Tactical Tip: What is the Showing Process?
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Jill Heineck’s Tactical Tips for Selling Your House in Today’s Environment
Transcript
Lee Kantor: [00:00:05] Welcome to Jill Heineck’s Tactical Tips For Selling Your House In Today’s Environment. I’m Lee Kantor. Jill, today’s question is, what is the showing process like?
Jill Heineck: [00:00:15] The showing process has changed a little bit. I mean, yes, we’ve always had a lockbox where licensed agents could access the property once they’ve had a confirmed appointment. The confirmed appointments are through an app called ShowingTime. That is controlled either by the seller or myself. And, basically, we are online making appointments and accepting or changing appointments. So, we know in advance, typically the day before, when a showing is going to happen. And with that being said, per usual, you would then, as a seller, get your house tidied up, cleaned up, fluff your pillows, make sure beds are made, counters are clear.
Jill Heineck: [00:00:56] In addition to all of that, we’ve had to take additional steps to limit the number of services borrowers will touch on the property as well as disinfect between showing. So, it is taking a little bit longer for a seller to prep. In addition to this, all pets need to be put up or taken out. And then, of course, all the people are out while we’re showing the property. And so, this is the typical process with a little bit of added sanitizing and care for a healthy showing.
Lee Kantor: [00:01:28] For more answers to your real estate questions, please go to heineckandcompany.com.
Louise Wasilewski with Acivilate
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Louise-Wasilewski-AcivilateLouise Wasilewski is CEO and Co-Founder of Acivilate, a social enterprise providing rehabilitation software to criminal justice agencies. Pokket helps justice agencies work with human services agencies to improve outcomes for returning citizens by engaging them in their own rehabilitation. Wasilewski has spent twenty-five years in technology innovation.
Wasilewski is a member of the Metro Atlanta Reentry Coalition, the Greater Gwinnett Reentry Alliance, and the National Criminal Justice Association. She has spoken at the American Correctional Association and the American Probation and Parole Association on the use of technology in correctional reentry settings, and was published in Policy and Practice, the magazine for Health and Human Services professionals.
She is passionate about improving criminal justice outcomes because it is an issue that has affected her family. Ms. Wasilewski holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Aerospace Systems Engineering from Southampton University and an MBA from Emory University. She holds five patents.
Connect with Louise on LinkedIn.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
- Who is Acivilate’s customer
- How the pandemic has affected the prison system
- How Acivilate has adapted during the pandemic
- Why businesses should consider job candidates who have a felony charge or conviction
About Our Sponsor
OnPay’s
payroll services and HR software give you more time to focus on what’s most important. Rated “Excellent” by PC Magazine, we make it easy to pay employees fast, we automate all payroll taxes, and we even keep all your HR and benefits organized and compliant.
Our award-winning customer service includes an accuracy guarantee, deep integrations with popular accounting software, and we’ll even enter all your employee information for you — whether you have five employees or 500. Take a closer look to see all the ways we can save you time and money in the back office.
Kreisler Ng with Cprime
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Connecting people and organizations to meaningful work are Kreisler Ng’s purpose now. Kreisler is VP of Talent at Cprime.
In a past life, Kreisler was an Agile coach/trainer, product manager, and business consultant with over 17 years of experience in agile development, product management, and consulting with particularly an energetic, hands-on approach to product development and agile transformation.
With this background, he likes to think he can help professional services professionals build and find a better place to work, because he too was there at one point.
Follow Cprime on LinkedIn and Facebook.
Transcript
Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for Learning Insights. Brought to you by TrainingPros. When you have more projects than people, TrainingPros can provide you with the right L&D consultant to start your project with confidence. Now, here’s your host.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:27] Lee Kantor here. Another episode of Learning Insights, and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, TrainingPros. Without them, we could not be sharing these stories. Today on Learning Insights, we have Kreisler Ng with Cprime. Welcome.
Kreisler Ng: [00:00:44] Thanks, Lee. Thanks for having me.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:46] Well, before we get too far into two things, tell us about Cprime. How are you serving folks?
Kreisler Ng: [00:00:51] Yes. So, at Cprime, we are an international consulting and training firm. So, essentially, we deal specifically in the space of digital transformations. And so, we always have an element of learning and L&D when we go to different clients and we’re doing transformations. And a lot of big thing about transformations is, it’s really unlearning what people have in their organizations and then going through that training, that workshop, and that coaching type of services. So, that’s really what we offer and how we add value to our clients.
Lee Kantor: [00:01:21] So, what was the genesis of the idea? How did the company get started?
Kreisler Ng: [00:01:26] Wow. It’s a very good question. The company started over 15 years ago. We actually have a parent company, ALTEN Group, which is a French publicly traded consulting firm. But the firm actually started as a staffing firm, so giving out project managers. And then, naturally, we gave great talent outright. We started in the Silicon Valley in 2005, 2003, that era. And then, from there, it extended out into training and learning.
Lee Kantor: [00:01:56] And then, talk about kind of an engagement. What is the pain the client is typically having and then how do you guys plug in?
Kreisler Ng: [00:02:05] Yeah. As you know, Lee, and I’m sure a number of your listeners know, is just, the world is incredibly complex. It gets incredibly complex. I mean, 2020, obviously, threw a huge curveball to the world with COVID. And so, every company is being disrupted. It doesn’t matter what industry, how long you’ve been in business, what’s your brand, et cetera. And so, a lot of companies come to us in terms of trying to fix that complex solution of, “Hey, how do I upgrade my workforce? I want to upscale them in the way they work and how they do things.” So, it could go in from technical skills, to management skills, to leadership skills, all the way down to technical skills like code development, for instance. And so, those are usually the pain points of how do I gain agility. That’s what we call it in our industry for my organization, because we’re used to working in one way. But, now, we need to be able to more and more effective because the world is incredibly complex. And look, my market is being disrupted. So, how do I execute against my market and adjust?
Lee Kantor: [00:03:06] So, when that’s the mission of the organization, how does that impact you as kind of the person in charge of the talent within the organization?
Kreisler Ng: [00:03:15] Yeah, Lee. I think for me, we have this concept or I have this concept in terms of talent and organization. So, if you think about our workforce, they’re constantly learning. Learning is actually one of our core values. And so, there’s a concept – and we have a number of principles behind it but I’ll just explain. The high level concept is, really, we’re constantly trying to align what Cprime needs are as an organization, whether it be business, or mission, living our values, with what each individual business unit or our groups have. And I think of a Venn Diagram, we think of three circles. And the third circle is really what does each individual need in terms of motivation and goals. And so, we’re constantly trying. It’s a natural tension.
Kreisler Ng: [00:04:04] I say it’s a Venn Diagram because we don’t get it perfect. It’s very fluid. But that’s one of the things we, as a leadership team, always try to do is we constantly have these conversations with our workforce and our consultants around, “Hey, what do you want to do? How do you want to grow? What are you seeing on the clients? What kind of skill sets you need?” And then, balancing that with what the organization is going toward, whether it be strategic or roadmap, et cetera. And so, that is an ongoing conversation we have. And that could delve into tactical things of like, “Hey, let’s go put this person off into a conference,” for instance, or a speaking engagement, or a specific client or environment that they want to work with. So, that’s what we’re trying to balance that with the business’ needs as well as with the individual’s needs.
