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Steven Schumacher with Cartersville Bartow CVB, Rebecca Reeves with Cartersville Outreach and Tabitha Baynard with Georgia Diversified
With over a decade of tourism and hospitality experience in Georgia, Steven Schumacher has continued to grow in the destination marketing industry as a sales professional and emerging leader.
From his time in hotel operations, to hotel & destination sales, he has fallen more in love with tourism as his passion for travel and experiences grow.
As the new President of the Cartersville Bartow CVB, Steven is eager to show, not only the state of Georgia, but the entire Southeast and country, what uniquely makes everything they offer “Only in Cartersville Bartow!”
Steven’s wife is MaryKate, who is the Associate Director of Business Analysis & Quality for Whereoware Inc. Their family resides in Woodstock, where they have two daughters, Quinn who is 5 and Rowan who is almost 2.
My name is Rebecca Reeves and I am 35 years old. I was in addiction for about 13 years and never thought I would ever make it out.
I became a mother at a very young age. I grew up in a Methodist church with and amazing family.
We never lacked for anything and I had parents that loved me very much. I fell into addiction because I started hanging out with the wrong crowd when I was young…not because I had a rough childhood. Addiction is no respecter of person.
When I finally got out of addiction, it was life or death for me. I cried out to the Lord and He heard me and saved my life. He sent me to my home church Cartersville Outreach, which then they helped me get into a transitional center in North Point Alabama called Genesis MBTC. That was the place the Lord used to set me free and change my life forever. It was the best decision I have ever made because now I have a life and am no longer bound. Galatians 2:20.
I live for the Lord now and it’s the best life I ever imagined having. I didn’t know life could really be this good. I have a Godly husband and a beautiful family and beautiful children that are being raised the right way. It’s like the Lord gave me another chance. Now I’m being used in ministry and we are starting a transitional center because we know it works and we know God is our provider.
The center that God is putting in Bartow County is going to change so many people’s lives and the desire I have for these people to be set free is indescribable. These women are going to get a chance to live and that brings me so much joy.
Tabitha Baynard was born in Acworth, GA. She relocated to Ohio during her pre-teen years, where she graduated from Waverly High School.
Tabitha went on to study accounting and business at Shawnee State University. She left her studies early to assist her father with his construction business. She has two children Carley and Chase, and a granddaughter RoseaLee.
She began working with the Georgia Diversified Industries, formerly known as Good Shepherd, in 2014. When Tabitha came to work, she immediately knew she had found her home.
Along with the responsibilities of a normal operations manager, Tabitha’s additional duties include teaching the clients skills to perform a task from start to finish and showing them, they can function as a team to produce a quality product. Her praise and encouragement creates an environment of purpose for our clients. She believes in them, so they believe in themselves
This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix
TRANSCRIPT
Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta. It’s time for Charitable Georgia. Brought to you by B’s Charitable Pursuits and Resources. We put the fun in fund raising. For more information, go to B’s Charitable Pursuits. Dot com. That’s B’s Charitable Pursuits dot com. Now here’s your host, Brian Pruett.
Brian Pruett: [00:00:45] Good, fabulous Friday morning. It’s another fabulous Friday. And I’ve got three more fabulous guests, so I’ve got to share the great news first. Annette and I, that and I that’s my wife if you don’t know, are proud grandparents this morning of quintuplets. Wow. Black Molly’s. I’ve never had this happen. I bought some fish to replace ones that passed away. And yesterday morning, we had a surprise. One of them gave birth to five babies. Okay, now, so I’ve been having fun. I called my mother in law and said, Guess what? You’re a great grandmother. And she bet had a heart attack. So anyway, if your first time listening to Charitable Georgia, this is all about positivity in the community and we’ve got three fabulous folks doing that in specifically the Bartow County area. So we’re going to start off this morning with Steven Schumacher from the, well, you just changed the name.
Steven Schumacher: [00:01:32] Well you know we wanted to make it a little more seamless.
Brian Pruett: [00:01:34] Because it’s it’s a lot. It was a mouthful. So just tell us what it is.
Steven Schumacher: [00:01:37] Only in Cartersville, Bartow Tourism.
Brian Pruett: [00:01:39] There you go.
Steven Schumacher: [00:01:39] We’re in charge of selling and marketing. All fun things of tourism in the county and in the city of Cartersville.
Brian Pruett: [00:01:45] And there’s a lot going on in that area.
Steven Schumacher: [00:01:47] More than you’d think. And that’s what I’m here to do.
Brian Pruett: [00:01:49] Yeah, there you go. So first of all, I just want to give you some love. And thanks. You jumped aboard and became one of our deluxe sponsors for our monthly trivia show that we do in the area at Saint Angelo’s rotating the charities in Bartow County. So I appreciate you coming aboard and and being a part of that. So if you don’t mind, please share your a little bit of your story, your background, and then we’ll talk about the the tourism.
Steven Schumacher: [00:02:08] Sure. You’re hearing a non Southerner. As you can tell, I grew up in New England, in Connecticut, moved down here in 2013 with my girlfriend at the time, now wife. And she was pursued a job in Buckhead. And we did the city life for a while, grew up in suburban Connecticut, and we said, we’re never going to leave the city. City is so cool. And then we had to buy a house and we’re like, Well, we can’t afford to live here in Brookhaven. So we popped out to Smyrna in 2017. I was always in the tourism and hotel industry working for a hotel first and then discover Dunwoody, which is what I do now on the sales side of things, but in the perimeter market, and then had two kids and wanted a bigger house and said, we can’t afford this inside the perimeter area either. So we went all the way up to little Woodstock, which is not little anymore. I remember coming up here thinking, Oh, this is going to be quiet. There’s nobody up here. And the traffic’s just as crazy on 92. Moved in here about a year ago to Woodstock and then went out into Cartersville as the president and CEO of the tourism industry up there. And so we in charge of marketing the whole area up there, as well as the the excuse me, the Clarence Brown Conference Center, which is the conference center up there that we manage, and a little spot called Pine Acres Retreat and George Washington Carver Park that the county manages it and kind of owns it. But we bring in new groups and all that, and it’s a new facility that we’re trying to get off the ground and renovate and have some cool spots up there too. So it’s a lot, but it’s really fun. And I’m not looking back. I was just telling you, Brian, I was at the Braves game last night and it was an incredible game watching the Mets go down and have the Braves win. So it’s George is a really fun spot. And I’m really, really enjoying being here.
Brian Pruett: [00:03:39] Even though you’re a Patriots fan grew up.
Steven Schumacher: [00:03:41] Yeah. So patriots for football. So that does not endear me with the locals. We all remember 28 to 3. I do very well. I celebrate every March 28th, but also more the New York side for baseball. So the Yankees actually come here in August. I already bought all three games. Going to go, It’s going to be weird. I’ve only rocked, you know, a Braves hat and a shirt casually for every game since Truist open. So it’ll be weird wearing Yankees stuff for three days and going to enemy territory.
Brian Pruett: [00:04:05] Hopefully you don’t happen. So I’m a big Reds fan because I’m from Ohio. So the last time they came and I went and I had my red uniform on, somebody had one of those foam fingers and they kept hitting me on the head with the foam finger. And it could be worse. It could be worse, definitely. The tomahawk actually got me one time as well. So so it’s there’s like we said, there’s a lot going on. There’s a lot of great museums there. Sure. About some of the museums in the area.
Steven Schumacher: [00:04:29] Sure. We are home to we call ourselves Georgia’s Museum City. So people know the big three. There’s actually four of them. So there’s the Bartow History Museum, which is in I think it was the old courthouse, right over the big flyover bridge right downtown there. And right behind that is the Booth Western Art Museum. That was kind of the first founded museum of the three big ones, that is actually Smithsonian affiliated. Seth Hopkins is the executive director. They’re a great team. It’s 120,000ft², two floors, huge, huge museum. If you’re not into the West or even Art, you’d be surprised how interesting that museum is. Their tagline is See America’s Story. And it truly is, because history after revolution, after kind of war of 1812, everything shifted out west. And there’s so much US history out there. And then you move over to the Tellus Science Museum, which used to be a mineral and gem facility, very small, and it was grown into this this amazing museum. Most people know Cartersville for that museum because their kids have gone on a field trip there. They specialize in paleontology. Astronomy and geology are the three kind of main sciences there.
Steven Schumacher: [00:05:30] Beautiful spot, dinosaur bones. And then the newest museum, which opened up about a year and a half ago, only is the Savoy Automobile Museum stunning museum. What’s neat about this museum is they rotate cars in and out almost every. Month because there’s five exhibit halls. One of them is the main hall that has the kind of the main collection, but each of the four will rotate out different cars every time. So they just moved out. It was called Local Legends, I think it was, and locally owned, and it was all people in the areas. They’re cool cars, random vehicles from a Ford Bronco to a GT, all these neat cars. They just brought in a truck exhibit called Hall Hall of Fame. And so it’s all these trucks from the last 80 years. So what’s great about getting a membership there or visiting it is you can go there in January and then go back in June. And it’s a completely different car collection, which makes it a very unique car museum in the in the United States compared to the other museums that exist.
Brian Pruett: [00:06:25] The other cool thing, there’s two things I like about that museum, too, is they have a little theater in there. Oh yeah. You know, it can be rented out for some events and all that. But the other thing that I think is really cool is can you share the story about the car that’s in the parking lot? Yes.
Steven Schumacher: [00:06:38] So there’s a Savoy car that’s beat up and rusted and there’s a tree growing through the where the engine used to be and it’s out front and you’re like, Why is this here? This is supposed to be a high end museum, but you go and you find out that when they cleared all the land, I can’t remember how many acres is probably like 25 acres where they cleared out for this museum. And it sits on a huge footprint because and they just had a very successful their first car show called The Connection. 200 cars came in parked in the big grassy area there, and they’re having another one on November 11th. The connection, it’s called on a Saturday. But when they were clearing the land, this random car was just in the middle of the woods, no one else. And we all know old car city in Cartersville to kind of like that. But in this wooded area. And they looked at it and did some analysis and saw that it was a Plymouth Savoy and they said, we haven’t picked a name yet for this. Now, I’m sure if it was a Mercedes or a BMW, they wouldn’t call it the Mercedes Automobile Museum because you’d think it’s only Mercedes. But Savoy is a very unknown car and that’s how it got its namesake just like that. And they moved the car to be right on display in front to say, this is the namesake here, and you can actually see the car and touch it. The the one that was in the woods right there.
Brian Pruett: [00:07:40] Yeah. When I when I saw it, I first thought there might have been a partnership with the old car City Museum because that’s the kind of cars you see out there. But that’s really cool. I didn’t know about the name until you just said that, so that’s awesome. Did you know.
Steven Schumacher: [00:07:49] Of a Plymouth Savoy? I never. I did not. It was in the 60s or 70s when it came out. I never heard of it.
Brian Pruett: [00:07:54] Stone You ever heard of it before?
Stone Payton: [00:07:56] I have not heard of. Isn’t there like some fancy hotel named the Savoy?
Brian Pruett: [00:08:01] No. Well, just the museum is the only one I know of.
Steven Schumacher: [00:08:02] There is. Savoy is out there. It’s. I’ve Googled before and there’s other things that come up, but we’re trying to. We’re using our algorithms, push that to the top. So when you type in Savoy, it’s. There’s this car museum in Cartersville.
Stone Payton: [00:08:13] No, you’re doing a great job. And I just wrote it down on my notepad. I’m going.
Steven Schumacher: [00:08:16] Okay.
Brian Pruett: [00:08:16] Yeah. So I got a question because you and I have sat down and talked and had a great conversation and that’s when we decided we’re going to partner to do some things. And. And you were sharing you guys are technically a non profit but not your typical as a non profit as you would think these next two ladies that will talk to you later but can you share the difference of what.
Steven Schumacher: [00:08:33] Sure I almost feel like it’s a I don’t want to say fraudulent nonprofit because when you hear nonprofit, you think charitable and all of that. And we’re not doing any sort of charity, but we’re considered a 500 and 1C6, which our funding comes from the lodging tax. So if you’ve ever stayed at any hotel in the country and you’re like, Oh, I got a 119 rate, great, And then it’s like percentage, percentage, percentage. And there’s all these city fees, you know, lodging fees, and there’s like a tourism fee. We have a pretty standard fee, you know, not too high, not too low up in Cartersville, where a portion of that lodging tax comes to us and it gets funneled through the city and the county. So the hotels that are in Emerson, Adairsville, Cartersville and then unincorporated Bartow County, all those taxes come through us and we have a way to track it, to do budgets. And then the law states that we need to bring it in and then spend it on marketing and sales efforts to promote the destination. And that’s my job. So it’s it’s good. I mean, we have goals and metrics and things like that, but it’s nice to not be beholden to a corporation to say you have to do these certain things with marketing and sales goals, but we also listen to our partners. So in the museums or the hotels, people downtown Cartersville, the tours say, Hey, would you mind if we looked into doing this magazine spread for more? Sure. And so we’ll we throw money at it and help design it. And then that promotes the destination to get more visitors.
Brian Pruett: [00:09:47] Awesome. So we mentioned the old card city that’s technically in White, Georgia, which is part of Bartow County.
Steven Schumacher: [00:09:52] So there’s or as the locals say, whites.
Brian Pruett: [00:09:53] Yes, there you go. There you go. So there’s what? Bartow County is not that big, but there are, what, four, five cities Incorporated.
Steven Schumacher: [00:10:00] Yeah. And Euharlee as well. They don’t have a hotel. They are opening up a camping ground area that will have lodging tax to it, but we work with them and their team. Katie Gobi is their kind of community development person there and we work with them and the Euharlee covered bridge as well as far as tourist attractions go.
Brian Pruett: [00:10:15] So I was just thinking, you know, in these cities. So Emerson, you’ve got Lake Point. Oh yeah. All that big sports complex to go there, right? We just mentioned the old card city. You Harley’s got the cool covered bridge. What other areas? That’s not in downtown Cartersville. Can you maybe talk about the people that may not know can go and do see?
Steven Schumacher: [00:10:31] Well, the main one is up in the way. Northwest corner is a Barnsley resort, formerly known as Barnsley Garden. That history. I could talk for 20 minutes. You should even maybe have them in one day about how that evolved into what it is today. Long story short. Is at one point, I think in the 90s there was a Bavarian prince who was going to come over and he did. He bought the land, he was going to level everything and turn it into like a timber field and take all the trees down and sell it. And a local historian, forgive me, I can’t remember his name. He recently passed away. Unfortunately, he was older. He convinced him. He came up to him and said, You need to preserve this. There’s ruins here from the family that used to live here. And there are grounds and some just incredible. I think it’s on 3000 acres that you could preserve and turn this into something pretty cool. And now we have the inn, we have the cottages and rental homes there, the facilities for weddings. They have clay shooting a 18 bay clay shooting course, 18 hole golf course, horseback riding. And so Barnsley stands alone and they’re considered unincorporated. Bartow So they’re one of our biggest revenue drivers because, you know, these standard Marriotts and Spring Hills, they get solid rates in Cartersville. But you can imagine a five bedroom cottage up at Barnsley what that runs. So the tax on that comes into us. So we work with them very, very closely. They partner with Garden and Gun on a big event every fall promoting through that and it’s a huge draw for them in the fall season. So yeah, right now they’re really busy in the summer with families coming in and they’re sold out almost every night for the whole summer. Wow.
Brian Pruett: [00:11:56] Well, you talked about the Clarence Brown Center. That’s where you guys are based, right? Correct. Yep. What can you share about the Clarence Brown Center and everything that goes on there?
Steven Schumacher: [00:12:03] Yep. Named after the commissioner and the mid 2000, early 20 tens, Clarence Brown was their idea was to bring in a conference center for the community. I think it was kind of a ho hum. What a nice little spot for locals. But the team that was brought in there that I was able to inherit in my first nine months have been rock stars. Penny Davis is the general manager there and they went from proms, quinceaneras, parties, local community events to now they’re booking Georgia Power, Toyo Tire, Anheuser-Busch, a lot of the big corporations up there and even some coming in from northwest Atlanta that want to get out of the city, get out of all the crazy craziness and get out there. And we cannot keep up. It’s it’s in a good way. We’ve we’ve increased our rental prices because we see that we’re not just a little facility anymore. So it has a 14,000 square foot ballroom, big ceilings, 6 or 7 breakouts, board room, lots of parking. There’s a Courtyard Marriott that was built a couple years ago right there. We’re looking into maybe expanding and doing another hotel on property. So it’s growing very fast and it’s right across from Georgia Highlands College, which is a newer college. Everyone knows Georgia Highlands, but the newer campus there, and they have a new president, Mike Hobbs. So he and I have worked together a lot and with workforce development and our chamber to get people to apply for some of the new jobs that are coming in. And it’s a it’s a nice spot. It’s exit 290 off of 75, that Route 20 that connects over here to Woodstock. And it’s it’s it’s busy and it’s very fun.
Brian Pruett: [00:13:25] And you also have that pretty cool new kind of food truck beer garden just down from you guys as well. That’s right. A lot of stuff going on with that area.
Steven Schumacher: [00:13:31] Too, right off the exit there. They have the food truck and park. And that’s a busy, hot spot for everybody, which is nice because there’s a lot of chains right off the highway there with Waffle House. So to have a food truck that has local vendors there is a pretty cool thing.
Brian Pruett: [00:13:44] So are there opportunities for businesses, local businesses to be involved with the tourism? And if so, how can they do that? Sure.
Steven Schumacher: [00:13:52] So the chamber usually drives most of that, but we’re very well connected. And Cindy, who runs the chamber, is on our board. But really it’s about connecting with the Downtown Development Authority. Lily Reed runs the DDA down there and we’re very close. We come downtown all the time and work with the partners and we’re about to launch a new website at the end of the year. It’s a huge investment that we’re bringing in with a company that does a lot of we’re called dmoz destination marketing organizations. They do that. They use Brookhaven, I think uses them. It’s a bunch of other ones, Roswell. So a lot of the local areas do use this company. So we’re excited to launch that. And with that allows our partners easier access to post their own content and things through us on the website to help promote it. And then we’ll drive that traffic to them downtown. But we’re always downtown. I’m shopping and dining there constantly and some of them are very, very actively engaged. There’s a shop there called It’s About Time Boutique. Dan is the you know, Dan is the owner there. And he also opened the Tis the Season store as well, which is Christmas Eve. But they also put at the front every holiday. So right now they have a lot of patriotic stuff for the 4th of July coming up. So he’s very involved. And it’s nice to see a community that’s continuing to get more and more engaged as the buildings start to fill up. I’ve been told Cartersville ten years ago was nothing what it is today downtown. And it’s because of the DDA and the city and people investing in it. So it’s been I’m lucky I got to join as it’s been exploding. I wasn’t there for the down times, but I thank my predecessor, Ellen Archer, for setting me up for success. And now we’re, you know, speeding ahead.
Brian Pruett: [00:15:21] Well, and Lake Point’s been a heavy hitter for that as well. I’m bringing in a lot of some of the the big time sports. I know they’re there at Lake Point and their Saint Angelo’s. I’ve heard like Shaq’s been in there several times. Lebron, A-Rod, you know, it’s kind of cool. And of course, Bartow County is home to some of the big, big time players. Of course, Trevor Lawrence, Ronnie Brown. Let’s see. Robert Keith Anderson. There was a Falcon player too. Vic Beasley.
Steven Schumacher: [00:15:49] Yeah. Beasley That’s.
Brian Pruett: [00:15:49] Right.
Steven Schumacher: [00:15:50] He gives a street named after him. Yes. In the community. Yeah.
Brian Pruett: [00:15:52] He actually is trying to build something kind of like Lake Point from, I understand, Up in the air as well. So yeah keep it in.
Steven Schumacher: [00:15:57] Bartow fine.
Brian Pruett: [00:15:58] By me. Right.
Steven Schumacher: [00:16:00] Well, Lake Point too, we did some studies and they bought some data software and have found that last year they thought that the traffic was like 1.5 to 1.8 million inches 2022 based on their numbers. And they ran some some some data with this company called Placer. And, you know, it’s a good company. Sometimes they can not fabricate. But there’s a way to the numbers can be kind of suspect. So you do a big range. But even the range on the bottom end was way more than that. You’re talking 2.4 to 2.7 million visitors came through Lake Point, which we think about Emerson, Georgia and Bartow County, that many people and knowing that those numbers are quite true based on their ticket traffic on the low end at 2.4 million, that is unbelievable economic impact to the hotels that are there, which is why they’re about to they already broke ground and are building a Westin. You’ve probably seen it across the street. It’s called the Westin Elements. So it’s a limited service hotel, but it’s going to have a rooftop bar, kind of like a Miami vibe to it. Really cool there. And so there’s a lot of growth and development there now that the Rimrock team that now manages Lake Point and Mark O’Bryant, who is on our board, he’s their president and CEO, is really started to control and manage that property very successfully. And the Harlem Globetrotters tip off there. They do their training in the fall and then tip in December with a game and then tour the country. So it’s on the map now and people know about it. And with the PBR baseball and the Rise basketball league they have is just it’s nonstop busy there. It’s incredible.
