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BRX Pro Tip: Spotlighting Your Customers or Members

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BRX Pro Tips
BRX Pro Tip: Spotlighting Your Customers or Members
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BRX Pro Tip: Spotlighting Your Customers or Members

Stone Payton: Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips, Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, speak a little bit to this idea of spotlighting your customers or members and how it can impact your growth.

Lee Kantor: I think a lot of especially larger organizations, enterprise level companies that have lots of customers, I think a great strategy for them to grow is to just focus on spotlighting their customers and clients and members. I think that that can help them in so many different ways. If they spend some energy of just one at a time spotlighting, promoting, and just generally appreciating and telling the stories of each and every one of their customers, that’s going to accelerate their business growth.

Lee Kantor: Number one, they’re going to get a loyal customer. That person is never going to leave. If that business spotlighted them and helped them get one more client, that person can be super appreciative. And then, it’s showing to the world like, hey, our customers are really important to us. Look at us investing time, energy, and resources to help them get the word out.

Lee Kantor: So, when you highlight your customer successes, you celebrate their milestones, you share their stories across your platforms, you’re doing far more than just expressing gratitude. You’re creating powerful social proof that attracts new prospects and deepens loyalty among the existing client base. And they’re going to be raving fans where they’re going to help you find your next client. So, helping your client get one more client of their own is going to create that customer and raving fan for life.

Lee Kantor: So, when you spotlight them, promote them, and show genuine love to your customers or members, you’re transforming them into just another transactional client, into an advocate who is going to fuel your growth because they’re going to trust you, they’re going to be loyal to you, and they’re going to give you that word of mouth appreciation that you so desperately need to thrive in today’s competitive landscape. This approach not only accelerates business results, but it also builds a vibrant, engaged community that’s going to sustain long term success.

Transform Your Job Search: Embrace Change and Find Meaningful Work

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Greater Perimeter Business Radio
Transform Your Job Search: Embrace Change and Find Meaningful Work
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In this episode of Greater Perimeter Business Radio, Lee Kantor and Rachel Simon interview Katharine Bremer, Managing Director of Boardwalk Consulting and author of Headhunter Confidential. Katherine shares expert advice on job searching, career transitions, and navigating the recruiting process. She emphasizes the importance of self-reflection, strategic networking, and a positive mindset. The discussion covers overcoming emotional challenges, addressing employment gaps, and tailoring job applications. Katherine also highlights Boardwalk’s work placing leaders in mission-driven nonprofits.

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Kathy-BremerKathy (Katharine Day) Bremer combines deep expertise in talent acquisition with a genuine passion for helping people find work they are meant to do. In Headhunter Confidential, she draws on nearly two decades as a headhunter and five successful career transitions to reveal the secrets of landing work that brings joy and meaning.

As managing director of BoardWalk Consulting, Kathy has placed hundreds of executives at iconic organizations like the CDC Foundation, The Carter Center, and Piedmark Park Conservancy. Her experience spans multiple industries and sectors, giving her unique insight into what makes a successful career transition.

Kathy’s career journey began when she flew to Tokyo on a one-way ticket, becoming editor of Canon’s global publications and writing for Newsweek and Japan’s NHK radio network. Returning to New York, she rose to senior executive positions at three NY advertising agencies, leading a team that helped Folgers rise to #1 coffee in America.

She then served as SVP fundraising and marketing at CARE, increasing private resources by 40%. Before joining BoardWalk in 2007, she led the Porter Novelli agency in Atlanta, which grew ten-fold and was ranked as a best place to work.

Kathy has served on or chaired over a dozen boards of directors, including Global Impact, International Women’s Forum of Georgia, and Leadership Atlanta. She holds a B.A. in Sociology from Harvard University, where she wrote for The Harvard Crimson and played varsity squash and tennis.

Kathy grew up in Queens, NY, and now lives in Atlanta with her husband Alan. They have two grown sons, Nick and Scott, and share a passion for community service and pickleball.

Connect with Kathy on LinkedIn.

For information on Kathy’s book, Headhunter Confidential:

https://ripples.media/books/headhunter-confidential/

Episode Highlights

  • Job searching strategies and techniques
  • Importance of mindset and self-reflection before job searching
  • Embracing career transitions and exploring diverse industries
  • Strategic networking versus mass applications
  • Effective use of LinkedIn and personal branding
  • Challenges posed by applicant tracking systems (ATS)
  • Tailoring resumes to specific job descriptions
  • Emotional challenges faced by job seekers
  • Building authentic relationships in the job search process
  • Insights on the role of leadership in mission-driven organizations

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Greater Perimeter. It’s time for Greater Perimeter Business Radio. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: This episode of Greater Perimeter Business Radio is brought to you by Connect the Dots Digital. When you’re ready to leverage LinkedIn to meet your business goals. Go to connect the Dot Dot Digital Lee Kantor here with Rachel Simon and another episode of Greater Perimeter Business Radio. And this is going to be a good one. Who do you got today, Rachel?

Rachel Simon: We are continuing our conversation a little bit from last month. We had a great guest talking about, you know, recruiting and the job market. And I’m really excited that we have another expert in this area that we’re going to look at it from a little bit of a different perspective. So today we are welcoming Katherine Bremer, who is the managing director of Boardwalk Consulting and the author of the brand new Hot off the presses book, Headhunter Confidential The Unwritten Rules for Landing a Job You Love. Welcome. Thanks for being.

Katherine Bremer: Here. I am so excited to be here.

Rachel Simon: Yeah. So why don’t you tell us a little bit about you and Boardwalk Consulting, and then we’re going to dig into the book a little bit deeper in our conversation.

Katherine Bremer: Great. Well, I mean, first of all, boardwalk is based in Atlanta, but we work nationally. And, um, you know, our our, let’s say, Atlanta based clients include, you know, CDC Foundation, uh, Greater Atlanta Community Foundation, uh, Piedmont Park Conservancy. We do foundations and nonprofits. Uh, and we’ve been in business since 2002, founded by a partner from a global search firm. And we again, we serve mission based organizations. And our mission is really finding leaders that matter for missions that matter. I am 18 years at boardwalk, and prior to boardwalk, I had four other careers, so I’m in my fifth career. I’ve been on both sides of the hiring desk, and I realized that if I shared what I know about the unknown rules of, you know, finding a job that I might be able to help some folks. And there’s a lot of people looking at new jobs and looking at new careers right now. So my goal is to help them, you know, whether they’re just starting out or they’re, you know, struggling through a layoff that they didn’t deserve, but just getting back in or they want a new adventure. So that’s my goal.

Rachel Simon: I love that what you said that you’re on your fifth career because I think sometimes people, you know, think that they can they have to stay, you know, in certain, uh, verticals. And, and that’s not the case at all.

Katherine Bremer: Right, right. I mean, and I think a hybrid background really gives you a lot of different experiences that inform each career as you go forward. And my big belief is that every time you make a job Change. You want to get more of what you love, that animates you and gives you joy and less of the things that you don’t love. Uh, and so self-awareness and an internal journey is very much the, the first thing you do in a job search.

Rachel Simon: Right? So we should be up leveling, right?

Katherine Bremer: Yes. And you should be thinking about, you know, what gives you joy and what animates you and what contributions can you make based on your strengths?

Rachel Simon: Yes. Nothing’s worse than feeling like, uh, the the life is being sucked out of you when you go to work every day.

Katherine Bremer: Yeah. And so many people, Rachel, suffer through that. You know, like 70% of folks are not in love with what they do. And you spend eight hours a day doing it. So you might as well enjoy it.

Rachel Simon: Exactly. Um, tell us about your book, really, and the inspiration as to why you wrote it. And it really. And then who who should be reading this book?

Katherine Bremer: Well, I mean, the inspiration was that I work with, you know, hundreds of people, uh, and help them guide them. Right. And I’ve, and I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t work. So I really want people to be able to find their way to something great. And so I was inspired, given all the stories that I had to tell about real, you know, real life stories about what works and doesn’t work. I was inspired to put it into a book. And, you know, so the six unknown rules, uh, you know, unwritten rules that really can guide folks and keep them from doing things like redundant applications online, you know, dealing with, you know, and being defeated by applicant tracking systems, you know, and finding their way to something great.

Rachel Simon: Yeah. Um, well, I don’t want to give away, you know, all of your secrets because people should read the book. But maybe we can talk about a couple of what these, uh, unwritten rules are. What do you think would be, uh, one of the, you know, top tips for our audience?

Katherine Bremer: Right. So. And, you know, you asked me who it’s for. I think it’s for anybody starting out, uh, you know, recovering from a layoff or wanting a new adventure. And I really encourage people to want new adventures. Don’t leave until you have your next adventure. But keep. Keep your vertical curve. Really. You know, vertical. You want to keep learning every single day. Um, so I think three things to think about. Number one, you know, don’t jump into a search without doing an internal journey first. And I have some really simple, enjoyable exercises that help, you know, who am I? What am I, animators? What are my strengths and what what I what do I bring to market? The second thing is, you know, don’t apply, you know, to a lot, you know, a lot of stuff online because it’s all about people. And people are everybody’s sustainable advantage. And you’ve worked with people, you’ve known people you, you know, have folks all around your life. Maybe you volunteered with them and and they will want to help you. People do want to help. Uh, and so that’s strategic networking, you know, not spray and pray not not going and you know, to tactical stuff but really building relationships. And then the third thing that you know is, is important is that it’s not all about you. When you get into a job search, it’s about them, at least initially. So, um, you know, I had one person that I was helping, and he said to me, it’s been two years and I can’t seem to get a job. And I said, well, what are you doing? And he said, well, I’m telling them all about my background and they don’t understand how it all works. And I said, well, stop doing that. Just tell them what you know that attends to their mission and give them examples about what they need, not what. It’s not what you. It’s what they need because they’re looking for the match.

Rachel Simon: There’s so much that you said that resonates with me, uh, with my approach. You know how prior to the role that I’m in currently having run my own business, focused on helping professionals on LinkedIn very much about, you know, this is not about you. It’s about your target audience, whether that is potential client or customer or a potential employer. Right. Exactly. And and that value. You just cannot. Underestimate the value of your network and relationships.

Katherine Bremer: Exactly.

Rachel Simon: For everything. I mean, your your network is everything.

Katherine Bremer: It really is. And I’m always amazed at how few people pay attention to their brand. And their brand is on LinkedIn. So I’m sorry. That’s your brand identity. It’s your website. And if you don’t update that, um, you know, you’re really casting, you know, your fate to the wind because everybody’s going to go there and that’s where they look to understand you. Um, and to build that network, but also create that. Create your brand on LinkedIn.

Rachel Simon: Absolutely.

Lee Kantor: Now, what is kind of the work that a person should be doing every day in order to get their next gig or whatever their next opportunity is? Is there some kind of just basic work every day that a job applicant or a person that’s looking for a new career should be doing in order to have that opportunity kind of present itself to them, instead of rather than just waiting, you know, for the lottery ticket and say, hey, where have you been all my life?

Katherine Bremer: I love that question. Um, I think growing every day, learning every day. If you find that you’re not learning. Um, so, for instance, I worked in advertising for 11 years in New York, and I was on some of the big brands and all that. And I came to a moment in time where I was waking up every day, and I didn’t really want to go to work, and I felt like I wasn’t learning and there was not something new. No vertical learning curve. And so that’s when I made the decision that it was time to find the next thing. And how did I find that? Well, first I did that inside analysis. Right. Who am I? What can I do now? And then I also talk to many people. Right. I talked to advisors. And, you know, Lee, if you want to get a move out of where you are and you want people to help, you ask for advice. You know, if you say to somebody, do you have a job that I could do? Or do you know of a job? The answer could very well be no. Okay. But if you say to somebody, would you be willing to give me advice and tell me what you do? Uh, that answer is generally yes. And in that way, you build your relationships and those are your sustainable advantage. So every day, grow and build relationships.

Rachel Simon: Yeah. That’s a I mean, it’s a great point. And thinking about how this applies to so many job seekers depending on where they are in their career. Right. So whether somebody, you know, coming out of college and just building those initial relationships, and as a parent of one and almost now two college students, you know, helping to set my kids up with people in the industries that they’re majoring in so that they can just start to have those informational conversations because who knows where that’s going to lead to internships or jobs down the road? Or, to your point, wanting to make those pivots and thinking, well, who do I know? And who’s in my network? Who might be someone who will talk to me? Right. And most people will always say, yes.

Katherine Bremer: I think about it this way. You know, once you know generally where your what your direction is, right? Don’t just start and spray and pray. You know, start with some maybe 2 or 3. I think of them as buckets of opportunity. Right. Where might you go. And then who’s going to help you get there. You would be amazed at how many people starting out say, I’m not calling these people. My parents told me to call or I don’t want. My aunt told me to call so-and-so, and I’m too, you know, I’m too shy to do it. Or, you know, I’m an introvert. I can’t do that stuff. I’m going to start applying online and it is not going to work. Um, and so I tell the story of Gordon, who, you know, got out of school in the middle of a recession and, um, got some folks that he was going. You know, you got to call so-and-so such and such. He was a music major, so that wasn’t easy. And, um, after six months of futile applications online, finally made those phone calls. Ended up working at Lincoln Center.

Rachel Simon: Oh. Pretty nice.

Katherine Bremer: So that’s I mean, that’s how it works. And people, you know, people are interested in helping you, especially if you genuinely go ask their advice. Uh, you. And it’s not just, um, you know, uh, superficial. Uh, I’d love to know what you do. I’d love to hear about it. And you’re genuine. They’re going to want to help you. Yeah.

Lee Kantor: Is that strategy the same whether you’re you’re just like, right out of college or you’re 50 years old and just got laid off, is that the same as the fundamentals? The same.

