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GWBC Radio: Bernadette L. Harris with By the Book Accounting

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Bernadette L. Harris is an award-winning Tax and Forensic Accountant, TEDx Speaker, bestselling author and podcast host committed to “Keeping Small Business in Business.” As President of By The Book Accounting, she has helped thousands of entrepreneurs across the country start, operate, and grow thriving ventures.

Bernadette, a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), earned a B.S. in Accounting from the nation’s oldest HBCU, Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, and later earned her MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management and an MS in Fraud and Forensics from Carlow University.

Before launching her company, By The Book Accounting, in 2001, she taught Algebra and Geometry and led a high school basketball team to a district championship during her first year of coaching.

Bernadette has conducted workshops for the U.S. Small Business Administration, The Urban League, SCORE, Access to Capital For Entrepreneurs, Dress for Success, and other non-profit organizations. She has been featured on ABC, CBS, NBC, and other nationally known media outlets speaking on entrepreneurship and fraud prevention. She also serves as an Adjunct Instructor at the Atlanta Institute of Music and Media. Where she teaches Accounting and Tax Essentials for Entrepreneurs.

A native of Miami, FL, she now resides in Atlanta, GA with her husband, Anthony.

Connect with Bernadette 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 is going to be a good one. Today, we have with us Bernadette Harris with By the Book Accounting. Welcome, Bernadette.

Bernadette Harris: [00:00:29] Thank you, Lee. Thank you for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:31] Well, before we get too far into things, tell us about By the Book Accounting. How are you serving folks?

Bernadette Harris: [00:00:36] So, By the Book Accounting is a tax and forensic accounting firm. It is based in Atlanta, but our clients are actually all over the country. And I think we have a few clients that live abroad. And since 2001, we have been serving clients in multiple ways. One is tax preparation. So, we work with individuals helping them to file accurate tax returns, and we also work with business owners on the tax side. But the bigger part of what we do is working with small businesses and helping them to make sure that they’ve set up their businesses the right way and they’ve set up their businesses to last.

Bernadette Harris: [00:01:16] And so, that can include as much as creating accounting systems from the start, some way to track your income and expenses, whether Quickbooks or Excel. We also teach business owners as they’re growing their businesses, how to protect themselves from fraud. That’s where the forensic accounting comes in. And in the unlikely event that a person is a victim of fraud, we investigate those cases from the financial side.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:45] So, now, how did you get into accounting? Was that something as a child, you were always drawn to math, and numbers, and business?

Bernadette Harris: [00:01:52] You know me that my story is very interesting because, yeah, I have always been really good at math, but it didn’t equate to accounting for me. So, when I went to college, I went to college as an Education major. I thought, since I’m good at math, maybe I will teach math. And I took one education class, and I thought, “I don’t know if this is going to be the right path for me.” And my college algebra professor, she said, “Well, why don’t you try accounting? You’re really good at math. Why don’t you try accounting?” I had never thought about it because I’m a first-generation college student. And so, I said, “Okay.” And the next semester, I took accounting and fell in love. And so, here we are.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:39] And that’s a great example of how a person on your journey – it could be kind of semi-random person – can really propel someone in a new direction and open their mind to things that they hadn’t considered.

Bernadette Harris: [00:02:50] Yeah. And I think that, also, it speaks to the importance of really good teachers and teachers who are teaching because they love it. I think that the teaching part wasn’t far off because I still get to teach in what I do, I just do it in a different way. And when you have teachers along the way who are planting positive seeds, that makes the world of difference.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:14] So, now, when you started out, were you always kind of going after this entrepreneur and small business niche or was that something that just evolved over time?

