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Lori Cover with Pawsitively Max & Maggie, Insurance Agent Isaac Hall and Eric Reagan with 22one Realty

October 10, 2023 by angishields

Charitable-GA-Feature-101623
Charitable Georgia
Lori Cover with Pawsitively Max & Maggie, Insurance Agent Isaac Hall and Eric Reagan with 22one Realty
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In this episode, Brian is joined by Lori Cover, Isaac Hall, and Eric Reagan. Lori shares her journey from the television industry to working with pets. She emphasizes the importance of community involvement and giving back, drawing from her own experiences volunteering during the pandemic. Lori also explains the mission of Positively Max and Maggie, which supports small businesses that contribute to animal organizations. She highlights the value of networking and learning from others in the business world.

Isaac shares his knowledge and tips for success. He discusses the importance of building a strong network and collaborating with others. Isaac also emphasizes the significance of continuous learning and staying open to new opportunities. Eric sheds light on the benefits of supplemental insurance. He explains how it can provide additional coverage and peace of mind. Eric also discusses the importance of understanding different insurance options and making informed decisions.

Throughout the episode, the guests promote positivity, collaboration, and making a difference in the community. Listeners are encouraged to get involved, support small businesses, and contribute to causes they care about. The episode serves as a reminder that by working together, we can create a positive impact and make a meaningful difference in the world.

Lori-Cover-headshotLori Cover is the owner of Pawsitively Max & Maggie, a new online & pop-up pet boutique that focuses on giving back. Pawsitively Max & Maggie donates a portion of their monthly profits to area animal organizations and features products from fellow small business owners who all give back to animal groups across the country.

Cover is also an award-winning television producer who has earned 6 Southeast Emmy awards for various productions including “Lawmakers”, “Football Fridays in Georgia”, and Atlanta Falcons “Rise Up Weekly”.

Lori and her husband Chris reside in Kennesaw and have 2 adult children, Paris & Nicholas as well as three 4-legged members of the family Max, Maggie & Mo.

Isaac-Hall-headshotIsaac Hall specializes in individual health insurance.  He spent most of his insurance career of almost 20 years with Aflac before opening his own agency.  Isaac is passionate about helping people get the coverage they need for themselves and their family.

Born and raised in Dallas Ga, Isaac has been living in Bartow County for over 18 years.  He’s happily married and has a total of 9 children.  Isaac became a Christian at age 14 and has been in the ministry the majority of his life.

Currently serving as the Worship leader at Gracewalk Church in Cartersville, Isaac loves to spend time with his wife traveling and keeping up with all 9 kids.

Eric-Reagan-headshotEric Reagan is a former first responder who spent a little over five years as a firefighter and paramedic for the city of Smyrna. He won Firefighter of the year in 1985 and Assigned Rescue 1, Engine 1 for 3 years. Awarded and assisted with strategic initiatives to transition from all volunteer rescue for the Smyrna citizens to the City Fire Services.

For just over nine years he was Director of Operations for Cobb County with Metro Ambulance. He started and ran his own ambulance service for seven years after leaving Metro. Eric then decided that he wanted to go into real estate and for the last several years has worked with families and businesses with their real estate needs.

He is now the Co-Owner of 22one Realty in Kennesaw. Eric has a passion for helping others and also does business coaching for small businesses. For all your real estate needs or if you need some help with your business, Eric is willing to be there to help.

In his spare time Eric love hanging out with his dog!

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta. It’s time for Charitable Georgia. Brought to you by B’s Charitable Pursuits and Resources. We put the fun in fund raising. For more information, go to B’s Charitable Pursuits. Dot com. That’s B’s Charitable Pursuits dot com. Now here’s your host, Brian Pruitt.

Brian Pruett: [00:00:45] Good, fabulous Friday morning. It’s another fabulous Friday. We got three more fabulous guests. And if it’s your first time listening to Charitable Georgia, this is all about positive things happening in community. Our first guest this morning is Ms. Lori Cover from Positively Max and Maggie. Lori, thanks for being here this morning.

Lori Cover: [00:01:01] Thanks so much for having me.

Brian Pruett: [00:01:02] I just like to say who day although we need a little bit better but who? Day, who day. There we go. That’s our common bond and little bingles there. So you and I met during a I guess a couple of years ago and networking and we’ll talk about that a little bit. But you have an interesting background from TV and special gifts, and now you’ve got this pet thing going on. So why don’t you give us a little background about yourself and we’ll talk about positively Max and Maggie.

Lori Cover: [00:01:27] All righty. Well, I grew up in Ohio, obviously being a Bengals fan and learned very quickly I didn’t want to stay in Ohio, so went to college in Florida so that I could get some good weather moved here pretty quick after that. And I actually have worked in Atlanta sports television for 30 years since I moved here. I was very blessed. I moved here and got involved in local TV and they needed a short, spunky woman to boss people around. So I became the sports producer at WXIa for a long time. And, you know, I came into Atlanta at a really good time because I came in when the Braves started in the 90s. So I got to cover a World Series and championships, and that was amazing. Then the Falcons were doing well, went to a Super Bowl. You know, Georgia started to do well. We had national championships and Final Fours. And so that was my passion and it still is. I still am a passionate IT sports person. But then I decided to try and move into other areas of television. So I moved into working on, you know, parades and game shows and talk shows with Tyler Perry. And and my days just got longer and longer and longer and longer. And, you know, you kind of get to a point where you’re like, what am I doing sitting in a production truck for 14 hours a day? Um, I am I am married. I have a wonderful husband. He also works in the industry.

Lori Cover: [00:03:26] So fortunately we understood each other’s hours. I have two adult kids and then I have three, four legged kids, which is actually why. Positively. Max Mikey So. And I met you, Brian, because right before the pandemic, my mom passed away, and then we hit the pandemic, and it was like, Oh, my gosh, my world kind of got turned upside down. So I started working for a great company called Tate and Zoe. I was doing it on the side, still doing some TV stuff, but I wanted to do something that added a little sunshine, so to speak, to things because that was what my mom always was. She was an amazing person and volunteering was huge in her life and it still is in my father’s. But so I started doing Tate and Zoe doing gifts and gift baskets, and it was always something that I felt like I can donate these to, you know, auctions and events. And so that was kind of my way of feeling like I was giving back and doing stuff. And then, you know, there’s a saying I saw recently and it was well about the time I started Maxim positively. Maxim. Ag It said, If your schedule is full but your soul is not, then you’re filling your schedule with the wrong things. And that was like a smack upside my head. It was like I was so busy and but nothing was making me really happy. So that was kind of how I took a really hard left turn. So.

Brian Pruett: [00:05:21] Well, you mentioned it. You you graciously donated some baskets for some events that I’ve worked with in the non profits from golf tournaments and some other things. So I appreciate you doing that. But so other than getting involved with the sports and stuff like that, why is it important for you to be part of the community?

Lori Cover: [00:05:38] Because that is is where you live. That is the people who are there for you for good, bad or indifferent. Um, we have I mean, my kids, from the time they were little, we would go and, you know, we’d serve food at a soup kitchen. We’d go walk pets at a humane society. It was important to us. We’ve been given so much in our lives that we needed to give back during the pandemic. We rode school bus for must ministries who delivered food to all the Cobb County kids who didn’t have the normal breakfast and lunch they would get at school. So we rode in the back of the school bus and went to extended stay places just to make sure, you know, we still had food at home. We still could get out and get what we needed, but not all these people could. So it it’s that kind of stuff that has always been so important to me. And it comes from my parents because my dad, God bless him, he still is so involved in his community in Northport, Florida. And mom and dad always we have a lot. We should be thankful. We need to give back to others.

Brian Pruett: [00:07:11] So I want to go back to your your television days for a second. So you say you started at WXIa. I did. So, you know, I think it’s interesting. It was Jeff Hollinger there when you were there?

Lori Cover: [00:07:21] No, actually, he was at Channel five. That’s right. He was the sports anchor at Channel five. And then that was that was the early 90s because I had just gotten out of college early 90s. And Fred Kalil, Randy Waters, Sam Crenshaw, those and I still I still do high school football on Friday nights for Georgia Public Broadcasting because that is my love. I mean there is nothing better than a high school football. It really is. It’s awesome. And so I still work with Sam Crenshaw who is so involved in high school football, so still work with Sam. And Fred has since God bless him, got to retire back to Arizona.

Brian Pruett: [00:08:06] Randy was for a little while at Kennesaw State. I don’t know if he’s still there or not working.

Lori Cover: [00:08:09] He actually is doing color radio for Georgia Tech basketball.

Brian Pruett: [00:08:16] Okay. Well, the reason I ask about Jeff, because I just saw where he left 11 alive and now I went to GPB.

Lori Cover: [00:08:21] Yes. I just saw him on Tuesday. We do our, you know, our our check in for high school football on Friday. We are in East Coweta tonight. So I have a long drive ahead of me today.

Brian Pruett: [00:08:33] It is football season though, so it’s always good when you can be out in the football field.

Lori Cover: [00:08:37] So can’t hurt.

Brian Pruett: [00:08:38] All right. So tell us a little bit about Positively Max and Maggie.

Lori Cover: [00:08:41] So having had animals my whole life, they are the purest form of unconditional love. They just are happy. When you come home, it’s like, yeah, you’re feeding me. Yeah, you’re here. So I knew that that there was something that I wanted to do. You look at the pet industry over the last ten years has grown by more than $10 billion, but yet 4 to 6 million animals are surrendered to shelters every year. So there’s something kind of wonky going on. Um, Ozzie Albies, who Braves second baseman, has started. He started an amazing pet foundation and his and this had started kind of getting me thinking because he was like he grew up in Curacao where dogs were on the street all the time and people didn’t think a thing about it. He wanted to teach people, you know, hey, the there’s a reason that they’re here. Treat them well, learn how to take care of them, kind of learn at an early age. So he’s done amazing things. He helps bring dogs out of shelters and takes them to Braves games to get adopted. It’s adorable. And, you know, I don’t have that kind of financial backing, but I want I was like, I’ve got to be able to do something. So I started doing research and and I found that there are so many small businesses, women veterans, people, handmake collars, handmade water bowls, do all this stuff and a percentage of all of their profits go to animal organizations. And I was like, You know what? I’m going to make kind of an umbrella to help bring in other small businesses.

Lori Cover: [00:10:46] They can also will also give back. We choose a different animal charity each month to give back to. And most of these items are things that if you have a dog or a cat, you’re going to buy anyway. You’re going to buy a leash. You’re going to buy toys. You’re going to buy treats. Well, buy from a small business that not only you’re helping support a small business, but you’re also helping support different different organizations. And I’ve only been doing this since July, so I am still a baby at this. And I know I have so much to still learn, which is why being part of the Acworth Business Association has been really important because a lot of people there has. They have really helped me kind of learn. You know, I do that, Yeah, maybe you need to do more of that. And and I’m I’m very willing to learn coming from television. I don’t have a business background. I can boss people around all I want. But that doesn’t mean I know necessarily, you know, long term where, you know, I need to change this marketing strategy or maybe add this. And I know there’s a lot of other small businesses who I’d love to incorporate in the umbrella, but now that I’ve started the business, I’m kind of overwhelmed with, Oh my gosh, I’ve got to do this because we do pop up shops and we’re online. So we’re trying to spread the word, so to speak, about. Positively maximum.

Brian Pruett: [00:12:32] So I’m curious how the name came about.

Lori Cover: [00:12:36] My dog, My Pity Mix. His name is Max and my one of my cats is Maggie, because I wanted to do cats and dog and. My my daughter, who has her master’s in luxury branding. She was my person. And I was like, okay, I want to use Max and Maggie. And she’s like, Mom, it’s a long name. I was like, I know, But positively is the giving back part. She’s like, okay. So she she was very instrumental in helping me try and create it and she created my logo and all that.

Brian Pruett: [00:13:16] Good. Awesome.

Brian Pruett: [00:13:17] You know, we do that monthly trivia and last month we helped the Etowah Valley Humane Society. So we were able to get a hold of Brian.

Lori Cover: [00:13:23] I was. And they, we actually have our fundraiser for the Etowah Valley Humane Society on our Instagram page. We started. This past weekend and we’re going to continue through the month of October.

Brian Pruett: [00:13:41] So share about that. What what’s the fundraiser about? How can people get involved?

Lori Cover: [00:13:44] You can go to the positively Max and Maggie Instagram page. It’s listed on there. And we do. And what I tell people all the time, if they see us at a pop up shop and they’re like, Oh, I don’t have a dog or a cat, well, I always have the information. I said, That’s okay. You can just donate to the organization. And I’ve had I had a bunch of people walk by and hand me $5. I said, we’re doing money or we’re raising a percentage of our profits from all of our sales online and at pop up shops and people who want to just donate. All those proceeds are all going to the Etowah Valley Humane Society.

Brian Pruett: [00:14:30] Awesome.

Brian Pruett: [00:14:30] Do you know being in the broadcasting world, do you know Ray Baker? Rape used to be in the red. He was the one that started Kennesaw State’s radio station back in the 90s. And you know, he’s involved with Rockford rescues. Have you gotten in touch with him about that? I have.

Lori Cover: [00:14:43] Not. And that’s just it, Brian. I will be honest. The number of people we were at a pop up shop on Sunday and I wrote down four organizations. And that’s what I mean, where because I’m still so early in this process, I love getting names and connections because I think the most important thing is education, especially of young people, because when young people learn. How to take care of animals. Hey, let’s get them spayed and neutered so we don’t have, you know, a litter of puppies or kittens that then my third animal is Kim Wiggington from the ABA had come to a board meeting and said, Hey, we found a litter of kittens. It was in a storm drain in, you know, in downtown Acworth. Does anyone want one? The only one they could catch. And I was like, I’ll take it.

Lori Cover: [00:16:01] My husband of course, was rolling his eyes and turns out she has special needs and that’s why they could catch her because she has a brain injury. But again, it’s this, you know. I. She would not have made it if she had been there. But that’s just another one of those. Oh, my gosh. Here we have more feral cats and more so I would I think that to me, I want to get involved. I want connections and I want to. I really want to help with the process of, okay, what’s the best way to help? Not have 4 to 6 million animals surrendered every year.

Brian Pruett: [00:16:46] I’ll make that reconnection for you with Ray.

Lori Cover: [00:16:48] So that would be awesome.

Brian Pruett: [00:16:50] You know? And then in January, I’m going to have an expo at the Acworth Community Center that you can be a part of. So that’s going to help the Horizon League portion of those proceeds so you can come out and, you know, promote your stuff there. So……..

Lori Cover: [00:16:59] Awesome.

Lori Cover: [00:17:00] I’m ready. I’m ready and willing to go just about anywhere.

Brian Pruett: [00:17:04] All right.

Brian Pruett: [00:17:05] Well, we talked about the networking and that’s how we met. So you not only network, but you’re involved with the ABA, you’re on, I guess, the board or you’re a committee member or whatever. So can you give us a positive story of how networking has benefited you and helped you honestly?

Lori Cover: [00:17:25] When I did the gift baskets, I was that was when I was like, I don’t know a thing about business. I need to help. So I went to the ABA. Never felt more like part of a family. Everyone was like, Oh, we’ll help, blah, blah blah blah, blah. Well, Dale Hoeflinger and Kelly Nagle, when I started talking about I think I want to do this with the pet business, they both took time out of their incredibly busy schedules, sat down with me and for an hour, let me go. Okay. These are some of the things I’m thinking of good, bad. And they both have been instrumental in just kind of giving me some guidance on ways to go. And I couldn’t I couldn’t have done this without them. And I am on the board. I’m in charge of the women’s luncheon. So and we’ve grown tremendously. So it’s been it’s been a great experience. And yeah.

Brian Pruett: [00:18:35] So you also help with the morning jolt?

Lori Cover: [00:18:37] I do.

Brian Pruett: [00:18:38] Can you share I mean, you don’t necessarily have to be a member of the ABA. I know people like to be there, but you can come to that. But can you share about the jolt?

Lori Cover: [00:18:44] The jolt is awesome because it it literally is one hour and that’s it. You have one hour come at 8 a.m. and you have a chance to share your business. You can meet people and it’s a great way to get your Tuesday. It’s the second and fourth Tuesday of every month, and it’s a great way to meet people. In fact, the people who are painting my house right now, I met them at The Jolt.

Brian Pruett: [00:19:14] There you go.

Lori Cover: [00:19:16] And I’ve made incredible connections and everyone can and it doesn’t cost you. Go in and grab a cup of coffee, meet a bunch of people. You’re in and out in an hour and you can make meetings.

Lori Cover: [00:19:28] It’s wonderful.

Brian Pruett: [00:19:28] Sometimes you get free breakfast too, depending on who’s sponsoring.

Lori Cover: [00:19:31] It’s true. Yeah, that’s true.

Brian Pruett: [00:19:33] So there are a ton of networking groups out there. There’s a ton of business associations, especially in Cobb County. So since you’re on the board of the ABA, which is the Business association for people may not know, can you share? I know they just had their monthly luncheon yesterday, right? Yes. Can you share a little bit more about them in case people want to get more involved?

Lori Cover: [00:19:52] The organization. Let’s see. Acworth Business org is the best place to check out all of the events. Taste of Acworth is tomorrow and that is a huge part of the ABA. It’s great function. And then we have, like I said, the jolt. Second and fourth. We have the Alive after five, which is another great event that you don’t have to be a member. You can come and it’s next week at Center Street Tavern on Thursday. And then the women’s luncheon is the last Thursday of the month. And that you do have to register for. But there are events you don’t have to register for. You can come. And then like with the two luncheons, you do have to register. But it’s a. There’s the golf tournament is also the 23rd. So it’s another one of our big events helping with the ABA.