Brian Pruett: [00:17:25] And you got the wakeboard and the beach volleyball, all kinds of tournaments.
Steven Schumacher: [00:17:28] Wake Park that opened this summer. And they have you can go casually wakeboarding. They have tournaments. We helped close the Amateur national championships there in October in 23 and 25. So that’ll be really neat. That brings about 800 room nights to the community. That’s a new event and so we’ll be working with them on that. And then they have the big inflatable that you can have your kids go on or you, I want to do it and you just climb up top and slide down and jump in the water. And, you know, it’s a fun time out there.
Brian Pruett: [00:17:53] Awesome. Robert Lopez, who was trying to think of he also played at Cartersville High School. There’s been others, but another one, Cletus T Judd, if you’re familiar with him, he’s he’s from that area as well. So just a lot of a lot of cool history from from the Bartow County area. So other than the reason of being your job. Sure. Why is it important for you to be part of the community?
Steven Schumacher: [00:18:12] They are. I’ve learned that Bartow is very proud of who they are, where they come from and where they’re going. Commissioner Taylor and Pete Olson, the at the county level really have truly invested in it. And I know a lot of people say, oh, there’s too many buildings, too many, what do they call it? Like the big warehouses being built. But they’re moving. People are moving in. They’re not really sitting empty. People want to come up here, invest in the community. I think they’ve they’ve kind of leveled off on the build out there. But the investment that the county has brought in and then the city of Cartersville has and then the other smaller communities around like Emerson and Adairsville, have really shown investment. And now we got to start building some houses because I think people are going to want to move to this community and be a part of it. One of the big sticking points with some of the people I talked to is like, Oh, you don’t live in Bartow. I’m like, No, I don’t even say Woodstock. I say, I’m just next door in Cherokee County because I live in East Woodstock, which is a little further.
Steven Schumacher: [00:19:02] But I just, you know, I’m being present, being there, shopping, dining, you know, repping the shirts. I have a yellow shirt on right now. And when I fall in love with something or really go at something like Die Hard with your sports teams, I went all in. And so that’s they call me the logo guy because I’m always wearing our logo stuff everywhere and just proud to be a part of it. You know, Farmers Market started every Saturday morning and Regina’s out there who runs that, and I make sure to go at least every three weeks. And even though it’s a 35 minute drive on a Saturday and I drive by the Woodstock Farmers Market, I’m going to Cartersville. And I think it’s you know, I love my Woodstock team, but I think ours is a little better. But come on out to Cartersville and check or maybe, you know, what do both do to ours in Cartersville? To ours in Woodstock. I love Kyle and the tourism team here in Woodstock, too. But yeah, being present and being part of the community is super important to the people and the connections that they all have.
Brian Pruett: [00:19:50] So you’ve shared a little bit of some things coming up, but what can you share some events or other opportunities you have coming up that people can go check out?
Steven Schumacher: [00:19:57] Sure. One thing I would keep your eye on is if you’ve ever heard of glamping, which I know a lot of people have, which is luxury camping. We are investing. Can’t announce it yet, but we’re really looking into a potential glamping site at Pine Acres Retreat, where we are at up there with a private company that might be investing up there. So that’ll bring a new element up to Pine Acres, which will be a neat way to do that. Winding waters is the the the campsite that’s coming in. It’s luxury camping or luxury RV camping kind of thing, right on the Etowah River, right before you come into the city center off of 41. And that’s supposed to open this fall. So they’re going to have, I think, 50 pull up RV sites with plug ins, but then ten cabins and some glamping sites with a community pool and slides and it’s right on the river. So that’s opening up this fall. And then just keep keep going with the. Farmers market in the summer. There’s a lot of local events and the way I skate around that, Brian, is I say you can go to visit Cartersville, ga.org and click on our website and check it out. And about six months from now that website will change. Same address to visit and everything. But we’re excited to have a lot of events going on in the community this summer. Awesome.
Brian Pruett: [00:21:01] I was getting ready to ask you to share that, so thanks for sharing the website. So I learned something a couple of weeks ago that just kind of blows my mind because Bartow County is not that big.
Steven Schumacher: [00:21:08] You know, I mean, like people wise or size wise?
Brian Pruett: [00:21:11] Both, yeah.
Steven Schumacher: [00:21:12] Compared to like Fulton and DeKalb.
Brian Pruett: [00:21:13] Oh, yeah, even Cherokee Cobb. And I’m assuming this includes churches as well. But I learned two weeks ago there are 400 nonprofits in that county.
Steven Schumacher: [00:21:22] Really.
Brian Pruett: [00:21:24] Alone.
Steven Schumacher: [00:21:25] It doesn’t surprise me with how people invest in the community. And you talk to the Drowned Valley guys and how much money they give back to to the community. And almost every single person has an initiative, which is why when I started there, I drew in our budget a line item for local events and sponsorships, which is how I was able to work with you to put some funding into that when it makes sense and when it helps give back and also can promote tourism. You have a trivia night. You have people sing at Lakepoint, Hey everybody, let’s sell out and get everybody. And you’ve sold out almost every one, right?
Brian Pruett: [00:21:52] So far? Yeah, we’re averaging about 60 to 70 people. That’s incredible. Yeah. And the nice thing about that part is too, is you’re helping a different nonprofit every month. Yes, that’s right. So it’s not just somebody else getting love you, too. You guys will be on next year’s list, so don’t worry. You’re getting there. Um, so. Well, since I know you have to leave early, so I appreciate you coming this morning. Thank you. Of course, I normally ask this question at the end for all three of you, but I’ll go ahead and ask you while you’re here. Thank you. Share something positive. That’s a nugget or a quote or something for people that are listening to Live today and beyond with.
Steven Schumacher: [00:22:25] Wow, you should have sent that to me earlier. I could have really sat and say the question again. I’ll meditate on it.
Brian Pruett: [00:22:32] So just share either a quote, a positive nugget, a word, something that’s positive that people can take today and live the rest of 2023 and beyond with.
Steven Schumacher: [00:22:41] I don’t know that I can attribute it to anybody, but for me, it’s and it’s lately it’s been with my kids and it’s live in the moment you see you go down the Instagram rabbit hole of reels and people will post those sentimental videos with those classic, you know, the to infinity and beyond and that piano plays. And I’ve even made a real with my kid about that kids about that and so many times you say you know not not letting time slip away and I started to make these decisions personally where you look at your kids doing something. I remember I was cleaning upstairs and I heard them running around to a song that they like. And it was before bath time, and I could have kept cleaning, but at some point that running around is going to turn into homework, which is going to turn into high school, which turns into college. Now I’m old and you’ll never get that back again until you have grandkids. And I made that decision to put it down, go downstairs and start playing for ten more minutes. And it wasn’t anything other than knowing that that’s a moment in time you’re not going to get back. So living for the moment with the things that mean a lot to you, I would say, is something that I would take away.
Brian Pruett: [00:23:40] Awesome. So that gives you guys some think about it because at the end of the show, we’ll be asking you to.
Steven Schumacher: [00:23:44] Frantically.
Brian Pruett: [00:23:44] Googling. Yes. Yes. So, Steven, again, I appreciate you. And I always talk about the lost art of thank you’s these days. So thank you again for coming and supporting and being a part of the trivia nights, helping a lot of people. And then I appreciate you taking your time to come out this morning. I know you’ve got to leave and take care of some business. So again, just thanks for coming. Yeah.
Steven Schumacher: [00:24:02] And I don’t know if this is okay for you. I encourage anyone who maybe wants to be on the show to reach out to Brian. This studio is really cool and this building is neat. I was just telling him earlier, I drive, I’ve driven by this building the last two weeks to drop my daughter at a gymnastics camp right around the corner and didn’t know it was here. It’s a cool co-working space. The studio is really neat and you’re doing great things and I say, keep it up because there’s very few people out there like you, so we appreciate that.
Brian Pruett: [00:24:25] Well, before you take off, one more thing, just share, share again the website so people.
Steven Schumacher: [00:24:29] Can go visit Cartersville, GA. Org And we’re on Instagram and Facebook. We put a lot out on there as well and we’re continuing to grow and we we love that. Everyone supports what we’re doing and appreciate it.
Brian Pruett: [00:24:39] Awesome. Steven, thank you very much. Thank you. Enjoy the rest of your day and have a good meeting. All right. We are now moving over to Miss Tabitha Baynard, Right. That’s how you say your last name.
Tabitha Baynard: [00:24:48] Yes.
Brian Pruett: [00:24:48] Awesome. I got it right. Stone, you are with Georgia Diversified. And if you don’t mind, just share a little bit of your story and then we’ll talk about Georgia Diversified.
Tabitha Baynard: [00:24:59] Well, I have been there since 2014. I was thought that I was being hired on as just some weekend help when they needed somebody extra to help and didn’t know I was applying for a supervisor position. At the time, I was working for the school system, driving a school bus and working for my father. But once I got hired on, I felt like I was at home. And to be able to do a job that you love. And feel like you belong there means a lot. The people that are clients that work there, they mean they’re not just my employees or clients. They’re they’re my family. Because I spend more time with them than I do my own family. So it’s it’s rewarding.
Brian Pruett: [00:25:57] So we’ll get to what you guys do in just a second. But are you originally from the Bartow County area?
Tabitha Baynard: [00:26:02] I’m originally from Acworth. I moved to Ohio when I was in the sixth grade. I come back down here in 1996 and worked for my dad for about 16 years and worked for the school system for eight. And then I’ve been here for almost ten.
Brian Pruett: [00:26:22] What part of Ohio did you go to?
Tabitha Baynard: [00:26:24] Waverly and Portsmouth. Okay.
Brian Pruett: [00:26:26] I’m from the Dayton area. Okay, so go Bucks, go Bengals, go Reds. Just got to get that in there. Um, all right. So Georgia Diversified actually didn’t used to be called that, correct?
Tabitha Baynard: [00:26:37] It started out being called Georgia Diversified. And then for some reason, I don’t know why they changed it to the Good Shepherd Foundation. Okay. And then when the last executive director come on, he decided he wanted to change it back to its original name and to be able to bring different things in there to be diversified.
Brian Pruett: [00:26:58] Okay. So share about what you guys do. What’s your mission and what you do?
Tabitha Baynard: [00:27:02] Um, we are a sheltered workshop for special needs adults. They come and we have different contracts with different companies. We have contracts with America, which is a sponge company, Coats and Clark, which is a thread company sulky of America, which is another thread company, left all. And our newest one is called their name is Concilium, which is in White, Georgia. They are a. They build BMW bumpers.
Brian Pruett: [00:27:39] Oh, wow.
Tabitha Baynard: [00:27:40] So and we just do packing for them. All the different companies that we work for, we just package. We don’t produce nothing. We just package their product.
Brian Pruett: [00:27:51] So do you guys work with individuals just in Bartow County? As far as your your folks or can be from anywhere? It can be from anywhere.
Tabitha Baynard: [00:28:00] Okay. We’ve had I know we had one that used to live in Kennesaw and his brother would bring him up here twice a week. Three times a week.
Brian Pruett: [00:28:09] So. So is it a typical can you share about maybe what a typical day for for them might look like?
Tabitha Baynard: [00:28:15] They would come in. We they work from 8 to 3. They come in. They work. They. I don’t know. I’m sorry. My mind went blank. That’s all right. The one thing I can say about them is. They want to be there to work because it gives them purpose. They feel like they’re there A. That they have meaning. Because without us, they couldn’t go out into the community and get a job at a regular place and feel comfortable. Um, they’re. Everybody’s on the same. Playing field and nobody judges nobody. And and they all, for the most part, get along. You know, they come in and they work and they work hard. The one thing that. That they they get paid piece rate. So depending on their skill set, their work ethic, their their abilities depends on how much they’re going to make. That’s our our. Biggest downfall. Maybe because some people look at us as a sweat shop and it’s not that we’re a sweat shop. We’re far from it. Most of the people that work there get a Social Security check or a disability check, and so they’re only allowed to make up to a certain amount of money. We are trying. Well, we’re in the process of at least making it minimum wage because the federal government is trying to shut places like us down. But they they enjoy working there. They want to be there. I worked in several different places in my life. And, you know, most people don’t enjoy going to work. I enjoy going to work. I feel like I belong there. I feel like I have a purpose there. And they feel the same way.
Brian Pruett: [00:30:27] Is there I’m sure there you have a lot of stories that you could share, but is there one particular story of of an individual maybe that you could share? That’s you know, I mean, like I said, everybody’s probably got a cool story, but is there one you can share one of your one of your guests or clients?
Tabitha Baynard: [00:30:44] There’s one. He is. When I first started working there. He used to bring a list to work of people that he was going to make mad that day. Just to get underneath their skin. He was going to make them mad. And to get in trouble. But he has come a long way. He’s probably one of my favorites now. But they all have. They all have their own story. Yes. But he this particular client, he he’s had a rough life. He is a product of fetal alcohol syndrome. And to see what that does to somebody and how how they have have to live, it is very sad. We’ve had several in there like that. We have we’ve had people that have Down syndrome, some have, some have mental issues, some have. It just depends as long as it’s a disability that is documented by a doctor, then then they are capable of getting a job there. We have one guy that he had a brain injury and. He’s like a robot. Once you get him started on something, he cannot do what I can do. And that’s a lot. So they all they all they all have their stories and and they all mean the world to me.
Brian Pruett: [00:32:19] Well, I think it’s awesome. There’s a place like for you that exists like you guys, because you’re right. I mean, there are people. They need to feel like they’re important and they matter. When I sat down with Butch Emerson, who was your former executive director, he shared with me one of the biggest things is people. You guys have been around for how long?
Tabitha Baynard: [00:32:38] Since the late 70s. Early 80s. All right.
Brian Pruett: [00:32:41] So he was telling me that still a lot of people don’t even know you guys still exist. Correct. So other than getting the word out there and getting people known about you guys, what other needs does Georgia Diversified have?
Tabitha Baynard: [00:32:55] What needs do we have? We’re always looking for volunteers. If you want to volunteer your time to come and help, you’re more than welcome to. And we get a good many volunteers. We also service the people that have community service. They come there and do do their community service. The mental health court system that has just recently taken off. We get all their community service people that I guess all of them have to do community service sometime or another, and they come to us for their community service.
Brian Pruett: [00:33:33] So are there other than the volunteering, is there a way for businesses or other people way to get involved to help you guys.
Tabitha Baynard: [00:33:40] If they want to donate? They could go on our website, which is Georgia diversified industries dot net and and donate.
Brian Pruett: [00:33:50] Okay, so other than the reason of enjoying your work and feeling like your family there, what why is it important for you to be part of the community?
Tabitha Baynard: [00:33:57] Um, just to get us out there. Just. So everybody does know who we are and that we are here to help people that have special needs feel welcome and feel like they have a purpose in life.
Brian Pruett: [00:34:15] Do you guys have any upcoming events or anything that you can share?
Tabitha Baynard: [00:34:18] We always have A5K in January. We are planning on doing another fundraiser this fall. I think they’re going to they’re talking about doing a skeet shoot, I think is what it is. But they’re working on different fundraisers.
Brian Pruett: [00:34:36] Okay. Well, and as I was telling, I was talking with Butch and I just shared with you on my monthly trivia. I am switching up different nonprofits next year. So you guys are already on the list for next year. And I’ll get with you when when your month is coming up for that. So don’t go anywhere. We’re not done. But I appreciate you coming and sharing your story. We’re going to move over now to Ms. Rebecca Reeves. Rebecca, thanks for being here this morning.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:34:55] Thanks for having me.
Brian Pruett: [00:34:56] So you’re with the Cartersville Outreach Women’s Outreach Center, correct? Yes. And it’s fairly new.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:35:03] Yes. Well, we are not open just yet.
Brian Pruett: [00:35:05] Yeah. So okay. So it’s still very new.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:35:07] Very, very new.
Brian Pruett: [00:35:09] But you have a tremendous story. I mean, I’ve just heard from people who’s heard your story. Um, do you mind sharing your story? Not at.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:35:17] All. So I just a little bit about me. I was in addiction for a very long time. I was a young mom. I don’t ever see myself that way anymore. But because I’ve been completely restored and all that has been let go of. But now I was I was in addiction bad, you know, it was either death or life for me. And I had to make a decision. It was either, you know, dying suicide or going to get help. And just one day out of the blue, I called my pastor, Pastor David, at Cartersville Outreach Ministries, and he came and got me and took me to his mom’s house and they took me out to rehab or I don’t even like to call it rehab. It’s a it was a discipleship program. So the Lord kind of got me, you know, he was like, ha ha ha, you know, I’m going to get you out here. I’m going to teach you about me. And so I was just lost, man. I was lost. Absolutely lost. It was, you know, he they they just took me under their wing until they then they found a place out in north Northport, Alabama, called Genesis Mission Bible Training Center because there was nothing around Bartow County.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:36:16] There was 30 day rehabs. There’s detox programs. There’s all these, which are great. But that’s not what would have saved my life. I didn’t it didn’t take me 30 days to get to become an addict. You know, it took me 13 years, so I needed something different. I needed something away from what I knew. I mean, I had to leave my son and not even tell him bye. Because if I did tell him bye, I wouldn’t have left. You know, I have a wonderful family that has never given up on me. So, you know, addiction is no respecter of person. I didn’t grow up in an abusive home. I didn’t grow up in a mean alcoholic dad, drug addict, mom, dad. I didn’t grow up in that. I grew up in a church family. And so I went off this wrong path and the devil just kind of kept leading me down that way and took a hold of me about killed me. So drugs are no respecter of person. It doesn’t matter who you are.
Brian Pruett: [00:37:04] You know, an addiction can be of anything. So it doesn’t matter if even it’s not drugs or it can be alcohol and pornography, whatever, cigarets or anything. But yeah, I just think it’s amazing that I know we had Kevin Harris on a few weeks ago and Kevin Harris is you guys are working with women. Kevin is trying to do what you guys are doing and building something for men. So I think it’s awesome that, you know, we also have the arena there and other places in that county that are trying to work because I’ve got a friend who, when I was growing up, he’s a year behind me, but he he had a problem with with alcohol and he really kind of missed his girls growing up because of his DUIs and things of that nature. And so I know he was in and out of rehab and Kevin shared about his story. And I do think that, you know, you see these advertisements for rehab and TV and it’s all about these glamorous places. And that’s not what it should be. I mean, yeah, it should be comfortable for for people to go, but it should be about the person, not about the money and all that. So share a little bit about you guys and what’s your mission is and what you’re hoping to do.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:38:07] Okay, So we are Cartersville Outreach Women’s Center. I do want to start off that that we we don’t charge the girls to come in at all. You know, we’re going to start with the girls center. And then I think this is I know this is going to be the first of many, you know, I mean, they’re popping up out at, you know, so many people are on the same mission to to get these centers open. But we won’t charge the girls they need to. If if I had to pay money to get sober, I would have never been sober. I would have never been able to do it because I was in debt. Like I think 4000, $5,000 and you know what I mean? I didn’t drug or any kind of addicts didn’t have money. I just didn’t have money. So they can come in and solely focus on their recovery, you know, not worry about having to pay to get in. You know, they come in and they just, you know, they breathe really, you know, they. So our mission is to get these women to be able to live a sober life in society and have a conversation. Again, like when I was in addiction, I it was my drug or my addiction and myself, and that was it. I didn’t care what was around me. So, I mean, everything stopped. Like I didn’t really I needed I had to be taught how to pay bills again. I had to be taught how to cook again. I had to be taught how to be a mom again.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:39:18] I had to be taught all these things because my brain stopped when I started doing that, you know? And a lot of these girls, they don’t know how to do it for some of them haven’t even been taught. Some have been taught and lost it. You know, we had to bring it back, you know, and how to be a mom, you know, and just live. A sober life because it’s very hard when you are used to something every single day. Like it’s hard to get into a hole. Know, it’s hard to it’s hard to do something different because that’s what you’re so used to. So we have to train their minds, renew their minds to be able to do that. So we’re going to teach them life skills, cooking skills, gardening skills. Just, you know, have the UGA extension is going to actually partnered with us and they’re going to do classes, you know, cooking classes, gardening classes, you know, financial classes and stuff like that. So we have so many people on board already be like, All right, you know, I support you 100%. You know, so and also restoration and families. You know, I know when I was in mine, my mom, she’s like she never gave up on me, but she did not know what to do. And she didn’t understand that because she’s never been through that. So a lot of people that haven’t been through that, they, you know, they’re like, I just don’t understand. Why can’t you just do it? Why can’t I don’t know, Mom. I don’t know. You know? But she never stopped praying.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:40:28] She said one time, really, like, just stuck in my mind. She was like, I had a dream about you. About being in the obituary, like, you know, And I was like, Oh, wow. Oh, wow, Something’s wrong, you know? So that’s when I really started. I mean, it was hard. It took me about a year really to truly say, okay, I’m done, you know? But it got close to death for me to even decide that. And that’s sad. It is. But it’s real. You know, there’s a lot of people aren’t making it now with the new stuff coming out and just, you know, so. Um, so yeah, so it’s, it’s, you know, the restoration of families like my mom and yeah, I was gone for 18 months, but the, my family was at peace. My son was at peace. I have the best relationship with him now, you know, like every my brother and everybody was okay now because I was safe in a transitional center that they knew I wasn’t on drugs. They knew I wasn’t on the streets. They knew I wasn’t going to commit suicide. They knew all of these things so that the peace that they had gave me peace, you know, it was just it’s just a beautiful thing. It is a beautiful thing. So our mission is is to, you know, to help restore families and and build bridges that have been burned and to to, you know, to live a sober life. And, you know, and it’s like I and put Jesus first. And you know.
