angishields, Author at Business RadioX ® Page

BRX Pro Tip: How to Come up with More Ideas for Your Business

February 19, 2025 by angishields

BRX Pro Tips

BRX Pro Tip: How to Come up with More Ideas for Your Business

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BRX Pro Tip: How to Come up with More Ideas for Your Business

Stone Payton: Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you, Lee, let’s talk a little bit about some approaches for idea generation.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, I think it’s important to always be kind of pushing the envelope when it comes to ideas for your business. You should be thinking about your business 24/7. So, having some systems or places to go when it comes to getting more ideas, that way, you don’t get in a rut. That way, you’re exploring new activities and seeing what’s out there and maybe using what’s out there in kind of different creative ways that might help you get more clients or serve your clients more effectively.

I think some of the areas to go to, or some of the places to look, or ways to get these new ideas are number one, stay curious. I think it’s important to learn about interesting things that are outside of your industry in this way. If it’s working in a different industry, figure out a way to make it work in your industry. If somebody’s already successfully implementing some interesting thing in a totally different industry, there might be a way to leverage that in your industry that just no one has done yet.

Number two, I would leverage your team. I think it’s important to brainstorm with team members, especially people that are in different departments, put them all together in order to broaden each of their perspectives, because each of them are kind of looking at the business just through their lens. So, if you put a bunch of different people together and get them to look holistically and see things through other people’s eyes, you might come up with new ideas that way.

Three, ask your clients. Get their thoughts. You know, they’re in their own world, doing their own thing, and they’re using your service or your product. Invite them to share what they need more of and what they need less of. You know, invite a bunch of clients together for a brainstorming event to get their feedback and ideas every year or so. I mean, getting input from your clients is super valuable.

Number four, just try some new things. There’s always some experiment or pilot going on to see what could work, what doesn’t work, what might be worth the time, what isn’t worth the time. So, always experiment on something. You should be having a pilot going at all times.

And number five, dedicate some of your own time to just thinking about stuff and coming up with new ideas on your own. And then, don’t forget to implement some of them because if you’re not growing, then you’re dying. So, you should always be trying something. You should always be learning something new and seeing how it applies to your business.

Luke Fletcher with Construction Ready

February 18, 2025 by angishields

High Velocity Radio

Luke Fletcher with Construction Ready

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Don’t miss the 2025 Construction Ready CareerExpo—the largest skilled trades career events in the South!

Georgia 2025 CareerEXPO

Thursday, February 20, 9am – 4pm
Friday, February 21, 9am – 2pm

Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC)
285 Andrew Young International Blvd. NW
Atlanta, GA 30313

Learn more about registration here.

Construction Ready, a Georgia non-profit working to close the construction industry workforce gap, has promoted Luke Fletcher to Vice President of Recruitment, Placement & Retention. Fletcher will lead the adult training programs in Georgia and Florida. He will also support K12 learning and work-based programs throughout the two states.

“In his four years with Construction Ready, Luke has shown a great passion for recruiting men and women into the skilled trades,” says Scott Shelar, Construction Ready President and CEO. “Luke Fletcher is a valuable addition to our management team.”

Fletcher is a former high school construction teacher as well as a SkillsUSA Club Advisor in Houston County. Fletcher also served in the United States Air Force for 20 years as an electrical power production career field.

He earned a BS in Business Administration from Touro University and a Master’s in Educational Leadership and Administration from Trident University International.

Connect with Luke on LinkedIn.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Stone Payton: Welcome to the High Velocity Radio show, where we celebrate top performers producing better results in less time. Stone Payton here with you this morning. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast with Construction Ready, Mr. Luke Fletcher. How are you, man?

Luke Fletcher: Man, I’m doing well. How are you doing this morning?

Stone Payton: I am doing well. I’ve really been looking forward to this conversation. I think a great place to kick it off, if you’re up for it would be if you could share with us. Mission. Purpose. What are you and your crew really out there trying to do for folks? Man.

Luke Fletcher: Man. Yeah. So for nearly 30 years, uh, we’ve helped people of all ages and backgrounds take advantage of opportunities and skilled trades. And we do we do that on basically two ways. Uh, we’re in the K-12 space helping, you know, bring back shop class. Um, and we do that through drafting, welding and construction, um, programs in Georgia. We have a Georgia Doe contract where we help coach, mentor those teachers and provide, um, industry touch points and also, um, like competitions for the high schoolers, you know, go build, do some plumbing and welding. And then we also have a 20 day pre-apprenticeship program for people of all ages and backgrounds who would like to enter the construction, um, workforce, but they don’t know exactly what they want to do. Our program fits really well for them because they can enter as entry level and then they can figure out, hey, I want to do plumbing or hey, I want to do heavy equipment. After the initial, you know, job placement. So it’s really exciting.

Stone Payton: Well, it sounds like noble and fun and rewarding work if you can get it. What what’s your backstory, man? How’d you find yourself in this role?

Luke Fletcher: Yeah, man. So, you know, um, I, I graduated in 1994, and I wanted to go into construction, and I just didn’t really have an avenue. I was originally from Seattle, Washington, so I had to enlist. I enlisted in the United States Air Force. Uh, I did military construction for 20 years. Um, married a lady who was an educator. And I thought to myself, man, when I, when I retire, I need to try to do this, troops of teachers and maybe try to become a teacher. I had no clue. Uh, we’re in Warner Robins, Georgia. I had no clue that they even were trying to bring shop classes. Um, back to school. When I graduated in 1994, they were already taking those programs out. I think we had maybe an auto shop, and that was it. I had no construction program, uh, in my school that they offered. So, um, so I go through that whole process and I, I’m thinking I’m going to be a coach, PE coach or something like that because I have no idea unless I go to these job fairs and they’re like, hey, man, you did construction in the military. Uh, would you be willing to be a construction teacher? You’re certified and you’ve got the background, and you you meet all the qualifications. And so I did that for six years, um, at Northside High School, Warner Robins.

Luke Fletcher: And, um, it was actually three years. And then dual enrollment was became really popular still is in Georgia. And they wanted to move my program over to the Career Academy and go dual enrolled with Central Georgia Tech. And at that point, it just wasn’t, uh, for me anymore. I lost I used to touch about 140 kids a day at Northside. I was averaging maybe 40 at this career Academy, and I just didn’t see how. It was really helpful. Um, it was helpful for the teacher, but it wasn’t really. I didn’t feel like I was making an impact as much. And so during my six years construction already, uh, they would mentor me, coach me. I’d have to go to these summer programs. We would build things, and I would have to, you know, redeliver those lessons in schools. And so I just reached out to him. They had a they had a for their 20 day program, uh, a job spot open. And I applied and they said, hey, man, you know, we’d love to have you on the team. This isn’t the right spot for you, but let’s go ahead and see if we can get you on our K-12 side. So in 2021, they, um, had an opening for me. And man, I haven’t looked back since.

Stone Payton: So we are experiencing just to kind of get a state of the of the arena here. We are experiencing to this day a workforce gap or decline in the trades. Is that accurate?

Luke Fletcher: Oh, absolutely. That definitely. We have um, a labor shortage in in the skilled trades, um, like never before. Um, I will say um, I think Georgia there’s a, there’s a actual, um, it’s called the, uh, manpower Group. And they do a talent shortage survey every year and construction for the seventh year in a row. It remains the hardest industry to fill. And, um, I would, you know, if you look by by states, you know, of course, there’s bigger states like Texas and Florida. They have it. But Georgia is like number five in the nation, and we have 386,000 unfilled jobs every year. And, um, we got broke down by craft. Um, I think we need 62,000 carpenters by December 2026. 31,000 masons. And what what we find is, um, you know, we have 816 high schools in Georgia. And, you know, when kids can have a touch point and kind of see if they like something, then that’ll entice them to go to the technical school or, or find a trade school or find an apprenticeship. But when they don’t have that, uh, we’re really just doing ourselves a disservice as a society. And, and what we’re seeing is we’re in 237 high schools. That’s less than half. So we’re still, you know, we’re getting after trying to open up programs. But you know, if we if we can get in about, you know, 400 high schools, I think we’d feel good about really helping these kids, you know, go into the union apprenticeships, the, the independent electrical contractors apprenticeships or, or the technical schools. But we’re just we don’t have enough touch points. Um, I mean, we need 25,000. Heavy equipment operators by December 26th, 24,000 electricians. And that’s that’s a four year Department of Labor apprenticeship that you have to go through, and you need a one apprentice with one journeyman. So some of these problems are just going to keep happening until we can really, you know, get ahead of it.

Stone Payton: So at this point in your career in in this pursuit, what are you personally finding the most rewarding? What’s the most fun about it these days for you?

Luke Fletcher: And so, you know, like I said, um, I tried I wanted to be in construction. My uncle, I didn’t say this, but he did drywall. I saw him work for the unions in Seattle. He did a great job. And and so I went in the military. But someone helped me get there, right? And so I love building relationships, whether it’s a K-12 student or whether it’s one of our pre-apprenticeship, um, folks. And, um, and just helping them and then we follow them to once they get a job, we don’t leave. We we follow them. They become alumni. We we offer additional credentials. And we also, you know, provide some guidance because as you can imagine, some of these job sites, you gotta have tough skin and, you know, folks trying to figure it out, right. And so, so we we try to coach them up and just the relational. And then when someone comes back and says thanks, you know, it just means means the world. Right. But but part of that’s my story I know that’s not everybody, but I really like helping folks. And then I’ll. I’ll tell you this. We’ve had some recent success in our 20 day program. We’ve had some folks that came in with some transferable skills, whether it was like working stages at Tyler Perry Studios or whatever, and now they’re project managers for local construction companies. I mean, they they came in thinking, hey, I’m going to do entry level because I just need a job. And then when they get to that hiring fair, they got the resume out. And what they actually have the experience of already building something from start to finish. Man, that those construction companies are like, hey, we need you. So the other thing I want to say is it’s not just a craft labor shortage. We have the white collar shortages, too. There’s not enough project managers, BIM coordinators. I mean, the whole industry is, um, in demand right now.

Stone Payton: So let’s dive into the work a little bit. I’m operating under the impression that you are, you’re at these career expos in Georgia and Florida, And you’re you’re in these high schools helping the educators maybe walk us through a day in the life. There’s probably not a typical day or week or month for you, but give us a little bit of a feel for for your world on a day to day basis.

Luke Fletcher: Well, yeah. So these these, uh, career expos are really cool. Um, this will be the second year that we’re in Florida. So how they came about is, um, what part of our, uh, contract with the Georgia Department of Education? We get a contract with skills USA, which is the student organization for the, um, folks who, um, compete and set up the competitions for the high schoolers. So you can imagine there’s a carpentry, there’s a plumbing, there’s a welding. There’s all sorts of competitions for these young individuals to compete for. And so our CEO about 15 years ago, uh, Scott Schiller said, hey, let’s go ahead and try to have a career expo. And, um, I think they did it in the Home Depot parking lot. First time, if I remember the story right. It has grown to where it’s an annual event, and now it encompasses or is around, uh, in the Georgia World Congress center of the competition. So the competitions are in Hall A in the middle, and the expo is around. And it’s like, um, and honestly, I think it’s the largest event designed specifically for young students to explore more than 30 career pathways in construction. I don’t know if you could find that anywhere else. I mean, things like tile setter, the safety professional, you know, the line workers for Georgia Power, heavy equipment operators, they’re all there and they’re divided in these worlds.

Luke Fletcher: So like world of carpentry, world of electrical world of concrete, world of safety. And while you’re in that world, it’s, uh, you know, interactive. It’s, um, it allows the students and even, you know, you can you can come and visit. You don’t have to be a student. You can just, you know, look, looking to come. You could be a recent grad or just someone, you know, age 30. Come on down and and check it out. But you just go in these worlds and you get to talk to about 380 companies. Uh, they tell you about their apprenticeship programs? Yeah, we’ve got the tech schools there, college universities, vocational schools, and they just talk about their programs that help people get into, um, you know, that that industry which the world of sheet metal world of, uh, electrical, whatever that is. And it’s really cool. Um, and like I said, we got about 400 students in the middle competing in about 26in different skills competitions. So it’s it’s loud. It’s it’s interactive. But man, if you are all about construction, it’s the place to be, right? And and the industry really rallies. Uh, I think last year in Georgia, we had 9000 attendees over a two day event.

Luke Fletcher: It was really cool. Yeah, yeah, it was. I think it was something like we had 7.4 K elementary middle high school students visit. We had over 1000 industry volunteers. I think we had a thousand teachers and chaperons. It was really cool. And this is encompassing Florida too. So Florida was our first year. We got the the skills contract in Florida. And so we did it. This year will be our second year, but really cool. It’s at the Prime Osborn Center in Jacksonville there. And it’ll be later this year. So this Friday or this Thursday Friday will be in Georgia doing the state competition career expo. And then April is when we go to Jacksonville and we support that expo. But I’m telling you, it’s it’s really cool, really interactive. It’s hands on. I mean, you can really go in and do a lot of their demonstrations and figure out kind of what you like. I mean, it’s that that hands on that, you know, if you spend time in each world, you come away, you know, one with an appreciation of what what these guys do on a daily and to what your preferred touch point may be. It’s really neat.

Stone Payton: When you’re out in the community and dealing with all these different constituencies the students, the students, the educators, the the employers. Do you find that you run across some, I don’t know, myths? Maybe a little bit of a strong word, but misconceptions, incomplete information that requires just helping them really understand that those different worlds that you described. Are there some misconceptions that you run into?