Brian Pruett: [00:20:59] And so I know since you are part of the board and you do the women’s luncheon, I think it’s important because, you know, I’m part of the leadership team of the Cardinal Business Club. Don’t just come and network. You need to get involved because you know you can come and I don’t think you’ll get enough as much as you can unless you get involved. Would you agree with that?

Lori Cover: [00:21:17] Absolutely. And I have to say that was one of the things when I first arrived that I realized, yeah, you can just go to the jolt and to the alive after 5:00 and you’ll meet people, but you get so much more out of it if you get involved. And there is always a place to get involved there and it does help. Get to know people better, get to know more about people’s businesses. And you know what? The other thing is, you know, I may not. You know, like with my house, you may meet me at a jolt and you may not. You may say, Oh, she has business. I don’t have any pets. I don’t need to know. But then we have a conversation and you find out, Oh, wait, she needs this for her car or for her house. And it’s that getting to know people, having conversations. And that’s how getting involved makes all the difference in the world.

Brian Pruett: [00:22:23] And building that relationship, because that’s that’s the big, big part. So. All right. So since you are new into your own business, you said, what, July, June, July.

Lori Cover: [00:22:32] I’m actually three months this week.

Brian Pruett: [00:22:34] Three months. All right. So everybody that’s in here is a business owner and small business owner. So give some advice for somebody who might be listening, who’s thinking about starting a business.

Lori Cover: [00:22:43] Do your research. That, to me is the most important you now. And you must be careful. We all know the Internet is not infallible. But talk to people, do research. Make sure. One of the things I remember asking Kelly Nagle was, Why do I want to do something that other people do? Because, you know. I’m not alone in having a pet business. And she’s like, Find your reason, find your why, and say, okay, I’m doing this because I’m going to do it to help others in this capacity versus other. So know your why. Do your research and, you know, be willing to take one criticism. I’m not always really good at that, but be willing to take criticism and be willing to pivot.

Brian Pruett: [00:23:44] I also think what makes you stand out, too, because even though you’ve got other pet businesses, you may you have a special niche, you know, and so that make sure people know that, too. And also like what Bob Brooks talks about, we talk about the CBC to collaborate over competition. So, you know, there may be other pet businesses in there, but nobody everybody’s going to do the same thing. So. Right, right. Um, all right. So if people are listening, want to get a hold of you for your services, how can they do that?

Lori Cover: [00:24:10] Positive. Lee Max and Maggie at Yahoo! Dot com. And positively Max and Maggie. Hold on. What did I just say? Positively. Max and Maggie at Yahoo! Is the email address right? Positively. Max and maggie.com is the website and on Instagram and Facebook. So if you type in PR positively, Max, Maggie will pop up.

Brian Pruett: [00:24:43] All right. Awesome. Well, Laura, thanks for coming and sharing a little bit of your story. And don’t go anywhere. We’re not done with you.

Lori Cover: [00:24:49] Thank you so much for having me.

Brian Pruett: [00:24:49] All right. Now we’re moving over to Mr. Isaac Hall with the Isaac Hall Group. Isaac, thanks for being here. Thanks for having me. So you’re dedicated because you just drove back in from Orlando because you know you were going to be the star and you wanted to get here, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, you and I met, obviously, the Cartersville Business Club, and you have a passion for helping others. I think, like everybody in this room. But you chose a profession that’s really, I think, hard for people to navigate. And there’s a lot of, uh. I don’t know, It’s just weird. Anyway, so. But anyway, share your background, and we’ll talk into what you do. Yeah. Yeah, that’s a good word for it.

Isaac Hall: [00:25:27] Yeah. Where to start? I could go on for hours, I guess. I’m from Dallas, Georgia, not Texas. And I’ve been living in Bartow County, I guess the majority of my adult life. And I grew up around church a lot and at 14 become a Christian. And I know it’s business radio, but that’s fine.

Brian Pruett: [00:25:48] A lot of people share their testimonies, so go ahead.

Isaac Hall: [00:25:50] Yeah, so everything I do is, you know, because of that. And so I really take that into business and what I do. So I started at 18 doing landscaping and did that for a few years, and then I did some electrical work. I’ve done roofing, I’ve shoveled horse manure for money. So I didn’t really know much about being a business guy, if you will, you know, dressing up during the day. And but I got into insurance at 24 and with a little company called Aflac in South Georgia. And so I did that for many years, I guess almost 17 years with Aflac and the supplemental side and didn’t really want to do anything else. You mentioned how it’s just kind of weird and confusing and so but so I got into individual health insurance the last couple of years and it’s been phenomenal. People don’t which we can get into, but people don’t really understand how how much is out there to be able to get covered. And so big on helping families. Again, being in the ministry. I lead worship at my church at Grace Church in Cartersville and so love to help people. And I’ve got a lot of kids between me and my wife, we have nine kids, six boys, three girls. Our oldest is 21 and our youngest is eight.

Brian Pruett: [00:27:01] So you almost doubled the Brady Bunch.

Isaac Hall: [00:27:04] Yeah, Yeah. People say it’s like The Brady Bunch. I’m like, well, we’re bigger. So it’s we stay busy busy with with the kids. So like we went to Orlando, we just took the two youngest. We’re, they’re getting older now, so we’re kicking them out as soon as we can. So we’re kind of getting there. But yeah, love what we do. We big in the community now, obviously again with trying to help out at the church there. And so it kind of goes hand in hand with what we do. And so, so now I’m full time started the Isaac Hall Group in the last couple of years and really got into more of that in trying to help out people in the health insurance side now than than on the Aflac, too. But but I do both.

Brian Pruett: [00:27:43] We’ll get into that just a second. But I want to talk a little bit more about your your giving back and your passion for helping others because you jumped aboard and helped us with All in all Ministries fundraiser back in June. And we’ve brought Kevin actually was my first two time guest because since he was on the first time, there was a lot happening with his ministry. And because you were a part of that, we were able to waste $10,300 for his ministry. So that was awesome. So you’ve also helped in ways where you necessarily couldn’t come to trivia, but you bought some tickets for maybe some other folks to come and be able to participate in the monthly trivia. So I appreciate that. So why are there being in a ministry and just kind of the your Christian walk, why is it important to be part of the community?

Isaac Hall: [00:28:26] Well, I mean, she mentioned it a while ago when it comes to helping people and we say it a lot in the business club, but it sounds cliche, but it’s really true. The more you help people, the more you help, the more it comes back. I mean, you know, as a Christian, the Bible says you reap what you sow and when you put it out there, it’s going to come back. And so and two, I tell people, I say this a lot as far as being a Christian is when I was 14, I became a Christian. You know, I say, you know, the Lord changed my forever and there’s just not anything more exciting than that. And so to be able to help people, whether it’s in a natural sense of helping people recovery, we’ve helped Kevin out on another event recently downtown, and it’s just so cool to get and you see people that are really down. You know, they’ve been through some stuff, I’ve been through some stuff. We’ve all been through some stuff. Some of our stuff is out in the open more than others. And so I went through one of those moments where it was out in the open. And, you know, people judge and they do these kind of things. So it’s really cool to meet people in that setting, to be able to love on them, you know, and say, I promise it’s going to get better, you know, to give some hope.

Brian Pruett: [00:29:33] So And I love it because, Lori, you were talking about the why. And that seems to be a theme this week, Eric. But it is about your why because you can go into a job and have a job, but you’re not going to be happy unless you know your why. And it took me a long time to figure out my why. One of these days I’ll share my why on the air. But I shared a little bit yesterday with Eric and some folks. So. All right, let’s so let’s talk about the Isaac Hall group and your insurance. You mentioned that it’s the personal health, right?

Isaac Hall: [00:29:58] It is. It is. And it’s funny. I’ll tell you real quick on the why. When I started Aflac, like I said, almost 17 years ago, Joe Harris, junior in Cartersville, was my boss. And I’ll never forget, we sat there for like two hours and wonderful guy. We got to talking and he asked me for like two weeks when I was working there, you know, what is your why? And I knew he was looking for something different. I wanted to be like, laughing kids, we got to buy groceries. You know, I’m trying to make a living. I don’t know. But I’d already told him my story, and I just didn’t put two and two together at that age. But my cousin went through cancer in mid 20s and he fought it for a year and a half. Worst case scenario. And they had Aflac through Cobb County government, his parents, and so financially changed their life. They were able to be with him for that year and a half. And so it was like a commercial. And so my story for years selling was just, Hey, this is what happened, you know, And if you need it, it’s amazing. If not, it’s insurance. It’s a necessary evil. I know people hate insurance, but so I got into the individual health part a couple of years ago and I had somebody actually very thankful for her that she begged me to get into it for like five years.

Isaac Hall: [00:31:05] And I’m not really I hate health insurance. You know, nobody likes it. It goes up every year and there’s just network problems and all this. And I said, I’m good. And so a couple, like I said, almost two years ago, she came to me and said, you really got to do this. So I met with some folks and it’s really changed since 2009 when the Affordable Care Act happened. And so now there’s so much out there. And I specialize in that because typically when we talk about our perfect referral, it’s not just somebody who needs health insurance, it’s those that think they can’t afford it. So if they’re low income or they have their own business and they they’re good with their taxes and they’re able to look, you know, pull their adjusted gross income, there’s a lot of different ways within the the setting that you can get affordable, truly affordable health insurance, which is a big deal because obviously dealing with what we do, we even talk about the animals and having care. I mean, it’s that way within yourself, whether it’s your job or your family, your mental state, everything that goes on talking about recovery, there’s help out there. And if you don’t know to get it or you think you can’t afford it, it affects your whole life, you know? So it’s it’s it’s pretty cool.

Brian Pruett: [00:32:16] So so people who dread going there and trying to find the health insurance and you know, some of them just say, the heck with it, I’m not going to get it, you know, and they pay out of their pocket what sometimes can be a little cheaper, but give some, I guess, advice on other than talking to yourself, you know, to you, but give some advice for somebody. First of all, looking for insurance and then what’s what’s what do they need to look for?

Isaac Hall: [00:32:40] Yeah, well, it’s funny you say that, too, thinking about what we do versus if somebody goes on the Internet and tries to search for it, it can be very overwhelming. There’s tons of options. People go, What is the deductible? A deductible? What’s an out-of-pocket expense? You know, is it in-network out-of-network? What’s a specialist and those kind of things. So obviously trying to find somebody who knows what they’re doing. I tell my all my kids all the time. I say, if you want marriage advice, talk to somebody who’s been married for 30 and 40 years. If you want money advice, talk to somebody who has money. And so if you want advice and insurance, talk to somebody who’s done it. They know what they’re doing. Yeah. And it just really looking for the need. I heard one of your shows recently. I think we’re talking about some insurance and everybody’s different. I don’t go to the doctor very often. I had a brother who had a heart transplant. So obviously we need two totally different health plans. Mine’s totally different than his. So getting with someone and trying to figure out how much coverage do you really need where it doesn’t break the bank. A lot of people say I’m over insured, I have too much insurance and I say, you can never have too much insurance.

Isaac Hall: [00:33:45] You can have too much premium that you have to pay. So obviously you can’t be over insured, but you can be over premium every month. So, you know, that’s kind of the gist behind that in my opinion. But it is a necessary evil. But like you said, I give an example. One of my sons had a car wreck last December. He was in the hospital three days and it was almost $60,000 bill. And so doctor visits won’t make you go bankrupt, but that could. So it’s worth looking and and finding again, I go back to scripture. The Bible says you have not because you ask not. And I’m like, I got to do is find out, you know, it takes two minutes to get a quote. And I love what I do. I. Tell people I’m very open when it comes to what I do is I get paid the same from the carrier, whether you pay zero a month or a thousand. And so you try to find somebody who’s in it to say, Hey, look, whatever’s best for you. You know, it’s a lot of numbers. We talk to enough people and people sign up and it helps them. So yeah, really, again, doing research, making sure you get what you need, you know?

Brian Pruett: [00:34:42] So if you caught that, he did say zero month that you know which it is a thing which is pretty incredible. All right. So other than because you also worked for Aflac, why is it important to possibly have a supplemental insurance or do you do you agree with that?

Isaac Hall: [00:34:57] 100%. So I love Dave Ramsey because we shouldn’t be in debt. But I also I don’t agree with his lines of he doesn’t like supplemental insurance. Well, if everyone’s a millionaire and your debt free, you don’t need supplemental insurance. But 86% of Americans are paycheck to paycheck. So in my opinion, you know, my line with Aflac for years has been, you know, if you’re sick or hurt and you can’t work, can you buy groceries? Can you pay your mortgage? Can you handle paying for nine kids? It’s hard to do with a paycheck. So to me, supplemental insurance is it’s a no brainer unless you can go without a paycheck for a long extended period of time or you have that 8 or $9000 put back for deductible. And a lot of people do, but most people don’t. So yeah, I think both kind of fits your health insurance to pay doctors and hospitals. Again, you know, for me, I’m okay with having a high deductible because I’ve got plenty of Aflac. My son, who spent three days in the hospital, Our deductible was $8,600. My Aflac pay me 10,000 bucks on an accident plan. So it just kind of fits together. And but also it’s whatever’s affordable to you. So I tell people we’re here to pay you cash when you need it, not break you in the meantime. So you can’t live in fear. So you pick and choose what’s best and what’s affordable so you can keep it. But if you can afford it, it’s definitely worth it.

Brian Pruett: [00:36:15] That’s what I was going to ask, because a lot of people are thinking, Well, that’s great and everything, but I can’t really afford that stuff. So I guess really you guys just need to sit down, even with not with Isaac, but just sit down and talk to somebody so you can find out what’s going on and what’s good for you. So. All right. So you and I met at Cartersville Business Club. You were new to networking, if I’m not mistaken. How long have you been networking? Now?

Isaac Hall: [00:36:39] So I think I’ve the first time I came was towards the end of last year, but really heavy the last several months trying to go every week.

Brian Pruett: [00:36:46] So can you share a positive story since you’ve been networking?

Isaac Hall: [00:36:50] It is phenomenal. So and I’ll say this real quick, when I started Aflac, all I knew was low numbers. So when I used to do landscaping, I would I was that guy that put stuff on your mailbox before it was you get in trouble. And so and it was like, hey, if I hit a thousand houses and I get 1% success, I’ll make 11. I did that with Aflac. So I knocked on businesses doors and I was that guy. It is not fun for anybody, but it works. Lord numbers. And I was working for the Ducks, you know, so I knew it would would work. And that’s how I taught people for years. And then I came to the networking in Cartersville and it was so cool. My biggest thing is I hate going in a room with salespeople and you feel like you’re just trying to sell and they’re trying to sell it. Nothing is fun about it. I hate it. And it was totally different there. I mean, I’ve never seen anything like it, like a family and people genuinely. What can I do to help? Can I get a one on one to see what you do? And so I started doing that and I really picked up on that. And I’m at a place where it wasn’t like when I started a commission only job at 24 and I was broke.

Isaac Hall: [00:37:53] Thankfully, I’m not at that point. So I was more relaxed as well in the networking and it is so phenomenal. I was on a call this morning and I was telling the guy, I said, I literally I don’t remember the last day that I’ve not gotten a referral about health insurance. I don’t remember. And tons of it come from networking because you’re genuinely going in. What do you do? You know, I’ve dealt with small businesses for years, so when we’re talking to real estate or lenders or painters or whoever and I say, Look, I’ve got like all these small businesses I deal with, I can definitely put you in front of somebody and you send that first referral and boom, it just starts coming. And so I told my wife the other day, I said, I really messed up when I started at 24 and didn’t understand what it was to get together with people. All I did was cold call and I said it could have been a whole lot different, you know? So I genuinely love it. I tell everybody, I know you’ve got to get in there and just get involved and get to know people and it just comes, you know?

Brian Pruett: [00:38:51] Well, you talked about, you know, not knowing at 24, anybody who doesn’t know networking, I don’t care what age you are, you go in, all you want to do is sell. And that’s not it. You got to build the relationships. And it takes it takes a while, you know? And I think getting involved and having the one on ones and building those relationships is what what does it you know, and it’s funny, people say, well, you need you need to know Brian he knows everybody. Well, I don’t know everybody, but it is scary how many people I do know because I’ve networked Atlanta for almost 30 years and it’s crazy when I sit down and. How many people actually do know good or bad, you know, and the networking groups, There are several out there and there are some that are better than others. But it’s true. Laura, you got to come to Cardinal Business Club because it is really like a family. It’s more than just a and I’m not knocking the Acworth Business Association, but it’s definitely you come in and you’re going to be open armed. I mean, and I would say, I don’t know. You might. Probably 40% may not even be from the Bartow County area. They come there. Would you agree? I mean, that’s how people and it’s so accepting for, you know, people. It’s just amazing. So. All right. So, um, since you’ve started your business, give some advice for somebody who’s listening, who might want to start a small start their own business.

Isaac Hall: [00:40:04] It’s tough. It’s funny. All I’ve ever done is own my own business, you know, insurance or landscaping or whatever. I love doing that. It’s not what people think about. I’m the boss. I don’t have to do anything. You work harder than everybody else, but it’s very rewarding and couple of things I guess. She mentioned time while ago management. Oh my gosh, you’ve got to figure that one out, calendar it out or it will run your business. It will run you instead of you running your business for sure. But you can definitely take advantage of doing that and be able to work for yourself. Build time Again. Like this week I was able to go to Orlando with the kids and wife and didn’t have to worry about Can I take off those kind of things? But really just being steady, getting after it just every day, every day is is activity, activity, activity. I guess that’s in any business. And insurance they drilled it in our head. But just talking to people, networking, talking constantly, it’s just whatever you’re doing, you’re passionate about it. You talk about it all the time. Be that guy in your business.

