angishields, Author at Business RadioX ® Page

BRX Pro Tip: Don’t Take Likes for Granted

July 1, 2025 by angishields

BRX Pro Tips

BRX Pro Tip: Don't Take Likes for Granted

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BRX Pro Tip: Don’t Take Likes for Granted

Stone Payton : Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips, Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, we have shared several LinkedIn user tips throughout the course of this series. What have you got on tap? You come across anything new?

Lee Kantor: Yeah, this is an interesting one and something I don’t do enough, but it’s probably worth doing. I don’t know where I read it, but it was about, don’t take likes for granted.

Lee Kantor: People like your content regularly. You probably get a way more likes than you do any type of written engagement, but don’t take the likes for granted. Why don’t you go back to people who liked one of your posts and DM them?

Lee Kantor: You know you should have a strategy and a system to DM everybody who engages with your content. Don’t just focus on people who comment, but focus on people who just like. Your content can be the starting point of building a relationship. But if somebody takes the time to even like your post, then figure out an elegant way to connect with them and try to build some kind of relationship on their like.

Lee Kantor: You know, it took a little bit of effort for them to like it. That’s a level of engagement. It might be a small ember of a fire here. It could be a little kind of burning ember, but you can kind of try to nurture that and build on that and try to create something from it.

Lee Kantor: So, anybody who likes – why don’t you try this for a week? Anybody who likes one of your posts, DM them, thank them. You know, appreciate them going to the trouble of liking it, because remember getting any reaction is not nothing. So, build on what you get and don’t take it for granted.

Brewing Success: How the National Coffee Association is Transforming the Coffee Industry

June 30, 2025 by angishields

Association Leadership Radio

Brewing Success: How the National Coffee Association is Transforming the Coffee Industry

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In this episode of Association Leadership Radio, Lee Kantor is joined by Bill Murray, President and CEO of the National Coffee Association. They discuss the NCA’s mission to support the coffee industry, changing trends like the rise of specialty and cold coffee, and the importance of delivering real value to association members. Bill shares insights on adapting to the digital age, understanding member needs, and fostering community through coffee. The conversation highlights the evolving role of associations and the cultural significance of coffee in society.

William “Bill” Murray is President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Coffee Association, U.S.A. (NCA), a role he has held since June 2014. Bill leads NCA’s advocacy, regulatory, and member support activities on behalf of the hundreds of coffee-focused organizations that comprise NCA’s membership.

Prior to joining NCA, Bill was Chief Executive Officer of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), the world’s largest professional society for public relations practitioners and students with more than 32,000 members, successfully steering PRSA through “the Great Recession.”

Before joining PRSA, Bill worked in Hollywood for more than 20 years, capping his career as Executive Vice President and Co-Chief Operating Officer at the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which represented the $40 billion multinational entertainment industry in more than 70 countries.

Follow NCA on LinkedIn.

Episode Highlights

Overview of the National Coffee Association (NCA) and its mission
Membership composition of the NCA, including representation of coffee shops and larger organizations
Bill Murray’s background and journey to the NCA
Changes in the association landscape over the past 15 years, particularly due to digital communication
Importance of delivering tangible value to association members
Evolution of market research offerings by the NCA
Understanding and addressing member needs and challenges
Trends in coffee consumption, including the rise of specialty coffee
Increasing popularity of cold coffee beverages among younger consumers
Cultural significance of coffee preparation and its role in social connections

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

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

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here another episode of Association Leadership Radio. And this is going to be a good one. Today on the show, we have Bill Murray, who is the president and CEO of the National Coffee Association. Welcome.

Bill Murray: Well, thank you very much, Lee. I need to know right away. Who am I talking to? Are you a coffee drinker? That’s a key question.

Lee Kantor: Well, I am a coffee drinker and I’m a big fan of coffee, so I am excited to be talking to you.

Bill Murray: Perfect. Well, we’re off to a great start. Thank you.

Lee Kantor: So before we get too far to things, just tell us kind of an a macro view about the National Coffee Association and mission purpose. Who are you serving?

Bill Murray: Yeah, well, we are a trade association. We represent hundreds of companies in the coffee arena. Coffee importers, coffee roasters, equipment manufacturers, financers. Anybody who has an interest in the US coffee market. They’re welcome to join the association. And that’s who we represent. Our mission overall is to be an advocate for coffee, to get the facts about coffee out to the public, to work in the regulatory arena. You know, big picture. We want coffee drinkers to have access to their coffee and information about coffee. And we want coffee companies to be able to prosper to meet the needs of coffee drinkers.

Lee Kantor: Now is part of your membership the coffee, um, kind of the coffee shops where people drink coffee or is that a separate group?

Bill Murray: We have some coffee shops who are members, but we’re mostly roasters, importers. We’re typically larger organizations.

Lee Kantor: So what’s your backstory? How’d you get involved in, uh, in this association? Have you always worked in associations?

Bill Murray: I’ve always worked in associations. Uh, I started working in the motion picture industry many, many years ago. Uh, and that got a little tricky. Bill Murray working in the motion picture industry. But I’m not the actor. Uh, we were working on copyright issues. On market access issues. Uh, and eventually I made a move into the public relations arena. Uh, I worked for the Public Relations Society, uh, for about eight years. Uh, and then I was looking to do something different and this coffee position opened up. And one thing led to another. Uh, and they decided we were a good fit for each other. Um, but it wasn’t a logical transition. You know, I think initially the association wanted somebody who knew a lot about coffee. And I always loved coffee, I drank coffee. But during the interview discussion, we really came to. What do you want to do with the future of the association? Do you want to keep doing what you’re doing? Do you want to keep just being focused on coffee? Or do you want to bring a different perspective into the association from somebody who’s worked in other sectors? And that’s how I ended up here. They thought maybe we should be looking outside the world of coffee to pull out our future.

Lee Kantor: So what did you see outside of the realm of coffee in the future. Like, what was your vision?

Bill Murray: You know, I think one of the things that’s difficult about associations is that the world of associations has changed completely over the last 15 years. We used to have a lock on what we did. We provided information. We provided networking. We facilitated connections. We hosted events. And if you wanted to do everything within your discipline or your industry, your association was almost the only place you could go. But the digital world has completely changed all of that. And I think a lot of associations are comfortable just doing what it were traditionally doing. I believe that associations really have to deliver into aspects. We certainly do the network and the advocacy, the regulatory work. But we also have to provide tangible benefits for members. Things it can touch, angles they can use. So the end of the year when I look back and they say, hey, I was a member of the association, what did I get for my membership? There’s a full range of different things. We deliver market research. We’ve delivered technical documents on safety. For example, I see a world of associations where we have to deliver both of these things to make sure we keep our members coming at us.

Lee Kantor: I think you bring up a great point, and I don’t think enough associations are really focusing in on tangible value to their members. I think that they they aren’t kind of thinking the way you’re thinking in terms of really, if you’re not doing that, if you’re not pushing the value line to your members, you know, why are you even in the association yourself?

Bill Murray: You’re right. I mean, look, everybody’s under cost pressure. You know, and if you go back 15, 20 years ago, people join our associations almost because it was a a it was an obligation. You know, we’ve always been a member that’s no longer a reason to get people to make a contribution, to make that commitment. So the way I look at what we do here at the Coffee Association, we’re certainly active in the advocacy arena in Washington, working on regulatory issues. But over the course of each year, my objective is to make sure that we trickle out of useful, tangible Or resources on a regular basis over the course of the year. Sometimes that’s market research. Sometimes it’s little. It’s sometimes it’s information on technical dimensions. Coffee, coffee production. And you want to stay visible. You want to stay tangible. You simply can’t say to people, you know, we’re your advocate and we’re speaking up for you. That’s not enough anymore.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, that’s great points. And I hope other association leaders really, um. Keep it. Keep all that in mind as they’re leading their associations. Because I think what you’re saying is just so spot on. You cannot act as if the internet doesn’t exist. You, you you can’t behave just because your association’s 100 years old, that the internet isn’t here and that people get information from a lot of different places and and that’s just you’re not doing enough.

Bill Murray: I couldn’t agree with you more. The world has changed. And you know, if you’re not going to embrace that evolution, you know, look at what’s happening in the world around you. Talk to your members and have these hard conversations. You know, when I came to this association, it was a very different association. I was asking, what are the tangibles that we deliver? And there were very few and far between. And I was asking the folks that were working in the association, when people ask, why should I join the association, what do you tell them? And I just felt that the value proposition needed a lot of work. And, you know, I can give you an example. We do research on coffee drinkers every year. Or consumers. What do you drink? And how much are you drink? And we’ve always done this historically. When I came to the association, we essentially delivered one annual market research product for the year. That was it. Here. This is what people are thinking. It turned out there was a rich amount of data and information. We could take that and put it in an interactive database. We could give it to people not just in a printed document, but in a PowerPoint, and unlock it because they’re using it for sales presentations, for market assessments. We could do some reports using a database. We could take what was a static snapshot, and if it was a half a dozen different products and put it to the members at essentially the same price, that adding one piece of market research. So now that’s a perspective which is look at the value. Are there opportunities to make it more tangible and deeper her and keep doing that because you got to keep up with what’s at them.

Lee Kantor: Right? You’re delivering a way for them to make more revenue. And you know, that’s why they’re in business.

Bill Murray: You know, you just and the absolute key to the whole thing, I mean, when I talk to my members, what is the biggest issue you’re facing? You know what they say new business, business development, new customers. How do I grow my business? So that really requires us, from our perspective to say, okay, if I were in their shoes, what are the types of things they could be doing now? Which of those are appropriate for an association to support, and how do we do that? You know, my background personally, I’m an MBA. I went to business school, and I think that’s the perspective that I come from here. I think about this constantly as a business and my members business, and how do I support their business?

Lee Kantor: And also your background in PR and in the motion pictures, they’re all tie in as well. Like you’re you’re very focused in on, um, you know, kind of the client’s client.

Bill Murray: Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, the motion picture industry was really interesting. Uh, everything that they say about Hollywood is true. It’s a very, very tough place. Uh, people are brutal and they’re ruthless. And when you talk to people and you ask them, you know, what do you expect? And they’re right to the pain. They want to hear from you directly. They want to know how it’s going to impact what they’re doing. You know, I tell you a funny story. Uh, I was maybe one year out of graduate school at this motion picture Association, and every year Or they went out with a budget request and they asked for more money for the next year, as we all do. And that particular year, for the first time ever, one of the studios pushed back on the association. And I said to the association, before we can decide if we’re going to give you more money. Tell us what you did with the money we gave you last year. Well, this association had never done that before. I mean, they’ve been around forever. I was low man on the totem pole. The recall has to win through the association.

Bill Murray: It ended up on my desk. So I started asking people, you know, what did we do last year? And they would say things like, well, we had 22 meetings where we talked about things. We issued 50 memos on different topics. And I’m a little embarrassed to admit it. I mean, I just wrote all that down and I put it in a report and I went off to the studios. And I said, what do we do with the $30 million he gave us? Last year? We had 180 meetings and we wrote some memos and they seem happy they went away. But, you know, a couple of years later, as I came to understand what we were doing, I looked back at it and I was really embarrassed. I mean, if you said to me, what did you do last year? And I said to you, I convene 20 meetings. We’re missing the whole point here. What was the what was the outcome? How did you help people? Are there metrics? Right. And that’s been my evolution personally moved from activities to outcomes and value.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, I think that I mean, I hope other association leaders are listening to you because I think you are doing it exactly the right way. I mean, you have to your reason to exist is to help your clients, which are your members, make more money and help them grow or otherwise. Why do you need an association?

Bill Murray: Exactly. It’s not a social club. It is a business advocacy group. The social aspects are there and they are wonderful. But that is a byproduct of the real purpose of enterprise.

Lee Kantor: So let’s talk a little bit more about coffee because as I said, I’m a fan. You’re a fan. A lot of our listeners are a fan. Is there any trends in coffee consumption that we should be paying attention to?

Bill Murray: Yeah, absolutely. Um, oh, there’s so much we can talk about. First of all, overall, there is the rise of what we call specialty coffee. Now specialty coffee. It’s an interesting expression because there’s an official or technical definition of specialty Coffee. I don’t know how many folks are wearing this, but there are people who get certifications in coffee tasting just like a salt lawyer. Hey, and these coffee tasters will taste coffee. They will give it a certain point, and then technically, that becomes specialty coffee. But specialty coffee also has almost become a mark in description. And people will say, my coffee specialty. More and more consumers now tell us that they drink specialty coffee than ever before. 51% of coffee drinkers, more than half say they’re drinking specialty coffee. And I think what’s important here is what this really says about coffee our appreciation footprint and what’s happening. People are curious about coffee. They want to learn about coffee. So people are becoming more sophisticated and they certainly aren’t becoming more sophisticated. They want to try different things. And I see that continuing into the future. So one trend is we want to look for different, better, diverse coffees and see what that’s like.