Katherine Bremer: It’s fundamentally the same process. And it starts with, you know, I’ll give you my unwritten, my overall unwritten rules. Start with mindset, making sure you’ve got the right mindset. We can talk a little more about that. Second thing is that internal journey, and there are some very easy exercises to do to discern your direction. The third is who are the people who are going to get you there? The fourth unwritten area rules is how do you figure out the bullseye of the job you want so that you can put your background in light of their bullseye? And then the fifth is really standing out. And the final one is loving the journey. If you love the journey, you love the people and you cultivate that journey and do well in it, you will, uh, you’ll get there. You’ll get to the right place.

Lee Kantor: So now the network we’ve talked about is super important, uh, understanding who the right people are to contact. Do you start with individuals or do you start with kind of the company, like a lot of people in their head? Oh, I dream of working for ABC company or XYZ company. And they think that it’s, you know, it’s almost a fantasy of what it’s like there, but they don’t really know what it’s like. Is it? Is it good to target the company? Or then if you pick that company, then you kind of drill down to who do I know or who knows somebody that I know that I can at least, even if it’s not even in the department that I’m interested in, I can at least kind of get a glimpse of what the culture is like or what it’s like to be in that company.

Katherine Bremer: Yeah. I mean, and it’s such a good point that you want to go in warm. You don’t want to just apply cold to something, so you want to find people in and around. So let’s say you have, you know, a a few companies that you’re interested in now you’re on LinkedIn, you’re doing your research. Otherwise in every way you’re going on websites and you’re figuring out who do I know who can either, you know, tell me about the organization or they’re already in there and you’re, you know, you’re looking at a way of going in warm. Obviously, once you’re in, you have to win the job yourself. It’s not like somebody’s going to get you a job. You will get your job, but you want to go in warm because remember this. You know, the metaphorical stack of resumes. And now there’s AI systems that will put your resume into countless, uh, openings. It’s it’s crazy. And you don’t hear anything, and you feel like you’ve gone into a hole, and it’s terrible for your self-esteem and it’s terrible for your results. So, you know, just affirmation. Yes. Find people, find out about the organization. And some cultures are, frankly, toxic. You don’t want to work just anywhere. You want to work somewhere that will value your abilities, and that will fit with what you can really contribute.

Rachel Simon: Tell us a little bit about sort of the way the systems are working today. Uh, because I want to kind of flesh out a little bit what you talked about relating to, like the applicant tracking systems and sort of helping the listener understand why, you know, applying cold through LinkedIn or through the company website is is going to be a much longer journey.

Katherine Bremer: Right? Or a fruit or a futile even. Um, so almost, you know, any, any organization of any size is going to be using applicant tracking systems, which are looking for keywords. Uh, so I really commend you to the, to the idea. And this gets into the bull’s eye. Figure out what the keywords are. You know, if they say we need someone to manage, you know, X don’t say I’ve managed Y. Say I’ve managed X, right. You know, I mean, be truthful, always truthful. But who am I in light of this opportunity. And again the you know so so if you have to deal with those systems, you’re going to be dealing with them on their terms because they will just throw you out cold. If you don’t use their keywords and you don’t seem like you’re in the zone. Um, and, you know, to that point, also digging down and giving them, you know, tangible results that make these systems say, oh, they’ve done they’ve managed X and they have results. Right. So they grew it by X or they did this. Don’t just talk about process. Talk about accomplishments. But in light of what they’re looking for.

Rachel Simon: So it’s but it’s tricky. I it sounds like to know exactly what those keywords might be. The way to structure it I mean because.

Katherine Bremer: You’re in the job description.

Rachel Simon: Right? I guess though correct me if I’m wrong, that like, your, um, your resume can be kind of put into the, you know, the, the discard pile for any number of reasons, right?

Katherine Bremer: That’s what the ATS is for. It’s to eliminate and, you know, to to get it down to a manageable number. And again, with the new I, you know, methodologies where you can apply, you know, to 22 people in a minute. Um, you know the, the number of applications is only growing. Right. So, uh, and I think, you know, people are being there, there are robots interviewing people now. So look at the darn job description. And I mean, you don’t know everything from the job description, which is why you’ve got to warm it up. You’ve got to learn from others. Right. That know about it. But the job description will be a screening basis on their part.

Rachel Simon: Right. But some of these job descriptions are.

Katherine Bremer: Generic.

Rachel Simon: Very generic. Or you know, again, going back to like people who are coming or newer in the job market, entry level jobs that are looking for 3 to 5 years of experience, like, right.

Katherine Bremer: It’s kind of headhunter confidential, right? Demystifies that and it tells you, yes, you know, like a finance job. Right. There are certain things you got to do, but what it what it teaches you or what what the lessons that I’ve learned is how to discern what the bullseye really is. Um, and, and to understand that and then you’re going to be tailoring your resume. You’re not going to be throwing around a generic resume. Good point. You’ve got to stand out.

Rachel Simon: Yeah. Good point.

Lee Kantor: So if you’re looking for an opportunity. What percentage of your time should be spent on these kind of mass, uh, you know, applications versus targeted? I know somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody introductions and worm, those kind of kind of, uh, conversations with a human. Uh, like, how would you spend your time?

Katherine Bremer: Right. I mean, you want to do research, you want to understand stuff. So you’re going to be going on websites, you’re going to be looking at, you know, profiles, right? But I would say if you can spend as close to zero of your time doing online, applying to jobs, um, I always think doing the homework is going to matter. And when you’re in an interview, you, you know, you really want to have done your homework. And that’s why instead of spray and pray, you want to be quite intentional. What are the places that I could make a difference that will attend to my personal desire and mission and animators? And that can be corporate, it can be government, it can be nonprofit. It doesn’t have to be any one thing. But who am I that who am I? Journey is the one that many people think. I’m just going to skip that and start applying. And it will work so much better. If you have your opportunity areas and you really know who you are, and you know the value that you bring, and you can show that in light of the aspirations of whoever you’re interviewing with.

Rachel Simon: So let’s go back to something you said a few minutes ago about mindset, because I know from people in my life who have been looking for jobs or things I’m seeing in, you know, online groups that I’m in. I mean, some people are looking for six, nine, 12 plus months. That can be very demoralizing.

Katherine Bremer: So it really can. And if you’re if you are in a layoff, you know, due to no fault of your own, it can be it can make you angry. It can make you sad. It can make you depressed. Um, so I think that what you want to do is try to work your way through that with your close friends and associates. Right. So you have to get to the other side of those feelings. Uh, in order to effectively look for work. Right. Um.

Rachel Simon: Going into a, uh, interview, feeling, uh, angry is probably not.

Lee Kantor: Probably not the right mindset.

Rachel Simon: No, definitely.

Lee Kantor: You have to go through the stages of grief before you begin, uh, the job search.

Rachel Simon: Absolutely.

Katherine Bremer: Yeah. Let me tell you, I had a call one time from a person who had been laid off unfairly. And she was really. And not only was she angry, but she was very upset, and she cried. And we had a really good conversation. And of course, I empathized with her because it was unfair. She was out of work, she was really worried, and she was a single mom. And after we hung up the phone, I stood about it for a couple of days and I thought, she’s really going to be disadvantaged as a job seeker, unless she can kind of work that out of her system. And I called her back and I said, I’m very worried about you, and I want you to really talk to folks that are close to you, maybe talk to a counselor, but you have to sort of cure, you know, clean your gut out, and then you can start talking, thinking about where you’re going to. Right. A lot of times if we’re leaving a place, we’re thinking about that place. Now, when you’re a job seeker, you’ve got to be thinking about where are you going and where do you want to go?

Rachel Simon: Right. I can you know, people are very good at picking up on subtle cues. And I can imagine in an interview if a question comes up about someone’s former employer where they maybe did not have the best partying experience, those negative feelings can come out, whether it’s intentional or not, right?

Katherine Bremer: And, you know, I really don’t want you to burn bridges. I want you to, you know, always keep the relationship. But let’s just say it’s been a bad partying. Let’s just say that you are mad and let’s just say that there, you know, you have like issues. Nobody’s perfect. Right? There’s no perfect candidate. So when you’re in an interview and you know you have an issue, let’s say you’ve been out of work for three years. Uh, maybe you had a sick parent, maybe you had a baby or whatever. And it’s been three years since you were in a job. Um, I recommend inoculating yourself from that question. So when they usually an interview will start by, you know, tell me about yourself. And what I want folks to do is to essentially create the conditions under which you’ve explained that away it’s gone. And now you’re not going to be asked about it. Right? So I’m done with my three years. I helped my mom, I did this, I did that. I’m really raring to go now. And, you know, that way they don’t ask you later. Tell me about the gap.

Rachel Simon: That’s a great point because lots of people do have those gaps on their resume, right? Whether they were to your point, you know, being a parent, caring for a loved one, just having a challenging time, finding their next role depending on what industry they were in. Right. Some some industries are just having a tough time right now. Um, and so crafting that story in advance kind of puts you on the offense.

Katherine Bremer: Right. And it and it inoculated you. Um, so you’re, you know, you’re communicating in a way that now we’re talking about this job this time and how I might be able to help.

Rachel Simon: Yeah.

Lee Kantor: Good point. So let’s talk a little bit about boardwalk. Um, who is the ideal client for boardwalk?

Katherine Bremer: We do mostly CEO searches, but reports to CEO. So we work largely with boards of directors or CEOs that are hiring. Uh, but we work exclusively with non-profits and foundations. So the ideal client is a mission driven organization that is looking for a great leader. Um, we are very we go very deep. We are a boutique. So there’s 12 of us. And, um, we’re going to be hands on. We’ll look to understand where you are and what you aspire to do and where you’re going. And you know that often you’re hiring in the gap between where you are now and what your aspirations are. So we do a lot of stakeholder research with your, you know, your staff, your board, your clients and your donors, uh, to be sure that we understand, you know, where are you, where would you like to be? And the leader who’s really going to take you forward is one who has done many things, will meet you where you are, and, uh, can take you where you need to go.

Lee Kantor: Now are the people that are at that level on the nonprofits and those, uh, purpose driven organizations that you serve. Are they coming from other nonprofits, or are they coming from maybe a traditional industry or or just for profit, and then they’re transitioning maybe to that second chapter or third or fourth or fifth chapter in their career?

Katherine Bremer: That’s a wonderful question. And, um, this whole, you know, issue around purpose and purpose driven, which I deal with in Headhunter Confidential quite extensively, is important. And you can be anywhere now, and you can have a dream of making a difference, perhaps in human services or in other, in other ways, in justice seeking organizations or, um, you know, organizations that are educational. And so you may come from corporate or government or nonprofit sector and, um, you know, that’s there’s no limitation as to who we, you know, want to want to talk with. If you can be the right person.

Rachel Simon: Yeah. And in the conversation that we had prior to this call or this, this, uh, interview, you know, you did mention some of the local organizations that you’ve worked with, but you do work nationally.

Katherine Bremer: Most of our work is national. Um, so, you know, our home is Atlanta. We love Atlanta searches, and we do a lot of them. But nationally, um, you know, our clients include League of Women Voters and, um, you know, leadership conference. Uh, you know, we’ve worked with ADL, we’ve worked with, um, you know, Save the Children heifer. You know, we we Sierra Club, many, many organizations nationally, as well as, um, Atlanta area leaders. And, uh, it’s a privilege to do this work, honestly.

Rachel Simon: Yes. Well, based on who I know you’ve placed in Atlanta, you’ve done a great job putting the right people in the right seats.

Katherine Bremer: Thank you so much. It’s our it’s our mission.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more and connect with you about boardwalk or get Ahold of your book, what is the best way to connect?

Katherine Bremer: Well, I’m on, you know, I’m all over LinkedIn right now. I just had a book launch on Tuesday, and, um, but I also, um, you know, I’m at I’m at, uh, Kathy at Boardwalk consulting.com. Um, and, uh, you know, I’m, I’m very accessible. I talk to lots of people all the time. So I welcome, uh, anyone who would want to order the book. Obviously, it’s on every, you know, bookseller, uh, list. You know, Amazon, you know, you just go to head under confidential. And we’re number one in interviewing. And I think number two in job hunting right now in the new releases. So I would really be excited if you liked the book and wrote a review.

Lee Kantor: All right. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Katherine Bremer: Thank you. It’s a blessing to do the work. Thank you so much.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor for Rachel Simon. We will see you all next time on Greater Perimeter Business Radio.

 

About Your Host

Rachel-SimonRachel Simon is the CEO & Founder of Connect the Dots Digital. She helps B2B companies close more business by leveraging the power of LinkedIn.

Rachel works with professionals, both individuals and teams, to position their authentic brand on LinkedIn so they can connect organically with ideal clients, attract the best talent, and stand out as a leader in their industry.

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Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn.

BRX Pro Tip: The Power of Positive

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BRX Pro Tips
BRX Pro Tip: The Power of Positive
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BRX Pro Tip: The Power of Positive

Stone Payton: And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips, Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, I got to say, it’s easy to stay in a pretty positive frame of mind and be positive when you’re part of the work that we do at Business Radio X, but I’d like to chat a little bit about your experience, your perspective on, I guess, the power of positive.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, I think people are really hungry for the power of positive. People want deep down to work in a place or to be part of a group that has a mission, that has a big why. They want to be a force for good in their community, in their family, in just in the world. And and it’s hard. It becomes overwhelming. There’s so much negativity out there.

Lee Kantor: But if you partner with Business RadioX or if you become part of the local business media, it’s pretty easy to be a force for good in your community. And by doing that, you’re really going to be able to make a good living while doing good.

Lee Kantor: And this is the thing that a lot of people overlook, that positivity is powerful and it’s powerful not just for your own mindset, but for your business and your community. When you become a source of positive business media in your area, you’re creating real value for everybody.