Lee Kantor: [00:04:48] And then, how do you kind of create that level of alignment that requires, I would imagine, really personalization in terms of each of your employees?
Kreisler Ng: [00:04:58] Yeah. Yeah. No. Absolutely. And we talk about it every year and it always gets tougher as we bring on new folks, and even if you think of generational differences of different workforces. So, we try to practice the five values, essentially, we value. So, the first value is, we value clarity and alignment over ambiguity, for instance. And that is the concept. That is always reminding people what’s the mission, the alignment. But then, also hearing the feedback from people of, “Hey, am I misaligned? I’m aligned?” And just being that radical counter to that transparency you may have. Because ambiguity is what gets you into problems.
Kreisler Ng: [00:05:38] The second principle is what you just hit on, Lee, is, adaptability and customization over prescriptiveness for career path within our organization. So, a lot of our folks, some have been only with us for one or two years. Some have been with us eight plus years, ten years. And what you’re going to find from a lot of the folks who’ve been around is, they’ve worn multiple hats. That’s part of our culture. We’re very entrepreneurial. So, that is, again, customizing to what people’s needs are. So, I have colleagues that I work with, I have worked in marketing, I have worked in operations. They’ve been out billing in front of clients as a consultant, for instance. So, that’s a principle we practice.
Kreisler Ng: [00:06:17] And then, a third principle is having a growth mindset over a fixed mindset. So, the inherent belief that we all can change as humans. We’re not limited in our potential. And so, we’re constantly trying to balance that out and respect that. The next principle is collaborate over dictate. Collaborate over dictate between employees and the organization. So, it’s a two-way street. We believe employee engagement is a two-way street. You need to opt in as an employee. As well as a manager or leader, you need to opt in as well. And so, that’s that collaboration. No one really likes to be told exactly everything what they need to do. And like you said, it is very much about adaptability over prescription.
Kreisler Ng: [00:06:57] And then, the last thing is just having empathy for one another and humility over ego. That’s the last principle. And that really comes from a space, because without empathy and humility, these principles, we can’t live them. It’s hard to practice if people don’t have empathy for one another and where they are at. And so, that’s the last principle we practice in order to achieve that customization that you described.
Lee Kantor: [00:07:25] Now, can you share a little bit for our listeners about the ambiguity part? I think that that is really tricky for individuals, let alone organizations. You mentioned clarity and knowing the true north makes everything easy, right? When everybody knows where we want to go, it’s easy to make decisions. But how do you kind of work through situations? And then, you’re seeing this even now in the public where it seems like we’re all looking at one screen, but we’re watching two different movies. You know, like, we’re each seeing the thing totally differently. And for me, you know, one thing I see – I’ll use the analogy of ice cream. I’m tasting chocolate and you’re tasting vanilla. And we both swear we’re right. And, you know, the ambiguity is almost kind of built into the situation.
Kreisler Ng: [00:08:22] Yeah. I love your metaphor about ice cream, Lee. I think, going to what you’re describing, internally, we call it, perception is reality. And where your perception is, is your reality. So, I think how we manage that is in the day-to-day interactions. I think a lot of times people, whether you read a blog of a famous business leader or organizational expert, it sounds like if you set a high direction and it comes from leadership, it’s going to drive. It’s going to be great. And, really, what people don’t talk about, which we understand and we’re always trying to practice – again, we’re not perfect about it – is it’s really in the day-to-day interactions.
Kreisler Ng: [00:09:12] Like, for instance, with my team, in our one-on-ones, I mean, they might be repetitive almost. It’s constantly trying to get clarity, asking questions a lot. A very good technique we do internally on our one-on-ones is, when we describe something, a direction or, “Hey, what do you think about this?” A lot of times it might be in a coaching stance. It might be a question, for instance. Again, that collaboration piece. And then, there are times when we have to, perhaps, there are some policy, let’s just say, something legally that it needs to be done, for instance. What we do in our one-on-ones or even in conversations with our larger groups is, we ask people what we call, play it back to us. So, we may say something and it’s just an echo back of, “Well, if you were to use your own words or if you were to change some adjectives, how would you describe what the essence of the message we just said?” Message – excuse me.
Kreisler Ng: [00:10:08] And that’s a quick way to, hopefully, help with some of that ambiguity and reduce that. But, again, it’s the day-to-day social activity. It’s not really about one meeting that you have all the leadership talk about it and come out of the room. And then, you just say, “This is the direction,” and it’s completely clear to people. It’s going to take that day-to-day reinforcement.
Lee Kantor: [00:10:30] Now, do you find when you talk about empathy and humility, does that help you when it comes to, maybe, diversity and inclusion in that part of the business?
Kreisler Ng: [00:10:47] Yeah. Yeah. No. Absolutely. I think, just like our clients, we try to meet people where they are. A lot of people, and even us, we use industry terms like best practice. I know the training industry uses that. Every industry uses that, best practice. What’s the best? You know, and best is within context of the organization. And that’s where the empathy part comes through is understanding where our employees are at, where their weaknesses are. And to have that, you have to have a lot of trust. What they want to do if they voiced their concern, you’re listening to that. Feedback is a gift in this essence. So, that helps us with diversity of opinions of different groups as well within our organization.
Kreisler Ng: [00:11:41] And then, just going over the egos, I think, it goes a long way when leaders and managers say, “I really don’t know. What do you think?” And I think for the longest time, our Western culture has celebrated more of that alpha, who is aggressive, outspoken. But we’re seeing that swing, right? We’re seeing that swing. And that’s really what we try to practice with ourselves.
Lee Kantor: [00:12:08] So, now, how has the pandemic impacted your work? How have you kind of made the adjustments to deal with these kind of uncertain times?
Kreisler Ng: [00:12:20] So, for us, before the pandemic, we are distributed nationwide and some of our workforce is actually international, not U.S. based. And so, we have eight to ten offices or so. I forget the number. It keeps growing as we grow. But everyone was more or less remote. I would say 60 to 70 percent of the workforce was remote because we travel to client sites. And so, in that essence, we were built for this environment of COVID, of minimizing disruption and doing things virtually. There was definitely a learning curve with our clients, particularly. Because, again, like I said, we’re on site. As you can imagine, driving a transformation to a company, you need to have that human connection on site. But what we did was, we introduced a lot of various collaboration tools online.
Kreisler Ng: [00:13:11] I know we’re talking on Zoom, but there’s programs, there is, actually, virtual sticky notes. There’s these platforms we use so that we can help drive a transformation, still. And I would say that was one of the biggest learning curves for everyone. And so, it definitely has impacted some of our business and the way we do things. But in terms of value with our clients, I would say, it took about three or four months for clients to really fully buy into it. And then, when they started experimenting and seeing it, I think even after COVID, when that happens, it would be different. So, those are the major changes that impacted us.