Isaac Hall: [00:41:08] Because the deal is if you’re passionate about it, whether it’s animals, it’s insurance, it’s real estate, whatever it is, if you’re talking about it, you’re doing it to help other people. And so when it comes across that way, it makes all the difference in the world. I give this last example. I’ve hired people through the years where I really thought they were going to just knock it out of the park in the business, but they were a little too slick. And so you just can’t be that way if you own your own business. Obviously you’re in sales and they’ve got to see you care. I talk about it in leading worship at church and I say, you know, if we’re up here and we’re not smiling, we’re not excited, we’re not passionate about what we do, they’re not going to get excited either, and they’re not going to come back. So everything we do in life, you know, I think is kind of that mentality. But definitely if you’re going to do a business, you’ve got to be passionate about it. And if so, you put in the time and effort. It’ll it’ll work.

Brian Pruett: [00:41:58] Well, you talked about the sales and and Laurie and Eric. You guys didn’t when you started your business, you came from TV background. You’re a first responder and we’ll talk about it in a second. But you and I were in the sales part of it, and it’s a lot different selling for yourself than selling for somebody else and a lot less. The stress is different. Yeah. You put yourself you put the stress on yourself.

Isaac Hall: [00:42:20] Yeah, I was going to say. And then you’re the guy or the lady, you know, if something happens, they are calling you, right? So, you know, my cell phone is out there, my email is out there, my name’s out there. And so it another cool thing about the referrals, I mean, when you really genuinely doing the best for that person, whether you make the sale or not, I’ve made sales where I didn’t make that particular sale and they referred me to someone else because they truly saw, Hey, he’s trying to do what’s best. You know, there’s been times where I’ve looked at people and I said, you know, individual health is not the best for you. I deal with small businesses, too, and I say, You used to stay with group health and I don’t do group health. And so we just refer it to someone else, you know. So but if you do that, it’s definitely a different stress because, you know, when I worked for Aflac, it was the brand, it was the duck. Everybody knew it’s Aflac, you know, even me. There was people that would have me in their phones as the Aflac guy. They didn’t know my name. In this case, my name is in the group as a call group, you know, So something happens. They know who to call. So it’s a it’s a big deal to do what you say.

Brian Pruett: [00:43:19] So I got another networking story that I’ll share about you that you and I did talk about but you probably didn’t think about. So when you helped with Kevin’s thing, right? And you had a booth and everything and we were putting everybody’s logos out there, you didn’t have a logo, right? And so Anna made you one just out of the blue. And it was like, yeah, you know, And that came from networking with the group, right? Yeah.

Isaac Hall: [00:43:40] And it was so cool because I have a meeting with her on Tuesday, and again, I got into this and I didn’t have to worry about marketing before because it’s a multi-billion dollar marketing with the duck. And so I’m just going and it grew so fast. I don’t even have a logo. And it was so cool because I’m in the print out of the book and I’m like, That is such a cool logo. And I’m like, Oh, that’s mine. And she did that for you guys and for me. And so now I went back to her and I said, Hey, I would love to pay you for that so I can have that. And so we’re meeting on Tuesday to go over. She’s going to do all my marketing. Awesome. Something she did for free to Help Me helped you. And now we’re in business together.

Brian Pruett: [00:44:20] So that’s awesome. That’s awesome. All right, so if somebody is listening and wants to get a hold of you for your services, how can they do that?

Isaac Hall: [00:44:26] She’s also going to help me with a website.

Brian Pruett: [00:44:27] There you go.

Isaac Hall: [00:44:28] So for now, I give up my cell phone like crazy. But it’s 404 3911936. 404 3911936. My email is Isaac Hall group at gmail.com and fortunately again with a background of Aflac, Just Google, Isaac Hall, Cartersville, I will pull up because of that. So but coming soon, I’ll have a website. So all right, biggest thing, cell phone, email. And then again, you can just Google Isaac Hall, Cartersville and I’ll pull up.

Brian Pruett: [00:44:57] Awesome. Well, Isaac, thanks for sharing a little bit of your story. Again, don’t go anywhere because we’re not done. So now we’re moving over to Mister Eric Reagan, even though he’s wearing a roll Tide shirt and hat. Lori we got to stick together because we’re obviously and it’s not even Georgia. It’s Alabama sitting over here. That’s why you like Aflac, Isaac because Nick Saban’s doing Aflac for you.

Isaac Hall: [00:45:20] It is ironic, right?

Brian Pruett: [00:45:22] Yeah. So, Eric, you and I met again, networking, obviously. And you’ve got an awesome background as far as helping people because you started out as a first responder firefighter, then EMT, and you had your own ambulance business for a while as well. And now you’re doing something with helping people with real estate as well as just announced some ad agency stuff. So if you don’t mind, share your background.

Eric Reagan: [00:45:45] Uh, grew up in Smyrna, so I’m a local guy. Um, to a single mom. Uh, never knew my dad. So. A lot of my talking about community. My dads were my coaches. That’s where I got my male influence and some in the church back during that time, you know, to be a single mom out of wedlock was frowned upon. So my family, even my mom’s family didn’t really. Have a lot to do with us. So it was the community that helped support us and take care of us.

Brian Pruett: [00:46:39] So talk about your firefighter days.

Eric Reagan: [00:46:43] Well. I. I was about 13, 14 years old one night, and there was a wreck. It was a rollover. And I didn’t know the people in the car, but I ended up getting pulling a guy out of his. A pretty bad wreck. Car caught on fire, pulled the guy out. And later on I found out that I went to school with his sister. So that was a. Uh, gave me a good feeling, you know, that I was able to affect somebody’s life. So, uh. Got a job with the Smyrna Fire Department and worked there for, I think, eight years, something like that. Got my EMT license and then my paramedic license. Started working for Metro Ambulance And. That was he. That was my father in law. Worked two full time jobs, fire department and the ambulance service. He sold the. The ambulance service. At that time, it was becoming more of a business where used to be. It was a community of helping people. You knew who you were going to work with every you know, you vacationed with the people you worked with, and it was just an awesome time. And then it became just a business. But I ended up starting my own ambulance service. I worked for them for about six months. And like I said, they they weren’t in the business of helping people. They were in the business of making money. And so I started my own ambulance. Gold cross ambulance and had it for probably ten years and ended up selling it.

Brian Pruett: [00:48:48] So again, you have a passion for others. But I want to go back for a second and ask this question for people who are listening and may not know, share the difference between an EMT and a paramedic EMT.

Eric Reagan: [00:48:59] They can do basic stuff. A paramedic is more invasive. They can give cardiac drugs. They can do intubation, which is you stick a tube down people’s throat when they’re not breathing and be able to. You’re basically a nurse, pa in the street and basic EMT can start IVs and do basic stuff like that. But as far as giving, you know, drugs and stuff like that, that’s you have to have a paramedic license. It’s a lot more school, you know, more hours, more clinical hours in the hospital. Learning stuff, you know, hands on stuff. So.

Brian Pruett: [00:49:49] And that industry, I mean, any first responder, you have to have tough skin as well, because not all days are going to be, you know, happy. I spent a little while as a 911 dispatcher for the city of Kennesaw, and I can remember taking a phone call and the woman who was calling was in the middle of having a stroke while on the call. And it was sad because the the while we’re trying to dispatch the police there and get her, she actually wound up dying and they could see her through the window and they just couldn’t get to her in time. So. But you shared a little bit of the story when you were, what, 14 years old. But do you have a story, another story that’s really kind of drove home when you were a firefighter or a paramedic about, you know, just helping helping folks.

Eric Reagan: [00:50:31] Well, it is a very stressful job. Back when I was in the midst of it, I want to say the life expectancy of a paramedic was like seven years. Just because you could not handle the stress and. A quick story. Ran a call. There was a rape call. I was relatively new, maybe six, eight months on the job as a paramedic. And the the girl that was raped when I peeked in. You know, you got to be real careful when you’re a male in that situation because they just got abused by a male. And I just kind of peeked my head into the apartment and I couldn’t she recognized me. I couldn’t recognize her because the assailant had broke a beer bottle by beating her in the head. And her face was so swollen that I didn’t recognize her. She ended up being a nurse at one of the local hospitals, and she recognized me. Almost got out of the business. Um. But, you know, you so many things happen to kids and, you know, it’s not their fault. And. You take him to the hospital, you care for him and. The next call comes in and you’re riding down the road, you got to go deal with somebody else. And over the course of their shift. You know. Two weeks later, you’re riding down the road and person’s face will pop into your mind and you’re like. Whatever happened to them? How can I be so cold to not remember, you know, what happened? So I get emotional. No, because people are, you know, I like helping people. Right. And that’s why the life expectancy is seven years because you can’t deal with the stress.

Brian Pruett: [00:52:50] Right. Wow. Well, you’ve taken that passion into the business side of helping others and also the real estate side. So I think it’s really cool because you’re name of the real estate agents 20 to 1 share about why why it’s the name of that 20 to.

Eric Reagan: [00:53:04] 1 is comes from Proverbs 22 one which is a good name is to be desired over wealth. And so that’s my family. We owned the brokerage. It’s a boutique brokerage. I’ve primarily been handling the commercial and the land aspect of it. And, you know, we we like helping people because that’s financially the biggest investment that most people will make in their lifetime. So.

Brian Pruett: [00:53:34] So somebody might be listening that’s thinking about maybe needing some commercial property. Can you give me any advice on what to kind of start looking for? Obviously dealing with getting with somebody like yourself who who can help them navigate that way. But what kind of advice can you give somebody Maybe we need some commercial property.

Eric Reagan: [00:53:53] Know what your your you know, if it’s relative to your business, know what the zoning is. Find out what the you’re able if you, you know, find a place that you would like to to set up shop, so to speak. And when it’s commercial, you know, it’s all about location, location, location. So know what the zoning is, Know what the process is. Find out what if you have to change zoning, Know how much square footage you’re going to need for your business and find out, you know, what what you’re going to expect to pay per square footage and rent. So a lot of times it makes more sense for people to buy if they have the capability, you know, to buy. That way you’re the landlord and you maybe can rent out part of it, part of your your business, part of your building.

Brian Pruett: [00:54:53] Is it different in different counties as far as what they look for?

Eric Reagan: [00:54:58] Yeah, they all each, each municipality has their own zoning regulations. And and then there’s, you know, of course, the state and federal stuff that you have to be aware of.

Brian Pruett: [00:55:10] Also, we’re all can you work working people working you help some people for.

Eric Reagan: [00:55:15] Well I’m I’m all over you know metro north metro Atlanta and even as far up I’ve helped people in Chatsworth, you know north Georgia. So but yeah it’s. It’s a it’s a fun business. I like being out and I don’t like being stuck in a office, so to speak, you know? So I’m I like being out and about.

Brian Pruett: [00:55:44] So, Lori, he might need you because he’s got a dog that rides with him everywhere. And currently his dog is mad at him. So he is.

Eric Reagan: [00:55:51] I just had him neutered.

Brian Pruett: [00:55:54] So he might need some gifts for you from you. So, um. Well, you’ve also taken that passion and turned a little more because. Yeah, go ahead.

Eric Reagan: [00:56:02] I was going to say, I did help another lady, Anne Reid, in Kennesaw doing the same thing you did. This was probably 4 or 5 years ago. She bought a building and there every time I go by it, they’re crazy. They come to the Acworth. I won’t say the name, but they come to the Acworth business meetings too, So.

Brian Pruett: [00:56:28] Yeah.

Eric Reagan: [00:56:30] It makes more sense sometimes to to buy it because they’re, you know.

Brian Pruett: [00:56:35] Right. Well, what I was going to say was you’ve taken your passion and really kind of because you, you and I sat down and I learned just how passionate you are of people just in business because you also offer some business coaching or would like to and a lot of wisdom. Was in Eric’s head. But no, he just I mean, he really takes the time to listen to you and share things you might need. And he encouraged me to do some things which I’ve now done for my business. And I’ve actually formed a board and Eric is my first board member on that for that business. So you’re very passionate about being at events that I do and helping in that way as well. And. It was funny because you actually helped start another networking group too, in Emerson, and I like that group because it’s very small and intimate, and some of those groups can be more of what you need than some of the larger ones. And I really like. Plus, we’re at a really good place. Dogs, you can’t beat that food. So. But you had said something a few weeks ago that really sparked me, that talking about when people go into business, they don’t do a lot of research. They don’t know what they need. They don’t even know if you need a business license. And I was like, Oh, shoot, I don’t have a business license. But I was told a couple of years ago or a few years ago that if you ever worked out of your home, you didn’t need one. And so when I actually emailed my CPA and she’s told me that she’s like, Oh, no, you need one. So I got hit with some pretty heavy fines, but I got one now, so thank you for that. Um, but you have jumped into a new adventure with a buddy of ours, Jeff Stone. Share about that.

Eric Reagan: [00:58:12] Well, talking about the real estate business, I purchased some leads and, you know, and basically, everybody that we talk to that’s in business would love to have more business, love to have more leads, purchase some leads. I won’t say the name. They were awful. You’re fighting ten other agents, too, you know, and basically it was we want to take your money and we’re going to send you these leads and that’s you’re on your own. And so Jeff and I, Jeff is very passionate also about helping people. And we decided that, you know, I was trying to figure out a way I could get more leads for real estate. And we decided we did some research and came up with a place that actually gave I went through a coaching and some instruction as far as setting up leads and different ways to to provide people with leads for their business and getting reports weekly and being able to actually pimp as this working. No, that’s not working. Well, let’s change something, you know, and it’s you know, a lot of it’s through Facebook, social media, Facebook, Google, TikTok. We do billboards, TV. Now, when I say TV, it’s not like you know, TV that’s going to broadcast to hundreds of thousands.

Eric Reagan: [00:59:51] They actually have it now where you can target specific neighborhoods and demographics. So you’re not you’re not targeting people that you don’t need to target. So it’s a lot more economical for a business, too. And that’s another thing. We we come from a background of, you know, my business coaching and being able to actually find funding for businesses. A lot of small and medium businesses don’t have the ability unless they’re coming out of their own pocket to buy leads or to purchase new business. And that’s kind of kind of scary, actually, you know, when you’re thinking, you know, you need to market because you got to get get your name out there, the branding and and that kind of stuff. And so we started our our business lead lab magnet is the name of the business. And we’re just trying to we’re taking on a few businesses as case studies to, you know, not really make any money. We’re just going to do it at cost and just get in hopes that people will, you know, we’ll get them business and they’ll use us, you know, in the future.

Brian Pruett: [01:01:20] So we talked about Jeff. Jeff’s been on the show. And actually, Isaac, you met Jeff. Jeff is a former soccer player, played for the LA Aztecs. I had joked with him the other day when we talked about the Aztecs. I thought they were in Mexico. So super nice guy, though. So you guys combination is awesome. So another thing that I’ll just mention real quick is you also are, whether you know this or not, you’re a story of inspiration to people because you’re currently going through some things that are aren’t good, but you’re just kind of rolling through them and things and you’re and I just think it’s it’s great to see when somebody when there’s adversity. Because a lot of people will just say, oh, the heck with it and just give up. So I want you to know that you’re a story of inspiration for some folks. So, um. All right. So give some advice again on your end of starting a business. If somebody listening wants to start one.

Eric Reagan: [01:02:11] Um, have a vision. I, through my years of if you can write your vision, even a vision board and dream big, don’t you know don’t be afraid to dream. Um, but. Put it on a board and put that board up somewhere where you’re going to be able to look at it and see it and keep that vision and then set up tactics. That will help help you reach goals as you go. I’m a big proponent of a 12 week year. And basically, you know, people set goals. They do you know, the there now people are currently getting their goals ready for 2024 and January rolls around and you know you got the holidays. You’re coming off the holidays. It’s cold. Things are slow. And next thing you know, it’s June and you haven’t done any of your goals and you think, well, I’ve still got the end of the year. Well, if you think about a 12 week year, you have an ability to see what works, what’s working and what’s not, and then you can adjust for the next 12 weeks. So but a big thing of that is division and know have your vision of what you want to accomplish and what your your business is going to do. Whatever business that is, if it’s rescuing animals or, you know. Helping people with insurance, have a vision and stay focused on that vision.

Brian Pruett: [01:04:04] So we also talked about the networking piece that you actually helped start another networking group. Can you got a positive story you can share with the networking?

Eric Reagan: [01:04:11] Yeah, just getting to know people. We’re a community and, you know, you can know somebody or thank, you know, somebody, but when you really get to know them and talk with them and spend some time with them, then you really start finding out, you know, you you have the people that want to come in to a networking group and they want to get the business and they want to, you know, they just want to come in and get the business. Well, they see. For instance, my situation is real estate. Well, under the current situation, you know, you have a lot of mortgage lenders and real estate agents that are going to these networking groups and back to the collaboration over competition thing. Learn from other people who are in the business and you know. Be yourself, things that people might be doing. Might not work for you, but at least you know that that that’s out there. And that’s a a choice that you can make if you want to try and do it or not. But, you know. A pause. I think, you know, just getting to know you and being a part of your charity. You know, I think it’s great what you do. I fully support, you know, coming out and I want to be a sponsor with our new business for what you do. We’re just not there yet.

Brian Pruett: [01:05:47] Right. Well, so I’m going to give a shameless plug, even though it’s not really a shameless plug because I help. I like helping people myself. So and for those of you who don’t know, I do a monthly trivia and I rotate charities. So it’s 12 charities that just in trivia alone that’s helping this year, I’ve already got next year’s lined up and ten of the 12 charities are changing for the trivia. But Eric, you come every month. Just share a little bit about about, you know, because it’s different from somebody who comes versus me talking about it.