Luke Fletcher: Yeah, absolutely. There’s tons of misconceptions. And I’ll be honest with you, when I started as a teacher, I had a misconception, right, of like commercial roofing. I remember growing up, it was tar. It was, you know, dirty and and and these guys were, um, coming, uh, industry partners were coming and telling me about this new technology, this new roofing material. It was white. It was just dusty. There was no tar. And I was like, I don’t believe you guys. Let me see. So they came in and did a whole demonstration for for the, the kids. And I was like, Holy smokes, it’s really changed. And and so, you know, you, you kind of just have to understand that understand that people have their own frame of reference, right? Like they remember high school from their lanes. They remember, you know, just from what they know. And so there is a constant educational piece, um, you know, entry level wages nowadays are ranging from like 15 to $22 an hour, depending on where you’re at. And I mean, it’s just people don’t really realize that. And and that’s just entry level. If, if you do well and you make yourself valuable and you work hard, I mean, you can become a small business owner in no time and construction. But but you definitely get promoted and things like that. But yeah, for the most part, there’s a lot of folks, um, that they just think that construction is dirty.

Luke Fletcher: It’s, you know, you can you can smoke dope and all that. And, and when we go in and we’re telling kids and we’re telling teachers, hey, there’s a drug test. If you’re going to work for a union, you got random drug testing. And sometimes they got these anti CBD policies and things. And and they’re just like blown away. They’re like oh this sounds like corporate America. It’s like, well, commercial construction is kind of corporate America. And so so it is definitely an educational piece. But at the end of the day, if someone has a great work ethic and they are, um, willing to work and they’re good with their hands, they don’t mind being outside. Man, this is the time to get into construction, especially if you have a five year, ten year plan. You want to be an entrepreneur. I mean, um, the world’s, you know, at their tip. I was talking to this one guy from Metro Power. He he he I think he joined, uh, Metro Power 3 or 4 years ago, maybe five now. So he did their four year, um, apprenticeship. He’s a journeyman. And I asked him, I said, are you getting a bunch of overtime hours now? And he’s like, no, Mr. Fletcher, I want to just have my weekends myself, especially from May to October. I’m like, well, tell me more about that. He’s like, man, I got this side hustle where I because I’ve got my journeyman license.

Luke Fletcher: I can work for these pool companies. And when they install a pool they need me to me to wire from the garage to the light to the pool pump. Man, they pay me piece work or something like that. And basically what he’s saying is it’s like $400 a job and he can do it in like 45 minutes. So he does a couple of those on the weekends, and he’s like, Mr. Fletcher, I’m gonna own my own electrical company one day. And the funny thing is, man, this guy is like 24 years old. And knowing his story, college wasn’t, um, on the table for him. And, of course, what he heard is you got to go to college and be successful. And and, man, he just he was really good with his hands. He went to a high school that didn’t have a shop class, and he just somehow got linked in. You know, Metro has recruiters. They go and talk to schools. Maybe he went to a camp. I’m not exactly sure how he got linked with them, but man, the sky’s the limit for him now, you know? And six years after high school, he’s thriving. And so, you know, we just need to create more touch points. And that’s what we’re about. And that’s really what excites me in the in the day, to be honest with you.

Stone Payton: Well, man, you got a lot of plates spinning personally to pull all this off as as a leader of this effort. A lot of irons in the fire, as my daddy would say. I’m curious if you feel like or to what degree you feel like your military experience has served you in turning around and serving these folks.

Luke Fletcher: Well, I’ll tell you, um, the military experience, um, from my perspective, is really, um, giving me a, um, uh, a breadth of, uh, uh, embrace, I guess, diversity. You know, we can we go into all communities and, and, you know, I went all around the world, right? And, and a lot of, um, training and, um, culture sensitivity and things like that. And so I think one, uh, it helps me kind of maybe lead our team and not to be nervous or anything like that when we go into a new, new community culture and just be open. But but I would also say, um, just the organizational leadership that the Air Force gave me, I think is helped. Right. Like, you know, we’re a nonprofit. So you can imagine we do we pivot a lot. We’re trying new things a lot. And so just the keeping things organized, I think really helps. And um, but but honestly, um, Scott Schiller, CEO man, I tell my team all the time just we just got to represent his heart, his vision. If we do that, we’re going to be fine because he’s the one that created this, you know, 26 years ago. And this is his grand vision. And, um, he’s got a heart of gold, you know, and he he he wants to help all people. Um, he, you know, it doesn’t matter. Their age doesn’t matter.

Luke Fletcher: Their background doesn’t matter. You know, if they want to get in the trades, he wants to walk beside them and help them. And so just creating that culture that he has and us just walking behind him and following him is really I think, um, set us up well, but but I do think the the military has helped me just, you know, going across the world having to accept and understand and and just keep, I guess, an open mind. And so really I mean, that also helps with employers, right, in different industries. Uh, I think I shared with you as a new teacher, uh, how even even after 20 years in the military, I was like, oh, there’s no way roofing doesn’t have tar, you know? And and then they got this new, um, uh, skin that they, they, they actually welded on, you know, and then seam it in and stuff and, and so that’s the cool thing. And, and you know, we’re still trying on these expos working with SkillsUSA. You know it’s interesting how each state’s a little different. So in Florida they have a commercial roofing competition. Well in Georgia we you know we have a couple at the region level. We’re trying to you know, we’ve got a world of roofing. But, you know, just trying to collaborate with with all the roofers and find out. Hey, can we get some volunteers to put this on for, for the kids and and and them to understand that they may have to do that for a few years before they get kids, you know, walking into their industry, but creating that touchpoint, you know, after a couple years, you know, juice builds juice.

Luke Fletcher: Those kids are gonna be like, hey, I want to go work for Midsouth. Hey, I want to go work for Ellie Schwartz. Hey, I want, but until we can create that touchpoint, you know, we just, you know, we’re just not there. But in in Jacksonville, they’ve got kids that they’re choosing to do commercial roofing and, um, they’ve had that touchpoint. So those are the things that keep us excited and just keeps that open mind. But to your point, it’s I think it’s a lot of organizational. Um, yeah. Leadership planning from our CEO on down. And then I think just the ability to try things and not look at it as success or failure. If it doesn’t work, then we just, you know, have a hot wash and why didn’t it work? And then how do we pivot and how do we just keep, uh, we call them our heroes in mind, right? Like, how do we keep what’s best for our students, whether they’re K-12 or they’re adult? And how do we serve them best and how we connect them with industry? So.

Stone Payton: Amen. So I don’t know when or how you would find the time, but, uh, interest pursuits, hobbies, passions outside the the scope of this work. Uh, most of my listeners know that I like to hunt, fish and travel. Anything you nerd out about when you’re not doing this?

Luke Fletcher: Man, I love college football and college basketball. And, um, honestly, this year has been a little different. So I have three, three, um, children. My daughter is the oldest, uh, she’s 28 this year, and I just became a grandpa, so I’m excited about that. We got our first grandchild, so we’re super excited. But, uh, our two boys, I had one son. He went to Auburn, and I had another son. He just joined the Marines. Uh, he went to Georgia Tech. And so we followed, you know, Auburn and Georgia Tech and and just, you know, try to follow that football. But but honestly, um, families probably what I nerd out about now, especially as they’re grown and, um, that time in the military, I feel like I missed a lot. So now I’m I’m trying to, you know, make sure I don’t miss a Thanksgiving or Christmas or anything like that, but but, um, yeah, I would say, I would say football, though at the holidays, we got the TV on and we’re cheering and, you know, my wife went to the University of Wyoming. So secretly, that’s who we follow. Um, there’s probably not too many Wyoming fans. Uh, but we love Josh Allen in the Buffalo Bills. And then I would say, um, when our kids around, if they’re both around, then it’s kind of house divided. But if it’s our favorite teams, whatever. Boys home.

Stone Payton: Well, congratulations on becoming a grandpa. That’s fantastic news.

Luke Fletcher: Yeah. Thank you. Yeah, we’re super excited.

Stone Payton: Hey, listen, before we wrap, I would love to if we could leave our listeners with a little something to noodle on. Maybe a couple of pro tips. A do a don’t. A good read. Something to be thinking about. And look gang, the number one pro tip is if this conversation is stimulated, your thinking at all is reach out and have a conversation with Luke or somebody on his team. Get tapped into the work they’re doing. Attend this conference. But uh, to, uh, to, uh, keep them sated between now and then. Luke, let’s leave them with a little something to noodle on.

Luke Fletcher: Yeah, yeah, I would, I would definitely, uh, love to invite everybody. February 20th and 21st down to the, um, Georgia World Congress Center. Come to the career Expo. It’s free. You can go to our website construction. Org, you can sign up for a badge. Badge will be waiting for you. You can just come on down and it’ll be great. Um, but for, you know, if anybody’s thinking about their future, thinking about how I can get into construction, there’s a really cool build your future nonprofit, um, website that has nothing to do with construction ready? Uh, but it has some really, really great tips. Um, about building your future in construction. Whether it’s union, nonunion, um, trade schools, uh, technical schools and and just the, the demand map and where you live, you know. So it’s really great, you know. So if someone’s in metrolina, they’re gonna have a lot of options. But if they’re in South Georgia, maybe they only have a few, but that that website is WW dot. Or they can just Google build your future and I would encourage them to go there.

Stone Payton: Fantastic. All right. Let’s make sure we do leave them with all the coordinates. The best way to to continue to tap into your work, maybe share that conference information again, maybe, uh, your website or contact whatever is appropriate, and we’ll allow people to stay connected with you, man.

Luke Fletcher: Yeah. No problem. It’s, uh, our website is construction dot again. That’s construction ready.org. And they’ll just go to our website and, um, they’ll hit on the career expo link, and, uh, they’ll see Georgia or Florida, whatever one they’re interested in. I would encourage them to come to the Georgia World Congress Center. But you click on that link and you just get a badge for free. Now, listen, if they don’t have time for that, they can just come down. We’ve got, uh, a lady that will take care of them. They register right there in hall. A, um, Miss Sandra mathis would be happy to take care of them. Um, so even if they don’t go to the website for the career expo, they can come to the Georgia World Congress Center and, um, and enjoy, uh, a walk through and interact with the, the professionals. Um, and if they want to conversate with us about programs, whether it’s, uh, starting a program or, uh, getting trained through the 20 day program, I mean, they can go again to construction org and then it’s forward slash get trained and if they fill out a few, a few little, uh, deals and get an email from us, and then we schedule a call with them. And if they want to personally just reach out to out to me. My email is Luke l u k e Fletcher f l e t c h e r at construction ready. Org. Be happy to talk to you.

Stone Payton: Well, Luke, it has been an absolute delight having you on the broadcast. Thank you for your insight, your perspective, your enthusiasm. Keep up the good work, man. You are having a genuine, profound impact on so many and we sure appreciate you, man.

Luke Fletcher: Thank you so much. I’ve really enjoyed it too.

Stone Payton: My pleasure. All right, until next time. This is Stone Payton for our guest today, Luke Fletcher. With construction ready and everyone here at the Business RadioX family saying we’ll see you in the fast lane.

Celebrating Women of Color Business Owners: Quinn Parker’s Journey Toward Energy Equity

February 18, 2025 by angishields

Women in Motion

Celebrating Women of Color Business Owners: Quinn Parker's Journey Toward Energy Equity

00:00 /

In this episode of Women in Motion, Lee Kantor is joined by Quinn Parker, founder of Encolor, a consulting firm dedicated to ensuring equitable access to clean energy. Quinn shares her journey from working in a utility company to starting her own firm, emphasizing the importance of equity in the energy sector. She discusses building a dedicated team, the significance of networking, and her organization’s impact on communities. Quinn also highlights recent awards and the value of engaging with diverse communities.

Quinn Parker has over 16 years of professional experience including regulatory finance and analytics, as well as program research, design, planning, implementation, implementation and strategic planning.

Ms. Parker is CEO of Encolor, a firm committed to supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Encolor provides inclusive strategies and thoughtful guidance, helping clients achieve their operational and equity goals.

Ms. Parker is a Certified Diversity Professional (CDP) and a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. She holds an M.B.A from California State University, Dominguez Hills and a B.A. from Loyola Marymount University.

Ms. Parker is an experienced trainer and facilitator.

Connect with Quinn on LinkedIn.

Music Provided by M PATH MUSIC

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios, it’s time for Women in Motion. Brought to you by WBEC-West. Join forces. Succeed together. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Another episode of Women in Motion and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, WBEC-West. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on Women In Motion, we have Quinn Parker with Encolor. Welcome.

Quinn Parker: Hello. Thank you.

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

Quinn Parker: Encolor is a strategic consulting firm. We work with utilities and consultancies around the country, trying to make sure that all folks have access to clean energy products and services.

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

Quinn Parker: Well, unlike most folks that start businesses, it was kind of a zigzag story. I started my career in utility here where I live in Las Vegas. And working in the utility, I got a chance to see the real kind of need of some folks in our community to reduce their energy bills, that they can improve their quality of life, and went on to do several other consultancy types of projects over the last almost 20 years. And right around 2020, I saw that there really was a need for us to be really intentional about how we go about serving certain customers and starting Encolor. And one of Encolor’s first projects was to teach folks how to design programs to make sure that no one is left behind in our energy transition.

Lee Kantor: Now, what was it like going from working for a large entity to having your own firm? Was that a difficult transition?

Quinn Parker: Oh, my goodness. You know, I think I kind of primed myself a bit working in consultancy for a while. But nothing kind of prepares you for the idea that you’re responsible for making sure that you make good decisions, so the folks that work for you can stay employed, and continue to do the things that they enjoy and have a reliable paycheck. So, that transition from just being part of an organization to leading an organization has really been an interesting kind of journey for me. But I take a lot of pride in the work that we do, and I’m so thankful for the team that is part of Encolor.

Lee Kantor: Now, do you have any advice for other entrepreneurs that are thinking about making that transition when it comes to building a team? Like, how do you build a team that really is all on the same page, and kind of believes in the same things and are kind of dedicated to the mission?