Lee Kantor: By highlighting local stories, by celebrating local entrepreneurs, and by giving a voice to the nonprofits, you’re helping to build a culture of optimism and possibility in your neighborhood and your community. This is going to attract way more collaboration. It’s going to attract innovation. It’s going to attract goodwill. People are going to want to be associated with this kind of positive energy. Your clients, your partners, your sponsors are all going to be drawn to your organization that is actually uplifting other people, that’s not tearing people down.

Lee Kantor: And Business RadioX has built our reputation on this principle. Our partners are trusted connectors and leaders in their markets. We believe positivity pays. Become that local business media that shines a light on what’s good and you’re going to see the impact in your community and on your business.

Healing Chronic Pain: Exploring the Power of Microcurrent Therapy and Nutrition for Veterans

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Veteran Business Radio
Healing Chronic Pain: Exploring the Power of Microcurrent Therapy and Nutrition for Veterans
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In this episode of Veteran Business Radio, host Lee Kantor interviews Yvonne Rea of 4ABETTERU2 WELLNESS. Drawing from her military and healthcare background, Yvonne discusses her use of microcurrent therapy and functional medicine to help veterans manage chronic pain and inflammation. She explains how addressing the body’s electrical system and combining it with nutrient-rich foods can promote healing beyond traditional pharmaceuticals. Yvonne shares success stories, offers practical advice for veterans seeking alternative therapies, and highlights the importance of holistic, non-invasive approaches to improving health and quality of life.

4ABETTERU2 WELLNESS

Yvonne-ReaYvonne Rea FMC, CMCT, HHP is a former Military USN, Board Certified Functional Medicine, Microcurrent Therapy Pain Specialist. Recently completed Certifications for Amino Acid Therapy for Brain Health.

“Inflammation is the precursor to pain and in the presence of inflammation the body cannot move to the next stage of healing. You must first quiet the pain and anger of the tissue before repair and rebuild can occur.”

Yvonne has worked with Pain Free For Life Beta Testing Group Research, as well as Nutrition Director working within 4AbetterU2 Wellness Resources (4U2), Erasing Pain Holistic Centers as well as Theta Wellness Brain Health Center. She also regularly works with Sacramento area practitioners to broaden her scope of knowledge and research of all pain, physical and emotional.

After nearly two decades of Military service, Yvonne found a love for the sciences after assisting in numerous forensic identification cases (autopsies) and has since logged in thousands of schooling, research and internship hours.

Covering: inflammation, pain, non healing wounds and nutritional science. All as it relates to disease and regeneration of tissue, coupled with Bio ElectroMedicine. Using instrumentation and tools that NASA and Health Agency’s worldwide use, such as Microcurrent, PEMF, Scalar TeraHertz, Bio Modulation and more.

After opening her business over a decade ago, she partnered with The Academy of Applied Electrophysiology and with PainFree For Life to create awareness for these technologies. Her goal “Making the Unknown Known” where “85% notice a significant difference” in 2 sessions or less.

Follow 4ABETTERU2 WELLNESS on Facebook.

Episode Highlights

  • Focus on alternative therapies for managing chronic pain and inflammation.
  • Discussion of microcurrent therapy and its role in healing.
  • Exploration of the body’s electrical system and its impact on health.
  • Personal journey of a former military member transitioning to holistic health practices.
  • Limitations of conventional pharmaceutical treatments and the search for natural remedies.
  • Importance of nutrition and nutrient density in the healing process.
  • Use of biofeedback to address chronic pain and reset the body’s healing mechanisms.
  • Success stories of patients benefiting from microcurrent therapy.
  • Availability of microcurrent devices in healthcare settings, including VA facilities.
  • Emphasis on community support and accessibility for veterans seeking alternative treatments.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Veterans Business Radio. Brought to you by ATL vets, providing the tools and support that help veteran owned businesses thrive. For more information, go to ATL. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here another episode of Veterans Business Radio and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, ATL vets, inspiring veterans to build their foundation of success and empowering them to become the backbone of society after the uniform. For more information, go to ATL vets.org. Today on the show we have Yvonne Rea. She is a practitioner and educator with for a better you to wellness. Welcome, Yvonne.

Yvonne Rea: Hey. Good afternoon. Lee. Thank you so much for the invitation. I’m looking forward to maybe helping some others out there. Some other veterans.

Lee Kantor: Well, I am excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about your practice. How are you serving folks?

Yvonne Rea: Well, I’m a micro current specialist, along with functional medicine, and the way that I’m serving them best is educating them and showing them alternative devices, alternative instrumentation to help relieve their chronic pain, inflammation. You know, tissue issues is what I call it.

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

Yvonne Rea: Well, uh, former military worked in the medical and the dental field for nearly a little over 15 years. I was stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and eventually my health really started to fail. Everything that we were trying at the hospital wasn’t working, and nor was there any idea about what was going on. So, you know, I used to enjoy, uh, talking about pharmaceuticals and pills and, but we couldn’t figure out what the root cause was. And so eventually I started looking outside the box, mostly because it was just another pill to help with the current symptom I was having. But there was no real root cause understanding of any of the symptoms. And it was then when I started looking outside of the box that I learned natural alternative. There’s, you know, whole natural health out there, which is, in my opinion, at the time, I truly thought maybe if it worked, we’d be doing it here at these, you know, naval training hospitals I worked at, you know, some of the largest. What I didn’t understand is that, you know, that is working on the chemical of the body. We’re not actually working on anything. Or very little electrical. And we are more than just chemical beings. So I actually work on the electrical side of the house.

Lee Kantor: So can you explain to the listener what that means, the electrical side of the house, and maybe explain a little bit about this biofeedback micro current therapy that you work with?

Yvonne Rea: Certainly. So, you know let’s back up just a moment. Our bodies we are more than just chemical. Chemical would be like your nutrients as well as of say, you know, drugs that will play into the chemical part of the body. We’re also spiritual and emotional beings, and we can be helped by those ways. Uh, we are also electrical. Most of us understand that if we’ve ever had a sibling or, you know, as a young kid, we’d kind of scooch our socks, you know, across the carpet and go zap a sibling or something, right? Uh, so with that electrical. Uh, we’re working on that portion. And if there’s any part of the body that is not working, if the electrical is not working, what happens is the electrical is carrying the fluids of the body. And in those fluids that your blood, that’s going to be your nutrients and your oxygen. So now fast forward to an area that either has a restricted electrical or a complete block electrical. That tissue becomes affected. Ultimately it’s going to be malnourished more oxygenated. Does that make sense?

Lee Kantor: Yeah.

Yvonne Rea: Yeah. And so that’s a little bit about the electrical side. Now when it comes to so I use devices and instrumentation I use several different kinds. The one that we’re talking about here today is mostly on the micro current, uh, instrumentation. So that electrical that I just spoke about in the body, that is our micro current in the body. And so when we tap into your micro current, uh, the biofeedback portion can show us if there are any electrical resistances. So two things that most people will be familiar with are, let’s say an EKG, if you’ve ever had an EKG, they run, uh, 12 leads, uh, and they’re looking for any electrical blocks from the heart to the furthest regions of the tissue and then back, and then they’ll have a graph that shows them. Now they’re looking for the electrical blocks from the heart. But If you have an electrical block elsewhere and that’s all that they’re focused on. Other countries use these devices throughout the entire body. We are certainly opening that up. And for your veterans, I want them to recognize in the VA. If you go ask in the wound clinic as well as in, um, pain management, these devices, you may not be aware, but they are available to you. They’re on a couple formularies. If you can’t find them, you get Ahold of me. I’ll help with your local hospital. Uh, but ultimately, uh, those do not offer biofeedback. So it would be the biofeedback that allows us at home to review how the tissue is actually working during the treatment.

Lee Kantor: So how, um, for the layperson who isn’t familiar with this. Are these electrical shocks like noticeable? Are there like, when they do the EKG? Ekg? Uh, you don’t feel anything when they happen. Is that the case here?

Yvonne Rea: So. Correct. Yeah. You don’t feel it? This isn’t a shock. Um, what’s happening is we’re tapping into your electrical system. Much like an electrician would come to your home. You have an outlet that’s not working. He’s going to take some instrumentation, put it in and try to see where are the electrical blocks from this outlet to the breaker box outside and back. And he can register either on an ohm or voltage meter. Uh, where or how many blocks or areas of resistance that there are. So yes, there’s a power level so that a person can feel it, but you don’t actually even have to power up for this to work. It is still working in the body.

Lee Kantor: So now going back to the analogy of the electrician in your house. The reason there might be a blockage is maybe a wires broken or something physically is damaged. Is that the same thing with your body? Like you can tell like on a certain side of your body there, there might be a blockage. And then how does that translate into kind of figuring out how to relieve the pain or or relieve the inflammation?

Yvonne Rea: Sure. So, uh, yes, it can help you, uh, locate it not only locates it detects and then can correct a, a micro current can with biofeedback can detect and then correct. So your question was, um, uh, if the tissue. So a couple of things. If the tissue is inflamed red hot. Um, how how we use the micro current is to go in and literally drop that inflammation. Inflammation is the precursor to pain. And in the presence of inflammation, the body can not go into that first stage of healing. And you know, unless you drop that it’s a fire. You know, it literally got to drop the fire. And then it can begin to move into that first stage of healing. Um, much like, uh, well, what happens is your the inflammation literally is pus. Your white blood cells are coming to the scene to try to help as those die off because they’re unable maybe the quote unquote the fire, the affected tissue, um, is too much. Then it keeps bringing more. And we get this. Now we have swelling, which again, that’s part of what is inflammation. Did that answer your question? I think I missed something in your question.

Lee Kantor: No, I was just trying to get an understanding of, okay, once you notice something is amiss, how does that help you kind of solve the problem?

Yvonne Rea: Sure. And so a couple things that this can let me just. What causes electrical blocks I think basically was a question I missed earlier. That would be scar tissue for starters. Electrical cannot go past scar tissue. And we can talk about that in a minute. Also it can’t get past inflammation. Remember I said inflammation. Was that um it pus right. Uh, think of um, uh, what was that the story. The pea and the Princess. She kept putting these layers and layers of mattresses so that she wouldn’t feel this little tiny bump. It’s kind of like that. We have to start removing those mattresses. Or if you’ve ever been to the bar and, you know, you said, hey, you know, pour me a beer and you got that big foam head. That head is like the inflammation. We want to blow that out of the way so we can get to the meat of things. That tissue is being blocked by the electrical. Remember I said earlier the electrical is carrying the fluids of the body, so the electrical is actually helping to feed those tissues. Uh, the next thing that, um, blocks electrical besides scar, um, is inflammation. And then what we call affected tissue. Affected tissue is tissue that is either highly aggravated, agitated, um, or it’s the complete opposite. It’s under working underperforming. It’s moving into atrophy. So any affected tissue will block electrical from coming through. Much like I want you to imagine a river. And then you’ve got a beaver dam. When there’s a beaver dam in a river, the water does one of a couple things. It’s either going to try to vortex down and or it’ll try and maneuver its way around that beaver dam, eventually finding an outlet. Now, it could be quite a ways down, you know, the river before it actually breaks through. But think about all that space in between. That tissue was not getting fluids, or the fluid went from like a fire hose down to a garden hose. And so those are some things that would block the tissue.

Lee Kantor: So now when patients when patients are working with you. You actually are doing therapy to help kind of remove these blockages and to get the current flowing again.

Yvonne Rea: Correct. So micro current therapy. You know, you would come in for a session anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. And the first thing we do is, um, after health history is, uh, see what scar tissues you have, see what your pain point is. If it’s a frozen shoulder, uh, 80% of the time, we can get range of motion and decrease in pain, uh, in as little as one session. Uh, typically, frozen shoulder will between be between 2 and 4. And then you can get off and, you know, go on to, to the rest of your life. Um, but, uh, you know, then there’s other types of, you know, pain. Um, organs typically don’t have a pain sensation until it might be, you know, a little too advanced. Um, but they would come in again. We can find the electrical blocks. We can see them, we chart them, uh, you’ll see them. You’ll see them on our instrumentation. It’s really pretty cool.

Lee Kantor: Now, when when patients are dealing with this kind of pain, does it get to a point where if they don’t treat it, that they just kind of it’s just always there in the background, like it, never like they just accept it?

Yvonne Rea: Sure. So what the body, what the brain does is at some point it’s going to be firing with some pain. Right? It’s a great annoyance. And then how is it that, you know, we’re able to move forward and yet still if somebody were to ask you, you know, what’s your pain level or when you get home after you’re fully focused on your job, you know, your pain level is, you know, seven plus. How is it that I’m able to do that? And not only with the foot, the need, the shoulder? Oftentimes it’s multiple. Uh, but what what this does is it removes those blocks in biofeedback, the brain, we connect with the brain and we remind the brain, hey, do you remember this long term chronic issue that you kind of shut off the brain? Says Haley? Talk to the hand. We’ve got things to do. I mean, you know, you’re sitting here, you you do vending events, you’re on the radio. You know, I imagine you have some pain somewhere, and yet you show up and you, you you give your best, uh, but oftentimes afterwards, you may have this pain point that you just didn’t notice during the interview or during the work. Is that a true statement for you by chance?

Lee Kantor: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I have aches and pains on a regular basis that I’m sure I’m ignoring and I’m not, um, you know, actually doing therapy to improve. I’ve just accepted it. These are just the aches and pains of life.

Yvonne Rea: And sometimes we call those tissue degradation, uh, when what they now call aging or, um, you know, chronic conditions. If we look back in history, uh, a chronic condition was well documented to just be a nutritional deficiency. So we can certainly come in, find those blocks. Uh, we’ll make sure that your electrical is up and running. And then also through functional medicine, I’ll then give you, like, a nutrient dense. This is concentrated, um, uh, um, amounts of whole food nutrition because you want not just enough to survive the day or even maintain Lee’s current status. Lee needs enough for not only the the repair, but the rebuild of that tissue.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, that makes sense. Now, does your work. Um, you mentioned during California. Before the show is do you do people have to physically be with you in order to kind of benefit from this, or is there something that you can do virtually, you know, like over zoom or something like that in order to help a person?