Bernadette Harris: [00:03:23] Absolutely accidental. Absolutely accidental. I never thought that I was brave enough to be an entrepreneur. It was just never on my mind because, to me, entrepreneurship, it seemed like not real. Most of the entrepreneurs that I knew were people who were kind of hustling and not really making a lot of money. So, I just thought success looked like going to work for that same job for 30 years, like my mom did, and retiring. So, entrepreneurship fell into my lap. And I’m so grateful because it’s been the best decision of my life.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:07] So, what kind of was the impetus of kind of opening your mind to this entrepreneur path, and really embracing it, and kind of leaning into it? Because you’re not only doing accounting, you have books, you have a podcast, you have a blog, you teach courses. Like you’re just kind of have a whole boutique industry around you and your knowledge. So, how did you kind of expand the mindset of, “Hey, I’m an accountant,” or “I’m going to get a job,” to “Look, I can do lots of things, and I can help lots of people in different ways, kind of using the same base of knowledge”?

Bernadette Harris: [00:04:41] So, it started out very innocently. My cousin, a long time ago – this was probably about over 20 years ago – she had a Mary Kay party, and she asked is to come because she had just started as a Mary Kay rep. And you do what you do with your family, you support your family. So, I showed up along with a lot of my other cousins, and we had a great time at this party.

Bernadette Harris: [00:05:06] But one of the things that caught my eye – I was never like a really heavy makeup wear – so I learned some new techniques, I learned some things about skin care, but when the person who present it, who recruited her, she was a director in Mary Kay, and she was the director that was driving the pink Cadillac. So, she was like that top person in Mary Kay. And she started talking about the business opportunity. And I had never thought about it. It was never on my radar. And she piqued my interest. I thought, “Oh, my gosh. This class was so much fun, I could totally see myself doing this.”

Bernadette Harris: [00:05:51] So, I didn’t join right away, but probably about 18 months later, I joined Mary Kay. I had a blast. I made a lot of money, sold a lot of makeup, met a lot of people, and just empowered a lot of women because there were women who wanted to wear makeup, didn’t know how. There were women who wore makeup and didn’t know how. And then, there’s just people who just wanted to support me. And so, it was a very fun journey. And that was my introduction to entrepreneurship.

Bernadette Harris: [00:06:24] But being where I am now and By the Book accountinA, this is my true calling. This is where I’m supposed to be. And Mary Kay and a few other things that I did before By the Book Accounting were just a stepping stones to get me there because, this, being in entrepreneurship and being in By the Book Accounting has allowed me to impact the most people and allow my impact to be the greatest. And that’s how I know I’m where I’m supposed to be.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:57] So, now, when you’re working with entrepreneurs yourself right now, and mentoring them and kind of role modeling how to be a successful entrepreneur, are you seeing kind of the same mistakes entrepreneurs are making that they’re not setting themselves up for success or maybe they’re good at what they do, but they don’t know how to kind of build a business around what they’re doing?

Bernadette Harris: [00:07:17] That is absolutely what I see. And Lee, that is why I wrote my first book because I said, “Well, I keep getting these clients that come in, and they’re all making the same mistakes. So, maybe, if I write a book and tell them how to set up their businesses the right way and the things that they need to have in place, maybe they’ll stop making these mistakes.”

Bernadette Harris: [00:07:39] And so, that’s how I entered into becoming an author because I thought this will be a way for me to take my base of knowledge and be able to help more people. Because there’s only so many people that you and I can talk to in a day, right? If you have a workshop, there are only so many people who can come to the workshop. But something like a book can just really make an impact. When you don’t even think about it, when you’re asleep, your book can be making an impact. And so, that’s how I became an author just because I was trying to help people, even more people. And see, and we still come back to me being that teacher, just not in the traditional way.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:21] So, now, how much of your time is spent kind of educating, and motivating, and inspiring folks, and how much is actually doing accounting nowadays? Is your time kind of split between the two?

Bernadette Harris: [00:08:32] Somewhat. And you know what, Lee? One of the things that I realized is this year after the pandemic, and I realized that even though I spent a lot of time educating small businesses, I’m not doing enough and I need to do more because the pandemic opened our eyes, and I say it lifted the skirts of a lot of businesses to show the inadequacies of those businesses.