Quinn Parker: So, from my kind of perspective is that the large search websites that can go out, and you can pull a ton of resumes are great, especially if you don’t know where to start. But the employees that have really been, especially… I don’t know, that have really stepped into their roles and really embody the culture and the vision of Encolor have come through my network. So, I really encourage entrepreneurs to get out, go to those networking meetings, go to WBENC conferences, talk to folks, ask people if they know folks that could fill roles for you, and start there because it’s nothing like hearing from other people the value that someone may bring to your organization versus just a piece of paper over the internet.

Lee Kantor: That’s a great point. I think a lot of people don’t lean into kind of that network where it’s people they know, people that their friends know, or people that they know-know, rather than just going out to the world where the world seems like, wow, there’s a lot more choices. But I think a lot of times, you’re going to get a better result when you’re starting with people who already know you a little bit.

Quinn Parker: I think so, especially as a very small business owner, it’s a huge decision to hire when you have less than ten employees. Not only is it the time investment of finding the individual, and coaching them, and bringing them up to speed, but if it’s not the right fit, it could be really detrimental to the success of your business. So, take your time, vet the person, don’t feel like you have to speed through it. And I guess the other thing I’m learning right now is start earlier than you need the person. We kind of wait. As small business owners, we absolutely have to hire for many reasons. But mainly, we want to make sure that we can support that person, but oftentimes that may be a bit too late. So, start early in looking for that next best person.

Lee Kantor: Right. You got to almost build like a wait list or a bench, so that when the time is right, you’re ready to pull the trigger.

Quinn Parker: Yeah. Yeah, that’s tough for people that want to work for you because people that are looking usually don’t want to pause for long, but it’s worth taking your time.

Lee Kantor: Now, what do you like most about working in the utility business?

Quinn Parker: There’s so many things. Energy is critical for us as a community. And especially as we get more and more dependent on internet, and we’re working from home, and children are going to school from home, having reliable energy is really important. I’m looking at a picture right now of one of my staff that their community is covered in snow, being able to heat and cool your home. And knowing that our work is making sure that people are healthy and safe in their homes is really rewarding.

Lee Kantor: Now, can you talk a little bit about a recent award you just received?

Quinn Parker: Yeah. The Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance awarded me with an Equity Champion Award this year. So, excited about that. We’ll be in Chicago next week to receive that award.

Lee Kantor: It should be nice and chilly to greet you and put that energy use in play.

Quinn Parker: Yeah, it’s definitely in Chicago.

Lee Kantor: Now, can you talk a little bit about what this award means and kind of a little bit more detail about why this is so important to your organization?

Quinn Parker: Oh, my goodness. Just you asking me that question brings up so much emotion. You know, I started Encolor in 2020, it was really… I thought I’d be kind of behind the scenes in helping my clients design better programs. And over the last five years, Encolor has really evolved to be an organization that is pushing the boundaries and asking questions that we haven’t asked ourselves before.

Quinn Parker: And I’m really proud of the team that works for me that they’re being very brave. They’re standing up in front of rooms and audiences and making people question if we’re doing all we can to serve communities. And this award is really, I think, a reflection of not just me but the team that works for me, and us kind of putting ourselves out there and being a bit vulnerable in the community.

Lee Kantor: Now, can you talk about the importance of the work that you’re doing, and what is kind of the situation that the utilities that haven’t hired you yet, like what are they missing out on that maybe they should consider having a conversation with you or somebody on the team?

Quinn Parker: Yeah, great question. I think, everybody has to think through what their goals, objectives, and what success means to them. And for the people in the utilities and the organizations that bring us to do trainings or workshops or consultant work for them, they oftentimes have already come to the conclusion that we can do better. That we know there’s an opportunity for us to do better, both in the way we design and implement our programs but also in the way we contract with vendors, the way we engage with different community stakeholders. And I think for the organizations that haven’t called us, I ask them this question, I challenge folks all the time to think, is there some place that you know that you can do better? Is there some opportunity, some community, some part of your region that could use a little bit more support from you? And our organization helps them do that.

Lee Kantor: Now, when you’re, kind of, giving your pitch and you’re explaining the value, is this something that they’re doing because, hey, this feels like the right thing, this is a moral thing, or is this something that there’s data that says, look, if you do more of this, this is going to be better for your business, we have data that supports that?

Quinn Parker: Yeah. Equity is both a moral and a business decision. We know that when you design products and services that make communities happier. And when communities are happier, they buy more of your product, your customer service satisfaction goes up. You overall are viewed as a better partner in the community. And then, there’s the moral side of this that across our country, we see climate disasters happening all over our country. I live in Nevada, in close proximity to California and the recent fires there. Like, we know that things are changing. And in ways, how can we be proactive in making sure that people are safe and healthy in their homes?

Lee Kantor: Now, what does it look like when one of your clients begins an engagement with you? Can you walk us through kind of the initial kind of onboarding looks like or the initial discovery?

Quinn Parker: Yeah. So, we get into rooms with utilities and consultants in a couple of different ways. Sometimes, we go out for RFPs. But oftentimes, people engage us through word of mouth. And the first conversation I have with people that are interested in working with us is, do you know what success means to you? And you’d be surprised, sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. And if you’re in a room with a bunch of leaders, I’ll bet you a dollar that many of them don’t define success the same.

Quinn Parker: So, the first thing we do is get consensus on what good looks like. And then, we start working with them to really understand, is what you’re doing now going to get you to this goal? And we are very methodical. We do a lot of research to make sure that we’re supporting our clients in a way that not only can they replicate the work that we’re doing, but they can defend it later on because people ask questions, “Why are you doing this? Why is this important?” And having that data is really critical for them to be able to sometimes fund the projects that we work with them on.

Lee Kantor: Now, why was it important for you to become part of the WBEC-West community? What were you hoping to get out of it and what have you gotten out of it?

Quinn Parker: So, when I first went through the certification process through WBEC-West, it was really kind of a compliance item. I had a client that wanted to make sure that I was third-party certified in working with them. And a lot of that stems from some of the goals that organizations have to work with diverse organizations. So, it was really compliance. But once I started engaging with the organization, I started going to webinars, I’ve gone to a couple of conferences, I’ve also sent staff, and then I was selected to be part of the Energy Executive Program, I think that really kind of, for me, crystallized the value that WBENC could bring to me personally and also to my organization.

Lee Kantor: Now, is there a story you can share about – you don’t have to name the organization – but one of the clients you worked with or one of the firms you worked with in terms of impact? Is there something that’s memorable or rewarding that has occurred that you helped them get to a new level?

Quinn Parker: So, I have a client, and we are active with them now. It was one of my very first large utility clients. And one of the executives there reached out to me, we had a conversation, and she asked me if I thought I was able to do a project. It was a project related to procurement. And I sat across the room from her, and I had never done exactly this before, but I had confidence in my company and my team, and I told her yes.

Quinn Parker: And that work has gone on to be a catalyst moment for my organization. We have since… probably our revenue with that utility has quadrupled. And the qualifications that we earn working on this project with her resulted in work with other utilities within and outside the state is now a major vertical for us. And that work is doing diverse procurement practices. We write RFPs. We review RFPs. We help organizations administer RFPs. We review RFP processes to make sure that they’re fair. And that’s become a major part of our company’s products and services. So, sometimes, I think you’ll be offered opportunities that you know you can be successful at, but you haven’t done before, and you just have to say yes.

Lee Kantor: That’s great advice. And if somebody wants to learn more about Encolor and connect with you or somebody on the team, what’s the website? What’s the best way to engage with you?

Quinn Parker: Yes. Please go to our website. It’s encolorconsulting.com. On the website is a form where you can reach out to us. Those forms come to me directly, and we answer all of them. It’s really important for us to be responsive to our community. So, check out our website and we’d love to hear from you.

Lee Kantor: And that’s E-N-C-O-L-O-R-consulting.com.

Quinn Parker: Correct.

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

Quinn Parker: Thank you so much for having me.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor, we’ll see you all next time on Women In Motion.

BRX Pro Tip: How to Systematize Anything

February 18, 2025 by angishields

BRX Pro Tips

BRX Pro Tip: How to Systematize Anything

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BRX Pro Tip: How to Systematize Anything

Stone Payton: Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tip. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, we are living this real time. We have come to appreciate the value of repeatable processes and transferable tools. So, what’s the key to really systematizing things?

Lee Kantor: Yeah. You know, I’m a big fan of systemization. I think that’s the heart of most things in life. The more things you can systematize, the better your life’s going to be, the easier it’s going to be, the less stressful it’s going to be. When you’re putting together any good system, I think there’s four parts. The first part is the objective. You have to have kind of a very clear outcome that you desire. What is it that you want to happen over and over again? Without that, you’re never going to be able to get a system you’re happy with.

The second part, after you have that clear objective, is the process. What is this repeatable process that’s going to reliably deliver the outcome that you desire over and over again? Once you’ve built the process, once the system is in place, is it going to work exactly as you’d like?

The third thing is to look at the results. I mean, after you put… you have your objective, you put the process in place, are you getting the result that you want, it’s important to measure the result that you’re getting, so that it matches the objective you desire. And then, the last step in any good system is to have some feedback loop. Because you have to iterate, you’re going to have to tweak your process until you’re happy with the outcome that it’s delivering to you.

So, those are the four steps to systematize anything. Number one, objective be clear on that. Number two, create the process. Number three, measure the results. And number four, tweak, use feedback to tweak the process until you’re happy with the way that it’s delivering results.

BRX Pro Tip: The BRX Secret to Warming Up Cold Leads

February 17, 2025 by angishields

BRX Pro Tips

BRX Pro Tip: The BRX Secret to Warming Up Cold Leads

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BRX Pro Tip: The BRX Secret to Warming Up Cold Leads

Stone Payton: Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, let’s share a little bit about how we at Business RadioX warm up cold leads.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. Every business has a database of people that have kind of entered their world and/or they should have a database of everybody that’s entered their world. And in our business, our studio partners and our clients have this. They are the previous guests that have been on shows, they’re the previous people we have asked to be on shows. So, that database is super important to anybody’s business, especially Business RadioX’s business.

And the secret sauce that we have that enables us to elegantly reconnect and warm up any cold lead in our database is it’s not that it’s just checking in. That’s not how we do it. I know a lot of salespeople love that. Just checking in. I know you hate it, Stone. But that’s not part of our repertoire. The secret tool that every Business RadioX client has access to is they can invite that cold lead back on one of their shows, and they can do it by just inviting them to update everybody on any kind of new activity that they have going on.

Now, think about this when it comes to rekindling a cold relationship, an email, just checking in versus an email that’s saying, “Hey, would you like to come on the show to promote yourself and your business?” which one of those do you think is more effective in rekindling an old lead? Which one of those has a better shot at building and nurturing this relationship to take it to a new level? That’s why Business RadioX studio partners are so successful, and that’s why our clients are so successful, is that we have this built into our systems that enable any lead to be rekindled in a very elegant, non-salesy way and get them back on the show. You know, in our business, communicating, inviting guests is just kind of the thing that we do relentlessly. And this is just another way to leverage that.

Mark Taylor with Taylored Training Solutions

February 14, 2025 by angishields

Houston Business Radio

Mark Taylor with Taylored Training Solutions

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Mark Taylor is a seasoned business leader, entrepreneur, and speaker with over 30 years of experience in sales and leadership training.

As an expert in business networking and referrals, he helps professionals implement proven strategies for growth.

With a 33-year career in human resources and 22 years as an Executive Director for Business Network International (BNI), Mark has a deep understanding of relationship-driven business success.

In a recent conversation with Trisha, Mark shared insights from his experience in the business networking industry and discussed the benefits of HR outsourcing for small businesses.

They explored the importance of understanding client needs before offering services, strategies for attracting and retaining top talent, and the value of delegating tasks to focus on revenue generation.

Mark also shared a client success story, reinforcing the power of outsourcing to enhance business efficiency.

Connect with Mark on LinkedIn.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

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

Trisha Stetzel: Hello, Houston. Trisha Stetzel here bringing you another episode of Houston Business Radio. It is my pleasure. And I’m so excited about having my friend. And by the way, he may not remember this, but we met way back in 2008, in BNI. My friend Mark Taylor is on with me today. Mark, welcome to the show.

Mark Taylor: Well thank you Trisha. Of course I remember, uh, I remember a lot of details about that because it didn’t take long to anyone who’s been around you knows that you’re a shaker and a mover, and I picked up on that quickly. And do I recall correctly, we were starting a BNI chapter over in Air land. And you foolishly volunteered to help me do that?

Trisha Stetzel: Foolishly? Yeah. So I think that was a couple of years into. So I was a member in the League city.

Mark Taylor: Oh that’s right.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. And then I got involved and started helping with the Pair Land chapter, which is still doing amazing, by the way, and is led by some amazing people. Uh, and then we I was also involved in trying to get one over on South Belt off, uh, off the ground because we had some people out that way that were interested in, um, networking as well. But that’s not what we’re here to talk about, Mark.

Mark Taylor: Okay. All right.

Trisha Stetzel: I want to tackle this idea of HR outsourcing. And I happen to know that you’re pretty well versed in that area. So what do you know about HR outsourcing, Mark?

