Business RadioX ®

Raymond Giles with REGal Luxury Travel

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REGal-Luxury-Travel-logo

Raymond-GilesRaymond Giles, a seasoned travel advisor at REGal Luxury Travel based in Kingwood, TX, has turned a lifelong passion for exploration into a thriving career.

Inspired by his father, a U.S. Navy veteran, Raymond followed in his footsteps, serving as a nuclear-trained machinist’s mate aboard the USS Miami. His time in the Navy fueled his desire to see the world, leading him to visit five continents, 38 countries, and 56 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

From the historic streets of Europe and the tranquil waters of the Danube to vibrant Christmas Markets and the vast deserts of Saudi Arabia, Raymond ensures his family experiences the wonders of the world alongside him.

In a recent discussion on the HBR Show, Raymond and Trisha Stetzel, both representatives of the Houston Regional Veterans Chamber of Commerce, explored his transition from military service to travel advising.

As a Pathfinder in the Chamber, he specializes in curating bespoke travel experiences, particularly for frequent travelers and high-net-worth individuals. With a keen eye for detail and a wealth of global insights, Raymond shared expert travel tips and highlighted the unique benefits of his services.

Trisha encouraged listeners to connect with him for unforgettable journeys, crafted with the precision and expertise of a true explorer.

Connect with Raymond on Facebook.

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. Beyond the uniform series. Really excited about the guest that I have on today. We have something. Well, we have a few things in common. One happens to be the Houston Regional Veterans Chamber of Commerce, where both Raymond and I serve. So I have Raymond Giles on with me today from Regal Luxury Travel. Raymond, welcome to the show.

Raymond Giles: Hey, thanks for having me.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, we have more than just the HVC in common. And I know that you serve as a pathfinder. We’ll talk about that in a few minutes, because I think that’s a really important role. But you happen to be in the Navy, too.

Raymond Giles: I It was was a few years ago. But yeah, I was in the Navy. I was a nuclear trained, uh, machinist mate or mechanic on a fast attack submarine, the USS Miami.

Trisha Stetzel: Wow. How closely related. Like when I told you that, uh, you met another CT, you were like, oh, I know what that is. Yep, yep.

Raymond Giles: It’s funny. I mean, there’s there’s more of them popping up now because I actually I ran into one this past weekend up in Northeast Texas.

Trisha Stetzel: Wow. That’s crazy. All right, Raymond, tell everybody about who you are.

Raymond Giles: So. And, you know, as Trisha said, you know, my name is Raymond. Um, I am, um, probably a fifth generation vet all the way back to my great grandfather in World War one. Um, you know, I tried college, and like most nukes in the Navy, I was, uh, not very successful the first couple of years. So I said, hey, I need a challenge. Somebody that’s going to make me, uh, behave and give me some discipline. So I went into the recruiter and said, give me the toughest thing you got. I qualified for the nuke program. And I thought I was smart. Um, the Navy nuclear power program showed me how smart I was. Not. Uh, I was, uh, I was pretty close to the anchor. Uh, graduated 440 out of 444. But just like the person that graduates last from med school, they still call him a doctor. I’m still a nuke. So, um. And, you know, it really created some great memories for me. Uh, met some great people, and, um, you know, it was about that time that I started to, um, get the bug for travel. I really I remember our first port, uh, foreign port was in Brest, France, and it was just like, oh, this is so cool because I’m at some place that’s not the US. And just palling around with the guys, uh, through France and, you know, a few other countries in Europe and like, you know, this is something I could kind of get used to. And about that time Samantha Brown came out with her passport to, uh, to Europe series on the Travel Channel. And I’m like, yeah, I gotta do this. And, Um, so when I got out of the Navy, I did manufacturing for a little bit, and I’m like, this isn’t me.

Raymond Giles: So I ended up with a very good engineering and construction company, and I’ve seen more of the world working for them than I did in the Navy, funny enough. And so, um, in the course of that time, I’ve been to, uh, 38 countries and 56 Unesco sites. And I’m seeing all this. I wanted my, um, I wanted other people to see what I’ve seen. I’ve been very lucky in being able to see as much as I have. And some of my friends, uh, and their family might only be able to see one of these places. And I wanted to give them the inspiration to find that one place they really needed to see. And then last year, I realized that a part of that was missing and that was helping facilitate, um, everybody being able to do the travel. Um, we talked about my father. He had an accident at the beginning of last year. And, uh, throughout the year, I was finding myself right? Why am I sitting at home? He’s in the hospital. Um, and it really started to where my mental health. I needed something to occupy my time in the afternoon and the evening. And I found a fantastic travel agency. And that’s luxury island travel. Um, so they’re my host, and it really did help my mental health. And then it helped me find some purpose outside of the Navy. And that was, um, helping people travel. And my first, uh, booking was five days after I completed my, uh, my assessment. And, um, it’s been pretty fun since then.

Trisha Stetzel: Wow. That is fantastic. So, Raymond, I want to dig into a little bit that the mental health statement that you made, like your, uh, you found this business to help you with that because you needed something to do. I find that many business owners don’t take advantage of things like this because they feel like they have to be at work all the time, so I work with them so they can take vacations, but let’s talk a little bit about, um, the mental health factor in being able to get away from work and travel.

Raymond Giles: So with regard to, you know, to me, um, it’s like a hobby. Okay. I thought I knew travel when I started this, uh, you know, I thought if I stayed at a nice Hilton or, you know, a Waldorf, you know, I was doing pretty good. But then when I started doing this, I realized that there was so much more to travel, especially in the luxury world. And so it was kind of like being back in school again and, you know, and going through the new program. It was stressful, but it was the good kind of stress. Yeah. The stress that your body kind of needs and feeds on. And so like I said, it sort of started to balance everything out. But as far as, you know, travel and the importance for, for other people, you know, we we say that, you know, you can sell a commodity that is out there in the, in the, the the people want it or need it, but not everybody does. Like, you can sell milk and eggs, but not everybody can eat eggs and not everybody can drink milk. But you look at travel. Everybody travels somewhere. It might be that you only go to Austin once a year, but you know what? You’re going to Austin and you’re probably going to need a place to stay. That’s where I come in. If you are, I have a client. Uh, she just retired, and she wanted to do three weeks through Europe. She had no idea where to start. I helped her plan an itinerary so that she can immediately start enjoying what she has worked so hard for. And that is reaching her retirement.

Trisha Stetzel: Wow. That’s beautiful.

Raymond Giles: And what what what does said me a little bit is that some people do wait till they retire to travel. And I understand that, you know, our culture and our mindset with a work life balance isn’t the same as everybody else. They you work hard till you can retire, but if you wait till then, you start to limit yourself on what you can she can do. It’s much it’s much harder to get to Machu Picchu when you’re at retirement age than if you had started to do travel when you were younger.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah.

Raymond Giles: So that’s why I’m here. I want to show that if it’s possible, it’s financially achievable and that with me as an advisor, I don’t I don’t even consider myself an agent. An agent I see as someone who just books. Yeah. I’m helping coach my clients through the process so that they go in with a better understanding. Um, they don’t have any worries, and they’re able to just go and enjoy their trip.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. That’s beautiful. So there’s hope that for these business owners, number one, they can take time off. And number two, they can enjoy an amazing travel excursion with Raymond. Raymond’s going to get you there.

Raymond Giles: Absolutely.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. That’s fantastic. So how do you as, uh. Why would someone use a travel concierge in the first place?

Raymond Giles: So there’s a lot of things, you know, when you look at a business owner specifically. So if I’m looking at this from a B2B model, business owner is running their business, they don’t have time to be planning their travel doing all of the research. So what I do is I give those clients their time back because on top of doing the travel planning for you, I don’t charge my clients any fees. Okay? I get paid a commission, so I don’t need to double dip on my clients to make money. And in doing that one, I’m showing that I’m not just trying to take your money, but two, I’m giving you that money back so that you can invest it in your vacation or your trip. And that’s exactly what a vacation is. It’s an investment. You’re investing in memories. And so by doing that, you say you were only able to afford a balcony on a cruise ship by giving you that extra $1,000 or whatever another agent might charge you, you’re able to elevate that to a suite or at a hotel. You might be able to upgrade to a room where you have a butler who will unpack and pack your bags for you. So as soon as you land, you hit the ground running and start to enjoy your vacation.

Trisha Stetzel: Wow, that I didn’t even know that was possible.

Raymond Giles: I didn’t either. Like I said, there is so much that I have learned that I did not know I’m.

Trisha Stetzel: This is so exciting. So, um. Raymond, what sets you apart from other. I’ll just call them travel agents. I know you mentioned earlier you don’t consider yourself a travel agent, but how do you. How are you different than what we’ve come to? Known as travel agent.

Raymond Giles: So I think there’s a couple of things. One is that if you were to book through Expedia or something like that, you’re going to get a call center. All of my clients have my personal cell phone. And so if you have a problem, you are able to get Ahold of me 24 hours a day. And I have direct contacts with the name Brand hotels, these other luxury hotels, I have direct contact with those properties specifically. And so I’m able to address those issues. And not only am I saving you money by not charging you a fee. The beautiful thing about my company is that our CEO was a programmer in a previous life, and he has created a software, excuse me, that uses APIs, that pulls, um, a bunch of different rates for hotels. So I’m able to shop and I can find you hotel rates that are far cheaper than what you’re going to find through Expedia or even direct.

Trisha Stetzel: Wow. So, Raymond, who’s your let’s just call it ideal client. Who are the people?

Raymond Giles: So my ideal client is, uh, going to be people that do frequent traveling. Um, because at that point, we can develop a relationship. I understand what your needs are. You can call me up and say, hey, Raymond, I need to go to this place at this time. And this is what my budget is. And I know already know what your likes and dislikes are. Uh. And I can make it happen. And I say, hey, this is where you’re going to stay. These are the nights I’ve got your driver set up. You have executive pickup, you have a car hire for the entire week or whatever. So those are things. By having a frequent traveler, I can develop that relationship. Um, also, uh, high net worth clients, because once again, you have developed, um, a lot of worth because of your ability to probably run businesses or you’re involved in a lot of activities to where, uh, you know, your funds are coming in. So to allow you the time to be able to work on that, I’m taking this burden off of you. Even if you have an executive assistant who is booking your travel for you, I’m giving you your E back. So that and I as the travel expert, I handle all of this. I mean, there’s nothing better than having an expert handle something for you. Who’s not going to charge you anything.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. I, I love that, yeah. The Smee, you’re the Smee subject matter expert. Get us where we need to go. And, um, you know, I’m thinking about people who are in the business of like speaking, and they travel all over the planet on speaking engagements. This would be such a great service. Yours in particular for them. Um, okay. So, Raymond, you said you’ve been to 36 countries, I think, or. Yeah, 36 countries. Were those all because you were traveling, or were some of those because you were in the military?

