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Embracing Vulnerability: How Veterans Can Find Connection After Service

November 16, 2025 by angishields

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Veteran Business Radio
Embracing Vulnerability: How Veterans Can Find Connection After Service
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In this episode of Veterans Business Radio, Lee Kantor interviews Jeff Rogers, founder of Strengthen the Positive and retired Air Force NCO. Jeff discusses the challenges veterans face transitioning to civilian life, especially the difficult “messy middle” period. He shares how his book “After the Uniform” and guided journals help veterans rediscover purpose and identity. Jeff also highlights the importance of supportive workplace environments and community for veteran retention. The episode emphasizes the need for structure, connection, and understanding to empower veterans in building fulfilling post-military lives.

Strengthen-the-Positive-logo

Jeff-RogersJeff Rogers, TSgt, USAF (Ret.), is an author, speaker, and founder of Strengthen the Positive™ and GillyBell Legacy Works, LLC.

Through his programs, workshops, and book After the Uniform: Navigating Life, Love, and Purpose, Jeff helps Veterans, families, and organizations strengthen resilience and lead with purpose through times of transition.

A Prosci-certified change management practitioner and former Air Force Master Instructor, Jeff brings over two decades of leadership and training experience from both military and corporate worlds.

His work bridges service and civilian life with a mission to remind others that life after uniform isn’t the end of the mission – it’s the next one.

Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Episode Highlights

  • Challenges faced by veterans during the transition from military to civilian life.
  • The concept of the “messy middle” period in veteran transitions.
  • Importance of identity and purpose after leaving the military.
  • Emotional and psychological adjustments required for veterans post-service.
  • Tools and resources for veterans, including the book “After the Uniform” and journaling prompts.
  • The significance of community and finding a new support network after military service.
  • Strategies for organizations to retain veterans beyond initial hiring.
  • Best practices for onboarding veterans in civilian workplaces.
  • The role of mentorship and support systems in helping veterans acclimate to civilian life.
  • The importance of reconnecting with a sense of mission and community for veterans’ well-being.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Veterans Business Radio, brought to you by ATL vets, providing the tools and support that help veteran owned businesses thrive. For more information, go to ATL vetsource. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here another episode of Veterans Business Radio and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, ATL Vets, inspiring veterans to build their foundation of success and empowering them to become the backbone of society after the uniform. For more information, go to ATL vets. Today on the show, we have Jeff Rogers, who is the founder and CEO with Strengthen the Positive. Welcome, Jeff.

Jeff Rogers: Lee. Thanks so much for having me. I sure do appreciate it.

Lee Kantor: Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about Strengthen the Positive. How you serving folks?

Jeff Rogers: Well, Strengthen the Positive is a a venture that I started a little while ago. In the interest of helping veterans transfer from their military career into their civilian career, or I should say, civilian life. Actually, you know, the military does an outstanding job of getting us in the military. They say, okay, you are no longer Jeff Rogers. You are, in my case, Airman Rogers, and we’re going to get you in. And now you’re in the military getting out. They do a decent job helping you get out. They have transition assistance programs and a few other things that teach you the tactical stuff the how to fill out a resume, how to do an interview, how to do a how to do some networking, but they don’t get into the internal things. And that’s what strengthened the positive is really all about helping us get from military life through that messy middle into feeling like you’re yourself again and you’re able to proceed in the civilian world.

Lee Kantor: Now, did you come up with kind of a methodology, or is this based on something else that you learned somewhere along the line? Like, how did you come up with this bridge that helps a person transition, you know, from service into, like you said, the rest of their lives?

Jeff Rogers: Well, it came from my personal lived experience. So I am a retired Air Force NCO. I retired back in 2007. So Lee is probably thinking, okay, that 2007, that’s a long time ago. Why did he just write this book now? Well, let me tell you. So when I first got into the military, everything was was great. I had my job, I had my family, In fact, my parents had moved down from my childhood home in Massachusetts, down here to Florida. In fact, they lived right next door to us. So I had plenty of things to keep me busy, whether it was work, family, my parents, and just kind of keeping keeping things going. As time went on, you know, I lost a job or two. I got picked up on another job and so on and so forth. But unfortunately, back in 2020, uh, my mom passed away and then my dad in 2024 passed away. So there was a big part of me that was now missing again. So it took me a while to realize that all this time from 22, excuse me, 2007 until 2024, I was always chasing. I was always running. I was always doing all these things. And now here in 2024, that was all gone. So what I did, I shouldn’t say that was all gone. A major component of my life was gone.

Jeff Rogers: So right during that time period, I actually got involved with the American Legion here in Spring Hill, Florida. And I was talking to some other veterans there, and I found out that many of them were just like me. They were in a spot where they didn’t really they knew. They knew they weren’t in the military anymore, but they didn’t really feel comfortable in the civilian world. Now, this is going from from, you know, I’ll say fresh veterans, people who just got out to folks who had been out for quite a while. And there’s that, again, I like to call it the messy middle, because sometimes you don’t even realize that you’re in it until you start to get out of it, if that makes sense. So to answer your question, how did I come up with this? I came up with this through my my personal lived experience. I spoke with some other veterans and I did some, some really deep conversations to try to figure out ways that I could help. And that’s where after the uniform came out, that’s my that’s my, uh, my, my book is called After the Uniform. I do have a couple other journals under the Strengthen the Positive umbrella, but that’s where after the uniform, uh, came, came to be.

Lee Kantor: Now, the way that you kind of delineated things was you went there was a period in the military. Then there was a period after the military. Do you address the period before the military, like did you have kind of a big Y or a true North Star before the military? Because it sounds like a lot of the thinking begins from the military forward.

Jeff Rogers: Yeah. Well, for for many veterans there there is no real North Star, which which oftentimes brings them to the military. So for me personally, I was going to to college. I wasn’t doing as well as I was as I was hoping I was going to to be doing, and I was looking for something that I could that I could depend on, something that I knew that that once I got established, I was going to be able to have that job security also, with all the benefits that were available back in 1987, uh, for, for a, uh, for a young airman, it was for me personally, it was a no brainer to join the military. So while I had some ideas of what I wanted to do, I was 18, 19 years old at the time. I didn’t know what the heck was going on. I really didn’t know what up and down and the differences of going sideways was. But, uh, when you’re in the military, that structure, the, the, the rigor that is established in your day to day life when you leave the military and that’s gone. It’s it’s a it’s a sobering, uh, a very sobering and, uh, well, uh, humiliating experience because you went from someone who had confidence. You were you were doing all these different things. You were, uh, you know, an important member of your unit. And now as you get out and by the way, you know you’re going to get out. In my case, I, you know, I served my 20 years. I decided to get out. So I knew what was going to happen. But to think that that just a job was going to be all I needed. Uh, I was dead wrong. So, um, it’s very difficult losing that direction once in my in. At least in my experience, the military gives it to you because I didn’t really have it beforehand.

Lee Kantor: And then, like you said, once you leave, you’re kind of untethered. And now it’s one of those things like when you have a blank page, you can do anything. But that’s overwhelming. And a lot of times you do nothing because it’s overwhelming. You don’t have that structure that you were so used to.

Jeff Rogers: Exactly, exactly. It’s kind of like, uh, you know, lots of times when, when I was younger and going through different things, people would say, hey, Jeff, just journal, journal, write things down, write your feelings down. Right? Well, I don’t know what to write. I got a blank page like you said, Lee. I got a blank page. Uh, today’s, uh. Let’s see, today’s Wednesday. Uh, I woke up, okay. I don’t know what to write.

Lee Kantor: I’m out. Right?

Jeff Rogers: Yeah.

Lee Kantor: And and that’s why. I mean, I know you, um, one of your things that you offer our journals and and those kind of prompts and that direction and structure, it’s helpful for a lot of people because the blank page can be scary while the blank page is, you know, has all, uh, everything is possible, but it’s also, you know, overwhelming. Like, there’s not a, a place to start. And it’s hard to have kind of the self-discipline to start every day.

Jeff Rogers: Yes, yes. That is that is entirely too true. Uh, that was and that’s really the reason why I also, along with the after the uniform book, uh, I also put together a Strengthen the Positive for Veterans Journal. And along with that, I have another journal that is, uh. Well, let me just say that the, the, the Veterans Journal is 12 weeks, and it’s a daily, daily reflection, uh, daily prompts, kind of keeping things grounded and keeping you moving forward. Then I have what’s called the Mission Compass Journal, and that’s actually 52 weeks. So a full year of weekly Missions or assignments to again get you through. Keep you grounded. And it also, as you mentioned, it gives you those prompts. So you so you’re not just staring at a blank page. Now do you have to do these in order? No, not necessarily. But they do sort of build upon each other. And then lastly, I built a not built, but I put together a journal that’s just called Strengthen the Positive. The journal. It’s 30 days, sometimes 12 weeks or a whole year is a little overwhelming. So 30 days of of pointed daily prompts is is what the journal is all about. And the reason why I did it was just as you said, that blank page, while it’s blank, can be awfully intimidating.

Lee Kantor: Now, you mentioned when you were in the military, everything was structured. There’s rules, there’s expectations. Everybody knows on Monday we’re doing this, and on Wednesday we’re doing that like it’s very deliberate and structured and and life after the military tends to be more of a free, a free for all. Where hey, go ahead, make it happen. And there’s nobody telling you what to do, and there’s nobody checking your work to make sure you did it right there. And that for a lot of people is difficult. And a lot of and I equate it to like sports teams, like a sports team has a season. And the season, you know, there’s certain things that happen at certain times. There’s training camp and then there’s preseason and then there’s the games, and then there’s the playoffs and then the season’s over. But in life, there is nothing like it’s one long season for the rest of your life. Like there’s no way to kind of put it into chunks. How do you help people kind of, um, get a handle on this? Like, is it the journaling? Is that kind of the foundational start where let’s start just getting some of these thoughts out of your head. Uh, is that kind of a building block to kind of helping rebuild somebody’s identity?

Jeff Rogers: That is certainly part of it, or it can be part of it. You know, one of the things that happens in the military is we are taught, and I’m sure that your listeners are going to be able to really resonate with this, but we’re taught to keep everything inside. You’re hurt. Don’t tell anybody you’re sad. Don’t tell anybody. You’re, you know, upset. Whatever. You get through it. Dig deep and get through it. That once you get out, that mindset is probably the worst mindset to hold on to. Because what that does is that breaks you down both mentally, emotionally and ultimately physically. So getting it out and talking to someone is probably the best thing that you can do. But again, as military folks, we’re taught keep it in. You got this. You know, keep charging. You know, just rub a little dirt on it. You’ll be fine. If you’re not willing to talk to someone. And I know of of plenty of people who feel there’s such a stigma with, with talking to professional counselors and such. Sometimes the journal is the way to go, because in in the case of my journals, you have specific prompts. And what I say, and many of them is like like there’s one prompt in particular that on that week in the mission journal compass. Excuse me, mission compass. Journal. Uh, it’s all about control. And it there’s there are three key words that talk about control. And the prompt question is what are the things that I control today. So reflecting on what I can control, rather than staring at and pointing at all the things I cannot control, gives me a little bit more power to be me, to be myself.

Jeff Rogers: So along with journaling, what I really kind of go through in the After the Uniform book is I talk about building resilience and how resilience is not keeping it all in. But true resilience is having the courage to ask for help, and that is what’s going to build the resilience and kind of build your your force field, if you will, from the negativity that might be around you. Along with that, you have to build connections. You have to rediscover who you are. Now, you mentioned earlier, Lee, you said, well, geez, you know, before you went in the military, did you have a North Star? Well, some folks did, and they had to put that away because they went in the military. Well, maybe in they’re rediscovering of themselves. They’re able to go back to that North Star they had prior to being in the military. From there, going into, you know, there’s another whole book that talks about. I believe the title of it is Find Your Tribe. That is a very, very important thing for military folks when we’re in the military. We have our our unit, we have our squadron, we have our platoon, whatever it may be. We have our set of folks that are our brothers and sisters. When we get out of the military, oftentimes we lose contact with those folks because life happens. So what can you do to build or become a part of a new community or a new tribe to again feel like you’re, uh, you’re bigger than just yourself?

Lee Kantor: Now, when you’re working, um, or talking to other veterans, how do you help them be this the as vulnerable as you’re describing? Um, having come from a place like you said, where you’re not really rewarded for being vulnerable.

Jeff Rogers: Well, vulnerability is, is one of those things that when I’m speaking with other veterans, the first thing that I try to do is I try to to show my vulnerability. So I demonstrate it by by doing it myself. And I’ll talk a little bit about some of the different trying times that I’ve gone through. And by doing that, by showing that example, it unconsciously tells the person that it’s okay to do so. So I may talk about, you know, how it was when my mom passed away. I may talk about when it was when I first, you know, when I, when I got fired from my first job. Post-military and how devastating that was because I didn’t see it coming, because I was doing a great job as far as everyone told me. But I still got cut. Uh, so being able to to demonstrate that And show that it’s okay. And because they’re not judging me as I’m talking about my vulnerability, unconsciously again, they know or they should know that I’m not going to judge them. And that’s how that kind of, that kind of you kind of break the ice, if you will, then once and I will say this, that in many cases I can count them on, on both my hands in quite a few cases, once that ice is broken, it’s almost like a dam opens.

Jeff Rogers: It’s like it’s like the levee breaks and all kinds of things come out. And then after that conversation, you know, the the weight that is lifted off that person’s shoulders and being able to to discuss those things, oftentimes I’ll just bring bring this up real quick. You know, oftentimes family members will say that, you know, dad or mom or whoever it may be. They never talk about their time in the service. They never talk about it. And oftentimes it’s because that was so traumatic that they don’t want to traumatize. The service member does not want to traumatize their family member by discussing how traumatic that experience or those experiences were. But when you’re in a group of of like minded individuals, maybe at a an American Legion, VFW or some other type of military organization, those other folks in the room have done many of the same things. You’ve done many things that that are even more harrowing than what you’ve done. So being able to have that kind of community again is very, very helpful to help people open up and talk about the different trying times that they might have had while they were in the military. And that will help them through the transition of getting into a successful civilian life.

Lee Kantor: Now are you spending? Is this kind of what you’re doing with your life now? Is writing these books? Um, speaking. And, um, I don’t know if you’re coaching, but you’re working with veterans to help them kind of lead with purpose in their civilian life as they move forward.

Jeff Rogers: Yes, yes, that is that is what I’m doing. Uh, I, I actually have my actual business is called Gilly Bell Legacy Works. And, uh, that is my, my LLC, which kind of is encompassing everything and strengthen the positive is a division of that business. So strengthening the positive is really talking about are really focused on helping veterans in their transition. My overall mission with Gilly Bell Legacy Works is training change management, uh, veteran And empowerment and a few other things. So. So yes, not only do I have these books, but I’m also, uh, I’m also a speaker. I do keynote, uh, I guess keynote engagements with different organizations to talk about these things and also to help people and organizations get through whatever transitions they may be going through, because it’s often it’s often a very, very difficult time. For example, I have a program it’s called After the Handshake and this after the handshake program. What it is for is for employers who are looking to hire veterans, not only hire them but retain them. So there are so many organizations out there who are veteran friendly, and some say that they’re veteran ready. And that’s great. They get a veteran in the door. So glad you’re here. This is great. We love having veterans in our organization, the handshake. And then, just like you said earlier, go ahead. Go make it happen. What I want to do is I want to help organizations, employers, retain those veterans by establishing programs within their organizations that that mimic the the camaraderie and the the overall networking that you would have in the military. So whether it’s through, uh, employee forums or, uh, veteran empowerment groups or something like that. Uh, so there’s there’s quite a few different avenues to get there. But yes, to answer your question, I’m kind of, uh, developing a multifaceted approach to make sure that veterans are being taken care of both in and out of the job market.