Mark Taylor: Well, I got to tell you something. Maybe you. Maybe I’ve never told you this. Um, I have an have an animal science degree and a and a master’s in in agribusiness. And so I was actually in that field for a number of years after I graduated from college. And a friend of mine called me one day and he said, hey, I just went to work for this company. They’re growing up. And he said all this. He said, you know, and they’re hiring. Would you like to consider going to work for them? And he told me it was an HR outsourcing company. And I said, Terry, you do know I sell livestock feed for a living, which is what I was currently doing. He goes, yeah. And I said, what in the world has that got to do with that? He said, I’m telling you, you’re it’s not about that. It’s about I’ve known, I know you, and you’re the kind of people we’re looking for. Come in and interview and I did. And so my point is I you don’t have to have a degree in this. You can like anything you can learn and I did. And in fact, the first couple of years I learned a lot about just, um, how HR outsourcing. What is that? What does that mean and why would people do that and so forth. Okay, that was back in 1991, and I’m still involved in the industry today.

Trisha Stetzel: Wow. All right. So long time in this industry. And before we started recording today, you were telling me how many business owners, uh, business leaders aren’t even familiar with the idea of an off site HR department. I’m using your words because I thought they sounded cool. So can you describe what it is that, uh, HR outsourcing does for a business?

Mark Taylor: Yeah. And let me just start with this, uh, when, you know, when you meet people, um, you know, some of the first things they ask you first, of course. What’s your name and where do you live and what do you do? But I mean, what do you do? Comes up pretty, pretty soon in the conversation. And I learned that when you say HR outsourcing, typically it’s amusing to me. Typically people will not as if they have any idea what you’re what you’re talking about, which I learned. They do not. I mean, it’s rare that I find somebody that goes, oh, yeah, I know all about that. And they can have a conversation with me. And so my point is two twofold. One, if you ask ten people randomly what is HR human resources you I’ve learned you’ll get likely ten different answers. Then they’re all elements of it. But or not. I mean, they just it’s just not one of those things where if you tell someone you’re a banker or a chiropractor or a plumber, they have an idea of what you’re talking about. But so not only are people unfamiliar with HR outsourcing, by and large, um, they’re not even real clear. Just what the whole gamut of what the the scope of what HR is, and particularly in we’re talking about as an employer. Um, and so that’s that’s my challenge right off the bat is how do you tell people, how do you describe what you do, uh, in a short period without boring them to death or giving them multi-paragraph answer.

Mark Taylor: So, but but let me answer that. Um, my clients have one thing in common. Whether they’re white collar, blue collar, large or small, my clients have the one thing they have in a client is they have in common is that they have employees. Mhm. And many don’t really stop and realize that what that means is they are like it or not. In the employee business there are literally thousands of regulations and requirements and expectations that government does a great job of adding red tape, um, to to employers and expecting them to know and do certain things, many of which if you are not in compliance, there’s there are penalties focusing on the fundamental things you, Trisha, if you were to be an employer that you would have to address and whether you and many times people will well, they’ll know. It’s like it’s like sitting down deciding to just work on your taxes tonight. Very few people actually look forward to that. So this is a thing that’s easy to put off. Uh, entrepreneurs, business owners are really excited about their business, understandably, and they’re not inclined to be motivated to check out all things HR. Mhm. Um, there are exceptions of course, but that’s the general general um, viewpoint on air and on air items. And just to be clear, I’m talking about um, saying things as simple as of course, producing payroll and the associated payroll taxes, keeping up with those, that’s um, that’s an element of it.

Mark Taylor: And then there’s, uh, when you hire somebody, there’s there are ways that you can and should hire and ways that you can’t and should not. Uh, how do you know that kind of stuff? Uh, there are there are issues that can arise in the workplace. Um, I gave Trisha a raise. I didn’t give, uh, Valerie a raise. She’s mad. So maybe it’s a it’s a loss. I mean, there there are suits that arise out of this, uh, discrimination, uh, gender discrimination, racial discrimination, sexual harassment, all I mean, all those things that, again, don’t often happen, but when they do, people are ill suited. It’s never happened before. It’s like if your house burns or you have a car wreck. I mean, if you’ve never had that happen before, you’re completely at a loss for you know, what to do next or how to confidently work through that. So, uh, there’s benefits. Employee benefits are a big, um, concern with employees, and rightly so. Uh, there’s compliance and safety and regulatory things that that just unfortunately go or and unfortunately many times those things go unaddressed and everything’s fine until something happens and then it can be devastating. It could be business ending depending on the nature of the issue.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. So Mark, I want to make sure I heard you right. Did you say that those all of those things that you just talked about are part of what you bring to the table as an HR outsourcing partner?

Mark Taylor: Yes, exactly. If you’re. Yes, the idea is this. So I’ve described a familiar scenario for a no employer. Listening to this would be in the dark about this. They are at some level aware that there is a business of being an employer.

Trisha Stetzel: Mhm.

Mark Taylor: Um, and so then you then you have to decide, well, how are you going to handle that? Here’s how many. And my clients tend to be small business. Um, I’m going to say generally probably 90% of my clients fall between 25 and 100 employees. Okay. Um, so, um, that’s that’s my target market because they have enough employees to finish every sentence I start. I mean, they know what it’s like to deal with employees, and yet they don’t have any. They don’t have really an HR department. What they like to do, this is what most people do. They want to hire an employee and say, you’re our HR manager. Good luck. I don’t care. Just just do it. Uh, make sure that in this in this field of HR landmines, make sure that we can navigate through it without stepping on one. See you later. And they step out of the room and go back about managing their business. And the And the sad fact is, although I would probably do that myself if I didn’t know an alternative, there is no one person who is an HR specialist any more than there is a doctor who is an I can do it all specialist. I mean, my goodness, there’s probably 200 different professionals from the top of your head that literally the tip of your toe.

Mark Taylor: And they’re all specialists. Well, it’s that same way in in HR. There’s too many elements, um, to reasonably expect anybody to know how to do it all. And so again, that’s, that’s that works until you get something happen that’s beyond the, the scope, the expertise of that person who is the HR manager. Um, which is is thus the advent of HR outsourcing. And the idea is pretty simple. And you’re right. I always tell my clients, I want you to I want you to imagine that you have an off, well, an off site HR department. When we enter into business, HR changes for you and it’s as if maybe it’s off site. Maybe you can imagine if you had a second floor to your building or an additional floor to your building, and that’s HR. You seldom see those people, although you can. Um, most of the work, it’s not necessary that they be in your office, uh, in person, speaking with you. They are performing their HR tasks, whether it’s acquiring, uh, attractive benefit programs or handling your HR or, I mean, handling your unemployment claims or work comp claims or whatever it may be doing, or maybe it’s just compliance, making sure that we are if OSHA were to visit, it’s not going to be a bad day.

Mark Taylor: Um, we’re prepared for that. We’re aware of them, prepared for them. And, and, um, and it’s not seen as a threat. So short of having your h your own HR department With people who specialize in these elements. Uh, the idea of outsourcing your HR to an HR company, uh, makes a lot of sense, because then you can, um, let me give you another example. A lot of a lot of my clients will have accountants, but they probably all do. Very few of them have one on staff 24 over 7 or 40 hour a week, because they just don’t have the the work to keep them busy that long. So they meet with their accountant. Uh, same thing with their insurance person. There’s certain professionals that are vital to their business, but they don’t need to have on staff. They just need them periodically. And so. Instead of having an HR person or looking for an HR person like I just described, what about outsourcing to a company who is fully staffed in all of these specialties to be able to support that business on all these different elements?

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. So important Mark. And you know, there’s a big difference between you mentioned, uh, payroll companies. There’s a big difference between just having a payroll company to do payroll for you and having fully outsourced, uh, your HR department, basically, and having this offsite HR department. Um, can we talk about the liability is I think that’s really important. You talked about all of the services that an HR outsourcing business can provide to these business owners. What about the liability? So I, I say, you know, hey, Mr. or Mrs. Admin person you’re now my HR person. Go do the thing. And they have no idea what they’re doing where. So the liability lies with me and that person actually internal to my company. But if I hired somebody like you, uh, to come in and help me with all of my HR needs, where does the liability fall there?

Mark Taylor: Well, that’s a good question. Um. You’re right. Um, and that’s often the case where somebody is confronted with, um, an event that happened with relative to, with their employees or maybe a regulatory issue, whatever it may be, you like to be able to say, well, I mean, I just didn’t know. And that never flies. There is a certain there is an expectation if you are an employer, that you have certain expectations and obligations that you must address. And of course, one of those is you’ve got the liability and responsibility for the people who work at your business. Um, we’ve talked about a lot of the responsibilities. Liability could just be, uh, for injury, um, or for actions of employees. Uh, there’s there’s lots of liability. So to your question, one of the huge I think the big advantage to outsourcing, um, to, An HR outsourcing company. Is that you can address that very, that very topic, for example. Um, and there are companies that will just you can hire to do HR admin and they will produce your payroll for you. They’ll produce, um, maybe your employee handbooks, they’ll produce unlimited documentation and so forth, but they’re producing it for you. And once they have and you’ve paid them, they’re done. They have no liability. They’re just producing that for you. And I’m I’m not referring to that in our relationship, in our arrangement. Um, we have an arrangement or a utilize a concept called co-employment. Uh, it’s been around for decades, and it’s simply said, it works this way. Let me just I’m going to assume that you’re an employer and that you have 35 employees, and you have the Have the responsibility and liability that’s inherent with that, uh, contract.

Mark Taylor: Introducing this concept of co-employment works this way. We will delineate those items in the contract that you are totally responsible for. And those are the right of control, the daily, daily control of the employees, the hiring, the firing, and the direction of those employees is completely on you. And that’s, of course, to your your agreeable to that, because we don’t know how to run your business and you do. So we’re expecting you to do that. Uh, on the other end, all of the items that we are committing to by contract, uh, will be delineated. And those are many of the things we’ve already talked about, uh, responsible for payroll and responsible for, um, we without going into a lot of length, let me just say that we will delineate the responsibilities that we are liable for and responsible for. And then there’s a third category of tasks, and those are items that we are jointly responsible for. Meaning, if we’re going to produce a safety program for our client, it is it’s incumbent on the client to implement the safety program. So if by contract we are to do that. And yet the the client were to take and just pitch it in the corner in case somebody wants to come by and see it one day. Um, and, but in the interim there is, um, an issue involving safety that results in, uh, liability. There’s a, there’s a claim. Then in that case, we would we would be, um, have performed our role in, in producing that. But the client, um, failed in applying it. So that’s an example of a shared responsibility.

Mark Taylor: And so what’s important is that you delineate those in the contract so that we will both parties will know what they’re solely responsible and liable for, and both parties will know what they’re jointly responsible for. If it sounds like a partnership, it is. And what makes it a partnership is the employee base. So no longer would we consult with you about your employees. We would consult with you about our shared employees rather than standing on the side of the train track. And you’re laying on the track and we know there’s a train coming and saying, if I were you, I’d get off. We’re actually laying on the train track with you going, we need to get off of this thing. So there’s a there’s a commitment. There’s a difference in commitment level, whether you’re advising and providing services or you’re participating in the risk, which I don’t need to tell you. That’s that’s the that’s the critical element here. And that is choosing the right businesses that they’re going to offload liability. And they’ve got safety run amok and they’ve got employee, um, morale problem, all kinds of. It’s a mess. And they just want to know where do we sign? Because I’m going to get this off of my desk and onto yours. And it doesn’t go that that conversation doesn’t go long. You can tell. Um, it’s not hard to tell, uh, the kind of clients you’re looking for because they you leave tracks in the sand. There’s, there’s documentation about your, your history with as a business and particularly with employees. So those are a couple real fundamental elements of how this works.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay. Uh, very important. Right. That you’re assuming the risk alongside of the employer or the business owner. Right. Uh, I think that that’s huge because. Oh, by the way, many of us small business owners had no idea, number one, that this was a thing. Maybe. Maybe some of you did. Maybe you don’t. Right. Uh, but also really leaning into the liability that I have as an employer. Right? Holy cow. Wouldn’t I like to partner with someone who would take that risk off of my plate? Right. Or share the risk.

Mark Taylor: Share the risk. Yeah. So it’s like I mentioned earlier, a landmine, a field full of HR landmines. You can’t see them.

Trisha Stetzel: Mhm.

Mark Taylor: Uh, unless. So you need probably an HR landmine detector and diffuser. Uh yeah. And and so but that’s true. And you can say that about many different disciplines, many different professions with uh in this in this picture is inviting the right people to the party. Because when you have people who are aligned with you in the way you regard employees, and they’re more than just office furniture, we want we really want this place to be a place you can work for a career if you choose. And you don’t have to leave here for lack of benefits. So you don’t have to leave here because we’re. Um, just not legitimate in whatever way you want to describe it. We certainly want to. In fact, I will just tell you, because many of my clients are small businesses, one of their biggest fears is losing employees to bigger companies, maybe an hour drive from home. But they have good benefits. So they have good frankly, they have good HR. They’re stable. And and my message to our clients is you don’t have to do that anymore. Rather than settling for the second or third or fourth tier of available employees out there, you can go ahead and recruit the number one tiers, many of whom would prefer to work for a small local business for a variety of reasons. And you no longer have to say, well, because we’re small, we just have to take the, you know, accept the best we can get because we offer an inferior workplace. Not anymore.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, I love that. And it really does, uh, lift up those smaller businesses to be able to able to compete with those other larger businesses where employees may think that they can go and get something better. Right? Bigger. Better?

Mark Taylor: Absolutely.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah.

Mark Taylor: And you can’t blame employees for doing that. It’s very common. No one I mean, everyone in the American business culture knows or assumes smaller company less to offer. Yeah. And I’ve known people who work at a smaller company knowing that they don’t have big company benefits. And I’m not talking about just like insurance and 401 KS and dental and vision, but just the benefits of working for a small company. Um, and yet they, they work for less because they like the culture of a smaller business. Well, and so the good news, as far as I’m concerned, is you can maintain the culture and you can also maintain those, quote, big company benefits extending beyond just what I just mentioned, but just the literally the benefits of sides, um, without having to be big to get it.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. That’s fantastic. So, Mark, I would be remiss if I didn’t say to the audience that’s listening today if they wanted to reach out to you because they want to know more, they happen to be a business, uh, that has 25 to 100 employees. And what other, um, things should the listeners be listening for to make a decision on whether HR outsourcing is for them?