Bill Murray: The other big thing that’s happening, and maybe, you know, today it’s about 100 degrees where I am. So we should talk about cold coffee. I hear this June, a more and more people are drinking cold coffee. These are either frosted beverages, iced coffee, cold brew coffee, things like this. What’s interesting in particular is this is driven by younger, younger people, in particular 80% of coffee drinkers are young coffee drinkers. Those who are 18 to 24 or are drinking cold coffee in one form or another. Older coffee drinkers. Only about 12% of people over the age of 60 are drinking cold coffee. So you’re saying cold coffee and a lot of different, um, formats. You see a RTD or a new drink beverage? Pre-modern beverage is, uh, in a cooler. You see coffee over ice, you see cold brew coffee. You see frozen beverages. Uh, but I think cold coffee is here to stay, and it’s going to be a bigger and bigger piece of the coffee world.

Lee Kantor: And and a lot of it, you think, is because the younger generation is embracing it. And they’re I mean, they’re using it kind of like an energy drink.

Bill Murray: Well, so this is really interesting. Um, if you look at how people drink coffee as they age. You see something very affluent and people that are 18 years old. They’re not drinking so much coffee where the coffee drinking habit really kicks in, where people double the amount of coffee they’re drinking or they triple it is after they’re about 24 years old, 25 years old. This is typically an age where you might start a family, you might have married, you might settle down where your adult responsibilities kick in. So it’s probably not coincidental that as people get older, they drink more coffee. They take that energy from caffeine and they embrace it. So right now, the people that are primarily focused on coffee, or in that 18 to 24 age group, I think it remains to be seen whether they’re going to keep drinking cold coffee as they get older? Is this going to diminish as they’re running around doing 50 other things? Um, we’re going to have to find that out as the years go by.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, I think as the popularity of the ready to drink it, you know, the pros and cons of that are it’s it’s simple, easy. You can drink it right there. But some of at least for me, the joy of coffee is the ritualistic preparation and consumption of it. Like to me, they go together. It’s not just I’m just just drinking it for the, you know, caffeine or the end result.

Bill Murray: You know, I think that’s one of the things that is so special about coffee. I mean, you’ll say to some, let’s get let’s get together for a cup of coffee. Or if you’re working in an office location, people might get together on the coffee machine and have a conversation. You know, I met somebody when I first took this position. Um, this person said to me he was an older gentleman. He said, coffee has been responsible for my marriage. And he said, it’s in a good way. My wife and I’ve been married for 35 years and I was baffled. How is coffee responsible for your marriage? And he said to me, you know, I always get up in the morning before my wife. I’m an early riser at my job. I get up and do everything and get ready. And the last thing I do, I read it before I leave. I make her a cup of coffee and I bring it to her in bed. I wake her up with a cup of coffee and. And, you know, for me it was so beautiful. And it just captured the, the culture, the aspects of community. The anchor, the coffee is for so many of us, which is one of the things that makes this job so interesting and so much fun.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. I mean, it’s part of people’s day. I mean, it’s just I mean, a lot of people like. Like that guy. His day starts with coffee.

Bill Murray: Absolutely. So, um, so I think coffee, you know, we have optional coffee drinkers. Uh, these are folks who say I just need the caffeine. I just need some coffee. We have social coffee drinkers. People want to get together around a coffee. We have people that just love coffee. They love the taste of it. They love to customize it. They love to experiment with it. 73% of this country drinks coffee. Uh, probably more than just about anything else we do together. It’s more people than drink water or milk. Uh, just about anything else that’s out there. So coffee is absolutely a core part of who we are as a And, um, then, you know, after all, we got started with the Tea Party being really weak and tossed in the ocean, and we had to drink something else. So here we are.

Lee Kantor: Here we are. Well, if somebody wants to learn more about the association, is there a website? Is there a way to connect with you?

Bill Murray: There certainly is. Uh, n a USA, not Oregon and CAA as in. National Coffee Association nca usa.org and you can reach us through the website and learn more about coffee.

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

Bill Murray: I really enjoyed this. Thanks for the opportunity.

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

Sharyn and Hank Yuloff with Yuloff Creative

June 30, 2025 by angishields

Houston Business Radio

Sharyn and Hank Yuloff with Yuloff Creative

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Hank and Sharyn Yuloff are the dynamic duo behind Yuloff Creative Marketing Solutions, a business coaching firm dedicated to helping small businesses grow through personalized marketing, sales, HR, and systems strategies.

With over 35 years of experience, Hank is a seasoned marketing tactician in advertising and public relations, while Sharyn brings deep expertise in online marketing and business operations.

Together, they offer private coaching, mastermind programs, and breakthrough bootcamps designed to provide small business owners with accessible, affordable support—often serving as their clients’ “Business Easy Button.”

They’ve authored eight bestselling business books (with more on the way) and hosted nearly 400 episodes of The Marketing Checklist View Cast podcast. They’re also featured as marketing experts in the upcoming video series Live Your List with Brian Tracy.

In their conversation with Trisha Stetzel, Hank and Sharyn shared their journey as marketing mentors and podcast hosts, emphasizing the power of authorship in building authority and visibility.

They broke down practical strategies for writing and distributing business books, and reflected on their collaborative coaching style and strong working partnership. The interview offered valuable insights into their mission to make marketing simple, effective, and fun for small business owners.

Follow Yuloff Creative on LinkedIn.

Special Offer: Hank and Sharyn are offering a free book to one lucky listener who leaves a review of the podcast. Subscribe, comment, and share the podcast—and you could be the lucky reviewer selected to receive a free book!

This 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. It is my pleasure to introduce my guests with an S. Today I’m so excited to talk to them about the Easy Button. Hank and Sharon, you bring a very unique perspective to clients who wish to have their marketing efforts reach new focus. Hank is a targeted marketing technician with a background in advertising and public relations, who has helped small businesses get bigger for over 35 years. Sharon’s path went through the business affairs and human resources departments and is an online marketing expert. Their company you love creative marketing solutions, offers complete traditional and technological marketing plans for small companies who never thought they could afford a chief marketing officer. Hank and Sharon, welcome to the show.

Hank Yuloff: Hi, Houston. How are you?

Trisha Stetzel: So. Yeah. Yes. So excited to have the both of you on. So I introduced and gave a little bit about each of you, but I would love for you to expand just a little bit. Tell us a little bit more about Hank and Sharon and then let’s dive into you love creative marketing solutions and some of the work that you’ve already done. And then I have a few questions for you.

Hank Yuloff: Okay. Uh, if you wanted to put us in a box, which every business coach will tell you not to let people do. We are business coaches. We’re small business coaches. We work with, uh, those that are sole proprietors. Up to about 40 or 50 at the max. Uh, our job is to be like you said, we. We’re there. Easy button. Uh, and if you if you get to see the video of this. Best $7 I ever spent it at, uh, staples, because, you know, we have the visual. Easy button. Uh, when a client has a problem, uh, that’s what we’re there for. We hold their hand and hold them accountable. Hey, uh. Let’s see. A few months ago, a client had nothing to do with our first call. When we get on the phone with him is all right. How can we best help you today? And she kind of rolled her eyes and was like, well, honestly, I need.

Sharyn Yuloff: A new housekeeper.

Hank Yuloff: I need a new housekeeper.

Sharyn Yuloff: But Oprah just walked out and she’s like, God, that’s that’s like my pressing issue right now is I need to replace my housekeeper.

Hank Yuloff: All right. So I pulled up Facebook and, you know. All right. Hey, LA people, This person in this area needs a housekeeper who’s got a referral. She got three referrals that had a new housekeeper that she still had. So that doesn’t really fall under marketing.

Sharyn Yuloff: And business coaching. Really?

Hank Yuloff: It just fell under easy button. Let’s let’s get that off, you know, off your shoulder. Um, so it’s that’s really, really what we’re there for. We’ve been in business for a long time. We work with a lot of businesses, so if someone has a challenge, not a problem, a challenge. Uh, we’ve probably dealt with it, and that’s what we’re problem dealer with it?

Sharyn Yuloff: Sure.

Hank Yuloff: Wow, that would look good on a business plan.

Trisha Stetzel: No problem dealing with it. So, yeah, you are listening to us and not watching. Hank has a really cool, easy button. Like, for real.

Hank Yuloff: And when you press it.

Speaker5: That was easy.

Speaker6: That was easy. I love it.

Trisha Stetzel: And you’re only listening to us. You guys should scoot over to the YouTube channel so that you can see these two amazing, beautiful people and they’re easy peasy.

Hank Yuloff: Hot.

Trisha Stetzel: Oh, that’s so fun.

Hank Yuloff: They’re so married up.

Trisha Stetzel: There’s a song about that. I think I’m just saying. Okay, so, um, I love that you’re helping clients with things because you and I both know as business coaches, when you walk into the room virtually or in person and somebody has something top of mind, you can’t break through that. And so we break through that, right? So I love that you guys are doing that. I also know that you’ve done you’ve hosted almost 400 episodes of a podcast called The Marketing Checklist View. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Sharyn Yuloff: Sure. Um, you know, actually used to be a much longer podcast. Kind of similar to what you’re doing. You know, we show up every every week. We had an hour. We would either talk about marketing things that were happening or we’d have guests on that kind of thing. Right? Pretty typical. And then just before Covid hits, um, the station, we we were on an internet radio station. The station had a challenge, and we went, you know what? That’s fine. We’ll just take a break. We’ve been doing it for five years. We’ll take a break and we’ll come back in the new year.

Hank Yuloff: Every Tuesday for five years, 4 p.m. Pacific. We were there.

Speaker6: We’re on the.

Hank Yuloff: Air. Music’s gonna start. You better have something to talk about.

Sharyn Yuloff: So, 2020 new year. Covid hit.

Hank Yuloff: What a time to take a break.

Sharyn Yuloff: Well, you know, our clients then needed a lot of marketing plans. Rejiggered. And so we kind of didn’t really rush to get back on the podcast. Um, and of course, then the podcast platforms exploded, right. Because now everyone’s at home. What are we going to do for marketing? And up until that point, our clients were not interested in doing podcasts. But now suddenly it’s like, well, what else am I going to do? Right? I gotta ramp up all the online stuff and podcasts are part of it. So we changed our podcast. Um, we were actually we were on somebody else’s podcast. Um, his name was Bob and his podcast was the 808 podcast, because Bob looks like 808. Perfect. It went for eight minutes and eight seconds.

Speaker6: Okay.

Sharyn Yuloff: So we were thinking, well, that actually is a really good time frame. Like, our clients could probably handle that.

Hank Yuloff: But our name isn’t.

Sharyn Yuloff: Bob, but our name isn’t Bob. Although he thought about changing his name to Bob. Just, um.

Hank Yuloff: But take one for the team.

Sharyn Yuloff: So we’re trying to think, well, what what number in our world would work with that? That’s under ten minutes. Our anniversary of July 21st. So our podcast is seven minutes, 21 seconds. And that’s what we did at the beginning, is we just really trained our clients to be on podcast. They had never been on them. Um, so come be on ours first. Most podcasters want to know, have you ever done this before? Come on. First you’ll have a link. You can say yes, I absolutely was. Send them the link. Boom. And so we’re still doing that.

Hank Yuloff: We even set it up a little even more. Now, for those of you who are listening. Um, we had here’s the behind the curtain. We had a bit of a chat with Tricia. She said, I want to talk about the easy button and let’s see where it goes from there. Yeah. Cool. Awesome. We don’t know what your next question is, Tricia. Now on our podcast. We send them the questions in advance. They write out the questions and they send them back. They know the answers so that we can make sure it’s going to be in the 721.

Trisha Stetzel: Oh yeah.

Sharyn Yuloff: Right. Once it’s once it’s there once we’ve kind of gone back and forth and, you know, fixed answer number three because it’s a little long, right. That kind of thing. Then we send out the schedule. Here’s when we’re available. What works for you.

Hank Yuloff: Because then they can send you Tricia. Hey, I’d love to be. I’d love to talk to everybody in Houston. Here are 12 questions you could ask me and my answers. So here I’m handing you a show of that.

Trisha Stetzel: That is so great.

Hank Yuloff: So we trained our clients, and now we we train other people that way that that are petrified to. Oh, my God, I’m petrified. What if I say something wrong. Well.

Trisha Stetzel: And and and actually it’s okay. Right. We’re all human. And that’s just the way things work. I love that you guys are doing that. Um, I don’t often have new, brand new people, uh, come to the show, but I do understand the idea of, uh, because I always ask, you know, what do you want to talk about? I’ve got a form as well, but I’m not as formal because most of the folks who come on the show have, uh, been on another show prior to coming on, but I can appreciate having that. Uh, and, and I do have guests on the show that like to have everything lined out right. We all have a different way to communicate, and that’s good, right? Um, okay. So I love that you’re doing that. You also have a really Neat tactic or strategy of using a book as a marketing tool. So you guys are authors of eight best selling like these? Yes, exactly. See, I knew you would be prepared. You didn’t even know I was going to go here, right?