Lee Kantor: Now, regarding, uh, the employers and when you’re working with them, what are some do’s and don’ts when onboarding a veteran to give them the best opportunity for success.

Jeff Rogers: I would say that the biggest, the biggest thing or the biggest piece of advice is to. Is to communicate with that veteran often. So sometimes one of the companies that I worked for, we set up a buddy system, sort of like when you are in the military and you get to a new a new unit, you will have what we call the sponsor. At least that’s what we called it in the Air Force. You had your sponsor, that person showed you around, they helped you with, you know, making sure that all your paperwork was handled. Make sure that you had all the things that you needed developing something like that, a sponsor system or a buddy system, especially if that other buddy is a veteran who’s in the organization having that person In in some pretty consistent contact with the new employee, making sure that one number one, they get through all the HR stuff, all the the the stuff that everybody hates doing all the paperwork and all the the benefits and all that. Because because by the way, nine times out of ten, a veteran who just came off of military service has no idea what they need to fill out for for a dental plan or a medical plan because the military took care of it. And if they are not keeping their in their, their Tricare coverage, then they’re going to need something. They’re going to need to figure that out. So helping that person get through the HR stuff, show them around, introduce them to all the, you know, the power players in the company if you can, making them feel like they’re part of the organization. And the the total opposite of doing that is. Hey, thanks for being here. Your office is right over there. Your cubicle is right over there. Have fun. Let us know if you need anything. That’s probably the worst sentence you can say to a to a veteran. Let me know if you need anything because they’re not going to let you know anything because as far as they’re concerned, I want to be seen as the person who doesn’t need squat.

Lee Kantor: Right. So the irony is, um, the organizations trying to give them autonomy, and they think that that’s what they want and need, but in reality, they need somebody that’s kind of watching their back so they can get onboarded properly. So they can then be more autonomous over time, but they just are not going to be granted autonomy on day one without any kind of support.

Jeff Rogers: Exactly, exactly. Um, no autonomy will come as you, as you, as you, as you said. But initially, it’s not like it’s not like you’re hiring someone who is just coming from another company. They’re coming from an organization that, uh, didn’t necessarily have all of the different moving parts that a, a corporate organization has. Yeah. You know, we we certainly have paperwork and finance department and all those kind of things, but it’s all handled for you when you’re in the military, at least the vast majority of it is when you get into a civilian job. I know for me, when I had my first job, I had no idea what to put for my benefit packages and what to put for, uh, 401 and all those kind of things. I had no idea. I had to ask a whole lot of questions. I probably looked like an idiot to a lot of people, but I didn’t. I didn’t know, and there was no one there to just to just kind of help me through it. So I had to kind of stumble along.

Lee Kantor: Right. And ironically, from the organization standpoint, they’re probably looking at oh, that’s like not not that important. That’s just paperwork. Administrative stuff. But to a veteran coming in, it feels like this is this is my first test and I’m failing it.

Jeff Rogers: Yes. Yes. Oftentimes civilian employees take for granted all of the things that they do because they do it so often. They, you know, hey, look, I, I on board. Let’s say, you know, 100 people a year. You’re just one of a hundred. Yeah. But to that person, he or she is one of one. They’ve never done this before. And the other 99 are more than likely coming from a different company. So they’re just transferring there. I mentioned 401 earlier. They’re going to transfer their 401 K. They know all the ins and outs of how to get get all those things done. But when it comes to the military person coming to their first civilian role. The best thing to do is to to kind of help them along the way. I’m not saying you want to handhold them. That’s not that’s not necessarily what I’m saying. But you definitely want to have someone there to help them along the way. Once they get their feet on the ground, once they get settled, watch out, because now they’re really going to now the mission is going to kick in and things are going to happen.

Lee Kantor: Right. And but having that again, this bridge is so critical and it seems like a little thing, but it’s a big thing because if you don’t have it the foundation right, you’re going to have a problem when you can just solve it by having someone there as a bridge for a short period of time to onboard them to. Is this something that you help them build, like a veteran playbook to help them make that transition smoother?

Jeff Rogers: Yes. I am in the process of of building that. Uh, there are plenty of people out there who do an awesome job of getting employers to get veterans in the door. And that’s great because getting them in the door is is more than half the battle. Retaining those folks, that’s where I that’s where my program is, is going to that’s where my program is targeted. So it’s after the handshake. Once they’re in, what are we going to do to keep these folks? Uh, there was a stat and I’m trying to look on, uh, look it up here real quick. There is a stat that says that it talks about the, um, the number of folks who leave their first, their first job. And it is, if I remember correctly, it is an astonishing stat. Uh, of course, I can’t find it right here in the moment, because it’s part of all the different things that I’m, I’m working on with, uh, after the handshake. But the, the data tells us that when it comes to veterans in their first role. More times than not, they will leave after the first year because they don’t feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves. They just feel like a number. So. So that is something that employers, if they want to retain their veterans in their organization, it has to be addressed. So what are some of the things we can do? Uh, you know. Employee groups, uh, you know, different mentoring, uh, possibilities and, and opportunities. Um, and so there’s quite a few different things they can do, but but yeah, it is it is amazing to to see how the, the feeling of belonging is so important after the military.

Lee Kantor: Now, is there a story you can share that, uh, maybe somebody who has gone through one of your trainings or got Ahold of one of your books or journals, uh, that has been able to kind of rebuild their identity and has now kind of leading that life that we’re all shooting for, that, um, kind of got out of the rut, maybe. Is there a success story you can share? Obviously don’t name the person, but maybe share their challenge in how they were able to kind of get to a new level?

Jeff Rogers: Sure. Uh, I, I was, uh, I received a message from someone who who read the book, uh, they read after the uniform. And what he said was through reading the book, he didn’t understand what his friends and family who were military. He was not military, but he didn’t understand what his friends and family who were military. He didn’t understand the trials and tribulations of the transition. So my book after the uniform helped him to understand why, like, for example, why his uncle would not talk about the time when he was in the military and and why why that was such a harrowing subject for him to talk about. So he then took that book and he gave it to I want to say it was his cousin, but I’m not I don’t remember exactly who it was. And he read the book, and according to the person who emailed me, it really opened his eyes to to the, the, the suffering that he was going through without realizing it. And what he has done is he has now gone and started to look for opportunities where he can get involved in the community, where he can be a contributor again. So again, so he feels like he’s he’s doing something that’s bigger than just himself. Uh, he mentioned that there were some volunteer things that he was doing. I believe it was with the Red cross, I believe. But, you know, that’s just one example of of what? I hope to be thousands of examples sooner or later that will show that that number one, veterans, when they get out of the military, you know, oftentimes folks think that they’re broken or folks think that they’re they’re, uh, you know, rude and, and and curt and to the point, neither of those is true. Uh, sure. There are some people who may be a little bit more, uh, a little bit more blunt than others, but but we’re not broken. So oftentimes all we need is a little bit of support to make sure that we’re going in the right direction. And once we’re going in that right direction, you know, we’ll hit the ground running.

Lee Kantor: Right. And to your point is they you have to find that next y and you have to find your people.

Jeff Rogers: Yes.

Lee Kantor: Um, I mean, all of that is so critically important. It’s so easy to be untethered. You just got to, you know, get that help. You need to find your why as quickly as possible. So you’re and you’re. And once you do that, your people will probably appear pretty quickly.

Jeff Rogers: Yes. And the thing is, what a lot of people kind of, uh, uh, they, they, they misjudge who their people are or how many people they need. You don’t need a room full of folks to say to to prove to yourself that you’re you’re of value. It can be one person, two people. It can be just a small handful of folks that you meet, you know, maybe once a week or once a quarter or once a month for a cup of coffee and you just shoot the breeze. It could be anything, but it’s definitely not going to be you sitting at home by yourself, drowning in your sorrows because you don’t feel like you deserve to be happy again because you’re not part of the military anymore. Um, and so many people that I’ve met, they know of people who have become, uh, for lack of a better word, hermits in their own homes. Because they don’t they don’t feel like like they deserve the interaction of other people anymore because of maybe the things that happened while they were in the military, the things that they did while they were in the military. So, uh, it’s all it’s all about, just as you said. Find that why I call it finding your mission again, or finding your next mission and finding your community, finding those people. Once you do that, like you said, those other people, they they just come out of the woodwork and next thing you know, you’ve got a whole bunch of folks that you’re working with or dealing with or just shooting the breeze with. Having fun with. And and you. You feel like you again, if that makes sense. And, uh. And it’s a beautiful thing when you see it in someone’s face that they’re, they’re finally letting their guard down. When you see it in their face that the, the weight of their on their shoulders is finally being lifted. It’s it’s a beautiful, beautiful thing to see.

Lee Kantor: Well, Jeff, thank you so much for sharing your story today. If somebody wants to learn more and connect with you, um, what is the website to get Ahold of the books or get Ahold of you? Um, where should people go?

Jeff Rogers: Okay. Uh, my website is WW. All one word. Strengthen the positive.com. Also, my books are available on Amazon. If you take a if you just do a search for for as a matter of fact, uh, after the uniform Jeff Rogers. My books will come up, uh, and you’ll be able to see all four of them, uh, whether it’s hard copy, uh, I’m sorry, hardcover, softcover or e-book. In the case of, uh, after the uniform. Also, uh, I’m also on LinkedIn as well. So, uh, Jeff G. Rogers on LinkedIn and, uh, and that once you get to my website, you’ll have all the information that you need to if you want to contact me, I’m happy to talk with folks. I’m happy to, to do, uh, speeches. I’m happy to do keynotes. Um, yeah. Well, whatever folks need to, to help veterans get through the transition I’m here for.

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

Jeff Rogers: Please. Thanks a lot. I appreciate your time.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Veterans Business Radio.

 

Connecting Skills to Careers: How NAWDP Empowers Job Seekers and Employers Alike

November 16, 2025 by angishields

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Connecting Skills to Careers: How NAWDP Empowers Job Seekers and Employers Alike
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In this episode of Association Leadership Radio, Lee Kantor interviews Alexis Franks, Director of Membership at the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP). Alexis discusses NAWDP’s mission to connect workforce professionals, bridge the gap between job seekers and employers, and develop talent pipelines through partnerships with businesses, schools, and vocational programs. She highlights innovative youth apprenticeship initiatives, the importance of employer engagement, and the need to raise awareness about workforce development services available nationwide.

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Alexis-FranksAlexis Franks, Director of Membership with National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP), has over a decade of experience in workforce development. Alexis has designed and implemented innovative programs for both youth and adult populations.

She has also played a key role in growing dynamic Business Services programs and strengthening connections between employers and the workforce. In her role at NAWDP, Alexis supports the needs of workforce professionals nationwide, enhancing membership engagement and ensuring that the organization continues to meet the evolving demands of the field.

She has also honed skills in managing membership programs, fostering collaboration, and driving organizational growth. Alexis is a Certified Workforce Development Professional (CWDP) with areas of expertise including managing programmatic performance, motivating teams to achieve impactful results, and empowering communities through workforce initiatives.

Connect with Alexis on LinkedIn.

Episode Highlights

  • Mission and objectives of the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP)
  • Role of workforce development professionals in connecting job seekers with employers
  • Partnerships with employers, vocational organizations, and educational institutions
  • Development of training programs and career pathways for youth and adults
  • Importance of understanding employer needs and building talent pipelines
  • Examples of successful workforce development initiatives and programs
  • Engagement strategies for employers of various sizes in workforce development
  • Support services offered to individuals seeking employment and skill development
  • The significance of raising awareness about available workforce programs
  • Collaboration with state and regional associations to share best practices and resources

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

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

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here another episode of Association Leadership Radio. And this is going to be a good one. Today on the show, we have Director of Membership with the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals, Alexis Franks. Welcome.

Alexis Franks: Hi. Thank you for having me.

Lee Kantor: Well, I’m so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about your mission.

Alexis Franks: All right. So again, yes, my name is Alexis Franks. I’m with the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals. We call our association NAWDP for short. So you’ll hear me reference it as not up throughout our conversation today. And really what we do as an association is connect workforce development professionals. And what that means is we support the people and organizations that help individuals in their local communities gain skills and find employment to advance their careers. So whether they’re just starting off as youth or adults, that may be changing career fields or learning new skills, we support and workforce development programs support that learning and then connecting to employers after those skills have been gained.

Lee Kantor: So how do you work with employers, like how does that relationship go?

Alexis Franks: Awesome. That’s a great question. So many of our members include what we consider frontline career or workforce development specialists. On one side that work with individuals seeking careers. On the other side, we do have what we call business and industry services, and teams of individuals that connect with employers on a day to day basis to really understand what their needs are, where they looking to create a talent pipeline, whether that’s with human resources departments, with CEOs, with directors of any type of industry. We really try to seek to connect those individuals that have the skills and the employers that need the skills. So our business services teams of those programs that we support connect with employers on a day to day basis to really understand how we can support their growth.

Lee Kantor: So you’re kind of a bridge between the employees and the employers.

Alexis Franks: Absolutely. That’s a great way of putting it. We definitely try to bridge that gap and make sure that employers really have access to qualified workforce and talent.

Lee Kantor: So now how would this work? Kind of in a real life example. So like say there’s a manufacturer in a community and they’re like, you know what we need? You know, 100 more people with this specific skill. Do they let you know? And then maybe you work with some of the vocational organizations or some of the schools to say, hey, we need some people here. Why don’t we put together a curriculum that’s going to help, you know, fill that gap?

Alexis Franks: Well, that is a great example of some of the work that we try to support. Uh, many of our members operate in workforce programs in their local communities. So they’re really the front line and first point of contact for any employer that is looking for talent. Where we come in is we provide support through federal or state or local programing that offers those career services. So, um, many of the members that we have do operate this work in their communities, but they receive training for from us on how to operate those programs. So how are we really working with an individual to develop what their career pathway looks like? How do we assess what their need is, even if it’s not even just including workforce, there may be some other supports or services that they need. How do we prepare that individual to put them in front of an employer? Um, and then on the back end, how do we actually engage with employers to understand what their need is locally? But our members are doing this work on a day to day basis. We support how the program operates, um, and understanding how to meet those federal requirements or state and local requirements that come along with implementing a workforce program.

Lee Kantor: So now, in your role, uh, in membership, um, what is kind of a day in the life look like for you?

Alexis Franks: So that can be very busy from day to day. It really depends on where we are in our stream of program services. So we operate, um, three national conferences or our signature events each year. Um, we’re actually getting prepared to go to our youth symposium, that is a conference that we host each year that focuses on individuals that provide career services to the age range, typically between 16 and 24 year olds. So we know with that working with youth that may present a number of different challenges and barriers. Um, so we work with those professionals that provide services to youth to make sure that they understand how to approach a youth that may need some trauma informed care, um, that may need some mental health first aid services. And how do we provide those, even though our focus is getting an individual skills to become employed. How do we make sure that all of those things are offered? Those services are offered so that we can help an individual to be successful. Um, so in any day of the week, we are always preparing for our conferences. We have another a number of other virtual social sessions that we provide, um, as well, that typically just connect individuals to share best practices across the country. So those are some of the things that we look at as far as our programs on a day to day basis. And then our other membership benefits really happen authentically and organically on our online community as well. So we always have a number of different conversations of how are you providing this service to these individuals? Uh, and I like to see myself as that connector of resources. Um, we also offer our Certified Workforce Development Professional certificate. So at any time during the week, we’re also fielding questions and answering different, um, inquiries on how you can become a certified professional in this type of work as well. So again, very busy, but in a great way. Of course.