Mark Taylor: Uh. Great question. The first thing I would want to do is have a conversation. And whether that’s in person, it’s probably best in person, but that’s not always possible. Um, because I want to find out if this is a good fit. I learned a long time ago, sometimes no business is better than some business, depending on the kind of business. And so, as I mentioned earlier, I’ve got to be a I got to do a good job of inviting the right people to the party. And so that’s going to take a conversation about what is it that’s prompted? What? Why do you want to talk to me? What’s going on? Uh, what’s your frustration? What are your issues? Uh, and then it may be that we can’t help you, and I’ll need to tell him that. It may be that we can help them. As I mentioned earlier, and I’m. I can’t get out of there fast enough. Uh, their their business is burning down from an HR standpoint. Uh, but it’s more likely the case. Um, there are many, many great businesses out there who are who are doing well as far as their businesses go, but they’re they’re distracted. Uh, maybe even impeded by some HR issues because they just don’t know. They just don’t know what they don’t know. Yeah. That’s why I need a plumber to come over when I have plumbing issues. Because it seems easy, but I don’t know. And I’ve got the same tools in my toolbox, don’t I? Right. Uh, and so that’s why, if I really am looking to interview someone to find out if they. What is air to them? Okay. Um, how important is it to them? Uh, well, let’s. I want to have that kind of conversation. So really, to summarize that, the next step is I would want to talk to them to find out if I think they’re a good fit for us and we’re a good fit for them.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay. Yeah.

Mark Taylor: So those those conversations tend to go in the direction of their need.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. Okay. Well and it’s personalized right. They may not need everything. Uh, that is in the basket. They may need a few things that are in the basket.

Mark Taylor: That’s a good point that you make. In fact, I liken this in this conversation that I’m having with folks because it’s all virtually always exploratory. I do at times get people who are maybe using an outsourcing and they or they’re familiar with it for one reason or another. But the majority of times this is all new to them. And so that question comes up. Well, do we have to participate in everything you offer. Uh, we’ve already got benefits through my brother in law, and I’m, like it or not, I’m not changing that. Uh, I’m married to his sister. Um, and so. So the answer to that is, think of this offering as, like, a buffet. Anyone who’s ever been to a buffet knows that you don’t have to, um, put. You don’t have to like everything on the buffet. You can choose what you want and that flexibility, so that’s great. Um, if someone says, well, I really just want a slice of payroll and a cup of coffee. Well, then they don’t really need us. And I need to refer them to a competent payroll company. Why would I try to talk them into the full meal deal when they clearly said, I just want a slice of payroll and a cup of coffee? So, um, that again, is part of that first conversation. And that is it’s not unlike going to the doctor. The doctor can’t look at you and say, uh, in most cases I know what’s it’s wrong. They say, well, tell me what your issue and I’ll tell you if I can help you. And that’s just the basis, I think, of not only good medicine but good, good business.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. Okay, I’ve got one last question for you. As we get to the back end of our conversation today, Mark Taylor. Tell me a success story from your business or a great client story, something that’s memorable for you.

Mark Taylor: Oh, I could tell you a lot of it. In fact, as I think about that, every single client comes to mind when I think of, um, making a dramatic difference because it truly is, uh, big difference in how they do their business. Uh, but and I can think of times when people call me and said, man, I’m so glad we did this, because now when we get to the employee in the interview, the initial interview, uh, the hiring interview, and when they, you know, when they ask me, do you have benefits? And I used to hate that question. Now, if they don’t ask that, I can say, aren’t you going to ask me about benefits? Because we got that covered? Uh, but I but but specifically, I’m thinking of a client who was, um, in a in construction, and he had, um, he had a work comp claim that was really complicated. And it was it was large and it was one of those potentially business ending issues. And because those our employees, our shared employees were covered on our work comp policy. Um, yes. He did have to tell us the details of what happened. And then beyond that, the paper trail of our documents and our contract says, you need to talk to us about this.

Mark Taylor: And for us, it’s a routine thing. Doesn’t mean it’s not catastrophic and horrific, but it’s routine. We handle these our comp um compliance and um that off that that section of our business takes care of that on a routine basis. So he was you can imagine he was extremely relieved that, uh, he still had stress of the, of the whole issue. But he knew that we were handling the comp claim, um, for us, not for him. I mean, when I say us, us collectively, it was right. And it it I’m I don’t know, I can’t say that it saved his business. He will he was he sent me a lot of clients, a lot of prospects after that because that people who knew him knew about that. And they of course want to know what happened. And he’s like, man, if you’re not outsourcing this stuff to somebody who can slip in the driver’s seat for you on this, you’re crazy. So that’s one that comes to mind. That was a long time client of mine, both before and after that issue.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, I bought okay, Mark, if people want to have a conversation with you, what the best way to connect.

Mark Taylor: You know, the best way is to call me on my cell phone. I am what you would call an independent representative. I don’t represent any one particular company by contract. I do by choice, though I only have usually keep 1 or 2 or maybe three companies in my briefcase. And the reason for that is I. I’m picky about who I introduce my clients to. I want them to have, um, a personal relationship with these people, not just, um, uh, a personal relationship with them. So for that reason, before we even get to that, I want to the best thing they can do is just call me. Let’s have a conversation. I want to know about you. You’re going to want to know about me and the company and all. And and it may be a one conversation. Then we’re done. It could be. We’ll not know. Just not now. Maybe the timing isn’t right. I don’t know, but have them call me I. I love to talk to small business people and especially love to liberate them from just this thing that hangs over their head. This air. This mysterious air. Obligations and responsibilities that they have. I think we talked about this earlier. Um, you know me. Know me long enough and well enough to know that, um, a frequent tagline that I, that I use in talking to people is, um, if you’re in our business is really none of your business. And that sounds a little snarky, but if you think about it, nobody will say, no, that’s not true. Mark, I got into this business so I could manage, hire, and manage employees. It’s only your business if you’re in my business. And so I you know, it’s probably a good rule of thumb to outsource whatever you can that someone else can do better so that you can focus on what you actually do to generate revenue.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that. Thank you for being on the show with me today, Mark.

Mark Taylor: This has been my pleasure.

Trisha Stetzel: Yes. And, uh, all of the information how to get in contact with Mark will be in the show notes. So if you’re listening or watching, please just point and click and have a conversation with Mark. And I happen to know that Mark Taylor is very well connected. So if he can’t help you, he probably knows someone you can connect with, which is a another benefit of having a conversation. Mark. Uh, thanks again for being on. I appreciate your time today.

Mark Taylor: Appreciate it. My pleasure. I always enjoy talking with you. And so thanks for inviting me.

Trisha Stetzel: Absolutely. And that’s all the time we have for the show today. Join us next time for another exciting episode of Houston Business Radio. Until then, stay tuned, stay inspired, and keep thriving in the Houston business community.

Amy Reid with Galveston County SBDC

February 14, 2025 by angishields

Beyond the Uniform

Amy Reid with Galveston County SBDC

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Amy Reid is the Director of the Galveston County Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and a seasoned entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in business ownership, human resources, marketing, and operations.

Since 2010, she has successfully run her own business and has spent more than a decade coaching and advising fellow entrepreneurs. Passionate about community engagement, she frequently speaks at business networking events and serves on various community committees.

In a recent discussion with Trisha, Amy highlighted the services offered by the Texas Gulf Coast Network SBDC, including no-cost business advising, alternative funding methods, and helping businesses connect with the right lenders.

They also explored the SBDC’s economic impact, its support for minority, women, and veteran-owned businesses, and the importance of passion and continuous growth in achieving success.

Follow Galveston County SBDC on LinkedIn and Facebook.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

TRANSCRIPT

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

Trisha Stetzel: Hello, Houston. Trisha Stetzel here bringing you another episode of Houston Business Radio. Beyond the uniform. It is my pleasure today to introduce you to someone that I met through the Houston Regional Veterans Chamber of Commerce several years ago, and we continue to connect on a personal level as well as professional level. Amy Reid, who is the director of Texas Gulf Coast Network SBDC in Galveston County. Amy, welcome to the show.

Amy Reid: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it, Trisha.

Trisha Stetzel: Long time coming. I’m so excited to have you on today. Yeah. So, Amy, uh, tell the listeners a little a little bit about you.

Amy Reid: So I’ve been doing this for about 14 years, and what we do is we provide no cost business advice to small businesses who either want to start or grow their business. Um, some people come to us and they just have an idea and they need somebody to bounce ideas off of. Um, and we help with that. And then once the idea is made, is it a viable idea and where does it go from there? And then other people have been in business for, you know, 20 years and they’re stagnant or they can’t figure out how to grow or it’s time to sell. Um, you know, it’s an exit strategy. So we help with all of that and we don’t charge anything for our services. Um, so a little bit about me is I’m just extremely passionate about helping small businesses. Um, they are going to have to drag me out when the time comes because I love what I do. Um, I love working with small businesses, and I love working with our community and our partners, like the Houston Regional Veterans Chamber of Commerce and all the all the chambers of commerce in Galveston County, um, as well as, um, our local lenders and, uh, Edc’s and cities. So I have a fantastic job. Love what I do.

Trisha Stetzel: That is so awesome. So, Amy, one of the things that you did not mention is you happen to be a veteran.

Amy Reid: Yes. Sorry. Um, I served Army National Guard in South Dakota as a logistics specialist.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. Wow. That is awesome. South Dakota, of all places.

Amy Reid: I’m from South Dakota, so it kind of made sense. Yes.

Trisha Stetzel: Fantastic. So, Amy, how did you get from, um, you know, when you grew up and found this amazing position with the SBDC 14 years ago? How did that transition happen for you?

Amy Reid: So, like a lot of people, when the oil industry started to decline, I needed to find a new role. And, um, I was in recruiting at the time for the oil and gas industry. So I had some human resources background, some facilities management background, um, payroll, office operations, a little bit of everything. So. And I own my own business, too. So I own a photography business. Um, and so when it came time to find what my next journey was, this kind of made sense. I had a little bit of everything that small businesses need to know about, and, and I just kind of rolled into that position.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that. So I want to back up and talk about what is the SBDC. So can you tell us what that acronym is? Um, and how that may or may not, uh, be associated with the SBA? Yeah.

Amy Reid: Sure. So the SBDC is the small Business Development Center, and we are what’s called a resource partner of the Small Business Administration SBA. So basically, I work for you. I work for anyone who pays their taxes. So those tax dollars are all given to federal government. And then they’re divvied up amongst programs. Um, and ours is an economic development program. So um, other resource partners that the SBA also supports are um, like score, um, which are mentors generally industry specific. And then there’s women in business centers. Um, there’s also bboc, which is the veterans, uh, side where they, they work with veterans, either fresh out of military service or as they grow as well. So you have all these no cost resources that are out there, but they are the cost because you already paid for it. Um, and my center is actually a part of University of Houston as well. So we get some state funding from them.

Trisha Stetzel: Wow. Did you say free Amy?

Amy Reid: Free? No cost. Yes. That is.

Trisha Stetzel: Amazing. Let’s talk just a little bit about how your, um, the Texas Gulf Coast Network SBDC in Galveston County works with the Houston Regional Veterans Chamber of Commerce.

Amy Reid: So, um, we have a an agreement with them, a Sam agreement where we support each other. Um, so if the um, Veterans Chamber of Commerce has an event going on, we help to publicize that. Um, we’ve housed them for some of their roundtables. They do the same for us. So if I call Dave Weaver and say, hey, Dave, we have this going on. Dave’s like, what time do I need to be there? Um, recently we did an event with the Department of Navy about how you could do business with them. And Dave was, uh, there in a heartbeat to support that with his team. Um, to make sure that everybody knew what that looked like from a veteran standpoint as well. So we have a great relationship with them.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. And because both organizations are so business focused and supporting veteran business owners. I think it makes a really good pair and match. Thank you for all you do for the chamber. We really appreciate it. Let’s talk, uh, maybe dive into a little bit more detail of the services you mentioned, a few of them. Uh, a few minutes ago. So I’d really like to dive into. Let’s start with what’s the number one service that these business owners are coming to the SBDC for money.

Amy Reid: They all need money. So. Yeah.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay.

Amy Reid: So? So that differs, right? So, um, if you’re a startup, you’re trying to figure out where is the working capital going to come from. The seed money. And so sometimes that looks like, you know, crowdfunding. It could look like. Um, it’s very hard for startups to get money. Um, as a startup, because you need to show that you have financial, uh, basically that is viable, right? You have to eliminate some of the risk when you’re talking to a to a lender. So sometimes we have to kind of think outside the box a little bit. Um, and then, you know, if you’re already in business and it’s time to expand or maybe, um, there’s something new going on in industry, you need some equipment. So we help with that too. But outside of the money part, you know, the lending is, you know, we have relationships with local lenders. So we know which lenders like what type of businesses, what they’re looking for. You know, some like to do $100,000 loans, some only want to do $800,000 loans, some want 650 credit score, some say 700 or more. So it’s our job to know those things so that we can pass that on to clients. But um, outside of that, we also help with marketing. Um, a lot of people know they need a market, but they don’t know how they should market.

