing to give to parents that are in those spaces that might have children. And there are there’s further work outside of the workspace. So who are these individuals as holistic people, and how do we inform and educate all of them? So as they’re walking into their daily lives to that they can be soldiers in this safety effort, if you will.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:53] So how do companies participate in this?

Kristen Petillo: [00:20:01] Regarding the involvement in the alliance. Yeah. I would say there there is further room at the table. And so, uh, I think we would lead through. Um, either myself or Marilyn Velez or through Rob, uh, for some next conversations around, uh, what organizations or businesses would be interested? What do they bring to the table? I, I see the alliance as continuing to grow as we have complementary offerings to, um, reinforce and further our reach as we try to save more lives.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:38] Well, I’m just glad mental health is on the agenda. I think that’s a big step.

Kristen Petillo: [00:20:44] We’re all grateful.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:46] Now, uh, if somebody wants to learn more about either of your associations, what are the coordinates? We’ll start with you, Rob.

Rob McKinney: [00:20:54] Though our website if you want to look us up is agc ga.org.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:01] And then Kristen.

Kristen Petillo: [00:21:03] Our website is afsp. Org and then if you’re looking for Georgia specific it will be Afsp. Org forward slash Georgia.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:14] Well I applaud you both for the effort in trying to solve this important problem. And thank you so much for doing what you’re doing. It’s important and we appreciate you.

Kristen Petillo: [00:21:27] Thanks so much.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:28] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Association Leadership Radio.

 

BRX Pro Tip: Donald Miller’s Take on Lead Generation

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BRX Pro Tip: Donald Miller's Take on Lead Generation
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BRX Pro Tip: Donald Miller’s Take on Lead Generation

Stone Payton : [00:00:00] And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, what’s your perspective? What are you learning about lead generators?

Lee Kantor: [00:00:10] That they’re very important. You should invest some time into, you know, developing them and kind of thinking about them. One of my favorite authors, Donald Miller, he’s the author of the book Storybrand. He says that you should spend as much time testing and developing lead generators as you do creating products to sell.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:28] Once you have a good product, then spend your time testing and developing a variety of lead generators for your business. Optimize those lead generators. If you do this right, and you can correctly have a stable of lead generators that work in a variety of ways, that’s going to take your business to a new level.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:48] And not every lead generator works in every platform. So make sure you’re optimizing your lead generators to the platform you’re deploying them on. You know what works well on LinkedIn may not work as well on Facebook, and that may not work as well on your website or on your podcast.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:07] I know we’ve tried a variety of lead generators. We have some go-to ones that work for us reliably and we lean on those, but we should always be testing new ones to make sure that we are keeping a good flow of leads coming in because we know we have a good product and we got to get it in front of more people.

Stephanie Fischer on the Future of the Georgia Restaurant Industry

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Stephanie Fischer on the Future of the Georgia Restaurant Industry
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In this episode of Association Leadership Radio, host Lee Kantor is joined by Stephanie Fischer from the Georgia Restaurant Association. Stephanie discusses the association’s advocacy for local restaurants, addressing challenges such as rising costs and the need for culinary education. She emphasizes the industry’s diverse career opportunities, from finance to HR, and encourages support for local eateries. The episode underscores the importance of community involvement in sustaining the restaurant industry and highlights the optimism and commitment of the association to its members.

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Stephanie-FischerStephanie Fischer has spent her entire career in the hospitality industry, beginning at KFC during high school and culminating in her most recent role as the vice president of corporate operations of Paradies Lagardère Travel Retail Dining Division, where she led strategic planning and support of dining operations with a focus on new store openings, food safety, back-office systems, and the guest experience for more than 80 brands across 170 locations in 43 airports.

Fischer was an employee engagement champion who also introduced nationwide strategic food safety initiatives and spearheaded the launch and growth of an internal DEI council. Before the Paradies Lagardère acquired Hojeij Branded Foods, Fischer was HBF’s executive vice president. She led the successful opening of 87 new airport locations, enabling total growth to $250 million in annual revenue between 2011 and 2018.

During this time, she also served as a member of the CEO’s executive steering committee, and her expertise was critical in growing the company and providing an exceptional guest experience. Fischer’s career experience also includes time with Dunkin’ Brands, leading its training center in Orlando, FL, where she trained new franchisees on store operations. Previously, she spent 13 years with the Walt Disney World Company, where she led learning and development for food and beverage and retail at Epcot, including the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival.