Bernadette Harris: [00:09:02] When I saw that there were businesses who weren’t able to qualify for PPP funding, businesses who weren’t able to qualify for EIDL, and unfortunately, businesses that are essentially closed now, it makes me realize that I still have a lot more work to do as it relates to educating small businesses. And I don’t know. I mean, I know it’s not my job alone, but I am just determined to do as much as I can to help businesses stay in business. So, my tagline is keeping small business in business because small business is important. Small business changed my, life and I just want that for everyone else.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:45] Yeah, I agree wholeheartedly. I think small and midsize businesses, they’re the lifeblood of communities, and they’re kind of the unsung heroes because they’re doing a lot of the heavy lifting, and they’re hiring folks, and they’re supporting community things that people just take for granted. And you’re going to miss them when they’re gone. That’s for sure.

Bernadette Harris: [00:10:03] Absolutely. There’s a statistic that I read that said that 47.5% of US workers work for a small business. And so, maybe it’s not the mom and pop store on the corner but, like you said, those medium sized businesses even. But a small business is anything under a hundred employees. A hundred employees is a lot of people.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:26] Yeah. The government definition of a small business and what you have in your head of a small business are not the same.

Bernadette Harris: [00:10:32] Yeah, yeah. So, I try to help. I’m helping small businesses. So, if it’s one employees or a hundred employees, those are the people who have my heart.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:42] Now, any advice for them? Like, right now, a lot of them are struggling and a lot of them are kind of having a hard time with the pandemic impacting their businesses. Is there are some low-hanging fruit, maybe something you can share that a place to start to help them kind of weather the storm?

Bernadette Harris: [00:10:59] So, one of the things that I’ve realized is how important it is for small business owners to have a relationship with an accountant because many of them, they’re really smart. I do my own taxes, I keep my own books, and I kind of do. And maybe you know how to do Turbo Tax, maybe you know how to do Quickbooks, but I think that when we get to the point where we’re doing too much DIY, we miss out on the relational things that, like you said, that low-hanging fruit that someone who does this as a profession is able to see. And the $500 that you save every year, what did you miss out on as a result of it?

Bernadette Harris: [00:11:49] And so, those businesses that are struggling, I would definitely say it is really important to have a relationship with an accountant. And having a relationship with an accountant doesn’t necessarily mean that this accountant is a line item on your monthly budget. It may be just, I have clients who just pop in, and they just schedule a consultation when they need help or guidance, and that may cost them a couple hundred dollars a year as opposed to not having that guidance, and making the mistakes, and having it come to me later to fix it. So, we always know it’s a lot easier to plug a pinhole than it is to replace the whole roof.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:33] Right. And it’s one of those things where it’s an investment. I mean, hopefully, you have a relationship with an accountant that’s saving you thousands of dollars and costing you hundreds of dollars and not vice versa.

Bernadette Harris: [00:12:45] Yeah, the benefit should always outweigh the cost.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:51] Yeah. It’s not an expense in my book. It’s an investment. Now-

Bernadette Harris: [00:12:55] I agree, I agree.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:57] … tell us about your involvement with GWBC. Why did you choose to join that association and why has it been important to you?

Bernadette Harris: [00:13:06] Well, GWBC has been really important to me because multiple things. There’s the opportunity to network with like-minded business owners. And so, that is so critical because entrepreneurship can be lonely sometimes, especially if the people who are close to you, they’re not entrepreneurs, they don’t get it. They may rah-rah you as much as they possibly can, but if you are not an entrepreneur, you don’t get this. You can’t get it by looking in. So, being a part of GWBC and being able to network and connect with business owners that are like me, it’s been out of this world.

Bernadette Harris: [00:13:53] One of the biggest things that GWBC has helped me with is this year, I was accepted into the Mentor Protege Program. And in that program, they match a WGBC member with a corporate member, and the corporate members serves as a mentor to the protege. And let me just tell you, like having access to someone who works in corporate America and them being able to impart things on you to help you grow your little small business has been tremendous.