Raymond Giles: So, uh, four were in the military. I have been to all of them since then. Okay. Um, but I’ve actually lived in two others with my what I call my day job. I lived in Finland for 18 months during Covid, and I lived in Saudi Arabia. And because of, uh, the time I’ve spent in Finland, I’ve convinced my wife that that’s where we’re going to retire, because for eight years in a row, they have been called the happiest people on the planet. And they’ll tell you they’re not happy, jovial, happy like what? We think they’re happy and that they’re content with their life. Okay. And they’re happy going about their day. They’re not chasing the Joneses. And so I went back there, uh, in September 23rd and from the airport to the city, riding the train, my face hurt because I was smiling. Because I was just so happy. I sat in the rain with a coffee and a pastry, because I couldn’t think of any other place besides with my family that I would rather be. And those are the kind of experiences that I want other people to have.

Trisha Stetzel: That’s Holly. You have such a passion for this and you have so much experience as well, which I think is a really big benefit of working with you specifically. So, Raymond, if we’ve already convinced some people that they need to take a vacation or travel and they want to do that with you, what is the best way to connect?

Raymond Giles: Honestly, the best way is if somebody was to drop me a text at (281) 536-1713, uh, we can get a time set up for a phone call. Um, for me, I believe in striking when the when the iron’s hot. Um, I want to have you a quote. I want to have you a preliminary itinerary put together in a in an hour or two. I don’t want to wait for a couple of days. Um, because you obviously have something that has caused you to have the passion or the need for travel, and I want to get it done now to show you how possible it is so that you don’t start to second guess your decision.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, I believe in that, too. Right. Uh, because it’s top of mind. And that’s what we need to. Yeah, we gotta tackle it while it’s top of mind. So, Raymond, um, how has the military, how did your military service prepare you for being your own business owner?

Raymond Giles: So for many years, I had always thought, how am I going to. What if what would I do to run a business? How would I run it? And I think, honestly, going through the nuclear power pipeline with the discipline that it required, because I had to be in school, you weren’t allowed to take your training material outside of the schoolhouse. So the discipline that was required to be able to do that has demonstrated my commitment to my business and my clients. Uh, because, you know, we live and die by referrals. So it’s my job to make sure that my clients are satisfied with what I’ve done, everything from the booking process all the way through the end of their travel. I have a couple clients having some problems with their travel insurance. They finished their travel back in October. I’m still handling the problems with the insurance to make sure that my clients are happy, and they see that I’m continuing to fight for them, um, as their advisor.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, I think as, uh, military veterans, we don’t let things fail. Right. This is not in our vocabulary. We just got to go do the thing. So while we’re on the military subject, I’d like to talk a little bit about your role in the Houston Regional Veterans Chamber of Commerce as a pathfinder. What in the world is a pathfinder?

Raymond Giles: So, uh, a couple of things that, uh, the Pathfinder is going to do is I’m going out and I’m looking for veteran owned Veteran-owned businesses. And I’m looking for passionate patriots and let them know that we do have this veteran Chamber of Commerce thing here in Houston. You know, we have the largest concentration of vendors in the state of Texas. And I believe the number is something we have 6500 veteran-owned businesses within the metropolitan area. And we want that to grow. We are the most we want to be the most active and the most well known of the chambers. And then as a pathfinder, once we get somebody into the chamber, they’re getting ready to come to their first meeting. I kind of welcome them in, let them know, because, you know, for those that went through the military, in the Navy, we had, um, the first 72 hours that we use for our leadership training. And I think it’s so important that we really kind of grab a hold of somebody at that very first bit, and we show them that they are a part of the family. Just leaving somebody to their own devices. And, you know, Lou always says, you get out of it what you put into it. I want to get a hold of our new or new members and show them that it is very important to put in to the chamber, because you are going to get far more out than what you ever put in, but you do have to make that effort. And and furthermore, I’m working with, um, we have a couple that are managing our mixers throughout the city of Houston. So I’m helping because I live up in Kingwood. I’m helping with the Conroe mixer that happens at the first Thursday of every month at Honor Cafe. So, um, I’m going to be they’re going to be, you know, gripping and grinning, meeting everybody and welcome them to the, uh, to the mixer and want us all to, uh, to realize that we help each other out.

Trisha Stetzel: Mhm. Absolutely. Y’all. This is a give back. This is Raymond’s give back to the community. And it’s what I like to call serving after we’ve served. Right. Uh and I think it’s really important. So thank you for being a part of that I really appreciate it. Um why don’t we talk about let’s add a little value here about when I travel. What are some travel tips that you could give to the listeners today?

Raymond Giles: So I think, uh, the first one is, you know, if we’re thinking about it from the American point of view, we think there’s nothing as powerful as the USD. Okay. So if you go to an ATM or you go out to dinner and you swipe your credit card, they’re going to ask you, do you want to pay in the local currency or do you want to pay in USD? And we always want to hit that because we know that that’s what we paid. That’s really is the wrong choice. You want to pay in the local currency because your bank is going to get you the better exchange rate. So and plus you’re going to get hit with exchange your fees and everything else and what you think you might be taking $20 out. And then you see that you might have, you know, a $2 fee, $3 fee, but in the end, you could be paying upwards of an extra ten bucks for that $20 you took out. Um, so that’s I think that’s your first safety tip. And, you know, uh, some of the of the Facebook groups I’m a part of where people talk about traveling. Hey, they have ATMs overseas, right? You don’t have to go to your bank and get €500, €1,000 to go to Europe. You’re able to take money out of the ATM there. So that’s another one. Don’t you don’t want to be walking around the airport and going through customs and everything with a bunch of money in your in your pocket.

Raymond Giles: I landed in Italy and in Milan, and I had taken money out of the ATM. And the Carabinieri comes up to me. Where are you going? Why are you here? Do you have any money on you? And I’m like, well, yeah, the money I just took out of the ATM. But, uh, you don’t want to be in a situation where it looks like you’re bringing a lot of money into a country, because then it makes you a red flag for them. So that, I think, is your, uh, one of your first tips. And also, if you’re going to be traveling to Europe and it’s going to be a vacation, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. Really look at upgrading your experience by booking business class or, if nothing else, premium economy. Because the last thing you want to do is spend $10,000 on a On a vacation and you lose the first two days because you’re so tired. Okay, so go ahead and look at, um, booking the premium economy. It might be twice as much, but you’re going to have a more comfortable seat. You’re going to be able to sleep a little bit better and you’re going to have better food. So you’re rested. Uh, when you get there and you can hit the ground running. Yeah.

Trisha Stetzel: There’s nothing worse than having a nine hour flight in, coach.

Raymond Giles: And I think the last one is when you go to a place where there is a significant time difference from home, your first instinct is, okay, I’ve got to go to the hotel, which you need to do because you want to drop your bags off, go to your room, drop your bags off, do not hit the bed. Leave. Go back out into town and walk around. You’ve got to get yourself put on their clock. You might be, but once you start walking around and seeing things, you’re going to be invigorated. You’re going to have that energy that you need to make it through the day and then go to bed that night. So you wake up at the same time as the locals are.

Trisha Stetzel: Jet lag is a thing. It is even coming back. I always feel like coming back is worse. Oh my goodness. So, Raymond, you talked about Finland, so I know that’s probably one of your favorite places to live, but what’s your favorite place to vacation or your most favorite vacation?

Raymond Giles: So, um, I’m a history buff, and so when I was living in Saudi Arabia, we had a ten day vacation. So I flew to Greece and did, um, some of the Balkan countries. And the funny thing about that is so doing Greece, I’m not interested in the islands. I don’t have an island body. So I’m interested in going and seeing the ancient sites of Greece. So, um, I went to Delphi and, uh, to meet the or meet the or is a place that Americans just don’t hear about. And I’m going to tell you what, if you haven’t been to Meteora in Greece, you’re missing out. You have these, uh, ancient Byzantine monasteries built up on top of these rock monoliths that you have to climb to the top of, and it just has this beautiful view of this valley. And it is just so. It is a cultural and a natural Unesco World Heritage Site. So it’s it’s inscribed with two. That’s how fascinating this place is. But and then I went to Croatia and Bosnia and Serbia and, you know, looking at it, I remember the war in the 90s and the Balkans.

Raymond Giles: I didn’t know what it was about, but I knew that there was a war on and there was genocide going there. And having a tour guide who was of the local ethnicity was probably the most educational experience of my life. And just seeing the won, the beauty of those countries and being able to actually immerse myself with locals, and that was probably one of the most fulfilling experiences. And then when I came back, you know, my father, unfortunately, he passed in September. But as my brother and I are going through his things, I’m looking at his photos because he had gone to Delphi in 73 and I’m like, oh, I’ve had I’ve had to listen to him talk about Greece for 44 years. I’m going to go to the places he went, and I’m looking at photos. I’m like, I think I have that picture. And I started looking through and like 3 or 4 of the photos that he took were the exact same spot that I took a photo of 50 years later.

Trisha Stetzel: Wow. That’s amazing. All right, y’all, if you’re ready to travel even even if you’re just going to Austin, Raymond can help you if you want to take the trip of a lifetime. Raymond has experience, and I’d love for you guys to connect. So, Raymond, one more time, how can people find you?

Raymond Giles: So you can text me at, um, (281) 536-1713. If you’re on Facebook, uh, you can look for Regal Luxury Travel. The Regal is capital letters. The R, E, g is capitalized because those are my initials. So there might be another one out there, but that one is going to be mine. You’re going to see a photo of me and my son on a river cruise in front of the Hungarian Parliament, uh, from back in December of 22. So that’s how you know.

Trisha Stetzel: You can’t miss that. Definitely. All right. As we get to the back end of our conversation today, Raymond, can you tell us your favorite client story?

Raymond Giles: So one of my, uh, one of my friends from high school, we hadn’t talked very much, uh, since graduation, but she reached out to me a few weeks ago and said, hey, you know, there’s me and five other families. We want to do a vacation. We want to do all inclusive. So all inclusive. You cannot do the United States. We do not have them. So you have to go to the Dominican Republic, Jamaica or Mexico. So we started looking, went all the way through, uh, the Lesser Antilles. And finally she settled on Tulum, Mexico. And I, they said they wanted to stay at this particular property. And I started looking. And in the end, there were six families, seven rooms. And I was able to save them $7,000 over if they had booked directly through Hilton, and $9,000 if they had tried to book through Expedia.