Brian Pruett: [00:41:41] So if somebody you guys aren’t you said you’re not open yet and you’re going to have a facility but if somebody is struggling with right now, are there ways for you guys to help? Can they reach out for you now?
Rebecca Reeves: [00:41:51] Absolutely. Like my number, the phone number is all over the Facebook page as Cartersville Outreach Women’s Center. You can go on there and it tells you all about us. And my phone number is on there. The business phone is on there. I have people that call just for prayer sometimes, you know, that are crying, don’t know what to do, call in the middle of the night, you know, And just because they don’t know what to do and they and they feel drawn because like they’re struggling the same thing that this center is going to open and accept in. Right. And they just feel drawn to do that. You know, I’ll pray with anybody. It doesn’t matter. I mean, if you’re if you’re struggling or, you know, going to go ahead and fill out an application to get started. If you’re, you know, a lot of families, anybody that you come in contact with knows somebody that’s struggling with addiction, whether it be your sister, your cousin, your brother, your aunt, you know, it doesn’t matter. Anybody that you and a lot of people are ashamed because they feel alone. They feel like, how did I let my life get like this? But you got to understand it. You know, you got to focus on you. You know, if you need help, you need help. And don’t be ashamed of that because you’re misery. The Lord has has put my misery and he’s turned it into my ministry. Awesome. That amazing. Yeah, it’s awesome. So, yeah.
Brian Pruett: [00:42:59] Is there opportunities for businesses, individuals to get involved with you guys and if so, how can they do that?
Rebecca Reeves: [00:43:04] Yeah, absolutely. So, um. I mean, I don’t know if you want to jump on board. Jump on board. You know what I mean? Like, I mean, anybody can be involved. You can call us and we can see how you can be involved. You know what I mean? Donations, Of course, every single business needs money to run, right? You know, So if you want to come out and do a project day with your business, you know, to when we get the place, you know, come do a yard day or come, come, do you know, make bracelets or cross necklaces, you know something? Just go love on these women because that’s all they need. You know, they need love and they need to let them they need to know that they are not alone. And they need to know that they they are worth something, that they are a person, too, you know, because all these lies and lies and lies, you get told over and over and over again throughout your your whole your time of of addiction. Right. It that’s who you become because that’s who you believe because you hear it so many times, you know. So they don’t feel like that they can be loved or you know what I mean? So anything that you can think of, whatever the Lord puts on your heart, you know, to to be able to come give and give back to community and just be a partner with us because and just and watch watch us watch the success rate, you know, and tell people about us, you know, I mean, however you want to be involved, we will accept, you know, you choose.
Brian Pruett: [00:44:25] Right? So you shared the Facebook page. And if people are, you know, you guys are getting close to being open so people can how can people follow you other than the Facebook page, share your website, share the business phone number so people can follow you and know when you guys open. Yeah.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:44:39] So Facebook, you can always call me, you can get involved and we are having like. Well, I will I will always put it on Facebook. You know, I’ll put everything on Facebook on the website. And, you know, I mean, come because I see the ribbon cutting, you know what I mean? I see the ribbons falling. I see the scissors in hands and I see the celebration. You know, I see it. I have the vision, you know, and we have the faith. So, I mean, I don’t know.
Brian Pruett: [00:45:07] Share the website, please.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:45:08] Share the website. Yes, sir. It’s Cartersville Outreach Women’s center.org.
Brian Pruett: [00:45:17] Awesome. Can you share the business number? Yes.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:45:19] The business number is (770) 878-7601.
Brian Pruett: [00:45:24] Awesome. And I noticed on Facebook you guys are doing a couple of fundraisers now. You got a raffle going on. You got something else coming up. Share about those.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:45:30] Okay. So we did we just did the I want to tell you about the yard sale that we just did. We got entered in the Dixie Highway yard sale. I didn’t even know that thing existed. But it’s amazing. Like there’s so many people out there. I think that’s what, like a 90 mile yard sale or something like that. I don’t know. Anyway, so creative tag. We were out there right in in the front, so we had an amazing spot. And then, you know, somebody didn’t show up beside us. So, you know, so we got to use their spot because we asked for donations and people I mean, you know, the people that want to be involved with something like this, like I had so many donations just start flooding. Flooding. I mean, we had so much we were just blessed with so much and we didn’t have to pay a dime. So that’s how people helped just all over the community. It didn’t have to be with an organization, didn’t have to be with a business. They just, you know, cleaned out their closet and said, Here you go. You know, that was a blessing for sure. So we raised about $1,500 in two days, so that was great. So right now we’re doing a raffle, a raffle drawing. So first prize is going to be a six day five. I think it’s five day stay at Big Canoe Resort. It’s a gated community in Jasper and it’s paid for. Everything’s paid for. You just go and enjoy a week of your choice. So if you win, when you win, you will. We’ll give you the contact information. You all can get a date set in stone.
Brian Pruett: [00:46:42] That’s yours right there. Right Your.
Stone Payton: [00:46:44] Alley. I’m on it, baby.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:46:47] So the second night is the for Rome Braves tickets and a parking pass. And then the third one is the Savoy Automobile Museum. They’ve given us four general admission tickets, so that’s amazing. So that’s how people have have, you know, helped us as well and been a part of this, been a part of the center as well. They’ve given their given their their time and how much your.
Brian Pruett: [00:47:09] Tickets.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:47:10] $60 a piece for civil waste or it’s a $60 value for the for. I’m not going to math.
Brian Pruett: [00:47:21] Do you have some? I also there was another event. Was there a second event come other than the art thing you just did, was there something else that was coming up?
Rebecca Reeves: [00:47:27] Oh, yes. To donate with Texas Roadhouse on June 12th, wear purple, wear the color purple if you want to. I mean, you don’t have to. It’d just be really cool. You know, like everybody wear the color purple because our colors purple. But it’s with Texas Roadhouse, I think it’s from 4 to 6.
Brian Pruett: [00:47:47] And they’re they’re donating a percentage back every sale back to you guys. So there’s food and alcohol right there. Another thing for you to stone and purple. That’s right. And who doesn’t like purple, Right.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:47:56] So the ladies, it’d be me and the director, Deanna. I’m the facility office manager. And then we have two in house moms because these girls, you know, they need some attendance 24 over seven, which is fine structure. And that’s another thing. It’s a very structured facility, you know, So we have two in house moms, and then we’re going to have a meal meal provider, a meal planner that plans the meals because that’s going to, you know, be very much needed as well. But anyways, we’re going to be seating y’all so you can come see the faces of Cartersville Outreach Women’s Center. There you go.
Brian Pruett: [00:48:28] Yes. All right. So if somebody’s listening and either know, like you said, somebody always knows somebody’s going through an addiction. But if they either themselves or knowing somebody going through addiction, can you just maybe give them a little bit of advice? Yeah. You know, other than try to reach out to you guys, I’m sure that’s a big step. But give some advice to somebody that might be listening.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:48:49] So the best advice I can give you, because I’ve experienced this, I went through it. It was the the hardest part was taking that step. The hardest part was taking that step. I felt alone. I felt ashamed. All those things come upon you. But it is the best decision that you will ever make in your whole entire life. I used to wake up miserable, not wanting to live. Now I wake up with joy and peace and extremely excited to live every single day. And I’m grateful and I’m thankful. You got to take that step, you know, And, you know, just and and parents that are struggling with children encourage them, encourage them, encourage them, encourage them, you know, and pray for them. I mean, really, because you can’t change anybody. You’ve got to want to change yourself. And I went like I cried out to the Lord and, you know, okay, you know, when you go to the restaurants, okay, and you have the animals and the big claw thing, you pay a dollar to get it and you might get one. You might not, right? You know what I’m talking about. Okay. So anyway, many.
Brian Pruett: [00:49:45] Of quarters in those.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:49:46] Me too. So like we a lot of people, I’m sure this is going to relate to a lot of people. Okay. So you’re stuck. Like you’re stuck. You’re like, you know, there’s something better in life. You know, it’s out there, but how do I get there? And then you’re like, oh, I’ll just I’ll just continue to do what I’m doing, you know, whatever. Anyways, so God’s the claw and he you cry out to the Lord and he’ll pick you up in a snatch, right? And he’ll set you all the way in Northport, Alabama, or all the way in Cartersville Outreach Women’s Center and sit you down for a little while and let you relearn life. You know, don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid. Fear will stop your destination. Fear will completely stop you. It almost did me, you know. But I mean. So don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid. There is people out there just like you, struggling with these same exact addiction thing. Mental depression, anxiety. All of it doesn’t even have to be drugs. It’s anything, anything that you’re addicted to or anything that’s keeping you in misery or anything that’s keeping you bound. Anything. You know, you’re not alone. There’s people out there doing the same exact thing you are. And so, you know, reach out, reach out. Don’t be afraid to reach out, you know? And we understand how bad that step is, how like, anxious that step is. And oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. So we are you know, we’re outreach. We’re Cartersville Outreach Women’s Center. So we know how hard that is to take that step of faith. So we reach out to you. You know, don’t be afraid to send me a text message. You know what I mean? That’s all. Hey, you know, so you know what I mean. It doesn’t have to be anything. Hey, I’m struggling with addiction. I’m doing this. I’m doing this. I’m a hey, you know, take that step of faith. No, don’t be scared. Fear will stop you. Well, it’s.
Brian Pruett: [00:51:21] Almost like too it sounds like you, you know, like God and Jesus, they meet you where you are. Absolutely. You do the same thing with the women, which I think is awesome. Yes. I don’t. I’m coming back to you, Tabitha, I wanted to ask you another question. If somebody’s listening and either has somebody they know of with the special needs and stuff like that, can you give some advice to them of what they might be able to to do that they may not know of, of where to go, where to turn, what to do?
Tabitha Baynard: [00:51:45] Um, they can.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:51:47] Call.
Tabitha Baynard: [00:51:48] Us. We’re not the only facility like this in Bartow County. There’s another one. Um, but just. Come. Come see what we do. I mean, if they just want a tour and the facilities just to see if they would like it, if they would fit in, they’re more than welcome to. Okay.
Brian Pruett: [00:52:10] All right. So, Rebecca, I’m coming back to you for a second. So other than the reason of wanting to help those in addiction, why is it important for you to be part of the community? Because since I’ve seen you at the after hours of the of the chamber, now I see you everywhere. Yeah.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:52:24] Which is.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:52:25] Cool. And I love it. The Cartersville, the Cartersville Business Club on Wednesday mornings is it’s so positive. Like I just I love, I get up in the morning, like, excited to go and I’m like, yeah, you know, you see a lot of cool faces, a lot of different companies. And you know, they talk about just being part of the community, like they really, truly get down to the okay, so what stopped you from I think this was last week, what stopped you from starting your business sooner? You know, a lot of people was like, you know, fear of failure, right? I mean, everybody’s scared to fail, but people get down to the real nitty gritty, like, well, I mean, if you fail, then you lose everything. You start back over. You know what I mean? Like, it is what it is. You tried. So being out with the community, it’s just it’s amazing because I know in the community, deep, deep down in every single person, they’re hurting somebody. You know, somebody is hurting and and you might. So if this is available and hurting for somebody, hurting for themselves, hurting for their friend, their sister, their mother, and if this is available, they can be like, man, that’s going to touch their heartstring. It really is because, oh, my gosh, that’s where my daughter can go. She’s about, you know, dying on this, on this. And, you know, I need her to go here, you know, So and it just touches people in the community because it’s a lot. It’s everywhere, especially in Bartow County. They need it in every county in the world. But, you know, Bartow County is where it start. You know, God’s doing a big move in Bartow County. And I just feel it. And it’s a it’s amazing. But yeah, the community because I know deep down, even if they don’t want to speak about it, I know some somebody out there needs it, you know, more than just one too.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:53:56] Yeah.
Brian Pruett: [00:53:56] So you mentioned the Cardinal Business Club. I got to get Tabitha out there because it’s awesome.
Tabitha Baynard: [00:54:00] It’s fun. When I talked to Butch this morning, he was telling me that I needed to start going. He was telling me I needed to start going to that. Yes.
Brian Pruett: [00:54:08] Yeah. So it’s awesome. So I helped start that, just so you guys know. So it’s not about me.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:54:13] That’s why he sits in the big King chair.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:54:17] You know, It’s pretty awesome.
Brian Pruett: [00:54:18] We got a great you know, the cool thing, too, is it’s not just people from Bartow County. There are several people who come to that who aren’t from Bartow County, right? Yeah. Which is Doc, Woodstock, Acworth, Kennesaw, Rome. Yeah. You know, we got some people from Dalton used to come down, so it’s just pretty cool. All right. So as we get ready to wrap this up, I’m going to ask you the same thing I asked Stephen. Share one thing, one positive either word or quote nugget, something for people to listen to and live today and beyond with. So, Tabitha, I’m going to let you start. You had you had since Stephen left to think about it.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:54:54] So, um.
Tabitha Baynard: [00:54:55] I tell the guys all the time that it’s it’s this it’s the will, not the skill that you need to focus on.
Brian Pruett: [00:55:05] Awesome. All right, Rebecca, what you got?
Rebecca Reeves: [00:55:07] So when he said this, I was like, I’m not going to Google. I’m just going to what? The first thing that popped to my head, you know? So Lord needs everybody here is you’re not alone. You’re not alone. Don’t feel like that you are alone. And then the scripture that I’m going to say is. John 836 It says, So if the son sets you free, you are truly free. You know it’s time to be free. There’s a there. He has got a plan and a purpose for every single person on this earth. Let his plan prevail in your life, aren’t you? I was so tired of running for the devil. You know, living in misery. Let him turn your misery into your ministry.
Brian Pruett: [00:55:42] Which is awesome, because I’ve done the same thing. I’ve tried to make my own plan. And boy, does it not work.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:55:47] It’s pointless because you’re like. You struggle, you struggle, you struggle. You’re like, Why am I fighting myself? Because you’re trying to do it in your own strength. First of all, you’ve got to let the Lord lead your steps. And it’s amazing when you completely surrender to God, when you completely let him have your life and take control, man, it’s just a peaceful easy.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:56:05] It’s a daily.
Brian Pruett: [00:56:05] Process, though. It’s a daily process. Learning how to give up and and all that stuff every day.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:56:10] I still work on it, so I’m not perfect by any means. And I pray that nobody thinks that I am because every day I have to repent for something. Okay.
Brian Pruett: [00:56:17] There was only one perfect person on this earth and he’s not. He’s still looking on us. But he’s not here.
Rebecca Reeves: [00:56:22] Jesus, Jesus.
Brian Pruett: [00:56:23] That’s right. All right. So I also like to say this. I’ve been doing this the last couple of weeks. The simple thank you is a lost art. So, Tabitha, thank you for what you do for for your individuals there. And Rebecca, thank you for what you guys are doing in the community and for the ladies. Stone again, thank you for this. Thank you for being my producer because I’ve always told you and Sharon, if I had to do that board, we’d be in trouble. So everybody out there listening, let’s remember, let’s be positive. Let’s be charitable.
Shelly Farrar with Riverstone Corner Bistro and J. Michael’s Prime
Shelly Farrar is the co-owner of Riverstone Corner Bistro, Country-style Southern comfort American food, as well as J. Michael’s Prime, a steak and seafood restaurant, both in Canton.
Follow Riverstone Corner Bistro on Facebook and J. Michael’s Prime on Facebook and Instagram.
This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix
TRANSCRIPT
Sharon Cline: [00:00:05] Coming to you live from the Business RadioX studio in Woodstock, Georgia. This is fearless formula with Sharon Cline.
Sharon Cline: [00:00:19] Welcome to Fearless Formula on Business RadioX, where we talk about the ups and downs of the business world and offer words of wisdom for business success. And I’m your host, Sharon Cline. And today on the show, we have the co-owner of Riverstone Corner Bistro, also known as the Cheers of Canton. It’s a country style Southern Comfort American food great restaurant in Canton, Georgia. Welcome to the show. Shelly Farrar.
Shelly Farrar: [00:00:44] Hi.
Sharon Cline: [00:00:45] Hi.
Sharon Cline: [00:00:46] Thank you for coming.
Shelly Farrar: [00:00:47] Thanks for having me.
Sharon Cline: [00:00:48] You’re welcome. I was telling you right before the show that I kind of did a little bit of cyberstalking. I like to prepare, but I actually didn’t find much about you from before your restaurant, so I was wondering. It’s you and your husband, Mike. Correct. That owned the restaurant.
Shelly Farrar: [00:01:02] We actually have J. Michael’s prime as well.
Sharon Cline: [00:01:04] I saw that. I didn’t know that either.
Shelly Farrar: [00:01:06] Yeah. And then it’s my son and Michael and then my brother in law and my cousin just recently.
Shelly Farrar: [00:01:14] It’s added on through the years. Yes.
Sharon Cline: [00:01:16] Well, it’s worked, right? Yes.
Shelly Farrar: [00:01:18] It actually started as me and my son. Oh, wow. Yeah. So my husband had P.F. Chang’s. He was the market partner for the Southeast and was there and my son turned 19 and asked me to help him open up a restaurant.
Sharon Cline: [00:01:32] So how did you come up with the concept of this restaurant?
Shelly Farrar: [00:01:35] We opened the deli first in town. Lake and me and him had that. And then Dad came along. When we went over there to look at locations in Canton, and it was bigger than a deli that where we were. And we decided that we would kind of merge a concept that we were thinking of and do our lunch menu as the deli menu and then the dinner menu as our Southern Comfort menu.
Sharon Cline: [00:01:58] Did you have any restaurant experience before you got started in this?
Shelly Farrar: [00:02:01] Yeah, I started out at Taco Bell and then let’s go back when I was 16. My first job. Lovely brown polyester outfits.
Sharon Cline: [00:02:10] Oh, I was at Winn Dixie. Mine was light blue polyester, so it was amazing.
Shelly Farrar: [00:02:14] She looked better in blue than I looked in brown.
Sharon Cline: [00:02:16] No, I don’t think anyone looked good in those outfits, but.
Shelly Farrar: [00:02:19] And then I went from there from a small town Italian restaurant in my hometown in Ohio. Okay. And just was a hostess. And they liked to call me maitre d, but I was only 17.
Sharon Cline: [00:02:30] You were the maitre d? Yeah.
Shelly Farrar: [00:02:31] And then I moved to Florida when I was by myself. By myself when I was 19. Just, well, just turned 19. Just graduated and had a goal to get out of a small town in Ohio. And I started working at cheese and cheese. Yeah, that’s where I met my husband the very first day.
Sharon Cline: [00:02:50] Oh, that’s so cute.
Shelly Farrar: [00:02:51] He said it was love at first sight. That is true. I lost a bet and had to take him out, so.
Sharon Cline: [00:02:56] And the rest is history. Yeah. Wow. That’s actually really a sweet story.
Shelly Farrar: [00:03:00] Yeah. Yeah. We were young, and then. Then I went from cheese to chuckles to Chili’s, so lots of restaurant experience. My husband was with cheese, then Romano’s Macaroni Grill. Oh, yeah. And then P.F. Chang’s and I worked for Outback Corporate Office, actually in Tampa as well.
Sharon Cline: [00:03:18] So all restaurants, all all restaurants, all the time. So when your son approached you and said, Let’s do our own concept, you felt like you had the skills and enough background to really look into how to make this work.
Shelly Farrar: [00:03:29] I was shocked. He wanted Mom to go into business with him.
Sharon Cline: [00:03:32] Kind of sweet, if you think about it. He was like.