Bernadette Harris: [00:14:31] And so, as a result of working, I’ve been working with my mentor, and even though this year looks a lot differently because we haven’t met in person, and we’ve been doing like video meetings, and things, and over the phone, but working with my mentor this year, one of the things that I said that I wanted to do was to grow and scale my business. Well, over the couple of months that we’ve been working together, he’s helped me to put together a plan to be able to hire a virtual employee and feel very confident about it.

Bernadette Harris: [00:15:08] And so, my new employee starts in a couple of days, and I’m just excited about the fact that I’ve been able to do it because I had a lot of anxiety around that, Lee, let me just tell you. And so, to get over the anxietym and just get to the point of excitement, and I can’t wait to be able, one, be able to bring somebody else on, so that they can help me with that accounting piece, Lee, so that I can focus a little bit more on the education part, it is amazing. So, I know that was a long answer, but I really felt that.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:41] Well, I think that it’s a great testament to you as a lifelong learner. And you spend so much of your time and energy historically in teaching other people that you’re open to be taught and to learn from others. That’s a great quality for everybody, and that’s a great lesson for leaders out there that there’s help. And don’t be afraid to ask for help and people want you to win. There’s a lot of people out there that want you to win. So, if you’re in the right group, you can do anything.

Bernadette Harris: [00:16:11] Yeah, I agree. I agree. I always say that there are more people for you than there are against you. Sometimes, it’s just you have to find your people.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:20] Right, you’ve got to find your tribe. That’s what Seth Godin, one of my favorite writers, says is if you can’t find your tribe, make your tribe. And just when you’re around people that are supportive and they’re celebrating your work, it gives you a lot of confidence and resources to really take your business to the next level.

Bernadette Harris: [00:16:37] Absolutely.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:39] So, now, what’s next for you? What could we be doing to help you in your journey? I know you got your podcast that’s going on that, I guess, started recently. And then, your blog is a lot of information. Your courses are out there, your books, and I’m sure you’re looking for clients. What can we be doing to help you?

Bernadette Harris: [00:16:57] So, absolutely. I’m definitely. So, now that I have a new employee and we’ve essentially doubled my capacity, so we’re definitely taking on new clients. So, this is individuals, as well as small businesses, who need help with tax preparation. I love working with small businesses, and my absolute sweet spot is working with them when they first get started.

Bernadette Harris: [00:17:21] So, if you’re just getting started with your business, I love working with you to make sure that you’re doing things right from the start. The businesses that take advantage of those services usually lasts a little bit longer and the business owners enjoy it a little more. And so, new clients, of course, we’re always open for that. And so, I always tell people, go to my website, bythebookaccounting.com, schedule of discovery call, and let’s see if we’re fit. And if we are, I’d love to work with you.

Bernadette Harris: [00:17:54] As you mentioned, Lee, I’m also a podcast host and this is a passion project of mine. It is a project with my daughter and myself. And we started the podcast in July of 2020. July 1st actually is when our first episode dropped. And it’s a weekly podcast where we just talk about the good, the bad and the ugly in entrepreneurship.

Bernadette Harris: [00:18:19] And the really cool thing about the podcast is we talk about entrepreneurship from two different generations of entrepreneurs because I am a first-generation entrepreneur, and then my daughter is now a budding entrepreneurs. So, it’s a really cool conversation between the two of us, and it gives you an opportunity to kind of see me outside of the boardroom. So, you get to see me and my personality. And also, you can kind of overhear the relationship that I have with my, now, adult daughter. So, those are some ways. The podcast is called the CEO Launch. We’re on all major platforms. So, follow us on social media and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:04] Good stuff. Well, congratulations on all your success, and you’re doing important work, and we appreciate you. Thank you.

Bernadette Harris: [00:19:10] Thank you. I appreciate being here.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:13] 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.