Amy Reid: So we help them with that. Um, and then sometimes it’s growth strategy. So a lot of times, um, people are so busy doing whatever it is they do, like their services or or their products. Um, but they forget to actually, like, grow the business. So one of the things I always tell people when I first meet with them is I’m always going to be honest with you, even if it’s something you may not want to hear. And I’ll be your biggest cheerleader, but I’m also going to hold you accountable. So sometimes what we do is just following up to say, hey, how’s that business plan coming? Or, um, how is that marketing plan or budget coming? Because a lot of people don’t realize they need a budget for marketing. Um, but but a little bit of everything. And we also provide free market research. So, um, if you don’t know who your competitors are, it’s hard to stand out and know your value proposition if you don’t, um, know what the demographics are in your area or even know who your target market is, it’s hard to, um, really be successful and use that marketing money smartly.

Trisha Stetzel: Oh my goodness. So this whole market research thing. Like, I’m really excited about that. Uh, what does that look like? So let me back up. I got excited. Uh, how do these business owners who may be interested in something like that, Amy, how do they engage with the SBDC?

Amy Reid: So we just have a link. You go to SBDC, dot edu and you become a client, and then you’re attached to whichever SBDC is closest to you. So I’m Galveston County, but we have Harris County, Fort Bend all the way up to Huntsville A&M. And actually the SBDC is a nationwide program. It’s just the Texas Gulf Coast network is 32 counties in the south of Texas. So, um, once you’re a client, then you’re assigned to an advisor. And the advisor has access to all types of resources. So the the market resource or, I’m sorry, the market research software that we have, you’d pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars to get those reports that we can pull for you for free.

Trisha Stetzel: Very cool. So how is the relationship aiming? Do they come to you, uh, at the facility that you have for the SBDC in Galveston County, or is it a remote reach? What does that relationship look like with your clients?

Amy Reid: Really? Hybrid? Um, so I would say so, um, I cover the entire county, so I’m in three different locations throughout the week. Um, we have a, a calendar. You book, and it’s dependent on location, but we also meet online and we do short 30 minute telephone conversations if we need to as well. So and sometimes we go out to the client’s location like I will be later on today. So it just we try to really be what the clients need us to be and where we, we need to be.

Trisha Stetzel: Wow. That’s fantastic. And by the way, you said something earlier. No wonder we really connect because it is about straight talk and accountability. So yes, absolutely. And when you’re in that coach position, when you’re helping those business owners. It’s so important to help hold them accountable because if they keep doing the same thing the same way, they’re going to get the same results. And that’s not what they want when they reach out to you. Yeah, that is fantastic. Talk to me about. So you’ve got this, um, relationship with these clients, and you can help them with lots of things through the SBDC. Do you have courses or programs that these business owners can also engage with?

Amy Reid: Yeah. So, um, here at the SBDC in Galveston County, we do about 25 to 30 classes a year. So sometimes, um, that’s us presenting the classes and sometimes that’s bringing other experts in. Like, for instance, last night we had a class in Texas City. We went off location, um, and we had Workforce Solutions come in. They’re the experts in all their programs and that sort of thing. Um, and then, you know, later on next week, we have the IRS coming in to do, uh, getting ready for tax season class. And then I teach a bookkeeping class and a marketing class. So it just kind of depends on what you need some if you want online. Our website, the sbdc.edu, has, I think, over 200 on demand webinars that you can watch on all kinds of topics, including, you know, cybersecurity. Um, you know, you can just be on your your treadmill listening to cybersecurity while you’re, you know, working out or something. Um, but marketing all the things. Um, how to start a money, how to start a business with no money is like one of our most popular webinars that we have, I think.

Trisha Stetzel: Oh, like, listeners, if you’re not already, if you haven’t already gone to a SBDC. Is that right? Okay. If you haven’t already gone there and, like, filled out your profile, you should go there and do that. Right now, there are so many resources. So, um, client wise, Amy, are we just talking businesses that are startups? Who are the people that are engaging with the SBDC and, you know, are they taking advantage of all of these programs?

Amy Reid: So we are allowed to work with anyone who has 500 or less employees. So that’s that’s a pretty big business, right? That’s not what we normally would call small business. Um, but if you’ve seen a trend change over the years, you know, when when I first started, we had a lot of people who were maybe doing, like a gift basket businesses or consulting businesses. But now, um, that’s really changed. We have a lot of people who are service based, like plumbers, elecTrishans in the trades. Um, we have a lot of real estate. Um, laundromats. Uh, a little bit of everything. Assisted living. So we have, you know, those people who are looking to be owner operators in a franchise or they want to be, um, an owner, but maybe an absentee owner, and they’re looking for that, that little extra income, because maybe they’re a doctor and they want that extra income, you know, to look towards retirement or something. So it’s a plethora of people I wouldn’t say there’s just one type. So it is startups, acquisitions, um, and exit strategies all all rolled into it.

Trisha Stetzel: Wow. What an amazing resource. And because you have relationships with so many other organizations, it’s almost I’ll just call it a one stop shop to get connected to the things that you need. Right? Uh.

Amy Reid: Yes.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, I love that. That’s so amazing. So what what economic impact does the SBDC have on the communities that they’re serving?

Amy Reid: Well, um, I can’t off the top of my head remember what our entire network did, but I can tell you pretty close to what our center did. So we have three employees here. Two of us are advisors, and we have a program manager that handles our admin and our training, and our center alone had over $8 million in economic impact in capital last year, um, over 400 jobs. Um, we helped, I think over 160 minority small business owners and women. Um, and I think we had 48 veterans that we assisted last year. So, um, oh, and startups, I think we had 32, 31, 32 startups last year. So that’s just for our county. So think about on a nationwide, um.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. Or even your network. I’m thinking, you know, that 8 million times 36. Like that’s huge. Just in the Gulf Coast network, right? Um, amazing. And then you multiply that by the number of, uh, locations or sbdcs that we have across the nation. Wow. Uh, where is your physical location?

Amy Reid: So our center, our campus, as they call it, is in Lake City. Um, but I also office in Galveston on the island and then at the Texas city, la marque Chamber of Commerce as well. And then we have my other advisor offices in Friendswood. So we we really do try to cover the whole county.

Trisha Stetzel: Wow. Fantastic. All right, you guys, get on, go do some discovery, get your profile set up and take advantage of this. Amy, what does the future hold for the SBDC?

Amy Reid: So it’s kind of exciting, honestly, right now, um, we have we have some programs that we’ve recently piloted and now we’re putting into place. So, um, one of them is our vision adventure, um, where we have three different cohorts. So, um, they are, you know, a 12 week program. Um, but we’re doing the flip training, so you have homework before the class. So when you come in, it’s all hands on, integrated. Um, so we have a start smart, a grow smart. Um, and then we also have something called a virtual collaborative that we’re doing, and it’s, it’s kind of like the same framework as a as a mastermind. Um, where we just finished our pilot with food industry owners and, um, so we had, like, a food truck owner, a franchise, a big franchise restaurant, owner of family restaurant, um, home baker, and then a full bakery. And so they all came together, like each each month, shared best practices and challenges on different topics. So we just moderated and, you know, kind of chimed in. So we covered things like, um, inventory control and marketing and growth and expansion. So those are some cool programs that that are now coming into play. You know, we just finished the pilots make sure that that those all went well. And then the other thing is our I. So it’s important to us that with the way AI is transitioning, um, and becoming such a big part of everyone’s world that our small business owners understand it, there’s a lot of fear out there right now. Um, so I’m part of the national curriculum team for the SBDC, where we put together the curriculum to teach other advisors how to teach small business owners to use AI. Um, so we’re really excited about the things that we’re rolling out there. And because it’s really important to us at the SBDC that we’re relevant and we bring value, and if we’re scared of AI, then how do we help our our small business owners? So yeah, and I think we’ll just keep growing and expanding in the future.

Trisha Stetzel: Wow. Yeah. Ai is such a big topic and so many people haven’t even tried to use it and don’t even understand what it is. You know, many business owners, I find, think that AI is just a chat bot, right? They think, you know, ChatGPT or Gemini or one of these tools that are out there, and that is not it. That is just one piece of the tools that we can use to really automate the work that we’re doing, and especially those solopreneurs. It’s so important for us to save time on all of those administrative tasks, and being able to use AI to do that is amazing. So that sounds awesome. I can’t wait to engage in that. So, Amy, you said something. Uh, you said a BDC. What is that?

Amy Reid: Oh, America’s SBDC, that’s our nationwide umbrella. I’m sorry.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay. No, no. That’s okay. That’s what I’m here for as ask good questions.

Speaker4: Yeah.

Trisha Stetzel: Oh, my goodness, I love that. Um, anything else about the SBDC that we haven’t talked about that you really wanted to draw out?

Amy Reid: I think the only other thing is just to remember that, and I’ve already kind of said it, but you pay for our services, so there’s no reason to feel that you are alone or to struggle in your business. Come to someone who can either connect you to someone who can help you or who can help you. Um, and being held accountable is a good thing. Um, that means we’re going to be your biggest cheerleader when you hit those milestones, but we’re also going to help you push through those milestones that are challenging. So take advantage of it. It doesn’t cost you anything other than time, and I can pretty much guarantee that you’ll come out with value.

Trisha Stetzel: Oh gosh. Yes. Again, if you haven’t filled out your client profile, I’m telling you, you need to go do that. Amy. Um, as we get to the back end of our conversation today, I’d love to hear your favorite success story. Success story that comes out of the SBDC.

Amy Reid: So I know I mentioned earlier, I’ve been here 14 years. So, um, when I started about a year in, I worked with a client who came in and he wanted to start an assisted living home, and he had all kinds of experience in the industry. He was passionate about what he wanted to do and why he wanted to do it, but he didn’t have the money. He didn’t have the business sense. He didn’t even have. He had somewhat of a plan, but he he didn’t have enough of a plan, so he started coming to classes and workshops and we would meet every six months or so. He opened after 13 years of this journey together. He opened about a year and a half ago now, I guess. Um, and so not quite 13 years, but his persistence and his passion, everything came together. He’s thriving. We still meet constantly to some last night at our class, um, and we just. I’m his biggest cheerleader. I’m constantly talking about him. But for someone to be that passionate about that dream, I feel like that is truly, um, the the American dream. Making something come when it seemed like it was impossible and pushing through.

Trisha Stetzel: Oh, my. So I got goosebumps, like 13 years later. Right? That he birthed this baby business. And how amazing is that? And with your support all the way along the road, right? That journey that he’s been on. Um, gosh, thank you so much for being on the show with me today. There’s so much information to take in. I’m excited, uh, about what’s coming. Uh, and I love that the continuous improvement is there inside of the SBDC and that you’re tied to the bigger network. Right. Um, of America’s. Thank you, I appreciate you. I probably have to have you back on the show again anytime.

Amy Reid: Thank you for having me, I love that.

Trisha Stetzel: Thanks so much, Amy, for being on the show.

Amy Reid: Thank you.

Trisha Stetzel: That’s all the time we have for today’s show. Join us next time for another exciting episode of Houston Business Radio. Until then, stay tuned, stay inspired, and keep thriving in the Houston business community.

BRX Pro Tip: The Email Marketing Metric that Matters

February 14, 2025 by angishields

BRX Pro Tips

BRX Pro Tip: The Email Marketing Metric that Matters

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BRX Pro Tip: The Email Marketing Metric that Matters

Stone Payton: And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, when it comes to email marketing, what is the best way to make sure that it’s effective?

Lee Kantor: Yeah. I think that when it comes to any type of marketing and email marketing specifically, there’s so many different metrics, and it’s really, kind of, honing in on what is the metric that matters. And a lot of folks, kind of, when it comes to email marketing, lean on open rate as the metric that matters. Like how many people are opening the email that you’re sending. And while I think that’s important and that’s kind of table stakes that you want people to open your emails, that means they were looking forward to them, I think a more important metric, when it comes down to actually where business is getting done, is the click through rate.

People have to click on things. Your readers of the emails have to click on things within the emails you send. If they’re not clicking on anything that you are writing about or recommending they go to, then you have a problem. So, you have to figure out ways to increase the value of what you’re saying or sending them to, so they click on something.

So, now, how do you go about increasing the value? I think the best way to way to increase value is think about what it is that you’re sharing and make that information or content so good that they have to click on it. And in some cases, that might make you have to feel a little anxious or uneasy that you’re giving away this much good stuff. And that’s really kind of the sweet spot. You want to feel like, “Man, should I be doing this? Because this is some really good stuff,” and that’s kind of where you want to be when it comes to creating content for email. Because you have to remember, the reason you’re sending these emails is because you want these people to remember you when it’s time to buy what you’re selling. And if you’re not providing enough value, they’re not going to do that.

So, put your value in there and increase the value to the point where you’re feeling uncomfortable. And a little fun fact or a little maybe something that’s surprising that if you add a PS below your name when you’re like, “Thanks for reading,” and then you put your name, and if you put PS, and then put a link in there in the PS, you will find that that has a surprisingly high clickthrough rate. So, try putting in a link there as well.

Cooking Up Success: Lela Dinakaran on Family, Marketing, and Catering Success

February 14, 2025 by angishields

Greater Perimeter Business Radio

Cooking Up Success: Lela Dinakaran on Family, Marketing, and Catering Success

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On this episode of Sandy Springs Business Radio, Rachel Simon is joined by Lela Dinakaran , Vice President of Marketing for Georgia Foods, which operates Bojangles. Lela shares her family’s journey, starting with her father’s immigration and the opening of their first Bojangles location in 2004. Now, they operate 46 locations, primarily in Georgia. Lela discusses her evolving marketing role, the challenges and successes of launching catering services, and the importance of digital marketing. She highlights the collaborative relationship with Bojangles corporate and the innovative strategies that have driven their franchise’s growth and success.

As a second-generation Bojangles franchisee, Lela Dinakaran oversees all the marketing strategies for her family’s 44 franchise stores in Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia.

This includes brand promotion, brand awareness, driving catering sales, digital sales, and other revenue drivers.