In 2020, The Griffin Report named Fischer a Woman of Influence in the Food Industry. Fischer is also a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier’s Atlanta Chapter. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Hawaii and an MBA from Stetson University. Fischer took the lead at the Georgia Restaurant Association in January 2024.

Connect with Stephanie on LinkedIn.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:02] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for Association Leadership Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:19] Lee Kantor here another episode of Association Leadership Radio and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show we have Stephanie Fischer with the Georgia Restaurant Association. Welcome, Stephanie.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:00:32] Thank you, Lee.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:32] I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Can you share a little bit about Georgia Restaurant Association? How you serving folks?

Stephanie Fischer: [00:00:39] Sure. Thank you so much. Well, the Georgia Restaurant Association is the voice of Georgia restaurants and advocacy, education and awareness. And 2023, we represented approximately, $34.4 billion in sales. And with almost 23,000 locations here in the state of Georgia, we employ almost 5000 employees in the state, only second to agriculture. And 93% of our restaurants here in the state of Georgia have fewer than 50 employees, which makes up for a lot of small, small businesses here. If we talk about an industry as a whole, the National Restaurant Association just came out with some projected numbers. And in America, we are projected to hit $1 trillion in sales this year, which is pretty amazing. And just like Georgia, the restaurant industry in America is the second largest private sector employer in the US. And so, of course, when it comes to advocacy, our main goal is to advocate and educate at the local and state level for all restaurants in the state of Georgia. And we interact with government at every level. Any decisions they make that impacts Georgia restaurants. We will be monitoring if it adversely affects restaurants. We are going to work to stop that legislation. If it’s good policy, we’ll work to get it passed. So that’s pretty much what we do here.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:07] So your members are primarily restaurant owners or kind of the does that include like franchisors like because there’s a lot of franchisees in Georgia like the you know, Jimmy John’s the franchisor. Is that a member or is a Jimmy John’s kind of location a member or both?

Stephanie Fischer: [00:02:28] It’s a little bit of both. Right. So we have some very large national brands here and they are members. And then we have small independents that are members. And depending on if it’s a large franchise, depending on how that agreement is written, they may be members or they may sign up as members, um, for themselves.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:47] And then is our members also kind of the suppliers to the restaurant industry, or are those, have a separate way of, kind of working with you?

Stephanie Fischer: [00:02:55] We we call them Allied members. And so they’re here to support our members. So, yes, they are also members.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:02] Right. Because you mentioned that agriculture is a big part of Georgia. So I would imagine that you’re working with them in some level.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:03:09] We do, we do. We have a great relationship with Georgia Grown, which is part of the Department of Agriculture. And so it’s working with those local farmers and working with the chefs to, you know, to make sure that we we get those local products into our restaurants.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:26] Now, what is your background in association work?

Stephanie Fischer: [00:03:31] Well, um, honestly, most of my background is in the restaurant industry. Um, but I have been a part of the Georgia Restaurant Association since 2017. I joined the board 2022. I was chairman of the board. And when my predecessor, decided to retire after 13 years, um, I thought I would throw my hat in the ring. And here I am.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:56] So, as a leader of the association, kind of. What, is your vision?

Stephanie Fischer: [00:04:03] Yeah. We, you know, my immediate focus, um, this year, we’re kind of calling it the year of transition. Um, but I really want to focus on, um, our members and what kind of value we can bring to our members, you know, so, including offerings, you know, like networking opportunities, access to industry experts, um, exclusive discounts on products and services. Um, you know, our members are are the life and breath of our organization. So, you know, we are constantly exploring ways to help them succeed as a business owner and employers as employers. Um, and then looking to at, um, um, our culinary education, um, the Georgia Restaurant Association also has a foundation, um, and that foundation has what we call the Prostart program. And we’ve nearly tripled the growth over the past two years. Um, and it’s a two year program that’s in high schools around the state, but it’s a national program also, um, through the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. So right now we have 44 schools participating in the, in the program. Um, and, um, we are, you know, really excited about growing that because that’s our future workforce.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:21] Now, how do you work with, kind of the universities you mentioned this type of education, um, at the, I guess, secondary school level. But are you working with, so much of the technology startup scenes also to, um, kind of leverage technology to help make these restaurants more, effective and also more efficient in terms of execution?