GWBC Radio

GWBC Radio: Tina Stevens with Secondary Solutions

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Secondary Solutions CEO Tina Stevens grew up at a time where women knew their place in business —and that was being at the top of their game in everything they did. With a military school education at Vermont’s prestigious Norwich University, Tina’s earliest influencers taught her the importance of “thinking differently” especially as it related to business processes and applications.

When Tina first began working in the male-dominated manufacturing industry, she quickly discovered that she was someone who saw solutions where others might have only seen problems. After carefully examining the many challenges of modern manufacturing, Tina was on her way to a new venture in Florida when she stopped along the way in Spartanburg, SC. It was there in South Carolina’s rapidly evolving manufacturing community that Tina saw an entrepreneurial opportunity with the creation of Secondary Solutions, a company solely designed to solve the many challenges that manufacturers face.

Secondary Solutions has developed a stellar reputation as the company known for solving errors and failures in product design, assembly, and delivery. Their roster of clients includes major appliance, healthcare, packaging, and industrial equipment manufacturers—along with first tier automotive companies like BMW and aerospace leaders like Boeing.

In addition to her executive duties at Secondary Solutions, Tina also serves as a board member for the Greater Women’s Business Council (GWBC). She is also a part of the National Forum of the WBENC (the largest certifier and advocate of women-owned businesses in the U.S) to help strengthen women’s business opportunities across the nation. Along with having a woman-owned business that is also a certified ISO9001:2015 Company, Tina is most proud that-since founding Secondary Solutions in 1997-they have established a legacy of success in problem-solving for clients.

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 Tina Stevens with Secondary Solutions. Welcome, Tina.

Tina Stevens: [00:00:29] Welcome. I’m looking forward to talking to you.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:32] Well, before we get too far in the things, tell us about Secondary Solutions. How are you serving folks?

Tina Stevens: [00:00:38] We are a third-party inspection company for the manufacturing world, as well as we do assembly, kitting, marketing and packaging for when a purchase displays for the retail sector of business.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:53] So, how’d you get into this line of work?

Tina Stevens: [00:00:57] Well, we started as a machine shop. It’s really interesting to think about it. In 1997, I was working for a company that was a dye caster and doing all different various functions of that position. And it was an opportunity that opened up for what’s called the secondary operations of that business. They wanted to outsource it. So, at the time, my husband and I decided that it would be a great opportunity. So, it was machining, solely a machine company. And as you will note, 23 years later, I have eliminated that out of our repertoire business.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:34] And that’s funny lesson about business, right? You might start at one place, and then end somewhere else. And it just all happened just kind of organically, right?

Tina Stevens: [00:01:44] Yes. It’s just meeting the needs and finding out what needs to happen. The Ross Perot giant sucking sound of everything going overseas really affected our business. And slowly over the years, we’ve pivoted out of it into into this new line of business. And so, it’s a whole different world. And specifically, since COVID hit, we’ve even transferred more out of the automotive world and into more packaging and helping customers in a different whole marketplace to support the COVID pandemic.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:27] Now, that’s a great lesson for business leaders everywhere. How do you know when it’s time to make that pivot and where the forces are just to kind of insurmountable that, “We’ve got to make a move”? And then, how do you kind of implement that change?

Tina Stevens: [00:02:44] Well, for me, the biggest factor happened in 2008 and 2009. We were one hundred percent automotive at that time. And that taught me a big lesson about diversification. So, over that period of time, we started working with customers like WesTrac that do a lot of entertainment kind of work that needed hand packaging kind of operations. And then, we also picked up the nutraceuticals. There’s lots of pharma nutraceutical happening in South Carolina where I’m located at. And we started picking up those kinds of customers.