Yvonne Rea: Absolutely. So we can you can be live or we can be virtual. Uh, here in the clinic, we have programs that people can rent. Instrumentation. Uh, but obviously if you’re at a distance and I do have people that have come from out of state to come see me, um, we you can purchase a device. And then between me and the support team, uh, the doctors, the videos that we have, you can learn to help yourself at home. And I’ll tell you when family, when you’ve got one of these devices and family members come to visit, they want to use it. So at some point, you know, my family comes over. Even friends. And some of the first things they say is, oh, by the way, uh, so I’ve, you know, just literally trained them how to use it for their little aches and pains and, um, uh, but it is, like I said earlier, available for, um, you know, my buddies of the veterans in the VA hospital, it’s it’s in every hospital, whether, you know, the HMO, Sutter Kaiser. Um, here we have UC Davis. The tough thing is it’s typically in either sports medicine or pain management. But I’m going to encourage those that are listening, you know, go to your VA, go to your hospital and start asking for this tool because it is available in the formulary, but it’s not in every single one.

Yvonne Rea: So, you know, I think part of it is about educating doctors. And so I like to try to get in front of doctors to let them know that this is available so that they can, you know, better serve their, um, their patients. And, you know, we have served our country. Uh, I think if we can get more that are, um, you know, not in pain and many like you, they’ve started a business right there. They they’ve taken their military life, they’ve taken those skills, and now they’re serving their community. So this is one way that I try to serve. Um, also, you asked that earlier, and then I just have some special pricing for, uh, veterans as well. And we have it pay for it Fridays here. And, um, anybody that, um, appoints on Fridays a portion of those funds go to help us either see somebody that can’t afford it at all. Or maybe they can afford a partial. And, um, so we just kind of circle that around here in the community.

Lee Kantor: Now, is there a story you can share about somebody who came to you with, uh, some pain or inflammation that you were able to help get on to the other side of it?

Yvonne Rea: Um, absolutely. Got lots of those types of stories. Uh, crp. Uh, CRP is chronic regional pain syndrome. They live in a pain level of ten plus every day. Um, one gal, Melissa, uh, developed a wound that was non healing over the, the, the year before contacting me. Um, they were now in talks about amputating the, um, the leg. Uh, we ended up getting together after somebody referred me, and, um, we did daily treatment. She rented a device and then saw me once a week and we closed. It was a five by six, uh, wound, and we closed that in about ten weeks. Um. Bone necrosis. Um, we’re doing currently doing a clinical trial for lungs. Uh, like many others, uh, like myself, exposed to chemicals, though my lungs were not, um, impacted. My liver and other organs were. And this device first broke up the scar tissue in the liver and then helped. And that’s off label. Uh, but then helped with the inflammation and other pain points for me personally. I also had a motorcycle accident, and that has helped with that pain. Um, I’ve had people that have had TBIs. Uh, traumatic brain injuries. Um, And have come in. Maybe they’ve got a one gal. Melissa for 41 years drooling and drop foot. And she was falling or tripping every day because of this drop foot.

Yvonne Rea: And, um, with, uh, with her, we, uh, again home device. She took that home and, um. I think it was maybe once a week sessions, but, uh, ultimately, what happened with her was faster thinking. She stopped drooling, uh, within about the first two weeks, and it was probably about four months before she was no longer tripping over her dropped foot. Uh, again, lots more. Jeff, with a motorcycle accident. You can imagine he was mangled. They did not expect him to live, but it was all mostly muscle skeletal. And you know, when he came to see me, he was living in pain levels. Pain levels of 8 to 10. Uh, first and second session, we were able to begin to drop some of those pain levels, increases range of motion. And then over the next couple of weeks, um, uh, with a home device, again, ideally, if they treat daily, we just get faster treatments. Uh, some can’t afford to do that. So they come and see me, um, once or twice a week for a period of time, I think, other than my traumatic brain injury. I don’t see anybody probably past 8 or 10 sessions, um, because their tissue issue is resolved.

Lee Kantor: And then once it’s resolved, then it kind of stays resolved.

Yvonne Rea: Well, ultimately, with me, I put them on a nutritional program. So when I showed up at the one of the clinics here in Sacramento, there were there were nine of us that were, um, uh, certified in micro current. And the owner and the nurse of that um, center said she brought me in as her, um, nutritional director. And she said, Yvonne, we’re getting 40 to 50% better results with the nutrition, micro current, terahertz scaler. These are other tools that I work with. None of these can rebuild missing tissue. The only thing that I’m aware of that can rebuild missing tissue is, um, nutrients, nutrition. Now there is a word called regeneration. With the devices we use, there is the ability for regeneration. We get the blood flowing again, we drop the information, we open up that scar tissue, we get the blood flowing again. Um, and then whatever you’re putting in this pie hole, you know, the nutrient density. And if you’re just purchasing from your local, uh, commercial, um, you know, produce, that’s not going to be very nutrient dense. Most of those are nutrient buying those plants with, um, chemical fertilizers. So I’m talking about, you know, minerals, amino acids, obviously vitamins come from the sun. Plants actually have a lot of vitamins. It’s the minerals that if you don’t have minerals, the vitamins, the amino acids, the omegas can do nothing in the presence or lack of presence of minerals. Those minerals are the Uber drivers. They will take all those nutrients, not just into the bloodstream. Think about this. We need to get into the tissue. The tissue that is affected, the tissue that needs to be, whether it’s the eyes, the brains, you know, the muscle, the tendon, the ligament, um, the organs that has to actually get into that tissue. It’s not enough just to get into the bloodstream.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to live a little bit more pain free, uh, what is the best way to connect with you and learn more?

Speaker4: Uh. Thank you.

Yvonne Rea: So, uh, you first look me up, uh, for the number four a better you to wellness. Um, I’m just outside of Sacramento, California, and, um, I’ve got a YouTube. I’m not a, you know, big media person, so you’re going to see some pretty raw footage. I also have a Facebook page and, um, our office line is (916) 990-8907. And you’re welcome to give me a call or text and just, you know, when you do, let me know that, you know, you’re you heard us here. And let’s give a shout out back to Lee and, um, to the veterans business Radio as well.

Lee Kantor: Well, thank you so much. And, Yvonne, we really appreciate you coming on and sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Yvonne Rea: Thank you. Lee. Thank you for the invitation. Real delight for me. I’m glad that we can. Together, we’ll be affecting some people and I’ll let you know.

Lee Kantor: Well, this Lee Kantor, we’ll see you all next time on Veterans Business Radio.

 

How Veteran Entrepreneurs Can Build Successful Businesses Through Effective Leadership

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Veteran Business Radio
How Veteran Entrepreneurs Can Build Successful Businesses Through Effective Leadership
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In this episode of Veteran Business Radio, Lee Kantor is joined by Mike Kozlik , owner of Advantage Resources and an Army veteran. Mike shares insights from his military and business experience, emphasizing the importance of leadership, strategic planning, and standardized business development systems. He discusses common challenges faced by entrepreneurs, the value of coaching versus consulting, and practical delegation strategies. Mike also offers resources for business owners and highlights the foundational elements necessary for long-term success, providing actionable advice for veterans and entrepreneurs looking to grow and strengthen their businesses.

Advantage-Resources-logo

Mike-KozlikMike Kozlik is President of Advantage Resources, Inc., a business coaching and services firm based in Birmingham, Alabama providing individualized Business Coaching, and customized business development services to privately owned businesses.

Mike is focused on helping privately owned businesses and their owners become More Efficient, More Effective and More Profitable, by providing Business Development support, Strategic Analysis, Strategic Planning, Strategic Plan implementation, Business Development training; project and program management, and business operations management consulting.

As part of Advantage Resources Inc., Mike uses the techniques from his first and second books to help business owners craft strategies that are exceptionally effective in developing more clients and bringing more “Dollars-In-The-Door”.

The “secret sauce” is to connect these techniques together to get an exponential ROI, not just an arithmetic one! These unique, customizable, and cost-effective methods provide privately owned businesses with the Advantages enjoyed by large businesses.

Mike’s 30(+) year career spans the commercial, military, and government services sectors where he built and grew companies and operations for small businesses, as well as large multi-national corporations.

He has also started and built three companies of his own, with ARI being the most recent. Industry sectors included Business Development, training and training development, logistics and logistics engineering, Recruiting Process development, and Leadership Development.

Mike has an extensive 20+ year experience in Government Contracting both as a Military Officer and as a Government Contractor himself. He has also served 32 years as an Officer in the Army, serving in the National Guard, Regular Army, and Army Reserve, retiring as a Colonel. His expertise has been in Business Development and Business Development training, strategic planning, and operations. He has helped many businesses, including specifically veteran owned businesses, become more successful and more profitable.

Follow Advantage Resources, Inc. on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Episode Highlights

  • Importance of leadership in organizations
  • Transitioning from military to civilian business environments
  • Challenges faced by small business owners, particularly in growth and client acquisition
  • Development of standardized business systems for consistent results
  • Distinction between business coaches and consultants
  • Creation of personal and business visions for strategic alignment
  • Simplifying business planning in a fast-changing environment
  • Delegation strategies for effective business management
  • Foundational elements necessary for business success
  • Personalized coaching approach and ongoing support for clients

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Veterans Business Radio. Brought to you by ATL vets, providing the tools and support that help veteran owned businesses thrive. For more information, go to ATL. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here another episode of Veterans Business Radio and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, ATL vets, inspiring veterans to build their foundation of success and empowering them to become the backbone of society after the uniform. For more information, go to ATL vets.org. Today on the show we have Mike Kozlik. He is the owner President of Advantage Resources. Welcome, Mike.

Mike Kozlik: Well, hello.

Lee Kantor: Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about Advantage Resources. How are you serving folks?

Mike Kozlik: Well, we are a, uh, where I am a business coach, and we provide a variety of services to business owners to help them create a business that is efficient, effective, and profitable.

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

Mike Kozlik: Well, I was in the commercial world for a number of years. I’ve been I was in the Army for 32 years. The last 17 of that. I was a reservist, so I had to have a real job, you know, when I wasn’t on weekends. And I entered the commercial world and I got mobilized back in 2003, and I was working for a firm, and it was an eight month mobilization that turned into three years mobilized and deployed. So when I came back, they had had a little Enron problem type problem when I was gone and there was no job for me to come back to. So I started my own business, and Advantage Resources has gone through, you know, a couple of variations since that time. All of it still being focused with a core competency of providing privately owned small businesses with the resources they need to become successful.

Lee Kantor: Now, is there any kind of commonality that you find when you begin an engagement with one of these businesses? Is there some like a number one thing that these business owners look to you for help with?

Mike Kozlik: Yeah, I think number one, the number one thing that I get talked, I talked to business owners about initially is their desire, their need. They’re very focused on business growth, bringing, you know, more clients and, you know, having a business development process. So I help them design and implement business development system, which is a standard set of procedures that creates consistent and predictable results for them, that allows them to manage the system, to either dial it up or dial it down as they need. It also allows them to be able to troubleshoot very precisely when the process isn’t delivering, which is really in the beginning. It’s more important than anything else, because if if you’re not, what you’re doing is not providing the results you need, you get to figure out why. So most clients today, they don’t use a standardized system. The ones I talk to, the entrepreneurs and the privately owned business owners. Generally when I talk to them, what I get is this explanation of what I call spaghetti on the wall, throw spaghetti on the wall and see what sticks. And that’s not really an effective way to generate consistent and predictable results. They have more than one person doing business developing with or for them. There are as many ways as there are people doing the business development tests. Well, this is impossible to track. It’s impossible to measure or adjust. So the number one thing I think business owners asked me to help them with is create a system that they can. They can rely on. To present that consistent and predictable results so they can make business decisions, good business decisions.

Lee Kantor: So when you’re helping them with this, creating the this system, what is the first thing you do in order to make sure that the system is going to deliver the outcome that the client desires?

Mike Kozlik: Well, we go through a number of let’s just call it exploratory processes. And we look at what they’re doing and how they’re doing it, what tools they’re using to do it. And we decide, you know, together whether these are effective for what they’re trying to do. You know, sometimes guys will buy a Cadillac when all they needed was a Yugo to get to work. And sometimes a guy is riding a bike when he needs a pickup truck. So we have to make sure that we look at what they’re doing, how they’re doing it, and the tools they’re using to do it, so we can adjust that to kind of be aligned. So it’s a a standardized system. Everybody that’s going to be involved in business development will use the same systems, the same tools, and that allows the owner of the business to. Uh, those are the kind of things that we work on initially. We kind of look at, you know, what are the means, the methods and the processes that they have in place to generate the kind of new clientele that they need on an, on a consistent basis.

Lee Kantor: Now, a lot of times you’re working with people who have never had a coach before, or these people who have gone from having a coach to just trying something new with you.

Mike Kozlik: Well, it’s about 5050. Um, I would say that a lot of the people that I’ve talked to have used some form of, uh, professional help, and they’re not always coaches. Uh, there’s a big difference between a coach and a consultant. And many times they would have gotten engaged with a consultant and they were expecting a coach, or they hired a coach and what they really needed was a consultant. So it’s about 5050. But either way, you know, we kind of I kind of lay out a very simplistic, uh, easy to understand process that we will follow as, as a team, uh, to kind of get them wherever they want to go.

Lee Kantor: So how do you kind of differentiate between the consultant and the coach?