Stephanie Fischer: [00:05:47] I mean, technology is a is a big piece of, I think, our future and where that goes from a university perspective, that is something it’s kind of still new to me. And, um, we are definitely looking at making sure that we’re working with the universities not only to grow our hospitality programs, but also really from a high school perspective, like how can we get, you know, our kids coming out of the Prostart program, interested in the hospitality programs in our universities here in the state and how to keep them here?

Lee Kantor: [00:06:22] Yeah, I think that, um, and I’m glad you used the word hospitality, because I think that’s an important distinction, because the restaurant industry is the hospitality industry and the skills learned in the hospitality industry, I would think are transferable to, you know, pretty much every single, career path that this person would want to go in. So giving them hospitality experience young, I think really could shape how they, you know, deal with people, how they, you know, present themselves moving forward.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:06:52] Yeah. I, I have met since being in this role um it’s amazing. I, I’ve met a handful of people not in the industry any longer but have said that, oh my gosh, I was a server, you know, in college. And that really helped me with, you know, my people skills and, and talking to people. So yeah, there’s a there’s a lot of benefits.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:14] So now, um, and before the show, you mentioned that you, took on this role at the beginning of the year and, moving forward. And any advice for other kind of people that are new to the leadership role in an association on how to kind of get acclimated? I know that you worked, in the association prior to this, so it’s not brand new, but how do you kind of get your sea legs in terms of, okay, this is now my role. This is I’m going to have to put my stamp on this and to, um, you know, first listen to your constituents, but also to put your stamp on things moving forward. Any advice in that area?

Stephanie Fischer: [00:07:55] You know, for me, Lee, it was more so this year is about establishing relationships. Um, new to me on this side is the advocacy piece. So, you know, we just in the state of Georgia ended our legislative session. And so spending time down at the Gold Dome and meeting, um, our um, association, um, counterparts, but also spending time getting to know, you know, the legislators and understanding first so they know who I am. But to just just establishing those relationships. The other piece, you know, when we talk about kind of what I want to do this year is, you know, um, now that the, um, now that session is over, you know, getting out into the state, so, you know, traveling to the different parts of the state and meeting our members and meeting state local officials is really, really important. And then to, you know, just watch and learn and really understand how the association works. I’m not you know, my my plan is to make no major changes this year. I mean, I really even. You know, I’ve been a part of the association as a board member, but really, to understand the ins and outs, to make sure that any future decisions I make are right for the association and looking at growth and how we can grow the association.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:17] Now, what are, as you’re learning, what are some of the challenges that your members are expressing to you is, you know, you we’re hearing and seeing obviously like inflation with food and, and things like that. But I would imagine also staffing is also an issue. Um, what are some of the concerns that are presenting to you?

Stephanie Fischer: [00:09:39] Um, you know, you just mentioned both of them. Um, you know, the food cost and and labor costs have definitely, um, um, been affecting our restaurants. Um, not only in the state, but, you know, throughout the country. And, you know, I don’t know if, you know, a lot of people really understand that, you know, the typical small business restaurant runs on a 3 to 5% tax margin, um, and where food and labor costs are the two most significant line items, you know, for a restaurant. Um, before this interview, you know, I reached out to the National Restaurant Association, and, you know, they track, of course, the top challenges of restaurants as of March 2024 were recruiting and, um, looking at food and labor costs, you know, top out the top five. Um, of course, wholesale food prices are edging up again. Um, in March they were up 1.3%. And that comes on the heels of a 1.5% gain in February. So these creases, these increases, you know, follow a eight month, um, of basically no changes. So you know, we’re looking at some commodities going back up. Chicken is up 22% over last year.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:10:53] Pork is up 17% over last year. And beef is up 12% over last year. So again this, you know, really um, affects, you know, restaurants that have, you know, these commodities on their menu. And then um, when we look at labor cost, of course they continue to grow, but they are at a slower pace. Um, year to date through February, labor costs have risen about 5% this year. And, you know, they definitely haven’t grown as quickly as when we were coming out of the pandemic. Um, but, looking at to restaurants, you know, our restaurants are very labor intensive. Um, and if, if we look at it, um, an average restaurant needs an average of 12 employees to generate $1 million in sales, whereas maybe a grocery store, it only takes three employees, and maybe a hardware store, for instance, would take two employees, almost three employees to to generate $1 million in sales. So, you know, when it comes to when it comes to our restaurants, it’s it is a very labor intensive business. And, you know, you need staff to run those businesses to generate those sales.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:07] Now, what is the association’s role in terms of attracting maybe new chefs or a thriving food environment for entrepreneurs to open up restaurants?