Connect with Lela on LinkedIn.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

TRANSCRIPT

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

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here with Rachel Simon. This episode of Sandy Springs 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 Dots. Rachel. Hi. How you been?

Rachel Simon: Good. How are you?

Lee Kantor: I am doing well. So excited about this show.

Rachel Simon: Yes. And it seems like winter has come back to us.

Lee Kantor: I know, just for today.

Rachel Simon: Just for today. Uh, yes. So I’m super excited about today’s show as well. And I met our guest when I went up and visited one of the other Business RadioX studios up in Gwinnett, and she was a guest on there, and I was like, oh, well, we have to have her on the show here. So we have with us today Lela Dinakaran. And she is the vice president of marketing for Georgia Foods. But we know Georgia Foods better as what they are doing business as, which is Bojangles.

Lee Kantor: I’m excited. Welcome.

Rachel Simon: Welcome.

Lela Dinakaran: Thank you.

Rachel Simon: So, you know, I’m so happy to have you on the show today because I thought you had such a great story about your business and sort of. It’s a family business. So tell us about it.

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah. So I’m a second generation Bojangles franchisee, really proud to say that I love the Bojangles brand. I grew up with it. So our story starts back in 1984. My dad emigrated from India to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, uh, on a tennis scholarship to go to college. And he is craving Indian food. Food that reminds him of home, flavorful food, food that has a little spice to it, level to it, a little kick. So he is recommended to stop into a Bojangles by his roommate and he walks into this restaurant and he has a bite of the dirty rice and the chicken. And honestly, the rest is history. He decided at that point that he was going to own Bojangles, and he opened his first location in 2004. So I was a very little girl, but I vividly remember walking into his first location and having our chicken supremes and honey mustard and fries, and I was hooked after that. I love Bojangles, I love eating the food, love talking about it. And fast forward to today alongside my dad and my brother. We own and operate 46 Bojangles locations. 35 are in Georgia, so and I run the marketing for all 46. So I am everywhere all of the time.

Rachel Simon: So is that in the franchise world, like a typical number of locations to own within a company? Or is it like on the high side, the low side?

Lela Dinakaran: It’s so we’re the fourth largest franchisee in the system. So definitely on the high side, I’d say there are probably a lot of franchise groups out there with just 1 to 2. But Bojangles is all about growth. So I mean, why stop at one, right?

Rachel Simon: I mean, who doesn’t love fried chicken?

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah. And biscuits.

Rachel Simon: And.

Lela Dinakaran: Biscuits and tea.

Rachel Simon: I think it’s so interesting. And first of all, like, kudos to that roommate for saying, you know, oh, there’s no maybe there’s not a lot of Indian food options in Myrtle Beach, but check out this southern fare. Yeah. And I think it’s actually amazing that it just satisfied that need so much for your dad.

Lela Dinakaran: And I think it’s really full circle because at that moment, my dad was searching for something that reminded him of home. And then fast forward 40 some years, Bojangles is my home. It’s what reminds me of home, you know, being from North Carolina. But yeah, very proud.

Rachel Simon: I grew up in North Carolina.

Lela Dinakaran: I did born and raised.

Rachel Simon: Okay. And then how how long have you been in Atlanta?

Lela Dinakaran: So I moved down to Georgia in 2019. I actually moved down right after I graduated college to a little town called Eatonton, Georgia. Um, I don’t know if you’re familiar or super. It’s a retirement community. So I was like 22 living in a retirement community. Um, so you can kind of imagine how fun that was. Um, so when we wanted to, like, go out and do something fun, we would drive up to Athens, Georgia. Okay, so big UGA, go dawgs. Uh, so I actually live in Athens, Georgia. When the opportunity came in 2021, I was getting married. Um, and we were like, let’s just move to Athens. So we bought a house there and have been kicking it ever since.

Rachel Simon: Oh, I have a UGA student currently, so.

Lela Dinakaran: Okay. So you know all about Athens.

Rachel Simon: Very fun town.

Lee Kantor: So now, um, now that you’ve been in the franchise business for so long, have you kind of explored Indian franchises? Because now there’s more Indian food franchises.

Lela Dinakaran: There are. We haven’t. We’ve like I said, we’ve been all about Bojangles since the beginning. Um, so that’s kind of just what we’re sticking to.

Lee Kantor: So you’re just the the thinking is just keep expanding the Bojangles.

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah. So when I started with my dad, uh, the goal was 50. But we’ve gotten there very quickly, Um, from 2019, we started with three locations in Georgia, so went from 3 to 35. Uh, so the past five years of my career have been literally insane. But yeah, the goal is just to keep growing and keep expanding.

Lee Kantor: Now, when you’re as a marketing person, how does kind of your role change, you know? Is it different marketing for 3 to 50. Like is it the same activity. You’re just doing it hyper locally in each of those markets.

Lela Dinakaran: So definitely when I started it was very hyperlocal. Um, while also looking for ways to drive the business increase foot traffic. So one of my first ways of doing that was discovering catering. Um, I think we all know what restaurant catering is. It’s these high ticket items. Um, and just a great way to grow your revenue really quickly. So I discovered that in a hyper local level in Milledgeville, Georgia, and, um, kind of funny story I was so I started with the business working as a crew member in Milledgeville, Georgia.

Lee Kantor: One, that’s a college town.

Lela Dinakaran: That’s a college town. Yeah. Um, and then one odd day, the phone rings and it’s the local prison, and they want to place an order for 500 dinner boxes, and they want it in, like, two days time. Um, that was a huge order, as you can imagine. I wasn’t going to say no, but in the back of my head, I’m thinking, how the heck do I put this together?

Lee Kantor: We’re going to be working 24 over seven.

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah. So I was like, I’m just going to figure it out. And to be quite honest, we failed the first time and we failed the second time. But I was determined and by the third time, like they finally gave me a third shot at this order. I got it right. And then I was like, how do I do more of this? And then just kind of grew catering from there. And now it’s just been scaling revenue drivers like catering, but also in the digital sense. So delivery through DoorDash, Uber Eats and through our app as well.

Rachel Simon: So was yesterday a big day for Bojangles? Oh yeah. The Super Bowl.

Lela Dinakaran: So yesterday’s a big day. But something kind of fun about Bojangles is that we’re great hangover food, and today is pretty much National Hangover Day. Um, so we are going to going to be especially busy in the digital world today.

Rachel Simon: Hmm. Interesting.

Lee Kantor: Now, part of the, uh, appeal of franchises, are there systems in place? Were there not systems in place for catering from Bojangles? Is that something that you had to kind of figure out on the fly?

Lela Dinakaran: Great question. Um, as a brand, we did not have a catering platform. It was kind of like any customer could walk into a Bojangles and order catering. We just weren’t calling it that. So I kind of started to, you know, find this, this low hanging fruit, if you will, like this idea of like, this is what we could kind of expand into. Um, and then just kind of figured out the operational tasks behind it.

Lee Kantor: And so you had to figure that out. Yeah. As an individual. Yeah. So did you get any help from the kind of the franchisor?

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah. I mean, um, we did get some support, of course, but I was just kind of paving the way and just kind of figuring it out as I went.

Rachel Simon: That’s so interesting. So when you’re marketing and all of these different for all of your different locations, I mean, do they each have their own manager? Like, how does it work? And then, like, how do you meet the needs of each specific store based on what they’re doing in their community?

Lela Dinakaran: Absolutely. So every store has a general manager. Um, and I guess for me, I always make it a point to be in my restaurants at least four, four days a week, if not every day, because that’s where the magic happens. That’s where I’m seeing my customers come in, and that’s when I can talk to my managers and figure out what’s working for them and what’s not, and what opportunities they see because they’re in their restaurants 50 hours a week. They could see a need that I might be missing. Um, just because I’m not there as often. So definitely a lot of communication, a lot of boots on the ground.

Rachel Simon: Yeah. And so obviously, if you’re living in Athens and now you’re down in, you know, Atlanta today, are you hitting the road to see some of your stores while you’re here?

Lela Dinakaran: Oh yeah. Absolutely. I am making the most of being here in the city today.

Lee Kantor: Now, what is that ideal target for that catering order? Because like you said, the catering orders are big orders. You know, that can make your day one catering order.

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah. So typically, uh, a catering order can range from 250 to $500. Um, those order, those are on the smaller end. I’m using air quotes for those listening. Uh, the smaller end of catering orders. I’ve done orders as big as, like ten, $20,000. Um, and as far as, like, the target market.

Lee Kantor: Is that more of a B2B play?

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah. So it’s all those bigger orders and the thousands are B2B. Um, and I guess that’s where I’ve definitely started to carve it out, because usually when you think of catering, you’re thinking of your personal events. So like Super Bowl yesterday, if you were having a party, right. That’s a catering.

Lee Kantor: People.

Lela Dinakaran: Right.

Lee Kantor: So this is a it’s similar but different.

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah. It’s very similar but different. It’s I carved out this, uh, food for work idea. Um, food for prisons if you will. Um, so.

Lee Kantor: It was built on that.

Lela Dinakaran: First.

Lee Kantor: Customer, right?

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah, it was built on that. And then just from there, found this need of a lot of employers to incentivize, um, coming back into the office will start offering a paid.

Lee Kantor: Lunch on Thursdays.

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah. So that it was tapping into places like that.

Rachel Simon: What about, like, events? Do you have a food truck? Is there, like a food truck?

Lela Dinakaran: The food truck is coming. Um, I definitely think it’s another avenue I will explore. But, yeah, that’ll only continue to grow this, uh, external, uh, source for us.

Rachel Simon: Yeah. Because I’m thinking again, I have one, uh, one of my kids is a senior, so all the grad party stuff starts, you know, talk happening, and then I’m like, oh, you know, lots of people love to do food trucks for.

Lela Dinakaran: Those kinds.

Rachel Simon: Of parties. So Bojangles food truck.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, that’s is that kind of a franchise? Like, how does the franchise owner look at a food truck?

Lela Dinakaran: So it’ll just be something that we kind of add on.

Lee Kantor: So that’s again, you kind of going yeah. Rebel here. Yeah a little bit.

Lela Dinakaran: Again. Just kind of boots on the ground figuring it out as I go. So I do currently have a food truck, but it’s in the process of getting a lot of TLC right now. Um, so right now I’m in the process of finding somebody to fix it up for me. So if anybody here listening, does that hit me up.

Lee Kantor: Now, um, when you’re so when you’re going about your marketing, I’m just curious about the franchise or franchisee relationship, because this, to me is always one of the challenges when you’re a franchisee, because a lot of times the franchisor doesn’t want you to kind of be rebellious like this. They’re they’re like, hey, we have a system. This is what you bought. It was a system. How are you working with the franchisor on these initiatives? It sounds very collaborative that they’re okay with it. Are they taking your best practices and then sharing it with the network?

Lela Dinakaran: Yes. So they’re taking my best practices and sharing it and kind of growing on it. We have a great relationship with corporate. We’re with them at several times in the month. Um, so anytime that I’m innovating, I’m innovating alongside them. So it’s not something I’m doing separately on my own. We’re a team and we’re in this together. And our vested interest is just growing the brand.

Rachel Simon: And so with that, like, have you seen some of the things that you’ve created and sort of done in Done in your stores. Kind of move into some of the other franchisors?

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah, definitely. So catering is definitely one of them. So just you know, speaking about hey guys, there’s this huge opportunity out there. We just need to be tapping into it and looking for these customers. Uh, and then more than that, it’s how do we execute catering. So just speaking on all all of those things.

Lee Kantor: From an operational standpoint.

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah. From an operational standpoint.

Lee Kantor: So the sales there’s a sales standpoint to a marketing. So you have to make them aware that you even do this right. So there’s some of that. But then once you have the order, like you said the first time of 500 that we’re not ready for 500, most of these stores, right. Yeah. Unless there’s systems in place.

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah, exactly. So it’s just making sure that it’s really just a communication game. Um, and, you know, just being being able to walk the manager through how to do it. Um, and then just also just being a sounding board, too.

Rachel Simon: So as you’re expanding your stores again, trying to get to that 50, which seems like you’ll be there very, very.

Lee Kantor: Soon this.

Rachel Simon: Week.

Lela Dinakaran: Right?

Rachel Simon: Like, are you looking for existing properties that are, you know, like a shell of a fast food restaurant that can be turned into a new store?

Lela Dinakaran: All of the above. I think we’ll just go where the best opportunity is for us.

Lee Kantor: Now, um, when you’re expanding into other markets, how does that how does that go? Like, are you I know Georgia has an area. Do you have a territory? Yeah. Is that how it works?

Lela Dinakaran: We do. Um, and we’re always exploring, you know, new markets that we could enter into. But again, that goes back to the relationship that we have with corporate. It’s very collaborative. And they’ll work with us and making sure we’re making a good investment.

Lee Kantor: So they might make a recommendation. Hey, this came up like maybe somebody didn’t make it and they would offer it to you.

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah. Yeah. So it’s really all opportunities. You know it could be building from the ground up. It could be acquiring a new location.

Rachel Simon: So when you were younger, I mean, did you, uh, envision yourself going into the family business? Or was this sort of, like, a surprise to you?

Lela Dinakaran: It was a surprise. So I always when I got my first job, it was in restaurants, and I loved working in restaurants. And then I went to college and I majored in business. And then I was also going to major in public health because I thought that I wanted to manage hospitals. Uh, and then I had to come to Jesus moment and realize I don’t even like going to the doctor. So why would I run hospitals? And even throughout college, I was always working in restaurants and just loved hospitality. And I love food. Huge foodie. I love talking about food and creating food. And then my dad just kind of came to me one day and was like, I think you would be really good at this. This is kind of what I’m envisioning for the company. Like, would you consider coming on board? Um, and I definitely had to think about it because it’s family business, right? I’m essentially just, you know, merging the professional world and the family world together. But yeah, I was like, sure, let’s do it. And I’ll just like I said, figure it out as it comes.