Eric Reagan: [01:06:12] Oh it’s it’s an awesome time. I mean it’s and it doesn’t take a lot of time. It’s not like it’s going to be 3 or 4 hours. You know, you go and the food is fantastic. It’s a buffet. And, you know, so you get plenty of food. All the food, pizza, wings. And they’re not just little dinky wings. These are big, you know, healthy wings. And it’s just fun having I mean, I’ve never won, you know, but I’ve never came in last either. Right.

Brian Pruett: [01:06:46] But there you.

Eric Reagan: [01:06:47] Go. It is fun. And you learn you know, you learn some interesting things.

Brian Pruett: [01:06:51] That’s what I tell people. Get ready for some useless knowledge.

Eric Reagan: [01:06:53] Yeah, it’s fun, though. It is a lot of fun. And it’s for a good cause. I mean, from, you know, the the Humane Society to the food pantry, you know, it’s it’s good stuff. I mean, that’s what we should all be doing. Like world would be a better place if more people had that. Vision of wanting to help and be community oriented and not. We’re all so focused on our phones and our own little world and we don’t want to interact. And so.

Brian Pruett: [01:07:25] Yeah, so that leads me to this month. If you guys like having fun, not that the other trivias aren’t fun because they’re just said they were, but this month we’re going a little more fun. October 18th is this month’s trivia. We’re helping the Red Door Food Pantry, which is the group in Cartersville who helps Bartow County feed the homeless and those in need. We are doing a Halloween themed trivia and a costume contest. So, Isaac, I expect to see your costume that night. So, um, but you can register, go to B’s. That’s B Apostrophe S Charitable Pursuits Facebook page because all the links on there as well. My website is B’s charitable. That’s B’s because Google and websites don’t like to be apostrophe, but you can see a calendar and all that as well. So all right. As we wrap this up, I like to do this. I like for you guys each to share a positive quote nugget word for those listening to finish the rest of today and the rest of 2023 and beyond with. So, Lori, what you got?

Lori Cover: [01:08:23] Well, I think the the quote that is stuck with me, I said it earlier, if your if your schedule is full but your soul is not, then you need to think about what you’re filling your schedule with and make sure that what you’re doing is filling your soul.

Brian Pruett: [01:08:47] Isaac.

Isaac Hall: [01:08:48] Oh, that was unexpected. I could give a thousand. I was thinking, though, he was. You were talking about him going through some stuff. This one scripture. But it’s just one thing where if you read over and over and over in the Bible, it says, and it came to pass, it never says it came to stay. And so I just thought about that. I don’t even know what you’re going through. But but I mentioned it earlier about being there when people are broken and they need something. So whatever it is, whether it’s business, it’s personal, it’s whatever, this too, shall pass. It came to pass. There you.

Brian Pruett: [01:09:18] Go. Eric, before you share yours, I forgot to ask you if somebody listening wants to get Ahold of your services and get a hold of you, how can they do that?

Eric Reagan: [01:09:25] Lead lab magnet.com email. Eric at lead Lab magnet.com. If you’re looking for real estate, it’s 20 to 1 on E 22. The letters I mean the numbers actually two two on E realty.com.

Brian Pruett: [01:09:46] All right. All right. Let’s now give us your wisdom.

Eric Reagan: [01:09:49] I would say. All right. I’m going to give two short ones. Okay. Uh, the Bible says, do not fear. 365 times. That’s one for each day. Don’t fear. Fear is a liar. The other one is. I think it was Zig Ziglar. If you if you help others succeed, you will be successful.

Speaker4: [01:10:20] Yes.

Brian Pruett: [01:10:21] All right. The other thing that I like to do is the thank you as a lost art these days. So, Laurie, thank you for what you’re doing for the pets now. And also being a fellow who day and, you know, not many of us down here. So Isaac, thanks for what you do for the folks on navigating the insurance because it is a weird all kinds of weird stuff going on with that and just being able to help people with that. And Eric, thank you for what you first of all, your service that you provided and now helping the people in their business and everything. Everybody out there listening. Remember, let’s be positive. Let’s be charitable.

 

BRX Pro Tip: How to Build Your Ideal Customer Persona

October 10, 2023 by angishields

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BRX Pro Tip: How to Build Your Ideal Customer Persona
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BRX Pro Tip: How to Build Your Ideal Customer Persona

Stone Payton: Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, what are you learning about this business of building your ideal customer avatar, persona, profile kind of thing?

Lee Kantor: Yeah. I think it’s so important when you’re trying to or if you’re thinking about advertising or marketing, you have to really be crystal clear on who that ideal customer is, what are their characteristics and traits, who they are demographically.

Lee Kantor: But, also, more importantly, I think you got to start with who they are psychographically. Especially in the B2B world, you have to identify what traits or behaviors that those ideal customers share because you want to find ways that make it easier to see where they’re hanging out, where are they, so you can market and communicate with them. And communicating with them should be in a way that’s providing value in order to be the most productive for yourself.

Lee Kantor: So, some of the questions you should try to answer about your ideal customer is where do they get their buying information. You have to understand what their process is when they buy something, what they’re buying in the industry. And especially if it’s in and around what you’re selling, you have to know what are the steps they are taking before they buy something so you know you can inject what you’re doing somewhere along that pathway.

Lee Kantor: You have to know what are their decision motivators, what are the the hurdles that they have to go through in order to make this type of buying decision. You have to understand what are the common objections that they come up with when they’re, you know, not using other services or products that might solve the problem that your service or product solves. And then, you have to come up with the appropriate responses to each of those objections.

Lee Kantor: And most importantly, you got to really understand the layers deep when it comes to what is the problem they’re trying to solve. It may look like a certain problem on the surface, but if you dig a few layers deeper, you’ll see that there’s typically a different problem that they are just having a hard time articulating, and if you can solve that problem, that will get you closer to the sale.

Lee Kantor: So, spend some time to kind of reverse engineer who this person is and what is their buying process. And then, that way you’ll know where they are and you’ll be able to inject yourself kind of into their buying process in an elegant manner.

Teresa Rand with Rand Consulting

October 9, 2023 by angishields

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Teresa-RandTeresa Rand is the Founder and President of Rand Consulting, a firm specializing in speaking, training, and executive level career coaching for individuals and businesses.

She is a John Maxwell trainer, a certified Gallop Strengths and Disc behavioral assessments coach, a yoga teacher, and a stress reduction meditation guide. She holds certificates in DEI and Women’s Leadership from E-Cornell and University of South Florida, along with being a certified facilitator of the Entrepreneurial Mindset Curriculum through the Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative.

Teresa is the founder of the Boss Lady Community, which is a women’s membership group dedicated to empowering, embracing, and educating all women. Teresa holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Jacksonville University. She worked for the YMCA for more than 30 years, retiring as the CEO of the Volusia Flagler YMCA Association in Daytona Beach, Fl.

In her career, Teresa managed budgets from three million to thirty-five million and employees numbering over 1000. She is a past chair of the Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce and sits on various community boards. Rand-Consulting-logo

She and her husband, Bob Rand have five children and seven grandchildren. In her spare time, she has completed 11 marathons, multiple triathlons, an Outward-Bound sailing excursion and a skydiving adventure.

Connect with Teresa on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Stone Payton: [00:00:14] 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. You guys are in for a real treat. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast founder of Rand Consulting and the Boss lady Community, Ms. Teresa Rand. How are you?

Teresa Rand: [00:00:37] I’m great. I love even the introduction Stone because, as you know, I’ll tell the listeners, I’m from Georgia, so it’s nice to be talking to somebody from home.

Stone Payton: [00:00:46] We can absolutely understand each other and even maybe some of the colloquialisms that you and I have encountered through the through the years. I got a thousand questions, Teresa. I know we’re not going to get to them all, but I’m thinking a good place to start might be if you could articulate for me and our listening audience a mission purpose. What are you and your team really out there trying to do for folks?

Teresa Rand: [00:01:11] I can put it in one word. Well, two words. I’ll use two words enhance communication. Ever had a problem communicating with anybody?

Stone Payton: [00:01:22] I most certainly have. And I’ve run across a couple of others that have had a challenge with it. And maybe one of the keys to it is to be succinct and clear, like you just were.

Teresa Rand: [00:01:32] Exactly. Don’t don’t you don’t have to put all the flowery words around it. Although there are people that require more words to communicate. So it’s it’s everybody doesn’t communicate the way we want them to. We have to communicate the way they can hear us.

Stone Payton: [00:01:50] And so the expression of the word talk about the work a little bit because you’re writing, speaking, training, consulting facility, you’re doing all kind of cool stuff.

Teresa Rand: [00:01:58] Yeah, all kind of fun stuff. I’m loving life. Stone I have two separate businesses. One is is a consulting business. Theresa ran consulting and I use personality assessments to go into mostly companies and work with management teams on the topic of communication. And what I tell them is they need to know about themselves first and then they need to know about those people they work with. And then we can enhance communication, which we know if we enhance communication, that improves productivity. That’s been proven over and over. You know, if we’re not wasting our time arguing or not communicating or, you know, fill in the blank, we’re going to be busier actually working. The second thing I do is I do run a membership, a women’s membership organization called the Boss Lady Community, and that is a group of women that we get together and we do virtual education. Our tagline is to embrace, empower and educate all women. And we get together for virtual meetings, live meetings. I just came off a conference of 100 plus women where we had a two day conference at the beach and had some world class speakers come in and just talk about being a well-rounded human that happens to be a female.

Speaker3: [00:03:17] Well, I’d like.

Stone Payton: [00:03:18] To dive into both. Let’s start with the personality assessments. I’ll bet you have learned a ton about the assessments themselves and more importantly, how to leverage them to actually serve the constituencies you’re you’re trying to help?

Teresa Rand: [00:03:31] Absolutely. I use a variety of assessments depending on what the company needs or what the individual needs or goals are. I use Disc, which a lot of people have heard of, disc disc. I use Gallup strengths. A lot of people have heard of that one. I use another one called Codebreaker, which is a fairly new on the market last 20 years, but disc and strengths have been around since the 40s, so Codebreaker is fairly different and it’s an assessment that is really geared towards sales. So if you want to know how to sell to people that are different than you or similar to you, that’s a specific assessment. And there are a million assessments out there, as you probably know, starting with Myers-Briggs and Winslow. I mean, I can name a thousand of them. And what I tell people is just pick one. Just pick one and then get with somebody that is certified and really doing a deep dive because you can get the report and read it. But we don’t always, even in reading something, take in the information about who we really are. Unless an outsider helps us see some things we might not see.

Speaker3: [00:04:45] Mhm.

Stone Payton: [00:04:45] That makes a lot of sense. So do you find I’m sure the answer is yes, but I’d love for you to speak to it a little bit. Do you find that just taking the time to do the assessment and get some sort of report even, you know, regardless of how much someone might say, oh boy, that really nailed me or I disagree, but. Do you find that at least it creates a platform for some dialog, right? At least now we’ve got a point, you know, Hey, you know, this thing scored about here, you know. How do you feel about that? Has that been your experience? You know, or if you’re asking a coworker or spouse, is that true?

Teresa Rand: [00:05:20] Absolutely. I always tell people, look, if you don’t believe what your assessment says, take it to either a partner, a parent or a teenage child of yours. And those three people will tell you who you are, who you show up as. And it you know, we laugh and we make jokes. But the reality is we all come to work stoned with our, for lack of a better word, our baggage, our experience in life, whether it’s how we were raised or where we were raised, or the kind of bosses we’ve had, you know, fill in the blank. We all come with that level of experience that is unique to us. So we can’t expect everybody to communicate the way we do because we already have these preconceived notions of what you’re saying. And maybe we’re not even listening unless you’re speaking my language.

Stone Payton: [00:06:20] Yeah, okay. Let’s walk through a use case if we could, and you can pick it or like I can envision, you know, I’m a 40% equity owner in a pretty successful media company. I can see getting our studio partners, we call them people who run these studios around the country, getting them together, having us take that. You don’t have to apply it to us, but I’d like to kind of see how the work unfolds from introducing the concept, conducting the assessment, and then. Okay, now what?

Speaker3: [00:06:48] Yeah.

Teresa Rand: [00:06:48] So when I go in and work with a team, it’s usually a management team. Like I’m working with a group now, it’s a group of 12, so I give them all the assessment and then I meet with them individually before I go throw out their results to their team members. Okay. I want to be sure that they are okay with that. And there’s you know, they agree or don’t agree. I want to get a feel for that human. Actually, a good case study I’m going to use is one I did last year with a group of attorneys. There were six of them, and they had all been hired for an insurance firm to be the internal attorney firm, law firm. And they did not work in the same offices. They were remote all over the state, two states, all over two states. So getting them to communicate was a little bit of a challenge. Number one, they’re all pretty much type-A. They all know what they’re doing. They’re all detailed people. And what we found out, though, is that they were all so similar that nobody was actually taking charge. Now, that’s hard to believe with a group of attorneys. Yeah, but that’s what was happening. They all were kind of in their own little world doing their own thing, and they didn’t really know what direction they were going in because nobody was taking charge and nobody had that personality trait. So we had to maneuver around that and figure out, okay, this is how we better communicate. And we have to call for the question, if you will, if there’s a decision to be made, we have to say who’s going to make it and actually put it out there. And more often, they’re going to make it as a group because they don’t have that really strong, strong personality, but at least now they know it. So they’re not all just floundering out there waiting on somebody to make a decision.

Stone Payton: [00:08:53] What a marvelous mechanism for self awareness. But then if you’re willing to to embrace it, it sounds like let’s just hypothetically say that I knew someone that was a little quick to make some decisions, had a tendency to chase the new shiny ball. You know, on the positive side, I get a lot done and some sometimes it’s a home run. On the other side, I have a tendency to to steamroll ideas and people and everything else. And I don’t have much of a rearview mirror. And I only like the data that that that makes me look shiny.

Speaker3: [00:09:25] Exactly.

Stone Payton: [00:09:26] So but historically and I’ve been in the sales arena in the training consulting world, I have bristled with the idea that I have to that I might have to change who I am. But you really don’t, do you?

Teresa Rand: [00:09:41] I love, love, love. That question. And that question mostly comes from people with your personality. Right? And I can say that with all due respect, because I have the same one and I just make a decision. I don’t need to ask a million people. Just let’s just get this and move on. But I might leave some dead bodies behind me and people may follow me because I pay them. That’s really not why we want people to follow us. So we’re not changing who we are. We are changing how we respond based on what the other person needs. So instead of the saying, you know, treat people as I want to be treated, we want to treat people like they want to be treated. And when we do that, if we really just want to get what we want, that’s still the best way to do it. I’m not changing who I am.

Speaker3: [00:10:45] Yeah.

Teresa Rand: [00:10:46] But in my example, I’m just softening a little bit to someone that is not like me. That’s not a bull in a China shop.

Speaker3: [00:10:56] Well, I’m.

Teresa Rand: [00:10:57] Going to ask about the kids and I’m going to have a conversation and all of a sudden the person hears me better.

Stone Payton: [00:11:05] Yeah. And all of that is right and true and virtuous and just and help. It’ll help you win more friends and influence more people. But there’s really there’s a bottom line business value to to investing the time and energy to do this.

Speaker3: [00:11:21] Lutely Yeah.

Teresa Rand: [00:11:22] Absolutely. The more we communicate effectively, the less time it takes us to get stuff done. I mean, it just it makes sense if we’re all are talking where we hear each other and understand each other, we’re not wasting time getting mad because somebody hurt our feelings or somebody left me out of the meeting. When we go, oh, you know what? Teresa just goes forward and she forgets to include us. So I just need to go and say, Hey, did you forget to tell me what direction we’re.

Speaker3: [00:11:59] Going in and.

Teresa Rand: [00:12:01] When I know that that person wants to be involved, but they’re not going to raise their hand to be the leader. It’s a gentle reminder for me not to leave them behind or vice versa. You know, I can’t be so demanding all the time.

Stone Payton: [00:12:17] And there has to be tremendous application in the sales arena for this, right? Because you’ve got to meet them where they are. Right. If you’re going to influence. Okay. I got to go ahead.

Teresa Rand: [00:12:28] The other thing I just popped into my mind that I you know, we all are who we are and there’s no right or wrong. But when you’re leading a team, the more you know about yourself and the things you’re not good at, you hire somebody that’s good at those things.

Speaker3: [00:12:48] Amen.

Teresa Rand: [00:12:49] Because you just got to have, I call it diversity of thought. We need diversity of thought on our teams so we don’t all think the same.

Stone Payton: [00:12:59] Will said, okay, I got to know the backstory because the full backstory because I’m just interested and curious. How did you find yourself in this arena doing this kind of work for these kind of people? Was it a straight path, you know, and you just knew this is what you. I’m sensing no.

Teresa Rand: [00:13:19] Nothing’s a straight path, right? I actually worked for one organization for 30 years.

Speaker3: [00:13:24] Oh, my.

Teresa Rand: [00:13:25] It was a non profit. I ended up being the CEO of an association here in Florida. So I had 1000 employees. I moved 3 or 4 different times in states with my organization in various roles. But one of my very first CEOs used the Gallup or no. Yes, he used Gallup strengths on his management team, and there were six of us. And those six of us to this day are still friends. We learn. He took us on a three day retreat with a consultant, and we learned more than we wanted to know about each other. But we became we grew that organization by leaps and bounds under his leadership. But because we knew what made each other tick and we were all very different, actually 2 or 3 of us were too much alive, which was part of the problem. But so from that moment on, as I grew in my career and ultimately had my own association, I did personality assessments on every single executive I ever hired. So when I decided to leave that job after 30 years, I went and got certified in those three certifications districts and Codebreaker because I knew I wanted to share that knowledge. And that’s been five years now and things are going great. We still need to learn how to communicate. It hasn’t changed in all these years.

Speaker3: [00:14:52] Oh, so tell.

Stone Payton: [00:14:53] Me about this boss lady community. What compelled you to get that going? What are you out there trying to do with that.