Lee Kantor: [00:13:49] Now, when you’re onboarding talent and, now, you’re putting them out in the wild in this kind of new manner, how do you kind of implement some of the serendipitous learning that happens when it is, like you said, human to human? And I can shadow you or I can look over your shoulder or I can be, you know, the fly on the wall. How do you kind of integrate some of that into this virtual experience?
Kreisler Ng: [00:14:18] Yeah. Yeah. I’ll be honest, it was tough. We had some adjustments as well in terms of our employee onboarding. But, I mean, our H.R. team is awesome and they’ve always virtually onboarded, for instance, in terms of H.R. related things. And so, that wasn’t an issue to your point, absolutely. What we do is incredibly complex, so there’s a lot of shadowing programs we have. Where, as a new consultant, I may join a client and observe a training, let’s say. I may be a student, let’s say. We’re very big on 30, 60, 90 days, because that’s very important for our success in indoctrinating people into the way we do things and our culture. So, there’s that.
Kreisler Ng: [00:15:05] I know of with my teams, we do a lot of weekly calls, you know, virtual happy hours. We do events, not necessarily about work related, for instance. And I would say one of the biggest successes in terms of multiplying our learning as an organization, I would say, is we implemented a town hall. So, we’ve always had town halls, all hands. But what we did was we did it every week, so it’s a lot more frequent. And, initially, it was just around COVID. Just like any organization, we were trying to get situational awareness of everything and make sure everyone’s safe, everyone knows what to do, et cetera. And then, now, it’s been consistent. Over 60 percent of the company comes, which is huge for us of, so well over 100 people every single time on the call.
Kreisler Ng: [00:15:50] And it’s self-organized. People submit things they want to learn about, they want to talk about. We might bring a comedian in. I know we’ve brought a magician in. So, there’s all these kinds of ways. It’s not just learning professionally, but just getting together and learning about each other and treating each other as humans, even though we don’t see each other. It’s really how we do it. And then, lastly, just like a lot of tech organizations we work with, we use Slack, internal chat. And so, you know, that gif or that joke of the day always goes a long way with people.
Lee Kantor: [00:16:22] And then, it sounds like that’s really kind of become part of your culture, this town hall.
Kreisler Ng: [00:16:30] Yeah. Yeah. There’s talks of just maintaining it as is, even after all this and we go back to a little bit more normal.
Lee Kantor: [00:16:39] Right. And it sounds like you’re still getting a high level of engagement. And people, they’re not kind of dreading that. They’re like, “Okay.” They’re looking forward to it. They’re going to get something out of it, obviously.
Kreisler Ng: [00:16:52] Absolutely. Yeah. And I think one of the biggest things, Lee, was it is optional. It’s opt in. So, this is not required. It’s all recorded. We usually send out an agenda or a topic item a few days before so people can choose if they’re interested in it. And I think that’s what drives that employee engagement as well. It’s not forced. I had a good friend who used to tell me it’s almost like mandatory fun when you force people to do things. And so, that’s our culture. It’s an opt in culture. And that’s what’s allowed us to increase engagement throughout this.
Lee Kantor: [00:17:25] Now, talk about your background. I see here that you were an Agile coach prior to your role now. Do you think that that background of coaching kind of gives you a different lens, maybe, when you’re in your new role?
Kreisler Ng: [00:17:42] Yes. Absolutely. I think coaching is valuable whatever role you’re in. I think, just having that experience – and I’m thankful for it. I’m very grateful – of just going to different clients, different cultures, and learning to coach with them. I don’t want to say to them. With them around we’re collaborating on trying to pull off the same thing. And then, that’s what I’ve been able to apply internally at Cprime as well. And a lot of our leadership, all of it, operates that way. And so, even from our CEO, a lot of times he is coaching us or just asking questions versus telling someone something. And you get a lot more buy-in that way. And so, that’s what I’ve learned at client sites and that’s what I’ve learned to utilize in my role at Cprime as well.
Lee Kantor: [00:18:36] So, now, what do you need more of? How can we help you?
Kreisler Ng: [00:18:41] Very good question. I mean, for me, I just want to learn from more people. Our organization is always hungry to look at different industries and what they do. And I think, you know, something like this is very valuable. It’s multiplying the learning. And that we, as humans, we’re all in this together even though we may be at different organizations.
Lee Kantor: [00:19:13] And then, if somebody wanted to learn more about Cprime, are you hiring right now? Kind of where are you at in the growth?
Kreisler Ng: [00:19:23] Yeah. We’re always hiring. Our recruiters and our talent team is always looking for great talent because we know it’s really hard to come by. So, people can check us out at cprime.com, that’s the letter C-prime, like prime number, P-R-I-M-E.com. And just go to the career site and you’re going to see our postings of what type of talent we’re looking for.
Lee Kantor: [00:19:45] Well, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.
Kreisler Ng: [00:19:50] I appreciate it, Lee. Thank you for having me.
Lee Kantor: [00:19:52] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We will see you all next time on Learning Insights. And remember this work could not be done without the support of our good friends at TrainingPros. Please support them so we can continue to share these important stories.
Outro: [00:20:06] Thank you for listening. For more information about TrainingPros, visit their website at training-pros.com.
About Training Pros
Since TrainingPros was founded in 1997, they have been dedicated to helping their clients find the right consultant for their projects.
23 years later, they are proud to have helped hundreds of clients complete their projects and thousands of consultants find great assignments. Training Pros continues to focus on helping their clients and consultants as well as their community.
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Rosie Arias with Whimsical Charm
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Rosie Arias is the Founder and Creative Director behind Whimsical Charm, a line of uniquely designed baby blankets, robes, and gifts designed for families who desire to provide their children with warmth, comfort, and style.
Proudly made in the USA, my love and passion is inserted into every item emulating the same comfort provided by a loving parent.
Looking back, I’m so grateful for how much my parents contributed to where I am today. My mom taught me how to sew, but she taught me how the details behind her work defined her technique. My father was always an entrepreneur, so there was no question in my mind that one day I would grow up to become my own boss.
Having the opportunity to travel to Mexico, since I was five years old, I was exposed to the truth behind the less fortunate across the border. As a business owner it was imperative that I collaborate with organizations at the US-Mexico border to provide blankets to children in need.
Additionally, growing up in one of the most highly underserved communities with the highest poverty level and highly infested gang related cities, taught me how teenagers without the proper guidance can easily gear in the wrong direction. Once again this was another reality I wanted to improve. Whimsical Charm has allowed me the opportunity to empower youth in underserved communities by providing them with entrepreneurial skills and the training they need in order to succeed in the world of fashion.
My life experiences, including being a single mom, have shaped my business to what it is now. Whimsical Charm is more than just a product. It is a brand with a purpose and I will continue to strive to keep the world warm one baby at a time while empowering our future generation to reach for their dreams.