Lee Kantor: Now, are all the kids in the business?

Lela Dinakaran: So my brother is five years older than me, so he’s in the business. And then we have an older sister, but she’s on the health care side.

Lee Kantor: So now is she is that create any kind of family? I don’t want to say friction, but just kind of issues like the holidays come up. You’re like, you know, a bunch of you are talking about the business and one person’s not like, is there any weirdness?

Lela Dinakaran: So we um, great question. We are all huge Bojangles fans and all very invested in the business. So I’ve never felt like, you know, the dinner table conversation is split in half. I think even when work comes to the dinner table, everyone is equally interested.

Lee Kantor: Now, is there any succession issues like as it’s your father? Was the founder of it? Is there any plan to one of either your brother or you to take?

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah. So my brother and I both currently own this business. So, you know, there that is the succession where it’s already in place, and right now it’s just in terms of growing it and, you know, keeping it going.

Lee Kantor: Now, was there any kind of, um, like how did that come about? So when your, your dad said, okay, I’m done or I’m easing out. And now.

Lela Dinakaran: So my dad loves his job. I don’t think he’s ever going to retire. I think he’s going to be all very hands on in the business until, you know, he can’t anymore.

Lee Kantor: Right. And then. So what about, like, when it comes to decisions, how do you break ties?

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah. I mean, we’re always making decisions together. So I’ve never felt like that’s an issue.

Rachel Simon: No, it seems like I mean, because, look, there’s some family businesses with lots of challenges in the in when it comes to succession planning and sort of internal conflict. So it seems like through your mutual love of Bojangles, you’ve really managed to.

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah.

Rachel Simon: You know, avoid those challenges.

Lee Kantor: Well, in America, there’s not a lot of multi-generational family businesses like in Europe. That’s pretty common. Not pretty common, but it happened. There’s hundreds of year old businesses that have been passed on in America. For whatever reason. It’s unusual to, you know, make it even to the third generation.

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah. No. So I think it’s like 70% of business of family businesses fail in the second generation. Very scary statistics. But I think that’s why we’re so driven to make it work because we know the odds are against us.

Rachel Simon: Yeah, I think I mean, I’ve worked with several clients who are either kind of in family businesses or touch them in one way or another, and a lot of it is around those challenges around succession planning or expectations of the second generation taking the business over without that, those people necessarily wanting to.

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah.

Rachel Simon: Um, and so the fact that you and your brother are so, uh, you know, passionate about continuing to grow the business is, is really very cool to see.

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah, definitely.

Lee Kantor: Now, how do you, um, there I’ve interviewed some people that are with a multi-generation, uh, fast food restaurant. And one of their strategies as they got into the the third generation was to encourage the younger generation to get jobs outside of the industry, to bring best practices in. Are you is there anything along those lines, uh, between you and your brother, uh, thinking to explore outside, you know, maybe complementary businesses to bring that learning into the business?

Lela Dinakaran: I think that’s definitely a possibility. Like I said, when I was in college, I was working at all sorts of different kind of restaurants, one of them being chick fil A. Um, and it was not like my family was like, don’t do that. They were actually encouraging me to go for what you just said, to learn best practices and learn more about the industry.

Rachel Simon: Yeah. No, that’s I mean, it’s you have to learn from your first of all, you have to learn from your competitors.

Lela Dinakaran: Right, exactly.

Rachel Simon: Um, and we know there’s more than enough of a of a need and a desire for good comfort food.

Lela Dinakaran: Oh, yeah.

Rachel Simon: Right. Oh, yeah. Um, one question I had, I guess on the marketing side is like, what is an example of one of your favorite, uh, campaigns that you’ve put together?

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah. So recently we’ve been launching a lot of new menu items. I’ve really enjoyed kind of seeing that come together. Last year, we launched Bird Dogs. Uh, bird dogs is our Chicken Supreme, which is our chicken tender on a hot dog roll that’s toasted with pickles. And our Carolina gold sauce, which tastes like a honey barbecue sauce. Uh, such a delicious product. Um, I really loved testing that. We tested it in Atlanta several times, especially at the Atlanta United games. Um, and really just saw a lot, got a lot of positive feedback for it. So we’re like, let’s put this on the menu as a limited time offer. Uh, it’s coming back again this year, so be on the lookout for it. But I love seeing that come into fruition. And I love hearing the customer feedback and also watching what kind of demographic it’s pulling in and seeing if it’s bringing in any new consumers.

Rachel Simon: So when you’re testing at a United game, do you have a like a stand in the stadium or are you outside at the tailgates? Like how does that work?

Lela Dinakaran: So we were in the Home Depot backyard tailgating area right outside Mercedes-Benz. So huge foot traffic area. And we just set up a tent. Um, and it was just like, you know, advertising. We’re giving out free food. We had a bird dog sign and just asked people we had three flavors that we were testing. I think we did a buffalo, a ranch, and then this, uh, Carolina gold sauce. And everyone got an option to pick one. And it was just like, give us your feedback. And that’s kind of how we we canvased.

Rachel Simon: Oh, well, that sounds like fun. I mean, who doesn’t want free food?

Lela Dinakaran: It was tons of fun. Yeah.

Lee Kantor: So let’s get to the the beginning of that. So you have an idea that you want to test or do some sort of focus group? Yeah. And then some companies would just hire a focus group company to do this and a conference room. You decided to kind of go out into the real world with your own eyes and your own kind of thing. Can you talk about how that came about and how you were able to execute something like that?

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah. So to be quite honest, I think Atlanta United came to us with a possible sponsorship opportunity. Um, and then as that was coming to play Bird Dogs was coming into the story. So we were like, maybe there’s something here. And we knew we knew like the demographic loosely of the people that are going to the Atlanta United games. So we knew that there could potentially be some crossover, some match, some interest. So it kind of just flourished from there. Um, and then obviously got into the conversations of like, can we test products at our booth? Where would the booth be? Um, you know how keeping track? Because that’s an.

Lee Kantor: Important component.

Lela Dinakaran: Too.

Rachel Simon: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I’m sure doing these various, like, activations in the real world are, um, outside the stores give you a lot of information.

Lee Kantor: But it can be can be chaotic if you don’t have good systems in.

Rachel Simon: Place. But probably also great for brand exposure because there might be people that have don’t have a store near them and then are like, where is the closest Bojangles to me now?

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah, definitely. And you know, when you’re doing it just out in the public, it’s unbiased. Whereas a focus group, I mean, I’ve never done it that way, but I’m assuming there’s a little bit more bias there.

Lee Kantor: Right. You have a different person is involved in a focus group than just kind of in the wild like this. You’re getting a real person in a real. They don’t have kind of, uh, pre biases. Yeah. They might come in a focus group because there’s like professional focus group people.

Rachel Simon: Right. But also I’m assuming that like the attend the people who are signing up to participate in a focus group, if they know what it what it’s for. They, they have a feeling of like, oh, I would like to.

Lee Kantor: Eat and they’re getting paid.

Rachel Simon: For.

Lee Kantor: It. Getting paid for it. So they could have biases.

Rachel Simon: But if you ever want to you know, since you’re based in Athens, if you ever want a group of 150 50 college students to test your food. I can set you up with my.

Lela Dinakaran: That is very good to know.

Lee Kantor: A bunch of beta testers are available.

Rachel Simon: They would be. They love free food.

Lee Kantor: Professional shoppers.

Rachel Simon: Right? I mean, when you brought some food up to the other show where we met and there were some these, like, amazing cookies that I brought back to my family.

Lela Dinakaran: The blueberry cookies.

Rachel Simon: Oh my God. I was like, Bojangles makes the best cookie. Yeah, ever.

Lela Dinakaran: So something fun about our brand that we’re starting to step into. Um, we are known by a lot of people for our Bo Berry biscuit. Um, I think it’s a very, um. I think it’s a big part of our breakfast brand. So we want to own this segment that we have and really dive into it. So we’ve just been expanding on that product line, one of them being the Bo Berry cookie. So we launched that. A couple of my stores still have it. So if you’re in, um, the Gwinnett County area into Atlanta, definitely stop by a store and try Bo blueberry cookie. However, I also have blueberry cobbler on my menu right now. It’s a limited time item, but definitely stop in and try it. It’s a the bottom is a Bojangles biscuit, and then we do a blueberry, um, compote on top with a icing drizzle.

Rachel Simon: And as I remember, all those biscuits are made by hand.

Lela Dinakaran: Oh, yeah. All of the biscuits are made from scratch.

Lee Kantor: Right. That’s one of your different.

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah, that’s definitely something that puts Bojangles on the map, especially in terms of our competitive edge. Our biscuits are made from scratch. Their buttermilk biscuits. If you walk into the back of our kitchen you’ll see flour clouds. It’s all real ingredients. And they’re made from scratch every day.

Rachel Simon: Yeah. And I think today people, uh, care about that more and more. Yeah. They don’t want to know. They don’t want food that’s coming from a freezer. They want food that’s being actually, like, prepared.

Lela Dinakaran: Exactly. Yeah.

Lee Kantor: So what do you need more of? How can we help you?

Lela Dinakaran: Um, I mean, this this is great. I love, you know, getting to talk about catering. We want to cater all of the events. So you know.

Lee Kantor: So then let’s walk through what that looks like. So who. So this one of these companies here in this building right here might be hey, we want to do lunch for our employees. So how would they just call a store. Like how do they even begin this process.

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah. Great question. So if you’re in charge of, um, ordering, catering for a big group, your next meeting, all you got to do is go to catering. Uh, choose your location, and you can place a catering order on there and pay for it. And you can also get it delivered as well.

Rachel Simon: And what’s the turnaround time? How much?

Lela Dinakaran: So we just need 24 hour notice.

Lee Kantor: And that’s for like you said it could be 500. Yep. So you got the systems down. We got the systems down.

Lela Dinakaran: We know how to execute. We’re just waiting for the orders.

Rachel Simon: So that could be a great breakfast incentive for a company right.

Lee Kantor: So it’s any day part right?

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah. Any day part. But that’s not all. You know of course there’s businesses that need catering. But let’s also talk about like the personal parties, like the Super Bowls. Um, the Valentine’s Day, if you’re doing something, you know, at your house, um.

Rachel Simon: Grad parties.

Lela Dinakaran: Grad parties, all of that we can do. I’m actually doing a prom up in North Carolina like an after prom party. Um, and we’re also getting into weddings, too. So. Really? Yeah. So Bojangles will be everywhere.

Lee Kantor: So now when you do something like that, is there is it just the food part you’re handling or is there. Oh, I got some wedding decor that we throw in there.

Lela Dinakaran: So we don’t do any decor. But I do offer serving staff as well if that’s something the customer wants.

Lee Kantor: Good stuff.

Rachel Simon: Yeah. I mean, it seems like there is a multitude of, uh, applications for where Bojangles could be consumed. Right? Whether it is and again, on the party side and the individual, you know, within your home, whatever you’re doing or potluck or something like that.

Lela Dinakaran: Mhm.

Rachel Simon: Super easy to pick up.

Lee Kantor: Now Rachel before we wrap. Um, you know, we always like to go to you for a LinkedIn tip. Is there any kind of LinkedIn advice for a franchisee of an organization?

Rachel Simon: I mean, I think that, you know, if you’re not already doing it, whether you specifically or just if especially in these areas of like, uh, food, people love to talk about food. Every one, uh, on LinkedIn needs to eat three meals a day. Um, but there’s probably people who don’t are not even thinking about, uh, Bojangles as, as an option for some sort of, like, company incentive. And so I would just start talking about and showing pictures of setups at different, uh, corporate, you know, events that you’re catering to sort of get people to go, gosh, I never thought about that for our corporate events.

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah, that’s a great idea.

Lee Kantor: Is it something that her she can, um, teach her managers to have kind of AA1 One voice.

Rachel Simon: I think it depends on, um, what their. If they have a following. So your managers, you know, there are people I they may not necessarily be on LinkedIn or be super active. So it may be better coming from you or from your brother or from some people, like higher up within the organization. Um, since you can build relationships with those corporate decision makers. Yeah. Um, but pictures, I think of your general, of your managers. It’s a good it’s a good shout out for them. But then it also gets people aware of like, this is a product and a service that we.

Lee Kantor: Because they may not even be aware that.

Rachel Simon: 100%. Yeah. 100%.

Lee Kantor: And like.

Rachel Simon: Look a beautiful platter of like delicious fried chicken is gonna be very appealing and go, oh, that looks really.

Lee Kantor: Well, especially if you get the person who was the client to do the pictures and say, Thanks to Bojangles for catering this thing.

Rachel Simon: Oh for sure. Yeah, there’s just a lot of good applications to help build help. Just enhance that brand awareness, for sure.

Lela Dinakaran: Definitely.

Lee Kantor: Good stuff. Well, one more time, the, uh, website. Best way to connect.

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah. So catering.

Lee Kantor: Com and then just bojangles.com to find the location.

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah. Bojangles.com to find the location. And also, uh, use our app. Our app is great. You can get 20% off your first order. Uh, so definitely download that app too.

Lee Kantor: Does that kind of ping you reminders or specials or.

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah. So you’ll get push notifications. You’ll get all all the things you need to know about Bojangles will come through on that app.

Rachel Simon: And who doesn’t like reward points, right.

Lela Dinakaran: Yeah.

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

Lela Dinakaran: Thank you.

Lee Kantor: All right, that’s a wrap. Uh, this is Lee Kantor for Rachel Simon. We will see you all next time on Sandy Springs Business Radio.

About Your Host

Rachel 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.