Tina Stevens: [00:03:24] And so, when we looked at our metric system and where we wanted to be positioned, we had a third, a third, a third. So, when COVID hit, and one third of the business was going down, we took the opportunity of taking the PPP loan, and keeping all of our people on staff, and pivoted and said, “Where can we go to?” So, when we started reaching out to the other sectors of our business and said, “Do you have a need for more people?,” the answer was yes. They were struggling to keep their lines open because of the influx of business. So, we were able to transition out of the automotive sector and into the other sectors.

Tina Stevens: [00:04:08] And then, when COVID came – not only came down, but when the opportunity for the automotive came back up, we’ve been slowly going back into that sector. So, really, our businesses is much bigger than it was before COVID as a result of COVID. That sounds strange, but that’s really where we’re at.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:30] Right, because you were able to make the change. And then, when it kind of stabilized a little, then you benefited from still having all of the skill to execute on what you were previously doing. That didn’t change.

Tina Stevens: [00:04:43] Yeah, I was really happy because that PPP alone really gave us the advantage of being able to keep our skilled people on staff. So, they were prepared to be able to go back into the marketplace the second that we had the opening and could pivot them. So, in that three to six-week period of time, we are able to transition everybody into another job until the other jobs came up available. And then, we’ve been adding people.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:09] Now, in your career, you said initially you were working for somebody else, and then you took over. Is that what happened that you were working for a plant, and then you had the opportunity came that you can kind of be the owner of it?

Tina Stevens: [00:05:25] Yes. That happened in 2001. I took over the business in 2001.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:32] And when that happened – I was just reading Seth Godin. I’m a big fan of Seth Godin. I don’t know if you know who he is, but he’s a marketing person. But he talked about the imposter syndrome, and he says that everybody has it and just get over it. That’s just the way it is. There’s always that point where you don’t know how to do something, and then you’re trying something, and then you’re doing something. Did you have any of challenges from that same role, from a leadership standpoint that, “Am I the right person to lead this company?” Like you said, it’s male-dominated. “Are they going to be able to see me as the leader?” Did you have to overcome anything along those lines?

Tina Stevens: [00:06:09] I really did. And what’s interesting is that in 2001, when I took over the company, I ended up hiring a man as a salesperson because I was finding that I couldn’t get in the door to get the appointment to even have the conversation. So, thankfully, we’ve transitioned. So, I don’t feel that way anymore, that I can open the door myself. So, I would say that’s a great change for women in business in the last 20 years. So, I did.

Tina Stevens: [00:06:46] But as far as being a leader. I don’t really feel the imposter syndrome anymore. I used to. And that’s what’s really great about WBENC, GWBC, the Women’s Presidential Organization. All these women’s groups have really taught me and helped me to see the value that I bring, the value that the company brings, and also that we’re all in this together, not in the COVID sense of the word, but in the business sense of the word, that everybody is struggling with those. I really didn’t take advantage of for many, many years what that would bring to the table of networking with all these other great women.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:36] Now, when you were coming up, there had to be fewer of those opportunities to find groups of women that were organized and kind of supporting each other. But now, it seems there’s more. There’s quite a few kind of avenues for a young leader to go, to plug in, to kind of find that support network and to find peers that are going to kind of help you up and hold you accountable and things like that.

Tina Stevens: [00:08:04] That is definitely true. I would say, I have been with GWBC for almost 10 years, and the biggest lesson I’ve learned is that I wish I had plugged in 10 years ago. I only really plugged in, I would say, in the last three years, and that’s when those relationships have really ballooned and grown. And anybody that’s listening to this, please take that as a piece of grand advice. Plug in, networking. All these women are your friend and they want to help you. And take that help, and take that advice, and run with it because they’re seeing things that you didn’t see before.

Tina Stevens: [00:08:04] For me, in my experience, that’s what was so overwhelming. It’s like, “Wow!” I had my head down, and was working really, really hard, and making decisions that, now, I look back and go, “It would have been so much easier if I just asked for some help, and said, ‘Hey, I’ve got this issue. What do you think?'” because the information or the help is out there and available. Just to ask.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:15] Yeah, and that’s a good lesson for leaders to be kind of humble in this regard, and have some humility, and that it’s okay to be vulnerable and ask for help. Like you don’t have to be a lone ranger. This doesn’t have to be kind of a solo operation. There’s plenty of resources out there and plenty of willing people that have been there and done that, that are open to sharing with you. It’s not a close kind of environment in most cases.