Teresa Rand: [00:14:59] Boss lady was actually not in my business plan when I. When I started, Theresa ran consulting, but I kept having women come to me, you know, wanting advice, wanting, you know, I don’t have a good network. I don’t have this. I don’t have that. Women are I can say this, you can’t. Women are catty when women are petty. You know, all those things. So so I got about ten women together and I said, okay, what are you what are you looking for? You know, we’re all member of the chamber. We all go to networking. What are you looking for? And they were looking for a group of like minded women that were anxious and just helping each other succeed. So we’re different than a networking group in that, you know, we’ve got several lawyers, we’ve got several doctors, we’ve got real estate agents, we got therapists. We don’t believe in the scarcity concept. So there’s no rule in our group that there can only be one of a certain industry. We don’t care. We get together to educate each other on how to have a full, successful life personally and professionally. And we’ve grown. We just finished our third conference this year and we continue to grow and we’re in three different cities now. It’s a membership organization. We have small mastermind groups. I could talk about it forever, but it’s just women helping women.

Stone Payton: [00:16:17] So I’m I’m personally curious, but I think there’s some benefit here for our listening audience as well. Here in little old Woodstock, Georgia. You know, I’ve got a great media company. That business model is very well baked. We help professional services folks, usually seven figure firms, you know, writing six figure business. But at the other end of the continuum, when I moved to Woodstock, I really wanted to build a community partner program where we could serve the solopreneurs and the smaller businesses and all that. So I’m having fun with it, but I’m in the throes of building that community out. And so I guess I’ll ask you, was it tough to get this thing going or did you get a lot of steam really fast in getting a group together?

Teresa Rand: [00:17:00] When I had my first kickoff in my community, we had over 200 women show up. A lot of social media, a lot of phone calls. I’ve been in the community about 15 years, so I knew a lot of people. But then when you put out a. A price point, you find out who’s really serious. So out of those 200 plus, we had about 50 join and then Covid hit.

Speaker3: [00:17:31] Wow.

Teresa Rand: [00:17:32] We kicked off in August of 2019, and then Covid, of course, hit in March. So what we did is we just went all virtual. I had doctors. I had therapists. We did a makeover one night just to relax. We did all kind of educational seminars for a year and a half before we finally rolled out of that into the conference in 2021, late 2021. And since then, we’ve doubled in membership and we’ve we’ve moved into two different cities. So we’ve got a pretty good model. And I just was in a conference in Tennessee, Nashville, with another group, a woman that I met through a coaching program that runs the same kind of similar organization. Hers is called Women Connect and different chapters, different mastermind groups. But I do charge because I am a firm believer that we have to invest in ourselves.

Speaker3: [00:18:31] Yeah.

Teresa Rand: [00:18:31] And when everything’s free, you just don’t. It’s just not the same, you know? We owe it to invest in our own learning. So it’s been a great model and we continue to grow. And then I started the podcast from that, the Boss Lady podcast, the conference. And so, yeah, it’s helped my business. My business helps Boss lady. It all works together. So it’s a lot of fun.

Stone Payton: [00:18:54] Yeah, it’s probably marvelous compliments all of those efforts. And you’re, as my brother would say now you’re cooking with gas, you got masterminds, you got into a virtual stuff, real stuff you got to go on. Well, I will aspire to get my community here in Woodstock as as engaged as you clearly are with yours. So now that you’ve been at all of this a while, both both the boss lady and with the consulting work, with the communication, what are you finding the most rewarding? What’s the most fun about it all for you?

Teresa Rand: [00:19:29] Wow, that’s a great question. You know, at the end of the day, the most fun is that I get to decide and that may go back to the personality assessment, but that I’m not I’m working just for me. I worked for somebody else for 30 years. I had a great career. I loved what I did. But this is just different. You know, I’m I’m in my home office right now. My dog’s sitting here. I get to pick and choose the things that I do. But I also feel that I’m making a difference when I go into a company and can help. I mean, I’m working with a company now with their young upcoming leaders, which is my favorite to work with, and when I can help them at 30 years old understand about themselves and what they’re capable of and how they can grow and how they can get along with other people in a more effective way. There’s just nothing like that. I wish I had had it, although like I said, my first CEO was smart enough to to do that and it was very beneficial throughout my career.

Speaker3: [00:20:38] So yeah, I.

Stone Payton: [00:20:39] Mean, I could tell I, I’d see in your eyes, I can hear it in your voice. I mean, you do you love your work. You light up when we start talking about, you know, how you, how you roll it, roll it out. So how does the whole sales and marketing thing work for a practice like yours? Like, do you need to or do you get out and shake the trees? Or does it kind of come to you now or is it a natural byproduct of these of these other efforts or it’s evolved.

Teresa Rand: [00:21:09] What I did to begin with, I first of all, I hired a coach before I left my job and said, here’s what I’m thinking. I worked with a coach for a year, developed a business plan, and finally turned in my resignation. And, you know, I had my company agreed to keep me on a year while I started my business. So that was a nice.

Speaker3: [00:21:28] Good for you.

Teresa Rand: [00:21:29] Bonus. But I asked for that. So, you know, you never know what you’re going to get if you don’t ask. And they did. They they were my first client. Once they hired a new CEO, they kept me on a retainer as my first client for almost a year, about eight months. So that was good. But because I was in the nonprofit Stone and I had raised a lot of money, I was really good at raising money. I knew the movers and shakers in my community. And so my first six months of business was I had a list of about 50 people that I called and I had coffee, breakfast, lunch, drinks, a walk on the beach, whatever they wanted so I could tell them what I was doing. And from there it became word of mouth. Now, as I’ve grown, I’ve had to do a lot more intentional marketing, although that was pretty intentional. And I’ve hired a social media expert because I don’t want to do that. I’d rather use my time working with clients. So and I’m I just get frustrated. That’s not my thing. I can do it. I can put my grandkids pictures on Facebook very.

Speaker3: [00:22:38] Easily, right?

Stone Payton: [00:22:38] Yeah, that’s easy enough.

Teresa Rand: [00:22:39] But I hire somebody to do all of my social media. I hired producer for my podcast. I learned early on to do what I was good at and hire out the other. And when you start, you always have the question, Well, can I afford to? You can’t afford not to. Yeah, you’re just wasting your time if you’re doing the things you don’t want to do, when you can be doing the things you need to be doing that will bring money in. Because at the end of the day, we’re all here to make a living.

Speaker3: [00:23:10] Sure.

Stone Payton: [00:23:11] I’m going to switch gears on you for a moment before we wrap it, if that’s all right. I’m interested I don’t know when you would find the time, but I am curious what hobbies, passions, pursuits, things you might nerd out about outside the scope of your work. Do you do like my listenership? They know I like to hunt, fish and travel. Like.

Speaker3: [00:23:31] Okay.

Teresa Rand: [00:23:32] All right. Well, I don’t hunt or fish. I do like to travel. Yeah, my husband still works too, but we are fortunate that we get to travel a little bit. We have seven grandkids, so that’s number one. We love to spend time with our kids and our family. But I am an avid, avid reader and I love love to work out. I’m a yoga instructor, so I love yoga. It used to be running. I’ve completed 11 marathons through the years, but now my knees and hips prefer yoga, so I love to work out and I love to read. Those are kind of dichotomies of things, but that’s where you can find me, either in a yoga class or on my couch with a good book.

Speaker3: [00:24:16] Wow.

Stone Payton: [00:24:17] I did not know. And it’s probably in my notes that you were a yoga instructor. Like I said, I don’t know where you find the time. That is fantastic.

Teresa Rand: [00:24:26] You know this because. When you find the time to work out, it doubles the amount of time you have in your day.

Stone Payton: [00:24:34] You know, I really do believe that. And I also and for me, walking out, working out is often walking in the woods or walking around Woodstock. Absolutely. But I do get out and move. And I do find that I also find that I need that I call it white space. I feel like I come back to the work more energized and sometimes some of my best ideas and some of my crazy.

Speaker3: [00:24:56] Ideas absolutely.

Stone Payton: [00:24:57] Are born in a tree stand.

Speaker3: [00:24:59] You’re more.

Teresa Rand: [00:25:00] Creative. You have more energy. You get more done, you know?

Stone Payton: [00:25:04] Right, Right. Okay. Well, let’s leave if we could, let’s leave our listeners with a couple of tips, maybe some things to read, something to begin reading. But some dudes, some donuts, maybe some some signals that maybe, you know, I should be considering doing some of this kind of work for my management team or for myself or just some. Some things. And look, guys, the number one tip is reach out and have a conversation with Theresa or somebody on her team. But maybe there’s a couple of actionable kind of pre steps we could take to just sort of learn more.

Speaker3: [00:25:37] Yeah. You know, a lot.

Teresa Rand: [00:25:38] Of people have taken a personality assessment. So if you’ve taken one, great really, though, get it out and study it or get someone that can help you look at it that that doesn’t really know you, that will be very honest and direct whether, you know, we get coaches to to golf better, we get coaches to play a sport we get. So why not get a coach to help you improve your or improve enhance change your career or your personal life, whatever the case may be. And then I can recommend a thousand good books, one that I had as a speaker at my conference recently. Not this past one, but the one before. It’s a young woman who’s written a book called Harness Your Inner CEO, Becca Powers is her name, one of the best business books I’ve read in a long, long time. And she’s on her second book. I can’t wait for it to come out, but Harness Your Inner CEO is a great book that I highly recommend. I actually just wrote a book and it’s a meditation book because I do yoga and meditation, but it’s got a little bit of a business twist to it, and it’s called Holy Leading. W h o l l y leading, and it’s more like a journal. So we give a narrative and I wrote it with a friend of mine, I give a narrative, and then we give a practice, a thought and a meditation and it’s personal and business related. It just came out like last month. Oh my. So excited about that. But I would advise, you know, we talked about working out if I had to give one tip that will enhance your life professionally and personally, find something that involves moving that you enjoy doing, I promise you everything else will fall into place, whether it’s walking the dog around the block or it’s walking in a trail to go hunting or fishing or hiking or playing with your grandkids, but incorporate it every day. And it will enhance your life.

Stone Payton: [00:27:41] What marvelous counsel. All right. What’s the best way for our listeners to reach out, have a conversation with you, tap into your work, get a hold of this book that you described. Let’s leave them with some coordinates. Whatever you feel like is appropriate. I just want them to be able to tap into what you’re doing.

Speaker3: [00:27:56] Absolutely.

Teresa Rand: [00:27:56] It’s very easy. It’s Theresa ran. Theresa? No. Theresa Rand. Rand.com. That’s it. And everything I do is out there. Teresa rand.com. Including a new coaching program that we’re kicking off in January with one of my business partners. If you’re really interested in growing your business or growing your career, we’re doing a six month program that we’re really excited about called Elevate.

Stone Payton: [00:28:24] So fantastic. Well, Teresa, it has been an absolute delight having you on the show. Thank you for sharing your insight, your perspective. Keep up the good work, the kind of work you’re doing with that community and with these organizations and these individuals. It’s such important work. And we sure appreciate you.

Teresa Rand: [00:28:45] Thank you so much. This was a lot of fun. I knew it would be my pleasure.

Stone Payton: [00:28:51] All right. Until next time, This is Stone Payton for our guest today, Teresa Rand with Rand Consulting and the boss lady community. And everyone here at the Business RadioX family saying we’ll see you in the fast lane.

 

Tagged With: Rand Consulting

Jerry King with J. King Images

October 9, 2023 by angishields

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Cherokee Business Radio
Jerry King with J. King Images
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Jerry-King-HeadshotJerry King is a professional headshot photographer based in Woodstock, Ga and serving metro Atlanta. He specializes in great headshots and professional portrait photography.

His goal is to provide you with all the necessary images you need to successfully market yourself in this day and age, and he enjoys teaching and helping people to look their best in front of the lens.

Connect with Jerry on Facebook and Instagram.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:07] Coming to you live from the Business RadioX studio in Woodstock, Georgia. This is fearless formula with Sharon Cline.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:18] Welcome to Fearless Formula on Business RadioX, where we talk about the ups and downs of the business world and offer words of wisdom for business success. I am your host, Sharon Cline, and today on the show we have the founder and president and CEO of J. King Images, a headshot photography company that helps create just the right image for you to promote. Welcome, headshot and commercial photographer Jerry King to the show.

Jerry King: [00:00:43] Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:44] Thank you for coming in to the show. It’s funny, we have a lot of people that we know, but we’ve never been introduced. So like, I’m talking about people that you’ve known for like ten years, you know? And so we work in the same circles or we interact with the same circles, but we’ve never really been like introduced, I guess.

Jerry King: [00:01:01] True.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:02] And I was recommended to have you on the show by two different people. So I was like, That’s it, I got to contact Jerry. So thank you for coming in.

Jerry King: [00:01:09] No problem. Obviously the checks cleared. Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:12] Yeah, right. Nice. Yeah, I’m slipping a 22. Whoever recommended me to anyone. So let’s talk a little bit about your business. You’ve been in business quite a while now.

Jerry King: [00:01:23] I’ve been in business for about eight years. Yeah, technically, nine, but I would call it eight.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:29] Yeah. And we were talking before the show how life has so many different twists and turns to it, and yours is no exception. You were born in Mississippi and came over here to Georgia, and initially it was funny. I always feel like such a stalker, but I try to get some information about who I’m having on the show. So initially I did a little research and found out that you used to be in the Army. Thank you so much for your service. Thank you. And you were in law enforcement. Was it the Swat team you were on?

Jerry King: [00:01:58] I was on DeKalb County Swat team for about 11 years.

Sharon Cline: [00:02:01] Ooh. Ooh. And now you’re a photographer. Yeah. Tell me how this happened.

Jerry King: [00:02:09] As far as from being from Mississippi, let me preface it. Like I said earlier, I can read and write. So my God, how I got into photography was an impulse buy. I went to Best Buy in April of 2011 and I couldn’t convince the kid to sell me an iPad two and iPad two back in the day. Got you. And as I was leaving, I saw the canon rep and she sold me a camera.

Sharon Cline: [00:02:34] You just she just was like, Hey, I’ve got this great equipment right here. You’re interested?

Jerry King: [00:02:38] Yeah, that’s exactly what she said. Like a drug dealer. But no, she sold me a camera. Money was burning a hole in my pocket, so I was going to leave the store with something, and I left with the camera. Went to the Renaissance Festival that weekend. I will deny it to this day, but fell in love with it so much that I went back Monday, returned the camera, threw some more money at it, and got a professional grade camera.

Sharon Cline: [00:02:59] Wow. So what was it about that weekend and taking photos that just moved you?

Jerry King: [00:03:04] So I just love taking pictures. So it was just I sucked. I was just I just fell in love with it.

Sharon Cline: [00:03:11] So why do you say you sucked? Why?

Jerry King: [00:03:14] I mean, if you saw the pictures I took. Oh, no, it was horrible. Really. In fact, I joined a photography club shortly after, and the president of the club told me, You suck. You need to find a new hobby.

Sharon Cline: [00:03:26] Why? Why? What was it that you were. What were you just taking a picture of? Like a leaf or something? Like what makes a photo bad?

Jerry King: [00:03:33] Just everything about it. Whatever I did.

Sharon Cline: [00:03:36] Composition wise, composition.

Jerry King: [00:03:38] Wise, exposure, you name it. And. But two years later, I was back giving that same photography club lighting classes.

Sharon Cline: [00:03:48] Well, how did that feel?

Jerry King: [00:03:49] It felt really good.

Sharon Cline: [00:03:50] Yeah, I bet it did. So when you joined this photography club and you started to really understand some of the mechanics behind why something is a great photo, what did what were some of the things that you learned?

Jerry King: [00:04:03] Well, I really didn’t learn anything from the photography club, okay. In fact, it kind of discouraged me from joining photography clubs because it seemed like everyone had an opinion and everyone for an art that’s supposed to be so subjective, everyone was trying to tell you how it needed to be done. Interesting. And I just couldn’t get with that. So I got all my education outside of the club.

Sharon Cline: [00:04:26] So where did you go for your education then?

Jerry King: [00:04:29] Youtube University.

Sharon Cline: [00:04:31] That’s where I go to fix things in my house. So you were able to watch some videos and really kind of understand different ways to look through your lens and what to look for. That makes a good photo. And so did it just come naturally to you then to start seeing things differently?

Jerry King: [00:04:47] I don’t think it came naturally to me. I just kept I was like a parrot. I kept seeing other photographers and kept trying to replicate what they did, but I failed miserably and kept doing it. And I think that developed into my own style.

Sharon Cline: [00:05:01] Interesting. So I don’t know a lot about photography and I didn’t. I mean, I. Yeah, yeah, your business. Okay. But I guess I’m thinking of famous photographers that like, oh my goodness, I can’t think of her name, but she did the one with Miley Cyrus and it got all kinds of Annie Leibovitz. Yes. I knew it was an something. Okay. Annie Leibovitz. So she has a certain style. Yes. Right. And so and like Andy Warhol. Right. He had a certain style. So I’m thinking of different people that must have had you know, they they have their calling card, so to speak. Like if you see a photo, you may know who they are. Yes. Do you feel like you do as well something identifiable for you?

Jerry King: [00:05:40] I don’t. I really don’t. But people tell me they can see it.

Sharon Cline: [00:05:45] So what do they say?

Jerry King: [00:05:47] They say I just have a very distinct look and they can recognize it from far away.

Sharon Cline: [00:05:52] Do you not know what that look is then?

Jerry King: [00:05:54] No, I think the fact that I supposed to wear glasses and I don’t wear glasses when I shoot or edit has something to do with it.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:04] Wait, wait. Okay, hang on. So just give me a second. So you’re a photographer, but you don’t wear So do you focus with your lens?