Trisha Stetzel: Wow. Wow. Okay. If that doesn’t solidify you guys listening that you need to go talk to Raymond. I don’t know what’s wrong with you. I’m just kidding. Uh, Raymond, thank you so much for being on the show today. You are a just a plethora of of energy one and information two. And it’s been a pleasure to host you today.

Raymond Giles: I appreciate you having me today.

Trisha Stetzel: All right. That’s all the time we have for today’s show. Join us next time for another exciting episode of Houston Business Radio. Until then, stay tuned, stay inspired, and keep thriving in the Houston business community.

 

Christa Rollock with C Rollock Photography, Inc.

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C-Rollock-Photography-logo

Christa-RollockFrom Bavaria, Germany, to Houston, Texas, Christa Rollock’s life has been a journey of love, family, and artistic discovery. After marrying a U.S. Army soldier in Denmark, she embraced a life of frequent moves, raising two children while navigating military life.

Following her husband’s retirement, her deep-rooted love for Houston brought them back, where she transitioned from a successful career in insurance to fully pursuing her artistic passions. A lifelong creative, she explored painting, drawing, singing, and theater before discovering her true calling in portrait photography.

At 58, she returned to college to study graphic design but was ultimately captivated by the power of light in photography. Earning a certificate in digital photography, she launched C. Rollock Photography, a business dedicated to capturing individuality and authentic expression in both personal and professional portraits.

In her discussion with Trisha, Christa shared insights into her approach to photography, emphasizing the importance of personal branding, regularly updating professional headshots, and capturing life experiences with authenticity. She is deeply passionate about building relationships with clients and creating meaningful portraits that reflect their true essence.

With the unwavering support of her husband, Christa continues to pursue her dream, using her artistic vision to tell powerful visual stories—one portrait at a time.

Connect with Christa on LinkedIn and follow C Rollock Photography on Facebook and Instagram.

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. Really excited about this guest coming by way of an introduction from Uguanda Simpson. Thank you, Uguanda, for the amazing introduction to Christa Rollock. She’s the owner of C Rollock Photography. Christa, welcome to the show.

Christa Rollock: Hello. Thank you.

Trisha Stetzel: So excited to have you on today. Okay. Let’s start with tell us a little bit about who you are and why you’ve ventured into this space of photography.

Christa Rollock: So, um, so my name is Christa, as you said. You know, I am someone who was born in Germany. I moved to the United States because I met my husband, and he was in the military at the time in the army. And so we moved to Milwaukee. We moved all over the place because he was an Army recruiter, and I was always there supporting him all the time, you know, raising the children, being there for him. And so my kind of my professional life took always a little bit of a step back. Right. And so finally at one point, I, um, I started in the insurance business, Life and Health for a long time, you know, and, um, enjoyed it because I am a people person and I like to help people. I like to be with people. So I enjoyed it. But there came a time in my life especially, that was when Covid hit. I, um, I found that because I was always a very creative person all my life. So I always did photography from a, from a, from a young age on, starting with, um, you know, push camera, like the cameras that you just push together to get a picture or the ones that just printed something out. You know, it was from very young on.

Christa Rollock: I did that, and I loved it. And I also loved drawing. Painting. But all of this, you know. Yeah, it just never really came out during all these years following my husband around. And then when that Covid hit, all of this came back to me. It it was like an eye opener. And I said, what is happening with all my creativity that I have? And, um, and so as I took a deep look at what I was doing right, I think a lot of people did it back then, you know, to take that deep look into their lives. And I went back to college. So I went back to college, to Houston Community College and, uh, started with, uh, graphic design, Lightroom, Photoshop and photography. And I learned everything about lighting. You know, how to light a human face. You know how to how to pose them. What light actually can do to a face. You know, when you really, really how it can shape somebody, how the eyes can pop. And I just I fell so hard for portrait photography. And I said, this is it. This is absolutely it. And from that moment on, there was no holding me back. And I started my business.

Trisha Stetzel: That’s that’s beautiful. So for those of you who aren’t watching the video, you need to go to the YouTube channel and see how amazing Christa’s light is on her right now. Because it’s beautiful. You you definitely have a knack for that. And by the way, I am old enough to remember Polaroids and flashbulbs. I’m just saying. I’m just saying. Wow, what a journey. Thank you. First off, I want to say thank you for doing the hard duty of being a military spouse. It’s not an easy thing to do. And moving all of the time and starting over all of the time can be very taxing. So I’m so glad that you’ve settled in and found the love that you have for photography. I want to talk about your motto because I love it. I mentioned it to you before we started recording this morning. So can you share what your motto is?

Christa Rollock: So my motto is every face has a story to tell. Let me help you tell yours because I am focusing on faces. This was always my passion. I went on my mother’s nerves and my whole family’s nerves back then because I always did these close ups. Right? Because faces, they tell a story. They really do. They I, you know, the older we get, actually, the more powerful a face becomes, because every, every wrinkle that we might have, every every gray hair we might have, you know, and the expression, you know, that we have I think that our life experiences can show in a face. You know, and it it to me, it always shows up great no matter what somebody’s life experiences were. But they made us who we are. And I, I want to show that because I think every face is so beautiful, and we live in a time where people think, oh my God, I am not the beauty standard. I am not looking like what I see out there. Right? And I want to tell people that’s not what it’s about. It’s about you. You are special and your image is special. And so that is that is the reason why this is my motto.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that that’s so beautiful, Christa. I love your story. I love your passion for the business that you’re in and what you bring to faces. And it’s can sometimes be challenging or even rewarding. So what are some of the unique challenges and rewards of capturing different personalities on camera?

Christa Rollock: So I think the, the, the biggest challenge is when somebody when you photograph someone who had, for instance, a headshot done before or and it was a, it was a three minute thing in a, in a, in an event, you know, where there was no time to really spend with that person, you know, to find out who are you, you know, well, how is your smile really working for you? Right? And does it reach your eyes? You know, and and so a lot of people come with that notion already. Oh, my God, I look so terrible in front of the of the camera and and my image will look so terrible. So this is a big challenge to overcome. But I feel that, um, because the way I work with people just, you know, really chilling, listening to music, talking, laughing and just getting people involved in the photo shoot itself. It makes people realize, hey, it’s actually great to do something like this. You know, it’s kind of a treat, you know? So this is the biggest challenge. Uh, I think that to overcome the, the preconceived, the way how people see themselves, you know?

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. I don’t like the way I sound. I don’t like the way I look, all the things. Right? Yeah. We hear it all the time. Um, can we talk just a little bit about just the production? So who do you work with and how do you work with them?

Christa Rollock: So I call myself a headshot photographer because I do so many headshots. Right? I, um, I love showing business people the strengths that they have, the the tenacity that shows up in their face, you know, the, the spunk that they have. I really love that because of the fact that I have been self-employed for so many years. And I think that we need to show, you know, who we are as business people, um, and what we represent, you know, and so that is something that I really like to do. Portraits is just all for me. It portraits is my. Yeah. It’s my passion. It’s that is what I do. So I you know, I always say this, you know as a photographer, yes. We can shoot a lot of different things, you know, we can shoot. Yeah. But where is your passion? Where is your niche? Where is it? Where you absolutely feel excitement. And for me, the excitement is a phase.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. I can see that. You light up when you talk about what you do. You have such a such a passion for it. So, Christa, uh, are you in studio? Do you come to your clients? How does that work?

Christa Rollock: So I work in my studio where people can come and have that extended session. You know, where they really get, you know, where they can relax more. And I also go to businesses where I spend time with with people there. And because not every business owner can send their employees to me, you know, so I go to them, I have my equipment and I take the lighting with me and have fun there and just get to know the people that are working there and, and have fun with them and, and create that headshot for them there.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay. Fantastic. Tell me location wise, how far do you go and where is your studio?

Christa Rollock: So my studio is in Richmond, and, um, but because I have all my equipment, I can travel it. I travel basically anywhere, you know, to, you know, in Houston, Galveston. I mean, um, yeah, I mean, it really doesn’t matter, you know, because of the fact that unless it is, you know, out of state, that is something I don’t do. I use I don’t travel out of state.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay. All right. Fantastic. So if someone’s already interested in meeting you and finding out more, what’s the best way to connect with you?

Christa Rollock: The best way to connect with me is by giving me a call or emailing me. Um, but the best thing is get in touch with me, shoot me a text, you know, and I call you back or call me. Um, so that way we can find out more about what it is that you need, because that’s very important to have that conversation beforehand. What is your expectation? What do you want out of this photo shoot? You know, what do you want to show? What do you want to present? And, um, so that way, it makes it already easier to understand a little bit more about you before you even come to me.

Trisha Stetzel: Oh that’s lovely. So I’ll put all of Christa’s contact information in the show notes. If you’re listening or watching, you can just click on the link and get in touch with Christa if you’re interested in having a conversation. So you do a lot of headshots, and I know I may be a dirty word, but what really sets the professional images that you’re putting together apart from someone using a cell phone or even creating an AI image online.

Christa Rollock: So let’s just talk about AI first. Uh, yes, there is a lot of these programs out there. You can, you know, you post so many images and then they put it all together into one. Who is there to coach you about how to how to lean in, how to you know about your smile about is your smile reaching your eyes. For instance, you know, how are you turning your head. How? How do you. Nobody is there to coach you, you know, for that. And, um, nobody is talking to you maybe about. Hey, what would look great about, you know, what do you wear? How about your backdrop that you have what goes well with you, the colors. Um, and, you know, and then the filters that are put on there, this is often not even looking at the person anymore that they are, you know. And so I’m thinking always, if you want to have a portrait of yourself, then why not show who you are instead of having it all that tons of filters on it and really not not, you know, and then somebody sees you and it’s like, is that really her or him?

Trisha Stetzel: Yes. It’s very hard to build trust with your audience if you’re not putting your real face forward and having someone like you really assist in that space can make it so much easier, right? Uh.

Christa Rollock: Yes. I think it’s a it’s a challenge. You know, when you sometimes meet someone and you saw them first on LinkedIn, and it is actually not who you’re expecting to see?

Trisha Stetzel: I agree. Yes, absolutely. All right. So, Christa, what would you say to those nice people out there that have a picture that’s 20 years old on their LinkedIn profile?

Christa Rollock: So, so.

Trisha Stetzel: Well.