Shelly Farrar: [00:03:34] Very sweet. We had done a charity serving event because he worked for P.F. Chang’s for my husband, and we was during Katrina and me and him tag teamed and made the most money. And maybe that was his motivation. Not sure to like finally invite me into it, but he came up with a business plan. He came, he had a 50% down. He was we thought our both our kids would run from the restaurant world and they’re both in it.
Sharon Cline: [00:03:58] Oh, that’s so funny. Okay, so when you were looking at a location, you found a place in Canton, and but it was it was obviously a smaller restaurant at first. So how did you come up with the menu items? Like what was what was your concept exactly?
Shelly Farrar: [00:04:14] We had we wanted to focus on some Southern comfort, even though we’re not from the South, but we fell in love with the food. We went around to Charleston and we went to New Orleans and a lot of places and experienced every shrimp and grits you could possibly have. And I’m not a grip person, but I like our shrimp and grits. And then just kind of, you know, family family recipes are a lot of our recipes. Like I said, the deli, a lot of our lunch items. From there, we created our own kind of ideas and R&D from just research and looking around and kind of trying to make it where it was different.
Sharon Cline: [00:04:52] Exactly right. To stand out. Yeah.
Shelly Farrar: [00:04:55] So and then it was hit or miss Some, some and then some were, believe it or not, even though we’re Southern Comfort restaurant, we did things like my husband’s Italian nanny did sausage peppers and onions and potatoes. And we still have that on our meal. That was her southern meal. Oh, wow. With his dad’s homemade spicy mustard sauce.
Sharon Cline: [00:05:14] But that’s so cool because it’s like a little bit of your family, you know, not just a. In you that you decided will be? Well, this is comfort food. This is fried green tomatoes and whatever. But you actually have your history.
Shelly Farrar: [00:05:25] Yeah. And we kind of like to evolve and change and be seasonal, more so now than ever. And yeah, we like food and who doesn’t?
Sharon Cline: [00:05:36] It’s a universal. Well, I was looking a little bit about what had happened during the pandemic because obviously that has hit so many business owners and that’s something we talk about on the show all the time. How did you manage the pandemic? And I saw that you had kept your drive-thru open, which is so smart. How did that work for you?
Shelly Farrar: [00:05:53] Well, we actually never used the drive thru until the pandemic that was locked off and we never used it. And then my son, the day that we realized things were going to change, he was like, Hey, I’m going to get a locksmith out here and see if we can open this drive thru. And then he also was like, you know, as we went through it and we got the drive thru open, we we didn’t really have a real system, but we had a lot of very great employees that had worked for Hooters and other places that said, Hey, we can put a clothesline up and use our clothes pins that we already had in the system, hang the tickets, you know, keep track of it that way. We kind of, you know, made it happen.
Sharon Cline: [00:06:33] And that’s amazing.
Shelly Farrar: [00:06:35] Yeah. So we we actually we had to lay off quite a bit of people in the very beginning, the first week or two. But by week two we brought almost everybody back that that wanted to come back. Some wanted to wait a little while, of course, but we were because we were so busy with the grocery sales, because we also started doing online groceries, because my son also I like to give him a lot of credit because he deserves it. He was like, Hey, I’m going to the grocery store and I can’t find chicken and I can’t find milk and I can’t find bread. But I’ve reached out to our vendors and they’re telling me I won’t have a problem getting these items. So we did a grocery list. There was a lot of people with health issues and things like that, certain dietary restrictions, and they couldn’t find these things. So we started doing groceries out of there as well.
Sharon Cline: [00:07:22] People must have loved you.
Shelly Farrar: [00:07:24] The community kept us alive for sure. We love them and they definitely showed they loved us back. We cried every day from their generosity.
Sharon Cline: [00:07:33] Oh, that’s so kind.
Shelly Farrar: [00:07:35] They were very kind.
Sharon Cline: [00:07:36] So, well, so many companies, so many restaurants didn’t survive. So how clever of you to come up with sort of a unique way and a unique approach in a niche, you know?
Shelly Farrar: [00:07:46] Well, like I mentioned, we were all in the family. We all part, we’re all partners. And it was our livelihood. And if we had to close down that restaurant, that meant four families were out of jobs and out of work. And not to mention all of our all of our employees, which some were pregnant and some some worked. Husbands and wives work with us and daughters and sons and their family. To you? Yeah, all families. So we felt a huge responsibility to just make make it happen. And we said, if we’re going to go down, we’re going to go down helping people. So we spent a lot of time in prayer and spent a lot of time just trying to think of better ways to do it and sold gallons and gallons of sangria and margarita mix that I’m not going to lie was probably our top sales.
Sharon Cline: [00:08:34] I think everyone needed some help during that time.
Shelly Farrar: [00:08:37] Yes, I pumped I had to squeeze a lot of lime juice. So my muscles, my legs, my legs, my arms never looked better.
Sharon Cline: [00:08:46] So. So how has it been to work with families? Some people find it a really huge challenge, but clearly you’ve been able to find a way to make this a success.
Shelly Farrar: [00:08:56] I am surprised that we all still talk to each other, and believe it or not, we just bought a cabin together as another adventure. We actually go. We’re getting ready, go on vacation together. Like all 25 of us, all the families, I’m I feel very blessed and fortunate. We don’t get me wrong. We we have our fights. I mean, I work with my husband and my son and my brother in law. Frank’s pretty perfect. I don’t ever get mad at him. But, you know, we kind of, through the years realized what strengths and weaknesses we all have and kind of respect that, you know, we’ve kind of let go. We have a meeting and actually we have a meeting in the space, usually quarterly, kind of just as partners. Let’s talk let’s fight it out. Let’s figure out what we’re going to do, what we’re going to change, if we’re going to change anything. I like to throw a lot of things at them and try some nuts. I am a spur of the moment. Like I can think of my feet really fast and they are like they like list and they like, Really?
Sharon Cline: [00:09:56] Yeah.
Shelly Farrar: [00:09:56] But that’s drive them nuts.
Sharon Cline: [00:09:59] I’ve talked to so many business owners about what it’s like to have different personalities that can be very complimentary. There are some people who are such people, people, and I think it takes a village, really.
Shelly Farrar: [00:10:12] It really does. I mean, my husband was not really a people person when he started, but he is so now like I mean, I’ve known. For 35 years. And he was not a people person in the beginning, and now he’s probably a better people person than I am. And he’s, you know, very outgoing. He’s very touching with the employees. He I mean, we have a lot of sons and daughters, you know, and we’re getting ready to have our first grandbabies. Oh, my goodness.
Sharon Cline: [00:10:35] Congratulations.
Shelly Farrar: [00:10:36] I can’t even imagine what that’s going to be like.
Sharon Cline: [00:10:38] It’s wonderful. I have three. They’re the best.
Shelly Farrar: [00:10:40] Ever. Know that I’m excited about. I mean him. He’s a softy. We will probably be very broke.
Sharon Cline: [00:10:46] But in July 2021, I saw that you moved from your smaller location that had the drive through to a larger location. So can you tell me what that was like?
Shelly Farrar: [00:10:55] Yeah, actually, that might have been when the plan was to move, but because of the pandemic, we got slowed down a little bit. We moved over there last year, January of last year.
Sharon Cline: [00:11:07] Gotcha.
Shelly Farrar: [00:11:09] Well, that was a funny story in itself. My, my, we brought on a managing partner, Rebecca, that works for us. She was worked for my husband at P.F. Chang’s, and we knew her for years. And she’s a family friend. And we were all had all these plans of this big opening and the big opening party. And the week before we were slated to open and close it, we we closed our doors January 2nd. We opened January 11th. That meant training, moving everybody over, hiring three times more people. Wow. And my my husband and my brother in law and my son all got Covid.
Sharon Cline: [00:11:48] No. At the same time, the.
Shelly Farrar: [00:11:50] First time they ever had it happen to be that week. So actually, not my brother in law. I’m sorry. So it was me, my brother in law and Rebecca. They had to move the whole the restaurant over, close it off, clean it up, get it over there. But we made it happen because of just basically our employees jumped in. They did. They were like, we’re making this happen. They were more excited, I think, than we were to have a nice, clean, big building with a big bar and a real bar. Yeah, a real bar. Yeah. Our other bar was seven people. Yeah. Yeah, we. Yeah, it was like a little tight. Little. We made the best of it and we made it happen. But this was my son and husband designed the whole bar and kitchen and to kind of make it with our employees in mind for what they sacrifice working for us the last seven years before that.
Sharon Cline: [00:12:38] So did you have sort of a dream for your life that did not include a restaurant? And then when your son asked you, let’s do this together, like do you sort of look back at your life and go, I can’t even believe I own this restaurant? And it’s and our lives are like this?
Shelly Farrar: [00:12:51] Well, I had a lot of dreams. I’m a dreamer and I’ve been a real estate agent. I’m still a realtor. I get bored easily. So I do a lot of things, you know, entrepreneur wise on the side, just because I always I don’t sleep and I like to keep going. We joke about it. In fact, there’s a mural in our. There’s a lot of flying pigs in our restaurant. And people don’t understand why. And I get those as gifts. And we did a mural as it because I always said I’d open a restaurant with my family when pigs fly. And here we are.
Sharon Cline: [00:13:22] A bunch of pigs are flying as we speak so well.
Shelly Farrar: [00:13:26] But I’m grateful and thankful. And, you know, it just goes to show you don’t know your own dreams. You know, like they can evolve and change at any moment. And and people that come into your lives can impact it.
Sharon Cline: [00:13:38] Because think about how you’re talking about all of these people that you worked with in the past from your history are all part of your current life, which says a lot about the kind of people you are. A lot of people burn bridges when they move on or never speak to people again and you’re able to keep these relationships going and then have them in your current life.
Shelly Farrar: [00:13:54] Yeah, funny thing is like my husband, you know, through the years because he was, you know, kind of harder than what he is now. He has several employees that come back and even though they were on to bigger and better things and they constantly say thank you, thank you for making me the person I am, and I wouldn’t be as successful as I was if it wasn’t for you. That is our greatest compliment. Like we understand people are going to go on, move, grow and go on to different things and we encourage it and, you know, embrace it. But even when we’ve had to fire people in, you know, and the worst. Yeah, it’s not fun and we still love them, you know, and that’s what we say to them like we love you. But strike three, you know, you got to you got to go for now. Yeah. Some have come back after that and have been incredible. But it really is I think I think if you’re fair and you’re consistent and you truly care, I think it comes back tenfold no matter what what you’re doing.
Sharon Cline: [00:14:51] And I feel it. They can feel the sincerity, too, I think. Yes. And what a compliment to have people think of him as being your husband, I mean, as being like a challenging personality. But they needed it, too, you know, and they benefited from it.
Shelly Farrar: [00:15:05] Well, we always believed in tough love is parenting. And I’m very proud of both my boys. My other son owns has a restaurant with his girlfriend in Cartersville. Oh, no way. And he’s a executive chef and she’s the owner. And what’s their. Okay. We’ll give it a shot. Table 20. It’s amazing. Yeah.
Sharon Cline: [00:15:22] Congratulations. Thank you. So I have to take a visit.
Shelly Farrar: [00:15:25] You will. He makes everything from scratch and really pushes everything to the limit. And they do a great job, and I’m very proud of him.
Sharon Cline: [00:15:33] I was looking at your menu and how you’ve got these really cool things, these adult milkshakes and cocktails in mason jars and seafood and homemade desserts and craft beers. I mean, you kind of cover so many really wonderful things that people love.
Shelly Farrar: [00:15:46] We try and they they like to tell us when we need to add more things. No, they really.
Sharon Cline: [00:15:51] Thank you for the.
Shelly Farrar: [00:15:52] Constructive and I do the same thing. But that’s why my family’s like, you know, Shelly, we only have so much fryer space or Shelly. We only have so much walk in space. Like, you know, what can we get rid of? And then when we try to get rid of things, people get mad too. So, you know, we’re like, we just try it. That’s why we’re trying to have a little fun with it. Seasonal and changing up things at least a little bit.
Sharon Cline: [00:16:11] So I saw that you have a vegetarian, lots of vegetarian options, but you also have a gluten free menu. Was that a challenge for you to develop?
Shelly Farrar: [00:16:17] It wasn’t a beginning because ten years ago we didn’t really know what that was or the products and the flowers and the breading and all that kind of stuff was totally different. It’s evolved obviously with the needs and everything, but it’s something we’re very proud of. We haven’t gotten as advanced in the vegan and the vegetarian as we’d like, especially the vegan. We’re working on it though, but we have a lot of friends and family that are, you know, vegan and vegetarian. So yeah, and we will create something like if it’s not on our menu, we, you know, just say, Hey, tell us your likes or dislikes and what you can have and not have because I’m, you know, not as knowledgeable as I should be in the vegan aspect. So I’m getting better, but we still need a little more work on that. But the gluten free thing, I mean, our menu, almost our whole menu can be gluten free.
Sharon Cline: [00:17:04] Wow, That’s awesome. So anyone could come in and be able to find something that is suitable for them?
Shelly Farrar: [00:17:10] I believe so. We have a huge menu.
Sharon Cline: [00:17:12] I noticed that I was there not long ago and I saw it on the rooftop and it was so nice. It was just beautiful.
Shelly Farrar: [00:17:17] Gordon Ramsay would be so mad at us. He would say, Cut this menu in half. But oh.
Sharon Cline: [00:17:22] I didn’t know that He does that. He likes, like, just a little bit. He only.
Shelly Farrar: [00:17:24] Yeah we’re Yeah. Any, any professional would probably say you guys have way too much on your menu but we can like I said we’re.
Sharon Cline: [00:17:31] He must hate Cheesecake Factory. I can’t decide anything.
Shelly Farrar: [00:17:34] I know. I only look at the first two pages of Cheesecake Factory and then I have to say I’ll limit it there.
Sharon Cline: [00:17:39] But so what has been something that’s been the most surprising to you as you’ve gone through this journey of opening this restaurant?
Shelly Farrar: [00:17:46] I think the community and the relationships, that is definitely the most rewarding. And also, I just never I mean, you’re always like, yes, you love hospitality and you want to take care of the people that walk through your doors and you hope and pray they like what you do. And and but I think the relationships between our teams, because they really are family and also the relationship between us and the community. I’ve met so many great friends and that are our regulars and I think I never really saw that coming. I never really thought, Oh, I’m going to, I’m going to work and I’m going to get to know these people and I’m going to get to know them on this personal level. And we’re going to hang out after work and do things or not really after work because I work late but go do things. And I it’s just such a huge extended family that I’m so grateful for.
Sharon Cline: [00:18:39] Would you say that you’ve learned like some a big lesson from maybe a mistake that you made or something that you wish you knew beforehand?
Shelly Farrar: [00:18:48] I’ve made a lot of mistakes.
Sharon Cline: [00:18:50] Oh, me too, girl. We could be here all.
Shelly Farrar: [00:18:51] Day and I continue to make mistakes. But I do try to learn and grow from them. I think in the beginning, Oh, gosh, you know, those Yelp reviews and those different things, I would take it so personally. And it’s hard, though.
Sharon Cline: [00:19:05] It’s your.
Shelly Farrar: [00:19:06] Heart. I would go home. I literally would cry. I would throw up, Oh, my husband would like to wake me up reading them in bed. Oh, it’s like I finally said, Please stop reading them to me. I can’t take it anymore. Because especially in the beginning. Oh man, did we get a lot of bad reviews? Oh, wow. A lot of good reviews too, but a lot of bad reviews. And you know, it’s funny how you want to give some somehow don’t give credit enough to your good reviews. And you you know, you let the bad reviews suck you in or change you or it’s always that way though.
Sharon Cline: [00:19:33] The criticism is like what I remember most about things. Not someone who liked what I did.
Shelly Farrar: [00:19:37] Yeah, I didn’t really have thick. I thought I did because I had three brothers and I’m all around guys, but I guess I didn’t have a thick skin when it came to attacking. I guess you personally, you know.
Sharon Cline: [00:19:49] Too, right? Because it’s like you’re protective of what your son is doing too. It’s probably very complex.
Shelly Farrar: [00:19:54] Yeah, it was interesting. But also I think I had to step back and look at myself, take a look at myself and work on myself because why was that getting me so upset if I felt confident about what I’m doing, if I did the best I was, if I could do and it’s never going to be perfect, but if I could learn from it and learn from them, not everybody delivers criticisms the same way. And. I also had, you know, I’m a people pleaser. So to hear I didn’t please somebody, you know, was so devastating to me. But I think now I can listen to people and I can also kind of especially the ones I know now, you know, some of the worst critics are my favorite people now. I just you know, I had to get yelled at by him a couple times. And and I probably I didn’t yell back, but I probably got a little snippy. So.
Sharon Cline: [00:20:46] Well, they did. Tough love with you, then.
Shelly Farrar: [00:20:48] Definitely. Definitely. Some of the toughest love I’ve ever had.
Sharon Cline: [00:20:53] I like that you’re still together with your husband, even though he was reading, like, Yelp reviews. It wasn’t a deal breaker. That’s awesome. So how did you also have your sister restaurant, Jay Michael Prime? How did that come about?
Shelly Farrar: [00:21:08] Well, we used to go to it was a beautiful building that we loved to go to. We went to Winchester’s back in the day, remember? And that was our date night. We lived right down the road from there. I always loved the building. Never dreamed we could have the building, you know? Never. Did that ever come to mind, ever in play. But we were driving by and my son’s always looking for new restaurants for sale and, you know, sites. And he was like, Mom, that’s available. This is how much they want. And besides that restaurant, many other ones. And I was like, we don’t need another restaurant. You know, I, you know, I can’t spread myself any thinner. But then I was driving by one day and I was like, I told my husband, I think God wants us to have this building. He’s like, It’s too big. It’s down a hill. It’s never going to work. It didn’t work, you know? And I was like, okay, you know, and a little while later, six months later or so, because I think I think we need to have that building. And long story short, we put an offer in. They said, no, we put another offer in. They said no. A year later, they came to us and said, If you still want the building, we’ll take your your last offer. Meanwhile, the bank had come to us and said, If you want the money, we want to give you the money all within like 48 hours of each other. And so, yeah, so now we finally have it. And, you know, I still love the building. I still love it’s still down the hill and still doesn’t have enough parking.
Sharon Cline: [00:22:32] Well, I’ve been by there where it’s just been very busy and people have talked about it as being like a really incredible steak place. Can you describe what this restaurant, sort of the ambiance and the menu is like?
Shelly Farrar: [00:22:44] Well, the name came after J. Michael’s came from Mike’s brothers, John and and then Mike, my husband Michael, when they were little, they wanted to open a steak and seafood place. And they actually wrote that name down. Like I think in a I think we still have the notepad when they were like probably they’re four years apart. So I think Mike was 11 and John was seven.
Sharon Cline: [00:23:06] They wrote the name J.
Shelly Farrar: [00:23:07] Michael Prime, not Prime, but J.
Sharon Cline: [00:23:09] Michael J.
Shelly Farrar: [00:23:09] Michael’s. Yeah. And so when we’re trying to figure out a name, we’re like, Well, our son’s name is Michael and he’s a partner and John and you know that. So it just made sense to go with that name. And then Prime just sounded fancy, so we went with that. You know.
Sharon Cline: [00:23:24] It’s so true, though, but it works. It’s obviously it works. It’s successful. And so how is it running two places or at least being involved in two places?
Shelly Farrar: [00:23:33] And, you know, always in the beginning, it’s always harder than later when you open up a new place. So J. Michael’s is you know, we opened that and we spent a lot of time over there for the first year and Sub was kind of already running itself, thankfully. And then then we moved into a new building and that was like starting over again with RCB. But like I said, we have such a great family dynamic that we we always said if we’re going to own restaurants, we have to be in the building. At least some one owner has to be in the building at all times. So whether it’s Frank and we consider Chef Elliot you know and owner as well my John me. And then we have Uncle Tom who is our bonus, you know, partner. So we just always try to make a commitment to be one place or the other at all times. And then now it’s just we just like I said, we’ve grown into this amazing team of 140 employees. And would you ever.
Sharon Cline: [00:24:32] Have thought would you ever have.
Shelly Farrar: [00:24:33] Thought? No. When we opened the RCB, we had ten employees. So it has grown a.
Sharon Cline: [00:24:39] Lot to manage that many people.
Shelly Farrar: [00:24:41] Um, you know, it’s, it can be challenging, but we really do just have people want to complain about young people all the time, about how they don’t have work ethic and how they’re lazy and how they’re, we just don’t have that. And maybe the lazy ones don’t come to get a job. But the ones we have, I mean, some of these young people coming up, like we always get more and more impressed with the young people of today.
Sharon Cline: [00:25:03] And I need to hear this. This is good because I hear a lot of the opposite.