Connect with Rosie on LinkedIn and follow Whimsical Charm on Facebook and Twitter.
Recruiting and Onboarding Employees When You Can’t Meet Face to Face, with Allison O’Kelly, Corps Team
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Recruiting and Onboarding Employees When You Can’t Meet Face to Face, with Allison O’Kelly, Corps Team
John Ray: [00:00:00] And hello, everyone. I’m John Ray with Business RadioX. And I’m here with Allison O’Kelly. And Allison is the CEO and Founder of Corps Team. Allison, my question for you is, how do you recruit and onboard when you can’t meet face-to-face?
Allison O’Kelly: [00:00:20] Yeah, that’s certainly one of the challenges we’re dealing with right now in these days of COVID and, probably, it’s going to be something we’re going to deal with going forward as we’re maybe going to become more of a remote workforce. And so, it’s really important to remember, you still can meet face to face, right? We have all these wonderful technologies right now, such as Zoom, and Teams, and everything else. So, you can, still, from the recruiting standpoint, make sure you’re doing video interviews and make sure that you’re still giving that candidate the same amount of time you would if they were in office. So, if you’re used to a full 45-minute interview, make sure you do that on a video interview, so you get to know the candidate just as well.
Allison O’Kelly: [00:01:09] For the onboarding piece, that’s what’s a little more challenging. But again, if you use your technology and you use scheduling correctly, make sure you’re trying to do exactly what you would have done in the office. So, you have a set schedule to onboard people, where they’re meeting on video with whether it’d be HR, or team members, or seniors. All of those kind of people, make sure you’re still having that activity.
Allison O’Kelly: [00:01:41] And also, make sure you have some that’s just a little bit of fun. You have team building exercises. You have get-to-know you sessions. For example, we hired someone recently, and on a Zoom call, we all got together and talked about our pets. Just something little where you can get to know one another, those are things that will really help get that person engaged and part of your community.
Allison O’Kelly, Founder and CEO, Corps Team
Allison O’Kelly is the Founder and CEO of Corps Team and a talent acquisition expert who partners with CEOs, executives and hiring managers to recruit exceptional talent into their organizations. Allison has grown her business from an idea to a search and staffing firm that has placed thousands of professionals in companies nationwide.
Prior to Corps Team / Mom Corps, Allison was a CPA with KPMG in Atlanta, and was in a Leadership development program with Toys R Us where she served in various roles including launching the original Babiesrus.com site, Store Director of an $11 million Toys “R” Us Store, and multi-unit store management.
Allison has been recognized in the news media (TODAY Show, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Forbes) and awarded on a national level (EY Winning Women, Working Mother, Inc. 500, Conference Board). Corps Team was named a Top 20 Woman-Owned Business in the Atlanta Business Chronicle in 2019.
Allison’s current nonprofit boards include the Alliance Theater, Harvard Business School Club of Atlanta, Galloway School Annual Fund, and UGA Terry College Emeritus Alumni Board. Allison received her MBA from Harvard Business School and her BBA in Accounting from the University of Georgia. Allison is a CPA, licensed in Georgia
Connect with Allison on LinkedIn and follow Corps Team on Facebook and Twitter.
Listen to the complete North Fulton Business Radio interview with Allison here.
The “One Minute Interview” series is produced by John Ray and in the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link.
Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown to become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.
The Hardy Realty Show – Paula Blevins from the Salvation Army
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Melissa Priest with Alexandretta Transportation Consulting
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Melissa Priest is the Founder and CEO of Alexandretta Transportation Consulting, the only female-owned transportation consulting firm in the U.S. She is a recognized subject matter expert parcel shipping and global leader in parcel, trucking, ocean and air freight consulting and has saved clients over $1billion dollars since starting in the parcel industry nearly 25 years ago.
She is passionate about moving businesses forward by increasing their profits and competitive leverage
Melissa started her career at FedEx and transitioned into consulting 17 years ago. She works with clients ranging from start-up ecommerce firms to Fortune 50 companies, to provide savings on existing parcel, ocean, air and trucking agreements, as well as other solutions.
She is absolutely passionate about empowering women and is a co-author of the book: Women In Business: Breaking Through.
Melissa is a graduate of California State University, Fullerton with a B.A. with a degree in International Business and finished her studies in France at the University of Paris, Creteil.
Alexandretta Transportation Consulting brings average savings of 10% – 20% to its clients by identifying areas of improvement within existing carrier agreements, then works with the individual client to re-negotiate the agreement to capture the savings.
It is a diverse business with offices in the U.S, Europe and China. In addition to championing equality and diversity, the company gives back to the global community by donating 1% of its profits to humanitarian and environmental causes.
Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn.
Transcript
Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for GWBC Radio’s Open for Business. Now, here’s your host.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:18] Lee Kantor here. Another episode of GWBC Open for Business. And this is going to be a good one. Today, we have with us Melissa Priest with Alexandretta Transportation Consulting. Welcome, Melissa.
Melissa Priest: [00:00:28] Thank you so much for having me.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:29] Well, before we get to things, tell us about your work. How are you serving in and what do you do?
Melissa Priest: [00:00:34] Well, we’re actually a consulting firm. So, I know a lot of folks are like, “What is transportation consulting?” And what it really means is that corporations spending anywhere from a million dollars a year on UPS, or FedEx, or trucking, all the way up to close to a billion dollars or even more, they look to us to hire us to look for improvements in their existing contracts and implement savings there.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:58] So, now, how did you get into this line of work? It’s a predominantly male industry, isn’t it, the transportation industry?
Melissa Priest: [00:01:03] Very much so, yes. Oh, my goodness, yes. I actually started back in 1997 working for FedEx, selling personal services. And then, after about a decade there, I really just felt it was time to shift and be more on the clients and shippers side of things. So, I made the leap to consulting. Gosh, I think it’s about 16 years ago now.
Lee Kantor: [00:01:28] So, then, what was that shift like as an entrepreneur going from a big corporate entity that has probably a lot of bureaucracy to a more nimble organization that you’re kind of calling the shots?
Melissa Priest: [00:01:40] Well, I did work for another company in between. So, I wasn’t necessarily calling the shots early on. But certainly, going from a large corporation to a very, very small firm, it’s a shock to the system a little bit. I mean, if you work for FedEx or UPS, certainly, just about any business in the world is going to welcome you in. And as a very small representative for a very small company, it takes a little bit more work and effort. But at least, having the skills of one of the largest corporations in the world gave me the skills that I needed to be able to make that pivot.
Lee Kantor: [00:02:18] So, now, when you were going to market as a female-owned transportation company, what were some of the challenges that you had to overcome in order to give the folks confidence that you’d be able to do what you’re promising that you’re going to be able to do?
Melissa Priest: [00:02:34] There’s a leap of faith in this industry a little bit where folks really have to buy into the fact that even if they have a room full of experts and specialists that you’re going to be able to still come in and provide value. I’ve certainly had experiences in the past with people talking to me saying, “Honey, I’ve been doing this longer than you’ve been alive,” or assuming I’m a form taker or something like that. So, it just takes a lot of persistence to be looked at, and taken seriously, I would say.