Lee Kantor: Now, you mentioned youth being one of the constituents that you’re serving it when you’re preparing, like I think you said, 16 to 20 4 or 26 somewhere in the, I guess, high school and a little older range. Are you, uh, helping them kind of find a path for themselves? And that might be college. It might be vocational. It might be maybe apprentice. Like, are there different kind of paths for that young person to go in, uh, based on what’s the best fit for themselves?

Alexis Franks: Yes, absolutely. And workforce programs try to seek to find what works best for each individual. So you typically come in to or receive services that start out with an assessment. Where are they now? What do they enjoy about school? Maybe some individuals enjoy math or history instead of science. And so, um, so we try to look at each individual based on what they feel their strengths are, and then try to seek to match skills that they already enjoy with what may be a career option. Um, many workforce programs already offer career exploration opportunities, so that may look like paid or unpaid internships or job shadowing. And as you mentioned, apprenticeship programs or pre-apprenticeship programs as well. Those are all opportunities that youth may need. Um, just to understand what career options are really out there for them. Uh, some youth may not be ready or prepared to enter a college or university and commit to four years worth of learning. So we try to make sure that we’re there exposed to all of the options. Maybe there’s a certificate program that can really open up their eyes to a career pathway. Um, so sometimes it takes having the conversation with that student or that youth to say, here’s what your options are. How can we choose what best works for you? And our conferences really focus around workshops and best practices on how you’re having those conversations, and really introducing youth to all of the options that may be presented to them.

Lee Kantor: Now, is your organization, um, kind of national, or do you have chapters in local markets or regional markets like, like how do you do like where are your boots on the ground?

Alexis Franks: So yes, we do. We do operate nationally, although our, um, home office and our headquarters is based out of Missouri. Uh, we have members from across the country and ten, uh, outside U.S. territories and other countries as well. So we do try to operate and pull in as many best practices from other workforce professionals across the country. Um, we do not offer currently chapters, but what we do is partner with state and regional associations in different parts of the country, um, that also offer these boots on the ground, um, outreach and programs to connect with individuals in their areas. Uh, so we have a number of partners that are, uh, all spread out, uh, really honestly, um, and associations of workforce boards, um, and other workforce development professionals, and we all stay connected. We are a very tight knit group of workforce professionals in general, but we want to share best practices as much as we can to make sure that individuals are really building for themselves a career pathway that works for them.

Lee Kantor: So would that work? Like if somebody in a state or a city is doing something that, uh, starts getting traction or they get good results, then that kind of program is, is then bubbled up to somebody in leadership, and then you try to kind of make other areas aware of how it’s working. So everybody can kind of quickly, uh, adjust and adapt based on kind of the new learning.

Alexis Franks: Yes, absolutely, absolutely. And there are some best practices that we find are shared successes, that we find that we definitely want to encourage other programs and communities to make scalable or to make work for them. One thing that we found with all workforce programs is they may look a little bit different, but at the foundation, our goal is to make sure that individuals can become employed and self-sufficient. So we try to seek new and innovative ways of offering those services all the time. Um, uh, and typically those best practices are not hard to implement. We just have to make sure that they’re done in a way that works locally, that meets the state or local community’s workforce needs. Um, but there’s so many things that are happening. It’s it’s almost like that, uh, quote that there’s really nothing new under the sun, but it’s really how we can implement those things in a way that works for the people that we serve every single day.

Lee Kantor: Now, is there a program or initiative that you’ve seen work that you were like, wow, this thing is really impactful, and you were able to kind of roll it out into to make a bigger impact. Is there something that you remember that you know, kind of stands out in your mind like, hey, we made this happen, and look at how many more people were able to help.

Alexis Franks: Absolutely, absolutely. And there’s so many different examples that come to mind. Uh, we recently had the opportunity to connect with, some programs in the Midwest and out West in Wisconsin, with a couple of groups out of Colorado. And what they’re really seeking to do is connect youth to a different type of learning that is almost an apprenticeship or pre-apprenticeship style of learning, but they’re really presented with an employer problem. Um, how can they increase their capacity for an employer to create or build new revenue? And a group of youth may be able to come together and they’re led by an adult, um, kind of coordinator of that work. Um, but they will seek to almost in a project based, project based learning, address that employer’s problem and provide solutions. So this isn’t necessarily your typical type of internship or pre-apprenticeship program, but what it does is allow youth the creativity to come together to solve an employer’s problem. And this is done. So providing a youth with incentives. So if he is a paid experience, but they’re actually operating as a junior board of directors on how they are addressing an employer’s problem so that that employer can continue to grow and sustain locally. Um, that type of model for us is really seen as a way of allowing youth not to just participate in a work based learning, but to really be creative in how they show their skills and what they’ve applied. Uh, from learning in, in the classroom for an employer. Um, so we’ve been able to see those examples really get their start, uh, and now working to see how other states can implement that type of learning for youth in their K-12 systems or even in their community college systems as well.

Lee Kantor: So what do you need more of? How can we help? Do you need more employers to kind of raise their hand and say, hey, we’d love to partner with you, or do you need more people in these local areas to, um, get more young people involved? Like what? What do you need more of? How can we help you?

Alexis Franks: So, uh, we would love actually the engagement of employers across the community. Now more than ever, as technology shifts and labor market needs shift, employers want need to be at the forefront of the conversation of what happens in workforce development programs. So we want to engage associations and other employers, large corporations, small businesses, all that have a need for developing a workforce talent pipeline to really engage with us to say, how can we help support you and your business needs? Um, we also need just the support of making sure that the word spreads about these programs. Um, and within our industry workforce is known as a well kept secret. And we don’t want it to be that way anymore. We want to spread the wealth and spread the word that we are here. And our workforce. Programs provide services, uh, that offer career readiness for any individual at all times. And many times, those services come to an individual and an employer at no cost. So we really want to make sure that we spread the word about workforce and what it means in our communities. Why it matters and really get individuals engaged. Um, the best way to do that. Uh, all across the nation, there are either what is called a one stop or career center in local communities. If there’s not one near you, we suggest that you look up the closest one and really and start start to engage with those one stops. America’s job centers or your local workforce development boards. That is the best way to support us as a national organization. We really want you to connect locally so we can share the wealth and build an even larger community of work ready talent.

Lee Kantor: And like you said, this is one of those things where there’s no risk or of any kind to just reach out and have a conversation. Like it may not work out, but there’s no reason to not at least know each other and see if there’s way explore ways to work together, because the upside is so big and the downside so minimal.

Alexis Franks: Absolutely, absolutely. And we try to provide them the best success that we know how. And really having just starting with a conversation, what are your needs? How can we help to support you whether you’re an individual or an organization or employer? We workforce programs are here to support in every way possible. And that conversation. You’re right. It can never hurt. And it helps to build the network, right? We want to continue to grow. Um, so we want to be a part of that network of support.

Lee Kantor: And that’s employers of any size, right? Like, you don’t care if there’s five employees or 500, right?

Alexis Franks: Absolutely, absolutely.

Lee Kantor: And then you work with business associations as well in local markets.

Alexis Franks: Yes, yes we do. And that is one of the areas that our we offer an annual business services academy. Um, so that is really where we try to engage with those business teams that are connecting with employer and industry on a day to day basis. A lot of our members do also include economic development or collaboratives and associations of industry partners. Uh, so we want to continue to grow our engagement there as well, for those employers to be able to understand how workforce programs can support them as well. So definitely engaging if you can’t with us, with your local business services teams through your workforce development boards. Um, and we’ll scale that up to see how we can get involved and support.

Lee Kantor: So that includes, like you said, economic development or chambers of commerce.

Alexis Franks: Absolutely, yes.

Lee Kantor: Well, Alexis, amazing work. You must be so. It must be so rewarding the impact you’re making in communities all over the places. It must be just really, you must sleep good at night.

Alexis Franks: Well, I sleep well, but I know that there’s still a lot of work to be done. Um, we’re we’re connecting in so many different areas, but we still have a number of individuals that are still seeking opportunities in areas to grow in their careers. So we know, yes, there’s great work happening, but we want to continue that that work and really help to see it grow. Um, so anything that we can do to support local employers or programs, and how you all can connect with us is really through our website at Newport. But we offer a lot of services and benefits just to be able to make sure that individuals and employers can grow. Um, so yes, definitely, we want to see that continue to happen.

Lee Kantor: And that’s north.

Alexis Franks: Yes, that is correct.

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

Alexis Franks: All right. Thank you so much for having me. We appreciate being a part of the show and really look forward to continuing to grow. Thank you.

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

 

BRX Pro Tip: 3 Common Goals of a B2B Podcast

November 14, 2025 by angishields

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BRX Pro Tip: 3 Common Goals of a B2B Podcast

Stone Payton: And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, in your experience, what are some common goals or what are some common goals that we should have when it comes to setting up and executing a B2B podcast?

Lee Kantor: Well, I think in a B2B podcast, most people go in thinking of one, two, or all three of these things, but one of them is more important to me than the others. But number one is brand awareness, number two is thought leadership, and number three is lead generation. Those are typically the reason somebody wants to do a B2B podcast. You know, they either want to increase their brand awareness, they want to create some thought leadership content, or they want to generate leads.

Lee Kantor: If you care primarily about brand awareness or getting your thought leadership out there, that strategy is totally different than that of a B2B podcast that’s trying to generate leads or revenue. If you’re aiming at brand awareness, then you have to have a super long time frame and lower expectations about generating much revenue from your efforts, and especially the timing on doing that. Lead generation, on the other hand, can start paying off for you much, much quicker if you’re focused in on that as your objective or your goal.

Lee Kantor: So, if you’re interested in a B2B podcast that generates leads and revenue, then you definitely have to check out Business RadioX. We’ve been fixing broken B2B podcasts for almost two decades now, and our focus is on lead generation, generating an ROI, focusing in on the people that matter most to you, and getting you in front of more of them to build relationships, nurture relationships, and grow.

BRX Pro Tip: How Do You Bring People Into Your Community?

November 13, 2025 by angishields

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BRX Pro Tip: How Do You Bring People Into Your Community?

Stone Payton: And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, today’s topic, how do you bring people into your community?

Lee Kantor: Yeah. We’ve talked a lot lately about being a niche, and I think having a community is another way to talk about your niche. So, if you have a community that you’re serving and you have a free way to bring more and more people into that community to raise their hand to say, “Hey, I’m interested in this. I’d like to learn more about that,” how and what do you do to begin a relationship with somebody new?

Lee Kantor: If you’re not thinking about ways to bring new people in to discover and engage with you, it’s going to be difficult to grow your community. So, the ideal way would be if your current clients or current members of the community tell others about you. So, if that’s the case, do you have a mechanism in place for them to do that? If you don’t, start thinking about it.

Lee Kantor: Now, that’s one way to grow and probably the best way is organically grow with your current users. Another way is to start evangelizing and doing some work to get into adjacent communities and to see if you can pull some of those people into your community. So, these are all things that require you to start thinking about creative ways to help get the word out so that you can bring more people into your community.

Lee Kantor: The easiest and the most efficient way and the best way over time, I think, is to start out with your existing clients and your existing members. What can you be doing to help them help you get the word out and bring more people into your community?

Success is Not Built in a Day

November 13, 2025 by angishields

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Empowering Educators: The Curtin Team’s Roswell Home Refresh Initiative

November 12, 2025 by angishields

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In this episode of Cherokee Business Radio, host Joshua Kornitsky welcomes Tom and Joanne Curtin of The Curtin Team to spotlight their heart-driven charitable project, the Roswell Home Refresh. Through their nonprofit Curtin Team Cares, the Curtins mobilize local vendors, volunteers, and community partners to transform the home of a deserving Roswell educator each year. They share the origins of the project, emotional stories from past winners, the incredible support from their vendor network, and why giving back to teachers and local families remains at the core of their mission. This uplifting conversation highlights the power of community, generosity, and purpose-driven business leadership.

Brought to you by Diesel David and Main Street Warriors

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Tom-Joanne-CurtinTom Curtin co-founded the Curtin Team in 2001, helping grow it into a top-producing group with over 2,000 home sales in sales.

A real estate investor and mentor, he’s passionate about financial freedom and work-life balance.

Tom lives in Milton with his wife Joanne and their two children.

Joanne Curtin, founder of the Curtin Team, has led the business to over 2,000 home sales since 2001.

She’s also President of Curtin Team Cares, the nonprofit she co-founded in 2018 to serve the local community.

Joanne lives in Milton with her husband Tom and their two children.

Follow The Curtin Team on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

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

Joshua Kornitsky: Welcome back to Cherokee Business Radio. I’m your host, professional EOS implementer Joshua Kornitsky. And I’ve got really an incredible story to tell. Although I’ve got a little bit of a frog in my throat today. I have Tom and Joanne Curtin back with me from The Curtin Team, and we’re going to get to them in just a minute because their big project is coming up. But first, I want to make sure that we thank the Business RadioX Community Partner Program, the Business RadioX Main Street Warriors Defending Capitalism, promoting small business, and supporting our local community. For more information, please go to Mainstreet Street Warriors. And a special note of thanks to our title sponsor for the Cherokee chapter of Main Street Warriors. Diesel, David ink. Please go check them out at diesel. David comm. So as I said, my guest today are Tom and Joanne Curtin. Tom is the CEO of The Curtin Team. Joanne is the founder of The Curtin Team, but also president and co-founder of Curtin Team Cares. It’s a charitable organization behind their Community Impact programs. Under their leadership, the Curtin Team has become one of Metro Atlanta’s most respected real estate teams, known for their focus on education, leadership and community connection. Today, they’re joining us to share more about their Roswell Home Refresh Program, an initiative that brings local educators renewed comfort and appreciation through the hands of on home transformation. Led by local partners, vendors and volunteers. Tom, Joanne, welcome. I’m so happy to have you guys here today.

Joanne Curtin: Thank you Joshua. We are thrilled.

Joshua Kornitsky: It’s it’s, um. It’s always exciting when we get to talk about how we can help others. And with what you’re doing through kirtan team cares and the Roswell home refresh program. Um, will you tell us about it? Because I get very excited and I want to make sure we we explain what it is before we start talking about it.

Joanne Curtin: Yeah. Well, the Roswell Home Refresh is, um, it it is a project you mentioned program, but really it’s a project and it’s a different project every year. Um, it was created through Curtin Team Cares, our 501 three organization that we founded. What year?

Tom Curtin: Uh, 2018.

Joanne Curtin: 2018. And, um, you know, we we were looking for real focus for our nonprofit. And, um, I’m a teacher, um, in, you know, I taught for five years, early childhood ed, before I got into real estate. And my heart really just is with teachers. I mean, that’s just kind of what I love to do is support. I mean, there’s no harder job in the world. Okay. That’s for sure. In fact, it is the, like the birthplace of sales. If you can get kids.

Joshua Kornitsky: You’re you’re.