Mike Kozlik: Well, um, there’s one big differentiator that, that I use is that a consultant generally will come in and they will do something specific for a business. Um, and they’ll do it as a project. It may last a couple of weeks, a couple of months, but generally it’s a it’s a point in time activity that is just gets done. And when they’re done they’re gone. Okay. Their process is over. They hand it off to the owner. Uh, and it’s their it’s their responsibility to continue it. A coach, on the other hand, is a a long term personal relationship with someone that you trust. That you can ask anything of. And have a, you know, a deep discussion about what’s best. What. Have you seen it before? What can I do? I’ve tried all this. What else is there? And a coach is is there on on a long term basis? Now I have a, um, a guide that I wrote several years ago based on my experience in the last 20 years helping businesses. And that guide is, um, will help a business owner decide whether it’s a coach they need or a consultant. It’ll also help them understand, um. What kind of questions they need to ask to ensure that the person that they’re engaging is the right person for them.

Mike Kozlik: So if any of your listeners want a copy of that, um, that guide, they can text me at 053325524. Say they heard me on Veteran Business Radio. Provide their email and I’ll send them a PDF copy that they can have and enjoy. It is their pleasure reading. And then I’ll also be open for discussion of specific questions they might have after that reading. But the bottom line is, as a business owner, you have to make sure that you’re you’re engaging the right kind of person and that they are aligned with you, that they’re going to match your personality. Um, some of that is, are they going to tell you what to do, or are they going to lead you to different ways to do it? And then you pick one. But you got to be comfortable with that person or it’s never going to work. So my little guide kind of lays all that out and helps people develop the questions they need to ask anybody that they’re talking to about, uh, providing them, you know, more professional health.

Lee Kantor: Now, when you’re working with, uh, a client. And you mentioned usually the first point of interaction is around business development. Are there any other kind of fundamentals that you cover when you’re working with a client at the beginning stages?

Mike Kozlik: Uh, yeah. In the very beginning, one of the things we have to do, and I’m a big believer and my, my clients have begun to call them, uh, Mike isms. All right. So the first Mike ism they learn is it’s better to plan, uh, you know, failure to plan is planning to fail. It’s better to plan and and adjust than it is to try to, uh, do something every day when the, you know, uh, something happens. So the very first thing that we do with our clients is this we look at, at fundamental elements that makes a good company, and then I help them understand what the secret sauce of that is. So the two fundamental elements that they start with are vision. And there’s two kinds of vision. The first vision is your personal vision. That’s where you decide what it is you want, really want in life. You know, everybody starts out with the, you know, the objective things they want to, you know, the great house on the beach, they want the Lamborghini. They want the trophy wife. But after we get to talking, we generally come up with a different set of things that they want in their life, about their achievements, about what? How they want to be known, the legacy they want to leave.

Mike Kozlik: Then we take that. And what’s important is that paints a kind of a word picture of what they want in their life. And then we craft a business vision that will build a business that gives them that. And that’s the secret sauce. You just don’t do a business vision. You know, a generic business vision isn’t going to get you to, um, you know, ground zero. So you have to have that business vision nested in something that’s important, and that is what you want in your life. So then we go through great detail about creating a business vision that that lays out the plan, as it were. Uh, to provide you with that life that you painted in that vision, that personal vision. So that is kind of one of the most important parts. It’s the very first thing that we do. We start with the end in mind. I’m a big Stephen Covey guy and we start with the end in mind. So when you build the foundation elements and you integrate them to work as a system, you begin to gain consistent and predictable results. That’s a mantra I use with my clients all the time.

Lee Kantor: So when you’re how do you help the client that, um, is dealing kind of with the chaos of today where there’s, uh, you know, so much talk of AI replacing jobs, um, how to leverage these new technologies fast. How do you kind of marry that with, uh, you know, kind of staying the course?

Mike Kozlik: Well, you know, one of the things that we, we talk about again is planning. You know, and I’m not talking about building a strategy or a plan that’s like equivalent to the complexity of the invasion of Europe on D-Day. I call it a blueprint. Okay. So we craft a simple to understand, um, overarching plan that identifies some of the major muscle movements that are going to have to happen in order for that business to achieve the vision that the business owner, um, you know, create, we create it together. So you get the business vision and the personal vision. You got to know what you want, and then you got to build what your type of business to get it. You cannot take every day. And here’s the big problem. Here’s the thing that happens with all of my clients in the beginning. Every day they try to take each day as it comes with no planning, no looking over the horizon, no understanding, you know, being positioned for what comes next. We call that getting smacked in the face with the tsunami of now every day. And if that happens, your business will fail. You cannot deal with a business on a day to day basis as the owner, as the strategic planner. You’ve got to be like I tell my clients, you may be doing today, today, but in a month from now you’re going to be doing next week, and in six months from now, you’re going to be doing next year. And that’s what a business owner needs to be thinking about. Some percentage of his time or her time needs to be focused on that. If you’re not going to do that, you’re not going to be successful at all, ever.

Lee Kantor: So is there a story you can share? Um, don’t name the name of the client, but maybe explain the challenge they came to you with and how you helped them get to a new level.

Mike Kozlik: Uh, yeah. I mean, there’s I could, boy, we could be here all day. Um, so one of the one of the challenges that clients face, you know, they’re all entrepreneurs. I work with privately owned business owners. They’re all entrepreneurs. And as such, They’re raging personalities, just like myself. And because of that, it’s very hard for them to let go of the things that they have always done in their business. They have difficulty in trusting anyone to do those things. So let me tell you a story about one of my clients. So I had a client. We’ll call him Tony. Uh, he was third generation owner of a construction company. And, uh, he started working in that company when he was a teenager for his grandfather. And he did everything from sweep to floors, uh, worked his way up to, you know, making the coffee and up to ordering, you know, materials for the superintendents on the projects and blah, blah, blah. So one day I came in for one of our weekly meetings, and, um, he was on the phone. I sat down and I waited, and he was on the phone. On the phone, on the phone. He was 30 minutes on the phone and he was ordering supplies for two, two of his projects that he had out there. And when he hung up the phone. It was about 34, 35, 40 minutes into our program. We started our meeting and I ended it right when I was supposed.

Mike Kozlik: He said, wait a minute, we just got started. I said, well, you just got started. I was here on time. You elected to do basic, you know, work that your office manager does, by the way, better than you. And she’s sitting out there reading a magazine while you wasted 40 minutes here. And so we have this kind of a come to Jesus meeting about what is important for a business owner to be doing and ordering a length of pipe or, you know, whatever is not an effective use of their time. So he had to let go of that. He’d been doing that since he was 16 years old, and he had to let go of that and just hand that off to his office manager, and his superintendents would talk, tell her what she needed and when they needed it on the site, and she would do it. So I teach my clients this this simple process. There’s three ways things get done in a business source. Resource, outsource and end source. And in that order. So the main thing is to move from the resource where the business owner is doing something or all things to a point where someone else is doing it for them. That’s outsourced. And a good example of that is not everybody is an accountant. And the very first thing that most businesses outsource is bookkeeping, because it takes up a lot of time.

Mike Kozlik: And business owners tell me they hate doing bookkeeping, they hate paying the bills. They hate doing payroll, they hate calculating all this crap. So that’s the first thing that they outsource. As an example, over time, as the business gets bigger, you bring that that capability back in-house with an in-house bookkeeper, maybe part time to begin with and full time as the business is larger. So you go through this series of source, outsource and source. The main goal is to free up the business owner to do things that are strategically more important than everyday busywork, so they’re not doing. The doing someone else is doing it, but they don’t lose control. I teach them a way of delegation that’s not a shovel pass. They still get the process done. They’re still on top of where they are, you know, in the process of getting it done. And they get to make decisions. And but they’re not actually physically doing the doing every day. And that’s important because that’s a major challenge with with entrepreneurs is when they start their business, they’re doing everything and it’s very hard for them to let go. It really is. So that is that’s a key consideration that I talk to my clients about ahead of time. And sometimes we get into, let’s just say heated discussions. We’ll just call it that.

Lee Kantor: So now is there anything you can share with our listeners about maybe some of the leadership that you learned from your time in service and how it pertains to the business world?

Mike Kozlik: So leadership is one of the four foundational elements that we help our clients create for their companies. And in it. We call it the glue. And, you know, our audience today is largely composed of veterans. So they’ll understand a little bit better than those who have not lived in a military discipline life. But leadership is not a soft skill. It is very hard, but when you do it correctly, it’s a force multiplier in an organization. Basically, it makes two plus two equals six or more. So leadership is an intrinsic part of every aspect of a business. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the marketing, the business development. Hr doesn’t matter. Every element of the business is affected by the leadership environment and the way that people that are put in charge of other people. Actually do leadership. Now we make a big deal in our, uh, you manage things, you lead people program where we, we show that management is not something that you do with the the living beings that are you’re entrusted with. That is something you do to make sure the copy machine has enough paper or toner or whatever that has. Leadership, on the other hand, is a way is a responsibility where and we teach this at three different levels, where if you’re a leader in an organization and we we shy away from the word manager, you’re responsible for for teaching, coaching, training, mentoring and developing those people that are placed in your care and under your responsibility, just like we do in the military. That is one of the main aspects of of the fourth foundational element, which is leadership, is that a leader can only be chosen not because they’ve been there longer, but because they’ve demonstrated the ability to lead and demonstrated the ability to handle responsibilities at the next higher level. If they’re not doing that, then a company is going to have trouble. Uh, from a morale perspective, from a consistency see. Perspective and leadership basically affects everything. Everything in a company, everything from, uh, you know, when people come to work to how people are promoted.

Lee Kantor: So is there a niche that you work in primarily, or is this kind of industry agnostic your work?

Mike Kozlik: Well, pretty much industry agnostic if it’s a small, privately owned business. I’ve worked with, uh, startup companies, entrepreneurial startup companies in every, uh, market and industry. You can you can name. I’ve had builders, architects, engineers, I’ve had marketing, PR, uh, website development companies, website management companies, social media companies. Um, I’ve had manufacturing companies. And basically every business has the same foundation. It doesn’t matter what the business is. You have to build. And we use the the analogy of a building in order to build a building, you have to have a strong foundation. The stronger you make that foundation, you can build anything on it. If you don’t build a strong foundation to begin with, you’re not even going to be able to build a one storey edifice on it. So we talk about the foundational elements that all businesses, every business in the world, whether they’re Apple or Microsoft or, you know, bombs, lawn service, have the same foundational elements that they have to make sure are in place and functioning synergistically together in order for that business to be successful.

Lee Kantor: Now, how do you deliver your services? Is it one on one coaching group coaching? Do you form cohorts?

Mike Kozlik: Uh, it’s one on one coaching. I meet with all my clients one one hour a week, minimum, at a designated day and time that we we kind of coordinate together. I’m available if we’re working on a project. Uh, there’s clients that I meet two and three times a week. And, you know, there’s no unlike a consultant, there’s no extra cost to that. If we’re working on a project that is in the in their, uh, their strategy or in their plan. Uh, and they run up on a brick wall then. Then I afford whatever time I have that week. For anybody who wants it. So I meet once a week, every week with our clients. Um, and, and we walk through in the beginning, we’re kind of building it. We’re building an airplane while we’re flying in it. So in the beginning, uh, we’re talking about our vision. We’re laying out the framework of the strategy. We’re looking at the processes we we need to create and implement, starting with the business development process, followed by the build a world class team. That’s our 90% solution, uh, process. And then then, uh, total quality customer service and then leadership. So those are the four bases. There’s others, but those are the four basic ones. So I work once a week for an hour minimum more if they need it.

Lee Kantor: And if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you. Is there a website? Is there a best way to connect?

Mike Kozlik: The best way to connect Really is, is call me or text me. Uh (205) 332-5524. If you’re going to text me, just tell me. Hey, I heard you on Veteran Business Radio, and I’d like to learn more about, you know, I’d like to get your, your, uh, guide for how to pick a coach or. I like, I like to know more about this or that. And they can they can reach out to me and we’ll set up a zoom meeting. And that’s what I do with everybody.

Lee Kantor: And the business is Advantage Resources, Inc. and the website is Advantage Resources, Inc. Com.

Mike Kozlik: That is correct. Yes.

Lee Kantor: Well, Mike, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Mike Kozlik: Well, I appreciate you for having me today. Thank you very much.

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

 

BRX Pro Tip: Ways to Up Your Social Proof Game

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BRX Pro Tips
BRX Pro Tip: Ways to Up Your Social Proof Game
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BRX Pro Tip: Ways to Up Your Social Proof Game

Stone Payton: Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips, Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, you and I and our other studio partners, I guess we’re probably a little bit spoiled in this regard because it’s pretty easy to do if you have your own radio show, let alone multiple radio shows, but what are some ways to kind of up your social proof game?

Lee Kantor: Yeah. It’s important for your next client to see that you’ve helped people, and to have a list of people that like what you’re doing and that you’ve served. So, elevating your social proof is one of the most effective ways to kind of build that trust, to boost conversions, and to differentiate your brand.

Lee Kantor: So, here are some ways that you can strengthen your social proof across a variety of platforms. Number one, display genuine customer reviews and testimonials prominently on your website. You know, put reviews and people saying you’re good and you do great work everywhere. I mean, put it on your website, your product pages, your emails. Don’t be shy with that type of content and spread it around. If you can use their names, use their names, or if there’s photos of them, use photos. You know, I’ve seen some companies do video testimonials that just add kind of to that authenticity and relatability.

Lee Kantor: Number two, encourage your customers to share their experience on social media. If you can just build in sharing as part of what you’re delivering, that’s all the better. At Business RadioX, you know, we take a picture and we create content and we encourage our guests to share that stuff, and they do and they’ll say nice things about us when they do. So, feature photos, videos, stories on all your platforms to show real people love in your product.

Lee Kantor: To up your social media game, diversify your approach. Combine testimonials, influencer endorsements, user generated content, real time activity, any type of public recognition. Just combine, mix and match all that stuff. The more authentic and visible your proof is, the more you’ll build trust and drive growth across all of your platforms.