Lee Kantor: [00:03:09] Now, how important was kind of becoming a certified woman-owned business in the growth of your organization?
Melissa Priest: [00:03:17] We knew about certification ahead of time. So, we became certified right away. And there’s just tremendous benefit to it. There’s a lot of training courses, everything from how to market your business, to how to do finances, and everything in between. And the fact that there’s a portal that allows you to find diversity contacts within large corporations who can be an advocate for you in getting hired is a tremendous resource. So, I think it’s really important and something that all female-owned businesses should take advantage of.
Lee Kantor: [00:03:56] Now, for you, in the growth of your company, how did you find kind of mentors and folks that can help lead the way or maybe educate you on things that you didn’t know when you were getting started?
Melissa Priest: [00:04:10] The WBE group, the Women’s Business Enterprise, WBENC, I’m certified on the West Coast through WBENC West. But certainly, there’s resources in there. And then, women that I’ve met along the way, the few of us, you’re easy to spot in the crowd in the transportation industry. So, certainly, we’ve engaged with each other over the years and helped each other along. And that continues to this day.
Lee Kantor: [00:04:38] Now, as you grow your business, how important is kind of empowering other women in business and kind of helping them get going, so maybe they don’t have to go through what you went through?
Melissa Priest: [00:04:50] Hugely, hugely important to me. It’s definitely something that’s a focus for me personally. I have two daughters and, certainly, would love to see their generation not have to leap over a lot of the hurdles that we did. And there are so many resources nowadays. I mean, anything that I can do to help pull someone along, so that it’s not so much of a struggle and, sometimes, an uphill battle is something that I want to be able to help other women do.
Lee Kantor: [00:05:25] Now, what has been the most rewarding part of the journey thus far?
Melissa Priest: [00:05:30] From women helping women aspect or just having my own business?
Lee Kantor: [00:05:33] Just overall. Just being an entrepreneur, and surviving the pandemic, and just dealing with what you’re dealing with on the day-to-day basis?
Melissa Priest: [00:05:41] I mean, I love it. I mean, I do feel like even when I was little, I wanted to have a business. So, I do feel like I got the entrepreneurship gene. So, it’s just a joy to be able to steer the business in the direction that I want to steer it, to be able to work with the incredible team that I’ve assembled here at Alexandretta and to exceed client expectations. I mean, just the cool aspect of owning the business and directing it is hugely satisfying.
Melissa Priest: [00:06:15] And I would also say, Alexandretta Transportation Consulting is the first and only female-owned transportation consulting business in the US. And it was important to me to kind of stick that flag and put it down, hopefully, to encourage other women to to follow either in this space or in other places within the transportation logistics industry where or maybe there hasn’t been a presence before.
Lee Kantor: [00:06:43] Now, can you explain why that’s so important for women or just anybody really to get involved in the logistics supply chain? That’s a field that I think is kind of has a lot of misunderstanding around it. It’s not kind of your grandfather’s supply chain and logistics world that we live in today.
Melissa Priest: [00:07:02] It’s not.
Lee Kantor: [00:07:02] Whereas, maybe a one time, it mattered that you were a big, strong person to lift heavy things, that right now, there might be some of that but a lot of that is automated. There’s a lot of robotics. There’s a lot of kind of brainpower required to get things done and move things from point A to point B.
Melissa Priest: [00:07:21] There is. I mean, as we’ve shifted to a global economy over the last several decades, it’s become an incredibly sophisticated industry. And there’s a lot of analytics in it. There’s a lot of intelligence that goes into it. So, there’s a lot of really exciting and very complex problems to solve and solutions to be found and implemented. And I think those are attractive positions for anybody who’s looking for that type of mental stimulation. There’s a lot of that in the transportation industry now. And I think, there’s plenty of women that, really, would be interested in it and are very well suited towards it.
Melissa Priest: [00:08:07] And it’s also become a lot more important to the C suite that supply chain is incredibly important to the profitability, and the success, and livelihood of most organizations, anybody who’s shipping anything. And the C suite has really realized that and it is starting to really escalate supply chain positions into positions with more visibility as it is rightfully so. So, I mean, there’s so much opportunity there and so many different areas where women can plug in. It’s incredible.
Lee Kantor: [00:08:42] Right. And I don’t want a young woman to kind of self-select out before they really educate themselves on all the opportunities. I don’t want them to picture in their head something from 20 years ago that really isn’t the reality today.
Melissa Priest: [00:08:57] Right. And the nice thing is, I mean, there are supply chain degrees now which they weren’t something that existed when I was going to college. And so, I think they can get a lot of information in terms of all the different segments that are out there because, I mean, from transportation itself, to sourcing and procurement, and everything in between, there’s just so many different areas that they can get exposed to or do internships until they find the thing that is specifically lights them up.
Lee Kantor: [00:09:31] Now, can you talk a little bit about kind of being a remote worker? I know that you’ve worked from your home or your office for a while now. And this transition during the pandemic probably wasn’t as drastic for you than it was for other folks.
Melissa Priest: [00:09:31] Right.
Lee Kantor: [00:09:48] Any kind of dos and don’ts for being kind of an effective remote worker when it comes to balancing your home life, your work life, because those things can bleed together pretty easily if you don’t kind of set your own parameters?
Melissa Priest: [00:10:03] They can. I mean, yeah. I mean, the pandemic, I didn’t blink an eyelash since it’s business as usual for us. I mean, I think if someone’s looking to do remote, I’ve heard in the past and I found it to be true, it’s better to either run your business remotely or run your business in person. It’s harder to blend the two together. So, that’s something to keep in mind when starting a business is really what do you want it to look like, at least, for the foreseeable future, so that you can build it.
Melissa Priest: [00:10:35] We have a global business. We’ve got folks all over the globe. And to have team meetings, and to keep everyone motivated, and on the same page, and know what the values and the goals and the mission are are critically important. And doing that looks very different remote versus in person. So, those are things that need to be taken into great consideration, for sure.
Melissa Priest: [00:10:57] I mean, as far as balance, I mean, my youngest is 16 now, just got his driver’s license yesterday. And I’ve been blessed to be able to have had a true career during the time when my kids were growing up. So, it’s enabled me to be present, although they certainly know when not to come into the office or not to interrupt, but you can weave together a really successful work-life balance if you’re lucky enough to work from home on the regular.
Lee Kantor: [00:11:30] Now, if you weren’t doing enough, let’s talk a little bit about the book you’re writing.
Melissa Priest: [00:11:35] Yeah. Actually, it’s a collaboration. There’s 14 women who are writing a book. It’s called Women in Business Breaking Through. And lessons, and stories, and recommendations on what we’ve done and what we learned, so again, we can empower the women coming behind us to do it better, faster or more knowledgeably than we did. So, that’s coming out probably in the next month or so. So, I’ve got a chapter in there on leveling up to unlock success. And that’s a lot about the importance of mindset in success, and just growth visualization, getting coaching, things along those lines, because I think those are very much a strong foundation. You can know everything you need to about your industry or accounting practices, but if you don’t have your mindset right, success can be a struggle.