Joanne Curtin: 100% right. If you can get kids to learn, you’re a salesperson, and it starts in the classroom. So I have a big heart for teachers. I was a teacher, and, um, we decided, you know what? Let’s, you know, our board met and we did a lot of, um, outreach in the community, but we decided, you know what? Let’s focus our efforts on the Roswell Area School District staff and teachers, and let’s, um, take nominations for a teacher or staff member that’s had a hard year. Um, we, uh. So this is this will be our second year of our project, our second.

Tom Curtin: And, um, so we learned a lot last year just starting it for the first time. But what I was going to add is these stories, you know, we take nominations and we have to decide who is going to be the winner. Um, and there’s a lot of tough stories, you know, when you read it, you just you feel for them. And, um, this year’s winner we’re really excited about. But, um, the project varies based on what they need. So, um, you know, Joanna literally go to the house and kind of, hey, what’s your wish list and find out what they want? And then we’re able to leverage our vendor network. You know, of all the folks that we lean into throughout the year through current team, through our real estate business. Right. And, you know, we’ve got great painters and.

Joanne Curtin: And everything is everything is donated. I mean, they’re they’re the labor materials, everything. Um, the project is completely donations. Yeah.

Tom Curtin: So so they donate, you know, we’re very fortunate to be able to lean into them for for donations, for labor and materials and all that. And then this year, for example, our winter is getting a lot of furniture, right? So we’re able to purchase that furniture through the donations that we raise through current team cares. And um, yeah, those kind of efforts.

Joanne Curtin: So yeah, it’s great. I mean, um, it is it is just so exciting to have, you know, the community involved. And it’s our second year. So it is it is slowly catching on. Right. Um, and it’s going to get bigger and bigger. I already feel it because when we go to the schools, you know, now the the receptionist pulls out her phone, she, you know, she sees the flowers, right? And she’s like, oh my gosh, you know, here we go.

Joshua Kornitsky: So as you’ve as you’ve grown now year two with the program and and you’re taking those nominations, which to be clear, the nominations are closed for this year but won’t, you know, won’t be too long before right around.

Joanne Curtin: And we end them August 1st. You know, we let them go all summer long. So we let the principals know in the schools that we’re going to take nominations all summer long. So it’s a real kind of relaxed summer. People just nominate anonymously or or with a name, but they can choose, um, all summer and then August 1st it’s over, and then we meet as a board and we choose the winner and then game on until Thanksgiving.

Joshua Kornitsky: And I think it speaks a lot of the curtain team that you’ve got all of your vendors and suppliers that are helping you, that that that kind of thing doesn’t come without trust and without knowing that you’re a good partner to them, right? For them to be able to volunteer and to donate their time. So throughout the years, is this now something you’re talking up with your vendors and your suppliers so that they’re aware of it?

Joanne Curtin: I mean.

Tom Curtin: Yeah, I mean, it’s it’s um, I mean, they they know we’re going to ask now, but, um.

Joanne Curtin: Yeah, but I mean, you would think, oh, you know, we can ask a lot there. They don’t want to not do it.

Joshua Kornitsky: Like, that’s.

Joanne Curtin: Awesome. I mean, so it’s like, wow, my painters like, if I can call it he calls it a blessing. If I can do the blessing this year. And I’m like, of course you can.

Joshua Kornitsky: How do you say no to that?

Joanne Curtin: I know, so they it’s like, I don’t know, we don’t have to shop vendors. Nobody is saying no. And I can’t do it this year or or really anything.

Tom Curtin: So and it you know, we don’t know until we know what the project’s going to be. Um, but for the most part.

Joanne Curtin: I mean, last year.

Tom Curtin: Paintings usually always involved.

Joshua Kornitsky: Painting and probably.

Tom Curtin: Walls.

Joanne Curtin: Yeah, right. Last year we had some, um, we had, uh, concrete work, and it was freezing. And these guys, I mean, I got a video of the dust flying. They’re all just decked out in their, you know, winter coats. And it was grueling work, and we just were. We couldn’t believe it. So.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah, speaking only as a homeowner, I didn’t realize that concrete was an art until I needed some. And it turns out it is quite an art.

Joanne Curtin: It was crazy. Yeah, yeah. And they did it with a smile, of all things.

Joshua Kornitsky: When? When you’re doing things like this that are that are giving of yourself to help others. So let’s talk about last year’s situation or last year’s winner. Pardon me. Um, tell us a little bit about how did that land, how did it go over. Because this is the first person.

Joanne Curtin: So yeah.

Tom Curtin: Well I think kind of backing up, I what Joanne mentioned with it growing, I do think that because it was the first year I think people were like, is this real? What is this. Right. Where’s the catch? So I we didn’t have as many, um, nominations because I think people just thought, I don’t, you know, I don’t want to give these people my name. Right.

Joshua Kornitsky: This is just another way to get my name.

Tom Curtin: Yeah. So I think we had to, you know, some people knew us because we do other things through the school, but, um, you know, in a broad sense, they didn’t. So I think we had to build some trust. Um, but last year’s was, um, a pretty big variety. I mean, there’s painting, landscaping.

Joanne Curtin: And again, every winter. So last year’s winter. Um, something that was important to her was her home office. She’d had, um, some challenges, um, in her family. And, um, and she really wanted to commemorate, um, a past child. And it was just really a deep story. And we just were delicate about it. And, um, and then when you walk into the home, you know, you ask them what, you know, wave a magic wand. What’s something that would really mean something? And to her, it was kind of to have a respite of, of that room where she could just go and, and it could just be a room for her. So we created that. We transformed a bedroom into a home office with memories, um, all around the photos, all around the room. And it was it was delicate because there’s siblings involved and, um, you know, a lot of people came out in the community that knew her and wanted to help, and it was just so touching. Really, really was.

Joshua Kornitsky: So I think people love to help and people love to help others who, whether it’s through loss or other means, and we want to respect their privacy. But in order to help fill the the hole in ourselves, we help but to also help others who have endured things. It’s healing for everybody.

Joanne Curtin: Right. And we had, you know, we had nominations that we couldn’t choose. We had a winner, right? That we all chose. Um, but then we had a couple of, um, runners up that we couldn’t choose. So, um, you know, we we do something for them as well. I’ll just leave it at that. We definitely bless them in another way. And that feels good too.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, and I know this, and I’m not, um, shy about saying it. Pardon me again with my squeaky voice. Uh, as a the reason I got to know you both is, is that I’m a two time customer. But I say this from a from a human interest perspective. Um, you do a lot in the community, and I know that because I receive regular communication as a former customer that this is going on. I got a thing that there is some PiS coming around.

Tom Curtin: Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: Um, but you guys do movie nights. You do all sorts of things.

Joanne Curtin: We we did wino bingo. Joshua, where were you? Probably here.

Joshua Kornitsky: Um, but you guys have created your own community, and I think that that speaks volumes about the integrity of your business, because people that I know that I’ve recommended, that I’ve suggested the curtain team. It’s integrity. First it’s community spirit. Now it’s charitable giving. Not that it wasn’t before because Curtain Team Cares already existed. Correct. So it wasn’t that you weren’t doing other charitable things. This one’s just a little bit more public.

Joanne Curtin: It is. And it was just such a perfect project for our team because, I mean, you know, any Tuesday we can refresh a home. We do that for a living, right? And to do this, I mean, it’s such a large project for the winter. And to us, it’s it’s just something we take for granted. So we’re like, wow, you know, this is just perfect for us to get behind. And we should just, you know, um, just keep putting gas on it every year, see what we can do.

Joshua Kornitsky: And we want to make sure that we draw the attention to it. We’ll get we’ll get you on earlier before the nomination process next time, so that we can make sure to get the word out about that. Um, you know, we are all somewhat, uh, I don’t want to say numb, but we’re biased because we see renovation programs on television that let’s just go ahead and say are not realistic.

Joanne Curtin: It’s almost impossible to create what they’re what they’re.

Joshua Kornitsky: I have in my personal life, known people that have been, uh, not on shows but have been in the running to be on shows. And let’s just say there’s a lot of smoke and mirrors and leave it at that. Um, we won’t speak ill of them, but how long does it take once you have your winner and things get moving?

Joanne Curtin: That’s a great question.

Tom Curtin: Yeah. So we we do have to spread some of it out. So, you know, I guess originally we kind of thought could we do it all in one day? And the answer was no. Um, it does depend on the house. Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: So like the.

Tom Curtin: Pro in this case, the paint’s already been done. You know, we bring the painter in ahead of time, so we. Yeah, we.

Joanne Curtin: We reach out to the vendors that we know we need these things fixed. We get them to, you know, let us know that that’s a possibility. Absolutely. But then I think what’s so great is the vendors can say, you know what? When it’s an ice storm or when it’s rained out, we can come over there with our guys, like, can, can we do that on, you know, this weekend or on a Friday. And so it’s really just whenever it’s good for them and we clear it with the homeowner and um, it just and and they’re so thankful they’re like absolutely. They can come over here. And so we’re we’re actually working on it for a good month prior to the day. But then the day happens and we get we get full like, you know, permission to bring our team and our board in.

Tom Curtin: Um, and the volunteers.

Joanne Curtin: And volunteers, of course, um, to come in and just put stuff together and do the install is what we say, you know, with all the fun stuff that we’ve.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, so, so let’s talk about volunteers because there is still time for volunteers.

Joanne Curtin: There is totally time. We have blinds and we.

Tom Curtin: Have a.

Joanne Curtin: Lot of nature. We have it’s from.

Tom Curtin: Ikea, which is making me.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sweat.

Tom Curtin: Look at those boxes.

Joanne Curtin: Let me tell you, some Ikea shelves are about as good as I mean, that is like gold. I love those.

Tom Curtin: Um.

Joanne Curtin: Ikea shelves.

Tom Curtin: So yeah, we have that whole day and we’ll I mean, that’s the fun. I mean, I don’t know that furniture putting together is fun.

Joanne Curtin: The install of the furniture.

Tom Curtin: You know, once you get to see the finished product, like, well.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s the payoff that they keeps everybody tuned in to those silly shows, right? It’s because everybody wants to see the after.

Tom Curtin: Yeah. That’s right. Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: So yeah, I love the fact that you guys are realistic about it because it it always struck me as kind of crazy how they could paint the house and put the furniture in on the same day, right? I mean, I guess you could.

Tom Curtin: Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: You must not care a lot about the floors, right?

Joanne Curtin: Yeah. No. We’re humans. I mean, we’re we’re getting there. We’re getting there in the morning. We’re going to have lunch there. I mean, it’s a great obviously team building exercise.

Tom Curtin: And we do it the Friday before Thanksgiving on purpose so that the homeowner, the winner can have, you know, everything’s done for the holidays, right. For for Thanksgiving and, um, you know, going into the holidays. So. Yeah. Um, so that’s the day that we’ve chosen.

Joanne Curtin: Yeah. And everyone’s in a giving spirit. It just makes sense, you know, it’s the perfect time to plant flowers. We usually put some flowers up by the front door. Um, there’s holiday decorations involved. We. You know, I don’t want to. Is she going to hear this after the fact? I don’t want to give away the funny thing that we’re doing in there.

Joshua Kornitsky: Then let’s.

Joanne Curtin: Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: Leave it secret. You can share it next time. Yeah.

Joanne Curtin: Um, so we have a little surprise.

Joshua Kornitsky: And I know from other conversations that we’ve had that you’ve got a really strong culture inside of the curtain team itself. So are your folks excited to get involved? Oh.

Joanne Curtin: Yeah. I mean, they’re like, who’s the winner? Like, you know, who’s the winner? What can we do? And they’re just, um. Yeah, they block out the day and they they’re just. Yeah. They’re coming. Ready to be filled. Filled. Fill their cup.

Tom Curtin: Yeah, it’s it’s something that we can all kind of get behind. And the way that we part of the way that we fund curtain team cares is every home that we sell, we donate a portion into curtain team care. So just kind of throughout the year.

Joanne Curtin: There’s a kitty. I mean, there’s a kitty we’re drawing from. Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: Good to know though, because that’s not something that it even occurred to me how to how that comes about. Because lumber is not free no matter who’s donating.

Joanne Curtin: Right, right. Yeah. And and, you know, um, when we do sell homes, we have letters that go out and reminds them a portion of this went to our home refresh. This is what, um, you know, our nonprofit is supporting and just gives that homeowner a feel good of, like, what we donated on their behalf for that sale. They forget or maybe don’t even know.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, 100% they forget, because if it’s not in front of us, that’s just human nature. But I think that it’s the fact that it’s a portion of every home you’re dealing with says a lot about the integrity of the organization, and it’s about the consistency of keeping that kitty full, because we all know that it all goes up and down when it comes to availability and vendors and supplies and all of that. Um, so you guys are are really forward thinking that way. Do you and I ask this cautiously, we don’t want to give anything away. Do you have other plans for curtain teams care. Curtain team cares. Pardon me with with other things that you are okay talking about.

Tom Curtin: Yeah. Well, we.

Joanne Curtin: Actually do quite a bit.

Tom Curtin: Yeah. There’s some partners in the community that we partner with and we donate to regularly. Um, Children’s Development Academy is one of them.

Joanne Curtin: Cda.

Tom Curtin: School in Roswell.

Joanne Curtin: And they serve under um, uh. What is their mission? It’s under under low income families. Okay. Yeah, it’s a low income family. Support for early childhood ed. Yeah. And again, that was in line with.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sounds like it’s your passion.

Joanne Curtin: Yeah, it was in line with what we did, and we were just like, wow, this is fabulous. So we it’s all pre-K.

Tom Curtin: We also take kind of one offs. You know, I mean, there’s been just outreach. If something happens to an individual in the community that they need kind of an immediate support, then that’s what we’re there.

Joanne Curtin: Right. And we have a liaison on the board for every, um, elementary school, um, as well as, yeah, into some middle schools, too. Yeah.

Tom Curtin: One of the fun things we’ve been able to do is, um, a couple of the middle, uh, sorry, elementary schools where we are. Um, they don’t have enough funds to do a field trip. Um, like some, you know, some schools. The parents can donate.

Joanne Curtin: The school wide field trips, the school wide can get expensive.

Tom Curtin: Some of the kids, you know, their parents don’t have the money to to give to do the field trip. And we’ve been able to fund that so that all the kids can go and.

Joanne Curtin: And it’s a sleepover at the aquarium. That’s like, I remember when my daughter did a sleepover like it. And it’s all about, you know, your friends and just such a big deal.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, and and the reason that I.

Joanne Curtin: And that’s a fifth grade trip, by the way.

Joshua Kornitsky: Thank you for clarifying. Uh, the reason that I asked that is I want people to understand that this isn’t just in the real estate universe of giving, right? That this is just community care and community, uh, consciousness. And for that, you guys should really, really be saluted. Why? I so, uh, was so excited to have you back on to talk about this, because these are the kinds of things that people don’t ever see happen, right? And in most, giving is invisible. And it’s no one’s business who does what, where, to whom or how as far as giving goes. But this should. We need more corporate responsibility. We need more corporate giving. Um, because this is direct and directly touches the communities you serve and that we serve. So to me, I love the fact that that it’s starting and ending with education focus, but it’s also giving into the community to help elevate, uh, folks within. So I’m excited to see this year’s winner. When when will that be made public?

Joanne Curtin: Well, actually, we had um, we had oh, it’s going out in the magazine. Well, we’ve shared who the winner is.

Tom Curtin: Yeah. So we’ve we’ve announced the winner already.