Hank Yuloff: Um, in our studio, it’s the easy button here. The microphone over there. The book’s here, and the cat is a little further off to the side.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay. I love that. So let’s talk about that strategy because I think that is really, um, mindful. It’s a great tool that you can use in the marketing space. So let’s talk about that number one. Let’s talk about why you should have a book. Uh, and then let’s talk about those of you who have books, how you can use it for marketing.

Hank Yuloff: Okay. Uh, do you want to do this one or you want me to do this?

Sharyn Yuloff: Well, I had the last one to you guys. Um.

Hank Yuloff: We had we had a coach said you have to have a book. I’m like, no, I don’t want a book. You got to have a book.

Sharyn Yuloff: Some of you might relate to that.

Hank Yuloff: I don’t want to write a book. A lot of extra.

Sharyn Yuloff: I don’t know what to say. I couldn’t possibly fill a book.

Hank Yuloff: Okay, fine. You said. And I go. Do you ever watch late night television? Well, yeah. How many times does does the host say. My next guest is the author of the. Oh. Damn it.

Sharyn Yuloff: Or even the the author of the upcoming book. It’s not even always published yet.

Hank Yuloff: We have a we have a client that has been the author of the upcoming book for, uh, let’s see, five years.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay.

Hank Yuloff: Eventually she will get it done. Uh, so. And and then what are the six first six letters of the word authority? You want to be the authority on a subject? Yeah, I know, I can see you all do it. You’re all doing the math. Write the word out. Author. Oh, author. There it is. Oh. That’s good. I’m gonna steal that. Every every coach just said I’m stealing that.

Sharyn Yuloff: That’s fine.

Hank Yuloff: So I needed a book and and I’m. I am literally just like you see in the movies. White screen, blinking cursor. What am I going to write about? Uh, and I had just been to a whole bunch of, of, uh, trade shows. I was doing some, uh, well, rubber band marketing. Y’all know what rubber band marketing is? It’s where you’ve been to an event. You have a stack of business cards. You don’t want to lose those all together. So you put a rubber band around them and they sit on your desk.

Sharyn Yuloff: Or binder clip if you prefer. Whatever works.

Hank Yuloff: I was doing some rubber band. I had like four different stacks, and I remember thinking, you know, a whole bunch of those business cards really sucked because I’m also a trainee graphic artist. Well, maybe that’s a book. Hey, Trisha, do you know how many stupid things people can do with business cards?

Trisha Stetzel: There’s probably a lot.

Hank Yuloff: 49 of them. So there turned out there were 49 stupid things people doing business cards and of course, how to fix them. And that turned into book number one. And, you know, okay, the book comes out, it goes bestseller. And I went up to our coach. I said, fine, here, I have a book. I am not the easiest person to coach, I understand that. So he goes through it and he goes, oh, this is great. Oh that’s nice. And you showed some really good business cards and now you’ve messed up. That’s great. Hands it back to me is okay. So where’s the where’s the workbook. What do you mean. Well you just spent 103 pages telling me my business card sucks. Why don’t you show me how to do it right, genius? For those of you not watching on video, I just swore with my mouth closed. All right, fine. Back to the white cursor. You know the cursor? White page. They need to do if they’re going to do a business card. They need to have a logo. They need this and this and this and this and this. That turned into 80 simple ways to master your marketing.

Trisha Stetzel: Are very nice.

Hank Yuloff: Comes out bestseller. Back to the coach. Here I have you know here’s a book on marketing now. Yeah. But where’s the more book that went on through a few books I still haven’t done the workbook on how to do the business card. It’s just easier to redesign it for somebody and face through it so.

Sharyn Yuloff: You can get some of it in the first.

Hank Yuloff: Yeah. It’s there.

Trisha Stetzel: Absolutely. So. So let’s do this, Hank. If, if, um, if people are already interested and they want to know where in the world to find at least the 49 things that you can do wrong with the business card, plus the other seven books. Uh, where can they find those? Number one, if they’d like to take a look at them. And number two, what’s the best way to connect with you?

Sharyn Yuloff: Well, if you want to buy them. Why would you go to Amazon? Yeah.

Hank Yuloff: But here’s the thing. Tell you what. Here’s a better.

Sharyn Yuloff: Thing. Yeah, I was going to go there.

Hank Yuloff: Okay. Go there then. So there we’ve been on a couple of ratings. We’ve done this a couple of times.

Sharyn Yuloff: Um, if you don’t want to pay for them, but you would still like the information, then connect with us. Go to how to get there faster.com. Schedule 30 minutes with us. We’re going to start with the same question that Hank mentioned at the very beginning. We’re going to say, how can we best help you today? If it’s a housekeeper that’s fine. If it’s something.

Hank Yuloff: You want to.

Sharyn Yuloff: Do important about your business, we will talk about that. And then tell us which book you would like, and we will email you the PDF.

Hank Yuloff: Now, here’s the thing. Here’s the thing, folks. If you give us a little book report.

Sharyn Yuloff: A pod or.

Hank Yuloff: Pod report, 2 or 3 sentences, you have to listen. Yeah. See where it says Focal Point South Texas on your screen. You’ve got to listen to another episode. At least one. At least one. And if you give us, like a 2 or 3 question, your point. Here’s what I learned. You can ask for a second book, and if you listen to another episode, you can ask for a third book all the way up to eight. If you listen and give us pod reports for for eight episodes, we’ll send you all eight books.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay, so Frank and Sharon, this is what I heard. And I want to make sure.

Hank Yuloff: Actually.

Trisha Stetzel: Hank. Hank and Sharon.

Hank Yuloff: Hank and you were the first.

Sharyn Yuloff: You’re not.

Hank Yuloff: The first. Yeah, actually, what they what people tend to call us is Schenck and Herron.

Trisha Stetzel: Oh. Did I say your name wrong, Hank? Because I got.

Hank Yuloff: Really Frank. It’s okay. Really?

Trisha Stetzel: Oh. Darn it. Okay.

Hank Yuloff: We have we have one client that calls us shipping and handling because it’s s and h.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay, so Hank and Sharon, this is what I heard. If someone listens to another podcast, not this one. Well, they gotta listen to this one to get the instructions. But then the next one they listen to and they send you a podcast report. Then you’re gonna let them ask for another book.

Hank Yuloff: But it’s got to be yours.

Trisha Stetzel: It has to be iPod. Oh, yeah.

Hank Yuloff: Your podcast only got it. You’ve gotta you’ve gotta listen to Trisha. Eight more times. Oh, that’s eight people to get eight. Look, it’s not like it’s not going to do you some good. You can let the listener look at all the look at all the cool information that she’s going to bring to you. This only makes sense. So, you know.

Trisha Stetzel: I love this. Okay? So I will never call you Frank again. If I did, I’m sorry.

Hank Yuloff: Yeah.

Trisha Stetzel: Because I can read your name. It’s right here, Hank.

Hank Yuloff: Right there in the corner. Right?

Trisha Stetzel: Yes. So how I love that you guys have written books. And I understand how terribly hard it was to get started, because I have absolutely been there. Um, how do you use a book as a business card?

Hank Yuloff: We just did.

Trisha Stetzel: Oh, okay.

Hank Yuloff: Okay, so here’s the thing.

Sharyn Yuloff: You could do it in person as well.

Hank Yuloff: Yeah. Here’s here’s the thing. Do you think that if we send somebody the marketing checklist. Your guide for overwhelmed and overthinking entrepreneurs. Do you think that inside this book there aren’t. Oh, I don’t know, 5 or 6 dozen ways or reminders to reach out to us? Oh, and and now. But wait, I had to be taught that because I asked again. A business coach at the time who got us straight, the books, I asked, I asked him, I said, so why in your book do you have all these like sales pages that say, you know, you can get. Multiple copies of this book for this, you know, less amount or hire us to hire him to speak. I mean, why do you do that? You know, I had started to write a book. And he looked at my book and he goes, oh, yeah, you know, you’re right. Um, how many of these do you think you have out in the world? Well, I don’t know by now about a thousand of them because, you know, we had really great sales and stuff. Yeah. Wouldn’t it be? Isn’t it a shame that that doesn’t have a way for them to reach out and find you? Hands it to me and walks away. Oh, God. I am not the easiest to coach. I’ve gotten better. So now. Every. Yeah. Every book in your. In your book. You you should make sure you have ways for people to reach out to you.

Sharyn Yuloff: But it’s not only that. Right. We all go to. Maybe I shouldn’t assume many of us go to various chamber events. Right where there’s. There’s a thing, a basket or something. Right. Put your business card here.

Hank Yuloff: Because we’re going to have a drawing.

Sharyn Yuloff: You can put your book in there. You’re still going to pull it out. In fact they’re going to pull it out first.

Hank Yuloff: Yeah. Because they bring the.

Sharyn Yuloff: Big.

Hank Yuloff: They bring the big basket to the front of the room and the empty is going to reach in. And then there’s all of these business cards in our book, you know, partners, they pull it out. Partners and everything. Hey. And it’s always me. Hank, did you do this? It doesn’t matter that it’s two of us. It’s always me. Hank, why is your book in here? You asked for our business card.

Trisha Stetzel: So I love.

Hank Yuloff: That. Why don’t you just give it away to somebody else who’s up? So then our book gets given out. First we get extra promotion. You look when we speak somewhere. If we’re at a hotel, I’ll go into the gift store And, you know, in the gift store, they always have racks of books. I’ll put our book at the number one bestseller spot. That’s, you know, it’s called reverse shoplifting. We’ve given we’ve gone into libraries on cruise ships and left them there.

Sharyn Yuloff: You now have to be careful. Some of them have gotten stricter. So don’t don’t don’t take that as gospel.

Hank Yuloff: We’re at a hotel in Florida a couple of weeks ago, and they had a little book library that had no books in it. So we put three libraries. We put two of ours in there and put a note. Hey, business. Hey, business traveler.

Trisha Stetzel: What? Like this? Just over the top genius marketing idea. I love this, I think it’s fantastic. So what? People who are listening right now, and they’re like, oh, I’ve sat in front of the screen a thousand times with the blinking cursor, and I have never written my book. What would you say to them?

Sharyn Yuloff: Just start writing. Yeah. It really honestly at the beginning. It doesn’t matter what you say. You could be writing your grocery list. It doesn’t matter. Just start writing.

Hank Yuloff: Don’t start with a title that that’s that’s the least important thing you need. Because what am I going to write? Just just write.

Sharyn Yuloff: Yeah, yeah. He’s right. Don’t start with the title because the title will usually come. If you start with the title, then you get lost into that title and it may be the completely wrong title for that book and for you. So just start writing as you go. You’ll you might find your title, you might realize you’re saying the same phrase over and over, and that’s the title. You might decide that you want an SEO, a whole title.

Hank Yuloff: Partners and everything had three possible titles, but Partners in Everything was available. The other two titles were not. Oh well, the universe made the decision for us.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, says the marketers.

Hank Yuloff: Yeah.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay, so I like if it’s okay. I would like to go back to the easy button, because there are some folks listening that are like, books are not the easy button, right?

Hank Yuloff: No, they are not the fastest path.

Trisha Stetzel: Wait wait wait. Not ready to go there.

Sharyn Yuloff: Make it easier. Would you like me to make it easier before you switch topics?

Trisha Stetzel: Yes, please.

Sharyn Yuloff: So many people say what you said, right? No, I could never write. It’s not. This is not the easy thing. This is too hard. You know what’s not hard? While you’re driving, you have thought. Just dictate them into your phone while you’re driving. You can transcribe it later. There are tools that.

Hank Yuloff: Google will transcribe it for.

Sharyn Yuloff: You. Yeah.

Hank Yuloff: Then you’re just editing, you know. In fact, Sharon, Sharon, we’re looking at an idea for a book. And Sharon said, you know, we’ve written a bunch, a whole bunch of emails about this to people. Sharon went through our sent emails and there were like six chapters there because we had written out these description descriptions. Most of you have written descriptions in emails.

Sharyn Yuloff: Or if you’re blogging those, you could compile those blogs into a book. You’ve already written it.

Hank Yuloff: People hate to blog.

Sharyn Yuloff: Look, if they’re listening to her, some of them may already.

Hank Yuloff: Yeah. Those of you that have great congratulates. For those of you that have been blogging, congratulations. You have. You’ve already written your first book.

Sharyn Yuloff: Or if you if you also do podcasts, then you probably could transcribe those podcasts. Here are my favorite podcasts. Yeah. Just do the transcription. You’ve got a book. It’s already done.

Hank Yuloff: You just haven’t thought of doing that one.

Sharyn Yuloff: We haven’t.

Hank Yuloff: Done it. You haven’t done that one. You know Hank and Sharon’s favorite 25 interviews. It’s there. It’s on the hard drive. So the challenge really is finding is, is to choose which thing to write about. Heck, but you want the easiest one. The easiest book in the world. You ready?

Sharyn Yuloff: Oh, yeah.

Hank Yuloff: All right, everybody, go on Facebook. You don’t even have to do this yourself.

Sharyn Yuloff: It doesn’t have to be Facebook.

Hank Yuloff: Whatever you mean.

Sharyn Yuloff: Instagram.