Jerry King: [00:06:12] I focus with the lens, the diopter and the lens, but I just.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:15] Yeah, the.

Jerry King: [00:06:15] Diopter. I feel funny with another piece of glass in between me and the camera or in between me and the screen I’m editing on. So I feel like I’m actually not seeing it.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:24] Interesting.

Jerry King: [00:06:25] So I figured if my vision, once I got my glasses and my vision was corrected, I, I would not edit with them because whatever I was doing was working.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:33] Okay, so you go to YouTube University, so to speak, and you start to understand a little bit more about photos. And then and then now eight years later, you have this business and I mean, I’ve seen your photos on your website. They’re absolutely beautiful. And what’s wonderful is how many different ways people can use these photos. So you could touch kind of almost every business out there that’s available. So what got you from YouTube University to your your successful business now?

Jerry King: [00:07:07] Do you have a minute?

Sharon Cline: [00:07:08] I have a let’s see, we have about 30 more minutes.

Jerry King: [00:07:11] So I’m going to need about 32.

Sharon Cline: [00:07:13] So I might be nice and let you have that, too. We’ll see. We’ll see. See.

Jerry King: [00:07:18] Just start playing around with it. Like I said, YouTube University and someone saw my work and recommended me to shoot for a museum. The mighty eighth Air Force Museum in Pooler, Georgia. I was still in law enforcement, only been a photographer for two years, and I did that project a calendar and some other materials for the museum, and I thought I was the cat’s meow. I was like, Oh my God, I’m awesome. These people are paying me all this money. They’re paying me trips back and forth to Savannah. I’m like, This is great. You know, Atlanta Art Museum. I’m like one of the guest of honor for the thing. And and I was still in law enforcement at the time, so I decided to resign from law enforcement to pursue it full time. But it wasn’t the smartest move because I didn’t have a website, I didn’t have a presence. I didn’t know how to market myself. I knew nothing about business. So $40,000 of savings burned up down to my last month and a half of living expenses. I was laying in the fetal position on the couch and I sat up one day and said, Headshots. And so that weekend I went out and found 12 different people said, hey, go ahead, I’m sorry.

Sharon Cline: [00:08:27] No, no, go. I’m just so fascinated. Pleased.

Jerry King: [00:08:30] So I found 12 people. I said, you need a headshot. And they were like, No, I can’t afford it. I don’t want it. I said, No, I’m going to do your headshot for free. So I did 12 headshots, put them on my website. I guess Google gave me this artificially inflated SEO over the weekend, and at that time a VP at Cox Enterprises was looking for headshots and they booked me for two. I shot that two the following weekend and then they said, Hey, we like these, can you shoot our whole office? And so that was a good payday, especially when you’re about to be homeless. And back then it was hit and miss. Every once in a while I was just getting enough to eat ramen and keep the lights on and keep the car fueled and but nothing big. And so, you know, Covid hit eventually and, you know, things went south. And but I managed to work during Covid. It’s kind of like a drug deal. People would call me up and say, do you do headshots? And then I from six feet away. Yeah, yeah. And I literally, you know, back alley of the studio have a man, you know, because you know people were if you worked you know people got upset with you and if you didn’t work people got upset with you.

Jerry King: [00:09:34] So it was an odd time. So I didn’t really hit any success until 2021. So I was six years in the business driving around in the car with a busted transmission. Every intersection I got to, I was wondering, is this going to be the most embarrassing moment ever when it dies? But I had a job in Buckhead, had no gas, just enough gas to get there, hoping they paid me that night so I’d have the gas to get home. Had to blow out on the way. 75 just north of 285. By the time I got there and completed the job, they paid me for the whole job. I netted $100 basically by the time I got my checking account back into the positive and got new tires and and got gas in the car. So and then six months later, I was boarding an airplane, going to Dallas, Texas for considerable amount of money per day for a tech firm.

Sharon Cline: [00:10:28] Wow. Wow. Talk about fearlessness. Think about this, though. You believed in yourself enough to leave law enforcement and to really put yourself even if you weren’t prepared and you wish you had known something different in the beginning, you still put yourself out there with the belief in yourself. But that’s pretty remarkable.

Jerry King: [00:10:51] I think it was pride. I didn’t want to go back to law enforcement and have everyone tell me we told you.

Sharon Cline: [00:10:58] That can be very motivating, can’t it?

Jerry King: [00:11:00] Exactly.

Sharon Cline: [00:11:01] There’s like positive pride that we all have, right? Like self esteem. And then there’s pride that can keep you from doing things because you just don’t want to fail. But it sounds like you struck a nice little balance right there.

Jerry King: [00:11:12] I did. I did. So pretty happy with it. Things have been going quite well. Congratulations. Thank you. You’re welcome.

Sharon Cline: [00:11:21] So when you say that you asked people to do headshots and you randomly found some people, how did you know how to kind of make a web, a headshot that was specific enough or good enough to be marketable?

Jerry King: [00:11:35] Well.

Sharon Cline: [00:11:37] Because I’m thinking a headshot, like I phone headshot. Do you know what I’m saying? Like, just quick, you know, what is it that I don’t know about? Do you want to share? Because those are probably trade secrets.

Jerry King: [00:11:46] No, it’s nothing secretive about it. When I see a person, when I see anyone, I put them in front of my lens. I want to create their hero. So I always see somebody and I’m like, I hate my photo taken. I mean, I just don’t like having my picture taken. So when I look at someone, I want to make them proud of who they are and make them see the hero that I see in them. The thing with and the thing about a headshot, it needs to stand out. So yeah, you can pull out an iPhone, you can anybody can take a headshot. But to make it unique and eye catching, because the human eye, the first impression is like nanoseconds. So you want to have someone stop just long enough to read your resume or to read your bio? If your headshot looks like everyone else, then you’re lost in the mix.

Sharon Cline: [00:12:36] Do you think most people are using their iPhones to do headshots now? Have you seen.

Jerry King: [00:12:39] Yeah, a lot of people are using their iPhones and I think if it’s done well, there’s nothing wrong with it. I have clients reach out to me and say they need a headshot and I’ll go to their LinkedIn or go to their Facebook and see their current headshot. And sometimes I’ll say, I’d like your headshot. Is there any reason why you want to upgrade it or update it? You know, and if it’s a valid enough answer. I’ll say, okay, I’m your guy.

Sharon Cline: [00:13:04] But sometimes you feel like they’re good enough.

Jerry King: [00:13:06] Sometimes I feel like they’re good enough, you know? But someone might say that my hair is different, you know? I’m 20 pounds lighter.

Sharon Cline: [00:13:14] I definitely want a new headshot.

Jerry King: [00:13:16] Five years old. I gotcha.

Sharon Cline: [00:13:19] Do you know a guy? I gotcha. Gotcha. So how important is lighting? Tell me about lighting. Because. Because I think about and the reason I ask that is because people who are having their phones and they are taking their own headshot may not have the access to studio lighting or know that there’s a certain way to set something up to bring out the hero in themselves.

Jerry King: [00:13:39] You know, lighting is very subjective. You know, it just is. I mean, what’s appealing to someone, maybe not to another, but as far as an iPhone, you can do it with a lamp and a roll of paper towels to diffuse the lamp. You can go to a window. I mean, there’s just so much you can do. I mean, I think you can look at a photo and see how it’s lit and possibly reverse engineer it if you’ve got the time.

Sharon Cline: [00:14:04] Oh, interesting. I never thought to do that.

Jerry King: [00:14:06] Yeah, well, the problem is, is most people don’t have time and that’s what that’s why I have job security because if someone had the time to learn. When I do, then they wouldn’t need me.

Sharon Cline: [00:14:16] Truth. Um, when you talk about the fact that anyone could kind of take their own photo, there’s obviously something very special about the way that you do.

Jerry King: [00:14:26] Well, there’s things you want to capture, and there’s just traits you want to capture in a headshot. And things I look for is approachability, confidence and professionalism. So you’re just trying to get that you and there’s certain techniques that you can use to pull someone out and be in their natural state and look engaging. So a lot of times people will take a picture and it looks cute, but it’s not professional. It’s not, you know, your friends might like it, you know, your girlfriend or your boyfriend might look at it and say, Oh my God, that’s so you. But they’re seeing you sitting across from a kitchen table. They’re not seeing the executive view. So I always tell someone, don’t let your girlfriend, boyfriend or spouse pick your headshot.

Sharon Cline: [00:15:04] Oh, wow. Okay. Interesting. Good advice. Because you’re right, if you are wanting to appeal to a particular audience, you need to have that audience in your mind as you’re deciding not not your grandma or your mom who thinks you’re wonderful.

Jerry King: [00:15:17] No matter what.

Sharon Cline: [00:15:19] All right. So during Covid, you clearly were still busy, like you said, under the table. But how how important was that time, given that people were working from home? Everything kind of changed in the business world?

Jerry King: [00:15:32] I think it was important because everyone needed a face. You know, people weren’t meeting face to face. People needed representation online virtually for someone to see them outside of rollers in a housecoat and, you know, a t shirt and tank top. So I think it was very important for people to have an image that kind of let people or wanted people to get to know you.

Sharon Cline: [00:15:54] So how do you not me, though? Don’t use me, okay? Because it’ll make me feel uncomfortable. Okay, So anybody. So when you’re looking at someone and how do you decide what they are in terms of your mind, like what their hero image is?

Jerry King: [00:16:06] Well, just like I’m sitting here talking to you, I’m studying you the whole time. So I’m saying no, no. So I’m seeing your I’m seeing your natural resting. I’m seeing like you’re engaged in conversation. So when you’re talking to me, you’re projecting forward. Okay? You’re not leaned back away from me, you’re engaging me. Okay. But for some reason, when that magnesium, I lift that magnesium up in your face, you back away from the camera. People tend to back away instead of engage as if it’s someone.

Sharon Cline: [00:16:34] Why?

Jerry King: [00:16:36] Because they’re uncomfortable getting their picture taken and they’re looking at the camera as just this weird experience photography, when they need to look at the camera as if they’re engaging someone, if that camera is someone themselves.

Sharon Cline: [00:16:47] So is it shame? Why don’t we. Don’t we like?

Jerry King: [00:16:53] I don’t think it’s shame. We all have something about ourselves we don’t like. So when we pull away from the camera, we think we’re hiding it, but we’re actually accentuating it. So when you lean forward towards me and everything like that, I see all this confidence. And that’s what we’re trying to bring across in the picture. But if you lean back, no matter how good you look or how good you think the picture looks, just your body language is going to say you’re disconnected from your audience.

Sharon Cline: [00:17:17] I have to think about that. How much do you tell people they need to really engage? Is it is it almost everyone is like, oh, gosh, I’m getting my photo taken.

Jerry King: [00:17:25] Yes, almost everyone. And during my sessions, it’s pretty much like what I’m doing with you, just talking to you, getting to know we might talk more than we shoot for the hour session. You and I might spend 30 or 40 minutes talking, you know, used to like when I first started out, I’d take like 3 or 400 images of you and we’d hope for the best. And now, you know, we shoot about 60 to 70 and we, you know, they’re usually all pretty good, but we’re just looking for that one.

Sharon Cline: [00:17:52] How important is that time getting to know someone?

Jerry King: [00:17:55] Very important. We have to establish some rapport. I mean, because you have to be comfortable in front of me and. And then you have to trust me. So I do a tactic or I do a process that a lot of photographers I’ve talked to kind of question why I do it. But I will actually take a photo of you and then I will sit down and I will analyze the photo with you, and then I will actually edit that photo in front of you. So a lot of times people don’t like the photo because not that it’s not a good photo, but they don’t like how their eyes look or they there’s this, they’ve got acne or they maybe have a double chin that they’re not happy with. When I show, I can like manage that for them, the shoot goes well.

Sharon Cline: [00:18:35] So you take a photo and then you show them what you can do so that they feel like no matter what, their best self will be represented.

Jerry King: [00:18:41] All I need from them is expression.

Sharon Cline: [00:18:44] Okay. What kind of expression?

Jerry King: [00:18:46] Their true expression like that. What you’re giving me right now.

Sharon Cline: [00:18:49] What am I giving you right now?

Jerry King: [00:18:51] You’re smiling your eyes. And so we want to capture that. We want to capture your natural feel.

Sharon Cline: [00:18:57] So smile with your eyes kind of thing. Kind of something that you can tell if someone isn’t right.

Jerry King: [00:19:02] Exactly. And a lot of times people come in and they want to show teeth. They don’t have to show teeth. You know, sometimes you can see someone’s their personality just with their mouth closed.

Sharon Cline: [00:19:12] So you’ve got all of these neat techniques and things that you’ve got ready to go for people. And then now as you as your business has grown and I’ve looked at your pictures, they’re absolutely beautiful. You do have really unique lighting, I think, And it doesn’t even have to be this big scene outside where it’s it can be very simple and but effective. Did that sort of help develop your style into as you learned these techniques, developed your style into what you have now? Yeah, I.

Jerry King: [00:19:42] Think my style developed because initially when I started it was all about me. Oh, look at my light, Look, look how I can do this, look how I can shoot. And as time went by, it’s more about the individual. So I kind of want people to see the image and just see my subject and not, Oh, my God, look at the lighting. Oh, my God. You know, look at look at this composition. I want them to look at it and say, Oh my God, John looks great. You know, Susie looks amazing.

Sharon Cline: [00:20:06] Not look at this lighting.

Jerry King: [00:20:07] Not look at this.

Sharon Cline: [00:20:08] Lighting. Interesting. Do you think any of the things that you learned in the military and in law enforcement has informed you as a photographer?

Jerry King: [00:20:16] I yeah, quite a bit. I deal with a lot of executives, CEOs, tech firms and things like that. So my military experience and my law enforcement experience brought me into like whether politicians or generals or colonels or whatever. So I learned early on at a young age that everyone puts their pants on just like I do. So when I’m talking to an executive, I’m talking to him as if I was talking to anyone else and establish that rapport like it’s his company. He’s the tech guru and everything like that. But it’s my set and I’m the professional here and it’s my job to get the best thing out of him.

Sharon Cline: [00:20:51] Dang. So I never thought about that, that you could potentially be intimidated by some very big names in whatever world they’re in. But this. They’re in your world. Yes. So I bet they can feel that energy shift.

Jerry King: [00:21:05] Yeah, people can tell. I try to tell new photographers or teach sometimes that you’ve got to show a little bit of confidence. And, you know, there’s certain things I do like if you’re giving me your all and I mess up, I tell you, I mess up, I’ll say, Hey, you did a great job at your photographer screwing up right now. You know, let me adjust this. Yeah. And if, you know, if I’m comfortable with everything going on set, then you can sense that. And I’ll always keep a dialog. You know, if I’m shooting, if you’re seeing this look on my face, like, I’m, like, worried something’s going wrong and I haven’t communicated with you whatsoever, then you start doubting the process.

Sharon Cline: [00:21:42] I’d be doubting myself, Oh, no, he doesn’t like what he sees. I’m trying to imagine what’s in my head if I were to see that that’s true and be like, He’s not happy, it’s me because he’s the professional. So yeah.

Jerry King: [00:21:52] Always keep the communication going, talking and everything like that, you know, I’ll tell people, I’ll sit there and I’ll go, okay, I need to get this shot. Okay, roll your shoulders back. Put your hands out by your side. Put your face forward like a turtle. Dip your forehead just a little bit. Yeah. And tighten those eyes just a little bit. I like that. All right, now stand on one foot and, you know, usually gets people laughing. And then.

Sharon Cline: [00:22:11] Then you get a good.

Jerry King: [00:22:11] Shot. You get a good shot.

Sharon Cline: [00:22:13] Um, I had another question for you. I saw that. Well, obviously, because this is my show. Sorry. I get distracted in my brain. All right. So you have obviously a huge clientele. You’ve got actors and models. Executives. You do lifestyle shoots, but you also did a shoot with the Holly Springs police here in in Cherokee County.

Jerry King: [00:22:37] That was a while back.

Sharon Cline: [00:22:38] It was a while back. Oh, the photos are gorgeous. But tell me how that happened. I’m curious how as obviously you were in the in the police world. So you’ve been able to relate to probably what they go through.

Jerry King: [00:22:50] Law enforcement and military are still dear to my heart. You know, I pray for the guys every day and happy that and glad that someone’s still willing to do it in this day and age. But I just you know, my thing was I would see these police officers in law enforcement and these heroic jobs and and larger than life jobs. And then I’d see these photos of them that were just so tame. And I just wanted to, like I said earlier, you know, display the heroes that they truly are.

Sharon Cline: [00:23:20] When you say tame, do you mean like as if it’s a high school yearbook? Look.

Jerry King: [00:23:24] Yes. Or just a snapshot of them leaned against a car or something like cheesy.

Sharon Cline: [00:23:31] Somewhat cheesy. Very cheesy. So what was it like to film them in a way that made you feel proud?

Jerry King: [00:23:39] I guess. I don’t know. I just wanted to depict them in a very professional and very larger than life, you know, setting or theme or vibe like.

Sharon Cline: [00:23:52] They were some in their car, you know, as they’re out doing things. So it’s almost an action shot, I guess.

Jerry King: [00:23:58] So I think she was sitting in a parking lot and I had lights behind the car and in front of the car.

Sharon Cline: [00:24:03] And oh, wow. No, it looked like she was heading someplace important. Yeah.

Jerry King: [00:24:06] So, yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:24:08] So that must have been satisfying for you then.

Jerry King: [00:24:10] It is. And, you know, it’s just one of those things you want to, you know, hopefully. Or one day I plan on kind of making a switch to do more commercial style, you know, style shoots as opposed to headshots. But headshots will always be be a part of taking images.

Sharon Cline: [00:24:26] So you haven’t obviously just stuck to headshots then like you’ve grown some.