Christa Rollock: You know, it’s great how we look 20 years ago. Ten years ago. Right? But I am someone who is very proud of how what who we are who are we’re becoming, like I said earlier, who are we? Right. And so I think that as a professional, you really should. Every year you should have it on your calendar, get a new headshot every year, because that way you have every year an updated headshot. You keep your you keep it fresh. Do you need branding for your website because what you know, do you not just need a headshot? Do you need to know for people to see who are you? What are you doing now? Right. And updated yearly. So that way it’s always fresh content. I think that’s really important.

Trisha Stetzel: Wow. I’ve never heard anyone give that advice before. Get it done every year. And I was thinking back to when we were in grade school. We would have a photo every year. Right. To see, uh, how we had grown each year I love I think it’s a fantastic idea. Can we just talk a little bit? I’m not talking about dollars and cents, but the investment in having good headshots and marketing for your business. Can you talk a little bit about how important that investment is?

Christa Rollock: I think that as a business you look into marketing, right? What do I put out there? Do I pay my Google ad? What do I, you know, how do I what kind of advertising that I do? And you are putting the putting the money in there because you know it’s important. You have to get your name out, right? But isn’t it the same important to also get out how you’re looking, you know, so people realize who you are. They feel comfortable when they are meeting you. They feel like they’re already knowing you a little bit when they’re looking at this headshot. And that is why. Or your branding image on your website. That is why this investment is very important, not just putting the advertising out and putting the money aside for that, but also investing in your, um, in your profile profile is the wrong word, probably. But in your in your who you are. So people get to know you.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. Your personal brand. Right. Your personal brand. Absolutely. So important whether you’re a leader for another company or you’re the owner of your business, that personal branding is so important. Absolutely. Okay, so if you could Photograph any person, living or dead, who would it be and why?

Christa Rollock: So it is not somebody famous that I am thinking of, because there’s a lot of famous people that are very interesting, right? And that have a lot of images out there. I would love to be able to go back and photograph my grandparents, because when I hear people saying, oh, I don’t want to be photographed, you know, then I think about how it is for me. I have no images of them or or the ones that I have are so awful I can barely see them. See them, you know, and I would love to go back and just show their life experience and show what they were about. So it is for my memory, for my personal thing and for the family, for my for my brothers and my sister, you know, so we can look back and see and and see more about them. And we don’t have that. And I think that’s sad. So if I could, I would go back and say, yes, that is absolutely what I want to do.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that. And and each picture portrait, photo tells a story. How important is that storytelling through the work that you do?

Christa Rollock: It’s for me, it’s very important to tell that story because we are so different from each other, and we should show to people who we are. Who are we? And and, uh, not. Well, yes, we can always pretend. Right. But I always like to tell the real story about someone, you know? And, um, because it comes across, it comes across to people instead of, you know, the, the filtered images, you know, that show nothing, uh, the real, the real images have really come across to people and say, wow, I want to get to know this person.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that. So as we get to the back end of our conversation today, Christa, I’m going to drop a fun question on you. Can you tell us a story or a time of someone that you’ve worked with that was really enjoyable for you, being behind the camera?

Christa Rollock: You know, I, I have just recently, um, did a photo shoot for a very interesting company, uh, here in Richmond. They are a veteran owned as well, you know, disability. Veteran owned. Right. And, um, it’s a very and and I learned about this company so much because I’ve wanted to it was a photo shoot that the images went into Forbes and in fortune magazine, you know. And so I wanted to show the business owner. Right. You know, and he was told me, he said, no, this is not what it is about. My company is not about me. My company is about the people that work for me. So my company is all about them. And I loved that photo shoot because it was such a inspiring time to work with them and to see how they are, you know, how they’re working together, how they are, how they really like each other. You know, uh, it’s just I love that photo shoot. I loved I loved it very much. I love to get to. I love the people that I met there. I love the the commitment that he had to his people. I also love the nonprofit organization that they started, you know, um, uh, and it’s just everything was inspiring about them. So that’s just what hit me right off the top.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that. So lots of headshots. Lots of business people. You do personal photo shoots as well. You kind of have it all. Everything all encompassing. Right. Um, how do you find your clients? How do they find you? Normally.

Christa Rollock: So I network a lot, you know, in, in, in, you know, I’m out there a lot, shaking hands, meeting people at networking events, and, um, so people get to know me and then. Yeah, certainly, I, you know, make the connection by phone afterwards, you know, and, um, hopefully also by people referring me then, you know, saying, you know, I had that photo shoot with her, I loved it, you know, maybe you should get in touch with her. So that’s that is what I that is what I do mainly.

Trisha Stetzel: Awesome. I’m so excited that you came on the show with me today, Christa.

Christa Rollock: Thank you.

Trisha Stetzel: I know you got. Yeah. I’m glad that you had fun. So if you guys are looking for Christa, she and I are connected on LinkedIn, so if you and I are already connected, then you can find her that way. You can find her on LinkedIn at Christa dash dash 992675. And her first name is spelled c h r i s t a. You can also find her on Facebook at Sea Relic Photography and her website so you can go see some of her beautiful work is Sea Relic photography.com. Christa, thanks again for being with me today. It’s been my pleasure.

Christa Rollock: Thank you so much. It was so much fun.

Trisha Stetzel: I’m glad you had fun today and that’s all the time we have for today’s show. Join us next time for another exciting episode of Houston Business Radio. Until then, stay tuned, stay inspired, and keep thriving in the Houston business community.

 

BRX Pro Tip: Create Your Own Pro Tip Series

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BRX Pro Tip: Create Your Own Pro Tip Series

Stone Payton: And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, this ought to be a fun topic. Let’s talk about pro tips.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, I think it’s important for anybody that’s in professional services, anybody that aspires to be a thought leader to create some sort of a pro tip series like this one here. And we’re happy to share how we do what we do and the why behind it. But I think it’s important to create some sort of a series of short, actionable tips. This kind of nuggets are great for social media, they’re easy to share on LinkedIn, they boost engagement and visibility. If you do this right, over time… I mean, we’ve done a thousand plus of tips of these over the years. We release them every weekday. But it can be curated. You can create playlists around it. Spotify is great for pulling playlists. You can create playlists around a variety of curated topics to, then, take these existing tips and then turn them into other types of tips.

But in order to do it right, I think it’s important to plan some sort of a content calendar with themes for each week or month. The way we do it is we record ten at a time, a couple times a month, and we release that content every workday. We try to keep the content two minutes-ish. We found that that kind of is the best for optimized for maximum engagement. And we try to include clear calls to action in a lot of these pieces of content that helps drive engagement and traffic back to our website and to us.

So, think about it. Is a pro tip series good for your business? Do you have enough thought leadership? And do you have enough content that you can share or willing to share? We find that it’s important to give away all the secrets. We don’t really hold back everything that we share, or stuff that we’re doing, or stuff we’ve learned firsthand, or stuff we’ve read about from other thought leaders.

And it’s important to be doing this with an end in mind. And the end in mind for us is we want to be considered thought leaders, and we want to help other professional services people, prospect properly grow their business and hopefully leverage the Business RadioX platform to help them grow their business. So, if you’re interested in learning more about pro tips, how we do it, and get really into how it might be able to help you, give us a call.

Lea Appleton with Appleton Coaching

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Lea-AppletonLea Appleton is a fourth-generation Southern Californian connected to place through walking—from the beaches of the Pacific Ocean to the pinnacles of the High Sierra mountain ranges.

She spent a couple of decades in theological higher education, helping to build multicultural and interreligious communities, and is now a professional certified coach.

She has expertise in using mindful practices to reduce stress and build resilience and supports her clients to create a better day at work through transformative coaching conversations.

Lea has a Master of Arts in Music, a Master of Divinity degree, and holds the Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential from the International Coaching Federation.

Lea lives in California with her husband Billy, has three adult children, and loves to make lentil soup!

Connect with Lea on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

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

Stone Payton: Welcome to the High Velocity Radio show, where we celebrate top performers producing better results in less time. Stone Payton here with you this afternoon. You guys are in for a real treat. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast with Appleton Coaching the lady herself, Ms. Lea Appleton. How are you?

Lea Appleton: I am well. Thank you so much for having me today. Stone, this is great.

Stone Payton: Well, it’s my pleasure. What a delight to have you on the broadcast. I got a ton of questions. Lea, I’m sure we won’t get to them all, but I would love to to paint a picture if we could. For me and our listeners. Mission. Purpose. What are you really out there trying to do for folks?

Lea Appleton: Yeah. So in my coaching, I’m really here to help people and be a guide so that they can find their way, whether it is in making their work life better or their personal life more in order. My goal and my mission is to provide a way for them to act with intention, pay attention to what’s important to notice and be aware so that the choices that they make every single day really align with their values.

Stone Payton: Well, it sounds like great work if you can get it. How in the world did you find yourself in this line of work? What’s the backstory?

Lea Appleton: Well it’s great. What’s interesting is, honestly, I didn’t really know about coaching, and I was in higher education for decades, and I took a course that was part of my professional development, and I chose the coaching training program because I wanted to learn how to ask better questions. That was my sole reason. I had a lot of conversations with people, Well, listened a lot and realized I could do better at asking questions. So that’s how my journey began. And it was like coaching found me. And when I retired from higher ed, I thought, this is this is how I’m going to spend my time. So it’s been a really great journey so far and have had fabulous conversation hours, hundreds, thousands of hours of conversation so far. It’s been great.

Stone Payton: So what are you finding the most rewarding at this stage in your career at this point in your practice? What’s the what’s the most fun about it for you?

Lea Appleton: You know, what’s really fun is that I have such a wide variety of people that I work with because I have private clients, and I also work for two coaching companies where I’m a contract coach. So I have access to such interesting people who are willing and to share their story with me, and to be able to inquire of themselves what it is they really want most. And I get to be witness to that. And that is really the most exciting part for me to be able to watch people’s lives unfold in ways maybe they didn’t even realize they wanted, or they weren’t sure how to get there. And I get to to be there, as it happens for them.

Stone Payton: So let’s dive into the work a little bit. Let’s talk about the mechanism for the work. You know, are you doing one on one work? It sounds like you’re well, I know because you and I had a chance to visit, uh, before we came on air. Uh, you’re getting people outside. You talk about the work itself?

Lea Appleton: Sure. So I do a lot of coaching. One on one in the online environment. Um, I became a coach, uh, as a digital first, uh, learner. So that was terrific. I didn’t have to translate like a lot of people did after the pandemic or during the pandemic into an online platform. So I do most of my coaching online, but I have a on my website, I talk about how I have an indoor job and an outdoor job, and part of my outdoor job is having opportunities for people to go on mindful walking excursions, if you will. Usually a day long or a good portion of a day. And so in a lot of ways these partnered together because inside, when we’re in our offices or our homes and we’re talking online about the life that we want to create for ourselves, or in particular with my clients, the work life that they want is, is the wayfinding and how they find their way and how they make those choices. And when I work with people outside, it gives them a hands on opportunity to think through or experience the next choice, the next, the sign that they actually see on the walkway and what it makes them think about and to be reflective in that process. And so it’s a practice of mindful walking that allows them really, I think, to live more mindfully.