Shelly Farrar: [00:25:07] No, Nice to hear. Yeah. The groups we had like we’ve just had ten graduates at RCB and I think eight at J Michael’s. I mean, people started with us when they’re fifth. Team. And we’ve had we have several we just you know, we rewarded them for their year in anniversaries and we have quite a few ten year employees. We have a lot of five year employees and seven and above. And even people that go on to have babies and get married, they come back and pick up shifts and they do things or college. I mean, I have one other girl who just got accepted in UGA graduate school. She’s here for the summer for a little bit, take her week and get her. I always tell everybody I was like, I don’t care if you want to work one day a week, one day a month, if you’re if you come in, you do your job and, you know, smile, then you’re welcome here however many shifts you want. And but I mean, you know, there’s don’t get it wrong. There’s some employees that come in and you’re like, they’ve never been told they did anything wrong.
Sharon Cline: [00:26:04] Interesting. Really? How does it go when you tell them that?
Shelly Farrar: [00:26:08] Sometimes they cry, sometimes they quit, Sometimes they go home and tell mom, but then they come back and then it’s like they all of a sudden have this new challenge and they excel. And it’s amazing. Like we have people running our window right now, 17, 18 year old kids. And my husband even said, I’m not going to lie. They pushed me aside and they actually do really well because they might be better than me now, which he would never admit ever.
Sharon Cline: [00:26:32] So But how interesting that the effect that you’re having, like the legacy that you’re leaving to for these people who are new and never really had experience like what you’re teaching them and what that will mean for their lives? It’s it’s major.
Shelly Farrar: [00:26:46] We hope so. But we learn from them, too. Like they’ll come in and go, Well, what if we did this? I was like, Well, try it. Let’s see what happens.
Sharon Cline: [00:26:52] And do they do they encourage you to use social media more like, I know that’s such a big deal regarding marketing and having you stand out and how does social media play into your restaurants?
Shelly Farrar: [00:27:04] They are more into, I think it’s tiktoks and Instagrams, which I’m still not abreast with yet. I did have to teach myself the Facebook thing back in the day, and I do I do all the all of our social media right now with bartenders and things like that. I do get them involved with when they create a drink and they want to post it and then I share it like we do it through that. That’s great. I don’t want people to know, per se, their first and last names because of safety. I’m very, I guess, protective of that situation, so I’d rather have it posted through our social media as a page, not as them personally.
Sharon Cline: [00:27:43] Got you. Got you. So that makes sense because what you’re trying to do is promote the restaurant. And even though you have an employee, you’re not trying to put them in a any kind of risk, which these days it is.
Shelly Farrar: [00:27:54] Yeah. I mean, I don’t want them people to fail to find their first and last name. Now they might, I will say, come see Kelsey or come see, you know, Bell or, you know, whatever. But and they can do it on their own stuff, you know, because I’m all about, you know, building, having them build their own regulars and, you know, and building repeat customers. But I still try to there’s some times I’ve had to also coach and teach and preach and have a shoulder on people that, you know, got a little too too naive with some customers and wondered, you know, why it went sour.
Sharon Cline: [00:28:28] Interesting. Well, you’ve got to manage all these different personalities. I can’t imagine.
Shelly Farrar: [00:28:32] Yeah. And they’re like I said, there are kids. So and we always tell them, we don’t expect you to be perfect. You know, we just, you know, hope you’ll learn from your mistakes.
Sharon Cline: [00:28:41] Yeah, well, that’s the.
Shelly Farrar: [00:28:42] Goal, right? Yeah.
Sharon Cline: [00:28:43] Well, okay, so you’ve really accomplished a tremendous amount, right? In ten years or so. So how did you manage what I think is sort of a natural fear of failure or fear of the unknown because that stops so many people in the business world.
Shelly Farrar: [00:29:00] Well, like I said, when Mike Mike was making very, very good money in the corporate world and he just gotten to a point where he’s like, you know, I think I’m going to have a heart attack if I stay with this company any longer, any company. He goes, I’m just I think I need to step away and do something else. And of course, we didn’t want to have a heart attack, but we were we were kind of like, we’re not. And we had worked very hard at becoming debt free and having some money and we didn’t want to have to get investors or have to, because I think that just puts more and more pressure on you. It’s stressful. And so we thought we’d start out small. You know, this was an existing restaurant, it was already furnished, it already had equipment. All we really had to do was some cleanup and inventory. My husband being the number guy, also understands you got to have, you know, some money to last you a year because it’s going to take a good year to get a restaurant off the building. You get the reputation and get it up and going. But we also didn’t want to put any more money than what we had. And we just kind of went in it with like, if we’re going to do it, we better do it now. We’re not getting any younger. As far as him moving away and stepping out in faith, we spent a lot of time in prayer and we were just like, you know, there’s no time like the present. And I, you know, I said, I go, We’re. Homeless were homeless, but at least we tried it. And I think people just need to get out there and do it. And what’s the worst that can happen? You have to go get a job. You have to go, you know, go back to what you were doing. But if you don’t try it, I think that’s going to be your biggest regret.
Sharon Cline: [00:30:34] I think that’s the biggest lesson that I’ve been learning lately is that when I don’t take a chance and time goes by, it’s another holiday, it’s another year, another birthday. And I haven’t done what I believed I would. It’s there’s a pain there that you feel. And I think that regret is almost worse than the fear of actually trying.
Shelly Farrar: [00:30:54] I definitely think that. I mean, I even like I don’t know, it’s kind of funny now because we’re like, okay, why not? You know, it’s like, guess we’ll just see what happens next.
Sharon Cline: [00:31:05] Is there anything you’re not afraid of it then any more? Because you really did handle the pandemic in a way that was so unique and helpful and and has gave you that sort of like bridge to when the pandemic ended.
Shelly Farrar: [00:31:17] I think everybody has their thing. My thing is, even though like, I don’t go to church every Sunday, but faith is something that and I’ve I’ve failed it a lot of things. A lot of times I’m not really afraid of failing because I’m really good at it. So I’m like, That should.
Sharon Cline: [00:31:36] Be a country song. That’s hilarious.
Shelly Farrar: [00:31:38] So I think it’s like, what’s the worst going to happen? Like I said, I’m homeless or, you know, I have to start over or, you know, I’ve got to try something else or I got to go another avenue.
Sharon Cline: [00:31:47] So you don’t have that perfection sort of thought process. Like it has to be perfect. I can’t fail because then I have I lose faith face in front of people. Do you know what I mean? Yeah.
Shelly Farrar: [00:31:55] I’m so not that person.
Sharon Cline: [00:31:57] So your personality lends well to this then? Like, you.
Shelly Farrar: [00:32:00] Know, thank God. I mean, my. My husband and my son, they’re. They’re my family. They’re all OCD, and I’m so not. But I’m also, I guess, you know, my husband’s always like, you’re not afraid of anything. You’re not afraid to try anything. You’re not And I’m not It doesn’t mean I try a lot of things that don’t work. But I like to learn new things all the time. And I also like to challenge myself. And yeah, it’s like it’s not like I. But I guess I’m not really into material things, so it doesn’t matter to me if I have to lose some material things. So maybe that’s part of the like, it’s okay.
Sharon Cline: [00:32:36] Well, clearly it works for you because in 2022, you were the traveler. You won a Travelers Choice award and then 2023, currently you’ve got the Diners Choice Award for Open Table. What what are those awards like? It must be so affirming.
Shelly Farrar: [00:32:50] They mean a lot because they come from the customers. You know, that’s really that’s how we evaluate our success is what the customers think. Like we don’t really we don’t do print, we don’t write articles. And even doing something like this is very like I said, this is only the second time I’ve done this and you’re.
Sharon Cline: [00:33:08] Doing so great. We’re almost done. You’re doing so.
Shelly Farrar: [00:33:10] Great. I don’t really like to talk about ourselves, so we like to like kind of talk about the community and what what can we do for the community, What can we do to make this place a better place to live in for our for our guests, for our employees, you know, and for our families.
Sharon Cline: [00:33:26] You also offer catering, I saw.
Shelly Farrar: [00:33:28] Yes. Yeah, we do a lot of catering. We do a lot of deliveries and catering. We’ll do full service, catering and just, you know, platters and things like that.
Sharon Cline: [00:33:39] So do you ever take time off like, I know you just said you had a cabin or you’re about to go on vacation. What is it like to leave?
Shelly Farrar: [00:33:45] This is the first year that we’ve actually taken well, not I wouldn’t say we take time off because when you’re when you have things, you’re never off. Like I’m doing all the social media and we’re doing my husband’s always on the computer and as because we’ve built so many relationships with regulars, I like to tell us when we’re doing things right and wrong. And they’ll privately message me and phone phone me. And and they the big joke is, you know, they’ll go people will go in the restaurant and they’re like, oh, well, they said Kelly said.
Sharon Cline: [00:34:14] Oh, gosh.
Shelly Farrar: [00:34:15] I’ve gotten to a point where I just tell them. I go, Just say. Kelly said. They love that, you know, And my whole thing is I say, if anybody comes in as mean to you, they’re not my friends. So if they say they’re Kelly’s friends, if they’re mean to you, I promise you they’re not my friends because my friends would never be mean. They would secretly, you know, they would tell me behind the scenes like, hey, just because I care about you, it wasn’t on par. But interesting. Yeah.
Sharon Cline: [00:34:40] So what would you like to see happen in the next 5 or 10 years? Would you like to have another restaurant or would you just like to continue to grow this one or both of them?
Shelly Farrar: [00:34:49] If you asked me and you asked my partners, there’s totally different things. I’m just saying I my my husband and son and I think they’re always looking for the next next adventure, next venture. I think I would like to kind of transition myself into behind the scenes. And we’re looking into bottling some things, and I really like the mixology side of the the bar creating new, new things and. And doing things like online that we want to do some of our sources and our that’s really my husband’s son’s dream. But I’m okay with like helping to market that kind of thing. And really, I don’t know, like I do, I say my kids, my son and my husband want to do that. But I love an idea of a wine and dessert bar and a venue. I do. I love doing special events, so maybe something like that.
Sharon Cline: [00:35:44] So the future is bright. Maybe I’ll be in or.
Shelly Farrar: [00:35:48] I’ll mentor someone else to do it. Yeah. Really?
Sharon Cline: [00:35:51] No. I was thinking I’ll be in Publix and see some of your sauces or wines or whatever, you know? I mean, you never know. It’s. So what’s cool is that you really just let life unfold for you and not try to control it. You just do the best you can in the moment. And then what’s meant to happen is actually happening.
Shelly Farrar: [00:36:05] Yeah, well, my husband has more of an agenda, but yes, they do better. They’re better at that. But we also don’t get stressed about it. It’s like the timing is trusting in the timing. You know, what’s what, what doors are going to open next and not be closed minded about it. And that’s why when you ask me that, I was like, I can say that. But now we just we just bought a cabin for an Airbnb and we bought another property to build one. And so there’s, there’s things that and that’s still part of hospitality because we want to take that to a whole new level when people come to stay there.
Sharon Cline: [00:36:38] So well, you never know.
Shelly Farrar: [00:36:40] Never know. Who knows well how I could just move in there. I’ll be okay.
Sharon Cline: [00:36:44] Where.
Shelly Farrar: [00:36:46] I am there a lot. I’ve been decorating.
Sharon Cline: [00:36:48] But it’s so fun. And I think that’s really huge because the energy that you have about it is fun is like joy and fun and helping the community, not just thinking about yourself and what we can get out of it, but actually having a place that creates an atmosphere, that creates memories for people that you’re affecting, not just someone’s experience having dinner, but the employees that you have and what that can mean for their lives. It’s like so fun.
Shelly Farrar: [00:37:11] Yeah, I don’t think I would do anything that wasn’t fun, you know, because I think it’s important that you have fun doing what you do no matter what it is, you know? But I think you’ve got to have a light spirit about it and go with the flow and know that everything’s not going to be perfect, really? Ever.
Sharon Cline: [00:37:30] Well, you’ve made this really fun. I’ve really appreciated you coming and chit chatting with me about your history, and I have an appreciation for your restaurant that I hadn’t before. And so I hope everyone who’s listening has the same experience too.
Shelly Farrar: [00:37:40] Well, thank you. I appreciate you having me here and honored that you would even think of me. Oh, thank you.
Sharon Cline: [00:37:44] Oh, it’s my pleasure. How can people get in touch with you or what would you say is the best way for them to find out more information?
Shelly Farrar: [00:37:49] They can go onto our website. So Jay Michaels prime.com or Lee Kantor. Com.
Sharon Cline: [00:37:54] Got you. All right. Well, thank you so much, everyone for listening to Fearless Formula. I’m Business RadioX. And again, this is Sharon Klein reminding you that with knowledge and understanding, we can all have our own fearless formula. Have a great day.
BRX Pro Tip: 2 Customer Retention Tips
BRX Pro Tip: 2 Customer Retention Tips
Stone Payton: [00:00:00] Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, today’s topic, and I do think it’s an important one, man, customer retention.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:12] Yeah, because it is so difficult to get new clients. Keeping them is more and more important in today’s economy. And one great way to keep your customer is to speed up the way you interact with them. So, is there any way right now that you can build automation into your customer care so that you are giving some level of support immediately to the people that matter most to you?
Lee Kantor: [00:00:36] Giving fast support shows that you’re there and you care. So, if you can be doing something that at least acknowledges, “Hey, I heard you,” “Hey, I understand what you’re doing,” and then if you have automation that can maybe solve easy problems, that’s great. And if you can’t solve easy problems letting them know, “Hey, this is going to be sent to our staff and somebody will get back to you shortly,” and then really get back to them shortly, that’ll go a long way to keeping your customers happy and feeling like you’re paying attention to them and not ignoring them or neglecting them.
Lee Kantor: [00:01:08] And secondly, create a culture that puts your clients first. Everyone on the team should know your core values around customer care. You should be role-modeling how you expect clients to be treated. If you allow your people to resent and badmouth your clients behind their backs, don’t be shocked that your team will think that your clients are a necessary evil and they won’t deliver the above-and-beyond service that keeps customers for life.
Lee Kantor: [00:01:33] So, really kind of lean into appreciating and supporting your customers and demonstrate that with your own actions, and that will keep your team all focused on in the right direction in helping serve your clients better and help keeping them around longer.
Tyler Head with CGI Digital
This episode was brought to you by
On this episode of Kid Biz Radio we talk with Tyler Head from CGI, a digital economic development company. Tyler shares his journey to success, and the importance of mentorship and making a positive impact on the community.
He also gives advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, emphasizing the importance of staying true to oneself, seeking help from trusted advisors, and keeping goals in mind. Tyler talks about the importance of unity and finding common ground as humans. We wrap up with a lighthearted “this or that” round of questions and Tyler’s book and movie recommendations.
Throughout his career, Tyler Head with CGI Digital has helped communities and businesses all over the USA adapt to the digital era and leverage digital technologies to drive economic growth.
Whether he’s working with local government officials or entrepreneurs, he’s committed to building strong relationships and driving positive change in the communities he serves. With a track record of success in economic development, digital marketing, and community engagement, Tyler is proud to be making a difference in the lives of people all over the country.
Connect with Tyler on LinkedIn.
This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix
TRANSCRIPT
Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Woodstock, Georgia. It’s time for Kid Biz Radio. Kid Biz Radio creates conversations about the power of entrepreneurship and the positive impact that journey can have on kids. For more information, go to kidbizexpo.com. Now here’s your host.
Layla Dierdorff: [00:00:28] Hi. Welcome to Kid Biz Radio. I’m Layla.
Austyn Guest: [00:00:31] And I’m Austyn.
Layla Dierdorff: [00:00:32] And today we have an awesome guest with us in the studio, Tyler Head with CGI. Hello.
Tyler Head: [00:00:37] Thanks for having me, guys. Happy to be here.
Austyn Guest: [00:00:39] Can you tell us about yourself and about your business?
Tyler Head: [00:00:42] Yeah, so kind of a weird path to CGI covering a couple of different states in about a half a decade of time. But what we do is digital economic development. So a lot of moving parts, it sounds like breaks down pretty simply. We help municipalities curate quality control. The first impression they make online kind of as a whole, specifically on the home page of their municipal website. Who uses it versus who you would expect to use. It may be surprising to some of you, but kind of wholesale across the board, we produce a video series that acts as the first impression for your community, in this case Cherokee County’s, who were working with. And then my role individually is to meet with all the nonprofits, the businesses, the community as a whole to help them improve the digital infrastructure of the place that they live so that it’s more attractive for the people that they want to attract and they get the right folks moving in and grow the way that they want to grow. In a nutshell.
Austyn Guest: [00:01:41] We have a lot of workshops focusing on like your first like appearance and impressions and stuff.
Tyler Head: [00:01:46] Well, that’s that’s the name of the game. You think about bounce rates on websites and making first impressions. You kind of get one shot these days and yeah, and then you’re out of there.
Austyn Guest: [00:01:56] Yeah. How did you get started in your business?
Tyler Head: [00:02:00] So interesting story. Okay. I was a young whippersnapper myself managing some beach clubs down in Florida and got recruited out of it from, I guess just being able to talk well at people got into radio at that point and then was noticed by a Chamber of Commerce director by the name of Kelly Jo Kilburg, who ended up being one of my long time mentors, even to this day, recruited me into the chamber of Commerce world, at which point I worked with CGI on the other side of the table brought them into our community. Some people are familiar with it. Santa Rosa Beach, the third area down in the Gulf Coast of Florida, went through the whole process with CGI. I love the model, the community impact that they have and the intervening years I moved on from the chamber, launched my own consulting firm, and my wife received an opportunity, now wife, to relocate home back to Knoxville for a super amazing job for her. And I went with her because we weren’t going to say no to that. And CGI was actually opening up an office in Knoxville. So I shuttered my firm headfirst promotions and said, Hey guys, I would like to do what you guys do for you. I’m here in Knoxville. Let me be your Southern representative and I will make all these folks that sound and look like me, like you. And that was about six years ago. So business is booming.
Austyn Guest: [00:03:25] Very, very nice. On your path to becoming what you are now. What have you done to really help you be successful?
Tyler Head: [00:03:33] To speak on mentorship, which is something I helped create within CGI as our first mentorship program that we’ve had as a company. The not many, but the few people I’ve had that have been more senior in the industry and not in any particular industry to look to, to give you the structure of here’s the things that you need to be good at and excel with. To have success really gives you the launch pad. So looking for quality mentorship, but also challenging the boundaries of what you should be or shouldn’t be doing within your scope of activity. So pushing it just a little bit on the line, seeing where there’s new things that can be done, where there’s maybe deficiencies in a process and all the while kind of looking to the people that have guided you along the way to tell me if I’m getting too far out of hand, reel me back in if you need to, but let us keep let us keep going. And those mentors are Guideposts along the way. But it’s really just kind of figuring out what works and what doesn’t work for you individually, because not everybody is the same.
Austyn Guest: [00:04:40] Are you a mentor for someone?
Tyler Head: [00:04:42] I have. I have several mentors within our company, actually. My latest mentor, just one miss or mentee. Actually, I’m the mentor. Let me get the terminology straight. Just won Miss Pennsylvania, USA. So she’s actually going to be in the Miss America contest.
Austyn Guest: [00:04:57] That’s really cool. That is very cool.
Tyler Head: [00:05:00] Rooting for you, Jasmine. Yes, rooting for you.
Austyn Guest: [00:05:02] That’s really pretty. All right. Okay. What would you say you like? Define success as.
Tyler Head: [00:05:09] Well. The easy answer is financial security, right? That’s kind of how everybody would answer. Everybody would label it as that. I think that’s an aspect of success because if you’re not hitting that mark, then you’re going to be a lot more stressed out and looking for ways to do so. A little more difficult, but I would say it’s financial security, married with fulfillment and what you do on a day to day basis. I enjoy my role day to day. I enjoy traveling to these communities and interacting with business owners and nonprofit leaders and people that are out there cutting their teeth, trying to do the same thing and improve their circumstances. I could I could do this job for free. But back to that financial security thing, you kind of need both. So I would say it’s a marriage of those two.
Austyn Guest: [00:05:57] That’s actually really good because a lot a lot, a lot of people say like, you don’t need money to be happy. You just need happiness. But like you say, money helps. It’s it’s easier to be happy with some money. Yeah, Yeah. Some people say like strictly financially, like successful or like you don’t need money to be happy. There’s like, no in between answers.
Tyler Head: [00:06:16] You got to have that gray area because it does. You got to be fulfilled in the day to day.