Lee Kantor: [00:12:33] Now, do you mind sharing a little bit along those lines on maybe some tips or advice for a woman that is struggling with their mindset? What are some kind of things they can be doing to really take their kind of thinking to the next level?
Melissa Priest: [00:12:48] Well, there’s certainly, probably, three. I mean, there’s great books and resources out there that they can read to be able to talk about books on mindset, and growth mindset, and positivity and things of that nature. There’s also a ton of women’s groups out there now for female entrepreneurs to support each other. And those groups have got different … some of them are Fortune 500 C-level folks. Some of them are brand new entrepreneurs. Some of them are more Etsy-based. I mean, there’s something out there for everyone. So, certainly, finding like-minded folks to communicate with is huge. And then, there’s always coaching. So, certainly, coaches can assist you both with things that you know that maybe you’re struggling with, but they can also point out blindspots as well, and that can create breakthroughs. So, there’s a lot of ways to do it.
Lee Kantor: [00:13:46] Now, for you, what do you need more of? How can we help you?
Melissa Priest: [00:13:50] Oh, my goodness. I am I am looking to connect with more female CEOs and COOs this year. We work with small internet retailers all the way up to the Fortune 500, but I would love to be a resource for more female decision makers in the space, let them know that we’re out here, so that we can do that empowerment thing that we’re talking about here. If I can make them more profitable and their businesses more successful, that’s the 2021 would be a great year.
Lee Kantor: [00:14:25] And it’s I think a win-win-win all the way around.
Melissa Priest: [00:14:28] Absolutely.
Lee Kantor: [00:14:29] So, if somebody wanted to learn more about Alexandretta Transportation Consulting, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on your team, what’s the website or best way to get a hold of you?
Melissa Priest: [00:14:37] They can reach us at melissa.priest@alexandrettaconsulting.com. and Alexandretta Consulting is our website, so they can find us there as well.
Lee Kantor: [00:14:47] Well, Melissa, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing important work, and we appreciate you.
Melissa Priest: [00:14:52] Thanks so much, Lee. I appreciate you having me on. Take care. Happy holidays.
Lee Kantor: [00:14:55] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We will see you all next time on GWBC Open for Business.
About GWBC
The Greater Women’s Business Council (GWBC®) is at the forefront of redefining women business enterprises (WBEs). An increasing focus on supplier diversity means major corporations are viewing our WBEs as innovative, flexible and competitive solutions. The number of women-owned businesses is rising to reflect an increasingly diverse consumer base of women making a majority of buying decision for herself, her family and her business. 
GWBC® has partnered with dozens of major companies who are committed to providing a sustainable foundation through our guiding principles to bring education, training and the standardization of national certification to women businesses in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Marissa Levin with Successful Culture
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Marissa Levin is the co-founder of Successful Culture International, which applies a proprietary Culture Development Lifecycle (CDL) to help organizations move from current state to desired state, and helps leaders reach their greatest personal and organizational potential.
As founder of a 23-year old, multimillion-dollar business that pivoted seven times in response to market shifts, Levin has personally overcome every business challenge her clients have faced, which uniquely qualifies her to lead leaders through change.
She is also the author of Built to Scale: How Top Companies Create Breakthrough Growth Through Exceptional Advisory Boards.
Connect with Marissa on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
Transcript
Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for GWBC Radio’s Open for Business. Now, here’s your host.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:18] Lee Kantor here. Another episode of GWBC Open for Business. And this will be a good one. Today, we have with us Marissa Levin with Successful Culture. Welcome, Marissa.
Marissa Levin: [00:00:28] Thank you, Lee. So happy to be here.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:30] Well, before we get too far into things, tell us about Successful Culture. How are you serving folks?
Marissa Levin: [00:00:35] So, our mission is to help create extraordinary places to work. We do that through a proven culture development lifecycle, as well as comprehensive education and training curriculums that we have that really help leaders set up environments that allow employees and leadership teams to reach their greatest personal and organizational potential. So, our goal is to make sure that environments and cultures are places where employees feel seen, heard, connected, appreciated and safe. So, that’s why we exist.
Lee Kantor: [00:01:15] So, how did you get into this line of work?
Marissa Levin: [00:01:18] So, this is my third company. My first company, which is 28 years old today, which I grew to about $14 million before exiting that company nine years ago. I’ve always been committed to developing environments where employees can thrive. And really being a leader as an organization, that was really one of my favorite things to do was to create an environment that I walk in every day and making sure that as the CEO and, really, as the servant leader, making sure that my employees had everything that they needed physically, emotionally, intellectually, financially, everything that they needed to be successful in the organization. And it just gave me a lot of pleasure to be able to create an environment where people can really thrive. And so, when I left my first company, that is really kind of what I took with me and I wanted to do that for others.
Lee Kantor: [00:02:21] So, what about that kind of resonated with you of, okay, this is really a secret sauce. This isn’t just something that happened by accident. This is something you can do on purpose and it can be replicated?
Marissa Levin: [00:02:32] Oh, it definitely is very intentional. All organization have cultures, whether they are intentional or by default, and they all start with the leadership team, although they cascade through the organization. And it is incumbent upon everyone in the organization to make sure that the culture is healthy, not just the leadership team, but it starts with the leadership team when they set the core value system of the company, which really is the the DNA of the company. It’s the destiny of the company, if you will. And the culture, that’s defined by the core values. The core values are the moral compass and the North Star. They really determine what an organization stands for, what behaviors are expected, what behaviors won’t be tolerated. Core values drive every single business decision in a company when executed correctly, and they also help to drive the mission and vision. So, when an organization has the values, the mission and the vision clearly defined and is truly living those elements, that’s when the culture can really thrive.
Lee Kantor: [00:03:40] So, what do you tell those entrepreneurs that maybe weren’t intentional, that are like heads down, we’ve got to make sales quota or whatever? They were focused on something that maybe wasn’t a true, true north, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. And then, maybe, they’ve gotten a culture there they’d like to change. Is it possible to change a culture that’s kind of off track or is it something you kind of stuck with?
Marissa Levin: [00:04:02] Always. Yeah. Yes. No, no, no. Cultures are always evolving. They’re fluid, and dynamic and evolving entities. So, it’s always possible to change a culture once you are aware of it. Now, of course, when you’re launching a business, if it can be something that’s top of mind when you start, then you’ll have much greater success and a lot less pain, making sure that you’re attracting the right talent, that your environment is one that is very productive, and constructive, and effective and safe rather than being like the Wild, Wild West.