Stephanie Fischer: [00:12:24] From an association. Um. You know, it’s it’s just making sure that, you know, we try to continue to make this state a great state to operate in. Um, we’re very fortunate to have a very small business, friendly state. So for chefs to come in or, you know, who are here, who want to open their, their restaurants. Um, I think we provide a very good ground for that. Um, and I would say that, you know, having Michelin here now, you know, Michelin came in last year, um, has really also, you know, helped, create a, a competitive food scene here in Atlanta throughout our chefs. Um, and it will be interesting to see, you know, what what comes next out of Michelin. But, you know, we do have a very, very lively, um, food scene here in Atlanta but also throughout the state. So we’re very fortunate now.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:25] Is that, um, and maybe I don’t understand how this all plays together, but like from a economic development standpoint, like Chamber of Commerce, things like that are trying to attract new things into the area. Is is that not a role of the association? Is the association more for folks that are already here and that you’re working with primarily lawmakers, just to make sure that the laws are going in the direction of your members? Or is it also to kind of just, um, increase the amount of restaurant activity in the state?

Stephanie Fischer: [00:13:59] Um, I would say for us, it’s more so working with our lawmakers to ensure that we keep this state, friendly for small businesses, like our, our local restaurateurs to, um, make sure that they are able to operate with without, um, you know, harmful, mandates that come down.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:22] So then that’s what they’re kind of leaning on you for, because I would imagine most restaurants that’s, you know, that’s important. But they got people to serve, you know, at the next, you know, lunch or dinner. So I would imagine.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:14:36] We work with other, you know, organizations. Um. Um, with regards to different legislation that might affect us all from a small business perspective. but we also get support from other associations where we need it. Um, so we all do work together when it comes to legislation that is, um, affecting, you know, businesses here in the state of Georgia. But we primarily advocate on, on the, on, for restaurants here in the state of Georgia. That is, that is our, our mission.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:08] And then do you work with the National Restaurant Association to, like, maybe learn best practices? So these, you know, this state here is doing this kind of innovative thing or.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:15:18] Yeah, most definitely. So we have a, um, all the CEOs throughout the country. Um, we also, you know, talk, on a monthly basis, sharing best practices, understanding what’s happening in other states. Um, and do we need to preemptive, you know, look at something here in the state of Georgia that maybe might be happening somewhere else. So, you know, um, the National Restaurant Association deals with, um, issues on a federal level. Um, and so, you know, they, we are in constant contact. So when something is coming up, do we need member support? Um, to, you know, send to, um, send to our legislators here in the state of Georgia. So, yeah, we we have a great relationship with the National Restaurant Association, a partnership with them, actually. Um, and we all work very, very closely to see what’s happening throughout the country.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:12] Now, are you bullish about the Georgia restaurant industry, you know, looking forward?

Stephanie Fischer: [00:16:19] I am. I mean, yeah, yes. Most definitely. It’s, um, I’m very excited to see what’s going to happen, you know, in the, the next couple of years, I think, you know, as technology advances, you know, will definitely play a significant role in shaping our industry. Um, you know, QR codes became so popular during the pandemic and they’re not going to go away. Third party delivery became very, very popular during the pandemic. They’re not going to go away. And, you know, looking to see how what else is out there that can, you know, help our our restaurateurs, you know, invest in technology that can, you know, help them run their business more, um, more efficiently and help with the guest experience. Um, so we’re we’re really excited to see where this takes us.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:15] Yeah, I think that and with the ongoing growth of Georgia, just as the state is, more and more people are moving here, um, the sky’s the limit when it comes to the restaurant, kind of community, because I think that Atlanta or Georgia is a food, you know, food, town Atlanta is I know for sure. And, and Savannah. So the more the better, I think.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:17:41] Yes. Most definitely. And and that’s one of my goals I, you know, I’m looking forward to, like I said, you know, going to Augusta, going to Columbus, you know, going down to Valdosta, to Macon, to, you know, meet our members there and and really get to know what’s going on in their, you know, their area. Um, because Atlanta is, you know, a big city. Um, but these, you know, these, these outlying cities throughout the state, it will be interesting to see what, what they’re dealing with and how can we help them?