Hank Yuloff: Your favorite social media channel and say, what’s your favorite business quote? You’re going to get a couple of hundred answers. Answers. You sort through them and then you write one little paragraph. You pick 50. Yeah.

Sharyn Yuloff: Let’s see. You only need 96 pages to get a spine on a book.

Hank Yuloff: Yeah.

Sharyn Yuloff: And we didn’t even say how big the typeface has to be.

Trisha Stetzel: Oh, okay.

Hank Yuloff: Here, my. Here are my favorite 50 business quotes and what they mean to me. And then you’re right. You know, so you have almost a blank page. Big, big writing with the quote. You have 3 or 4 sentences underneath. Hey, what does this mean to you?

Sharyn Yuloff: Even on the facing page. And now you get two pages for one.

Trisha Stetzel: So it doesn’t even have to be a story, is what you’re saying. Like if people are struggling. Yeah. Okay.

Hank Yuloff: And that can be an e-book. You could. Folks, if you’re listening today, you could have that that e-book ready tonight. You can have a book tonight and it’s ready to go.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay. I love how we applied the easy button here. I do, I think this is fantastic. Okay. I know our time has flown by, but I would love, as we close for you to tell me your favorite client story. It doesn’t have to be about the books, but maybe tying it back to the easy button.

Hank Yuloff: I know we will give you. I will give you one. And it is. It is. I’m not going to sell her out because she is the author of the upcoming book. Um, she runs a nonprofit and helps people, people that need housing get housing. Mhm. And she has she went from working for someone else, you know, working for a bank. She had a financial background, started one house you know helping people get housing. It’s transitional. Now she’s got 12 of them. But her book is stories. You know. Of people that she’s helped. You know, they’re they’re stories of going from jail or coming back from injuries or an addiction. And that’s her book. And that’s just the coolest to me. That’s the coolest thing ever. That’s that’s going to be better than any book that we’ve done.

Sharyn Yuloff: Well, the nice thing about about that particular story and that particular book is it’s actually two stories in one, because you’ve got the story of the person that went through it. Yeah. And then her experience of helping that person. So it’s really two stories in one story. Yeah. Um.

Trisha Stetzel: So we’re all ready to read her book, so tell her to get started.

Hank Yuloff: Every coaching goal.

Sharyn Yuloff: Just not published.

Hank Yuloff: Yet. Yeah. Yeah.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah I know. Absolutely. So, Sharon. Yeah, I know there are a lot of folks who want to connect with you guys. If they didn’t pick up on it in the middle. You guys go back. You can rewind the darn thing and hear what we were talking about, right? Because there’s an extra prize if you go back and do what they asked you to do. But, Sharon, how can folks connect with you and Hank?

Sharyn Yuloff: Just go to how to get there faster? Dot com. One of the most common questions we get asked is what do I do first and how do I get there faster, wherever there is for you. So how do you get there faster? Dot com that’s our scheduling link. You’ll see a video at the top so that you know you got the right place. You don’t really have to watch the video. You’re welcome to. But anyway, then you’ll be asked to apply. You’ll get a few questions just so we’re ready for your call. Um, we always do say we got your thing. We know what you want to talk about, but how can we best help you today? Because sometimes even the even if you planned it for the next day, life changes and you actually have a more burning question, so it doesn’t have to be what you filled out. But at least it gets us started thinking the way you’re thinking. Um, and then you’ll get a link to our to a calendar, and you can choose the time that works best for you. Just make sure you’re looking at the time zone you’re choosing.

Hank Yuloff: We’re on the East Coast, folks, and there’s a there’s an awful lot of people in California that pick 830 in the morning eastern. Oh, dear.

Sharyn Yuloff: You can change the timezone. It just they forgot to do that.

Trisha Stetzel: That’s really early.

Hank Yuloff: Really early. Yeah.

Sharyn Yuloff: Most people don’t show up.

Hank Yuloff: It’s not easy. It is.

Sharyn Yuloff: Recently that really did show up at 530. We were stunned. We thought for sure she was. She did?

Trisha Stetzel: Well, she needed you, and that’s why she showed up.

Hank Yuloff: Gave her a little extra time. Because it was.

Trisha Stetzel: Well.

Hank Yuloff: We don’t we don’t watch the clock. We. You know, if we’re having a conversation, we’ll we’ll go long.

Trisha Stetzel: Of course. Absolutely. And, you know, I love that the two of you are working together because you get so much more between the two of you. You have different styles and ways that you’re going to communicate with people, and especially as coaches, that gives them so much more than they would get with just one. Right.

Hank Yuloff: What’s really fun? Um. Do you have. Do you have that at that evening conversation with your husband? How was your day, dear?

Trisha Stetzel: Uh, no. We’re in the same business, too, so I guess. Yeah.

Hank Yuloff: So we used to have to have that conversation. Now, you’ll relate to this. My desk is over there. Sharon’s is over there. We meet in the middle, in the studio, and we can tell how our day is going by the number of times we hear the other ones where.

Sharyn Yuloff: And how loudly. And depending on the staff. Oh, drat. And not very important if it’s loud. Oh, something really happened.

Hank Yuloff: Then. Then that’s the signal of. Is there some way I can help you, sweetheart?

Trisha Stetzel: Oh, I love that, you guys. This has been so much fun. Thank you for joining me on the show today.

Sharyn Yuloff: Thank you.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. So you guys know how to find them. You know how to connect with them. You can also find them on social. You love creative marketing solutions.

Hank Yuloff: Actually we’re just at you laugh creative don’t you. Don’t even have to type the extra stuff.

Sharyn Yuloff: We shortened it for you.

Trisha Stetzel: Just lost creative. And Sharon’s name is spelled s h a r y n. I’ll bet you can spell Hank h a n k. And their last name is spelled U loaf y u l o f. Hank and Sharon, thank you so much for being with me today. It’s been such a pleasure.

Hank Yuloff: Thanks for having me.

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

Professional Clothier Madison Guillory

June 30, 2025 by angishields

Houston Business Radio

Professional Clothier Madison Guillory

00:00 /

Madison Guillory is a Houston-based Professional Image Consultant who helps busy professionals elevate their style and confidence through custom clothing and personalized wardrobe solutions.

Representing Tom James, the world’s largest maker of custom clothing, Madison specializes in creating bespoke and made-to-measure garments—from suits and shirts to jeans and casualwear—delivered directly to clients at their home or office for ultimate convenience.

In her conversation with Trisha Stetzel, Madison shared how her personal experience with fit challenges led her to the world of custom clothing and sparked her passion for helping others feel their best. She discussed her role in transforming clients’ confidence through tailored style, wardrobe organization, and grooming guidance.

Emphasizing the connection between appearance, self-esteem, and professional success, Madison showcased how thoughtful image consulting can empower individuals to make lasting impressions and achieve their goals.

Connect with Madison on LinkedIn.

This 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. Is my pleasure to introduce you to my guest today, Madison Guillory, clothier, stylist, full service wardrobe consultant with Tom James. Madison, welcome to the show.

Madison Guillory: Hi. Thank you so much for inviting me on.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. Oh, and by the way, if you’re only listening, you’re missing this fantastic jacket that Madison has on. So you need to get on the YouTube channel and check it out. It is gorgeous. So, Madison, tell us a little bit more about you and the work that you do.

Madison Guillory: Yeah. Of course. So a little bit about me. Um, there’s a lot to learn about me and get to know, um, about me. Um, in my spending time with my clients, they get to know so much about me. But, um, I’m a native to the Houston area. Um, I know the ins and outs of Houston. I serve as clients all the way up to the woodlands, down to Lake Jackson, Clear Lake, um, Baytown, Katy area. So I’m all around Houston. I got into the space, the custom clothing space, about three years ago, and I can’t believe the time is absolutely flown, but I’m 25 years beyond just turned 25. And I got into this space when I was 22, and I met a girl in target of all places, and I asked her where she got her clothes from because she was wearing a custom blazer and custom jeans. And my clothes have never fit like that. I have one of the hardest fits to find off the rack, to the point where I’ve given up. Um, and when you look at me, you’re like, oh, like you don’t have a hard time. But no, I’m I’m a four up top and 8 to 10 at the bottom. That’s a huge drop. I was 15 inch drop from my waist to my seat measurement, and you can’t find that in pants almost anywhere unless you’re either doing something custom or shopping high end. But at that point, if you’re spending $300 on jeans, you might as well get something custom.

Madison Guillory: So I asked her where she got her clothes from and she was like, oh, my clothier. And she had just started in the space maybe a year before it came right out of college into the custom clothing world. And, um, she had just started in the space, so she didn’t recruit me at the time, but now she’s in recruiting and she just gave me her Instagram. She was like, check us out, see if we have any openings. And it took me a year to even apply because I was afraid to go into 100% commission sales. But it’s turned out to be such an amazing journey. But it took me a year to even apply. And uh, when I applied I was so scared. But I’m really, really liking it. Um, and so I really like the fact that I get to work with amazing people. The, the stigma around, like, executives and like, the top 1% of Houston is like, not true whatsoever. There’s some of the sweetest, nicest people that you will ever meet, some of the funnest people to hang around. They will include you in their inner circle and their events, and introduce you to their friends because they want to see you succeed. Successful people want to see you succeed. Um, and so that is what I love about what I do, the people that I’ve connected with and the people that I’ve helped increase their confidence when it comes to their outward appearance, because especially so many women have issues with finding things that fit off the rack.

Madison Guillory: They’ve just given up all hope on finding quality things that fit number one quality, and then number two things that fit. Um, because what we’re finding off the rack these days is just like whatever the market is giving us, and then we’re just supposed to accept it? No. We deserve, We deserve so much more than what we’re what we’re being given on the market as women. And when you walk into men’s stores, they have some of the nicest things, and we have more women who are in executive level positions in the market, executive level positions or business owners in the market than ever. And so we should have the opportunity to have that same level of quality that can have as well. And so that’s where I come in. I’m number one in Houston when it comes to working with women. About 50% of my book of business is women, and I work with a close to 200 clients here in the Houston area. Um, and so I have a 5050 split between men and women. And I love working with women just because it raises their their self-esteem and their self-image, but also they’re getting access to that high, high quality, um, garment and item that you don’t typically find in stores, even some high end luxury boutique stores, too.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. So let’s, uh, let’s engage the part of the audience that says, I work from home. I don’t need anybody who can help me get a suit or a dress or anything else. So what would you say to that?

Madison Guillory: Um. At the end of the day, different people value different things. Um, I can only step in and build that value into clothing in appearance as much as possible. And at the end of the day, you can decide what you want to do with that. But, uh, for the people that that say, you know, I don’t need to dress up that much. Um, yes. You might not need to, but you can always be underdressed in a situation. Um, never necessarily overdressed, but you can always be underdressed. And so, um, really evaluate how you want people to perceive you, your self-image, your repertoire. Because your reputation. Your reputation does matter if you are trying to actually grow in and move faster further. Um, your appearance does play into that because what do you want to say when people talk about you? When someone mentions your name and say, oh, I know so-and-so. Oh my gosh, they they, they are the one that when they walk into the room, they own it. Um, they have a, a stance where they care about who they are and their appearance, and they give that to other people. Because like I said earlier, when you dress good, you play well. When you play well, you get paid well, but also when you look good, um, when you look good, you have a better mindset and are more able to give to the world around you because you start receiving all of these compliments, you start receiving and you’re like, okay, my tank is filled up to give to other people.

Madison Guillory: Everywhere that I go, like I dress up going to the grocery store. But who cares? Like, you can always be underdressed, but you can never be overdressed. But I get compliments all the time. Everywhere that I go. And I just receive, I receive and I say thank you. And, um. And I am able to give back to you. So you’ll be surprised how much more able and open you are to giving back to the world around you. When you do dress well, no matter where you go. Yeah, you’re working from home, but you still go to the grocery store. You still go to lunches, you still go to dinner with family and friends, you’re still going on vacations. And when you go to those places, I’m pretty sure you’re not staying at a at a motel or a Holiday Inn. I’m pretty sure you’re staying at a 4 to 5 star resort where people can treat you. They can treat you like a king or queen, but you’d be surprised by just elevating your wardrobe just a little bit. They’ll treat you like royalty when you walk into the door. They’ll hold the door open for you. They’ll ask you what you need. They’ll grab you back your bags without you even having to ask. I believe it’s it’s it’s a your outward appearance is a silent statement of I. I dress today to be respected.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. I, I love everything that you’re saying. And I tell people all the time that I’m working with you got to get up every day, and you got to get dressed and you got to go to work. And I don’t care if it’s down the hallway or a car ride up the street or on the other side of town, but you got to get up and you have to get dressed to go to work. So what is the importance from a mindset perspective for us to actually get up and get dressed, to go to work, even if we’re working from home?