Joanne Curtin: Um, her name is Tony Reeves, and she’s from Hembree Springs Elementary School. Okay. And it was so fun to share that with our team because one of our team members was like, oh my gosh, my kids went to Henry Springs. So, you know, there’s such a connection. So, um, it was a it was an anonymous nomination. And Tony is very just grateful. She’s like, I don’t need to hide anything. You just share my story. But, um, she’s a single mom, and, um, she recently purchased a house. And, you know, in our business, I mean, anyone that pulls the trigger to purchase a house in a climate that we’ve been through is just a hero already, right? Um. And we just were really proud of her for doing that. And, um, and she, after she purchased the house, she had some things that just never got done. And that’s what her kind of wish was, was. Oh, my gosh. Like, I just want to get my kids rooms painted. You know, I haven’t done that. And, um, you know, some other things with the kids. We we got to talk to them about some things that they were wanting. So it was just fabulous, but I forgot. What was your question?

Tom Curtin: Initially, the winner was.

Joshua Kornitsky: The winner about who the winner.

Joanne Curtin: Was. Yes. And so, you know, um, we surprised her with, um, a beautiful bouquet of flowers donated. Um, and she came to the front. They called her up. She thought she was in trouble. And that was the best video. Um, and, you know, it’s just it it involves the whole school, and we’re going to involve the whole school again. Um, for her, um, for her install day, they’re going to do a little something for her. So we’re excited, but, um, and then Roswell magazine, uh, Roswell Neighbor magazine does an article about it to let the community know. And Michelle Berry helps us put that put that out. And, yeah, it’s just awesome.

Joshua Kornitsky: Is there a website where people can kind of see some pictures or if they want to learn more?

Joanne Curtin: Um, well, I mean.

Tom Curtin: We.

Joanne Curtin: Put.

Tom Curtin: It on our social media.

Joanne Curtin: Yeah. Best thing is just our Instagram curtain team. Um, and then it’ll link up to Curtain Team care. So really it’s Instagram and Facebook. You know, curtain team care social is really where it’s all at. I mean, that’s that’s instant.

Joshua Kornitsky: Websites are kind of static.

Joanne Curtin: Well, you can go to our website to give money or sign up to volunteer.

Joshua Kornitsky: Please tell us what what that is.

Tom Curtin: Uh, curtain team cares or curtain comm.

Joshua Kornitsky: And it’s important to point out again. And I’m I’m a stickler on this one. It’s a 500 1C3. It’s a legitimate nonprofit. And not to intimate that others are not. But there’s a lot of confusion sometimes this is a charity and you are donating to a charity.

Joanne Curtin: Absolutely.

Joshua Kornitsky: It’s a charity that helps here in our community. And in this particular case, is fulfilling an educators wish list for what they had had wanted to get finished in their home.

Joanne Curtin: Um hum.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah. Um, I think it’s fantastic. And, and as we roll forward into the the season of giving. I think it’s important to note that we got to keep the kitty full. So if people want to continue to donate, if people want to give, yes, those those doors are open.

Joanne Curtin: Absolutely, absolutely. They they can give with those, um, with the sites that Tom shared. And when we do these events like, y’know, bingo. And we have, um, we have breakfast with Santa and photos with Santa coming up in December, um, there’s a QR code where they can donate on the spot, because actually we weren’t doing that last year, and the families were so grateful that their kids could come, you know, and tell their, you know, tell Santa what they want. And it’s later in the month to where they they actually have an idea. Sometimes it’s so early, but they’re so grateful and they’re like, oh, how can we, you know, how can we thank you? And we’re like, oh, well, this is how you can thank us. You know, if you’re asking, that’s definitely fantastic.

Joshua Kornitsky: So you better buy a house. I mean.

Joanne Curtin: That too.

Joshua Kornitsky: That was a big.

Tom Curtin: Thing that helps. Yeah.

Joanne Curtin: Yeah, yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, I, I can’t thank you guys enough for the work that you’re doing in the community. Is there anything else that we need to let anybody know about the program? Excuse me? The project?

Joanne Curtin: Yeah. Um.

Joshua Kornitsky: Gosh, I want to.

Joanne Curtin: I mean, think about, you know, you know, just think about next year, if, you know.

Tom Curtin: We’ll open up nominations, um, probably in the early spring next year.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. And we want to make sure that you’re following them on, on Instagram for both kirtan team and kirtan team cares. So that that way you’re able to see what’s going on and, you know, maybe stay abreast of what’s happening in your community in a couple of different directions.

Joanne Curtin: Yeah. And if if someone’s not getting our newsletter, I mean, we, we really I mean, and and follow us on Instagram. I mean, we just did a post about like what’s happening in the Roswell Alpharetta area over the holidays and over the giving times. I mean, how to give must ministries. I mean, there’s all kinds of ways people can give back, not just through kirtan team care. So we’re really rooted in the community.

Joshua Kornitsky: And I know you are. And I’ll tell you in a in an information age where we are all overloaded with entirely too much communication. I do read your emails. That’s how I knew about the pie.

Joanne Curtin: You know, I’m so glad to hear that because.

Tom Curtin: It’s.

Joanne Curtin: Hard. Listen, Joshua, I remember in the I mean, this will be our 25th year coming up. Um, next next year will be our 25th year. Wow. Everything’s going to have to have a 25 in it when we do something. But I remember asking people for their emails when we were first in the business and they were like, well, I’m not going to share my email. You know, nobody wanted to give their email.

Tom Curtin: So I don’t have one.

Joanne Curtin: I don’t have one. Or so now and then I’m wondering, do people really read it? So I’m glad to hear that we have something that you choose to read. Well, because so many people do.

Joshua Kornitsky: It comes down to is the fact that you’re you’re sharing useful information. And when you’re sharing useful information, when you’re showing the good you’re doing right. It’s it’s hard not to pay attention.

Joanne Curtin: Yeah. It’s a good email. Yeah. You want to open it?

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah. Because we all get plenty of emails that we don’t want to read, right? Um, so that that always makes me happy to see. So I’m glad that you guys are maintaining the communication. Keep it open, keep it flowing. Um, and thank you for what you’re doing for our community, because I think that it deserves the thanks. We really appreciate it.

Joanne Curtin: Thank you.

Joshua Kornitsky: So for anyone who wants to learn more about the Roswell Home refresh or the curtain team cares, the best way to do that is to go to their Instagram or their website. Um, we will have those published when we publish the interview on Spotify and Apple and the other podcast platforms. My guest today has been Tom Curtin, CEO of Curtin Team. Joanne Curtin, the founder of the Curtin team and president and co-founder of Curtin Team Cares, the charitable organization behind the community impact programs that they do. Under their leadership, the Curtin team has become one of Metro Atlanta’s most respected real estate teams, known for their focus on education, leadership and community connection. I can’t thank you guys enough for coming in and giving us some more of your time. I know how short it must be these days.

Tom Curtin: Thank you.

Joanne Curtin: It’s awesome.

Joshua Kornitsky: It’s. It’s always.

Joanne Curtin: A.

Joshua Kornitsky: Pleasure. And I expect to see you in the spring when the nominations open.

Joanne Curtin: Oh, that’ll be great.

Joshua Kornitsky: Absolutely.

Joanne Curtin: Great.

Joshua Kornitsky: And I just want to remind everybody that today’s episode is brought to you, in part by the Community Partner program, the Business RadioX Main Street Warriors defending capitalism, promoting small business and supporting our local community. For more information, please go to Mainstreet Warriors. And a special note of thanks to our title sponsor of the Cherokee chapter of Main Street Warriors. Diesel. David. Ink. Please go check them out at diesel. David. Comm. My name is Joshua Kornitsky. I am a professional implementer of the entrepreneurial operating system and this has been Cherokee Business Radio. Thank you for listening.

 

BRX Pro Tip: 3 Tips to Keep Your Sales Team Motivated

November 12, 2025 by angishields

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BRX Pro Tip: 3 Tips to Keep Your Sales Team Motivated

Stone Payton: Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, the sales team, if you have one, is often the lifeblood of your business. It’s important that they stay focused, motivated. But how do you keep your sales team motivated?

Lee Kantor: Yeah. It’s really hard and it’s super important. And this goes beyond really sales people, but it’s everybody, but sales people are so hard to motivate as it is. But you should really think about these things when you’re dealing with all your team members.

Lee Kantor: But one of the things that I would recommend is review successful deals and really kind of get into the weeds about how a deal went down and what had happened and share that information with the team. This type of granular analysis is like a football player, a football coach looking at film. You want to understand what worked and what didn’t, and you want to be able to take what worked and do it again.

Lee Kantor: So, the more that you review what a successful deal looked like and how it happened and what was the groundwork that was laid so that it was able to move and how it got past the hurdle, if everybody understands how that occurred, everybody can learn and use those same techniques in their own deals. So, this also helps boost the confidence of the person who did the deal and it helps the whole team member grow and learn. This is especially useful when people get frustrated because there are so many hurdles in a deal. So, if you have a documented way of how somebody overcame them, everybody can learn from that.

Lee Kantor: Another thing to do to keep a sales person or any team member motivated is include some coaching, some type of coaching. It doesn’t have to be necessarily you pay an outside coach, but somebody on the team that is mentoring and coaching. That’s so important to have somebody there that’s going to be kind of non-judgmental but will hold someone accountable, will support them when the confidence is wavering, they’re cheering you on when you need to be cheered on, and they’re celebrating your victory when you have victories. So, having a coach of some kind and implementing some type of coaching is super useful for anybody to help keep them motivated.

Lee Kantor: And number three is, when you’re choosing salespeople, avoid negative people. I mean, you don’t need to be around chronic complainers who are always whining and negative all the time. Sales is hard enough without somebody on the team that’s always kind of that negative person that’s chirping in your ear about how hard and unfair life is. You don’t need those people on the team. You got to really prune those people. They’re not only going to sap your energy, but they’re really destructive for the whole sales team. When somebody like that, you want to kind of eliminate that if you can.

How Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Can Empower You, Regardless of Size or Experience

November 11, 2025 by angishields

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In this episode of Cherokee Business Radio, Joshua Kornitsky interviews Joanie Chamberland, owner and head instructor at The Rise Up Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy. Joanie shares her lifelong martial arts journey, the founding of her academy, and her mission to create a safe, inclusive, and technical environment for students of all ages. She discusses the mental and physical benefits of jiu-jitsu, addresses common misconceptions, and highlights her academy’s supportive approach, including fundamentals-focused classes and a two-week free trial for newcomers.

Brought to you by Diesel David and Main Street Warriors

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Joanie-ChamberlandJoanie Chamberland, Owner of Rise Up BJJ, is a retired black belt competitor and the only female BJJ school owner in Georgia.

She’s been training 16 years and teaching 12 years. Rise-Up-logo

Follow Rise Up on Facebook and Instagram.

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TRANSCRIPT

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

Joshua Kornitsky: Welcome back to Cherokee Business Radio. This is Joshua Kornitsky professional EOS implementer and your host today. Uh, before we get started, I’ve got a great guest here in the studio, but I want to make sure everybody knows that today’s episode is brought to you in part by our community partner program, the Business RadioX Main Street Warriors defending capitalism, promoting small business, and supporting our local community. For more information, go to Mainstreet Warriors and a special note of thanks to our title sponsor for the Cherokee chapter of Mainstreet Warriors. Diesel. David. Ink. Inc. please go check them out at David Comm. Well, as I said, I’ve got a great guest here in the studio. I’d like to introduce Joanie Chamberland, uh, owner and head instructor at the Rise Up Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy. Welcome, Joanie.

Joanie Chamberland: Hey, thank you for having me here today.

Joshua Kornitsky: Uh, it’s wonderful to have you. So tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got involved in and then ultimately created the academy.

Joanie Chamberland: Yeah, absolutely. So I actually grew up doing martial arts for my whole life. I started when I was four years old, and, um, that was up in Canada before I moved here.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Joanie Chamberland: And then, um, when I got down here, actually, my parents had me start gymnastics, and I absolutely hated it.

Joshua Kornitsky: At what age did you.

Joanie Chamberland: When I moved here? When I was eight.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay, so. So you were already four years in when you got here?

Joanie Chamberland: Yes. Correct.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s crazy.

Joanie Chamberland: Um, and I was doing kenpo karate up there, and then I came down here, they made me do gymnastics, Monastics, and I was a tomboy. It was not my thing. I’m wearing the leotard, I hated it. Um, so then we found a taekwondo school here, and I trained there for a good bit of time, till my dad lost his job when I was in middle school, and. And then we were just working out at Gold’s Gym. And I remember I would have friends come over in high school, and my best friend and I would wrestle in the living room, like, we moved the tables and everything off to the side. And she was, uh, a very athletic soccer player. And I was a beanpole my entire life.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Joanie Chamberland: And, um, she would beat me up, to say the least. And one of my brother’s friends at the time, um, was doing, like, garage jiu jitsu, and he was like, hey, let me show you some stuff. And I was like, what is this? This is awesome. And he was like, it’s called jiu jitsu. And so it clicked to me because there was a school near where I was working out with my dad. And so I went and asked, you know, what jiu jitsu was about? And all of that. And they wanted a six day commitment. And I was like, um, I yeah, I can’t do that. So then I decided, well, let me go try Krav Maga, where I used to do taekwondo. And the guy looked at me and he was like, um, you’re too young. And I was like, it’s 16 and up. And he was like, yeah, but you’re also too small. And I was like, okay, well, I guess I’ll go train at this other gym.

Joshua Kornitsky: Isn’t that the point, though, that that size shouldn’t really enter into it? Well, it’s not the point, but a point with regards to it.

Joanie Chamberland: For jiu jitsu, yes, but not krav.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Joanie Chamberland: And and I mean, he’s not technically wrong because if you’re a certain size and your partners are a lot bigger than you and they’re kicking you, it doesn’t matter. You’re gonna get kicked across the room with the bag.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Joanie Chamberland: So, you know, I was like, okay, well, I’ll go here to do some jiu jitsu. And they’re like, well, we have a grappling program. And so I was like, okay. And so I started there in the grappling program and like within a month we had a really incredible instructor come in who was a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt. And our grappling program became an actual jiu jitsu program. And it was just I fell in love with it. I loved jiu jitsu, so I just continued to train with him until eventually he moved out of state and they offered me the job to start teaching it.

Joshua Kornitsky: Wow.

Joanie Chamberland: Yeah. So it was it wasn’t really something. I was just like, well, I’m gonna do this for a living, right? Um, even when I had that job, I still never really planned on opening a gym. Um, I was going to school for criminal justice and plan to work for, like, human trafficking or crimes against children. And, um, I went to law school. Not I didn’t finish. I did a semester, and it was just. I did not like it.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Joanie Chamberland: And then it was just like, maybe I should open a school because then I could help people before things happen to them. And so it was like, you know, once they’re in the system and you’re helping them through the system, like, unfortunately something has happened for them to be in your care, right? So I was hoping that maybe if we start educating people younger and, you know, showing them those skills, that they would be able to defend themselves before anything happens to them.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, and you bring up an interesting point. So. Growing up, I had a friend who was very involved in a different martial art, but he had always shared with me that that by and large it is a defensive art versus yes, it can be used offensively, but it’s meant to keep you from from being harm. And if if it is from being harmed, if it is necessary for you to harm. Most martial arts are designed to make that a very short process. Is that an accurate statement?