Tina Stevens: [00:09:42] Well, I think a big change for this year, this has been the 2020 aha moment was when we had the COVID shutdown, and we couldn’t go to the conferences, and we couldn’t do the traditional networking opportunities that come up, what really interested me was the Zoom meetings and all these teleconferencing opportunities. It really has opened my eyes to being able to have more face-to-face networking opportunities than I have ever had before just sitting in my office because I get to see their picture, I get to engage with them and have a conversation; whereas, at the conference, there’s thousands and thousands of people, and I’m seeing some of the same people. And your inclination is to network with the same group of women. And occasionally, you get to meet another person.

Tina Stevens: [00:10:34] But through this platform, which I hope never goes away, I still want to do the live people events as well, but this platform really has given me an opportunity to really hone in and meet people that I really can do business with and that I’ve built great relationships with. So, I fully embrace this kind of environment of the teleconferencing world. It’s a big advantage to businesses.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:04] Yeah, I think that networking had that kind of a stigma attached to it in a negative way maybe more back in the day then than today where it was kind of superficial, and it was like everybody’s handing out business cards, and they don’t care about you, and it’s very transactional. And I think what people are finding is if you find the right group of people, it’s very supportive, and it’s kind of there’s a high kind of IQ when you’re dealing with a lot of these folks that are leaders, that are involved in these groups. They really want to help. They want to get back. They’ve learned some lessons. They want to share the lessons. They want to open some doors for folks. Isn’t that kind of old-school, hand-me-my-business-card, what-do-you-do kind of environment?

Tina Stevens: [00:11:50] Well said. That is more true than ever. I really feel the engagement. That’s the part that is being really promoted, the engagement portion of it. People really want to engage with you and want to feel part of the inclusive environment. So, that’s just a different … you’re right. I mean, I’m not giving out business cards, but that whole philosophy of giving out a card, and you come back with a stack and never follow up on it. This changes what that looks like because this is a more real conversation.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:27] Right. It’s personal. You’re getting really to know the people. And if you do this kind of work over time, it pays dividends. But like any group, this isn’t something you can just join and then expect benefits. You really have to kind of lean in and volunteer, take leadership roles, and kind of proactively interact rather than just wait for stuff to come your way. I mean, that’s not going to work for anybody.

Tina Stevens: [00:12:51] Yeah, I would say that, for me, being a part of GWBC, I’m also the head of the Voice Committee, which is a group of women. They get together to have your voice be heard, thinking together, and just trying to figure out how we can get a networking message out to more women and get them involved because there’s so many opportunities.

Tina Stevens: [00:13:17] The educational opportunities. I took two classes this year that were supported by Wells Fargo and UPS, several different businesses, TruWest and stuff. But they had these classes that was called Thrive, and they did the EOS, the entrepreneurial operating system. Both those classes, not only do you get to network with people, but what the educational portion that you learn from it really helped your business, and it made you be able to concentrate on your business and implement systems. In our business, we took full advantage of those educational opportunities.

Tina Stevens: [00:13:55] So, really, plugging in in the marketing sector, the marketing committee, or being on the Voice Committee. I’d really invite anybody to join the Voice Committee of any of the RPOs that are out there because it’s a great networking opportunity.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:14] Right. And it’s a great way for young folks and kind of new business people to demonstrate their kind of core values, and skill, and leadership in those environments in a safe way that kind of lets people see, “Okay, this person is for real. They got it going on. I can trust them with a project,” or “I can trust them to be referred.”