Madison Guillory: Absolutely. I can boil it down to even science. That dopamine hit almost because most people get their dopamine hit from like coffee or energy drinks. But if you look in the mirror and you’re like, man, I look good. You just told yourself a powerful statement that’s now in your subconscious that, like, I look good, like I’m. I’m awesome. Like you were. You were just feeding yourself these these affirmations that at the time, you weren’t conscious about it, but it’s in your subconscious. And then that just that that kicks off your day to where you just have a good day. And at the end of the year, at the end of the year, at the end of your day, you’re just like, man, I had a good day. But when you really backtrack it, where did that come from? I guess you can have a good day if you’re in like, sweats and in, you know, tennis shoes. I’m not saying that I can’t have a good day, but you can have a fantastic day if you get up. Do your makeup. Do your hair. Like yesterday. I didn’t do my hair. And every time I looked in the mirror, I was just so mean to myself. I was so mean to myself. And I was like, oh, you look like Sonic the Hedgehog. Like, what are you doing? And that just bled into my entire day. And just like, oh, wow. Gross. But when you do your hair, you do your makeup and and you put on the clothes, you’re able to tell yourself the things. And at the end of the day, you are your own best friend, even if you’re working at home alone by yourself. You are your number one best friend and you are by yourself most of the time. Might as well be nice to yourself.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. And give yourself a reason to feel good and get up and go to work. So I work from home. I have my have a house away, a tiny house away from my house. And every morning I get up, I get dressed, I put my makeup on, I do my hair, I put jewelry on, like everything is very purposeful and it’s not for anyone else. It’s more for me. It’s about the way I want people to see me and how I show up, and I show up much more energetic and ready to play. Yes, I’ve put myself together because girl, on the weekend We’re talking about, you know, like beach gear, right? No makeup, hair in a ponytail, but that’s okay. Uh, so tell me more about. And we we started talking about this before we started recording, and I want to draw it out. You were talking about, um, how the first thing that’s judged is your hair and your shoes, and then we move to everything else. So tell me a little more about that.

Madison Guillory: So how can I break this down? I can mention a little bit about my background here. Um, because being a, um. Being an African-American female, it growing up, that was the first thing that we talked about. We were taught about and had to have a conversation about growing up Is. Our parents are here. Um, and I think the generation before me, um, just was, was so self-conscious about their hair and, like, conforming to this, the standards of the corporate environment that, um, they almost neglected it, but they always looked good. It was going to the salon almost every week to make sure that your hair was put together. So no one could ever say that, oh, their hair is like nappy or on the side of their head. And over time we have, um, what’s it called? Companies who have been able to better cater to us, have, um, offered us products to be more confident in our natural state. And I, me personally have also grown to be more confident in my natural state and um, and also keep it more presentable in those situations. But, um, me personally, there was just so much conversation about hair growing up. I’m so aware of it. Um, and then when it comes to men, um, I’ve never seen someone who has their hair in their face on the side of their head, has not, has not been combed, overgrown, be respected personally.

Madison Guillory: Um, I can spot $1 million haircut from a mile away, and I can go up to that person and tell them that and say, you. You actually care about your appearance because you have $1 million haircut. They could be wearing workout clothes in the gym, but I can tell that they’re in a respected position or are are looking to rise into a respected position because of the way they cut their hair. Um, it’s huge. Even even men, um, African American men that have dreadlocks. But if they have a focus on keeping their locks together, keeping keeping that, uh, that edge up tight, um, the taper and everything. I can tell they care about their appearance. And I think that also came from my dad to my dad’s a business owner in the Houston area. And so he the things that he always, um, that he always checked in the morning was his hair. He would almost cut his hair daily, cutting his beard, shaving his face. Um, always, always had toothpicks on him. You have to make sure that your teeth are clean and put together. Your breath smells good because you’re communicating with people. You don’t look tired. Even if you are tired, you are doing things that that help you not look tired because no one wants to work with a tired person like your your face. This your neck up matters.

Madison Guillory: And then the shoes, um, when it when it comes to, um, Your shoes. I actually had this incense with a friend of mine who was. Giving him the benefit of the doubt. He didn’t have much money at the time we were in college, but I had, um. I had a friend of mine that didn’t take a focus in on his shoes. And he wore the same, like, beaten ups, berries every day. And then I had a, um, a business colleague of mine where I ran into him at the grocery store, and we got into conversation. The three of us looked down at his shoes and he’s like, well, I can tell that you’re not really focused on growing yourself by the by the way your sheets look. And that changed his life from that day moving on forward. He got some new shoes. He kept his shoes polished. Even if your shoes are old, making sure they’re. They’re polished and clean and not, like, busted and beaten up. You know it. It doesn’t take that much. Like, a little bit goes a long way. You don’t have to wear the most expensive Ferragamo shoes. But, you know, taking a quick trip to maybe Allen Edmonds or, um, or Marshalls, Nordstrom Rack, places that have, you know, markdowns and just investing a little bit more on the fun and goes a long way. Mhm.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that. So Madison, if folks are ready to connect with you and want to learn more, what’s the best way to connect.

Madison Guillory: So the best way to connect with me is via phone. But I’m highly active on social media. I’m all over Instagram, all over LinkedIn. On Instagram, my handle is styled by Maddy G. So stay dot, be DG and on there you can see so many things that I’ve done for my clients over the last few years, the relationships that I have for them. I even have clients featured on my page. You can see a little bit about me, um, and the many different hairstyles that I’ve transformed into over the last few years. Um, but there’s a multitude of pictures on there and ideas of what we do provide. Now is every single thing that we that that we offer on my Instagram page. No, because I have thousands of fabrics that we can dive into from anyone, any background, any size, any taste and style that you have, whether it’s conservative or super fun. As you can tell, I’m a super fun person. I love to dive into color. I appreciate the classics and I love the classics. A classic blue goes a long, long way, but I love to dive into prints and patterns and have fun with with, um, with different combinations and things like that. On LinkedIn, you can find me under Madison Gallery. It’ll pop up right there on Google. You can Google me on Google and all my information will pop up. But if you look on my Instagram page, my my cell phone number is on there. Um, for business (832) 875-8551 and, um, I’m easily accessible more by text than by phone call. Um, because I do have very in-demand clients, but I’m always open to helping out someone there.

Trisha Stetzel: Beautiful. Thank you so much for that. And by the way, if you’re not watching us on YouTube, you need to go over there because I already said something about the jacket, but her hair is amazing, too. You got to see Madison’s hair today. Okay, let’s talk more about the service that you provide to your client. So how does it work and what do you do for them?

Madison Guillory: Yeah. So, um, working with me is a huge benefit because I’m that bypassing in-store shopping and online shopping, and that can be a headache for a lot of people. Like I, I personally hate going into the mall. If you’re in the Houston area, I avoid the Galleria like a plague. It gives me so much anxiety and I have an idea of what I’m looking for, and I just want that one thing and go. Um, so when working with me, it’s grab and go. You know, if you if you, if you’re looking at your calendar and you have an event coming up in the next 2 to 3 months, all you have to do is text me and say, hey, let’s get this into process. But with working with the client for the first time, I love having an in-person meeting for about an hour to two hours. So we’re meeting and we’re sitting down and we’re discussing what you do or do not have in your closet. We may be doing a quick closet consultation. I typically meet most of my clients in their homes, so I get an idea of who you are and what you have. And so I’m not duplicating anything that you already have. Um, what you do have and what you don’t have. Um, we’re going over different, um, qualities of fabrics and pricing. Getting an idea of where you want to start.

Madison Guillory: Um, and then I’ll take your measurements. Um, talk about some of the specifications that you want when it comes to men. Men are pretty simple. But then you have, like, the traditional style. The more relaxed style, you have more of the tapered Italian style. Now, um, or if you trust me, in my, in my opinion, on what you need to do for you, I’ve never had a client that’s been unsatisfied with my personal recommendation. Um, because if you trust me in what I’m doing, I’m the expert, and I can help you get to the to the desired outcome that you want. Um. And then with ladies. With ladies. We have so many different options now when it comes to styles and fabrics. Um, I want to make the process as simple as possible when it comes to making decisions. And so I will come prepared with ideas, book, books, um, somewhere for us to start. And then I will always come back with ideas every time we get back together. I typically see clients 4 to 5 times a year, and the time absolutely flies. It takes about 8 to 8, 6 to 8 weeks to get a custom garment. And so we’re planning ahead of time. Um, and that’s where I come in, where we are staying, on top of the things that you do need that are coming up. So.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay. Beautiful. That sounds like so much fun because I hate going to the mall.

Madison Guillory: Oh, yes.

Trisha Stetzel: No. My favorite. I don’t like shopping. Uh, this is so tell me this. I know that you’ve got some favorite client stories as well. And so if you can share their experience or your experience with them, of course, keeping their identity private because we don’t want to tell everybody who your clients are. Um, but describe to me or tell me some of your favorite client stories so that the audience can get more of an idea of how you’re interacting with your clients.

Madison Guillory: Yeah, I would say my absolute favorite client story. Um, and I want to mention her name right now, but she’s an amazing woman. She was a referral. How I got connected with her was actually pretty funny. I ended up meeting a gentleman who is the top salesman at a BMW here in Houston. He referred me to a gentleman. That gentleman ended up becoming my client. And then he referred me to his colleague. Um, and she is an she’s an amazing person. She’s like the light of the world and deserves the best. But when I first met with her, she was so skeptical because, number one, she had never spent this much on clothing before. But number two, she was just so let down by the market that she had given up on trying to elevate her look, even though she was in she was in an executive level position where she was making important decisions in these boardrooms with with mostly men. Most of the time she was the only female in the room, and so she didn’t feel like she was necessarily getting the respect that she deserved. And the situation, because those men were dressed very, very well. And so when I first met with her, I was just like, just give me a shot doing a couple of outfits for you. Um, I will tell. I will say I like to set the right expectation on the front end with if you have a difficult fit. She’s not she’s not the easiest fit, but she has a very great shape to accentuate, um, and to appreciate.

Madison Guillory: But when, when working with clients that have a more difficult fit, I’m like, there’s going to be a couple of alterations that we need to make on the front end, but once we figure that out, then it’s super easy to work with me from from there. And we’ve yet to have to change her pattern since the first time doing alterations for her. And so I just saw her light up when her clothes came in, when her when her second batch of clothes came in directly from the factory and fit without making any alterations. She was so pleased. She was so excited. She was so happy. And that made me jump for joy, because I was so excited to see her have something that she felt good in, and she looked good and she just, she just lit up and it was night and day from like the first time that I met with her to now. Because like I said, when I first met with her, she was just so, like, disappointed. And and I know she didn’t want to be disappointed again. So all I wanted to do was deliver her a great garment that would make her feel more confident in, in the, um, and not the industry, but the market again. So so that’s what we we deliver. We deliver, um, convenience, we deliver confidence, we deliver quality. And so that’s one of my favorite, um, client stories.

Speaker4: I’m not sure if I.

Madison Guillory: Have any other client stories that are just as impactful.

Trisha Stetzel: So I bet.

Madison Guillory: You.

Trisha Stetzel: Impacted plenty of people. And I know you have another story.

Madison Guillory: Um. I would say when I get, when I get, like texts and photos from clients that are like, oh my gosh, look at what you put together. I look so good today. Um, type of thing. Or, you know, I, I, I’ve been I feel like I’ve impacted more women than men just because there’s so many choices for men when it comes to quality items. I get so much more feedback from my lady clients. I have this lady client that, um, she’s no longer living in Houston anymore. I think she stepped down from her position and living in another state now, so I haven’t heard from her recently, but when I first met with her again, she she was a little unsure about the process, but she was willing to trust me and try me out on a capsule. And we did a couple of capsules for her, um, which just made sense. We could take a couple of items. It just makes so many different outfit combinations out of it for her because she was like, I just don’t want to think. I don’t want to think when I go into my closet, I don’t want to think in the morning when I get dressed, I just want to look good. And so she looks like a million bucks. Like if I saw her walking down the street, which I never saw her walking down the street, but she always texted me when she got compliments.

Madison Guillory: Um, if I saw her walking down the street, I would stop her and be like, what do you do? Where are you from? You look amazing. Because she. She just looks like a million bucks. But we strategically planned out her capsules. Um, so I had taken pictures of each outfit and put them into a album for her. Oh, cute dog I have. I have a pitbull. Um, I had put them into an album for her, so whenever she needed to get dressed in the morning or pack for a conference or trip, she could just, she could just go into the album and pick out a couple of outfits and be like, okay, this is how I want to look for the next few days. And it was so easy for her to just get get ready and get dressed. So, um, that that was really awesome being able to do that and impact in that way. Um, and then turn around and help out with like, different style ideas. So at the end of the day, people just don’t want to think about it. It can be it can become very stressful. Um, if you’re always having to think about, how do I pair this with that? And, you know, different styles I have.