Joanie Chamberland: Yeah. Well, and it’s like, um, you’re right. With jiu jitsu, it is technically made for the small person to defeat a bigger person. Right? Um, which is not the case with a lot of other martial arts where you’re striking because you can only strike so hard. Right? You got to be very, very precise. If you’re not as strong as they are, like hitting the same spot. And I still have other martial arts that I’ve taken, right? I did end up doing Krav at some point. I have my level three in Krav. Wow, Um, I do Mikio Shirai and, um, did Kenpo karate. Taekwondo. So I’ve done a lot of different martial arts. Um, but I personally don’t like striking, um, in the whole Krav mentality, like you’re saying is more offensive, right? It’s. They hit you and you hit him back many times harder, faster, and try to get them off of you. Right? Whereas jiu jitsu, we don’t do any striking. I mean, there’s some striking defense depending on the gym you’re at. Um, I did choose a sports, um based approach to jiu jitsu just because I enjoy it more.

Joshua Kornitsky: Can you explain what the difference is for someone like me that doesn’t know what the difference is?

Joanie Chamberland: Yeah, absolutely. So you’re not going to come in and per se learn how to like block a punch or, you know, learn how to block a strike. Really, you’re going to be learning how to start standing and take somebody down if necessary, which most fights go to the ground. And jiu jitsu is is a ground based martial arts, right? So most everything is on the ground. You learn different techniques from judo, wrestling to do takedowns to take somebody down. But the majority of it is all based on how you control things from the ground, and how to knock over a bigger opponent and get on top, or get behind them to control their limbs. And so over that. Being able to have confidence in yourself and have confidence in being able to control an opponent that’s bigger than you are to move around their limbs, it’s going to still teach you, in a sense, how to defend. Now, is it going to be the number one thing? No, you might, but you’re still going to hit get hit in a fight no matter what. Even if you knew all that stuff, right? Um, but for me, it was just the most practical approach. I want to be training every day. So I didn’t go with an MMA route of jiu jitsu. Okay, um, my goal isn’t to create MMA fighters, it’s to create jiu jitsu practitioners that they can use everything that they’ve learned mentally and physically.

Joshua Kornitsky: And that’s actually the. So in in my other professional life, I teach leadership teams discipline and accountability. And I had the opportunity to to, as I will only say, a little glimpse not into your world, but just into martial arts in a broader sense, through a friend growing up and through another adult, one of my closest adult friends who practices another form of martial art. Uh, and I’m being vague because I don’t remember the exact name. Um, but both of them had told me. And I’d love your your perspective on this, that so much of what the physical training is, is really mental training. And it’s about building confidence and it’s about building self-discipline. And is that something that resonates with you as being correct?

Joanie Chamberland: Oh, absolutely. I tell people, you know, jiu jitsu is kind of like a parallel to life, right? Because you’re going to be constantly in situations that you are uncomfortable in you don’t you feel like you don’t know what to do? Right? In jiu jitsu and I’m huge about learning your fundamentals because it takes and it’s it’s monotonous. Right. Like I’m having a shrimp every day. I’m having to redo the same move over and over, get your drills in. Right. But that’s the discipline you’re talking about, right? In life. Like you can’t just write a sentence without knowing how to make a letter. Right? And if you guys remember tracing those letters over and over again, right. It’s like after a while you’re like, okay, I don’t need this, right? But they still keep making you do it till you’ve got it down pat. It’s the same thing. You’re learning your fundamentals. You’re drilling them over and over again so that the next time you get into a position that you’re super uncomfortable in, your body just knows how to do that thing. So it makes you use and realize too, that if you practice and you practice, once you’re in one of those positions, you realize like, oh, I can get out of this. And so that’s where that confidence comes from, right? Like you have to do the thing to gain confidence. You just don’t oh I’m confident I’m gonna go do that. Like that’s not really how it works.

Joshua Kornitsky: It’s not like The Matrix where they just plug in the drive and you know it all. Boy, wouldn’t that be nice?

Joanie Chamberland: That’d be great. But it’s definitely not so. Yeah, it causes you to have a lot of discipline. And especially when you’re talking about self-control with jiu jitsu, you have to be able to control your limbs and someone else’s limbs that are, you know, moving at you. So if you can’t control your own limbs and tell them where to go and, and a lot of it. And I don’t mean like you’re just going to be punching without telling yourself to punch, right? No, I mean, you’re going to be told to move your hand and you’re going to move your foot. And then your instructor is like, no, no, no, your hand. And then you’re going to move your other foot like, no, the foot that’s connected to your arm, that’s what you move, you know, because it’s so much body like understanding. You have to understand every part of your body and which part to move at what time, because you’re having to use your whole body all at once.

Joshua Kornitsky: And that must take a lot of fundamental drilling to, to get into regular, non-conscious thought about it, where it happens at an automatic level. Uh, and I imagine you have to continue to reinforce that otherwise things fade over time.

Joanie Chamberland: Right? And and it does come back quickly, though. I mean, that is something people fear when they’ve done jiu jitsu in the past. Or they’ll take a break like somebody who’s pregnant, let’s say, right when they have their kid, they’re like, I’m gonna forget everything, right? It doesn’t work that way. Like when you first come back, you’ll feel like you’ve forgotten it all, but it will click back in because it’s muscle memory, like it’s ingrained into your brain. How to move. Just like. Well, when we were kids and you guys were kids, right? You learn how to ride a bike, right? Like I haven’t ridden a bike in years just because it’s just not on my priority thing.

Joshua Kornitsky: So it might be wobbly when you get on it, but.

Joanie Chamberland: Yeah, but then you’re gonna be like, oh, cool, this is easy. Now. Nowadays, I know a lot of kids who don’t even know how to ride a bike, but, you know, it’s one of those things you don’t really forget. It’s like brushing your teeth, right? You could stop brushing your teeth for a month and still know the movement of brushing your teeth. You know.

Joshua Kornitsky: I hope not, but. But I follow it. Yeah. Um, so how long ago did you create the the the academy? What? What drove you to create the academy?

Joanie Chamberland: Um, honestly, I was teaching jiu jitsu in a taekwondo school for years and the overhead like, not my boss as a franchise, right? So the franchise just didn’t really push the jiu jitsu, and so there wasn’t really ever going to be an opportunity for growth of that program. Even though we kept trying to get them to push jiu jitsu, they just never did. They stuck with the martial art that they were doing. And so I had a friend who was like, hey, you know, I’m thinking about opening a school, do you want to join me? And that didn’t end up happening. I ended up opening it on my own, but it was something I was like I was interested in doing. I was already teaching jiu jitsu and I loved doing it. I love teaching and helping people. So, um, I ended up opening the gym in July of 2019.

Joshua Kornitsky: Oh wow. So you’ve been around for a while now, right? That’s fantastic. And and where is the gym located?

Joanie Chamberland: So it’s in Kennesaw right off of exit four by the Publix, um, where the harbor freight is. Everybody knows about the Harbor freight ferry.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yep. Okay.

Joanie Chamberland: Yep. Exit for Bell’s Ferry. It’s like right off the exit. So super close to Woodstock.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s fantastic. Well, so tell us about some of the programs and things that are going on in the gym so that if people are interested, they can learn more.

Joanie Chamberland: Absolutely. So we are an academy that focuses on GHI and Nogi, which is the the guy is the uniform. So we have classes where you’re in the uniform and then we have Nogi, which is more like kind of like streetwear clothing where you can’t grab the material in order to help you with different techniques. So we have both options available. It’s pretty evenly filtered on that. And we have youth programs as well as adult programs. How young we start them at seven now. We used to have a 4 to 6 year old class. It’s just very difficult and it’s a class that you have to have the right instructor.

Joshua Kornitsky: That intention spans awful small from 4 to 7.

Joanie Chamberland: Yes, yes. And so maybe one day we’ll open it back up. But the person who was teaching it had a child and moved away. Um, and that’s just not a class I’m willing to take on.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sure. Well, and you know what? Knowing limitations is smart too. So exactly.

Joanie Chamberland: So we take them at seven and, um, all the way to whatever age, right. Anybody can take it. And, um, what we did just open up a new offer for people that are homeschooling their kids because it’s such a thing that’s happening now. There’s a.

Joshua Kornitsky: Lot of it’s everywhere.

Joanie Chamberland: Right? There’s a lot of homeschoolers. So, um, for like, a PE credit, let’s say they could take jiu jitsu. So it’s a it’s a great way to get physical activity. But also your kids will be learning a life skill, right? They’ll be learning self-control, discipline, respect.

Joshua Kornitsky: And those with no disrespect to to the styles that you’re teaching. To me, those are things that that last forever. Uh, hopefully their knowledge of jiu jitsu will as well. But understanding, discipline, understanding, um, inner strength and confidence. You teach amazing things, right?

Joanie Chamberland: And it’s honestly, it’s it’s more fulfilling for me because I get to see the the difference and the change in the kids. Um. And the adults. Right. It’s it’s so cool to see somebody do something that they never thought they’d be able to do.

Joshua Kornitsky: I, I have two daughters, and I occasionally have those moments, and it’s it makes you incredibly proud. Um, so, yeah, I have to think you get to see that over and over again as, as time goes by. Um, and with. So you’ve been in business six years, so you must have had some students that that joined you quite young, that are now adults or young adults.

Joanie Chamberland: Oh yes. I’ve got some now that are so I was teaching before opening my gym for years as well. Right. Um, I think it was eight years I was teaching before opening my gym. And so I’ve got kids that were like 6 or 7 when they started with me, you know, that are old enough to drink now.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s crazy.

Joanie Chamberland: Yeah. And it’s like, you know, people look at me like, oh, you’re so young. It’s not like you’ve been doing this that long. I’m like, guys, I’ve been teaching jiu jitsu for since I was 16. I’m 33, so I can’t math for life. Yeah, exactly.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, so what do you say to people that are like, well, I’m interested, but I’m afraid or it’s going to be too much money or how do you how do you help people walk through that door? Because I imagine there’s there’s a psychological barrier, right. To to just crossing that threshold. What how can you help them?

Joanie Chamberland: So one of the biggest things is most people find out about jiu jitsu through like the UFC.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Joanie Chamberland: Right. And the MMA circuit. And so they’re like really worried that it’s going to be this, like, macho sport. Sure. Um, especially if they know anything about the Gracie brothers and what they were doing back in the day. Um, fighting on the UFC and just destroying people. Um, so the main thing is that I’ve been training for a very long time, and I am a small female, and my training partners were not mainly male. You know, and they were big dudes. I, I got my black belt at a gym where my small training partners were 180 pounds, and I’m 130. So and that was the small range. And I had a few women and some of them were like 155, 160 like Crossfitters. So I was.

Joshua Kornitsky: Always fighting a lot. You were always fighting up.

Joanie Chamberland: Exactly. And so, you know, I made it to where? At my academy. Well, one of my biggest goals is to one day have a small person Jiu-Jitsu class. Um, that would be amazing for us, but we aren’t there yet. Um, but I’ve made it to where whenever people come in, right? I have trained my higher ranks that have been training longer to be the partners for the the newcomers, and so that they can help them make sure that they’re training in a safe environment and getting basically like one on one help throughout the class. So I’m teaching the moves, and when they go off to do the moves, they have, like a personal helper with them. And it’s the same thing in the kids class. I try to always partner the higher ranks with the lower ranks so that they can help each other, because two people who don’t know what they’re doing, getting together to do something that they don’t know how to do, usually doesn’t turn out well.

Joshua Kornitsky: You know, you would be amazed how often I have a version of that occur in my professional life that you would, when you come to me with a problem, come to me with an answer. Well, if I had an answer, I wouldn’t have come to you. Similar concept, right? If you put two people that don’t know what they’re doing together, you’re going to have two very confused people making a lot of assumptions, all of which are wrong and some of which may hurt them.

Joanie Chamberland: Yeah. Exactly. So and and honestly, as an instructor and I’ve gone to a lot of different schools, so I’ve tried to create a, you know, an environment of like where would I want to go. Right. And a big thing I’m trying to teach people is that, for lack of better words, you can be a bad a without hurting yourself and hurting your training partners. Right? You can have safe training and still come out hard and and beat people up when you’re going out there to compete. And so I want to make sure that that’s the same thing in all my classes. And when I go to other places I’ve been you know, I watch they have like a fundamentals class which is all white belts only like a white belt class. And and honestly, it’s terrifying as an instructor to watch that, especially when it goes to like the what we call rolling, which is the sparring version of jiu jitsu where you get to learn everything. We call it rolling because you look like you’re rolling around on the ground. Um, that’s the scariest part, is watching two white belts, especially males, because of the ego thing. And it’s always friends. Like, it’s not one of those, like, I’m gonna beat this person up. This guy’s. No, it’s it’s always.

Joshua Kornitsky: Funny, Jim.

Joanie Chamberland: Yeah. Exactly right. And so they’re just out there going at it and you’re like, oh, guys, please don’t use 100% like, right. So that was my goal is to make a class environment where we wouldn’t have that happen because I’ve had that in the past. I’ve been teaching for a long time, you know, and I’ve had that in the past where two friends come in and they hurt themselves training together, and then they’re out and they can’t come back and train for a while because, well, I got my shoulder hurt or this and I’m a working dad. And it’s like I kept telling you guys to slow down. So instead what I do is I go ahead and partner them and don’t allow them to choose their friends until they’ve got more training in. And I can see that they’re not gonna hurt themselves. That’s kind of the goal.

Joshua Kornitsky: You have to learn enough to know how not to hurt yourself, which probably takes more time than most people give it credit for.

Joanie Chamberland: Yeah, I actually have a new white belt who’s a college student, and he said to me, you know, how come you don’t train with some of the people in here? And I was like, well, I don’t like training with the white belts because they’re terrifying. And he was like, no, you’re scary. And I was like, I know how to do jiu jitsu, so I know how to not hurt you and not hurt myself. But when I go and roll with a new person, especially if they’re bigger than me, which is likely if they’re a man, um, and they’re going to use all their strength because they don’t know how to hold back. And so I have to protect me and protect them while we’re training, like it’s a lot. And honestly, it’s just not fun for me to be doing that. It’s a lot of mental thought, physical movement. So, you know, to me, the scariest people are people or the white belts, and that’s why we got to keep them the safest, right? So that’s the environment that we have going on, trying to make sure everybody understands. And in our fundamentals classes we actually don’t do any rolling okay. We do technique drills. And then there is an open mat at the end that if you want to stick around and watch people train. So you can start to see like how to play.

Joshua Kornitsky: How it develops from the fundamentals that you’re learning.

Joanie Chamberland: Exactly.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s really cool because a lot of times it’s not until much later in any type of scenario where when you’re learning the fundamentals, you don’t understand that, you know, these may be the movements that lead to all the cool things that you think you came here to, to learn that you will learn in time. But you have to master these, and you can kind of show where they all represent in the more advanced material and maneuvers. Right? I just think that’s awesome because to me, I love understanding the context of things. So if you tell me to, you know, No. Make this movement seven times. Every time I’m there practicing. But I don’t understand what that movement will lead to. For me, the light goes on when you show me. Well, here, if you look at these more advanced students, here’s where that lead, that move leads to. And for me, that always turns a light on. So I love that idea. Um, are the classes um. When when you have your classes and obviously you must have different classes throughout the week. Um, how does it work from an engagement perspective? If you want to just try it out, is there a way you can come in and just try it out?