Tina Stevens: [00:14:38] Yes. And so, we have a question that just happened recently where there was a whole webinar on that, and it was an interactive one. And the questions you need to ask to protect yourself and make those relationships work for both of you, it was so eye opening because when you start a project, you’re so full of hope, and you’re working together, and you don’t think of the downside. So, having that educational opportunity to look at that made me realize, “Okay, yeah. So, we need to look at this.”

Tina Stevens: [00:15:12] And I thought it was interesting. She said, “You really need to think about it is getting a divorce when you start doing business with other companies, so that you know, worst-case scenario, work your way back from that.” I thought, “That’s so true. Get everything down ready. Get it all. Get all your questions, all the concerns that you have about doing business with somebody else out on the table, so that you can have a good relationship to start with. And you know if something goes what goes wrong, what’s your one, two, three you’re going to handle, how are you going to handle it?” And I thought that was very intuitive.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:48] Yeah. I think that GWBC does a great job in setting up these smaller business folks with opportunities, with these enterprise level and kind of educates them on, “Look, you can’t just show up here and say, ‘This is what I do.’ You’re going to have to really have a lot of empathy and understand, from the enterprise level’s standpoint, what they have to gain and what they have to lose.'” So, you have to kind of shore up some areas a lot of the times that the young person may be or the new business person isn’t aware of.

Tina Stevens: [00:16:21] That’s very well said as well, because I love what GWBC is doing and WBENC is doing as well, is that they’ve identified groups of women that are having more of a struggle than other groups. So, they have another group within the group called Women of Color. And I’m very excited to see that program coming to fruition and seeing the excitement in the level because lots of businesses fail because they don’t have all the knowledge and the expertise coming into it.

Tina Stevens: [00:17:00] So, the Mentor Protege Program that they have within GWBC another way to work with a corporate. They can help you build that relationship, and get those questions, and get those soft skills and hard skills that you need in order to be competitive and withstand all that’s coming at you and make your business be successful.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:24] Right. And those kind of relationships, that can catapult your company from one level to five levels higher if you kind of listen and kind of let them help you.

Tina Stevens: [00:17:39] That is so important. That really is so important. Because at the end of the day, all these people, men and women, are trying to be successful. And I will say that I have not run into, really, anybody in my recent past year that hasn’t given me something to think about that can help my business, or give me a hand up, or make an introduction, or give me a thoughtful idea that I hadn’t seen it because they’re looking at my business 10,000 feet out. So, always being open to that, I think, is the most important thing to move your business forward.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:24] So, what could we be doing to help you move your business forward? What do you need more of?

Tina Stevens: [00:18:30] Actually, I’m in a really great place. I mean, I’m in a position where I’m wanting to help others. So, what can the community do? I’m looking to do more assembly work and kitting work. We’re an ISM. We’re also a hub zone company. So, I’m looking to do some more government contracting and expand our company into that field. That’s been on my radar for the last couple of years. Now, I’ve got my certification, so I’m moving in that direction. So, thank you for asking that.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:08] Well, congratulations on all of your success and thank you so much for sharing your story today.

Tina Stevens: [00:19:14] I appreciate the time. And this is a great avenue. And I love listening to the stories, the great, success stories. They’re motivating. I’m listening too. Whenever you put on out, I’m listening to it. So, thank you so much.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:26] All right. Well, Tina, again, thank you for what you’re doing. You’re doing important work, and we appreciate you.

Tina Stevens: [00:19:32] Thank you. You have a great day.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:34] Well, if somebody wants to get a hold of you, what’s the website and the best way to connect with you or somebody on your team?

Tina Stevens: [00:19:40] Okay. So, our company name is Secondary Solutions, but our website is www.getproblemsolved.com. It’s “problem.” We’re not two Ss. We found that to be an issue, but that’s what our email addresses. Our telephone number is 864-574-6550. And please reach out.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:05] All right. Thank you again for sharing your story.

Tina Stevens: [00:20:08] Thank you.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:09] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We will see you all next time on GWBC 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.