Madison Guillory: I have one of the most stylish clients walking into her closet. This is another client. This is another lady client walking into her closet. Her shoe collection is like, oh my gosh, I just want to live in here. Her shoe collection is amazing. Louboutins. Um. Um, what’s what’s the other one? Jimmy shoe and, um. Antonio. I can’t think of the of the name right now, but her shoe collection is amazing. Um, so I was able to go into her closet and take the capsules that we made up for her, impair the different accessories that she had with it. And she was like, I would have never thought about pairing this shoe with this outfit. You know, like, good thing you’re here. Because now I can actually wear these shoes because a lot of the times women were like, oh, we like this, but we don’t necessarily know how to like, style it or wear it, so it just sits there. So how can you get the most use out of the out of the clothing and accessories that you already have in your closet and strategically add, um, items and accessories based off of what you already have?

Trisha Stetzel: It’s amazing you offer such a valuable service, and I know your clients love you to death, so I know our time has already gone by so fast. Uh, thank you so much, Madison, for being with me today. Again, if you guys want to connect with Madison, you can find her on LinkedIn at Madison. Madison? Her last name is spelled g u I l l o y on LinkedIn. Or tell us your IG page again.

Madison Guillory: Instagram. I’m styled by G, so that’s s t l e d dot b dot d I g.

Trisha Stetzel: Fantastic. And we’ll have all that in the show notes for you guys. So if you’re sitting in front of your computer you can just point and click and connect with Madison. Madison, thank you so much for being with me today. This has been tons of fun.

Madison Guillory: Thank you Trisha I appreciate the opportunity.

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

BRX Pro Tip: How to Find Your Niche

June 30, 2025 by angishields

BRX Pro Tips

BRX Pro Tip: How to Find Your Niche

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BRX Pro Tip: How to Find Your Niche

Stone Payton : Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips, Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, you are almost famous for talking about the power of niches. You’ve been continuing to read about niches, and specifically, I think you’ve come across something about finding your niche.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, this was a great – it was a great post from a guy named Josh Spector. And he has a newsletter called For the Interested, which I highly recommend for any content producer. But what he said was, every niche has two components: an ideal client plus an ideal result.

Lee Kantor: For example, our business can help you grow is too broad. At least one part needs to be hyper-specific for your niche to stand out. But if you can target a specific client with a specific result, you’re going to get kind of your optimal niche. And as a bonus, if you can throw in their biggest objection, you’re going to get more points.

Lee Kantor: So for Business RadioX, it would be, we have a proven system that helps female business coaches get way more discovery calls without that icky salesy feeling.

Lee Kantor: Remember, a good niche includes a specific client with a specific result and overcomes their biggest objection.

BRX Pro Tip: How to Re-Energize Your Show

June 27, 2025 by angishields

BRX Pro Tips

BRX Pro Tip: How to Re-Energize Your Show

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BRX Pro Tip: How to Re-Energize Your Show

Stone Payton: And we’re back with Business RadioX Pro Tips, Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, in my experience, and I’m sure this is consistent with you as well, even a good show well executed, it can get a little bit stale over time, it seems like. What are some ways to kind of re-energize the show?

Lee Kantor: Here are some things to think about if you’re getting kind of in a rut, or you’re feeling like you’re on a hamster wheel when it comes time to do your show. Some things to think about. Number one, have a superfan listener host an episode. Just hand over the microphone to somebody that is, you know, regularly commenting on your show or is a big fan of the show. Let them host, let them do whatever they want to do with it. You know, they obviously like it, so let them play.

Lee Kantor: Another thing is to have your producer interview you. Your producer has sat on the other side of the mic for all of those episodes. Let them now interview you and ask the questions that they’re curious about.

Lee Kantor: Another thing to do is something we do quite a bit, is show up at a local business and broadcast from there. You know, it’s a fun thing to do. It puts your show in a different locale. It lets different people see what you do, and then it benefits the business that you’re at. And it also kind of gives new energy to your show.

Lee Kantor: Something I highly recommend most podcasters do is curate a best-of list for brand-new listeners. I think that’s super important to have a, you know, a handful of shows or a handful of episodes that your listeners can kind of listen to to get them hooked on the show.

Lee Kantor: Definitely, this is something we do regularly, broadcasts from local high-profile events. I mean, we broadcast from Chamber of Commerce events. We’ve broadcast from major economic development events. We’ve broadcast from major fintech events. Like, we’ve been on the stage in the middle of the football field broadcasting before. So when you can bring your show on the road, it definitely elevates the credibility of your show, and it brings a bunch of new listeners to you.

Lee Kantor: So if you’re looking for ways to re-energize your show, start with some of these.

Unlocking Business Success: Expert Insights on Sales and Exit Strategies

June 26, 2025 by angishields

Cherokee Business Radio

Unlocking Business Success: Expert Insights on Sales and Exit Strategies

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Brought to you by Diesel David and Main Street Warriors

In this episode of Cherokee Business Radio, Joshua Kornitsky is joined by Dean Nolley, founder of Sales Growth Imagination, and Bob Tankesley, M&A advisor with Walden Mergers & Acuisitions and author of “Exit Teams.” The discussion centers on effective sales processes, business growth strategies, and preparing for business sales. Dean shares insights on building scalable sales systems, while Bob emphasizes the importance of assembling the right advisory team for successful business exits. Listeners gain practical advice on documenting sales processes, understanding business value, and navigating the complexities of selling a business for optimal results.

Bob Tankesley is a mergers & acquisitions advisor for companies with $2,000,000 of net income and higher. His focus is on representing companies in the industrial sector that are buying or selling throughout the southeast U.S.

Connect with Bob on LinkedIn.

Dean Nolley is a Fractional Sales Leader that is leveraging his experience to help companies grow their sales results by improving sales processes, structure, training & performance gaps. while establishing a long-term sustainable model. He assists with assessments, sales management, by helping drive the sales process myself or enabling you to continue to own the process.

Dean has now started and organized Sales Growth Imagination, LLC, a Fractional Sales Leadership and Consulting company that is focused on supporting start-up, small and mid-size companies that range from 5M to 100 M for fractional leadership and sales consulting project engagements.

Sales Growth Imagination LLC focuses on fractional leadership through the power of Sales Xceleration.

Connect with Dean on LinkedIn.

Episode Highlights

Transition from corporate careers to entrepreneurship
Importance of having a documented sales process
Strategies for enhancing sales processes and addressing challenges
The impact of technology on sales growth
Common reasons businesses seek sales assistance
The “silver tsunami” and its effect on sales professionals
Role of advisors in preparing a business for sale
Insights on business valuation and exit strategies
Market dynamics affecting business sales
Importance of assembling a team of advisors for successful business transitions

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

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

Joshua Kornitsky: And welcome back. This is Joshua Kornitsky. Professional iOS implementer and your host of Cherokee Business Radio. I’ve got a couple of great guests here in the studio live with me this morning. Let’s jump right in. So good morning first. Uh, Dean Nolley, founder of Sales Growth Imagination. Welcome to Cherokee Business Radio.

Dean Nolley: Thank you for having me today.

Joshua Kornitsky: I’m so glad to have you here. So, Dean, tell us a little bit about about yourself and about what you do.

Dean Nolley: Well, about myself. Um, I’m very blessed with a great family. Uh, three adult children, uh, all out in the workforce. Um, beautiful, wonderful wife. Um, it really is a big part of why I do what I do today. Because I think, as you know, I made an intentional decision to leave corporate America. And that decision was we had been married. Um, I had moved five times in 11.5 years. And at that point, we were being asked to move again. And I could tell with my wife being pregnant with our oldest son, um, moving again was not a good idea. So. Okay, that gave us the courage and the path to start my own business. Digital Imagination, at that time.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. And what is it you do to help folks?

Dean Nolley: Well, um, what I do today is I help them grow sales. Um, and building out the sales model. I kind of see the group of where I focus in three different categories. And I would like to tell you that most of the companies I’m touching, they’re working well. That’s great. And we’re looking to try to scale their growth. Generally what happens? I get calls from people that need help, and it’s usually one of two areas. One they really need. Things are broken. It’s normally sales process. It’s people. It could be CRM, a whole litany of areas around strategy, process, measurables and people. But the key is you can’t you got to dive into the work. And that’s why I call myself a builder and an architect, because if I handed them a roadmap or consulting, you know, results, they wouldn’t know what to do with it. The other area is sales led business owners, so they you can’t say things are broken because they never existed. But let’s take an example of an owner that was three, 4,000,005 years ago. Now they’re 1015 million. She or he have now simply outgrown their structure. So if my dad were still living, he would laugh because he tied back to when I had my own company. I would have been the absolute worst sales lead owner to make a sales cone. So now I get to have the fun of going into those owners who put their heart and soul, blood, sweat and tears in their company. And I need to help them rebuild it. And I’ve got to touch their baby, so to speak. And again, as my dad would say, paybacks are hell, son.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, so I know you shared with me that you’re a Six Sigma green belt, but you’re also a certified sales leader and, uh, an objective management group, um, certified.

Dean Nolley: Well, objective management group certification. But, you know, when you start looking at the different certifications, some of them don’t tie together very naturally. Matter of fact, you might say that I’m a little bit of a freak of nature.

Joshua Kornitsky: We would never say that. But my my point in bringing it up is it shows that you’ve got process background, you’ve got sales background, and we’ll delve into your background in a minute. But you’ve not just got your own experience, you’ve got certifications as well.

Dean Nolley: I’ve gone through the sales leader certification. Um, I’ve also gone through the Harvard Business School development program. Wow. Um, if you want to tie to Dale Carnegie. Also, Dale Carnegie advisor. So you have that part under the belt, but then you get into a large litany of I in the sales process. Uh, AI sales tool certification. Um, OMG, I will stay there is really around business or people’s skill sets. And do they have the requirements to do the job in the sales area that is so critical, especially with the five generational gaps that we’re dealing with. Making sure they have the skill set, and do they want to sell that product or service? Because what Gen Y and Z want to do is quite different than, say, Baby Boomer aging X or traditionalists.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay, so so let’s back up and let’s talk again about how you help the people that you help. So it sounds like you can help on the process side. It certainly sounds like you can help on the technology side. And then obviously, as I came to know you, you help on the sales side. Correct. So that’s a that’s a lot of diversity in your in your knowledge. Where does this experience come from other than the certifications.

Dean Nolley: Well, if you take a look at the career path, when I left Eastman Kodak I was such a good employee, I went to put film out of business. Um, I started with the Silicon Valley startup. Um, I worked for gentlemen that were from Apple, Logitech. Sun micro SGI. Small companies? Yeah, a lot of tech companies and none other. The consultant for our group was none other than John Sculley. So I learned entrepreneurship like I had never seen. And it was a great venture. A gentleman by the name of Pete Orsini and I, um, once that group was being sold, started our own services business called Digital Imagination. Started it from scratch. Uh, built it to 5.4 million. We sold that to Applied Graphics Technology, a newspaper company in New York. Um, and I can honestly say to this day. And Peter Sydney is one of my dear friends in life to this day. So we started, we built, we sold. Um, that led me into the PE world. So, you know, mainly software services, both on enterprise, some print related, a lot of front end server. But that whole software world, I was working with the port codes and I was not running the company, but I was running sales. So we were either at scratch three, 4 or 5 million trying to take to 30, 40, 50 million to have that equity event.

Joshua Kornitsky: And it sounds like you’ve got a fair amount of experience helping businesses scale up from, from both the sales and the process side. Um, you know what? What’s the general impetus? Why do people reach out to you to to where do they start?

Dean Nolley: Well, that’s a great question. Um, unfortunately, they generally reach out about 3 or 4 years after they should reach out.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. So the time to call is now.

Dean Nolley: Correct. And if you think about it because I was one of them. If you’re a sales lead owner, there’s a lot of pride. There’s a lot of work you’ve put in your business to build it. So it’s kind of hard to reach out and ask for help. And if you are the sales lead owner, The one area that is probably most difficult to ask for help on is on the sales side. So when they reach out, normally they’re going backwards on sales. That’s generally the biggest issue I see. They do not have a sales process. And more recently in the last year and a half, everybody talks about the baby boomer owners that are leaving the workforce for every owner on a $20 million company. There’s generally three baby boomer sales professionals retiring, retiring for health, relocating for family. And it’s a major issue to replace those individuals. And most of them haven’t had to deal with this or replaced or hired in quite some time.

Joshua Kornitsky: So how do you help that type of organization? I think they call it the the silver tsunami. Right. That you’ve got this large group of folks that will be leaving the workforce and certainly on on the sales side, they’ve got a great deal of tribal knowledge, right? So what do you do to help a business plan for survive and thrive?

Dean Nolley: Well, the most important part and that that is where O-m-g comes in. You absolutely have to understand the skill set required to have an individual sell your product or service, and then you’re not going to probably hire perfect. So you need to understand what else do I need to do to train? Say with the rain group, you know, part of the training program that I work with within the company as well, because you’ve got to develop that individual. And can you get them to where you need them to sell the product? With the generational part, you got to make sure that they want to sell it, because I can tell you, there are certain industries that Gen Y and Gen Z are not attracted to, and it’s quite different again than baby boomer traditionalists.

Joshua Kornitsky: And you can help those business owners kind of traverse those waters.