From Insurance to Karaoke: Chuck Burge’s Journey to Fundraising Success

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Cherokee Business Radio
From Insurance to Karaoke: Chuck Burge's Journey to Fundraising Success
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In this episode of Cherokee Business Radio, Joshua Kornitsky is joined by Chuck Burge, creator of the Airaoke karaoke fundraiser benefiting the 9/11 Fallen Hero Project in Metro Atlanta. Chuck shares his journey from insurance to entertainment, his experiences as a karaoke host and corporate DJ, and the growth of Airaoke from a small airport hangar event to a major annual fundraiser. The episode highlights Chuck’s dedication to community causes, details about the upcoming event, and the positive impact of supporting local firefighters and honoring 9/11 heroes.

Brought to you by Diesel David and Main Street Warriors

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Chuck-Burge-bwChuck Burge has been in the marketing industry for over 30 years. He became one of the hosts/emcees for the Diet Pepsi “You Got The Right One, Baby” Uh-Huh Girls…. transitioned into a corporate DJ.

He was invited back into the marketing world to create marketing campaigns for Fortune 500 companies…GM, Dunkin Donuts, Pepsi and many others. After the downfall in economy in ’08, he started doing everything locally that he was doing nationally… helping companies with branding and sales.

Today, he still creates events for non-profits selling sponsorship for and producing them. Airaoke.org is the website for his biggest event. He hosts two sports podcasts to raise money for a cancer support group and NIL money for the 2nd largest college in GA, Kennesaw State University.

He is very involved in his community through Chamber of Commerce, business associations and volunteering for MUST Ministries.

Connect with Chuck on LinkedIn and follow Airaoke on Facebook

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

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

Joshua Kornitsky: Hey, welcome back to another episode of Cherokee Business Radio. I’m Joshua Kornitsky, professional EOS implementer and your host today. And today’s episode is brought to you in part by the Community Partner program, the Business RadioX Main Street Warriors defending capitalism, promoting small business and supporting our local community. For more information, go to Main Street Warriors and a special note of thanks to our title sponsor for the Cherokee chapter of Main Street Warriors Diesel David, Inc.. Please go check them out at diesel. Com. Well, in the studio with me today is is really an incredible guy. I’d like to introduce Chuck Burge, the creator of Airaoke. Hey, Chuck, how are you?

Chuck Burge: I’m very well. Josh, how are you doing?

Joshua Kornitsky: Oh, it’s, uh. It’s been an exciting day today. If not a little bit too warm.

Chuck Burge: It’s a long day already. Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: But, uh, tell us a little bit about yourself before we talk about karaoke.

Chuck Burge: Well, uh, native of Marietta, uh, went to McEachern High School back when schools were the same first through 12th grade. So I went 11 years to the same school, but grew up, never lived further than five miles from the Marietta Square. Uh, very endeared to the city of Marietta. I love it very much. Um, went to Kennesaw Junior College, which was a two year school then.

Joshua Kornitsky: Now for Kennesaw.

Chuck Burge: State before Kennesaw State now it’s the second largest school in the state and got my associate degree, uh, business degree there, and then went to Georgia Southern and got my marketing degree at Georgia Southern. Uh, got married, got divorced, got two fabulous sons, uh, 36 and 28. Chip and Kevin and Boston and Nashville. And love them like they’re here every day. But they’re not. Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sure, sure. Well, thank you for giving us a little bit about your background. And before we get into air hockey, I feel like it gives a lot of perspective. Do you explain what you spent your career doing before area hockey, so that we can then talk more about that?

Chuck Burge: Well, my career was really kind of odd. Um, my first job out of college was working at Life Insurance Company of Georgia as a claims examiner and got promoted to internal audit, which I just still can’t believe I did that job. But it was great company, great benefits. We got off at noon on Friday and, uh, floated down the river every Friday afternoon during the summer. So it was a great job for a single guy. And then I got married and, uh, and in 89, when my oldest son was born, I said, well, I need to do something different to make some money because I know I got a kid to raise. And, uh, so I went to work for Mass Mutual Insurance Company and was rookie of the year agent in 1990, sold more Fisher policies than any agent ever had nationwide for MassMutual. Wow. And, uh, they put me into management, going out, recruiting and hiring and training new agents. Um, and then from that, I was having dinner one night at the Marriott Marquis Downtown Champion Sports bar with a guy named David Ponzio. And I’ll never forget that name, because that night literally changed my life. And, uh, we were sitting there having dinner with this guy Chuck Lorre. And what’s the guy’s name? Comes around and throws this book on the table and said, what is that? He said, it’s karaoke. I said, what is a karaoke? Because it was brand new to the States. Nobody knew what it was. He said, it’s this music system where we play the background music.

Chuck Burge: You get to provide the lead vocals. I said, no kidding. I start flipping through the book. I said, well, I got to do this. He said, we’ll pick out a song. I said, no, I gotta do what you’re doing. I said, how much fun would that be, right? And he said, well, as a matter of fact, we’re looking for someone. If you’d like to meet the owner, I’ll introduce you to him. So the next day I went met Greg Smith, and, uh, Greg said, yeah, as long as you don’t try to sell insurance, everybody comes up and sings, we’ll give you a shot. So he did. And 3 or 4 years later, Greg calls me and says, hey, Chuck, there’s this new karaoke company coming to town Thursday for a group interview, and I’m going to be in Vegas at the electronic show. Would you be willing to go for me and see what it’s all about? I said, yeah, I’d be glad to, uh, might meet somebody I can hire as an agent. This is what I basically said. Sure, absolutely. So I got out there, and what it was was Rent-A-Center, the Rent to own company, had started an entertainment division called Race Entertainment and had signed a $3 million contract with Diet Pepsi to put. You got the right one, baby. Uh huh. On karaoke and go all over the country and have people come up and sing it and get a cassette promotional gift of them singing you got the right one, baby, huh? And they hadn’t hired a soul.

Chuck Burge: I said, well, that’s pretty cool. I think you think about it. Yeah. So I went home that night and they called me back and said, hey, Chuck, we’ve got this narrowed down to ten people. Could you come back tomorrow? And I said, yeah, why not? So I went back and then the next night’s phone call was, hey, Chuck, are you working in here this weekend where you can watch you perform? I said, yeah, as a matter of fact, write it down at Marriott. Um, northwest at Interstate North Parkway. So a guy came from Manchester, England, Indianapolis and Wichita, Kansas, and introduced themselves. They said, hey, you know, we’re looking forward to seeing you. I said, great. And I had got a regular crowd by then, and I had friends coming in and saying, and I knew it was going to be a good show. So about halfway through the show, one of them walks up and says, hey, Chuck, he’s I said, what do you want to sing? And he said, no, flip it over. And yeah, it sounds like they said, we want you. That’s great. And that changed my whole life. Double my salary for when I was at the insurance company. And for the next two and a half years, I was number two karaoke office in the country. And, uh, was singing you got the right one, maybe Uh-Uh with the Uh-Uh girls for two and a half years.

Joshua Kornitsky: Listen, there’s got to be something special about a myriad of boy that can make a living off of Pepsi.

Chuck Burge: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So it was a very, very fun contract. And when the contract ended, I had take. I took all my, uh, marketing material or my, uh, karaoke equipment and sold it to a guy that owned a company called Monte Carlo Productions is a private casino company. And he said, I’ve always wanted my own DJ. He said, I’ve always subcontracted out. Would you be interested in coming in and running my DJ business? I said, sure, yeah. So I went in there and sold parties and I mean, I had such a great time. I, um, I did Evander Holyfield, 4th of July party three years in a row. Wow. Saying Under the boardwalk with Lenny Wilkins at the opening of Philips Arena. Uh, did Braves opening night parties in the parking lot at O. Atlanta-fulton County Stadium. I mean, I had a really pretty good name in the in the DJ industry for six years as a corporate disc jockey. Not on the air? Sure. And then, um, in 2000, January of 2000, the guy calls me from Boston who was the number one karaoke company in the country when we were doing the, uh. You got the right one, baby on promotion. He said, hey, Chuck, I’ve taken this Pepsi business and turned it into a national mobile marketing company and I need somebody to run Atlanta. Coincidentally enough for the All-Star game that summer and to 2000. And I said, you know, Mike, I really want to come home and spend more time with my kids. If you’ll promise me X and tell me this is the last job I’ll ever have. I’m all yours. So I did that, and I ran the All-Star game for Pepsi down in the Turner Field, then for 2000, and then got into creating grassroots marketing campaigns for large companies general Motors, Cingular Wireless, um, ran the Mall of America for five days for Diet Mountain Dew, hung out with Dick Vitale and John Wooden for five days. Wow. Wasn’t a bad day. Wasn’t a bad.

Joshua Kornitsky: Week. No no no no.

Chuck Burge: So and in 2008, when the economy kind of started tanking, I just started doing everything locally that I was doing nationally and, um, kind of once a fun time, I became my own boss and I wasn’t I was on the plane every week for 6 or 7 years and, uh, meeting somebody.

Joshua Kornitsky: I think you’d be hard pressed to find somebody who has more experience in a field that you wouldn’t think experience matters. Karaoke where it clearly does matter.

Chuck Burge: I learned a lot.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah, and the marketing aspect that served you well coming from, uh, from the the time in college ended up becoming your whole life. So. So what how did we get to ROI from all of that? Thank you for giving us the background, because that helps us understand why and who you are.

Chuck Burge: Well, karaoke came about, uh, I had not DJ or MC or anything other than like, friends, birthday parties or their wedding receptions or stuff since 2000. And then, um, in 20. Well, when in 2001. When, um, when the towers fell on nine over 11. Um, my best friend was supposed to be in the towers, but he missed his flight out of Atlanta the night before he would have been killed, thank goodness. So, uh, God thing know that he knows that. And, uh, and then when 2020, when Covid hit and they couldn’t do the stair climb anymore to raise money for the firefighters.

Joshua Kornitsky: Oh, from okay from the Fallen Hero project.

Chuck Burge: Yeah, from the non Heroes project. Uh, I, I went to, uh, the chief of Cop County fire. Who was Mr. Kreider, who I’d known since he was 4 or 5 years old and said, hey, I want to do something to help raise money. And that’s where I came up with the area. Okay. I was out at the aviation museum in Marietta, and I looked at the big C-130 out there and said, how cool would it be to wrap a stage around the nose of that plane? Sure. And do aerial in front of an airplane.

Joshua Kornitsky: And that’s where it was born.

Chuck Burge: That’s where the idea was born. Okay. We couldn’t do it there because right across the street from the Aviation museum is a railroad track that has 72 tracks, 72 trains a day coming by.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah. So let’s see how that gets in the way.

Chuck Burge: So it didn’t make sense. So we moved up to Cobb International Airport. Uh, and Jim Cook with Atlanta Air Charter was nice enough to give us the hangar for a couple of years. And all we did was have an airplane face the hangar, wrap the stage around the nose of the plane, and people would come up and sing Airy Okie. It was really cool. Had the planes taken taking off in the background and all that. Very, very neat venue. But unfortunately, we outgrew the hangar in a couple of years. Uh, I mean, 250 was a max that would hold, and we were we were getting ready to bust out. Yeah. So we took it to the Strand Theater, and we’ll be having it there for the third year and our fifth year overall on August 30th of this year.

Joshua Kornitsky: Oh, fantastic. All right. So if people want to want to see the event, do they go to the strand website. Do they go to your website.

Chuck Burge: They go to Eric. That’s I a okay. Dot org. You can buy tickets. You can buy. You can sign up saying we still have six singer spots left, which is very unusual at this time because usually we have a lot more. So the word’s getting out about this event and we’ve been running it well, and now we’re getting where people have been signed up since February to sing. And now we’ve got, we’ve got six slots left and it’s 25 people saying, uh, and somebody wants $1,500 in cash.

Joshua Kornitsky: Does it all happen that night?

Chuck Burge: Everything happens that night.

Joshua Kornitsky: That sounds like a lot of fun, too.

Chuck Burge: It is a.

Joshua Kornitsky: Lot of fun. So if somebody can’t attend. Is there a way they can still show support?

Chuck Burge: Uh, you can always support by sponsoring. Also, if you’ll go to archive.org and hit sponsorships up at the top, it’ll give you a list. It’s basically $250 an up. And, you know, the most important thing. I mean, it’s a really, really fun event, but it is for a nonprofit called the nine over 11 Fallen Aero Project. A guy named Mike Kirsch and Susan Kirsch and their kids, Wesley and Lauren, uh, are the ones that run this event. I run it for them. Sure. And I raised all the funds. But Mike was actually a, um, uh, captain detective, New York City captain and detective. And, uh, he was not on site when it happened, but he spent nine months there after it happened, recovering the bodies of his friends and identifying them and all. And now Mike is riddled with cancer. And from all the asbestos and stuff he got. So it’s a lot of me and Susan putting this together. But all the funds go to metro Atlanta. It’s not tunnels to towers. It’s a nine over 11 fallen hero project. So all the all the proceeds go to metro Atlanta.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s I’m glad you shared that because that makes it much more personal, much closer to home. Yeah. And it’s not that there aren’t people that need help everywhere. With regards to nine over 11, but it’s nice that we’re able to help the folks that are here. Yeah. That’s fantastic. So now how many years have you been doing here?

Chuck Burge: Here. This will be the fifth year.

Joshua Kornitsky: This will be the fifth.

Chuck Burge: Year, and next year will be the 25th anniversary of nine over 11. So hopefully we’re going to do something grander. Uh, it’s just hard to believe that it’s been 25 years. And we every year we have artifacts from ground zero at the event where people can come have their pictures made with it, which is really, really cool. And obviously.

Joshua Kornitsky: It’s cool and it’s somber too, but it’s.

Chuck Burge: Cool and somber. That’s a good way to put it. Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: Um, so over the the preceding years, have you had any really exciting or interesting events happen, you know, with the singers, with the crowd?