Stone Payton: So mindful walking I’m operating under the impression that while there is this, this element of freedom and expanse, that there is some structure, some rigor, some discipline to this so that it delivers some some results and opens up some opportunities for internal exploration. Can you say more about the structure?

Lea Appleton: Sure. So usually I invite people to come up with an intention for their walk. So it’s a purpose, not just I want to do, you know, 12 miles today or I want to be done in three hours. So it’s not so much a quantifiable, um, result that they’re looking for, but more this idea of how do I want to be with myself in this moment. A lot of people don’t spend hours and hours with themselves and, you know, their thoughts and their ramblings in some senses. Stone. What’s interesting is that it is actually a little bit of of wandering there. In some cases, there isn’t a destination. We’ll just go as far as seems right, and we’ll turn around and go back. In other cases, we’ll walk as far as it seems, and then we’ll take a Lyft or an Uber back to where our car is. So, um, that I think kind of is nice because then it allows the very specific things of what’s your intention? I create booklets that give questions that ask people to reflect every few 30 minutes, every hour, depending on how long we’re going. So there’s some structure around that that I’ve created and then to but not to necessarily have a specific place they’re trying to get to, both figuratively as well as on the map. And I think that allows for people to explore whatever is going on.

Stone Payton: So this may be a little bit of a selfish question, but maybe it’ll serve the listener. After this particular conversation, I’m going to hop in the truck and I’m going to go to a place called Wildlife Action. I have 450 plus acres that I have a chance to roam. My question is this does there become a point in working with you where there is, uh, what’s the right word for this? Some capability transfer where I could incorporate some of what I’ve learned from working with you into my ongoing excursions out in the woods as I’m playing, is there some individual capability that happens over time to exercise some of these disciplines and these techniques?

Lea Appleton: Absolutely. And in fact, you know, I told you that I wrote a book last year and it was published. And one of the things that’s in the back of the book, the last full chapter, is the DIY tips, right? So really the goal and the hope for me is that people are being able to learn to practice paying attention, learn to practice noticing. So both what you see with your eyeballs or you hear is what’s going out there. Because so many times, whether we’re walking along a sidewalk in a city or whether we’re in some open space, there’s a lot going on that we can pay attention to. And then to focus some of that attention inwardly what’s going on with us as we explore these places. So being able it’s really a really a matter of practice. I think that most of us can do these things on our own, but we don’t necessarily try it. We don’t do it yet. So my hope is both to explore again in my indoor and outdoor job, getting people to practice, the opportunity to pay attention, to notice, to really begin to make the choices and respond to kind of the yearnings of the heart, if you will, and being able to make those choices in their daily lives, whether it’s on the walk or whether it’s in the office. And, um, really, my honest hope is that you don’t need me as a coach eventually. And I don’t know that every coach will say that, but I really hope that people are able to develop these skills on their own and the practices on their own, so they can go do it themselves. That’s really my goal.

Stone Payton: So I know the answer to this has to be yes, but I’m going to ask you to expand on it. But is there a a peer to peer dynamic application for Application for this work. Like if I if I work with you to go out with our with our team, does I gotta believe that this would really lend itself to some tremendous peer to peer dynamics?

Lea Appleton: Yeah, absolutely. And you know, depending on you know, sometimes I’ve brought people together who don’t know each other and maybe they don’t want to share. But if there’s a group of friends or if there’s a team, that’s a really great opportunity to be able to say, um, with the booklets that I create, they can be more customized. But then you could do that too and say, all right, people have done their internal exploration of their own landscape. Then what does our team look like together when we look, um, or our, our organization or our group of friends, whoever it is that’s doing this together to begin to explore and share what’s going on in ourselves, which sometimes, you know, takes some vulnerability, some willingness to do. Um, but I think it can really help build trust and, um, build focus for a joint effort, whatever the Whatever the team or the group is wanting to do together.

Stone Payton: So you briefly mentioned this book. I’d say more about the book. I’m interested in the structure and the content, but I also candidly, I’m interested and I’m sure many of our listeners, because many of our listeners are practitioners or aspiring practitioners, the experience of committing your ideas to paper and crafting a book, speak to that a little bit.

Lea Appleton: Sure, absolutely. It’s called walking and wayfinding. Create your own mindful practice one step at a time. And it actually just came out on audible a couple weeks ago. And it’s available on Amazon, which is great. And the the point of the book for me became when I realized that I didn’t have it in me, both in time and energy and and focus for how I wanted to run my business to, to lead wayfinding days all the time. Um, took me away from my family, take me away from my home and my other opportunities. I love to do it. But I thought, well, how could I make this possible for even more even more people. Plus, I live in Southern California and like, you know, it’s not so easy for you to join me on a walk at the beach in California, right? So how can I I create this opportunity for people because a lot of people asked me about it. I had done these walks on my own and people said, that’s really cool. I want to do one. And so that’s what led me to create them for other people. And then I thought, well, if I write a book, then even more people can do these themselves, whether they and there are questions in the book. So each chapter is a process of developing a mindful practice, and mine happens to be around walking. And the book talks about that, but it leaves open the opportunity that it could even be something else. And then the so the writing of the book became this way to share both my personal experience and the group experience that I had helped create with other people. To really make it possible for you to go do this yourself. Again, this, this goal of of making I’m kind of a DIYer, and I think that I love, um, being able to to share that excitement with other people so that you all can do it yourself too.

Stone Payton: So is there some science or at least intention behind using the the nomenclature, the the the frame of wayfinding?

Lea Appleton: Well, it’s interesting because I don’t I don’t know if I would say that there is science, but I was very particular in why I chose that. So wayfinding is and I talk about it in the book, the idea that we’ve used the term wayfinding, particularly in seafaring going early on and, and people finding their navigating by the stars and, you know, the nature that’s out there and finding your way from one island to the next, or one continent to the next. And then wayfinding also is used, at least in contemporary language in the US around city planning. So wayfinding is a term that’s used for like, here’s a sign that tells you how to find parking. Here’s a sign that tells you to go to the restroom. Here you can navigate this open, you know, community space, let’s say. And there aren’t signs, but it’s obvious where you need to go to find things. So wayfinding is paying attention to what’s out there so that you can know where to go so that you can find your way. Whether it is a destination like the restroom or the parking lot or whatever. Or it could be how I’m going to get from one place to the next on this city street, that it’s the design of the the structure of the area is made so that people can find their way. So I thought, wow, this is a really great metaphor for being able to find our own way, both based on what we see, but also what we see and notice inside ourselves.

Stone Payton: So what are you learning from your practice? And I guess maybe your clients on this topic of work life, play balance. Any new learnings there?

Lea Appleton: Well, one of the things that’s really interesting to me is that many, many of the people that I work with, they may come in saying, hey, I want to be able to, Um, hone my leadership skills. I want to really a lot of people will say out loud, I want to wake up and be excited about my job. I want to go to work. Uh, looking forward to the day and what’s been really interesting in working with people. And this is, again, one of the thing that’s great about coaching is that it’s directed by the Coachee. It’s not directed by me. And they come up and in invariably it’s I want to have a better morning routine. I want to go to sleep on time. I want to be able to take a lunch break. So they they begin to realize that they haven’t paid attention to the signposts along the way during their day, and their bodies haven’t come along very well. So being able to um, so a lot of people make lots of changes and choices around, um, their own health and wellness and sleep patterns and taking lunch and then setting schedules and routines and things like that when they need them, and allowing for freedom and choice when they don’t. Um, so it becomes a much more much more pragmatic approach to kind of crafting a day, if you will.

Stone Payton: Yeah.

Lea Appleton: And that surprised me, I think. I didn’t expect that when I began my coaching practice a number of years ago, but it is a very common topic. Like I really just have to get a handle on my day.

Stone Payton: So you and I discovered in another conversation previous to to coming on air that you’re singing to the choir here, right? Like I’m heading to the woods after this. But what is the whole sales and marketing thing like for a practice like yours for, for the, the people you’re trying to to to serve is I mean, I’m operating under the impression maybe every one, every organization doesn’t initially embrace this idea of you just found a way to just play your music to the ones that who want to hear it.

Lea Appleton: Well, I think in a lot of ways I play my music to the ones who want to hear it, but I don’t always know who those are. And I think that that’s something that is important, particularly for new coaches, to realize that, you know, you may have a particular niche or a particular audience that you are wanting to work with, but there also may be other people who really find what you have to say valuable. And the thing that’s been interesting for me is that people who have chosen me, or companies that have hired me to come in and do a workshop, I do things like that as well. In terms of my mindful practices at your desk, things like that. And, you know, it’s finance companies and, you know, software techs and things like that, which isn’t my background. If I thought, oh, I only want to talk with people that come from education or music or outdoor adventuring or something like that, that I might be limiting some of the people who really find value. So particularly for new coaches, kind of being open to who might actually really like the song you’re singing and be willing to share it with, with as many as possible, and then they choose you. And then that helps you choose who you want to focus on and who you market to, and things like that.

Stone Payton: Yeah. So passions, pursuits, interests outside the scope of the work we’re describing. Most of my listeners know that I like to hunt, fish and travel anything you have a tendency to nerd out about that’s kind of outside the scope of this work.

Lea Appleton: Well, it’s a little bit tangential. I love being outside, so whether it’s a walk around the block, I love to backpack for days and days on end. Um, I’m currently not able to do that, so I’m recovering from an injury. And what’s really interesting with that is I’ve discovered, again, I love to read. I think puzzles are fun. Um, I’m I’m developing. My secret passion is someday I’d like to be a really good cook. Um, that’s not really what I am, but I keep trying. And so that’s been fun. And I’ve loved making. I’m a I’m a good soup maker, and I’ve discovered that maybe I’ll just stick with that. That’s my niche in terms of cooking. Um, but I’m excited about it and I love doing things like that. So being outside, creating good food, um, spending time with people that I really appreciate, either eating good food or being outside. So they all work together.

Stone Payton: They really do. And I have to confess, uh, as a product of my extensive pre-show research, not because I like to just have conversations, but you’ve taken an interest in lentil soup, right? You’re working on on perfecting that? Yes.

Lea Appleton: Yes, very much so. And I did not realize there were so many ways to make a good lentil soup. So I’m having a great time with that this year so far.