Austyn Guest: [00:06:21] I would probably say success would be definitely a mix of what you were saying. Like money definitely helps. And but there’s also other ways to be successful without said money in many different aspects of life, whether it’s business related or it’s just personally. Um. I can have a little story, I guess. Okay. In my first expo that I did, I made, like, the least amount of money that I’ve ever made, but it was my favorite because people were so, like, happy and like, I was like, talking to each other and it was really fun. So like, yeah, I didn’t make a lot of money, but it was still my favorite one just because like we were all talking to each other and ask each other questions and stuff. Yeah, it was the first one we did. So it was a very fun experience.
Tyler Head: [00:07:11] And you can still have the excitement and it’s the experience and that’s, that’s a benefit of what I do is every community is different. So it’s always a new type of situation, economic scenario, strengths, weaknesses. So that does keep it fresh for me. So I do think that probably works in my benefit from being able to just be fulfilled day to day. But you have to go and find that kind of excitement because you can lose sight of it chasing the dollar really, really quickly. Yeah. So it’s kind of going back to that marriage between the two is like, how do I keep that earnestness as I go through, you know, on a day to day basis? I.
Austyn Guest: [00:07:46] All right. What would you say or maybe some regrets that you have when you were starting up your business?
Tyler Head: [00:07:54] Oh, there’s plenty.
Austyn Guest: [00:07:57] The first few.
Tyler Head: [00:07:58] A big one, I would say, is there’s a lot of negativity in the world today, especially with people that think they know more than you about you getting advice from folks. I mentioned mentorship, right? Everybody wants to tell you what to do in the way that you can do it, right? A true mentor is really just sort of a resource for you to help you along, not dictate the terms of what your existence is going to be. And early on, I would use the term like, yes, man a little bit. Specifically, when I was in radio at first and doing sports talk and talking football and hosting things, you know, they would tell you something that would or wouldn’t work based on their experience with it. And that’s not necessarily accurate.
Austyn Guest: [00:08:41] Maybe I can make it work.
Tyler Head: [00:08:42] Yeah, exactly. So like letting that negativity naysaying kind of bleed into my motivation and the goal setting that I was doing, I did a little bit too much of it on the front end because I was trying to humor the people around me. But everything really started to take off when I just sort of let my individual nature take over, you know, trust the people I know I can trust. Everybody else is. They’ve got some sort of agency in the game where they’re you look too good. It may negatively affect them or, you know, they give you some some bad advice that you follow and it reflects back on everybody. So I would say stick by your guns. Know what you know, seek help from the people that you know you can trust with advice. And that’s that’s one big one that comes to mind. The next would probably be not sleeping enough. You definitely should get like the full ten hours on hours.
Austyn Guest: [00:09:37] That’s a.
Tyler Head: [00:09:37] Lot. It catches up with you over a few years. I know this is Kid Biz Radio. You guys got plenty of energy. Give it like 4 or 5 more years. Caffeine becomes a best friend or a worst enemy. Really quick.
Austyn Guest: [00:09:51] Okay. Pretty much answered the next question. So if you want to if you have any more, you can say, But do you have any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs to help prevent or kind of like lessen the mistakes that you made?
Tyler Head: [00:10:03] Well, obviously, get the good sleep. That’s that’s an easy one. Yeah. You know, in bed by ten if you can help it. But, you know, the other one’s kind of hard because especially when you’re in your youth and you’re maybe being employed by someone or you’re looking to other people to kind of help you along your path, like you’re looking for those answers, but kind of keep your North Star is what I would leave you with as far as a way to avoid that type of situation where the negativity can bleed into you a little bit, know where you’re going and know what you’re trying to do, and let those things kind of ping pong you along the pathway, but don’t let it ever knock you off the path. So keeping your North Star, staying on your track, listening to what everybody has to say, but also playing it pretty close to the chest, like don’t let anybody sway you one way or the other until you’ve really thought it through from your perspective. And that is something that’s hard to do when you’re younger because you don’t have the experience to fall back on. That just comes with time. There’s no way around it. You’ve just got to you’ve got to make mistakes and screw it up sometimes, but you learn from that. Just don’t ever let anybody else be the one that that knocks you off the path.
Austyn Guest: [00:11:13] Listen, but then form your own opinion.
Speaker3: [00:11:15] Exactly. Yeah.
Austyn Guest: [00:11:16] My mom tells me that a lot. Anyway.
Tyler Head: [00:11:18] Good reason. Good, Mom.
Austyn Guest: [00:11:19] So we’ve been talking a lot about, like, we’ve been talking a lot about the past. Now on to the future. Do you have any future goals for your business?
Tyler Head: [00:11:26] Yeah, absolutely. With CGI, we’ve we’ve been around for a while now. We cover the whole country, so we’ve got a decent amount of scale. One thing we need to do better at is having people understand who we are on the front end of things instead of kind of having to have a 45 minute long conversation with me and be like, Oh, this makes sense. We do a better job of situations like this, conversations like this, really putting out our good work to the country, working with thousands of communities and hundreds of thousands of businesses at this point. You know, all the local nonprofits in the community work with us, you know, at no cost. We’re a resource for every single organization in this community to look to. And it’s not even anything that necessarily has to be paid for on the front end. Every business I meet with gets a complimentary audit of their entire online presence. So here’s where you’re strong, here’s where you’re weak, here’s where you can develop, here’s where you can do things on your own. Here’s where we can maybe help you. And a lot of communities aren’t aware of that. And so my big goal over the next 3 to 4 years is to transition us to being more in the forefront of our projects rather than just being the facilitator on the back end, which is sort of by designation. We’re a third party complimenter so we do things that a municipality. Can’t do because of conflict of interest or legal, you know, things that could happen by selective favoritism in communities. But we do a really, really good job at it, and I think that needs to be pushed more to the forefront that way. Situations like this occur, more people reach out to me, I get phone calls and I don’t have to individually pop up and say, Hey, my name is Tyler with CGI. Heard a lot about you. We’d like to have a meeting. Yeah, because that just limits our efficiency and takes more time.
Austyn Guest: [00:13:15] Correct.
Tyler Head: [00:13:15] And the more we can do to kind of evangelize the good things that we do throughout the country, the easier my job gets and I can get back to that fulfillment part.
Speaker3: [00:13:25] Great.
Austyn Guest: [00:13:25] All right. So moving on to the deep questions.
Speaker3: [00:13:28] Bring it.
Austyn Guest: [00:13:29] All right. If you had the attention of the whole world for five minutes, what would you say? Everybody’s paying attention. Everybody’s listening to what you are saying for five minutes. What do you say?
Tyler Head: [00:13:40] If you could all just Venmo me $1?
Speaker3: [00:13:44] No, no.
Austyn Guest: [00:13:44] But for the most realistic answer we’ve.
Speaker3: [00:13:47] Gotten.
Tyler Head: [00:13:48] For $1, you can make this gentleman’s life way easier. And then Sarah McLaughlin just kind of chimes in.
Speaker3: [00:13:54] Yeah.
Tyler Head: [00:13:55] And I’m sad behind like a fence. Now, I would say division is all you see kind of around the world. Now you turn on the news, bad news, you look around, you hear gossip and negative talk and naysayers. Everybody is making it up as they go along. For the most part, we have way more things in common as humans than we have things different between us. Share a.
Speaker3: [00:14:22] Meal.
Tyler Head: [00:14:24] Share a meal. Get together in a room with people you maybe don’t get along with. You’ll see the commonalities in your life. Yeah, get over it. It’s not that serious. People just get along. Like work it out. That’s. That’s what I would say, especially if they have to listen, which is, you know, that’s the prompt. So if they want to take something to heart, it’s just play nice, get along, you know, figure, share drinks, share a meal. You guys will, you guys will be fine.
Austyn Guest: [00:14:50] I would probably like fix the world if you actually got to say that.
Speaker3: [00:14:53] Yeah, well.
Tyler Head: [00:14:54] If they had to.
Speaker3: [00:14:55] Prevent World War three happening.
Tyler Head: [00:14:56] And hopefully I had enough translators to, you know.
Speaker3: [00:14:58] Get it out there.
Austyn Guest: [00:14:59] Oh, yeah, that’s true. That’s very true. Okay. If you woke up tomorrow without your business, everything was gone. What would what would be your first steps to recovery or would you try to recover?
Tyler Head: [00:15:09] I mean. My skill set, what I bring to conversations and my role as a consultant, I think is going to be a need either way, whether my company existed or not. You know, if the office disappeared tomorrow, the people that are out there in the country, the business owners, entrepreneurs that are trying to figure out how to, you know, they’re really good at this thing. That’s their day to day life. And there’s all the other things that surround that that supplement that or don’t. I think I would be fine based on what I’m able to bring to the table and and help them with. So I wouldn’t be too rattled one way or the other. It wouldn’t be fun. But but I do think, especially with how the Internet has changed the dynamics of how people live their lives and run their businesses with what we do, the phone would be ringing the next day, even if it wasn’t for the business, because someone’s going to have the same headache, someone’s going to have the same problems, they’re going to have the thing they’re trying to work towards from a goal standpoint. And I would still be able to help them there. So it wouldn’t be the big box shop that we are now, but it would still be me just in the trenches helping them out the best that I can.
Austyn Guest: [00:16:19] You talked about how technology changed all that. Do you think your company will change with the evolution of technology?
Tyler Head: [00:16:25] We have been very good about staying in front of the tides of technology. We started out as if you’ve ever been to a vacation town and you see like the map of the community that’s painted with all the businesses and the main streets, that’s where we started. And now we have video driven AI powered websites that turn your entire website into basically what people are programed to use via social media. So we can turn a business’s website into a social media platform for them through a platform we have called Seesaw. And that’s just the newest thing. Before that it was voice search ability and then it was video and integrating video into your day to day life and your business. We’ve always done a very, very good job of forecasting what’s coming next and being in front of that. So we will continue to do so and to stay out in front of it. I is sort of the new hot commodity that everybody’s either stressed about or super excited about.
Speaker3: [00:17:26] Yeah, yeah.
Austyn Guest: [00:17:27] Everyone has something.
Tyler Head: [00:17:28] We’ve been incorporating it into our services and our business model for the last 4 or 5 years now. Even when it was before it was there’s a dime a dozen and everybody was just kind of rolling with IBM. Watson We were doing things with AI just to kind of keep it, you know, teased in people’s minds. There’s new things that are coming and the world is changing. Well, the thing that people need to understand is you can’t stop that part. You just got to figure out how to make it work for you.
Austyn Guest: [00:17:56] Yeah, people try to like no technology.
Tyler Head: [00:17:59] No, no, no, no. A lot of the rural towns I work with, they think the Internet is going to ruin their business. And it can because.
Speaker3: [00:18:05] But it can also benefit you.
Tyler Head: [00:18:07] If they avoid it and they run away from the Internet, then it will ruin their business because everybody that’s actually utilizing it, that’s a competitor is going to be who gets that business. And so I’ll meet with 80, 90 year old, fourth generation owned, family owned businesses who have never done anything with the Internet at all. And I’d be like, Hey, baby steps, like, let’s start with this. And then computer. And that’s what digital economic development is. That’s what CGI does, is we introduce these concepts and these methods to areas that maybe aren’t familiar with them a lot more. So now are and, you know, it’s normal day to day business, but I still find areas every now and then where, wow, we didn’t know this worked this way or I didn’t know I could do this. And it’s exciting to it’s exciting to bring that kind of stuff to the table and see their eyes light up like a little kid on Christmas up there, you know, my great grandparent age.
Speaker3: [00:18:56] Yeah.
Austyn Guest: [00:18:56] Yeah, that’s besides the point. Okay. All right. So we’re going to do a quick this or that, like, sort of speed round questions just for fun and like, yay.
Speaker3: [00:19:05] I’m trusting.
Austyn Guest: [00:19:06] You be like two different options and you’re going to say really quickly, like, no thinking about.
Speaker3: [00:19:09] It. Okay, I’m.
Tyler Head: [00:19:10] Good at not thinking.
Speaker3: [00:19:12] Okay.
Austyn Guest: [00:19:12] All right, here we go. Cats or dogs.
Tyler Head: [00:19:15] Have both.
Austyn Guest: [00:19:16] Cats. Spider-man or Batman. Batman books or movies.
Tyler Head: [00:19:20] Books, long shot.
Austyn Guest: [00:19:21] Waffle or curly.
Speaker3: [00:19:22] Fries, curly.
Austyn Guest: [00:19:23] Mountains or the.
Speaker3: [00:19:24] Beach.
Tyler Head: [00:19:25] Lived in both would say beach at this point.
Austyn Guest: [00:19:27] Sweet or salty.
Speaker3: [00:19:28] Salty.
Tyler Head: [00:19:29] Savory.
Speaker3: [00:19:30] Guy.
Austyn Guest: [00:19:30] Chocolate or fruity.
Speaker3: [00:19:31] Candy chocolate.
Austyn Guest: [00:19:33] Cake or.
Speaker3: [00:19:33] Pie.
Tyler Head: [00:19:34] Pie Specifically key lime.
Austyn Guest: [00:19:36] Yes. Very good answer.
Speaker3: [00:19:39] Okay.
Austyn Guest: [00:19:40] Lower high rise.
Speaker3: [00:19:41] Jeans.
Tyler Head: [00:19:42] Live through the 2000s. So? So all the low rise phase. Ask my wife. We probably have to say high rise at this point without getting in.
Speaker3: [00:19:48] Trouble with her. Probably a good.
Austyn Guest: [00:19:50] Answer. Comedy or horror, like any book.
Tyler Head: [00:19:53] What about a comedy horror?
Speaker3: [00:19:55] Those are.
Tyler Head: [00:19:56] Really good. Jordan Peele But I would say comedy off the front end.
Austyn Guest: [00:20:00] All right. Nice. Okay. All right. So those were just some quick fun little questions. Thank you, Tyler, for hanging out with us today. We really appreciate it. Can you tell everyone how they can get in touch with you and check out what you’re doing currently?
Speaker3: [00:20:15] Yeah, well, I.
Tyler Head: [00:20:15] Appreciate you guys having me. It’s super fun. I like to talk to you guys again, but easy way to get in touch with me. My name is Tyler Head with CGI Digital. You can schedule time with me if you’re curious about this. We are working with Cherokee County, so everyone that’s probably listening to this has some sort of interest in Cherokee County calendly.com/cgi Tyler or go to CGI digital.com. It’ll be harder to find me there but you can use the Calendly link that I just gave you to set up time with me. Other than that, I’m always around. Someone’s probably interacting with me that, you know, just ask your friends and we’ll be talking to you soon.
Austyn Guest: [00:20:52] All right. Fantastic. Well, we enjoyed our time with you today, and we know our audience will get so much out of hearing your story. Thanks for listening. And we’ll see you on the next one.
BRX Pro Tip: Zero to 1 is Hard
BRX Pro Tip: Zero to 1 is Hard
Stone Payton: [00:00:00] Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, what’s your take, advice, counsel, wisdom on trying to get something off the ground, man, in the early stages?
Lee Kantor: [00:00:14] Well, going from 0 to 1 is super difficult and it’s much more difficult than I think people realize.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:22] Something that I read recently really kind of brought this home to me. Homo sapiens have been around for 300,000 years. The Wright brothers first flight was in 1903. We landed on the moon in 1969. And Voyagers 1 and 2 are currently 14 billion miles from Earth and have passed both Jupiter and Saturn. So, think about that. It took 300,000 years to get to version 1.0 of flight that got us off the ground safely. In the next hundred years, we have been able to safely travel deep into space. That boggles the mind.
Lee Kantor: [00:01:07] So, when you’re creating something from nothing, you have to give yourself some grace. The first version will take the longest, but progress will move faster once that first version has been done well.
BRX Pro Tip: 2 Sales Prospecting for Beginners Tips
BRX Pro Tip: 2 Sales Prospecting for Beginners Tips
Stone Payton: [00:00:00] And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, as you well know, one of the reasons that I was so enamored with the Business RadioX business model methodology ethos well over 18 years ago is because it literally solved the prospecting problem for me. What counsel, if any, do you have with respect to sales prospecting for beginners?
Lee Kantor: [00:00:30] Yeah. A lot of times when this is the first time you’ve been given a sales responsibility, you don’t know where to begin. And I think a great place to begin sales prospecting if you are just starting out or have never done this before is to kind of get a clear idea of who your ideal customer is and build that dream list. And this list should include obviously the people who buy from you, who write you checks, but it should also include the people who refer business to you. It should include the associations that serve those people. It should include some of the influencers, the authors, the writers, the video bloggers, the podcasters who also serve that niche, and really get the lay of the land. So, it should also include your current customers. It should include former customers.
Lee Kantor: [00:01:18] So, if you build this list, this kind of dream list of, okay, this is a group of people that I want to get to know better, I want to learn more from them, I want to learn what they’re up to, what they need, that’s going to help you focus in on the people most important to you. And then, once you’ve identified these people that are most important to you, you have to find ways to elegantly serve them.
Lee Kantor: [00:01:42] So, how are you going to do this? Are you going to do it through education? Are you going to do it by just selling, you know, pitching them, you know, things? I find a lot of people do too much of the pitching and not enough of the educating. A thing that we do at Business RadioX that’s a little different than most people is we build a show around these people and the people that are most important to them. And we interview them and we create a ton of thought leadership and we create a ton of media opportunities for these people that helps our clients build relationships with them directly.
Lee Kantor: [00:02:17] So if you’re struggling with prospecting, I think it’s in your best interest to learn more about Business RadioX because what we’re doing is helping our clients build relationships with the people most important to them, and we can do that at scale and that’s our superpower and that’s what we do every day. So, sales prospecting doesn’t have to be difficult if you have the right tools at your disposal.
Women-Owned Businesses: Why Do They Matter?
In this episode of Women in Motion, hosts Lee Kantor and Dr. Pamela Williamson talk with Vaughn M. Williams III, Principal Supplier Diversity Advisor for SoCal Gas Company, about their supplier diversity program and how they serve underserved groups, such as women-owned businesses. Vaughn shares advice for potential suppliers and tells a success story of a woman-owned business that he mentored and helped grow.
Marianne Ellis, CEO and Founder of CEO Success Community, also joins the conversation to discuss the importance of women-owned businesses and shares her own success story of coaching a woman-owned business to win a contract with a utility company. The show emphasizes the importance of investing in underserved groups and building relationships with corporations and fellow women-owned businesses.
Vaughn M. Williams III currently serves as the Principal Supplier Diversity Advisor for SoCalGas Company. In this capacity he is responsible for ensuring the advancement of small, minority and underrepresented businesses.
This position coincides with his passion of service and economic development. Previously he served as Category Manager for Southern California Gas Company (A Division of Sempra Energy), his responsibilities included management of all staff augmentation, contracts negotiation and management, fostering long-term client relationships in the areas of engineering, food services and Human Resources.
Prior to assuming this role, Vaughn worked as the On-Site Client Services Manager (Sempra Energy Utilities) under the auspices of AgileOne Vendor Management Solutions. He was responsible for the management and integrity of all data utilized under the Vendor Management Tool (Acceleration VMS).
While based in Los Angeles, the Sempra Energy Utilities Account covers all of Southern California to include San Diego and San Luis Obispo.
Connect with Vaughn on LinkedIn.
Marianne Ellis is the CEO/Co-Founder of CEO Success Community–the source for Women & Diversity Owned Businesses seeking Corporate Contracts with Fortune 500 companies. Our mission is to show CEOs the fastest path to increased revenue and growth.
We are a CEO Community membership offering the following business tracks: Get To The Buyer, RFP/Proposal To The Win, Business Innovation, Sales Accelerator, Virtual Conference Maximizer, Business Succession Planning and more. We are proud to have coached thousands of Diversity CEOs.
Major Corporations hire us to coach their Rising Suppliers like SCE, CDW and Martin Harris. Diversity Associations WBENC, WBEC-West, WBEC-Pacific, NAWBO, count on us to run their signature workshops sponsored by IBM, Bank of America, UPS, T-Mobile, Walmart, Accenture and more. CEO Success Community was built on a successful sales practice that averaged more than $100 million in new billing growth in less than 18 months.
We have both sell side and buy-side experience running Fortune 500 RFPs.Marianne is an Amazon #1 Best Selling Co-Author-Women In Business Leading The Way, Member of the Television Academy—annually attending The Emmy’s, Nominee LA Times Inspirational Women of the Year, Two-time Winner WBE Advocate of the Year, Community Impact Award and sought after speaker.
Connect with Marianne on LinkedIn.
About our Co-Host
Dr. Pamela Williamson, President & CEO of WBEC-Westhttps://wbec-west.com/, is an exemplary, dedicated individual, and has extensive experience as a senior leader for over twenty years.
She has served as the CEO of SABA 7 a consulting firm, overseen quality control at a Psychiatric urgent care facility of a National Behavioral Health Care Organization where she served as Vice President and Deputy Director,and has served as the CEO of WBEC-West, since 2008.