Marissa Levin: [00:04:39] And I always say that, especially for first-time entrepreneurs, building your first company is like building a plane while you’re flying it. You’re literally making decisions moment to moment, hoping that you’re steering it in the right direction, and that it’s not going to come apart, and that it’s not going to crash. And so, when you have some type of roadmap, a guidepost that can lead you down the path in terms of what you stand for, where you’re going, why you exist, it certainly makes your journey a lot easier. But if you haven’t done that work upfront, yes, you absolutely can go back, and re-engineer, and reverse engineer, put the right values in place. It’s painful. It can be painful to re-engineer and reverse engineer when you haven’t done it, but it, certainly, can be done.
Lee Kantor: [00:05:28] Now, how do you help those companies that, maybe, their heart’s in the right place, but maybe they have one or two employees that they tolerate behavior that maybe they’re not proud of, but they tolerate it because they’re productive? How does that kind of impact the team, the culture and really their true north?
Marissa Levin: [00:05:50] Yeah, that’s a really good question. So, individuals who are high performing regarding generating revenue and contributing to that type of bottom line but can be toxic in other ways, we like to consider them to be lone wolves. And it really is a hard exercise to evaluate those types of people, to really determine whether or not they are worth having them stick around, because the cost of a toxic employee, the drain on the morale, the drain on the overall level of trust that an organization has, it really actually can overshadow the revenue that someone might be bringing in.
Marissa Levin: [00:06:37] So, think about if you could fill that position with someone that also can generate that revenue but brings very positive energy and is not toxic, think about how much more that would propel the organization rather than trying to do risk mitigation, or damage control, or to contain a volatile or toxic employee. Think of all of the time, and energy, and resources that goes into trying to control somebody like that. It’s usually not worth it.
Lee Kantor: [00:07:09] Now, when you’re working with firms, do you have a sweet spot? Are you working with kind of startups? Are you working in different industries? Like who is your typical client?
Marissa Levin: [00:07:20] That’s a great question, and I get that a lot. Our typical client is any organization or any leader that truly values the investment in corporate culture and in their people. So, we’ve worked with companies that are very small, a million dollars to two million dollars in revenue, but they truly understand the importance of building the right foundation. So, they’re willing to invest in that. They’re willing to make sure that they’ve develop their values, mission, vision in the right way; that they’ve enrolled any employees, even if it’s just one or two, in defining the behaviors behind the values. They had enrolled in the the process of making sure that their hiring processes not only ensure a fit for expertise and industry understanding but that they are a cultural fit. So, even really small companies are fit for us if they truly understand the importance of investing in corporate culture.
Marissa Levin: [00:08:17] Conversely, we’ve been asked to come in from publicly traded companies. I mean, companies that are in the hundreds of millions of dollars. But if the leadership team is not behind the importance of investing in their people, we’re not a fit for them. We truly have to be a fit regarding whether or not they see the value in our services. And Lee, I’m not in sales. I’m not interested in convincing anyone about the importance of investing in your culture and investing in your people. If you don’t get it, then you don’t get it. And that’s fine. You’re not going to be a fit for us. I’m not in the business of sales. I’m in the business of transformation.
Lee Kantor: [00:08:59] Now, how about some advice for the folks out there that are dealing maybe for the first time with a remote workforce? Having a successful culture is probably difficult enough as it is in pre-pandemic when you’re seeing each other, and you can high five each other, and you can hug each other, and you can see kind of the behavior you’d like to model in person around you. But when you’re only kind of coming in and out and interacting with folks over a Zoom call or a conference call, how do you kind of create that kind of culture remotely?
Marissa Levin: [00:09:35] So, it isn’t just that we are now working with people who are remote, it’s the conditions under which we’re working. And I get this question a lot about, how can I manage my remote people? This is so much bigger than just managing remote people. Leaders today have just the most extraordinary and unprecedented situation regarding how they have to show up for their people and how they have to lead.
Marissa Levin: [00:10:04] It’s only one thing that these people who happen to be remote, okay? It’s the fact that that they’re under a pandemic, that they’re under tremendous uncertainty, that they are under tremendous pressure and stress, and worrying about not only their health but the health of their loved ones, that they are dealing with schooling and educating their students. If they’ve got K through 12, they’ve got college students home, it’s not just, “Hey, all of a sudden now I have a remote workforce. How can I manage them better?” It’s how do you manage the emotional, and the psychological, and the mental toll that is occurring right now with the people, in addition to managing the remote workforce.
Marissa Levin: [00:10:47] And leaders have to recognize both. And what I’ve recognized in working with so many clients is that the commonality across every organization in any industry, large and small business, is that leaders are trying to figure out how to straddle that line between being empathetic, and compassionate, and showing up as a human being for their employees but, also, how are they holding them accountable and how are they keeping them engaged.
Marissa Levin: [00:11:17] And it’s not easy. We have come up with lots of different creative interventions for our clients in terms of how they can stay engaged, whether it’s different perks, whether it’s making sure that they’re doing regular check-ins that aren’t just work-related, being aware of personal situations that they’re going on and going through. Leaders are always under a microscope. We’re always being watched by our people on how we show up in good times and in bad. And more than ever now, leaders are under the microscope to see if they’re showing up in a very humane way. So, leaders have it tough right now, and they need to be really cognizant of showing up both as a human being, as well as a leader and a supervisor that has accountability.
Lee Kantor: [00:12:13] And you mentioned all of the different kind of stressors that are on companies nowadays. I mean, you have the pandemic, you have the work from home, you have all the individual people’s needs when it comes to just managing their home, and their work, and all that stuff. And then, you have the social unrest, and that’s into play also. So, there’s a lot of job security, I would imagine, for you and your team because there’s a lot of work to be done for those folks to get them going.
Lee Kantor: [00:12:43] How does an engagement work? What does it look like? I know you mentioned you’re not on the sales, so these people have to raise their hand and truly want to do this kind of work. How do you kind of onboard a new client? How do you kind of go through what the process looks like? And what is a reasonable length of time to see some meaningful results?
Marissa Levin: [00:13:05] Those are all really great questions. So, it really depends on what people want us to be doing. So, some of our examples, we do the values, mission and vision work. And now, more than ever, it’s so important for leaders and organizations to be continuously communicating what their values are, what the mission and the vision of the organization is because now, more than ever, employees are struggling to feel connected to their organization. They don’t feel connected to their company. They don’t feel connected to their leaders. They don’t feel connected to their other employees.
Marissa Levin: [00:13:38] As you mentioned, all of those rituals and those traditions that make up of corporate culture are nonexistent. When I was running my company, one of our favorite things to do every year was to have a huge Thanksgiving banquet where we provided the main courses and all of our employees would bring in all the side dishes, and then we would do a white elephant gift exchange. We had a movie playing in the conference room. And it just was such a wonderful day. And those types of experiences now are gone. So, how are leaders creating those even more so?
Marissa Levin: [00:14:15] And so, for us, some of our clients are bringing in to reinforce their values, mission and vision. Some of our clients are bringing us in to do culture check-ups. We do a lot of culture check-ups, like you go to the dentist, and you go two or three times a year to check for cavities, remove the plaque, remove the tartar and the buildup. It’s very similar with cultures. Cultures have a way of disintegrating bit by bit. It’s not like one day, something happened, and it blows up the culture. They literally start fraying moment to moment, hour to hour, day to day because of things that start to happen.