Stone Payton: Oh, I love it. So I would love to. Before we wrap, I would love to leave our listeners with a couple of pro tips. And a lot of our listeners are other practitioners, uh, Lea and and quite a few, I would think, would be people who are genuinely considering the idea of bringing on some type of, uh, some type of coach. But I would love it if we could leave a pro tip maybe on on practicing the craft, but also the business side of coaching because you, you know, you have to run a business as well. Right.

Lea Appleton: Mhm. Absolutely. And it’s interesting that you should ask that because I just recorded late last year um, with the, the company where I did my, or the school where I did my coach training because they looked at me and they said, you know what? You just did it. And we’d love to hear how how that process saying, I don’t come out of corporate America. Right? Like I told you, I didn’t know what coaching was until I learned about it. And I think the biggest tip is to start where you are to to fight the urge to make an excuse for the reason why. Well, maybe I can’t do this because I don’t have this and I don’t have that. Well, you have whatever you have, whatever your experience is, use it. Um, and if you don’t have a big network, then begin with a network of one, right. And then begin to build it and begin to build it. And I think that particularly anybody with any business where you’re an entrepreneur, I think that it can be isolating a little bit and it can be hard. Um, but to try to try to stay as positive. That’s the biggest, um, the biggest tip I have. Find the things you like and do them, and then the things that you like, uh, will continue to build and you’ll continue to shine, and people will be interested in you because you’re doing the things that that you enjoy.

Lea Appleton: And then pay attention to the people who are hiring you and learn from them and find out what it is that they I always ask people like, well, what did you find interesting about me? You know why? Why me? Why did you pick me? Because then I can learn in that process as well. Um, and and be able to, to talk to more people. So definitely on the business of coaching to start where you are and to stay as positive as you can. Um, I had to take a part time job when I first began coaching to make it possible for me to do this. So sometimes you have to just make the choices, even if they’re not exactly what you want. Um, now I’m doing full coaching full time, and that works great. So I think, um, to be persistent and to keep, if that is your goal and your dream to create a coaching practice, then then do everything you can to make that possible in terms of the craft of coaching. I think coming from a place of curiosity, genuine interest in the person that you’re talking to and listening with, because really a lot of coaching is listening. But then again, my reason for taking coaching training was to ask the better questions. So to listen and ask the good questions that really stem from curiosity about what that person is saying and what they want.

Stone Payton: I am so glad that I asked and I think that’s marvelous, counsel. And look gang, the number one pro tip is reach out to Lea and have a conversation. Connect with her. Start to tap into her work. Let’s make sure that they’re able to do that. Let’s leave them with some coordinates to get their hands on this book, maybe have a conversation with you and kind of get to know you and your work.

Lea Appleton: Absolutely. So my book Walking and Wayfinding, you can find it on Amazon and on audible. I spell my name, Lea, and that’s helpful because sometimes you might not find me otherwise. Um. My website is w w w Appleton Coaching.com Apple t o n and my. You can email me if you like at Lea. Lea at Appleton Coaching.com.

Stone Payton: Lea. It has been an absolute delight having you on the program. Thank you for your insight, your perspective, your enthusiasm. You are clearly having a tremendous impact on so many and we sure appreciate you.

Lea Appleton: Thank you. Thank you so much for having me, Stone.

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

 

Celebrating our WBE Star: Angela Garmon’s Journey to Empowerment

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In this episode of Women in Motion, Lee Kantor talks with Angela Garmon, founder of ARG Coaching and Consulting Group and the 2025 WBE Star Award winner. Angela discusses her business, which specializes in strategic change management, team resilience, and collaboration. She shares her journey from the hospitality industry to starting her own firm in 2016, emphasizing the importance of managing change effectively. Angela highlights the significance of community engagement, networking, and focusing on impact rather than accolades.

The WBE Star Award is the nation’s top recognition for excellence among women-owned businesses, honoring 14 women from across the country within each of our 14 Regional Partner Organizations who are leaders in their local business communities and respective fields, and an inspiration to women business owners across the country.

The WBE Stars are especially recognized for their remarkable achievements, contributing invaluable leadership and influence to the dynamic business landscape. Beyond their professional accomplishments, these women serve as a wellspring of inspiration for others within their communities. The recognition they receive through the WBE Star Award is a powerful testament to the profound impact they’ve made in their respective business environments.
ARG-Coaching-and-Consulting-logo

Angela-GarmonAngela Garmon is a visionary leader in strategic change management and the Founder and CEO of ARG Coaching & Consulting Group LLC, a change management consulting firm that supports diverse teams nationwide as they conquer change and cultivate results.

With over 20 years of business acumen, Angela specializes in helping teams enhance their resilience and build strong collaborative environments that inspire peak performance. In 2021, Angela launched an Arizona-based nonprofit that developed a groundbreaking program to support Black-owned businesses statewide, securing multi-year funding for its measurable impact.

As a leader in the business community, Angela’s work is grounded in the belief that people thrive when inspired, fostering a culture of excellence, resilience, and innovation.

Connect with Angela on LinkedIn and follow ARG Coaching & Consulting Group on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Music Provided by M PATH MUSIC

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

 

TRANSCRIPT

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

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Another episode of Women in Motion. And this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, WBEC-West. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. And this is going to be a very special Women in Motion because today, we’re going to celebrate the 2025 winner of the WBE Star Award. And WBE Star Award is the nation’s top recognition for excellence among women-owned businesses, honoring 14 women from across the country within each of the 14 regional partner organizations, who are leaders in their local business communities and respective fields, and an inspiration to women business owners across the country. Today, on the show, we have Angela Garmon and she is with ARG Coaching and Consulting Group, and she has been named a 2025 WBE Star. Welcome and congratulations.

Angela Garmon: Well, thank you so much, Lee. It’s always an honor to be on your show again. Super excited to dive into the conversation with you.

Lee Kantor: Well, before we get talking about the award, let’s talk about your business. Can you tell us a little bit about ARG Coaching and Consulting Group? How are you serving folks?

Angela Garmon: Yes, of course. So, ARG Coaching and Consulting Group is a strategic change management consulting firm serving clients nationwide. We specialize in helping teams enhance their resilience and building strong, collaborative environments that inspire peak performance as they align, redefine, and grow through change. Our motto is that you can conquer, change and cultivate results.

Lee Kantor: So, what’s your backstory? How did you get involved in this line of work?

Angela Garmon: Oh, my goodness. So, I started the business in 2016. Prior to that, I worked in the hospitality industry, and I specialized in project management. My background is Six Sigma. And what I learned over the time that I was in hotel management is in rolling out best practice projects is that teams or individuals resist change. And we know that how we handle change today really impacts the results that we cultivate for tomorrow. And as I look back over my journey and my career, I really excelled in those spaces where I helped other individuals and teams as they conquered change and cultivate results. And so, when I embarked out on this journey on my own, it was the pivotal moments from my hospitality career that helped me to develop out all of the services and the products that you get from ARG Coaching and Consulting Group.

Lee Kantor: Now, was it kind of a little counterintuitive for you? Because everybody says change is the only thing you can count on. And if people have an apprehension or anxiety around change, it’s going to be difficult to kind of evolve and grow. So, how did you, kind of, make that mental leap to embrace and lean into change and help people get through that transition?

Angela Garmon: You know, I think that understanding that the only thing, to your point, the only thing constant in life is change, right? And to help people overcome the hurdles and, really, it’s just those spaces where we get stuck and it’s where, you know… Excuse me. So, when we work through those spaces where we’re stuck, that’s really where we’ll start to see growth. And so, it was an opportunity for me to really look back over those times and those careers where people excelled beyond their own hurdles. And so, that’s really what has driven my passion and my desire to see other people and organizations grow.

Lee Kantor: Now, when you made the transition to working for somebody, to working for yourself, when did you get kind of clues that you were on to something, that you had a service or an offering that people would buy and that they would benefit from?

Angela Garmon: I think that especially for when we look at it from a small business perspective, we always look at it from the ability to test your products and your services in the market. And so, I think that when I started working with another small business owner, she was growing her law practice, and I was actually working with her as an employee. And our first couple of years when I helped… Our first year, excuse me, when I helped her grow her practice, she was able to expand her business by 40%. The second year, we were able to increase her revenues by another 45%, and then also help her bring on a larger team and stabilize her firm. And I think it was her that really acknowledged the breadth of work that I did within her firm and encouraged me to expand out on my own.

And when I look back over my career and even the results that I cultivated when I was in the hotel industry just starting out my career as a Six Sigma Green belt, I was able to help the Phoenicians save over $1 million that first year by rolling out a project that went on to become a national best practice project. And so, it was those pivotal moments that really catapulted me into this space that I’m in. And so, when you talk about testing your products and your ability to serve your clientele, I would have to say, it’s just looking back over those moments, but most importantly, when I was working with that other small business owner and she showed me or working with her really illustrated to me the services and the impact that I can have not only on a small business but also a large organization as well.

Lee Kantor: Now, as we mentioned early on, you’ve been named a 2025 WBE Star. Can you talk a little bit about how it felt when you got this kind of important recognition? Like, were you just… I mean, you must have been so excited.

Angela Garmon: Right. You know, Lee, I don’t really know if I’ve fully taken on the magnitude of this recognition. It was just… I think I was really at a loss of words. I had a loss of words. There are over 2000 certified WBEs in WBEC-West and there are some phenomenal WBOs or women business owners, excuse me, that are doing some amazing work. And so, WBEC-West has one of the highest engagements across our RPOs. So, to be recognized in such a way for me is just, again, I still don’t know if I fully have recognized it, but it is an amazing experience, and I know that I have shared it out with friends, and family, and to my network. But it is truly an honor to represent the RPO in this manner.

Lee Kantor: What do you think that are some of, kind of, those key accomplishments or milestones you reach that enabled you to get this recognition?

Angela Garmon: You know, I think that over the past few years, I have worked not only within the community but also worked within the WBEC-West community to help other women business enterprise thrive and to be successful as they look to achieve their own business goals. You know, I often tell the story whenever I speak on different platforms about how Dr. Williamson, she and I were sitting down talking, I want to say it was back in 2019 or so, when I was about to step into a role as president of NAWBO. And she said to me, “Angela, you know what? That is all well and good, but what are you going to do with it?” And her words have echoed in my mind for the last, what, 5 or 6 years? Because we all have… many people have businesses or we’re leaders in some type of facet, but when we think about the impact that we can make, man, we have such a greater… you know, we can make such a greater impact when we think about the community at large.