Her extensive experience in developing and implementing innovative alliances with key stakeholders has enabled the organizations to reach new levels of growth and stability. Her ability to lead and empower staff members creates a strong team environment which filters throughout the entire organization.
She takes an active role in facilitating connections between corporations and women business enterprises and sees a promising future for WBENC Certified women-owned businesses.
Dr. Williamson holds a Doctorate in Healthcare Administration, a Master’s degrees in Business Administration, and bachelor degrees in both Psychology and Sociology.
Connect with Dr. Williamson on LinkedIn.
Music Provided by M PATH MUSIC
This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix
TRANSCRIPT
Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios. It’s time for Women in Motion. Brought to you by WBEC West. Join forces, Succeed Together. Now here’s your host.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:27] Lee Kantor here with Pamela Williamson. So excited to be kicking off this Women in Motion show. Welcome, Pamela.
Pamela Williamson: [00:00:36] Hi. Thank you. We’re excited to be here today.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:39] And who do we have today in the show?
Pamela Williamson: [00:00:42] Today we have two amazing guests. We have Vaughan M Williams III, who is currently the principal supplier, diversity advisor for SoCal Gas Company. And we have Marianne Ellis, who is the CEO and founder of CEO Success Community.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:58] Well, welcome, both of you. Let’s start the show off with Vaughn Vaughan. Tell us a little bit about SoCalGas Company, how you serving folks.
Vaughn M. Williams III: [00:01:07] So good morning. First and foremost, SoCalGas is one of the largest natural gas utilities in North America. And we are servicing folks in a variety of ways. But in my capacity, we are serving them through supplier diversity. We are working with individuals of many minority distincts, women, LGBTQ service, disabled veteran persons with disability and minorities in general, helping them to really understand the fundamentals of business, helping them to identify opportunities in business, specifically with SoCal Gas from everything from washing a window to building a pipeline throughout the Southern California Basin. And so we are really servicing them in many capacities to afford them the opportunity to create economic strength, to create development, to generate wealth, but most first, mostly to ensure that their business aptitude is such that they can compete with some of the largest companies in the world.
Lee Kantor: [00:02:12] Now, why is it so important to serve groups like women owned businesses and all those underserved groups that you mentioned? Why is it important to dedicate resources specifically to help them, you know, enter the ecosystem?
Vaughn M. Williams III: [00:02:27] Well, I think you hit it with the lead in, which is the underserved. If you look at statistical data across the nation, you’ll see that minorities in general are the most underserved in terms of business opportunity. They can get to the front door, but they can’t always get in or they can put the key in the door, but it may not turn. And my job and my goal is to make sure that that door opens, that that table is set for them to sit at and partake amongst those who they normally would not be able to. It’s important to me personally, as a minority and as an individual from an inner city community where opportunities were not at the forefront to make sure that people have that opportunity to grow and thrive. I always tell people, somebody gave me a hand up and it is my fiduciary and my community duty to ensure that I do the same for others.
Lee Kantor: [00:03:21] So what is some advice you can give a person that wants to work with SoCal Gas Company? What are some of the primary drivers of a successful supplier for you?
Vaughn M. Williams III: [00:03:32] So a successful supplier. One understands the business of socalgas. A successful supplier goes to our annual report on the SoCal Gas website, or they go to the California Public Utilities Commission and they review the projects that Socalgas has done will do and continues to do. They understand the framework, They understand procurement, they partake in the technical assistance and training programs that we offer, and they seek knowledge even when it’s not right in front of them. They ask for that mentorship, they ask for that development, they ask for that feedback, be it positive or negative, because it can only strengthen them in terms of their growth. They actually want to work with you and they bring something to the table. They bring certification to the table, they bring their knowledge, they bring innovation, they bring the tools necessary to take our company to the next level. Because let’s face it, we don’t know everything. But what we do know is that there are suppliers out there who have a wealth of knowledge and experience that can really take us to another plateau. And so a successful supplier for me does just that. They look within to understand what SoCal gas needs are and then they create a solution to some of those needs.
Lee Kantor: [00:04:49] Now, if there’s someone out there listening that thinks they might be a right fit, is it possible to connect with you or somebody on your team to, you know, have a back and forth and really discuss ways that you can work together? Or is this something that they have to come to the table already knowing everything?
Vaughn M. Williams III: [00:05:07] No. If you come to the table already knowing everything, my job is eliminated. To be honest with you, I would really like to have an opportunity to meet with the supplier, to nurture them, to groom them, to identify ways, to help them build capacity, to help them understand what areas of need we have and how they can fit. I would love the back and forth because I consider that mentoring, I consider that development, I consider that job shadowing and I consider that an opportunity to make an impact on them, introduce them to the right purchasers or buyers of goods and services within the company. But I also consider an opportunity to establish relationships that we normally don’t get an opportunity to develop with individuals of such caliber. And so, yes, I welcome that opportunity and I embrace it primarily because it allows me to help an individual grow.
Lee Kantor: [00:06:06] Is there a story you can share? Don’t name the name of the company or the individual, but maybe explain where they were coming from. And then after partnering with you, help how you help you achieve your objectives and help them grow as a business owner.
Vaughn M. Williams III: [00:06:21] Certainly I have several, but I will just go with a company that I met 13 years ago in a hotel lobby in downtown LA. It was a woman owned business and she ran into me and she says, You look familiar. What’s your name? And I told her my name and where I worked for. And she says, Yeah, I saw you at a conference a while ago and I’ve been wanting to talk to you because we provide a valuable service that you need. I said, Really? What’s that? She said, Well, we provide sleep. I said, Well, that’s pretty generic. Can you be more specific? Well, she couldn’t at the time, but she had enough courage to talk to me. So it brought it piqued my interest and we began to talk and develop. She went through several technical assistance workshops. She learned the fundamentals of business. She learned how to introduce her business to others, which we call an elevator pitch. So she finessed it. What I didn’t know at the time was that she knew nothing about business. She just had a product. And so over time, we got her to a point where she could compete for contract opportunities. I’ll be honest with you. The first two years I knew she wasn’t going to win because we were still developing her. But by year three, she was in the game. Year four, she obtained a contract. That contract was for $6 million, which is pretty much unheard of. Most people get a $75,000 contract their first time out the gate. But she nailed it. And all of the business owners or business units, rather, were so impressed, they said, we’re going to give her a chance. And they allowed her to purchase a majority of the fleet for one of our regions. So that to me was success, because she came to me. We met not knowing anything about each other. We developed a relationship. She was mentored. She was trained. She learned the business acumen. She understood SoCal socalgas culture and needs, and she became innovative in the way she approached solutions to that need.
Lee Kantor: [00:08:19] And that’s a great lesson for the listener. Patience is an important component here, right? Like you, even if you come to the table with certain skills, you it takes a while to build the trust and to build the expertise you need to serve that specific supplier that you’re looking for. Right? Like patience is an important component. This is not an ATM machine where you just put your card in and money comes out right.
Vaughn M. Williams III: [00:08:49] Patience is a virtue, and I had to learn that myself. And I’ll tell you why. Because my first few years at SoCal Gas, I too was in procurement, and I didn’t really understand why people of minority background weren’t getting opportunities knowing that they had the skills and expertise. But what I had to learn through the hard lessons of life was that sometimes the opportunity was not uniquely designed for a particular business. Sometimes the opportunities that are before you are not the ones that will really allow you to shine and succeed. And so with being patient, you land that right opportunity, you land something that’s going to allow you to nurture yourself, to create that economic stimulus for the community that you’re serving, and it’s going to allow you to sustain. What I also learned about patience is that when you have patience, you end up in situations that create long term opportunity. Sometimes when you’re just quick to draw or you want to jump right in, you miss out on a long term blessing.
Lee Kantor: [00:09:52] Now, how important is Quebec West and other associations like that as part of the ecosystem?
Vaughn M. Williams III: [00:10:00] So for me, the ecosystem would not be complete without the bequest of the world. Because they create those suppliers. They really take the time out to nurture those suppliers. They take the time out to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a supplier, and then they take the time out to create programs that prepare suppliers for success. They prepare women who are maybe on the cusp of doing something great, but they’re missing either the financial acumen or they’re missing the knowledge, or they’re even missing that proper business plan. We Beck West prepares them for those things so that when they come to me, they are a complete package. Without those organizations, I would spend my wheels just trying to get suppliers to even understand basic fundamentals like time management, accounting, preparation, capability statement. I mean, let’s face it, a lot of people can tell you what they do, but it’s a whole nother thing to have it put on paper or in print for others to see. We Beck West does all that for me, it’s an amazing partnership. And without people like that in my organization, I just don’t know that as supplier diversity professionals, we would have the bandwidth to create so many success stories.
Lee Kantor: [00:11:20] Now, can we talk a little bit about your procurement life cycle just to educate our listeners if they want to plug in and so they understand kind of the lay of the land?
Vaughn M. Williams III: [00:11:32] Absolutely. So our procurement life cycle is very unique. Some people tell you, Oh, just sign up on the portal. I don’t tell people to sign up on a portal because it could get lost in the abyss for our procurement life cycle. It starts with a sit down conversation with myself and others in Supplier Diversity. We then personally try to get you registered in our Ariba system by sending you an invite. We then take you on to meetings with the procurement agents and the business units. Then you’re invited to some bid opportunities, but not always, because sometimes there are some sole source opportunities or standalone opportunities. So with that, we help you to understand terms and conditions. We help you to negotiate the right terms for your company, and we also work with you to get the right payment terms from there. The contract itself is negotiated, it’s initiated and executed. After the contract is executed, then the fun begins because then we kind of mentor you and make sure that the mistakes that others have made you don’t make. If we see you going in the direction that you shouldn’t be, we kind of pull your coattail so that you are successful. From there, we make sure that your payments are submitted, your invoices are submitted on time, and then we make sure that if there are any errors that you know about it. Also, within the procurement life cycle, we have what’s called SRM supplier relationship management. That means that we work with you, the supplier, to cultivate a relationship that is tangible with the business unit. We have quarterly meetings where we have both sides to tell what they’re experiencing, what is the successes and what are the failures. And then we talk about solutions and then we have a go forward plan. This creates a full procurement life cycle as it allows you to go from cradle to grave in your contract opportunity, but it also allows you to stay within the cycle for future contract opportunities.
Lee Kantor: [00:13:29] So if somebody wants to connect with you or somebody on the team to learn more, what are the coordinates?
Vaughn M. Williams III: [00:13:35] The coordinates are for individuals who are already a part of Quebec West. My information is there, but for those who are just listening and wanting to to meet me, two things they can do. They can reach out to me via email at V williams@socalgas.com, or they can contact Dr. Pamela Williamson and her tremendous staff who work tirelessly to make sure that we remain in contact and to make sure that opportunities avail themselves. And so my personal recommendation is being a part of Quebec West because you get only not only the life cycle, but you get the exposure to people like me on a regular basis. And I talk to the Quebec West team very consistently, and so I know who’s for the company. I know what suppliers will make an impact, and I pretty much know which suppliers I need to work with on a more consistent basis. So I would say either option, but my preference is directly through Quebec West.
Marianne Ellis: [00:14:37] Well, this is Marianne. Before Vaughn signs off, I just want to do a big shout out and thank you to Vaughnn. I am a woman owned business and I have been part of and was hired by Dr. Pamela Williamson for her platinum supplier program that Vaughn just spoke of. I next year will be my 10th year of doing it. Von has showed up every year for a decade as one of the corporations, year after year, to listen to these newly certified women owned business owners, share their capability statements and do their 92nd pitch. So to both Pamela and Vaughn, I want to thank them both and please continue.
Lee Kantor: [00:15:15] Well, Vaughn, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.
Vaughn M. Williams III: [00:15:22] It’s my esteemed pleasure. I appreciate the time and I look forward to future encounters with both you and the organization. Have a great day.
Lee Kantor: [00:15:30] All right. Well, next up, Marianne Ellis with CEO Success Community. Welcome, Marianne.
Marianne Ellis: [00:15:38] Hi. Thank you.
Lee Kantor: [00:15:39] Well, before we get too far into things, tell us about CEO success community, how you serving folks?
Marianne Ellis: [00:15:46] Well, first of all, I’ll tell you what I do, but I have to thank Dr. Pamela Williamson. I wouldn’t be in business if it wasn’t for her. So I’ll tell you what I do and then I’ll thank her again. So CEO Success community is the source for women and diversity owned businesses seeking corporate contracts with Fortune 500 companies. We help them make the connection and be prepared to go and pitch to a Vaughan Williams at SoCal Gas. So we have workshops like Get to the Buyer RFP proposal to the win business innovation, sales, accelerator, business, succession planning and more. We are so proud next year will be our 10th year working for Wiebach West. We also work for Webbank Pacific. We Bank National, we’ve been hired by Southern California Edison, PGA and CDW. So it has really been an honor to serve this community and my background has everything to do with being in sales and new business, helping companies close over $100 million in less than 18 months. And I was a buyer for for almost five years in a $16 billion spend pool. So I’ve been on Vons side. I’ve been on the small business owner side. I’ve never been on the association side like Dr. Pamela Williamson, but she runs an amazing organization now.
Lee Kantor: [00:17:14] Why do you think it’s important to have resources dedicated to serving women owned businesses? Why should organizations really invest in these underserved groups like they do?
Marianne Ellis: [00:17:28] Um, first, let’s go by the numbers. Women owned businesses in the United States represent 11.6 million firms. They employ 9 million people, and they generate 1.7 trillion in sales. So there is a very important economic reason. And then what? But what troubles me. So I’m going to do a little shout out to American Express. They did a state of the women owned business in 2019, and I’ve been begging them to update their study. They broke it out not just by women versus men, but they also broke it out in various components. And I think this is an area that needs to be examined. But by the number women business owners matter. The other point that I would make quickly, Lee, is since the start of the pandemic, women have become the leading drivers of business creation in the United States. So in 20 to 2020, 20 to 2021, women accounted for 49% of new business launches, compared to 42% for men, and that was up 28% since 2019. And that was a study done by Giusto and HR Software Company.
Lee Kantor: [00:18:40] Now, sadly, a lot of women owned businesses, while they exist and they’re growing and they’re launching, they’re not achieving kind of that million dollar RR, a level that some of the male owned companies are. Are the stats still that way? I know I read about this a while ago. Is that still the case? And if it is, what can be done to improve that?
Marianne Ellis: [00:19:06] Um, first of all, there’s a lot of mega women owned businesses, so I want to also congratulate all of those that are over 50 million and over 20 million. But yes, we do have a challenge right now. Again, according to American Express, only 4.2% of all women business owners have gone over the 1 million in annual sales. Mark, I think there are five areas, my areas, business coaching and business development. I’m really a growth coach machine and I think there are five things that women business owners need to do to accelerate up to a million. One is having a one page business plan, believe it or not, having a plan with metrics that you check quarter over quarter, year over year that will get you to grow investing and hiring. There is seems a bit of reluctance, a bit too conservative on hiring, investing smart. And we can also have quite a dialog about the struggle for capital. I also feel that the women business owners need to take more calculated risks and I really think they need strong advisors around them. So that’s maybe a bit broad, but I’ve probably coached over 3000 women and diverse business owners and these are the consistent things that I see that are missing, that if they were in place that would help them accelerate and grow to up and over a million.
Lee Kantor: [00:20:35] Do you find that at some level the women business leaders are just not dreaming big enough?
Marianne Ellis: [00:20:46] I have to really pause. I think women and I don’t like to do gender. I don’t like to paint people into corners. But there was a study recently done in the VC community and they were talking about why does 80% of the funding, VC funding, venture capital funding go to men? And one of them was the issue that women are too realistic on their projections. And so if you take that as an anchor point and you say that is realistic and pragmatic, they’re not exaggerating enough when they go out and ask for funding. So I don’t know if that’s a function of not dreaming big enough or just trying to be realists. Um, that’s a that’s a very hard question. I don’t want to paint women in a corner that way because there are some real big visionaries in our industry. I mean, I could name so many. I want to be careful not to name any company names, as you advised Von, but there are some extraordinary women business owners that can compete against the big companies and win. So I think perhaps they’re just they just need to stretch more and have the right advisors and take the right calculated next steps.
Lee Kantor: [00:22:08] Yeah, I’ve interviewed many women leaders and coaches and something that stuck with me about one that was a recruiter is when they were offering a woman a job. They would not they would kind of self-select out if it wasn’t an exact match, whereas a man sometimes will just take the job and say, I’ll figure it out when I get there.
Marianne Ellis: [00:22:32] That’s a very famous study. Lee That was done by HP many years ago, and there are so many studies in this area. I try to always anchor anything that I say and do, and that is actually correct. I think it was if men can do 60% of a job, they will go for it. Women feel they have to be able to do 120%. So I think this is, again, about being realistic, practical, pragmatic. And I think sometimes we just need to go for it a little bit more. And that, I think, is the role of having good advisors around the woman business owner also true for diversity business owners that they can do it with the right steps in place.
Lee Kantor: [00:23:16] So now is there any advice you can share other than, I guess, having a good partner with you or an advisor that’s kind of watching your back and helping you? But if a woman says, You know what, I want to kind of get into this corporate contracting world, is there some advice that you found is effective when entering that space and succeeding in that space?
Marianne Ellis: [00:23:41] I think in the area of corporate contracting, I think there’s I call it the three R’s. It’s relationships, reputation and being relentless. And the first R is no one’s going to buy from you until they know you and until they trust you. So there is a degree of relationship building that is very, very important. And, you know, I again, think about men in the golf course and how they build the relationships. You know, how can we parallel that so that relationship we have opportunities at. There’ll be a September event that Dr. Pamela Williamson will be hosting with Reebok West, I believe it’s going to be in Tucson, where she’s going to bring all these corporations together with the women business owners. So these are important times, whether it’s in a virtual event or an in-person event where we can build the relationships with these corporations. And then the second area is reputation in what are you doing as a business owner so that the the buyers know that you are best in class, that they know that you are innovating and that you’re worth the cost of change. We have to be realistic. Every corporation right now probably has a one, 2 or 3 suppliers in the area that we do business. What are we doing to communicate that We have innovated, We have a better solution. And I think Vaughn touched on some of that. And then the last area is relentlessness. Um, I found a study by the National Sales Institute that 80% of all sales are made between the fifth and 12th contact with a corporation. But most business owners give up after the third or the second. And I think you have to be relentlessly relevant, constantly providing information about how your company can serve SoCal Gas as an example, what you’ve done for other utility or gas companies, how you are delivering in the marketplace. And I think Vaughn said it can take 18 months, two years, three years, four years. You have to stay at it now.
Lee Kantor: [00:25:59] Pamela, can you share your take on how a woman owned business person can be successful in corporate contracting?
Pamela Williamson: [00:26:11] Yeah, I’m going to end up echoing a lot of what Marianne said, but I do think it takes some tenacity. And she is absolutely right that a lot of people give up after the second or third encounter, and you really have to go beyond that. I also think part of it is truly building authentic relationships. They need to get to know you. And and that echoes what Mary Ann said about are you worth the cost of change? Because corporations already have contracts in place. They have built trust in their existing supplier. So you’re coming in saying to them, I have a better product or service and I’m worth the cost of change. And not only am I worth the cost of change, I am also a sustainable change. So the hardest thing for a company to do is switch an existing supplier. So it is really important to be able to show up. Make sure that you show up reliably, consistently, and that you’re able to communicate what makes you better, quicker, faster. And are more effective.
Lee Kantor: [00:27:20] Is. Can either one of you share a story that kind of illustrates that, where somebody came out and and really made a mark for themselves where they hadn’t been doing this before, whether they were part of Quebec West or a story, Marianne, that you might have found from one of your coaching clients, were you able to help them kind of insert themselves and really get to a new level?
Marianne Ellis: [00:27:47] Um, I can share a recent story and then I know Pamela has so many because all the corporations look to Weboc West for referrals. And if anybody’s listening, please make sure that Dr. Pamela Williamson, Jamie Lomax, who is a wonderful vice president there, and her whole team, makes sure that if you are a small woman business owner and you’re certified with we back West, that they know about you because the corporations count on them. So I’m going to go to a supplier that was in the construction field and she was trying very hard to connect with the utility company. And she repeatedly showed up at the Platinum Supplier showcase that’s offered by Wiebach West. And finally, from repeatedly showing up, she received a capability presentation. And then you have to start to what I call go down the gantlet. So first you make a connection. Then this person connected at a networking event online, and then this person connected again at a networking event in person. And then they showed up. The next year, they took the platinum supplier course again and showcased and then they got asked to do a capability presentation. So again, this is the period of time because when they first presented that corporation already had a supplier that they were very happy with.