Lee Kantor: [00:18:13] Right. And I would imagine that’s probably one of the biggest challenges is to make sure that it isn’t kind of an Atlanta centric association, even though that’s probably where a lot of the activity happens. But to really kind of spread the wealth throughout the state.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:18:26] Correct. No, that is that is my goal. I’m going to be hitting the road soon.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:31] Yeah. And that’s where the opportunities are. I mean, it’s amazing. The state does has have a lot of talented people spread throughout it. And it’s just a matter of kind of getting the word out about all the great work they’re doing.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:18:44] Very true. Most definitely. And like you said, you mentioned Savannah. I mean, Savannah is a great food town. Um, and we’re going to we’re going to spend some time there too.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:55] Right? And it’s one of those things that I’m sure in every town there’s a great restaurant that people may not be aware of that they would travel to if they were aware of it.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:19:06] Exactly. Exactly.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:08] Yeah. So. Well, congratulations on the momentum. And it must be exciting time for you to be able to serve the association in this manner. And, um, thank you for doing it. Because, you know, the Georgia needs more people like you that are willing to put in the work to help kind of rise the tide for everybody.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:19:30] Well, I’m definitely looking forward to it. This is, you know, um, this is a great time to be in the restaurant industry and to really understand that this is a career. Um, and I am I’m really excited to really try to get the word out that this is a this is a fabulous industry to be in. Um, and it’s not just, you know, owning a restaurant. there are so many different like we were talking about earlier, you know, these, these national brands that are here, you know, you can go into finance, you can go into business development, you can go into construction, you can go into HR. I mean, there’s so many facets of our business that people just don’t understand that this is a fabulous, fabulous industry to get into.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:14] Right. And I commend you for doing the work kind of at the for the younger people to just open their eyes that like you said, it isn’t just all going to be a waiter. Like there’s a lot of different career paths within this industry. And to just open your mind to just, to that as a career option.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:20:33] No, very, very true. And, you know, if I can say to all of our listeners out there, you know, I encourage you to go out and try a new restaurant in your neighborhood this summer. You know, it’s going to be patio weather and supporting businesses takes a community effort. And we are so grateful for the restaurant patrons that sustain our members year after year.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:55] And if somebody wants to connect with you and the association, what is the coordinates?

Stephanie Fischer: [00:21:01] yes. Our website is GA restaurants.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:05] Org good stuff. Well, thank you again for sharing your story. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:21:12] Great. Well, thank you very much, Lee.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:14] All right. This Lee Kantor. We’ll see y’all next time on the Association Leadership Radio.

 

BRX Pro Tip: How To Do Barter Right

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BRX Pro Tip: How To Do Barter Right
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BRX Pro Tip: How To Do Barter Right

Stone Payton : [00:00:00] Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, I know there’s a lot of talks, and I’ve seen some activity here in my area with small business people, in particular, entering into barter arrangements and bartering services. What are your thoughts on barter?

Lee Kantor: [00:00:19] Well, a lot of folks, especially when they’re just starting out, when you have more time than money, barter seems like a good plan. It kind of creates a win-win that everybody’s working together. But in order to do it right, in order to create that really win-win, you got to have some ground rules and really hold each other accountable to it.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:39] So when you decide to partner with another business person as a barter, rather than each of you financially buying each other’s services, it’s super important to do this one thing at the beginning, or else you’re going to have trouble down the road. And that one thing is to set clear expectations about how each of you will benefit from each other’s services.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:57] For example, at Business RadioX, you know, when we were starting out, sometimes we would let partners leverage our platform to build their network. In exchange for that, we ask that as they are building their network, they use their network to help us grow the number of sponsors we have. And we would create regular check-ins to make sure that each of our efforts is bearing fruit. And if they’re not, we either adjust it or we discontinue the barter.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:22] I mean, it has to work for both people. It’s important to create the expectations and the guidelines and what is required from each of you. And if it gets out of whack, then don’t be afraid to end it and then move on. You know, it doesn’t have to be some big confrontation or big – or somebody’s doing something evil. It’s just not working out. And you can still be friends. But it’s important to have those clear expectations, have some accountability check-ins, and then adjust accordingly.

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