And so, I’m always thinking about, “But what am I going to do with… in this? What am I going to do with the spaces that I have been granted access to?” And so, when I think about just some of the achievements that I’ve been able to make, just working within WBEC-West in a couple of different capacities, helping other women grow but, most importantly, also help reaching back out to the community of other women businesses that are looking to grow their business, that has been instrumental. And then, also, trying to identify ways to collaborate not only with other WBEs but also collaborate with corporations that are looking to support small business development growth. I think both of those have really been instrumental in achieving this work.

Lee Kantor: Now, any advice for others, maybe people who want to shoot for the award for next year, how best to lean in locally? Like you mentioned the importance of contributing to your local business community. What advice would you give somebody on how to do that in a way that kind of provides the most value, not only to yourself and your career, but also to the community itself? Because a lot of times people are like, “Oh, I got to join these groups,” and they just join and they never participate or they just put their name on a list of, “Yeah, Yeah. I’m just going to sign up for this thing, but I never really do anything with it.” Like, how do you choose the right group for you? And how do you get the most out of that once you have chosen?

Angela Garmon: Great questions, Lee. And I’ll start, a couple of weeks ago, I was talking to another WBE, and she said, “Man, I want to get the next Star award.” She’s like, “What did you do to get to that space?” And you know, the one thing that I shared with her is don’t focus so much on the award, focus a lot more on the impact that you’re going to make because there’s always someone watching. And again, this award was truly unexpected. It’s nothing that I necessarily strived for, but it’s truly appreciated. And I think that the one reason why I obtained the award is because I was so focused on building up everybody else. Well, let me take a step back. I was focused on building my business, first and foremost, because I think as a business owner, that is truly important, but also focused on building other people up along the way as well because I found that as long as I’m doing what it is that I’ve been called to do and as long as I’m also reaching back and supporting other people’s efforts, that someone is going to recognize not only the impact that I’m making but also recognize all of the work that I am doing and how I am engaged.

One of the questions that you also asked is, how do people choose the networks that they want to be part of? And I think that’s a great question as well. The one thing that I always consider every single year as I’m strategizing for my business or putting a strategic plan in place for the business is I also look at the networks that I’m connected to. How are those networks either connecting me with my ideal clients, how are they helping me to create exposure for my business, or how do they align with my mission and values of my business? And so, I would encourage any business owner to look at those three areas for themselves and to try and determine which organizations or associations are driving or helping them in each of those efforts. And that’s how they can really select organizations that are going to support them.

And then to your other question is how do you choose to get engaged? You know, I often will look and see, how can I support other people, which is really that mission-driven work. So, I would tell in any small business owner to really look and see what their mission or their overall purpose is, and then figure out how they can tap into the associations or the organizations that they’re part of to help them build out their mission-driven work as well.

Lee Kantor: Now, who is the ideal client profile for AAG? Who is your ideal client and how can we help you get them?

Angela Garmon: Yeah. Thank you for that question. ARG, again, works with clients nationwide. We really specialize in utility construction and government spaces. So, if there is a… there’s a lot of change right now going on in the world. And so, if your team right now is struggling with building out cohesion or if individuals are impacted with understanding how changes that are going on within your respective organizations, so if they’re having challenges understanding those changes and you just want someone to come in or organization to come in assess your team where they are from a change management perspective, then please consider AAG Coaching and Consulting Group. We’ll assess your team’s readiness for change. We’ll offer recommendations and solutions that will help enhance the culture of your organization. And then, finally, we’ll be able to assist you as you put growth measures in place to help sustain those change efforts.

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

Angela Garmon: Best way to connect is www.argccgroup.com.

Lee Kantor: argccgroup.com?

Angela Garmon: Correct.

Lee Kantor: Well, Angela, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work. And we appreciate you. And congratulations on being named the 2025 WBE Star.

Angela Garmon: Thank you so much, Lee. It’s always a pleasure.

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

 

Michele Aikens with ClearSight Coaching & Consulting

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Michele-AikensMichele Aikens, MA, ACC is Lead Coach of ClearSight Coaching & Consulting, Inc., bringing over 30 years of experience in leadership development, communications, and team dynamics.

Known for her insightful, empathetic approach, Michele partners with leaders and organizations to navigate challenges and foster growth with clarity and purpose.

Her coaching style combines strategic vision with a genuine understanding of human resilience, empowering clients to pursue meaningful transformation in their personal and professional lives.

Aikens is also a storyteller. She is the author of three dramatic plays, two screenplays and five books, including the most recent, “Consider The Possibilities: Pursuing What Matters Most.”

Michele Aikens is certified by the World Business Executive Coaches (WBECs) as an Enhanced Practitioner in the Accelerating Coaching Excellence program, and as a certified practitioner from the Global Team Coaching Institute (GTCI). ClearSight-logo

Michele has coached teams and leaders from organizations that include: The Obama Foundation, ThredUp, U.S. Cellular and others.

Connect with Michele on LinkedIn and follow ClearSight on Instagram.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

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

Stone Payton: Welcome to the High Velocity Radio show, where we celebrate top performers producing better results in less time. Stone Payton here with you this afternoon and you guys are in for a real treat. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast with ClearSight Coaching and Consulting, Michele Aikens. How are you?

Michele Aikens: I am great. Thanks so much for having me. Stone. I’m looking forward to a great conversation.

Stone Payton: Well, it is a delight to have you on the program. I got a ton of questions, Michele. I’m sure we won’t get to them all, but I think a great place to start is if maybe you could paint a little bit of a picture. Give us a little primer of mission purpose. What? What are you really out there trying to do for folks?

Michele Aikens: Oh, wow. Mission and purpose are two of my favorite words. Um. Mission purpose, I think, are interchangeable. They are the reason you exist. Whether you are an individual or a company or a team. Your purpose is why you’re there. And if you drift from that purpose, not only do you not meet those outward goals, but you start having those struggles inside. When a person is disconnected, or when a team is disconnected from who they’re supposed to be.

Stone Payton: Now, how did you find yourself in this line of work? What’s the what’s the Michele backstory?

Michele Aikens: Well, here’s the Michele backstory. Um, my I have a background in advertising. When I was when I had a, quote, real job in the 90s, 80s and 90s. Um, my background was in advertising. And then I started with a company, a magazine, a national women’s magazine, and it did really well on a shoestring budget because this was just a hunch, I guess back then they called them startups. Now there’s a name for it. Um, but after five years, the magazine was too expensive to continue because it had become successful. But the sales hadn’t caught up with them yet. And so, at a the middle of my life, I found myself without a job and never having, quote, failed at anything before I went on a two year journey of self-discovery and redefining and also being a nerd. After some considerable study, I came out on the other end of that as an executive coach. That’s the short the cliff notes.

Stone Payton: So I gotta know what was that transition like going from from that comfort zone, that arena into. Yeah, you’ve got a you’ve got to hone and practice your craft, but you’ve also got to run a business and get clients right. Was that intimidating at first?

Michele Aikens: Yes. It was intimidating and painful. Uh, because I had always even though I’d helped launch a magazine, I always had an employees mindset. And so now when you’re launching your own practice, well, first, it took you two years to figure out that that’s something you could do. Um, but once you launch your own practice, you’ve got to learn some things, like how to sell what you’re good at. And being a child of the 60s, I was raised as a young lady to be nice and not talk too much about myself. Well, that doesn’t help you when you have to sell your business. And so I had to relearn some things. And, um, I am the better for it. And so helping others, other women who might be like me, other corporations or businesses or things that have to shift. Learn to speak a different way about what they do well is it’s a skill. It’s a learned skill.

Stone Payton: So let’s dive into the work a little bit. Everything from the the medium that you use the mechanism to specific groups that you’re trying to to serve. I know you specifically mentioned women just a moment ago. Let’s dive into the work a little bit.

Michele Aikens: Okay. Well, I am an executive coach and I have some specialties, but one of the areas that I really focus on is executive women, senior leadership, C-suite types. Um, because that navigation to the C-suite can be fraught with a whole lot of minefields on the way up that to the naked eye. Other people don’t see them, but there’s always there’s usually a little girl inside that executive saying, uh, that’s not where you belong. And so it’s it’s getting that mindset, like I talked about learning how to talk well, about what I did. It’s the same thing. We have to grow as leaders in stages. And sometimes those stages get accelerated and you feel out of sorts. So I work with, um, executive leaders. I also work with teams, leadership teams, because those conflicts that come within a team can not only shut a fuel down, but if they’re managed right, they can create innovation. So those are my favorite things to do.

Stone Payton: So yeah. What are you finding the most rewarding these days? What’s the most fun about it for you?

Michele Aikens: Right now. Well, this is I’m really having fun doing this right now. When I lost my, uh, job in 2009 and got redirected into coaching, I started tinkering with a program called Rewriting the Script. And initially it was just for people who wanted to redefine themselves after a big loss, maybe a job loss or a significant relationship. And because I’m so fascinated with movies and storytelling, I used script writing procedures to outline this course. Well, that was in 2011. Just recently, I have launched a corporate version of rewriting a script, rewriting the script to help individuals and teams navigate change. And watching these leaders go cut, that’s not the mindset that we want to want to use here is a lot of fun, so I’m having a real fun time with that right now.

Stone Payton: What a marvelous framework. I bet that really does lend itself to individual exchanges, but also with groups. And you’ve got that peer to peer dynamic and people are offering up, you know, they call scene or cut or whatever. What a great framework. That is fascinating.

Michele Aikens: Yeah, it’s a lot of fun. And to watch the the person who cast the vision has to be the, the producer. But the writer can tell him this script doesn’t make sense. And the director says this is not going to work with the actors, and we’re not talking about a story. We’re talking about your team. But because they step out of their normal roles, there’s some safety, there’s some innovation, there’s ways of looking at things that you may not have considered before, because we’re not in the normal roles that we play. It’s a lot of fun.

Stone Payton: Yeah. So going back to actually writing the book, committing the ideas to paper, I’m interested to know what that process was like for you. Did some of it come together really pretty easily? In other parts more difficult, or was it a pretty smooth road? What was that experience like?

Michele Aikens: Well, if we’re talking about rewriting the script, um, part of my depressed phase after losing my job was I watched movies over and over stone. But after I got started to feel better, I started asking myself questions like, I wonder what happened to that character. And consequently, I wrote a couple of screenplays. So sequels. And so this whole idea of telling your story, crafting it and whatnot is what what created the idea of Consider the Possibilities, which is the latest book that I wrote that talks about how to pursue what it is that you really want to pursue, even though you may have been stuck in a way of being for a long time. And I wrote it for people over 50, because a lot of times that’s when we get stuck.