Marissa Levin: [00:14:53] And so, it’s really important for leaders to be doing check-ins to see how they’re perceiving the culture and what’s happening internally compared to what employers are doing. And I can tell you that a hundred percent of the time there’s always been a discrepancy. And that’s okay as long as you get in front of it and you put it in the right interventions to bridge the gap between how leaders see the culture and how employees see the culture.
Marissa Levin: [00:15:18] So, companies will bring us in to do the culture check-ins, and we’re doing a lot of that now. At the end of the year. They want us to go out and do year-in culture check-ins, see what employees think that they should be doing as we move into the new year. What are we not seeing? Leaders only see the organization from the 50,000-foot level, they’re not involved in the day-to-day. And that perspective and experience that employees have, like during the daily grind on the ground, dealing with the actual work, they have incredibly valuable perspective and insight, and leaders have to make a conscious effort to extrapolate that information and that perspective, so that they know what’s happening. So, we’ll do culture check-ins.
Marissa Levin: [00:16:03] We have a Scale Academy, the Successful Culture Events, Leadership, Education Academy. And the courses that we provide in that are things like self-awareness, using the Johari Window, making sure that people understand how they’re showing up, what their blind spots are, what they’re hiding from the rest of the world, how they can be as transparent as possible, we do a workshop specifically on self-awareness and raising your self-awareness.
Marissa Levin: [00:16:30] We do programming on emotional intelligence. We have two different offerings around emotional intelligence because that’s so important, especially in today’s environment. We have programming on conscious and unconscious bias, and creating respectful and inclusive work environments, which we’ve been doing for years, long before it became the trendy thing to do. We have programs on communication strategies, having difficult conversations, leading remote workforce teams. These are all the things that we have in place that are available online. And so, a lot of our clients purchase our curriculums to make sure that their employees know that they’re investing in them, that they they’re getting the right soft skills to show up in their most effective manner. So, that’s another way that our clients engage us.
Marissa Levin: [00:17:16] So, it’s through values, mission, vision, work; looking at recruitment practices; doing individual coaching. We do a lot of CEO-to-CEO coaching and a lot of executive coaching. Doing the culture check-ins. And then, the scale academy work. So, depending on what you need. We’ve got a client right now that has three acquisitions planned for 2021. They’ve got one coming in January, one coming in April and one coming in October. And we’re retained for the entire year to help with that cultural integration, to make sure that those acquisitions are successful, and that the team, the leadership team and the employees that are coming into those companies are fully, and seamlessly and successfully integrated into the company. We’re doing that work going into 2021 for one of our clients. So, there’s lots of different ways that our client engage us, depending on what their situation is.
Lee Kantor: [00:18:09] Now, looking forward into 2021, are you seeing any trends? Are you seeing any kind of level of maybe grace amongst the leadership and their employees because of just everybody dealing with so much of the chaos that you mentioned earlier and just so much of, now, they’re leaning on technology, and maybe there was a time where there was less patience and grace when it came to some of this but, maybe, now, people’s empathy gene is kind of turned on a little bit more?
Marissa Levin: [00:18:40] That’s so funny that you mentioned that. I don’t even know if you’re aware that I developed the GRACE model to help leaders lead and communicate with grace, which we’ve rolled out to hundreds of different organizations and leaders now. I developed it in March when the pandemic opened or came down upon us. And it stands for great resilience, adaptability, connection and empathy. And it’s a full model to lead leaders through a process to lead and communicate with grace. And it’s been really impactful and transformative for the organizations that we’ve worked with.
Marissa Levin: [00:19:17] And so, I do see the continued need to be educating leaders on how to lead and communicate with grace, because we’re all kind of pushed to the limit, and we don’t know what’s coming and when it’s coming. And we’re all pandemic-weary, we’re all quarantine-weary, we’re exhausted. So, yeah, we’re actually doing a lot of work around GRACE.
Lee Kantor: [00:19:40] So, now, if somebody wanted to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on your team, what’s the best way to learn more? Is there a website or social media coordinator?
Marissa Levin: [00:19:50] Yeah. So, successfulculture.com is our main website. I’m on LinkedIn. You guys can find me, I’ve got about 25,000 followers. So, I’m out there. And my email is marissa@successfulculture.com. That’s M-A-R-I-S-S-A @ successful culture dotcom. And I’m happy to take direct emails. And you guys can sign up for our newsletter, which we put on hiatus, and we’re about to start it back up along with our podcast as we go into 2021. But yeah, there’s lots of ways to reach me and definitely check out our white paper on how to create a respectful and inclusive work environment at successfulculture.com too.
Lee Kantor: [00:20:30] Now, before we wrap up, tell me why it was important to be a certified woman-owned business and be involved with GWBC.
Marissa Levin: [00:20:39] Certification as a woman-owned business is essential, especially if you’re going to be working with state, and local, and federal agencies because you want to indicate that you are a certified woman-owned business, even if it’s through an independent party. So, look, we’re moving into an era now where we have an unprecedented number of women in positions of power. I think our time has come, and I think it’s never been more important for women-owned businesses to get certified as a woman-owned entity.
Lee Kantor: [00:21:11] Now, what do you need more of? How can we help? Do you need more team members, more clients, more people?
Marissa Levin: [00:21:19] Hey, we’re always looking for clients. The other thing that we forgot to mention is I’m the author of Built to SCALE: How Top Companies Create Breakthrough Growth Through Exceptional Advisory Boards. It’s the number one book globally on how to build extraordinary advisory boards. The SCALE model stands for select, compensate, associate, leverage, evaluate, evolve and exit. You can either find that on Amazon or you can go to builttoscale.info. That’s B-U-I-L-T-T-O-S-C-A-L-E dot info. And we work with organizations to help build their best advisory board. So, any organization that is looking for improvements in corporate culture, looking to educate their employees with really, really stellar leadership educational programming, looking to put in an advisory board or looking for really high-impact transformational CEO-to-CEO coaching, please reach out to me because that’s where my sweet spots are. And I would love to work with you.
Lee Kantor: [00:22:18] Good stuff, Marissa. Thank you so much for sharing your story, you’re doing important work and we appreciate you.
Marissa Levin: [00:22:25] No, we appreciate you, Lee, for having this podcast and for letting women-owned businesses get their story out.
Lee Kantor: [00:22:32] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you next time on GWBC Open for Business.
About GWBC
The Greater Women’s Business Council (GWBC®) is at the forefront of redefining women business enterprises (WBEs). An increasing focus on supplier diversity means major corporations are viewing our WBEs as innovative, flexible and competitive solutions. The number of women-owned businesses is rising to reflect an increasingly diverse consumer base of women making a majority of buying decision for herself, her family and her business.
GWBC® has partnered with dozens of major companies who are committed to providing a sustainable foundation through our guiding principles to bring education, training and the standardization of national certification to women businesses in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