Joanie Chamberland: Yeah. So actually the way that it works is we do have fundamentals classes. It’s just I have high ranks in there as well. Um, honestly, they’re one of our more attended classes. Just because people understand the value of building up somebody new so that they get a higher, you know, a better person to train with. And so what we have right now is we have a two week offer where you can train for free for two weeks. Unlimited.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s great. And that’s as many times as you want to show.

Joanie Chamberland: Up, as many times as you want to show up. You just can’t come to the advanced class if you’re not advanced, and all the other classes are open to you.

Joshua Kornitsky: That seems like something that’s a pretty good decision for on behalf of that student.

Joanie Chamberland: Right? But if you were somebody that’s maybe taking a break off like we were talking about earlier, right? That’s you know, I don’t want to come back in. I’m gonna feel silly. Like, what if I forget? Like, it’s a perfect class to come into, to come back and come into that fundamentals class because you’re going to have some high ranks with you and you’re going to have some lower ranks, and it’s just an environment where you can just come in and like get those, you know, those movements moving back through right into your brain, into your mind, and then your body will just pick it back up. Right. So it’s not just for newcomers, it’s for anybody. Right? Anybody who just wants to come in and get some training with with people who have been teaching for a long time, have also been competing. Myself and Andrew have competed a lot, have taught for many years. So anybody who wants to come out can do that. Free two weeks and it is unlimited. So like I said, any classes for those two weeks you want to come to that is an advanced unless you’re an advanced rank.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s really an incredible offer to make out there for people. And once you get through those two weeks and you decide you’re going to stick with it, are there, um, prescribed days, so many days a week, or is it kind of up to you? How do you how does a student determine how frequently they’re there?

Joanie Chamberland: So that’s going to be up to the student. But we do have options. So like you could take two classes for three classes or unlimited classes a week. And then we have like a monthly breakdown on that. So and you can always upgrade or downgrade based on if you’re traveling or something.

Joshua Kornitsky: It’ll fit the needs of the student. That’s great because a lot of times, you know, you think about a gym membership, you sign up and you’re just stuck for whatever amount it is every month, whether you’re there or not. So to be able to customize it, I think is fantastic. So we talked about your background. We talked about your gym. We gym. We talked about really your philosophy and in helping the inexperienced not harm themselves, which I think is is notable in a lot of respects. But I want to ask one the one question when when I learned you were coming on, that I wanted to know the answer to is what are some of the assumptions people make about jiu jitsu? Pardon me? Jiu jitsu. Hard word when you’ve been talking all day. Uh, hard phrase. Um, what are some of the assumptions that that people walk in the door believing that are just not the case? Because I feel like that’s you had talked earlier about sort of that macho mindset, and I feel like that must lead to more damage than positivity. Right. So what are some of the other assumptions that people have about walking in the door about learning this style of fighting?

Joanie Chamberland: So I think there’s a lot of people who think that they’re gonna have to fight somebody that day, which is not the case. Um, if you would like to. And there’s somebody there that’s willing to work with you on it, of course. But, um, we’ve had a lot of people that think it’s going to be like a big click, right? Um, so they’re not going to fit in, um, which does happen often when you go to gyms where you don’t even get greeted when you come in and you’re kind of like waiting around. Yep.

Joshua Kornitsky: Scan the barcode.

Joanie Chamberland: Exactly. So there’s that. There’s a lot of just especially with having a female instructor, like, people don’t want to get beat up by a woman. And it’s just like, first of all, I don’t want to train with you on your first day either. Right. And I’ve got plenty of men here, if that’s what you’re looking for. Um, and I’ve had some people just think it’s not technical in which kind of is crazy to me.

Joshua Kornitsky: It’s. I would from from a complete outsider’s perspective, it’s it’s somewhere between operating heavy machinery and ballet because it seems like it’s an incredibly graceful but incredibly complex scenario. Right. It’s it’s not anybody that could look at that. Unless. Unless you simply have no other context in the world and watch popular action films and think that happens naturally. I can’t imagine how people would, but obviously they do because they walk in the door with the wrong assumption.

Joanie Chamberland: Yeah, and I think another big one is, um, I’m too old or I don’t want to get hurt is a huge one, right? I have another job. Um, and I’m gonna feel stupid. Yes you will. So did everyone who first started, including myself. It feels really silly. It’s movements that you’re completely unsure of. Um, and then you got that guy on the other side who’s like, well, I could take all of them. Jiu jitsu doesn’t work. I’ll just pull out my gun. It’s like, guys, that’s not what this is about. It’s a martial art.

Joshua Kornitsky: Right, right, right. And if you just dropped a bomb on the entire city. Problem solved.

Joanie Chamberland: Yeah, exactly. I can’t teach you self-defense for that. You’re right.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah. You know, an umbrella. Good luck. Best of luck to you, buddy. Um, I learned a lot today. I appreciate it. Now, is there anything else that we talked about? As I said, the the homeschool class time? Uh. And is that how do how do we learn more if we if we’re interested in, uh, the two week free trial or if I’m a homeschooler and I want to learn how to get my kids involved, what’s the best way to reach you?

Joanie Chamberland: So you can go to rise up BJ B as in boy, G as in Joy. J as in Joy stands for Brazilian jiu jitsu for short, right? Com.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. Yep. Um, and when we publish the interview, we’ll also publish the link to that and make sure that people know how to get in touch with you. Um, Joanie, thank you so much. I learned a lot today, and to me, that always marks a great day. Um, my guest today has been Joanie Chamberlain, the the owner and the head instructor of Rise of Brazilian Jiu jitsu. Uh, I want to remind you that she’s added homeschool class time and that the gym offers a two week free trial, which these days unlimited, which is pretty rare these days. You don’t run into that. Thank you so much for coming in.

Joanie Chamberland: Thank you for having me here.

Joshua Kornitsky: It’s my pleasure. So I want to remind everybody that today’s episode is brought to you in part by our community partner program, the Business RadioX Main Street Warriors Defending Capitalism, promoting small business, and supporting our local community. For more information, please go to Mainstreet Warriors. And a special note of thanks to our title sponsor for the Cherokee chapter of Main Street Warriors. Diesel. David. Ink. Please go check them out at diesel. David. Com. My name is Joshua Kornitsky. I’m a professional EOS implementer and your host here on Cherokee Business Radio. We look forward to seeing you next time. Thanks so much.

 

Eric Grafstrom – How to Capture the Value You’ve Built When It’s Time to Exit

November 11, 2025 by angishields

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Houston Business Radio
Eric Grafstrom - How to Capture the Value You’ve Built When It’s Time to Exit
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Eric GrafstromEric Grafstrom is the Founder and CEO of Exit Guide, an online platform designed to help small business owners get their businesses ready so they can sell someday.

He began his career at Broadcast.com before joining Yahoo!, and has since served as an executive for dozens of early-stage technology companies in Silicon Valley.

Through Exit Guide, Eric is bringing his decades of entrepreneurial and executive experience to Main Street, providing small business owners with the tools, insights, and guidance they need to plan successful exits.

His mission is to ensure that every owner is prepared to capture the true value of what they’ve built when it’s time to move on.

Website: https://exitguide.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericgrafstrom/

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

 

TRANSCRIPT

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

Trisha Stetzel: Hello, Houston. Trisha Stetzel here bringing you another episode of Houston Business Radio. Today’s guest is Eric Grafstrom, founder and CEO of Exit Guide, an online platform that helps small business owners get their companies ready to sell. Eric began his career at Broadcast.com before moving to Yahoo! And has since served as an executive for dozens of early stage tech companies in Silicon Valley. With Exit Guide, he’s bringing that expertise to Main Street, giving small business owners the tools and guidance they need to plan for successful exit, from understanding market dynamics to avoiding costly mistakes. Eric’s mission is to make sure owners are prepared to capture the value they build when it’s time to move on. Eric, welcome to the show.

Eric Grafstrom : Great to be here, Trisha. Excited for the conversation.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, I’m a long time coming. I think it’s taken us a little while to get here. I’m glad. And we also have someone in common. I’m just going to shout out to Chris Gay.

Eric Grafstrom : Ah, yes.

Trisha Stetzel: I’m sure he’ll listen.

Eric Grafstrom : That’s right, that’s right.

Trisha Stetzel: All right, Eric, tell us a little bit more about you and how you found your way into this business.

Eric Grafstrom : You know, I’ve had a long career in entrepreneurship. It actually started, um, speaking of Chris Gay, who I met when we were freshmen in college. Uh, he would have witnessed one of my first ventures, which is I was selling t shirts, um, and made enough money to buy a car in college and didn’t think about that as the first step in entrepreneurial journey at the time. But, um, you know, that’s kind of what happened. And so graduated, worked in politics, whole nother story. Met a guy in Dallas that, you know, after the campaign that said, you know, I’m working at this new company and, uh, you know, when all my friends were going and going off to MBA programs and law school and jobs with salaries and stability, um, I made the, the, the decision that it would be wise to try to sell webcasting when people did not have sound cards and speakers in 1996. So, um, yeah. Yeah. Um, ADHD does carry through adulthood. Just if anybody if anybody’s like, do you outgrow it? Um, would have been a wise question to ask. But it worked out. And, you know, from there, it just kind of led me to this career of of, you know, starting and building and growing companies. And most of the time it does not work out, and sometimes it does.

Eric Grafstrom : Uh, but through that, you know, I kind of evolved and I was taking a lot of these executive roles. And what I realized was, you know, when you look at, you know, the US market, I mean, small business, Main Street businesses are a massive it’s about 40% of our GDP. And you know, as a tech entrepreneur, I noticed that that, you know, this trend, which we’ll talk about more of people who are going to eventually need to retire and get out of these businesses, most of them are just simply not going to get served because they can’t afford or access people, M&A advisers, bankers, lawyers, things of that nature. So how can we create an online service that allows them to do most and maybe in some cases, all of the work that maybe a broker or someone else may do. Now we’re not out to replace brokers. We’re not out to to replace business advisors. We are there to serve that end of the market that that they just simply the unit economics just don’t make sense for them to help out. So we’re there for the very long tail of small Main Street business owners who need to figure this out.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that. That’s fantastic. And you’ve had yeah, entrepreneurship comes in so many different packages and selling t shirts. That’s one way we get there, right? And we can’t help ourselves. Yeah, I think I’ve been called a serial entrepreneur somewhere in my background, so I totally get it. Absolutely. Um, you talk about the trend of people buying what some would call boring businesses. So what’s driving that movement and what do you see in the market dynamics right now?

Eric Grafstrom : You know what’s driving the the the the movement is demographics. I, I kind of started on this journey a couple of years ago. And, and what I’ve observed is, um, you know, it’s it’s it’s a natural trend. I’m not going to say it’s healthy or unhealthy, but it’s it seems to have reached or is reaching a fever pitch where you notice some influencers are coming in and saying, okay, buy my course, and here’s a seminar and things like that. And some of it’s good. A lot of it is maybe not worth the money in the time. Um, and so what you have though is, is when I really kind of look at this and I think this is a bit of a myth when people think about this. So 90% of small businesses in the US are worth less than $2 million. So most of them are really small. The people who have businesses that are worth five, ten, 15, $20 million, they are considered small businesses. They can afford to get the help when the time comes. Someone who will help them package it, present it, engage a buyer, move through due diligence, and close the deal. But again, when you look at it, you know the businesses you know about 9% just are really small. They’re 300,000, 600,000, maybe 1 million to 1,000,005. So how do we educate and empower these people? And I like to say, look, we have tools.

Eric Grafstrom : We have a dashboard. We do this in a way that that is very technology driven, kind of like a Legalzoom or TurboTax. But how do we do this in a way that gives them, you know, comfort and confidence? And so, um, the the market is not quite Um is rich and is deep with people. Think of it, you know, just the fantasy of, you know, some 72 year old guy sitting in a warehouse with post-it notes and sticky paper, and he just has no idea that it’s just throwing off cash flow. And if he just digitized it, I mean, I do get people who want to ask about that. I’m like, look, that’s just that may have happened 15, 20 years ago. But in this day and age, uh, with self-funded searchers, search funds, private equity and others, there’s so many people that are trying to kind of move into this space and, and largely because of, of, you know, what they’re seeking, they’re all competing for that same 5 to 8% of the market. So, you know, I’ve taken a kind of a counterintuitive approach, which is I want to help the really, really small guy, but I’m not looking to build a service based company. I’m looking to build kind of legalzoom for business exits.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay. Yeah, I like that. So I did use the words boring business. I want to make sure that we don’t offend anybody.

Speaker4: They’re boring. Businesses are great. Look, I will say with.

Eric Grafstrom : Confidence and conviction, as a total Silicon Valley nerd insider, I spent 20 plus years in that. Um, it’s not as cool as everybody thinks. And you know what? I rather go join some hotshot venture backed business in Palo Alto. Um, or, you know, sell the yellow paint that goes on the roads that everybody has to have. Trisha, give me the yellow paint business all day, every day, and twice on Sunday. So, um, there are great businesses. It’s stuff we need.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, it’s absolutely true. Absolutely true. Well, and it’s all relative when we’re talking about boring businesses, what’s boring to you may not be boring to me or boring to somebody else, right? So who knows? I have a business walking dogs and some people might say you must be crazy was my first business. It’s 16 years old and I still continue to love that. Industry might be boring to others, not to me.

Eric Grafstrom : How can you go wrong?

Trisha Stetzel: I know.

Eric Grafstrom : Right?

Trisha Stetzel: Two thirds of every household has a pet, so why not?

Eric Grafstrom : Yeah.

Trisha Stetzel: Um. Okay. I’m loving this conversation. I had no idea. And I’m. I’m in the business coaching space that 90% of our businesses are really so much smaller than I. Than I thought they were. So can we talk a little bit about beginning with the end in mind? I know we’re here to talk about exit planning, but oftentimes our business owners, when they get into business, hey, I’m going to go sell t shirts. They never think about what is five years down the road, ten years down the road. So let’s talk about that. What are your thoughts on begin with the end in mind?

Eric Grafstrom : Yeah, there’s there’s there’s two things that tend to happen. And some of this is is a longtime entrepreneur who’s, you know, coached other entrepreneurs. And so one is, you know, most of these businesses start or they get involved because they’re passionate about the thing or they’re trained at it. I’m trained as a plumber. I’m, you know, how to run restaurants, whatever it may be. Uh, is a business grows the thing they don’t always think about and find. And in my experience, it kind of hits that maybe 1 to $2 million mark is. Wait a minute. I’m no longer doing the thing that I started out doing. I’m now managing people. I’m doing all these other things and whatever it may be. So that’s surprise number one. Surprise number two is, you know, look, what I love about what Exit Guides mission is, is, you know, they’re like, well, who’s your target market? Like 100% of small business owners are going to exit. Father time remains undefeated. So the question is, is whether you’re going to do anything about it. But everyone has to go do this. And so, you know, when I look at the market, you know, if you do a tech startup, you’re thinking about the liquidity event. You want to bring investors, you want to get a ten x multiple. There’s all those pressures that are there. But you know, when you start a small business, usually it’s, hey, look, this is what I’m good at. It starts to grow and it just kind of seems to happen. And then you wake up and you’re like, okay, you know, do I have a business that’s sellable? And that’s kind of the linchpin for for why we exist. Uh, failure rate for a small business owner who tries to do this on their own is over 80%.

Trisha Stetzel: Um.