Stone Payton: So do you find in some of your work that you are trying to serve people who are, who maybe have fairly recently really hit a roadblock or or had a major disappointment, or there’s a big shift. So they’re just they’re really looking for some direction and are maybe a little bit rudderless. Is that part of the do you find that sometimes?

Michele Aikens: Yes, I’m finding it a lot. And particularly with older executives, they may not have hit a rough patch, but they see the rough patch coming. Mhm. And what do I do. What am I going to do. And if I may offer, this is one exercise that I do with them. I say look at the worst possible outcome that all of these fears that you’re magnifying look as straight in the eye and ask yourself then what? Because by the time we’ve asked ourselves. Then what? A few times what happens is you realize the same resilience that made you successful in the last thing is still there. You might have to tweak it a little bit, take the glasses off, clean them out and see in a different direction. But you are still the same person who was successful in the last ventures. You can make it through this. Yeah.

Stone Payton: So how does the whole sales and marketing thing work for a practitioner like you? Do you have to get out there and shake the trees a little bit? Or is it the kind of practice where it’s largely based on someone’s had a success and success and they refer a colleague or a or a peer like the business side of the business, especially the front end of that pipeline. We sales guys call it sometimes. What’s that like?

Michele Aikens: Yes. Tell me about it. Well, I am I coach for a national executive leadership organization, and I have five groups of executives that I meet with every month. But then after that, because I’m this creative tinkerer nerd type, I started playing around with other things and I’ll introduce them to somebody that I’ve coached in the past because I never I’m very aware of conflicts. And if if I’m tinkering with something, I said, hey, what do you think about this? And, um, sometimes there’s a bite. And in case of rewriting the scripts, there’s a few bites. And so that kind of sends me in the direction when I was training, uh, in coaching, and I trained with Doctor Chant. Who’s in Georgia? Where you are, I think. Yeah. And my, one of my team leaders said use everything that you have in your coaching. That’s not normally what you hear. And so I got permission early on to play. I got in trouble in kindergarten for coloring outside the line. I thought, there’s all of this nice space. Why can’t I color that? Well, in my book, I say we need people who know how to color inside the lines. They build the train tracks, they make sure the train stays on the tracks. But we need people who color outside the lines because they build the cities that the train tracks run on. And so being free to play allows me to present something to clients and potential clients. That’s unusual, that’s creative, in ClearSight. Our mission is to help leaders and their teams embrace change with courage, compassion, clarity, and creativity. So I like to play, and that’s part of how I sell.

Stone Payton: Well, I can tell that you do. I mean, I can hear it in your voice. So if I’m an executive in A and I and I have a even a high performing team, or maybe they’re not, how do I begin to know what are some signs that, hey, maybe me and my team, we need a need a coach? What should I be looking for?

Michele Aikens: Well, I would look for conflict that doesn’t get resolved in a healthy way. I have a workshop that I do. It’s an introductory workshop. It’s called Why is Your Team Fighting? And yes, we look at six possible reasons. Because I’m a I’m a credentialed team coach too. We look at six possible reasons that your team could be fighting, and those things range from not being clear on why we’re a team to problems with the leadership. And there are things in between. And so we look at why your team is fighting. And if it is not something because it’s there’s a saying teams the process to a team is forming storming norming and performing. And so storming is a part of the team building process. But if those storms don’t get resolved in a way that is healthy for the team members and productive for the goals, then we need to look at how the team is learning and how we’re dealing with conflict.

Stone Payton: Now, when you may back to kind of making this transition too early, going in this in this coaching consulting career, did you have the benefit of of one or more mentors that sort of helped you navigate this, this new terrain?

Michele Aikens: Oh, here’s a funny story. Yes, I had one mentor, and, um, his name was Ken Cheatham. He’s he’s passed away a couple of years ago, but we had an online radio program. I used to have a blog talk network on the talk radio show. And so Ken and I had a program about sales because I needed to learn about it, and I assumed other new business owners needed to learn about it. And so in the meantime, I’m running this digital magazine, and there’s a man who wants to come into our market. But he was locked out and he was in the health and beauty business. So I start calling all of these hair salons and beauty houses and all of this to try to get his products in there so that he would take out an ad in my magazine, and Ken watched me do that for about two weeks, and he said, you know, you are selling advertising space and giving away something that’s much more valuable. That is what set me on the path of looking differently at how I managed what was in my hands. So no, it was not easy. But I had a great mentor who walked with me, um, all the way.

Stone Payton: Now, you made the decision pretty early on. I’m under the impression to to become formally credentialed, like you went through a certification process with a with some type of organization, didn’t you?

Michele Aikens: Absolutely. The International Coaching Federation and I took that approach because first of all, when I first was approached with the idea of being a coach stone. I’m sorry. This is my profession now. But back then, everybody was calling themselves a coach, and I was like, this is a hustle. I did not want to be a hustler, so I did, I did, and so I did the due diligence I researched. And then when I decided I was going to pursue it, I studied coaching for two years before becoming credentialed. I know you can get there, people. You can get credential, you can get certified as a coach in some programs over the weekend. I did not want that. I wanted to if I was going to do this, I wanted to give my clients the best benefit of my experience and training that I could, which means, um, x number of years later, I am still studying, um, in credentialing programs a few times a year. Oh, wow.

Stone Payton: So yeah. Well, and I guess, or my observation has been in my career that competency can be a moving target. Right.

Michele Aikens: Tell me about it.

Stone Payton: So it’s important to continue to sharpen that saw and learn new things and be exposed to new techniques for achieving maybe some of the same purposes, but, uh, no, that’s absolutely to be commended. So, uh, passions, interests, pursuits outside the scope of the the work. A lot of my listeners know that I like to hunt, fish and travel. Anything you have a tendency to nerd out about that’s outside the scope of this work.

Michele Aikens: Oh, nerd out about. Boy, did you use the right word there? Uh, my husband calls me a collection of useless facts. I enjoy learning new things, but what I am, in fact, one of the ways I spend my downtime. I am currently working on a futuristic dystopian novel. Uh, because it gives my brain another place to play? Of course I like comedy and love dancing, but the nerd part of me likes science fiction.

Stone Payton: I am so glad that I. You just don’t ever know, right?

Michele Aikens: You just don’t know.

Stone Payton: Well, before we wrap, I would love to leave our listeners with a couple of, um. I call them pro tips. Just a little something to be thinking about noodling on and look, gang. The number one pro tip is, uh, reach out and have a conversation with with Michele. But, um, maybe if you’re up for it, maybe a tip on what I’ll call both sides of the work. Right. The practitioner side of the work. A tip, because some of our listeners are practitioners as well. Uh, you know, a tip on actually executing the work, but maybe also a tip or something you feel like you’ve learned or do or don’t on the business side of running the business, that would. If you’re up for it, I’d love to leave them with a couple of things to chew on.

Michele Aikens: Okay. And and they’re actually related. Well, here’s something that’s kind of unrelated, but from the nerd portion of the brain, there is a book called Brain Rules. And the author lists rules that talk about how our brain functions when we are stressed or in, in anxiety. Our brains don’t learn. Well, that’s rule number eight. I believe in the book, stressed brains don’t learn the same. And so if you are forcing yourself to do something that is hard and it’s creating stress, um, I’m going to encourage you to back away from that now from the business side, which and I’m learning, I never considered myself stone. It’s funny, I didn’t consider myself a real business person for a long time. I was just a coach. Here’s the business. Um. Business. Inside I’d give. Find what makes you spark. Because it is the thing that sets you apart. There are a lot of coaches, probably hundreds of thousands. In fact, I read a couple of years ago that it’s the fastest growing profession. So whatever you’re doing in business, you’ve got to find a way to distinguish yourself from the competition, from the non compete people. You’ve got to find a way to stand out and work that spark.

Stone Payton: Well you’ve clearly done that haven’t you.

Michele Aikens: I’m trying but. But I’m having fun, which I didn’t before, but I am. I am blessed enough to have fun doing what I do for a living.

Stone Payton: Well, I can tell. And this conversation has certainly been fun and enlightening. What’s the best way for our listeners to tap into your work? Learn more. Maybe have that conversation with you. Let’s leave them some coordinates. Whatever is the you feel is most appropriate for so that you can connect with them.

Michele Aikens: Well, that would be wonderful. Um, our website is clearsight-coach.com, and there’s methods for contacting me in there. Um, or if you want to just bypass the website and get in contact with me, you can reach me at lead coach at Clearsight. Coach.com. Um, I’d love to have those conversations with you, um, or with any of your listeners, because I believe that helping people find out what makes them spark benefits the rest of us in the world.

Stone Payton: Amen. Well, Michele, it has been an absolute delight having you on the broadcast. Thank you for your insight, your perspective. Thank you for your enthusiasm and your encouragement. It’s been a very inspiring exchange. You are clearly having a great deal of impact on so many and we sure appreciate you.

Michele Aikens: Well, I appreciate being here, Stone. Thanks for having this conversation with me.

Stone Payton: My pleasure. All right. Until next time. This is Stone Payton for our guest today, Michele Aikens with Clearsight Coaching and Consulting and everyone here at the Business RadioX family saying, we’ll see you in the fast lane.

 

BRX Pro Tip: Develop a 90 Day Business Transformation Program

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BRX Pro Tip: Develop a 90 Day Business Transformation Program

Stone Payton: Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, I know even though I spent some years in the change management business transformation space in a previous life, when I hear that phrase and a lot of people hear that phrase, you know, it sounds like a big, hairy, multi-quarter or multiyear undertaking. But it really doesn’t have to be that way, does it?

Lee Kantor: No. I think it’s important to kind of break your year down into 90-day chunks of time. And then, if you can take one of these 90-day chunks of time for your own business, and productize it, and create a 90-day business transformation program that’s tailored for growth for your prospects or clients, I think that’s a good idea. I think that’s a nice service to have within the different services you offer if you’re a business coach or somebody in the professional services world.

So, think about, do you have any thought leadership that you can use to build some sort of a structured curriculum that has weekly goals, that has regular accountability check-ins? If you do have something along those lines, I would think that it’s important to kind of pull it out and productize it because once you create this kind of program, you can offer both group coaching, you can do one on one coaching from this. And then, that way you can have a different type of offering depending on whatever the prospect or client needs.

And then, it’s important that no matter where you do when you’re doing this type of a program, to make sure you have some sort of a way to track progress in order to show how effective the program is at helping your clients achieve whatever their desired outcome is. So, when you are developing any type of program like this, have some sort of way to keep score, so they can see what life was like before they went through this transformation program and what life is like now that they’ve completed it.

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