Chuck Burge: Oh yeah, Some of both. Uh, uh, the singers have been really good, and the whole premise is, like I said, we we look for singers, we look for sponsors, and we look for items that are donated to raise money. Because if you sign up to sing, there are five live judges there. And I want to thank Sarah for getting them from the Atlanta Orchestra this year. So our judges are going to be coming from Atlanta Orchestra. But the whole premise is bring all your friends to vote for you. It’s half audience vote and half judge vote, because we have about $25,000 worth of raffle items that we’ll raffle off. So the girl that won last year, Little Girl and Elise Lightner from Kennesaw State, sang Jolene, but she brought her family, she brought her track team, she brought everybody from KSU. And she was like, I think second in the judging, but she was first in the audience. So the whole.

Joshua Kornitsky: Premise, folks with her.

Chuck Burge: Whole premise, whole premise is come sing, bring your friends to vote for you and to buy raffle tickets to support the firefighters.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s amazing. And what does the ticket cost?

Chuck Burge: 25 bucks.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay, So it’s pretty reasonable really, particularly these days. Yeah. And for that much entertainment, it seems like it’s something that’ll keep you alive.

Chuck Burge: It’s a lot of fun. And I’ll give a little credit to Joe Turner, who is our emcee. And Joe is an international magician. And he fell in love with the event. I think you said, you know Joe, right?

Joshua Kornitsky: I’ve met Joe a number of times, and he’s also a great speaker.

Chuck Burge: Oh, very, very good speaker. So, Joe, I connected with him last week. I said, hey, I know you’re in, but I, I just need confirmation that you’re still in. And he said, I’m looking forward to coming back. So he he’s recently moved to Tennessee, but I appreciate him making the trip down to come to the show.

Joshua Kornitsky: Joe’s a good man. I’m glad he is coming down, too. He’s awesome. He’ll he’ll absolutely make.

Chuck Burge: The good singer too. I don’t know if you ever heard.

Joshua Kornitsky: Him sing, not know that. And I’m a terrible singer, so I’m going to do my best.

Chuck Burge: He can’t. He can’t compete. But he is. He is good. But the people that have won. And you asked earlier. Uh, Josh, uh, the guy that won the first year was invited to sing with the Trans-Siberian orchestra. Uh, the girl that won the second year is now singing opera in New York. Uh, the girl that won the third year is just some rock n roll singer around town here. Like I said, the girl that won last year just sang Jolene, and I said she was telling her about it at Kennesaw State, a show that I do a podcast. And she said, oh, I’d love to sing. I said, well, come on and sing. And so you just never know who’s going to win. Uh, we I don’t think we’ve ever had a really bad act. I’ve been doing this five years, from the time that I’ve been doing karaoke since 1992. I’ve seen a lot of bad acts.

Joshua Kornitsky: I, I, I have to pray for your ears. I can’t imagine what you’ve heard.

Chuck Burge: Most of the people that come to this really can’t sing or really think they can sing well.

Joshua Kornitsky: And the strand holds a.

Chuck Burge: 530.

Joshua Kornitsky: People. Yeah. So that’s a lot of people say if if you’re going to get up there and try to be funny, that’s a lot of people that try to be in front of you, in front of when you’re if you’re a terrible singer. So, yeah. Uh, I can’t thank you enough, Chuck. This is really great stuff that you’re doing. Such a wonderful, wonderful tribute to the nine over 11. Follow here Fallen Heroes Project. And to make it local and to make it resonate, that’s really incredible stuff.

Chuck Burge: Yeah, I’ve been given so much by this community and this is just what I can give back. It’s not much, but it’s what I can give. So as long as we do our all. Everybody does our own part. Everybody’s got their own charities. I mean, I also work for Mushroom Ministries. I volunteer at There Gobble Jog every year. I drove the Pink Pig at the at the, uh, Festival of Trees last year to help bring awareness for, uh, the sex trafficking in Atlanta. I want to give back as much as I can, but this is my heart. This is. This is where my passion is.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, I can’t thank you enough for sharing it with us, Chuck. Remind us again when? Where they buy the tickets. What is the date and the time?

Chuck Burge: The man is 6:00 on August 30th. Doors open at six. Singing starts at seven. But come and enjoy all the raffle items. And like I said, the artifacts from Ground Zero have your picture made. But it is Saturday, August the 30th. Um, and we just can’t wait to see who’s going to show up. An area key Karaoke. Karaoke? If, like I said, if you want tickets, if you want to sponsor or if you want to sing, or you can call me directly at (770) 428-9930. I’ll take phone calls. I’ll take text. Anybody want to reach out to me? Feel free to do so.

Joshua Kornitsky: Perfect. Well, uh, you know, Chuck Birch, honestly, the creator of karaoke. What an exciting event this is going to be. Uh, I will do my very best to be there. And I will absolutely not be singing. So that should 100% make more people come. As long as I’m not.

Chuck Burge: Well, if you fill up a seat, that’s all I can ask. There you go. There you.

Joshua Kornitsky: Go. Well, thank you again. And please make sure next year you come back when we’re talking about the 25th, we’ll we’ll do everything we can to help promote that.

Chuck Burge: Well, I appreciate you, Josh. All right, well, thanks for the invitation.

Joshua Kornitsky: Thanks, everybody, for joining. Thank you again, Chuck, for coming. This is Joshua Kornitsky, professional iOS implementer and host of Cherokee Business Radio.

 

Empowering Communities: The Role of Investigative Services and Global Talent in Local Business Growth

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Cherokee Business Radio
Empowering Communities: The Role of Investigative Services and Global Talent in Local Business Growth
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Brought to you by Diesel David and Main Street Warriors

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In this episode of Cherokee Business Radio, Joshua Kornistsky interviews Sheila McPhilamy, owner of Complete Investigations and Security, and Pablo Gonzalez of Global Talent Direct. Sheila discusses her experience running a private detective agency, the challenges of being a woman in her field, and her nonprofit supporting missing children cases. Pablo shares how Global Talent Direct connects businesses with skilled remote professionals and highlights his involvement with veteran support and local organizations. Both guests offer insights into their industries and community impact, providing listeners with valuable perspectives on business and service.

Complete-Investigations-and-Security-logo

Sheila-bwSheila McPhilamy started her journey as a private investigator 16 years ago.

She worked domestic, insurance fraud and criminal cases before obtaining her company license and then her classroom instructor license after that.

Complete Investigations and Security has been featured in the media. Several of Sheila’s children work with her.

Their main focus is criminal cases for both attorneys and individuals. They also run a non-profit.

Follow Complete Investigations and Security on Facebook.

Pablo-Gonzalez-bwPablo Gonzalez, Head of Broker Relations, Global Talent Direct

Global Talent Direct (GTD) was born from a mission to help American businesses thrive, not struggle. Founded by Air Force veteran and former dog handler who traveled the world in service, GTD emerged from years of business consulting where one challenge surfaced repeatedly: “I need help but can’t afford it.”

Our Foundation: Service-Driven Solutions After transitioning from military service—where global perspective was essential—I recognized that businesses were trapped by geographical hiring limitations.

The constant payroll pressure was preventing growth, stifling innovation, and keeping entrepreneurs from achieving their dreams. This insight sparked Global Talent Direct’s core mission: leverage global talent for local impact.

The GTD Philosophy We’re not about taking American jobs—we’re about creating them and helping those who have them. By helping businesses access world-class talent at sustainable costs, we enable companies to reach profitability faster, extend their runway, and reinvest in local growth.

When a startup saves 65% on payroll costs or reclaims twelve months of runway, they’re not just surviving—they’re positioned to hire locally, contribute to their communities, and build the next generation of American innovation. Global-Talent-Direct-logo

Proven Impact Our clients consistently report transformative results: controllers in Colombia identifying $80K in first-month savings, customer success teams achieving 4.9/5 satisfaction ratings, and support operations running 24/5 while U.S. teams focus on strategic growth. These aren’t just cost savings—they’re competitive advantages that fuel local job creation.

Our Commitment Global Talent Direct believes in profitable businesses that give back to their communities. When companies thrive through strategic global hiring, they create local opportunities, support local causes, and strengthen the American economy.

We’re helping businesses get profitable faster so they can make a meaningful impact at home while also helping create jobs all over the world.

Follow Global Talent Direct on LinkedIn.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

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

Joshua Kornitsky: Welcome back to Cherokee Business Radio. This is Joshua Kornitsky professional EOS implementer and your host on today’s exciting episode. Today’s episode is brought to you in part by the Community Partner program, the Business RadioX Main Street Warriors defending capitalism, promoting small business, and supporting our local community. For more information, go to Main Street Warriors and a special note of thanks to our title sponsor for the Cherokee chapter of Main Street Warriors Diesel David, Inc.. Please go to Diesel Com to learn more. Well, welcome back. We’ve got some great guests in the studio with us today and I’m really excited to get started. So my first guest is Sheila McPhilamy with Complete Investigations and Security. Good morning Sheila. How are you?

Sheila McPhilamy: Good morning. Doing great.

Joshua Kornitsky: I’m so happy to have you here. I appreciate you being patient with me. I’ve got a little bit of a sore throat, so I’m sipping on some tea today, so I’ll try not to to stress my voice too much. Well, tell us a little bit about Complete Investigations and Security. What is it you do and who do you help?

Sheila McPhilamy: So we are a private detective and security agency. We’re located up on the Marietta Square. We’ve been in business for 13 years now. We do criminal insurance fraud and domestic cases.

Joshua Kornitsky: Wow. That’s a crazy avenue for you to find yourselves in. How did you get here?

Sheila McPhilamy: I had people ask me that all the time. It. There’s nothing in particular, to be honest with you. Um, I worked for a company doing some video editing. And, uh, it actually was a lot of undercover. Audio files.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Sheila McPhilamy: Um, in in reviewing those files, um, there were a lot of comments made about, you know, hey, you’d make a great investigator. It wasn’t something I’d ever thought about doing, uh, before, but that kind of, I guess if I was going to say something sparked it, then that’s what sparked it and started going down the path and getting all of my training and, uh, opened my company, uh, 13 years ago.

Joshua Kornitsky: Wow. And you’ve actually, from what you shared with me, you’ve had some pretty interesting experiences as far as, as a company, you’ve not exactly been out of the spotlight.

Sheila McPhilamy: Uh, we’ve done, uh, we’ve been in a book. We’ve done, uh, some TV shows and documentaries and things like that where we’ve worked on cases.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s, that’s going to, of what I promise. I won’t ask any of the details about any of the cases, but certainly having that that opportunity and that exposure must have been kind of a departure from the day to day for you.

Sheila McPhilamy: It is, but it made it fun. Sure. Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: So let’s dive in a little bit and talk more about it. So you had said that you’re doing all types of normal, all types of investigations. And, and I know from our discussion with it how unusual is it to be a woman in this space.

Sheila McPhilamy: Very unusual. There there are a few out there, but they usually don’t last very long. Um, it it truly is pretty much a man’s world. Um, so it’s having to navigate that and people automatically, you know, assuming when you answer the phone that you’re the receptionist and not not the actual owner and investigator.

Joshua Kornitsky: So there’s a lot you have to overcome with that. But I gather from 13 years in business, you’ve you’ve more than proven that, that it’s a space that you are excelling in. Hope so. Must be so. So what are some of the common things people assume you spend your time on that may or may not be correct?

Sheila McPhilamy: Hmm. Well, people automatically make an assumption because TV shows, you know, they kind of portray. If you’re a private investigator, you investigate cheating spouses. And, uh, you know that we do do that. Uh, but that’s not the main part of our business. We handle a lot of criminal cases. So, um, we deal with some pretty heavy stuff.

Joshua Kornitsky: So let’s talk about that a little bit, because obviously you’re doing investigations, you say into criminal matters. Who are you? Who are you investigating for?

Sheila McPhilamy: It can be an attorney’s office or it can be an individual. So a lot of times families will come to us. Um, maybe there’s there’s been a something criminal that has occurred, and they come to us because they feel like they’re not getting answers. And it’s not because police aren’t doing their job, it’s just that sometimes agencies are overwhelmed. Um, and, uh, families, you know, they need closure. And so they’ll come to us. Uh, we have attorneys that come to us as well. Um, so. Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay, so so you’re doing that type of work for families, for attorneys, and, and when you’re doing that type of work, you’re functioning in a capacity where you’ve got to learn as much information as you can. I gather right. So when it comes to things like questioning people, and this is of particular interest to me. What are some of the things? And again, not looking for any secrets out of your universe. What are some of the things that you have to do when you engage with people in order to get them to open up?

Sheila McPhilamy: So it really depends on the case. Um, you know, it’s not a, um, one, one tool is going to work for everyone and every, every situation that you’re in. It may be that we just go directly to them for an interview, you know, as a witness or something like that, or it may be something where we have to come to them, you know, pretending to be someone else. And of course, there are guidelines that we have to follow, just like, you know, police have got investigators have guidelines they have to follow. Right. Um, but, uh, we just really have to base it on the case and what what we’re trying to retrieve. And it’s not always the same type of person that is, is going out to talk to them or calling them on the phone. We may base whoever’s going out based on who we think is going to be able to get more information.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Sheila McPhilamy: So depending depending on the case.

Joshua Kornitsky: So you’re going to find the right, uh, individual to, to slot in the right tool for the job as it were. Okay. And and again not I, I I’ll stop saying I’m not trying to ask anything confidential. Do you have a fairly good number of tools to choose from in that regard, that you’re able to find different folks to come in. Okay. Um, so when it comes to your your team and your staff, are you in the lead of everything or do you have other folks that are able to go out and lead investigations as well?