Dean Nolley: We’re going to help build the job description, the requirement with amplify, we’re going to help recruit the people and get them in place. We’re going to onboard them. We’re going to train them. And most importantly, with the sales process, you’re going to document that because everything you’re doing needs to be repeatable, not just for the people you’re bringing on board today, but for future people you’re going to bring bored.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sure. That’s where scalability lives in documentation. Exactly. We share that with our clients all the time. So in addition to to that onboarding, in addition to that training, you also build out the process.

Dean Nolley: Yes. Um, the security stat is 92% of companies do not have a documented sales process, 97% do not have a strategic sales playbook. So when you’re going into an account, the thing that you’ve got to be most important is curious, because I don’t what I will come in and do is a discovery touching every element of strategy, process, measurables and the people both computerized, but also one on one interviews with every customer facing individual in the company, or a subset if it’s a larger company. But that is critical as a but it’s just a starting point. I can tell you that if anyone ever tells you they’re going to nail the discovery, you need to run like Forrest Gump, because you better be curious. And it’s not all bad stuff.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sure, but you still got to understand.

Dean Nolley: And find ways that you can help the client. And most importantly, it’s got to be individualized to their business. So when you’re building out the sales process, think of it this way from a time that you’re generating a lead to the time you’ve closed the deal, every step in that sales funnel has to be well documented. It has to be the right activities, most importantly, and it has to be repeatable because it’s not that you want to help someone wing it, you want to make sure that every person they have today and in the future can do it. Repeatable. But the other miss, it’s got to be balanced for the company because you could be doing a lot of great activities, but if it’s not producing the right revenue and the right gross margin output and other objectives that you have as a company for growth, then it’s not going to be balanced and eventually it’s going to break again.

Joshua Kornitsky: So it sounds like it’s a fairly long engagement for you potentially. Is this one size fits all or do you tailor this.

Dean Nolley: You know it starts out as one size but it winds up tailoring it. And I’ll give you an example. And one account went in to build the sales process. Um, it needed a lot of work. What we determined in the process, the sales professional, they had said, I can’t do the job now, but we built something that was fair for the salespeople. It produced what the company needed for growth. So we then started hiring. And I think the company was blown away with the fact of, wow. The new sales professional knows what to do. And it’s like, well, we do have a pretty good sales process now. We hired the second sales rep in the third. All three are doing well. What happened is they in their case, they’re never going to get past three people. So the question was who’s going to manage these people? So that actually expanded my engagement both time and commitment, because I’m now managing those three salespeople and other engagements. When I come in, Joshua, it’s predetermined that I’m there to help them build out the team. We’re going to hire a sales leader. I’m going to get that sustainable, and then I’m going to graduate, and hopefully I will have earned a very loyal customer and testimonial. And maybe there’s other one other initiatives I can help them with.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sure. So. So it sounds like you’re there for however long it takes to get them to where they need to be.

Dean Nolley: Correct. On the infrastructure where you’re fixing and putting things in place, you’re probably there for a 3 to 5 month engagement. If you’re managing people, it’s most probably a 8 to 12 month engagement. Um, and if you’re going into where things are working pretty well, and now we’re going to document build out the framework and roadmap with the strategic sales playbook that would look similar to world, you know, that would look very similar to EOS, because I’m going in with three sessions in the first 90 days, and I’m capturing about 60 elements well documented. That’s going to align to a strategic sales playbook that’s already been framed and educated with AI. So I’m taking customer data. That’s most important. Uh, probably 30, 40 hours of work on my side. Not to mention all the the customer side that’s into the playbook. But what that’s doing, it’s it’s perfecting the ability to scale. Also. And then I’m back in like once a quarter, similar to what you do.

Joshua Kornitsky: Touch base make sure okay.

Dean Nolley: Make sure they don’t jump back into what they were doing before.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well it sounds like it’s a pretty comprehensive engagement. Let me ask you, Dean, because of your experience at at everything from a startup through through what I presume is probably a fortune 100 company. Um, what’s your ideal client size? Who do what size companies do you work with?

Dean Nolley: Well, I would say it’s in the 5 million to 50 million range would be the sweet spot. Okay. Um, if you expanded that, I’m getting calls from people in the couple million range to 100 million range. And again, it depends on the services. If you’re up on someone’s scale, you’re generally in the larger companies. Sure. Um, and with the framework and the strategic sales playbook, uh, when you’re fixing and repairing, you’re probably more in the 2 to 20 million range.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. So it sounds like you can help, uh, really quite a wide swath of folks. Uh, that’s fantastic news, really, for anybody that’s listening, because it means, at the very least, you’ve got some guidance and direction for them. So what’s the best way for people to reach you?

Dean Nolley: Uh, the best way for people to reach me is on email or the website. So sales growth imagination at gmail.com.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. And we’ll all we’ll post all of your social all of your contact data. But I always like to give you that opportunity. Uh, is there a phone number they can call?

Dean Nolley: Yeah. The cell phone is (404) 307-1841. And the thing that I enjoy the most is having a conversation. And my commit as a sales guy is I won’t sell, which sounds backwards, but I think we’ve all seen animal House and I kind of feel like I’m the Delta. Meaning I’m on double secret probation. Okay, so people expect me to have a silver bullet. I don’t, uh, they expect me to sell them, I won’t. But what is critical is my personal goal. And I’m doing it this year very well. Is to have one conversation a day with the business owner. Right? And last week, I was in front of one of the Vestager chairs and a CEO group. You know, I spoke with 16 CEOs.

Joshua Kornitsky: So does that mean you take the rest of the month off?

Dean Nolley: No, it means this Thursday I’m back over here in your neck of woods at KSU, and I’m in front of 15 business owners. That’s fine. But you know, I love the one on one, the individual just to have a conversation. Because probably the hardest thing around this is people understanding what you do. And, you know, the more business owners that know what I do and you know, the better. So that’s why I don’t try to sell people, because you may not need my service or you may not today, but in a week or two you may know someone through church, through business, um, through your neighborhood. That’s like, I think you need to call Dean. And, you know, it’s just like you did, uh, a few weeks ago, you called me with a friend of yours who’s also a client, and he needed help with the CRM. That process. I got him in with an integrator. They are working with him. In this case, it’s HubSpot. Wonderful engagement. Uh, I think you’ve probably have heard the same feedback.

Joshua Kornitsky: He’s very happy with him.

Dean Nolley: Um, and I got to tell you, the CRM and then rain Group training, because rain Group is individual based training that could be in group structure. But for those owners that have 1 or 2 salespeople, it’s very affordable. It’s like a license of $985 a year. So it’s built for that. Um, most people don’t want to ever touch someone and train if they have 1 or 2 people. But, you know, the bottom line is those categories. And there’s other areas that I touch with a lot of sales tools, especially in the AI world, that help clients find clients, help them better engage with clients, and also help them better relationship manage. So there’s a lot of individual tools that can help companies that doesn’t require them to get a full engagement with me.

Joshua Kornitsky: So it sounds like there’s a lot of reasons to call you. Well, Dean Nolley, founder of Sales Growth Imagination, I can’t thank you enough for sharing your wisdom and your insight. I hope you can stick around. I’ve got another fascinating guest coming up who I believe you know. Uh, Bob Tankesley, can you stick around?

Dean Nolley: Oh, I would love to, because I’ve read his book. Okay. I did not know we were on the show today. A small world. We’re also in a networking group together, so I’m anxious to hear more because he’s put a lot of heart and soul into this book, and he nails on the exit teams part so well.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s fantastic.

Dean Nolley: I can’t wait to listen.

Joshua Kornitsky: More then stick around. Thank you again. Dean Nolley, uh, founder of Sales Growth Imagination. Let’s move over and talk with my next guest, Bob Tankesley. Thank you, Bob, for being here. Bob is, uh, the principal and an M&A advisor at Walden Mergers and Acquisitions. And he’s also, uh, as Dean alluded to, the author of Exit Teams, which has the subtitle of Build a Team of Advisors for Your Business sale to get a higher price. Bob, welcome. Thank you for being here. Dean. Uh.

Bob Tankesley: Joshua, thanks for very much for having me. This is, uh, this is great. Like Dean said, you’re over here in my neck of the woods. Now, I live in Cherokee, too.

Joshua Kornitsky: Oh, wonderful. Well that’s fantastic. I live in Kennesaw, but we’ll just have you guys on all the time. We’ll talk about all kinds of great stuff. Well, Bob, tell us, what on earth made you want to write a book?

Bob Tankesley: So there’s a lot of books out there on exit. Okay. I think a lot of them assume that the the reader of their books, if an owner of a small business that that owner is, uh, running a business that even can be sold. So let that sink in for a minute.

Joshua Kornitsky: So explain that a little. Because I think I know what you mean, but I’d rather we not. Yes.

Bob Tankesley: Yeah. Um, let me just throw out a quick stat. I love stats. Uh, 4% of companies ever sell.

Joshua Kornitsky: Wow.

Bob Tankesley: Okay. So 20% of companies are ever taken to market. Only 20% of those ever transact. It’s a stat that every time the surveys are done, it’s a stat that just keeps showing up year after year. So a lot of these books that are out there make the assumption that their reader, if a business owner is running a business that can even be sold. I wanted to put a book out there that said, hey, yours might not be ready for prime time at this point. And like Dean said, a lot of it has to do with that critical sales role being held by the owner themselves.

Joshua Kornitsky: So I see this a lot in in some of the work that I do with my clients, where, you know, often you have this entrepreneur who, who took a chance, brought a product or service to market. And for lack of a better analogy, it’s their baby, right? And it is difficult as speaking as a parent, it’s difficult to let your baby go out into the world. But when you’re when you’re speaking about a business, as your business grows in skills, how do you help them understand that it’s time to to to let go.

Bob Tankesley: Great question. So I’ve often asked I’m often asking owners where is this going? Right. You know, it’s the most open ended question I could think of. I used to lead off with, hey, do you know what your business’s value is? And that’s a very technical, you know, left brain kind of sure Question.

Joshua Kornitsky: But if you can even answer it. Sorry to interrupt you, but how many can even answer that question?

Bob Tankesley: Another statistic for you? 2%. Wow, 98% of owners don’t know the true transferable value of what they’ve got. So I often lead with this question of where is this going?

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Bob Tankesley: You’ll get them talking. They’re thinking about where this business is going. They’re thinking about the employees that they need to be hiring. They’re thinking about the lines of business. They need to be starting the thinking about potentially a customer that they need to, you know, win or sell more product to or a competitor that they’re thinking about buying. That very open ended question of where is this going? Will create. If you’ll give them a time, it’ll create an hour plus of conversation.

Joshua Kornitsky: So so what are some of you would you’d given such a low statistic for the actual ability of these businesses? Understanding that the answer to this question is it depends. But trying to bring it down to just a high level conversation. What are some of the reasons why that number is so low?

Bob Tankesley: I think you have to start with the highest on the list being owner dependance.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Bob Tankesley: The business is unbelievably intimidating, is unbelievably dependent on the owner being in the business at all times. The owner’s got the key customer or client relationships. The owner knows they were there from the founding, or if they bought it, they were there from that point forward. They’re in the business, what, 60, 70, 80 hours a week? Hopefully not that long.

Joshua Kornitsky: Ideally, yeah. But often the case.

Bob Tankesley: They’re doing all the hiring, all the firing, all the contract management. And obviously what we’re describing here are our businesses that are, you know, toward the smaller end of the size spectrum. Like Dean said, you know, somewhere in that 525 to $20 million range, we we tend to see these problems, though, even at companies higher than that, where you extract the owner from the business. You’ve got something that now is worth 20, 30% less, maybe even half as much.

Joshua Kornitsky: Because they’re the bottleneck. Yeah. And I presume in those circumstances and sort of what Dean was talking about regarding the the silver tsunami. Right. Similar but different. You’ve got all this tribal knowledge because the founder or founders are the people that know where what’s in every closet, what’s in every drawer, the client relationships that go back forever and, and the special arrangements that were made. And that knowledge is difficult to transfer, I presume. Yeah. So when you find a situation like that, that is that who this book is for? Or is this book for, for really anybody that’s thinking about the long term destination where it’s going.

Bob Tankesley: It’s for anyone. Quite honestly, it it’s I wanted to tactfully and through story form. If you buy the book at Amazon, you’ll notice that this this book plays out in a story form with, with lots of of, uh, of truth sprinkled throughout the book. But I wanted the owners that pick up this book to get that, that jolt, that sense that I don’t know as much about the future of my business as I thought I did. There are things beyond what I thought were important when it comes to selling my business. If their future does not include them selling their business externally, but selling it internally, it’s better to have these kinds of conversations sooner rather than later. Not not deep into due diligence when your buyer is picking apart your company. Right.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, and I want to ask you because obviously it’s important enough to be part of the title of the book. Tell me about this concept of of a team of advisors. What do you what is it you’re advocating that they think of or think about.