Jerry King: [00:24:30] I haven’t just stuck to headshots. I do life style for business executives and everything. Expanding to Dallas, Texas last month was the first test run out there. How did it go? It went pretty well. It went pretty well. So we’re going to start or I’m going to start setting dates out there, too, for every couple of months to go out to Dallas, Texas.

Sharon Cline: [00:24:54] Wow. So. All right. So is there anything that you sort of know now, now that you see in your now expanding and growing, anything you wish you could go back and tell yourself in 2013 or 2012?

Jerry King: [00:25:10] No, I don’t think I’d want to screw up the time continuum. I think I’m happy with the path that I’ve. That I’ve taken. I mean, there’s a lot of things that would have made it easier, but at the same time, I think. I don’t know. Some things, no matter if you hear it or not, you’ve got to experience it yourself.

Sharon Cline: [00:25:30] But that says a lot about you because there are lots of people who say, Oh, I wish I had known that I should have had a year’s worth of savings in my bank account. And of course, that’s a positive, everybody. There’s never enough money. Never enough money. I will say that the fact that you feel like you learned everything in the right order and that you needed to learn it the way that you did, there’s something very peaceful about your journey then, or accepting about your journey where you don’t beat yourself up so much about the things that you wish you had done differently.

Jerry King: [00:25:56] I think it would have changed the trajectory of the way things are. I mean, if I had enough money, maybe I wouldn’t have pushed myself as hard if I wasn’t starving or wondering where my next meal was coming from, I might have taken it easy. I might not have taken the chance or the opportunity to to do another job or to take on a job that I didn’t want to take on. But actually it led somewhere.

Speaker3: [00:26:17] Wow.

Sharon Cline: [00:26:18] But that’s I love that you’re reframing your experience as not just being I had this dream. I decided to go pursue it. You actually can see how the different things that you went through propelled you forward. I think I’m in a similar situation where I have more voiceover work to pursue, but I haven’t but I but I actually really need to be doing that as opposed to things that I find joyful or just fun and that I don’t think I would have the same drive to continue to pursue and work really hard if I didn’t have a real need to do it. You know, it’s fascinating to me because it does reframe it. And I and I’m lucky because I get to do it. It’s not like I need to do it. It’s like, Oh, I have to. It’s like I get to which I really like it makes it a positive.

Jerry King: [00:27:06] I mean, if you told me I was be a photographer 20 some odd years ago, I would have told you you were crazy. I mean, I said, you’re high. There’s no way. If you said I’d actually be making a living at photography. You know, when I originally got out, I said, I can make half the money I made in law enforcement and just be happy doing something I love. But now that I’m actually traveling for a change and you know, my camera is like a passport into people’s lives, I never would have got to meet half the people I’ve met if I hadn’t had a camera. I mean, you know, I mean, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have a camera. I wouldn’t have met Dan if I didn’t have a camera.

Speaker3: [00:27:43] Or mutual friends.

Jerry King: [00:27:44] Yeah, I wouldn’t have met any of those folks. I wouldn’t be in Woodstock.

Sharon Cline: [00:27:47] Where would you be, do you think?

Jerry King: [00:27:51] Probably. Still in law enforcement.

Speaker3: [00:27:55] You think.

Jerry King: [00:27:55] So? Probably still in law enforcement.

Sharon Cline: [00:27:58] And now you get to use a different part of your brain. Creative side is so fun. Do you know what I mean? There’s something so cool about creating something that didn’t exist like five minutes ago.

Jerry King: [00:28:07] It’s true. And for me, I think I. Put away the creative side of me when I joined the military because I had to do what I had to do and I kept it locked away until I bought that camera, you know, many, many years later.

Sharon Cline: [00:28:23] Do you think that there’s been a project you’ve worked on that has just been the most satisfying and fun? Is there something that stands out to you where you’re like, This is why I do what I do? Oh, I know this moment. Okay? Not just this moment. Okay. Any other moment besides this one.

Speaker3: [00:28:41] Okay.

Jerry King: [00:28:43] Projects? No, I haven’t found that project yet. I’ve got a couple in the works that I’m in discussions with my girlfriend and we’re looking at some projects, but I think the biggest joy I get out of photography now is like, I will put my camera in gear in my car and just go hunt for people. And as soon as I see someone who’s interesting, I’ll pull over and ask if I can photograph them. And to me, that is so fulfilling because I get to, you know, holding that camera. People share a lot of information.

Sharon Cline: [00:29:13] Has anyone ever said no?

Jerry King: [00:29:16] I’ve had people say no and I walk away. I’ve also had people say no, and then someone beside them say yes. And then the other person walk up to see the back of the camera. And then they go, Oh, I think I can do this now, you know, So but usually you kind of observe people, see how they act, everything, start a conversation with them. And I used to just ask, Hey, can I take your photo Now? I actually start up a conversation with them like, there’s a gentleman in my hometown start talking about talking to him. Older gentleman said, Did you serve? He said, no. But in 1966 he was at Fort Polk going through, you know, in processing, and he had a waiver. He got deferred because he was in college and didn’t have to go to Vietnam. So hearing a story, I said, do you mind if I take your portrait? And he agreed and they think I’m going to whip out my phone or something. But when I’m setting up lighting equipment and everything like that, it’s just. A different thing.

Sharon Cline: [00:30:09] What is it like to capture one exact moment that could never be captured again? Ever? 100% the same way.

Jerry King: [00:30:18] It’s amazing. Sometimes I’ll just look at it in the eyes. I always look at the eyes and it’s just and you know, even though they’ve shared their story with you, you still want to know more. And sometimes I’ll look at photos of people I’ve in passing that I’ve taken who are much older, and I wonder if they’re still with us or what they’re doing now or if they’re okay. And yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:30:43] Do you think you’re a people person?

Jerry King: [00:30:45] I’m a people person, and my therapist says I’m a people pleaser.

Speaker3: [00:30:48] Pleaser. Dang. So so.

Sharon Cline: [00:30:52] I’m a people person and, well, so am.

Speaker3: [00:30:54] I.

Jerry King: [00:30:55] So I have been working on that. And and it is amazing when you find value in yourself and stop people pleasing as much.

Sharon Cline: [00:31:05] But it’s like this balance too, because you want them to be happy with what you’re doing right and you want them to be happy with the product. So you want to please them.

Jerry King: [00:31:15] Yeah, but you can’t fill their cup of yours is empty, right?

Sharon Cline: [00:31:19] Right. So you take care of yourself first.

Speaker3: [00:31:20] Yes.

Sharon Cline: [00:31:21] That sounds like a very good therapy quote.

Jerry King: [00:31:24] Yeah, it is. I learned. Quick know, I had a friend of mine who’s a commercial photographer and he reached out to me. He had a quote for a company. He says, you know, I got to write this quote for them and it’s coming up to be about $10,000. And I know that’s going to be above their budget. And he said, but I’m just trying to be fair. And I stopped him right there. And I said, How can you be fair to them if you’re not fair to yourself?

Sharon Cline: [00:31:45] Stops people in their tracks sometimes, right?

Speaker3: [00:31:48] Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:31:49] Where would you like to see your business go If you had like a five year projection, where would you like to see yourself?

Jerry King: [00:31:57] Shooting. Shooting less.

Speaker3: [00:32:02] Uh.

Jerry King: [00:32:02] But shooting. More powerful. Projects, more meaningful projects. I would like to travel the US or the country. You know, travel the country or the world just photographing a subject that. Or people that means the most to me and still be able to keep the lights on.

Sharon Cline: [00:32:23] Do you find that, as you’ve gotten to know, lots of different people from lots of different walks of life, that there are some common themes amongst people? What have you learned about people or the human experience?

Jerry King: [00:32:38] Most people feel that they’re in this alone and everybody wants to be heard. So I’ve noticed that when I talk to people, a lot of people are holding a lot of things in and it comes across, you know, like you take a photo and I’m rambling now, but you take a photo of someone and they’re withdrawn and then they project something. Their real self is hidden away in there. So I think that. How do I articulate this? And I think the commonality is everyone is everyone just wants to be a part of a part of the world.

Speaker3: [00:33:14] Be valued.

Jerry King: [00:33:14] Yes. Thank you.

Sharon Cline: [00:33:16] Yeah, I think I love that about this show is it’s my very small attempt to give a person a moment to be heard and to be appreciated in a different way. Like I was saying before the show started, my goal for you or anyone on the show is to feel like there’s a part of you that got to be expressed that you don’t normally get a moment to share because you’re busy, you’re doing your own work, you’re you have a purpose. But for this moment, to help me and anyone else who’s listening to see the reasons behind why you do what you do and and to be able to connect with you because you’re human. I’m human. You know, you’re not just business person, but there’s a reason you get up every day to do what you do, what your goals are, and how it impacts you. There’s just something that I think there are common themes between us in this way and that you want someone to be very, very happy with your work and get, you know, feel proud of what’s out there. Well, who doesn’t want to feel that? Who doesn’t know what that’s like to do something and you’re proud of it. So I’m glad that there’s like an opportunity at least, to get to know the person behind the camera for a moment.

Speaker3: [00:34:24] So what?

Sharon Cline: [00:34:25] She said I finally stopped talking.

Speaker3: [00:34:29] No, no, no, no.

Sharon Cline: [00:34:30] I’m, like, thinking on the fly cannot sometimes do so well for me. But sometimes. Yes, but. Well, you’ve. Who’s your ideal client? Like who you would love to have who in your studio.

Jerry King: [00:34:46] Wow, that’s hard. I mean, it’s really hard. I mean, a lot of times business, they say, oh, my ideal client. But usually it’s from a financial standpoint, you know, people give the answer. You know, it’s like, you know, I want to have a client who makes six figures and is the leader of a Fortune 500 company or seven figures. And I think my ideal client is someone who actually wants to create and actually wants to not be the norm. Really to break out to break out of their shell because I don’t like cookie cutter.

Sharon Cline: [00:35:15] So someone who’s creative, maybe.

Speaker3: [00:35:18] Yes.

Sharon Cline: [00:35:19] When you say cookie cutter and when you say creative, visually, what are you meaning?

Jerry King: [00:35:23] Well, cookie cutter is. You know, I am not a rule follower when it comes to photography. You know, some people look at my pictures and might say that’s underexposed or that might be overexposed or I had some photographer out of the blue comment said, Hey, you might want to think about using the rule of thirds and and and, you know, and you know, it’s funny because I think people don’t understand the rule of thirds. And because it was centered, he was like, that’s not the rule of thirds. But that is a rule of thirds also. It’s just a perspective. So when it comes to cookie cutter, I think. People tend to as a medium photography. I can’t talk about videography or painting or anything else, but people seem to rules and they stick within these rules. And I think if everyone stayed within those rules, we’d have no uniqueness. It would all be the same. So when I say cookie cutter is there are certain styles of photography out there. I’m not going to say it because there are photographers out there and that’s their bread and butter. But I just when people look at my work, I just want them to see that it’s it’s different.

Sharon Cline: [00:36:32] So when you’re saying rule of thirds and yet you put something right in the middle, right, that impacts differently.

Jerry King: [00:36:38] It impacts differently. It definitely, you know that I wanted to bring more focus to the individual, you know, and less to the environment or to place them in the environment, but have them the central focus of it. You know, if I take a picture of someone I’m not worried about your your landscape or your yard or your building. In fact, I just want you to be the focus. I don’t want anyone to sit there and go, oh, my God, look at her. You know, her Prius in the driveway.

Sharon Cline: [00:37:02] God, I have a Prius in the driveway. That’s funny. Yeah, I got you. So the goal being that person is what you want. You don’t want anything else. So the way you frame it can impact whether or not that’s seen in the background.

Speaker3: [00:37:15] Yes.

Sharon Cline: [00:37:17] You know, I do the rule of thirds because I have a grid, you know, on my phone.

Jerry King: [00:37:21] But there’s nothing that says you have to stick with it. Right.

Sharon Cline: [00:37:25] But when I went to Kennesaw State University and I did take a visual communication class, which was fascinating, they did talk about rule of thirds and why that is more impactful or why it makes someone feel the way they feel where your eye naturally wants to go. So I never really thought about it in terms of, well, what if I want a different impact?

Jerry King: [00:37:43] That’s where light comes in.

Sharon Cline: [00:37:47] Well, how about that?

Speaker3: [00:37:48] Yeah.

Jerry King: [00:37:48] Because if you’re lit and you stand out.

Speaker3: [00:37:52] Who cares? Who cares?

Sharon Cline: [00:37:56] How can people get in touch with you, Jerry, if they’re interested in finding out more about you or would like to book a session with you? What’s the best.

Speaker3: [00:38:03] Way?

Jerry King: [00:38:03] One 900. No, just kidding. Oh, gosh.

Sharon Cline: [00:38:06] That’s a different show altogether.

Jerry King: [00:38:09] My website, Jay King images.com. You can book directly for a headshot if you need something else Commercially done or a larger project, just contact. Hit the email and my studio manager will pick up and she’ll get she’ll connect you to me.

Sharon Cline: [00:38:24] Well, Jerry, thank you so much for being brave because I kind of last minute was like, Hey, I had a cancellation. You want to come on the show tomorrow? And you said yes.

Speaker3: [00:38:33] And it was not. Yes.

Sharon Cline: [00:38:35] Yes, you did. You enthusiastically said yes. No, actually, I knew that this was a leap of faith or whatever for you. But I want to thank you for being brave, because some of the best things that have ever happened to me have been when I’ve just said yes, even though I’ve been afraid. So thank you for using your own fearless formula to get here today.

Jerry King: [00:38:53] Thank you so.

Sharon Cline: [00:38:53] Much. You’re welcome. And again, this is Sharon Cline for our fearless Formula Friday, reminding you that with knowledge and understanding, we can all have our own fearless formula. Have a great day.

 

Tagged With: J. King Images, Jerry King

BRX Pro Tip: 3 Underutilized LinkedIn Tips

October 9, 2023 by angishields

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Stone Payton: And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, I know we’ve been diving into LinkedIn as a platform to communicate, to serve, and for business development. What are you learning? Are you picking up any tips about LinkedIn?

Lee Kantor: Yeah. LinkedIn is so powerful and it’s used by billions of people at this point, and it’s so important to leverage the network aspect of it. But there’s some things that are not so obvious when it comes to LinkedIn that I recommend folks kind of explore and take advantage of.

Lee Kantor: Number one that I highly recommend in any social media platform, if possible, but especially in LinkedIn where all your connections are, is export your connections out of LinkedIn to an external CRM platform that you control. You want to get all of that data that you’ve accumulated over the years out of their platform because you never know if they’re going to change the arrangement that you’ve already signed up for and that they could charge you for accessing these people.

Lee Kantor: Just like right now, your feed and your posts aren’t being seen by your entire network. You’re allowed to export your connections out of LinkedIn, so export them and then you can, you know, market to them and talk to them in the manner you want to do, the rhythm you want to do, instead of hoping that your posts are going to be seen by your network.

Lee Kantor: Number two is, if you are researching somebody or if you’re potentially going to hire somebody, and you might not know this, but every time you search for somebody in your LinkedIn when you’re signed in, they see that you’re doing this. There’s a way to be anonymous and browse anonymously. If you’re doing any type of Intel or research like that, you may want to go anonymous when you’re browsing.

Lee Kantor: Number three, I would recommend experiment with LinkedIn Live video to demonstrate your expertise, this is a great way to post LinkedIn likes when you do these kind of things. But this way, if you do business with other business people, then LinkedIn should be your main social media channel. So, why not periodically have some LinkedIn Live content or video content out there with you being smart about what you’re doing?

Lee Kantor: So, those are three underutilized tips that people aren’t really taking advantage of as much as they should.

Nick Scarabosio with Culture to Cash

October 6, 2023 by angishields

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Nick-ScarabosioNick Scarabosio is the co-founder and business coach at Culture to Cash, an organization dedicated to assisting ambitious business owners across industries in reaching exceptional outcomes. Leveraging principles honed over years of experience, Nick and his team guide companies toward doubling their revenue, tripling their profit, and increasing their business value tenfold.

Nick’s unique background sets him apart in the business coaching arena. With 16 years as the Director of Operations for Jackson Group Property Management, Inc in San Francisco, he mastered the complexities of the real estate sector, specializing in strategic decision-making and operational efficiency.

During this period, he concurrently owned and operated fitness gyms in San Bruno, CA, from 2011-2020, demonstrating his ability to excel in diverse business environments and furthering his understanding of the small business landscape.

Between 2017-2019, Nick worked with one of the world’s largest men’s transformation programs, solidifying his expertise in personal and business growth strategies. He incorporates these insights into his current work, offering tailored coaching services to businesses of all sizes – from solopreneurs to corporations with teams of 700+.

Today, Nick focuses on helping his clients scale their businesses, forge a balanced work-life integration, and accomplish their goals in every aspect of life. As a passionate advocate for customized business solutions, he would love to explore and discuss how to turn a company’s culture into cash on your podcast.

Connect with Nick on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Stone Payton: [00:00:14] 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 and you guys are in for a real treat. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast business coach and co-founder with Culture to Cash. Mr. Nick Scarabosio. How are you, man?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:00:37] I’m good Stone. It’s a pleasure to be on and speaking with you and your listeners today. You know, I love what you guys do and lines up really well with what we do at Culture to Cash. We’re all about performance and business. So excited to be here.

Stone Payton: [00:00:49] Well, you’re looking good. You’re sounding good. I’ve been very excited about this conversation. I’ve got a thousand questions. I know we’re not going to get to them all, but I’m thinking maybe a good place to start would be if you could articulate for me and our listeners mission purpose, what you and your team are really out there trying to do for folks, man.