Eric Grafstrom : And if we’re going to have a flood of these coming down to the market, that’s just simply unacceptable. That’s a that’s an economic issue for our country. And so what what we want to do is we want to be able to get in there. And, you know, at a minimum, someone is starting to think about it and ask some basic questions. When do you want to exit? You know, do you have a business that’s sellable? Those are two questions that you should ask yourself and maybe get some input on. And you know, when you look at that, you know, you got to get an objective view, which is, you know, people aren’t necessarily in a small Main Street business looking at it the way they would with a venture backed startup. And, you know, it’s it’s not forward looking opportunity of, you know, things where I might be able to ten-x it’s incremental increases in the business. And so you got to have some basics in place for someone to be able to look at the business and not view it as a, you know, project that needs a whole lot of investment and elbow grease, but it’s something that they can optimize and scale.

Trisha Stetzel: Right. So two great questions to start with, right? Um, am I am I sellable or can I yeah. Can I be sellable and when do I want to sell. Right. How far down the road. So really great things to think about as you’re getting into business. So can we take a little bit deeper dive into what are the steps I should take in order to be prepared for that?

Eric Grafstrom : Yeah. And you know, this kind of, you know, falls under this umbrella of what I, you know, a lot of people like to call owner dependency. And so if you are entrenched in the business, that’s great. You’re working hard. You know, that’s it’s very admirable. Uh, and it doesn’t mean you need to be completely and totally hands off. But if you know your relationships with customers, with vendors or partners or people, just people in the community, you know, and a lot of times I see this when people have their name attached to the business. Again, nothing wrong with it. But if you’re if you’re thinking ahead, you realize that if somebody wants to to buy this business, you know, they’re going to want to run it and know that you leaving isn’t going to basically cause the business to crater. And so the thing that to really start to ask yourself about is this sellable starts with, okay, how dependent am I or how dependent is the business on on my involvement? Um, from there, it’s really starting to kind of say, okay, have I created some of the documentation if I put systems in place, do I have protocols? We don’t need a big employee handbook. Look, I’ve I’ve failed spectacularly as a as a corporate executive in very constrained environments. Shocking to anybody watching this, I’m sure. Um, but you know, it. It’s it’s, you know, the business can’t be in your head. And so some of this has to kind of get down, which is Trisha’s the person who runs all of our marketing. I know some of the metrics and things like that, but she’s got a great handle on this. And if I leave, she’s going to not only be there, but she’s going to rise to the occasion. She’s an invaluable resource. So it’s it’s a little bit of systems, it’s a little bit of documentation and process and it’s a little bit of, you know, trying to basically be honest with yourself about how dependent the business is on you showing up every day just to simply function.

Speaker5: Oh, that’s so yes.

Trisha Stetzel: Yes and yes. So I’m thinking about for those owners that are sitting out there who can’t step away and take a vacation, you need to start working on that right now. If you don’t have systems, if everything that you’re doing is in your head, you got to get it out of your head. So when you can take a vacation, you’re on your way, right you are.

Eric Grafstrom : If you can’t take a vacation from your business, you can’t sell your business. Bottom line?

Trisha Stetzel: Okay, I like that. It makes it so darn simple. So we’re about halfway through. Eric and I am sure that people want to connect with you already. So what is the best way for folks to reach out and connect with you to have a conversation?

Eric Grafstrom : Sure. It’s Eric Eric at exit Guide.com so it’s exit and guide. Just one word. And, uh, I’m generally pretty darn good about responding to emails. I’m on the social medias and all that other stuff. You can find me on LinkedIn, um, and all that good stuff. But Eric at Exit guides the easiest way.

Trisha Stetzel: Cool. Fantastic. Thanks, Eric, for that. Let’s dive into Exit Guide. Uh, I know you’re on a mission to go out there and help these businesses that are 2 million or less that are ready to get themselves ready to sell. So let’s talk more about Exit Guide and how that tool is helping these business owners get where they need to go to exit their business.

Eric Grafstrom : So really it’s just kind of a dashboard. And the dashboard allows somebody to log in, you know, they’re paying a monthly fee and it’s walking them through steps. And what are the steps? Well, the steps involve writing, uploading and inputting. And so if we had a $20 million business and I was the broker, I’d have, you know, some 27 year old analyst in the background who’d be chasing these things down and writing this stuff up and showing it to the business owner. We’re just putting that into the owner’s hands. So it starts with just kind of the basic information about your business. What’s the entity type? When did it start? How long has it been around? You know, tell me about your involvement in the community. Just so someone says, okay, now I understand the business too, is, you know, writing down, why is this a good business to buy? And, you know, it can’t be. Well, it’s just a good you know, these are things that sometimes you think in your head, you have an answer. But if you have to write more than 4 or 5 sentences, it becomes a bit of a struggle. So it’s, you know, really spending some time and thinking about that. So Organizing the story and the narrative of your business is step one. Step two is what is this worth? Okay. We use a market based valuation methodology. If you’re bigger you can use discounted cash flow. You can use other things. But for our businesses we’re just kind of trying to basically use something that’s relatively straightforward. And so that means people are going to start uploading things like PNL statements and balance sheet. And then the third step is, okay, you know, someone’s going to say, this sounds interesting because we’ve created a package for you.

Eric Grafstrom : But then the question becomes, okay, then what? So if they start to lean in and say, I’d like to learn more, that kicks off what is known as the due diligence process. And 50% of deals fall apart during due diligence. And much of this is preventable. Um, one time kills deals. So if you don’t have things and someone says, you know, they get your prospectus, they look at it, they want to engage, you sign an NDA, and if they’re waiting, you know, two, three, four weeks for you to, you know, generate your financials because you’re out of town and then your bookkeeper is busy and all these other things. Someone who’s looking at buying your business is probably looking at buying other businesses. And if it’s taking you considerable time to kind of just get them some basic information they feel like you should have on hand. It’s it’s probably going to affect not only the deal momentum of whether it’s going to close or not. So, you know, what we want to do is the dashboard also kind of says, okay, here’s the things you need to upload. Here’s whatever, you know, other information some of that gets packaged into, you know, how to present your business, but then some of it is more confidential information and you’re simply clicking and sharing, sharing access from the work you’ve done. We’re telling we’re kind of guiding someone through creating what in the M&A world is known as a data room. But we’re not saying you need to create a data room, because that’s just gobbledygook and doesn’t necessarily mean anything if they’re following their steps, they should actually have created that data room. Click share. And it’s going to answer most of the questions that are going to come up during due diligence.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay. So I know that there’s some business owners listening out there that don’t know their numbers. They’re afraid of the numbers. They’ve been burying their head in the sand for a really long time. All they know is how much money’s in the bank and can they pay their bills. So what would you say to those business owners that are just running from month to month right now?

Eric Grafstrom : You know, this is really, really hard. And, um, what I would say is you don’t have to know everything, but you got to know something as an entrepreneur. And I was talking with an entrepreneur last night, I said, look, you know, too often I see business owners or startup founders and they say, okay, I know I need marketing. I went and hired somebody from marketing, and she’s just doing what she’s doing. And when you dig into if you set goals, are you creating a cadence where you’re checking in and you’re measuring their performance? Oftentimes the answer is no. And so most bookkeepers in in accountants actually are pretty nice people who are happy to educate you, but they’re not going to proactively add these are not salespeople and marketers. You know, they’re they’re more reserved. But, you know, get a get a P and L statement, get a balance sheet. If you can’t figure it out, find a friend or ask your bookkeeper for an hour of their time to help walk you through it and do it a couple of times. Just start. Just start with some of the basic. Now, we’re not going to ask an owner to kind of do a deep level financial analysis, but if you don’t know your numbers, you know, again, if you don’t know your numbers, you’re not going to sell your business. So what’s the downside of not doing this? Shutting your doors. What’s the upside of doing this. You might actually be able to converse with somebody and potentially sell your business. So it’s kind of up to you as to what path you want to take.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. Okay. So, um, I’ve done my due diligence, my my due diligence. I’ve gone and I’ve filled out the paperwork, I’m getting ready, and I think I’m going to go sell my business, and I want way more for it because I put all this blood, sweat and tears into my business. Let’s talk about that valuation.

Eric Grafstrom : Valuation. Valuation. The best analogy I draw for people. And sometimes I’ve had owners that they’re like, why it’s worth this? Because it could be so much more. And I said, well, you know, if I put my house on the market, I can’t be 50% above every house in the neighborhood. I mean, I can I can stick the sign in the yard, but I’m not going to get any bites because people are all going to ask, like, what’s inside? Like gold bricks or like, you know, cold fusion, like what’s happening inside that house. So you can pick any number you want. The reality is, is are you picking a number that’s, you know, in line with the market. And so that’s the first piece of this. But also you got to have a payback period. And if someone’s saying, well my payback period for this thing is 15 years, that ain’t going to fly. So what’s driving that price is is not what you want for it, but what someone’s willing to pay for it and what someone’s willing to pay for, it is going to be based on. Okay, how does this compare to some other businesses that I’m looking at, and do I think that there’s room in the business for me to to maybe increase revenue and margins, that I can have a reasonable payback period? And in three years, for example, I own 100% of the business and it’s all gravy. But if someone is coming in and you’re at a price where it’s a five, eight, ten year payback period, it’s going to be, I’m not going to say it’s impossible, but, um, you will you will need some help from from the Lord and probably other factors to make that happen. I’m not sure how it would work. It’s the best advice I could do is just pray. Yeah, yeah.

Trisha Stetzel: Well, and it’s hard, you know, when you get into and I’m going to make reference to a book, you know, you bake pies and you love pies and you make pies, and then you decide to go into business making pies, and you don’t get to make the pies anymore because you’re running the business and someone else has to make the pies, but you can’t sell the business because everyone’s so dependent on you to give them the recipe and the vendor all the things, right? Um, it’s hard as a business owner to really step away and put on that shield that says, okay, I know I love my business. I put in all the blood, sweat and tears here, but I need to really take a look at it from a buyer’s perspective, not an owner’s perspective. Yeah.

Eric Grafstrom : So as entrepreneurs, you know, this is maybe a little bit of a tough love statement, but I’m like, it’s what we signed on for, right? And it’s a hard thing. It’s easier advice to dispense than it is to to to accept for yourself. But you know, people are like do you know what I’ve put into this? I’m like, I mean, I do, and I can appreciate that. But I’m not going to say a buyer doesn’t care, but they’re going to be like, I respect that, but I’m not giving you an extra $300,000 just because you feel like you deserve it from an emotional standpoint, it’s just not. It’s just not there.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, we have to separate the emotion from the facts. And that’s really what this is about. So Eric, tell me for so there are some people out there right now, they’re like, okay, I’m, I’m ready to sell, but I’m not sure where to start. What would you tell them?

Eric Grafstrom : You can go to exit. Com or email me Eric at exit guide.com. Um, you know, we’re there for that. But the things that you can go do step one is, you know, get your financial statements, get PNL statement, get a balance sheet and learn, you know, if you’re not conversant in if that’s step one, like everything is gated, if you’re if you’re not able to to to to kind of have a sense of, of it. Uh, the other is start to think about, you know, when in, in, in who a potential buyer would be. Um, the worst time to sell is when you absolutely have to sell due to life circumstances or the business has had a downturn, whatever it may be. So, you know, if you’re if you’re thinking about this and planning for it is something that you’re just going to simply make a business decision, then that business decision is when the business is probably doing quite well and running at its peak, which you’re going to say, well, wait a minute, why would I sell the business if it’s making me a lot of money? Well, nobody wants to buy the business when it’s not making money. So you know, we got to get to that point.

Trisha Stetzel: Mhm. Yeah I love that. And so being comfortable with the tools that you have out there and the instructions and guiding them through the process. So you guys go send Eric an email Eric at exit Guide.com or even visit the website for more information. So last question for you as we wrap up today, for those people that are listening that don’t yet have plans or they haven’t even been thinking about selling their business, what is some practical advice that you would give them to start preparing today for when that time comes?

Eric Grafstrom : Uh, the first thing that I would do is I would review the financials and start to get conversant in that. The second thing that I would do is I would, whether it’s a friend or maybe somebody in the business community or a business coach yourself. But I would ask if if you could get some time, whether you are getting an hour of someone’s time at no cost or whether you’re paying a professional, you know, for 2 or 3 hours, what I would want someone to do is to basically do an assessment of of the readiness of my business. And, you know, what you need is you need an honest, objective view. Looking at financial statements will generate a objective valuation on the business. You may or may not like it, but it’s, you know, it’s objective. But, you know, really what you want to do is, is start with, um, you know, is is how do other how will other people look at my business. This. And if you get some some tough answers to that, you can either use that to lose hope or you can say, okay, great, I don’t need to sell this business until at least three years from now.

Eric Grafstrom : Somewhere between 3 and 5 years, I now have time to start saying, okay, what do I need to do? And you know, so if your business isn’t sellable today, then let’s get you on a pathway of working with someone like yourself who’s a coach or just somebody who can say, okay, what are we trying to get to? And it’s invaluable. I know I’m preaching to the choir here. It’s invaluable if you walk into a business coach and say, my goal is to take my valuation from $450,000 today to $800,000. And in order for me to do that, I just need a plan, and I need help, and I need some guidance on how to get there, you know? But now I know what I’m what I’m targeting. Well, then someone like yourself can come in and start to kind of say, okay, let’s look at, you know, profit margin, let’s look at systems, let’s look at things that we can do to reduce your operating expenses. That just becomes that kind of first stepping stone. So don’t worry about posting it. Don’t worry about selling it. Worry about making it sellable. Mhm.

Trisha Stetzel: Love that. And thanks for dropping those little cookies out there. For those of us who are in the business of helping them actually meet their goals, right. And maybe even creating goals as oftentimes we get into business. And I know we talked about this at the beginning, but we don’t think about when it’s time to sell. But nobody wants to just drop their business in a hole and walk away from it. We never get into business to do that. We want to leave a legacy. We want to sell it. We want to. We’re not going to be in this business forever because time is not on your side when it comes to being around forever, right? Yeah. Um, this has been so much fun, Eric.

Eric Grafstrom : Absolutely. Same here.

Trisha Stetzel: Tell people one more time the best way to reach you. And, um. Yeah.

Eric Grafstrom : And about Eric and exit. Guide.com. It’s Eric with a C. Don’t worry about Grafström. For the very small percent of your listeners who may be Swedish, it’s easy. Everybody else, don’t worry about it. So it’s Eric and exit Guide.com and reach out and, you know, reach out to Trisha. Chris gay. There’s there’s plenty of great business coaches that are out there that will work with you and say, hey, look, I know you want to exit someday. Maybe you’re not ready to kind of even start preparing your business. Maybe this is 4 or 5 years out, but we need to get the business sellable. So, um, reach out to me, and I’m always happy to direct you to people if, if, if we’re not in a position to help you. But, uh, love to hear from people.

Trisha Stetzel: Fantastic. Eric, thank you so much for being with me today. By the way, for those of you who do need to look him up and want to connect with him on LinkedIn, his last name is spelled g r a f s t r o m so that you can find him on LinkedIn or you guys, it’s so much easier, easier just to go to exit Guide.com. A calm. And by the way, as usual, I will put all of these links in the show notes. So if you’re sitting at your computer, all you have to do is point and click. If you’re in the car, wait till you get home.

Speaker6: Please do point and click while you’re in the car.

Eric Grafstrom : I don’t need that responsible. Yeah. Thank you. It was great to be with you.

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

 

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