Marianne Ellis: [00:29:17] But over time, not only did this business owner build a relationship with supplier diversity, but also with the buyers in the business unit. So she had a friend who knew a friend who gave her an introduction. So when the time came for an RFP, she had to earn it the hard way. But we went through the process. She filled out the RFP. She was competitive on her pricing. I mean, there must have been 40 to 43 questions she had to answer, and she did all that. She scored in the top. Then she had to negotiate her terms and conditions. So I would call this Lee a journey. If you want to do corporate contracting, this is not a quick hit one and done. You are on a journey to build a relationship, to get known, to create. And also many times you need to know multiple individuals within that company supplier diversity procurement, the buying unit. So I would say it’s been a pleasure to watch so many of these women business owners win in corporate contracting, but it’s been a journey.
Lee Kantor: [00:30:31] And as part of your work kind of explaining and managing the expectations for your clients because it isn’t something that you just put your name on a list and wait your turn right? You have to make the investment in time and energy in showing up, like you said, probably take leadership positions in the different groups so that people get to know you and watch you so they can trust you.
Marianne Ellis: [00:30:54] So I would say absolutely. I mean, if anyone’s listening, when you are certified with Webrequest, you have the chance to join the forum. So they in each city, they have forum leadership. And that’s a great opportunity for corporations to see you and for you to showcase. We go to trade shows where we just got back from a big trade show in Nashville. There’ll be an opportunity also in September in Tucson, so there are lots of chances to increase your visibility and that important are of reputation. So I think there are opportunities out there. You have to grab them and take them. You cannot be invisible and passive.
Lee Kantor: [00:31:35] Now, what’s your backstory? How did you get involved in this line of work?
Marianne Ellis: [00:31:39] I. I never expected to be in this line of work, so I have to chuckle. I spent my first part of my career in advertising, which is why I get to go to the Emmys every year and wear an incredible dress. So I’m a member of the television academy, so I did commercials in the in that in that space, and I thought I was going to retire. So that was my first retirement. Um, I had a friend of mine who said, Hey, I have this certification, but I don’t know what to do with it. She was one of the largest women owned advertising agencies in the country. And so I left the big agency world and I helped her learn how to use her certification. And the first client was Allstate. And she bet that she said for years she’d been trying to get business from them. So I said, I bet you in three months I can do it. And I went to an event and I was meeting with Allstate and I was able to create a meeting opportunity for this company. But really, how I got into coaching has everything to do with a crying woman on the couch who didn’t know how to do a matchmaker meeting with a corporation.
Marianne Ellis: [00:32:47] And since I’d been in selling, I was able to show her how to do that. And she didn’t leave the trade show crying. Instead, she wound up getting a capability presentation which led to a contract. And because of that experience, we back Pacific said, Well, wait a minute, can you do matchmaker success? And suddenly I was doing webinars with Amgen and Disney on how to speak to corporations and how to pitch corporations. And so this was kind of a side job. At the same time, a friend of mine who had a buying consultancy said Marianne Porsche needs someone to help them by product placement. Would you like to go on the buy team? So I went on the buy side for four years while I was trying to help some diversity business owner. So it’s I’ve been a seller, I’ve been a buyer and I know how to coach, and here’s where I am today with CEO Success community. So it’s it’s been a journey for me. I never expected to be here, but I’m very grateful to be of service.
Lee Kantor: [00:33:53] And when you’re working with women owned business leaders, is there some mistakes you see them making maybe kind of over and over again where you’re like, here we go again?
Marianne Ellis: [00:34:05] Um, I think the mistakes that I see over and over again is going to go back to what Dr. Pamela Williamson just said. Not enough tenacity they need to really. Respectfully stay on it until they win a contract once again when they’ve made when, you know, we work very hard to make sure you target the right companies that you’re qualified for and that are that you can provide a service better than what they have right now. So I think the mistakes that I made, that I see time and time again is not being providing relevant information in a relentless way and and an impressive way. So just giving up too soon.
Lee Kantor: [00:34:47] Now, over the years you’ve been doing this, Is there been a story that has been kind of most rewarding where you saw that, hey, there, They’ve been working really hard. They’ve been trying really hard. Their efforts have really paid off. And not only will this impact them and their firm, but this is something that might even impact their community.
Marianne Ellis: [00:35:07] I see a lot of business owners giving back to the community, I mean, if that’s what you’re talking about. So a story of where I mean, a lot of these business owners, they help each other and that’s truly magical. So some of these business owners will get a big corporate contract. And then over time, when they I think it’s so I think Jamie Lomax came up with that phrase, hook a sister up. So a great story is where one business owner had a big automotive client and they were successfully working with them. And a fellow business owner said, I’ve always wanted to work for them. And at the right time and at the right moment, one business owner allowed another business owner to meet this big automotive client, do a capability presentation, and now they both work for this automotive client. So again, the relationships are both two ways with corporations are important and equally important. The relationships with your fellow women, business owners and diversity business owners.
Lee Kantor: [00:36:13] So is that your favorite part, like seeing somebody that you’ve worked with go on to great things, or is it, you know, is that as rewarding for yourself to individually get a new client?
Speaker6: [00:36:28] And what’s most.
[00:36:29] Exciting to me is when business owners win, it is so hard to win, and win comes in many ways. You can win by making a key strategic hire, and I see that you can win by getting capital funding for new machinery that you need or a new division. I get excited when I see them win. Just a capability meeting which done right will hopefully lead to a contract opportunity. So to me, there is so many ways to applaud the small business owner because it does take a journey and every step of the way. These are the decisions. One company since I’m hired by Southern California Edison is a business coach. It was really rewarding to watch the the business owner go from 12 employees to 500 and then sell their company.
Lee Kantor: [00:37:29] So what do you need more of? How can we help you?
Marianne Ellis: [00:37:34] Um, I to me right now, every opportunity that I have to help business owners, I’m grateful. I just most recently have been asked to help do more workshops. So, you know, being funded by major corporations for workshops and getting the word out. Um, the opportunity to continue to work for Dr. Pamela Williamson. I’m grateful. So to me, I would say if there’s a corporation that’s hearing this right now, there are a lot of business owners that can’t afford a business coach. And so if you can sponsor a small business owner for coaching, that would be a huge ask that I would make the business owners, they have so many things they need to pay for. So whether you sponsor the platinum supplier program through We West or you come to me as CEO success community and say, I want to sponsor a business owner in your program. Um, I say help a business, help a small business owner. That’s what I would like to ask for.
Lee Kantor: [00:38:41] Well, good stuff. Thank you so much for sharing your story. If somebody wants to connect with you or somebody on the team, what’s the best way to do that?
Marianne Ellis: [00:38:48] I think the best way to reach out to me because my inbox is constantly flooded. I am most responsive on LinkedIn. So for your listeners, if you go on LinkedIn and say, I, you know, I heard you with Lee and Dr. Pamela Williamson on Women in Motion or I heard you on the radio and then you go to instant message on LinkedIn. That’s the easiest way to reach me. I also have a website SEO SEO success community.com. Um, but I just again I want to thank Wiebach West. I wouldn’t have SEO success community without them.
Lee Kantor: [00:39:26] All right. Well, thank you, Mary, for sharing your story. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.
Marianne Ellis: [00:39:31] Thank you.
Lee Kantor: [00:39:32] Pamela. This is a wrap for this episode of Women in Motion. What do we have to look forward to in future episodes?
Pamela Williamson: [00:39:41] So what we have to look forward to in future episodes is we have some more exciting WBE’S talking about how they are increasing the economic vitality in the communities they serve. We have corporations coming to talk with us a little bit about what they do and how they impact the ecosystem of women, business enterprises. And just a lot more stories, you know, stories. I think the sharing of stories help to motivate others to step outside of their comfort zone and to try a business or to at least pick up the phone and make a call to either a Mary Ann or to Webc West. And that’s what this is all about, just providing information and inspiration.
Lee Kantor: [00:40:26] Absolutely. And and it takes them taking action in order to make this all go. So we’re giving them the information and the education, but they have to take the action, definitely. Well, Pamela, thank you so much for allowing me to be part of this. This is Lee Kantor for Pamela Williamson. We will see you all next time on Women in Motion.
The Wrap Podcast | Episode 059: Balancing Mission and Funding in the Nonprofit Industry | Warren Averett
While many industries are facing post-pandemic issues with labor shortages and changing regulations, organizations in the nonprofit industry often see these issues amplified due to their tighter budgets and compliance requirements. The need for nonprofit services is higher than ever before, but pandemic funding from PPP loans, the CARES Act and ERTC credits is disappearing.
So, how do nonprofits keep up?
Hosts Kim Hartsock, CPA and Paul Perry, FHFMA, CISM, CITP, CPA, CDPSE are joined by two of the firm’s nonprofit industry experts Michelle Sanchez, CPA, and Jennifer Williams, CPA, to discuss how nonprofits should use their missions to build overall business strategies. Learn how your nonprofit can address funding, hiring and budgeting issues in this episode of The Wrap.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
- Information about how labor shortages and turnovers are affecting the nonprofit industry’s ability to find the best employees
- Commentary on budgeting and finding sources of funding in a post-pandemic world
- Insight and advice on whether ERTC funds might be too good to be true
- Advice on how to use your nonprofit’s mission to build an overall business strategy
Resources for additional information:
- Previous Podcast Episode: Building a Strong Board of Directors for Your Nonprofit
- Blog: Nonprofit Ratios: How to Use Them and What They Measure for Your Organization
- Blog: Financial Best Practices for Nonprofit Organizations [And Why They Are So Dependent on Timely and Accurate Financial Reporting]
- Blog: How to Make a Nonprofit Budget [Six Steps for Success]
- Blog: What Does it Mean to Be a Nonprofit Organization?
- Event Invitations: Subscribe to receive invitations to future Nonprofit Roundtables.
TRANSCRIPT
Commentators (0:03): Hey, I’m Paul Perry. I’m Kim Hartsock, and you’re listening to The Wrap, a Warren Averett podcast for businesses designed to help you access vital business information and trends when you need it. So, you can listen, learn and then get on with your day. Now, let’s get down to business.
Kim Hartsock (0:20): Glad to be back for another episode of The Wrap. Today, we are talking all things nonprofit. So, I’m looking forward to this conversation, and we have a couple of returning guests.
Paul Perry (0:30): For those that know… we are referencing another old episode. So, if you remember back in Episode 16, we talked a lot about trying to find the best board of directors. It was a great episode, and we were in person for that podcast down in Tampa. Michelle is back with us today as well as Jennifer Williams. Ladies, welcome to the podcast.
Jennifer Williams (0:53): Good afternoon, Paul and Kim.
Michelle Sanchez (0:54): Thank you. Paul and Kim, I’m happy to be back. I am Michelle Sanchez, as Paul said. I’m a Member here in our Tampa office of the firm, and my specialty is nonprofits. That’s a wide range of things within that nonprofit space. But I really love just being a business advisor and helping and supporting our clients as they further their mission in the community.
Paul Perry (1:18): We also have Jennifer Williams with us.
Jennifer Williams (1:21): Yes, good afternoon. Jennifer Williams, I’m joining you from our Atlanta office. I’ve spent my career working with nonprofits, and I spend a lot of time working on Single Audits in the federal government award space as well. So happy to join everyone this afternoon.
Kim Hartsock (1:37): So, what are you seeing in terms of the challenges that the nonprofit leaders are facing right now? Maybe some of them are unique to nonprofits. Maybe you’re seeing things that other businesses are seeing as well, but fill us in on what’s going on right now in the industry?
Michelle Sanchez (1:54): I think I’ll kick it off, and then pass it to Jen. I think a lot of the things that—like you mentioned—we’re seeing in nonprofit space are things that a lot of companies are facing right now. One thing that we’re hearing consistently is the labor challenges and the war on talent, which has always been somewhat of an issue for nonprofits. But I think in the last couple of years, that’s really been amplified. Jennifer and I spend a lot of time talking about that. There’s such a war for that talent right now. In the past, we used to find that people had such heart and passion for working with nonprofits that a little bit of that salary gap really didn’t make a difference. You know, they were committed to working and doing that. But as you know, wages continue to rise, and that gap gets bigger and bigger. It’s harder for a lot of those folks to justify staying. So, we’re seeing in our market a lot of turnover, and nonprofits are just having a tough time recruiting and retaining those positions.
Jennifer Williams (1:54): Yeah. I think, Michelle, we talked about, you know, it’s turnover at times where, in the nonprofit industry, a lot of the talent stays for many, many years, because they’re just really dedicated to the mission. You’re seeing more turnover than normal in those positions and, as we all know, having to retrain and find employees. I think you had a client tell you and I’ve had the same, “You know, this is the best that I could hire for my budget.” But when you’re having to replace them and train them at times, you need to start considering, do you need to be paying more? You know, how to approach that or how to get a little creative there.
Paul Perry (3:43): Yeah. Can you talk a little bit about budgets? I can imagine funding and sources of funding is one of the other challenges you see, and can talk to what you are seeing in your nonprofits that you talk to on a daily basis? What are they doing? Are they having to get creative? How do they solve that funding issue?
Michelle Sanchez (4:04): If we only had the one silver bullet for that, Paul, but that’s a pretty complex issue. I think a lot of nonprofits got a little bit reliant on money coming in through the pandemic. Not only was the need for services higher than ever before, but we’re seeing some of those special circumstances funding your PPP loans, your ERTC credits, which is a whole other issue we can talk about. But you know, all the CARES Act funding and the PRF funding. For a couple years, nonprofits were just getting money from a lot of different places. Unfortunately, some of those have been a little bit reliant on that funding. So, now that we’re coming out of the pandemic and that funding is going away, they’re having to really look at expanding and diversifying—but at the same time staying true to their mission—to try to replace some of those funding sources because the need didn’t go away, but the funding dollars are starting to go away.
Jennifer Williams (5:05): I would agree. As far as getting creative, I think that looking at technology solutions is a big place where our nonprofits are having to look, you know, how you used to give has changed. Just being able to give through an app or in other ways is becoming important, but with technology solutions is also coming cost, right? So, there’s a cost and investing in that technology, and that isn’t something that necessarily was anticipated. So, it’s a balance and figuring out how much technology to invest in because giving patterns have changed.
Kim Hartsock (5:45): Michelle, you alluded to this, but you know, the CARES Act and the reporting that goes along with that. It feels like the nonprofits over the past years have had more and more and more in terms of compliance. So how are nonprofits dealing with that?
Michelle Sanchez (6:03): Yeah, that’s a really good point. Even for-profit companies that got federal funding that were never used to getting it. All of a sudden, they found themselves in this situation where they’ve got to report, file and do all these compliance requirements. The risk is that we go back to the turnover, the changes in all this funding and compliance. You have people in those positions that really aren’t as experienced as you want them to be to handle that reporting and compliance. So, it is definitely a risk to make sure that you’re doing everything. I have some clients in the medical and healthcare space that got money from PRF and from the CARES Act without even asking for it. So, it’s like, “Okay, we have the money. Now we have to figure out how to spend it.” They needed to be really careful about what they’re spending it on and making sure that they are hitting those compliance requirements. For your seasoned nonprofits that are used to having those Single Audits and compliance reporting, this was not as big of a deal. You know, as sort of the ones that were under the radar before that, now have found themselves in that position.
Paul Perry (7:14): You mentioned the ERTC, Michelle, I mean, that’s what everybody’s hearing lately. How’s that impacting nonprofits specifically, or is it pretty much the same as all other industries?
Michelle Sanchez (7:28): I’ve seen it similar in other industries. You know that saying that it’s too good to be true? Sometimes it is with the ERTC credits. Now, there are a lot of companies that qualify, either through the loss of revenues or the government-mandated shutdowns. But, as you all know, there’s a lot of firms out there pushing these ERTC credits, because they’re getting an upfront contingent fee and saying, “Hey, we can get you a $4 million ERTC credit.” They’re not really taking the time to dig into the details of does that government shutdown really apply to the rules? I think, when you’re looking at having a lack of funding, if someone comes to you and says, “Hey, we can qualify you, and you can get $4 million,” most companies are going to say, “Okay, yeah, let’s do it.”
I think they just need to be careful. Because if you’re not certain, if you don’t have your documentation and haven’t vetted that thoroughly, that’s a liability. You may have to pay that money back. Even if you get the money, it’s open to a seven-year period of being audited. If you have to pay it back, that’s interest and penalties. The IRS has put notices out there to tell people to be careful and on the lookout for these schemes. Jennifer, are you seeing the same in your client base?
Jennifer Williams (8:49): Yeah, I actually got the first email from a client last night where they hired someone else to do the ERTC work, and they were aggressively pursued. Then, the IRS agent actually showed up to ask some questions. So, I think that it’s definitely beginning.
Michelle Sanchez (9:08): Yeah. I think personally that if I’m getting calls on my personal cell phone, you know, five times a week that I qualify for an ERTC credit, that should give people a little bit of pause and not just blindly follow these companies that are out there doing it.
Commentators (9:28): Want to receive a monthly newsletter with The Wrap topics? Then, head on over to https://warrenaverett.com/thewrap, and subscribe to our email list to have it delivered right to your inbox. Now, back to the show.
Kim Hartsock (9:38): We’ve talked a lot about the challenges that are facing the industry. What would your advice be to the leaders of these nonprofits? What should they be focused on? What should they be really spending their time on?
Michelle Sanchez (9:51): One thing, Kim, is strategy and taking a step back. You know, we all took an internal look at our own lives during the pandemic. You know, how can we change? How can we do things better? How can we do things different? I think, business for-profit and nonprofits are no different. It’s a good time to really look at what you’re doing. Look at what you’re doing well and what’s impactful to your mission. Looking at those four quadrants where you have high impact, high mission…or high profit. Or, the opposite, low profit, low impact. Focus on the things that you do well and that are aligned with your mission. When you have to look at expenses, you really need to be focusing your costs and expenses on things that are going to be profitable and that are in alignment with your mission.
So, it’s a really good time to step back, do a reset and look at your overall strategy. Make that strategy and planning part of your annual process or your annual strategic meetings, so that you’re always moving ahead. It’s easy to chase the dollars. You know, a lot of times, you’ll see nonprofits that may make a lot of money doing something that’s totally not aligned with their mission. People are looking at that. Donors and funders, they want to make sure that you’re walking the walk and talking the talk. So, make sure you’re focusing on what aligns with your mission. If there’s something that’s really high impact but not very profitable, figure out how you can make that profitable. If you can’t, consider: do we need to keep doing this? I just think it’s a good time in this environment to take a step back and reassess what you’re doing and where you’re going.
Jennifer Williams (11:37): I think a lot of nonprofits are really, as they should be, focused on ratios. They’re focused on, “How much am I spending of the dollar on programming versus how much am I spending on this management in general bucket?” and looking at the ratios. But I think that, as part of that process is really looking at how do we align our mission? Where do we spend our dollars? Really using and harnessing that technology to be able to tell your story, it’s told in a way other than ratios. Really using technology and the way to reach people, which is different now, to tell your story.
Michelle Sanchez (12:17): Just to piggyback off of Jennifer, just telling your story? That’s really important. That’s what’s going to reach funders and donors today. A lot of nonprofits are going to use some type of impact report, almost similar to what for-profit companies might be thinking about. We’ve all heard of ESG. That governance, who you are, your mission and what you do. That’s a good tool for nonprofits to start thinking about. Maybe not a full ESG report, but looking at an impact report. “How do I tell the story of what we do? What really matters?” You know, it’s not about this ratio, but… “How many meals are we serving? How many people are we serving?” That’s what people want to know. That’s what people want to give to, they want to give to the folks that are following their mission in those footsteps.
Paul Perry (13:08): Here on The Wrap, we’d like to wrap it up in 60 seconds or less. What’s the one thing you want our listeners to think about and remember, from this discussion, as it relates to nonprofit industries, their challenges and their opportunities to overcome in today’s world?
Michelle Sanchez (13:25): I would actually say two things. One we touched on is really your mindset. Nonprofit is not no profit, it’s a task of making sure you’re thinking about it like a business, but still staying true to your mission, and I think that is key. Then, also just stepping back and focusing on your mission. You know, telling your story and getting your story out there about what you do and who you are. Don’t be afraid to reassess that. In challenging times, you have to sometimes make some tough decisions. And like I said, it’s a great time to reset.
Jennifer Williams (14:02): Yeah, I would agree. It’s hard to beat that, Michelle. But I go back to just taking a step back and realizing that things have changed. That, what was done a few years ago is different now. Really just looking at the technology solutions and people solutions and changing your mindset.
Kim Hartsock (14:27): Well, thank you both for joining us today. It was great to have you on and great to see you. Paul and I will look forward to the next episode. See our listeners then.
Commentators (14:41): And that’s a wrap. If you’re enjoying the podcast, please leave a review on your streaming platform. To check out more episodes, subscribe to the podcast series or make a suggestion of other topics you want to hear, visit us at https://warrenaverett.com/thewrap.