Sheila McPhilamy: So I oversee everything. Okay. Um, it’s, you know, it’s my company. So I want to make sure that everything’s done correctly. So, um, I do oversee it. They do have some flexibility in what they do because, you know, they are trained as well. Uh, sure. But, yeah. So I oversee the end product, and then they’ll come to me if they have any questions.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. And I assume they check in along the way. Make sure everything stays on track. Correct. Okay. So with the types of investigations, we talked a little bit about the criminal stuff. Um, we don’t need to talk about the spousal stuff because everybody’s got a TV. And most of that I’m sure is wrong, in any event. But let’s talk a little bit about the accident stuff. And I feel like if a defense attorney is asking for you to investigate, there’s a reason, right? And in what? Again, no one’s maligning the police. What might that reason be? Why do the defense attorneys reach out to get a third party?

Sheila McPhilamy: Yeah. So they there. They may come out because, um, where there’s a case where there may possibly be video footage that was not retrieved or couldn’t have been retrieved at the time. So we’ll go out and try to do that. Um, we will try to come up with more witnesses, because it may be that someone talked to the next door neighbor when the event occurred, but they didn’t talk to someone who was two doors down. And that person, two doors down, had video. Their child was outside playing when it happened, so they were outside. So you never know. Um, we do a lot of we’ll take measurements, uh, photographs, uh, document anything that is still there from the incident that occurred. Uh, so it’s we can retrieve a lot of information that the attorney may not have had prior.

Joshua Kornitsky: And just out of curiosity, because I’ve got a technical background to to a small degree. How much have things like home cameras and doorbell cameras and things like that? Has that been a factor in as as you’ve grown as an organization? Do those factor in?

Sheila McPhilamy: Oh, yes. It’s huge. Uh, you do have to get the video pretty quickly. So, um, you know, you can’t you can’t call an attorney, can’t call me two months down the road and say, hey, you know, we had this incident occurred that we need the video for because most of the time it’s gone by then. Um, sometimes you get lucky. Somebody, you know took a video on their cell phone, and and you can retrieve it there, but, uh, yeah. So it’s the advancement with with phones, with ring cameras and things like that. Those are huge.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah. It’s funny, I read somewhere that if Bigfoot or the aliens were around half a billion or, billion. Excuse me? 4 billion people walk around with a cell phone. Somebody would have captured it by now. Yes. And I can’t imagine how many things that you see that get captured by those types of cameras. Um, you also had shared with me that you do missing persons. We do. And hopefully there’s, uh, there’s some happy stories there. In addition, what I assume are some less than happy stories. Uh, without giving away anybody’s information, or are there any happy stories you can share with us?

Sheila McPhilamy: We we work a lot with helping locate, uh, missing teenagers. If, uh, a child is met someone online. Um, sometimes they end up in a different state. Um, and we will have to go out and retrieve them. Bring them back. Those. Those are good stories. When we’re able to get a happy ending from that. Sure. Um, I had a situation where a woman, her mom, had been missing for 40 years. Wow. She went missing in California, and we ended up locating her in Florida. And so that was a feel good moment. So you do have those and those are great.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s awesome. And I imagine that, uh, with some of the other things you see, it probably is a little bit of, of a lightning to your mood. Yes.

Sheila McPhilamy: Definitely.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. Well, I mean, it’s really incredible to me the, the, the breadth and the depth of, of what you’re able to do, who you’re able to help. And it’s not just the attorneys, it’s also the individuals. And when it comes to individuals, they can reach out to you. What’s the best way for them to get Ahold of you?

Sheila McPhilamy: They can give me a call on my cell, which is actually the office number. I don’t have an office number. It’s just call me on my cell. Send me a text. Uh, that number is (404) 379-1125. And then they can also locate us on the web at Complete Investigations net. And then we’re also on all the social media platforms under complete investigation.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s wonderful. And we’ll also have all of that information shared on our site. And I appreciate you sharing with us what you’ve shared. But I want to ask you about one more thing that you had told me about, which was your nonprofit.

Sheila McPhilamy: Yes, I have a nonprofit. It’s called Serving to Protect. And a lot of the times where children go missing. It’s there’s a lot involved as far as getting them back to the parent. Um, they there may be costs for hotel rooms, for air travel, for travel to the location. Uh, so, um, the nonprofit helps cover some of those costs. Uh.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah. Okay. So is that something that that anybody can reach out and make a donation for?

Sheila McPhilamy: They can. If you go to complete investigations and go to the page for serving to protect, uh, there should be a link there where they can make a payment.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s fantastic. Well, Sheila, I can’t thank you enough for coming on and sharing your experience. And and, uh, the incredibly real true life as opposed to, as seen on TV version of of what you do with your investigation and with your investigators. And thank you so much for being here. I hope you have time to stick around. But once again, this has been Sheila McPhilamy with Complete Investigations and Security. Thank you.

Sheila McPhilamy: Thank you so much.

Joshua Kornitsky: Thank you. And my next guest is Pablo Gonzalez. Pablo is one of the founders of a company called Global Talent Direct. Good morning. Pablo, how are you?

Pablo Gonzalez : Hey, Josh. I’m good. Thank you so much for having me.

Joshua Kornitsky: Thank you so much for being here today. We really appreciate it. So let me start by asking you what do you do?

Pablo Gonzalez : Yeah. So Global Talent Direct is a company, uh, that was founded, um, with the goal of helping business owners, uh, use global talent for local impact. Uh, and that’s our mission statement. Um, Essentially, we’re not just, you know, people always going into the. People are always going into thinking, oh, you’re taking American jobs this and what have you. Um, when in reality, you’re you’re not only giving someone. A job, uh, overseas, but you’re helping a business owner stateside become profitable faster, um, by being able to find someone who has their masters ten years of experience asking 1300 bucks a month.

Joshua Kornitsky: Wow. So what types of roles do you help fill?

Pablo Gonzalez : Yeah. So we we, uh, right now have a solid baseline of customer service reps. Uh, executive assistants, those I, I would say are our most popular offerings. Um, but then we also have marketing, uh, any accounting and finance, um, operations salespeople. It’s it’s really we’re also working on finding a legal assistance and paralegals as well. Um, but it’s really anything that can be done remote where the founder did not get into their business, their nonprofit, their the organization to be doing these things? Sure. And be able to actually remove one of those hats.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay, well, that sounds like it makes a pretty big impact in in in more than one place, right? Yeah. So so let’s back up a little bit. Tell me a little bit about your background. How did where did you start that you ended up here.

Pablo Gonzalez : Yeah. So, uh, I’ll keep it short because it can be I can’t take that detour, but, uh, I’m a Air Force veteran as an explosive detection dog handler. Uh, for six years. Um, and when I separated, my wife asked me to do something where she could get some sleep at night.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, first, thank you for your service.

Pablo Gonzalez : Thank you, thank you. So, uh, I still wanted to, uh, you know, make an impact on on my community, uh, wherever it is, and society as a whole. So I went into, uh, into business consulting. I found that a small.

Joshua Kornitsky: Business.

Pablo Gonzalez : Profession. Yeah, I found that small business owners and just business owners in general always have a really amazing story as to what got them there. And they’re they’re the ones helping the economy. Uh, get back to where it needs to be. Um, and I, I found during those years of business consulting that the main problem was always, I wish I could afford more help. You know, I need it. I can’t, I can’t get it. Um. That would be great. And payroll. And, you know, nowadays you’re having some college kids coming out expecting $95,000 salaries with no experience. Um, so it’s it’s it’s really helpful to to the business owner that thinks there are several years away. Sure. And even the serial entrepreneurs that, uh, want to scale and sell, scale and sell.

Joshua Kornitsky: So it really helps them sort of be able to do things that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to touch.

Pablo Gonzalez : Precisely.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. And where do you make the connections with folks? Uh, obviously we’ll talk about where you find your customers, but where do you find the talent?

Pablo Gonzalez : Yeah. So we have them really all over the world. Uh, specifically where the cost of living is going to make the most sense for the business owner. Uh, in the sense of ROI. So it depends. We have most of Latin America, Asia, um, uh, Middle East. Uh, Trinidad and Tobago. I mean, really any with Jamaica, even anywhere where the cost of living is going to just make that the most sense.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. And do you specifically bring, uh, bring to market talent that may be multilingual and not that that’s a focus, but.

Pablo Gonzalez : Yeah, no, absolutely. All of the candidates speak, uh, speak English are very fluent in it, not just in English, but we also test for fluency in their specific field. Oh that’s great. Obviously, you know, I speak fluent Spanish. I’m Colombian. Um, but I couldn’t tell you how to take a computer apart and put it together. Okay. Um, so we test specifically, like bookkeepers, knowing those financial terms and such things.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. And. And how would you say that you’ve got a specific vertical that you’re helping, or as far as the clients that you’re looking for, what? What’s a good fit other than somebody who’s too busy?

Pablo Gonzalez : Yeah. No. So that’s the cool part about this is, is when I was in business, consulting was almost a little restrictive. Um, where the medical came into play. And, uh, you have to get all of this information to their first born, and even then, they might still get denied. Um, whereas now it can be an individual that thinks they’re too busy. It can be a business owner that needs to, that wants to spend a few more hours with their family a week. Um, and it can be serial entrepreneurs that are, uh, just buying, scaling and selling, um, and wanting to help the, the local community.

Joshua Kornitsky: So can I ask you a tough question?

Pablo Gonzalez : I would hope so.

Joshua Kornitsky: Tough question. Aren’t these taking American jobs?

Pablo Gonzalez : Yeah. Um, that’s that’s really that comes in a lot. Uh, I think I mentioned a little bit earlier and it’s it’s tough because you can’t find an American with ten years of experience. Uh, and their degree and looking for 1300 bucks a month. Um. That’s true. And, you know, these aren’t just cost savings. They’re competitive. Competitive advantages that fuel, uh, local job creation. So that’s where our mission statement comes in. Um, it’s it’s when you have that money you’re able to donate to your causes. You’re able to hire more stateside. Um, one of our niches that we’ve actually found is blue collar. Um, which might sound ironic because obviously there’s a lot of hands on. Sure, sure. Um, but they where they find the most ROI in filling their back office with these remote roles so that they can focus on the big picture and strategy.

Joshua Kornitsky: So they’re not just temporary roles. It’s not just I need somebody to help me out for the week. They’ll they’ll actually permanently take the position.

Pablo Gonzalez : Yes. So we actually prefer that, uh, it’s we’re direct hires. Um, so we were able to place them and integrate them with your team. We have, uh, standard operating procedures that we’re able to provide for people who, uh, might have. Well, are going to have. The question is, how do I integrate a remote person with my physical team? Um, and we found ways to do it that make it have the least friction possible, uh, with having the business owners not really have to worry about, uh, several other things other than I just made an amazing hire for a fraction of the cost.

Joshua Kornitsky: Wow. So that really does make a pretty strong impact. Now, I know you are also involved in a number of other organizations. Uh, first, can you tell me a little bit about the Cobb chamber?

Pablo Gonzalez : Yeah, I love the Cobb chamber. So ever since I separated from the Air Force, uh, and moved back here, uh, to Georgia, I’ve been involved with them. Only this last year on the steering committee, uh, for the young professionals. Um, but it’s a an amazing Cobb County, as you guys are aware, is an amazing county. Um, and the chamber specifically does a lot of good, uh, for, for the local community. Um, one of my favorite events is the top golf tournament. Uh, it’s a fundraiser for, uh, Children’s of Atlanta.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sure. Yeah. The children’s healthcare is is, uh. If I ever have the money, it’s where it’s going to go, for sure. But you also are involved with savvy. Would you tell us tell us what it stands for?

Pablo Gonzalez : Yeah, absolutely. Uh, so as a veteran myself, it’s it stands for a strategic alliance for veteran integration, and it’s a nonprofit that helps veterans reintegrate into society, um, through a specific course. So it’s resources for all veterans, but specifically, it builds out a track for someone who’s either a year from separation or post separation, um, if they want to go entrepreneurship route, if they want to go into corporate, if they want to go back to school, get their benefits squared away. I mean, free Coursera membership, it’s um, it’s a lot of resources. And, uh, Taps does a lot for us, which is the transition assistance program that is mandated in the military. But, uh, there’s just so much that it misses.

Joshua Kornitsky: So do you function as an advisor for some of the men and women that are in that window of getting ready to transition out or having just transitioned.

Pablo Gonzalez : Out, not to them directly? Uh, I help with the programs. Um, so, uh, outreach, um, resource gathering, uh, just being able to get the organization, uh, as, as successful as possible and be able to reach as many veterans as we can.

Joshua Kornitsky: And I assume that’s a nonprofit as well. Yes, yes. If people wanted to make a donation there, how would they go about doing that?

Pablo Gonzalez : Yeah, absolutely. So just on the website and you can look up Strategic Alliance for Veteran Integration or Savvy. And it actually has at the very top make a donation.

Joshua Kornitsky: Oh fantastic. Okay. So let me circle back to to Global Talent Direct because I want to make sure that we give due diligence and the amount of time there. So what, if anything, uh, should I have asked that? I haven’t asked that. That you want to communicate about how you help your clients and how you help the people that you employ? What if someone’s listening right now and and forwards this, uh, when we publish out to somebody in a different country, how do they reach you? What are the types of things that you’re looking for?

Pablo Gonzalez : Yeah. So if it’s if it’s talent, uh, what we’re looking for is meant to senior level experience. It makes the transition a lot easier for actually placing these individuals with having their own setup already and proven experience working remotely. Um, if it’s companies and organizations and nonprofits, then we’re actually able to, uh, we have social global talent direct on all socials. Um, and you can actually, uh, send me a text or a phone call at six seven 8 or 8 00542. And then there’s also the admin email on our website, Global Direct. Com.

Joshua Kornitsky: Oh, fantastic. And we’ll have all of that shared on our site as we will for for Sheela and complete investigations and security as well. Um, I can’t thank you enough, Pablo Sheila, for for sharing your experience and your stories and your knowledge with us. Um, it’s been great to have you here in the studio. We try to make it interesting. We try to make sure we ask the right questions. Thank you both for being here. This is Joshua Kornitsky professional iOS implementer and your host today on Cherokee Business Radio.

 

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