Nick Scarabosio: [00:01:13] Yeah, absolutely. So the purpose, purpose of culture to cash is pretty clear. It’s we want to create $5 billion in enterprise value and human life value for owner led businesses. What we’re trying to do is show people that revenue, profit, cash, all of that’s important, but it’s not the main reason we’re in business. You know, most entrepreneurs, they started with a dream. They’re just unfortunately stuck in the day to day. They’re a little hamstrung by maybe some people issues or strategy lacking, but it’s all fixable. Like that’s the beauty of it all is don’t quit. Keep going, keep driving. There’s a way out. And usually on the other end of that way out is a life that you not only desire, but deserve.

Stone Payton: [00:02:01] Well, it sounds like a noble pursuit to me, but I got to know the backstory, man. How does one find himself in this kind of role in this arena, serving these kinds of constituents?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:02:13] Yeah. Yeah. So three of us co-founded Culture two Cash, myself, my two partners, Corwin Smith and Matt Blanton. We were all those people at one point or another. So I come from the real estate and property management industries, as well as owning some fitness gyms. And I did everything wrong, you know, on the on the outside, on the outside, everyone would say it was good. It was great, like, you’re doing so well. But I was personally just driving myself into a hole. I was overweight, I was stressed, I was anxious. I wasn’t being the husband and the father that I, I wanted to be. So not only in business, but at home. Personally, I wasn’t taking care of the vows and commitments that I had made. So I started looking for a process out, a system out and went through coaches, went through some consulting, some work, some didn’t, but always learning along the way. And what was really exposed to me is while I was good in those fields, I wasn’t great because I wasn’t being driven by purpose and passion. So, you know, fast forward from that 2004 start timeline to about 2016, 2017 started really saying, Hey, what is this that I’m doing? Because I’m getting a lot of requests for help, but what’s the process I have? And started building a program, building a system. And then I met my two partners right around the same time we were coaching in other organizations. So somebody saw something in us as coaches and consultants. And for a few years we kind of helped each other, played around with some clients together, some not. And then we decided, Hey, this has been a very long engagement for three plus years. Why don’t we get married, launch culture to cash and take what is our purpose, our vision, our passion to other owner led business owners and help them see what took us a lot of bad trials and tribulations to get to.

Stone Payton: [00:04:10] I think that’s marvelous background and foundation because it seems like you could remove some of the friction and maybe shrink the timeline for a lot of the rest of us so we don’t have to make all the same mistakes, Right?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:04:22] That’s it. Yeah. You don’t have to go it alone. You know, there’s we’ve made the mistakes for you. Try to avoid them now.

Stone Payton: [00:04:30] All right, So let’s dive into the work a little bit. Describe for me if you can sort of, I don’t know, the engagement cycle. I’m particularly interested in what happens early on in an engagement. How do you get this thing rolling?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:04:44] Yeah, Yeah. So, you know, an owner led business realizes, hey, I’ve got a viable product here. I seem to have a company that works. I just don’t know how to take it to the next level. So you come to us, the first thing we start talking about, which catches most people off guard, is we remove business. Where do you want to go? Like stone? What are you doing this for? What’s the ultimate end game? What are your life ambitions, your family ambitions, and what are you going to need to support those coming true? So once we have ourselves grounded in what we want, now we bring in business. Okay, let’s talk revenue. Let’s talk people. Do you have a strategy? And we do all this through one on one coaching. We have groups, but we also have a lot of back end systems. So we’re analyzing data, we’re finding out where are you strong because, hey, let’s keep doing that piece. But where are you also missing some major whether it’s systems, processes or people. So once we identify what the gaps are, then we get into the strategic side of it. Okay. Hey, if we could snap our fingers and fix everything tomorrow, we would. We’d also probably be billionaires if we had that capacity. But it does take time. You know, we we say, you know, proper strategy anywhere from 12 to 24 months to implement. But we have to do that in chunks. We can’t do it all at once because you don’t have the capacity. Your people don’t have the capacity. Oh, and there’s this other thing called life in the middle of the way. You still got to take care of all that.

Stone Payton: [00:06:23] I’m sure there are some unique characteristics to every engagement, every business, every individual within the business. And do you find yourself do you see some patterns like you’re in there, you’re starting that engagement and you’re like, if you don’t say it out loud, you say to yourself, Yep, I’ve seen this before. Are there some like common patterns or even maybe I’ll ask a kind of a compound question patterns, but also myths or preconceptions or misbeliefs when a new client is coming in and things that they, you know, that’s not really quite how it works. Joe Yeah.

Nick Scarabosio: [00:06:58] Yeah. I mean, often the first pushback we always get is, but Nick, have you done this industry? And the first thing we have to talk about is. One. We’ve been in a lot. I think we’ve been in, you know, 60 to 70 plus industries at this point. So we do have a lot of background. But if we go to the real facts is business principles are foundational, whether you’re a plumber, an electrician, a chef, a financial services person, the foundations of business are industry agnostic. So what you need to identify is just where am I at? Where do I want to go and what are the gaps I hold now? Are there nuances? Of course, you know, if you’re in the trades, we’ve seen it the last 12 months. There are problems being created well outside of our control by economic conditions, political decisions like those things. They are a part of the equation, but they’re not unique to you. They just are at the moment. Other other industries will go through them in the future.

Stone Payton: [00:08:04] So have you had the benefit? I know the answer to this is yes. I’m going to say it differently. Tell me a little bit about, if you would. I was going to say, have you had the benefit of one or more mentors along the way as you were navigating this terrain of running a, you know, a consultancy or coaching a speaking kind of firm?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:08:26] Yeah, absolutely. I mean, what what led me down this path was ultimately, you know, starting to realize I didn’t know it all. And I think that’s the hardest thing for us as business owners is we get stuck with this hat of leader of owner and we’re expected to have all the answers. Well, guess what? Nobody does. So we’ve got to go seek mentorship. We’ve got to seek peers who are in the same place programs, coaches, consultants. So I went through the industry specific ones and real estate and property management. When we launched our gyms, I went to coaches who could help me with marketing and fitness coaches, who could help me just be a better coach. Then when I was also stuck personally, I found, you know, men’s transformational programs that I thought would help. And the thing that I always tell people in there is no one is a magic bullet. We’re not a magic bullet. Culture to cash is not a magic bullet. We are a part of the solution. So what you have to be open to and it’s probably the one piece holding most business owners back, is just willing to accept that vulnerability of I need help, I need a solution, and this is going to be a piece of the solution. Not all of it at once.

Stone Payton: [00:09:38] Yeah. So now that you’ve been at this a while, what are you finding the most rewarding about the work? What’s the most fun about it for you?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:09:49] Yeah. So. As I had mentioned, we are we’re trying to create value for business owners. We want to see you exit for a massive number so you, your family, your legacy is taken care of financially. That’s great. But we really do focus in on what we refer to as human life value. How are you affecting your people? How are you affecting yourself? Like what are you passing on? That is way more important than money. So if you’re an industry or you’re an organization, whether you’ve got ten, ten employees or 100, you have to realize that it’s probably about 3 to 4 x how many people you have the opportunity to affect. Because we’ve got wives, we’ve got husbands, we’ve got kids, we’ve got future grandkids, we’ve just got communities. So what we really like to do at Culture two, Cash is realize that the impact we can make, yes, we’ll make the CEO’s life better. We’ll probably make them some more money. But that will actually trickle down to an effect across the entire organization, its people and their legacies. So if we can make an impact from top down all the way to the front line and know that, hey, maybe little Johnny 15 years from now has a nugget of truth and gold from his dad that learned it from their CEO, that learned it from us. That’s what makes it worthwhile.

Stone Payton: [00:11:14] What a great way to frame it. Human life value listeners, you’re going to hear that from me again. And I will try to to credit Nick. But what happens to me.

Nick Scarabosio: [00:11:26] It’s I didn’t I didn’t make it up so we didn’t make it up either. That was from one of our coaches and mentors. But it is just, you know, it’s always stuck with us. With us. It’s a big part of our decision making is how are we impacting human life value.

Stone Payton: [00:11:41] I may have mentioned to you before we came on the air, I don’t know if I did or not, but a lot of our listeners know that I came from the sales and marketing arena within the training consulting world. So I have kind of that. I look through a lot of things from the sales and marketing lens, and I am curious how does the whole sales and marketing thing work for a practice like yours in a firm like yours? Do you have to get out there and and shake the trees, or are you at a point where it’s coming to you? Or how does that work for you?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:12:11] It’s a holistic approach. So we’re we’re big believers in you got to have multi marketing going on. So yeah, we have referrals, we have networking, you know, people who we’ve provided a tremendous value to put us in touch with other business owners they know, but we also go the traditional routes as well. We’re doing digital marketing, we’re doing Facebook and Instagram campaigns. Like our whole goal is not to work with the entire world, but it’s to work with the people that are the best fit for what we do to make the most impact. And the only way we can find out if you’re a good fit is to market and have a conversation. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But you come and you have a talk with me. I’m not going to say, Hey, you know, Stone, I don’t like you. I’m not going to work with you. I’m going to say, Hey, Stone, I don’t know if we’re necessarily a good fit, but maybe talk to these three individuals. Maybe they’re going to be a better person for you.

Stone Payton: [00:13:06] Well that fit conversation in that value conversation. I again, I was from the training consulting world, so, so I knew how important it was there. It sounds like everything you’re doing is so grounded in trust and relationship and fit and the value that they perceive. And there must be a really strong educational component to to what you do to even just get to where you can have a substantive conversation. It’s the antithesis of transactional your world, right?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:13:38] Yeah, Yeah. I mean, here’s the reality is that 99% of business owners we talk to when we start our conversation is while I may not be saying these words, what they hear is your baby’s ugly. Because I’m saying I’m saying, hey, like, here’s the gaps we see. Here’s the potential you could have, but you need to make some changes. You’re not doing this right. You could potentially do this better. So this is your your business that you’ve poured your blood, sweat and tears into. It’s your your baby. It’s your single largest asset. And you got some guy, whether it’s in Zoom or in person or some other form of communication telling you it’s not perfect. So if we can get past that, that’s a level of trust where you’re open to the idea, you’re open to consideration for what we have to say. Does that mean you accept everything? Of course not. We’re human beings. We’ve got this thing in between our ears that plays a lot of different stories and, you know, messes with us sometimes. But as long as the trust is there and then we can start to lay out the plan, the strategy, the tactics, then we can make some real impact.

Stone Payton: [00:14:50] So diving back into the work that even the name of the firm is Culture to Cash. So I’m interested in you speaking to that a little bit. And I know culture, at least for me, and I think maybe some of our listeners can be can can be a little nebulous sometimes and we have a hard time getting our arms around it. And yet we all, or most of us, I think instinctively, intellectually understand man, to to whatever degree I can impact the culture, I can really impact results and and home human life value. But speak to that a little bit the focus on culture.

Nick Scarabosio: [00:15:26] Yeah. So the hardest part of being a business owner and growing growing an organization is people. Like we are the most difficult beings on the planet because while we’re highly evolved and we can speak and we have language, we then have to take into consideration that while Johnny’s working at the company, Johnny’s also got a family. He’s also got requirements and vows and commitments he’s got to fulfill. So if he’s not taking care of that, can create issues inside of my organization. Maybe his productivity is off or he’s distracted or he’s disconnected. So what we know to be true is if we can dive into upgrading our people, the results come as a benefit. And when we’re talking culture, while it’s cool with the tech companies do with the ping pong tables and the the free lunches and things like that, it’s yeah, it’s great and those can be fun. But culture is really how do I lead? And if I’m having conflict, how do I handle conflict? How do I improve my people? How do I make sure they’re not only committed to themselves but they enjoy what they’re doing? So thus they’re committed to the organization?

Stone Payton: [00:16:41] What a great checklist of questions that helps you get your arm around culture really quick. Man. You just got to rattled it off. But that’s a man that’s that’s a seminar right there. Probably. All right. I’m going to switch gears on you a little bit before we wrap, if I could. I’m interested to know and I don’t know where you’d find the time, but I get the sense that you would have real value for this. What Hobbies, passions, interests, things that you maybe you have a tendency to nerd out about outside the scope of your work. Like my listeners, they know I like to hunt, fish and travel, you know? But how about you?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:17:18] Yeah. So when we’re not working, I am a husband and father. So I’ve got a 14 year old son, 11 year old daughter. So they definitely keep me busy between high school sports for my son, competitive cheer for my daughter and then for me personally. Um, big fan of Brazilian jiu jitsu train that consistently and then I also love to golf and we happen to be in the awesome state of Colorado now. So when winter hits, try to hit the mountains, get some skiing and snowboarding in. But really it’s just more about do what you love outside of work. Because if you’re not, what are you doing it for?

Stone Payton: [00:17:53] Amen. And I mean, my experience has been I personally need that white space. I need to retreat and sit in a tree for a while. I feel like I’m a better leader when I come back, right?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:18:06] Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, one of the promises we make to clients who sign up with us is within the first 90 days, we cut the time to manage the business by 50% for the owners. And what I always tell them is, hey, I’m going to get you back 50% of your time. Don’t do something stupid like filling it with more minutia. Work. Go enjoy it. Go spend some time outdoors. Go spend some time with your family. Hey, you haven’t had a vacation in six years. Even if it’s only a day. Go take a vacation. Like enjoy life. Because that’s the only reason we should be working is to produce happiness and ability to enjoy life.

Stone Payton: [00:18:44] Yeah. Okay. Let’s leave our listeners, if we could, with a couple of actionable tips, something that they should be doing, not doing reading. Maybe some some dashboard signals that they ought to be paying more attention to some of these topics or maybe even ought to be reaching out to someone and having conversation. Let’s leave them with a couple of things. They can go and listen. Gang. The best tip is reach out and have a conversation with Nick or somebody on his team. But even short of that, you know, some things to think about, begin focusing on maybe.

Nick Scarabosio: [00:19:20] Yeah. So where we start, everybody is start with people. Stop worrying about cash, stop worrying about strategy and tactics. Because if you’re not paying attention to your people, none of it matters. The hardest part of this game is hiring, sourcing and keeping good employees. So start looking at your processes of doing that. We start with function first. Always function first. What’s the role? What needs to be accomplished? Then we go find the people for it. Then we pour our energy and support into them and that’s what helps grow, what’s helping grow teams. So once you have the people part dialed in, then you can start to ask yourself, Where do I want to take this thing?

Stone Payton: [00:20:01] Well, I’m glad I asked. That’s a good set of recommendations. I’ll tell you what, gang, if you want to get some really solid consulting information, knowledge for for free or next to free, get yourself a radio show, man. You meet some fascinating people with a lot of depth. They thank you for that. All right. What’s the best way for folks to reach out and have a conversation with you or someone on your team? Tap into your into your work, whatever. Just leave them some coordinates, whatever you think is appropriate and most productive.

Nick Scarabosio: [00:20:33] Yeah. So culture sitcom all spelled out. That’s our website. There’s plenty of buttons on there for you to book a free discovery call. We are we are three men that truly believe in having conversations with no outcome for us. All we want to do is provide impact for you. So even if it’s 20, 30 minutes and I can leave you with one nugget, that’s a win for me. Social media. You can type in my name. Nick Scarabosio There’s not a whole lot of scarabosio running around this planet, so pretty easy to find. And other than that, yeah, social and websites the best way.

Stone Payton: [00:21:10] Well, Nick, it has been an absolute delight having you on the program this afternoon. Keep up the good work, man. The work you and your you and your team are doing, it’s so important. And we really appreciate you, man.

Nick Scarabosio: [00:21:27] All right. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me on.

Stone Payton: [00:21:29] My pleasure. All right. Until next time, This is Stone Payton for our guest today, Nick Scarabosio with Culture to Cash. And everyone here at the Business RadioX family saying we’ll see you in the fast lane.

 

Tagged With: Culture to Cash

BRX Pro Tip: Finding Your First 50 Guests

October 6, 2023 by angishields

BRX Pro Tip: 3 Ways to Get More Out of Your Chamber of Commerce

October 5, 2023 by angishields

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Stone Payton: Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, we’ve been blessed is the only way, I guess, I know to articulate it, by the relationships that we have built with various chambers of commerce and all of these markets that we serve. What are some good ways to get more out of your chamber of commerce?

Lee Kantor: Yeah. The chamber of commerce is so important to so many people and so many communities and all business associations. It’s kind of the same thing. You can benefit if you implement these in whatever business association you’re a member of, but get to know the leadership. It’s so important to kind of have relationships with the leaders of these associations so they know who you are, they know what you do. This helps keep you top of mind when they meet somebody who might benefit from whatever it is that you do or the services you provide.

Lee Kantor: Number two is, at these kind of organizations, look for opportunities to be a subject matter expert on a panel, at a meeting, at a talk. There are so many speaking opportunities at the chamber or a lot of these business associations, and if you want them, you’ve got to go and be proactive and let them know that you want to share information that you know about these kind of the things that you do that you’re an expert on. And speaking is a great way to promote your expertise. It’s way more elegant and less salesy than running an ad in the magazine. So, demonstrate your thought leadership by actually being a thought leader and speaking about it.

Lee Kantor: And then, finally, volunteer for leadership positions yourself. These kind of associations, they don’t work if you think you’re just going to pay the dues and think that business is going to magically come to your door. It just doesn’t work like that. The people who give the most tend to get the most out of their membership. So, volunteer in areas that showcase your expertise, that demonstrate that you are great at what you do, and that serving the organization is a great way to give you kind of that exposure to folks and to demonstrate that you’re great at what you do.

Lee Kantor: And, also, this way they can kind of test you out in that manner and say, “Oh, if they were good for the chamber like this, surely they’ll be able to help me in a similar way.” So, those are three ways to get more out of your chamber of commerce membership.

Reactivating Former Clients

October 5, 2023 by angishields

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