Bob Tankesley: If you’re going to go to market? First and foremost, if you’re going to find an external buyer, you have got to realize your buyer is going to have a team of their own, okay? They’re going to have a finance person or or people. They’re going to have a legal person or people. They’re going to have valuation people on on site. They’re going to have investors, maybe with, uh, industry knowledge that weigh in with their opinions and their observations. You as the potential seller, someday you must have a team of your own. It’d be kind of silly, for sure. You know your favorite football team to get on the field. Their uniforms look like garbage. They got drunk the night before. They they haven’t run plays in three weeks. The other team gets on the field, their suits look great. They’ve run the plays. They’re confident. They can put lots of points on the board. You know where this outcome is going. You know where the game is going to end up. It’s kind of an unfair balance. Uh, or contest if you will. But buyers know what they’re doing and sellers are putting themselves up into this kind of situation every day.

Joshua Kornitsky: And and does the book offer guidance, broadly speaking, for the types of team members that they need to consider assembling for sure.

Bob Tankesley: I call it the core deal team. You got to start there. It’s your CPA, you know. Preferably a forward thinking CPA, preferably someone who’s, you know, open to new ideas. It’s a transaction attorney. I’m not necessarily talking about a real estate attorney or an estate planning attorney. Those folks have their areas of specialty. I’m talking about an attorney that has managed the back end of sell side transactions on a regular basis. They do this on a regular basis. Transaction specialist okay. Wealth manager I think you have to put that person on the team as well. Uh, valuation specialist, someone who knows how to comparatively value companies, uh, in a given marketplace. And then I’ll, I’ll play up my own side a little bit. You must have an M&A advisor call them a business broker if you want, but someone who regularly takes companies to market, someone who regularly gets feedback from buyers about the companies that are being presented for sale.

Joshua Kornitsky: And how important is it for that role to have a kind of a pulse on what’s going on? Because I presume one just like in anything, one market can be very different. Atlanta from Charlotte is going to be a very different environment.

Bob Tankesley: Correct resume and and industry sectors. Certain industry sectors can play hotter than others at certain points in the economy. You know, 2 or 3 years ago I would have said pretty much anything home services would have just would have sold very quickly. But at the same time, just a year back, further post-Covid, anything in the hospitality or restaurant space would have taken a very long time because the interest level of buyers for that type of sector was was unbelievably suppressed. So a sell side advisor, who knows for any given industry, you know what the what the momentum is for buyers when people make an introduction to me of a business owner that might want to sell. My mind immediately goes to the buyer pool because that’s where you have to think. Sure. How difficult or easy is it going to be to. To build a buyer pool for this company?

Joshua Kornitsky: I grew up in the car business. Very different business. My father taking a like Dean. My father was a big influence on me. And and it comes down, if I may draw the analogy to the book value. So the book value is I in the case of a business, I went and looked online and similar businesses to mine are selling for x millions of dollars. Great. Pick up the internet and shake it. When the money falls out, you can sell your company. It sounds like there’s a whole lot more complexity in determining what a business’s actual value is versus its perceived debt.

Bob Tankesley: And that has gotten more so in the last 4 or 5 years. Buyers have gotten unbelievably selective as to what they put their capital toward. I heard a stat the other day in the private equity space, one firm only buys one company out of the 3000 that they look at. Well, if you had told me one out of a thousand, I would have been surprised. Years ago, it might have been. You know, when things got really frothy and private equity was falling over themselves to buy companies, they might have bought one out of every 200 or 300 they looked at. But we’re at a ratio of one every 3000 companies that PE will actually commit capital to.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, and even if you are that that lucky lottery winner right. That you’re one of those 3000. I work with a number of folks in the trades plumbers, electricians, HVAC, and they still remain a pretty active area. Um, to your point, the buyers, if they’re private equity, not only they don’t just have a team, they probably have multiple teams of multiple people because they’re not looking to come in and give you a fair price, are they? Uh, they’re coming into.

Bob Tankesley: Not in every.

Joshua Kornitsky: Case. Yeah. Not to speak ill of them. They’re coming in to acquire a business like any other asset. You want to buy it as cheaply as you can and.

Bob Tankesley: Um, realize they’re going to they’re going to bring in some leverage. They’re going to, uh, to Dean’s point earlier, they’re going to try to apply some type of of business efficiency to it. Sure. I wonder if a lot of them are seeing unlocked value in, in, uh, mid range, lower to mid market companies where I can be used to unfortunately end up displacing a lot of the workers. But, you know, subscribe to an AI tool and replace a team of ten people within the company. That’s massive savings. Push to the bottom line. And then you put a seven, 8 or 9 x multiple of EBITDA on that. Sure. And you’re looking at a much more valuable company.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, it sounds to me like the book is a great guide and a great starting place. So I, I know from having talked to other people in the M&A space that there’s not there’s not a perfect answer to this question, but but if I’m a business owner and I’m thinking if I’m in the early stages of thinking. It sounds like the book is a great idea, but ideally, how far out should should that thought process be before they are serious about execution?

Bob Tankesley: If you had to pin me down, Bob, what’s just one number? I would say three years. Okay, three years is three years worth of improvements, and optimizations to a business is enough to impress that future buyer and that buyers provider of capital, whether it’s a bank or investors. But three years to an owner who might sell someday is not so long that they’re being asked to, you know, pay for consultants and advisors for five, ten plus years. You can hold their attention for 2 to 3 years, make these positive changes, and, frankly, show an enormous amount of improvement and optimization in a company in just three years time. If somebody says, I’ve only got, you know, 12 months, 18, 24 months, there can still be some significant improvements, but it won’t be as much necessarily as if we gave it much longer amount, a longer period of time.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, and that’s great information. It seems to me that the book’s a great way to get started with this. And again, just to repeat the title, it’s it’s exit teams build the team of advisors for your business sale to get a higher price. And the higher price is obviously the the ultimate goal, but the necessary planning that it takes to to arrive and to do the work to get there, uh, it sounds like the book’s a good purchase really, for any business owner, because it just sort of gives them a long term thought process about, I think, in I would imagine Dean would agree with this from, from his, uh, objective management group certification and his sales certification. It gives them a roadmap. Your book tells them these are the things that are going to matter. And based on your time in industry, are the items in the book the types of things that have always been important?

Bob Tankesley: Yeah, yeah, but but even more so now because buyers are getting more selective, their due diligence process is taking longer. They’re taking longer to to commit the capital, whether they’re a sophisticated buyer, like like a private equity or a family office or a strategic or they’re at the other end of the spectrum and they’re an individual. Like any one of the three of us, buyers are simply taking longer to to commit.

Joshua Kornitsky: And I think with that being the case, the the more ducks you have in a row, the better the opportunity is for you as the business owner or owners. So the last question I’ll ask before I ask how obviously we can get the book from Amazon, but if anyone wants to speak to you directly, we’ll have that information available as well. Um, what are some of the things that that if your business owner listening to this now and maybe, maybe this is somewhere in your 5 to 10 year range, what are some of the things that the 1 or 2 things they should keep top of mind?

Bob Tankesley: I would say value. Start with value. Benchmark value today. Get into that elite 2% club that now know or have some rough understanding. If they took it to market at that point in time, what would the range of offers look like? Valuation is it’s more expensive than the cost of a tax return, right? For sure. But I can tell you it is 100% worth it. Think about it. If an owner’s got 60, 70, 80 plus percent of their net worth tied up in a business and they’re sprinting toward retirement, and they don’t know what the value of this thing is worth. And yet, three out of four owners are, depending on the sale of this business to have a successful retirement. It’s an amazing disconnect. So I would say start with value, have that be a benchmark re-up on that value every year if you wanted, but 2 to 3 years if if ten years is your time frame out, re-up that valuation every 2 to 3 years. Things change, the market changes. But you put enough of these valuations together and it’ll paint a picture for you. It’ll tell you a trend. Is your business becoming more valuable or less one?

Joshua Kornitsky: And I think that’s the kind of thing that that any responsible business owner or owners wants to know. Excuse me. And ideally, they want to know that as early as possible. So I imagine the book is a great jumping off point.

Bob Tankesley: That’s what I hear. Everyone that reads it got a bunch of five star reviews on the on Amazon to.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well.

Dean Nolley: Just one thing, because I do have the book and this was not staged. We did not stand here today, but it is an easy read. Um, if you pay attention to Bob on LinkedIn, you can see the story being told and you’ll learn about Dave, I think is his name. Um, it is an easy book. Follow him on LinkedIn. Um, I’ve heard him talk about the book to the trust group and some reconnects. But the key is it’s a very easy read. Um, and I think probably everyone in our group has read the book at this point.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, and it sounds like something some of my clients would like, so I’ll be picking up a few copies. Maybe I can get a signature.

Bob Tankesley: Absolutely.

Joshua Kornitsky: Fantastic. Well, I, I, uh, last question, Bob, uh, other than Amazon to buy the book, if someone wants to engage you directly, uh, we’ll have that information on our website. Is there an easy way to get to you or just go with what we put up?

Bob Tankesley: Um, email Bob at TMZ.com. Try to make that as simple as possible. Uh, and then, uh, I’m sure we’ll have the the cell phone number in there as well.

Joshua Kornitsky: Absolutely. Well, I can’t thank you enough for sharing, uh, really valuable information that I think every business owner should know, even if they’re nowhere near considering selling their business. Uh, I was at a local networking event this morning and talking with people that are that literally were in businesses months old. And all I can think of after talking with you about this is, is this is not a how to book for them. It’s a hey, this should be on your radar book. But if you are a more mature business or you’re considering taking that exit, it’s not exactly. I presume it’s not exactly a how to, but it’s a pay attention to.

Bob Tankesley: It’s a wake up.

Joshua Kornitsky: Call. It’s a wake up. That’s fantastic. Well, uh, Bob Tankersley, um, principal and M&A advisor at Walden Mergers and Acquisition and author of the book Exit Teams build a Team of Advisors for your business. Safe your, excuse me, your business sale to get a higher price. I can’t thank you enough for being here. Dean Knoll, founder of sales Growth Imagination. Thank you for being here. I think it was a fantastic show today. I appreciate everything you guys shared. And, uh, we’ll see you next time. This is Joshua Kornitsky professional iOS implementer and your host on Cherokee Business Radio.

BRX Pro Tip: Optimism

June 26, 2025 by angishields

BRX Pro Tips

BRX Pro Tip: Optimism

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BRX Pro Tip: Optimism

Stone Payton : And we’re back with Business RadioX Pro Tips, Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, I have a bit of a reputation. And candidly, I think a track record for being pretty darn optimistic. But I don’t know if it’s anything I’ve done on purpose or if it’s cultural or based on experience. What’s your take on optimism?

Lee Kantor: I am pro-optimism. I think that it’s super important to look at life through an optimistic lens, and I don’t think that being an optimist is a personality trait. I think it’s a skill that you can build. I think the way you build it is by starting focusing in on things that you can control. Celebrating small wins, even on tough days. You know, expressing gratitude, appreciating the things, surrounding yourself with positive people who encourage growth and possibility.

Lee Kantor: And then whenever setbacks happen, and they’re going to happen, it doesn’t matter who you are, you have to reframe setbacks as learning opportunities instead of failures. You cannot look at any type of setback as you failed. You have to ask yourself, “What can I learn from this?” You can’t take that victim approach of why me, because why not you?

Lee Kantor: I think practicing gratitude, writing down just one thing you’re thankful for each day, these things change your mindset and can shift your mindset over time.

Lee Kantor: And optimism isn’t about ignoring challenges and hard things. It’s just believing that you have the tools to overcome those challenges and hard things, and that good things are possible. And the more that you practice these optimistic skills, the more natural optimism becomes. And then, invariably over time, you just start seeing the good. And then the bad is just learning opportunities and things that just come along for the ride. This is about, you know, just believing that good things are possible and you deserve them.

BRX Pro Tip: Outcome Based Pricing

June 25, 2025 by angishields

BRX Pro Tips

BRX Pro Tip: Outcome Based Pricing

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BRX Pro Tip: Outcome Based Pricing

Stone Payton : Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips, Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, we just had a conversation on this topic offline, but let’s bring it online and talk a little bit about pricing strategy, particularly in the professional services arena.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, there’s something called outcome-based pricing. And it’s something that you should consider when it comes to pricing. With outcome-based pricing, what your customer pays is tied to the results they achieve from your service, not just the resources or the time that you’re putting in. And I think this approach aligns with your incentives, and it aligns with your customer success.

Lee Kantor: So, you’re not just selling a solution. You’re partnering for a measurable result. So, customers pay when they see real value, which builds trust and deeper relationships. But to make outcome pricing work, you have to define quantifiable success metrics before you begin. And those success metrics could be leads generated. It could be sales growth. It could be operational savings. Whatever they are, you have to both be clear, and it has to be something that’s transparent.

Lee Kantor: And there should be a place for both sides to share the risk and share the reward. And upfront investment from the customer is going to keep everybody engaged. And you know, skin in the game is important, but most of your – it would be great if most of your compensation though comes from delivering upon those agreed outcomes.

Lee Kantor: So, invest in tracking and analytics to measure the progress, and communicating results transparently is going to keep everybody kind of focused and on the same page. But ultimately, when you’re pricing is tied to the customer outcomes, everybody’s going to win.